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BG 03.19 tasmad asaktah satatam... cited

Bhagavad-gita As It Is

BG Chapters 1 - 6

BG 3.19, Translation and Purport:

Therefore, without being attached to the fruits of activities, one should act as a matter of duty, for by working without attachment one attains the Supreme.

The Supreme is the Personality of Godhead for the devotees, and liberation for the impersonalist. A person, therefore, acting for Kṛṣṇa, or in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, under proper guidance and without attachment to the result of the work, is certainly making progress toward the supreme goal of life. Arjuna is told that he should fight in the Battle of Kurukṣetra for the interest of Kṛṣṇa because Kṛṣṇa wanted him to fight. To be a good man or a nonviolent man is a personal attachment, but to act on behalf of the Supreme is to act without attachment for the result. That is perfect action of the highest degree, recommended by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Śrī Kṛṣṇa.

Vedic rituals, like prescribed sacrifices, are performed for purification of impious activities that were performed in the field of sense gratification. But action in Kṛṣṇa consciousness is transcendental to the reactions of good or evil work. A Kṛṣṇa conscious person has no attachment for the result but acts on behalf of Kṛṣṇa alone. He engages in all kinds of activities, but is completely nonattached.

Srimad-Bhagavatam

SB Canto 4

SB 4.30.19, Purport:

If one engages himself in the service of the Lord through his life, wealth, words, intelligence and everything he possesses, he will always be liberated in any condition. Such a person is called a jīvan-mukta, one who is liberated during this lifetime. Devoid of Kṛṣṇa consciousness, those who engage in material activities simply become more entangled in material bondage. They have to suffer and enjoy the actions and reactions of all activity. This Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is therefore the greatest boon to humanity because it keeps one always engaged in Kṛṣṇa's service. The devotees think of Kṛṣṇa, act for Kṛṣṇa, eat for Kṛṣṇa, sleep for Kṛṣṇa and work for Kṛṣṇa. Thus everything is engaged in the service of Kṛṣṇa. A total life in Kṛṣṇa consciousness saves one from material contamination. As stated by Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Gosvāmī Mahārāja:

śrī-hari sevāya yāhā anukūla
viṣaya baliyā tyāge haya bhūla

If one is so expert that he can engage everything or dovetail everything in the service of the Lord, to give up the material world would be a great blunder. One should learn how to dovetail everything in the service of the Lord, for everything is connected to Kṛṣṇa. That is the real purpose of life and secret of success. As reiterated later in the Third Chapter of Bhagavad-gītā (3.19):

tasmād asaktaḥ satataṁ
kāryaṁ karma samācara
asakto hy ācaran karma
param āpnoti pūruṣaḥ

"Therefore, without being attached to the fruits of activities, one should act as a matter of duty; for by working without attachment, one attains the Supreme."

The Third Chapter of Bhagavad-gītā specifically considers material activities for the purpose of sense gratification and material activities for the purpose of satisfying the Supreme Lord. The conclusion is that these are not one and the same. Material activities for sense gratification are the cause of material bondage, whereas the very same activities for the satisfaction of Kṛṣṇa are the cause of liberation. How the same activity can be the cause of bondage and liberation can be explained as follows. One may get indigestion due to eating too many milk preparations—condensed milk, sweet rice, and so on. But even though there is indigestion or diarrhea, another milk preparation—yogurt mixed with black pepper and salt—will immediately cure these maladies. In other words, one milk preparation can cause indigestion and diarrhea, and another milk preparation can cure them.

Lectures

Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures

Lecture on BG 3.11-19 -- Los Angeles, December 27, 1968:

Nineteen: "Therefore without being attached to the fruits of activities, one should act as a matter of duty, for by working without attachment one attains the Supreme (BG 3.19)."

Purport: "This Supreme is the Personality of Godhead for the devotees and liberation for the impersonalist. A person acting for Kṛṣṇa or in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, under proper guidance and without attachment to the result of the work is certainly making progress towards the supreme goal of life. Indirectly Arjuna is told that he should fight the battle of Kurukṣetra without attachment in the interest of Kṛṣṇa because Kṛṣṇa wanted him to fight. To be a good man or a nonviolent man is also a personal attachment, but to act on behalf of the Supreme..."

Prabhupāda: Yes, to be good man, this consciousness is, "I am very good man." Or to bad man, "I am very bad man." But if you become Kṛṣṇa conscious, "I am neither good man or bad man. I am Kṛṣṇa's man." That's all. Finished. Finished. All business. "I am Kṛṣṇa's man." That's all. If Kṛṣṇa wants to kill you, I'll kill you. If Kṛṣṇa says you do that, I'll do that. That's all. So I am Kṛṣṇa's man. So he's immediately transcendental to all goodness or badness.

Lecture on BG 3.17-20 -- New York, May 27, 1966:

So Śukadeva Gosvāmī advises that "You, if you have actually left home for spiritual realization, then you haven't got any problem for maintaining your life. You have no problem." So he recommends, cīrāṇi kiṁ pathi na santi. "Well, I am naked." Of course, you do not wish to run on as naked. You require some cloth. All right, find out some cloth in the street. There are so many cloth thrown in the street. So you can pick up one of them. So your cloth problem is there solved. Cīrāṇi kiṁ pathi na santi diśanti bhikṣāṁ naivāṅghripāḥ. Aṅghripāḥ means these trees. They have got fruits. So you can ask a tree, apple tree, to give you some apple to eat. So your clothing and eating problem is solved. All right, then your shelter... Ruddhā guhāḥ kim. Oh, you find out some cave. There is nice place. So the house problem is solved. Then water? There are many rivers. There is no water problem. So he has recommended like that.

And actually, in India, still there are persons who do not care for anything of the world. They are ātma-rati, ātma-rati. They are self-satisfied, doesn't care, doesn't care for anything. So for such person there is no need of doing any yajña or purifying their activities or so many things as recommended in the rituals. The Lord says that "They have nothing to do."

tasmād asaktaḥ satataṁ
kāryaṁ karma samācara
asakto hy ācaran karma
param āpnoti puruṣaḥ
(BG 3.19)

Now, what is this meaning of this ātma-rati? The meaning of ātma-rati is that one has to be situated in full spiritual consciousness and aloof from material engagement. That is the sum and substance. So the same thing can be practiced by us also. Of course, we may find difficulty, we may think, "How it is possible to become like Śukadeva Gosvāmī?" No, it is not possible. The real fact which Kṛṣṇa is explaining here, that don't be attached to your result of the activities. Just become free.

Lecture on BG 3.17-20 -- New York, May 27, 1966:

Now, for maintenance of your body you have to do something. That's all right. But you don't be attached to that work. You are simply to... Because you have got this body, you have to maintain it so that the body and soul can be maintained and you have to perform this spiritual realization just to keep the body nicely, not neglecting the body. But become detached from the bodily attachment. You just try to... Yuktāhāra. Yuktāhāra means to take food is not forbidden, but you have to take food only just to maintain your body, not for, I mean to say, taste of your palate or tongue. That should be practiced. You should live... You should eat to live. You should not live to eat. That should be your life principle.

Tasmād asaktaḥ, tasmād asaktaḥ satatam. Asakta: "Don't be attached." Kāryaṁ karma samācara: "Do your duty, as duty, as you are duty bound. But don't be attached to that work. Because you should always know that your real work is self-realization." Asakto hy ācaran karma param āpnoti puruṣaḥ: "And if you practice like that, then the same perfection of life you will attain." Don't be attached to your work. Don't be attached, unattached. Nirbandhaḥ kṛṣṇa-sambandhe yuktaṁ vairāgyam ucyate. Anāsaktasya viṣayān yathārham upayuñjataḥ. The same advice is given in several places, that "Work, but do not work with attachment. Just to make the best use of a bad bargain, that's all. You go on working like that."

tasmād asaktaḥ satataṁ
kāryaṁ karma samācara
asakto hy ācaran karma
param āpnoti puruṣaḥ
(BG 3.19)

And if you continue your work unattached like that, then the result will be that you will also reach that perfectional stage of life, as Śukadeva Gosvāmī.

karmaṇaiva hi saṁsiddhim
āsthitā janakādayaḥ
loka-saṅgraham evāpi
sampaśyan kartum arhasi
(BG 3.20)

So you haven't got to give up your work, your duty. Go on doing your duty, but make your point that "My life's main business is self-realization." You give more importance to that point of life. Not to the point of, that "I shall earn more and enjoy life." No. That should be given up. That is called nonattachment. So if we go on working in non-attachment and culture our self-realization, then gradually we shall come to the perfectional point. Thank you very much. Now if there is any question... (end)

Lecture on BG 3.18-30 -- Los Angeles, December 30, 1968:

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: "Therefore, without being attached to the fruits of activity, one should act as a matter of duty for by working without attachment one attains the Supreme (BG 3.19)."

Prabhupāda: Yes.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Purport: "This Supreme is the Personality of Godhead for the devotees and liberation for the impersonalists."

Prabhupāda: Then what is that Supreme? The conception of Supreme... For the impersonalist, the impersonal Brahman effulgence is the Supreme. Just like light. When you come to the sunshine, that is light, but the devotees, they are not satisfied with the sunshine. They want to penetrate into the sun planet and see the sun-god. That is devotee's position. And one who cannot do so, he is satisfied with the sunshine. Everything is light. Sunshine is light, sun globe is light, and if you enter in the sun globe, there is also light.

So these are all spiritual position, impersonalist or personalist. But the impersonalist goal is partial because they are satisfied simply by seeing the light. And the devotees, they are not satisfied simply by seeing the light. They want to enter within the light to see wherefrom the light is coming. That is the difference between impersonalist and personalist. They are farther advanced.

Sac-cid-ānanda-vigrahaḥ (Bs. 5.1). The Lord is full bliss, eternal knowledge. So the impersonalists they are satisfied with only knowledge, jñāna, light, that's all. Knowledge is light. But farther advanced, say, the yogis, they want to see the localized, just like the sun globe. And the devotees, they want to see the person who is predominating over the sun globe. This is a crude example.

So the goal, ultimate goal, it is described, "The Supreme is the Personality of Godhead for the devotee, and liberation for the impersonalist." The impersonalists, they simply want to be free from this material atmosphere and go to the spiritual atmosphere. Just like one who is in the darkness of a room, his aspiration is how to see light. That's all. The impersonalist means simply to see light, knowledge. And personalist means to direct, to be in direct touch with the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Go on.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: "A person acting for Kṛṣṇa or in Kṛṣṇa consciousness under proper guidance and without attachment to the result of the work, is certainly making progress toward the supreme goal of life. Indirectly, Arjuna is told that he should fight the Battle of Kurukṣetra without attachment in the interest of Kṛṣṇa because Kṛṣṇa wanted him to fight. To be a good man or a nonviolent man is also a personal attachment, but to act on behalf of the Supreme's desire is to act without attachment for the result. That is the perfect action of the highest degree, recommended by the Supreme Personality of Godhead Śrī Kṛṣṇa.

Vedic rituals, like prescribed sacrifices, are performed for purification of impious activities that were performed in the field of sense gratification. But a person who is acting in Kṛṣṇa consciousness is transcendental to the actions and reactions of good or evil work. A Kṛṣṇa conscious person has no attachment to the result, but acts on behalf of Kṛṣṇa alone. He engages in all kinds of activities, but is completely nonattached."

Prabhupāda: Yes. Just like you go to your office. You are working on behalf of the particular office. So your duty is to discharge the occupation which is entrusted upon you. So far the loss or gain of that department or that establishment, you have nothing to do. So a Kṛṣṇa conscious person acts on behalf of Kṛṣṇa. These boys they are going to preach Kṛṣṇa consciousness. People may receive it or not receive it. That doesn't matter. Their duty is to preach. The fortunate person will be attracted, unfortunate may not be attracted, but they have to do the duty. It is very simple.

So a Kṛṣṇa conscious person should not be disturbed whether his preaching work is being accepted by the people or not. It doesn't matter. My Guru Mahārāja used to say that... If somebody said that "We went to preach in such and such place. Only there were three or four, attendance." So my Guru Mahārāja used to encourage them and it is factual—that "Why, two, three men were there was sufficient. If there were none, you could speak and the walls would hear you." You see. "Why you are disappointed?" So even the walls, they hear, then our kīrtana is sufficient. You don't mind. Because only fortunate persons... Bahūnāṁ janmanām ante (BG 7.19). Manuṣyāṇāṁ sahasreṣu (BG 7.3). So to become God conscious, Kṛṣṇa conscious, is not very cheap thing. It requires a great amount of austerity, penance to come to this stage. So never be disappointed that because people are not responding. You see?

There are many good examples. When Lord Jesus Christ also preached God consciousness, only a few followers were there, and still, he had to sacrifice his life. But he was never disappointed. That should be attitude of the preacher. People may accept it or not accept it, we should go on. Because if Kṛṣṇa is satisfied, if Kṛṣṇa sees, "Oh, these boys are doing very nice. They are trying their best to preach," that is your reward. That's all. People may accept or not accept, it doesn't matter. Go on.

Conversations and Morning Walks

1975 Conversations and Morning Walks

Room Conversation with writer, Sandy Nixon -- July 13, 1975, Philadelphia:

Father: What is it that Kṛṣṇa consciousness has that offers people so much more than other religions do?

Prabhupāda: This is religion. I have already explained that religion means to become lover of God. That is religion. When there is no love of God, that is not religion. Religion means—I have already explained—to know God and to love Him. So if you do not know what is God, where is the question of loving Him? So that is not religion. It is going on in the name of religion. But religion means to know God and to love Him. Dharmaṁ tu sākṣād bhagavat-praṇitām (SB 6.3.19). Can you find out this verse? Give him. You don't find?

Nitai: Yes, 3.19.

Prabhupāda: Third Chapter, nineteen verse.

Nitai:

dharmaṁ tu sākṣād bhagavat-praṇitām
na vai vidur ṛsayo nāpi devaḥ
na siddha-mukhya asura manuṣyaḥ
kuto nu vidyādhara-cāraṇādayaḥ
(SB 6.3.19)

Prabhupāda: Dharmaṁ tu sākṣād bhagavat-praṇitām: "The principles of religion is given by God." Just like the law. Law means the process of activities which is given by the government. You cannot make law at home. Is it clear?

Father: No, I'm having a language problem, I'm afraid.

Jayatīrtha: He says that law means that which is given by the government. You can't make your own law at home. So similarly, religion means that which is enunciated by the Lord. You can't make up your own process.

Father: Well, I guess I'm missing the point. My question was what does the Hare Kṛṣṇa consciousness have to offer that other religions don't have to offer as far as...

Prabhupāda: This is offering that you want to be religious, so you try to understand religious principles from God. Because if one is lawyer, if one wants to become a lawyer, he must learn laws which is given by the government. He cannot become a lawyer at home. Similarly, if you want to become religious, you must learn what is religion from God. You don't manufacture your own religion. That is not religion. This is the first principle. But if I do not know what is God, what is the order given by God, then what is religion? That is going on. Everyone is manufacturing his own religion. This is the modern method, that religion is private. Anyone can accept any type of religion. That is liberalism, is it not?

Page Title:BG 03.19 tasmad asaktah satatam... cited
Compiler:Visnu Murti
Created:10 of Apr, 2011
Totals by Section:BG=1, SB=1, CC=0, OB=0, Lec=4, Con=1, Let=0
No. of Quotes:7