Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 6.3.25

prāyena veda tad idam na mahājano 'yam

devyā vimohita-matir bata māyayālam

trayyām jadī-krita-matir madhu-pushpitāyām

vaitānike mahati karmani yujyamānah

SYNONYMS

prāyena — almost always; veda — know; tat — that; idam — this; na — not; mahājanah — great personalities besides Svayambhū, Śambhu and the other ten; ayam — this; devyā — by the energy of the Supreme Personality of Godhead; vimohita-matih — whose intelligence is bewildered; bata — indeed; māyayā — by the illusory energy; alam — greatly; trayyām — in the three Vedas; jadī-krita-matih — whose intelligence has been dulled; madhu-pushpitāyām — in the flowery Vedic language describing the results of ritualistic performances; vaitānike — in the performances mentioned in the Vedas; mahati — very great; karmani — fruitive activities; yujyamānah — being engaged.

TRANSLATION

Because they are bewildered by the illusory energy of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Yājñavalkya and Jaimini and other compilers of the religious scriptures cannot know the secret, confidential religious system of the twelve mahājanas. They cannot understand the transcendental value of performing devotional service or chanting the Hare Krishna mantra. Because their minds are attracted to the ritualistic ceremonies mentioned in the Vedas — especially the Yajur Veda, Sāma Veda and Rig Veda — their intelligence has become dull. Thus they are busy collecting the ingredients for ritualistic ceremonies that yield only temporary benefits, such as elevation to Svargaloka for material happiness. They are not attracted to the sańkīrtana movement; instead, they are interested in dharma, artha, kāma and moksha.

PURPORT

Since one may easily achieve the highest success by chanting the holy name of the Lord, one may ask why there are so many Vedic ritualistic ceremonies and why people are attracted to them. This verse answers that question. As stated in Bhagavad-gītā (15.15), vedaiś ca sarvair aham eva vedyah: the real purpose of studying the Vedas is to approach the lotus feet of Lord Krishna. Unfortunately, unintelligent people bewildered by the grandeur of Vedic yajñas want to see gorgeous sacrifices performed. They want Vedic mantras chanted and huge amounts of money spent for such ceremonies. Sometimes we have to observe the Vedic ritualistic ceremonies to please such unintelligent men. Recently, when we established a large Krishna-Balarāma temple in Vrindāvana, we were obliged to have Vedic ceremonies enacted by brāhmanas because the inhabitants of Vrindāvana, especially the smārta-brāhmanas, would not accept Europeans and Americans as bona fide brāhmanas. Thus we had to engage brāhmanas to perform costly yajñas. In spite of these yajñas, the members of our Society performed sańkīrtana loudly with mridańgas, and I considered the sańkīrtana more important than the Vedic ritualistic ceremonies. Both the ceremonies and the sańkīrtana were going on simultaneously. The ceremonies were meant for persons interested in Vedic rituals for elevation to heavenly planets (jadī-krita-matir madhu-pushpitāyām), whereas the sańkīrtana was meant for pure devotees interested in pleasing the Supreme Personality of Godhead. We would simply have performed sańkīrtana, but then the inhabitants of Vrindāvana would not have taken the installation ceremony seriously. As explained here, the Vedic performances are meant for those whose intelligence has been dulled by the flowery language of the Vedas, which describe fruitive activities intended to elevate one to the higher planets.

Especially in this age of Kali, sańkīrtana alone is sufficient. If the members of our temples in the different parts of the world simply continue sańkīrtana before the Deity, especially before Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, they will remain perfect. There is no need of any other performances. Nevertheless, to keep oneself clean in habits and mind, Deity worship and other regulative principles are required. Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī says that although sańkīrtana is sufficient for the perfection of life, the arcanā, or worship of the Deity in the temple, must continue in order that the devotees may stay clean and pure. Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Thākura therefore recommended that one follow both processes simultaneously. We strictly follow his principle of performing Deity worship and sańkīrtana along parallel lines. This we should continue.

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His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, Founder Ācārya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness