BHAGAVAD-GITA 15:15

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BHAGAVAD-GITA 15:15

 

sarvasya caham hrdi sannivisto

mattah smrtirjnanam apohanam ca

vedais ca sarvair aham eva vedyo

vedanta-krd veda-vid eva caham

 

WORD FOR WORD

 

sarvasya--of all living beings; ca--and; aham--I; hrdi--in the heart;

sannivistah--situated; mattah--from Me; smrtih--remembrance;

jnanam--knowledge; apohanam--forgetfulness; ca--and; vedaih--by the

Vedas; ca--also; sarvaih--all; aham--I am; eva--certainly;

vedyah--knowable; vedanta-krt--the compiler of the Vedanta;

veda-vit--the knower of the Vedas; eva--certainly; ca--and; aham--I.

 

TRANSLATION

 

I am seated in everyone's heart, and from Me come remembrance,

knowledge and forgetfulness. By all the Vedas, I am to be known.

Indeed, I am the compiler of Vedanta, and I am the knower of the

Vedas.

 

PURPORT

 

The Supreme Lord is situated as Paramatma in everyone's heart, and it

is from Him that all activities are initiated. The living entity

forgets everything of his past life, but he has to act according to

the direction of the Supreme Lord, who is witness to all his work.

Therefore he begins his work according to his past deeds. Required

knowledge is supplied to him, and remembrance is given to him, and he

forgets, also, about his past life. Thus, the Lord is not only

all-pervading; He is also localized in every individual heart. He

awards the different fruitive results. He is worshipable not only as

the impersonal Brahman, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and the

localized Paramatma, but as the form of the incarnation of the Vedas

as well. The Vedas give the right direction to people so that they can

properly mold their lives and come back to Godhead, back to home. The

Vedas offer knowledge of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krsna,

and Krsna in His incarnation as Vyasadeva is the compiler of the

Vedanta-sutra. The commentation on the Vedanta-sutra by Vyasadeva in

the Srimad-Bhagavatam gives the real understanding of Vedanta-sutra.

The Supreme Lord is so full that for the deliverance of the

conditioned soul He is the supplier and digester of foodstuff, the

witness of his activity, and the giver of knowledge in the form of

Vedas and as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Sri Krsna, the

teacher of the Bhagavad-gita. He is worshipable by the conditioned

soul. Thus God is all-good; God is all-merciful.

 

Antah-pravistah sastajananam. The living entity forgets as soon as he

quits his present body, but he begins his work again, initiated by the

Supreme Lord. Although he forgets, the Lord gives him the intelligence

to renew his work where he ended his last life. So not only does a

living entity enjoy or suffer in this world according to the dictation

from the Supreme Lord situated locally in the heart, but he receives

the opportunity to understand the Vedas from Him. If one is serious

about understanding the Vedic knowledge, then Krsna gives the required

intelligence. Why does He present the Vedic knowledge for

understanding? Because a living entity individually needs to

understand Krsna. Vedic literature confirms this: yo 'sau sarvair

vedair giyate. In all Vedic literature, beginning from the four Vedas,

Vedanta-sutra and the Upanisads and Puranas, the glories of the

Supreme Lord are celebrated. By performance of Vedic rituals,

discussion of the Vedic philosophy and worship of the Lord in

devotional service, He is attained. Therefore the purpose of the Vedas

is to understand Krsna. The Vedas give us direction by which to

understand Krsna and the process of realizing Him. The ultimate goal

is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Vedanta-sutra (1.1.4) confirms

this in the following words: tat tu samanvayat. One can attain

perfection in three stages. By understanding Vedic literature one can

understand his relationship with the Supreme Personality of Godhead,

by performing the different processes one can approach Him, and at the

end one can attain the supreme goal, who is no other than the Supreme

Personality of Godhead. In this verse the purpose of the Vedas, the

understanding of the Vedas, and the goal of the Vedas are clearly

defined.

 

Copyright 1983 The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust International. Used with

permission.