By H.H. Bhaktisvarupa Damodara Swami
Perfection means becoming a devotee of Lord Krishna.
It is stated in the first canto of Srimad Bhagavatam (1.2.28-29),
vāsudeva-parā vedā vāsudeva-parā makhāḥ
vāsudeva-parā yoga vāsudeva-parāḥ kriyāḥ
vāsudeva-paraṁ jñānaṁ vāsudeva-paraṁ tapaḥ
vāsudeva-paro dharmo vāsudeva-parā gatiḥ
“In the revealed scriptures, the ultimate object of knowledge is Sri Krsna, the Personality of Godhead. The purpose of performing sacrifice is to please Him. Yoga is for realizing Him. All fruitive activities are ultimately rewarded by Him only. He is Supreme knowledge and all the severe austerities are performed to know Him. Religion (dharma) is rendering loving service unto Him. He is the supreme goal of life.”
All the human activities are included here within the journey to Supreme Lord.
Here in this verse, it is wonderfully and scientifically described and this has to be firmly focused in your mind that, ‘vāsudeva-parā vedā’.
We go to schools, colleges and universities where you research in all kinds of studies, but the very simple conclusion is that the ultimate goal of all this knowledge is actually to understand the Supreme source.
Vāsudeva-parā vedā – the whole goal of knowledge is to realize that there is a Supreme Lord, Krishna. This is very simple in a sense that we all are working hard for getting knowledge, searching for the ultimate aim of life, the ultimate purpose of life. All these scientific research works, all these philosophical research works, all these human efforts are all aiming to actually find out something that we are looking for. But the goal should be to understand the Supreme source and then you are the most intelligent.
Therefore, Bhagavatam says very clearly ‘vāsudeva-parā vedā’, the goal of all knowledge is to understand the Supreme Lord. In the process of doing that you cannot see the Lord direct and immediately, but you have the process; the process how to realize this is called as devotional activity. The devotional activity begins with sadhana-bhakti. Sadhana-bhakti means the beginners are following the rules and regulations, observing the austerities and discipline or tapasya and following the daily routine, called sadhana. Sadhana means discipline, following the discipline. In this way, sadhana-bhakti is taught and then slowly, by the process of realization, one will be able to understand the Supreme Lord and develop the highest knowledge of prema bhakti. The devotional attractions to understand that the Lord is everything, ‘vāsudeva-parā gatiḥ’, and ‘krsnas tu bhagavan svayam’, this knowledge will come as step by step process by our sincere effort.
In Bhagavad Gita, Lord Krishna says, ‘raja vidya raja guhyam pavitram idam uttamam’; the devotional bhakti yoga is a process of understanding about the nature of life, self and also about the science of God. This is called ‘para vidya’, ultimate knowledge or king of knowledge, or also called as king of very confidential knowledge. This process of knowing what is the nature of the self and what is the science of God and such knowledge is ‘pavitram’ means very pure, not contaminated by any other things, ‘uttamam’ means highest; it is highest knowledge and such knowledge Krishna says that, it is pratyaksavagamam dharmyam. Pratyaksa means it can also come through the sense perception but these senses are not ordinary senses. These are purified senses. When the senses are purified by discipline, it is eligible for receiving knowledge by direct perception and this knowledge is su-sukham kartum avyayam – this knowledge is very joyfully performed and one gets ultimate enthusiasm and satisfaction along with happiness and blissfulness. Therefore, this is the nature of pure form of knowledge. Vāsudeva-parā vedā means to understand the Supreme source of everything is Vasudeva. He is the goal of knowledge.
vāsudeva-parā yoga, yoga here means bhakti yoga, to realize the Supreme Lord. vāsudeva-parāḥ kriyāḥ vāsudeva-paraṁ jñānaṁ, means the goal of scientific knowledge is also to understand Krishna, and ‘vāsudeva-paraṁ tapaḥ’ means the purpose of performing tapasya is also to understand Krishna and finally, ‘vāsudeva-paro dharmo vāsudeva-parā gatiḥ’, ‘gatiḥ’ means the ultimate goal of what we are looking for ultimately. The scientists are very interested in the search for the ultimate reality, what is the road to reality, what is the nature of the truth. These are the things on which some of the important scientists and philosophers are working; people are interested in finding the ultimate truth; all of us are interested. But here Bhagavatam says that the goal of all these things is to actually to understand about the Supreme Self or Vasudeva, the Lord Himself.
Therefore, Krishna consciousness is very practical and is for everyone. If one wants to be a scientist or want to be a philosopher, or one becomes interested in finding out what is the ultimate purpose of life, what is the goal of life? What is the purpose of coming here in this world? What am I looking for? In this way, life can be meaningful and purposeful so that this precious human life is not misused or wasted. I think that is the very central question that each one of us has to ask, this is one of the purposes of coming to this world. Sometimes you want to find some practical ways and means how to meet the challenges of this material world. Challenges means like you have so many difficulties which may come in your lifetime but how to go beyond so as to overcome those challenges and try to develop the understanding; the practical application is to actually reach the goal that you are looking for.
The Krishna consciousness culture is a very practical application in one’s life. If one can imbibe this in all stages of life, as a student, as a professional worker, as a scientist, as a philosopher, as a lawyer, as a housewife, everyone, if one can actually engage himself or herself in this very useful journey of the human life, one will remain very enthusiastic in spite of all these ups and downs in this material world. There will be real meaning as well as happiness, in this way life will be worthwhile to be and do not lament why you are in this world, why Lord has sent you to this world. Lord has very mercifully sent you here in order to understand these things and try to do your duty.
Human duty is to go back to the original home. Srila Prabhupada says back to Godhead.
Thank you
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Jaganmohini devi dasi: We take pleasure in informing the Vaishnava community that the disciples, well-wishers and servants of H.H. Bhaktisvarupa Damodara Swami will be celebrating his 85th vyasa puja festival on November 29th, 2022. On this most auspicious and joyous occasion the Sri Murti will be installed at the birthplace of Maharaj in Toubul Village, near Imphal Manipur. All are invited to participate in the festival.
Today, I also take the privilege in sharing the excerpts from an insightful lecture by H.H. Bhaktisvarupa Damodara Swami about the human journey toward the Supreme Lord. The lecture was delivered in 2005 at Zurich, Switzerland.
(The excerpts presented below are adapted from the book “Sripada in Switzerland – Lectures, conversations and instructions of His Holiness Bhaktisvarupa Damodara Swami in Switzerland published by BI, Kolkata.)
Source: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=104076
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