Seminar on Wheel of Karma | HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj | Domus, Rome, Italy | 26 July 2025
nama om vishnu-padaya krishna-preshthaya bhu-tale
srimate bhaktivedanta-svamin iti namine
namas te saraswate deve gaura-vani-pracarine
nirvishesha-shunyavadi-pashchatya-desha-tarine
jaya sri-krishna-chaitanya
prabhu nityananda
sri-adwaita gadadhara
shrivasadi-gaura-bhakta-vrinda
Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare
In Bhagavad Gita, Lord Krishna discusses different types of yoga: Karma yoga, Dhyana yoga, Ashtanga yoga and Bhakti yoga. At the end, then He says, give up all dharmas and all yogas and just do bhakti yoga. Nevertheless, He spends one whole chapter, chapter three, praising Karma Yoga. So, we should understand what is yoga, what is karma yoga and why it is inferior to bhakti yoga.
So, since the 1960s or 70s, the word yoga has become popular in English language and, let’s say, all foreign languages and if we go to most gyms around the world, they have yoga courses. But what is yoga? People use the word, but I think they use it without knowing what the meaning is. So, they even have yoga for dogs. They call it doga or for cats also. So, what is yoga itself? because the word is used so much. So, in India or in Sanskrit language, the word yoga can be translated as ‘method’. Another meaning of yoga is to ‘join together’. So, in English language, we have words like ‘union’, which come from that Sanskrit word.
So, as I said, we have these different yoga systems. The lowest is called karma yoga. However, it’s included in the Bhagavad Gita because it is related to spiritual life. Now, the word ‘karma’ literally means ‘action’. But when it’s used in the word karma yoga and in the Bhagavad Gita, it refers to very specialized types of action for purification. Now, of course, we do actions in bhakti yoga, dhyana yoga, ashtanga yoga also. So, in karma yoga, those actions are also a particular type of action. So the actions are distinct from those of dhyana, ashtanga yoga and bhakti yoga because the goal is not to get out of the material world, unlike the other processes, nevertheless, its goal is to raise people through the gunas to sattva guna. So, in karma yoga, we do actions and it raises us up to sattva guna. Once we get to sattva guna, we become qualified for dhyana yoga, ashtanga yoga, and then bhakti yoga.
So, what are the gunas? So, we have described in the Bhagavad Gita and other scriptures, three gunas or qualities and they permeate everything in the material world. So, the substances, actions, and mental functions can all be described in terms of gunas. So, in other words, just to give an example, we can have various things in the various gunas. For instance, we can have food in sattva guna, rajo guna and tamo guna. We can have knowledge in sattva guna, rajo guna and tamo guna. We can have music in terms of gunas. We can have religion in terms of gunas.
So, we can classify these different yogas in terms of gunas also. Here on one side, we see the gunas, tamo guna, rajo guna, sattva guna and nirguna. So, sattva guna is better than rajo guna and tamo guna, but nirguna is even better than sattva guna. Nirguna means we’re beyond the material world. So, we see the other column there. We have karma yoga with desires, called sakama karma yoga, karma yoga without material desires, nishkama karma yoga, then we have dhyana yoga, ashtanga yoga, and then bhakti yoga. So, we see that bhakti yoga is at the top because it is nirguna, beyond the gunas. And we see that dhyana yoga, ashtanga yoga, are sattva gunas. And we see that karma yoga, especially the materialistic sakama karma yoga, in tamo guna, rajo guna. And if we go to nishkama karma yoga, karma yoga without material desires, we start getting into sattva. So, if we’re talking about karma yoga here, it doesn’t actually get us out of the material world where it is tamo guna, rajo guna, ultimately a little bit of sattva.
If we do not have rules of any sort, generally we end up in a very confused state and generally we go downwards to sattva to rajas to tamas without any rules. So we see all societies, even very primitive societies have some rules to keep people in order. So the special quality of karma yoga is that, it designs rules to raise us through gunas. And, of course, the Vedas also realize that people are more or less attached and fixed in certain gunas.
So, some people are fixed in tamo guna. So, in karma yoga, they class some people in tamo guna and they give them a special name called sudra. So, what is the action they’re supposed to do? They’re supposed to work nicely. Tamo guna means ignorance, so they can’t think too much, they’re not so intelligent, so they can’t do very high jobs, but they can do a lot of labor jobs.
Some people are a mixture of tamo guna and rajo guna, they’re called vaisya. So, they do farming and trade, merchants. Rajo guna means a lot of passion and activity, so we see that the merchants are always very passionate to make money.
Then we have people who are a mixture of rajo guna and a little bit of sattva, these are called kshatriya. So, they share this quality of rajo guna or passion and activity with the vaisya, but also they are controllers. So, they become the main army, policeman and controllers of people. However, if they don’t have any sattva guna they will simply exploit everybody. So, with that sattva, there comes a little bit of detachment, so they don’t like to completely control people.
Those people in sattva are called the brahmanas. So the brahmanas study scriptures. They are very detached from the material enjoyment. And they give advice to all the others in society.
So in karma yoga different rules are given for the people in these different gunas. But the goal is not to keep the sudra at the bottom, or keep the kshatriya near the top, or whatever, or keep the brahmana at the top. The ultimate goal is to raise those from a lower level to a higher level. However, this usually takes many lifetimes. We see in the modern world, people have their natures, and it’s very difficult for people to change their natures in one lifetime. So, by following these different rules within the different gunas, gradually they get purified until they come to sattva.
So, that looks very good. Everyone gets to sattva, but sattva itself is within the material world. At the top of the material world, we have a planet called Brahmaloka, and you can live for millions of years or whatever, but it’s still within the world. It is very satvik, but within the material world, you have to die and then born again. So, the scriptures advise, better not stay in the material world, get out of the material world. So to do that, we cannot follow karma yoga because you’re still in the material world therefore we have to go to dhyana yoga, ashtanga yoga and bhakti yoga. Okay.
So related to this is the law of karma. So this is a little bit of a different meaning of the word karma. When we say the law of karma, we mean the ability of actions to get reactions in future lifetimes. Now every human being does actions, but the actions are also in a certain guna and the nature of that act in the gunas will determine our next life and the activities of next life and no human being can escape this law of karma. So, this rule of course is for human beings not for animals or plants. So the human being if he understands how the law of karma operates he can actually begin to improve his life birth after birth.
So the law of karma of course means that we accept that you take many births. So it’s not just one life and then death finish, you have birth after birth after birth. So as a human being we have desires for enjoying things and being happy in this world or avoiding suffering. So, if you analyze all the activities you do all day long, it’s in terms of is this going to make hurt or is this going to give me some pleasure. So, of course, from our actions we get certain results, but we also get a result for future life. According to the type of activity we may get enjoyment or suffering in the future life. Meanwhile we are doing our activity, we are trying to get some enjoyment and avoid suffering, we are not quite aware where the future reactions and then we get some experience, this is good or that is bad. Based on that we get some new desires, then we do some new activities. So, all day we’re doing activities next day we’re doing activities and this way we’re creating also karmas for next life and next life and next life. So all day long we’re doing activities based on desires and getting results and meanwhile we’re producing life after life after life for ourselves. So this is called the wheel of karma. It’s called the wheel because there’s no beginning and no end. It simply goes on and on and on, so it’s very difficult to get out of this trap in the material world. In Bhagavad Gita Krishna says “His maya is very difficult to overcome”.
This is a Buddhist depiction of the wheel of karma. So in the wheel, we have six different divisions and these describe according to our activities we get karma and we can be born as a human being or a devata or a ghost or an animal etc. In the center we have three animals, we have a snake, a chicken and a pig. So these represent lust, anger and greed. So in other words due to lust, anger and greed we do our activities. Our activities give us karma and this pushes us into body after body after body.
So what is the principle by which the law of karma works? So of course it is quite complicated, but we have some very simple principles. So we have actions of violence which create unnecessary suffering for other living entities. So those actions will lead to suffering in future lifetimes. If we cause suffering, we get suffering. I think in what was Assyrian way back there, an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. So according to your sin, you get a certain punishment, so that also works for you know violent activities etc. It also works the other way around. We do compassionate acts, that help other living entities. So we get good karma, we get enjoyment in future life. So we get two things. So if a person understands and accepts the law of karma then he said well I will avoid all of these violent activities and I will do all the good activities. So in karma yoga this is what we call dharma.
Certain acts are very nice to do. You do charity works and whatever and you avoid all the sins, this is part of karma yoga. Of course by following this law, we also act to preserve this world and not destroy it. We see in the modern world everyone’s concerned about environment and what’s the problem; people for profit destroy everything in the world, so they’re committing unnecessary violence. Of course the scriptures recognize in order to live we have to commit some violence, but there is permitted violence and there’s unpermitted violence, unnecessary violence.
So, in the Manu samhita, there it gives a description of mamsa which is meat. So it describes the word mamsa or meat in terms of its syllables mam and sa and, mam means me, sa means he. So in this lifetime I kill an animal, I eat his flesh, next life he eats me. So in other words according to the amount of violence, we get violence back on ourselves due to the law of karma. So then the skillful way to act as a human being is to follow these laws and avoid the violence and also do activities which help others, but it all depends on the choice of the human being and we see people know all the laws of the country, still people break laws. So you know the law of karma, still you commit a sinful activity, but nevertheless it is the human being that has this responsibility of choice.
Of course we can also say, well that people are ignorant and they’re in tamoguna or whatever they can’t make very good choices, that’s true. Those who are in sattva guna, who are very clear minds, and are very intelligent and know the scriptures, they can make better choices, but that is why this whole system is meant to raise people up until they become very sattvic, nevertheless what are the tamoguna people supposed to do. They’re not going to make good choices. So in the system of karma yoga, the people in tamoguna have very simple rules to follow, they don’t have to follow so many rules. A person in sattva has to follow many rules. So what is a sin for a person in sattva guna, is not a sin for a person in tamoguna, nevertheless, it is difficult for people in tamoguna to control their senses. So, therefore, we have the king in the kshatriya and he’s the one, that enforces the rules on the sudras and the vaishyas.
So if we are in sattva guna we can make good choices, so this way, gradually we can begin to loosen the, let’s say, the bondage of karma and we can live very happily life after life. If we’re in rajoguna then we think we can control everything whatever but we increase our karma. If we’re in tamoguna we’re not aware of anything and we simply follow karma, we’re helpless. So as I said, this karma yoga really doesn’t get us out but at least it gets us up to sattva. So though we have this law of karma, which is very difficult to get out of, we get all of our bad habits very difficult to get out of, still as a human being we have to make that attempt to get out.
So every human being has some ability to do this. So one of the assistance in this is other people, they can give us guidance, they can give us knowledge. So people in a higher position, they can give good advice to people who are more helpless. So gradually people who are in a lower position get the ability to choose properly what to do with their life. We see that we have people who are addicted to alcohol or drugs so they’re in tamoguna, very difficult for them to choose anything, but we do have some organizations who try to help such people. But what they have to do? These people who are giving advice, they have to convince the people there to be responsible for their lives, if they can’t do that then nothing is going to happen.
Okay. So to help all the people; not just people in sattva guna but sattva guna, rajo guna and tamo guna, there’s some very simple principles. So one is that, one should show tolerance and forgiveness to other living entities. Another is, we have to take responsibility for our actions. Another is we should show compassion to other living entities. Of course the opposite of this is, people who are thinking only of their self and then we think well whatever I do is right and if it causes pain to other people that’s not my problem. However, if we are to advance in our consciousness, we have to realize there’s other living entities in the world and just like us they feel pleasure, they feel pain and we have to consider others.
So in this system of karma yoga or dharma or varnashrama and then we have many rules to help you, you do these activities to help others, very good for you and gives you good next life and you avoid certain activities which you call sin, because they will give you a lot of suffering and they cause problems for other living entities. So that also is the function of astrology. So, astrology is to show the karmas of this life. So it will predict suffering at this time, money at this time, suffering at this time, sickness of this time and whatever, so what is the cause of the suffering? We did some sinful violent act in the previous life.
So what is the cure? We do opposite activity. Instead of doing a violent activity we do a pious activity to counteract that previous violence. So we have many types of activities: you can donate cows, education, medicine and whatever, you can perform homas or sacrifices, you can chant mantras for devatas or whatever. So all these activities are pulling you to counteract that or what we call atonement. They cancel out your sinful reactions, so that helps get rid of the immediate suffering. But there’s also a problem in this. It does not get rid of the cause of our original violent activity. So we get rid of our immediate suffering and then we get the same you know lust, anger, greed arising and then we do another sin and then we have to suffer and then we have to do another atonement. So that’s the problem with karma yoga.
So the scriptures give us methods to destroy the karma completely. One method is dhyana yoga. So dhyana yoga means you have to be situated in in sattva guna and then you can study the Upanishads, the Vedanta sutras and you have to use your intelligence, you have to renounce everything and become sanyasi. So it’s rather difficult for most people to follow that and it may take many lifetimes to destroy all the karma and get liberation. okay
Another way is ashtanga yoga. So we use.. you know of course asanas and pranayama and we begin to control the senses and mind. So finally, we’re able to separate the atma from gross and subtle bodies. However this is also a very difficult process and it may take thousands and thousands of years to accomplish. So this of course is described in Bhagavad Gita, very very difficult process. Okay.
So, Krishna gives us an easier process, bhakti yoga. So in bhakti yoga, of course we accomplish, you know, control of the senses, control of the mind etc, but we don’t have to stop the senses and mind; we engage them. So what do we do with the senses? We let them serve the Supreme Lord. Okay. So this cannot be done in ashtanga yoga or in dhyana yoga. You cannot serve Brahman. Brahman has no form, Brahman has no senses, so it won’t be compassionate towards all of your activities you’re doing for Brahman. But we do activities, we serve Krishna or Vishnu and they respond to us. Of course, at the beginning I said that bhakti yoga was nirguna, it’s beyond the goodness. So actually, bhakti yoga is the spiritual energy, the internal energy of Krishna, it’s much different from karma yoga, dhyana yoga or ashtanga yoga which are in the gunas. So when we engage our senses in Krishna we’re doing bhakti yoga. This is actually the internal shakti of Krishna. So very easily all the karmas get destroyed.
Of course the goal of bhakti yoga is not to destroy karmas, that is a side effect. The real goal of bhakti yoga is Prema and that is something that is not attained by karma yoga, dhyana yoga or ashtanga yoga. So, in any case bhakti yoga is the best, the easiest way, quickest way to destroy your karmas, to destroy your suffering, to destroy your desire, to destroy ahankara. Yeah.. So of course, Krishna indicates this in Bhagavad Gita. At the end of chapter six after describing the other yogas, He says “Bhakti yoga is the best process”. At the end of Bhagavad Gita in chapter 18 Krishna says “Give up all dharmas and surrender unto me. Just do bhakti yoga”. So though we do have these other yoga systems and they’re all approved by the Vedas, ultimately, they must all lead to bhakti yoga. All goals that are achieved by karma yoga, dhyana yoga, ashtanga yoga are achieved by bhakti yoga. But as I said, besides that, bhakti yoga gives Prema, this gives the highest bliss. Okay..
Hare Krsna !!
Q&A
1) I would like to know about the mantras used in the Bhagavad Gita I would like to know what is the difference between the mantras used in the Bhagavad Gita and the mantras used in the Vedas?
Of course, as I said, there are different Gunas and in the different Gunas we will have different types of worship. Now, Vedavyasa also wrote Puranas for people in Tamoguna, Rajoguna and Sattvaguna. So, he advised people in Tamoguna to worship Shiva. Of course, the goal is by worshipping Shiva, who is also a good Vaishnava, eventually you get purified and you rise in the gunas.
So, people in Rajoguna are advised to worship Brahma. And people in Sattvaguna are advised to worship Vishnu. So, there are mantras for Shiva, mantras for Brahma and mantras for Vishnu. But the real goal is to get out of the material world, to go beyond Sattva [Laughs]. So, we have mantras for Vishnu and Krishna. Of course, mantras are good, but mantras also require some qualifications. Particularly vedic mantras, if we don’t pronounce with proper intonation, the proper syllables, so many qualifications, you get the opposite effect. Instead of going to Svargaloka, you go to hell [Laughs].
So, easier than that, easier than the mantras, is the names of the Supreme Lord. Thats why we call this as Mahamantra or the great mantra. So we simply chant the names of the Lord. Of course, there are many names of the Lord. But in ‘Vishnu’s Sahasra Nama’ it says, one name of Rama is equal to a thousand names of Vishnu. But in ‘Brahma Vaivarta’ Purana it says that three names of Rama is equal to one name of Krishna. So, therefore, the name of Krishna is most powerful. It will destroy Karma but of course, destroying karma is not our goal, Prema is our goal.
So, even if we don’t follow all the rules, even if we don’t pronounce the name Krishna properly, still it has greatest effect. Even if we chant accidentally, still it has greatest effect. Of course we have the story of Ajamila. He named his son Narayan and moment of his death he wasn’t thinking of Visnu, but due to that he destroyed all of his Karmas even though he was a sinful person. So, it’s the simplest process with least amount of rules but it gives the highest goal.
2) You described how by chanting all the karma is destroyed. So, when we see our chart, all these charts and the karma is there available for us, it’s destroyed ?
Chant Hare Krishna, all gone. You don’t have to go to astrologers. Of course, if we do Bhakti Yoga or chant, sometimes all the karmas are not destroyed immediately. So we get some effect. Like take a medicine, it’s not the next day you’ll get cured, it may take 5 months to get cured. [Laughs].
3) Ofcourse, this is about the Karma, but what about the offences that we make in direct connection with the Lord. For example, it is mentioned, if you don’t wash your feet you can’t enter the temple, if you don’t bath you can’t do this. So like this there are many many rules and if we make this may be offence which comes with the name so what can we do?
So, we have different type of offences one is offence against the deities, that is seva Aparadha so particularly with the deities there are many rules and if we don’t follow the rules it becomes offence. So that is why deity worship is more difficult than doing Harinam. Chanting Holy name, no consideration of pure, impure, breaking rules all that.
Now generally it is considered if we do the deity aparadh it’s not done intentionally so the bad effect is not so much. But we have another type of aparadh that is Nama aparadh which is very serious. Of course the devotees usually don’t do this intentionally but accidently. But at least if we have knowledge, then we can avoid even the Nama aparadhs. However, if due to maya if we commit Nama Aparadha then it becomes serious. It’s actually worse than the sinful activities. Why is that? Because it can destroy Bhakti.
A sinful activity can give you some suffering of the material body or whatever born as an animal things like that but when you do Aparadha your bhakti is destroyed. So if your bhakti is weaker we can’t do so much bhakti so that [not clear] difficult to recover. So therefore it is always advised to avoid the nama Aparadhas.
4) Somehow in this life [not clear] , to access the bhakti yoga, is there any better option in this life than to dedicate at most to a lower form of yoga? How can a person be elevated? It’s very difficult.
Well, so it may be accidentally you chant the name of the Lord, like Ajamila chanted the name, because he named his son Narayan or whatever. So even then it has a powerful effect, even accidental chanting.
Of course, bhakti is nirguna, it’s beyond the gunas. And anyone in any guna can chant the name if he has faith. So faith may arise in someone in Tamoguna or in Rajoguna or in Sattvaguna. And then they can chant the holy name and nobody can criticize that. So we find that people, in the Bhagavatham it says, the people who aren’t even in the Varnashrama system, they chant the name of the Lord and they can become higher than a brahmana.
We have the story of Mrugari, the hunter. He was a hunter.
And he was not a good hunter because he liked to kill animals, but he liked to see them suffer, etc. So he was a very low person, but he got the mercy of Narada Muni and he began to chant the holy name and he got bhava in three months.
Haridas Thakur, associated to Lord Caitanya, was not even in the Varnashrama system. So he was lower than a sudra, but he became the nama acharya.
5) Sometimes you perform the Chant service, try to avoid offenses, and you try to be in the right position. And then sometimes you go down, and then you experience something in which you feel like you’re disconnected, but then you want to be reconnected with the mercy of the Lord. So, if I didn’t go down, I did not feel how to come back, and I feel the experience of the Lord. So, it’s like a dual thing. It’s like if there is no night, there is no day, there is no sun, there is no moon, there is no suffering, there is no happiness. So, this duality is what he is experiencing, in that duality.
So, anyway if you begin devotional service we do have a lot of karmas, we have a lot of material desires, anarthas all these are big distractions. So, we start bhakti with a little faith. But that faith is a little weak. And we have all these material desires that create many disturbances in our mind.
So, of course, if we continue the process of bhakti, gradually, those material desires and influences become less and less and less. So, like, if we are diseased, we’ve got material disease, actually, and we take medicine, gradually, we get some effect, but not immediately. But, of course, you may think, third day, I’m not really feeling the effect. Let’s stop this medicine. I’ll do something else. But the intelligent person will realize that, no, I have to keep doing this process of bhakti, and gradually, I’ll improve, and the material desires will decrease, like, I’m less confused, and I’ll become more fixed in bhakti.
So, we should have that determination to continue. And gradually, our mind becomes clearer and more fixed again.
6) In the last verse of the 17th chapter of Bhagavad Gita, Lord Krishna states that spiritual activities done without awareness have limited results in next life and in this one. So, when I go to Kirtan, I was one… I am very much influenced by the desire to escape my suffering and progress and get rid of my karma. So, when I go seeking, I don’t do it for desires. I don’t really do it for the welfare of the living beings and the other people. So, I was… My question is, the fact that I have full desires and egoistic desires does affect the effectiveness of the Holy Name on the people that surround me, and so it means that I have a limited ability to get the faith in other people. And if people, very advanced… If very advanced people are needed to gain faith in other people when they listen to the Holy Name, and so have to spread this movement, which is the desire of Prabhupad.
Okay. So, bhakti and chanting the Holy Name are a little bit different, I mean, quite different, from other religious processes like karma yoga, jñāna yoga, and Aṣṭāṅga yoga. And if you don’t do these other processes with the proper knowledge, the proper attitude, purity, etc., you get very little effect. Whereas with bhakti yoga, of course, best is pure bhakti. We get prema.
We get prema from pure bhakti. But, even if we do mix bhakti, we mix the bhakti with a little bit of material desires, desire for liberation, freedom from suffering, we still get very good effect. So, Krishna accepts people who do have material desires and perform bhakti.
So, He responds to them, but, of course, He gives the best response to those who practice pure bhakti.
So, He responded, Vishnu responded, to Gajendra, who was an elephant and he was praying that the crocodile was attacking so please free me. And so the Lord came and killed the crocodile and freed him. That was mixed bhakti, not pure bhakti.
But, of course, it is preferred that we do pure bhakti. Now, when we start bhakti, it may be difficult for us to do pure bhakti because we have so many material desires. At least, we should understand this concept of pure bhakti and we should strive for that. So, even if we haven’t to do much, that’s fine, but we strive for that pure bhakti. And Krishna is very merciful, so He understands our problem and He responds to us.
7) Yeah, I have a problem with my mind. Is there any test I can do for understanding my mind?
[Laughs]…A test? For understanding? For understanding the level of mind. Yeah, of course, in Bhagavad Gita, Krishna says, mind is very difficult to control. We see something, our mind goes out and it gets distracted.
But Krishna tells Arjuna, yes, it’s difficult, but if you don’t control the mind, you don’t go anywhere. Arjuna says, I am mentally disturbed, but Krishna explains that if you don’t control the mind, you don’t go anywhere. Even in the material world, if you want to reach or do anything, you have to control your mind. If you want to drive a car, you have to control your mind. If you want to pass an exam in college, you have to control your mind. It’s difficult to control the mind, but you have to practice.
Of course, in spiritual practice we have like Aṣṭāṅga yoga there, and we do pranayama and try to control the mind. But Bhagavatham tells us the easiest way to control the mind is to engage in Krishna service. So you control the mind by hearing about Krishna, hearing the scriptures, serving the Deity, seeing the Deity, or chanting the name. So even when we chant, the mind is distracted, but we have to practice.
8) When I hear this voice in my heart telling me, are you really sincere, is this voice Maya? Who is this voice? This is maybe doubt.
So of course, in Bhagavad Gita, Krishna says you have to destroy all doubt with knowledge.
So you study Bhagavad Gita, you get conviction, and then that doubt is not aroused.
Devotee: I have no doubt, this is the best process, I’m trying to do this, but sometimes I feel like I have to go and serve. So I don’t know if serving is good or bad, but I have to do it because I like to do it. So is this Maya or what? But yeah, I’m speaking to my friends, I preach to them about, serve friends, I speak to them about the Bhagavad Gita, I mention another thing. While you serve me, I’m chanting the mantra, but when it comes down, you’re speaking to a friend and preaching to me.
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj: So bhakti is a very flexible process. I gave a lecture on that last night. So at any time, at any place, you can do bhakti. In Svargaloka, on Earth, and lower planets, you can do bhakti. In peaceful situation, dangerous situation, you can do bhakti. And anyone, any age can do bhakti. And any occupation, you can do bhakti. So in all situations, whether playing or working or studying or meditating, you do bhakti.
Devotee: We have a lot of devotees who are tennis players. We have famous devotees who play tennis, who are professionals, but they are devotees and they use that platform to preach. That’s why it’s important. We have devotees who are ninja warriors. We have devotees who are different types of people. I’m afraid that when you go to the conference, you can’t give up. No, but why should I give up? The wave of the sea has to go to the fish. No, the wave of the sea. But if it’s a party with friends, you can also have a glass of wine. You know you have to do it, you have to do it yourself. Go check. The problem is when you have an association with your friends, sometimes they drink wine and then you drink a little bit of wine and then you start to drink a little bit more. It’s not a problem.
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj: So that we have to be careful of. In all situations, we should avoid bad associations also. [Laughs]
9) What’s the difference between Buddhi Yoga and… The difference between Buddhi and Bhakti. Buddhi and Bhakti.
So, yeah, the word Buddhi Yoga is sometimes translated as Jñāna Yoga, sometimes as Bhakti Yoga. So the word is used, which means intelligence, because it’s higher than Karma Yoga. But of course, Bhakti Yoga is also higher than Jñāna Yoga. So it also requires intelligence, but actually the intelligence is given by Krishna in Bhakti Yoga. So it’s the highest yoga. Link your heart to Krishna.
10) If I remember correctly, hopefully, when you came last time, you spoke about Karma. And you said sometimes, if somebody has an accident or is ill, it’s not always due to Karma. Yeah. Can you explain that?
Okay. Sure. So just to give an example, let’s say a person smokes cigarettes. So he may get lung cancer. So lung cancer is caused because he smokes cigarettes, not because of his Karma. So he smokes cigarettes because he made a choice in his life or people, if they eat a lot, they get fat. So it’s not exactly my Karma to get fat, but I ate a lot, so I got fat. Of course, we can say, due to impressions of previous lifetime, I like to eat in this lifetime.[Laughs] But with my intelligence in this lifetime, I will say, well, it’s not so good to eat too much, even though I like to eat, so I’ll control myself, then we don’t get fat.
Normally, accidents occur due to Karma, but sometimes accidents occur due to inattention. So if a person drinks wine, he gets intoxicated, and he has an accident. It’s not the fault of Karma, it’s the fact that you drank wine.
Devotees: HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj Ki JAI!!!!