Catuh-sloki : The four summary verses of the Bhagavad-Gita
The four verses of Chapter 10.8 to 11, famously called as Catuh-sloki are known as the summary verses of Bhagavad-gita. In this section of Gita, the Lord describes the nature of the pure devotees. He also explains His intimate relationship with them, where He gives them the proper understanding to attain Him. Lord Krishna is the source of everything and cause of all causes. All Vedic literatures like Atharvana Veda, Narayan Upanishad, Mahabharat, Varaha Purana etc confirm this. Those who understand this become His devotees and enjoy fixing their minds and hearts in Him. The Lord gives them the knowledge to come to Him.
Bg 10.8
aham sarvasya prabhavo
mattah sarvaṁ pravartate
iti matva bhajante mam
budha bhava-samanvitah
Translation: I am the source of all spiritual and material worlds. Everything emanates from Me. The wise who perfectly know this engage in My devotional service and worship Me with all their hearts.
Bg 10.9
mac-cittā mad-gata-prānā
bodhayantah parasparam
kathayantaś ca mām nityam
tusyanti ca ramanti ca
Translation: The thoughts of My pure devotees dwell in Me, their lives are fully devoted to My service, and they derive great satisfaction and bliss from always enlightening one another and conversing about Me.
Bg 10.10
tesām satata-yuktānām
bhajatām prīti-pūrvakam
dadāmi buddhi-yogam tam
yena mām upayānti te
Translation: To those who are constantly devoted to serving Me with love, I give the understanding by which they can come to Me.
Bg 10.11
tesām evānukampārtham
aham ajñāna-jam tamah
nāśayāmy ātma-bhāva-stho
jñāna-dīpena bhāsvatā
Translation: To show them special mercy, I, dwelling in their hearts, destroy with the shining lamp of knowledge the darkness born of ignorance.
(Translation by A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupad)
As per Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura, All four verses have a general meaning for practicing devotees (sadhakas), as well as an esoteric meaning relative to Krishna’s devotees of Vraja and the gopis in particular, as well as those following in their footsteps in advanced stages of practice. Krishna, proclaims Himself to be the original Supreme Person (svayam bhagavan). The wise who perfectly know this, engage in loving devotional service to Krishna, and they derive great satisfaction & eternal bliss from conversing about Krishna. And to such persons, Krishna gives full understanding so that they can go to Krishna’s abode. Otherwise nobody can understand Krishna by making mental efforts. Understanding inconceivable Krishna is beyond the limit of our limited & imperfect senses.
Thus, from the above four verses, the following can be summarised,
1. That, Lord Sri Krishna is the original source of everything. He personally created all worlds. All persons come from Him. This truth can be understood by hearing the sastra through bona fide authorities which leads one to surrender to Krishna in determination. One who thus, engages all his energy in Krishna Consciousness becomes a truly learned man.
Lord Krishna is the supreme person who existed before creation. Many Acharyas like Vishvanatha Cakravarti Thakur to Srila Prabhupada, confirmed this theme as one of the most important teachings of the catuh-sloki. God in His original form is a person, and it is He who exists before creation.
Thus, it is clear that both before and after creation what to speak of during it Krishna is the center of all that exists. He is the real existence upon which all other existences depend.
2. The Lord describes the behavior of pure devotees and the very nature of Bhakti as below,
Krishna’s pure devotee’s relish discussing the topics of Him amongst themselves and derive great satisfaction and happiness. They think of Krishna constantly and always engage in glorifying Him. Through these unmotivated and uninterrupted actions, they are blessed with knowledge of God, compliments of Krishna Himself.
The process of hearing and chanting acts for one’s devotional life just like the process of watering acts for a seed. Hearing and chanting let the love of God in one’s heart sprout and grow until it reaches Lord Krishna’s lotus feet in the spiritual world. When this happens, one becomes fully absorbed in the love of God and cannot live even for a moment without being in contact with the supreme lord. As stated by Chaitanya Mahaprabhu in Sikshastakam – where he says “O Govinda! Feeling your separation, I am considering a moment to be like twelve years or more. Tears are flowing from my eyes like torrents of rain, and I am feeling all vacant in the world in your absence.”
Krishna specially reciprocates with these pure devotees, who are constantly serving and devoted to him by, giving them knowledge and guidance by which they can return to Him and personally dispel any ignorance that may remain in their hearts. There is no possibility of understanding the Supreme Lord by simply by mere mental speculation or any other paths like Karma, Jnana or Astanga Yoga. The only method or qualification to know the Supreme god, the absolute truth is to be engaged in devotional service with love and devotion. By doing this, even if a devotee does not take advantage of Vedic literatures to increase his Jnana or knowledge, a sincere devotee is helped by Krishna himself within his heart. Also, a pure devotee need not worry about the material necessities of life because, the Supreme Lord being pleased with such devotee, removes the darkness from the heart and everything is automatically provided.
Thus the essence of teachings of Bhagavad Gita is conveyed in the Catuh–sloki Verses where, a pure devotee is completely surrendered to the Supreme Lord by engaging himself in pure devotional service consisting of the nice processes like Sravanam, Kirtanam, smaranam, pada sevanam, dasyam, sakyam and atmanivedanam. The supreme lord takes a special interest and out of compassion removes the ignorance from the heart of the devotees through shining lamp of knowledge and takes charge of the life of that devotee. As a result, the devotee becomes completely free from all kinds of anxieties and materialistic endeavours becoming happy and blissful, full of Sat, Cit and Ananda.
