Go to Vanipedia | Go to Vanisource | Go to Vanimedia


Vaniquotes - the compiled essence of Vedic knowledge


French (Lectures)

Lectures

Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures

Lecture on BG 4.10 Public Meeting -- Rome, May 25, 1974:

So this is the formula given in the Bhagavad-gītā. The Bhagavad-gītā is the science of God. We are presenting this book as it is, without any malinterpretation. It has been translated in many European languages, in German language, in French language, English. So I think most of you may know English. You can try to read this book. They are available in our center. And try to understand what is the science of God. This human form of life is achieved after a evolutionary process, going through different species of life. This is the opportunity to understand your spiritual identity and your relationship with God. If you lose this opportunity and die without understanding God, that is not very good business. We must utilize this human form of life for the highest achievement of life. After all, we are under the stringent laws of nature. It is very difficult to surpass the stringent laws of nature, especially birth, death, old age and disease.

Lecture on BG 4.10 Festival at Maison de Faubourg -- Geneva, May 31, 1974:

Nitāi: Translation: "Being freed from attachment, fear and anger, being fully absorbed in Me and taking refuge in Me, many, many persons in the past became purified by knowledge of Me, and thus they attained transcendental love for Me."

Prabhupāda: (each sentence translated into French)

vīta-rāga-bhaya-krodhā
man-mayā mām upāśritāḥ
bahavo jñāna-tapasā
pūtā mad-bhāvam āgatāḥ
(BG 4.10)

This is a verse in Sanskrit spoken by Lord Kṛṣṇa in the Fourth Chapter, verse number ten. Vīta-rāga means "freed from attachment." Bhaya means fearfulness, and krodha means anger. So being freed from these material qualities... In the material existence, at the present moment, we are very much attached to the material enjoyment.

Lecture on BG 4.10 Festival at Maison de Faubourg -- Geneva, May 31, 1974:

Translator: (translating questions from French) Jesus Christ..., it is said that he made the miracle of the fish and ate. So why is it that one should not eat meat?

Prabhupāda: Jesus Christ said, "You shall not kill." Why you are killing?

Translator: But then why did he eat fish?

Prabhupāda: He can eat the whole world, but you cannot do that. You must follow his instruction, "Thou shall not kill." You must have discrimination. You are human beings; you are not cats and dogs. You must have discrimination, what to eat, what to not eat. Because we have to eat some other living entity, it does not mean that I shall eat my sons and daughters.

Lecture on BG 4.11 -- Geneva, June 1, 1974:
(Translator translates into French)

Nitāi: "All of them—as they surrender unto Me—I reward accordingly. Everyone follows My path in all respects, O son of Pṛthā."

Prabhupāda
ye yathā māṁ prapadyante
tāṁs tathaiva bhajāmy aham
mama vartmānuvartante
manuṣyāḥ pārtha sarvaśaḥ
(BG 4.11)

We are continuing from yesterday's subject matter, how one can become purified and go back to home, back to Godhead.

Here the second line of this verse is very important. It is said, mama vartmānuvartante manuṣyāḥ pārtha sarvaśaḥ: "All human being is searching after Me." As we have explained yesterday, Kṛṣṇa means sac-cid-ānanda-vigraha (Bs. 5.1), the transcendental form of eternity, knowledge and blissfulness. In the Vedānta-sūtra, the summarized philosophy of Vedic knowledge, it is said, ānandamayo 'bhyāsāt: "The spirit soul by nature is jubilant."

Lecture on BG 4.18 -- Bombay, April 7, 1974:

Now Kṛṣṇa is all-attractive all over the world. Otherwise, how in America, in Russia, in China, in Europe, all countries?

Recently I have got several literatures printed in Swedish language. We are printing Kṛṣṇa literature almost in all languages of Europe, in English language, in Spanish language, in French language, in Swedish language, in Dutch language and German language, and then Italian language, we are publishing, and it is being sold like hotcakes, anything.

Because this idea, the Kṛṣṇa consciousness idea, is very, very new to them. Kṛṣṇa, God, can be talked with personally. One can go to God personally. These ideas were unknown in the Western countries. But that is possible. That is a fact. We can understand from Vedic literature. But they do not know.

Lecture on BG 4.24 -- August 4, 1976, New Mayapur (French farm):

Prabhupāda: Translation is already there.

Devotee: Should we translate in French, Śrīla Prabhupāda?

Prabhupāda: Yes. Where is French Bhagavad-gītā.

Harikeśa: Can we read the purport, Śrīla Prabhupāda?

Prabhupāda: Yes.

Harikeśa: Purport. "How activities in Kṛṣṇa consciousness can lead one ultimately to the spiritual goal is described here." (break)

Prabhupāda: So discuss any question.

Lecture on BG 4.24 -- August 4, 1976, New Mayapur (French farm):

Prabhupāda: Explain that. (break) So, it is understood or if there is difficulty, you can question?

French Devotee: What does it mean when Kṛṣṇa says "I am not in them"?

Prabhupāda: Huh? "I am not in them" because you cannot see there. Kṛṣṇa is there, but you cannot she Him. You are not advanced. Just like another example. Here is, the sunlight is here. Everyone experiences. But that does not mean sun is here. It is clear? Sun is here means... Sunshine is here means sun is here. But still, because you are in the sunshine, you cannot say "Now I've captured the sun." Sunlight is existing in the sun, but sun is not present in the sunshine. Without sun there is no sunshine. That does not mean the sunshine is sun. At same time, you can say the sunshine means sun.

Lecture on BG 4.28 -- Bombay, April 17, 1974:

Just like in our Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement, we are trying to publish our books in different languages. Already we have got in European and American, English, French, German, Spanish, Swedish, Japanese, Chinese. This is required. Nānā-śāstra-vicāraṇaika-nipuṇau sad-dharma. Because people are misled. So they should be given opportunity to study, to understand what is God consciousness, what is Kṛṣṇa consciousness. So through the śāstras. That is also required.

Nānā-śāstra-vicāraṇaika-nipuṇau sad-dharma... The Gosvāmīs practically demonstrated in their life everything. Caitanya Mahāprabhu taught them. They were the first disciples of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Rūpa Gosvāmī was given lesson for ten days continually at Allahabad, Prayāga, Daśāśvamedha-ghāṭa.

Lecture on BG 7.1 -- Bhuvanesvara, January 22, 1977:

We have published so many important books. They are being appreciated all over the world by scholars, by universities. You also study them, learn Kṛṣṇa science, Kṛṣṇa consciousness, and preach in your country. That is my request. Our books, mostly they are published in English, and we are getting them translated in other languages of the world, especially in Europe, French language, German language, in Japanese language, Chinese. So those who are very (indistinct) they may come, translate these books into Oriya, and we shall publish them for mass distribution.

Thank you very much.

Lecture on BG 7.1-3 -- Paris, June 13, 1974:

This is called illusion. According to Vedic understanding, anyone who thinks of this body as the self, he's animal. Just like a dog, he thinks that he is the body, similarly, if a man thinks that he is this body, he is American or Indian or Frenchman or German or Hindu or Muslim, with this bodily concept of life, so, according to Vedic understanding, this conception is animal conception. So this is called illusion.

Then next item is cheating. Cheating means with imperfect knowledge one takes the place of a teacher. And the last deficiency is that our senses are imperfect. It is not independent. Still, we are very much proud of our senses. For example, atheist class of men, they say that "Can you show me God?" He does not think whether he has got any power to see. So far our eyes are concerned, we can see so long when the conditions are fulfilled. Just like we are speaking.

Lecture on BG 15.15 -- August 5, 1976, New Mayapur (French farm):

(French and English synonyms read) "I am seated in everyone's heart and from Me come remembrance, knowledge and forgetfulness. By all the Vedas am I to be known; indeed, I am the compiler of Vedānta, and I am the knower of the Vedas." (French translation read)

Prabhupāda: Now it is explained purport. (break) Knowledge given by Paramātmā from within the core of the heart is explained by the modern scientist as intuition. They do not know wherefrom the intuition is coming. And that is coming from God. Therefore it is stated mattaḥ, from Me. Smṛtir jñānam apohanaṁ ca. A small cub, dog, it has not opened the eyes, but still, immediately after birth, it is seeking the nipples of the mother. So wherefrom the knowledge comes? From his within. And that is from God. The other day I explained, Vedas means just like this dictaphone machine is manufactured along with one literature is also compiled.

Lecture on BG 15.15 -- August 5, 1976, New Mayapur (French farm):

Prabhupāda: Yes. Memory comes to remind you that you were in this condition, in this condition. Whether you are to continue this condition or to make improvement, that is up to you. So if you take instruction from the Vedas then you'll understand that these conditions of life are not very pleasing. So we have to make progress in a different way. (question asked in French)

Prabhupāda: Explain? What is his question?

Devotee: The question: how does our love for Kṛṣṇa somehow or other get transformed into lust?

Jayatīrtha: In contact with the material energy.

Prabhupāda: That is not very difficult. One has got his wife or husband, but he or she transfers the love towards somebody else, how does he look?

Lecture on BG 15.15 -- August 5, 1976, New Mayapur (French farm):

Prabhupāda: So God gives us all facility. We wanted to enjoy in a particular situation and God gives us facility of that situation and gives also instruction, "Now you wanted." Just like one is very much addicted to eat flesh or blood. So God gives him the chance to accept the body of a tiger, and he's given all facilities, the nails, the jaws, and gives instruction, "Now you can enjoy." So He'll give us all facilities, but if you want His instruction, that what will be good for me, then He says, sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekam (BG 18.66). "You give up this business, simply surrender unto Me. I'll take protection." So if we are intelligent we shall take His final instruction and follow it and be happy. (question asked in French)

Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures

Lecture on SB 1.1.2 -- London, August 18, 1971:

So this rivalry, it is, of course, found... This rivalry for colonization, that is the special feature of the European countries. Rivalry. In India we have got experience. In America also, they have got experience, Canada. The Hollanders, the French people, the Spanish, Portugal, and England. There was regularly rivalry how to occupy. Within the past two hundred years there was rivalry. So according to Vedic civilization, there should not be rivalry. Tena tyaktena bhuñjīthāḥ (ISO 1). You be satisfied what is allotted to you. Don't try to encroach upon others' property. Mā gṛdhaḥ kasya svid dhanam. That is Vedic civilization.

Lecture on SB 1.2.2 -- Rome, May 26, 1974:

Because the Britishers thought that "India is going to be independent, that cannot be checked, so make them smaller, smaller, smaller." That is the European history. Yes, in... Formerly, under Roman Empire, all the Europeans were one nation. Is it not? I think it was, under Roman Empire. But when the empire dismantled, they became different nations-Germany, English, French. I see the same culture, the same civilization all over Europe. How they became Germans and Englishmen and this, I do not know. Anyway, this is the policy of the politicians.

So because they were not given chance... Our point is that Kṛṣṇa says everyone should be given chance how to come back to home, how to approach Kṛṣṇa. So whose duty it is? It is the duty of Kṛṣṇa's servant. Just like Prahlāda Mahārāja. Prahlāda Mahārāja said, "My Lord, I do not wish to go back to home, back to Godhead alone. I want to take all of them who are godless or not devotee.

Lecture on SB 2.1.1 -- Paris, June 9, 1974:

And I'll die, I shall again become king." He does not think like that, foolishly. He knows that "I may be king in this life, and the next life, I may be dog." Because he's ātmavit, he knows ātmā, the soul. That is under the control of nature. You cannot say that "This time I am very nice, good-looking French boy and girl. Then next life I shall become also the same." Some poet in India, he sung, ei deśete janma āmāra, ei deśete mari: "I have taken birth in this country." Everyone has got love for his country. That is the modern civilization. Now, the Napoleon, in your country, he loved his country so much. Now where he is, you do not know. You have simply a stone, photograph, statue. You are thinking that "Napoleon, I am worshiping..." You do not worship actually. Worship is here. If you worship, you must keep Napoleon in this way.

Lecture on SB 2.1.3 -- Paris, June 12, 1974:

And thinking also that "These, my soldiers, these, my wife, children, and friends and nationals, they will save me." Yasyātma-buddhiḥ kuṇape tri-dhātuke sva-dhīḥ kalatrādiṣu bhauma ijya-dhīḥ (SB 10.84.13). And the land where he has taken birth... Just like everyone is thinking, "I am Frenchman," "I am Englishman," "I am Indian," "I am this," "I am that." So, so "This is my land. I must decorate this land, this Paris City, very nicely. I shall bring something from Egypt and put it here. Then..." (laughter) These nonsense things are going on. Even big, big men like Napoleon and others. And what to speak of others. So... But śāstra says, yasyātma-buddhiḥ kuṇape tri-dhātuke sva-dhīḥ kalatrādiṣu bhauma ijya-dhīḥ, yat-tīrtha-buddhiḥ. A little advanced than, than these fools and rascals, they are religious. What is that religion?

Lecture on SB 2.1.3 -- Paris, June 12, 1974:

Prabhupāda: So we should not think like animals. We should think like human beings. That is required. That thinking is "How to awaken my dormant love for God." That is required. That is human activity. That is there already. It is not artificial. Now, in this temple, you are all citizens of Paris city. Four or five years ago, you had no idea what is Kṛṣṇa. But now you are dancing, chanting in Kṛṣṇa. Why? Have I, have I given you some bribe? I brought Kṛṣṇa from India, and I am making you to dance, giving you some bribe? Is it a fact? What do you think? And what is my money? I came to Western country with seven dollars. Also I have got now money, enough money. That is your money, of course, (laughs) (laughter) But why you are dancing in Kṛṣṇa's name? What bribe I have given you? Can you answer, anyone of you?

French devotee: Yes.

Prabhupāda: What is that?

Lecture on SB 2.1.3 -- Paris, June 12, 1974:

French devotee: Yes.

Prabhupāda: What is that?

French devotee: Because in reality we are conscious of Kṛṣṇa without know.

Prabhupāda: What is...?

French devotee: And in your presence, and..., we take conscience.

Prabhupāda: Therefore, it is to be understood that Kṛṣṇa was within you. I have simply tried to awaken that consciousness. That's all.

French girl: (French) (asks for French translation)

French devotee: (French)

Prabhupāda: After. (Laughter) So therefore it is to be taken that Kṛṣṇa consciousness is there in everyone. That is stated in the Caitanya-caritāmṛta, nitya-siddha kṛṣṇa-bhakti sādhya kabhu naya. It is not by artificial means one awakens his Kṛṣṇa consciousness. No. Kṛṣṇa is God, and God consciousness, or Kṛṣṇa consciousness, is there, dormant in everyone. Just like you, you love a man or woman.

Lecture on SB 2.1.3 -- Paris, June 12, 1974:

So our, this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is to purify the covering, the material covering. That... What is that purification? Sarvopādhi-vinirmuktam (CC Madhya 19.170). First of all, you have to purified with the sense that you are neither American nor a Frenchman nor Englishman nor Indian nor brāhmaṇa nor kṣatriya—nothing of the sort. You have to... These are all designations, outward dress. You have to become free from it. Sarvopādhi-vinirmuktam (CC Madhya 19.170). You'll have to forget. Actually, that is happening in Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement. Those who have joined, they never think that "I am American," "I am Frenchman," "I am Englishman." They are always thinking that they are servant of Kṛṣṇa. This is called purification. As soon as you learn that you are neither American, nor Indian, nor this or not that... You are eternally servant of Kṛṣṇa. This is purification. The more you are fixed up on this knowledge, the more you are purified. That's all.

Lecture on SB 2.1.5 -- Paris, June 13, 1974:

"O descendant of Mahārāja Bharata..." Parīkṣit Mahārāja belonged to the dynasty of King Bharata. King Bharata, from whose name the Bhāratavarṣa, the word Bhāratavarṣa has come. This planet is called Bhāratavarṣa. This planet, earthly planet, is called Bhāratavarṣa because it was ruled over by the King Bharata. Gradually, the original Vedic culture lost, Aryan, Aryan family... You French people, you are also Aryan family, but the culture is lost now. So this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is actually reviving the original Aryan culture. Bhārata. We are all inhabitants of Bhāratavarṣa, but as we lost our culture, it became divided. Now it is divided into so many countries: "This is India," "This is France," "This is Germany," "This is this," "This is this." But formerly, the whole planet was known as Bhāratavarṣa. One culture, Vedic culture, one flag.

Lecture on SB 2.1.5 -- Paris, June 13, 1974:

They have come from the supreme father." Sarvātmā. He is called sarvātmā. Śrotavyaḥ kīrtitavyaś ca.

So if you want freedom from this fearfulness or this material existence... Material existence means struggle for existence. This is material. Everyone has struggle: "I want to stay. I want to..." In your country there has been so much fight, the French Revolution and so many fighting, fighting between the Protestant and the Catholic. And your Napoleon Bonaparte, he also fought. So fighting, this is called struggle for existence. Everyone wants to exist, and he has to fight. At least, we have to fight with the winter season. If there is no fighting, so at least there must be fighting with the winter season or summer season. Without fighting, you cannot stay. Without fighting, you cannot stay. That is called struggle for existence and survival of the fittest. You must be fit. This is called material world. And spiritual world means there is no fight; simply friendship, that's all. This is spiritual world. Vaikuṇṭha.

Lecture on SB 5.5.1 -- Bombay, December 25, 1976:

I cannot pronounce this French word. So anyway, our men, there are about three hundred men living there. Last time, four months, five months before I was there. It is very very nice place. We are getting our own fruits, own vegetables fresh, and we are getting fresh wheat and milk. It is so happy life.

So government is also advertising "Go to the village." Actually that is life. Go to the village. Mahatma Gandhi also wanted to organize this life, but unfortunately you have changed. Now we have got place in Hyderabad about six hundred acres of land. We are also trying here. We have already done in Māyāpur. We are producing our own food, our own cloth, own milk, and we are chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa.

Lecture on SB 5.5.1-2 -- Paris, August 12, 1973:

(This lecture was translated into French. Śrīla Prabhupāda speaks a few sentences, Jyotirmayī-devī dāsī translates this, and then Śrīla Prabhupāda continues. Jyotirmayī-devī dāsī also translates the questions and answers at the end of the lecture)

Prabhupāda:

nāyaṁ deho deha-bhājāṁ nṛloke
kaṣṭān kāmān arhate viḍ-bhujāṁ ye
tapo divyaṁ putrakā yena sattvaṁ
śuddhyed yasmād brahma-saukhyaṁ tv anantam
(SB 5.5.1)

This evening I shall explain to you some of the important verses from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is the greatest contribution of Vedic literature. In the Vedic literature we find a desire tree. Whatever knowledge you want to derive, there is in the Vedic literature, and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is described as nigama-kalpa-taror galitaṁ phalaṁ (SB 1.1.3), the desire tree of Vedic literature, and a tree is eulogized on account of the fruit. So Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is the ripened fruit of that desire tree.

Lecture on SB 6.1.32 -- Surat, December 16, 1970:

Therefore Kṛṣṇa consciousness begins when one is above this bodily concept of life. Sarvopādhi-vinirmuktam (CC Madhya 19.170). These are upādhis, designations. So these Kṛṣṇa conscious boys and girls, they are no longer thinking that "I am American," "I am Canadian," "I am French," "I am German." No. "I am Indian." No. They know certainly that "I am part and parcel of Kṛṣṇa. I am eternally servant of Kṛṣṇa." And that is our real identity. That is Kṛṣṇa consciousness. They are no more interested to be identified as American or European. And this is knowledge. And this is mukti. If one is under the misconception that "I am American," "I am Indian," then how there is mukti? There is no mukti. Mukti means svarupena avasthiti, to stay in his own constitutional position. That is called mukti.

Lecture on SB 6.1.46 -- Detroit, June 12, 1976:

Therefore whole plan failed. Gandhi wanted nonviolence—failed. Gandhi wanted Hindu-Muslim unity—failed. Why? Because he never said that Kṛṣṇa is the center. Find his lecture. He'll never say Kṛṣṇa. Missing. Kṛṣṇa is missing. Similarly, so many... One French professor has admitted, Aurobindo or Dr. Radhakrishnan, they have written Bhagavad-gītā, annotation, so many others also, but Kṛṣṇa is missing. They're faulty. Kṛṣṇa is missing. Through Bhagavad-gītā, they want to make the society Kṛṣṇa-less. That is their policy. So nothing has become... For the last two hundred, three hundred years, from India so many swamis, yogis came. But because they missed Kṛṣṇa, it was all useless. And now this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement, because we are making Kṛṣṇa as the center, you see practically, thousands of devotees. Successful.

Lecture on SB 7.5.30 -- Mauritius, October 2, 1975:

Prabhupāda: Twenty-two. Since your birth you have died already twenty-two years. Do you know that? Suppose if you'll live for eighty years, out of that twenty-two years minus, that means you have already died twenty-two years. Is it not?

Devotee: (French)

Guest (1): (French)

Puṣṭa-kṛṣṇa: (translating) How does reincarnation happen when one dies?

Prabhupāda: Now, first of all, you have to admit this, that since your birth you have already died twenty-two years. Do you admit or not?

Guest (1): Yes.

Lecture on SB 7.5.30 -- Mauritius, October 2, 1975:

Guest (2): No, you see, I think... (French) You see, these gentlemen want to know whether reincarnation..., reincarnation, whether after death we come back.

Prabhupāda: It is a common sense. You were a child, so that body is dead, and now you are young man. So is it not incarnation?

Guest (2): (French) The same body, different stage in life...

Prabhupāda: Not the same body. Not the same body. (laughter)

Guest (2): No, not the same body. It is the same soul, and the body alters, you see, because the different stages, the structure... (French)

Lecture on SB 7.5.30 -- Mauritius, October 2, 1975:

Guest (2): No, not the same body. It is the same soul, and the body alters, you see, because the different stages, the structure... (French)

Prabhupāda: Brahmānanda, you come this side. Come this side. It is not the same body. When... When...

Guest (1): (French)

Guest (2): What he want to know, whether the end of the world...

Prabhupāda: No, first of all his question is incarnation. (laughter) You don't talk big, big words. First of all let him understand what is his question. The question is that after death how he is incarnated. That he can understand from the present life. His childhood body is dead, and he still has got a body. This is incarnation.

Guest (2): How do you understand that the end of the world?

Prabhupāda: No, first of all, your first question should be answered.

Lecture on SB 7.5.30 -- Mauritius, October 2, 1975:

This soul is eternal. It is... The soul is covered by two kinds of body. One is subtle body. Just like you have got your mind; I have got my mind. Do you see your mind? Do I see your mind? (second guest translates into French) So the soul is carried by two kinds of body. One body is this gross, made of earth, water, air, sky, like that. And the other... They are like shirt and coat. This is the coating, and there is another body, shirt, which is made of mind, intelligence, and ego. So when this gross body is finished, the subtle body is there. So at the time of your death the mental condition will carry you to a similar body. (Puṣṭa-kṛṣṇa translates) (break) This mental body you do not see. Therefore you say that this man is dead. It is not dead. The gross body is changed, and the mental body carries him to another gross body. (second guest translates) Any other question? That's all right. (end)

Lecture on SB 7.6.1-2 -- Stockholm, September 6, 1973:

A fruit, if you take from the tree, if it is not ripened, you can keep in a store and it gets by temperature... That ripened fruit and the fruit actually ripened in the tree, there is difference in taste. So this Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is compared as the ripened fruit. Nigama-kalpa taror galitaṁ phalam (SB 1.1.3). So we have translated this Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. This is one part, here, you can see. In sixty parts. In the Bhāgavatam there are eighteen thousand verses and we are trying to place before you in English translation, and gradually, in other language also. It is being translated in German language, in French language and Spanish. Gradually. Some of our books are being published by Macmillan company, and they are being distributed. What is the name of that?

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

Actually mind carries you to the next body. So mind goes with you. The material mind, material ego, material intelligence become nil when you are completely liberated. But at that time your spiritual mind acts. It is not very difficult to understand. Somebody is acting under the impression... Just like one of our students, he was acting under the impression that he is Frenchman and doing something subversive, and now he is thinking that "I am Kṛṣṇa's." (chuckles) He has stopped all those nonsense. (break) When he was thinking that he's a Frenchman, that mind was there. And now he's thinking that "I am Kṛṣṇa's," the mind is there. So where is the chance of losing the mind? You want to question anything? (break) This boy?

Lecture on SB 7.9.12-13 -- Montreal, August 20, 1968:

Janārdana: (translates into French)

Prabhupāda: Just like a child. He does not ask anything from his parents. The parents are careful to supply everything he needs. Similarly, God is already careful to supply our needs. Just like in the beast society, bird society, they do not pray. They haven't got any church. They do not go to the church to pray, "My dear Lord, father, give us our daily grains," but they are supplied without prayer. So that arrangement is already there. Therefore one who is intelligent, his prayer should be simply gratitude, that "My dear father, You have supplied the necessities of my life so much amply, I must be feeling very grateful. So these preparations I have made for You because it is Your goods. You have supplied these grains, so You kindly first of all take. Then I will take." So Kṛṣṇa-prasādam. This is Kṛṣṇa-prasādam, acknowledgement. So we are not prepared even to do that, neither we are prepared to follow the rules and regulation. We must follow the rules and regulation, what is allotted for us or what should be offered to Kṛṣṇa. If we want to offer Kṛṣṇa something, then we must offer such things which Kṛṣṇa wants to eat. So we do not know, neither we care to know. We simply ask, "Oh, give me my bread or grains.

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

So the Lord appears with two missions. Paritrāṇāya sādhūnām: just to rescue the devotees or the persons in goodness, sādhu. Sādhu. There is description, definition of who is a sādhu. Sādhu means saintly person. In French language, I think it called saint? Saint? But actually the saint is in Sanskrit language also. Santa. Santa. Santaḥ sadaiva hṛdayeṣu vilokayanti. In Sanskrit language the saintly persons are called santa. Maybe it is Latin derivative, because in Latin there are many words resembling Sanskrit. And Professor Rowe, a great English scholar in India, an Englishman, professor in Presidency College, he wrote one grammar, English grammar. In our childhood we had to read. He has stated that "Sanskrit is the mother of all languages."

Lecture on SB 7.9.18 -- Mayapur, February 25, 1976:

Just like in your country, Mr. Max Mueller, he's very famous as translator of Vedas. But... Many scholars, they have read the translation of Max Mueller, but nobody could understand what is the purpose of Vedas because he's not in the line. He's useless. Similarly, that French professor, he has mentioned specially... In comparison to my writing—he has rejected even Aurobindo and Dr. Radhakrishnan. Yes, that is right. What Dr. Radhakrishnan, Aurobindo, knows about Kṛṣṇa consciousness? Because they are not in the line. They simply tried to exhibit their erudite scholarship. So that is useless. Nāyam ātmā pravacanena labhyo na medhayā na bahunā śrutena. This is the injunction given in the Vedas. Ayam ātmā, self-realization, God realization... Nāyam ātmā bala-hīnena labhyaḥ: "One who has no spiritual strength, he cannot understand." It is not possible. Nāyam ātmā bala hīnena... Na medhayā. If you have got very good fertile brain for manufacturing concocted ideas, that doesn't mean you'll be able to understand Kṛṣṇa.

Nectar of Devotion Lectures

The Nectar of Devotion -- Bombay, December 26, 1972:

Marshall Foch. He was in charge of the French centers. So the Belgium, there were many refugees from Belgium, most women and children. So they came to France. And in charge was Mis..., Marshall Foch. So this Mr. MacPherson, he told me that "We were officers. We informed that so many refugees have come from Belgium. What to do." Then Marshall became very angry. You see. He became very... "What can I do? In this battlefield?" So it was ordered that they should be killed. So actually it so happened that all these women and children, they were assembled together, and four guns from four sides, they were blown up. You see. Their own alliance. Not alliance, what it is called? Allies, allies.

Arrival Addresses and Talks

Arrival Lecture -- Paris, July 20, 1972:

A learned man sees all of them on the equal level because a learned man who is actually on the spiritual platform, he knows that "Here is a dog and here is a learned brāhmaṇa. By their karma they have got different dress only, but within the brāhmaṇa, within the dog the same spirit soul is there." So our material platform we distinguish, "I am Indian, you are Frenchman, he's Englishman, he's American, he's cat, he's dog." This is the vision of the material platform. In the spiritual platform we can see that every living entity is part and parcel of God, as it is confirmed in the Bhagavad-gītā: mām evāṁśa jīva-bhūta. Every living entity. It doesn't matter what he is. There are 8,400,000 species of forms, but all of them, they're covered only by different dresses. Just like you Frenchmen, you may be differently dressed, and Englishman may be differently dressed. But dress is not very important. The man within the dress, he's important.

Srila Prabhupada Welcomed by Governor at Hotel De Ville -- Geneva, May 30, 1974:

Prabhupāda: I can speak in English?

Guru-gaurāṅga: (he asks in French) The president says that you may speak directly in English, no translation needed.

Prabhupāda: So Mr. President and Ladies and Gentlemen, the kind words that you have spoken to receive me, I thank you very much for the same.(?) Our preaching principle is bhāgavata-dharma, and we do not say "This is Christian religion" or "Hindu religion" or "Muhammadan religion." We speak the science of God.

Srila Prabhupada Welcomed by Governor at Hotel De Ville -- Geneva, May 30, 1974:

And if he actually understands, then his position becomes brahma-bhūtaḥ, self-realized, prasannātmā. Immediately he becomes jubilant. There is no more any cause of moroseness. That is the symptom. Brahma-bhūtaḥ prasannātmā na śocati na kāṅkṣati (BG 18.54). Then there is no more hankering or lamentation. Samaḥ sarveṣu bhūteṣu. At that stage, brahma-bhūtaḥ stage, we can see everyone, spirit soul. I don't see an American or a Swiss gentleman or a French gentleman or a cat or dog or tree, but I see the spirit soul. That, in that spiritual state, brahma-bhūtaḥ stage, samaḥ sarveṣu bhūteṣu, one can see that within this body there is the spirit soul, and he wants to work for benefit of the spirit soul, not for the temporary body.

Srila Prabhupada Welcomed by Governor at Hotel De Ville -- Geneva, May 30, 1974:

Guru-gaurāṅga: (has conversation with someone in French) The president would like to talk to you for a few minutes.

Prabhupāda: Yes. Give me little water. (more French conversation) I was formally received by the French Cardinal.

Guru-gaurāṅga: Danielou.

Prabhupāda: Daniel. (French)

Guru-gaurāṅga: He says that the discussion you had with the Cardinal was very interesting.

Srila Prabhupada Welcomed by Governor at Hotel De Ville -- Geneva, May 30, 1974:

Prabhupāda: Yes. Unless you come to that position of understanding, that "I am not this body," real spiritual knowledge does not begin. (French conversation)

Guru-gaurāṅga: Understanding the philosophy, Monsieur de President does not understand why we find it necessary to dress differently, though.

Prabhupāda: The different dress means as you have paid for it. Just like we can go to a tailor, he will supply you dress according to the payment you can make. Similarly, according to our karma, according to our work, we are given a type of body by the material nature. That is stated in the Bhagavad-gītā. Prakṛteḥ kriyamāṇāni guṇaiḥ karmāṇi sarvaśaḥ (BG 3.27). According... Because actually I do not possess this material body, but because I am in this material world, I am given a type of body by the material nature according to my work. (French conversation)

Arrival Address -- Paris, June 8, 1974:

We have no brain, we are all not very intelligent. But we can understand if there is the active principle soul within this body, there must be a Supersoul within this huge structure of body. And that is called God. Mohitaṁ nābhijānāti mām ebhyaḥ param avyayam (BG 7.13). Those who are bewildered, narādhamāḥ. Narādhamāḥ, the lowest of the mankind. These things cannot be understood by the cats and dogs. Their body is constituted in such a way that they cannot think of there is an active principle within the body and there is active principle in this huge gigantic body. The cats and dogs cannot understand, but a human being can understand. And that active principle is Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa means all-attractive. As the active principle within this body is all-attractive, this beautiful body of French boys and girls, why? The active principle is there; therefore they are attractive. Many people come to see your city. Why? The active principle is there.

Arrival Address -- Paris, June 8, 1974:

If you simply try to understand Kṛṣṇa, the result will be that after giving up this body, you will not accept any more material body. You will remain in your spiritual body and go back to home, back to Godhead. That is your eternal life, blissful, full of knowledge. That is wanted. Otherwise, now you have got this very beautiful body, French girl, French boy, if you don't take to Kṛṣṇa consciousness, if you lose the opportunity, then you may get, because you have got very good friend, dogs. So yaṁ yaṁ vāpi smaran bhāvam (BG 8.6), so at the time of dying, you will think of dog and you will get a body of dog. This is a fact. Because you are under the grip of material nature. Prakṛteḥ kriyamāṇāni guṇaiḥ karmāṇi sarvaśaḥ (BG 3.27). As you infect some disease, you must suffer from that disease. Similarly, the infection of ignorance, tamo-guṇa, will give you a tamo-guṇa body.

Arrival Address -- Paris, August 11, 1975:

(devotee translates into French throughout)

Prabhupāda: (leads chanting of Jaya Rādhā-Mādhava.) So I am very much pleased to come to this village of France. Caitanya Mahāprabhu's prediction that pṛthivīte āche yata nagarādi grāma.... Grāma means village. Sarvatra pracāra haibe mora nāma. (CB Antya-khaṇḍa 4.126) Everywhere the glories of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu will be spread. So by His grace, we are doing that in America, in Europe, Africa, Australia. Village to village, town to town we are preaching the mission of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu.

So why we are preaching? What is the necessity of preaching? The necessity is to make them happy. If we follow the Caitanya Mahāprabhu's instruction, then our life will be successful and we will be happy. And the process is very simple: chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa. There is no very hard and fast rule for chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra. In any position, in any place, in any circumstance, you can very easily chant this Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra. Even small children, they also take part, chant Hare Kṛṣṇa and dance with the elderly father and mother. So there is very good potency if we simply chant this Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra.

Arrival Address -- Paris, August 11, 1975:

There is no question of fraternity or equality. Just like in animal life, there is no question of fraternity or equality. Similarly, if we keep ourself in the bodily concept of life, that is animal life. So long we keep ourself as :I am French man," "I am German man," "I am English man," "I am Indian man," or so many there are nationalities, there cannot be any fraternity, equality. We have come to the platform of Kṛṣṇa consciousness, or brahma-bhūtaḥ, then there will be fraternity, equality. And factually you can see in this movement all classes of men, all nationality, all religion, all color, they are coming together and chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa and dancing. This is wanted. So don't be misled by the leaders of so-called eternity and fraternity. It is not possible. That are called andhā yathāndhair upanīyamānās (SB 7.5.31), just like a blind man is trying to lead other blind men.

Arrival Address -- Paris, August 11, 1975:

It is not possible. That are called andhā yathāndhair upanīyamānās (SB 7.5.31), just like a blind man is trying to lead other blind men. So come to this platform of Kṛṣṇa consciousness, this fraternity and equality, also eternity. Eternity means that we living entities, we are eternal, we never die or never take birth. That is stated in the Bhagavad-gītā. Now we have got French edition of Bhagavad-gītā, you will find there. Have you got that book here? No. You will find in that book, na jāyate na mriyate vā kadācit nityaḥ śāśvato 'yaṁ na hanyate hanyamāne śarīre (BG 2.20). You will find this verse that we living entities, we have no birth and no death. Na jāyate. You can read that verse in French. In the Second Chapter you will find. (devotee reads Sanskrit verse and translation in French) Purport is there? Go on. (laughter) Do serious, don't laugh. (devotee reads purport in French)

Arrival Address -- Paris, August 11, 1975:

So this human form of life is given by nature for fulfilling our spiritual necessities. But if we neglect, then... Read this verse from Bhagavad-gītā. Who will read? Where he has gone, Yogeśvara? Yes, read that. Yaṁ yaṁ vāpi smaran loke tyajaty ante kalevaram (BG 8.6). Find out this verse and read it. Eighth Chapter, I think. (Yogeśvara reads Bg. 8.6 in French)

So in the Western countries, they are very much fond of keeping best friend, the dog. So at the time of death if you think of your favorite dog, then in next life you become dog. But you cannot surpass the nature's law. This is the nature's law. So one gentleman, what is his name? Fisher? In Detroit, he had two dogs, and he buried them in silver casket. He was very rich man and his house is very big palace. But at the time of death, if he was thinking of this dog, and if he becomes dog next, then what is the value of this material advancement?

General Lectures

Speech to Maharaja and Maharani and Conversations Before and After -- Indore, December 11, 1970:

Here is a Japanese boy also. So the world is taking very serious situation. All over the world they are appreciating. Your Highnesses will be pleased to see how many books we have published. Perhaps you have seen one of them, Kṛṣṇa. That is published in two parts. We have got our magazine, Back to Godhead, in five languages: English, French, German, and Japanese, Hindi, and Bengali. Of course Bengali is going to be out. Hindi is already out. So we are doing these activities, and we have a mind that we may open a center in a nice city like Indore under your patronization. Although I know that at the present moment the time is different, still, if you like, you can help us in so many ways. In our Indian parable it is said that "A dead elephant is also one lakh of rupees." Elephant, living or dead, still, it is valuable. Mara hati laksa (?).

Lecture at World Health Organization -- Geneva, June 6, 1974:

Guru-gaurāṅga: This is our monthly magazine which we publish in French language, and this is a presentation book which shows the scope of our activities in the world. Our center is open, admission is free. There is no cost or pain to come, and if you only learn one thing, where is the question of loss? Kṛṣṇa consciousness means that everyone can win something for the benefit of everyone else.

Guest (3) (Indian man): There is one thing, Swamijī, if I may, which I cannot reconcile. As an Indian, the question bothers me very, very often. I believe in a great many things which you say. There's no question about that. I'm not a Westernized Indian. But what I cannot reconcile is the fact that we who had this Vedic knowledge and all the things which you have just now said is the solution to all our problems, with all this knowledge, we have not been able to keep our society free from so many evils to come... I'm not only referring to the poverty, but to the other things...

Prabhupāda: No. It is due to bad leaders. It is due to bad leaders.

Lecture at the Hare Krsna Festival at La Salle Pleyel -- Paris, June 14, 1974:

(I offer my obeisances to Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya, Prabhu Nityānanda, Śrī Advaita, Gadādhara, Śrīvāsa and all others in the line of devotion.)

(break) ...kindly taking part in this saṅkīrtana movement. (translated into French throughout by Jyotirmayī dāsī) This saṅkīrtana movement means vibration of the transcendental sound. In the beginning of creation, sound is the origin of all creation. That is admitted in the Bible also. (aside:) Where is that paper? Yes. Read it. We are reading a passage from your Bible.

Lecture at the Hare Krsna Festival at La Salle Pleyel -- Paris, June 14, 1974:

So according to Vedic conception, any living entity, in any form of life, they are all part and parcel of God. (someone yells out, "No!" and yells some things in French) Your Bible says that in the beginning there was word only, and the word is God. So before the creation, the God was there. Then all the created creatures, wherefrom they came? They came from God. It is clearly stated in this verse, "All things were made by Him." So original creator of everything was God. Everything means including all, not only a certain person or certain thing. Everything means everything, all. So all things were made by God means..., "made by Him" means that all these creatures... There are different creatures, 8,400,000. They were created by God. One who creates, he is the father. Just like in the material sense also, a father creates his children. So how can you say "No"?

Lecture at the Hare Krsna Festival at La Salle Pleyel -- Paris, June 14, 1974:

Jyotirmayī: (French)

Prabhupāda: So now let us conclude that there is God and God's word, or God's vibration, means God is person. As soon as we accept the word of God, then we have to conclude that God is a person. Just like you are vibrating some words, I am vibrating some words. This means both of us, we are all persons. So the word of God and God is not different. But God is person and He speaks. If He speaks, then He hears, He smells, He eats—everything. All the activities are there. If He cannot hear, then our prayer to Him, "O God, give us our daily bread," is useless. So from this statement of the scripture, either you take it Bible or Bhagavad-gītā, it is understood that God is a person like you. That is the statement of the Vedas, nityo nityānāṁ cetanaś cetanānām eko yo bahūnāṁ vidadhāti kāmān (Kaṭha Upaniṣad 2.2.13), namely that God means He is the supreme being. In the dictionary also it is stated, "God means the Supreme Being." We are all beings, but God is the Supreme Being. Just like in every state, there are citizens, but there is one chief citizen. He is president or something like that. (noise in the audience)

Lecture at the Hare Krsna Festival at La Salle Pleyel -- Paris, June 14, 1974:

Prabhupāda: That you arrange. That arrange. No, you can ask. That's all.

Question: (French) (big applause)

Jyotirmayī: So he is saying that "You have been explaining what is God according to Bible and Bhagavad-gītā." So he wants to know if to be able to talk in that way you have met God, you have seen God, and if God has given you the authority for being seated on this vyāsāsana and receiving the obeisances of your disciples.

Prabhupāda: Yes. You can also get this position. If you know God and if you can speak about God, then you are also welcome to sit here and speak about God.

Lecture at the Hare Krsna Festival at La Salle Pleyel -- Paris, June 14, 1974:

Jyotirmayī: (translating) He says but he doesn't sit on a throne and he doesn't ask people to pay obeisances in front of him.

Prabhupāda: So if you want to hear me, I can get down from the throne. (big applause and yells) (some man makes an announcement in French) (general talk in French and many people yelling things out from the audience)

Jyotirmayī: He is saying two things. He is saying that when one wants to understand, he must act as a student.

Prabhupāda: Yes, that is good, very good. (people still yelling) Now let us chant Hare Kṛṣṇa. Chant. (end)

Evening Lecture -- Bhuvanesvara, January 19, 1977:

You say yes. (laughter) So, of course, English is international language, and because we are speaking in English, publishing in English, it has been possible to spread Kṛṣṇa consciousness throughout the whole world. (Bengali) (Gaura-Govinda translates) So we have first of all presented Bhagavad-gītā As It Is in English. Now it is being translated practically in all the languages of the world. (translated throughout) Our Bhagavad-gītā As It Is has been translated in all the European languages, namely French, German, Portuguese, Italian, Spanish, Swedish, in this way, in Europe. Whole America speaks in English. Whole Australia speaks in English. Besides that, in Asia, Chinese language and Japanese language, they have all translated.

Philosophy Discussions

Philosophy Discussion on Henri Bergson:

Prabhupāda: Yes. Otherwise there is no meaning of independence. Independence means you can do this, you can do that. "All right. Whatever you like."

Śyāmasundara: His conception of the soul, which he calls elan vital in French language, means the vital impulse.

Prabhupāda: Yes. Vital..., this is living force, vital force. (indistinct), it is never addressed. God has (indistinct) for the mind, for the intelligence, for the body, God has (indistinct).

Śyāmasundara: Is it (indistinct) in the same quantity in every body, in every living body?

Philosophy Discussion on Ludwig Wittgenstein:

Śyāmasundara: They would say that it is a combination of chemicals or some...

Devānanda: They postulated... The French philosophers at one point postulated that within the matter itself there is a potential of consciousness. They called it elan vital, living potential within matter, and when you put the matter together in certain positions, then that living potential is able to come out, and when the material nature changes again, it is no longer manifested.

Prabhupāda: That is another nonsense, because when the body becomes from the lump of matter, why that living potentiality, consciousness, does not come again?

Devānanda: Because the elements are no longer in suitable arrangement for life to be...

Philosophy Discussion on Jacques Maritain:

Śyāmasundara: Today's philosopher is called Jacques Maritain, and he's a French..., contemporary French philosopher, very influential, and he's a religionist. He believes in a personal God.

Prabhupāda: Still living?

Śyāmasundara: Yes. His main philosophy is that existence and essence are both there; that existence is not possible without essence. He defines existence to be..., er, essence to be potential and existence to be the actual. So that a thing, and everything that we can perceive, has both existence and, in other words, potentiality and actuality. For instance, this cup has the potentiality to be something else, to be a piece of metal, but in its actual form it is like this. But it has potentiality to become something else. So he says these two things—the essence and the existence-exist simultaneously.

Philosophy Discussion on Jean-Paul Sartre:

Śyāmasundara: Today's philosopher is called Jean-Paul Sartre. He is a contemporary French philosopher, and he is the father of this existentialism philosophy, which deals with the fundamental problem of dualism—that is, subject and object. He calls the object, the things of this world, he calls them "beings" because they exist, and he calls the subject, or the consciousness, individual consciousness, "nothingness," "no-thingness." This is a thing, but the individual entity is no thing, because it is constantly changing.

Prabhupāda: Why it is not thing?

Philosophy Discussion on Jean-Paul Sartre:

Śyāmasundara: Last time we didn't quite finish the last philosopher we're going to do in the modern times, namely Jean-Paul Sartre, a French philosopher. He is living now. His philosophy briefly is called existentialism. And last time we...

Prabhupāda: What does it actually mean, "existential"?

Śyāmasundara: It means that existence is prior to essence. In other words, the fact that I am first of all existing, living here, is the important thing, and that I determine what I am, my essence, as I unfold my life. Existence is the most important thing, prior to essence, what I am, my nature.

Prabhupāda: What is the essence and what is existence?

Philosophy Discussion on Jean-Paul Sartre:

Prabhupāda: Who is he?

Hayagrīva: The... He is a contemporary French philosopher.

Prabhupāda: Hm.

Hayagrīva: Probably the most famous of the French philosophers. Perhaps the most well known philosopher in this century. He calls himself an existentialist. He calls himself an atheistic existentialist in that he believes existence precedes essence. That the essence of man... According to creation by design, God has the essence of man in His mind, and He creates man just as a paper cutter creates some kind of a figure. Sartre doesn't believe this. He says, "Atheistic existentialism, which I represent, is more coherent. It states that if God does not exist, there is at least one being in whom existence precedes essence, a being who exists before he can be defined by any concept, and that this being is man, or human reality." So that for Sartre a human reality is all in all.

Prabhupāda: So wherefrom the human reality comes? There are no realities also, so why he is stressing on human realities?

Philosophy Discussion on Karl Marx:

Prabhupāda: There were so many revolutions. It is not that they have made revolution. There were other revolutions, especially in Europe, the French Revolution. There were so many revolutions.

Śyāmasundara: He studied the revolutions, and he said that history moves in leaps and progresses toward the Communist leap. So he wants to make a leap into the dictatorship of the proletariat, and this he calls the final stage of development of history.

Prabhupāda: No. We can say, and they may note it also, that after this, the Bolshevik Revolution, there will be many other revolutions, many other revolutions, because so long people will live on the mental plane there will be only revolution. That's all. Our proposition is, "Give up this mental concoction. Come to the right point. And that is spiritual platform." If one comes to that spiritual platform, that is... Just like Dhruva Mahārāja said, svāmin kṛtārtho 'smi varaṁ na yāce: (CC Madhya 22.42) "No more revolution.

Philosophy Discussion on Rene Descartes:

Hayagrīva: Descartes, Rene Descartes, the French... Descartes writes, "The power of forming a good judgment and of distinguishing the true from the false, which is, properly speaking, what is called good sense or reason, is by nature equal in all men. God has given to each of us some light with which to distinguish truth from error." Now in the West this has been called conscience, and Descartes uses the term "reason." Now is this simply a form of mental speculation, or is the...

Prabhupāda: No. Mental speculation should be there. It is not actually speculation but it is reasoning. Just like if we study our own body, whether I am this lump of matter, namely this skin, bone and stool, urine and muscle and blood... If we analyze this body we find practically these things. So the reasoning is that whether combination of these things can give life. So externally we have got all these things. Blood we can get from slaughterhouse, and bone we can collect, or you can manufacture and set up an instrument with these things. Will it be, bring life? So the reasoning is life is different from this lump of matter. That is reasoning.

Philosophy Discussion on Thomas Henry Huxley:

Hayagrīva: Well, Huxley is typically British. He wrote in...

Prabhupāda: He is a British or Frenchman?

Hayagrīva: Huxley, no, he was English, Englishman.

Prabhupāda: Oh.

Hayagrīva: He says, "By the Ganges ethical man admits that the cosmos is too strong for him..."

Prabhupāda: Yes.

Hayagrīva: "...and destroying every bond which ties him to it by ascetic discipline he seeks salvation in absolute renunciation."

Philosophy Discussion on Thomas Henry Huxley:

Hayagrīva: Well, at any rate he's dead now, so...

Prabhupāda: So therefore he is..., he is not surviving. He was...

Hayagrīva: He admits, he says, "This seems..."

Prabhupāda: Either you be Englishman or Frenchman or this man, you cannot survive. You have to succumb under the dictation of the superior nature. That is explained in the Bhagavad-gītā, that—I think Huxley read Bhagavad-gītā; he does not know-that,

prakṛteḥ kriyamāṇāni
guṇaiḥ karmāṇi sarvaśaḥ
ahaṅkāra-vimūḍhātmā
kartāham iti manyate
(BG 3.27)

This kind of conception, that "I shall survive, I am Englishman," this is a false egotism and bewildered soul. Whatever he may be, Englishman or this man or that man, he must die. That is the law of nature.

Philosophy Discussion on Thomas Henry Huxley:

Prabhupāda: Yes. We are acting under certain designation, that just like Mr. Huxley said a few minutes before, that "We are Englishmen." So this is designation. So, so long you will work under designation, there is no freedom. Because under false impression that "I am Englishman," "I am Frenchman," "Let me work in this way," that means you are entangling himself, yourself into some other way, so that today you are Englishman, next day you may be Frenchman or dog's man, that you are entangling yourself. But when you give up this designation, that "I am no man, no other's man, but I am Kṛṣṇa's man," then you will save yourself. Otherwise... Therefore to become Kṛṣṇa consciousness, conscious, is actual platform of freedom from karma.

Hayagrīva: So that there's no question of independent liberation?

Philosophy Discussion on Auguste Comte:

Hayagrīva: ...Frenchman, and he is known as a positivist. He felt that positivism reconciles the heart and the intellect. He felt that theology dealt solely with the heart or the sentiments and that philosophy dealt solely with the intellect, but positivism reconciled the two. He writes, "Positivism proves more efficient than theology yet at the same time terminates the disunion which has existed so long between the intellect and the heart. It is a fundamental doctrine of positivism, a doctrine of as great political as philosophical importance, that the heart preponderates over the intellect. When it is said that the intellect should be subordinate to the heart, what is meant is that the intellect should devote itself exclusively to the problems which the heart suggests, the ultimate object being to find proper satisfaction for our various wants," meaning material wants, as well as spiritual wants.

Prabhupāda: So we have got from Bhagavad-gītā that the gross understanding are the senses, though the still finer understanding is the mind, and then intellect, and then the soul. The soul is the original, basic principle of activities. So it becomes grosser, grosser, grosser, and when the soul acts on the platform of senses and body, these are gross activities.

Philosophy Discussion on Auguste Comte:

Hayagrīva: He believed in forming working men's clubs that would be dedicated to the philosophy of positivism. He wrote, "The real intention of the club is to form a provisional substitute for the church of old times." He's referring specifically to the Catholic Church; he's a Frenchman. "Or rather, the working man is to prepare the way for the religious building of the new form of worship, the worship of humanity."

Prabhupāda: What is that humanity? The working man does not know...

Hayagrīva: Humanity is all mankind.

Prabhupāda: All mankind to do what?

Hayagrīva: The worship of humanity, he spoke of, that the working man will usher in or introduce...

Page Title:French (Lectures)
Compiler:Visnu Murti, RupaManjari
Created:17 of Dec, 2011
Totals by Section:BG=0, SB=0, CC=0, OB=0, Lec=68, Con=0, Let=0
No. of Quotes:68