So Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu says that this is the condition, suffering condition of the living entities, and he can be rescued by the mercy of sadhu, saintly persons, the scriptures and the spiritual master. They are prepared to bestow their mercy upon everyone, provided people like to take their instruction and mercy. That is the solution. And in the Bhagavad-gita the same thing is confirmed in the Seventh Chapter: daivi hy esa guna-mayi mama maya duratyaya [Bg. 7.14]. The influx of the disturbances created by this material nature under different forms is very stringent. So anyone who wants to be rescued from these miseries, he should surrender unto the Supreme Lord. Mam eva ye prapadyante mayam etam taranti te.

Lord Krsna says in the Bhagavad-gita, "Anyone who surrenders unto Me fully, he, he alone can get rid of these two kinds of influence of maya. Others cannot."

These, I mean to say, illusioned, maya-mugdha, illusioned living entities, they have forgotten. They have forgotten their relationship with the Supreme Lord. Mostly: "Oh, what is God?" Somebody says, "God is dead." So these things are going on. Not now. Now the number has increased. It is always. So long the world is there, the material world is there, this sort of thing is going on. So maya-mugdha, illusioned by this external energy, they have no memory that how they are connected with the Supreme Lord. They have no memory. They have forgotten. That there is something like God, altogether they have forgotten by the illusion. Yes. Maya-mugdha jivera nahi krsna smrti-jnana. And just to revive their memory, Krsna... Jivere krpaya kaila krsna veda-purana. Veda-purana. Veda means the Vedic literatures. Veda, real literal meaning is veda means knowledge. Vetti veda vido jnane. There is a Sanskrit root, vid-dhatu. From that vid-dhatu, veda. Veda means knowledge. And Purana, Purana means supplementary, Vedic instruction described in story form. That is called Purana, story. This Bhagavata is also one of the Maha-purana. Maha-purana means the science of Krsna is described in story form. This is called Purana. People better understands in stories, in history.

So what is the utility of this Vedic knowledge? Now, by understanding, by hearing from authorized sources, or by reading from authorized sources, the forgetful living entities will come to his senses. That is the purpose. He will come to his sense: "Oh, my position is this, and I am suffering in this way." So sastra-guru-atma-rupe apanare janana. So Krsna, or the Supreme Lord, is always anxious to revive the memory of these forgotten souls, conditioned souls. Now, how He revives? He revives in sastra. Sastra means scripture. Sastra, guru, spiritual master. Sastra, guru, atma-rupe. And sometimes He comes Himself or as Paramatma, or the Supersoul. He is giving you instruction from within as Paramatma, He's sending you suitable spiritual master so can, you can have instruction without, and the books are, the scriptures are there. So many facilities the Lord has created. And therefore the human form of life is meant for utilizing all these facilities. In the animal form of life there is no facility. They cannot read sastra. They cannot understand scripture. They cannot take the advantage of a bona fide spiritual master. They cannot consult within with God. They have no this capacity. Their consciousness is so undeveloped that it is not possible to have, utilize all these facilities. But in human form of life we can utilize all these facilities. The sastras are there, the Vedas are there, scriptures are there. And still, although it is the age of Kali, still, those who are following the disciplic succession, there is bona fide spiritual master also. Sastra, guru and atma. And over all, the Paramatma. The Paramatma, the Supersoul, Krsna as Supersoul, is sitting within your heart along with you. And as soon as, by the instruction of the scripture and direction of the spiritual master, you begin sincerely something, the Paramatma, from within you, He'll speak, "Yes, now you are right." He'll speak to you.

Tesam satata-yuktanam. Those... The spiritual master's duty is to lead a person, a forgotten soul, to the right way in terms of the sastra and scripture, and when he begins sincerely and with love and seriously, then the next stage is that God within, who is sitting within you, He'll dictate, "Yes, you do like this. You do like this." So in every respect the Lord is trying to help us. But we are so much stubborn, we don't like to take advantage of this position. Oh, he says, "Why shall I take all this? I am very happy." There is a story in the Bhagavata that once Indra, the king of heaven, he was condemned by his spiritual master, Brhaspati, that "You are so foolish. You should have become a hog." So he became a hog. So after some days, when the throne of the heavenly kingdom was vacant, Brahma went to reclaim this hog, Indra, that "Come to your place." So when the hog was requested that "You are Indra. Why you are suffering? Now you come. I have come to take you," so the hog says, "Oh! I do not know what I am, Indra. I have got my responsibility. I cannot leave this place." Just see. Even the hogyou can just imagine what is the standard of his livinghe thinks also that "I am very happy. I am very happy." The stool-eating and this nasty place, and "Oh, I have got a very comfortable life." So this is the, I mean to say, praksepatmika.

Now, what is the subject matter of these Vedic scriptures? That is summarily summarized, summarized by Lord Caitanya. Veda-sastra kahe-'sambandha', 'abhidheya', 'prayojana'. There are three things in the Vedic scriptures. What is that? The first thing is: "What is my relationship with God?" Or: "What is my relationship with this world?" Or: "What is my relationship with this nature?" These three is described. Then, as soon as you understand your relationship, then your action begins according to... Just like two businessmen, two. They want to do some business. They wanted to do... Mutually, they want to do some business. And what is the aim of business? To make some profit. Both of them are interested in making some profit. Without profit, there is no question of business. So first, if the profit is aim, then the two business first come to a contract, or agreement. This is called sambandha, relationship. "Yes, you are supplier; I am purchaser. And you shall supply in this way, and I shall purchase in this way." Agreement. This is called relationship. And after the sign of the agreement, when actually the activities begin, supply and purchase, that is called abhidheya. And abhidheya means why they are doing this business? Now, some profit. So the profit there must be. Otherwise nobody's interested. Same thing is there also in the Vedas. First of all you have to understand, "What is my relationship with God, or with this world, or the nature?" We must understand first this. And when we understand this, "This is my relationship," then my actual work will begin. That is abhidheya. And after executing that prescribed duty, the result is that I'll get my relationship with the Supreme Lord revived. These three things are described in the Vedas. There is no other thing.