Bhagavad Gita As It Is
Lord Krishna is the Supreme Lord

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Lord Krishna

The word paramam is explained thus by Parasara Muni: one who is full in six
opulences, who has full strength, full fame, wealth, knowledge, beauty and
renunciation, is paramam, or the Supreme Personality of Godhead. While Krsna was
present on this earth, He displayed all six opulences. Therefore great sages
like Parasara Muni have all accepted Krsna as the Supreme Personality of
Godhead. Now Krsna is instructing Arjuna in more confidential knowledge of His
opulences and His work. Previously, beginning with the Seventh Chapter, the Lord
already explained His different energies and how they are acting. Now in this
chapter He explains His specific opulences to Arjuna. In the previous chapter He
has clearly explained His different energies to establish devotion in firm
conviction. Again in this chapter He tells Arjuna about His manifestations and
various opulences.
The more one hears about the Supreme God, the more one becomes fixed in
devotional service. One should always hear about the Lord in the association of
devotees; that will enhance one's devotional service. Discourses in the society
of devotees can take place only among those who are really anxious to be in
Krsna consciousness. Others cannot take part in such discourses. The Lord
clearly tells Arjuna that because he is very dear to Him, for his benefit such
discourses are taking place.

As stated in the Brahma-samhita, Lord Krsna is the Supreme Lord. No one is
greater than Him; He is the cause of all causes. Here it is also stated by the
Lord personally that He is the cause of all the demigods and sages. Even the
demigods and great sages cannot understand Krsna; they can understand neither
His name nor His personality, so what is the position of the so-called scholars
of this tiny planet? No one can understand why this Supreme God comes to earth
as an ordinary human being and executes such commonplace and yet wonderful
activities. One should know, then, that scholarship is not the qualification
necessary to understand Krsna. Even the demigods and the great sages have tried
to understand Krsna by their mental speculation, and they have failed to do so.
In the Srimad-Bhagavatam also it is clearly said that even the great demigods
are not able to understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead. They can
speculate to the limits of their imperfect senses and can reach the
opposite conclusion of impersonalism, of something not manifested by the three
qualities of material nature, or they can imagine something by mental
speculation, but it is not possible to understand Krsna by such foolish
speculation.
Here the Lord indirectly says that if anyone wants to know the Absolute Truth,
"Here I am present as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. I am the Supreme." One
should know this. Although one cannot understand the inconceivable Lord who is
personally present, He nonetheless exists. We can actually understand Krsna, who
is eternal, full of bliss and knowledge, simply by studying His words in
Bhagavad-gita and Srimad-Bhagavatam. The impersonal Brahman can be conceived by
persons who are already in the inferior energy of the Lord, but the Personality
of Godhead cannot be conceived unless one is in the transcendental position.
Because most men cannot understand Krsna in His actual situation, out of His
causeless mercy He descends to show favor to such speculators. Yet despite the
Supreme Lord's uncommon activities, these speculators, due to contamination in
the material energy, still think that the impersonal Brahman is the Supreme.
Only the devotees who are fully surrendered unto the Supreme Lord can
understand, by the grace of the Supreme Personality, that He is Krsna. The
devotees of the Lord do not bother about the impersonal Brahman conception of
God; their faith and devotion bring them to surrender immediately unto the
Supreme Lord, and out of the causeless mercy of Krsna, they can understand
Krsna. No one else can understand Him. So even great sages agree: What is atma,
what is the Supreme? It is He whom we have to worship.

As stated in the Seventh Chapter, those who are trying to elevate themselves to
the platform of spiritual realization are not ordinary men. They are superior to
millions and millions of ordinary men who have no knowledge of spiritual
realization, but out of those actually trying to understand their spiritual
situation, one who can come to the understanding that Krsna is the Supreme
Personality of Godhead, the proprietor of everything, the unborn, is the most
successful spiritually realized person. In that stage only, when one has fully
understood Krsna's supreme position, can one be free completely from all sinful
reactions.
Here the word ajam, meaning unborn, should not be confused with the living
entities, who are described in the Second Chapter as ajam. The Lord is different
from the living entities who are taking birth and dying due to material
attachment. The conditioned souls are changing their bodies, but His body is not
changeable. Even when He comes to this material world, He comes as the same
unborn; therefore in the Fourth Chapter it is said that the Lord, by His
internal potency, is not under the inferior material energy, but is always in
the superior energy.
He was existing before the creation, and He is different from His creation. All
the demigods were created within this material world, but as far as Krsna is
concerned, it is said that He is not created; therefore Krsna is different even
from the great demigods like Brahma and Siva. And because He is the creator of
Brahma, Siva and all the other demigods, He is the Supreme Person of all
planets.
Sri Krsna is therefore different from everything that is created, and anyone who
knows Him as such immediately becomes liberated from all sinful reaction. One
must be liberated from all sinful activities to be in the knowledge of the
Supreme Lord. Only by devotional service can He be known and not by any other
means, as stated in Bhagavad-gita.
One should not try to understand Krsna as a human being. As stated previously,
only a foolish person thinks Him to be a human being. This is again expressed
here in a different way. A man who is not foolish, who is intelligent enough to
understand the constitutional position of the Godhead, is always free from all
sinful reactions.
If Krsna is known as the son of Devaki, then how can He be unborn? That is also
explained in Srimad-Bhagavatam: When He appeared before Devaki and Vasudeva, He
was not born as an ordinary child; He appeared in His original form, and then He
transformed Himself into an ordinary child.
Anything done under the direction of Krsna is transcendental. It cannot be
contaminated by the material reactions, which may be auspicious or inauspicious.
The conception that there are things auspicious and inauspicious in the material
world is more or less a mental concoction because there is nothing auspicious in
the material world. Everything is inauspicious because the very material mask is
inauspicious. We simply imagine it to be auspicious. Real auspiciousness depends
on activities in Krsna consciousness in full devotion and service. Therefore if
we at all want our activities to be auspicious, then we should work under the
directions of the Supreme Lord. Such directions are given in authoritative
scriptures such as Srimad-Bhagavatam and Bhagavad-gita, or from a bona fide
spiritual master. Because the spiritual master is the representative of the
Supreme Lord, his direction is directly the direction of the Supreme Lord. The
spiritual master, saintly persons and scriptures
direct in the same way. There is no contradiction in these three sources. All
actions done under such direction are free from the reactions of pious or
impious activities of this material world. The transcendental attitude of the
devotee in the performance of activities is actually that of renunciation, and
this is called sannyasa. Anyone acting under the direction of the Supreme Lord
is actually a sannyasi and a yogi, and not the man who has simply taken the
dress of the sannyasi, or a pseudo-yogi.


TRANSLATION
Intelligence, knowledge, freedom from doubt and delusion, forgiveness,
truthfulness, self-control and calmness, pleasure and pain, birth, death, fear,
fearlessness, nonviolence, equanimity, satisfaction, austerity, charity, fame
and infamy are created by Me alone.
PURPORT
The different qualities of living entities, be they good or bad, are all created
by Krsna, and they are described here.
Intelligence refers to the power of analyzing things in proper perspective, and
knowledge refers to understanding what is spirit and what is matter. Ordinary
knowledge obtained by a university education pertains only to matter, and it is
not accepted here as knowledge. Knowledge means knowing the distinction between
spirit and matter. In modern education there is no knowledge about the spirit;
they are simply taking care of the material elements and bodily needs. Therefore
academic knowledge is not complete.
Asammoha, freedom from doubt and delusion, can be achieved when one is not
hesitant and when he understands the transcendental philosophy. Slowly but
surely he becomes free from bewilderment. Nothing should be accepted blindly;
everything should be accepted with care and with caution. Ksama, forgiveness,
should be practiced, and one should excuse the minor offenses of others. Satyam,
truthfulness, means that facts should be presented as they are for the benefit
of others. Facts should not be misrepresented. According to social conventions,
it is said that one can speak the truth only when it is palatable to others. But
that is not truthfulness. The truth should be spoken in a straight and forward
way, so that others will understand actually what the facts are. If a man is a
thief and if people are warned that he is a thief, that is truth. Although
sometimes the truth is unpalatable, one should not refrain from speaking it.
Truthfulness demands that the facts be presented as they are
for the benefit of others. That is the definition of truth.
Self-control means that the senses should not be used for unnecessary personal
enjoyment. There is no prohibition against meeting the proper needs of the
senses, but unnecessary sense enjoyment is detrimental for spiritual
advancement. Therefore the senses should be restrained from unnecessary use.
Similarly, the mind should not indulge in unnecessary thoughts; that is called
samah, or calmness. Nor should one spend one's time pondering over earning
money. That is a misuse of the thinking power. The mind should be used to
understand the prime necessity of human beings, and that should be presented
authoritatively. The power of thought should be developed in association with
persons who are authorities in the scriptures, saintly persons and spiritual
masters and those whose thinking is highly developed. Sukham, pleasure or
happiness, should always be in that which is favorable for the cultivation of
the spiritual knowledge of Krsna consciousness. And similarly, that which is
painful
or which causes distress is that which is unfavorable for the cultivation of
Krsna consciousness. Anything favorable for the development of Krsna
consciousness should be accepted, and anything unfavorable should be rejected.
Bhava, birth, should be understood to refer to the body. As far as the soul is
concerned, there is neither birth nor death; that we have discussed in the
beginning of Bhagavad-gita. Birth and death apply to one's embodiment in the
material world. Fear is due to worrying about the future. A person in Krsna
consciousness has no fear because by his activities he is sure to go back to the
spiritual sky, back home, back to Godhead. Therefore his future is very bright.
Others, however, do not know what their future holds; they have no knowledge of
what the next life holds. So they are therefore in constant anxiety. If we want
to get free from anxiety, then the best course is to understand Krsna and be
situated always in Krsna consciousness. In that way we will be free from all
fear. In the Srimad-Bhagavatam it is stated that fear is caused by our
absorption in the illusory energy, but those who are free from the illusory
energy, those who are confident that they are not the material body,
that they are spiritual parts of the Supreme Personality of Godhead and are
therefore engaged in the transcendental service of the Supreme Godhead, have
nothing to fear. Their future is very bright. This fear is a condition of
persons who are not in Krsna consciousness. Bhayam, fearlessness, is only
possible for one in Krsna consciousness.
Ahimsa, nonviolence, means that one should not do anything which will put others
into misery or confusion. Material activities that are promised by so many
politicians, sociologists, philanthropists, etc., do not produce very good
results because the politicians and philanthropists have no transcendental
vision; they do not know what is actually beneficial for human society. Ahimsa
means that people should be trained in such a way that the full utilization of
the human body can be achieved. The human body is meant for spiritual
realization, so any movement or any commissions which do not further that end
commit violence on the human body. That which furthers the future spiritual
happiness of the people in general is called nonviolence.
Samata, equanimity, refers to freedom from attachment and aversion. To be very
much attached or to be very much detached is not the best. This material world
should be accepted without attachment or aversion. Similarly, that which is
favorable for prosecuting Krsna consciousness should be accepted; that which is
unfavorable should be rejected. That is called samata, equanimity. A person in
Krsna consciousness has nothing to reject and nothing to accept unless it is
useful in the prosecution of Krsna consciousness.
Tusti, satisfaction, means that one should not be eager to gather more and more
material goods by unnecessary activity. One should be satisfied with whatever is
obtained by the grace of the Supreme Lord; that is called satisfaction. Tapas
means austerity or penance. There are many rules and definitions in the Vedas
which apply here, like rising early in the morning and taking a bath. Sometimes
it is very troublesome to rise early in the morning, but whatever voluntary
trouble one may suffer in this way is called penance. Similarly, there are
prescriptions for fasting on certain days of the month. One may not be inclined
to practice such fasting, but because of his determination to make advancement
in the science of Krsna consciousness, he should accept such bodily troubles
which are recommended. However, one should not fast unnecessarily or against
Vedic injunctions. One should not fast for some political purpose; that is
described in Bhagavad-gita as fasting in ignorance, and
anything done in ignorance or passion does not lead to spiritual advancement.
Everything done in the mode of goodness does advance one, however, and fasting
done in terms of the Vedic injunctions enriches one in spiritual knowledge.
As far as charity is concerned, one should give fifty percent of his earnings to
some good cause. And what is a good cause? It is that which is conducted in
terms of Krsna consciousness. That is not only a good cause, but it is the best
cause. Because Krsna is good, His cause is also good. Thus charity should be
given to a person who is engaged in Krsna consciousness. According to Vedic
literature, it is enjoined that charity should be given to the brahmanas. This
practice is still followed, although not very nicely in terms of the Vedic
injunction. But still the injunction is that charity should be given to the
brahmanas. Why? Because they are engaged in higher cultivation of spiritual
knowledge. A brahmana is supposed to devote his whole life to understanding
Brahman. A brahma-jana is one who knows Brahman; he is called a brahmana. Thus
charity is offered to the brahmanas because since they are always engaged in
higher spiritual service, they have no time to earn their livelihood.
In the Vedic literature, charity is also to be awarded to the renouncer of
life, the sannyasi. The sannyasis beg from door to door, not for money but for
missionary purposes. The system is that they go from door to door to awaken the
householders from the slumber of ignorance. Because the householders are engaged
in family affairs and have forgotten their actual purpose in life--awakening
their Krsna consciousness--it is the business of the sannyasis to go as beggars
to the householders and encourage them to be Krsna conscious. As it is said in
the Vedas, one should awake and achieve what is due him in this human form of
life. This knowledge and method is distributed by the sannyasis; hence charity
is to be given to the renouncer of life, to the brahmanas, and similar good
causes, not to any whimsical cause.
Yasah, fame, should be according to Lord Caitanya, who said that a man is famous
when he is known as a great devotee. That is real fame. If one has become a
great man in Krsna consciousness and it is known, then he is truly famous. One
who does not have such fame is infamous.
All these qualities are manifest throughout the universe in human society and in
the society of the demigods. There are many forms of humanity on other planets,
and these qualities are there. Now, for one who wants to advance in Krsna
consciousness, Krsna creates all these qualities, but the person develops them
himself from within. One who engages in the devotional service of the Supreme
Lord develops all the good qualities, as arranged by the Supreme Lord.
Of whatever we find, good or bad, the origin is Krsna. Nothing can manifest in
this material world which is not in Krsna. That is knowledge; although we know
that things are differently situated, we should realize that everything flows
from Krsna.



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