The Bhagavad-Gita As It Is

The Bhagavad-gita As It Is,Is to Millions of Hindus around the world,and to the thousands of devotees that Srila Prabhupada made,is equivalent to the Bible for Christians ,the Koran for Muslims and the old Testament Bible for the Jewish people.It is the main scripture for being Krsna Conscious,Compared to the Bible.

The Bhagavad-gita is a historical document that was spoken by Lord Krsna Himself,About 5000 years ago,to his friend and devotee,Arjuna,who found himself on the battlefield,ready to fight his relatives, uncles, friends,and grandfather,over the kingdom that should have gone to Arjuna's brother,Yudhisthira ,as he was rightfully to become king,but because of family attachment Arjuna became perplexed,and dropped his bow,and lamented.He could not kill his relatives over his family's right to the kingdom. At this moment he turns to Krsna,Who Agreed to be Arjuna's chariot driver,and in great anxiety,surrendered to Krsna saying,Now I Am surrendered to you ,Knowing You to be the Supreme Personality Of Godhead,and you tell me what to do.Krsna then describes all of the yoga systems,leading up to Bhakti Yoga.

This all takes place right on the battlefield,when Krsna,being Arjuna's chariot driver,pulled up between the two great armies.They all were Arjuna's friends and relatives,who were waiting to fight over this kingdom.At that time Krsna Says to Arjuna,"My dear Arjuna,How have these Impurities come upon you?They are not at all befitting a man who knows the progressive values of life.They do not lead to higher planets,but to infamy.""O son of Prtha,do not yield to this degrading impotence.It does not become you.Give up such petty weakness of heart and arise,O chastiser of the enemy."The Blessed Lord also said,"While speaking learned words,you are mourning for what is not worthy of grief.Those who are wise lament neither for the living nor the dead."At that time Krsna shows Arjuna His Universal Form,which is very special,And Terrifying. It is an All consuming,Gigantic,Special Form of all of Krsna's Unlimited Incarnations, all in one,with all the soldiers being eaten and going into the mouths of Visnu.Arjuna was terrified,and could realize what the end of this battle would be.He would be victorious,as he saw all of his relatives who were fighting against him being destroyed.

Arjuna lost his composure,at the terrifying form, and asked Krsna To See his four armed form,and then asked him to return to his Original Two armed form which is most pleasing. As all this went on,it provided the background for Krsna To speak The Bhagavad-Gita. This document was spoken by the Supreme Personality of Godhead,Himself,Krsna.

(CH.1 Text21)Arjuna said O infallible one,please draw my chariot between the two armies so that I may see who is present here,who is desirous of fighting,and with whom I must contend in this great battle attempt.
As it was repeated time and time again,through translation,and interpretation,the true purport of the Bhagavad-gita somehow lost its meaning,and its potency.Then Our Grandfather guru and Acarya of the Krsna Consciousness Movement, translated The Bhagavad-gita AS It Is,because there was no true copy to be seen. Now We can know the True Translation and meaning of the Bhagavad -gita As It Is..krsnajoe

In the introduction of Bhagavad-gita,Srila Prabhupada says,"If personally I have any credit in this matter, it is only that I have tried to present Bhagavad-gita as it is, without any adulteration. Before my presentation of Bhagavad-gita As It Is, almost all the English editions of Bhagavad-gita were introduced to fulfill someone's personal ambition. But our attempt, in presenting Bhagavad-gita As It Is, is to present the mission of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krsna. Our business is to present the will of Krsna, not that of any mundane speculator like the politician, philosopher or scientist, for they have very little knowledge of Krsna, despite all their other knowledge. When Krsna says, man-mana bhava mad-bhakto mad-yaji mam namaskuru, etc., we, unlike the so-called scholars, do not say that Krsna and His inner spirit are different. Krsna is absolute, and there is no difference between Krsna's name, Krsna's form, Krsna's qualities, Krsna's pastimes, etc. This absolute position of Krsna is difficult to understand for any person who is not a devotee of Krsna in the system of parampara (disciplic succession) generally the so-called scholars, politicians, philosophers, and svamis, without perfect knowledge of Krsna, try to banish or kill Krsna when writing commentary on Bhagavad-gita.
(CH.11 Text11)Arjuna saw in that Universal Form unlimited mouths and unlimited eyes.It was all wondrous.The form was decorated with divine,dazzling ornaments and arrayed in many garbs.He was garlanded gloriously,and there were many scents smeared over His body.All was magnificent,all-expanding,unlimited.This was seen by Arjuna
Such unauthorized commentary upon Bhagavad-gita is known as Mayavada-bhasya, and Lord Caitanya has warned us about these unauthorized men. Lord Caitanya clearly says that anyone who tries to understand Bhagavad-gita from the Mayavadi point of view will commit a great blunder. The result of such a blunder will be that the misguided student of Bhagavad-gita will certainly be bewildered on the path of spiritual guidance and will not be able to go back to home, back to Godhead. Our only purpose is to present this Bhagavad-gita As It Is in order to guide the conditioned student to the same purpose for which Krsna descends to this planet once in a day of Brahma, or every 8,600,000,000 years. This purpose is stated in Bhagavad-gita, and we have to accept it as it is; otherwise there is no point in trying to understand the Bhagavad-gita and its speaker, Lord Krsna. Lord Krsna first spoke Bhagavad-gita to the sun-god some hundreds of millions of years ago. We have to accept this fact and thus understand the historical significance of Bhagavad-gita, without misinterpretation, on the authority of Krsna. To interpret Bhagavad-gita without any reference to the will of Krsna is the greatest offense. In order to save oneself from this offense, one has to understand the Lord as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, as He was directly understood by Arjuna, Lord Krsna's first disciple. Such understanding of Bhagavad-gita is really profitable and authorized for the welfare of human society in fulfilling the mission of life.
(CH.1 Text14)On the other side,both Lord Krsna and Arjuna,stationed on a great chariot drawn by white horses,sounded their transcendental conchshells.

THE PERFECTION of YOGA
An excerpt of a book by His Divine Grace A.C.Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

Yoga as Rejected by Arjuna

I used this excerpt to explain Bhagavad-gita,Because there is not space for the whole book,but I will include some verses at the bottom of the page,(krsnajoe)

There have been many Yoga systems in this century,but none of them have actually taught the perfection of YOGA. In the Bhagavad-gita,Sri Krsna the Supreme Personality of Godhead,teaches Arjuna directly the perfection of yoga.If we actually want to participate in the perfection of the yoga system,in Bhagavad-gita we will find the authoritative statements of the supreme person.It is certainly remarkable that the Perfection of Yoga was taught to Arjuna,the warrior,just before Arjuna was to engage in a fratricidal battle.Out of sentiment,Arjuna was thinking ,"Why should I fight against my own kinsmen?" That reluctance to fight was due to Arjuna's illusion,and just to eradicate that illusion,Sri Krsna spoke the Bhagavad-gita to him.One can just imagine how little time must have elapsed while Bhagavad-gita was being spoken.All the warriors on both sides were poised to fight,so there was very little time indeed-at the utmost,one hour. Within this one hour,the whole Bhagavad-gita was discussed,and Sri Krsna set forth the perfection of all yoga systems to His friend Arjuna.At the end of this great discourse,Arjuna set aside his misgiving and fought. The blessed Lord said;While speaking learned words,you are mourning for what is not worthy of grief.Those who are wise lament neither for the living nor the dead.

<However,within the discourse,when Arjuna heard the explanation of the meditational system of yoga-how to sit down,how to keep the body straight,how to keep the eye half-closed and how to gaze at the tip of the nose without diverting one's attention,all this being conducted in a secluded place alone-he replied:"Oh Madhusudana,the system of yoga which You have summarized appears impractical and unendurable to me,for the mind is restless and unsteady."(Bg. 6.33)This is important.

(CH2 Text9)Sanjaya said;Having spoken thus,Arjuna,chastiser of enemies,told Krsna,"Govinda,I shall not fight,"and fell silent.(CH2 Text11)The blessed Lord said;"While speaking learned words,you are mourning for what is not worthy of grief.Those who are wise lament neither for the living nor the dead.

We must always remember that we are in a material circumstance wherein at every moment our mind is subject to agitation.Actually we are not in a very comfortable situation.We are always thinking that by changing our situation we will overcome our mental agitation,and we are always thinking that when we reach a certain point,all mental agitation will disappear.But it is the nature of the material world that we cannot be free from anxiety. our dilemma is that we are always trying to make a solution to our problems,but this universe is so designed that these solutions never come.Not being a cheater,being very frank and open,Arjuna tells Krsna that the system of yoga which He has described is not possible for him to execute.In speaking to Krsna,it is significant that Arjuna addresses Him as Madhusudana,indicating that the Lord is the killer of the demon Madhu.It is notable that God's names are innumerable,for He is often named according to his activities.Indeed,God has innumerable activities. We are only parts of God,and we cannot even remember how many activities we engage in from our childhood to the present.The eternal God is unlimited,and since His activities are also unlimited,He has unlimited names,of which Krsna is the chief. Then why is Arjuna addressing Him as Madhusudana when,being Krsna's friend,he could address Him directly as Krsna?The answer is that Arjuna considers his mind to be like a great demon,such as the demon Madhu.If it were possible for Krsna to kill the demon called the mind,then Arjuna would be able to attain the perfection of yoga."My mind is much stronger than this demon Madhu,"Arjuna is saying."please ,if You could kill him,then it would be possible for me to execute this yoga system."Even the mind of a great man like Arjuna is always agitated.As Arjuna himself says:"For the mind is restless,turbulent and very strong,O Krsna,and to subdue it is, it seems to me,more difficult than controlling the wind."(Bg.6.34)IT is indeed a fact that the mind is always telling us to go here,go there,do this,do that-it is always telling us which way to turn.Thus the sum and substance of the yoga system is to control the agitated mind.In the meditational yoga system the mind is controlled by focusing on the Supersoul-that is the whole purpose of yoga.But Arjuna says that controlling this mind is more difficult than stopping the wind from blowing. (CH11 Text45 and Text46)After seeing this Universal form,which I have never seen before,I am gladdened,but at the same time my mind is disturbed with fear.Therefore please bestow Your grace upon me and reveal again Your form as the Personallity of Godhead,O Lord of lords,O abode of the universe.Oh universal Lord,I wish to see You in Your four-armed form,with helmeted head and with club,wheel,conch and lotus flowers in Your hands.I long to see You in that form.

One can imagine a man strectching out his arms trying to stop a hurricane. Are we to assume that Arjuna is simply not sufficiently qualified to control his mind?The actual fact is that we cannot begin to understand the immense qualifications of Arjuna.After all,he was a personal friend of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.This is a highly elevated position and is one that cannot be at all attained by one without great qualifications.In addition to this,Arjuna was renowned as a great warrior and administrator.He was such an intelligent man that he could understand Bhagavad-gita within one hour,whereas at the present moment great scholars cannot even understand it in the course of a lifetime.Yet Arjuna was thinking that controlling the mind was simply not possible for him.Are we then to assume that what was impossible for Arjuna in a more advanced age is possible for us in this degenerate age?We should not for one moment think that we are in Arjuna's category.We are a thousand times inferior.Moreover,there is no record of Arjuna's having executed the yoga system at any time.Yet Arjuna was praised by Krsna as the only man worthy of understanding Bhagavad-gita.What was Arjuna's great qualification?Sri Krsna says,"You are My devotee.You are My very dear friend."Despite this qualification,Arjuna refused to execute the meditational yoga system described by Sri Krsna.What then are we to conclude?Are we to despair the minds ever being controlled?No,it can be controlled,and the process is this Krsna Consciousness.The mind must be fixed always in Krsna.Insofar as the mind is absorbed in Krsna,it has attained the perfection of yoga.Now when we turn to the Srimad-Bhagavatam,Twelfth Canto we find Sukadeva Gosvami,telling Maharaja Pariksit that in the Golden Age,the Satya-yuga,people were living for one hundred thousand years,and at that time,when advanced living entities lived for such lengths of time,it was possible to execute this meditational system of yoga.But what was achieved in Satya-yuga by this meditation process,and in the following yuga,the Treta-yuga,by the offering of great sacrifices,and in the next yuga,the dvapara-yuga,by temple worship,would be achieved at the present time,in this Kali-yuga,by simply chanting the names of God,hare-kirtana,Hare Krsna.So from authoritative sources we learn that this chanting of HARE KRSNA,HARE KRSNA,KRSNA KRSNA,HARE HARE/HARE RAMA, HARE RAMA,RAMA RAMA,HARE HARE is the embodiment of the perfection of yoga for this age.Today we have great difficulties living fifty or sixty years.Aman may live at the utmost eighty or a hundred years.In addition,these brief years are always fraught with anxiety,with difficulties due to circumstances of war,pestilence,famine and so many other disturbances.We're also not very intelligent,and,at the same time,we're unfortunate.These are the characteristics of man living in Kali-yuga,a degraded age.So properly speaking we can never attain success in this meditational yoga system described by Krsna.At the utmost we can only gratify our personal whims by some pseudo-adaptation of this system,Thus people are paying money to attend some classes in gymnastic exercises and deep breathing ,and they're happy if they think they can lengthen their lifetimes by a few years or enjoy better sex life.But we must understand that this is not the actual Yoga system.In this age that meditational system cannot be properly executed.

(BG.CH9Text26)If one offers Me with love and devotion a leaf,aflower,fruit or water,I will accept it.(BG.CH9Text27)O son of Kunti,All that you do,all that you eat,all that you offer and give away,as well as all austerities that you may perform,sould be done as an offering unto Me. Instead,all of the perfections of that system can be realized through (bhaki-yoga),the sublime process of Krsna consciousness,through the chanting of Hare Krsna.That is recommended in Vedic scriptures and is introduced by great authorities like Caitanya Mahaprabhu.INdeed,the Bhagavad-gita proclaims that the mahatmas,the great souls,are always chanting the glories of the Lord.If one wants to be mahatma in terms of the Vedic literature,in terms of Bhagavad-gita and terms of the great authorities,then one has to adopt this process of Krsna Consciousness and of chanting Hare Krsna.But if we're content at making a show of meditation by sitting very straight in lotus position and going into a trance like some sort of performer,then that is a different thing.But we should understand that such show-bottle performances have nothing to do with the actual perfection of yoga.The material disease cannot be cured by artificial medicine.We have to take the real cure straight from Krsna.

Yoga as Work in Devotion
We have heard the names of so many different yogas and yogis,but in Bhagavad-gita Krsna says that the actual yogi is he who has surrendered himself"fully unto Me".Krsna proclaims that there is no difference between renunciation(sannyasa) and Yoga."What is called renunciation is the same as yoga,or linking oneself with the Supreme;for no one can become a yogi unless he renounces the desire for sense gratification."(Bg.6.2)In the Bhagavad-gita there are three basic types of yoga delineated,-karma-yoga,jnana-yoga and bhakti-yoga.
(Ch2 Text20 )For the soul there is never birth nor death.nor,having once been,does he ever cease to be,He is unborn,eternal,ever-existing,undying and primeval,he is not slain when the body is slain.(CH2 Text22)As a person puts on new garments,giving up old ones,similarly,the soul accepts new material bodies,giving up the old and useless ones. The systems of yoga may be likened unto a staircase.Someone may be on the first step,someone may be halfway up,or someone may be on the top step.When one is elevated to certain levels,he is known as a karma-yogi,jnana-yogi,ect.In all cases,the service to the Supreme Lord is the same. It is a difference in elevation only.Thus Sri Krsna tells Arjuna that he must understand that renunciation(sannyasa)and yoga are the same because without being freed from desire and sense gratication one can become neither a yogi nor a sannyasi.There are some yogis who perform yoga for a profit,but that is not real yoga.Everything must be engaged in the service of the Lord.For those who are taking the first step up the staircase of the yoga system,there is work.One should not think that simply because he is beginning yoga he should stop working.In Bhagavad-gita Krsna asks Arjuna to become a yogi,but He never tells him to cease from fighting.Quite the contrary.Of course one may ask how a person may be a yogi and at the same time a warrior.Our conception of yogi practice is that of sitting very straight with legs crossed and eyes half-closed staring at the tip of our nose and concentrating in this way in a lonely place.So how is it that Krsna is asking Arjuna to become a yogi and at the same time participate in ghastly civil war?That is the mystery of Bhagavad-gita;one can remain a fighting man and at the same time be the highest yogi,the highest sannyasi.How is it possible?In Krsna consciousness. One simply has to fight for Krsna,work for Krsna,eat for Krsna,sleep for Krsna and dedicate all activities to Krsna.In this way one becomes the highest yogi and the highest sannyasi./That is the secret.In the Sixth Chapter of Bhagavad-gita,Sri Krsna instructs Arjuna how to perform meditational yoga,but Arjuna rejects this as too difficult.How then is Arjuna considered to be a great yogi?Although Krsna saw that Arjuna was rejecting the meditational system,He proclaimed Arjuna to be the highest yogi because "You are always thinking of Me."Thinking of Krsna is the essence of all yoga systems-of the hatha,karma,jnana,bhakti or any other systems of yoga,sacrifice or charity. All the recommended activities for spiritual relization end in Krsna Consciousness, in thinking always of Krsna.The actual perfection of human life lies in being always krsna conscious and always being aware of Krsna while performing all types of activities.In the preliminary stage one is advised to always work for Krsna.One must be always searching out some duty or some engagement,for it is bad policy to remain idle even for a second.When one actually becomes advanced through such engagements,then he may not work physically,but he is always engaged within by constantly thinking of Krsna.In the preliminary stage,however,one is always advised to engage one's senses in the service of Krsna.There are a variety of activities one can perform in serving Krsna.The International Society for Krsna Conciousness is intended to help direct aspirant devotees in these activities.For those working in Krsna consciousness,there are simply not enough hours in the day to serve Krsna.There are always activities,engagements both day and night,which the student of Krsna Consciousness performs joyfully.That is the stage of real happiness-constant engagement for Krsna and spreading Krsna consciousness around the world.In the material world one may become very tired if he works all the time,but if one works in Krsna Consciousness,he can chant Hare Krsna and engage in devotional service twenty-four hours a day and never get tired. "Whoever knows Me as the Supreme Personality of Godhead,without doubting,is to be understood as the knower of everything,and he therefore engages himself in full devotional service,O son of Bharata." But if we vibrate some mundane vibration,then we soon become exhausted.There is no question of becoming tired on the spiritual platform.The spiritual platform is absolute.In the material world everyone is working for sense gratification.The profits of one's labor in the material world are used to gratify one's senses.But a real yogi does not desire such fruits.He has no desire other than Krsna,and Krsna is already there.

The Fate of the Unsuccessful Yogi
(BG6.37)"What is the destination of the man of faith who does not persevere,who in the beginning takes to the process of self -realization but who later desists due to worldly-mindedness and does not attain perfection in mysticism?""This is my doubt O Krsna,and I ask You to dispel it completely.But for Yourself,no one is to be found who can destroy this doubt"(BG6.39)In Bhagavad-gita Krsna speaks to Arjuna as the Supreme Personallity of Godhead,and as such it is to be understood that He has complete knowledge.If Arjuna receives this complete knowledge and we receive it from Arjuna as it was spoken to him,then we also receive complete knowledge.And what is this knoweledge?"The Blessed Lord said:Son of Prtha,a transcendentalist engaged in auspicious activities does not meet with destruction either in this world or in the spiritual world;one who does good,My friend,is never overcome by evil."(BG.640)"Sri Krsna gives an encouraging answer,for He tells Arjuna that even if one sincerely cultivates only one percent worth of spiritual knowledge,he will never fall down into the material whirlpool.That is due to the sincerity of his effort. here
Whenever there is Krsna,the master of all mystics,and wherever there is Arjuna,the supreme archer,there will also ceraintly be opulence,victory,extraordinary power,and morality.(pp273-274)
--------There will be more soon,thanks for reading this far,---------krsnajoe@hotmail.com
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