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Misrepresent

Bhagavad-gita As It Is

BG Chapters 1 - 6

BG 3.8, Purport:

There are many pseudo meditators who misrepresent themselves as belonging to high parentage, and great professional men who falsely pose that they have sacrificed everything for the sake of advancement in spiritual life. Lord Kṛṣṇa did not want Arjuna to become a pretender. Rather, the Lord desired that Arjuna perform his prescribed duties as set forth for kṣatriyas. Arjuna was a householder and a military general, and therefore it was better for him to remain as such and perform his religious duties as prescribed for the householder kṣatriya. Such activities gradually cleanse the heart of a mundane man and free him from material contamination.

BG Chapters 7 - 12

BG 10.4-5, Purport:

Asammoha, freedom from doubt and delusion, can be achieved when one is not hesitant and when he understands the transcendental philosophy. Slowly but surely he becomes free from bewilderment. Nothing should be accepted blindly; everything should be accepted with care and with caution. Kṣamā, tolerance and forgiveness, should be practiced; one should be tolerant and excuse the minor offenses of others. Satyam, truthfulness, means that facts should be presented as they are, for the benefit of others. Facts should not be misrepresented. According to social conventions, it is said that one can speak the truth only when it is palatable to others. But that is not truthfulness. The truth should be spoken in a straightforward way, so that others will understand actually what the facts are. If a man is a thief and if people are warned that he is a thief, that is truth. Although sometimes the truth is unpalatable, one should not refrain from speaking it. Truthfulness demands that the facts be presented as they are for the benefit of others. That is the definition of truth.

Srimad-Bhagavatam

SB Canto 1

SB 1.12.6, Purport:

The whole material world is full of hungry living beings. The hunger is not for good food, shelter or sense gratification. The hunger is for the spiritual atmosphere. Due to ignorance only they think that the world is dissatisfied because there is not sufficient food, shelter, defense and objects of sense gratification. This is called illusion. When the living being is hungry for spiritual satisfaction, he is misrepresented by material hunger. But the foolish leaders cannot see that even the people who are most sumptuously materially satisfied are still hungry. And what is their hunger and poverty? This hunger is actually for spiritual food, spiritual shelter, spiritual defense and spiritual sense gratification. These can be obtained in the association of the Supreme Spirit, Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, and therefore one who has them cannot be attracted by the so-called food, shelter, defense and sense gratification of the material world, even if they are relished by the denizens of the heavenly planets.

SB 1.18.43, Purport:

According to Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam the monarchical regime represents the Supreme Lord, the Personality of Godhead. The king is said to be the representative of the Absolute Personality of Godhead because he is trained to acquire the qualities of God to protect the living beings. The Battle of Kurukṣetra was planned by the Lord to establish the real representative of the Lord, Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira. An ideal king thoroughly trained by culture and devotional service with the martial spirit makes a perfect king. Such a personal monarchy is far better than the so-called democracy of no training and responsibility. The thieves and rogues of modern democracy seek election by misrepresentation of votes, and the successful rogues and thieves devour the mass of population. One trained monarch is far better than hundreds of useless ministerial rogues, and it is hinted herein that by abolition of a monarchical regime like that of Mahārāja Parīkṣit, the mass of people become open to many attacks of the age of Kali. They are never happy in an overly advertised form of democracy. The result of such a kingless administration is described in the following verses.

SB Canto 2

SB 2.8.27, Purport:

There is no use in nondevotees' meddling with the two topmost Vedic literatures, and therefore Śaṅkarācārya did not touch Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam for commentation. In his commentation on the Bhagavad-gītā, Śrīpāda Śaṅkarācārya accepted Lord Kṛṣṇa as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, but later on he commented from the impersonalist's view. But, being conscious of his position, he did not comment on the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.

Śrīla Śukadeva Gosvāmī was protected by Lord Kṛṣṇa (vide Brahma-vaivarta Purāṇa), and therefore he is known as Brahmarāta, and Śrīmān Parīkṣit Mahārāja was protected by Viṣṇu, and thus he is known as Viṣṇurāta. As devotees of the Lord, they are always protected by the Lord. It is clear also in this connection that a Viṣṇurāta should hear Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam from Brahmarāta and no one else because others misrepresent the transcendental knowledge and thus spoil one's valuable time.

SB 2.8.28, Purport:

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is the science of the Personality of Godhead. The impersonalist always tries to misrepresent the personal feature of the Lord, not knowing the science of this great knowledge, and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is in pursuance of the Vedas and scientific knowledge of the Personality of Godhead. To learn this science one should take shelter of the representative of Śrī Śukadeva and follow in the footsteps of Mahārāja Parīkṣit without foolishly attempting to interpret, thereby committing a great offense at the feet of the Lord. The dangerous ways of interpretations by the nondevotee class of men have played havoc in understanding the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, and the careful student should be always alert in this matter if he at all wants to learn the science of Godhead.

SB Canto 3

SB 3.20.34, Purport:

The mentality of the demons in being enamored by the false beauty of this material world is expressed herein. The demoniac can pay any price for the skin beauty of this material world. They work very hard all day and night, but the purpose of their hard work is to enjoy sex life. Sometimes they misrepresent themselves as karma-yogīs, not knowing the meaning of the word yoga. Yoga means to link up with the Supreme Personality of Godhead, or to act in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. A person who works very hard, no matter in what occupation, and who offers the result of the work to the service of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa, is called a karma-yogi.

SB 3.20.35, Purport:

Demons arrange many kinds of performances to see the glaring beauty of a beautiful woman. Here it is stated that they saw the girl playing with a ball. Sometimes the demoniac arrange for so-called sports, like tennis, with the opposite sex. The purpose of such sporting is to see the bodily construction of the beautiful girl and enjoy a subtle sex mentality. This demoniac sex mentality of material enjoyment is sometimes encouraged by so-called yogīs who encourage the public to enjoy sex life in different varieties and at the same time advertise that if one meditates on a certain manufactured mantra one can become God within six months. The public wants to be cheated, and Kṛṣṇa therefore creates such cheaters to misrepresent and delude. These so-called yogīs are actually enjoyers of the world garbed as yogīs. Bhagavad-gītā, however, recommends that if one wants to enjoy life, then it cannot be with these gross senses.

SB 3.33.34, Purport:

It is understood that Kapila Muni first went towards the Himalayas and traced the course of the River Ganges, and He again came to the delta of the Ganges at the sea now known as the Bay of Bengal. The ocean gave Him residence at a place still known as Gaṅgā-sāgara, where the River Ganges meets the sea. That place is called Gaṅgā-sāgara-tīrtha, and even today people gather there to offer respects to Kapiladeva, the original author of the Sāṅkhya system of philosophy. Unfortunately, this Sāṅkhya system has been misrepresented by an imposter who is also named Kapila, but that other system of philosophy does not tally with anything described in the Sāṅkhya of Kapila in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.

Sri Caitanya-caritamrta

CC Adi-lila

CC Adi 5.41, Purport:

This is especially mentioned in the Mokṣa-dharma (349.68), which is part of the Śānti-parva of the Mahābhārata. Liberated sages like Nārada and Vyāsa, who are free from the four defects of conditioned souls, are the propagators of these scriptures. Śrī Nārada Muni is the original speaker of the Pañcarātra-śāstra. Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is also considered a sātvata-saṁhitā. Indeed, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu declared, śrīmad-bhāgavataṁ purāṇam amalam: "Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is a spotless Purāṇa." Malicious editors and scholars who attempt to misrepresent the Pañcarātra-śāstras to refute their regulations are most abominable. In the modern age, such malicious scholars have even commented misleadingly upon the Bhagavad-gītā, which was spoken by Kṛṣṇa, to prove that there is no Kṛṣṇa. How the Māyāvādīs have misrepresented the pāñcarātrika-vidhi will be shown below.

CC Adi 7.110, Purport:

"My dear wife, hear my explanations of how I have spread ignorance through Māyāvāda philosophy. Simply by hearing it, even an advanced scholar will fall down. In this philosophy, which is certainly very inauspicious for people in general, I have misrepresented the real meaning of the Vedas and recommended that one give up all activities in order to achieve freedom from karma. In this Māyāvāda philosophy I have described the jīvātmā and Paramātmā to be one and the same." How the Māyāvāda philosophy was condemned by Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu and His followers is described in Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, Second Chapter, verses 94 through 99, where Svarūpa-dāmodara Gosvāmī says that anyone who is eager to understand the Māyāvāda philosophy must be considered insane. This especially applies to a Vaiṣṇava who reads the Śārīraka-bhāṣya and considers himself to be one with God. The Māyāvādī philosophers have presented their arguments in such attractive, flowery language that hearing Māyāvāda philosophy may sometimes change the mind of even a mahā-bhāgavata, or very advanced devotee. An actual Vaiṣṇava cannot tolerate any philosophy that claims God and the living being to be one and the same.

CC Adi 7.114, Purport:

Thus they have created atheistic havoc all over the world, for such a conclusion is against the very nature of the transcendental process of pure devotional service. The Māyāvādī philosophers' unrealizable ambition to become one with the Supreme through denying the existence of the Personality of Godhead results in a most calamitous misrepresentation of spiritual knowledge, and one who follows this philosophy is doomed to remain perpetually in this material world. Therefore the Māyāvādīs are called aviśuddha-buddhayaḥ, or unclean in knowledge. Because they are unclean in knowledge, all their austerities and penances end in frustration. Thus although they may be honored at first as very learned scholars, ultimately they descend to physical activities of politics, social work, etc. Instead of becoming one with the Supreme Lord, they again become one with these material activities.

CC Adi 7.128, Purport:

Aside from oṁkāra, none of the words uttered by the followers of Śaṅkarācārya can be considered the mahā-vākya. They are merely passing remarks. Śaṅkarācārya, however, has never stressed chanting of the mahā-vākya oṁkāra; he has accepted only tat tvam asi as the mahā-vākya. Imagining the living entity to be God, he has misrepresented all the mantras of the Vedānta-sūtra with the motive of proving that there is no separate existence of the living entities and the Supreme Absolute Truth. This is similar to the politician's attempt to prove nonviolence from the Bhagavad-gītā. Kṛṣṇa is violent to demons, and to attempt to prove that Kṛṣṇa is not violent is ultimately to deny Kṛṣṇa. As such explanations of the Bhagavad-gītā are absurd, so also is Śaṅkarācārya's explanation of the Vedānta-sūtra, and no sane and reasonable man will accept it. At present, however, the Vedānta-sūtra is misrepresented not only by the so-called Vedāntīs but also by other unscrupulous persons who are so degraded that they even recommend that sannyāsīs eat meat, fish and eggs. In this way, the so-called followers of Śaṅkara, the impersonalist Māyāvādīs, are sinking lower and lower. How can these degraded men explain the Vedānta-sūtra, which is the essence of all Vedic literature?

CC Adi 7.130, Purport:

The Māyāvādī philosophers stress the statements tat tvam asi, so ’ham, etc., but they do not stress the real mahā-mantra, praṇava (oṁkāra). Therefore, because they misrepresent Vedic knowledge, they are the greatest offenders to the lotus feet of the Lord. Caitanya Mahāprabhu says clearly, māyāvādī kṛṣṇe aparādhī: "Māyāvādī philosophers are the greatest offenders to Lord Kṛṣṇa." Lord Kṛṣṇa declares:

tān ahaṁ dviṣataḥ krūrān saṁsāreṣu narādhamān
kṣipāmy ajasram aśubhān āsurīṣv eva yoniṣu

"Those who are envious and mischievous, who are the lowest among mankind, I perpetually cast into the ocean of material existence, into various demoniac species of life." (BG 16.19) Life in demoniac species awaits the Māyāvādī philosophers after death because they are envious of Kṛṣṇa. When Kṛṣṇa says in the Bhagavad-gītā (9.34) man-manā bhava mad-bhakto mad-yājī māṁ namaskuru ("Engage your mind always in thinking of Me, become My devotee, offer obeisances to Me and worship Me")

CC Adi 7.157, Purport:

Although Lord Śiva, in the form of a brāhmaṇa (Śaṅkarācārya), preached the false philosophy of Māyāvāda, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu nevertheless said that since he did it on the order of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, there was no fault on his part (tāṅra doṣa nāhi).

We must offer proper respects to all the demigods. If one can offer respects even to an ant, why not to the demigods? One must always know, however, that no demigod is equal to or above the Supreme Lord. Ekale īśvara kṛṣṇa, āra saba bhṛtya: (CC Adi 5.142) "Only Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and all others, including the demigods such as Lord Śiva, Lord Brahmā, goddess Durgā and Ganeśa, are His servants." Everyone serves the purpose of the Supreme Godhead, and what to speak of such small and insignificant living entities as ourselves? We are surely eternal servants of the Lord. The Māyāvāda philosophy maintains that the demigods, the living entities and the Supreme Personality of Godhead are all equal. It is therefore a most foolish misrepresentation of Vedic knowledge.

Other Books by Srila Prabhupada

Nectar of Devotion

Nectar of Devotion 51:

Rasābhāsa, or incompatible mixtures of mellows, may be classified as uparasa (false expression), anurasa (imitation) and aparasa (perverted or misrepresented mellows).

There is the following statement by an impersonalist who had just seen Kṛṣṇa: "When a person has passed completely from all contamination of material existence, he relishes a transcendental bliss of being established in trance. But as soon as I saw You, the original Personality of Godhead, I experienced the same bliss." This perverted reflection of mellows is called śānta-uparasa, or a perverted reflection of mixed impersonalism and personalism.

There is another statement as follows: "Wherever I am glancing I simply see Your personality. Therefore I know that You are the uncontaminated Brahman effulgence, the supreme cause of all causes. I think that there is nothing but You in this cosmic manifestation." This is another example of uparasa, or a perverted reflection of impersonalism and personalism.

Krsna, The Supreme Personality of Godhead

Krsna Book 7:

The Lord, out of His causeless mercy, descends to this material world and displays His activities just like an ordinary man. Unfortunately the impersonalists or the atheistic class of men consider Kṛṣṇa to be an ordinary man like themselves, and so they deride Him. This is condemned in the Bhagavad-gītā by the Lord Himself when He says, avajānanti māṁ mūḍhāḥ (BG 9.11). The mūḍhas, or rascals, take Kṛṣṇa to be an ordinary man or a slightly more powerful man; out of their great misfortune, they cannot accept Him as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Sometimes such unfortunate persons misrepresent themselves as incarnations of Kṛṣṇa without referring to the authorized scriptures.

Krsna Book 87:

The personified Vedas condemn the impersonal conception as a gross misrepresentation. In the Brahma-saṁhitā, the body of the Supreme Personality of Godhead is described as ānanda-cinmaya-rasa. The Supreme Personality of Godhead possesses a spiritual body, not a material body. He can enjoy anything through any part of His body, and therefore He is omnipotent. The limbs of a material body can perform only a particular function; for example, the hands can hold but cannot see or hear. But because the body of the Supreme Personality of Godhead is made of ānanda-cinmaya-rasa and is thus sac-cid-ānanda-vigraha (Bs. 5.1), He can enjoy anything and do everything with any of His limbs. Acceptance of the spiritual body of the Lord as material is dictated by the tendency to equate the Supreme Personality of Godhead with the conditioned soul. The conditioned soul has a material body. Therefore, if God also has a material body, then the impersonalistic theory that the Supreme Personality of Godhead and the living entities are one and the same can be very easily propagated.

Krsna Book 87:

In this way the personified Vedas said, "Dear Lord, when a living entity, by Your grace only, comes to the right conclusion about Your exalted transcendental position, he no longer bothers with the different theories manufactured by the mental speculators or so-called philosophers." This is a reference to the speculative theories of Gautama, Kaṇāda, Patañjali and Kapila (nirīśvara). There are actually two Kapilas: one Kapila, the son of Kardama Muni, is an incarnation of God, and the other is an atheist of the modern age. The atheistic Kapila is often misrepresented to be the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Lord Kapila the incarnation of Godhead appeared as the son of Kardama Muni long, long ago, during the time of Svāyambhuva Manu; the modern age is the age of Vaivasvata Manu.

Renunciation Through Wisdom

Renunciation Through Wisdom 4.2:

Enemies of the Lord like Kaṁsa and Jarāsandha always meditated on Kṛṣṇa, but unfavorably. Similar to these demons are the atheistic scholars who always challenge and misrepresent the real teachings of the Bhagavad-gītā. Though they think about the Lord, they do so with enmity because their intelligence has been covered by māyā. Kaṁsa and Jarāsandha were also erudite scholars, but because they were obsessed with Kṛṣṇa in enmity, they were demons.

We understand from Lord Caitanya's teachings and exemplary actions that it is our duty to follow the instructions of the Bhagavad-gītā favorably. During Lord Caitanya's tour of South India, when He entered the premises of the Śrī Raṅganātha temple, He came upon a simple brāhmaṇa engrossed in reading the Bhagavad-gītā. The Lord was overjoyed to see how attentively the brāhmaṇa was reading, and how tears were streaming down his cheeks. Other brāhmaṇas sitting nearby knew that he was illiterate, and so they wondered how he could possibly read the Gītā.

Lectures

Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures

Lecture on BG 3.6-10 -- Los Angeles, December 23, 1968:

This is Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Sāṅgopāṅgāstra-pārṣadam. Followed by many devotees. Just like you'll see the Caitanya Mahāprabhu's picture. He is followed always by His associates and devotees. Sāṅgopāṅgāstra-pārṣadam. Yajñaiḥ saṅ... This form of the Lord should be worshiped. Therefore we do not worship Kṛṣṇa directly. Through Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu, through saṅkīrtana movement. That is the process prescribed in the śāstra.

You cannot worship Kṛṣṇa directly. Then you will misunderstand. Those who are not following the path of Caitanya's saṅkīrtana movement, if they want to understand Kṛṣṇa, they'll simply misrepresent Kṛṣṇa's this rāsa-līlā in this way. That's all. Go on.

Sudāmā: "Although other yajñas prescribed in the Vedic literature are not easy to perform in this age of Kali, the saṅkīrtana-yajña is the easiest and it is sublime for all purposes, as is recommended in the Bhagavad-gītā."

Lecture on BG 4.12-13 -- New York, July 29, 1966:

People, they are naturally following leadership, but they do not want to follow the leadership of Śrī Kṛṣṇa. Because they want immediate relief from the miseries of this world. They do not want a permanent solution of all miseries. Kṛṣṇa, if we accept the leadership of Kṛṣṇa, then in this very life we can make a solution of all the miseries of material existence.

But instead of following the leadership of Kṛṣṇa, we accept leadership which is also indirectly the leadership of Kṛṣṇa, but it is misrepresented because on account of contamination of this material nature. Material nature is inferior or lower nature. Constitutionally, we are following the leadership, but we want immediate, temporary relief for our miseries. We do not want permanent solution of all miseries. That is the defect of our life. But here is a chance.

Lecture on BG 4.12-13 -- New York, July 29, 1966:

And wherefrom this brāhmaṇa word comes? Brahma jānāti iti brāhmaṇaḥ. That means one who knows the spirit, the spiritual. One who has got complete knowledge of the spiritual world, he is called brāhmaṇa.

How one becomes brāhmaṇa? Now you will find distinctly that cātur-varṇyaṁ mayā sṛṣṭaṁ guṇa-karma-vibhāgaśaḥ: (BG 4.13) "The four divisions of qualitative divisions is set by Me according to quality and karma." Never says, "according to birth," you will find. "According to birth," it is not said here. Although in India it is now misrepresentated that a brāhmaṇa's son is trying to designate himself as brāhmaṇa, but according to Bhagavad-gītā, that is not sanctioned. Bhagavad-gītā says, "according to quality."

Now, just like here is a qualified lawyer, Mr. Goldsmith. He is lawyer. Now, because he is lawyer, his son cannot claim that "Because my father is lawyer, then I am also lawyer." How he can become? The son also must be qualified lawyer. He must pass the bachelor of law degree, examination. Then he can be lawyer. So similarly, here Kṛṣṇa says... Don't misunderstand the Indian caste system as hereditary. No. It is, according to Vedic literature, it is according to the quality.

Lecture on BG 4.13 -- Bombay, April 2, 1974:

I can comment on Bhagavad-gītā in my own way." That is rascaldom. That is not understanding of Bhagavad-gītā. Bhagavad-gītā means you must understand what Kṛṣṇa says. That is understanding. But generally, it is done, "Kill Kṛṣṇa. There was no Kṛṣṇa. There was no battlefield. There was no Mahābhārata. I have my concoction about Kṛṣṇa." This kind of commentary and understanding of Bhagavad-gītā has spoiled the whole world.

Therefore in the Western countries so many swamis and yogis went there and they misrepresented Bhagavad-gītā. Of course, everyone knows in Eastern country Bhagavad-gītā. Every institution, every gentleman, learned man, knows that there is a nice book, Bhagavad-gītā, but they read these faulty commentaries. They cannot understand. Now we are presenting Bhagavad-gītā as it is, and they are now understanding what is real Bhagavad-gītā. Therefore they are now devotees. For the last two hundred years, so many swamis and yogis went there and talked about Bhagavad-gītā. Not a single person became a devotee of Kṛṣṇa. Now you will find thousands. Why? The Bhagavad-gītā is being accepted as it is. This is the secret of this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement.

Lecture on BG 4.14-19 -- New York, August 3, 1966:

So Lord Caitanya selects these very two particular books, Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam and Bhagavad-gītā, and He asks everyone, in any part of the world, to take up this matter very seriously and preach in the world. That is the direct order of Kṛṣṇa.

So if we take up this missionary work, to preach Bhagavad-gītā as it is, without any interpretation and without any motive behind it, as it is, as Kṛṣṇa said... We should present as it is. People misrepresent Bhagavad-gītā by their own interpretation. That should not be done. Bhagavad-gītā as it is should be presented before the people of the world. They are suffering for want of Kṛṣṇa consciousness, and as soon as they become Kṛṣṇa conscious, their life becomes happy. So this is the mission of this society, International Society for Kṛṣṇa Consciousness.

Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures

Lecture on SB 1.2.5 -- Visakhapatnam, February 20, 1972, At Ladies Club:

We have not manufactured anything. The same thing, which is very, very old, at least from historical point of view it is five thousand years old, but from scriptural point of view it is more than forty millions of years old. So our Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is based on this Bhagavad-gītā, because it is full of kṛṣṇa-sampraśno. Here Sūta Gosvāmī says, yat kṛtaḥ kṛṣṇa-sampraśno loka-maṅgala. "The questions raised by you," bhavadbhiḥ, "by you, loka-maṅgala." The Bhagavad-gītā should be read very widely, and should be understood very widely. That is the only source of auspicity for the human society. But don't misrepresent it. It has become a fashion now to misrepresent, comment on Bhagavad-gītā according to one's whims. That is very dangerous. That is very dangerous. Bhagavad-gītā should be read, should be understood as prescribed in the Bhagavad-gītā. Kṛṣṇa says, in the Fourth Chapter, evaṁ paramparā-prāptam imaṁ rājarṣayo viduḥ (BG 4.2). The Bhagavad-gītā should be understood by the line of disciplic succession of authorized ācāryas. Fortunately, in your South India all the great ācāryas appeared-Śaṅkarācārya, Rāmānujācārya, Madhvācārya, Viṣṇu Svāmī, all of them. So you are very fortunate, and the ācārya commentary is also there. Rāmānujācārya commentary is there, Madhvācārya commentary is there. So you take advantage and read them very nicely.

Lecture on SB 1.2.10 -- Bombay, December 28, 1972:

Our, this material position is we are all puffed-up, unnecessarily. Although we are on the grip of material nature, we are very much puffed-up. Daivī hy eṣā guṇamāyī (BG 7.14). We are beaten every step, we are so beaten by the material nature, still I am thinking, "I am God." Every step. This position should be given up, and we have to become namanta eva, submissive. Then, becoming submissive, san-mukharitāṁ bhavadīya-vārtām, we have to hear about Kṛṣṇa from the Kṛṣṇa devotee, not from others, not from professional men, not from the impersonalists, even not from the yogi, but from the devotee, san-mukharitāṁ bhavadīya. Because they will misrepresent it. A devotee will not, never misrepresent. A devotee will say exactly what Kṛṣṇa says. He'll not adulterate. That is not his business. Therefore it is recommended that you should hear about the Supreme from the realized devotee. San-mukharitāṁ bhavadīya-vārtāṁ sthāne sthitāḥ śruti-gatāṁ tanu-vāṅ manobhir. You remain in your position. Remain in Calcutta, Bombay or any big city. Because nowadays, in this age is city life. No gentleman, no intelligent man lives in the village. So you remain there, but try to hear from the devotee about Kṛṣṇa.

Lecture on SB 2.2.5 -- Los Angeles, December 2, 1968:

This is a crude example. The qualities are there in God; otherwise how we can get the quality? If the anger quality is not there in God, how we get this quality? That is a fact. But His anger and your anger is different because you are materially contaminated. So qualities, as they are, they are not bad. But when they are saturated with the contamination of this material world, they appear to be bad. Just like a naughty child. A naughty child means that child is going to be very intelligent boy or girl in future. That is a fact. Naughtiness means that child is very intelligent. So in course of time that naughtiness will fructify into intelligence. So here all the godly qualities are misrepresented, perverted reflection. Just like love. Now our worshipable God is Kṛṣṇa and Rādhā, conjugal love perfection. The same love is descended here also, love between boy and girl, but that is perverted. The love is there. The same love is there also. Otherwise wherefrom this girl? Why a girl is attracted by a boy? Why a boy is attracted by a girl? That is natural. That is coming from God, His pleasure potency. But because that love is being manifested with the contamination of this material world, that is perverted. So every quality... That is the, I mean to say, scientific way of studying God. Whatever qualities you have got, you can understand the same qualities is there in God, but your present condition being contaminated with material contact, it is being pervertedly represented. This has to be purified. This is Kṛṣṇa consciousness. The same thing.

Lecture on SB 5.5.27 -- Vrndavana, November 14, 1976:

Therefore he presented Himself, guru more mūrkha dekhi' karila śāsana: "My guru saw Me a great rascal; therefore he has asked Me, chastised Me, that 'You rascal, You cannot understand Vedānta. You cannot read even.' " Mūrkha tumi nāhi tomāra vedānta adhikāra: "You cannot read Vedānta." That means the rascals of this age, what they will understand Vedānta? He will simply misrepresent. They will simply mislead the persons. You see so many big, big politicians, scholars, simply misleading people from Bhagavad-gītā. Bhagavad-gītā is spoken on the battlefield, and they want to prove that it is nonviolence. In this way people are being misled.

Therefore avoid this rascal process, to read something and interpret in a different way. Caitanya Mahāprabhu wanted to do that. Guru more mūrkha dekhi karila śāsana. So we should not try to become very learned scholar by misreading the Vedic literature. Take the instruction of Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Not Caitanya Mahāprabhu—the śāstra, the Bṛhad-nāradīya Purāṇa. Sādhu śāstra guru vākya. Sādhu will not speak anything which is not in the śāstra. That is sādhu. Sādhu cannot manufacture anything.

Lecture on SB 6.1.21 -- Honolulu, May 21, 1976:

Then useless. Śrama eva hi kevalam. Vedas means knowledge, and Vedānta... Anta means last status or the end, end of. Everything has got some end, that "This is final, end." End means final. So Vedas means knowledge, and anta means end. So what is that end? That Vedānta is Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Therefore you'll find in every, at the end of every chapter of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, brahma-sūtra-bhāṣye. Brahma-sūtra means Vedānta.

So it is the natural comment by Vyāsadeva. Vyāsadeva is the writer of Vedānta philosophy, and he has written a comment personally so that in future, rascals may not misrepresent Vedānta. There are so many bhāṣyas, but that is not commentary. Real commentary... The author knows what he wants to speak. So Vedānta is the compilation by Vyāsadeva. So he knows what he wants to speak. What others have got the right? Just like Bhagavad-gītā. The purpose of Bhagavad-gītā is known by Kṛṣṇa. Why the rascals comment in different way? They may write their rascal philosophy other... Why they touch Bhagavad-gītā and give different interpretation? They have no right.

Lecture on SB 6.1.21 -- Honolulu, May 21, 1976:

We don't allow any rascal to comment upon Bhagavad-gītā in a different way. That is our Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement. This is very natural. If you have got a different type of philosophy, you can write. Why you should touch Bhagavad-gītā and misrepresent it? So because they are śūdras—their business is to cheat—they do that. But a brāhmaṇa will not do that. Yathānugītānām. Yathānugītānām. Brāhmaṇa means as it is, they will describe. That is brāhmaṇa. And if one has got some motive, that "Bhagavad-gītā is popular book. Let me utilize it and make my rascal philosophy popular..." This is going on. Big, big politician, big, big mental speculator... No. That is wrong. That is... A brāhmaṇa should present as it is. Yathānugītānām. This word is used.

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

Guest: And just one man, he is coming, and thousands of people just near the (indistinct) protested. They are at liberty. They can do. "Why you are protesting?" Then we told, "He is misrepresenting the Vedānta and ācāryas. He doesn't accept the Veda-sanctioned authorities, so we don't want him."

Prabhupāda: Now state is secular; therefore this is the condition. Formerly the kings and the executive heads were very responsible to protect religion. That is the duty of the king, to protect. Just like Parīkṣit Mahārāja, when he was on tour. As soon as he saw that one man is trying to kill a cow, immediately he became fire: "Oh, in my kingdom there is killing of cow? Who are you? I shall immediately kill you." You know this? The kings were taking. The kings were so responsible. But here they have declared... The so-called kings, they are themselves debauch, and they do not know what is religion. Therefore, in the Kali-yuga there is no other alternative than to chant peacefully, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare... There is no protection. And what does the executive heads, the presidents or secretaries? They simply manipulate some votes, third-class men. Who has written that article?

Nectar of Devotion Lectures

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

"It can be concluded that a person who is freed from the bodily concept of life is an eligible candidate for pure devotional service." People generally think that by, through devotional service, one rises to the platform of Brahman-jñāna, nirbheda brahmānu-sandhana. Even the so-called devotees—they are called sahajiyās—their ultimate goal is to merge into the existence of Brahman. That Rajani Sena, Bombay, he's also preaching in that way. And their process is very abominable. The, the sahajiyās, they also think like that, that by sex one can rise to that platform of merging into the effulgence of Brahman. Even Vivekananda was talking that "This Vaiṣṇava religion is a religion of sex." They have been so much misrepresented. By sexual indulgence, one can become one with the Supreme. This is their theory, very dangerous theory. Therefore these sahajiyās are amongst the thirteen rejected apa-sampradāyas. In the name of Caitanya Mahāprabhu, there are so many apa-sampradāyas. Apa-sampradāya means they present themselves as belonging to the Caitanya cult. But they are not at all bona fide. They are rejected.

General Lectures

Lecture -- Seattle, October 18, 1968:

That's all. They're troubling so much: "Oh, at night I'll have sex life." That's all. That is the energy. Yan maithunādi-gṛhamedhi-sukhaṁ hi tuccham (SB 7.9.45). Their life is based on the sex. That's all. Everyone is working so hard, culminating in sex. That's all. This is material life. So energy. The material energy means sex. So that is energy. If a person who is working in the factory, if you stop sex, he cannot work. And when he's unable to enjoy sex life, then he takes intoxication. This is material life. So energy must be there. Here in the material world the energy is sex, and in the spiritual world the energy is love. Here the love is misrepresented in sex. That is not love; that is lust. Love is only possible with Kṛṣṇa, nowhere else. Nowhere else love is possible. That is misrepresentation of love. That is lust. So love and lust. Love is yogamāyā, and lust is mahāmāyā. That's all. (long pause) Is that all right?

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

Why should you try to understand Bhagavad-gītā from a different angle of vision? The first preference should be given to the author. The author has given you some knowledge, so he has got some particular aim and objective. So why should you change that? You have no right to change that. If you want to speak something from your side, you write your own book. Why should you take advantage of the popular book of Bhagavad-gītā and misrepresent it? That is the fun. You see? There are about six hundred different types of editions commenting on Bhagavad-gītā. But according to Bhagavad-gītā, all these six hundred editions in different, studied from different angle of vision, they are all absurd and nonsense. It is very difficult. People have been misled by the so-called commentaries. There is no need of unnecessarily commenting on certain things. There is no necessity. Commentary or interpretation required when things are not very clear. Then you can suggest, "The meaning may be like this." But when the things are clear, why should you comment? There is no necessity of comment. Just like, for example—this is also from Sanskrit scholar's example—that gaṅgāyaṁ ghoṣapalli. Gaṅgāyam: "On the Ganges there is a neighborhood which is known as Ghoṣapalli." Now, this statement is in your front.

Conversations and Morning Walks

1970 Conversations and Morning Walks

Room Conversation -- December 12, 1970, Indore:

Prabhupāda: Oh, just see. So how biased man can report? So therefore we are avoiding reports.

Guest (4): (Hindi?)

Prabhupāda: No, tape may be. But he also taped, that man. But he has misrepresented.

Guest (4): I should like to ask one question, sir.

Prabhupāda: All right, you can ask. But kindly publish rightly. Don't...

Guest (4): Yes, yes.

Guest (5): (unintelligible)

Prabhupāda: (break) Still you want to inquire from her?

Guest (4): From the entire business.

Prabhupāda: So you can inquire from me. In my presence, you can inquire from me. Because, after all, they are my students, they may not be able to reply thoroughly. So if you have got any inquiries you can ask from me.

Room Conversation -- December 12, 1970, Indore:

Guest (5): I see.

Guest (4): Mahārāja, you said that you had been misrepresented in that report which appeared yesterday in one of the dailies of the cities.

Prabhupāda: Yes.

Guest (4): How could you like to mend your statement?

Prabhupāda: My statements are clear there but he has misstated in the heading with ulterior purpose.

Guest (4): I think he has...

Prabhupāda: Young men of cities, they may come to me and be trained up in the spiritual life, Kṛṣṇa consciousness. (Hindi) So long you'll ask me to keep here, provided you are serious of taking training from me...

1973 Conversations and Morning Walks

Morning Walk -- August 30, 1973, London:

Prabhupāda: Some of our students may read. If it is presented, if it is misrepresented then it is useless to publish.

David Lawrence: I don't want that to happen, you see. This is why I'm so anxious that at every stage it be seen.

Prabhupāda: So you read it and find out.

David Lawrence: Will you?

Śyāmasundara: Sure, sure, sure.

David Lawrence: That will be... I've said to the publishers, as far as I'm concerned, they've given me a date at the end of September, but I've said if the people in the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement do not accept what I've put forward as a representative view of their own, then the date's going to go back. I've said that. So that's an accepted idea.

Prabhupāda: Hare Kṛṣṇa.

Morning Walk -- December 4, 1973, Los Angeles:

Prabhupāda: If you cannot reply, you're simply misrepresenting scientists. We say there must be something which is spreading consciousness. Now how can you deny it? It is not brainwash. There must be something. Now if you are scientist, you find out.

Hṛdayānanda: That which is spreading consciousness.

Prabhupāda: Yes. What is that thing which is spreading consciousness?

Hṛdayānanda: So if they say it is the chemical, but they can't do that, they can't...

Prabhupāda: Yes, you put the chemicals. Just like I have sent my car, it is not running, so they know how it will run. They know. Therefore I say, "But if you do not know, you're speaking nonsense. You do not know anything." And as soon as you are captured, you say "Yes, in future I shall know." What is this? The same, postdated blank check, which has no value. Will the postdated check, will it be accepted by anyone? Suppose you give me a postdated check. If I'm paying, what is this nonsense? This is all nonsense. "Future." (devotees laugh) No future, sir. Immediately. Cash payment.

Morning Walk -- December 21, 1973, Los Angeles:

Prabhupāda: What they will understand, rāsa-līlā?

Guest (1): It has been misrepresented.

Prabhupāda: Misrepresented. They will think that it is ordinary, just like young boy, young girls, they mix together.

Guest (1): And that rāsa-līlā is also not taken in that moral sense. It is more of a sex exploitation. That is how they...

Prabhupāda: No. Why one should go to the rāsa-līlā? It is in the Tenth Canto. And in the thirty-fifth chapter. So what is the purpose?

Guest (1): No. That is being misrepresented. That has also been taken as an enjoyment.

Prabhupāda: Yes.

Guest (1): It has been taken more as sense gratification.

Prabhupāda: Yes. Harer nāma harer nāma harer nāma eva kevalam (CC Adi 17.21). So Karandhara Prabhu, this time is nice.

1974 Conversations and Morning Walks

Morning Walk -- January 3, 1974, Los Angeles:

Karandhara: There are so many misrepresentations.

Prabhupāda: Because their folly is... They therefore do not take authority. Otherwise they'll be exposed. Yes. śāstra-cakṣusā. Yaḥ śāstra-vidhim utsṛjya vartate kāma-kārataḥ (BG 16.23). These are the injunctions. (dog barks) Yes, come on. We have got your punishment. So there is an argument: pala bonatu hoya (?). "I'm not afraid of you. Although I'm, I'm going away, I'm not afraid of you. (laughter) Don't think that I am afraid of you." This is dog business. They'll go, "gow!" and go away, go away. They'll not come forward. Come on. (laughter) (break) Well, our every day is a New Year. Nava-navayauvana. Our Kṛṣṇa consciousness is so nice, the more you advance, you see new year, new year. That's all. Nothing is old. People are seeing that they are simply chanting the old slogan, Hare Kṛṣṇa.

Devotee: Hare Kṛṣṇa.

1975 Conversations and Morning Walks

Morning Walk -- October 5, 1975, Mauritius:

Prabhupāda: Yes. You can become a brāhmaṇa. Equal oppor... We are giving. Any man, he may be caṇḍāla but we give them opportunity: "Come on, you become a brāhmaṇa." We don't deny: "Oh, you are coming from a caṇḍāla family. You cannot become brāhmaṇa." No. We don't say that. We give equal opportunity. (break) ...is that before this movement, really Vedic culture was never broadcast. Therefore they are finding somewhere contradiction, something astonishing. But Vedic culture is meant for the whole world.

Puṣṭa Kṛṣṇa: It has been misrepresented.

Prabhupāda: Yes. (break) ...the other day, before Mr. Nanda, that how brāhmaṇa can be from any family. He did not know. No rascal informed him before me. Therefore he was a little surprised. He was also mixed with Anandamaya, this māyā, that... And nobody informed him. He was kept in darkness. That was the first time that he could understand that cātur-varṇyaṁ mayā sṛṣṭam (BG 4.13)—brāhmaṇa can be prepared from anywhere. The whole India is under the impression that brāhmaṇa can be prepared..., brāhmaṇa is manufactured in India and the son of a brāhmaṇa is a brāhmaṇa.

Puṣṭa Kṛṣṇa: This is propagated by the brāhmaṇas themselves, isn't it?

Prabhupāda: Whatever it may be, this is the current idea. (break) ...culture is meant for everyone... (end)

1976 Conversations and Morning Walks

Morning Walk -- May 3, 1976, Fiji:

Guru-kṛpā: These people that say that they are God, they should be taken to court and thrown in jail for misrepresentation.

Prabhupāda: No, that is by.... There are some.... But first of all, if somebody creates God, then he should be challenged that "Where is your, what is your definition of God? If you were created God, corroborate with the definition. Then we accept." This is very logical. We can ask anybody, "What is your definition of God? What do you mean by God?" Then he has to explain. This is the point.

Devotee: Śrīla Prabhupāda, once you told a man, "What is your definition of God?" And he could not answer. And you answered him that "God means the Supreme Being." And you said, "You are saying you are God, but you don't even know the definition of God. So how you are God?"

Prabhupāda: Yes. If you do not know what is God, how can you say that "Here is God"? You cannot say. (break) One who is after God, he'll accept our philosophy. But the, those who are rogues, who want to banish God or kill God, they'll not accept. So we have to avoid such persons.

Room Conversation -- June 24, 1976, New Vrindaban:

Dhṛṣṭadyumna: Purport? "There are many pseudo meditators who misrepresent themselves as belonging to high parentage, and great professional men who falsely pose that they have sacrificed everything for the sake of advancement in spiritual life. Lord Kṛṣṇa did not want Arjuna to become a pretender, but that he perform his prescribed duties as set forth for kṣatriyas. Arjuna was a householder and a military general, and therefore it was better for him to remain as such and perform his religious duties as prescribed for the householder kṣatriya. Such activities gradually cleanse the heart of a mundane man and free him from material contamination. So-called renunciation for the purpose of maintenance is never approved by the Lord, nor by any religious scripture. After all, one has to maintain one's body and soul together by some work. Work should not be given up capriciously, without purification of materialistic propensities. Anyone who is in the material world is certainly possessed of the impure propensity for lording it over material nature, or, in other words, for sense gratification. Such polluted propensities have to be cleared. Without doing so, through prescribed duties, one should never attempt to become a so-called transcendentalist, renouncing work and living at the cost of others."

Prabhupāda: That is not the right way. Kṛṣṇa never said to Arjuna that "You haven't got to fight. You sit down, I shall do everything." He never said that. "You have to fight." Nimitta-mātraṁ bhava savyaśacin. "And the result is already created by Me, but you have to make a manifestation of fighting."

Room Conversation -- July 4, 1976, Washington D.C.:

Puṣṭa Kṛṣṇa: They have one cultural organization, they want to export yogis and teachers who they approve of, the Indian government approves of as being bona fide. Because the American government, so many people are complaining, about misrepresentation by these Indian swamis and so-called yogis that are coming over. So they put Guru...., the Divine Light Society...

Hari-śauri: They said that once this is established there won't be no room for the Divine Lightists, the Hare Kṛṣṇa cultists and like this.

Puṣṭa Kṛṣṇa: TM. (indistinct)

Rūpānuga: Really.

Devotees: Yeah. (indistinct)

Prabhupāda: And they're spending...

Puṣṭa Kṛṣṇa: A hundred and sixty nine lakhs.

Prabhupāda: A hundred and sixty nine lakhs per year, inviting foreign countries to lecture.

Evening Darsana -- July 6, 1976, Washington, D.C.:

Prabhupāda: That is his foolishness. He's a fool. He does not know the facts, and he has posed himself as a learned scholar. That is the difficulty-fools and rascals presenting themselves as scholar and misrepresenting. People are being misguided. Because he is a learned scholar, you are citing his example. But he is a fool. He does not know what is Mahābhārata, what is Kṛṣṇa. And still, he wants to say something, that is his foolishness. He does not know, and still he wants to speak something. That is cheating. The cheating propensity is there for conditioned souls. He does not know one thing, still he wants to speak as an authority. That is cheating. How you can differentiate? If you are actually student of Mahābhārata, then how we can differentiate the speaker in the Battlefield of Kurukṣetra and Kṛṣṇa? Kṛṣṇa is accepted there as Bhagavān. Whenever Vyāsadeva writes Kṛṣṇa statements, he writes bhagavān uvāca. He's Bhagavān, as well as He's a historical person in the Mahābhārata. He never writes kṛṣṇa uvāca, he writes bhagavān uvāca. And Arjuna admits, paraṁ brahma paraṁ dhāma pavitraṁ paramaṁ bhavān puruṣam ādyam (BG 10.12), "You are the Supreme Person." How can you differentiate Kṛṣṇa of Mahābhārata and Kṛṣṇa of Bhagavad-gītā, Kṛṣṇa...? These are miscalculations.

Morning Walk -- July 10, 1976, New York:

Hari-śauri: Completely misrepresented it.

Prabhupāda: And the Bon Mahārāja is his follower. He's in name a disciple of Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī, but he's a servant of Vivekananda.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: He's very similar to him.

Prabhupāda: He's a great appreciator of Vivekananda. He has put in his curriculum Vivekananda philosophy, Gandhi philosophy. Rascal, what philosophy they have got?

Hari-śauri: He mentioned all the nonsense people. He put a circular out, he mentioned Rama Tirtha, Vivekananda, all these nonsense.

Prabhupāda: Now I am convinced he's a rascal. He's nothing but a great rascal. My Guru Mahārāja rejected him. Therefore he was called back, rascal, he used to say like that, banamānuṣa. Banamānuṣa.

Evening Darsana -- August 14, 1976, Bombay:

Prabhupāda: Those who cannot read the book, they are still better. Those who can read the book, they are still more dangerous.

Guest (1): They will misinterpret the whole thing. They will misrepresent, the danger is still more there. It is rather more with the educated people that the danger is there than the uneducated. But to reach the uneducated we have, I was thinking this is a better media. This is one of the medias perhaps, I wouldn't say better. Perhaps one of the medias by which we can reach them in a larger crowd.

Guest (2): But not in the way that the films are made.

Guest (1): No, that is not say. I don't want. I could produce...

Prabhupāda: That Kṛṣṇa consciousness is developed when one practices according to the prescribed method,

tapasā brahmacaryena
śamena ca damena ca
tyāgena satya-śaucābhyāṁ
yamena niyamena vā
(SB 6.1.13)

These are the process, tapasya, brahmacaryena. So it is very difficult for the common man to undergo tapasya. Little tapasya we have introduced, no illicit sex, no meat eating, no gambling, no intoxication. That is also become very difficult nowadays.

Meeting with Endowments Commissioner -- August 24, 1976, Hyderabad:

Prabhupāda: So we have to follow this formula. This is śāstra-viddhi. One step to another. And if you don't care for the śāstra-viddhi, we can do that, but na siddhiṁ na avāpnoti. It will never be successful. It will be a show, big show, but there will be no siddhi. (pause) If you want to do according to the direction of Kṛṣṇa, our cent per cent cooperation will be there. We'll not touch a single farthing of your money, but we can give you direction, "Spend it like that." And government men, you can see that we are not touching a single farthing of your money, but it is being spent for Kṛṣṇa's mission. That you can believe. It is the duty of the government men to see that people may not misrepresent. That is the Vedic injunction. Pṛthu Mahārāja was to see that a brāhmaṇa is doing, acting like brāhmaṇa, kṣatriya is doing like kṣatriya. So it is government's duty to see that Bālajī's money, Kṛṣṇa's money, is to the farthing spent for His mission. That is your duty. That is government's duty, that nothing is misused, nothing is misrepresented.

Morning Walk -- December 5, 1976, Hyderabad:

Devotee (3): Purport. "There are many pseudo-meditators who misrepresent themselves as belonging to high parentage, and great professional men who falsely pose that they have sacrificed everything for the sake of advancement in spiritual life. Lord Kṛṣṇa did not want Arjuna to become a pretender, but that he perform his prescribed duties as set for kṣatriyas. Arjuna was a householder and a military general, and therefore it was better for him to remain as such and perform his religious duties as prescribed for the householder kṣatriya. Such activities gradually cleanse the heart..."

Prabhupāda: You are following? Go on.

Devotee (3): "...and free him from material contamination. So-called renunciation for the purpose of maintenance is never approved by the Lord, nor by any religious scripture. After all, one has to maintain one's body and soul together by some work. Work should not be given up capriciously, without purification of materialistic propensities. Anyone who is in the material world is certainly possessed of the impure propensity for lording it over material nature, or, in other words, for sense gratification. Such polluted propensities have to be cleared. Without doing so, through prescribed duties, one should never attempt to become a so-called transcendentalist, renouncing work and living at the cost of others."

1977 Conversations and Morning Walks

Meeting with Mr. Dwivedi -- April 23, 1977, Bombay:

Prabhupāda: It is not religion. Why you take...? Religion is also, we shall do. As soon as I say religion, you say, "I have got my religion." It is science. "Two plus two equal to four" is equally understandable by Hindus, by Muslim, by Christian. "Two plus two equal to four," everyone knows. Everyone should accept. "Because I am Hindu, therefore two plus two equal to five"—that cannot be. So Bhagavad-gītā was misrepresented that it is meant for the Hindus. If it is meant for the Hindus, why they are coming? What is the use? They were Christians. They were Jews. Why they are coming? It is a science. So we have to present Bhagavad-gītā as it is—science. It is religion. Dharmaṁ tu sākṣād bhagavat-praṇītam (SB 6.3.19). But they misunderstand religion. We described in a...

Mr. Dwivedi: And even the present brāhmaṇas also equally misunderstand. For instance, Gītā is compulsory in every institution right from the very beginning. So at one time, because it was compulsory for Muslims, even it was compulsory for the harijanas. I stood excommunicated for some time. Now sometimes complaint goes to the government, "What is solution?" And therefore they say, "Why government should hear you? You are complaining everybody." "This is not everybody. This is..." Gītā is no particular religion's book. It is a cosmopolitan...

Room Conversation during lunchtime -- July 8, 1977, Vrndavana:

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: They can't do that. They say, "You're misrepresenting yourselves because..."

Prabhupāda: I'm not misrepresenting. I like this dress.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: They say this dress indicates a Christian...

Prabhupāda: Whatever indication, I like this. You cannot check my liking. Just like an Indian dresses like a European, or a European dresses like Indian. Does it mean that he has become Indian or he's American? He likes it. That's all. Can you object if a girl dresses like Indian with ladies' sari? Can you object? It is something like that. "Oh, why you have become Indian-like? Why you are imitating?"

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: They say, "Well, no, you can wear your Santa Claus suit, but you'll have to wear a Hare Kṛṣṇa button."

Prabhupāda: That we can do. Never mind. But that is not under your dictation. If I like.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: They actually made us in New York, the court.

Prabhupāda: No, then there is no objection. But you cannot dictate...

Correspondence

1947 to 1965 Correspondence

Letter to Sumati Morarjee -- New York 27 October, 1965:

I am therefore thinking of bringing a Sankirtana party from India but I do not know how to do it. Unless there is an organized party or association it is very difficult to do it. The Rama Krishna Mission here is busy in preaching a misrepresentation and therefore practically they have failed to preach the real cult of India. The so called Yogis also could not establish the real cult of Bhagavad-gita. They are after material gains. The Bhagavata Cult is not there at all although it is the only remedy for raising the people in the world in the path of self realization and spiritual salvation.

I do not know what is in the mind of Lord Bala Krishna but I think that your attention to give an impetus to the Bhagavata cult and my humble attempt can serve great purpose. By the grace of the Lord you have a great position in the world and it is learnt that you are one of the richest woman in the world. But above all you are a pious lady with great devotion for Lord Bala Krishna and you can do a lot in this connection.

Letter to Tirtha Maharaja -- New York 8 November, 1965:

If you agree then take it for granted that I am one of the worker of the Sri Mayapur Caitanya Matha. I have no ambition for becoming the proprietor of any Matha or Mandir but I want working facilities. I am working day and night for my Bhagavatam publication and I need centres in the western countries. If I am successful to start a centre in New york, then my next attempt will be start one in California and Montreal where there are many Indians also. There is ample scope for working but unfortunately we have simply wasted time by quarreling with one another while the Ramakrishna Mission with misrepresentation have made their position all over the world. Although they are not so popular in these foreign countries they have made a great propaganda only and as a result of such propaganda they are very prosperous in India while the Gaudiya Math people are starving. We should now come to our senses. If possible join with our other godbrothers and let us make an effort combinedly to preach the cult of Gaura Hari in every cities and villages of the western countries.

1967 Correspondence

Letter to Kirtanananda -- Calcutta 16 October, 1967:

This is clear to me from Hayagriva's letter which indicated that you had already planned to go there even before you left India. Since you have returned to N.Y. you have falsely dictated that I do not want the robes or flags. Why are you disturbing the whole situation in my absence. I never ordered you to speak like that. They must continue to have robes & tilak & flags & they must distinguish themselves from the hippies. I never objected to any of my students dressing like nice American gentleman, clean shaved; those who are my disciples must have flag, tilak & beads on neck without fail. Anyway I never advised you to dictate on behalf, please therefore do not misrepresent me. You have been given sannyasa to follow my principles & not to disturb me. If you do not agree with my philosophy you can work independent and not with-in the walls of ISKCON. You have not understood Krishna properly. The best thing will be to stop your talks my return & if you love me at all please do not talk in any meeting but chant in solitary place—anywhere you like. Hope you are well.

Letter to Kirtanananda -- Navadvipa 28 October, 1967:

This is clear to me from Hayagriva's letter which indicated that you had already planned to go there even before you left India. Since you have returned to N.Y. you have falsely dictated that I do not want the robes or flags. Why are you disturbing the whole situation in my absence. I never ordered you to speak like that. They must continue to have robes & tilak & flags & they must distinguish themselves from the hippies. I never objected to any of my students dressing like nice American gentleman, clean shaved; but those who are my disciples must have flag, tilak & beads on the neck without fail. Anyway I never advised you to dictate on my behalf. Please therefore do not misrepresent me. You have been given sannyasa to follow my principles & not to disturb me. If you do not agree with my philosophy you can work independently and not within the walls of ISKCON. You have not understood Krishna properly. The best thing will be to stop your talks till my return & if you love me at all please do not talk in any meeting but chant in solitary place - anywhere you like. Hope you are well.

1968 Correspondence

Letter to Brahmananda -- San Francisco 17 September, 1968:

This is Parbat Maharaja's request. (Jaya Govinda)" This means that Parvat Maharaja is canvassing to break them from the society and remain with him. He is another edition of Bon Maharaja, who has broken the poor Hrsikesa from the society. Besides that, you have sent me a note dated 9/10/68, which reads as follows: "Dear Swamiji, Please accept my most humble obeisances. Enclosed is a magazine published by Sri Srimad Parbat Maharaja which Jaya Govinda sent us. You will be interested to see one article published about the San Francisco Ratha Yatra festival. (Brahmananda das)" From this note it appears that Parvat Maharaja is misrepresenting himself as the publisher of the paper "Truth." But actually he is not so. It is published by one very big Doctor, Medical Practitioner, Dr. N.R. Sen. I knew this gentleman in connection with my medical business. So in this way, it is clear that this Parvat Maharaja is trying to entice Jaya Govinda. The letter which I have sent yesterday to Jaya Govinda, a copy of which is enclosed herewith. Now you should clearly write to him that if both of them jointly work in Bombay, on behalf of ISKCON, and under clear direction from me, then they can remain in India, and you will give him the required indemnity letter.

1970 Correspondence

Letter to Sridama -- Los Angeles 8 July, 1970:

The daily regulative duties must be performed by everyone very strictly, the beads chanted sixteen rounds, and our literatures read and discussed. In this way everything should be done very nicely. Sankirtana should be done by you in the streets and at gatherings and in this manner display what is this Krsna consciousness movement and how it is for everyone's eternal welfare and happiness.

So you do all these with great enthusiasm and very carefully. Our all activities must be open so that no one may criticize our mission, so all dealing must be to the standard of Vaisnavism. We cannot misrepresent ourselves for the purpose of taking monies from the public, but as everything is undertaken forthrightly in Krsna consciousness way, then Lord Krsna will be pleased to provide all facilities for aiding our such sincere service.

Letter to Jagadisa -- Bombay 17 November, 1970:

An idle mind is the devil's workshop—is a true remark. We should always remember that Maya and Krsna are side by side, just like light and darkness stand side by side. If one is not in the sunshine or light, then he is ipso facto in darkness. Therefore we must not be careless, but we should push on with great seriousness and sincerity, then we shall be certain of achieving the desired result.

I am always glad to learn that our Sankirtana is going on so much joyfully now in our every branch. We shall not misrepresent ourselves by making simply a show of devotional service and simply fill our bellies. It is our only intention to spread this sublime philosophy to all the persons of the world for the complete welfare benefit, both spiritual and material of everyone of them. The new program of preaching on Sankirtana using one basic verse from the Bhagavad-gita As It Is is an excellent idea. We should always be eager to find out such nice ways to spread this Movement. This will automatically bring joy to the devotees as well as to the nondevotees.

1972 Correspondence

Letter to Jagadisa -- Sydney 27 March, 1972:

I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letters dated February 15, 1972 and March 11, 1972 and I have noted the contents. I am so glad to hear how you are expanding the book distribution program so rapidly. The more this literature is read and distributed, the more the world will be filled with auspicity. Please continue this program with ever-increasing enthusiasm and this will please my Guru Maharaja very much.

If we simply repeat this philosophy exactly as it is, without any misrepresentation or adulteration, then this movement will never be checked, and we will conquer the world. So please train up all these boys and girls in the philosophy and brahminical culture and they will become useful tools in the hands of Lord Krishna for saving all the fallen souls in this age.

1976 Correspondence

Letter to Yasomatinandana -- Honolulu 26 May, 1976:

Concerning the incident where the two boys were killed in what appeared to be a bomb blast, it is unfortunate that the newspapers have made it appear that these boys are Hare Krishna devotees. Of course, anyone can chant Hare Krishna, just like we go on the streets chanting, and others will imitate us. However, in our aims you will not find that our organization is dedicated to such methods or goals. Our aim is to awaken people throughout the world to Krishna Consciousness, God consciousness, by chanting the Holy Names of God. We have published so many books to explain our viewpoint, and why we should sit idly by and allow the press to unfairly take advantage of such a situation to misrepresent the Hare Krishna Movement. In any case, the movement cannot be judged simply by the activities of some individuals, but these men were not in our camp and still the press took unfair notice of all the facts. We should demand at least equal time from the press to explain the entire situation clearly, and when necessary we should file suit against such newspapers in order that things are not distorted. It is not in our aims anywhere to build bombs for any purpose. The same mentality is involved in trying to blow-up a slaughterhouse as is there in meat-eating.

Page Title:Misrepresent
Compiler:Mayapur, RupaManjari
Created:12 of Oct, 2011
Totals by Section:BG=2, SB=7, CC=6, OB=5, Lec=15, Con=17, Let=9
No. of Quotes:61