Without Krishna consciousness as the anchor, even regulated spiritual practices leave the mind perpetually unsettled and agitated.Listen — Srila Prabhupada Uvaca
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 1.5.14 — June 18, 1969, New Vrindavan 690618SB-NEW VRINDAVAN [49:12 Minutes] SB-01.05.14_690618SB-NEW VRINDAVAN Prabhupāda: [chants maṅgalācaraṇa prayers] ...timirāndhasya jñānāñjana-śalākayā cakṣur unmīlitaṁ yena tasmai śrī-gurave-namaḥ [I offer my respectful obeisances unto my spiritual master, who with the torchlight of knowledge has opened my eyes, which were blinded by the darkness of ignorance.] śrī-caitanya-mano-'bhīṣṭaṁ sthāpitaṁ yena bhū-tale svayaṁ rūpaḥ kadā mahyaṁ dadāti sva-padāntikam [When will Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī Prabhupāda, who has established within this material world the mission to fulfill the desire of Lord Caitanya, give me shelter under his lotus feet?] he kṛṣṇa karuṇā-sindho dīna-bandho jagat-pate gopeśa gopikā-kānta rādhā-kānta namo 'stu te [O my dear Kṛṣṇa, ocean of mercy, You are the friend of the distressed and the source of creation. You are the master of the cowherd men and the lover of the gopīs, especially Rādhārāṇī. I offer my respectful obeisances unto You.] tapta-kāñcana-gaurāṅgī rādhe vṛndāvaneśvari vṛṣabhānu-sute devi praṇamāmi hari-priye [I offer my respects to Rādhārāṇī, whose bodily complexion is like molten gold and who is the Queen of Vṛndāvana. You are the daughter of King Vṛṣabhānu, and You are very dear to Lord Kṛṣṇa.] vāñchā-kalpa-tarubhyaś ca kṛpā-sindhubhya eva ca patitānāṁ pāvanebhyo vaiṣṇavebhyo namo namaḥ [I offer my respectful obeisances unto all the Vaiṣṇava devotees of the Lord. They are just like desire trees who can fulfill the desires of everyone, and they are full of compassion for the fallen conditioned souls.] śrī-kṛṣṇa-caitanya prabhu-nityānanda śrī-advaita gadādhara śrīvāsādi-gaura-bhakta-vṛnda [I offer my obeisances to Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya, Prabhu Nityānanda, Śrī Advaita, Gadādhara, Śrīvāsa and all others in the line of devotion.] hare kṛṣṇa hare kṛṣṇa kṛṣṇa kṛṣṇa hare hare hare rāma hare rāma rāma rāma hare hare [My dear Lord, and the spiritual energy of the Lord, kindly engage me in Your service. I am now embarrassed with this material service. Please engage me in Your service.] tato 'nyathā kiñcana yad vivakṣataḥ pṛthag dṛśas tat-kṛta-rūpa-nāmabhiḥ na karhicit kvāpi ca duḥsthitā matir labheta vātāhata-naur ivāspadam [SB 1.5.14] [Whatever you desire to describe that is separate in vision from the Lord simply reacts with different forms and names to agitate the mind, as the wind agitates a boat which has no resting place.] Now we are discussing instruction of Nārada to his disciple, Vyāsadeva. Such a learned scholar, Vyāsadeva.
He's known as Vedavyāsa, the authority on all Vedic literature. And he's supposed to be incarnation of Nārāyaṇa, exalted position. Still, he requires the instruction of a spiritual master. That is the way of Vedic way. Avaroha-panthā, āroha-panthā. Āroha-panthā means inductive process: to know from here, from the lower status to the higher status, speculative method, or ascending process.
And avaroha-panthā is deductive process, getting knowledge from higher authorities. So our Vedic understanding is to receive knowledge from the authorities. That is perfect knowledge. There are three kinds of processes to receive knowledge: pratyakṣa, aitihya and śabda. Pratyakṣa means by direct perception, experimental knowledge.
And aitihya, or anumāna, anumāna, hypothesis, "It may be like this," "Perhaps like this." Just like modern scientists say, "Perhaps it is like this." That is called anumāna, hypothesis. And another process is śabda-pramāṇa, śruti-pramāṇa. Śabda means sound vibration, and śruti means aural reception. So out of three processes, the śabda-pramāṇa, or receiving vibration, sound vibration from authorities by aural reception, that is considered to be the perfect. So Nārada Muni says... Before this, Nārada Muni has advised Vyāsadeva that "In order to release all these conditioned souls, you just describe the wonderful activities of the Supreme Personality of Godhead." Simply by hearing...
Uttama-ślokasya guṇānuvādāt. Uttama-śloka. Uttama-śloka means the Supreme Lord who is described by transcendental literature or very fine, scholarly language. He's called Uttama-śloka.
Uttama-ślokasya urukramasya. "That will save all conditioned souls from being implicated in the clutches of māyā." Now, Vyāsadeva has already described... He has made many purāṇas, eighteen purāṇas. So there is mention of God's activities.
Just like in Mahābhārata he has put this Bhagavad-gītā. So Nārada Muni says that, pṛthag dṛśas tat-kṛta-rūpa-nāmabhiḥ tato 'nyathā kiñcana yad vivakṣataḥ [SB 1.5.14] [Whatever you desire to describe that is separate in vision from the Lord simply reacts with different forms and names to agitate the mind, as the wind agitates a boat which has no resting place.] "If you do not exceptionally, exclusively describe simply the pastimes of the uncommon activities of the Lord, the other way, as you have given as a sidelight, as you have described Bhagavad-gītā, the activities of Kṛṣṇa as a sideline, not..." Actually, the whole Mahābhārata is full of activities of Kṛṣṇa, but Kṛṣṇa is only a scene in the Mahābhārata. He's speaking in the Battlefield of Kurukṣetra. So Nārada Muni says, "That sort of description will not be very much congenial, because the people are not steady. Their anxiety...