to question

Verse 4.4: Arjuna said: The sun-god Vivasvān is senior by birth to You. How am I to understand that in the beginning You instructed this science to him?

In order to clarify doubt and truly understand something, two things are required:

One needs to inquire from the right person.

It's a two way street, although a strong case can be made that most of the responsibility falls on the one who is posing the question. That's because they are the ones who:


1) Have to formulate the appropriate question or else they might not get the answer they need.

2) Have the free will to choose (and accept) the person to get answers from.

Let's use a real life example to understand that a bit better. If you've ever been to a foreign country, you might have first hand experience of trying to get to a destination and having no clue where to go. In stopping someone on the street, the first question you might ask is not how to get to x, y, z destination but... "Are you from here?"

That question is an important one as it helps you (the tourist) to find out if you're asking a reputable source (i.e. one who is qualified to answer). Well...at least in my experience, it may help but doesn't necessarily guarantee that you will get the directions you require!

But that qualifying question is an important one. It's easy to get answers to questions...

The difficulty lies in finding the right individual who is actually authorized to answer your question.

Krsna has already established himself as the appropriate person to teach the science of bhakti as described in Verse 4.1. Here, Arjuna is teaching all of us the art of questioning. He has heard Krsna out but still has a doubt and so he asks Krsna to clarify it.

This is where the subtleties of bhakti are revealed. After finding the right guide/teacher and formulating the appropriate question/s the most important thing is the attitude behind the questioning. Is it one of genuine curiosity and inquiry or one of arrogance? It's this attitude that actually determines how much knowledge is imparted from the bhakti yogi to the student.

These are three elements to perfecting the art of questioning - finding the right teacher, asking the right question and checking to see what your attitude is when asking it. Try them out and see how it works for you!

just ask

Verse 1.39: With the destruction of dynasty, the eternal family tradition is vanquished, and thus the rest of the family becomes involved in irreligion.

In the case of spirituality and religion, tradition often plays a huge role. Dress, customs, food, practices - all of these can be considered part of tradition.

For practitioners of any spiritual path, this is oftentimes a source wonder. Why should we follow tradition? Aren't the principles more important? What's the reason behind this?

As opposed to the "Just because you should" or "Because I said so," answer that is often spouted, bhakti has an answer. The general answer to this question is that these spiritual traditions act as tools to help connect us with the goal of bhakti which is to re-establish our relationship with God and serve him with love. I give the general answer here for the sake of brevity, but rest assured for those who have very specific questions, very specific and detailed answers are available.

Ok, so we receive an answer, but then why is it so difficult to accept it sometimes? What most of us are blind to is the fact that our material perceptions and viewpoints often become incorporated into any practice we take up, like that of bhakti yoga. In many ways that's very dangerous because it prevents us from practicing the path of bhakti authentically.

Think about it. Sometimes the thing we most resist doesn't come from what is being presented, but is due to an experience we have had on the material level. That clouds our judgement. If we take family tradition, for example, if one rejects or was never exposed to it in their own lives, then it may pose a problem when they encounter it in the bhakti lifestyle.

Srila Prabhupada, the translator of the Bhagavad-gita as it is, and one of the foremost bhakti practitioners of our time, presents a solution to these challenges an aspiring bhakti yogi may face. Srila Prabhupada writes in a purport found later in Chapter 4 of the Gita that, "Blind following is condemned".

I remember when I first read that. It really struck me and the scientific minded part of me was jumping for joy. Yes! As a person who always asks the question "Why?" I had received confirmation that this was not only appropriate but encouraged. Of course as an aspiring bhakti practitioner the attitude in which questions are posed are really important. So it was even more helpful that Krsna actually speaks on this and teaches us that one should inquire with great sincerity from a reputable source (i.e. legitimate spiritual teacher or guru). Wonderful.

That's the beauty of practicing devotional service. There's an answer to any and every question you could ever dream of asking. So I encourage everyone, don't hesitate to ask. You'll never find what you're looking for if you don't inquire.