hing faith in the lotus feet of Krsna." That is proper intelligence. Similarly, when Prahlada Maharaja was offered whatever he wanted by Lord Nrsimhadeva, he said, "What should I ask from You? My father was a great materialist, so great that the demigods were afraid of his anger, yet You have finished him in one second. What then is the value of this material power and opulence? Please engage me in the service of Your servants. That is all I want."
Syamasundara dasa: Descartes maintains that a man is virtuous insofar as his reason controls his passion.
Srila Prabhupada: Yes, if one can control his passions somehow or other, he is freed from many troubles.
rasa-varjam raso 'py asya
param drstva nivartate
"The embodied soul may be restricted from sense enjoyment, though the taste for sense objects remains. But, ceasing such engagements by experiencing a higher taste, he is fixed in consciousness." (Bg. 2.59) People are suffering due to their passionate activities. Therefore there are many Vedic rules and regulations governing action. If we can subdue our passionate impulses, we can save ourselves a great deal of trouble. Due to passion, one becomes a drunkard, engages in illicit sex, gambles, and acts unreasonably. If one can check his passion by reason, he can save himself from the greatest danger.
Syamasundara dasa: Descartes had a great reverence for theology, the science of God, because he felt that it was an open road to heaven for everyone, the intelligent and unintelligent alike. For Descartes, theology is concerned with real truths that transcend human reason.
Srila Prabhupada: This means that we have to take the truth from the revealed scriptures. Every revealed scripture gives some hint of an understanding of God.
Syamasundara dasa: First of all, Descartes tried to find some basis for truth. Then he came to the proof of the existence of God. As far as philosophy is concerned, he maintained that it lacks certainty and that its tenets are always subject to dispute.
Srila Prabhupada: Yes, we agree with that. It is said that a philosopher is not a philosopher unless he differs from other philosophers. If one is to be a great philosopher, he has to defy all his predecessors. Scientists also work in the same way. If we try to find out whose statement is true, we have a great deal of difficulty. Therefore the Vedic sastras enjoin that we follow the personalities who have realized God, and therefore we follow Prahlada Maharaja, Dhruva Maharaja, Vyasadeva, Lord Brahma, Lord Siva, Kapila-deva, the twelve mahajanas, and their followers, the followers of Brahma's disciplic succession, the Brahma-sampradaya, the Rudra-sampradaya, the Visnusvami-sampradaya, the Ramanuja-sampradaya, and so on. If we follow the acaryas in the disciplic succession, our path is clear.
Syamasundara dasa: Descartes felt that because science is based on philosophical principles which have no basis in themselves, science is not worthy of our cultivation. He condemns people for using scientific technology to make more money. He said, "I am resolved no longer to seek any science other than knowledge of myself."
Srila Prabhupada: Yes, but he had no guru.
Syamasundara dasa: No, he didn't accept a guru. He accepted only what he could know through self-realization, the innate truths that he discovered in himself by meditation. First, he came to the understanding that I am, and later he concluded that because I am, God is.
Srila Prabhupada: That is a nice conclusion.
Syamasundara dasa: He had an obsession for the need of absolute certainty because he felt that all the conclusions of the philosophers before him were dubious. He believed that every idea must be subjected to doubt until the truth or falsity can be ascertained, just as a mathematical formula can be ascertained. Every idea must be subjected to cross examination.
Srila Prabhupada: But when will these doubts be finished? Your standard of understanding self-evident truths may be different from mine. So what is the standard? He must give some standard.
Syamasundara dasa: When Descartes meditated on t