गोविन्द भाष्य (श्रील बलदेव विद्याभूषण - अचिन्त्यभेदाभेद वेदान्त ब्रह्मसूत्र भाष्य सटीक)
Govinda Bhashya of Baladeva Vidyabhushana with Commentary
श्रील बलदेव विद्याभूषण (संपादक: कृष्णदास बाबा जी) द्वारा
पृष्ठ 497, कुल 647 में से
संदर्भ में पढ़ेंOf one who has merely studied.
Purport by Śrīla Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa
The passage (from the Taittirīya-saṁhitā, quoted in sūtra 6) states that a person
who has studied the Vedas should be chosen as a priest. It does not mean that the
priest must be advanced in transcendental knowledge of the Supreme Personality
of Godhead and therefore transcendental knowledge is a subordinate part of the
Vedic rituals. The word “brahmiṣṭha" in that passage means, "one who is learned
in the Vedas". It does not mean "one who is wise with transcendental knowledge
of the Supreme Personality of Godhead", for the Śruti-śāstras declare that a person
fixed in transcendental knowledge of the Supreme renounces Vedic rituals.
Therefore a person who properly studies the Vedas, does not misinterpret its
words, and does not desire to gain anything material as a result of his study, is said
to be “brahmiṣṭha" (learned in the Vedas). The affix “iṣṭha" has that meaning here.
Some claim that the word means that the priest must be a knower of the Supreme
and therefore this passage is meant to praise the glories of Vedic yajñas.
Here someone may object: One who has simply studied is not qualified to
perform Vedic yajñas. One must have knowledge also. Studying the Vedas does
not mean simply reading them. It means understanding them. Because the
Upaniṣads are parts of the Vedas, it must be understood that one who understands
the Vedas understands the transcendental knowledge of the Supreme Personality
of Godhead also. In this way it is proved that transcendental knowledge of the
Supreme Personality of Godhead is only one subordinate aspect of the Vedic
yajñas.
If this objection is raised, then I reply: One is not situated in transcendental
knowledge merely by understanding the meanings of the words in the Vedas, but
only when one directly sees the Supreme Personality of Godhead Himself. Merely
by understanding the meaning of the sentence, "Honey is sweet" one does not
have direct perception of its sweetness. If this were so then merely by
understanding these words one would be able to taste honey. Of course one does
not taste honey in this way. Once, when asked, Nārada Muni declared that, even
though he knew the Ṛg Veda and many other scriptures, still he did not
understand the Supreme. He said:
so 'haṁ mantra-vid evāsmi nātma-vit
"I know many mantras, but I do not know the Supreme Personality of
Godhead."