 acting properly or improperly, there is no question of free will. If I only act in one way, I have no freedom. We have freedom because we can sometimes act improperly.
Hayagriva dasa: In other words, freedom means that a man may know better, yet still act wrongly?
Srila Prabhupada: Yes, that is free will: the freedom to misuse free will. A thief may know that stealing is bad, yet he steals. That is his free will in action. He cannot check his greed, despite his knowing that he is acting improperly and that he will be punished. He knows all the repercussions that result from stealing, yet he steals and misuses his free will. So unless there is a possibility of misusing our free will, there is no question of freedom.
Hayagriva dasa: In the Meditations, Descartes maintains that when one does not know God, he really has no perfect knowledge of anything, and when he knows God, he knows everything else.
Srila Prabhupada: Yes, and knowledge of God means following the instructions of God. In Bhagavad-gita, Krsna imparts the most confidential knowledge to Arjuna, but it is ultimately up to Arjuna to accept it or reject it. At the conclusion of Bhagavad-gita, Krsna tells him:
iti te jnanam akhyatam
guhyad guhyataram maya
yathecchasi tatha kuru
"Thus I have explained to you the most confidential of all knowledge. Deliberate on this fully, and then do what you wish to do." (Bg. 18.63) This is free will. It depends on the individual whether to act according to the instructions of God or according to his own whims and sensual inclinations.
Hayagriva dasa: Descartes further writes: "I see that the certainty in truth of all knowledge depends on knowledge of the true God, and that before I knew Him I could have no perfect knowledge of any other thing.
And now that I know Him, I have the means of acquiring a perfect knowledge of innumerable things...." Descartes goes on to conclude that since God is all good, He would not deceive him in matters pertaining to the Godhead.
Srila Prabhupada: If he follows God's instructions and has real knowledge of God, he will never be misled, but if he selects a false God, or if he has not met the real God, he is subject to being misled. To save him from this danger, God imparts instructions in Bhagavad-gita. Whoever follows these instructions will be perfect. If we receive knowledge of the soul from God, there is no chance in being mistaken. As soon as we think in our own way, we are subject to error because we are imperfect and finite. Krsna precisely says that the soul is within the body, and if we accept this, we can immediately understand that the soul is different from the body. Krsna says that the owner of the body is the soul within the body, and immediately the false impression that one is the body, which is a fool's conclusion, should be eradicated. The light is there, but those who do not accept it prefer to live as fools and speculate.
Syamasundara dasa: It was Descartes's contention that the most perfect and highest emotion is intellectual love of God.
Srila Prabhupada: That is also confirmed in Bhagavad-gita. Krsna says that the jnani-bhakta, the intelligent bhakta, is very dear to Him.
tesam jnani nitya-yukta
priyo hi jnanino 'tyartham
aham sa ca mama priyah
"Of these, the wise one who is in full knowledge in union with Me through pure devotional service is the best. For I am very dear to him, and he is dear to Me." (Bg. 7.17) An unintelligent devotee may accept the principles today, and leave tomorrow. A person who accepts the Krsna conscious philosophy intelligently is very rare. We should not accept it by sentiment, but by intelligence.
Syamasundara dasa: For Descartes, real happiness arises from consciousness of perfection.
Srila Prabhupada: Yes, that consciousness is Krsna consciousness, the awareness that God is the supreme and that I am His eternal servant. This consciousness is happiness, and it is confirmed by Bhagavad-gita. When Dhruva Maharaja was offered all the riches in the world by Kuvera, the treasurer of the demigods, he said, "Please benedict me so that I may have unflinc