Bhagavad-gita As It Is - Macmillan 1972 Edition -- Prabhupada Books (43 page)

Bg 5.10

TEXT 10

TEXT

brahmaṇy ādhāya karmāṇi

saṅgaṁ tyaktvā karoti yaḥ

lipyate na sa pāpena

padma-patram ivāmbhasā

SYNONYMS

brahmaṇi-
the Supreme Personality of Godhead;
ādhāya-
resigning unto;
karmāṇi-
all works;
saṅgam-
attachment;
tyaktvā-
giving up;
karoti-
performs;
yaḥ-
who;
lipyate-
is affected;
na-
never;
saḥ-
he;
pāpena-
by sin;
padma-patram-
lotus leaf;
iva-
like;
ambhasā-
in the water.

TRANSLATION

One who performs his duty without attachment, surrendering the results unto the Supreme God, is not affected by sinful action, as the lotus leaf is untouched by water.

PURPORT

Here
brahmaṇi
means in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. The material world is a sum total manifestation of the three modes of material nature, technically called the
pradhāna.
The Vedic hymns,
sarvam etad brahma, tasmād etad brahma nāma-rūpam annaṁ ca jāyate,
and, in the
Bhagavad-gītā, mama yonir mahad brahma,
indicate that everything in the material world is the manifestation of Brahman; and, although the effects are differently manifested, they are nondifferent from the cause. In the
Īśopaniṣad
it is said that everything is related to the Supreme Brahman or Kṛṣṇa, and thus everything belongs to Him only. One who knows perfectly well that everything belongs to Kṛṣṇa, that He is the proprietor of everything and that, therefore, everything is engaged in the service of the Lord, naturally has nothing to do with the results of his activities, whether virtuous or sinful. Even one's material body, being a gift of the Lord for carrying out a particular type of action, can be engaged in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. It is beyond contamination by sinful reactions, exactly as the lotus leaf, though remaining in the water, is not wet. The Lord also says in the
Gītā: mayi sarvāṇi karmāṇi sannyasya:
"Resign all works unto Me [Kṛṣṇa]." The conclusion is that a person without Kṛṣṇa consciousness acts according to the concept of the material body and senses, but a person in Kṛṣṇa consciousness acts according to the knowledge that the body is the property of Kṛṣṇa and should therefore be engaged in the service of Kṛṣṇa.

Bg 5.11

TEXT 11

TEXT

kāyena manasā buddhyā

kevalair indriyair api

yoginaḥ karma kurvanti

saṅgaṁ tyaktvātma-śuddhaye

SYNONYMS

kāyena-
with the body;
manasā-
with the mind;
buddhyā-
with the intelligence;
kevalaiḥ-
purified;
indriyaiḥ-
with the senses;
api-
even with;
yoginaḥ-
the Kṛṣṇa conscious persons;
karma-
actions;
kurvanti-
they act;
saṅgam-
attachment;
tyaktvā-
giving up;
ātma-
self;
śuddhaye-
for the purpose of purification.

TRANSLATION

The yogīs, abandoning attachment, act with body, mind, intelligence, and even with the senses, only for the purpose of purification.

PURPORT

By acting in Kṛṣṇa consciousness for the satisfaction of the senses of Kṛṣṇa, any action, whether of the body, mind, intelligence or even of the senses, is purified of material contamination. There are no material reactions resulting from the activities of a Kṛṣṇa conscious person. Therefore, purified activities, which are generally called
sadācāra
, can be easily performed by acting in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Śrī Rūpa Gosvāmī in his
Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu
describes this as follows:

īhā yasya harer dāsye karmaṇā manasā girā
nikhilāsv apy avasthāsu jīvanmuktaḥ sa ucyate

A person acting in Kṛṣṇa consciousness (or, in other words, in the service of Kṛṣṇa) with his body, mind, intelligence and words is a liberated person even within the material world, although he may be engaged in many so-called material activities. He has no false ego, nor does he believe that he is this material body, nor that he possesses the body. He knows that he is not this body and that this body does not belong to him. He himself belongs to Kṛṣṇa, and the body too belongs to Kṛṣṇa. When he applies everything produced of the body, mind, intelligence, words, life, wealth, etc.-whatever he may have within his possession-to Kṛṣṇa's service, he is at once dovetailed with Kṛṣṇa. He is one with Kṛṣṇa and is devoid of the false ego that leads one to believe that he is the body, etc. This is the perfect stage of Kṛṣṇa consciousness.

Bg 5.12

TEXT 12

TEXT

yuktaḥ karma-phalaṁ tyaktvā

śāntim āpnoti naiṣṭhikīm

ayuktaḥ kāma-kāreṇa

phale sakto nibadhyate

SYNONYMS

yuktaḥ-
one who is engaged in devotional service;
karma-phalam-
the results of all activities;
tyaktvā-
giving up;
śāntim-
perfect peace;
āpnoti-
achieves;
naiṣṭhikīm-
unflinching;
ayuktaḥ-
one who is not in Kṛṣṇa consciousness;
kāma-kāreṇa-
for enjoying the result of work;
phale-
in the result;
saktaḥ-
attached;
nibadhyate-
becomes entangled.

TRANSLATION

The steadily devoted soul attains unadulterated peace because he offers the result of all activities to Me; whereas a person who is not in union with the Divine, who is greedy for the fruits of his labor, becomes entangled.

PURPORT

The difference between a person in Kṛṣṇa consciousness and a person in bodily consciousness is that the former is attached to Kṛṣṇa, whereas the latter is attached to the results of his activities. The person who is attached to Kṛṣṇa and works for Him only is certainly a liberated person, and he is not anxious for fruitive rewards. In the
Bhāgavatam,
the cause of anxiety over the result of an activity is explained as being due to one's functioning in the conception of duality, that is, without knowledge of the Absolute Truth. Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Absolute Truth, the Personality of Godhead. In Kṛṣṇa consciousness, there is no duality. All that exists is a product of Kṛṣṇa's energy, and Kṛṣṇa is all good. Therefore, activities in Kṛṣṇa consciousness are on the absolute plane; they are transcendental and have no material effect. One is, therefore, filled with peace in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. One who is, however, entangled in profit calculation for sense gratification cannot have that peace. This is the secret of Kṛṣṇa consciousness-realization that there is no existence besides Kṛṣṇa is the platform of peace and fearlessness.

Bg 5.13

TEXT 13

TEXT

sarva-karmāṇi manasā

sannyasyāste sukhaṁ vaśī

nava-dvāre pure dehī

naiva kurvan na kārayan

SYNONYMS

sarva-
all;
karmāṇi-
activities;
manasā-
by the mind;
sannyasya-
giving up;
āste-
remains;
sukham-
in happiness;
vaśī-
one who is controlled;
nava-dvāre-
in the place where there are nine gates;
pure-
in the city;
dehī
-the embodied soul;
na-
never;
eva-
certainly;
kurvan-
doing anything;
na-
not;
kārayan-
causing to be done.

TRANSLATION

When the embodied living being controls his nature and mentally renounces all actions, he resides happily in the city of nine gates [the material body], neither working nor causing work to be done.

PURPORT

The embodied soul lives in the city of nine gates. The activities of the body, or the figurative city of body, are conducted automatically by the particular modes of nature. The soul, although subjecting himself to the conditions of the body, can be beyond those conditions, if he so desires. Owing only to forgetfulness of his superior nature, he identifies with the material body, and therefore suffers. By Kṛṣṇa consciousness, he can revive his real position and thus come out of his embodiment. Therefore, when one takes to Kṛṣṇa consciousness, one at once becomes completely aloof from bodily activities. In such a controlled life, in which his deliberations are changed, he lives happily within the city of nine gates. The nine gates are described as follows:

nava-dvāre pure dehī haṁso lelāyate bahiḥ
vaśī sarvasya lokasya sthāvarasya carasya ca.

"The Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is living within the body of a living entity, is the controller of all living entities all over the universe. The body consists of nine gates: two eyes, two nostrils, two ears, one mouth, the anus and the genital. The living entity in his conditioned stage identifies himself with the body, but when he identifies himself with the Lord within himself, he becomes just as free as the Lord, even while in the body." (
Śvet.
3.18)

Therefore, a Kṛṣṇa conscious person is free from both the outer and inner activities of the material body.

Bg 5.14

TEXT 14

TEXT

na kartṛtvaṁ na karmāṇi

lokasya sṛjati prabhuḥ

na karma-phala-saṁyogaṁ

svabhāvas tu pravartate

SYNONYMS

na-
never;
kartṛtvam-
proprietorship;
na-
nor;
karmāṇi-
activities;
lokasya-
of the people;
sṛjati-
creates;
prabhuḥ-
the master of the city of the body;
na-
nor;
karma-phala-
results of activities;
saṁyogam-
connection;
svabhāvaḥ-
modes of material nature;
tu-
but;
pravartate-
acts.

TRANSLATION

The embodied spirit, master of the city of his body, does not create activities, nor does he induce people to act, nor does he create the fruits of action. All this is enacted by the modes of material nature.

PURPORT

The living entity, as will be explained in the Seventh Chapter, is one in nature with the Supreme Lord, distinguished from matter, which is another nature-called inferior-of the Lord. Somehow, the superior nature, the living entity, has been in contact with material nature since time immemorial. The temporary body or material dwelling place which he obtains is the cause of varieties of activities and their resultant reactions. Living in such a conditional atmosphere, one suffers the results of the activities of the body by identifying himself (in ignorance) with the body. It is ignorance acquired from time immemorial that is the cause of bodily suffering and distress. As soon as the living entity becomes aloof from the activities of the body, he becomes free from the reactions as well. As long as he is in the city of body, he appears to be the master of it, but actually he is neither its proprietor nor controller of its actions and reactions. He is simply in the midst of the material ocean, struggling for existence. The waves of the ocean are tossing him, and he has no control over them. His best solution is to get out of the water by transcendental Kṛṣṇa consciousness. That alone will save him from all turmoil.

Bg 5.15

TEXT 15

TEXT

nādatte kasyacit pāpaṁ

na caiva sukṛtaṁ vibhuḥ

ajñānenāvṛtaṁ jñānaṁ

tena muhyanti jantavaḥ

SYNONYMS

na-
never;
ādatte-
accepts;
kasyacit-
anyone's;
pāpam-
sin;
na-
nor;
ca-
also;
eva-
certainly;
sukṛtam-
pious activities;
vibhuḥ-
the Supreme Lord;
ajñānena-
by ignorance;
āvṛtam-
covered;
jñānam-
knowledge;
tena-
by that;
muhyanti-
bewildered;
jantavaḥ-
the living entities.

TRANSLATION

Nor does the Supreme Spirit assume anyone's sinful or pious activities. Embodied beings, however, are bewildered because of the ignorance which covers their real knowledge.

PURPORT

The Sanskrit word
vibhuḥ
means the Supreme Lord who is full of unlimited knowledge, riches, strength, fame, beauty and renunciation. He is always satisfied in Himself, undisturbed by sinful or pious activities. He does not create a particular situation for any living entity, but the living entity, bewildered by ignorance, desires to be put into certain conditions of life, and thereby his chain of action and reaction begins. A living entity is, by superior nature, full of knowledge. Nevertheless, he is prone to be influenced by ignorance due to his limited power. The Lord is omnipotent, but the living entity is not. The Lord is
vibhu,
or omniscient, but the living entity is
aṇu
, or atomic. Because he is a living soul, he has the capacity to desire by his free will. Such desire is fulfilled only by the omnipotent Lord. And so, when the living entity is bewildered in his desires, the Lord allows him to fulfill those desires, but the Lord is never responsible for the actions and reactions of the particular situation which may be desired. Being in a bewildered condition, therefore, the embodied soul identifies himself with the circumstantial material body and becomes subjected to the temporary misery and happiness of life. The Lord is the constant companion of the living entity as Paramātmā, or the Supersoul, and therefore He can understand the desires of the individual soul, as one can smell the flavor of a flower by being near it. Desire is a subtle form of conditioning of the living entity. The Lord fulfills his desire as he deserves: Man proposes and God disposes. The individual is not, therefore, omnipotent in fulfilling his desires. The Lord, however, can fulfill all desires, and the Lord, being neutral to everyone, does not interfere with the desires of the minute independant living entities. However, when one desires Kṛṣṇa, the Lord takes special care and encourages one to desire in such a way that one can attain to Him and be eternally happy. The Vedic hymn therefore declares: