Prabhupada 0278 - Disciple Means who Accepts the Discipline

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Lecture on BG 7.2 -- San Francisco, September 11, 1968

Now this knowledge can be understood by a person who has made relationship with Kṛṣṇa and is a surrendered soul. Without being surrendered, it is very difficult to understand the controller and the energies, how He is controlling everything. Tubhyāṁ prapannāya aśeṣataḥ samagreṇa upadekṣyāmi. This is the condition. You will find in the later chapters that Kṛṣṇa says, nāhaṁ prakāśaḥ sarvasya (BG 7.25). Just like if you enter into any educational institution, if you don't surrender yourself to the rules and regulation of the institution, how you can get advantage of the knowledge imparted by the institution? Everywhere, wherever you want to receive something, you have to be controlled or you have to be surrendered to the rules and regulation. Just like in our class we are imparting some lessons from the Bhagavad-gītā, and if you do not follow the rules and regulations of this class, it is not possible to receive the knowledge. Similarly, the full knowledge of the controller and the process of controlling can be understood when one is surrendered like Arjuna to Kṛṣṇa. Unless one is surrendered soul, it is not possible. You always remember that Kṛṣṇa, Arjuna surrendered himself to Kṛṣṇa. Śiṣyas te 'haṁ śādhi māṁ prapannam (BG 2.7). So therefore Kṛṣṇa is also speaking to him.

Actually, these discussions of scripture is not to be acted unless there is relationship between the speaker and the audience. So audience means the disciples. Disciple means who accepts the discipline. Śiṣya. Śiṣya. The exact Sanskrit word is śiṣya. A śiṣya means... There is a verb, Sanskrit verb, which is called śās. Śās means controlling. From śās, the "śāstra" comes. Śāstra means controlling books. And from śas, śastra. Śastra means weapons. When argument fails, reason fails... Just like the state controls. First of all they give you the laws. If you break the laws, if you don't follow the regulation books, means śāstra, then next step is śastra. Śastra means weapons. If you don't follow the regulation of the government, keep to the right, then there is police batons—śastra. You have to be controlled. If you are gentleman, then you be controlled under the instruction of the śāstras. And if you are defying, then there is trident of Durgādevī. You have seen Durgādevī, the picture, trident, threefold miseries. You cannot, I mean to say, violate any rules and regulations; as of the state, similarly of the supreme state Kṛṣṇa. It is not possible. Just take for example there are some health rules. If we eat more, then you will be controlled by some disease. You'll have indigestion and the doctor will advise you not to eat three days. So there is control—by nature. Nature means God's law. Automatically working. Foolish people do not see God's law, but there is God's law. The sun is rising just exactly in the time, the moon is rising exactly in the time. The first year, first January, has come exactly in time.

So there is control. But foolish people, they do not see it. Everything is controlled. So to know God and how things are working and how it is being controlled, these things are to be known. We should not go simply by sentiment. Religious sentiment is good for persons who follow blindly. But at the present moment, people are advanced in so-called education. So Bhagavad-gītā gives you full information so that you can accept God with your reason, with your argument, with your knowledge. It is not blind following. Kṛṣṇa consciousness is not a sentiment. It is backed by knowledge and practical knowledge. Vijñānam. Jñānaṁ vijñāna sahitam. So without vijñāna sahitam... And the process is to understand this knowledge is to be a surrendered soul. Therefore we... Disciple, disciple means one who accepts the discipline. Without accepting discipline, we cannot make any progress. It is not possible. Any field of knowledge, any field of activities, if you want to be aware, scientifically and factually, then you should accept the controlling principle. Samagreṇa vakṣ ya svarūpaṁ sarvokaraṁ yatra dhiyaṁ tad ubhaya-viṣayakaṁ jñānaṁ vyaktum.