Ahaṁ tvāṁ sarva-pāpebhyo mokṣayiṣyāmi. If you simply surrender to Kṛṣṇa, sarva-dharmān . . . sarva . . . there are many dharmas, or many activities or function. Some of them are pious; some of them are impious. There are two kinds. So Kṛṣṇa says: "You give up pious and impious, both." That is sarva-dharmān. Because we are acting piously or impiously. So you can give up both pious activities and impious activities. Just like Arjuna. Arjuna was thinking that, "Fighting with my brother, it is impious." So Kṛṣṇa was insisting that "You must fight." So how Arjuna could take impious activities? Because Kṛṣṇa's service is above these pious and impious activities. That is called sarva-dharmān parityajya. Just like the gopīs. The gopīs went to Kṛṣṇa at mid . . . midnight, by simply hearing the flute of Kṛṣṇa. So young girl, going to Kṛṣṇa at midnight, this is impious activities. According to śāstra, according to moral, it is impious activities. But because it was done for Kṛṣṇa, it is understood as the most pious. Recommends. Who recommends? Caitanya Mahāprabhu, that ramyā kācid upāsanā vraja-vadhū-vargeṇa yā kalpitā (Caitanya-manjusa). Caitanya Mahāprabhu, He was sannyāsī. He was very, very strict. And no woman could come near Him to offer respect. He was very strict about woman. And now He's saying, ramyā kācid upāsanā vraja-vadhū-vargeṇa yā kalpitā: "What can be more wonderful process of worship than as it was conceived by the gopīs?" The six Gosvāmīs also: gopī-bhāva-rasāmṛtābdhi-laharī-kallola-magnau muhur vande rūpa-sanātanau raghu-yugau śrī-jīva-gopālakau. So, so although it looks apparently that gopīs went to Kṛṣṇa to dance with Him, that is not very moral, but Caitanya Mahāprabhu recommends that is the highest method of worshiping Kṛṣṇa.
So this requires jñānam. Therefore this is called transcendental knowledge, how serving Kṛṣṇa one becomes transcendental to all these pious and impious activities. That requires knowledge.
- māṁ ca 'vyabhicāreṇa
- bhakti-yogena yaḥ sevate
- sa guṇān samatītyaitān
- brahma-bhūyāya kalpate
- (BG 14.26)
Pious and impious . . . piety and impiety, they are within these material guṇas, qualities, good and bad. And Kṛṣṇa's service is transcendental, above good and bad. So that is called real knowledge. And if one is fortunate enough to understand this knowledge, then immediately he becomes detached to these material pious and impious activities. Bhaktiḥ pareśānubhavo viraktir anyatra syāt (SB 11.2.42). That is called vairāgya. Jñāna-vairāgya. Bhakti-yuktena. Without bhakti, there cannot be jñāna and vairāgya. Actually, the human life is meant for jñāna and vairāgya, for two things. Otherwise, we remain animal. The animal cannot attain any jñāna, neither animal can attain any vairāgya. That is animal qualification. But a human being, he has the opportunity to come to the stage of jñāna and vairāgya.
Jñāna means to understand that, "I am not this material body. I do not belong to this material body. I am spirit soul. I am part and parcel of Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Spirit, and I belong to the spiritual world. Therefore my business is to finish this material world business and go back to home, back to Godhead." This is jñāna, knowledge. Therefore we have to understand Kṛṣṇa. If we have to go somewhere, we must know where we are going. Because we are serving here. Now, another program has to be made to serve Kṛṣṇa and live there in the spiritual world. So we have to understand Kṛṣṇa very nicely. That . . . and if you can understand Kṛṣṇa, janma karma me divyaṁ yo jānāti tattvataḥ (BG 4.9). To understand Kṛṣṇa in truth, that is not very easy task. That is very, very difficult task. Even the muktas cannot understand Kṛṣṇa. Manuṣyāṇāṁ sahasreṣu kaścid yatati siddhaye (BG 7.3). Siddhi means mukti, liberation. Kaścid yatati. Who is trying for liberation? Nobody's trying. But still, there are somebodies who are trying for liberation. So Kṛṣṇa says, yatatām api siddhānām. After being liberated, those who are trying to understand Kṛṣṇa, some of them can understand Kṛṣṇa in truth, tattvataḥ. Therefore you have to understand Kṛṣṇa tattvataḥ, what is Kṛṣṇa.