RV 1: Rāja-Vidyā: The King of Knowledge
Show noteThe opening words of the Ninth Chapter of Bhagavad-gita indicate that the Supreme Godhead is speaking. Here Sri Krsna is referred to as Bhagavan. Bhaga means opulences, and van means one who possesses. We have some conception of God, but in the Vedic literature there are definite descriptions and definitions of what is meant by God, and what is meant is described in one word-Bhagavan. Bhagavan possesses all opulences, the totality of knowledge, wealth, power, beauty, fame and renunciation. When we find someone who possesses these opulences in full, we are to know that he is God. There are many rich, wise, famous, beautiful and powerful men, but no one man can claim to possess all of these opulences. Only Krsna claims to possess them in totality.
"The sages, knowing Me as the ultimate purpose of all sacrifices and austerities, the Supreme Lord of all planets and demigods and the benefactor and well-wisher of all living entities, attain peace from the pangs of material miseries." (Bg. 5.29)
Show noteHere Krsna proclaims that He is the enjoyer of all activities and the proprietor of all planets (sarva-loka-mahesvaram). An individual may possess a large tract of land, and he may be proud of his ownership, but Krsna claims to possess all planetary systems. Krsna also claims to be the friend of all living entities (suhrdam sarva-bhutanam). When a person understands that God is the proprietor of everything, the friend of everyone and the enjoyer of all, he becomes very peaceful. This is the actual peace formula. No one can have peace as long as he thinks, "I am the proprietor." Who is capable of claiming proprietorship? Only a few hundred years ago the red Indians were considered to be the proprietors of America. Today we in our turn are claiming that proprietorship, but in four hundred or a thousand years perhaps someone else will come to claim the same. The land is here, and we come here and falsely claim ourselves to be proprietors of it. This philosophy of false proprietorship is not in line with Vedic injunctions. Sri Isopanisad states that "everything animate or inanimate that is within the universe is controlled and owned by the Lord (isavasyam idam sarvam)." The truth of this statement is factual, but under illusion we are thinking that we are the proprietors. In actuality God owns everything, and therefore He is called the richest.
Show noteOf course there are many men who claim to be God. In India, for instance, at any time, one has no difficulty in finding at least one dozen people claiming to be God. But if you ask them if they are the proprietor of everything, they find this difficult to answer. This is a criterion by which we can understand who God is. God is the proprietor of everything, and, being so, He must be more powerful than anyone or anything else. When Krsna was personally present on this earth, no one could conquer Him. There is no record of His ever having lost a battle. He belonged to a ksatriya (warrior) family, and the ksatriyas are meant to give protection to the weak. As far as His opulence is concerned, He married 16,108 wives. Every wife had her own separate palace, and Krsna expanded Himself 16,108 times in order to enjoy them all. This may seem difficult to believe, but it is stated in Srimad-Bhagavatam, and the great sages of India recognize this as scripture and recognize Krsna as God.
Show noteIn the first verse of this Ninth Chapter, by the word guhyatamam, Sri Krsna intimates that He is imparting the most confidential knowledge to Arjuna. Why is He proclaiming this to Arjuna? It is because Arjuna is anasuyu-non-envious. In the material world if someone is greater than us, we are envious. We are not only envious of one another, but of God. Also when Krsna says, "I am the proprietor," we disbelieve it. But this is not the case with Arjuna, who listens to Krsna without envy. Arjuna does not cavil with Krsna but agrees with whatever He says. This is his special qualification, and this is the way of understanding Bhagavad-gita. It is not possible to understand what God is by our own mental speculations; we have to hear, and we have to accept.
Because Arjuna is not envious, Krsna speaks this special knowledge to him. This is not only theoretical knowledge but practical knowledge (vijnana-sahitam). Whatever knowledge we receive from Bhagavad-gita should not be taken for sentimentality or fanaticism. The knowledge is both jnana and vijnana, theoretical wisdom and scientific knowledge. If one becomes well-versed in this knowledge, liberation is certain. Life in this material world is by nature inauspicious and miserable. Moksa means liberation, and the promise is that by dint of understanding this knowledge one will attain liberation from all miseries. It is important then to understand what Krsna says about this knowledge.
"This knowledge is the king of education, the most secret of all secrets. It is the purest knowledge, and because it gives direct perception of the self by realization, it is the perfection of religion. It is everlasting, and it is joyfully performed." (Bg. 9.2)
According to Bhagavad-gita, the topmost knowledge (raja-vidya raja-guhyam) is Krsna consciousness because in Bhagavad-gita we find that the symptom of one who is actually in knowledge is that he has surrendered unto Krsna. As long as we go on speculating about God but do not surrender, it is understood that we have not attained the perfection of knowledge. The perfection of knowledge is:
"After many births and deaths, he who is actually in knowledge surrenders unto Me, knowing Me to be the cause of all causes and all that is. Such a great soul is very rare." (Bg. 7.19)
As long as we do not surrender, we cannot understand God. Surrender to God may take many births, but if we accept that God is great, it is possible to surrender unto Him immediately. But generally this is not our position in the material world. We are characteristically envious and consequently think, "Oh, why should I surrender unto God? I am independent. I shall work independently." Therefore in order to rectify this misgiving, we have to work for many births. In this regard, the name of Krsna is especially significant. Krs means "repetition of birth," and na means "one who checks." Our repetition of birth can be checked only by God. No one can check his repetition of birth and death without the causeless mercy of God.
Show noteThe subject matter of the Ninth Chapter is raja-vidya. Raja means "king," and vidya means "knowledge." In ordinary life we find one person king in one subject and another in another subject. This knowledge, however, is sovereign over all others, and all other knowledge is subject or relative to it. The word raja-guhyam indicates that this sovereign knowledge is very confidential, and the word pavitram means that it is very pure. This knowledge is also uttamam; ud means "transcend," and tama means "darkness," and that knowledge which surpasses this world and the knowledge of this world is called uttamam. It is the knowledge of light, and darkness has been separated from it. If one follows this path of knowledge, he will personally understand how far he has progressed down the path of perfection (pratyaksavagamam dharmyam). Susukham kartum indicates that this knowledge is very happy and joyful to execute. And avyayam indicates that this knowledge is permanent. We may work in this material world for education or riches, but these things are not avyayam, for as soon as this body is finished, everything else is also finished. With death, our education, advanced degrees, bank balances, family-everything-are all finished. Whatever we're doing in this material world is not eternal.
Show noteHowever, this knowledge is not like that.
"In this endeavor there is no loss or diminution, and a little advancement on this path can protect one from the most dangerous type of fear." (Bg. 2.40)
Knowledge in Krsna consciousness is so perfect that if one performs work in Krsna consciousness and yet does not attain perfection, in his next life he takes up from wherever he left off. In other words, actions performed in Krsna consciousness are durable. On the other hand, material achievements, because they pertain to the body, are vanquished at death. Knowledge that pertains to designations does not endure. I am thinking that I am a man or a woman, an American or Indian, a Christian or Hindu-these are all designations pertaining to the body, and when the body is finished, they will also be finished. We are actually spirit, and therefore our spiritual activities will go with us wherever we go.
Show noteSri Krsna indicates that this king of knowledge is also happily performed. We can easily see that activities in Krsna consciousness are joyfully done. There is chanting and dancing, eating prasadam (food that has been offered to Krsna) and discussing Bhagavad-gita. These are the main processes. There are no stringent rules and regulations that we have to sit so straight for so long or do so many gymnastics, or control our breath. No, the process is very easily and happily done. Everyone wants to dance, to sing, to eat and to hear the truth. This process is truly susukham-very happy.
In the material world there are so many gradations of education. Some people never finish grammar school or high school, whereas others go on and receive a university education, a BA, MA, PhD, and so on. But what is this raja-vidya, the king of education, the summum bonum of knowledge? It is this Krsna consciousness. Real knowledge is understanding "what I am." Unless we come to the point of understanding what we are, we cannot attain real knowledge. When Sanatana Gosvami left his government post and came to Caitanya Mahaprabhu for the first time, he asked the Lord, "What is education?" Although Sanatana Gosvami knew a number of languages, including Sanskrit, he still inquired about real education. "The general populace calls me highly educated," Sanatana Gosvami told the Lord, "and I am such a fool that I actually believe them."
Show note"That may be," Sanatana Gosvami said, "but I do not know what I am." He then went on to tell the Lord: "I do not wish to suffer, but these material miseries are forced upon me. I neither know where I've come from nor where I'm going, but people are calling me educated. When they call me a great scholar, I am satisfied, but in truth I am such a great fool that I know not what I am." Sanatana Gosvami was actually speaking for all of us, for this is our present situation. We may be proud of our academic education, but if asked what we are, we are not able to say. Everyone is under the conception that this body is the self, but we learn from Vedic sources that this is not so. Only after realizing that we are not these bodies can we enter into real knowledge and understand what we actually are. This then, is the beginning of knowledge.
These are the signs of liberation. The first symptom of one who is liberated is that he is very happy. It is not possible to find him morose. Nor does he have any anxiety. He never frets, "This thing I don't have. Oh, I must secure this thing. Oh, this bill I have to pay. I have to go here, there." One who is liberated has no anxieties at all. He may be the poorest man in the world, but he neither laments nor thinks that he is poor. Why should he think that he is poor? When we think that we are these material bodies and that we have possessions to go with them, then we think that we are poor or rich, but one who is liberated from the material conception of life has nothing to do with possessions or lack of possessions. "I have nothing to lose and nothing to gain," he thinks. "I am completely separate from all this." Nor does he see anyone else as rich or poor, educated or uneducated, beautiful or ugly, etc. He does not see any material dualities, for his vision is completely on the spiritual platform, and he sees that every living entity is part and parcel of Krsna. Thus seeing all entities in their true identity, he tries to take them back to Krsna consciousness. His viewpoint is that everyone-whether he be brahmana or sudra, black or white, Hindu, Christian, or whatever-should come to Krsna consciousness. When one is situated in this way, then: mad-bhaktim labhate param-he becomes eligible for becoming a pure devotee of Krsna's.
Show noteShow noteShow noteThis knowledge by which we can gain release from suffering is possible in the human form of life, not in the animal form. To give us knowledge, to give us proper direction, there are scriptures written in various languages in all parts of the world. Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu pointed out that people are forgetful from time immemorial about their relationship with the Supreme Lord; therefore Krsna has sent so many representatives to impart the scriptures to man. We should take advantage of these, especially of Bhagavad-gita, which is the prime scripture for the modern world.
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