Gita 2.43

Sadhak: "Guru, Krishna seems to be criticizing Vedic rituals here. But aren't the Vedas sacred scripture? How can he speak against them?"

Guru: "Look more carefully. Krishna is not criticizing the Vedas themselves but a particular way of approaching them—the approach of those whose minds are full of desires. The same scripture can be read with different eyes. One person reads for power; another reads for liberation. The fault is not in the text but in the reader's orientation."

Sadhak: "But the Vedas do contain rituals for obtaining wealth, heaven, progeny. Krishna seems to be saying these are problematic."

Guru: "They are problematic when they become the goal rather than a stage. The Vedas are like a ladder with many rungs. The ritualistic section (karma-kāṇḍa) addresses those still attached to worldly aims—it refines their desires through sacred channels rather than leaving them to pursue desires through adharmic means. But the ladder exists to be climbed, not to be worshipped. The higher sections (jñāna-kāṇḍa) point beyond desire altogether."

Sadhak: "What does it mean that these rituals lead to "rebirth as the fruit of actions"?"

Guru: "Every action motivated by desire creates karma. Positive karma brings positive results—including heavenly enjoyments. But heavenly enjoyments are temporary; when the merit is exhausted, you return to mortal birth to work out remaining karma and accumulate more. The ritualist who seeks heaven gets heaven—and then loses it. This is the great cosmic irony: you get exactly what you wanted, but what you wanted was not what you needed."

Sadhak: "So heaven is not the goal? I thought religious people were supposed to seek heaven."

Guru: "Heaven is a better place than earth, certainly—more pleasure, less suffering, refined experiences. But it is still within samsara, still subject to time, still temporary. The soul in heaven has not transcended the wheel of birth and death; it has merely reached a higher spoke on the wheel. When the wheel turns, as it must, the soul falls again. Liberation (moksha) is getting off the wheel entirely, not finding a more comfortable position on it."

Sadhak: "Krishna mentions "enjoyment and power" (bhoga-aiśvarya) as what these ritualists seek. What's wrong with enjoyment and power?"

Guru: "Nothing, in their proper place. Life includes enjoyment; effective action requires a kind of power. The problem is making them the ultimate goal. When enjoyment becomes the purpose of existence, you become a slave to pleasure—always seeking, never satisfied. When power becomes the purpose, you become a slave to control—always grasping, always threatened. The wise enjoy what comes without chasing it; they use power for dharma without being possessed by it."

Sadhak: "These ritualists seem very religious—performing elaborate ceremonies. How can religious people be on the wrong path?"

Guru: "Religion is a means, not an end. You can perform religion for liberation or for acquisition; both are religious, but only one leads to freedom. The person performing rituals to get heavenly pleasures is essentially bargaining with the universe—"I do this, you give me that." The transaction may be sacred in form but is commercial in essence. True spirituality transcends bargaining; it seeks union, not transaction."

Sadhak: "How do I know if my own spiritual practices have become "desire-souled"?"

Guru: "Ask yourself: What am I seeking through this practice? If the answer is any form of acquisition—peace, power, heaven, recognition, even "spiritual experiences"—there is desire at the root. The practice is still valuable but has not yet reached its deepest potential. True spiritual practice eventually becomes its own reward—not because it gives something but because in it, the seeker dissolves into the sought. When you meditate not for peace but as an expression of what you already are, you have moved beyond kāmātmānaḥ."