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THE SCIENCE OF SELF-REALIZATION
process for regaining one's original spiritual status of eternal life, full with bliss and knowledge, is not abstract, dry theorizing. Spiritual life is not described in the  Vedas  as theoretical, dry, or impersonal. The  Vedas  aim at the inculcation of pure love of God only, and this harmonious conclusion is practically realized by the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement, or by chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra.
As the goal of spiritual realization is only one, love of God, so the  Vedas  stand as a single comprehensive whole in the matter of transcendental understanding. Only the incomplete views of various parties apart from the bona fide Vedic lines of teaching give a rupturous appearance to the  Bhagavad-gītā . The reconciliative factor adjusting all apparently diverse propositions of the  Vedas  is the essense of the  Veda , or Kṛṣṇa consciousness (love of God).
Thanking you once again,
Yours sincerely, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami
February 8, 1970
Swami A. C. Bhaktivedanta
Dear Swamiji:
Thank you very much for your kindness in sending me your long and interesting letter of January 30, together with the last issue of  Back to Godhead . So far I have had a few discussions with members of your society here, but they were not entirely satisfactory from my point of view. But now I have your much more authoritative letter, whereby the discussion moves to a higher level.
And yet, I am afraid, you have not convinced me that all the scriptures you quote prescribe only chanting of the name of Kṛṣṇa. Let me refer only to the most important ones.
In the  Bhagavad-gītā  [9.14],  kīrtayantaḥ  need not mean chanting of the name of Kṛṣṇa. It may mean glorifying, chanting, reciting, talking, and refer to songs, hymns, descriptions, or conversations. The commentators take it that way. Śaṅkara in his commentary merely repeats the word, but Ānandagiri in his  vyākhyā  classes  kīrtanam  as  vedānta-śravaṇam praṇavajapaś ca , "listening to the  Vedānta  and muttering  oṁ " (that the  Vedic oṁ  is Kṛṣṇa is said in the  Bhagavad-gītā , where Kṛṣṇa is also identified with