naṣṭa-prāyeṣv abhadreṣu nityaṁ bhāgavata-sevayā
bhagavaty uttama-śloke bhaktir bhavati naiṣṭhikī.
tadā rajas-tamo-bhāvāḥ kāma-lobhadayaś ca ye
ceta etair anāviddhaṁ sthitaṁ sattve prasīdati.
evam prasanna-manaso bhagavad-bhakti-yogataḥ
bhagavat-tattva-vijñānaṁ mukta-saṅgasya jāyate.
bhidyate hṛdaya-granthiś chidyante sarva-saṁśayāḥ
kṣīyante cāsya karmāṇi dṛṣṭa evātmanīśvare.
"To hear about Kṛṣṇa from Vedic literatures, or to hear from Him directly through the
Bhagavad-gītā,
is itself righteous activity. And for one who hears about Kṛṣṇa, Lord Kṛṣṇa, who is dwelling in everyone's heart, acts as a best-wishing friend and purifies the devotee who constantly engages in hearing of Him. In this way, a devotee naturally develops his dormant transcendental knowledge. As he hears more about Kṛṣṇa from the
Bhāgavatam
and from the devotees, he becomes fixed in the devotional service of the Lord. By development of devotional service one becomes freed from the modes of passion and ignorance, and thus material lusts and avarice are diminished. When these impurities are wiped away, the candidate remains steady in his position of pure goodness, becomes enlivened by devotional service and understands the science of God perfectly. Thus
bhakti-yoga
severs the hard knot of material affection and enables one to come at once to the stage of
'asaṁśayaṁ samagram,'
understanding of the Supreme Absolute Truth Personality of Godhead."
(Bhāg.
1.2.17-21)
Therefore only by hearing from Kṛṣṇa or from His devotee in Kṛṣṇa consciousness can one understand the science of Kṛṣṇa.
Bg 7.2
TEXT 2
TEXT
jñānaṁ te 'haṁ sa-vijñānam
idaṁ vakṣyāmy aśeṣataḥ
yaj jñātvā neha bhūyo 'nyaj
jñātavyam avaśiṣyate
SYNONYMS
jñānam
-phenomenal knowledge;
te
-unto you;
aham
-I;
sa
-with;
vijñānam
-noumenal knowledge;
idam
-this;
vakṣyāmi
-shall explain;
aśeṣataḥ
-in full;
yat
-which;
jñātvā
-knowing;
na
-not;
iha
-in this world;
bhūyaḥ-
further;
anyat
-anything more;
jñātavyam
-knowable;
avaśiṣyate
-remains to be known.
TRANSLATION
I shall now declare unto you in full this knowledge both phenomenal and noumenal, by knowing which there shall remain nothing further to be known.
PURPORT
Complete knowledge includes knowledge of the phenomenal world and the spirit behind it. The source of both of them is transcendental knowledge. The Lord wants to explain the above-mentioned system of knowledge because Arjuna is Kṛṣṇa's confidential devotee and friend. In the beginning of the Fourth Chapter this explanation was given by the Lord, and it is again confirmed here: complete knowledge can be achieved only by the devotee of the Lord directly from the Lord in disciplic succession. Therefore one should be intelligent enough to know the source of all knowledge, who is the cause of all causes and the only object for meditation in all types of
yoga
practices. When the cause of all causes becomes known, then everything knowable becomes known, and nothing remains unknown. The
Vedas
say, "
yasmin vijñāte sarvam eva vijñatam
bhavanti
."
Bg 7.3
TEXT 3
TEXT
manuṣyāṇāṁ sahasreṣu
kaścid yatati siddhaye
yatatām api siddhānāṁ
kaścin māṁ vetti tattvataḥ
SYNONYMS
manuṣyāṇām-
of men;
sahasreṣu-
out of many thousands;
kaścit-
someone;
yatati-
endeavors;
siddhaye-
for perfection;
yatatām-
of those so endeavoring;
api-
indeed;
siddhānām-
of those who have achieved perfection;
kaścit-
someone;
mām-
Me;
vetti-
does know;
tattvataḥ-
in fact.
TRANSLATION
Out of many thousands among men, one may endeavor for perfection, and of those who have achieved perfection, hardly one knows Me in truth.
PURPORT
There are various grades of men, and out of many thousands one may be sufficiently interested in transcendental realization to try to know what is the self, what is the body, and what is the Absolute Truth. Generally mankind is simply engaged in the animal propensities, namely eating, sleeping, defending and mating, and hardly anyone is interested in transcendental knowledge. The first six chapters of the
Gītā
are meant for those who are interested in transcendental knowledge, in understanding the self, the Superself and the process of realization by
jñāna-yoga, dhyāna-yoga,
and discrimination of the self from matter. However, Kṛṣṇa can only be known by persons who are in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Other transcendentalists may achieve impersonal Brahman realization, for this is easier than understanding Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Person, but at the same time He is beyond the knowledge of Brahman and Paramātmā. The
yogīs
and
jñānīs
are confused in their attempts to understand Kṛṣṇa, although the greatest of the impersonalists, Śrīpāda Śaṅkarācārya, has admitted in his
Gītā
commentary that Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. But his followers do not accept Kṛṣṇa as such, for it is very difficult to know Kṛṣṇa, even though one has transcendental realization of impersonal Brahman.
Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the cause of all causes, the primeval Lord Govinda.
Īśvaraḥ paramaḥ kṛṣṇaḥ sac-cid-ānanda-vigrahaḥ anādir ādir govindaḥ sarva-kāraṇa-kāraṇam.
It is very difficult for the nondevotees to know Him. Although nondevotees declare that the path of
bhakti
or devotional service is very easy, they cannot practice it. If the path of
bhakti
is so easy, as the nondevotee class of men proclaim, then why do they take up the difficult path? Actually the path of
bhakti
is not easy. The so-called path of
bhakti
practiced by unauthorized persons without knowledge of
bhakti
may be easy, but when it is practiced factually according to the rules and regulations, the speculative scholars and philosophers fall away from the path. Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī writes in his
Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu:
śruti-smṛti-purāṇādi-pañcarātra-vidhiṁ vinā
aikāntikī harer bhaktir utpātāyaiva kalpate.
"Devotional service of the Lord that ignores the authorized Vedic literatures like the
Upaniṣads, Purāṇas, Nārada-pañcarātra,
etc., is simply an unnecessary disturbance in society."
It is not possible for the Brahman realized impersonalist or the Paramātmā realized
yogī
to understand Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead as the son of mother Yaśodā or the charioteer of Arjuna. Even the great demigods are sometimes confused about Kṛṣṇa: "
muhyanti yat sūrayaḥ
," "
māṁ tu veda na kaścana
." "No one knows Me as I am," the Lord says. And if one does know Him, then "
sa mahātmā sudurlabhaḥ
." "Such a great soul is very rare." Therefore unless one practices devotional service to the Lord, he cannot know Kṛṣṇa as He is
(tattvataḥ),
even though one is a great scholar or philosopher. Only the pure devotees can know something of the inconceivable transcendental qualities in Kṛṣṇa, in the cause of all causes, in His omnipotence and opulence, and in His wealth, fame, strength, beauty, knowledge and renunciation, because Kṛṣṇa is benevolently inclined to His devotees. He is the last word in Brahman realization, and the devotees alone can realize Him as He is. Therefore it is said:
ataḥ śrī-kṛṣṇa-nāmādi na bhaved grāhyam indriyāiḥ
sevonmukhe hi jihvādau svayam eva sphuraty adaḥ
"No one can understand Kṛṣṇa as He is by the blunt material senses. But He reveals Himself to the devotees, being pleased with them for their transcendental loving service unto Him."
(Padma Purāṇa)
Bg 7.4
TEXT 4
TEXT
bhūmir āpo 'nalo vāyuḥ
khaṁ mano buddhir eva ca
ahaṅkāra itīyaṁ me
bhinnā prakṛtir aṣṭadhā
SYNONYMS
bhūmiḥ-
earth;
āpaḥ-
water;
analaḥ-
fire;
vāyuḥ
-air;
kham-
ether;
manaḥ-
mind;
buddhiḥ-
intelligence;
eva-
certainly;
ca-
and;
ahaṅkāraḥ-
false ego;
iti-
thus;
iyam-
all these;
me-
My;
bhinnā-
separated;
prakṛtiḥ
-energies;
aṣṭadhā
-total eight.
TRANSLATION
Earth, water, fire, air, ether, mind, intelligence and false ego-altogether these eight comprise My separated material energies.
PURPORT
The science of God analyzes the constitutional position of God and His diverse energies. Material nature is called
prakṛti,
or the energy of the Lord in His different
puruṣa
incarnations (expansions) as described in the
Svatvata
Tantra:
viṣṇos tu trīṇi rūpāṇi puruṣākhyāny atho viduḥ
ekantu mahataḥ sraṣṭṛ dvitīyaṁ tv aṇḍa-saṁsthitam
tṛtīyaṁ sarvabhūta-sthaṁ tāni jñātvā vimucyate
"For material creation, Lord Kṛṣṇa's plenary expansion assumes three Viṣṇus. The first one, Mahā-Viṣṇu, creates the total material energy, known as
mahat-tattva.
The second, Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu, enters into all the universes to create diversities in each of them. The third, Kṣīrodakaśāyī Viṣṇu, is diffused as the all-pervading Supersoul in all the universes and is known as Paramātmā, who is present even within the atoms. Anyone who knows these three Viṣṇus can be liberated from material entanglement."
This material world is a temporary manifestation of one of the energies of the Lord. All the activities of the material world are directed by these three Viṣṇu expansions of Lord Kṛṣṇa. These
Puruṣas
are called incarnations. Generally one who does not know the science of God (Kṛṣṇa) assumes that this material world is for the enjoyment of the living entities and that the living entities are the causes
(Puruṣas),
controllers and enjoyers of the material energy. According to
Bhagavad-gītā
this atheistic conclusion is false. In the verse under discussion it is stated that Kṛṣṇa is the original cause of the material manifestation.
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam
also confirms this. The ingredients of the material manifestation are separated energies of the Lord. Even the
brahmajyoti,
which is the ultimate goal of the impersonalists, is a spiritual energy manifested in the spiritual sky. There are no spiritual diversities in
brahmajyoti
as there are in the Vaikuṇṭhalokas, and the impersonalist accepts this
brahmajyoti
as the ultimate eternal goal. The Paramātmā manifestation is also a temporary all-pervasive aspect of the Kṣīrodakaśāyī Viṣṇu. The Paramātmā manifestation is not eternal in the spiritual world. Therefore the factual Absolute Truth is the Supreme Personality of Godhead Kṛṣṇa. He is the complete energetic person, and He possesses different separated and internal energies.
In the material energy, the principal manifestations are eight, as above mentioned. Out of these, the first five manifestations, namely earth, water, fire, air and sky, are called the five gigantic creations or the gross creations, within which the five sense objects are included. They are the manifestations of physical sound, touch, form, taste and smell. Material science comprises these ten items and nothing more. But the other three items, namely mind, intelligence and false ego, are neglected by the materialists. Philosophers who deal with mental activities are also not perfect in knowledge because they do not know the ultimate source, Kṛṣṇa. The false ego-"I am," and "It is mine," which constitute the basic principle of material existence-includes ten sense organs for material activities. Intelligence refers to the total material creation, called the
mahat-tattva.
Therefore from the eight separated energies of the Lord are manifest the twenty-four elements of the material world, which are the subject matter of
sāṅkhya
atheistic philosophy; they are originally offshoots from Kṛṣṇa's energies and are separated from Him, but atheistic
sāṅkhya
philosophers with a poor fund of knowledge do not know Kṛṣṇa as the cause of all causes. The subject matter for discussion in the
sāṅkhya
philosophy is only the manifestation of the external energy of Kṛṣṇa, as it is described in the
Bhagavad-gītā.
Bg 7.5
TEXT 5
TEXT
apareyam itas tv anyāṁ
prakṛtiṁ viddhi me parām
jīva-bhūtāṁ mahā-bāho
yayedaṁ dhāryate jagat
SYNONYMS
aparā-
inferior;
iyam-
this;
itaḥ-
besides this;
tu-
but;
anyām-
another;
prakṛtim-
energy;
viddhi-
just try to understand;
me-
My;
parām-
superior;
jīva-bhūtām-
the living entities;
mahā-bāho
-O mighty-armed one;
yayā-
by whom;
idam-
this;
dhāryate-
being utilized or exploited;
jagat-
the material world.