SB 1.2.28 (1962)
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
TEXT No. 28
Vasudeva para veda vasudeva para makhah Vasudeva para yoga vasudeva para Kriah Vasudeva param jnanm vasudeva param tapah Vasudeva paro dharmo vasudeva para gatih
ENGLISH SYNONYMS
Vasudeva—the personality of Godhead, para—ultimate goal, Veda—revealed scriptures, Vasudeva—the personality of Godhead, Para—for worshipping, Makha—sacrifices, Vasudeva—the personality of Godhead, Para—the means of attaining, Yoga—mystic paraphernalia, Vasudeva—the personality of Godhead, Para—under His control, Kriah—fruitive activities, Vasudeva—the personality of Godhead, Param—the supreme, Jnanm—knowledge, Vasudeva—the personality of Godhead, Param—best, Tapah—austerity, Vasudeva—the personality of Godhead, Paro—superior quality, Dharma—religiosity, Vasudeva—the personality of Godhead, Para—ultimate, Gatih—goal of life.
TRANSLATION
The ultimate knowable object in the revealed scriptures is Sri Krishna the Personality of Godhead. The purpose of performing sacrifices is to please Him. The mystic paraphernalia are performed for realising Sri Krishna. All fruitive activities are ultimately rewarded by Him only. He is the Supreme knowledge and all severe austerities are performed to know Him. Religion means to do devotional service unto Him. And He is the Supreme Goal of life.
PURPORT
Sri Krishna the Personality of Godhead is the only object of worship is confirmed in these two slokas. In the Vedic literature there is the same objective of establishing relation with Vasudeva, to act according to that established relation and ultimately revive our lost loving service unto Him. That is the sum and substance of the Vedas. In the Bhagwat Geeta the same theory is confirmed by the Lord in His own words that the ultimate purpose of the Vedas is to know Him only. All the revealed scriptures are prepared by the Lord by His incarnation in the body of Srila Vyasdeva just to remind the fallen souls conditioned by material nature about Sri Krishna the Personality of Godhead. Except the Personality of Godhead no other demigod can award freedom from the material bondage. That is the verdict of all the Vedic literatures. Impersonalists who have no information of the Personality of Godhead minimise the omnipotency of the Personality of Godhaed and put Him on equal footing with all other living beings and for this act such impersonalists do get freedom from the material bondage with great difficulty. Because they can only surrender unto Him after many many births and culture of transcendental knowledge.
One may argue that the Vedic activities are based on sacrificial ceremonies. That is true. But all such sarcrifices are also meant for realising the truth about Vasudeva. Another Name of Vasudeva is Yajna and in the Bagawat Geeta it is clearly stated that all sacrifices and all activities are to be conducted for the satisfaction of Yajna or Vishnu the Personality of Godhead. Similarly the Yoga system. Yoga means to get into touch with the Supreme Lord. The process however, includes several bodily features as Ashana, Dhyana, Pranayama, Meditation etc. and all of them are meant for concentrating upon the localised aspect of Vasudeva represented as Paramatma. Paramatma realasition is partial realisation of Vasudeva and if one is successful in that attempt one realises Vasudeva in full. But by ill luck most of the yogins are stranded by the powers of mysticism achieved through the process of bodily features. Ill fated yogins become captivated by the wonderful material powers thus achieved and again become conditioned by the laws of Nature and fall down from the higher status of perfection. These fallen yogins are given a chance in the next birth by placing them in the family of good learned Brahmins or in the family of rich merchantile community just to execute the unfinished task of Vasudeva-realisation. If such fortunate Brahmin and the son of a rich man properly utilise the chance they can easily realise Vasudeva by good association of saintly persons, Unfortunately such preferential persons are captivated again by material wealth and honour and practically forget the aim of his life.
So also the culture of knowledge. According to Bhagwat Geeta there are about eighteen items in the matter of culturing knowledge. And by such culture of knowledge one becomes gradually prideless, devoid of vanity, nonviolent, forbearing, simple, devoted to the great spiritual masters, controller of the senses. By culture of knowledge one becomes unattached to hearth and home and becomes conscious of the miseries due to death, birth, old age and diseases. And a sum total of all such culture of knowledge culminates into devotional service of the Personality of Godhead Vasudeva. Therefore, Vasudeva is the ultimate aim of culturing all different branches of knowledge. Culture of knowledge leading one to the transcendental plane of meeting Vasudeva is real knowledge. Physical knowledge by its all branches is condemned in the Bhagwat Geeta as Ajnan or the opposite number of knowledge. Ultimate aim of physical knowledge is to satisfy the senses which means prolongation of the term of material existence and thereby continuing the status of the three fold miseries. So prolonging the miserable life of material existence is nescience. But the same physical knowledge leading to the way of spiritual understanding helps in ending the miserable life of physical existence and begins the life of spiritual existence in the plane of Vasudeva.
The same is for all kinds of austerities, Tapasya means voluntary acceptance of bodily pains for achieving some higher end of life. Ravana and Hiranyakasipu underwent a severe type of bodily torture for achieving the end of sense gratification. Some times modern politicians also undergo severe type of austerities for achieving some political end. They are not actually Tapsya. One should accept voluntary bodily inconvenience for the sake of knowing Vasudeva because that is the way of real austerities. Otherwise all other forms of austerities are classified in the group of the modes of passion and ignorance. Passion and ignorance cannot end the miseries of life. Only the mode of goodness can mitigate the threefold miseries of life. Vasudeva and Devaki, the so called father and mother of Lord Krishna, underwent, panances to get Vasudeva as their son. Lord Sri Krishna is the Father of all living beings. (BG 14.4) As such He is the original living Being of all other living beings, He is the original Eternal Enjoyer amongst all other enjoyers. Therefore no body can be His begetting father as it is ill conceived by the less intelligent class of men. Lord Sri Krishna agreed to become the son of Vasudeva and Devaki being pleased at their severe type of austerities. Therefore if any austerities have to be done, it must be done in terms of achieving the end of knowledge of Vasudeva.
Vasudeva is the Original Personality of Godhead Lord Shri Krishna. As explained before the original Personality of Godhead expands Himself by innumerable Forms. Such expansion of forms are made possible by His various energies. His energies are also multifarious and as such His internal energies are superior and external energies are inferior in quality. This is explained in the Bhagwat Geeta as the Para and Apara Prakrities.(BG 7.4-6) So His expansions of various forms which take place in terms of the internal energies are superior forms whereas the expansions which take place in terms of the external energies are inferior forms. The living entities are also His expansions. The living entities who are expanded by His internal potency are eternally liberated persons whereas those who are expanded in terms of the material energies are eternally conditioned souls. Therefore, all culture of knowledge, austerities, sacrifice, activities shall be aimed at changing the quality of the influence that is acting upon us. For the present we are all being controlled by the external energy of the Lord and just to change the quality of the influence, we must have to endeavour for it by cultivating spiritual energy. In the Bhagwat Geeta it is said that those who are Mahatmas or those whose mind has been so broadened as to be engaged in the service of Lord Krishna,—are under the influence of the internal potency and the effect is that such broad minded living beings are constantly engaged in the service of the Lord without any deviation. That should be the aim of life. And that is the verdict of all the Vedic literatures. No body should bother himself with fruitive activities or dry speculation of transcendental knowledge. Everyone should at once engage himself in the transcendental loving service of the Lord. One should not also deviate himself in the engagement of worshipping different demigods working as different hands of the Lord for creation, maintenance or destruction of the material world. There are innumerable powerful demigods for looking over the external management of the material world. They are all different assisting hands of Lord Vasudeva. Even Lord Shiva or Lord Brahma are included within the list of the demigods but Lord Vishnu or Vasudeva is always transcendentally situated. Even though He accepts the quality of goodness of the material world He is still transcendental to all the material modes. The following example will clear that matter more explicitly. In the prison house there are the prisoners and the managers of the prison house. Both the managers and the prisoners are bound up by the laws of the King. But the King even though he sometimes comes in the prison does not mean that the King is also bound up by the laws of the prison house. The King is the creator of the prison house as well as the officers and by His order the prisoners are put in the prison house. The King is therefore always transcendental to the laws of the prison house as much as the Lord is always transcendental to the laws of the material world.