Guest (1): I'd like to ask, a vipra means he has the twelve qualifications, and he also has the qualification of faith. I don't understand exactly what it means when Prahlāda Mahārāja says that . . . (indistinct) . . . on a follower who has no faith in God or God watching him.
Prabhupāda: No. A vipra, because he is studying . . . vipra means one who is engaged in the studies of Vedas. That is . . . veda-pathād bhaved vipraḥ. So if he is studying Vedas, then must be qualified with all the good qualities. Because just like Bhagavad-gītā, it is said that "These are the good qualities." So study means to accept the instruction. Study does not mean simply to become a bookworm. No. Study means to apply practically in life what you learn from the Vedas. So if anyone is seriously studying, then naturally he is qualified with all the good qualities.
Yes? No. You can say.
Devotee: (indistinct) . . . believe in themselves or have faith on that or believe on that . . . (indistinct)
Prabhupāda: That in the material world there are three qualities: the quality of goodness, the quality of passion, the quality of ignorance. These three qualities are working. We see varieties in this material world due to the interaction of these three qualities. So there are varieties of men. Some of them are in good quality, some of them are in quality of passion, some of them are in the quality of ignorance. Therefore they have got different types of faith also, not that your faith or my faith may be the same, because you may be in the quality of goodness, I may be in the quality of passion or ignorance.
So faith is according to the particular quality of the person who is professing that faith. So the sattvic faith, the faith in goodness, that is faith in Brahman, the Supreme. That is called goodness, brahminical faith. And above this . . . this is sattvic. Sattvic means goodness. So goodness . . . in the material world, even goodness is sometimes contaminated with tinges of passion and ignorance. Therefore in the material world nothing can be in pure goodness.
So one has to transcend the goodness platform of this material world and come to the platform of pure goodness, śuddha-sattva, where there is no more contamination of passion and ignorance. That platform is called God consciousness, or Kṛṣṇa consciousness.
Guest (2): Is faith in God more necessary than proper protection? In other words, is this process actually more necessary?
Prabhupāda: Well, when one has got faith in God he must have the necessary activities. Otherwise, what kind of faith it is? Just like if I say that, "I have faith in you, but I don't trust you," what kind of faith I have got? If I say: "My dear friend, I have faith in you," and if you want me to do something, I don't do it, then if I say, "How can I do it?" then what kind of faith that is? So this sort of faith is not required. Faith means real faith.
So whenever there is real faith, there is activity also. That is faith. When there is real Kṛṣṇa consciousness, God consciousness, then there is activity for pleasing the God. Simply I believe in God simply for exacting things from God, that is a different type of faith. That is in the lowest stage. Just like a small child, he has got faith, but if a learned, educated child, he has got different faith, "Oh, my father, my mother, they have done so much for us," oh, he wants to repay. He wants to oblige the father. That is also another faith, the same faith.