Iso 6

Here is an explanation of the Mahabhagavata, the great personality who sees everything in relation to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. There are three stages of realizing the presence of the Supreme Lord: The kanistha adhikari, the person who is in the lowest stage of realization of the Lord, goes to one place of worship, such as a temple, church, or mosque, in terms of his particular type of religious faith, and worships there in terms of the scriptural injunctions. Such devotees think that the Lord is there at the place of worship and nowhere else. Such devotees cannot recognize who is in what position in the devotional line, or in terms of realization of the Supreme Lord. They follow the routine formulas and sometimes quarrel among themselves, estimating one particular type of worship better than another. These kanistha adhikaris, in the lowest stage of devotion, are called materialistic devotees, or those just trying to transcend the material boundary to reach the spiritual plane.

Next above these kanistha adhikaris are the madhyam adhikaris, the devotees who are in the intermediate stage of devotional service. These madhyam adhikaris observe four principles in relation to the Supreme Lord, which are as follows:

1. They see, first of all, the Supreme Lord;
2. They see next the devotees of the Lord;
3. They see also the innocent, who have no knowledge about God; and at last,
4. They see the atheists who have no faith in the Lord, and who hate those in the devotional line.

The madhyam adhikari devotee behaves differently toward the different above-mentioned four principles. He adores the Lord, considering Him the object of love, and he makes friendship with those who are in the devotional line. He tries to awaken the dormant love of Godhead in the hearts of the innocent people, but he does not approach the atheists who deride at the very Name of the Lord.

Above the madhyam adhikari there is the uttama adhikari devotee, who sees everything in relation to the Supreme Lord. He does not make any particular discrimination between the atheist and the theist, but sees in every one of them the part and parcel of God. He knows that there is no difference between a vastly learned Brahmana and a dog in the street, because both of them are of the Lord, though in different embodiments due to the different qualities of material action. The Brahmana particle of the Supreme Lord has not misused the little independence given him by the Lord, but the dog particle has misused his independence, and thus he has been punished by the law of Nature, being encaged in the ignorant form of a dog. Without considering the respective actions of the Brahmana and the dog, the uttama adhikari tries to do good to both. Such a learned devotee of the Lord is not misled by the material bodies of the Brahmana and the dog, but he is attracted by the spiritual spark within the respective entities.

Those who imitate an uttama adhikari in terms of the sense of oneness or fellowship, but who behave in terms of bodily relationships, are false philanthropists. Therefore the concept of universal brotherhood must be learnt from the uttama adhikari devotee of the Lord, and not from a foolish person who has no proper vision of the individual soul and of the Supersoul-the plenary expansion of the Supreme Lord, Which dwells everywhere.

In this mantra of Sri Īsopanisad it is clearly mentioned that one should observe, or see. This means one must follow the previous acarya, the perfected Teacher. Anupasyati is the exact Sanskrit word used in this connection. Anu means by following, and pasyati means to observe. One should not try to see things as he does with the naked eye. The naked eye cannot see anything properly, due to its material defectiveness. One cannot see properly unless one has heard from a superior source. And the highest source is the Vedic wisdom spoken by the Lord Himself. This truth is coming in disciplic succession from the Lord to Brahma, from Brahma to Narada, from Narada to Vyasa, and from Vyasa to many of His disciples. Formerly there was no necessity of recording the message of the Vedas because people of earlier ages were more intelligent and had sharper memories, and they could follow instructions simply by hearing once from the mouth of a bona fide spiritual master.

At present there are many commentaries on the revealed Scriptures, but most of them are not in the line of Srila Vyasadeva, Who originally taught the Vedic wisdom. The final, most perfect and sublime work of Srila Vyasadeva is the Srimad-Bhagavatam, Which is the correct commentary on the Vedanta-sūtra. Similarly, there is the Bhagavad-gita, Which is spoken by the Lord Himself and Which was recorded by Vyasadeva. These are the more important of the many revealed Scriptures, and any commentary which does not conform to the principles of the Gita or the Srimad-Bhagavatam is unauthorized. There is complete symmetrical agreement between the Upanisads, Vedanta, the Vedas, the Bhagavad-gita and the Srimad-Bhagavatam. Therefore, no one should try to reach any conclusion about the Vedas without being instructed by members of the line of Vyasadeva, or at least those who believe in the Personality of Godhead and His diverse energies.