Learning the Science of the Soul
13
mother's service to her child. Out of pure affection and love, she cares for him.
When you come to this stage of loving God, that is perfection. Neither the  karmī , the  jñānī , nor the yogi can know God—only the  bhakta . As Kṛṣṇa says in the  Bhagavad-gītā  [18.55],  bhaktyā mām abhijānāti : “Only through the process of  bhakti  can one understand God.” Kṛṣṇa never says one can understand Him by other processes. No. Only through  bhakti . If you are interested in knowing God and loving Him, then you must accept the devotional process. No other process will help you.
Ms. Nixon:  What transformation does one undergo on the path . . .
Śrīla Prabhupāda:  No transformation—your original consciousness is Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Now your consciousness is covered with so much rubbish. You have to cleanse it, and then—Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Our consciousness is like water. Water is by nature clear and transparent, but sometimes it becomes muddy. If you filter all the mud out of the water, it again comes to its original clear, transparent state.
Ms. Nixon:  Can one function better in society by becoming Kṛṣṇa conscious?
Śrīla Prabhupāda:  Yes, you can see that my disciples are not drunkards or meat-eaters, and from a physiological point of view they are very  clean —they'll never be attacked by serious diseases. Actually, giving up  meat  eating is not a question of Kṛṣṇa consciousness, but of civilized  human  life. God has given human society so many things to eat—nice  fruits , vegetables, grain, and first-class milk. From milk one can prepare  hundreds  of nutritious foods, but no one knows the art. Instead, people  maintain  big slaughterhouses and eat meat. They are not even civilized.
When  man is uncivilized, he kills poor animals and eats them.
Civilized men know the art of preparing nutritious foods from milk. For instance, on our New Vṛndāvana farm in West Virginia, we make  hundreds  of first-class preparations from milk. Whenever visitors come, they are astonished that from milk such nice foods can be prepared. The  blood  of the cow is very nutritious, but civilized men utilize it in the form of  milk . Milk is nothing but cow's blood transformed. You can make milk  into  so many things—yogurt, curd, ghee (clarified butter), and so on—and by combining these milk products with grains, fruits, and vegetables, you can make hundreds of preparations. This is civilized life—not  directly  killing an animal and eating its flesh. The innocent cow is simply  eating  grass given by God and supplying milk, which you can live on. Do you think cutting the cow's throat and eating its flesh is civilized?
Ms. Nixon:  No, I agree with you one hundred percent. . . . One thing I'm