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At 7.30pm, Srila Prabhupada came down to the temple to give class. He sat on a large, colourfully embroidered sky-blue cushion placed between two large matching bolsters. Prabhupada asked the devotees which part of the Gita they would like him to speak on. Guru Krpa Swami suggested the ninth chapter. Turning to verse one, Srila Prabhupada commented that this chapter contained the most confidential knowledge of Bhagavad-gita. In his long and thoughtful class, Prabhupada drew a distinction between genuine, spiritual knowledge and education, and its mundane counterparts. Real education, Prabhupada pointed out, was absent in contemporary civilisation, even amongst the world's intelligentsia.

"There is no education actually. The modern education means simply craftsmanship. If you can prepare a nice motor car, 'Oh, what is that?' It is craftsmanship -- the blacksmith's work. It is not knowledge. Knowledge is different. Therefore it is called jnanam-vijnana-sahitam. This is knowledge -- 'What I am? Am I this body or something else? Why am I suffering? Is there any remedy? I do not wish to die, neither I am subjected to death.' Nityah-sasvato 'yam purano-na hanyate hanyamane sarire -- This is knowledge, that 'If I am eternal, if I do not die after annihilation of this body, then why I am subjected to this body?' This is knowledge. And to manufacture a motor car, that is not knowledge. That is craftsmanship. Knowledge is here, that 'I am eternal. Why I am put into this condition of temporary body, not only one kind of body, but 8,400,000 different forms of bodies, and I have to accept one of them, tatha dehantara-praptir, according to my karma. This is my position. How to get out of this condition to inquire about it [to understand this condition]?' That is knowledge."

In question time, a young hippy-looking Christian man initiated a lengthy exchange with Srila Prabhupada. He felt that the devotees unnecessarily rejected the body, which, according to his understanding of Christian theology, was the self. He argued that Christians would say: 'This is my body, this is my blood.' Prabhupada replied with obvious logic that to say 'my body and my blood' meant that the body and blood belonged to me.

The young man, however, had difficulty understanding even such a basic concept. Prabhupada explained further: "It requires a little intelligence. Just like you are breathing. So when the breathing is stopped, you say, 'The man is dead'. But what is this breathing? This breathing is nothing but a little portion of air passing." That air, Prabhupada explained, could be duplicated in the blacksmith's shop. "Hans, phans, hans, phans." His imitation of bellows drew laughter from the audience.

"Does it mean life? No, therefore you have to study every part of your body. You will find that there is no life. Therefore life is different from this combination of matter. This is intelligence."

The man appeared to accept Prabhupada's clear distinction between the body and the soul, but within moments revealed another misunderstanding.

"So you call that Krsna. But God is God. God's name is God, not Krsna. You may call Him Krsna if you wish."

The devotees were becoming a little restless, but Prabhupada remained patient. "So who is God?" Prabhupada asked.

"God is God," the young man replied.

"'God is God'," you say. Man is man, but who is that man? You do not know."

"The point I'm trying to make .." The man fumbled for an answer. ".. is that you call God 'Krsna', Christians call God by whatever name they call God .." (Laughter) "The point is .."

Prabhupada interjected. "Christians? I don't think that they have any particular name of God." Prabhupada logically explained how "God" was a generic term whereas God actually had personal names. "Suppose you have heard, 'There is a President', but if you hear from somebody, 'The President's name is this,' so what is the harm? You become advanced in knowledge. Suppose you go to a country. You know that that government has got a President, but if somebody says, 'The President's name is this', then where is the wrong there?"

"Nothing wrong."

Prabhupada spoke with cool-headed logic. "Then? You do not know the name of God, but if I give you the name of God, what is wrong there?"

"The point is that I would like to suggest .."

"No. No suggestion; God's names cannot be suggested. Then He is not God. You cannot suggest God's name."

The man finally got out what he wanted to say. "Well, then, you make God into a person called Krsna."

Prabhupada rejected his erroneous conclusion. "No. God is a person. I have already said. It is described in the dictionary, 'The Supreme Being'. You are being, I am being, but He is the Supreme Being. You are not supreme; I am not supreme."

The man had taken up the whole of question-time. Prabhupada drew the program to a close. Indicating for kirtana to begin, he stepped down from his vyasasana, and returned to his rooms. He expressed his pleasure at the good attendance for the lecture and was happy to hear that, like the previous year, a nightly feast of Krsna prasadam would be served to all the guests and devotees. Pusta Krsna and Hari-sauri both felt and looked exhausted and were suffering from jet lag. Srila Prabhupada, as usual, appeared to be completely unaffected by the rigours of travel.


- From "The Great Transcendental Adventure" by HG Kurma Prabhu