There Is Nothing More That This
TEXT 41
व्यवसायात्मिका बुद्धिरेकेह कुरूनन्दन।
बहुशाखा ह्यनन्ताश्र्च बुद्धयोऽव्यवसायिनाम्॥४१॥
TRANSLATION
"Those who are on this path are resolute in purpose, and their aim is one. O beloved child of the Kurus, the intelligence of those who are irresolute is many-branched."
PURPORT
A strong faith that by Krsna consciousness one will be elevated to the highest perfection of life is called vyavasayatmika intelligence. The Caitanya-caritamrta (Madhya 22.62) states:
'sraddha sabde ---visvasa kahe sudrdha niscaya
krsne bhakti kaile sarva-karma krta haya
Faith means unflinching trust in something sublime. When one is engaged in the duties of Krsna consciousness, he need not act in relationship to the material world with obligations to family traditions, humanity, or nationality.
fruitive activities are the engagements of one's reactions from past good or bad deeds. When one is awaken in Krsna consciousness, he need no longer endeavor for good results in his activites. When one is situated in Krsna consciousness, all activites are on the absolute plane, for they are no longer subject to dualities like good and bad. The highest perfection of Krsna consciousness is renunciation of the material conception of life. This state is automatically achieved by progressive Krsna consciousness.
The resolute purpose of a person in Krsna consciousness is based on knowledge. Vasudevah sarvam iti sa mahatma su-durlabhah: a person in Krsna consciousness is the rare good soul who knows perfectly that Vasudeva, or Krsna, is the root of all manifested causes. As by watering the root of a tree one automatically distributes water to the leaves and branches, so by acting in Krsna consciousness one can render the highest service to everyone--namely self, family, society, country, humanity, etc. If Krsna is satisfied by one's actions, then everyone will be satisfied.
Service in Krsna consciousness is, however, best practiced under the able guidance of a spiritual master who is a bona fide representative of Krsna, who knows the nature of the student and who can guide him to act in Krsna consciousness. As such, to be well versed in Krsna consciousness one has to act firmly and obey the representative of Krsna, and one should accept the instruction of the bona fide spiritual master as one's mission in life. Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura instructs us, in his famous prayers for the spiritual master, as follows:
yasya prasadad bhagavat-prasado
yasyaprasadan na gatih kuto 'pi
dhyayan stuvams tasya yasas tri-sandhyam
vande guroh sri-carnaranvindam
"By satisfaction of the spiritual master, the Supreme Personality of Godhead becomes satisfied. And by not satisfying the spiritual master, there is no chance of being promoted to the plane of Krsna consciousness. I should, therefore, meditate and pray for his mercy three times a day, and offer my respectful obeisances unto him, my spiritual master."
The whole process, however, depends on perfect knowledge of the soul beyond the conception of the body--not theoretically but practically, when there is no longer a chance for sense gratification manifested in fruitive activities. One who is not firmly fixed in mind is diverted by various types of fruitive acts.
TEXT 42-43
यामिमां पुष्पितां वाचं प्रवदन्त्यविपश्र्चितः।
वेदवादरताः पार्थ नान्यदस्तीति वादिनः॥४२॥
कामात्मानः स्वर्गपरा जन्मकर्मफलप्रदाम्।
क्रियाविशेषबहुलां भोगैश्र्वर्यगतिं प्रति॥४३॥
TRANSLATION
"Men of small knowledge are very much attached to the flowery words of the Vedas, which recommend various fruitive activites for elevation to heavenly planets, resultant good birth, power, and so forth. Being desirous of sense gratification and opulent life, they say that there is nothing more than this."
PURPORT
People in general are not very intelligent, and due to their ignorance they are most attached to the fruitive activities recomended in the karma-kanda portions of the Vedas. They do not want anything more than sense gratificatory proposals for enjoying life in heaven, where wine and women are available and material opulence is very common.
In the Vedas many sacrifices are recommended for elevation to the heavenly planets, especially the jyotistoma sacrifices. In fact, it is stated that anyone desiring elevation to heavenly planets must perform these sacrifices. In fact, it is stated that anyone desiring elevation to heavenly planets must perform these sacrifices, and men with a poor fund of knowledge think that this is the whole purpose of Vedic wisdom.
It is very difficult for such inexperienced persons to be situated in the determined action of Krsna consciousness. As fools are attached to the flowers of poisonous trees without knowing the results of such attractions, unenlightened men are similarly attracted by such heavenly opulence and the sense enjoyment thereof.
In the karma-kanda section of the Vedas it is said, apama somam amrta abhuma and aksayyam ha vai caturmasya-yajinah sukrtam bhavati. In other words, those who perform the four-month penances become eligible to drink the soma-rasa beverages to become immortal and happy forever. Even on this earth some are very eager to have soma-rasa to become strong and fit to enjoy sense gratifications. Such persons have no faith in liberation from material bondage, and they are very much attached to the pompous ceremonies of Vedic sacrifices.
They are generally sensual, and they do not want anything other than the heavenly pleasures of life. It is understood that there are gardens called Nandana-kanana in which there is good opportunity for assocaition with angelic, beautiful women and having a profuse supply of soma-rasa wine. Such bodily happiness is certainly sensual; therefore there are those who are purely attached to such material, temporary happiness, as lords of the material world.
TEXT 44
भोगैश्र्वर्यप्रसत्कानां तयापहृतचेतसाम्।
व्यवसायात्मिका बुद्धिः समाधौ न विधीयते॥४४॥
TRANSLATION
"In the minds of those who are too attached to sense enjoyment and material opulence, and who are bewildered by such things, the resolute determination for devotional service to the Supreme Lord does not take place."
PURPORT
Samadhi means "fixed mind." The Vedic dictionary, the Nirukti, says, samyag adhiyate 'sminn atma-tattva-yathatmyam: "When the mind is fixed for understanding the self, it is said to be in samadhi." Samadhi is never possible for persons interested in material sense enjoyment, nor for those who are bewildered by such temporary things. They are more or less condemned by the process of material enengy.
TEXT 45
त्रैगुण्यविषया वेदा निस्त्रैगुण्यो भवार्जुन।
निर्द्वन्द्वो नित्यसत्त्वस्थो निर्योगक्षेम आत्मवान्॥४५॥
TRANSLATION
"The Vedas deal mainly with the subject of the three modes of material nature. O Arjuna, become transcendental to these three modes. Be free from all dualities and from all anxieties for gain and safety, and be established in the self."
PURPORT
All material activities involve actions and reactions in the three modes of material nature. They are meant for fruitive results, which causes bondage in the material world. The Vedas deal mostly with fruitive activities to gradually elevate the general public from the field of sense gratification to a position on the transcendental plane. Arjuna, as a student and friend of Lord Krsna, is advised to raise himself to the transcendental position of Vedanta philosophy where, in the beginning, there is brahma-jijnasa, or questions on the supreme transcendence.
All the living entities who are in the material world are struggling very hard for existence. For them the Lord, after creation of the material world, gave the Vedic wisdom advising for sense gratification, namely the karma-kanda chapter, are finished, then the chance for spiritual realization is offered in the form of the Upanisads, which are part of different Vedas, as the Bhagavad-gita is a part of the fifth Veda, namely the Mahabharata. THe Upanisads mark the beginning of transcendental life.
As long as the material body exists, there are actions and reactions in the material modes. One has to learn tolerance in the face of dualities such as happiness and distress, or cold and warmth, and by tolerating such dualities become free from anxieties regarding gain and loss. This transcendental position is achieved in full Krsna consciousness when one is fully dependent on the good will of Krsna.
TEXT 46
यावानर्थ उदपाने सर्वतः सम्प्लुतोदके।
तावान्सर्वेषु वेदेषु ब्राह्मणस्य विजानतः॥४६॥
TRANSLATION
"All purposes served by a small well can at once be served by a great reservoir of water. Similarly, all the purposes of the Vedas can be served to one who knows the purposes behind them."
PURPORT
The rituals and sacrifices mentioned in the karma-kanda division of the Vedic literature are meant to encourage gradual development of self-realization. And the purpose of self-realization is clearly stated in the Fifteenth Chapter of the Bhagavad-gita (15.7). The living entities are parts and parcels of Krsna; therefore, revival of Krsna consciousness by the individual living entity is the highest perfectional stage of Vedic knowledge. This is confirmed in the Srimad-Bhagavatam(3.33.7) as follows:
aho bata sva-paco 'to gariyan
yaj-jihvagre vartate nama tubhyam
tepus tapas te juhuvuh sasnur arya
brahmanucur nama grnanti ye te
"O my Lord, a person who is chanting Your holy name, although born of a low family like that of a candala [dog eater], is situated on the highest platform of self-realization. Such a person must have performed all kinds of penances and sacrifices according to Vedic rituals and studied the Vedic literatures many, many times after taking his bath in all the holy places of pilgrimage. Such a person is considered to be the best of the Aryan family."
So one must be intelligent enough to understand the purpose of the Vedas, without being attached to the rituals only, and must not desire to be elevated to the heavenly kingdoms for a better quality of sense gratification. It is not possible for the common man in this age to follow all the rules and regulations of the Vedic rituals, nor is it possible to study all of the Vedanta and the Upanisads thoroughly.
It requires much time, energy, knowledge and resources to execute the purposes of the Vedas. This is hardly possible in this age. The best purpose of Vedic culture is served, however, by chanting the holy name of the Lord, as recommended by Lord Caitanya, the deliverer of all fallen souls. When Lord Caitanya was asked by a great Vedic scholar, Prakasananda Sarasvati, why He, the Lord, was chanting the holy name of the Lord like a sentimentalist instead of studying Vedanta philosophy, the Lord replied that His spiritual master had found Him to be a great fool and thus asked Him to chant the holy name of Lord Krsna.
He did so, and became ecstatic like a madman. In this Age of Kali, most of the population is foolish and not adequately educated to understand Vedanta philosophy; the best purpose of Vedanta philosophy is served by inoffensively chanting the holy name of the Lord.
Vedanta is the last word in Vedic wisdom, and the author and knower of the Vedanta philosophy is Lord Krsna; and the highest Vedantist is the great soul who takes pleasure in chanting the holy name of the Lord. That is the ultimate purpose of all Vedic mysticism.
TEXT 47
कर्मण्येवाधिकारस्ते मा फलेषु कदाचन ।
मा कर्मफलहेतुर्भूर्मा ते सङ्गोऽस्त्वकर्मणि॥४७॥
TRANSLATION
"You have a right to perform your prescribed duty, but you are not entitled to the fruits of action. Never consider yourself the cause of the results of your activities, and never be attached to not doing your duty."
PURPORT
There are three considerations here: prescribed duties, capricious work, and inaction. Prescribed duties are activities enjoined in terms of one's acquired modes of material nature. Capricious work means actions without the sanction of authority, and inaction means not performing one's prescribed duties. The Lord advised that Arjuna not be inactive, but that he perform his prescribed duty without being attached to the result.
One who is attached to the result of his work is also the cause of the action. Thus he is the enjoyer or sufferer of the result of such actions. As far as prescribed duties are concerned, they can be fitted into three subdivisions, namely routine work, emergency work and desired activities.
Routine work performed as an obligation in terms of the scriptural injunctions, without desire for results, is action in the modes of goodness. Work with results becomes the cause of bondage; therefore such work is not auspicious. Everyone has his proprietary right in regard to prescribed duties, but should act without attachment to the result; such disinterested obligatory duties doubtlessly lead one to the path of liberation.
Arjuna was therefore advised by the Lord to fight as a matter of duty without attachment to the result. His nonparticipation in the battle is another side of attachment. Such attachment never leads one to the path of salvation. Any attachment, positive or negative, is cause for bondage. Inaction is sinful. Therefore, fighting as a matter of duty was the only auspicious path of salvation for Arjuna.
TEXT 48
योगस्थः कुरू कर्मणि सङ्गं त्यत्व्का धनञ्ञय।
सिद्धयासिद्धयोः समो भूत्वा समत्वं योग उच्यते॥४८॥
TRANSLATION
Perform your duty equipoised, O Arjuna, abandoning all attachment to success or failure. Such equanimity is called yoga.
PURPORT
Krsna tells Arjuna that he should act in yoga. And what is that yoga? Yoga means to concentrate the mind upon the Supreme by controlling the ever-disturbing senses. And who is the Supreme? The Supreme is the Lord. And because He Himself is telling Arjuna to fight, Arjuna has nothing to do with the results of the fight. Gain or victory are Krsna's concern; Arjuna is simply advised to act according to the dictation of Krsna.
The following of Krsna's dictation is real yoga, and this is practiced in the process called Krsna consciousness. By Krsna consciousness only can one give up the sense of proprietorship. One has to become the servant of Krsna, or the servant of the servant of Krsna. That is the right way to discharge duty in Krsna consciousness, which alone can help one to act in yoga.
Arjuna is a ksatriya, and as such he is participating in the varnasrama-dharma institution. It is said in the Visnu Purana that in the varnasrama-dharma, the whole aim is to satisfy Visnu. No one should satisfy himself, as is the result in the material world, but one should satisfy Krsna. So unless one satisfies Krsna, one cannot correctly observe the principles of varnasrama-dharma. Indirectly, Arjuna was advised to act as Krsna told him.
TEXT 49
दूरेण ह्यवरं कर्म बुद्धियोगाद्धनञ्ञय।
बुद्धौ शरणमन्विच्छ कृपणाः फलहेतवः॥४९॥
TRANSLATION
"O Dhananjaya, keep all abominable activites far distant by devotional service, and in that consciousness surrender unto the Lord. Those who want to enjoy the fruits of their work are misers."
PURPORT
One who has actually come to understand one's constitutional position as an eternal servitor of the Lord gives up all engagements save working in Krsna consciousness. As already explained, buddhi-yoga means transcendental loving service to the Lord. Such devotional service is the right course of action for the living entity.
Only misers desire to enjoy the fruit of their own work just to be further entangled in material bondage. Except for work in Krsna consciousness, all activities are abominable because they continually bind the worker to the cycle of birth and death. One should therefore never desire to be the cause of work.
Everything should be done in Krsna consciousness, for the satisfaction of Krsna. Misers do not know how to utilize the assets of riches which they acquire by good fortune or by hard labor. One should spend all energies working in Krsna cosnciousness, and that will make one's life successful. Like misers, unfortunate persons do not employ their human energy in the service of the Lord.
TEXT 50
बुद्धियुत्को जहातीह उभे सुकृतदुष्कृते।
तस्माद्योगाय युज्यस्व योगः कर्मसु कौशलम्॥५०॥
TRANSLATION
"A man engaged in devotional service rids himself of both good and bad actions even in this life. Therefore strive for yoga, which is the art of all work."
PURPORT
Since time immemorial each living entity has accumulated the various reactions of his good and bad work. As such, he is continuously ignorant of his real constituational position. One's ignorance can be removed by the instruction of the Bhagavad-gita, which teaches one to surrender unto Lord Sri Krsna in all respects and become liberated from the chained victimization of action and reaction, birth after birth. Arjuna is therefore advised to act in Krsna consciousness, the purifying process of resultant action.
TEXT 51
कर्मजं बुद्धियुत्का हि फलं त्यत्त्का मनीषिणः।
जन्मबन्धविनिर्मुत्काः पदं गच्छन्त्यनामयम्॥५१॥
TRANSLATION
"By thus engaging in devotional service to the Lord, great sages or devotees free themselves from the results of work in the material world. In this way they become free from the cycle of birth and death and attain the state beyond all miseries [by going back to Godhead]."
PURPORT
The liberated living entities belong to that place where there are no material miseries. The Bhagvatam (10.14.58) says:
samasrita ye pada-pallava-plavam
mahat-padam punya-yaso murareh
bhavambudhir vatsa-padam param padam
padam padam yad vipadam na tesam
"For one who has accepted the boat of the lotus feet of the Lord, who is the shelter of the cosmic manifestation and is famous as Mukunda, or the giver of mukti, the ocean of the material world is like the water contained in a calf's footprint. param padam, or the place where there are no material miseries, or Vaikuntha, is his goal, not the place where there is danger in every step of life."
Owing to ignorance, one does not know that this material world is a miserable place where there are dangers at every step. Out of ignorance only, less intelligent persons try to adjust to the situation by fruitive activities, thinking that the resultant actions will make them happy. They do not know that no kind of material body anywhere within the universe can give life without miseries.
The miseries of life, namely birth, death, old age and diseases, are present everywhere within the material world. But one who understands his real constitutional position as the eternal servitor of the Lord, and thus knows the position of the personlity of Godhead, engaged himself in the transcendental loving service to the Lord. Consequently, he becomes qualified to enter into the Vaikuntha planets, where there is neither material, miserable life nor the influence of time and death.
To know one's constitutional position means to know also the sublime position of the Lord. One who wrongly thinks that the living entity's position and the Lord's position are on the same level is to be understood to be in darkness and therefore unable to engage himself in the devotional service of the Lord. He becomes a lord himself and thus paves the way for the repetition of birth and death. But one who, understanding that his position is to serve, transfers himself to the service of the Lord, at once becomes eligible for Vaikunthaloka. Service for the cause of the Lord is called karma-yoga or buddhi-yoga, or in plain words, devotional service to the Lord.
TEXT 52
यदा ते मोहकलिलं बुद्धिर्व्यतितरिष्यति।
तदा गन्तासि निर्वेदं श्रोतव्यस्य श्रुतस्य च ॥५२॥
TRANSLATION
"When your intelligence has passed out of the dense forest of delusion, you shall become indifferent to all that has been heard and all that is to be heard."
PURPORT
There are many good examples in the lives of the great devotees of the Lord of those who became indiffernt to the rituals of the Vedas simply by devotional service to the Lord. When a person factually understands Krsna and his relationship with Krsna, he naturally becomes completely indifferent to the rituals of fruitive activities, even though an experienced brahmana. Sri Madhavendra Puri, a great devotee and acarya in the line of the devotees, says:
sandhya-vandana bhadram astu bhavato bhoh snana tubhyam namo bho devah pitaras ca tarpana-vidhau naham ksamah ksamyatam yatra kvapi nisadya yadava-kulottamasya kamsa-dvisah smaram smaram agham harami tad alam manye kim anyena me
"O my prayers three times a day, all glory to you. O bathing, I offer my obeisances unto you. O demigods! O forefathers! Please excuse me for my inability to offer you my respects. Now whereever I sit, I can remember the great descendant of the Yadu dynasty [Krsna], the enemy of Kamsa, and thereby I can free myself from all sinful bondage. I think this is sufficient for me."
The Vedic rites and rituals are imperative for neophytes: comprehending all kinds of prayer three times a day, taking a bath early in the morning, offering respects to the forefathers, ets. But when one is fully in Krsna consciousness and is engaged in His transcendental loving service, one becomes indifferent to all these regulative principles because he has already attained perfection. If one can reach the platform of understanding by service to the Supreme Lord Krsna, he has no longer to execute different types of penances ad sacrifices as recommended in revealed scriptures. And, similarly, if one has not understood that the purpose of the Vedas is to reach Krsna and simply engages in the rituals, etc. then he is uselessly wasting time in such engagements. Persons in Krsna consciousness transcend the limit of sabda-brahma, or the range of the Vedas and Upanisads.
TEXT 53
श्रुतिविप्रतिपन्ना ते यदा स्थास्यति निश्र्चला।
समाधावचला बुद्धिस्तदा योगमवाप्स्यसि॥५३॥
TRANSLATION
"When your mind is no longer disturbed by the flowery language of the Vedas, and when it remains fixed in the trance of self-realization, then you will hava attained the divine consciousness."
PURPORT
To say that one is in samadhi is to say that one has fully realized Krsna consciousness; that is, one in full samadhi has realized Brahman, Paramatma and Bhagavan. The highest perfection of self-realization is to understand that one is eternally the servitor of Krsna and that one's only business is to discharge one's duties in Krsna consciousness. A Krsna conscious person, or unflinching devotee of the Lord, should not be disturbed by the flowery language of the Vedas nor be engaged in fruitive activities for promotion to the heavenly kingdom.
In Krsna consciousness, one comes directly into communion with Krsna, and thus all directions from Krsna may be understood in that transcendental state. One is sure to achieve from Krsna may be understood in that transcendental state. One is sure to achieve results by such activities and attain conclusive knowledge. One has only to carry out the orders of Krsna or His representative, the spiritual master.
TEXT 54
अर्जुन उवाच
स्थितप्रज्ञस्य का भाषा समाधिस्थस्य केशव।
स्थितधीः किं प्रभाषेत किमासीत व्रजेत किम्॥५४॥
TRANSLATION
"Arjuna said: O Krsna, what are the symptoms of one whose consciousness is thus merged in transcendence? How does he speak, and what is his language? How does he sit, and how does he walk?"
PURPORT
As there are symptoms for each and every man, in terms of his particular situation, similarly one who is Krsna conscious has his particular nature--talking, walking, thinking, feeling, etc. As a rich man has his symptoms by which he is known as a rich man, as a diseased man has his symptoms by which he is known as diseased, or as a learned man has his symptoms, so a man in transcendental consciousness of Krsna has specific symptoms in various dealings.
One can know his specific symptoms from the Bhagavad-gita. Most important is how the man in Krsna consciousness speaks; for speech is the most important quality of any man. It is said that a fool is undicovered as long as he does not speaks, but as soon as he speaks, he reveals himself at once.
The immediate symptom of a Krsna consious man is that he speaks only of Krsna and of matters relating to Him. Other symptoms then automatically follow, as stated below.
TEXT 55
श्रीभगवानुवाच
प्रजहाति यदा कामान्सर्वान्पार्थ मनोगतान्।
आत्मन्येवात्मना तुष्टः स्थितप्रज्ञस्तदोच्यते॥५५॥
TRANSLATION
"The Supreme Personality of Godhead said: O Partha, when a man gives up all varieties of desire for sense gratification, which arise from mental concoction, and when his mind, thus purified, finds satisfaction in the self alone, then he is said to be in pure transcendental consciousness."
PURPORT
The Bhagavatam affirms that any person who is fully in Krsna consciousness, or devotional service of the Lord, has all the good qualities of the great sages, whereas a person who is not so transcendentally situated has no good qualifications, because he is sure to be taking refuge in his own mental concoctions.
Consequently, it is rightly said herein that one has to give up all kinds of sense desire manufactured by mental concoction. Artificially, such sense desires cannot be stopped. But if one is engaged in Krsna consciousness, then automatically, sense desires subside without extraneous efforts.
Therefore, one has to engage himself in Krsna consciousness without hesitation, for this devotional service will instantly help one onto the platform of transcendental cosnciousness. The highly developed soul always remains satisfied in himself by realizing himself as the eternal servitor of the Supreme Lord. Such a transcendentally situated person has no sense desires resulting from petty materialism; rather, he remains always happy in his natural position of eternally serving the Supreme Lord.