Murari Das Blog

Difference between Brahman and soul is in volume. In Bhagavad Gita, Brahman is used quite freely: Those whose minds are established in sameness and equanimity have already conquered the conditions of birth and death. They are flawless like Brahman , and thus they are already situated in Brahman. Bg 5.19 Intelligent persons who are endeavoring for liberation from old age and death take refuge in Me in devotional service. They are actually Brahman because they entirely know everything about transcendental activities. Bg 7.29 The indestructible, transcendental living entity is called Brahman , and his eternal nature is called adhyatma, the self. Bg 8.3 Persons who are learned in the Vedas, who utter omkara and who are great sages in the renounced order enter into Brahman . Bg 8.11 Arjuna inquired: Which are considered to be more perfect, those who are always properly engaged in Your devotional service or those who worship the impersonal Brahman , the unmanifested? Bg 12

Bhagavad Gita is mainly philosophical. It was spoken by Krishna Himself and is the conclusion of all the Upanisadas. In this unparalleled dialogue between Krishna and Arjuna everything that is important in life is mentioned. In itself it is complete but it is very concise and Krishna deals with one point after another without elaborating. It serves to orient a person so that they know who they are and what they should be doing. While Bhagavad Gita is only 700 verses, Srimad Bhagavatam is 18,000 verses, but the conclusion is the same. The difference between Bhagavatam and Bhagavad Gita is in the detail. For example, in Bhagavad Gita Krishna says: This material nature, which is one of My energies, is working under My direction, O son of Kunti, producing all moving and nonmoving beings. Under its rule this manifestation is created and annihilated again and again. Bg 9.10

Bhagavad Gita is about Jnana, Karma, and Bhakti, but Bhakti is more important. Krishna spoke the Bhagavad Gita to Arjuna. They are His own words which He confirms by stating that He previously gave the knowledge to Vivasvan, and He is now repeating it to Arjuna because it has become lost. He doesn’t say that He learned this science from someone else, or that He is speaking on behalf of someone else. Within the material world, everyone has to learn or somehow acquire the knowledge they have, only the Supreme Lord is exempted from this.

Under the laws of karma, every action carries a reaction. Only by having zero personal attachments and desires can one avoid reactions Theoretically, if we don’t perform any action there won’t be any reaction which is what we want right? But it’s not possible to live in this world and not perform any activity. People may sit silently in meditation trying to control and empty the mind, but this is still activity. They must eat something, breath, move around a little, so even though they may appear to be inactive, there are still reactions being chalked up, so they are not ‘inactive’ because reactions are accumulating. So actually they are performing actions even though aiming for inaction. This is the meaning of seeing action in inaction. Another person may be active, but their consciousness is completely devoid of any personal desires or interest in their activity so there will be no reaction. It’s as if they were inactive.

Krishna explains to Arjuna: Always think of Me, become My devotee, worship Me and offer your homage unto Me. Thus you will come to Me without fail. I promise you this because you are My very dear friend. Abandon all varieties of religion and just surrender unto Me. I shall deliver you from all sinful reactions. Do not fear. Bg 18.65-66.

The meaning of life is to enjoy unbounded, eternal happiness. We are spiritual by nature, and spirit is eternal. We belong in the spiritual world where everything is spiritual. In the spiritual world we have an eternal loving relationship with Krishna without any of the problems of this material world. There is no birth, death, disease and old age. There is no time that causes the decay and destruction of everything. There is no lust, anger or greed; no envy, jealously or hatred. That is where we belong, and that is from where we came. Why we left is another question, but we are here now as the result of a bad choice and are stuck here with many undesirable qualities that we would like to be free from, and many desires that we would like to indulge.

Lord Krishna says death both exists and doesn’t exist. Bhagavad Gita straddles the two worlds of the absolute and the relative. Krishna speaks transcendent truths but applies them in the temporal, mundane world. This is the role of a guru. He must reveal what is beyond sense perception but through the medium of sense perception. He must explain what reality is, using what is not reality. Krishna says that for the soul there is neither birth nor death. (BG. 2.20) Obviously, for matter, there is no death because it’s not alive. So the soul doesn’t die, and matter doesn’t die, and there are only these two energies in the material world (BG 7.4–5), so what is death?

Bhagavad Gita is also called Gitopanisad because it is the essence of all the Upanishads. It is also set in a story like a Purana and it’s also historical so included within Itihas. As such it is part and parcel of Mahabharat. The 700 verses can be studied on their own like one of the Upanishads, but its set in the civil war between the Pandavas and Kauravas. So the first verses of chapter 1 are the continuation of the narrative. Sanjay is explaining to Dhritarashtra what happened next. The armies are assembled, the personalities present mentioned, the conch shells blown, the battle is about to begin, and then Arjuna falters.

What is Karma? Karma is an action that has a reaction which will result in another birth in the material world. Action pertaining to the development of the material bodies of the living entities is called karma, or fruitive activities. Bg 8.3

Bhagavad Gita deals with the absolute platform and the relative platform. On the absolute platform, dharma means the intrinsic nature and quality of the living being which is that it is an eternal servant of Krishna. On the relative platform, dharma is expressed in varnashrama dharma, which refers to a person’s occupational duties according to the modes of nature which control them. Because the occupational duties are prescribed by shastra, and the goal of shastra is to know and love Krishna, dharma means one’s religious and moral duties which will assist one to know and love Krishna.