They think that life is merely a combination of material elements, but Krishna denies this in the Bhagavad-gita (7.5), apareyam itas tv anyam prakritim viddhi me param: "Besides this inferior nature there is a superior energy of Mine." The inferior energy is the material elements, and the superior energy is the living entity.

Consciousness is a problem for scientists

The Definition of "Life"

DR. SINGH: I have noticed a disagreement within the scientific community over the definition of living and nonliving. Some say that if a being can reproduce, it is alive. Therefore, they claim to have created life because certain large DNA molecules produced in the laboratory can replicate themselves; that is, they can reproduce other chains of molecules by their own power. Some scientists say these DNA molecules are living, and others say they are not.

PRABHUPADA: Because somebody is saying one thing and somebody is saying another, their knowledge must be imperfect.

DR. SINGH: Can we define living as "containing consciousness" and nonliving as "without consciousness"?

PRABHUPADA: Yes, that is the difference. As Krishna says in the Bhagavad-gita (2.17), avinashi tu tad viddhi yena sarvam idam tatam: "That which is spread all over the body is indestructible." Anyone can understand what is spread all over a living body; it is consciousness.

Inferior and superior energies

PRABHUPADA: Modern scientific research is just like Sankhya philosophy, which analyzes material elements. Sankhya means "to count." We are also Sankhya philosophers to some extent, because we count and analyze the material elements; this is land, this is water, this is air, this is sunshine, this is fire. Furthermore, I can count my mind, my intelligence, and my ego. Beyond my ego, however, I cannot count. But Krishna says that there is existence beyond the ego, and that existence is the living force—the spirit soul. This is what the scientists do not know. They think that life is merely a combination of material elements, but Krishna denies this in the Bhagavad-gita (7.5), apareyam itas tv anyam prakritim viddhi me param: "Besides this inferior nature there is a superior energy of Mine." The inferior energy is the material elements, and the superior energy is the living entity.

bhumir apo 'nalo vayuh
kham mano buddhir eva cha
ahankara itiyam me
bhinna prakritir ashtadha

"Earth, water, fire, air, ether, mind, intelligence, and false ego—all together these eight comprise My separated material energies." (Bg. 7.4) Krishna explains here in the Bhagavad-gita that vayu (gas) comes from Him, and that finer than the gases is kham (ether). Finer than ether is the mind, finer than the mind is intelligence, and finer than the intelligence is the soul. But the scientists do not know this. They can perceive only gross things. They mention vayu, but where does the vayu come from? Where does the gas come from?

DR. SINGH: That they cannot answer.

PRABHUPADA: But we can answer. We have the knowledge that gas comes from kham, or ether, and ether comes from mind, mind comes from intelligence, and intelligence comes from Krishna's superior energy, the spirit soul.

DR. SINGH: Are both inferior and superior energies studied in Sankhya philosophy?

PRABHUPADA: No. Sankhya philosophers do not know of superior energy. They simply analyze the material elements, just as the scientists do. Neither the scientists nor the Sankhya philosophers know anything of the spirit soul. They are simply analyzing Krishna's material energy.

DR. SINGH: They are analyzing the creative material elements?

PRABHUPADA: Material elements are not creative! The soul is creative. No one can create life with only matter, and matter cannot create itself. You, a living entity, can mix hydrogen and oxygen to create water. But matter itself has no creative energy. If you place a bottle of hydrogen near a bottle of oxygen, will they automatically combine, without your help?

DR. SINGH: No. They must be mixed.

PRABHUPADA: Yes, the superior energy—the living entity—is required. Oxygen and hydrogen are inferior energy, but when the superior energy mixes them, then they can become water. Inferior energy has no power unless superior energy is involved. This sea [indicating the Pacific Ocean] is calm and quiet. But when superior force—air—pushes it, high waves are created. The sea has no power without the superior force. Similarly, there is another force superior to the air, and another, and another, until we arrive at Krishna, the most superior force. This is real research. Suppose a railroad train is just starting to move. The engine pushes one car, which pushes another, and so on, until the entire train is moving. And the whole motion originates with the engineer, a living entity. Similarly, in the cosmic creation, Krishna gives the first push, and then, by means of many successive pushes, the entire cosmic manifestation comes into being. This is explained in the Bhagavad-gita (9.10): mayadhyakshena prakritih suyate sa-characharam. "This material nature is working under My direction, O son of Kunti, and is producing all moving and unmoving beings." And a little later:

sarva-yonishu kaunteya
murtayah sambhavanti yah
tasam brahma mahad yonir
aham bija-pradah pita

"All species of life are made possible by birth in material nature, and I am the seed-giving father." (Bg. 14.4) For example, if we sow a banyan seed, a huge tree eventually grows up and produces millions of new seeds. Each of these seeds, in turn, produces another tree with millions of new seeds, and so on. So Krishna is the original seed-giving father.

Unfortunately, the scientists only observe the immediate cause; they do not perceive the remote cause. There are two causes—the immediate cause and the remote cause. Krishna is described in the Vedas as sarva-karana-karanam [Brahma-samhita 5.1], the cause of all causes. If you understand the cause of all causes, then you understand everything. Yasmin vijñate sarvam evam vijñatam bhavati (Mundaka Upanishad 1.3): "If you know the original cause, the later, subordinate causes are automatically known." Although the scientists are searching after the original cause, when the Vedas, which contain perfect knowledge, give the original cause, they won't accept. They keep to their partial, imperfect knowledge.