Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Very good example.
Prabhupāda: Unconsciousness means absence of consciousness.
Svarūpa Dāmodara: Unconsciousness also means no life?
Prabhupāda: Yes. Originally conscious. When there is forgetfulness, that is not. So unconsciousness is a covering of life. You develop this argument. There is no such thing as unconsciousness, but when the consciousness is covered, that is unconsciousness, negation.
Svarūpa Dāmodara: That becomes matter.
Prabhupāda: Yes. That we say, "matter." Absence of consciousness is matter, jaḍa.
Satadhanya: We say "covered consciousness."
Prabhupāda: Hm.
Bhakti-cāru: But, Śrīla Prabhupāda, the body is matter, but still it is conscious as long as I am alive. So that means the life is consciousness?
Prabhupāda: Yes.
Svarūpa Dāmodara: So the distinction that we are making is still proper, that matter is the inferior part of that Absolute Truth, and life is the superior part, and without being manipulated...
Prabhupāda: Superior feature.
Svarūpa Dāmodara: Yes. But both are spirit in a sense.
Prabhupāda: Everything is spirit. Sarvaṁ khalv idaṁ brahma. Therefore I say there is no matter. Only matter means when the spirit is not discovered. When people are rascals, then there is matter. When people are intelligent, there is no matter. Sarvaṁ khalv idaṁ brahma. Therefore Māyāvādī philosophy, that "You are thinking you are not God," that is māyā.
Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Like a kīrtana party now, Śrīla Prabhupāda?
Prabhupāda: This is kīrtana, going on. You do not understand what is kīrtana. Any topics on Kṛṣṇa, that is kīrtana. Abhavad vaiyāsakī kīrtane. Vaiyāsakī, Śukadeva Gosvāmī, he became perfect by kīrtana. What kind of kīrtana did he do? Hm?
Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Bhāgavata discussion.