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In the second chapter of Bhagavad-gita, after Arjuna finishes presenting why he thinks that he should not fight, Kṛṣṇa begins to speak:

sri bhagavan uvaca
asocyan anvasocas tvam
prajna-vadams ca bhasase
gatasun agatasums ca
nanusocanti panditah

“The Supreme Personality of Godhead said: While speaking learned words, you are mourning for what is not worthy of grief. Those who are wise lament neither for the living nor for the dead.” [Bhagavad-gita 2.11]

This is the beginning of Kṛṣṇa’s statements in Bhagavad-gita, as recorded by Vyasadeva. Vyasadeva is not exactly the author of Bhagavad-gita; he is the compiler who recorded the talks between Kṛṣṇa and Arjuna systematically in book form. So he prefaces Kṛṣṇa’s words with sri bhagavan uvaca.

Bhagavan means the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Just like in any meeting, the chairman or lecturer is the supreme person; similarly, in the state assembly there is a supreme person, the president or the prime minister; so in every group or organization you will find there is one supreme person. Without a supreme person nothing can be managed; if there is no one to give orders, any organization gradually collapses. This is a universal principle, a law of every organization, and you cannot avoid it.

Even in Communist countries they have a supreme person, a premier or dictator. So considering the whole universe, nature, and how systematically things are going on, there has to be a Supreme Personality of Godhead to manage everything so perfectly. The sun is rising early in the morning, and setting exactly on time. The moon is going through its phases. Every planet and moon in the gigantic planetary system is orbiting very systematically. The timing of heavenly bodies is so perfect that time can be calculated to one ten-thousandth of a second from their motion.

So in the Esoteric Teaching it is said,

yac-caksur esa savita sakala-grahanam
raja samasta-sura-murtir asesa-tejah
yasyajnaya bhramati sambhrta-kala-cakro
govindam adi-purusam tam aham bhajami

“The sun who is the king of all the planets, full of infinite effulgence, the image of the good soul, is as the eye of this world. I adore the primeval Lord Govinda in pursuance of whose order the sun performs his journey mounting the wheel of time.” [Brahma-samhita 5.52]

The sun is like the eye of all the planets. We have eyes, but unless there is sunlight, what is the value of our eyes? We cannot see in the dark. We are very proud of our eyes, and we want to see everything. But the value of our eyes is dependent upon the sun. Unless there is sunshine we cannot see. Still, we are very proud of our vision. This is called illusion. Actually, we have no power. We require certain very specific conditions; otherwise we cannot do anything.

prakrteh kriyamanani
gunaih karmani sarvasah
ahankara-vimudhatma
kartaham iti manyate

“The bewildered spirit soul, under the influence of the three modes of material nature, thinks himself to be the doer of activities, which are in actuality carried out by nature.” [Bhagavad-gita 3.27]

Prakrti, material nature, puts us in certain conditions and we work accordingly; we do not work independently, although we may think so due to our lack of understanding. Prakrti, material nature, completely controls us; but prakrti is also working under somebody’s control. Just like when you drive down the street and you see a traffic light. As soon as the light turns red, you have to stop your car. You cannot drive independently; you have to follow the signals.

This traffic light is controlled by the police, and the police are controlled by the government. Similarly, this whole material nature is acting like a traffic light, and behind that nature there is the intelligence of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. A child cannot understand how the traffic light is working. He thinks it is happening automatically. That is foolishness, ignorance. Actually, there is a controller behind the traffic light.

Intelligence means to understand that the actions of material nature, which apparently happen automatically, are actually regulated by a controller. If anyone thinks that “The traffic light is working automatically; there is no intelligence behind it,” he’s a fool; he’s ignorant. Similarly, the whole material cosmic manifestation is working under the intelligence of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Even the powerful sun planet is also working under His direction. Yac caksur esa savita sakala-grahanam: without sunrise nobody can see, not only on this planet, but on other planets also, sakala-grahanam.

So this powerful planet is described in the Vedic literature as the eyes of everyone in the universe, because without sunshine, nobody can see. Yac caksur esa savita sakala-grahanam raja. He is to be considered the king of all planets, sakala-grahanam raja. All the other planets are moving and rotating, their magnetic and atmospheric systems are working on the energy of the sun. So the sun planet is very important, but even the sun is not independent. Day and night, for millions of years, every motion of the solar system is being calculated and controlled by higher intelligence. Yasyajnaya bhramati sambhrta-kala-cakrah: the sun is orbiting around the center of the galaxy at 16,000 miles per second by the order of someone even more powerful. That is Govinda.

yasyajnaya bhramati sambhrta-kala-cakro
govindam adi-purusam tam aham bhajami

“I adore the primeval Lord Govinda in pursuance of whose order the sun performs his journey mounting the wheel of time.” [Brahma-samhita 5.52]

This is transcendental knowledge: knowledge that describes everything in terms of its relationship with the Supreme Personality of Godhead. In the sloka under discussion, the Supreme Person is called Bhagavan: sri bhagavan uvaca. Bhaga means six kinds of opulence: He is the richest, the most powerful, the wisest, the most beautiful, the wealthiest and the most renounced, all at the same time.

For example, this whole cosmic manifestation is created by the will of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, therefore everything belongs to Him. But you will not find him here; He is disinterested, renounced. Many millions of universes are working by His will, and He is the original cause of all of them; but He is not interested. The example is that He is like a big capitalist. The capitalist owns many factories, and if you go to the factory—like a Ford plant—you will find a huge industry going on, but Mr. Ford is not there. Everything is going on, but the real cause, Mr. Ford, is not visible.

Similarly, the whole cosmic manifestation operating under the will of Kṛṣṇa; but He is not present here. That is explained in the Bhagavad-gita,

maya tatam idam sarvam
jagad avyakta-murtina
mat-sthani sarva-bhutani
na caham tesv avasthitah

“By Me, in My unmanifested form, this entire universe is pervaded. All beings are in Me, but I am not in them.” [Bhagavad-gita 9.4]

Mat-sthani sarva-bhutani: “Everything is resting on Me.” In any factory, every worker knows that the whole business is controlled by that supreme person, the owner. But he is not visible in the factory; he is relaxing comfortably at home, managing everything through his agents. Similarly, mat-sthani sarva-bhutani: “Everything is resting on Me,” naham tesu avasthitah: “But I am not there.”

Bhagavan means that under His will, by His power, everything in the material universe is working so precisely and systematically. But if you want to see God, Kṛṣṇa, you cannot see Him within the material world. He is in Goloka Vrndavana, but His influence is so extensive that even without His personal presence, everything is going on so nicely. This is the real meaning of Bhagavan.

In this Bhagavad-gita, Bhagavan is giving you knowledge. So just consider how perfect this knowledge is. Vyasadeva did not write, sri-vyasadeva uvaca. No, he wrote, sri bhagavan uvaca. He did not take credit, because he simply recorded the words of Bhagavan. Whatever Bhagavan says, there cannot be any change or interpretation, because it is all perfect.

Unfortunately, we foolish human beings do not follow the example of Vyasadeva and accept Bhagavad-gita as it is. We want to change it according to our whims. This nonsense has wreaked havoc and ruined the whole world. If they would have preached Bhagavad-gita as it is, without any nonsense misinterpretation, the whole world situation would have been different. Everything would have been in order; there would be tranquility, peace, and everybody would have been prosperous. But sinful rascals will not do that. That is their defect. Therefore our tiny effort is how to present Bhagavad-gita as it is. This is the mission of the Esoteric Teaching.

Even now, in the present distorted condition of the world, if we accept Bhagavad-gita as it is, then still we will be benefited. There is no doubt about it. Therefore our appeal is that wherever in the world people are hearing this podcast, they should try to understand Bhagavad-gita As It Is, set up local study groups and gradually develop them into nice spiritual communities based on the Esoteric Teaching. Then everything will be peaceful. This is the peace formula:

bhoktaram yajna-tapasam
sarva-loka-mahesvaram
suhrdam sarva-bhutanam
jnatva mam santim rcchati

“The sages, knowing Me as the ultimate purpose of all sacrifices and austerities, the Supreme Lord of all planets and demigods and the benefactor and well-wisher of all living entities, attain peace from the pangs of material miseries.” [Bhagavad-gita 5.29]

Suhrdam sarva-bhutanam. Suhrt means well-wisher. Kṛṣṇa is the supreme well-wisher. Kṛṣṇa wants that wherever you live, you live peacefully and happily; therefore He is called suhrt, because He desires everyone’s happiness. He even comes Himself to advise us, to instruct us how to live, how to follow His instructions, and He leaves Bhagavad-gita behind, and occasionally sends His representative to revive our original spiritual consciousness. This is going on, not only in human society, but even in the animal society; not only on this planet, but on all planets. Everywhere, even in demigod society, the Esoteric Teaching is being presented according to the directions of Kṛṣṇa.

Therefore we should know that whatever Bhagavan says, there cannot be any mistake, any illusion, any cheating or any imperfection. If we follow these instructions, then the whole world will be very nice. The very words used to begin Kṛṣṇa’s teaching in Bhagavad-gita, bhagavan uvaca, indicate that this instruction is neither mistaken, nor illusion, nor cheating, nor imperfect.

Whatever we teach, whatever we speak, we conditioned souls manage to introduce some change, some error. Just like we are very proud of our eyes, but we cannot see without the sun, or without electricity. That is our defect. Everything about us is defective, but still we are proudly thinking, “We are perfect. We can attain perfect knowledge by our own efforts.” That is cheating. None of us is perfect.

But Kṛṣṇa, Bhagavan, is not like that. His knowledge and instruction are perfect. If someone thinks Kṛṣṇa is also like us, then

avajananti mam mudha
manusim tanum asritam
param bhavam ajananto
mama bhuta-mahesvaram

“Fools deride Me when I descend in the human form. They do not know My transcendental nature and My supreme dominion over all that be.” [Bhagavad-gita 9.11]

Because He teaches exactly like a human being, He appears, therefore we think, “He may be little more intelligent than me. But actually, He is just a human being like me.” No. He is Bhagavan. We have to accept that Kṛṣṇa’s instruction is perfect; otherwise there is no meaning to Bhagavad-gita As It Is.