Adi-lila, Chapter 7 91

from inattention while hearing, and cheating is the transmission of such defective
knowledge to others. Materialistic scientists and philosophers generally use such
words as ‘“‘maybe”’ and ‘“‘perhaps’’ because they do not have actual knowledge of
complete facts. Therefore their instructing others is an example of cheating. The
final defect of the materialistic person is his inefficient senses. Although our eyes,
for example, have the power to see, they cannot see that which is situated at a
distance, nor can they see the eyelid, which is the object nearest to the eye. To our
untrained eyes the sun appears to be just like a plate, and to the eyes of one who is
suffering from jaundice everything appears to be yellow. Therefore we cannot rely
on the knowledge acquired through such imperfect eyes. The ears are equally im-
perfect. We cannot hear a sound vibrated a long distance away unless we put a
telephone to our ear. Similarly, if we analyze all our senses in this way, we will find
them all to be imperfect. Therefore it is useless to acquire knowledge through the
senses. The Vedic process is to hear from authority. In Bhagavad-gita the Lord says,
evam parampara-praptam imam rajarsayo viduh: ‘‘The supreme science was thus
received through the chain of disciplic succession, and the saintly kings understood
it in that way.” (Bg. 4.2) We have to hear not from a telephone but from an
authorized person, for it is he who has real knowledge.

TEXT 108

Gorfrae-ASs FH BW AS SFI
FACS CAS wel Aq AW dev

upanisat-sahita sutra kahe yei tattva
mukhya-vrttye sei artha parama mahattva

SYNONYMS

upanisat—the authorized Vedic version; sahita—along with; sutra—the Vedanta-
sutra; Rahe—it is said; yei—the subject matter; tattva—in truth; mukhya-vrttye—by
direct understanding; se/—that truth; artha—meaning; parama—ultimate; mahattva—
glory.

TRANSLATION

“The Absolute Truth is described by the Upanisads and Brahma-sutra, but one
must understand the verses as they are. That is the supreme glory in understanding.

PURPORT

It has become fashionable since the time of Sankaracarya to explain everything
regarding the sastras in an indirect way. Scholars take pride in explaining everything
in their own way, and they declare that one can understand the Vedic scriptures in
any way he likes. This ‘‘any way you like’”’ method is foolishness, and it has created
havoc in the Vedic culture. One cannot accept scientific knowledge in his own
whimsical way. In the science of mathematics, for example, two plus two equals
