Essence of the Vedas

God has manifested countless times inorder to establish the Law of Virtue by precept andpractice. It is obvious that He need not rule us withan iron sceptre. The injunction against sinning (sinceit can only bring misery to the perpetrator) should beenough. Holy edicts also emphasise the need to carryout one's duty as a means to good conduct. Men of highintellect, already in tune with the Supreme Being,embrace a singular way of life wherein their thoughts,words and deeds are focussed entirely on beingvirtuous, qualifying them to act as apostles. The average man, steeped in worldly affairs, can grasphigher things far better when the concepts are explained with the help of parables. Here the Lord'sappearances lend them to edification.

In a discourse, Sri P.M. Vijayaraghava Sastrigal saidthat often misguided people demotivate, hinder orirritate in numerous ways those involved in God'swork. Neither injury nor physical ailment can deter anavowed man of religion. One example was NarayanaBhattathri, who despite being plagued by chronicailment composed the Narayaneeyam. When a destructivepersonality commands a powerful position, God Himselfwill appear to vanquish him so that he may stop beinga source of nuisance to others and also that he mayget cleansed by reaching Him. As always, the missionis to establish virtue. Ironically when the Lordincarnated, those deviating from virtue failed to seeand know Him, as it happened in the case of Sisupalaand Duryodhana. On the other hand, Bheeshma, by virtueof his stellar qualities, was able to attract theSupreme Being's presence even when he was in hisdeathbed.In the Bhagavad Gita, Lord Krishna says: "I too havemany (re)births and you Arjuna do not know whattomorrow brings. So pay heed to what I say."

In all His visitations He has directly discoursed only on two occasions, once to Arjuna and another to Vidhura.Falling back on scriptures, His principal devoteeshave been able to carry His message to people spreadfar and wide. Scriptural texts are one of the toolsused since they highlight the desirable conduct andmeans to attaining salvation. The Bhagavatam is onesuch work where Krishna's sports are extolled and theexemplary lives of Prahlada, Gajendra and otherdevotees are narrated. In effect this work is theessence of the Vedas, which are the basic treessustaining the world. Since the Bhagavatam is thehandiwork of a sage it is even more precious to adevotee.