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It was spoken by the Supreme Lord personally five thousand years ago. And that old thing we are presenting as it is. Our Bhagavad-gita is therefore named Bhagavad-gita As It Is. Without any interpretation. Without any addition, alteration

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"It was spoken by the Supreme Lord personally five thousand years ago. And that old thing we are presenting as it is. Our Bhagavad-gītā is therefore named Bhagavad-gītā As It Is. Without any interpretation. Without any addition, alteration"

Conversations and Morning Walks

1973 Conversations and Morning Walks

From historical point of view... Of course, no, I mean to say, religious literature is older than Bhagavad-gītā. It was spoken by the Supreme Lord personally five thousand years ago. And that old thing we are presenting as it is. Our Bhagavad-gītā is therefore named Bhagavad-gītā As It Is. Without any interpretation. Without any addition, alteration. No, we don't make that. If we make addition, alteration, then where is the authority of Bhagavad-gītā? We don't do that. And that is proving effective.


Room Conversation with Two Buddhist Monks -- July 12, 1973, London:

Buddhist Monk (1): How is one to find out?

Prabhupāda: That is another thing.

Buddhist Monk (1): Yeah, that's a very important advantage, you know.

Prabhupāda: Yes, yes. So that is another thing. Our philosophy is: God is the most perfect. Otherwise He cannot be God. So you follow God, then you become perfect. So Kṛṣṇa is teaching personally. We accept Kṛṣṇa as God. And if we follow Kṛṣṇa's instruction, then you become perfect. Where is the difficulty?

Indian man (1): There is no difficulty.

Prabhupāda: Simple thing.

Buddhist Monk (1): What we say is . . .

Prabhupāda: If you think that Kṛṣṇa's not perfect, somebody is perfect, then you follow him.

Buddhist Monk (1): What we believe is that incomparable bliss and peace everlasting is the most perfect.

Prabhupāda: That is . . . these are items. These are items. First of all you have to follow a perfect leader. Then whatever he says, that is perfect. So that peace, you have given a definition of peace. Kṛṣṇa is giving definition of peace:

bhoktāraṁ yajña-tapasāṁ
sarva-loka-maheśvaram
suhṛdaṁ sarva-bhūtānāṁ
jñātvā māṁ śāntim ṛcchati
(BG 5.29)

"I am the proprietor of all the lokas," sarva-loka-maheśvaram. Suhṛdaṁ sarva-bhūtānām: "I am the friend of everyone." Bhoktāraṁ yajña-tapasām: "And I am the enjoyer of all fruitive activities." Jñātvā mām: "When one knows Me like that, he gets śānti." This is the śānti formula given by Kṛṣṇa. One has to accept Kṛṣṇa as the supreme enjoyer. Because He's the proprietor of everything; therefore He should be enjoyer. And because everything belongs to Him—we also belong to Him—so suhṛdaṁ sarva-bhūtānām, He's friend of everyone. So these three things, if you understand—Kṛṣṇa, or God, is the supreme enjoyer; He is the supreme proprietor; and He is the supreme friend of everyone—then you get śānti. If we understand these three things only, then there is śānti. Otherwise there is no possibility of śānti.

Now, how it is fact, that is a subject matter of discussion. Say, Kṛṣṇa says that sarva-loka-maheśvaram (BG 5.29), "I am the proprietor of all the lokas." And now you study this fact. Who is the proprietor? We are claiming proprietor, nation. Englishmen, they are claiming, "This land belongs to the English people." Others claiming, "This land belongs to the American," "Indian," like that. But are they actually the proprietor? Take for example the American land. Two hundred years ago, or, say . . .? How many years ago they won it?

Haṁsadūta: Four hundred ago.

Prabhupāda: Four hundred years ago. The land was there. They, these Europeans, migrated there. Now they are proprietor. So four hundred years ago, who was the proprietor? In this way, trace history. The land is there, the ocean is there, everything is there. We sometimes claim that, "I am the proprietor," "We are the proprietor," but this is lying there.

Who is actually the proprietor? Actually proprietor is God, Kṛṣṇa. Īśāvāsyam idaṁ sarvam (ISO 1). Everything is owned by the supreme īśvara. Īśvaraḥ paramaḥ kṛṣṇaḥ (Bs. 5.1). So if we study scrutinizingly, then we'll find God is the proprietor actually. He is the creator; therefore He is the proprietor. And because He is the proprietor, He is friend of all, actually. Īśvaraḥ sarva-bhūtānāṁ hṛd-deśe 'rjuna tiṣṭhati (BG 18.61). Īśvara is situated in everyone's heart as Paramātmā, and He's giving us good counsel. We are not abiding by that. We are disobeying. Therefore we are suffering. Otherwise, He's giving us good counsel, good advice.

So this formula, that bhoktāraṁ yajña-tapasāṁ sarva-loka-maheśvaram, suhṛdaṁ sarva-bhūtānām . . . (BG 5.29). So if we accept God, or Kṛṣṇa, as the supreme friend, then whatever advice He'll give me, if we follow, then I am happy. There is no difficulty. He says, sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja (BG 18.66). If we do that, we become happy. Where is the difficulty? From historical point of view . . .

Of course, no, I mean to say, religious literature is older than Bhagavad-gītā. It was spoken by the Supreme Lord personally five thousand years ago. And that old thing we are presenting as it is. Our Bhagavad-gītā is therefore named Bhagavad-gītā As It Is. Without any interpretation. Without any addition, alteration. No, we don't make that. If we make addition, alteration, then where is the authority of Bhagavad-gītā? We don't do that.

And that is proving effective. Those who are taking according to the instruction, they're becoming happy. Practical. Without any consideration of time, country, people, anyone is accepting, and he's becoming happy. And they are not expected to undergo very severe type of austerities, neither prāṇāyāma or yoga. They are unable. Simply I have advised them, "With these beads chant Hare Kṛṣṇa sixteen rounds."

They are chanting. It is very easy: Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/ Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma . . . sixteen rounds. It takes about two hours. And they're refraining from four kinds of sinful activities: illicit sex, gambling, intoxication, meat-eating. This much they are following austerities, chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra, taking prasādam. They are happy. Anyone can take it. It is not difficult at all. Anyone. They are gṛhasthas. It is not that one has to become a sannyāsī. No. All my these disciples . . . here is a gṛhastha. Here is a sannyāsī. Here is a brahmacārī. So all together, they are serving the same purport. And we are getting good result. You have seen our Ratha-yātrā?

Indian man (1): We were with you.

Prabhupāda: Eh?

Indian man (1): We were with you. . . . (indistinct) . . . at your feet while you were . . .

Prabhupāda: Yes. So . . .

Indian man (1): It was a miracle . . .

Prabhupāda: . . . ten thousand participated.

Indian man (1): . . . my wife, she was with you, Swāmījī.

Prabhupāda: Oh! I think, yes.

Indian man (1): For the first time in two years, she has walked two miles.

Prabhupāda: Oh.

Indian man (1): It was only because of Your Grace.

Prabhupāda: (laughs) Yes, it was three miles.

Page Title:It was spoken by the Supreme Lord personally five thousand years ago. And that old thing we are presenting as it is. Our Bhagavad-gita is therefore named Bhagavad-gita As It Is. Without any interpretation. Without any addition, alteration
Compiler:Visnu Murti
Created:21 of Dec, 2011
Totals by Section:BG=0, SB=0, CC=0, OB=0, Lec=0, Con=1, Let=0
No. of Quotes:1