how to understand sastra

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Cc Madhya 9.103, ppt by HDG Srila Prabhupada:

 

 

According to the sastras: bhaktya bhagavatam grahyam na buddhya na ca

tikaya. One should understand the Bhagavad-gita and Srimad-Bhagavatam by

hearing them from a real devotee. One cannot understand them simply by

erudite scholarship or sharp intelligence. It is also said:

gitadhita ca yenapi bhakti-bhavena cetasa

veda-sastra-puranani tenadhitani sarvasah

To one who reads the Bhagavad-gita with faith and devotion, the essence of

Vedic knowledge is revealed. And according to the Svetasvatara Upanisad

(6.23):

yasya deve para bhaktir yatha deve tatha gurau

tasyaite kathita hy arthah prakasante mahatmanah

[sU 6.23]

"Only unto those great souls who have implicit faith in both the Lord and

the spiritual master are all the imports of Vedic knowledge automatically

revealed."

All Vedic literatures are to be understood with faith and devotion, not by

mundane scholarship. We have therefore presented Bhagavad-gita As It Is.

There are many so-called scholars and philosophers who read the

Bhagavad-gita in a scholarly way. They simply waste their time and mislead

those who read their commentaries.