Introduction 7

Originally there was only one Veda, and there was no ncces-
sity of reading it. People were so intelligent and had such sharp
memories that by once hearing from the lips of the spiritual mas-
ter they would understand. They would immediately grasp the
whole purport. But 5,000 years ago Vyasadeva put the Vedas in
writing for the people in this age, Kali-yuga. He knew that even-
tually the people would be short-lived, their memories would be
very poor and their intelligence would not be very sharp. “There-
fore, let me teach this Vedic knowledge in writing.” He divided
the Vedas into four: Rk, Sama, Atharva, and Yajus. Then he gave
the charge of these Vedas to his different disciples. He then
thought of the less intelligent class of men, stri, sidra and dvija-
bandhu. He considered the woman class and siidra class (worker
class) and dvija-bandhu. Dvija-bandhu refers to those who are
born in a high family but who are not properly qualified. A man
born in the family of a brahmana, who is not qualified as a brah-
mana, is called dvija-bandhu. For these persons, he compiled
Mahabharata, called the history of India, and the cighteen Pu-
ranas. These are all Vedic literatures: the Puranas, the Maha-
bharata, the four Vedas, and the Upanisads. The Upanisads are
part of the Vedas. Then Vyasadeva summarized all Vedic know-
ledge for scholars and philosophers in what is called the Vedanta-
sutra. This is the last word of the Vedas. Vyiisadeva personally
wrote Vedanta-sitra under the instructions of Narada, his Guru
Maharaj, spiritual master, but still he was nol satisfied. That is a
long story, described in the Srimad-Bhagavatam. Vedavyasa was
not very satisfied even after compiling many Puranas, Upanisads,
and even after Vedanta-sitras Then his spiritual master, Narada,
instructed him, “You explain Vedanta.” Vedanta means Ultimate
Knowledge, and the Ultimate Knowledge is Krsna. Krsna says
that throughout all the Vedas one has to understand Krsna.
Vedanta-krd veda-vid eva caham. Krsna says, “I am the Compiler
of Vedanta, and | am the Knower of the Vedas.” Therefore the
Ultimate Objective is Krsna. That is explained in all the Vaisnava
commentarics on Vedanta philosophy. We Gaudiya Vaisnavas
