Tag: ISO mantra – 10

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SB 2.9.40 Notes – 2/2/22

KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM HH HARIVILAS MAHARAJ’S MORNING BHAGAVATAM CLASS ON SB 2.9.40:

  • One cannot be situated in an exalted position without having undertaken a regulative life of rules and regulations. 
  • An unrestricted life of sense gratification is animal life, and Lord Brahmā, in order to teach all concerned within the jurisdiction of his generations, taught the same principles of sense control for executing higher duties.
  • He desired the welfare of all as servants of God, and anyone desiring the welfare of the members of his family and generations must conduct a moral, religious life. 
  • The highest life of moral principles is to become a devotee of the Lord because a pure devotee of the Lord has all the good qualities of the Lord. 
  • On the other hand, one who is not a devotee of the Lord, however qualified he may be in the mundane sense of the term, cannot be qualified with any good quality worthy of the name. 
  • The pure devotees of the Lord, like Brahmā and persons in the chain of disciplic succession, do not do anything to instruct their subordinates without acting accordingly themselves.
  • We simply have to hear from a person who is dhira, who is not agitated by the six urges. That is the Vedic process of gaining knowledge. And if we try to use some other process, we will remain covered by nescience. 
  • The Isopanisad states, “Only one who can learn the process of nescience and that of transcendental knowledge side by side can transcend the influence of repeated birth and death and enjoy the full blessings of immortality.”
  •  If you want real knowledge, you should take knowledge from the literature known as the Vedas. (The word veda means “knowledge.”) 
  • Part of the Vedas are the 108 Upanisads, out of which eleven are very important. Of those eleven, the Isopanisad stands first. In the word upanisad, upa means “near.” So the knowledge in the Isopanisad will take you nearer to Krsna.
  •  If you want genuine spiritual knowledge you have to approach a bona fide spiritual master who has realized the Absolute Truth. Otherwise you will remain in darkness. 
  • You cannot think, “Oh, I may or may not accept a spiritual master. In any case, there are books that I can learn from.” No, the Vedic injunction is tad-vijnanartham sa gurum evabhigacchet. The word gacchet means “one must go,” not that one may or may not go. To understand transcendental knowledge, one must go to a spiritual master. That is the Vedic injunction.
  • You must know two things: what is maya (illusion) and what is Krsna. Then your knowledge is perfect. Of course, Krsna is so nice that if you somehow or other fully surrender to Him, all your searching for knowledge will be finished: not only will you know what Krsna is, but you will automatically learn what maya is. Krsna will give you intelligence from within.
  • Vidya, or genuine spiritual knowledge, does not depend on technology. Srila Vyasadeva is the original guru of Vedic knowledge. 
  • How was he living? In a cottage in Badarikasrama. But just see his knowledge! He wrote so many Puranas, including the Srimad-Bhagavatam. He also wrote the Vedanta-sutra and the Mahabharata. 
  • If you studied every single verse written by Vyasadeva, it would take your whole life. The Srimad-Bhagavatam alone has no less than eighteen thousand verses. And each verse is so full of meaning that it would take a whole lifetime to fully understand it. This is Vedic culture.

SB 2.9.40 TRANSLATION:

Thus once upon a time the forefather of living entities and the father of religiousness, Lord Brahmā, situated himself in acts of regulative principles, desiring self-interest for the welfare of all living entities.

One cannot be situated in an exalted position without having undertaken a regulative life of rules and regulations. An unrestricted life of sense gratification is animal life, and Lord Brahmā, in order to teach all concerned within the jurisdiction of his generations, taught the same principles of sense control for executing higher duties. He desired the welfare of all as servants of God, and anyone desiring the welfare of the members of his family and generations must conduct a moral, religious life. The highest life of moral principles is to become a devotee of the Lord because a pure devotee of the Lord has all the good qualities of the Lord. On the other hand, one who is not a devotee of the Lord, however qualified he may be in the mundane sense of the term, cannot be qualified with any good quality worthy of the name. The pure devotees of the Lord, like Brahmā and persons in the chain of disciplic succession, do not do anything to instruct their subordinates without acting accordingly themselves.

Spiritual life begins with Varna & Ashrama systems. 

Varnas – Social delineation of the society 

Ashramas – Brahmachari, Grihasta, Vanaprasta and sanyasa

To go back to our original nature of being eternal servant of the lord, then we need to be regulated in our service.. 

Everybody is a service.. If you have no body to serve you will get a dog or cat to serve.. 

Service defines who we are.. 

Highest definition of service is sanatana dharma..Only serve Krsna.. Free of all dualities.. Serve Guru and Krsna. Guru is a manifestation of Krsna’s mercy.. We attain peace and tremendous advantage.. Of Krsna’s personal protection.. Serving only Krsna.. 

Father of religiousness – Paradigm of the process that helps the devotee to become genuine servant of Krsna.. 

Krishna – Primary creator 

Brahma – secondary creator

What it takes to be a Devotee  = Lod Caitanya made the process much easier – chant, dance, Prasadam, Listen classes – SB & BG, Deity worship, Only stay in holy place.. 

Association is the most important thing in spiritual life,.. If you associate with good devotees you will also become.. A good devotee… if you chant alone then you will give up. One day.. So association of devotees is very imp.. 

Rules and regulations – 

No Meat eating 

No Gambling 

No Illicit sex

No intoxication 

Chant 

Hear classes 

Do service 

Eat only prasadam..

Deity Worship.. 

Animal is engaged in all day long sense gratification – Example – Cat. 

We learn to be sense gratifiers by having pets.. Pets are not vegetarians and they dont take part in Arti.. 

Jurisdiction of generations – We are in his jurisdiction.. Krishna founder… Brahma is the first disciple in the Brahma Madhva Gaudiya Vaishnava Sampradaya.. 

Pure devotee has all the good qualities of Krsna.. Because he follows the instructions of Krsna.. When Everything for Krsna.. Krsna will take special care of you.. He will take special care of you than you would take care of yourself.. 

Highest morality – is to become a devotee of the lord and follow Krsna’s instructions.. 

White vs Dark– you are making enemies either ways.. That is the problem. 

Someone may seem to have good qualities.. But if they are not 

Even the cat is moral. It does not bite the hand that feeds it.. That does not mean that the cat is a devotee.

A Devotee is always calm and peaceful even when attacked.. Any good or bad interaction with the world is not good. He does not make friends and enemies.. Devotee will go through many diff types of tapasya to help people to come to Krsna.. 

Not a life of negation.. Life of dedication.. 

If you are angry., vendictive, want revenge .. how can you help people become devotees.. 

Jesus christ

Have to tolerate,,to come to that position it taje a  life time of following regulative principles….

We have to be what we want others to be .. high responsibility to be a  devotee.. , 

LAWS OF NATURE –  (http://files.krishna.com/en/pdf/e-books/Laws_of_Nature.pdf)

So, you have to hear from a person who is dhira. If you hear from the adhira, from those who are not self-controlled, then whatever knowledge you learn will be useless. In the Isopanisad, a student has approached his spiritual master to inquire from him, and the spiritual master is saying, “This is what I have heard from authoritative sources.” The spiritual master is not inventing something from his own experience. He is presenting exactly what he has heard. So we have nothing to research. Everything is there. We simply have to hear from a person who is dhira, who is not agitated by the six urges. That is the Vedic process of gaining knowledge. And if we try to use some other process, we will remain covered by nescience. The Isopanisad states, “Only one who can learn the process of nescience and that of transcendental knowledge side by side can transcend the influence of repeated birth and death and enjoy the full blessings of immortality.” 

If you hear SB & BG you will understand what ignorance is and what knowledge is.. What to do and what not to do.. 

1st class – Hear and understand 

2nd class – Hear, and have to see 

3rd class – Hear, see & do 

People do not understand what immortality is. They think it is a mythological idea. They are proud of their advancement of knowledge, but there are many things they do not know, nor can they ever know them by their modern system of experimentation. So if you want real knowledge, you should take knowledge from the literature known as the Vedas. (The word veda means “knowledge.”) Part of the Vedas are the 108 Upanisads, out of which eleven are very important. Of those eleven, the Isopanisad stands first. In the word upanisad, upa means “near.” So the knowledge in the Isopanisad will take you nearer to Krsna.

ISO – Mantra 10 

In the modern society, even a boy thinks himself self-sufficient and pays no respect to elderly men. Due to the wrong type of education being imparted in our universities, boys all over the world are giving their elders headaches. Thus Śrī Īśopaniṣad very strongly warns that the culture of nescience is different from that of knowledge. The universities are, so to speak, centers of nescience only; consequently scientists are busy discovering lethal weapons to wipe out the existence of other countries. University students today are not given instructions in the regulative principles of brahmacarya (celibate student life), nor do they have any faith in any scriptural injunctions. Religious principles are taught for the sake of name and fame only and not for the sake of practical action. Thus there is animosity not only in social and political fields but in the field of religion as well.

Nationalism has developed in different parts of the world due to the cultivation of nescience by the general people. No one considers that this tiny earth is just a lump of matter floating in immeasurable space along with many other lumps. In comparison to the vastness of space, these material lumps are like dust particles in the air. Because God has kindly made these lumps of matter complete in themselves, they are perfectly equipped with all necessities for floating in space. The drivers of our spaceships may be very proud of their achievements, but they do not consider the supreme driver of these greater, more gigantic spaceships called planets.

There are innumerable suns and innumerable planetary systems also. As infinitesimal parts and parcels of the Supreme Lord, we small creatures are trying to dominate these unlimited planets. Thus we take repeated birth and death and are generally frustrated by old age and disease. The span of human life is scheduled for about a hundred years, although it is gradually decreasing to twenty or thirty years. Thanks to the culture of nescience, befooled men have created their own nations within these planets in order to grasp sense enjoyment more effectively for these few years. Such foolish people draw up various plans to render national demarcations perfectly, a task that is totally impossible. Yet for this purpose each and every nation has become a source of anxiety for others. More than fifty percent of a nation’s energy is devoted to defense measures and thus spoiled. No one cares for the cultivation of real knowledge, yet people are falsely proud of being advanced in both material and spiritual knowledge.

ISO – 18 mantras – If you will read it you can understand the whole philosophy.. Of KC 

SB – 18000 mantras 

 In learned society the Vedas are accepted as sruti, or primary evidence. The Vedas are not knowledge established by the research work of contaminated, conditioned souls. Such people have imperfect senses, and so they cannot see things as they are. They simply theorize, “It may be like this. It may be like that.” That is not knowledge. Knowledge is definite, without any doubt or mistake. Conditioned souls commit mistakes, become illusioned, and cheat. How do they cheat? When one who does not understand the Bhagavad-gita writes a commentary on it, he is cheating the innocent public. Someone has a title as a scholar, so he takes advantage of the popularity of the Bhagavad-gita and writes a commentary. Such so-called scholars claim that anyone can give his own opinion. But in the Bhagavad-gita Krsna says that only His devotee can understand the Gita. So these so-called scholars are cheating. The conclusion is that if you want genuine spiritual knowledge you have to approach a bona fide spiritual master who has realized the Absolute Truth. Otherwise you will remain in darkness. You cannot think, “Oh, I may or may not accept a spiritual master. In any case, there are books that I can learn from.” No, the Vedic injunction is tad-vijnanartham sa gurum evabhigacchet. The word gacchet means “one must go,” not that one may or may not go. To understand transcendental knowledge, one must go to a spiritual master. That is the Vedic injunction.

You must know two things: what is maya (illusion) and what is Krsna. Then your knowledge is perfect. Of course, Krsna is so nice that if you somehow or other fully surrender to Him, all your searching for knowledge will be finished: not only will you know what Krsna is, but you will automatically learn what maya is. Krsna will give you intelligence from within. So, by the mercy of both the spiritual master and Krsna, one takes up devotional service. How is that? Their mercy runs on parallel lines. If you have not yet found a spiritual master but are sincere, Krsna will direct you to a bona fide spiritual master. And if you get a bona fide spiritual master, he will take you to Krsna. Krsna is always sitting in your heart as the caitya-guru, the spiritual master within. It is that caitya-guru who manifests Himself externally as the spiritual master. Therefore the spiritual master is the direct representative of Krsna.

The Isopanisad says we should learn what vidya and avidya are. Avidya is ignorance under the guise of materialistic knowledge. Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura writes in one of his songs that “advancement of material knowledge is simply the advancement of maya’s jurisdiction.” The more you become implicated in material knowledge, the less you can understand Krsna consciousness. Those who are advanced in material knowledge think, “What use is this Krsna consciousness movement?” They have no attraction for spiritual knowledge; they are too absorbed in avidya. Some Indian boys reject the spiritual culture of India and come to the West to learn technology. When they see that I have introduced in the West the things they rejected in India, they are surprised. One reason I came to the West is that modern India has rejected spiritual knowledge. Today Indians think that if they can imitate Western technology, they will be happy. This is maya. They do not see that those who are three hundred times more technologically advanced than the Indians are not happy. India will not be able to equal American or European technology for at least three hundred years because the Western countries have been developing technology for a very long time. But since the time of creation Indian culture has been a spiritual culture.Vidya, or genuine spiritual knowledge, does not depend on technology. Srila Vyasadeva is the original guru of Vedic knowledge. How was he living? In a cottage in Badarikasrama. But just see his knowledge! He wrote so many Puranas, including the Srimad-Bhagavatam. He also wrote the Vedanta-sutra and the Mahabharata. If you studied every single verse written by Vyasadeva, it would take your whole life. The Srimad-Bhagavatam alone has no less than eighteen thousand verses. And each verse is so full of meaning that it would take a whole lifetime to fully understand it. This is Vedic culture.

Our kids should be trained in vedic knowledge – hearing and repeating,,engaging in actual devotional service… dev service is the connection to krishna.. Dev service should always be in the tutelage of bonafide guru.. 

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SB 2.9.36 – Part 4 – Notes – 1/25/22

KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM HH HARIVILAS MAHARAJ’S MORNING BHAGAVATAM CLASS ON SB 2.9.36 – Part 4 (1/25/22):

  • Generally men may say that whatever they are doing is inspired by God, but that is not all. One should actually work on behalf of God as a servant of God.
  • “be a servant of God and live peacefully in that consciousness, ultimately returning home, back to Godhead.” – is the guiding principle of our life
  • Skanda Purāṇa: “I offer my obeisances unto Him, the infallible, because simply by either remembering Him or vibrating His holy name one can attain the perfection of all penances, sacrifices or fruitive activities, and this process can be universally followed.”
  • One need not be anxious to propitiate each and every demigod and goddess because the root of all of them is the Personality of Godhead.
  • As by pouring water on the root of the tree one serves and enlivens all the branches and leaves, so by rendering service unto the Supreme Lord one automatically serves every god and goddess without extraneous effort. The Lord is all-pervading, and therefore service unto Him is also all-pervading.
  • SB (12.3.52): Even during the annihilation of the material world, the process of bhakti-yoga can be applied. Kālena naṣṭā pralaye vāṇīyam: the Lord is worshiped in devastation because He protects the Vedas from being annihilated. He is worshiped in every millennium or yuga
  • In the Viṣṇu Purāṇa it is written: “If even for a moment remembrance of Vāsudeva, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is missed, that is the greatest loss, that is the greatest illusion, and that is the greatest anomaly.”
  • “Simply by chanting the holy name of the Lord the inhabitants of hell became released from their hellish persecution.” 
  • So the conclusion of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, as given by Śukadeva Gosvāmī to Mahārāja Parīkṣit, is: “O King, it is finally decided that everyone, namely those in the renounced order of life, the mystics, and the enjoyers of fruitive work, should chant the holy name of the Lord fearlessly to achieve the desired success in their pursuits.” (Bhāg. 2.1.11)
  •  Even though one is well versed in all the Vedas and scriptures, if one is not a devotee of the Supreme Lord, the Personality of Godhead, he is considered to be the lowest of mankind.
  • SB 10.84.13 – “One who identifies his self as the inert body composed of mucus, bile and air, who assumes his wife and family are permanently his own, who thinks an earthen image or the land of his birth is worshipable, or who sees a place of pilgrimage as merely the water there, but who never identifies himself with, feels kinship with, worships or even visits those who are wise in spiritual truth — such a person is no better than a cow or an ass.”
  • It is the duty of the father, duty of the state, duty of the teachers to educate them in real knowledge from the very beginning. Bhāgavata says that one should not become a father, one should not become a mother, one should not become a teacher, one should not become a king unless they are able to elevate their dependents to this spiritual knowledge, which can save him from repeated birth and death.
  • In the modern society, even a boy thinks himself self-sufficient and pays no respect to elderly men. Due to the wrong type of education being imparted in our universities, boys all over the world are giving their elders headaches. 
  • Thus Śrī Īśopaniṣad very strongly warns that the culture of nescience is different from that of knowledge. The universities are, so to speak, centers of nescience only; consequently scientists are busy discovering lethal weapons to wipe out the existence of other countries.
  • University students today are not given instructions in the regulative principles of brahmacarya (celibate student life), nor do they have any faith in any scriptural injunctions. 
  • Religious principles are taught for the sake of name and fame only and not for the sake of practical action. Thus there is animosity not only in social and political fields but in the field of religion as well.
  • BG 14.20 – When the embodied being is able to transcend these three modes associated with the material body, he can become free from birth, death, old age and their distresses and can enjoy nectar even in this life.

SB 2.9.36 TRANSLATION:

A person who is searching after the Supreme Absolute Truth, the Personality of Godhead, must certainly search for it up to this, in all circumstances, in all space and time, and both directly and indirectly.

In the Bhagavad-gītā it is stated that one can serve the Lord by offering the result of one’s own work; it does not matter what one does. Generally men may say that whatever they are doing is inspired by God, but that is not all. One should actually work on behalf of God as a servant of God. The Lord says in the Bhagavad-gītā (9.27):

yat karoṣi yad aśnāsi

yaj juhoṣi dadāsi yat

yat tapasyasi kaunteya

tat kuruṣva mad-arpaṇam

Do whatever you like or whatever may be easier for you to do, eat whatever you may eat, sacrifice whatever you can sacrifice, give whatever you may give in charity, and do whatever you may undertake in penance, but everything must be done for Him only. If you do business or if you accept some employment, do so on behalf of the Lord. Whatever you may eat, you may offer the same to the Lord and be assured that He will return the food after eating it Himself. He is the complete whole, and therefore whatever He may eat as offered by the devotee is accepted because of the devotee’s love, but again it is returned as prasāda for the devotee so that he can be happy by eating. In other words, “be a servant of God and live peacefully in that consciousness, ultimately returning home, back to Godhead.” GUIDING PRINCIPLE OF OUR LIFE 

Today we will learn – 

What is knowledge and what is ignorance?

The way of knowing Krsna. 

Most parents are not teaching their kids Krsna Consciousness.. 

It is said in the Skanda Purāṇa:

yasya smṛtyā ca nāmoktyā

tapo-yajña-kriyādiṣu

nūnaṁ sampūrṇatām eti

sadyo vande tam acyutam

“I offer my obeisances unto Him, the infallible, because simply by either remembering Him or vibrating His holy name one can attain the perfection of all penances, sacrifices or fruitive activities, and this process can be universally followed.” It is enjoined (Bhāg. 2.3.10):

In puranas they do not name Krsna they say Him.. Shivas say that it is referring to Krsna. Sometimes in some context it will be referring to Shiva but majority of times it is Krsna.

akāmaḥ sarva-kāmo vā

mokṣa-kāma udāra-dhīḥ

tīvreṇa bhakti-yogena

yajeta puruṣaṁ param

Though a person be full of desires or have no desires, he may follow this path of infallible bhakti-yoga for complete perfection.” One need not be anxious to propitiate each and every demigod and goddess because the root of all of them is the Personality of Godhead.

We don’t engage in worship demigods but we respect them.. 

 As by pouring water on the root of the tree one serves and enlivens all the branches and leaves, so by rendering service unto the Supreme Lord one automatically serves every god and goddess without extraneous effort. The Lord is all-pervading, and therefore service unto Him is also all-pervading. This fact is corroborated in the Skanda Purāṇa as follows:

arcite deva-deveśe

śaṅkha-cakra-gadā-dhare

arcitāḥ sarva-devāḥ syur

yataḥ sarva-gato hariḥ

When the Supreme Lord, the Personality of Godhead, who carries in His hands a conchshell, wheel, club and lotus flower, is worshiped, certainly all other demigods are worshiped automatically because Hari, the Personality of Godhead, is all-pervading. Therefore, in all cases, namely nominative, objective, causative, dative, ablative, possessive and supportive, everyone is benefited by such transcendental loving service to the Lord. The man who worships the Lord, the Lord Himself who is worshiped, the cause for which the Lord is worshiped, the source of supply, the place where such worship is done, etc. — everything is benefited by such an action.

Even during the annihilation of the material world, the process of bhakti-yoga can be applied. Kālena naṣṭā pralaye vāṇīyam: the Lord is worshiped in devastation because He protects the Vedas from being annihilated. He is worshiped in every millennium or yuga. As it is said in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (12.3.52):

kṛte yad dhyāyato viṣṇuṁ

tretāyāṁ yajato makhaiḥ

dvāpare paricaryāyāṁ

kalau tad dhari-kīrtanāt

In the Viṣṇu Purāṇa it is written:

sa hānis tan mahac chidraṁ

sa mohaḥ sa ca vibhramaḥ

yan-muhūrtaṁ kṣaṇaṁ vāpi

vāsudevaṁ na cintayet

“If even for a moment remembrance of Vāsudeva, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is missed, that is the greatest loss, that is the greatest illusion, and that is the greatest anomaly.” The Lord can be worshiped in all stages of life. For instance, even in the wombs of their mothers Mahārāja Prahlāda and Mahārāja Parīkṣit worshiped the Lord; even in his very childhood, at the age of only five years, Dhruva Mahārāja worshiped the Lord; even in full youth, Mahārāja Ambarīṣa worshiped the Lord; and even at the last stage of his frustration and old age Mahārāja Dhṛtarāṣṭra worshiped the Lord. Ajāmila worshiped the Lord even at the point of death, and Citraketu worshiped the Lord even in heaven and in hell. In the Narasiṁha Purāṇa it is said that as the hellish inhabitants began to chant the holy name of the Lord they began to be elevated from hell towards heaven. Durvāsā Muni has also supported this view: mucyeta yan-nāmny udite nārako ’pi. “Simply by chanting the holy name of the Lord the inhabitants of hell became released from their hellish persecution.” So the conclusion of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, as given by Śukadeva Gosvāmī to Mahārāja Parīkṣit, is:

This refutes the christian belief..

etan nirvidyamānānām

icchatām akuto-bhayam

yogināṁ nṛpa nirṇītaṁ

harer nāmānukīrtanam

“O King, it is finally decided that everyone, namely those in the renounced order of life, the mystics, and the enjoyers of fruitive work, should chant the holy name of the Lord fearlessly to achieve the desired success in their pursuits.” (Bhāg. 2.1.11)

Similarly, as indicated indirectly in various places in revealed scriptures:

1. Even though one is well versed in all the Vedas and scriptures, if one is not a devotee of the Supreme Lord, the Personality of Godhead, he is considered to be the lowest of mankind.

SB 10.84.13 

yasyātma-buddhiḥ kuṇape tri-dhātuke

sva-dhīḥ kalatrādiṣu bhauma ijya-dhīḥ

yat-tīrtha-buddhiḥ salile na karhicij

janeṣv abhijñeṣu sa eva go-kharaḥ

One who identifies his self as the inert body composed of mucus, bile and air, who assumes his wife and family are permanently his own, who thinks an earthen image or the land of his birth is worshipable, or who sees a place of pilgrimage as merely the water there, but who never identifies himself with, feels kinship with, worships or even visits those who are wise in spiritual truth — such a person is no better than a cow or an ass.

Many people have mixed desires that they want to achieve through Krsna Consciousness or some other spiritual process. 

They do not understand the law of karma

They do not perform devotional service..

So Bhāgavata says, therefore, yasyātma-buddhiḥ kuṇape tri-dhātuke [SB 10.84.13]. This body is made of three primary elements: mucus, bile and air. That is the Vedic version and Āyurvedic treatment. This body is a bag of mucus, bile and air. In old age the air circulation becomes disturbed; therefore old man becomes rheumatic, so many bodily ailments. So Bhāgavata says, “One who has accepted this combination of bile, mucus and air as self, he is an ass.” Yes.

Actually, this is the fact. If we accept this combination of bile, mucus and air as myself… So intelligent person, a very great philosopher, very great scientist, does it mean that he’s a combination of bile, mucus and air? No. This is the mistake. He’s different from this bile or mucus or air. He’s soul. And according to his karma, he’s exhibiting, manifesting his talents.

So they do not understand this karma, the law of karma. Why we find so many different personalities? If it is a combination of bile, mucus and air, why they are not similar? So they do not cultivate this knowledge. Why there are dissimilarities? One man is born millionaire; another man is born, he cannot even have full meals twice a day, although he’s struggling very hard. Why this discrimination? Why one is put into such favorable condition, why the other is not? So there is law of karma, the individuality.

But it is the duty of the father, duty of the state, duty of the teachers to educate from the very beginning. Bhāgavata says that one should not become a father, one should not become a mother, one should not become a teacher, one should not become a king unless they are able to elevate their dependents to this spiritual knowledge, which can save him from repeated birth and death.

BG 15.8 

The living entity in the material world carries his different conceptions of life from one body to another, as the air carries aromas. Thus he takes one kind of body and again quits it to take another.

Here the living entity is described as īśvara, the controller of his own body. If he likes, he can change his body to a higher grade, and if he likes he can move to a lower class. Minute independence is there. The change his body undergoes depends upon him. At the time of death, the consciousness he has created will carry him on to the next type of body. If he has made his consciousness like that of a cat or dog, he is sure to change to a cat’s or dog’s body. And if he has fixed his consciousness on godly qualities, he will change into the form of a demigod. And if he is in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, he will be transferred to Kṛṣṇaloka in the spiritual world and will associate with Kṛṣṇa. It is a false claim that after the annihilation of this body everything is finished. The individual soul is transmigrating from one body to another, and his present body and present activities are the background of his next body. One gets a different body according to karma, and he has to quit this body in due course. It is stated here that the subtle body, which carries the conception of the next body, develops another body in the next life. This process of transmigrating from one body to another and struggling while in the body is called karṣati, or struggle for existence.

BG 13.18 

He is the source of light in all luminous objects. He is beyond the darkness of matter and is unmanifested. He is knowledge, He is the object of knowledge, and He is the goal of knowledge. He is situated in everyone’s heart.

The Supersoul, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is the source of light in all luminous objects like the sun, moon and stars. In the Vedic literature we find that in the spiritual kingdom there is no need of sun or moon, because the effulgence of the Supreme Lord is there. In the material world that brahma-jyotir, the Lord’s spiritual effulgence, is covered by the mahat-tattva, the material elements; therefore in this material world we require the assistance of sun, moon, electricity, etc., for light. But in the spiritual world there is no need of such things. It is clearly stated in the Vedic literature that because of His luminous effulgence, everything is illuminated. It is clear, therefore, that His situation is not in the material world. He is situated in the spiritual world, which is far, far away in the spiritual sky. That is also confirmed in the Vedic literature. Āditya-varṇaṁ tamasaḥ parastāt (Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad 3.8). He is just like the sun, eternally luminous, but He is far, far beyond the darkness of this material world.

His knowledge is transcendental. The Vedic literature confirms that Brahman is concentrated transcendental knowledge. To one who is anxious to be transferred to that spiritual world, knowledge is given by the Supreme Lord, who is situated in everyone’s heart. One Vedic mantra (Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad 6.18) says, taṁ ha devam ātma-buddhi-prakāśaṁ mumukṣur vai śaraṇam ahaṁ prapadye. One must surrender unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead if he at all wants liberation. As far as the goal of ultimate knowledge is concerned, it is also confirmed in Vedic literature: tam eva viditvāti mṛtyum eti. “Only by knowing Him can one surpass the boundary of birth and death.” (Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad 3.8)

He is situated in everyone’s heart as the supreme controller. The Supreme has legs and hands distributed everywhere, and this cannot be said of the individual soul. Therefore that there are two knowers of the field of activity – the individual soul and the Supersoul – must be admitted. One’s hands and legs are distributed locally, but Kṛṣṇa’s hands and legs are distributed everywhere. This is confirmed in the Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad (3.17): sarvasya prabhum īśānaṁ sarvasya śaraṇaṁ bṛhat. That Supreme Personality of Godhead, Supersoul, is the prabhu, or master, of all living entities; therefore He is the ultimate shelter of all living entities. So there is no denying the fact that the Supreme Supersoul and the individual soul are always different.

Ksetram, Jnanam, Jneyam.. 

BG 13.19 

Thus the field of activities [the body], knowledge and the knowable have been summarily described by Me. Only My devotees can understand this thoroughly and thus attain to My nature.

Body, material nature, process of knowledge

BG 13.8 – 12 – knowledge

BG 13.13 , 14 – Goal of knowledge

BG 13.13

I shall now explain the knowable, knowing which you will taste the eternal. Brahman, the spirit, beginningless and subordinate to Me, lies beyond the cause and effect of this material world.

Purport

The Lord has explained the field of activities and the knower of the field. He has also explained the process of knowing the knower of the field of activities. Now He begins to explain the knowable, first the soul and then the Supersoul. By knowledge of the knower, both the soul and the Supersoul, one can relish the nectar of life. As explained in the Second Chapter, the living entity is eternal. This is also confirmed here. There is no specific date at which the jīva was born. Nor can anyone trace out the history of the jīvātmā’s manifestation from the Supreme Lord. Therefore it is beginningless. The Vedic literature confirms this: na jāyate mriyate vā vipaścit (Kaṭha Upaniṣad 1.2.18). The knower of the body is never born and never dies, and he is full of knowledge.

The Supreme Lord as the Supersoul is also stated in the Vedic literature (Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad 6.16) to be pradhāna-kṣetrajña-patir guṇeśaḥ, the chief knower of the body and the master of the three modes of material nature. In the smṛti it is said, dāsa-bhūto harer eva nānyasvaiva kadācana. The living entities are eternally in the service of the Supreme Lord. This is also confirmed by Lord Caitanya in His teachings. Therefore the description of Brahman mentioned in this verse is in relation to the individual soul, and when the word Brahman is applied to the living entity, it is to be understood that he is vijñāna-brahma as opposed to ānanda-brahma. Ānanda-brahma is the Supreme Brahman Personality of Godhead.

ISO Mantra – 10 

In the modern society, even a boy thinks himself self-sufficient and pays no respect to elderly men. Due to the wrong type of education being imparted in our universities, boys all over the world are giving their elders headaches. Thus Śrī Īśopaniṣad very strongly warns that the culture of nescience is different from that of knowledge. The universities are, so to speak, centers of nescience only; consequently scientists are busy discovering lethal weapons to wipe out the existence of other countries. University students today are not given instructions in the regulative principles of brahmacarya (celibate student life), nor do they have any faith in any scriptural injunctions. Religious principles are taught for the sake of name and fame only and not for the sake of practical action. Thus there is animosity not only in social and political fields but in the field of religion as well.

Nationalism has developed in different parts of the world due to the cultivation of nescience by the general people. No one considers that this tiny earth is just a lump of matter floating in immeasurable space along with many other lumps. In comparison to the vastness of space, these material lumps are like dust particles in the air. Because God has kindly made these lumps of matter complete in themselves, they are perfectly equipped with all necessities for floating in space. The drivers of our spaceships may be very proud of their achievements, but they do not consider the supreme driver of these greater, more gigantic spaceships called planets.

13th chapter – teaches us Body and soul, soul and super soul and the process of knowledge. What is knowledge and what is ignorance.

Extremely important chapter. 

BG 14.20 

When the embodied being is able to transcend these three modes associated with the material body, he can become free from birth, death, old age and their distresses and can enjoy nectar even in this life.