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On the Way to Krşna
was given to man to understand the problems of life, but it is being misused. People are thinking that they have acquired knowledge because they know how to manufacture and drive cars, but before the car was here people were still going from one place to another. It is just that the facility has been increased, but along with this facility come additional problems—air pollution and over-crowded highways. This is  māyā ; we are creating facilities, but these facilities in their turn are creating so many problems.
Instead of wasting our energy to supply ourselves with so many facilities and modern amenities, we should apply intelligence to understand who and what we are. We do not like to suffer, but we should understand why suffering is being forced upon us. By so-called knowledge we have simply succeeded in manufacturing the atomic bomb. Thus the killing process has been accelerated. We are so proud to think that this is advancement of knowledge, but if we can manufacture something that can stop death, we have really advanced in knowledge. Death is already there in material nature, but we are so eager to promote it by killing everyone at one drop—this is called  māyayāpahṛta — jñāna , knowledge carried away by illusion.
The  āsuras , the demons and proclaimed atheists, actually challenge God. If it were not for our Supreme Father, we would not see the light of day, so what is the point of challenging Him? In the  Vedas  it is stated that there are two classes of men, the  devas  and  āsuras , the demigods and demons. Who are the  devas ? The devotees of the Supreme Lord are