A Study of BG 3.16

(written on January 10, 2020 )

The last lines of Srila Prabhupada’s purport to BG 3.16 states: “Indirectly, it is the practice of Kṛṣṇa consciousness, because when one masters the performance of yajñas one is sure to become Kṛṣṇa conscious. But if by performing yajñas one does not become Kṛṣṇa conscious, such principles are counted as only moral codes. One should not, therefore, limit his progress only to the point of moral codes, but should transcend them, to attain Kṛṣṇa consciousness.” In order to understand this paragraph first we must know the definition of moral codes: moral codes are a set of rules or guidelines that people follow in order to have a good life. What Srila Prabhupada is explaining here is that there are instances where one may follow the prescribed yajnas and not become Krishna conscious people. At this point, the people are only performing the yajnas as moral codes (or ways to make their lives better), and are not understanding the real end goal of such sacrifices. The entire point of sacrifice is to actually get rid of our sense gratification mindset and to begin following Krishna consciousness. This is explained in the translation of BG 3.16 which states, “My dear Arjuna, one who does not follow in human life the cycle of sacrifice thus established by the Vedas certainly leads a life full of sin. Living only for the satisfaction of the senses, such a person lives in vain.” The word vain is especially important. Vain means producing no result or useless. Krishna is saying to Arjuna here that a person’s life is useless if they do not follow the cycle of sacrifice or if they remain in sense gratification. That is why Srial Prabhupada is clearly stating in the last line that those who are performing yajnas should not become stuck at the moral codes but should transcend to Krishna consciousness, because otherwise they are missing out on the entire purpose of performing the sacrifice in the first place.