BHAGAVAD-GITA 2:52

[Guest guest]

BHAGAVAD-GITA 2:52

 

yada te moha-kalilam

buddhir vyatitarisyati

tada gantasi nirvedam

srotavyasya srutasya ca

 

WORD FOR WORD

 

yada--when; te--your; moha--of illusion; kalilam--dense forest;

buddhih--transcendental service with intelligence;

vyatitarisyati--surpasses; tada--at that time; ganta asi--you shall

go; nirvedam--callousness; srotavyasya--toward all that is to be

heard; srutasya--all that is already heard; ca--also.

 

TRANSLATION

 

When your intelligence has passed out of the dense forest of delusion,

you shall become indifferent to all that has been heard and all that

is to be heard.

 

PURPORT

 

There are many good examples in the lives of the great devotees of the

Lord of those who became indifferent to the rituals of the Vedas

simply by devotional service to the Lord. When a person factually

understands Krsna and his relationship with Krsna, he naturally

becomes completely indifferent to the rituals of fruitive activities,

even though an experienced brahmana. Sri Madhavendra Puri, a great

devotee and acarya in the line of the devotees, says:

 

sandhya-vandana bhadram astu bhavato bhoh snana tubhyam namo

bho devah pitaras ca tarpana-vidhau naham ksamah ksamyatam

yatra kvapi nisadya yadava-kulottamasya kamsa-dvisah

smaram smaram agham harami tad alam manye kim anyena me

 

"O my prayers three times a day, all glory to you. O bathing, I offer my

obeisances unto you. O demigods! O forefathers! Please excuse me for

my inability to offer you my respects. Now wherever I sit, I can

remember the great descendant of the Yadu dynasty [Krsna], the enemy

of Kamsa, and thereby I can free myself from all sinful bondage. I

think this is sufficient for me."

 

The Vedic rites and rituals are imperative for neophytes:

comprehending all kinds of prayer three times a day, taking a bath

early in the morning, offering respects to the forefathers, etc. But

when one is fully in Krsna consciousness and is engaged in His

transcendental loving service, one becomes indifferent to all these

regulative principles because he has already attained perfection. If

one can reach the platform of understanding by service to the Supreme

Lord Krsna, he has no longer to execute different types of penances

and sacrifices as recommended in revealed scriptures. And, similarly,

if one has not understood that the purpose of the Vedas is to reach

Krsna and simply engages in the rituals, etc., then he is uselessly

wasting time in such engagements. Persons in Krsna consciousness

transcend the limit of sabda-brahma, or the range of the Vedas and

Upanisads.

 

Copyright 1983 The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust International. Used with

permission.