Murari Das Blog

We have five knowledge acquiring senses plus the mind, and five senses of action, they should all be engaged in connection with Krishna and then naturally our mind will be fixed on Him. See the world as belonging to Krishna, taste Krishna prasadam, hear bhajan, kirtan and Krishna katha, smell incense that is offered to Krishna, touch the deity form of the Lord while bathing and dressing it. The concept that Krishna gives is total absorption while continuing with daily duties and activities. He does discuss solitary meditation, but Arjuna is nonplussed with the idea saying: Bg. 6.33 - Arjuna said: O Madhusudana, the system of yoga which You have summarized appears impractical and unendurable to me, for the mind is restless and unsteady. Krishna agrees that it is hard to do and later He will give alternatives, but the principles of yoga must be kept. Controlling the mind and focusing it on Krishna are non-negotiable, and the highest yogi is the one who serves Krishna with love. Bg. 6.47 ...

It’s very hard to do this alone. Applying Bhagavad Gita means acting on the knowledge, but Lord Krishna Himself says that, “The intricacies of action are very hard to understand. Therefore one should know properly what action is, what forbidden action is, and what inaction is.” Bg 4.17 On our own we may try to figure it out, but if we inadvertently make mistakes how will we know? How quickly should we expect results? We might press ahead hoping for progress, but all the while be making mistakes that inhibit our progress. We might be elated thinking we are on the right track, but later find out our treasured ‘realizations’ are misconceptions. Living as per Bhagavad Gita is a lifetime commitment. Krishna outlines different yoga processes which exist to give results, results in the here and now, not just in the hereafter. Although Krishna outlines karma yoga, jnana yoga, astanga yoga and bhakti yoga, He comes down heavily in favour of bhakti yoga. He declares it to be easier, quicker, les...

Lord Sri Krsna said: O mighty-armed son of Kunti, it is undoubtedly very difficult to curb the restless mind, but it is possible by suitable practice and by detachment. PURPORT The difficulty of controlling the obstinate mind, as expressed by Arjuna, is accepted by the Personality of Godhead. But at the same time He suggests that by practice and detachment it is possible. What is that practice? In the present age no one can observe the strict rules and regulations of placing oneself in a sacred place, focusing the mind on the Supersoul, restraining the senses and mind, observing celibacy, remaining alone, etc. By the practice of Krsna consciousness, however, one engages in nine types of devotional service to the Lord. The first and foremost of such devotional engagements is hearing about Krsna. This is a very powerful transcendental method for purging the mind of all misgivings. The more one hears about Krsna, the more one becomes enlightened and detached from everything that draws the...

In chapter 2 as soon as Arjuna surrenders to Krishna and asks Him to for instructions, Krishna begins describing the soul because everything that follows is dependent on understanding what the soul is. In a succession of verses Krishna describes the soul as eternal, individual, and unchanging through the different developments of the body. It moves from one body to another in what we see as birth and death. The soul can’t be cut, dried, dissolved, withered, burned or in any way affected by any material ingredient. It can certainly not be killed. Later Lord Krishna gives more information. The soul is superior to dull matter because it is alive and conscious. It is the higher self which must control the lower self, the lower self being the impulses of the senses and mind. It pervades the body with consciousness as the sun pervades our universe with light, and it is eternally a fragmentary part of Krishna. One of the truly great insights that Krishna gives is that the soul is suffering du...

Krishna spoke Bhagavad Gita, and claimed that He is God. Whenever an educated person gives knowledge it is customary to state your qualifications for giving the knowledge. Krishna says that He is the Supreme Truth, nothing is above Him. He says that everything that exists, emanates from Him. He says that He is the father of every living entity. He says the laws or modes of material nature are working under His control. He exhibited His universal form in which Arjuna could see all that had happened and all that was yet to come at one time. If someone follows the guide lines that means they have faith in the instructions, otherwise why bother. If the guidelines are valid, then why not the speaker also? Since the conclusion of Bhagavad Gita is to surrender everything to Krishna how can one do that and still be an atheist. If Krishna was a mythological character from the past then why are His instructions valid? To get the full benefit of Krishna's instructions then faith is very much ...

I read a small paperback edition of Bhagavad Gita with no commentary in a friend’s house and nothing much changed. He had brought it back from India and it was in his bookshelf collecting dust. The pages were yellowed and soft and the print was a bit erratic. I flicked through it and wondered who Krishna/Bhagavan was and what he was saying to Arjuna. To be honest, I didn’t really understand any of it, and I was done looking at it after about an hour. There wasn’t a great storyline I could follow, just a couple of people talking before a battle. It had a sort of profound and ‘holy’ feel to it because of the words, like some of the King James Bible does, but no message jumped out at me. Arjuna also seemed to have trouble deciding what to do. I was interested in Indian ‘spirituality’ having read Autobiography of a Yogi many years earlier, but I wasn’t that interested, so I put it back and went down the road for a beer. Many months later I had another copy of Bhagavad Gita, this was a very...

Bhagavad Gita helps us first by giving us information. Based on that information we get a different way of looking at things. Then it helps us by giving us a process to realise the information presented. Happiness and distress are relative experiences. If someone throws a bucket of water over me for no reason I will be annoyed. If someone throws a bucket of water over me when my clothes are on fire I will be pleased. How should I answer “Are you happy having a bucket of water thrown over you?” The answer is, “It depends.” What is miserable and what is an improvement in life nearly always depends on “it depends….” What they depend on is how we view things at that particular moment. Bhagavad Gita gives us the view that miseries are not that significant in the long run. They have come upon us due to our past activities, they are temporary and at the most will last for only one life-time, and we are factually eternal. The greatest misery is perhaps the prospect that we or our loved ones wi...

Krishna is God, He is the personification of Godhead, He is independent and eternal as Himself. Never was there a time when I did not exist, nor you, nor all these kings; nor in the future shall any of us cease to be. Bg 2.12 He clearly says that He has always existed. That doesn’t mean that at one time He was formless and then assumed a form and then lost it again, it means that He, the person, an individual being has always existed. He reinforces this again and again throughout Bhagavad Gita. He says that many years ago He instructed Vivasvan, the sun god. (4.1) This means at a rough estimate Krishna spoke Gita at least 120,400,000 years ago. How is that possible if Krishna was just an enlightened human? He clarifies how. 4.6 - Although I am unborn and My transcendental body never deteriorates, and although I am the Lord of all living entities, I still appear in every millennium in My original transcendental form. Bg 4.6 Krishna’s body is transcendental and never deteriorates. Does t...

We should read Bhagavad Gita because Sri Krishna is God and the creator, maintainer and destroyer of this universe. He is the owner and controller of everything that exists, so it’s important to know what He says about life, the universe and everything. If you read Bhagavad Gita As It Is at least once you will be in a position to chose to follow the recommendations of Krishna or ignore them. That is the facility of human life. Humans are different to animals because humans can understand the concept of God and make choices as a result. Animals are not given this option. It is the most important distinction between a human and an animal or any other lower species. It is a valuable opportunity to enquire into the Absolute Truth, and failure to take advantage of it is a great waste. If one reads Bhagavad Gita one will be able to hear, directly from the Supreme Lord Himself, what He suggests, what His opinion is, what He recommends and what He doesn’t recommend. There are 700 verses arrang...

In my case it’s not most of the time, it’s all the time. Trying to figure out God’s plan is harder for me than trying to figure out the moves of a chess grandmaster, and I don’t play chess. That’s not to say I don’t see what causes what, and in retrospect marvel at the ingenuity of some arrangements, but there’s no way I can predict what’s going to happen next. One of Krishna’s areas of expertise is that He can achieve many things through one action. There are immediate consequences and long-term consequences. It’s way beyond our powers of calculation to foresee the knock-on effect of a particular action. Even great devotees of the Lord don’t fully understand the Lord’s plan. Prabhupada went to America as part of the Lord’s plane. He once said: "I thought, "I don't know why I have come here. The language is different, the idea is different. They are all after sense gratification. I don't know why I've come here.' But now I have got some boys, and even if I am ...

Abandon all varieties of religion and just surrender unto Me. I shall deliver you from all sinful reactions. Do not fear. Bg 18.66 After giving so many instructions to Arjuna, after describing the importance of Dharma and activities, the nature of the world, what is this, what is that, this is Krishna’s very last instruction. He ends all His teachings at this point. “Surrender unto Me.” Now what? Well as someone who has tried to follow this instruction, I can tell you it’s not easy and it’s not quick, and whatever you think it is, it’s not that either! It is a journey into new territory, there are a lot of unexpected things that come up and many obstacles between us and full surrender. In fact no one ever thinks they have surrendered completely to Krishna. The more advanced a person becomes in surrendering, the more useless they feel. It is not a ladder that we climb up by our own ability, it is a ladder that we descend. We descend from the point of thinking I have some value and I can...

Actually the soul doesn’t bear any karmic reaction, it’s the ahankara or false identification with the body which bears the impressions. The soul remains always uncontaminated by matter, but because we identify with the false ego we experience what happens to the false ego. Similar to a parent suffering when their child suffers. The living entity desires and then the three modes of nature take it from there. We are a tiny particle of spirit floating in the five life airs in the region of the heart. We cannot manipulate matter, but we can desire. According to our desires material nature acts. Thus we are responsible for the activities carried out by material nature. Sometimes the desire is sanctioned and sometimes not. This demonstrates that is not us who are the sole doers. We are just a part of what happens. When the leader of a country declares war, even though he doesn’t do any fighting, bombing or killing himself, he is responsible for what happens b...

Krishna explains who we are. We are not a material body but an eternal fragmental part of Him. Knowing who we are is practical because then we can act accordingly. So then Krishna explains karma (action). Humans act, (no, not just actors in productions) everyone performs activities. Bhagavad Gita describes the results of our actions according to the three modes of nature. Krishna doesn’t describe results in terms of what will happen immediately, like what will happen if I accept a job offer or not, but in long term results, for our ultimate benefit or detriment based on who we are. (see above). Krishna also explains who is charge. When frustrated or confused, people often say, “Who’s in charge around here?” This is a good question because when we know who is in charge we can go to them to sort out what’s what. Why deal with bureaucrats and minions if we can go straight to the top? So Krishna makes it clear that He is in charge. Then we can learn from Him why there is evil; why people s...

I have understood that the Supreme is personal and has form. He is called Krishna and looks like a beautiful young boy in the prime of His youth. He is very hard to understand. Even when your heart is breaking with anguish and your legs can hardly hold you up, He just smiles at you, or sometimes looks right through you. He never looks worried or concerned, He just smiles and shows you that He is there if you can make the grade. When we are in a mess, we created the mess we are in, not Krishna, it’s not His job to get us out. He is happy to assist, but the effort has to be ours. He never indicates that a person must do something or has to do something, He is just here, there and everywhere if we want to find Him. He is hidden no doubt, but it is our defects that hide Him. He says you can see me here, and here, if you look closely. He says you can know me in full if you do this and this, but He doesn’t mind if we ignore Him. Our suffering is not pleasant for Him, but it is self-induced a...

Chanting 16 rounds is an instruction from Srila Prabhupada. It’s not a Vedic injunction nor a demand from Sri Krishna or even Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. Those who want to approach Krishna through the disciples of Srila Prabhupada are most likely going to have to agree to chant 16 rounds because that is the instruction from Prabhupada. It is not there is some magic in the number 16. This number is given because a minimum amount of time should be spent chanting everyday. Chanting Hare Krishna is an art as well as a science. Although it is said there are no hard and fast rules, that should be understood in context. For chanting many mantras there are specifics that must be observed. For instance the time of day, being clean, our location and company, the direction we are facing, if we have undergone purificatiory samskars, and so on. For chanting Hare Krishna, none of these apply. This mantra can be chanted by anyone, at any time, in any place, in any condition. That is what no hard and...

The living entity in the material world has desires. Those desires change as a result of contact with the modes of nature. The more a person is in contact with the modes of passion and ignorance, the closer to evil their desires will be. Stretching over multiple lifetimes a person can sink lower and lower into the mode of ignorance and entertain evil desires that a decent person would reject outright. Once these desires take root then in due course of time an opportunity will be arranged to indulge them. That will continue the chain of action and reaction. Whatever evil a person does to another person will be done to them in the future. When we suffer from the evil actions of others it’s because we have caused the same suffering to others else previously. In this ongoing chain of cause and effect, the Lord stays neutral. The laws are in place and the Lord’s representatives oversee the running of the universe. We are allowed to indulge our desires and must accept the consequences. It’s ...

Krishna is not an incarnation of Vishnu according to Gaudiya Vaishnava theology, He is the origin of Vishnu and He doesn’t have a weak spot on the toe. (Not even on His heel). His only weakness is His love for His pure devotees. When He appears on the Earth, He does so a little bit like a human being although He is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. He acts like a human and has fun with His devotees. When it’s time to leave, He leaves a bit like a human being, so that those who want to think He is a human being, can do so and not be bothered by thoughts of God. Therefore like an actor, He acts out dying by being shot in the foot, but it’s just an act, to conclude His appearance on the Earth. Devotees know what is going on, but the foolish think that Krishna is a human being and dies because His form is like a human’s form. Actually, it’s the other way round, our form is like Krishna’s form. Fools deride Me when I descend in the human form. They do not know My transcendental nature as ...

First let us be clear that ‘I’ refers to a person. This is not complicated and is how people refer to themselves. It is straightforward grammar. I refers to me. My and mine refers to things that belong to me. When I, me, my and mine, are used in speech, a person is involved, and the person is referring to themselves and their possessions. Brahman is not a person. I repeat, Brahman is not a person. Krishna is a person. As we read through Mahabharata we become acquainted with the person Krishna. He is a major character in the great history Mahabharata and, just before the battle commences, He speaks with Arjuna. That’s what people do. They talk to one another. That conversation is called Bhagavad Gita. It is a conversation between two people, Krishna and Arjuna, and Krishna repeatedly says I, me, my and mine. What Krishna says in that conversation is, frankly speaking, stunning. He reveals that He is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. He is the highest Truth and there is nothing and no ...

Large portions of Bhagavad Gita deal with activities and the resulting happiness or distress. As long as people are active and experience happiness and distress, then Bhagavad Gita is going to be relevant. Bhagavad Gita contains knowledge. The sort of knowledge which is important for human beings. Biology, chemistry and physics are also areas of knowledge. They will always be relevant and because of that there is constant work to update and improve them. But there is a dearth of knowledge in modern education regarding life, the self, consciousness, happiness, distress and what results from what actions. Due to this lacking, knowing how to be peaceful and satisfied is not an area modern education covers. Neither does it tell us anything about morality and meaning. Since these areas are important and relevant to everyone, perhaps the most important and relevant, there is never going to be a time when Bhagavad Gita is not relevant. The less Bhagavad Gita is understood, the more relevant i...