t this does not mean that Vedic authority is diminished. The men to whom he spoke were not able to understand the authority of the Vedas, and they were misusing the Vedic rituals. This is all relative truth, but Absolute Truth is different. Relative truth is within Absolute Truth, but Absolute Truth is independent of relative truth.
Syamasundara dasa: According to Descartes, we should adapt ourselves and our ambitions to our environment and fortune, instead of defying them. In other words, we should be satisfied with what we have and utilize it to the best of our ability.
Srila Prabhupada: That is nice. In Vedic civilization, for instance, there is no great endeavor for economic development. In India, you will still find villagers satisfied with whatever they have. There are even street sweepers who are great devotees. After they work, they bathe, put on tilaka, and sit down to chant and worship the Deity. Why should we be unnecessarily ambitious? Better to be satisfied.
Syamasundara dasa: Descartes also believed that we should carefully choose the life work which is best for our personal selves.
Srila Prabhupada: Well, if you are given that freedom, a drunkard will say that the best thing is to drink and sleep. Everyone has his own program, which he thinks is the best. So who will judge what is best? According to Vivekananda's philosophy, whatever philosophy you select is all right. That is nonsense.
Hayagriva dasa: In the same Meditations on First Philosophy, Descartes writes: "It is not in truth an imperfection in God that He has given me the freedom of assenting or not assenting to things of which He has not placed a clear and distinct knowledge in my understanding. On the other hand, it is an imperfection in me that I do not use this freedom righ...."
But then, why doesn't God give us the understanding by which we can choose properly in all cases? Why can't we have free will and at the same time infallible judgement?
Srila Prabhupada: Free will means that you can act wrongly. Unless there is a chance of your 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 