Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is the essence of Vedic literature. It is said, nigama-kalpa-taror galitaṁ phalam idam (SB 1.1.3). Just like a big tree. What is the essential thing in the big tree? That is the fruit. Suppose a mango tree, big mango tree. But what we want from the mango tree? The mango. And if the mango is ripened, still, it is very nice. So it is compared, nigama-kalpa-taror galitaṁ phalam (SB 1.1.3). Nigama means Vedic literature.
Veda, Veda means knowledge. Vetti veda vidoḥ jñāne vinte vid vicaraṇe. So vid-dhātu, those who are Sanskrit scholars here, they'll understand. Vid means to know, knowledge. So Vedic literature means to receive knowledge, authoritative knowledge. Not false knowledge. False knowledge . . . there is difference between false knowledge and authoritative knowledge. So far we are concerned at the present moment, whatever knowledge we are giving or accepting, they are more or less false knowledge. Not authoritative knowledge.
Just like we are studying the outer space, so many scientists are studying. But still they cannot give any perfect information of all the planets. Although we see, actually, we are seeing daily. Take for example the sun planet. We see every morning the sun is there. But actually we do not know what is the sun planet. There are . . . may be so many theories, but actually, we do not know what is the sun planet. But we can understand from the Vedic literature, the sun planet is as good as this planet. There are also cities, towns, houses and population, and it is very big.
This information we get from the Vedic knowledge. Just like in the Bhagavad-gītā it is said, Kṛṣṇa says that imaṁ vivasvate yogaṁ proktavān aham avyayam (BG 4.1): "This knowledge of Bhagavad-gītā, I spoke first to the sun-god. His name is Vivasvān." Vivasvān manave prāha: "And that Vivasvān explained this knowledge to his son Manu." Manur ikṣvākave 'bravīt: "And Manu also explained the same knowledge to his son, Mahārāja Ikṣvāku, King Ikṣvāku." He's the forefather of the kṣatriya dynasty in which Lord Rāmacandra appeared.
So we get this knowledge from the Vedas, perfectly. There are so many things, just like the forms of life, how many form of life are there. That is stated in the Vedic knowledge: 8,400,000 species. Jalajā nava-lakṣāni. In the water there are 900,000 forms of life. It does not say one million or eleven hundred or . . . no, exactly. Nine hundred. Jalajā nava-lakṣāni sthāvarā lakṣa-viṁśati (Padma Purāṇa). Sthāvarā means the living entities which cannot move. Just like the trees, plants, they are also living entities, but they cannot move. They are called sthāvarā. Two millions. Now where is the botanist who can give exact information how many plants and trees are there? But you get fully, full information. Sthāvarā lakṣa-viṁśati kṛmayo rudra-saṅkhyakāḥ.
This is the evolutionary process, from aquatics to the plant life, then insect life, kṛmaya. Rudra-saṅkhyakāḥ. Rudra-saṅkhyakāḥ means eleven hundred thousands. Pakṣiṇāṁ daśa-lakṣaṇam. The birds . . . after insects, the next evolution is to the bird species. So they are one million different species of birds. Pakśiṇāṁ daśa-lakṣaṇam. Paśavaḥ triṁśal-lakṣāni. Then beast, four-legged beast, animals. They are three millions. And mānuṣāḥ catur-lakṣāṇi: And then we come to the form of the human being; there are also 400,000 species. In this way, altogether there are 8,400,000 species, forms of life.
Now modern botanists and medical men, and there are so many people, they are scholars, interested to understand, biologists. But here we get the correct information from the Vedas. Similarly, not only of this information—all departmental knowledge, namely this science, geography, then philosophy, religion, sociology, politics—whatever you want, you can learn from the Vedic information. There is perfect information. So it is compared with a tree. So that tree, and the ripened fruit is this Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Nigama kalpa-taror galitaṁ phalam idam (SB 1.1.3). Galitaṁ phalam idam.
A fruit, if you take from the tree, if it is not ripened, you can keep in a store and it gets, by temperature . . . that ripened fruit and the fruit actually ripened in the tree, there is difference of taste. So this Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is compared as the ripened fruit. Nigama-kalpa taror galitaṁ phalam. So we have translated this Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam—this is one part here, you can see—in sixty parts. In the Bhāgavatam there are eighteen thousand verses, and we are trying to place before you in English translation, and gradually, in other language also. It is being translated in German language, in French language and Spanish. Gradually. Some of our books are being published by Macmillan Company, and they are being distributed . . .
(aside) What is the name of that?
Haṁsadūta: Brockridge, Keenan and Hall.
Prabhupāda: Brockridge, Keenan . . . so we are selling our books very nicely, and our whole institution is practically financed by this selling of books. Even in Indian parliament, we are supposed to be very, very rich community. So, in India there are persons who are very suspicious of this Hare Kṛṣṇa movement, and they are surprised how we are maintaining more than one hundred branches all over the world. "Where you get financial help?" So, they think that America has got a, what is, CID department?
Devotees: CIA.
Prabhupāda: CIA department. So they are financing us, America. Just see the foolishness: the CIA department has taken this saṅkīrtana movement. (laughter) But these rascals are thinking like that, that it is a branch of the CIA movement. So, being suspicious, some of the rascals raised the question in Parliament in India that, "This community are fabulously rich. So it is understood that they belong to the CIA department of America. Is it a fact?" It was raised in the Parliament, and the question was put before the Home Member. "So if they are CIA department—they are pushing on this Hare Kṛṣṇa movement under the garb—then what is government's information? This is first question. If not, where they are getting so much money spending?"
In this way two, three questions were raised. Fortunately, the Home Member was aware of our movement, and he replied that, "They do not belong to the CIA department. We do not have any such information, and there is no need of any action. And so far their finance is concerned, we understand that they are selling their literatures and public contribution." That is the fact, actually. We are selling our books about, three, more, not less than three thousand dollars daily, and that is giving us our financial help. We have no other means of income, although we have got expenditure not less than one hundred thousands of dollars per month throughout the whole world.
So anyway, it is our attempt to give you the ripened fruit of Vedic knowledge. This is our attempt. This Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is just distributing the ripened fruit of Vedic knowledge. So Vedic knowledge, the ultimate goal of Vedic knowledge is to know God. Not only Vedic; any scripture, any book of knowledge. So the ultimate goal of knowledge is to know God. If you do not . . . because this human form of life is meant for that purpose. That is explained here by Prahlāda Mahārāja: kaumāra ācaret prājño dharmān bhāgavatān iha (SB 7.6.1). This Prahlāda Mahārāja, he was a small boy, five years old. Somehow or other, he was enlightened in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, and at the age of five years old he was going to school, and he was trying to preach this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement in the school.
I'm especially reading these verses because it is university, a school for teaching to the student. So Prahlāda Mahārāja says that this teaching, or this learning of Kṛṣṇa consciousness, should begin from very childhood. Kaumāram. Kaumāra means the age between ten years and fifteen years. That is called kaumāra. Kaumāra ācaret prājño. Prājño means one who is intelligent. So from just one child is ten years old, from the age of ten years up to the fifteen years, this period must be used especially for understanding Bhāgavata-dharma, for understanding what is God. That is Bhāgavata-dharma.