“As a person puts on new garments, giving up old ones, similarly, the soul accepts new material bodies, giving up the old and useless ones.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 2.22)

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वासांसि जीर्णानि यथा विहाय
नवानि गृह्णाति नरो ऽपराणि
तथा शरीराणि विहाय जीर्णान्य्
अन्यानि संयाति नवानि देही

vāsāṁsi jīrṇāni yathā vihāya
navāni gṛhṇāti naro ‘parāṇi
tathā śarīrāṇi vihāya jīrṇāny
anyāni saṁyāti navāni dehī

“What would your response be to the criticism that discussions of bhakti-yoga are something like that which occurs inside of a faculty lounge? You know, that image where professors with their tweed jackets, elbow patches and all, are sitting with their legs crossed, gargoyle socks showing, amidst billowing clouds of smoke emanating from their pipes.

“They are discussing the ins and outs of Vedanta philosophy. The manifest and the unmanifest. Action and inaction. To work or to study. This is the kind of image that comes to mind when we read through detailed analysis of the verses of Bhagavad-gita, for instance.

“There is nothing wrong with a philosophical discussion. It is more productive than zoning out in front of the television. The thing is there are people out there struggling. They are unhappy with their situation in life. Turmoil related to the news, politics, developments in science and technology. Sadness, depression, and despair. No one is happy, it seems. What is some five thousand year old Sanskrit book going to do for people, other than put them to sleep?”

His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada explains that the science of self-realization being presented in the flow of disciplic succession, parampara, is not dry philosophy or fanaticism. There is both the actual knowledge and the subsequent practical realization, jnana and vijnana.

As far as the image of the faculty lounge, we can study the clothes worn by Krishna and Arjuna to make a proper comparison. They are both situated in the middle of a battlefield, on the precipice of a great war. Arjuna is not known to be a high scholar or someone who pontificates for a living.

He receives the wisdom, all the same. For some reason, the teacher thinks that this student in particular is a suitable candidate for accepting ancient wisdom. The student has the necessary qualifications to understand, process, contemplate, and then assimilate the knowledge being shared with them.

श्री-भगवान् उवाच
इदं तु ते गुह्यतमं
प्रवक्ष्याम्य् अनसूयवे
ज्ञानं विज्ञान-सहितं
यज् ज्ञात्वा मोक्ष्यसे ऽशुभात्

śrī-bhagavān uvāca
idaṁ tu te guhyatamaṁ
pravakṣyāmy anasūyave
jñānaṁ vijñāna-sahitaṁ
yaj jñātvā mokṣyase ‘śubhāt

“The Supreme Lord said: My dear Arjuna, because you are never envious of Me, I shall impart to you this most secret wisdom, knowing which you shall be relieved of the miseries of material existence.” (Bhagavad-gita, 9.1)

If we focus on the issues that plague us at the moment, the immediate context is the temporary. Moreover, there is limited relevance. The person struggling in family life can try to share their troubles with a child, but what does the child really care? What will a young adult do with knowledge specific to troubles in old age, especially pertaining to deteriorating health?

On the other hand, the knowledge from the very beginning of Bhagavad-gita has relevancy across all situations and all periods of time. What can be more practical than explanation of the life-death cycle? Who will not be able to relate to the comparison of changing clothes?

I wore something to sleep last night. I took a shower this morning. I then changed into something else. I went outside to play sports. Due to the excessive perspiration, I again took a shower, which led to another change of clothes.

This cycle repeats day after day, and for the living being the same occurs across the broader timeframe known as a lifetime. The changing of clothes, the complete end to life, known as death, occurs over and over. The cycle repeats in what is known as transmigration of the soul, or reincarnation.

Knowledge is the beginning. There is value to knowing that I am spirit soul, part and parcel of the Brahman energy. I have a leg up on the rest of the population if I know my true identity. Knowing in this regard can never be harmful.

At the same time, the knowledge has a purpose. It is for making a positive impact moving forward. Arjuna did not magically merge into the spiritual cosmos after the conversation with Krishna. Rather, He merely went back to work. It was like the bell sounded in school to signal the end of the period. It was like the timeout was over.

तस्मात् त्वम् उत्तिष्ठ यशो लभस्व
जित्वा शत्रून् भुङ्क्ष्व राज्यं समृद्धम्
मयैवैते निहताः पूर्वम् एव
निमित्त-मात्रं भव सव्य-साचिन्

tasmāt tvam uttiṣṭha yaśo labhasva
jitvā śatrūn bhuṅkṣva rājyaṁ samṛddham
mayaivaite nihatāḥ pūrvam eva
nimitta-mātraṁ bhava savya-sācin

“Therefore get up and prepare to fight. After conquering your enemies you will enjoy a flourishing kingdom. They are already put to death by My arrangement, and you, O Savyasachin, can be but an instrument in the fight.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 11.33)

It was still not a routine day at the office. Arjuna was now armed with knowledge. He had the power accompanying a clear vision. He would work as but an instrument of the Divine will, receiving the credit for any victories that should result.

नासतो विद्यते भावो नाभावो विद्यते सतः ।
उभयोरपि दृष्टोऽन्तस्त्वनयोस्तत्त्वदर्शिभिः ॥

nāsato vidyate bhāvo
nābhāvo vidyate sataḥ
ubhayor api dṛṣṭo ’ntas
tv anayos tattva-darśibhiḥ

“Those who are seers of the truth have concluded that of the nonexistent there is no endurance, and of the existent there is no cessation. This seers have concluded by studying the nature of both.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 2.16)

That is the practical application of the principles, that we should continue to work, but in a way that merges into transcendence. Through detachment from the temporary, through attachment to that which has endurance, through knowledge of the spiritual energy and the source of it, we can achieve the ultimate objective in life.

In Closing:

Who else to tell?
For my illusion to dispel.

That changes happening for,
Why repeatedly to endure?

Krishna to Arjuna gave,
Wisdom for spirits to save.

Across entire spectrum of time,
Applied to even situation mine.

Categories: questions

Tags: god, hare krishna, hinduism, life, poem, poems, poetry, reincarnation, religion