In the Gita, Lord Krishna has said, “Vedas are not outside the three gunas (attributes of the non-self; the prakruti). The Vedas verily illuminate the three gunas.” It was after meeting Lord Neminath that Lord Krishna spoke the Gita. Prior to that He was a Vedanti; one who follows the Vedas.  In the Gita, He said, “Traigunya vishayo vedo nistraiyai gunyo Bhavarjuna.” He made this great statement. He said that in order to know the Self, one will have to go beyond, the Vedanta. He said, “Hey, Arjuna! Go beyond the holder of the three gunas (trigunatmak i.e. the prakruti) to know the Self.” What are these three gunas? They are sattva (goodness, relative awareness), rajas (passion, desires) and tamas (darkness, relative unawareness, lethargy). The Vedas support the science of the three gunas; therefore your work will be done only if you go beyond them. Besides, each of these three gunas exist as duality and therefore go beyond the three gunas and understand the Self that is beyond all dualities. Lord Krishna has said for one to go beyond the three gunas in order to realize the Atma but people do not understand this. What do all the four Vedas themselves say, in their conclusion?  They say, “Ne iti…Ne iti… This is not that…this is not that…” The Self that you are looking for is not in this; therefore if you want to know the Atma, go to an Avatar.” Lord Krishna has said, “God has not created this world; it has come about naturally (swabhavik).”

Scriptures of Veda are vehicles to the Self

One man tells me, “I have studied all the four Vedas.  All the four Vedas are on the tip of my tongue through my intense study.” So I told him, “What do the four Vedas themselves say?”  They say, “This is not that. The Atma you are looking for cannot be contained within these Vedas.  It is not in the Vedas; therefore you should go to a Gnani.” I am saying, “Come to me and I can show you ‘this is that’ within an hour.” Vedas show you the path where you will find what you are looking for, however you cannot find it in the directions it gives.  You need a Gnani Purush for that.  You cannot write your own medicine without consulting a doctor first because there is fear that you may die, and yet where there is a danger of destruction of countless lives to come, you make your own spiritual medicines and take it without even consulting a Gnani. Scriptures are weapons; if you don’t know how to use them, you will die for sure.

Where do the principles of Jainism and Vedanta meet? They meet at the doorstep of Atmagnan (the knowledge of the Soul). Their views differ up to the point of Atmagnan but thereafter they both agree and become one.