Author Archives: Chaitanya Charan das

Why do we attribute some people’s actions to their present association and others’ actions to their past lives?
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How are karma and jnana the cause of material desires?
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From Prashant

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Transcription :

Transcriber: Sharan Shetty

Edited by: Keshavgopal Das

Question: How are karma and jnana are the cause of material desires?

Answer: The word material can have multiple meanings and at the simplest level, it refers to that which is related with matter. When we want to possess, control and enjoy matter then that desire is called material desire. The path of karma kanda or regulated material enjoyment is based on scriptural guidelines. For example, going to swarga or getting better facilities to enjoy in this world involve fulfilling material desires. When one hears the flowery and beautiful scriptural description of such material enjoyment then it may kindle ones material desires. Some people may want to fulfil their material desires without going through scriptures and instead, by their own independent endeavours (such people comprise the majority today) but in the past ages, people fulfilled their material desires through scriptural guidelines and that was the path of karma kanda which naturally resulted in material desires. Krishna describes about this in the Bhagavad Gita 02.42 – 43
yam imam puṣpitam vacam pravadanty avipascitaḥ
veda-vada-ratah partha nanyad astiti vadinah

kamatmanah svarga-para janma-karma-phala-pradam
kriya-visesa-bahulam bhogaisvarya-gatim prati

Krishna uses the word kamatmanah to figuratively describe that such people are so much filled with material desires that their atma (soul) is made up of kama (material desires). These people follow karma kanda so that they can go to heaven (svarga-para). They are so attracted by the flowery description of the scriptures (puspitam vacam) that they think nothing else is taught in the Vedic scriptures apart from this (nanyad astiti vadinah). Therefore, Krishna says that such people cannot develop the one-pointed intelligence for practicing spiritual life.
The desires for material enjoyment are entangling and from the absolute perspective, any desire to enjoy separate from Krishna can be considered to be sinful because ultimately, we are part and parcels of Krishna and we are meant for his enjoyment. This is not a form of self-deprivation because in giving enjoyment to him, we ourselves get the highest enjoyment that we can ever get in any other way. Thus, it is not self deprivation, it is self-fulfilment. Karma deprives one from this fulfilment because it kindles material desire although those desires are within scriptural guidelines.

The path of jnana is also based on material conception of spiritual reality. It has the idea that since matter has form and matter is limited therefore spirit being unlimited should not have any form and qualities. This is basically a negative material conception projected on spirit. The path of jnana aims at merging into the brahman, that is, the desire to become God. Such a desire is also sinful because instead of serving God, one wants to imitate God and take up his position for oneself. Therefore, the word sinful here does not refer to immoral.

Scriptures use the word sinful in many different ways, sometimes sin may refer to those activities which harm others, those which violate scriptural teachings. This is one definition of sin […]

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Can buddhi-yoga refer to all three yogas – karma, jnana and bhakti?
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Transcription :

Transcriber: Sharan Shetty

Edited by: Keshavgopal Das

Question: Can buddhi-yoga refer to all three yogas – karma, jnana and bhakti?

Answer: The word buddhi yoga does not refer to any specific process. There is no particular system of sadhana called as buddhi yoga. It is a compound word used by Lord Krishna in the Gita. Technically speaking, the two words that form the compound word buddhi yoga mean intelligence used for the purpose of yoga or yoga performed with intelligence with the purpose of pursuing higher spiritual connection. Hence, this can be done in all the three processes – karma, jnana and bhakti.

In karma yoga, if one meditates that he is not the body and therefore should not be attached to the fruits of work and bodily gratification and then performs action, then one is using his intelligence to connect with the Supreme Truth. Such use of intelligence can also be called as buddhi yoga.

In jnana yoga, when one uses one’s intelligence to connect with the ultimate spiritual reality without necessarily knowing what that spiritual reality is (either personal or impersonal) or ones connection with the spiritual reality is more intellectualised than personalised (i.e. more abstract in terms of attraction to the greatness of the Absolute Truth rather than the personality or sweetness of the Absolute Truth) then such use of intelligence can also be called as buddhi yoga.

In bhakti yoga, buddhi yoga will be intelligence used to serve Krishna in a way that is most pleasing to him.

Thus, the word buddhi yoga can mean all the three things.

In the Gita, jnana yoga is not discussed much because the Gita was spoken on a battlefield. The context involves that Arjuna needs to perform his duty of fighting. Therefore, jnana yoga, which centres on renunciation of the world, is not compatible with the context of the Gita. That is why, the Gita does not talk about jnana yoga much. Therefore, wherever the word buddhi yoga is used in the Gita, it is either meant for karma yoga or bhakti yoga.

In BG 02.39, Krishna uses the word buddhi yoga to explain that now I have spoken to you the difference between body and soul so that when you act in such knowledge you can free yourself from the bondage of work. This is buddhi yoga referring to karma yoga.

In BG 10.10, Krishna uses the word buddhi yoga to refer to the intelligence by which one will come to him. This is buddhi yoga referring to bhakti yoga.
In BG 18.57, Krishna uses the word buddhi yoga in reference to take shelter of devotional activities (buddhi-yogam upasritya) and renouncing all work to him, making him the goal, always being conscious of him. Here as well, buddhi yoga refers to bhakti yoga.

In the Gita, Lord Krishna uses the word buddhi yoga to refer to karma yoga in BG 2.39 and then bhakti yoga in BG 10.10 and BG 18.57. But in terms of the […]

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Gita 09.15 – Jnana yajna is not the same as jnana-yoga
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Gita verse-by-verse study Podcast

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Transcription :

Transcriber: Sharan Shetty

Edited by: Keshavgopal Das

Question: Gita 09.15 – Is jnana yajna is the same as jnana-yoga?
Answer: Gita 09.15 states,

jnana-yajnena capy anye yajanto mam upasate
ekatvena prthaktvena bahudha visvato-mukham

“Others, who engage in sacrifice by the cultivation of knowledge, worship the Supreme Lord as the one without a second, as diverse in many, and in the universal form.”

This is an important transitional verse in the Gita. Lord Krishna talks about people with widely varied conceptions about him. BG 09.11 and BG 09.12 talks about people who misunderstand Krishna by thinking him to be a material person or thinking his form to be ordinary. In BG 09.13 and BG 09.14, Krishna has talked about those who understand him to be the Absolute Truth and surrender to him, making him the ultimate goal of their lives. The first category of men is described by the word mudha (foolish) and the second category is described as mahatma (great souls). Between these two categories, there are many other people about whom Krishna talks in BG 09.15. These people are addressed as anye (others) and it’s a separate category. Krishna says these people worship me through knowledge (jnana-yajnena). They are those who conceive things in oneness (ekatvena) or in duality (prthaktvena).

The word jnana yajnena is also used by Krishna in BG 4.28 and BG 4.33 and later, most famously, in BG 18.70 where he says that “He who studies this sacred conversation of ours worships Me by his intelligence”.

In a broad sense, jnana yajna can be called as using our knowledge in the pursuit of the Absolute Truth. What the conception of the Absolute Truth is and what knowledge different people have will vary from seeker-to-seeker. Accordingly, the nature of jnana yajna will vary. That is why, one should not think that jnana yajna and jnana yoga are same. Jnana yoga is a particular method of sadhana which involves certain intellectual conceptions. In verse BG 09.15, Lord Krishna talks about three ways in which people do jnana yajna: (i) ekatvena (ii) prthaktvena bahudha (iii) vishvato mukham

(i) Ekatvena (oneness): There are transcendentalists who by the eyes of knowledge see beyond the duality and diversity that characterises life at the material level. Krishna talks about this in BG 18.20 as knowledge in the mode of goodness where he says, “That knowledge by which one undivided spiritual nature is seen in all living entities, though they are divided into innumerable forms, you should understand to be in the mode of goodness”.

One should understand that all conceptions of oneness are not one. There are conceptions of oneness which consider Krishna’s form to be an illusion which Krishna disapproves strongly by calling holders of such views as mudha (foolish) in BG 9.11. In BG 9.12, he explains that the endeavours of such people are futile.

In BG 09.15, Krishna talks about those who worship him in a different way which is not necessarily the best but laudable since […]

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How are jnana and karma uncovered in bhakti?
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Answer Podcast

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Transcription :

Transcriber: Sharan Shetty

bEdited by: Keshavgopal Das

Question: How are jnana and karma uncovered in bhakti?
Answer: Jnana and karma are two basic faculties of every living being, more specifically, human beings. Jnana connotes with knowledge or cognition and karma connotes with action. If we consider a body, it has hands, head and heart. Metaphorically, karma is primarily the path of the hands, whereas jnana is the path of the head. Underlying the hands and the head and unifying it all is the heart. Bhakti is the process of the heart, but it is not the process of the heart alone, it also engages the hands and the head.

When jnana and karma are covered, they are motivated by something other than pure love. That is why, jnana-karmady-anavṛtam means removing the covering.

The covering is basically a misdirection just like when white light is covered with red film, the light that comes out is red. Similarly, the soul has the capacity for action and cognition but when there is lack of devotion for the Supreme, then the capacity for action and cognition are misdirected.

It is not that bhakti rejects karma and jnana. Bhakti yogis are both active and intellectual, but both these faculties are subordinated to the love they have for the Supreme and therefore harmonised.

At one level, purification means removing the impressions which are imposed upon us by the external world. Another understanding of purification is activating the longing for the Supreme which is the innate nature of the soul. Our jnana and karma are misdirected by the various conceptions and contaminations that we have. Hence anavratam means that we remove those conceptions and contaminations. That way, when the soul’s nature to love Krishna is activated then jnana and karma become harmonised.

Shukadeva Goswami had a monistic disposition but when he understood how the all-attractive Supreme Person transcends the impersonal brahman then he used his phenomenal intelligence to compose and speak the Srimad Bhagavatam. Therefore, the jnana which was avrata (covered) became anavrata (uncovered). He used the same knowledge to glorify the personal bhagavan, instead of understanding impersonal brahman which is subordinate to the Supreme Lord.

Similarly, karma may also refer to some pious fruitive activity. There were many kings in the past who would perform such yajnas. Prachin Barhi used to do yajnas but he had no knowledge of transcendence. In Srimad Bhagavatam Canto 4, it is described, that when Prthu Maharaj was doing yajnas, he was not only remembering the particular devatas for whom the yajna was performed, he was also remembering Vishnu and was offering the fruits of the yajna to Vishnu.

Therefore, the idea is that karma or jnana are not to be given up. Arjuna was doing the karma of fighting and wanted to give it up but Krishna did not sanction. Instead he told Arjuna to perform his duty with a spiritual conception and motivation.

Thus, we have the capacity for both action and cognition, which should be harmonised and used […]

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When different paths have stark differences how can all paths be valid and how can we explain our path offers something more?
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Answer Podcast
http://www.thespiritualscientist.com/audio/CCD%20QA/2020%20QA/02-20%20QA/When%20different%20paths%20have%20stark%20differences%20how%20can%20all%20paths%20be%20valid%20and%20how%20can%20we%20explain%20our%20path%20offers%20something%20mo…

When people today are so untrustworthy how can we develop relationships?
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Answer Podcast

http://www.thespiritualscientist.com/audio/CCD%20QA/2020%20QA/02-20%20QA/When%20people%20today%20are%20so%20untrustworthy%20how%20can%20we%20develop%20relationships.mp3

 

Transcription :

Transcription: Suresh Gupta

Editing: Keshavgopal das

Question: When people today are so untrustworthy how can we develop relationships?

Answer: There are two extremes. One is being naive and the other is being cynical. Being naive is believing that everybody is a wonderful person and hence trustworthy. If we are naive, we will be smashed, betrayed and may end up being cynical. Being cynical is also a very dark place to be in. There was an atheistic philosopher who was asked whether he believed in hell. People thought, since he is an atheist, he will not believe in hell, but he said, “Of course I believe in hell. Hell means other people.” He almost became a misanthrope, hating humanity. In Los Angeles, America, I saw a car in front of me and the bumper had a sticker written, “The more I get to know people, the more I love my dog.”

We all have bad experiences with people but in between naivety and cynicism, is the courage to trust. We do not want to trust manually. Basically, if we are driving a car, it needs a brake and an accelerator as well. While driving through the journey of our life, doubt is like the brake and trust is the accelerator. To drive safely, we need both. If traffic is huge and car is wearing off the road, we need to press the brakes. Similarly, we should not trust naively but instead should doubt using our intelligence. The Bhagavata Purana says: Doubt is the sign of intelligence and intelligent person have doubts. However, doubt is not the only sign of intelligence. If we keep doubting always, that is like driving with our foot on the brakes all the time. A lot of fuel will be consumed, and the car will lead to nowhere.

We cannot live our life only by doubts. At the same time, we cannot live our life only by trust. Like we cannot drive a car which has only accelerator and no brakes. Just as we intelligently drive and look around to keep the car on track, similarly, we use our intelligence before trusting someone. The problem with trusting absolutely and opening our heart is that we become vulnerable to being cheated. We expect absolute guarantee that the other person will not disappoint us. However, if we are humble enough to admit then such a degree of trust, we cannot have, even from ourselves.

Life does not come with hundred percent guarantee at any time. However, we should use our intelligence and take small steps with respect to trusting other person by opening the door of our heart in a small way. If the reciprocation is well received, we put more trust and gradually things may become better. Some relationships work out well, some do not. Sometimes, different relationships work out best at different distances.

To summarize, we use two things: intelligence and experience. Intelligence will help us to make sense about the person and assess the amount of trust […]

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How can an introvert practice bhakti when it is so social and public?
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I can’t think when I am with too many people. And I find public harinam kirtan distracting. But when I try to be alone, devotees say that I will go into Maya. But I feel more disoriented when I am with many people and more focused on Krishna when I am alone. How can I practice bhakti?

Answer Podcast

 
Transcription :

Transcriber: Keshavgopal Das

Question: How can an introvert practice bhakti when it is so social and public?

Answer: If one is an introvert, then it is part of one’s psychophysical nature and one needs to practice bhakti accordingly. Practicing bhakti does not mean going against our basic bodily nature. For introverts, we can find out appropriate services suiting to introvert nature and use those in Krishna’s service. Writing, editing, shastra study, teaching etc., these services are those where introverts generally flourish.

In general, important is that one should not remain unengaged. Association of devotees help in protecting us to become a puppet of one’s mind. This is because in association of others somebody is watching. However, this does not mean that association is the only way to practice bhakti. This is one way which works for many people. Association is also safe for many people.
As introvert, we can choose those services which allow us to remain absorbed more and more.

With respect to kirtans, it is not necessary to do kirtans with hands raised, dancing, smiling looking at others. That is certainly one of way of doing kirtans, but introverts can also do kirtan by closing their eyes, fold their hands, even if introverts dance that can be done inconspicuously. Any seemingly public activity like kirtan can also be done in a way which increases one’s inner absorption.

As far as association is concerned, an introvert may want to find out other introverts and associate with them. In the association of introverts, there will not be a constant pressure to talk something. There will be time in between the talks. There will be time to process the contents of our own consciousness. For extroverts, they talk continuously. For them the focus of action is external, but for introverts the focus is internal. Introverts generally think deeply about their thoughts and then they will speak. I am not saying that either of this way is better or worse. It is just that these are different natures of people. Bhakti Vinod Thakura also says (based on Srila Rupa Goswami’s Bhakti Rasamrita Sindhu) that we should have like-minded devotee association (sajatiyashye snigdhe sadhau sangah svato vare). So, introverts can choose to have association of introverts.

It may not be very easy to find people who are introverts but with some search within an association, one may be able to find out. Extroverts find it delighting to be engaged in group conversation, but introverts would like conversation with one or two people at a time. Such a trait is not a form of a weakness, but just that it is a one trait. Introverts need time to think […]

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Are jnana and karma complementary instead of hierarchical?
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From Promila Mataji:

I’ve understood the following points about KY and JnY. However, i am still not clear why Jnana Yoga is considered superior to Karma Yoga in hierarchy (Yoga ladder) when Karma Yoga and Jnana Yoga are actually complementary?

1. Karma Yoga (action in devotion) is superior to Jnana Yoga (renunciation of action due to adaption of knowledge) because KY is easier compared to JnY.

2. In the yoga ladder or hierarchy, JnY is superior and yet in practice KY is superior.

3. Karmas performed without transcendental knowledge are materialistic in nature. So it’s transcendental knowledge that imparts the spiritual qualities to Karmas.

4. Without the application of knowledge (TK, not dry philosophical knowledge), knowledge makes one Mithyacharana, as Krishna warns Arjuna.

Considering these points, it seems more appropriate to call them complementary yogas rather than one being superior in hierarchy and the other though superior in hierarchy, is inferior in practice.

Answer Podcast:

https://www.thespiritualscientist.com/audio/CCD%20QA/2015%20QA/05-15%20QA/Are%20jnana%20and%20karma%20are%20complementary%20instead%20of%20hierarchical.mp3

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Transcriber: Sharan Shetty

Edited by: Keshavgopal Das

Transcription :

Question: Are jnana and karma complementary instead of hierarchical?

Answer: Karma and jnana can broadly refer to action and intellectual analysis whereas karma yoga and jnana yoga are specific processes. Beyond these two, there is the path of bhakti yoga.

Karma yoga and jnana yoga, as yoga sadhanas, are not complimentary. They are mutually exclusive, and it is not that karma yogi’s practice is incomplete without jnana yoga or vice versa. Both are two distinct processes of yoga and if a person is practicing karma yoga then he cannot be practicing jnana yoga which requires renunciation of action. Their essential methodologies involve opposite courses of action because karma yoga involves action and jnana yoga involves inaction.

With respect to their intention, in the Fifth Chapter, Lord Krishna talks about their common goal. The analysis of Third and Fifth Chapter is same but in the Fifth Chapter, Krishna goes deeper into certain subjects. In Bhagavad-gita 5.4 and 5.5, Krishna says,

sankhya-yogau prthag balah pravadanti na panditah
ekam apy asthitah samyag ubhayor vindate phalam
“Only the ignorant speak of devotional service [karma-yoga] as being different from the analytical study of the material world [sankhya]. Those who are actually learned say that he who applies himself well to one of these paths achieves the results of both.”

yat sankhyaih prapyate sthanam tad yogair api gamyate
ekam sankhyam ca yogam ca yaḥ pasyati sa pasyati
“One who knows that the position reached by means of analytical study can also be attained by devotional service, and who therefore sees analytical study and devotional service to be on the same level, sees things as they are.”

Therefore, it is clear from the above two verses that those who think that the paths of sankhya and yoga are two different paths have a childish mentality and Krishna further states that actually if one who attains perfection in one process then one attains the destination that is intended from both the processes. Ultimately, both are meant to take us towards transcendence which is explained by Lord Krishna in Gita 5.2, sannyasaḥ karma-yogas ca niḥsreyasa-karav ubhau […]

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Krishna told Arjuna to kill but Narada told Mrigari to not kill?
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Answer Podcast

http://www.thespiritualscientist.com/audio/CCD%20QA/2020%20QA/02-20%20QA/Krishna%20told%20Arjuna%20to%20kill%20but%20Narada%20told%20Mrigari%20to%20not%20kill.mp3

 

Transcription :

Transcriber: Suresh Gupta

Edited by: Keshavgopal das

Question: Krishna told Arjuna to kill but Narada told Mrigari to not kill?

Answer: There are different kinds of dharmas. Mrigari would not kill the animals directly but would instead slit their throats and leave them half-alive, to die a painful death. Killing, in itself, is painful but half killing is much-much more painful and Mrigari was causing such unnecessary pain to the animals.

As far as dharma is concerned, we need to understand that the word dharma has different meanings in different contexts. Some duties are essential for the maintenance of society. For example – sometimes the military kills because that is required to keep aggressors under control which is essential for the maintenance of the society. Arjuna was a kshatriya who are the marshall guardian of the society, so for him, it was essential to kill the aggressors.

Duryodhana was such a brutal person that he tried to disrobe Draupadi publicly in the royal assembly. Even today when some sex crime is committed against women, it creates a big furore in the media. Usually when some animalistic person violates a woman, he will probably abduct her, drag her somewhere in private and do something with her. However, if somebody tries to molest and violate a woman in public, in front of everyone, that person is certainly brazen. What to speak if such horrible act is done in a police station or a court. That would mean that the person has no fear of law at all. Duryodhana was an example of such kind of a person. He never expressed any remorse for his act. If at all he had any regret, it was because he could not humiliate Draupadi.

If such a person is given unrestricted power over a kingdom, then one can imagine what kind of havoc he could have created. Although he ruled around thirteen years when the Pandavas were in exile, but he was always afraid that one day the Pandavas might come back. Therefore, he was at his best trying to win over the citizens. If there was no danger to the Pandavas then he would have been brutal to everyone. Hence, a person like Duryodhana had to be punished. The Pandavas tried everything possible to avoid war and when all other alternatives had failed, finally war was chosen.

Before the war, Krishna himself went to Duryodhana as a peace messenger on behalf of the Pandavas. The position of Krishna in the Mahabharata was the greatest and he was offered the first respects at the great rajasuya sacrifice, yet he went as a peace messenger to Duryodhana. It is like, if India and Pakistan have some tension and to mitigate those tensions, the Prime Minister of India goes to Pakistan as a peace envoy. The highest person going to the opposite camp like this shows how seriously he considered peace. However, imagine Pakistan tries to arrest the Indian Prime Minister. The whole of India would erupt in […]

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Is there any scientific proof of the existence of higher and lower planetary systems?
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Answer Podcast

http://www.thespiritualscientist.com/audio/CCD%20QA/2020%20QA/02-20%20QA/Is%20there%20any%20scientific%20proof%20of%20the%20existence%20of%20higher%20and%20lower%20planetary%20systems.MP3

 

Transcription :

Transcriber: Suresh Gupta

Edited by: Raji Nachiappan

Question: Is there any scientific proof of the existence of higher and lower planetary systems?

Answer: There are different models of reality. Science is basically a map of reality and that map is meant for a particular perspective. For example, you are in place A and you want to go to place B to meet a friend. Someone gives you a map to get to place B. As the directions shown on the map turns out to be right at every step, your faith in the map starts increasing. Finally, when you reach the address and find your friend, you will not look into the map to check if it shows your friend. Also, you do not say to your friend that since he is not shown on the map, he does not exist.

Therefore, the map is a very powerful tool for navigating reality but the map is not a comprehensive guide to reality. There are many things that do not exist inside the map. People do not exist inside the map but people do exist. Similarly, science is a map and this map is for a primary purpose. When science commenced, the pioneers of the scientific methods from Galileo, Newton, Francis, Bacon and others, decided that reality will be divided into two sets of properties, i.e. primary and secondary. Primary properties are those which are measurable or quantifiable such as mass, density, velocity, viscosity etc. Secondary properties are taste, colour, smell, beauty, love, kindness etc. Science focussed on the primary properties.

In our day to day experience, what science considers as primary, is secondary for us. For example, if we tell our friends that we met a very interesting person, and they ask us to describe that person, we do not say that the person was five feet and three inches tall and weighs one fifty pounds. While this may well be a description of the person, it does not actually tell us much about the person. If we have to describe a great meal, we do not say that we had eight hundred calories weighing 250 grams. These are aspects of the meal; however, they are not the primary aspects. When we talk about people, we talk about their personalities, their qualities, their nature and when we talk about food, we talk about taste, texture, flavour and its visual appeal. The point is that what we in our day to day life consider as primary, science considers it secondary.

Science is the map of reality and on that map, subtler realities do not exist. The higher and lower planetary systems and then the spiritual world are all subtler realities. They do not exist on the map of science. However, that does not mean they do not exist in reality. If say for example, your friend invites you to his house for a chat. You, however, say that first your friend has to prove based on the map that […]

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Is karma real?
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Answer Podcast

http://www.thespiritualscientist.com/audio/CCD%20QA/2020%20QA/02-20%20QA/Is%20karma%20real.mp3

 

Transcription :

Transcriber: Suresh Gupta

Question: Is karma real?

Answer: How do we know whether something is true? There are different ways of proving different things. For example, if someone asks me what the time is, my reply would be – ten thirty-four. When asked how I know, my reply would be, “I have a watch”. When questioned how I know my watch is right, I can say, “We may look up in Google and confirm”. When we talk about facts, we can have objective measurements. However, if I ask whether your mother loves you, you may reply, “Of course, she does”. But when asked about the proof, can we put a love-o-meter in our mother’s head and measure her love for us? To prove our point, we can give examples like – when I was sick, my mother stayed up all night and took care of me, when I was hospitalised, my mother sold her ornaments just to get treatment for me. Similarly, we can think of hundreds of incidents by which we can infer that our mother loves us. However, it is an inference and not a mathematically provable thing. The point is that for different realities, there are different ways of proving. Similarly, with respect to karma, the way of proving is basically through inference.

When we look at our present life, we see that we accept the principle of cause and effect. For example, if a child comes back home to parents and shows them a report card with ‘F’, the parents will immediately ask the reason for such low grade. If the child replies, “It happened by chance”, it cannot be accepted as a reasonable answer. The parents would ask – did you not study, did you forget the answers, or were you sick. Whenever there is an effect, we assume there is a cause. Causality or “cause and effect” co-relation is the basic presumption in all human beings. It is true even in science, for example, Newton saw the effect – fruit falling and questioned the cause. In day-to-day existence, we presume cause-effect connections and the more knowledge we have, the bigger is the framework within which we can see the cause of connections. For example, if somebody is trembling, one cause of connection could be that they are not wearing the sweater, and if they put on the sweater, then they will not tremble. Here, the effect is trembling, and the cause is, the person is not wearing the sweater. But if somebody wears a sweater and still trembles, then he may have to go to a doctor where he may come to know that he is suffering from malaria. Ordinary people might define it as sick, but sick is a very general term whereas malaria is a more specific term. Therefore, the more knowledge we have, the same effect can be put in different causal box.

The cause for someone trembling can be put in multiple causal boxes and the more knowledge we have, the […]

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If work is worship is a butcher also worshiping by slaughtering animals?
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Transcription :

Transcription: Suresh Gupta

Question: If work is worship, is a butcher also worshiping by slaughtering animals?

Answer: Bhagavad Gita 18.46 says,

yatah pravrttir bhutanam yena sarvam idam tatam
sva-karmana tam abhyarcya siddhim vindati manavah

(By worship of the Lord, who is the source of all beings and who is all-pervading, a man can attain perfection through performing his own work.)

Often this is translated as “Work is Worship” but that is not what Krishna says. If we simply consider work as worship, then we could say that the donkey is the greatest worshipper because the donkey works so hard. On the other hand, “Work is Worship” is a valid and valuable ethical principle which teaches that everybody should work diligently, responsibly. Nobody should think that “My work is too small and worthless and so it should not be done”. If we are contributing in any role in the society then we have to do it properly and at the same time, nobody should be looked down upon for the kind of work they are doing. Everybody is contributing in their own way and so, all forms of work should be considered valuable. Therefore, in that ethical sense, “Work is Worship” is a valid principle but it is not a philosophical principle and is not a teaching of Bhagavad-gita.

Teaching of Gita is – By your work worship the Supreme. This essentially means that God is not disconnected from the world. Some people think, in order to worship God, one needs to renounce the world, go to a secluded place and worship God. Even Arjuna thought in this way and wanted to give up his kshatriya duty before the Mahabharata war.
If we look at the above verse, in first half, Lord Krishna is talking about connectedness of the world with God, that is, yatah pravrttir bhutanam (the whole world has come from God) and then, yena sarvam idam tatam (by Him the whole world is pervaded). Therefore, when we work in this world, we can worship the Supreme through our work. The stress in this verse is on the connectedness of God with the world and connectedness of our work with God.

Having said that, it is also important to note, what we do in this world affects our consciousness. There are certain works like the work where one has to kill animals daily which if seen from an objective perspective, means that such people have to desensitise themselves to the pain of other living beings, stop seeing those animals as living beings and see them just a source of income. This attitude will diminish their consciousness. If I am not conscious of your pain, then that is actually a decrease in my consciousness. If one cannot perceive the consciousness of beings around them, how can one perceive the consciousness of the Being who is beyond us. Their consciousness will get shrunk, it will get diminished and will not expand towards God. Everything comes from God, but everything does not take us to God. There […]

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How is the Bhagavad gita applicable for students?
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Transcription :

Transcription: Suresh Gupta

Question: How is the Gita applicable for students?

Answer: Primarily, the biggest relevance of Gita is in terms of the mind. In student life, there are so many different pressures that come – studies, parent’s expectations, stress of assignments, peer pressure etc. – that our mind can go wild due to hormones rising in our body during teenage. If we can learn to manage our mind, we will be able to do better.
Arjuna was a great warrior but his mind went wild at the start of Mahabharata war. He could not function properly or carry out his duty. Comparatively, the specifics of Arjuna’s wild mind maybe different from ours, but on hearing the message of Gita he could calm the mind. Thus, all of us should study the Gita regularly and understand its core message – that we are not our body and we are not our mind also.

We are different from our mind and Gita gives us a lot of practical guidelines on how to manage our mind. If we can learn to manage our mind, we can create a better life for ourselves. As students, we spend so much of our time on waste thoughts. Our time is not only spent in activities like studying, experiments, assignments etc., but our time is also taken by our thoughts. For example, if you go in a lab and greet another person but that person snubs you, neglects you or worse, insults you, then this single thought can dominate your mind for the next one hour. You will be sitting in the class but not one word spoken by the teacher will go in your mind because you will be thinking of revenge (next time in front of everyone I will snub this person). Externally you may appear to be in the class, but your mind has taken you somewhere else. Stray thoughts, wild thoughts take so much of our time. If we could manage to regulate our thoughts, we would save a lot of time.

Similarly, worry takes up so much of our time. Worry is essentially the interest that we pay on loans we have not yet taken. The problem may or may not have happened, but we spend time thinking about all the possibilities about – what if it happens or that happens? If we practice bhakti and understand Gita, we will learn that the Gita teaches us: Do not focus on “what if” rather focus on “what is”. “What if” means – what if this happens, that happens etc. “What is” mean – what is the exact problem right now, what is the right thing to do, what should I focus on right now? Therefore, in the Gita, there are a lot of powerful resources by which we can manage our mind, face all the stresses of student life and very responsibly create a brighter future for ourselves.

Along with that, Gita also gives us overall purpose and direction for our life. We all […]

Does science come from spirituality or is it made by man?
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Transcription :

Transcription by: Suresh Gupta

Question: Does science come from spirituality or is it made by man?

Answer: Science, as a body of knowledge, is clearly a human product. If we consider scientific books, they are written by human beings. Scientific concepts (such as gravity), their explanation and their mathematical postulation have also come from human beings.

Spirituality is the study of the totality of reality, whereas science is the study of a subset of that reality. Science studies the physical reality and especially the measurable parameters within physical reality. If we consider total reality as a big circle, then physical reality is a small circle within that big circle and science studies that physical reality. Therefore, in that sense, we could say that science is the subset of spirituality.

However, it is also true that science studies certain things and spirituality studies certain other things. They both have their own focus. Spirituality is the study of consciousness and its source. Unless there were consciousness, there would not be the longing for understanding and we would not search for anything. The animals have existed for millennia, but animals did not develop science, and neither did they question as to why things exist or how things work. Why? Because we humans have a longing to understand and that longing essentially is for spirituality. That longing comes because the soul in a human body has developed consciousness by which he can think about such topics whereas animals simply think about their immediate need. For example, instead of Newton, if the apple had fallen on the head of a monkey, it would have simply picked it up and ran away. But when the apple fell on Newton, he asked the question, why does the apple fall? Although human beings too have a biological drive (just like the monkey), we also have a spiritual drive. Spiritual drive is basically the drive to make sense of things and to understand what-is-what? That desire to understand things, led to the theory of gravity, and further led to the development of science.

Hence, study of science and the development of scientific knowledge, ultimately comes from our longing to understand and know If we were simply insentient matter like a table, then just like a table does not understand anything but simply exists, similarly we too would have understood nothing. In fact, a table does not even understand that it exists. It exists without understanding that it exists; but we have consciousness and hence we seek spirituality.

Therefore, spirituality is the study of the totality of reality and science is study of subset of reality. If spirituality is defined as our longing for higher understanding, then that longing for higher understanding can lead us to spiritual understanding. But that longing can also lead to scientific understanding. Therefore, science is created by human beings, but the reason it is created by human beings is because humans have a longing for understanding and that longing for understanding comes from our spiritual nature. […]

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Does karma continue perpetually because we hurt others and they hurt us back as a reaction again and again?
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Are the Mahabharata real or stories?
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Transcription :

Transcriber: Suresh Gupta

Question: Are the Mahabharata real or stories?

Answer: History is not like an empirical repeatable science like gravity which is proved by the falling of a fruit in the past and present. Then how do we know what happened historically? Broadly speaking, there are multiple ways. One way is to adopt the same methodology which historians use and then look at Ramayana and Mahabharata. Few years ago, in an archaeological expedition the remains of an ancient city were found under the water which was off the coast of the city of Dwarka. Certain seals were found bearing marks of an ancient city. There was also the name of Vasudeva (one of the names of Krishna) marked there. Hence, archaeological evidence for the existence of the city of Dwarka is almost non- debatable now. Everybody accepts it. This can be one way to know about history.

Second way, which is more sophisticated, is called archeoastronomy. Archeoastronomy is the science of using the knowledge of mathematics and astronomy to know how the planetary bodies or the celestial bodies move and using this we can also predict the occurrence of eclipses. We can also predict, to some extent, astronomical patterns and also whether a full solar eclipse occurred in the past or when it will reoccur in future. As per the Vedas, it is said that when Kaliyuga started, all the nine planets aligned in one line. This is an extremely rare event in human history. This is something which happened approximately five thousand years ago (which is when the Mahabharata took place) and scientists have themselves said this.

Similarly, in the Mahabharata there are a number of celestial formations mentioned during the events at that time. There were rapid occurrences of lunar and solar eclipses which we can predict using the scientific knowledge today. There is a video on YouTube – Krishna History or Myth? where a professor has done complete research on this subject where he is talking about archeoastronomy and the description of the celestial formations, eclipses and other formations in Mahabharat. He did calculative dating of these formations and it came out to be approximately three thousand BC, that is, five thousand years old which is when the Mahabharata took place.

Along with archaeology and archeoastronomy, another way to know is looking at the architectures. We see that at least two thousand five hundred years ago, there were invaders from Europe and other part of the world who came to India and while they were in India, they built structures and columns where they put insignias of Krishna, Vasudeva etc.
Another way is, cross referencing other texts. When Buddhism and Jainism rose in India, at that time, these religions, in order to attract followers, criticised Hinduism and their central figures like Krishna and Rama, their philosophies and teachings. But it is important to note that none of them ever said that Krishna and Rama are not historical figures. If these figures were imaginary then one of the […]

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Gita key verses course 5 – What is spirituality? Is it a state of mind? Why are so few people spiritually minded?
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Gita key verses course 4 – How can we heal after the death of a loved one, should we suppress our grief or express it
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