One who understands this perfectly . . . one has to understand. It is not that you blindly follow something. One has to understand. So Kṛṣṇa says: "One who has understood that I am the origin of everything . . ." Budhā. Budhā means one who is learned. Bhāva-samanvitāḥ. Bhāva-samanvitāḥ means "with thoughts." Not that whimsically or sentimentally to accept something, but with thought. "With thoughtful attitude or mood, one who has understood this fact," budhā bhāva-samanvitāḥ, "he worships Me." These things are there.
So Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya, he was a great logician. He was unfaithful. Not . . . he was moralist, but he had no faith in God, or impersonalist. There are many persons who have faith in something superior or absolute, but they do not believe in the personal nature of God. But here, from the Bhagavad-gītā, we can clearly understand, from Bhāgavata we can clearly understand, from Vedānta philosophy we clearly understand that God is person, a person like you and me.
Take, for example, in the Vedānta-sūtra, the first aphorism is janmādy asya yataḥ (SB 1.1.1). The first sūtra is athāto brahma jijñāsā: "Now you have to understand what is Brahman, or what is the Absolute Truth." The next aphorism is, immediately, that "The Absolute Truth is that from whom everything emanates, the original source of all emanation." Janmādy asya yataḥ. Janma. Janma means birth. Adi means etcetera. But janma, where there is birth, there is death and there is existence. Whenever there is birth, you must know there is death also. There is not a single instance you have got experience where birth is possible and death is not possible.
This material world is going on in that way: birth, then existence, then development, then by-product, then dwindling, then vanishing. Six changes, everything. Either take your this body or a fruit or a flower, anything material you take, these six changes are there. First of all birth, then growth, then existence, then by-product, then dwindling, then vanishing. Six changes. Everything. Either take your this body or a fruit or a flower, anything material you take, these six changes are there: first of all birth, then growth, then existence, then by-product, then dwindling and then vanishing.
So Vedānta-sūtra says, janmādy asya yataḥ. The original source of birth, the source of maintenance, the source of growth, the source of development and the source of dwindling, and after all, vanishing, or the conservation of the vanishing elements, everything is the Supreme Brahman.
So this janmādy asya śloka has been interpreted in various ways, but the most important commentator is Vyāsadeva. He's the original writer of Vedānta-sūtras. Not only he's the writer of Vedānta-sūtra, he's the writer of all Vedic literature. Vedic literature means four Vedas: Sāma, Atharva, Yajur and Ṛk. And from the Vedas, there are Upaniṣads.
There are 108 Upaniṣads. And there are Purāṇas. Purāṇas means those who will not understand the Vedic aphorism and the Upaniṣads, statement of the Upaniṣads, for them, for ordinary men, there are many stories. The stories are concluded with the Vedānta-sūtra.
Then there is Mahābhārata. You have heard all these names. Mahābhārata, the history, history of Indian royalty. The Mahābhārata is the history of fighting between two groups of royal family, the Pāṇḍavas and the Kurus. And in that Mahābhārata you'll find all kinds of sociology, politics, religion and military science.
Everything is complete there. And in that Mahābhārata is put this Bhagavad-gītā. The Bhagavad-gītā is only a portion of the Mahābhārata. This was also written by Vyāsadeva. But at last, he was not satisfied. Or even after writing so many big literatures, he was not satisfied.
So one day he was sitting very morose, and in the same time, his spiritual master, Nārada, came to see him. Because Nārada is not an ordinary spiritual master. He could understand that "My disciple is sitting morose. So I must go there and give him some encouragement, because he's a great personality. He is giving human society so many nice things, but he's not very happy in his mood. So I shall go and give him some encouragement."
So I am reading from the Bhāgavata this, I mean to say, introduction, how Bhāgavata was compiled by Vyāsadeva. I am reading that chapter. This is the First Canto, Fifth Chapter. So when his spiritual master, Nārada, came . . . it is the custom of disciple to receive him, and to give him nice seat and offer obeisances, and then talk on different subject matters. So when Nārada came, Vyāsadeva offered him good seat, and . . . comfortable seat, and offered his obeisances. Then Nārada is preaching to him. He saw his disciple Vyāsadeva very much morose. So he's asking:
- pārāśarya mahā-bhāga
- bhavataḥ kaccid ātmanā
- parituṣyati śārīra
- ātmā mānasa eva vā
- (SB 1.5.2)
"My dear Vyāsadeva, I see that you are not very happy. But I am asking you question, whether a person becomes ever-happy who has accepted this body as self or the mind as self?"
There are two classes of men in the material world—I mean to say intelligent class. I am not speaking of the ordinary class of men. Those who are interested in knowledge, in higher thoughts, in philosophy, in religion, ethics, morality . . . so many things there are. In science, in literature . . . so Vyāsadeva is everything in one person. And he has written so many books, as I have described.
Now Nārada is asking him, "My dear Pārāśarya . . ." Pārāśarya means Vyāsadeva was the son of Parāśara. His father's name was Parāśara, therefore he's addressing him, pārāśarya mahā-bhāga. Mahā-bhāga: "You are very fortunate. You have got the opportunity of doing the best service to the humanity by presenting such important literature. Therefore you are mahā-bhāga."
(break) the human society is not ordinary task. And it is not possible for any ordinary man. All great men or great, I mean to say, personality who has appeared on this earth and rendered great service to the humanity, they are still remembered. Just like in your country, President Washington, he rendered very valuable service to your country.
He's still remembered. Recently, President Kennedy. He's still remembered. Similarly, those persons who have dedicated their life for the welfare of the human society, they are not ordinary men. Therefore he is addressed as mahā-bhāga, the most fortunate personality, because he dedicated his life for the good of the humanity.