राजोवाच
श्रुतमन्वीक्षितं ब्रह्मन्भगवान्यदभाषत ।
नैतज्जानन्त्युपाध्यायाः किं न ब्रूयुर्विदुर्यदि ॥५६॥

rÄjovÄca
śrutam anvīkṣitaṠbrahman
bhagavÄn yad abhÄá¹£ata
naitaj jÄnanty upÄdhyÄyÄḥ
kiṠna brūyur vidur yadi

 rÄjÄ uvÄca - the King said; Å›rutam - was heard; anvÄ«ká¹£itam - was considered; brahman - O brÄhmaṇa; bhagavÄn - the most powerful; yat - which; abhÄá¹£ata - you have spoken; na - not; etat - this; jÄnanti - do know; upÄdhyÄyÄḥ - the teachers of fruitive activities; kim - why; na brÅ«yuḥ - they did not instruct; viduḥ - they understood; yadi - if.


Text

The King replied: My dear brÄhmaṇa, whatever you have said I have heard with great attention and, considering all of it, have come to the conclusion that the ÄcÄryas [teachers] who engaged me in fruitive activity did not know this confidential knowledge. If they were aware of it, why did they not explain it to me?

Purport

Actually the so-called teachers or leaders of material society do not really know the goal of life. They are described in Bhagavad-gÄ«tÄ as mÄyayÄpahá¹›ta-jñÄnÄḥ. They appear to be very learned scholars, but actually the influence of the illusory energy has taken away their knowledge. Real knowledge means searching out Kṛṣṇa (vedaiÅ› ca sarvair aham eva vedyaḥ). All Vedic knowledge is meant for searching out Kṛṣṇa because Kṛṣṇa is the origin of everything (janmÄdy asya yataḥ). In Bhagavad-gÄ«tÄ (10.2) Kṛṣṇa says, aham Ädir hi devÄnÄá¹: “I am the source of the demigods.†Thus Kṛṣṇa is the origin and beginning of all demigods, including Lord BrahmÄ, Lord Åšiva and all others. The Vedic ritualistic ceremonies are concerned with satisfying different demigods, but unless one is very advanced, he cannot understand that the original personality is ÅšrÄ« Kṛṣṇa (govindam Ädi-puruá¹£aá¹ tam ahaá¹ bhajÄmi). After hearing the instructions of NÄrada, King Barhiá¹£mÄn came to his senses. The real goal of life is to attain devotional service to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The King therefore decided to reject the so-called priestly orders that simply engage their followers in the ritualistic ceremonies without giving effective instructions about the goal of life. At the present moment the churches, temples and mosques all over the world are not attracting people because foolish priests cannot elevate their followers to the platform of knowledge. Not being aware of the real goal of life, they simply keep their congregations in ignorance. Consequently, those who are well educated have become uninterested in the ritualistic ceremonies. At the same time, they are not benefited with real knowledge. This Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is therefore very important for the enlightenment of all classes. Following in the footsteps of MahÄrÄja Barhiá¹£mÄn, everyone should take advantage of this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement and abandon the stereotyped ritualistic ceremonies that go under the garb of so many religions. The GosvÄmÄ«s from the very beginning differed from the priestly class that was engaged in ritualistic ceremonies. Indeed, ÅšrÄ«la SanÄtana GosvÄmÄ« compiled his Hari-bhakti-vilÄsa for the guidance of the Vaiṣṇavas. The Vaiṣṇavas, not caring for the lifeless activities of the priestly classes, take to full Kṛṣṇa consciousness and become perfect in this very life. That is described in the previous verse as paramahaá¹sa-Å›araṇam, taking shelter of the paramahaá¹sa, the liberated soul, and becoming successful in this life.