How can a butcher be advanced in spiritual knowledge as the Vyadha Gita in the Mahabharata depicts?

From Jacob

Transcript

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Thank you Hare Krishna Can a bachelor be a teacher of transcendental knowledge as the Vyadha Gita in the Mahabharata depicts Answer The scriptures talk about multiple levels of religion and they talk about various things when they want to demonstrate they demonstrate sometimes in dramatic ways so in the Bhakti Rasamruta Sindhu also says that the regulative principles are important for the spiritual advancement but spiritual advancement can manifest independently also that it is not absolutely essential that everyone has to follow the regulative principles in order to make spiritual advancement spiritual advancement is that if a person actually exhibits knowledge exhibits devotion then in some cases there can be exceptions with respect to following specific regulative principles so it’s interesting in the Mahabharata this Vyadha this particular person who is a butcher he is killing animals but then he has philosophical knowledge and the Rishi who goes to enquire about philosophical knowledge from him the whole point of that particular story is that it comes in the Mahabharata where Markandeya Rishi is discussing with Yudhishthira and the whole focus of Mahabharata is on Karmakand, how one should do one’s duties and by doing one’s duties gradually one will become elevated so when that is the focus of a particular book and a particular pastime then we have to see everything from that context for example we see that the Bhagavad Gita talks about various levels, the Bhagavad Gita for example 6th chapter tells go to jungle and do meditation but then in the Bhagavad Gita in the 18th chapter says Sarva Dharman Pratyamamekam Sharanam Rajam so the Vedic scriptures have multiple levels of religion so in that particular pastime this butcher is doing the duty whatever is required and he is doing that duty diligently and similarly the whole pastime narrative is that everybody should do their duty diligently and if they do their duty diligently then they will become advanced by that and that is true at a particular level and the contrast in that pastime is there is a person, there is this Rishi who has prematurely renounced and is actually an improper and immature and artificial renunciate so he is instructed from his pastime that a person who does the duty diligently that person is better situated and that doesn’t apply that teaching applies for a person who is irresponsibly running away from duties but if somebody is leaving duties for a higher purpose then that person is definitely higher situated as the Bhagavad Gita 18.66 tells and there are several other places in Mahabharata also where things are talked about so this pastime, what it illustrates two points that in some cases spiritual knowledge can arise independently of one’s following of regulative principles but these are exceptions that are possible that acknowledge nature of devotion but they are not the standard ways and that is not what we should follow and we should follow what the Acharyas have given to us along with that this pastime also illustrates that one should do one’s duty and that is a valid teaching in the Vedic literature at the Karmakanda level but the Vedas have multiple levels there is Karmakanda, there is Jnana Kanda and there is Bhakti and the Bhagavad Gita teaches us conclusively Bhakti and the Mahabharata’s heart is Maharashtra’s essential message is the Bhagavad Gita, Mahabharata’s setting and the Bhagavad Gita is the jewel so we focus on the Bhagavad Gita and its conclusive teachings so therefore the focus whenever we study any scripture is that we should understand that scriptures have multiple levels of lessons and we should know what comes in which section in what context and we need to take the guidance of those who have seen the whole picture and then understand what a particular pastime teaches so this is not a recommendation that all of us should eat meat and we will become spiritually advanced or we get spiritual knowledge by that, no it is meant to demonstrate the principle that one should not give up duty irresponsibly thank you