Chapter 15 · Class prep
A printable handout for teaching this chapter. For each verse with Personal Guidance, you'll see Prabhupāda's translation, the essence, two or three practical applications, and a discussion prompt. Press ⌘P / Ctrl P to print as a handout.
BG 15.1
Śrī Śukadeva Gosvāmī said: While King Citraketu, overcome by lamentation, lay like a dead body at the side of the dead body of his son, the two great sages Nārada and Aṅgirā instructed him about spiritual consciousness as follows.
Essence. As Citraketu lay like a corpse beside his dead son, the two sages Nārada and Aṅgirā began to instruct him about spiritual consciousness. Teaching arrives at the moment of total collapse.
BG 15.2
O King, what relationship does the dead body for which you lament have with you, and what relationship do you have with him? You may say that you are now related as father and son, but do you think this relationship existed before? Does it truly exist now? Will it continue in the future?
Essence. What relationship does the dead body have with you — really? You may say father and son, but did that bond exist before birth, will it exist after? The sage opens with a metaphysical question, not consolation.
BG 15.3
O King, as small particles of sand sometimes come together and are sometimes separated due to the force of the waves, the living entities who have accepted material bodies sometimes come together and are sometimes separated by the force of time.
Essence. Like sand particles brought together and separated by waves, embodied souls meet and part by time. The image disarms our sense that 'we' are the architects of our gatherings.
BG 15.4
When seeds are sown in the ground, they sometimes grow into plants and sometimes do not. Sometimes the ground is not fertile, and the sowing of seeds is unproductive. Similarly, sometimes a prospective father, being impelled by the potency of the Supreme Lord, can beget a child, but sometimes conception does not take place. Therefore one should not lament over the artificial relationship of parenthood, which is ultimately controlled by the Supreme Lord.
Essence. Sown seeds sometimes grow, sometimes don't; sometimes a prospective father, by the Lord's potency, begets, sometimes not. Even procreation is not under our straightforward control.
BG 15.5
O King, both you and we — your advisers, wives and ministers — as well as everything moving and not moving throughout the entire cosmos at this time, are in a temporary situation. Before our birth this situation did not exist, and after our death it will exist no longer. Therefore our situation now is temporary, although it is not false.
Essence. You, we, and everything moving and nonmoving are temporary — before birth absent, after death absent. The honest framing makes attachment harder to defend.
BG 15.6
The Supreme Personality of Godhead, the master and proprietor of everything, is certainly not interested in the temporary cosmic manifestation. Nonetheless, just as a boy at the beach creates something in which he is not interested, the Lord, keeping everything under His control, causes creation, maintenance and annihilation. He creates by engaging a father to beget a son, He maintains by engaging a government or king to see to the public’s welfare, and He annihilates through agents for killing, such as snakes. The agents for creation, maintenance and annihilation have no independent potency, but because of the spell of the illusory energy, one thinks himself the creator, maintainer and annihilator.
Essence. The Lord, not interested in temporary creation, creates as a boy at the beach plays — and destroys what He made. The seriousness with which we hold the world is not how He holds it.
BG 15.7
As from one seed another seed is generated, O King, so from one body [the body of the father], through another body [the body of the mother], a third body is generated [the body of a son]. As the elements of the material body are eternal, the living entity who appears through these material elements is also eternal.
Essence. As seed produces seed through soil, body produces body through mother — the elements are eternal but the soul is also eternal, distinct from the body. Inheritance of body is not inheritance of self.
BG 15.8
Divisions of generalization and specification, such as nationality and individuality, are the imaginations of persons who are not advanced in knowledge.
Essence. Divisions like nationality and individuality are imaginations of those not advanced in knowledge. Identities seem solid until you put them under the light of soul-knowledge.
BG 15.9
Śrī Śukadeva Gosvāmī continued: Thus enlightened by the instructions of Nārada and Aṅgirā, King Citraketu became hopeful with knowledge. Wiping his shriveled face with his hand, the King began to speak.
Essence. Enlightened by Nārada and Aṅgirā, Citraketu wiped his shriveled face and began to speak. Teaching, properly received, restores even a shriveled face.
BG 15.10
King Citraketu said: You have both come here dressed like avadhūtas, liberated persons, just to cover your identities, but I see that of all men, you are the most elevated in awareness. You know everything as it is. Therefore you are the greatest of all great personalities.
Essence. You dressed like avadhūtas to hide your identity, but I see you are the most elevated knowers — please instruct me. Real saints come disguised; recognition is the disciple's task.
BG 15.11
Brāhmaṇas who are exalted to the position of Vaiṣṇavas, the most dear servants of Kṛṣṇa, sometimes dress like madmen. Just to benefit materialists like us, who are always attached to sense gratification, and just to dissipate our ignorance, these Vaiṣṇavas wander on the surface of the globe according to their desire.
Essence. Vaiṣṇavas elevated as Kṛṣṇa's dear servants sometimes dress as madmen to benefit attached materialists like us. Their unusual exterior is meant for our benefit.
BG 15.12-15
O great souls, I have heard that among the great and perfect persons wandering the surface of the earth to instruct knowledge to people covered by ignorance are Sanat-kumāra, Nārada, Ṛbhu, Aṅgirā, Devala, Asita, Apāntaratamā [Vyāsadeva], Mārkaṇḍeya, Gautama, Vasiṣṭha, Bhagavān Paraśurāma, Kapila, Śukadeva, Durvāsā, Yājñavalkya, Jātukarṇa and Aruṇi. Others are Romaśa, Cyavana, Dattātreya, Āsuri, Patañjali, the great sage Dhaumya who is like the head of the Vedas, the sage Pañcaśikha, Hiraṇyanābha, Kauśalya, Śrutadeva and Ṛtadhvaja. You must certainly be among them.
Essence. Among the great wandering teachers are Sanat-kumāra, Nārada, Ṛbhu, Aṅgirā, Devala, Asita, Vyāsadeva, Mārkaṇḍeya and others — they roam the earth to instruct the ignorant. The list itself is a kind of map of available help.
BG 15.16
Because you are great personalities, you can give me real knowledge. I am as foolish as a village animal like a pig or dog because I am merged in the darkness of ignorance. Therefore, please ignite the torch of knowledge to save me.
Essence. I am foolish as a village pig or dog, merged in ignorance — please ignite the torch of knowledge. Strong self-description prepares the disciple for strong instruction.
BG 15.17
Aṅgirā said: My dear King, when you desired to have a son, I approached you. Indeed, I am the same Aṅgirā Ṛṣi who gave you this son. As for this ṛṣi, he is the great sage Nārada, the direct son of Lord Brahmā.
Essence. Aṅgirā: I am the same who gave you this son — and this is Nārada, direct son of Brahmā. The teacher names himself and his colleague clearly; transparency is part of the instruction.
BG 15.18-19
My dear King, you are an advanced devotee of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. To be absorbed in lamentation for the loss of something material is unsuitable for a person like you. Therefore we have both come to relieve you from this false lamentation, which is due to your being merged in the darkness of ignorance. For those who are advanced in spiritual knowledge to be affected by material loss and gain is not at all desirable.
Essence. As an advanced devotee, lamenting over material loss is unsuitable for you; we have come to relieve you of this false grief. Spiritual identity sets a standard for grief.
BG 15.20
When I first came to your home, I could have given you the supreme transcendental knowledge, but when I saw that your mind was absorbed in material things, I gave you only a son, who caused you jubilation and lamentation.
Essence. When I first came I could have given you supreme transcendental knowledge, but seeing your mind absorbed in material things, I gave you only a son who caused joy and sorrow. Teachers give what the student is ready to receive — even if it produces the very sorrow.
BG 15.21-23
My dear King, now you are actually experiencing the misery of a person who has sons and daughters. O King, owner of the state of Śūrasena, one’s wife, his house, the opulence of his kingdom, and his various other opulences and objects of sense perception are all the same in that they are temporary. One’s kingdom, military power, treasury, servants, ministers, friends and relatives are all causes of fear, illusion, lamentation and distress. They are like a gandharva-nagara, a nonexistent palace that one imagines to exist in the forest. Because they are impermanent, they are no better than illusions, dreams and mental concoctions.
Essence. You are now experiencing the misery of having children; wife, house, kingdom, opulences, and objects of sense gratification are all unreal — like dream and mental concoction. Naming the temporal as temporal is the start of release.
BG 15.24
These visible objects like wife, children and property are like dreams and mental concoctions. Actually what we see has no permanent existence. It is sometimes seen and sometimes not. Only because of our past actions do we create such mental concoctions, and because of these concoctions, we perform further activities.
Essence. Wife, children and property are like dreams and mental concoctions — sometimes seen, sometimes not, generated by past actions. The continuity we feel is partly memory's editing.
BG 15.25
The living entity in the bodily conception of life is absorbed in the body, which is a combination of the physical elements, the five senses for gathering knowledge, and the five senses of action, along with the mind. Through the mind the living entity suffers three kinds of tribulations — adhibhautika, adhidaivika and adhyātmika. Therefore this body is a source of all miseries.
Essence. The bodily-conception soul is absorbed in body, ten senses and mind; through the mind he interacts with the gross world. The architecture of bondage is described as ordinary perception.
BG 15.26
Therefore, O King Citraketu, carefully consider the position of the ātmā. In other words, try to understand who you are — whether body, mind or soul. Consider where you have come from, where you are going after giving up this body, and why you are under the control of material lamentation. Try to understand your real position in this way, and then you will be able to give up your unnecessary attachment. You will also be able to give up the belief that this material world, or anything not directly in touch with service to Kṛṣṇa, is eternal. Thus you will obtain peace.
Essence. Consider carefully who you are — body, mind, or soul — where you came from, where you go, and why grief has overtaken you. The sage hands the inquiry back to the patient.
BG 15.27
The great sage Nārada continued: My dear King, attentively receive from me a mantra, which is most auspicious. After accepting it from me, in seven nights you will be able to see the Lord face to face.
Essence. Receive this auspicious mantra from me; in seven nights you will see the Lord face to face. Real mantra has a real, time-bound promise.
BG 15.28
My dear King, in former days Lord Śiva and other demigods took shelter of the lotus feet of Saṅkarṣaṇa. Thus they immediately got free from the illusion of duality and achieved unequaled and unsurpassed glories in spiritual life. You will very soon attain that very same position.
Essence. Long ago Śiva and others took shelter of Saṅkarṣaṇa's feet and were instantly freed from dualistic illusion. The path the high beings used is also yours to use.