If we are guided by nonsensical theories, then we'll never be able to understand how things are going on.
- panthās tu koṭi-śata-vatsara-sampragamyo
- vāyor athāpi manaso muni-puṅgavānām
- so 'py asti yat-prapada-sīmny avicintya-tattve
- govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi
- (Bs. 5.34)
You can go on observing, one after another, by many, many years, many, many years. Just like if you start your jet plane from here to see where is the original cause, panthās tu koṭi-śata-vatsara, and go on for many, many millions of years with the speed of mind, panthās tu koṭi-śata-vatsara-sampra... Koṭi-śata-vatsara... Millions and millions of years. And panthās tu koṭi-śata-vatsara-sampragamyo vāyor athāpi. These airplanes, vāyu-ratha... Vāyu-ratha means airplane. There is airplanes. There are different speeds. What is the speed? The speed is mental speed. Now their speed, say, eighteen thousand miles per hour. But if there is question of mental speed, it is more speedier than the vāyu speed. We have got experience. Many thousand miles, by your mind, you can reach within a second. So with the mental speed, airplane, if you start today and go for many millions of years, still it will be not possible to find out wherefrom the explosion is coming. That's it.
So that is not the way. Therefore śruti-pramāṇam. Śruti-pramāṇam means from the Vedic evidence we have to understand. Now, just like in the Vedas it is said, jalajā nava-lakṣāṇi. In the Vedas, all knowledge was there, all the living entities described fully and with minute, exact quantity. Now, within the water, we understand from the Vedic literature, there are 900,000 forms of aquatics. Now, the modern scientists, how many they have observed or studied? But it is said exactly, 900,000. Jalajā nava-lakṣāṇi sthāvarā lakṣa-viṁśati. Of course, you cannot enter within the water. But on the land, now different, and that is two million. How many species of plants and trees, and that is two million. How many the botanists have studied? Two million. Sthāvarā lakṣa-viṁśati. Even in your country, in your village, you'll find daily some new vegetable. You see? So these are the Vedic calculation. And not only that, there are different species of life, and how they are working, what senses are predominant in each and every life and everything is described. Everything is very minutely described. Therefore, if we want to have knowledge, you cannot do it by mental speculation. We should know that our mind is very, very limited. Simply by theorizing, it is not possible. Therefore tad-vijñānārthaṁ sa gurum eva abhigacchet sampit-pāṇiḥ śrotriyaṁ brahma-niṣṭham (MU 1.2.12). So we have to know from the supreme authority or the Vedas. Then the knowledge will be perfect.