Now, the beginning. In the beginning of the Bhagavad-gita, Arjuna, in the battlefield, he was perplexed whether to fight or not to fight. That was his problem. First of all he thought that "My cousin-brothers, they have given me so much trouble. They have usurped my kingdom. So I must fight with them and retake my lost kingdom." That is determination. Again, when actually in the battlefield he saw his brothers and his friends... Because it was a family quarrel, so in both the sides all the friends and relatives, they joined, either to this party or that party. But the beauty is that Arjuna became compassionate, that "Why should I fight simply for the kingdom? How long I shall remain in the kingdom? Let me not to, not fight, let me not to fight. I'll not... I shall not fight." That was his decision. Because he was a devotee of the Lord, this good compassion came into his mind. The other party, they did not consider it. The other party was determined to fight. Now, Arjuna was hesitating, and therefore the Bhagavad-gita was explained. The Lord first of all tried to engage him in the battle in the ordinary way, and when he, when it was not possible and there was some arguments between Arjuna and Krsna in favor and in, against the fighting... But at last Arjuna decided that "Let me appoint Krsna, the best amongst us, to advise me what to do and what not to do." Then the Bhagavad-gita was begun. That is the history. You have already discussed it, and you know it.

Now, here the supreme consciousness... Krsna is supreme consciousness. And Arjuna is individual consciousness. About consciousness, I have explained several times that we are all consciousness, but we are not supreme consciousness. Supreme consciousness is the Supreme Lord. That we have to understand first, that supreme consciousness... We are consciousness undoubtedly, but we are not supreme consciousness. If we falsely claim that "I am also the supreme consciousness," that will be a false claim. We are not actually the supreme consciousness. Qualitatively, we are one. Qualitatively, we are one. The supreme consciousness and my consciousness is qualitatively one. But quantitatively, the supreme consciousness is different from individual consciousness. Individual consciousness is limited, and the supreme consciousness is unlimited. That... Just like you can think of your consciousness within this body... Whenever there is something painful or something itching in any part of my body, I am conscious of it. I know it, where and how it is being done. I do not know how it is being done, but I know where it is. So that consciousness, as I am conscious in any part of my body, but I am not conscious of your part of your body. Therefore my consciousness is limited. Similarly, you take the whole cosmic manifestation and the external body of the supreme consciousness. Therefore supreme consciousness is, I mean to say, conscious of anything which is taking part in any part of the conscious, supreme, I mean, manifestation. And you'll find in the Bhagavad-gita that the supreme consciousness knows the past, present and future, but we, we are not, I mean to say, conversant in that way, that I know the present, past and future. That is my deficiency.

Now Arjuna declined to fight, and after hearing Bhagavad-gita, after understanding Bhagavad-gita, he agreed, "Yes, I shall fight. Yes." Krsna inquired, "Now I have explained to you everything about knowledge, about yoga, about fruitive activities, about devotional service, everything. All-round Vedic wisdom, I have explained to you. Now it is up to you to do or not to do." Mark this. The Supreme Lord can give us instruction. We are individual persons, individual living entities, infinitesimal. The Lord is infinite, and we are infinitesimal. So Lord can advise the infinitesimal to act in a certain way, but the infinitesimal, because it has got infinitesimal independence, it can reject it also. It can accept it or it can reject it. That we have got. That individuality, that independence... [break] "...that all other occupations you please surrender unto Me. You just try to follow Me. Then I take charge of you so that there will be no reaction of your work, and do not hesitate." Ma sucah. This very word. Ma sucah means "Do not hesitate. Do accept it. Do accept." That is the clear declaration of the Lord. You see. This is not for Arjuna only, but every one of us because we are all in the Arjuna's position. Arjuna is a living entity, individual living entity. So we are also, every one of us, a living entity. And the supreme entitynityo nityanam. In the Vedic literature you'll find this hymn, nityo nityanam cetanas cetananam (Katha Upanisad 2.2.13). Description of the Supreme. The Supreme is nityah nityanam. Nityanam means... Nitya means eternal. So we are all eternal. That we have already discussed.

We are soul, spirit soul. We are eternal. Na hanyate hanyamane sarire [Bg. 2.20]. We do not die after the annihilation of this body. We simply change the body just like we change our dress. But we are eternal. But because we are under the spell of this material energy, we do not take seriously that "Why I shall agree to change my body life after life?" We have taken it as usual. This is our foolishness. We have got our eternal life, and in eternal life we have got immense measure of freedom, immense measure of power, almost equal to God. But we do not make any research in that part of our life. We are simply satisfied the..., to have a little more of the necessities of our, this present material life. Suppose I have got one, one hundred millions of dollars. I think, "If I get ten thousand millions of daughters, dollars, then I shall be happy." This is our foolishness. You cannot be happy with any millions of dollars, because you are not matter. You are spirit. You think like that, that "I shall be happy." No. Just like... I'll give you one example: A diseased man, a suffering man, suppose he has got severe headache. Now, he sometimes thinks, "Oh, I am suffering. If this, instead of headache, if there would have been some other pain in the hand or feet, then I would have been glad." It is like that. Our thoughts are like that. We don't want to get rid of the pains.

There is another very good example. Of course, that is not in your experience, but it is in our India we have got experience that on the riverside the boatman drags the boat with a rope. Have you got any experience like that here, in America? I don't think you have got. The boat is in the middle, middle of the river, and there is a big log in the middle of the boat, and that log is tied with a rope, and that rope is, I mean to say, snatched by the boatman, and the boat goes in the middle of the river. Now, while passing on the bank of the river, there are so many things which pains his, I mean to say, sole. So he is thinking that "When I shall be very rich man, then I shall cover this bank of the river with, I mean to say, soft pillows so that when I shall go by the pillows, dragging this boat, I shall have no pain." Now, our position is like that, that the foolish boatman, thinking that "When I shall be very rich man, still I shall be pulling on this business." He does not know that "If I at all become rich man, then where is the necessity of my pulling this boat in this way?" So similarly, we want to be happy in the same way, that "When I shall be able to cover the whole world with cushions and soft pillows to travel over it, then I shall have no pain of working like this." You see? This is our plan.

So this plan has to be rejected. The Lord says that "Your plan, so many plans, foolish plans, you should reject." Prajahati. Now, He says... What... Arjuna inquired that "What is the sign of a person who has already dovetailed his consciousness with the supreme consciousness, sthita-prajnah. Sthita-prajnah means steady, steady in consciousness. So what are the signs? Now, those signs are being explained by the Lord like this. Now, prajahati yada kaman sarvan partha mano-gatan. Now, we plan like that boatman. For our happiness, we make multi-plans, that "I shall do this. Then I shall be happy. If I shall have it, then I shall be happy." In this way. But all... We do not know that "I am pure consciousness. Any amount of my plan on this bodily conception of life, I'll never be happy." He does know it. He does not know it. He simply makes plans. You see? Because the platform on which you are standing, that platform itself is tottering, is tottering. You cannot make it stop tottering. This, this body... We have already discussed that all the miseries of our life, it is due to this body. Matra-sparsas tu kaunteya sitosna-sukha-duhkha-dah [Bg. 2.14]. Matra-sparsas tu. All the distress and happiness that we feel in this material world, that is due to the skin, this body. Otherwise, the things as they are, they are neither miserable nor source of happiness. The example is given: just like water. Water now, in this season, the summer season, you will find very pleasant. The same water, in the winter season, it becomes pinching. So water as it isneither pinching nor the source of pleasure. But it is due to this bodyunder certain circumstances, it feels pleasure, and under certain circumstances, it feels distress. So pleasure and distress, these dual forms of our existence, is going on. Now, if we want to transcend above this material plane, then our, we'll have to completely reject the bodily conception of life. We have to stand on the spiritual consciousness of life. That is being taught.

So whole scheme of Bhagavad-gita is like that, that we have to stand on the spiritual consciousness of life. And what is that spiritual consciousness of life? Now, some philosophers... Just like Sankaracarya. There are many philosophers in the world. I, we may cite some of the authorities. Just like Lord Buddha. Then Sankaracarya. Then Ramanujacarya. Lord Caitanya. They're all big stalwart authorities, authorities. They have given different views. Lord Buddha's views is that you can be happy only when you are free from this consciousness. Lord Buddha says that consciousness is a production of this combination of matter. So therefore if, if you dismantle this material body, then there will be no consciousness and thus there will be no feeling of distress or happiness. That is called nirvana, stopping, stopping the feelings of... It is just like a patient suffering from some disease, and the doctor gives him some pill so that he dies and there is no more feeling. Oh. Then he sees it is all right. If by stopping feeling like that, that a... "Doctor, my son is having hundred and seven degree temperature." "All right. I stop it. Give him some injection, poisonous." The child dies. Now there is no fever. Now the father says, "My child does not move." "Oh, whether this fever is stopped or not?" "Yes, there is no fever also." "That's all right. My business finished." That sort of foolish doctor will not do. (laughs) We should not stop consciousness. No. That is the... That is the, I mean to say, secret of philosophy. If my consciousness is stopped altogether, then what do I gain? That means my death. My whole existence finished. No. Then comes... I am shortly giving the substance of different philosophers.

Then comes Sankaracarya. Sankaracarya preaches that "No, you are the consciousness only. You are the consciousness only, and this body is false." Brahma satyam jagan mithya. Mithya means false. So you should always know that "I am Brahman, or the consciousness," and you should always reject that "I am not this body." That is another philosophy. Now, suppose, if I think for years together that "I am consciousness. I am consciousness. I am consciousness," do you think you shall be happy? Simply by understanding that "I am not this body. I am consciousness," will that help you? That will also not help you. Because if you simply theoretically say that "I am not this body," and because your consciousness is now attached with the body, you..., the consciousness is always active. So the consciousness must act through the body, and therefore your senses, you have to gratify your senses certainly. That is the real philosophy. You see? You cannot stop consciousness acting. It is very simple thing to understand it. Just, just think over, that the activity of my body is due to my consciousness. I am speaking because I am conscious that I am speaking. You are hearing because you are conscious that you are hearing. As soon as this consciousness is gone, neither you can hear, neither I can speak. So any activity, either hearing or speaking or moving or eating or seeinganything. We have got different senses. We are active. Active means we are active with our senses. Mind, mind is the central point of activitizing (activating) the senses. That is our life. Life means the acting of the senses. And that, beyond, beyond that mind, there is consciousness. So if consciousness is gone, then what remains? Nothing remains. Therefore you cannot... Simply by thinking that "I am consciousness," oh, that will not also solve your problem. You have to engage your consciousness in the matter of the supreme consciousness. You cannot keep your...

Just like, I'll give you one example. A naughty boy, creating some mischievous things. The father calls him, "My dear boy, can you do this?" "Yes, father, I can do it." So he turns his attention from that mischief-making to something good. Because they want to be active. Children, they want to be active. You cannot stop them. You cannot say that "Stop and sit down here." How he can...? Artificially, you can do. By the fear of the father or the mother, he can sit down for a moment. But that is not possible. That is not possible. You must give him some engagement, good engagement. I, I have got my personal experience. My eldest son, when he was about two years old, very much naughty, always doing some mischief. So my friends who used to visit me, he would call my son. His name was Paccha(?). "Paccha, if you sit down for one minute silently, I'll give you this thing." So the boy failed. He could not sit down, even for one minute. So that is not possible. This is the nature. How can you stop your consciousness working? That is not possible.

So either to think that "Stop consciousness altogether," that is also not perfect, and either to accept simply consciousness, that "I am consciousness," without any conscious engagement, that is also not perfect. You have to understand that you are consciousness, not this body; at the same time, you have to engage your consciousness to the supreme activities. Unless you do that, your life will not be perfect. So Lord Sri Krsna says that,

So dovetailing ourself, dovetailing ourself, dovetailing our consciousness with the supreme consciousness. I give you a small example which is also from the Bhagavad-gita. I'm not giving any example outside the purview of this Bhagavad-gita because we are speaking on the Srimad-Bhagavad-gita. Now you'll find in the Bhagavad-gita that

Just like children. A child born, immediately it cannot take anything in the world except the mother's milk. The girl, the first child born to a girl... Before the childbirth there was no milk in the breast, but as soon as there is child, oh, there is milk supply in the breast. You see? This is nature's law. This is God's law. So practically, we have nothing to bother; simply we have to work according to the direction of the Supreme. You, you... So far the animals are concerned, they are called... They are also working. They are also working, but working with the help of the nature. But we go beyond the nature. Because we have got better intelligence, we are not satisfied with the nature's product, but we are endeavoring to turn the nature's product by industry into some other thing, and the result is my high intelligence is being used only for the satisfaction of the body without any culture of spirit. That is the whole mistake of civilization, that I have got better understanding, I have got better intelligence than the animals. But how I am utilizing it? In the same principles of eating, sleeping, fearing and mating. So my energy is being... [break] "...not make you happy. You just try to... [break]

...Me. You just try to dovetail your consciousness with My supreme consciousness. That will make you happy." The same thing. As Arjuna did not, wanted to fight, Krsna said that "I desire that you should fight." But he did not agree in the beginning. But at the last moment, when Arjuna was inquired, "Now what is your decision," he said that nasto mohah smrtir labdha tvat prasadan mayacyuta karisye vacanam tava: [Bg. 18.73] "My dear Lord, now my misgivings, my misunderstanding, is now gone by Your mercy. Now I have decided to fight because You desire." That is the summum bonum of learning. That one should decide what God desires. That's all. That will make his life perfect. He should not desire anything. He should not desire anything. His desiring capacity should not be stopped. Somebody says, "Don't desire; become desireless." It is nonsense. Nobody can be desireless. How he can be desireless? Desireless. Desire is the symptom of my, my life. How can you stop it? It is not possible. Desireless, I cannot be, but I must desire, I mean to say, purely. That's all. I should not desire impurely. If I desire from the bodily platform of my life, then my desires will be impure. And when I shall desire as the desire of the Supreme Will, then my desire is pure. So desire has not to be cut or stopped. It has to be purified. That's all. The whole thing explained in a verse which is called Narada-pancaratra. That definition of this dovetailing consciousness with the supreme consciousness is nicely described in two lines:

Now, simply to become free from the bodily conception of life is not... But that consciousness should be made purified, purified. Just like to, just to stop the symptoms of fever or decreasing the degree of fever is not all. Suppose a man is suffering from fever. Doctor gives him medicine. Now the fever decreases and he comes to normal temperature. That is not all. That diseased man must get up from that bed and engage himself in the healthy activities. Then that is the real cure of disease. Simply, therefore, to understand that "I am not this consciousness, I am not this body; I am pure consciousness," that will not cure. You must have to engage your consciousness in pure activities. Sarvopadhi-vinirmuktam tat-paratvena nirmalam, hrsikena hrsikesa-sevanam [Cc. Madhya 19.170]. Hrsikesa. Hrsikesa is the name of the Supreme Lord. Hrsika means the senses, this. And isa means the Lord. So hrsikesa, combined together, this is called sandhi, combination. So Hrsikesa. Hrsikesa means the Supreme Lord. We should understand that our senses, these senses which we are using, this hand, this leg, this eye, the ear, this is all rented just as you have a rented car. This, this senses actually belongs to the Supreme Lord. Because He sees, therefore we can see. Just like in the Vedic literature you'll find that

So therefore we must know even the senses which we have got for which we are so much proud and by the enjoyment of the senses we are trying to be happy, those senses belong to the Supreme Lord. Therefore the best thing is we should apply the senses in the service of the proprietor. We should not apply the senses for our individual satisfaction. That is the difference between material plane and spiritual plane. That's all. You haven't got to stop your senses, stop your desires. No. Simply, simple thing is that instead of supplying them for your personal desires, you should dovetail it to the supreme desire. That's all. That is our perfect life. That is our perfect life. Just like the same example which I was trying to give you. Now, the Lord says that

But one thing: When we stand on the supreme conscious..., I mean the, in my consciousness platform, you must know, this consciousness platform and the dovetailing of consciousness to the supreme consciousnessthe whole thing based on love, love, pure love. Just like a, a small child offers his broken biscuit to the father, "My dear father, you just taste; it is very nice." Oh, father... "Oh, it is very nice? All right. Give me it." But a small part, particle of biscuit is nothing for the father, but the father sees, "Oh, my child is so loving that he has tasted it good, and offering me." This is the consideration of love, exchange of love. So God is not poor, neither He's wanting for you. He's self-satisfied. He's satisfying many, many living creatures like me. So He does not require anything from me. It is for your sake. It is for your benefit that you should offer like that. Now, this is dovetailing. "Oh, God's wants to eat from me. Now, why shall I not give Him to, give Him something to eat?" Is it very difficult? Similarly, in every sphere of your life, you can dovetail. You can dovetail. Instead of thinking of that "I shall eat," if you think that "God shall eat," so your eating process will not be stopped. But that simply by thinking that God shall eat, you shall dovetail your desire with the Supreme. You will... God wants to eat from you, and you want to give Him eating. So your desire and God's desires is dovetailed. You become perfect. Similarly, in every step we can change our present activities, dovetailing our present consciousness, dovetailing with the supreme consciousness, and the result will be, if you go on practicing like that, then what will be the result? Now, the result is,

Now, it is not only eating. The fighting also. Fighting also. [break] ...the fight! He was a fighting man. But after, after getting instruction of Bhagavad-gita, he changed his attitude, oh, that he shall not, he should, he would not fight. He said, "Yes, I shall fight." Now this is dovetailing. He, the fighting man, remained. The fighting man did not change into artist, or a musician. No. You need not change. You are fighting man; you remain a fighting man. If you are musician, you remain a musician. If you are a medical man, remain a medical man. Whatever you are, you remain, but dovetail it. Dovetail it.

So the whole perfection, whole perfection is that we are all active in some department. That is a fact. Now, if our activities become dovetailed with the supreme desire and He is satisfied, then samsiddhi, that is our perfection. Svanusthitasya dharmasya samsiddhir hari-tosanam [SB 1.2.13]. A very nice... Svanusthitasya dharmasya samsiddhir hari-tosanam. Everyone is engaged in some sort of occupation, a particular type of occupation. Nobody's free from occupation. Everyone. But what is the perfection of that occupation? Now, samsiddhir hari-tosanam [SB 1.2.13]. If by that activity the Lord is satisfied, that is perfection. If by my eating, the Lord is satisfied, then that is my perfection. If by, by my fighting the Lord is satisfied, then that is my perfection. So every sphere of life, we have to know whether Lord is satisfied. That's all right. That technique we have to learn. Otherwise, it is as easy as anything. We have to stop creating our own thoughts and own plans. We have to take the plans, perfect plan, from the Supreme Lord, and then execute it. Then that becomes the perfection of our life.

Thank you very much. Now if there is any questions you can ask. (end)