View source for KC is so beneficial it easily counteracts material nature's contamination resulting from one's possessing a material body. BG therefore teaches, in the beginning, that whether one is man or woman one must know he or she isn't the body but a spiritual soul

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{{terms|"But Bhagavad-gita, in the beginning, says that you are not this body, neither this mind. This is the beginning of Bhagavad-gita, and that is a b c d. Any person who does not know that I am not this body he has no even a-b-c-d knowledge of spiritual kingdom"|"Just like children are taught a b c d., or first book of knowledge. It is only the first book of knowledge. And what is that first book of knowledge? The first book of knowledge teaches from the very beginning that you are not this body. That is the beginning of knowledge, spiritual knowledge"|"The Krsna consciousness movement is so beneficial that it can very easily counteract the contamination of material nature, which results from one's possessing a material body. Bhagavad-gita therefore teaches, in the very beginning, that whether one is a man or a woman, one must know that he or she is not the body but a spiritual soul"}}
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{{compiler|Surabhi}}
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[[Category:Krsna Consciousness]]
[[Category:Beneficial]]
[[Category:Easily]]
[[Category:Counteraction]]
[[Category:Material Nature]]
[[Category:Material Contamination]]
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[[Category:Possess]]
[[Category:Material Body]]
[[Category:Teachings of the Bhagavad-gita]]
[[Category:Therefore]]
[[Category:In The Beginning]]
[[Category:Whether One Is]]
[[Category:Man or Woman]]
[[Category:One Must]]
[[Category:Must Know]]
[[Category:She - woman]]
[[Category:I Am Not This Body]]
[[Category:I Am Spirit Soul]]
[[Category:Spiritual Soul]]
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<div id="Srimad-Bhagavatam" class="section" sec_index="1" parent="compilation" text="Srimad-Bhagavatam"><h2>Srimad-Bhagavatam</h2>
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<div id="SB_Canto_6" class="sub_section" sec_index="6" parent="Srimad-Bhagavatam" text="SB Canto 6"><h3>SB Canto 6</h3>
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<div id="SB61842_0" class="quote" parent="SB_Canto_6" book="SB" index="719" link="SB 6.18.42" link_text="SB 6.18.42">
<div class="heading">The Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is so beneficial that it can very easily counteract the contamination of material nature, which results from one's possessing a material body. Bhagavad-gītā therefore teaches, in the very beginning, that whether one is a man or a woman, one must know that he or she is not the body but a spiritual soul. Everyone should be interested in the activities of the spirit soul, not the body.
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<span class="link">[[Vanisource:SB 6.18.42|SB 6.18.42, Translation and Purport]]: </span><div style="display: inline;" class="trans text"><p style="display: inline;">To satisfy their own interests, women deal with men as if the men were most dear to them, but no one is actually dear to them. Women are supposed to be very saintly, but for their own interests they can kill even their husbands, sons or brothers, or cause them to be killed by others.</p>
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<div class="purport text"><p>A woman's nature has been particularly well studied by Kaśyapa Muni. Women are self-interested by nature, and therefore they should be protected by all means so that their natural inclination to be too self-interested will not be manifested. Women need to be protected by men. A woman should be cared for by her father in her childhood, by her husband in her youth and by her grown sons in her old age. This is the injunction of Manu, who says that a woman should not be given independence at any stage. Women must be cared for so that they will not be free to manifest their natural tendency for gross selfishness. There have been many cases, even in the present day, in which women have killed their husbands to take advantage of their insurance policies. This is not a criticism of women but a practical study of their nature. Such natural instincts of a woman or a man are manifested only in the bodily conception of life. When either a man or a woman is advanced in spiritual consciousness, the bodily conception of life practically vanishes. We should see all women as spiritual units (ahaṁ brahmāsmi), whose only duty is to satisfy Kṛṣṇa. Then the influences of the different modes of material nature, which result from one's possessing a material body, will not act.</p>
<p>The Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is so beneficial that it can very easily counteract the contamination of material nature, which results from one's possessing a material body. Bhagavad-gītā therefore teaches, in the very beginning, that whether one is a man or a woman, one must know that he or she is not the body but a spiritual soul. Everyone should be interested in the activities of the spirit soul, not the body. As long as one is activated by the bodily conception of life, there is always the danger of being misled, whether one is a man or a woman. The soul is sometimes described as puruṣa because whether one is dressed as a man or a woman, one is inclined to enjoy this material world. One who has this spirit of enjoyment is described as puruṣa. Whether one is a man or a woman, he is not interested in serving others; everyone is interested in satisfying his or her own senses. Kṛṣṇa consciousness, however, provides first-class training for a man or a woman. A man should be trained to be a first-class devotee of Lord Kṛṣṇa, and a woman should be trained to be a very chaste follower of her husband. That will make the lives of both of them happy.</p>
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<div id="Lectures" class="section" sec_index="4" parent="compilation" text="Lectures"><h2>Lectures</h2>
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<div id="Bhagavad-gita_As_It_Is_Lectures" class="sub_section" sec_index="0" parent="Lectures" text="Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures"><h3>Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures</h3>
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<div id="IntroductiontoBhagavadgitaAsItIsLosAngelesNovember231968New2003_0" class="quote" parent="Bhagavad-gita_As_It_Is_Lectures" book="Lec" index="3" link="Introduction to Bhagavad-gita As It Is -- Los Angeles, November 23, 1968 (New-2003)" link_text="Introduction to Bhagavad-gita As It Is -- Los Angeles, November 23, 1968 ">
<div class="heading">Just like children are taught a b c d., or first book of knowledge. It is only the first book of knowledge. And what is that first book of knowledge? The first book of knowledge teaches from the very beginning that you are not this body. That is the beginning of knowledge, spiritual knowledge.
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<span class="link">[[Vanisource:Introduction to Bhagavad-gita As It Is -- Los Angeles, November 23, 1968 (New-2003)|Introduction to Bhagavad-gita As It Is -- Los Angeles, November 23, 1968 ]]: </span><div style="display: inline;" class="text"><p style="display: inline;">Preliminary talks on spiritual matter is discussed in this Bhagavad-gītā. And this book is still read, even after five thousand years, all over the world. Just see His wisdom. That is a test. Big scholars, big religionists, philosophers, they are bewildered still about Bhagavad-gītā. Therefore there are so many interpretations. But this, what is this Bhagavad-gītā? Bhagavad-gītā is the A B C D of spiritual knowledge. It is not very high depth of spiritual knowledge. High depth of spiritual knowledge is in the Srimad Bhagavatam. This is only entrance. Just like children are taught a b c d., or first book of knowledge. It is only the first book of knowledge. And what is that first book of knowledge? The first book of knowledge teaches from the very beginning that you are not this body. That is the beginning of knowledge, spiritual knowledge. And the whole world, great philosophers, the geat politicians... Now yesterday the boys gave me one paper. There is discussion about Transcendental Meditation. There was publication of our activities also, and some others are... So the so-called Transcendental Meditation they are discussing on the mind. And the Bhagavad-gītā, mind is immediately rejected as matter. So Transcendental Meditation, they're on the platform of the mind. Just see. And the Bhagavad-gītā says that mind is external nature only. </p>
:indriyāṇi parāṇy āhur
:indriyebhyaḥ paraṁ manaḥ
:manasas tu parā buddhir
:yo buddheḥ paratas tu saḥ
<p>In the gross material concept of life we are under the impression that "I am this body." Therefore we are concerned with the senses. If our senses are gratified, we think we are now satisfied. So this is the gross type of existence, I mean to say, existence of ignorance. Illusion. Māyā. When one is under the thought that "I am this," this is illusion. Illusion means you accept something, something is presented as reality, and you accept it. Just like the example is given water in the desert. Mirage. There is no water, but a, an animal is hankering, is running after water in the desert. That is practical, that due to sunshine there is a reflection, it appears in the desert. Sometimes you might have seen—not here, in India we have seen several times—that exactly there is a vast water, and it is reflecting, the reflection. That is called mirage. There is not a drop of water, but the animal, when he is thirsty he..., it thinks that "There is water." He jumps into the desert and the water is going ahead, going ahed, and he is running after it and then dying. So this illusion, that "I am this body." So we are after this sense gratification. Body means the senses. So that is mirage, illusion. Just like the animal is running after water in the desert. </p>
<p>So even this yoga system, the haṭha yoga system, that is also based on this illusion. They are trying to put this water under certain exercise and thinking that they are elevating themselves in spirit. But Bhagavad-gītā, in the beginning, says that you are not this body, neither this mind. This is the beginning of Bhagavad-gītā, and that is a b c d. Any person who does not know that I am not this body he has no even a-b-c-d knowledge of spiritual kingdom. If one is attracted with this bodily function or mind, mental function, he is outside the spiritual purview altogether. He rejected immediately. That test is in the Bhagavad-gītā. These people, the so-called yogis, so-called karmīs... Karmīs means the ordinary worker, those who are running in the street with motor car, this way and that way, very busy. You see. What are they? They are karmīs. Karmīs means under the bodily concept. They are thinking that comfort of this body and sense gratification is the end of life. That is karmī. If they have got very nice apartment, a nice wife and good bank balance and a very nice dress, oh, there is perfection. That's all. That is karmī. And jñānī means that when they are confused. Just like there are a section of people in your country, they have seen enough of this material affair, happiness, or they are searching after something wrongly. But actually those who are intelligent, they don't remain confused. Actually they want to see "What is my actual position." They are called jñānī, man of knowledge. </p>
<p>So jñāna, or knowledge, is on the mental plane and karma is on the bodily plane. So somebody, some section of people, they are engaged in this bodily platform, and some section of people are engaged in the mental platform. Whatever religion and process of elevation of life we have manufactured, they can be grouped in two ways: mental and bodily. That's all. And Bhagavad-gītā is transcendental. Neither on the mental plane nor on the bodily plane. Therefore the last instruction of Bhagavad-gītā is sarva-dharmān parityajya. Dharma, you have created so many religious principles, so many concocted spiritual ways of life or material ways of life. Somebody are materialists and somebody are so-called spiritualists. So Kṛṣṇa says that you have to give up all this nonsense—on the mental platform and bodily platform. You have come to the transcendental platform. And what is that transcendental platform? To understand your relationship with Kṛṣṇa. That is Kṛṣṇa consciousness.</p>
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