On one hand, the Vedas say,
रसो वै सः। रसं ह्येवायं लब्ध्वानन्दी भवति।
Raso vai sah. Rasam hyevāyam labdhvānandi bhavati- Taittiriya Upanishad
“Shri Krishna is ras, only by attaining Him can you become perfectly happy.” And on the other hand, the same Ved is saying:
यस्यामतं तस्य मतं मतं यस्य न वेद सः । अविज्ञातं विजानतां विज्ञातमविजानताम् ॥ ३॥Yasyāmataṃ tasya mataṃ mataṃ yasya na ved saḥ. Avigyātaṃ vijānatāṃ vigyātamavijānatām.
- Kena Upanishad: 2.3
“God is unattainable. Those who think they can know God, they know nothing. Those who know that they cannot reach God, they understand the truth.” So, ham log nirash ho gaye phir (So, we were disappointed again)? No, there is another way.
नायमात्मा प्रवचनेन लभ्यो न मेधया न बहुना श्रुतेन । यमेवैष वृणुते तेन लभ्यः तस्यैष आत्मा विवृणुते तनू स्वाम् ॥ २३॥
Nāyamātmā pravachanen labhyo na medhayā na bahunā śhruten. Yamevaiṣh vṛiṇute ten labhyaḥ tasyaiṣh ātmā vivṛiṇute tanūg shvām.- Kathopanishad – Part 1:2.23
Kathopanishad says, “No, it's true, you can't reach God on your own.” You can try to study, and by studying Vedas, I'll know Krishna. No, you'll fail. You'll try to listen to lots of pravachans (discourses), and by listening to pravachans, you'll know Krishna. No. You can debate, do shastrarth (intellectual debate). No.
Then how can you know Him? So, the answer given by Kathopanishad is ‘vivṛiṇute’. Sri Krishna makes you know Him.
राम कृपा बिनु सुनु खगराई। जानि न जाइ राम प्रभुताई।।
Ram kripa binu sunu khagarã-ĩ. Jāni na jai Ram prabhuta-ĩ.- Ramayan
“With His grace, we can know Him, and without His grace, nobody can know Him. Nobody can understand Him.”
सोइ जानइ जेहि देहु जनाई।
Soi jaani jehi dehu janā-i.
The one whom He makes to know Him, giving Him Divine power, that person can know Him.
ददामि बुद्धियोगं तं येन मामुपयान्ति ते || 10||
Dadāmi buddhi-yogaṁ taṁ yen mm upayānti te.- Gita: 10.10
Sri Krishna says, “When I give you a divine intellect, then you can know Me, then you can experience Me.”
So, how does He give it?
parāsya śhaktir vividhaiva śhrūyate
Bhagwan has unlimited powers, according to Veda. And one of those powers is His kripa-shakti, His power of grace. So, even though Brahm is beyond everyone, that is the very definition of Brahm. Beyond everyone, unlimited, infinite, no one can reach Him. The other definition of Brahm is, (from Vedas) that which is beyond, He who is beyond everyone, but who can still make others reach His level, through His grace. He can make others like Him.
Whatever amount of bliss Shri Krishna has, with His grace a soul can experience the same amount of bliss. Whatever knowledge Shri Krishna has, the soul can get the same knowledge. Amazing! From being under the bondage of maya since eternity, with an infinite pile of sins on our head from infinite past lifetimes, from being like that, we can become as blissful and as knowledgeable as Shri Krishna. Yes, that's His grace. Amazing! We can't even imagine turning us from that, into that.
We've been in this state since eternity, but simply by getting Shri Krishna's grace, we can become Divinely blissful forever. Yes, that is His greatness.
