Chapter 2

text 2.54 to 2.72

Contents of Gita Sumarized
Organization Text 1 -72

Chapter 2
1-10 54-72
Arjunas further Characteristicis of a
doubts & surrender Sthita Prajna

11-30
Jnana : Fight
Soul is eternal compassion for
temporary body is ignorant and useless
Counters compassion argument
31-38
Karma –Kanda
1’st application of Atma jnana
Fight: by doing your prescribed
duties you will enjoy
Counters Enjoyment argument
39-53
Nishkama karma Yoga
2’nd application of atma-jnana
Fight with detachment, then no
sinful reactions
Counters fear of Sinful reactions
argument
 Last section verses 54-72 Characteristics of a Sthita Prajna

• Arjuna is asking a question based on his level of thinking

• Arjuan ofcourse we know is a pure devotee , but here we see he is orchestrated by Yoga maya and is caught
up in bodily misidentification , so at this level he is thinking should I be fighting or should I NOT be fighiting ,
he is thinkingKrishna is talking about this person who has attained samadhi who has attained yoga will such
a person be fighting or not fighting , what kind of person is this so he is asking characteristics of such a
person, generally when we hear something from someone in a formal setting it is said that audience hears
only 20 % of what speaker is speaking and God only knows which 20 % he picks up , so they often hear
things which entirely agrees with what speaker is speakking , or radically diagrees with what speaker is
speaking that 20 % he hears ,so Krishna has spoken a lot from 11 to 53 but Arjuna is primarily concerned
with Should I be fighting or should I not be fighting ,in 37 and 38 Krishna has clearly told arjuna you should
fight , but then from 39 to 53 there are several verses which mostly talk about transcendence ,where there is
no explicit reference to fighting , and along with that in Verse 49 K says durena hy avaram karma , keep all
abominable work aside by buddhi , now avaram karma Krishna was referring to Karma kanda , bcoz that
doesn’t lead to the vara (blessing) of mukti , but from Arjuna’s point of view killing ones relatives especially
Bhisma and Drona was avarma karma (inauspicious work) so arjuna gets a question that a transcendentalist
will that person fight or not fight ??
• So he asks questions will that person fight or not fight what are his characteristics , but the questions is
interesting
arjuna uvāca
sthita-prajñasya kā bhāṣā -- what is his language
samādhi-sthasya keśava
sthita-dhīḥ kiṁ prabhāṣeta -- how does he speak
kim āsīta vrajeta kiṁ -- how does he sit ,how does he walk
• Now these questions may seem like in a sports contest we are asking
about a male candidate , his style of walking On a fashion ramp
,sitting and speaking,
• Now definitely Arjuna is not interested in asking this ,so these words
are indicative of something deeper
2.54
arjuna uvāca
sthita-prajñasya kā bhāṣā -- what is his language
samādhi-sthasya keśava
sthita-dhīḥ kiṁ prabhāṣeta -- how does he speak
kim āsīta vrajeta kiṁ -- how does he sit ,how does he walk
Baldev Vidyabhushan says bhasha refers to bhashyate iti bhasha
Generally we refer to the word bhasha as language ,
Bhashya means commentary , Govind bhasya is commentary on Vedanta Suttra written by Baladev
Vidya bhushan and Tika is commentary on a commentary so the book Surreneder UNTO Me is like a
tika( sub commentary ) on Srila Prabhupadas Bgita and Srila Prabhupada’s bgita is a BHAShYA
So bhasha does not only refer to language it refers to that which describes
Generally how will you describe a thing with its charactersitics so here “Ka Bhasha” referes to what
are the charactersitics of such a person
2.54

arjuna uvāca
sthita-prajñasya kā bhāṣā -- what are the characteristics of such a person
samādhi-sthasya keśava
sthita-dhīḥ kiṁ prabhāṣeta -- what is the manner of speech of such a person
kim āsīta -- how does such a person regulate the senses and keep them under
control ,(sitting basically refers to inactivity , so regulation ,self mastery , how does
he walk , how does he restrain the senses
vrajeta kiṁ : it is not a gait of a person, but it refers to how a person moves around
while being in the world filled with temptations filled with sense gratificatory
objects , how does such a person operate
so in this section 55-72 Krishna answers these 4 questions

• Q1) bhasha –charateristics T55

• Q2) prabhashet – how does he speak T56 and T57
• Q3) asit -- how does he restrain the senses - T58 to 63
• Q4) vrajet– how does he engage the senses T64 -71
T55 Characteristics of a Self realized soul

• Read SP Purport to 54 , SP mentions just like rich person has

symptoms , sick person has some symptoms, or as a learned man has
his symptoms, similarly transcendentalist has symptoms
• The immediate symptom of a Kṛṣṇa conscious man is that he speaks
only of Kṛṣṇa and of matters relating to Him
T55 Characteristics of a Self realized soul

• śrī-bhagavān uvāca
• prajahāti yadā kāmān
• sarvān pārtha mano-gatān
• ātmany evātmanā tuṣṭaḥ
• sthita-prajñas tadocyate
• Now we will see in thisseries of verses Krishna uses various words to describe that transcendentalist but its all talking
about the same person so in this verse 1) sthita-prajñas is used in next verse sthidhih muni is used but they are all referring
to the same person but different attributes can be understood by use of these difft words
• Prajna : intelligence and so Sthita prajna : means fixed intelligene , His intelligence is fixed
• Prajahati : to give up
• Kaman sarvan : all desires
• How do these desires originate ?? Manogatan : from the mind
• ātmany evātmanā tuṣṭaḥ : Person is satisfied within by turning the mind inwards
• ātmany evātmanā tuṣṭaḥ : Person is satisfied within by turning the
mind inwards
• Now normally one would think our desire is to be HAPPY , and if
somebody gives up all desires ,like here it is said kaman sarvan , that
means he has given up desire for happiness also so if we give up all
desires how can sucha person be happy
• Hence Krishna has said sarvan partha mano gatan , those desires that
are orginated from the mind they are given up , but the atma is itself
joyful so when one situates oneself at the spiritual level then one
experiences Joy
3 Levels of existence
• Level 1 Soul : spiritual level
• Level 2 Mind: subtle level
• Level 3 senses and sense objects : gross level
• So normally speaking the souls consciousness is routed through the mind outward thru
the senses to the external world and by contact of senses with sense objects there of we
experience some pleasure in this material world and often pain also.
• So prajahati yada kaman sarvan partha mano gatan that means external sense objects
when they come in contact with senses the DESIRE for that contact and the pleasure
there of, that desire is rejected mano gatan
• Atmany eva atmana tushtah, so when mind is fixed in the self then one gets happiness
(tushtah – satisfied)
• So mind can be looking inwards or mind can be looking outwards : now what does this
mean many times we hear Look within ??? Have you thought ppl sa apne andar us pyar
ko dhundo ?
• MIND is route of consciousness
• SOUL is root of consciousness
• When the consciousness of the soul is coming outwards that time thruogh
the mind it can either go ouwards towards the external but if we become
introspective that means we direct our thoughts inwards then we
experience and inner happiness by that ,bcoz as spirit souls we are joyful
sac-cit ananda , ananda is a characteristic of the soul
• So sthita prajna persons characteristic is that he rejects outer pleasures and
rejoices in inner pleasures
• SP explains beautifully what is diff between spiritualist and materialist
• Materialist one who seeks pleasure externally
SP explains beautifully what is diff between
spiritualist and materialist
• Materialist one who seeks pleasure externally and spiritualist is one who seeks pleasure internally
• Now one may say how this applies to devotees because we go out to the temple , and take darshan of
deities , now Temple is external to us , deity is external to us , then we do kirtan and we are hearing sound
which is coming from external source , so aren’t these also external pleasures , how are they internal
pleasures
• Actually they seem to be external pleasures , but These are external pleasure which take us inwards
• See there are external things in this world which can take us further outward outward outward , if we are
attracted to sense objects then those sense objects don’t have any intrinsic connection with us (SOUL) so
when we get attracted to them we get further lost , eg. man attracted to woman , attracted to wine, meat
eating or eating for satisfaction of tongue and these are gross pleasures and you can make a list of your own
attractions that lead you further outward and outward and make you further alienated from your inner
spiritual nature
• But Krishna is present in our heart and that same Krishna manifests externally through spiritual sense
objects ,deities , holy name, mridanga , etc so these are difft ways and to difft degrees manifestations of
Krishna and when we focus our consciousness on them , it may seem like we are getting pleasure from an
externnal source but actually the pleasure that comes is the contact of the soul and Krishna and the pleasure
that comes there of , so that same Krishna who is manifesting externally as the holyname as the deity , that
same Krishna is sitting on our heart as paramatma , and when we contact Krishna externally we awaken
spiritually the more we awaken spitially we can experience Krishna’s presence internally.
Happiness that a devotee gets is not external
• The happiness that we get in DS , in the initial stage of our KC we
need external stimuli for reminding ourselves of Krishna and for
connecting with Krishna , and of course even in the advanced stage of
KC we still serve those external manifestations of Krishna ,we take
darshan of deity becoz we Love Krishna
• But the IMPT point is Happiness that a devotee gets is not external,
its internal bcoz even if there are external factors involved external
factors lead us more and more internal
• So in this way a devotee turns from outer happiness to inner
happiness , This is the defining characteristic of a sthita prajna
Where do we seek happiness
• So impt characteristic is where do we seek happiness
• If we are seeking happiness externally we are materialist
• Krishna is telling Arjuna , krishna wants Arjuna to be like this one who seeks happiness internally
• Now many people understand internal in a very simplistic sense
• Ok whatever is inside me is internal and whatever is outside me is external but this is a naïve (immature) idea
• People say “look within and find peace “ but when I look within , when I look inside I find only agitation this desire is there , this
anxiety is there , this tension is there ,so actually if we think what is inward is spiritual and what is outward is material that is a
simplistic understanding where we are still considering ourselves to be the body
• So when I think myself to be the body then that which is outside the body is external and that which is inside the body is internal ,
But actually inside the body is the MIND and then there is the SOUL , so the mental is NOT spiritual ,what is connected with the
mind is not spiritual
• So when I have to understand what is internal I have to understand not with the reference of the body ,but with the reference
point of SOUL
• Means from souls point of view bodily and the mental BOTH are external, so the desires that come up in the mind they may be
internal from the body’s point of view , but from the soul’s point of view they are external , so Krishna says sarvan partha manoh
gatan , when I have to look for happiness it is not just internal at the mental level , we have to look for happiness at the spiritual
level , so atmany evatmanah tushtah look for happiness not just internally but in the internal at the spiritual level not at the
mental level so from the bhagavad gitas point of view even the mental is external , not internal from souls point of view . gives up
all desires arising from mental concoction, give up mental desires and turn towards Krishna and find happiness thereof.This is first
defining characterstic Seek happiness internally not externaly
How does he speak 56 and 57
• duḥkheṣv anudvigna-manāḥ --
• sukheṣu vigata-spṛhaḥ -- in happiness one doesn’t get more desires let me have more
• vīta-rāga-bhaya-krodhaḥ
• sthita-dhīr munir ucyate
• VCT explains sukheṣu vigata-spṛhaḥ if as a renunciant one goes to rich grihastas house and that person
gives a lot of opulent food to eat then that renunciant does not become delighted and start showering
blessings may you be blessed ,may you have this ,may you have that and if renunciant goes to somebody
elses house and that person says “Hey you beggar get out of here” and then renunciant says I CURSE You ,
NO real sthita dhi is
• duḥkheṣv anudvigna-manāḥ --
• sukheṣu vigata-spṛhaḥ
• So as long as we are in material world we will get dukha and sukha , they will be there ,but generallly what
happens when we get sukha we desire more of it ,so for eg if something good happens to us eg someone
starts praising us , then we may say speak more speak more , we may not speak it directly but we feel like
that so what happens when anything gives us happiness that generates desires sprhah , and wheras when
some distress comes we become sorrowful , BUT A transcendentalist is not affected by this ,
• NOW if this is ttalking about speech where is the reference to speech over here ??
• Actually speech is determined by our thoughts ,and about speech Krishna will talk
in next shloka , Krishna does not talk about a sthi dhi muni as someone doing
superficial changing of speech , like there are some people who speak in a very
sweet and polite way ,internally they may want to beat you to death , sometimes
ppl hate their bosses but a very good with them on the face
• SO in material world there is lot of duality internally we feel one way about a
person but externally we feel diffferently , but Krishna is telling , he will talk about
Kim prabhasheta in the next verse , but here in this verse he talks about mentality
of the person, that the sthi sdhih is not too agitated with happiness and distress ,
eg alarm clock rings and the mind says sleep more sleep more its very subtle but
the mind is speaking to you , so for the transcendentalist the minds voice itself is
changed then next 2 lines
5 P’s Personalize ,provide evidence, plan to
improve
• Where were we seeking happiness few years ago and now where…?
• So we have come a long way but there is lot more journey to cover.
• Where all are we seeking happiness now ?
• Are we at mental level still thinking that my house , my bank balance, my relatives
are the things that are my sources of happiness or association of devotees or B
OTH at my level today .
• How much free time we are spending where ?
• Also while doing devotional activities is it with a desire to please our SOUL or Krishna or are
we at mental level only that bcoz I like taking darshan I like ot go to temple , or bcoz I like
philosophy mental level sukh so I like going to classes , or seva
• Since mental is NOT spiritual , so we have to be careful else even in Kc we might just reamin
on mental platform and not go internal means not make our connection with Krishna strong.
• So check aour thoughts and intentions (as same activity can be done at mental level also and
spiritual level also right like eating or like attending class or taking darshan of Lord ,
• So we must strive to go more internal not hover on mental plane
2.56
• vīta-rāga-bhaya-krodhaḥ
• sthita-dhīr munir ucyate
• This same line comes in Ch 4 of the Gita in 4.10 and we will see it in detail there
• Devotee stays fixed in the path of Dev service irrespective of what happens , Raga ,Bhaya
, Krodha Lets see Purport
• Read the purport , first 3 lines definiton of Muni
• Muni is a speculator , why the cause of the things but don’t come to any conclusion , one
can observe events and try to infer causes but its very difficult to find out what the cause
actually is . Causality is also mental speculation , when I hold a glass and it falls and it
breaks , we can infer that glass was brittle and so when it fell it broke, so within a
framework if we can link cause and effects fine we can do that , but beyond that in life
there are so many multiple factors involved ,so if we want to observe effects and
determine causes we can go on doing infinitive analysis ,there is no end to it , Muni is a
person who goes on speculatinig , but sthita dhi muni is one who has come to a
conclusion and what is that conclusion : SP mentions in Purport vasudev sarvam iti
2.56 Purport duḥkheṣv anudvigna-manāḥ --

• Whenever we get any trouble in life we assume that we don’t deserve it , that is our
default assumption.
• because of this we ask why is this happening ,but when we understand things based on
Karma , we understand that there are manny good things also that we do not deserve
and we have got it.
• Sometimes students feel I studies so much and did not get good marks and sometimes
they als ohave seen that they have studies less but whatever they studied only that came
in exam and they got good marks also ,so actually the hand of luck or hand of destiny
works both ways , sometimes we get lucky breaks and sometimes we get unlucky
situations so this is how we can infer the role of destiny in our lives and whenever there
are reverses in devotees life ,
• devotee remember the prayers of Brahma in 14;th chapt 10’th Canto tat te anukampa
sushamiksha maano bhunjana evatma krtam vipakam ,so once devotee knows that I was
supposes to suffer much more becoz of my past sinful acts but My Dear Lord you have
reduced the suffering so devotee does not become too agitated dukhesv anudvigna
manah ,in next para SP explain sukhesv vigata sprhah ,
2.56 para SP explain sukhesv vigata sprhah ,
• Whenever devotee get comfortable situation he stays fixed , he does not become attached to comfortable situation but
he serves Krishna more and more.
• Srila Prabhupada is an excellent example of sthita dhih muni ,he has so may problems
1. Business to support sp masters mission financially, but busines repeatedly failed
2. League of devotees but then there was a conspiracy against him annd he had to give up the Land in Jhansi where he
started League oF D
3. Back to Godhead , but then he ran out of paper and finances
4. Work with his God brothers ,but they has a very constricted vision and they did not want him to expand the harmonist
and other magazines that he was publishing ,he did not even get basic facilities several times
5. Living in Vrindavan and he started publishing his books but people were not taking his message seriously ,
6. Went to America got 2 heart attacks on the way , finally reached
7. Butler PA people took him more as a curiosity object than a spiritual Guru
8. Lower east side New York , there his typewrite was stolen
9. Stayed in Bowery , His room mate turned violent and attacked Srila Prabhupada So inspite of all this dukhesva
anudvigna manah he kept going and later on when he got facilities what did he do , he had beautiful temples still he
constantly travelled and preached all over the world so sukhesva vigata sprhah , he did not think now let me stay
comfortable at one place
Vita raga bhay krodha
• In Purport SP says for the Lrods service devotee is always daring and is not
influenced by attachment and aversion.
• Means devotee does not put condition , I want this , I want that , If I have this
only then I will serve, No , whatever is the condition devotee serves Krishna, He is
attached to Krishna not to facilities
• Bhaya : SP had practically no fear at all otherwise how could he go to America all
alone that too not knowing anyone there ?
• How do we become fearless , Not just by absence of fear but by the awareness of
a presence that dwarfs fear
• All of us have our fears and we just can’t wish away those fears , but fearless
comes by the awareness of a presence that dwarfs fear
• We had seen that example that if you are walking alone in dark street …
• Krishna is huge and all problems in front of Him are tiny
krodha
• Devotee is free from anger because he knows that Krishan is in control , when Krishna
wants results will come , when Krishna does nto want results won’t come
• Here anger refers to more like frustration
• See anger when it is internalized it becomes resentmet ,hatred and it comes up in ugly
ways in future , but when expresses outwards it comes as temper tantrums person may
shout at others , blast at others
• SP no matter how many obstacles he faced in his preaching mission he kept on going , he
never got frustrated ,now we may say SP would get angry sometimes ,shout at
devotees,those whom he was training , so what about that ??
• So actually a Pure devotee may get angry sometimes but a pure devotee is never
controlled by anger,so SP would get angry and for a few moments he would be angry and
after that act as things would go on normally ,so anger never controlled him
• So devotee may use anger for training somebody else but devotee doesn’t get controlled
b anger anytime so in this shloka we understand internal thoughts and next shloka it
come out
T57 speaks
• yaḥ sarvatrānabhisnehas -- whatever one gets in this world
• tat tat prāpya śubhāśubham – sometimes auspicious sometimes inauspicious
• nābhinandati na dveṣṭi -- such a person doesn’t praise when good comes and doesn’t resent when bad
comes
• tasya prajñā pratiṣṭhitā --such a person is prajna pratistthita or sthita prajna samething
• So in this world good and bad will always keep coming
• So when good and bad how come artificially behave same way ? Does devotee have to be blind.
• For eg like when a person is given anaesthesia he doesn’t feel anything either injection or good massage
• So does this mean that aa devotee should de-sensitize himself to everything material ,so they don’t feel anything
as good or bad ?
• No devotees don’t de-sens
• itize themselves to material ,but the sensitize themselves to focus on the spiritual and when they focus on the
spiritual , the material is perceived but the material does not dominate their perception
• So for eg when SP would preach , he was concerned how many ppl are coming for the program but his focus was to speak about Krsihna whether he
had one person in his room or he had 1000 ppl in the auditorium, SP would be enthusiastic to speak about Krishna always.
• at same time he wanted results to come out so he was concerned about how things were emerging also , but devotee is not primarily focssed on that
• Devotee is fixed whether good or bad comes because he is fixed in doing his service for Krishna
• SP says in Purport … first line
• Upheavels means some agitation some disruption , now why does Srila Prabhupada says upheavels maybe good also??
• Upheavels (disturbances) may be good also :anything that distracts us from our focus in life is a upheavel , so often when we gain successes we let our
guard down then Maya can attack us , so if the good also distracts us from our focus , then that can become bad , so we should not be disturbed by
the good also
• On 13’th day arjuna vowed to take revenge for his son’s death , and that whole day Arjuna fought tirelessly breaking into the ranks of the Kauravas ,
at in the later part of the day Duryodhana brought 6 maharathas to surround Jayadrath from all sides , then arjuna was so close yet so far and sun was
rapidly sinking in western horizon so the Krishna covered the sun that time kauravas started rejoicing , they let their guard down ,
• Arjuna keep your bow ready there is still time ….. Then full story
• Arjuna did not ask any questions he did as Krishna said which arrow to hit , where to hit where the head should fall etc.
• Another moral of this story is Kauravas became distracted by pleasure and let their guard down and arjuna seized that oppurtunity and hit Jayadratha
• Even success can be an upheavel if it lets our guard down
• So SP says “But one who is fixed in Kṛṣṇa consciousness is not affected by good and evil because he is simply concerned with Kṛṣṇa, who is all good
absolute.”
58 how such a person sits , restrains his
senses
• yadā saṁharate cāyaṁ
• kūrmo 'ṅgānīva sarvaśaḥ -- draws in the senses just as tortoise draws his senses inwards
• indriyāṇīndriyārthebhyas
• tasya prajñā pratiṣṭhitā
• How one should withdraw oneself from the material , because Krishna has not yet spoken about bhakti unto
Himself , he begins by saying how one should withdraw oneself from the material
• In 55 the characteristic of Self realized person was mentioned that he does not rejoice in the external , he rejoices
within, so how does one detach oneself from the external that is mentioned in this verse 58 like tortoise
• Tortoise limbs are vulnerable but his shell is almost impenetrable , so similarly or senses like limbs of torotoise are
weak , for eg whenever a war is going on enemy is always looking for weak point and tries to attack there
• Eg in football or in cricket , eg a batsman cannot bat short pitch balls , boxers hit where it hurts ,then person can be
brought down quickly
• Our senses come in touch with material world , so when we understand our senses are our weaknesses then we
have to guard ourselves , so the senses have to be withdrawn inwards
Don’t let your senses be like Radars always scannin for
sense enjoyment.Exercise CAUTION means keep
questioning do I need to see this ? DoI need to go here ,
• SP explains in purport that a yogi is one who can control senses according to a plan , means we can withdraw our senses round the
clock we have to engage the senses also ,but there is a plan when to engage and when not to engage
• E.g. speaking , seeing , media is trying to catch our eyes , radar is always scanning the horizon ,is there a danger , so our eyes are
also like a radar and we are also scanning the world, but because our intelligence is weak so when we are looking at danger but we
are looking at it as if this will give me enjoyment
• So enemy seeking radars , so when we see the enemy instead of getting scared and running away we welcome the enemy and
embrace it  
• So we don’t have to be like radars always scanning ,we should draw our senses inwards like tortoise
• Weariness means caution to be on the guard , if we let ourselves on a parade of sense … then over a period of time we get de-
energized , an wearyness means tired , why do we get tired because there are so many desires , I want this , I want this ,it creates
a pang in the heart , its like a needle which pinches us ,becoz we know that I wont be able to get this , that I wont be able to get
this , that I wont be able to get this , so that conflict between wanting something and knowing that I wont be able to get it and
there is always a big GAP (unscalable GAP ) between our fantasies and our finances ,the more we prey on those desires the more
the Gap increases and more miserable we are , whole advertisement industry is based on this , it fuels our fantasies more and
more
• So this inner conflict it de-energizes us and even if one has a lot of money he still can’t have whatever he wants because body has
limitations various limitations so when we let senses dwell on the sense objects we become tired weary
• If we don’t want to become weary then we have to become weary means cautious, don’t look around at things that we are not
going to indulge in , so we have to maximize our caution keep questioning do I need ot se this , do I need to go here , so exercise
caution so that you are not tired weary (viary , ad weari)
so a devotee doesn’t expose oneself to sense
objects , eg sleeping tiger , eg2 Haridas Thakur
• As much as possible we try to avoid the exposure of senses to their sense objects
• EG sleeping tiger
• IF tiger is sleeping , and you want to know is this tiger dead or sleeping ? let me just
pinch it and find out , if I pinch a tiger then afterwards the tiger if it wakes up it will not
just pinch me, if it wakes up it will devour me , so we should not mistake hibernation for
termination ,when a tiger is sleeping let it sleep peacefully means our lust , our GREED
and earlier we might have been very agitated by certain things and now we may think if I
am exposed I don’t get agitated ,we shouldn’t think that LUST is DEAD , its simply
sleeping right now , so if we let it sleep and keep practicing Dev. service in its sleep only
gradually it will die , but if you pinch and see what happens then there can be disasters
so a devotee doesn’t expose oneself to sense objects ,
• Even Haridas Thakur was so absorbed in the holy name but Haridas thakur also did not
go to the prostitute, she came and continued his chanting , ofcourse in our culture there
is so much exposure that is unavoidable , so along with avoiding or minimizing the
exposure we also have to have positive engagement , which will keep us absorbed in
Krishna , but first minimize just like a tortoise withdraws its limbs .
T 59 Higher taste,
The irresistible is not necessarily essential
• But minimizing contact of senses with sense objects alone is not enough in next verse he says this
• viṣayā vinivartante -- viṣayā -sense objects , vinivartante -- to draw away from or stay away from
• nirāhārasya dehinaḥ -- ahar –food , for condition soul nirahar means keeping him away from
sense objects (which is like his food)
• so if we are fasting we feel agitated ,I want food , I want food , like that the eyes are hungry I want
to see something , ears are hungry , I want to hear something ,like that all the senses are hungry ,
but this ahar actually is not an essential aahar,
• many times we mistake the The irresistable to be essential but the The irresistible is not
necessarily essential what is the difference between the two irresistible and essential ?
Eg of alcoholic person
• An alcoholic thinks that alcohol is irresistible, yes for the alcoholic at that time alcohol may seem
irresistible , but just because something is irresistible doesn’t make it essential,
• Essential is that without which we cant survive , so food , air ,water, sleep , we need all this for
our survival , nobody needs alcohol for survival , although one may subjectively feel we need it,
• so there is a difference between a subjective feeling of necessity and the
objective fact of necessity.
• Most of the time we FAIL in our struggle with the sense objects because we mistake the
subjective feeling of necessity to be the object fact of necessity ,
• so when a person becomes overwhelmed by LUST a person feels I need this but actually one
doesn’t need it ,so as long as the alcoholic is in the state of addiction he thinks “I need it “ “I need
it” but when he take therapy and get cured he can understand I don’t need alcohol , Similarly
what seems irresistible to us when we are in the mode of passion and ignorance as we come to
the mode of goodness and rise towards transcendence we realize I don’t need this , that’s how
we become purified from that craving ,feeling of necessity , However Krishna here is talking about
a person who is feeling this is niraharasya -- no I cannot live without this ,
• rasa-varjaṁ --- one has stopped indulging in it still
• raso 'py asya -- the taste remains means one feels I need it ,I need it , and
what is the solution for that
• paraṁ dṛṣṭvā nivartate – only when a person gets a higher taste
• This is a very interesting concept becoz Srila Prabhupada standadrd
translation is Higher taste , and Krishna has used the word drstva . Param
means higher or transcendental , drstva is wrt to vision and not with taste
• The verse starts with vinivartante : One gives it up but one stills wants it
and last line last word is nivartate means one gives it up and one no longer
wants it
Higher Taste- experential when SOUL comes in
contact with Krishna
• The verse starts with vinivartante : One gives it up but one stills wants it and last line last word is
nivartate means one gives it up and one no longer wants it ,
• so param drtva would literally refer to as a higher vision ,higher perception, so why does SP
translate it as higher taste ,
• actually the experience of spiritual happiness is atindriyam beyond 6.20 -23 sukham atyantikam
yat tat buddhi grahyam atindriyam ultimate happiness happiness of Krishna consciousness is
actually beyond the senses it is transcendental happiness , now can this be perceived thru the
senses , Yes senses can be gateways , we may take prasad from tongue , darshan of deities , sing
the holy names , but senses are not the primary source of this happiness ,
• the source of happiness is ultimately Krishna and the experience of Krishna is not just sensory it
is trans sensory, it is spiritual exp , the experience may initiate with the chanting of the holy
names but the experience culminates with the contact of the soul with Krishna , so SP is giving us
a pointer and indicator to this trans-sensory aspect of the remembrance of Krishna , when SP says
higher taste so we understand that this Higher taste is not something that we taste with our
tongue or higher vision is not something we see with our eyes, it is actually EXPERENTIAL , we
may experience with our eyes or with out tongue , or we may experience in the deepest core of
our heart without using any senses also .higher richer experience
• It is the experience of the heart and here Krishna has not revealed what is that
experience that he will tell as the Bgita flows , so here he tells general principle
• Only when we have higher taste then we can become peaceful , otherwise only
restraining ourselves will be just self torture , no matter how much we try we
simply feel it is torture
• Eg celibacy , many people say celibacy is unnatural , now it is true that if a person
is deprived of this (sex) then he may get some psychosis but we also see that
here are many people who indugle in that pleasure and they also get problems ,
ppl who are engaging in sex and there is a whole field of sexology , there are
experts (sexperts) who give advise on sex and relationships and how to have
better sex and still there are so many ppl depressed , so whether a person is
indulging or denying there are problems at material level , ultimately one has to
rise at the spiritual level of consciousness.
We say NO to the NEGATIVE so that we can
say YES to the POSITIVE
• Of course if one is restraining instead of indulging indiscriminately
one will have lesser problems but if that restrain is without a higher
taste , its only self repression that that can come out in ugly ways also
later on ,
• IMPORTANT POINT is RESTRAIN is the beginning it should
not be the END , We say NO to the NEGATIVE so that we
can say YES to the POSTIVE
 Sadhan (means) Sadhya (Goal) Examples
Brihaspati Nyaya Good Good Yudhisthir Mhj
Kanik Nyaya Bad Bad Duryodhana and Asuras
Shukracharya Nyaya Bad Good Krishna followed this in war of Mahabharat and
many places to establish dharma ,

Krishna followed Shukracarya Nyaya or Niti , eg Killing of Karna, Jarasandha, Jayadratha,Bhisma ,

Duryodhana , Unfortunately our Hindu kings later forgot this and when Muslims would attack
keeping cows in the front they would not fight thinking cows are holy how can we kill , and result was
that all cows are being killed in slaughter houses today pitiable condition.