How can we practically base our decisions on scriptures when the scriptures are so vast?

From: Subir Das

You have mentioned in your “Daily Thought dated 9.11.2011” that  “This indeed is the reason why the Lord urges us in the Gita (16.24) to forever make the scriptures as the first and the last basis of our decision-making”. But given the fact that our scriptures are so vast (I hardly know about the scriptures), how can common man like me arrive at a decision on the basis of scriptures? What to do in such a situation? Please guide.

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
are coming? Question from Subir Prabhu. In your daily thought dated 9-11-2011, you have said that this indeed is the reason why the Lord urges in Gita to forever make the scriptures as the first and the last basis of our decision making. But given the fact that our scriptures are so vast, I hardly know about the scriptures.
How can a common man like me arrive at a decision on the basis of scriptures? What to do in such a situation? Please guide. Answer. Yes, the scriptures are very vast.
And that’s why there is a Taratamna. There is a progressive hierarchy within even the scriptures. And when we recognize this hierarchy within the scriptures, then we can go to the scriptures which are the most relevant for us and which are the most potent in bringing about transformation.
And those scriptures are primarily the Bhagavad Gita and the Srimad Bhagavatam. The Gita Mahatma describes in Sripad Shankaracharya, he also reiterates that सर्व उक्णिशे दो गाओ दो धागु पालनन्दनः that all the Upanishads are like a cow. And the Bhagavad Gita is like the milk which is being brought out from the cow by the cow herd who is Krishna.
And Arjuna is like the calf who is drinking that milk. And he is also awakening the milk available for all of us. So, just as the milk is the essence of the cow, similarly the Bhagavad Gita is the essence of the Upanishadic literature.
And similarly, the Srimad Bhagavatam is the ripened fruit of all the Vedic literature. निगम कल्पतरोर गलितं फलं The Vedic literature are like a desire tree. And the Srimad Bhagavatam is the ripened fruit of the tree.
The ultimate purpose of the tree is to relish the fruit. That is the most accessible and the most relishable essence of the fruit of the tree. Similarly, the Srimad Bhagavatam is the fruit.
And we see from the self-testimony of the author of all the Vedic literature, Yasadeva, that he wrote all the other Vedic literature but was not satisfied by that. Therefore, if we study the Vedic literature, we will also ultimately come to the same level of not being satisfied. Because there is not pure glorification of the Lord given in those literature.
But if we come to the Vedic literature’s conclusion as given in the Srimad Bhagavatam, Yasadeva was instructed by Naraguni to glorify the Supreme Lord and that will bring him satisfaction. And that’s what Yasadeva did in the Srimad Bhagavatam. So these two books, Bhagavad Gita and Srimad Bhagavatam are enough for us to study at our level and later on if we want to understand more about Krishna and more about Bhakti, we can study Bhakti Samya, Sindhu Chaitanya, Amrit.
But we can initially start with Bhagavad Gita and then we can study Srimad Bhagavatam. And if we study these two books, Anshula Prabhupada to help us study these books has also given us some other introductory books. Anshula Prabhupada’s disciples also write some introductory books based on these.
So if we study these, that is more than enough for us to gradually understand how to orient our life according to scripture. And the scriptures give us general principles. So what the scriptures offer us is a map and overall route.
But we may experience certain junctions in our life where we will not be able to understand what I should do. That’s why in the Bhagavatam, there is the book Bhagavatam and the person Bhagavatam. Those who are trying to live their lives according to scriptures, and who have lived their lives like this for many years, those people are also very valuable and indispensable for us for getting guidance about how to live according to scripture.
So therefore, when we study accordingly scriptures under the guidance of senior devotees, a spiritual master or a representative like a counselor or a mentor, then we can know how to take decisions in our life based on scripture so that our decisions will take us towards Krishna. Thank you.