Just like our principle. Kṛṣṇa says that, "I am the Supreme," five thousand years ago. So Arjuna, who heard from Kṛṣṇa, he also said, paraṁ brahma paraṁ dhāma pavitraṁ paramaṁ bhavān (BG 10.12). He accepted. I am speaking of five thousand years. Otherwise perpetually. Imaṁ vivasvate yogaṁ proktavān aham avyayam (BG 4.1). Long, long ago, before speaking to Arjuna, this Bhagavad-gītā was spoken to the sun-god, forty millions of years ago. The same principle, in the Bhagavad-gītā, "I am speaking to you the same principle." Not that, "Forty millions of years have passed, so things have changed." No. Nothing has changed. The sun forty millions of years ago used to rise from the eastern side. Forty or trillions of years. Still it is rising from the east. Can you make any new thing, "Let it be . . . let the sun rise from the west?" No. That is not possible.
So knowledge means without any mistake. Anything without any mistake, that is perpetually right. And anything based on mistaken idea, that will change. You have to correct the mistake. The so-called modern scientist, they are simply correcting their mistake. Therefore they have no real knowledge. Nobody can have real knowledge, because we are imperfect. Our senses are imperfect. That is our defect in the conditioned life. We have got four defects: we commit mistake, we become illusioned, our senses are imperfect and we cheat. Because our knowledge is imperfect, still, we take the position of teacher; therefore we are cheater—not teacher, but cheater. So the teacher society nowadays is the cheater society. And this modern world is a society of the cheater and the cheated. That's all. Somebody is cheating and somebody is being cheated. This is going on.
So how we can be not cheated? That is mahātmabhiḥ. You have to follow the previous great ācāryas, mahātmabhiḥ. Just like Kṛṣṇa is accepted. Kṛṣṇa says He is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Arjuna accepted, "Yes, paraṁ brahma paraṁ dhāma (BG 10.12)," after hearing from Him. Paraṁ brahma. And then, after Arjuna, disciplic succession. Lord Caitanya accepted. All the ācāryas, Rāmānujācārya, Madhvācārya, accepted Kṛṣṇa the Supreme Personality. Śāstra says, kṛṣṇas tu bhagavān svayam (SB 1.3.28). So we have to follow these mahājana. Otherwise we cannot get the right knowledge. Mahājano yena gataḥ sa panthāḥ (CC Madhya 17.186). We have to follow great authorities. So who are authorities? They are mentioned in the śāstras:
- svayambhūr nāradaḥ śambhuḥ
- kumāraḥ kapilo manuḥ
- prahlādo janako bhīṣmo
- balir vaiyāsakir vayam
- (SB 6.3.20)
Everything is there, śāstra. So Yudhiṣṭhira Mahārāja followed the principles as it was done by the previous mahātmabhiḥ, great personalities, not only in his family but also otherwise. Because knowledge is . . . right knowledge is not different. "Two plus two equal to four," it is right in Europe, in America, in Asia, in white, in black—everywhere. It is truth, "Two plus two . . ." You cannot make "Two plus two equal to five." That is not possible. That is truth.
So hṛdi brahma paraṁ dhyāyan. This is the principle. If you want to stop repetition of birth and death . . . this is our real problem. But people are so poor in knowledge, they do not know what is the problem. They are tackling some temporary problem, "There is no petrol, there is no this, there is no that." Well, even petrol is there, but what about yourself? Are you going to live here forever? "That is not problem. I am making arrangement for my sense gratification very nicely—skyscraper building, and very nice car, very nice bank balance, everything." That's all right. But are you going to live permanently? What is the answer, my dear scientist? No answer. Just see. You construct a house with a hope that you shall live here, but if you are informed, "Oh, you are going to die tomorrow," will you take that responsibility, constructing, spending millions of dollars? "Oh, I am going to die?" That is natural. That is natural.
So before making nice arrangement for our living condition, first of all make this condition sure, that you are going to live actually, you will live comfortably. Is that guaranteed? No, that is not guaranteed. At any moment he will be kicked out. Any moment. So that is real problem. First of all make yourself assured that you will not be kicked out. Just like even we enter an apartment, we make so many agreement with the landlord—this condition, that condition. What is the idea? That I may not be kicked out. I may not be kicked out tomorrow. The landlord may say: "Get out." This is the agreement you make. So what is the agreement for your living condition?
Therefore real problem is that, that we are coming, we are accepting one type of body, either in human society or animal society or tree society or dog society, accepting some body, karmaṇā daiva, according to our karma. There are so many varieties of life. Why so many varieties of . . .? What is the explanation? Just like there are so many varieties of apartment. So what is this means? You enter some apartment according to the payment you can provide. Therefore there are so many varieties of apartment. It is commonsense affair. Otherwise all apartment should have been the same, of the same size, same quality, same . . . no.
There are different tenants, they pay differently; therefore there are different kinds of apartment. Similarly, this is also apartment. Dehino 'smin yathā dehe (BG 2.13). The spirit soul is within this apartment body. So according to karma, according to payment, one has got American body, one has got African body, one has got Indian body, one has got this body, that body, dog's body, cat's body, tree's body. This is karma. This is karma. This is our real problem. And this human life is especially meant for solving this problem, not the problem of petrol. But they have forgotten this. They are so rascals, the real problem they have forgotten.