In explaining this verse it should be noted that spiritual knowledge means understanding the self and the Supersoul, or Superself.
Knowledge means
Bhagavad-gita As It Is
BG Chapters 1 - 6
BG 2.11, Purport:
As explained in later chapters, it will be clear that knowledge means to know matter and spirit and the controller of both.
BG Chapters 7 - 12
BG 10.4-5, Purport:
Knowledge means knowing the distinction between spirit and matter. In modern education there is no knowledge about spirit; they are simply taking care of the material elements and bodily needs. Therefore academic knowledge is not complete.
BG Chapters 13 - 18
BG 18.22, Purport:
One who does not develop knowledge through the authorities or scriptural injunctions has knowledge that is limited to the body. He is not concerned about acting in terms of the directions of scripture. For him God is money, and knowledge means the satisfaction of bodily demands.
Srimad-Bhagavatam
SB Canto 1
SB 1.9.44, Purport:
This spiritual urge is called brahma-jijñāsā, or inquiry about Brahman. Principally this brahma-jijñāsā is successful by knowledge, renunciation and devotional service to the Lord. Jñāna, or knowledge, means knowledge of everything of Brahman, the Supreme; renunciation means detachment of material affection, and devotional service is the revival by practice of the original position of the living being.
SB 1.12.28, Purport:
Material knowledge means ignorance of the knowledge of one's own self.
SB Canto 2
SB 2.2.12, Purport:
Knowledge means knowing things as they are, and if by deliberation it is found that there are things which are at all unnecessary, naturally the person who has acquired knowledge leaves aside such unwanted things.
SB 2.7.36, Purport:
Real advancement of knowledge means progress of knowledge in self-realization.
SB Canto 3
SB 3.3.19, Purport:
mission of the human form of life is to end all the miseries of material existence and that in spite of having to fulfill the bodily necessities in a regulated way, one must be detached from such animal life.
SB 3.31.20, Purport:
The entire material existence is entanglement in this bodily conception of life. Real knowledge means to develop the consciousness of "I am not this body. I am spirit soul, an eternal part and parcel of the Supreme Lord." Real knowledge entails renunciation, or nonacceptance of this body as the self.
SB Canto 4
SB 4.20.7, Purport:
Full knowledge means that the jīva-ātmā, the living entity, must know both his position and the Supreme's position. That is full knowledge.
SB 4.22.33, Purport:
Jñāna, or knowledge, means to understand one's constitutional position, and vijñāna refers to practical application of that knowledge in life.
SB 4.29.55, Purport:
Real knowledge means understanding the miserable condition of material life. One should take shelter of a bona fide liberated soul, the spiritual master, and gradually elevate himself to the spiritual platform and thus become detached from the material world.
SB 4.29.56, Purport:
Real knowledge means searching out Kṛṣṇa. Vedaiś ca sarvair aham eva vedyaḥ (BG 15.15). All Vedic knowledge is meant for searching out Kṛṣṇa because Kṛṣṇa is the origin of everything.
SB Canto 7
SB 7.11.7, Purport:
In Bhagavad-gītā (15.15) it is said, vedaiś ca sarvair aham eva vedyaḥ: Vedic knowledge means to understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa. Therefore, whether one speaks of the Vedas, scriptures, religion or the principles of everyone's occupational duty, all of them must aim at understanding Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
SB 7.12.24, Purport:
Merging into Brahman in perfect knowledge means understanding perfectly that one is not the body but a spiritual soul.
Sri Caitanya-caritamrta
CC Madhya-lila
CC Madhya 25.103, Purport:
Spiritual knowledge means fully understanding the Absolute Truth in three features—impersonal Brahman, localized Paramātmā and the all-powerful Supreme Personality of Godhead.
Other Books by Srila Prabhupada
Nectar of Devotion
Nectar of Devotion 14:
Vedic knowledge means ultimately to understand the Supreme Lord, and the process of entering into His kingdom is devotional service. That is accepted by all authentic scriptures.
Krsna, The Supreme Personality of Godhead
Krsna Book 28:
As it is confirmed in the Bhagavad-gītā, full knowledge means knowing Kṛṣṇa to be the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
Krsna Book 89:
Perfect knowledge means knowledge of one's own self and the Supreme Self. The Supreme Self and the individual self, although one in quality, are different in quantity. This analytical understanding of knowledge is perfect.
Renunciation Through Wisdom
Renunciation Through Wisdom 3.1:
The empirical philosophers generally put forward the idea that human life is meant for achieving perfect knowledge. To them, knowledge means the ability to discern reality from illusion.
Renunciation Through Wisdom 3.1:
Real knowledge means to discriminate between truth and illusion.
Sri Isopanisad
Sri Isopanisad 4, Purport:
Perfect knowledge means knowing the Lord in all His features, knowing His potencies and knowing how these potencies work by His will.
Sri Isopanisad 15, Purport:
Perfect knowledge means knowing Kṛṣṇa as the root of this Brahman effulgence. This knowledge can be gained from such scriptures as Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, which perfectly elaborates the science of Kṛṣṇa.
Mukunda-mala-stotra (mantras 1 to 6 only)
Mukunda-mala-stotra mantra 3, Purport:
Advancement of knowledge means to understand the naked truth of this world and to not be deluded by the temporary beauty of this phantasmagoria.
Lectures
Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures
Lecture on BG 1.36 -- London, July 26, 1973:
Everyone is proud that "I am Indian," "I am American," "I am Englishman." So it is boastful, very proud of this body. So knowledge means "I am not this body. I am not this body."
Lecture on BG 2.2-6 -- Ahmedabad, December 11, 1972:
Advanced with knowledge means one should understand that "I am eternal servant of Kṛṣṇa, or God." That is advancement of knowledge.
Lecture on BG 2.8 -- London, August 8, 1973:
Experimental knowledge means this gross sense perception. That is experimental. Pratyakṣa.
Lecture on BG 2.8-12 -- Los Angeles, November 27, 1968:
As explained in the later chapters, it will be clear that knowledge means to know matter and spirit and the controller of both.
Lecture on BG 2.9 -- Auckland, February 21, 1973:
Knowledge means the end of knowledge should be up to the understanding of the Absolute Truth, the original source of everything. Absolute. Not relative.
Lecture on BG 2.13 -- Hyderabad, November 18, 1972:
How to realize self? We have to take knowledge from others. Knowledge means..., to acquire knowledge, to learn from the teacher. So here is the supreme teacher, Kṛṣṇa.
Lecture on BG 2.19 -- London, August 25, 1973:
Knowledge means self-realization, that "I am not this body; I am spirit soul." That is knowledge. And knowledge how to eat, how to sleep, how to defend, how to enjoy sex life, and volumes of books on this subject matter, these are not knowledge.
Lecture on BG 2.22 -- Hyderabad, November 26, 1972:
Vedic knowledge means which is spoken by the Supreme Lord. That is Vedic knowledge. Apauruṣeya. It is not spoken by common man like me.
Lecture on BG 2.26 -- Los Angeles, December 6, 1968:
So ultimate knowledge means to understand the Supreme Person.
Lecture on BG 4.1-6 -- Los Angeles, January 3, 1969:
Mundane knowledge means how to maintain this body, āhāra-nidrā-bhaya-maithunam, to meet the demands of this body.
Lecture on BG 4.2 -- Bombay, March 22, 1974:
From the material standard, gradually we have to go upwards and come to the point of understanding Kṛṣṇa. That is Vedic knowledge. That is Vedic knowledge. Vedaiś ca sarvair aham eva vedyaḥ (BG 15.15). To pursue Vedic knowledge means to understand Kṛṣṇa.
Lecture on BG 4.4 -- Bombay, March 24, 1974:
Knowledge means, perfect knowledge means past, present, and future. There are many foretelling in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam about this Kali-yuga. They are stated in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Future.... Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam was written five thousand years ago. Still, what was stated at that time, they're coming to be true. That is called śāstra.
Lecture on BG 4.10 Festival at Maison de Faubourg -- Geneva, May 31, 1974:
The jñāna means knowledge. Knowledge means one must know that "I am spirit soul, part and parcel of God. Somehow or other, I have been entangled in this material body."
Lecture on BG 4.19 -- New York, August 5, 1966:
Knowledge means to understand something. How this tape recorder is manufactured, if we get some knowledge, technical knowledge, that is not knowledge. That is a, of course, to have some, our occupation executed. That knowledge is temporary knowledge. But real knowledge is... This is real knowledge. The real knowledge is that when one understands convincingly that "I am part and parcel of Kṛṣṇa."
Lecture on BG 4.34 -- New York, August 14, 1966:
Jñāninaḥ means jñānī, or a man who is in perfect knowledge. Perfect knowledge means one who has perfect vision or the perfect, not theoretical, but actual vision of the spiritual subject matter. He is called jñānī.
Lecture on BG 4.39-42 -- Los Angeles, January 14, 1969:
Knowledge means inquiry—"What I am? Why I am frustrated? Why I am confused? What is my position?" That is the platform of knowledge.
Lecture on BG 5.14-22 -- New York, August 28, 1966:
The illusory energy manifests herself in different ways, and that is called material advancement of knowledge. The material advancement of knowledge means we are becoming more and more illusioned.
Lecture on BG 6.1-4 -- New York, September 2, 1966:
So knowledge means: "Then why shall I serve the unreal illusion? Let me serve the reality. If my business is to serve and nothing to be...never to be master, always to serve, then why I shall serve the illusion? Let me serve the reality."
Lecture on BG 7.1-3 -- Stockholm, September 10, 1973:
If you say, "Life is produced from chemicals," then you must make experimental demonstration, by mixing those chemicals, you produce life. That is called vijñānam, practical demonstration. Otherwise it is not perfect. Scientific knowledge means observation, then experiment. If you fail in your experiment, that is not scientific knowledge. It must be experimented.
Lecture on BG 7.2 -- San Francisco, September 11, 1968:
We have been discussing this verse, what is knowledge. Knowledge means how this universe is working, what is the working force, what is the energy.
Lecture on BG 7.4 -- Nairobi, October 31, 1975:
So Vedic knowledge means the instruction given by Kṛṣṇa to the first living being, Lord Brahmā. Janmādy asya yataḥ (SB 1.1.1). From Kṛṣṇa everything is born, everything is emanated.
Lecture on BG 7.11-16 -- New York, October 7, 1966:
Now the Godless civilization: "Oh, nature is everything. Science is everything. God is nothing." Their advancement of this material knowledge means they are getting more and more mad. Their madness is increasing. Instead of being cured, their disease is being increased. This is the material civilization.
Lecture on BG 8.28-9.2 -- New York, November 21, 1966:
Knowledge means, the topmost knowledge means Kṛṣṇa consciousness according to Bhagavad-gītā. Because in the Bhagavad-gītā you'll find that a person who is learned, who is actually in knowledge, his symptoms will be that he has surrendered unto God.
Lecture on BG 9.1 -- Melbourne, April 19, 1976:
Vedic knowledge means you cannot argue. You have to accept authoritative. Just like the government literature, government regulation, when it is published, gazette, you cannot argue. Whatever the government has decided, you have to accept because government is the authority. Similarly, Vedic knowledge means you cannot argue. You can argue, but that argument is not to defeat. That argument is for understanding.
Lecture on BG 9.2 -- New York, November 22, 1966:
And one should be put into proper knowledge. Proper knowledge means to know things as they are: "What I am, what is this world, what is God, what is our relation." These things we should know, not that simply becoming a technical expert or some departmental expert, we become a man of knowledge. That is not knowledge. Here is knowledge. You should know what you are and how you act.
Lecture on BG 9.2-5 -- New York, November 23, 1966:
Therefore this rāja-guhyam, the most confidential part of this knowledge, means that one who has accepted Kṛṣṇa as the Supreme and has become a devotee, has engaged himself in His service, actually, seriously, for them, rāja-guhyam, most confidential.
Lecture on BG 10.4 -- New York, January 3, 1967:
So what is knowledge? Knowledge means distinguishing the spirit from matter. That is knowledge. We should understand what is spirit and what is matter.
Lecture on BG 10.4 -- New York, January 3, 1967:
So jñāna, knowledge, means distinguishing between spirit and matter. And this knowledge should be cultivated and taken full advantage in this life. That is successful life.
Lecture on BG 10.4-5 -- New York, January 4, 1967:
You'll find even in animals there are some wonderful activities which we cannot perform. That is not knowledge. Knowledge means to understand spirit and matter. That is knowledge, what is spirit, what is matter.
Lecture on BG 13.1-2 -- Paris, August 10, 1973:
You are human being. You must act like a human being. For human being, this Bhagavad-gītā is there. Kṛṣṇa is instructing to a human being, Arjuna. Not a cat, not a dog. So knowledge means it is meant for the human beings. Not for the cats and dogs.
Lecture on BG 13.1-2 -- Bombay, September 25, 1973:
Second-hand knowledge means one who has received knowledge from Kṛṣṇa. That knowledge is perfect. But one who speculates, "It may be like that, it may be like this," that knowledge is not perfect.
Lecture on BG 13.3 -- Paris, August 11, 1973:
Similarly this body is one identity and I am another identity. So knowledge means when we can understand that it is "my body," not "I body." Not this nonsense. Nobody says, "I body." Everyone says "my body." This is knowledge.
Lecture on BG 13.3 -- Hyderabad, April 19, 1974:
At the present moment, so many philosophers, scientists, they are trying to advance in knowledge by speculation. "I think," "In my opinion," "Perhaps," like this. These things are going on. Big, big philosophers, scientists, they give their opinion. "I think like this." Everybody is thinking, "I think..." And it is being supported. Knowledge means anyone can think in any way, and at the present moment that is being accepted as knowledge.
Lecture on BG 13.5 -- Bombay, September 28, 1973:
So we have to accept the Vedānta-sūtra, knowledge, through Vedānta-sūtra. Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī says knowledge means veda-jñāna. Vedānta-sūtra jñāna, that is knowledge. Because it is very reasonably stated, reasonably. Hetumadbhir viniścitaiḥ. So Kṛṣṇa gives the authority of Vedānta-sūtra. So we should have to accept the authority of Vedānta-sūtra and try to understand.
Lecture on BG 13.8-12 -- Bombay, October 3, 1973:
Knowledge means one has to come to the platform of goodness, sattva-guṇa, the brahminical qualification.
Lecture on BG 13.8-12 -- Bombay, October 3, 1973:
Everyone, there is a class of men, they say that we only believe in the Vedas. What you believe? Do you know Kṛṣṇa? "No sir. We accept Kṛṣṇa as a big man, that's all, not as God." That means he does not understand what is Kṛṣṇa. So what is the use of Vedānta? There are so-called Vedantists, they avoid Kṛṣṇa. They'll write comments on Bhagavad-gītā, avoid Kṛṣṇa. This is going on. This is going on.
But actual knowledge means to come to the point of knowledge one has to acquire these qualifications.
Lecture on BG 13.8-12 -- Bombay, October 3, 1973:
The so-called knowledge is useless not unless you can solve the problems (?) what is the meaning of this knowledge? Therefore Kṛṣṇa says knowledge means one must know this is my real acute miserable condition of life, janma-mṛtyu-jarā-vyādhi-duḥkha-doṣānudarśanam (BG 13.9). This is knowledge.
Lecture on BG 13.8-12 -- Bombay, October 5, 1973:
Knowledge means not this material knowledge. Actual knowledge is to advance in spiritual knowledge.
Lecture on BG 13.13 -- Bombay, October 6, 1973:
So here it is said, jñeyaṁ yat tat pravakṣyāmi yaj jñātvā 'mṛtam aśnute. That is knowledge. "I shall speak to you about that supreme knowledge." That supreme knowledge means if you simply try to understand Kṛṣṇa, janma karma me divyam (BG 4.9), why Kṛṣṇa appears, janma karma, why He works like an ordinary human being... He is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Why he takes part in these ordinary activities?
Lecture on BG 13.14 -- Bombay, October 7, 1973:
We have got our hands and legs, we have got our mouth, we have got our tongue, everything we have got. That's all right, but the real knowledge means to realize that these hands, legs, tongue, eyes, ears—everything belongs to Kṛṣṇa. That is knowledge.
Lecture on BG 13.18 -- Bombay, October 12, 1973:
So the whole Bhagavad-gītā is the essence of Vedic knowledge, and the Vedic knowledge means to understand Kṛṣṇa. Vedaiś ca sarvair aham eva vedyaḥ (BG 15.15). Vedeṣu durlabham adurlabham ātma-bhaktau (Bs. 5.33). Even if you study Vedic literature, without bhakti, without studying the Vedic literature, you cannot understand the Absolute Truth.
Lecture on BG 13.19 -- Bombay, October 13, 1973:
Knowledge means those who are situated in the quality of goodness, prakāśa, everything is clearly understood. That is knowledge.
Lecture on BG 13.19 -- Bombay, October 13, 1973:
Therefore, this knowledge means that to understand the Absolute Truth. That process is described.
Lecture on BG 13.35 -- Geneva, June 6, 1974:
So they're talking about what is knowledge. Yes. This is very good question, what is knowledge. So Arjuna wanted to know this knowledge from Kṛṣṇa. Knowledge means to understand this body and the soul.
Lecture on BG 15.15 -- August 5, 1976, New Mayapur (French farm):
The manufacturer of the machine, he knows how to use it, what for it is, how to manipulate it. Everything is there. The Vedic knowledge means that. We have come to this material world. So just like we have purchased this machine for some enjoyment, similarly, we are fallen down to this material world for some material pleasure. So Kṛṣṇa has given, God has given a literature. If you'll be guided by the literature, that, your propensity to enjoy this material world, will be fulfilled, at the same time you'll again be able to go back home, back to Godhead.
Lecture on BG 18.67 -- Ahmedabad, December 10, 1972:
This is tāttvika knowledge. Tāttvika knowledge means to understand Kṛṣṇa as He is.
Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures
Lecture on SB 1.1.3 -- London, August 19, 1971:
We have got so many different types of knowledge, but what is the ultimate knowledge? That is called Vedānta. Ultimate knowledge means to inquire about the Supreme.
Lecture on SB 1.1.3 -- London, August 19, 1971:
The material type of goodness is just like a pure brāhmaṇa—satyaṁ śamo damas titikṣā—with all the good qualities: truthfulness, controlling the senses, controlling the mind, full of knowledge, tolerance, and knowledge..., knowledge means about the Supreme. These are brahminical qualifications.
Lecture on SB 1.1.3 -- Caracas, February 24, 1975:
You can receive knowledge from the Vedas, all types of knowledge, means that social, political and scientific, and there are so many departments of knowledge, even engineering, medical science.
Lecture on SB 1.2.12 -- Vrndavana, October 23, 1972:
I have, I've taken renounced order of life, but I've, privately I've got all these nonsense, illicit sex, intoxication, gambling—that is not required. Real knowledge means there must be renouncement of this nonsense. That is real knowledge.
Lecture on SB 1.2.20 -- Vrndavana, October 31, 1972:
Knowledge, full knowledge means that "I am not this body, I am spirit soul, and my bodily activities are not congenial for my ultimate goal of life. I must engage myself in spiritual activity."
Lecture on SB 1.2.22 -- Vrndavana, November 2, 1972:
Material knowledge, advancement of material knowledge, means more and more bondage. And advancement of spiritual knowledge means more and more liberation.
Lecture on SB 1.2.30 -- Vrndavana, November 9, 1972:
So advancement of knowledge means to understand his real position and act accordingly. That is knowledge. That is perfection of knowledge.
Lecture on SB 1.3.8 -- Los Angeles, September 14, 1972:
Because real knowledge means Vedic knowledge, and any knowledge which is not corroborated with the Vedic version, that is not knowledge; that is imperfect knowledge.
Lecture on SB 1.3.21 -- Los Angeles, September 26, 1972:
Just like our scientist, Svarūpa Dāmodara. He was speaking that they make experiment in the laboratory according to formula, but still, there is some mistake. Still, there is some mistake. Practically, scientific advancement, scientific knowledge means to find out mistakes.
Lecture on SB 1.7.6 -- Vrndavana, April 18, 1975:
Knowledge means ultimately to understand the originally source of everything.
Lecture on SB 1.7.6 -- Vrndavana, April 23, 1975:
Material knowledge means regarding these necessities of this body. So our educational system, the university, everything, that is simply imparting material knowledge. But material knowledge is superfluous because this body is also superfluous.
Lecture on SB 1.7.7 -- Vrndavana, September 6, 1976:
This Bhāgavatam is accepted as the ripened fruit of the Vedic desire tree. Nigama-kalpa-taror galitaṁ phalam idam (SB 1.1.3). It is the ripened fruit of all Vedic knowledge. Because Vedic knowledge means to understand God. That is Vedic knowledge. Vedaiś ca sarvair aham eva vedyaḥ (BG 15.15). That is Vedic knowledge. To understand the Supreme Lord, the original person. That is the end of Vedic knowledge.
Lecture on SB 1.8.19 -- Mayapura, September 29, 1974:
Prabhupāda: So it is very, very difficult to understand Kṛṣṇa in this condition, in this situation. Māyā-javanikācchannam and ajñā, foolish people. Ajñā. And the other, other side, Kṛṣṇa is adhokṣaja. Even one is advanced in knowledge... Knowledge means, our knowledge means we manufacture words or syllables from A to Z. That's all. ABCD. We compose words with these twenty-six, or how many? A to Z?
Devotee: Yes.
Prabhupāda: Yes. That is... And in Sanskrit, as in English it is A to Z, similarly in Sanskrit, a, a, i, u, and the end is kṣa. So a and kṣa, that is called akṣa. Akṣa-ja. And ja means generated. So we also compose words, those who are Sanskrit scholars, they compose words from a to akṣa, just like English they compose words from A to Z.
So our mental speculation and advancement of education is limited between this a and kṣa, akṣa. Akṣa-ja. But Kṛṣṇa is adhokṣaja. Adhokṣaja means where these kinds of speculation, beginning from a to kṣa, will not act. Therefore His name is Adhokṣaja.
Lecture on SB 1.15.27 -- New York, March 6, 1975:
So this technology means craftsmanship. That is not knowledge. That is not knowledge. Just like I do not know how this microphone is working. If it is wrong, some man who knows the art, he repairs it immediately. That does not mean he has got knowledge. That particular department, he has got knowledge, that's all. Knowledge means that one who knows God. That is knowledge. Bahūnāṁ janmanām ante jñānavān māṁ prapadyate (BG 7.19). This is knowledge. So the western countries, they have taken-advancement of knowledge means manufacturing a big motor car. That's all. That is also good. But simply for manufacturing motor car, simply for driving motor car, if we forget our real business, God realization, then it is ruinous.
Lecture on SB 1.15.44 -- Los Angeles, December 22, 1973:
Knowledge means what you accept as right, it must be accepted perpetually right. That is knowledge.
Lecture on SB 1.15.44 -- Los Angeles, December 22, 1973:
So knowledge means without any mistake. Anything without any mistake, that is perpetually right. And anything based on mistaken idea, that will change.
Lecture on SB 1.16.12 -- Los Angeles, January 9, 1974:
So actually, everything is existing. We have to simply take the knowledge. The modern method is ascending process. The knowledge is there, but still, they are trying to understand it by āroha-panthā, ascending process. It is called inductive knowledge. Inductive knowledge means that... Suppose a man is mortal. So the so-called scientists, they are trying to discover the law, why man is mortal. They are studying, "This man is mortal, this man is mortal, this man is mortal. Therefore it is concluded that all men are mortal. Nobody is immortal." But another man will argue that "You have not studied all the human society. How you can conclude? Therefore we must study." So this study will go on for life after life. They will never come to a person who is immortal. But they will protest that "We cannot accept." But our process is deductive. We say that man is mortal, first of all. Therefore John is a man. He is also mortal. This is deductive process.
Lecture on SB 1.16.13-15 -- Los Angeles, January 10, 1974:
Because the perfection of knowledge means to know the ultimate source, athāto brahma jijñāsā, janmādy asya yataḥ (SB 1.1.1), from where everything is emanating.
Lecture on SB 1.16.20 -- Hawaii, January 16, 1974:
Full knowledge means "What I am, what is God, what is this material world, what is our relationship." That is called knowledge. And that knowledge, when practically applied in life, that is called vijñānam.
Lecture on SB 2.3.11-12 -- Los Angeles, May 29, 1972:
So real knowledge means when one is not any more disturbed by the influence of the modes of material nature.
Lecture on SB 2.3.19 -- Los Angeles, June 15, 1972:
So śāstra, intelligence, knowledge, means one should study everything very critically, "What is my position? What is my duty?" We should not be like the animals.
Lecture on SB 3.25.13 -- Los Angeles, November 10, 1968:
Knowledge means consciousness. So this consciousness has also a development of consciousness. There are different stages. And when one comes to the ultimate stages, niḥśreyasāya, that is called Kṛṣṇa consciousness, or God consciousness.
Lecture on SB 3.25.43 -- Bombay, December 11, 1974:
Pure knowledge means "I do not belong to this material world. I am spirit soul. Ahaṁ brahmāsmi. Therefore my business is to serve the Supreme Brahman, or Parabrahman."
Lecture on SB 3.26.1 -- Bombay, December 13, 1974:
General knowledge means pratyakṣa, whatever you perceive by the senses. That is called pratyakṣa. And the knowledge which you receive from authorities, that is parokṣa. Then aparokṣa, realization. Then adhokṣaja. Adhokṣaja means knowledge which beyond your perception. But there is source of knowledge, adhokṣaja. Therefore God's another name is Adhokṣaja.
Lecture on SB 3.26.2 -- Bombay, December 14, 1974:
Knowledge means jñānaṁ niḥśreyasārthāya puruṣasya ātma-darśanam, that is knowledge. Atma-darśanam, self-realization. That is jñānam. Otherwise this lower jñāna or knowledge, how to eat, how to sleep, how to perform sexual life, and how to defend, this knowledge is there even in the mosquito or small ant.
Lecture on SB 3.26.22 -- Bombay, December 31, 1974:
Real knowledge means to understand God. That is real knowledge. Vedaiś ca sarvair aham eva vedyaḥ (BG 15.15). What is the Veda, Vedānta? To know Kṛṣṇa, or God. Kṛṣṇa and God, the same. If one knows God but does not know Kṛṣṇa, his knowledge of God is incomplete. His knowledge of God is incomplete. When he knows that kṛṣṇas tu bhagavān svayam, then his knowledge is perfect.
Lecture on SB 5.5.2 -- Boston, April 28, 1969:
You should always remember that all living entities, 8,400,000 species of life, every one of them after material enjoyment. So they are given a chance. Vedic knowledge means that you have desire for material enjoyment, so therefore you can..., you are given the chance here for material enjoyment.
Lecture on SB 5.5.2 -- Vrndavana, October 24, 1976:
In the Vedic instruction there is no difference. Everywhere we'll find the same thing. That is standard knowledge. Not that I am saying something, you are saying something. That is not Vedic knowledge. That is speculation. Vedic knowledge means wherever you take, it is the same thing. There is no difference. Either you read Bhagavad-gītā or Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam or the Cātur-Veda or Upaniṣad or Vedānta, you'll find the same conclusion. That is Vedic knowledge.
Lecture on SB 5.5.14 -- Vrndavana, November 2, 1976:
Vedic knowledge means there is no mistake, there is no cheating, there is no imperfect senses. Everything is perfect.
Lecture on SB 5.5.14 -- Vrndavana, November 2, 1976:
Science means, scientific knowledge means, it is not something new. Just like the sun rises from the eastern horizon. So millions of years ago, the sun used to rise from the eastern horizon, and still it is going on. Not that because time has changed, the sun is rising from the western side or northern side, no. Knowledge means... That is Vedic knowledge. Established knowledge. It cannot be changed in any circumstance. That is Vedic knowledge.
Lecture on SB 6.1.1-4 -- Melbourne, May 20, 1975:
The whole idea, spiritual knowledge, means to understand God. So vedaiś ca sarvair aham eva vedyam (BG 15.15). That is the purpose of Vedic knowledge.
Lecture on SB 6.1.6 -- Sydney, February 17, 1973:
Amongst the Vedic scholars, the topmost knowledge means to understand Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Everything is there.
Lecture on SB 6.1.37 -- San Francisco, July 19, 1975:
Knowledge means you should know both things, not one side. You must know what is religious system and what is not religious system. Simply one side is not full knowledge.
Lecture on SB 6.1.39-40 -- Surat, December 21, 1970:
So real knowledge means which has surpassed this province of darkness, uttamam. Jijñāsuḥ śreya uttamam: "Anyone who has become very much inquisitive to learn about the transcendental subject matter, he has to accept a guru." Tasmād guruṁ prapadyeta (SB 11.3.21). Guru means you have to find out some personality who is well versed in the Vedic knowledge.
Lecture on SB 6.1.39-40 -- Surat, December 21, 1970:
So in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam every line is so interesting. Therefore vidyā bhāgavatāvadhiḥ: "Knowledge means up to the knowledge of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam."
Lecture on SB 6.1.40 -- San Francisco, July 21, 1975:
Vedic knowledge means spiritual knowledge. Material knowledge also, the same process, any knowledge, especially spiritual knowledge. Because material things sometimes we can perceive directly because our body is material. But spiritual knowledge, unless you hear from the authority, there is no source of knowledge. You cannot understand.
Lecture on SB 6.1.40 -- San Francisco, July 21, 1975:
So knowledge means not to see but to hear. Therefore it is called śruti, śuśruma. Knowledge has to be received through the ear, not by the eyes. Not by the eyes. This is not recommended. Nobody says, "I want to see knowledge," no: "I want to hear knowledge." Therefore it is called śruti, and knowledge is received through the ear, aural reception.
Lecture on SB 6.1.55 -- Paris, August 11, 1975:
These two things required: knowledge and detachment. Knowledge means that "I am not this body," and detachment means "I am not this body; therefore I have nothing to do with this material world."
Lecture on SB 6.1.56-57 -- Bombay, August 14, 1975:
Vedic knowledge means śruti. So that is the first qualification.
Lecture on SB 7.9.10 -- Montreal, July 10, 1968:
Vijñāna means perfect knowledge. What is that perfect knowledge? Perfect knowledge means to know Kṛṣṇa. Yasmin vijñāte sarvam evaṁ vijñātaṁ bhavati (Muṇḍaka Upaniṣad 1.3). The Vedic injunction is: "If you can understand the Supreme, then you understand the whole thing, because Supreme is the whole, absolute."
Lecture on SB 7.9.13 -- Montreal, August 21, 1968:
Knowledge means that you must know what you are. This is knowledge. If you don't know what you are, then what is the meaning of your knowledge? So real knowledge means that ahaṁ brahmāsmi: "I am not matter, I am a spirit soul." That is real knowledge. On the basis of this real knowledge, whatever is done, that is done in knowledge; otherwise it is done in ignorance.
Lecture on SB 7.9.13 -- Montreal, August 21, 1968:
Naturally, at the present moment, knowledge means that "This is my country." "I am American," "I am Indian," "I am Chinese." Why? "Because my body is produced from this land." So this is ignorance. Your body... Why your body? The cow's body is also produced from this land. Why do you kill? It has got also right. But because he has no knowledge actually, therefore he is trying to protect his body, but he's not protecting the other's body produced from the land. This is want of knowledge. If he has real knowledge that "I am Brahman, I am spirit," then he can see, samaḥ sarveṣu bhūteṣu: "Oh, the spirit. The cow is also spirit soul, the dog is also spirit soul, I am also spirit soul. Otherwise how I am moving?"
Lecture on SB 7.9.13 -- Montreal, August 21, 1968:
So unless you are in the spiritual platform, the so-called knowledge has no value. That is not knowledge. That is ignorance. So real knowledge means spiritual knowledge, that "I am Brahman. I am spirit."
Lecture on SB 7.9.37 -- Mayapur, March 15, 1976:
Brahmā was instructed Vedic knowledge. Vedic knowledge means these bewildered living entities struggling for existence may get Vedic knowledge so that they can revive their old, original Kṛṣṇa consciousness. This is the purpose of Vedic knowledge. In the Bhagavad-gītā it is said, vedaiś ca sarvair aham eva vedyam (BG 15.15). The Vedic... What is Vedic knowledge? Vedic knowledge means to revive our Kṛṣṇa consciousness. That is Vedic knowledge. If you revive your Kṛṣṇa consciousness, that is the perfection of Vedic knowledge.
Lecture on SB 12.2.1 -- San Francisco, March 18, 1968:
So Vedas, your question, Veda knowledge means from the beginning of the creation. Unless the knowledge is there, how this creation can be conducted? So Brahmā was made in charge of this universe and he was educated in Vedas.
Lecture on SB Lecture -- Melbourne, May 19, 1975:
Vedic knowledge means to understand God. This is Vedic religion.
Lecture on SB Lecture -- Melbourne, May 19, 1975:
The more you become Kṛṣṇa consciousm the shining of your life increases. Śreyaḥ-kairava-candrikā-vitaraṇaṁ vidyā-vadhū-jīvanam. Then this life will be full of knowledge. Vidyā-vadhū-jīvanam. Ānandāmbudhi-vardhanam. And to increase the life of knowledge means ananda. Ānanda means pleasure. We want pleasure. So you will get more and more pleasing life.
Sri Caitanya-caritamrta Lectures
Lecture on CC Adi-lila 7.3 -- Mayapur, March 3, 1974:
Knowledge means tattva-jñāna, to know the Absolute Truth.
Lecture on CC Adi-lila 7.107-109 -- San Francisco, February 15, 1967:
So similarly, knowledge means to, athāto brahma jijñāsā, to understand Brahman. Kṛṣṇa says, ahaṁ sarvasya prabhavo mattaḥ sarvaṁ pravartate (BG 10.8): "I am the origin of everything, and everything emanates from Me."
Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 22.6 -- New York, January 8, 1967:
So knowledge means to understand... Beginning of knowledge is to understand one's constitutional position. That knowledge is imparted in the beginning of the Bhagavad-gītā, that "You are not this body. You are spirit spark."
Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 22.21-28 -- New York, January 11, 1967:
Real knowledge means to understand the last word of the Absolute Truth, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and surrender unto Him, after knowledge. As it is confirmed in the Bhagavad-gītā, bahūnāṁ janmanām ante: (BG 7.19) "After many, many births, one who is actually in knowledge, he surrenders."
Sri Isopanisad Lectures
Sri Isopanisad, Mantra 9-10 -- Los Angeles, May 14, 1970:
Culture of knowledge means spiritual knowledge. That is real knowledge. And advancement of knowledge for comforts or to protect this material body, that is the culture of nescience.
Sri Isopanisad, Mantra 11 -- Los Angeles, May 16, 1970:
We should learn what is vidyā and avidyā. Avidyā means this materialistic knowledge. That is avidyā. Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura has sung, jaḍa vidyā sab māyāra vaibhava: "Advancement of material knowledge means advancement of māyā's jurisdiction." The more you become implicated in material knowledge, entangled, you..., less you can understand Kṛṣṇa consciousness.
Festival Lectures
Nrsimha-caturdasi Lord Nrsimhadeva's Appearance Day -- Srimad-Bhagavatam 7.5.22-34 -- Los Angeles, May 27, 1972:
Knowledge means to know Kṛṣṇa, God, and the Vedic injunction is, yasmin vijñāte sarvam evaṁ vijñātaṁ bhavanti. If you understand the Supreme Lord, then you understand everything.
Sri Vyasa-puja -- New Vrindaban, September 2, 1972:
We don't manufacture knowledge, because how we can manufacture? Perfect knowledge means I must be perfect. But I am not perfect.
His Divine Grace Srila Sac-cid-ananda Bhaktivinoda Thakura's Appearance Day, Lecture -- London, September 3, 1971:
Third-class knowledge means animal knowledge: how to eat, how to sleep. How to make arrangement for eating, how to make arrangement for sleeping, that is third-class knowledge. Because the animals also try for this kind of knowledge, how to eat, how to sleep. Therefore this kind of knowledge is third-class knowledge. And second-class knowledge is "What I am?" Athāto brahma jijñāsā. The Vedānta. That is second-class knowledge. And first-class knowledge, when he actually understands what he is, he is eternal servant of Kṛṣṇa, and engages himself in the service of the Lord, that is first-class knowledge.
His Divine Grace Srila Sac-cid-ananda Bhaktivinoda Thakura's Appearance Day, Lecture -- London, September 3, 1971:
First-class knowledge means beyond liberation. Second-class knowledge is trying for liberation. Third-class knowledge means in bondage, like animal.
His Divine Grace Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Gosvami Prabhupada's Disappearance Day, Lecture -- Hyderabad, December 10, 1976:
So this knowledge means to understand the original source. That is philosophy, find out the original source. That is knowledge. So the vedaiś ca sarvair aham eva vedyo. Actually the knowledge terminates when you understand Kṛṣṇa. He is the source of everything.
General Lectures
Lecture at International Student Society -- Boston, May 3, 1969:
Ignorance means animal life, and knowledge means human life. Therefore there is so much educational system in every human society. Why? Knowledge means human life, and ignorance means animal life.
Lecture 'Nobody Wants to Die' -- Boston, May 7, 1968:
Vedic knowledge means the knowledge of authority. So you have to prove.
Pandal Lecture -- Bombay, April 7, 1971:
All the scientific improvement, material advancement of knowledge, means that we are trying to avoid the conditions imposed by material nature. That is actually we are doing.
Town Hall Lecture -- Auckland, April 14, 1972:
So actual knowledge means to understand what is the spirit soul, what is its nature, what is its necessity, how it is living, what is the ultimate goal. So many things are there. But unfortunately, there is no educational institution. We are trying with little effort to give this education to the people.
Sunday Feast Lecture -- Los Angeles, May 21, 1972:
Vedic knowledge means to understand God. That's all. One who has understood God, he has studied all Vedas. Finished. And one who has not understood God, simply studying this literature, that literature, that scripture, then he's simply wasting his time.
Sunday Feast Lecture -- Los Angeles, May 21, 1972:
Education, knowledge, means ultimately to understand, to know what is God. Actually; not fictitiously, vaguely.
Lecture at Bharata Chamber of Commerce 'Culture and Business' -- Calcutta, January 30, 1973:
Do your duty nicely. But do not forget to cultivate Kṛṣṇa knowledge. Kṛṣṇa knowledge means God consciousness. God consciousness means we must know that we are part and parcel.
Lecture at Upsala University Faculty -- Stockholm, September 7, 1973:
Vedic knowledge means to understand God, the whole Vedic knowledge. Knowledge means we are getting... Veda means knowledge. Vetti veda vido jñāne. Veda means knowledge. So we want to know so many things. That is knowledge. So you get all information from the Vedas.
Lecture at Upsala University Faculty -- Stockholm, September 7, 1973:
So Vedic knowledge means ultimately to become a brāhmaṇa. That means to know God. That is Vedic knowledge. And the summary of Vedic knowledge is here in the Bhagavad-gītā, because here God directly is instructing about Himself. Therefore it is the essence of all Vedic knowledge. The ultimate goal of Vedic knowledge is to know God.
Lecture at Upsala University Faculty -- Stockholm, September 7, 1973: So Vedic knowledge means to realize God. That is ultimate aim of Vedic knowledge.
Lecture -- Hong Kong, January 31, 1974:
In the water there are 900,000 forms of life. Who knows that? But in the Vedic śāstra everything perfectly calculated is given there. This is called Vedic knowledge. Vedic knowledge means perfect knowledge. There is no (indistinct) who can calculate how many forms of life are within the ocean. But from the Vedic literature you get just exact conclusion—900,000 species of life.
La Trobe University Lecture -- Melbourne, July 1, 1974:
At the present age, mostly the scientists, they cannot give us perfect knowledge, because there are so many "if's." They say, "It may be," "Perhaps," like that. But this is not perfect knowledge. The perfect knowledge means there is no "if," there is no "perhaps," there is no doubt. So we are receiving knowledge from Kṛṣṇa, the supreme perfect being.
Lecture with Translator -- Sanand, December 25, 1975:
So spiritual knowledge means to become Kṛṣṇa conscious. This is the sum and substance, to understand Kṛṣṇa, what He is, not that concocting, manufacturing that "Kṛṣṇa is this. Kṛṣṇa is that." No. As Kṛṣṇa says, as śāstra says what is Kṛṣṇa, you have to understand it like that.
Lecture -- Bombay, April 1, 1977:
Inferior knowledge means darkness. Tamasi mā. The Vedic injunction is, "Don't remain in the inferior knowledge." Jyotir gamaḥ. "Come to the superior knowledge." So to worship guru means because he gives us superior knowledge.
Philosophy Discussions
Philosophy Discussion on Immanuel Kant:
Prabhupāda: Transcendental knowledge means knowledge received from a source which is beyond the reach of my material senses. That is transcendental. Just like we are reading Bhagavad-gītā. So we have no knowledge that there is a spiritual world, but Kṛṣṇa says that there is another nature, a spiritual nature, beyond this material nature. So we understand through the source of transcendental knowledge.
Philosophy Discussion on Immanuel Kant:
Śyāmasundara: Is there any such thing as innate knowledge?
Prabhupāda: Innate knowledge means that knowledge which you are cultivating, that is already there.
Śyāmasundara: For instance, if you are unable to receive knowledge from a higher authority, could you still somehow have this knowledge inside?
Prabhupāda: Yes. Inside, there is. We say caitya-guru; Kṛṣṇa is within.
Philosophy Discussion on Immanuel Kant:
Prabhupāda: Yes. So contradiction mean imperfect knowledge. Perfect knowledge means who sticks to his principles. That is perfect knowledge. One who does not stick to his original proposal, his knowledge is imperfect.
Philosophy Discussion on Hegel:
Śyāmasundara: He says that God is the sum total of all concrete phenomenon.
Prabhupāda: That's all right but that means he has no clear knowledge. That's all. So therefore we can say they are rascals. And one who does not know God, he is rascal. Following, that is our philosophy(?). But because knowledge means to understand God. The animals, they do not understand God. Therefore they are called animal. Similarly, any man, any so-called (indistinct) does not know God, he is animal. He may be nicely dressed, that is another thing, but factually he is an animal, because he does not know God.
Philosophy Discussion on John Stuart Mill:
Hayagrīva: What he is saying here that he doesn't believe that knowledge or belief in the immortality of the soul, gives one courage at death, more courage at death.
Prabhupāda: No. First of all knowledge means to understand the fact. If you do not know the fact then on this wrong background all your knowledge is (indistinct). If the foundation is wrong then what is the value of such knowledge. Therefore the first knowledge is one should understand that he is not this body, he is soul.
Philosophy Discussion on Sigmund Freud:
Prabhupāda: God is there, that's a fact, and knowledge means to go to that point. If one has not reached to that point, his knowledge is imperfect.
Philosophy Discussion on Sigmund Freud:
Prabhupāda: There is supreme controller. You are making arrangement to live here very happily; next day you die. So you are under controller. How can you deny it? So there is supreme controller. Now, knowledge means, "Who is that supreme controller? How He is controlling?" Not that deny it, "Grapes are sour." Jumping, jumping, jumping, jumping, when he could not reach the grapes, he said, "Oh, there is no need of them. It is sour." Their position is like that. They cannot understand...
Philosophy Discussion on Karl Marx:
Prabhupāda: So, bhakti is anyābhilāṣitā-śūnyam, one must be completely free from all these desires, material desires. Anyābhilāṣitā-śūnyaṁ jñāna-karmādy anāvṛtam (CC Madhya 19.167), without any aspiration for resultant action of knowledge and karma. Knowledge means, just like the jñānīs, they are cultivating knowledge, but their aim is how to become one with God. That is their aim.
Purports to Songs
Purport to Bhajahu Re Mana -- New York, March 30, 1966:
Superconsciousness is impersonal conception of Kṛṣṇa, and Kṛṣṇa is personal conception of Superconsciousness. Because Kṛṣṇa means He's not only superconscious, but He's supreme bliss and supreme knowledge—supreme knowledge means superconsciousness—and eternal, supreme consciousness, supreme bliss. That is the definition of Kṛṣṇa.
Conversations and Morning Walks
1970 Conversations and Morning Walks
Room Conversation -- December 13, 1970, Indore:
Prabhupāda: Very nice that you are cultivating this knowledge. It is very nice. Manuṣyāṇāṁ sahasreṣu kaścid yatati siddhaye (BG 7.3). This cultivation of spiritual knowledge means perfection of life. But people do not try for it. Therefore Gītā says, manuṣyāṇāṁ sahasreṣu: "Out of many thousands of men, one may try to cultivate knowledge for spiritual advancement." And yatatām api siddhānāṁ: (BG 7.3) "Out of many such persons who are cultivating spiritual knowledge, hardly one can understand what is Kṛṣṇa."
1971 Conversations and Morning Walks
Room Conversation -- January 17, 1971, Allahabad:
Guest (1): There are eight kinds of getting the knowledge, means bhakti...
Prabhupāda: No, no. Bhakti is a process. Bhakti is not knowledge. That knowledge you acquire by your sense perception, and bhakti is the pure activities of the senses.
Guest (1): No, surrender means bhakti. One surrenders to...
Prabhupāda: No question of bhakti. That is the process. If you want to know about tat, then that is the process. You have to surrender. So long you will think that "I can think of, I have got power," you'll be failed.
1973 Conversations and Morning Walks
Morning Walk -- April 19, 1973, Los Angeles:
Brahmānanda: :Knowledge means that you have to be able to demonstrate it.
Prabhupāda: :Yes. That... Otherwise what...
Brahmānanda: :Otherwise, its' just...
Prabhupāda: Ācaraṇa. It is called ācaraṇa. Āpani ācari bhakti karila pracāra.
Brahmānanda: They should be able to demonstrate it in a laboratory.
Prabhupāda: Yes. Science says that: "observation and experiment." That is science. You observe how things are going on. And you experiment. Then it is perfect. But you cannot make experiment, you simply observe, that, a child also can also observe, and he can speak something nonsense.
Morning Walk -- April 25, 1973, Los Angeles:
Prabhupāda: Advancement of knowledge means to mitigate, minimize miseries of life. That is called advancement of knowledge. But you... The real miseries of life is birth, death, old age and disease. You cannot do anything. So where is your advancement of knowledge?
Morning Walk -- April 26, 1973, Los Angeles:
Prabhupāda: Knowledge means culture. Just like we were discussing. This is the process of knowledge: inquiry from right person and take the answer. That is knowledge. Just like a child takes knowledge from his father: "Father, what is this?" He gives knowledge. So you must inquire rightly from the right person. Then you get knowledge. This is the process of knowledge.
Room Conversation with Father Tanner and other guests -- July 11, 1973, London:
Prabhupāda: Knowledge means truth. Unless you come to the knowledge of truth, your knowledge is not perfect.
Room Conversation with Sir Alistair Hardy -- July 21, 1973, London:
Prabhupāda: When we speak of Veda, Veda means knowledge. So knowledge means knowledge of God. Any scripture that gives knowledge of God, that is Vedas. Don't think that Vedas means that only the Sāma, Yajuḥ, Atharva. Those who are following the principles to give knowledge about God, that is Veda.
Room Conversation with Banker -- September 21, 1973, Bombay:
Prabhupāda: This modern civilization is teaching people how to steal, how to cheat, how to satisfy your own sense gratification. You see? No tolerance, no complete knowledge. All fools and rascals, no knowledge. Knowledge means they must know what is the aim of life, what is God, what we are, what is this material world, why we have come here. So many things. This is called God consciousness.
Morning Walk -- December 2, 1973, Los Angeles:
Prabhupāda: He cannot live here, he cannot stay here, he cannot enjoy here. That's a fact. But he is being allured. That means he is becoming more and more ass. Ass because they are believing still, "No, by scientific method, we shall do that, we shall do that. We shall cure all diseases. We shall live for good. There will be no more death. And we are happy." That means you are becoming... This material advancement of knowledge means you are becoming more and more asses.
Morning Walk -- December 7, 1973, Los Angeles:
Dr. Wolfe: Śrīla Prabhupāda, in the twenties there was a doctor in Switzerland, Couet(?), who had the same method. "I'm better and better every day," and he had thousands of people who came there and nothing was heard of him ten years later.
Bali Mardana: Till he died.
Prabhupāda: "Better, better, better, I am going to die better very soon." (laughter) Therefore Kṛṣṇa has shown that "Why you are thinking, 'better,' the death is before you." Janma-mṛtyu-jarā-vyādhi-duḥkha-doṣānu... (BG 13.9), that is real knowledge. Real knowledge means, "How I am better?" The death is there. (break) That is real knowledge. I am going to die, I cannot stop it. You see. That is real knowledge. And if somebody thinks that I am better, although I am going to die, then he's a foolish. Better means you stop your death.
Morning Walk -- December 19, 1973, Los Angeles:
Prabhupāda: Śāśvata means eternally fresh. Therefore ignorance is also eternal. Because knowledge means absence of ignorance. That is knowledge. So side by side, two things are there. Now, if you are in ignorance, there is no knowledge.
1974 Conversations and Morning Walks
Morning Walk -- March 25, 1974, Bombay:
Prabhupāda: Knowledge means...
Dr. Patel: Knowledge of God.
Prabhupāda: Yes. Knowledge means knowledge of yourself. When you are actually in knowledge, then you will surrender to Kṛṣṇa... Bahūnāṁ janmanām ante jñānavān māṁ prapadyate (BG 7.19). That is knowledge. So long you do not surrender to Kṛṣṇa, you are in ignorance.
Morning Walk -- March 25, 1974, Bombay:
Prabhupāda: Everyone is poet. (laughter) (break) Without being kavi, one cannot become devotee. There are twenty-six qualifications of a devotee. One of them is to become kavi.
Dr. Patel: Kavi means the one who knows present, past and future. Is it not?
Prabhupāda: A man of knowledge.
Dr. Patel: And knowledge means this knowledge.
Prabhupāda: Yes.
Morning Walk -- April 11, 1974, Bombay:
Indian Man (1): In the beginning everybody is foolish. We are born foolish.
Prabhupāda: Well, born foolish. That... He has to become intelligent. But when he talks foolishly, he remains foolish.
Indian Man (1): Well, so far he is not enlightened.
Prabhupāda: If he talks foolishly, that means he is still foolish. He has not attained any knowledge.
Indian Man (6): But after getting the knowledge, then knowledge means when we completely know the Supreme Personality is Lord Kṛṣṇa, then he is all right.
Prabhupāda: Yes. Yes.
Morning Walk -- May 9, 1974, Bombay:
Dr. Patel: Science means knowledge. And knowledge is there. Knowledge means God.
Prabhupāda: Practical...
Dr. Patel: But we are trying to honor the knowledge which we have not now known...
Prabhupāda: That knowledge is described in the Bhagavad-gītā. Vāsudevaḥ sarvam iti sa mahātmā sudurlabhaḥ (BG 7.19). When one understands, "Oh, here is the original source of everything," vāsudevaḥ sarvam iti sa mahātmā sudurlabhaḥ (BG 7.19), that is greatest scientist. And how this knowledge comes? Bahūnāṁ janmanām ante (BG 7.19). They are struggling for the ultimate knowledge.
1975 Conversations and Morning Walks
Room Conversation with Sanskrit Professor, other Guests and Disciples -- February 12, 1975, Mexico:
Guest (5): I have great difficulty with the meaning of the term "perfect knowledge." Could you...
Prabhupāda: Perfect knowledge means what you say, it is correct. There is no mistake.
Guest (5): Under any and all circumstances.
Prabhupāda: Yes. That is perfect knowledge, not like the scientists. They changes: "Yes, it was this. Now it is now changed." This is not perfect knowledge. They simply change. Therefore we say, mūḍhās. Perfect knowledge is that what you say, that is correct forever. That is perfect.
Room Conversation with Woman Sanskrit Professor -- February 13, 1975, Mexico:
Professor: If one is following different stage, status of knowledge...
Prabhupāda: Yes. Different stage of knowledge means different types of body. Just like a child. A child is talking in some way. The same child, when he will get a different body, youthful body, he'll talk differently
Room Conversation with Woman Sanskrit Professor -- February 13, 1975, Mexico:
Prabhupāda: What is your direct answer?
Guest (1): Oh, I don't have any. If I would have, I wouldn't ask you.
Prabhupāda: That means your knowledge is insufficient.
Guest (1): Precisely. Precisely. That is the beginning of...
Prabhupāda: Therefore, if you have no answer. That's all right. That "We don't know" means our knowledge is insufficient. But knowledge means must be progressive. We should not remain in insufficient knowledge. We must make further progress to get sufficient knowledge. Inquiry.
Room Conversation with Svarupa Damodara -- March 1, 1975, Atlanta:
Prabhupāda: Just like if you paint a picture, rose, you are a painter, not that you know the knowledge. A painter is not a man of knowledge. Man of knowledge means he knows how things are being done. That is man of knowledge. Painter imitates some painting, that's all. He may be a good painter, but a painter is never taken as man of knowledge. I think, therefore, two departments, art and science. So this knowledge, this technical knowledge... Suppose one man has created an aeroplane. That is an art; that is not knowledge.
Room Conversation -- March 2, 1975, Atlanta:
Prabhupāda: That is the defect of modern education, they manufacture education although they're imperfect. They have no the common sense that "I am imperfect, how I am manufacturing education and becoming teacher. My becoming teacher is cheating because I have no perfect knowledge." Knowledge means it must be perfect, not "maybe," "perhaps." This is not knowledge. Definite knowledge.
Morning Walk -- April 3, 1975, Mayapur:
Prabhupāda: That is called foolishness, that "I am going to be kicked out tomorrow, and let me enjoy tonight." That's all. That is foolishness.
Madhudviṣa: This is their only recourse 'cause they don't believe in anything after this life.
Prabhupāda: Yes. They... That... "Don't believe" means, don't take knowledge means, foolishness. Yes. Just like you are walking. You don't believe that you are going to the temple, but simply walking. Is that very intelligent? We are going. We are going to some place. We know that. That is intelligent. And if I ask you, "Why you are walking?" "That I do not know." Is that very intelligent man?
Morning Walk -- May 23, 1975, Melbourne:
Prabhupāda: Everyone wants to keep himself youthful. But can the science stop this, that he will not become old? He must become old.
Then where is the education value? You cannot solve your problem, so what is the meaning of education? Education, knowledge, means you have solved your problems. They are trying to do that, temporary problem. But ultimate problem they cannot solve. Therefore the value of this education is useless.
Room Conversation with the Mayor of Evanston -- July 4, 1975, Chicago:
Prabhupāda: We are searching after knowledge in so many ways but what is the ultimate knowledge? The ultimate knowledge, Vedānta, means end of knowledge. End of knowledge means to understand the original source of everything. Athāto brahma jijñāsā. The human inquisitiveness should be up to that point, what is the origin of everything.
Morning Walk -- July 21, 1975, San Francisco:
Prabhupāda: So faith with knowledge is very good. But beginning must be faith, with knowledge or without knowledge.
Bahulāśva: Śrīla Prabhupāda, the scientists will argue that Kṛṣṇa consciousness won't be scientifically accepted if it's just based on...
Prabhupāda: The scientists, how they can argue like that? Therefore they are rascals. First of all they explain something theoretically: "Hydrogen, oxygen-mix together it becomes water." It is faith. Then it is practically shown in the laboratory. So faith is the beginning. Theoretical knowledge means faith.
Room Conversation with Reporter of The Star -- October 16, 1975, Johannesburg:
Reporter: What stops so many millions of people from doing it?
Prabhupāda: Well, knowledge means it is meant for few men. If you want men without any university degree, you will get many thousands. But as soon as say, "We want graduate," it will be minimized. Or as soon as you say "postgraduate," it will be still minimized. So as soon as there is question of knowledge, the number of people will be diminished. So we cannot expect mass of people. But if there are good persons, exemplified person, vivid example, that will help the whole society—"There is ideal class. They know everything."
Morning Walk -- October 18, 1975, Johannesburg:
Puṣṭa Kṛṣṇa: So with their advancement of knowledge...
Prabhupāda: What is the advancement of knowledge?
Puṣṭa Kṛṣṇa: They are increasing sex life, and actually the advancement of knowledge should be decreasing sex life.
Prabhupāda: Yes. They do not know what is knowledge. The knowledge means sex life. That is their knowledge. Advancement of knowledge means how to enjoy sex life, how to take shelter of abortion, child-killing, and then contraceptive method—whole thing on the basis of sex life. That's all. They do not know except these things. They know there is botheration after sex life, but they cannot give it up. Therefore all these arrangements: take contraceptive, kill child, and what... That means the whole thing is based on sex life. That's all.
Morning Walk -- October 18, 1975, Johannesburg:
Prabhupāda: Jada vidyā means material education, the so-called material science. So jada vidyā. Vidyā means education, so this expansion of knowledge means expansion of the influence of māyā. Jada vidyā saba māyāra vaibhava. And the result is tomāra bhajane bādhā. People will forget God. With the advancement of so-called material science or material knowledge, the result will be that people will forget God.
Morning Walk -- October 19, 1975, Johannesburg:
Prabhupāda: No spiritual knowledge means he is animal. That's all. Sa eva gokharaḥ. This is the final verdict. One who has no spiritual knowledge, he is no better than these cows and dogs. That's all. Therefore guidance of the brāhmaṇa required.
Morning Walk -- November 8, 1975, Bombay:
Prabhupāda: Without bhakti, knowledge is artificial, because knowledge means to accept the Supreme Lord as Supreme. That is knowledge.
Morning Walk -- November 8, 1975, Bombay:
Prabhupāda: The so-called knowledge is useless. It has no value. māyāyapahṛta-jñāna. What is the test? Na māṁ prapadyante: "If he had knowledge, he would have surrendered to Me," but he does not do so.
Dr. Patel: Jñānavan māṁ prapadyante. That is knowledge. Jñāna means knowledge. That knowledge is the Supreme.
Prabhupāda: But that knowledge means actually jñānavān. Otherwise it is false knowledge. māyāyapahṛta-jñāna. If you do not know what is God, then what is the meaning of your knowledge?
Morning Walk -- November 14, 1975, Bombay:
Prabhupāda: So if one does not understand what is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, then māyayāpahṛta-jñānā—he has no knowledge. Knowledge means ultimately he must know what is God. That is knowledge.
Morning Walk -- November 26, 1975, New Delhi:
Prabhupāda: Faith is good, provided you have faith on the superior. That is good.
Harikeśa: So faith in knowledge.
Prabhupāda: Yes. Knowledge means received from the superior. Like the child gets knowledge from the father. That kind of faith is required. If the child does not believe the statement of father and mother, he cannot make any progress.
Morning Walk -- December 11, 1975, Vrndavana:
Prabhupāda: Knowledge means to find out the source. That is knowledge. Where from it comes. There is a good example we studied in our childhood. A child was very intelligent so he was beating on a drum, so he was very much inquisitive, "Where from the sound is coming?" Then he cut the surface... (laughing) That is intelligence. Inquisitive... where from the sound is coming? Although it was childish but that is innate intelligence.
1976 Conversations and Morning Walks
Room Conversation -- April 22, 1976, Melbourne:
Prabhupāda: Knowledge means you must have knowledge of everything, social, political, religious, cultural, philosophical, chemical, physical, everything. So the Bhagavad-gītā is like that. Vedic knowledge is like that. You receive any type of knowledge you want to get. That is called Veda. Veda means knowledge. Knowledge means of anything. That is knowledge. So everything is there.
Morning Walk -- May 27, 1976, Honolulu:
Prabhupāda: Knowledge means misguiding knowledge. That's all. That is not knowledge. That is going on. In the name of knowledge, all rascaldom is going on. That is the misfortune of the present world. In the name of knowledge, all rascal isms going.
Room Conversation with George Gullen, President of Wayne State University -- June 15, 1976, Detroit:
Prabhupāda: First of all knowledge means kṣetra-kṣetrajña. The body is the field of activity. You are acting, I am also acting, everyone is acting—according to the body. But the actor is called kṣetrajña. Just like a cultivator is tilling the land, his own, and the tiller is cultivator. Similarly, this body is an analogy of this field, and we are tilling.
Interview with Professors O'Connell, Motilal and Shivaram -- June 18, 1976, Toronto:
Prabhupāda: Advancement of knowledge means one must be able to see that what are the actual problems. Just like the scientists, the philosophers, they're trying to solve so many problems. But first of all, fix up what is the problem. Temporary problem, to make a solution, that is going on. But actual problem is this: na hanyate hanyamāne śarīre (BG 2.20). The soul is not destroyed, na jāyate na mriyate vā kadācit, at any time. One should be very prudent to see that "If I have no birth and no death, then what is this nonsense, birth and death?" That is knowledge. Why I am dying? Why there is birth problem? Why there is death problem? And as soon as there is birth problem, there is disease problem, there is old age problem.
Garden Conversation -- June 22, 1976, New Vrindaban:
Prabhupāda: Knowledge means to take it from higher personality. That is knowledge. Tad-vijñānārthaṁ sa gurum evābhigacchet (MU 1.2.12). Knowledge means you have to receive it from a superior person. Otherwise, there is no knowledge.
Garden Conversation -- June 22, 1976, New Vrindaban:
Prabhupāda: If you want to steal even, you have to learn it from a professional thief, how to cheat, how to steal. That is also another kind of knowledge. You cannot steal unless you become expert by learning how to steal from an expert thief. So knowledge means you have to receive it from higher authority. That is knowledge.
Garden Conversation -- June 22, 1976, New Vrindaban:
Puṣṭa Kṛṣṇa: So all different aspects of material knowledge...
Prabhupāda: You have to learn from a superior person.
Puṣṭa Kṛṣṇa: But now there is distinction between two types of knowledge. If knowledge means understanding...
Prabhupāda: No, no. Any knowledge, if you want to get it, you must receive it from a superior person. That is the law. That I already explained. If you want to steal, if you want to become a thief, you have to learn it from an expert thief. So any knowledge. Knowledge means you have to learn it from a superior person. And what to speak of the knowledge of God. That is the ultimate knowledge.
Evening Darsana -- July 7, 1976, Washington, D.C.:
Prabhupāda: Perfection of knowledge means to understand God. That is perfection of knowledge. Otherwise, it is imperfect knowledge. Therefore it is called Vedānta. Veda means knowledge.
Evening Darsana -- July 11, 1976, New York:
Prabhupāda: Can anyone say that there is difficulty in thinking of Kṛṣṇa? And as soon as you think of Kṛṣṇa, you become a devotee, immediately. And as soon as you become a devotee, you'll offer something for worship. And at the end of worship, you offer your obeisances. There is no need of education or Vedānta knowledge. Vedānta knowledge means this, man-manā bhava mad-bhakto mad-yājī māṁ namaskuru (BG 18.65).
Interview with Trans-India Magazine -- July 17, 1976, New York:
Prabhupāda: So this is the civilization of the asuras, and without Kṛṣṇa consciousness, without any knowledge of Kṛṣṇa or without any knowledge of the Kṛṣṇa's instruction, people are grouped as duṣkṛtina, miscreants; mūḍhas, rascals; narādhama, lowest of the mankind. And if you say that "So many people, they are educated highly in the university, how they can be taken as miscreants, rascals and lowest of the mankind?" the answer is māyayāpahṛta-jñānāḥ. They have got knowledge, so-called knowledge, but they are lacking in real knowledge. Knowledge means to get out of distress. That is knowledge. But the real distress remains as it is. They cannot avoid death, they cannot avoid birth, they cannot avoid old age. And still they are claiming they are making progress in happiness. So that is called illusion.
Evening Darsana -- August 9, 1976, Tehran:
Prabhupāda: Theoretical and practical. Scientific knowledge means both, theoretical and practical.
Room Conversation with Endowments Commissioner of Andhra Pradesh -- August 22, 1976, Hyderabad:
Prabhupāda: Vedic knowledge means to understand Kṛṣṇa. So Kṛṣṇa is explaining Himself, to understand Him. That is Bhagavad-gītā. So if you accept the principles of Bhagavad-gītā, the whole Vedas are accepted. Because purpose of Veda is to understand Kṛṣṇa. And that Kṛṣṇa is explaining Himself—"I'm like this." So where is the difficulty to understand Vedas?
Garden Conversation -- October 14, 1976, Chandigarh:
Prabhupāda: Theory is not knowledge. Anyone can put forward some nonsense theory. That is not knowledge. Knowledge means factual.
Room Conversation with Dr. Theodore Kneupper -- November 6, 1976, Vrndavana:
Prabhupāda: The Hindu religion is a vague term. It is a vague term. It is not clear. It is not clear. Real term is, it is called, Vedic principle. Vedic principle. And in the Bhagavad-gītā it is said: Vedic knowledge means to understand God. Vedaiś ca sarvair aham eva vedyam (BG 15.15). So anyone who tries to understand God, he is in the Vedic line.
Room Conversation with Dr. Theodore Kneupper -- November 6, 1976, Vrndavana:
Prabhupāda: If I say, "Here is a person who knows mathematics," why there should be... Any person who is interested in mathematics will welcome him. So similarly, here is Vedic knowledge. Vedic knowledge means real knowledge. Here is Bhagavad-gītā, the knowledge of God, but they misunderstand. They think, "Oh, we have got another God." How God can be another? So people should be sober, that we are giving books. They should understand. And it is accepted by the educated class, big, big professors, big, big philosophers. It is not blind faith.
1977 Conversations and Morning Walks
Morning Darsana and Room Conversation Ramkrishna Bajaj and friends -- January 9, 1977, Bombay:
Prabhupāda: So Vedic knowledge means don't argue. You have to accept it. Acintyaḥ khalu ye bhava na tas tarkena yojayet. Things... There are many things which is beyond your perception, so you have to accept the Vedic injunction. Then you are right. So if the Vedic injunction is: "In such and such moment you take a bath in the Ganges; you become purified," you take it. There is no question of argument. That is faith. Now faith must be there.
Evening Darsana -- February 26, 1977, Mayapura:
Prabhupāda: Which is beyond your mind and intelligence, you have to hear from the authority. Just like father. If one wants to know who is father, he cannot see it. He must know it from the authority-mother. Similarly, therefore called Vedic knowledge. Vedic knowledge means whatever is beyond the capacity of your senses, that you have to hear from the right source.
Correspondence
1969 Correspondence
Letter to Damodara -- Los Angeles 16 August, 1969:
We cannot demand from Krishna to know about Him. When you actually learn to serve Him, He reveals Himself. That is the process. And the success of life is simply by pleasing Him. That is the version of all Vedic literature. Knowledge means to know Him, and success means to please Him.
1971 Correspondence
Letter to Shekhar Prasad Shrestha -- Bombay 24 April, 1971:
To know Krishna as God is not so exalted a position as to love Krishna without knowing. That is the highest perfection. Knowledge means discrimination. The gopis loved Krishna without discrimination.
1972 Correspondence
Letter to Nandarani -- Mayapur 27 February, 1972:
So-called transcendentalists who have no real stock of knowledge they are fond of these miracles, and for the most part, because the innocent public is generally foolish, therefore they accept these rascals of magicians as saintly persons. But real knowledge means science or knowing everything about something. So this Krishna Consciousness is not a miracle, it is science, and because we are Krishna conscious, therefore we know everything, so practically we can understand how Krishna wanted to please His devotees and He appeared there so wonderfully, and we do not see anything miracle.
Letter to Sri Govinda -- Calcutta 5 March, 1972:
When we think of superior person, we think he is superior because he knows something more than I, superiority means more knowledge. Krishna knows everything, and He claims that if anyone knows Him, then he also knows everything. So knowledge means to know only that Krishna is the Proprietor of everything, that Krishna is the Friend of everyone, and that Krishna is the Enjoyer of everything.
1974 Correspondence
Letter to Alfred Ford -- Mayapur 28 October, 1974:
Human life is meant for acquiring knowledge and detachment to the material world. Knowledge means to understand that everything belongs to Krishna. Krishna consciousness means that everything including myself are different energies of the Lord and as such should be utilized for the purpose of Krishna.
| Page Title: | Knowledge means |
| Compiler: | Visnu Murti, Rishab |
| Created: | 30 of Nov, 2008 |
| Totals by Section: | BG=3, SB=12, CC=1, OB=9, Lec=128, Con=50, Let=5 |
| No. of Quotes: | 208 |