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Perfect knowledge means

Other Books by Srila Prabhupada

Krsna, The Supreme Personality of Godhead

Krsna Book 89:

To execute religious principles means to come to the platform of perfect knowledge. If one comes to the platform of perfect knowledge, then he will be uninterested in material affairs. Perfect knowledge means knowledge of one's own self and the Supreme Self. The Supreme Self and the individual self, although one in quality, are different in quantity. This analytical understanding of knowledge is perfect. Simply to understand "I am not matter; I am spirit" is not perfect knowledge. The real religious principle is devotional service, or bhakti. This is confirmed in the Bhagavad-gītā, where Lord Kṛṣṇa says, "Give up all other religious principles and simply surrender unto Me." Therefore, the term dharma applies only to vaiṣṇava-dharma, or bhagavad-dharma, by following which one automatically achieves all good qualities and advancements in life.

Sri Isopanisad

Sri Isopanisad 4, Purport:

All power is obtained from the Lord; therefore each particular power must be utilized to execute the will of the Lord and not otherwise. The Lord can be known by one who has adopted such a submissive service attitude. Perfect knowledge means knowing the Lord in all His features, knowing His potencies and knowing how these potencies work by His will. These matters are described by the Lord in the Bhagavad-gītā, the essence of all the Upaniṣads.

Sri Isopanisad 15, Purport:

Perfect knowledge means knowing Kṛṣṇa as the root of this Brahman effulgence. This knowledge can be gained from such scriptures as Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, which perfectly elaborates the science of Kṛṣṇa. In Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, the author, Śrīla Vyāsadeva, has established that one will describe the Supreme Truth as Brahman, Paramātmā or Bhagavān according to one's realization of Him. Śrīla Vyāsadeva never states that the Supreme Truth is a jīva, an ordinary living entity. The living entity should never be considered the all-powerful Supreme Truth. If he were the Supreme, he would not need to pray to the Lord to remove His dazzling cover so that the living entity could see His real face.

Lectures

Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures

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

Knowledge means, perfect knowledge means past, present, and future. There are many foretelling in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam about this Kali-yuga. They are stated in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Future.... Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam was written five thousand years ago. Still, what was stated at that time, they're coming to be true. That is called śāstra. Past, present, and future. So Kṛṣṇa knows everything. Vedāhaṁ samatītāni (BG 7.26). He says that "I know everything, past, present, and future." That is perfect knowledge.

Lecture on BG 4.34 -- New York, August 14, 1966:

Jñāninaḥ means jñānī, or a man who is in perfect knowledge. Perfect knowledge means one who has perfect vision or the perfect, not theoretical, but actual vision of the spiritual subject matter. He is called jñānī. Jñāninas tattva-darśinaḥ.

Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures

Lecture on SB 7.9.10 -- Montreal, July 10, 1968:

We shall sit together and some friends or family, some useless talks, we shall go on for hours together. But if you are called to talk about Kṛṣṇa or Bhagavad-gītā or Bhāgavata, this philosophy, nobody will come. So better not to talk. It is better not to talk than to talk nonsense, foolish. So generally, we are accustomed to talks, enjoy foolish talks, which has no meaning, neither any benefit for this material world, neither any benefit for spiritual world. If you are, of course, gaining something material benefit... Just like businessmen talk. They talk seriously if there is any profit. Otherwise the secretary says, "Oh, the Mr. such and such has no time to see you." That is also some good because time is so valuable. So why should we talk nonsense? So that is also very good qualification if you don't talk nonsense. Either you talk about Kṛṣṇa or don't talk. That is called mauna. If there is no subject matter for talking on the subject of Kṛṣṇa, then it is better not to talk. But we have got very nice engagement. We can talk Hare Kṛṣṇa. If you have no other engagement, then we have got these beads, "Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa..." You can day and night, twenty-four hours, go on. This is called mauna. And vijñāna. Vijñāna means perfect knowledge. What is that perfect knowledge? Perfect knowledge means to know Kṛṣṇa. Yasmin vijñāte sarvam evaṁ vijñātaṁ bhavati (Muṇḍaka Upaniṣad 1.3). The Vedic injunction is: "If you can understand the Supreme, then you understand the whole thing, because Supreme is the whole, absolute." Just like if you can understand one, two, three, four, five, six, eight, nine, zero, then you can understand the whole mathematics, because what is mathematics? One, two, three, four, three, four, one, two, just like that. That's all. The same nine figures, that's all. Similarly, the Vedas says, yasmin vijñāte sarvam evaṁ vijñātaṁ bhavati. If you simply try to understand the Supreme Absolute Truth, that is the purpose of Vedas. And it is confirmed in the Bhagavad-gītā also, vedaiś ca sarvair aham eva vedyam (BG 15.15). What is the use of studying Vedas? What is the use of studying this Bhāgavata or...? To understand Kṛṣṇa. That's all.

Festival Lectures

Sri Vyasa-puja -- New Vrindaban, September 2, 1972:

We don't manufacture knowledge, because how we can manufacture? Perfect knowledge means I must be perfect. But I am not perfect. Every one of us, when I was speaking, because... We are not perfect because in our conditional life we have got four defects. The first defect is that we commit mistake. Any one of us who are sitting here, nobody can vouchsafe that he has not committed any mistake in life. No, that is natural. "To err is human." In our country, even a personality like Mahātmā Gandhi, he committed so many mistakes. So to commit mistake is not unusual. It is usual for any man. Then again, one is illusioned. Illusioned means accepting something for something. Just like every one of us, we accept this body as ourself, but actually we are not, everyone. On this bodily concept of life the whole trouble is there in the whole trouble is there in the world. I am thinking "Indian"; you are thinking "American"; he is thinking "dog"; he is thinking "cat"; because on this bodily concept of life. So this is illusion because I am not this body, you are not this body. Because at the time of death we can understand the body is there, but my relative is crying, "Oh, my son is gone." "My father is gone." Where he is gone? The body is there. Where is your father gone? No. Then we can... After death we can understand that "My father or my son was not this body. He was something else." So this is called illusion.

General Lectures

La Trobe University Lecture -- Melbourne, July 1, 1974:

Ladies and Gentlemen, I thank you very much for your joining us in this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement. Kṛṣṇa, when I utter the word Kṛṣṇa, it means God. It is Sanskrit word, Kṛṣṇa. Those who are Sanskrit student, you know kṛṣ-dhātu, "attraction," "one who attracts." God is the Supreme Being, full with six kinds of opulences; therefore He attracts everyone. This is the definition of the word Kṛṣṇa. This Bhagavad-gītā is spoken by Kṛṣṇa, the perfect person. We receive knowledge from the perfect person. When we receive knowledge from imperfect person, the knowledge is not complete. At the present age, mostly the scientists, they cannot give us perfect knowledge, because there are so many "if's." They say, "It may be," "Perhaps," like that. But this is not perfect knowledge. The perfect knowledge means there is no "if," there is no "perhaps," there is no doubt. So we are receiving knowledge from Kṛṣṇa, the supreme perfect being. He says that dehino 'smin yathā dehe (BG 2.13). Asmin dehe. Asmin means this, this body. You have got your body; I have got my body. So within this body, there is the proprietor of the body. Asmin dehe. Dehinaḥ asmin. Dehe means the proprietor of the body. I do not see you; I see your body, you see my body. But within the body the proprietor is lying, or he is situated. That we do not see. But we can understand. Suppose my beloved father is dead or somebody is dead. I cry, "My father is gone." So where is your father gone? He is lying there, unconscious.

Philosophy Discussions

Philosophy Discussion on Immanuel Kant:

Śyāmasundara: This is just what he is saying, that whenever you try to speculate about the Absolute you will run into contradictions.

Prabhupāda: Yes. So contradiction mean imperfect knowledge. Perfect knowledge means who sticks to his principles. That is perfect knowledge. One who does not stick to his original proposal, his knowledge is imperfect.

Conversations and Morning Walks

1975 Conversations and Morning Walks

Room Conversation with Sanskrit Professor, other Guests and Disciples -- February 12, 1975, Mexico:

Prabhupāda: Yes. So you quote that. Then it is perfect. You don't require to make research. Your research is no good because your senses are imperfect. I have no proper vision. If the light is stopped, I cannot see. This is the position of my eyes. So what is the use of my seeing? It is conditional. So one who is conditional, how he can give perfect knowledge? One who is not conditional, he can give perfect knowledge. Therefore we have to approach somebody who is not conditioned. Then we get perfect knowledge.

Guest (5): I have great difficulty with the meaning of the term "perfect knowledge." Could you...

Prabhupāda: Perfect knowledge means what you say, it is correct. There is no mistake.

Guest (5): Under any and all circumstances.

Prabhupāda: Yes. That is perfect knowledge, not like the scientists. They changes: "Yes, it was this. Now it is now changed." This is not perfect knowledge. They simply change. Therefore we say, mūḍhās. Perfect knowledge is that what you say, that is correct forever. That is perfect. Just like man dies. If somebody says, "Man dies," it is perfect knowledge. It is correct forever.

Page Title:Perfect knowledge means
Compiler:Visnu Murti
Created:20 of Feb, 2011
Totals by Section:BG=0, SB=0, CC=0, OB=3, Lec=6, Con=1, Let=0
No. of Quotes:10