Link to purport by A C Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada

Transcript of Bhakti-Shastri class on this verse by Chaitanya Charan

So now let us look at Sri Krishna’s answers

Bg 8.3

śrī-bhagavān uvāca

akṣaraṁ brahma paramaṁ
svabhāvo ’dhyātmam ucyate
bhūta-bhāvodbhava-karo
visargaḥ karma-saṁjñitaḥ

Word for word: 

śrī–bhagavān uvāca — the Supreme Personality of Godhead said; akṣaram — indestructible; brahma — Brahman;paramam — transcendental; svabhāvaḥ — eternal nature; adhyātmam — the self; ucyate — is called; bhūta–bhāva–udbhava–karaḥ — producing the material bodies of the living entities; visargaḥ — creation; karma — fruitive activities; saṁjñitaḥ — is called.

Translation: 

The Supreme Personality of Godhead said: The indestructible, transcendental living entity is called Brahman, and his eternal nature is called adhyātma, the self. Action pertaining to the development of the material bodies of the living entities is called karma, or fruitive activities.

 

akṣaraṁ brahma paramaṁ, so this is among most technical and difficult sections of BG specially this terminology which is there and different Acharyas has explained it quite differently and moreover not only it is very brief and the explanation quite diverse of the different Acharyas but along with that this terminology is not referred back anywhere in BG again.

So we have to understand that BG is a transcendental book at the same time it is also very contextually presented, which means it was spoken in a particular culture and at a particular time so certain terms which are used at that particular time are used over there and they are clarified from a devotional perspective. When Arjuna is asking should I practice Gyan Yoga, Karma Yoga, Bhakti Yoga actually Arjuna knows about Karma Yoga, Gyan Yoga, Bhakti yoga and these are seen as various parts and the integrated understanding of these parts are not so readily available. 

So what Krishna offered Arjuna is integrated understanding culminating in a theistic devotional climax so all aspect of Vedic culture unites together to form a coherent whole as the acme as the submit as the pinnacle that is the revelation of the BG.

Now in BG there are many term that is used at that point of time in that way and if those terms are not used repetitively in BG if those terms are not central to overall thought of development of BG and if they are not elaborated upon by Srila Prabhupada much then we will not go into the technical categories of what different Acharya say about these terms because even the scriptural knowledge is oceanic and we should focus on relevance so unless we focus on relevance we will get caught up in nitty-gritty, in technicalities in hair splitting over meaning of different words that we may forget the overall purpose of scriptural study. The purpose of scriptural study like anything else is to help us get attraction for Krishna

dharmaḥ svanuṣṭhitaḥ puṁsāṁ

 viṣvaksena-kathāsu yaḥ

notpādayed yadi ratiṁ

 śrama eva hi kevalam

So we don’t increase our attraction towards Krishna then “śrama eva hi kevalam”.

Now we may wonder is studying BG a waste of time, not at all !!! What we are saying here is we certainly have to study BG, but in BG itself there are so many commentaries available, in the Madhava Sampradaya itself one devotee has got a book on BG which is even bigger than our SB first canto and that big voluminous book is just on chapter 1 and 2 in BG, so it was Sanskrit verse and then Madvachary’s commentary, Madhvacharay has not commented fully as a book on BG but he has given comments on different verses of BG. It was Madhvachary’s commentary and then some other Achary’s commentary then some other Achary’s commnetry and this big book was just two chapters and like that there are 9 books each in two-two chapters and all of this is Sanskrit. So if we wanted to go into technicalities each verse can be elaborated so much. So in this particular study overall understanding is focused, Srila Prabhupada wanted BG to be studied not only in Bhakti Shashtri but also in Bhakti Vaibhav and Bhakti Sarvabhauma. Why is that because BG is not just a foundational book, definitely it is a foundational book but BG is none different from Krishna and Krishna reveals himself more and more as we approach Him properly. As we approach Him more and more He reveals more and more, ye yatha mam prapadyante. So as our overall scriptural understanding will increase our appreciation for BG will also increase. So we will not be going into very much technicalities of BG.

Generally speaking when I (HG CC Pr) speak BG, I focuses on 5 diff points 

  1. Word Explanations if there are some significant words then I explain those words.
  2. Then on scriptural parallels in BG or other books if there are some significant concepts, I will talk about them.
  3. Conceptual Clarification. What is the essential concept talked in BG, that section that verse I will explain that 
  4. Contemporary relevance, how it can be related to today’s world view today’s situation, in global situation 
  5. Personal Application, application in our life 

All verses may not cover all these 

For these reason I will not go how previous acaryas has explained this verse I will just focus on how Srila Prabhupada is explaining it and we will move forward based on that.

How does understanding occurs, understanding occurs when we connect Object (external) to Concepts (internal) through Words (linking)

e.g. a child learn a flying bird parrot and identify the same when taught by his mother.

Link between an object (external objects) and concepts (internal concepts) can be done by words.  Words are tools by which we express thoughts but words are also tool by which we observe and categorise objects and there by we link the two. Here the words have meaning.

kiṁ tad brahma kim adhyātmaṁ
kiṁ karma puruṣottama

What does Brahma refer to. When we say Aham Brahmasi, impersonlist refers to I am Brahma so Vaishanava Acharya refers to this Brahma is not Param Brahma, Param Brahma is supreme Lord and Supreme Lord is transcendental so this is not referring to Param Brahma this is referring to the living entity. So Aham Brahmasi means I am Brahma, I am spirit in quality. That way the word Brahma can have many meaning we all can see multiplicity of meaning of the word atma in 6.5 and 6.6, we referred to how the word atma referred to mind and soul, so let us look at the verses here now, 

Akshram Brahma Parmam 

So Parmam refers to the word transcendental as Srila Prabhupada describes 

The indestructible, transcendental living entity is called Brahman, so Srila Prabhupada is using Brahma to refer to living entity, some other Acharys said Brahma refers to Supreme Lord that is fine we will not go to those translations right now let us focus to the way Srila Prabhupada is explaining to us.

What is the context? BG 7.29 c & d:

te brahma tad viduḥ kṛtsnam
adhyātmaṁ karma cākhilam

So Krishna says those living entities who are mām āśritya yatanti ye (BG 7.29 b), when they take shelter of me because of Jara, Maran, Moksha desire from freedom from old age and death then they attain the spiritual platform they regain their spiritual status as living entities 

akṣaraṁ brahma paramaṁ

So Krishna is saying what is the word Brahma refers to? It refers to the akṣara, so the Jiva is also akṣara ultimately the Jiva is indestructible so as the Supreme Lord is indestructible the Jiva is also indestructible therefore 

akṣaraṁ brahma paramaṁ, then svabhāvo ’dhyātmam ucyate Srila Prabhupada translated Svabhava as eternal nature the eternal nature of the soul is called adhyātma this particular explanation of svabhāva given by Srila Prabhupada refers to spiritual nature normally the word svabhāva is used to refer to material nature in 18.59 and 18.60 Sri Krishna will talk about when He want to urge Arjuna to fight there He uses the word svabhāva, svabhāvo comes many times in BG like Krishna has told Arjuna that you will fight according to your nature svabhāva, helplessly you will fight as you have to act according to your nature there this example is given how svabhāva is used to refer to one’s material nature and material nature is temporary nature, a person may be Kshetriya in this body but if the person acts like a sudra then in next life time the person may be sudra, also the person may be devolve to non human species also but the point is our Svabhava our material nature is temporary it is not eternal so Srila Prabhupada refers to here as eternal nature that is what I am saying here that words can have multiple meanings so Savbhava can refer to material nature Svabhava can refer to spiritual nature, now Prabhupada gives rational for giving word Brahma as living entity he says in Vedic entity living entity is called Jiva Atma and Brahman but he is never called Para-Brahman the Para-Brahman is used for Supreme Lord. So we will see response to Chatur Sloki BG in 10.12 after Krishna speak to Chatur Sloki BG from 10.8 to 10.11, Param-Brahma, Param Dhama, Arjuna refers to Krishna as Param Brahma,    

The point which is made here is bhūta-bhāvo ’dhyātmam ucyate so nature is Savabhava when Savabhava can refer to our nature in spiritual world, where all of us have our Savabhava. In the material world it refers to our condition nature, so Savabhava can have both meaning so ’dhyātmam karma chakhilam so in 17.29 they know everything about transcendental activities, when spiritual svabhava will be revealed from within then they will be able to serve whole heartedly so bhūta-bhāvodbhava-karo, bhūta-bhāva + Udbhava, Udbhava is creation, production Karo, so bhūta is material body bhāva Udbhava that which leads to production in material body, visargaḥ karma-saṁjñitaḥ, What is Karma, karma as Srila Prabuphada translated very consciously and preciously Action pertaining to the development of the material bodies of the living entities is called karma, or fruitive activities. 

So bhūta-bhāvodbhava-karo, action pertaining to the development so what is the development bhūta-bhāvodbhava-karo of the material bodies is called Karma, so here Karma is used to refer in generic way, earlier we have discussed how the word Karma has multiple meanings, Karma can mean action, Karma can mean reaction, Karma can mean the system of action and reaction and Karma can mean one particular category with the system of action and reaction, Karma, Vikarma and Akarma, so Karma can refer to the Punya Karma that we do. Sukarma.

So here Karma is described as activity that lead to production of material body so it can be Punya Karma or Papa Karma both so this Karma is contrasted with Akarma, so when we do Akarma and we render devotional service to Krishna and that time we are not doing anything which lead to production of further material body, in fact this is the reason given by Rishav Dev to His sons in SB 5.5.4 nūnaṁ pramattaḥ…do not engage in sense gratification why? Because if you engage in sense gratification then asann api kleśada āsa dehaḥ you already got a body which is temporary and it is kleśada it gives misery also, so a temporary and miserable body which you already got, if you get that body again then how have we acted intelligently if somebody ride a bike leaving both the hands and met with terrible accident and got fractures and when he becomes alright does the same thing again and again, gets the same accident, so if someone does something in the past which lead to suffering then what is the point in doing it again, so like that Ṛṣabhadeva is saying what is the point in acting in the same way again, don’t act similarly so avoid this and by this way you will become free from bondage don’t get another body so here the Karma leads to activity which leads to production of another body so now here Srila Prabhupada explains the vedic sacrificial process, 

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SP Purport: The Chāndogya Upaniṣad describes the Vedic sacrificial process. On the sacrificial altar, five kinds of offerings are made into five kinds of fire. The five kinds of fire are conceived of as the heavenly planets, clouds, the earth, man and woman, and the five kinds of sacrificial offerings are faith, the enjoyer on the moon, rain, grains and semen.

In the process of sacrifice, the living entity makes specific sacrifices to attain specific heavenly planets and consequently reaches them. When the merit of sacrifice is exhausted, the living entity descends to earth in the form of rain, then takes on the form of grains, and the grains are eaten by man and transformed into semen, which impregnates a woman, and thus the living entity once again attains the human form to perform sacrifice and so repeat the same cycle. In this way, the living entity perpetually comes and goes on the material path. The Kṛṣṇa conscious person, however, avoids such sacrifices. He takes directly to Kṛṣṇa consciousness and thereby prepares himself to return to Godhead.

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Upanishad often talk things metaphorically, we have discussed the literal meaning of sacrifice and sacrifice in principal so sacrifice would literally mean you light a fire and then you do a Yajna and you physically put things like ghee, grains etc. that is sacrifice that is also an important act practiced in Vedic culture but Sri Krishan has explained that sacrifice is not just an action but also principle and as a principle sacrifice means that which we could have used for our pleasure we give it up for the sake of the absolute truth or for the sake of Dharma for some higher purpose that is how we discussed that Arjuna’s fighting in the battle was also a sacrifice which Acharyas has explained in 4.24 that how the Kurushetra war field is Yajna Sthali and Arjuna is the person who is doing Yajna and his gandiva is the ladle the spoon through which Ahuti is offered and the Ahuti which is offered is Kauravas, so the whole metaphor is Yajna is not just action but it is principle the principle can be implemented in various ways.

So like that here also a different kinds of sacrifices are mentioned for example if the women is considered to be sacrificial fire then the sacrificial offering will be semen, so even Dharma can be seen in religious term Dharma, Artha and Kama so even Kama what we call as sense gratification that can also be seen in religious term, when it is done in Dharma Virudha Bhutesu Kamosmi as we discussed earlier in 7th Chapter so when a man and women are uniting that time there union is also a form of Yajna similarly it is said that men is sacrifice and grians are Yajna that means when we are eating food we are actually doing Yajna  how is that actually the body is ultimately made for the service of the Lord so when we restrict our eating to Prasad then what we are eating is going to contribute to the service of the Lord, it will give body the energy which is used for the service of the Lord, so that is also sacrifice. Once Srila Prabhupada was asked, there are so many living entities in the stomach like germs and warms so when you take Prasad what happened to those living entities, Srila Prabhupada said they also get benefited as they are coming in contact with Sri Krishna’s remnants as Prasad so Prabhupada said actually when you take Prasad you are doing social service. We are doing service for all the living entities in the stomach of course that is not the only way to do social service. You should not think that I will just take prasad and not do any other social service, no Brahmana is not only to take food but meant to speak about Krishna and share spiritual wisdom and help others so similarly here with different kinds of sacrifices, the earth is the sacrifice and the rain is the offering so earth is Bhumi devi she is the concert of the Lord with rain falls on the earth rain is like the sacrificial offering and Yajna Sthali in which it is offered is the earth, similarly there are others also, somebody wants to go to heavenly planets that time the faith with which we are doing sacrifice is sacrificial offering.

Now process of reincarnation or transmigration can happen in various ways so in Chāndogya Upaniṣad  one particular process is described, in Bhagavatam another process is described we have to understand that post mortem journey and destination of the soul is not necessarily an assembly line process where everything is stereotyped, no there will be individualisation customisation depending on every living entitie’s Karma so in case of some living entity, things may happen in a particular way in other living entity it happens in a different way so here Srila Prabhupada has explained on a particular process 

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SP Purport: 

In the process of sacrifice, the living entity makes specific sacrifices to attain specific heavenly planets and consequently reaches them. When the merit of sacrifice is exhausted, the living entity descends to earth in the form of rain, then takes on the form of grains, and the grains are eaten by man and transformed into semen, which impregnates a woman, and thus the living entity once again attains the human form to perform sacrifice and so repeat the same cycle.

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So actually speaking the process of how on gets material body that is described.

So here visargaḥ karma-saṁjñitaḥ, 

So Prabhupada giving one example from Chāndogya Upaniṣad how transgression might be happening. 

When living entity does Karma Kanda the furtive activity for the sake of haven and then coming back to the earth, the living entity may not want to come back to earth but that will happen eventually so that is one way in which karma can happen. Other ways also karma happens whatever we do that leads to production of new bodies.

So now Sri Krishna will describes the other terms

End of transcription.