SRIMAD BHAGAVATAM CANTO 1 CHAPTER 2 TEXT 28-29 Lord Sri Krishna, or Vasudeva, Is All in All

Text 28-29 vāsudeva-parā vedā vāsudeva-parā makhāḥ vāsudeva-parā yogā vāsudeva-parāḥ kriyāḥ vāsudeva-paraṁ jñānaṁ vāsudeva-paraṁ tapaḥ vāsudeva-paro dharmo vāsudeva-parā gatiḥ In the revealed scriptures, the ultimate object of knowledge is Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the Personality of Godhead. The purpose of performing sacrifice is to please Him. Yoga is for realizing Him. All fruitive activities are ultimately rewarded by Him only. He is supreme knowledge, and all severe austerities are performed to know Him. Religion [dharma] is rendering loving service unto Him. He is the supreme goal of life.

Sum & Substance of the Vedas Vedic literatures objective is to establish one's relationship with Vasudeva & to revive our lost loving service unto Him. The ultimate purpose of the Vedas is to know Him only (BG 15.15) All the revealed scriptures are prepared by the Lord through His incarnation in the body of Śrīla Vyāsadeva just to remind the fallen souls, conditioned by material nature. Impersonalists who have no information of the Personality of Godhead and they get freedom from material bondage only with great difficulty. All sacrifices are meant for realizing the truth about Vāsudeva. (BG 3.9)

Yoga means to reunite with Supreme Lord Several bodily features such as āsana, dhyāna, prāṇāyāma and meditation, and all of them are meant for concentrating upon the localized aspect of Vāsudeva represented as Paramātmā. Paramātmā realization is but partial realization of Vāsudeva, and if one is successful in that attempt, one realizes Vāsudeva in full. But by ill luck most yogīs are stranded by the powers of mysticism achieved through the bodily process. They are given next birth in a Brahmana or in rich merchants family to execute unfinished tasks towards realizing Vasudeva. Unfortunately, such preferred persons are captivated again by material wealth and honor, and thus they practically forget the aim of life.

Spiritual & Material Knowledge Culture of knowledge leading one to the transcendental plane of meeting Vāsudeva is real knowledge. Physical knowledge in its various branches is condemned in the Bhagavad-gītā as ajñāna, or the opposite of real knowledge. Its aim is to satisfy the senses, which means prolongation of the term of material existence and thereby continuance of the threefold miseries.

Purpose of austerities Tapasya or the voluntary acceptance of bodily pains, should not be performed for sense gratification. E.g. Ravana, Hiranyakashipu, modern day politicians. One should accept voluntary bodily inconvenience for the sake of knowing Vāsudeva because that is the way of real austerities. E.g. Vasudeva and Devaki to get Krishna as their son. Otherwise all forms of austerities are classified as modes of passion and ignorance. Passion and ignorance cannot end the miseries of life. Only the mode of goodness can mitigate the threefold miseries of life. Therefore, all culture of knowledge, austerities, sacrifice and activities should be aimed at changing the quality of the influence that is acting upon us. Ultimately to realize Vāsudeva.