The 21 essential conclusions of the Bhagavad-gītā
Śrīla Prabhupāda explains the five truths of the Gītā and their ramifications in his introduction to the Bhagavad-gītā As It Is. Here I break down these essential conclusions.
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The 21 conclusions of the Bhagavad-gītā
Śrīla Prabhupāda explains these five truths and their ramifications in his introduction to the Bhagavad-gītā As It Is, exploring them throughout most of the text. To make his explanation easier to understand, I’m breaking it down into conclusions we can study one by one. All these topics are explored by him in the original text; here I just try to make it easier to understand:
a) The Supreme Controller.
Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Controller, and we are all dependent on Him. Pure souls are controlled by His spiritual energy in a bond of love, just like a child is controlled by his parents or a lover by the beloved, while we, in this material world, are controlled by universal laws such as the law of karma. In either case, no one can claim to be independent. As parts and parcels of Kṛṣṇa, we are meant to serve the whole, just as the hand serves the body. When we operate inside this constitutional position, we are happy in association with Kṛṣṇa. This supreme secret is the process of loving devotional service described in the Bhagavad-gītā.
b) Simultaneously equal and different.
We are like Kṛṣṇa in terms of quality, and in our pure state, we share most of His transcendental qualities, such as eternity, knowledge, and bliss. The difference is that Kṛṣṇa is very big, and we are very small, like a fragment of gold compared with a gold mine or a drop of water compared with the entire ocean. Being infinitesimal, we are susceptible to the covering of the material energy. When this happens, these qualities are covered, and we become immersed in lamentation. By practicing the linking process of Kṛṣṇa consciousness, we can reconnect with our eternal spiritual nature.
c) Subordinate controller.
Due to this simultaneous oneness and difference, we possess the qualities of Kṛṣṇa in a minute quantity, and thus, we are also controllers, although on a much smaller scale. Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Īśvara, the Supreme Controller, and we are smaller controllers. Kṛṣṇa can create and control innumerable universes, while we can, at best, control a small family or business. Our tendency to control exists because it is originally present in Kṛṣṇa, but we must accept that we are subordinate to Him and cooperate in His transcendental plan. The process of cooperating with Kṛṣṇa, dedicating our activities to Him, is called karma-yoga, and it is one of the main topics of the Bhagavad-gītā, teaching us to become free from the negative effects of karma and achieve freedom from material entanglement.
d) The dependent material nature.
The material nature, including all the mechanisms responsible for the creation and operation of the material universes, acts under the direction of Kṛṣṇa. He controls everything and is present everywhere, but at the same time, He does not get in contact with the material energy or the material world, remaining aloof in His eternal spiritual nature. This is another of His transcendental opulences. Although He creates and maintains the material universes, He doesn’t become entrapped here like us. Because He remains free, He can help us to also become free.
e) Inferior and superior energies.
Both the material nature and we, the living souls, are part of the energy of the Lord, described as prakṛti. However, we are not the same as matter. The material energy is part of the inferior or external potency, while we, the souls, are part of the superior spiritual potency. We are thus different from matter, and in essence, we have no relationship with it. It’s only due to illusion and forgetfulness of our true spiritual nature that we can accept material bodies and remain in this world in the process of saṃsāra, life after life. When we finally realize our original transcendental position, we become free.
f) The three modes of material nature, time, and activities.
Material nature has three qualities: the modes of goodness, passion, and ignorance, which influence us in different ways. The mode of goodness, or sattva-guna, pulls us in the direction of a pious life, knowledge, peace, self-satisfaction, etc. The mode of passion, raja-guna, pulls us in the direction of material activity, anxiety, hankering, and material desires, while ignorance, or tama-guna, pulls us in the direction of laziness, addiction, and degradation. We can feel the push of these three modes all the time, and as we choose between them in every action, we fall more strongly under the grip of one or two of them. Most of us nowadays are firmly under the influence of passion and ignorance. Much of the Bhagavad-gītā is dedicated to helping us to ascend into goodness, where we have more facility to develop our self-realization.
All material activities (karma) are executed under the limits of time. As we can imagine, there is no scope for executing material activities outside of time. The three modes of material nature also act under the limits of time. In fact, everything material exists under the constraints of material time, or eternal time, which is divided into past, present, and future and makes everything move. Because of the influence of time, everything in this material world has a beginning and an end, and therefore, nothing is eternal.
Outside and above this material world, however, there is a transcendental world that is eternal and imperishable. There, nothing has a beginning, and consequently, nothing has an end. There, time acts differently, in the form of an eternal present. As souls, we are part of this transcendental world, and thus we also have no beginning and no end, as Kṛṣṇa explains in the second chapter of the Gītā.
g) Who is eternal?
Everything that is spiritual is eternal. This includes the Supreme Lord and all of us, the spirit souls, as well as material time and the material nature itself. It may sound strange that the material nature is defined as eternal since the material universe and everything that exists around us is temporary, but this highlights another delicate concept explained in the Bhagavad-gītā: everything that exists is part of the Lord, and therefore everything is ultimately spiritual and eternal, being part of His different energies. Kṛṣṇa has many distinct potencies, and they act in different ways, but ultimately they are all spiritual and eternal, just like Kṛṣṇa is. In this way, both time and the material energy are eternal as energies, but the interaction between them (the material manifestation) is temporary.
h) What is temporary?
The material manifestation is temporary, being repeatedly created and destroyed in an unlimited sequence of cosmic cycles. Since the universe itself is temporary, everything that exists in this world is also temporary and thus illusory in nature. As eternal souls, we desire a permanent situation, but we can’t find it in this material world. Becoming attached to temporary things and transitory situations, we suffer when they come to an end.
All the activities we perform in this world (karma) bring back results that we enjoy or suffer in our next lives. All this accumulated karma produces different material bodies, one after the other, keeping us bound to the wheel of saṃsāra. Karma, however, is not eternal. It has been going on for such a long time that it’s not possible to trace its beginning, but it can be changed when we come in contact with the mode of goodness, and it ends when we become free from all material contamination.
i) The cosmic manifestation is not false.
Both the material nature and time are described as eternal, being energies of the Lord. However, the cosmic manifestation created from the molding of the material energy is temporary, with the material universes being repeatedly created and destroyed, in an unlimited sequence of universal cycles. We can say that the energy is eternal, but the cosmic manifestation is temporary, passing through cycles of creation and destruction. However, although the cosmic manifestation is temporary, it is not false, as propagated by the Māyāvādīs. It exists, and we are here.
j) How can it be real if it is temporary?
The reality and temporariness of the cosmic manifestation are compared to a cloud moving in the sky. The cloud appears, stays for some time, and then disappears. Later, another cloud comes, and so on. The sky is permanent, but the cloud is transitory. However, even though ephemeral, the cloud is not false; it exists, but it exists for just a short period. Similarly, the material energy is eternal and serves as the background for the material manifestation, which repeatedly goes through cycles of creation and destruction.
k) Who is conscious?
Both the Supreme Lord and the eternal souls are conscious. The Lord is supremely conscious, and the jīvas, being parts and parcels of Him, are also conscious. The consciousness of the Lord is unlimited, and therefore He permeates the whole material manifestation as Paramātmā and sees everything. The whole cosmic manifestation is thus just like His gigantic body. In our case, our consciousness is limited, and we are thus conscious of just a single material body. However, as we advance in spiritual practice and become purified, our consciousness expands, and our awareness increases. Just like the level of awareness of an ant is very limited compared to that of a human being, great demigods possess a level of awareness much greater than we do. However, even the demigods are still covered. Only liberated souls manifest full awareness on the spiritual platform. The more we evolve on the spiritual path, the more we reconnect with our original transcendental qualities.
l) Spirit and matter.
Both the soul and matter are defined as prakṛti, the energy of the Supreme Lord. However, matter is not conscious, and it can thus be molded and manipulated by us for our purposes. As long as we try to use matter for our devices, we remain bound by the laws of karma, enjoying or suffering the results of our actions. However, when we use matter for its intended purpose, in the service of Kṛṣṇa, it becomes the source of liberation. Just like electricity can be used to produce both heat and cold, material objects can easily become spiritualized when used in the service of Kṛṣṇa. By using everything for Kṛṣṇa, one can live surrounded by the spiritual potency, even though technically still here.
m) Superior nature.
Because the soul is conscious, the jīva-prakṛti (the energy of the Lord, which includes all the souls) is called superior compared to the material nature. The soul is just like the Lord, but very minute. Just like a drop of the ocean shares the same chemical composition as the great ocean, the individual soul possesses the transcendental qualities of the Lord in minute quantity. However, due to our current material conditioning, these eternal qualities are now covered in us.
n) Eternally different.
The soul and the Lord are similar, but at the same time different. We are similar in the sense of sharing the same spiritual qualities, but at the same time we are eternally separate individuals, just like a father and his son. The son is related to the father, but he is not the same as the father, nor can he merge into him at any stage.
Because the Lord is very big and we are very small, other differences appear. The soul can’t be supremely conscious like the Lord at any stage of perfection. There is always an intrinsic difference between the two at every stage. The soul is conscious of his own body, while the Lord, being present everywhere, is conscious of all bodies. The Lord is infinite, while the soul is infinitesimal, and so on.
o) Eternally conscious.
The theory that consciousness develops under certain circumstances of material combination is not accepted in the Bhagavad-gītā. Both the Lord and the souls are eternally conscious. Consciousness is not created from matter at any stage. All living beings are the combination of a body made from material elements and an eternal soul that brings consciousness to the body. As long as the soul is present, the body is alive, and one is capable of feeling, willing, and so on. However, as soon as the soul departs, the symptoms of life cease, and the body becomes just a corpse. Even an atheist is capable of immediately noticing the difference. A man or woman may be extremely attractive while alive, but as soon as the soul leaves the body, no one will be attracted to it.
p) Perverted by material association.
Although the consciousness of the soul is originally transcendental, it becomes perverted when reflected in matter, just as the light of the sun may become red or blue when reflected on colored objects or passed through colored glass. In this way, the consciousness we have now is very different from our original consciousness, just like that of a person dreaming or in a delirious state. What we consider “us” now is not exactly us but just the result of the reflection of our original consciousness in matter, a delirious consciousness that covers our real self. As we detach ourselves from matter, our original consciousness is gradually awakened, just as a person awakes from a dream.
Just like us, Kṛṣṇa also comes to this planet, just as when He came to speak the Bhagavad-gītā to Arjuna. However, different from us, He is never materially affected. That’s why He is qualified to speak the Bhagavad-gītā and other transcendental texts. A person who is bound by ropes is not capable of freeing others who are also bound. Only someone free can help. If the Lord were captured by the material illusion like us, the Bhagavad-gītā would not have any value as a book of knowledge.
q) Ultimate happiness.
At the present moment, our consciousness is materially contaminated, and the goal is to purify it. When our consciousness is finally purified, our activities can be dovetailed, or connected with the desires of the Lord, bringing us ultimate happiness. This connection with Kṛṣṇa doesn’t imply losing our individuality or spontaneity, but just acting in the way that is natural in this transcendental relationship. A lover is automatically inclined to act according to the desires of the beloved due to the loving relationship between them, and this propensity is what makes their relationship pleasurable.
r) The cooperator.
The living entity is neither the creator nor the enjoyer, but a cooperator. Some say that liberation means to stop all activities, but this is not supported in the Bhagavad-gītā. Instead, the Gītā explains that our activities should be purified and connected with the Lord. Such purified activities are called bhakti. Activities in bhakti appear to be like ordinary activities, but they bring us to the transcendental platform. The difference is not so much in the activity itself but in the consciousness. The same activity of cooking, for example, can be executed both in spiritual and material consciousness. The external activity may look the same, but the result is very different. This secret formula of converting material activity into transcendental activity through a change of consciousness is one of the greatest secrets of the Bhagavad-gītā.
s) The eternal sky and the eternal occupation.
Everything in this material world is created at some point, stays for some time, generates some by-products, and then dwindles and vanishes. Everything that has a beginning and passes through transformations eventually comes to an end. Outside this temporary world, however, there is an eternal, or sanātana, world that is ever-existent. Both the Lord and the jīvas share this same eternal nature, without beginning or end, and without transformation.
Just like there is an eternal world outside this material world, there is an eternal occupation, called sanātana-dharma, beyond all material and temporary occupations. This eternal occupation, or eternal religion, is different from mundane religions, which are part of this material world. One may change from Christianity to Islam, for example, but sanātana-dharma is the eternal characteristic of the soul, which can’t be changed at any stage. This eternal dharma is love and service to Kṛṣṇa.
Even in this material world, everyone serves someone as a mother, father, friend, lover, etc., and we find satisfaction in this service. If a person has no one to serve, he or she gets a dog or a cat. The reason service can’t be avoided is that this is the eternal characteristic of the soul that can’t be suppressed. When this propensity for service is directed toward Kṛṣṇa, real life begins.
The purpose of the Bhagavad-gītā is to revive this eternal occupation, bringing us, eternal souls, back to our original, pure existence in association with the eternal Lord in the eternal spiritual world. This is done by transferring our attention and affection from material objects to the name, form, qualities, pastimes, etc., of Kṛṣṇa. If we constantly think about Kṛṣṇa, we will also think about Him at the time of death, and this remembrance will carry us back home, back to Godhead.
In the Gītā, Kṛṣṇa explains to Arjuna that the best process to attain this consciousness is to continue practicing one’s material occupation and duties (as in the case of Arjuna acting like a kṣatriya and fighting in the battle), but at the same time remember Him and dedicate one’s activities to Him. Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu added the instruction to always chant the names of the Lord. The two instructions are complementary since constantly chanting is the best way to remember. Just as a married woman with a lover performs her household duties very well so as not to be discovered, but at the same time thinks all the time about her lover, the best way to become free from this world is to fulfill our material duties, but at the same time remain focused on Kṛṣṇa in our meditation. By this simple process, we quickly become attached to Kṛṣṇa and detached from this temporary world.
t) The inverted reflection.
In the 15th chapter of the Gītā, the material world is compared to an inverted tree, just as when we see a tree reflected on the opposite side of a lake. This explains this material world as an inverted reflection of the spiritual world. Everything that exists is an inverted reflection of something that exists in the spiritual world, but here, everything is perverted. Love becomes lust, the eternal becomes temporary, etc.
Inside this reflection, we become attached to many different material designations that are connected with the material body. These material designations come from our desire to lord over material nature.
Spiritual realization means detaching ourselves from these temporary designations and reconnecting ourselves with our true nature of service to Kṛṣṇa. The process to achieve that is the process of devotional service described in the Gītā. Activity and desires can’t be given up because these are eternal characteristics of the soul. They can only be redirected. As Prabhupāda explains, if we are not attached to devotional service to the Lord, we cannot become detached from the three material modes. To become fixed in devotional service, however, we need to internally give up the propensity for enjoying this material world. Both things happen simultaneously as part of a single process.
u) Supreme Absolute Truth.
The complete whole consists of the Lord (the supreme controller), the jīvas, or souls, the cosmic manifestation, eternal time, and karma (or activities). All of these taken together form the complete whole, or everything that exists. This complete whole is also called the Supreme Absolute Truth.
The idea of a complete whole composed of everything that exists may give the idea of some impersonal being, like a light or a mass of energy, but the Bhagavad-gītā reveals that this complete whole, the Supreme Absolute Truth, is ultimately a person, the complete Personality of Godhead, Śrī Kṛṣṇa.
As explained in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Kṛṣṇa has multiple aspects. He is simultaneously the Supreme Brahman, the all-pervading light that engulfs everything that exists; the localized Supersoul, who is present in the hearts of everyone and, in fact, everywhere, even inside the atoms; and the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who cultivates personal relationships with His countless devotees both in the spiritual world and here in the material world. The three aspects exist simultaneously, but the personal aspect, or Bhagavān, is supreme because it is the origin of the other two.
The impersonal Brahman is nothing more than the effulgence of the Lord’s body, just like the sunlight is the effulgence that emanates from the sun, and the localized aspect, Paramātmā, is merely His expansion. All manifestations are due to His different energies. He is everything, and there is nothing separate from Him.
It is only due to the influence of material illusion that we see things as separate or independent from Kṛṣṇa. As He declares in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (2.9.34):
“O Brahmā, whatever appears to be of any value, if it is without relation to Me, has no reality. Know it as My illusory energy, that reflection which appears to be in darkness.”
Māyā means to see things as separate from Kṛṣṇa, as objects of our enjoyment. Conversely, spiritual consciousness means to see the same objects as connected with Kṛṣṇa and meant to be used in His service.
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