Chapter Eight
Maya [check use of diacritic. It strikes me as
“Who is the adhidaiva?” asks whether the
adhidaiva, the governor of the demigods, refers to the
Virata Purusa or the demigods themselves.
Text 4:
In answering Arjuna’s questions, Krsna has
explained the potency of knowing and remembering
Him at the time of death* by understanding Him as
adhibhuta, the Lord controlling all material
transformations, adhidaiva, the source of the Virata-
rupa and the
Text 7:
at the time of death when our consciousness will be
disjointed and overwhelmed with pain. Therefore,
Krsna wants us to practice now. Krsna will repeat His
desire for us to constantly remember Him in 18:57 as
well as in other verses.
Text 14:
yoga and hatha-yoga. The principles of these yoga
systems have some bhakti added, but this verse
particularly mentions pure bhakti-yoga, without any
mixture of jnana, karma or hatha. As indicated by the
word ananya-cetah, in pure bhakti-yoga the devotee
desires nothing but Krsna. A pure devotee does not
desire promotion to
Ananya-cetah means undeviating, with no desire for
heavenly pleasure or liberation. Satatam and nitya mean
with no break, always serving for one’s entire life
without consideration of time and place. Krsna is so
pleased by such an attitude that even if one is not on
that platform but only desiring to reach it, He becomes
su-labhah, easy to obtain. Krsna removes all obstacles
from such a devotee’s path.
A vivid example illustrating the importance of
ananya-cetah bhakti is found in Lord Caitanya’s lila.
Once Lord Caitanya went to
Text 20:
These verses explain the paramam gati, the supreme
abode mentioned in 8.15. That place is eternal and
transcendental and it is
Chapter Nine
Text 2:
observed in sinful life. Sinful reactions may be just
waiting to take effect (phalonmukha), reactions may be
still further dormant (kuta), or the reactions may be in a
seed-like state (bija). In any
*
“Those in full consciousness of Me, who know Me,
the Supreme Lord, to be the governing principle of the
material manifestation, of the demigods, and of all
methods of sacrifice, can understand and know Me, the
Supreme Personality of Godhead, even at the time of
death.” (Bg. 7.30)
Text 10:
wrong.] means “My,” adhya means “under,” and aksa
means “eyes.” Thus, mayadyaksa literally means
“under My eyes.” Everything is done under Krsna’s
supervision.
Text 15:
In his purport, Srila Prabhupada mentions three
levels of Krsna worshippers: the mahatma, the
sukrtinas,* and the three kinds of jnani’s who worship
the Absolute Truth. It is these jnanis are being
discussed in this verse.
“ . . . there are others who are still lower, and these
are divided into three: (1) he who worships himself as
one with the Supreme Lord, (2) he who concocts some
form of the Supreme Lord and worships that, and (3) he
who accepts the universal form, the visvarupa of the
Supreme Personality of Godhead, and worships
The first type of jnani mentioned is the ekatvena, the
one who worships himself as one with the Supreme.
This person is the lowest of the three. Although he is a
monist, he is still considered performing worship of
God because he understands that he is not the material
body, but spirit soul. This category is the most
predominant.
Above them is the prthaktvena, the one who
concocts some form of the Lord and worships that. This
category includes those who worship the demigods,
imagining any demigod form as the Supreme.
The best of the three is the visvato-mukham, he who
worships the Lord’s universal form. Such a person
cannot conceive of anything beyond the manifestation
of the material universe. He considers the universe to be
the supreme entity and worships that, the adhidaiva.
Krsna already discussed the results gained by the
ekatvena in verses 11 and 12. In the next four verses,
He will explain how to recognize and worship Him in
His universal form. This is for the visvato-mukham.
Further on in this chapter, Krsna will also discuss the
results of the prthaktvena’s worship of the demigods.
Text 16:
Next Krsna describes the prthaktvena, the one who
worships the demigods as if they were Supreme, and do
not directly worship their source and empowering
agent, the Supreme Lord.
Text 22:
darsana of Krsna and Balarama. The “beating”
marks on the beautiful dark boy’s back were the result
of the Acarya’s having scratched out the word
“vahami.” Krsna had been forced to come personally to
prove the truth of His words, “I carry what they lack.”
Text 24:
To contrast the differing destinations of demigod
worshippers and Krsna-bhaktas, Krsna speaks verse 25.
*
Bg. 7.16
1
 Text 26:
Worshipping Krsna is simple. Patram, puspam, phalam,
toyam, are all in the singular.
Text 28:
narayana-parah sarve, na kutascana bibhyati
svargapavarga-narakesv, api tulyartha-
darsinah(dia)
Text 29:
Krsna is compared to rain. Trees absorb rain water
and then grow and produce fruits. Some trees produce
bitter fruits and others produce sweet ones. Does this
mean the rain is partial? Similarly, regardless of a
living entity’s situation, Krsna equally nourishes
Krsna vowed ye yatha mam prapadyante, tams
tathaiva bhajamy aham, “As all surrender to Me, I
reward them accordingly.” Here He confirms that He
reciprocates even more personally with His devotees
who love Him. He is not like a kalpa-vrksa tree that
Text 30:
Still, the question may be raised: “How can a person
committing su-duracara (highly improper activities) be
regarded as saintly?”
Text 31:
Such a fixed devotee is quickly purified by his desire
to remember the Lord. As Srila Prabhupada points out,
there is no need for him to perform any ceremonial
atonement (prayascitta). Devotion alone is sufficient.
“How can the performer of inappropriate behavior
be considered a sadhu? Krsna says: mantavya—you
should think of him as a sadhu, eva, certainly.
“Due to his determination, Krsna keeps him as a
sadhu and accepts the impurity of his activity. Krsna
does not use the future tense.
“Krsna: He very quickly becomes dharmatma,
righteous, and thus I accept him. He laments for His
bad deeds and remembers Me again and again. His
heart burns in lamentation. ‘Alas! Alas! No other
devotee is like me! I’m a black spot upon the society of
“Arjuna: I understand. You are saying that such a
person becomes dharmatma. I don’t dispute this. But if
he remains a duracari, should we consider him a sadhu
during his life?
“Hearing this, Krsna became angry and His eyes
opened wide. ‘Kaunteya pratijanihi,” My devotee never
perishes! He does not perish even at death.
“Why doesn’t Krsna make this oath directly? This
dialogue took place prior to the Kuruksetra war. Lord
Krsna, before speaking, thought for a moment. ‘Out of
affection, I never fail to protect My devotee even if it
entails breaking My word. In the upcoming battle, to
protect Arjuna from Bhisma, I will have to break My
vow not
Text 32: O son of Prtha, those who take shelter in
Me, though they be of lower birth—women, vaisyas
[merchants] and sudras [workers]—can attain the
supreme destination.
Text 33: How much more this is so of the righteous
brahmanas,. the devotees and the saintly kings.
Therefore, having come to this temporary, miserable
world, engage in loving service unto Me.
Text 34:
Krsna herein gives four instructions: 1. man-mana—
always think of me; 2. mad-bhakto—become My
devotee; 3. mad-yaji—worship Me; and 4. mam
namaskuru—offer obeisances to Me.
Chapter Ten
Text 2 :
It is not possible for anyone to fully understand its
source.
Text 3:
The demigods can be glorified as loka-mahesvaram,
but they are neither ajam nor anadi. Lord Brahma is
ajam and loka-mahesvaram, but he is a jiva and his
existence as Lord Brahma is not beginningless.
Similarly, the sages are liberated. Because they don’t
identify themselves with their bodies but as unborn,
eternal, spirit souls, they can be considered ajam and
anadi. But they are not loka-mahesvaram. Only Krsna
possesses all three qualities.
were already tied around baby Krsna’s waist never
broke. Equally inconceivable is how Krsna, the loka-
mahesvaram, the master of all, allowed Himself to be
controlled by Arjuna as He drove
Text 7:
These next four verses are the catur-sloki of the
Bhagavad-gita.
Text 8:
Everything emanates from Krsna. He is svayam
bhagavan
Text 9:
Mad-gata-prana indicates that Krsna is the life of His
devotees.
Text 10:
One may ask why Krsna gives buddhi-yoga
(intelligence) to the devotees who already have ramate
(bliss) [check Sanskrit usage]?
Text 11:
Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura explains
Krsna’s thinking as follows: “After such devotees attain
My mercy and I take charge, their attaining knowledge
becomes My responsibility. This knowledge that I give
does not refer to knowledge in goodness. This
knowledge is different, for it comes from devotion and
is like a darkness dispelling lamp. Because I personally
2
destroy their ignorance, they need not make any
personal endeavor. I Myself care for them and supply
both their spiritual and daily needs.” He adds, “These
verses are the essence of the Bhagavad-gita. They
remove the distress of the living entity and grant
peace.”
Understanding who Krsna is and how He
reciprocates with His pure devotees, we naturally desire
to surrender to Him. When we surrender to the all-
powerful, all-knowing, all-bliss granting
Text 14:
“above.” Even Brahma and Siva work under
Krsna’s control. How then can they independently
understand Krsna, what to speak of less powerful
demigods or demons? Therefore, only Krsna can truly
know Himself, and Arjuna will point this out in the next
verse.
Text 16:
Arjuna asks Krsna to tell him of His opulence, yet
Krsna has already explained that He is everything
(aham sarvasya prabhavo). Arjuna, however, is
requesting more information. Why? Because he wants
to think of Krsna. Krsna recommended this process to
Arjuna at the end of Chapter 6 (mad-gatenantar-
atmana, “always abide in Me, always think of Me
within yourself”) and in the last verse of Chapter 9
(man-mana bhava mad-bhakto, “always
A certain construction of Sanskrit compound words
indicates that the first word is more important than the
second. Another type of compound indicates that the
second word is more important than the first. In yet
another type of compound, neither word is important.
[Neither word is important, or neither word is more
important? Should be adjusted if necessary.
[From Bd: I think it must be as written. If
otherwise, what would be the difference between the
dvandva and the compound. Sanskritist, please
check.] But in the dvandva compound, both words are
equally important. In his grammar Hari-namamrta-
vyakarana, Srila Jiva Gosvami calls this compound the
rama-krsna samasa because both Rama and Krsna are
of equal importance.
Text 34:
The word sri, fortune, refers to knowledge for a
brahmana, strength for a ksatriya, and wealth for a
vaisya. Possessing vak, the quality of fine speech, is
reserved for one who speaks Sanskrit, a perfect
language. Smrti, memory, is that by which one
remembers his experiences. Medha, intelligence, refers
to the capacity to retain sastra. Dhrti, steadfastness,
refers to one who remains calm, even when there is
cause for agitation. Ksama, patience, is the quality by
which a person is unaffected by happiness and distress.

Text 18:
Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura describes how
Arjuna wants to hear more to aid his meditation on
Krsna. Therefore, he addresses Krsna as Janardana.
Jana means “people” and ardana, in this context,
means “beggar.” Arjuna is begging to hear the
nectarean glories of Krsna and wants to “ . . . taste the
nectar of Your words.” How can one taste nectar with
his ears? Arjuna’s ears have become tongue-like in their
eagerness to taste Krsna’s sweet words.

Text 26:
Nara means “mankind” or “spiritual.” Da means
“giving or

Text 31:
The Rama referred to here is Parasurama because
Krsna is explaining His vibhutis, His opulences, not His
incarnations. Parasurama is a living entity empowered
(saktyavesa) to wield weapons. Lord Ramacandra and
Lord Balarama are incarnations.

Text 32:
Nyaya, logic, teaches different ways to reach a
conclusion, including vitanda, vada, and jalpa. Krsna
says, “I am vada, the natural conclusion.” Vitanda and
jalpa are forms of argument in which winning, not
necessarily determining the truth, is the main
consideration.

Text 33:
In Sanskrit, no word can be pronounced without the
vowel “a.” Similarly, nothing exists without Krsna.