THE CONCLUSION OF VEDANTA
Compiled by Sri Nandanandana dasa (Stephen Knapp)
From Jaiva-dharma by Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakur
I am one who likes to be very clear on the conclusion of any philosophy that I am studying, which may include knowledge about where I am, where I have come from, and where I am going, what is the goal of the process, and what to do to reach the goal. The following is a collection of verses that brings us to the conclusion of all Vedic thought, and comes from the book Jaiva-dharma, by Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakur.
“The Vedas are said to be like a cow, and Sri Nandanandana Krishna, the son of Nanda Maharaja, is the milkman who milks her. The following statement of Sri Krishna is an absolute conclusion and found in the Bhagavad-gita (6.46-47):
“A yogi is greater than the ascetic, greater than the empiricist, and greater than the fruitive worker. Therefore, O Arjuna, in all circumstances, be a yogi.
“And of all yogis, the one with great faith who always abides in Me, thinks of Me within himself, and renders transcendental loving service to Me is the most intimately united with Me in yoga and is the highest of all.”
The Svetashvatara Upanishad (6.23) declares:
“Only unto those great souls who have implicit devotional faith in both the Lord and the spiritual master are all the imports of Vedic knowledge automatically revealed.”
In the Gopala-tapani Upanishad, Parva-vibhaga 15, we find:
“Bhakti to the Supreme Lord, Sri Govinda, is real bhajana. Curbing the desires for earthly as well as heavenly sense enjoyment, absorbing the consciousness purely in Sri Krishna, the Supreme Brahman, with love is indeed unmotivated bhakti and is known as complete surrender.”
Further, in the Brihad-aranyaka Upanishad (1.4.8) we find:
“One must worship the atma, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, knowing Him to be very near and dear.”
In the Brihad-aranyaka Upanishad (4.5.6) it is said:
“O Maitreya! Always hear and think about, meditate upon, and see all objects related to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the Supersoul, Sri Hari.”
Therefore, Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakur begins to determine in this way: “Any person who scrutinizes these Vedic postulations will automatically draw the obvious conclusion: The path of bhakti is the real sadhana (spiritual practice).” (Jaiva-dharma, page 189)
“It is absolutely correct that in the karma-kanda chapter, bhakti is used as a means to obtain bhukti (sense gratification) and in the jnana-kanda chapter, bhakti is employed to offer mukti (liberation). To understand this employment of bhakti, one fact must be clearly understood: No goals or results can be achieved if the Supreme Lord, the fountainhead of all energies, is not satisfied. Whatever volume of energy is found in the jiva or in matter is merely a fractional display of the potency of the Supreme Lord. Essentially, neither karma nor jnana is able to satisfy the Supreme Lord properly and attract His mercy—only bhakti is able to attract His mercy. Therefore, only when bhakti is applied as a part of the karma or jnana processes do these ultimately bhakti dependent processes offer their specific results. Thus, the paths of karma and jnana harbor bhakti-abhasa, a mere semblance of bhakti, and not shuddha-bhakti (pure loving devotional service).” (Jaiva-dharma page 189)
In this way, “We have simply presented the conclusion of all the shastras. Shastra is one. Even if you do not accept the Bhagavatam, then the other scriptures will harass you with the same conclusion. We do not need to refer to many shastras, simply consider what the Gita and the Bhagavatam explain…
“The purport of this is that a devotee who engages in bhakti, hearing the topics of Krishna consciousness, chanting harinama, singing His glories with ananya-bhak, single-mindedness, even if he is addicted to many abominable, illicit activities, which go against the scriptural injunctions, must be considered a sadhu, because he is on the righteous path being situated in bhakti.
“Three processes are mentioned in the scriptures: karma-kanda, fruitive activities within the varnashrama system; jnana-kanda, empirical philosophy and renunciation; and bhakti-yoga, devotional cultivation, comprising of hearing narrations about the Supreme Lord in saintly association, and chanting harinama with sincere faith. Sometimes these three methods can be channeled into one application known as yoga, at which time they generally become termed as karma-yoga, jnana-yoga or bhakti-yoga, depending on the stress and slant of the practice. When any of these forms of yoga is practiced exclusively, their acolytes are called karma-yogis, jnana-yogis or bhakti-yogis. A bhakti-yogi is the best of the three because bhakti-yoga is able to reward the yogi with unlimited benediction by itself. You can understand this point as cited in the Bhagavad-gita 6.46-6 (listed above).” (Jaiva-dharma pages 72-3)
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