Only those who become devotees with genuine faith can truly understand Krishna's transcendental science.Listen — Srila Prabhupada Uvaca
Bhagavad-gītā 4.1–6 — January 3, 1969, Los Angeles 690103BG-LOS ANGELES [45:53 Minutes] Bg-04.01–06_690103BG-LOS ANGELES Prabhupāda: Where is the book? All right. Page? Madhudviṣa: Page 108.
Prabhupāda: Heh? Page? Madhudviṣa: One-0-eight. The beginning of Chapter Four.
Prabhupāda: All right. Begin. Read. Madhudviṣa: Chapter Four: "Transcendental Knowledge." One: "The Blessed Lord said: I instructed this imperishable science of yoga to the sun-god, Vivasvān, and Vivasvān instructed it to Manu, the father of mankind, and Manu in turn instructed it to Ikṣvāku." Purport...
Prabhupāda: Transcendental knowledge. There are two kinds of knowledges: mundane knowledge and transcendental knowledge. Mundane knowledge means how to maintain this body, āhāra-nidrā-bhaya-maithunam [Hitopadeśa 25], [Both animals and men share the activities of eating, sleeping, mating and defending. But the special property of the humans is that they are able to engage in spiritual life. Therefore without spiritual life, humans are on the level of animals.] To meet the demands of this body. What are the demands of this body? We require to eat something. Eating, sleeping.
We require rest. After working hard, after eating sumptuously, we require sleeping. Eating, sleeping, and during sleeping we sometimes dream, fearing, or without dream, fearing. So we take protection.
While sleeping, we close our doors. So eating, sleeping, fearing and mating—sense gratification. So to arrange for these necessities of life of the body, the knowledge that we require, that is called mundane knowledge. Just like in the modern materialistic civilization, we have very good arrangement [child making noise] for eating, for sleeping, for defending and for sense gratification. The modern material civilization is simply based on this mundane knowledge, but there is no arrangement or university for imparting transcendental knowledge.
There is no section in the university, practically, that, what is called, brahma-jijñāsā, the science of knowing the spirit soul. [Now, therefore, one should inquire into Brahman (the Supreme Personality of Godhead).] That is called transcendental knowledge. So we are busy with mundane knowledge, but the most important part of knowledge is transcendental knowledge: "What I am? Wherefrom I have come? What is my constitutional position? Am I this body or I am beyond this body?" These are transcendental knowledge.