Beyond sabda-brahma and the Vedas

[Sonic Yogi]

 

Bhagavad-gītā As It Is 2.52

 

yadā te moha-kalilaḿ

 

buddhir vyatitariṣyati

 

tadā gantāsi nirvedaḿ

 

śrotavyasya śrutasya ca

 

SYNONYMS

 

yadā — when; te — your; moha — of illusion; kalilam — dense forest; buddhiḥ — transcendental service with intelligence; vyatitariṣyati — surpasses; tadā — at that time; gantā asi — you shall go; nirvedam — callousness; śrotavyasya — toward all that is to be heard; śrutasya — 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 Kṛṣṇa and his relationship with Kṛṣṇa, he naturally becomes completely indifferent to the rituals of fruitive activities, even though an experienced brāhmaṇa. Śrī Mādhavendra Purī, a great devotee and ācārya in the line of the devotees, says:

 

sandhyā-vandana bhadram astu bhavato bhoḥ snāna tubhyaḿ namo

 

bho devāḥ pitaraś ca tarpaṇa-vidhau nāhaḿ kṣamaḥ kṣamyatām

 

yatra kvāpi niṣadya yādava-kulottamasya kaḿsa-dviṣaḥ

 

smāraḿ smāram aghaḿ harāmi tad alaḿ 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 [Kṛṣṇa], the enemy of Kaḿsa, 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 Kṛṣṇa 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 Kṛṣṇa, 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 Kṛṣṇa and simply engages in the rituals, etc., then he is uselessly wasting time in such engagements. Persons in Kṛṣṇa consciousness transcend the limit of śabda-brahma, or the range of the Vedas and Upaniṣads.

 

 

Krishna consciousness is beyond the range of the Vedas.

When one is fully in Kṛṣṇa consciousness and is engaged in His transcendental loving service, one becomes indifferent to all these regulative principles because he has already attained perfection.

 

This is the Gaudiya Vaishnava position.

Beyond anything available in the Vedas.

 

[visnujana]

There is general understanding of the Vedas which is off course vastly superior to any other type of knowledge. However, Bhakti is still transcendental even to that understanding of the Vedas. Bhakti practice is of 2 types: vaidhi-marg (regulative practice) and raga-marg (spontaneous one), which are also quite different.

 

To advance in bhakti means to nurture the single-minded desire to engage exclusively in the limbs of bhakti. One can progress in bhakti in two different ways - through fear of injunctions of sastra and through intense spiritual greed (lobha). Hence, according to adhikara, or qualification, there are two types of practitioners of bhakti-sadhana.

(Raga Vartma Candrika, 4, Srila Visvanath Cakravarti Thakura)

[sambya]

 

Krishna consciousness is beyond the range of the Vedas.

When one is fully in Kṛṣṇa consciousness and is engaged in His transcendental loving service, one becomes indifferent to all these regulative principles because he has already attained perfection.

 

not just krishna consciousness , even brahma-gyan is beyond the vedas . by the word 'beyond the vedas' it is not meant something in exclusion of the shrutis but something that transcends the shrutis . shrutis are the revelations by those who have witnessed , while brahmagyan ( krishna consciousness) is witnessing personally . obviously nothing is as great as witnessing personally . we have to reach the world beyond the scriptures , but that is attainable by following the path of the scriptures .

 

but then again , a soul who actually reaches that high generally doesnt do anything thats not prescribed in the scriptures . although he does not retain the capacity to perform scriptural rituals , god personally takes care and ensures that his activities are all in right place , lest they set a bad example for common man to follow .

 

no one can reject the vedas , but since they (shrutis) are ultimately meant for god realization , it becomes inapplicable after that much coveted realization .

 

makes me remember a very similar parable of ramakrishna -----

 

a man living away from his family had sent a letter asking to send him some necessary objects . now unfortunetely the letter got misplaced in the house . everyone started searching frantically for the letter . when it was finally found they saw that it conatins an instruction to send some clothes and blankets . after that the family members started their search for the clothes and blankets and threw away the letter .

 

similarly sashtras and shrutis help us to understand that god realization is the thing thats needed . after one understands that , its time to concentrate on sadhana and feel it yourself . this is the only role of shastras...............