Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrī Caitanya Caritāmṛta Madhya 6.178

bhagavān — 'sambandha', bhakti — 'abhidheya' haya

premā — 'prayojana', vede tina-vastu kaya

SYNONYMS

bhagavān — the Supreme Personality of Godhead; sambandha — relationship; bhakti — devotional service; abhidheya — transcendental activities; haya — is; premā — love of Godhead; prayojana — the ultimate goal of life; vede — the Vedas; tina-vastu — three subject matters; kaya — describe.

TRANSLATION

Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu continued, "The Supreme Personality of Godhead is the central point of all relationships, acting in devotional service to Him is one's real occupation, and the attainment of love of Godhead is the ultimate goal of life. These three subject matters are described in the Vedic literature.

PURPORT

In the Bhagavad-gītā (15.15) Lord Kṛṣṇa confirms this statement: vedaiś ca sarvair aham eva vedyaḥ. The actual purpose in reading the Vedas is to learn how to become a devotee of the Supreme Lord. The Lord Himself advises, man-manā bhava mad-bhakto mad-yājī māḿ namaskuru (Bg. 9.34). Therefore, after studying the Vedas, one must then execute devotional service by thinking always of the Supreme Lord (man-manā), becoming His devotee, worshiping Him and always offering Him obeisances. This is called viṣṇu-ārādhana, and it is the supreme occupational duty of all human beings. It is properly discharged in the varṇāśrama-dharma system, which divides society into brahmacarya, gṛhastha, vānaprastha and sannyāsa and brāhmaṇa, kṣatriya, vaiśya and śūdra. This is the whole scheme of Vedic civilization. However, this institution is very difficult to establish in this age; therefore Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu advises that we not worry about the Vedic system of varṇāśrama-dharma. Rather, we should take directly to the chanting of the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra and simply hear about the Supreme Personality of Godhead from pure devotees. This is the process recommended by Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, and this is the purpose for studying the Vedas.

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