20201224 Gītā Jayantī Eve on Gītā Māhātmya

Following is a class given by His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami on December 24^th in Śrī Māyāpur dhāma, India. The class begins with the Glorification of Gītā-mahātmya, On the occasion of Gītā Jayantī.

Today is the day prior to Gītā Jayantī. In this way this Bhagavad-gītā is very, very important. Therefore, I will speak from the Gītā-māhātmya. In our Bhagavad-gītā, at the end of the Introduction.

Text 1

gītā-śāstram idaṁ puṇyaṁ
yaḥ paṭhet prayataḥ pumān
viṣṇoḥ padam avāpnoti
bhaya-śokādi-varjitaḥ

“If one properly follows the instructions of Bhagavad-gītā, one can be freed from all miseries and anxieties in this life, and one's next life will be spiritual.” (Gītā-māhātmya 1)

Jayapatākā Swami: So, in these verses of the Gītā-māhātmya we understand how we can be freed from all fear and anxiety. People are filled with anxiety today. So, Bhagavad-gītā-māhātmya says that we can be free is from anxiety and fear by reading the Bhagavad-gītā every day. Many people try many different methods, to become free from fear and anxiety. But here it is understood that if we live our lives as per the instructions of the Bhagavad-gītā, then we can be free from fear and anxiety. Many people due to different reasons they commit suicide because of anxiety. But Bhagavad-gītā can deliver all of these people. Therefore, we should study the Bhagavad-gītā.

Text 2

gītādhyāyana-śīlasya
prāṇāyāma-parasya ca
naiva santi hi pāpāni
pūrva-janma-kṛtāni ca

“If one reads Bhagavad-gītā very sincerely and with all seriousness, then by the grace of the Lord the reactions of his past misdeeds will not act upon him.” (Gītā-māhātmya 2)

Jayapatākā Swami: This is very, very important. Many people they are suffering because of their past deeds. This Gītā-māhātmya explains how if we read and follow the Bhagavad-gītā, our pūrva-karma will not affect us. Of course, we should not think that we should do some bad activity, and then read Bhagavad-gītā, we get freed. We can’t cheat the Lord. But if we have some past misdeeds, or past reactions of karma, that will automatically become nullified. Tomorrow is the Mokṣada Ekādaśī. That was the day that the Bhagavad-gītā was spoken. And we will be performing a yajña in the Kurukṣetra. Those who cannot travel to Kurukṣetra, they can read Bhagavad-gītā today, tomorrow. In this way, we will be having Gītā reading from morning to night.

So, in the Mokṣada Ekādaśī-māhātmya, there was a great king. When his father, he was in hell. So the son, he wanted to help his father, he couldn’t rest because his father was in hell. He went to see Parvata Muni, who was a trikāla-jñānī, and he told him what his father had done. In his previous life he had forcibly enjoyed the association of his wife. His wife was having a menstrual period at that time, and she pleaded with him repeatedly not to do this. That was why his father was in hell. We do not know what kind of misdeeds we did in our previous life. Therefore, if we study the Bhagavad-gītā, if we follow as per the instructions of the Bhagavad-gītā then we will be relieved from the reactions of the previous karmas from our previous lives.

Text 3

mala-nirmocanaṁ puṁsāṁ
jala-snānaṁ dine dine
sakṛd gītāmṛta-snānaṁ
saṁsāra-mala-nāśanam

“One may cleanse himself daily by taking a bath in water, but if one takes a bath even once in the sacred Ganges water of Bhagavad-gītā, for him the dirt of material life is altogether vanquished.”

Jayapatākā Swami: So, in Māyāpur we are blessed that the Ganges flows. Here it says that if we bathe in the water of the Bhagavad-gītā we get purified. If we bathe in the Bhagavad-gītā then we get cleansed from all our material life. Haribol!

TEXT 4

gītā su-gītā kartavyā
kim anyaiḥ śāstra-vistaraiḥ
yā svayaṁ padmanābhasya
mukha-padmād viniḥsṛtā

“Because Bhagavad-gītā is spoken by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, one need not read any other Vedic literature. One need only attentively and regularly hear and read Bhagavad-gītā. In the present age, people are so absorbed in mundane activities that it is not possible for them to read all the Vedic literatures. But this is not necessary. This one book, Bhagavad-gītā, will suffice, because it is the essence of all Vedic literatures and especially because it is spoken by the Supreme Personality of Godhead.”

Jayapatākā Swami: The Bhagavad-gītā because it is the spoken words of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, therefore it is the most sacred. The Ganges is sacred because it touched the feet of the Lord. Bhagavad-gītā is coming from the mouth of the Lord. There is no difference between the mouth and feet of the Lord. But reading from the Bhagavad-gītā has got its advantage. The Ganges river is localized in India, but the Bhagavad-gītā is available all over the world. There are some districts which are very far away from the Ganges river. Also, many states are distant from the Ganges. What to speak of foreign countries?

Gītā you can read that and bathe in the water anywhere. Gītā is transcendental, it frees us from the material bondage. I am very pleased that so many Gītā Course devotees are sponsoring so many Gītās. Bhagavad-gītā is very, very purifying sacred vāṇī from the lotus mouth of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

TEXT 5

bhāratāmṛta-sarvasvaṁ
viṣṇu-vaktrād viniḥsṛtam
gītā-gaṅgodakaṁ pītvā
punar janma na vidyate

“One who drinks water of the Ganges attains salvation. What to speak of one who drinks the nectar of Bhagavad-gītā? Bhagavad-gītā is the essential nectar of the Mahabharat is spoken by Lord Kṛṣṇa Himself, the original Visnu.”

Jayapatākā Swami: So, we can see that by reading the Bhagavad-gītā we get purified. And through this Bhagavad-gītā we get eternal, permanent life.

TEXT 6

sarvopaniṣado gāvo
dogdhā gopāla-nandanaḥ
pārtho vatsaḥ su-dhīr bhoktā
dugdhaṁ gītāmṛtaṁ mahat

“Bhagavad-gītā is the essence of all the Upaniṣads is just like cow, and Lord Kṛṣṇa who is famous as a cowherd boy is milking this cow. Arjuna is just like a calf and learned scholars and pure devotees are drinking the nectarian milk of Bhagavad-gītā.”

Jayapatākā Swami: We are all followers of Arjuna, like calves we are drinking the milk of Bhagavad-gītā. In this way by drinking the nectarean milk of Bhagavad-gītā, one can get the essence of all the Vedic literatures. In New Delhi, they have the largest Bhagavad-gītā in the world, in ISKCON. That Bhagavad-gītā weighs like 6 tons or something, 6000 kilos. Bhagavad-gītā is such a wonderful book. Simply by reading the Gītā, you get the knowledge of all the Vedas. Śrīla Prabhupāda desired that this gītār-gān would be studied in every school. Those who get the Bhagavad-gītā we should give them a copy of gītār-gān.

Just like today in the Ganges water they put different types of pollutants, in the same way they also make different commentaries in such a way that one cannot understand the Bhagavad-gītā. That is why Srīla Prabhupāda wrote the Bhagavad-gītā and this Bhagavad-gītā As It Is. In this Bhagavad-gītā it contains Lord Srī Kṛṣṇa’s instructions as it is. We can drink this water of Bhagavad-gītā and get salvation.

TEXT 7

ekaṁ śāstraṁ devakī-putra-gītam
eko devo devakī-putra eva
eko mantras tasya nāmāni yāni
karmāpy ekaṁ tasya devasya sevā

“In this present day, people are very much eager to have one scripture, one God, one religion and one occupation. Therefore, ekaṁ śāstraṁ devakī-putra-gītam: – Let there be one scripture only. One common scripture for the whole world – Bhagavad-gītā.”

Jayapatākā Swami: Haribol! Haribol! Haribol!

“Eko devo devakī-putra eva: – let there be one God for the whole world – Śrī Kṛṣṇa.”

Jayapatākā Swami: Haribol!

“Eko mantras tasya nāmāni: and one hymn, one mantra, one prayer—the chanting of His name: Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare / Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare. Karmāpy ekaṁ tasya devasya sevā: and let there be one work only—the service of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.”

Jayapatākā Swami: In this way we can understand from this Gītā-māhātmya that this Bhagavad-gītā can actually unite all humanity. Who studies this Bhagavad-gītā, gifts this Bhagavad-gītā, and to preach this Bhagavad-gītā, is the greatest welfare work for all humanity; I am very grateful that you are having such a big gathering for reading this Bhagavad-gītā. I hope that you will all stay well and you will distribute this nectarean message of Bhagavad-gītā to all. If this Bhagavad-gītā is broadcasted very nicely, then by this the human society can change.

Thank you very much Lakṣmī Govinda dāsa and Bhakti Vijaya Bhāgavata Swami, and all the persons who are present.

Hare Kṛṣṇa! I would like to stop here.

Kṛṣṇe matir astu! Kṛṣṇe ratir astu! Bhagavad-gītā matir astu!

Hare Kṛṣṇa!