Prayers by the Personified Vedas
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passion to the mode of goodness. In the mode of goodness there is sufficient light for understanding things as they are. For example, from earth a tree grows, and from the wood of the tree, fire is ignited. In that igniting process we first of all find the smoke, and the next stage is heat, and then fire. When there is actually fire, we can utilize it for various purposes; therefore, fire is the ultimate goal. Similarly, in the gross material stage of life the quality of ignorance is very much prominent. Dissipation of this ignorance takes place in the gradual progress of civilization from the barbarian stage to civilized life, and when one comes to the form of civilized life, he is said to be in the mode of passion. In the barbarian stage, or in the mode of ignorance, the senses are gratified in a very crude way, whereas in the mode of passion or in the civilized stage of life, the senses are gratified in a polished manner. But when one is promoted to the mode of goodness, one can understand that the senses and the mind are only engaged in material activities due to being covered by perverted consciousness. When this perverted consciousness is gradually transformed into Krṣṇa consciousness, then the path of liberation is opened. So it is not that one is unable to approach the Absolute Truth by the senses and the mind. The conclusion is, rather, that the senses, mind and intelligence in the gross stage of contamination cannot appreciate the nature of the Absolute Truth, but, when purified, the senses, mind and intelligence can understand what the Absolute Truth is. This purifying process is called devotional service, or Krṣṇa consciousness.
In the  Bhagavad-gītā  it is clearly stated that the purpose of Vedic knowledge is to understand Krṣṇa, and Krṣṇa is understood by devotional service, beginning with the process of surrender. As stated in the  Bhagavad-gītā , one has to think of Krṣṇa always. One has to render loving service to Krṣṇa always, and one has to always worship and bow down before Krṣṇa. By this process only can one enter into the kingdom of God without any doubt.
When one is enlightened in the mode of goodness by the process of devotional service, he is freed from the modes of ignorance and passion. The word  ātmane  indicates the stage of brahminical qualification in which one is allowed to study the Vedic literatures known as the  Upaniṣads . The  Upaniṣads  describe in different ways the transcendental qualities of the Supreme Lord. The Absolute Truth, the Supreme Lord, is called  nirguṇa . That does not mean that He has no qualities. It is only because He has qualities that the conditioned living entities can have qualities. The purpose of studying the  Upaniṣads  is to understand the transcendental quality of the Absolute Truth, as opposed to the material qualities of ignorance,