It is to be judged whether Lenin is good or Krsna is good

Expressions researched:
"it has to be seen whether Krsna is good or Lenin or good" |"it is to be judged whether Lenin is good or Krsna is good" |"now we have to consider whether the leadership of Lenin is good, or the leadership of Krsna is good"

General Lectures

You have selected a personality like Lenin or Stalin or Marx. We have selected a personality, Kṛṣṇa. Now, so far the principle of surrender is concerned, it is there in Communism and our Vaiṣṇavism. Now it has to be seen whether Kṛṣṇa is good or Lenin or good.

Lecture -- Bombay, March 18, 1972:

So this Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam gives you instruction how to become Kṛṣṇa conscious. Bhagavad-gītā is the elementary lessons how to understand Kṛṣṇa, then become Kṛṣṇa conscious. If you do not understand Kṛṣṇa... It is not very easy thing to understand Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa says,

manuṣyāṇāṁ sahasreṣu

kaścid yatati siddhaye

yatatām api siddhānāṁ

kaścin vetti māṁ tattvataḥ

(BG 7.3)

Kṛṣṇa says Himself that "Out of many, many millions of people, one may be interested how to make life successful. One may know what is the aim of life." That is called siddhi. Yatatām... Manuṣyāṇāṁ sahasreṣu kaścid yatati siddhaye. Everyone is interested how to earn money or how to gratify senses. That is the modern civilization. Here is a competition of sense gratification. I'm gratifying my senses in one way, and all others, they are trying to imitate me or compete with me though they hate me. This is going on. Everyone is trying to be the lord of all I survey. That is competition. Why I want to become the lord of all I survey? Because I want to gratify my senses to the greatest extent. This is going on. But actually our position is not to lord it over. Our position is to be lorded by the Lord. That is our position, actually. If you don't agree to be predominated by the Supreme Lord, then you shall be predominated by other agent, other energy, the material energy. I met one great professor in Moscow. The subject matter was freedom, Communism. So my last question was that "You people, Communists, you have surrendered to Lenin, and we have surrendered to Kṛṣṇa. Then where is the difference? You have selected a personality like Lenin or Stalin or Marx. We have selected a personality, Kṛṣṇa. Now, so far the principle of surrender is concerned, it is there in Communism and our Vaiṣṇavism. Now it has to be seen whether Kṛṣṇa is good or Lenin or good. That is a different question." So actually we are trying to be free, but we surrender to some rascal, that's all. Instead of surrendering to Kṛṣṇa we prefer to surrender to some rascal or fool. That is māyā. We have to surrender. Caitanya Mahāprabhu has said, jīvera svarūpa haya nitya kṛṣṇa-dāsa (Cc. Madhya 20.108-109). Our real identification is eternal servant of God, or Kṛṣṇa. That is our real identification. But unfortunately, artificially we are trying to lord it over Kṛṣṇa or over the material nature. This is struggle. Daivī hy eṣā guṇa-mayī mama māyā duratyayā (BG 7.14). This struggle you cannot overcome. Kṛṣṇa says duratyayā. It is very difficult to surmount the influence of material nature. Mama māyā duratyayā. Mām eva ye prapadyante māyām etāṁ taranti te: "If anyone surrenders unto Me, then he can get rid of this influence of the material nature." This is the law. You cannot artificially change it. If you do not become Kṛṣṇa conscious, if you do not surrender to Kṛṣṇa, God, then the māyā, or the material energy, will always give you trouble. The triṣu, three kinds of miserable conditions. The trident you have seen. The trident in the hand of Goddess Durgā, and she is punishing the demons with the trident on the chest. Therefore Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura has said, viṣaya-viṣānale dibā-niśi hiyā jvale. Our heart is always burning on account of this material condition, threefold miseries of material life: adhyātmika, adhibhautika, and adhidaivika. Viṣaya-viṣānale dibā-niśi hiyā jvale juṛāite nā koinu upāya. "I did not make any attempt how to get out of it." Golokera prema-dhana hari-nāma-saṅkīrtana rati nā janmila kene tāya. "Unfortunately, I could not develop my attachment for Kṛṣṇa or His name, which is the only process to get out of this anxieties of material existence."

You cannot live without a leader or God. I cannot live without a leader or God. That's a fact. Then where is the difference? Now it is to be judged whether Lenin is good or Kṛṣṇa is good. That is another thing. But your position is that you have to accept one leader, either Lenin or Jawaharlal Nehru or Hitler or this or Lord (?) Churchill. You have to accept.

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

So I request all you ladies and gentlemen to take this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement. It is not a sentimental movement. It is a very authorized, scientific movement. You are all educated, advanced ladies and gentlemen. I'll request you to understand this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement. The American boys, it is already we are combining East and West socially, politically, religiously, philosophically, economically, everything. There is solution. But if you take it seriously. If you think this is a movement, sentimental move... It is not sentimental movement. It is a most scientific movement. Any scientist come to me. I can convince him that it is a scientific movement. I asked similarly to Professor Kotovsky in Moscow that "My dear Professor, what is the difference between your movement, communist movement, and my movement? You, you have selected Lenin as God. I have selected Kṛṣṇa as God. Where is the difference of principle? You cannot live without a leader or God. I cannot live without a leader or God. That's a fact. Then where is the difference? Now it is to be judged whether Lenin is good or Kṛṣṇa is good. That is another thing. But your position is that you have to accept one leader, either Lenin or Jawaharlal Nehru or Hitler or this or Lord (?) Churchill. You have to accept. You cannot work independently. Therefore you have got so many parties. So here is also one party, Kṛṣṇa party. So where is the difference in philosophy? There is no difference in philosophy. Now let us study whether Kṛṣṇa party is good or Lenin party is good. Then whole solution is there."

1973 Conversations and Morning Walks

But now we have to consider whether the leadership of Lenin is good, or the leadership of Kṛṣṇa is good. That is another thing. But you have to accept one leader. You cannot do without leader. That is not possible.

Room Conversation with Sanskrit Professor, Dr. Suneson -- September 5, 1973, Stockholm:

Prabhupāda: Now, I, when we were talking, I asked him one question, that "Professor Kotofsky, you are communist, I am Kṛṣṇite. So where is the difference of philosophy? Because you have to accept one authority, leader. So you have accepted Lenin as leader; we have accepted Kṛṣṇa as leader. So where is the difference on the principle?" So he could not answer. But he very much appreciated this, that "Where is the difference between these two principles." But now we have to consider whether the leadership of Lenin is good, or the leadership of Kṛṣṇa is good. That is another thing. But you have to accept one leader. You cannot do without leader. That is not possible.

Professor: Well, well, to some extent it's possible.

Prabhupāda: No, every extent. Anyone, anyone calling... So many philosophy or ism, he has got leader. That you cannot avoid. The Buddhists, they are following Lord Buddha. Christians, they are following Lord Jesus Christ. Mohammedans, they are following Mohammed. Similarly the communists, they are following Lenin, or Max. What is?

Devotees: Marx.

Paramahaṁsa: Karl Marx.

Prabhupāda: Karl Marx.

Professor: But, of course, in Sweden, most people, they don't, they don't follow anybody. So it's... I mean...

Prabhupāda: No, they follow. At least, one follows himself. Is it not? "Don't follow anyone" means he follows himself. He has got a particular philosophy, and he's the leader.

Professor: Well, naturally, everybody has some kind of ideas, I mean, how to lead his life.

Prabhupāda: But that will not help us.

Professor: But, uh...

Prabhupāda: Unless we accept the real leader, a perfect personality who can give us perfect knowledge, there is no success. That is our philosophy.

tad-vijñānārthaṁ sa gurum evābhigacchet,

samit-pāṇiḥ śrotriyaṁ brahma-niṣṭham

(MU 1.2.12)

tad viddhi praṇipātena

paripraśnena sevayā

upadekṣyanti te jñānaṁ

jñāninas tattva-darśinaḥ

(BG 4.34)

We have to approach a person who has seen the truth in reality. Then our life is success. That is the Vedic injunction. And that is fact. Unless we are... Just like you are teacher, a professor. So therefore people are coming to you to learn. How can you say that he can follow his own philosophy? He's coming to school, college. He's taking lesson from the teacher. One has to follow. The selection may be right or wrong; that is another thing. But one has to select.