Bhagavad-gita As It Is - Macmillan 1972 Edition -- Prabhupada Books (61 page)

In the prayers of Kuntī in the
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam
(1.8.18), it is said that the Lord is covered by the curtain of
yoga-māyā
and thus ordinary people cannot understand Him. Kuntī prays: "O my Lord, You are the maintainer of the entire universe, and devotional service to You is the highest religious principle. Therefore, I pray that You will also maintain me. Your transcendental form is covered by the
yoga-māyā
. The
brahmajyoti
is the covering of the internal potency. May You kindly remove this glowing effulgence that impedes my seeing Your
sac-cid-ānanda-vigraha
, Your eternal form of bliss and knowledge."

This yoga-māyā curtain is also mentioned in the Fifteenth Chapter of the Gītā. The Supreme Personality of Godhead in His transcendental form of bliss and knowledge is covered by the eternal potency of
brahmajyoti
and the less intelligent impersonalists cannot see the Supreme on this account. Also in the
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam
(10.14.7) there is this prayer by Brahmā: "O Supreme Personality of Godhead, O Supersoul, O master of all mystery, who can calculate Your potency and pastimes in this world? You are always expanding Your eternal potency, and therefore no one can understand You. Learned scientists and learned scholars can examine the atomic constitution of the material world or even the planets, but still they are unable to calculate Your energy and potency, although You are present before them." The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Kṛṣṇa, is not only unborn, but He is
avyaya
, inexhaustible. His eternal form is bliss and knowledge, and His energies are all inexhaustible.

Bg 7.26

TEXT 26

TEXT

vedāhaṁ samatītāni

vartamānāni cārjuna

bhaviṣyāṇi ca bhūtāni

māṁ tu veda na kaścana

SYNONYMS

veda-
know;
aham-
I;
sama-
equally;
atītāni-
past;
vartamānāni-
present;
ca-
and;
arjuna
-O Arjuna;
bhaviṣyāṇi-
future;
ca-
also;
bhūtāni-
living entities;
mām-
Me;
tu-
but;
veda-
knows;
na-
not;
kaścana-
anyone.

TRANSLATION

O Arjuna, as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, I know everything that has happened in the past, all that is happening in the present, and all things that are yet to come. I also know all living entities; but Me no one knows.

PURPORT

Here the question of personality and impersonality is clearly stated. If Kṛṣṇa, the form of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is considered by the impersonalists to be
māyā
, to be material, then He would, like the living entity, change His body and forget everything in His past life. Anyone with a material body cannot remember his past life, nor can he foretell his future life, nor can he predict the outcome of his present life; therefore he cannot know what is happening in past, present and future. Unless one is liberated from material contamination, he cannot know past, present and future.

Unlike the ordinary human being, Lord Kṛṣṇa clearly says that He completely knows what happened in the past, what is happening in the present, and what will happen in the future. In the Fourth Chapter we have seen that Lord Kṛṣṇa remembers instructing Vivasvān, the sun-god, millions of years ago. Kṛṣṇa knows every living entity because He is situated in every living being's heart as the Supreme Soul. But despite His presence in every living entity as Supersoul and His presence beyond the material sky, as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the less intelligent cannot realize Him as the Supreme Person. Certainly the transcendental body of Śrī Kṛṣṇa is not perishable. He is just like the sun, and
mayā
is like the cloud. In the material world we can see that there is the sun and that there are clouds and different stars and planets. The clouds may cover all these in the sky temporarily, but this covering is only apparent to our limited vision. The sun, moon and stars are not actually covered. Similarly,
māyā
cannot cover the Supreme Lord. By His internal potency He is not manifest to the less intelligent class of men. As it is stated in the third verse of this chapter, out of millions and millions of men, some try to become perfect in this human form of life, and out of thousands and thousands of such perfected men, hardly one can understand what Lord Kṛṣṇa is. Even if one is perfected by realization of impersonal Brahman or localized Paramātmā, he cannot possibly understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Śrī Kṛṣṇa, without being in Kṛṣṇa consciousness.

Bg 7.27

TEXT 27

TEXT

icchā-dveṣa-samutthena

dvandva-mohena bhārata

sarva-bhūtāni sammohaṁ

sarge yānti parantapa

SYNONYMS

icchā-
desire;
dveṣa-
hate;
samutthena-
born;
dvandva-
duality;
mohena
-overcome;
bhārata
-O scion of Bharata;
sarva
-all;
bhūtāni
-living entities;
sammoham-
into delusion;
sarge
-in creation;
yānti
-go;
parantapa-
O conquerer of enemies.

TRANSLATION

O scion of Bharata [Arjuna], O conquerer of the foe, all living entities are born into delusion, overcome by the dualities of desire and hate.

PURPORT

The real constitutional position of the living entity is that of subordination to the Supreme Lord, who is pure knowledge. When one is deluded into separation from this pure knowledge, he becomes controlled by illusory energy and cannot understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The illusory energy is manifested in the duality of desire and hate. Due to desire and hate, the ignorant person wants to become one with the Supreme Lord and envies Kṛṣṇa as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Pure devotees, who are not so deluded or contaminated by desire and hate, can understand that Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa appears by His internal potencies, but those who are deluded by duality and nescience think that the Supreme Personality of Godhead is created by material energies. This is their misfortune. Such deluded persons, symptomatically, dwell in dualities of dishonor and honor, misery and happiness, woman and man, good and bad, pleasure and pain, etc., thinking, "This is my wife; this is my house; I am the master of this house; I am the husband of this wife." These are the dualities of delusion. Those who are so deluded by dualities are completely foolish and therefore cannot understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

Bg 7.28

TEXT 28

TEXT

yeṣāṁ tv anta-gataṁ pāpaṁ

janānāṁ puṇya-karmaṇām

te dvandva-moha-nirmuktā

bhajante māṁ dṛḍha-vratāḥ

SYNONYMS

yeṣām-
whose;
tu-
but;
anta-gatam
-completely eradicated;
pāpam-
sin;
janānām-
of the persons;
puṇya-
pious;
karmaṇām-
previous activities;
te-
they;
dvandva-
duality;
moha-
delusion
; nirmuktāḥ-
free from;
bhajante
-worship;
mām-
Me;
dṛḍha-vratāḥ-
with determination.

TRANSLATION

Persons who have acted piously in previous lives and in this life, whose sinful actions are completely eradicated and who are freed from the duality of delusion, engage themselves in My service with determination.

PURPORT

Those eligible for elevation to the transcendental position are mentioned in this verse. For those who are sinful, atheistic, foolish and deceitful, it is very difficult to transcend the duality of desire and hate. Only those who have passed their lives in practicing the regulative principles of religion, who have acted piously and have conquered sinful reactions can accept devotional service and gradually rise to the pure knowledge of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Then, gradually, they can meditate in trance on the Supreme Personality of Godhead. That is the process of being situated on the spiritual platform. This elevation is possible in Kṛṣṇa consciousness in the association of pure devotees who can deliver one from delusion.

It is stated in the
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam
that if one actually wants to be liberated he must render service to the devotees; but one who associates with materialistic people is on the path leading to the darkest region of existence. All the devotees of the Lord traverse this earth just to recover the conditioned souls from their delusion. The impersonalists do not know that forgetting their constitutional position as subordinate to the Supreme Lord is the greatest violation of God's law. Unless one is reinstated in his own constitutional position, it is not possible to understand the Supreme Personality or to be fully engaged in His transcendental loving service with determination.

Bg 7.29

TEXT 29

TEXT

jarā-maraṇa-mokṣāya

mām āśritya yatanti ye

te brahma tad viduḥ kṛtsnam

adhyātmaṁ karma cākhilam

SYNONYMS

jarā-
old age;
maraṇa-
death;
mokṣāya-
for the purpose of liberation;
mām-
unto Me;
āśritya-
taking shelter of;
yatanti-
endeavor;
ye-
all those;
te-
such persons;
brahma-
Brahman;
tat-
actually that;
viduḥ-
they know;
kṛtsnam-
everything;
adhyātmam-
transcendental;
karma
-fruitive activities;
ca
-also;
akhilam-
entirely.

TRANSLATION

Intelligent persons who are endeavoring for liberation from old age and death take refuge in Me in devotional service. They are actually Brahman because they entirely know everything about transcendental and fruitive activities.

PURPORT

Birth, death, old age and diseases affect this material body, but not the spiritual body. There is no birth, death, old age and disease for the spiritual body, so one who attains a spiritual body, becomes one of the associates of the Supreme Personality of Godhead and engages in eternal devotional service, is really liberated.
Ahaṁ brahmāsmi:
I am spirit. It is said that one should understand that he is Brahman-spirit soul. This Brahman conception of life is also in devotional service, as described in this verse. The pure devotees are transcendentally situated on the Brahman platform, and they know everything about transcendental and material activities.

Four kinds of impure devotees who engage themselves in the transcendental service of the Lord achieve their respective goals, and by the grace of the Supreme Lord, when they are fully Kṛṣṇa conscious, they actually enjoy spiritual association with the Supreme Lord. But those who are worshipers of demigods never reach the Supreme Lord in His supreme planet. Even the less intelligent Brahman-realized persons cannot reach the supreme planet of Kṛṣṇa known as Goloka Vṛndāvana. Only persons who perform activities in Kṛṣṇa consciousness (
mām āśritya
)
are actually entitled to be called Brahman, because they are actually endeavoring to reach the Kṛṣṇa planet. Such persons have no misgivings about Kṛṣṇa, and thus they are factually Brahman.

Those who are engaged in worshiping the form or
arcā
of the Lord or who are engaged in meditation on the Lord simply for liberation from material bondage, also know, by the grace of the Lord, the purports of Brahman,
adhibhūta,
etc., as explained by the Lord in the next chapter.

Bg 7.30

TEXT 30

TEXT

sādhibhūtādhidaivaṁ māṁ

sādhiyajñaṁ ca ye viduḥ

prayāṇa-kāle 'pi ca māṁ

te vidur yukta-cetasaḥ

SYNONYMS

sa-adhibhūta-
the governing principle of the material manifestation;
adhidaivam-
underlying all the demigods;
mām-
Me;
sa-adhiyajñam-
sustaining all sacrifices;
ca-
and;
ye-
those;
viduḥ-
know;
prayāṇa-
of death;
kāle-
at the time;
api-
even;
ca-
and;
mām
-Me;
te-
they;
viduḥ
-know;
yukta-cetasaḥ-
with steadfast mind.

TRANSLATION

Those who know Me as the Supreme Lord, as the governing principle of the material manifestation, who know Me as the one underlying all the demigods and as the one sustaining all sacrifices, can, with steadfast mind, understand and know Me even at the time of death.

PURPORT

Persons acting in Kṛṣṇa consciousness are never entirely deviated from the path of understanding the Supreme Personality of Godhead. In the transcendental association of Kṛṣṇa consciousness, one can understand how the Supreme Lord is the governing principle of the material manifestation and even of the demigods. Gradually, by such transcendental association, one becomes convinced of the Supreme Personality of Godhead Himself, and at the time of death such a Kṛṣṇa conscious person can never forget Kṛṣṇa. Naturally he is thus promoted to the planet of the Supreme Lord, Goloka Vṛndāvana.

This Seventh Chapter particularly explains how one can become a fully Kṛṣṇa conscious person. The beginning of Kṛṣṇa consciousness is association of persons who are Kṛṣṇa conscious. Such association is spiritual and puts one directly in touch with the Supreme Lord, and, by His grace, one can understand Kṛṣṇa to be the Supreme God. At the same time one can really understand the constitutional position of the living entity and how the living entity forgets Kṛṣṇa and becomes entangled in material activities. By gradual development of Kṛṣṇa consciousness in good association, the living entity can understand that due to forgetfulness of Kṛṣṇa he has become conditioned by the laws of material nature. He can also understand that this human form of life is an opportunity to regain Kṛṣṇa consciousness and that it should be fully utilized to attain the causeless mercy of the Supreme Lord.