5. But the Pûrva Mimânsâkas say: Vedic Karma is âgavataPurâall in all, and the authority of the Vedas is supreme. Here Sri Krishna had to assert Himself as an Avatâra, and He asked people to accept His own authority. He said there was self-seeking in Vedic Karma, and one could not therefore avoid the recurrence of births by the performance of Vedic Karma. So Sri Krishna said to Uddhava: -- "If the Vedas say that men attain Svarga by the performance of Vedic Karma, it is simply by way of inducement, and not as pointing out the supreme end. The father says; 'Boy, eat this bitter medicine and I will give thee this cake in my hand.' The boy takes the medicine for the sweet thing. But that really leads to his recovery from the disease. So the Vedas mean final liberation as the end. But to enforce restraint, they hold out the prospect of Svarga, which is most agreeable to men." (Elaboration of XI. 21. 23.)
Many were unwilling to accept the authority of Sri Krishna, and the chief amongst them was Sisupâla.
This was the teaching of Karma Yoga by Sri Krishna. But the unselfish performance of Karma is not all. It is only a negative virtue. It purifies the mind and frees it from the taint of selfishness. The mind then becomes prepared for the higher planes and becomes fit for the direct influence of Íshvara.
So Sri Krishna gave to His disciples the true conception of Ísvara. He told them Ísvara was One, the source of all existence, all knowledge and all bliss. He told them how one Ísvara pervaded the whole universe and became thus manifested through the Universe. He also pervaded all beings, and became manifested through these beings. The Universe and the Jiva were His Prakritis or bodies as it were. The Universe body was eight-fold in its character, beginning with that most susceptible to His influence and ending with the division most obtuse to that influence. This eight-fold Prakriti also entered into the constitution of Jiva. But there was something more in Jiva, -- the consciousness, the knower. This element was Ísvara Himself, as limited by Jiva Prakriti, or Jiva body. The whole universe being the body of Ísvara, His knowledge and powers were unrestricted, whereas the body of the Jiva, being limited and restricted, his powers and knowledge were also restricted.