Link to purport by A C Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada

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

We will continue the glory of DS and recap these verses to look at how Krishna is glorifying Bhakti in different ways in this chapter 

Bg 9.29

samo ’haṁ sarva-bhūteṣu
na me dveṣyo ’sti na priyaḥ
ye bhajanti tu māṁ bhaktyā
mayi te teṣu cāpy aham

Word for word: 

samaḥ — equally disposed; aham — I; sarva–bhūteṣu — to all living entities; na — no one; me — to Me;dveṣyaḥ — hateful; asti — is; na — nor; priyaḥ — dear; ye — those who; bhajanti — render transcendental service; tu — but; mām — unto Me; bhaktyā — in devotion; mayi — are in Me; te — such persons; teṣu — in them; ca — also; api — certainly; aham — I.

Translation: 

I envy no one, nor am I partial to anyone. I am equal to all. But whoever renders service unto Me in devotion is a friend, is in Me, and I am also a friend to him.

 

Last section of 9th chapter Krishna talks about His glory how He is the controller of the material world, then He moves on to focusing on Kevala Bhakti, pure devotional service, and He talks about different people how they understand Him differently and what are the consequences of different kinds of understandings, then Krishna talks about primarily pure devotional service that is what Krishna focuses in this section from 9.29 to 9.34. 

But before that let us see the thoughts which are going on and how it is leading to Kevala Bhakti:

Flow from 20 to 24

20 –Demigod worshipers also worship me

21 –Dgw (demigod worshipers) fall down and lose whatever they have gained

22 –Those who worship me without distraction never lose anything

Q: Why this difference when demigod worshipers are also worshiping you?

23 – demigod worshipers worship me but in an unauthorized way (What is unauthorized?)

24 –They don’t know me as the supreme yajna bhotka and prabhu

25 –Different worshipers will get different destinations

 

Now we see that Srila Prabhupada in ISKCON in general has not encouraged demigod worship even though Rupa Goswami says that a Bhakta can do Ganesh Puja, Srila Prabhupada translated that in his NOD also, but when a devotee ask Srila Prabhupada can we do Ganesh Puja, Srila Prabhupada said yes if every month you give me huge amount something like that Srila Prabhupada said, the point is Srila Prabhupada did not want that sort of contamination to come in, so if we look over the centuries we see different conceptions or different attitudes towards demigod worship, so let us look at it and let us try to understand the context:

Changing historical attitudes towards demigod worship among devotees

Mahabharata –Ok, because karma kanda is the focus of the book eg. Drupada worships Shiva (to get Draupadi and Dhristadumna as children), Arjuna worships Devi (Arjuna didn’t worship devatas as supreme lord but he pleased them to get weapons) (Before Kurushetra war starts Krishna tells Arjuna to take blessings from Devi as she is in charge of this material world and with her blessings you will attain success, so Arjuna gets off his chariot and praise to Devi and when Devi appears what happens Devi appears and said you victory is guaranteed because Keshava is with you, where He is there is victory because He is lord of Goddess of Fortune)

So why is this kind of demigod worship is talked about in the scripture, it is not that Demigod worship is sinful or it is wrong the point is every book has a particular focus so the focus of Mahabharata is Karma Kanda, although it also talks about pure devotional service but that is not its focus of course the Lord and His pure devotees interactions are there but overall it is not the tone of the book, therefore in Karma Kanda worship of Demigod is talked about and that is why it is included in Mahabharata.

Now moving from 5000 years to 1000 years back

Ramanujacharya-No, because to maintain chastity (not to worship the devatas). E.g. Ramanuja fasts in Kurma temple thinking it to be shiva temple. (So in Shri Sampradaya they say just as a wife only serve her husband and not other man similarly the devotees should worship only supreme lord and not other devatas, so Ramanujacharya discouraged it)

LCM (Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu) –OK (Lord Chaitanya when travel around He will go to even Shiva temple, in Puri he went ot Bhubheneswar temple, there He danced and in Murari Gupa book there is Shivastakam which is composed and in Shivastakam Lord Chaitanya mentioned Lord Shiva as a greatest Vaishanava), (So Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu teaching was, there is nothing wrong in worshiping devatas) if we understand them as devotees eg. Composing Sivastakamand visiting Shiva temples

There are other pastimes of Lord Chaitanya where people having incorrect understanding and they were doing improper worship then Chaitanya Mahaprabhu strongly disapproved it e.g. when Gopal Chapal tried to frame Srivas Thakur as if he was worshipping goddess and he had tamasik paraphernalia assembled (of the sort of black magic) for her worship then Lord Chaitanya was displeased and Gopla Chapal got leprosy later on he was forgiven when he asked for the same. So the point is Chaitnaya Mahaprabhu focused on pure devotional service He did not rejected the vedic culture that was there, He integrated vedic culture into devotional context, into proper devotional understanding. So it is not that we consider devatas to be competitor to the Supreme Lord. The Christian Judas and Islam think that they are monotheistic whereas Hindus are polytheistic. Actually Vedic culture is not polytheistic it is monotheistic but there is multi-level monotheism which means one Absolute Truth who manifest at different levels and in different ways and allows people to worship accordingly 

Srila Prabhupada –No, it will be confusing.

When gods (demigod) used in Vedic context and in the context of other religion is having different meaning. For example it is described in old testament or in Kuran whenever the ruling religious head would conquer a kingdom the first thing that they would do is; for example when Mohamed conquered Mecca after he came from Madina; the first thing he did was he bashed up, he destroyed all the idols that was worshiped over there, the idea was all false god has to be rejected and destroyed so that the glory of the true god is established so their idea was there is one true God and all other gods are false gods, false gods means they are imaginary and they are temptations they are actually manifestation of the devil, the devil wants to distract people away from God and these false gods are manifestations of devils they are created by the arrangements of devil to distract people away from the true God, so by destroying false god we help in establishing true God. 

The Vedic culture doesn’t talk about false god and true God. It talks about God and Demigod, Srila Prabhupada used Demigods for the word devatas so God means supreme being prefix demi means partial, so those beings who have partial powers of God not the full power, but demigod are more powerful then us but not as much power as Supreme God.

In today’s context people philosophical understanding are very unclear, and people think that all gods are same all gods are manifestation of same Brahman, and people do not understand this complex and accommodating system of multi-level monotheism so in order to avoid confusion Srila Prabhupada within ISKCON for those who are serious devotees they should not worship any other devatas they should focus on worshiping Krishna and that is what BG, SB and CC is ultimately teaching. 

So understanding is demigods are devotees of the Lord and when somebody is attached to worshiping them then one can worship them with the understanding that they are the devotees. 

But for those who are serious Sadhaka, tethiva Serva Achuta Ca, if one worships Lord Krishna Achuta then by worshiping Him everyone else is worshiped. There is no need to worship anyone else. 

If we go deeper in demigod worship there are concept of this proper noun and common nouns.

Proper nouns and common nouns

Shiva is both a proper noun (referring to the person Shiva) and a common noun (referring to the quality of auspiciousness).

As a noun, Shiva can refer to the quality of Vishnu, who is sarva-namavan (all name, ultimately refer to Vishnu). common

So the point is sometimes in Vishnu Shashtranam, Shiva is used to refer to Vishnu as common Sarva-sarva Shiva Asthanur Bhuta Dir Nidhi Avvyaya. So Shiva is also used to refer to Vishnu so why it is like that? What does it imply? So actually Shiva can refer to a particular person or Shiva can refer to a quality and whoever is having that quality can also be called as Shiva.

That is how in Visnu Shashtranam we find name of Shiva. 

So if “Shiva” is chanted as a proper noun, it will take us to shiva-loka. As ultimately Yanti Deve Vrata Devan…so depending on whom we remember that is what we will attain. So if we worship Shiva and when we are chanting the name of Shiva and thinking of Lord Shiva so naturally when we are referring that person we will go to that persons abode. So when Shiva is chanted in proper noun Om Namah Shivaya with particular deity in mind then one will go to abode of that particular deity. 

But if “Shiva” is chanted as a common noun referring to Vishnu’s qualities, then it is a part of bhakti yoga that will take us BTG, back to Godhead. 

So we need to understand that names have implications and we have to understand this implications properly.

Names & conceptions

Right name, right conception – BTG

e.g. Chant name of Krishna and know that Krishna is Supreme Lord then go back to God Head.

Right name, wrong conception – eg. Ramdas Bishvas (Bhakti Vinod Thakur said such chanting is – pratimbimba namabhasa). pratimbimba namabhasa means namabhasa is like raising of sun pratimbimba namabhasa is like we see sun raise in reflection we can’t get much warm from it. 

“Wrong” name, right conception –Spiritual advancement (e.g. “wrong” names = Non-Vedic names in vernacular languages) e.g. names like Allaha, Yahve, Yuhova, we cannot not find these names in Vedic shahstra but it will purify because chanting of God name helps us remember God, we remember God through His personal characteristics by His pastimes and we also remember God by His generic character by His Supreme Being, so when we remember God by His generic character as Supreme God that also leads to purification. So this is not wrong name in that sense. The concept of Supreme God talked in bible is similar to the characteristic of Absolute Truth, so in that sense it will also lead to spiritual advancement, so as Srila Prabhupada said any bonafide name of God if one chant one will be purified by that. 

Wrong name, wrong conception –moghāśā mogha-…. (9.12)

e.g. self proclaimed gods, the followers worship them as they are god only, there worshipers has created sat nama or shahstra nama but since that person is not god and that person’s name is not gods name, so that means wrong name is chanted, reference is wrong and conception is wrong. So wrong name and wrong conception cannot lead to right result. So amogha ultimately it leads to futility so we are trying to understand what are the ways in which Avidhipurvakam it can happen. So there are many ways by which it can happen so here there are various ways by which people can understand demigod worship.

Conceptions of demigod worshipers

  1. Demigod is the Absolute Truth –pasandi

So there is a verse in Puran if someone consider devatas equal to Lord Vishnu such a person is pasandi. And such a person conception is completely rejected as wrong. 

2.Demigod is one among many gods with no one as supreme –Hindu karma kandi idea

This is not true as ultimately there has to be one Supreme, it is not that all are equal and they are fighting for their supremacy.

3.Demigod is a symbol of brahman–9.15

This is talks about in Prithaktvena Bhudha which means there is an impersonal Absolute Truth and from that people can ascribe names and forms for the sake of what mayavadis called convenient fiction as conceptual meditational tool. So you can ascribe whichever form you like and worship that form as Esta Deva and ultimately you will go beyond that form. This is of course a complex misconception but the essential point is if here they are not offensive to the Supreme Lord then that is not mayavad if they offend Supreme Lord then it is mayavad.

4.Demigod is a representative and devotee of Krishna –Gopis worship Katyayani to get Lord Krishna as their husband.

This is included with in devotional services itself. 

We may wonder when Gopis are the top most devotees and they know no one but Krishna then why have they worshiped Katayayani to attain Krishna? The idea is when the devotees are so intensely desired of the Lord mercy Lord’s association then the devotee adopt any or every measure possible to gain the Lord’s association. The gopis are in a culture where they directly cannot approach Krishna so within their cultural context how they expressed their intense desire – by doing Kayayani Vrata. 

Anad Vrindavan Champu by Kavi Karnapura describes that the Gopis who did this vrata Radha Rani was not among them, Radha Rani worship Lord Shiva. Padma Bandu Radhika, Radhika Astakam says so these were Padma and other Sakhis who were unmarried and they worship Katyayani which Krishna went and fulfilled their desires by the end of the Vratha when He took away their garments and return them, so that is not a Dusan that is Bhusan it is not contamination it is an ornament why because it shows their single mindedness and intense desire to attain the Lord and willing to do anything and everything for that, which is indicated by their worship of the devatas. 

Srila Visvanath Charavarthi Thakur made a very interesting point on demigod worship: 

9.25 -Does all worship go to Krishna?

Yes, but all worshipers don’t go to Krishna, as stated in 9.25

e.g. when water is offered to river the water will go to the ocean but the person who has offered will not go to the ocean. 

So there is Shubashita which says that
Aakashath Pathitham Thoyam
Yatha Gachathi Sagaram
Sarvadeva Namaskaram
Keshavam Prathi Gachathi
So just as the drop of water falls which ultimately goes into ocean similarly whichever Devata one worships ultimately that reaches to Lord Keshava, So this verse is a level of Karma Kanda and it is not completely accurate and it is interpreted in a way that is definitely not accurate, it is not meant to say that all worship is at the same level, yes all worship will ultimately reach Keshava but all worshiper reach Keshava? No because the worshipers will go where there conceptions are based and where there aspirations are driving them, so if somebody is worshiping Durga or Indira that person cannot go to Vishnu. And that is clearly brought about in 9.25. 

A –goodness (yānti deva-vratā devān)

B –passion (pitṝn yānti pitṛ-vratāḥ)

C –ignorance (bhūtāni yānti bhūtejyā)

D –transcendence (yānti mad-yājino ’pi mām)

We will go back to 9.27 to understand what is happening here. 

yat karoṣi yad aśnāsi
yaj juhoṣi dadāsi yat
yat tapasyasi kaunteya
tat kuruṣva mad-arpaṇam

So now we are at demigod worship, we will look at the various levels of worship to Krishna or various levels of devotional service so here Krishna is telling whatever you do you offer it to Me, So Srila Vishvanath Chakravarti explained in his commentary what is the level of this? He says this is “9.27: Karma-Jnana-Mishra-Pradhani Bhuta Bhakti” so it is a technical name but we can try to understand it is not very complicated, so we have already discussed Pradhani Bhuta which means material component is more than the Bhakti, so “Karma-Jnana-Mishra-Pradhani Bhuta Bhakti” let us look at this. So why he has put this verse in this particular category he explains several reasons for that: So it has not:

  1. It is Not sakama bhakti, because it has no material desires. 

This verse is not talked about any material desires so it is not sakama. 

  1. It is Not Karma Yoga because all activities are offered, not just the scripturally prescribed ones

So it means all activities are not offered in Karam Yoga the focus is on offering the prescribed activities and not all activities, so in Bhakti Yoga one offers all activities, whatever one does one tries to offer everything to Supreme Lord.

  1. It is Not Gyana Yoga because abundant appreciation of the Lord’s personal features is present.

In Gyana Yoga, one focuses on the impersonal conception of the Absolute Truth and not the personal conception, so when appreciation of personal features of Lord is present then that is not Gyana Yoga.

  1. It is Not Kevala bhakti because the actions are offered after performance, not before. 

 

…
iti puṁsārpitā viṣṇau

bhaktiś cen nava-lakṣaṇā

kriyeta bhagavaty …

this bhakti of nine types after being offered to the Lord should then be performed for the Lord. (SB7.5.24)

 

So what does it mean if we look at the progression of this verse

yat karoṣi yad aśnāsi
yaj juhoṣi dadāsi yat

That whatever one is doing that means one is doing various things so after that tat kuruṣva after doing that offer that to Lord.

The higher level is first one offer to the Lord and then does the activity.

What is the meaning of this first and after? Is it just a matter of timing? It is also a matter of attachment / understanding. So if one is attached to the Supreme Lord then one think first what will please to the Lord and then one want to do that. On the other hand if one is not that much attached to the Lord and one is attached to what one wants to do, then one do what one wants to do and then offer that to the Lord. 

So in Kavala Bhakti one is attached to Lord and do what pleases the Lord.

Therefor it is not Kevala Bhakti and it is at one level lower.

So Srila Vishwanath Chakravarti Thakur quotes from SB7.5.24

…
iti puṁsārpitā viṣṇau

bhaktiś cen nava-lakṣaṇā

kriyeta bhagavaty…

So this is second part of the verse Sravanam Kirtanam Vishnu so the first part of the verse we normally quote which descries the nine limbs of devotional service / Bhakti. 

So after first part…

iti puṁsārpitā viṣṇau

bhaktiś cen nava-lakṣaṇā

kriyeta bhagavaty…

Iti, these activites, puṁsārpitā viṣṇau, when they are offered to Lord Vishnu, bhaktiś cen nava-lakṣaṇā, that they are characterised as Bhakti so all of them are directly connected to the Lord and they are done for the pleasure of the Lord, So Srila Vishwanath Chakravarti Thakur use quite a technical classification in his verses and he emphasises through all these that actually ultimately it is Supreme Lord who is worshiped and no one else. 

We have earlier discussed:

9.27: Karma-Jnana-Mishra-PradhaniBhutaBhakti

Pradhanibhutabhakti: Mixture of bhakti and other processes with bhakti > 50 %

  1. Karma mishra pradhanibhutabhakti: Mixture of bhakti and other processes with bhakti > 50 %, other part is karma
  2. And Karma-Gyana-Mishra means both karma and Gyana are mixed in remaining part after > 50% bhakti.

So now let us look at the overall flow of this chapter and try to understand how this chapter describes the most confidential knowledge: 

Glories of bhakti (Chp9):

Here in this Chapter glories of Bhakti is talked in 5 distinct ways:

  1. Destination: Gives eternal result (9.22), yoga-kṣemaṁ vahāmy aham, it alone gives higher destination other forms will not give higher destination. 
  2. Possession: Doesn’t need fancy material assets (9.26), patraṁ puṣpaṁ phalaṁ toyaṁ
  3. Devotional Qualification: Can be performed even by those who are not pure-hearted (9.27-28), yat karoṣi yad aśnāsi and Shubashita verse Akasha Patitam…indicate that it can be performed by even those who are not pure hearted. 
  4. Deviation: Can redeem even if the performer sins (9.30-31) –Occasional / incidental faults
  5. Material qualification: Can uplift (higher than what karma-marga elevates) those who are not qualified even for karma-marga (9.32) -Inherent faults

Bg 9.29

samo ’haṁ sarva-bhūteṣu
na me dveṣyo ’sti na priyaḥ
ye bhajanti tu māṁ bhaktyā
mayi te teṣu cāpy aham

Word for word: 

samaḥ — equally disposed; aham — I; sarva–bhūteṣu — to all living entities; na — no one; me — to Me;dveṣyaḥ — hateful; asti — is; na — nor; priyaḥ — dear; ye — those who; bhajanti — render transcendental service; tu — but; mām — unto Me; bhaktyā — in devotion; mayi — are in Me; te — such persons; teṣu — in them; ca — also; api — certainly; aham — I.

Translation: 

I envy no one, nor am I partial to anyone. I am equal to all. But whoever renders service unto Me in devotion is a friend, is in Me, and I am also a friend to him.

 

samo ’haṁ sarva-bhūteṣu, I am equal to all living beings

na me dveṣyo ’sti na priyaḥ, I am not jealous to anyone nor anyone is specifically dear to Me.

After describing this Krishna tells next part, ye bhajanti tu māṁ bhaktyā, those who worship Me what happens to them? 

mayi te teṣu cāpy aham, they are in Me and I am in them

It is very endearing declaration of an intimate connection of the Lord, mayi te, they are in Me, 

te teṣu cāpy aham, And I am in them, so the Lord in BG doesn’t talk about endearments like this too frequently, so when He talks about it, it is significant. 

So in first two parts He is saying that He is impartial in a and b but after that He says no I am partial in c and d, ye bhajanti tu māṁ bhaktyā, those who worship Me, mayi te teṣu cāpy aham, they are in Me and I am in them. That means we are very intimately connected, so this sort of description seems contradictory but they are not contradictory, it depends on which level of manifestation Lord is talking about, 

samo ’haṁ sarva-bhūteṣu, is referring to Lord as a Judge. So a judge is not partial. So a judge gives whatever the person is destined to get. So a judge is not partial. 

ye bhajanti tu māṁ bhaktyā, but those who worship Me, what happens to them? Krishna says I am partial. So c and d part of this verse is referring to Bhagvan aspect. And the Bhagvan aspect is a very intimate aspect. It is very elevated and exalted manifestation of Absolute Truth, And Bhagvan aspect what does He focus on? He focuses on principle of pure devotional service. So Krishna is impartially partial so how is that possible isn’t that an oxymoron, which means contradictory words brought together, so definitely partial towards His devotees, Srila Prabhupada said a charitable person may be charitable to all people but he is naturally more effected to his own children. This is not considered a fault. Similarly it is not considered a fault that Lord loves His devotees who are like His own children in comparison to all other living beings who are also existing in existence. So actually all are children but some are His loving and obedient children where other are defiant and even hateful children so Lord offers His care to everyone but the intimacy of relationship are not possible to everyone. So it is possible for those who try to reconnect with God. So Krishna is impartially partial means He is impartial in terms of opening the doors for everyone to receive the benefit of His partiality. So the point is the Lord cares for every one and He especially cares of those who love Him, so that is why this verse is a glimpse of the heart of the Lord. 

Srila Prabhupada’s Purport: The Lord and the living entity eternally glitter, and when a living entity becomes inclined to the service of the Supreme Lord he looks like gold. The Lord is a diamond, and so this combination is very nice

Srila Prabhupada said that without the principal of reciprocation there is not personal philosophy possible.

So basically Krishna is reciprocal. 

Srila Prabhupada quoted from Chakravarti Pad: The example is often given that the Lord is like a desire tree, and whatever one wants from this desire tree, the Lord supplies. 

So this example of Lord as desire tree is given by Sridhar Swami but Visvanath Chakravarti Pad said that Lord is not only desire tree which act as desire fulfiller but also a relationship builder. Lord is person who cares for those who come to Him, so the example He gave is if a person goes and ask a desire tree the desire tree will fulfil the desire but the desire tree will not become attached to the person the desire will not strive to protect the person on one’s own accord, the desire tree doesn’t become enemy of that person’s enemy but the Lord does all this. So the Pandavas as a devotees become attached to the Lord and Lord also becomes attached to them. So Lord creates circumstances by which we develop Love for Him.

Srila Prabhupada’s Purport: Devotional service to the Lord is not an activity of this material world; it is part of the spiritual world, where eternity, bliss and knowledge predominate.

That means this is a transcendental activity, this is a part of spiritual world and to the extent we situate ourselves in this activity to that extent we also become situated in spiritual world.

End of transcription.