1218
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam
[Canto 4, Ch. 26]
put forward a theory contradicting the theory of another scientist. All of this is due to their working on the mental platform without a standard of knowledge. In the Vedic instructions, however, the standard of knowledge is accepted, even though it may sometimes appear that the statements are contradictory. Because the  Vedas  are the standard of knowledge, even though they may appear contradictory, they should be accepted. If one does not accept them, he will be bound by the material conditions.
The material conditions are described in this verse as  guṇa-pravāha , the flowing of the three modes of material nature. Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Thākura therefore says in a song, ( miche )  māyāra vaśe, yāccha bhese', khāccha hābuḍubu, bhāi : “Why are you suffering? Why are you sometimes being drowned in the waves of material nature and sometimes coming to the surface?” ( Jīva )  kṛṣṇa-dāsa, e viśvāsa, karle ta' āra duḥkha nāi : “Please therefore accept yourself as the servant of Kṛṣṇa. Then you will be freed from all miseries.” As soon as one surrenders to Kṛṣṇa and accepts the perfect standard of knowledge, which is  Bhagavad-gītā  as it is, he then comes out of the material modes of nature and does not fall down and lose his knowledge.
Naṣṭa-prajñaḥ . The word  prajña  means “perfect knowledge,” and  naṣṭa-prajña  means “one who has no perfect knowledge.” One who does not have perfect knowledge has only mental speculation. By such mental speculation one falls down and down into a hellish condition of life. By transgressing the laws laid down in the  śāstras , one cannot become pure in heart. When one’s heart is not purified, one acts according to the three material modes of nature. These activities are very nicely explained in verses 1-6 of the Seventeenth Chapter of  Bhagavad-gītā .  Bhagavad-gītā  further explains:
traiguṇya-viṣayā vedā nistraiguṇyo bhavārjuna nirdvandvo nitya-sattva-stho niryoga-kṣema ātmavān
“The  Vedas  mainly deal with the subject of the three modes of material nature. Rise above these modes, O Arjuna. Be transcendental to all of them. Be free from all dualities and from all anxieties for gain and safety, and be established in the Self.” (Bg. 2.45)
The entire world and all material knowledge is within the three modes of material nature. One has to transcend these modes, and to attain that platform of transcendence one must follow the instruction of the Supreme Personality of Godhead and thus become perfect in life. Otherwise one will be knocked down by the waves of the material nature’s three modes. This