Page 48 - Metaphysical questions of life

sciousness.”

“Kṛṣṇa consciousness is ac ng according to Kṛṣṇa’s order. A condi-
oned soul, illusioned by the external energy of ma er, does not know
that the Supreme Lord is the master who is full of knowledge and who
is the proprietor of everything. Whatever He desires He can bestow up-
on His devotees; He is the friend of everyone, and He is especially in-
clined to His devotee. He is the controller of this material nature and of
all living en es. He is also the controller of inexhaus ble me, and He
is full of all opulences and all potencies. The Supreme Personality of
Godhead can even give Himself to the devotee. One who does not
know Him is under the spell of illusion; he does not become a devotee,
but a servitor of māyā. Arjuna, however, a er hearing Bhagavad-
gītā from the Supreme Personality of Godhead, became free from all
illusion. He could understand that Kṛṣṇa was not only his friend but the
Supreme Personality of Godhead. And he understood Kṛṣṇa factually.
So to study Bhagavad-gītā is to understand Kṛṣṇa factually. When a
person is in full knowledge, he naturally surrenders to Kṛṣṇa. When Ar-
juna understood that it was Kṛṣṇa’s plan to reduce the unnecessary in-
crease of popula on, he agreed to fight according to Kṛṣṇa’s desire. He
again took up his weapons – his arrows and bow – to fight under the
order of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.” (Bg 18.73 – purport)

The false banyan tree of the material world and the real
one in the spiritual world

A person searching for the truth must search out the root of all life and
crea on. The Bhagavad-gita portrays this search in a very compelling
way. Krishna tells Arjuna that the entanglement of this material world
is compared to an upside down banyan tree with its roots growing up-
ward to Lord Brahma’s abode. The branches grow downward in the
material world. For the materialis c person seeking sense gra fica on
there is no end to the illusory banyan tree.

This indestruc ble banyan tree of illusion is an inverted reflec on of
the eternal tree of the spiritual world. The reflec on of the spiritual
world is situated on desire, just as a tree that grows on the bank of a
lake in the material world is reflected on water. Such a reflec on ap-
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