So today is very auspicious day, Ṭhākura Bhaktivinoda's birthday. Here is the picture of Ṭhākura Sac-cid-ānanda Bhaktivinoda. He was one of the ācāryas of this disciplic succession from Kṛṣṇa. We have got a succession table from Kṛṣṇa, genealogical table. There are two kinds of genealogical tables—one by the semina—father, his son, his son, like that; that is material genealogical table—and there is one spiritual genealogical table, disciplic succession.
Just like Kṛṣṇa . . . Kṛṣṇa, the original father, Supreme Personality of Godhead, He spoke the Vedic knowledge to Brahmā, Lord Brahmā. He spoke to Nārada. Nārada spoke to Vyāsa. Vyāsa spoke to Madhvācārya. So in this disciplic succession, Lord Caitanya, from Lord Caitanya, the six Gosvāmīs, and similarly, coming down, down, Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura, then Gaurakiśora dāsa Bābājī Mahārāja, then my spiritual master, then we are, next generation, my disciples.
So there is a disciplic succession, and the ācāryas, they're authorities. Our process of knowledge is very simple, we take it from the authority. We don't speculate. Speculation will not help us to come to the real knowledge. Just like when we are in difficulty, in legal implication, we go to some authority, lawyer.
When we are diseased we go to a physician, the authority. There is no use, speculation. Suppose I am in difficulty in some legal implication. I simply speculate, "I shall be free in this way and that way." That will not help. We have to go to the lawyer who knows things, and he gives us instruction that "You do like this; then you'll be free."
Similarly, when we are diseased, if I speculate at home that, "My disease will be cured in this way and that way," no. That is useless. You go to an authorized physician, and he will give you a nice prescription, and you'll be cured. That is the process of knowledge.
But in the modern age people think that "I am free, I am independent, and I can make my own solution." That is rascaldom. That's not good. So Arjuna, when he was talking with Kṛṣṇa as friend, but when he saw that there was no solution talking like this, he surrendered to Kṛṣṇa. He said, śiṣyas te 'ham (BG 2.7). Aham: "Myself, I surrender unto You as Your disciple." Śiṣyas te 'haṁ śādhi māṁ prapannam. Prapannam means surrender.
So that is the Vedic injunction, that if you want to know transcendental knowledge or science . . . "Transcendental" means beyond the scope of your direct perception. So spiritual knowledge is beyond the scope of our sense speculation. Beyond the scope. Just like when a soul, a spiritual spark only, leaves this body, you cannot see. Therefore atheistic class of men, they speculate, "There may be a soul, there may not be soul." Or "The bodily function was going like this; now it stopped. The blood corpuscles now cease. It is no more red, it is white, therefore life . . ." These are speculation. This is not actual knowledge.
Actual knowledge you get from the authority, Kṛṣṇa. He says, tathā dehāntara-prāptir dhīras tatra na muhyati (BG 2.13). Just like the soul is passing through different stages. Dehino 'smin yathā dehe. Deha, deha means this body. Asmin dehe, in this body, there is dehi. Dehi means who is the owner of this body. That is soul. That is passing through childhood, boyhood, babyhood, youthhood, old age. Everyone, you can perceive that you were a child, you were a baby, you were a boy. Now you are young man or old man. So you are there.
So as you are passing through different types of bodies, similarly, when you give up this body you accept another body. What is the difficulty? Tathā dehāntara-prāptir dhīras tatra na muhyati (BG 2.13). There is no question of becoming astonished, how transmigration of the self, soul, takes place. The vivid example is there. Simply you require little intelligence. That intelligence is developed through the instruction of ācārya.
Therefore, Vedic injunction is not to acquire knowledge by speculation. That is useless. Athāpi te deva padāmbuja-dvayaṁ jānāti tattvaṁ prasāda-leśānugṛhīta eva hi, na cānya eko 'pi ciraṁ vicinvan (SB 10.14.29). Ciraṁ vicinvan. Ciram means for thousands of years you can speculate, you cannot understand what is God. That is not possible. But if you receive knowledge from the devotee, he can deliver you. Therefore Vedic injunction is that tad-vijñāna . . .
(break) . . . in order to understand tad-vijñāna . . . vijñāna means science. If you want to know the transcendental science, then you must approach a guru, tad-vijñānārtham, in order to . . . if you are at all interested to understand the spiritual science, tad-vijñānārthaṁ (sa) gurum eva abhigacchet (MU 1.2.12), you must approach guru. Guru means this disciplic succession, as I have explained.