Sir Alister Clavering Hardy, July 21, 1973, London: I certainly believe that. Oh, I think we’re very close really, in our views of God, except that I’m concentrating on studying the working of God in the people of today. You are studying the message of God given by Krishna in the… And I’m trying to show they are the same, the same view as that revealed by Jesus and by other great…
Prabhupada: When we speak of Veda, Veda means knowledge. So knowledge means knowledge of God. Any scripture that gives knowledge of God, that is Vedas. Don’t think that Vedas means that only the Sama, Yajuh, Atharva.
Those who are following the principles to give knowledge about God, that is Veda. Veda means knowledge. Vetti veda vido jnane. Vid-dhatu is called veda, vetti. Jnane when there is question of knowledge, these three forms are used: vetti, veda, vido, jnane. Vinte vid vicarane vidyate vid saptayam labhe vindati vindate.
This is the vid-dhatu description. So vid-dhatu means to know. So ultimate knowledge is to know God. That is real knowledge. Vedais ca sarvaih. Sarvaih, all kinds of Vedas. All kinds, sarvaih. So Bible can be taken as Vedas because it is trying to give knowledge about God, maybe for a certain class of men.
That is another thing. But the subject matter is how to know God. So that can be taken as also, as Vedas. Because ultimate knowledge is how to know God. Bahunam janmanam ante jnanavan mam prapadyate [Bg. 7.19]. So we accept Bible also as Vedas, but we simply say that they misinterpret the Biblical commandments.
The Bible says, “Thou shalt not kill”, and the Christian people are killing, maintaining slaughterhouse. What is this? This is my question. How they’ll understand God if they are so much implicated in sinful activities? According to Vedas, there are four kinds of sinful activities: illicit sex, unnecessary killing of animals, intoxication and gambling.
Yatra papas catur-vidhah. So God is purest. Param brahma param dhama pavitram paramam bhavan [Bg. 10.12]. How one can approach God if he leads a sinful life? That is our propagation. You give up this sinful life. Then you’ll be able to understand God. You follow Christianity or Mohammedanism or Buddhism. It doesn’t matter. You give up this sinful life.
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