In the Vedas, the four primary subjects mentioned above are prescribed in a regulative way so that there will not be undue competition for sense gratification. However, Srimad-Bhagavatam is transcendental to all the sense gratifying activities of the material world. It is a pure transcendental literature, understandable by the devotees of the Lord who are above competition in sense gratification. In the material world there is keen competition between animals, men, communities and even nations in an attempt to gratify the senses, but the devotees of the Lord are above all this. Devotees have no need to compete with materialists because they are on the path back to Godhead, back home where everything is eternal, full and blissful. Such transcendentalists are a hundred percent nonenvious and are therefore pure in heart. Because everyone in the material world is envious, there is competition. The devotees of the Lord are not only free from all material envy, but they are also kind to everyone in an attempt to establish a competitionless society with God in the center. (More...) The socialist's idea of a society devoid of competition is artificial because even in the socialist states there is competition for power. It is a fact that the principle of sense gratification is the basic principle of materialistic life, and this can be realized either from reading the Vedas or simply from observing common human activities. The Vedas recommend fruitive activities by which people can advance to higher planets, and they also recommend worship of the various demigods for the purpose of attaining their planets. Ultimately the Vedas recommend activities by which one can reach the Absolute Truth and realize His impersonal feature in order to become one with Him. However, the impersonal aspect of the Absolute Truth is not the last word. Above the impersonal feature is the Paramatma, or the Supersoul, and above that is the Supreme Personality. Srimad-Bhagavatam gives information about the personal qualities of the Absolute Truth, qualities which are beyond the impersonal aspect. Topics concerning these qualities are greater than topics of impersonal philosophical speculation; consequently Srimad-Bhagavatam is given higher status than the jnana-kanda portions of the Vedas. Srimad-Bhagavatam is also greater than the karma-kanda and upasana-kanda portions as well because it recommends the worship of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Sri Krsna, the divine son of Vasudeva. The karma-kanda portion of the Vedas is fraught with competition to reach heavenly planets for better sense gratification, and this competition is also seen in the jnana-kanda and upasana-kanda portions. Srimad-Bhagavatam is above all of these because it aims only at the Supreme Truth, the substance or root of all categories. (More...) Link to this page: https://prabhupadabooks.com/?g=2567 Previous: [none] Next: [none]
|