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ANNOUNCER: The following is a
class on the Bhagavad-gītā As It
Is, 2nd chapter, text number 6,
given by His Divine Grace A. C.
Bhaktivedanta Swami
Prabhupāda, recorded on August
6, 1973 in London, England.

Pradyumna:

Translation: “Nor do we know
which is better—conquering
them or being conquered by
them. The sons of Dhṛtarāṣṭra,
whom if we killed we should not
care to live, are now standing
before us on this battlefield.”

PRABHUPĀDA:

So these two groups of cousin-
brothers… Mahārāja Pāṇḍu had
five sons and Dhṛtarāṣṭra had
one hundred sons. So it is family,
the same family, and it was
understanding between them
that when others beyond the
family would come to attack
them, they would join, 105
brothers, and fight. But when
there was fight amongst
themselves—one side, hundred
brothers; one side, five brothers.
Because a kṣatriya family, it is to
be understood they must go on
fighting. Even in their marriage
there would be fighting. Without
fighting, no marriage takes place
in kṣatriya family. Kṛṣṇa had
16,108 wives, and almost in each
time He had to fight, to gain the
wife. It was a sporting. For
kṣatriya to fight, it was a sporting.
So he is perplexed whether this
kind of fighting he should
encourage or not.

There is a proverb in Bengal,
khābo ki khābo nā yadi khāo tu
pauṣe. “When you are perplexed,
Whether I shall eat or not eat,’
better not eat.” Sometimes we
come to this point, “I am not very
hungry, whether I shall eat or not
eat?” The best course is not eat,
not that you eat. But if you eat,
then you can eat in the month of
December, Pauṣa. Why? It is… In
Bengal… Bengal is tropical
climate, but when it is winter
season, it is advised that “If you
eat it is not so harmful because it
will be digested.” The night is
very long, or the cold season, the
digestive power, is nice. So when
we are confused, “to do or not to
do,” jābo ki jābo nā yadi jāo tu
śauce: “When you think, ‘Whether
I shall go or not?’ better don’t go.
But when it is a question of
answering the call of nature, you
must go.” Jābo ki jābo nā yadi jāu
tu śauce, khābo ki khābo nā yadi
khāo tu pauṣe. These are very
common sense. Similarly, Arjuna
is now perplexed, “Whether I
shall fight or not fight?” That is
also everywhere. When there is
declaration of war between the
modern politicians, they
consider… Just like in the last
Second World War, when Hitler
was preparing for war… Everyone
knew that Hitler was going to
retaliate because in the first war
they became defeated. So Hitler
was again preparing. One, my
God-brother, German, he came
in 1933 in India. So at that time
he informed that “There must be
war. Hitler is preparing heavy
preparations. War must be
there.” So at that time, I think, in
your country the Prime Minister
was Mr. Chamberlain. And he
went to see Hitler to stop the
war. But he would not. So
similarly, in this fight, to the last
point, Kṛṣṇa tried to avoid the
war. He proposed to Duryodhana
that “They are kṣatriyas, your
cousin-brothers. You have
usurped their kingdom. Never
mind, you have taken some way
or other. But they are kṣatriyas.
They must have some means of
livelihood. So give them, five
brothers, five villages. Out of the
whole world empire, you give
them five villages.” So he… “No, I
am not going to part with even
an inch of land without fight.”
Therefore, under such condition,
the fight must be there.

So there is no question of
Arjuna’s considering whether he
would fight or not. It is
sanctioned by Kṛṣṇa; so fight
must be there. Just like when we
were walking, the question was
raised that “Why war takes
place?” That is not a very difficult
subject to understand because
everyone of us has got a fighting
spirit. Even children fight, cats
and dogs fight, birds fight, ants
fight. We have seen it. So why
not human beings? The fighting
spirit is there. That is one of the
symptoms of living condition.
Fighting. So when that fighting
should take place? Of course, at
the present moment, by the
ambitious politicians, they fight.
But fighting, according to Vedic
civilization, fighting means
dharma-yuddha. On religious
principles. Not by whims of
political ideas, ism. Just like now
fighting is going on on two
political groups, the communist
and the capitalist. They are trying
to avoid only fight, but the
fighting is going on. As soon as
America is in some field,
immediately Russia is also there.
In the last fighting between India
and Pakistan, as soon as
President Nixon sent their
Seventh Fleet on the India Ocean,
Bay of Bengal, almost in front of
India… This was illegal. But very
puffed-up, America. So sent the
Seventh Fleet, maybe to show
sympathy to the Pakistan. But
immediately our Russian friend
also appeared there. And
therefore, America had to come
back. Otherwise, I think, America
would have attacked on behalf of
Pakistan.

So this is going on. Fighting you
cannot stop. Many people, they
are thinking how to stop war.
That is impossible. It is nonsense
proposal. It cannot be. Because
the fighting spirit is there in
everyone. That is a symptom of
living entity. Even children, who
has no politics, no enmity, they
fight for five minutes; again they
are friends. So the fighting spirit
is there. Now, how it should be
utilized? Our Kṛṣṇa consciousness
movement is there. We say,
consciousness. We don’t say,
“Stop fight” or “Do this, do that,
do that,” no. Everything should
be done in Kṛṣṇa consciousness.
That is our propaganda.
Nirbandha-kṛṣṇa-sambandhe.
Whatever you do, it must have
some relationship with the
satisfaction of Kṛṣṇa. If Kṛṣṇa is
satisfied, then you act. That is
Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Kṛṣṇendriya
tṛpti vāñchā tāra nāma prema.
This is love. Just like you love
somebody; for the sake of your
beloved, you can do anything,
and we do sometimes. Similarly,
the same thing should be
transferred to Kṛṣṇa. That’s all.
Try to educate yourself how to
love Kṛṣṇa and act for Kṛṣṇa only.
This is the perfection of life. Sa
vai puṁsāṁ paro dharmo yato
bhaktir adhokṣaje [SB 1.2.6].
Bhakti means service, bhaja-
sevāyām. The bhaj-dhātu, it is
used for the purpose of
rendering service, bhaja. And
bhaja, there is Sanskrit grammar,
kti-pratyaya, to make it noun.
This is verb. So there are
pratyayas, kti pratyaya, ti
pratyaya, many pratyayas. So
bhaj-dhātu kti, equal to bhakti.
So bhakti means to satisfy Kṛṣṇa.
Bhakti cannot be applied to
anyone else. If somebody says
that “I am a great devotee of Kālī,
goddess Kālī,” that is not bhakti;
that is business. Because any
demigod you worship, there is
some purpose behind that.
Generally, people take to become
a devotee of goddess Kālī for
eating meat. That is their
purpose. In the Vedic culture,
those who are meat-eaters, they
have been advised that “Don’t
eat meat purchased from the
slaughterhouse or from the
market.” Actually, this system was
never current anywhere, all over
the world, that to maintain
slaughterhouse. This is latest
invention. We talk with
sometimes with Christian
gentlemen, and when we inquire
that “Lord Christ says ‘Thou shalt
not kill’; why you are killing?”
they give evidence that “Christ
also ate meat sometimes.”
Sometimes Christ ate meat, that’s
all right, but did Christ say that
“You maintain big, big
slaughterhouse and go on eating
meat?” There is no common
sense even. Christ might have
eaten. Sometimes he… If there
was no, nothing available for
eating, what could you do? That
is another question. In great
necessity, when there is no other
food except taking meat… That
time is coming. In this age, Kali-
yuga, gradually food grains will
be reduced. It is stated in the
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Twelfth
Canto. No rice, no wheat, no milk,
no sugar will be available. One
has to eat meat. This will be the
condition. And maybe to eat the
human flesh also. This sinful life is
degrading so much so that they
will become more and more
sinful. Tān aham dviṣataḥ krūrān
kṣīpāmy ajasram andhe-yoniṣu.
Those who are demons, those
who are sinful, nature’s law is to
place him in such condition that
he will become more and more a
demon so that he will never be
able to understand what is God.
This is nature’s law. If you want to
forget God, then God will put you
in such a condition that you can
never understand what is God.
That is demonic life. That time is
also coming. At the present
moment, still a few men are
interested, what is God. Arto
arthārtī jijñāsu jñānī. But time is
coming ahead when there will be
no sense to understand God.
That is the last stage of Kali-yuga,
and at that time Kalkī avatāra,
Kalkī avatāra will come. At that
time there is no preaching of
God consciousness, simply killing,
simply killing. Kalkī avatāra with
His sword will simply massacre.
Then again Satya-yuga will come.
Again golden age will come.

So this problem of fighting… We
have to understand that fighting
spirit is there in everyone. You
cannot check it, you cannot stop
it. We do not say stop. The
Māyāvādī philosopher says that
“You stop this thing,” but that is
not possible. You cannot stop.
Because you are living entity, you
have got all these propensities.
How you can stop it? But it
should be utilized properly.
That’s all. You have got the
fighting spirit. How to utilize it?
Yes. Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura
recommends, krodha bhakta-
dveṣī-jane: “Those who are
envious of God or God’s devotee,
you can utilize your anger upon
them.” You can utilize. The anger
you cannot give up. Our business
is how to utilize it. That is Kṛṣṇa
consciousness. Everything has to
be utilized. We do not say that
“You stop this, stop that.” No.
Kṛṣṇa says, yat karoṣi, yaj juhosi,
yad aśnāsi, yat tapasyasi kuruśva
tad mad-arpanam. Yat karoṣi.
Kṛṣṇa does not say that “You do
this, you do that.” He says,
“Whatever you do, but the result
should come to Me.” So here the
position is that Arjuna is to fight
not for himself, but he is only
thinking in terms of himself. He
says, te avasthitaḥ pramukhe
dhārtarāṣṭrāḥ, yān eva hatvā na
jijīviṣāmas: “They are my
brothers, relatives. If they die…
We do not wish to die. Now they
are in my front. I have to kill
them?” So still he is thinking in
terms of his own satisfaction. He
is preparing the background—
how materialistic persons, they
think in the terms of personal
satisfaction. So that has to be
given up. Not personal
satisfaction, Kṛṣṇa’s satisfaction.
That is Kṛṣṇa consciousness.
Whatever you do, it doesn’t
matter. You have to test it,
whether you are doing it for
Kṛṣṇa. That is your perfection.
Not only perfection, that is the
perfection of your mission of
human life. This human life is
meant for that purpose. Because
less than human form, the animal
life, they are trained, perfection
of sense gratification, personal
satisfaction. They have no such
feeling that “Other animals
also…” When there is some
eatable, one dog, he will think
“How I can get it?” He will never
think how other dogs also will be
able to take it. This is not animal
nature. Animal nature means
their own satisfaction. There is no
question of “My friend, my family
members.” Even, they do not
share even with their own
children. You might have seen. If
there is some foodstuff, the dog
and the dog’s children, everyone
is trying to take in his own side.
This is animal. So when this thing
is changed for Kṛṣṇa, that is
human life. That is the distinction
between animal life. So that is
very difficult also. Therefore the
whole education is there,
Bhagavad-gītā, how to teach
people, “Act for Kṛṣṇa, act for
God, not for your personal
interest. Then you’ll be
entangled.” Yajñārthāt karmaṇaḥ
anyatra loko ’yaṁ karma-
bandhanaḥ [Bg. 3.9]. Anything
you do, it will produce some
reaction, and you have to enjoy
or suffer that reaction. Anything
you do. But if you do for Kṛṣṇa,
there is no more reaction. That is
your freedom. Yogaḥ karmasu
kauśalam. That is stated in the
Bhagavad-gītā. Yoga, when you
are in contact with Kṛṣṇa, that is
the secret of success in this
material world, working.
Otherwise whatever you are
doing, whatever you are working,
it will produce some reaction and
you will have to enjoy or suffer.

So here again, the same thing.
Arjuna is thinking in terms, na
caitad vidmaḥ kataran no garīyo.
So he is perplexed, “Which one,
which side will be glorious? I shall
stop fighting or not fighting?” In
the next verses it will be seen…
When you are in such perplexity,
“what to do and what not to do,”
so in order to get right direction,
you must approach the spiritual
master. That will be done in the
next verse. Arjuna will say that “I
do not know. I am now
perplexed. Although I know it is
my duty as kṣatriya to fight, still I
am hesitating. I am hesitating in
my duty. So therefore I am
perplexed. So Kṛṣṇa, therefore I
submit to You.” Formerly he was
talking just like friend. Now he
will be prepared to take lesson
from Kṛṣṇa.

So our the whole instruction of
Bhagavad-gītā is that: You should
not act for yourself; you should
simply act for Kṛṣṇa. So even
fighting for Kṛṣṇa, or even doing
something still abominable for
Kṛṣṇa… Just like the gopīs. The
gopīs were captivated by Kṛṣṇa.
Kṛṣṇa was a young boy, very
beautiful, and the gopīs were
young girls. That is the
superficial… Actually, the gopīs
are eternal associates of Kṛṣṇa.
Ānanda-cinmaya-rasa-
pratibhāvitābhiḥ. They are
expansions of Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa’s
pleasure potency expansion.
They are meant for Kṛṣṇa’s
pleasure. They are not ordinary
women. But superficially, just to
teach us how to love Kṛṣṇa at the
risk of anything… Therefore
gopīs, when they were attracted
by Kṛṣṇa at midnight… Kṛṣṇa was
playing flute, and they became
attracted and they left home.
Some of them were locked up.
They gave up their life even. They
were so much attracted. Now this
kind of behavior, if youngs girls…
According to Vedic civilization,
they cannot go out from the
protection of father, husband or
brother. No, they cannot go.
Especially at midnight. So this
was against Vedic principle. It is
openly a kind of prostitution. But
because it was done for Kṛṣṇa,
Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu, He
recommends, ramyā kācid
upāsanā vraja-vadhubhiḥ kalpitā:
“There is no more better type of
worship than it was conceived by
the vraja gopīs. Vraja-vadhu. The
most abominable. For a young
girl to leave the care of husband,
father, and go to another young
boy, according to Vedic culture, it
is the most abominable. So still,
because, it was, the center was
Kṛṣṇa, it is accepted as the
highest type of worship. That is
Kṛṣṇa consciousness. We have to
learn how to act only for Kṛṣṇa,
how to love only Kṛṣṇa. Then our
life is successful. And the human
life… Because we have also come
down from Vaikuṇṭha some
millions and millions of years
ago. Anādi karama-phale. Anādi
means before the creation. We
living entities, we are eternal.
Even the creation is annihilated
after millions and trillions of
years, the living entities, they are
not annihilated. Na hanyate
hanyamāne śarīre [Bg. 2.20]. They
remain. So when this whole
cosmic manifestation will be
annihilated, the living entities will
remain in the body of Viṣṇu.
Then when again another
creation will take place, they will
come out again to fulfill their
desires. The real desire is how to
go to home, back to Godhead.

So this chance is given. So if this
chance is misused, this life,
human form of life, it is very, very
risky. Again we will have to
accept the cycle of birth and
death. And not only that, if we do
not fulfill the mission of life, then
again there will be annihilation of
the whole creation and we will
have to stay within the body of
Viṣṇu for millions and trillions of
years. Again we will have to
come. So therefore it is called
anādi karama-phale. Anādi
means “before the creation.” This
is going on. And to teach the
befooled living entities, Kṛṣṇa
personally comes. Kṛṣṇa is very
much anxious to take us back to
home, back to Godhead. Because
we are part and parcel of Kṛṣṇa.
Suppose if your son is loitering in
the street, are you not anxious,
“Oh, there may be some
accident, and the poor boy will
be killed.” So you go, try to find
out. Similarly, Kṛṣṇa’s position is
like that. We are in this material
world simply suffering life after
life. Duḥkhālayam aśāśvatam [Bg.
8.15]. This place is miserable. But
māyā’s illusion, we are taking this
miserable condition of life as
happiness. This is called māyā.
there is no happiness in this
material world. Everything
miserable. The sooner we
understand that everything is
miserable in this material world
and the sooner we prepare
ourself to leave this material
world and go back to home, back
to…, that is our sense. Otherwise,
whatever we are doing, we are
simply being defeated. Because
we are missing the aim. Na te
viduḥ svārtha-gatiṁ hi viṣṇum
[SB 7.5.31]. Durāśayā. We are, by
hope against hope—it will never
be fulfilled—we are trying to
adjust things here to become
happy without God
consciousness. It will never be
accompli… Na te viduḥ svārtha-
gatiṁ hi viṣṇuṁ durāśayā [SB
7.5.31]. Durāśayā means “the
hope which will never be
fulfilled.”

So all these materialistic persons,
they are so fools, rascals,
miscreants, they are increasing
these material activities. They are
thinking by this increasing
material activities they will be
happy. No. That is not possible.
Durāśayā ye… And their leaders…
Andhā yathāndhair
upanīyamānās te ’pīśa-tantryam
uru-dāmni baddhāḥ. All of us are
tied very tight, hands and legs,
and we are thinking we are free,
independent. By the laws of
material nature… Still, we are
thinking that we are
independent. The scientist is
trying to avoid God, independent
by science. That is not possible.
We are under the grip of the
material nature. Material nature
means the agent of Kṛṣṇa.
Mayādhyakṣeṇa prakṛtiḥ sūyate
sa-carācaram [Bg. 9.10]. Prakṛteḥ
kriyamāṇāni guṇair karmāṇi
sarvaśaḥ. So we are always in
perplexity like Arjuna, what to do,
what not to do. But if we take this
principle, that “We must do for
Kṛṣṇa…” So take direction from
Kṛṣṇa and take direction from
Kṛṣṇa’s representative and you
do it; then there is no karma-
bandhanaḥ. Karmāṇi nirdaheti
kintu ca bhakti-bhājām.
Otherwise, we are bound up by
the reaction of every act. We
cannot get out. So this perplexity,
“Whether I shall fight or not
fight,” that will be explained that
“Yes, you must fight for Kṛṣṇa.
Then it is all right.” Kāmaḥ kṛṣṇa-
karmārpane. Just like Hanumān.
He fought for Lord Rāmacandra.
He did not fight for himself.
Similarly, Arjuna also, his flag is
kapi-dhvaja, his flag is marked
with Hanumān. He knew that. So
Hanumān, a great fighter, fought
with Rāvaṇa, not for his personal
interest. The interest was how to
get out Sītājī from the hands of
Rāvaṇa, kill the whole family, and
get out and let her sit down on
the side of Rāmacandra. This is
the policy of Hanumān, devotees.
And the Rāvaṇa policy is “Take
away Sītā from the clutches of
Rāma and enjoy it.” This is
Rāvaṇa policy. And the Hanumān
policy is: “Take out Sītā from the
hands of Rāvaṇa and get her
seated by the side of Rāma.” The
same Sītā. Sītā means Lakṣmī. So
Lakṣmī means Nārāyaṇa’s
property, God’s property.

So we should learn the policy
that all these materialistic
persons, Rāvaṇas, they are trying
to enjoy God’s property. So some
way or other… Of course we
cannot fight with Rāvaṇa class
man. We are not so strong.
Therefore we have taken the
policy of becoming a beggar:
“Sir, you are so nice man. Please
give us something. Give us
something. Because you are
spoiling your life by keeping
God’s property, you are going to
hell. So some way or other, if you
become a member, so you will be
saved. You will be saved.” That is
our policy. We are not beggar.
But it is a policy. Now we are not
very strong to fight with the
Rāvaṇas; otherwise, we would
have taken all the money by
fighting. But that is not possible.
We are not so strong. Therefore
we have taken the policy of
beggar.

Thank you very much. Hare
Kṛṣṇa.