Text 36 |
Answers by Citing the Lord's Version
521
etāvat —up to this;  eva —certainly;  jijñāsyam —is to be required;  tattva —Absolute Truth;  jijñāsunā —the student;  ātmanaḥ —of the Self;  anvaya —directly;  vyatirekābhyām —indirectly;  yat —whatever;  syāt —it may be;  sarvatra —in all space and time;  sarvadā —in all circumstances.
TRANSLATION
A person who is searching after the Supreme Absolute Truth, the Personality of Godhead, has to search it out up to this, certainly in all circumstances, and in all space and time, and both directly and indirectly.
PURPORT
To unfold the mystery of  bhakti-yoga , as it is explained in the previous verse, is the ultimate stage of all inquiries or the highest objective for the inquisitive. Everyone is searching after self-realization in different ways, namely by  karma-yoga , by  jñāna-yoga , by  dhyāna-yoga , by  rāja-yoga , or by  bhakti-yoga , etc. To engage in self-realization is the responsibility of every living entity developed in consciousness. One who is developed in consciousness certainly makes enquiries into the mystery of the self, of the cosmic situation and of the problems of life, in all spheres and fields, namely social, political, economic, cultural, religious, moral, etc., and in their different branches. But here is explained the goal of all such inquiries.
The  Vedānta-sūtra  philosophy begins with this inquiry of life and the  Bhāgavatam  answers such inquiries up to this point, or the mystery of all inquiries. Lord Brahmā wanted to be perfectly educated by the Personality of Godhead, and here is the answer by the Lord finished in four nutshell verses, namely beginning from  aham eva  to this verse,  etāvad eva . This is the end of all self-realization processes. Men do not know that the ultimate goal of life is  Viṣṇu  or the Supreme Personality of Godhead due to being bewildered by the glaring reflection in the darkness, and as such everyone is entering into the darkest region of material existence, driven by the uncontrolled senses. The whole material existence has sprung up by sense gratification, desires based principally on the sex desire, and the result is that in spite of all advancement of knowledge, the final goal of all activities of the living entities is sense gratification. But here is the real goal of life, and everyone should know it by inquiries put before a bona fide spiritual master expert in the science of  bhakti-yoga , or from a living personality of  Bhāgavatam  life. Everyone is engaged in various kinds of scriptural in-