Author: Purushottam Nitai Das

Gita has in total 18 chapters. Bhakti yoga which is the highest among all the yogas is explained from 7^th to 12^thchapters.  7^th Chapter is called “Knowledge of the Absolute”, here one gets to know about Krishna and his all the opulence which qualifies him as the Supreme God. Knowing Krishna is simple but it is not easy to be always simple. Only a genuine humble person who is free from ego and has a desire to think beyond this material world will actually inquire about the ultimate truth and will endeavour in that direction. One can be a great scholar, philosopher and even religionist but still they won’t be able to understand God. They may use many lofty arguments, word jugglery and mental speculation but they will always be bereft of love of God unless they give up their desire to separately enjoy this world. They may also read Gita umpteen number of times and also write their own commentary but in spite of these they will not know the goal of Gita which is to surrender to Krishna.

Chapter 7 gives us information about Krishna. The below acronym (HEAD) best describe this chapter:

• H: Hear about Krishna and his energies.
• E: How to see him Everywhere
• A: Who Accept Krishna and who Reject Him?
• D: Who are Demigods and how all the demigods are subordinate to Krishna.

Senses always crave for our attention. The more we satisfy their whimsical demands more they become demanding and if we fail to satisfy them then they start creating tantrums like a spoiled brat.  People who become slave of their senses constantly remain disturbed, confused and at war with themselves. Frequently being tortured by the senses people are not able to achieve anything substantial in their life.  Their time and energy goes in just confronting the senses.

More than the drops of the water in all the oceans we might have committed sins in our past lives and also in our present life. Many protests saying that why are we being punished for our sins which we do not even remember. True, due to our limited and tiny senses and mind we tend to forget most of the things which we do in our life. A child may not remember his childhood but his father knows every detail about his child’s activities. Similarly the Supreme Lord is totally cognizant about our previous activities. It is not that he simply keeps on punishing us. In fact he is unwilling to see us suffer. Whatever token punishment comes in our life is just to remind us that we reap what we sow and so we should be extra cautious about our actions.  

So if we have been put into difficulty due to our past misdeeds then we should not be morose. There is a way to get out of all the unpalatable situations. We just have to take shelter of the Supreme and benevolent God. He will purify us and we then can have a peaceful, dignified and secure life.

One arrogant scientist challenged God, “I can do whatever you can do.” So, God created seeds and from that seed came out a beautiful flower bearing plant.  Now the scientist’s turn came. He bent down and picked mud from the earth. God immediately said, “Stop. First create your own earth!”

Today also there are many scientists, engineers and doctors who are highly successful in their fields and also believe in God. So let us not get influenced by the confused atheists but use our rational mind to know God, the amazing creator.

Whimsical living is just like being a two-legged animal. The purpose of our life is to cleanse our hearts and mind of all the impurities and develop deep affection for God. Achieving love of God is difficult but not impossible. Every day we have to endeavour for it. When we chant the holy names of the lord on beads then each bead can become a stepping stone to reach Krishna.

However if we just hold the bead in our hand, utter the names of the Lord mechanically and in the mind continue thinking non devotional or anti devotional things then we may not get all the benefits or may be any of the benefits of chanting (or mantra meditation). Chanting is the most important activity of devotional life. We need to be extremely cautious and careful during mantra mediation.

Rupa Goswami wished to have millions of tongues and ears so that he can chant millions of times the Hare Krishna Mahamantra and continuously taste the nectarine words of Krishna through his ears. Right now we may not have any such desire and devotion. But following the footsteps of this venerable sage we can at least use our one single tongue to reverentially chant Krishna’s sweet names. It is for our own benefit.

Animals can’t chant. They don’t know to chant. They don’t even bother to chant. They enjoy gormandizing on foods or running after opposite sex or sleeping naked on the road or in the jungles. If like animals we too are also always preoccupied with eating, sleeping, mating and defending then we do not have any right to call ourselves as humans.

As humans our most important duty is to behave like humans and endeavour hard to get out of this material world and return back to the spiritual abode. Chanting will help us to achieve that supreme destination. So we need to chant seriously and sincerely.

When hungry a child not only cries but tries to put anything and everything in his tiny little mouth. Once fed, he becomes quiet and either peacefully plays or simply sleeps. Our hungry heart also always create tantrum like a child. A mother is aware of her child’s wants but we are unaware about our heart’s needs.  Being constantly starved our heart soon makes our life miserable. And we anxiously search for the elixir to calm the angry heart. But none of our attempts completely succeeds.  Our solutions are mostly old fashioned.  We try to stuff it up with lots of money, loads of worldly things and tonnes of pride and prestige.  The carnal pleasure in this world is celebrated and so many go for it thinking it to be the mother of all happiness. These attempts instead of satisfying the heart makes it more agitated. It’s like drinking salty sea water upon being thirsty. Not just the taste is disgusting but it increases our thirst.

Satisfaction and material opulence is not synonymous. Duryodhana is the best case study. He had succeeded in driving out Pandavas, though cunningly, out of the kingdom.  And Pandavas lived frugally in the jungle in huts made of wood and mud but they were peaceful and non- complaining. But Duryodhana in spite of having all the comforts and luxury in his palace was in abject misery and in constant anxiety.  Why? Because his heart was filled with envy, hatred and arrogance. Whilst the Pandavas were happy as love and piety dominated their heart.  Love satisfies our heart and not lust. Satisfaction calms our heart and not material cravings. 

Rupa Goswami and Sananta Goswami voluntarily gave up their high profile job, luxurious house and all the money. Instead they donned tattered clothes, lived under the trees in Vrindavan and begged for living.  But still they were million times more happy and content then the wealthiest person of this world. Why? Because they remained completely absorbed in chanting the holy names of the Lord and sharing the beautiful message of Krishna through words and actions. Material attachment weakens our heart whilst spiritual affection strengthens it.  Great minds in the past and holy scriptures have always spoken about the futility of material cravings. Then why to waste our invaluable life running after worldly things?  Instead let us take a bold decision, step out from the material mindset and look towards Krishna. Our arid heart would soon be over flooded with love and the gate leading to perennial pleasure would wide open.

Lord Jagannath on his way to the chariot

Smt. Mamata Banerjee, West Bengal Chief Minister, at Rath Yatra Pandal

Smt. Mamata Banerjee, Chief Minister of West Bengal performing arati of Lord Jagannath, Lord Baladeva and Subhdra Devi

Lord Jagannath on the majestic chariot

Anger can put our life in danger. It can ruin our career and jeopardise our future. Anger is a negative energy and so wise men since eons have been very vocal about the need of reining on this monster. A person in anger loses his power of discrimination and fails to understand what is right and wrong.  Overpowered by anger he takes irrational decisions which negatively impact his life.  His rashness and rudeness puts off even his near and dear ones. He loses people’s trust, respect of others and finally self respect. Sudden bout of anger is many times sufficient enough to cause considerable damage to one’s life.  An angry man never has any true friend. He neither does good to himself nor to others.

Krishna in Gita 2.63 explains in detail how anger leads to ones ultimate fall down, “From anger, complete delusion arises, and from delusion bewilderment of memory. When memory is bewildered, intelligence is lost, and when intelligence is lost one falls down again into the material pool.”  So next time before given in to anger we should contemplate on Krishna’s words of wisdom for our own benefit.