Link to purport by A C Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada
Transcript of Bhakti-Shastri class on this verse by Chaitanya Charan
We are going to start 16th chapter in BG this is Deva Asura Sampad Vibhaj Yoga
The Divine and Demonic Natures.
Sampad is related to the word Sampathi wealth.
Sampad means this is what they considered to be wealth.
The demonic consider demoniac qualities to be their wealth e.g. arrogance, harshness.
These qualities become ingrained into them so that it becomes part of their nature.
What we consider our wealth we will hold close to us and eventually that will become a part of us.
This is like 14 and 15 chapter where Krishna speaks without any prompting from Arjuna. Krishna explained how Jyana leads to Bhakti based on question asked by Arjuna in 13.1 and Krishna pursues that theme then in 14.21 Arjuna has asked three questions in one verse , what are the characteristics of the person who has transcendended the modes, what is the behavior of such a person and what are the process to transcend after that he doesn’t ask any question.
So the link between 15th and 16th chapter is based on the upside down tree.
So we discussed in 13.22 that the bija is Purusha Prakriti Asho He, that the living entity is situated in material nature, and what is that makes living entity situated in Bhunkte Prakriti Jan Guna, the desire to enjoy material world, and in this tree we discussed what waters the tree, it is the modes, so the tree was explicitly mentioned in 15th chapter but the mentality which causes the tree to sprout is Bhunkte, the desire to enjoy, and it is nourished by the three modes of material nature which is described in 14th (15th ?)chapter. 15th chapter described the upside down tree and how one can become disentangled from it by taking shelter of Purushottama.
Now the 16th chapter describes the upper and lower extremes of the tree. So root of the tree is near to Brahma Loka, which either means spiritual world or abode of Brahma Ji which is also called as Satya Loka. So here we are referring as Satya Loka the abode of Brahma, which is in material world that is upper extreme, somewhat below that is heaven then earthly planets the hellish planets. So we have to go upward and go from reflection to reality.
Chp16 Overview
1-9: Divine and demoniac qualities
1-3 Divine qualities
4-9 demoniac qualities
10-18: Activities of the demoniac
Whatever qualities we have that is reflected in the activities we do.
19-22: Consequences and causes of demoniac activities
What is the result and what makes people do these demoniac qualities.
23-24: The choice between divine and demoniac
We wanted to act in divine way or demoniac way.
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Srila Prabhupada has grouped first three verses to give summary of divine qualities and Krishna also at the end of third verse summarizes.
śrī-bhagavān uvāca
abhayaṁ sattva-saṁśuddhir
jñāna-yoga-vyavasthitiḥ
dānaṁ damaś ca yajñaś ca
svādhyāyas tapa ārjavam
ahiṁsā satyam akrodhas
tyāgaḥ śāntir apaiśunam
dayā bhūteṣv aloluptvaṁ
mārdavaṁ hrīr acāpalam
tejaḥ kṣamā dhṛtiḥ śaucam
adroho nāti-mānitā
bhavanti sampadaṁ daivīm
abhijātasya bhārata
Synonyms:
śrī–bhagavān uvāca — the Supreme Personality of Godhead said; abhayam — fearlessness; sattva–saṁśuddhiḥ — purification of one’s existence; jñāna — in knowledge; yoga — of linking up; vyavasthitiḥ — the situation; dānam— charity; damaḥ — controlling the mind; ca — and; yajñaḥ — performance of sacrifice; ca — and; svādhyāyaḥ— study of Vedic literature; tapaḥ — austerity; ārjavam — simplicity; ahiṁsā — nonviolence; satyam — truthfulness; akrodhaḥ — freedom from anger; tyāgaḥ — renunciation; śāntiḥ — tranquillity; apaiśunam — aversion to fault-finding; dayā — mercy; bhūteṣu — towards all living entities; aloluptvam — freedom from greed; mārdavam — gentleness; hrīḥ — modesty; acāpalam — determination; tejaḥ — vigor; kṣamā — forgiveness; dhṛtiḥ — fortitude; śaucam — cleanliness; adrohaḥ — freedom from envy; na — not; ati–mānitā — expectation of honor; bhavanti — are; sampadam — the qualities; daivīm — the transcendental nature; abhijātasya — of one who is born of; bhārata — O son of Bharata.
Translation:
The Supreme Personality of Godhead said: Fearlessness; purification of one’s existence; cultivation of spiritual knowledge; charity; self-control; performance of sacrifice; study of the Vedas; austerity; simplicity; nonviolence; truthfulness; freedom from anger; renunciation; tranquillity; aversion to faultfinding; compassion for all living entities; freedom from covetousness; gentleness; modesty; steady determination; vigor; forgiveness; fortitude; cleanliness; and freedom from envy and from the passion for honor – these transcendental qualities, O son of Bharata, belong to godly men endowed with divine nature.
Bhavanti, all this is sampadaṁ daivīm, nature, characteristic of daivi and
abhijātasya bhārata
those who have of godly disposition of the divine nature they have these qualities from birth itself.
Nature is also shaped by nurture and culture.
So our behavior is shaped by these things nature, nurture and culture.
Nature means how we are born with. All of us have certain tendencies, certain physio physical characteristics, likes and dislikes that are innate to us, innate not at the level of soul but at the level of body and mind that we have based on our previous Karma.
Nurture: How we are grown with the values
Culture: environment and association in which we live in when we are growing
Beyond that is free will.
All these shape our behavior but they don’t absolutely determine our behavior we can still use our free will and choose to act differently.
Divine nature leads to liberation and demoniac natures leads to bondage so we should choose to act in divine nature.
abhayaṁ sattva-saṁśuddhir
abhayaṁ, fearlessness, it doesn’t come by absence of fear but by presence of a cause which dwarfs fear.
Don’t tell Krishna how big your problems are tell your problem how big Krishna is then the problem become dwarf.
These qualities are as per different varnas, all godly people have to have these qualities in general but certain qualities are important for certain varnas.
So abhayaṁ qualities are generally cultivated by sanyasis. Generally in this world we think about security by having people around us but a sanyasis have to leave everything and travel alone. That is a tradition that Sanyasi travels alone through Jungles.
sattva-saṁśuddhir, saṁśuddhir is purification and sattva is existence, so purification of one’s existence, there are many impurities which are there, SP focuses on impurities like lust, we can free ourselves from lust by avoiding internal (remembering lusty things) and external triggers.
jñāna-yoga-vyavasthitiḥ, cultivation of knowledge, this also primarily for Sanyasis.
dānaṁ damaś ca yajñaś ca, dana is charity, charity is very important for house holders, charity in not just an activity it is a mentality which is developed by cultivation of habit. The idea of charity is not just to give something but to develop the mentality of giving. Give charity regularly because that is a habit to be cultivated it may be small but it should be regular. Charity is an activity and charitable disposition is a quality. But Krishna is calling charity itself as a divine nature, charity is there quality. So charity helps us to develop giving as a mentality. When people do not develop this habit thinking that they will give a lump sum in future will not able to give because when they have more their mind will demand for more things. A habit of holding money is developed and that habit will not allow a person to spare money.
dānaṁ damaś ca yajñaś ca, damaś is sense control.
Sense control is required for everyone including householders. In household life also purpose of marriage is not sense gratification, it is helping both the partner to together move on to Krishna. Sexuality is part of human creation but sexuality is one thing and sexulization is another. Sexulization means we reduce everything to sexual terms only, so marriage relationships should not be reduced to sexualization. Over period of time couples started seeing each-other not for sense gratification but as fellow souls as partners in spiritual journey. To develop this type of attitude requires self control,
dānaṁ damaś ca yajñaś ca, yajña is sacrifice,
so
abhayaṁ sattva-saṁśuddhir
jñāna-yoga-vyavasthitiḥ
is for sanyasis
and
dānaṁ damaś ca yajñaś ca
are for Grihastas
svādhyāyas tapa ārjavam
Srila Prabhupada has mentioned that svādhyāya is specially meant for Brahmacharis, which means student life, student is meant for study…
So by svādhyāya a student develops deep understanding of scriptures and then even if a Brahmachari enters in Grihasta life he will not entangled in material life as they understand purpose of human life.
So all these godly qualities are meant to be developed by everyone but while developing these qualities for certain ashram certain things are specifically emphasized. They are especially required.
svādhyāyas tapa ārjavam
Similarly tapa is also for everyone but it is especially for Vanaprastha. When a person is living as grihasta there are relatively comforts of householder life, and when a person takes Vanaprastha at that time things are little difficult, but the focus is on accepting austerity so that one can effectively practice spiritual life.
Now how Varanshram is implemented in today’s age is difficult to say, so the important point is we understand the principles, and we develop the qualities so that we can practice spiritual life.
In today’s scenario Brahmacharis also preach where as in traditional system Brahmacaris are students they are servants and they assist the sanyasis of course those Brahmacharis start there Brahmacharyas at the age of five, and they may continue at the age of 25. Today whole Varanashram is such that people at the age of 25 becomes Brahmacharis, so we can’t replicate ideal Vedic system in today’s culture, so important point is we understand the broad social roles and see how incorporate and integrate those in our lives according to time place and circumstances.
Vanaprasthas are like extinct today. Jungles are not available today and the purpose of going to Jungle is to meet saintly people so they also don’t live in Jungles today most of them live in temples. So the idea is to take voluntary austerity in the service of Krishna.
We have to see how and when we can increase our focus in spiritual life and that will vary with time place and circumstances, but the idea is a devotee over period of time increases his spiritual commitments and his involvement and there by prepare for the final exam of death and prepare for the ultimately successful life of returning back to Krishna.
Purport: The entire varṇāśrama-dharma society is meant for tapasya. Without tapasya, or austerity, no human being can get liberation.
Why? Because actually when we are sick we have to take treatment which we may not like.
Ārjavam, is truthfulness, everyone should be truthful but especially Brahmana should be truthful and he should speak Absolute Truth.
ahiṁsā, is primarily quality of a Brahmana e.g. Vashistha didn’t fight when Kaushiti or Valmiki was taking his surabhi cow. But sometime for welfare of all, Brahmana can take action like they kill king Venu (SB) by hunkar.
Satyam: means that one should not distort the truth for some personal interest.
Akrodha: Even if there is provocation one should be tolerant, for once one becomes angry his whole body becomes polluted.
Whatevery happen in mind effects the body. E.g sweating, severing, face or eyes becomes red etc.
How does one tolerate anger? By remembering that there is higher purpose in life. By small-small things provocations keeps coming. As Srila Prabhupada said in Krishna book one’s greatness has to be estimated by one’s ability to tolerate provoking situations. When there is reason to be angry but one stays calm then that is calmness, and that is akrodham.
Apaiśunam: aversion to fault findings. Gossip generally means we talk about the faults of others. Devotees delight in the glories of Krishna and glories of other devotees. But gossiper delight in the faults of others, so this is very distasteful for the cultured person. Actually only time we can talk about the faults of others when we don’t joy in doing so.
Certainly finding fault with devotees are offensive and even with other people.
Srila Bhakti Vinod Thakur said that criticizing general living entities unnecessarily also it not good.
The characteristic of advance devotees as described by Srila Rupa Goswami is Nindaadi sunya hridayam, they doesn’t have inclination to criticize anyone because a devotee sees everyone’s spiritual potential and want everyone’s spiritual potential to be developed.
e.g. Ramnujacharya showed beautiful eyes of Lord Ranganath to the young man.
e.g. Srila Prabhupada saw spiritual potential in others and fanned those and neglected whatever conditioning they may have, that is compassion.
hrīḥ — modesty, so one should not act in a way that in undesirable, inappropriate.
acāpalam — determination, one does not become restless, one stays focused, one stays determined.
tejaḥ — vigor, strength or effulgence
Kshetriya should be vigor whatever may be required for the service of Lord they should do that.
śaucam — cleanliness;
adrohaḥ — freedom from envy
if other have more wealth or power than me, I should not become envious I should understand that this is the best way by which I will be purified in varan and ashrama.
Ultimately this world is hospital and the goal is to be cured.
If the doctor is giving me one medicine and others other medicine I cannot ask why.
nāti-mānitā
na — not; ati–mānitā — expectation of honor
One does not demand respect. In spiritual life one can accept respect but does not expect respect.
Praise should deflate the mind and not inflate the ego. By understanding our unworthiness and understanding that I am just a tool in the hand of Krishna.
Srila Prabhupada explained that according to Varana & Ashram we cultivate these qualities
End of transcription.
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