Bhagavad Gita 2.42 -43

[Paramananda das]

Chapter 2. Contents of the Gita Summarized

TEXT 42-43

yam imam puspitam vacam pravadanty avipascitah veda-vada-ratah partha nanyad astiti vadinah

kamatmanah svarga-para janma-karma-phala-pradam kriya-visesa-bahulam bhogaisvarya-gatim prati

SYNONYMS

yam imam--all these; puspitam--flowery; vacam--words; pravadanti--say; avipascitah--men with a poor fund  of knowledge; veda-vada-ratah--supposed followers of the Vedas;partha--O son of Prtha; na--never; anyat--anything else; asti--there is; iti--thus; vadinah--advocates; kama-atmanah--desirous of sense gratification; svarga-parah--aiming to achieve heavenly planets; janma-karma-phala-pradam--resulting in fruitive actions, good birth,  etc.; kriya-visesa--pompous ceremonies; bahulam--various; bhoga--sense enjoyment; aisvarya--opulence; gatim--progress; prati--towards.

TRANSLATION

Men of small knowledge are  very much attached to the flowery words of the Vedas, which recommend various  fruitive activities for elevation to heavenly planets, resultant good birth,  power, and so forth. Being desirous of sense gratification and opulent life,  they say that there is nothing more than this.

PURPORT

People in general are not very  intelligent, and due to their ignorance they are most attached to the fruitive  activities recommended in the karma-kanda portions of the Vedas.  They do not want anything more than sense gratificatory proposals for enjoying  life in heaven, where and women are available and material opulence is very  common. In the Vedas many sacrifices are recommended for elevation to the  heavenly planets, especially the jyotistoma sacrifices. In fact, it is  stated that anyone desiring elevation to heavenly planets must perform these  sacrifices, and men with a poor fund of knowledge think that this is the whole  purpose of Vedic wisdom. It is very difficult for such inexperienced persons to  be situated in the determined action of Krsna consciousness. As fools are  attached to the of poisonous trees without knowing the results of  such attractions, similarly unenlightened men are attracted by such heavenly  opulence and the sense enjoyment thereof. In the karma-kanda section of the Vedas it is  said that those who perform the four monthly penances become eligible to drink  the somarasa beverages to become immortal and happy forever. Even on this  earth some are very eager to have somarasa to become strong and fit to  enjoy sense gratifications. Such persons have no faith in liberation from  material bondage, and they are very much attached to the pompous ceremonies of  Vedic sacrifices. They are generally sensual, and they do not want anything  other than the heavenly pleasures of life. It is understood that there are  gardens called nandana-kanana in which there is good opportunity  for association with angelic, beautiful women and having a profuse supply of somarasa wine. Such bodily happiness is certainly sensual; therefore  there are those who are purely attached to material, temporary happiness, as  lords of the material world.

Commentary by Sri Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakur

Text 42: This verse speaks of the persons with wavering intelligence, involved in sakama karma, who are very dull witted. They speak excellently (pra vadanti)16 pleasant words of the Vedas which are like a poisonous . Since their consciousness has been deluded by those words, they are not endowed with fixed intelligence, (taya apahrta cetasam vyavasayatmika buddhih samadhau na vidhiyate). The sentence continues in verse 44. Because of the impossibility for them to accept, it is not taught to them. They speak in this way because they are fools (avipascitah), because they interpret the words of the Vedas (veda vada ratah) such as the following:

aksayyam ha vai caturmasya-yajinah sukrtam bhavati

One who has worshiped by means of the vows of caturmasya attains pious which never become depleted. Apastambha Srauta Sutra, Krishna Yajur Veda 8.1.1

apama somam amrta abhuma

We drank soma and became immortal. Rg Veda 8.48.3

They say that there is no God other than this (na anyat asti).

Text 43: What type of words do they speak? They speak words about various rites giving many results in terms of power and enjoyment, words which give good results of action in terms of birth.

Rudra Vaisnava Sampradaya: Visnuswami Sridhara Swami's Commentary One may wonder why is it that living entities filled with desire fail to  relinquish even desires which are very difficult to fulfil and adhere in fixed  determination to surrendering their actions to the Supreme Lord? This is now  being answered that they are dull witted of limited understanding who consider  heaven as the highest attainment. Why do they talk such nonsense? Because they  are of dull wits and limited understanding. The reason for their dull wits is  that they are enamoured by the panegyric euphemisms of the scriptures. Words  like everlasting happiness, eternal life, resurrection and immortality are very  appealing to those of limited understanding. With these thoughts motivating them  they perform every actions for the attainment of these goals believing they can  be attained independent of the mercy of the Supreme Lord

Brahma Vaisnava Sampradaya: Madhvacarya There is no commentary for this verse.

Sri Vaisnava Sampradaya: Ramanuja There is no commentary for this verse.

Kumara Vaisnava Sampradaya: Nimbaditya Kesava Kasmiri's Commentary Why is it that the scholars who have studied the Vedas so fastidiously fail  to possess the resolute intelligence? It is because they could not comprehend  the essence of the Vedic scriptures and subsequently they missed understanding  the true purport of the Vedas. This Lord Krishna emphasises with the word  avipascitah meaning the ignorant who are not knowledgeable are attracted to  flowery descriptions in the Vedas even as a beautiful flowery creeper may although  it is poisonous. But these living entities are ignorant and not actual scholars  of Vedanta because they are only devoted to those parts of the Vedas which help  them secure material opulence in this life and the next. Such statements like by  performing some ritual one can obtain imperishable merit or by drinking Soma  nectar one can become immortal, etc. Their conception of devotion is being  devoted to pursuing heavenly delights and they even foolishly argue that there  is nothing more beyond the of heavenly pleasures to attain. Why is this so for  them? It is because their minds are obsessed by desires due to addiction to  material pleasures experienced by contact with the senses of taste, touch,  seeing, hearing and smelling. So they look upon heaven although heaven is still  in the material existence as being the supreme goal. This is because in heaven  there is neither old age or sickness, everything is beautiful and a wonder to  behold and the facility to enjoy fully is increased a thousand fold. So all  their activities in this life are enacted solely for the sake of accuring  benefits in order to reside in the heavenly spheres where they can enjoy and  enjoy for a seemingly unlimited time span. But when their merit has expired  after enjoying the delights of heaven in various wonderful ways to their hearts  content they will again take birth on earth in a rich and learned family who  also are following the flowery phrases of the Vedas and they will again follow  this path and at lifes end transmigrate to the heavenly planets once again to  enact the process. By being born into situations of opulence and prosperity  allows one ample means and facility to perform very extravagantly the various  prescribed rituals such as astrologically performing activities on the  auspicious days each month such as purnima to obtain the maximum result. Thus  again and again from body to body they are continuously revolving like a  waterwheel. In special situations Indra, the ruler of the demi-gods sometimes  appoints one of them as a gandharva celestial musician or as an aspara celestial  damsel among the demigods for the duration of time their merit warrants.