[Sadhu Sanga] The Subjective Bhagavad-Gita: Part - I
BP Tirtha
By
Both Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura and Baladeva Vidyabhusana have commented on Bhagavad-gita, and Jiva Goswami has also given his explanation of different verses. Bhaktivinoda Thakura has given his own explanation, and he has included both Baladeva’s and Visvanatha Cakravarti’s commentaries in his Bengali translation of Bhagavad-gita. Sridhar Swami’s commentary was the original one, and Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu had great appreciation for his commentary on Srimad-Bhagavatam and Bhagavad-gita.
I have attempted to shed some new light on some verses in Bhagavad-gita. On the basis of what the previous commentators have said, I have shown the further development of madhura-rasa in Bhagavad-gita, and even the paramour relation of parakiya-rasa. When I discussed my explanation with Bhaktivedanta Swami Maharaj, I asked him, “In this place in Bhagavad-gita I have given my interpretation to include madhura rasa. What do you think?” He told me, “What more can be said? Your interpretation is perfectly correct.”
Still, it was a new conception I had given there. I found parakiya, the paramour devotion of the gopis for Krishna, represented in the verse tesam satata yuktanam...yena mam upayanti te. Just as Srimad-Bhagavatam has four essential verses, there are four essential verses in Bhagavad-gita which contain the very gist, the very substance of the whole ontological conception of Bhagavad-gita.
In Bhagavad-gita 10.8, the first of the four nutshell verses is as follows:
aham sarvasya prabhavo
mattah sarvam pravartate
iti matva bhajante mam
budha bhava-samanvitah
“I am the origin of everything. Everything emanates from Me (including all conceptions of the Absolute Truth and even My own worship). The wise who know this fully worship Me with bhava, deep devotional ecstasy.”
Here, Krishna says, aham sarvasya prabhavo, mattah sarvam pravartate: “Everything emanates from Me, including all conceptions of the Absolute Truth.” In Bhagavatam the three main conceptions of the absolute are given: Brahman, Paramatma, and Bhagavan. Brahman means the all-comprehensive aspect of the absolute. Paramatma means the all-permeating aspect of the absolute, and Bhagavan means the personal conception of the absolute.
In his Bhakti-Sandarbha, Jiva Goswami has given the real meaning of Bhagavan, the Personality of Godhead. The general meaning of Bhagavan is “one who commands all sorts of potencies.” All sorts of potencies are controlled by Him personally. That is the conception of Bhagavan found in Narayana of Vaikuntha. But Jiva Goswami has given a particularly fine interpretation of Bhagavan. He says that Bhagavan means bhajaniya sarva-sad-guna-visistha: the nature of Bhagavan is such that whatever comes in contact with Him feels a natural serving tendency towards His charming personality. He is endowed with such qualities that everyone is drawn to worship Him, to love Him. He attracts the love of everyone. Everyone wants to serve Him – this is Bhagavan. He is endowed with qualities that attract everyone to serve Him.
I have included this special interpretation of Jiva Goswami in my commentary on the above Bhagavad-gita verse. In the Srimad-Bhagavatam, three phases of the Absolute Truth have been described (all-comprehensive Brahman, all-pervading Paramatma, and the all-attractive, absolute person, Bhagavan). I have explained in my commentary that Krishna’s statement here (aham sarvasya prabhavo) means: “I am svayam bhagavan, the Original Personality of Godhead. I am at the root of all these three conceptions of the absolute. And I am the origin not only of Brahman, the all-comprehensive absolute, and Paramatma, the all-permeating absolute, but also of Narayana, the master of all potencies who commands the respect of everyone. I am the origin of all of Them: I am svayam bhagavan.”
In this way I have interpreted the meaning of aham sarvasya prabhavo. And in the next line, when Krishna says mattah sarvam pravartate, here we must concentrate more finely. Krishna says sarvam pravartate, “everything comes from Me.” With this Krishna is saying: “Even worship of Me comes from Me. I reveal it first. I Myself worship Myself. I do this as guru, as My finer potency. This potency is nothing but Myself. And My finest potency is Radharani. Through My potency I worship Myself. Every movement begins from Me; even My own worship, My own service is begun by Me, in My role as guru. I reveal that to the public so that you will properly worship Me. For this reason guru is called Bhagavan, for he is nondifferent from Me (acaryam mam vijaniyam).”
The finest potency of Bhagavan is Radharani. So guru in the highest sense, as well as service in the highest sense, is represented in Srimati Radharani. Next, Krishna says, “Those who know this will worship Me: iti matva bhajante mam.” Those who understand this conception that Radharani serves Him in the highest way, will serve Krishna in subjugation to Her. That is radha-dasyam, the divine service of Sri Radha. And it is with this understanding that a worshiper will come to worship Krishna.
In my interpretation, I have taken it that this is Krishna’s intent when He says, iti matva bhajante mam: “Knowing this, they worship Me.” He means “those who know that My worship comes from Me, and that My finest potency worships Me best, will worship Me under the direction of My finest potency.” Here we find the importance of radha-dasyam, the service of Sri Radha, the highest goal of the followers of Rupa Goswami, the rupanuga-gaudiya-sampradaya. Here, Krishna is saying, “Knowing that it is My finest potency that worships Me best, one will worship Me under the direction of My first-class worshiper (Sri Radha). With this idea one will always worship Me under the guidance of My finest sakti, Srimati Radharani, or Her representation, Sri Gurudeva. In this way, they will always worship Me under their direction, and never as a direct worshiper.” This is the meaning of iti matva bhajante mam.
Then Krishna says budha bhava-samanvitah. Here, budha means those of fine theistic intellect (sumedhasah). In Bhagavatam it is said that those of fine theistic intellect will be able to appreciate this (yajanti hi sumedhasah). Fine theistic intelligence is the outcome of good fortune which comes from above (sukrti); it is not self-acquired. That fine intellectual inner direction and guidance can only come from the nirguna or transcendental plane. Budha here means “one who has a direct connection with the nirguna or transcendental plane.” His intelligence doesn’t come from this mayic quarter; rather it springs from the spiritual platform. Only such a person can appreciate these subtle points. This is said in Bhagavatam:
krsna-varnam tvisakrsnam
sangopangastra-parsadam
yajnaih sankirtana-prayair
yajanti hi su-medhasah
“Those who are of fine theistic intellect (sumedhasah) will worship Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu in sankirtana, not others.”
So this verse from Bhagavad-gita means, “One whose devotion is the product of the nirguna wave, whose faith is not collected from this world of misunderstanding, shall worship me through radha-dasyam.” Here bhava-samanvitah means raga-samanvitah – that is, they worship Krishna with anuraga, love. Their affinity for Krishna, their devotion to Him, is not governed by rules; it does not spring from strictly following the scriptural rules, but from bhava, inner inspiration. This worship is called raga-marga, the path of spontaneous attraction.
Scriptural rules involve calculations of loss and gain. But worship which is bhava samanvitah is not drawn from any consideration of loss and gain; it flows naturally through love and attraction for Krishna. It is jnana-sunya-bhakti, free from calculation, free from profit and loss: jnana karmadyanavrtam.
To be continued in future postings ….
When the lower stands against the higher, offense arises. That tendency should be shunned. Primary education is also education, but that should not compete with higher education.
- His Divine Grace Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaja
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Ramesh B
Pradyumn Singh
aham sarvasya prabhavo
Thanks
BP Tirtha
All Glories to Sri Guru and Sri Gauranga.
Dear Pradyumna Prabhu:
Hare Krishna.
Please accept my obseances.
The Bhagavad-gita by Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaja reveals the deeper meaning of the reality. Many of the explanations presented by Srila Guru Maharaja are unique. I am happy to see the questions on Srila Guru Maharaja's Bhagavad-gita explanations.
Your first questions "My question is if everything originates from Lord Krsna then why Maya or Material world stops or creates atmosphere which eludes us away from the supreme personality and the supreme truth as stated by the lord." is already discussed many times in the e-group and you can find one of such discussion at: http://groups.google.co.in/group/Online_Sadhu_Sanga/msg/6276084deff02133?&q=What+is+the+free+will+of+a
I am also adding some more from Srila Guru Maharaja's words about free will to address your first and second question "Secondly, if it is so then how come the materailism and immaterailistic approach to devotion both manifests in the same plane. Or the life and matter co-exists and are manifestation of same origin then how do they or rather why do they contradict" below.
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Student: I guess what I want to ask is how we can account for these inequities. I know that you are saying that there is no distinction. But why is there suffering?
Srila Sridhar Maharaj: The cause is the misuse of the free will of the jiva soul. The misuse of the wealth given to you.
Student: Given by the Supreme Power?
Srila Sridhar Maharaj: By the Supreme Power. As a part of a particular potency, you have free will eternally existing within you. And by misuse of your freedom, you have selected to become a king in the mortal world, just as Satan is portrayed in Milton’s Paradise Lost. He wanted to reign in hell rather than to serve in heaven. The free will – the weak, vulnerable, childlike free will – misused. We came here to be a monarch of all we survey: to reign in hell. Inherent adaptability is an innate feature of the soul. We could have selected service in heaven. Then our desires would have been fulfilled. But we have selected the wrong thing. We have moved in the wrong way. We wanted to be monarch. We could not select slavery in the higher realm. We selected monarchy in hell.
This material world is hell, the soil of affliction. And here we face affliction in variegated ways. These are mainly classified as birth, death, infirmity, and disease. These undesirable things must be there in hell. There is the subtle difference. If you are to live in heaven, then you must live there as a surrendered soul. That is a much higher soil than this. And ultimately we see that to serve in heaven is infinitely better than to reign in hell.
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Furthermore, your third question "Lastly, your sentence: "My worship comes from me" does it mean that the science of seeking the absolute truth about life is so complex that the creator comes in various modes to reveal how to seek the science behind the truth. Or in other words the approach also is different from what we are following today to seek the absolute truth about life." and the details about how we can understand the difference between matter and spirit is also explained by Srila Guru Maharaja His Divine Grace Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaja in the following text.
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Whatever can be perceived by the eye, the ear, the tongue, the nose, the skin – any of the external senses – is only a covering of reality. In Srimad-Bhagavatam, Prahlada Maharaj says, na te viduh svartha-gatim hi visnum, durasaya ye bahir-artha-maninah. We are making too much of the covering of reality, we are devoting our minds to the external coating – bahir-artha-maninah – but we do not dive deep into the eternal substance. If only we were to dive deep into reality, there we would find Visnu. The most peaceful substance is within, but it is covered, just as milk is covered by cream, and we are making much of that cover. The real substance is within, just as fruit is covered by its skin. What we experience at present is the cover, the skin, and we are making much of that, ignoring the very substance which the cover is protecting.
The primary step in the search for truth is to penetrate the covering and find the knower within. And then begin our analysis. What is he? Is he an atom like an atomic particle of dust? Or is he a fantastic atom in the conscious plane? At first we must approach reality in this way. There is the knower and the unknown, the inquirer and the inquired.
Try to find yourself. Then gradually, you will come to know that you are the soul, the particle of consciousness within. And just as you are spirit covered by matter, the whole world is also like that; the spiritual reality within is covered. Upon realizing your self as spirit soul, you will be able to see that everything is a part of consciousness. Within the world of consciousness, worlds of different sorts of experience are floating. In the conscious sea, the sun, the moon, trees, stones, human beings, our friends, and our enemies are all floating. As we approach the spiritual plane, we will find it to be nearer to our real self. And in this way, we will see that matter is far, far away, but the soul is near.
Try to conceive of reality along these lines. Soul, spirit, consciousness, is nearer to the soul and you are a child of that soil. Matter is far, far away. But the interrupting planes are so close together that we don’t see the nature of spiritual reality, just as if you put your hand over your eye, you can’t see the hand. But if the hand is only one foot away, we can see it very clearly. Sometimes what is very close, we cannot see. I may be able to see so many things, but I cannot see myself.
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The necessity of Sri Guru is explained several occasions in this e-group. Sri Guru is a representative of Lord Sri Krishna. According to the qualification of an individual soul Krishna comes in different forms as Sri Guru to elevate him from lower plane to higher and higher plan. But we must seek the highest. That is the conception of Srimad Bhagavatm. To approach the finer truths in Srimad Bhagavatam we need a living Bhagavad. jaaho bhaagavata pada vaisnavera staane, means: If you want to read the Bhagavatam you must go to a Vaishnava acharya.
I am not a man from science background and thus I can't give a scientific explanation to your question. We request Sripad Bhakti Madhava Puri Maharaja if possible he can help us with a scientific explanations on these topics.
- B. P. Titha