The Vedanta-sutra is accepted as the supreme authority of all Vedic literature. And the Vedanta-sutra (1.1.2) says, janmady asya yatah: [SB 1.1.1] The Absolute Truth is the original source of everything. Janma means birth. There is no question of interpretation; the meaning is clear. Everything in this material world comes out of the Absolute Truth, just as this body comes out of the womb of our mother. Janmady asya yatah: [SB 1.1.1] Beginning from birth up to the annihilation, everything is an emanation from the Absolute Truth. The Absolute Truth is that which is the source of everything, the reservoir of everything, and the maintainer of everything.

What are the characteristics of the original source? The Srimad-Bhagavatam (1.1.1) says, janmady asya yato nvayad itaratas carthesv abhijnah svarat: The original source of everything must be supremely cognizant of everything, both directly and indirectly. He is the supreme spirit, and He knows everything because He is perfect. We are also spiritspiritual sparksand as soon as a spiritual spark takes shelter in the womb of a mother, it develops a body. That means that the spiritual spark is the source of the body and all its mechanisms. Although it is by our energy that this body is produced, we do not know how our veins are created or how our bones are created. And because we do not know, we are not God. But Krsna knows. This is the characteristic of the Absolute Truth: He knows everything. Krsna confirms this in the Bhagavad-gita (7.26): I know everything that has happened in the past, everything that is happening now, and everything that will happen in the future.

We become cognizant of the Absolute Truth by accepting knowledge from a spiritual master, but how has Krsna become perfectly cognizant? How is Krsnas knowledge so perfect? Because He is fully independent (svarat). He does not have to learn anything from anyone. Some rascal may try to realize himself as God by taking knowledge from a Mayavadi, but Krsna is God without taking knowledge from anyone. That is God.