BG4.17

Just as the cowherds desire to wear silver ornaments, Sri Krishna wore silver ornaments. He also adored Himself with colorful flowers. He is happy only when what He enjoys is shared by His devotees. Upanishads say that He enjoys and makes His devotees enjoy. Today's [8th October,2007] lecture is from a place across Yamuna on the other side of Mathura, called Kumuda Vanam. The pond near here is full of Kumudam [a type of water lily] flowers. While devotees adore the Lord with flowers, Sri Krishna used to decorate the cowherd women with these flowers. Near this place sage Kapilacharya was meditating. There are ponds Kumuda kundam and Padma kundam. Acharya Parasara Bhattar says that Sri Ranganatha used to come to Chandra pushkarini and would bend the flowering trees, pluck flowers and decorate Sri Ranganayaki Thayar. Sri Andal in Her Thiruppavai 2nd verse [vaiyathu vazhveergal] says 'malarittu naam mudiyom'. It is commented here by Acharyas that we will not decorate ourselves with flowers, but if the Lord prefers He could decorate us with flowers and we will accept. Once Sri Krishna was playing with the cowherd women, ie. Rasakreeta. The women were ecstatic and it was feared that their further excitement may cause the souls to depart their bodies and so Sri Krishna disappeared from the scene to reduce their ecstasy. Then the women not finding their darling Sri Krishna, started searching for Him and sang Gopika geetham. Suddenly they spotted the trail of two pairs of footprints, adjacent to each other and they concluded Sri Krishna was with a single lucky woman and that both of them walked together. After a distance the trail became a single pair of footprints and they were hard pressed. The searching women inferred that after a while the lucky girl would have complained of tiredness and Sri Krishna would have liffted her and walked, as the footprints were deeper. Then the footprints were totally absent near this Kumuda vanam. The lucky Gopika refused to further go and rested on a platform here. She became proud and thought that Sri Krishna was her exclusive and ordered Him to pluck flowers and decorate her. As she bent to accept the flowers, Sri Krishna wanted to humble her pride, and so He disappeared from her. While the other women had comrades in distress to share, the condition of this lonely girl was pitiable. This incident is narrated by Sukhacharya in Srimad Bhagavatham. Now we come to the 16th sloka of Chapter 4, where even great intellectuals have not interpreted correctly:

kim karma kim akarmeti
kavayo ’py atra mohitah
tat te karma pravaksyami
yaj jnatva moksyase ’subhat

"Even the intelligent are bewildered in determining what is action and what is inaction. Now I shall explain to you what action is, knowing which you shall be liberated from all misfortune."

Asubha = this samsaram or life cycle, moksyase = you will be released, ya jnatva = if you understand this, tat = that, karma= Karma yoga, pravaksyami = I [Sri Krishna] will teach. Sri Krishna preambles the great secret and important teaching of Karma yoga. Sri Krishna aroused fear in Arjuna whether he would be able to understand this which has not been understood by even intellectuals. Sri Krishna pacifies that since He is going to be the Teacher it will not be difficult to understand. Kim karma = which is action, kim akarma = which is different from karma , but part of the karma, ie. the gyana or knowledge, kavayopi = even great intellectuals, mohita = were perplexed or confused, atra = in this matter. Here kavi does not mean poets, but great learned ones. Mere action can not become Karma yoga unless it is done with atma gyanam. As an example, now all of us have gathered in Brindavan. This pilgrimage was not taken for travelling in train or spend time with relatives and freinds in a distant place. The preparations such as reserving rail berths, collecting luggages, etc. are all the action part of this Karma of pilgrimage to Brindavan. But there has to be an undercurrent of gyana in these actions. That gyana is that we are going to Brindavan, the place where the Lord played and He is the Master of all of us and by visiting we would please our Master and get Moksham. If this gyana is always present in every minute we are in Brindavan, no matter what we do, then this pilgrimage becomes a Karma yoga. When we teach our children mere teaching is not enough, but a constant knowledge that the children should have a good career and prosper and become good citizens. So Karma is the action part and akarma is the knowledge part. Devotion to God is the akarma part and all services to God is the karma part and both combined become Karma yoga. Without this akarma, our services to God is useless. Sri Krishna is going to teach this Karma yoga with the two parts of karma and akarma. By understanding this Arjuna will get freed from the bonds of samsaram. Here also mere understanding of what Sri Krishna is going to teach will not get Moksham but a sincere and faithful practice of what has been taught and understood. There are many questions on rituals and Sri Krishna is going to answer all these.