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 karmi, the jfdni, nor the yogi can know God—only the bhakta. As
Krsna says in the Bhagavad-gitd [18.55], bhaktya mam abhijanati: ‘‘Only
through the process of bhakti can one understand God.’’ Krsna 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...
Srila Prabhupada: No transformation—your original consciousness is
Krsna consciousness. Now your consciousness is covered with so much
rubbish. You have to cleanse it, and then—Krsna 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 Krsna
conscious?

Seila Prabhupada: Yes, you can see that my disciples are not drunkards
or meat-eaters, and from a physiological point of view they are very
dlean—they’ll never be attacked by serious diseases. Actually, giving up
meat eating is not a question of Krsna 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 Vrndavana 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
