kiá¹ vidhatte kim Äcaṣṭe
kim anūdya vikalpayet
ity asyÄ há¹›dayaá¹ loke
nÄnyo mad veda kaÅ›cana
mÄá¹ vidhatte 'bhidhatte mÄá¹
vikalpyÄpohyate hy aham
etÄvÄn sarva-vedÄrthaḥ
Å›abda ÄsthÄya mÄá¹ bhidÄm
mÄyÄ-mÄtram anÅ«dyÄnte
pratiṣidhya prasīdati

 kim - what; vidhatte - direct; kim - what; Äcaṣṭe - declare; kim - what; anÅ«dya - taking as the object; vikalpayet - may conjecture; iti - thus; asyÄḥ - of the Vedic literature; há¹›dayam - intention; loke - in this world; na - not; anyaḥ - other; mat - than Me; veda - knows; kaÅ›cana - anyone; mÄm - Me; vidhatte - they ordain; abhidhatte - set forth; mÄm - Me; vikalpya - speculating; apohyate - am fixed; hi - certainly; aham - I; etÄvÄn - of such measures; sarva-veda-arthaḥ - the purport of the Vedas; Å›abdaḥ - the Vedas; ÄsthÄya - taking shelter of; mÄm - Me; bhidÄm - different; mÄyÄ - illusory energy; mÄtram - only; anÅ«dya - saying; ante - at the end; pratiá¹£idhya - driving away; prasÄ«dati - gets satisfaction.


Text

“[Lord Kṛṣṇa 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 mÄyÄ. 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.’

Purport

These two verses are quoted from ÅšrÄ«mad-BhÄgavatam (11.21.42-43). When Uddhava asked Kṛṣṇa about the purpose of Vedic speculation, the Lord informed him of the process of understanding the Vedic literature. The Vedas are composed of karma-kÄṇá¸a, jñÄna-kÄṇá¸a and upÄsanÄ-kÄṇá¸a. One who analytically studies the purpose of the Vedas understands that by karma-kÄṇá¸a, sacrificial activity, one comes to the conclusion of jñÄna-kÄṇá¸a, 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.