kiḿ vidhatte kim ācaṣṭe
kim anūdya vikalpayet
ity asyā hṛdayaḿ loke
nānyo mad veda kaścana
māḿ vidhatte 'bhidhatte māḿ
vikalpyāpohyate hy aham
etāvān sarva-vedārthaḥ
śabda āsthāya māḿ bhidām
māyā-mātram anūdyānte
pratiṣidhya prasīdati
"[Lord Krishna said:] 'What is the purpose of all Vedic literatures? On whom do they focus? Who is the object of all speculation? Outside of Me no one knows these things. Now you should know that all these activities are aimed at ordaining and setting forth Me. The purpose of the Vedic literatures is to know Me by different speculations, either by indirect understanding or by dictionary understanding. Everyone is speculating about Me. The essence of all Vedic literatures is to distinguish Me from maya. By considering the illusory energy, one comes to the platform of understanding Me. In this way one becomes free from speculation about the Vedas and comes to Me as the conclusion. Thus one is satisfied.'
These two verses are quoted from Srimad-Bhagavatam (11.21.42-43). When Uddhava asked Krishna about the purpose of Vedic speculation, the Lord informed him of the process of understanding the Vedic literature. The Vedas are composed of karma-kanda, jnana-kanda and upasana-kanda. One who analytically studies the purpose of the Vedas understands that by karma-kanda, sacrificial activity, one comes to the conclusion of jnana-kanda, speculative knowledge, and that after speculation one comes to the conclusion that worship of the Supreme Personality of Godhead is the ultimate. When one comes to this conclusion, he becomes fully satisfied.
