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Rāja-vidyā: The King of Knowledge
In  Bhagavad-gītā , for example, we see that Arjuna is listening to Kṛṣṇa on the battlefield. He is not engaged in the study of  Vedānta  philosophy. We can hear from the Supreme Authority in any place, even in the battlefield. The knowledge is received, not manufactured. Some people think, “Why should I listen to Him? I can think for myself. I can manufacture something new.” This is not the Vedic process of descending knowledge. By ascending knowledge, one tries to elevate himself by his own effort, but by descending knowledge one receives the knowledge from a superior source. In the Vedic tradition, knowledge is imparted to the student from the spiritual master, as in  Bhagavad-gītā  ( evaṁ paramparā-prāptam imaṁ rājarṣayo viduḥ ). Submissive hearing is so powerful that simply by hearing from authoritative sources we can become completely perfect. In becoming submissive, we become aware of our own imperfections. As long as we are conditioned, we are subject to four kinds of imperfections: we are sure to commit mistakes, to become illusioned, to have imperfect senses and to cheat. Therefore our attempt to understand the Absolute Truth by our faulty senses and experience is futile. We must hear from a representative of Kṛṣṇa who is a devotee of Kṛṣṇa’s. Kṛṣṇa made Arjuna His representative because Arjuna was His devotee:  bhakto ’si me sakhā ceti . (Bg. 4.3)
No one can become a representative of God without being a devotee of God’s. One who thinks, “I am God,” cannot be a representative. Because we are part and parcel of God, our qualities are the same as