Health (Other Lectures)

Expressions researched:
"health" |"health's" |"healthful" |"healthfully" |"healthier" |"healthiest" |"healthily" |"healthiness" |"healthy"

Nectar of Devotion Lectures

The Nectar of Devotion -- Bombay, December 27, 1972:

These activities of Kṛṣṇa consciousness, it is, it appears to be ordinary activities, but that is liberated activity. Those who cannot understand the activities in liberation, nirviśeṣavādi, they think that in the conditioned state of life, there are activities; when one becomes liberated, he has no more activities, he becomes dumb. No. Actual activities begins in liberated... Just like a man, a diseased fellow, diseased fellow, lying on the bed, he's also eating. He's also sleeping. He's also passing stool, urine. But that is not real activity. When he becomes cured of the disease, come to his healthy life, and then again he walks, he eats, he sleeps, that is another, mean, a position of eating, sleeping. But one who cannot understand the liberated activities, they are shuddered. As soon as they think of activities, they think, "Oh, the activities, they, the..." The same patient who is suffering, for, suppose from birth, he cannot understand that there is activities after being cured of this disease. He cannot understand. He thinks activity means lying down on the bed and drinking all bitter medicine and pass stool and urine by using, what is called, that...?

Devotees: Bed pan. Bed pan.

Prabhupāda: Bed pan. He's thinking like that. He has no idea there is better activities, better sleeping, better eating. That he cannot understand. Therefore śūnyavādi. They want to make zero. "These activities are giving me so much trouble. Make it zero." Just like sometimes one cannot tolerate the pains of diseased condition. Sometimes they commit suicide—stop these activities. So the śūnyavādi, they are like that—committing suicide; stop these activities. But they do not know that there is activities. There are... After being cured of this material disease, when one is healthy... That healthy activities are the devotional activities. Therefore Kṛṣṇa says, māṁ ca avyabhicāriṇi yogena yaḥ sevate. Sevate means there is activities. It is not stoppage of activities. Sevate. Sevate means giving service. Giving service is not stopping activities. But that is a different type of activities, healthy activities. Therefore Kṛṣṇa says,

māṁ ca avyabhicāriṇi

bhakti-yogena yaḥ sevate

sa guṇān samatītyaitān

brahma-bhūyāya kalpate

(BG 14.26)

He's brahma-bhūtaḥ. He's self-realized. Self-realized. That is mukti. Muktir hitvā anyathā rūpaṁ svārupeṇa vyavasthitiḥ (SB 2.10.6). Mukti does not mean stopping activities. That is not mukti. That is suicidal. You are living entity. How you can stop? That is not possible.

The Nectar of Devotion -- Calcutta, January 28, 1973:

In the Bhāgavata also it is stated if a brāhmaṇa is in difficulty, he may accept the profession of a kṣatriya or a vaiśya, but never of a śūdra. Śūdra has been described there as dog. A dog, without having a master, he cannot live very nicely. Street dog is very wretched, but a dog under the care of a good master is very healthy and very happy. Similarly a śūdra cannot live without having a master.

The Nectar of Devotion -- Calcutta, January 29, 1973:

Just like if a man is ghostly haunted, he cannot have healthy condition. He's in a troubled condition, ghostly haunted. Bhūte pavana (?). So this is bhūte pavana, bhukti-mukti. That is the... Piśācī hṛdi vartate. Tāvad bhakti-sukhasya atra katham abhyudayo amale. So long these two piśācīs, witches, are there within the heart, how he can relish the transcendental bliss of devotional service? That is not possible.

Sri Caitanya-caritamrta Lectures

Lecture on CC Adi-lila 3.87-88 -- New York, December 27, 1966:

The Rāmacandra assistants, all the monkeys, what kind of engineers are they? They could bring, order, "Bring some stone." They had very good health. What is that? Gorilla. So they brought big, big stones, and they began to float. Now, one may inquire or may question, "How stone can float?" Why stone cannot float? If this big, big lump of matter, earthly planet and other planets, they are floating in the air, why the stone cannot float? If God likes, it will float.

Lecture on CC Adi-lila 7.108 -- San Francisco, February 18, 1967:

Bhaktijana: Did Kṛṣṇa create us to serve Him?

Prabhupāda: Yes.

Bhaktijana: And to enjoy us?

Prabhupāda: Yes. Very nice. So we should prepare ourselves to our healthy condition. That is our healthy condition. As soon as we understand that Kṛṣṇa created us... Kṛṣṇa created... There is no creation. Just like if I say that my hand is created, no, it is not created. As long as the body is there, the hand is there. Otherwise, there is no meaning of body. Similarly, we are not created. Kṛṣṇa is always there; we are also always there. And there are millions and millions of liberated souls who are engaged in Kṛṣṇa. They never misuse their independence. And we small quantity, we misused our independence. We wanted to enjoy separately. Therefore we are conditioned.

Lecture on CC Adi-lila 7.109-114 -- San Francisco, February 20, 1967:

Prabhupāda: The difference is between false ego and real ego. Just like ahaṁ brahmāsmi, aham... "I am Brahman." Oh, this is also ego. This is, this Vedic version that "I am Brahman. I am not this matter," so this ego is purified ego, that "I am this." So that "I" is always there. Either in illusion or delusion or dream or in healthy stage, the "I" is always there.

Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 20.120 -- Bombay, November 12, 1975:

Then actually, when he is mukta, then there is life in mukta. Mukta does not mean finished life. Just like if you become free from a certain type of disease. So after being cured there is duty. There is duty. Not that after being cured, the diseased also cured, and you are also cured. You are also finished. No. After the disease being cured, there is healthy activities.

Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 20.391-405 -- New York, January 2, 1967:

So we have to rectify ourself. Unless we approach to the spiritual stage... That is the process. Just like a diseased man, he cannot imitate the healthy man. A healthy man eats as he likes, but a diseased man, if he eats as he likes, he'll die. Death is sure. So he has to be restricted, not the healthy man. So if you want really happiness, if you want really freedom, and if you really want everything is reality, then you have to transfer yourself to the spiritual world, in association with Kṛṣṇa. That is the whole process of Kṛṣṇa consciousness.

Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 20.391-405 -- New York, January 2, 1967:

So if you want really happiness, if you want really freedom, and if you really want everything is reality, then you have to transfer yourself to the spiritual world, in association with Kṛṣṇa. That is the whole process of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. And for that purpose, just like a student for getting a degree in the university, he, I mean to say, tolerates all kinds of inconveniences—"Never mind. Let me pass and go away"—similarly, we have to make use, the best use of this bad bargain, this material body, and continue in Kṛṣṇa consciousness just to achieve the highest perfection of life, freedom, love. This is the process. And if we imitate... The same example. If we, in diseased state, if we imitate a healthy man's activities, then death is sure. Death is sure.

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

Their material existence is finished, but their spiritual development is not there. So finishing material existence is not all. Just like one man is suffering from fever, and the fever subsides. That is not health. Fever subsides. That's all right. Fever has subsided. But healthy life is when he will work as a healthy man. Simply saying, "No, no more fever," no more fever, lying down on the bed, is the nirvāṇa stage. No more fever. There is no fever, but he is not competent to get up from the bed and work. So that is called nirvāṇa.

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

So when material existence is finished, that is nirvāṇa. But you have to go further. You have to develop further. Then your real, constitutional life as spirit soul will be manifested. So that is bhakti-mārga. That activity is healthy life after nirvāṇa. So those who are in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, they have already passed this material existence and nirvāṇa stage. They are in healthy activities, provided he is actually engaged in Kṛṣṇa consciousness.

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

And doctor sometimes advise, "Cut it off. If you want to save your other parts of the body, then cut it off." Similarly, these conditioned souls, they are now conditioned, or in one way they are cut off from the original, I mean to say, relationship, forgetful. So if we want... If this hand wants to remain in healthy state, it is the duty of the hand to fulfill the obligation of the hand's duty, and then it remains very healthy condition.

Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 22.27-31 -- New York, January 15, 1967:

We are not whole. We are part and parcel. Just..., just the hand in healthy condition, as part and parcel of the body, is very nice. When the hand is working in his position, that position is very nice. But when it is not working—it is in diseased condition—do you think it is very nice? No. Paralyzed hand, simply in the name it is hand, but it has no function. So that sort of understanding, without actually reinstated in the healthy state of our spiritual life, simply thinking that "I am now spiritually realized; I am the Supreme," this is not pure.

Sri Isopanisad Lectures

Sri Isopanisad, Mantra 1 -- Los Angeles, May 4, 1970:

I'll have to change. So if I do not change for the better, then my life is very risky. Suppose a healthy man, if he is in the society of contamination, is it not his life is very risky? He may be contaminated and infected by disease any moment. So this ignorance should be dissipated. Here it is said that such a devotee can properly discharge his duty of human life.

Festival Lectures

Srila Krsnadasa Kaviraja Gosvami's Appearance Day -- Vrndavana, October 19, 1972:

And a great trade is going on in India, everywhere, in your country also—cigarettes. It has no necessity, but simply for the satisfaction, temporary satisfaction of the tongue, this great trade is going on. So just vikarma. In this country, there is no such government... But in your country, perhaps you know, in every cigarette package, packet it is written it is dangerous for health or what is that?

Devotee: Yes, yes. "Warning: The surgeon general has determined that cigarette smoking may be hazardous to your health."

Prabhupāda: Yes. So the warning is there. But still they're smoking. Why? Pramattaḥ. And vikarma. They have given warning that it is not good for health. Warning is there in every cigarette package, packet, but because he has become mad after that bidi and cigarette, he kurute vikarma. Although it is forbidden, he's still taking advantage of it.

His Divine Grace Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Gosvami Prabhupada's Disappearance Day, Lecture -- Bombay, December 22, 1975:

Science means fact. I am not this body. I am spirit soul. That is, just like a man suffering from some disease, so that is not his normal life to suffer from some disease. Normal life is to keep healthy life, no disease. That is normal life. So in order to keep to the normal life, we must know how to cure the disease.

Varaha-dvadasi, Lord Varaha's Appearance Day Lecture -- Bhuvanesvara, January 31, 1977:

Why I am put into this condition of birth, death, old age, and disease. This is my disease. This is not healthy condition. So one who is sober, dhīra, he understands that "This is my tuberculosis disease state." We should restrict all the so-called material happiness and prepare for the spiritual life, eternal life That is a human consciousness.

His Divine Grace Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Gosvami Prabhupada's Appearance Day, Lecture -- Los Angeles, February 7, 1969:

They are all students of my Guru Mahārāja. And there was a meeting in Midnapur district. The subject matter "Brāhmaṇas and Vaiṣṇavas." So in that meeting Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura was invited. At that time he was not in healthy condition, indisposed. So he asked Sarasvatī Ṭhākura that "You go and speak there." So he spoke on the distinction between brāhmaṇas and Vaiṣṇavas, and he defeated so many learned paṇḍitas.

Arrival Addresses and Talks

Arrival Address -- Paris, August 11, 1975:

So now by the grace of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, this movement has come to your country, and especially in a nice village like this, utilize it properly. It is a very ideal place. Not only this, there are many thousands of places like this. People should take advantage to live in such nice place, produce their necessities of life, and keep them fit and chant Hare Kṛṣṇa and realize self. We don't say that you starve or become weak in health or weak in intelligence. No. You remain quite fit in intelligence and health, but don't be unnecessarily in need.

Arrival Address -- Mauritius, October 1, 1975:

Every one of them is thinking on the bodily platform: "I am Indian," "I am American," "I am German," and "I am Englishman," like that. Therefore there is no solution because the basic principle is wrong. Unless we understand what is the wrong on the active principle of the body, the problems cannot be solved, just like if you cannot diagnose the disease, simply by symptomatic treatment you cannot make the man healthy. That is not possible.

Arrival Address -- Mauritius, October 1, 1975:

So our Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is not on the bodily concept of life. It is the movement on the basic principle of the soul—what is the soul, what is the soul's necessity, how the soul will be peaceful, happy. Then everything will be all right. The same example, that if you are healthy, it doesn't matter what kind of dress you are putting on; you will feel happy. But if you are diseased and if your dress is very nice, that will not give you any happiness. Because you have got a very nice dress and you are diseased, suffering from some pains, the dress will not give you happiness. You must be healthy. Then it doesn't matter, whatever dress you are putting on.

Arrival Address -- Mauritius, October 1, 1975:

The another point is that Lord is perfect. He doesn't require our service, but if we are engaged in His service, that is our healthy condition. Just like this finger is part and parcel of my body. Now I am asking this finger, "Keep like this. Move like this." This is healthy condition of the finger. But if I want to take service from the finger in some way but if the finger cannot serve me, this means unhealthy condition.

Initiation Lectures

Initiation Lecture -- San Francisco, March 10, 1968:

It is very easy, always thinking of Kṛṣṇa. And those who have taken already, they are thinking of Kṛṣṇa, and they are making progress both, I mean to say... Their health is improving; their mind is becoming very nice. So you will be also feeling. There is no need of talking. You will yourself feel, but you must follow. And there are ten kinds of offenses. That also, you should avoid. And these rules and regulations.

Talk, Initiation Lecture, and Ten Offenses Lecture -- Los Angeles, December 1, 1968:

Apavitraḥ means contaminated, and pavitra means liberated. So we have two conditions. Either... Just like either we are healthy or we are diseased. There is no third condition.

Initiation Lecture -- Boston, December 26, 1969:

But people with less intelligence, they think formless means there's no form. Formless means not this form. This is anyathā rūpam. This is different from our real form. So mukti means to give up this unreal form and accept your real form. Just like freedom from disease. Get free from the diseased condition and come to real healthy life.

Initiation Lecture -- London, August 22, 1971:

So just like here also, the father is diseased, the son gets the body diseased, infects. If the father is healthy, the son is also healthy, child is also healthy. Similarly, if Kṛṣṇa is sac-cid-ānanda vigraha, if Kṛṣṇa is the original father, then we are also sac-cid-ānanda vigraha (Bs. 5.1).

Wedding Ceremonies

Paramananda & Satyabhama's Wedding -- Montreal, July 22, 1968:

From the very beginning of their life they are allowed to mix freely, and they are allowed to enjoy sex life unrestricted. This is neither good for their health nor for education. So therefore we are getting now the result of education: communists and hippies. So people, those who are guardians of the society, should take serious note of it and make life very regulated.

General Lectures

Lecture -- Seattle, October 11, 1968:

They are not practicing breathing exercise or sitting exercise. No. They are ordinary boys and girls. But simply by chanting they are making practical progress. Their health, their character, their mode of living—everything is increasing, developing. And spiritual advancement means all goodness. It does not mean that a man is spiritually advanced and doing all nonsense.

Class in Los Angeles -- Los Angeles, November 15, 1968:

Sometimes they say like that: "Give me some poison, kill me. I cannot tolerate." A physician says, "Yes, there is no need of killing. I shall give you good, healthy life." He's so much impatient, "No. I cannot tolerate. Please kill me." So this Buddha philosophy, Māyāvāda philosophy is like that. Kill him "Kill me, please. Make me zero, void." So much frustration. So much disturbance that they want to make it zero. But our philosophy is life, real life.

Lecture -- Los Angeles, December 4, 1968:

Hṛṣīka, hṛṣīka means senses purified by being freed from designation. When it is purified in connection with activities of Kṛṣṇa, or God, then he can render service to the Lord, Hṛṣīkeṇa. That is called bhakti. This is bhakti. Bhakti is nothing artificial. It is the activity of healthy stage. Just like a man, when he is diseased, his activities are differing from the man who is cured and healthy. To become healthy does not mean to kill the patient. To kill..., not to kill him, but to cure him from the disease, that is real treatment. The whole treatment of the human society should be like that: to cure him from the disease of forgetfulness his relationship with God. Then when he is cured, when he is in healthy state, then there will be no more trouble in the world.

Lecture Engagement and Prasada Distribution -- Boston, April 26, 1969:

Guest (5): Should not one try to purify one's heart first and personality?

Prabhupāda: Yes. That will go. Just like if you take proper medicine for curing your disease, the more the disease is cured, you feel healthy life. Pure life means healthy life, and impure life means unhealthy life. So there is a process of bhakti-yoga, how one becomes purified. The first stage is ādau śraddhā.

Lecture at International Student Society -- Boston, May 3, 1969:

It is pleasure because the physician is taking him to the healthy state of life. So as soon as he gets that he is getting healthy or he is getting out of the diseased condition, that becomes pleasurable—"Oh, yes, I am being cured. I am being cured." So apart from that point of view, it is not the question of whether it is pleasurable or nonpleasurable, but (if) you want to cure yourself from the disease, you have to follow the directions. That is the process.

Lecture at Engagement -- Columbus, may 19, 1969:

And you are seeking after that joyfulness, that pleasure, because by nature you are joyful. By nature... It is your nature. Just like a diseased man, that diseased condition is not his nature. Healthy condition is his nature; therefore he is trying to be healthy. Every diseased man is trying how to get healthy, how to get health. Similarly, this position, this present consciousness of material existence is full of threefold miseries.

Lecture -- New Vrindaban, June 22, 1969:

The girls who are here, they should prepare nice prasādam so that the boys, in time they can get their prasādam, timely. This is the duty. And they must be given timely breakfast, lunch prasādam. They will work hard. And the churning business is for the girls. That will keep your health very nice.

Lecture at Harvard University -- Boston, December 24, 1969:

Human being must have discretion what kind of food will be just suitable for my health, for my intelligence, for my brain. So these things are prescribed. If we eat things which are in goodness... They are prescribed in the Vedic literature that wheat, rice, sugar, milk product, vegetables, fruits, these things are in goodness. So if you want to increase your quality of goodness, that is required for God realization.

Lecture at Harvard University -- Boston, December 24, 1969:

So your eating should be arranged within this group: rice, wheat, sugar, milk product, vegetables, and fruits. In your country you have got enough nice grains, nice fruits, enough supply of milk, butter. So there is no question of accepting any other food. You can accept foodstuff within this group and become healthy and good brain, good conscience. You can engage yourself in God consciousness.

Lecture -- Detroit, July 16, 1971:

Why you are searching after happiness? Because constitutionally you are happy. Just like when we fall diseased we go to the doctor, physician, to cure the disease. Why? Because constitutionally we are healthy. To remain healthy is our normal life, and to fall diseased condition, that is not normal; that is abnormal. Therefore we go to the physician, take medicine, ask treatment, "How shall I be cured?" Similarly, we are searching after happiness.

Lecture -- Bombay, March 18, 1972:

We have to purify our existence. Just like if you become feverish, you have to purify yourself from the feverish condition, come to the healthy condition, then you can enjoy life. You cannot enjoy life in diseased condition. That is not possible.

Rotary Club Lecture -- Ahmedabad, December 8, 1972 'The Present Need of Human Society':

People are not very merciful now. Especially in the Western countries, if one is attacked by another, people will pass. Nobody will care for that. He may be killed. People do not show any mercy. And kṣamā. Kṣamā means forgiveness. That is also being reduced. Memory reduced, merciful reduced, span of life reduced, bodily strength reduced, health is reduced. This is the symptom of Kali-yuga.

Lecture at Indo-American Society 'East and West' -- Calcutta, January 31, 1973:

If we see one house, nicely cleansed, there is light and everything is in order, we can understand there is resident. Similarly, when the proprietor of the body is there, the body is healthy... (break) ...That is the conception of existence of the soul. Nobody can deny it.

Lecture -- London, August 26, 1973:

In the Bhagavad-gītā it is said if you want to be a yogi or spiritualist, you should not take more than what you can digest, what can you eat. Yuktāhāra. You can satisfy your hunger, but according to yogic principle. Or from health point of view, even if you can eat so much, you can understand that "I can eat so much," you should not eat the whole thing. You should eat half. And one fourth you shall fill up with water, and one fourth you should leave vacant so that there may be ventilation, your digestion will be easily done. This is Āyurvedic law.

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

Prabhupāda: The solution is that... As soon as there is problem and you want solution... Suppose there is some problem in legal affairs. So you go to lawyer. When there is problems of your health, you go to the physician. Similarly, our Vedic instruction is for solution of this all chaotic condition, one should... Tad-vijñānārthaṁ sa gurum eva abhigaccet samit-pāṇiḥ śrotriyaṁ brahma-niṣṭham (MU 1.2.12). You have to approach persons who can make the solution. So that is, that is the injunction, tad-vijñānārthaṁ sa gurum eva abhigaccet. Who is guru? Guru means śrotriyam, who knows all the Vedic literature, the information.

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

Just like we have got our brain, our arms, our belly, our legs. They're all required. We cannot reject the legs and keep only hands. That is not possible. But the hands, leg, brain and belly should combine together to keep the body healthy. That is the aim.

Philosophy Discussions

Philosophy Discussion on Charles Darwin:

Karandhara: According to modern information, man now is living longer, is more healthy and is more well off than ever before.

Prabhupāda: That is another nonsense. I have seen my grandmother lived ninety-six years, but I don't expect I shall live ninety-six years. My father did not live more than eighty-one years; so gradually the span of life is decreasing. They are not healthy enough. Decreasing means they are not getting proper food or proper bodily comforts; therefore they're decreasing their life.

Philosophy Discussion on Henri Bergson:

Hayagrīva: But when a man becomes Kṛṣṇa conscious, could you say that he has become like a god or godlike?

Prabhupāda: He, that godlessness is diseased condition. So when he becomes in normal condition, that is Kṛṣṇa consciousness. His normal life is Kṛṣṇa consciousness. That is mukti. Mukti means liberation. What is that liberation? A man is suffering from fever. So if the fever is stopped by medicine and treatment, then he becomes in normal health. It does not mean that he, he changes his constitution. He is the same man, but on account of fever he was talking nonsense, in convul..., what is called, convulsion?

Philosophy Discussion on William James:

Śyāmasundara: His idea is that truth is created in the same manner as health and wealth are created.

Prabhupāda: Truth is not created. Health can be created, but truth is existing always. It is not created.

Philosophy Discussion on Soren Aabye Kierkegaard:

Śyāmasundara: They say that this is an authentic position, that it...

Prabhupāda: This is authentic position. We are serving Kṛṣṇa. This is authentic position. My position is part and parcel, to serve Kṛṣṇa. So actually I am engaged in service of Kṛṣṇa. That is my authentic position. This authentic position is at the present moment a little confused. But that now I am liberated, healthy, so if I continue healthy, that is my real position. Then I will keep always myself healthy. That's all. There is no change.

Philosophy Discussion on Arthur Schopenhauer:

Prabhupāda: In the Bhagavad-gītā it is stated, yaṁ yaṁ vāpi smaran bhāvaṁ tyajanty ante: (BG 8.6) we get next life according to the desire at the point of death. So generally, when death takes place, one sometimes remains in coma, all the bodily functions becomes defunct, he dreams in different ways and so on, so on. So he cannot dream or think independently. Therefore sometimes the intelligent class, they think that "If I meet death in sound health, then I can think of my next life, go back to home, back to Godhead, and I achieve it. Because at the time of death my thinking will be taken into consideration. So if by thinking of Jagannātha if I die, then I go back to Jagannātha."