Factually we are related to the Supreme Lord in service. The Supreme Lord is the supreme enjoyer, and we living entities are His servitors. We are created for His enjoyment, and if we participate in that eternal enjoyment with the Supreme Personality of Godhead, we become happy.
We cannot become happy otherwise. It is not possible to be happy independently, just as no one part of the body can be happy without cooperating with the stomach. It is not possible for the living entity to be happy without rendering transcendental loving service unto the Supreme Lord.
In the Bhagavad-gita, worship of different demiods or rendering serivice to them is not approved. It is stated in the Seventh Chapter, twentieth verse:
kamais tais tair hrta-jnanah
prapadyante 'nya-devatah
tam tam niyamam asthaya
prakrtya niyatah svaya
"Those whose intelligence has been stolen by material desires surrender unto demigods and follow the particular rules and regulations of worship according to their own natures."
Here it is plainly said that those who are directed by lust worship the demigods and not the Supreme Lord Krsna. When we mention the name Krsna, we do not refer to any sectarian name. Krsna means the highest pleasure, and it is confirmed that the Supreme Lord is the reservoir or storehouse of all pleasure. We are all hankering after pleasure.
Ananda-mayo 'bhyasat (Vedanta-sutra 1.1.12). The living entities, like the Lord, are full of consciousness, and they are after happiness. The Lord is perpetually happy, and if the living entities associate with the Lord, cooperate with Him and take part in His association, then they also become happy.
The Lord descends to this mortal world to show His pastimes in Vrndavana, which are full of happiness. When Lord Sri Krsna was in Vrndavana, His activities with His cowherd boyfriends, with His damsel friends, with the other inhabitants of Vrndavana and with the cows were all full of happiness. The total population of Vrndavana knew nothing but Krsna.
But Lord Krsna even discouraged His father Nanda Maharaja from worshipping the demigod Indra, because He wanted to establish the fact that people need not worship any demigod They need only worship the Supreme Lord, because their ultimate goal is to return to His abode.
The abode of Lord Sri Krsna is described in the Bhagavad-gita, Fifteenth Chapter, sixth verse:
na tad bhasayate suryo
na sasanko na pavakah
yad gatva na nivartante
tad dhama paramam mama
"That supreme abode of Mine is not illuminated by the sun or moon, nor by fire or electricity. Those who reach it never return to this material world."
This verse gives a description of that eternal sky. Of course we have a material conception of the sky, and we think of it in relationship to the sun, moon, stars and so on, but in this verse the Lord states that in the eternal sky there is no need for the sun nor for the moon nor electricity or fire of any kind because the spiritual sky is already illuminated by the brahmajyoti, the rays emanating from the Supreme Lord.
We are trying with difficulty to reach other planets, but it is not difficult to understand the abode of the Supreme Lord. This abode is referred to as Goloka. In the Brahma-samhita (5.37) it is beautifully described: goloka eva nivasaty akhilatma-bhutah. The Lord resides eternally in His abode Goloka, yet He can be approached from this world, and to this end the Lord comes to manifest His real form, sac-cid-ananda-vigraha[Bs. 5.1].
When He manifests this form, there is no need for our imagining what He looks like. To discourage such imaginative speculation, He descends and exhibits Himself as He is, as Syamasundara. Unfortunately, the less intelligent deride Him because He comes as one of us and plays with us as a human being. But because of this we should not consider the Lord one of us.
It is by His omnipotency that He presents Himself in His real form before us and displays His pastimes, which are replicas of those pastimes found in His abode.
In the effulgent rays of the spiritual sky there are innumerable planets floating. The brahmajyoti emanates from the supreme abode, Krsnaloka, and the ananda-maya, cin-maya planets, which are not material, float in those rays.
The Lord says, na tad bhasayate suryo na sasanko na pavakah/ yad gatva na nivartante tad dhama paramam mama [Bg. 15.6]. One who can approach that spiritual sky is not required to descend again to the material sky. In the material sky, even if we approach the highest planet (Brahmaloka), what to speak of the moon, we will find the same condition of life, namely birth, death, disease and old age. No planet in the material universe is free from these four principles of material existence.
The living entities are traveling from one planet to another, but it is not that we can go to any planet we like merely by a mechanical arrangement. If we desire to go to any other planets, there is a process for going there. This is also mentioned: yanti deva-vrata devan pitrn yanti pitr-vratah [Bg. 9.25]
No mechanical arrangment is necessary if we want interplanetary travel. The Gita instructs: yanti deva-vrata devan. The moon, the sun and higher planets are called Svargaloka. There are three different statuses of planets: higher, middle and lower planetary systems. The earth belongs to the middle planetary system.
Bhagavad-gita informs us how to travel to the higher planetary systems (Devaloka) with a very simple formula: yanti deva-vrata devan. One need only worship the particular demigod of that particular planet and in that way go to the moon, the sun or any of the higher planetary systems.
Yet Bhagavad-gita does not advise us to go to any of the planets in this material world, because even if we go to Brahmaloka, the highest planet, through some sort of mechanical contrivance by maybe traveling for forty thousand years (and who would live that long?), we will still find the material inconveniences of birth, death, disease and old age.
But one who wants to approach the supreme planet, Krsnaloka, or any of the other planets within the spiritual sky, will not meet with these material inconveniences. Amongst all of the planets in the spiritual sky there is one supreme planet called Goloka Vrndavana, which is the original planet in the abode of the original Personality of Godhead Sri Krsna. All of this information is given in leave the material world and begin a truly blissful life in the spiritual sky.
In the Fifteenth Chapter of the Bhagavad-gita, the real picture of the material world is given. It is said there:
urdhva-mulan adhah-sakham
asvattham prahur avyayam
chandamsi yasya parnani
yas tam veda sa veda-vit
Here the material world is described as a tree whose roots are upwards and branches are below. We have experience of a tree whose roots are upwards: if one stands on the bank of a river or any reservoir of water, he can see that the trees reflected in the water are upside down.
The branches go downward and the roots upward. Similarly, this material world is a reflection of the spiritual world. The material world is but a shadow of reality. In the shadow there is no reality or substantiality, but from the shadow we can understand that there are substance and reality. In the desert there is no water, but the mirage suggests that there is such a thing as water. In the material world there is no water, there is no happiness, but the real water of actual happiness is there in the spiritual world.
The Lord suggests that we attain the spiritual world in the following manner(Bg. 15.5):
nirmana-moha jita-sanga-dosa
adhyatma-nitya vinivrtta-kamah
dvandvair vimuktah sukha-duhkha-samjnair
gacchanty amudhah padam avyayam tat
That padam avyayam, or eternal kingdom, can be reached by one who is nirmana-moha. What does this mean? We are after designations. Someone wants to become "sir," someone wants to become "lord," someone wants to become the president or a rich man or a king or something else.
As song as we are attached to these designations, we are attached to the body, because designations belong to the body. But we are not these bodies, and realizing this is the first stage in spiritual realization. We are associated with the three modes of material nature, but we must become detached through devotional service to the Lord. If we are not attached to devotional service to the Lord, then we cannot become detached from the modes of material nature.
Designations and attachments are due to our lust and desire, our wanting to lord it over the material nature. As long as we do not give up this propensity of lording it over material nature, there is no possiblity of returning to the kingdom of the Supreme, the sanatana-dhama.
That eternal kingdom, which is never destroyed, can be approached by one who is not bewildered by the attractions of false material enjoyments, who is situated in the situated in the service of the Supreme Lord. One so situated can easily approach that supreme abode. Elsewhere in the Gita(8.21) it is stated:
avyakto 'ksara ity uktas
tam ahuh paramam gatim
yam prapya na nivartante
tad dhama paramam mama
Avyakta means unmanifested. Not even all of the material world is manifested before us. Our senses are so imperfect that we cannot even see all of the stars within this material universe. In Vedic literature we can receive much information about all the planets, and we can believe it or not believe it. All of the important planets are described in Vedic literatures, especiaally Srimad-Bhagavatam, and the spiritual world, which is beyond this material sky, is described as avyakta, unmanifested. One should desire and hanker after that supreme kingdom, for when one attains that kingdom, he does not have to return to this materual world.
Next, one may raise the question of how one goes about approaching that abode of the Supreme Lord. Information of this is given in the Eighth Chapter. It is said there:
anta-kale ca mam eva
smaran muktva kalevaram
yah prayati sa mad-bhavam
yati nasty atra samsayah
"Anyone who quits his body, at the end of life, remembering Me, attains immediately to My nature; and there is no doubt of this."[Bg. 8.5]
One who thinks of Krsna at the time of his death goes to Krsna. One must remember the form of Krsna; if he quits his body thinking of this form, he surely approaches the spiritual kingdom. Mad-bhavam refers to the supreme nature of the Supreme Being. The Supreme Being is sac-cid-ananda-vigraha [Bs. 5.1]--that is, His form is eternal, full of knowledge and bliss.
Our present body is not sac-cid-ananda. It is asat, not sat. It is not eternal; it is perishable. It is not cit, full of knowledge, but it is full of ignorance. We have no knowledge of this material world, where there are so many things unknown to us. The body is also nirananda; instead of being full of bliss it is full of misery.
All of the miseries we experience in the material world arise from the body, but one who leaves this body thinking of Lord Krsna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, at once attains a sac-cid-ananda body.
The process of quitting this body and getting another body in the material world is also organized. A man dies after it has been decided what form of body he will have in the next life. Higher authorities, not the living entity himself, make this decision. According to our activities in this life, we either rise or sink. This life to get promotion to the kingdom of God, then surely, after quitting this material body, we will attain a spiritual body just like the Lord's.
As explained before, there are different kinds of transcendentalists--the brahma-vadi, paramatma-vadi and the devotee--and, as mentioned, in the brahmajyoti (spiritual sky) there are innumerable spiritual planets. The number of these planets is far, far greater than all of the planets of this material world.
This material world has been approximated as only one quarter of the creation (ekamsena sthito jagat). In this material segment there are millions and billions of universes with trillions of planets and suns, stars and moons. But this whole material creation is only a fragment of the total creation. Most of the creation is in the spiritual sky. One who desires to merge into the existence of the Supreme Brahman is at once transferred to the brahmajyoti of the Supreme Lord and thus attains the spiritual sky.
The devotee, who wants to enjoy the association of the Lord, enters into the Vaikuntha planets, which are innumerable, and the Supreme Lord by His plenary expansions as Narayana with four hands and with different names like Pradyumna, Aniruddha and Govinda associates with him there. Therefore at the end of life the transcendentalists think either of the brahmajyoti, the Paramatma or Supreme Personality of Godhead Sri Krsna.
In all cases they enter into the spiritual sky, but only the devotee, or he who is in personal touch with the Supreme Lord, enters into the Vaikuntha planets or the Goloka Vrndavana planet. The Lord further adds that of this "there is no doubt." This must be believed firmly. We should not reject that which does not tally with our imagination; our attitude should be that of Arjuna: "I believe everything that You have said." Therefore when the Lord says that at the time of death whoever thinks of Him as Brahman or Paramatma or as the doubt about it. There is no question of disbelieving it.
The Bhagavad-gita(8.6) also explains the general principle that makes it possible to enter the spiriutal kingdom simply by thinking of the Supreme at the time of death:
yam tam vapi smaran bhavam
tyajaty ante kalevaram
tam tam evaiti kaunteya
sada tad-bhave-bhavitah
"Whatever state of being one remembers when he quites his presents body, in his next life he will attain to that state without fail."
Now, first we must understand that material nature is display of one of the energies of the Supreme Lord. In the Visnu Purana (6.7.61) the total energies of the Supreme Lord are delineated:
visnu-saktih para prokta
ksetra-jnakhya tatha para
avidya-karma-samjnanya
trtiya saktir isyate
[Cc. Madhya 6.154]
The Supreme Lord has diverse and innumerable energies which are beyond our conception; however, great learned sages or liberated souls have studied these energies and have analyzed them into three parts. All of the energies are of visnu-sakti, that is to say they are different potencies of Lord Visnu. The first energy is para, transcendental. Living entities also belong to the superior energy, as has already been explained. The other energies, or material energies, are in the mode of ignorance. At the time of death either we can remain in the inferior energy of this material world, or we can transfer to the energy of the spiritual world. So the Bhagavad-gita (8.6) says:
yam yam vapi smaram bhavam
tyajaty ante kalevaram
tam tam evaiti kaunteya
sada tad-bhava-bhavitah
"Whatever state of being one remembers when he quits his present body, in his next life he will attain to that state without fail."
In life we are accustomed to thinking either of the material or of the spiritual energy. Now, how can we transfer our thoughts from the material energy to the spiritual energy? There are so many literatures which fill own thoughts with the material energy-newspapaer, magazines, novels, etc.
Our thinking, which is now abosorbed in these literatures, must be transferred to the Vedic literatuures. The great sages, therefore, have written so many Vedic literatures, such as the Puranas.
The Puranas are not imaginative; they are historical records. In the Caitanya-caritamrta (Madhya 20.122) there is the following verse:
maya-mugdha jivera nahi svatah krsna-jnana
jivere krpaya kaila krsna veda-purana
The forgetful living entities or conditioned souls have forgotten their relationship with the Supreme Lord, and they are engrossed in thinking of material activities. Just to transfer their thinking power to the spiritual sky, Krsna-dvaipayana Vyasa has given a great number of Vedic literatures. First he divided the Vedas into four, then he explained them in the Puranas, and for less capable people he wrote the Mahabharata.
In the Mahabharata there is given the Bhagavad-gita. Then all Vedic literature is summarized in the Vedanta-sutra, and for future guidance he gave a natural commentation on the Vedanta-sutra, called Srimad-Bhagavatam. We must always engage our minds in reading these Vedic literatures. Just as materialists engage their minds in reading newspapers, magazines and so many materialists literatures, we must tranfer our reading to these literatures which are given to us by Vyasadeva; in that way it will be possible for us to remember the Supreme Lord at the time of death. That is the only way suggested by the Lord, and He guarantees the result: "Thereis no doubt."
tasmat sarvesu kalesu
mam anusmara yudhya ca
mayy arpita-mano-buddir
mam evaisyasy asamsayah
"Therefore, Arjuna, you should always think of Me in the form of Krsna and at the same time continue your prescribed duty of fighting. With your activities dedicated to Me and your mind and intelligence fixed on Me, you will attain Me without doubt." (Bg. 8.7)
He does not advise Arjuna simply to remember Him and give up his occupation. No, the Lord never suggests anything impractical. In this material world, in order to maintain the body one has to work. Human society is divided, according to work, into four divisions of social order--brahmana, ksatriya, vaisya and sudra. THe brahmana class or intelligent class is working in one way, the ksatriya or administrative class is working in another way, and the mercantile class and the laborers are all tending to their specific duties. In the human society, whether one is a laborer, merchant, administrator or farmer, or even if one belongs to the highest class and is a literary man, a scientist, or a theologian, he has to work in order to maintain his existence.
The Lord therefore tells Arjuna that he need not give up his occupation, but while he is engaged in his occupation he should remember Krsna (mam anusmara [Bg. 8.7]). If he doesn't practice remembering Krsna while he is struggling for existence, then it will not be possible for him to remember Krsna at the time of death.
Lord Caitanya also advises this. He says, kirtaniyah sada harih: [Cc. adi 17.31] one should practice chanting the names of the Lord always. The names of the Lord and the Lord are nondifferent. So Lord Krsna's instructions to Arjuna to "remember Me" and Lord Caitanya's injunction to "always chant the names of Lord Krsna" are the same instruction. There is no difference , because Krsna and Krsna's name are nondifferent. In the absolute status there is no difference between refernce and referrent. Therefore we have to practice remembering the Lord always, twenty-four hours a day, by chanting His names and molding our life's activities in such a way that we can remember Him always.
How is this possible?
The acaryas give the following example. If a married woman is attached to another man, or if a man has an attachment for a woman other than his wife, then the attachment is to be considered very strong. One with such an attachment is always thinking of the loved one. The wife who is thinking of her lover is always thinking of meeting him, even while she is carrying out her household chores.
In fact, she carries out her household work even more carefully so her husband will not suspect her attachment. Similarly, we should always remember the supreme lover, Sri Krsna, and at the same time perform our material duties very nicely.
A strong sense of love is required here. If we have a strong sense of love for the Supreme Lord, then we can discharge our duty and at the same time remember Him. But we have to develop that sense of love. Arjuna, for instance, was always thinking of Krsna; he was the constant companion of Krsna, and at the same time he was a warrior. Krsna did not advise him to give up fighting and go to the forest to meditate. When Lord Krsna delineates the yoga system to Arjuna, Arjuna says that the practice of this system is not possible for him.
arjuna uvaca
yo'yam yogas tvaya proktah
samyena madhusudana
etasyaham na pasyami
cancalatvat sthitim sthiram
"Arjuna said: O Madhusudana, the system of yoga which You have summarized appears impractical and unendurable to me, for the mind is restless and unsteady." (Bg. 6.33)
But the Lord says:
yoginam api sarvesam
mad-gatenantaratmana
sraddhavan bhajate yo mam
sa me yuktatamo matah
"Of all yogis, the one with great faith who always abides in Me, thinks of Me within himself, and renders transcendental loving service to Me is the most intimately united with Me in yoga and is the highest of all. That is My opinion." (Bg. 6.47)
So one thinks of the Supreme Lord always is the greatest yogi, the supermost jnani, and the greatest devotee at the same time. The Lord further tells Arjuna that as a ksatriya he cannot give up his fighting, but if Arjuna fights remembering Krsna, then he will be able to remember Krsna at the time of death. But one must be completely surrendered in the transcendental loving service of the Lord.
We work not with our body, actually, but with our mind and intelligence. So of the intelligence and the mind are always engaged in the thought of the Superme Lord, then naturally the senses are also engaged in His service. Superficially, at least, the activities of the senses remain the same, but the consciousness is changed. The Bhagavad-gita teaches one how to absorb the mind and intelligence in the thought of the Lord. Such absorption will enable one to transfer himself to the kingdom of the Lord. If the mind is engaged in Krsna's service, then the senses are authomatically engaged in His service. This is the art, and this is also the serect of Bhagavad-gita: total absorption in the thought of Sri Krsna.
Modern man has struggled very hard to reach the moon, but he has not tried very hard to elevate himself spiritually. If one has fifty years of life ahead of him, he should engage that brief time in cultivating this practice of remembering the Supreme Personality of Godhead. This practice is the devotional process:
sravanam kirtanam visnoh
smaranam pada-sevanam
arcanam vandanam dasyam
sakhyam atma-nivedanam
(Srimad-Bhagavatam 7.5.23)
These nine processes, of which the easiest is sravanam, hearing the Bhagavad-gita from the realized person, will turn one to the thought of the Supreme Being. This will lead to remembering the Supreme Lord and will enable one, upon leaving the body, to attain a spiritual body which is just fit for association with the Supreme Lord.
The Lord further says:
abhyasa-yoga-yuktena
cetasa nanya-gamina
paramam purusam divyam
yati parthanucintayan
"He who meditates on Me as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, his mind constantly engaged in remembering Me, undeviated from the path, he, O Arjuna, is sure to reach Me."(Bg. 8.8)
This is not a very difficult process. However, one must learn it from an experienced person. Tad vijnanartham sa gurum evabhigaccet: [MU 1.2.12(3)] one must approach a person who is already in the practice. The mind is always on the form of the Supreme Lord, Sri Krsna, or on the sound of His name. The mind is naturally restless, going hither and thither, but it can rest in the sound vibration of Krsna.
One must thus meditate on paramam purusam, the Supreme Personality of Godhead in the spiritual kingdom, the spiritual sky, and thus attain Him. The ways and the means for ultimate realization, ultimate attainment, are stated in the Bhagavad-gita, and the doors of this knowledge are open for everyone. No one is barred out. All classes of men can approach Lord Krsna by thinkinh of Him, for hearing and thinking of Him is possible for everyone.
The Lord further says (Bg. 9.32-33)
mam hi partha vyapasritya
ye 'pi syuh papa-yonayah
striyo vaisyas tatha sudras
te 'pi yanti param gatim
kim punar brahmanah punya
bhakta rajarsayas tatha
anityam asukham lokam
imam prapya bhajasva mam
Thus the Lord says that even a merchant, a fallen woman or a laborer or even human beings in the lowest status of life can attain the Supreme. One does not need highly developed intelligence. The point is that anyone who accepts the principle of bhakti-yoga and accepts the Supreme Lord as the summum bonum of life, as the highest target, the ultimate goal, can approach the Lord in the spiritual sky.
If one adopts the priciples enunciated in Bhagavad-gita, he can make his life perfect and make a permanent solution to all the problems of life. This is the sum and substance of the entire Bhagavad-gita.
In conclusion, Bhagavad-gita is a transcendental literature which one should read very carefully. Gita-sastram idam punyam yah pathet prayatah puman: If one properly follows the instructions of Bhagavad-gita, one can be freed from all the miseries and anxieties of life. Bhaya-sokadi-varjitah. One will be freed from all the fears in this life, and one's next life will be spiritual. (Gita-mahatmya 1)
There is also a further advantage:
gitadhyayana-silasya
pranayama-parasya ca
naiva santi hi papani
purva-janma-krtani ca
"If one reads Bhagavad-gita very sincerely and with all seriousness, then by the grace of the Lord the reactions of his past misdeeds will not act upon him."(Gita-mahatmya 2)
The Lord says very loudly in the last portion of Bhagavad-gita (18.66):
sarva-dharman parityajya
mam ekam saranam vraja
aham tvam sarva-papebhyo
moksayisyami ma sucah
"Abandon all varieties of religion and just surrender unto Me. I shall deliver you from all sinful reactions. Do not fear." Thus the Lord takes all responsibility for one who surrenders unto Him, and He indemnifies such a person against all reactions of sins.
maline mocanam pumsam
jala-snanam dine dine
sakrd gitamrta-snanam
samsara-mala-nasanam
"One may cleanse himself daily by taking a bath in water, but if one takes a bath even once in the sacred Ganges water of Bhagavad-gita, for him the dirt of material life is altogether vanquished."(Gita-mahatmya 3)
gita su-gita kartavya
kim anyah sastra-vistaraih
ya svayam padmanabhasya
mukha-padmad vinihsrta
Because Bhagavad-gita is spoken by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, one need not read any other Vedic literature. One need only attentively and regularly hear and read Bhagavad-gita. In the present age, people are so absorbed in mundane activities that it is not possible for them to read all the Vedic literatures. But this is not necessary. This one book, Bhagavad-gita, will suffice, because it is the essence of all Vedic literatures and especially because it is spoken by the Supreme Personality of Godhead. (Gita-mahatmya 4)
As it is said:
bharatamrta-sarvasvam
visnu-vaktrad vinihstam
gita-gangodakam pitva
punar janma na vidyate
"One who drinks the water of the Ganges attains salvation, so what to speak of one who drinks the nectar of Bhagavad-gita? Bhagavad-gita is the essential nectar of the Mahabharata, and it is spoken by Lord Krsna Himself, the original Visnu." (Gita-mahatmya 5)
Bhagavad-gita comes from the mouth of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and the Ganges is said to emanate from the lotus feet of the Supreme Lord, but from an impartial study we can appreciate that Bhagavad-gita is even more important than the water of the Ganges.
sarvopanisado gavo
dogdha gopala-nandanah
partho vatsah su-dhir bhokta
dugdham gitamrtam mahat
"This Gitopanisad, Bhagavad-gita, the essence of all the Upanisads, is just like a cow, and Lord Krsna, who is famous as a cowherd boy, is milking this cow. Arjuna is just like a calf, and learned scholars and pure devotees are to drink the nectarean milk of Bhagavad-gita." (Gita-mahatmya 6)
ekam sastram devaki-putra-gitam
eko devo devaki-putra eva
eko mantras tasya namani yani
karmapy ekam tasya devasya seva
(Gita-mahatmya 7)
In this present day, people are very much eager to have one scripture, one God, one religion, and one occupation.
Therefore, ekam sastram devaki-putra-gitam: let there be one scripture only, one common scripture for the whole world-Bhagavad-gita.
Eko devo devaki-putra eva: let there be one God for the whole world -Sri Krsna.
Eko mantras tasya namani: and one hymn, one mantra, one prayer-the chanting of His name: Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna, Krsna Krsna, Hare Hare/Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare.
Karmapy ekam tasya devasya seva: and let there be one work only-the service of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.