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Mistaken (Lectures)

Lectures

Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures

Introduction to Gitopanisad (Earliest Recording of Srila Prabhupada in the Bhaktivedanta Archives):

Mayādhyakṣeṇa prakṛtiḥ sūyate sa-carācaram (BG 9.10). "This material nature is working under My direction," mayādhyakṣeṇa, "under My superintendence." So we, we are mistaken. When we see wonderful things happening in the cosmic nature, we should know that behind these wonderful manifestations, there is a controller. Nothing can be manifested without being controlled. It is childish to, not to consider about the controller. Just like a very nice motor car with very good speed and very good engineering arrangement is running on the street. A child may think that "How this motor car is running without the help of any horse or any pulling agent?" But a sane man or an elderly person, he knows that in spite of all engineering arrangements in the motor car, without the driver it cannot move.

Introduction to Gitopanisad (Earliest Recording of Srila Prabhupada in the Bhaktivedanta Archives):

Consciousness, consciousness of, both of the Lord and the living entities, they are, this consciousness is transcendental. It is not that this consciousness is generated by the association of this matter. That is a mistaken idea. The theory that consciousness develops under certain circumstances of material combination is not accepted in the Bhagavad-gītā. They cannot. Consciousness may be pervertedly reflected by the cover of material circumstances, just like light reflected through a colored glass may seem according to the color.

Lecture on BG 1.24-25 -- London, July 20, 1973:

This material world means material senses. That's all. So if you become master of the material senses, then you become guḍākeśa. Therefore Arjuna is described here as guḍākeśa. Arjuna... Don't take Arjuna that he was mistaken. No, he cannot be. How he can be? He is constantly with Kṛṣṇa. How he can be misdirected? No. That is not possible. In the Caitanya-caritāmṛta it is said that kṛṣṇa sūrya-sama māyā andhakāra (CC Madhya 22.31). So guḍāka means darkness, māyā. So kṛṣṇa sūrya-sama māyā andhakāra. The darkness and light is there always, side by side. We have got experience. Here is sunlight, here is darkness. So these two things are there.

Lecture on BG 1.31 -- London, July 24, 1973:

So Arjuna is in gṛhastha-āśrama. He wants to serve Kṛṣṇa. He's Kṛṣṇa's friend. He is a devotee. Kṛṣṇa has already recommended. In the Fourth Chapter He will declare, bhakto 'si priyo 'si me (BG 4.3). "You are My dear friend. You are My devotee." So he is qualified, gṛhastha-āśramī. He is devotee of Kṛṣṇa, but he is also family man. He has his wife, children. So here the problem is what is śreyas? What is ultimate good? That is mistaken here. Therefore Bhagavad-gītā is required.

Lecture on BG 2.2 -- London, August 3, 1973:

Everyone is lower. That is the meaning of Bhagavān. Nobody can claim "I am Bhagavān." But nowadays there are so many rascals, they are claiming that everyone is Bhagavān. So Vyāsadeva is mistaken? Actually, these Māyāvādī philosophers, they are so great rascals they sometimes say like that, that Vyāsadeva is also mistaken. They have got the audacity to say Vyāsadeva, he is accepted as incarnation of Nārāyaṇa, who has given us the Vedic literature, so many books he has given, the Vedas, the Purāṇas, the Mahābhārata, Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Vedānta-sūtra.

Lecture on BG 2.2 -- London, August 3, 1973:

If one does not come through the channel of disciplic succession, so they are in so many ways mistaken. Vyāsadeva is above all this. He is not an ordinary writer, material description or material name and faith. He cannot be mistaken. As Bhagavān, Kṛṣṇa cannot be mistaken. Similarly, Vyāsadeva, incarnation of Bhagavān, he also cannot be mistaken. Neither devotee of Kṛṣṇa can be mistaken. Devotee of Kṛṣṇa, he does not say anything as his own opinion. He never says. What Kṛṣṇa says, he says. He may be not perfect, but what Kṛṣṇa has said, that is perfect.

Lecture on BG 2.4-5 -- London, August 5, 1973:

A devotee of Kṛṣṇa, if need be, if he's unqualified guru... Unqualified guru means who does not know how to guide the disciple. Guru's duty is to guide. So such kind of guru can be at least rejected. That is Jīva Gosvāmī's... Kārya-kāryam ajānataḥ. A guru who does not know what to do and what not to do, but by mistake, by mistakenly I have accepted somebody as guru, he can be rejected. By rejecting him, you can accept an actual bona fide guru. So guru is not killed, but he can be rejected. That is the injunction of the śāstra. So Bhīṣmadeva or Droṇācārya, certainly they were gurus, but Kṛṣṇa indirectly giving indication to Arjuna, that "Although they are in the position of guru, you can reject them."

Lecture on BG 2.9 -- Auckland, February 21, 1973:

So Kṛṣṇa is replying that "You are afraid of fighting with your kinsmen, but you are mistaken. You are mistaken." Every one of us is mistaken because there are four defects in our conditional life. This is our conditional life. So long we are within this body, material body, that is our conditional life. We live under certain conditions. But actually, we are spirit soul, we are part and parcel of God. As soon as we are free from this conditional life, that is our real, actual life. That is called liberated life. The human form of life is meant for getting this liberation.

Lecture on BG 2.11 -- Edinburgh, July 16, 1972:

Our whole trouble in this material world is due to misunderstanding. The first misunderstanding is that "I am this body." And actually, every one of us, we are standing on this platform, the bodily concept of life. And because the basic standing foundation is mistaken, therefore whatever we are creating, whatever we are understanding, they are all mistaken. Because the basic platform is mistaken. So first of all we have to drive away this mistaken idea that I am this body." That is called ceto-darpaṇa-mārjanam (CC Antya 20.12), cleansing the heart. I am thinking, "I am this body," but actually I am not this. So we have to cleanse this misconception, and that is very easily done by simply chanting this Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra.

Lecture on BG 2.11 -- Mauritius, October 1, 1975:

Anywhere, even in demigod society, things are going on like that. Therefore we should know, whatever Bhagavān says, there cannot be any mistake, any illusion, any cheating or any imperfectness. Then it will be very nice. And that is the fact. The word used, bhagavān uvāca, means this instruction is neither mistaken nor illusion nor cheating nor imperfect. Whatever we teach, we speak, we conditioned soul... As I said, that we are very much proud of our eyes, but we cannot see without sunrise... We cannot see without electricity. But that is our defect.

Lecture on BG 3.11-19 -- Los Angeles, December 27, 1968:
If one is fortunate he understands, he takes to this principle and thus becomes, I mean to say, purified gradually. Therefore in this age Caitanya Mahāprabhu has recommended that you do not require to change your position. You simply try to hear about Kṛṣṇa from the rightful source. That's all. Then everything will be all right gradually. Everyone of us are mistaken or whatever you may call, but Kṛṣṇa is so kind that He gives His book, Bhagavad-gītā, He sends His representative, He comes Himself as Lord Caitanya to deliver us. He sends Lord Jesus Christ. So so many arrangement, but we don't take advantage. We are so fool and sinful. But still, the propaganda will go on.
Lecture on BG 4.1 -- Delhi, November 10, 1971:

Now try to understand your constitutional position. Don't think that after this body is finished, or we meet death, then everything is finished, as it is going on. The greatest mistake, the world is going on, on the mistaken platform. They do not know what is going to happen after death. There is no education. There is no department of knowledge in the universities, what is going to happen after death. They are simply taking account of this body, which exists, say for twenty years or fifty years, or utmost hundred years. And they have no knowledge what is after this body.

Lecture on BG 4.7 -- Bombay, March 27, 1974:

Kṛṣṇa did not come to establish the so-called Hindu religion or Muslim religion or Christian religion. No. He came to establish real religion. Real religion means we have to submit, surrender to the real person. That is real religion. We are surrendering. Everyone has got some idea. He has surrendered there. Either political, social, economical, religious, anything. Everyone has got some idea. And the leader of that ideal is also there. So our business is to surrender. That is a fact. But we do not know where to surrender. That is the difficulty. And because the surrender is mistaken or misplaced, therefore the whole world is chaotic condition.

Lecture on BG 4.19 -- New York, August 5, 1966:

Just like, if I think that I am independent of government regulations, then I become dependent of the police force. My dependence is neither in this way or that way. So that is our mistaken. Everyone is trying to be, become independent. That is called māyā. That is called māyā, or illusion. Nobody can be independent. Individually, community-wise, society-wise, or nation-wise, you can extend even universal-wise—nobody can be independent. We are dependent. And this is called knowledge. When you come to the sense, that "I am dependent; I am not independent," this is called knowledge.

Lecture on BG 6.25-29 -- Los Angeles, February 18, 1969:

Just like sometimes some missionary activities are there to give education to the uneducated community. Why? Because they see they are human beings. They should be educated. They should know the value of life. That is their sympathy. Here also the same thing. That everyone should know that he's part and parcel of Kṛṣṇa. Forgetting this consciousness he suffers. That is to see Kṛṣṇa in everything. Not that everything has become Kṛṣṇa. Don't see like that, then you'll be mistaken. Every being is, just like if I see somebody, that this boy is the son of such and such gentleman. That means I see such and such gentleman in this boy. Is it clear? If I see every living being is son of God or Kṛṣṇa, then that means I see God in every beings.

Lecture on BG 7.11-13 -- Bombay, April 5, 1971:

As Kṛṣṇa says in the Fourth Chapter, "Arjuna, both you and Me had many, many births, but you have forgotten. I have not forgotten." This forgetfulness is under the influence of tamo-guṇa. So although Kṛṣṇa takes birth, many, many times He appears, janma karma me divyam (BG 4.9), but such appearance and disappearance are divyam, transcendental. They are not ordinary. And if we accept Kṛṣṇa's birth or Kṛṣṇa's appearance and disappearance like us, then we are mistaken. Then mohitam.

tribhir guṇamayair bhāvair
ebhiḥ sarvam idaṁ jagat
mohitaṁ nābhijānāti
mām ebhyaḥ param avyayam
(BG 7.13)

Mohitam. Because we are influenced by the three qualities, therefore we are illusioned. We think, "Kṛṣṇa and myself, on the same level." But Kṛṣṇa here says, "No. I am not there. Although these energies are coming through Me or being emanated from Me, still, I am not influenced by them." That is Kṛṣṇa's position.

Lecture on BG 9.2 -- New York, November 22, 1966:

So the knowledge about which Lord Kṛṣṇa is now imparting, giving instruction to Arjuna, He says, "This is rāja-vidyā." Rāja-vidyā means to know oneself what he is and act accordingly. That is called rāja-vidyā. If I do not know what I am, what is my position, then if I am in mistaken about my situation, then all activities, what I am doing, they are all mistaken. They are all illusion. Therefore this position, rāja-vidyā, means one should know himself, what he is, and act accordingly. Simply by knowing that "I am not this material body," that is not sufficient. You must act accordingly, that you are not material; you are spiritual.

Lecture on BG 9.4 -- Calcutta, March 9, 1972:

So they are not different from Brahman, at the same time different from Brahman. This is called acintya-bhedābheda-tattva. Therefore Kṛṣṇa says here that mat-sthāni sarva-bhūtāni: (BG 9.4) "Everything is resting on My energy, but I am not them." The Māyāvādī philosophers, they are mistaken, mistaking that when everything is expanded as God's energy, then why there is separate God? This is material conception. God is always separate from His energy. That is distinctly said here: mayā tatam idaṁ sarvam.

Lecture on BG 9.4 -- Melbourne, April 22, 1976:

So if we understand that "God has become a child" or "These people, accepting a child of certain woman whose name is Yaśodā as God," then you are mistaken. And if you understand that God has come as a child of this great devotee, Mother Yaśodā, just to fulfill her desire. Because Mother Yaśodā wanted God as her son, so God, being very much pleased on this devotee, He has appeared as a son of Mother Yaśodā. Two understanding. If you take Kṛṣṇa that "Here is a child born in a vaiśya family of Mother Yaśodā, Nanda Mahārāja, and these people are accepting Him as God," then you are mistaken.

Lecture on BG 9.15-18 -- New York, December 2, 1966:

Suppose you are accepting the universal form of God. That is a fact also. Because the universe, the manifestation of the universe, is also manifestation of the energy of God. And the energy of God and God is not different. So therefore one who takes the manifestation of the energy as God, he's not mistaken. That is also true. Because there is nothing beyond God. If you think, "I am God," yes, you are also God. Because there is nothing beyond God. Ahaṅgrahopāsanam. If you think everything is God, that is also true. Because in the higher conception, there is nothing beyond God. Sarvaṁ khalv idaṁ brahma. Sarvam, everything.

Lecture on BG 9.20-22 -- New York, December 6, 1966:

So Arjunācārya, "Oh, you are taking food? What is that?" No. He did not. I am mistaken. Sorry. He said that "You are..." So the wife said, "Ācārya, you have become so much cruel nowadays?" "Oh, what is that?" "Two boys, very nice boys, they have brought so many foodstuff. You loaded on their head, and they denied to take it, and you have beaten them, chastised?" He said, "No. I have never done this. Why shall I do it?" Then she described, "Oh, such a nice beautiful boy." Then Arjunācārya understood that "Because I wanted that God does not deliver, so He has delivered these goods, and because I cut these alphabets that He does not give personally, so He has shown that beating mark."

Lecture on BG 13.3 -- Bombay, December 30, 1972:

I am the occupier of this body. And I am enjoying. But because my calculation is mistaken...

kṛṣṇa-bahirmukha hañā bhoga vāñchā kare
nikaṭa-stha māyā tāre jāpaṭiyā dhare
(Prema-vivarta)

As soon as we forget Kṛṣṇa, as soon as we forget that this body is given by Kṛṣṇa, this body should be utilized for the satisfaction of Kṛṣṇa... That is real sense. That is real knowledge. If I am given this apartment by somebody to live, I cannot dissatisfy him. Then I'll be asked: "Please vacate." That will be a distressed condition for me.

Lecture on BG 13.3 -- Paris, August 11, 1973:

This is knowledge. This is called brahma-jñāna. If anyone understands the simple thing, that "I am not this body..." But education is given, "No, I am this body." This nationalism, this nationalism also the same mistake, but they are fighting so much. Great, great, big, big men. In this country, Napoleon fought. In Germany, Hitler fought. And so many others, in our country Gandhi fought. But he is in ignorance. All these big big leaders, they are ignorance, andha, blind. Blind. They do not know that he is not this body and neither this land belongs to him. But they fight. The whole history of the world means this mistaken idea. "I" and "mine."

Lecture on BG 13.3 -- Paris, August 11, 1973:

So Kṛṣṇa is always ready to give you direction. He's there for direction. But unfortunately we do not obey Him. That is our material disease. If we obey Kṛṣṇa, if we act according to Kṛṣṇa, then there is no problem. Because Kṛṣṇa cannot be mistaken. I am imperfect, I can be mistaken. But Kṛṣṇa cannot be mistaken. Therefore, if we act according to the direction of Kṛṣṇa, then our life is successful. And to give you direction, Kṛṣṇa is sitting within your heart, side by side. As I am sitting, you are sitting within this heart, the soul is within the heart.

Lecture on BG 13.4 -- Hyderabad, April 20, 1974:

Then one who comes into this knowledge, he becomes another prasannātmā, "Oh, I was so much ignorant of knowledge." Now, just like you committed some mistake, and when you come to the knowledge that you committed, you become prasannātmā, "Oh, I was mistaking like this, and simply I was anxious, I was taking so much care, anxiety. This is mistaken." Similarly, as soon as you come to this understanding that "I am spirit soul," then immediately you become prasannātmā, jolly. Brahma-bhūtaḥ prasannātmā na śocati na kāṅkṣati (BG 18.54). So this is perfection, liberation. This is called liberation.

Lecture on BG 13.6-7 -- Montreal, October 25, 1968:

So Vedic aphorism says that ahaṁ brahmāsmi. Ahaṁ brahmāsmi. So ahaṁ brahmāsmi sometimes mistakenly is understood that "I am the Supreme God." Ahaṁ brahmāsmi means "I am Brahman." Brahman means spirit. "I am spirit soul." This conception, this identification, is right. This is the right identification. As soon as I think that "I am elephant" or "I am ant," that is not my identification. That is my misidentification. My real identification is that "I am neither ant nor elephant, but I am spirit soul."

Lecture on BG 16.7 -- Hyderabad, December 15, 1976:

So this asuric public, they do not know which way their destination is. They say it is self-interest but these rascals they do not know what is the self-interest because their very beginning of life is mistaken. They are thinking this body is the self. So how they will know self-interest? The basic principle is mistaken. Dehātma-buddhi. The dogs, cats, they think that "I am this body." So same interest, asura. They do not know, neither they try to understand. Dehino 'smin yathā dehe (BG 2.13). Within this body the spirit soul is there. They cannot understand. Therefore their self-interest is mistaken. Real self-interest is that "I am spirit soul, I am son of God, my father is very, very rich, opulent. I have given up my father's association and therefore I am suffering." Otherwise there is no question of suffering.

Lecture on BG Lecture -- Ahmedabad, December 8, 1972:

Just, this is an example. Here, either man or woman, everyone is prakṛti. The real puruṣa is Kṛṣṇa. And there is a nice example. When Rūpa Gosvāmī was there in Vṛndāvana in his bhajana, Mirabhai went to see him. And Rūpa Gosvāmī's message was that he does not see any woman. They were very strict. At least, the story is like... So Mira challenged that "I came to Vṛndāvana. I know that only Kṛṣṇa is puruṣa here, and everyone is woman. So how does it mean that Rūpa Gosvāmī's declined to see another woman?" So Rūpa Gosvāmī agreed, "Yes, I am mistaken. Yes, Kṛṣṇa is the only puruṣa." So puruṣa means the enjoyer, and prakṛti means the instrument of enjoyment, prakṛti, energy.

Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures

Lecture on SB 1.7.2-4 -- Durban, October 14, 1975:

We are not controller; we are controlled. In the next verse, it is described, therefore, yayā sammohito jīva (SB 1.7.5). This māyā is illusion, is illusion to the jīva, to the living entities, not to Kṛṣṇa. One who thinks Kṛṣṇa as like us, they are mistaken. Mūḍha. They have been described in the Bhagavad-gītā, avajānanti māṁ mūḍhā mānuṣīṁ tanum āśritam: (BG 9.11) "Because I am come just like a human being, these rascals, mūḍhas, asses..." Mūḍha means asses. The example of mūḍha, just like in our vernacular language, we condemn some person who is useless, gādhā. So gādhā, that is mūḍha.

Lecture on SB 1.15.31 -- Los Angeles, December 9, 1973:

At one point mathematical calculation, if you have done mistake in one point... Two plus two equal two. Why if you have made up three, the mistake, then the whole calculation will be mistaken. The balance, it will never tally. Similarly, our present civilization... Not present; it is always there. Now it is very strong bodily conception of life, so the basic principle is wrong. Therefore what..., whatever we are advancing, that is wrong. Parābhava That is stated in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Parābhavas Basic principle is wrong, abodha, in ignorance. In ignorance. Abodha means without any perfect knowledge.

Lecture on SB 1.15.37 -- Los Angeles, December 15, 1973:

Even in material world, suppose you have done something wrong. Now you are condemned. You are criminal; you are condemned to death. Will your wife, will your children, will your family, will your community, will save you? No. Nobody can save you. So therefore those who are thinking that "This material atmosphere, relatives, will save me," they are mistaken. They are ass. They do not know that every individual being is responsible for his own work. Therefore we must be very careful that "Why should I waste my time in working hard? What is my problem?" These things have to be known. Therefore Vedic injunction is that how you will be saved? Then tad-vijñānārthaṁ sa gurum evābhigacchet (MU 1.2.12), that "You must approach to a bona fide spiritual master." He will let you know how you will be saved. Otherwise, your so-called society, friendship and love will not save you.

Lecture on SB 1.15.37 -- Los Angeles, December 15, 1973:

So every planet is the property of Kṛṣṇa. Therefore to govern that planet, there must be a king who is actually representative of Kṛṣṇa. The king's business or the president's business is to see that the citizens, they mistakenly have come to this material world to enjoy sense gratification. They should be trained up in such a way that they can go back to home, back to Godhead. That is king's responsibility. Similarly, that is father's responsibility. Similarly, that is guru's, spiritual master's, responsibility. Similarly, the relative's responsibility. Suppose one has no father, mother; then it is the responsibility of the relative. It is the responsibility of the king.

Lecture on SB 1.15.44 -- Los Angeles, December 22, 1973:

So knowledge means without any mistake. Anything without any mistake, that is perpetually right. And anything based on mistaken idea, that will change. You have to correct the mistake. The so-called modern scientists, they are simply correcting their mistake. Therefore they have no real knowledge. Nobody can have real knowledge, because we are imperfect. Our senses are imperfect. That is our defect in the conditioned life.

Lecture on SB 1.15.45 -- Los Angeles, December 23, 1973:

This illusion is going on. Mistake is going on. And in spite of becoming illusioned and mistaken, I am posing myself as great scholar, philosopher, scientist. Therefore cheater. But I do not know the things because I am already illusioned and I commit mistake. And still, I am proving that "I am theologician," "I am scientist," "I am philosopher." Then change again. I say today something and tomorrow something else, because I am mistaken, illusioned. I must go on speaking like that, nonsense, today something, tomorrow something. And this is going on (as) advancement.

Lecture on SB 1.16.10 -- Los Angeles, January 7, 1974:

Suppose this hand gets one nice sweetmeat, and if the fingers think that "It is our personal interest to enjoy the sweetmeat," that is mistaken idea. The finger's catching a sweetmeat cannot enjoy it. The real interest, personal interest is, give it to the stomach. Don't smash it. Give it immediately to the stomach, and your interest is fulfilled. Immediately your fingers will be fed. This is personal interest, to enjoy through Kṛṣṇa, not directly. But these rascals, they do not know. They defy Kṛṣṇa, "Why Kṛṣṇa? I am Kṛṣṇa. I am God. I am everything." Therefore they are suffering. They do not know actually how to fulfill the personal interest.

Lecture on SB 2.3.17 -- Los Angeles, July 12, 1969:

If you think, if a prisoner thinks that "I am in this cell. Let me request the superintendent of the jail to change my cell and I'll be happy," that is a mistaken idea. One cannot be happy so long he is under the prison walls. One should become free. That should be the aim of our life. So we are trying to be happy by changing the cell, by this "ism" to that "ism," by capitalism to communism, from communism to this "ism," that "ism." That will not make us happy. You'll have to completely change from this "ism," this materialism. That's all. Then you'll be happy.

Lecture on SB 2.9.2 -- Melbourne, April 4, 1972:

The body is not mine, and in bodily relation, anything, that is also not mine. That is the conclusion. But due to the influence of māyā I am thinking, "I am this body, and anything in relation to my body, that is mine." So "My wife, my children, my house, my family, my society, my country, my nation." This is going on. This rascaldom is going on. It is very difficult. You see? The whole world is being pushed on with this "I" and "mine." That's it. The "I" is mistaken (aside:) Don't sit like that. You must not show your feet to the Deity. "I" and "mine." This is going on. Mamāham iti manyate. Janasya moho 'yam. This is called illusion.

Lecture on SB 2.9.2 -- Melbourne, April 4, 1972:

So our vision is different. We are not under the control of māyā. At least we should be like that. Then we remain in the transcendental state. Otherwise all these people, those who are not working under Kṛṣṇa consciousness, they are under the influence of these material modes. So therefore they are all rascals. They are mistaken. Anyone who is not in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, he's a rascal. This should be our conclusion. So any question on this verse? It is very important. Every verse, Bhāgavata, every verse is illumination.

Lecture on SB 3.25.4 -- Bombay, November 4, 1974:

Just like our body is made of these material elements. If we think Kṛṣṇa also made of that elements, of these material elements, kṣitir āpo 'nalo vāyuḥ, then we are mistaken. Kṛṣṇa is... Here, in the previous verse, we have learned: ātma-māyayā. There are... Of course, this material energy is also ātma-māyā, Kṛṣṇa's. Not ours. Mama māyā. Kṛṣṇa says, mama māyā. Daivī hy eṣā guṇamayī mama māyā (BG 7.14). This material world is Kṛṣṇa's. We cannot say mama māyā. No. We are under the control of this material nature. But Kṛṣṇa is the controller of the material nature.

Lecture on SB 3.26.15 -- Bombay, December 24, 1974:

Īśvara means controller. If, when He comes in the material world, if He becomes controlled by the material nature, then how He is controller? He is not controller. Then He becomes controlled. We are controlled. Kṛṣṇa is never controlled. He is always the controller. Īśvaraḥ paramaḥ kṛṣṇaḥ (Bs. 5.1). Īśvara means controller. So He is the supreme controller. He is the controller of these energies also, māyā. So how He can be under māyā? This is mistaken theory. Kṛṣṇa is always supreme, Adhokṣaja. Kṛṣṇa's another name is Adhokṣaja.

Lecture on SB 3.26.20 -- Bombay, December 29, 1974:

So this mantra is required, the Vedic mantra, to hear mantra. This chanting of these verses is also hearing the Vedic mantra. So we should take chance, and the most important mantra is mahā-mantra. Mahā-mantra. We are sleeping, but this mahā-mantra, Hare Kṛṣṇa, if we hear somehow or other... Therefore the greatest beneficial activity or welfare activity is to chant this Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra so that others can hear. But unfortunately, when we chant loudly, others they think, "It is nuisance." That is the difficulty. But actually it is the process of awakening: "Get up, get up, get up, get up." Ceto-darpaṇa-mārjanam. If we hear this mantra, Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra, then the mistaken ideas... Ceto-darpaṇa-mārjanam: (CC Antya 20.12) cleansing the mirror of the heart.

Lecture on SB 3.28.17 -- Nairobi, October 26, 1975:
You are qualitatively the same thing. That's all right. But if you claim quantitatively that you are the same powerful as Kṛṣṇa, then you are mistaken. Kṛṣṇa can lift, when He is seven years' old boy, the whole mountain. And a seven years' boy, when he is here, he cannot even seven kilo. So you cannot compare with Kṛṣṇa potencies your potency. But as Kṛṣṇa, when you are out of this material conception of life, bodily concept of life, sarvopādhi-vinirmuktaṁ tat-paratvena nirmalam (CC Madhya 19.170), when you become purified by giving up these all designation... Designation... What is that designation? "I am Hindu," "I am Muslim," "I am Christian," "I am African," "I am Indian," "I am European," "I am woman," "I am man," so many designations. So you have to give up these designation.
Lecture on SB 3.28.18 -- Nairobi, October 27, 1975:

There are many rascals. They imitate that, that "I am Kṛṣṇa, and I can dance also like that." No. It is ānanda-cinmaya-rasa-pratibhāvitābhiḥ (Bs. 5.37). This manifestation, demonstration, is not of this material world. Ananda-cinmaya-rasa. When Kṛṣṇa was dancing, all the gopīs, they left their material body by the side of the husband, but they went to dance. That is spiritual body. That is not material body. So don't indulge in such a way, that "Kṛṣṇa's dancing and our dancing is the same." Then you will be mistaken. That will be offense.

Lecture on SB 5.5.1 -- Delhi, November 28, 1975:

The spiritual conception of life is that everything belongs to God. That is the fact. Īśāvāsyam idaṁ sarvam (ISO 1). Everything belongs to God; the land, water, sky. It is said, bhūmir āpo analo vāyuḥ. This is expansion of the energy of God. So what is the use, claiming God's property as my property? That is mistaken. Yasyātma-buddhiḥ kuṇape. This body is also God's property. Everything God's property because Kṛṣṇa says, bhūmir āpo 'nalo vāyuḥ khaṁ mano buddhir eva ca (BG 7.4).

Lecture on SB 5.5.1-2 -- London (Tittenhurst), September 13, 1969:

Kṛṣṇa's laws or nature's law is so nice that a cow is eating grass and producing milk. Now, if you think that grass is the cause of milk, then you are mistaken. It is the laws of Kṛṣṇa that transforms grass into milk. If you eat..., you eat grass, then you'll die. But the cow, she is eating grass... That also not supplied by your factory. The grass is produced by nature's way. And she is eating that grass and supplying the most nutritious food—milk—and in exchange you are cutting throat. How you can be happy? Such an innocent animal. She is eating grass supplied by God, and instead of grass, if you think that "She is eating grass from the land, American land or my land. She must give me something," she's supplying milk.

Lecture on SB 5.5.5 -- Stockholm, September 10, 1973:

Unless you know your identity, then how can you work for the goal of life? If your identity is mistaken, then whatever you are doing, that is your defeat. Yāvat kriyās tāvad idaṁ mano vai karmātmakaṁ yena śarīra-bandhaḥ. Everyone has got different types of mentality. So karmātmakam means... That is general mentality, that "I shall work very nice and I shall get money and I shall enjoy life." This is called karmātmakam. Not only in this life, next life also, they are trying, those who are followers of Vedic ritualistic ceremony, by puṇya-karma. Puṇya-karma means pious activities. Pious activities, that is also activity. So according to our philosophy, we are not impressed even in pious activity. We are not interested in impious activities. We are not interested even in pious activities. This is our position.

Lecture on SB 6.2.16 -- Vrndavana, September 19, 1975:

Just like anyone who is in the prison house, you can conclude that he is a sinful, criminal man. You do not require to study one after another. Because he is in the prison house you can conclude that "Here is a criminal." Similarly, anyone who is in the material world, he is a criminal. But not the superintendent of jail. You cannot conclude, "Because everyone is in the jail, criminal, therefore the superintendent of jail, he is also criminal." Then you are mistaken. Those who are conducting these sinful men to take them back to home, back to Godhead, he is not criminal. His business is how to release this rascal from this prison house and take him back to home, back to Godhead.

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

Just like Ajāmila was attacked by the Yamadūtas. Immediately they came and protected. Parebhyo. Rakṣanti tad-bhaktimataḥ parebhyo mattaś ca martyān atha sarvataś ca: "And they give protection from my jurisdiction. I may be sometimes mistaken to go to a person who is completely a devotee. Therefore they are required, 'No, you cannot come here.' " These things are stated.

Lecture on SB 7.9.4 -- Mayapur, February 11, 1976:
Narada Muni, his guru, he knows that "Prahlāda is my disciple, but he is mahā-bhāgavata." Not only that, before his birth, when he was within the womb of his mother... His mother was attacked by the demigods, headed by Indra, and they were dragging her to their palace. Narada Muni met, said "What are you doing this? You are harassing one woman?" "No sir, we are not harassing, only we are taking her in our place to wait for the deliverance of the child. Then we shall kill him. Because he is born of atheist father, so he is another demon." Narada Muni said, "No, no, no, you are mistaken. He is not demon, he is mahā-bhāgavata." So in the beginning he was mahā-bhāgavata, since he was in within the womb of his mother. And later on he is mahā-bhāgavata. This is called nitya-siddha, eternally mahā-bhāgavata. Eternally mahā-bhāgavata never forgets Kṛṣṇa, in any circumstance. That is the sign of mahā-bhāgavata, nitya-siddha.
Lecture on SB 7.9.52 -- Vrndavana, April 7, 1976:

So those who speak that the, these Europeans and Americans cannot become Vaiṣṇava, they are mistaken. If Kṛṣṇa is pleased upon them, immediately they become the best of the brāhmaṇas. Here it is said, prīto 'ham: "Never mind you are born in the family of asura, but because I am pleased, you are all-purified. You don't be disappointed." It is only... We require to please Kṛṣṇa. Then everything is all right. Māṁ hi pārtha vyapāśritya ye 'pi syuḥ pāpa-yonayaḥ. Kṛṣṇa says in Bhagavad-gītā, "Never mind he is born in the pāpa-yoni. It doesn't matter. But...," te 'pi yānti parāṁ gatim, "because he has taken shelter of My lotus feet..."

Nectar of Devotion Lectures

The Nectar of Devotion -- Bombay, January 8, 1973:

As Śrīdhara Swami says, that in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, phala visandi paryantaṁ nirasta. Phala is mukti. Mukti is also phala visandi. So up to mukti, then above mukti, there is bhakti. It is a mistaken idea that one has to attain mukti by bhakti. Sometimes they say that, these pañcopāsanā Māyāvādī, they say that "Ultimately, the absolute truth is nirākāra. There is no form. But because you cannot worship or meditate upon the nirākāra, so just imagine some form. Either of Viṣṇu, or Lord Śiva or Sūrya or Devī." Pañcopāsanā, it is called pañcopāsanā. Sādhakānāṁ hitārthāya brahmaṇo rūpa-kalpanaḥ. This is kalpana, he imagines.

The Nectar of Devotion -- Vrndavana, November 6, 1972:

Kṛṣṇa personally says, ahaṁ tvāṁ sarva-pāpebhyo mokṣa... Sarva-pāpebhyo (BG 18.66). The kūṭa-stha, phalonmukha, prārabdha, everything, it become immediately nullified, simply by this process, by surrendering: "Kṛṣṇa, I, I was mistaken. I got..., forgot your mastership; You are my eternal Lord. So I was bewildered. I was wandering. Now I have come to my senses. I surrender unto You sincerely. You accept me." This very thing will give you immediately protection from all sinful activities.

Sri Caitanya-caritamrta Lectures

Lecture on CC Adi-lila 1.15 -- Dallas, March 4, 1975:

Nārada Muni advises, through Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, says, that "You, you have got this human form of life. Now you have no necessity for finding out where is your food, where is your shelter, where is your sex satisfaction, where is your defense. This is not your problem. You should try for that thing, means the thing which will give you relief from these material necessities of life." That is the advice. We are mistaken. We are... In this morning walk we saw that such a big nation, but the problem is food problem. Early in the morning at six o'clock, they are going to work. They are going to work. Why? Now, for finding out the necessities of life. So what is this civilization? Early in the morning, six o'clock... According to Vedic civilization, one should rise early in the morning and chant Hare Kṛṣṇa, perform maṅgala āratrika, worship the Deity. This is the morning business.

Lecture on CC Adi-lila 7.119 -- Gorakhpur, February 17, 1971:

Yaśodā-nandana brajajana-rañjana. And yāmuna-tīra-vana-cārī. And He's wandering in the forest of Vṛndāvana on the bank of the Yamunā. This is the actual picture of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. But Brahmā, Indra, big, big demigods, they are also bewildered. They are sometimes mistaken, that "How this cowherd boy can become the Supreme Personality of Godhead?" Just like some of us think like that. But those who are thinking like that, for them also, there is manifestation of Kṛṣṇa's supremacy. Brajajana-ballabha giri-vara-dhārī. Although he's engaged in pleasing the inhabitants of Vraja, but when there is need, He can lift up the Govardhana Hill—at the age of seven years. Or He can kill the Pūtanā at the age of three months.

Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 20.100-108 -- New York, November 22, 1966:

A superior authority will let you know what you are. You cannot know. This is the mistaken idea, that "I shall find out what I am." No. You cannot know. Just see. Sanātana Gosvāmī said that ke āmi: "Kindly, as You have very kindly delivered me from this illusory position, now I am surrendered soul to You. Please let me know what I am." Ke āmi kene āmāya jāre tāpa-traya. Tāpa-traya means three kinds of material miseries. Tāpa means miseries; traya means three. So, "What I am, and why I am placed in this miserable condition of material nature?" This is called jijñāsuḥ śreya uttamam. This inquiry should be in the human form of life. Then his life is perfect. Ke āmi.

Festival Lectures

Janmastami Lord Sri Krsna's Appearance Day -- Bhagavad-gita 7.5 Lecture -- Vrndavana, August 11, 1974:

Just like chāya, or reflection, or shadow. Not independently. The material scientists who think that the material energy is working independently, they are mistaken. Material energy cannot work independently. We have got experience. However gorgeous a machine may be, unless there is touch of the spirit soul, the machine cannot work. Similarly, the big machine, cosmic manifestation, everything is going on very nicely, but it is being worked out by the plan of Kṛṣṇa. That is stated by Kṛṣṇa Himself, mayādhyakṣeṇa prakṛtiḥ sūyate sa-carācaram (BG 9.10), and similarly it is confirmed by Brahmā, sṛṣṭi-sthiti-pralaya-sādhana-śaktir ekā chāyeva yasya bhuvanāni bibharti durgā (Bs. 5.44), yasya hi... Sṛṣṭi-sthiti-pralaya-sādhana-śaktir ekā chāyeva yasya bhuvanāni bibharti durgā, icchānurūpam api yasya ca ceṣṭate sā. Sā durgā yasya icchānurūpam api ceṣṭate. Now, not independent. As the Supreme Personality of Godhead desires, she works. Govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi **.

Initiation Lectures

Initiations -- Sydney, April 2, 1972:

So long we remain forgetful where our service should be given, that is called material life. When we come to that consciousness, that "I have to serve Kṛṣṇa," that is spiritual life. That is difference between material life and spiritual life. We are serving. There is no doubt. We cannot be master. Any one of you who are present in this meeting, none of you can say that "I am the master." Every one of you, servant to somebody. That is our position. But that service is being rendered to mistaken places; therefore we are not happy, neither the person whom we are serving, they are happy. This is the position. But as soon as you serve Kṛṣṇa, Śyāmasundara, then you become happy, the whole world becomes happy. This is a great science. Try to understand.

Initiations -- San Diego, June 30, 1972:

Suppose I have stolen something from your pocket and I become conscious, "Oh, this stealing is not good," so as soon as I return unto you, "Please take this money; I was mistaken," so thing is settled up. But if you hold it, then you are criminal. You will be punished. Similarly, everyone who is holding Kṛṣṇa's money, not returning to Kṛṣṇa, he is a criminal. He will be punished. How they are punished? That you have seen. In India, in recent... Everywhere, the same thing is going on. There was war between Pakistan and India. So all the rich men had to contribute fifty lakhs, fifty hundred thousand, according to everyone's capacity.

General Lectures

Lecture at Engagement -- Boston, May 8, 1968:

Simply coming, accepting a body, and living for some time, and just dying like cats and dogs. That's all. They are most abominable condition of human civilization at the present moment that they do not take care about the real identity of his self. He's simply mistakenly identifying himself with this body, which he's not. Yasyātma-buddhiḥ kuṇape tri-dhātuke (SB 10.84.13). The Bhāgavata says one who identifies this body with his self, and one who thinks that the bodily relationship is the protector of his kinsmen, and the body produced in certain part of the land is accepted as worshipable—there are so many descriptions—such man is no better than an ass or cow. Sa eva go-kharaḥ (SB 10.84.13). Go means cow and khara means ass. So these are the description in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. This is a challenge.

Lecture -- Montreal, June 26, 1968:

Disease of the soul. Every soul, every person, is mistaken to accept this body as his self or the mind as his self. This is the difference. Yasyātma-buddhiḥ kuṇape tri-dhātuke, sa eva go-kharaḥ (SB 10.84.13). Anyone who is accepting this body as self, he's either an ass or a cow. Misconception. So people are not interested. We are trying, the Bhagavad-gītā is trying. In the beginning, beginning of the instruction... Just like Arjuna was identifying himself with this body in the beginning, and he was thinking that "He is my grandfather, he is my son, he is my nephew, he is my...,." so on, so on. Kṛṣṇa replied him. When Arjuna was unable to make a solution of his problems, he surrendered to Kṛṣṇa and said, śiṣyas te 'haṁ śādhi māṁ prapannam: (BG 2.7) "I surrender unto You as Your disciple. Please save me from this (sic:) perpetry."

Lecture -- Seattle, October 9, 1968:

Just like we are also moving within the time limit, kāla-cakra. So the planet, this planet is moving, other planet is moving. Similarly, the sun planet is moving. Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, I think if I am not mistaken, the speed of the sun is sixteen thousand miles per second, but it is moving. Sixteen thousand miles per second it is moving. So Brahma-saṁhitā gives us this information. Yac-cakṣur eṣa savitā. Savitā means the sun planet. Yac-cakṣur eṣa. This savitā, the sun, is considered to be the eyes, one of the eyes of the Lord. In His universal form the sun is considered to be one of the eyes of the Lord, and the moon is also another eye. Take it figuratively or universal form of the Lord, but you cannot escape the seeing power of Govinda.

Rotary Club Lecture -- Ahmedabad, December 5, 1972:

This is the process of attaining peace, śānti. What is that? To understand that God is the proprietor of everything. But that we do not know. We are thinking, "I am the proprietor of everything." This is not knowledge. Bhoktāraṁ yajña-tapasāṁ. He is the supreme proprietor and enjoyer, but mistakenly, we are thinking, every one of us thinking, that "I am the enjoyer." And then other point is: bhoktāraṁ yajña-tapasāṁ sarva-loka-maheśvaram. God is the proprietor of places, all planets, all... But we are thinking, "I am, we, Americans, we are proprietor of this portion," "Indians, we are proprietor of this portion." But actually, we are not proprietor. I, I said to Americans several times that "That hundred years ago you were not proprietor of this land. You came, immigrated from Europe. And now, who can say, after two hundred years, who will remain the proprietor? But the land is there." So this temporary proprietorship is also ignorance.

Lecture -- Jakarta, February 27, 1973:

Yoga system means the jīvātmā, the soul, individual soul, tries to understand the Supersoul, Paramātmā. That is yoga system. It is not... It is mistaken idea that the Paramātmā and the ātmā, jīvātmā, is the same. They are same in quality, but Paramātmā is worshipable and jīvātmā is the worshiper. Paramātmā is the predominator and jīvātmā is the predominated. To understand this philosophy, that is yoga. Dhyānāvasthita-tad-gatena manasā paśyanti yad yogi, yoginaḥ paśyanti. That means the seer. The seer is different from the person who is seen. Yad yoginaḥ paśyanti. The yoga system means that when the jīvātmā concentrates his mind, dhyānāvasthita, by meditation...Dhyānāvasthita-tad-gatena manasā, by the mind, paśyanti taṁ yoginam. This is the position of the Supreme Lord. He can be seen by the yoga practice.

Speech -- Vrndavana, April 20, 1975:

So we cannot understand even Kṛṣṇa, what is Kṛṣṇa. Actually, there are so many malinterpretation about Kṛṣṇa. I do not wish to discuss because they have been made mistaken by big, big leaders. So people cannot understand even Kṛṣṇa, what is Kṛṣṇa, and what to speak of loving Kṛṣṇa. That is very difficult job. But Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, He distributed this love of Kṛṣṇa. Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu and Lord Nityānanda is standing before you, and He delivered many, many sinful persons to the transcendental position of love of Kṛṣṇa. Śrīla Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura has sung, vrajendra-nandana yei, śacī-suta hoilo sei, balarāma hoilo nitāi.

Evening Lecture -- Bhuvanesvara, January 19, 1977:

All of us may be īśvara. I am īśvara amongst my disciples. You may be īśvara amongst your family members. But none of us is Parameśvara. So this mistaken knowledge is very much spread at the present moment. So our, this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement, is specially meant for removing this misconception of understanding God and the jīvas. So our first principle is that we have to discard or disregard the persons who are very much anxious to establish that īśvara and Parameśvara, or the living entity and the Supreme Person, they are equal. We do not support this theory.

Philosophy Discussions

Philosophy Discussion on Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibnitz:

Prabhupāda: My point is that he says that there are two types of truth. No. There cannot be two types of truth. That is my protest. I say there is only one truth. When you think two types of truth, then you are mistaken. Then same thing: when you think that two plus two equals five, then you are mistaken. Two plus two is always four. That is truth. Similarly, snow is white always. That is truth. When you think it is red, it is untruth. But you cannot say it is another type of truth. Mistake cannot be accepted as another type of truth. Mistake is mistake.

Philosophy Discussion on The Evolutionists Thomas Huxley, Henri Bergson, and Samuel Alexander:

Śyāmasundara: Just like the seasons. If we just place ourselves in the seasons, they take us toward something, towards springtime.

Prabhupāda: That's all right. But you cannot compare. The analogy is mistaken. The season is matter, material changes. But the evolution is not matter. There is spirit soul. He is making his evolution. So he has got independence. He can reject and accept. Just like yesterday we were talking... (plane overhead) ...Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa says that "You give up everything, just surrender unto Me," but because you are living entity, you can reject this proposal or accept this proposal. Not that blindly you have to surrender to Kṛṣṇa. No. That is not possible. The proposal is there, but it is up to you to surrender or not to surrender. Otherwise why Kṛṣṇa says that "You do it." If it is automatically, then there was no need of Kṛṣṇa's saying, "Do it." It would have come automatically to the surrendering point. Not like that. They are mistaken in that. The living entity has got the right to accept or reject. So if he takes, he makes his progress, accepting the right path, then he comes to the goal. But if he rejects, he'll not reach the goal (?). That depends on him.

Philosophy Discussion on Socrates:

Hayagrīva: And through meditation—they call..., he called it arete (?)—a person attains knowledge. Through knowledge a person becomes virtuous. When one is virtuous, he acts in the right way. When one acts properly, he becomes happy. Therefore the enlightened man is a man who is meditative, knowledgeable, virtuous and, because of his proper action, he is happy.

Prabhupāda: Yes. That is confirmed in the Bhagavad-gītā: brahma-bhūtaḥ prasannātmā na śocati na kāṅkṣati (BG 18.54). This is the symptom of self-realized person. If one is self-realized, he is immediately happy, prasannātmā, jolly, because immediately he is on the right. Just like one is going on under some mistaken ideas, and when he comes to the real idea, he becomes very happy: "Oh, so long I was going on such a mistaken idea." So immediately the result will be happiness: "How foolish I was. I was doing like this, doing like that." So right..., as soon as one comes to the right position, he, the symptom is he is prasannātmā. What is that prasannātmā? Na śocati na kāṅkṣati (BG 18.54). Prasannātmā, happiness, means he has no more anything to hanker.

Philosophy Discussion on George Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel:

Hayagrīva: Hegel mistook this for pantheism.

Prabhupāda: He has mistaken in so many ways. (Sanskrit) Just like our... Not Pradyumna. If somebody has boils all over the body, then where it will be operated? Better kill this body. (laughing) So he has got so many boils, this Hegel and Segel, all, because they are speculators. They have no definite knowledge. Speculators cannot have definite knowledge. Therefore our Professor Dimmock has said, "Here is definite definition of Gītā." What is that? Just see. Then it is so. He has appreciated it. You cannot see, of the...

Devotee: They only put two lines of what he said in there. He says this...

Prabhupāda: Yes. That is his word.

Page Title:Mistaken (Lectures)
Compiler:Visnu Murti, Serene
Created:20 of Nov, 2011
Totals by Section:BG=0, SB=0, CC=0, OB=0, Lec=69, Con=0, Let=0
No. of Quotes:69