39 verses
The Supreme Lord said: Those who give up my methods, bhakti, jñāna and niṣkāma-karma, and instead, cultivate insignificant sense enjoyment by the fickle senses, undergo the continual cycle of material existence.
Being fixed according to ones qualification is a good quality, and to be fixed in something not of ones qualification is a bad quality. This is how good and bad are determined.
I asked you what a good quality is and what a bad quality is. You answered that it is a fault to see good and bad in the devotees and a good quality not to see good and bad in them. I have this doubt. If someone has faith in your topics and is qualified for pure bhakti, but by fate falls under the control of karmīs or jñānīs, follows them, and performs karma, distasteful as drinking medicine, or practices jñāna, is seeing fault in his bhakti bad and not seeing fault a good quality? Moreover, if someone, a karmī or jñānī, does not obtain complete faith in bhakti since he does not obtain mercy of great devotees, but by seeing the excellence of a devotee, gives up his duties according to his qualification with a desire to attain such excellence, and begins worshipping the Lord and announced that he is a devotee, should one see good qualities or bad qualities in that imposter, cheater of the world?
Please hear about the nature of good and bad qualities. The jñānī fixed in his qualification for jñāna and the karmī fixed in his qualification for karma are approved as good. However, because both cannot give their results by themselves, karma and jñāna must be performed with a mixture of bhakti. Otherwise it does not give any result.
naiṣkarmyam apy acyuta-bhāva-varjitaṁ
na śobhate jñānam alaṁ nirañjanam
Even the stage of jñāna without the bondage of karma, if devoid of bhakti to the Supreme Lord, is not glorious. SB 1.5.12
On the other hand, being fixed in bhakti, as is done by the śuddha-bhakta, is a good quality since bhakti has the power to give its own result. Bhakti should not be performed with any mixture of karma or jñāna, since those processes cannot give independent results anyway.
dharmān santyajya yaḥ sarvān
māṁ bhajeta sa tu sattamaḥ
A person who, understanding good and bad aspects of dharma as taught by me, gives up all his duties and simply worships me is the best of all. SB 11.11.32
tasmān mad-bhakti-yuktasya yogino vai mad-ātmanaḥ
na jñānaṁ na ca vairāgyaṁ prāyaḥ śreyo bhaved iha
Therefore, for a devotee engaged in bhakti, with mind fixed on me, the cultivation of knowledge and renunciation is generally not beneficial for bhakti. SB 11.20.31
By this it is understood that if there is a mixture of karma or jñāna, pure bhakti disappears. To be fixed in the opposite, someone elses qualification is fault. This is how good and bad are determined.
O sinless Uddhava! In order to resolve doubts about certain objects among general objects, they are established as good or bad, pure or impure, auspicious or inauspicious. In terms of dharma they are classed as pure or impure. In terms of common dealings they are classed as good and bad, and in terms of circumstance they are classed as auspicious or inauspicious.
The diversity of good and bad is immense. I will describe it. Please listen. In order to destroy doubts about an object, whether it is proper or improper, such as Is it proper or improper to use smoke to drive out the mosquitoes? among common elements mentioned in verse 5, judgments of good and bad, auspicious and inauspicious are applied. For instance among leaves, roots and fruits, vāstuka leaves are pure and kalambī leaves are impure. These are used for judging dharma in terms pure and impure. What is pure is dharma and what is impure is adharma. It is applied in ordinary dealings as good quality and fault. If approved behavior is seen in someone impure, it is a good quality and if one does not seen that good behavior in the impure person it is a fault. It is applied according to circumstance (yathārtham) as auspicious and inauspicious. Though hoarding is inauspicious, in times of calamity collecting for survival is auspicious, though excessive hoarding is still inauspicious and a sin.
I have revealed this way of life for persons bearing the burden of dharma.
I, in the form of Manu and others, have shown this conduct for persons responsible for instituting dharma.
Earth, water, fire, air and ether are the five basic elements that constitute the bodies of all beings from Brahmā down to the nonmoving creatures. They are all endowed with ātmā.
You have said to me:
guṇa-doṣa-bhidā-dṛṣṭir nigamāt te na hi svataḥ
The distinction observed between piety and sin comes from your own Vedic knowledge and does not arise by itself. SB 11.20.5
That is true, but the Vedas do this to help the population. This is expressed in two verses. Dhatavaḥ means those things which support. It refers to the elements starting with earth. These elements constitute the bodies of Brahmā and the plants. All bodies are thus similar. The bodies however are endowed with the ātmā.
O Uddhava! Although all material bodies are composed of the same five elements and are thus equal, the Vedic literatures conceive of different names and forms in relation to such bodies so that the living entities may achieve their goal of life.
In the bodies made of the same elements, different names and forms (words and objects they represent) are made, relating to varṇāśrama, such as brāhmaṇa, brahmacārī, betel nut seller, or oil man. The aim of making these names and forms is explained. They are for allowing humans to attain goals in terms of dharma by restricting enjoying tendencies.
O saintly Uddhava! In order to restrict materialistic activities, I have established that which is proper and improper among all material things, space and time.
Regulations apply not only to bodies, but to results and causes based on place and time. Objects (bhāvānām) as well as place and time are handled in terms of good and bad so that I limit material actions.
Among places, those bereft of the spotted antelope, those devoid of devotion to the brāhmaṇas, those possessing spotted antelopes, but with unrespectable Kīkaṭas, unclean people or deserts are all considered to be impure . First pure and impure objects are described in eight verses. Among places, any place devoid of the spotted antelope is impure. A place where there are no persons respecting brāhmaṇas is most impure. Even if the place has spotted antelope, if there are dishonest Kīkatās, many persons who are unclean like mleechas and deserts, it is impure. A dvandva compound is used in the singular. Asauvīra means a place of good men. If the place is inhabited by Kīkaṭas who are not upright, it is impure. If the place has righteous Kīkatās it is pure.
A specific time is considered pure when it is appropriate, either by its own nature or through achievement of suitable paraphernalia, for the performance of ones prescribed duty. That time which impedes the performance of ones duty is considered impure.
Purity and impurity of time is shown. A time suitable for performance of karmas is pure. The time becomes suitable the moment materials are obtained. Some times are pure by nature such as forenoon. A time is impure which impedes the action. For instance after a child is born in a family the time is considered improper for performing rites.
An objects purity or impurity is established by application of another object, by words, by cleaning, by the effects of time or according to size.
Objects, place and time were mentioned in verse 7. Now impurity of objects is shown in four verses. Objects like plates are purified by water and made impure by urine or other impure items. Objects are made pure or impure by words. When there is a doubt if a brāhmaṇa says the object is pure, it is pure. If he says it is impure it is impure. Objects are purified cleaning, sprinkling with water etc. This is how flowers are purified. They are made impure by smelling them. New rain water becomes purified by waiting ten days time. The water is impure if not left for that time. Bodies of water used by outcastes are pure if they are large and impure if they are small.
Objects are also made pure or impure by strength, intelligence and wealth. These objects produce sin for the jīva under normal times and circumstance.
Spoiled food is impure for those who have strength, but pure for those who do not have strength. By knowledge that impurity from birth of a son lasts ten days, there is purity. By knowledge that the impurity lasts less than that, there is impurity. A piece of worn out cloth is impurity for a person with wealth, but is pure for a poor person. These objects and words etc. create sin for the jīva according to normal place and physical condition. That means that the rules become effective in a safe place, not a place affected by thieves, when one is healthy, not sick, when one is youthful, not a baby or too old.
deśaṁ kālaṁ tathātmānaṁ dravyaṁ dravya-prayojanam |
upapattim avasthāṁ ca jñātvā śaucaṁ prakalpayet ||
Considiering the place, time, body, objects, use of the objects, suitability and circumstance, one should determine purity.
Various objects such as grains, wooden utensils, things made of bone, cloth, liquids, metals, skins and earthen objects are purified by time, by the wind, by fire, by earth and by water, either separately or in combination.
It was said that objects could be purified by other objects. That is explained. Asthi means ivory etc. Rasa means oil and ghee. Taijasa means gold and other precious metals. Grains, wood, ivory, cloth, liquids like oil and ghee, precious metals, skins and earthen objects like pots and bricks become pure by time, wind, fire earth and water according to scriptural rules. These purifying agents may be used in combination or singly. Thus metals are purified by earth, water and fire as well. Wool cloth is purified by air alone.
An object is considered pure when it gives up contamination and bad smell by applying suitable purifying agents and returns to its original state.
If a seat, cloth or vessel is contaminated by an impure item, it gives up the contamination and smell by water, earth, acids, soap, and scraping. It is then restored to its original nature. That is its purity. One should measure the purification from the extent that the contamination by smell is removed by scraping or other means.
The self can be cleansed by bathing, charity, austerity, age, conduct, purification rituals, prescribed duties and, above all, by remembrance of me. The brāhmaṇa and others should be duly purified before performing their specific activities.
Purification of objects has been described. Now purification of the person who purifies objects is described. Purification of the performer with his bodily identity takes place by bathing, charity, austerity, old age (avasthā), conduct according to capability (vīrya), saṁskāras like upanayana, and rites such as sandhya worship. The aim is stated. A pure person performs his duties. The dvija is mentioned but this applies to śūdras as well.
A mantra is purified when chanted with proper knowledge, and ones work is purified when offered to me. Thus by purification of the place, time, substance, doer, mantras and work, dharma is accomplished, and by negligence of these six items adharma appears.
Purification of mantra is described. Suitable knowledge from the mouth of the pure guru purifies a mantra. Action is purified by offering it to the Lord. If not offered, it is impure. By purity of these six items one should conduct oneself in life. After showing purity and impurity, everything is summarized. By the purity of six itemsplace, time, objects, performer, mantra and actiondharma is accomplished. When there is impurity of these items, it is a cause of adharma.
Sometimes good becomes bad, and sometimes bad becomes good on the strength of Vedic injunctions. The rules for good and bad themselves eradicate the clear distinction between good and bad.
This division of good and bad is not always fixed. During calamity, hoarding is a good quality, but during normal times it is a bad quality since it is forbidden. Though giving up ones family is a fault, by following the rules for detachment, it is a good quality. Therefore the very rules for these two objects, good and bad, destroy the distinction of good and bad. The rule which says it is wrong to give up ones family also negates the fault for a particular qualified person, since it is a good quality for the jñānī to give up his family. The rule that says it is good to give up ones family also negates the good quality for the karmī, since it is wrong for the karṁī to give up his family. Thus good and bad are not fixed universally, but are determined according to particular circumstances.
The same activities that would degrade an elevated person do not cause falldown for those who are already fallen. Association with women is bad for the sannyāsī, but is a good quality for a householder. One who is lying on the ground cannot possibly fall further.
The irregularity of rules is described. The activity (such as drinking wine) for a person who is not fallen is a cause of fall down but the same activity for the fallen person does not cause him to fall since he is already fallen. Association with women is a fault for the sannyāsī but association with his wife during her fertile period is a good the householder since that is natural. It is a fault for a person qualified for household life not to associate with his wife. An example is given for both these conditions. A person who is lying down cannot fall down.
One becomes freed from whatever actions one refrains. This principle brings liberation for the human and frees him from suffering, illusion and fear.
The purport of all rules concerning good and bad is detachment by restricting the tendency to enjoy.
One becomes attached because of thinking that an object is good. From that attachment desire arises. From desire quarrel arises.
The path of enjoyment is shown to be the cause of great obstacles in order to defeat persons absorbed in the path of enjoyment mentioned in the Vedas. This is explained in four verses. Men become attached because of thinking that certain objects are good. From that attachment desire arises. From desire arises quarrel with persons who oppose ones desires.
From quarrel arises intolerable anger, followed by illusion. B this illusion, remembrance of what to do and not to do is quickly destroyed.
Following anger is illusion (tamaḥ). By that, memory (cetanā) of what to do and what not to do is quickly destroyed.
O saintly Uddhava! A person bereft of his memory is considered to have lost everything. Like a person who has fainted or is dead, he has deviated from his goal.
Like a person who has fainted or a dead person, he fails to achieve his goals.
Because of absorption in sense gratification, one cannot recognize himself or others. He maintains his life senselessly like a tree, breathing just like a bellows.
He maintains his life like a tree, which takes only water. In this way he is like a person who has fainted. He breathes like a bellows. In this way he is similar to a dead man.
The rewards promised in scripture are not the ultimate benefit for man but are merely enticements for liberating him. They are like promises of candy spoken to induce a child to take beneficial medicine.
How can one fall from ones interest from hearing results like Svarga in the Vedas? The results described in the scriptures for performing karmas are not beneficial for man. Nārada says:
śreyas tvaṁ katamad rājan karmaṇātmana īhase
duḥkha-hāniḥ sukhāvāptiḥ śreyas tan neha ceṣyate
O King! What benefit do you want for yourself by doing these karmas? It is not possible to destroy suffering and attain happiness by performance of karma.
SB 4.25.4
One hears that the results of karma are eternal: let us then enjoy with the Apsarās. This is only enticement. Wanting to liberate material people, by stating intermediate results (enjoyment), people develop a taste for doing karmas. Similarly a doctor entices a person to take medicine. The father says If you drink the neem juice I will give you a sweet. The child drinks the juice. However the goal is not to eat the sweet.
Simply by material birth, human beings become attached within their minds to enjoyment of sense objects, long duration of life, sense activities, bodily strength, power and family members, which end in suffering for them.
But in karma-kāṇòa we never hear about liberation? Where is it explained that karma is meant for liberation? That subject we do not learn from the literal meaning of those scriptures. The concepts is explained in two verses. By birth, mens minds are absorbed in enjoying sense objects (kāmeśu), in their life span, senses, strength and power, in their sons and family members, which end as causes of suffering (anartha-hetuṣu).
Why would the Vedas encourage persons ignorant of the highest bliss but who are submissive to the Vedas, who are wandering on the path of karma from body to body, to again take a low birth?
The foolish people who do not know their highest happiness (svārtham) but have faith that what the Vedas reveal is most beneficial (natān) are wandering on the path of danger, the path of karma, in various bodies such as devatā and human. Why would the Vedas (budhaḥ) encourage these people who will receive birth as trees or other low forms (tamaḥ) to enjoy their senses? The Vedas would then have no authority.
Some persons, not knowing the intention of the Vedas, speak of the attractive material results of karma, which are flowers and not fruit. They are fools. Those who know the Vedas do not speak in this way.
Why do the Mīmāṁsakas say that attaining Svarga is the highest goal? Not knowing the intention of the Vedas, they speak about the attractive results mentioned there as authoritative. Actually however those are the flowers, not the fruit. The results mentioned in the scriptures are flowers, not fruits. They mistake the flowers for the fruit. These persons are foolish. They do not know the goal of the Vedas, since those who know the Vedas such as Vyāsa do not say this.
Those who are full of lust, avarice and greed mistake mere flowers to be the actual fruits. Bewildered by the glare of fire and fatigued by its smoke, they cannot recognize the Lord.
The foolish persons are described in eight verses. They think that the intermediate results, the flowers, are the highest result. They have lost discrimination by becoming absorbed in sacrifices, and become exhausted by treading the path of smoke, Svarga, and by the smoke from the sacrificial fire. Śruti says kaścit svaṁ lokaṁ na pratijānāti agni-mugdho haiva dhūmatāntaḥ : not knowing the Lord, absorbed in sacrifice, they become fatigued by the smoke.
O Uddhava! Persons dedicated to sense gratification obtained through honoring the Vedic rituals cannot understand that I am situated in everyones heart and that the entire universe is nondifferent from me and emanates from me, because their eyes are covered by ignorance.
Who is the person (lokam) they do not know? They do not know me, the antaryāmī situated in their heart, who am this universe. But you are a conscious form, not this universe. From me the universe arises. I am the universe because I am its cause. They consider karma to be praiseworthy, or they consider that it involves killing animals (uktha-śastrā). They are dedicated to satisfying themselves (asu-tṛpaḥ). What is the cause of this? Their eyes are covered by ignorance.
na taṁ vidātha ya imā jajānānyad yuṣmākam antaraṁ babhūva |
nīhāreṇa prāvṛtā jalpyā cāsu-tṛpa uktha-śāsaś caranti ||
You do not know him who produced these creatures, who dwells within you. Surrounded by ignorance, uttering mantras to maintain themselves, the priests carry out their actions. Ṛg Veda 10.83.7
hiṁsā-vihārā hy ālabdhaiḥ paśubhiḥ sva-sukhecchayā yajante devatā yajñaiḥ pitṛ-bhūta-patīn khalāḥ
Those who are attached to sense gratification, not understanding the confidential conclusion of Vedic knowledge as explained by me, their minds overcome with enjoyment and taking pleasure in violence, worship devatās, Pitṛs and ghosts by sacrifices with animal killing for their own happiness. They think that the Vedas permit violence through sacrifice if one has such attachment, though this is not the injunction.
Not knowing me, they do not know the meaning of the Vedas approved by me. Not knowing my opinion which is unclear (parokṣam), they worship devatās, Pitrṣ and ghosts by sacrifice. Their mistaken idea is presented: they assume the Vedas say that if one is not able to give up killing animals, then one is permitted to do so by performing sacrifices. But this is not the injunction. Not knowing my intention, with minds overcome by material enjoyment, they take pleasure in violence.
Just as a foolish businessman gives up his present wealth in exchange for a promise of some future treasure, foolish persons spend their wealth on sacrifices, imagining blessings in the present life and promotion to material heaven in the future, which, although pleasing to hear about, are actually unreal, like a dream.
Moreover, they have very little intelligence. Desiring pleasant next life and blessings in this life, which are as if unreal, but at the same not confirming those results because it is difficult to do so, they spend their wealth in karmas. Similarly a merchant with a desire for great wealth to be attained by crossing a difficult ocean gives up his present wealth, and then ends up with nothing.
People established in material passion, goodness and ignorance and serving in those modes worship Indra and other devatās. But they do not worship me in the correct way.
Those who are fixed in rajas, sattva or tamas serve in rajas, sattva or tamas. Though worshipping Indra is also my worship since Indra is my aṁśa, it is not correct worship. Because they do not worship properly they fall from their position. It is said:
ahaṁ hi sarva-yajñānāṁ bhoktā ca prabhur eva ca |
na tu mām abhijānanti tattvenātaś cyavanti te ||
I am the enjoyer and master of all sacrifices. Those who do not know me in truth fall down. BG 9.24
evaṁ puṣpitayā vācā vyākṣipta-manasāṁ nṛṇām mānināṁ cāti-lubdhānāṁ mad-vārtāpi na rocate
The worshipers of devatās think, We shall worship the devatās in this life, and by our sacrifices we shall go to heaven and enjoy there. When that enjoyment is finished we shall return to this world and take birth as great householders in aristocratic families. Being excessively proud and greedy, such persons are bewildered by the flowery words of the Vedas. They are not attracted to topics about me.
Their desire is described. After enjoyment in heaven, they enjoy as great householders.
The Vedas, divided into three divisions, ultimately reveal worship of the Lord. The Vedic sages and mantras, however, state this indirectly, since they know that I prefer this indirect method.
This summarizes the topic. The Vedas are divided into three: karma-kāṇòa, brahma-kāṇòa and devatā-kāṇòa. They ultimately indicate worship of me (brahmātmā-viṣayāḥ). Then why do the mantras, or sages who revealed the mantras, not clearly speak? They speak indirectly, not directly. What is the intention of not saying this directly? Understanding that I prefer indirect speech, they speak in that way.
The sound of the Vedas is very difficult to comprehend and manifests on different levels within the prāṇa, mind, intelligence and senses. This Vedic sound is unlimited and deep like the ocean.
Since there is no other way for people to accept the Vedas, the pleasures of Svarga are offered just as doctor offerings candy to the child so he will drink medicine. This you have explained. Jaimini and others also seem to explain things with a similar intention. That is not so. If they had known, they would have explained this. No one can really know the meaning of the Vedas without me or my devotees like Vyāsa and Nārada. That is explained in this verse and till the end of the chapter. The Veda is difficult to understand regarding its true nature and function. It has two forms, gross and subtle. The subtle form of the Vedas is difficult to understand. First, the Veda is parā, related to prāṇa, situated in the mūlādhāra-cakra. Then it becomes paśyantī, related to mind, situated in the navel in the manīpūra-cakra. Then it becomes madhyamā, related to intelligence, situated in the heart in the anāhata-cakra. Then it becomes vaikharī, related to the senses. In using speech, the sense organ called the voice is prominent. Moreover the Veda, made of material and spiritual prāṇa, is infinite, not divided by space or time.
In terms of meaning it is also difficult to understand. Its meaning is very deep, and thus difficult to comprehend. Śruti says:
catvāri vāk-parimitā padāni
tāni vidur brāhmaṇā ye manīṣiṇaḥ |
guhāyāṁ trīṇi nihitā neḍgayanti
turīyaṁ vāco manuṣyā vadanti ||
Wise men know the four aspects of sound in the Vedas, by which truth is known. They do not reveal the three aspects which are hidden within the body. Men speak the fourth form as words. Ṛg-veda 1.164.45
The meaning is this. The words of the Vedas (vāk) are measured (parimitā). The form Parimitā instead of parimitāni is Vedic usage accrodidng to Pāṇinī 7.1.39. Padāni means those forms by which the supreme truth is known (padyate). The sounds have four forms which the wise know. They do not reveal the nature of the three which are hidden in the body because men speak the fourth form vaikharī. Men speak this but they do not know the truth. There is another versee concerning this:
yā sā mitrā-varuṇa-sadanād uccarantī triṣaṣṭhiṁ
varṇānantaḥ-prakaṭa-karaṇaiḥ prāṇa-saṁjñā prasūte |
tāṁ paśyantīṁ prathamam uditāṁ madhyamāṁ buddhi-saṁsthāṁ
vācaṁ cakre karaṇa-viśadāṁ vaikharīṁ ca prapadye ||
That sound spoken from the house of Mitrā and Varuṇa composed of sixty-three sounds appeared as prāṇa (or parā) with the senses manifested within. It first became paśyantī, then madhyamā situated with intelligence, and then vaikharī, which is clear to the senses, in the viśuddhi-cakra.
The Veda which is spread everywhere by me, who possess many forms, who pervade everywhere as Brahman, and who possess unlimited powers, are perceived by the wise as nāda within all beings, subtle as the threads within the lotus stalk.
How does such sound manifest within the living entities? The Veda are spread everywhere by me (upabṛṁhitam). How can the Vedas which appeared in unlimited forms in unlimited Vaikuṇṭhas and unlimited universes be spread by you alone? It is spread by me, who have manifold forms (bhūmnā), and who am the all-pervading Brahman. Not only am I all-pervading, I possess unlimited powers. Thus I can do this. The Veda is seen as nāda by the wise in all beings. An example is given of the subtle nature of nāda within. It is like the fine thread within the lotus stem.
chando-mayo mṛta-mayaḥ sahasra-padavīṁ prabhuḥ oṁkārād vyañjita-sparśa- svaroṣmāntastha-bhūṣitām
vicitra-bhāṣā-vitatāṁ
chandobhiś catur-uttaraiḥ
ananta-pārāṁ bṛhatīṁ
sṛjaty ākṣipate svayam
Just as a spider brings forth from its heart its web and emits it through its mouth, the Supreme Lord, made of supreme bliss, made of the Vedas, taking support of ether, appears as parā sound made of prāṇa, and then creates and destroys, by his mind which produces the consonants, the manifest Vedas--which are unlimited in sound and meaning, decorated with the consonants, vowels, silibants, and semivowels from the subtle form of oṁ, and which are filled with a variety of languages and meters, each four syllables longer than the previous.
Kṛṣṇa explains who the Vedas arise from himself starting from the form of parā made of prāṇa in three verses. Just as a spider emits a spider web from his heart through his mouth, the Lord as my portion, antaryāmī, composed of supreme bliss, composed of the Vedas consisting of all knowledge by my own energy, taking support of the ether, appears in the mūlādhāra-cakra of Hiraṇyagarbha (Brahmā). Previously it was said sa eṣa jīvo vivara-prasūtiḥ prāṇena ghoṣeṇa guhāṁ praviṣṭaḥ: I enter the mulādhāra-cakra of Brahmā along with the prāṇa phase of subtle parā sound. (SB 11.12.17) The Lord becomes like that ghoṣa or nāda, which becomes prāṇa. Becoming that prāṇa, the Lord creates the śruti predominated by vaikharī (bṛhatīm) by the mind. First he creates parā, then paśyantī (then madhyamā), and finally vaikharī. The Lord creates this and then destroys it. Describing the cause, mind is denoted in detail. The mind produces the consonant and other sounds. The Vedas are further described. They show many paths. The Vedas are ornamented with consonants and other sounds by contact with the throat and chest arising from oṁ. This oṁ is not the audible form, but a subtle form within the heart, being without limbs. Consonants are sounds beginning with ka and ending with ma. There are sixteen vowels (svara) starting with a. Silibants (uṣma) are śa, ṣa, sa and ha. Semi-vowels are ya, ra, la and va. The Veda is filled with variety, with Vedic and common language. It has meters, each with four more syllables than the previous one. The Veda has no end in terms of sound and no limit in terms of meaning (ananta-pāram).
The Vedic meters are Gāyatrī, Uṣṇik, Anuṣṭup, Bṛhatī, Paḍkti, Triṣṭup, Jagatī, and other meters with many syllables such as Atyaṣṭi, Atijagatī and Virāṭ.
Some of the meters in the Vedas are listed. Gāyatrī has twenty-four syllables. By increasing four syllables consecutively uṣnik and the rest to jagatī are formed. The verse is connected with the previous verse to show the meters.1 The last line indicates meters with many syllables.
What do the Vedas instruct as action? What is the final meaning of the Vedas? What alternatives do the Vedas raise? No one except me or my dear devotee knows the intended meaning of the Vedas.
It is difficult to know the actual svarūpa or nature of the Vedas. That has just been explained. The meaning is also difficult to understand. What is to be done by following the Vedas? What do the Vedas order the jīva to do for his benefit? What is the meaning of the Vedas? What is meant by indicating various alternatives? Should I do this? Or this? Or that?
The meaning is clear. The śruti indicates karma by seeing statements like One should worship the sandhyās daily; by karma one goes to Pitṛ-loka. So this is what should be done. The śrutis indicate dharma as the meaning in statements like codanā-lakṣaṇo dharmaḥ: dharma is characterized by injunctions of the Vedas. This is the meaning of the Vedas. As for alternatives, there are alternative rules in dharma such as performing sacrifice by offering either rice or barley. Or, there are alternatives like bhakti, niṣkāma-karma and jñāna stated one after the other. Thus it is said:
bhakti-yogaś ca yogaś ca mayā mānavy udīritaḥ |
tayor ekatareṇaiva puruṣaḥ puruṣaṁ vrajet ||
I have indicated both bhakti and yoga, O Manavī! A person may attain the Lord by either of these processes.
O fools! This is not so! No one knows the intention (hṛdayam) of the Vedas except me! No one except a person dear to me can know the meaning intended by me.
The Vedas indicate bhakti as the action, and indicate me as the meaning. I am the meaning of all the Vedas. I, as karma and jñāna, am proposed and rejected as alternatives. The Vedas, taking shelter of me, proposing karma and jñāna and then rejecting them as māyā, become happy by giving the devotees bliss.
Please tell me the answer. Yes, certainly I will. The Vedas prescribe me. Bhakti is not different from my svarūpa. Thus the meaning is The Vedas establish that bhakti to me is necessary. The final goal of sacrifices and other actions is to produce bhakti for me. I have said dharmo mad-bhakti-kṛt prokto: actual religious principles are stated to be those that lead one to my devotional service. (SB 11.19.27) I am the meaning of all the Vedas. I am presented as an alternative and am refuted as an alternative.
yogās trayo mayā proktā nèṇāṁ śreyo-vidhitsayā
jñānaṁ karma ca bhaktiś ca nopāyo nyo sti kutracit
Because I desire that human beings may achieve perfection, I have presented three methodsthe path of jñāna, the path of karma and the path of bhakti. Besides these three there no other means of elevation. SB 11.20.6
In the three kāṇòas, karma, jñāna and bhakti are presented as alternatives. First I say Do karma. Then I say Practice jñāna. Then I say Perform bhakti. They are presented and rejected. First sakāma-karma is rejected in favor of niṣkāma-karma. Then when one rises to jñāna, niṣkāma-karma is rejected. When jñāna is perfected, jñāna should be rejected in order to attain me: jñānaṁ ca mayi sannyaset. (SB 11.19.1) But no scripture ever says that bhakti should be rejected at any time. The present verse says I am rejected. This means that, because karma and jñāna are rejected, I am rejected. The third person verb is poetic license. The Lord identifies himself as those processes of karma and jñāna (I am proposed as karma and jñāna and rejected as karma and jñāna), because these processes are also means of attaining him. The Lord has his spiritual and material forms. The material forms are rejected here.
Please explain this more clearly. The Vedas take shelter of me, by recommending the process of bhakti, saying that other processes such as karma and jñāna are only māyā, since karma is in the three guṇas and jñāna, composed of vidyā, is in sattva-guṇa, until realizing ātmā. On finally rejecting the two processes, the Vedas become joyful. The Vedas give joy to the devotees through rasa flowing from the fruit of the sweet creeper of bhakti, beyond the material guṇas, in the form of realization of my sweetness. And thus the Vedas themselves become happy.
Some explain the verse as follows. The Vedas prescribe me as the form of sacrifice in karma-kāṇòa. They define me in devatÿa-kāṇòa as the statements of the mantras. In jñāna-kāṇòa, they propose that I am ether and other things, which are different from me, and then rejected those ideas. This is the meaning of the Vedas. The Vedas, taking shelter of my spiritual form, reject other things as māyā, saying not this, not this, having completed their task. In this explanation however, when it says that all other things are rejected as māyā, the devotees, tools used in bhakti, the abodes of the Lord and other related items, are not included, since they are not part of māyā.
Thus ends the commentary on the Twenty-first Chapter of the Eleventh Canto of the Bhāgavatam for the pleasure of the devotees, in accordance with the previous ācāryas.
In the Twenty-first Chapter the good and bad aspects of those involved in karma are discussed and the meaning of the scriptures in this regard is explained. Sakāma-karma is criticized. Lack of proper ending on mat-pathaḥ is poetic license. Bhakti gives attainment of the Lord. Jñāna gives attainment of impersonal Brahman. Niṣkāma-karma indirectly gives impersonal Brahman. Sakāma-karma gives Svarga or earthly kingdom.