Bhagavad-gītā is not a new thing, a new adventure. And the person who spoke Bhagavad-gītā to the sun-god, does it mean that He left something to be commented by some . . . these mundane man to understand the meaning of the Bhagavad-gītā? Such a great personality, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, He told something which is to be understood by the interpretation of a mundane scholar? Do you think it is reasonable? No. Whatever He spoke, that is all right. And that is clear. There is no question of interpreting in a different way.
Just like here, "The Blessed Lord said: 'I instructed this imperishable science of yoga to the sun-god Vivasvān.' " What is difficulty there? Is there any word which you cannot understand? Is anyone here who cannot understand these lines? It is clear. "The Blessed Lord said, 'I instructed this imperishable science of yoga to the sun-god Vivasvān.' " Everyone can understand that Kṛṣṇa instructed this science of Bhagavad-gītā, or the yoga of Bhagavad-gītā, to the sun-god, whose name is Vivasvān. It is clear. How you can interpret?
Now the thing is, unless I think of Kṛṣṇa that, "He is an ordinary man. How He could say to the sun-god Vivasvān?" then the interpretation is required. But that sort of thinking is not bona fide, because if you want to study Bhagavad-gītā, you have to take the words of Bhagavad-gītā. The Blessed Lord . . . He is Lord. He can say.
The Lord is not like ordinary man that, "Because we cannot say to the sun-god, therefore Kṛṣṇa cannot say," that is our foolishness. Why should we calculate Kṛṣṇa's activity with my activities? Therefore all the commentaries who think Kṛṣṇa as ordinary man, they are null and void. Such commentaries should not be accepted.
We have explained in our introduction that all the commentaries in the market, they are simply presentation of the particular commentator's personal view. That is not Bhagavad-gītā. If you want to understand Bhagavad-gītā, then you should understand as they are said. You don't interpret in your own way.
Now, because there should be some doubt of the ordinary man that, "How Kṛṣṇa could say to the sun-god?" that is explained in the next verse. Because Arjuna was taking instruction from Kṛṣṇa, he knew Kṛṣṇa, what He is. Otherwise he would not have accepted Him as a spiritual master.
But because others would doubt, "This is fictitious that Kṛṣṇa said to the sun-god. How it is possible?" So you will find 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?"
Kṛṣṇa is taking our position, er, Arjuna. Persons who are thinking of Kṛṣṇa as ordinary person, so Arjuna is trying to clear that point, that Kṛṣṇa is not ordinary person; He is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Therefore he has put this question, that "The sun-god Vivasvān is senior by birth to You."
Sun-god, Vivasvān, the sun planet, father of Manu . . . Manu's age we cannot calculate. About forty millions of years ago Manu was born, and his father, we do not know what is his age. So how it is possible, if Kṛṣṇa is ordinary man, He spoke to him? That is being cleared.
So what He answered? "The Blessed Lord said: 'Many, many births both you and I have passed. I can remember all of them, but you cannot." That is the difference between God and man. That is the difference between God and man. We cannot remember. Even we cannot remember what I did at this time yesterday. That is our . . . forgetfulness is our nature.
To commit mistake, to forget, to be illusioned, to be cheated, imperfection of the senses—these are our qualifications. Every one of us, anyone who is in this material world, they are subjected to these defects: he is sure to commit mistake—"To err is human"—he is subjected to be illusioned, and he has a cheating propensity. Just like a mundane scholar . . . I do not wish to name. A mundane scholar, he admits, his introduction, that it is very difficult to interpret Bhagavad-gītā in one's own way, it is so tightly fitted. Actually it is so. Unless you contradict yourself, you cannot interpret Bhagavad-gītā according to your own way.
So Arjuna is clearing that, and Kṛṣṇa is saying: "The difference is that I take, I appear . . ." As you will find later on, Kṛṣṇa says, yadā yadā hi dharmasya glānir bhavati bhārata, tadātmānaṁ sṛjāmy aham (BG 4.7) Whenever there is discrepancies in the procedure of religious function and there is predominance of irreligiosity, at that time God or God's representative comes to this world to make things nicely.
So Kṛṣṇa appears. Kṛṣṇa appears, and we also appear. But our appearance and Kṛṣṇa's appearance is different. We have accepted this body, we have appeared in this world, forced by our karma according to our past deeds. Just like we are sitting. Every one of us have different features of body. Why? According to different karma. The body is made according to karma.
That is the explanation of difference. So we cannot know. And we can understand that your mentality, my mentality, is different. You act in different way; I act in different way. That is the way, every one of us. Therefore we are forced to accept a certain type of body according to our own karma. But Kṛṣṇa does not.
We change our body. Just try to understand. This forgetfulness means change of body. Just like we had some certain type of body in our previous life, but we do not know. Forgotten. Because I have changed the body, therefore I have forgotten. What to speak of my last birth? Even in your childhood, when you were, say, three or four years old, you did so many things. But do you remember them? No.
Because you have changed the body. That body is gone. Therefore we have forgotten. Forgetfulness means change of body. We are changing body every second, every minute. Therefore we are forgetting. And Kṛṣṇa does not forget. That means he does not change body. This is pure understanding of Kṛṣṇa.
Kṛṣṇa said that, "Many, many births both you and I have passed. I can remember all of them." Many, many. Thousands and thousands of times Kṛṣṇa appeared on this world, but He remembers everything. And I cannot remember about my childhood. So how can I become one with Kṛṣṇa? These Māyāvādī philosophers, they are declaring that, "I am God." How you can . . .? What is your qualification that you become God? God is not so cheap thing.