Yoko Ono: But you said about if the milk goes through a serpent's mouth it will produce poison, and, for instance, George just told us about a week ago a very interesting story about a man who had a face of Christ, and in twenty years' time he had a face of Judah. And the Catholic Church and all those churches first probably had good words, and now it's deteriorating. Now, how would you decide, really, that brāhmanis are always in a pure state that you speak of, that they would never turn into serpents?
Prabhupāda: That you have to become a serious student.
Yoko Ono: Well, I mean, what do you mean by serious student? Maybe everybody, all of us are serious anyway. I mean, we're born serious or born, you know, unserious.
Prabhupāda: Then you must know what is distinction between Brahman, Paramātmā and Bhagavān, if you are serious student.
Yoko Ono: But does it depend on knowledge? I mean, the final judgment that you make?
Prabhupāda: Everything depends on knowledge. Without knowledge, how can we make progress? Student means to acquire knowledge. Serious student means to acquire knowledge.
Yoko Ono: But not always the knowledgeable one are the ones who . . .
Prabhupāda: Yes. You cannot know completely. That is because our knowledge is very imperfect. But still, so far our knowledge is concerned, as far as possible, we should try to understand. Avāṅ mānasa gocaraḥ. This Absolute is so great and unlimited that it is not possible for us to know Him completely. That is not possible. Our senses does not allow. But as far as it is possible . . .
Because, after all, we are part and parcel of the Absolute, so all the qualities of the Absolute are there in us, but it is in minute quantity. So that minute quantity is also very great in comparison to material knowledge. Material knowledge is practically no knowledge. It is covered. But when one is liberated, liberated knowledge is certainly very, very great than material knowledge.
So Brahman, Paramātmā and Bhagavān. These are the statements of Bhāgavata. Brahmeti paramātmeti bhagavān iti śabdyate (SB 1.2.11). It is . . . Śabdyate means sounded as Bhagavān, Paramātmā and Brahman. Now, what are the difference of degrees of knowledge? Brahman knowledge, Paramātmā knowledge and Bhagavān knowledge. The same thing: the knowledge of sunshine, the knowledge of sun globe and the knowledge of this predominating deity in the sun globe.
So knowledge of sunshine is not knowledge of the predominating deity of the sun globe. There is another example in this connection. Just like if you see one hill from a long-distant place, first of all you see just like it is a cloud. Then, if you proceed further, you'll see something green. And if you enter into that hill you'll see, oh, there are so many varieties—there are animals, there are men, there are trees. But from the distant, you'll see just like a cloud.