Limited knowledge

Expressions researched:
"Our knowledge, our perception, all of them are very limited" |"knowledge are limited" |"knowledge be so limited" |"knowledge by our limited" |"knowledge is limited" |"knowledge is very limited" |"knowledge is very small, limited" |"knowledge is very, very limited" |"knowledge limited" |"knowledge may be limited" |"knowledge that is limited" |"knowledge, opulence, they're limited" |"knowledge. Limited" |"knowledge? Limited" |"limit of knowledge" |"limit of such knowledge" |"limitation of our scientific knowledge" |"limited fund of knowledge" |"limited instruments of knowledge" |"limited knowledge" |"limited scope of knowledge" |"limited source of knowledge" |"little knowledge, everything limited"

Notes from the compiler: VedaBase query: "limit* knowledge"@8

BG Chapters 1 - 6

BG 4.13, Purport:

A person in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, however, is above even the brāhmaṇas. Although brāhmaṇas by quality are supposed to know about Brahman, the Supreme Absolute Truth, most of them approach only the impersonal Brahman manifestation of Lord Kṛṣṇa. But a man who transcends the limited knowledge of a brāhmaṇa and reaches the knowledge of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, becomes a person in Kṛṣṇa consciousness—or, in other words, a Vaiṣṇava. Kṛṣṇa consciousness includes knowledge of all different plenary expansions of Kṛṣṇa, namely Rāma, Nṛsiṁha, Varāha, etc. And as Kṛṣṇa is transcendental to this system of the four divisions of human society, a person in Kṛṣṇa consciousness is also transcendental to all divisions of human society, whether we consider the divisions of community, nation or species.

BG Chapters 7 - 12

BG 7.5, Purport:

"O Supreme Eternal! If the embodied living entities were eternal and all-pervading like You, then they would not be under Your control. But if the living entities are accepted as minute energies of Your Lordship, then they are at once subject to Your supreme control. Therefore real liberation entails surrender by the living entities to Your control, and that surrender will make them happy. In that constitutional position only can they be controllers. Therefore, men with limited knowledge who advocate the monistic theory that God and the living entities are equal in all respects are actually guided by a faulty and polluted opinion."

BG Chapters 13 - 18

BG 18.22, Purport:

The "knowledge" of the common man is always in the mode of darkness or ignorance because every living entity in conditional life is born into the mode of ignorance. One who does not develop knowledge through the authorities or scriptural injunctions has knowledge that is limited to the body. He is not concerned about acting in terms of the directions of scripture. For him God is money, and knowledge means the satisfaction of bodily demands. Such knowledge has no connection with the Absolute Truth. It is more or less like the knowledge of the ordinary animals: the knowledge of eating, sleeping, defending and mating. Such knowledge is described here as the product of the mode of darkness. In other words, knowledge concerning the spirit soul beyond this body is called knowledge in the mode of goodness, knowledge producing many theories and doctrines by dint of mundane logic and mental speculation is the product of the mode of passion, and knowledge concerned only with keeping the body comfortable is said to be in the mode of ignorance.

SB Canto 1

SB 1.2.21, Purport:

He comes to know everything of the absolute and the relative truths. The devotee cannot remain in darkness, and because a devotee is enlightened by the Personality of Godhead, his knowledge is certainly perfect. This is not the case for those who speculate on the Absolute Truth by dint of their own limited power of approach. Perfect knowledge is called paramparā, or deductive knowledge coming down from the authority to the submissive aural receiver who is bona fide by service and surrender. One cannot challenge the authority of the Supreme and know Him also at the same time. He reserves the right of not being exposed to such a challenging spirit of an insignificant spark of the whole, a spark subjected to the control of illusory energy. The devotees are submissive, and therefore the transcendental knowledge descends from the Personality of Godhead to Brahmā and from Brahmā to his sons and disciples in succession. This process is helped by the Supersoul within such devotees.

SB 1.3.37, Purport:

And for all these men, the Absolute Truth is a mystery, as the jugglery of the magician is a mystery to children. Being deceived by the jugglery of the Supreme Being, the nondevotees, who may be very dexterous in fruitive work and mental speculation, are always in ignorance. With such limited knowledge, they are unable to penetrate into the mysterious region of transcendence. The mental speculators are a little more progressive than the gross materialists or the fruitive workers, but because they are also within the grip of illusion, they take it for granted that anything which has form, a name and activities is but a product of material energy. For them the Supreme Spirit is formless, nameless and inactive. And because such mental speculators equalize the transcendental name and form of the Lord with mundane names and form, they are in fact in ignorance. With such a poor fund of knowledge, there is no access to the real nature of the Supreme Being.

SB Canto 2

SB 2.4.8, Purport:

He said therefore that even greatly learned scholars fail to know about that, even after great effort. The Lord is unlimited, and His activities are also unfathomed. With a limited source of knowledge and with imperfect senses, any living being, up to the standard of Brahmājī, the highest perfect living being within the universe, can never imagine knowing about the unlimited. We can know something of the unlimited when it is explained by the unlimited, as has been done by the Lord Himself in the unique statements of the Bhagavad-gītā, and it can also be known to some extent from realized souls like Śukadeva Gosvāmī, who learned it from Vyāsadeva, a disciple of Nārada, and thus the perfect knowledge can descend by the chain of disciplic succession only, and not by any form of experimental knowledge, old or modern.

SB 2.7.3, Purport:

The word ātma-gatim is significant in the sense of perfect knowledge of the Supreme. One should not be satisfied simply by knowing the qualitative equality of the Lord and the living being. One should know the Lord as much as can be known by our limited knowledge. It is impossible for the Lord to be known perfectly as He is, even by such liberated persons as Śiva or Brahmā, so what to speak of other demigods or men in this world. Still, by following the principles of the great devotees and the instructions available in the scriptures, one can know to a considerable extent the features of the Lord. His Lordship Kapila, the incarnation of the Lord, instructed His mother fully about the personal form of the Lord, and thereby she realized the personal form of the Lord and was able to achieve a place in the Vaikuṇṭhaloka where, Lord Kapila predominates. Every incarnation of the Lord has His own abode in the spiritual sky. Therefore Lord Kapila also has His separate Vaikuṇṭha planet.

SB 2.7.41, Translation:

Neither I nor all the sages born before you know fully the omnipotent Personality of Godhead. So what can others, who are born after us, know about Him? Even the first incarnation of the Lord, namely Śeṣa, has not been able to reach the limit of such knowledge, although He is describing the qualities of the Lord with ten hundred faces.

SB 2.7.43-45, Purport:

All the great devotees of the Lord, as mentioned above, who flourished in the past or present, and all the devotees of the Lord who will come in the future, are aware of the different potencies of the Lord along with the potency of His name, quality, pastimes, entourage, personality, etc. And how do they know? Certainly it is not by mental speculation, nor by any attempt by dint of limited instruments of knowledge. By the limited instruments of knowledge (either the senses or the material instruments like microscopes and telescopes) one cannot even fully know the Lord's material potencies, which are manifested before our eyes. For example there are many millions and billions of planets far, far beyond the scientist's calculation. But these are only the manifestations of the Lord's material energy. What can the scientist hope to know of the spiritual potency of the Lord by such material efforts?

SB 2.9.36, Purport:

One should hear about His glories, one should chant about His glories, and one should always remember His glories because that is the highest perfectional stage of life. As far as fruitive work is concerned, it is limited to an enjoyable body; as far as yoga is concerned, it is limited to the acquirement of mystic power; as far as empiric philosophy is concerned, it is limited to the attainment of transcendental knowledge; and as far as transcendental knowledge is concerned, it is limited to attainment of salvation. Even if they are adopted, there is every chance of discrepancies in discharging the particular type of functions. But adoption of the transcendental devotional service of the Lord has no limit, nor is there fear of falling down. The process automatically reaches the final stage by the grace of the Lord. In the preliminary stage of devotional service there is an apparent requisite for knowledge, but in the higher stage there is no necessity of such knowledge.

SB Canto 3

SB 3.4.17, Translation:

O my Lord, Your eternal Self is never divided by the influence of time, and there is no limitation to Your perfect knowledge. Thus You were sufficiently able to consult with Yourself, yet You called upon me for consultation, as if bewildered, although You are never bewildered. And this act of Yours bewilders me.

SB Canto 4

SB 4.11.23, Purport:

Not only does He have the material energy which we see and experience, but He has also many reserve energies that He can manifest in due course of time when necessary. The material scientist can simply study the partial understanding of the varieties of energies; he can take up one of the energies and try to understand it with limited knowledge, but still it is not possible to understand the Absolute Truth in full by dint of material science. No material scientist can foretell what is going to happen in the future. The bhakti-yoga process, however, is completely different from so-called scientific advancement of knowledge. A devotee completely surrenders unto the Supreme, who reveals Himself by His causeless mercy. As stated in Bhagavad-gītā, dadāmi buddhi-yogaṁ tam. The Lord says, "I give him intelligence." What is that intelligence? Yena mām upayānti te.

SB 4.29.42-44, Purport:

Still, in spite of their great education in knowledge, and despite their meeting the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Viṣṇu, they cannot actually understand the perfection of the living entity's relationship with Lord Viṣṇu. This means that these personalities are still limited as far as their knowledge of the unlimited is concerned. The conclusion is that simply by advancing one's knowledge, one cannot be accepted as an expert in understanding the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The Supreme Personality of Godhead can be understood not by advanced knowledge, but by pure devotional service, as confirmed in Bhagavad-gītā (18.55). Bhaktyā mām abhijānāti yāvān yaś cāsmi tattvataḥ: unless one takes to pure, transcendental devotional service, he cannot understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead in truth. Everyone has some imperfect ideas about the Lord. So-called scientists and philosophical speculators are unable to understand the Supreme Lord by virtue of their knowledge.

SB Canto 9

SB 9.24.58, Purport:

This is called manaḥ ṣaṣṭhānīndriyāṇi prakṛti-sthāni karṣati. There is a great struggle for existence because the living entity conditioned by material nature is under nature's full control (prakṛteḥ kriyamāṇāni guṇaiḥ karmāṇi sarvaśaḥ (BG 3.27)). Because of his limited knowledge, however, the living entity thinks he is enjoying in this material world. Manaḥ ṣaṣṭhānīndriyāṇi prakṛti-sthāni karṣati. He is actually under the full control of material nature, but still he thinks himself independent (ahaṅkāra-vimūḍhātmā kartāham iti manyate). Even when he is elevated by speculative knowledge and tries to merge into the existence of Brahman, the same disease continues.

Āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ patanty adhaḥ (SB 10.2.32). Even having attained that paraṁ padam, having merged into the impersonal Brahman, he falls again to the material world.

SB Canto 10.1 to 10.13

SB 10.12.3, Purport:

Therefore, we should not consider the statements of this verse to be mythological. They are factual, but inconceivable. Kṛṣṇa can accommodate an unlimited number of calves and an unlimited measurement of space. This is neither mythological nor false, but if we study Kṛṣṇa's potency with our limited knowledge, that potency will never be possible to understand. Ataḥ śrī-kṛṣṇa-nāmādi na bhaved grāhyam indriyaiḥ (CC Madhya 17.136). Our senses cannot perceive how He could keep an unlimited number of calves and cows and have unlimited space in which to do so. But this is answered in the Bṛhad-bhāgavatāmṛta:

CC Adi-lila

CC Adi 7.72, Purport:

An actual follower of Vedānta philosophy is a devotee of Lord Viṣṇu, who is the greatest of the great and the maintainer of the entire universe. Unless one surpasses the field of activities in service to the limited, one cannot reach the unlimited. Knowledge of the unlimited is actual brahma-jñāna, or knowledge of the Supreme. Those who are addicted to fruitive activities and speculative knowledge cannot understand the value of the holy name of Lord Kṛṣṇa, which is always completely pure, eternally liberated and full of spiritual bliss. One who has taken shelter of the holy name of the Lord, which is identical with the Lord, does not have to study Vedānta philosophy, for he has already completed all such study.

CC Adi 7.74, Purport:

The principles of the paramparā system were strictly honored in previous ages—Satya-yuga, Tretā-yuga and Dvāpara-yuga—but in the present age, Kali-yuga, people neglect the importance of this system of śrauta-paramparā, or receiving knowledge by disciplic succession. In this age, people are prepared to argue that they can understand that which is beyond their limited knowledge and perception through so-called scientific observations and experiments, not knowing that actual truth comes down to man from authorities. This argumentative attitude is against the Vedic principles, and it is very difficult for one who adopts it to understand that the holy name of Kṛṣṇa is as good as Kṛṣṇa Himself. Since Kṛṣṇa and His holy name are identical, the holy name is eternally pure and beyond material contamination. It is the Supreme Personality of Godhead as a transcendental vibration.

CC Madhya-lila

CC Madhya 8.240, Translation and Purport:

"Now that I have actually seen your glories, what I heard about you is confirmed. As far as the pastimes of Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa in a loving mood are concerned, you are the limit of knowledge."

Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu found Rāmānanda Rāya to be the best authority in transcendental knowledge of the loving affairs between Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa. In this verse the Lord actually states that Rāmānanda Rāya was the limit of this knowledge.

CC Madhya 25.270, Translation:

By understanding the pastimes of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, one can understand the truth about Kṛṣṇa. By understanding Kṛṣṇa, one can understand the limit of all knowledge described in various revealed scriptures.

Teachings of Lord Caitanya

Teachings of Lord Caitanya, Chapter 18:

A person who is in perfect knowledge of the Vedānta becomes a servitor of the Supreme Lord, who is the maintainer and sustainer of the whole cosmic manifestation. As long as one is not transcendental to the service of the limited, he cannot have knowledge of the Vedānta.

As long as one is within the limited jurisdiction of fruitive activities or is involved in mental speculation, he may perhaps be eligible to study or teach theoretical knowledge of the Vedānta-sūtra, but he cannot understand the supreme, eternal, transcendental (completely liberated) vibration of Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/ Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare. One who has achieved perfection in chanting this transcendental vibration does not have to separately learn the philosophy of the Vedānta-sūtra.

Krsna, The Supreme Personality of Godhead

Krsna Book Preface:

Kṛṣṇa's knowledge is so perfect that He remembers all the incidents of His appearances some millions and billions of years in the past, but Arjuna's memory and knowledge are limited by time and space, for he is an ordinary human being. In the Fourth Chapter Kṛṣṇa states that He can remember instructing the lessons of the Bhagavad-gītā some millions of years ago to the sun-god, Vivasvān.

Nowadays it is the fashion of the atheistic class of men to try to become God by following some mystic process. Generally the atheists claim to be God by dint of their imagination or their meditational prowess. Kṛṣṇa is not that kind of God. He does not become God by manufacturing some mystic process of meditation, nor does He become God by undergoing the severe austerities of the mystic yogic exercises.

Krsna Book 14:

As it is stated by Lord Kṛṣṇa in the Bhagavad-gītā, "Everything is sustained by Me, but at the same time I am not in everything." Since the Lord is all-pervading, there is nothing existing without His knowledge. The all-pervasive nature of the Supreme Personality of Godhead can never be within the limited knowledge of a living entity; therefore, a person who has attained steadiness of the mind by fixing the mind on the lotus feet of the Lord is able to understand the Supreme Lord to some extent. It is the business of the mind to wander over varied subject matter for sense gratification. Therefore only a person who always engages the senses in the service of the Lord can control the mind and be fixed at the lotus feet of the Lord. This concentration of the mind upon the lotus feet of the Lord is called samādhi. Until one reaches the stage of samādhi, or trance, he cannot understand the nature of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

Krsna Book 87:

How God is unlimited in His expansion of energies and activities can be roughly calculated by any sane and sober living entity. It is said in the Vedic literature that innumerable universes issue forth when Mahā-Viṣṇu exhales in His yoga-nidrā and that innumerable universes enter His body when He inhales. We have to imagine that these universes, which according to our limited knowledge are expanded unlimitedly, are so great that the gross and subtle ingredients—the five elements of the cosmic manifestation, namely earth, water, fire, air and sky, along with the total material energy and false ego—are not only within the universe but cover the universe in seven layers, each layer ten times bigger than the previous one. In this way, each and every universe is very securely packed, and there are numberless universes. All these universes float within the innumerable pores of the transcendental body of Mahā-Viṣṇu.

Message of Godhead

Message of Godhead 2:

Coordinating such devotional activities with our daily activities is technically known as karma-yoga. The same devotional activities when mixed with the culture of knowledge are technically called jñāna-yoga. But when such devotional activities transcend the limits of all such work or mental knowledge, this state of affairs is called pure transcendental devotion, or bhakti-yoga.

All the various actions that we perform in this world beget various specific results. When we begin to enjoy the fruits of such performances, these further actions also produce, in their turn, further specific results as a matter of course. Thus, we have a big tree of these actions and reactions with their respective fruits. And as the enjoyers of these fruits, we become bound up in the network of such work and its fruit. Birth after birth, the spirit soul becomes bound up in the process of producing such fruits and enjoying the same.

Sri Isopanisad

Sri Isopanisad 5, Purport:

Here is a description of some of the Supreme Lord's transcendental activities, executed by His inconceivable potencies. The contradictions given here prove the inconceivable potencies of the Lord. "He walks, and He does not walk." Ordinarily, if someone can walk, it is illogical to say he cannot walk. But in reference to God, such a contradiction simply serves to indicate His inconceivable power. With our limited fund of knowledge we cannot accommodate such contradictions, and therefore we conceive of the Lord in terms of our limited powers of understanding. For example, the impersonalist philosophers of the Māyāvāda school accept only the Lord's impersonal activities and reject His personal feature. But the members of the Bhāgavata school, adopting the perfect conception of the Lord, accept His inconceivable potencies and thus understand that He is both personal and impersonal. The bhāgavatas know that without inconceivable potencies there can be no meaning to the words "Supreme Lord."

Sri Isopanisad 16, Purport:

Until one surpasses the glare of the brahma-jyotir, one cannot receive information of the land of the Lord. The impersonalist philosophers, blinded as they are by the dazzling brahma-jyotir, can realize neither the factual abode of the Lord nor His transcendental form. Limited by their poor fund of knowledge, such impersonalist thinkers cannot understand the all-blissful transcendental form of Lord Kṛṣṇa. In this prayer, therefore, Śrī Īśopaniṣad petitions the Lord to remove the effulgent rays of the brahma-jyotir so that the pure devotee can see His all-blissful transcendental form.

By realizing the impersonal brahma-jyotir, one experiences the auspicious aspect of the Supreme, and by realizing the Paramātmā, or all-pervading feature of the Supreme, one experiences an even more auspicious enlightenment. But by meeting the Personality of Godhead Himself face to face, the devotee experiences the most auspicious feature of the Supreme.

Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures

Lecture on BG 1.10 -- London, July 12, 1973:

So this is... Our Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement means: try to understand Kṛṣṇa. Simply if you try to understand... You cannot understand Kṛṣṇa fully. That is not possible. Kṛṣṇa is unlimited. But to our limited knowledge, whatever is possible, that is stated in the Bhagavad-gītā. As far as we can understand about Kṛṣṇa, if we simply understand Kṛṣṇa, His transcendental nature, His transcendental activities, divyam... Janma karma me divyam (BG 4.9). Divyam means transcendental. It is not ordinary. Tattvataḥ, in truth, in fact. Then you become free from this janma-mṛtyu-jarā-vyādhi (BG 13.9). Very easy thing.

Lecture on BG 2.11 -- Rotary Club Address -- Hotel Imperial, Delhi, March 25, 1976:

So conclusion is that God is the Supreme Being and we are living being. So our relation is very intimate. Qualitatively we are one because we are part and parcel. So God is eternal, full of knowledge, and blissful; therefore our position is also the same but in minute quantity. His knowledge is great. Therefore God is great. Our knowledge is limited. And because we have got limited potencies, therefore we are called living entities. And God has got unlimited potencies, therefore God is great and we are small. This is conclusion of the Bhagavad-gītā. And we are in this material world being contaminated by the material nature. We are suffering because anything material, it has got limited period of existence. Anything you take, it is asat. Asat means "which will not exist," and sat means "which will exist." The Vedic injunction is asato mā sad gama: "You are sat. You revive your eternal life. Don't be entangled in this asat."

Lecture on BG 2.11 -- Rotary Club Address -- Hotel Imperial, Delhi, March 25, 1976:

Similarly, what is life, what is soul, what is our, this body, what is the ultimate goal of life, why you are suffering—all this knowledge you have to take from the higher authorities. That is called Vedic process, not to endeavor by research. What you can research? Our fund of knowledge is very, very poor, limited. You cannot have perfect knowledge unless you hear from the authority. So Kṛṣṇa is the authority. Our Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement means you take knowledge from the best authority. Don't manufacture knowledge. That will not help you. That is Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement.

Lecture on BG 2.12 -- New York, March 7, 1966:

Now, if the child says, "I don't believe it, that he is my father," is it possible to convince him in any other way than the statement of the mother? Is it possible? No. That is the final. That is the final. And if he says, "I don't believe it," that is his foolishness. Similarly, a thing which is beyond our conception, beyond our limit of knowledge, that should be taken from the authority.

So here is an authority, Śrī Kṛṣṇa. Authority. His authority, authorityship, is accepted by all over the world. In, in our India there are five different disciplic succession of authorities, just like the Śaṅkarites, followers of Śaṅkarācārya, and Vaiṣṇavites. Generally, they are two: Māyāvādī, impersonalists; and personalists. The personalist school, philosophers, they are divided into four: Rāmānuja-sampradāya—that means followers of Ācārya Rāmānuja; Madhvācārya-sampradāya, or the followers of Madhvācārya; Nimbārka-sampradāya, followers of Nimbārka Ācārya; and Viṣṇu Svāmī-sampradāya.

Lecture on BG 2.12 -- London, August 18, 1973:

When I feel pain, Kṛṣṇa knows it. Vedāhaṁ samatītāni (BG 7.26). "I know everything." That is Kṛṣṇa. Try to understand distinction between Kṛṣṇa and us. He's all-pervading, but He's nitya, ever-existing. We are also ever-existing. Nityo nityānāṁ cetanaś cetanānām (Kaṭha Upaniṣad 2.2.13). We have got knowledge, Kṛṣṇa has got knowledge. But we have got limited knowledge. Kṛṣṇa has got unlimited knowledge. That is the difference. Kṛṣṇa is also cognizant. He's also acknowledged. Nityo nityānāṁ cetanaś cetanānām.

Then where is the difference between Kṛṣṇa and us? Yes, there is difference. What is that? That Kṛṣṇa, singular number, nityo nityānām...nityānām, this is plural number. Cetanaś cetanānām. Cetanānām, this is plural number. So there is one person, singular number. Others, they are plural number, we jīvas. Anantyāya kalpate. Jīvas, that is described, the dimension of the jīva. I have several times explained, keśāgra-śata-bhāgasya śatadhā kalpitasya ca (CC Madhya 19.140).

Lecture on BG 2.20 -- Hyderabad, November 25, 1972:

There are koṭiṣu vasudhādi-vibhūti-bhinnam. One cannot go so many planets. Even according to their calculation, if they want to go to the topmost planet, which we call Brahmaloka, it will take forty-thousand of years in the light-year calculation.

So in God's creation everything is unlimited. It is not limited with our perspective of knowledge. So there are so many, innumerable universes, innumerable planets, and there are innumerable living entities. And all of them are rotating according to their karma. And birth and death means changing, one body to another. I make one plan in this life and... Because everyone is in the bodily concept of live. So so long we are in the bodily concept of life... "I am brāhmaṇa," "I am kṣatriya," "I am vaiśya," "I am śūdra," "I am Indian," "I am American," "I am so and so." These are all bodily concept of life designations. So so long I am in bodily concept of life, I think, "I have got this duty to do. As brāhmaṇa, I have got to do such and such things."

Lecture on BG 2.59-69 -- New York, April 29, 1966:

Perhaps you know that in, in the Purāṇas, in the Vedic literature, we have got information that there are sages who underwent penance for so many, many years. Why in the history or the Purāṇas? You can see from the examples of Lord Buddha, Lord Jesus Christ, Lord Caitanya, Śaṅkarācārya, who were recently within the limit of our historical knowledge. They attained spiritual perfection after undergoing penances for many, many years. So spiritual perfection is not very easy thing, that simply by attending a, a, in either of the so many groups and hearing something, nice lectures from a person. No. It is practical. It is practical. If we are ac..., if we are actually serious about attaining, so we must be in a spirit of sacrifice. In this age, by the grace of Lord Caitanya, the matter has been simplified. Matter has been simplified. What is that?

Lecture on BG 4.1-6 -- Los Angeles, January 3, 1969:

Prabhupāda: Therefore, if we try to understand God by our limited knowledge, it will be a failure. We have to understand God from God. Then that will be perfect knowledge. So this Bhagavad-gītā is the science of God where God is speaking about Himself. And it is accepted by all great scholars, philosophers, and, I mean to say, religionists, everyone. Go on.

Madhudviṣa: "Although I am unborn and My transcendental body never deteriorates, and although I am the Lord of all sentient beings, I still appear in every millennium in My original transcendental form."

Lecture on BG 4.4 -- Bombay, March 24, 1974:

Bhakta, and Bhagavān, they must be together. That is the advantage of bhakta. Although he has got the frailty.... Because the living entity is the minute particle of God, mamaivāṁśo jīva-bhūtaḥ (BG 15.7), therefore his intelligence, his power, is also very minute. But God's power is unlimited. By unlimited power Kṛṣṇa knows the past, future, and present, everything perfectly. But our limited knowledge, we cannot know that. Therefore we have to receive knowledge from Kṛṣṇa. This is our position. Tad-vijñānārthaṁ sa gurum evābhigacchet, samit-pāṇiḥ śrotriyaṁ brahma-niṣṭham (MU 1.2.12).

So we have to approach either Kṛṣṇa or Kṛṣṇa's representative. Then we can understand Kṛṣṇa. Otherwise, simply by mental speculation, by so-called erudite scholarship, nobody can know.

Lecture on BG 4.11 -- Geneva, June 1, 1974:

There are three different types of transcendentalists. They are called the jñānīs, the yogis and the bhaktas. Jñānīs means those who are trying to understand the Absolute Truth in impersonal feature, brahma-jyotir. The jñānīs means those who are mental speculators, philosophers, neti neti. They are trying to understand the Absolute Truth by dint of their limited knowledge. They are called jñānīs. And the yogis, the mystics, they are trying to find out the Supreme Personality of Godhead within the heart. Because the Lord is situated in everyone's heart as Supersoul.

In the Vedic literature it is said that dhyānāvasthita-tad-gatena manasā paśyanti yaṁ yoginaḥ (SB 12.13.1). "Yogis, mystics, they are meditating and trying to find out the Supreme Personality of Godhead, or the Supersoul, Paramātmā, within the heart." And the bhaktas, or the devotees, they are directly contacting the Supreme Personality of Godhead face to face. Just like Kṛṣṇa appeared, and the bhaktas met Him face to face.

Lecture on BG 4.11 -- Geneva, June 1, 1974:

Similarly, those who are trying to understand the Absolute Truth by dint of his limited knowledge, they realize impersonal Brahman. Here Kṛṣṇa says, mama vartmānuvartante manuṣyāḥ, everyone. Everyone means those who are actually seeking after God realization, they are following the same path, but on account of their distance of vision, they are realizing the Absolute Truth in different way. But all of them are beyond this material world. That I have already explained yesterday. Tapasā pūtā bahavaḥ. Tapasā pūtā mad-bhāvam āgatāḥ. Bahavo jñāna-tapasā. Bahavo jñāna-tapasā pūtā mad-bhāvam āgatāḥ. The process of going to the spiritual world is knowledge and austerities. That is for everyone, either he is jñānī, yogi or bhakta. But even going to the spiritual platform, there are differences according to the angle of vision.

Lecture on BG 4.11-18 -- Los Angeles, January 8, 1969:

A person in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, however, is above even the brāhmaṇas, because a brāhmaṇa by quality is supposed to know about Brahman, the Supreme Absolute Truth. Most of them approach the impersonal Brahman manifestation of Lord Kṛṣṇa, but only a man who transcends the limited knowledge of a brāhmaṇa and reaches the knowledge of the Supreme Personality of Godhead Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa becomes a person in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, or in other words, a Vaiṣṇava. Kṛṣṇa consciousness includes knowledge of all different plenary expansions of Kṛṣṇa, namely Rāma, Nṛsiṁha, Varāha, etc. As Kṛṣṇa is transcendental to this system of the four divisions of human society, a person in Kṛṣṇa consciousness is also transcendental to the mundane divisions of human society, whether we consider the divisions of community, nation or species."

Lecture on BG 7.1 -- Auckland, April 15, 1972:

Paras tasmāt tu bhāvaḥ anyaḥ avyaktaḥ avyaktāt sanātanaḥ, sarveṣu naśyatsu na vinaśyati. This gagana will be annihilated at the time of destruction, but that does not annihilate.

So the idea of gagana is not perfect idea of the Supreme. Gagana-sadṛśa, that is limited within the purview of our knowledge because we cannot think that anything can be greater than this big sky. No, He is mahato mahīyān, bigger than the biggest, aṇor aṇīyān, smaller than the smallest. Just like we can imagine atom, the smallest. But atom we can see by some way or other atom. Six atoms, trasareṇu. Six atoms, when it is combined, we can see through the windows with the sunshine so many trasareṇu. Those small particles which we see through the window with sunshine, they are combination of six atoms. They are not original atom. But the atomic constitution of the living entity is a thousand times smaller than the atom. Therefore aṇor aṇīyān mahato mahīyān: "He is greater than the greatest and smaller than the smallest."

Lecture on BG 7.1 -- Upsala University Stockholm, September 8, 1973:

Na jāyate na mriyate vā kadācit. This description we have got in the Vedic literature. So God is also nitya, eternal. We are also eternal. God is also cognizant, and we are also cognizant. We have got knowledge, and God has got knowledge. The difference is that I have got knowledge limited within this limit of this body. I have no knowledge what is going on in your body; neither you know what is going on in my body. Therefore, we are individuals. But God is, although individual, He's spread everywhere. That is God.

Aṇḍāntara-stha-paramāṇu-cayāntara-stham (Bs. 5.35). God is within this universe, within yourself, within myself, within the atom. Aṇḍāntara-stha-paramāṇu... Paramāṇu means atom. He's within the atom also. But I, you, we are limited within this body. We are limited. I cannot say that I understand what is going in your body, pains and pleasure. That I cannot say. But I can understand pains and pleasure of my body. So the quality is the same. God has knowledge. You, you, me, we have got knowledge. But our knowledge is limited. God's knowledge is unlimited. But knowledge is there, cognizant. Therefore the Vedas says nityo nityānāṁ cetanaś cetanānām (Kaṭha Upaniṣad 2.2.13).

Lecture on BG 7.1-3 -- Paris, June 13, 1974:

I think most of you know this book, Bhagavad-gītā. The Bhagavad-gītā is sometimes translated in foreign languages: "The Song of God." In other words, God Himself speaking. So far we are concerned, we cannot understand God by mental speculation. Even in this material world, we cannot understand what is there in the planetary systems. So our knowledge is very, very limited. Besides that, we have got four deficiencies.

The one deficiency is that we commit mistake. Anyone, any big man of this material world, he commits mistake. Besides that, he is illusioned. Illusioned means to accept something what is not fact. Just like... (coughs) (aside:) Water. We accept this body as self. This is called illusion. According to Vedic understanding, anyone who thinks of this body as the self, he's animal. Just like a dog, he thinks that he is the body, similarly, if a man thinks that he is this body, he is American or Indian or Frenchman or German or Hindu or Muslim, with this bodily concept of life, so, according to Vedic understanding, this conception is animal conception. So this is called illusion.

Lecture on BG 7.4 -- Bombay, February 19, 1974:

That is perfect knowledge. So that knowledge is perfect. Therefore in the beginning of this chapter and in the Fourth Chapter we said, evaṁ paramparā-prāptam imaṁ rājarṣayo viduḥ (BG 4.2). If we get knowledge by the pure paramparā system, pure disciplic succession, that knowledge is perfect. Then our life is perfect. And if we want to try to expound knowledge by our limited power, that is imperfect knowledge. That knowledge is not perfect. That is concoction. If you want to take perfect knowledge, then you must get from the authorities. Evaṁ paramparā. That is Vedic knowledge.

Lecture on BG 7.8-14 -- New York, October 2, 1966:

"Oh, it is a huge, vast span of water." Now, the frog is in the well, he is thinking, "Oh, it may be double than this well or it may be triple than this well, or a hundred times," in this way, calculating. But do you think by such calculation the frog will ever come to the conclusion how length and breadth is of Atlantic Ocean? So this is all frog philosophy. We are very tiny. Our knowledge, power of speculating, is limited always. So we cannot speculate about the Supreme. It is a useless waste of time. Therefore Bhāgavata says, "You give up this. You give up this process of speculating." Jñāne prayāsam udapāsy a: "Give it up." Then what is next? "Now, be submissive. Be submissive." Then? "All right, let me become submissive. Then next?" Jñāne prayāsam udapāsya namanta eva san-mukharitāṁ bhavadīya-vārtām: "You just try to understand, just try to hear the message of God."

Lecture on BG 7.28-8.6 -- New York, October 23, 1966:

"Oh, undoubtedly it is the exactly price. Oh, let me purchase at this price." The doubt is gone at once, because I see several persons, they're accepting at that price. So it is right price. That is the standard. Mahājano yena gataḥ sa panthāḥ (CC Madhya 17.186).

The śāstra says that knowledge... Because our receptive power of knowledge is very limited... We are not perfect. Our senses are not perfect. Therefore whatever we acquire by these blunt senses, they cannot be perfect. The direction is, therefore, tarkaḥ apratiṣṭhaḥ: "If you want to reach to the ultimate conclusion simply by arguments and speculation, that is not possible." Because argumentative power is a special gift. Suppose you can argue very nicely. That's all. I cannot. But somebody may come—he's more powerful in arguments. He can defeat you. So don't depend on your speculative function or arguments. Don't depend on that. They're all imperfect. Tarkaḥ apratiṣṭhaḥ. These are the directions of higher authorities.

Lecture on BG 8.5 -- New York, October 26, 1966:

He appears like a boar; sometimes He appears half-lion, half-man. Similarly sometimes He appears man, sometimes He appears as woman.

So we cannot restrict God, that "He cannot be like this. He cannot come here. He cannot take any shape." No. He is not under my restriction. Then how God is great? If I put God under my restricted knowledge or limited knowledge, then God becomes under my understanding. But the Vedic language says, avan mānasa-gocaraḥ. He's beyond the expression of words. He is beyond the conception of mind. He is greatest of the great, and the smallest of the small. How He's the smallest of the... We are also, because we are spirit spark. Now, do we know what is our measurement? That we can find in the śāstra. I have several times mentioned that one ten-thousandth part of the tip of your hair is the measurement of the soul. Now you have no instrument.

Lecture on BG 8.14-15 -- New York, November 16, 1966:

Brahmā is praying Lord Kṛṣṇa in this way, that "A person," jñāne prayāsam udapāsya, "giving up the futile endeavor to understand the Supreme by one's limited knowledge..." Give. Give up this attempt. Jñāne prayāsam. Jñāne prayāsam means that the theosophists, the philosophers, they are trying years after years, life after years—"What is God? What is God? What is the Absolute Truth?" Just like we throw sputniks—"How much the space is length and breadth?" This is frog philosophy. Just like several times I have recited: A frog is measuring the length and breadth of Atlantic Ocean. You see? A frog, whose life is within the well, three feet, three cubic feet, measurement, he's trying to measure what is the length and breadth of Atlantic and Pacific Ocean.

Lecture on BG 8.14-15 -- New York, November 16, 1966:

A frog, whose life is within the well, three feet, three cubic feet, measurement, he's trying to measure what is the length and breadth of Atlantic and Pacific Ocean. Similarly, our attempt to measure how far this outer space is—just like that, futile. And what to speak of this, speak of this space, our measurement of our limited knowledge... With the limited knowledge, if we want to know how far, how much long and short is God, it is a futile attempt, futile at... It is not possible. So Bhāgavata recommends, jñāne prayāsam udapāsya: "Just give up this nonsense habit, to measure the Supreme." It is not possible.

Lecture on BG 8.14-15 -- New York, November 16, 1966:

So jñāne prayāsam udapāsya. A person who has taken this determination, that "It is futile. It is useless to try to understand what is God by my limited knowledge," he's a..., he's an intelligent man who takes this decision. So jñāne prayāsam udapāsya namanta eva: "Just become submissive. Just try to understand your position that you are very insignificant segment in this material world or in the creation." Namanta eva: "Just become submissive." Jñāne prayāsam: "Giving up this endeavor to understand the Supreme by one's limited knowledge and just become submissive."

Then? What is the process? San-mukharitāṁ bhavadīya-vārtām: "You just try to understand the Supreme from the reliable source." San-mukharitām. Sat-mukharitām. Mukharita means from the lips, from the lips of realized souls.

Lecture on BG 8.14-15 -- New York, November 16, 1966:

Then just try to practice it in your practical life. Tanu-vāṅ-manobhir ye prāyaśaḥ ajita: "My dear Lord, You are unconquerable, but by this person, You become conquered, simply by hearing." It is such a nice process. God is not conquerable, but He becomes conquerable, He is conquered, by a devotee who gives up this nonsense process of understanding Him by his limited knowledge and becomes submissive. And just try to hear from the right source, and try to appear, apply in your life. Then you become a conqueror of the Supreme.

So similarly, Lord Kṛṣṇa also says that tasyāhaṁ sulabhaḥ. Sulabhaḥ means "I am easily available." God is not easily available. It is very difficult. "But for a person who is constantly in Kṛṣṇa consciousness," the Lord says Himself, "for him, I am easily available, easily available." So why don't you take up this process? There is another nice verse in the Brahma-saṁhitā that... Just, I forget. The purport is that a person, if he tries to understand by his sensual process... This is called sensual, āroha-panthā.

Lecture on BG 8.14-15 -- New York, November 16, 1966:

Descending process. What is that āroha-panthā? Āroha-panthā means that "I shall understand what is God by my own knowledge. I don't care for any authority, any books. I'll understand, I'll meditate, I'll think, I'll philosophize, and I'll understand what is God." This is called āroha-panthā. And against this, there is avaroha-panthā. Avaroha-panthā means getting knowledge from the authority.

There are two processes. Now, out of these two processes, the āroha-panthā, one who is trying to understand the Supreme by his own limited knowledge, for him, it is said in the Brahma-saṁhitā,

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)

Now, panthās tu koṭi-śata-vatsara-sampragamyaḥ. By the ascending process, if anyone makes progress with the speed of mind and speed of air... You, you know the speed of mind, how it is powerful. You are sitting here, and you can think of thousands and thousands and thousands of miles away immediately. Just see the speed of mind.

Lecture on BG 9.11-14 -- New York, November 27, 1966:

The only thing is sthāne sthitāḥ śruti-gatām. Śruti-gatām means... Śruti means this aural reception. You have to receive this word little submissively. Namanta eva. Don't think yourself, that you are very man of knowledge. Because our knowledge is very limited, so we should not be puffed up with false thinking that I am very learned man. No. Just become a little gentle and submissive, and hear these messages from Kṛṣṇa. Sthāne sthitāḥ śruti-gatāṁ tanu-vāṅ-manobhiḥ. Tanu. Tanu means your body, and vāk means your words, and mana means mind. Just try to adjust your mind, your body, your words, and hear the Śrīmad-Bhagavad-gītā which is spoken by the Supreme Lord, and put your arguments, put your reason, whatever you have got. Don't accept it blindly. And think over it, and then you'll see what is the result. This is... So rākṣasīm.

Lecture on BG 13.3 -- Paris, August 11, 1973:

And Kṛṣṇa is called Paramātmā. Therefore there are two words: Paramātmā and ātmā. Ātmā is also individual. Paramātmā is also individual. But because both of us, we are knower, kṣetrajñam (vibha(?)), the living entity is kṣetrajnam, he has got knowledge. And Kṛṣṇa says kṣetra-jñaṁ cāpi māṁ viddhi. "I am also knower." Both of them, we are knower. We have got knowledge. My knowledge may be limited. Kṛṣṇa's knowledge unlimited, complete. But both of us, we are knower. We can understand. We can know. Therefore, we are called kṣetrajña. But the difference is Kṛṣṇa knows everything all over the creation, I even do not know what is going on in my body. That is the difference.

Lecture on BG 13.6-7 -- Montreal, October 25, 1968:

No. God can be known by the meek and humble who is submissive and who takes the shelter of a God-realized person and tries to hear from him. Then Rāmānanda Rāya... Not Rāmānanda Rāya, it is a quotation from Bhāgavata. Then the result is, although God is unapproachable by our limited knowledge, He becomes jita. Jita means He becomes conquered—simply by this position.

So we are following that system. Caitanya Mahāprabhu approved this system, that one may remain in his position, never mind what he is. It doesn't matter, either he is Indian or American or a brāhmaṇa or a kṣatriya or white or black. But a human being with common sense, if he simply gives up his false, puffed-up knowledge that "I am God," and becomes humble and meek, and tries to understand the science of God from a realized soul, then one day it will so happen that God has become within his hand.

Lecture on BG 16.8 -- Hawaii, February 4, 1975:

We are taking care of this house. Why? Because it is temple. What is temple? Temple means Kṛṣṇa is there. Kṛṣṇa is everywhere, but because we have got now our limited knowledge—we are not advanced—therefore we take a spot, the temple, and always think of Kṛṣṇa that "This is Kṛṣṇa's place. This is Kṛṣṇa's temple. We must take care of it." Śrī-vigrahārādhana-nitya-nānā-śṛṅgāra-tan-mandira-mār janādau **. These are the process of devotional service, that we worship the Deity, śrī-vigraha, nicely dressed, nicely worshiped, first-class food offered. This is called śrī-vigrahārādhana, worshiping, arcanam. Arcanaṁ vandanaṁ dāsyam. Tan-mandira-mārjanādau, and again cleansing the temple very nicely everywhere. So this is our process, that we take everything in relationship with Kṛṣṇa.

Lecture on BG 16.11-12 -- Hawaii, February 7, 1975:

The material body annihilates. Every one of us, we have got now material body. It will annihilate. But in the spiritual world, when you have got spiritual body, it does not annihilate. Eternal. Eternal life. And cit means knowledge. So in this material body we have no knowledge. Even if we have got..., now imperfect knowledge, limited knowledge. But in the spiritual life you have got full knowledge. That is spiritual life. And ānanda.

Here is no ānanda. In this material world... Ānanda means pleasure, bliss, but here it is not possible. First of all, you have to die. You may manufacture some so-called ānanda, but you'll die. Now, suppose we are dancing here, and if we understand that immediately death will take place, then we shall not be able to enjoy the dancing. Immediately the anxiety will come. So here, ānanda, there is no ānanda. Why there is ānanda? This body is subjected to so many miserable condition of life.

Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures

Lecture on SB 1.1.1 -- London, August 6, 1971:

There must be some ultimate father. Just like I have my father, my father has got father, his father... We can see up to two, three generation upwards, and beyond that, we cannot see. That does not mean that the great-grandfather had no father. There must have been some father. Is it very unreasonable? Anyone can understand. Although I cannot see with my limited potency, but with my knowledge, reasonable knowledge, I can understand that either he may be great-grandfather or above that, above that, he must have some father.

So Lord Brahmā is called therefore pitāmaha, "grandfather," because he is the original father within this universe. He is the first created being, and he begot so many children. So all the living entities, they are born of Brahmā. He is called sṛṣṭi-kartā. Sṛṣṭi-kartā means "the creator of this universe." And there are innumerable universes. In each universe there is one Brahmā, and all these Brahmās are also created by Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu. Therefore viṣṇu-tattva is the Absolute Truth.

Lecture on SB 1.2.1 -- New Vrindaban, September 1, 1972:

God's form is not like that. So when in the Vedic language it is said, nirākāra—means nir, nir means "not," and ākāra means "form"—that means "God's form is not like ours." It is not that He has no form. He has form, but His form is different from ours.

And knowledge Now, knowledge, so far our knowledge is concerned, it is very limited. We do not know We can have some experience of our present knowledge, but we do not know what was in the past and what is going to happen in the future. Present also, our knowledge is imperfect. Just like we are seeing the sun daily, but what is our experience? The sun is bigger than this planet, fourteen hundred thousand times bigger. Fourteen hundred thousand pieces of this earthly planet can be thrown into the sun planet, it is so big. Unless it is so big, how it is possible the sun planet is distributing heat and light for millions and millions of years, and although it is situated ninety millions miles?

Lecture on SB 1.2.10 -- Bombay, December 28, 1972:

From Vyāsadeva the knowledge was received by Madhva Muni. In this way, paramparā-sūtra, the same knowledge was received by Mādhavendra Purī. From Mādhavendra Purī, Īśvara Purī received the knowledge. From Īśvara Purī, Lord Caitanya received the knowledge. From Lord Caitanya, the six Gosvāmīs. In this way there is a paramparā system, handing down the knowledge from disciplic, from disciple to disciple, evaṁ paramparā. That is perfect knowledge.

So those who are trying to understand the Absolute Truth by exercising their, exercising their limited knowledge... After all, we are living entities. Our knowledge is always imperfect. That we do not admit, but actually it is so because our senses are imperfect. I am very much proud of my eyes, but I cannot see as soon as the electricity, light, is not existing. I cannot see. Then what is the importance of my eyes? My eyes can see under certain condition. When there is sunlight, then I can see. At night I cannot see. Then what is value of these eyes? So people say that "I cannot see."

Lecture on SB 1.2.22 -- Los Angeles, August 25, 1972:

He is thinking maybe little more, four feet, five feet, six feet, ten feet, and as soon as ten feet he's burst. Because he has no more knowledge. But how the three-feet well can be compared with the Atlantic Ocean? That he does not know.

So we are think..., we have got limited energy, creative energy, so-called scientific knowledge, so-called other knowledge. Limited. Because our senses are limited. And we are thinking that God may be a little bigger than me, Kṛṣṇa? But as soon as it comes to the point that He, He can lift the mountain and the world, the planet, then they doubt. That is saṁśaya. But actually, if you are advanced in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, you must be free from all doubts. You must know perfectly well what is Kṛṣṇa. So that is also possible by devotional service. Just like Kṛṣṇa says in the Bhagavad-gītā: bhaktyā mām abhijānāti (BG 18.55). "If one wants to understand Me perfectly..." Kṛṣṇa cannot be understood perfectly, but still, just to drive away our doubts...

Lecture on SB 1.2.22 -- Los Angeles, August 25, 1972:

By knowledge, scientific knowledge, Kṛṣṇa cannot be known. Why bhakti? Why Kṛṣṇa is prescribing bhakti? No. By knowledge, so-called knowledge, you cannot understand Kṛṣṇa. Therefore the so-called scientists, they are in doubts. It is not possible. If you think that "I shall speculate. Through knowledge, I shall understand God," that is not possible. Because God is unlimited; your knowledge is limited. How you can know God? How the bhaktas—they are not scientists, not educated very much—how they can know? Yes, they can know. How? That is stated in the Bhagavad-gītā:

Lecture on SB 1.3.29 -- Los Angeles, October 4, 1972:

If you are a jñānī, a philosopher, speculating what is the truth, so the truth is, ultimate truth is Kṛṣṇa. So if from the very beginning you try to search out by your philosophical knowledge or if you try to prove the supremacy of Kṛṣṇa by your philosophical speculation, that is perfection. That is your perfection. Otherwise it is simply laboring, waste of time. Śrama eva hi kevalam (SB 1.2.8). If you cannot go forward up to Kṛṣṇa by your philosophical and scientific research, then all the labor you have taken, that is almost simply waste of time. The limit of knowledge, the limit of scientific research, will be confirmed when you have surrendered to God.

Lecture on SB 1.8.21 -- New York, April 13, 1973:

That realization takes place, as it is stated in the Bhagavad-gītā, after many, many births. Bahūnāṁ janmanām ante: (BG 7.19) at the end of many, many births. These impersonalists who are very much attached to the Brahman effulgence, such persons, they are called jñānīs. They are trying to understand the Absolute Truth by dint of their knowledge, but they do not know that their knowledge is very imperfect and limited. And Kṛṣṇa, the Absolute Truth, is unlimited. You cannot approach the unlimited by your limited knowledge. That is not possible. So, by the grace of devotees like Kuntīdevī, we can understand that here is Vasudeva. The all-pervading Absolute Truth, Paramātmā, Vasudeva, is here. Kṛṣṇāya vāsudevāya (SB 1.8.21). So this vāsudeva realization is possible by the impersonalists after many, many births. Not very easily.

Lecture on SB 1.8.43 -- Los Angeles, May 5, 1973:

God is not impersonal. Just like we are persons, you are person, every one of us sitting here, we have got person, personality. We have got individuality. So the impersonalists, they cannot adjust that we are individual persons and how the Supreme, the original cause of everything, He also can be person. Because we have our experience that my knowledge or any individual persons knowledge, opulence, they're limited. But how the unlimited can be person? Because we are limited and God is unlimited, therefore these Māyāvādīs, with poor fund of knowledge, that, because we being persons, we are limited, therefore God, being unlimited, He must be imperson. He must be. They compare the material things. Just like the sky. We think it unlimited. The sky is impersonal. So their philosophy is because God is unlimited, therefore he must be impersonal.

Lecture on SB 1.10.5 -- London, August 28, 1973:

Caitanya Mahāprabhu rejected. Eho bāhya āge kaha āra. "This is external. This is not very good. If you know something more better, you speak." So when at last he said this verse, jñāne prayāsam udapāsya namanta eva... If one becomes submissive and does not endeavor to understand Kṛṣṇa by his so-called limited knowledge, jñāne prayāsam udapāsya namanta, one has to become sub... The whole devotional department is submissiveness. Because under the influence of māyā, everyone is falsely proud. "Oḥ, I am so intelligent. I can do everything." This is the disease, material. Everyone is falsely proud.

Lecture on SB 2.1.1 -- Paris, June 9, 1974:

Go on reading every day. You'll find... Both Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Bhagavad-gītā. Every day, the more you become realized, ātmavit, you see new meaning, new light. Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is so nice. Simply if you read Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam... Vidyā bhāgavatāvadhiḥ. One is learned... What is the limit of learning? The limit, learning, is when you understand Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. That is the limit. Finished. There is no knowledge required anymore. Therefore it is called śrotavyādiṣu yaḥ paraḥ. The ultimate, first class.

But the apaśyatām ātma-tattvaṁ gṛheṣu gṛha-medhinām (SB 2.1.2). Gṛhamedhi, they do not know that there is soul, and the soul is permanent. And we, actually, we are hankering after happiness. For whose happiness? It is soul's happiness. It is Kṛṣṇa's happiness. We, we try to protect this body. We are very much fond of this body. Why? Because the soul is there. Everyone knows it. As soon as this body, there is no soul, it is kicked out, throw it away in the street. Nobody cares for it.

Lecture on SB 3.12.19 -- Dallas, March 3, 1975:

So Kṛṣṇa has... Bhagavantam. Here it is said, bhagavantam. The Supreme Personality of Godhead is Kṛṣṇa, but He is adhokṣajam, beyond our sense perception. Adhokṣaja. Adhah-kṛtaṁ akṣajaṁ jñānam. Our knowledge is limited within this sense perception. That's all. We can see so long the light is there. If the light is not there, then our seeing power is finished. Therefore it is limited. And Kṛṣṇa is beyond this limitation. Therefore His name is Adhokṣaja. Adhah-kṛtaṁ akṣajaṁ indriya-jñānaṁ yena. Akṣajaṁ jñānam means "knowledge acquired by sense perception." Akṣaja. Akṣa means "eyes," and ja means "generated." So I see this book because my eyes are seeing it is book. But as soon as the light is off, I cannot see where is the book and where is the table, where you are. Similarly, we cannot see at the present moment by the imperfect senses what is Kṛṣṇa.

Lecture on SB 3.25.4 -- Bombay, November 4, 1974:

Therefore those who are trying to understand Kṛṣṇa, or partially... We cannot understand fully Kṛṣṇa. That is not possible. We have not so capacity. Because Kṛṣṇa is so big. Advaitam acyutam anādim ananta. So with our limited knowledge we cannot understand... Even Kṛṣṇa does not understand Himself, Kṛṣṇa is so great. Kṛṣṇa Himself, He does not know why He's so much attractive. Therefore, to understand this knowledge, why Kṛṣṇa is so attractive, He became Lord Caitanya, taking the ecstatic emotion of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī. Rādhā-bhāva-dyuti. That's a very great science. Kṛṣṇa is such that Kṛṣṇa... Of course, it is our calculation that Kṛṣṇa does not understand Himself. So to understand Kṛṣṇa, fully Kṛṣṇa, it is not possible. But as far as our limited knowledge is concerned, if we understand Kṛṣṇa so much, that is our perfection.

Lecture on SB 3.25.37 -- Bombay, December 6, 1974:

Then how you can understand God, Kṛṣṇa, by speculation? This is foolishness. Therefore, śāstra advises you that jñāne prayāsam udapāsya: "If you think that you are very learned scholar, you are very advanced in knowledge, and you can manufacture what is God, give up this foolishness first of all. Don't make this foolishness." Jñāne prayāsam. Oh, what is your knowledge? Limited. Kūpa-maṇḍūka, the frog in the well. How you can imagine? Simply by imagination? Is imagination God? Can you create? The Māyāvādīs say that "We can imagine God. God, it is so great that it is not possible to understand the Brahman, but we can imagine some form." This is Māyāvādī philosophy. This imagination will not... You cannot imagine God. God is fact. God is not subjected to your imagination. And your senses are imperfect. How long you will simply speculate? Give up this practice, foolishness. Don't... Jñāne prayāsam udapāsya nam... Just become submissive. Jñāne prayāsam udapā..., namanta eva: "Be submissive." That is bhakti-mārga. Bhakti-mārga is submissive.

Lecture on SB 3.26.29 -- Bombay, January 6, 1975:

Prakṛteḥ kriyamāṇāni (BG 3.27). And prakṛti is working under the direction of Supreme Lord, Kṛṣṇa. Mayādhyakṣeṇa prakṛtiḥ (BG 9.10). Therefore, ultimately, by the superintendence of the Supreme Personality of Godhead everything is going on. But how it is going on, that we cannot explain. We have got limited knowledge. Therefore śāstra says, "Don't try to speculate, because you are imperfect, but things are going on like this." Try to understand. Acintyāḥ khalu ye bhāvā na tāṁs tarkeṇa yo... Simply by your so-called argument and logic you cannot understand. You have to hear from the authorities that "Things are going on like this."

This is called śruti, Veda-jñāna. Śruti, Veda, perfect knowledge is called śruti. Śrutibhiḥ pratipanna, pratipanna. What is established by the śruti, by the Vedic knowledge, that we have to accept. Otherwise there is no other way. So this is even in the material field of activities, and what to speak of the spiritual. Therefore we have to hear from the authorities of śruti. Authorities of śruti...

Lecture on SB 3.26.40 -- Bombay, January 15, 1975:

The other day I was reading Gandhi's discourses on Bhagavad-gītā. He said that "I can imagine any way Kṛṣṇa. I do not accept the historical Kṛṣṇa." In this way, so many things. He was a big man. He can say like that. But we cannot imagine or manufacture Kṛṣṇa. That is not possible. That is not Kṛṣṇa. God is never imagined or speculated or manufactured by my limited knowledge and limited senses. That is not Kṛṣṇa. Of course, Kṛṣṇa is everything. But if we want to know tattvataḥ Kṛṣṇa, in truth, how Kṛṣṇa has created the pañca-bhūta and how each bhūta or each material element is working, that is being discussed. This is perfect knowledge, tattvataḥ.

Lecture on SB 3.28.21 -- Nairobi, November 1, 1975:

And in each and every universe there are so many planets, aśeṣa, you cannot count—unlimited—in one universe, and there are millions of universes. What is your material knowledge? What do you know? You are trying to go to the moon planet. That is also you committing mistake. And what about the millions of universes?

Therefore our knowledge is very, very limited, poor. Poor fund of knowledge, and still we are proud. Sapari phora-phorayate.(?) Just like a small fish, you have seen in the pond. Little water, say one feet—(makes sound) "phor, phor, phor, phor." But the big fishes, they are in the deep in the water, big fish. So we take knowledge from the big fish, not from the small fish, "phor, phor, phor, phor." So phora-phorayate(?), this kind of knowledge will not satisfy us. We take from the big fish, one who knows. Then who knows? Kṛṣṇa knows. And one who knows from Kṛṣṇa, he knows. Ācāryavān puruṣo veda. One who is ācāryavān, who has taken shelter of ācārya, he knows. Why? Because ācārya receives knowledge from Kṛṣṇa and he distributes knowledge to his disciple.

Lecture on SB 7.9.8 -- Hawaii, March 21, 1969:

So that is stated in the Brahma-saṁhitā. Coming out universes. And within the universes there are planets, and within the planet there are so many varieties, and within the varieties there are so many differentiation.

So this is all expansion. Try to understand how Kṛṣṇa... Because we have got very limited knowledge. Ātmavat manyate jagat. The same Dr. Frog. Dr. Frog is calculation in his own way, and he is puzzled how there can be an Atlantic Ocean or Pacific Ocean. Because he has never experienced, he has no idea, he is thinking, "This three feet water expansion, that is very big water." So our folly is that we are trying to study Kṛṣṇa, or God, by our own standard, frog standard. We do not know how great Kṛṣṇa is, how His potency is great, how He is manufacturing, how He is... Because we think, "If we have to manufacture something, I require some tools, I require some energy, I require some ingredients. I have to collect it. Then I can make." Therefore we are surprised, "How Kṛṣṇa can make, or how God can create, this universe?

Lecture on SB 7.9.30 -- Mayapur, March 8, 1976:

Ekas tvam eva jagad etam amuṣya yat tvam ādyam. The same thing you'll find. Vedic literature means there is no contradiction. Either you read this Veda or that Veda, it is not... People who are foolish, who cannot understand, they sometimes see contradiction. No. There is no contradiction. Same one law. Therefore, because we are limited, or our knowledge is limited, imperfect, therefore we should not argue. We shall accept what is stated in the Veda. And if we argue, then we'll find unnecessarily contradiction and we'll be misled. Don't argue. There is no question of... Veda-vācana. Veda-vācana means veda-pramāṇa, śruti-pramāṇa. This is the way of Vedic civilization. If you can prove something quoting from the Vedas, then you are victorious. Veda-pramāṇa. Śruti-pramāṇa. There are many evidences, but the first-class evidence is śruti-pramāṇa. Śruti-smṛti-purāṇādi-pañcarātriki-vidhiṁ vinā (Brs. 1.2.101).

Nectar of Devotion Lectures

The Nectar of Devotion -- Vrndavana, October 27, 1972:

So by logic you can say that "Cow dung is also the stool of an animal. How it becomes pure?" But in Vedas you'll find such things. Therefore by simple studying, without surrendering yourself to the spiritual master, you'll find all these contradictions and you'll be bewildered. Śrutayo vibhinnā. They are not vibhinnā. But to our limited knowledge, sometimes they appear as vibhinnam, different. Śrutayo vibhinnaṁ nāsau munir yasya mataṁ na bhinnam. And you won't find a philosopher who does not agree, who does not disagree with our philosophers.

Sri Caitanya-caritamrta Lectures

Lecture on CC Adi-lila 3.87-88 -- New York, December 27, 1966:

It is the force of ecstasy that will help you in understanding the science of Kṛṣṇa, not other way. Not other. You cannot make a speculation; you cannot... Because what is your power of speculating power? Your senses are limited. In conditioned stage our power of, I mean to say, acquiring knowledge through the senses, that is limited. So by limited senses you cannot go. Therefore acintya. Acintyāḥ khalu ye bhāvā na tāṁs tarkeṇa yojayet. Acintya. It is beyond our jurisdiction of thinking, understanding. So there is no other alternative than to follow this principle, follow this principle, to follow the opinion of ācārya. Ācāryopāsanam. In the Bhagavad-gītā it is stated, "If if you want to make progress in knowledge, then you have to follow." Ācāryopāsanam: "You have to worship ācārya." Ācāryopāsanam. In the Veda it is: ācāryavān puruṣo veda. Veda means knowledge, one who knows. Who knows? "Who has got ācārya to guide him." Ācāryavān puruṣo veda.

Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 20.113 -- London, July 23, 1976:

Any boy can understand that it is coming out of these five elements—means earth, water... The grass is coming out of earth, the fish is coming out of the water. So we have got experiences in two elements. But we have got experience also that living entities coming out of air. So earth, water, air... There are living entities in fire also, but because our knowledge is limited, we do not see. We cannot conceive that in the fire also there can be living entities. And why not? There are five elements, matter. So if earth is producing life, if water is producing life, if air is producing life, why not fire? What is the fault there? Everything is producing life. So the mother produces children. So many children are coming out of the... Tāsāṁ mahad yonir brahma. Yoni, yoni means mother. So the children are there, the mother is there, and where is the father? A commonsense. Is there any mother can produce children without father? Is there any science can prove that a mother without connection with the father has produced child? No.

Sri Brahma-samhita Lectures

Lecture on Brahma-samhita, Verse 32 Excerpt -- Los Angeles, August 14, 1972:

Without being very intelligent, nobody can have full Kṛṣṇa consciousness. It is for the most intelligent man. So that intelligence will come if you try to understand Kṛṣṇa. We have got so many books. Always try to understand Kṛṣṇa. Then you are liberated. Simply by... You cannot understand Kṛṣṇa in full. He is unlimited; our knowledge is limited. But as far as you can, try to understand Kṛṣṇa. These are the items.

Aṅgāni yasya sakalendriya-vṛtti-manti (Bs. 5.32). Veṇuṁ kvaṇantam aravinda-dalāyatākṣam (Bs. 5.30). He is engaged in playing on flute. It is not artists' painting that Kṛṣṇa is painted as a very nice, beautiful young boy and He has got a flute. No. These are Vedic statement.

Arrival Addresses and Talks

Arrival Lecture -- Calcutta, February 4, 1977:

If you so desire, you can stop it. There is no difficulty. Very easy. And that is also explained by Kṛṣṇa: janma karma ca me divyaṁ yo jānāti tattvataḥ (BG 4.9). Simply try to understand Kṛṣṇa. And He's explaining Himself. What is the difficulty to understand Kṛṣṇa? Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme, Para-brahman, the greatest, and we are anu, very small. Our knowledge is very small, limited. It is not possible to understand Kṛṣṇa, but He is explaining Himself for our little understanding. Whatever we have got capacity to understand, that Kṛṣṇa is explaining. So if you simply take Kṛṣṇa's word, man-manā bhava mad-bhakto mad-yājī māṁ namaskuru (BG 18.65). Here is a chance. This Deity worship... When we see the form of Kṛṣṇa, naturally our mind is impressed that "Here is Kṛṣṇa; here is Rādhārāṇī; here is Jagannātha." So if you come daily and see Kṛṣṇa at least once-man-manā bhava mad-bhaktoḥ—where is the difficulty? But people are so much engrossed.

Initiation Lectures

Initiation and Brahma-samhita Lecture -- New York, July 26, 1971:

"From Me, there is remembrance, knowledge and forgetfulness." Forgetfulness is also coming from Him.

So this is going on. Therefore the ādi-puruṣa, Kṛṣṇa is ādi-puruṣa; He's a person. But because He's not a person like us, therefore ordinary person cannot understand God can be person. He thinks that "God must be a person like me." His limited knowledge, speculator, poor fund of knowledge, he thinks that "God must be like me." Therefore in some of the scriptures He's denied personality, because this rascal thinks that "God is a person like me." Therefore it is said: not person. When it is said God is not person, that means He's not a person like you. He's not a rascal like you. That is description. When it is negatively described that He's not a person, that means He's not a person like you. But He's a person, a different person. Sac-cid-ānanda vigraha. Īśvaraḥ paramaḥ kṛṣṇaḥ sac-cid-ānanda-vigrahaḥ (Bs. 5.1). His person is eternal. He does not die.

General Lectures

Lecture -- Seattle, September 30, 1968:

Then? Therefore it is like that. When... This is our limited knowledge. We have been taught in that way, that God is great. Just like the sun is great; therefore even the sun is seen in India or in America or China, anywhere, any part of the world, any part of the universe, the sun is one. Nobody can say, "Oh, it is American sun" or "It is Indian sun." So either Jesus Christ or Rāma or Kṛṣṇa, whoever comes from the kingdom of God, they are the same. There is no difference. But the difference is... Just like in your country temperature of sun is less, and in a tropical country the temperature of the sun is very great. Does it mean the sun's temperature is changed? It is according to the reception. The atmosphere of this country is so surcharged that you cannot receive the sunshine properly, but the sunshine distributes its shining everywhere the same. Similarly, according to the country, according to the circumstances, according to the planet, God is manifested differently, but He is not different. You are wrapping your body with some winter clothes. Same time, telegraph in India, oh, they are running fan. Why the temperature is different?

Lecture -- New York, April 16, 1969:

That means if you have got nice intelligence, you can live nicely. Now what is the limit of that nice intelligence? That limit of nice intelligence is described in the Bhagavad-gītā. What is that? Bahūnāṁ janmanām ante jñānavān māṁ prapadyate (BG 7.19). After developing, going through many species of life, many intelligent human forms of life by cultivating knowledge, education, when one comes to the limit of education and knowledge, he understands what is God. What is God. That is the limit of. And to understand that knowledge, vidyā bhāgavatāvadhiḥ. The most learned scholars, they have agreed that if you want to achieve knowledge, then you should study Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Vidyā bhāgavatāvadhiḥ. Limit of knowledge, limit of education, highest limit of education can be found in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. So this Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam was narrated by Śukadeva Gosvāmī and it was heard by Mahārāja Parīkṣit. At that time he was the emperor of the world. He was very big emperor. Formerly, at least five thousand years ago, there were not many flags.

Lecture Engagement and Prasada Distribution -- Boston, April 26, 1969:

He is beyond our mental speculational field; He is beyond our conception, beyond our words. But there is other verses also, that athāpi te deva padāmbuja-dvaya-prasāda-leśānugṛhīta eva hi, jānāti tattvam (SB 10.14.29). One can understand what is God by the mercy of God, not by mental speculation. It is not possible. We have got very limited scope of knowledge. Our senses are imperfect, we are full of cheating propensities, and we are liable to commit mistake. These four defects are within us. However a great man one may be, he is sure to commit mistake. I shall give you one tangible example in the life of Mahatma Gandhi. You know he was a very great man, political leader in India. So he was also very God-fearing man, a very nice soul. But he also committed mistakes so many times. So to err is human. This is a fact in every person.

Lecture -- London, September 16, 1969:

Just like little boy and elderly man. The elderly man hardly commits mistake, but little boy commits so many mistakes because he has got little knowledge. So because we, the living entities... We have got knowledge, but because our knowledge is limited, therefore sometimes our knowledge is covered by māyā. But the knowledge of the Supreme is never covered by māyā. Just like the cloud. Cloud covers the sky. If an insignificant portion of the sky is covered by cloud, the cloud cannot cover the whole sky. You'll never hear that "A cloud is on London; therefore the cloud is all over the world." No. Similarly, the knowledge is covered of the small particle Brahman, not of the Supreme Brahman. There are many instances. So some way or other, our knowledge is now covered in this material existence, so we have to get out of this ignorance. For that purpose we require tapasya, tapo divyam (SB 5.5.1).

Lecture at Harvard University -- Boston, December 24, 1969:

Then he comes to the standard of Kṛṣṇa consciousness, or platform of Kṛṣṇa consciousness, when he can begin his duties in transcendental lovings towards the Absolute Truth. And when we begin that activity, that spiritual activity, then we can understand, bhaktyā mām abhijānāti (BG 18.55), what is God. These are the stages. We cannot understand by speculative method. God is unlimited, and we are very limited. Our knowledge is limited because our senses, the instruments by which we acquire knowledge, that is imperfect and limited. Just like my eyes. I cannot see perfectly. I cannot see the eyelid. I cannot see the distant place. Although I am very proud that "I want to see face to face," but what you can see? What is your value of your instrument, seeing? That is imperfect. Therefore we cannot get perfect knowledge by these imperfect senses. By sense perception, by direct utilization of our senses, we cannot get perfect knowledge. The perfect knowledge you can get when your senses have been purified to the perfect order. Then you can see.

Lecture -- Los Angeles, May 18, 1972:

"I am this, I am like this. I am like this, this material nature is like this, this spiritual nature is like this, the living entities are like..." Everything are completely described in the Bhagavad-gītā. God Himself, giving His own knowledge, and that is the only process to understand God. Otherwise, by speculation we cannot understand God. It is not possible. He is unlimited and we are limited. Our knowledge, our perception, all of them are very limited. So how we can understand the unlimited? But if we accept the version of the unlimited, that He is like this, like that, then we can understand. That is perfect knowledge. Speculative knowledge of God has no value. Real knowledge, just like... I give this example. Just like if a boy wants to know who is father, who is his father, the simple thing is (to) ask mother. Or mother gives, "Here is your father." That is perfect knowledge. And if you speculate, "Who is my father?" and ask the whole city "Are you my father? Are you my father? Are you my father?" The knowledge will always remain imperfect. He'll never find out what is his father.

Lecture -- Hong Kong, January 31, 1974:

And Bhagavad-gītā, in another different place it is said, man-manā bhava mad-bhaktaḥ mad-yājī māṁ namaskuru mam evaiṣyasi. Asaṁśaya. The aim of life should be, especially of the human body, that try to understand Kṛṣṇa. And as far as possible... Kṛṣṇa cannot be understood fully because He is unlimited, and we have got limited knowledge. But still, as far as possible and as much as possible, if we try to understand Kṛṣṇa, janma karma ca me divyam evaṁ yo vetti tattvataḥ (BG 4.9). Kṛṣṇa advents Himself, comes on this planet. He executes so many duties, takes part in so many occupational functions as human being, but everything is full of instructions. Therefore Kṛṣṇa says, "Don't try to understand, even that is also good superficially, but in truth." Janma karma ca me divyam evaṁ yo vetti tattvataḥ. Tattvataḥ means "in truth, in fact." So if anyone... Janma karma ca me divyam (BG 4.9). Divyam means His birth is not ordinary birth. If it had been ordinary birth, then why we are still performing the Janmāṣṭamī ceremony, Kṛṣṇa's birthday ceremony? Many big, big kings came and gone.

Philosophy Discussions

Philosophy Discussion on Charles Darwin:

Prabhupāda: Yes.

Śyāmasundara: But until there's something that disproves it to me, then I must accept it, because it..., because it's logical.

Karandhara: But that's a false platform. I'll conclude on the basis of my limited knowledge because I don't have the perfect knowledge. That's an abortion of the whole scientific...

Śyāmasundara: Yes. All right. You can say that I've never seen a purple man, so there must be no such thing as a purple man. You can say that, but as far as I can operate within my practicality, there are no purple men. I've never seen one; no one has ever seen purple men. So isn't this logical?

Prabhupāda: Purple men?

Philosophy Discussion on Charles Darwin:

Śyāmasundara: Well, on seven continents I have excavated...

Prabhupāda: But that seven continents is not the whole world. That is our charge. That you are claiming that you have excavated all. We say no, not even an insignificant portion. So your knowledge is limited. (indistinct) they say the same (indistinct), Dr. Frog. Dr. Frog is limited within the three-feet well. If he says "I have seen everything," that is not acceptable.

Śyāmasundara: But at least in thousands of places they have bored into the earth or dug into the earth, and they've found...

Prabhupāda: Yes. Thousands of places is not this finishing, the whole planet.

Philosophy Discussion on Charles Darwin:

Prabhupāda: They accept blind men leading them.

Karandhara: They say the empiric mind just, you cannot accept revelation, that revelation isn't experimental to our limited knowledge, or to our knowledge. The hard-core scientist doesn't want to listen to revelation or what he considers theoretical spiritual knowledge, because he can't examine it or experiment with it himself; therefore he considers it a waste of time. If he can't see it or understand it with his mind, he doesn't think that it has any bearing or importance.

Prabhupāda: So scientific brain means ultimately becoming a fool. He'll talk all nonsense. Once he is recognized scientist, then he can talk all nonsense, and the people accept it as scientific truth.

Philosophy Discussion on John Stuart Mill:

Śyāmasundara: Well, since knowledge is limited to our experience...

Prabhupāda: Yes. That's all right. If your knowledge is limited, then you cannot generalize. Therefore our conclusion is that we don't take knowledge from anyone whose power is limited. There are four defects of the ordinary man—he may be John Stuart Mill or something—because he's to commit mistakes, he's illusioned. Just like he's talking of that induction, studying all men. This is an illusion. He cannot study. Suppose you have hundreds and thousands of men you have studied. That does not mean the whole set of human being is finished. That is, therefore, this theory is illusion. And because he's an ordinary man, he's illusioned that it is possible. So these are the defects. One commits mistakes, one is illusioned, one cheats. This is cheating also. The theory which he is putting forward is never possible to be executed, and still he's posing himself that he is philosopher. That is cheating. His senses are imperfect. He cannot do that. And still he proposes the theory. That is cheating. So these four defects are there: committing mistake, to illusion, to cheat others, and studying everything with imperfect senses.

Philosophy Discussion on John Stuart Mill:

Prabhupāda: This method of studying the cause, so we take the ultimate cause of everything, with His full independence. The ultimate cause can do anything and everything beyond our calculation. There is cause, but the cause is so powerful that it is beyond our calculation how it is being done. Our knowledge is limited; therefore our calculation may be, may be or almost always, is not perfect.

Śyāmasundara: For instance, he observes if a ball being hit by a bat, it always moves. So he concludes that whenever there is circumstance of a bat hitting a ball, that the ball will always move.

Prabhupāda: But the bat is hitting, it is caused by a living being. The bat is not hitting automatically. And not each hitting is of the same force. Therefore the hitting of the ball by the bat, it depends on the other cause, the man who is handling the bat.

Philosophy Discussion on Carl Gustav Jung:

Prabhupāda: He is person. That is the Vedic description. He is person exactly like us, but His personality is unlimited. The same example I was giving, that I am a person so far I am concerned with this particular body, but He is a person living in every body, Super Person. And in the Bhagavad-gītā it is also said that that personality, either of God or of the individual soul, eternally existing. In the Bhagavad-gītā Kṛṣṇa says that in the past we are existing, at present we are existing, and in the future we shall continue to exist. So past, present, future. That means all the time, eternally, both of them are person. One person is unlimited, and the other person is limited. Finite and infinite. So God is person, but the unlimited qualities, unlimited characteristics, unlimited power, unlimited strength, unlimited influence, unlimited knowledge. That is God. And we are also the same—person—with little power, little influence, little knowledge, everything limited. That is the difference between two personalities. One is limited, another is unlimited, but the qualities are the same.

Philosophy Discussion on George Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel:

Prabhupāda: They, they will worship any nonsense, but here it is God consciousness. God has said that "I am this," so "I am...," I will worship. That is God, God consciousness. God has said. He has complete faith in God. Just like praṇavaḥ sarva-vedeṣu: "Of Vedic knowledge I am the oṁkāra." Therefore they follow: oṁ tad viṣṇu paramaṁ para..., every mantra is followed by. How he has known oṁkāra is God? That God has said: praṇavaḥ sarva-vedeṣu. So God is giving instruction how He should be realized. So they are following that. They are realized; they realize actually. And what is the use of speculating? He will never understand God because he is speculating with his limited knowledge. God is unlimited.

Hayagrīva: So although God is all animals and all plants...

Prabhupāda: Yes, that is...