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Night means

Lectures

Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures

What is this night? Night means this is the real appearance of this material world.
Lecture on BG 2.40-45 -- Los Angeles, December 13, 1968:

There is Vedic instruction also. Tamaso mā jyotir gamaya. Don't remain within this darkness. This material world is darkness. Therefore there is need of sunlight, need of moonlight. Just like just now, night. What is this night? Night means this is the real appearance of this material world. It is dark. And when the sunlight will be visible, we shall think that it is daytime. But actually it is dark. But there is another nature. That is also explained in the Bhagavad-gītā. Paras tasmāt tu bhāvo 'nyaḥ (BG 8.20). Another spiritual nature where there is always illumination. Jyoti. Jyoti means illumination. So Vedic injunction is that don't stay within this dark material world. Just come to the illuminated world. Jyotir gamaya. The same thing Kṛṣṇa also advises, that don't be allured to stay in any nice planet of this universe. Come out of it. Yad gatvā na nivartante tad dhāma paramaṁ mama (BG 15.6). "That is My eternal abode, or the best abode, where going you'll never come back again."

Night means when people sleep, and day means when they are awake. This is the understanding of day and night.
Lecture on BG 2.62-72 -- Los Angeles, December 19, 1968:

Night means when people sleep, and day means when they are awake. This is the understanding of day and night. So one, the materialistic persons, they are sleeping in the matter of spiritual understanding. So therefore the activities which we find in daytime of the materialistic person, actually that is night. For the spiritualistic person, they see that these people they got the facility of self-realization, this human form of life. How they are wasting by sleeping. And the materialistic persons, they are seeing, "Oh, these Kṛṣṇa conscious young boys, they have given up everything and they are chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa. How nonsense. They are sleeping." So you see? So in the vision of the materialistic person, these activities are night, sleeping. And for the self-realized person, these activities are sleeping. You see? Just the opposite. They are seeing the Kṛṣṇa conscious person as wasting time and the Kṛṣṇa conscious person is seeing them as wasting time. This is the position.

So dark moon night means once in a month. And the mantras are chanted in this way; the goat is advised that "You are sacrificing your life before the goddess Kālī. So you get immediately promotion to have a human form of life."
Lecture on BG 6.6-12 -- Los Angeles, February 15, 1969:

Just like a person is attached to eat meat. Now if all of a sudden if he is instructed that meat eating is not good. Or a person is attached to drink liquor. If he at once said that liquor is not good, he cannot accept. Therefore in the Purāṇas we'll find, "All right, if you want to eat meat, you just worship goddess Kālī and sacrifice a goat before the goddess. And you can eat meat. You cannot eat meat or flesh by purchasing from the slaughterhouse or butcher shop. You have to eat in this way." That means restriction. Because if you want to perform the sacrifice before the goddess Kālī, there is a certain date, there is a certain paraphernalia, you have to arrange for that. And that pūjā, that worship is allowed on the dark moon light. So dark moon night means once in a month. And the mantras are chanted in this way; the goat is advised that "You are sacrificing your life before the goddess Kālī. So you get immediately promotion to have a human form of life." Actually it happens. Because to come to the standard of human form of life one living entity has to pass through so many evolutionary process. But the goat who agrees or who is by force sacrificed before the goddess Kālī he gets immediate promotion to the human form of life.

Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures

Night means ignorance, darkness. So in ignorance you go on struggling whole life, and then you become dead, finished.
Lecture on SB 1.8.31 -- Mayapura, October 11, 1974:

Just see the flies, the insects, how much they are suffering. Whole night, they struggle to enjoy the lamp. And in the morning all dead. All dead. This is their life. So we are thinking that we are better situated. No, we are not better situated. Our, the principle is the same, that you come here, you accept a certain type of body, and whole night, or whole life... Night means ignorance, darkness. So in ignorance you go on struggling whole life, and then you become dead, finished. The same thing. There is no difference between the life of the insect... Therefore Prabodhānanda Sarasvatī says that, that the, these big, big demigods... Yat kāruṇya-katākṣa-vaibhavavatām. There is a verse. I just now forget it. Kaivalyaṁ narakāyate. Prabodhānanda Sarasvatī says that kaivalya, the impersonalists' theory of becoming one, monist, with the Absolute... That is called kaivalya.

What does it mean, night? Means there is no sunlight. Sunlight is there in other part of this globe, but here there is no sunlight; therefore it is darkness.
Lecture on SB 2.1.3 -- Delhi, November 6, 1973:

Just like darkness and light. Where there is Kṛṣṇa there is no darkness. Kṛṣṇa sūrya-sama, māyā haya andhakāra: "Māyā is just like darkness, and Kṛṣṇa is just like sunlight." So as soon as there is sunlight, there is no darkness. Just like this is night. What does it mean, night? Means there is no sunlight. Sunlight is there in other part of this globe, but here there is no sunlight; therefore it is darkness. Similarly, as soon as we are not Kṛṣṇa conscious, there is māyā, immediately. Either māyā or Kṛṣṇa consciousness. If you are not in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, then you should understand that you are in māyā. And if you are in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, then there is no māyā. Mām eva ye prapadyante māyām etāṁ taranti te (BG 7.14). These are the open description. Anyone who is fully surrendered to Kṛṣṇa, he has no māyā.

General Lectures

Night means we are experiencing darkness; therefore we require this electricity or moonlight or sunlight.
Lecture -- London, September 16, 1969:

In the spiritual sky there is no need of sunshine, there is no need of moonshine, there is no need of electricity, because everything is shining there, all Brahman effulgence. And as we have got one huge planet here, the sun planet, which is efful..., effulgent, dazzling, bright, in the spiritual sky all the planets are like that. So therefore, there is no question of darkness. Darkness is here. So you try to understand that there is a spiritual sky. That is not like this sky where we experience darkness. Now we are experiencing at night... Night means we are experiencing darkness; therefore we require this electricity or moonlight or sunlight. But the Vedas say, tamasi mā: "Don't remain in this darkness." Jyotir gamaḥ: "Go, just try to reach that system, that planetary system, where everything is dazzling, bright." That is the human form of life. That is required, how to enter into that spiritual kingdom or spiritual sky. These things are very nicely explained in the Bhagavad-gītā.

Conversations and Morning Walks

1977 Conversations and Morning Walks

Night means ignorance, when one sleeps. Yes. And day is awakening. So what is day for the materialistic person, so that is night for the spiritualistic person.
Room Conversation -- January 8, 1977, Bombay:

Prabhupāda: Night means ignorance, when one sleeps. Yes. And day is awakening. So what is day for the materialistic person, so that is night for the spiritualistic person. And what is day for the spiritualistic person, that is night for the... Just like a spiritualist person, he has sacrificed everything and he is after God, and they are thinking, "These rascals, unnecessarily, empty stomach, wasting, 'Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa,' chant." They are deriding. And he is thinking that "This rascal got this human form of body. Instead of spiritual culture, he's spoiling his life, cats and dogs." That means in the subject matter where the spiritualists were not interested, he is interested. And in the subject matter, the spiritual person, interested, he is not interested. This is day and night.

Page Title:Night means
Compiler:Rishab, Serene
Created:24 of Oct, 2012
Totals by Section:BG=0, SB=0, CC=0, OB=0, Lec=6, Con=1, Let=0
No. of Quotes:7