Bhagavadgita is ‘a symphony in which God is seen in all things’
Some philosophers say that the manifestation of material nature is false, but according to the philosophy of Bhagavad-gita or according to the philosophy of the Vaisnavas, this is not so. The manifestation of the world is not accepted as false; it is accepted as real, but temporary. It is likened unto a cloud which moves across the sky, or the coming of the rainy season, which nourishes grains. Such are the workings of nature. This cycle is working eternally. Therefore nature is eternal; it is not false.
‘Those who are wise lament neither for the living nor for the dead’
‘That which dwells in the body can never be slain. Therefore you need not grieve for any living being’
‘There are two classes of men who try to realise the self. Some are inclined to understand it by empirical, philosophical speculation, and others by devotional service.’
‘Religion without philosophy is sentiment, or sometimes fanaticism, while philosophy without religion is mental specultation.’
‘ Without being attached to the fruits of activities, one should act as a matter of duty, for by working without attachment one attains the Supreme.’
‘Thus knowing oneself to be transcendental to the material senses, mind and intelligence, one should steady the mind by deliberate spiritual intelligence and thus—by spiritual strength—conquer this insatiable enemy known as lust’
‘All living beings are but part of the Supreme, or, in other words, they are mine.’
‘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 the next.’
‘One who sees analytical study and devotional service to be on the same level, sees things as they are.’
Some philosophers say that the manifestation of material nature is false, but according to the philosophy of Bhagavad-gita or according to the philosophy of the Vaisnavas, this is not so. The manifestation of the world is not accepted as false; it is accepted as real, but temporary. It is likened unto a cloud which moves across the sky, or the coming of the rainy season, which nourishes grains. Such are the workings of nature. This cycle is working eternally. Therefore nature is eternal; it is not false.
‘Those who are wise lament neither for the living nor for the dead’
‘That which dwells in the body can never be slain. Therefore you need not grieve for any living being’
‘There are two classes of men who try to realise the self. Some are inclined to understand it by empirical, philosophical speculation, and others by devotional service.’
‘Religion without philosophy is sentiment, or sometimes fanaticism, while philosophy without religion is mental specultation.’
‘ Without being attached to the fruits of activities, one should act as a matter of duty, for by working without attachment one attains the Supreme.’
‘Thus knowing oneself to be transcendental to the material senses, mind and intelligence, one should steady the mind by deliberate spiritual intelligence and thus—by spiritual strength—conquer this insatiable enemy known as lust’
‘All living beings are but part of the Supreme, or, in other words, they are mine.’
‘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 the next.’
‘One who sees analytical study and devotional service to be on the same level, sees things as they are.’
The real purpose of philosophical research is to find the ultimate goal of life.
Since the ultimate goal of life is self-realisation, there is no difference
between the conclusions reached by the two processes. A living entity is not a
part and parcel of the material world but of the supreme spirit whole.
‘A person in the divine consciousness, although engaged in seeing, hearing, touching, smelling, eating, moving about, sleeping and breathing, always knows within himself that he actually does nothing at all. Because while speaking, evacuating, receiving, or opening or closing the eyes, he always knows that only the material sense are engaged with their objects and that he is aloof from them.’
‘For him who has conquered the mind, the mind is the best of friends; but for one who has failed to do so, his mind will remain the greatest enemy.’
‘Regard honest well-wishers, affectionate benefactors, the neutral, mediators, the envious, friends and enemies, the pious and the sinners all with an equal mind.’
Those who are imitating the yoga system in different so-called schools and societies, although complacent, are certainly wasting their time. They are completely ignorant of the desired goal, which is inaccessible to the common man.
‘All living entities are born into delusion, bewildered by dualities arisen from desire and lust.’
‘At the time of death, the consciousness created by the living being carries him to his next body. If the living being has made his consciousness like an animal’s, he is sure to get an animal’s body.’
‘[Arjuna] saw in that universal form unlimited mouths, unlimited eyes, unlimited wonderful visions. The form was decorated with celestial ornaments and bore many divine upraised weapons. He wore celestial garlands and garments, and many divine scents were smeared over His body. All was wondrous, brilliant, unlimited, all-expanding.’
‘If hundreds of thousands of suns were to rise at once in the sky, their radiance might resemble the effulgence of the Supreme Person in that universal form.’
‘The Supreme Personality of Godhead said: Time I am, the great destroyer of worlds, and I have come here to destroy all people. With the exception of you, all the soldiers here on both sides will be slain.’
all-devouring time
‘Death could not be checked, even if he did not fight. In fact, they were already dead. Time is destruction, and all manifestations are to be vanquished by the desire of the Supreme Lord. That is the law of nature.’
‘Nonviolence is generally taken to mean not killing or destroying the body, but actually nonviolence means not to put others into distress. People in general are trapped by ignorance in the material concept of life, and they perpetually suffer material pains. So unless one elevates people to spiritual knowledge, one is practicing violence. One should try his best to distribute real knowledge to the people, so that they may become enlightened and leave this material entanglement. That is nonviolence.’
‘False ego means accepting this body as oneself. When one understands that he is not his body and is spirit soul, he comes to his real ego. Ego is there. False ego is condemned, but not real ego. In the Vedic literature it is said: I am Brahman, I am spirit. This “I am,” the sense of self, also exists in the liberated stage of self-realisation. There are some philosophers who say we should give up our ego, but we cannot give up our ego, because ego means identity. We ought, of course, to give up the false identification with the body.’
Material nature consists of three modes—goodness, passion and ignorance.
‘The demoniac say that this world is unreal, with no foundation, no God in control. They say it is produced of sex desire and has no cause other than lust.’
The demonic conclude that the world is phantasmagoria. There is no cause and‘The demoniac are engaged in activities that will lead the world to destruction. The materialists, who have no concept of God, think that they are advancing. They try to enjoy this material world to the utmost limit and therefore always engage in inventing something for sense gratification. Such materialistic inventions are considered to be advancement of human civilization, but the result is that people grow more and more violent and more and more cruel, cruel to animals and cruel to other human beings. They have no idea how to behave toward one another.’
effect, no controller, no purpose: everything is unreal. They say that this
cosmic manifestation arises due to chance material actions and reactions. They
have their own theory: that the world has come about in its own way and that
there is no reason to believe that there is a God behind it. For them there is
no difference between spirit and matter, and they do not accept the Supreme
Spirit. Everything is matter only, and the whole cosmos is supposed to be a mass
of ignorance. According to them, everything is void, and whatever exists is due
to our ignorance in perception. Following such conclusions, the demoniac, who
are lost to themselves and who have no intelligence, engage in unbeneficial,
horrible works meant to destroy the world.’
‘Taking shelter of insatiable lust and absorbed in the conceit of pride and false prestige, the demoniac, thus illusioned, are always sworn to unclean work, attached by the impermanent.’
‘Although such demoniac people are most abominable in the world, by artificial means the world creates a false honour for them. Although they are gliding toward hell, they consider themselves very much advanced.’
‘There are three gates leading to hell—lust, anger, and greed. Every sane man should give these up, for they lead to the degradation of the soul.’
‘At the beginning of Brahma’s day, all living entities become manifest from the unmanifest state, and thereafter, when the night falls, they are merged into the unmanifest again. Again and again, when Brahman’s day arrives, all living entities come into being, and with the arrival of Brahma’s night they are helplessly annihilated.’
