4.3 Discipline of Action

9. Understand this verse in the light of the previous one. Our mind gets cleansed by engaging it in devotional remembrance of God. This devotion can either be toward the formless aspect of God or toward his personal form. Devotion toward the formless is intangible and nebulous to most people. They find nothing to focus upon or feel connected with during such devotional meditation. Devotion to the personal form of God is tangible and simple. Such devotion requires divine sentiments toward the personality of God. For people to engage in devotion to Shree Krishna, they must develop divine feelings toward his names, form, virtues, pastimes, abode, and associates. For example, people purify their minds by worshipping stone deities because they harbor the divine sentiments that God resides in these deities. It is these sentiments that purify the devotee's mind. The progenitor Manu says:

"God resides neither in wood nor in stone, but in a devotional heart. Hence, worship the deity with loving sentiments."

Similarly, if we wish to engage in devotion toward Lord Krishna, we must learn to harbor divine sentiments toward his leelas. Those commentators who give a figurative interpretation to the Mahabharat and the Bhagavad Gita, do grave injustice by destroying the basis of people's faith in devotion toward Shree Krishna. In this verse, Shree Krishna has emphasized the need for divine sentiments toward his pastimes, for enhancing our devotion.

To develop such divine feelings, we must understand the difference between God's actions and ours. We materially bound souls have not yet attained divine bliss, and hence the longing of our soul is not yet satiated. Thus, our actions are motivated by self-interest and the desire for personal fulfillment. However, God's actions have no personal motive because he is perfectly satiated by the infinite bliss of his own personality. He does not need to achieve further personal bliss by performing actions. Therefore, whatever he does is for the welfare of the materially conditioned souls. Such divine actions that God performs are termed as "leelas" while the actions we perform are called "work."

Similarly, God's birth is also divine, and unlike ours, it does not take place from a mother's womb. The all-Blissful God has no requirement to hang upside down in a mother's womb. The Bhāgavatam states:

"When Shree Krishna manifested upon birth before Vasudev and Devaki, he was in his four-armed Vishnu form." This full-sized form could definitely not have resided in Devaki's womb. However, to create in her the feeling that he was there, by his Yogmaya power, he simply kept expanding Devaki's womb. Finally, he manifested from the outside, revealing that he had never been inside her:

"As the moon manifests in its full glory in the night sky, similarly the Supreme Lord Shree Krishna manifested before Devaki and Vasudev." This is the divine nature of God's birth. If we can develop faith in the divinity of his pastimes and birth, then we will be able to easily engage in devotion to his personal form, and attain the supreme destination.

10. In the previous verse, Lord Krishna explained that those who truly know the divine nature of his birth and pastimes attain him. He now confirms that legions of human beings in all ages became God-realized by this means. They achieved this goal by purifying their minds through devotion. Shree Aurobindo put it very nicely: "You must keep the temple of the heart clean, if you wish to install therein the living presence." The Bible states: "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God."

Now, how does the mind get purified? By giving up attachment, fear, and anger, and absorbing the mind in God. Actually, attachment is the cause of both fear and anger. Fear arises out of apprehension that the object of our attachment will be snatched away from us. And anger arises when there is an obstruction in attaining the object of our attachment. Attachment is thus the root cause of the mind getting dirty.

This world of Maya consists of the three modes of material nature—sattva, rajas, and tamas (goodness, passion, and ignorance). All objects and personalities in the world come within the realm of these three modes. When we attach our mind to a material object or person, our mind too becomes affected by the three modes. Instead, when we absorb the same mind in God, who is beyond the three modes of material nature, such devotion purifies the mind. Thus, the sovereign recipe to cleanse the mind from the defects of lust, anger, greed, envy, and illusion, is to detach it from the world and attach it to the Supreme Lord. Hence, the Ramayan states:

"Without devotion to God, the dirt of the mind will not be washed away." Even the ardent propagator of jñāna yog, Shankaracharya, stated:

"Without engaging in devotion to the lotus feet of Lord Krishna, the mind will not be cleansed."

On reading the previous verse, a question may arise whether Lord Krishna is partial in bestowing his grace upon those who absorb their minds in him versus the worldly-minded souls. The Supreme Lord addresses this in the next verse.

11. Here, Lord Krishna states that he reciprocates with everyone as they surrender to him. For those who deny the existence of God, he meets them in the form of the law of karma—he sits inside their hearts, notes their actions, and dispenses the results. But such atheists too cannot get away from serving him; they are obliged to serve God's material energy, Maya, in its various apparitions, as wealth, luxuries, relatives, prestige, etc. Maya holds them under the sway of anger, lust, and greed. On the other hand, for those who turn their mind away from worldly attractions and look upon God as the goal and refuge, he takes care of them just as a mother takes care of her child.

Shree Krishna uses the word bhajāmi, which means "to serve." He serves the surrendered souls, by destroying their accumulated karmas of endless lifetimes, cutting the bonds of Maya, removing the darkness of material existence, and bestowing divine bliss, divine knowledge, and divine love. And when the devotee learns to love God selflessly, he willingly enslaves himself to their love. Shree Ram thus tells Hanuman:

"O Hanuman, to release myself from the debt of one service you performed for me, I shall have to offer my life to you. For all the other devotional services done by you, I shall remain eternally indebted." In this way, God reciprocates with everyone as they surrender to him.

If God is so merciful upon his devotees, why do some people worship the celestial gods instead? He explains in the following verse.

12. Persons who seek worldly gain worship the celestial gods and seek boons from them. The boons the celestial gods bestow are material and temporary, and they are given only by virtue of the power they have received from the Supreme Lord. There is a beautiful instructive story in this regard:

Saint Farid went to the court of Emperor Akbar, a powerful king in Indian history. He waited in the court for an audience, while Akbar was praying in the next room. Farid peeped into the room to see what was going on, and was amused to hear Akbar praying to God for more powerful army, a bigger treasure chest, and success in battle. Without disturbing the king, Farid returned to the royal court.

After completing his prayers, Akbar came and gave him audience. He asked the great Sage if there was anything that he wanted. Farid replied, "I came to ask the Emperor for things I required for my āśhram. However, I find that the Emperor is himself a beggar before the Lord. Then why should I ask him for any favors, and not directly from the Lord himself?"

The celestial gods give boons only by the powers bestowed upon them by the Supreme Lord. People with small understanding approach them, but those who are intelligent realize that there is no point in going to the intermediary and they approach the Supreme Lord for the fulfillment of their aspirations. People are of various kinds, possessing higher and lower aspirations. Shree Krishna now mentions four categories of qualities and works.