Elevation to Krsna Consciousness - Original 1973 ... - Prabhupada

Choosing Human and Animal Lives 3which are conditioned in so many ways. If we areto have knowledge, it must come from a superiorsource which is not conditioned by these four imperfections.That source is KrQ.a. He is the supremeauthority of Bhagavad-g"ita, and He is accepted as theperfect authority by so many saints and sages.Those who are serious students of Vedic literatureaccept authority. Bhagavad-g"ita, for example, is nota scholarly presentation which arose out of so muchresearch work. It is perfect knowledge that wastaught by Lord KrQ.a to Arjuna on the battlefieldof Kuruketra, and we receive information from itthat in previous ages Sri Krqa also taught it to thesun-god Vivasvan, and it was handed down from timeimmemorial from V ivasvan by disciplic succession.imam vivasvate yogamproktavan aham avyayamvivasvan manave prahamanur ikvakave 'brav"it"The Blessed Lord said: I instructed this imperishablescience of yoga to the sun-god Vivasvan, and Vivasvaninstructed it to Manu, the father of mankind, andManu in turn instructed it to Ikvaku." (Bg. 4.1)If we study Bhagavad-g"ita according to academicknowledge or according to our own mental speculation,we are certain to commit mistakes. It is notpossible to understand Bhagavad-g"ita in this way. Itis necessary to follow carefully in the footsteps ofArjuna. In previous ages, due to interpretation andmental speculation, the real purport of Bhagavad-g"ita