“It is said that the soul is invisible, inconceivable, immutable, and unchangeable. Knowing this, you should not grieve for the body.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 2.25)

Download as podcast episode (right click and save)

अव्यक्तोऽयमचिन्त्योऽयमविकार्योऽयमुच्यते
तस्मादेवं विदित्वैनं नानुशोचितुमर्हसि

avyakto ’yam acintyo ’yam
avikāryo ’yam ucyate
tasmād evaṁ viditvainaṁ
nānuśocitum arhasi

The following hypothetical situation involves discovery. You happen to find an eternal truth. It is life-changing, in fact. You wish that someone would have revealed it to you long ago. So much pain, heartache, misery, and defeat could have been avoided. You would have declined so many invitations, for entering various playing fields that only ended in shoka, or grief. You would have put a cap on material desire itself, which is known as kama in Sanskrit.

तब लगि कुसल न जीव कहुँ सपनेहुँ मन बिश्राम
जब लगि भजत न राम कहुँ सोकधाम तजि काम

taba lagi kusala na jīva kahum̐ sapanehum̐ mana biśrāma
jaba lagi bhajata na rāma kahum̐ sokadhāma taji kāma

“For as long as there is not devotion to Shri Rama and the release of material desires, which are like an abode of grief, the living being should not expect to find welfare and peace of mind, even in a dream.” (Dohavali, 131)

Nevertheless, here you stand. Armed and equipped with this higher understanding, you are ready to go out into the world. The following analysis covers two distinct ways to approach sharing the knowledge with others. This has relevancy towards justifying the insistence of His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada to include three specific words in the title to the published translation and commentary on Bhagavad-gita.

1. As a cheater

In this case you are well aware of what is in your possession. You have something valuable. It is like you were the first to reach the treasure, after everyone else held the same map in their hands. You won the game. You are the champion for this season of an informal reality competition. You can make of that treasure what you will. It is up to you.

You decide to go about distributing the knowledge. Not necessarily for free. Certainly not with acknowledgment of the source. Rather, you start your own school. You add your name to the discipline. It might be a kind of yoga. You explain the truths you have learned, but without reference to the authority. You claim to be completely self-made. You are realized in the self. Others should learn the secret from you. Only you possess the secret.

You can carry the charade quite far precisely because you target the unknown. They are completely unaware of your past, in how you discovered the knowledge. Challengers are easily swatted aside. If they reference the same source, then you say that you carry a superior understanding of that source. You are building upon the rudimentary. Either that or you are the preferred carrier of the wisdom for the age at hand. You are equal to the source. You are the same, and so there is no reason for controversy.

2. As a representative

In this other path, you proceed with both humility and confidence. You have belief in yourself, precisely because you understand the source to be of impeccable character and behavior. They did not cheat you, so why would you cheat others? You are simply passing the knowledge along, in a way that the source already explains. You are part of the chain, in the succession known as parampara.

एवं परम्परा-प्राप्तम्
इमं राजर्षयो विदुः
स कालेनेह महता
योगो नष्टः परन्तप

evaṁ paramparā-prāptam
imaṁ rājarṣayo viduḥ
sa kāleneha mahatā
yogo naṣṭaḥ parantapa

“This supreme science was thus received through the chain of disciplic succession, and the saintly kings understood it in that way. But in course of time the succession was broken, and therefore the science as it is appears to be lost.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 4.2)

People marvel at your ability to reference specific pieces of information out of your sacred knowledgebase. The responses you give are always pertinent to the discussion at hand. It appears that you have both jnana and vijnana. You can pass a standardized examination on the knowledge, be it multiple choice or essay format. You can also apply the knowledge in a practical way, in the journey through life. You can help others to acquire both jnana and vijnana. The entire time you acknowledge that you are not the creator of this knowledge, that you are not necessarily someone special, and that others can pursue the same path in order to reach the pinnacle of an existence.

…

The above happen to apply to the way Bhagavad-gita gets propagated in the world today. There are the cheaters. They happen to vastly outnumber the genuine representatives. Still, a single representative, bold, assertive, and fearless, can quickly diminish the influence of the cheaters. This is through an honest presentation, in the tradition of disciples, where the foundation is acknowledgement of the supreme standing of the speaker of that work.

Bhagavad-gita is Shri Krishna speaking to Arjuna. Krishna is a charioteer at the time, also related to Arjuna as a cousin. Arjuna is a bow-warrior; an esteemed one, at that, as a member of the Pandava family. Krishna reveals eternal truths to Arjuna. There are both first principles and analogies. The fundamental first principle relates to identity. The individual is spirit soul. They are not the body. The body always changes. Spirit soul does not. Therefore, the individual is always viable. They are eternal. They never take birth and they never perish.

In presenting this first principle, Krishna uses the Sanskrit word “uchyate.” This refers to someone saying something. Later on in the same conversation we learn, without doubt, that Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. This means that whatever He says goes. He is the first and last word. He is the final authority. He could simply command Arjuna to accept whatever is being spoken.

It is amazing to see Krishna choosing to reference authority. He has rightful claim to “self-made” status, but He is still respectful of the process. He does not want anyone to think that these principles are being made up. There should be no similarity with the cheater described above. In another place, Krishna uses the word “abhidhiyate,” referring to how something is said. People say this. Those who know say that.

न हि देहभृता शक्यं त्यक्तुं कर्माण्यशेषत:
यस्तु कर्मफलत्यागी स त्यागीत्यभिधीयते

na hi deha-bhṛtā śakyaṁ
tyaktuṁ karmāṇy aśeṣataḥ
yas tu karma-phala-tyāgī
sa tyāgīty abhidhīyate

“It is indeed impossible for an embodied being to give up all activities. Therefore it is said that he who renounces the fruits of action is one who has truly renounced.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 18.11)

The deference to other authority figures, to the process, and to tradition lends further credibility to the presentation. Bhagavad-gita As It Is acknowledges Krishna to be who He is. There is no ambiguity on the matter. If the cheater wants to claim otherwise, let them prove that they can read everyone’s mind, be the knower inside of all fields of play, and show the virat-rupa, which is the universal form.

क्षेत्रज्ञं चापि मां विद्धि सर्वक्षेत्रेषु भारत
क्षेत्रक्षेत्रज्ञयोर्ज्ञानं यत्तज्ज्ञानं मतं मम

kṣetra-jñaṁ cāpi māṁ viddhi
sarva-kṣetreṣu bhārata
kṣetra-kṣetrajñayor jñānaṁ
yat taj jñānaṁ mataṁ mama

“O scion of Bharata, you should understand that I am also the knower in all bodies, and to understand this body and its owner is called knowledge. That is My opinion.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 13.3)

In Closing:

Blessed into wisdom to stumble,
But through cheating to fumble.

The tradition and process too,
Extracting personal gain through.

See from Krishna the etiquette set,
That never previous teachers to forget.

Despite the highest standing of all,
As the Supreme Lord to call.

Categories: the two

Tags: bhagavad-gita, dailyprompt, hare krishna, poem, poems, poetry, vedas