Gita 02.46 – Understand multivalence of Veda to grasp how transcending the Vedas fulfills their purpose

Thank you. So, here Krishna is continuing his comparison of Karma Kanda and Karma Yoga or Yoga in general.

Or you could say comparing material elevation and spiritual elevation. And he used a metaphor for this. Whatever Artha, Artha can mean meaning, Artha can also mean money, Artha can also mean purpose.

So, whatever purpose is served, Udpane is served by a well, Udpane is a reservoir of water. It is like a small well. That purpose is served when water is flowing everywhere.

Sarvatah sampluto udake, udake sampluto, when there is overflowing water everywhere, that means when there is a river which is flowing luxuriantly, having abundant water, then whatever needs for water supply are served by a well, they are all served by a flowing body of water, which has far greater water and which keeps flowing, that is a river. Similarly, tavan sarveshu vedeshu, similarly, all the Vedas, their purpose, brahmanasya vijanatah, vijanatah, one who knows, similarly, all the purposes of the Vedas are served by brahmanasya, one who knows Brahman, one who knows spiritual truth, for that person, the purposes of the Vedas are served. So, now let us first understand the metaphor and then we will understand the principle that is conveyed by the metaphor.

Many of the metaphors in the Bhagavad Gita are drawn from nature and they are not so difficult to understand. We will look at the metaphor, the shell or a crotoid shell in 2.58 and we will look at wind and storm in 2.67. This is a little bit more difficult because this is derived, this metaphor is derived not just from nature, but from a rural setting of which we may not have much experience. So, in a river, a well is used as a reservoir of water and there are different wells which are designated for different purposes.

There may be one well for drinking water, one well for washing clothes, another well for bathing, another well for say water for sacred purposes to some extent. Even in ordinary homes, the drinking water supply is different from the normal say washing water supply or at least the water is different even if the supply may not be different or water is maybe specially processed or filtered or whatever. So, the point is that these different wells serve as reservoirs of water for different purposes.

So, Krishna says, so now we need water for different purposes and sometimes we need different kinds of water. So, water that is used for say washing clothes, washing vessels, washing one's body, that is usually not suitable for drinking, it has become unclean. Therefore, the drinking water well is somewhat different, it is not used for these purposes.

But in a river, because the river water keeps flowing continuously, so the different purposes can be served by one body of water, we do not need one river for bathing, another river for cleaning like that. Even if there were so many rivers, still that would not be necessary because the river water by its continuous flow usually stays basically clean. So, therefore, what we need to do is recognize that the one river serves all the purposes of the water.

So, similarly, this is a metaphor basically. Now, what is the principle? So, Krishna is comparing the different Vedas with their different specific promises to the wells. So, in the Vedas, there are different rituals which are meant for different purposes, say one ritual for getting a trotpatti, for getting a child, maybe even a male child or sometimes there is another ritual for getting good health or a good harvest or whatever.

So, all these are meant to give some material happiness. But beyond all these, there is a spiritual happiness. And spiritual happiness actually satisfies us completely, far more than what any material happiness or any material thing that provides material happiness can satisfy.

Because all material pleasures are finite and temporary, whereas spiritual happiness is eternal and it is eternally fulfilling. So, a brahmana knows the ultimate purpose of the Vedas. That will be revealed later in the 15th chapter.

In 15.15 Krishna will say that by all the Vedas, I am to be known, it is Krishna who is to be known and his devotion to Krishna, which is the ultimate conclusion of the Vedas. So, one who knows this, brahmanasya, such a person may or may not have the specific things which the different Vedic rituals promise. But the purpose of having all those things, the purpose of happiness is perfectly fulfilled in such a person's life.

That's because the relationship with Krishna is supremely satisfying. And ultimately, that is the goal of the individual. So, that is the goal of all of us to gain supreme happiness.

So, brahmanasya vijanataha. So, here the question may come up, the verse actually responds to the question that, oh, the Vedas are meant to be a guide for life. And how can you say that nishtraygunya, that go beyond the Vedas.

Actually, Krishna is saying go beyond the three modes. But Krishna is saying, traigunya vishaya veda. The Vedas talk about three modes.

So, when he is saying go beyond the three modes, he is essentially saying go beyond the Vedas. And earlier it is also called vedavadrata partha. They are avipashchita.

Those who are absorbed in the Vedas, they are avipashchita. Now, how can somebody who is following scripture, is absorbed in scripture be considered non-discriminating? Because, so this was answered by saying that scripture has multiple levels and scripture has multiple messages for different people according to their levels. And one who has ascended to the highest level, one who has understood the topmost message of the scripture, such a person doesn't have to worry too much about what is being missed.

Because ultimately, we are all fulfilled when we become devoted to Krishna. In that devotion, we experience the supreme fulfillment. We don't need anything more for fulfillment.

Once we have got Krishna, once we have connected ourselves with Krishna, therein we experience supreme fulfillment. So, in that sense, if we see the Bhagavad Gita accepts Vedic authority and then it extends the Vedic authority. Rather by saying that the Vedas have a purpose that requires transcending the Vedas.

Krishna will talk about this again in the sixth chapter also in his Shabda Brahma Ativarpate. That the scope of sacred sound, especially the Vedic sound, which focuses on material gains through dharma, that scope is transcended, exceeded by the serious transcendentalist. So here, Krishna is telling Arjuna not to become discomfited, not to feel apprehensive because he is neglecting the Vedas.

He's not actually neglecting them. He's fulfilling their ultimate purpose. He's only neglecting their lower level teachings.

So, the word Veda can be used in many senses. We can have three broad senses of the word Veda. There is a restrictive sense, there is the traditional sense and there is the inclusive sense.

In the restrictive sense, the word Veda refers to the four Vedic Samhitas. And Krishna is using the word Veda in that sense over here. In the sense of the books which talk about Karmakanda and books which one needs to go beyond.

So, Krishna is talking about Vedas in that restrictive sense of referring to these four specific texts. The texts which talk about Dharma, Artha and Kama. From the Vedas then there are the Upanishads which talk about Moksha and beyond the Upanishads, there are the Puranas and especially Bhagavad Purana which talks about Bhakti.

So, we could say these form a continuum from the Y-axis. So, the negative side of the Y-axis is materialistic life. And scripture raises people up from the negative extreme, from the lower negative extreme upwards through Dharma, through Karmakanda Dharma.

Because even the Karmakanda Dharma enables people to actually rise up towards some level of morality and piety even when they are in material life. And the Upanishads bring them to the zero level where they give up activity and they try to give up desires also, both material and spiritual. And thereafter, they come to the positive axis which is Bhakti.

So, Krishna is telling over here, he is not actually talking about Bhakti right now, but essentially he is telling Arjuna, at least go beyond the negative axis. So, three modes are essentially material. Krishna is telling Arjuna, go beyond material things, rise to the spiritual level and for that you should transcend the modes.

So, now Krishna is telling in this verse that when you transcend the modes and when you go beyond the Vedas, do not think you are rejecting the Vedas, you are fulfilling their purpose. Because the Vedas, in the restrictive sense refer to the four Vedas, but in a broader sense, the whole body of Vedic literature is there, which includes the Upanishads and then the Itihasas and Puranas also. So, in that inclusive sense, he is actually following the Vedas and he is fulfilling the purpose of the Vedas.

Just as a Brahmana, just as a river, one who no longer uses the well, does not mean that the person is living unclean. If the person is actually going to the river, then all the purposes of the well are served by the river. Similarly, rather than seeing just that, oh, you have rejected the Vedas, see that the purpose of the Vedas is to elevate you step by step upwards.

And if now you have come to a level where you don't have material desires so much, and now you can control whatever desires you have, you can focus on the pursuit of transcendence, then focus on that and by focusing on that pursuit, you will be able to eventually attain the perfection of life. So, in this way, of course, the broadest sense of the word Vedas is referring to it as generic all knowledge. So, Veda can mean not just a specific text or not even a specific library of texts of a genre, but Veda itself means knowledge.

So, Veda can in that sense refer to knowledge in general. And then, of the goal of all knowledge is Krishna. So, that is not the sense in which Krishna is using over here.

He is using it in the sense of the restrictive sense and he is saying that even you go beyond the Vedas, you are not rejecting the Vedas, you are fulfilling their purpose.