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TEXT 28 vedesu yajnesu tapahsu caiva
SYNONYMS  vedesu--in
the study of the Vedas; yajnesu--in the performances of yajna,
sacrifice; tapahsu--undergoing different types of austerities; ca--also;
eva--certainly; danesu--in giving charities; yat--that
which; punya-phalam--the result of pious work; pradistam--directed;
atyeti--surpasses; tat--all those; sarvam idam--all
those described above; viditva--knowing; yogi--the devotee;
param--supreme; sthanam--abode; upaiti--achieved peace;
ca--also; adyam--original.
TRANSLATION A person
who accepts the path of devotional service is not bereft of the results
derived from studying the Vedas, performing austere sacrifices, giving
charity or pursuing philosophical and fruitive activities. At the end he
reaches the supreme abode.
PURPORT This verse is
the summation of the Seventh and Eighth chapters, particularly as the chapters
deal with Krsna consciousness and devotional service. One has to study
the Vedas under the guidance of the spiritual master and undergo
many austerities and penances while living under his care. A brahmacari
has to live in the home of the spiritual master just like a servant, and
he must beg alms from door to door and bring them to the spiritual master.
He takes food only under the master's order, and if the master neglects
to call the student for food that day, the student fasts. These are some
of the Vedic principles for observing brahmacarya.
After the
student studies the Vedas under the master for a period from five
to twenty years, he may become a man of perfect character. Study of the
Vedas is not meant for the recreation of armchair speculators, but
for the formation of character. After this training, the brahmacari
is allowed to enter into household life and marry. When he is a householder,
he also has to perform many sacrifices and strive for further enlightenment.
Then after retiring from household life, upon accepting the order of vanaprastha,
he undergoes severe penances, such as living in forests, dressing with
tree bark, not shaving, etc. By carrying out the orders of brahmacarya,
householder, vanaprastha and finally sannyasa, one becomes
elevated to the perfectional stage of life. Some are then elevated to the
heavenly kingdoms, and when they become even more advanced they are liberated
in the spiritual sky, either in the impersonal brahmajyoti or in
the Vaikuntha planets or Krsnaloka. This is the path outlined by Vedic
literatures.
The beauty
of Krsna consciousness, however, is that by one stroke, by engaging in
devotional service, one can surpass all rituals of the different orders
of life.
One should
try to understand the Seventh and Eighth Chapters of the Gita not
by scholarship or mental speculation, but by hearing them in association
with pure devotees. Chapters Six through Twelve are the essence of the
Gita, if one is fortunate to understand the Gita--especially
these middle six chapters--in the association of devotees, then his life
at once becomes glorified beyond all penances, sacrifices, charities, speculations,
etc. One should hear the Gita from the devotee because at the beginning
of the Fourth Chapter it is stated that the Gita can only be perfectly
understood by devotees. Hearing the Gita from devotees, not from
mental speculators, is called faith. Through association of devotees, one
is placed in devotional service, and by this service Krsna's activities,
form, pastimes, name, etc., become clear, and all misgivings are dispelled.
Then once doubts are removed, the study of the Gita becomes extremely
pleasurable, and one develops a taste and feeling for Krsna consciousness.
In the advanced stage, one falls completely in love with Krsna, and that
is the beginning of the highest perfectional stage of life which prepares
the devotee's transferral to Krsna's abode in the spiritual sky, Goloka
Vrndavana, where the devotee enters into eternal happiness.
Thus end the Bhaktivedanta Purports to the Eighth Chapter of the Srimad Bhagavad-gita in the matter of Attaining the Supreme.
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