17th Jewel: Nama-tattva 1: Krishna is the way, the truth, and the light

Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Saraswati Ṭhakura

শ্রী গৌड़िয-কন্ঠহার

Gaudiya Kanṭhahāra:

The Jeweled Necklace of the Gaudiya Vaishnavas

17th Jewel

NĀMA-TATTVA

The Ontology of  the Holy Name

Being a compendium of quotations from revealed scriptures

concerning the truths about the cult of Chaitanya Mahāprabhu

Compiled under the authority and direction of

His Divine Grace

Bhaktisiddhānta Sāraswāti Goswāmī

Prabhupada

Translated and edited, with original Sanskrit and Bengali and Roman transliteration by

B. V. Mahāyogi, Michael Dolan

The Supreme Lord Krishna, Bhagavān, is the Root of all Religion

१७.१

धर्म-मूलं हि भगवान् सर्व-वेदमयो हरिः

स्मृतं च तद्-विदां राजन् येन चात्मा प्रसीदति

17.1

dharma-mūlaṁ hi bhagavān sarva-vedamayo hariḥ

smṛtaṁ ca tad-vidāṁ rājan yena cātmā prasīdati 

The Supreme Person is the root of all dharma, the essence of all the Vedas, and

the meditation of all those great authorities who know the truth about the

Supreme Lord, and whose opinions becomes scripture. This is evidence, O King,

and by accepting this religious principle, everyone will attain the highest

satisfaction of the soul, mind, and body. 

(Bhāg. 7.11.7)

Kṛṣṇa is the Way, the Truth, and the Light.

१७.२

तपस्तु तापैः प्रपतस्तु पर्वता-दटन्तु तीर्थनि पठस्तु चागमान्

यजस्तु यागैर्विवदन्तु वादैर् हरिं विना नैव मृतिं तरन्ति

17.2

tapastu tāpaiḥ prapatastu parvatā-daṭantu tīrthani paṭhastu cāgamān

yajastu yāgairvivadantu vādair hariṁ vinā naiva mṛtiṁ taranti

You may perform mountains of austerities, visit many holy places, study all the

Vedas, and perform all kinds of Vedic sacrifices, but without devotion to Kṛṣṇa,

none of these things can save you from death. 

(Bhāvārtha Dīpikā 10.87.27)