Bhagavad Gita in English | Episode 1 with Narration | HG Gaurmandal Das | ISKCON | Shri Krishna

Best gift for everyone, Karva Mini. [Music] [Music] This discourse is dedicated to His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, our spiritual master and the founder and acharya of the worldwide Hare Krishna movement. [Music]

Now we are going to discuss a very, very, very important subject matter. So I request, please try to hear with rapt attention. All of us are working very hard with just one aim in life, just one aim. But we have many desires. One may ask, yes, the endeavors could be many, but the aim is one, and that is happiness. We think if you become very rich, very knowledgeable, very beautiful, very learned, have good family members and friends with us, that will make us very, very happy. [Music]

And this is the fundamental mistake that we make in our attempt to become happy. Why a fundamental mistake? Because we are seeing all those people who have achieved all these things—the richest person, the best CEO of all times, the best celebrity of all times on the planet, the best of the sportsmen—they are all unhappy, anxious, and many times depressed for many, many years, if not months. What is the mistake that everybody is committing? The same mistake happened with Arjuna also. Arjuna also was materially a very, very successful person. He was a very great general, one of the greatest fighters; he had very good looks; he had a very nice family; he was a very sharp moralist; had a very kind and loving family. But despite all these achievements, which we think will make us happy, Arjuna was not happy. What is your mistake? So we have to always remember this example which the shastras give: patanga. We all know a moth. How a moth is very much convinced, if I just get closer and jump into fire, I would become very happy. The moth is captivated by the vision of the fire. In a similar fashion, we are captivated by these opulences, materialistic enjoyments of mind and body, and we think if I can just get closer and enjoy all these things, I would become very, very happy in life. And this is a mistake. Just like a moth jumps into fire and realizes another feature of fire, which is heat, we realize another very painful feature of this material world: birth, death, old age, disease, and unlimited anxieties and complexities. So just like a moth, we are jumping into so many miseries, getting attracted by the green grass on the other side, materialistic success. So we should take guidance from wise peoples. We cannot concoct our own formula for happiness. H2 plus O2 is water. There is a standard way for making water. We cannot create water out of anything else. In a similar fashion, there is a standard formula for happiness. We cannot manufacture our own way to become happy. [Music]

Just like the sweet, when you put it on your tongue, you feel very good sensation. [Music] That is a design of the tongue. There is a way you can enjoy, relish the enjoyment of taste. In a similar fashion, it is very important to have knowledge about our own self if we want self-satisfaction and happiness in life. And this knowledge is so important that the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Krishna, had to come, descend down, incarnate to explain it to all of us through the medium of Arjuna. So Lord Krishna explained to Arjuna, it was a—just like we change clothes when the clothes become old, we change the bodies. We are eternal. We are different from this body. Whole life we work very hard just to satisfy the externals, not caring about our own self. I am completely different from this body. And this knowledge of self—spirit soul—what is spirit soul and how to satisfy the spirit soul is explained very beautifully in the scriptures. Nobody has this knowledge, even though some people are able to understand, I am not the body, I am spirit soul, but they do not understand further what is the origin of the spirit soul and how to satisfy the spirit soul. If I stop all the hard works of simply satisfying my external dress, I understand putting foodstuffs on the dress will not satisfy me, but this does not give me positive knowledge of what will satisfy me. And that knowledge, the scriptures mentioned, the root of the tree is to be watered if you want to nourish the entire tree. We need to put the foodstuffs in the stomach if all the limbs of the body have to be healthy. In a similar fashion, this most important knowledge is explained in the Upanishads and in the Bhagavad-gita, that the soul is part and parcel of Supersoul, Supreme Lord. God, Krishna explains to Arjuna, mama evam sho yo're always my ansha, my part and parcel. Just like the fingers, part and parcel of this body. If this knowledge is not there with the finger, and finger tries to put in some other body, in some other mouth or in some other place, so finger cannot be happy. In a similar fashion, we are trying to serve so many peoples, but we are not engaging ourselves in the service of God, and we are part and parcel. That is the design of the soul. Soul is connected to God, just like the leaf is connected to the root of the tree; the limbs of the body are connected to the stomach. So only when the foodstuffs are fed to the stomach, finger, all the limbs get nourished. In a similar fashion, the message of Bhagavad-gita's devotional service unto the Supreme Lord. So who is that Supreme Lord? Who is God? And how do we understand I'm different from this body, and what is the way of satisfying the Supreme Soul? This wonderful knowledge of the science of self, the super self, this material creation, the purpose and all the connected categories is very beautifully explained in Bhagavad-gita.

So if all the knowledge of the Upanishads is compared to a cow, which explains the fundamentals of spiritual life, the most important essence of that knowledge, just like the most important essence of cow is milk, so it is explained in the glorification of Gita Mahatma. [Music] If all the knowledge of Upanishads is compared to a cow, the wonderful knowledge which all the Western scientists—Heisenberg, Niels Bohr, Nicola Tesla—all of them were very deeply studying the essence of that knowledge is Bhagavad-gita. And who is the Milkman who is taking out this essence of all the Upanishads? He is Lord Krishna, Supreme Lord himself. And Arjuna is compared to a calf, and the milk is drank by other people aside from the calf, and they are called sudhir, sudhir bhakta. So if you want to relish this essence of the Upanishads, we have to have this quality of being sudhir, very, very sober; senses are controlled, satisfied in all circumstances. But even if we are not so sudhir, need not worry. Simply by hearing this message with rapt attention, we will become sudhir, and then we will realize this knowledge. So I am very glad that we are going to discuss this knowledge. My name is Gormandaldas from Hare Krishna movement. I congratulate all of you. Now we are going to realize the most important knowledge in the corpus of all the Upanishadic knowledge, which is called the Bhagavad-gita. If we assimilate this nicely and spread this knowledge to everyone, the whole world will become very, very happy. So let us start with chapter one of Bhagavad-gita. The only qualification is hearing with attention.

So five thousand years ago, there was a rift in the family of the gurus who were the rulers of Hastinapur. Pandavas were the rightful heirs to the throne, but their uncle, who was ruling on their behalf—Pandavas who were yet to come of age—wanted his sons to occupy the throne. [Music] So Pandavas were very liberal; they told, it is fine, let our brothers rule; we are not greedy, but we are Kshatriyas; we cannot have any other occupation. Kshatriya is but trained to rule and in this way maintain his livelihood. So please give us at least five villages. On being denied any piece of land whatsoever, even equaling the tip of a needle, when all the peaceful negotiations failed, finally a war was declared, rather it became the world war. All the kings of the world got divided into two parties: Kauravas and Pandavas. Dhritarashtra, who was the king—king is supposed to lead the fight, but because he was blind, he could not join—so this Dhritarashtra is sitting in his own palace with his secretary, Sanjay, who was a student of Vedavyas, and by the mercy of Vedavyas, he was able to envision everything that is happening on the battlefield of Kurukshetra. So this discussion between Sanjay and Dhritarashtra, as explained in the great historical epic Mahabharata, forms the basis of all the philosophy of Bhagavad-gita. So let us start with chapter number one, observing the armies on the battlefield of Kurukshetra. Foreign. Foreign.

After assembling in the place of pilgrimage at Kurukshetra, what did my sons and the sons of Pandu do, being desirous to fight? The foremost thing before we even begin to hear the Vedic knowledge or the knowledge of Bhagavad-gita is understanding, verifying the source. We would have got this confusion, or we should think now that Bhagavad-gita has got so many additions, and similar is the case with other Vedic literatures, and every edition is conveying a unique meaning. So how do we understand which is the right meaning, the original sense, what Krishna wanted to convey to Arjuna? This is very important to discover. [Music] So we should not simply start hearing from any source; otherwise, it is told it can create disaster in our spiritual life. People who have done commentaries which are very famous on Bhagavad-gita, they describe, oh, it is actually not a historical incident; it is an allegorical narrative. The Kurukshetra is human body; Pandavas are the five senses, and Kauravas are 100 vices within the body, and this battle is our internal struggle of senses to overcome the vices. But this is very wrong understanding, because it is explained in various parts of the Vedas; there is reference of Kurukshetra's dharmakshetra. As Dhritarashtra is speaking here, if you have to perform Dharma, any religious activities, go to the pilgrimage dharmakshetra of Kurukshetra. Kurukshetra Dharma. So Kurukshetra is considered, and even now we know it is a geographical location. So why this discrepancy happens? It is because people do not know how to take the right knowledge. The right knowledge, original intent, is very carefully preserved and passed on the succession of disciples in schools called parampara or sampradaya. So it is told in the Padma Purana, in Garg Samhita, which are those sampradays, Vedic schools, from which you should get this knowledge. So it is said, [Music] you may be very happy, oh, I have read this very nice mantra in the Vedas or Gita; I am chanting this every day. But the Vedas are telling, if you have not received it in parampara mataha, that is nishphala, of no use. Other places, Vedas mentioned it is useless if it is—that is why it is important to stick very carefully to one sampradaya or discipline succession. So which are these discipline successions? How do we find? So it is mentioned as I quoted in this verse: sampradaya—Sri, then Brahma. Lord Krishna gave this knowledge to Goddess Lakshmi, then Lord Brahma is another immediate disciple. Lord Shiva is also another immediate disciple, and the fourth sampradaya is that of Kumaras, the sons of Brahma. So they pass this knowledge to their disciples, and then they decided among our disciples who can pass it without any change, who has understood the perfect meaning, and in this way he was declared the next Guru. Then that Guru chose another perfect person who can pass it on without any change. So Sanskrit is such a wonderful language; even in English, a statement can have many, many meanings, what to speak of Sanskrit, which means most reformed. So every verse of Sanskrit can have 60, 70, or many more meanings. So we have to understand in this parampara. Krishna explained to Brahma, Brahma explained to Nara, Narada explained to Veda Vyasa. Experience and we humbly belong to this Brahma sampradaya, which is one of the four original sampradayas, to pass this knowledge without any change, and not only the original meaning, but the spiritual potency is also passed on in this succession. We can memorize all the shlokas of the Vedas and Bhagavad-gita, but we will not be able to have realization. We can read, I am not the body, I am spirit soul, but the realization will never come, how I am not the body and spirit soul. Always lust, great senses will be pulling us. So this realization is passed on in this parampara, this original message and the spiritual potency. That is why when we chant mantras received from the bonafide Guru coming in parampara, that mantra becomes effective, and that promotes us to spiritual realization. So but we are very fortunate; we are in touch with the Brahma sampradaya, and thus the spiritual potency and the original meaning is kept intact. [Music] So also is knowing that Kurukshetra does not mean the body. Thus he is very much afraid, concerned that Kurukshetra is dharmakshetra, place of pilgrimage. The place has got very strong influence upon the activities and intentions of people living over there. So that Dhritarashtra is concerned, there should not be any truce between the parties because he wanted the battle to happen, Pandavas to be defeated, and his sons to occupy the throne. So he's asking Sanjay, did the armies actually fight, being assembled on the battlefield of Kurukshetra? Let us see what Sanjay replies. Come. [Music] Up. [Music]

Sanjay said, okay, after looking over the army gathered by the sons of Pandu, went to his teacher and began to speak the following words. [Music] [Music] My teacher, behold the great army of the sons of Pandu, so expertly arranged by your intelligent disciple, the son of Drupada. [Music] So Duryodhana now is pointing out the defect of Acharya Dronacharya. What is that defect, Maharaja? Head of Kaurava. [Music] And to take revenge of some offenses which he took from Dronacharya, the wife of Arjuna and the Pandavas, Drupada Maharaja, he performed a very powerful sacrifice, because of which he got the benediction of a son who will be able to kill Dronacharya, and thus he got Drishtadyumna. And he said, only to get trained in the art of military warfare, being a liberal Brahmana, did not hesitate to impart all the secrets of military science to Drishtadyumna. And now the great army of the Pandavas—the Kauravas were not expecting that Pandavas, being in exile for so many years, will be able to arrange a large army, and that too arranged in wonderful phalanx, which is difficult to break. So Duryodhana is pointing out defect: you did not hesitate to impart military secrets to your disciple, and now see Drishtadyumna arranged the phalanx or the army of the Pandavas. Now do not commit any such mistaken futures; do not show favoritism to your disciples anymore. [Music] So a very extraordinary display of character is shown here by Dronacharya. If you come to know that this person is going to kill me, shall we teach him or her the science of military warfare? The art of killing could do that, being a liberal Brahmana. So what is this Brahmana actually? Brahmanās are the most important people in a Vedic society. Brahmana does not signify caste system; that is a perverted interpretation and practice of very beautiful varnashrama system which is created by God. The system which is called Hindu Dharma—it is not, there is nothing called Hindu Dharma. Hindu is a geographical term, other side of the Sindhu Valley; they could not uh pronounce S, so Sindhu became Hindu. People who are living on the other side, this Aryavarta province which is called India today, came to be known as Hindus, and their practices, Hindu religion. So just like science is not American science or European science or Indian science, it is science. No science can be called electromagnetism, optical physics, quantum mechanics. In a similar fashion, religion means the instructions given by God so that we can have self-realization. In a similar fashion, this religion which was practiced in this Aryavarta, and actually it was practiced across the globe, now it has got reduced to this portion, and practically it has vanished now; just the remnants are there in the form of caste system. So in this system of varnashrama, the leaders were the brahmanas. Who is a brahmana? Not as per any surname. Krishna tells, just like in democracy, the society is divided; there are lawmakers who are different, bureaucrats are different, and the ordinary public is different; all of them have the right to vote. In monarchy, this was not the system. In communism, the system is different. And in varnashrama system, the society was most scientifically divided by the perfect arrangement of God in eight divisions: four varnas of social orders and four ashramas, they were spiritual orders. So in this system, we have body and soul; we need to take care of soul as well as the external body. Thus Manas and ashramas and the ultimate result is self-realization. So brahmanas are considered the head of the body of society. The body can continue without other limbs like hands and legs, although they are important, but if the body is severed of its head, it will fall down immediately. So brahmanas are considered the head of the social body. If brahmanas are not there, it is catastrophe in the society. Why catastrophe? Because brahmanas only are able to understand the most important fundamental knowledge which should be the basis of all other activities that we do. And what is that fundamental knowledge? That is the knowledge of eternality. If you are working very hard to decorate our house, we are painting, we are putting bunting, festoons, and so much work is going on; we are arranging the entire, rearranging, refurbishing entire house with imported furniture. So people will ask, who is coming to your house? Why you are working so hard? And if you reply, yes, I'm working so hard so that I can burn it down, then people will tell, are you crazy? So the Vedas point out, actually similar is our situation now. Entire life we are working very, very hard just to take care of this body which will eventually be burned down. So taking care of house is important, but if it is not your permanent house, what is the use? So we are eternal. This is the essence of the Vedic literatures and Bhagavad-gita. So if you are eternal, just like you are sitting in a restaurant, you will move out; you need not waste all your money in decorating, arranging your chair and the interiors of restaurant because you are going to carry on; you are a traveler. Similarly, we are eternal travelers having temporary experience in this body, and we don't care to work for our eternal benefit but waste all the efforts for temporary benefit. We leave all our loving people, all our property, all the name, fame, recognition acquired, and move on. This is the mistake of civilization. [Music] So this concept is difficult to understand; people are doubtful, and we will be doubtful. Just like a sick man is doubtful of the actual taste of the food. When a man is sick, he cannot tell what is the real taste of food because all the food is bitter to a sick person. So he will always remain doubtful. Similarly, we have got this disease of bhavaroga. Bhavaroga means accepting material bodies and bodily concept of life, thinking I am the body. Just like a madman, sometimes he thinks I am traffic police and he's controlling the traffic on his own mad, or they think I am doctor, like that. So we are thinking I am this body. This is a disease called bhavaroga. So when we are affected by this disease, we can never understand our eternality. But brahmanas are free from this disease, and they can understand that we are eternal. So taking care of mind and body is important, but they are important only if they are contributing to our eternal self, our eternal benefit. So does the brahmanas are the head of this social body. So how does one become a brahmana? Jayate, shastras explained, by birth everybody shudra. What is shudra? Shudra means, Manu is untrained, and who cries for insignificant small things. Now, because this systematic training of evolution in higher consciousness is missing, entire society gets disturbed very easily, and there is depression, panic attacks, suicides, and all such mental agonies because by birth everyone is shudra. Just like a child keeps on crying, we will keep on crying in our life unless we promote ourselves to higher platform. And for this, the Vedas, the varnashrama system recommends sanskaras. Janmana jayate. Now, of course, just the external formalities of sanskaras have remained. When the soil child is sent to school, the child gets educated, gets a good job or does good business and settles in life. But if he takes it as a formality, let me go to school and come back, it will not produce the desired effect. So now just some formalities remaining in the name of sanskaras. Some person who is not qualified to chant mantras into yagya, he's chanting mantras and doing some yagya and having no realization, put some thread on the shoulders, and then a person is initiated, the sister, a minute of a national system, just external formality. But there is a great science behind this. So if the rules and regulations, procedures are taken care of, the lifestyle is altered, and these sanskaras are performed in a proper way, then they give us elevation in consciousness. If a person goes through this proper sanskaras, he becomes twice born. First birth, even the animals have that. As a human being, we are expected to take second birth. What is second birth? Spiritual master becomes the father, and the Vedas become mother, who—

Has taken such second birth is qualified to understand the Vedic knowledge. As a sick man cannot tell the real taste of food, a person who is not vija shruti gocharam they cannot understand the Vedas. So taking these formal steps of sanskaras is important. After initiation, a person becomes vija, and duja are given admission in the Vedic schools. And then he starts studying the Vedas. And when he becomes a scholar, vastly learned in the Vedas, he becomes a vipra, a wise learned scholar.

And then when one realizes that knowledge, as we were discussing, reading shloka is not enough; you have to realize that fire is hot. Fire is hot is one thing; touching the fire and knowing, oh, this is hot, this is called realization. So when a person has realization, Brahma janati, one understands, "I am different from this body; I am spirit soul," and mama evanchoji will okay the spirit soul is eternal, a servant fragment of the Supreme soul. That is called perfect realization, brahmana. So one who understands this Brahma Gyan, he is called brahmana, a realized soul. Thus brahmanas were not bound by any rules of the state. Brahmanas are directly in touch with the Supreme Lord, and thus they were only authorized to become acharyas. The Dronacharya was the acharya; he taught the Pandavas, but he did not teach them Brahmavidya, his students. He taught them Dhanur Vidya because the Brahma Vidya is meant for the brahmanas, and they were Kshatriyas. So he taught them Dhanur Vidya. But it is very important that unless a person comes to this platform of realization, as once had been different from body, they should not become teachers. Because if we miss this fundamental aspect of eternality, then all our education is useless, because it simply promotes hard work for just temporary gains.

Here in this army, there are many heroic women equal in fighting to Bhima and Arjuna, and there are also great fighters like Yuyudhan, Virat, and Drupada. So Duryodhana is now analyzing the warriors on the opposite side and the strength of his army. There are also great, heroic, powerful fighters like Saibya, Yudhamanyusta, Vikranta, Uttama. There are the mighty Yudhamanyu, the very powerful son of Subhadra, and the sons of Draupadi. All these warriors are great chariot fighters.

Oh, best of the brahmanas, for your information, let me tell you about the captains who are specially qualified to lead my military force. Who are always victorious in the battle. There are many other heroes who are prepared to lay down their lives for my sake. All of them are well equipped with different kinds of weapons, and all are experienced in military science. Our strength is immeasurable, and we are perfectly protected by grandfather Bhishma, whereas the strength of the Pandavas, carefully protected by Bhima, is limited.

So here Duryodhana is making an estimation of strength, and he is telling very confidently that we are having odds on our favor to win this battle because the Pandava army is led by Bhima, who Duryodhana considered like a fake, and it was a fact; he was a fig in the presence of Bhishma, the great fighter who was leading the side of the Kauravas. So Duryodhana is very expert in calculation, and here also we are very expert in calculation. We are having many, many researchers; the research papers are just increasing every day very nicely. We are calculating what is going to make us happy, but all the calculations are failing. Why the calculations are failing? So this incident is very, very instructive in this regard, because Lord Krishna was connected to both the parties. He told, "I cannot be partial," so he came upon a solution: "I divide myself into two segments; one side will be my army; another side will be me, who will not fight. So anybody who approaches me and asks, I will reward accordingly." Which was not defeated anywhere; they were able to defeat even the demigods, the residents of higher Heavenly planets. On the other side was Lord Krishna, but Lord Krishna told, "I will not pick up any weapons," because if Lord Krishna picks up weapons, who can defeat him? So both of them, Arjuna and Duryodhana, became very eager to approach him to seek the desired favor.

At first, Lord Krishna was taking rest at that time. Being very eager to ask the desired wish, he said very close to the head of Lord Krishna who was resting. Arjuna also reached, and being a devotee of Krishna, he took the humble position sitting at the lotus feet of Krishna. Woke up; his originally have come; please tell me what do you want. Immediately told, "No, no, I came first," but Krishna told, "But I have seen Arjuna first, so it is his right to ask first." Uh, seeing this argument, Duryodhana is telling, "No, I won't first try to ask." Arjuna immediately blurted out; he told, "No, Krishna, I just want you; I don't want anything else." And Duryodhana was presently surprised; Arjuna has become mad. Anyway, no problem. "Arjuna, you keep Krishna; I will be satisfied with the army. Thank you very much," Krishna he told. What use would be Lord Krishna because he is anyway not going to take weapons? Let me have his army and defeat the Pandavas.

This is the mistake which all of us do. We calculate very nicely: Let me have nice education, nice wealth, nice body. We go to the gym every day, spend many, many hours over there, and let me do more certifications, more courses; let me set up more business, have more branches; let me have very nice family members, have nice spouse, and in this way we are very nicely calculative to become happy, but why all calculations are failing? The world is working very hard for many years, and as the world statistics shows that depression is increasing, anxieties are increasing, because like Duryodhana, we miss this most important factor in our calculation, and that is called Krishna. Has descended in the form of His holy name. So when we request people, "You please chant Krishna," tells in Bhagavad-gita, 9th chapter, verse number 13. Mom always keep on chanting my name. People think of what will chanting Krishna's names do? Let me do my calculation and work very hard and become happy, but we see where is happiness. So we have to understand, put this factor in the first line of our calculation: Please have God in your life, then that will make us happy. So Arjuna did not calculate; I just want to have Krishna on my side, and then even though Arjuna was weak, it was not possible for him to defeat great generals like Drona, Bhishma, and Karna. Arjuna was less powerful, much less powerful compared to them, but he was able to defeat all of them because Krishna was on the side of Arjuna. So let us just have Krishna on our side, and then we'll be victorious in the struggle against all the material miseries of life. Thank you.

Irony now all of you must give full support to grandfather Bhishma, standing at your respective strategic points in the phalanx of the army. So Duryodhana is behaving like an expert diplomat, because he's telling the glories of Bhishma Deva. Our army is having great chances of victory because we have Bhishma, but Dronacharya is also as qualified as Bhishma in terms of fighting. So in order to pacify him also, give respect to him. Now he's telling, "Yes, even though Bhishma is qualified, but all of you are very important. We have to give protection to Bhishma, because if Bhishma focuses fighting just on one side, and we can break into our phalanx, attack Bhishma, and thus we will lose our general. So all of you also are very, very important; we have to protect Bhishma very carefully."

Valiant, grand desire of the Kuru Dynasty, the grandfather of the fighters blew his conch shell very loudly, like the sound of a lion, giving Duryodhana joy. So Bhishma wanted to give joy to his son, grandson Duryodhana, that I will not leave any stone unturned in this war, and thus he blew his conch shells. But he also wanted to indicate by conch, which is eternal insignia of Lord Krishna, Lord Krishna always carries conch with him, that please understand Krishna is on the other side. So even though I will not leave any stone unturned, victory is on the side of Pandavas.

Trumpets, drums, and horns were all suddenly sounded, and the combined sound was tumultuous. On the other side, both Lord Krishna and Arjuna, stationed on a great chariot drawn by the white horses, sounded the transcendental conch. Then Lord Krishna blew his conch shell called Panchajanya. Arjuna blew his, the Devadata, and Bhima, the voracious eater and performer of Herculean tasks, blew his terrific conch shell called Paundra. A very significant word is used here to address Lord Krishna, Rishikesh. Every Sanskrit word has got great meaning, senses, and Isha means controller or master. So Lord Krishna is described here as the master or the director of the senses. We have got five knowledge-acquiring senses by which we sense this world; we understand what is happening, and now we have created many extensions of the senses, just like the television or the newspapers, through it we are able to sense the things whatever is happening in the world around us. But we have to understand the senses cannot give us absolute knowledge. The government which has provided us televisions or the internet signals very tightly regulates these extended senses; whatever the government wishes we will be able to perceive through these extended senses. In a similar fashion, Lord Krishna has given us these senses, and the senses even we can understand if we have gone through the basic scientific books; our eyes can see a very small range of the electromagnetic spectrum, 400 to 700 or 900 nanometers, not beyond that. That is called Webgear, the visible range, and then what to speak of spiritual existence, even the personalities, all the objects which emit or reflect light beyond this video spectrum, we will not be able to see them. So our senses give a very limited perspective of this world; thus we can never tell what is reality using our senses, even material reality, then what to speak of spirit, which is beyond the range of all the senses. Only when Lord Krishna is willing, who is the master of the senses, our senses, mind is also considered sense, sixth sense. Lord Krishna explains to Arjuna in Bhagavad-gita. So just like our senses have got limitations, our mind also has got limitation, which is the sixth sense. Just like a mind of a dog cannot understand anything about the advanced sciences that we study, mind of a child cannot understand; he should go to school and study to prepare for his future; he's forced to do that. Similarly, our mind cannot understand everything. Then why are we thinking by research work, using our senses and mind, we will be able to understand God in spirit? Sensors provide a small window to the world; is it not common sense? Mind has got its limitations; is it not common sense? So sometimes some scientists who are atheistic or agnostic, actually all the real scientists, science was meant actually to discover absolute truth; what is this world about, all about, from where it has come. Now it has got drifted off into technology, and we are using science to create means of carnal gratification or mental gratification, but science was also meant to understand absolute truth. So you'll be surprised to know, I was surprised when I read that Schrodinger, Heisenberg, Niels Bohr, the founders of all the wonderful technology I'm speaking here, you are hearing this revolution has come because of quantum mechanics, and they are the founding fathers, and all of them were great readers of the Upanishads and the Vedanta. Oppenheimer, Albert Einstein, all of them, but some of them who are not so enlightened, they tell these people, religious people are having blind faith. But once scientists, I think Charles Towns or somebody else has very beautifully told that people accuse the religious people of having blind faith, but actually the atheistic scientists are the people who should be accused of having blind faith, because they are having blind faith on their mind and senses that with this they can understand everything of this world. This is blind faith, isn't it? We understand our brain and mind has got limitations, but thinking my brain, my mind can explain me, and I can understand the complete reality, and thus let me engage in research depending upon this mind and senses. This is blind faith. So just see, Vedas are so nice, so Veda still do not depend upon your research work; you will never be able to understand absolute truth, understand who has designed your senses, and then if he is pleased, he can change the design, and then you will be able to understand complete reality. So Lord Krishna, Rishikesh, he's seated within our hearts and is willing to give all the direction to us; he is willing to give us complete knowledge, but we do not want it; we do not surrender to Krishna. Just like the teacher cannot impart knowledge to the students unless the students surrender, they agree to take admission in the school, follow the rules and regulations, attend classes on time, wear the uniform, pay the fees, then only they can be imparted knowledge. Doctor cannot help the patient if the patient does not surrender, agrees to be operated by the doctor. We cannot reach any place if we don't surrender to the pilot. So we see that in day-to-day life also, surrender is very much required. So God can give us complete knowledge and direction if we surrender to God. So thus we should be very, very eager to understand these instructions of Bhagavad-gita, surrender me, simply following the instructions. So let us first understand all the instructions and then try to follow completely, and then Krishna will take complete charge of our body; not just he becomes director, but he becomes complete, absolute controller of a soul which is completely surrendered, and then we are led to the right actions which bring happiness to us and to everybody else.

The son of Kunti blew his conch shell, the Ananda Vijaya, and Nakula and Sahadeva blew the Sugosha and Manipushpaka. The great archer, the king of Kashi, the great fighter Shikhandi, Drishtadyumna, Virat, and the unconquerable Satyaki, Drupada, the sons of Draupadi, and others, O King, such as the son of Subhadra, greatly armed, all blew their respective conches. The blowing of these different conch shells became uproarious and thus vibrating both in the sky and on the earth; it shattered the heart of the sons of Dhritarashtra. So when the party of the Kauravas blew their conch shells, there is no such narration explained that the Pandavas got disturbed, but when the Pandavas blew their conches, their hearts became shattered because a devotee is never disturbed in any circumstances. The Pandavas, the Pandavas were pure devotees, completely surrendered to Lord Krishna, and thus understanding the Supreme Lord who is the creator of unlimited universes is on our side, then what is the cause of any fear? So we are very, very fearful in our life; the way to come out of all the fear is taking shelter of Lord Krishna, the Supreme Personality, like Pandavas have taken here.

At that time, Arjuna, the son of Pandu, who was seated in his chariot, his flag marked with Hanuman, took up his bow and prepared to shoot his arrows, looking at the sons of Dhritarashtra. Okay, Arjuna then spoke to Rishikesh Krishna these words. Please draw my chariot between the two armies so that I may see who is present here, who is desirous of fighting, and with whom I must contend in this great battle. Attempt again; a very significant word is used here to address Lord Krishna, and that is the relationship between the Lord and his devotee is very sweet. The devotee has no other intention but to serve the Lord, and the Lord has got nothing else to do but to service the devotee. Thus we can see Lord Krishna sometimes becomes the doorman of his devotee, like he became doorman of Bali Maharaj; sometimes he becomes child like that of Nan Maharaj and Yashoda; sometimes he takes lowly positions as that of charioteer, like here he has become of Arjuna. But Arjuna is very conscious that my dear Lord Krishna, you have kindly agreed to become my chariot driver, but I understand your Supreme Lord, so please excuse me; I am ordering you to take my chariot between the two armies. You don't become any less than the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Thus he's used the word here means infallible. You always remain the Supreme Lord. Another understanding is achuta means fallible; we are all chutas, the conditioned living entities. When the living entity falls from the spiritual platform and gets trapped by the laws of nature, then this situation is called chuta. But Lord Krishna, although he appears in this material world made up of material energy, he remains achuta; he never becomes controlled by the laws of nature. This point is very important to understand; our perspective of the world is given to us under the control of material nature. If we have got the body of a pig, we will find stool to be very tasty; if you have got a human body, we'll find other delicacies like sweets, milk sweets to be tasty. So the way we perceive the world, it depends upon the body which is in control of material nature; we don't have absolute perception of the world. But when Lord Krishna comes here, he does not become controlled by the laws of nature, although it appears that he is also taking birth; he is also dying. Somebody shot an arrow, and it struck the toe of Krishna, and Krishna left his body. Why you are telling that he is God, and see somebody killed God? Can God be killed? He cannot protect himself even from an arrow; how he can be God? Or he is crying, being fearful of the mother; how God can cry? That is why Kunti Marani tells, "Your activities are bewildering." So it is not very easy to understand the activities of Krishna simply by seeing those activities. Some people tell you need not read the activities of Krishna, books like Mahabharata, Bhagavad-gita, simply you know the activities and you understand, pick up from their behavior. No, we will be completely mistaken. My birth and activities don't follow material laws; they are divyam, completely transcendental, spiritual. Anybody who is able to understand these laws, he will also become immortal. So it's a great science. When Lord Krishna comes here, it is, it is explained by Kunti Marani, it is like a dramatic actor acting on a stage; he acts as if he has taken birth; he acts as if he is dying, just like an actor on the stage; he's telling, "I am having a heart attack," actually nothing is happening. In a similar fashion, Lord Krishna does performance here; he acts to attract the attention of conditioned souls, living entities like us, towards his wonderful activities. But then sometimes he surpasses all the laws of nature. Lord Krishna showed in his mouth all the universes to Mother Yashoda. Lord Krishna lifted great Hill Govardhana on his little finger for seven days continuously without eating, drinking, or taking any rest. These are extraordinary activities. So sometimes Krishna performs ordinary-looking activities, sometimes extraordinary activities, but Lord Krishna always remains achuta, beyond the laws of nature. Does this Bhagavad-gita is valuable because this is absolute knowledge? Any human being does not deserve to give knowledge because his knowledge, the knowledge taken by the research using mind and senses, it is conditioned by this body, just like a sick man finds all the food bitter. We will give knowledge basis our understanding, the way our senses perceive the world, but Lord Krishna being transcendental, this instruction is absolute and without any fault and mistakes. Thus the name used here is achuta; this is the second reason of using this word. Let me see those who have come here to fight, wishing to please the evil-minded son of Dhritarashtra. Arjun, astering Lord Krishna, can you please take the chariot in between the parties so that I can see who has come to fight with me? Sanjaya said, "O descendant of Bharat, being thus addressed by Arjuna, Lord Krishna drew up the fine chariot in the midst of the armies of both parties." Arjuna here is being addressed as Gudakesha. Gudaka means sleep or ignorance. So Arjuna is said to have conquered sleep and ignorance because of his constant association with Lord Krishna. So here the ignorance which Arjuna displays of that of a materialistic man, this ignorance is created so that we can get instruction, perfect knowledge, because we will never ask these spiritual questions; we are generally interested in material enjoyment. Otherwise, Arjuna is good; akesha, he is a constant companion of Krishna, just like an iron rod kept in fire; it becomes fire-like; it also starts emitting heat and light; anybody who touches that iron will get burnt. In a similar fashion, just maintaining constant touch with God, the Supreme Spirit, spiritualizes us completely; our body also becomes spiritual, and we also surpass ignorance in sleep. Thus the great devotees, very advanced spiritualists, they are not bound by the conditions of hunger, thirst, and sleep. When Srimad-Bhagavatam was spoken for seven days continuously, Goswami kept on speaking, Parikshit Maharaj kept on hearing without eating, drinking, or sleeping. Similarly, the six Goswamis, shared Goswamis who have founded the current Vrindavan. So Lord Krishna spent all this time and wonderful childhood pastimes he performed in Vrindavan, but then after that all the places got lost; the invaders came; they attacked; it became jungle; so all the places were restored by the Shad Goswamis of Vrindavan: Rupa Goswami, Sanatan Goswami, Srila Jiva Goswami, Gopal Bhatta Goswami, Raghunath Bhatta Swami, and Raghunath Das Goswami.

These Goswamis, who were earlier materialists behaving like materialists at least and sleeping for many many hours—12 hours, 13 hours—when they became devotees, they surpassed all the influence of biological needs also, and they were sleeping just for one or two hours in a day. So can we imagine a person sustaining himself with just one or two hours of sleep? That is possible in spiritual life. So if we also maintain constant touch with Krishna, we will be able to surpass the influence of ignorance and sleep. So how to maintain that? Now I do not see Lord Krishna around us, as we discussed in the beginning of the discourse. Lord Krishna tells, constantly keep on chanting My names. So this is a very important message of Lord Krishna to Arjuna and Bhagavad-Gita: constantly do kirtan, keep on chanting My names. So whatever activities we are doing throughout the day, if you keep on taking the names of God, then we will be maintaining constant touch with this incarnation of God. Just like Rama, di Murtisthan—many many incarnations are taken by God, as Ram, Baraha, Narasimha, etc. In Kaliyuga, nama—after this is also incarnation, incarnation in the form of sound. So by chanting the names of God constantly, we maintain constant touch with God, and we surpass all the ignorance and get knowledge by the mercy of God.

And all other Chieftains of the world, Rishikesh, the Lord said, “Just behold, Parth, all the gurus who are assembled here.”

Could see within the midst of the armies of both parties his father’s, grandfathers, teachers, maternal uncles, brothers, sons, grandsons, friends, and also his father-in-law and well-wishers, all present there.

Overwhelmed with compassion and spoke thus:

“Seeing My friends and relatives present before Me in such a fighting spirit, I feel the limbs of My body quivering and My mouth drying up.

And My hair is standing on end; My bow, Gandiva, is slipping from My hand, and My skin is burning.” So we can imagine what is the situation of Arjuna. Suppose our relatives, brothers, fathers, fathers-in-law, and all other dear friends, teachers, and relatives come before us, taking swords, arrows, and guns in their hand, willing to kill us. What would be our situation? They are willing to kill us—the people whom we love the most, and we are supposed to kill them; we are duty-bound. The situation would be very, very pathetic, and this is the situation of Arjuna. As soon as he saw, he wanted to see who has come, and when he saw all his relatives who are very dear to me—Bhishma is there, whom I was calling as father—and Vishnu was correcting Arjuna, “I am not father, I am grandfather.” When you try to cry, when he would try to climb on the lap of Bhishma, such Bhishma—he is now standing with arrows willing to kill Arjuna, his teacher Drona, and all other people. So this material world is summarized very beautifully as pavarga in the Vedic literatures. What is pavarga? So this is a very important instruction again. Usually we do not know for what we should follow the Dharma, the scientific rules and regulations for our conduct in life. Why has God given these instructions? And if at all some people follow it, they think it is for economic development. But actually, yes, in the codes of religion, economic development is also mentioned, but actually such religions are cheating religions. It is mentioned in Bhagavatam as Dharma-cheating religion. Just like the purpose of school is to impart education, but the child is introduced into this education system through playschool—anything. So school is a nice place to go; I am able to play there very nicely. But actually, the purpose is to take a child away from the playful sporting so that serious business of education he can undergo. Similarly, when people are not very wise, just like a small child, such dharmas are required, which are called kaita-vadharma. And in the Vedas it is told, “You follow these rules and regulations nicely; do this, you’re gonna do this, and you will enjoy material fame, name, comfort, spouse, defeat of the enemies, and all such things.” But what is the real purpose of Dharma? That is mentioned in Srimad-Bhagavatam. Dharma—hardly people know this; nobody teaches this. Dharma is so many activities which are happening in the world. We have so many nations; we have so many universities; we have so many establishments; we have so many factories, offices, businesses, sports, and so many numerous engagements. But all of this can be summarized in pavarga. What is pavarga? So we have wonderful alphabets in the Devanagari bhama. This string is called the bursaries. Everyone has to work very hard in the material world, so parishram is the beginning of this material world. And then after parishram, there is far, far means fena. What is fena? Sometimes when the horse runs so much, there is foam in the mouth of the horse. So so much hard work a person has to do, he will become completely exhausted, fatigued. This fatigue is another feature, second feature of material world: you have to work very hard, and fair enough, foam starts coming out of mouth; we get tired. And once we work so hard, then what happens? What is ba? Ba means bandhan. We get some results; either objects, situation, have a high status in the society, or some loving people around us, or animals around us, and then we get entangled; we have strong attachment for all these things, positions, and people, and that is called bandhan, attachment. What happens because of this bandhan is bhaya, fear. Then the person is always fearful. When the child attains status of top ranker, he is always fearful, “Oh, I may not lose even one mark, otherwise I’ll get second rank”—always anxious. If a person becomes rich, he is afraid, “I may not lose my wealth; I may not… I have purchased a new car; didn’t may not come in my new expensive car; I have got some relatives, or something may not happen to my relative.” Always these thoughts are bothering, and thus a person is always fearful, “My people may not go away; spouse may not go away; money may not go away; my reputation may not go away.” Thus a person is constantly fraught with fear, and his life becomes very troublesome and fearing. Fearing—what happens? Mama means mrityu, death. This is the summed substance of material life; nothing else. The always-expected happiness which gives satiation to the heart never comes about because a person does not know the signs of the self being part and parcel of the Supreme Self; he never counts Krishna in his calculations, like Duryodhana. We simply want Krishna’s energies, armies, even though we approach God sometimes, just like Duryodhana approached Krishna. We approached God not for God, but for God’s opulences, God’s strength, God’s Army, God’s wealth, but never God, and that is why pavarga happens. So Dharma means—the real purpose of Dharma is to stop this hard work, parishram, stop this constant fear, which is because of material attachments, and stop the process of death. This is the aim of human form of life. After evolution through so many species, finally we have got this human form of life. Before death arrives, we should prepare ourselves that there is no more death; we should become immortal after this death. This is the preparation, but we have no knowledge. So we have to understand, just like using science we have stopped certain diseases, similarly using the science—wonderful science which is mentioned in Bhagavad-Gita—leading a life based on those principles, we can stop death also. Just like diseases have been stopped—some diseases—all the diseases can be completely stopped, and death can be stopped by following the scientific regulative principles of the Bhagavad-Gita, and that is the aim of human form of life: preparation for immortality. Thus Dashrath Maharaj, when he met the sage Vishwamitra who came to meet him in his court—so when we meet each other, we generally ask, “How are you? How are you doing? How your family members are?” But what can you ask a sage? So the father of Lord Ramchandra, Dashrath Maharaja, asked, “My dear Sage, how are your endeavors going on to win over this repeated death, repeated birth and death?” This is the aim of human form of life; this is the purpose of Dharma. Otherwise, the situation is like that of Arjuna, fraught with anxieties.

“I am now unable to stand here any longer; I am forgetting Myself, and My mind is reeling. I foresee only evil.” Or killer of the Keshi demon. Another very significant word used here is viparitani. Arjuna is telling Krishna, “We think this war is going to give us happiness through kingdom, but I think vipritani, the reverse is going to happen; I will come in complete distress.” So if the science of God is not taken into account, the spiritual knowledge is not taken into account, then any action which we do, it will have viparitani, the reverse effect. And very clearly we can observe this in the society around us. Computers were invented so that we can save time from the tremendous filing—another labor—but we see computers have made us even more busy. The means of transport were there to save time, but those very means of transport—so I’m speaking here from the city of Mumbai. Mumbai people spend so much of time because Mumbai city has got additional facility, very good public transport, local trains and buses. So people, very fondly, they are forced to spend on an average two to three hours minimum every day in these modes of transport. So reverse has happened; rather than saving time, their time is going in this transfer now because this transport is there; they have to travel. Social media was invented so that we can increase socializing, but it has made people isolated and depressed; socializing has been cut off, reduced. We think in our life, just a couple of years more, and then after this stage everything would be settled; I’ll be very happy. But after every couple of years, instead of expected happiness, complexities and anxieties increase in our life. So what kind of knowledge are we cultivating in our life? Still Vidya should make you liberated, should make you happy, but by this advancement of knowledge we become more and more stressed and depressed. It means we are cultivating ignorance. Why ignorance? Because this fundamental first equation itself we have committed mistake—that I am eternal spirit soul, part and parcel of God.

“I do not see how any good can come from killing My own kinsmen in this battle, nor can I, My dear Krishna, desire any subsequent victory, kingdom, or happiness.” The word he has used here for happiness is—there are two kinds of happiness—pray means immediate happiness, and shreya means ultimate happiness. So Arjuna is telling Krishna, “Immediately I think I may become happy by winning this war, but I don’t see any ultimate happiness, shreya, in this.” So this should be our consideration always: this act now, it is giving me satisfaction, instant gratification, but what does this material enjoyment do to me in the long run? I get addicted to it. Today I want to see one video; I want tomorrow two videos more; one cigarette I have, I want more, two cigarettes. So immediately I get gratification, but in the long term the desires always keep on increasing, and there is a limitation being put by mind, body, society, and the laws of nature, and thus we are never satisfied by this material enjoyment—instant gratification, long-term dissatisfaction. So we should understand where is shreya. Even though initially it could be troublesome, but ultimate happiness—where does it lie?

Of what avail to us our kingdoms, happiness, or even life itself, when all those for whom we may desire them are now arrayed in this battlefield? When teachers, fathers, sons, grandfathers, maternal uncles, fathers-in-law, grandsons, brothers-in-law, and all relatives are ready to give up their lives and properties and are standing before Me, then why should I wish to kill them, though I may survive? Or maintainer of All Creatures, I am not prepared to fight with them even in exchange for the three worlds, let alone this Earth.

Sin will overcome us if we slay such aggressors; therefore it is not proper for us to kill the sons of Dhritarashtra and our friends. What should we gain of Krishna, husband of the goddess of Fortune, and how could we be happy by killing our own kinsmen? So according to Vedic injunctions, there are six kinds of aggressors: one who gives you poison, one who sets fire to your house, one who encroaches your property, who kidnaps your family members, attacks you with deadly weapons. So such aggressors can be killed, and there is no—although killing is a great sin, but if you kill these people, six categories, then there is no sin incurred. So Arjuna is telling that they are aggressors, but Arjuna is a saintly person at the same time, and a saintly person is not supposed to avenge like this. But such saintliness should not be displayed by a Kshatriya; such saintliness is meant for Brahmanas—non-violence. So non-violence, which is Dharma of Brahmanas, was very strictly followed in the Vedic times. Thus Vishwamitra, he could have killed the Tadka rakshasi, but he came to Dashrath Maharaja to beg for his sons, Ram and Lakshman, for such an act. Vishwamitra was so powerful, but he was knowing, “What is My Dharma? Non-violence. Even though I have power, but it cannot be used that can be for My temporary material benefit; it will be against My eternal benefit.” He is not supposed to practice non-violence because somebody has to defend the citizens, and thus Arjuna, being a Kshatriya, was not supposed to exhibit the saintly behavior. So this is the confusion, but then there is another confusion: even though Kshatriya is not supposed to show this behavior and kill the other party, but here the situation is different because the other party, although they are aggressors, but they are relatives also, and the relatives should not be killed in this way. There is lot of Dharma-sankat in the case of Arjuna. There is duty as a saintly person, but then there are aggressors; he is a Kshatriya; Kshatriya is supposed to kill, but then on the other side the aggressors are relatives, relatives and family members who are not supposed to be killed. So Arjuna is completely puzzled, and also he is feeling very disheartened seeing his family members ready to kill him, and thus he is very much disturbed.

Although these men, overtaken by greed, see no fault in killing one’s family or quarreling with friends, why should we, with knowledge of the sin, engage in these acts? Killing relatives is a very big sin; they cannot bother; at least we, being intelligent, should bother. This is a great sin.

With the destruction of dynasty, the eternal family tradition is vanquished, and thus the rest of the family becomes involved in irreligious practice. When irreligion is prominent in the family, O Krishna, the women of the family become corrupt, and from the degradation of womanhood or descendant of Vishnu comes unwanted progeny. So Arjuna is citing various reasons; he is very nicely calculating, being a devotee, having compassion in the heart, also being a very righteous person, not getting maddened by the desire to have sovereignty on the planet Earth. He is telling, “I am not just calculating My distress, My dear Krishna, but it is having other very serious implications also.” Now all these people are elderly members of the family, the male persons. If these elderly people are killed here, then the family tradition would be lost. In family tradition, not only the vocational skills were passed down, but also these practices contributed to spiritual salvation, which is the ultimate aim of life of the individual. Now when elderly family members are not there to monitor these sanskaras and conduct, the family tradition will be lost, and the ultimatum of life would be baffled. And when there are no senior people to keep the family religious, then the women would become corrupt and polluted. If you don’t follow religion nicely, there is no higher pressure in life, then corruption, adultery is the result. And if woman becomes adulterous, there is a disaster for the entire civilization. So how to bring a good progeny on this planet? It is a great science. The chastity of womanhood is a very important factor in this. If women are chaste, pious, religious, then the child would be born in a very good consciousness, and they can be admitted into the Varna-ashrama system. So when Varna-ashrama system is not just one-sided, just taking care of the spiritual side, but also it takes care of the most nice management of the society. So society needs Brahmana, which is like head; society also needs Kshatriya, which are like arms. The Varna-ashrama is not one-sided, just taking care of the spiritual side and ignoring the material comforts—no. Just like the body has got many limbs, and all the limbs should be properly protected, taken care of, in a similar fashion, Varna-ashrama system very nicely sees to it that all the limbs are taken care of, protected, and they are very healthy, in good shape. So in order to protect the Brahmanas, which, as we discussed, are the heads of the social body, this Varna-ashrama system is very important. Not every person can have the brain to have spiritual realization; not every person can practice all the rules and regulations which enable one for spiritual realization, like satyam, shama, dhama, titiksha. So Brahmana is wildly truthful; even though he can lose his life for speaking truth, he will never speak false. So people ask, “Why do you believe in the Vedas?” There are many reasons; if you read, you will also believe. But one important factor is it is coming down through the Brahmanas who can never interpret a false meaning, who never take a salary. Brahmana is having complete control on mind and senses; he does not get carried away by the demands of the body. So he takes alms because he has no time to go for a job; he is engaged in patan, patan, yajan—to study and to explain, give this knowledge to others, to do yagya, worship the Supreme Lord, tell others how to worship. And thus, because he has no time for other less important maintaining livelihood such activities, he goes and begs alms, and people being generous can give extra alms to them. He will keep just the amount required for the maintenance of that particular day; he will not save it for tomorrow also, and he will also do charity for all the excess goods received. So in this way a Brahmana is supposed to follow many, many qualities. So to have such qualities, it is important to have such body also which enables a person to practice control of senses, control of mind, tolerance—the titiksha, shanti—very peaceful, arjavam—very simple simplicity. So all these qualities—and such qualities are maintained even in animals. We know if you want to maintain a good breed, then they should not be bred with some other combination. So the breeds are also very carefully preserved; unrestricted mixing among the breeds, if it happens, then the dogs also become very dull; the cows also are not able to produce sufficient milk. So just like in animals we present good bodies by preservation of breeds, the similar preservation was practiced in the Varna system also. Unrestricted mixing of the varnas, the classes, was not allowed. So such people whose bodies have been designed to act as Kshatriya, who are very strong and having loading over nature, having administrative skills, and who are very, very brave, will not deny any challenge, even though the challenge can lead to their death, but Kshatriya cannot avoid the challenge, to accept a combat. So like this many, many other features were there, such trainings required unique bodies, and these were very nicely preserved. And one very important factor is chastity of womanhood. So then if women they start mixing, they become adulterous, then the child would not be of very good body and mind, not of good consciousness. And when the progeny itself, the child itself is not having capacity to enter into one ashrama system—just like everybody cannot take admission into school; people are having dementia, autism, and so many other things. So if the body itself is not capable of entering even into Varna-ashrama, where is a question of spiritual perfection and peacefulness in the society? If there are only mad people in the society, society cannot be peaceful. So same people keep the mad people; they help them; they treat them very nicely, but it is done by sane people. So to maintain such sanity, preserve the unique qualities required for the maintenance of society, the strict rules and regulations of avoiding illicit sex and adultery was required. And only when a person is very devotely religious, such adultery can be avoided in society. And if the elderly members are killed, who will protect the women whom untrained men can entice into unwanted progeny? So thus Arjuna is counting all these very important reasons. When there is increase of unwanted population, a hellish situation is created both for the family and for those who destroy the family tradition. In such corrupt families there is no offering of oblations of food and water to the ancestors.

Is very important here. Yes, we have responsibility for the family members as long as they are there in this body. Once death happens, then there is no responsibility. But Vedas tell, no, our family members at the time of death, they have left, shed off this external covering only; they have continued. So our responsibility is not over after death. If family members, if they have committed sinful act, they have not…

Properly atoned for it, then they might have to suffer in hell, or they might have got trapped in ghostly bodies. If you commit suicide, and if there is accidental death, or those people who are very much attached to the material objects of possession, house, or the relatives, then such people are not able to promote themselves to the next gross body, and they get stuck in a ghostly body. A ghostly body is very horrible; the demands of the body are there, but the demands are there, but you cannot fulfill because you do not have a body. So when pindhan happens, the oblations of food which is offered to Lord Krishna, and such water is offered to the ancestors, then they are relieved from such hellish punishment and ghostly bodies, and they get a gross body. So this is a great science which is not known now. Today will happen if the family tradition is lost in such families, as it is happening now in many families. There is no pentadhan, and a very famous Hollywood actor, he was seeing his son who died in untimely death, and then he was very much concerned what to do. He was able to see his son, the spirit of his son, and then somebody suggested him, do this shrad, the ceremony, and then they came to Haridwar, did this ceremony to get to help their son get rid of this ghostly body. So thus it's a great size; many, many such groups are there, provided we have time to study these literatures and understand the science behind it.

Another very important understanding is people may ask, "Oh, what is the cell?" Arjuna is repeatedly telling hell, hell; whether there is hell in heaven. So it is common sense; we simply have to understand this axiom: that Designer is there behind every design. You cannot mathematically prove it, but it's common sense. This microphone you are seeing, can it assemble automatically? No. The computer or the phone on which you might be hearing this discourse, can it assemble automatically? No. So this brain, which is also much, much more powerful than a computer, can it assemble automatically? Can this body, which houses this brain, assemble automatically? No. So behind this, there is a creator. So Creator God, He is the Supreme powerful person; everything is under His control. So He has not made a fallible system where if a person kills one person or 100 people, he can be hanged till dead just once. This is unjust. No, if a person has killed more people, more punishment should be given to them. So God does not have imperfections in His creation; He is a supreme creator, all-powerful person, so perfect Divine Justice is perfectly meted out. So such people who cannot be punished for their misdeeds here, God has made an arrangement. It is common sense, isn't it? So laws of nature are very nice; they act equally on everyone. So the balance punishment which has not been meted out here, there has to be some place where God implements that. Nobody is above God; nobody can stop God from executing His will, His desire. And God has made an ecosystem because we are all His children; if we harm other children, then harm will come to us. This is called the law of karma. So thus nobody can stop God to make a perfect Arrangement. If a person kills more people, he should also be given more punishment. Once he can be killed in this body, but balance punishment should be meted out in a place, and that place is called hell. So simply, if we understand one axiom: designer is there behind the design, then all the things, all the concepts we can understand very, very easily.

So hell exists; Heaven also exists. But unfortunately, we have no knowledge of the laws of nature, and almost entire civilization, civilization is geared up to enter into hell in the ignorance of these laws which are described in the Bhagavad-Gita. But Arjuna is very cautious; if you break these laws, then all these families will end up, and we will also end up in hell.

Due to the evil Deeds of the Destroyers of family tradition, all kinds of community projects and the family welfare activities are devastated.

Succession, that those who destroy family traditions dwell always in hell.

So a very important word used here again is anushustrumah. Arjuna is not citing these reasons on a Dharma basis, his own understanding of life and his own perceptions. He is telling anushra, "I have heard this." The Vedas are called Shruti; they are the user manual given to mankind. God, being a perfect person, He makes perfect Arrangement also, so that His children may not suffer here.

With every machine there is a user manual; if you don't follow those things, we may spoil the machine and spoil ourselves also, because we are ignorant of The Vedas. Now, thus despite tremendous hard work to become happy, the civilization is creating more and more distress. So we should not simply get carried away by our own perceptions. Please remember the example of a moth. As per the perception and understanding of a moth, jumping into fire will make the moth very happy. Now, Anu srushtrama here from Vedas, what will make you happy or not? And practically we can see those people who follow the Vedas, who are into devotional service, they are in complete Bliss, despite all the external material inconveniences, if they exist, and they are also satisfied in inconveniences. So we can practically see it is proof also. So simply we have to hear from The Vedas, a real user manual given by God from the beginning of creation. But we have heard Vedas have been created by Vedvyas, and these books were written some time back. So yes, the books were written some time back because people were so sharp before; they were called Shruti dharas; that is why Vedas are called Shruti. They were passed down in oral reception. Once if the disciple hears from the spiritual Master, he will be able to remember for the rest of life and understand also very quickly. Does this Bhagavad-Gita take people years to understand? Even after that they don't understand. But Arjuna was able to understand, assimilate the knowledge in around 45 minutes or maximum one hour. Thank you. People were very sharp, but when Vedra saw ant bhagya yupadrata, people are going to become very, very lazy and less intelligent, he understood it is important to write it down in books. By one hearing they will not be able to memorize or understand. So thus the books were created recently, but Vedas are extant always; they are always existing in this wonderful parampara as we have discussed in the beginning, gurus. So in this parampara, simply we have to understand what will make us happy, what is not, what is fact of life, what is not. We should not try to judge the taste of food; understand the reality. A sick man cannot taste food; we cannot understand reality. For thus each and every person, 7 billion people have their own perceptions, opinions about life. Only when we are free from the laws of nature we can have absolute perceptions by the mercy of absolute truth, Krishna.

But yeah, alas, how strange it is that we are preparing to commit greatly sinful acts, driven by the desire to enjoy Royal happiness.

I would consider it better for the sons of Dhritarashtra to kill me unarmed and unresisting, rather than fight with them. Arjuna is being very compassionate; he is like a saintly person, understanding the laws of nature. He is telling Krishna, "I do not want to fight; I am not ready for this Kingdom. I can be killed unarmed; I am ready for that, but please let me not engage in this ghastly Warfare."

Arjuna, having thus spoken on the battlefield, cast aside his bow and arrows and sat down on the chariot, his mind overwhelmed with grief. Arjuna has casted aside his bows and arrows, crying practically in great distress, sat down on his chariot. "I cannot fight," he said. So this is the beginning and the background of the entire wonderful philosophy which now Lord Krishna is going to speak, second chapter onwards, which if we are able to understand nicely, our life will change. It will witness such a wonderful change that we will no longer be the same person. The only requirement is hearing. With this, Arjuna has casted aside his bows and arrows, and grief-stricken, he's sitting on his chariot, telling Krishna, "I cannot fight." This is the beginning and the background of the wonderful knowledge of Bhagavad-Gita, which actually begins second chapter onwards when Lord Krishna is going to speak. This knowledge is so profound; if you are able to assimilate it in our life, we will witness an amazing change in life. Life will no longer be the same. So we should be very, very enthusiastic and eager to hear what Lord Krishna is going to speak now in the second chapter. The second chapter is the summary of all the contents of Bhagavad-Gita. So again, one request I have: please hear it with rapt attention. See you in the second chapter. That's all for the first one. Thank you so much for hearing. Hare Krishna.