Prabhupada 0045 - The Object of Knowledge is Called Jneyam
Lecture on BG 13.1-2 -- Paris, August 10, 1973
Prabhupāda:
- prakṛtiṁ puruṣaṁ caiva
- kṣetraṁ kṣetra-jñam eva ca
- etad veditum icchāmi
- jñānaṁ jñeyaṁ ca keśava
- (BG 13.1-2)
This is the special prerogative of human being, that he can understand the nature, this cosmic manifestation, and the enjoyer of the nature, and he can be fully conversant about what is the object of knowledge, jñeyam.
There are three things, jñeyam, jñāta, and jñāna. The object of knowledge, the knower is called jñāta, and the object of knowledge is called jñeyam. And the process by which one can understand, that is called jñāna, knowledge. As soon as we speak of knowledge, there must be three things: the object of knowledge, the person who is trying to know and the process by which the object of knowledge is achieved.
So some of them... Just like the materialist scientists, they are simply trying to know the prakṛti. But they do not know the puruṣa. Prakṛti means the enjoyed, and puruṣa means the enjoyer. Actually enjoyer is Kṛṣṇa. He's the original puruṣa. That will be admitted by Arjuna: puruṣaṁ śāśvatam. "You are the original enjoyer, puruṣam." Kṛṣṇa is the enjoyer, and every one of us, the living entities, and the prakṛti, nature, everything, is to be enjoyed by Kṛṣṇa. That is Kṛṣṇa's... Another puruṣa, we living entities. We are not puruṣa. We are also prakṛti. We are to be enjoyed. But in this material condition, we are trying to be puruṣa, enjoyer. That means when the prakṛti, or the living entities, wants to become puruṣa, that is material condition. If a woman tries to becomes a man, as that is unnatural, similarly when the living entities, who is by nature to be enjoyed...
The example, as we have given several times, that this finger captures some nice foodstuff, but actually the fingers are not enjoyer. The fingers can help the real enjoyer, namely the stomach. It can pick up some nice foodstuff and put into the mouth, and when it goes to the stomach, the real enjoyer, then all the prakṛtis, all the parts of the body, all the limbs of the body, they feel satisfaction. So the enjoyer is the stomach, not any part of the body.
There is a story in Hitopaniṣad, Hitopadeśa, from which the Aesop's Fable is translated. There, there is a story: udarendriyānām. Udara. Udara means this belly, and indriya means the senses. There is story of udarendriyānām. The senses, all the senses met together in a meeting. They said that: "We are king, senses..." (aside:) Why it is open?
"We are working." The leg said: "Yes, I am, whole day, I am walking." The hand says: "Yes, I am working whole day, wherever the body says: "You come here and pick up the food" bringing things cooking. I cooking also." Then the eyes, they said that: "I am seeing." So every limb, length of the body, they made a strike that, "No more we are going to work only for the stomach who is eating only. We are all working, and this man, or is stomach is eating only." Then the, the strike... Just like the capitalist and the worker. The worker under goes strike, no more working. So all these limbs, parts of the body, they observed striking, and after two, three days, when again they met, they talked amongst themselves that: "Why we are becoming weak? We cannot work now." You see. The legs also said: "Yes, I am feeling weak." Hands also feeling weak, everyone. So what is the cause? The cause... Then the stomach says: "Because I am not eating. So if you want to remain strong, then you must give me to eat. Otherwise... So I am the enjoyer. You are not enjoyer. You are to supply things for my enjoyment. That is your position." So they understood: "Yes, we cannot directly enjoy. It is not possible."
The enjoyment must be through the stomach. You take one rasagullā, you, the fingers, you cannot enjoy. You give it to the mouth, and when it goes to the stomach, there is immediately energy. Not only the fingers enjoy, the eyes, all other parts, they feel satisfaction and strength also. Similarly the real enjoyer is Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa says:
- bhoktāraṁ yajña-tapasāṁ
- sarva-loka-maheśvaram
- suhṛdaṁ sarva-bhūtānāṁ
- jñātvā māṁ śāntim ṛcchati
- (BG 5.29)