TEXT 3
na tasya tattva-grahanaya saksad
variyasir api vacah samasan
svapne niruktya grhamedhi-saukhyam
na yasya heyanumitam svayam syat
SYNONYMS
nanot; tasyaof him (a student studying the Vedas); tattva-grahanayafor accepting the real purpose of Vedic knowledge; saksatdirectly; variyasihvery exalted; apialthough; vacahwords of the Vedas; samasansufficiently became; svapnein a dream; niruktyaby example; grha-medhi-saukhyamhappiness within this material world; nanot; yasyaof him who; heya-anumitamconcluded to be inferior; svayamautomatically; syatbecome.
TRANSLATION
A dream becomes automatically known to a person as false and immaterial, and similarly one eventually realizes that material happiness in this life or the next, on this planet or a higher planet, is insignificant. When one realizes this, the Vedas, although an excellent source, are insufficient to bring about direct knowledge of the truth.
PURPORT
In Bhagavad-gita (2.45), Krsna advised Arjuna to become transcendental to the material activities impelled by the three material modes of nature (traigunya-visaya veda nistraigunyo bhavarjuna). The purpose of Vedic study is to transcend the activities of the three modes of material nature. Of course in the material world the mode of goodness is accepted as the best, and one can be promoted to the higher planetary systems by being on the sattva-guna platform. However, that is not perfection. One must come to the conclusion that even the sattva-guna platform is also not good. One may dream that he has become a king with a good family, wife and children, but immediately at the end of that dream he comes to the conclusion that it is false. Similarly, all kinds of material happiness are undesirable for a person who wants spiritual salvation. If a person does not come to the conclusion that he has nothing to do with any kind of material happiness, he cannot come to the platform of understanding the Absolute Truth, or tattva jnana. Karmis, jnanis and yogis are after some material elevation. The karmis work hard day and night for some bodily comfort, and the jnanis simply speculate about how to get out of the entanglement of karma and merge into the Brahman effulgence. The yogis are very much addicted to the acquisition of material perfection and magical powers. All of them are trying to be materially perfect, but a devotee very easily comes to the platform of nirguna in devotional service, and consequently for the devotee the results of karma, jnana and yoga become very insignificant. Therefore only the devotee is on the platform of tattva jnana, not the others. Of course the jnanis position is better than that of the karmi but that position is also insufficient. The jnani must actually become liberated, and after liberation he may be situated in devotional service (mad-bhaktim labhate param [Bg. 18.54]).

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