!Text Book: Bhagavad Gita As It Is His Divine Grace A.C.

Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada Bhaktivedanta Book Trust, Mumbai

Bringing life under spiritual guidance (2.7-8, 2.56-61, 4.1-3, 4.34-35, 1.43, 4.34, 13.8-12, 16.1-3)

Arjunas Doubts
!! Arjuna

gave arguments not sentimentally but based on scriptures !! Krishna kept smiling. He didnt address Arjunas doubts !! Because friendly talks cant lead to conclusions
!! Arjuna is in the mood of challenge/argument
!! One

must be eager to hear

Arjunas Surrender
k!rpa"ya-do#opahata-svabh!vah$ p%cch!mi tv!m& dharma-samm'(ha-cet!h$ yac chreyah$ sy!n ni)citam& br'hi tan me )i#yas te 'ha* )!dhi m!m& tv!m& prapannam
Now I am confused about my duty and have lost all composure because of miserly weakness. In this condition I am asking You to tell me for certain what is best for me. Now I am Your disciple, and a soul surrendered unto You. Please instruct me.

(Bhagavad-gita 2.7)

Arjunas surrender
!! Arjuna

spoke: sisyaste aham

!! i am Your disciple !! i will not argue anymore !! i will hear respectfully

!! Arjunas

attitude

!! my position is not good. dharma sammudha cetah !! i cant overcome this even if i win the war,

Arjunas surrender
!! What

is Arjuna seeking?

!! Yat sreyah syat niscitam bruhi tat me. Please tell for certain what is best for me !! Sadhi mam. Please instruct me.
!! Arjuna

is eager to hear submissively.

!! Seeing is not important. Even Duryodhana and Sisupala were seeing Krishna. !! To understand Supreme Lord we must hear from Him submissively.

Arjunas Surrender
na hi prapa)y!mi mam!panudy!d yac chokam uccho#a"am indriy!"!m av!pya bh'm!v asapatnam %ddham& r!jyam& sur!"!m api c!dhipatyam
I can find no means to drive away this grief which is drying up my senses. I will not be able to dispel it even if I win a prosperous, unrivaled kingdom on earth with sovereignty like that of the demigods in heaven.

(Bhagavad-gita 2.8)

Necessity of spiritual teacher

!! !!

Cant solve problems of life on ones own

!! Arjuna says even if i become king of earth

Cant understand scriptures on ones own

!! Arjunas arguments are based on scriptures !! Four defects

!!

Cant make right decision even if we know what is right and we are attached to what is not right
!! Drtarashtra

!!
!!

Ascending, descending ways of knowledge

!! Knowing who is father, man is mortal

Krishna gives the process to receive spiritual knowledge in Bg 4.34

Necessity of spiritual teacher

tad viddhi pra"ip!tena paripra)nena sevay! upadek#yanti te j!nam& j!ninas tattva-dar)inah$
Just try to learn the truth by approaching a spiritual master. Inquire from him submissively and render service unto him. The self-realized souls can impart knowledge unto you because they have seen the truth.

(Bhagavad-gita 4.34)

Necessity of spiritual teacher

!!

Bhagavad-gita is coming down in chain of spiritual teachers )r+-bhagav!n uv!ca ima* vivasvate yogam& proktav!n aham avyayam vivasv!n manave pr!ha manur ik#v!kave 'brav+t The Personality of Godhead, Lord !r" K#$%a, said: I instructed this imperishable science of yoga to the sun-god, Vivasvn, and Vivasvn instructed it to Manu, the father of mankind, and Manu in turn instructed it to Ik$v&ku. (Bhagavad-gita 4.1)

Necessity of spiritual teacher

evam& parampar!-pr!ptam ima* r!jar#ayo viduh$ sa k!leneha mahat! yogo na#,ah$ parantapa This supreme science was thus received through the chain of disciplic succession, and the saintly kings understood it in that way. But in course of time the succession was broken, and therefore the science as it is appears to be lost. (Bhagavad-gita 4.2)

Necessity of spiritual teacher

!! Faith

!! Soul cant be without faith !! We accept a teacher in every walk of life, more so in spiritual life

is an integral part of learning

!! Supreme

Lord Krishna and Lord Rama set example by accepting spiritual master

Qualifications of a spiritual teacher

!! Must

have heard the Absolute Truth in a disciplic succession( one of 4 authorized paramparas) !! Must have realized the conclusions of the scriptures
!! Tattva darsinah
!! Should

know the essence of the scriptures, but he need not be a Sanskrit scholar.

Qualifications of a spiritual teacher

!! Must

be living by scriptural principles and teach by example

!! Acarya

!! Have

control over the senses !! Spiritual teacher is beyond caste-creedcolor-nationality and such superficial differences.

Qualifications of a spiritual teacher

!! Imparts

spiritual knowledge, not mundane knowledge. material benefits, but spiritual knowledge to his disciple.

!! Bestows, not

Qualifications of a spiritual teacher

!! Avai#"avo

gurur na sa sy!t !! Must have developed the qualities mentioned by Supreme Lord in 12.13-20
!! primarily free from envy towards all living entities or friendly to all.

Qualifications of a spiritual teacher

#at$-karma-nipu"o vipro mantra-tantra-vi)!radah$ avai#"avo gurur na sy!d vai#"avah$ )va-paco guruh$
A scholarly brhmaa, expert in all subjects of Vedic knowledge, is unfit to become a spiritual master without being a Vaiava, or expert in the science of Ka consciousness. But a person born in a family of a lower caste can become a spiritual master if he is a Vaiava, or Ka conscious. (Padma Pura)

Qualifications of a disciple/student
tad viddhi pra"ip!tena paripra)nena sevay! upadek#yanti te j!nam& j!ninas tattva-dar)inah$
Just try to learn the truth by approaching a spiritual master. Inquire from him submissively and render service unto him. The self-realized souls can impart knowledge unto you because they have seen the truth.

(Bhagavad-gita 4.34)

Qualifications of a disciple/student
!! Humble

surrender !! Inquisitive !! Submissive service !! Truthfulness !! Devotion to the Supreme Lord

1. Humble Surrender
To follow the instructions of guru 3 qualifications are required:
!! !! !!

Discipline Obedience Self-control

2. INQUISITIVENESS
!! Both

blind following and absurd inquiries are condemned. BG 4.34 E.g. Bali Maharaj Sukracarya

2. INQUISITIVENESS
!! Every one is inquiring about something from morning to evening,
!!

But a disciple should be inquisitive about

GOD
"! athato brahma jijnasa "! tasmat gurum prapadyeta jijnasu sreyah uttamam. (11.3.21)

3.SUBMISSIVE SERVICE
!! A

disciple should never be proud of his material qualifications like education, bodily beauty, wealth, high birth etc. Such qualifications have no connection with spiritual life. !! Service relationship opens the heart of disciple to receive transcendental knowledge

4.TRUTHFULNESS
!! A

sincere desire for enlightenment and avowed truthfulness to the spiritual master are the essential qualifications of a disciple.
!! (Story) of a boy named Satyakama

5. DEVOTION TO THE SUPREME LORD

!! Q. Why

did Lord Krsna select Arjuna as the recipient of Bhagavad Gita? disciple should be a devotee of the Lord as told by the Lord Himself : bhakto si me sakha cheti rahasyam hy etad uttamam [BG 4.3].

!! The

Qualifications of a disciple/student
)raddh!v!l labhate j!nam& tat-parah$ sa*yatendriyah$ j!nam& labdhv! par!m& )!ntim acire"!dhigacchati A faithful man who is dedicated to transcendental knowledge and who subdues his senses is eligible to achieve such knowledge, and having achieved it he quickly attains the supreme spiritual peace. (Bhagavad-gita 4.39)

Qualifications of a disciple/student
aja) c!)raddadh!na) ca sa*)ay!tm! vina)yati n!yam& loko 'sti na paro na sukham& sa*)ay!tmanah$ But ignorant and faithless persons who doubt the revealed scriptures do not attain God consciousness; they fall down. For the doubting soul there is happiness neither in this world nor in the next. (Bhagavad-gita 4.40)

Importance of hearing
Transcendental knowledge is received through hearing submissively !! Bhagavad-gita can be understood only by hearing
!!