We should always remember that this Bhagavad-gītā is being spoken by the Supreme Personality of Godhead. So no more better authority. And God is speaking about Himself. Otherwise, by speculation you cannot understand God. That is not possible. You have to hear from God Himself about God.
- athāpi te deva padāmbuja-dvaya-
- prasāda-leśānugṛhīta eva hi
- jānāti tattvaṁ bhagavan-mahimno
- na cānya eko 'pi ciraṁ vicinvan
- (SB 10.14.29)
"A person who has got little favor," athāpi te deva padāmbu..., "little favor from the lotus feet of Your Lordship, he," jānāti tattvam, "he knows what is tattva, what is the Absolute Truth." Athāpi te deva padāmbuja-dvaya-prasāda-leśānu..., prasāda-leśa: Little favor, not all. Prasāda-leśānugṛhīta eva hi jānāti tattvam, na ca anya ciraṁ vicinvan. Others may go on speculating for years and years. It is not possible to understand. And similarly, in the Brahma-saṁhitā, another Vedic literature, it is said, panthās tu koṭi-śata-vatsara-sampragamyo vāyor athāpi manaso muni-puṅgavānām (Bs. 5.34). Muni-puṅgavānām, great saintly persons, sages, if they travel for millions of years... Panthās tu koṭi-śata-vatsara. Koṭi, again multiplied by hundreds and hundreds. Vāyor athāpi, on the airplane of air. Not this metal airplane, but actually air airplane or by the airplane of mind. Mind speed, we know. Mind can run within a second many thousands of miles, immediately. Suppose I am sitting here. So I have got my apartment in Los Angeles, ten thousand miles away. I can immediately go... This is called mind-speed. So with the mind speed, with the velocity of air, if one runs on, to find out the Kṛṣṇa planet, or Kṛṣṇa, still, avicintya-tattva, still, it is inconceivable tattva.
- panthās tu koṭi-śata-vatsara-sampragamyo
- vāyor athāpi manaso muni-puṅgavānām
- so 'py asti yat-prapada-sīmny avicintya-tattve
- govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi
- (Bs. 5.34)
Govinda is very, very difficult to understand by mental speculation, philosophical theses. Philosophical theses, speculation, without religion is simply waste of time. And religion without philosophical basis is sentiment. They must be combined together.
So Bhagavad-gītā is that, religion combined with philosophy. If you simply take philosophy, it is dry speculation. No juice. Carvita-carvaṇānām: "Chewing the chewed." There is no benefit. And if you take, simply take religion without basis of philosophy, then it is fanaticism. That's all. So both should be combined. Religion based on philosophy and logic, that is religion. So that combination is Bhagavad-gītā. So here in the Seventh Chapter, beginning, opening chapter, it is said, bhagavān uvāca. You are searching after God. Now here is God Himself speaking. So recognized God by all sages: Vyāsadeva, Nārada, Asita. And later on by Rāmānujācārya, by Śaṅkarācārya, by Madhvācārya, by Viṣṇu Svāmī, by Caitanya Mahāprabhu, and then our Guru Mahārāja. So our method is very simple: evaṁ paramparā-prāptam imaṁ rājarṣayo viduḥ (BG 4.2). So we accept this paramparā system. I may not know what is God, but because my predecessors, ācāryas, confirm it, the "Here is Bhagavān," we accept it. That's all. We save so much trouble by mental speculation. We accept the paramparā system. Therefore... And we get the result. So that is the way.
Now, here, not only the paramparā system... The paramparā system begins from Kṛṣṇa. As Kṛṣṇa says in the Fourth Chapter: imaṁ vivasvate yogaṁ proktavān aham avyayam: (BG 4.1) "I spoke first to the sun-god." It is not said, "First." Many times He has said to many predominating deities. But in this era... This is called the age of Vaivasvata Manu. There are fourteen Manus in one day of Brahmā. So Vaivasvata Manu is the eighth Manu. That means we are passing through the midday of this era, manvantara. There is fourteen Manus in one day of Brahmā, and this era is called Vaivasvata Manu, because he is the son of Vivasvān. And that Vivasvān is given reference in the Fourth Chapter: imaṁ vivasvate yogaṁ proktavān aham avyayam (BG 4.1). So if you simply calculate the age of Manu it becomes forty millions of years. So Bhagavad-gītā is not a new theses. It is coming from time immemorial. So Kṛṣṇa is the original preceptor. So here Kṛṣṇa again personally speaking. The authority, personally... Out of compassion and friendship, love to Arjuna, He's speaking directly to Arjuna. And Arjuna understood Him: the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Paraṁ brahma paraṁ dhāma pavitraṁ paramaṁ bhavān, puruṣam (BG 10.12). Puruṣam. Puruṣam means person. He's not imperson. Imperson is the, another feature of the person. Brahmaṇaḥ ahaṁ pratiṣṭhā. Kṛṣṇa says that "The brahmajyoti, impersonal Brahman, that is situated upon Me." Ahaṁ pratiṣṭhā. Just like we are sitting on this platform. This is pratiṣṭhā. Similarly, the brahmajyoti is situated on the person of Kṛṣṇa. The person is the ultimate understanding of the Absolute Truth, not the impersonal feature. That is preliminary understanding or imperfect understanding. There is brahmajyoti. Just like we are experiencing the sunshine. The sunshine is also experience of the sun-god, but it is imperfect understanding. It is not perfect understanding. If you want to understand the sun-god, then you have to penetrate through the sunshine and reach the sun planet. And then, if, if, you are able to see the predominating deity of the sun planet, whose name is Vivasvān... Similarly, the whole material creation is a part of the brahmajyoti. Sarvaṁ khalv idaṁ brahma.