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BG 2.42-44

यामिमां पुष्पितां वाचं प्रवदन्त्यविपश्चितः
वेदवादरताः पार्थ नान्यदस्तीति वादिनः
कामात्मानः स्वर्गपरा जन्मकर्मफलप्रदाम्
क्रियाविशेषबहुलां भोगैश्वर्यगतिं प्रति
भोगैश्वर्यप्रसक्तानां तयापहृतचेतसाम्
व्यवसायात्मिका बुद्धिः समाधौ न विधीयते

yāmimāṃ puṣpitāṃ vācaṃ pravadantyavipaścitaḥ
vedavādaratāḥ pārtha nānyadastīti vādinaḥ
kāmātmānaḥ svargaparā janmakarmaphalapradām
kriyāviśeṣabahulāṃ bhogaiśvaryagatiṃ prati
bhogaiśvaryaprasaktānāṃ tayāpahṛtacetasām
vyavasāyātmikā buddhiḥ samādhau na vidhīyate

TRANSLATION

O! Partha, the unwise, who rejoice in the letter of the Vedas, say, ‘There is nothing else.’ They are full only of worldly desires and they hanker for heaven. They speak flowery words which offer rebirth as the fruit of work. They look upon the Vedas as consisting entirely of varied rites for the attainment of pleasure and power. Those who cling so to pleasure and power are attracted by that speech (offering heavenly rewards) and are unable to develop the resolute will of a concentrated mind.

PURPORT

The ignorant, whose knowledge is little, and who have as their sole aim the attainment of enjoyment and power, speak the flowery language i.e., having its flowers (show) only as fruits, which look apparently beautiful at first sight. They rejoice in the letter of the Vedas i.e., they are attached to heaven and such other results (promised in the Karma-kanda of the Vedas). They say that there is nothing else, owing to their intense attachment to these results. They say that there is no fruit superior to heaven etc. They are full of worldly desires and their minds are highly attached to secular desires. They hanker for heaven, i.e., think of the enjoyment of the felicities of heaven after which one can again have rebirth which offers again the opportunity to perform varied rites devoid of true knowledge and leads towards the attainment of enjoyments and power once again. With regard to those who cling to pleasure and power and whose understanding is contaminated by that flowery speech relating to pleasure and lordly powers, the aforesaid mental disposition characterised by resolution, will not arise in their Samadhi. Samadhi here means the mind. The knowledge of the self will not arise in such minds. In the minds of these persons, there cannot arise the mental disposition that looks on all Vedic rituals as means for liberation based on the determined conviction about the real form of the self. Hence, in an aspirant for liberation, there should be no attachment to rituals out of the conviction that they are meant for the acquisition of objects of desire only.

It may be questioned why the Vedas, which have more of love for Jivas than thousands of parents, and which are endeavouring to save the Jivas, should prescribe in this way rites whose fruits are infinitesimal and which produce only new births. It can also be asked if it is proper to abandon what is given in the Vedas. Shri Krishna replies to these questions.