Text 3
śrī-bhagavān uvāca
kālena naṣṭā pralaye
vāṇīyaṁ veda-saṁjñitā
mayādau brahmaṇe proktā
dharmo yasyāṁ mad-ātmakaḥ
śrī-bhagavān uvāca — the Supreme Personality of Godhead said; kālena — by the influence of time; naṣṭā — lost; pralaye — at the time of annihilation; vāṇī — message; iyam — this; veda-saṁjñitā — consisting of the Vedas; mayā — by Me; ādau — at the time of creation; brahmaṇe — unto Lord Brahmā; proktā — spoken; dharmaḥ — religious principles; yasyām — in which; mat-ātmakaḥ — identical with Me.
The Supreme Personality of Godhead said: By the influence of time, the transcendental sound of Vedic knowledge was lost at the time of annihilation. Therefore, when the subsequent creation took place, I spoke the Vedic knowledge to Brahmā because I Myself am the religious principles enunciated in the Vedas.
Lord Kṛṣṇa explains to Uddhava that although many processes and concepts of spiritual realization are described in the Vedas, the Vedas ultimately recommend devotional service to the Supreme Lord. Lord Kṛṣṇa is the reservoir of all pleasure, and His devotees directly enter into the Lord’s hlādinī, or pleasure-giving, potency. Somehow or other one must fix one’s mind in Lord Kṛṣṇa, and that is not possible without devotional service. One who has not developed his attraction to Lord Kṛṣṇa cannot restrain the senses from inferior engagements. Since other Vedic processes do not actually award Lord Kṛṣṇa to the practitioner, they cannot offer the highest benefit in life. The transcendental sound of the Vedas is itself the highest evidence, but one whose senses and mind are entangled in sense gratification and mental speculation, and whose heart is therefore covered by material dust, cannot directly receive the transcendental Vedic message. Thus one cannot appreciate the exalted position of devotional service to the Lord.