Knowledge of God comes through devoted surrender to divine authority, not speculative individual reasoning.Listen — Srila Prabhupada Uvaca
Hayagrīva: Immanuel Kant. Being a son of The Enlightenment, Kant strongly advocated the right and duty of every man to judge for himself in religious and secular matters. Indeed, he considered the motto of The Enlightenment to be, "Have courage to make use of your own intellect." The emphasis here is on individual freedom and on the ability of man to intuit the truth.
Prabhupāda: Does it mean that anyone, whatever he does, that is perfectly right? If he is given that freedom, then anyone will do anything as he likes. So it will be taken as...
Hayagrīva: Well he, at the same time, he considered, "The Bible to be the best vehicle for the instruction of the public in a truly moral religion."
Prabhupāda: Then he has to accept some authority. Where is freedom then?
Hayagrīva: He believed that, "The individual can intuit truths within, but could be helped from without by scripture."
Prabhupāda: Yes. That means he should not become independent, but he advocates in the beginning that everyone should be independent. So that is not right proposal. One should be dependent on authority, and that authority should be recognized or well established. Then knowledge is possible.
Hayagrīva: He writes, "Absolutely no human reason can hope to understand the production of even a blade of grass by mere mechanical causes."