# Bhagavad-gītā As It Is **47 images** --- <h3>The Five Tattvas</h3> ![[0029_TLC-17.jpg]] *EN CC Adi 2 1974, 1996: The Supreme Energetic, the Personality of Godhead, manifesting in order to enjoy five kinds of pastimes, appears as the Pañca-tattva.* <h3>The Armies on the Battlefield of Kuruksetra</h3> ![[0055_SB11-1-1.jpg]] *Kṛṣṇa and Arjuna in the midst of the two armies.* <h3>The Beginning of the Battle Heralded</h3> ![[0063_BG--5.jpg]] *1.14–15: Kṛṣṇa and Arjuna sounded their transcendental conchshells to herald the beginning of the battle. Lord Kṛṣṇa blew His conchshell, called Pāñcajanya; Arjuna blew his, the Devadatta; and Bhīma, the voracious eater and performer of herculean tasks, blew his terrific conchshell, called Pauṇḍra."* <h3>Arjuna Overwhelmed</h3> ![[0063_BG--6.jpg]] *1.27: When Arjuna saw all these different grades of friends and relatives, he became overwhelmed with compassion. Arjuna laments when he sees his relatives standing opposite him on the battlefield. A smiling Kṛṣṇa is ready to console His friend by speaking transcendental instructions.* <h3>Draupadi Insulted</h3> ![[0063_BG--7.jpg]] *Setting the Scene: The insulting of Draupadī in the Kaurava court: Draupadī, the wife of the Pāṇḍava brothers, was being disrobed by Duryodhana and Duḥśāsana, two of Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s sons, after her husband Yudhiṣṭhira lost her in a gambling match. Dhṛtarāṣṭra is sitting on the throne. Kṛṣṇa supplied Draupadī with infinite sari fabric to save her honor in the assembly. Because of this incident and other offenses toward the Pāṇḍavas, Kṛṣṇa wanted the Battle of Kurukṣetra to be fought and the miscreants killed.* <h3>Transmigration</h3> ![[0064_BG--4.jpg]] *2.13: “As the embodied soul continuously passes, in this body, from boyhood to youth to old age, the soul similarly passes into another body at death. A sober person is not bewildered by such a change.” The many frames of a film, played out like a movie, when seen consecutively, appear as one picture on the screen, although there are actually many incremental pictures. Similarly, we seem to change slowly, but our body is changing incrementally at every moment. However, the soul does not change but remains eternally the same.* <h3>Don't Lament for the Body</h3> ![[0064_BG--8.jpg]] *2.11: “Those who are wise lament neither for the living nor for the dead.” Kṛṣṇa tells Arjuna that although his compassion for the fighters in the battle appears learned, Arjuna does know that those who are actually learned know the difference between body and soul and do not lament for any stage of the body.* <h3>Transmigration of the Soul</h3> ![[0064_BG--9.jpg]] *2.22: “As a person puts on new garments, giving up old ones, the soul similarly accepts new material bodies, giving up the old and useless ones.” The conditioned soul changes bodies from childhood to youth to old age and, at death, moves into the womb of another mother.* <h3>The Separated Material Energies</h3> ![[0064_BG-25.jpg]] *7.4–5: “Earth, water, fire, air, ether, mind, intelligence, and false ego – all together these eight constitute My separated material energies. Besides these, O mighty-armed Arjuna, there is another, superior energy of Mine, which comprises the living entities who are exploiting the resources of this material, inferior nature.” The soul and the Supersoul are present in the heart of the body made of material energy. The subtle body of mind, intelligence, and false ego are represented by the red dot on the figure’s forehead. The material elements of earth, water, fire, air, and ether are what the figure’s body is made of.* <h3>Two Birds Seated on the Tree of the Body</h3> ![[0065_BG--10.jpg]] *2.22, purport: Kṛṣṇa and the living entity are seated on the tree of the body. The bird on the left is captivated by the fruits of the tree, while the friendly bird on the right acts as witness. Similarly, the embodied soul enjoys or suffers the fruits of his material activities, while the friendly Supersoul acts as witness and waits for His friend to turn to Him.* <h3>Contemplating the Objects of the Senses</h3> ![[0065_BG--11.jpg]] *2.62–63: “While contemplating the objects of the senses, a person develops attachment for them, and from such attachment lust develops, and from lust anger arises. From anger, complete delusion arises, and from delusion bewilderment of memory. When memory is bewildered, intelligence is lost, and when intelligence is lost one falls down again into the material pool.”* <h3>The Sankirtana-yajna Brings Happiness</h3> ![[0065_BG--12.jpg]] *3.10: “Be thou happy by this /yajña/ [sacrifice] because its performance will bestow upon you everything desirable for living happily and achieving liberation.” Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, wearing yellow, leads thousands of followers in the chanting of the holy names of Kṛṣṇa. The congregational chanting of God’s holy names is the highest sacrifice one can perform in the Age of Kali.* <h3>The Demigods Shower Blessings</h3> ![[0065_BG--13.jpg]] *3.12: “In charge of the various necessities of life, the demigods, being satisfied by the performance of /yajña/ [sacrifice], will supply all necessities to you.”* <h3>Kṛṣṇa Kills Kaṁsa</h3> ![[0066_BG--17.jpg]] *4.8: “To deliver the pious and to annihilate the miscreants, as well as to reestablish the principles of religion, I Myself appear, millennium after millennium.” Here Kṛṣṇa kills His demonic usurper uncle, Kaṁsa. Balarāma, Kṛṣṇa’s brother, stands nearby in blue. Behind Kṛṣṇa are Kṛṣṇa’s parents, Vasudeva and Devakī, who were imprisoned for years by Kaṁsa.* <h3>Soul Destinations</h3> ![[0066_BG--18.jpg]] *4.11: “As all surrender unto Me, I reward them accordingly. Everyone follows My path in all respects.” Kṛṣṇa reciprocates with the living entities according to their desire to serve Him as a servant, friend, parent, or lover. He also reciprocates with those who wish to merge into the Brahman, like the /yogī/ in the illustration. Others want only the fruits of their labor – power, wealth, beauty, or other ephemera of this world, and He also reciprocates with them according to what they desire and what they deserve.* <h3>The Vision of the Spiritualist</h3> ![[0066_BG--20.jpg]] *5.18: “The humble sages, by virtue of true knowledge, see with equal vision a learned and gentle /brāhmaṇa,/ a cow, an elephant, a dog, and a dog-eater [outcaste].” The sage’s equal vision is based on seeing the soul and the Supersoul in each body.* <h3>Meditation on the Supersoul</h3> ![[0066_BG--21.jpg]] <h3>Krsna's Ten Principal Avataras</h3> ![[0066_BG-Avataras.jpg]] *4.7: “Whenever and wherever there is a decline in religious practice, O descendant of Bharata, and a predominant rise of irreligion—at that time I descend Myself.” In the center Kṛṣṇa is shown holding a flute. Surrounding Him are ten of His incarnations, pictured in the order in which they appeared in this world, beginning clockwise from the lower left-hand corner: (1) Matsya, the fish incarnation, who saved the /Vedas;/ (2) Kūrma, the tortoise incarnation, holding Mandara Mountain on His back; (3) Varāha, the boar incarnation, fighting with the demon Hiraṇyākṣa; (4) Nṛsiṁha, the half-man, half-lion incarnation, killing the demon Hiraṇyakaśipu; (5) Vāmana, the dwarf incarnation, begging land from King Bali before reclaiming from him the entire universe and thereby restoring universal order; (6) Paraśurāma, killing the demonic kingly order; (7) Rāmacandra, who is going into exile with His wife, Sītā, and brother Lakṣmaṇa; (8) Kṛṣṇa, who is lifting Govardhana Hill. Beside Him stands His brother, Balarāma; (9) Buddha, sitting and teaching; (10) Kalki, who is riding a white horse and killing the demons at the end of this age, thereby liberating them.* <h3>Garuda Helps the Sparrow Recover Her Eggs</h3> ![[0067_BG--22.jpg]] *6.24, purport: One should practice yoga with the determination and faith of the sparrow who laid her eggs on the shore of the ocean only to have the powerful ocean carry her eggs away. When the ocean ignored her request to return her eggs, the sparrow decided to dry up the ocean by She scooping out the water in her small beak. Although everyone laughed at her impossible determination, news of her attempt spread, and at last Garuḍa, eagle carrier of Lord Viṣṇu, heard and became compassionate toward his small sister. Garuḍa was pleased by her determination and promised to help. Thus Garuḍa asked the ocean to return the sparrows eggs lest he himself take up the sparrow’s work of emptying the ocean. The ocean was frightened by Garuḍa’s power and returned the eggs.* <h3>Reigning in the Mind and Senses</h3> ![[0067_BG--23.jpg]] *6.34: “The mind is restless, turbulent, obstinate and very strong, O Kṛṣṇa, and to subdue it, I think, is more difficult than controlling the wind.” On the chariot of the body, the five horses represents the five senses (tongue, eyes, ears, nose, and skin). The reins, the means by which the driver controls the horses, represent the mind. The driver is the intelligence and the passenger the soul.* <h3>Kṛṣṇa Plays His Flute</h3> ![[0067_BG--24.jpg]] *6.47: “Of all yogīs, the one with great faith who always abides in Me, thinks of Me within himself, and renders transcendental loving service to Me – he is the most intimately united with Me in /yoga/ and is the highest of all.”* <h3>Krsna Brings the Cows Home in the Evening</h3> ![[0067_BG--27.jpg]] *8.21: Kṛṣṇa brings His thousands of <i>surabhi</i> cows home at the end of the day. “That which the Vedāntists describe as unmanifest and infallible, that which is know as the supreme destination, that place from which, having attained it, one never returns – that is My supreme abode.”* <h3>Krsna Reveals His Two-Armed Form to Arjuna</h3> ![[0069_BG-64.jpg]] *The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Śrī Kṛṣṇa, displayed His four-armed form to Arjuna, and at last He showed him His two-armed form.* <h3>0069/BG-68b</h3> ![[0069_BG-68b.jpg]] <h3>Arjuna Surrenders to Krsna</h3> ![[0071_BG-80--BG-62.jpg]] <h3>Lust Covering the Consciousness</h3> ![[0072_BG-14.jpg]] *3.38: “As fire is covered by smoke, as a mirror is covered by dust, or as the embryo is covered by the womb, the living entity is similarly covered by different degrees of this lust.”* <h3>Equal Vision</h3> ![[0072_BG-56.jpg]] *The Supreme Lord said, "Those who are wise lament neither for the living nor for the dead."* <h3>Krsna and Arjuna Blow Their Conches</h3> ![[0073_BG-54.jpg]] *Kṛṣṇa and Arjuna sound their transcendental conchshells.* <h3>Dhrtarastra Inquires from Sanjaya</h3> ![[0075_BG-52.jpg]] *Dhṛtarāṣṭra inquires from Sañjaya about the events of the battle.* <h3>The Four Basic Occupations of Human Beings</h3> ![[0076_BG-42.jpg]] *18.41–46: “Brāhmaṇas, kṣatriyas, vaiśyas, and śūdras are distinguished by the qualities born of their own natures in accordance with the material modes.”* <h3>Govinda with Calf</h3> ![[0076_Gopal-1.jpg]] *“Always think of Me, become My devotee, worship Me, and offer your homage unto Me. Thus you will come to Me without fail. I promise you this because you are My very dear friend.”* <h3>Kṛṣṇa, the Swift Deliverer</h3> ![[0077_BG-33.jpg]] *12.6–7: Kṛṣṇa flies toward His devotee on the back of His carrier, Garuḍa, in order to lift His devotee out of the material ocean of birth and death. “Those who worship Me, giving up all their activities unto Me and being devoted to Me without deviation, engaged in devotional service and always meditating upon Me, having fixed their minds upon Me, O son of Pṛthā – for them I am the swift deliverer from the ocean of birth and death.”* <h3>0077/BG-34</h3> ![[0077_BG-34.jpg]] *14.14–15, 18: The three modes of material nature, goodness, passion, and ignorance, and life in the heavenly planets (top, goodness), in human society (middle, passion), and in animal society (bottom, ignorance).* <h3>The Imperishable Banyan Tree of the Material World</h3> ![[0077_BG-35.jpg]] *15.1–3: “It is said that there is an imperishable banyan tree that has its roots upward and its branches down and whose leaves are the Vedic hymns.... The branches of this tree extend downward and upward, nourished by the three modes of material nature. The twigs are the objects of the senses. This tree also has roots going down, and these are bound to the fruitive actions of human society. The real form of this tree cannot be perceived in this world. No one can understand where it ends, where it begins, or where its foundation is.”* <h3>From Goloka to the Material Creation</h3> ![[0077_BG-36.jpg]] *15.6: The spiritual and material worlds. The lotus represents the original spiritual planet, Goloka Vṛndāvana, the abode of Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa. The spiritual effulgence surrounding this planet is called the /brahmajyoti/ and is the ultimate goal of impersonalists. Within the unlimited /brahmajyoti/ are innumerable spiritual planets, each a home for a plenary expansion of Lord Kṛṣṇa and inhabited by ever-liberated living beings. Sometimes a spiritual cloud overtakes a corner of the spiritual sky. That covered portion is called the /mahat-tattva,/ or material sky. There, the Lord as Mahā-Viṣṇu lies in the Causal Ocean, the water within the /mahat-tattva./ While He sleeps, innumerable universes emanate from His breathing and float in the Causal Ocean. Mahā-Viṣṇu enters each universe as Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu and lies in the Garbha Ocean on the serpentine Śeṣa incarnation. From Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu’s navel a lotus stem sprouts, and on the lotus, Brahmā is born. Brahmā creates bodies for all the souls in the material world according to their karma and desires.* <h3>Transmigration According to Consciousness</h3> ![[0077_BG-37.jpg]] *15.8–9: “The living entity in the material world carries his different conceptions of life from one body to another, as the air carries aromas. Thus he takes one kind of body and again quits it to take another. The living entity, thus taking another gross body, obtains a certain type of ear, eye, tongue, nose and sense of touch, which are grouped about the mind. He thus enjoys a particular set of sense objects.” Divine consciousness carries one upward into a body in the mode of goodness or ultimately into leaving the material world behind altogether. Ignorant or animalistic consciousness leads one toward a body that facilitates animal consciousness.* <h3>Lust, Anger, and Greed</h3> ![[0077_BG-39.jpg]] *16.10–18: Lust, greed, and anger are the three gates leading to hell.* <h3>The Five Factors of Action</h3> ![[0077_BG-41.jpg]] *18.14: “The place of action [the body], the performer, the various senses, the many different kinds of endeavor, and ultimately the Supersoul – these are the five factors of action. Whatever right or wrong action a man performs by body, mind, or speech is caused by these five factors.”* <h3>Krsna Reveals Himself to His Devotee</h3> ![[0078_BG-28.jpg]] *9.11: “Fools deride Me when I descend in the human form. They do not know My transcendental nature as the Supreme Lord of all that be.” Fools mock Kṛṣṇa’s humanlike form but devotees offer their obeisances. Behind Kṛṣṇa are Mahā-Viṣṇu and, in the smaller inset, Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu, with creator Brahmā sitting on the lotus growing from His navel.* <h3>Arjuna Prays to Krsna</h3> ![[0078_BG-29.jpg]] *10.12–13: Arjuna offers prayers to Kṛṣṇa: “You are the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the ultimate abode, the purest, the Absolute Truth. You are the eternal, transcendental, original person, the unborn, the greatest. All the great sages such as Närada, Asita, Devala and Vyäsa confirm this truth about You, and now You Yourself are declaring it to me.”* <h3>Krsna's Vibhutis (Opulences)</h3> ![[0078_BG-30.jpg]] *10.41: A sampling of Kṛṣṇa’s infinite manifestations in both the spiritual and material worlds. In the outer circle, clockwise, beginning from the upper left-hand corner: Indra carrying his thunderbolt; the Himalayas; Lord Śiva with the Ganges River in his hair; the moon; the horse Ucchaiḥśravā; the transcendental /om-kāra;/ Kapiladeva; Rāmacandra; flower-bearing spring; Kāmadhuk; Arjuna; Vyāsadeva; Prahlāda; the shark; Vāsuki; Skanda; Varuṇa; Yamarāja; the lion; Kuvera; Agni; and Airāvata. Inner circle, clockwise, beginning from the four-headed Lord Brahmā sitting on the lotus flower: Brahmā; Nārada; Garuḍa; the sun; the ocean; Lord Viṣṇu; Ananta; and the chanting of the holy names – Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/ Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare. “Know that all opulent, beautiful and glorious creations spring from but a spark of My splendor.”* <h3>Arjuna Sees the Universal Form</h3> ![[0078_BG-31.jpg]] *11.13: “At that time Arjuna could see in the universal form of the Lord the unlimited expansions of the universe situated in one place although divided into many, many thousands.” Even as Kṛṣṇa displayed His universal form to Arjuna, He did not lose His identity as Arjuna’s friend and remains situated on the chariot with Arjuna.* <h3>Krsna Returns to His Two-Armed Form</h3> ![[0078_BG-32.jpg]] *11.50: “The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa, having spoken thus to Arjuna, displayed His real four-armed form and at last showed His two-armed form, thus encouraging the fearful Arjuna.”* <h3>Moving Up or Down the Staircase of Consciousness</h3> ![[0081_BG--38.jpg]] *16.5, 21: Persons bewildered by false ego, their own apparent strength, pride, lust, and anger. Māyādevī, goddess of illusion, stands at the bottom of the stairs enticing people toward her. Others move upward toward the light of pure spiritual consciousness and devotional service to Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa.* <h3>Krsna and Arjuna on the Chariot</h3> ![[0090_BG--f.c.jpg]] *“Wherever there is Kṛṣṇa, the master of all mystics, and wherever there is Arjuna, the supreme archer, there will also certainly be opulence, victory, extraordinary power, and morality.”* <h3>Faces of Karma</h3> ![[0229_BG-56-57-NE.jpg]] *At the time of death, the consciousness created by the living being carries him to his next body. If the living being has made his consciousness like that of an animal, he is sure to get an animal body.* <h3>Krsna Instructs Arjuna</h3> ![[0235_BG-13-NE.jpg]] --- ## Copyright Notice All artwork on this page is © The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust International, Inc. All rights reserved. These images are reproduced here with permission for educational and devotional purposes. 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