Context (Lect. Conv. & Letters)

Expressions researched:
"context"

Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures

Lecture on BG 8.5 -- New York, October 26, 1966:

Indian man: But don't you think it is a contradiction that if a man is a bad throughout his life and only at the time of death he thinks of Kṛṣṇa and gets...?

Prabhupāda: No. That history of Ajāmila is different. In his childhood he was a son of a brāhmaṇa. He was faithfully discharging the duties of a brāhmaṇa. But accidentally, when he was young... He was married also. Accidentally, when he was young he was passing on the road and some śūdra girl and boy were embracing and kissing, and he became attracted. And he became attracted by the prostitute. And he left home, wife, and everything, and then he became a great dacoit and smuggler, and everything he did. But... And he had so many children. Youngest was Nārāyaṇa. So at the time of death..., because generally, people become attached to the youngest son, so he was calling "Nārāyaṇa." But he remembered, "Oh, that Nārāyaṇa." Reference to the context. As soon as he called Nārāyaṇa... In his boyhood he served Nārāyaṇa under the direction of his father, so he remembered Nārāyaṇa. Therefore it is not always possible, but therefore in the Bhagavad-gītā it is said, svalpam apy asya dharmasya trāyate mahato bhayāt. If somebody has executed devotional service even a little bit, oh, it may be, it can save him from the greatest danger.

Lecture on BG 16.6 -- Hawaii, February 2, 1975:

Bhagavān Śrī Kṛṣṇa is addressing Arjuna as... Sometimes He addresses him as Bhārata, "the descendant of the Bharata dynasty," and sometimes He addresses him as Pārtha, and sometimes He addresses him, Dhanañjaya, His friend. This time He addresses him as Pārtha. Pārtha means his mother's name was Pṛthā. From Pṛthā, the word Pārtha comes. His mother happened to be Kṛṣṇa's father's sister. So very intimately and friendly, He addresses him as Pārtha, "My dear son of My aunt." That means "We have got very intimate relationship. Not only we are friends, but we have got family relationship. So therefore I am speaking you about the truth that there are two classes of living beings." Two classes of living beings, dvau. Dvau means two. One class is called daiva, or divine, divine nature, and the other class is called demonic nature, āsura. So in Viṣṇu-Purāṇa there is also reference to this context where it is said,

Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures

Lecture on SB 1.3.30 -- Los Angeles, October 5, 1972:

I am flying in the sky and forgetting that my real form is lying on the bed. You forget. We forget that "I am American" or "I am the son of such and such gentleman," or... Everything forgotten. Every night we have got this experience. So as soon as the form is forgotten, then everything is forgotten. With reference to the context.

So this universal form... The impersonalists, they are very much fond of this universal form. It is very favorable. But what is this universal form? This universal form is external expansion of the supreme form, Kṛṣṇa. You can understand it very easily, that we all living entities, we are a spiritual form, very minute. Materially we cannot understand. But there is a form. We get the information from the śāstra, although we cannot see it with our material eyes. Śāstra says that every living entity is one ten-thousandth part of the tip of the hair. Śāstra says. Everyone has seen the tip of the hair, but he has no idea how to divide it into ten thousand parts.

Lecture on SB 1.5.36 -- Vrndavana, August 17, 1974:

Not completely finished. It is very difficult to finish the dirty things which have accumulated within our heart birth after birth. It is being accumulated. So many things, so many impression. All of a sudden you remember, which has no connection with your present activities, but all of a sudden you remember something which was in context with, say, many, many years ago. That means the dirty things are stocked within our heart. Just like in the water, in a pond sometimes you will find all of a sudden one bubble comes from within. Phat! That means the dirty things are within, stocked. (break) ...all of a sudden it comes. (break)

Kṛṣṇasya... Mukta-saṅgaḥ paraṁ vrajet. (break) This is the advantage of this age, Kali-yuga. We have got many disadvantages. (break) People are implicated in sinful activities, more and more trouble. And it will be exhibited, there will be no food grains, no milk, no sugar.

Lecture on SB 1.16.7 -- Los Angeles, January 4, 1974:

He immediately become eligible to go to Vaikuṇṭha. He did not mean Nārāyaṇa also isn't said. But Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura, he gives his commentation that he remembered real Nārāyaṇa after reference to the context. When he called for his child Nārāyaṇa, he remembered real Nārāyaṇa. Because in his boyhood, when he was... Up to his youthhood, he was very sincere devotee of Nārāyaṇa, a son of a brāhmaṇa. But he fell under the clutches of a prostitute. Therefore, after mixing with the prostitute, his all spiritual activities stopped. That is natural. So he became too much inclined to the prostitute, and he became a drunkard, he became a thief, he became a gambler, meat-eater, and debauch. All these qualifications he acquired, by the association of one prostitute. And in this age our only business is to mix with prostitute. Just see our position. How much fallen they should be. There is open market for prostitution. This is modern civilization.

Lecture on SB 6.1.42 -- Los Angeles, July 23, 1975:

Just like you have your beloved child. Although he is out of sight, you can see him in his shoe, in his cloth, in his toy: "Oh, it is my child." That requires prema. Similarly, if you have knowledge, theoretical knowledge even, that everything is Kṛṣṇa's energy and if you have love for Kṛṣṇa, with reference to the context, whatever you see, you see Kṛṣṇa. That is Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Perfection of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. You cannot see anywhere where there is no Kṛṣṇa. This is for the devotee. For the ordinary person these are the description, that the sūrya, the sun is also Kṛṣṇa, the fire is also Kṛṣṇa, the sky is also Kṛṣṇa, the air is also Kṛṣṇa, the moon is also Kṛṣṇa, the evening is Kṛṣṇa, daytime is Kṛṣṇa. Then how you can avoid Kṛṣṇa? Kṛṣṇa says that "I am..." Mattaḥ smṛtir jñānam apohanaṁ ca (BG 15.15). Kṛṣṇa is everywhere. You cannot avoid Kṛṣṇa. Simply on account of your foolishness, māyā is covering your eyes to see Kṛṣṇa. So mām eva ye prapadyante māyām etāṁ taranti te (BG 7.14).

Lecture on SB 7.7.32-35 -- San Francisco, March 17, 1967, (incomplete lecture):

He was to accompany him. So they were sitting on the back of the elephant. In the meantime that Murāri Gupta saw one peacock, and as soon as he saw the peacock, the feather, he at once remembered Kṛṣṇa and at once fainted and fall down. This is called ālambana. This is called ālambana. Ālambana means anything to the context, immediately he remembers his Lord and becomes ecstatic. This is the first-class stage of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. So there are many instances. Caitanya Mahāprabhu showed this manifestation in His life. We shall discuss. We are discussing now in the morning class.

So Prahlāda Mahārāja says, yadā atiharṣotpulakāśru-gadgadam. He became so glad that he is faltering in speaking. Caitanya Mahāprabhu, when He was dancing in Jagannātha Purī during car festival and was singing, He could not utter "Jagannātha." He was uttering, "Jaga-aga-aaa-aaa..." Like that. He was faltering, faltering. These signs are that.

Nectar of Devotion Lectures

The Nectar of Devotion -- Vrndavana, October 18, 1972:

The material elements, they are simply Kṛṣṇa's external energy. So as soon as a devotee sees anything material, he sees immediately the energy of Kṛṣṇa, and along with the energy of Kṛṣṇa, he sees immediately Kṛṣṇa. Reactory. He actually. With reference to the context.

Just like you are reading some portion of a book. As soon as there is some reference, immediately you see the person. Suppose you are phoning, talking on telephone with somebody. As soon as hear the body, as soon as hear his sound, immediately you see your friend. It is not very difficult to understand. Simply one has to know the person or one has, must have the knowledge. So one who has got knowledge, perfect knowledge of the constitution of this material body, he does not see the body. He sees Kṛṣṇa. So anything, sthāvara jaṅgama... Sthāvara means moving, and jaṅgama... Sthāvara means "not moving," and jaṅgama means "moving".

The Nectar of Devotion -- Vrndavana, November 11, 1972:

He's seeing one tree, but he is, he's forgetful of the tree. He's seeing energy of Kṛṣṇa. As soon as he sees the energy of Kṛṣṇa, he sees Kṛṣṇa. Therefore instead of seeing the tree, he sees Kṛṣṇa. Because one after, after, coming, reference to the context. As soon as he sees anything we call material, he sees this is the conversion of the energy. Pariṇāma-vāda. Sarvedam akhilaṁ jagat. Parasya brahmaṇaḥ śaktiḥ. Parasya bra... Just like as soon as you see the sunshine, you see immediately sun. Is it not? In the morning, as soon as you see within your window the sunshine, immediately you remember sun and you are confident sun is there. Without sun, how there can be sunshine? Similarly, whatever we see, if we immediately see Kṛṣṇa, with reference to that particular thing... Because that particular thing is the manifestation of the energy of Kṛṣṇa. So those who have understood Kṛṣṇa along with His energies, he sees the energy, because energy is not different from the energetic, he sees immediately Kṛṣṇa.

Sri Caitanya-caritamrta Lectures

Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 21.49-61 -- New York, January 5, 1967:

His life is very interesting. He was too much prostitute-hunter. In one incidence his kept prostitute gave him instruction, "Oh, you have got so much attraction for this skinny body. If you would have such attraction for Kṛṣṇa, I do not know what you have done." Oh, at once he became, "Yes." This is called reference to the context. Because he, that gentleman, in his previous life he cultivated Kṛṣṇa consciousness to the highest degree, but somehow or other, it was stopped. And as soon as the same thing was pointed out, he began again from that point. That is the process of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Even if we do not perform the whole process of Kṛṣṇa consciousness, whatever we do, that remains in asset. That is never lost. So this Bilvamaṅgala Ṭhākura, from that prostitute's house he became a saintly man. So he wrote a very nice book, Kṛṣṇa-karṇāmṛta. Kṛṣṇa-karṇāmṛta means "pleasing to the ear."

Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 22.5 -- New York, January 7, 1967:

We have divided the Vedic literature into two. The knowledge which is coming in disciplic succession, that knowledge is mother, and this knowledge, by memory, with reference to the context of Vedic literature, if you sometimes write, that literature is the sister. That is compared with sister. One is with the mother, and the other is the sister. Purāṇādyā ye vā sahaja nivahās te tad-anugā. So all these Purāṇas, they are called śruti. There are eighteen Purāṇas, the Mahābhārata, the Rāmāyaṇa, and there are so many, Vedānta-sūtra... They are called... Upaniṣad is Veda; it is śruti. That is the gist of Vedic knowledge. But Purāṇas, they are called smṛti. So this śruti smṛtir, according to Indian theistic scholarship, there are two kinds of literature: śruti smṛti. So there was another devotee of Kṛṣṇa. He has written another nice song. He says, śrutim apare smṛtim apare bhārata manye bhava-bhītāḥ.

Initiation Lectures

Gurudasa Sannyasa Initiation -- San Francisco, July 21, 1975:

Ramyaka means very beautiful. That is Kṛṣṇa. Nobody is more beautiful than Kṛṣṇa. Asitāmbuda-sundarāṅgam. Although He is blackish, but nobody is more beautiful than Kṛṣṇa. You are all white. (laughter) Hare Kṛṣṇa.

(next devotee approaches) Alambana dāsa. Alambana means reference to the context. Just like there was a great devotee of Lord Caitanya, Murāri Gupta. He was a physician of the Nawab. So he was going on the back of the elephant with the Nawab, and he saw one peacock. So as soon as saw the feather of peacock, immediately he fell down. How? Because the peacock feather is on the head of Kṛṣṇa, he immediately remembered Kṛṣṇa. This is called alambana, "with reference to the context."

General Lectures

Lecture -- Los Angeles, February 2, 1968:

So this Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya said, vairāgya-vidyā-nija-bhakti-yogam. This vairāgya-vidyā means bhakti-yogam..., śikṣārtham ekaḥ puruṣaḥ purāṇaḥ. So Kṛṣṇa, the supreme original personality, He has come down to teach us this vairāgya-vidyā. Vairāgya-vidyā-nija-bhakti-yoga-śikṣārtham ekaḥ puruṣaḥ purāṇaḥ, śrī-kṛṣṇa-caitanya-śarīra-dhārī (CC Madhya 6.254). Śrī-kṛṣṇa-caitanya. Śrī Kṛṣṇa has appeared in the form of Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya. So Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya says, "My respectful obeisances unto Him." So naturally this context came into my mind—these boys' vairāgya. So one who becomes advanced in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, naturally they become disinterested for any material pompous name.(?) They do not care. So vairāgya. This bhakti-yoga means vairāgya-vidyā. You can chant Hare Kṛṣṇa.

Lecture -- Hawaii, March 23, 1969:

So "I am the servant of Kṛṣṇa's friend, Sudāmā dāsa." So in this way our relationship with Kṛṣṇa we always remember. That remembrance is also self-realization process. Śravaṇaṁ kīrtanaṁ viṣṇoḥ smaraṇam (SB 7.5.23). Smaraṇam, memorizing, by context. As soon as I utter, "Sudāmā," I immediately remember, "Sudāmā was a friend of Kṛṣṇa." So I remember Kṛṣṇa. Reference to the context. So therefore this is offered, spiritual name.

(reading:) "What are ISKCON's future plans here? Will a temple be built?" Yes, temple is already there. Here is a temple. Unfortunately, nobody coming. What can I do? We are prepared to give this nice philosophy to everyone. There is no necessity of creating a very huge building as temple. We can sit anywhere and carry this Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa and keep there and chant Hare Kṛṣṇa. That is a temple. We don't require any huge building. You see? Temple means wherever there is God, that is temple.

Philosophy Discussions

Philosophy Discussion on Ludwig Wittgenstein:

Śyāmasundara: Even his verification principles cannot be verified by any other criterion; therefore it is self-refuting. And moreover, this limits the person, the individual, to his own sense experience. So how can the individual refer to himself as part of an existing but not yet experienced external world? In other words, if a person followed his philosophy strictly, he would not be able to put himself in the context of the world.

Prabhupāda: That is not very difficult to understand. Just like when there is summer, every one of us experiences heat. When there is winter, every one of use experiences cold. Therefore we are part and parcel of the Supreme. When there is spring season, all the trees immediately become full of foliage. When there is winter season, all the foliage, all the leaves, they fall down. So therefore there is one (indistinct) and we are part and parcel of that. When there is winter season you cannot say that "I am not feeling cold." You cannot say that. (aside:) So you are not going?

Philosophy Discussion on Ludwig Wittgenstein:

Śyāmasundara: But that statement, "Nothing is greater than," if you use it in another context, say with three or four objects, and you say that "nothing," meaning these three objects, "is greater than this object," that is another...

Prabhupāda: No. Any object you bring. When I say "God is great," anything you bring, nothing is greater than God. That's all.

Śyāmasundara: He says when we ask, for example, "What is the meaning of the word good..." He says we must inquire as to how we learn the meaning of the word good, what its functions have been, and strive to clarify its use, not as a picture of reality but as a tool for describing, recording, and asserting facts or ideas.

Prabhupāda: (indistinct) limited science, when you are in the limited material world, good means which satisfies my senses good. That is good. And bad means which does not satisfy my senses. But so far my senses are concerned, this is temporary (indistinct); therefore in this material world, the conceptions of good and bad, they are all the same. Real goodness is God. God is good. That is good.

Philosophy Discussion on Thomas Aquinas:

Hayagrīva: Falsity cannot form the basis of Divine scripture, which has been handed down by the Holy Spirit. That's one mistake one can make in reading scripture. Another, he says, "No one should try to restrict scripture to one meaning to such an extent that other meanings containing some truth and quite possible in relation to the context would be excluded. In fact it belongs to the dignity of Divine scripture to contain many meanings in one text, so that in this way it may be appropriate to the various understandings of men."

Prabhupāda: Meaning is one, but interpreter are different. Just like even in the Bible it is said, "God created the universe." So that is a fact, God created. So unless you interpret in a different way, how you can say that the universe is created by some chunk and this way and that way? So we accept scripture in that sense, without any change; therefore we are presenting Bhagavad-gītā as it is. We cannot change the words of God.

1970 Conversations and Morning Walks

Room Conversation -- December 13, 1970, Indore:

Prabhupāda: That is the remark of Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura. But according to others' opinion, even simply by chanting, that is sufficient. In the Bhāgavata it is stated like that. But Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura has remarked that this chanting referred to the context. Immediately he remembered Nārāyaṇa.

Himāvatī: In that same connection, the story of Ṭhākura Haridāsa and the harlot. She began to chant and told him the reason that she was a prostitute, she was no good and simply by that association she began to chant or by previous association...

Prabhupāda: No, by association. By the influence of Haridāsa Ṭhākura. For three days, three days she associated.

1971 Conversations and Morning Walks

Room Conversation with Dr. Karan Singh, -- November 25, 1971, Delhi:

Dr. Singh: Really? In fact, we must get Swamiji to sign your books. I have got all your books.

Prabhupāda: So some of the points... What was the points?

Śyāmasundara: That every statement of Hinduism in the context of the nuclear age assumes tremendous importance.

Prabhupāda: Yes. So that we are doing.

Dr. Singh: Yes.

Prabhupāda: We are giving shape to your philosophy. Just like it was the conception that in India there are brāhmaṇas only. Amongst the Hindus, there are brāhmaṇas.

1973 Conversations and Morning Walks

Room Conversation with Reporter from Researchers Magazine -- July 24, 1973, London:

Reporter: Hm. No, but... Can I take you back to the point which is not clear to me? When you said that sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja (BG 18.66). Kṛṣṇa is speaking in a context of a clear defined action for Arjuna, whereas now that clearly defined action is not available to us.

Prabhupāda: Why not available?

Reporter: 'Cause we don't know what is our action. Now, going to the...

Prabhupāda: Kṛṣṇa says sarva-dharmān parityajya (BG 18.66).

Reporter: Yes.

Prabhupāda: Now, dharma means occupation. Dharma is not translated as religion.

Reporter: No, no.

1974 Conversations and Morning Walks

Press Conference -- April 18, 1974, Hyderabad:

Guest (9): In this context, how do you see the government of India?

Prabhupāda: I do not wish to speak of any particular government. But generally, everywhere the government is not very good. Even in America, the president is not liked.

Guest (5): Swamiji, India is supposed to be a land of spirituality.

Prabhupāda: Yes.

Guest (5): How is it that there is so much moral degradation in our country?

Prabhupāda: Because you did not lead them, you did not teach them spiritual books. You allowed them to read Communist books.

Guest (5): Is it the failure of our spiritual leaders?

Prabhupāda: What is a spiritual leader? First of all we have to think..., if the businessman is not spiritual leader.

Guest (6): So you mean the lack of spiritual leadership has driven us to this state of affairs?

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

Prabhupāda: No, somebody may be known as spiritually advanced according to the society, but he may not be. So another thing is that what is the way of understanding the Absolute Truth. Let him explain. What is the standard way of understanding Absolute Truth? (French)

Yogeśvara: He says he doesn't have an answer in that kind of a context.

Church Representative: No context, problematic.

Prabhupāda: It may be problematic to some, but Absolute Truth can be understood by śruti, authoritative hearing.

Karandhara: When the Absolute reveals Himself, then... Śruti means the absolute knowledge from the Absolute, from God.

Prabhupāda: Yes, the Absolute Truth is known by the absolute method which is called śruti, hearing from the Absolute. Absolute cannot be imagined or speculated.

Room Conversation with Reverend Gordon Powell, Head of Scots Church -- June 28, 1974, Melbourne:

Reverend Powell: What does devotional service mean in that context?

Prabhupāda: Purport?

Satsvarūpa: "Purport: Birth, death, old age and diseases affect this material body, but not the spiritual body. There is no birth, death, old age and disease for the spiritual body, so one who attains a spiritual body, becomes one of the associates of the Supreme Personality of Godhead and engages in eternal devotional service, is really liberated. Ahaṁ brahmāsmi: I am spirit. It is said that one should understand that he is Brahman—spirit soul. This Brahman conception of life is also in devotional service, as described in this verse. The pure devotees are transcendentally situated on the Brahman platform, and they know everything about transcendental and material activities."

Reverend Powell: "Transcendental" means spiritual, does it?

Prabhupāda: Yes.

Reverend Powell: As opposed to material.

1975 Conversations and Morning Walks

Room Conversation with Yoga Student -- March 14, 1975, Iran:

Prabhupāda: What is the meaning of Sufism? Literary meaning?

Yoga student: Well, Sufism in a sense is what bhaktism is in the Hindu context.

Prabhupāda: Bhakti means to offer service to the Lord. Does it mean?

Yoga student: Absolutely.

Prabhupāda: So then if the Lord is to be served, then He must be a person; otherwise where is the question of service?

Yoga student: Well, the Sufis do see that, the personal aspect of the Lord...

Prabhupāda: Unless one is person, how can I serve him? I cannot serve the air or the sky. I must serve a person. Love does not exist in the sky or in the air. It must be a person. Man or woman, it doesn't matter. Otherwise where there is love? Whom to love?

Yoga student: The Sufis find love in these figures... For example, the Sufi Ib'n Araby(?), through of the face of a beautiful woman...

Prabhupāda: Through the face of beautiful woman?

Morning Walk -- March 15, 1975, Tehran:

Prabhupāda: What is the meaning of Sufism, literal meaning?

Guest: Well, Sufism in a sense is ah, what bhaktism is in the Hindu context.

Prabhupāda: Bhakti means to offer service to God. Does it mean?

Guest: Oh, absolutely!

Prabhupāda: Then if God is to be served, then He must be a person, otherwise where is the question of serving?

Guest: Well, the Sufis do see that, the personal aspect of the Lord.

Prabhupāda: Unless one is person, how can I serve him? I cannot serve the air or the sky. I must serve a person. Love does not exist in the sky or in the air. There must be a person, man or woman, it doesn't matter. Otherwise, where there is love? Whom to love?

Guest: The Sufis find love in these figures. For example, the Sufis in (indistinct) through the face of a beautiful woman.

Prabhupāda: Face of beautiful woman, then the materialists also find.

Morning Walk -- November 12, 1975, Bombay:

Brahmānanda: This is Bhagavad-gītā.

Dr. Patel: You see, anything which is read out of context is no reading. You must read it reference to context. If you read some nonsense somebody must have spoken or written he's not all what he has written or spoken. So if Yaśomatīnandana reads that and Prabhupādajī talks something about the spirituality, no this moment... Because time is short and heart is long, and our heart is beating like muffled drums, so let us fulfill ourself before we die.

Prabhupāda: No, you have got your injection. (laughter)

Dr. Patel: That is not for me. I give only... (laughs) His wife was brought yesterday to me, Yaśodānandana, and she told me that she was operated in the stomach for some growth. "What sort of growth was that? Was it malignant?" And she's suffering. Why don't you send her back or get the reports from the American hospital, what operation was performed on her, and we'll get out? Or she'll suffer all the time. That is the story of injection. Now let us talk. Until you realize God, then you are spirit. Up to then, you are always...

Prabhupāda: "I am Indian." "I am American."

Dr. Patel: More important: "I am a human being and others are lower animals." That is the greatest abhimana.

Prabhupāda: No, that is also.

Morning Walk -- December 10, 1975, Vrndavana:

Akṣayānanda: He said it. Nitāi said it. He said it in this context. He said that Lord Brahm is the ācārya in the Brahma-sampradāya, but yet he is sometimes afflicted by passion. So therefore he is saying that it appears that the ācārya does not have to be a pure devotee. So it does not seem right.

Prabhupāda: So who is that rascal? I want to know who has said.

Akṣayānanda: Nitāi. Nitāi dāsa.

Harikeśa: Nitāi said that?

Prabhupāda: Who is Nitāi dāsa?

Harikeśa: Our Nitāi.

Akṣayānanda: Nitāi.

Prabhupāda: Oh, our Nitāi? Oh.

Akṣayānanda: He said he couldn't understand it, but he thought, he said that he thought...

Prabhupāda: He manufactured his idea. Therefore he's a rascal. Therefore he's a rascal. Nitāi has become an authority?

1976 Conversations and Morning Walks

Room Conversation -- April 20, 1976, Melbourne:

Prabhupāda: ...that this body is a lump of matter, and the consciousness, or the living pulse, that is different. Can you prove that they are not? Eh?

Mike Barron: No.

Prabhupāda: Then how do you say it is joking?

Mike Barron: Er, no, I.... The actual context.

Prabhupāda: The context is that if you cannot separate the living force, or the soul, from the body, then you are on the same position as the dog is thinking, "I am the body. I am a big dog. I can bark very loudly." And he's showing his capacity. And if we are talking big, big assembly, and in the same conception of life, that "I am this body," then where is difference?

Mike Barron: I cannot argue against that.

Prabhupāda: That is the point. That is the point. We have to understand this point. If we want to become more than the dog, you must find out in which sense we are more than the dog. That sense is understanding.... That is.... In Sanskrit word it is said, ahaṁ brahmāsmi: "I am Brahman.

Morning Walk -- June 7, 1976, Los Angeles:

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: There's another statement, I saw them, where it says, it's a quote, that you can treat Kṛṣṇa as your lover and Kṛṣṇa will reciprocate.

Hari-śauri: And they underlined the two words "you can" treat Kṛṣṇa as your lover. In this way they're taking your quotes out of context.

Rāmeśvara: This is one of their main, the main ideas in their philosophy is that the living entity can desire to have any relationship he wants with Kṛṣṇa.

Prabhupāda: That's all right, he can desire. I already explained: first deserve, then desire.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa and Rāmeśvara: Deserve then desire, oh.

Prabhupāda: You are rascal, how you can desire? You have no qualification, you desire to high-court judge. What is this nonsense?

Room Conversation and Reading from Srimad-Bhagavatam Canto 1 and 12 -- June 25, 1976, New Vrindaban:

Prabhupāda: So what other literatures say? There is not one. In our society we do not read even newspaper, is it not? Do we? Huh?

Puṣṭa Kṛṣṇa: Only in context to our preaching work.

Prabhupāda: That is another thing, but generally. We do not derive any benefit from those. People read it, especially in the Western counties. If there is no newspaper it is hell. I told you this story? Yes. You can repeat that.

Dhṛṣṭadyumna: The preacher was preaching to the coal miners that if they were not good, they would go to hell, and in hell it was very cold. So they were thinking, "So it is very cold in the mine." Then he was saying that it is very dark in hell. "But it is very dark in the mine." Then he said "And there are no newspapers." "Oh, how horrible, what a horrible place that must be."

Answers to a Questionnaire from Bhavan's Journal -- June 28, 1976, Vrndavana:

Puṣṭa Kṛṣṇa: I think one more question then would be appropriate because it kind of ties in which this last question. "Number seven: Hinduism has always renewed or revitalized itself according to the need of the times. In today's context, are any correctives called for, and if so, who will bring them about and how can they be brought about and made acceptable to all the masses?

Prabhupāda: First of all, who will take it? Kṛṣṇa has given already according to the time, He has summarized the whole Vedic scripture in the Bhagavad-gītā, but who is taking it? And Caitanya Mahāprabhu and all the ācāryas, they have explained how to accept Kṛṣṇa consciousness or Kṛṣṇa's instruction. So first thing you must be ready to take the presentation according to the time and circumstances. Then everything will be all right. If you manufacture your own way of life, if you do not take it from the authority, then it will be failure. Just like this harijana. Harijana is very good idea, make everyone harijana.

Answers to a Questionnaire from Bhavan's Journal -- June 28, 1976, Vrndavana:

Puṣṭa Kṛṣṇa: Is this practical in the present context?

Prabhupāda: Yes. We are doing it. See. If anyone has eyes to see they can see how we are accepting the pāpa-yoni, so-called pāpa-yoni to become the topmost Vaiṣṇava, that is possible. Unless it is possible how it is being done all over the world? There is no consideration. The process is so effective that it is being done. They are taking it as a proselytization. But it is not proselytizing. Proselytization is superflous. If one is Hindu you make him a Christian, and you change the name. But what is the use of changing the name if you do not reform him about his character? Simply changing the name from Hindu to Muslim or Muslim to Christian, that does not make him better.

Evening Darsana -- August 14, 1976, Bombay:

Indian man (2): The thing is, till now we are thinking that light (indistinct) things, and all our thinking was conditioned by that. At least in the scientific context.

Prabhupāda: Scientific context... In Hawaii they cut all the coconuts because they are very scientist-law of gravity. But we don't care for this. We don't care. We are keeping the coconut on our head. We never think of law of gravity, that it will fall down. And those who are very much advanced in law of gravity, they have lost all the beauty of the trees, they have thrown the... They are afraid they will...

Indian man (2): Fall on the head.

Prabhupāda: Yes. They will fall down. This is their gain of life. We have discussed this point. Why the green apple does not fall down? So this is their concoction. And why the other planets do not fall down? With so many rocks. Millions. They do not fall down. Where is the law of gravity acting? That means, law means it is made by somebody. And the maker, if He likes, it will act. If He does not like, it will not act. Just like Lord Rāmacandra, all the stones He threw over the sea and they began to float.

Room Conversation -- August 25, 1976, Hyderabad:

Indian man: Don't take it from one sentence and try to enlarge it. Take it in the context.

Indian Devotee: They always say this.

Prabhupāda: I do not hear. You hear, he hears. If he says something else... That... This is therefore Caitanya's philosophy is acintya-bhedābheda, that as ātmā, they're equal. Ātmā. But one is Paramātmā, because He is maintainer. Therefore...

Indian man: Yes. All the creation, the world. It is one way out of that Paramātmā.

Prabhupāda: Paramātmā. So therefore Paramātmā is the Supreme, and he is subordinate. So how the Supreme and subordinate can be equal?

Indian man: No, they can never be equal. Never be equal and never and... No philosophy, even any branch of philosophy does not say that a human being is equal to....

Prabhupāda: No, their philosophy is, as you say, that this subordinate ātmā has forgotten that he is Paramātmā.

1977 Conversations and Morning Walks

Morning Darsana and Room Conversation Ramkrishna Bajaj and friends -- January 9, 1977, Bombay:

Guest (2) (Indian man): Mahārāja, in the context of the universe, the technological and scientific advancement is very, very insignificant. But as far as human beings are concerned, they feel that they have achieved great deal.

Prabhupāda: Why? You cannot give life.

Guest (2): Because there is a change from the past. So they feel that there is a difference. But that is at a very low level...

Prabhupāda: That is my point, that you are becoming so much proud of your technological..., but what you have done?

Guest (2): It is very insignificant.

Prabhupāda: Yes. That is my point. Why you become falsely proud that you have done so advancement that you don't care for God, you don't care for the original manufacturer? That is your fault.

1947 to 1965 Correspondence

Letter to K. M. Munshi -- Bombay 21 February, 1957:

So simple criticism of cinema houses will not fulfill the purpose. We have to create tangible interest in the temples for spiritual advancement of knowledge. With that purpose in view, it is necessary that the priests and pujaris must be enlightened men both in Theism and Sanskrit language also. They shall be primary teachers of the Bhagavad-gita in different temples. Both these temples and their management have to be reformed in the present context. We shall have to accommodate the process of temple entry by all classes of people but they may be so admitted for proper qualification and not for the purpose of a mere show.

1969 Correspondence

Letter to Bhakti Sastri Examination -- Los Angeles 4 September, 1969:

Answer any ten of the following questions with reference to the context of scriptures like Bhagavad-gita As It Is, Brahma Samhita and Isopanisad. The full mark for each question is 100.

1. Who is Krsna?

2. What is your relationship with Krsna?

3. What are you expected to do with your relationship to Krsna?

4. What is the aim of Krsna Consciousness?

5. What do you mean by religion?

6. Is Krsna Consciousness a type of religion or religious faith?

7. How do you distinguish between religion and faith?

8. Can religion or faith be changed from one type to another?

9. How do you distinguish between changeable and eternal religion?

10. What are the different types of religious faiths?

11. Can religion be manufactured by philosophical speculation?

Who created religion first?

1970 Correspondence

Letter to Yogesvara -- Calcutta 4 October, 1970:

Another thing you just see that every and each item and example for discussion is made very clear in continuous context so that it will be easy for their understanding. As you have done this first book it is very good beginning, so you go on writing and improving and make a series of such books and we shall see to their printing.

Also have the pictures done very nicely and in color if possible as it is done by our Art Department in Boston and if you have any questions in this regard you may correspond with them directly. That will be very nice. In the meantime, have all your works read by the other devotees as they may find it convenient to do so and they can give you further suggestions. So go on writing more books; we need many such books for distributing to the public schools as well as for our own schools and send me the draft copies as you make them up. I will be very glad to see to them.

1972 Correspondence

Letter to Tamala Krsna -- New Vrindaban 7 September, 1972:

I have read all the newspaper cuttings and handbills very attentively, and I very much appreciate the counter presented by us against the vilificaion by the enemies. Sriman Subala das's reply in the paper with reference to the context of sastra are excellently gorgeous. He has given references from Bhagavad-gita, Srimad-Bhagavatam, Nectar of Devotion and Teachings of Lord Caitanya, and it is very nice. So Krishna is within everyone and He becomes revealed in proportion to our sincere service, Sevonmukhe hi jihvadau svayam eva sphuratyada (Brs. 1.2.234). I am also glad that you have collected 25,000 rupees within three weeks with all great honor and prestige. Thank you very much. In Vrindaban I wanted a temple like Radha-Govindaji's and a simple residential quarter, but it has not yet begun due to so many reasons. Now when you have gone please do begin something without any delay.