In2-MeC

Martin, Slovakia
2 July 2004

What is real knowledge?

Lord Krsna gives a summary of the items of real knowledge in the thirteenth chapter of Bhagavad-gita, verses 8-12. There are twenty items. Of these, one--constant and unalloyed devotion to Krsna-- is "the most important point," in Srila Prabhupada's words. Devotion to Krsna, as explained before, begins with hearing and chanting His name and glories. When devotion is constant (nityam) and unalloyed (avyabhicarini), the functions of the senses and mind break all dependence upon matter and connect directly with transcendence.

The arca-vigraha form of the Supreme Personality of Godhead incarnates into stone, metal, wood, or paint according to specifications given in the Vedic scriptures. Thus we can see Him, touch Him and render Him service.

For example, instead of being preoccupied with a "model of mind" manufactured by mental speculation, a pure devotee meditates on the transcendental form of the Lord. The form of Lord Krsna is never material. But as explained in the previous chapter, in order to maintain the living entities within material creation, He accepts the dress of the threefold cosmos. Similarly, so that we who live within creation may meditate upon Him, Krsna assumes a form for us to maintain through personal services like cooking, cleaning and decoration. This form is called the Deity (arca- vigraha). The devotees fashion the Deity from stone, metal, wood or paint according to specifications given in the Vedic scriptures. Thus, though our senses are dim to transcendence, we see can see Him, touch Him and render Him service.

"Matter" is transcendental

Someone might ask, "But how can something--this 'Deity'--be transcendental when all it is made from is stone, metal, wood or paint? These are just material ingredients existing well within our mundane experience. " Yet in the last analysis, whatever we call "material" transcends our experience. We do not experience from where matter originates, nor how the material world came to be structured as the matrix of our experience. If we think that we know all about the Deity from what we know about matter, we are being pretty silly. What do we know about matter anyway? As long as we depend upon the blunt instruments of the mind and senses for knowledge, we can know only our ignorance of matter. Several years ago two scientists published a book entitled The Matter Myth. The purport is the more science studies matter, the more matter vanishes. If that is all we can say about what matter really is, then certainly human knowledge about matter amounts to ignorance.

The Vedic sound transmits to our ears knowledge coming from beyond the limits of our mind and senses. This sound reveals that matter 1) is the energy of the Supreme Person; 2) can be experienced by us only because it is given shape by His divine form; 3) is meant to be engaged in His service. The transcendent source of matter becomes self-evident as soon as we stop thinking about matter in our ordinary, habitual, ignorant way and engage it in the service of Lord Krsna's personal form.

How we ordinarily think about matter is evident in our eating habits. From the instrumentalist point of view, any lump of matter that can be ingested and digested is classified as food. But this is animalistic. The Vedas warn of many types of "food" not fit for human consumption--meat, fish and eggs, for example. For human beings, God provides six food groups--vegetables, grains, legumes, nuts, milk and sugar. These are meant to be offered in sacrifice to the Deity. A human being should eat only the remnants of such offerings, called prasadam (the Lord's mercy). If he does not, then all that he eats, even if he is a vegetarian, submerges his consciousness within the waves of materialistic thinking, feeling and willing. He remains entrapped by the matrix of mundane experience life after life, unable to realize his original identity as a liberated associate of the Supreme Person.

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