The four verses of Bhagavad Gita – BG 10.8, BG 10.9, BG 10.10, BG 10.11 – are called catuh – sloki – Bhagavad Gita. Catuh – Sloki – Bhagavad Gita is called the essence of Bhagavad Gita. Because in these four verses Krishna shares the topmost knowledge and also reveals his heart.
Krishna through these verses establishes that:
- He is the Supreme Lord
- His pure devotees are always absorbed in his meditation.
- He shows special mercy to his pure devotees.
- His pure devotees attain him by his mercy.
Taking shelter of Krishna always
In the first verse ofCatuh – Sloki – Bhagavad Gita Krishna says,
“I am the source of all spiritual and material worlds. Everything emanates from Me. The wise who perfectly know this engage in My devotional service and worship Me with all their hearts.” Bhagavad Gita 10.8.
Here Krishna is clearly saying “ahaṁ sarvasya prabhavo,” i.e. “I am the source of all material and spiritual worlds.” This verse makes it clear that Krishna is the Supreme Lord, no one is superior to him. It implies that all the demigods including Lord Shiva and Lord Brahma derive their power from Krishna.
So, in all situations and circumstances we should take shelter of Krishna and not the shelter of demigods. We should have firm faith that if Krishna is pleased then automatically all the demigods will be pleased. So, there is no need for me to separately worship any demigods.
Focusing on śravaṇaṁ, kīrtanaṁ and smaraṇam
In the second verse ofCatuh – Sloki – Bhagavad Gita Krishna says,
“The thoughts of My pure devotees dwell in Me, their lives are fully devoted to My service, and they derive great satisfaction and bliss from always enlightening one another and conversing about Me.” Bhagavad Gita 10.9
Here Krishna is glorifying his devotees. The Lord says that his devotees mind (mat–cittāḥ) are always engaged in him. And their lives (mat–gata–prāṇāḥ) are devoted to him. His devotees derive great pleasure and satisfaction in talking (kathayantaḥ) about him and preaching (bodhayantaḥ) about him.
Everyone wants to be happy in this world. But unfortunately, we look for pleasure in the outside material world. The so-called pleasure which we experience in this world is never going to satiate our hearts. In fact, it always results in frustration. In this verse Krishna is telling us how we can experience unlimited happiness and satisfaction in our life.
So, we should not waste time and energy in searching for happiness in this mortal material world. But we should utilize each and every moment of our life in practicing devotion to Krishna. This is the elixir for all our miseries.
For bliss in our life,
- We should completely absorb ourselves in hearing (śravaṇaṁ) about Krishna
- Chanting (kīrtanaṁ) his holy names and glories
- And should always try to remember (smaraṇam) his wonderful pastimes.
Applying teachings of Bhagavad Gita 10.9
To apply the teachings of Bhagavad Gita 10.9, we should take following practical steps:
- Hearing at least one hour of Krishna conscious lecture daily. We can hear lectures of either Srila Prabhupada, HH Radhanath Swami Maharaj or other senior sannyasis and devotees of Iskcon
- Reading one hour of Srila Prabhupada’s books daily like Bhagavad Gita and Srimad Bhagavatam.
- Memorizing slokas and vaisnava songs so that we can keep on reciting it whenever possible.
- Hearing kirtan or Vaisnav songs while doing office work or household work if the work is not too mentally engaging.
- Preaching the message of Krishna proactively. We should try our best to spread Krishna Conscious movement.
- If possible, writing Krishna Conscious articles regularly. We can try to publish the articles in Iskcon’s official magazine – Back to Godhead. Or we can try to publish it on Iskcon authorized websites like Iskcon News and Dandavats. We can also have our personal blogs where we can post the articles. We can allocate sometime to write the articles. It can be 15 minutes or 30 minutes daily.
Whatever we hear or read or speak, we mostly contemplate upon those subject matters. So if we are properly engaged in śravaṇaṁ and kīrtanaṁ then smaraṇam i.e. remembrance of Krishna will also be taken care.
Our focus should be to deepen our relationship with Krishna by constantly engaging in devotional service.
Endeavoring to attain Krishna’s special mercy
Krishna is our supreme father and more than us, he is eager that we return back to him.
So, in BG 10.10, Krishna says that if someone is constantly devoted (satata–yuktānām) in serving Him then he gives them understanding (buddhi–yogam) to come to him.
“To those who are constantly devoted to serving Me with love, I give the understanding by which they can come to Me.” Bhagavad Gita 10.10.
And in the next verse, BG 10.11, Krishna says that he shows special mercy (anukampā–artham) to his devotees by completely destroying (dispel) devotees’ ignorance with the shining lamp of knowledge (jnana) which is the cause of suffering.
“To show them special mercy, I, dwelling in their hearts, destroy with the shining lamp of knowledge the darkness born of ignorance.” Bhagavad Gita 10.11
We suffer in this world because of ignorance. And in ignorance we take decisions which becomes the cause of more suffering. Lust, greed and anger contaminates our intelligence and knowledge. And under the influence of these anarthas(vices) we take decisions. Such decisions instead of bringing bliss in our life makes us more miserable.
Suffice to say in our conditioned state we do not know what is right and what is wrong for us.
But if we are devoted to Krishna then the Supreme Lord who is our supreme father guides us towards the right path. That path is the path of peace and joy. This helps us to live happily in this world. And Krishna even gives us intelligence by which we can ultimately attain him. This is Krishna’s special mercy.
Applying teachings of Bhagavad Gita 10.10 & 10.11
If we want to attain Krishna’s mercy, then we should apply the teachings of BG 10.10 and BG 10.11 in our personal lives in following ways:
- We should be more sincere in our devotional life and get actively engaged in Krishna conscious activities.
- We should understand that our knowledge & intelligence is currently impure. So before taking any decision we should pray to Krishna for right guidance.
- Along with that we should also see that the decisions which we are taking is in line with guru, sadhu and sastra.
- Also before taking any decision, we should discuss with senior devotees. This will always help us to make right decisions which will be pleasing to Krishna.
These are the practical ways to apply the teachings of Catuh – Sloki – Bhagavad Gita. If we succeed in doing so, we will attain the mercy of Krishna.
