View source for The Absolute Truth, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, may be realized in different stages. As the Lord says in Bhagavad-gita (BG 4.11): As men surrender unto Me, I reward them accordingly

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{{terms|"The Absolute Truth, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, may be realized in different stages. As the Lord says in Bhagavad-gita"|"As men surrender unto Me, I reward them accordingly"}}
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[[Category:God Is The Absolute Truth]]
[[Category:God Is The Supreme Personality of Godhead]]
[[Category:May Be]]
[[Category:Realizing God]]
[[Category:Different]]
[[Category:Stage]]
[[Category:God Is Lord]]
[[Category:God Says]]
[[Category:God and the Bhagavad-gita]]
[[Category:Men]]
[[Category:Surrendering to God]]
[[Category:God's Rewarding]]
[[Category:Accordingly]]
[[Category:Srimad-Bhagavatam, Canto 10 Chapter 08 Purports - Lord Krsna Shows the Universal Form Within His Mouth]]
[[Category:Srimad Bhagavatam, Canto 10 Purports - Chapters 01 to 13]]
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<h2>Srimad-Bhagavatam</h2>
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<h3>SB Canto 10.1 to 10.13</h3>
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Bhagavān has personally descended to become her beloved child. Therefore there is no comparison to mother Yaśodā's good fortune, as declared by Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu (ramyā kācid upāsanā vrajavadhū-vargeṇa yā kalpitā). The Absolute Truth, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, may be realized in different stages.
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[[Vanisource:SB 10.8.45|SB 10.8.45, Translation and Purport]]
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The glories of the Supreme Personality of Godhead are studied through the three Vedas, the Upaniṣads, the literature of Sāṅkhya-yoga, and other Vaiṣṇava literature, yet mother Yaśodā considered that Supreme Person her ordinary child.
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As stated in Bhagavad-gītā ([[Vanisource:BG 15.15 (1972)|BG 15.15]]) by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa, the purpose of studying the Vedas is to understand Him (vedaiś ca sarvair aham eva vedyaḥ). Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu explained to Sanātana Gosvāmī that there are three purposes in the Vedas. One is to understand our relationship with Kṛṣṇa (sambandha), another is to act according to that relationship (abhidheya), and the third is to reach the ultimate goal (prayojana). The word prayojana means "necessities," and the ultimate necessity is explained by Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. premā pum-artho mahān: the greatest necessity for a human being is the achievement of love for the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Here we see that mother Yaśodā is on the highest stage of necessity, for she is completely absorbed in love for Kṛṣṇa.

In the beginning, the Vedic purpose is pursued in three ways (trayī)—by karma-kāṇḍa, jñāna-kāṇḍa and upāsanā-kāṇḍa. When one reaches the complete, perfect stage of upāsanā-kāṇḍa, one comes to worship Nārāyaṇa, or Lord Viṣṇu. When Pārvatī asked Lord Mahādeva, Lord Śiva, what is the best method of upāsanā, or worship, Lord Śiva answered, ārādhanānāṁ sarveṣāṁ viṣṇor ārādhanaṁ param. Viṣṇūpāsanā, or viṣṇv-ārādhana, worship of Lord Viṣṇu, is the highest stage of perfection, as realized by Devakī. But here mother Yaśodā performs no upāsanā, for she has developed transcendental ecstatic love for Kṛṣṇa. Therefore her position is better than that of Devakī. In order to show this, Śrīla Vyāsadeva enunciates this verse, trayyā copaniṣadbhiḥ etc.

When a human being enters into the study of the Vedas to obtain vidyā, knowledge, he begins to take part in human civilization. Then he advances further to study the Upaniṣads and gain brahma jñāna, impersonal realization of the Absolute Truth, and then he advances still further, to sāṅkhya-yoga, in order to understand the supreme controller, who is indicated in Bhagavad-gītā (paraṁ brahma paraṁ dhāma pavitraṁ paramaṁ bhavān/puruṣaṁ śāśvatam ([[Vanisource:BG 10.12-13 (1972)|BG 10.12]])). When one understands that puruṣa, the supreme controller, to be Paramātmā, one is engaged in the method of yoga (dhyānāvasthita-tad-gatena manasā paśyanti yaṁ yoginaḥ ([[Vanisource:SB 12.13.1|SB 12.13.1]])). But mother Yaśodā has surpassed all these stages. She has come to the platform of loving Kṛṣṇa as her beloved child, and therefore she is accepted to be on the highest stage of spiritual realization. The Absolute Truth is realized in three features (brahmeti paramātmeti bhagavān iti śabdyate ([[Vanisource:SB 1.2.11|SB 1.2.11]])), but she is in such ecstasy that she does not care to understand what is Brahman, what is Paramātmā or what is Bhagavān. Bhagavān has personally descended to become her beloved child. Therefore there is no comparison to mother Yaśodā's good fortune, as declared by Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu (ramyā kācid upāsanā vrajavadhū-vargeṇa yā kalpitā). The Absolute Truth, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, may be realized in different stages. As the Lord says in Bhagavad-gītā ([[Vanisource:BG 4.11 (1972)|BG 4.11]]):

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:ye yathā māṁ prapadyante
:tāṁs tathaiva bhajāmy aham
:mama vartmānuvartante 
:manuṣyāḥ pārtha sarvaśaḥ
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"As men surrender unto Me, I reward them accordingly. Everyone follows My path in all respects, O son of Pṛthā." One may be a karmī, a jñānī, a yogī and then a bhakta or prema-bhakta. But the ultimate stage of realization is prema-bhakti, as actually demonstrated by mother Yaśodā.
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