Devanagari
श्रीभगवानुवाच
कालेन नष्टा प्रलये वाणीयं वेदसंज्ञिता ।
मयादौ ब्रह्मणे प्रोक्ता धर्मो यस्यां मदात्मक: ॥ ३ ॥
Verse text
śrī-bhagavān uvāca
kālena naṣṭā pralaye
vāṇīyaṁ veda-saṁjṣitā
mayādau brahmaṇe proktā
dharmo yasyāṁ mad-ātmakaḥ
Synonyms
śrī
—
bhagavān uvāca — the Supreme Personality of Godhead said
;
kālena
—
by the influence of time
;
naṣṭā
—
lost
;
pralaye
—
at the time of annihilation
;
vāṇī
—
message
;
iyam
—
this
;
veda
—
saṁjṣitā — consisting of the Vedas
;
mayā
—
by Me
;
ādau
—
at the time of creation
;
brahmaṇe
—
unto Lord Brahmā
;
proktā
—
spoken
;
dharmaḥ
—
religious principles
;
yasyām
—
in which
;
mat
—
ātmakaḥ — identical with Me .
Translation
The Supreme Personality of Godhead said: By the influence of time, the transcendental sound of Vedic knowledge was lost at the time of annihilation. Therefore, when the subsequent creation took place, I spoke the Vedic knowledge to Brahmā because I Myself am the religious principles enunciated in the Vedas.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
The Supreme Lord said: By the influence of time, the Vedic knowledge was lost at the time of annihilation. Therefore, when the subsequent creation took place, I spoke to Brahmā the Vedic knowledge in which bhakti is the essence.
O Uddhava! All philosophies arise from the Vedas alone. But the purport of the Vedas is bhakti-yoga. This dharma arises from my svarūpa (mad-ātmakaḥ) since bhakti is the essence of the hlādinī-śakti. Mad-ātmakaḥ can also mean “the process in which the mind concentrates on me.” This refers to bhakti since by bhakti alone one becomes absorbed in the Lord. I say bhakyāham ekayā grāhyaḥ: I am realized only by bhakti. (SB 11.14.21) This means “I can be attained by the senses only by bhakti, and by no other method.” Other processes mentioned by the sages are not actually the best since they do not produce attainment of me. What is the use of asking about the principle or chief means among them?
Purport
Lord Kṛṣṇa explains to Uddhava that although many processes and concepts of spiritual realization are described in the
Vedas,
the
Vedas
ultimately recommend devotional service to the Supreme Lord. Lord Kṛṣṇa is the reservoir of all pleasure, and His devotees directly enter into the Lord’s
hlādinī,
or pleasure-giving, potency. Somehow or other one must fix one’s mind in Lord Kṛṣṇa, and that is not possible without devotional service. One who has not developed his attraction to Lord Kṛṣṇa cannot restrain the senses from inferior engagements. Since other Vedic processes do not actually award Lord Kṛṣṇa to the practitioner, they cannot offer the highest benefit in life. The transcendental sound of the
Vedas
is itself the highest evidence, but one whose senses and mind are entangled in sense gratification and mental speculation, and whose heart is therefore covered by material dust, cannot directly receive the transcendental Vedic message. Thus one cannot appreciate the exalted position of devotional service to the Lord.