Bhagavad-gita is known also Gitopanisad, the essence of Vedic knowledge, and one of the most important of the various Upanisads in Vedic literature. This Bhagavad-gita, there are many commentations in English and what is the necessity of another English commentation of the Bhagavad-gita can be explained in the following way. One American lady, Mrs. Charlotte Le Blanc asked me to recommend an English edition of Bhagavad-gita which she can read. Of course, in America there are so many editions of English Bhagavad-gita, but so far I have seen them, not only in America but also India, none of them can be said strictly as authoritative because almost every one of them have expressed their own opinion through the commentation of the Bhagavad-gita without touching the spirit of Bhagavad-gita as it is.

The spirit of Bhagavad-gita is mentioned in the Bhagavad-gita itself. It is just like this. If we want to take a particular medicine, then we have to follow the particular direction mentioned on the label of the medicine. We cannot take the particular medicine according to our own direction or by the direction of a friend, but we have to take the medicine under the direction given on the label of the bottle and as directed by the physician. Similarly, the Bhagavad-gita also should be taken or accepted as it is directed by the speaker Himself. The speaker of the Bhagavad-gita is Lord Sri Krsna. He is mentioned in every page of the Bhagavad-gita as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Bhagavan. Of course, "bhagavan" is sometimes designated to any powerful person or any powerful demigod, but here bhagavan is certainly designated to Sri Krsna, a great personality, but at the same time we must know that Lord Sri Krsna, as He is confirmed by all the acaryas... I mean to say, even Sankaracarya, Ramanujacarya, Madhvacarya, Nimbarka Svami and Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and many others. In India there were many authoritative scholars and acaryas, I mean, authorities of the Vedic knowledge. All of them, including Sankaracarya, has accepted Sri Krsna as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The Lord Himself has also established Himself as the Supreme Personality of Godhead in the Bhagavad-gita. He is accepted so in the Brahma-samhita and all Puranas, especially in the Bhagavata Purana, krsnas tu bhagavan svayam [SB 1.3.28]. So therefore we should take Bhagavad-gita as it is directed by the Personality of Godhead Himself.

So in the Fourth Chapter of Bhagavad-gita the Lord says,

Now the purport is that Bhagavad-gita is a treatise which is specially meant for the devotee of the Lord. There are three classes of transcendentalists, namely the jnani, the yogi and the bhakta. Or the impersonalist or the meditator or the devotees. So here it is clearly mentioned, the Lord says to Arjuna that "I am speaking or I am making you the first man of the parampara. Because the old parampara or disciplic succession is now broken, therefore I wish to establish again another parampara in the same line of thought as it was coming down from the sun-god to others. So you, you take it and you distribute it. Or the system, the yoga system of Bhagavad-gita may now be distributed through you. You become the authority of understanding Bhagavad-gita." Now here is a direction that Bhagavad-gita is especially instructed to Arjuna, the devotee of the Lord, the direct student of Krsna. And not only that, he is intimately in touch with Krsna as friend. Therefore Bhagavad-gita is understood by a person who has similar qualities like Krsna. That means he must be a devotee, he must be in relation, direct relationship with the Lord. As soon as one becomes a devotee of the Lord, he has a direct relationship also with the Lord. That is a subject matter very long, but briefly it can be stated that a devotee is in relationship with the Supreme Personality of Godhead in five ways. One may be a devotee in a passive state, one may be a devotee in active state, one may be a devotee as a friend, one may be a devotee as parent, and one may be a devotee as conjugal lover.

So Arjuna was a devotee in relationship with the Lord as a friend. The Lord can become a friend. Of course, this friendship and the conception of friendship which we have got in the mundane world, there is a gulf of difference. This is transcendental friendship which... Not that everyone will have the relationship with the Lord. Everyone has got a particular relationship with the Lord and that particular relationship is evoked by the perfection of devotional service. At the present status of our life we have not only forgotten the Supreme Lord, but also we have forgotten our eternal relationship with the Lord. Every living being, out of many, many millions and billions of living beings, each and every living being has got a particular relationship with the Lord eternally. That is called svarupa. Svarupa. And by the process of devotional service one can revive that svarupa of oneself. And that stage is called svarupa-siddhi, perfection of one's constitutional position. So Arjuna was a devotee and he was in touch with the Supreme Lord in friendship.

Now, this Bhagavad-gita was explained to Arjuna and how Arjuna accepted it? That should also be noted. How Arjuna accepted the Bhagavad-gita is mentioned in the Tenth Chapter. Just like

Now one may doubt that because Krsna was the friend of Arjuna, therefore he might say all these things to his own friend. But Arjuna, just to drive out this kind of doubts in the mind of the readers of Bhagavad-gita, he establishes his proposition by the authorities. He says that Lord Sri Krsna is accepted as the Supreme Personality of Godhead not only by himself, Arjuna, but He is so accepted by authorities like Narada, Asita, Devala, Vyasa. These personalities are great personalities in distributing the Vedic knowledge. They (are) accepted by all acaryas. Therefore Arjuna says that "Whatever You have spoken so far to me, I accept them as completely perfect." Sarvam etad rtam manye [Bg. 10.14]. "I take it, I believe it that whatever You have spoken, they are all right. And Your Personality, Your Personality of Godhead, is very difficult to understand. And therefore You cannot be known by even the demigods. You cannot be known even by the demigods." That means the Supreme Personality Godhead cannot be known even by greater personalities than the human being, and how a human being can understand Sri Krsna without becoming His devotee?

Therefore Bhagavad-gita should be taken up in a spirit of devotee of Lord Sri Krsna. One should not think that he is equal, on the same level of Sri Krsna, or one should not think that He is an ordinary personality, maybe a very great personality. No. Lord Sri Krsna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. So at least theoretically, on the statement of Bhagavad-gita or on the statement, assertion of Arjuna, the person who is trying to understand the Bhagavad-gita, we should accept Sri Krsna as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and then, with that submissive spirit... Unless one receives this Bhagavad-gita in a submissive spirit and aural reception, it is very difficult to understand Bhagavad-gita because it is a great mystery.

So in this Bhagavad-gita... We may survey what is this Bhagavad-gita. This Bhagavad-gita is meant for delivering persons, persons from the nescience of this material existence. Every man is in difficulty in so many ways, as Arjuna also was in difficulty in the matter of fighting the battle of Kuruksetra. And as such he surrendered unto Sri Krsna, and therefore this Bhagavad-gita was spoken. Similarly, not only Arjuna but every one of us is always full of anxieties due to our, this material existence. Asad-grahat. It is... Our existence is in the environment or atmosphere of nonexistence. But actually, we are not nonexistent. Our existence is eternal, but some way or other we are put into this asat. Asat means which does not exist.

Now out of so many human being who are actually inquiring about his position as to what he is, why he is put into this awkward position of suffering... Unless one is awakened to this position, that "Why I am suffering? I do not want all these sufferings. I have tried to make a solution of all these sufferings, but I have failed," unless one is in that position, he is not to be considered a perfect human being. Humanity begins when this sort of inquiries are awakened in one's mind. In the Brahma-sutra this inquiry is called brahma-jijnasa. Athato brahma jijnasa. And every activity of the human being is to be considered a failure without having this inquiry in his mind. So persons who have awakened this inquiry into his mind as to "What I am, why I am suffering, wherefrom I have come or where I shall go after death," when these inquiries come, are awakened in the mind of a sane human being, then he is practically the right student for understanding Bhagavad-gita. And he must be sraddhavan. Sraddhavan. He must have respect, a fond respect in the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Such a person, as the ideal person was Arjuna.

So Lord Krsna, He descends, yada yada hi dharmasya glanir bhavati [Bg. 4.7], just to establish the real purpose of life. When man forgets the real purpose of life, the mission of human form of life, then it is called dharmasya glanih, the disturbance of the occupation of human being. So in that circumstances, out of many, many human being, who awakens, one who awakens the spirit of understanding his position, for him this Bhagavad-gita is spoken. We are just like swallowed by the tigress of nescience, and Lord, being causelessly merciful upon the living entities, especially for the human being, He spoke Bhagavad-gita, making His friend Arjuna as the student.

Arjuna was certainly, being an associate of Lord Krsna, he was above all ignorance. But still, Arjuna was put into ignorance in the Battlefield of Kuruksetra just to question about the problems of life to the Supreme Lord so that the Lord can explain them for the benefit of future generation of human being to chalk out the plan of his life and act in that way so that his life, his mission of human life, can be perfect.

So in this Bhagavad-gita the subject matter is comprehending five different truths. The first truth is what is God. It is the preliminary study of the science of God. So that science of God is explained here. Next, the constitutional position of the living entities, jiva. Isvara and jiva. The Lord, the Supreme Lord, He is called isvara. Isvara means controller, and jiva, the living entities are... Jivas, the living entities, they are not isvara, or the controller. They are controlled. Artificially, if I say that "I am not controlled, I am free," this is not the sign of a sane man. A living being is controlled in every respect. At least, in his conditioned life he is controlled. So in this Bhagavad-gita the subject matter comprehends about the isvara, the supreme controller, and about the controlled living entities and prakrti, the nature, the material nature. And next, the time, or duration of existence of the whole universe, or this manifestation of the material nature, and the duration of time, or the eternal time, and karma. Karma means activity. Everything, the whole universe, whole cosmic manifestation is full of different activities. The living beings especially, they are all engaged in different activities. So we have to study from the Bhagavad-gita, isvara, what is God, jiva, what are these living entities, and prakrti, what is this cosmic manifestation, and how it is controlled by time, and what are these activities?

Now out of these five subject matter, in the Bhagavad-gita it establish that the Supreme Godhead or Krsna or Brahman or Paramatma... You may call whatever you like. But the supreme controller. There is a supreme controller. So the supreme controller is the greatest of all. And the living beings, they are in quality like the supreme controller. Just like the supreme controller, the Lord, He has control over the universal affairs, over the material nature, how the... It will be explained in the later chapters of Bhagavad-gita that this material nature is not independent. She is acting under the direction of the Supreme Lord. Mayadhyaksena prakrtih suyate sa-caracaram [Bg. 9.10]. "This material nature is working under My direction," mayadhyaksena, "under My superintendence." So we, we are mistaken. When we see wonderful things happening in the cosmic nature, we should know that behind these wonderful manifestations, there is a controller. Nothing can be manifested without being controlled. It is childish to, not to consider about the controller. Just like a very nice motor car with very good speed and very good engineering arrangement is running on the street. A child may think that "How this motor car is running without the help of any horse or any pulling agent?" But a sane man or an elderly person, he knows that in spite of all engineering arrangements in the motor car, without the driver it cannot move. That engineering arrangement of a motor car, or in electric powerhouse... Now at the present moment it is the day of machinery, but we should always know that behind the machinery, behind the wonderful working of the machinery, there is a driver. So the Supreme Lord is the driver, adhyaksa. He is the Supreme Personality under whose direction everything is working. Now these jiva, or the living entities, they have been accepted by the Lord in this Bhagavad-gita, as we'll know it in later chapters, that they are parts and parcels of the Supreme Lord. Mamaivamso jiva-bhutah [Bg. 15.7]. Amsa means parts and parcels. Now as a particle of gold is also particle, a drop of water of the ocean is also salty, similarly, we, the living entities, being part and parcels of the supreme controller, isvara, Bhagavan, or Lord Sri Krsna, we have got, I mean to say, qualitatively all the qualities of the Supreme Lord in minute. Because we are minute isvara, subordinate isvara. We are also trying to control. We are just trying to control over the nature. In the present days you are trying to control over the space. You are trying to float imitation planets. So this tendency of controlling or creating is there because partially we have got that controlling tendency. But we should know that this tendency is not sufficient. We have the tendency of controlling over the material nature, lording it over the material nature, but we are not the supreme controller. So that thing is explained in the Bhagavad-gita.

Then what is this material nature? The nature is also explained. The nature, material nature, is explained in the Bhagavad-gita as inferior, inferior prakrti. Inferior prakrti, and the living entities are explained as the superior prakrti. Prakrti means which is controlled, which is under... Prakrti, real meaning of prakrti is a woman or a female. Just like a husband controls the activities of his wife, similarly, the prakrti is also subordinate, predominated. The Lord, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is the predominator, and this prakrti, both the living entities and the material nature, they are different prakrtis, or predominated, controlled by the Supreme. So according to Bhagavad-gita, the living entities, although they are parts and parcels of the Supreme Lord, they are taken as prakrti. It is clearly mentioned in the Seventh Chapter of the Bhagavad-gita yes, apareyam itas tu viddhi apara [Bg. 7.5]. This material nature is apara iyam. Itas tu, and beyond this there is another prakrti. And what is that prakrti? Jiva-bhuta, these...

So this prakrti, the constitution of this prakrti is constituted by three qualities: the mode of goodness, the mode of passion, and mode of ignorance. And above these modes, three different kinds of modes, goodness, passion, and, I mean to say, ignorance, there is eternal time. There is eternal time. And by combination of these modes of nature and under the control, under the purview of this eternal time, there are activities. There are activities, which is called karma. These activities are being done from time immemorial and we are suffering or enjoying the fruits of our activities. Just like in the present life also, we enjoy the activities, the fruits of our activities. Suppose I am a businessman and I have worked very hard with intelligence and I have amassed a vast amount of bank balance. Now I am the enjoyer. Similarly, suppose I started my business with a vast amount of money, but I failed to make a successful..., I lost all the money. So I am sufferer. So similarly, in every field of our life we enjoy, we enjoy the result of our work. This is called karma.

So these things, isvara, jiva, prakrti, or the Supreme Lord, or the living entity, the material nature, the eternal time, and our different activities, these things are explained in the Bhagavad-gita. Now out of these five, the Lord, the living entities, and the material nature and time, these four items are eternal. Now manifestation, manifestation of prakrti may be temporary, but it is not false. Some philosophers say that this manifestation of material nature is false, but according to the philosophy of Bhagavad-gita or according to the philosophy of the Vaisnavas, they do not accept the manifestation of the world as false. They accept that the manifestation is real, but it is temporary. It is just like a cloud takes place in the sky and the rainy season begins, and after the rainy season there are so many new green vegetation all over the field, we can see. And as soon as the rainy season is finished, then the cloud is vanquished. Generally, gradually, all this vegetation dry up and again the land becomes barren. Similarly, this material manifestation takes place at a certain interval. We'll understand it, we'll know it, from the pages of the Bhagavad-gita. Bhutva bhutva praliyate [Bg. 8.19]. This manifestation becomes magnificent at a certain interval, and again it disappears. That is the work of the prakrti. But it is working eternally; therefore prakrti is eternal. It is not false. Because the Lord has accepted, mama prakrti, "My prakrti." Apareyam itas tu viddhi me prakrtim param [Bg. 7.5]. Bhinna prakrti, bhinna prakrti, apara prakrti, this material nature is a separated energy of the Supreme Lord, and the living entities, they are also energy of the Supreme Lord, but they are not separated. They are eternally related. So the Lord, the living entity, the nature, material nature, and time, they are all eternal. But the other item, karma, is not eternal. The effects of karma or activity may be very old. We are suffering or enjoying the results of our activities from a time immemorial, but still, we can change the result of our karma, or activity. That will depend on our perfect knowledge. We are engaged in various activities undoubtedly, but we do not know what sort of activities we shall adopt that will give us relief from the actions and reactions of all activities. That is also explained in the Bhagavad-gita.

Now, the position of isvara is supreme consciousness. Position of isvara, or the Supreme Lord, is supreme consciousness. And the jivas, or the living entities, being parts and parcels of the Supreme Lord, he is also conscious. A living entity is also conscious. The living entity is explained as prakrti, energy, and the material nature is also explained as prakrti, but amongst the two, one prakrti, the jivas, they are conscious. The other prakrti is not conscious. That is the difference. Therefore the jiva prakrti is called superior because the jivas has consciousness similar to the Lord. The Lord is supreme consciousness. One should not claim that a jiva, a living entity is also supremely conscious. No. A living being cannot be supremely conscious at any stage of his perfection. This is a misleading theory. This is misleading theory. But he is conscious. That's all. But he is not supreme conscious.

The supreme conscious, it will be explained in the Bhagavad-gita in the chapter where the distinction between the jiva and isvara is explained. Ksetra-ksetra-jna. This ksetra-jna has been explained that the Lord is also ksetra-jna, or conscious, and the jivas, or the living beings, they are also conscious. But the difference is that a living being is conscious within his limited body, but the Lord is conscious of all bodies. Isvarah sarva-bhutanam hrd-dese 'rjuna tisthati [Bg. 18.61]. The Lord lives within the core of heart in every living being, therefore He is conscious of the psychic movements, activities, of the particular jiva. We should not forget. It is also explained that the Paramatma, or the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is living in everyone's heart as isvara, as the controller and He is giving direction. He is giving direction. Sarvasya caham hrdi sannivisthah [Bg. 15.15], everyone's heart He is situated, and He gives direction to act as he desires. The living entity forgets what to do. First of all he makes his determination to act in a certain way, and then he is entangled in the actions and reactions of his own karma. But after giving up one type of body, when he enters another type of body... Just like we give up one kind of dress, one type of dress, for another type of dress, similarly, it is explained in this Bhagavad-gita that vasamsi jirnani yatha vihaya [Bg. 2.22]. One, as one changes his different dresses, similarly the living entities, they are also changing different bodies, transmigration of the soul, and pulling on the actions and reactions of his past activities. So these activities can be changed when a living being is in the mode of goodness, in sanity, and he understands what sort of activities he should adopt, and if he does so, then the whole action and reactions of his past activities can be changed. Therefore karma is not eternal. Other things, out of the four, five itemsisvara, jiva, prakrti, kala, and karmathese four items are eternal, whereas the karma, the item known as karma, that is not eternal.

Now the conscious isvara, the supreme conscious isvara, and difference between the supreme conscious isvara, or the Lord, and the living being is, in the present circumstances, is like this. Consciousness, consciousness of, both of the Lord and the living entities, they are, this consciousness is transcendental. It is not that this consciousness is generated by the association of this matter. That is a mistaken idea. The theory that consciousness develops under certain circumstances of material combination is not accepted in the Bhagavad-gita. They cannot. Consciousness may be pervertedly reflected by the cover of material circumstances, just like light reflected through a colored glass may seem according to the color. Similarly, the consciousness of Lord, it is not materially affected. The Supreme Lord, just like Krsna, He says that mayadhyaksena prakrtih [Bg. 9.10]. When He descends in this material world, His consciousness is not materially affected. Had His consciousness been materially affected, He was unfit to speak about the transcendental subject matter in the Bhagavad-gita. One cannot say anything about the transcendental world without being free from the materially contaminated consciousness. So the Lord was not materially contaminated. But our consciousness, at the present moment, is materially contaminated. So whole thing, as the Bhagavad-gita teaches, we have to purify the materially contaminated consciousness and in that pure consciousness, the actions will be done. That will make us happy. We cannot stop. We cannot stop our activity. The activities are to be purified. And these purified activities are called bhakti. Bhakti means they are, they appear also just like ordinary activity, but they are not contaminated activities. They are purified activities. So an ignorant person may see that a devotee is working like an ordinary man, but a person with poor fund of knowledge, he does not know that the activities of a devotee or the activities of the Lord, they are not contaminated by the impure consciousness of matter, impurity of the three gunas, modes of nature, but transcendental consciousness. So our consciousness is materially contaminated, we should know.

Now when we are such materially contaminated, that is called our conditioned stage. Conditioned stage. And the false ego, the false consciousness... The false consciousness is exhibited under the impression that "I am one of the product of this material nature." That is called false ego. The whole material activities, yasyatma-buddhih kunape tri-dhatuke [SB 10.84.13]. Yasyatma-buddhih kunape tri-dhatuke, one who is absorbed in the thought of bodily conception. Now, the whole Bhagavad-gita was explained by the Lord because Arjuna represented himself with bodily conception. So one has to get free from the bodily conception of life. That is the preliminary activity for a transcendentalist who wants to get free, who wants to be liberated. And he has to learn first of all that he is not this material body. So this consciousness, or material consciousness, when we are freed from this material consciousness, that is called mukti. Mukti or liberation means to become free from material consciousness. In the Srimad-Bhagavata also the definition of liberation is said, muktir hitvanyatha rupam svarupena vyavasthitih [SB 2.10.6]. Svarupena vyavasthitih. Mukti means liberation from the contaminated consciousness of this material world and to become situated in pure consciousness. And the whole instruction, instruction of Bhagavad-gita, is targeted to awaken that pure consciousness. We'll find in the last stage of the instruction of Bhagavad-gita that Krsna is asking Arjuna whether he is now in purified consciousness. Whether he was in purified consciousness. The purified consciousness is to act according to the direction of the Lord. That is purified consciousness. That is the whole sum and substance of purified consciousness. Consciousness is already there, but because we are part and parcels, therefore we are affected. There is affinity of being affected by the material modes. But the Lord being Supreme, He is never affected. He is never affected. That is the difference between the Lord and the Supreme..., Supreme Lord and the...

Now this consciousness is... What is this consciousness? This consciousness is that "I am." What I am? When in contaminated consciousness this "I am" means that "I am the lord of all I survey." This is impure consciousness. And "I am the enjoyer." The whole material world is moving that every living being is thinking that "I am the lord and I am the creator of this material world." The consciousness has got two psychic movement or two psychic division. One is that "I am the creator," and the other is "I am the enjoyer." So the Supreme Lord is actually the creator and He is actually the enjoyer. And the living entities, being part and parcel of the Supreme Lord, he's not actually the creator or the enjoyer, but he's a cooperator. Just like the whole machine. The part of the machine is the cooperator, is the cooperator. Or if we can study just the constitution of our body. Now, in the body there are hands, there are legs, there are eyes, and all these instruments, working, but all these parts and parcels of the body, they are not enjoyer. The stomach is the enjoyer. The leg is moving from one place to another. The hand is collecting, the hand is preparing foodstuff, and the teeth is chewing, and everything, all parts of body, are engaged in satisfying the stomach because the stomach is the principle fact within the organization of this body. And everything should be given to the stomach. Pranopaharac ca yathendriyanam [SB 4.31.14]. Just like you can see a tree green by pouring water in the root. Or you can become healthy... The parts of the bodythe hands, the legs, the eyes, the ears, the fingerseverything keeps in healthy stage when the parts of the body cooperate with the stomach. Similarly, the supreme living being, the Lord, He is the enjoyer. He is the enjoyer and He is the creator. And we, I mean to say, subordinate living beings, the products of the energy of the Supreme Lord, we are just to cooperate with Him. That cooperation will help. Just for example, a good foodstuff taken by the fingers. If the fingers think that "Why should we give it to the stomach? Let us enjoy." That is a mistake. The fingers are unable to enjoy. If fingers want the fruit of enjoyment of that particular foodstuff, the fingers must put it into the stomach. So the whole arrangement is that the central figure, central figure of creation, central figure of enjoyment, is the Supreme Lord, and the living entities, they are simply cooperator. By cooperation, by cooperation they enjoy. The relation is just like the master and the servant. If the master is satisfied, if the master is fully satisfied, the servants are automatically satisfied. That is the law. Similarly, the Supreme Lord should be satisfied, although the tendency for becoming creator and the tendency to enjoy this material world is, they are also in the living entities because it is there in the Supreme Lord. He has created, He has created the manifested cosmic world.

Therefore we shall find in this Bhagavad-gita that the complete whole, comprising the supreme controller, the controlled living entities, the cosmic manifestation, the eternal time, and the activities, all of them are completely explained. So the whole thing taking together completely is called the Absolute Truth. The complete whole, or the Supreme Absolute Truth, is therefore the complete Personality of Godhead Sri Krsna. As I have explained, that the manifestation are due to His different energies, and He is the complete whole.

The impersonal Brahman is explained in the Bhagavad-gita that impersonal Brahman is also subordinate to the complete person. Brahmano 'ham pratistha [Bg. 14.27]. Impersonal Brahman is also. It is... The impersonal Brahman is more explicitly explained in the Brahma-sutra as the rays. As there is the rays of the sunshine, sun planet, similarly, the impersonal Brahman is the shining rays of the Supreme Brahman or the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Therefore impersonal Brahman is incomplete realization of the absolute complete whole, and so also the conception of Paramatma. These things are also explained. Purusottama-yoga. When we shall read the chapter of Purusottama-yoga it will be seen that the Supreme Personality, Purusottama, is above the impersonal Brahman and partial realization of Paramatma.

The Supreme Personality of Godhead is called sac-cid-ananda-vigrahah [Bs. 5.1]. In the Brahma-samhita, the beginning is started like this: isvarah paramah krsnah sac-cid-ananda-vigrahah/ anadir adir govindah sarva-karana-karanam [Bs. 5.1]." Govinda, Krsna, is the cause of all causes. He is the primal Lord." So the Supreme Personality of Godhead is sac-cid-ananda-vigrahah. Impersonal Brahman realization is the realization of His sat part, eternity. And Paramatma realization is the realization of sat-cit, eternal knowledge part realization. But realization of the Personality of Godhead as Krsna is realization of all the transcendental features like sat, cit, and ananda, in complete vigraha. Vigraha means form. Vigraha means form. Avyaktam vyaktim apannam manyante mam abuddhayah [Bg. 7.24]. People with less intelligence, they consider the Supreme Truth as impersonal, but He is a person, a transcendental person. This is confirmed in all Vedic literature. Nityo nityanam cetanas cetananam (Katha Upanisad 2.2.13). So, as we are also persons, individual living beings, we are persons, we have got our individuality, we are all individual, similarly the Supreme Truth, the Supreme Absolute, He is also, at the ultimate issue He is a person. But realization of the Personality of Godhead is realization of all the transcendental features like sat, cit, and ananda, in complete vigraha. Vigraha means form. Therefore the complete whole is not formless. If He is formless or if He is less in any other thing, He cannot be complete whole. The complete whole must have everything within our experience and beyond our experience. Otherwise He cannot be complete. The complete whole Personality of Godhead has immense potencies. Parasya saktir vividhaiva sruyate [Cc. Madhya 13.65, purport]. That is also explained in Bhagavad-gita, how He is acting in different potencies. This phenomenal world, or the material world, where we are now put, is also complete by itself because purnam idam [Isopanisad, Invocation]. The 24 elements of which, according to Sankhya philosophy, the 24 elements of which this material universe is a temporary manifestation, are completely adjusted to produce complete things which are necessary for the maintenance and subsistence of this universe. No extraneous effort by any other unit is required for the maintenance of the universe. It's at its own time, fixed up by the energy of the complete whole, and when the time is complete, these temporary manifestations will be annihilated by the complete arrangement of the complete. There is complete facility for the small complete units, namely, the living entities, to realize the complete. And all sorts of incompleteness is experienced on account of incomplete knowledge of the complete. So the Bhagavad-gita is the complete knowledge of the Vedic wisdom.

The whole Vedic knowledge is infallible. There are different examples how we take Vedic knowledge as infallible. Take for example, so far the Hindus are concerned, and how they accept the Vedic knowledge as complete, here is an insignificant example. Just like the cow dung. The cow dung is the stool of an animal. According to smrti or Vedic wisdom, if one touches the stool of an animal he has to take his bath to purify himself. But in the Vedic scriptures the cow dung is as stated as pure. Rather, impure place or impure things are purified by touch of the cow dung. Now if one argues how it is that in one place it is said that the stool of the animal is impure and another place it is said that the cow dung which is also the stool of an animal, it is pure, so it is contradictory. But actually, it may appear to be contradictory, but because it is Vedic injunction, therefore for our practical purposes we accept it. And by that acceptance we are not committing mistake. It has been found by modern chemists, modern science, one Dr. Lal Mohan Gosal, he has very minutely analyzed the cow dung and he has found that cow dung is a composition of all antiseptic properties. So similarly, he has also analyzed the water of the Ganges out of curiosity. So my idea is that Vedic knowledge is complete because it is above all doubts and all mistakes. So, and Bhagavad-gita is the essence of all Vedic knowledge. The Vedic knowledge is therefore infallible. It comes down through the perfect disciplic succession.

Therefore Vedic knowledge is not a thing of research. Our research work is imperfect because we are searching everything with imperfect senses. Therefore the result of our research work is also imperfect. It cannot be perfect. We have to accept the perfect knowledge. The perfect knowledge is coming down, as it is stated in the Bhagavad-gita, just we have begun, evam parampara-praptam imam rajarsayo viduh [Bg. 4.2]. We have to receive the knowledge from the right source in disciplic succession of spiritual master beginning from the Lord Himself. So Bhagavad-gita is spoken by the Lord Himself. And Arjuna, the, I mean to say, the student who took lessons of the Bhagavad-gita, he accepted the whole story as it is, without any cutting. That is also not allowed, that we accept a certain portion of Bhagavad-gita and reject another portion. That is also not accepted. We must accept the Bhagavad-gita without interpretation, without any cutting, and without our own whimsical participation in the matter because it should be taken as the most perfect Vedic knowledge. The Vedic knowledge is received from the transcendental sources because the first word was spoken by the Lord Himself. The words spoken by the Lord is called apauruseya, or not delivered by any person of the mundane world, who is infected with four principles of imperfectness. A living being of the mundane world has four defective principles of his life, and they are 1) that he must commit mistake, 2) he must be sometimes illusioned, and 3) he must try to cheat others, and 4) he's endowed with imperfect senses. With all these four principles of imperfectness, one cannot deliver the perfect form of information in the matter of all-pervading knowledge. The Vedas are not like that. The Vedic knowledge was imparted in the heart of Brahma, the first created living being. And Brahma in his turn disseminated the knowledge to his sons and disciples as they were originally received from the Lord. The Lord, being purnam or all-perfect, there is no chance of His becoming subjected to the laws of material nature. One should therefore be intelligent enough to know that except the Lord, nobody is the proprietor of anything within the universe. That is explained in the Bhagavad-gita:

Therefore in this world the human being is not meant for quarreling like the cats and dogs. They must be intelligent enough to realize the importance of the human life and refuse to act like ordinary animal. He should... A human being should realize the aim of human life. This direction is given in all the Vedic literature, and the essence is given in the Bhagavad-gita. Vedic literature are meant for the human being and not for the cats and dogs. The cats and dogs can kill their eatable animals, and for that there is no question of sin on their part. But if a man kills an animal for the satisfaction of his uncontrolled taste, he must be responsible for breaking the laws of nature. And in the Bhagavad-gita it is clearly explained that there are three kinds of activities according to the different modes of nature: the activities of goodness, the activities of passion, the activities of ignorance. Similarly, there are three kinds of eatables also: eatables in goodness, eatables on passion, eatables on ignorance. They're all clearly described, and if we properly utilize the instructions of the Bhagavad-gita, then our whole life will become purified and ultimately we shall (be) able to reach the destination. Yad gatva na nivartante tad dhama paramam mama [Bg. 15.6].

That information is given in the Bhagavad-gita, that beyond this material sky, there is another spiritual sky; that is called sanatana sky. In this sky, this covered sky, we find everything temporary. It is manifested, it stays for some time, gives us some by-product, and then it becomes dwindling, and then vanishes. That is the law of this material world. You take this body, you take a fruit or anything what is created here, it has got its annihilation at the end. So beyond this temporary world there is another world for which the information is there, that paras tasmat tu bhavah anyah [Bg. 8.20]. There is another nature which is eternal, sanatana, which is eternal. And the jiva, jiva is also described as sanatana. Mamaivamso jiva-bhutah jiva-loke sanatanah [Bg. 15.7]. Sanatana, sanatana means eternal. And the Lord is also described as sanatana in the 11th Chapter. So because we have got intimate relation with the Lord and we are all qualitatively one... The sanatana-dhama and the sanatana Supreme Personality and the sanatana living entities, they are on the same qualitatively plane. Therefore the whole target of Bhagavad-gita is to revive our sanatana occupation or sanatana..., that is called sanatana-dharma, or eternal occupation of the living entity. We are now temporarily engaged in different activities and all these activities being purified. When we give up all these temporary activities, sarva-dharman parityajya [Bg. 18.66], and when we take up the activities as desired by the Supreme Lord, that is called our pure life. [break] Therefore, sanatana-dharma, as mentioned above, that the Supreme Lord is sanatana, and the transcendental abode, which is beyond the spiritual sky, that is also sanatana. And the living entities, they are also sanatana. So association of the sanatana Supreme Lord, sanatana living entities, in the sanatana eternal abode is the ultimate aim of human form of life. The Lord is so kind upon the living entities because the living entities are claimed to be all sons of the Supreme Lord. The Lord declares sarva-yonisu kaunteya sambhavanti murtayo yah [Bg. 14.4]. Every living, every type of living entity... There are different types of living entities according to their different karma, but the Lord claims that He is the father of all living entities, and therefore the Lord descends to reclaim all these forgotten conditioned souls back to the sanatana-dhama, the sanatana sky, so that the sanatana living entity may again reinstall in his sanatana position in eternal association of the Lord. He comes Himself by different incarnations, He sends His confidential servitor as sons or associates or acaryas to reclaim the conditioned souls.

And therefore sanatana-dharma does not mean any sectarian process of religion. It is the eternal function of the eternal living entities in relationship with the eternal Supreme Lord. So far sanatana-dharma is concerned, it means the eternal occupation. Sripada Ramanujacarya has explained the word sanatana as "the thing which has neither any beginning nor any end." And when we speak of sanatana-dharma we must take it for granted on the authority of Sripada Ramanujacarya that it has no beginning, nor any end. The word religion is a little different from sanatana-dharma. Religion conveys the idea of faith. Faith may change. One may have faith in a particular process, and he may change the faith afterwards and adopt another faith. But sanatana-dharma means which cannot be changed, which cannot be changed. Just like water and liquidity. Liquidity cannot be changed from water. Heat and fire. Heat cannot be changed from fire. Similarly, the eternal function of the eternal living entity, which is known as sanatana-dharma, cannot be changed. It is not possible to change. We have to find out what is that eternal function of the eternal living entity. When we speak of sanatana-dharma therefore, we must take it for granted on the authority of Sripada Ramanujacarya that it has no beginning nor any end. The thing which has no end, no beginning, must not be any sectarian thing or limited by any boundary. When we hold on the conference on the sanatana-dharma, people belonging to some of the noneternal religious faiths may wrongly consider it that we are dealing in some sectarian thing. But if we go deep into the matter and take everything in the light of modern science, it will be possible for us to see sanatana-dharma as the business of all the people of the world, nay, all the living entities of the universe. Non-sanatana religious faith may have some beginning in the annals of the human society, but there cannot be any history of the sanatana-dharma because it continues to remain with the history of the living entities. So far living entities are concerned, we find it from the authority of the sastras that living entities have also no birth or death. In the Bhagavad-gita it is clearly stated that the living entity is never born, nor does it ever die. He's eternal, indestructible, and continues to live after the destruction of his temporary material body. With reference to the above concept of sanatana-dharma we may try to understand the concept of religion from the Sanskrit root meaning of the word dharma. It means that which is constantly with the particular object. As we have already mentioned, when we speak of fire it is concluded at the same time that there is heat and light along with the fire. Without heat and without light, there is no meaning of the word fire. Similarly, we must find out the essential part of a living being which is always companion with him. That part of constant companion of the living being is his eternal quality, and the eternal part of the living being's quality is his eternal religion. When Sanatana Gosvami asked Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu about the svarupawe have already discussed about the svarupa of every living beingsvarupa or real constitution of the living being, the Lord replied that the constitutional position of the living being is to render service to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. But if we analyze this part of the statement of Lord Caitanya, we can very well see that every living being is constantly engaged in the business of rendering service to another living being. A living being serves another living being in different capacities, and by doing so, the living entity enjoys life. A lower animal serves a human being, a servant serves his master, A serves B master, B serves C master, and C serves D master, and so on. Under the circumstances, we can see that a friend serves another friend, and the mother serves the son, or the wife serves the husband, or husband serves the wife. If we go on searching in that spirit, it will be seen that there is no exception in the society of the living being where we do not find the activity of service. The politician present his manifesto before the public and convinces voters about his service capacity. The voter also gives the politician his valuable vote on expectation that the politician will give service to the society. The shopkeeper serves the customer and the artisan serves the capitalist. The capitalist serves his family and the family serves the head man in terms of the eternal capacity of eternal being. In this way we can see no living being is exempted from the practice of rendering service to other living being, and therefore we can conclude that service is a thing which is the constant companion of the living being, and therefore it may be safely concluded that rendering of service by a living being is the eternal religion of the living being. When a man professes to belong to a particular type of faith with reference to the particular time and circumstances of birth, and thus one claims to be a Hindu, a Muslim, a Christian, Buddhist, or any other sect, and sub-sect, such designations are non-sanatana-dharma. A Hindu may change his faith to become a Muslim, or a Muslim may change his faith to become a Hindu or a Christian, etc., but in all circumstances such change of religious faith does not allow a person to change his eternal engagement of rendering service to other. A Hindu or a Muslim or a Christian, in all circumstances, he is servant of somebody, and thus to profess a particular type of faith is not to be considered as sanatana-dharma, but the constant companion of the living being, that is, rendering of service, is the sanatana-dharma. So factually, we are related in the service relationship with the Supreme Lord. The Supreme Lord is the supreme enjoyer, and we living entities are eternally His supreme servitors. We are created for His enjoyment, and if we partake, participate in that eternal enjoyment with the Supreme Personality of Godhead, that makes us happy, not otherwise. Independently, as we have already explained that independently, any part of the body, the hand, the feet, the fingers, or any part of the body, independently, cannot be happy without cooperation with the stomach, similarly, the living entity can never be happy without rendering his transcendental loving service to the Supreme Lord. Now, in the Bhagavad-gita the worship of different demigods is not approved, is not approved because... It is said in the Bhagavad-gita [Bg. 7.20], the Lord says, kamais tais tair hrta-jnanah prapadyante 'nya-devatah. Kamais tais tair hrta-jnanah. Those who are directed by lust, only they worship the demigods other than the Supreme Lord, Krsna. We also may remember that when we speak of "Krsna" it is not a sectarian name. The "Krsna" name means the highest pleasure. It is confirmed that the Supreme Lord is the reservoir, is the storehouse of all pleasure. We are all hankering after pleasure. Anandamayo 'bhyasat (Vedanta-sutra 1.1.12). The living entities or the Lord, because we are full of consciousness, therefore our consciousness is after happiness. Happiness. The Lord is also perpetually happy, and if we associate with the Lord, cooperate with Him, take part in His association, then also we become happy. The Lord descends on this mortal world to show His pastimes in Vrndavana full of happiness. When Lord Sri Krsna was in Vrndavana, His activities with His cowherd boys friends, with His damsels, with His friends, damsel friends, and with the inhabitants of Vrndavana and His occupation of cowherding in His childhood, and all these pastimes of Lord Krsna were full of happiness. The whole of Vrndavana, the whole population of Vrndavana, was after Him. They did not know except Krsna. Even Lord Krsna restricted His father, Nanda Maharaja

in worshiping the demigod Indra because He wanted to establish that people need not worship any other demigod except the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Because the ultimate aim of life is to return to the abode of the Supreme Lord. The abode of Lord Krsna is described in the Bhagavad-gita, 15th Chapter, 6th verse,

rvice of the Lord, into the transcendental loving service of the Lord, mayy arpita-mano-buddhir [Bg. 8.7]. Because we work not with our body actually. We work with our mind and intelligence. So if our intelligence and mind are always engaged in the thought of the Supreme Lord, then naturally our senses are also engaged in the service of the Lord. That is the secret of Bhagavad-gita. One has to learn this art, how one can be absorbed both by the mind and intelligence twenty-four hours thinking of the Lord. And that will help one to transfer himself into the kingdom of God or in the spiritual atmosphere after leaving this material body. The modern scientists, they are trying for years and years together for reaching the moon planet, and they have no approach as yet. But here in the Bhagavad-gita, here is a suggestion. Suppose a man lives for another fifty years and he... So nobody tries to elevate himself in the spiritual ideas for fifty years. That's a very good idea. But even for ten years or five years one sincerely tries for this practice, mayy arpita-mano-buddhir... [Bg. 8.7] It is simply a question of practice. And that practice can be very easily possible by the devotional process, sravanam. Sravanam. The easiest process is to hear.

Now the world should learn from the Bhagavad-gita, the lesson. Evam sastram devaki-putra-gitam. There is one scripture only, one common scripture for the whole world, for the people of the whole world, and that is this Bhagavad-gita. Devo devaki-putra eva. And there is one God for the whole world, is Sri Krsna. And eko mantras tasya namani. And one hymn, mantra, one hymn only, one prayer, or one hymn, is to chant His name, Hare Krsna Hare Krsna Krsna Krsna Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare. Eko mantras tasya namani yani karmapy ekam tasya devasya seva. And there is one work only, that is to serve the Supreme Personality of Godhead. If one learns from Bhagavad-gita, then the people are very much anxious to have one religion, one God, one scripture, and one business or one activity of life. This is summarized in the Bhagavad-gita. That one, one God, is Krsna. Krsna is not sectarian God. Krsna, from the name of Krsna... Krsna means, as we have explained above, Krsna means the greatest pleasure. So therefore... (breakend)