Credentials

Expressions researched:
"credential" |"credentials"

BG Chapters 7 - 12

BG 11.54, Purport:

The personal forms of Kṛṣṇa, the two-handed form and the four-handed, are described as su-durdarśam, very difficult to see. They are completely different from the temporary universal form shown to Arjuna. The four-handed form of Nārāyaṇa and the two-handed form of Kṛṣṇa are eternal and transcendental, whereas the universal form exhibited to Arjuna is temporary. The words tvad anyena na dṛṣṭa-pūrvam (Text 47) state that before Arjuna no one had seen that universal form. Also, they suggest that amongst the devotees there was no necessity of showing it. That form was exhibited by Kṛṣṇa at the request of Arjuna so that in the future, when one represents himself as an incarnation of God, people can ask to see his universal form.

The word na, used repeatedly in the previous verse, indicates that one should not be very much proud of such credentials as an academic education in Vedic literature. One must take to the devotional service of Kṛṣṇa. Only then can one attempt to write commentaries on Bhagavad-gītā.

Kṛṣṇa changes from the universal form to the four-handed form of Nārāyaṇa and then to His own natural form of two hands. This indicates that the four-handed forms and other forms mentioned in Vedic literature are all emanations of the original two-handed Kṛṣṇa. He is the origin of all emanations. Kṛṣṇa is distinct even from these forms, what to speak of the impersonal conception. As far as the four-handed forms of Kṛṣṇa are concerned, it is stated clearly that even the most identical four-handed form of Kṛṣṇa (which is known as Mahā-viṣṇu, who is lying on the cosmic ocean and from whose breathing so many innumerable universes are passing out and entering) is also an expansion of the Supreme Lord.

Teachings of Lord Caitanya

Teachings of Lord Caitanya, Chapter 27:

The Lord could understand that the man approaching the riverbank was Rāmānanda Rāya, and He desired to see him immediately. But because He was in the renounced order of life, He restrained Himself from going to see a person involved in political affairs. Being a great devotee, Rāmānanda Rāya was attracted by the features of Lord Caitanya, who appeared as a sannyāsī, and he himself came to see the Lord. Upon reaching Caitanya Mahāprabhu, Rāmānanda Rāya prostrated himself to offer his obeisances and respects. Lord Caitanya received him by vibrating Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/ Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma Hare Hare.

When Rāmānanda Rāya presented his credentials, Lord Caitanya embraced him, and both of them were overwhelmed with ecstasy. The brāhmaṇas who accompanied Rāmānanda Rāya were surprised to see them embracing in transcendental ecstasy. The brāhmaṇas were all stalwart followers of the rituals, and they could not understand the meaning of such devotional symptoms. Indeed, they were rather surprised to see such a great sannyāsī touch a śūdra, and they were also surprised to see Rāmānanda Rāya, who was a great governor and practically king of that province, crying simply by touching a sannyāsī. Lord Caitanya understood the brāhmaṇas' thoughts, and, considering the unfavorable situation, He pacified Himself.

Teachings of Lord Caitanya, Chapter 27:

When Rāmānanda Rāya presented his credentials, Lord Caitanya embraced him, and both of them were overwhelmed with ecstasy. The brāhmaṇas who accompanied Rāmānanda Rāya were surprised to see them embracing in transcendental ecstasy. The brāhmaṇas were all stalwart followers of the rituals, and they could not understand the meaning of such devotional symptoms. Indeed, they were rather surprised to see such a great sannyāsī touch a śūdra, and they were also surprised to see Rāmānanda Rāya, who was a great governor and practically king of that province, crying simply by touching a sannyāsī. Lord Caitanya understood the brāhmaṇas' thoughts, and, considering the unfavorable situation, He pacified Himself.

After this, Lord Caitanya and Rāmānanda Rāya sat down together. "Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya has spoken very highly of you," Lord Caitanya informed him. "So I have come to see you."

Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures

Lecture on SB 1.3.25 -- Los Angeles, September 30, 1972:

So the human society is becoming so degraded that they are trying to forget God. That is their advancement of civilization. The more you deny existence of God and become a so-called rascal scientist, then you are advanced. This is the position. So this position will degrade so much after, say, 400,000's of years, gradually degrading, that at time, Kṛṣṇa will come in His incarnation as Kalki. At that time the Kalki's business will be simply to kill. That's all. No more. No more preaching of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Simply kill them. That is Kalki avatāra. That Kalki avatāra is given the father's name. This is called śāstra. This is called scripture. Four hundred thousand's after, 400,000's of years after, Kalki will come. Now, His father's name is given there. Just like Lord Buddha's mother's name is there. So you cannot imitate that "I am Kalki avatāra." You have to give evidence, what is your father's name. Just see. This is called śāstra. Any rascal comes, "Oh, I am Kṛṣṇa. I am this avatāra and that avatāra," but where is the evidence from the śāstra? We cannot accept. Just like any gentleman comes, we want to see the credential. Just like in politics, when some ambassador comes to a new country, then he has to officially present his credential so that he will be accepted that "This gentleman is representative of such and such country." That is nice. Unless you give credentials, identity, how I can accept you? So... But people have become rascal. Anyone comes, he says that "I am incarnation of God," because the people are rascals, they accept another rascal. But if you follow the śāstras and scriptures, then there you will find all the avatāras, their credentials are there—What is the father's name, what is the name of the place he takes birth or appears, what is his business. So... What is the time. Everything is given there. So why should you be misled?

Lecture on SB 1.3.25 -- Los Angeles, September 30, 1972:

So you cannot imitate that "I am Kalki avatāra." You have to give evidence, what is your father's name. Just see. This is called śāstra. Any rascal comes, "Oh, I am Kṛṣṇa. I am this avatāra and that avatāra," but where is the evidence from the śāstra? We cannot accept. Just like any gentleman comes, we want to see the credential. Just like in politics, when some ambassador comes to a new country, then he has to officially present his credential so that he will be accepted that "This gentleman is representative of such and such country." That is nice. Unless you give credentials, identity, how I can accept you? So... But people have become rascal. Anyone comes, he says that "I am incarnation of God," because the people are rascals, they accept another rascal. But if you follow the śāstras and scriptures, then there you will find all the avatāras, their credentials are there—What is the father's name, what is the name of the place he takes birth or appears, what is his business. So... What is the time. Everything is given there. So why should you be misled?

Lecture on SB 6.1.32 -- San Francisco, July 17, 1975:

We are supposed to be civilized man. We have not seen how the bodies are there in the Vaikuṇṭha. Here you can understand that in the Vaikuṇṭha planets, as the Lord Viṣṇu is four-handed, similarly, all the inhabitants there, they are also four-handed and equally dressed. Just like here, if your President Ford comes, he also dressed like a nice gentleman. And there are many others also, equally nicely dressed. You cannot distinguish who is President and who is ordinary man. Similarly, in the Vaikuṇṭhaloka all the inhabitants are equally in external feature: four-handed with the weapons—the disc, the club, the conchshell, the lotus flower. All the Vaikuṇṭha's inhabitants: the same dress, same garment, same ornaments, same weapons. But still, there is distinction, that kaustubha jewel. That you will find Him hanging. By that kaustubha jewel, one can understand that "Here is Lord Viṣṇu, and here is ordinary living being." Just like the president has got his confidential plaque. If one challenges his credential, he can show, "Yes." The same principle.

So ruling is there. You can say foolishly that "There is no ruling. I can do whatever I like." That you can do. Just like Ajāmila was doing. But now the two classes of messengers have come. The Yamadūtas have come to take him away because externally he is the most sinful man. Therefore they are protesting, "How is that? It is already settled up. This man has committed so many sinful activities. So they are under our jurisdiction. Who are you, you are forbidding us?" But the Viṣṇudūtas have come there because although he was sinful, although he was most impious, although he was a prostitute-hunter and cheater and so many good qualities, still, he has chanted the holy name of Nārāyaṇa at the end of his life.

Lecture on SB 6.1.32 -- San Francisco, July 17, 1975:

That you will find Him hanging. By that kaustubha jewel, one can understand that "Here is Lord Viṣṇu, and here is ordinary living being." Just like the president has got his confidential plaque. If one challenges his credential, he can show, "Yes." The same principle.

So ruling is there. You can say foolishly that "There is no ruling. I can do whatever I like." That you can do. Just like Ajāmila was doing. But now the two classes of messengers have come. The Yamadūtas have come to take him away because externally he is the most sinful man. Therefore they are protesting, "How is that? It is already settled up. This man has committed so many sinful activities. So they are under our jurisdiction. Who are you, you are forbidding us?" But the Viṣṇudūtas have come there because although he was sinful, although he was most impious, although he was a prostitute-hunter and cheater and so many good qualities, still, he has chanted the holy name of Nārāyaṇa at the end of his life. Immediately Viṣṇudūtas... This is the facility. Whole life sinful, ante nārāyaṇa-smṛtiḥ (SB 2.1.6), but he has remembered Nārāyaṇa at the end of his life. Very painful life.

General Lectures

Lecture -- Seattle, October 9, 1968:

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: He says what about people who have come since the Vedic literatures, since the time the Vedic literatures were written. What about them?

Prabhupāda: Vedic literature is not written. It is before the creation. Vedic, Vedas, before the creation. In the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, there is statement, tene brahma hṛdā. Brahmā is considered to be the first created living entity, so he learned Vedas from within, from the Supersoul. Tene brahma hṛdā. So Vedic literature is not written at a certain time. It is coming. It is called apauruṣeya. It is not man-made. So you have to study very scrutinizingly, then you will understand. Thank you for your questions. Now chant. An incarnation has to be accepted by the evidence of Vedic literature, by his activities, by his features, and by authorities. There are so many things. Not that if somebody says, "I am incarnation," and therefore I become incarnation. No. Not in that way. If somebody comes here and says, "I am President Johnson," so any sane man will accept him simply because he says? And if somebody accepts him blindly, then he's a fool. Oh, he must... He says. Let us test whether he is bona fide, his credentials, how he is President Johnson. So we cannot accept even a man. How can we accept God without credentials? What is the credential of Ramakrishna that he is incarnation of God? These things are to be considered. Not that because Vivekananda accepted, therefore one has to accept. What is the credential? What is the proof? What is the extraordinary work? Lord Rāma is accepted God. There are so many extraordinary work. Kṛṣṇa is accepted as God. He has got so many extraordinary work.

Lecture -- Seattle, October 9, 1968:

There are so many things. Not that if somebody says, "I am incarnation," and therefore I become incarnation. No. Not in that way. If somebody comes here and says, "I am President Johnson," so any sane man will accept him simply because he says? And if somebody accepts him blindly, then he's a fool. Oh, he must... He says. Let us test whether he is bona fide, his credentials, how he is President Johnson. So we cannot accept even a man. How can we accept God without credentials? What is the credential of Ramakrishna that he is incarnation of God? These things are to be considered. Not that because Vivekananda accepted, therefore one has to accept. What is the credential? What is the proof? What is the extraordinary work? Lord Rāma is accepted God. There are so many extraordinary work. Kṛṣṇa is accepted as God. He has got so many extraordinary work.

Lecture 'Nobody Wants to Die' -- Boston, May 7, 1968:

Nobody... God is great. Nobody can be greater than Him. Then how you can claim that you are God, I am God? Then either you do not know what is the definition of God or you are foolishly claiming that you are God. You must... If you claim, if you come here and introduce yourself, "I am President Johnson," oh, you must present your credential that you are President Johnson. Otherwise, we shall say you are crazy. So if you cannot present yourself even like ordinary president—you are claiming that you're God—how much nonsense you are. Don't claim in that way. There is no equal to God. Oh, there are so many equals to you, so many greater than you, lower than you. So you are not absolute. God is absolute. In the Bhagavad-gītā the same thing is described, that mattaḥ parataraṁ nānyat kiñcid asti dhanañjaya: (BG 7.7) "My dear Dhanajaya, Arjuna, nobody's greater than Me." Anyat. Anyat means anyone. So this is the one of the symptoms of God, that nobody is greater than Him. So you have to prove that nobody's greater than you.

1969 Conversations and Morning Walks

Room Conversation -- April 27, 1969, Boston:

Prabhupāda: So these things have to be tested, whether he is God. And simply if I claim, "Oh, I am God," there will... No testament? If I say, "I am President Nixon," will you accept it? If you don't accept it, even an ordinary President Nixon, without testing his credentials, how you will accept a false man as God without testing? You must know what is that test. Credential. He must present credential. Just like when some ambassador comes to a foreign country, there is a ceremony that that ambassador must be recognized by the governor or the governor-general in that state, and he has to place his credentials, similarly, anybody is claiming as God, he has to place his credentials. And what is that credential? The test is there in the Upaniṣad, in the Bhagavad-gītā and so many, all literatures, Brahma-saṁhitā, Vedānta-sūtra, in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. In Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam first it is said, janmādy asya yataḥ, anvayād itarataś cārtheṣv abhijñaḥ svarāṭ (SB 1.1.1). Svarāṭ, svarāṭ means fully independent. Satyaṁ paraṁ dhīmahi.

1973 Conversations and Morning Walks

Room Conversation with Malcolm -- July 18, 1973, London:

Prabhupāda: So we have to approach a person who has seen the truth. It is not difficult. Just like if you are suffering from some disease, you have to go to a doctor who knows how to treat. It is same thing, like that.

Śyāmasundara: How do we know he's a good doctor or not? By his credential or...?

Prabhupāda: No. That also... Therefore it is called sādhu-śāstra-guru-vākya. Three things there are for knowledge. Sādhu, saintly person; śāstra, scripture; and guru. So one statement we have to corroborate with other statement. If you accept somebody as guru, then you have to corroborate it whether śāstra says that he is guru or any saintly person says that he is guru. This is the way. Similarly, when you take a scripture, you have to know it from the spiritual master, whether that is actually scripture, whether it is accepted by the saintly person. Sādhu. Similarly sādhu also, whether guru says, "Yes, he is sādhu." Whether śāstra says, "Yes, he is sādhu."

1977 Conversations and Morning Walks

Room Conversation Meeting with Dr. Sharma (from Russia) -- April 17, 1977, Bombay:

Prabhupāda: Therefore I say animal civilization. It is animal civilization. They are interested with animals.

Guest (1): Previously what (indistinct) says, (Sanskrit) His credentials are being presented with (indistinct) oneself. In other words it's a passport to being mentally carried with a man. And it's being just passed on to another woman. Nowadays of late in some of the countries in application forms, they are demanding that they should not ask father's name because many of them do not know. (laughter)

Prabhupāda: Yes, it is insanity.

Guest (1): And this type of world, which is full of temporal pleasures and materialistic pleasures, they are being carried away and misguided.

Prabhupāda: So that is stated in the Śrīmad... Na te viduḥ svārtha-gatiṁ hi viṣṇuṁ durāśayā ye bahir-artha-māninaḥ (SB 7.5.31). Bahir-artha-māninaḥ. They are interested only in the external nature, bahir-artha. They have no sense of understanding what is within the body. Andhā yathāndhair upanīyamānās te 'pīśa-tantryām uru-dāmni baddhāḥ. So the leaders are blind and they are leading blind men. Society is in chaotic condition. You are going?

1968 Correspondence

Letter to Satsvarupa -- Los Angeles 25 February, 1968:

Suppose a man comes before somebody and says he is Pres. Johnson. and the foolish man accepts the pretender as Pres. Johnson, is that man to be accepted as very intelligent man? Vivekananda was not even an intelligent man because he accepted Gadhadhara Chatterjee as incarnation of God without any credentials. We accept Krsna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead on the evidence of Vedic literature. There is no evidence in the Vedic literatures that a common unintelligent person by worshiping a demigoddess Kali can become an incarnation of Godhead. The goddess Kali is divine mother for the conditioned souls, not for the liberated souls. There is no direction in the Vedic literatures that one can become liberated even by worshiping the goddess Kali. She is superintendent of the prison house known as material world. One can derive some material facilities by worshiping Kali or Durga, but nobody can become liberated by worshiping such demigoddesses, so what to speak of becoming incarnation of Godhead. So the propaganda that Ramakrsna became incarnation of God by worshiping Kali is not accepted by any authorized acharya and therefore it is a bogus propaganda. One who follows therefore, such bogus propaganda is also misled as far as his spiritual advancement is concerned.

1972 Correspondence

Letter to Rsabhadeva -- London 14 July, 1972:

I beg to acknowledge your letter from Berkeley dated nil, and I am very much pleased to learn that you are trying to find out some place where I can give two or three times a week lecture-class to university students in the philosophy of Krishna Consciousness or Bhagavata Dharma. But one thing is, the sannyasi has no such thing as teaching credentials or "academic vitae." So they can simply decide on the basis of my books and teachings. But I am not an ordinary teacher, I can do it only if I am a guest lecturer. Otherwise they will not take me very seriously. But I should be honored as a guest lecturer and paid well, as well as they should give me a nice house, not very big, but nice. And I will speak twice or thrice in a week to as many students who will come, intelligent boys and girls, and they will get regular instruction in our Vedic knowledge as it is.

I have heard from Bhakti das that that University in San Diego where I spoke is willing to have me there, so unless you are able to arrange something there at Berkeley or San Francisco, I shall probably teach at San Diego.

Letter to Pusta Krsna -- London 5 August, 1972:

Without practice of the knowledge, what good is the knowledge? But I do not think it is necessary for you to return to your university for taking further education. Your education is to be found in our books, the material education is finished. If you want to teach in universities and colleges, they must accept us on our high degree of Vedic learning, not on our so-called credentials. They must accept our system of scholarly learning from the spiritual master. So do not bother yourself anymore with this idea but go on learning from our own scriptural evidence how great is the supreme science. Your depth of understanding it will be the credentials, let them accept us on that basis. I shall be reaching New Vrindaban by the end of this month, and we shall discuss further.

1973 Correspondence

Letter to Satsvarupa, Hrdayananda -- Bombay 9 January, 1973:

So you may prepare one letter of invitation to Mr. D. C. Chakravorty, c/o Mogul Line Ltd., 16 Bank Street, Fort, Bombay-1, India, wherein you shall certify that his children, namely Basanti Chakravorty, female 9 years old, Somendra Chakravorty, male, 6 years old, and Satindra Chakravorty, male, 6 years old, that these three children have been admitted to our bona fide educational institution at Dallas, Texas, U.S.A., and that you have accepted them to study with you for a period of, let us say, one year's time, and that you understand that the tuition fees and other incidental expenses such as boarding and lodging, clothes, medical expenditures, and so forth, that these maintenance expenses will be borne by the International Society for Krsna Consciousness, and then you may give some credentials and financial statements about our Society. This letter will enable Mr. Chakravorty to get visas for the children, although it is understood between us that if there are any expenses, and we shall of course charge something, then he will pay us here in rupees and we shall bear the cost there in Dallas.

Letter to Bhakta Don -- Los Angeles 1 December, 1973:

The so-called modern science has become spoiled for lack of this perspective. Real science means to acquire perfect knowledge from the Parampara, not by so-called academic and empirical research. Such technique is bogus and will not help us in obtaining perfect knowledge.

Yes, you should use your scientific credentials to present this Krsna Conscious philosophy. Everything may be used in Krsna's service. It may not be possible to convince the rascal scientists of this Krsna Consciousness philosophy because after all, Krsna gives everyone free will and if it is their determination to remain atheistic how shall it be checked? Our principle aim is to challenge their nonsense proposition so that the layman and common people may be saved from this rascaldom. You study our books very carefully under the guidance of Amarendra Prabhu and preach our philosophy from Bhagavad-gita and Srimad-Bhagavatam in your scientific language.