Originally I wrote Bhagavad-gita As It Is in the
form in which it is presented now. When this book was first published,
the original manuscript was, unfortunately, cut short to less than 400
pages, without illustrations and without explanations for most of the
original verses of the Srimad Bhagavad-gita. In all of my other books--Srimad-Bhagavatam, Sri Isopanisad,
etc.--the system is that I give the original verse, its English
transliteration, word-for-word Sanskrit-English equivalents,
translations and purports. This makes the book very authentic and
scholarly and makes the meaning self-evident. I was not very happy,
therefore, when I had to minimize my original manuscript. But later on,
when the demand for Bhagavad-gita As It Is considerably
increased, I was requested by many scholars and devotees to present the
book in its original form, and Messrs. Macmillan and Co. agreed to
publish the complete edition. Thus the present attempt is to offer the
original manuscript of this great book of knowledge with full parampara explanation in order to establish the Krsna consciousness movement more soundly and progressively.
Our Krsna consciousness movement is genuine, historically authorized, natural and transcendental due to its being based on Bhagavad-gita As It Is.
It is gradually becoming the most popular movement in the entire world,
especially amongst the younger generation. It is becoming more and more
interesting to the older generation also. Older gentlemen are becoming
interested, so much so that the fathers and grandfathers of my disciples
are encouraging us by becoming life members of our great society, the
International Society for Krishna Consciousness. In Los Angeles many
fathers and mothers used to come to see me to express their feelings of
gratitude for my leading the Krsna consciousness movement throughout the
entire world. Some of them said that it is greatly fortunate for the
Americans that I have started the Krsna consciousness movement in
America. But actually the original father of this movement is Lord Krsna
Himself, since it was started a very long time ago but is coming down
to human society by disciplic succession. If I have any credit in this
connection, it does not belong to me personally, but it is due to my
eternal spiritual master, His Divine Grace Om Visnupada Paramahamsa
Parivrajakacarya 108 Sri Srimad Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Gosvami
Maharaja Prabhupada.
If personally I have any credit in this matter, it is only that I have tried to present Bhagavad-gita as it is, without adulteration. Before my presentation of Bhagavad-gita As It Is, almost all the English editions of Bhagavad-gita were introduced to fulfill someone's personal ambition. But our attempt, in presenting Bhagavad-gita As It Is,
is to present the mission of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krsna.
Our business is to present the will of Krsna, not that of any mundane
speculator like the politician, philosopher or scientist, for they have
very little knowledge of Krsna, despite all their other knowledge. When
Krsna says, man-mana bhava mad-bhakto mad-yaji mam namaskuru,
etc., we, unlike the so-called scholars, do not say that Krsna and His
inner spirit are different. Krsna is absolute, and there is no
difference between Krsna's name, Krsna's form, Krsna's qualities,
Krsna's pastimes, etc. This absolute position of Krsna is difficult to
understand for any person who is not a devotee of Krsna in the parampara (disciplic succession). Generally the so-called scholars, politicians, philosophers, and svamis, without perfect knowledge of Krsna, try to banish or kill Krsna when writing commentary on Bhagavad-gita. Such unauthorized commentary upon Bhagavad-gita is known as Mayavadi-bhasya, and Lord Caitanya has warned us about these unauthorized men. Lord Caitanya clearly says that anyone who tries to understand Bhagavad-gita
from the Mayavadi point of view will commit a great blunder. The result
of such a blunder will be that the misguided student of Bhagavad-gita will certainly be bewildered on the path of spiritual guidance and will not be able to go back to home, back to Godhead.
Our only purpose is to present this Bhagavad-gita As It Is
in order to guide the conditioned student to the same purpose for which
Krsna descends to this planet once in a day of Brahma, or every
8,600,000,000 years. This purpose is stated in Bhagavad-gita, and we have to accept it as it is; otherwise there is no point in trying to understand the Bhagavad-gita and its speaker, Lord Krsna. Lord Krsna first spoke Bhagavad-gita
to the sun-god some hundreds of millions of years ago. We have to
accept this fact and thus understand the historical significance of Bhagavad-gita, without misinterpretation, on the authority of Krsna. To interpret Bhagavad-gita
without any reference to the will of Krsna is the greatest offense. In
order to save oneself from this offense, one has to understand the Lord
as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, as He was directly understood by
Arjuna, Lord Krsna's first disciple. Such understanding of Bhagavad-gita is really profitable and authorized for the welfare of human society in fulfilling the mission of life.
The
Krsna consciousness movement is essential in human society, for it
offers the highest perfection of life. How this is so is explained fully
in the Bhagavad-gita. Unfortunately, mundane wranglers have taken advantage of Bhagavad-gita
to push forward their demonic propensities and mislead people regarding
right understanding of the simple principles of life. Everyone should
know how God or Krsna, is great, and everyone should know the factual
position of the living entities. Everyone should know that a living
entity is eternally a servant and that unless one serves Krsna one has
to serve illusion in different varieties of the three modes of material
nature, and thus perpetually one has to wander within the cycle of birth
and death; even the so-called liberated Mayavadi speculator has to
undergo this process. This knowledge constitutes a great science, and
each and every living being has to hear it for his own interest.
People
in general, especially in this Age of Kali, are enamored by the
external energy of Krsna, and they wrongly think that by advancement of
material comforts every man will be happy. They have no knowledge that
the material or external nature is very strong, for everyone is strongly
bound by the stringent laws of material nature. A living entity is
happily the part and parcel of the Lord, and thus his natural function
is to render immediate service to the Lord. By the spell of illusion one
tries to be happy by serving his personal sense gratification in
different forms which will never make him happy. Instead of satisfying
his own personal material senses, he has to satisfy the senses of the
Lord. That is the highest perfection of life. The Lord wants this, and
He demands it. One has to understand this central point of Bhagavad-gita. Our Krsna consciousness movement is teaching the whole world this central point, and because we are not polluting the theme of Bhagavad-gita As It Is, anyone seriously interested in deriving benefit by studying the Bhagavad-gita must take help from the Krsna consciousness movement for practical understanding of Bhagavad-gita under the direct guidance of the Lord. We hope, therefore, that people will derive the greatest benefit by studying Bhagavad-gita As It Is as we have presented it here, and if even one man becomes a pure devotee of the Lord, we shall consider our attempt a success.
Our Krsna consciousness movement is genuine, historically authorized, natural and transcendental due to its being based on Bhagavad-gita As It Is.
It is gradually becoming the most popular movement in the entire world,
especially amongst the younger generation. It is becoming more and more
interesting to the older generation also. Older gentlemen are becoming
interested, so much so that the fathers and grandfathers of my disciples
are encouraging us by becoming life members of our great society, the
International Society for Krishna Consciousness. In Los Angeles many
fathers and mothers used to come to see me to express their feelings of
gratitude for my leading the Krsna consciousness movement throughout the
entire world. Some of them said that it is greatly fortunate for the
Americans that I have started the Krsna consciousness movement in
America. But actually the original father of this movement is Lord Krsna
Himself, since it was started a very long time ago but is coming down
to human society by disciplic succession. If I have any credit in this
connection, it does not belong to me personally, but it is due to my
eternal spiritual master, His Divine Grace Om Visnupada Paramahamsa
Parivrajakacarya 108 Sri Srimad Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Gosvami
Maharaja Prabhupada.
If personally I have any credit in this matter, it is only that I have tried to present Bhagavad-gita as it is, without adulteration. Before my presentation of Bhagavad-gita As It Is, almost all the English editions of Bhagavad-gita were introduced to fulfill someone's personal ambition. But our attempt, in presenting Bhagavad-gita As It Is,
is to present the mission of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krsna.
Our business is to present the will of Krsna, not that of any mundane
speculator like the politician, philosopher or scientist, for they have
very little knowledge of Krsna, despite all their other knowledge. When
Krsna says, man-mana bhava mad-bhakto mad-yaji mam namaskuru,
etc., we, unlike the so-called scholars, do not say that Krsna and His
inner spirit are different. Krsna is absolute, and there is no
difference between Krsna's name, Krsna's form, Krsna's qualities,
Krsna's pastimes, etc. This absolute position of Krsna is difficult to
understand for any person who is not a devotee of Krsna in the parampara (disciplic succession). Generally the so-called scholars, politicians, philosophers, and svamis, without perfect knowledge of Krsna, try to banish or kill Krsna when writing commentary on Bhagavad-gita. Such unauthorized commentary upon Bhagavad-gita is known as Mayavadi-bhasya, and Lord Caitanya has warned us about these unauthorized men. Lord Caitanya clearly says that anyone who tries to understand Bhagavad-gita
from the Mayavadi point of view will commit a great blunder. The result
of such a blunder will be that the misguided student of Bhagavad-gita will certainly be bewildered on the path of spiritual guidance and will not be able to go back to home, back to Godhead.
Our only purpose is to present this Bhagavad-gita As It Is
in order to guide the conditioned student to the same purpose for which
Krsna descends to this planet once in a day of Brahma, or every
8,600,000,000 years. This purpose is stated in Bhagavad-gita, and we have to accept it as it is; otherwise there is no point in trying to understand the Bhagavad-gita and its speaker, Lord Krsna. Lord Krsna first spoke Bhagavad-gita
to the sun-god some hundreds of millions of years ago. We have to
accept this fact and thus understand the historical significance of Bhagavad-gita, without misinterpretation, on the authority of Krsna. To interpret Bhagavad-gita
without any reference to the will of Krsna is the greatest offense. In
order to save oneself from this offense, one has to understand the Lord
as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, as He was directly understood by
Arjuna, Lord Krsna's first disciple. Such understanding of Bhagavad-gita is really profitable and authorized for the welfare of human society in fulfilling the mission of life.
The
Krsna consciousness movement is essential in human society, for it
offers the highest perfection of life. How this is so is explained fully
in the Bhagavad-gita. Unfortunately, mundane wranglers have taken advantage of Bhagavad-gita
to push forward their demonic propensities and mislead people regarding
right understanding of the simple principles of life. Everyone should
know how God or Krsna, is great, and everyone should know the factual
position of the living entities. Everyone should know that a living
entity is eternally a servant and that unless one serves Krsna one has
to serve illusion in different varieties of the three modes of material
nature, and thus perpetually one has to wander within the cycle of birth
and death; even the so-called liberated Mayavadi speculator has to
undergo this process. This knowledge constitutes a great science, and
each and every living being has to hear it for his own interest.
People
in general, especially in this Age of Kali, are enamored by the
external energy of Krsna, and they wrongly think that by advancement of
material comforts every man will be happy. They have no knowledge that
the material or external nature is very strong, for everyone is strongly
bound by the stringent laws of material nature. A living entity is
happily the part and parcel of the Lord, and thus his natural function
is to render immediate service to the Lord. By the spell of illusion one
tries to be happy by serving his personal sense gratification in
different forms which will never make him happy. Instead of satisfying
his own personal material senses, he has to satisfy the senses of the
Lord. That is the highest perfection of life. The Lord wants this, and
He demands it. One has to understand this central point of Bhagavad-gita. Our Krsna consciousness movement is teaching the whole world this central point, and because we are not polluting the theme of Bhagavad-gita As It Is, anyone seriously interested in deriving benefit by studying the Bhagavad-gita must take help from the Krsna consciousness movement for practical understanding of Bhagavad-gita under the direct guidance of the Lord. We hope, therefore, that people will derive the greatest benefit by studying Bhagavad-gita As It Is as we have presented it here, and if even one man becomes a pure devotee of the Lord, we shall consider our attempt a success.
A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami
12 May, 1971
Sydney, Australia
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