Prabhupäda: (tape begins with maìgaläcaraëa prayers)

taà tathä kåpayäviñöam
açru-pürëäkulekñaëam
viñédantam idaà väkyam
uväca madhusüdanaù
[Bg. 2.1]

So in the morning we shall discuss on the Bhagavad-gétä, and the... My students, they have requested to speak in English because they cannot understand Hindi. So I think gentlemen gathered here, they’ll also understand English. So kindly allow me to speak English. Now, in the first chapter of the Bhagavad-gétä, the..., it is the set-up, Kåñëa and Arjuna. According to the order of Kåñëa, Arjuna, Kåñëa placed the chariot in between the two soldiers, two phalanxes of soldiers. Senayor ubhayor madhye rathaà sthäpaya me acyuta. Arjuna was respectful to Kåñëa. Kåñëa has accepted to be charioteer, inferior position than Kåñëa. Kåñëa is on the chariot, sitting on the throne, and, uh, Arjuna is sitting on the throne, and Kåñëa has taken the inferior position, driving the chariot. So this is very nice position for devotional service. Those who are not devotees, they aspire to become Kåñëa. Their aspiration is to merge into the existence of the Supreme, or to become one with Kåñëa. But in devotional service it is not the desire of the devotee to become one with Kåñëa, but sometimes to make Kåñëa as the order-carrier of the devotee. To become one with Kåñëa, it may be a very great position. But to become the, I mean to say, command, commander of Kåñëa, that is another thing. That position is greater than to become one with Kåñëa.

So there are five kinds of liberation. Säyujya, the first liberation is supposed to be säyujya, means, to become one with the Supreme. The Mäyäväda philosophers, monists, they aspire after säyujya-mukti. But the devotees, Vaiñëavas, they do not aspire after säyujya-mukti. Their, for them, there are other, four kinds of mukti: särüpya, sälokya, särñöi, sämépya. And those who are still further advanced, they do not want any kind of mukti, neither of these five kinds of muktis. Just like Caitanya Mahäprabhu, He prays, na dhanaà na janaà na sundaréà kavitäà vä jagadéça kämaye. This is pure devotional prayer. The devotees does not approach the Supreme for any material gain. Pure devotion means without any aspiration of any kind of material gain. Or even spiritual gain.

Uttamä-bhakti, first-class bhakti, what is that? Anyäbhiläñitä-çünyam: without any kind of desire than to serve the Lord. And in the Çrémad-Bhägavatam also, it is said, sa vai puàsäà paro dharmaù. Paraù means transcendental, beyond this material conception. Kåñëa, or the Absolute, Näräyaëa, that is para. Näräyaëaù paraù avyaktät. Näräyaëa is not anything of this material world. Näräyaëa, Kåñëa, Viñëu. The Absolute Personality of Godhead, He is not anything of this material world. When we use this word, niräkära, that means His form is not anything of this material world. But He has got His form. That is a transcendental form. Sac-cid-änanda-vigrahaù [Bs. 5.1]. Niräkära means He, He has no such form, as we have got this material form. This material form is neither of the three transcendental bliss, sac-cid-änanda. This is asat, acit, and niränanda. This body, this material body is asat, acit, and niränanda. Therefore, when in the Vedic literature or in authorized statement we find "niräkära," that means His form does not belong to this asat, acit, or niränanda. But He has His form. Divyam. Janma karma me divyam. Divyam, transcendental. And Çrépäda Çaìkaräcärya also, who especially preached impersonalism, he also admits that näräyaëaù paraù avyaktät: "Näräyaëa, the form of Näräyaëa, is beyond the range of this avyakta." Avyakta and...

This world is creation... Avyaktäd anya-sambhavaù. This world is creation of this avyakta. And beyond this avyakta, there is another nature. That is spiritual nature. That is explained in the Bhagavad-gétä: paras tasmät tu bhävaù anyaù avyaktaù avyaktät sanätanaù [Bg. 8.20]. So this situation... Kåñëa is advising... No. I mean to say, Arjuna advising, rathaà sthäpaya me acyuta. Acyuta. Kåñëa is not cyuta. Kåñëa is acyuta. Cyuta means those who are fallen in the material world. They are cyuta. We are fallen in the material world. Therefore we have accepted this material body. Icchä-dveña-samutthena sarge yänti parantapa. Icchä. Icchä means desire. And dveña means envy, enviousness. Icchä-dveña-samutthena. When we become envious of Kåñëa and we want to enjoy this material world, then we come to this material creation. Icchä-dveña-samutthena sarge yänti parantapa.

So any one of us, we, who is in this material world, having a material body, beginning from Brahmä down to the ant, a small ant, anyone of them... In the Brahma-saàhitä it is said that yas tv indra-gopam athavendra-maho sva-karma-bandhänurüpa-phala-bhäjanam atanoti [Bs. 5.54]. Indra-gopa. There is a, there is a insect which is called in Sanskrit language as indra-gopa. It is a microbe. You cannot see with these naked eyes. So this microbe is called indra, and there is another Indra, the King of Heaven. So the Brahma-saàhitä says, yas tu indra-gopa. And Mahendra, the King of Heaven... Beginning from this indra-gopa, up to the King of Heaven, everyone is subjected to enjoy or suffer the resultant action of his karma. By karma, by the resultant action of karma, one has become the King of Heaven, and by karma, resultant action of karma, one has become the microbic insect. This is the material world. There are 8,400,000 types or forms of this material body, and we are wandering, sarva-gata, in different planets, in different forms. This is material world. And in the material world, whatever form we may have, we have got attachment for this body. Not only attachment, we are under the impression that "I am this body." Everyone. That is material conception of life.

So that thing happened to Arjuna. In the battlefield, he identified himself as the body. He thought himself that he belongs to the Kuru family, and his family relatives, his, other side, his brother, nephews, or his grandfather... So he refused to fight. "My dear Kåñëa..." After placing the chariot between the two parties, senayor ubhayor madhye rathaà sthäpaya me acyuta. And then he become very much disturbed that "I have to kill the other side, my brother and my nephews, my grandfather. No, no. Kåñëa, I cannot. No. This is not possible. I shall not fight." This is the stage of Bhagavad-gétä. Kåñëa became very much dissatisfied. Of course, Arjuna played the part of a conditioned soul. A conditioned soul is under the impression that he’s the body. That is animal life. In the çästra it is said, "Anyone who is identifying himself with this material body, he is animal." Go-kharaù. Sa eva go-kharaù [SB 10.84.13]. Go means cows, and khara means ass.

yasyätma-buddhiù kuëape tri-dhätuke
sva-dhéù kalaträdiñu bhauma ijya-dhéù
yat-tértha-buddhiù salile na karhicij
janeñv abhijïeñu sa eva go-kharaù
[SB 10.84.13]

Yasya. Anyone who is identifying this, himself, with this body, which is made of tri-dhätu... According to Äyur Vedic medical system, this body is production of kapha, pitta, väyu. Or in our modern medical science, anatomy, physiology, this body is a combination of bones, muscles, skin, blood, urine, stool. That’s all. So çästra says, "If anyone thinks that he is this lump of bones, flesh, blood, urine and stool," yasyätma-buddhiù kuëape tri-dhätuke [SB 10.84.13], and sva-dhéù kalaträdiñu, "and the production of these bones and flesh, kalaträdiñu..." Because we have got relationship here in this material world with wife. Kalatra means wife. Kalatra, kalaträdiñu: "Beginning from wife." Wife produces so many children, and therefore ädi, the beginning is wife. So sva-dhéù kalaträdiñu. "The wife and my children, they are my kith and kin." Sva-dhéù kalatra, sva-dhéù. "They are my own." Everyone is working... Even a great economist, Mr. Marshall, he says that economic development begins from family affection. Family affection. So unless one thinks that he has to maintain his wife, children, family, there is no question of economic development. Impetus. So yasyätma-buddhiù kuëape tri-dhätuke sva-dhéù kalaträdiñu and bhauma ijya-dhéù [SB 10.84.13]. Bhauma, this earth, as worshipable. Bhauma ijya-dhéù yat-tértha-buddhiù salile: "And for pilgrimage, one who thinks that the water is tértha..." Tértha means where one can get transcendental knowledge. Sva-dhéù kalaträdiñu bhauma ijya-dhéù, yat-tértha-buddhiù salile na karhicij janeñv abhijïeñu. "...but has no interest to associate with persons who is expert in transcendental knowledge. Such, these persons, they are called go-khara." Go-khara means cows and asses. So Arjuna played the part of a go-khara. In the battlefield of Kurukñetra, he played the part of an ordinary person, go-khara, who is identifying this body as self. Therefore he required instruction. Not only... He became so much overwhelmed that he gave up his arrows and bows and sat down, tightly: "My dear Kåñëa, I am not, I cannot fight." And he was crying. Not only he gave up his duty, he was kñatriya, and he was crying: "Oh, I’ll have to kill my kinsmen. No, no, no. I cannot do it."

This is the set-up in the first chapter of the Bhagavad-gétä. This is the summary. Now saïjaya uväca. The Saïjaya is speaking to Dhåtaräñöra. Saïjaya is seeing the battlefield within his heart. That is another television. And by the grace of Vyäsadeva, he learned the art, that he advanced... He was so much advanced that the... Just like we see television, relay from the battlefield, and he, Duryodhana, Dhåtaräñöra was blind. And his secretary, Saïjaya, he was speaking. He was seeing the activities in the battlefield. Dhåtaräñöra inquired from him:

dharma-kñetre kuru-kñetre
samavetä yuyutsavaù
mämakäù päëòaväç caiva
kim akurvata saïjaya
[Bg. 1.1]

He was asking Saïjaya: "What did they do?" Kim akurvata saïjaya. That was the question. And first of all, Saïjaya described the arrangement in the battlefield, and then he’s speaking. Now, sometimes Bhagavad-gétä is misinterpreted that this battle, I mean to say, dharma-kñetra kuru-kñetra means "this body." We do not misinterpret in that way. There is no question of misinterpretation. We are presenting Bhagavad-gétä as it is. We do not change by our whimsical imagination, concoction. We do not interpret the words of the Bhagavad-gétä according to our own desire. No. Actually, from literary point of view, interpretation is required when things are not understood very clearly. The interpretation required. In the law court, when the lawyers try to interpret before the judge, when the terms are not very clear... That is the same way, in, in, amongst the associates and society of learned scholars. Interpretation is not required when the things are very clear. Just like the sun, sunshine, sunlight. There is no need of a lamp to show the sun. The sun is self-effulgent. It is already there. Light is there. Why one should take a lamp to show the sun? This misinterpretation has killed the spirit, the real essence, of Bhagavad-gétä.

So there was so many editions and so many misinterpretation. Our, this Kåñëa consciousness movement, our proposition is that we are, I mean to say, presenting Bhagavad-gétä as it is. We do not misinterpret. So dharma-kñetra kuru-kñetra. Kurukñetra is dharma-kñetra, the place where religious ritualistic performances are done. Kuru-kñetre dharmam äcaret. That is the Vedic version. So Kurukñetra is always... Still people go for pilgrimage in Kurukñetra, and the station is there, Kurukñetra, and the place is there. People go there. Kurukñetra. Why one should interpret that kuru-kñetra means this body and Päëòavas means these païca-indriyas, so many things? There is no question of interpretation. And this Mahäbhärata... Mahäbhärata means "The History of Greater India." That is Mahäbhärata. History, it is history. It is not a fiction. It is history. Mahäbhärata. This planet was formerly known as Bhärata-varña. This planet. The whole planet. Not that the piece of land, as we are calling now, Bhärata-varña. No. Before that, this planet was known as Ilävåta-varña. And after the reign of Mahäräja Bharata, the son of Åñabhadeva, this planet became Bhärata-varña. So Bhärata-varña means the whole planet. But we have lost... Just like we have lost portion of the present Bhärata-varña as Pakistan. Everyone knows, twenty years before there was no such thing as Pakistan. But circumstantially we have lost. So..., so the whole Bhärata-varña has been partitioned as this portion is called America, this portion is called Europe, this portion is called Asia. These are modern names. Actually, the whole planet was Bhärata-varña. And the whole planet was being controlled by Vedic culture. So as we have lost our Vedic culture, as we could not control the others, other people in other part of the world, by our culture, by our political maneuver, we have lost. Even up to the day of Battlefield of Kurukñetra... Why Kurukñetra? Up to the time of Mahäräja Parékñit, the whole world was being controlled by one king in New Delhi, Hastinäpura. There was no other kingdom. And when the battlefield was..., the battle was there, all people from all parts of body, all parts of the world, they joined, either this party or that party. That was the battlefield.

So this is the picture of the Battlefield of Kurukñetra, and Kåñëa is ordered by Arjuna to place the chariot in between the two soldiers. Now, after seeing the soldiers and the kings and other party, Arjuna is aggrieved, so much so that he did not like to fight, and he was crying. Now, Dhåtaräñöra asked Saïjaya: "Then what happened next?" Dhåtaräñöra was very much anxious. He said: dharma-kñetre kuru-kñetre samavetä yuyutsavaù [Bg. 1.1]. "Now these two parties, yuyutsavaù, they, they, they were, both of them were desirous of fighting, yuyutsavaù. So one party is mämakäù, my sons, and the other party is Päëòavas, the sons of my brother, Päëòu." Mämakäù päëòaväç caiva [Bg. 1.1]. Now, the word is used: yuyutsavaù. "They assembled for fighting." Then what is the use of asking: kim akurvata, "Then what did they do?" It is natural to conclude that when they assemble for fighting, there must be fighting. But why he was asking: kim akurvata? The suspect was that because the parties assembled in the dharma-kñetra, so they might have changed their ideas. Still, in India, if there is two fighting parties, they go to a temple and ask that "You say the right thing." So in the temple, still, in the villages, they do not dare to speak lies. Yes. The fighting and the misunderstanding becomes settled up. So Dhåtaräñöra was thinking whether the two parties, they have settled up. He did not like that. He wanted that "These Päëòavas should be killed, and my sons," I mean to say "the Kauravas, they should come out victorious so that there will be no enemy." He was very much anxious to place his sons on the throne. Because he was blind, he could not acquire the throne. His younger brother was situated on the throne. Now, after the death of his younger brother, he thought that "I missed the opportunity of sitting on the throne. Why not my sons? They have got actual right." That is the background of this Kurukñetra battle. He was always devising some means, how the sons of Päëòu, his nephews, could be separated and his sons would sit on the throne. That was his idea. Therefore he inquired, kim akurvata. Otherwise, there was no question of inquiring kim akurvata. They went there to fight. They’ll fight. But he was suspecting, "If they have made any compromise?" That he did not like. That he did not like. He wanted that "There must be fighting. And they are five brothers. My sons are one hundred in number. So they would be killed, and my sons will be without any rivalry."

This is the background of Kurukñetra. But another thing is the dharma-kñetra, effect of dharma-kñetra was visible in Arjuna. Dharma-kñetra. He, because he’s devotee of Kåñëa... Yasyästi bhaktir bhagavaty akiïcanä sarvair guëais tatra samäsate suräù. Because he’s devotee of Kåñëa, therefore he felt: "What is this? Why shall I kill these, my brothers?" Because he was devotee. This sentiment came into the mind of Arjuna, not on the other side, Duryodhana. He never thought. Although they were placed, both of them placed at dharma-kñetra. The effect of dharma-kñetra was manifest in the body of Arjuna, not Duryodhana. This is the... If one is pure, then the effects of dharma becomes manifest very quickly. Na mäà duñkåtino müòhäù prapadyante narädhamäù... [Bg. 7.15]. Kåñëa says in... that those who are too much sinful, sinful, simply their life is sinful, duñkåtinaù. Duñkåtinaù. Kåti. Kåti means one who has got good brain. But duñkåtinaù, but the brain is applied for mischievous activities. For mischievous activities, it also requires good brain. And similarly, for pious activities, that also requires brain. But those who are applying their brain for mischievous activities, they are called duñkåtinaù. So duñkåtinaù... Na mäà duñkåtino müòhäù. Why they do so? Because they are müòhäù, rascals. If one has got good brain, he should apply it for good work, but sometimes they are utilized... Just like a thief, he has got good brain. A rogue, he has got good brain, but he’s applying for mischievous activities, for making people unhappy. That is not the right use. Jïäna-khala. They are called jïäna-khala. One who has got nice knowledge, it should be utilized for better purpose.

So the effect of Kurukñetra, dharma-kñetra, was visible in the person of Arjuna, not in the person of Duryodhana. That is the difference. Therefore he was crying: "So I am put in such a position that I have to fight and I have to kill my brothers, my nephews, my grandfather." He was too much affected. Although it is weakness, but it is not actually weakness. It is compassion. Arjuna was not a coward, neither he was less heroic than the other side. But out of compassion, because he was devotee... Devotees, they are para-duùkha-duùkhé. The, the symptom of a devotee is they are unhappy by seeing others unhappy. That is the symptom of devotee. Generally, a person, if he sees somebody happy, he becomes happy. Mätsaratä. That is the world situation. If I see my brother is very happy, he has improved in his material condition, then I become unhappy: "He has advanced so much, and I could not do so." This is material civilization. Envious, gåhamedhé. Everyone is envious. Either you take person to person or neighbor to neighbor, their sympathy is lip sympathy. Actually, everyone is envious. Businessman to businessman, nation to nation. This is material world. Therefore spiritual advancement means for person who is not envious. Not envious. Paramo nirmatsaräëäà satäà vastavya-vastu vedyam. In the Çrémad-Bhägavatam it is said that if you want to know the real truth, vastavya-vastu, the one must become paramo nirmatsaram. Nirmatsara. Matsara, matsara means envious, and nirmatsara, not envious. And parama, first-class nirmatsara. Therefore Vyäsadeva says that: dharmaù projjhita-kaitavo ’tra paramo nirmatsaräëäm [SB 1.1.2]. In the introduction of Çrémad-Bhägavatam, Vyäsadeva says who are the candidates to understand this science of God, Çrémad-Bhägavatam? It is not for the persons who are entangled in cheating religious system. Cheating, dharmaù kaitavaù. Kaitava means cheating. So cheating type of religious system are kicked out from this book, Çrémad-Bhägavatam, but it is meant for persons who are not envious, paramo nirmatsaräëäà satäm. Vastavya-vastu. One who wants to learn reality, not false reality. This, here, in this material world, everything is false reality. Just like we are trying to find out water in the desert. That is the example, mirage, false... There is no water. But the animal, he sees that there is water, vast water, and he runs after it and dies. So here in this material world also, every one of us, running after the false mirage, that "There is happiness, there is happiness, there is happiness." This is called material condition, and we are envious. This is the position, and therefore Kåñëa begins the Bhagavad-gétä to get out of this ignorance and enviousness, and this is the basic principle of Bhagavad-gétä.

So we shall discuss tomorrow again. Thank you very much. (end)