Prabhupāda: Why these scientists cannot understand?
Svarūpa Dāmodara: They're somehow confused.
Prabhupāda: Hmm? That means less intelligent.
Svarūpa Dāmodara: We need to show the alternative.
Prabhupāda: No, a child can see there are two things, that what is the difference between a living man and dead man. So my father was living one moment before; now he is dead. The something is missing. The two things are there. Where is the difficulty? And these big, big scientists, they cannot understand. How less intelligent they are. Immediately understood two things, but something is missing.
Svarūpa Dāmodara: Somehow they have developed this false understanding that everything can be reduced to atoms and molecules.
Prabhupāda: That is still less intelligence, still less intelligence. Kartāham iti manyate (BG 3.27).
Svarūpa Dāmodara: Because life is something which is beyond experimental knowledge...
Prabhupāda: That means they do not know. Say that: "beyond experimental knowledge" or "beyond your capacity."
Svarūpa Dāmodara: Still, they are hesitant to say that.
Prabhupāda: That is their poor fund of knowledge. A gentleman will accept, "Yes, we do not know." But they, in roundabout way, in order to keep their position, they'll bluff. That is most dangerous, bluffing.
Svarūpa Dāmodara: That's the difficulty.
Prabhupāda: Yes. No, that is the... If one wants to be cheated and wants to cheat others, you cannot... Sarpaḥ krūraḥ khalaḥ krūraḥ. There are crooked living entities—one who is snake, and one is man. So you can control the snake, but you cannot control this rascal crooked man. That is very difficult. Khalaḥ kena nivāryate (Nīti Śāstra). He'll remain crooked, however you say. I told you that story? Scissor? Scissor? Yes. Because he's human being, he'll persist, and the other one, the animal, you can bring her, bring that animal under control. But because he is human being, you cannot bring him under control. He will persist.
Gurukṛpā: What was that story of Caesar?
Prabhupāda: Huh? Tell him.
Satsvarūpa: Scissors. Two men were arguing...
Gurukṛpā: Oh, the scissors.
Prabhupāda: Scissor logic.
Devotee: What is that?
Satsvarūpa: One man said a knife was used...
Prabhupāda: Yes.
Satsvarūpa: ...and the other said, "No, it was a scissor that was used." And they began arguing back and forth, and finally one man who held that it was a knife, he threw the other man in the river...
Prabhupāda: That "You accept that it is done by scissor." So he said, "No, I won't tolerate." Then he pushed him in the water. Then he was doing like this. (laughter) Scissor logic.
Bhāgavata: Argumentum baculum.
Prabhupāda: That was used. He was put in the water. "Either you accept or I shall push you in the water." "No, I'll not accept." (laughter) So these rascals are like that. They are failure. They cannot. Still, they'll do, (laughter) the so-called scientists.
Svarūpa Dāmodara: They have an international society for doing that.
Prabhupāda: Yes. They must combine. Otherwise there is no place for them. As soon as they accept that there is something beyond physical, then they'll have to accept God.
Svarūpa Dāmodara: Just like when we say life is nonphysical and nonchemical, then they're very amused.
Prabhupāda: That is...
Svarūpa Dāmodara: "What is it? If it is nonphysical, nonchemical, then what it is?" They inquire.
Prabhupāda: Spiritual.
Svarūpa Dāmodara: Yes, but...
Prabhupāda: That means they have to accept two things—material and spiritual. (break) ...little difficult. Therefore we have to understand from the authority. The same argument, that you have to understand who is your father from the mother. There is no other... (break) ...Kṛṣṇa says in the beginning, tathā dehāntara-prāptiḥ (BG 2.13): "The real living being is within this body, and he's changing." We have to accept. There is no experimental... (break) Because they are not sober... A sober man does not hesitate. Accept. Dhīras tatra... Therefore this word has been used. Rascal cannot understand. So indirectly, one who does not understand, he's a rascal number one. That's all.