The Story so far:
Arjuna, the representative of Pandavas is arrayed for battle against his cousins Kauravas. Lord Krishna is his charioteer and so his victory is assured. Neverthess Arjuna is plagued by all kind of doubts and even considers a life of Sanyas as better than fighting against his own kinsmen. But Lord Krishna is nudging him on, saying as a ksatriya he needs a kingdom which is realizable only if he fights and wins the battle. The Lord further advances the argument that in any case the souls of his cousins will live on even if they are dead. Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, (but strangely) Arjuna had a blood relationship with Him. It also appears that Krishna has a teacher and a grandfather! One is often attached to family life, namely to wife, children and other members, on the basis of “skin disease.” A scholarly brähmana, expert in all subjects of Vedic knowledge, is unfit to become a spiritual master without being a Vaiñëava, or expert in the science of Kåñëa consciousness. But a person born in a family of a lower caste can become a spiritual master if he is a Vaiñëava, or Kåñëa conscious. Enlightened, perfect knowledge of self-realization, or Kåñëa consciousness, would make Arjuna fight.
Further along the way, we pick up some significant (and fanciful) assertions like:
“Religious violence is sometimes a necessary factor”
“The brähmaëas also attain the heavenly planets by sacrificing animals in the sacrificial fire”.
“The animal sacrificed gets a human life immediately without undergoing the gradual
evolutionary process from one form to another.”
Let’s dive in. (my remarks are given in red. As before, they spring from a normal human view; however the biblical perspective is also given where relevant). The Text in black is my abridged version of the Purport as given in the book of Gita and it is mostly verbatim.
Text 51
Owing to ignorance, one does not know that this material world is a miserable place where there are dangers at every step. Out of ignorance only, less intelligent persons try to adjust to the situation by fruitive activities, thinking that resultant actions will make them happy. They do not know that
no kind of material body anywhere within the universe can give life without miseries. The miseries of life, namely birth, death, old age and diseases, are present everywhere within the material world. But one who understands his real constitutional position as the eternal servitor of the Lord (presumably more intelligent), and thus knows the position of the Personality of Godhead, engages himself in the
transcendental loving service of the Lord. Consequently, he becomes qualified to enter into the Vaikuëöha planets, where there is neither material, miserable life, nor the influence of time and death.
Okay, he becomes qualified to enter into the Vaikuëöha planets. I suppose this is a reference to life beyond. But surely in this present life he / she cannot escape the miseries of life? So what good is his understanding his real constitutional position as the eternal servitor of the Lord.
Text 52
There are many good examples in the lives of the great devotees of the Lord of those who became indifferent to the rituals of the Vedas simply by devotional service to the Lord. When a person factually understands Kåñëa and his relationship with Kåñëa, he naturally becomes completely indifferent
to the rituals of fruitive activities, even though an experienced brähmaëa. The Vedic rites and rituals are imperative for neophytes: comprehending all kinds of prayer three times a day, taking a bath early in the morning, offering respects to the forefathers, etc. But, when one is fully in Kåñëa consciousness and is engaged in His transcendental loving service, one becomes indifferent to all these regulative principles because he has already attained perfection.
How does one leapfrog into Kåñëa consciousness, that supposedly frees one from the requirements of observing the rituals of the Vedas? Though the Bible also talks about the call to Perfection, contrary to the statement above, it doesn’t suggest that man can become perfect. Check out this statement from St.Paul: 12 Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. 13 Brethren, I do not count myself to have [b]apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, 14 I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. (Phil.3: 12-16)
Text 53
To say that one is in samädhi is to say that one has fully realized Kåñëa consciousness; that is, one in full samädhi has realized Brahman, Paramätmä and Bhagavän. The highest perfection of self-realization is to understand that one is eternally the servitor of Kåñëa and that one’s only business is to discharge one’s duties in Kåñëa consciousness. A Kåñëa conscious person, or unflinching devotee of the Lord, should not be disturbed by the flowery language of the Vedas nor be engaged in fruitive activities for promotion to
the heavenly kingdom. In Kåñëa consciousness, one comes directly into communion with Kåñëa, and thus all directions from Kåñëa may be understood in that transcendental state. One is sure to achieve results by such activities and attain conclusive knowledge. One has only to carry out the orders of Kåñëa or His representative, the spiritual master.
Easier said than done! The language of the Vedas is shown here in derogatory light!
Text 54
As there are symptoms for each and every man, in terms of his particular situation, similarly one who is Kåñëa conscious has his particular nature— talking, walking, thinking, feeling, etc. As a rich man has his symptoms by which he is known as a rich man, as a diseased man has his symptoms, by which he is known as diseased, or as a learned man has his symptoms, so a man in transcendental consciousness of Kåñëa has specific symptoms in various dealings. One can know his specific symptoms from the Bhagavad-gétä. Most important is how the man in Kåñëa consciousness speaks, for speech is the most important quality of any man. It is said that a fool is undiscovered as long as he does not speak, and certainly a well-dressed fool cannot be identified unless he speaks, but as soon as he speaks, he reveals himself at once. The
immediate symptom of a Kåñëa conscious man is that he speaks only of Kåñëa and of matters relating to Him. Other symptoms then automatically follow, as stated below.
I imagine this Purport is inspired by the book of Proverbs in the Bible. “Even a fool is considered wise if he keeps silent, and discerning when he holds his tongue.” (Prov. 17:28)
Text 55
The Bhägavatam affirms that any person who is fully in Kåñëa consciousness, or devotional service of the Lord, has all the good qualities of the great sages, whereas a person who is not so transcendentally situated has no good qualifications, because he is sure to be taking refuge in his own mental concoctions. Consequently, it is rightly said herein that one has to give up all kinds of sense desire manufactured by mental concoction. Artificially, such sense desires cannot be stopped. But if one is engaged in Kåñëa consciousness, then, automatically, sense desires subside without extraneous efforts. Therefore, one has to engage himself in Kåñëa consciousness without hesitation, for this devotional service will instantly help one on to the platform of transcendental consciousness. The highly developed soul always
remains satisfied in himself by realizing himself as the eternal servitor of the Supreme Lord. Such a transcendentally situated person has no sense desires resulting from petty materialism; rather, he remains always happy in his natural position of eternally serving the Supreme Lord.
This is a fallacy. While this business about immersing oneself in Krishna consciousness parallels the teaching in the Bible about submitting oneself to the operation of the Holy Spirit, as long as one remains in this world it is not possible to avoid the effects of sin. So, I cannot agree with the statement that “a transcendentally situated person has no sense desires resulting from petty materialism; rather, he remains always happy in his natural position of eternally serving the Supreme Lord”.
This can be true only when a transcendentally situated person is no longer a resident of the world.
Text 56
The word Muni means one who can agitate his mind in various ways for mental speculation without coming to a factual conclusion. It is said that every Muni has a different angle of vision, and unless a Muni differs from other Munis, he cannot be called a Muni in the strict sense of the term. The sthita-dhé-muni is always in Kåñëa consciousness, for he has exhausted all his business of creative speculation.
Can we conclude therefore that the sthita-dhé-muni is the only kind of muni that matters?
He has surpassed the stage of mental speculations and has come to the conclusion that Lord Çré Kåñëa, or Väsudeva, is everything. He is called a muni fixed in mind. Such a fully Kåñëa conscious person is not at all disturbed by the onslaughts of the threefold miseries, for he accepts all miseries as the mercy of
the Lord, thinking himself only worthy of more trouble due to his past misdeeds; and he sees that his miseries, by the grace of the Lord, are minimized to the lowest. Similarly, when he is happy he gives credit to the Lord, thinking himself unworthy of the happiness; he realizes that it is due only to the Lord’s
grace that he is in such a comfortable condition and able to render better service to the Lord. And, for the service of the Lord, he is always daring and active and is not influenced by attachment or aversion. Attachment means accepting things for one’s own sense gratification, and detachment is the
absence of such sensual attachment. But one fixed in Kåñëa consciousness has neither attachment nor detachment because his life is dedicated in the service of the Lord. Consequently he is not at all angry even when his attempts are unsuccessful. A Kåñëa conscious person is always steady in his determination.
This is interesting. Because “Grace” is a very Christian word. And now here we see the suggestion that only due to the grace of God we attain Krishna consciousness. Check out the Bible, epistle to the Ephesians, chapter 2:
“8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.”
I am led to think that the writer of the Purport is no stranger to the Bible.
Text 57
There is always some upheaval in the material world which may be good or evil. One who is not agitated by such material upheavals, who is unaffected by good and evil, is to be understood to be fixed in Kåñëa consciousness. As long as one is in the material world there is always the possibility of good and evil because this world is full of duality. But one who is fixed in Kåñëa consciousness is not affected by good and evil because he is simply concerned with Kåñëa, who is all good absolute. Such consciousness in Kåñëa situates one in a perfect transcendental position called, technically, Samadhi
“As long as one is in the material world there is always the possibility of good and evil,
because this world is full of duality.” This is what I said earlier. If a person is not affected by good and evil, he must be dead. Hmmm………….
Text 58
The test of a yogé, devotee, or self-realized soul is that he is able to control the senses according to his plan. Most people, however, are servants of the senses and are thus directed by the dictation of the senses. That is the answer to the question as to how the yogé is situated. The senses are compared to venomous serpents. They want to act very loosely and without restriction. The yogé, or the devotee, must be very strong to control the serpents—like a snake charmer. He never allows them to act independantly. There are many injunctions in the revealed scriptures; some of them are do-not’s, and some of them are do’s. Unless one is able to follow the do’s and the do-not’s, restricting oneself from sense enjoyment, it is not possible to be firmly fixed in Kåñëa consciousness. The best example, set herein, is the tortoise. The tortoise can at any moment wind up his senses and exhibit them again at any time for particular purposes. Similarly, the senses of the Kåñëa conscious persons are used only for some particular purpose in the service of the Lord and are withdrawn otherwise. Keeping the senses always in the service of the Lord is
the example set by the analogy of the tortoise, who keeps the senses within.
This is confusing, for we just concluded that to attain Krishna consciousness is to be dead!
TEXT 59
Unless one is transcendentally situated, it is not possible to cease from sense enjoyment. The process of restriction from sense enjoyment by rules and regulations is something like restricting a diseased person from certain types of eatables. The patient, however, neither likes such restrictions, nor loses his
taste for eatables. Similarly, sense restriction by some spiritual process like añöäìga-yoga, in the matter of yama, niyama, äsana, präëäyäma, pratyähära, dharaëä, dhyäna, etc., is recommended for less intelligent persons who have no better knowledge. But one who has tasted the beauty of the Supreme Lord
Kåñëa, in the course of his advancement in Kåñëa consciousness, no longer has a taste for dead material things. Therefore, restrictions are there for the less intelligent neophytes in the spiritual advancement of life, but such restrictions are only good if one actually has a taste for Kåñëa consciousness. When one is
actually Kåñëa conscious, he automatically loses his taste for pale things .
I do not like the construction of “less intelligent beings”. If that be the case only intelligent beings have a chance of advancing to the glorious life beyond. This is absolutely contrary to the Word of God found in the Bible: “For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called.” (1 Corinthias 1:26)
Text 60
There are many learned sages, philosophers and transcendentalists who try to conquer the senses, but in spite of their endeavors, even the greatest of them sometimes fall victim to material sense enjoyment due to the agitated mind. Even Viçvämitra, a great sage and perfect yogé, was misled by Menakä
into sex enjoyment, although the yogé was endeavoring for sense control with severe types of penance and yoga practice. And,of course, there are so many similar instances in the history of the world. Therefore, it is very difficult to control the mind and the senses without being fully Kåñëa conscious. Without
engaging the mind in Kåñëa, one cannot cease such material engagements. A practical example is given by Çré Yämunäcärya, a great saint and devotee, who says: “Since my mind has been engaged in the service of the lotus feet of Lord Kåñëa, and I have been enjoying an ever-new transcendental humor, whenever
I think of sex life with a woman, my face at once turns from it, and I spit at the thought.”
Kåñëa consciousness is such a transcendentally nice thing that automatically material enjoyment becomes distasteful. It is as if a hungry man had satisfied his hunger by a sufficient quantity of nutritious eatables. Mahäräja Ambaréña also conquered a great yogé, Durväsä Muni, simply because his mind was
engaged in Kåñëa consciousness
This passage seems to suggest that enjoyment of sex is sin. Then why should God make mankind “male and female” (Gen. 5:2)? This again runs contrary to the exhortation in the Bible to “ be fruitful and multiply” (Gen. 1:28).
End of this section
Watching me dabble in biblical narratives, it was a senior friend who suggested it might be interesting to have a look at the Baghvat Gita and study how that book deals with the subject of cycle of life and eternity. The idea appealed to me as I always wanted to read the Gita.
But it is not an easy journey. Particularly painful, is the newfound knowledge that the Gita comes asymptotically close to the Truth as revealed in the Bible and yet it ties itself with a zillion knots and fails to recognize the innate simplicity of the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, preferring to lose itself in an ambiguous concept of Krishna Consciousness.
I am aware my views are open to debate, and I forwarded my writings to the Vedanta Academy which frequently conducts lectures on Gita. I received a polite reply saying that “You would appreciate as a principle we do not comment on other people’s interpretation of the Bhagavad Gita.”
So, there it is. If you have something to say, possibly we can have a healthy discussion.
In the meanwhile, we will move on. Shall we?
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