Positive factors in understanding the Vedas
One could argue that the Vedas also speak about the absolute truth. What, therefore, is the need for specifically studying the Vedānta-sūtra? scriptures can be easily misunderstood and misinterpreted.
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Positive factors in understanding the Vedas
To this, one could argue that the Vedas also speak about the absolute truth. What, therefore, is the need for specifically studying the Vedānta-sūtra?
The problem is that verses from the scriptures can be easily misunderstood and misinterpreted. This combination of misunderstanding and doubt may then lead one away from the real meaning of the Vedas, bringing him back to the materialistic platform. By studying the Vedānta-sūtra, one strengthens his intelligence and gets the correct conclusions by which one can properly understand the Vedas.
Śrīla Vyāsadeva collected passages from the Vedas that deal specifically with spiritual knowledge and compiled them in the form of the 108 Upaniṣads, culminating with the Bhagavad-gītā, considered the essence of Vedic knowledge.
However, most passages of the Upaniṣads are very difficult to understand. We can see how much speculation there is around the Bhagavad-gītā, for example, with different authors using the verses to sustain the most diverse theses. Vyāsadeva, thus, wrote the Vedānta-sūtra, giving the correct conclusions for the verses of the Upaniṣads. Without these conclusions, it’s almost certain that one will misunderstand their meaning.
Studying the Vedānta-sūtra, however, is not a casual matter. It demands intelligence and purity to understand the many delicate philosophical points. Śrīla Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa lists two helpful factors in this direction.
1- The first is to execute the āśrama duties of a Brāhmana, such as truthfulness, austerity, and chanting of mantras, which purify the heart and help one to understand the spiritual reality. That’s one of the reasons Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Thākura and later Śrīla Prabhupāda were initiating their disciples as Brāhmanas and teaching them to follow brāhminical principles, since these principles are helpful for one trying to understand spiritual knowledge.
This point is confirmed in numerous passages:
a) In the Brhad-Aranyaka Upanisad, Yājñavalkya discusses with Janaka, the king of Videha, about self-realization. At first, Yājñavalkya questions Janaka on what he learned from his different teachers, dismissing each of the answers as incomplete. When Janaka offers that prāna is Brahman, for example, Yājñavalkya exclaims: ekapād vā etat samrāḍ iti, “This, O emperor, is just one quarter of Brahman!”
In this way, Yājñavalkya exposes the incompleteness of all that the King previously knew, and at the same time establishes that the different material coverings of the conditioned soul (speech, vital air, eye, ear, mind, heart), are the abode of the Supreme Brahman, but at the same time fail to represent the Supreme Lord in plenitude, being just portions of His energy. The exclamation of each component being just one quarter of Brahman also indicates that the other three quarters (the transcendental sky) are not visible here.
Amazed by the superior knowledge displayed by Yājñavalkya, the King surrenders and asks him to teach him. Janaka had studied many parts of the Vedas, but when questioned by Yājñavalkya about where he would go after leaving his body, he had to apologetically admit he didn’t know. Yājñavalkya then gives him knowledge about the presence of the Lord inside the heart, which is the center of the energies of the body. The Lord is transcendental, ingraspable by the senses and incomprehensible by intellect, but when one attains Him, he becomes completely free from fear. In this way, the sage directs the king onto the path of self-realization.
Yājñavalkya then describes the position of the jīva inside the heart and the three states of consciousness enjoyed by the conditioned soul (the waking state, dream, and deep sleep) and how each of these three states is connected with the Lord, hinting at His presence behind all these manifestations and pointing to the transcendental stage, where all material designations cease.
Next, Yājñavalkya describes the journey of the soul while leaving the body, moved by the results of karma and lingering desires. With this, he again pushes the king on the path of self-realization, making him examine the results of material desire and seek the Lord, who can free one from this cycle. When one sees himself as the soul, all material desires are destroyed, and by seeing himself in connection with the Supreme Lord, who is the support of all material elements and the root cause of the material creation, one becomes immortal.
How can this Supreme Brahman be finally attained? Here we come to the central quote of this passage. Ultimately, one can attain the Lord when one fully dedicates one’s body, mind, and words to Him. However, before coming to this stage, one should come to the stage of brāhminical life:
tam etam vedānuvacanena brāhmaṇā
vividiṣanti yajñena dānena tapasānāśakena“By Vedic study, sacrifice, charity, austerity, and fasting, the brahmanas strive to understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead.” (Brhad-Aranyaka Upanisad 4.4.22)
Kṛṣṇa offers a similar verse in the Bhagavad-gītā (18.5) where He mentions: “Acts of sacrifice, charity and penance are not to be given up; they must be performed. Indeed, sacrifice, charity and penance purify even the great souls.”
Sacrifice, penance, and charity purify us and help us to ascend to the platform of devotional service, and therefore should not be rejected as mundane activities. The main point is that they should be performed according to the recommendation of the scriptures (and not whimsically) and for the satisfaction of the Lord, following the principles of karma-yoga. As Kṛṣṇa declares, these pious acts can purify even great souls.
b) The same point is reinforced in the Muṇḍaka Upanisad, where Angirasa explains to Śaunaka Ṛṣi about the nature of the Lord, the nature of the souls, and how everything that exists is connected with Him. Both the soul and the Lord live inside the heart, but although they share similar qualities, they are not the same. The soul is meant to serve the Lord, but somehow we become forgetful and fall into illusion. When this illusion is removed, we find ourselves again immersed in eternal bliss in the service of the Lord. This explanation is deepened with the famous example of the two birds residing on a tree. The soul is the bird who eats, trying to enjoy the tree’s fruits, while the Lord observes. The soul is transcendental, just like the Lord, but when we forget our eternal position of service to Him, we become entrapped. However, when we turn our face to the Lord, we become free from all material lamentation.
How can the Supreme Lord be attained? Angirasa concludes that the Lord can be attained only by one who is freed from all material desires and who satisfies the Lord to the point He desires to reveal Himself. Imbued with spiritual strength, resulting from undeviating spiritual practice, one can finally attain the Lord. However, just as described in the Brhad-Aranyaka Upanisad, that’s a tall order. Is there something that helps us ascend to this platform? That’s precisely the quote offered by Śrīla Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa:
satyena labhyas tapasā hy eṣa ātmā
samyag jñānena brahmacaryeṇa nityam“This Supreme Self is attainable through the practice of truth, austerity, perfect knowledge, and constant discipline.” (Mundaka Upanisad 3.1.5)
Why is truth so important? Angirasa offers an explanation in the next verse:
“Truth is always victorious. It always prevails over untruth. By practicing the truth one takes the ascending path called devayāna, by which great sages who have exhausted all their material pursuits attain the Supreme destination.” (Mundaka Upanisad 3.1.6)
The practice of truth and other auspicious qualities puts us on the pious path, which brings us close to Kṛṣṇa. By itself, the path of piety does not bring us to the Lord, but when practiced with a devotional attitude, it brings us to the platform of devotional service.
Sri Baladeva next offers a quote from the Manu-Samhitā that points us in the same direction, mentioning the chanting of mantras recited as part of one’s brāhminical duties (such as the gāyatrī mantra and different mantras recited during the performance of sacrifices) as also bringing one gradually to the platform of perfection. Not only the Upaniṣads, but also the dharma-śāstras agree that performing one’s duties according to the varṇāśrama system is helpful in purifying the heart and being gradually elevated to the transcendental platform.
japyenaiva ca samsiddhyed brāhmaṇaḥ nātra samśayaḥ
kuryād anyan na vā kuryān maitro brāhmaṇa ucyate“Whether he performs other rituals and duties or not, one who perfectly chants mantras glorifying the Supreme Personality of Godhead should be considered a perfect brāhmana, eligible to understand the Supreme Lord.” (Manu-Samhitā 2.87)
2- A second factor, even more important than the first, is the association of pure devotees, self-realized souls who understand the truth, since this association brings one to the platform of transcendental knowledge. If a person is fortunate enough to get into the association of devotees, and with faith inquires from them about the absolute truth, his path back home, back to Godhead, becomes wide open.
This point is very strongly emphasized in the first canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (chapters four to six), where Nārada Muni describes how the association of pure devotees was decisive in his previous life, elevating him from a low birth as the son of a maidservant to the highest platform.
tatrānvaham kṛṣṇa-kathāḥ pragāyatām
anugraheṇāśṛṇavam manoharāḥ
tāḥ śraddhayā me ’nupadam viśṛṇvataḥ
priyaśravasy anga mamābhavad ruciḥ“O Vyāsadeva, in that association and by the mercy of those great Vedāntists, I could hear them describe the attractive activities of Lord Kṛṣṇa. And thus listening attentively, my taste for hearing of the Personality of Godhead increased at every step.” (SB 1.5.26)
This point is also emphasized in one of the most iconic verses of the Bhagavad-gītā:
tad viddhi praṇipātena, paripraśnena sevayā
upadekṣyanti te jñānam, jñāninas tattva-darśinaḥ“Just try to learn the truth by approaching a spiritual master. Inquire from him submissively and render service unto him. The self-realized soul can impart knowledge unto you because he has seen the truth.” (Bg 4.34)
As mentioned by Śrīla Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa in his commentary:
“By this association, Nārada and many other spiritual seekers became eager to inquire about devotional life and by this process became eligible to see the Supreme Personality of Godhead face-to-face. Many other great sages, such Sanat-kumāra have also helped many devotees in the same way by giving their association.”
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