We should be awakened to the consciousness, "Now what is my duty?" We should inquire. And for your inquiry, the answers are there already in the Bhagavad-gītā, in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, in the Upaniṣads. We have got in the Purāṇas. So we should utilize it. So instead of utilizing this knowledge, this treasure house of knowledge, we are reading bunch of useless newspaper. You see? In the Western countries, most of you may know, they are delivering in the morning such big lump of newspaper. And after one hour, it is thrown away. Who will read that? But people's attentions are diverted by so many nonsense literature, and they are not interested to inquire from the real source of knowledge, real treasure house of knowledge.
Therefore here it is said that jīvasya tattva-jijñāsā: "Your only business is to inquire about the truth." And that truth should be inquired from whom? Tasmād guruṁ prapadyeta jijñāsuḥ śreya uttamam (SB 11.3.21). If you are actually inquisitive to understand what is Absolute Truth, what is your life, what is the value of life, tasmād guruṁ prapadyeta. A guru is not a fashion, that "Oh, such-and-such svāmījī is a . . . let me make him guru." Just like, "Oh, there is a nice dog. Keep me a dog. Let me keep here dog." And if a guru says, "Yes, whatever you are doing, you are right. You can do whatever you . . . you can eat whatever you like. You can do whatever . . ." "Oh, he is a very nice guru." And as soon as he will say: "No illicit sex life, sir; no meat-eating, no gambling, no intoxication," "Oh, Swāmījī, you are very conservative." I have heard these things. That poet Allen Ginsberg, he said: "Swāmījī, you are very conservative." No. I am the most liberal. You do not know. If I become conservative, then none of you will come to me.
So a brahmacārī is strictly prohibited not to see even one young woman. But what can be done? In the Western countries, the boys and girls, they mix very freely. And if I say: "My dear boy, you cannot see even a young girl," then finished. My business there is finished. Therefore I have to arrange according to the country, according to the circumstances, as far as possible. So gradually, they are coming to the perfectional stage. So we have to adopt deśa-kāla-pātra: according to time, according to . . . but we are keeping our principles as it is, but making arrangement according to the circumstances. That is required.
So here, jīvasya tattva-jijñāsā. Now what is tattva? Of course, I shall . . . it is . . . I can speak something about tattva. The next verse, it is tattva. Tattva, here it is said:
vadanti tat tattva-vidas tattvaṁ yaj jñānam advayam brahmeti paramātmeti bhagavān iti śabdyate (SB 1.2.11) So tattva, the Absolute Truth, is one. Absolute Truth is not two. Ekaṁ brahma dvitīyaṁ nāsti. Absolute Truth is one, but it is realized from different angles of vision. There are transcendentalist, just like . . . karmīs are not transcendentalist. Fruitive worker: those who are simply working for betterment of life or standard of life or economic development—dharma, artha, kāma. Kāma means sense gratification. That is already explained. Kāmasya nendriya-prītiḥ. But they are thinking that indriya-prīti, sense gratification, is the highest perfection of life. But Bhāgavata says, or our Vedic authority says, kāmasya nendriya-prītiḥ. So karmī, they are rejected. They are not fit for spiritual life, at least, so long they remain karmī, muḍḥa. That I have explained last night. Then, out of many thousands of karmīs, one becomes jñānī, jñānī, in true knowledge. They are called jñānī. When one is fed up with this karmī, he comes to the stage of jñānī, knowledge, that "I am not this body. Why I am working so hard for this body like cats and dogs?" He comes to this platform of jñānī. Then above the jñānī, the yogīs. Those who are trying to connect, link with the Supreme, they are called yogīs. yoga indriya-saṁyamaḥ. In the yoga stage, there is control of the senses. So yogīs, and then bhaktas. Karmī, jñānī, yogī and bhakta. Bhakta means devotee.
So those who are karmīs, they are not talked about here, tattva, because they are not interested in tattva-jijñāsā. They are interested in āhāra-nidrā-bhaya. Viṣayī. Viṣayiṇām sandarśanam. Caitanya Mahāprabhu, therefore, He was very strict sannyāsī. Viṣayiṇāṁ sandarśanam atha yoṣitāṁ ca hā hanta hanta viṣa-bhakṣaṇato 'py asādhu (CC Madhya 11.8). If you are interested . . . Caitanya Mahāprabhu was requested by His confidential devotees to allow a meeting with Mahārāja Pratāparudra. Oh, He immediately refused, "No, no. I cannot see a king." He was so strict. "A king is simply interested with politics and money, so what shall I do by meeting him? No, no. I cannot meet him." Refused. So in that connection He composed one śloka, verse, that bhagavad-bhajanonmukhasya pāraṁ paraṁ jigamiṣor bhava-sāgarasya (CC Madhya 11.8): "Those who are interested to go to the other side of the spiritual world," bhava-sāgarasya jigamiṣoḥ, "that such person, for such person," viṣayiṇāṁ sandarśanam atha yoṣitāṁ ca, "to see the viṣayīs interested in simply eating, sleeping, mating, such person, and yoṣit, and woman," hā hanta, hā hanta viṣa-bhakṣaṇato 'py asādhu, "oh, for him, this kind of action is more abominable than drinking poison."