श्रीआविर्होत्र उवाच कर्माकर्मविकर्मेति वेदवादो न लौकिक: । वेदस्य चेश्वरात्मत्वात् तत्र मुह्यन्ति सूरय: ॥ ४३ ॥
śrī-āvirhotra uvāca karmākarma vikarmeti veda-vādo na laukikaḥ vedasya ceśvarātmatvāt tatra muhyanti sūrayaḥ
- śrī-āvirhotraḥ uvāca
- the sage Āvirhotra said
- karma
- the execution of duties prescribed by scripture
- akarma
- failure to perform such duties
- vikarma
- engagement in forbidden activities
- iti
- thus
- veda-vādaḥ
- subject matter understood through the Vedas
- na
- not
- laukikaḥ
- mundane
- vedasya
- of the vedas
- ca
- and
- īśvara-ātmatvāt
- because of coming from the Personality of Godhead Himself
- tatra
- in this matter
- muhyanti
- become confused
- sūrayaḥ
- (even) great scholarly authorities
Śrī Āvirhotra replied: Prescribed duties, nonperformance of such duties, and forbidden activities are topics one can properly understand through authorized study of the Vedic literature. This difficult subject matter can never be understood by mundane speculation. The authorized Vedic literature is the sound incarnation of the Personality of Godhead Himself, and thus Vedic knowledge is perfect. Even the greatest learned scholars are bewildered in their attempts to understand the science of action if they neglect the authority of Vedic knowledge.