“This knowledge is the king of education, the most secret of all secrets. It is the purest knowledge, and because it gives direct perception of the self by realization, it is the perfection of religion. It is everlasting, and it is joyfully performed.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 9.2)

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राज-विद्या राज-गुह्यं
पवित्रम् इदम् उत्तमम्
प्रत्यक्षावगमं धर्म्यं
सु-सुखं कर्तुम् अव्ययम्

rāja-vidyā rāja-guhyaṁ
pavitram idam uttamam
pratyakṣāvagamaṁ dharmyaṁ
su-sukhaṁ kartum avyayam

1. We put a man in the skies

“Man can now soar through the skies. Think about that for a second. This is better than the hot air balloon, which was used more or less for sightseeing. This new discovery facilitates travel. It is the greatest invention ever. We can now pierce the clouds and reach the heavens and beyond.”

2. We put a man in space

“We did it. A man in outer space. Your so-called religious books of authority said this could never be done. We have proved everyone wrong. Just imagine what is on the horizon now. This changes everything.”

3. We put a man on the moon

“We did it. You saw it with your own eyes. No funny business to speak of. Stop saying that the scene looked like it was shot on a movie set in the state of Arizona. Yes, we lost all of the telemetry data, but who needs that now? Man touched down on the moon. The entire nation was watching. This is the greatest moment in history.”

4. We put something on the planet Mars

“That rover stays there. It captures images and beams them back home. We will learn so much from this connection. It is like we are finally close to figuring out the entire solar system. You just wait.”

5. We went back to the moon

“There. Are you happy now? Have your doubts finally been satisfied? Sure, it was not a manned spacecraft, but who needs people? Our new vessel reached there in record time. This is only a glimpse into what human beings will be capable of moving forward. We have finally silenced the skeptics.”

…

The Sanskrit word Vedanta translates to “the end of knowledge” or “the conclusion of knowledge.” Veda is knowledge and anta is the end. It is something like reaching the finishing line in the race. Finally seeing the top of the mountain after having climbed for a lengthy period of time. The last bolt hammered into place to make the dwelling ready for inhabitants to move in.

पुरुषः प्रकृति-स्थो हि
भुङ्क्ते प्रकृति-जान् गुणान्
कारणं गुण-सङ्गो ऽस्य
सद्-असद्-योनि-जन्मसु

puruṣaḥ prakṛti-stho hi
bhuṅkte prakṛti-jān guṇān
kāraṇaṁ guṇa-saṅgo ‘sya
sad-asad-yoni-janmasu

“The living entity in material nature thus follows the ways of life, enjoying the three modes of nature. This is due to his association with that material nature. Thus he meets with good and evil amongst various species.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 13.22)

The anta references the fact that there has been time spent without veda. This time has been in ignorance. As Shri Krishna explains in Bhagavad-gita, there is the cause involving action and reaction. This then determines placement amongst various species. There are both moving and nonmoving. Some live in the water and some on land. There are others who can fly through the air.

Vedanta is specifically for the human birth. The end of the knowledge can be understood by the human being, who has maturity in thought, in the ability to reason, in contemplation, and in deciding between good and pious deeds, guna and dosha.

Vedanta is the actual last word on anything. This is because it descends from the origin of everything. Since He never falls down, since He is perfect, He is known as Achyuta. Vedanta is for understanding Achyuta, for reaching Him, for returning to the constitutional way of living.

His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada explains that all other advancements of knowledge will remain imperfect. In spite of what someone claims, of the celebrations they establish, of the promises they offer of future progress, there is always a kind of resetting that takes place with every new discovery.

“Umm, scratch that. What we previously wrote down is no longer valid. You might want to keep the information around, for the purposes of an archive. A researcher might revisit that knowledge at some time in the future, to chart our progression, but right now we are on a different course. It is new and exciting. This is finally it. We know so much more today than we did before.”

There is a comedy to the obviously repeating pattern that goes unnoticed. There is a key factor which goes overlooked. The senses themselves are imperfect. This is one of the four defects in man. We can try our best to understand this world, to make heads or tails out of what takes place, but we simply cannot perceive everything in a sufficient amount of time.

“Since Vyasadeva is an incarnation of the Supreme Lord, he cannot be likened to an ordinary person, who has the four defects which arise due to contact with material existence. The defects of a conditioned soul are: (1) he must commit mistakes; (2) he must be illusioned; (3) he must possess the tendency to cheat others; and (4) all his senses must be imperfect. We must understand that the incarnation of God is transcendental to all these defects. Thus whatever has been spoken and written by Vyasadeva is considered to be perfect.” (Teachings of Lord Chaitanya, Ch 19)

Nor can we travel back in time and perceive what took place before. If we should happen to have a large volume of information at our disposal, it is like trying to put a puzzle together out of many pieces. We then keep thinking that the puzzle is solved, only to have to break everything down and start over again.

The wise person chooses in favor of Vedanta. They take all of the information they have already thus gathered in the life experience and apply it against the knowledge which descends. There is careful deliberation. There is thought. There is also the opportunity to try, to experiment with different principles to reach validation on our own. This was the method recommended to Arjuna.

इति ते ज्ञानम् आख्यातं
गुह्याद् गुह्यतरं मया
विमृश्यैतद् अशेषेण
यथेच्छसि तथा कुरु

iti te jñānam ākhyātaṁ
guhyād guhyataraṁ mayā
vimṛśyaitad aśeṣeṇa
yathecchasi tathā kuru

“Thus I have explained to you the most confidential of all knowledge. Deliberate on this fully, and then do what you wish to do.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad­-gita, 18.63)

With this approach, there is no erasing of the board. There is no resetting. The knowledge is the highest wisdom, the secret of all secrets, in all periods of time. Whether I am aware or not, whether the rest of society is with me or against me, Vedanta is the king of education.

In Closing:

“Take your skepticism and sit,
Because we finally did it.

This is the last and final one,
Perfection in discovery won.

Not going to any other place,
But wait now later to replace.”

Because imperfect the entire time,
Not like words of Vedanta to shine.

Categories: the five

Tags: god, hare krishna, philosophy, poem, poems, poetry, religion, science