Author Archives: Chaitanya Charan das

How do we reconcile Bhagavatam cosmology with scientific cosmology?
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Transcription :

Transcription: Suresh Gupta

Question: How do we reconcile Bhagavatam cosmology with scientific cosmology? For example, Bhagavatam cosmology talks about fourteen planetary systems whereas we have nine or ten planets, so how do we reconcile this?

Answer: We have a very simplistic notion of the cosmology that is given and explained in the Srimad Bhagavatam. Usually we say, heaven is up but if the earth is round and America and India are more or less on opposite sides of the earth then the question would arise – is the heaven above America or is it above India? There are two upper opposites. When the scriptures talk about heaven being up, that is not a simplistic geographical “up”. The Bhagavatam is talking about different levels of the cosmos. There are different levels of reality in the universe and we live at a particular level of reality. Within the Indian knowledge of cosmology, there are two broad systems of cosmological knowledge – one is called as Puranic cosmology and the other is called as Jyotisha cosmology. Jyotisha is also called as Siddhantic cosmology and Surya Siddhanta is one famous book from that set of books. Both these give very different vision of the cosmos and if we go to the Jyotisha cosmology, it gives many figures which are very similar to the figures that are in modern cosmology. For example – the distance between the earth and the moon and the earth and the sun as described in Jyotisha cosmology is found to be remarkably similar to what science has found in modern cosmology.

In the same system of knowledge, these two systems of cosmology were very closely connected. Astronomy is the study of planetary distances and astrology is study of their effects on people. For any astrological calculation, even the Vaishnava acharyas or devotee scholars have never used the Bhagavatam cosmology. They all use Jyotisha cosmology which shows that they knew that these two branches of astronomy existed. They themselves had their primary life dedicated to teaching the Bhagavatam, living the teachings of Bhagavatam, explaining the Bhagavatam, but when it came to astrology, they did not use the Bhagavatam cosmology, they used Jyotisha cosmology. What this means is that they too recognised that the Bhagavatam cosmology is not for functional purposes in this world, it is more for a vision of theistic universe (when I say vision, it does not mean that this is just a conception). It is a way of looking at the world which shows how God, devotion, dharma – are all pervading the universe. As far as operating in this universe is concerned, they used Jyotisha cosmology and they never put the two in conflict. Bhagavatam itself describes two important things in Canto 5. First is, studying this will enhance our devotion and second, ultimately because this cosmos manifests the glories of the Lord and since the Lord is infinite and cannot be completely understood, similarly the cosmos cannot be fully understood. […]

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Gita key verses course 29 What are the different forms of yoga, Do they all lead to the same goal – Gita 08.28
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Gita key verses course 28 Why is life so tough If God loves us, why doesn’t he make our life easier – Gita 08.15
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Will hearing regularly from few devotees not broaden our understanding of bhakti – do we need to hear from many devotees?
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If we label as fault-finders those who constantly find faults with others, are we ourselves indulging in fault-finding?
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What are the three modes of material nature?
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From: pooja sharma

can u explain them with each example.

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Transcription :

Transcriber: Keshavgopal Das

Question: What are three modes of material nature? Explain with examples.

Answer: Three modes of material nature are three subtle forces that shape the interaction between consciousness and matter. Soul is spiritual and conscious, whereas matter is material and unconscious.

When we come to the material world, we are subjected to life in an alien atmosphere (i.e. spirit soul captured in material body). Soul is spiritual so it needs to take an appropriate material dress when it comes to the material world to interact with it. It is same as when humans go to outer space, they need to wear proper space suits to interact with the environment there. This material dress not only comprises of the gross body (made of earth, water, fire, air, ether) but also the subtle body (made of mind, intelligence and false ego).

Three modes are mode of goodness (sattva), passion (rajas) and ignorance (tamas). The three modes are the ways in which the external world is perceived by us and then based on that perception we have certain emotions which leads to certain actions. Therefore, modes shape our (i) perception and (ii) response towards the world. Let us see an example of each one of these.

Modes affecting perceptions: Visualize three people sitting in a bus. First is in goodness (named Sattva), second in passion (named Rajas) and third in ignorance (named Tamas). Sattva is trying to read a book while traveling in the bus. When the bus bumps, he looks out of window and sees a serene forest with soothing greenery. Sattva thinks, “It would be so nice, if I can just sit under a tree and assimilate the wisdom of this book.” Tamas is watching a movie on his mobile. When the bus bumps, he also sees the same view but thinks, “It would be so nice, if I had one partner, I can frolic, dance, romanticize in this forest.” Tamas, who is trying to sleep, also looks out on bumping of bus. He thinks, “So peaceful. It would be so nice if I can just lie down here and sleep comfortably.” All three people are seeing the same forest, but their responses are entirely different. This is because their perception is shaped by particular modes.

Modes affecting response: Imagine Sattva, Rajas and Tamas are watching a movie in a theatre and a fire breaks out. Tamas suddenly becomes terrified and freezes. Rajas starts running to the exit door to save himself. Sattva looks for a fire extinguisher and attempts to extinguish the fire. The example shows that in ignorance there is neither action, nor reflection. There is just frozen panic. In passion, there is instinctive action, but without much reflection. In goodness, there is action and reflection both. Mode of goodness is the most beneficial for our wellbeing, not only spiritually but also materially.

These modes are to some extent determined by […]

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​How can we overcome envy?
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Transcriber: Suresh Gupta

Edited by: Keshavgopal Das

Question: How can we overcome envy?

Answer: Usually envy is towards those who we think are equal to us. We do not feel envious towards the President of America or Prime Minister of India because they are completely out of our scheme. Usually we are envious towards those whom we think we should be superior to them but they are superior to me.

We feel envious because we think that our happiness depends on externals. If I get more than others then I will become happy. At the philosophical level we need to recognise that material things are not the sources of happiness. There may be some titillation or pleasure in getting those, but it is very superficial. When relatives tickle a small child, he may laugh but that laughter is not happiness. If tickling made us happy, we all can have our own perpetual tickling machines!

Besides philosophical understanding, at the practical level, we need to avoid unnecessarily focusing on what others have. Duryodhana, he had no business staying on in Indraprastha after every had left. Exposing ourselves to the things which can lead to envy within us is also not proper. We should take precautions if we cannot bear other’s opulence and do not unnecessarily expose ourselves. However, most importantly if we recognise that actually whatever whoever has that is a gift given by God.

Krishna can give wealth, fame, position and other endless blessings but such material things cannot give lasting happiness. When Krishna manifest in our heart and our heart becomes enriched with devotion for him that is when we get everlasting happiness. When we see that the blessing is given by Krishna, then our focus shifts from them to Krishna.

Our connection with Krishna is not based on what he has given us, but on what we are giving him. If somebody has a lot of wealth, that does not necessarily mean that the person is very dear to Krishna. Opulence of wealth in person’s life may be because of his past karma. Somebody may have a lot, and they may offer very little and may not get the happiness. We may have less but if we use it properly in a mood of service to Krishna, even that less can give us greater things.

Let me give a simple example. Suppose after this program there is a feast where everybody is going to have their own plate with their own delicacies. Now I have a feast in my plate with all delicious things, but rather than looking at my plate I am looking at everybody else’s plate thinking that they have better delicacies. What we need for our happiness, Krishna has already provided us, but we hanker for more. Rather than craving for delicacies in others plate, we focus on the relishing on what is in our plate.

Happiness does not come by focussing on what we have, rather from what we […]

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When an eye for an eye will make everyone blind, why does the Gita teach that?
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Transcription: Suresh Gupta

Editing: Sharan Shetty

Question: When an eye for an eye will make everyone blind, why does the Gita teach that?

Answer: Bhagavad-gita does not teach the philosophy of “an eye for an eye”. Rather, it teaches that we should act out of spiritual love and do whatever that is best for the expression of ours and others spiritual love. Krishna told Arjuna to fight the battle not just to avenge the wrongs done to him by Duryodhana but because Duryodhana was disrupting society, disrupting dharma and taking all of society towards adharma which was causing distress, disorder and disaster. Focusing on this point, “an eye for an eye will make everyone blind” reminds us of a respected Indian spiritual teacher who adapted this biblical saying which in simple term means “Tit for Tat”. For such sayings, there is a time and a place where they can be applied and there is also a time, place, circumstance where this philosophy will not apply. For example, when two people are having a street fight and both fight with each other and break each other’s teeth, both will become toothless. But if there is a larger interest involved, in the sense, that there are two states and each state is trying to conquer the other state. If one state attacks and the other state stays silent then the first state will become more and more threatening. Rather, if the first state hits and the other state hits back as harder as it can, and this goes on for a while then essentially it will lead to both states becoming cautious of each other and leading to deterrence. Deterrence means a state may avoid an attack thinking it can lead to a counter-attack but if there is no hitting back from the state which is being attacked, then the attacking state will exploit, destroy, dominate or even enslave the other state and there will be complete misery for the ruler who was submissive. For example, Hitler was on a rampage, tormenting the Jews and this Indian leader wrote him a letter asking him to not fight and tried to bring out the nobility within him, but it was in vain. There are some people who are so despotic that when they see someone surrender to them, they do not see that as an opportunity for expressing compassion but rather as an opportunity for expressing domination. Such people see surrender as weakness and a reason to destroy. Thus, when there are small petty trifles and if we start thinking of avenging each and every one of them then there will be continuous animosity and it will degrade the relationship of both people. But when one of the parties is anyway hostile and exploitative, the relationship between them will remain hostile at some level. In a situation where a husband and a wife are living together or two brothers or two sisters are living together in a family, […]

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Gita key verses course 25 Does God hear our prayers – When our prayers aren’t answered, what can we do – Gita 7.19
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