Bhagavad-gita As It Is

Knowledge by Way of the Mahātmās, Great Souls

21 Jan 2012 1 Comment

by The Hare Krishna Movement in Raja-Vidya Tags: Arjuna, Bhagavad-gita As It Is, His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, kirtana, Krishna, mahatmas, material conditioning, Raja-Vidya, spiritual knowledge, spiritual progress, the king of knowledge

No one can be equal to God, and no one can be above Him. Even Lord Brahmā and Śiva, the most exalted demigods, are subservient to Him and pay their respectful obeisances. Instead of trying to become God by some meditational process or other, we had better hear about God submissively and try to understand Him and our relationship to Him. The representative of God or the incarnation of God never claims to be God but the servant of God. This is the sign of the bona fide representative.

Raja-Vidya: The King of Knowledge
By His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
Chapter 4

Knowledge by Way of the Mahātmās, Great Souls

The presence of Kṛṣṇa in all aspects of the creation is perceived by the mahātmās, the great souls, who are always engaged in the worship of Kṛṣṇa. As Kṛṣṇa Himself states, these great souls are conversant with the confidential knowledge found in the Ninth Chapter of Bhagavad-gītā, and they know Kṛṣṇa to be the source of all things.

mahātmānas tu māṁ pārtha
daivīṁ prakṛtim āśritāḥ
bhajanty ananya-manaso
jñātvā bhūtādim avyayam

“O son of Pṛthā, those who are not deluded, the great souls, are under the protection of the divine nature. They are fully engaged in devotional service because they know Me as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, original and inexhaustible.” (Bg. 9.13)

The Inconceivable Opulence of the Lord

16 Jan 2012 Leave a comment

by The Hare Krishna Movement in Bhagavad-gita, Krishna Tags: A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Atlas, Atlas holding the globe, Bg 9.5, Bhagavad-gita As It Is, creation, material manifestation, Spiritual world, Visnu

The Lord says that everything is resting on Him. This should not be misunderstood. The Lord is not directly concerned with the maintenance and sustenance of this material manifestation. Sometimes we see a picture of Atlas holding the globe on his shoulders; he seems to be very tired, holding this great earthly planet. Such an image should not be entertained in connection with Kṛṣṇa’s upholding this created universe. He says that although everything is resting on Him, still He is aloof.

Bhagavad-gita As It Is – Macmillan 1972 Edition
By His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
Chapter 9, Text 5

na ca mat-sthāni bhūtāni
paśya me yogam aiśvaram
bhūta-bhṛn na ca bhūta-stho
mamātmā bhūta-bhāvanaḥ

na—never; ca—also; mat-sthāni—situated in Me; bhūtāni—all creation; paśya—just see; me—My; yogam aiśvaram—inconceivable mystic power; bhūta-bhṛt—maintainer of all living entities; na—never; ca—also; bhūta-sthaḥ—in the cosmic manifestation; mama—My; ātmā—Self; bhūta-bhāvanaḥ—is the source of all manifestations.

Translation
And yet everything that is created does not rest in Me. Behold My mystic opulence! Although I am the maintainer of all living entities, and although I am everywhere, still My Self is the very source of creation.

Kṛṣṇa consciousness is the only means of Deliverance

02 Nov 2011 Leave a comment

by The Hare Krishna Movement in Bhagavad-gita, Krishna Consciousness Tags: Bhagavad-gita As It Is, His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Krsnaloka, man-mana bhava-bhakto, primal form of Krsna, Supreme Personality of Godhead

There are some who are demonic; they also think of Kṛṣṇa, but enviously, just like King Kaṁsa, Kṛṣṇa’s uncle. He was also thinking of Kṛṣṇa always, but he thought of Kṛṣṇa as his enemy. He was always in anxiety, wondering when Kṛṣṇa would come to kill him. That kind of thinking will not help us. One should be thinking of Kṛṣṇa in devotional love.

One should therefore engage his mind in the eternal form, the primal form of Kṛṣṇa; with conviction in his heart that Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Personality of Godhead and that His body is not material, but is eternal, blissful knowledge. This will help one transfer into the Kṛṣṇaloka.

Bhagavad-gita As It Is – Macmillan 1972 Edition
By His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
Chapter 9, Text 34

man-manā bhava mad-bhakto
mad-yājī māṁ namaskuru
mām evaiṣyasi yuktvaivam
ātmānaṁ mat-parāyaṇaḥ

mat-manāḥ—always thinking of Me; bhava—become; mat—My; bhaktaḥ—devotee; mat—My; yājī—worshiper; mām—unto Me; namaskuru—offer obeisances; mām—unto Me; eva—completely; eṣyasi—come; yuktvā evam—being absorbed; ātmānam—your soul; mat-parāyaṇaḥ—devoted to Me.

Engage your mind always in thinking of Me, offer obeisances and worship Me. Being completely absorbed in Me, surely you will come to Me.

Purport
In this verse it is clearly indicated that Kṛṣṇa consciousness is the only means of being delivered from the clutches of this contaminated material world. Sometimes unscrupulous commentators distort the meaning of what is clearly stated here: that all devotional service should be offered to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa. Unfortunately, unscrupulous commentators divert the mind of the reader to that which is not at all feasible. Such commentators do not know that there is no difference between Kṛṣṇa’s mind and Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa is not an ordinary human being; He is Absolute Truth. His body, mind and He Himself are one and absolute. It is stated in the Kūrma Purāṇa. As it is quoted by Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Gosvāmī in his Anubhāṣya comments on Caitanya-caritāmrta, Fifth Chapter, Ādi-līlā, verses 41-48, “deha-dehi-vibhedo ‘yaṁ neśvare vidyate kvacit,” which means that there is no difference in Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Lord, between Himself and His body. But, because they do not know this science of Kṛṣṇa, the commentators hide Kṛṣṇa and divide His personality from His mind or from His body. Although this is sheer ignorance of the science of Kṛṣṇa, some men make profit out of misleading the people.

The Books of His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

13 Oct 2011 Leave a comment

by The Hare Krishna Movement in Back to Godhead, Bhagavad-gita, Books by Srila Prabhupada, Brahmananda das Tags: Bhagavad-gita As It Is, Brahmananda Swami, His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Macmillan Company, original manuscript

Srila Prabhupada receiving Macmillan Bhagavad-gita As It Is

The chief editor at the Macmillan Company said, “Bring in the manuscript tomorrow morning,” he said, “and we’ll publish it.”

The Books of His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
Originally published in Back to Godhead No. 52
Bhaktivedanta Book Trust 1973
By Brahmananda Swami ISKCON East Africa

Part 5

Bhagavad-gita As It Is stands as a challenge to all the mental speculators who depart from the Gita’s central teaching of devotional service to the Personality of Godhead, Lord Sri Krsna. Even Mahatma Gandhi stands accused, since his ingenious metaphorical interpretation is simply designed to support his mundane political movement of nonviolence. In India Srila Prabhupada personally requested Gandhi to preach the Gita for what it teaches, Krsna consciousness, just as Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Gosvami Maharaja had personally requested the most famous Indian poet of his time, Rabindranath Tagore.

In the Gita’s Ninth Chapter Lord Krsna categorically advises Arjuna to surrender to Him and to love and worship Him only. He specifically uses the Sanskrit word mam, meaning “unto Me.” Yet one commentator, a renowned Indian philosopher and political leader, begins his commentary on this crucial verse, “It is not to Krsna that we have to surrender…” It is very clear that Krsna and Arjuna are standing on the Battlefield of Kuruksetra and that Krsna is telling Arjuna to surrender unto Him. But this scholar wants to turn the reader away from Krsna by insidiously implying that Krsna actually means to surrender to the eternal unmanifested essence within Himself. But Krsna didn’t say this. Significantly, Srila Prabhupada entitles his comments “purports,” not interpretations. In his purports he gives the actual significance of the verses. Srila Prabhupada informs all deluded scholars that because Krsna is absolute, there is no qualitative difference between His within and His without as there is with conditioned living entities like ourselves.

Krishna is the Supreme Brahman

07 Sep 2011 Leave a comment

by The Hare Krishna Movement in Bhagavad-gita Tags: Arjuna, Bhagavad-gita As It Is, His Divne Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami, Macmillian 1972 edition, Srila Prabhupada, Supreme Brahman, Supreme Lord Krsna

Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and one should always meditate upon Him and enjoy one’s transcendental relationship with Him. He is the supreme existence…He is the supreme origin; He has no cause, for He is the cause of all causes, and everything is emanating from Him. This perfect knowledge can be had by the grace of the Supreme Lord.

Bhagavad-gita As It Is – Macmillan 1972 Edition
By His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
Chapter 10 The Opulence of the Absolute
Text 12-14

arjuna uvāca
paraṁ brahma paraṁ dhāma
pavitraṁ paramaṁ bhavān
puruṣaṁ śāśvataṁ divyam
ādi-devam ajaṁ vibhum

āhus tvām ṛṣayaḥ sarve
devarṣir nāradas tathā
asito devalo vyāsaḥ
svayaṁ caiva bravīṣi me

Arjuna said: You are the Supreme Brahman, the ultimate, the supreme abode and purifier, the Absolute 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 such as Nārada, Asita, Devala, and Vyāsa proclaim this of You, and now You Yourself are declaring it to me.

PURPORT

In these two verses the Supreme Lord gives a chance to the modern philosopher, for here it is clear that the Supreme is different from the individual soul. Arjuna, after hearing the essential four verses of Bhagavad-gītā in this chapter, became completely free from all doubts and accepted Kṛṣṇa as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. He at once boldly declares, “You are Parambrahma, the Supreme Personality of Godhead.” And previously Kṛṣṇa states that He is the originator of everything and everyone. Every demigod and every human being is dependant on Him. Men and demigods, out of ignorance, think that they are absolute and independant of the Supreme Lord Kṛṣṇa. That ignorance is removed perfectly by the discharge of devotional service. This is already explained in the previous verse by the Lord. Now by His grace, Arjuna is accepting Him as the Supreme Truth, in concordance with the Vedic injunction. It is not because Kṛṣṇa is an intimate friend of Arjuna that he is flattering Him by calling Him the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the Absolute Truth. Whatever Arjuna says in these two verses is confirmed by Vedic truth. Vedic injunctions affirm that only one who takes to devotional service to the Supreme Lord can understand Him, whereas others cannot. Each and every word of this verse spoken by Arjuna is confirmed by Vedic injunction.

Bhagavad-gita As It Is – Macmillan 1972 Edition

30 Aug 2011 Leave a comment

by The Hare Krishna Movement in Bhagavad-gita, Book Changes Tags: Bhagavad-gita As It Is, His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Krsna, Krsna consciousness movement, Macmillan 1972 Edition

If personally I have any credit in this matter, it is only that I have tried to present Bhagavad-gītā as it is, without adulteration. Before my presentation of Bhagavad-gītā As It Is, almost all the English editions of Bhagavad-gītā were introduced to fulfill someone’s personal ambition. But our attempt, in presenting Bhagavad-gītā As It Is, is to present the mission of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa.

Bhagavad-gita As It Is – Macmillan 1972 Edition
By His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

Preface

Originally I wrote Bhagavad-gītā As It Is in the form in which it is presented now. When this book was first published, the original manuscript was, unfortunately, cut short to less than 400 pages, without illustrations and without explanations for most of the original verses of the Śrīmad Bhagavad-gītā. In all of my other books-Śrīmad Bhāgavatam, Śrī Īśopaniṣad, etc.-the system is that I give the original verse, its English transliteration, word-for-word Sanskrit-English equivalents, translations and purports. This makes the book very authentic and scholarly and makes the meaning self-evident. I was not very happy, therefore, when I had to minimize my original manuscript. But later on, when the demand for Bhagavad-gītā As It Is considerably increased, I was requested by many scholars and devotees to present the book in its original form, and Messrs. Macmillan and Co. agreed to publish the complete edition. Thus the present attempt is to offer the original manuscript of this great book of knowledge with full paramparā explanation in order to establish the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement more soundly and progressively.

23 Jun 2011 Leave a comment

by The Hare Krishna Movement in Books by Srila Prabhupada, The Hare Krishna Movement Tags: 1972 Macmillan edition, Arjuna, Bhagavad-gita As It Is, classic edition, Gita, His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, India's Spiritual Wisdom, Lord Sri Krsna, The Hare Krishna Movement

“Classic Edition”
Bhagavad-gita As It Is
By His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

The Original “Classic” 1972 Bhagavad-gita “As It Is” In High Quality Hard Bound Cover.

This is the compact , Complete Edition of Srila Prabhupada’s 1972 Macmillan edition. This edition is the most widely read Gita in the world. Written by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, who is the world’s foremost Vedic scholar and teacher. He represents an unbroken chain of fully self-realized spiritual masters beginning with Lord Krsna Himself. Thus, unlike other editions of the Gita, his edition conveys Lord Krsna’s profound message as it is-without the slightest taint of adulteration or personally motivated change. Replete with sixteen full-color plates, this new edition is certain to stimulate and enlighten any reader with its ancient yet thoroughly timely teachings.

Bhagavad-gita is universally renowned as the jewel of India’s spiritual wisdom. Spoken by Lord Sri Krsna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, to His intimate devotee Arjuna, the Gita’s seven hundred concise verses provide a definitive guide to the science of self-realization. Indeed, no work even compares in its revelations of man’s essential nature, his environment and, ultimately, his relationship with God.

Special Features
• Original Sanskrit Text
• English transliterations for each Sanskrit word
• Elaborate commentary
• Complete glossary
• Complete verse index
• High readability
• Profuse full-color illustrations

Original 1972 Complete edition. With translations and elaborate purports by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada.
Hard-cover, 981 pages, 48 color plates. 5″ x 7.5″

Note; Also available in High Quality Soft Bound or Hard Bound, Wholesale by the case!!!

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A Scientific Method for Evaluating Editorial Changes to Srila Prabhupada’s Books

06 Apr 2011 1 Comment

by The Hare Krishna Movement in Book Changes, Devotee's, Rupanuga das Tags: Bhagavad-gita As It Is, book changes, grammatical and spelling errors only, interpolation, Rupanuga das, scientific evaluation, Srila Prabhupada's books, Teachings of Lord Caitanya

A Scientific Method for Evaluating Editorial Changes to Srila Prabhupada’s Books
By: Sriman Rupanuga Prabhu

“Our editing is to correct grammatical and spelling errors only, without interpolation of style or philosophy.” (Letter to Rupanuga, 2/17/70)

Previous evaluations of the editorial changes focused on descriptions of the changes and references to pre-publication drafts rather than a factual quantification and comparative philosophical analysis. This article presents a scientific evaluation of the Bhagavad-gita As It Is and the Teachings of Lord Caitanya. The results demonstrate if the revised editions followed Srila Prabhupada’s editorial policy and if they are genuine, authentic revisions that preserve the original content, philosophy and style.