Commitment

Expressions researched:
"commitment" |"commitments"

SB Canto 1

One must perform sacrifices recommended in the scriptures in order to get rid of commitments of all unauthorized work, or even unintentional crimes which we are apt to commit. By doing so, one shall be freed from all kinds of sins.

SB 1.12.34, Purport: One should take lessons from the acts of Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira. He was afraid of sins committed on the battlefield, and therefore he wanted to satisfy the supreme authority. This indicates that unintentional sins are also committed in our daily occupational discharge of duties, and to counteract even such unintentional crimes, one must perform sacrifices as they are recommended in the revealed scriptures. The Lord says in Bhagavad-gītā (yajñārthāt karmaṇo 'nyatra loko 'yaṁ karma-bandhanaḥ [Bg. 3.9]) that one must perform sacrifices recommended in the scriptures in order to get rid of commitments of all unauthorized work, or even unintentional crimes which we are apt to commit. By doing so, one shall be freed from all kinds of sins. And those who do not do so but work for self-interest or sense gratification have to undergo all tribulations accrued from committed sins. Therefore, the main purpose of performing sacrifices is to satisfy the Supreme Personality Hari. The process of performing sacrifices may be different in terms of different times, places and persons, but the aim of such sacrifices is one and the same at all times and in all circumstances, viz. , satisfaction of the Supreme Lord Hari. That is the way of pious life, and that is the way of peace and prosperity in the world at large. Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira did all these as the ideal pious king in the world.

SB Canto 4

Mahārāja Pṛthu's philanthropic activities were not for the sake of show but were performed out of personal feeling and commitment.

SB 4.22.62, Purport: Also, like all Vaiṣṇavas, Mahārāja Pṛthu was devoted to cow protection, spiritual masters and qualified brāhmaṇas. Pṛthu Mahārāja was also very humble, meek and gentle, and whenever he performed any philanthropic work or welfare activity for the general public, he would labor exactly as if he were tending to his own personal necessities. In other words, his philanthropic activities were not for the sake of show but were performed out of personal feeling and commitment. All philanthropic activities should be thus performed.

Krsna, The Supreme Personality of Godhead

Lord Kṛṣṇa lived with His wives as an ideal householder, observing the regulative principles, rules and commitments in accordance with the Vedic injunctions and the social laws and customs of society.

Krsna Book 60: According to Vedic culture, although polygamy is allowed, none of one’s wives should be ill-treated. In other words, one may take many wives only if he is able to satisfy all of them equally as an ideal householder; otherwise it is not allowed. Lord Kṛṣṇa is the world teacher; therefore, even though He had no need for a wife, He expanded Himself into as many forms as He had wives, and He lived with them as an ideal householder, observing the regulative principles, rules and commitments in accordance with the Vedic injunctions and the social laws and customs of society. For each of His 16,108 wives, He simultaneously maintained different palaces, different establishments and different atmospheres. Thus the Lord, although one, exhibited Himself as 16,108 ideal householders.

Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures

Your commitment, you committed murder, that you caused your hanging, not that high-court judge is your enemy, and he is giving you order to be hanged.

Lecture on SB 7.9.8 -- Hawaii, March 21, 1969: Every... Now, when a man is diseased, that does not mean everyone is diseased. That disease is his choice. Just like Kārttikeya is now sick. I am telling that "You should not... Why you have taken this? Why you have taken this?" So he has caused the disease. Similarly, suffering we cause. If that suffering is for all, why the other man is not suffering? Why you are suffering? That means you are cause for the suffering. The same reasoning, that if somebody says, "Oh, the high-court judge is so unkind to me. He has ordered for me hanging," is that correct? You have caused your hanging. The high-court judge has simply given the judgment that "He should be hanged. He has committed murder. He should be hanged." Therefore your commitment, you committed murder, that you caused your hanging, not that high-court judge is your enemy, and he is giving you order to be hanged. You are the cause of your hanging. Similarly, God is impartial. He can give the judgment that "This man has committed this offense. He should be punished like this." These are common reasons. God is all kind. God is all-great. So how He should be so mean-minded that He should give somebody suffering and somebody enjoyment? Is that not meanmindedness if I treat differently? I have got so many disciples. If I treat some of my disciples very nicely and some of my disciples badly, is that very good for me? So how... God is all-kind. How He can be like that? It is my karma. This is law of karma, fruitive activities.

Philosophy Discussions

Nobody knows God. Only one person in many millions may know.

Philosophy Discussion on John Dewey:

Śyāmasundara: Yes. That to which one is supremely devoted, that means God.

Prabhupāda: Anyone may be supremely devoted to his wife or sometimes supremely devoted to his dog. The dog is God? Wife is God? So everyone has got one god, and I think that it is supported by Vivekananda, yata mata tata patha: "Whatever you think of God, that's all right." (Hindi with guest) Everyone can manufacture his own God. (laughter) Yes.

Śyāmasundara: He says that we cannot achieve absolute certainty or perfection. So we must rest content...

Prabhupāda: That means he has got a poor fund of knowledge. He does not admit that. But we can say that because his knowledge is not perfect, he's saying like that.

Śyāmasundara: So he says that we must rest content with a faith and a commitment which helps us to face the future resolutely, reconstructing our environment to obtain more satisfactory adjustments. This is the Western philosophy in a nutshell.

Prabhupāda: Why not take directly the words of God? (Hindi with guest)

Śyāmasundara: He says that the idea of God is relative to the observer; that it may be something for one man and something for another. So there is no absolute certainty...

Prabhupāda: That means that none of them know what is God. That is the difference. Therefore Bhagavad-gītā says,

manuṣyāṇāṁ sahasreṣu

kaścid yatati siddhaye

yatatām api siddhānāṁ

kaścid māṁ vetti tattvataḥ

[Bg. 7.3]

Nobody knows God. Only one person in many millions may know.

1968 Conversations and Morning Walks

Kṛṣṇa consciousness is total commitment to the way of life as it is prescribed in the Bhagavad-gītā, the science of God.

Radio Interview -- March 12, 1968, San Francisco:

Interviewer: To join Kṛṣṇa consciousness is a total commitment, then, to your way of life.

Prabhupāda: Yes, it is total commitment to the way of life as it is prescribed in the Bhagavad-gītā, the science of God.

1974 Conversations and Morning Walks

He has prior commitments, he's unable to stay.

Room Conversation with Russian Orthodox Church Representative -- June 13, 1974, Paris:

Yogeśvara: He respects the Vaiṣṇava philosophy because it is substantial. It doesn't contradict itself.

Karandhara: So then the... If the Vaiṣṇava philosophy has a systematic logic, then integrity would dictate that we have to surrender or accept that logic. If a logic is true, we can't stand apart from it and simply observe it. We have to accept it ourselves.

Church Representative: (French)

Bhagavān: You are right on the brink of Absolute Truth. Don't run away. (laughs)

Yogeśvara: He says that even though he has a great interest in this discussion, because he has prior commitments, he's unable to stay.

Prabhupāda: That's all right. That's all...

Bhagavān: Take some prasādam. (French)

Yogeśvara: He already has the books.

Prabhupāda: He has our...? He has got...? (French) That's all right. He has got.

Church Representative: I have, and I have read with great interest. Thank you very much. (French) I was thinking that it was only a formal visit.

1975 Conversations and Morning Walks

They have got a spirit of sacrifice.

Room Conversation with Dr. Copeland, Professor of Modern Indian History -- May 20, 1975, Melbourne:

Prabhupāda: I will be successful when everyone will chant Hare Kṛṣṇa.

Dr. Copeland: But in Western countries, where people have to adopt to the different style of dress and a different life-style altogether, it means that you're asking for a very large commitment from people, and yet they do it. Are you saying that it's the strength of what you're preaching, or are they unhappy with what they've found otherwise?

Prabhupāda: No, they look very nice with this dress. Don't you appreciate?

Dr. Copeland: Uh, that wasn't in my question, That's... (laughs). Yes, I think it's very nice, I couldn't do it. I wouldn't shave my hair, and I wouldn't dress like that.

Prabhupāda: You cannot sacrifice so much. They have sacrificed.

Dr. Copeland: Aḥ, I sacrifice up here.

Prabhupāda: They have got a spirit of sacrifice.

1970 Correspondence

You were saved from a commitment of suicide.

Letter to Yamunacarya -- Los Angeles 17 June, 1970: You write to say how you were saved from a commitment of suicide. So you have seen the mantra in Isopanisad:

ye ke catma-hano janah

So not only you, but almost all the conditioned souls within this material world, practically 99% of the whole population is committing suicide. As it is natural for a gentleman to try to stop a person committing suicide when it so happens just in one's presence, similarly when we see that so many men and women are simply committing suicide as described in the Isopanisad ye ke catma-hano janah, let us try to save them through this Krsna Consciousness Movement.

1972 Correspondence

Commitment to your spiritual master, that is your qualification for getting Krsna's blessing upon you.

Letter to Pusta Krsna -- Bombay 29 December, 1972: I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter dated November 27, 1972, and I can very well appreciate your preaching work on European continent, having received very favorable reports from other big leaders there. That is wanted, that all of you will take upon yourselves the responsibility of preaching widely everywhere the message of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu. By that responsible commitment to your spiritual master, that is your qualification for getting Krsna's blessing upon you. And only in this way will you be able to make your spiritual progress rapidly. So you are very determined and intelligent boy, you have got a cool head, so I am very much confident that you will be able to render more and more the best service to Krsna and to your spiritual master. That means that you will simply introduce our Krsna Consciousness program anywhere and everywhere, without any compromise or deviation from the highest standard of devotional practice, as chalked out for us by our great predecessors. If you yourself remain always pure, then your preaching will have effect. As soon as there is little impurity, the whole thing will deteriorate and go to hell. So we shall not like to take the credit in that case, therefore I am praying simply that all of you, my advanced disciples, GBC men, sannyasis, temple officers, like that, that all of you will become sober-minded and feeling always very much responsible how the things will go on as I have given them. If you simply do as I am doing, not avoiding anything which may have to be done for pushing on Krsna's movement, remaining always stuck up very tightly to the footsteps of Rupa Gosvami, then without any doubt you will remain always fresh and enthusiastic for working very energetically on Krsna's behalf, without any falldown.

1973 Correspondence

If there is no commitment from their side I do not wish to transfer the money for being blocked.

Letter to Tamala Krsna -- Paris 11 August, 1973: I beg to inform you that transfer from this side may not be difficult, but if there is no commitment from their side I do not wish to transfer the money for being blocked. To get back the money from India is a great botheration. In other words, unless I am sure that they are going to sell I am not going to transfer the money.