om ajnana-timirandhasya jnananjana-salakaya
caksur unmilitam yena tasmai sri-gurave namah

sri-caitanya-mano-''bhistam sthapitam yena bhu-tale
svayam rupah kada mahyam dadati sva-padantikam

I was born in thedarkest ignorance, and my spiritual master opened my eyes with the torchof knowledge. I offer my respectful obeisances unto him.
When will Srila RupaGosvami Prabhupada, who has established within this material world the missionto fulfill the desire of Lord Caitanya, give me shelter under his lotus feet?

vande ''ham sri-guroh sri-yuta-pada-kamalam sri-gurun vaisnavams ca
sri-rupam sagrajatam saha-gana-raghunathanvitam tam sa-jivam
sadvaitam savadhutam parijana-sahitam krsna-caitanya-devam
sri-radha-krsna-padan saha-gana-lalita-sri-visakhanvitams ca

I offer my respectfulobeisances unto the lotus feet of my spiritual master and unto the feet ofall Vaisnavas. I offer my respectful obeisances unto the lotus feet of SrilaRupa Gosvami along with his elder brother Sanatana Gosvami, as well as RaghunathaDasa and Raghunatha Bhatta, Gopala Bhatta, and Srila Jiva Gosvami. I offermy respectful obeisances to Lord Krsna Caitanya and Lord Nityananda alongwith Advaita Acarya, Gadadhara, Srivasa, and other associates. I offer myrespectful obeisances to Srimati Radharani and Sri Krsna along with Theirassociates, Sri Lalita and Visakha.

he krsna karuna-sindho dina-bandho jagat-pate
gopesa gopika-kanta radha-kanta namo ''stu te

O my dear Krsna,You are the friend of the distressed and the source of creation. You arethe master of the gopis and the lover of Radharani. I offer my respectfulobeisances unto You.

tapta-kancana-gaurangi radhe vrndavanesvari
vrsabhanu-sute devi pranamami hari-priye

I offer my respectsto Radharani whose bodily complexion is like molten gold and who is the Queenof Vrndavana. You are the daughter of King Vrsabhanu, and You are very dearto Lord Krsna.

vancha-kalpatarubhyas ca krpa-sindhubhya eva ca
patitanam pavanebhyo vaisnavebhyo namo namah

I offer my respectfulobeisances unto all the Vaisnava devotees of the Lord who can fulfill thedesires of everyone, just like desire trees, and who are full of compassionfor the fallen souls.

sri-krsna-caitanya prabhu-nityananda
sri-advaita gadadhara srivasadi-gaura-bhakta-vrnda

I offer my obeisancesto Sri Krsna Caitanya, Prabhu Nityananda, Sri Advaita, Gadadhara, Srivasaand all others in the line of devotion.

hare krsna hare krsna, krsna krsna hare hare
hare rama hare rama, rama rama hare hare.

Bhagavad-gitais also known as Gitopanisad. It is the essence of Vedic knowledgeand one of the most important Upanisads in Vedic literature. Of coursethere are many commentaries in English on the Bhagavad-gita, and onemay question the necessity for another one. This present edition can be explainedin the following way. Recently an American lady asked me to recommend anEnglish translation of Bhagavad-gita. Of course in America there areso many editions of Bhagavad-gita available in English, but as faras I have seen, not only in America but also in India, none of them can bestrictly said to be authoritative because in almost every one of them thecommentator has expressed his own opinions without touching the spirit ofBhagavad-gita as it is.
The spirit ofBhagavad-gita is mentioned in Bhagavad-gita itself. It is justlike this: If we want to take a particular medicine, then we have to followthe directions written on the label. We cannot take the medicine accordingto our own whim or the direction of a friend. It must be taken accordingto the directions on the label or the directions given by a physician. Similarly,Bhagavad-gita should be taken or accepted as it is directed by thespeaker Himself. The speaker of Bhagavad-gita is Lord Sri Krsna. Heis mentioned on every page of Bhagavad-gita as the Supreme Personalityof Godhead, Bhagavan. Of course the word bhagavan sometimes refersto any powerful person or any powerful demigod, and certainly herebhagavan designates Lord Sri Krsna as a great personality, but atthe same time we should know that Lord Sri Krsna is the Supreme Personalityof Godhead, as is confirmed by all great acaryas (spiritual masters)like Sankaracarya, Ramanujacarya, Madhvacarya, Nimbarka Svami, Sri CaitanyaMahaprabhu and many other authorities of Vedic knowledge in India. The LordHimself also establishes Himself as the Supreme Personality of Godhead inthe Bhagavad-gita, and He is accepted as such in theBrahma-samhita and all the Puranas, especially theSrimad-Bhagavatam, known as the Bhagavata Purana (krsnastu bhagavan svayam). Therefore we should take Bhagavad-gita asit is directed by the Personality of Godhead Himself. In the Fourth Chapterof the Gita the Lord says:

(1) imam vivasvate yogam proktavan aham avyayam
vivasvan manave praha manur iksvakave ''bravit

(2) evam parampara-praptam imam rajarsayo viduh
sa kaleneha mahata yogo nastah parantapa

(3) sa evayam maya te ''dya yogah proktah puratanah
bhakto ''si me sakha ceti rahasyam hy etad uttamam

Here the Lord informsArjuna that this system of yoga, the Bhagavad-gita, was firstspoken to the sun-god, and the sun-god explained it to Manu, and Manu explainedit to Iksvaku, and in that way, by disciplic succession, one speaker afteranother, this yoga system has been coming down. But in the courseof time it has become lost. Consequently the Lord has to speak it again,this time to Arjuna on the Battlefield of Kuruksetra.
He tells Arjuna thatHe is relating this supreme secret to him because he is His devotee and Hisfriend. The purport of this is that Bhagavad-gita is a treatise whichis especially meant for the devotee of the Lord. There are three classesof transcendentalists, namely the jnani, the yogi and thebhakta, or the impersonalist, the meditator and the devotee. Herethe Lord clearly tells Arjuna that He is making him the first receiver ofa new parampara (disciplic succession) because the old successionwas broken. It was the Lord''s wish, therefore, to establish anotherparampara in the same line of thought that was coming down from thesun-god to others, and it was His wish that His teaching be distributed anewby Arjuna. He wanted Arjuna to become the authority in understanding theBhagavad-gita. So we see that Bhagavad-gita is instructed toArjuna especially because Arjuna was a devotee of the Lord, a direct studentof Krsna, and His intimate friend. Therefore Bhagavad-gita is bestunderstood by a person who has qualities similar to Arjuna''s. That is tosay he must be a devotee in a direct relationship with the Lord. That isa very elaborate subject matter, but briefly it can be stated that a devoteeis in a relationship with the Supreme Personality of Godhead in one of fivedifferent ways:
One may be a devotee in a passive state; One may be a devotee in an active state; One may be a devotee as a friend; One may be a devotee as a parent; One may be a devotee as a conjugal lover.

Arjuna was in arelationship with the Lord as friend. Of course there is a gulf of differencebetween this friendship and the friendship found in the material world. Thisis transcendental friendship which cannot be had by everyone. Of course everyonehas a particular relationship with the Lord, and that relationship is evokedby the perfection of devotional service. But in the present status of ourlife, we have not only forgotten the Supreme Lord, but we have forgottenour eternal relationship with the Lord. Every living being, out of many,many billions and trillions of living beings, has a particular relationshipwith the Lord eternally. That is called svarupa. By the process ofdevotional service, one can revive that svarupa, and that stage iscalled svarupa-siddhi--perfection of one''s constitutional position.So Arjuna was a devotee, and he was in touch with the Supreme Lord in friendship.
How Arjuna acceptedthis Bhagavad-gita should be noted. His manner of acceptance is givenin the Tenth Chapter:

(12) arjuna uvaca
param brahma param dhama pavitram paramam bhavan
purusam sasvatam divyam adi-devam ajam vibhum

(13) ahus tvam rsayah sarve devarsir naradas tatha
asito devalo vyasah svayam caiva bravisi me

(14) sarvam etad rtam manye yan mam vadasi kesava
na hi te bhagavan vyaktim vidur deva na danavah

"Arjuna said: Youare the Supreme Brahman, the ultimate, the supreme abode and purifier, theAbsolute Truth and the eternal Divine Person. You are the primal God,transcendental and original, and you are the unborn and all-pervading beauty.All the great sages like Narada, Asita, Devala, and Vyasa proclaim this ofYou, and now You Yourself are declaring it to me. O Krsna, I totally acceptas truth all that You have told me. Neither the gods nor the demons, O Lord,know Thy personality." (Bg. 10.12-14).
After hearingBhagavad-gita from the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Arjuna acceptedKrsna as param brahma, the Supreme Brahman. Every living being isBrahman, but the supreme living being, or the Supreme Personality of Godhead,is the Supreme Brahman. Param dhama means that He is the supreme restor abode of everything, pavitram means that He is pure, untaintedby material contamination, purusam means that He is the supreme enjoyer,divyam, transcendental, adi-devam, the Supreme Personalityof Godhead; ajam, the unborn, and vibhum, the greatest, theall-pervading.
Now one may thinkthat because Krsna was the friend of Arjuna, Arjuna was telling Him all thisby way of flattery, but Arjuna, just to drive out this kind of doubt fromthe minds of the readers of Bhagavad-gita, substantiates these praisesin the next verse when he says that Krsna is accepted as the Supreme Personalityof Godhead not only by himself but by authorities like the sage Narada, Asita,Devala, Vyasadeva and so on. These are great personalities who distributethe Vedic knowledge as it is accepted by all acaryas. Therefore Arjunatells Krsna that he accepts whatever He says to be completely perfect.Sarvam etad rtam manye: "I accept everything You say to be true."Arjuna also says that the personality of the Lord is very difficult to understandand that He cannot be known even by the great demigods. This means that theLord cannot even be known by personalities greater than human beings. Sohow can a human being understand Sri Krsna without becoming His devotee?
ThereforeBhagavad-gita should be taken up in a spirit of devotion. One shouldnot think that he is equal to Krsna, nor should he think that Krsna is anordinary personality or even a very great personality. Lord Sri Krsna isthe Supreme Personality of Godhead, at least theoretically, according tothe statements of Bhagavad-gita or the statements of Arjuna, the personwho is trying to understand the Bhagavad-gita. We should thereforeat least theoretically accept Sri Krsna as the Supreme Personality of Godhead,and with that submissive spirit we can understand the Bhagavad-gita.Unless one reads the Bhagavad-gita in a submissive spirit, it is verydifficult to understand Bhagavad-gita because it is a great mystery.
Just what is theBhagavad-gita? The purpose of Bhagavad-gita is to deliver mankindfrom the nescience of material existence. Every man is in difficulty in somany ways, as Arjuna also was in difficulty in having to fight the Battleof Kuruksetra. Arjuna surrendered unto Sri Krsna, and consequently thisBhagavad-gita was spoken. Not only Arjuna, but every one of us isfull of anxieties because of this material existence. Our very existenceis in the atmosphere of nonexistence. Actually we are not meant to be threatenedby nonexistence. Our existence is eternal. But somehow or other we are putinto asat. Asat refers to that which does not exist.
Out of so many humanbeings who are suffering, there are a few who are actually inquiring abouttheir position, as to what they are, why they are put into this awkward positionand so on. Unless one is awakened to this position of questioning his suffering,unless he realizes that he doesn''t want suffering but rather wants to makea solution to all sufferings, then one is not to be considered a perfecthuman being. Humanity begins when this sort of inquiry is awakened in one''smind. In the Brahma-sutra this inquiry is called "brahmajijnasa." Every activity of the human being is to be considered a failureunless he inquires about the nature of the Absolute. Therefore those whobegin to question why they are suffering or where they came from and wherethey shall go after death are proper students for understandingBhagavad-gita. The sincere student should also have a firm respectfor the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Such a student was Arjuna.
Lord Krsna descendsspecifically to reestablish the real purpose of life when man forgets thatpurpose. Even then, out of many, many human beings who awaken, there maybe one who actually enters the spirit of understanding his position, andfor him this Bhagavad-gita is spoken. Actually we are all followedby the tiger of nescience, but the Lord is very merciful upon living entities,especially human beings. To this end He spoke the Bhagavad-gita, makingHis friend Arjuna His student.
Being an associateof Lord Krsna, Arjuna was above all ignorance, but Arjuna was put into ignoranceon the Battlefield of Kuruksetra just to question Lord Krsna about the problemsof life so that the Lord could explain them for the benefit of future generationsof human beings and chalk out the plan of life. Then man could act accordinglyand perfect the mission of human life.
The subject of theBhagavad-gita entails the comprehension of five basic truths. Firstof all, the science of God is explained and then the constitutional positionof the living entities, jivas. There is isvara, which meanscontroller, and there are jivas, the living entities which are controlled.If a living entity says that he is not controlled but that he is free, thenhe is insane. The living being is controlled in every respect, at least inhis conditioned life. So in the Bhagavad-gita the subject matter dealswith the isvara, the supreme controller, and the jivas, thecontrolled living entities. Prakrti (material nature) and time (the durationof existence of the whole universe or the manifestation of material nature)and karma (activity) are also discussed. The cosmic manifestationis full of different activities. All living entities are engaged in differentactivities. From Bhagavad-gita we must learn what God is, what theliving entities are, what prakrti is, what the cosmic manifestationis, how it is controlled by time, and what the activities of the living entitiesare.
Out of these fivebasic subject matters in Bhagavad-gita it is established that theSupreme Godhead, or Krsna, or Brahman, or supreme controller, or Paramatma--youmay use whatever name you like--is the greatest of all. The living beingsare in quality like the supreme controller. For instance, the Lord has controlover the universal affairs, over material nature, etc., as will be explainedin the later chapters of Bhagavad-gita. Material nature is notindependent. She is acting under the directions of the Supreme Lord. As LordKrsna says, "Prakrti is working under My direction." When we see wonderfulthings happening in the cosmic nature, we should know that behind this cosmicmanifestation there is a controller. Nothing could be manifested withoutbeing controlled. It is childish not to consider the controller. For instance,a child may think that an automobile is quite wonderful to be able to runwithout a horse or other animal pulling it, but a sane man knows the natureof the automobile''s engineering arrangement. He always knows that behindthe machinery there is a man, a driver. Similarly, the Supreme Lord is adriver under whose direction everything is working. Now the jivas,or the living entities, have been accepted by the Lord, as we will note inthe later chapters, as His parts and parcels. A particle of gold is alsogold, a drop of water from the ocean is also salty, and similarly, we theliving entities, being part and parcel of the supreme controller,isvara, or Bhagavan, Lord Sri Krsna, have all the qualities of theSupreme Lord in minute quantity because we are minute isvaras, subordinateisvaras. We are trying to control nature, as presently we are tryingto control space or planets, and this tendency to control is there becauseit is in Krsna. But although we have a tendency to lord it over materialnature, we should know that we are not the supreme controller. This is explainedin Bhagavad-gita.
What is materialnature? This is also explained in Gita as inferior prakrti,inferior nature. The living entity is explained as the superiorprakrti. Prakrti is always under control, whether inferioror superior. Prakrti is female, and she is controlled by the Lordjust as the activities of a wife are controlled by the husband.Prakrti is always subordinate, predominated by the Lord, who is thepredominator. The living entities and material nature are both predominated,controlled by the Supreme Lord. According to the Gita, the livingentities, although parts and parcels of the Supreme Lord, are to be consideredprakrti. This is clearly mentioned in the Seventh Chapter, Fifth Verseof Bhagavad-gita: "Apareyam itas tv anyam." "Thisprakrti is My lower nature," "prakrtim viddhi me param jiva-bhutammaha-baho yayedam dharyate jagat." And beyond this there is anotherprakrti: jiva-bhutam, the living entity.
Prakrti itselfis constituted by three qualities: the mode of goodness, the mode of passionand the mode of ignorance. Above these modes there is eternal time, and bya combination of these modes of nature and under the control and purviewof eternal time there are activities which are called karma. Theseactivities are being carried out from time immemorial, and we are sufferingor enjoying the fruits of our activities. For instance, suppose I am abusinessman and have worked very hard with intelligence and have amasseda great bank balance. Then I am an enjoyer. But then say I have lost allmy money in business; then I am a sufferer. Similarly, in every field oflife we enjoy the results of our work, or we suffer the results. This iscalled karma.
Isvara (the SupremeLord), jiva (the living entity), prakrti (nature), eternaltime and karma (activity) are all explained in theBhagavad-gita. Out of these five, the Lord, the living entities, materialnature and time are eternal. The manifestation of prakrti may betemporary, but it is not false. Some philosophers say that the manifestationof material nature is false, but according to the philosophy ofBhagavad-gita or according to the philosophy of the Vaisnavas, thisis not so. The manifestation of the world is not accepted as false; it isaccepted as real, but temporary. It is likened unto a cloud which moves acrossthe sky, or the coming of the rainy season which nourishes grains. As soonas the rainy season is over and as soon as the cloud goes away, all the cropswhich were nourished by the rain dry up. Similarly, this material manifestationtakes place at a certain interval, stays for a while and then disappears.Such are the workings of prakrti. But this cycle is working eternally.Therefore prakrti is eternal; it is not false. The Lord refers tothis as "My prakrti." This material nature is the separated energyof the Supreme Lord, and similarly the living entities are also the energyof the Supreme Lord, but they are not separated. They are eternally related.So the Lord, the living entity, material nature and time are all interrelatedand are all eternal. However, the other item, karma, is not eternal.The effects of karma may be very old indeed. We are suffering or enjoyingthe results of our activities from time immemorial, but we can change theresults of our karma, or our activity, and this change depends onthe perfection of our knowledge. We are engaged in various activities.Undoubtedly we do not know what sort of activities we should adopt to gainrelief from the actions and reactions of all these activities, but this isalso explained in the Bhagavad-gita.
The position ofisvara is that of supreme consciousness. The jivas, or theliving entities, being parts and parcels of the Supreme Lord, are also conscious.Both the living entity and material nature are explained as prakrti,the energy of the Supreme Lord, but one of the two, the jiva, isconscious. The other prakrti is not conscious. That is the difference.Therefore the jiva-prakrti is called superior because the jivahas consciousness which is similar to the Lord''s. The Lord''s is supremeconsciousness, however, and one should not claim that the jiva, theliving entity, is also supremely conscious. The living being cannot be supremelyconscious at any stage of his perfection, and the theory that he can be sois a misleading theory. Conscious he may be, but he is not perfectly or supremelyconscious.
The distinction betweenthe jiva and the isvara will be explained in the ThirteenthChapter of Bhagavad-gita. The Lord is ksetra-jna, conscious,as is the living being, but the living being is conscious of his particularbody, whereas the Lord is conscious of all bodies. Because He lives in theheart of every living being, He is conscious of the psychic movements ofthe particular jivas. We should not forget this. It is also explainedthat the Paramatma, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is living in everyone''sheart as isvara, as the controller, and that He is giving directionsfor the living entity to act as he desires. The living entity forgets whatto do. First of all he makes a determination to act in a certain way, andthen he is entangled in the actions and reactions of his own karma.After giving up one type of body, he enters another type of body, as we puton and take off old clothes. As the soul thus migrates, he suffers the actionsand reactions of his past activities. These activities can be changed whenthe living being is in the mode of goodness, in sanity, and understands whatsort of activities he should adopt. If he does so, then all the actions andreactions of his past activities can be changed. Consequently, karmais not eternal. Therefore we stated that of the five items (isvara, jiva,prakrti, time and karma) four are eternal, whereas karmais not eternal.
The supreme consciousisvara is similar to the living entity in this way: both the consciousnessof the Lord and that of the living entity are transcendental. It is not thatconsciousness is generated by the association of matter. That is a mistakenidea. The theory that consciousness develops under certain circumstancesof material combination is not accepted in the Bhagavad-gita.Consciousness may be pervertedly reflected by the covering of materialcircumstances, just as light reflected through colored glass may appear tobe a certain color, but the consciousness of the Lord is not materially affected.Lord Krsna says, "mayadhyaksena prakrtih." When He descends into thematerial universe, His consciousness is not materially affected. If He wereso affected, He would be unfit to speak on transcendental matters as He doesin the Bhagavad-gita. One cannot say anything about the transcendentalworld without being free from materially contaminated consciousness. So theLord is not materially contaminated. Our consciousness, at the present moment,however, is materially contaminated. The Bhagavad-gita teachesthat we have to purify this materially contaminated consciousness. In pureconsciousness, our actions will be dovetailed to the will of isvara,and that will make us happy. It is not that we have to cease all activities.Rather, our activities are to be purified, and purified activities are calledbhakti. Activities in bhakti appear to be like ordinary activities,but they are not contaminated. An ignorant person may see that a devoteeis acting or working like an ordinary man, but such a person with a poorfund of knowledge does not know that the activities of the devotee or ofthe Lord are not contaminated by impure consciousness or matter. They aretranscendental to the three modes of nature. We should know, however, thatat this point our consciousness is contaminated.
When we are materiallycontaminated, we are called conditioned. False consciousness is exhibitedunder the impression that I am a product of material nature. This is calledfalse ego. One who is absorbed in the thought of bodily conceptions cannotunderstand his situation. Bhagavad-gita was spoken to liberate onefrom the bodily conception of life, and Arjuna put himself in this positionin order to receive this information from the Lord. One must become freefrom the bodily conception of life; that is the preliminary activity forthe transcendentalist. One who wants to become free, who wants to becomeliberated, must first of all learn that he is not this material body.Mukti or liberation means freedom from material consciousness. Inthe Srimad-Bhagavatam also the definition of liberation is given.Mukti means liberation from the contaminated consciousness of thismaterial world and situation in pure consciousness. All the instructionsof Bhagavad-gita are intended to awaken this pure consciousness, andtherefore we find at the last stage of the Gita''s instructions thatKrsna is asking Arjuna whether he is now in purified consciousness. Purifiedconsciousness means acting in accordance with the instructions of the Lord.This is the whole sum and substance of purified consciousness. Consciousnessis already there because we are part and parcel of the Lord, but for us thereis the affinity of being affected by the inferior modes. But the Lord, beingthe Supreme, is never affected. That is the difference between the SupremeLord and the conditioned souls.
What is thisconsciousness? This consciousness is "I am." Then what am I? In contaminatedconsciousness "I am" means "I am the lord of all I survey. I am the enjoyer."The world revolves because every living being thinks that he is the lordand creator of the material world. Material consciousness has two psychicdivisions. One is that I am the creator, and the other is that I am the enjoyer.But actually the Supreme Lord is both the creator and the enjoyer, and theliving entity, being part and parcel of the Supreme Lord, is neither thecreator nor the enjoyer, but a cooperator. He is the created and the enjoyed.For instance, a part of a machine cooperates with the whole machine; a partof the body cooperates with the whole body. The hands, feet, eyes, legs andso on are all parts of the body, but they are not actually the enjoyers.The stomach is the enjoyer. The legs move, the hands supply food, the teethchew and all parts of the body are engaged in satisfying the stomach becausethe stomach is the principal factor that nourishes the body''s organization.Therefore everything is given to the stomach. One nourishes the tree by wateringits root, and one nourishes the body by feeding the stomach, for if the bodyis to be kept in a healthy state, then the parts of the body must cooperateto feed the stomach. Similarly, the Supreme Lord is the enjoyer and the creator,and we, as subordinate living beings, are meant to cooperate to satisfy Him.This cooperation will actually help us, just as food taken by the stomachwill help all other parts of the body. If the fingers of the hand think thatthey should take the food themselves instead of giving it to the stomach,then they will be frustrated. The central figure of creation and of enjoymentis the Supreme Lord, and the living entities are cooperators. By cooperationthey enjoy. The relation is also like that of the master and the servant.If the master is fully satisfied, then the servant is satisfied. Similarly,the Supreme Lord should be satisfied, although the tendency to become thecreator and the tendency to enjoy the material world are there also in theliving entities because these tendencies are there in the Supreme Lord whohas created the manifested cosmic world.
We shall find, therefore,in this Bhagavad-gita that the complete whole is comprised of thesupreme controller, the controlled living entities, the cosmic manifestation,eternal time, and karma, or activities, and all of these are explainedin this text. All of these taken completely form the complete whole, andthe complete whole is called the Supreme Absolute Truth. The complete wholeand the complete Absolute Truth are the Supreme Personality of Godhead, SriKrsna. All manifestations are due to His different energies. He isthe complete whole.
It is also explainedin the Gita that impersonal Brahman is also subordinate to the complete.Brahman is more explicitly explained in the Brahma-sutra to be likethe rays of the sunshine. The impersonal Brahman is the shining rays of theSupreme Personality of Godhead. Impersonal Brahman is incomplete realizationof the absolute whole, and so also is the conception of Paramatma in theTwelfth Chapter. There it shall be seen that the Supreme Personality of Godhead,Purusottama, is above both impersonal Brahman and the partial realizationof Paramatma. The Supreme Personality of Godhead is calledsac-cid-ananda-vigraha. The Brahma-samhita begins in this way:isvarah paramah krsnah sac-cid-ananda-vigrahah/anadir adir govindahsarva-karana-karanam. "Krsna is the cause of all causes. He is the primalcause, and He is the very form of eternal being, knowledge and bliss." ImpersonalBrahman realization is the realization of His sat (being) feature.Paramatma realization is the realization of the cit (eternal knowledge)feature. But realization of the Personality of Godhead, Krsna, is realizationof all the transcendental features: sat, cit and ananda (being,knowledge, bliss) in complete vigraha (form).
People with lessintelligence consider the Supreme Truth to be impersonal, but He is atranscendental person, and this is confirmed in all Vedic literatures. Nityonityanam cetanas cetananam. As we are all individual living beings andhave our individuality, the Supreme Absolute Truth is also, in the ultimateissue, a person, and realization of the Personality of Godhead is realizationof all of the transcendental features. The complete whole is not formless.If He is formless, or if He is less than any other thing, then He cannotbe the complete whole. The complete whole must have everything within ourexperience and beyond our experience, otherwise it cannot be complete. Thecomplete whole, Personality of Godhead, has immense potencies.
How Krsna is actingi n different potencies is also explained in Bhagavad-gita. This phenomenalworld or material world in which we are placed is also complete in itselfbecause the twenty-four elements of which this material universe is a temporarymanifestation, according to Sankhya philosophy, are completely adjusted toproduce complete resources which are necessary for the maintenance andsubsistence of this universe. There is nothing extraneous; nor is there anythingneeded. This manifestation has its own time fixed by the energy of the supremewhole, and when its time is complete, these temporary manifestations willbe annihilated by the complete arrangement of the complete. There is completefacility for the small complete units, namely the living entities, to realizethe complete, and all sorts of incompleteness are experienced due to incompleteknowledge of the complete. So Bhagavad-gita contains the completeknowledge of Vedic wisdom.
All Vedic knowledgeis infallible, and Hindus accept Vedic knowledge to be complete and infallible.For example, cow dung is the stool of an animal, and according tosmrti, or Vedic injunction, if one touches the stool of an animalhe has to take a bath to purify himself. But in the Vedic scriptures cowdung is considered to be a purifying agent. One might consider this to becontradictory, but it is accepted because it is Vedic injunction, and indeedby accepting this, one will not commit a mistake; subsequently it has beenproved by modern science that cow dung contains all antiseptic properties.So Vedic knowledge is complete because it is above all doubts and mistakes,and Bhagavad-gita is the essence of all Vedic knowledge.
Vedic knowledge isnot a question of research. Our research work is imperfect because we areresearching things with imperfect senses. We have to accept perfect knowledgewhich comes down, as is stated in Bhagavad-gita, by theparampara (disciplic succession). We have to receive knowledge fromthe proper source in disciplic succession beginning with the supreme spiritualmaster, the Lord Himself, and handed down to a succession of spiritual masters.Arjuna, the student who took lessons from Lord Sri Krsna, accepts everythingthat He says without contradicting Him. One is not allowed to accept oneportion of Bhagavad-gita and not another. No. We must acceptBhagavad-gita without interpretation, without deletion and withoutour own whimsical participation in the matter. The Gita should betaken as the most perfect presentation of Vedic knowledge. Vedic knowledgeis received from transcendental sources, and the first words were spokenby the Lord Himself. The words spoken by the Lord are different from thewords spoken by a person of the mundane world who is infected with four defects.A mundaner 1) is sure to commit mistakes, 2) is invariably illusioned, 3)has the tendency to cheat others and 4) is limited by imperfect senses. Withthese four imperfections, one cannot deliver perfect information of all-pervadingknowledge.
Vedic knowledge isnot imparted by such defective living entities. It was imparted unto theheart of Brahma, the first created living being, and Brahma in his turndisseminated this knowledge to his sons and disciples, as he originally receivedit from the Lord. The Lord is purnam, all-perfect, and there is nopossibility of His becoming subjected to the laws of material nature. Oneshould therefore be intelligent enough to know that the Lord is the onlyproprietor of everything in the universe and that He is the original creator,the creator of Brahma. In the Eleventh Chapter the Lord is addressed asprapitamaha because Brahma is addressed as pitamaha, thegrandfather, and He is the creator of the grandfather. So no one should claimto be the proprietor of anything; one should accept only things which areset aside for him by the Lord as his quota for his maintenance.
There are many examplesgiven of how we are to utilize those things which are set aside for us bythe Lord. This is also explained in Bhagavad-gita. In the beginning,Arjuna decided that he should not fight in the Battle of Kuruksetra. Thiswas his own decision. Arjuna told the Lord that it was not possible for himto enjoy the kingdom after killing his own kinsmen. This decision was basedon the body because he was thinking that the body was himself and that hisbodily relations or expansions were his brothers, nephews, brothers-in-law,grandfathers and so on. He was thinking in this way to satisfy his bodilydemands. Bhagavad-gita was spoken by the Lord just to change thisview, and at the end Arjuna decides to fight under the directions of theLord when he says, "karisye vacanam tava." "I shall act accordingto Thy word."
In this world manis not meant to toil like hogs. He must be intelligent to realize the importanceof human life and refuse to act like an ordinary animal. A human being shouldrealize the aim of his life, and this direction is given in all Vedicliteratures, and the essence is given in Bhagavad-gita. Vedic literatureis meant for human beings, not for animals. Animals can kill other livinganimals, and there is no question of sin on their part, but if a man killsan animal for the satisfaction of his uncontrolled taste, he must be responsiblefor breaking the laws of nature. In the Bhagavad-gita it is clearlyexplained that there are three kinds of activities according to the differentmodes of nature: the activities of goodness, of passion and of ignorance.Similarly, there are three kinds of eatables also: eatables in goodness,passion and ignorance. All of this is clearly described, and if we properlyutilize the instructions of Bhagavad-gita, then our whole life willbecome purified, and ultimately we will be able to reach the destinationwhich is beyond this material sky.
That destinationis called the sanatana sky, the eternal spiritual sky. In this materialworld we find that everything is temporary. It comes into being, stays forsome time, produces some by-products, dwindles and then vanishes. That isthe law of the material world, whether we use as an example this body, ora piece of fruit or anything. But beyond this temporary world there is anotherworld of which we have information. This world consists of another nature,which is sanatana, eternal. Jiva is also described assanatana, eternal, and the Lord is also described as sanatanain the Eleventh Chapter. We have an intimate relationship with the Lord,and because we are all qualitatively one--the sanatana-dhama, or sky,the sanatana Supreme Personality and the sanatana livingentities--the whole purpose of Bhagavad-gita is to revive oursanatana occupation, or sanatana-dharma, which is the eternaloccupation of the living entity. We are temporarily engaged in differentactivities, but all of these activities can be purified when we give up allthese temporary activities and take up the activities which are prescribedby the Supreme Lord. That is called our pure life.
The Supreme Lordand His transcendental abode are both sanatana, as are the livingentities, and the combined association of the Supreme Lord and the livingentities in the sanatana abode is the perfection of human life. TheLord is very kind to the living entities because they are His sons. LordKrsna declares in Bhagavad-gita, "sarva-yonisu...aham bija-pradahpita." "I am the father of all." Of course there are all types of livingentities according to their various karmas, but here the Lord claimsthat He is the father of all of them. Therefore the Lord descends to reclaimall of these fallen, conditioned souls to call them back to thesanatana eternal sky so that the sanatana living entities mayregain their eternal sanatana positions in eternal association withthe Lord. The Lord comes Himself in different incarnations, or He sends Hisconfidential servants as sons or His associates or acaryas to reclaimthe conditioned souls.
Therefore,sanatana-dharma does not refer to any sectarian process of religion.It is the eternal function of the eternal living entities in relationshipwith the eternal Supreme Lord. Sanatana-dharma refers, as statedpreviously, to the eternal occupation of the living entity. Ramanujacaryahas explained the word sanatana as "that which has neither beginningnor end," so when we speak of sanatana-dharma, we must take it forgranted on the authority of Sri Ramanujacarya that it has neither beginningnor end.
The English world"religion" is a little different from sanatana-dharma. Religion conveysthe idea of faith, and faith may change. One may have faith in a particularprocess, and he may change this faith and adopt another, butsanatana-dharma refers to that activity which cannot be changed. Forinstance, liquidity cannot be taken from water, nor can heat be taken fromfire. Similarly, the eternal function of the eternal living entity cannotbe taken from the living entity. Sanatana-dharma is eternally integralwith the living entity. When we speak of sanatana-dharma, therefore,we must take it for granted on the authority of Sri Ramanujacarya that ithas neither beginning nor end. That which has neither end nor beginning mustnot be sectarian, for it cannot be limited by any boundaries. Yet those belongingto some sectarian faith will wrongly consider that sanatana-dharmais also sectarian, but if we go deeply into the matter and consider it inthe light of modern science, it is possible for us to see thatsanatana-dharma is the business of all the people of the world--nay,of all the living entities of the universe.
Non-sanatanareligious faith may have some beginning in the annals of human history, butthere is no beginning to the history of sanatana-dharma because itremains eternally with the living entities. Insofar as the living entitiesare concerned, the authoritative sastras state that the living entityhas neither birth nor death. In the Gita it is stated that the livingentity is never born, and he never dies. He is eternal and indestructible,and he continues to live after the destruction of his temporary materialbody. In reference to the concept of sanatana-dharma, we must tryto understand the concept of religion from the Sanskrit root meaning of theword. Dharma refers to that which is constantly existing with a particularobject. We conclude that there is heat and light along with the fire; withoutheat and light, there is no meaning to the word fire. Similarly, we mustdiscover the essential part of the living being, that part which is his constantcompanion. That constant companion is his eternal quality, and that eternalquality is his eternal religion.
When Sanatana Gosvamiasked Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu about the svarupa of every living being,the Lord replied that the svarupa or constitutional position of theliving being is the rendering of service to the Supreme Personality of Godhead.If we analyze this statement of Lord Caitanya, we can easily see that everyliving being is constantly engaged in rendering service to another livingbeing. A living being serves other living beings in two capacities. By doingso, the living entity enjoys life. The lower animals serve human beings asservants serve their master. A serves B master, B serves C master and C servesD master and so on. Under these circumstances, we can see that one friendserves another friend, the mother serves the son, the wife serves the husband,the husband serves the wife and so on. If we go on searching in this spirit,it will be seen that there is no exception in the society of living beingsto the activity of service. The politician presents his manifesto for thepublic to convince them of his capacity for service. The voters thereforegive the politician their valuable votes, thinking that he will render valuableservice to society. The shopkeeper serves the customer, and the artisan servesthe capitalist. The capitalist serves the family, and the family serves thestate in the terms of the eternal capacity of the eternal living being. Inthis way we can see that no living being is exempt from rendering serviceto other living beings, and therefore we can safely conclude that serviceis the constant companion of the living being and that the rendering of serviceis the eternal religion of the living being.
Yet man professesto belong to a particular type of faith with reference to particular timeand circumstance and thus claims to be a Hindu, Muslim, Christian, Buddhistor any other sect. Such designations are non-sanatana-dharma. A Hindumay change his faith to become a Muslim, or a Muslim may change his faithto become a Hindu, or a Christian may change his faith and so on. But inall circumstances the change of religious faith does not affect the eternaloccupation of rendering service to others. The Hindu, Muslim or Christianin all circumstances is servant of someone. Thus, to profess a particulartype of sect is not to profess one''s sanatana-dharma. The renderingof service is sanatana-dharma.
Factually we arerelated to the Supreme Lord in service. The Supreme Lord is the supreme enjoyer,and we living entities are His servitors. We are created for His enjoyment,and if we participate in that eternal enjoyment with the Supreme Personalityof Godhead, we become happy. We cannot become happy otherwise. It is notpossible to be happy independently, just as no one part of the body can behappy without cooperating with the stomach. It is not possible for the livingentity to be happy without rendering transcendental loving service unto theSupreme Lord.
In theBhagavad-gita, worship of different demigods or rendering serviceto them is not approved. It is stated in the Seventh Chapter, twentieth verse:

kamais tais tair hrta-jnanah prapadyante ''nya-devatah
tam tam niyamam asthaya prakrtya niyatah svaya

"Those whose mindsare distorted by material desires surrender unto demigods and follow theparticular rules and regulations of worship according to their own natures."(Bg. 7.20) Here it is plainly said that those who are directed bylust worship the demigods and not the Supreme Lord Krsna. When we mentionthe name Krsna, we do not refer to any sectarian name. Krsna meansthe highest pleasure, and it is confirmed that the Supreme Lord is the reservoiror storehouse of all pleasure. We are all hankering after pleasure.Ananda-mayo ''bhyasat (Vs. 1.1.12). The living entities, likethe Lord, are full of consciousness, and they are after happiness. The Lordis perpetually happy, and if the living entities associate with the Lord,cooperate with Him and take part in His association, then they also becomehappy.
The Lord descendsto this mortal world to show His pastimes in Vrndavana, which are full ofhappiness. When Lord Sri Krsna was in Vrndavana, His activities with Hiscowherd boyfriends, with His damsel friends, with the inhabitants of Vrndavanaand with the cows were all full of happiness. The total population of Vrndavanaknew nothing but Krsna. But Lord Krsna even discouraged His father NandaMaharaja from worshiping the demigod Indra because He wanted to establishthe fact that people need not worship any demigod. They need only worshipthe Supreme Lord because their ultimate goal is to return to His abode.
The abode of LordSri Krsna is described in the Bhagavad-gita, Fifteenth Chapter, sixthverse:

na tad bhasayate suryo na sasanko na pavakah
yad gatva na nivartante tad dhama paramam mama

"That abode of Mineis not illumined by the sun or moon, nor by electricity and anyone who reachesit never comes back to this material world." (Bg. 15.6)
This verse givesa descriptio n of that eternal sky. Of course we have a material conceptionof the sky, and we think of it in relationship to the sun, moon, stars andso on, but in this verse the Lord states that in the eternal sky there isno need for the sun nor for the moon nor fire of any kind because the spiritualsky is already illuminated by the brahmajyoti, the rays emanatingfrom the Supreme Lord. We are trying with difficulty to reach other planets,but it is not difficult to understand the abode of the Supreme Lord. Thisabode is referred to as Goloka. In the Brahma-samhita it isbeautifully described: goloka eva nivasaty akhilatma-bhutah. The Lordresides eternally in His abode Goloka, yet He can be approached from thisworld, and to this end the Lord comes to manifest His real form,sac-cid-ananda-vigraha. When He manifests this form, there is no needfor our imagining what He looks like. To discourage such imaginative speculation,He descends and exhibits Himself as He is, as Syamasundara. Unfortunately,the less intelligent deride Him because He comes as one of us and plays withus as a human being. But because of this we should not consider that theLord is one of us. It is by His potency that He presents Himself in His realform before us and displays His pastimes, which are prototypes of those pastimesfound in His abode.
In the effulgentrays of the spiritual sky there are innumerable planets floating. Thebrahmajyoti emanates from the supreme abode, Krsnaloka, and theanandamaya-cinmaya planets, which are not material, float in thoserays. The Lord says, na tad bhasayate suryo na sasanko na pavakah. yadgatva na nivartante tad dhama paramam mama. One who can approach thatspiritual sky is not required to descend again to the material sky. In thematerial sky, even if we approach the highest planet (Brahmaloka), what tospeak of the moon, we will find the same conditions of life, namely birth,death, disease and old age. No planet in the material universe is free fromthese four principles of material existence. Therefore the Lord says inBhagavad-gita, abrahma-bhuvanal lokah punar avartino ''rjuna. Theliving entities are traveling from one planet to another, not by a mechanicalarrangement but by a spiritual process. This is also mentioned: yantideva-vrata devan pitrn yanti pitr-vratah. No mechanical arrangement isnecessary if we want interplanetary travel. The Gita instructs: yantideva-vrata devan. The moon, the sun and higher planets are called Svargaloka.There are three different statuses of planets: higher, middle and lower planetarysystems. The earth belongs to the middle planetary system.Bhagavad-gita informs us how to travel to the higher planetary systems(Devaloka) with a very simple formula: yanti deva-vrata devan. Oneneed only worship the particular demigod of that particular planet and inthat way go to the moon, the sun or any of the higher planetary systems.
YetBhagavad-gita does not advise us to go to any of the planets in thismaterial world because even if we go to Brahmaloka, the highest planet, throughsome sort of mechanical contrivance by maybe traveling for forty thousandyears (and who would live that long?), we will still find the materialinconveniences of birth, death, disease and old age. But one who wants toapproach the supreme planet, Krsnaloka, or any of the other planets withinthe spiritual sky, will not meet with these material inconveniences. Amongstall of the planets in the spiritual sky there is one supreme planet calledGoloka Vrndavana, which is the original planet in the abode of the originalPersonality of Godhead Sri Krsna. All of this information is given inBhagavad-gita, and we are given through its instruction informationhow to leave the material world and begin a truly blissful life in the spiritualsky.
In the FifteenthChapter of the Bhagavad-gita, the real picture of the material worldis given. It is said there:

urdhva-mulam adhah-sakham asvattham prahur avyayam
chandamsi yasya parnani yas tam veda sa veda-vit

"The Supreme Lordsaid: There is a banyan tree which has its roots upward and its branchesdown, and the Vedic hymns are its leaves. One who knows this tree is theknower of the Vedas." (Bg 15.1) Here the material world isdescribed as a tree whose roots are upwards and branches are below. We haveexperience of a tree whose roots are upward: if one stands on the bank ofa river or any reservoir of water, he can see that the trees reflected inthe water are upside down. The branches go downward and the roots upward.Similarly, this material world is a reflection of the spiritual world. Thematerial world is but a shadow of reality. In the shadow there is no realityor substantiality, but from the shadow we can understand that there is substanceand reality. In the desert there is no water, but the mirage suggests thatthere is such a thing as water. In the material world there is no water,there is no happiness, but the real water of actual happiness is there inthe spiritual world.
The Lord suggeststhat we attain the spiritual world in the following manner:

nirmana-moha jita-sanga-dosa
adhyatma-nitya vinivrtta-kamah
dvandvair vimuktah sukha-duhkha-samjnair
gacchanty amudhah padam avyayam tat

That padamavyayam or eternal kingdom can be reached by one who isnirmana-moha. What does this mean? We are after designations. Someonewants to become a son, someone wants to become "lord," someone wants to becomethe president or a rich man or a king or something else. As long as we areattached to these designations, we are attached to the body because designationsbelong to the body. But we are not these bodies, and realizing this is thefirst stage in spiritual realization. We are associated with the three modesof material nature, but we must become detached through devotional serviceto the Lord. If we are not attached to devotional service to the Lord, thenwe cannot become detached from the modes of material nature. Designationsand attachments are due to our lust and desire, our wanting to lord it overthe material nature. As long as we do not give up this propensity of lordingit over material nature, there is no possibility of returning to the kingdomof the Supreme, the sanatana-dhama. That eternal kingdom, which isnever destroyed, can be approached by one who is not bewildered by theattractions of false material enjoyments, who is situated in the serviceof the Supreme Lord. One so situated can easily approach that supreme abode.
Elsewhere in theGita it is stated:

avyakto ''ksara ity uktas tam ahuh paramam gatim
yam prapya na nivartante tad dhama paramam mama

Avyakta meansunmanifested. Not even all of the material world is manifested before us.Our senses are so imperfect that we cannot even see all of the stars withinthis material universe. In Vedic literature we can receive much informationabout all the planets, and we can believe it or not believe it. All of theimportant planets are described in Vedic literatures, especiallySrimad-Bhagavatam, and the spiritual world, which is beyond this materialsky, is described as avyakta, unmanifested. One should desire andhanker after that supreme kingdom, for when one attains that kingdom, hedoes not have to return to this material world.
Next, one may raisethe question of how one goes about approaching that abode of the SupremeLord. Information of this is given in the Eighth Chapter. It is said there:

anta-kale ca mam eva smaran muktva kalevaram
yah prayati sa mad-bhavam yati nasty atra samsayah

"Anyone who quitshis body, at the end of life, remembering Me, attains immediately to My nature;and there is no doubt of this." (Bg. 8.5) One who thinks of Krsnaat the time of his death goes to Krsna. One must remember the form of Krsna;if he quits his body thinking of this form, he approaches the spiritual kingdom.Mad-bhavam refers to the supreme nature of the Supreme Being. TheSupreme Being is sac-cid-ananda-vigraha--eternal, full of knowledgeand bliss. Our present body is not sac-cid-ananda. It is asat,not sat. It is not eternal; it is perishable. It is not cit,full of knowledge, but it is full of ignorance. We have no knowledge of thespiritual kingdom, nor do we even have perfect knowledge of this materialworld where there are so many things unknown to us. The body is alsonirananda; instead of being full of bliss it is full of misery. Allof the miseries we experience in the material world arise from the body,but one who leaves this body thinking of the Supreme Personality of Godheadat once attains a sac-cid-ananda body, as is promised in the fifthverse of the Eight Chapter where Lord Krsna says, "He attains My nature."
The process of quittingthis body and getting another body in the material world is also organized.A man dies after it has been decided what form of body he will have in thenext life. Higher authorities, not the living entity himself, make this decision.According to our activities in this life, we either rise or sink. This lifeis a preparation for the next life. If we can prepare, therefore, in thislife to get promotion to the kingdom of God, then surely, after quittingthis material body, we will attain a spiritual body just like the Lord.
As explained before,there are different kinds of transcendentalists, the brahmavadi,paramatmavadi, and the devotee, and, as mentioned, in thebrahmajyoti (spiritual sky) there are innumerable spiritual planets.The number of these planets is far, far greater than all of the planets ofthis material world. This material world has been approximated as only onequarter of the creation. In this material segment there are millions andbillions of universes with trillions of planets and suns, stars and moons.But this whole material creation is only a fragment of the total creation.Most of the creation is in the spiritual sky. One who desires to merge intothe existence of the Supreme Brahman is at once transferred to thebrahmajyoti of the Supreme Lord and thus attains the spiritual sky.The devotee, who wants to enjoy the association of the Lord, enters intothe Vaikuntha planets, which are innumerable, and the Supreme Lord by Hisplenary expansions as Narayana with four hands and with different names likePradyumna, Aniruddha, Govinda, etc., associates with him there. Thereforeat the end of life the transcendentalists either think of thebrahmajyoti, the Paramatma or the Supreme Personality of Godhead SriKrsna. In all cases they enter into the spiritual sky, but only the devotee,or he who is in personal touch with the Supreme Lord, enters into the Vaikunthaplanets. The Lord further adds that of this "there is no doubt." This mustbe believed firmly. We should not reject that which does not tally with ourimagination; our attitude should be that of Arjuna: "I believe everythingthat You have said." Therefore when the Lord says that at the time of deathwhoever thinks of Him as Brahman or Paramatma or as the Personality of Godheadcertainly enters into the spiritual sky, there is no doubt about it. Thereis no question of disbelieving it.
The information onhow to think of the Supreme Being at the time of death is also given in theGita:

yam yam vapi smaran bhavam tyajaty ante kalevaram
tam tam evaiti kaunteya sada tad-bhava-bhavitah

"In whatever conditionone quits his present body, in his next life he will attain to that stateof being without fail." (Bg. 8.6) Material nature is a display of one ofthe energies of the Supreme Lord. In the Visnu Purana the total energiesof the Supreme Lord as Visnu-saktih para prokta, etc., are delineated.The Supreme Lord has diverse and innumerable energies which are beyond ourconception; however, great learned sages or liberated souls have studiedthese energies and have analyzed them into three parts. All of the energiesare of visnu-sakti, that is to say they are different potencies ofLord Visnu. That energy is para, transcendental. Living entities alsobelong to the superior energy, as has already been explained. The other energies,or material energies, are in the mode of ignorance. At the time of deathwe can either remain in the inferior energy of this material world, or wecan transfer to the energy of the spiritual world.
In life we are accustomedto thinking either of the material or the spiritual energy. There are somany literatures which fill our thoughts with the material energy--newspapers,novels, etc. Our thinking, which is now absorbed in these literatures, mustbe transferred to the Vedic literatures. The great sages, therefore, havewritten so many Vedic literatures such as the Puranas, etc. ThePuranas are not imaginative; they are historical records. In theCaitanya-caritamrta there is the following verse:

maya-mugdha jivera nahi svatah krsna-jnana
jivere krpaya kaila krsna veda-purana
(Cc. Madhya 20.122)

The forgetful livingentities or conditioned souls have forgotten their relationship with theSupreme Lord, and they are engrossed in thinking of material activities.Just to transfer their thinking power to the spiritual sky, Krsna has givena great number of Vedic literatures. First he divided the Vedas intofour, then he explained them in the Puranas, and for less capablepeople he wrote the Mahabharata. In the Mahabharata there isgiven the Bhagavad-gita. Then all Vedic literature is summarized inthe Vedanta-sutra, and for future guidance he gave a natural commentationon the Vedanta-sutra, called Srimad-Bhagavatam. We must alwaysengage our minds in reading these Vedic literatures. Just as materialistsengage their minds in reading newspapers, magazines and so many materialisticliteratures, we must transfer our reading to these literatures which aregiven to us by Vyasadeva; in that way it will be possible for us to rememberthe Supreme Lord at the time of death. That is the only way suggested bythe Lord, and He guarantees the result: "There is no doubt." (Bg.8.7)

tasmat sarvesu kalesu mam anusmara yudhya ca
mayy arpita-mano-buddhir mam evaisyasy asamsayah

"Therefore, Arjuna,you should always think of Me, and at the same time you should continue yourprescribed duty and fight. With your mind and activities always fixed onMe, and everything engaged in Me, you will attain to Me without any doubt."
He does not adviseArjuna to simply remember Him and give up his occupation. No, the Lord neversuggests anything impractical. In this material world, in order to maintainthe body one has to work. Human society is divided, according to work, intofour divisions of social order--brahmana, ksatriya, vaisya,sudra. The brahmana class or intelligent class is working inone way, the ksatriya or administrative class is working in anotherway, and the mercantile class and the laborers are all tending to their specificduties. In the human society, whether one is a laborer, merchant, warrior,administrator, or farmer, or even if one belongs to the highest class andis a literary man, a scientist or a theologian, he has to work in order tomaintain his existence. The Lord therefore tells Arjuna that he need notgive up his occupation, but while he is engaged in his occupation he shouldremember Krsna. If he doesn''t practice remembering Krsna while he is strugglingfor existence, then it will not be possible for him to remember Krsna atthe time of death. Lord Caitanya also advises this. He says that one shouldpractice remembering the Lord by chanting the names of the Lord always. Thenames of the Lord and the Lord are nondifferent. So Lord Krsna''s instructionsto Arjuna to "remember Me" and Lord Caitanya''s injunction to always "chantthe names of Lord Krsna" are the same instruction. There is no difference,because Krsna and Krsna''s name are nondifferent. In the absolute status thereis no difference between reference and referent. Therefore we have to practiceremembering the Lord always, twenty-four hours a day, by chanting His namesand molding our life''s activities in such a way that we can remember Himalways.
How is this possible?The acaryas give the following example. If a married woman is attachedto another man, or if a man has an attachment for a woman other than hiswife, then the attachment is to be considered very strong. One with suchan attachment is always thinking of the loved one. The wife who is thinkingof her lover is always thinking of meeting him, even while she is carryingout her household chores. In fact, she carries out her household work evenmore carefully so her husband will not suspect her attachment. Similarly,we should always remember the supreme lover, Sri Krsna, and at the same timeperform our material duties very nicely. A strong sense of love is requiredhere. If we have a strong sense of love for the Supreme Lord, then we candischarge our duty and at the same time remember Him. But we have to developthat sense of love. Arjuna, for instance, was always thinking of Krsna; hewas the constant companion of Krsna, and at the same time he was a warrior.Krsna did not advise him to give up fighting and go to the forest to meditate.When Lord Krsna delineates the yoga system to Arjuna, Arjuna saysthat the practice of this system is not possible for him.

arjuna uvaca
yo ''yam yogas tvaya proktah samyena madhusudana
etasyaham na pasyami cancalatvat sthitim sthiram

"Arjuna said, OMadhusudana, the system of yoga which You have summarized appearsimpractical and unendurable to me, for the mind is restless and unsteady."(Bg. 6.33)
But the Lord says:

yoginam api sarvesam mad-gatenantaratmana
sraddhavan bhajate yo mam sa me yuktatamo matah

"Of all yogis,he who always abides in Me with great faith, worshiping Me in transcendentalloving service, is most intimately united with Me in yoga, and isthe highest of all." (Bg. 6.47) So one who thinks of the Supreme Lordalways is the greatest yogi, the supermost jnani, and the greatestdevotee at the same time. The Lord further tells Arjuna that as aksatriya he cannot give up his fighting, but if Arjuna fights rememberingKrsna, then he will be able to remember Him at the time of death. But onemust be completely surrendered in the transcendental loving service of theLord.
We work not withour body, actually, but with our mind and intelligence. So if the intelligenceand the mind are always engaged in the thought of the Supreme Lord, thennaturally the senses are also engaged in His service. Superficially, at least,the activities of the senses remain the same, but the consciousness is changed.The Bhagavad-gita teaches one how to absorb the mind and intelligencein the thought of the Lord. Such absorption will enable one to transfer himselfto the kingdom of the Lord. If the mind is engaged in Krsna''s service, thenthe senses are automatically engaged in His service. This is the art, andthis is also the secret of Bhagavad-gita: total absorption in thethought of Sri Krsna.
Modern man has struggledvery hard to reach the moon, but he has not tried very hard to elevate himselfspiritually. If one has fifty years of life ahead of him, he should engagethat brief time in cultivating this practice of remembering the SupremePersonality of Godhead. This practice is the devotional process of:

sravanam kirtanam visnoh smaranam pada-sevanam
arcanam vandanam dasyam sakhyam atma-nivedanam

These nine processes,of which the easiest is sravanam, hearing Bhagavad-gita fromthe realized person, will turn one to the thought of the Supreme Being. Thiswill lead to nisala, remembering the Supreme Lord, and will enableone, upon leaving the body, to attain a spiritual body which is just fitfor association with the Supreme Lord.
The Lord furthersays:

abhyasa-yoga-yuktena cetasa nanya-gamina
paramam purusam divyam yati parthanucintayan

"By practicing thisremembering, without being deviated, thinking ever of the Supreme Godhead,one is sure to achieve the planet of the Divine, the Supreme Personality,O son of Kunti." (Bg. 8.8)
This is not a verydifficult process. However, one must learn it from an experienced person,from one who is already in the practice. The mind is always flying to thisand that, but one must always practice concentrating the mind on the formof the Supreme Lord Sri Krsna or on the sound of His name. The mind is naturallyrestless, going hither and thither, but it can rest in the sound vibrationof Krsna. One must thus meditate on paramam purusam, the Supreme Person,and thus attain Him. The ways and the means for ultimate realization, ultimateattainment, are stated in the Bhagavad-gita, and the doors of thisknowledge are open for everyone. No one is barred out. All classes of mencan approach the Lord by thinking of Him, for hearing and thinking of Himis possible for everyone.
The Lord furthersays:

mam hi partha vyapasritya ye ''pi syuh papa-yonayah
striyo vaisyas tatha sudras te ''pi yanti param gatim

kim punar brahmanah punya bhakta rajarsayas tatha
anityam asukham lokam imam prapya bhajasva mam

"O son of Prtha,anyone who will take shelter in Me, whether a woman, or a merchant, or oneborn in a low family, can yet approach the supreme destination. How muchgreater then are the brahmanas, the righteous, the devotees, and saintlyKings! In this miserable world, these are fixed in devotional service tothe Lord." (Bg. 9.32-33)
Human beings evenin the lower statuses of life (a merchant, a woman or a laborer) can attainthe Supreme. One does not need highly developed intelligence. The point isthat anyone who accepts the principle of bhakti-yoga and accepts theSupreme Lord as the summum bonum of life, as the highest target, theultimate goal, can approach the Lord in the spiritual sky. If one adoptsthe principles enunciated in Bhagavad-gita, he can make his life perfectand make a perfect solution to all the problems of life which arise out ofthe transient nature of material existence. This is the sum and substanceof the entire Bhagavad-gita.
In conclusion,Bhagavad-gita is a transcendental literature which one should readvery carefully. It is capable of saving one from all fear.

nehabhikrama-naso ''sti pratyavayo na vidyate
svalpam apy asya dharmasya trayate mahato bhayat

"In this endeavor there is no loss or diminution, and a little advancementon this path can protect one from the most dangerous type of fear."(Bg. 2.40) If one reads Bhagavad-gita sincerely and seriously,then all of the reactions of his past misdeeds will not react upon him. Inthe last portion of Bhagavad-gita, Lord Sri Krsna proclaims:

sarva-dharman parityajya mam ekam saranam vraja
aham tvam sarva-papebhyo moksayisyami ma sucah

"Give up all varietiesof religiousness, and just surrender unto Me; and in return I shall protectyou from all sinful reactions. Therefore, you have nothing to fear."(Bg. 18.66) Thus the Lord takes all responsibility for one who surrendersunto Him, and He indemnifies all the reactions of sin.
One cleanses himselfdaily by taking a bath in water, but one who takes his bath only once inthe sacred Ganges water of the Bhagavad-gita cleanses away all thedirt of material life. Because Bhagavad-gita is spoken by the SupremePersonality of Godhead, one need not read any other Vedic literature. Oneneed only attentively and regularly hear and read Bhagavad-gita. Inthe present age, mankind is so absorbed with mundane activities that it isnot possible to read all of the Vedic literatures. But this is not necessary.This one book, Bhagavad-gita, will suffice because it is the essenceof all Vedic literatures and because it is spoken by the Supreme Personalityof Godhead. It is said that one who drinks the water of the Ganges certainlygets salvation, but what to speak of one who drinks the waters ofBhagavad-gita? Gita is the very nectar of theMahabharata spoken by Visnu Himself, for Lord Krsna is the originalVisnu. It is nectar emanating from the mouth of the Supreme Personality ofGodhead, and the Ganges is said to be emanating from the lotus feet of theLord. Of course there is no difference between the mouth and the feet ofthe Supreme Lord, but in our position we can appreciate that theBhagavad-gita is even more important than the Ganges.
TheBhagavad-gita is just like a cow, and Lord Krsna, who is a cowherdboy, is milking this cow. The milk is the essence of the Vedas, andArjuna is just like a calf. The wise men, the great sages and pure devotees,are to drink the nectarean milk of Bhagavad-gita.
In this present day,man is very eager to have one scripture, one God, one religion, and oneoccupation. So let there be one common scripture for the wholeworld--Bhagavad-gita. And let there be one God only for the wholeworld--Sri Krsna. And one mantra only--Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna, KrsnaKrsna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare. And let therebe one work only--the service of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.