In this class Acaryadeva is elaborating on the 11th chapter of the Gita after Krsna displayed His universal form to Arjuna. He makes the point how everything in this age is reduced to its psychological effect and how the Gita is misunderstood by many people. In the question- and answer session he is defeating impersonalistic and atheistic arguments.
Part 1
Part 2
ma te vyatha ma ca vimudha-bhavo
drstva rupam ghoram idrn mamedam
vyapeta-bhih prita-manah punas tvam
tad eva me rupam idam prapasya
Bg 11.49
TRANSLATION
You have been perturbed and bewildered by seeing this horrible feature of Mine. Now let it be finished. My devotee, be free again from all disturbances. With a peaceful mind you can now see the form you desire.
from the lecture:
After Arjuna saw the universal form and was overwhelmed by seeing it Krsna is reassuring him. All of us are disturbed or frightened in this world. Krsna is speaking here to all of us: Don’t be troubled. We are eternal, and yet we are in a temporary atmosphere. The nature of this world is to make us disturbed. Krsna is infinitely compassionate and yet there is so much trouble in this world. Krsna points out that there is a higher reality.
Everything in this world is going to disappoint us sooner or later. We are bouncing back and forth from the realities. Krsna wants us to remember who we really are.
Life is so accelerated and agitated that it is almost physiologically impossible to think deeply. This is one of the most thoughtless ages in human history. We have a pseudo-philosophical language which is almost solipsistic.
Solipsism: Everyone is trapped in their own mind, all we really know is what the mind is telling us. That is not such a great philosophical idea, i.e. if I see a green traffic light, why does everybody else stop when I do? However, this philosophy is still relevant, because there are solipsistic ways of talking nowadays: If Krsna is your God and if that works for you (psychologically), then this is your reality. Everyone is allowed to elect their own God. Everything is reduced to psychology. What really exits doesn’t matter, since this is a democratic age. Therefore we can only judge the psychological efficacy. If you have a particular idea, then it is true for you if it has a positive psychological effect. All we can say is that they are self-medicating. Whether these ideas really correspond to something which exists out there we cannot really say and who cares anyway? People don’t have the intellectual maturity to transcend their own social and political system.
There are many misconceptions about the Gita. One in East and West is that the highest revelation is the cosmic form, the visva-rupa. That is not the case. It was only shown as a display of Krsna’s power. After this display Krsna showed Arjuna again His very own form.
It is in relation to Krsna that the soul functions in its proper state. After seeing the visva-rupa Arjuna is thrilled, but also bewildered and disoriented. The soul comes into its proper states and then it relates perfectly with Krsna Himself, not with the visva-rupa. We understand ourselves in relationship to others (family, country). In relationship to God we understand who we really are. We are really only part of God.
Bhagvad-gita was a revolutionary break-through in Vedic civilization. Krsna says that He comes to deliver the good people, remove the evil-doers and to fully establish dharma. If you read Mahabharata everyone thinks that the civilization depicted is super Vedic. The varnas and asrams were intact at that time. Our whole conception of Vedic culture comes from reading these books. Yet, Krsna says kaleneha yogo nastah parantapa. Through maha-kala, great time, this spiritual science is lost. Krsna says that the very same spiritual science that He gave Visvasvat, He is now speaking again to Arjuna. Why to a military person? Because he is a bhakta and Krsna’s friend. Krsna says: You cannot know me by the Vedas.
naham vedair na tapasa
na danena na cejyaya
sakya evam-vidho drastum
drstavan asi mam yatha
"This form which you are seeing with your transcendental eyes cannot be understood simply by studying the Vedas, nor by undergoing serious penances, nor by charity, nor by worship. It is not by these means that you can see Me as I am." (Bg. 11.53)
Krsna concludes that He can only be seen and known by pure devotion. It is amazing that people read BG and don’t get it. This proves the point that you need a guru.
Q & A:
There is a popular idea that God is something else than Krsna and He just comes in His Krsna-uniform. However, that is not supported in the scriptures. Krsna says “I am the source of everything.”
- - “Acintya” doesn’t mean unknowable, it means it has to be revealed because we cannot figure it out with our own mind.
- - We are all more or less psychologically self-centered, which is a gross illusion. If we embrace Krsna in our heart we get de-centered, and that is what most people don’t want: to make someone else the center of your life – even if it is God.
- - Sa karya: The cause is present in the effect: We have this universe which is intensely personal and artistic, filled with personal consciousness. How would we get from this to something impersonal? If originally there is some infinite consciousness, brahman, why create a universe at all? How can something impersonal have will? How could we have a universe which perceives and reciprocates wit our personal intentions and activities (law of karma), if it was impersonal?
- - If people see something through their own vision and filter (culture, etc.), does that mean it doesn’t exist? If something didn’t exist, would people throughout history think it existed and devote themselves to it? I find this psychological vision of religion extremely naïve.
- - If I am God, why am I suffering now? Why am I in this embarrassing situation?
- - It is a very common idea to think that God has humanlike form is naïve and projecting. The problem is taking human bodies to be the paradigmatic instance of a humanlike body, analogizing God to a human being - instead of understanding that it is only our self-centeredness that leads us to think that our bodies are the original bodies.
- Ontologically even though we are individuals we are one with everybody else. In a healthy loving relationship there is a balance between individuality and unity. This is the nature of all cognition and ontology: bhedabheda. It is the variety which creates beauty and enjoyment.
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