Devotee: "Even if Arjuna did not believe in the existence of the soul, as in the vaibhāṣika philosophy, there would still have been no cause for lamentation. Nobody would lament the loss of a certain bulk of chemicals and stop discharging his prescribed duties."
Prabhupāda: Yes. Suppose some chemical combined bottle is there; by accident it is broken. Does it mean that I shall give up all my duties to be done? And lament for the bottle only? What is this? (laughs) "Arjuna, you are My friend"—he was friend of Kṛṣṇa—"You have become so fool that you are lamenting for loss of a chemical bottle?" This is the argument. Yes.
Devotee: "On the other hand, in modern science and scientific warfare so many tons of chemicals are wasted in achieving victory over the enemy."
Prabhupāda: Yes. They are manufacturing so many atomic bomb and hydrogen bomb, this bomb—huge, expensive chemical. So that is lost, so who is crying for that? Go on.
Devotee: "According to the vaibhāṣika philosophy, the so-called soul, or ātmā, vanishes along with the deterioration of the body."
Prabhupāda: The modern theories, they are exactly like that. They want to . . . yes, our Kārttikeya was telling that the boys, the young boys and girls, they put forward this theory that "Our parents have made the position of the world so unsafe. So we do not know when we shall . . . our this body will be finished. So better to enjoy this bodily sense gratification as far as possible quickly."
Is not that theory you were telling me? Huh? Is it a fact they are thinking like that? Oh, now, see this nonsense. Now supposing there is soul . . . and why not suppose? Because experimentally you have not proved that by chemical combination you can produce such moving things.
So more or less, the modern civilization is in darkness. That is the treatment of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Lokasyājānata (SB 1.7.6). The all the people of the world, they are rascals and fools. That is the statement in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, First Canto. Vyāsadeva wrote the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, and the introductory portion is stated like this, you have seen, that by his devotional meditation he saw Kṛṣṇa and His material energy also.
- bhakti-yogena manasi
- (samyak) praṇihite 'male
- apaśyat puruṣaṁ pūrṇaṁ
- māyāṁ ca tad-apāśrayam
- (SB 1.7.4)
By bhakti-yoga meditation he saw two things. Manasi praṇihite amale. By bhakti-yoga only. The yoga process is to clear the mind. The whole process of yoga indriya-saṁyama, controlling the senses and clearing, that is actually yoga system. So the perfection of yoga system—bhakti-yoga. Bhakti-yoga.
Because by executing bhakti-yoga you can cleanse up the mind perfectly. Yoga system, the purpose of yoga system is to cleanse up the mind, and this bhakti-yoga process . . . just like Caitanya Mahāprabhu recommends, ceto-darpaṇa-mārjanam (CC Antya 20.12). The first benefit of this bhakti-yoga process, chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa, is cleansing the mind.