TEXT 353
sarvajna munira vakya--sastra-'paramana'
ama-saba jivera haya sastra-dvara jnana'
SYNONYMS
sarva-jna munira vakyathe words of the omniscient muni (Vyasadeva); sastra-paramanaevidence of revealed scriptures; ama-sabaall of us; jiveraof the conditioned souls; hayathere is; sastra-dvarathrough the medium of revealed scriptures; jnanaknowledge.
TRANSLATION
"The Vedic literatures composed by the omniscient Mahamuni Vyasadeva are evidence of all spiritual existence. Only through these revealed scriptures can all conditioned souls attain knowledge.
PURPORT
Foolish people try to concoct knowledge by manufacturing something in their brains. That is not the real way of knowledge. Knowledge is sabda-pramana, evidence from Vedic literature. Srila Vyasadeva is called Mahamuni. He is also known as Vedavyasa because he has compiled so many sastras. He has divided the Vedas into four divisions-Sama, Rg, Yajur and Atharva. He has expanded the Vedas into eighteen Puranas and has summarized Vedic knowledge in the Vedanta-sutra. He also compiled the Mahabharata, which is accepted as the fifth Veda. Bhagavad-gita is contained within the Mahabharata. Therefore Bhagavad-gita is also Vedic literature (smrti). Some of the Vedic literatures are called srutis, and some are called smrtis. Srila Rupa Gosvami recommends in the Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu (1.2.101):
sruti-smrti-puranadi-
pancaratra-vidhim vina
aikantiki harer bhaktir
utpatayaiva kalpate
Unless one refers to sastra (sruti, smrti and puranadi), one's spiritual activity simply disturbs society. There is no king or government to check people, and therefore society has fallen into a chaotic condition as far as spiritual understanding is concerned. Taking advantage of this chaotic condition, many rascals have appeared and proclaimed themselves incarnations of God. As a result, the entire population is indulging in sinful activities such as illicit sex, intoxication, gambling and meat-eating. Out of many sinful people, many incarnations of God are emerging. This is a very regrettable situation, especially in India.

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