Yesterday we discussed how Krishna, at the end of the Bhagavad-gita, explains that any individual studying this sacred dialogue is worshiping Him with his mind. This is the jnana yajna which Krishna speaks about in the 4th chapter. There are different kinds of sacrifice, for instance, sacrificing one’s property. However, much higher than that is jnana-yajna or sacrificing one’s intelligence. And sacrificing one’s intelligence means focusing it on a much higher substance. When I was asked for the first time to present a seminar, I thought, what kind of seminar? How many seminars have there already been? Then I thought of Bhagavad-gita. And what I’m about to do, I’m about to read Bhagavad-gita starting from the 2nd chapter 1st verse. And all together we’re going to try to sacrifice our intelligence to Krishna by trying to understand what’s happening in this sacred dialogue.

Srila Prabhupada called Bhagavad-gita the Technical science of spiritual values. In other words, he claimed that Bhagavad-gita is not a question of subjective faith, it’s an exact science of spiritual values. This technical science is universal, it doesn’t depend on an individual’s tastes or beliefs. Srila Prabhupada also said that in Lord Caitanya’s teachings, there is nothing that could offend religious feelings of other human beings. He very much emphasized this universal nature of the Bhagavad-gita which is above any religion . Very often we try to present Bhagavad-gita as a teaching of a religious denomination, as a book that is followed by individuals belonging to a particular tradition. However, Bhagavad-gita is above all traditions. It’s a technical science of spiritual values. You can’t describe it more precisely. 

I would like us to understand this precise technical science. And today we will read the 1st part of the 2nd chapter which is very much crucial as it contains the explanation of qualities allowing one to understand this technical science. As a matter of fact, this initial part of Bhagavad-gita explains which qualities should any spiritual seeker possess, anyone who starts the spiritual path, so that his search finally succeeds. We can see, and in fact commentators speak about 5 basic qualities. Five fold qualification of a person who is worthy of attaining liberation. The Bhagavad-gita does not speak about such higher truths as the love of God, nevertheless liberation, or the level of reaching the Spirit is a topic within Bhagavad-gita. While studying this part of the Bhagavad-gita we need to ask ourselves a simple question: Do I possess these qualities? I saw many people just like Arjuna bursting with enthusiasm coming into the spiritual path and just like Arjuna asks to put him in front of the enemy’s army … we know that Arjuna, prior to the beginning of the battle, claimed that he can defeat them on his own that didn’t need the army. A nd I’ve met such people. People who entered the battlefield, the spiritual battlefield, and full of enthusiasm they were ready to defeat anyone. Just show me who I should defeat and I will. Just give me a chance to see them properly, I’ll put them to end. Yet, if we don’t have these 5 qualities, qualities of the highest significance, which Arjuna opens up in the initial verses of the 2nd chapter, then we won’t be able to succeed, to win on this battlefield.

Let’s read the 1st verse from the 2nd chapter of Bhagavad-gita, it should be on the screen. 

sañjaya uvāca
taṁ tathā kṛpayāviṣṭam
aśru-pūrṇākulekṣaṇam
viṣīdantam idaṁ vākyam
uvāca madhusūdanaḥ

Sañjaya said: Seeing Arjuna full of compassion, his mind depressed, his eyes full of tears, Madhusūdana, Kṛṣṇa, spoke the following words.

Srila Prabhupada’s purport: Material compassion, lamentation and tears are all signs of ignorance of the real self. Compassion for the eternal soul is self-realization. The word “Madhusūdana” is significant in this verse. Lord Kṛṣṇa killed the demon Madhu, and now Arjuna wanted Kṛṣṇa to kill the demon of misunderstanding that had overtaken him in the discharge of his duty. No one knows where compassion should be applied. Compassion for the dress of a drowning man is senseless. A man fallen in the ocean of nescience cannot be saved simply by rescuing his outward dress – the gross material body. One who does not know this and laments for the outward dress is called a śūdra, or one who laments unnecessarily. Arjuna was a kṣatriya, and this conduct was not expected from him. Lord Kṛṣṇa, however, can dissipate the lamentation of the ignorant man, and for this purpose the Bhagavad-gītā was sung by Him. This chapter instructs us in self-realization by an analytical study of the material body and the spirit soul, as explained by the supreme authority, Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa. This realization is possible when one works without attachment to fruitive results and is situated in the fixed conception of the real self. Srila Prabhupada Ki Jay!

Sañjaya said: Seeing Arjuna full of compassion, his mind depressed, his eyes full of tears, Madhusūdana, Kṛṣṇa, spoke the following words.

Om ajnana timirandhasya ….

Let’s try to transfer to Kuruksetra and imagine the picture Sanjaya describes in this verse. On the chariot in between the two armies there is Arjuna, overwhelmed with grief and his eyes full of tears, he puts his bow aside with shaken hands. Weakness, faint-heartedness, shyness, compassion as he thinks, are tearing his heart apart. And Krishna knows that He needs to heal Arjuna. This crisis happens in everyone’s life sooner or later. In fact the 1st chapter describes not just one crisis but three. The 1st chapter is very much important because it brings us closer to the most crucial questions which should come to our hearts. 

In the 1st chapter, Sanjaya, and Vyasadev who is the author of this great book, explain that although many encounter such critical situations, not everyone comes out of them as a winner. Three crises are described in the 1st chapter: The crisis of Dhritarastra, Duryodhana and Arjuna. At first, we see king Dhritarastra who is blind. His blindness is a consequence of defeat, consequence of the wrong way out of a crisis. Everyone in this life is forced to face a crisis. And the nature of crisis is always the same: material identification. The lie we base our life on. Understanding that I’m this body. My false ego. Sooner or later one who bases his life on the false ego will face a crisis. Everyone is trying to come out of this crisis in different ways , with different results. The reason for this crisis is material attachment. But these three groups of people, relatively speaking, are connected to the 3 modes of material nature, which we will learn about in chapter 14. Already here we can identify these 3 groups of people. When a person is under mode of ignorance, he is very much attached to matter, he is not able to break his material attachments, not able to understand what it leads to. Then the result of this attachment is blindness, ignorance. We know that if a person strongly holds on to matter, he has to go blind in the end. He doesn’t want to see, doesn’t want to tolerate the fact that he’ll have to die. So he lives his life blindly holding on to matter. This is also a crisis, crisis of an ignorant person, who gains only blindness. 

Dhritarastra is a weak person. His weakness, not physical, but mental weakness, undecidedness, is an expression of tama guna. Finally, it blinds a person. However, Duryodhana is a strong man. He is a passionate person, selfish, egocentric, whose life is dedicated to pleasing himself. His strength is pointed at himself, his own pleasure, putting himself above others. Sanjaya in a few words, a few verses in the 1st chapter of Bhagavad-gita explains the result of such attachment. When a person is attached and at the same time is under the mode of passion then the result is hypocrisy. To realize his desire of material attachment in this world he will always lie, always be hypocritical, playing a diplomatic role. This is “raja uvaca”, Sanjaya speaks of in the 1st chapter. Raja – king or a diplomat who is addressing his teacher Drona and by all means is trying to manipulate him, make him do what he wants. This is the result of material attachments in the mode of passion. Hypocrisy. Cruelness, hardening of the heart. 

And finally the 3rd crisis, the crisis we are all interested in, is the crisis of Arjuna. Arjuna is the only one out of the three who comes out as a winner from this crisis. The first few verses of the 2nd chapter explain why Arjuna was able to find the way out of this crisis. Why Dhritarastra couldn’t find the way, why Duryodhana couldn’t find the way and why Arjuna came out as a winner. As Srila Prabhupada explains, in the end Bhagavad-gita is dictated by compassion, compassion towards the soul. Knowledge of Bhagavad-gita given by Krishna is dictated by compassion, by a desire to give us an opportunity to come out of this crisis. Don’t think Arjuna lived 5000 years ago. Just like Krishna, Arjuna lives in the heart of every living being. All of us are Arjuna s. From time to time we are discouraged on the spiritual path. Have you had this experiance?

Recently I’ve received a letter from one such Arjuna. He writes: I’m watching Harry Potter and eating chocolate, but deep in my soul I’m a devotee. This is a modern version of the 1st chapter of Bhagavad-gita . Arjuna gave up, his bow Gandiva slipped out of his hands, he felt weak. In our case it’s very simple: watching Harry P otter, eating chocolate. (laughs) Point is that it is a general thing. The 1st chapter is also very important because there are a few moments we should know about. What is crisis ? It is d esperation, overwhelming a person on the spiritual path. His weakness, disbelief that he can reach somewhere on the spiritual path, misunderstanding what’s needed and what’s not. All this is always an attempt to rationalize one’s weakness.

First quality of a spiritual seeker that Arjuna demonstrates is his desire to meet his enemies. In his first request he’s addressing Krishna with, before accepting Him as a guru, he orders Krishna: Place the chariot between the 2 armies, I’d like to see the evil sons of Dhritarastra. This is a very important moment. First thing we all need to have is enough courage to see our enemies. It’s not pleasing, not everyone would want to meet his enemies. Yet, Arjuna is called the greatest hero for one simple reason: Arjuna wants to meet his enemies face to face. What’s going to happen with him after he meets his enemies, that’s another question. However, the first thing, the first step on the spiritual path is very important: I want to see my enemies. Now in order to see my enemies or every time I’m meeting my enemies face to face, in order for me to see them, there needs to be a crisis. An individual in the normal state struggles to see his enemies. Krishna arranges this situation when He puts us face to face with our problems. When He shows us our own difficulties, struggles, our weaknesses. And He says: here are your enemies. 

How we’re going to act in such moments is the first challenge on the spiritual path. I see my enemies, I see what I have to do and how I react to that - the reaction can be dual. When someone puts us face to face with our problems, with our difficulties, what is the first and most natural reaction? It is to object. First reaction is “Ar rrrgh!”. This is the most natural reaction to any inauspicious situation. Inauspicious situations are actually how Krishna puts us face to face with our problems. Any unfavorable external situation is a reflection of our internal problems. When we face a difficult situation, we need to understand what internal problems this situation is reflecting, and how I can solve this problem by resolving the situation. Otherwise this unfavorable situation is going to happen again and again and again. Has anyone noticed how the same unfavorable situations happen to us again and again? In different forms and variations, with different actors. Why? Because we haven’t learnt this lesson. Any critical, unfavorable situation is Krishna’s exam. Krishna tells us: Here, take a look. 

The first thing we should do, is to not reject this situation. Our natural reaction to an unpleasant situation is: I don’t want that. To run away from it. Arjuna wanted to run away. Do we want to run away? Sure we do! What else to do? We want to run away. First thing is to beg Krishna to show me my problems. Krishna then shows them and Arjuna says: I’m out , thank you but no thank you, Krishna. I have had enough , I’m packing my stuff and going to build a hut. First thing is that we should ask and the second thing is that we should thank Krishna when He shows us. Third thing is to accept the unpleasant situation without trying to run away from it. 

We should be deeply thankful to Krishna for this crisis, this pain. And this is the tough part. To sincerely thank God for putting us in this painful situation is very difficult. We all want favorable situations, we all want others to consider us nice and love us, for our life to be bright. We all visit astrologers . We ask: Prabhu, foretell us some happiness! The astrologer says: Your Saturn phase starts soon. And I have to disappoint you, every one of us has this Saturn in their horoscope. So everyone of us will face challenges. Every individual will pass these lessons. At those moments we should remember the 1st chapter. We will have to accept this lesson given by Krishna with gratitude. 

Sometimes people ask, What’s my mission in life? Please tell me what’s my special mission? What’s my mission? We all have one mission: to get rid of material attachments. We all have one life goal. Sometimes people think: What’s my karmic challenge? Karmic challenge, there is such slang among astrologers . Rahu, Ketu, now we’ll explain your karmic challenge. We all have only one karmic challenge. To get rid of false material identification, false material attachments, false self. Why? Because in the end if we don’t get rid of them, all these painful situations will continue. We will have one karmic challenge after another. There is just one Karmic challenge . Get rid of karma, get rid of this habit to identify ourselves with matter and get rid of material attachments. And different people try to solve it in different ways. In Arjuna’s case… What’s Arjuna’s problem, what’s the problem of sattva- guna? I’ve already tried to explain that even at the level of sattva- guna there are material attachments. A Sattvic kind person also has material attachments. Th ese material attachments are more difficult to understand, more difficult to identify. The person himself can hardly see them. From the outside they seem to be nice qualities. How did Arjuna’s material attachments manifest? In this verse Sanjaya says: like compassion. Arjuna honestly thought he’s showing compassion. People who read Bhagavad-gita many many thousands of years after Bhagavad-gita was spoken, majority of them don’t understand the 1st chapter. They think Arjuna is good, and Krishna is evil. Great philosophers read Bhagavad-gita and don’t understand the 1st chapter. Henry David Thoreau praised Bhagavad-gita, but he couldn’t understand, it was difficult to understand. Arjuna is the good one, he is kind, Arjuna doesn’t want to kill or cause pain. He doesn’t want to do evil to others. What’s wrong about it? Why doesn’t Krishna tell him: My son, finally I’ve heard something, you may walk in peace.

Because Krishna cannot be deceived. He sees one simple thing behind it: material attachments dressed up as compassion. Krishna cannot be fooled . He knows it’s not compassion. He sees through the hidden cruelty which is dressed up as ahimsa, non-violence. In the next verse Krishna says this to Arjuna. Arjuna, you’re a rascal. Arjuna sits in front of Him thinking I’m so nice, so kind, now I’m going to cry in compassion. Krishna says: You’re violent, because material attachments mean violence. What else could it be? If I have false ego, when I identify myself with this body, it means that my life is based on violence. I identify myself with this body. What does it mean? Material body and material mind? It means I like something and I dislike something. 

When I like something what will I do? - I will gladly accept it. When I dislike something, what will I do? - I will not just reject that, I will fight with it, I will kill it. Mine and someone else's. Mine, dear on one side and someone else’s on the other. I’m going to fight with it, my life will be based on violence. Krishna sees that and He tells Arjuna: you’re playing kind. In fact you are an evil and cruel person. Actually, Arjuna expressed that. He said how can I kill my relatives? How do you like this question? How can I kill my relatives? How can we rephrase this question in other words? Somebody else’s relatives I can kill. But how can I kill my own? If they were strangers there would be no problem. 

Krishna sees that. It’s very tough for us to see because we’re all Arjunas in a way. We all revel in our own kindness, compassion, something else. That’s why here is tam tatha kripaya vishtam. Sanjaya says he was overwhelmed with compassion. Yet Srila Prabhupada starts the purport by saying that this is material compassion, it has no meaning. Moreover , it’s the exact opposite of compassion. There is no compassion. In the end a person should be situated on the level of understanding of the soul, level of realization of the soul. Srila Prabhupada in a brilliant way sums up this chapter of Bhagavad-gita.

Before we move on to the next verse, I wanted to explain that the 2nd chapter of Bhagavad-gita is called Summary of Bhagavad-gita. And this is one of the titles of the 2nd chapter in sanskrit. Srila Prabhupada explains that in fact the whole theme of Bhagavad-gita is one and it has 2 aspects. The theme of Bhagavad-gita is to explain to an individual what’s his true ego and what’s his true self. All human problems come from being confused, not having the understanding of true spiritual nature. But the 2nd theme comes along with it… And Srila Prabhupada, in the 2nd chapter of Bhagavad-gita, explains the difference between the body and the soul. He explains this analytical science, the science of spiritual values, what is soul and what is body, what is temporary and what is eternal, what is matter and what is spirit. The second topic of the Bhagavad-g ita or 2nd chapter of the Bhagavad-gita is, that only the one who is not attached to fruitful activity can grasp this science. In other words, to truly understand, that I will be able only when I’m not attached to the outcome of my work . Since this attachment is the reproduction of my false ego. Attachment to the fruits of one’s work is a result or practical embodiment of my false ego . I’m acting here, I’m the doer, I must attain happiness. Me, me, me . In order to realize that my true self is not connected to this body I have to detach from the fruits of my work . As long as I stay attached, I will never be able to grasp my eternal nature. 

Srila Prabhupada says in a brilliant way… Here are the 2 topics of Bhagavad-gita. Two topics which we can easily think we have realized , yet those topics are so difficult to realize in practice. That’s why I’d like us to attentively dive into Krishna’s explanation. Led by compassion, Krishna tries to explain these 2 very very significant topics. It’s very important that in the Bhagavad-gita we can hear the voice of Krishna.

There are 3 categories of people. People who don’t think. Majority of people don’t think. Wh y don’t they think? They have nothing to think with (laughs). Attachments are too strong. When I have strong attachments, I don’t have to think. I have a ready answer to all situations. I have an automatic answer to everything. I have this attachment, I want to protect my situation, I don’t think. Practically, I’m acting as a karma machine. A c ertain karmic program has been inserted in me , I don’t have to think. The less I think, the better.

These people fight. Does Duryodhana think? No, Duryodhana knows what he needs. And on the other hand, there are people who think. It’s tough for them. This is Arjuna. The mere fact that they think means that they don’t know, but at least they’ve started thinking. They have doubts, they hesitate, they cry, they give up. They are good people. T here are people who don’t think yet, people who think and people who stopped thinking. This is Krishna. He doesn’t think, He knows.

There are people who don’t think because they don’t have to, they already have a ready answer. There are people who don’t think because They already know the real truth. And there are people in between. We will now see the dialogue, the sacred dialogue between a person who thinks and a person or God... We can say so because Krishna plays the role of a person who knows, the one who is above this and sees the truth. 

Let’s slowly start reading the verses. Today I wanted to read at least 10 verses from this chapter. Because they are very crucial for us. You aren’t tired, are you?

śrī-bhagavān uvāca
kutas tvā kaśmalam
idaṁ viṣame samupasthitam
anārya-juṣṭam asvargyam
akīrti-karam arjuna

Sri Bhagavan Krishna starts His speech. And Srila Prabhupada dedicates this whole purport to the meaning of the word Bhagavan. He explains who God is. That Krishna is Bhagavan and he explains what aspects The Supreme Personality of Godhead has. In this seminar or talk I wanted to emphasize the internal connection between the verses we are about to read. In this connection, in the end I would like to tell you about the book we’re working on, which soon will be released. Here we hear the first words of Krishna. Actually, not the first ones, before He said, Look, oh Parth a, at the sons of Kuru, at your relatives. But here the true words of Krishna begin and they are truly impressive. Arjuna is standing with tears in his eyes, Gandiva bow has fallen out of his hands. And here Krishna says: kutas tvam kasmalam idam. Kasmalam means dirt, idam means that. viṣame samupasthitam Visame - at this difficult time, time of crisis. Where does this dirt come from, Arjuna? What does “Arjuna” mean? Arjuna means direct or white, sinless. Here Krishna makes .. Krishna takes the unerringly correct position which we should remember when we talk to a person. What’s the first thing we should do? We need to separate a person from his problem. Krishna does that in the 1st line. kutas tvā kaśmalam idaṁ viṣame samupasthitam. My dear Arjuna, how have these impurities come upon you? You are a good one, no doubt. You’re Arjuna, you’re sinless. I just can’t understand one thing, how this impurities came upon you? This is an important thing, if we want to truly communicate with someone, we can say you’re bad, and he will be bad. We won’t be able to help this person. First thing we need to know and understand and feel, this person is a good one. Everyone is good. If I want to help a person, I need to do this very important thing inside of myself: you’re good, My dear Arjuna, how have these impurities come upon you? Krishna naturally reflects understanding of Arjuna himself on the level of false ego. Arjuna when he came up with this role of kind and compassionate Arjuna, surely inside he dreamed of how people are going to say, t his great archer Arjuna, he came and overwhelmed with compassion put aside his bow in order to not fight. Out of compassion he didn’t want to do that. The f irst thing we think about ourselves: it’s all because I’m so good and generous. I understand the truth. Do we understand the truth? I know the truth. Krishna immediately says anarya. Anarya means … Srila Prabhupada explains in the purport the word “arya” - a person who knows spiritual values. Straight away He puts Arjuna in his place. He says you’ve imagined yourself as a generous person. Nothing like that, anarya. You’re a miserable mean person since you’ve succumbed to weakness. Kutas tvā kaśmalam This kasmala has covered you and you’ve become anarya. You’ve forgotten your spiritual values, forgotten who you are, you’ve lost your self esteem despite being Arjuna. Further, Arjuna thought and he explained all these things in the 1st chapter. At first he said we are men of virtue , we should act in a particular way. Further he said, how could a person killing others go to heaven, he would for sure go to hell. In other words, when Arjuna wanted to get away he thought as a result he will go to … Where? Heaven. I’m a generous person, everyone will appreciate it, I’m going to keep my virtue , finally I will go to heaven. Krishna says anārya-juṣṭam asvargyam. Nothing like that, heaven is not for you. Asvarga - nothing good will come out of it. anārya-juṣṭam asvargyam. Further Arjuna thought … why all this false ego, why the 1st chapter is the description of Arjuna’s false ego? Because Arjuna expected people to praise him, admire him, saying Look at Arjuna, Arjuna Ki Jay. What does Krishna say? Akīrti-karam. You will not get any fame, people will laugh at you. By these 3 words, with powerful arguments all Arjuna’s hopes for a bright future were destroyed. Arjuna has imagined something that we usually do, the false ego paints a picture. Now we’re going to do this and it will bring certain results. Krishna says it is a false thing, it is based on a lie, and as a result you won’t get anything you expect. anārya-juṣṭam asvargyam akīrti-karam arjuna. However He precisely separates Arjuna from his weakness, his pain, his problem. Further in the next verse He says even more harsh things:

klaibyaṁ mā sma gamaḥ pārtha
naitat tvayy upapadyate
kṣudraṁ hṛdaya-daurbalyaṁ
tyaktvottiṣṭha paran-tapa

Here He calls Arjuna two names: Partha and Parantapa. Partha means son of Prtha. klaibyaṁ mā sma gamaḥ pārtha naitat tvayy upapadyate. This is not for you because you are son of Prtha. What is not for you? Klaibyam. What is klaibyam? Klaibyam means weakness, physical bodily weakness. Klaibyam means absence of life energy. Kliba means eunuch. Kliba means tranvestite, heterosexual. Saying it in a modern politically correct language. Kliba means … or transvestite. Better in sanskrit, right? (laughs) Kliba means a person who seems to be a man, yet he wants to undergo surgery. Krishna tells him Arjuna, my dear, it’s not Kali Yuga yet. And you were not born in Sweden, so that the government could finance such surgery for you. Who are you, Partha? All sons of Prtha are real men. We heard of Yudhishthira, Bhima, and Arjuna, we also heard of his son, a great hero. klaibyaṁ mā sma gamaḥ pārtha. O son of Pṛthā, how this humiliating weakness could totally destroy you? He says … Actually he talks about 2 types of weakness. Humans have two types of weakness: physical weakness, a person can be physically weak a nd another weakness, a dreadful weakness, which is the weakness of heart, of mind. He says You have these two types of weaknesses. From one side we can see Arjuna becoming physically weak. His body is trembling, he turned pale, his bow slipped out of his hands, he could not hold it. He becomes physical unable , he becomes very weak on a physical level. As a matter of fact this is kṣudraṁ hṛdaya-daurbalyaṁ, this is a manifestation of deep internal weakness. Krishna chastises Arjuna as much as He can. You became weak on the level of the body, you became weak on the level of the heart. But He also says… 

Once again please listen how Krishna chastises Arjuna, but at the same time He inspires him. This is very important because we often chastise others and we think we help them this way. You have to know how to chastise someone. Krishna chastises Arjuna as much as He can at the same time He inspires him. He says You are Arjuna, absolutely sinless, these impurities have nothing to do with you. You are son of Prtha, powerful man, you’re parantapa, chastiser of the enemies. At the same time He says kṣudraṁ hṛdaya-daurbalyaṁ. What does it mean? What does ksudram mean? Ksudram means insignificant. It’s nothing at all to overcome this weakness. [A child cries] Someone is inspired (laughs). Sometimes we think Oh no, this weakness is impossible, just like Arjuna. Kṣudraṁ hṛdaya-daurbalyaṁ. Nothing wrong here, nothing special, just a small problem. We’re going to fix it now. Parantapa you are going to defeat all enemies, no doubt about it. You will defeat this problem, coming out of this situation as a winner. Krishna here chastises Arjuna, but at the same time He inspires him. Tyaktva, give up this insignificant weakness, it won’t be difficult to give up, it’s just a silly thing, nonsense. You can’t chant 16 rounds, it’s some nonsense. 16 rounds, that’s nothing. 64 rounds is also nothing. People come and say Oh, I can’t chant 64 rounds. But it’s nonsense. Is that right? Nonsense! People come and say I have this problem, I have that problem. What should you say? That’s nonsense. Arjuna, you’re parantapa. How this nonsense could become so big in your consciousness. Kṣudraṁ, it’s petty. It won’t be difficult to defeat. This is a very important point . These problems are not so big and great, it’s not difficult to overcome. Krishna said these 2 verses in response. Stand up! Ty aktva! U ttiṣṭha paran-tapa. 

Once Srila Prabhupada explained this 1st chapter of Bhagavad-gita. Srila Prabhupada said: Krishna always told Arjun to get up and fight, get up and fight, get up and fight. He never told him to sit down and smoke ganja. Sometimes people think smoking marijuana is spiritual practice. Or taking LSD. Arjuna is sitting, Krishna tells him to get up and overcome his weakness. Arjuna starts his speech. This is the most important thing I wanted to talk about with you. Because there are amazing things Arjuna is saying. Arjuna says in the next verse

arjuna uvāca
kathaṁ bhīṣmam ahaṁ saṅkhye
droṇaṁ ca madhusūdana
iṣubhiḥ pratiyotsyāmi
pūjārhāv ari-sūdana

First of all, commentators bring attention to the fact that Arjuna, contrary to all the rules of sanskrit versification, makes two almost similar descriptions of Krishna. Krishna has got many names. Arjuna calls Him in the 1st line Madhusudana and then Arisudana. Madhusudana, Arisudana. This is some sort of mistake, accordingly it’s considered tautology. One person stands in front of you and you call him Arisudana, Madhusudana, some other sudana. In the end, have you forgotten sanskrit? There are so many wonderful words and commentators say Arjuna simply doesn’t remember how he’d called Krishna. When he comes to Arisudana, he has already forgotten he called Him Madhusudana. (laughs) Commentators explain the state of total confusion Arjuna experiences. Sometimes in this confused state we also start mumbling some nonsense. Arjuna is trying to resist Krishna. He says, kathaṁ bhīṣmam ahaṁ saṅkhye droṇaṁ ca madhusūdana iṣubhiḥ pratiyotsyāmi Pūjārhāv. How will I be able to stand in front of them, pratiyotsyāmi fight with them with my arrows. With who ? Drona and Bhisma. kathaṁ bhīṣmam ahaṁ saṅkhye. Sankhye - in this battle. droṇaṁ ca madhusūdana. How can I do it with my arrows? Pujarhav. What do they deserve? Puja, worship. They are objects of worship. 

When we worship someone, how do we do that? What do we worship him with? Arrows? Flowers! Arjuna says, I should bring flowers to their feet. They are worthy of my worship. On their own, these words give a lot away in Arjuna’s psychology. He says Pujarhav: they are worthy of my worship. In other words, let’s have a closer look at each word Arjuna speaks out. What does pujarhav mean? It means they are respected. Respected where? In the society. In other words, Arjuna wants to say: now I’m going to fight these respectable individuals and what are people going to say about me? What is Arjuna afraid to lose? His reputation. Arjuna is afraid to lose his good name. People will say: Look at this ungrateful bastard! He killed his own teacher, Bhisma. And Arjuna is terrified of that. His false ego, sore false ego screams: Pujarhav ari-sudana. I don’t want, I don’t want, I don’t want that. 

And he speaks out these words, he doesn’t hear what Krishna tells him. He didn’t hear what Krishna told him. He just screams: I can’t do that, I can’t do that, my false ego will be hurt. He explains that. In the 5th verse he says: gurūn ahatvā hi mahānubhāvān. Gurun ahatva. What does hatva mean? Hatva means killing, ahatva means not killing. Gurūn ahatvā hi mahānubhāvān. Hi mahānubhāvān. They are mahānubhāvān, great souls. Hi mahānubhāvān. If we don’t kill these great souls, śreyo bhoktuṁ bhaikṣyam apīha loke, in this world then for sure… What is he trying to say? If we don’t kill, then we will deserve wonderful things in the next world. We will deserve an award for that. Hi mahānubhāvān. They are great souls, you can’t touch them. Sreyo bhoktuṁ bhaikṣyam apīha loke. I ha loke means in this world. What is better for us… Sreyah means better. Bho ktum - to live in this world or enjoy in this world… how? Bhaikṣyam. Do you know what biksa is? It means collecting charity . He says it’s better to be begging in this world than kill these great souls. 

And here I’d like to ask you a question, please explain to me how Arjuna’s false ego manifests here? How can we recognize false ego in ourselves or others? He says: No no, I’d rather be begging. This is a great king, warrior, he is about to beg. Besides, he knows that every dharma- sastra says that the only thing a ksatriya should not do is beg . Begging ksatriyas are nonsense. Ksatriya is forbidden to beg. Arjuna says No, I’d rather be begging. Where is false ego? How does false ego manifest? In extremes. Before he said I’ll shoot them on my own. Now he says I’d rather be begging. The next minute he will say: I’ll defeat them all. This is how false ego manifests in any extreme. False ego likes extremes, it doesn’t like a happy medium. Krishna will later say Yogic path is a medium path. False ego can not tolerate that. Arjuna is lying and Krishna knows he is lying. This is false ego. In fact he says I’d rather be begging. I’ve heard such things, it’s incredible. I’ve been thinking about these verses. I literally heard this. I have one acquaintance, a devotee. He comes from a specific environment, not the most pious past. To put it mildly, he is mafia. He became a devotee. I remember meeting him for the first time. I was so terrified. I looked at him and thought Oh my God, now he’s going to kill me and nobody will know. Really, this violent nature is very strong in this person. Very very strong. He became a devotee. He’s been through a very strong crisis. Crisis of material identification that happens to everyone. Very strong crisis. He came to devotees and he very quickly grasped devotees’ language, etiquette and frills. I spoke to him many times and he always repeated this verse: Oh I don’t need anything else, don’t need anything. Just a small corner, I’ll put my sleeping bag there. (laughs) I looked at him and thought he did not change , but he doesn’t need anything. At least he thinks that he doesn’t need anything. And here we hear the same thing. I beg you let’s have a serious look at what Arjuna says. Sometimes we say the same things. I heard the same intonations from him just like Arjuna is now addressing Krishna. Attachments still remain inside. We accept the pose of humility. This verse is so important for us because here Arjuna attains the limit of humility. Trnad api sunicena taror api sahisnuna…. He is ready to beg. What more humility we can ask from a ksatriya, he is ready to beg! And Krishna is just giggle ing to Himself when He hears that. When we try to fake humility, Krishna’s reaction is just the same. Arjuna says gurūn ahatvā hi mahānubhāvān He even switched to a different meter . śreyo bhoktuṁ bhaikṣyam apīha loke. Krishna replies What kind of mahānubhāvān? What are you talking about? They are … Mahabharata mentions If they retreated… There is a famous verse about situations when one can leave his guru. Mahabharata strictly claims we should stick to the elders and respect them. 

It is an important thing I forgot to say about the previous verse. System of hierarchy is very important. It’s undisputable. But we need to understand this system is established in vedic society, it is immutable. It is always connected to Krishna. We accept the superiority of our mother, father, king, spiritual master, since all of them are Krishna’s representatives. This system of superiority connected to Krishna, with Krishna at its top, it should be unshakeable in our consciousness, we should not touch it. However, when this system of superiority breaks its connection with Krishna, we should refuse it. We should refuse our mother. Who refused his mother? Bharata refused his mother. What was his mother’s name? Kaikeya. When Kaikeya ousted Rama, he said, You want to have nothing in common with Rama, I want to have nothing in common with you . One can refuse his own father. Who refused his father? Yes, Prahlada M aharaj refused. Pavlik Morozov also, but for different reasons. Who refused his guru? Bali M aharaj refused his guru. Immediately, when the system of superiority becomes false. 

Krishna objects to Arjuna in reaction to the previous verse. What are you talking about, my dear? This system of superiority turned into a formality. They refused Krishna, refused their connection with God. So you have no problem in fighting with them. What’s more, you must fight them. Arjuna persists and says mahānubhāvān. They still are great souls. Still are great. Listen carefully to Arjuna’s argument. Yes, maybe they refused Krishna. But Bhisma is still a mystic yogi. He has this benediction that he can leave this world when he wants to. He is a great soul, how can I raise my hand at him? He says mahānubhāvān. Drona… Great souls. We should at least respect their great past, their great experience. Krishna says: But wait, wait, Bhisma said so himself. What did Bhisma say? Bhisma told Yudhisthira I just sold myself out. I sold myself out to Duryoudhana for a bowl of soup. For his money, money bought him. Krishna says, Wait, they said it themselves. There is no mahanubhavan. They just sold themselves out. They are Duryodhana’s soldiers of fortune. They are fighting because he bought them. Simply bribed them. Arjuna answers to that hatvārtha-kāmāṁs. Even if they are artha-kama. Even if they are hungry for money. hatvārtha-kāmāṁs tu gurūn ihaiva huñjīya bhogān rudhira-pradigdhān. Even if they are hungry for money. Even if they are hungry for profit. Even if their heart is poisoned with greed. Still, killing them we will poison bhuñjīya bhogān rudhira-pradigdhān. Everything we’d like to enjoy will be tainted with blood. 

In other words, here Arjuna reaches the limit in his self pity. And the 6th verse is something very important, a very important solution to this trouble. Because explaining the 6th verse, commentators, and Srila Prabhupada following them, explain that despite Arjuna being overwhelmed by his false ego, he has the qualities which still guarantee that he will win in the end. Explaining the 6th verse, commentators bring up a verse from Brihadaranyaka- upanisad which says about 5 qualities, 5 main qualities of a spiritual seeker which guarantee him success. Let’s read the 6th verse na caitad vidmaḥ kataran no garīyo yad vā jayema yadi vā no jayeyuḥ 

Arjuna says… Before Arjuna said it’s all clear, I don’t need to fight. But here he confesses to Krishna: Actually, I don’t know what’s better for me. Jayema - to conquer or jayeyuḥ - to be conquered; I really don’t know what’ s better out of these 2 options. He honestly confesses himself. yān eva hatvā na jijīviṣāmas. And he says now they are standing in front of us at the battlefield, these sons of Dhritarastra te ’vasthitāḥ right in front of us. Pramukhe - right in front of us, te ’vasthitāḥ - in front of us, dhārtarāṣṭrāḥ - sons of Dhrtarastra. yān eva hatvā and it’s not clear whether we kill them or it’s better if they kill us. It’s not clear what is better. He confesses that and the commentators explain a very important thing. Srila Prabhupada writes: Arjuna was competent in all these attributes, over and above his enormous attributes in his material relationships. Unless the senses are controlled, there is no chance of elevation to the platform of knowledge, and without knowledge and devotion there is no chance of liberation. 

As a matter of fact, these 5 qualities manifested in these verses and the verses of the 1st chapter in Arjuna’s words - shama, d ama, uparati, titiksa and sraddha. 5 qualities that guarantee an individual victory on the spiritual path. What does shama mean? Shama comes out of the word sham. Shanti also comes from sham . What does shanti mean? Peace. What does shama mean? Ability to control one’s mind. Mind is racing somewhere, mind is coming out of its borders, we tell it, Quiet, my dear, hush [“sha” in russian]. From the same word, s hanti. It’s an important S anskrit etymological find. Shama. Arjuna is capable of controlling his mind. How did he prove that he is capable? He says, I don’t want all of that. Uncontrolled mind means I imagine something, I have uncontrollable desire, I want to reach that no matter what. 

Arjuna can look at it from the outside and say I don’t want all of that, this kingdom, this victory, I don’t need that. Shama. What does d ama mean? D am. Ability to control senses. Ability to control one’s mind and ability to control one’s senses. I have self control: I control my mind, I control my senses, anything I do. People who are very much attached, who are under influence of the lower guna s of nature, they can not control their senses. They are doing weird things, dangerous people. Shama, d ama, uparati. What does uparati mean? Uparati means indifference , or lack of a strong attachment to material things in this world or material promis es in the next world. Uparati. Arjuna says I don’t need the heavenly kingdom, I don’t need earthly kingdom. He is ready to refuse that. There should be some internal detachment. What does titiksha mean? Tolerance. Titiksha is tolerance. Readiness to endure all. And what is the last quality? Shraddha, faith. Shraddha. These are 5 most important qualities. 

And I wanted to give you some homework. Please look through the 1st chapter of BG and find verses spoken by Arjuna where he manifests each one out of these 5 qualities. Think about what Arjuna says, how it manifests in his life and also how it manifests in our life. Once again. To really move along a spiritual path we should one way or another, at least at the initial stage , show these 5 crucial qualities. What is the most important out of these 5? That is sh raddha, faith. First four qualities are needed for someone to gain spiritual knowledge. The 5th quality is the most important. And Arjuna manifests the 5th quality in the next verse, the famous verse Bhagavad-g ita starts from. If Arjuna had spoken all the other verses without saying this one, Krishna would not have told him anything. This verse gets Krishna involved. It is the request spoken out by Arjuna. And we should know very well what touched Krishna in this request.

kārpaṇya-doṣopahata-svabhāvaḥ
pṛcchāmi tvāṁ dharma-sammūḍha-cetāḥ
yac chreyaḥ syān niścitaṁ brūhi tan me
śiṣyas te ’haṁ śādhi māṁ tvāṁ prapannam

Probably it’s going to be the last verse I read today. I will explain it now and we will finish with it. Because the 8th verse is very important, I want to focus on it more in detail, don’t want to mess it up and it’s already too late. This 7th verse is also highly importance. It’s key, here Arjuna surrenders to Krishna. First thing he says is… he honestly says kārpaṇya-doṣopahata-svabhāvaḥ. My nature is completely covered by kārpaṇya-doṣa . Kārpaṇya-doṣa comes from the word krpana, miser. Misery overcame my heart. Why does he say so? Why is he a miser? Who is a miser? The one who can not give away material possessions. Miser is the one who feels pain when giving away material things, who can not give away material things. Because of that appears weakness, cowardice. Arjuna feels that this cowardice is karpanya. It is the consequence of my disability to give away, my fear to lose something. 

Let’s look into our own hearts. Did you feel such cowardice inside? When we stand before the prospect of spiritual life, when we are told we should give up on all our material attachments. Do we feel this weakness in our heart? Kārpaṇya-doṣopahata-svabhāvaḥ. Really, I gave up on chocolate, do I really have to give up on ice cream too?! Do I have to leave everything behind? Arjuna speaks honestly. Before that he said I don’t know. These are his first honest words. Before he wanted to start begging, he said I’m not going to, I don’t want to. Now he says I don’t know what is best for me. Then he says I’m weak. And I fee l material attachments overcame me. Further he says an even more dreadful thing. 

Pṛcchāmi tvāṁ dharma-sammūḍha-cetāḥ. In fact, I don’t really know what I should do. Dharma-sammūḍha-cetāḥ I’m fully confused. Wherein before he used to say during the whole 1st chapter, I know everything, he quoted sastra, it is said so and so, you can’t do that, by no means you can do that, never. Listen, this is a very important lesson for all of us. Th e more a person talks about something, the less he actually understands this matter. This is an obvious sign of it. If a person in front of you is saying I’m not attached to anything, I have no attachments at all. What does it mean? He is attached, so attached, tied up. If a person walking late at night whistles very loudly I’m not scared of anything, I’m not scared… What does it mean? (laughs) No matter what a person says about himself. If someone says I’m so truthful, what does it mean? Arjuna says don’t fight, don’t fight. What does it mean? Inside he doesn’t properly know whether he should fight or not. But to explain it to himself, to others, to confuse himself totally he says I’m not going to fight. 

But here he says to Krishna, pṛcchāmi tvāṁ dharma-sammūḍha-cetāḥ I don’t know anything properly, I don’t know anything. Further he says a very important thing. He could say I don’t know what to do. He also could say… What normal people ask in this situation? I don’t know what to do. What do people ask in this situation? Please tell me what to do. A person comes and says I have an existential crisis, I don’t know whether I should married or not. Please tell me to marry or not to marry. I will do what you say. In 2 years he comes again. I have an existential crisis, I don’t know whether I should divorce or not. I will do what you say. Arjuna doesn ’t ask Krishna to tell him whether to fight or not. Arjuna says I don’t know what to do, but he doesn’ t tell Krishna Please tell me what to do. What does he say? Krishna, tell me what is best for me – yac chreyaḥ syān niścitaṁ brūhi tan me. This phrase made Krishna speak Bhagavad-g ita. Because if Arjuna had said, Krishna please tell me what should I do now, the Bhagavad-g ita would’ve ended in the next verse. Fight! 

What is the most important thing Arjuna sayid in these verses… it’s Arjuna’s shraddha, Arjuna’s faith. How does this verse explain Arjuna’s shraddha ? Arjuna’s shraddha is that he knows there is someone who can tell me what’s best and I should ask him this particular question. What’s best for me? Please tell me what’s best for me? Normally, people don’t want to know what’s best. When we face a crisis, what do we want to do? We want to come out of this crisis. How do we want to come out? Quickly. Quickly. I have no money. Is that a crisis? Yes. Who thinks that all his material problems will be solved if he has more money? Raise your hands, be honest. L isten carefully. Always, when we’re facing some difficulty, we always want to change the external material situation. And we always have a material solution. If we’re lacking money, we need to have more money. If there is an illness, we should cure it. If there is a marriage or divorce… Recently, I had a visitor asking to have a look at her horoscope. Guruji, please have a look at my horoscope and tell me whether I should divorce with my husband. Bhagavad-g ita ends here. 

Everyone wants simple and quick solutions. What is Arjuna’s fame and faith? What does he ask for? Krishna please tell me what’s best for me. Please tell me what will bring me the highest goodness. He says one more thing, niścitaṁ brūhi tan me. Very important, niścitaṁ brūhi tan me. Acaryas explain what niścitaṁ means. Niścitaṁ means certainly. Niścitaṁ s hreyas. They say Please tell me. Niścitaṁ can be linked to the word brūhi. Tell me for certain what is best for me. But niścitaṁ can also be linked to the word s hreyas. Tell me what is a certain highest good for me. Acaryas say what kind of solution we should ask from our teacher or Krishna. 

This solution or recipe which we ask for should be niścitaṁ chreyas. Niścitaṁ has two features. Listen very carefully. Baladev Vidyabhusana explains that. Srila Prabhupada wrote his purports based on the purports of Baladev Vidyabhusana . He says niścitaṁ shreyas means ai kantiki shreyas and a tyantiki shreyas . Ai kantiki s hreyas means that this good will certainly come to me. In other words, please tell me what to do, so that it certainly brings me good. Give me such a recipe or practice that will bring me to success. ai kantiki shreyas . I don’ t need solutions that probably will bring me or probably won’t. I need a solution that will certainly be best for me. I don’t need no small talk, please tell me what will bring me happiness 100%. And a tyantiki shreyas means … there will be no anta, no end. This goodness that will come to me will have no end. It will be permanent. In other words, what kind of decision do I need from you, what kind of advice do I need? Advice that will definitely bring me goodness or advice that will bring me to a situation which won’t bring me back to the situation I find myself in at the moment. In order that the crisis doesn’t come back. 

Like you come to the doctor. Very simple example. You have cancer. Who doesn’ t have that. You come to the doctor and say Please, I need advice that will be niścitaṁ s hreyas for me. Method that will definitely bring me there and method which will cure the disease and won’t let it to come back. And they say chemo. Does chemo have these features? First of all, it’s not clear if it makes things better. Besides, even after improvement, disease comes back. What does Arjuna ask for? He asks for this goodness. Goodness which has these 2 features. The r ecipe you give me should certainly lead me to that solution and it should be permanent, this situation should not happen to me again, should not come back. 

Arjuna says here śiṣyas te ’haṁ śādhi māṁ tvāṁ prapannam I’m your disciple, you’re my teacher. Please teach me. śādhi māṁ tvāṁ. Instruct me, give me instructions. I will do whatever you say. Though, a couple of verses later he will say I’m not going to fight. This is also a very distinctive quality of a disciple. Fully surrendered disciple. We will speak about that next time when we continue on Wednesday. Today I would like to finish our story here. And the day after tomorrow we will start from the 8th verse of the 2nd chapter of Bhagavad-gita. Very important verse because it opens another important quality. Probably t he most important quality of a spiritual seeker. Once again, these first few verses are a description of the qualification or attempts to understand what q ualities guara ntee positive outcome out of crisis. Qualities Arjuna shows in the 8th verse are very very important, so I’d like to speak about them more in detail . Well, this is everything we could speak about today.