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Chapter 8: Attaining the Supreme

Bg 8.28
TEXT 28
vedesu yajnesu tapahsu caiva
danesu yat punya-phalam pradistam
atyeti tat sarvam idam viditva
yogi param sthanam upaiti cadyam
SYNONYMS
vedesu—in the study of the Vedas; yajnesu—in the performances of yajna, sacrifice; tapahsu—undergoing different types of austerities; ca—also; eva—certainly; danesu—in giving charities; yat—that which; punya-phalam—the result of pious work; pradistam—directed; atyeti—surpasses; tat—all those; sarvam idam—all those described above; viditva—knowing; yogi—the devotee; param—supreme; sthanam—abode; upaiti—achieved peace; ca—also; adyam—original.
TRANSLATION
A person who accepts the path of devotional service is not bereft of the results derived from studying the Vedas, performing austere sacrifices, giving charity or pursuing philosophical and fruitive activities. At the end he reaches the supreme abode.
PURPORT
This verse is the summation of the Seventh and Eighth Chapters, particularly as the chapters deal with Krsna consciousness and devotional service. One has to study the Vedas under the guidance of the spiritual master and undergo many austerities and penances while living under his care. A brahmacari has to live in the home of the spiritual master just like a servant, and he must beg alms from door to door and bring them to the spiritual master. He takes food only under the master's order, and if the master neglects to call the student for food that day, the student fasts. These are some of the Vedic principles for observing brahmacarya.
After the student studies the Vedas under the master for a period from five to twenty years, he may become a man of perfect character. Study of the Vedas is not meant for the recreation of armchair speculators, but for the formation of character. After this training, the brahmacari is allowed to enter into household life and marry. When he is a householder, he also has to perform many sacrifices and strive for further enlightenment. Then after retiring from household life, upon accepting the order of vanaprastha, he undergoes severe penances, such as living in forests, dressing with tree bark, not shaving, etc. By carrying out the orders of brahmacari, householder, vanaprastha and finally sannyasa, one becomes elevated to the perfectional stage of life. Some are then elevated to the heavenly kingdoms, and when they become even more advanced they are liberated in the spiritual sky, either in the impersonal brahmajyoti or in the Vaikuntha planets or Krsnaloka. This is the path outlined by Vedic literatures.
The beauty of Krsna consciousness, however, is that by one stroke, by engaging in devotional service, one can surpass all rituals of the different orders of life.
One should try to understand the Seventh and Eighth Chapters of the Gita not by scholarship or mental speculation, but by hearing them in association with pure devotees. Chapters Six through Twelve are the essence of the Gita. If one is fortunate to understand the Gita-especially these middle six chapters-in the association of devotees, then his life at once becomes glorified beyond all penances, sacrifices, charities, speculations, etc. One should hear the Gita from the devotee because at the beginning of the Fourth Chapter it is stated that the Gita can only be perfectly understood by devotees. Hearing the Gita from devotees, not from mental speculators, is called faith. Through association of devotees, one is placed in devotional service, and by this service Krsna's activities, form, pastimes, name, etc., become clear, and all misgivings are dispelled. Then once doubts are removed, the study of the Gita becomes extremely pleasurable, and one develops a taste and feeling for Krsna consciousness. In the advanced stage, one falls completely in love with Krsna, and that is the beginning of the highest perfectional stage of life which prepares the devotee's transferral to Krsna's abode in the spiritual sky, Goloka Vrndavana, where the devotee enters into eternal happiness.
Thus end the Bhaktivedanta Purports to the Eighth Chapter of the Srimad-Bhagavad-gita in the matter of Attaining the Supreme.

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Copyright (c) 1972 by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada