36070186 bg course vedalearn

8/2/2019 36070186 Bg Course Vedalearn

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BHAGAVAD GITA - SEVEN DAYS COURSE

LESSON - 1

Krsna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Bhagavan.(15.18).

He spoke Bhagavad Gita to Arjuna, who is in a direct relationshipwith Krsna as His friend and devotee.(4.3). Only by the processof devotional service can one revive one's relationship withKrsna.(18.55). Therefore, Bhagavad Gita should be taken up in aspirit of devotion.(18.67)

Everyone is full of anxiety because of the material existence(8.15). The cause of suffering and the actual destination oflife are proper subjects of enquiry. Krsna answered thesequestions, through Bhagavad Gita, and thus relieved Arjuna fromall material miseries by making him understand his constitutionalposition.

The following is a summary of Sri Krsna's explanations ofAbsolute Truth in Bhagavad Gita:

"Sri Krsna is the Supreme enjoyer, controller and friend ofall.(5.29). Nature (prakrti) is His energy.(15.7). Jiva theindividual living entity, is part and parcel of His spiritual(internal) energy.(7.5). Material nature (constituted of threequalities or modes viz., sattva, rajas, and tamas)(14.5)consisting of eight elements namely earth, water, fire, air,ether, mind intelligence and false ego,(7.4)is His externalenergy. By a combination of the three modes of material natureand under the control of time (which is another energy of Krsna)

there are activities and resultant reactions. Material nature isreal and eternal, whereas the manifestation of the material world(of these activities and reactions) is real but temporary.(13.20)

The Supreme conscious Lord Krsna, is conscious of all the bodies,everything and every atom.(13.3) Even when He appears within thematerial creation in any form, His consciousness is nevermaterially affected. Jiva is only conscious of his ownbody(13.2) Matter is unconscious, without the presence of jiva."

Due to material pollution of the consciousness, the living entityis entangled in bodily actions and reactions(15.8) which are

actually carried on by the modes of material nature.(3.27) Thispollution can be purified by dovetailing the activities in fullco-operation with the will of Krsna. These activities in pureconsciousness called bhakti are transcendental to the three modesand thus the performer becomes free from actions and reactions.In this liberated stage one attains his constitutional positionas servant of Sri Krsna.

All the planets within material existence have the materialmiseries of repeated birth, death, old age and disease.(8.16)The spiritual world has no such inebrieties. Following in thefootsteps of Arjuna, if we act according to Krsna's instructions,we can attain the abode of Krsna from where we never have to

return to this material world. (15.6/8.21)

Our thinking, which is now absorbed in material energy, must be


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transferred to the spiritual energy. This is made possible bypracticing to remember Sri Krsna by always chanting His names(which are spiritual, non-different from the Lord) and moldingour life's activities in such a way that we can remember Himalways.(9.14)

It is Krsna's instructions that this process must be learnt by

rendering service to and enquiring submissively from a selfrealized soul, in an unbroken disciplic succession fromKrsna.(4.34)

Vedic knowledge is infallible, above all doubts and mistakes.The purpose of Vedic knowledge is to know the Supreme Lord SriKrsna. Sri Krsna reveals this knowledge through Bhagavad Gita.Therefore, Bhagavad Gita should be accepted 'as it is' withoutinterpretation, deletion or addition.

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LESSON - 2

(Ch. 1 to 3)

As the opposing armies stand poised for battle in Kuruksetra,Arjuna the mighty warrior, sees his enemies who are all hisintimate relatives, teachers and friends. Overcome by griefand pity, his mind bewildering, Arjuna fails in his strength andgives up his determination to fight.

Arjuna submits himself to Lord Krishna as His disciple andKrishna begins His teachings by explaining the fundamental

distinctions between the temporary material body and the eternalspiritual soul. The Lord explains the transmigration, the natureof the selfless service and the characteristics of aself-realized person.(3.19)

A self-realized person is not diverted by various types offruitive activities because he is firmly situated in self, thesoul - as part and parcel of Krishna.(3.17). The revival ofsuch relationship is the highest perfectional stage of allvedic knowledge.

It is not possible to curb the forces of sense gratification byhuman endeavor.(3.33). The senses require real engagement. Byusingeverything in the service of the Lord one can save oneselffrom becoming the victim of material consciousness. Thus bythe strength of Krishna consciousness one should direct hissteady intelligence towards his pure identity.(3.43)

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LESSON - 3

(Ch. 4 to 6)

The principles of religion are direct orders of the Supreme


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Personality of Godhead, laid down in the Vedas, that push onetowards complete surrender unto Him. Whenever such principlesare disturbed by the demoniac the Lord appears in His ownspiritual energy.

The truth about the appearance and activities of Krsna, whenknown can free one from the cycle of birth and death.(4.9)

Such knowledge should be gained by hearing from selfrealized soul. Material attachments make one bereft of suchknowledge(4.10)

Negligence of spiritual life, fear of spiritual identity and theconception of void that arises from frustration in life are threekinds of material attachments. To become free from thesematerial conceptions one should take shelter of the Lord, inKrsna consciousness. Krsna consciousness is gradually awakenedby different types of sacrifices. All sacrifices are based onregulated actions, where the important factor is selfrealization.(4.32/3.15)

Devotional activities to satisfy Krsna, strengthen one'sknowledge of self, and the complete knowledge of the Lord as thesupreme controller and enjoyer of all sacrifices. By becomingperfect in such devotional life one attains liberation in Krsnaeven while performing service with the material body.(5.10,13)Thus the culmination of all kinds of yoga practices is bhaktiyoga. Hearing the transcendental names and activities of Krsnais an expert treatment for the mad mind and eating foodstuffoffered to Krsna is the appropriate diet for the diseaseof material existence. This treatment is the process of krsnaconsciousness, the real and topmost yoga system for thisage.(6.47)

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LESSON - 4

(Ch. 7 to 10)

There is no truth superior to Krsna. Everything rests upon Krsnaas pearls strung on a thread. Though everything comes from Him,He is fully independent.(7.7) He is the controller of the threemodes that delude everyone in the material existence.(7.13) So,those who surrender to Him can cross over His divineenergy.(7.14)

Grossly foolish, lowest among mankind, those whose knowledge isstolen by illusion and those who wilfully take to demoniac naturedo not surrender to Krsna.(7.15) Those who are distressed, whodesire wealth, who are inquisitive and who seek knowledgesurrender to Krsna.(7.16)

The material manifestation is temporary. It is periodicallycreated and annihilated. Any place within the material existenceis full of miseries where repeated birth and death take place.

But those who surrender to Krsna, can cross this ocean of birthand death and attain the Lord's abode which is eternal andtranscendental.(8.16) He is attainable only by unalloyed


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devotional service.(11.54)

Sense enjoyment through the Vedas results in repeated birth anddeath. (2.42) Since Krsna is the supreme controller those whoworship the demigods are worshipping Him only, but in a wrongway.(9.23) They take birth among the demigods as much as theworshipers of ancestors and ghosts take birth amongst them. But

those who worship Krsna attain Him.(9.25-26) Krsna can beworshiped with genuine love by offering even a leaf, a drop ofwater, a fruit or a flower.

If one does not become perfect in worshipping Krsna in one life,he can continue from where he left off in his next life. Thereis no loss or diminuation for devotional service.(2.40)

All wondrous displays of beauty, grandeur or sublimity, eitherin the material or spiritual world, are but partialmanifestations of Krsna's divine energies and opulences. As thesupreme cause of all causes and the support and essence of

everything Krsna is the Supreme object of worship for allbeings.(10.41-42)

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LESSON - 5

(Ch. 11 to 13)

Lord Krsna grants Arjuna divine vision and reveals Hisspectacular, unlimited form as the cosmic universe. Thus Heconclusively establishes His divinity.(11.5) Krsna explains that

His own, all beautiful human-like form is the original form ofGodhead, One can perceive this form only by pure devotionalservice.(11.54)

The universal from is material and temporary, just as thematerial world is temporary. A devotee is not much interested inthe universal form, for it does not enable one to reciprocateloving feelings.

Bhakti yoga, loving devotional service to Lord Krsna, is thehighest and the most expedient means for attaining pure love forKrsna, which is the highest conclusion of spiritual existence.Those who follow this supreme path develop divine qualities.

One should be attracted to the personal form of Krsna, for thatis the highest spiritual realization. The path of impersonalismis troublesome for those who have a body. As far as a devotee isconcerned, Krsna Himself delivers His pure devotee. Thereforeone should not try to deliver himself in spiritual realization.Everyone must take shelter of the supreme omnipotent Godhead,Krsna, by practicing the process of Krsna consciousness and fullyengaging himself in devotional service.(12.5-7)

To reach the highest goal, Krsna, there are two processes:

Renouncing the fruits of one's activity and coming to knowledgeby such renunciation, and then to the stage of meditation and


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then to the stage of understanding Supersoul and, at last,approaching the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is the step bystep, indirect process.(12.8-14)

Devotional service is the direct method. In this process thereare two stages. To practice the regulative principles of Bhaktiyoga under the guidance of an expert spiritual master for the

purification of the senses is the first stage. In this stage,one can finally develop an attachment for Krsna. In the secondstage, when that attachment develops into a naturaltranscendental love for Krsna, one is in direct relationship withthe Supreme Lord in devotional service.

The preliminary stage of understanding devotional serviceperfectly, is known as knowledge. In terms of Vedic literatures,perfect knowledge of the constitution of the body, theconstitution of the soul, and the constitution of the Supersoulis that knowledge.

The purpose of knowledge is to understand distinctly that theliving entity has by chance fallen into the material existence.If he reverts to spiritual or Krsna consciousness by the processof devotional service, then it is certain that he will never comeagain into this material existence. He will be transferred tothe spiritual world for a blissful, eternal life of knowledge.

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LESSON - 6

(Ch. 14 to 16)

Krsna is the seed giving father of all the living beingsconceived by the material nature. When the living beings comeinto contact with the material nature they become conditioned bythe three modes, goodness, passion and ignorance. (14.4-5)

Goodness conditions one to happiness, passion to fruitive actionsand ignorance covers one's knowledge and binds one tomadness.(14.9) Those in goodness go upward to the higherplanets; those in passion come back to earthly life. Those inignorance go down to hellish worlds.(14.18)

In his constitutional position a living entity is above the threemodes of material nature. By engagement in devotional service infull Krsna consciousness, he is immediately re-situated in thetranscendental position and his unlawful desire to control thematerial nature is removed. Therefore the process of devotionalservice beginning with hearing, chanting and remembering shouldbe practiced in the association of devotees under the guidance ofthe spiritual master. Thus one can become firmly situated inKrsna's transcendental loving service.

The purpose of the Vedas is to cut down the illusory tree of the

material world and attain the real tree of the spiritual world.The problems of material existence are due to weakness of theheart. By understanding the philosophy of the Supreme Personality


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of Godhead and engaging in His service, everyone can become freefrom this weakness.(15.3)

Everything comes from Krsna; He is the maintainer of theworld.(15.4) He is the object of all the Vedas. He is thesource of the Supersoul too. (15.15) He is celebrated both inthis world and in the Vedas as the Supreme Person.(15.17) One

who knows Krsna as such is the knower of everything. Thereforehe engages in His service and attains to His eternalabode.(15.19)

Those who are in the modes of passion and ignorance deride thescriptures, deride the holy men and deride the properunderstanding of Krsna.(16.18) They are not attracted todevotional service. Gradually they sink down to the mostabominable type of existence and thus lose the chance ofapproaching Krsna.(16.20) But there are others who develop thedivine qualities and gradually become situated in realization ofKrsna.(16.22) In dividing the divine and demoniac natures there

is no other criteria but obedience to the regulative principlesof scriptures.

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LESSON - 7

(Ch. 17 to 18)

The living being is originally a part and parcel of the Supreme

Lord. Therefore one is originally transcendental to all themodes of material nature. So, when one forgets hisconstitutional position, influenced by goodness, passion andignorance one develops resultant artificial faiths whichare material.(15.7) In goodness one worships demigods, inpassion powerful humans and demons, and in the mode of ignorancethe ghosts and spirits.(17.4)

The real principle of religious faith is situated in the mode ofpure goodness. But because the heart is tainted we finddifferent types of religious principles. According todifferent types of faith based on different modes of nature thereare different kinds of worship.

In the pursuit of all Vedic instructions, the ultimate goal isthe understanding of Krsna. One can achieve faith in Krsna byaccepting the proper spiritual master and receiving trainingunder his direction.(4.34) When that faith matures, in course oftime, it is called love of God. This is the ultimate goal of allliving entities. One should, therefore, take to Krsnaconsciousness directly.

One who surrenders to Krsna does not have to execute so manydifferent methods. That simple surrender unto Krsna will savehim from unnecessarily wasting time.(18.66)

One can thus make all progress at once and be freed from allsinful reactions. If one is perplexed about giving up all kinds


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of religious forms and simply surrendering unto Krsna, such worryis useless, because Krsna says, "DO NOT WORRY." (18.66)

Anyone who tries sincerely to present Bhagavad Gita as it is,will advance in devotional activities and reach to the puredevotional state of life. As a result of such pure devotion, bychanting HARE KRSNA HARE KRSNA KRSNA KRSNA HARE HARE, HARE RAMA

HARE RAMA RAMA RAMA HARE HARE and engaging all his senses inactive devotional service, he is sure to go BACK HOME, BACK TOGODHEAD.(18.68)

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