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Prabhupada: ...as the mind of God. And it is desert. God's mind is desert.

Pusta Krsna: You made the statement in your purport that the moon is giving life to the vegetation on this planet. So how it can be a desert?

Prabhupada: That I have described. They do not talk about moon. That means they did not go. That is now clear.

[break] ...if you can answer my question why Monday first, er, yes, Sunday first and Saturday last? All over the world, in India also, Sunday, er, Monday first... No. Sunday first, Monday second. Ask your scientist friend why this arrangement, Sunday first, Monday second, Saturday last?

[break] Today I calculated that it will take seven months to reach the moon planet at the speed of eighteen thousand miles per hour. And they're going in four days. [laughter] Just see how bluffing.

Hari-sauri: But they don't calculate the moon to be so far away.

Prabhupada: That is their foolishness.

Hari-sauri: We did that calculation on the basis of 95,000,000 miles, which is about 2,000,000 miles from what the distance we get from the Bhagavatam, combined with 93,000,000 miles...

Prabhupada: But they accept [sic:] ninety-three miles. Sun is [sic:] ninety-three miles away.

Hari-sauri: But we don't say that.

Prabhupada: No, no. We say also.

Hari-sauri: What? 93,000,000?

Prabhupada: Yes.

Hari-sauri: Oh.

Prabhupada: Four billion is the..., what is called?

Pusta Krsna: Diameter of the universe.

Prabhupada: Diameter of the universe. Sun is almost in the middle.

Hari-sauri: So what is that distance that is given in the Bhagavatam, then? It says 100,000 yojanas.

Prabhupada: One hundred thousand... Moon that is far away from the sun, 1,600,000. [break] ...came from fire in the sea, varuvagni. You know there is sometimes fire in the sea?

Pusta Krsna: In what way? Volcano? Like that?

Prabhupada: Volcano eruption. Is there any technical term? badavagni. [aside:] Hare Krsna.

Hari-sauri: You mean like when there's an eruption from below? Say, when an island's formed, or...

Prabhupada: In Sanskrit it is called Badavagni, fire in the water.

Hari-sauri: Well they say some eruption from below the earth's crust comes up, and then, er, all the gases underneath push the land up above the water.

Prabhupada: There is fire within the earth, just like fire within the stomach, there is fire. That helps digestion. In the Ayurvedic sastra, when one does not feel an appetite, it is called agni-mandya, less temperature of the fire.

Pusta Krsna: How can the fire within the stomach be increased?

Prabhupada: You know everything?

Pusta Krsna: No.

Prabhupada: Then?

Hari-sauri: It said that by taking cold milk, that dampens the fire. I thought that was what we said. That's what I was always told.

Pusta Krsna: Certain foods are cooling to the stomach.

Prabhupada: Appetite is increased on account of the fire. The fire creates different secretion, blood. This is a big machine. It is mentioned in Bhagavad-gita, yantra. [Bg 18.61] So how this yantra is working? Electricity, everything, air.

Pusta Krsna: Are persons who are trying to cut down appetite, they should eat cool foods?

Prabhupada: Hmm?

Pusta Krsna: Persons who are trying to eat less and less for spiritual life, they should...

Prabhupada: No. Less is not spiritual. Whatever you want to eat, your food must be... Machine is going on by the order of God. It is not after your order. But if you violate laws, then it is disturbed. If you eat more then the fire is disturbed... Oblations to the fire-svaha-that is eaten by God through fire. Grains are offered, fruits are offered in the fire sacrifice. He eats through the fire. So as the part and parcel of Krsna, we have got little fire; we eat through that.

[break] In the fire you put tons of grains, tons of ghee-everything will be consumed. Similarly, little fire is there, whatever you eat is taken.

Hari-sauri: Whatever is there in the universal form is found in a small quantity in the bodies that the living entities get.

Prabhupada: It is a small universe. There is word, yaha ache brahmande, taha ache ei bhande. [Bengali] The arrangement what is there, universally, the same arrangement in small scale is there.

Hari-sauri: So many completes coming from the whole.

Prabhupada: Drop of water, the chemical composition is the same as the big ocean. [break] ...seven mile deep, they say.

Pusta Krsna: About 35,000 feet, I think. Just under seven miles. [break]

Prabhupada: ...wants to go against the current. That is their sporting. That is that example is given by Tulasi dasa. Bahe yaya gajaraja. A small fish, it will go against the current, and if you put one elephant, he cannot; he'll be washed away. Why the fish, the small fish, can go against the current and the elephant is washed out? Because that fish is under the shelter of the ocean; the elephant is foreigner. This example. So one who takes shelter of the Supreme, he can do anything. Others will be washed away. This example.

Hari-sauri: That's a good example.

Prabhupada: Oh, yes. Bahe yaya gajaraja. Gajaraja means the king of elephants, he'll be washed away. But a small fish will go against the current.

Hari-sauri: Is that from the Eighth Canto?

Prabhupada: No. It is one Tulasi dasa.

Hari-sauri: Oh. Like it says in Caitanya-caritamrta, if you have the mercy of Lord Caitanya, a big thing becomes easy, but if you don't have His mercy, then a small thing becomes difficult. [break]

Devotee: ...the universe was created five to ten billion years ago. Do we agree with their proposition, or...?

Prabhupada: Hmm?

Devotee: They say that this universe was created five to ten billion years ago.

Prabhupada: So?

Devotee: Do we agree with that proposition, or...?

Prabhupada: What was before? Chunk and gas?

Devotee: Well, they basically have two theories. Either the "Big Bang" theory...

Prabhupada: Theories. We don't take theories. Nonsense. Theory is speculation, nonsense. [laughter]

Hari-sauri: I was just reading last night in Caitanya-caritamrta how Lord Brahma saw Krsna produce hundreds and millions of universes and Lord Brahmas and cowherdboys and cows and calves from His body, and then they entered back into His body within a moment. [laughs] It's going to be a little difficult for these scientists to appreciate the actual creative potency.

Prabhupada: Because he thinks Krsna is like him, that is difficult. So it is said this water is the semina of Krsna. So they will say, "How you can...? So much semina?"

Devotee: Well there are some theories where they think the universe was started from a big lake.

Prabhupada: Wherefrom the lake came?

Devotee: Well, actually they say that that's not so important.

Prabhupada: So your word is also not important. "That is not important. His word is important." Do you see the point? Whatever he'll say, that is important. So anyone can say something that is very important.

Devotee: That is to say that to understand the universe may be difficult. So therefore then they try to explain...

Prabhupada: So difficult, stop. Don't talk. "Why you are talking like nonsense?" It is difficult, accept it; don't talk.

[break] Take difficult things and talk nonsense.

Devotee: Because they all have a yearning to want to know these things. They all have a yearning to want to know these things about the mystery of the universe.

Prabhupada: Yes. But you know from the proper person. As you are very much eager to teach us, similarly, you learn; Who can teach. Why do you talk nonsense without learning? You are scientist. You want to teach me. But from which scientist you have learned? So anyone can say something nonsense and become a teacher? Not teacher, but cheater.

Devotee: They have many persons that they accept as authorities.

Prabhupada: Hah?

Devotee: They are many persons that they accept as authorities.

Prabhupada: They have many fools. Maybe like you?

Devotee: [laughs] Yes, I admit, I am the biggest fool. But they accept some people-just like Isaac Newton. They accept him as a great authority.

Pusta Krsna: Perhaps this is a speculation-I'm not certain-but in the Bhagavad-gita it describes that lust is also sometimes like a fire. And practically one experiences that the heat in the body, the lusty desires increases heat within the body. So is there any correlation between the fire within the body and the mode of passion?

Prabhupada: Yes. Passion is not... Just like fire, if you fan it, it blazes more. Similarly, by passion, the fire is more powerful.

Pusta Krsna: Then the passion is like the fuel.

Prabhupada: Yes. Lust is sometimes described as fire, kamagni. Fire burns, the lusty desire burns.

Devotee (2): What about tamo-guna? Does tamo-guna have a relation with the body? Body temperature?

Prabhupada: Tamo-guna is laziness. It is ash. Neither fire. Ignorance. Civilized man, they're working, making some material arrangement nice. That is good, passion. But the uncivilized, sleeping, he doesn't want to work. Just like this Hawaii was under the Hawaiians' control, they could not do anything. Ignorance, laziness. Tamo-guna, darkness, is no work, no reasearch. Simply like animals, that's all. And rajo-guna, there is activity to create material facilities. And sattva-guna, "Why we are working? What is the aim of my life?" That is sattva-guna.

Devotee: So it's better to be in the mode of passion than the mode of ignorance?

Prabhupada: Eh? No. We have to come to the mode of goodness. That is wanted. Neither passion nor ignorance. But passion is better than ignorance. That is comparative. But the best quality in this material world is goodness, when knowledge is sufficient. And beyond that, suddha-sattva. Here in this material world even goodness is disturbed sometimes by passion and ignorance. But the platform where no more disturbance by all these three qualities, that is suddha-sattva. That is spiritual. Devotees are expected to remain on that platform, suddha-sattva, pure goodness. Then they will not be disturbed by these three qualities.

Devotee (2): In the mode of ignorance, if he wishes to come to the platform of the mode of goodness, does he have to pass through the mode of passion to get to the mode of goodness? Or can you go directly from the mode of ignorance to the mode of goodness?

Prabhupada: Oh, yes. In fact, you can instantly go to the platform of pure goodness. [end]