Gita 2.46

Sadhak: "Guru, this verse seems to suggest that the Vedas become useless for a realized person. Isn't that disrespectful to scripture?"

Guru: "Does a ladder become useless when you have climbed to the roof? You simply don't need it anymore. The Vedas are like a ladder—essential for climbing, irrelevant once you've arrived. The realized one doesn't burn the ladder or condemn it; they simply don't need to keep climbing what they've already transcended."

Sadhak: "But what exactly does the 'water flooding everywhere' represent? What is this infinite that makes the finite unnecessary?"

Guru: "The water is Self-knowledge—direct experience of Brahman. The Vedas give you recipes for acquiring merit, techniques for reaching heaven, methods for achieving specific outcomes. But when you realize your true nature as the infinite Self, what specific outcome would you seek? What heaven would you desire when you are already the substratum of all heavens? The infinite floods the finite and fulfills it."

Sadhak: "So someone who hasn't realized the Self should still follow the Vedic rituals?"

Guru: "Yes and no. The rituals serve a purpose—they purify the mind, create discipline, generate merit. But even while performing them, one should know they are means, not ends. The danger is getting trapped in ritualism—performing ceremonies for their own sake, seeking heavenly rewards without asking the deeper question: who am I who seeks these rewards? Krishna is not forbidding ritual; he is warning against spiritual materialism that mistakes the well for the ocean."

Sadhak: "Why does Krishna use the term 'brāhmaṇa' here? Isn't this teaching for all people?"

Guru: "The term here means 'one who knows Brahman,' not a caste designation. A brāhmaṇa is anyone who has realized the ultimate reality—whether born in a brahmin family or otherwise. Krishna himself will later say that he accepts all beings equally. The teaching is universal; the term is being reclaimed for its deeper meaning: not birth but realization defines the knower of Brahman."

Sadhak: "Is this verse saying that action itself becomes unnecessary for the realized soul?"

Guru: "No—and this is crucial. What becomes unnecessary is action motivated by desire for results. The realized soul continues to act, but like the sun shining or water flowing—naturally, without agenda. The next verses will make this explicit. This verse clears the ground by showing that ritualistic action-for-reward is transcended; the following verses reveal action-without-reward as the new paradigm."

Sadhak: "I notice Krishna is speaking to Arjuna, a kshatriya warrior, about brahmins and Vedic knowledge. Why?"

Guru: "Because Arjuna's dilemma is not just about fighting—it is about the entire framework of karma and its fruits. The kshatriya culture also had its rituals, its beliefs about merit and sin. Krishna is addressing Arjuna's whole worldview: you think if you don't fight, you avoid sin; if you fight, you incur karma. I am showing you a way beyond this whole accounting system. Transcend not just the specific action but the whole framework of action-fruit thinking."

Sadhak: "This seems to undermine the motivation for doing anything. If the Vedic rewards don't matter, why act at all?"

Guru: "This is exactly the question Krishna wants you to ask! The answer comes in the next two verses, which are among the most famous in the Gita. Having dissolved the old motivation—action for reward—Krishna will now reveal the new motivation: action as offering, action as yoga, action as the very expression of realized consciousness. Stay attentive."