Preparing for World Lecture Tour
Now that the Janmastami and Vyas Puja celebrations have been joyfully celebrated, it is time for me in the next week to make the final preparations for my 2007-2008 world tour, which is detailed in the schedule below. The self-realization process is practical. It is not mere theory. We are meant to rise early every day to chant the holy names of God and study the revealed scriptures. Then, as much as we are able, we are meant to engage in practical activities for the deliverance of the suffering souls of this age from illusion. Krishna has very kindly blessed me with the facility to dedicate my full time as a traveling transcendental missionaries in this regard. I pray for his blessings that my endeavor will be a grand success.
Sankarshan Das Adhikari
In your answer to me you said that the Srimad Bhagavatam is the most important. Does that mean that the other Puranas are less important, or that they are not correct?
The Shivites claim that some other Puranas are more important. The Vedantists claim that the Upanishads are more important than the Puranas. Oh! everybody is confusing me.
Kumaresh
There is no doubt that all of the Vedic wisdom is fully authentic and authoritative. Even though all medicines are genuine, if we take the wrong medicine it can make our disease worse. Therefore medicine must be taken under the careful and expert guidance of the qualified physician. Similarly the Vedic injunctions have to be understood and applied under the guidance of the expert spiritual master. It is not that if we take medicine without proper guidance that can become healthy, nor can we become spiritually enlightened if we try to figure out the Vedic wisdom on our own.
If in line with the teachings of the Bhagavad-gita we accept the authority of Lord Sri Krishna, and we also accept the authority of the great spiritual masters who have guided India's Vedic civilization since time immemorial, we will not be confused.
To an untrained student who is not yet initiated by a bona fide spiritual master, the Vedas can be confusing, as you are now experiencing. This is why it is enjoined that one not study the Vedas until one has taken shelter of a bona fide spiritual master. One reason for this is that the Vedas are full with many statements that appear on the surface to be contradictory.
For example in addition to giving information to those on the highest platform of sattva guna, the Vedas also provide guidance for those who are in the lower modes of material nature. For instance, there is one Purana that guides those who want to eat meat how they can offer a goat to goddess Kali. They are required to whisper a mantra in the goat's ear that now I am killing you to eat you, but in the future you will kill me and eat me. Such Vedic injunctions are to meant to encourage those who are addicted to meat eating to give it up. Such Vedic injunctions are not meant to encourage meat eating.
This is why we have to approach the Vedas under the guidance of the great Mahajanas, not through our own mental speculation. If we take the guidance of the great Mahajanas, those enlightened spiritual masters who have guided the Vedic society since time immemorial, we will properly understand the meaning and purpose of all the Vedic injunctions and we will be able to see what is the inner purpose of all the Vedas, i.e. to become Krishna conscious. This point is confirmed by Lord Sri Krishna Himself in the Bhagavad-gita as follows:
"By all the Vedas, I am to be known."
Bhagavad-gita 15.15
Sankarshan Das Adhikari
Sankarshan Das Adhikari
Answers According to the Vedic Version:
Question: Everybody is Confusing Me
There are many disciplic traditions claming authenticity for themselves. But many of them are rivaling each other. How to find what which is genuine and authentic?In your answer to me you said that the Srimad Bhagavatam is the most important. Does that mean that the other Puranas are less important, or that they are not correct?
The Shivites claim that some other Puranas are more important. The Vedantists claim that the Upanishads are more important than the Puranas. Oh! everybody is confusing me.
Kumaresh
Answer: Clear Understanding of Vedic Wisdom
In Vedic civilization there are four authentic, authorized sampradayas (lines of disciplic succession) and they are all in agreement with each other. They do not dispute the authenticity of each other. Anyone who rivals these sampradayas is not acting in accordance with Vedic authority.There is no doubt that all of the Vedic wisdom is fully authentic and authoritative. Even though all medicines are genuine, if we take the wrong medicine it can make our disease worse. Therefore medicine must be taken under the careful and expert guidance of the qualified physician. Similarly the Vedic injunctions have to be understood and applied under the guidance of the expert spiritual master. It is not that if we take medicine without proper guidance that can become healthy, nor can we become spiritually enlightened if we try to figure out the Vedic wisdom on our own.
If in line with the teachings of the Bhagavad-gita we accept the authority of Lord Sri Krishna, and we also accept the authority of the great spiritual masters who have guided India's Vedic civilization since time immemorial, we will not be confused.
To an untrained student who is not yet initiated by a bona fide spiritual master, the Vedas can be confusing, as you are now experiencing. This is why it is enjoined that one not study the Vedas until one has taken shelter of a bona fide spiritual master. One reason for this is that the Vedas are full with many statements that appear on the surface to be contradictory.
For example in addition to giving information to those on the highest platform of sattva guna, the Vedas also provide guidance for those who are in the lower modes of material nature. For instance, there is one Purana that guides those who want to eat meat how they can offer a goat to goddess Kali. They are required to whisper a mantra in the goat's ear that now I am killing you to eat you, but in the future you will kill me and eat me. Such Vedic injunctions are to meant to encourage those who are addicted to meat eating to give it up. Such Vedic injunctions are not meant to encourage meat eating.
This is why we have to approach the Vedas under the guidance of the great Mahajanas, not through our own mental speculation. If we take the guidance of the great Mahajanas, those enlightened spiritual masters who have guided the Vedic society since time immemorial, we will properly understand the meaning and purpose of all the Vedic injunctions and we will be able to see what is the inner purpose of all the Vedas, i.e. to become Krishna conscious. This point is confirmed by Lord Sri Krishna Himself in the Bhagavad-gita as follows:
"By all the Vedas, I am to be known."
Bhagavad-gita 15.15
Sankarshan Das Adhikari
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