Bhagavad Gita -Srila Prabhupada 520

Shrimad Bhagavad Gita As It Is -Shri Shrimad A.C Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

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The Universal Form
Chapter 11: Verse-54

bhaktyä tv ananyayä Sakya aham evam-vidho ’rjuna
jnätum drastum ca tattvena pravestum ca parantapa[1]

TRANSLATION

My dear Arjuna, only by undivided devotional service can I be understood as I am, standing before you, and can thus be seen directly. Only in this way can you enter into the mysteries of My understanding.


PURPORT

Krsna can be understood only by the process of undivided devotional service. He explicitly explains this in this verse so that unauthorized commentators, who try to understand Bhagavad-gita by the speculative process, will know that they are simply wasting their time. No one can understand Krsna or how He came from parents in a four-handed form and at once changed Himself into a two-handed form. These things are very difficult to understand by study of the Vedas or by philosophical speculation. Therefore it is clearly stated here that no one can see Him or enter into understanding of these matters. Those who, however, are very experienced students of Vedic literature can learn about Him from the Vedic literature in so many ways.

There are so many rules and regulations, and if one at all wants to understand Krsna, he must follow the regulative principles described in the authoritative literature. One can perform penance in accordance with those principles. For example, to undergo serious penances one may observe fasting on Janmästami, the day on which krsna appeared, and on the two days of Ekädasi (the eleventh day after the new moon and the eleventh day after the full moon). As far as charity is concerned, it is plain that charity should be given to the devotees of krsna who are engaged in His devotional service to spread the Krsna philosophy, or krsna consciousness, throughout the world.krsna consciousness is a benediction to humanity. Lord Caitanya was appreciated by Rüpa Gosvämi as the most munificent man of charity because love of Krsna, which is very difficult to achieve, was distributed freely by Him. So if one gives some amount of his money to persons involved in distributing krsna consciousness, that charity, given to spread krsna consciousness, is the greatest charity in the world. And if one worships as prescribed in the temple[2], that is a chance to progress by offering worship and respect to the Supreme Personality of Godhead.



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References

  1. bhaktyä=by devotional service; tu=but; ananyayä=without being mixed
    with fruitive activities or speculative knowledge; sakyah=possible; aham=I; evam-vidhah=like this; arjuna=O Arjuna; jnätum=to know; drastumto see; ca=and; tattvena=in fact; pravestum=to enter into; ca=also; parantapa=O mighty-armed one.
  2. in the temples in India there is always some statue, usually of Visnu or Krsna

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