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Uvod

Introduction

»Vedski nauk«

“Teachings of the Vedas

Povzeto po predavanju Njegove božanske milosti
A. C. Bhaktivedante Swamija Prabhupāde, ki ga je imel
6. oktobra 1969 v londonskem Conway Hallu v Angliji.

Delivered as a lecture by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda on October 6, 1969, at Conway Hall, London, England.

Spoštovani gospe in gospodje, danes bomo govorili o vedskem nauku. Kaj so Vede? Sanskrtski koren veda si lahko različno razlagamo, končno pa pomeni samo eno. Veda pomeni znanje. Vsako znanje je veda, saj je vedski nauk vir vsega znanja. Dokler smo pogojeni, ima naše znanje veliko pomanjkljivosti. Razlika med pogojeno in osvobojeno dušo je, da ima pogojena štiri vrste pomanjkljivosti. Prva med njimi je, da smo se prisiljeni motiti. V Indiji, na primer, smo imeli Mahatmo Gandhija za zelo velikega človeka, vendar je naredil polno napak. Tudi ob koncu življenja ga je njegov pomočnik posvaril, naj ne hodi na sestanek v New Delhi, saj je od prijateljev slišal, da mu bo tam grozila nevarnost. Toda Mahatma Gandhi ga ni poslušal. Vztrajal je pri svojem in ubili so ga. Celo velike osebnosti, kot so Mahatma Gandhi, predsednik Kennedy in številni drugi, se motijo. Motiti se je človeško. To je ena od pomanjkljivosti pogojene duše.

Ladies and gentlemen, today’s subject matter is the teachings of the Vedas. What are the Vedas? The Sanskrit verbal root of veda can be interpreted variously, but the purport is finally one. Veda means knowledge. Any knowledge you accept is veda, for the teachings of the Vedas are the original knowledge. In the conditioned state, our knowledge is subjected to many deficiencies. The difference between a conditioned soul and a liberated soul is that the conditioned soul has four kinds of defects. The first defect is that he must commit mistakes. For example, in our country, Mahatma Gandhi was considered to be a very great personality, but he committed many mistakes. Even at the last stage of his life, his assistant warned, “Mahatma Gandhi, don’t go to the New Delhi meeting. I have some friends, and I have heard there is danger.” But he did not hear. He persisted in going and was killed. Even great personalities like Mahatma Gandhi, President Kennedy – there are so many of them – make mistakes. To err is human. This is one defect of the conditioned soul.

   Druga je, da smo zaslepljeni. Zaslepljenost pomeni, da sprejmemo za resnično nekaj, česar ni, kar imenujemo māyā. Māyā pomeni »to, česar ni«. Vsi mislijo, da je telo njihov jaz. Na vprašanje, kdo ste, mi boste odgovorili, da ste gospod John, premožen človek ali kar koli drugega. Vse to so telesne opredelitve. Vendar vi niste telo. To je zaslepljenost.

Another defect: to be illusioned. Illusion means to accept something which is not: māyā. Māyā means “what is not.” Everyone is accepting the body as the self. If I ask you what you are, you will say, “I am Mr. John; I am a rich man; I am this; I am that.” All these are bodily identifications. But you are not this body. This is illusion.

   Nagnjenje k varanju je tretja pomanjkljivost. Vsak jo ima. Tudi če je kdo prvovrstni bedak, se vseeno dela nadvse pametnega. Čeprav smo že dokazali, da je zaslepljen in da se moti, bo kljub temu modroval, kaj je res in kaj ni. Ne pozna pa niti svojega položaja. Piše filozofske knjige, čeprav je sam poln napak. Varanje je njegova bolezen.

The third defect is the cheating propensity. Everyone has the propensity to cheat others. Although a person is fool number one, he poses himself as very intelligent. Although it is already pointed out that he is in illusion and makes mistakes, he will theorize: “I think this is this, this is this.” But he does not even know his own position. He writes books of philosophy, although he is defective. That is his disease. That is cheating.

   Končno so nepopolna tudi naša čutila. Ponosni smo na svoje oči. Ljudje nas pogosto izzivajo, ali jim lahko pokažemo Boga. Pa imajo oči, da bi Ga videli? Brez oči ne moremo ničesar videti. Če nenadoma postane temno kot v rogu, ne moremo videti niti svojih rok. Kakšno moč imajo torej naše oči? Zato ne moremo pričakovati, da si znanje (vedo) lahko pridobimo z nepopolnimi čutili. Zaradi vseh teh pomanjkljivosti v pogojenem stanju nikomur ne moremo dati popolnega znanja, saj tudi sami nismo popolni. Zato sprejemamo Vede takšne, kakršne so.

Lastly, our senses are imperfect. We are very proud of our eyes. Often, someone will challenge, “Can you show me God?” But do you have the eyes to see God? You will never see if you haven’t the eyes. If immediately the room becomes dark, you cannot even see your hands. So what power do you have to see? We cannot, therefore, expect knowledge (veda) with these imperfect senses. With all these deficiencies, in conditioned life we cannot give perfect knowledge to anyone. Nor are we ourselves perfect. Therefore we accept the Vedas as they are.

   Vedam sicer lahko rečete, da so hinduistične, vendar morate vedeti, da so besedo hindu vpeljali tujci. Nismo hindujci. Naš sistem je varṇāśrama. Varṇāśrama označuje privržence Ved, ki sprejemajo delitev družbe na osem razredov varṇ in āśram. Obstajajo štirje družbeni in štirje duhovni razredi. To je varṇāśrama. Bhagavad-gītā (4.13) pravi, da ta delitev obstaja povsod, saj jo je ustvaril Bog. Družba je razdeljena na brāhmaṇe, kṣatriye, vaiśye in śūdre. Brāhmaṇe so razred visoko inteligentnih ljudi, ki poznajo Brahman. Tudi kṣatriye (družbeni voditelji) so pametni ljudje. Vaiśye so trgovci. Tako naravno delitev lahko najdemo povsod. To je vedsko načelo, zato ga sprejemamo. Vedska načela sprejemamo kot aksiomatična, saj so brez napak. To je sprejemanje. V Indiji na primer imamo kravje blato za čisto, čeprav je živalski iztrebek. Nekje lahko preberete vedsko navodilo, da se moramo nemudoma okopati, če se dotaknemo iztrebka, drugje pa piše, da je kravje blato čisto in da lahko z njim očistimo kar koli nečistega. Po zdravi pameti bi sklepali, da je to protislovno. Vendar je protislovno le z vsakdanjega gledišča, v resnici pa ni. To je dejstvo. V Kalkuti je zelo pomemben zdravnik, doktor znanosti, analiziral kravje blato in spoznal, da učinkuje razkuževalno.

You may call the Vedas Hindu, but “Hindu” is a foreign name. We are not Hindus. Our real identification is varṇāśrama. Varṇāśrama denotes the followers of the Vedas, those who accept the human society in eight divisions of varṇa and āśrama. There are four divisions of society and four divisions of spiritual life. This is called varṇāśrama. It is stated in the Bhagavad-gītā, “These divisions are everywhere because they are created by God.” The divisions of society are brāhmaṇa, kṣatriya, vaiśya, śūdra. Brāhmaṇa refers to the very intelligent class of men, those who know what is Brahman. Similarly, the kṣatriyas, the administrator group, are the next intelligent class of men. Then the vaiśyas, the mercantile group. These natural classifications are found everywhere. This is the Vedic principle, and we accept it. Vedic principles are accepted as axiomatic truth, for there cannot be any mistake. That is acceptance. For instance, in India cow dung is accepted as pure, and yet cow dung is the stool of an animal. In one place you’ll find the Vedic injunction that if you touch stool, you have to take a bath immediately. But in another place it is said that the stool of a cow is pure. If you smear cow dung in an impure place, that place becomes pure. With our ordinary sense we can argue, “This is contradictory.” Actually, it is contradictory from the ordinary point of view, but it is not false. It is fact. In Calcutta, a very prominent scientist and doctor analyzed cow dung and found that it contains all antiseptic properties.

   Če nam v Indiji kdo kaj ukaže, ga lahko vprašamo, ali gre za vedsko navodilo, da ga moramo brez besed ubogati. Vedskih odredb si ne moremo razlagati po svoje. Če jih bomo natančno proučili, bomo spoznali, da so brez napak.

In India if one person tells another, “You must do this,” the other party may say, “What do you mean? Is this a Vedic injunction, that I have to follow you without any argument?” Vedic injunctions cannot be interpreted. But ultimately, if you carefully study why these injunctions are there, you will find that they are all correct.

   Vede niso zbirka človeškega znanja. Njihovo znanje prihaja iz duhovnega sveta, od Gospoda Kṛṣṇe. Drugo ime zanje je śruti. Śruti je znanje, ki ga pridobimo s poslušanjem. Tega znanja si ne moremo pridobiti s poskusi. Śruti velja za mater. Mati nam da ogromno znanja. Če na primer hočemo vedeti, kdo je naš oče, kdo nam lahko odgovori? Mati. Njen odgovor moramo sprejeti. Tega ne moremo preverjati s poskusi. Na enak način spoznavamo tudi tisto, kar presega našo izkušnjo, eksperimentalno znanje in čutno zaznavo – tako, da sprejmemo Vede. Poskušanje tu ni mogoče. Vede so že preizkušene in uveljavljene. Materino izjavo moramo sprejeti kot resnično. Nimamo druge izbire.

The Vedas are not compilations of human knowledge. Vedic knowledge comes from the spiritual world, from Lord Kṛṣṇa. Another name for the Vedas is śruti. Śruti refers to that knowledge which is acquired by hearing. It is not experimental knowledge. Śruti is considered to be like a mother. We take so much knowledge from our mother. For example, if you want to know who your father is, who can answer you? Your mother. If the mother says, “Here is your father,” you have to accept it. It is not possible to experiment to find out whether he is your father. Similarly, if you want to know something beyond your experience, beyond your experimental knowledge, beyond the activities of the senses, then you have to accept the Vedas. There is no question of experimenting. It has already been experimented. It is already settled. The version of the mother, for instance, has to be accepted as truth. There is no other way.

   Vede so naša mati, Brahmā, prvo ustvarjeno živo bitje, pa je stari oče, naš prednik, saj je prvi prejel vedsko znanje. Tega je posredoval Nāradi ter drugim učencem in sinovom, ti pa so ga predali svojim učencem. Vedsko znanje tako sestopa v nasledstvu duhovnih učiteljev in učencev. Tudi Bhagavad-gītā potrjuje, da moramo Vede razumeti na ta način. Z opravljanjem poskusov bi prišli do enakih dognanj, da pa ne bi zapravljali časa, bi morali sprejeti Vede. Če hočemo izvedeti, kdo je naš oče, in če za avtoriteto sprejmemo svojo mater, se lahko brez ugovorov zanesemo na vsako njeno besedo. Obstajajo trije načini spoznavanja: pratyakṣa, anumāna in śabda. Pratyakṣa pomeni »neposredno spoznavanje«. To ni prav zanesljivo, saj nimamo popolnih čutil. Sonce, ki ga vidimo vsak dan, se nam zdi majhno kot plošček, v resnici pa je veliko večje od številnih planetov. Od takega opazovanja ni nobene koristi. Če želimo razumeti sonce, moramo brati knjige. Neposredna izkušnja torej ni zanesljiva. Anumāna je induktivno znanje oziroma domnevanje. Darwinova teorija na primer ugiba med več različnimi možnostmi. Vendar to ni znanost. To je ugibanje, ki je prav tako nepopolno. Če pa znanje sprejmemo iz verodostojnega vira, je popolno. Če po radiu slišimo, kakšen bo njihov spored, to brez dvomov sprejmemo. Ni nam treba opravljati poskusov in preverjati takih podatkov, saj prihajajo iz verodostojnega vira.

The Vedas are considered to be the mother, and Brahmā is called the grandfather, the forefather, because he was the first to be instructed in the Vedic knowledge. In the beginning the first living creature was Brahmā. He received this Vedic knowledge and imparted it to Nārada and other disciples and sons, and they also distributed it to their disciples. In this way, the Vedic knowledge comes down by disciplic succession. It is also confirmed in the Bhagavad-gītā that Vedic knowledge is understood in this way. If you make experimental endeavor, you come to the same conclusion, but just to save time you should accept. If you want to know who your father is and if you accept your mother as the authority, then whatever she says can be accepted without argument. There are three kinds of evidence: pratyakṣa, anumāna and śabda. Pratyakṣa means “direct evidence.” Direct evidence is not very good because our senses are not perfect. We are seeing the sun daily, and it appears to us just like a small disc, but it is actually far, far larger than many planets. Of what value is this seeing? Therefore we have to read books; then we can understand about the sun. So direct experience is not perfect. Then there is anumāna, inductive knowledge: “It may be like this” – hypothesis. For instance, Darwin’s theory says it may be like this, it may be like that. But that is not science. That is a suggestion, and it is also not perfect. But if you receive the knowledge from the authoritative sources, that is perfect. If you receive a program guide from the radio station authorities, you accept it. You don’t deny it; you don’t have to make an experiment, because it is received from the authoritative sources.

   Vedsko znanje se imenuje śabda-pramāṇa ali śruti. Śruti pomeni, da moramo znanje prejeti s poslušanjem. Če hočemo razumeti transcendentalno znanje, nam Vede naročajo, da moramo poslušati besede verodostojnega strokovnjaka. Transcendentalno znanje presega snovno vesolje, v katerem obstaja le materialno znanje. Sami ne moremo doseči niti meja tega vesolja, kaj šele da bi prišli v duhovni svet! Vsega znanja si torej ne moremo pridobiti.

Vedic knowledge is called śabda-pramāṇa. Another name is śruti. Śruti means that this knowledge has to be received simply by aural reception. The Vedas instruct that in order to understand transcendental knowledge, we have to hear from the authority. Transcendental knowledge is knowledge from beyond this universe. Within this universe is material knowledge, and beyond this universe is transcendental knowledge. We cannot even go to the end of the universe, so how can we go to the spiritual world? Thus to acquire full knowledge is impossible.

   Duhovno nebo je druga vrsta narave, ki presega pojavni in nepojavni svet. Toda, kako bi lahko vedeli, da obstaja vesolje, kjer so planeti in njihovi prebivalci večni? Vse to znanje obstaja, vendar s poskusi tega ni mogoče dognati. Zato si moramo pomagati z Vedami. To je vedsko znanje. V našem gibanju za zavest Kṛṣṇe znanje prejemamo iz najvišjega vira, Kṛṣṇe. Vse kategorije ljudi sprejemajo Kṛṣṇo za najvišjo avtoriteto. V prvi vrsti tu mislim na tisti dve, ki bi radi presegli ta svet. Prvi so impersonalisti, māyāvādīji, ki jih navadno poznamo kot vedāntiste, privržence Śaṅkarācārye. Drugi pa so vaiṣṇave, kot na primer Rāmānujācārya, Madhvācārya in Viṣṇu Svāmī. Tako Śaṅkarjeva kot vaiṣṇavska sampradāya priznavata Kṛṣṇo za Vsevišnjo Božansko Osebnost. Śaṅkarācārya naj bi bil zagovornik in pridigar impersonalizma, brezosebnega Brahmana, v resnici pa prikrito priznava, da je Bog oseba. V svojem komentarju k Bhagavad-gīti je zapisal, da Nārāyaṇa, Vsevišnja Božanska Osebnost, presega vesoljno razsežnost. Nato je še potrdil, da je to Kṛṣṇa, ki se je pojavil kot sin Devakī in Vasudeve. Posebej je omenil imeni Njegovih staršev. Kṛṣṇo torej priznavajo za Vsevišnjo Božansko Osebnost vsi, ki želijo preseči materialni svet. O tem ni dvoma. Vir znanja o zavesti Kṛṣṇe je Bhagavad-gītā, ki prihaja neposredno od Kṛṣṇe. Bhagavad-gīto, kakršna je smo izdali, ker sprejemamo Kṛṣṇove besede brez izmišljenih razlag. Tako je vedsko znanje. Sprejemamo ga, ker je čisto. Karkoli reče Kṛṣṇa, sprejmemo. To je zavest Kṛṣṇe. S tem prihranimo veliko časa. Če sprejmemo pravo avtoriteto, pravi vir znanja, ne izgubljamo časa. V materialnem svetu na primer obstajata dva načina pridobivanja znanja, induktiven in deduktiven. Z dedukcijo sklepamo, da je človek umrljiv. Tako trdijo vaš oče, sestra in vsi, ki jih poznate. Zato tega ne preverjate z opravljanjem poskusov, temveč sprejmete za dejstvo. Če bi to trditev hoteli raziskati, bi morali proučiti prav vsakega človeka, pa bi še vedno dvomili v njeno resničnost, saj morda obstaja kdo, ki ni umrljiv, a ga še nismo srečali. Naše raziskovanje se tako ne bi nikoli končalo. V sanskrtu se ta postopek imenuje āroha, pridobivanje znanja z neodvisnim prizadevanjem. Na podlagi spoznanj, ki si jih ustvarimo z nepopolnimi čutili, ne moremo nikoli pravilno sklepati in si pridobiti znanja. To ni mogoče.

There is a spiritual sky. There is another nature, which is beyond manifestation and nonmanifestation. But how will you know that there is a sky where the planets and inhabitants are eternal? All this knowledge is there, but how will you make experiments? It is not possible. Therefore you have to take the assistance of the Vedas. This is called Vedic knowledge. In our Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement we are accepting knowledge from the highest authority, Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa is accepted as the highest authority by all classes of men. I am speaking first of the two classes of transcendentalists. One class of transcendentalists is called impersonalistic, Māyāvādī. They are generally known as Vedāntists, led by Śaṅkarācārya. And there is another class of transcendentalists, called Vaiṣṇavas, like Rāmānujācārya, Madhvācārya, Viṣṇu Svāmī. Both the Śaṅkara-sampradāya and the Vaiṣṇava-sampradāya have accepted Kṛṣṇa as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Śaṅkarācārya is supposed to be an impersonalist who preached impersonalism, impersonal Brahman, but it is a fact that he is a covered personalist. In his commentary on the Bhagavad-gītā he wrote, “Nārāyaṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is beyond this cosmic manifestation.” And then again he confirmed, “That Supreme Personality of Godhead, Nārāyaṇa, is Kṛṣṇa. He has come as the son of Devakī and Vasudeva.” He particularly mentioned the names of His father and mother. So Kṛṣṇa is accepted as the Supreme Personality of Godhead by all transcendentalists. There is no doubt about it. Our source of knowledge in Kṛṣṇa consciousness is the Bhagavad-gītā, which comes directly from Kṛṣṇa. We have published Bhagavad-gītā As It Is because we accept Kṛṣṇa as He is speaking, without any interpretation. That is Vedic knowledge. Since the Vedic knowledge is pure, we accept it. Whatever Kṛṣṇa says, we accept. This is Kṛṣṇa consciousness. That saves much time. If you accept the right authority, or source of knowledge, then you save much time. For example, there are two systems of knowledge in the material world: inductive and deductive. From deductive, you accept that man is mortal. Your father says man is mortal, your sister says man is mortal, everyone says man is mortal – but you do not experiment. You accept it as a fact that man is mortal. If you want to research to find out whether man is mortal, you have to study each and every man, and you may come to think that there may be some man who is not dying but you have not seen him yet. So in this way your research will never be finished. In Sanskrit this process is called āroha, the ascending process. If you want to attain knowledge by any personal endeavor, by exercising your imperfect senses, you will never come to the right conclusions. That is not possible.

   Brahma-saṁhitā pravi, da si lahko privoščimo polet s hitrostjo misli. Materialna letala lahko letijo tri tisoč dvesto kilometrov na uro, kakšna pa je hitrost misli? Iz naslonjača pomislite na Indijo, ki je šestnajst tisoč kilometrov daleč, pa ste že tam. Vaš um je odletel tja. Hitrost misli je neznanska. Zato Brahma-saṁhitā pravi, da lahko s to hitrostjo potujete na milijone let in spoznali boste, da je duhovno nebo neskončno. Niti približati se mu ne morete. Zato nam Vede naročajo – pri tem uporabijo besedo »obvezno« – da poiščemo verodostojnega duhovnega učitelja, guruja, ki se je usposobil s poslušanjem vedskega sporočila iz pravega vira in je trdno usidran v Brahmanu. Če nima teh dveh značilnosti, ni verodostojen.

There is a statement in the Brahma-saṁhitā: Just ride on the airplane which runs at the speed of mind. Our material airplanes can run two thousand miles per hour, but what is the speed of mind? You are sitting at home, you immediately think of India – say, ten thousand miles away – and at once it is in your home. Your mind has gone there. The mind-speed is so swift. Therefore it is stated, “If you travel at this speed for millions of years, you’ll find that the spiritual sky is unlimited.” It is not possible even to approach it. Therefore, the Vedic injunction is that one must approach – the word “compulsory” is used – a bona fide spiritual master, a guru. And what is the qualification of a spiritual master? He is one who has rightly heard the Vedic message from the right source. And he must practically be firmly established in Brahman. These are the two qualities he must have. Otherwise he is not bona fide.

   Naše gibanje za zavest Kṛṣṇe v celoti temelji na vedskih načelih. Kṛṣṇa pravi v Bhagavad-gīti, da je pravi cilj raziskovanja Ved spoznati Kṛṣṇo. V Brahma-saṁhiti piše, da ima Kṛṣṇa, Govinda, neštete podobe, ki pa so eno. Niso take, kot je naše telo, ki je podvrženo propadanju. Njegovo telo je večno. Moje telo ima začetek, Njegovo pa ne, saj je ananta. Njegove številne oblike so neskončne. Mi smo lahko telesno navzoči le v enem prostoru, drugje pa ne. Kṛṣṇa pa je lahko hkrati povsod. Lahko sedi na Goloki Vṛndāvani, pa je obenem vsepovsod, saj je vseprežemajoč. Iz Njega vse izvira in je najstarejši, pa vendar je na vseh slikah upodobljen kot mladenič petnajstih ali dvajsetih let. Nikjer ni upodobljen kot starec. Na naslovnici Bhagavad-gīte lahko vidite sliko kočijaža Kṛṣṇe. Takrat ni bil mlajši od stotih let. Imel je pravnuke, pa je bil videti kot mladenič. Kṛṣṇa oziroma Bog nikoli ne ostari. To je Njegova vrhovna moč. Proučevanje Ved nam prav tako ne bo odkrilo Kṛṣṇe, temveč nas bo samo zmedlo. Morda bi nam sicer uspelo, vendar zelo težko. O Njem pa nas lahko zlahka pouči Njegov vdani služabnik in nam Ga izroči. To je moč Kṛṣṇovih vdanih služabnikov.

This Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is completely authorized from Vedic principles. In the Bhagavad-gītā Kṛṣṇa says, “The actual aim of Vedic research is to find out Kṛṣṇa.” In the Brahma-saṁhitā it is also stated, “Kṛṣṇa, Govinda, has innumerable forms, but they are all one.” They are not like our forms, which are fallible. His form is infallible. My form has a beginning, but His form has no beginning. It is ananta. And His form – so many multiforms – has no end. My form is sitting here and not in my apartment. You are sitting there and not in your apartment. But Kṛṣṇa can be everywhere at one time. He can sit down in Goloka Vṛndāvana, and at the same time He is everywhere, all-pervading. He is original, the oldest, but whenever you look at a picture of Kṛṣṇa you’ll find a young boy fifteen or twenty years old. You will never find an old man. You have seen pictures of Kṛṣṇa as a charioteer from the Bhagavad-gītā. At that time He was not less than one hundred years old. He had great-grandchildren, but He looked just like a boy. Kṛṣṇa, God, never becomes old. That is His supreme power. And if you want to search out Kṛṣṇa by studying the Vedic literature, then you will be baffled. It may be possible, but it is very difficult. But you can very easily learn about Him from His devotee. His devotee can deliver Him to you: “Here He is, take Him.” That is the potency of Kṛṣṇa’s devotees.

   Izvorno je obstajala samo ena Veda, in ni je bilo treba brati. Ljudje so imeli tako visoko razvit razum in spomin, da so takoj doumeli sporočilo, če so ga od svojega duhovnega učitelja slišali le enkrat. Pred pet tisoč leti pa je Vede za ljudi v kali-yugi zapisal Vyāsadeva. Vedel je, da bodo kratko živeli, imeli slab spomin in slabo razvit razum. Zato jim je hotel vedsko znanje podati v pisni obliki. Vede je razdelil na štiri dele: Ṛg, Sāmo, Atharvo in Yajur, ki jih je zaupal svojim različnim učencem. Nato je razmišljal o kategoriji manj razumnih ljudi – strī (ženskah), śūdrah (delavcih) in dvija-bandhujih (rojenih v brahmanski družini, ki pa niso usposobljeni, da bi postali brāhmaṇe). Zanje je sestavil Mahābhārato (zgodovino Indije) in osemnajst Purāṇ. Purāṇe, Mahābhārata, štiri Vede in Upaniṣade sestavljajo vedske spise. Upaniṣade so del Ved. Za učenjake in filozofe pa je Vyāsadeva vedsko znanje strnil v Vedānta-sūtri, najvišjem vedskem nauku.

Originally there was only one Veda, and there was no necessity of reading it. People were so intelligent and had such sharp memories that by once hearing from the lips of the spiritual master they would understand. They would immediately grasp the whole purport. But five thousand years ago Vyāsadeva put the Vedas in writing for the people in this age, Kali-yuga. He knew that eventually the people would be short-lived, their memories would be very poor, and their intelligence would not be very sharp. “Therefore, let me teach this Vedic knowledge in writing.” He divided the Vedas into four: Ṛg, Sāma, Atharva and Yajur. Then he gave the charge of these Vedas to his different disciples. He then thought of the less intelligent class of men – strī, śūdra and dvija-bandhu. He considered the woman class and śūdra class (worker class) and dvija-bandhu. Dvija-bandhu refers to those who are born in a high family but who are not properly qualified. A man who is born in the family of a brāhmaṇa but is not qualified as a brāhmaṇa is called dvija-bandhu. For these persons he compiled the Mahābhārata, called the history of India, and the eighteen Purāṇas. These are all part of the Vedic literature: the Purāṇas, the Mahābhārata, the four Vedas and the Upaniṣads. The Upaniṣads are part of the Vedas. Then Vyāsadeva summarized all Vedic knowledge for scholars and philosophers in what is called the Vedānta-sūtra. This is the last word of the Vedas.

   Vyāsadeva je napisal Vedānta-sūtro po navodilu svojega guru-mahārāje (duhovnega učitelja) Nārade, pa kljub temu ni bil zadovoljen. To dolgo zgodbo opisuje Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Vedavyāsa ni bil zares pomirjen niti potem, ko je sestavil številne Purāṇe in Upaniṣade, celo potem ne, ko je napisal Vedānta-sūtro. Nato mu je duhovni učitelj Nārada naročil, naj pojasni Vedānta-sūtro. Vedānta pomeni »najvišje znanje«, to pa je Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa pravi, da je namen vseh Ved spoznati Njega: vedaiś ca sarvair aham eva vedyaḥ. Kṛṣṇa pravi tudi: vedānta-kṛd veda-vid eva cāham. »Jaz sem sestavil Vedānta-sūtro in Jaz sem poznavalec Ved.« Zato je Kṛṣṇa najvišji cilj. To pojasnjujejo vsi vaiṣṇavski komentarji k filozofiji Vedānte. Govinda-bhāṣya Baladeve Vidyābhūṣaṇe je naš (gauḍīya-vaiṣṇavski) komentar k temu delu. Tudi Rāmānujācārya in Madhvācārya sta napisala svoja komentarja. Śaṅkarācāryeva različica ni edina. Obstaja veliko komentarjev k Vedānti, ker pa vaiṣṇave niso spisali prvega, imajo ljudje napačen vtis, da je Śaṅkarācāryev edini. Vrh tega je sam Vyāsadeva napisal popoln komentar k Vedānti, Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, ki se začne s prvimi besedami Vedānta-sūtre: janmādy asya yataḥ, in jih tudi v popolnosti pojasnil. Vedānta-sūtra zgolj nakazuje, kaj je Brahman, Absolutna Resnica: »Absolutna Resnica je tisto, iz česar vse izvira.« To je povzetek, ki pa ga podrobno razlaga Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Če vse izvira iz Absolutne Resnice, kakšna je torej njena narava? Tudi to pojasnjuje Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Absolutna Resnica mora imeti zavest in je samo-razsvetljena (sva-rāṭ). Svojo zavest in znanje razvijemo tako, da sprejmemo znanje od drugih, Gospod pa je samo-razsvetljen. Vedānta-sūtra povzema celotno vedsko znanje, sam pisec pa jo je pojasnil v Śrīmad-Bhāgavatamu. Tiste, ki jih zanima vedsko znanje, zato prosimo, naj njegovo vseobsegajoče pojasnilo poiščejo v Śrīmad-Bhāgavatamu in Bhagavad-gīti.

Vyāsadeva personally wrote the Vedānta-sūtra under the instructions of Nārada, his Guru Mahārāja (spiritual master), but still he was not satisfied. That is a long story, described in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Vedavyāsa was not very satisfied even after compiling many Purāṇas and Upaniṣads, and even after writing the Vedānta-sūtra. Then his spiritual master, Nārada, instructed him, “You explain the Vedānta-sūtra. Vedānta means “ultimate knowledge,” and the ultimate knowledge is Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa says that throughout all the Vedas one has to understand Him: vedaiś ca sarvair aham eva vedyaḥ. Kṛṣṇa also says, vedānta-kṛd veda-vid eva cāham: “I am the compiler of the Vedānta-sūtra, and I am the knower of the Vedas.” Therefore the ultimate objective is Kṛṣṇa. That is explained in all the Vaiṣṇava commentaries on Vedānta philosophy. We Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇavas have our commentary on Vedānta philosophy, called Govinda-bhāṣya, by Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa. Similarly, Rāmānujācārya has a commentary, and Madhvācārya has one. The version of Śaṅkarācārya is not the only commentary. There are many Vedānta commentaries, but because the Vaiṣṇavas did not present the first Vedānta commentary, people are under the wrong impression that Śaṅkarācārya’s is the only Vedānta commentary. Besides that, Vyāsadeva himself wrote the perfect Vedānta commentary, Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam begins with the first words of the Vedānta-sūtra: janmādy asya yataḥ. And that janmādy asya yataḥ is fully explained in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. The Vedānta-sūtra simply hints at what is Brahman, the Absolute Truth: “The Absolute Truth is that from whom everything emanates.” This is a summary, but it is explained in detail in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. If everything is emanating from the Absolute Truth, then what is the nature of the Absolute Truth? That is explained in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. The Absolute Truth must be consciousness. He is self-effulgent (sva-rāṭ). We develop our consciousness and knowledge by receiving knowledge from others, but for Him it is said that He is self-effulgent. The whole summary of Vedic knowledge is the Vedānta-sūtra, and the Vedānta-sūtra is explained by the writer himself in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. We finally request those who are actually after Vedic knowledge to try to understand the explanation of all Vedic knowledge from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam and the Bhagavad-gītā.