The time is 5000 years ago; the place: Kuruksetra; the circumstance: the biggest battle the world has ever known. So the stage is set, and Lord Krishna has arranged a most dramatic build-up so everyone's attention is on what happens next. And when all eyes and ears are ready, Lord Krishna arranges that an intimate friend falls under the influence of His internal energy to act as a conditioned soul, bewildered by the most basic questions: 'Who am I?' 'What am I meant to do?' Lord Krishna , in response, explains to Arjuna the process of yoga and the basic transcendental knowledge needed to act in spiritual consciousness.

How is it possible that Krishna, after saying to Arjuna (Bg. 9.1), "I shall impart to you this most confidential knowledge and realization" then says (Bg. 14.1): "Again I shall declare to you this supreme wisdom, the best of all knowledge, knowing which all the sages have attained the supreme perfection"? Is more knowledge than that given in the "bhakti section" (Chapters 7-12) required, or is a repetition of the knowledge required? After discussing the processes of yoga in Chapters 1-6 and after presenting the goal of all yoga processes - bhakti - in chapters 7-12, Krishna reveals how this goal can be achieved. After a section about karma (action) and a section about bhakti (devotion), we come to a section about jnana (knowledge). Please prepare yourself for receiving knowledge, which will help you go home, back to Godhead.

For six weeks we will be discovering Srila Prabhupada's translation and commentary to Srila Rupa Goswami's Upadesamrita. Rupa Goswami was especially empowered by Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu to assemble instructions on how to attain love of Godhead, Krishna -prema. His Upadesamrita (The Nectar of Instruction) is a compilation of eleven verses that outline the gradual progress and main instructions for a serious spiritual practitioner who wishes to attain this eternal love.