View source for Why is it that the Vedic hymns encourage one in material enjoyment, while at the same time the Vedic instructions also free one from all illusion and encourage one toward liberation?

<div id="compilation">
<div id="facts">
{{terms|"Why is it that the Vedic hymns encourage one in material enjoyment, while at the same time the Vedic instructions also free one from all illusion and encourage one toward liberation"}}
{{notes|}}
{{compiler|MadhuGopaldas}}
{{complete|ALL}}
{{first|22Jun12}}
{{last|22Jun12}}
{{totals_by_section|BG=0|SB=0|CC=0|OB=1|Lec=0|Con=0|Let=0}}
{{total|1}}
{{toc right}}
[[Category:Why]]
[[Category:That]]
[[Category:Vedic Hymns]]
[[Category:Encouragement]]
[[Category:One (as in someone)]]
[[Category:Material Enjoyment]]
[[Category:While]]
[[Category:At the Same Time]]
[[Category:Vedic Instruction]]
[[Category:Also]]
[[Category:Free]]
[[Category:From]]
[[Category:All]]
[[Category:Illusion]]
[[Category:Encouragement]]
[[Category:Toward]]
[[Category:Liberation]]
</div>
<div id="Other_Books_by_Srila_Prabhupada" class="section" sec_index="3" parent="compilation" text="Other Books by Srila Prabhupada"><h2>Other Books by Srila Prabhupada</h2>
</div>
<div id="Teachings_of_Lord_Caitanya" class="sub_section" sec_index="0" parent="Other_Books_by_Srila_Prabhupada" text="Teachings of Lord Caitanya"><h3>Teachings of Lord Caitanya</h3>
</div>
<div id="TLC12_0" class="quote" parent="Teachings_of_Lord_Caitanya" book="OB" index="18" link="TLC 12" link_text="Teachings of Lord Caitanya, Chapter 12">
<div class="heading">When Uddhava was questioning Kṛṣṇa about the rules and regulations according to Vedic injunctions, he asked, "Why is it that the Vedic hymns encourage one in material enjoyment, while at the same time the Vedic instructions also free one from all illusion and encourage one toward liberation?"
</div>
<span class="link">[[Vanisource:TLC 12|Teachings of Lord Caitanya, Chapter 12]]: </span><div style="display: inline;" class="text"><p style="display: inline;">Whoever engages in the devotional service of the Lord in full Kṛṣṇa consciousness becomes freed of all debts to the sages, demigods and forefathers, to whom everyone is generally indebted. This is confirmed in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (11.5.41): </p>
:devarṣi-bhūtāpta-nṛṇāṁ pitṟṇāṁ
:na kiṅkaro nāyam ṛṇī ca rājan
:sarvātmanā yaḥśaraṇaṁśaraṇyaṁ
:gato mukundaṁ parihṛtya kartam
<p>"Whoever fully engages himself in the service of the Lord, O King, giving up all other duties, is no longer indebted to the demigods, the sages, other living entities, his relatives, the forefathers or any man." Every man, just after his birth, is at once indebted to all the abovementioned personalities, and one is expected to discharge many kinds of ritualistic functions because of this indebtedness. But a person who is fully surrendered unto Kṛṣṇa has no obligation. He becomes free from all debts.</p>
<p>It should be carefully noted, however, that when a person gives up all other duties and simply takes to the transcendental service of Kṛṣṇa, he has no material desire and is not apt to perform sinful activities. If, however, he performs sinful activities (not willfully but by chance), Kṛṣṇa gives him all protection. It is not necessary for him to purify himself by any other method, and this is confirmed in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (11.5.42): "A devotee who is fully engaged in the transcendental loving service of the Lord is protected by the Supreme Person, but in case such a devotee unintentionally commits some sinful activity or is obliged to act sinfully under certain circumstances, God, situated within his heart, gives him all protection."</p>
<p>The processes of speculative knowledge and renunciation are not chief items for elevation in devotional service. One does not have to take to the principles of nonviolence and sense control, although there are rules and regulations for acquiring these qualities in the other processes. Without even practicing these processes, a devotee develops all good qualities simply by discharging devotional service to the Lord. In the Eleventh Canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (11.20.31), the Lord Himself says that there is no necessity of cultivating speculative knowledge and renunciation if one is actually engaged in the devotional service of the Lord.</p>
<p>Out of sheer misunderstanding, some transcendentalists think that knowledge and renunciation are necessary for rising to the platform of devotional service. This is not so. The cultivation of knowledge and the renunciation of fruitive activities may be necessary for understanding one's spiritual existence in relation to the material conception of life, but they are not part and parcel of devotional service. The results of knowledge and fruitive activities are liberation and material sense gratification, respectively. Therefore they cannot be part and parcel of devotional service; rather, they have no intrinsic value in the discharge of devotional service. One who is freed from bondage to the results of knowledge and fruitive activities can be situated in devotional service. Since a devotee of Lord Kṛṣṇa is by nature nonviolent, and since his mind and senses are controlled, he does not have to make a special effort to acquire the good qualities which result from cultivating knowledge and performing fruitive activities.</p>
<p>When Uddhava was questioning Kṛṣṇa about the rules and regulations according to Vedic injunctions, he asked, "Why is it that the Vedic hymns encourage one in material enjoyment, while at the same time the Vedic instructions also free one from all illusion and encourage one toward liberation?" The Vedic rules are said to be ordained by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, but apparently there are contradictions, and Uddhava was anxious to know how one could resolve these contradictions. In reply, Lord Kṛṣṇa cited the verse mentioned above ([[Vanisource:SB 11.20.31|SB 11.20.31]]), informing him of the superexcellence of devotional service: "For one who is already engaged in devotional service to Me and whose mind is fixed on Me, it is neither practical nor necessary to cultivate knowledge and renunciation." </p>
<p>Thus the Lord's conclusion is that devotional service is independent of any other process. The cultivation of knowledge, renunciation or meditation may be a little helpful in the beginning, but they cannot be considered necessary for discharging devotional service. In other words, devotional service can be discharged independently of the cultivation of knowledge and renunciation. In this regard, there is also a verse from the Skanda Purāṇa, in which Nārada Muni tells a hunter tribesman: "O hunter, the qualifications you have just now acquired—such as nonviolence and others—are not astonishing, because one who is engaged in devotional service to the Supreme Lord cannot be a source of trouble for anyone, under any circumstance."</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>