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All knowledge (Lectures)

Lectures

Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures

Lecture on BG 2.11 -- New York, March 4, 1966:

He's authority. So whatever He says is right. Is right. That is the conception of bhagavān. Here it is not said, Kṛṣṇaḥ uvāca. Because somebody may doubt Kṛṣṇa, that "Kṛṣṇa was a historical personality. Why you should be so much concerned with Kṛṣṇa?" as is general view. But here it is said, bhagavān uvāca. And I have given you the definition of Bhagavān, that He is all knowledge. So whatever He will speak, Bhagavān, there cannot be any mistake. For ordinary persons, there are four, I mean to say, difficulties, four imperfectness. Just like we are ordinary man. We have got four imperfectness. What is that imperfectness? That we must commit mistake. We must commit mistake. Our constitutional position at the present moment is such that we are sure to commit mistake. Even greatest politician like Gandhi, he committed mistake, and so many great men, they committed mistake.

Lecture on BG 2.14 -- London, August 20, 1973:

Knowledge begins from there. If one does not reach to that point, ahaṁ brahmāsmi, then he is animal. The animal thinking like that, "I am rickshaw," "I am motorcar," "I am cat," "I am dog," "I am this," "I am that." That is animal thinking. But a person... Learned thinking is that "I am not this body; I am part and parcel of the Supreme Brahman, ahaṁ brahmāsmi." And when you are farther advanced from Brahman knowledge... The knowledge begins from there. When you make further advancement, then you can understand that "I am eternal servant of Kṛṣṇa." This is perfect knowledge. First of all knowledge begins that "I am not this body."

Lecture on BG 2.58-59 -- New York, April 27, 1966:

I am..." Ahaṁ bīja-pradaḥ pitā. "I am the father. I am the father." So Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, or God, He is the father of every living being. He does not like to see that His sons undergo unnecessary miseries. He does not like to see. Why? If we are sons of God, and what is the position of God? All powerful, all opulence, all wealth, all beauty, all knowledge, everything in full. That is the conception of God. Now, if we are sons of God, then we are very rich man's son. Then why should he suffer? We should not have suffered. But some way or other, by material contact, we are suffering. We are suffering. Now, this suffering, we have become so much accustomed to sufferings that we have taken it granted that these sufferings are nonmaterial. "Let us enjoy this material life. This suffering..." They don't care for suffering.

Lecture on BG 3.18-30 -- Los Angeles, December 30, 1968:

They want to enter within the light to see wherefrom the light is coming. That is the difference between impersonalist and personalist. They are farther advanced.

Sac-cid-ānanda-vigrahaḥ (Bs. 5.1). The Lord is full bliss, eternal knowledge. So the impersonalists they are satisfied with only knowledge, jñāna, light, that's all. Knowledge is light. But farther advanced, say, the yogis, they want to see the localized, just like the sun globe. And the devotees, they want to see the person who is predominating over the sun globe. This is a crude example.

So the goal, ultimate goal, it is described, "The Supreme is the Personality of Godhead for the devotee, and liberation for the impersonalist."

Lecture on BG 3.27 -- Madras, January 1, 1976:

"How is that?" "He said, guru more mūrkha dekhi' karila śāsana (CC Adi 7.71). My Guru Mahārāja saw Me a fool number one, and he chastised Me." "How he has chastised You?" Now, " 'You have no jurisdiction to studying Vedānta. It is not possible for You. You are a mūḍha. You better chant Hare Kṛṣṇa.' "

So what is His purpose? The purpose is, at the present moment, these mūḍhas, how they will understand Vedānta? Better chant Hare Kṛṣṇa. Then you will get all knowledge.

Lecture on BG 3.31-43 -- Los Angeles, January 1, 1969:

So this false conception of becoming master is called māyā, illusion. Nobody is master. Therefore one who disagrees to become servant of God, he is befooled. It is said, "But those who, out of envy..." He is constitutionally servant, but he is envious: "Why shall I become God's servant? I shall become God." You see? Everyone is claiming, "Oh, everyone is God. Why? What is the use of becoming servant of God? I am God." This is enviousness. So if one refuses to serve God and become envious, "disregard these teachings and do not practice them regularly are to be considered bereft of all knowledge." Because he is servant, but he is thinking, "I am master. I am not serving anyone." This is māyā, bereft of all knowledge. Go on.

Lecture on BG 4.4 -- Bombay, March 24, 1974:

So here is one explanation, that although Kṛṣṇa appeared like human being, He is not a human being. He's the Supreme Personality of Godhead. And the test is that He knows everything. That is described in the Vedānta-sūtra. Janmādy asya yataḥ anvayād itarataś cārtheṣv abhijñaḥ sva-rāṭ (SB 1.1.1). He's abhijñaḥ. He's fully conversant with all knowledge.

And wherefrom He got knowledge? Sva-rāṭ. Sva-rāṭ means independently. In the Vedas it is said, svābhāvikī jñāna-bala-kriyā ca.

Lecture on BG 4.7-9 -- New York, July 22, 1966:

"The Supreme has got many, manifold energies." Therefore everything is done, svābhāvikī jñāna-bala-kriyā ca.

And His knowledge and His activities are svābhāvikī, natural, natural. Just like we have to acquire knowledge from a greater personality, but He has got all the natural, all knowledge. Just like Kṛṣṇa is speaking the Bhagavad-gītā to Arjuna, but He was never taught of Bhagavad-gītā. I am speaking to you Bhagavad-gītā, just learning from my spiritual master. So I have to learn it, but when Kṛṣṇa spoke, He hadn't, had not to learn it. He had no business to learn it. Because svābhāvikī jñāna-bala-kriyā ca. His knowledge is natural.

So these things are to be understand. Then one who understands the science of Kṛṣṇa in truth, then the benefit is, the result is that he, he no more comes back to this world of darkness. Tyaktvā dehaṁ punar janma naiti (BG 4.9).

Lecture on BG 4.15 -- Bombay, April 4, 1974:

This is the formula. So one who knows Kṛṣṇa, he is vedānta-vit, because he has learned the Vedānta philosophy. What is that Vedānta philosophy? Veda means knowledge, and anta means the end. So Vedānta means the end, the end of all knowledge.

What is that end of all knowledge? Bahūnāṁ janmanām ante jñānavān māṁ prapadyate: (BG 7.19) "After many, many births, when actually one is wise, Vedantist," māṁ prapadyate, "he surrenders unto Me." Vāsudevaḥ sarvam iti sa mahātmā su-durlabhaḥ: (BG 7.19) "Such kind of mahātmā is very, very rare, one who knows," vāsudevaḥ sarvam iti, "Vāsudeva, Kṛṣṇa, is the origin of everything."

Lecture on BG 6.1-4 -- New York, September 2, 1966:

He's not liking. He does not like to renounce. But in the Supreme Personality of Godhead you'll find full of all opulence, but at the same time, full of renunciation. The six qualifications: proprietor of all opulence, all-famous, all strength, all beauty, all knowledge, and all renunciation. Anywhere you find all these six qualifications in full, He is the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

So here it is said, śrī-bhagavān uvāca. The Supreme Personality of Godhead is speaking. He's speaking means He's speaking with all knowledge. His knowledge has no flaw. Our knowledge has many, so many flaws. We commit mistake, we are illusioned. Sometimes we speak something and at our heart there is something else. That means we cheat. And our experience all imperfect because our senses are imperfect. Therefore I cannot speak anything to you.

Lecture on BG 6.1-4 -- New York, September 2, 1966:

You can love the Supreme Lord as master, you can love the Supreme Lord as friend, you can love the Supreme Lord as child, you can love the Supreme Lord as your husband. Any way. There are five different rasas or humors, in which we are eternally related with the Supreme Lord. And when we are actually in the liberated stage of all knowledge, we can understand that "Our relationship with the Lord is in this way." That is called svarūpa-siddhi. That is real self-realization. That is real self-realization. Everyone has an eternal relationship with the Lord, either in the conception of master and servant, or in the conception of friend and friend, or in the conception of parents and the child, or in the conception of husband and wife, or in the conception of paramour and lover, and the beloved. So these relationships are there eternally.

Lecture on BG 7.1 -- Los Angeles, December 2, 1968:

We are also very expert. We are always thinking how I shall cheat somebody. And naturally, he's also thinking to cheat me. So the whole conditional life is the association of cheaters and cheated, that's all. So this is another defect. And the fourth defect is that our senses are imperfect. Therefore all knowledge that we receive, that is imperfect knowledge. A man may speculate, but he may speculate with his mind. That's all. But his mind is imperfect. However he may speculate, he'll produce something nonsense, that's all. Because his mind is imperfect. It doesn't matter that if you add thousands of zeros, it makes one. No. It is still zero. So this speculation process, to understand the Supreme, is nothing but zero. Therefore with all these defects of our conditional life, it is not possible to come to the real life. Therefore we have to take it from personalities like Kṛṣṇa and His bona fide representative. That is real knowledge. Then you'll get perfection.

Lecture on BG 7.1 -- Hong Kong, January 25, 1975:

That is the purpose of studying Vedas. Therefore it is called Vedānta. Kṛṣṇa's knowledge is Vedānta. Anta means the end, the last word, last word. So last word... What is the last word of Vedic knowledge? Brahmeti paramātmeti bhagavān iti śabdyate (SB 1.2.11). First of all knowledge of the Brahman, then Paramātmā, then last knowledge is Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇas tu bhagavān svayam (SB 1.3.28). Janmādy asya yataḥ (SB 1.1.1). Kṛṣṇa says, ahaṁ sarvasya prabhavaḥ (BG 10.8). Sarvasya, or Brahman, Paramātmā, and Bhagavān. The Bhagavān is the origin of Paramātmā and Brahman. Brahmaṇaḥ ahaṁ pratiṣṭhā.

Lecture on BG 7.1-2 -- Bombay, March 28, 1971:

Jñānaṁ sa-vijñānam. Jñānaṁ te 'haṁ sa-vijñānam idaṁ vakṣyāmy aśeṣataḥ (BG 7.2). Aśeṣataḥ, descriptive, not summarized.

So yaj jñātvā, "If you can understand this knowledge, then," yad jñātvā na iha bhūyaḥ anyaj jñātavyam avaśiṣyate, "then you will finish your all knowledge." Kasmin vijñāte sarvam idaṁ vijñātaṁ bhavati. The Vedic injunction is that if you understand Kṛṣṇa, then all knowledge becomes revealed to you. Kasmin vijñāte sarvam idaṁ vijñātaṁ bhavati. That is stated here. Yaj jñātvā neha bhūyaḥ anyaj jñātavyam avaśiṣyate. Then it is very nice to understand Kṛṣṇa. If by understanding Kṛṣṇa... One may say, "Oh, I have understood Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa was born at Mathurā as the son of Vasudeva and Devakī, and then He went to Vṛndāvana. And He became a friend of the cowherd girls or the boys, and He was playing there. So I have understood Kṛṣṇa." Anyone can say like that.

Lecture on BG 7.2 -- San Francisco, September 11, 1968:

Physics, botanics, chemistry, astronomy, everything. Therefore Kṛṣṇa says, yaj jñātvā, if you understand this knowledge, Kṛṣṇa consciousness, then you'll have nothing to know. That means you'll have complete knowledge. We are hankering after knowledge, but if we are in knowledge of Kṛṣṇa consciousness, if we know Kṛṣṇa, then all knowledge is included.

So tac-chakti viṣaya vivikta-svarūpa viṣayakaṁ jñānam. You'll have full knowledge about the constitutional position of yourself, this material world, the spiritual world, God, our interrelationship, time, space, everything. There are many things to be known. But the principal thing is that the God, the living entities, time, work, and this material energy. These five things are to be known. You cannot deny that "There is no God." God is controller, supreme controller. You cannot say that you are not controlled. There is controller.

Lecture on BG 7.2 -- Nairobi, October 28, 1975:

So jñānaṁ te 'haṁ sa-vijñānam idaṁ vakṣyāmy aśeṣataḥ, and yaj jñātvā (BG 7.2). If you try to understand Kṛṣṇa or knowledge from Kṛṣṇa, yaj jñātvā... Yaj jñātvā neha. Na iha: "in this material." Yaj jñātvā neha bhūyo 'nyaj: "You will have nothing to learn." Because he understands, vāsudevaḥ sarvam idam: "Everything is Vāsudeva." So Vāsudeva will give him all knowledge about science, about politics, about philosophy, about astrology, astronomy. Everything will come out. You haven't got to go to some other expert in some particular type of knowledge. But if a devotee, Kṛṣṇa devotee... He knows everything, all department of knowledge. Just like we are challenging that "You cannot make any life by combination of chemicals." Why? Because we know from Kṛṣṇa what is what. Therefore we can challenge. We are not fools. We are challenging that "If you can prepare one egg only..." It is very easy.

Lecture on BG 7.11-13 -- Bombay, April 5, 1971:

Vāsudevaḥ sarvam iti. Bahūnāṁ janmanām ante jñānavān (BG 7.19). Here it is said that māyayāpahṛta-jñānāḥ. So long there is influence of māyā, he is lost of real knowledge. But in spite of that, if he makes progress in understanding the Absolute Truth, then, after many births, not in one birth—bahūnāṁ janmanām ante (BG 7.19)—when he comes to the actual point of knowledge, that Kṛṣṇa is everything, vāsudevaḥ sarvam iti, prapadyante (BG 7.19), he surrenders. That means to surrender unto Kṛṣṇa is the ultimate goal of all knowledge, all activities, all tapasya, all yoga. If one does not reach that point, then he is simply wasting his time and energy.

Lecture on BG 7.11-16 -- New York, October 7, 1966:

So our relationship is eternal, but we have forgotten. Just you understand, God is all-powerful, all-famous, He possesses all wealth, He possesses all beauty, He possesses all knowledge and He possesses all renunciation. So we are sons of such a great personality. We have forgotten. Just as a rich man's son forgets his father and becomes mad and lying on the street and begging—oḥ, that is due to his forgetfulness. If somebody gives him information that "Why you are suffering in this way? You have got your father's riches. You go home and enjoy your father's property. Your father is very much anxious to have you. Why you are rotting in this condition?" And if he comes to his senses that "Oh, I have suffered so much. Now I shall go back to my father and enjoy life..."

Lecture on BG 8.28-9.2 -- New York, November 21, 1966:

Mahātmā means "great," "expanding, expanded." Ha. So one who becomes a devotee of the Lord, automatically he becomes expanded. Therefore mahātmā means one whose heart is expanded.

Here Kṛṣṇa says that rāja-vidyā, rāja-vidyā: "The knowledge which I am just trying to impart, this is rāja-vidyā, the king of all knowledge." Rāja-vidyā. Rāja means "king," and vidyā means "knowledge." There are... Just like in our ordinary course of life we find somebody king, somebody subject, similarly, He's comparing this knowledge as the topmost, the king of all knowledge. Rāja-vidyā rāja-guhyam. Rāja-guhyam means "very confidential." And pavitram. Pavitram means "very pure," idam, "this knowledge." And uttamam. Uttamam means "which is transcendental." Ut means "trans-," and tama means "darkness." So uttama means "the knowledge which is beyond this material darkness."

Lecture on BG 9.2 -- Calcutta, March 8, 1972:

They are thinking that "This Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is a religious sentimental movement. They're dancing and chanting." No. It is the most scientific movement. Any scientist may come and talk with us, we shall convince. It is the most scientific movement, how to save the human society. Therefore it is called rāja-vidyā, the king of all knowledge. And rāja-guhyam.

We do not know how we are passing through the hands by the manipulation of nature.

Lecture on BG 9.2-5 -- New York, November 23, 1966:

So you are not only dancing, but Kṛṣṇa is also dancing with you. If you say that "Why don't you... Why do I not see Him?" Yes. Seeing is not... Why do you stress on seeing? Why not hearing? Seeing, hearing, tasting, touching—these our instruments for experience. That's all. Knowledge. Why you are so much, I mean to say, I mean to say, important about seeing? A devotee does not wish to see Kṛṣṇa. He simply... He's satisfied simply by hearing of Kṛṣṇa. As seeing is also experience, so hearing also experience. That I have explained many times. Seeing and hearing. Hearing also... Something you cannot see, you can hear only. Just like the, when the air, wind passes very violently, you cannot see, but you can hear. But you get the experience. So seeing is not only experience, but hearing is also experience. When you hear the sound of the wind, "Ohnnhnn Shaah Shaah," you say, "Oh, today wind is very violently blowing."

Lecture on BG 9.22-23 -- New York, December 8, 1966:

So therefore it is His capacity. Ye yathā māṁ prapadyante tāṁs tathaiva bhajāmy aham (BG 4.11). So He gives instruction to everyone. This Bhagavad-gītā is meant for everyone. It is not for, not only for Arjuna. Arjuna was His eternal devotee. He had all knowledge. But Arjuna placed himself as one of us just to receive this instruction from the Supreme Lord. So this instruction is open to everyone. It is not... Kṛṣṇa's instruction, Bhagavad-gītā, is not limited within a circle, within a particular circle. No. It is for every living entity. Now, if anyone takes advantage of it...

Lecture on BG 10.1 -- New York, December 27, 1966:

Yat te 'haṁ prīyamāṇāya vakṣyāmi hita-kāmyayā. "Because you are My dear friend and for your benefit, I am speaking." A friend is always well-wisher of a friend. And what to speak of Kṛṣṇa. If Kṛṣṇa becomes one's friend and He becomes well-wisher, then what do you want more? You know that we have already described Kṛṣṇa, the all riches, all strength, all knowledge, all beauty, and all fame and all renunciation is there. So, if He becomes your friend, if He becomes your well-wisher, then what do you want more? If you have got a friend who is very rich and very powerful, then do you think anything required more? A friend can sacrifice everything for a friend, and here is a friend where there is no limitation. There is no limitation of wealth. Famous. There is no limitation of favors.

Lecture on BG 10.4 -- New York, January 3, 1967:

This is called jñānam. Jñānam asammohaḥ. Don't be very hesitant. Asammohaḥ means if you want to acquire some knowledge, you should acquire it maybe slowly but acquire it very surely, step by step. Don't be impatient. Asammohaḥ. Not that blindly accepting something and thinking that "I have got all knowledge. Finished." No.

You have got developed consciousness, you have got intelligence, but that intelligence, consciousness, depends also on your mode of living, on your mode of behavior. Therefore one has to become a brāhmaṇa, sāttvika, in the modes of goodness. Then you will be patient, patient, śānta, peaceful. If you become hesitant, then you cannot. This is called asammohaḥ.

Lecture on BG 13.1-3 -- Durban, October 13, 1975:

The word Sanskrit, vat, it is added when there is the question of possessing. Asty arthe vat and mat pratyaya. This is Sanskrit grammar. So bhagavat. Bhaga means opulence.

Opulence means six kinds of opulences, ṣaḍ-aiśvarya-pūrṇa: all wealth, all fame, all strength, all beauty, all knowledge, all renunciation. These are the opulences. We can have some money. You have some money, I have got some money, but none of us can claim that "I have got all the monies." That is not possible. That is claimed by Bhagavān. I have got some strength, you have got some strength, but nobody of us can claim that "I have got all the strength."

So one who possesses all the wealth, all the strength, all the fame, all beauty, all knowledge, all renunciation, he is called Bhagavān. The meaning of bhagavān is this, ṣaḍ-aiśvarya-pūrṇam. Therefore Vyāsadeva says, bhagavān uvāca. He is not ordinary person who is speaking.

Lecture on BG 13.1-3 -- Durban, October 13, 1975:

Who is full with all knowledge, because that is the qualification of Bhagavān. He is competent with all knowledge. So bhagavān uvāca.

So what does He, Bhagavān, says? Idaṁ śarīraṁ kaunteya kṣetram ity abhidhīyate: (BG 13.2) "My dear Kaunteya, Arjuna..." Arjuna's another name is Kaunteya because he is the son of Kuntī. His mother's name is Kuntī. Therefore he is addressed as Kaunteya. And Kuntī has got relationship with Kṛṣṇa. Kuntī is the sister of Kṛṣṇa's father, Vasudeva. Therefore out of affection for his aunt, He is addressing Arjuna as the son of his aunt Kuntī, Kaunteya. Idaṁ śarīraṁ kaunteya kṣetram (BG 13.2), the field of activity, ity abhidhīyate. His two answers.

Lecture on BG 16.9 -- Hawaii, February 5, 1975:

That is ma... Sa mahātmā sudurlabhaḥ. Sudurlabhaḥ means very, very rare to find out. The rascals posing themselves as mahātmā, that is another thing. That is not authorized.

You have to accept anything from the authorized source. So according to Vedic civilization, all knowledge is received from the Vedas, perfect authorized source. Śruti-pramāṇa, evidence from the śruti, from the Vedas, that is perfect. Therefore, according to Vedic civilization, if you want to establish something you have to quote the section or the injunction from the Vedas, Then it is perfect. In learned circle you cannot say anything hodge-podge. That will not be accepted. If you support your statement from the evidence of the Vedas, then you are accepted as authority. Therefore our principle is... Not only our, this is the Vedic principle.

Lecture on BG Lecture -- Ahmedabad, December 8, 1972:

...yesterday the definition of Bhagavān, ṣaḍ-aiśvarya-pūrṇa-bhagavān: all riches, all strength, all reputation, all beauty, all knowledge and all renunciation. Complete. Because I have got mill... (break) Whether one has got... (break) That is not million, trillion, billion; it is unlimited. Asamordhva. That is the version. God must be asama ūrdhva. Asamor... Nobody's greater than God, nobody's equal to God. That is God. If you find somebody equal to you, then you are not God. You may be demigod, but the God means supreme. Īśvaraḥ paramaḥ kṛṣṇaḥ (Bs. 5.1). That Supreme God is Kṛṣṇa. Parama, supreme. Nobody is equal to Kṛṣṇa, nobody's greater than Kṛṣṇa. Therefore Kṛṣṇa is God.

Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures

Lecture on SB 1.2.5 -- New Vrindaban, September 4, 1972:

Yad vijñānaṁ samanvitam. Jñānaṁ te 'haṁ sa-vijñānaṁ vakṣyāmi yat aśeṣataḥ (BG 7.2), in the Bhagavad-gītā. Sa-vijñānam: "It is science." Yaj jñātvā bhūyo 'nyaj jñātavyaṁ na avaśiṣyate. If you try to understand God, then you have nothing to understand again any more. Every, all knowledge is there. Because God is everything, so you understand everything.

So this is a great science. Therefore the great sages said that yat kṛtaḥ kṛṣṇa-sampraśnaḥ: "You have made inquiries about Kṛṣṇa." Because they inquired that "After departure of Kṛṣṇa, the principle of religion is... Under whom it is existing?" Kṛṣṇa... That is... Everything will be explained. So Sūta Gosvāmī confirms this, that "Your question about Kṛṣṇa is so nice that it is auspicity for the whole world." So we have started this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement. It is not any personal affair. It is auspicity for the whole world.

Lecture on SB 1.2.7 -- Vrndavana, October 18, 1972:

He's not even a brāhmaṇa. But who can be greater man of knowledge than Arjuna? Because he's directly receiving from Kṛṣṇa. And who can be greater teacher than Kṛṣṇa? So Kṛṣṇa says that "If you are engaged twenty-four hours in devotional service," then, Kṛṣṇa says, "from within," He will give all knowledge. Therefore vāsudeve bhagavati bhakti-yogaḥ prayojitaḥ (SB 1.2.7). If you actually engage in the devotional service of Vāsudeva, then jñāna and vairāgya automatically becomes revealed unto you. There is no endeavor.

Thank you very much. (break)

Lecture on SB 1.3.1 -- Vrndavana, November 14, 1972:

Śrī Kṛṣṇa maintains these material universes by extending His plenary expansions. So this puruṣa form is the confirmation of the same principle. The original Personality of Godhead, Vāsudeva, or Lord Kṛṣṇa, who is famous as the son of King Vasudeva or King Nanda, is full with all opulences, all potencies, all fames, all beauties, all knowledge and all renunciation. Part of His opulences is manifested as impersonal Brahman, and part of His opulences is manifested as Paramātmā. This puruṣa feature of the same Personality of Godhead Śrī Kṛṣṇa is the original Paramātmā manifestation of the Lord. There are three puruṣa features in the material creation, and this form, who is known as the Kāraṇodakaśāyī Viṣṇu, is the first of the three. The others are known as Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu and the Kṣīrodakaśāyī Viṣṇu, which we shall know one after another. The innumerable universes are generated from the skinholes of this Kāraṇodakaśāyī Viṣṇu, and in each one of the universes, the Lord..."

Lecture on SB 1.5.22 -- Vrndavana, August 3, 1974:

So anyway, everyone is getting knowledge, perfection, by tapasya, by austerity, by learned scholarship. So here it is said that, that these things are required for describing Kṛṣṇa. These things are required for describing Kṛṣṇa. Not only on the theory, but actually to prove that this knowledge is there, Kṛṣṇa is full of all opulences, and... It is said... Jñāna, jñāna-vairāgyayoś caiva śaṇṇāṁ bhaga itīṅganā. Eh? What is the beginning? Aiśvaryasya samagrasya vīryasya yaśasaḥ śriyaḥ (Viṣṇu Purāṇa 6.5.47). Kṛṣṇa means He's the full opulent Personality of Godhead with all riches, all reputation, all beauty, all knowledge. That you have to prove. Any department of knowledge, you have to prove that it..., this knowledge is coming from Kṛṣṇa. Sarva-kāraṇa-kāraṇam (Bs. 5.1).

Lecture on SB 1.5.30 -- Vrndavana, August 11, 1974:

Nitāi: "Thus I have explained to you the most confidential of all knowledge. Deliberate on this fully, and then do what you wish to do."

Prabhupāda: So Kṛṣṇa personally giving the most confidential knowledge. And here it is also mentioned that the saintly persons, the mahātmās, they simply spoke what was spoken by Kṛṣṇa Himself directly. That's all. Here it is stated, anvavocan gamiṣyantaḥ, guhyatamam yat tat sākṣād bhagavato... This is very important statement. Jñānaṁ guhyatamam, the most confidential part of knowledge is that which is given by the Supreme Personality of Godhead directly. Anyone who is interested in spiritual knowledge, they will benefit simply by accepting what Kṛṣṇa says in the Bhagavad-gītā. This is jñānam. That is also stated by Kṛṣṇa. Etaj jñānam. Etad anyathā yad ajñānam. Anything beyond this knowledge, what is spoken by Kṛṣṇa, that is ajñāna, ignorance.

Lecture on SB 1.7.10 -- Vrndavana, September 9, 1976:

There is no comparison to His excellence in every respect. Six opulences. Na caitanyāt kṛṣṇāj jagati para-tattvaṁ param iha. That is explained by Kavirāja Gosvāmī. Ṣaḍ-aiśvaryaiḥ pūrṇo ya iha bhagavān sa svayam ayam (CC Adi 1.3). He has explained like that. Ṣaḍ-aiśvaryaiḥ pūrṇaḥ—all knowledge, all beauty, all strength—everything in full. Pūrṇam. Pūrṇam idam. Pūrṇāt pūrṇam udacyate (Īśopaniṣad, Invocation). He is pūrṇa, and whatever He does, that is also pūrṇa. You cannot find any defect in the creation of the Lord. In the arrangement of maintenance and in the arrangement of annihilation you cannot find out any flaw. Perfection. Pūrṇa.

Lecture on SB 1.8.31 -- Los Angeles, April 23, 1973:

This is also another opulence of Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa is full with six kinds of opulences. So this opulence is beauty, beauty opulence. Kṛṣṇa has got six opulences: all riches, all strength, all influence, all knowledge, all beauty, all renunciation. So this is the opulence of Kṛṣṇa's beauty. Kṛṣṇa wants everyone...

Just like we are, we are offering obeisances to Kṛṣṇa with awe and veneration. But nobody comes here to Kṛṣṇa with a rope: "Kṛṣṇa, You are offender. I shall bind You." Nobody comes. That is the another prerogative of the most perfect devotee. Yes. Kṛṣṇa wants that. Because He's full of opulence... This is also another opulence. Aṇor aṇīyān mahato mahīyān. The greater than the greatest and the smaller than the smallest. That is opulence.

Lecture on SB 1.8.32 -- Los Angeles, April 24, 1973:

Why I shall not be, I shall be unhappy? This is natural conclusion. Because I will enjoy my father's property as my father is enjoying.

Similarly God is all-powerful. Kṛṣṇa is all-powerful, all beautiful, all-knowledge, everything complete. So I may not be complete, but because I am part and parcel, so I have, I have got all the qualities of God in part and parcel. It is not that... So God does not die. He's aja. So I also will not die. This is my position. And that is explained in the Bhagavad-gītā that: na jāyate na mriyate vā kadācit. When He's describing about the soul, Kṛṣṇa says that the soul is never born, na jāyate, na mriyate. And if one is not born, how he can die? There is no question of death. Death is for a thing which has got a birth. If one has no birth, there is no question of death. Na jāyate na mriyate vā. So we are part and parcel of Kṛṣṇa. As Kṛṣṇa is Aja, we are also aja. That we do not know.

Lecture on SB 1.8.45 -- Los Angeles, May 7, 1973:

Kṛṣṇa is durlabha, very difficult to find out. It is not possible. Nāhaṁ prakāśaḥ sarvasya yoga-māyā-samāvṛtaḥ (BG 7.25). In the Bhagavad-gītā also it is said that "I do not expose Myself." Kṛṣṇa reserves the right of being exposed to anyone and everyone. No. That is not possible. Although the Vedic literature is meant for to find out Kṛṣṇa, vedaiś ca sarvair aham eva vedyaḥ... (BG 15.15). All knowledge... Vedic, veda means knowledge. So any department of knowledge, you may pursue, the business is how to find out Kṛṣṇa. That is real business. Either you take chemistry or physics or politics or sociology, anything, medicine, everything—all departmental knowledge—the aim is to find out Kṛṣṇa.

Lecture on SB 1.9.3 -- Los Angeles, May 17, 1973:

Bhaga means opulence, all fortune. That is called, from the bhaga, the word bhāgya has come. One who is very fortunate person, he is called bhāgyavān. Not this bhaga. So bhaga means opulence, and vān means one who possesses opulences. So Kṛṣṇa possesses all the opulences, six opulences: all strength, all influence, all beauty, all knowledge, all—everything complete. So Bhagavān means one who has complete opulence, six opulences in complete, pūrṇam. Pūrṇam idaṁ pūrṇam adaḥ (Īśopaniṣad, Invocation). That is Bhagavān. That is Bhagavān. There are so many rascal come as incarnation of God, Bhagavān, but you have to taste whether all the opulences are complete there. Aiśvaryasya samagrasya. First thing is riches. So whether one has got all the riches. Then he will be Bhagavān.

Lecture on SB 1.9.3 -- Los Angeles, May 17, 1973:

First thing is riches. So whether one has got all the riches. Then he will be Bhagavān. And nobody can say that "I have got all the riches." I may have something more than your riches, but I cannot say that "All the riches..." So if you find out somebody, somebody like you or me, and if he possesses all the riches, all strength, all influence, all knowledge, all beauty—then He is Bhagavān. That Kṛṣṇa possesses.

There is no comparison of Kṛṣṇa's opulences. I have several times given the example. Say, in the human society there is marriage. So Kṛṣṇa married 16,800 wives. And for each wife a palace, marble palace, bedecked with jewels, and the furniture made of ivory and gold, and bed and curtains, they're all made of silk. So... And the... Not only palace, but also garden attached to the palace. And the flower trees, pārijāta flower. The pārijāta flower was brought from the heaven. This pārijāta flower is not visible in this world.

Lecture on SB 1.10.2 -- Mayapura, June 17, 1973:

Then there will be peace and prosperity. Bhūta-bhāvana, Kṛṣṇa will be pleased, "Here is My representative."

So there are so many things to understand from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, full knowledge, all knowledge, as it is required by the human society. So we have to study from all angles of vision, not simply by sentiment. This is Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.

Lecture on SB 1.15.27 -- New York, March 6, 1975:

That is not knowledge. That is not knowledge. Just like I do not know how this microphone is working. If it is wrong, some man who knows the art, he repairs it immediately. That does not mean he has got knowledge. That particular department, he has got knowledge, that's all. Knowledge means that one who knows God. That is knowledge. Bahūnāṁ janmanām ante jñānavān māṁ prapadyate (BG 7.19). This is knowledge. So the western countries, they have taken-advancement of knowledge means manufacturing a big motor car. That's all. That is also good. But simply for manufacturing motor car, simply for driving motor car, if we forget our real business, God realization, then it is ruinous. Mūḍha. Mūḍha, then we become mūḍha.

Lecture on SB 1.15.39 -- Los Angeles, December 17, 1973:

You find nowadays, impersonalists, voidists, so many brāhmaṇas, they have no idea what is God, who is God. That is called avaiṣṇava. Vaiṣṇava knows what is Viṣṇu, what is God. But avaiṣṇava, non-Vaiṣṇava, they do not know. So this is the formula, that even one brāhmaṇa is expert in all knowledge, but he does not know who is God, gurur na sa syāt, he cannot become guru. This is the stricture. Sad-vaiṣṇavaḥ śva-paco guruḥ. That is śva-paca. Śva-paca means dog-eaters. They are considered to be lowest of the mankind, dog-eaters. There are different types of eaters, cow-eaters, goat-eaters and camel-eaters, this eaters, that eaters. There are so many. Out of that eaters, one who eats the dog, he is considered the lowest. So even a person coming from the family of dog-eaters, if he knows who is God, he can be guru.

Lecture on SB 1.15.50 -- Los Angeles, December 27, 1973:

So when there is śāstra sanctioning for this eating, sleeping, mating, that means to restrict. Pravṛttir eṣā bhūtānāṁ nivṛttes tu mahā-phalā. This inclination is natural, but when there is regulative principle, that means to restrict. Because the whole human society is supposed to be advanced in the art of detachment, jñāna-vairāgyam. That is perfection. First of all knowledge, perfect knowledge, that "I am not this body. I am simply wasting my time taking care of this body, but I am different from the body." That is natural. Suppose you are sitting in some place. If you know that place does not belong to you, then why should you take so much care? You are sitting there for some business. Finish, and go. Similarly, if one is in knowledge, full knowledge, that "I am not this body," that is called jñāna. Then why he should be bothering so much for this body which is going to be, as I explained yesterday, either ash, or stool or earth? This is the last stage of this body.

Lecture on SB 1.16.12 -- Los Angeles, January 9, 1974:

So that is explained in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam: janmādy asya yataḥ anvayād itarataś ca artheṣu abhijñaḥ (SB 1.1.1). Abhijñaḥ. This word is used. Abhijñaḥ means cognizant. Then if He is the origin of everything, how He got all knowledge perfectly? Therefore the next word is sva-rāṭ: He is fully independent. He doesn't require to take knowledge from anyone else. Otherwise how He can be origin? Sva-rāṭ. Muhyanti yat sūrayaḥ. That origin is so perfect, and still, sūrayaḥ, many scholars, many scientists, philosophers, they are also bewildered, that "How He can be a person?" Muhyanti yat sūrayaḥ. Tene brahma hṛdā ya ādi-kavaye muhyanti yat sūrayaḥ. These things are described.

So actually, if we want to have knowledge of everything, the source of knowledge is Vedas. And the essence of Veda is called Vedānta.

Lecture on SB 1.16.22 -- Los Angeles, July 12, 1974:

So in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam you will find everything, whatever is necessity, for the advancement of human civilization, everything is there described. And knowledge also, all departmental knowledge. Even astronomy, astrology, politics, sociology, atomic theory, everything is there. Vidyā-bhāgavatāvadhi. Therefore if we study Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam very carefully, then you get all knowledge completely. Because Bhāgavata begins from the point of creation. Janmādy asya yataḥ (SB 1.1.1). Vedānta. It is the explanation of Vedānta-sūtra. Vedānta means the essence of cream of Vedic knowledge. That is Vedānta. That cream of Vedānta knowledge is further explained in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. So we are publishing Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Our students specifically, they should take care of reading Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.

Lecture on SB 3.25.5-6 -- Bombay, November 5, 1974:

Bhagavān, all-powerful means that aiśvaryasya, all opulence, all wealth, all reputation, all knowledge, all beauty, all renunciation. In this way, Bhagavān is opulent. Six opulences. And these six opulences is fully represented in Kṛṣṇa. Therefore Kṛṣṇa is accepted: kṛṣṇas tu bhagavān svayam (SB 1.3.28). And others, they are expansion or incarnation. Viṣṇu-tattva. In the Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu, the Gosvāmīs, they have analyzed the characteristics of Bhagavān. The first Bhagavān is Lord Brahmā. Lord... Not first... First Bhagavān is Kṛṣṇa, but the Bhagavān realization, the opulences realization, begins from Lord Brahmā. He is jīva-tattva. Jīva-tattva means he's ordinary living being like us. If you become powerful in spiritual strength, then you can also have the post of Lord Brahmā.

Lecture on SB 3.26.1 -- Bombay, December 13, 1974:

One who possesses the full opulence of richness. One who possesses all the powers, all the influence, all beauty, all knowledge, all renunciation, that is Bhagavān. So you haven't got to think very ser... You take the formula given in the Vedas. That is perfect knowledge. You understand everything. Therefore the intelligent man, they follow the Vedic injunction. Then the knowledge is perfect. It is already there.

Lecture on SB 5.5.2 -- Boston, April 28, 1969:

All right, artificial laws, but there is some meaning. You cannot violate. Similarly, all the laws, all the books, all the scriptures, all knowledge, everything is meant for the human being, not for the animals. That is the difference between animal and man. The man follows restriction; animal cannot. Because man has got developed consciousness. He should know what is the aim of life. Therefore he should not live just like animals. He should be just like human being. That is the crossing stage of devel... In the ordinary way, we have evolved our life from lower animals, lower species of animals, to this human form of life. No (?) where another junction to promote yourself still higher, higher, higher life, unto the liberation life. But if you don't follow the restrictions, then you again glide down to lower animals' life. If you like, you can do that. Here is a chance. You haven't got to work so hard like the animals. God has given you so many facilities. You can live very nicely, better than animals. Therefore you must be better habits, I say, better habits than the animals.

Lecture on SB 6.1.6 -- Sydney, February 17, 1973:

This is a verse from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Sixth Canto, First Chapter, verse number six. (SB 6.1.6) In the course of conversation... Not conversation. Mahārāja Parīkṣit was hearing Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam from Śukadeva Gosvāmī. This Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is the summit of all knowledge. Vidyā bhāgavatāvadhiḥ. Amongst the Vedic scholars, the topmost knowledge means to understand Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Everything is there. (aside:) This noise has to be stopped. So in all subject matter—physics, chemistry, astronomy, religion, politics, sociology—everything has been fully described, and above all, the science of God is also described. Therefore it is called Bhāgavatam. Bhāgavatam, the word is derived from bhagavān, bhāgavatam.

Lecture on SB 6.1.37 -- San Francisco, July 19, 1975:

So from the time of creation, the Veda was given to Brahmā. Veda... Therefore it is called apauruṣeya; it is not manufactured. That is explained in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, tene brahma hṛdā ādi-kavaye. Brahma, brahma means Veda. Vedas another name is brahma, spiritual knowledge, or all knowledge, brahma. So tene brahma ādi-kavaye hṛdā. So Veda has to be studied from the spiritual master.

So it is said that the Brahmā is the first living being who understood Vedas. So how he understood? Where is The teacher? There is no other creature. How he understood Vedas? Now, that teacher was Kṛṣṇa, and He is situated in everyone's heart. Īśvaraḥ sarva-bhūtānāṁ hṛd-deśe arjuna tiṣṭhati (BG 18.61).

Lecture on SB 6.1.39-40 -- Surat, December 21, 1970:

These are the processes.

In the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam also it is said that tasmād guruṁ prapadyeta jijñāsuḥ śreya uttamam: (SB 11.3.21) "One who has actually become serious inquiring about supreme subject, uttamam..." Udgata tamaṁ yasmāt. In the material world, all knowledge is covered with illusion, and material world is known as tama. Tamasi mā jyotir gamaḥ. This is darkness. So real knowledge means which has surpassed this province of darkness, uttamam. Jijñāsuḥ śreya uttamam: "Anyone who has become very much inquisitive to learn about the transcendental subject matter, he has to accept a guru." Tasmād guruṁ prapadyeta (SB 11.3.21). Guru means you have to find out some personality who is well versed in the Vedic knowledge. Śābde pare ca niṣṇātaṁ brahmaṇy upaśamāśrayam. These are the symptoms of guru: that he is well versed, well cognizant in the conclusion of the Vedas.

Lecture on SB 6.1.40 -- San Francisco, July 21, 1975:

So the Absolute Truth is Kṛṣṇa. So Kṛṣṇa is God, accepted in the Vedas. That is... Kṛṣṇa also says in the Bhagavad-gītā, ahaṁ sarvasya prabhavaḥ (BG 10.8). From Vedic knowledge, you get all knowledge. So if you don't accept Kṛṣṇa as God, that is also your mistake. You do not know God, but here Kṛṣṇa presents Himself as God, and He is accepted by authorities. So you have to accept. If you say that "I don't accept Kṛṣṇa," then you have to present somebody else if you know God. And if you say that "I do not know what is God," then you have to accept Kṛṣṇa. Because you do not know. Here the authority says, "Kṛṣṇa is God." So you have to accept that. You cannot deny it. So Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and Kṛṣṇa means Nārāyaṇa. Therefore it is said, vedo nārāyaṇaḥ sākṣāt.

Lecture on SB 6.1.40 -- San Francisco, July 21, 1975:

The example is given like this: Just like the cloud. Cloud takes water from the sea, and he pours it down, and again the water goes down to the sea. So all knowledge comes from Kṛṣṇa, but when Kṛṣṇa appears, He takes the same knowledge from through the guru. Just try to understand. The knowledge is just like the sea, full knowledge, but it distributes the water on the land. Again the water goes down. Similarly, anyone who becomes Kṛṣṇa's guru or Caitanya Mahāprabhu's guru, they take knowledge from him, but superficially Kṛṣṇa accepts guru. He has no guru. Svayambhū. Therefore it is called svayambhū. Svayambhū. Svayambhūr iti śuśruma. Kṛṣṇa has no cause. Sarva-kāraṇa-kāraṇam (Bs. 5.1).

Lecture on SB 6.1.56-62 -- Surat, January 3, 1971, at Adubhai Patel's House:

The jungle people, the kirātas, they take this mahuyā flower from the jungle, and they soak it in water, and when it is fermented, it becomes wine. So such kind of... Everything is there. If anyone wants to manufacture wine, that is also there in Bhāgavata. You see? (laughter) Because it is perfect knowledge, all knowledge you can get.

So pītvā ca. Pītvā means drinking. Madhu-maireyam. Pītvā ca madhu, mada āghūrṇita-netrayā. When one becomes a drunkard, his eyes are not set up in right position. These things he saw. Mattayā viślathan-nīvyā vyapetaṁ nirapatrapam. And because both of them were drunkard, their, I mean to say, dhotis and saris were slackened. Now it has become a fashion, to slacken, but this is not very good. To make more attractive for sex indulgence, of course, this has become a fashion, but it is not very good.

Lecture on SB 6.3.20-23 -- Gorakhpur, February 14, 1971:

The Vedic injunction is, in order to understand, one must approach a bona fide spiritual master, durbodham. Guhyaṁ viśuddham. Why durbodham? Why it is very difficult to understand? Because it is transcendental, viśuddham, beyond the range of this material atmosphere. Our knowledge is... We get knowledge after creation of this body; therefore all knowledge is material. We tax our brain, which is a material production only. So there is no possibility of understanding religion or God by taxing the material membrane. What is called?

Lecture on SB 7.9.9 -- Montreal, July 4, 1968:

Ceto-darpaṇa-mārjanaṁ bhava-mahādāvāgni-nirvāpanaṁ śreyaḥ-kairava-candrikā-vitaraṇaṁ vidyā-vadhū-jīvanam (CC Antya 20.12). And so far knowledge is concerned, you will get it automatically. You will get all knowledge. Our material conditional life is simply due to ignorance, and when you come to Kṛṣṇa consciousness, the full moonlight of Kṛṣṇa consciousness, all knowledge, will be at your feet. Everything you will know. Vidyā-vadhū-jīvanam. And ānandāmbudhi-vaṛdhanaṁ: then you increase the ocean of transcendental bliss. The ocean. The ocean never increases, but the transcendental ocean of bliss increasing daily, daily, and you enjoy it. Ānandāmbudhi-vaṛdhanaṁ sarvātma-snapanaṁ. Sarvātma-snapanaṁ.

Lecture on SB 7.9.10 -- Montreal, July 9, 1968:

Su-sukhaṁ means very easy to perform, very easy. Anyone, even a child, can perform. Su-sukhaṁ kartum avyayam. Avyayam means imperishable. If you chant for a minute, it will never go in vain. Avyayam. It will never go in vain. A great opportunity. So we should take this opportunity. Pratya Rāja-vidyā rāja-guhyam. This is called rāja-vidyā, the knowledge, the king of all knowledge. Rāja-guhyam, the king of all confidential things. Rāja-vidyā rāja-guhyaṁ pavitraṁ paramam idam, and very pure, and sublime. Pratyakṣa avagamaṁ dharmyaṁ, and it is directly perceived, su-sukham, and very easy to perform, avyayam, never to be destroyed. Whatever you do, that is your asset. If you do one percent, that is your asset. So actually it is so. So our request is that you take up this chanting and be happy. (end)

Lecture on SB 7.9.10 -- Mayapur, February 17, 1976:

So this is the test. This is the test, that as soon as one is not Kṛṣṇa conscious, immediately he comes to the group of sinful activities, rascaldom, lowest of the mankind, māyayāpahṛta-jñānā, all knowledge taken away, and he's an asura, Hiraṇyakaśipu's family, Hiraṇyakaśipu's category. So this is not optional, that "If I don't take to Kṛṣṇa consciousness, that is my wish, my desire." No. If you desire in that way then you'll be punished. You become immediately... You cannot say, "It is my optional. I may become a thief; I may remain honest. That is my option." No. As soon as you become thief, you are punishable. Similarly, anyone who is not Kṛṣṇa conscious, he's immediately punishable.

Lecture on SB 7.9.11 -- Montreal, August 17, 1968:

That is not possible. Because you are part and parcel of Kṛṣṇa. Just like a drop of ocean water and the vast mass of water, quantitatively they are different. Qualitatively they are one. Similarly, Kṛṣṇa has knowledge and you have knowledge, but the quantity of Kṛṣṇa's knowledge and your knowledge is different. He is full of all knowledge. You are almost full of all knowledge, but not exactly like Kṛṣṇa. And especially in your conditional life you are covered. All your knowledge is covered. Even that fragmental knowledge is also covered. Therefore you are in illusion. Because we are fragmental, therefore we are subjected to be covered by the illusory spell. Just like the sky and the sun. Sometimes there is covering by cloud. The cloud covers a few miles or the cloud covers the eyes of living entities like us, but the cloud does not cover the sun or the whole sky.

Lecture on SB 7.9.13 -- Montreal, August 21, 1968:

You'll find in the Thirteenth Chapter. Ahiṁsā. What is called? There are eighteen items. You'll find in the Thirteenth Chapter. The most important point is māṁ ca vyabhicāreṇa bhakti-yogena sevate. The principal point is to become Kṛṣṇa conscious. That is knowledge. Then all knowledge will come automatically. Yasyāsti bhaktir bhagavaty akiñcana. If you take to this knowledge, that Kṛṣṇa or the Supreme Lord, Absolute Truth, He is eternal master and we are all eternal servitors, this very knowledge will elevate you to other platforms of knowledge. Yasyāsti bhaktir bhagavaty akiñcana sarvair guṇais tatra samāsate surāḥ (SB 5.18.12). Then all the symptoms of knowledge will automatically manifest in his person. Therefore this is the best process of becoming a man of knowledge or wise man. (end)

Sri Caitanya-caritamrta Lectures

Lecture on CC Adi-lila 1.9 -- Mayapur, April 2, 1975:

So that is not the way. Therefore śruti-pramāṇam. Śruti-pramāṇam means from the Vedic evidence we have to understand. Now, just like in the Vedas it is said, jalajā nava-lakṣāṇi. In the Vedas, all knowledge was there, all the living entities described fully and with minute, exact quantity. Now, within the water, we understand from the Vedic literature, there are 900,000 forms of aquatics. Now, the modern scientists, how many they have observed or studied? But it is said exactly, 900,000. Jalajā nava-lakṣāṇi sthāvarā lakṣa-viṁśati. Of course, you cannot enter within the water. But on the land, now different, and that is two million. How many species of plants and trees, and that is two million. How many the botanists have studied? Two million.

Lecture on CC Adi-lila 7.76-81 -- San Francisco, February 2, 1967:

Everything is going on. And they're Vedānta-sūtra student? This is rascaldom. There must be change in life. Otherwise, what is the use of Vedānta-sūtra? Veda-anta. Vedānta means... Veda means knowledge, and anta means end, end of all knowledge. Everyone is searching after knowledge, but there must be some end. What is the ultimate end? The Bhagavad-gītā says, vedānta-vid vedānta-kṛd ca aham: "I am the compiler of Vedānta. I am the knower of Vedānta." So, if you simply understand what Kṛṣṇa says in the Bhagavad-gītā, you are Vedantist. And what says Kṛṣṇa? What does He say? He says, sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja: (BG 18.66) "You give up all rascaldom. Simply surrender unto Me." This is Vedānta. This is Vedānta. Ārādhito yadi haris tapasā tataḥ kim (Nārada Pañcarātra).

Lecture on CC Adi-lila 7.107-109 -- San Francisco, February 15, 1967:

Oh, there are many educated persons... Just like Dr. Radhakrishnan, he also says, he also, "Not to Kṛṣṇa." Then what about his education? Oh, that is also replied, māyayāpahṛta-jñānā. "Oh, he's educated—so-called. The māyā has plundered his all knowledge." That means although... He's an educated fool. There are educated rascals. They have got some university degrees, but actually they are rascal, less than an ass. So that is also described: māyayā apahṛta-jñānā. They have acquired some knowledge undoubtedly, but the essence of the knowledge is taken away by māyā. Essence of the knowledge. Just like I give you milk, but I churn it. I take the butter out, and I give you milk. It is just like that. If milk is administered, taking out the butter, that is also a cheating, because milk means to take fat. Fat we require. For our proper maintenance of the body, we require fat.

Lecture on CC Adi-lila 7.107-109 -- San Francisco, February 15, 1967:

The followers of Śaṅkarācārya say that "I am God. There is no other God. Every one of us God." Then why you have become dog? "Oh, that I do not know." Is that God's, I mean to say, answer? If I ask if you are God, if I answer you, "Why you are dog?" you say, "I do not know," so are you God? God does not know? Well, God description is there in Parāśara-sūtra that He is full of all knowledge. That is God. And God says, "I do not know"? How he is...? What kind of God he is? That is clearly stated here. Why you have become dog? "I do not know. But I am God." He knows, "I am God," but he does not know why he has become dog. That is his knowledge. You'll find so many fallacies like this. How do you know that you are God? "That also I do not know." What is this? Is this any argument?

Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 20.337-353 -- New York, December 25, 1966:

Kṛṣṇe sva-dhāma upagate dharma-jñānādibhiḥ saha. It is..., there is a verse in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. When Kṛṣṇa was present He personally gave this Bhagavad-gītā and all knowledge. So many people took knowledge. There is another gītā, Uddhava-gītā. That was spoken to Uddhava. That is in Bhāgavata; this is in Mahābhārata, Bhagavad-gītā. So there is a question by the Śaunaka Ṛṣi that, after departure of Kṛṣṇa, wherefrom knowledge should be searched? So they recommended this Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. So in the Padma Purāṇa also there is similar passages. In Bhāgavatam also, there are similar passages. In all Vedic literature, the same thing is there. Vedaiś ca sarvair aham eva vedyaḥ (BG 15.15). The last target and the last goal, ultimate goal, is Kṛṣṇa.

Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 20.358-359 -- New York, December 29, 1966:

So Bhāgavatam says svarāṭ. Svarāṭ. Svarāṭ means He is independent. His consciousness is not dependent on others' consciousness. Svarāṭ. God, He has got all the knowledge. Yesterday we have been discussing Bhagavān. Bhagavān is full of all knowledge. Wherefrom He got this knowledge? Now our experience is that we go to school, college, and get knowledge. Wherefrom He gets knowledge? The Bhāgavata replies, svarāṭ. He's self-sufficient, full of knowledge. These are the differences. So these qualifications are always present. This is called svarūpa-lakṣaṇa. Unless God is independent, unless God is conscious, indirectly and directly, He cannot be Supreme Source. This is called svarūpa-lakṣaṇa, constantly present. Tene brahma hṛdā ādi-kavaye muhyanti yat sūrayaḥ.

Arrival Addresses and Talks

Arrival Address -- London, September 11, 1969:

That is the process. Ceto-darpaṇa-mārjanam (CC Antya 20.12). The Sanskrit word is "cleansing the dirty heart." The dirty heart. In the Bhagavad-gītā it is said, na māṁ duṣkṛtino mūḍhāḥ prapadyante narādhamāḥ (BG 7.15). Those who are miscreants, rascals, and lowest of the mankind, and taken all knowledge, and atheistic class of men, they do not know what is God. Others, those who are virtuous, those who are inquisitive, those who are wise, they will try and they will understand what is God. So my appeal to you is that you try to understand this movement, Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement. It is not a bogus movement. It is scientific, authorized. Any scientist, any philosopher and logician may come and we shall prove that there is God and we have got eternal relationship with God.

Arrival Conversation -- Los Angeles, June 20, 1975:

Prabhupāda: It is like that. Twenty-four elements. Five material elements, three subtle elements, then five working senses and five all knowledge gathering senses—how many?

Jayatīrtha: Eighteen.

Prabhupāda: Eighteen? No.

Jayatīrtha: So far.

Prabhupāda: Twenty-three, I think. Five gross elements, five senses..., five knowledge gathering senses, and five working senses, fifteen,...

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Then the objects...

Initiation Lectures

Initiations -- Los Angeles, June 21, 1972:

So your name is Sāndīpani dāsī. Sāndīpani was the teacher of Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa, He's teacher of the whole universe, but He had also a teacher. This is the example in character, that one has to accept a teacher, a spiritual master. Kṛṣṇa is giving knowledge. He's, His description is all knowledge. Samagra, full knowledge. But He is also going to a teacher's place to learn. Caitanya Mahāprabhu, He is Kṛṣṇa Himself; He's accepting a spiritual master, Īśvara Purī. Śrī Caitanya... Śrī-kṛṣṇa-caitanya... Īśvara... That means Īśvara Purī became glorified by Caitanya Mahāprabhu's acceptance of him as spiritual master. But this is the etiquette, this is the Vedic principle, that even if you are God, if you, even if you know everything, still, you have to accept a teacher, a spiritual master. That is the Vedic system. So what are the rules?

Wedding Ceremonies

Initiation of Sri-Caitanya dasa and Wedding of Pradyumna and Arundhati -- Columbus, May 14, 1969:

So this merciful benediction was given by Lord Kṛṣṇa, er, by Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu. He is incarnation of Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa-varṇaṁ tviṣākṛṣṇam (SB 11.5.32). He is Kṛṣṇa. Categorically, He is Kṛṣṇa, or chanting Kṛṣṇa. But by complexion He is akṛṣṇa. Tviṣākṛṣṇam. So He gave us this greatest benediction, that you simply chant Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra and you get all knowledge. The greatest impediment of acquiring knowledge is congestion of our heart with dirty things. And Lord Caitanya says that if you chant without any offense very nicely, then your heart becomes cleansed of all dirty things. Ceto-darpaṇa-mārjanaṁ bhava-mahā-dāvāgni-nirvāpaṇam (CC Antya 20.12). And then you are liberated. Brahma-bhūtaḥ prasannātmā na śocati (BG 18.54).

Initiation of Sri-Caitanya dasa and Wedding of Pradyumna and Arundhati -- Columbus, May 14, 1969:

So it doesn't matter whether one is householder or a brahmacārī or sannyāsī. He has to become first of all sincere servitor of the Lord. Then everything is complete. The Lord is within you. He will give you all knowledge, all enlightenment, all dictation, and He will make your life progressive. Ādau śraddhā tataḥ sādhu-saṅgaḥ tato bhajana-kriyā, anartha-nivṛttiḥ syāt tato niṣṭhā tato rucis tato bhāvas tato prema (Cc. Madhya 23.14-15). In this way your life will be sublime. Yaṁ labdhvā cāparaṁ lābhaṁ manyate nādhikaṁ tataḥ. And if you can contact the Supreme Personality of Godhead by some way or other by discharge of this devotional service in any position, never mind, then you will feel no more profit. Everyone in the material world, they are working hard day and night for some profit.

General Lectures

Lecture at International Student Society -- Boston, May 3, 1969:

Man (8): Well, the process of knowledge—you are reading something in the form of authority.

Prabhupāda: That's their way. So similarly, you take the books of authority, Vedic knowledge. You have got all knowledge.

Man (8): No, but lot of times, books you read one thing, and lot of times, as soon as you've taken to it... You don't understand it. Few days more... Something wrong from what you wanted to know.

Prabhupāda: What is wrong?

Man (8): Suppose you read a book of one kind.

Lecture (Day after Lord Rama's Appearance Day) -- Los Angeles, April 16, 1970:

Because it has been spoken that that thing which is not changing, unchangeable, that is soul and eternal. Avināśi tu tad viddhi. That is eternal. Now, if there is any possibility of getting eternal body also? Yes, there is possibility. That is answered in the Bhagavad-gītā, how you can get eternal, blissful, all-knowledge body, sac-cid-ānanda-vigraha (Bs. 5.1). This body is not eternal, neither it is blissful, neither it is full of knowledge. It is full of ignorance, it is temporary, and always miserable. And if you say, "Now we are very happily living," that is māyā, that is illusion. Lord Buddha's teaching is that he was prince and there was no want in his life. He was luxuriously living. But he left home for meditation. Therefore he understood that "I am not living comfortably." This understanding, when we can understand that this life, this material life, is not at all comfortable, it is full of misery, that is called buddha life, intelligent. Buddha means intelligent.

Departure Talks

Departure -- Los Angeles, October 5, 1972:

We know the cause. So you chant this mantra, govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi **, and you will be in full knowledge. Yasmin vijñāte sarvam idaṁ vijñātaṁ bhavanti. In the Vedānta-sūtra, Vedic language, it is said, "If you know simply Govinda, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, then you know everything. All knowledge is perfect." So try to understand Kṛṣṇa; then all other categorical knowledge will be revealed. Spiritually, knowledge is revealed. By material senses we try to acquire knowledge, but that is always, remains imperfect. And if you receive knowledge from the original person, then your knowledge is perfect.

Philosophy Discussions

Philosophy Discussion on Immanuel Kant:

Śyāmasundara: Before, we were discussing Descartes and Hume. Descartes expressed that all knowledge comes through innate ideas, and Hume said just the opposite: "No. All knowledge comes from sense experience." So Kant is trying to unify the two ideas.

Prabhupāda: Yes. Sense experience. Sense experience means purified sense experience. That is seva. Just like I am seeing here Kṛṣṇa, but others will see a stone. So he is also seeing with his eyes; I am also seeing with the eyes, but my eyes are different from his eyes. Premāñjana-cchurita-bhakti-vilocanena (Bs. 5.38). When the eyes are anointed with love of God, ointment of love of God, then he can see. Just like if one's eyes are diseased, if he applies some eye ointment, or lotion, then he sees. So the same senses, the same eyes, unless they are treated and purified, he cannot understand or he cannot see or he cannot know.

Philosophy Discussion on Henri Bergson:

Atreya Ṛṣi: Prabhupāda, I have another question about... There are certain scientists, who through speculative knowledge, they have acquired some little bit of knowledge through speculation. My question is, Prabhupāda, that yes, maybe through speculation we can get knowledge, some knowledge, but isn't it, as Kṛṣṇa says that He is the source of all knowledge and there is no way to get to any knowledge except through His representative, that that, for example, if Bergson comes to the knowledge, even though he did not accept a spiritual master or a prophet, he acquired it because that knowledge was made available to him through some other way. In other words...

Prabhupāda: How he takes the knowledge, if it comes..., does not come to the final conclusion? That kind of knowledge anyone can get. It does not need a philosophy. To some extent.

Philosophy Discussion on John Stuart Mill:

Prabhupāda: We have already proved that all his methods are defective.

Śyāmasundara: He says there are five ways. All knowledge, he says, is cause and effect. So he said we can determine what is the cause and what is the effect of anything according to these five methods. One is the method of agreement, that is, if we have two or more instances of a phenomenon and there is one common circumstance behind both of them, that we can conclude that that circumstance is the cause of the effect. Just like if we observe that two stones are thrown into the water, and that each stone is thrown by someone, then we can determine that throwing is the common cause of that stone's going into the water, the common circumstance.

Prabhupāda: Why this example? What is the value of this example?

Philosophy Discussion on John Stuart Mill:

Prabhupāda: No. First of all knowledge means to understand the fact. If you do not know the fact then on this wrong background all your knowledge is (indistinct). If the foundation is wrong then what is the value of such knowledge. Therefore the first knowledge is one should understand that he is not this body, he is soul.

Hayagrīva: We should stop. (break) ...Mill was not only a utilitarian but a humanist, and he says, "A religion of humanity can have as excellent an effect, perhaps even to a greater extent, than a supernatural religion." The religion of humanity would cultivate unselfish feelings. That is a religion without God, religion with man at the center.

Prabhupāda: So without God, how it can be religion? Religion means, I have already explained, the order of God.

Philosophy Discussion on William James:

Prabhupāda: The man or not man, there are living beings, varieties; we simply do not see the man as a living being. We see there are varieties of living beings, beginning from water up to the higher planetary system. There are different forms of living being, we have several times repeated. Jalajā nava-lakṣāṇi sthāvarā lakṣa-viṁśati, like that, nine millions, ah, nine hundred thousands forms of body within the water; then plants, trees, creepers, insects. So all of them are living beings. God is concerned with all of them. Why man is created? Every one of us in different form we are created. Or exactly not created; we are part and parcel of God. In one word God is the father of all living entities. So the simple relationship is that God is maintainer, we are maintained. This is our relationship. In the material world, as a man may have more than one wife, so similarly God has two prakṛtis, or subordinate energies—material and spiritual. So in the material world the material nature is the mother, God is the father, and varieties of living entities, they are all maintained by the father, supreme father. This is the conception of universal brotherhood. And if we understand our relationship with God as father and son... There are so many sons. That is confirmed in the Bhagavad-gītā, sarva-yoniṣu. All different forms of life, the mother is material nature, and God says, ahaṁ bīja-pradaḥ pitā: (BG 14.4) "And I am the seed-giving father." So that relationship should be known, and if we act according to that relationship, there will be actual peace and prosperity and advancement of all knowledge. That is wanted.

Philosophy Discussion on Edmund Husserl:

Prabhupāda: So you can talk any nonsense. (laughter) Then what is the use of going to school? There is no need of opening so many schools and colleges. You go on studying, you can know all knowledge and talk all kinds of nonsense. Is that perfect?

Śyāmasundara: No. He says that if a man has a clear intelligence that he will be able to understand the essence of that...

Prabhupāda: But why these schools are there? Every day we see, actually, from the most intelligent persons, scientist, he has to go to a school. Not that at home, by speculating and talking nonsense, they have become a scientist. They will never become.

Philosophy Discussion on Carl Gustav Jung:

Prabhupāda: No, it can supersede, provided you get knowledge from authority. Just like somebody is sitting here, he has not seen India. But somebody who has full knowledge of India or seen or gone there, he can describe, and he can understand that there is place, India, the place is like this, like that. So similarly, from authority, just like Kṛṣṇa says, there is another nature: paras tasmāt tu bhāvaḥ anyaḥ avyaktaḥ avyaktāt sanātanaḥ (BG 8.20). That nature is eternal. Here, this nature as we find, it is not eternal. It is temporary. It takes birth, it is maintained for sometimes, it changes, it becomes old, and again destroyed, finished. And therefore in this material there is dissolution, but there is another world, which has no dissolution. That information we get from authority, Kṛṣṇa. Sanātanaḥ. Everything finished here, that is not finished. So we have to receive this knowledge from authority, not necessarily by your personal experience. Parokṣa, aparokṣa this is called. There are different stages of knowledge. Pratyakṣa, parokṣa, aparokṣa, adhokṣaja, aprākṛta. So that requires advancement of knowledge. So, not that all knowledge we can have by direct perception. That is not possible.

Philosophy Discussion on Thomas Aquinas:

Prabhupāda: Yes. God is the reservoir of all knowledge, all beauty, all strength, all renunciation, all riches. He is the reservoir of everything; therefore He is God. So beauty, whatever we see beautiful, that is emanation from, a very minute percentage of God's beauty. (aside:) Who paid this?

Hari-śauri: Someone gave it this morning.

Hayagrīva: Concerning theology and philosophy, Aquinas writes, "Just as sacred doctrine is based on the light of faith, so is philosophy founded on the natural light of reason. Hence it is impossible for items that belong to philosophy to be contrary to those that pertain to faith, but the former may be defective." That is, philosophy may be defective in comparison with, with the latter, theology, which is based on faith. "If any point among the statements of the philosophers is found contrary to faith, this is not philosophy but rather an abuse of philosophy resulting from a defect in reasoning."

Philosophy Discussion on Rene Descartes:

Hayagrīva: He says, "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 a means of acquiring a perfect knowledge of innumerable things, not only in respect of God Himself and other intelligible things, but also in respect of that corporeal nature which is the object of pure mathematics." Now he says he knows God but at the same time he seems to be deceived in matters, certain matters that we haven't come to yet, but, uh...

Prabhupāda: No. If he has actually followed God's instruction and if he has actually knowledge of what is God, then he will never be misled. Either he selects a false God or he has not met God, real God. Then he is... But to save this danger there is God's instruction, Bhagavad-gītā. Anyone who will follow, he will be perfect.

Page Title:All knowledge (Lectures)
Compiler:Visnu Murti, RupaManjari
Created:11 of Apr, 2012
Totals by Section:BG=0, SB=0, CC=0, OB=0, Lec=83, Con=0, Let=0
No. of Quotes:83