Bhagavad-gita, the Yoga System

The following is a discourse on
Bhagavad-Gita As It Is
“The Yoga System”
May 27, 1972
by
His Divine Grace
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

[00:15]

So, this yoga system, bhakti-yoga, how to increase attachment for Krsna,

[00:27]

is being taught by our Krsna Consciousness movement.

[00:40]

In this connection, one has to learn this yogic system from Krsna directly or from his representative.

[00:57]

That is the meaning of mad-asraya. One must take shelter…

[01:03]

So at the present moment, it is not possible to take shelter of Krsna directly,

[01:13]

therefore one has to take shelter of his bona fide representative.

[01:23]

There are four parties or sampradaya who are vaishnavas.

[01:35]

The Brahma Sampradaya, Rudra Sampradaya, Sri Sampradaya, and Kumar Sampradaya.

[01:45]

So one has to take shelter of either of these Sampradayas, disciplic succession,

[01:55]

and then learn the bhakti-yoga system from him. Then he’ll understand, or he’ll see God.

[02:11]

Seeing God is not exactly seeing with the eyes.

[02:21]

God’s another name is anubhav, realization. A revelation. Realization.

[02:33]

So that is one technique.

[02:36]

That revelation is made by Krsna Himself to the bona fide devotee.

[02:51]

Krsna, God reveals Himself, just like you cannot see the sun in the darkness of night.

[03:03]

Sun is there in the sky, but somehow or other, when your planet is on the other side,

[03:13]

and it is darkness, you cannot see the sun. Not that the sun is not there, but you cannot see.

[03:21]

Similarly, Krsna is always present before us, but we cannot see Him.

[03:31]

Just like Krsna was personally present.

[03:37]

There are so many hundreds and millions of men on the surface of the globe.

[03:43]

Only few could have seen that He is Supreme Personality of Godhead.

[03:49]

So even God, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krsna comes before somebody.

[03:57]

It is not possible to see him. The seeing process is different.

[04:11]

One can see when the eyes are anointed with the ointment of bhakti.

[04:21]

The eyes have cleansed to see God. That is revelation.

[04:27]

It is said that a pure devotee is seeing Krsna every moment.

[04:38]

Sadeva means every moment. He is seeing, but that means he’s a different person.

[04:47]

His senses are purified. Electrified. Sanctified. Therefore he’s seeing.

[04:56]

And once eyes, if not sanctified, purified. He cannot see. There are so many examples.

[05:08]

Just like a machine. A child is seeing, but he cannot see properly. He sees a lump of metal.

[05:19]

But an engineer, when he sees, he immediately understand that

[05:24]

this machine is made by such and such, it is working for this, good machine, bad machine, nice.

[05:30]

He can see in different way because he has got the eyes to see.

[05:37]

Similarly, to understand Krsna, God, we require to purify our senses.

[05:47]

That is defined by Narada Pancharatra.

[06:00]

Being freed from all kinds of designations.

[06:06]

Just like we are seeing Krsna Consciousness, accepting Krsna Consciousness in a vision.

[06:18]

And somebody else, ordinary man, suppose somebody is Christian.

[06:28]

He sees Krsna Consciousness as a movement of the Hindus. But actually it is not.

[06:36]

Therefore, he has to become free from the designation of becoming an American.

[06:49]

One should be free from the designation. Like this body is a designation.

[06:57]

Actually there is no difference between American body and Indian body.

[07:03]

The same physiological construction. There is blood, there is flesh, there is bone.

[07:11]

If you see within the body, there is no difference. But still, we have designated,

[07:19]

“I am American, you are Indian, you are black, I am white…” These are all designations. False.

[07:28]

So one has to become free from the designations.

[07:33]

That is defined that when we are freed from the designation,

[07:43]

One should be freed from the designation. Actually, designation has no value.

[07:48]

The person is important. Not the designation.

[07:56]

So to see Krsna means first business is to become free from the designations.

[08:12]

Here it is said mat-parah, and Narada says tat-parah.

[08:18]

Tat-parah means to become Krsna-ized.

[08:25]

and mat-parah means, Krsna says you will become mat-parah.

[08:30]

Intensely absorbed in Me. And the devotee says intensely absorbed in Krsna. That is it.

[08:42]

But actually the aim is the same.

[08:44]

So one has to become designation free, and intensely in Krsna.

[08:57]

Then he will be nirmal. Nirmal means purified. Without any material contamination.

[09:04]

I am thinking in terms of my bodily concept of life. That is material. The body is material.

[09:15]

So long as I am thinking, “I am American, I am Indian, I am Brahmin, I am kshatriya, I am this, I am that,”

[09:21]

they’re all designations. That is not nirmalam, purified condition.

[09:30]

Purified condition is when one understands that I am spirit soul,

[09:37]

Krsna is the Supreme Spirit Soul, and I am part and parcel of Krsna.

[09:43]

We are one in quality. We may be different as individuals.

[09:50]

Krsna is big individual. I am a small individual.

[09:57]

Just like in this material world also, one man is very powerful. Another man is less powerful.

[10:04]

But both of them are men. They are not animals.

[10:10]

Similarly, Krsna, God, is qualitatively one with me. Quantitatively He is very, very powerful.

[10:26]

His creative power. He has got creative power. I have also got creative power.

[10:33]

I can, at most, create a big airplane, flying in the sky.

[10:41]

But He has created big, big planets floating in the sky.

[10:50]

He has made such a nice arrangement that it is floating. And we have to float millions times,

[11:03]

less important than the planet, suppose a Sputnik, with so many machines.

[11:10]

That is the difference between His power and our power.

[11:16]

But the quantity of creation, creative power, is different from Krsna.

[11:27]

My quantitative power of creation. We are part and parcel of Krsna.

[11:38]

So although the quality is the same, but the quantity different.

[11:48]

At the present moment, our difficulties are that although you are part and parcel of God,

[11:59]

we are now separated. Every one of us is trying to become a separate god.

[12:10]

That is called materialism. Everyone is struggling.

[12:15]

The materialistic theory is struggle for existence, survival of the fittest.

[12:21]

The Mayavada theory that you go on struggling and if you come to the fittest position,

[12:32]

then you survive. But actually nobody is fit in this material world.

[12:41]

Nobody will survive. Everyone will be vanquished beginning from Brahma down to the ant,

[12:50]

nobody will survive.

[12:52]

That is stated in the Srimad-Bhagavatam, Bhagavad-Gita, that

[13:03]

Even if you go to the topmost planetary system which is called Brahmaloka, still you have to be

[13:18]

under the stringent laws of material nature, namely birth, death, old age, and disease.

[13:27]

You cannot avoid it.

[13:30]

So we remain insignificant in any condition of life, either as a Brahma.

[13:38]

The duration of life of brahma is described, that we cannot calculate even.

[13:47]

So even if you get such position, still, you cannot avoid death. That is not possible.

[13:57]

You cannot avoid old age. You cannot avoid disease. But if our real problem is there,

[14:06]

that everyone of us, nobody wants to become old, nobody wants to become diseased, nobody

[14:16]

wants to meet death, nobody wants to take birth.

[14:21]

Unfortunately modern civilization, they take birth and they take death,

[14:33]

but they do not believe that there is next birth.

[14:39]

If there is not next birth, then wherefrom this birth takes place?

[14:46]

This is a subject matter to be dealt with separately.

[14:53]

Now, the thing is that we, by comparison, we can see that I am human being,

[15:04]

I have got my position. Another man is there, he has got his position, individual position.

[15:12]

He may be greater than me, maybe, you know, actually we see both ways.

[15:21]

Someone is better than me, someone is lesser than me, less important.

[15:27]

In any position we can see that somebody is less important than me, and

[15:35]

somebody is more important than me. I am in the via-medium in any position.

[15:41]

Nobody can say, “I am the ultimate. Nobody’s better than me.” That is not possible.

[15:50]

That position is God’s, Krsna’s position. Nobody is greater than Him.

[15:57]

Therefore, our problem of life can be solved only by dovetailing ourselves with Krsna.

[16:12]

That is called bhakti-yoga. Dovetailing. The example can be given, just like a…

[16:21]

One man is going on a motor car at sixty miles speed, and another man is going on cycle,

[16:31]

ten miles speed. The ten miles speed cycle cannot become one with this sixty miles speed.

[16:42]

That is not possible. But if the ten mile speed man on the cycle, catches the motorcar,

[16:51]

which is running at sixty miles, then he also goes sixty miles. That is called dovetailing.

[16:59]

So, if you want to be perfect, full freedom, full creative power, everything in fullness,

[17:12]

then we must join with the Supreme Full, complete, whole. Just like a very rich man,

[17:25]

the servants in the house of a rich man, they are also rich men.

[17:31]

But they’re also eating in the same way. They are eating in the same palace.

[17:36]

This is a crude example. So there is a spiritual world where Krsna is there. Krsna is everywhere,

[17:52]

here, there, He’s personally there. Here in this material world Krsna is present by His energy.

[18:00]

Just like the president of your country, he’s in his white house, but at the same time,

[18:14]

he’s present everywhere. His energy, his power is there. Nobody can deny it.

[18:22]

Everywhere the picture of Mr. Nixon is there, and everyone is conscious that our ruler,

[18:29]

our chief man, is Mr. Nixon. Similarly, Krsna is also everywhere by His power.

[18:42]

But He has still got His own abode. So everyone of us can go back to him, in His abode.

[18:54]

Both ways. Here also, in this material world.

[19:00]

If we remain in Krsna’s service, then we are protected under Krsna’s special energy.

[19:10]

So anyone who is in Krsna Consciousness, believes in Krsna.

[19:18]

So like the government. The government man.

[19:21]

Anywhere he goes, sometimes they go out of the country, embassies, the ambassadors.

[19:27]

In India, there is Mr. Keating. Ambassador of your country.

[19:38]

So, he is always in his own abode, any ambassador.