Bhagavad-gītā Daśa Mūla

1-Pramāṇa – veda śāstra (The Evidence – the Vedic

Literature):

vedyaṁ pavitram oṁkāra ṛk sāma yajur eva ca

(Gītā 9.17)

I am the pure syllable oṁ. I am the Ṛk, Sāma and Yajur Vedas.

tasmac castram pramanam te karyakarya-vyavasthitau

jnatva sastra-vidhanoktam karma kartum iharhasi
(Gītā 16.24)

Therefore, śāstra is the only criteria for determining what should be

done and what should not be done. Knowing that the essence of all
scriptures is bhakti, devotional service, you are eligible to perform
your work.

Sambandhaḥ
2-Kṛṣṇaḥ (The Supreme Lord)

mattaḥ parataraṁ nānyat kiñcid asti dhanañjaya

mayi sarvam idaṁ protaṁ sūtre maṇi-gaṇā iva
(Gīta 7.7)

O Dhanañaya! There is no one greater than Me; all universe rests

upon Me, who is the vertical and horizontal cause of the cosmic
manifestation, just as a cluster of pearls are strung on a thread.

3-kṛṣṇa-śaktiḥ (Kṛṣṇa’s Potencies)

:
 bhumir āpo’ nalo vāyuḥ khaṁ mano buddhir eva ca
ahaṅkāra itīyaṁ me bhinnā prakṛtir aṣṭadhā
apareyam itas tv anyāṁ prakṛtiṁ viddhi me parām
jīva-bhūtaṁ mahā-bāho yayedaṁ dhāryate jagat
etad yonīni bhūtāni sarvā ity upadhiāraya
ahaṁ kṛtsnasya jagataḥ prabhavaḥ pralayas tathā
(Gītā 7.4-7.6)

The knowledge of the the Supreme Lord’s form and opulences is

called bhagavad-jñāna. It is explained as follows: “I am the Absolute
Reality, eternally possessing My own form and various energies.
Brahman is only My impersonal aspect in the realm of My energies. It
does not have any form (svarūpa). It has its place in the created
world as the understanding by negation. Paramātmā is also My
expansion in the universe. In fact, He is temporary substance existing
in relation to the universe. He also does not have an eternal form.
Only My form as the Bhagavān is eternal. In this form I have two
energies and one of them is called the external energy (bahiraṅga) or
illusory energy (māyā-śakti). She is known as “material mother” or
“inferior energy” (aparā-śakti). It consists of the five elements. The
earth, water, fire, air and ether-these five are called “gross elements”
(mahā-bhūta). Sound, touch, form, taste and smell – these five are
called ‘the objects of the senses’ (tan-mātra). In this way we can
accept ten elements. Regarding false ego (ahaṅkāra) we accept the
senses as its instruments and the mahat-tattva as its cause. The
intelligence and the mind are mentioned separately only because
they are generally engaged in different tasks among these elements,
while in fact they are one. All these constitute My external energy.

Besides this, there is also My marginal potency (tatasthā-prakṛti)

which is also called ‘superior potency’ (parā-prakṛti). This energy is
conscious and consists of living entities. All living entities emanate
from this energy and bring consciousness into this material universe.
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 The living entities are called marginal energy (tatasthā-śakti)
because they are fit to live in either of the two worlds-the spiritual
world emanated from My internal energy or the material world
created by My external energy.

Everything that has and does not have consciousness, the material
world and the marginal energy, is created by these two potencies.
Therefore, I in My personal form of the Supreme Lord am the root
cause of the manifestation and dissolution of the whole creation.

4-kṛṣṇa-rasa (The Transcendental Mellows of

Kṛṣṇa)

avyaktaṁ vyaktim āpannaṁ manyate mām abuddhayaḥ

paraṁ bhāvam ajānanto mam āvyayam anuttam
(Gītā 7.24)

Those who think that impersonal concept is the highest, conclude

that I am impersonal and unmanifest, but being impelled by activity
become manifested or become a person. Whatever knowledge of
such scriptures as Vedānta they may have, they are fools because
they do not know my supreme, imperishable, highest form, which is
endowed with eternal qualities.

avajānanti maṁ mūḍha mānuṣīm tanum āśritam

paraṁ bhāvam ajānanto mama bhūta-maheśvaram
(Gītā 9 .11)

From everything that l said you should clearly understand that My

form is eternal, full of knowledge and bliss. By My mercy My energy
carries out all the activities. However, I am completely independent
of any activity. In whatever way I am recognized in this material world
is nothing but My mercy and the power of My energy. I am
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 transcendental to all the material rules. Therefore, although My form
is spiritual, I become manifested in the material world in this spiritual
form. People of this world especially adore the unlimited the
infinitesimal, the greatest, the unmanifest, but this is nothing but the
activity of their intelligence influenced by illusion. These are not My
supreme nature. My supreme nature is that although My middle-
sized form is completely transcendental, by My energies I am
simultaneously all-pervading and smaller than the atom. This
manifestation of My form is possible only by My inconceivable
energies. Foolish people take this form of Mine, which is eternal, full
of knowledge and bliss, to be human and therefore think that l
became subjected to the laws of material nature and accepted a
temporary designative body. They cannot understand that in this
very form I am the supreme controller of everything that be.
Therefore, by their unintelligent ideas they attribute some
contemptible nature to Me. Those who have awakened their
intelligence can understand My form to be My eternal body, full of
knowledge and bliss.

5-jīvaḥ (The Jīvas)

mamaivāṁśo jīva-loke jīva-bhūta-sanātana

(Gītā 15. 7)

“I am the Supreme Personality of Godhead, complete, eternal and

full of knowledge and bliss. I have two kinds of expansions-svāṁśa
(personal expansions) and vibhinnāṁśa (separated expansions). In
My personal expansions I manifest My pastimes in such forms as
Rāma, Nṛsiṁha and others. My separated expansions are manifested
as living entities, who are My eternal servants. In my personal
expansions I am fully manifested, but in My separated expansions
My position of Supreme Controller is not present; the living entity’s
personal ego (ahaṅkāra) arises there. The living entities who belong
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 to My separated expansions exist in two states: the liberated state
(mukta-daśā) and conditioned state (baddha-daśā). In both states
the living entity is eternal. In the liberated state the living entity is
completely under my shelter and is free from any connection with
matter.

6-baddha-jīvaḥ (The Bound Jīva)

śarīraṁ yad avāpnoti yac cāpy utkrāmatīśvaraḥ

gṛhītvaitāni saṁyāti vayur gandhān ivāśayat
(Gītā 15.8)

The conditioned state of the living entity does not end when he dies.
The jīva receives his gross body according to his karma and gives it
up when the time approaches. When he migrates from one body to
another his desires for fruitive activities related to the body go with
him. Just like the air takes the aroma of the flower and carries it to
another place, in the same way a living entity departs, taking all the
senses from one gross body to another with the help of the subtle
elements.

na mām duṣkṛtino mūḍhāḥ prapadyante narādhamāḥ

māyayāpahṛta-jñānā āsuraṁ bhāvam āśritāḥ
(Gītā 7.15)

The miscreants do not surrender unto My form of Supreme

Personality of Godhead. There are four kinds of such people-the
fools, lowest among mankind, those whose knowledge is stolen by
illusion and who take shelter of the atheistic nature of demons.
Those who are extremely absorbed in sense gratification and whose
think in terms of material fruitive activities are fools (mūḍha). They
cannot understand the spiritual substance and therefore they are
very determined to develop materialistic science, and so on. Lowest
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 among mankind (narādhama) are they who are devoid of the high
sentiments of the human heart, the atheistic moralists and
worshipers of the imaginary gods, who consider themselves very
learned and expert in dull material activities. Those who accept the
spiritual substance, but take shelter of such wicked erroneous
teachings as exclusive monism (kevaladvaita-vāda), voidism
(sūnyavāda), materialism (prakṛti-vāda), etc., and therefore do not
accept the eternality of the pure devotional service, are known as
“those whose knowledge is stolen by illusion” (māyā-dvārā apahṛta-
jñāna). Those who are under the influence of their pride, false ego,
selfishness and senses, who are mad after happiness of this world
and consider saintly devotees to be destitute, they have taken
shelter of the demoniac nature (asura-bhāvāśrita). In brief, those
who are always devoid of piety (sukṛti) in the form of devotees’
association (sādhu-saṅga), are miscreants (duṣkṛta).

7-mukta-jīvaḥ (The Liberated Jīva)

mām upetya punar janma duḥkhālayam aśaśvatam

nāpnuvanti mahātmātmānaḥ saṁsiddhiṁ paramāṁ gatāḥ
(Gītā 8.15)

All great souls, devotee-yogīs, having attained Me do not take

another birth, which is temporary and full of miseries, because they
achieve the highest perfection. Pure devotional service is
characterized by exclusive consciousness. One who takes exclusive
shelter in Me, having given up all hope in yoga, jñāna and other
processes, begins his pure devotional service.

daivi hy eṣa guṇamayī mama māyā duratyayā

mām eva ye prapadyante māyām etāṁ taranti te
(Gītā 7 .14)
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 This illusory potency (māyā) is My energy and therefore she is
naturally very difficult for a weak living entity to overcome. Those
who take shelter of My form as the Supreme Personality of Godhead,
can cross the ocean of illusion. In other words, it is not possible to
cross the ocean of illusion by fruitive activity (karma), mental
speculations (jñāna) or by surrender to various demigods.

8-māyā-jīveśvara-paraspara-sambandhaḥ (The
Relationship Between māyā, jīva and the Lord)

mayā tatam idaṁ sarvaṁ jag ad avyakta-mūrtinā

mat-sthāni sarva-bhūtāni na cāham teṣv avasthitaḥ
na ca mat-sthāni bhūtāni paśya me yogam aiśvaram
bhūta-bhṛn na ca bhūta-stho mamātma bhūta bhāvanaḥ
(Gītā 9.4-5)

I am present in everything that exists in My unmanifest form, which is

beyond the perception of material senses (atīndriya). The clay is
present in the pot but I am not present in the world in the same way,
because the world is neither My transformation (pariṇāma) nor My
illusion (vivarta). I am the complete and the greatest. This world is
manifested by the power of My energy. My energy carries out all the
activity in it but I remain separate in My complete spiritual form.

I have already said that all living entities rest in Me. This does not
mean that all of them are situated in My pure original form because I
have My own potency called māyā and everything is situated in it.
You will not be able to reconcile this with your limited intelligence of a
jīva. Therefore knowing this to be My mystic opulence and that the
activities of My energy are actually My activities, you should know
me as the maintainer of all living entities (bhūta-bhṛt), who is present
in them (bhūta-stha) and the protector of all jīvas (bhūta-bhāvana)
and you should know for sure that since there is no difference
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 between My body and Myself, I am all-pervading and at the same
time completely transcendental.”

9-Abhidheyaṁ (The Process of Attainment)

mahātmānas tu māṁ pārtha daivīṁ prakṛtiṁ āśritaḥ
bhajanty ananya-manaso jñātvā bhūtādim avyayam
satataṁ kīrtayanto māṁ yatantaś ca dṛḍha-vratāḥ
namasyantaś ca māṁ bhaktyā nitya-yuktā upāsate
(Gītā 9.13-14)

O Pārtha, those who have obtained realization through true

knowledge are great souls (mahātmas). They have taken shelter of
the divine potency and worship Me with exclusive minds, not having
any faith in activity that brings insignificant fruits and in dry
impersonal knowledge that brings about the destruction of the soul.
Thus they worship Me in My original form of Kṛṣṇa, knowing Me to be
the origin of all beings, imperishable, ultimate manifestation of the
Absolute Truth.

These great souls, devotees endowed with such realization through

the true knowledge, always glorify My name, form, qualities and
pastimes, engaging themselves in the nine processes of devotional
service, such as hearing and chanting. ln order to attain everlasting
service to My eternal form, which is full of knowledge and bliss, they
cultivate consciousness of Me by becoming determined in
performing their bodily, mental, social and spiritual activities-in other
words by strictly following vows such as Ekādaśī, Janmāṣṭamī etc.
Their consciousness is not diverted towards mundane activities,
therefore by their devotional service they surrender unto Me while
performing their worldly duties.

10-prayojanaḥ (the Goal of Life)

:
 ananyāś cintayanto māṁ ye janāḥ paryupāsate
teṣāṁ nityābhiyuhtānāṁ yoga-kṣemaṁ vahāmy aham
(Gītā 9.22)

samo’haṁ sarva-bhūteṣu na me dveṣyo’ sti na priyaḥ

ye bhajanti tu māṁ bhaktyā mayi te teṣu cāpy aham
(Gītā 9.29)

You should not think that all those who have material desires
(sakāma) and worship the threefold knowledge (described in the
three Vedas) achieve happiness and My devotees only suffer. My
devotees exclusively think of Me alone. For the bodily maintenance
they accept all objects that are not contrary to devotional service.
Therefore they are always engaged (nityābhiyukta). Although they
are free from desires (niṣkāma) they offer everything to Me. I also
give them everything and protect everything. The meaning is that
devotees by accepting the enjoyment that does not contradict
devotional service, get all varieties of enjoyment without any effort.

Thus, from the external point of view there is no difference at all

between those who worship through the medium of demigods
(pratīkopāsaka), that have many desires, and My devotees. Therefore
although My devotees do not have any desires, I personally carry out
what they need and preserve what they have. The special gain of My
devotees is that by My mercy they enjoy all the suitable happiness of
the sense objects and in the end they achieve eternal bliss. However,
those who worship through the medium of demigods
(pratīkopāsaka), having enjoyed sense pleasure, again return to the
place of fruitive activities. They do not achieve eternal happiness.
Although I am detached, due to My love for My devotees, l do not
accept any offenses on their part. Because they do not ask anything
from Me, l carry what they lack.
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 The mystery about Me is that l am equal to all living entities; I do not
have friends and enemies. This is My general rule. However My
specific rule is that one who worships Me with devotion, he is in Me
and l am attached to him.
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