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The Immortal Nectar
of the Bhagavad-gita |
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Through the centuries, India's
greatest philosophers and spiritualists have praised the
Bhagavad-gita as the distilled essence of the eternal Vedic
wisdom. In his Meditations on the Bhagavad-gita, versified
here, the renowned sixth-century philosopher Sankara glorifies
the Gita and its divine author, Sri Krsna. Although universally
celebrated as an impersonalist, here Sankara reveals his
devotion to the original personal form of God, Lord Sri Krsna.
And Srila Prabhupada elucidates.
--1--
O
Bhagavad-gita,
Through Thy eighteen chapters Thou showerest upon man The immortal nectar Of the wisdom of the Absolute. O blessed Gita, By Thee, Lord Krsna Himself Enlightened Arjuna. Afterward, the ancient sage Vyasa Included Thee in the Mahabharata. O loving mother, Destroyer of man's rebirth Into the darkness of this mortal world, Upon Thee I meditate.
--2--
Salutations to
thee, O Vyasa.
Thou art of mighty intellect, And thine eyes Are large as the petals Of the full-blown lotus. It was thou Who brightened this lamp of wisdom, Filling it with the oil Of the Mahabharata.
Purport
Sripada Sankaracarya was an
impersonalist from the materialistic point of view. But he never
denied the spiritual form known as sac-cid-ananda-vigraha, or
the eternal, all-blissful form of knowledge that existed before
the material creation. When he spoke of Supreme Brahman as
impersonal, he meant that the Lord's sac-cid-ananda form was not
to be confused with a material conception of personality. In the
very beginning of his commentary on the Gita, he maintains that
Narayana, the Supreme Lord, is transcendental to the material
creation. The Lord existed before the creation as the
transcendental personality, and He has nothing to do with
material personality. Lord Krsna is the same Supreme
Personality, and He has no connection with a material body. He
descends in His spiritual, eternal form, but foolish people
mistake His body to be like ours. Sankara's preaching of
impersonalism is especially meant for teaching foolish persons
who consider Krsna to be an ordinary man composed of matter.
No one would care to read the Gita if it had been spoken by a material man, and certainly Vyasadeva would not have bothered to incorporate it into the history of the Mahabharata. According to the above verses, Mahabharata is the history of the ancient world, and Vyasadeva is the writer of this great epic. The Bhagavad-gita is identical with Krsna; and because Krsna is the Absolute Supreme Personality of Godhead, there is no difference between Krsna and His words. Therefore the Bhagavad-gita is as worshipable as Lord Krsna Himself, both being absolute. One who hears the Bhagavad-gita "as is" actually hears the words directly from the lotus lips of the Lord. But unfortunate persons say that the Gita is too antiquated for the modern man, who wants to find out God by speculation or meditation.
--3--
I salute Thee, O
Krsna,
O Thou who art the refuge Of ocean-born Laksmi And all who take refuge At Thy lotus feet. Thou art indeed The wish-fulfilling tree For Thy devotee. Thy one hand holds a staff For driving cows, And Thy other hand is raised-- The thumb touching the tip Of Thy forefinger, Indicating divine knowledge. Salutations to Thee, O Supreme Lord, For Thou art the milker Of the ambrosia of the Gita.
Purport
Sripada Sankaracarya explicitly
says, "You fools, just worship Govinda and that Bhagavad-gita
spoken by Narayana Himself," yet foolish people still conduct
their research work to find out Narayana; consequently they are
wretched, and they waste their time for nothing. Narayana is
never wretched nor daridra; rather, He is worshiped by the
goddess of fortune, Laksmi, as well as by all living entities.
Sankara declared himself to be "Brahman," but he admits Narayana,
or Krsna, to be the Supreme Personality who is beyond the
material creation. He offers his respects to Krsna as the
Supreme Brahman, or Parabrahman, because He (Krsna) is
worshipable by everyone. Only the fools and enemies of Krsna,
who cannot understand what the Bhagavad-gita is (though they
make commentaries on it), say, "It is not the personal Krsna to
whom we have to surrender ourselves utterly, but the unborn,
beginningless Eternal who speaks through Krsna." Fools rush in
where angels fear to tread. Whereas Sankara, the greatest of the
impersonalists, offers his due respects to Krsna and His book
the Bhagavad-gita, the foolish say that "we need not surrender
to the personal Krsna." Such unenlightened people do not know
that Krsna is absolute and that there is no difference between
His inside and outside. The difference of inside and outside is
experienced in the dual, material world. In the absolute world
there is no such difference, because in the absolute everything
is spiritual (sac-cid-ananda), and Narayana, or Krsna, belongs
to the absolute world. In the absolute world there is only the
factual personality, and there is no distinction between body
and soul.
--4--
The
Upanisads
Are as a herd of cows, Lord Krsna, son of a cowherd, Is their milker, Arjuna is the calf, The supreme nectar of the Gita Is the milk, And the wise man Of purified intellect Is the drinker.
Purport
Unless one understands spiritual
variegatedness, one cannot understand the transcendental
pastimes of the Lord. In the Brahma-samhita it is said that
Krsna's name, form, quality, pastimes, entourage, and
paraphernalia are all ananda-cinmaya-rasa--in short, everything
of His transcendental association is of the same composition of
spiritual bliss, knowledge, and eternity. There is no end to His
name, form, etc., unlike in the material world, where all things
have their end. As stated in the Bhagavad-gita, only fools
deride Him; whereas it is Sankara, the greatest impersonalist,
who worships Him, His cows, and His pastimes as the son of
Vasudeva and pleasure of Devaki.
--5--
Thou son of
Vasudeva,
Destroyer of the demons Kamsa and Canura, Thou supreme bliss of Mother Devaki, O Thou, guru of the universe, Teacher of the worlds, Thee, O Krsna, I salute.
Purport
Sankara describes Him as the son
of Vasudeva and Devaki. Does he mean thereby that he is
worshiping an ordinary, material man? He worships Krsna because
he knows that Krsna's birth and activities are all supernatural.
As stated in the Bhagavad-gita (4.9), Krsna's birth and
activities are mysterious and transcendental, and therefore only
the devotees of Krsna can know them perfectly. Sankara was not
such a fool that he would accept Krsna as an ordinary man and at
the same time offer Him all devotional obeisances, knowing Him
as the son of Devaki and Vasudeva. According to the
Bhagavad-gita, only by knowing the transcendental birth and
activities of Krsna can one attain liberation by acquiring a
spiritual form like Krsna's. There are five different kinds of
liberation. One who merges into the spiritual auras of Krsna,
known as the impersonal Brahman effulgence, does not fully
develop his spiritual body. But one who fully develops his
spiritual existence becomes an associate of Narayana or Krsna in
different spiritual abodes. One who enters into the abode of
Narayana develops a spiritual form exactly like Narayana's
(four-handed), and one who enters into the highest spiritual
abode of Krsna, known as Goloka Vrndavana, develops a spiritual
form of two hands like Krsna's. Sankara, as an incarnation of
Lord Siva, knows all these spiritual existences, but he did not
disclose them to his then Buddhist followers because it was
impossible for them to know about the spiritual world. Lord
Buddha preached that void is the ultimate goal, so how could his
followers understand spiritual variegatedness? Therefore Sankara
said, brahma satyam jagan mithya, or, material variegatedness is
false but spiritual variegatedness is fact. In the Padma Purana
Lord Siva has admitted that he had to preach the philosophy of
maya, or illusion, in the Kali-yuga as another edition of the
"void" philosophy of Buddha. He had to do this by the order of
the Lord for specific reasons. He disclosed his real mind,
however, by recommending that people worship Krsna, for no one
can be saved simply by mental speculations composed of word
jugglery and grammatical maneuvers. Sankara further instructs:
bhaja govindam
bhaja govindam
bhaja govindam mudha-mate samprapte sannihite kale na hi na hi raksati dukrn-karane
"You intellectual fools, just
worship Govinda, just worship Govinda, just worship Govinda.
Your grammatical knowledge and word jugglery will not save you
at the time of death."
--6--
Of that
terrifying river
Of the battlefield of Kuruksetra Over which the Pandavas victoriously crossed, Bhisma and Drona were as the high banks, Jayadratha as the river's water, The King of Gandhara the blue water-lily, Salya the shark, Krpa the current, Karna the mighty waves, Asvatthama and Vikarna the dread alligators, And Duryodhana the very whirlpool-- But Thou, O Krsna, wast the ferryman!
--7--
May the spotless lotus of
the Mahabharata
That grows on the waters Of the words of Vyasa And of which the Bhagavad-gita Is the irresistibly sweet fragrance And its tales of heroes The full-blown petals Fully opened by the talk of Lord Hari, Who destroys the sins Of Kali-yuga, And on which daily light The nectar-seeking souls, As so many bees Swarming joyously-- May this lotus of the Mahabharata Bestow on us the highest good.
--8--
Salutations to
Lord Krsna
The embodiment of supreme bliss, By whose grace and compassion The dumb become eloquent And the lame scale mountains-- Him I salute!
Purport
Foolish followers of foolish
speculators cannot understand the meaning of offering
salutations to Lord Krsna, the embodiment of bliss. Sankara
himself offered his salutations to Lord Krsna so that some of
his intelligent followers might understand the real fact by the
example set by their great master, Sankara, the incarnation of
Lord Siva. But there are many obstinate followers of Sankara who
refuse to offer their salutations to Lord Krsna and instead
mislead innocent persons by injecting materialism into the
Bhagavad-gita and confusing innocent readers by their
commentaries, and consequently the readers never have the
opportunity to become blessed by offering salutations to Lord
Krsna, the cause of all causes. The greatest disservice to
humanity is to keep mankind in darkness about the science of
Krsna, or Krsna consciousness, by distorting the sense of the
Gita.
--9--
Salutations to that
supreme shining one
Whom the creator Brahma, Varuna, Indra, Rudra, Marut, and all divine beings Praise with hymns, Whose glories are sung By the verses of the Vedas, Of whom the singers of Sama sing And of whose glories the Upanisads Proclaim in full choir, Whom the yogis see With their minds absorbed In perfect meditation, And of whom all the hosts Of gods and demons Know not the limitations. To Him, the Supreme God, Krsna, be all salutations-- Him we salute! Him we salute! Him we salute!
Purport
By recitation of the ninth verse
of his meditation, quoted from the Srimad-Bhagavatam, Sankara
has indicated that Lord Krsna is worshipable by one and all,
including himself. He gives hints to materialists,
impersonalists, mental speculators, "void" philosophers, and all
other candidates subjected to the punishment of material
miseries--just offer salutations to Lord Krsna, who is worshiped
by Brahma, Siva, Varuna, Indra, and all other demigods. He has
not mentioned, however, the name of Visnu, because Visnu is
identical with Krsna. The Vedas and the Upanisads are meant for
understanding the process by which one can surrender unto Krsna.
The yogis try to see Him (Krsna) within themselves by
meditation. In other words, it is for all the demigods and
demons who do not know where the ultimate end is that Sankara
teaches, and he especially instructs the demons and the fools to
offer salutations to Krsna and His words, the Bhagavad-gita, by
following in his footsteps. Only by such acts will the demons be
benefited, not by misleading their innocent followers by
so-called mental speculations or show-bottle meditations.
Sankara directly offers salutations to Krsna, as if to show the
fools, who are searching after light, that here ls light like
the sun. But the fallen demons are like owls that will not open
their eyes on account of their fear of the sunlight itself.
These owls will never open their eyes to see the sublime light
of Krsna and His words the Bhagavad-gita. They will, however,
comment on the Gita with their closed owl-eyes to mislead their
unfortunate readers and followers. Sankara, however, discloses
the light to his less intelligent followers and shows that the
Bhagavad-gita and Krsna are the only source of light. This is
all to teach the sincere seekers of truth to offer salutation to
Lord Krsna and thus surrender unto Him without misgivings. That
is the highest perfection of life, and that is the highest
teaching of Sankara, the great learned scholar whose teachings
drove the voidist philosophy of Buddha out of India, the land of
knowledge. Om tat sat.
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