Svarūpa Dāmodara: The literal meaning of sūtra is a condensed statement, Prabhupāda?
Prabhupāda: Eh?
Svarūpa Dāmodara: The literal meaning of sūtra . . .
Prabhupāda: Yes?
Svarūpa Dāmodara: . . . is a condensed statement?
Prabhupāda: Yes.
Svarūpa Dāmodara: So it is like the . . .
Prabhupāda: Syn . . . synopsis. Synopsis. Just like in business there are codes, Bentley's codes. So to minimize the expenditure of telegraph, you give one word. From the other side, they will understand. There is code book. This code means that, "Received your letter. The quotation is supplied," like that, so many things, one code. You know that? Business codes. There are some stock words. That stock words is simply by two, one word, the whole stock word comes. Sūtra means that. Just like a . . . just like you missing something; as soon as you get one little code, you immediately remember: "Yes, yes, everything is there." That is called code, sūtra. Sūtra means thread.
Svarūpa Dāmodara: Thread?
Prabhupāda: Thread. Thread sometimes missing. In some stock of thread, you are missing where it begins. So you have to find out. As soon as you find out, the whole thread is open. (japa)
Svarūpa Dāmodara: Is it like in mathematics, in chemistry, like they call formula?
Prabhupāda: Yes. Yes. Just like symbolic: CH, square root, like that.
Svarūpa Dāmodara: Like in chemistry, for example, the molecule of benzene. So you present it like just six lines, by a hexagon figure with a circle inside. They condense a lot of information.
Prabhupāda: Yes. That is a code, sūtra. But the chemical symbolic representation, that is understood by the specialist. But this sūtra can be understood by anyone. Just like athāto brahma jijñāsā. The meaning is, "Now this is the time for inquiring about the Absolute Truth." So this is a question for everyone, any intelligent man. Here we are understanding everything relative. Relatively. Just like when I say "father," there must be one son . . .
(break) . . . truth, there must be one truth. In this way, this is, this world is relative truth.
Svarūpa Dāmodara: Duality?
Prabhupāda: Dual . . . no, relative. Relative truth. You don't understand relative? Relative means you cannot understand anything without the other. That is called relative. Suppose if I say: "Good man," I cannot understand a good man without having another man, bad man. This is called relative truth. Is it clear or not?
Svarūpa Dāmodara: How about the duality?
Prabhupāda: Duality, not so expressive. Relative—in relation to other. That is the exact. Why duality? There are so many.
Svarūpa Dāmodara: Opposite. One opposite the other.
Prabhupāda: Yes, yes. Just the opposite. Yes. You cannot understand light without darkness. This is relative. Unless there is darkness, how you can say: "This is light"? So opposite. You can say opposite. Now this, this knowledge is there. Everyone knows. But where is that absolute where the bad and good, the black and white, everything coincide? That is absolute. Everything is there. That is not distinction. Everything is there. That is called absolute. Brahman. That means . . . Brahman means the biggest.