When the Vedas also talk about transcendence, why does Gita 2.45 ask us to go beyond the Vedas?

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Hare Krishna. Question.
When the Vedas also talk about transcendence, why does the Gita 2.44 tell us to go beyond the Vedas? In Trigunya Vishaya Veda, it is Trigunya Bhava Arjuna. Answer. The word Veda has multiple meanings.
And there is a meaning in terms of technical classification and there is a meaning in terms of essential conclusion. So, Srila Prabhupada usually uses the word Veda to refer to the broad body of Vedic knowledge which includes the Vedas, the Itihasas, the Puranas, the Upanishads, everything together. And he refers to them generically as the Vedas.
And that is also, that is one way of using the word. Now, in the tradition, if we see the Acharyas, Krishna also talks about how the ultimate purpose of the Vedas is to know him. Veda is to survive.
Aham eva vedyo. So, but here Krishna is saying, Trigunya Vishaya Veda is Trigunya Bhava Arjuna. The purpose of the Vedas is to know Krishna.
But when Krishna is saying to achieve that purpose, one has to go beyond the Vedas. So, here itself we see Krishna using the word Veda in two different senses. So, when Krishna uses the word, he uses it in the sense of technical classification.
So, in the sense of technical classification, the word Veda refers to the four Vedas. Basically, Riksa, Mejura and Atharva Vedas. And they talk primarily about Karmakanda.
They talk about Dharma, Artha, Kama and Moksha. They talk about doing Punya in this life so that one can attain Swarga in the next life. Where one can enjoy Bhogaishwarya immensely.
And that is not very conducive for transcendence. As Krishna has talked about in 2.44 actually. And Krishna tells Bhogaishwarya, And the next verse 2.45, he states that, So, when the word Veda is used in the sense of technical classification, at that time it is referring to the part of scripture, Riksa, Mejura and Atharva Vedas, which talk primarily about Karmakanda.
And Krishna is saying go beyond Karmakanda towards the path of transcendence. So, here Krishna is using the word in the sense of technical classification. Now, for example, the Bhagavad Gita, Prabhupada often says that the Bhagavad Gita is a Vedic book.
That is true. But this is in terms of essential conclusion. It is not in terms of technical classification.
We see that, now when we say essential conclusion, it’s not something which is wrong. It is not something which is an imposition. It is a culmination.
Shankaracharya also talks about this when he says, So, he says, This comes in Gita Mahatmya. And he is acknowledging here that all the Upanishads are like cows and the essence of a cow is the milk. And that is coming in the Bhagavad Gita.
So, in that sense, Gita is also called as a Gita Upanishad. And in terms of its style of verses and in terms of its content, it resonates with the Upanishads. At the same time, when we use the word, we say Gita is a Upanishad, it is not in terms of technical classification.
It is in terms of essential conclusion. When the Acharya, for example, Vande Vidya Bhushan in the Bhagavad Gita commentary on the Vedanta Sutra, he is referring to the Shrutis, that time he refers to the Upanishads. And then when he is quoting the Bhagavad Gita, he says, it is Smriti.
Smriti says like this. So, in terms of technical classification, the Bhagavad Gita is not an Upanishad, it is not a Shruti. It is a Smriti.
It is a part of the Mahabharata. And that our Acharyas also acknowledge. So, Krishna is using the word Veda when he is saying, He is using it not in terms of essential conclusion.
He is using it in terms of the technical classification. And within the technical classification, one needs to go from Karmakand towards Parabhakti to attain, to move towards transcendence. And that is what Krishna is essentially telling here when he is telling, go beyond, the Vedas talk about the three modes and then go beyond the Vedas.
Go beyond the three modes. Thank you.