Reporter: I wonder if you might have any opinions on some of the leaders of cults and groups in the United States, such as the Divine Light Mission, or the T.M. and so forth. I'm wondering if you have any opinions on Guru Maharaj-ji or Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.
Prabhupāda: There are different groups. I know that. But I do not go in detail to understand them. But our . . . we have got a crucial test, that anyone who is . . . does not know about Kṛṣṇa, he is put into four different types of categories, as it is stated in the Bhagavad-gītā. One category is that he is sinful. Another category is that he is rascal. Another category is that he's lowest of the mankind. And another category is that his so-called knowledge is taken away by illusory energy. So this is our test. That is stated in Bhagavad-gītā, that:
- na māṁ duṣkṛtino mūḍhāḥ
- prapadyante narādhamāḥ
- māyayāpahṛta-jñānā
- āsuraṁ bhāvam āśritāḥ
- (BG 7.15)
Anyone who is not talking about God, he is either of these group: sinful, rascal, lowest of the mankind, and knowledge taken away by illusion. This is our conclusion, and that's a fact. Because a person who does not know about God, what he is? He is animal. The animal has no knowledge about God. But a human being, if he poses himself to be very learned, then he must have knowledge about God; otherwise what is his knowledge?
Reporter: Do you have any opinion about Ted Patrick, who I guess you've probably heard of?
Prabhupāda: I, I do not care to read these persons. But I have no business, because we are strictly following Kṛṣṇa. Our signboard is Kṛṣṇa consciousness. So anyone who does not know anything about Kṛṣṇa, we reject him immediately. That's all. Simple business.