A Study of Intro to Isopanishad

(written on May 2, 2020)

This introduction of the Isopanishad is actually a transcript of one of Srila Prabhupada’s lectures which goes by the title “Teachings of the Vedas.” This lecture was delivered on October 6, 1969, at Conway Hall, London, England. This lecture perfectly explains Vedic epistemology, the process in which one can understand what is right and what is wrong. Srila Prabhupada explains the following points throughout the lecture:

• What are the Vedas. The word veda means knowledge. Actually Srila Prabhupada explains in the lecture that anything you accept as knowledge is veda, because the Vedas are the original source of knowledge. All knowledge, whether phenomenal or numinous is coming from the Vedas.

• The four kinds of defects of the conditioned soul:

  • Commits mistakes. Prabhupada cites the example of Mahatma Gandhi who went to a meeting despite getting warned that he might get killed. Upon his arrival at the meeting, he was shot dead by a Hindu nationalist. This example proves that people make mistakes. Gandhi made the mistake of going to the meeting, and just like him, everyday everybody makes mistakes. There is a saying that encompasses this concept: “to err is human.”

  • Is illusioned. The Sanskrit word for illusion is maya. Illusion means to accept something which is not true. For example, one might believe that in the night, there is a person standing there in the corners of their room. But upon waking up in the morning, they realize that it was just the coat hanger’s shadow playing tricks on the mind. The man, however, was sure that there was an intruder. This is an example of illusion. The man believed what was not true. Actually everyone who has the conception that they are the body are under illusion. We are not this body, yet so many people do not know, and they accept what is not true.

  • Has a propensity to cheat. This propensity to cheat is evident in all of the modern philosophers and scientists. They use circumlocution to pose themselves as intelligent, pragmatic people but are actually not even knowledgeable of their own position. Srila Prabhupada says in the lecture, “He writes books of philosophy, although he is defective. That is his disease. That is cheating.” The entire point is that knowledge coming from a defective source is defective and therefore we should not accept it.

  • Has imperfect senses. Lastly, all the conditioned souls have limited and imperfect senses. We cannot see or hear things properly and many people need glasses or hearing aids. We cannot touch things which are far from us, and therefore we have a very limited perception of the world. Prabhupada says in the purport, “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.”

Once one has realized that as conditioned souls we are heavily limited, we must understand that accepting knowledge from other conditioned souls is a useless endeavor. Therefore, we must take the shelter of the Vedas.

• Our identification as devotees: varnasrama. Often, Vaishnavas get confused with Hinduism and many people wrongly categorize the Krsna consciousness movement with Hinduism. However, Srila Prabhupada says that our real identification is varnashrama. Prabhupada says in the lecture, “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.” These four divisions are brahmana, kshatriya, vaishya, and shudra. The reason Prabhupada points out varnasrama is because it is non-sectarian. The eight classes of varnasrama apply to all human beings, not just Hindus.

• Contradictory statements of the Vedas. Often, it may appear to the conditioned soul that there are some contradictory statements. From the ordinary standpoint people might believe that there are contradicting statements. Srila Prabhupada replies to this by saying: “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.” So actually whatever is stated in the Vedas we must accept as fact. Even contradictory statements might be true in different scenarios. For example, rubbing the stool of the dog on the body is an act of uncleanliness which is not acceptable per the Vedas. However, cow dung is very medicinal and is used and accepted by those who are servants of the Lord. Prabhupada says, “But ultimately, if you carefully study why these injunctions are there, you will find that they are all correct.”

• The Vedas are considered sruti. Shruti is the knowledge which is acquired through hearing. Srila Prabhupada says that the Vedas are considered as the mother. They should be considered as the chief of all knowledge and one should refer to them whenever in doubt. Srila Prabhupada provides an example, “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.”

• Vedic knowledge is understood and passed down through the disciplic succession. While the Vedic knowledge is considered to be the mother, Srila Prabhupada says that Brahma is the forefather because he was the first living entity to receive the Vedic knowledge from the Lord. This is the process in which we hear about the Lord: through his disciples. If one flips to the Introduction of the Bhagavad Gita, they will be able to see the entire disciplic succession, originating from the Lord. So this is the medium of the Vedic knowledge. Prabhupada stresses that instead of using our senses, which are a miscellany of defects, we should accept knowledge from the authoritative sources which are not conditioned by the material nature.

• The three kinds of evidence. The three kinds of evidence are:

  • Pratyaksha pramana: This pramana is direct evidence. In other words, this knowledge is empirical; achieved through the senses. Srila Prabhupada says that pratyaksha is not a good source of 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 the sun. So direct experience is not perfect.”

  • Anumana pramana: This pramana is similar to inductive knowledge, knowledge which gathered through questioning and hypothesizing. Prabhupada says that the theories of the material scientists (which are anumana pramana) are simply imperfect suggestions: “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.”

  • Shabda pramana: This pramana is basically sruti. This is the most complete evidence. We accept knowledge from the authorities through aural reception. This is because it is impossible for us to try to understand the spiritual world which is so far away.

• Krsna is accepted as the Supreme Personality of Godhead by all classes of Vedic transcendentalists. Actually, in all the classes of transcendentalists, it is accepted that Lord Krsna is the Supreme. Prabhupada explains this:”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.”Actually Sankaracharya was a personalist disguised as an impersonalist as said further in the lecture by Prabhupad. In his commentary of Bhagavad Gita he has revealed that he actually accepts that Krsna is the Supreme. Prabhupada makes this point to prove that Krsna is , without a doubt, the Supreme.

Hare Krsna Maharaj - I wrote the outline for the following concepts, but was unable to finish them. Will work on it tomorrow.

The two systems of knowledge in the material world. The two systems are:

• Inductive reasoning:

• Deductive reasoning:

• One must approach a spiritual master.

• The Lord’s devotees have the great potency to help neophytes.

• Trying to study Krsna by simply studying Vedic literature is not enough.

• Vyasadeva has compiled the Vedas for the conditioned souls.

• Srimad Bhagavatam is the most substantial scripture of Vedic knowledge.