No Material Means to God

(written October 20, 2018)

(References: BG 8.28, 11.53, 18.67, 11.48, 4.59)

Krishna clearly declares that He cannot be understood, the Knowledge about Him cannot be explained, and He cannot be attained, just by simply studying Vedas, performing austerities, penances, charity, worship etc. What matters is the pure love for Him and performing unalloyed devotional service unto Him. He also says that the universal form of His cannot be seen by anyone in this material world except for his purest devotees like Arjuna.

This does not mean that the study of the Vedas is a bad thing. However, it is not open to one who simply speculates or is envious of Krsna (eg. Ravana a great scholar who underwent great penance only to envy Krsna and show off his greatness). Reading and understanding the Vedas without speculation helps establish good character and makes one ready for the process of receiving the knowledge of Krsna. The process of attaining the supreme abode of the Lord as mentioned in Vedas is to go through the Varnashrama system and perform prescribed duties through all these stages - Brahmacharya, grihastha, Vanaprastha, Sanyasi. The beauty of Kṛṣṇa consciousness, however, is that only by engaging in devotional service, one can surpass all the rituals of the different orders of life and attain those results.

As we understand that Krsna can only be attained through pure love for Him and by performing unalloyed devotional service unto Him, we now need to understand how this can be achieved. The pure love for Krsna can be achieved by knowing Him and serving Him. One can learn about Krsna by studying Bhagavad-Gita (Krishna's words) and Bhagavatam (Krishna's past times) through a bonafide spiritual master a pure devotee of Krsna. Through the association of pure devotees, one gets placed in the devotional service. As one starts performing devotional service their misconceptions of Krsna (his form, his attributes, his past times etc.,) will be removed and one gets fixed in their study. One starts relishing the study of Gita and they attain the state of always being Krsna Conscious. As one starts performing more and more unalloyed devotional service one attains the pure love for Krsna.

A being cannot simply perform mundane activities and expect to attain the Lord. Even the prescribed duties in Krsna Conscious (devotional service) path, if performed without being true to the essence of serving the supreme lord with love, it just simply becomes a mundane activity. Pure love, or Bhakti is defined by three things. Firstly, having a giving propensity, not asking for anything. Secondly, living and breathing for that person. Finally, feeling happiness for their achievements, and feeling sad with them for their sorrow, no matter how you feel. Hence one should always Read Bhagavad-Gita under the guidance of the pure devotees, Perform unalloyed devotional service and Chant the holy names of the lord with utmost sincerity to attain the love of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.