Bhagavatgita a detailed study-chapter2

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42. yam imam pushpithaam vaachampravadhanthi avipaschithaah

vedhavaadharathaaH paarTha naanyath asthi ithi vaadhinah

 

The ignorant speak all flowery words to discuss about the Vedas that their view alone is the right view, O Arjuna,

43.kaamaathmaanah svargaparaah janmakarma phalapradhaam

kriyaavisesha bahulaam bhogaiSvaryagathim ptrathi

 

they are all hankering after their desire for heaven and indulge in the actions that lead them to birth and more karma, and towards enjoyment of pleasures and wealth and power in this world.

 

44. bhogaiSvryapraskthaanaamthayaa apahrthachethasaam

vyavasayaathmikaa budDhihsamaaDhuna viDheeyathe

 

Their mind, engaged in the enjoyment of wealth and power and hankering after that never becomes steady in meditation.

 

Here Krishna talks about those who have learnt the Vedas but use the knowledge only to further their own ends which are desire motivated. Even if it is to attain svarga , says Krishna , it is leading to transmigration as he says later, ksheeNe puNye marthyalokam viSanthi, as soon as their merit acquired to deserve heaven is exhausted they revert back to the world to do more karma to go to heaven. Thus performing yagas and other ritualistic karma in order to reach heaven or to get a better life in next birth goes on and on. Such people are addicted to the karmakanda of the Vedas, called poorvamimamsa , while the latter portion of Vedas which is about Brahman and moksha is called uttaramimamsa or Vedanta.

 

To prove that their view alone is right they put forth arguments which Krishna calls as flowery speeches because of their learning which give them mastery of language. Karma unless done as karmayoga, as nishkamakarma will never secure release from bondage, may it well be spiritual or secular. Even the vedic rites sanctioned by the Vedas could only lead to heaven or a better life in this world but not to the attainment of release from bondage.

 

It should not be taken to mean that Krishna is against all ritualistic action because he is extolling the importance of yajna later but says that all should be done without desire for fruit and as an offering to God. We have seen this in the case of rshis who were described to do yagas all the time. They did not have any desire for heaven or for a better life on earth but they did it without any expectation of fruit and as an offering to God for the welfare of the world.

 

Those who believe that the Vedas are important only for the ritualistic portion of it are called mimamsakas and their school of thought is the school of Mimamsa , one of the shad darsanas of Hinduism. It is opposed to Vedanta darsana in as muca s they hold that the subject matter of the Upanishads, which form the uttaramimasa, being Brahman, is not necessary as all the teachings of the Vedas must be inductive of action only. This is a major topic in Vedanta which is refuted by all the acharyas of Vedanta.

 

As to why the Vedas , which form a major part of our culture , is to be taken as not conducive to moksha, is explained by Krishna in the next sloka. It should however be remembered that it is only the karmakanda which is under criticism here and not the upanishadic part of the Vedas called Vedanta.