So our . . . when we are free from this material bondage we have no information how much powerful we are. We are satisfied here by manufacturing something, Sputnik, that we are very much satisfied that we have advanced so much in material science without knowing that without any help of this Sputnik and aeroplane, I can travel all planets. That potency I have got. Now, how that potency we can have? That is the thing we should culture. Jñānāgniḥ. And that can be achieved by jñāna, by knowledge.
The knowledge . . . for knowledge, everything is there. We have to accept that. Therefore, formerly people used to observe penances and austerity to attain perfection. Now here, in this age, oh, that . . . such austerities and penances are not possible. Are not possible. Because our life is very short, and we are always disturbed. Prāyeṇālpāyuṣaḥ kalau asmin yuge janāḥ. Kalau.
Kalau means this age, the age of quarrel and insufficiency. This age is called Kali. Kali means "The age of quarreling." We fight. On insignificant questions we fight. Therefore this is called Kali-yuga. So in this yuga we have got very short period of life.
That day I was reading from the Twelfth Chapter, er, Twelfth Canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam—perhaps some of you who were present—that in this age the life will be reduced from twenty to thirty years. We have to wait for that time. So gradually, things will deteriorate.
Therefore in the Kali-yuga, the yoga practice or the sacrifice or, I mean to say, very pompous worship of God, oh, that is not possible. People are . . . have got short life, they are always disturbed. They are disturbed with material disturbances, diseases, and they are unfortunate also. They are not very fortunate. So mandāḥ sumanda-matayo manda-bhāgyā hy upadrutāḥ (SB 1.1.10).
Mandāḥ. They are very slow, and also unfortunate. This very word is used in the Bhāgavata. So therefore, in the Kali-yuga, if we want to get all this advantage of knowledge, then the only way is to become Kṛṣṇa conscious. To become Kṛṣṇa conscious. That will help us. If that Kṛṣṇa consciousness is ablaze . . . that . . . bahūnāṁ janmanām ante jñānavān māṁ prapadyate (BG 7.19).
If we can surrender unto Kṛṣṇa and fully become Kṛṣṇa conscious—just the example Arjuna showed; he became Kṛṣṇa conscious—then our knowledge will be ablaze, and all the reaction of our good work or bad work will be turned into ashes. We shall be purified. Na hi jñānena sadṛśaṁ pavitram iha vidyate (BG 4.38).
The Lord says again, "There is nothing purified things in this material world except jñāna, or knowledge." What is that knowledge? That knowledge is that, that "I am part and parcel of the Supreme Lord. Therefore my business is to dovetail myself with the supreme consciousness. I am individual consciousness, and I shall be dovetailed with the supreme consciousness." That is jñāna.