Do not know how (Lectures, BG)

Expressions researched:
"did not know how" |"do not know how" |"does not know how" |"doesn't know how" |"don't know how"

Notes from the compiler: VedaBase query: "did not know how" or "do not know how" or "doesn't know how" or "don't know how" or "does not know how" not "did not know how to" not "do not know how to" not "don't know how to" not "does not know how to"

Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures

Lecture on BG 1.10 -- London, July 12, 1973:

Just see. Simply for tongue, so many slaughterhouses are being maintained. I have seen. Those who are meat-eaters... I have seen in the airplane. A small piece of meat they are eating, not very much. But for these small pieces, so many population, huge quantity of slaughterhouse is being maintained. They cannot give up that small piece of meat. What is the difficulty? They can make... The same thing can be made by milk, milk product, channa. What do you call curd? Cheese. You prepare cheese and fry it. You'll get the same taste. But let the animal live, take its milk, and prepare so many milk preparations. But these rascals will not do. You kill simply for this tongue. It is so strong, this tongue. They cannot give up this, I mean to say, formidable tongue. He is demanding, "You must give me meat." So they are obliged. And for this obligation, they are committing so much sinful activities, abominable activities. And becoming bound up by the laws of nature to accept a body within the 8,400,000 species of life, and becoming the worm in the stool.

They do not know how the material law is working. Prakṛteḥ kriyamāṇāni guṇaiḥ karmāṇi sarvaśaḥ (BG 3.27). Prakṛti, nature, is so strong. It is acting very nicely. So we have to become very careful. That carefulness you cannot do any other way. Especially in this age. Simply if you surrender to Kṛṣṇa, if you become Kṛṣṇa conscious, Kṛṣṇa will take care of you, and you will be saved. Thank you very much. Hare Kṛṣṇa. (end)

Lecture on BG 1.15 -- London, July 15, 1973:

So we may claim that "Every one of us, we are God," but nobody can claim that "We are supreme; I am Supreme God." That is not possible. That can, Kṛṣṇa can claim only. Mattaḥ parataraṁ nānyat kiñcid asti dhanañjaya: (BG 7.7) "My dear Dhanañjaya, there is no more superior personality than Me." And He proved it. So God cannot be manufactured. God is God. Kṛṣṇa, when He was three months old on the lap of His mother, still, He was God. He could kill the Pūtanā. So God cannot be manufactured by so-called meditation and mystic power. You can get some of the insignificant powers of God, but simply, but you do not know how much powerful is God. That you do not know. Therefore when a person gets little power, he thinks that he has become God. He does not know how much powerful God is.

So therefore śāstra says that "You may be god in your own atmosphere, in your own jurisdiction. You may think that you are God." And everyone thinks like that. "But the Supreme God is Kṛṣṇa." Eko yo bahūnāṁ vidadhāti kāmān. In the Upaniṣads it is said that God is also a person like me, you. Nityo nityānāṁ cetanaś cetanānām (Kaṭha Upaniṣad 2.2.13). But His personality is different from your personality, from my personality. What is that difference? Eko yo bahūnāṁ vidadhāti kāmān: "He supplies all the necessities of all other personalities." That is the difference. God is supplying us food. This conception is there in the Bible, "God, give us our daily bread." This is nice. Accepting that you are getting all supplies from God, this is sukṛti, this is puṇyavat.

Lecture on BG 2.7-11 -- New York, March 2, 1966:

"Arjuna, you are speaking just like a very great, learned man, but you are... You are... In other words, you are a fool. You do not know how things are going on because paṇḍitāḥ, those who are learned men, they would not have lamented just like you are doing." That means indirectly He says... Paṇḍitāḥ means learned. Learned man does not lament over a dead body or a living body. Gatāsūn agatāsūṁś ca. Asūn means life. One has lost his life. And one has got his life, a body, living body and a dead body, living body and a dead body. Just mark the point, that "A learned man... As you are lamenting over the subject of killing your friends and relatives, but a learned man would not have lamented like this. That means you are a fool." When He says... Just like if I say, "Mr. Green, what you have done, any intelligent man should not have done this." So this is indirectly saying that "You are not intelligent." It is in a gentleman's way, speaking that "Mr. Green, what you are doing, no intelligent man can do this." That means "You are not intelligent." So here He say that "You are lamenting over the bodies of your relatives because in the fight you are considering that 'My friends and my relatives will be killed,' so that means they are living bodies, and you are lamenting over the, over their killing. So this sort of lamentation is never done by a learned man. A learned man never does it." Gatāsūn agatāsūṁś ca nānuśocanti paṇḍitāḥ (BG 2.11).

Lecture on BG 2.13 -- Manila, October 12, 1972:

That was the process of war, not that releasing atomic bomb from the sky and kill so many innocent persons. No, that is not war. So war, if it is fought on principle, on religious principle, that is called dharma-yuddhi. That is not prohibited. But this killing process, unnecessarily, innocent men, that is not dharma-yuddhi. That is irregular fighting. That kind of war is not sanctioned by the Vedas.

So dhīras tatra na muhyati, now you can say, "I cannot see how my father has passed from this body to another body." That you have to know from the śāstra. You do not know so many things. But if you read books, authorized books, then you understand, things are there. The same example that you do not know how big the sun planet is. But when you read books, scientific books, you understand that it is fourteen hundred thousand times bigger than this earth. Similarly, if you are in knowledge, then you can understand where your father has gone. That is stated in the Bhagavad-gītā:

Lecture on BG 2.15 -- Hyderabad, November 21, 1972:

That is the fact. Just like in our sleeping state, dreaming state, my body is lying on the bed, but in dream I create another body and go, say, thousand miles away in a different place. As you have got daily experience, similarly, the gross body being stopped, I, as spirit soul, I do not stop. I work. My mind carries me. My mind is active, my intelligence is active. People do not know that there is another subtle body made of mind, intelligence and ego. That carries me to another gross body. That is called transmigration of the soul.

Therefore one who knows that the spirit soul is eternal, deathless, birthless, ever-new, nityaḥ śāśvato 'yaṁ purāṇaḥ. Nityaḥ śāśvataḥ ayaṁ purāṇaḥ. Purāṇa means very old. We do not know how old we are because we are transmigrating from one body to another. We do not know when we have begun this. Therefore, actually we are very old, but, at the same time, nityaḥ śāśvato 'yaṁ purāṇaḥ. Although very old,... Just like Kṛṣṇa is ādi-puruṣa, the original person. Still, you'll find Kṛṣṇa always a young man of sixteen to twenty years' age. You'll never find Kṛṣṇa's picture as old. Nava-yauvana. Kṛṣṇa is always nava-yauvana. Advaitam acyutam anādim ananta-rūpam ādyaṁ purāṇa-puruṣaṁ nava-yauvanam (Bs. 5.33). Ādyam, the original person, and the oldest; at the same time, He is always in youthful life. Ādyaṁ purāṇa-puruṣaṁ nava-yauvanam. So anyone who knows that how the soul is transmigrating from one body to another, dhīras tatra na muhyati, those who are sober, learned, he is not disturbed.

Lecture on BG 2.17 -- London, August 23, 1973:

That is not possible. Superconsciousness is for Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Vedāhaṁ samatītāni (BG 7.26). Kṛṣṇa says, "I know everything." In the Bhāgavata it is said: janmādy asya yato 'nvayād itarataś cārtheṣv abhijñaḥ (SB 1.1.1). The Absolute Truth is that from whom everything is emanating. And He knows everything. Anvayād itarataś cārtheṣu. We have explained many times. Artheṣu. Just like I am conscious. But I do not know actually what is there within my body, how it is constituted, how, how many veins are there, how the blood is becoming red, how... We have no, actually, information. I do not know what is within this finger. I am claiming it is my finger. Here it is my finger, but I do not know how the finger is constituted. Therefore I am not abhijñaḥ. Although there is my consciousness, I am not abhijñaḥ. Abhijñaḥ means expert in the knowledge. That is called abhijñaḥ. Very experienced. But Kṛṣṇa is abhijñaḥ. That is described in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Kṛṣṇa is abhijñaḥ. That is said. Janmādy asya yataḥ (SB 1.1.1), in the Bhāgavata, beginning. Janmādy asya yataḥ anvayāt: indirectly or directly. Anvayāt means directly. Itarataś ca: or indirectly. We may know directly that "This is my finger." But indirectly I do not know what is the constitution of finger, how it is working, how it is moving. You do not know. I know directly this is my hair. But indirectly how I am cutting hair and again it is growing, it is unknown. I say these are my hairs, but I cannot count how many hairs are there.

Lecture on BG 2.20-25 -- Seattle, October 14, 1968:

Yes. That is the statement in the Vedas. Apāni-pādo javana grahīta.(?) The Supreme Lord has no legs and hands, but still, He accepts whatever we offer. Now we are accepting, we are offering here foodstuff, Kṛṣṇa. So it is confirmed that He accepts. Now He is... We do not know how far away He is staying in Vaikuṇṭhaloka. There is no limit of measurement. Then how He's accepting? It is said that javana, He is accepting our offerings. So He must be accepting with His hand. So He can stretch His hand so many millions and trillions miles away. Therefore when it is said that He has no hand, that means He has no hand like us, limited. But that does not mean He has no hand. He has hand unlimited. Unlimitedly He can stretch. That we cannot conceive. Because we have got this three-feet hand. So Kṛṣṇa must have at least four-feet. That's all. That frog philosophy. (laughter) Simply imagining. "Ah, Kṛṣṇa may be very great. So we have got this three-feet, Kṛṣṇa, let Him have six-feet. That's all." But we cannot imagine how long His hand is. Therefore His hand cannot be compared with this material hand. He has no material hand. That is the version of Vedas. But He has hand. That you cannot measure. Just like Arjuna could not measure when He showed the universal form. So avajānanti māṁ mūḍhā mānuṣīm... (BG 9.11). Therefore Kṛṣṇa says, "Because I am moving amongst them as ordinary human being, they are thinking of Me as one of them." Paraṁ bhāvam ajānantaḥ. "They do not know what is My background." Paraṁ bhāvam. "Therefore they fail to understand Me."

Lecture on BG 2.23 -- Hyderabad, November 27, 1972:

"Oh, Kṛṣṇa? He may be God, but He has become a person, taking the help of māyā." This is Māyāvāda philosophy. They are studying māyā; they put God also within māyā. This is Māyāvāda philosophy. But God is not māyā. God is never covered by māyā. Kṛṣṇa says that mām eva ye prapadyante māyām etāṁ taranti te: (BG 7.14) "Anyone who surrenders unto Me, he becomes free from the clutches of māyā." How Kṛṣṇa can be within māyā? That is not very good philosophy. Simply by surrendering unto Kṛṣṇa, you become free from māyā. How the person, the Supreme Person, Kṛṣṇa, can be within māyā? Therefore Kṛṣṇa said, avajānanti māṁ mūḍhā mānuṣīṁ tanum āśritam, paraṁ bhāvam ajānantaḥ (BG 9.11). They do not know how much potential the Lord is, how much powerful He is. They are comparing the power of the Supreme Lord with his own power. A frog philosophy. The Dr. Frog. Frog is considering, "Atlantic Ocean may be a little bigger than the well." Because he is living always. Kūpa-maṇḍūka-nyāya It is, Sanskrit it is called kūpa-maṇḍūka-nyāya. Kūpa means well, and maṇḍūka means the frog. The frog is perpetually within the well, and if somebody informs him that there is another big span of water, Atlantic Ocean, he simply calculates that "It may be a little more than this well, little more than this well." But he cannot understand how great He is. So God is great. We cannot understand how great He is! That is our folly. We are simply calculating: "He may be one inch greater than me. Or one foot greater than me." That is mental speculation. Therefore Kṛṣṇa says, manuṣyāṇāṁ sahasreṣu kaścid yatati siddhaye: (BG 7.3) "Out of many millions of men, one may try to make his life successful, understanding the Absolute Truth." And yatatām api siddhānāṁ kaścin māṁ vetti tattvataḥ (BG 7.3).

Lecture on BG 2.46-62 -- Los Angeles, December 16, 1968:

You mark this. When there is miseries, a Kṛṣṇa conscious person takes the responsibility himself, and when there is happiness, it is due to Kṛṣṇa. But the materialistic person is just the opposite. When he is in miseries, he'll say, "Oh, God has put me into such miseries." And when he's happiness, his friend says, "Oh, you are now well-to-do." "Yes, you do not know how much I have worked hard." When he's happiness, he takes the credit for himself, and when he's in distress, he gives the discredit to Kṛṣṇa. "Oh, Kṛṣṇa has put me into such miserable..." But a Kṛṣṇa conscious person, when he's in distress, he'll say, "Yes, due to my misdeeds I should have suffered a hundred times more than this distress, but Kṛṣṇa is so kind, He has given me little. That's all." And when he's happiness, "Oh, it is all given by Kṛṣṇa. Therefore all the opulence should be utilized for Kṛṣṇa's service." This is the difference. He's asking, Arjuna is asking, what are the symptoms of Kṛṣṇa conscious person. Sthita-prajña. Sthita-prajña means steadfast in intelligence. So these are the difference. I have read one speech, Chicago speech by late Vivekananda Swami. He's talking to the audience that "You work so hard, why you give credit to God?" You see? If you find his Chicago speech, you'll see. Go on.

Lecture on BG 2.51-55 -- New York, April 12, 1966:

So this contaminated life, as soon as we give up this contaminated life, then our promotion is in the uncontaminated atmosphere, anāmayam. Anāmayam. Anāmayam means Vaikuṇṭha. Vaikuṇṭha means where there is no anxiety. I think about this anxiety we explained to you in our last meeting.

So we are, we are getting promotion. We are getting promotion to a life where there is no birth, no death and no disease, no old age. And that means we come to our normal life. Normally, we want. Nobody wants disease. Nobody wants death. Nobody wants old age. Nobody wants to suffer the suf..., I mean to say, the miseries of birth. Oh. There are great miseries when you are in the womb of the mother, all tightly packed up and in a bag, suffocated bag. We do not (know) how do we live even. And if we put again into that position, it will be very difficult. You cannot live for a few seconds. But by the arrangement of nature, or God, we live within the womb of our mother for ten months in that position. But we have forgotten. But just imagine in how much trouble I was. That is, these things are to be thought. That is intelligent thought. Now, here is a chance that you can get rid of these, all these miseries—the miseries of birth, the miseries of death, the miseries of old age and miseries of, I mean to say, disease.

Now, this... Now we are speaking the synopsis; the Bhagavad-gītā, this Second Chapter is the synopsis, what will be elaborately explained. Not very elaborately, but still more clearly, it will be explained in later chapters. Now Bhagavad-gītā is the preliminary study of the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Just like introductory, introductory study. Now, how we can practically get into such activities which will not bound me, I mean to say, in a reaction?

Lecture on BG 2.55-56 -- New York, April 19, 1966:

That we have to understand first, that supreme consciousness... We are consciousness undoubtedly, but we are not supreme consciousness. If we falsely claim that "I am also the supreme consciousness," that will be a false claim. We are not actually the supreme consciousness. Qualitatively, we are one. Qualitatively, we are one. The supreme consciousness and my consciousness is qualitatively one. But quantitatively, the supreme consciousness is different from individual consciousness. Individual consciousness is limited, and the supreme consciousness is unlimited. That... Just like you can think of your consciousness within this body... Whenever there is something painful or something itching in any part of my body, I am conscious of it. I know it, where and how it is being done. I do not know how it is being done, but I know where it is. So that consciousness, as I am conscious in any part of my body, but I am not conscious of your part of your body. Therefore my consciousness is limited. Similarly, you take the whole cosmic manifestation and the external body of the supreme consciousness. Therefore supreme consciousness is, I mean to say, conscious of anything which is taking part in any part of the conscious, supreme, I mean, manifestation. And you'll find in the Bhagavad-gītā that the supreme consciousness knows the past, present and future, but we, we are not, I mean to say, conversant in that way, that I know the present, past and future. That is my deficiency.

Lecture on BG 2.55-58 -- New York, April 15, 1966:

Therefore I have been able to live aloof from these bodily rela..., relatives. And actually, in this old age, one should desire to live within the family with wife, with children and there are so many comforts. But no. This should be... The development of one's consciousness is that he should voluntarily, voluntarily try to, I mean to say, become free from this affection. Why? This affection is not bad, but this affection will lead me again to have another body. My whole process is that how to get out of this bodily relation, janma-mṛtyu-jarā-vyādhi (BG 13.9). The whole human activities should be concentrated to get rid of this bodily, material bodily connection. Then I shall be happy really. Real happiness, real freedom. That is real freedom. For want of this spiritual knowledge, we do not know how much free we are.

Even in this material world, within this universe, in the upper planets... The upper planets, they are called heavens or... Of course, in Vedic language, it is called heaven, and in other languages it is also called heaven. But there are many planets. Beyond the heaven, there are many good planets. There are seven planetary systems. This is called Bhūrloka. Then, above this, there is Bhuvarloka. Then there is Svargaloka. Then there is Tapoloka. Then there is Maharloka. Then there is Satyaloka. Just like so many planetary systems there are. The one planetary system, that is called Siddhaloka. Even in this material world, with this material body, they are so perfect that here you go from one place to another, or one planet to another... Of course, that has not been successful. But it is not very difficult for living beings to achieve that success. Because we have got information in the Bhāgavata that in the Siddhaloka the inhabitants there, with this very body, they go from one planet to another without any instrument, without any sputnik, without any aeroplane, or without anything. (laughter) Yes. We have got this information. They take pleasure in the sky. Just like sometimes we stroll in open field, similarly, they take pleasure by in the sky traveling. You see? So that is possible. But still, they are mortal. They are mortal. They have got this material body. Now, when you get spiritual body, how much freedom you'll have. How much freedom you'll have.

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

It is not very easy. For getting that supreme knowledge so many, I mean to say, transcendentalists, they were trying life after life, just to get detached. But the easiest process is that if one is engaged in the devotional service. That is the formula given in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Vāsudeve bhagavati. Vāsudeve bhagavati, "in the Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa." Vāsudeva is Kṛṣṇa. Vāsudeve bhagavati bhakti-yogaḥ prayojitaḥ (SB 1.2.7). Bhakti-yoga means devotional service. If it is applied, if we apply our devotional service unto the Supreme Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, then the result will be that janayaty āśu vairāgyam, very soon you'll be detached from this material attraction. Very soon. And jñānaṁ ca yad ahaitukam. And you'll gain also knowledge. You do not know how you have received knowledge. That is the magic. That is the magic. Because how you'll get knowledge? That is also stated in the Bhagavad-gītā.

This, all these Vedic scriptures, they are interrelated. They are not contradictory. If somebody says that "We find some contradiction from Vedic literature, from this literature to that literature," no. There is nothing at all, any contradiction, even, even in the preachings of the great ācāryas. I am speaking of India. There were many great ācāryas, I mean to say, reformers, came. Lord Buddha also appeared in India. Then, after Lord Buddha, Śaṅkarācārya came. Then, after Śaṅkarācārya, Śrī Rāmānujācārya came.

Lecture on BG 2.62-72 -- Los Angeles, December 19, 1968:

The same example can be repeated. Suppose if you go in the outer space... Just like the sputnik men, they go sometime. People think, "Oh, where he has gone, so high, so high." But he has not gone anywhere. He's coming down again. So it is false clapping, "Oh, he has gone so high, so high." What is the use of going so high? You are coming down next moment. Because you have no power to enter into another planet. So what your machine, this sputnik or these planes, will help you? You have to come down again. Rather, you shall fall down in some Atlantic Ocean, or Pacific Ocean, and somebody will go and pick you up. You see? This is your position. So voidism means to fly in the sky and be puffed up, "I have come so high, I have come so high, so high." (laughs) That foolish man does not know how long he'll keep in that high position. You see? He will come down. This is māyā's attraction. He'll have to come down.

Lecture on BG 3.13-16 -- New York, May 23, 1966:

There is God. The only example—several times I have cited—that existence of God can be perceived with very simple... What is that? Just like you can perceive your existence in this body by the consciousness... You have got consciousness. That point we have discussed several times. That consciousness is the symptom of your existence in this body. So long that consciousness is there, this bodily function is going on very nicely.

Now, you are eating. You do not know how your foodstuff is going to the stomach, how it is being transformed into different kinds of secretion, how it is being transferred from the stomach to the heart, how that secretion becoming red, and that red blood is again circulated from the brain to the toe. These nice machinery work is going on within your body. This physiological condition is present in your body. You are taking your foodstuff. The necessary juice, vitamins, are taken by the stomach. It is distributed, and the exhaustion of your body is supplemented, and the unnecessary things evacuated by stool, urine. The nice thing is going on. Now, as soon as this consciousness is stopped, will this function go any more? No. You will find the same brain is there; the same heart is there; the same stomach is there by dissection of the body. You will see the same veins. Everything is there complete. But only thing is wanting—that consciousness. Therefore everything is stopped. This is a common factor. Everyone can know it.

Lecture on BG 3.17-20 -- New York, May 27, 1966:

Therefore Kṛṣṇa comes and He presents Himself just like ordinary man acting. Why? Just like here in the Bhagavad-gītā Kṛṣṇa is present in the battlefield of Kurukṣetra. Oh, He had no necessity of presenting Himself in the battlefield of Kurukṣetra. But it is for us because we are very much anxious to know where battle is going on, where fighting is going on, where detective is working, where murder is committed. All these literatures attract us very much. Stories and literatures, all these things, they attract very much. In a bookshop you go, if you ask them, "Supply me one copy of Bhagavad-gītā," he will have to find out. But if you ask a bookseller, "Give me some novels," oh, he will present so many things. Because our inclination is like that. We are always anxious to learn these mundane affairs. We have no taste for spiritual upliftment. That taste we have lost.

That is the stage of our present existence—forgetfulness. We do not know how our taste should be created, how our taste should be converted from material to spiritual. That we do not know. Therefore Lord is so kind, Kṛṣṇa, that He creates a battlefield for you so that you may be anxious to know, "Who is fighting with whom? Who is fighting with whom." Because we are always very much anxious to learn stories, so all these Purāṇas...

Just this morning we were discussing that all these... Strī-śūdra-dvijabandhūnāṁ trayī na śruti-gocarā (SB 1.4.25). Vyāsadeva is so kind that he could understand that the next generation before, I mean to say, five thousands years before, when he was thinking... We should always know that great thinkers, great, I mean to say, sages, ṛṣis, they are sitting in the secluded place, in a forest, not idly. They are always thinking how people should be benefited, how people should be benefited. Lokānāṁ hita-kāriṇau. Just like we sing daily about the Gosvāmīs.

Lecture on BG 3.17-20 -- New York, May 27, 1966:

One, two, three, four, five, six, seven—you make it a multiplication or subtraction or division, or whatever process you may. There is nothing but one, two, three, four, five, six, eight, nine. That's all. Similarly, if you understand Kṛṣṇa, then you understand the whole Vedas.

And for understanding Kṛṣṇa, here is the nutshell spoken by Kṛṣṇa Himself about Himself. If I, what I am... You can go on thinking that Swamiji is... Like the other day Paul was speaking that somebody has informed that I have got fifteen children. Now, I do not know how one can understand that I have got fifteen children. I never told in this meeting, but he told me that somebody told him I have got fifteen children. This is misunderstanding. If I say... He asked me, "Swamiji, how many children you have got?" I told him I have got at home three boys and two girls. And he told me that "I understood that you have got fifteen children." So that means, anyway, if you want to know about me, then you must know from me. That is authentic. That is authentic. Or from a confidential person who is confidence of me. Similarly, if you want to know Kṛṣṇa, then here is Bhagavad-gītā, spoken by Kṛṣṇa Himself. You just try to understand and you learn Kṛṣṇa. Or you learn confirmation. Suppose if you cannot understand Kṛṣṇa by reading Bhagavad-gītā, or by hearing Bhagavad-gītā, then you know that Bhagavad-gītā was spoken to Arjuna, and Arjuna has admitted about his understanding in the Tenth Chapter. So just try to understand Arjuna. How he understands? Either you understand Kṛṣṇa directly, or you understand through the authority who was spoken directly by the Lord.

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

Similarly, envious, you begin from President Johnson and go to anyone, they are all envious of God consciousness. You see? Otherwise in Los Angeles city, there are millions and trillions of people, and only a dozen people are coming here. You see? Why? They are envious. "What is this nonsense God consciousness, Kṛṣṇa consciousness?" You see?

So we have to disturb them. That is our duty. We have to disturb these envious persons, "Hare Kṛṣṇa!" (laughter) That is our duty, to disturb them. And that is the greatest service. Just like a man is sleeping. And somebody is coming to kill him, and other friend, "Mr. such and such, wake up! Wake up! Wake up!" So he may say, "Why you are disturbing me?" But that is the greatest service, he'll be saved. Māyā is coming to kill him, to send him to the darkest region of hell, and you are saving him, "Chant Hare Kṛṣṇa and be saved."

Daivī hy eṣā guṇamayī mama māyā duratyayā (BG 7.14). These people, they do not know how much they are under the trap of māyā illusion. Daivī hy eṣā guṇamayī mama māyā duratyayā. They are thinking that they are very happy, they are making progress, but they do not know actually the position. This is called illusion. Any other questions? Yes?

Lecture on BG 4.2 -- Bombay, March 22, 1974:

Just like we cannot understand what is Kṛṣṇa, what is God, general people. They do not know, because they have got blunt senses, material senses. Even in material world, we are seeing the sun every day, but we do not know how big it is. Or even if we see this motorcar... A child sees: he sees that it is automatically going, without any horse. He's amazed. But one who can see, he knows that there is machine, there is brain. So this is our position. Even to understand material things we are not perfect. Our senses are not perfect. How we can understand God? That is not possible, because we have got defects. Our senses are not perfect: I cannot see perfectly. I cannot smell perfectly. I cannot touch perfectly. I cannot hear perfectly. So many defects. I commit mistake. I become illusioned. I accept something for something. In this way, our position is very imperfect.

But in spite of possessing imperfect senses, people are proud of their knowledge. That is mistake. We are not concerned with imperfect knowledge. We want perfect knowledge. Therefore we are going to Bhagavad-gītā. Otherwise what is the use? If it is an ordinary book—you can interpret in your own way, I can interpret in my own way—then what is the value of Bhagavad-gītā with other books? No. It is not like that. Therefore the words of Kṛṣṇa should be understood through the devotees: perfect channel. As Kṛṣṇa..., Kṛṣṇa says, imaṁ vivasvate yogaṁ proktavān aham avyayam (BG 4.1).

Lecture on BG 4.3-6 -- New York, July 18, 1966:

So Kṛṣṇa says, sa eva ayaṁ te, te adya yogaḥ proktaḥ purātanaḥ. Purātanaḥ means the old, purātanaḥ. "I am speaking to you this yoga system, this Kṛṣṇa consciousness." This Bhagavad-gītā yoga system is Kṛṣṇa consciousness, always to be in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, this yoga is. So He says that, sa evāyaṁ: "I am speaking to you again that oldest knowledge, oldest knowledge of bhagavad-yoga, Bhagavad-gītā. I am not speaking to you something new." Now, you can understand that Bhagavad-gītā was first spoken to the sun-god, and we have calculated that Kṛṣṇa's speaking to sun-god, even accepting, it comes to some forty millions of years before it was spoken. You have to believe it. So forty millions of years before it was spoken first. And we do not know how many millions of years it was spoken again before that also. Because history is repeating. And we do not know.

Our fund of knowledge is very poor. We cannot present history of this present world more than three thousand years. But in the Vedic scripture we find history, millions and millions of years ago. That is the beauty of Vedic literature. So because we cannot find out in the modern day three thousand, more than three thousand years of chronological history, that does not mean that there was no history before and there was no historical incidences. No. That we should not conclude in that way.

Kṛṣṇa says that "I am speaking to you..." Sa evāyaṁ mayā te 'dya: (BG 4.3) "What I am speaking to you now, today, it is not new. It was spoken long, long before. It is that oldest system of yoga I'm speaking to you." Bhakto 'si. Bhakto 'si: "And why I am speaking to you?" This is the point to be noted, that bhakto 'si. This Bhagavad-gītā yoga is to be understood by a person who is a bhakta, who is a devotee of Kṛṣṇa. Nobody can understand it. Bhakto 'si me sakhā ceti rahasyam... Because there is a mystery, mystery of Kṛṣṇa consciousness, which is impossible to be adopted by a person who is not a devotee of Kṛṣṇa. That is the qualification. To understand, to become Kṛṣṇa consciousness, it is rather a difficult job because unless one is a devotee of Lord Kṛṣṇa, it will be a difficult problem. This, this very word, it suggests, bhakto 'si, that one's qualification must be that he's a devotee of Kṛṣṇa so that he can understand Bhagavad-gītā.

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

When He comes in this universe, He comes on this planet. There are innumerable universes. Not one, but innumerable. So there is a rotation of Kṛṣṇa's coming here.

Just like the sun rotates every twenty hours.(?) He's visible in the morning. Just like here just now it is half past eight. At six o'clock in the morning the sun will be visible. Everyone can say. Any experienced man. This is not foretelling. By experience. Any child can say that "Tomorrow at six o'clock the sun will appear." Similarly, the śāstras say, "At such and such time Kṛṣṇa will come." One who knows. One who does not know, how he'll say? But there are indications, "In Brahmā's one day Kṛṣṇa appears on the Dvāpara-yuga." So therefore Kṛṣṇa says, bahūni me janmāni. Bahūni me vyatītāni janmāni tava cārjuna. "You have also passed many births, and I have also many times appeared, and because we are friends, we appear together. That is also fact.

But the difficulty is tāny ahaṁ veda. I know all those things, when I appeared last, what did I do, and when I shall again appear. These things known to Me. Tāny ahaṁ veda sarvāṇi. Sarvāṇi, past, present, and future, I know everything. Na tvaṁ vettha parantapa. Although you are a great warrior, parantapa..." Parantapa means one who can get, one who can give trouble to the enemies. Paraṁ tapati. "So although you are a very great warrior, a great personality, but you cannot know this. You cannot know this. That is the difference between you and Me."

That is the difference between God and the living entity. We had our past life, because dehāntara-prāptiḥ (BG 2.13), we have changed our body. And we shall change this body also. after annihilation of this body.... Vāsāṁsi jīrṇāni yathā vihāya (BG 2.22). Old garments, old cloth, when it is too old, unuseable, then we give it up. We accept another new cloth. Similarly, when this body becomes unuseable, then we change our body. We get another new body. This is the way of transmigration of the soul. This is a fact.

Lecture on BG 4.7-10 -- Los Angeles, January 6, 1969:

"In order to deliver the pious and to annihilate the miscreants, as well as to reestablish the principles of religion, I advent Myself millennium after millennium."

Nine: "One who knows the transcendental nature of My appearance and activities does not upon leaving the body take his birth again in this material world, but attains My eternal abode, O Arjuna."

Prabhupāda: This is very nice. If one can understand the principles of appearance and disappearance of God, His activities, so simply by understanding these principles he will be liberated. It is said here that after quitting this body, he is no more coming to take birth again in this material world. So just like a layman does not know how the sun appears and disappears, but an astronomer, he knows very well the movements of the sun, moon, and other planets' appearance and disappearance. This is a science, astronomy. Similarly, there is a science of God by which you can understand how God appears, disappears, how He acts, how He works. Everything is there, but if you are not interested that does not mean that the science of God is false or there is no such science. There is. You must be interested to know; then you can understand. And if you simply understand this science, then you become liberated. It is open order. Simply by understanding, even not engaging yourself in transcendental service of the Lord, simply by understanding the process of appearance and disappearance. So why don't you try that? Go on. Purport.

Lecture on BG 4.9 -- Bombay, March 29, 1974:

Punar janma naiti, does not mean that soul is finished. No. This body, material body, na hanyate hanyamāne śarīre (BG 2.20). This material body, when it is dissolved, pañcatvaṁ prāpta, mixes with these five elements, earth, water, fire, air, it does not mean that the soul is finished. The soul is there. The soul is transmigrating to another body. Karmaṇā daiva-netreṇa (SB 3.31.1). By the supervision of the external energy, and superior superintendent, we are transferred to a different body by the subtle body, mana, buddhi, ahaṅkāra. But these foolish people, they do not know how the soul is... They do not know what is soul and how the soul is being transferred. But these things are all explained in the Bhagavad-gītā. Just like we cannot see the flavor, but when the flavor passes through carried by the air, we can smell. Similarly, we can smell how the soul is being transferred. These processes are explained in the Bhagavad-gītā.

Therefore our duty is to know Kṛṣṇa. Janma karma. Kṛṣṇa comes, Kṛṣṇa appears, Kṛṣṇa disappears. Why Kṛṣṇa comes? Why Kṛṣṇa is not seen? Janma karma. Why He acts? Why He takes birth in the battlefield of Kurukṣetra? Why He teaches Arjuna? Why He dances with the gopīs? So many things Kṛṣṇa's life. We have read Kṛṣṇa book. There are so many activities. They're all transcendental, although they're written just like ordinary story activities of a person. But they are not ordinary things. If you simply read Kṛṣṇa book, although it looks like story, then you become delivered from these clutches of repetition of birth and death.

Lecture on BG 4.12-13 -- New York, July 29, 1966:

So this material world is created. It is created for temporary existence. Bhūtvā bhūtvā pralīyate (BG 8.19), you will find in the Bhagavad-gītā, "This material manifestation is temporary." May be for millions of years, but it is temporary.

And why this temporary material world is created? Just to give the rebelled, I mean to say, living entities who are averse to God consciousness, Kṛṣṇa consciousness, to give another chance for developing, for developing. So if we miss this chance, then again, when this material world will be dissolved, oh, we do not know how many millions of years we have to become unconscious. We shall remain in the unconscious, sleeping stage. Then again there will be creation. Then again our body will be created, and... So these are very subtle laws. We should not miss. We should be very much serious about this life.

So the whole program is made: cātur-varṇyaṁ mayā sṛṣṭam (BG 4.13). So by birth one is supposed to be the lowborn. Janmanā jāyate śūdraḥ. Śūdra means without any culture. The man who has no cultural life, he is called a śūdra. And those who are cultured, they are called dvija. Dvija means twice-born. So one has to take his birth twice. He should not be satisfied simply by taking birth by the father and mother. One should be anxious to take his twice-born, to become twice-born, brāhmaṇa. But that chance is... Don't think that you cannot become a brāhmaṇa. You can become a qualified brāhmaṇa provided you abide by the qualification of a qualified brāhmaṇa. Just like to become a lawyer it is not, I mean to say, limited to a certain section or to a certain person. Anyone who takes the qualification of a lawyer, he becomes a lawyer.

Lecture on BG 4.13 -- New York, April 8, 1973:

According to kāraṇam guṇa-sango 'sya sad-asad-janma-yoniṣu (BG 13.22). These things are described in the Bhagavad-gītā. One has got a different type of body according to his karma. Karmaṇā daiva netreṇa jantor deha upapattaye (SB 3.31.1). By karma we create next body.

So this is a great science. People do not know how things are taking place, how there are so many species of life, how one is so-called happy, one so-called distressed. Why one is rich, one is poor. Why there are so many planets. Why some of them are demigods and some of them are human beings, some of them are animals. It is a great science But there is no cultivation of this knowledge in the modern universities or educational institutions. Perhaps we are the only group of men, we are trying to propagate this science of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. But it is a perfect science to understand the position.

Now Kṛṣṇa says: catur varṇyaṁ mayā sṛṣṭaṁ guṇa-karma-vibhāgaśaḥ (BG 4.13). Now the... When we are animals... We had to pass through animal bodies. By evolution, we have come to this human form of body. Now it is an opportunity to get out of this cycle of birth and death. This is our real problem. But people, because they have no education, poor fund of knowledge... There is no educational institution how transmigration of the soul takes place. They do not know. Big, big M.A., Ph.D's. But they do not know what is the actual position of the living entity. But that is the real problem. They do not know the real problem.

Lecture on BG 4.13 -- Johannesburg, October 19, 1975:

So our request is that this movement at least it has come to your country in South Africa and you are welcome. So try to understand this movement, how much it is important. It is not a sentimental movement, neither a so-called... It is actually religious movement, but not so-called religious movement, simply some sentiments and formalities, no. It is practical application in life. And you see practically how by this movement all over the world different section of people from different nationality, different religious group, they are feeling one, oneness in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Just try to see the potency of the movement. So take it very seriously. Take it very seriously and...

You have to take it seriously; otherwise you are doomed. Otherwise you are doomed because you do not know how the laws of nature is working upon you. You feel that you are under the laws of nature. That you cannot avoid. That is not possible. But you do not know how the laws of nature is working. That is your ignorance.

That information you will get from Bhagavad-gītā. The beginning of Bhagavad-gītā says, tathā dehāntara-prāptir dhīras tatra na muhyati. This is the first instruction. Dehino 'smin yathā dehe kaumāraṁ yauvanaṁ jarā tathā dehāntara-prāptiḥ (BG 2.13). As in this life we have seen, I was a child, I was a baby, I was a boy, I was a young man, now I am old man, so I have changed so many bodies. And... But I know that I was a child, I was a boy. But where is that body? Where is that child's body? Where is that young man's body? Where is that boy's body? This is gone. Now I have got another body. Therefore, it is concluded, when this body is finished I'll get another body. How you can refute this logic? I have changed so many bodies within my experience. Therefore this is also within my experience. When this body, this old body will be finished, I 'll get another body. That is the first instruction of Kṛṣṇa. Tathā dehāntara-prāptiḥ (BG 2.13). You'll get another body.

Lecture on BG 4.14 -- Bombay, April 3, 1974:

At the time of point of his death, he had no time to perform any yajña or any big, big thing. He simply heard Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam carefully. Śrī-viṣṇoḥ śravaṇe parīkṣid abhavad vaiyāsakiḥ kīrtane. And he became perfect simply by hearing.

So we have got so many nice things, our Vedic literature, and they are all summarized in the Bhagavad-gītā. If we simply hear, by simply hearing Bhagavad-gītā as it is, then if we understand Kṛṣṇa, kasmin tu bhagavo vijñāte sarvam idaṁ vijñātaṁ bhavati, then what happens? Iti māṁ yo 'bhijānāti karmabhir na sa badhyate (BG 4.14). There is no more entanglement in the karma. Because so long we will be entangled in the karma, we will have to transmigrate from one body to another. And we do not know how long we have to rotate in this way.

Therefore Caitanya Mahāprabhu says, ei rūpe brahmāṇḍa bhramite kona bhāgyavān jīva (CC Madhya 19.151). Everyone is rotating in this way. Out of that, one who is very, very fortunate, then guru-kṛṣṇa-kṛpāya pāya bhakti-latā-bīja (CC Madhya 19.151), by the grace of guru and Kṛṣṇa he gets the seed of devotional service. Then, if he waters it.... mālī hañā kare sei bīja āropaṇa. Just like if you get a seed of nice flower, if you sow it and water it, it will grow, similarly, the seed, śraddhā, that "Kṛṣṇa consciousness is very nice," this is seed, but if you pour water.... What is that watering? Śravaṇa-kīrtana-jale karaye secana (CC Madhya 19.152). If you simply hear and you chant also, that is the watering of the seed. Then it will grow. And one day it will grow, a big tree or big plant, and it will reach Kṛṣṇa's.... This is described in the Caitanya-caritāmṛta. You will find.

So do not take this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement very lightly. Take it seriously and try to understand, and your life will be successful. Thank you very much. (end)

Lecture on BG 4.14 -- Vrndavana, August 6, 1974:

"I am Kṛṣṇa. I can play flute like Him. I become Kṛṣṇa, by playing flute." This is all rascaldom. Kṛṣṇa's vigraha is different. You cannot imitate Kṛṣṇa. Even you imitate, that does not mean you become Kṛṣṇa. This is rascaldom. Kṛṣṇa is not... Na māṁ karmāṇi limpanti. Therefore Kṛṣṇa says, this, janma karma me divyam (BG 4.9). That is all transcendental. Kṛṣṇa's body... Just like sac-cid-ānanda-vigraha (Bs. 5.1). Kṛṣṇa's body is eternal. My body is not eternal. So how can I imitate Kṛṣṇa? Kṛṣṇa's body is eternal, sat. Kṛṣṇa's body is full of knowledge. And I am full of ignorance, my body. I do not know. If there is some disease in the finger. But...

Just like the other day. There was some trouble. Now automatically, the skin is being purified. So I do not know how it is being done. Therefore full of ignorance.

But Kṛṣṇa is not like that. Sat cit. Cit means knowledge. He knows everything. Not only Himself. He knows everything. Vedāhaṁ samatītāni (BG 7.26). Kṛṣṇa says, "I know everything." In the Bhāgavatam it is said, janmādy asya anvayād itarataś ca artheṣu abhijñaḥ (SB 1.1.1). Kṛṣṇa knows everything. But I do not know. I do not know how many hairs are here. And still I am claiming I am Kṛṣṇa.

Lecture on BG 4.23 -- Bombay, April 12, 1974:

Four defects. I have several times explained. One defect is that we commit mistake, everyone. And we become illusioned, accepting something for something. Just like mostly, even educated persons, they accept this body, "I am this body." Just like animals. The cats and dogs, they also think that "I am this body." I have several times told you that I talked with Professor Kotofsky in Moscow. He said, "After finishing this body, Swamiji, everything is finished." He said like that. And he is a big professor. And according to our Vedic culture, yasyātma-buddhiḥ kuṇape tri-dhātuke sa eva go-kharaḥ (SB 10.84.13). If one is going on under this impression that "I am this body," he is go-khara, ass and cow, means animal. Therefore they do not know how we are accepting different bodies under karma, by associating with especial...

Associating means even unknowingly. Just like infection. In medical science there is the word "infection." You may not know, but if you have infected typhoid disease, it will fructify at one moment. So similarly, even if we do not know, if we associate with the material modes of nature, it will be effective. Sad-asad-janma-yoniṣu. Therefore we must have full knowledge how to save oneself from the association, from the infection of this material disease. That is called jñānāvasthita-cetasaḥ. Just like a man who knows hygienic rules and regulation, he does not infect disease. But a man in ignorance, he infects disease and suffers. It is not God's creation. Your creation. If you do not know how to live, then you will infect the infection of the different modes of material nature, and you will have to suffer or enjoy.

Therefore common sense instruction given by Cāṇakya Paṇḍita, a great politician, tyaja durjana-saṁsargam. This is his first instruction, that "Don't associate with bad character." We are also doing that, that "Don't associate with the four principles of sinful life illicit sex, meat-eating, intoxication, and gambling. To tyaja durjana-saṁsargaṁ bhaja sādhu-samāgamam: "You associate with sādhus."

Lecture on BG 4.34-38 -- New York, August 17, 1966:

There are number of fruits. There is ample supply of milk. So you can satisfy yourself. You can keep your body very healthy, and culture this spiritual knowledge. That is the plan. That is the plan of Kṛṣṇa. But if we want to possess more, then, er...

(sirens extremely loud in background)

So this is another example of punishment. (laughter) We are also punished and they, for whom they are going, they are also punished. So we are all being punished. As we are making progress, as we are violating the law of nature, the law of God, we are being punished in every step. But due to ignorance, we do not know how we are being... We have been accustomed. We have been callous, "Oh, let us be punished. Go on. Go on like this. Go on." Oh, this is not human life. We must make a solution of this punishment. That is human life. Because I am put into jail, "All right, it is very good. Without working, I am getting three times food. Let me remain in the jail." Oh, that is not very intelligent question. You see. We must get out of the jail. So this material world is just like a prison house. We must get out of it. We must get our freedom, the absolute freedom, sac-cid-ānanda-vigraha (Bs. 5.1), full of knowledge, full of bliss and eternal. That is our mission. So this knowledge we must get. "Knowledge is the solution." This is the subject matter of our speech today, "Knowledge is the solution." This is knowledge, that everything belongs, it belongs to Kṛṣṇa, or God. We can use them as much as we like.

Lecture on BG 5.26-29 -- Los Angeles, February 12, 1969:

So this requires little training. Actually this is the fact. Suppose I have got some dress, black dress. Somebody calls, "You black dress," is that cause of anger? Somebody calls you black dress. So this is simply my false identification with the dress that I become angry. Actually if I am self-realized, self-disciplined... Self-discipline means not to identify with this body. That is self-discipline. It requires training of course. Caitanya Mahāprabhu teaches therefore, tṛṇād api sunīcena. That a smaller than the smallest grass. Actually if I realized what is the spiritual dimension, actually my dimension, length and breadth you cannot measure because I am actually a very small spiritual particle. You cannot measure one ten-thousandth part of the tip of your hair. That is my measurement. So if I am smaller than the grass, that's a fact. I am still smaller, smaller, I do not know how smaller but I am thinking of this body. An elephant is thinking that "I am so big," or a man is thinking, "I am so big," ant is thinking, "I am so small." This smallness, bigness is due to this body. Therefore in Bhagavad-gītā you will find, paṇḍitāḥ sama-darśinaḥ (BG 5.18). One who is learned he does not see the small body or big body. He sees the particle of soul, spirit soul, therefore sama-darśinaḥ. He knows that the small particle of spirit is there in the ant and in the elephant. Therefore he sees the elephant and the ant on the same level, on spiritual vision, not on this external vision. This is called self-realization.

Self-realization you have heard so many times. What is that self-realization? Self-realization means I am not this body, I am spirit soul. That is self-realization. So if I am smaller than the grass then if somebody says that "You are lower than the grass," or "You are smaller than the grass," that's a fact. So sometimes this insulting words may come from others but if you are self-realized you know that I am not this body. So let him insult. Let me tolerate.

Lecture on BG 6.13-15 -- Los Angeles, February 16, 1969:

The Absolute Truth, in the first verse of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam it is said: janmādy asya yato 'nvayād itarataś cārtheṣv abhijñaḥ svarāṭ (SB 1.1.1). Now the Absolute Truth, if he is the supreme cause of all emanation, then what are the symptoms? The Bhāgavata said that he must be cognizant. He's not dead. He must be cognizant. And what kind of cognizance? Anvayād itarataś cārtheṣu. Just like I am cognizant, you are also cognizant. But I do not know myself, how many hairs are there in my body. I'm claiming this is my head. But If ask anybody, "Do you know how many hairs you have got in your body?" That kind of knowledge is not knowledge. But the Supreme, Bhāgavata says that He knows everything directly and indirectly. I know I am eating, but I do not know how my eating process is helping my circulation of blood, how it is being transformed, how it is working, how it going through the veins. I do not know anything. But God must be He who knows everything, every corner of His creation what is going on He must know. Therefore the Bhāgavata explains, that Supreme Truth, from whom everything is emanated, He must be supremely cognizant. Abhijñaḥ. Abhijñaḥ means cognizant.

Lecture on BG 6.30-34 -- Los Angeles, February 19, 1969:

Yes. So this aṣṭāṅga-yoga is not possible. Therefore this yoga system, bhakti-yoga system, is applicable to anyone. You have seen when this chanting, bhakti-yoga system goes on, even a small child, he also begins to clap. You see? Without any training, without any education, automatically he takes part. So therefore Lord Caitanya has said that this is the only system in this age: harer nāma harer nāma harer nāma eva kevalam (CC Adi 17.21). Simply chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa. Kalau, in this age of Kali. Kalau nāsty eva, nāsty eva. Nāsty eva: there is no other alternative, no other alternative, no other alternative. If you adopt this system, this bhakti-yoga system, very simple, simply chanting. You'll find immediately result. Pratyakṣāvagamaṁ dharmyam. Any other yoga system, if you practice, you are in the darkness. You do not know how far you are making progress. But this system, you will understand, "Yes, I'm making such and such progress." This is the only yoga system, bhakti-yoga system, that one can practice for quick result and self-realization and liberation even in this life. He hasn't got to wait for another life. It is so nice, Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Go on.

Lecture on BG 6.47 -- Ahmedabad, December 12, 1972:

Aham ādir hi devānām (Bg 10.2). Kṛṣṇa says: "I am the origin of all the demigods, Brahmā, Viṣṇu, Maheśvara." The Brahma-saṁhitā supports it that ādyaṁ purāṇa-puruṣam. Lord Brahmā says the Lord is ādyam He's the origin. Kṛṣṇa also says: ahaṁ sarvasya prabhavo mattaḥ sarvaṁ pravartate (BG 10.8). The Vedānta says: janmādy asya yataḥ (SB 1.1.1). Janmādy asya yataḥ, the Supreme Lord. So He's the oldest and, we, being part and parcel, we are also the oldest. Nityo nityānāṁ cetanaś cetanānām (Kaṭha Upaniṣad 2.2.13). We are also nitya, and Kṛṣṇa is also nitya. We are also living entity with knowledge. Kṛṣṇa is also living entity with knowledge. Simply He's our leader. He's the Supreme. That's all. So we do not know how our existence has been polluted. That we do not know. We are just like cats and dogs. We are taking birth and dying without any knowledge. Bhūtvā bhūtvā pralīyate (BG 8.19). But this is not our position. Our position is as good as Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa is all powerful. We are minute. He is vibhu, we are aṇu. That is the difference. Otherwise, qualitatively, we are all one. So why you are under this obligation of taking birth and dying again. This is our impure existence. This is our impure existence.

So this human form of life is meant for purifying this existential position. No more birth, no more death. As soon as there is birth, there is death. If there is no birth, there is no death. So this can be done simply by Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Simply by developing Kṛṣṇa consciousness. That is explained in the Bhagavad-gītā: janma karma me divyaṁ yo jānāti tattvataḥ (BG 4.9).

Lecture on BG 7.2 -- Hyderabad, April 28, 1974 :

Therefore our Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is just to try to understand what is Kṛṣṇa. That's all. What is Kṛṣṇa. Because if you perfectly understand Kṛṣṇa, then immediately you become liberated, and you become eligible to be transferred to the spiritual world. That is stated, divyam. Janma karma me divyaṁ yo jānāti tattvataḥ (BG 4.9). If one can understand Kṛṣṇa, why He appears, why He disappears, and... And these are, they are all transcendental; they are not ordinary. Because we understand Kṛṣṇa as a historical person, a person like me, maybe a very great personality with more power than me. Yes, that He is, but you do not know how much powerful He is. Because He is God, He is powerful in full. There is no deficiency in His power. Aiśvaryasya samagrasya vīryasya yaśasaḥ śriyaḥ. He is powerful in complete, pūrṇam, pūrṇasya pūrṇam ādāya pūrṇam evāvaśiṣyate (Iso Invocation). Even though Kṛṣṇa, from Kṛṣṇa all His power is taken away, still He is pūrṇam, He is still all-powerful. So, janma karma me divyaṁ yo jānāti tattvataḥ. So we haveto understand Kṛṣṇa in truth, not superficially. In scientifically, vijñānam, jñānaṁ te 'haṁ sa-vijñānam. Not foolishly, that "I can interpret Kṛṣṇa." Some rascal says that Kṛṣṇa means black. Some rascal says Kṛṣṇa means this, Kṛṣṇa means a debauch, as according to one's character and angle of vision. But real meaning of Kṛṣṇa is paraṁ brahma. Kṛṣi go va... Kṛṣi bhu-vacaka-sabda nasta nirvṛtti-vacaka (?) iti kṛṣṇa paraṁ brahma iti abhidhīyate. Kṛṣṇa means paraṁ brahma. Kṛṣṇa means all-attractive. So we have to take the understanding of great personality. Rāma. Rāma. Rāma means paraṁ brahma.

Lecture on BG 9.2 -- New York, November 22, 1966:

That means one who is in this Kṛṣṇa consciousness, then the, eh, gradually his the seed of all reaction of his sins, that becomes vanquished. Just like in the Bhagavad-gītā, we have studied. Just like in the fire, if you put anything... You go on putting everything. It makes into, turns it into ashes. Similarly, this fire of Kṛṣṇa consciousness, as soon as it is begun, then all our reactions of sinful activities in our past life... Mind that. Our suffering is due to sinful activities. And sinful activities are due to our ignorance. Ignorance. Sinful activities are done by persons who do not know what is what. Just like a child. A child does not know what is the result of catching fire. Because he is ignorant. But as soon as the child catches fire, his hand becomes burned immediately. The fire does not allow any concession for the child. It will act as fire. Similarly, we do not know how this material world is going on, what are the laws, who is the controller, how it is being controlled. Due to our ignorance, we act in some way, but nature is so stringent that it will never excuse you, either you do it knowingly or unknowingly. Just the same example: the child does not know that the fire will burn, but if the child catches the fire, the fire will not excuse because it is child. Therefore ignorance is the cause of suffering.

And one should be put into proper knowledge. Proper knowledge means to know things as they are: "What I am, what is this world, what is God, what is our relation." These things we should know, not that simply becoming a technical expert or some departmental expert, we become a man of knowledge. That is not knowledge. Here is knowledge. You should know what you are and how you act. And this knowledge can be achieved in this human form of life, not in the animal form of life. Therefore, to give you knowledge, to give you proper direction, there are so many scriptures in all parts of the civilized world. They should not be neglected.

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

Then you go to other species of life, that is also different from other and other. So why this difference? Because we are differently situated according to our karma. Karmaṇā daiva-netreṇa jantur deha upapattaye (SB 3.31.1). Karmaṇā daiva-netreṇa. We do, we act according to our whims, but that whims is judged by daiva-netreṇa, by a higher, superior authority, just like Yamarāja. Then we get another body. This is the process. Yaṁ yaṁ vāpi smaran lokam tyajaty ante kalevaram (BG 8.6). Bhagavad-gītā also says. We should be very, very careful. We should be very much cautious to utilize this human body perfectly. That is Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement. We are simply teaching people how to utilize this human form of body properly, so that you can be saved from future danger. Saved from... But they are so fool, narādhamāḥ, duṣkṛtinaḥ, māyayāpahṛta-jñānā. 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 9.3 -- Toronto, June 20, 1976:

The rascals, they do not know how prakṛti, nature is working, and we are completely under the control of material nature. So after death we have to accept one body. Dehino 'smin yathā dehe kaumāraṁ yauvanaṁ jarā tathā dehāntara-prāptiḥ, dehāntara-prāptiḥ (BG 2.13). One has to accept. Just like we have given up our childhood body and we accepted another body, boyhood body or youth-hood body or old aged body. Similarly, after giving up this body, old aged body, I have to accept another body. That will be created by nature according to your karma. So that is called mṛtyu-saṁsāra-vartmani. Then you begin another chapter. Even you become a demigod or a dog or a cockroach or human being, from the date of your birth you begin another chapter. Again duḥkhālayam, to grow up, to change body, to adjust things according to the atmosphere.

So this is called mṛtyu-saṁsāra-vartmani. If we want to save this botheration, then hear what Kṛṣṇa says. Then your life will be successful. If you don't accept Kṛṣṇa's works, which are very plainly explained in the Bhagavad-gītā, then you have to remain in this mṛtyu-saṁsāra-vartmani. It is very plain truth. There is no doubt about it, that... You may be very proud of your strong body, your social condition or political condition, but after death it is not under your control. It is under the control of the material nature. So don't be falsely proud, bewildered. Ahaṅkāra-vimūḍhātmā kartāham iti manyate (BG 3.27).

Lecture on BG 9.4 -- Calcutta, March 9, 1972:

Of course, to understand the form of the Lord, that is not very easy thing. It requires much intelligence. Intelligence, that is also a kind of tapasya. Without tapasya, nobody can understand the form of the Lord, sac-cid-ānanda-vigraha (Bs. 5.1). Because generally we take it for granted "form" means a form like me. Kṛṣṇa says that patraṁ puṣpaṁ phalaṁ toyaṁ yo me bhaktyā prayacchati, tad aham aśnāmi (BG 9.26). Now, we offer eatables to the Lord. Kṛṣṇa says tad aham aśnāmi, "I eat." But the atheists cannot see. They cannot see that how Kṛṣṇa is eating. They say that "You offered something to Kṛṣṇa, but He has not eaten. It is lying there; you are eating." But no, Kṛṣṇa has eaten. They do not know how they eat, how Kṛṣṇa eats. That is their fault. Poor fund of knowledge. One has to learn how Kṛṣṇa can eat. Kṛṣṇa can eat simply by seeing. Simply, Kṛṣṇa's all parts, all the indriyas, different parts of the body, limbs, they're as good as Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa can eat, just like we eat through our mouth, but Kṛṣṇa can eat with His eyes. That is absolute. We have, because we are not absolute, we have got distinction between my, our eyes and our hands, our mouth. There are distinction which is called sagata viveḥ. We have got difference of body between yourself and myself, and in the body also there are differences. My eyes are different from my hands, my hands are different from my legs. But Kṛṣṇa, being Absolute, He has no such distinction. That they do not understand. Therefore they can not imagine how God, Kṛṣṇa, can have a form. "If He has a form, then the form is like this, our," the Māyāvādīs they say. They believe that when Brahman comes, He accepts a material body. That is defied by Kṛṣṇa: avajānanti māṁ mūḍhā mānuṣīṁ tanum āśritam (BG 9.11), "Because I come as a human being, these rascals take Me as one of the human being." This is the beginning. Mūḍhā, this word is used, very word. Mūḍhā means rascal. Because Kṛṣṇa comes as this child of Yaśodā-mātā, or as the son of Vāsudeva, therefore these Māyāvādīs, they mistake that Kṛṣṇa or Brahman has taken the form, accepting the body from māyā. But that's not the fact. Kṛṣṇa is not under māyā. Kṛṣṇa says, sambhavāmy ātma-māyayā: not accepting this material energy. He's ordering, sambhavāmi yuge yuge, sambhavāmy ātma-māyayā (BG 4.6).

Lecture on BG 9.4 -- Melbourne, April 23, 1976:

So God... Sometimes some foolish question is there, "Can you show me God?" The answer God is giving, that mayā tatam idaṁ sarvam: "I am everywhere. If you have eyes to see, you can see Me." So actually God is everywhere; otherwise how He is God? God means the great. But you do not know how great He is. We simply say, "God is great," but we have no idea how God is great. That is explained in the Vedic literature, that He is everywhere. God is everywhere. Aṇḍāntara-stha-paramāṇu-cayāntara-stham. Eko 'py asau racayituṁ jagad-aṇḍa-koṭim (Bs. 5.35).

There are... Material world means there are innumerable universes. Just like you cannot count the stars and planets. Every day you are seeing, at least at night you see, but can you count it? No, that is not possible. So this is only one universe, the universe in which our planet, this earthly planet is situated. It is tiny planet. Out of many millions of planets this is one. So we cannot even calculate this one planet. In which portion, which direction, which country is there, how many population, what is there. We have no calculation. This is God's creation. Anything you take... You cannot count even your hair. You claim, "This is my hair." Can you count it? No. That is God's creation. Everywhere God is present and everything is innumerable, beyond our counting capacity.

Lecture on BG 9.29-32 -- New York, December 20, 1966:

He will be taken out. He will be taken out sooner or later. As he has taken to this Kṛṣṇa consciousness, he will be never destroyed." Our destruction is... You always remember: our destruction means material existence is the destruction of our spiritual existence. Because destroyed does not mean that as spiritual being, I will be nowhere, no. This is my position, nowhere. I do not know. Just like I am being kicked like a football. I have no place. You have seen football playing. The football has no place. As soon as comes, somebody's feet, he kicks. He goes to another body. He kicks. He's another body—kicking. His only situation is being kicked, football. So we are just like football. We are being kicked up. Now I am American. Next time I shall be kicked up to China. Maybe. And from China, I will be kicked up to India. And from India, I shall be kicked up to Burma or kicked up to another place. This is going on. We do not know how we are being kicked up like a football from one place to another, one place to another. This is all false notion. How long I shall remain here?

Lecture on BG 10.3 -- New York, January 2, 1967:

He is the proprietor. Asammūḍhaḥ. Asammūḍhaḥ means one who understands this simple philosophy, he is not illusioned. Every one of us is illusioned. This is illusion. Just like we are claiming this land as our land. "We are Americans. It is our land." "I am Indian. Oh, India is my land." This is illusion. So practically we see that how I become the owner of this land? Before my birth the land was there, and after my death the land will be there, and I do not know where I am going to take my birth. So how many times after repeated birth and death I shall go on claiming, "This is my country; this is my home," and again leave it and go another place: "This is my country; this is my home." Is it not nonsense?

If I am eternal, I am simply changing my dress, and I do not know how many times I have changed my dress during this life, and if I claim a particular dress, "Oh, this is my dress," is it not nonsense? You are changing dress always. You are changing your country, you are changing your form, and still you are claiming, "This is mine." And you are too much engrossed in this conception of life.

So one has to be disillusioned, means out of illusion. So whatever we are doing in this material conception of life, that is illusion. Therefore we cannot understand God. One who is not under the spell of illusion he can understand, asammūḍha. He can understand God. So first of all we have to understand whether we are not illusioned. Asammūḍhaḥ sa martyeṣu. Martyeṣu, in the, among, in the human society or in the society... Not only... Martyeṣu means all living entities who are conditioned, or, rather, conditioned souls. Asammūḍhaḥ. Sarva-pāpaiḥ pramucyate. He becomes at once freed from all... So if we want to become freed from all encumbrances of this material world, then we have to understand God. There is no question of neglecting. It is the prime duty.

Lecture on BG 13.1-2 -- Bombay, September 24, 1973:

Because I have got this body, I am acting in a different way than the cats and dogs, because he has got a different type of body. His field of activities is different; my field of activity is different. So according to the body we are acting. Idaṁ śarīraṁ kṣetram. And there are eight million four hundred thousand types of bodies. Jalajā nava lakṣāṇi sthavarā lakṣa-viṁśati kṛmayo rudra-saṅkhyakaḥ. Not one type of body. Nine hundred thousand forms of body in the water, jalajā nava-lakṣāṇi.

The botanists or the expert scientists, they cannot say how many forms of lives are there in the water. Sthavarā lakṣa-viṁśati. The botanists there are, but they do not know how many forms of vegetable, trees, and plants are there. But in the śāstra it is said, sthavarā lakṣa-viṁśati: "Two million types of bodies, trees, plants, grass, two millions." Everything is specifically mentioned. In this way, there are insects also, kṛmayo rudra-saṅkhyakaḥ. There are birds, pakṣiṇāṁ daśa-lakṣaṇam, one million types of birds.

Then human being, manuṣyāḥ catur-lakṣāṇi, only four hundred thousand forms of human life, of which the civilized form of life, especially those who are born in India... To take birth in India, Bhārata-varsa, is a great fortune. Unfortunately, we are neglecting this facility given by nature. Because in India there were so many saintly persons, so many great sages... Even Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, He descended on this country, India, Bhārata-varsa. There were kings like Mahārāja Bhārata. There were kings like Mahārāja Ikṣvāku. There was king like Mahārāja Yudhisthira, Parīkṣit, so many. Unfortunately, we are neglecting our own culture. We are now imitating how to become technologist. This is the position of India. Nobody is interested to take this culture of Kṛṣṇa consciousness seriously.

Lecture on BG 13.2 -- Melbourne, April 4, 1972:

That we do not think. But that's a fact. I am living very comfortably with my society, family. "Society, friendship and love, divinely bestowed upon man." There is one poetry. That's all right, but it is so nice, it is so pleasing, but one day comes, "Please get out." Finished. You cannot protest. You cannot say that "I have worked so hard. I have made my country, my family, my house so nice. Why I shall get out?" "No. You must leave." "Oh, let me stay here for some days more." "No, not even a second. You must get out." We cannot consider all these points. We are simply attached. "Oh, this is my country. This is my family. This is my land. This is my kinsmen. This is..." So many. "This is my, my, my, my, my." But if it is yours, why you are forced to get out of these things? What is the answer? Who will answer this? Huh? And there is no certainty.

Suppose you are making a very nice house, very nice apartment. There is no guarantee that you will be able to enjoy this family life, house, and everything. Not... Forever, that is no question. Even you do not know how many years you will be allowed. Any moment you can be driven out, any moment. So this is intelligence. This is intelligence. When a man comes to inquire this point, that "Why I am forced to leave my comfortable position?" I may be now American or Australian, very nice living, very nice motor car, roads, everything, but why I am forced to leave immediately?

This is the problem of life. Janma-mṛtyu-jarā-vyādhi-duḥkha-doṣānudarśanam (BG 13.9). Bhagavad-gītā says that "You may think of yourself as very happy within this material condition. You may think. That is called māyā. Actually, it is not happiness. "I am working very hard day and night to decorate my country, my society, my family, my house. Everything. That is not very happiness, working very day and night. But it is māyā.

Lecture on BG 13.2 -- Melbourne, April 4, 1972:

"It is nature." But you explain what is nature. Nature means God's nature, God's energy. That is nature. God's energy is so fine and so subtle that we cannot see it, how it is working, but it is working. The energy of God is working there.

Just like nowadays the electronic age, when you have got a television machine within our room, simply push a button, push on a button, and immediately the photo is there, the sound is there. But do not think that it is being done automatically. No. There is a good brain. There is a good brain who has discovered this machine. You do not know. You are simply pushing on this button, you are seeing. But don't think it has come automatically by nature. That is not possible. You do not know how it is working. That is your ignorance. But that is not working without direction. There is direction. There is a television house who are broadcasting their direction. They know how to work the machine and everything. The brain is working, but it is so advanced that in your room, as soon as you push on a button you see everything. But don't think it is becoming automatically done. No, that is not the fact.

Lecture on BG 13.3 -- Paris, August 11, 1973:

So how He knows? Sarva-kṣetreṣu bhārata. Sarva-kṣetreṣu. He is within every body. He knows what is the ant is doing. He knows what Brahmā is doing. He knows what you are doing. He knows what I am doing. Vedāhaṁ samatītāni (BG 7.26). Kṛṣṇa says in another place, "I know everything." Just like, it is very easy to understand. Just like, you know everything—not everything—at least eighty percent you know what is going on in your body. You do not know everything.

If I know everything then why should I go to a physician when there is something wrong in my body. I do not know. I am eating, but I do not know how the eatables are being digested within the stomach, and they are being divided into different secretion. The rejected part is becoming stool and urine, and the other parts, they're becoming blood, and the blood is distributed all over the body, through the veins. How the veins are, what do we know? Although I am claiming my body. But I do not know everything, what is going on in my body, in my brain. The brains are made of so fine tissues. What do you know?

But Kṛṣṇa is not like that. Kṛṣṇa knows everything in detail. Anvayad itarataś ca artheṣv abhijñaḥ. Throughout the whole universe, throughout the whole creation, in any corner, in any place, whatever is going on, Kṛṣṇa knows. That is the difference between Kṛṣṇa and myself. I do not know even what is going on within my body. And still I am claiming I am God. How rascal. Just see, imagine. God's one opulence is that is full knowledge. Aiśvaryasya samagrasya vīryasya yaśasaḥ sriyaḥ jñānam (Viṣṇu Purāṇa 6.5.47). This rascal god, so-called god, you ask him, "Can you say what I am feeling now or what are my pains and pleasures?" Can he say? And still he's claiming God. But Kṛṣṇa says, kṣetra-jñaṁ cāpi māṁ viddhi sarva-kṣetreṣu bhārata. "I am in every, every body." I am also within this body and Kṛṣṇa is also within this body. Kṛṣṇa... As you are within your body, similarly Kṛṣṇa is also within your body.

Lecture on BG 13.6-7 -- Bombay, September 29, 1973:

That is not possible. Who has created? Somebody has created. That is stated in the śāstra. There is perspiration. This water is perspiration of Mahā-Viṣṇu. We can understand because we are minute particle of Mahā-Viṣṇu. Mamaivāṁśo jīva-bhūtaḥ (BG 15.7). So sometimes we perspire and create some water, say, half an ounce water. But if somebody has unlimited power to perspire and create water, where is the difficulty to understand? There is no difficulty. If you take it for acceptance that this vast mass of water has come from the perspiration of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. So there is nothing to deny this fact. Acintya-śakti. Acintya-śakti means inconceivable power. We have got inconceivable power. Because we are minute particle of God, we have also minute inconceivable power. We do not know how the hairs are growing, but the energy is there within me. Similarly, so many things come out from the inconceivable power of Kṛṣṇa. Therefore Kṛṣṇa claims,

bhūmir āpo 'nalo vāyuḥ

khaṁ mano buddhir eva ca

ahaṅkara itīyaṁ me

bhinnā prakṛtir aṣṭadhā

(BG 7.4)

"They are My separated energy." So this whole earth is creation of these five elements, gross elements. So it is Kṛṣṇa's property. How we can claim, "This is our property?" That is illusion. We are claiming, "This portion is American," "This portion is Indian," "This portion is Pakistani," but we do not know that no portion belongs to us; everything belongs to Kṛṣṇa.

Lecture on BG 13.26 -- Delhi, September 22, 1974:

Prabhupāda: ...ing... (break) ...and it is said clearly that you don't expect the general mass of people to be conversant with spiritual... (break) ...they must preach. Anyebhyaḥ. Hm, what is that? Read the first line.

Brahmānanda: Anye tv evam ajānantaḥ.

Prabhupāda: Ah. Anye tu ajānantaḥ. Generally, people, they do not know what is the value of spiritual knowledge. Mūḍha. They have been called as mūḍha. And duṣkṛtina. Duṣkṛtina means always engaged in sinful activities. If you do not have Kṛṣṇa consciousness, then your eating, sleeping, or walking, whatever you are doing, it is all sinful. All sinful. You do not know how you are becoming responsible for killing so many ants while you are walking. You are walking. You do not know... We have seen, so many ants are loitering on the street, and you are killing. That means you are responsible. You cannot kill even a single ant.

So therefore, unless you come to Kṛṣṇa consciousness, whatever you are acting in your daily life, it is sinful. And you are becoming complicated, involved. This is the... Padaṁ padaṁ yad vipadām (SB 10.14.58). This world is so made that in every step you are creating some dangerous position. Padaṁ padaṁ yad vipadām. This material world is like that.

Bhuñjate te tv aghaṁ pāpā ye pacanty ātma-kāraṇāt (BG 3.13). Generally, people, they cook for themselves nice, palatable foodstuffs for eating and enjoying. But they do not know that they are eating all sinful reactions. Bhuñjate te tv aghaṁ pāpā ye pacanty ātma-kāraṇāt. What is the difference between this house and the next house? Here we cook for Kṛṣṇa, not for ourselves. Therefore we are being saved. Otherwise, if you don't cook for Kṛṣṇa, if you cook for yourself, then it is, in the Bhagavad-gītā it is said, bhuñjate te tv aghaṁ pāpā ye pacanty ātma-kāraṇāt.

Lecture on BG 16.2-7 -- Bombay, April 8, 1971:

So therefore Kṛṣṇa is stressing that, daivī sampad vimokṣāya. These daivī sampad characteristics should be encouraged to make one liberated, vimokṣāya. Just like these boys and girls have become liberated from all bad habits. Daivī sampad vimokṣāya. Daivī sampad vimokṣāya nibandhāyāsurī matā. And if you develop demonic qualities, then you become more and more entangled in this material existence. It is very risky. We are thinking that "Let me enjoy this life to my best capacity," as the atheist class of people think, but they do not know how much risk they are taking. If I develop my characteristics like cats and dogs, then my next life is becoming bound up in the body of cats and dogs. But they do not know the science. How the transmigration of the soul is evolving in 8,400,000 species of life, the modern science they do not know. They do not know, but there is, there is law.

prakṛteḥ kriyamāṇāni

guṇaiḥ karmāṇi sarvaśaḥ

ahaṅkāra-vimūḍhātmā

kartāham iti manyate

(BG 3.27)

We have come to this civilized form of human being. Especially we have taken birth in India. It is a good fortune. It is an opportunity given by prakṛti. Prakṛteḥ kriyamāṇāni guṇaiḥ karmāṇi sarvaśaḥ. So we should take advantage of this opportunity. here in India we have got this sublime knowledge of Veda, and here there are still thousands and thousands of saintly persons. So we should take advantage of this facility. Caitanya Mahāprabhu therefore said that "Anyone who has taken birth in the land of Bhāratavarṣa..." Bhārata-bhūmite manuṣya janma haila yāra: (CC Adi 9.41)

Lecture on BG 16.5 -- Calcutta, February 23, 1972:

These are the asuras. They do not know how their life should be directed, in which direction. That is called pravṛtti. And what sort of life they should be detached, give up, nivṛtti. Pravṛttis tu jīvātmana. That is another. Bhunam. Nivṛttis tu mahāphalām. The whole śāstra, whole Vedic direction is for pravṛtti-nirvṛtti. They are gradually training. Just like Loke vyavāyāmiṣa-madya-sevā nityā sujantoḥ. A living entity has got natural inclination for vyavāya, sex life; and madya sevāḥ, intoxication; āmiṣa sevāḥ, and meat-eating. A natural instinct there is. But asuras, they do not try to stop it. They want to increase it. That is asura life. I have got some disease. If I want to cure it, then doctor gives me some prescription that "You don't take." Just like diabetic patient. He is forbidden that "Don't take sugar, don't take starch." Nivṛtti. Similarly, the śāstra gives us direction that you should be accepting these things and you should be not accepting these things, śāstra. Just like in our society, we have picked up the most essential nivṛtti and pravṛtti. The pravṛtti... We are instructing our students, "No illicit sex life, no meat-eating, no āmiṣa-sevā." Āmiṣa-sevā nityā sujantoḥ. But the śāstra says that if you can give up nivṛttis tu mahāphalām, then your life is successful. But we are not prepared. If you are not prepared to accept the pravṛttis and not to accept the nivṛttis, then one must know that he is asura. Kṛṣṇa says here, pravṛttiṁ ca nivṛttiṁ ca janā na vidur āsurāḥ (BG 16.7). They do not... "Oh, what is that?" They say, even the big, big swamīs will say, "Oh, what is there wrong? You can eat anything. It doesn't matter. You can do anything. You simply give me fees, and I give you some special mantra." These things are going on. So because we want such cheaters...

Lecture on BG 16.6 -- South Africa, October 18, 1975:

The first-class asura is the duṣkṛtina, one who is engaged in sinful meritorious action. Sinful meritorious. Just like a big thief. There are many organization of smugglers, black market, thieves. They have got brain to organize. Without brain they cannot organize. Now, in the Western countries there are big, big organizations simply for smuggling, cheating, bluffing, and very good brain, educated, lawyers. I have seen practically in New York these cheating concerns. There are many lawyers to help them how to cheat. And they make arrangement, take money from one, cheating. Many organizations. So they are called duṣkṛtina. They are educated. They have got good brain, they can act very nicely, but their intelligence is being used for sinful activities. They are called duṣkṛtina. They do not know how they shall use their brain. That is going on.

That is jaḍa-vidyā, māyār vaibhava. They can expand the influence of māyā. We are already influenced by māyā. Prakṛtiṁ mohinīṁ śritaḥ. We have taken this material world as very fascinating, very attractive. We want to stay here and enjoy. This is material life. Everyone who is attracted to the material world, they are sinful or fallen. Kṛṣṇa-bahirmukha hañā bhoga vāñchā kare. The, our material life begins... We are spirit soul. When our material life...? When we try to deny, try to not serve Kṛṣṇa but independently we want to enjoy life, that is called material life. Independently we want to enjoy without Kṛṣṇa, without God. That is called material life. So such persons are called demons.

So the symptoms of demon... Kṛṣṇa says, daivo vistaraśaḥ proktaḥ: "I have already spoken elaborately about the persons who are daiva, who are on the platform of demigods. Now..." Prokta āsuraṁ pārtha me śṛṇu: "Now I am describing who are the asuras. Just try to understand."

Lecture on BG 16.7 -- Hawaii, February 3, 1975:

So what is the nature of that Absolute Truth? Is it a dead body or a living body? There are two things, something dead and something living. So what is the nature of the absolute truth? So that is replied, janmādy asya yataḥ anvayād itarataś cārtheṣv abhijñaḥ (SB 1.1.1). Abhijñaḥ means cognizant, living. The Absolute Truth is not dead; it is living. We are pushing forward this theory.

The modern scientists, they are of opinion that life comes from matter. We say, "No, life comes from life. Matter comes from life." This is satyam. I do not know how they get Nobel Prize, putting forward a false theory that life comes from matter. The matter... So why don't you produce life in the laboratory? Matter is there. Chemicals are there. You mix them and produce a life. When some such chemist is inquired, "Whether you can produce life if I give you the chemicals?" they will immediately say, "That I cannot say." Then why do you speak like that? So this is asuric. If they accept that everything comes from the living being, then they will have to accept God. So they want to avoid this: "Everything matter." But that is not the fact. Origin is life. That is explained in the Bhagavad-gītā. Kṛṣṇa says, ahaṁ sarvasya prabhavaḥ (BG 10.8). Aham. Kṛṣṇa is life. He's not dead matter. So...

Lecture on BG 16.8 -- Hyderabad, December 16, 1976:

Caitanya Mahāprabhu's movement is para-upakāra, para-upakāra, because within this material world, with material designation and material envelopment, they are all suffering. Kṛṣṇa is more unhappy for our suffering because we are His sons. Suppose your son is suffering. You will suffer also, not that the son is suffering. Similarly, because we have come to this conditional state of life, bhūtvā bhūtvā pralīyate (BG 8.19)—we sometimes..., once we take birth and again we die—this is not very good proposal. But these rascals, they do not know how nature is working. Tathā dehāntara-prāptir dhīras tatra na muhyati (BG 2.13). We are leaving one body and accepting another body. This is a great botheration. But the rascal so-called scientist, politician, they do not know this. I therefore say, "rascals." They are very much proud of their learning, advancement of science, but they cannot understand the simple truth spoken in the Bhagavad-gītā, dehino 'smin yathā dehe kaumāraṁ yauvanaṁ jarā, tathā dehāntara-prāptiḥ (BG 2.13). There is dehāntara-prāptiḥ. Dhīras tatra na muhyati.

So people are surprised. They do not believe that they are... But dhīras tatra na muhyati: Those who are dhīra, sober, intelligent, they understand, "Yes, there is dehāntara-prāp..." The example He's giving, dehino 'smin yathā dehe kaumāraṁ yauvanaṁ jarā (BG 2.13). Just like we are changing body, kaumāraṁ yauvanaṁ jarā, similarly, the old body, "old order changes to a new." Again we get another body. And this is very, very great botheration of life. They do not understand. But it can be stopped. Tyaktvā dehaṁ punar janma naiti mām eti kaunteya (BG 4.9). It can be stopped. How? Simply by understanding Kṛṣṇa. Janma karma ca me divyaṁ yo jānāti tattvataḥ (BG 4.9). You simply try to understand Kṛṣṇa. And Kṛṣṇa is explaining Himself. Where is the difficulty to understand Kṛṣṇa? You haven't got to speculate. You haven't got to manufacture ideas what kind of Kṛṣṇa He is. He is present, dvi-bhuja-muralīdhara-kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa when He was present in the, upon this earth, everyone has seen. Kṛṣṇa has His temple, thousands and millions of temples, Kṛṣṇa. You can see His picture. Description is there, veṇuṁ kvaṇantam, in the Vedic literature.