Bhaktivedanta Library


Library Home Śrīla Prabhupāda ISKCON Languages English Español Pусский Português English - Español English - Pусский English - Português Español - Pусский Español - Português Pусский - Português Authors Books Basics Reference Essays Narrative by Ācaryas Philosophical by Ācaryas By Śrīla Prabhupāda The Great Classics About Śrīla Prabhupāda Narrative by Prabhupāda's Disciples Philosophical by Prabhupāda's Disciples Magazines All the Library Websites ISKCON Virtual Temple Virtual Istagosthi Vaiṣṇava Calendar Kṛṣṇa West

The Scientific Basis of Kṛṣṇa Consciousness

<< 6. Śāstric (Authoritative Scriptural) Injunctions Are the Supreme Judgement >>

	We understand that our knowledge and intelligence are extremely limited. Our brains are tiny, our senses and scientific equipment are imperfect, and our vision is limited. With all these imperfect means, how will it be possible to comprehend the knowledge (science) beyond? Attempting to understand unlimited knowledge by one's own limited means in the name of doing research is simply a waste of valuable time and energy. Śrīla Prabhupāda very kindly explains that by the mature research work of Śrīla Vyāsadeva, an avatāra (incarnation) of the Supreme Personality of Godhead Himself, Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, complete and perfect knowledge (science) is available in the Vedic literatures.
	The Vedas were originally spoken by the Supreme Lord Himself to Brahmā, the first living being in the material universe, from within his heart. Vedic knowledge is called śruti, indicating that it is learned by aural reception. Therefore the Vedic knowledge has to be received from higher authorities by hearing (śravaṇam). In previous ages people were very intelligent. Their memories were extremely sharp. Just by hearing once from a spiritual master, disciples could remember everything. Therefore, there was no necessity for keeping the Vedas in written form during those ages. However, Śrīla Vyāsadeva could see beforehand that people in this present age of Kali, the age of quarrel and misunderstanding, situated amidst the disturbing noise of science and technology, would be much less intelligent, possessing extremely short memories. Therefore about 5,000 years ago he compiled the Vedas in written form for the benefit of all inquisitive souls of this present age.
	Veda actually means knowledge, and Vedanta means the end of knowledge, which is to know the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa. Bhagavad-gītā is the essence of all Vedic knowledge. It was spoken by the Supreme Lord, Śrī Kṛṣṇa Himself, to His intimate friend and disciple Atjuna. Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is the ripened fruit of all the Vedic literatures. It is the summum bonum of life, Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa personified. It describes the unlimited transcendental qualities of the Lord. Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu explained to Sanātana Gosvami, “Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is the sound representation of the Supreme Lord, Kṛṣṇa. So, as Kṛṣṇa is unlimited, similarly, in each word and each letter of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam there are unlimited meanings, and one can understand them by the association of devotees.”⁽¹⁾ Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa says: “I am situated in everyone's heart, and from Me come remembrance, knowledge and forgetfulness. By all the Vedas am I to be known; indeed I am the compiler of Vedanta, and I am the knower of the Vedas.”⁽²⁾ Thus the words of the Vedas are the supreme authority.
	One may ask, “How may one accept authority?” The answer is given by Śrīla Prabhupāda: “The answer of the genuine mother to the question of who is one's father is authoritative.” One cannot argue about or object to this point. Similarly, when a child learns that two times two is equal to four from his father and he tells the same thing to a professor of mathematics, the professor has to agree that the child is speaking perfectly. The child may not be perfect, but the knowledge that he is speaking is perfect because he has taken it from an authority. Similarly, all the Vedic knowledge is infallible. For example, it has been mentioned in the Vedas that cow dung is pure whereas other stool is impure, and modern science has found this to be true. It has been scientifically confirmed by chemical analysis that cow dung indeed contains various antiseptic properties.
	There are four principal defects inherent in the conditioned soul, namely, imperfect senses, the propensity to cheat, surety of committing mistakes and surety of being illusioned. Therefore, the conditioned soul is completely unfit to make any rules and regulations. The injunctions laid down in the sāstras (authoritative scriptures) are above these four defects. Therefore, all the great saints and ācāryas (holy teachers) accept the scriptural injunctions completely, without adulteration. Our position is simply to accept the supreme authority without question. In this way, one can understand the Supreme Lord and supreme scientist, Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, through authority. One can perceive or detect Him through authority, one can see Him through authority, and one can associate with Him through authority. Similarly, one can also speak through authority, argue and defend through authority, and prove and demonstrate through authority. The supreme authority is the ultimate judgement, and Śrī Kṛṣṇa is that supreme authority.
	Men who have a poor fund of understanding further ask, “How does one know that Kṛṣṇa is the supreme authority?” Lord Brahmā, the first living being and the engineer who creates all the living entities in the material universe, sings as follows:
	īśvaraḥ paramaḥ kṛṣṇaḥ sac-cid-ānanda-vigrahaḥ anādir ādir govindaḥ sarva-kāraṇa-kāraṇam “Krsna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. He is the very form of eternal being, full of knowledge and bliss. He is the rimeval Lord Govinda and the cause of all causes.”⁽⁴⁶⁾
	Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam says, kṛṣṇas tu bhagavān svayam: “Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Personality of Godhead Himself.”⁽⁴⁷⁾ Arjuna, the great devotee of the Lord, also says to Lord Kṛṣṇa: “You are the Supreme Brahman, the ultimate, the supreme abode and purifier, the Absolute Truth and the eternal divine person. You are the primal God, transcendental and original, and You are the unborn and all-pervading beauty. All the great sages such as Nārada, Asita, Devala, and Vyāsa proclaim this of You, and now You Yourself are declaring it to me.”⁽⁴⁸⁾ In the same way, all the mahājanas (great self-realized personalities) like Prahlāda Mahārāja, Śukadeva Gosvāmī and Bali Mahārāja, the great ācāryas (holy teachers) like Madhvācārya, Rāmānujācārya and Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, all my predecessor gurus (spiritual masters) in disciplic succession and now my spiritual master and eternal father, His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Svāmī Prabhupāda, declare the same thing-that Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Therefore there should be no tinge of doubt. Our duty is just to follow the kind footsteps of these greatest of saintly personalities. In this way we can understand the science of Kṛṣṇa.
	“Time I am, the destroyer of the worlds...” Dr. Oppenheimer quoted a verse from the Gitā,fearing that it would take a person as intelligent as God to be able to use atomic energy properly, and that humanity might not prove to be equal to the task.
	In spite of this, the project to control nature continues. Rather than researching to find out the plan of the Supreme Being, rather than accepting the laws of nature as laws of God, the scientific men(ality seeks to put mankind in the place of God in order to improve on nature. But when we inspect these activities closely, we can see that the two admitted goals, knowledge and pleasure, have not been achieved after so many years of trying. The materialists enjoin us to be patient, saying that very shortly the answer will be known and the pleasure will be available for all. To keep us amused in the meantime, there are technological trinkets galore. If it happens that we die waiting, still the scientist does not admit the tragedy, since for him life is only a molecular peculiarity anyway.
	Thus the insensitive fritter away the valuable time of human life, time meant for discovering the answer to the most pressing of all questions-“Why am I suffering?"”In fact, they won't even admit that they are suffering. Life thus wasted becomes a painful paradox, in which each minute that passes increases the misery, until finally the body collapses in agonized bewilderment.
	In a jeep, in the 1940's, several scientists rode through the New Mexico desert . They were tense, trying to resolve the nerve-wracking conflict of fear and dizzy elation in their minds. The Manhattan Project had come to an end, and they were to. witness the first explosion of a nuclear device, which was being considered for use as the “ultimate weapon” to win the war. In their bunker, as they confronted the terrifying, spectacular power of the bomb, Dr. Oppenheimer quoted a verse from the Bhagavad-gītā, “Time I am, the destroyer of the worlds...,” no doubt fearing that it would take a person as intelligent as God to be able to use atomic energy properly, and that humanity might not be equal to the. task. To know that answer for certain, which evidence will be sufficient for us? The sublime words of the Gītā, or the brute force of history?

NOTES

	1		Prabhupāda, Teachings of Lord Caitanya, p. 151.
	2		sarvasya cāhaṁ hṛdi sanniviṣṭo mattaḥ smṛtir jñānam apohanaṁ ca vedaiś ca sarvair aham eva vedyo vedānta-kṛd veda-vid eva cāham [Bhagavad-gītā 15.15]
	3		Śrī brahma-saṁhitā 5.1
	4		Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 1.3.28
	5		arjuna uvāca paraṁ brahma paraṁ dhāma pavitraṁ paramaṁ bhavān puruṣaṁ śāśvataṁ divyam ādi-devam ajaṁ vibhum āhus tvām ṛṣayaḥ sarve devarṣir nāradas tathā asito devalo vyāsaḥ svayaṁ caiva bravīṣi me [Bhagavad-gītā 15.15]

Donate to Bhaktivedanta Library