Husk

Expressions researched:
"husk" |"husked" |"husking" |"husks"

SB Canto 2

There is no profit in beating husks without grains. Similarly, there is no profit in executing troublesome penances other than bhakti-yoga for self-realization.

SB 2.9.9, Purport:

The troubles of penance accepted by Lord Brahmā were certainly in the line of devotional service (bhakti). Otherwise there was no chance that Vaikuṇṭha or svalokam, the Lord's personal abodes, would become visible to Brahmājī. The personal abodes of the Lord, known as Vaikuṇṭhas, are neither mythical nor material, as conceived by the impersonalists. But realization of the transcendental abodes of the Lord is possible only through devotional service, and thus the devotees enter into such abodes. There is undoubtedly trouble in executing penance. But the trouble accepted in executing bhakti-yoga is transcendental happiness from the very beginning, whereas the trouble of penance in other processes of self-realization (jñāna-yoga, dhyāna-yoga, etc.), without any Vaikuṇṭha realization, ends in trouble only and nothing more. There is no profit in beating husks without grains. Similarly, there is no profit in executing troublesome penances other than bhakti-yoga for self-realization.

SB Canto 3

The example is given that there is no benefit in husking the skin of an empty paddy; the rice is already gone. Similarly, simply by the speculative process one cannot be freed from material bondage, for the cause still exists.

SB 3.27.20, Purport:

Devahūti very intelligently says, "One may theoretically analyze and say that by knowledge he has become freed, but actually, as long as the cause exists, he is not free." Bhagavad-gītā confirms that after performing such speculative activities for many, many births, when one actually comes to his real consciousness and surrenders unto the Supreme Lord, Kṛṣṇa, then the fulfillment of his research in knowledge is actually achieved. There is a gulf of difference between theoretical freedom and actual freedom from material bondage. The Bhāgavatam (10.14.4) says that if one gives up the auspicious path of devotional service and simply tries to know things by speculation, one wastes his valuable time (kliśyanti ye kevala-bodha-labdhaye). The result of such a labor of love is simply labor; there is no other result. The labor of speculation is ended only by exhaustion. The example is given that there is no benefit in husking the skin of an empty paddy; the rice is already gone. Similarly, simply by the speculative process one cannot be freed from material bondage, for the cause still exists. One has to nullify the cause, and then the effect will be nullified. This is explained by the Supreme Personality of Godhead in the following verses.

If we give up bhakti-yoga and simply busy ourselves in the analytical study of the nature of things as they are, then the result will be practically nil. It is stated in the Bhāgavatam that such engagement is something like husking a paddy. There is no use beating the husk if the grain has already been removed.

SB 3.29.1-2, Purport:

Sāṅkhya philosophy is the analytical study of all existence. One has to understand everything by examining its nature and characteristics. This is called acquirement of knowledge. But one should not simply acquire knowledge without reaching the goal of life or the basic principle for acquiring knowledge-bhakti-yoga. If we give up bhakti-yoga and simply busy ourselves in the analytical study of the nature of things as they are, then the result will be practically nil. It is stated in the Bhāgavatam that such engagement is something like husking a paddy. There is no use beating the husk if the grain has already been removed. By the scientific study of material nature, the living entity and the Supersoul, one has to understand the basic principle of devotional service to the Lord.

If one endeavors simply to achieve knowledge of the Absolute Truth or the Supersoul but has no devotional service, he labors without gaining the real result. This is compared to beating the husks of wheat after the grains have already been removed.

SB 3.33.26, Purport:

The real purpose of all processes of transcendental realization—jñāna-yoga, dhyāna-yoga or bhakti-yoga—is to arrive at the point of devotional service. If one endeavors simply to achieve knowledge of the Absolute Truth or the Supersoul but has no devotional service, he labors without gaining the real result. This is compared to beating the husks of wheat after the grains have already been removed. Unless one understands the Supreme Personality of Godhead to be the ultimate goal, it is valueless simply to speculate or perform mystic yoga practice. In the aṣṭāṅga-yoga system, the seventh stage of perfection is dhyāna. This dhyāna is the third stage in devotional service. There are nine stages of devotional service. The first is hearing, and then comes chanting and then contemplating. By executing devotional service, therefore, one automatically becomes an expert jñānī and an expert yogī. In other words, jñāna and yoga are different preliminary stages of devotional service.

SB Canto 4

SB 4.9.35, Translation:

Because of my state of complete foolishness and paucity of pious activities, although the Lord offered me His personal service, I wanted material name, fame and prosperity. My case is just like that of the poor man who, when he satisfied a great emperor who wanted to give him anything he might ask, out of ignorance asked only a few broken grains of husked rice.

An advanced devotee does not live within the material body but within his spiritual body, just as a dry coconut lives detached from the coconut husk, even though within the husk.

SB 4.22.26, Purport:

The individual soul is liberated when it comes out of the material heart or cleanses the heart to make it spiritualized. The example given here is very appropriate: yonim ivotthito'gniḥ. Agni, or fire, comes out of wood, and by it the wood is completely destroyed. Similarly, when a living entity increases his attachment for the Supreme Personality of Godhead, he is to be considered like fire. A blazing fire is visible by its exhibition of heat and light; similarly, when the living entity within the heart becomes enlightened with full spiritual knowledge and detached from the material world, he burns up his material covering of the five elements—earth, water, fire, air and sky—and becomes free from the five kinds of material attachments, namely ignorance, false egoism, attachment to the material world, envy and absorption in material consciousness. Therefore pañcātmakam, as mentioned in this verse, refers to either the five elements or the five coverings of material contamination. When these are all burned into ashes by the blazing fire of knowledge and detachment, one is fixed firmly in the devotional service of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Unless one takes shelter of a bona fide spiritual master and advances one's attraction for Kṛṣṇa by the spiritual master's instructions, the five coverings of the living entity cannot be uncovered from the material heart. The living entity is centered within the heart, and to take him away from the heart is to liberate him. This is the process. One must take shelter of a bona fide spiritual master and by his instruction increase one's knowledge in devotional service, become detached from the material world and thus become liberated. An advanced devotee, therefore, does not live within the material body but within his spiritual body, just as a dry coconut lives detached from the coconut husk, even though within the husk. The pure devotee's body is therefore called cin-maya-śarīra ("spiritualized body"). In other words, a devotee's body is not connected with material activities, and as such, a devotee is always liberated (brahma-bhūyāya kalpate), as confirmed in Bhagavad-gītā (14.26).

The example is already given above—a coconut which is dry is loosened from its outward husk. This is the stage of liberation.

SB 4.22.27, Purport:

As described by Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī (anyābhilāṣitā-śūnyam (CC Madhya 19.167)), one must be devoid of all material desires. When a person becomes devoid of all material desires, there is no longer need for speculative knowledge or fruitive activities. In that condition it is to be understood that one is free from the material body. The example is already given above—a coconut which is dry is loosened from its outward husk. This is the stage of liberation. As said in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (2.10.6), mukti (liberation) means svarūpeṇa vyavasthitiḥ—being situated in one's own constitutional position. All material desires are present as long as one is in the bodily concept of life, but when one realizes that he is an eternal servant of Kṛṣṇa, his desires are no longer material. A devotee acts in this consciousness. In other words, when material desires in connection with the body are finished, one is actually liberated.

SB Canto 6

Impersonalists generally undergo great endeavor for no tangible benefit, and therefore it is said that they are husking paddy that has no grain.

SB 6.14.5, Purport:

There are two kinds of jñānīs. One is inclined to devotional service and the other to impersonal realization. Impersonalists generally undergo great endeavor for no tangible benefit, and therefore it is said that they are husking paddy that has no grain (sthūla-tuṣāvaghātinaḥ). The other class of jñānīs, whose jñāna is mixed with bhakti, are also of two kinds—those who are devoted to the so-called false form of the Supreme Personality of Godhead and those who understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead as sac-cid-ānanda-vigraha (Bs. 5.1), the actual spiritual form. The Māyāvādī devotees worship Nārāyaṇa or Viṣṇu with the idea that Viṣṇu has accepted a form of māyā and that the ultimate truth is actually impersonal. The pure devotee, however, never thinks that Viṣṇu has accepted a body of māyā; instead, he knows perfectly well that the original Absolute Truth is the Supreme Person. Such a devotee is actually situated in knowledge. He never merges in the Brahman effulgence.

SB Cantos 10.14 to 12 (Translations Only)

SB 10.14.4, Translation:

My dear Lord, devotional service unto You is the best path for self-realization. If someone gives up that path and engages in the cultivation of speculative knowledge, he will simply undergo a troublesome process and will not achieve his desired result. As a person who beats an empty husk of wheat cannot get grain, one who simply speculates cannot achieve self-realization. His only gain is trouble.

SB 10.31.11, Translation:

Dear master, dear lover, when You leave the cowherd village to herd the cows, our minds are disturbed with the thought that Your feet, more beautiful than a lotus, will be pricked by the spiked husks of grain and the rough grass and plants.

SB 11.9.7, Translation:

The young girl feared that the men would consider her family to be poor because their daughter was busily engaged in the menial task of husking rice. Being very intelligent, the shy girl broke the shell bracelets from her arms, leaving just two on each wrist.

SB 11.9.8, Translation:

Thereafter, as the young girl continued to husk the rice, the two bracelets on each wrist continued to collide and make noise. Therefore she took one bracelet off each arm, and with only one left on each wrist there was no more noise.

CC Madhya-lila

CC Madhya 22.22, Translation and Purport:

"'My dear Lord, devotional service unto You is the only auspicious path. If one gives it up simply for speculative knowledge or the understanding that these living beings are spirit souls and the material world is false, he undergoes a great deal of trouble. He only gains troublesome and inauspicious activities. His endeavors are like beating a husk that is already devoid of rice. His labor becomes fruitless.'"

This is a verse from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (10.14.4).

CC Madhya 24.140, Translation and Purport:

"'My dear Lord, devotional service unto You is the only auspicious path. If one gives it up simply for speculative knowledge or the understanding that these living beings are spirit souls and the material world is false, he undergoes a great deal of trouble. He only gains troublesome and inauspicious activities. His actions are like beating a husk that is already devoid of rice. His labor becomes fruitless.'"

This is a quotation from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (10.14.4).

CC Madhya 25.31, Translation and Purport:

"'My dear Lord, devotional service unto You is the only auspicious path. If one gives it up simply for speculative knowledge or the understanding that these living beings are spirit souls and the material world is false, he undergoes a great deal of trouble. He only gains troublesome and inauspicious activities. His actions are like beating a husk that is already devoid of rice. His labor becomes fruitless.'"

This is a quotation from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (10.14.4).

Teachings of Lord Caitanya

"A person who beats an empty husk of wheat cannot get grain, and one who engages simply in speculative knowledge cannot achieve the desired result of self realization. The only gain is trouble."

Teachings of Lord Caitanya, Chapter 11:

It is accepted by all types of philosophers and transcendentalists that one who lacks knowledge cannot be liberated from material entanglement. Yet knowledge without devotional service cannot possibly award liberation. In other words, when jñāna, or the cultivation of knowledge, opens onto the path of devotional service, it can give one liberation, but not otherwise. This is also stated by Brahmā in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (SB 10.14.4):

śreyaḥ-srutiṁ bhaktim udasya te vibho

kliśyanti ye kevala-bodha-labdhaye

teṣām asau kleśala eva śisyate

nānyad yathā sthūla-tusāvaghātinām

"My dear Lord, devotional service unto You is the best path for self-realization. If someone gives up that path and engages in the cultivation of knowledge or in speculation, he will simply undergo a troublesome process and will not achieve his desired results. A person who beats an empty husk of wheat cannot get grain, and one who engages simply in speculative knowledge cannot achieve the desired result of self realization. The only gain is trouble."

When a person abandons the path of devotional service and simply labors for knowledge, he has no profit other than the trouble he takes to understand the difference between matter and spirit. It is useless labor to try to get grains from empty husks.

Teachings of Lord Caitanya, Chapter 21:

Without devotional service no one can attain liberation from the material clutches. Especially in this age, one can achieve the highest liberation simply by chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/ Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare. In Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (10.14.4) it is stated that when a person abandons the path of devotional service and simply labors for knowledge, he has no profit other than the trouble he takes to understand the difference between matter and spirit. It is useless labor to try to get grains from empty husks. Thus it is stated in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (10.2.32) that a person who gives up the transcendental loving service of the Supreme Lord and superficially considers himself liberated, never attains to liberation. With great labor, austerity and penance, he may be elevated to the liberated platform, but for want of shelter at the lotus feet of the Supreme Lord, he falls down again into material contamination.

Krsna, The Supreme Personality of Godhead

The attempt of persons who are interested only in speculative knowledge is simply wasted labor, like the labor of a person who attempts to gain something by beating an empty husk of rice paddy.

Krsna Book 14:

"By Your own grace only, You become revealed to a devotee. You are unconquerable by any other means. Speculative knowledge without any trace of devotional service is simply a useless waste of time in the search for You. Devotional service is so important that even a little attempt can raise one to the highest perfectional platform. One should not, therefore, neglect this auspicious process of devotional service and take to the speculative method. By the speculative method one may gain partial knowledge of Your cosmic manifestation, but it is not possible to understand You, the origin of everything. The attempt of persons who are interested only in speculative knowledge is simply wasted labor, like the labor of a person who attempts to gain something by beating an empty husk of rice paddy. A little quantity of paddy can be husked by the grinding wheel, and one can gain some grains of rice, but if the skin of the paddy has already been beaten by the grinding wheel, there is no further gain in beating even a huge quantity of the husk. It is simply useless labor."

"The gopīs are so fortunate that they can see and think of Kṛṣṇa twenty-four hours a day, beginning from their milking the cows or husking the paddy or churning the butter in the morning."

Krsna Book 44:

"We cannot estimate how many pious activities were executed by the damsels of Vrajabhūmi so that they were able to enjoy the Supreme Personality of Godhead by looking upon the unparalleled beauty of His transcendental body. The beauty of the Lord is beyond compare. No one is higher than or equal to Him in beauty of complexion or bodily luster. Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma are the reservoir of all kinds of opulence—namely wealth, strength, beauty, fame, knowledge and renunciation. The gopīs are so fortunate that they can see and think of Kṛṣṇa twenty-four hours a day, beginning from their milking the cows or husking the paddy or churning the butter in the morning. While engaged in cleaning their houses and washing their floors, they are always absorbed in thought of Kṛṣṇa."

Renunciation Through Wisdom

"If one gives up that path and engages in the cultivation of speculative knowledge, he will simply undergo a troublesome process and will not achieve his desired result. As a person who beats an empty husk of wheat cannot get grain, one who simply speculates cannot achieve self-realization. His only gain is trouble."

Renunciation Through Wisdom 2.13:

The impersonalists, desiring to merge with Brahman and knowing that it is feasible, still experience intense suffering in their effort to reach brahmānanda, "the bliss of Brahman." The Lord's devotees consider the pleasures of such liberation worse than hell. The impersonalists, in trying to destroy the illusion inherent in material forms, do away with even the eternal spiritual forms. That is indeed very foolish. Treating a patient to cure his disease is one thing, but ending the patient along with the disease is the work of an idiot. Thus we have this instruction from the great authority Brahmā in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (10.14.4):

śreya-sṛtiṁ bhaktim udasya te vibho

kliśyanti ye kevala-bodha-labdhaye

teṣām asau kleśala eva śiṣyate

nānyad yathā sthūla-tuṣāvaghātinām

"My dear Lord, devotional service unto You is the best path for self-realization. If one gives up that path and engages in the cultivation of speculative knowledge, he will simply undergo a troublesome process and will not achieve his desired result. As a person who beats an empty husk of wheat cannot get grain, one who simply speculates cannot achieve self-realization. His only gain is trouble."

Instead of becoming an impersonalist and inviting misfortune and misery, the devotee surrenders to Lord Kṛṣṇa and never suffers in this world. When he leaves his present body, he transcends the material platform and becomes eligible to participate in the Lord's eternal pastimes.

"As a person who beats an empty husk of wheat cannot get grain, one who simply speculates cannot achieve self-realization. His only gain is trouble."

Renunciation Through Wisdom 3.5:

The Māyāvādīs are always eager to deny the Supreme Energetic His potencies. They are no better than demons like Rāvaṇa, who tried to usurp the Lord's potency, and Kaṁsa, who tried to kill Him outright. This sort of behavior is expected of demons. Aspiring for evil powers, they abandon devotional service to the Lord and take to sinful activities. In this way they forfeit all knowledge. Lord Kṛṣṇa aptly describes them in the Gītā (7.15) as māyayāpahṛta-jñānā, "those whose knowledge is stolen by illusion." Many, many philosophers, scholars, and so-called invincible heroes have tried to make the Supreme Lord impotent, formless, and impersonal, but in the end they always suffered terribly.

Thus in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (10.14.4) we find this statement by Lord Brahmā:

śreyaḥ-sṛtiṁ bhaktim udasya te vibho

kliśyanti ye kevala-bodha-labdhaye

teṣām asau kleśala eva śiṣyate

nānyad yathā sthūla-tuṣāvaghātinām

"My dear Lord, devotional service unto You is the best path for self-realization. If someone gives up that path and engages in the cultivation of speculative knowledge, he will simply undergo a troublesome process and will not achieve his desired result. As a person who beats an empty husk of wheat cannot get grain, one who simply speculates cannot achieve self-realization. His only gain is trouble."

Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures

Just like a ḍheṅki, you do not understand. The husking machine. Say, a typewriter. So if you send the typewriter to the heaven, what does it mean? It is to be worked as typewriter. Does it mean because it has gone to heaven, the work has changed? No. The work will continue.

Lecture on BG 1.30 -- London, July 23, 1973:

Kṛṣṇa says, 'Just surrender unto Me.' " Sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja (BG 18.66). So Kṛṣṇa is asking to work for Him, giving up everything. That is clear, everyone knows. "Here also I am working very hard, but here I am working hard to be happy, but the viparītāni, I am becoming unhappy. So why not work for Kṛṣṇa?" This is intelligence. I have to work after all. Jīvera svarūpa haya nitya-kṛṣṇera dāsa (Cc. Madhya 20.108-109). Constitutionally, every living entity is a servant. He's serving eternal servant of Kṛṣṇa. If he does not serve Kṛṣṇa, then he will have to become servant of māyā. That's all. His servitude, servantship, will not go. Ḍheṅki svarga gele sva-dharmān. (?) Ḍheṅki. Just like a ḍheṅki, you do not understand. The husking machine. Say, a typewriter. So if you send the typewriter to the heaven, what does it mean? It is to be worked as typewriter. Does it mean because it has gone to heaven, the work has changed? No. The work will continue. Either in this hell or heaven, typewriter will kat, kat, kat, kat. That's all.

Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures

A ḍheṅki, that machine, that wooden machine... Husking machine? So if you send it to the heaven, then what he'll do? The same business. It does not mean the ḍheṅki, while it is promoted in the heaven, he can become soul or anything else. No. Similarly, we living entities, we have desire to enjoy this material world, but our position is servant.

Lecture on SB 1.3.1 -- Vrndavana, November 14, 1972:

So we have become, instead of becoming servant of Kṛṣṇa, we have become the servants of our, these enemies. Practically they are enemies-kāma eṣa krodha eṣa rajo-guṇa-samudbhavaḥ. Or in other words, we are servants of the three material modes of nature. But we are servant. That we cannot deny. So the whole Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is that instead of becoming servant of these three modes of nature, you become servant of Kṛṣṇa. That is your original position. You cannot give up your position as servant. In the Bengali proverb there is a ḍheṅki. Svarga gela dan bange.(?) Means a ḍheṅki, that machine, that wooden machine, which... Husking machine? So if you send it to the heaven, then what he'll do? The same business. It does not mean the ḍheṅki, while it is promoted in the heaven, he can become soul or anything else. No. Similarly, we living entities, we have desire to enjoy this material world, but our position is servant. We have not changed our position. We revolted to serve Kṛṣṇa. That is all right. But what is your position here in the material world? That is also servant. Just like I told Professor Kotovsky that "Your Communism, what is the difference between your Communism and our Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement? You have selected Lenin as your leader, or master, and we have selected Kṛṣṇa as our leader, master. So on the principle, where is difference?" The professor could not answer.

In Bengali there is a proverb, dheki svarge gelo dhana bhange. The dheki, that's a wooden machine for husking grain. So if this dheki, this machine, is sent to heavenly planet, what he will do?

Lecture on SB 6.1.1 -- Melbourne, May 21, 1975:

So this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is trying to educate men that "After all, you are servant. You have to serve somebody. You are now serving your senses. Now just divert your service to Kṛṣṇa, or God, and you will be happy. That's all." The service, constitutional position, will not change. That is my position. In Bengali there is a proverb, dheki svarge gelo dhana bhange.(?) The dheki, that's a wooden machine for husking grain. So I do not know whether it is used in your country. It is a big... It is peddled by the legs, and the grains are taken away the skin. So if this dheki, this machine, is sent to heavenly planet, what he will do? The same business: "Dag! Dag! Dag!" That's all. So either you go to the heavenly planet or you remain here or you remain in animal kingdom, your... Even the trees, they are standing—they are giving service. They are giving you fruits, they are giving you flowers, and if you want his service, by the wood, by the body, you cut; it will not protest. "All right, you take my body." So that is the way to understand that we must render service to somebody higher. So why not go to the Supreme, the great—"God is great"—and render service? This is Kṛṣṇa consciousness.

Sri Caitanya-caritamrta Lectures

The example is, nānyad yathā sthūla-tuṣāvaghātinām: "Just like husking the grain to take out the skin." Simply, I mean, beating the skin is no good. We must have some concrete result. That concrete result is one who is directly engaged in the transcendental service, loving service of the Supreme Lord.

Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 22.21-28 -- New York, January 11, 1967:

Kṛṣṇa wants that one should surrender and take to devotional service. So Kṛṣṇa says in the Bhagavad-gītā that nāhaṁ prakāśaḥ sarvasya yoga-māyā-samāvṛtaḥ: (BG 7.25) "I do not reveal Myself to everyone, one and all. No. I cover Myself." So these impersonalists, due to their, I mean to say, less intelligence, or misfortune, they cannot see Kṛṣṇa. So therefore, for them this remark is here that śreyaḥ-sṛtim, that "Actually what is auspicious, devotional service, if somebody gives that path away and takes to simply dry speculation, simply to understand..." Because jñāna means to understand what is the difference between matter and spirit. So they, of course, indulge in that process of knowledge. But simply by that speculation the result is that teṣām asau kleśala eva śiṣyate. The trouble which they accept for discriminating matter from spirit... There is trouble. You have to see so many Vedic literatures, and you have to understand the instruction of Upaniṣads and logic, and so many things there are to, I mean to say, back your understanding. So teṣām kleśala eva... Their, their profit is that the trouble which they accept for studying so many Vedic literatures to prove that the Absolute Truth is not person, that trouble is their profit and nothing more. Kleśala eva, teṣām asau kleśala eva śiṣyate: "They do not get any other profit except that troublesome business." That's all. Teṣāṁ kleśala eva śiṣyate. How it is? The example is, nānyad yathā sthūla-tuṣāvaghātinām: "Just like husking the grain to take out the skin." Now, there are many grains which are skin over. So there is process of taking out the skin out of the grain. So if the grain is already taken out, only the skins are left. Then, if you husk on it and beat to get out the grains, so there is no possibility to get any grains from them because the grain is already taken out. So that is the trouble. Simply, I mean, beating the skin is no good. We must have some concrete result. That concrete result is one who is directly engaged in the transcendental service, loving service of the Supreme Lord. That is recommended.

1968 Conversations and Morning Walks

What can you do? If the cloud becomes without rain, if the fruit become without pulp, if the paddy becomes without grain, then what you have to eat? You have to eat the grass, the husk, the skin, and the seed.

Morning Walk at Stow Lake -- March 27, 1968, San Francisco:

Guru dāsa: Is that a qualification, is that part of the age of Kali-yuga? Flowers with no scent?

Prabhupāda: Yes. Trees will have no fruits. The fruit will have no juice. That is mentioned. Just like in a mango there is a seed. In many fruits there is seed. In Kali-yuga you'll find simply the skin and seed, no pulp. And cloud without rain. These are mentioned. (laughs) What can you do? If the cloud becomes without rain, if the fruit become without pulp, if the paddy becomes without grain, then what you have to eat? You have to eat the grass, the husk, the skin, and the seed. Or kill another man and eat.

1974 Conversations and Morning Walks

Teṣāṁ kleśala eva śiṣyate: "Their gain is simply their trying for, that labor." Nānyad yathā sthūla-tuṣāvaghātinām: "It is exactly like one is beating the husk." So these impersonalists, they are trying to approach the Absolute Truth, but the method is not very good.

Morning Walk -- February 19, 1974, Bombay:

Prabhupāda: ...impersonalist or personalist. Who is better? That is explained, that personalists are better posted than the impersonalists. Gatir duḥk..., avyaktā hi gatir duḥkhaṁ dehavadbhir avāpyate.

Mr. Sar: Yes.

Prabhupāda: They simply suffer, that's all. It is already explained. The impersonalists, they cannot concentrate their mind upon the Supreme, and simply hodgepodge. Therefore they suffer.

Mr. Sar: Yes.

Prabhupāda: Māyāvādīs, they suffer only. Teṣāṁ kleśala eva śiṣyate. In Bhāgavata it is explained, "Their gain is only suffering." That's all.

Mr. Sar: That's why they...

Prabhupāda: Huh? Bhaktim udasya te vibho kliśyanti ye kevala-bodha-labdhaye. Kevala-bodha-labdhaye.

Mr. Sar: Ah, kevala-bodha.

Prabhupāda: Simply trying to know, know, know.

Mr. Sar: Know.

Prabhupāda: You see? So, teṣāṁ kleśala eva śiṣyate: "Their gain is simply their trying for, that labor." Nānyad yathā sthūla-tuṣāvaghātinām: "It is exactly like one is beating the husk."

Mr. Sar: Yes, and not getting that thing.

Prabhupāda: There is no rice...

Mr. Sar: No rice even.

Prabhupāda: Simply "gad, gad, gad, gad, gad, gad."

Mr. Sar: "Gad, gad, gad, gad, gad, gad, gad."

Prabhupāda: That's all. Teṣāṁ kleśala eva śiṣyate nānyad yathā sthūla-tuṣāvaghātinām. So these impersonalists, they are trying to approach the Absolute Truth, but the method is not very good.

Bhakti school does not very much appreciate the speculative method. They surrender and they try to get knowledge directly from the Supreme Lord, as Bhagavad-gītā is being spoken by the Supreme Lord, or statements of the pure highly elevated devotees, just like Brahmā is speaking. This way.

Room Conversation with Monsieur Roost, Hatha-yogi -- May 31, 1974, Geneva:

Nitāi: "The attempt of persons who are interested only in speculative knowledge is simply wasted labor, like the labor of a person who attempts to gain something by beating the empty husk of rice paddy. A little quantity of paddy can be husked by the grinding wheel, and one can gain some grains of rice, but if the skin, the paddy, is already beaten by the grinding wheel, there is no further gain in beating the husk. It is simply useless labor."

Prabhupāda: So bhakti school does not very much appreciate the speculative method. They surrender and they try to get knowledge directly from the Supreme Lord, as Bhagavad-gītā is being spoken by the Supreme Lord, or statements of the pure highly elevated devotees, just like Brahmā is speaking. This way. Hearing. The main purpose is hearing, hearing from the right source. That is... Especially in the western world, instead of hearing from the right source, they want to speculate about the Absolute. We have got about twenty books like this, but they are not speculation. They are simply by hearing. I am writing what I have heard, not that I am speculating. Mostly, the philosophers, they write as they speculate. They write their own opinion. But our process is not that. We don't speculate. We present the statements of God and His devotees.

1975 Conversations and Morning Walks

This kind of knowledge is compared with beating the bush. That's all. After taking away the paddy grains, only the skin remains. And if you again beat the skin to get grains, that is not possible.

Morning Walk -- May 22, 1975, Melbourne:

Prabhupāda: ...plans. They had to work very hard to find out, "What is this? What is this?" So that is described in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Kliśyanti kevala-bodha-labdhaye. "Working hard simply to know." Kliśyanti. Kliśyanti means working very hard, labor. Kevala-bodha-labdhaye. Simply to understand. But they are not kliśyanti to understand God. Kliśyanti kevala-bodha-labdhaye. This kind of knowledge is compared with beating the bush. That's all. After taking away the paddy grains, only the skin remains. And if you again beat the skin to get grains, that is not possible.

Devotee 1: Beating the husk.

Prabhupāda: Yes. It is like that. Kliśyanti kevala-bodha-labdhaye.

1976 Conversations and Morning Walks

Any process you accept, rejecting devotional service, the result will be that there is no profit. You simply labor for nothing, as much as to beat the husk, you'll never get the rice, you will simply be tiresome, that's all.

Room Conversation -- July 2, 1976, New Vrindaban:

Hari-śauri: What they're doing is entirely pointless. There's no proper reason for any of it. Because they aren't improving their actual living standards by it. They are... It's just like a jñāni, he thinks advancement of knowledge, just to simply acquire any amount of knowledge.

Prabhupāda: Kevala-bodha-labdhaye. They are described: Kliśyanti ye kevala-bodha-labdhaye. Simply works hard simply to know things. No benefit. These rascals are like that. Kevala-bodha-labdhaye.

Hari-śauri: That's the futility of the university system now. They are going and they're accumulating knowledge which is worthless for living. It has no practical value, so all the youth are becoming very frustrated.

Prabhupāda: Any sane man will be frustrated. Why you are spending money and going there? Kevala-bodha-labdhaya, kliśyanti kevala, bhaktim.... Kliśyanti ye kevala-bodha-labdhaye teṣām asau kleśala eva śiṣyate nānyad yathā sthūla-tuṣāvaghātinām. Just like the husk... The outer portion of rice? If there is rice, you husk, beat it, rice will come. The rice is not there, simply husk, what is the use of this beating? It is like that. Rice will not come, simply they are trying to beat it. So the result is they become tired, that's all. They only result is they'll become tired. Kleśala eva śiṣyate, that's all. The result of hard labor is tiresome. So they'll get that only, that's all. They are satisfied, "Now we are tiresome, let us sleep." What you have gotten? "Dust." That's all. This is the philosophy. Bhaktim, what is that verse?

Pradyumna: Śrama eva hi kevalam (SB 1.2.8)?

Prabhupāda: Huh? That's not it. Kleśala, kleśala.

Pradyumna: Kleśadikataras, kleśa?

Prabhupāda: Kliśyanti ye kevala-bodha-labdhaye teṣām asau kleśala eva śiṣyate nānyad yathā sthūla-tuṣāvaghātinām.

Hari-śauri: It's from the Bhāgavatam?

Prabhupāda: Yes, it is mentioned in the Caitanya-caritāmṛta. Any process you accept, rejecting devotional service, the result will be that there is no profit. You simply labor for nothing, as much as to beat the husk, you'll never get the rice, you will simply be tiresome, that's all.

Dekhi, husking, the skin is taken away. Then mixed with salt and make it heated. Then when it is prepared, then they heat sand, and in that heated sand you put the rice and immediately puff-puff-puff-puff-puff-puff-puff-puff-puff. Like that.

Evening Conversation -- August 8, 1976, Tehran:

Prabhupāda: They make very nice puffed rice in Melbourne.

Atreya Ṛṣi: How do they make it, Śrīla Prabhupāda?

Prabhupāda: Not difficult. The paddy, they are boiled. And then again baked in the sunshine. Again boil, then again baked in the sunshine. Then the skin is taken out by that dekhi, what is called? That rice...

Pradyumna: Thresher?

Prabhupāda: Dekhi, husking, the skin is taken away. Then mixed with salt and make it heated. Then when it is prepared, then they heat sand, and in that heated sand you put the rice and immediately puff-puff-puff-puff-puff-puff-puff-puff-puff. Like that.

Still, husk is not rice. You cannot say husk is rice.

Letter to Sai Baba -- September 13, 1976, Vrndavana:

Pradyumna: That he says. That he says here. He says that, "Take paddy or rice by way of an illustration. Every grain of rice is enclosed in a husk. You have to remove the husk to get the grain of rice. Now husk and rice both come from the same seed. Rice is the equivalent of God in man."

Prabhupāda: But still husk is not rice. You cannot say husk is rice.

Pradyumna: He says the husk... He says "Rice is the equivalent of God in man while the husk can be compared to desire which reduces God to man."

Prabhupāda: No, no.

Pradyumna: Therefore my desire is life plus desire equals man. Life minus desire equals God."

Prabhupāda: (dictating:) You are desiring to become God. There cannot be no desire. But you're unceremoniously desiring to become God. Although there is no proof in the śāstras. In the Bhagavad-gītā it is accepted that the living entities are sparks of..., part and parcel of God, Kṛṣṇa.

1977 Conversations and Morning Walks

If there is paddy, if you beat it, you'll get rice. But if you beat on the husk, then your gain is only that labor. So similarly, if you don't know what is the substance, you go on laboring, that laboring is your only achievement and nothing else.

Conversation with Yogi Amrit Desai of Kripalu Ashram (PA USA) -- January 2, 1977, Bombay:

Prabhupāda: You must accept the standard way, then you'll get siddhi, you'll get sukha and parāṁ gati. Unless you follow the standard way, na sukhaṁ na parāṁ gatim. So if you have interest in bhakti-yoga, then you practice the bhakti-yoga properly. That will make you successful. Otherwise, teṣām asau kleśala eva śiṣyate, simply whatever labor you are doing, that is your profit and no other profit. Kleśala eva. Nānyad yathā sthūla-tuṣāvaghātinām. The example is tuṣa. Tuṣa you know? The skin of rice? Husk. Yes. So if there is paddy, if you beat it, you'll get rice. But if you beat on the husk, then...

Yogi Amrit Desai: You won't get anything.

Prabhupāda: But your gain is only that labor. So similarly, if you don't know what is the substance, you go on laboring, that laboring is your only achievement and nothing else.

Yogi Amrit Desai: Such a beautiful example. If you keep on beating the husk...

Prabhupāda: What you'll get?

Yogi Amrit Desai: The labor you get.

So these people are interested with the fiber, not with the pulp. So all discoveries of the modern education, they are ksoprai kanana.

Conversations -- April 19, 1977, Bombay:

Prabhupāda: Hm. Keep it there. (break) ...is a Bengali common word. It is said, ksoprai kanana(?). Ksopra(?), that is like a coconut. Coconut pulp is within, and it is covered with a hard... What is called?

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Shell.

Prabhupāda: ...shell, and again covered with fiber.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Husk.

Prabhupāda: Yes. So these people are interested with the fiber, not with the pulp. So all discoveries of the modern education, they are ksoprai kanana(?).

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: That fiber is the least valuable part.

Prabhupāda: But they are discovering(?).

If you send the ḍheṅki to heaven, so what it will do? Same business. Either the ḍheṅki is kept here or in the heaven, his business to do that "Dag, dag, dag, dag..."

Srila Prabhupada Vigil -- May 28-29, 1977, Vrndavana:

Prabhupāda: Bhavauṣadhāc chrotra-mano-'bhirāmāt. You'll find, not find any medicine throughout the universe that you'll be benefited either you die or be... This is the only medicine. In both ways you are... The death is inevitable. You die today or tomorrow. So by taking this medicine, if you die, you have the greatest benefit. And if you live, enjoy. If you die, enjoy; if you live, enjoy. Go on chanting. (kīrtana) (break) No, I have no objection. (laughter) I am prepared in either way. What is that machine they keep? Husking machine?

Upendra: Asking machine?

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Husking machine.

Prabhupāda: That from paddy, rice is taken away by beating.

Bhavānanda: (whispering) That's the...

Prabhupāda: In your country there is no such thing.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: In Māyāpura we have seen.

Prabhupāda: It is called ḍheṅki.

Bhavānanda: Ḍheṅki.

Prabhupāda: That is Indian. (Bengali) Ḍheṅki? (Bengali)

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Jayapatākā must know.

Prabhupāda: Jayapatākā must know.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: What is that husking machine?

Bhavānanda: Ḍheṅki?

Prabhupāda: Hm?

Bhavānanda: Ḍheṅki.

Jayapatākā: Ḍheṅki.

Prabhupāda: So the ḍheṅki... If you send the ḍheṅki to heaven, so what it will do? Same business. Either the ḍheṅki is kept here or in the heaven, his business to do that "Dag, dag, dag, dag..."

1974 Correspondence

We can preach anywhere. We have to preach both in heaven and hell. There is a Bengali saying that a husking machine will husk the rice whether in heaven or in hell. So whereever Krishna desires, we will preach this movement.

Letter to Pancadravida -- Bombay 24 November, 1974:

Never mind if you do not get the visa for India. We can preach anywhere. We have to preach both in heaven and hell. There is a Bengali saying that a husking machine will husk the rice whether in heaven or in hell. So where-ever Krishna desires we will preach this movement.

Try your best to establish a center in Bangkok, and the men here who have to leave India for visa difficulty, they can go to Bangkok and remain there and get the visas from there. Here now there is visa difficulty, so a center in Bangkok will be good. Manasvi can go to Bangkok to assist you. He speaks Hindi and can be valuable. He has already told Brahmananda that he will go.

So take this as Krishna's desire, and we are servants of Krishna, so our only business is to try to satisfy Him. You are a sannyasi and I have got full confidence in you that you can do very nicely there. Everywhere this movement is accepted, so please keep me informed what is the progress there.