What is the purpose of the original Vedas and which ones should I read?

Our recommended reading list is as follows:

• Śrī Īśopaniṣad
• Bhagavad-gītā As It Is
• Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam
  
• Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta
• Vedānta-sūtra
  

And you also don't want to miss Nectar of Devotion, Nectar of Instruction, Kṛṣṇa Book and Śrī Viṣṇusahasranāma. All of these books are available from this site.

The original four Vedas are mostly concerned with the sacrifices and other means of attaining heavenly planets (svarga). As confirmed in Bhagavad-gītā 2.45:

traiguṇya-viṣayā vedā
nistraiguṇyo bhavārjuna
nirdvandvo nitya-sattva-stho
niryoga-kṣema ātmavān

"The Vedas mainly deal with the subject of the three modes of material nature. Rise above these modes, O Arjuna. Be transcendental to all of them. Be free from all dualities and from all anxieties for gain and safety, and be established in the self."

The Vedas and Mahābhārata are mainly karma-kaṇḍa, and the Upaniṣads are the jñāna-kaṇḍa; but we are interested in upāsana-kaṇḍa, or the transcendental path of bhakti. Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is the ultimate transcendental literature, because it presents the deep ontological truth of self-realization: the pastimes of Kṛṣṇa.

nigama-kalpa-taror galitaṁ phalaṁ
śuka-mukhād amṛta-drava-saṁyutam
pibata bhāgavataṁ rasam ālayaṁ
muhur aho rasikā bhuvi bhāvukāḥ

"O expert and thoughtful men, relish Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, the mature fruit of the desire tree of Vedic literatures. It emanated from the lips of Śrī Śukadeva Gosvāmī. Therefore this fruit has become even more tasteful, although its nectarean juice was already relishable for all, including liberated souls." [Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 1.1.3]

All the other literatures given above are based on Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, including Śrīla Prabhupāda's commentary on Bhagavad-gītā As It Is. Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is the natural commentary on Vedānta-sūtra by the same author, Śrīla Vyāsadeva, and so it contains everything needed for transcendental realization.

The Esoteric Teachings are the Vedas? right?

The Esoteric Teaching is a particular lineage of the Vedic and Vedantic teachings with a specific, unique siddhanta, or philosophical conclusion. It is also a living Esoteric School, so it is much more than books. We have found that the English translations of Vedic works not made by disciples of the Esoteric Teaching are basically useless for attaining complete self-realization, because their ontology and epistemology do not agree with the original sources of the Vedas.

I am not just throwing around big words; the philosophical and interpretation issues are critical in determining the effect of the books on peoples' consciousness. Yes, it is subtle, and most folks cannot tell the difference just by reading. But the difference is there in the effect.

So we could say that the Esoteric Teaching involves studying Vedic works translated by disciples of a particular lineage under the direction of a self-realized soul of the same lineage. The issue here is error correction. How can one correct errors in reception or interpretation of the transcendental message of the Vedas without access to a self-realized Master Teacher?

That said, the Esoteric Teaching is also a particular state of consciousness, which by great good fortune I am experiencing directly. So if I say, the texts of the Esoteric Teaching are the translations and commentaries on Bhagavad-gita, Srimad-Bhagavatam, Caitanya-caritamrta and other books by my guru, that is only part of the story.

The other disciples of my guru also studied these same books, yet they did not attain what I attained. Somehow they did not understand, but thought they did, and proceeded as if they did. These same people are now gurus themselves, and this caused a tremendous disaster in the spiritual lives of so many people. I am determined not to allow this to happen in my mission. Therefore I am very hesitant to expose the original texts of the Esoteric Teaching to people who are not yet properly prepared.

That's why I have structured the suggested reading and University courses in the way I have. If students read more advanced texts prematurely they will misunderstand them, and the end result will be worse than nothing.

It gets worse. My Godbrothers have deliberately and covertly changed the writings of our guru to reflect their own misunderstandings. So if I tell you to go buy such-and-such titles from so-and-so publisher, you will be getting tainted goods. That would only add to the confusion.

Fortunately, I have all the original manuscripts in my possession. You can read them here. This is such an important issue; it is the very reason I have decided to start my own separate mission rather than continue in my guru's organization.

Do the four Vedic lineages prescribe what spiritual practices should be done by individuals for each of the three modes? Could you give examples? Or is it that one mode is covered by one lineage? I am unclear about this.

The four authorized Vedic lineages are Vaisnava lineages. All of them teach and practice worship of Visnu in His different forms and expansions. Visnu worship is for transcendentalists and people in the mode of goodness. There are other lineages for people in the modes of passion and ignorance, but they are not strictly Vedic.

Men in the mode of goodness worship the devas; those in the mode of passion worship the demons; and those in the mode of ignorance worship ghosts and spirits. [Bg. 17.4]

The sattvikas worship Visnu and the demigods according to Vedic principles; the rajasikas worship powerful human beings and demons for mystic powers and material benefits; the tamasikas worship disembodied entities, knowing not that they are paving their path to hell.

Generally, those who want to go to the spiritual world are in goodness; those who want some material benefit are in passion; and those who are simply stupid and foolish are in ignorance. Passionate and ignorant people do not like to follow any good instruction, so they find compatible modes of worship bytheir own endeavor. There are so-called lineages of these teachings, but they are rife with speculation, misunderstanding and error.

Could you elaborate a little more about the other 3 lineages: the Rudra, Laksmi and Kumara sampradayas?

There are four Vaisnava sampradayas (systems) of disciplic succession. One sampradaya comes from Lord Brahma (Brahma-sampradaya), one from the goddess of fortune Laksmi (Laksmi-sampradaya), one from the Kumaras, headed by Sanat-kumara (Kumara-sampradaya), and one from Lord Siva (Rudra-sampradaya). These four systems of disciplic succession are still going on. Anyone who is serious about receiving transcendental Vedic knowledge must accept a guru, or spiritual master, in one of these four disciplic successions.

Unless one accepts a Visnu mantra from one of these sampradayas, the bogus mantra will not act. Many sampradayas have sprung up without authority, and they are misleading the people by giving unauthorized mantras. The rascals of these so-called sampradayas do not observe the Vedic rules and regulations. Although they are addicted to all kinds of sinful activities, they still offer the people mantras and thus mislead them. Intelligent persons, however, know that such mantras will never be successful, and as such they never patronize such upstart spiritual groups.

People should be very careful of these nonsensical sampradayas. To get some facility for sense gratification, unfortunate people in this age receive mantras from these bogus lineages. A Vaisnava should study the commentaries on the Vedanta-sutra written by the four sampradaya-acaryas, namely Sri Ramanujacarya, Madhvacarya, Visnu Svami and Nimbarka, for these commentaries are based upon the philosophy that the Lord is the master and that all living entities are His eternal servants.

One interested in studying Vedanta philosophy properly must study these commentaries, especially if he is a Vaisnava. These commentaries are always adored by Vaisnavas. The best commentary on Vedanta is the Esoteric Teaching, because it was written by the author of Vedanta, Srila Vyasadeva Himself. The Mayavada commentary Sariraka-bhasya by Sankara is like poison for a Vaisnava. It should not be touched at all.

Why is only one of the four lineages available to Westerners?

Only the Brahma-sampradaya has translated the core Vedic texts into English. If you want to learn Hindi or Gujjarati and live in India, you can approach one of the other Vaisnava lineages, but why go to all that trouble?

What is the disciplic succession or parampara of the Brahma sampradaya lineage?

evaṁ paramparā-prāptam imaṁ rājarṣayo viduḥ (Bhagavad-gita 4.2). This Esoteric Teaching is received through the disciplic succession:

Is there a special purpose to this lineage?

The Esoteric Teaching comes down through all four lineages, but the Brahma-sampradaya coming from Lord Caitanya specifically spreads the complete original Esoteric Teaching all over the world. My spiritual master was the first to establish an international society dedicated to this Teaching since the days of the Vedic Empire, 5000 years ago. So there is a very special historical purpose and meaning to this lineage.

How was this lineage maintained when the invading westerners came and distorted knowledge of Vedas?

It went underground, into hiding.

I am unclear as to how the parampara became broken.

Due to the destructive influence of time. In the material world, everything decays and eventually disappears.

This supreme science was thus received through the chain of disciplic succession, and the saintly kings understood it in that way. But in course of time the succession was broken, and therefore the science as it is appears to be lost. [Bg. 4.2]

Just like the message passed down the line in a game of 'telephone,' over time the message of the Esoteric Teaching becomes scrambled. Therefore the Lord comes periodically to renew it:

Whenever and wherever there is a decline in religious practice, O descendant of Bharata, and a predominant rise of irreligion—at that time I descend Myself. [Bg. 4.7]

So the Lord appeared just 500 years ago as Caitanya Mahaprabhu, just to re-establish and spread this Esoteric Teaching all over the world.

Could you explain the "check sum" system? I do not know this term although I could assume a working knowledge from what you said. Better you say then I assume?

See Wikipedia for an good definition of checksum as used in computer software and networking. In the Sanskrit Vedic literature, each sloka or verse has a specific number of long and short syllables according to the specific poetic meter of the composition. An error in the sum of padas or poetic feet would indicate that the original sloka had been altered, usually by a copying error. Until the printing press arrived in India, all Vedic scriptures were copied by hand on palm leaf pages by students who often could not read Sanskrit, and had no idea what they were copying. So the checksum system was a good way to prevent modifications, accidental or otherwise.

Do Master Teachers of the Esoteric Teaching come only from the Brahma sampradaya lineage? Does each teacher have the same task?

Master Teachers come from all the lineages. Each teacher's task is specific to that individual and the necessity of the time. For example, my Master Teacher had the historically significant task of spreading the Teaching all over the world. Ours is taking that same Teaching out of the Vedic monasteries and temples, and spreading it broadly among the population.

Could you Elaborate more on the various branches of Vedic Literature?

 I could write a big thick book on that subject. The Vedic literature was compiled under the direction of Vyasadeva, and he personally wrote the more prominent ones, like Mahabharata and Vedanta-sutra.

What is important is that the Esoteric Teaching is the summary, and the summit, of all the Vedic literatures. All the Vedic literatures are summarized, and the final conclusion presented, in Vedanta-sutra. Vyasadeva personally wrote the Vedanta-sutra under the instructions of Narada, his spiritual master, but still he was not satisfied. That is a long story, described in the Esoteric Teaching.

Vedavyasa was not very satisfied even after compiling many Puranas and Upanisads, and even after writing the Vedanta-sutra. Then his spiritual master, Narada, instructed him, “You explain the Vedanta-sutra.” Vedanta means 'ultimate knowledge,' and the ultimate knowledge is Vasudeva or Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa says that throughout all the Vedas one has to understand Him: vedānta-kṛd veda-vid eva cāham [Bg. 15.15]: “I am the compiler of the Vedanta-sutra, and I am the Knower of the Vedas.”

Therefore the ultimate objective of all the Vedic literature and Vedanta is Kṛṣṇa. That is explained in all the authorized commentaries on Vedanta philosophy. There are many Vedanta commentaries, but people are under the wrong impression that Sankaracarya’s unauthorized commentary is the only one. In the Brahma-sampradaya we have our commentary on Vedanta philosophy, which is the Govinda-bhasya by Baladeva Vidyäbhüsana. Similarly, Ramanujacarya of the Sri-sampradaya wrote a commentary, and Madhvacarya of the Rudra-sampradaya and Visnusvami of the Kumara-sampradaya also wrote one. The unauthorized version of Sankaracarya is not the only commentary on Vedanta.

Then there is the Esoteric Teaching written by Vedavyasa. Vyasadeva himself wrote the perfect Vedanta commentary, the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. The Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam begins with the first aphorism of the Vedanta-sutra: janmādy asya yataḥ [S.B. 1.1.1 & Vs. 1.1.2]: “The Absolute Truth is that from whom everything emanates.” That aphorism janmādy asya yataḥ is fully explained in the Teaching. The Vedanta-sutra simply hints at what is Brahman, the Absolute Truth, but it is explained in detail in the Esoteric Teaching.

If everything is emanating from the Absolute Truth, then what is the nature of the Absolute Truth? That is explained in the Esoteric Teaching. The Absolute Truth must be consciousness. So our philosophy is ultimately the philosophy of consciousness. No one can really understand consciousness unless they study the Esoteric Teaching.

Kṛṣṇa is Self-effulgent, or Self-enlightened (sva-rat). We develop our consciousness and knowledge by receiving knowledge from others, but for Him it is said that He is Self-effulgent. So if He explains the Vedanta in His incarnation of Vedavyasa, then who can surpass that?

The whole summary of Vedic knowledge is the Vedanta-sutra, and the Vedanta-sutra is explained by the writer himself in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. What need is there of any other Vedic literature or commentary? Anyone who is actually after Vedic knowledge can understand the explanation of all Vedic knowledge from Bhagavad-gita and the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.

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