Prabhupāda: There are two things: sat and asat. Sat means which exists, and asat means which does not exist; temporary. It appears and again disappears. That is asat. The example is just like the sky and the cloud. Cloud appears, exists for some time, again disappears. But the sky remains always. This is the distinction between sat and asat.
Try to understand. Sky, this material sky, this also does not exist, but so far our experience is concerned, we can understand the distinction between sat and asat, permanent and temporary. We cannot say, "nonexistent" exactly. Existing. When the cloud comes, it has got some activities, there is rainfall, and on account of rainfall, on the ground there is some new vegetation, new flowers, everything looks very green. In the rainy season we get some products. So we cannot say it is false, but we can say it is temporary.
Similarly, material world, matter, is not false, but it is nonpermanent. Bhūtvā bhūtvā pralīyate (BG 8.19), you'll find it in the Bhagavad-gītā. The Māyāvādī philosopher says, brahma satyaṁ jagan mithyā: "The spirit is truth, and jagat, this material world, is untruth, mithyā, false." We say that everything is emanating from the Supreme. Yato vā imāni bhūtāni jāyante (Taittirīya Upaniṣad 3.1). Everything is emanating from Brahman, the Supreme Absolute Truth. So that cannot be false. Because Absolute Truth, how from truth, false will come? This is our philosophy. The matter may be temporary, but it is not false. The Vedic injunction is mā asataḥ. Mā asato sad gamaya: don't try to be entangled with the asat, sad asat, but try to come to the platform of sat.
In the previous verse, yaṁ hi na vyathayanty ete puruṣaṁ puruṣarṣabha (BG 2.15), Kṛṣṇa says: "Those who are not disturbed by the material changes . . ." Sama-duḥkha-sukhaṁ dhīraṁ so mṛtatvāya kalpate. Our mission, human mission, is to come to the platform of amṛtatvam, immortality. We have discussed this point. Amṛtatvam, immortality. The modern civilization, the so-called scientists, philosophers, they cannot imagine even that there is possibility of becoming immortal. They cannot imagine. Their brain is so dull that they cannot think of, that we can become immortal. Then how Kṛṣṇa is speaking about immortality?
Is He speaking something nonsense, utopian? No. He is speaking the fact. Otherwise, if Kṛṣṇa speaks something nonsense, utopian, then nobody would be interested to read Bhagavad-gītā. We may be third-class men, that we indulge in Bhagavad-gītā, and Kṛṣṇa is speaking something utopian, nonsense, but there are big, big ācāryas—Rāmānujācārya, Madhvācārya. Why they are giving attention to the reading of Bhagavad-gītā? Kṛṣṇa does not speak anything nonsense. It is fact. So if it is the fact that there is possibility of becoming immortal . . . that is sat.
So sat . . . our business should be to be engaged in the sat platform, not in the asat platform. Asat platform: nonpermanent or, according to somebody's opinion, false. So false or nonpermanent, whatever it may be, the real human civilization should be based on the purpose of becoming immortal, sat, not asat. That is the distinction between India and other countries. Now I am not speaking of India of today, but India as it is. Big, big ācāryas, just like Vyāsadeva . . . Vyāsadeva is the original ācārya; therefore the birthday of guru is called vyāsa-pūjā. Vyāsa-pūjā. Vyāsa-pūjā means original guru. Guru is the representative of Vyāsadeva.
This throne is called vyāsāsana, sitting place of Vyāsadeva. So one who is representative of Vyāsadeva, he can sit on this throne. So guru, by paramparā system, guru is seated on the vyāsāsana because he is the representative. Just like in the high court, the bench . . . it is called bench. Actually, the bench is to be used by the head of the executive power, the king or the president. But the high-court judge is the representative of the head executive; therefore he sits on that bench.
So Vyāsadeva, so learned scholar, everyone knows how great scholar he was. He has written so many books: four Vedas, eighteen Purāṇas, then Vedānta-sūtra, then Upaniṣads. So many things. Recorded, not written; recorded. So such a big scholar was residing . . . he was guiding the whole society, but he was living very humbly. Even Cāṇakya Paṇḍita, he was prime minister, but he was living in a cottage. That is the distinction between Vedic or Indian civilization and the modern civilization. The Indian civilization means they are interested in sat, and others, they are interested in asat. Asat means which will not exist. I've already explained.
In India . . . of course, materially, five hundred . . . five thousand years ago, materially also, India was very opulent. Why five thousand years? Even five hundred years or four hundred years, India was so opulent that Europeans were attracted to go to India. Even during the time of Mogul Empire, it was so opulent. Those who have gone to India, you'll find if you visit in Delhi, the Red Fort.
Red Fort you'll find there are pictures of birds and trees on the wall, and the eyes of the bird is now hole, or some parts. Means it was bedecked with jewel. On the wall there was decoration of birds, just like we paint now. There is also paint. But that is not painting. Set up with stones, and the eyes and other parts of the bird, or trees, flowers, they are bedecked with different types of jewels. Now all these jewels have been taken away when British government was there, and they are now protected in the British Museum, so far I have heard. But the jewels were taken away. That's a fact. Anyone can see that.
So material opulence and . . . of course, in India it was not considered to have a big tin car or plastic plates. Material opulence means jewels, gold, silk, butter. That is material opulence. Not plastic pots or plastic bucket, plastic cloth. It has no value. So anyway, India was concerned material opulence whatever is gotten from the nature, not by industry, not engaging oneself in industry. Therefore India, the leaders of India now, they are finding that on account of our negligence to the material side of life, we have become poor.
So the purpose is that the East and West difference is that the Eastern people—Eastern people means India—they stressed on this sat portion, the permanent portion, the spiritual civilization. Their aim was "How to make this life perfect so that I can become immortal." As I explained the other day, aihistam yat punar janma jayāya, yat tat punar janma jayāya. The whole effort was how to conquer over birth and death. So modern people, they do not understand that birth and death can be conquered.
They can imagine it. Sometimes they say that, "By scientific advancement, someday we shall become immortal." They also expect to become immortal. But, expect or not expect, here is the information from Bhagavad-gītā. Kṛṣṇa says, He's not speaking something nonsense or utopian. It is fact that we should be interested in the permanent, permanent life, not temporary life.
This life, this material life, is temporary. We may live for ten years or ten hours. There are living entities, they live for ten minutes, and there are living entities who are living for ten millions or ten billions of years. Just like in the Brahmaloka, they live billions of years. So all these duration of life, different types of duration of life, are there within this material world, but still, it is not permanent. Even if you live for ten billions of years or you live for ten minutes or ten seconds, it is nonpermanent.
That is being explained here. Nāsato vidyate bhāvaḥ. Asataḥ, or this material body, it has no endurance. It will not endure; it will not be permanently existing. Nābhāvo vidyate sataḥ: And the soul is permanent. He . . . it has no change; it will never be nonexistent. Kṛṣṇa is explaining. When Kṛṣṇa says: "My dear Arjuna, you, Me and all these kings and soldiers who have assembled here, it is not that we did not exist in the past," so what is that? That means we are not this body. This body was not existing in the past, in my past life, or duration of life. But as I am soul, I am existing now, I did exist in the past, and I will exist in the future. That is sat. Therefore spirit has no such change.