Suppose I have got some comfortable situation as born as American. How long shall I remain American? Say, fifty years or hundred years. That's all. Then finish; get out of the skyscraper building. Throw away your motorcar. Go to the graveyard. And then, what is next life? That I do not know. That I do not know. The life is continuous. Vāsāṁsi jīrnāṇi yathā vihāya (BG 2.22).
I am changing my dress. Supposing I have got very nice, good dress, American body, very fair complexion, comfortable life, all these things. That's all right. But do you think what is your next dress? Are you going . . . are you sure that you are going to be American again? Who can say? Is there any scientist, is there any astrologer who can say: "Yes"? No. Nobody can say.
But the śāstra can say. Śāstra means the authoritative scriptures. Just the other day we described about the symptoms of this Kali-yuga. So many things are foretold five thousand years before, and they are coming true in this age. For example, one small example: lāvaṇyaṁ keśa-dhāraṇam (SB 12.2.6). In this age people will think that by keeping long hairs they have become beautiful. This is stated in the Bhāgavata. A very small example. So many other things. Five thousand years before, ago, this was foretold, that in this age people will like to keep long hairs in order to become beautiful.
So this is śāstra. Śāstra means direction—both past, present and future. Everything is there. Therefore we have to consult the Vedic literature. It is perfect. It is without any mistake, without any cheating. This is śāstra. Just like in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam you'll find the indication of Lord Buddha's birth. It is stated in the list of incarnation of God that buddha-nāmnāñjana-sutaḥ kīkaṭeṣu bhaviṣyati (SB 1.3.24).
Bhaviṣyati means future tense. In the beginning, just after the beginning of this age, kīkaṭeṣu, in the province of Gayā . . . if you have gone to India, you will see still there is a place known as Gayā in the province of Patna, er, Bihar. And Lord Buddha, I mean to say, flourished himself in that part of the country. And it is indicated there that kīkaṭeṣu bhaviṣyati, "in future."
And his mother's name is also mentioned: añjana-sutaḥ. Lord Buddha's mother's name was Añjana. He was Hindu, kṣatriya, a prince. So everything is stated there. Similarly, the next incarnation at the end of this Kali-yuga is also mentioned in the Bhāgavata. That will take place 400,000's of years after from this time. But His father's name and the incarnation's name and the place where He will come, that is also stated in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.
So this is called śāstra. Śāstra means you can consult. Just like you consult dictionary, you consult encyclopedia, you consult so many authoritative books for understanding knowledge, similarly, if you consult, you get all information. So in this Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam it is all stated: "If you do like this, you get birth like this. If you do like this, you get birth like this."
And in the Śrīmad Bhagavad-gītā it is generally spoken, ūrdhvaṁ gacchanti sattva-sthāḥ (BG 14.18). Those who are in the modes of goodness . . . there are three qualities in this material world: the quality of goodness, the quality of passion and the quality of ignorance. So in the Bhagavad-gītā it is stated that ūrdhvaṁ gacchanti sattva-sthāḥ: those who are cultivating the quality of goodness, they can be promoted to the higher status of life in higher planetary system. Ūrdhvam. Ūrdhvam means higher. Ūrdhvaṁ gacchanti sattva-sthāḥ.
And madhye tiṣṭhanti rājasāḥ. Rājasāḥ means those who are in the modes of passion. They remain either in this planet or some of them may be elevated to the heavenly planet. Heavenly planet is also in the middle of the universe. And adho gacchanti tāmasāḥ jaghanya-guṇa-vṛtti-sthāḥ. Jaghanya—very abominable characters. Jaghanya-guṇa-vṛtti-sthāḥ. Those who are situated not only ignorance . . . out of ignorance, one remains in abominable condition. So jaghanya-guṇa-vṛtti-sthā adho gacchanti tāmasāḥ (BG 14.18): they go downwards, even to the animal life. So we have to consult and we have to mold our life in that way.
So Kṛṣṇa consciousness means it is above the modes of goodness. The goodness characteristic is manifested in a true brahmin. What is that characteristic? He is truthful. First thing is satya. Satya means truthful. A brahmin is supposed to speak truth even to his enemy. Everyone hides his secret before the enemy, but truthful means that he does not hide anything even to his enemy. That is brahminical qualification.