Live the Bhāgavatam · SB 1.4.24
Īśānukathā· The Lord and His devoteesVedic Knowledge Leads to Śrī Kṛṣṇa
“Thus the great sage Vyāsadeva, who is very kind to the ignorant masses, edited the Vedas so they might be assimilated by less intellectual men.”
What the purport teaches
- The Veda is one, but its subject matter is not easily understood. Śrīla Vyāsadeva kindly divided it so that people with less understanding could practically follow it.
- Understanding the Vedas requires exceptional qualities of goodness, not merely birth in a brāhmaṇa family. Passion and ignorance obstruct that understanding.
- The ultimate goal of Vedic knowledge is Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The divisions of the Vedas help people approach this goal despite their limitations.
Try this today
Write this reminder beside your study material: “The ultimate goal of Vedic knowledge is Śrī Kṛṣṇa.”
Ask yourself
Am I studying with the aim of understanding Śrī Kṛṣṇa, rather than merely collecting information?
Carry the question through the day, then answer it in your own words before sleep.
The study points, practice and question are short summaries drawn from Śrīla Prabhupāda's translation and purport. Read the full purport to go deeper.