Jugglery (Lectures)

Expressions researched:
"juggle" |"juggler" |"juggleries" |"jugglers" |"jugglery"

Notes from the compiler: VedaBase query: juggle or juggler or juggleries or jugglers or jugglery not "jugglery of word" not "jugglery of words" not "word jugglers" not "word jugglery"

Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures

Lecture on BG 3.27 -- Madras, January 1, 1976:

So, so many people, sometimes they come forward to give me some credit that I have done very wonderful thing. So I reply that "I do not know how to do something wonderful. I cannot manufacture gold, I cannot show any jugglery, but if there is any credit, then the only credit is I don't adulterate. That's all. The pure milk, I don't show my expert service by adding water in it. That I do not do. So we present Bhagavad-gītā as it is. In the Bhagavad-gītā, Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Lord. In the, all the Vedic literature, Kṛṣṇa is accepted as the Supreme Lord, person, the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

Lecture on BG 4.19 -- Bombay, April 8, 1974:

"This grammatical jugglery will not save you. Just bhaja govindam." Govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi **. That is wanted.

So kāma-saṅkalpa-vivarjitāḥ. Yasya sarve samārambhāḥ. You can act. We must always remember, this acting has begun... Cātur-varṇyaṁ mayā sṛṣṭaṁ guṇa-karma-vibhāgaśaḥ (BG 4.13). First of all, the acting should begin according to guṇa and karma. Not that everything will be done by everyone. No.

Suppose if I want to do some engineering work. That is not possible for me. I must take help of an engineer. But if one wants to understand something about Bhagavad-gītā, about the spiritual movement, he may consult me. Therefore, the society must be divided into four divisions. Cātur-varṇyaṁ mayā sṛṣṭaṁ guṇa-karma-vibhāgaśaḥ (BG 4.13). There must be a class of men very intelligent, brahminical class. They should also work just like brāhmaṇa.

Lecture on BG 4.20 -- Bombay, April 9, 1974:

That is the sign. A big mūḍha. Small mūḍhas, they are working hard only to become happy, and the big mūḍha, he wants to become God. The small mūḍha wants to become a minister or a president, and the big mūḍha wants to become God. The disease is the same: "I shall become the most powerful." But that is not possible.

Therefore these big mūḍhas who simply falsely thinking that "I have become now liberated by meditation or by some jugglery of powers," so they have been described in the Bhāgavatam as vimukta-māninaḥ. They are falsely thinking that they have become liberated, they have become Nārāyaṇa. How you can become Nārāyaṇa?

Lecture on BG 6.2-5 -- Los Angeles, February 14, 1969:

Mahārāja Ambarīṣa, he was a king, he was a householder, he was pound shilling man. Householder means he has to take account of pound, shilling, pence. Dollars, cents. King, he was actually king. So Durvāsā Muni was a great yogi. He was envious of this king. That, "How is that, I am so great a yogi, I can travel in the space, and this man is ordinary king, he cannot show such jugglery of yoga system, but still people honors him most. Why? I shall teach him some lesson." So he picked up some quarrel with the king, that's a long story, I shall state it some other day, so after all he was defeated. And he was directed by Nārāyaṇa to take shelter of the feet of the king, Mahārāja Ambarīṣa. These instances we see from authoritative scripture. But he was simply keeping Kṛṣṇa in his mind. And he defeated the greatest yogi. Durvāsā Muni, he was so perfect yogi, that within one year he traveled all over this material space and beyond this material space in the spiritual space, went directly to the abode of God, Vaikuṇṭha, and saw the Personality of Godhead personally.

Lecture on BG 6.13-15 -- Los Angeles, February 16, 1969:

Devotee: "Therefore a person working in Kṛṣṇa consciousness is the perfect yogi because his mind is always absorbed in Kṛṣṇa's activities. In the Vedas also we learn, 'One can overcome the path of birth and death only by understanding the Supreme Personality of Godhead.' In other words, the perfection of the yoga system is the attainment of freedom from material existence and not some magical jugglery or gymnastic feat to befool innocent people."

Prabhupāda: Thank you, that's all. (end)

Lecture on BG 9.1 -- Vrndavana, April 17, 1975:

Who will accept unless he is devotee? The Māyāvādī, karmī, jñānī, yogi they cannot accept. They are envious, "I am Kṛṣṇa. I am God. Why I shall surrender to Kṛṣṇa? Why shall I accept Kṛṣṇa as God?" This is the position of the bhukti-mukti-siddhi-kāmī. Therefore you will find so many yogis; they can play jugglery, magic, but they are not devotees. They will not surrender to Kṛṣṇa. This is their... So such persons cannot understand Kṛṣṇa. They cannot understand the science of Kṛṣṇa. They cannot understand because Kṛṣṇa does not disclose Himself to the nondevotees. So by their own attempt, however big yogi or jñānī or karmī he may be, he cannot understand Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa discloses, reveals Himself, to the anasūyave, one who is not envious. And that is devotee. Anasūyave means devotee, who does not, who is not envious of Kṛṣṇa. Others, they are envious, Karmī, jñānī, yogi.

Lecture on BG 9.3 -- Toronto, June 20, 1976:

What is the difficulty? To chant Hare Kṛṣṇa or in ecstasy, dance nicely and dancing, dancing, when you become hungry and tired, take nice prasāda. What is the difficulty? By this process they are becoming devotees. There is no need of discussing higher philosophy or becoming a mystic or magician or juggler or bluffer or cheater, nothing. Simply accept this simple process. You come here and chant Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra and automatically you'll be ecstatic. Because this Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra is not ordinary sound. It is spiritual sound. Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura has sung, golokera prema-dhana hari-nāma-saṅkīrtana. This sound, just like you receive sound from distant place, in radio. Similarly, this sound is not produced in this material world. It is brought from the spiritual world. Golokera prema-dhana. There in the spiritual world there are eternal liberated devotees. They are so much ecstatically enjoying simply by chanting and dancing, the descriptions are there, that there is no sex life.

Lecture on BG 10.8 -- New York, January 6, 1967:

This is universal. As soon as you become Kṛṣṇa conscious, as soon as you become God conscious, then your real universal, ideal, universal consciousness develops. Otherwise it is all simply jugglery. There are so many doctrines of universal love, universal friendship, fraternity, but they are fighting, and they are killing simply, because there is no God consciousness. If you are universal, if you are after universal love, then how you can maintain regular slaughterhouse? How you can think that an American gentleman or lady is your countryman and not a cow, and not a goat, not a serpent? Where is your universal idea?

Lecture on BG 16.7 -- Sanand, December 26, 1975:

The idea is that a bhakta does not require any material happiness or distress. He does not require any monistic proposition to merge into the existence of the Supreme. And neither he desires any jugglery of aṣṭa-siddhi yoga. So in order to become devatā, not to become asura... Asuras are always against Kṛṣṇa. There are many examples like Rāvaṇa, and Hiraṇyakaśipu, Kaṁsa. There are many. So we should remember that devatā means who is fully surrendered to the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa. So there are many symptoms of the asuras. They are all described in the Sixteenth Chapter. It requires a long time to discuss. It is not possible to discuss all the symptoms. But one of the most important symptom of the asura is here described, asatyam apratiṣṭhaṁ te jagad āhur anīśvaram (BG 16.8). Their main proposal is that there is no creator God.

Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures

Lecture on SB 1.5.9-11 -- New Vrindaban, June 6, 1969:

Na yad vacaś citra-padaṁ harer yaśaḥ (SB 1.5.10).

Nārada says, citra-padam api... Vāsudeva-vyatiriktānya-viṣaya-jñānavād evānya-viṣayaṁ vāk-cāturyam.(?) Śrīdhara Svāmī, he comments (chuckles) that except describing the glories of the Lord, any literature, any science, any contribution, is simply a jugglery of vocabulary. That's all. Jugglery. Vāk-cāturyam. Vāk means vocabulary and cāturya means jugglery. Simply setting some words in a jugglery way just to draw people's attention to waste time, that's all. Vāk-cāturyam. Vāsudeva-vyatiriktānya-viṣaya-jñānavād evānya-viṣayaṁ vāk-cāturyaṁ (ca) khilam, khilam eva ity aha, khilam.(?) It is insignificant. Citra-padam api yad vaco harer yaśo na pragṛṇīta. You can write nice books using your literary career, metaphor, and, what is called, so many things. They are producing nice literature. But if there is no glorification of the Lord, then, harer yaśo pragṛṇīta tad vāyasaṁ tīrtham. Then it is just like the place where the crows take pleasure. That's all.

Lecture on SB 1.7.6 -- Hyderabad, August 18, 1976:

He says everyone of you become a guru. How can I become guru? I am not very learned scholar, I have no education. So Caitanya Mahāprabhu says no. Even though you are not very much educated or not born of a very high family, you simply, yāre dekha tāre kaha kṛṣṇa-upadeśa (CC Madhya 7.128). That's all. You become a guru. Kṛṣṇa-upadeśa. Don't adulterate it, but as Kṛṣṇa says, you say. You become guru. This is Caitanya Mahāprabhu's... So I have tried that. I have tried to follow the Caitanya Mahāprabhu's instruction, and I am presenting Bhagavad-gītā As It Is. There is no magic, there is no jugglery and people are taking. If you do that everyone will be happy, the world will be happy and India's glory will be spread all over the world.

Lecture on SB 1.7.25 -- Vrndavana, September 22, 1976:

So just to make a little joke, because they are personal devotees... So he knew that Caitanya Mahāprabhu is the avatāra. Still, he inquired from Caitanya Mahāprabhu, "How we shall know one avatāra?" So Caitanya Mahāprabhu said, "Why? It is all mentioned in the śāstra." So avatāra should be understood from the śāstra, not by jugglery or magic. This is rascal. As soon as one wants to establish his avatarship by jugglery and magic, kick him out, immediately on the face, directly. Kick him. Let the avatāra take steps. I don't mind. If he's avatāra, let him kill me, all right. But I shall kick him on his face. Not that avatāra.

Here, bhuvo bhāra-jihīrṣayā. An avatāra comes to do some particular work. Just like Lord Rāmacandra came to punish Rāvaṇa. That is avatāra. And there are many avatāras, they are mentioned in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam: Matsya-avatāra, Vāmana-avatāra, Kūrma-avatāra, and Varāha-avatāra, Vāmana-avatāra, Nṛsiṁha-avatāra, and Paraśurāma-avatāra, Balarāma-avatāra, Buddha-avatāra.

Lecture on SB 1.7.25 -- Vrndavana, September 22, 1976:

Now see what is your position. The position will be people will become mad, so much troubled. Ācchinna-dāra-draviṇā gacchanti giri-kānanam. People will be so much harassed that voluntarily they'll give up their family, home, and go to the forest, hopeless. This will be done. Don't think that Kṛṣṇa consciousness is a joke, is a jugglery. It is the only remedy if you want to save yourself. Otherwise, you are doomed. Don't take it, I mean to say, as a joke. It is a fact.

So best thing is that kaler doṣa-nidhe rājann asti hy eko mahān guṇaḥ. There is one very nice opportunity. What is that opportunity? Kīrtanād eva kṛṣṇasya mukta-saṅgaḥ paraṁ vrajet (SB 12.3.51). If you chant Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra, kīrtanād eva kṛṣṇasya... You cannot say any other-śivasya, kālīsya(?). No. Kṛṣṇasya. Śravaṇaṁ kīrtanaṁ viṣṇoḥ (SB 7.5.23). Not that any name, any, my whimsical name. No. Just like so many fools and rascals say that "You can chant any name." No. Śāstra says śravaṇaṁ kīrtanaṁ viṣṇoḥ. Kīrtanād eva kṛṣṇasya. That is wanted.

Lecture on SB 1.8.18-19 -- Bombay, April 9, 1971:

The same enjoyment spirit is there, to merge into the Supreme. In a different way only. The karmīs are directly trying to enjoy sense enjoyment. They are indirectly wanting another kind, another higher status of sense enjoyment.

So similarly, the yogis also, they want to play some jugglery, magic. If they can achieve one of the... There are eight kinds of yoga-siddhis. There are many... You will find they are showing some yoga-siddhi, and people are after that. Foolish people, they are thinking that he is God. If you can create something by jugglery... Suppose I am sitting here. I make like this and immediately I produce something, golden pot. Oh, immediately thousands of people will come: "Oh, here is God. Here is God. Because he has produced a cup, golden cup which is worth, say, two thousand rupees, therefore he has become God." There are many persons, merchants, they are producing two thousand rupees every moment. Then why he is not God? But the foolish people, they have no sense. They are captivated by these juggleries, yoga-siddhi.

Lecture on SB 1.8.18-19 -- Bombay, April 9, 1971:

So yoga-siddhi, jugglery, yoga-siddhi magic, captivates foolish persons. So they want yoga-siddhi. If some foolish persons gather, then he gets sense enjoyment. That is another type of sense enjoyment. So therefore in the Caitanya-caritāmṛta it is said that bhukti-mukti-siddhi-kāmī sakali aśānta. They are not paramahaṁsas. Paramahaṁsa... Here it is stated that bhakti-yoga-vidhānārtham. Tathā paramahaṁsānāṁ munīnām amalātmanām (SB 1.8.20). Amalātmanām means when there is no more dirty things. The karmīs, they have got dirty things, sense enjoyment. The jñānīs, they have got also dirty things. One may say that "Mukti is dirty thing?" Yes. According to Vaiṣṇava calculation it is dirty thing, because Prabodhānanda Sarasvatī Ṭhākura, he said, kaivalyaṁ narakāyate. Kaivalyam means to become one with the Supreme, mukti. He said, "It is exactly like hell." Kaivalyaṁ narakāyate tri-daśa-pūrākāśa-puṣpāyate. "And these heavenly planets," the domain or the objective of the karmīs, "that is like flower in the sky."

Lecture on SB 1.15.22-23 -- Los Angeles, December 2, 1973:

The queens of Kṛṣṇa, they could not be touched. But it is a play only. Similarly, Yadu dynasty, the descendants of Kṛṣṇa, they also could not be killed. But... Just like Kṛṣṇa was killed by the arrow of a hunter. How Kṛṣṇa can be killed? But it is for the persons, for the demons, to demonstrate like that, who thinks Kṛṣṇa as ordinary human being. So for them it is a jugglery. They will still know that "Here your Kṛṣṇa is killed." Yes. They will say like that. So tān ahaṁ dviṣataḥ krūrān kṣipāmy ajasram asura-yoniṣu (BG 16.19). The demons, as they want to forget Kṛṣṇa, or they do not like to understand Kṛṣṇa as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa plays something like that so that they will be more convinced that Kṛṣṇa is not God, Kṛṣṇa is ordinary human being. Tān ahaṁ dviṣataḥ krūrān. They will remain in darkness forever. Kṛṣṇa gives chance to everyone. If you want to forget Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa will give you such intelligence, you will talk so intelligently that "Kṛṣṇa is not God." Ye yathā māṁ prapadyante (BG 4.11).

Lecture on SB 1.16.26-30 -- Hawaii, January 23, 1974:

Prabhupāda: So what is the real proposal? I do not follow. Why don't you say frankly? This is... Why in a (laughs) jugglery way? State what is the fact?

Devotee (2): Well, like, if one is in a big temple, he's a cook in a big temple.

Prabhupāda: Yes. In a big temple, the cooker and the man who is worshiping the Deity, and the man who is sweeping over, they're all one. There is no distinction. There is no such material dis... In the material world, if somebody's doing nice job, he is greater, and if somebody's not nice job, he's smaller. In spiritual world, there is no such distinction.

Devotee (2): So one is like that, in a comfortable situation...

Lecture on SB 3.25.37 -- Bombay, December 6, 1974:

You can fly in the air. You can go from one planet to another by flying. You can go to the moon planet or sun planet by capturing the beams. That is called mahimā-siddhi. There are so many siddhis. You can create even one universe. Not this magic, little gold, but you can create not universe, one planet. These are said. But a devotee is not anxious to do these things, this jugglery and magic. He wants the one juggler, Kṛṣṇa. That's all. Because he know that "If I gain Kṛṣṇa, I can achieve the favor of Kṛṣṇa, then all juggleries and magic are under my control. He will do that. Why shall I use?" Just like a rich man's son. He does not endeavor to get money. He knows, "My father is so rich, I can spend it as I like. If I am good son, father will give me money." This is the position of devotee. Therefore he is not after any vibhūti, nor even he is aspiring going back to home, back to Godhead. That is also aspiration. A devotee does not... Because his home is... He can create Vaikuṇṭha here.

Lecture on SB 3.26.21 -- Bombay, December 30, 1974:

He is giving bread to the elephants, He is giving bread to the ants, and what you can eat? That is not very difficult thing. But you should go to God not for begging something but for giving something. That is Vāsudeva stage. Then you will get śānti, when you will go to God not for begging material happiness or material liberation, mukti, bhukti-mukti, and not for any jugglery, magic things, just like yogis show some magic.

So if you want all these things, then you will never get happiness. You will be troubled. Therefore a devotee... Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu's standard of devotion: nothing to possess. Na dhanaṁ na janaṁ na sundarīṁ kavitāṁ vā jagadīśa kāmaye. Nothing to possess.

Lecture on SB 3.26.27 -- Bombay, January 4, 1975:

You see? Yes. One yogi in Benares, he... Anyone who would come to him, immediately he will present two rasagullā in a pot. He will give, and immediately rasagullā will be there. And big, big men, they become surprised, "Oh, here is God." He does not say, "What is the price of these rasagullā?" Say, four annas? So by jugglery of four annas, he became God. This is going on. This rascaldom is going on. By jugglery of four annas, eight annas, or four hundred or four thousand, if one can make some jugglery, then he becomes God. This is foolishness. This is going on.

Therefore Kṛṣṇa says that this kind of yoga practice is simply cheating. The first-class yogi is he... Yoginām api sarveṣāṁ mad-gatenāntar-ātmanā (BG 6.47). One who is thinking of always Kṛṣṇa, "Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa," he is first-class yogi. And they are all cheaters. Some foolish people are cheated by this yogic jugglery and he gets some position, some material position. So material positions there are many.

Lecture on SB 5.5.2 -- Hyderabad, April 12, 1975:

Go to a jñānī, and who has known the truth, not to a jugglers, magician. Science is not magic. Science is knowledge. That is the Vedic injunction. Tad vijñānārtham: in order to understand that science, not to see jugglery and magic. The jugglery and magic is here present: all these meat-eaters, drunkards, woman-hunters, now Vaiṣṇava. This is real magic. If you have got eyes to see, see the magic. If you are blind, then that is different question. This is magic.

Lecture on SB 5.5.2 -- Hyderabad, April 13, 1975:

Everywhere, in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam also the same thing is explained, tasmād guruṁ prapadyeta jijñāsur śreya uttamam (SB 11.3.21). If you are inquisitive to understand transcendental truth, the Absolute Truth, the guru is... To have a guru is not a fashion. Now it has become a fashion. If somebody shows some jugglery, people become very much anxious to accept such guru. No. Guru means, tasmād guruṁ prapadyeta. Who requires a guru? Jijñāsu śreya uttamam, one who is very much anxious to know about the ultimate benefit of life. For him guru is required. Not a fashion. Just like we keep a dog as a fashion. Nowadays it is a fashion to keep a dog. So don't keep a guru like a dog. And who will hear you? "Come on. Come on." Yes. Not like that. Guru require then where you can surrender. Not like a dog, but master, where you can surrender. Tasmād guruṁ prapadyeta, prapadyeta means you must surrender.

Lecture on SB 5.6.8 -- Vrndavana, November 30, 1976:

So there is no difference. Not that one ācārya will say, "I have seen"—so-called ācārya, not real ācārya—"I have seen in dream." The other day the letter came? He has seen, realized in dream, nitāi-gaura rādhe-śyāma. This is not the process. Process is the śāstra, authority. That is... We have to... Not that jugglery: "I have seen in dream. I have to become guru." No. Whether you are actually in terms of the śāstra? Whether actually you are dear to Kṛṣṇa, you are most confidential servant? That we have to test.

And what is the confidential servant of Kṛṣṇa? Everything is explained. Kṛṣṇa says, ya imaṁ paramaṁ guhyaṁ mad-bhakteṣv abhidhāsyati. This paramaṁ guhyam. What is that paramaṁ guhyam? Sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja (BG 18.66). This is paramaṁ guhyam, Kṛṣṇa said. Guhyād guhyatamam. What is that verse? Who can say? Just before saying, sarva-dharmān parityajya, Kṛṣṇa said that "You are My very dear friend.

Lecture on SB 5.6.8 -- Vrndavana, November 30, 1976:

Śāstra is never changed. And the sādhu... Sādhu means who follows the śāstras. He is sādhu. He also does not change. Sādhu, śāstra. And guru? Guru means who follows the śāstra and sādhu. So there are three, the same. A guru will not change, that "It was spoken five thousand years ago. That is not applicable now. Now I am giving you something new, jugglery." He is useless. Sādhu śāstra guru-vākya tinete kariyā aikya. Yaḥ śāstra-vidhim utsṛjya vartate kāma kārataḥ, na siddhim avāpnoti (BG 16.23). These things are there.

So the saṁsāra dāvānala-līḍha-loka **, these eight stanzas of Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura is very important. We sing daily. That's very good. This world is dāvānala. Just like Ṛṣabhadeva, He wanted fire, He did not require any matches. No. Fire can be... By His will there will be fire. Formerly yajña fire was also ignited. What is that wood? Araṇi, yes. Not with matches. So it is ordinary thing, the friction of the bamboo, electricity. It creates electricity by friction.

Lecture on SB 6.2.24-25 -- Gorakhpur, February 13, 1971:

And he ordered six months' imprisonment. And in the prison he managed to take some poison and died. So devotees are so strong. They can know what is what. You see? He was not puzzled that "He is Viṣṇu and this..." No. So we should learn from the Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura's treatment that this jugglery or this so-called power is not, no good for advancement in spiritual life. You have to follow the regulative principles as enjoined in the śāstra. Yaḥ śāstra vidhim utsṛjya. If you do not follow the injunction of the śāstra, then there is no possibility of attaining perfection. Na siddhiṁ sāvapnoti. So our business is to accept a bona fide spiritual master, being guided by him, to follow the rules and regulations. Then advancement is sure. There is no doubt about it. And if we become hodgepodge and mix with hodgepodge and do hodgepodge, there is no progress. Na siddhim.

Lecture on SB 6.3.16-17 -- Gorakhpur, February 10, 1971:

"Because the subject matter is not for them, however they may exercise their senses, gobhiḥ..." Go means indra (indriya). Simply by exercising... Just like there are so many yogis. They exercise their senses only—yama, niyama, prāṇāyāma—senses. But it is not their subject matter to understand God. They may show some jugglery or some gymnastic, wonderful, or they may get some material perfection, animā... The eight kinds of perfection in yoga system... One can become very small. Just like there was a trailiṅga swami in Benares. He was staying naked on the street, and the police objected, and he was put into police custody. He again came out. That means people became more devoted to him. But still... This is a perfection by the gymnastic of yoga process, but that does not mean he knows God. That does not mean. There was another yogi in Benares. Anyone who would come to him, immediately in a pot he will present two rasagullā.

Lecture on SB 7.9.8 -- Hawaii, March 21, 1969:

Prabhupāda: He was. Oh, how you became... He was not. He is not? Then ask him, the next question. He was everything. That's all right.

Devotee: Then he simply talks jugglery words.

Prabhupāda: That you also, you have to get. That's all right. He was once God, he was once rich. That's all right. But how he has become poor? He was at sometimes God, accepted. But how he has become dog instead of God? But God is susceptible to such falldown? Then what kind of God he is? If God is subjected sometimes to fall down, then he is not all-powerful. Then the cause which has made him fall down, that is powerful. Therefore he is not God. God is all-powerful. So why other power will make him to come down from the position of God? Then that power is powerful. But God is all-powerful; therefore he is not God.

Nectar of Devotion Lectures

The Nectar of Devotion -- Bombay, January 1, 1973:

"If we get a nice body in the heavenly planet, that is perfection of life." Svargaloka. And the jñānīs, they think that "I am not this body; I am spirit soul. But somehow or other, if we finish my body, and merge into the Brahman effulgence, that is perfection of life." The yogis, they think that "We may keep this body, but with this body, if we can play some jugglery, magic, that is perfection of life." Sometimes we see somebody plays some jugglery, magic, little magic, not very nice magic... One cannot show greater magic than Kṛṣṇa, because Kṛṣṇa, when He was seven years old, He lifted the Govardhana Hill with little finger. So who can show this magic? There are so many imitation Gods, but if I ask him that "You just lift this one hundred kilo burden with your finger," it will be very difficult for him. You see.

Sri Caitanya-caritamrta Lectures

Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 20.395 -- Hyderabad, August 17, 1976:

And they're coming out... Just like within our breathing there are so many things, particles, or germs are coming, similarly, with the breathing period of Mahā-Viṣṇu, so many universes are coming. This is Bhagavān. By breathing period innumerable universes are created. Not that they create something jugglery and become Bhagavān. Our conception of Bhagavān from the śāstra is different.

So Kṛṣṇa's creation of this brahmāṇḍa and His pastimes, they are going on, nitya-līlā. Kona kona bhagavān ei dekhi bare paya. The līlā is going on constantly, but one who is fortunate enough, he can see how līlā is... Kona brahmāṇḍe kona līlā haya avasthāna, tāte līlā 'nitya' kahe āgama-purāṇa. It is not that Kṛṣṇa dāsa Kavirāja Goswami is manufacturing some idea. No. He says, kahe āgama-purāṇa. "I do not manufacture anything." That is not ācārya. Ācārya does not manufacture anything concocted. He quotes from the Vedic literature. Āgama-purāṇa.

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

They are very, very learned scholars, undoubtedly. By their scholastic jugglery they want to cover the Supreme Personality of God. They do not want to cover; they think that they are advanced. But Kṛṣṇa covers Himself so that they may not understand Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa does not want. 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.

Festival Lectures

Gundica Marjanam Cleansing of the Gundica Temple, Lecture (the day before Ratha-yatra) -- San Francisco, July 4, 1970:

"No, mother. He has eaten clay. We have seen." So mother said, "All right. Open Your mouth. I'll see." So Kṛṣṇa opened His mouth, and she saw the whole material cosmic manifestation. Not only Yaśodā, thousands of Yaśodā and thousands of planets, sun, moons, and everything saw. Mother's thought, "Must be something jugglery. All right. Forget. Don't do it again." (laughter)

This is Kṛṣṇa, that He is playing the part of a perfect child. Mother Yaśodā ordering, "Open Your mouth. I want to see." "Yes, mother. Just see." And when she saw His mouth, oh, the mother couldn't adjust(?). That is God, that He is, by being obliged by the devotee, He is playing the part of a child, at the same time maintaining His supremacy as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. That is Kṛṣṇa. Not that by mystic power one becomes God. No. God is God always. When on the lap of His mother He is God. And when His mother... On the lap of His mother, Pūtanā came to kill Him.

His Divine Grace Srila Sac-cid-ananda Bhaktivinoda Thakura's Appearance Day, Lecture -- London, September 3, 1971:

Utkāla. Utkāla, this state, was originally belonging to Dhruva Mahārāja. His son's name was Utkāla, Mahārāja Utkāla. Anyway, so this Utkāla, there was a pseudo yogi. He declared himself that... Just like you'll find nowadays also, there are so many rascals declaring that "I am incarnation of God." And they know some mystic power, play some jugglery, and foolish people take them: "Oh, he's God." So there appeared one like such pseudo God, Viṣṇu, in a village of Orissa. And he was dancing rāsa dance, and foolish people were sending their daughters and wife to dance with him. You see? There were so many. Not only that. People are so foolish, they do not know... They want to be cheated, and these cheaters come. He declared that "I am God. I am Viṣṇu." So there were sane men also. They took objection, "What is this nonsense? This man is dancing with ladies and gentlemen, er, girls." So they filed a complaint. At that time it was British rule. They complained to the governor or the commissioner, very high officer.

Arrival Addresses and Talks

Arrival Address -- Los Angeles, February 9, 1975:

So long you don't surrender, that is up to you. Kṛṣṇa will not force you. He is almighty, He can force you, but He does not do that. He says, "You do this. If you do not do it, that is your business. But I say you do it."

So Kṛṣṇa says everything in the Bhagavad-gītā. People are simply misled by so-called rascals, yogis, swamis, incarnation, magician, juggler, bluffer, but they come and go. They cannot do anything because they are themself cheated. They are themself cheated, so how they can do good to others? So don't be members of the society of cheaters and cheated. Then the life will be spoiled. Our only request, this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement, is "Take to Kṛṣṇa consciousness." Kṛṣṇa kṛṣṇa kṛṣṇa kṛṣṇa kṛṣṇa kṛṣṇa kṛṣṇa he. This is our... Caitanya Mahāprabhu has taught. Always chant Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa or Hare Kṛṣṇa, as it is convenient. That is the way of, the simple way. There is no difficulty. There is no loss. These boys and girls took "Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa," so there was no loss, but now everything is gain.

Arrival Address -- Vrndavana, September 3, 1976:

No. Vedic knowledge is possible to be understood by a person who has got unflinching faith in the bona fide guru. Guru means representative of Kṛṣṇa—Kṛṣṇa and His representative. We have repeatedly discussed this fact that guru means the bona fide servant of Kṛṣṇa. Guru does not mean a magician or jugglery. That is not guru. Guru means, it is explained by Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu very easily, how to become guru. He has asked everyone, especially those who are born in India, bhārata bhūmite manuṣya-janma haila yāra (CC Adi 9.41). Especially. Because we Indians, bhāratīya, we have got facilities to become guru of the whole world. We have got the facility. Because here we have got the literatures, Vedic literatures, especially the Bhagavad-gītā, which is spoken by Kṛṣṇa Himself. If we try to understand what is the aim of life and preach all over the world, then you become guru. And if we want to cheat others in the name of so-called yogis, swami, scholar, that will not make you guru.

General Lectures

Town Hall Lecture -- Auckland, April 14, 1972:

You just worship Govinda, personal Govinda." Bhaja govindam, three times. Three times means he is giving stress. Bhaja govindaṁ bhaja govindaṁ bhaja govindaṁ mūḍha-mate: three times. Prāpte sannihite kāle marane: "When your death will be near, at the point of your death," na hi na hi rakṣati ḍukṛñ-karaṇe. Ḍukṛñ-karaṇe means a grammatical jugglery, that "This word should be interpreted like this. This word should be interpreted like this." So, "This fight of interpretation will not save you. Better from the very beginning you worship Govinda. That will save you." This is his instruction. Bhaja govindaṁ bhaja govindaṁ bhaja govindaṁ mūḍha-mate. And so far we are concerned, Vaiṣṇavas, we all accept govinda, ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi, Govinda, the Supreme Person, the original Personality Godhead, govindam.

General Lecture -- (location & date unknown):

Because the Māyāvādī philosophers, they interpret Vedic mantras by grammatical jugglery, therefore Śaṅkarācārya has warned that "Your grammatical jugglery, this dukṛn-pratyaya, karaṇe, will not save you." Mūḍha-mate: "You foolish person, you kindly take shelter of Govinda." Bhaja govinda. So this is the verdict of all ācāryas. So our point is that this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is nothing like manufactured religious principle. No. It is authorized. There is great background, all these, supported by all the ācāryas and summarized by Caitanya Mahāprabhu. And we have got immense literature to support this philosophy of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. But anyone who is reasonable, they will accept this philosophy of Kṛṣṇa consciousness as very simple. And it is actually very simple, sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja (BG 18.66), to surrender unto Kṛṣṇa. And if you cannot surrender immediately, then... These things are explained in the Bhagavad-gītā. Caitanya Mahāprabhu has given you the easiest process, that you simply chant Kṛṣṇa's name, Hare Kṛṣṇa Hare Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Hare Hare, Hare Rāma Hare Rāma Rāma Rāma Hare Hare. Then everything automatically will develop.

Philosophy Discussions

Philosophy Discussion on Soren Aabye Kierkegaard:

Prabhupāda: So man's general position is as good as animal. Therefore in the human society there is system of education. But man, being advanced in consciousness, he can be properly educated so that he can understand what is God by the teachings of authority, and that is our Vedic system. In the human form of life—not generally but in special cases—they are very much inquisitive to understand about God. That is technically called brahma-jijñāsā. inquiring about the Absolute. And that is only possible in the human form of life. Generally, any human being can be educated in the spiritual life or God consciousness, but if anyone awakens his inquiry, as it is stated, tasmād guruṁ prapadyeta jijñāsuḥ śreya uttamam (SB 11.3.21), if one is actually anxious to inquire about God or the supreme knowledge, then he has to approach a guru. That's a fact. Without approaching a bona fide guru there is no possibility of understanding the nature of God and our relationship with Him. So one has to approach a guru. To accept a guru is not a fashion, it is necessity. If one is actually inquisitive, it is a necessity. So the qualification of guru is also given there, that what sort of guru you should search out. Śābde pare ca niṣṇātam (SB 11.3.21). A guru is he who has taken full training in the ocean of spiritual knowledge or Vedic knowledge, śābde pare. Śābde means the Vedic words, or vibration of sound, but that is not ordinary sound, material sound, but spiritual sound. Just like we are chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra, this spiritual sound. So one who has taken full bathing in the ocean of spiritual sound, and how he has realized the symptom of his life is that such guru is no more interested in materialistic way of life. Such guru does not manufacture gold or jugglery words to attract some foolish men and make money. That is not guru.

Philosophy Discussion on Plato:

Prabhupāda: We say that the living entity is part and parcel of God, mamaivāṁśa. Under the circumstances he has got almost all the qualities of God, but partially, because God is great and we are minute. So even though we have got all the qualities of God—not all, certain percentage, say seventy-eight percent—in minute quantity. Just like God has creative power, we have got also creative power. We have created the 747 flying machine. All right, get credit for that, but you cannot create a flying ball like sun floating in the sky. That is difference between God and me. You can take credit that you are keeping suspension in the air a big machine, 747, but it is not in your power that you can float millions and millions of planets floating in the air. That is not possible. Therefore God is great; I am small. That is real Kṛṣṇa consciousness. And as soon as he says, "I am as good or as great as God," then He is a rascal. That is Māyāvādī. He is in māyā. Just like one man in India, he is showing some jugglery. He makes like this and creates some gold, a little gold, but foolish people are enamored. "Ah, he is God." But we are not enamored, but we know that he may create a small piece of gold, but God has created many millions of gold mines. So if creation of gold is the standard of becoming God, then why shall we accept this tiny man as God, who has created the mines, not only one mine, in this planet there are hundreds and thousands of gold mines and there are so many planets.

Philosophy Discussion on Rene Descartes:

Prabhupāda: Now in this connection, regarding the soul, if he has received the knowledge of soul from God, therefore at that time there is no chance of he is thinking. If, as soon as he thinks in his own way, then there may be mistakes, because he is imperfect, finite. But when Kṛṣṇa says directly that "Within this body the soul is there," so if we accept God's instruction, then immediately we understand that the soul is different from this body. Exactly just like if somebody inquires, "Where is Prabhupāda?" If somebody says that "He is in this room," it does not mean this room is Prabhupāda; Prabhupāda is within this room. Similarly, Kṛṣṇa says that this, the owner of the body, the soul, is within this body. So immediately the false impression that "I am this body," the fool's conclusion, immediately it is eradicated. The light is there, but he will not accept. He wants to continue to live as a fool and speculate and waste time and con..., give conclusion in so many ways, so many rascal jugglery, "The living force is like this, like that, like that." But Kṛṣṇa gives instruction immediately that the living force, soul, is within this body; he is not this body. And He gives complete instruction on this at... He says, na hanyate hanyamāne śarīre: (BG 2.20) "This soul is never killed even the body is killed." This is knowledge. In spite of this knowledge, if somebody sticks to his foolish theories, then he remains animal.