2010-01-15
Bhagavad Gita 15.19-20 - Knowing Supreme Means Knowing Everything (download mp3)
by Braj Raj Priya Prabhu at ISKCON Chowpatty
www.iskcondesiretree.net
Bhagavad Gita 15.19-20 - Knowing Supreme Means Knowing Everything (download mp3)
by Braj Raj Priya Prabhu at ISKCON Chowpatty
www.iskcondesiretree.net
Bg 15.19
yo mam evam asammudho
janati purusottamam
sa sarva-vid bhajati mam
sarva-bhavena bharata
Translation:
Whoever knows Me as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, without doubting, is the knower of everything. He therefore engages himself in full devotional service to Me, O son of Bharata.
Purport:
There are many philosophical speculations about the constitutional position of the living entities and the Supreme Absolute Truth. Now in this verse the Supreme Personality of Godhead clearly explains that anyone who knows Lord Krsna to be the Supreme Person is actually the knower of everything. The imperfect knower goes on simply speculating about the Absolute Truth, but the perfect knower, without wasting his valuable time, engages directly in Krsna consciousness, the devotional service of the Supreme Lord. Throughout the whole of Bhagavad-gita, this fact is being stressed at every step. And still there are so many stubborn commentators on Bhagavad-gita who consider the Supreme Absolute Truth and the living entities to be one and the same.
Vedic knowledge is called sruti, learning by aural reception. One should actually receive the Vedic message from authorities like Krsna and His representatives. Here Krsna distinguishes everything very nicely, and one should hear from this source. Simply to hear like the hogs is not sufficient; one must be able to understand from the authorities. It is not that one should simply speculate academically. One should submissively hear from Bhagavad-gita that these living entities are always subordinate to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Anyone who is able to understand this, according to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Sri Krsna, knows the purpose of the Vedas; no one else knows the purpose of the Vedas.
The word bhajati is very significant. In many places the word bhajati is expressed in relationship with the service of the Supreme Lord. If a person is engaged in full Krsna consciousness, in the devotional service of the Lord, it is to be understood that he has understood all the Vedic knowledge. In the Vaisnava parampara it is said that if one is engaged in the devotional service of Krsna, then there is no need for any other spiritual process for understanding the Supreme Absolute Truth. He has already come to the point, because he is engaged in the devotional service of the Lord. He has ended all preliminary processes of understanding. But if anyone, after speculating for hundreds of thousands of lives, does not come to the point that Krsna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead and that one has to surrender there, all his speculation for so many years and lives is a useless waste of time.
Bg 15.20
iti guhyatamam sastram
idam uktam mayanagha
etad buddhva buddhiman syat
krta-krtyas ca bharata
Translation:
This is the most confidential part of the Vedic scriptures, O sinless one, and it is disclosed now by Me. Whoever understands this will become wise, and his endeavors will know perfection.
Purport:
The Lord clearly explains here that this is the substance of all revealed scriptures. And one should understand this as it is given by the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Thus one will become intelligent and perfect in transcendental knowledge. In other words, by understanding this philosophy of the Supreme Personality of Godhead and engaging in His transcendental service, everyone can become freed from all contaminations of the modes of material nature. Devotional service is a process of spiritual understanding. Wherever devotional service exists, the material contamination cannot coexist. Devotional service to the Lord and the Lord Himself are one and the same because they are spiritual; devotional service takes place within the internal energy of the Supreme Lord. The Lord is said to be the sun, and ignorance is called darkness. Where the sun is present, there is no question of darkness. Therefore, whenever devotional service is present under the proper guidance of a bona fide spiritual master, there is no question of ignorance.
Everyone must take to this consciousness of Krsna and engage in devotional service to become intelligent and purified. Unless one comes to this position of understanding Krsna and engages in devotional service, however intelligent he may be in the estimation of some common man, he is not perfectly intelligent.
The word anagha, by which Arjuna is addressed, is significant. Anagha, "O sinless one," means that unless one is free from all sinful reactions it is very difficult to understand Krsna. One has to become free from all contamination, all sinful activities; then he can understand. But devotional service is so pure and potent that once one is engaged in devotional service he automatically comes to the stage of sinlessness.
While one is performing devotional service in the association of pure devotees in full Krsna consciousness, there are certain things which require to be vanquished altogether. The most important thing one has to surmount is weakness of the heart. The first falldown is caused by the desire to lord it over material nature. Thus one gives up the transcendental loving service of the Supreme Lord. The second weakness of the heart is that as one increases the propensity to lord it over material nature, he becomes attached to matter and the possession of matter. The problems of material existence are due to these weaknesses of the heart. In this chapter the first five verses describe the process of freeing oneself from these weaknesses of heart, and the rest of the chapter, from the sixth verse through the end, discusses purusottama-yoga.
Thus end the Bhaktivedanta Purports to the Fifteenth Chapter of the Srimad Bhagavad-gita in the matter of Purusottama-yoga, the Yoga of the Supreme Person.
