Practical understanding

Expressions researched:
"practical understanding" |"understand practically" |"understand practical" |"understand. Practically" |"understand, practical"

BG Preface and Introduction

Anyone seriously interested in deriving benefit by studying the Bhagavad-gītā must take help from the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement for practical understanding of Bhagavad-gītā under the direct guidance of the Lord.

BG Preface: Instead of satisfying his own personal material senses, he has to satisfy the senses of the Lord. That is the highest perfection of life. The Lord wants this, and He demands it. One has to understand this central point of Bhagavad-gītā. Our Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is teaching the whole world this central point, and because we are not polluting the theme of Bhagavad-gītā As It Is, anyone seriously interested in deriving benefit by studying the Bhagavad-gītā must take help from the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement for practical understanding of Bhagavad-gītā under the direct guidance of the Lord. We hope, therefore, that people will derive the greatest benefit by studying Bhagavad-gītā As It Is as we have presented it here, and if even one man becomes a pure devotee of the Lord, we shall consider our attempt a success.

Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures

So talking is theoretical understanding and when you realize that is practical understanding.

Lecture on BG 4.11-18 -- Los Angeles, January 8, 1969:

Young Woman: How do you (indistinct) Kṛṣṇa? By talking about it?

Prabhupāda: No. These people are not talking. They are realized. Talking is the beginning but there is realization. Just like when I did not come to your country I was talking that "America is like this." But now when I have come to America I realize what is America. So talking is theoretical understanding and when you realize that is practical understanding. One is called jñāna, other is called vijñāna. So jñāna and vijñāna both things are there, theoretical and practical.

Young Woman: So how to realize Kṛṣṇa?

Prabhupāda: You have to adopt the process. This is Kṛṣṇa consciousness.

Kṛṣṇa says, jñānaṁ te 'haṁ sa-vijñānam. This knowledge, with practical understanding, sa-vijñānam. Vijñānam means practical application.

Lecture on BG 7.1-3 -- Ahmedabad, December 14, 1972: Kavirāja Gosvāmī recommends that "Try to understand Kṛṣṇa in truth." And another place it is said,

śrī-kṛṣṇa-caitanya-dayā karaha vicāra

vicāra karile citte pābe camatkāra

[Cc. Ādi 8.15]

It is not blindly accepted, this Kṛṣṇa consciousness. With considerable deliberation, we take the decision. All the ācāryas, they have taken decision. Therefore in the next verse Kṛṣṇa says, jñānaṁ te 'haṁ sa-vijñānam. This knowledge, with practical understanding, sa-vijñānam. Vijñānam means practical application. We understand Kṛṣṇa as the Supreme. He's the creator of this cosmic manifestation. He's the Supreme. We are all subordinate. This is jñānam. And sa-vijñānam, when it is practically applied, that means when you take to devotional service, then it is practically application, practicing.

Just try to understand practically. You have to make them a human being. If you keep them dogs and cats, there cannot be any peace.

Lecture on BG 9.3 -- Melbourne, April 21, 1976: You bring some dogs from America and from Australia and from India and put them together and ask them, "Please live very peacefully." (laughter) If you keep them as dogs they will simply bark. There will be no more peace. Just try to understand practically. You have to make them a human being. If you keep them dogs and cats, there cannot be any peace. This is really knowledge. The Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is giving such knowledge that they will never remain a dog or cat; they will become actual human being. This is Kṛṣṇa consciousness.

Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures

Try to understand. Practically it is all bogus.

Lecture on SB 2.9.16 -- Tokyo, April 30, 1972: So this is our position. Kāmādīnāṁ kati na katidhā. And even... Just like this man who killed President Kennedy, he was also killed. So although he accepted to kill President, which he should not have done, but still, the man who paid him or engaged him, he was not satisfied. He also killed him. This is the position. Even if you do something abominable, still, the man for whom you are doing, he will not be satisfied. He can kill you. This is going on. This is the sense of service here in this world. Try to understand. Practically it is all bogus. But I give service because I am lusty; I am hungry; I want to satisfy my senses. Therefore I pose myself: "Oh, I will give you service. I will become prime minister, and I will give you so much service." He will canvass. But as soon as he goes to the post of prime minister, he will do nothing. You cannot see, if you want to see him. While taking votes he will come to your door, "Please give me vote." And when he is in the prime minister post, if you want to see him, "Oh, the prime minister is preoccupied. You cannot see him." So on the whole, simply sense gratification in the name of service.

How subtle things are going on, that is described in the Sāṅkhya philosophy presented by Kapiladeva, but we do not understand practically how things are going on.

Lecture on SB 3.26.44 -- Bombay, January 19, 1975: The fire is the origin of beauty and the fire is the origin of eyesight. The loss of eyesight means there is less fiery element. Loss of appetite means there is less of fiery elements. In the Ayurvedic treatment it is called agni-māndyam. So these are transformation of the fire. Similarly, the smell is transformation of the rasa, taste. How subtle things are going on, that is described in the Sāṅkhya philosophy presented by Kapiladeva, but we do not understand practically how things are going on. We are simply accepting the words, that "By transformation of this thing, this thing is coming out so much." Neither it is possible to make experiment. Maybe, but scientists can take advantage of this Sāṅkhya philosophy. So you may experiment or not. That doesn't matter. Things are going on.

Infection. We have got this practical understanding. If your body infects some disease, then you have to suffer. And if your body remains uninfected, unaffected by any poisonous..., then you remain healthy.

Lecture on SB 6.1.44 -- Los Angeles, July 25, 1975: Bodily necessities means temporary. If I am child, my body is of a child's body, then my necessities are different from my father's necessities. So everyone is engaged in bodily necessities. Therefore it is said, dehavān na hy akarma-kṛt. And kāriṇāṁ guṇa-saṅgo 'sti. Infection. We have got this practical understanding. If your body infects some disease, then you have to suffer. And if your body remains uninfected, unaffected by any poisonous..., then you remain healthy. Therefore it is said, sambhavanti hi bhadrāṇi viparītāni cānaghaḥ. Viparītāni. Viparī means just opposite. Sambhavanti bhadrāṇi. One is acting in auspicity, and one is acting viparītāni, just the opposite, inauspicity. In this way we are becoming entangled, life after life. Karinam guṇa-sango 'sti.

Initiation Lectures

In the Ninth Chapter of the Bhagavad-gītā you will find that this is the process by which you can understand practically whether you are making actually progress in spiritual life.

Initiation Lecture -- Hamburg, August 27, 1969: Kṛṣṇa is the original person of all viṣṇu-tattva. So anyone who is keeping himself always in touch with the vibration of Kṛṣṇa consciousness—Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/ Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare—that is the only, I mean to say, guaranteed platform where you can keep yourself purified without any material contamination. And in this purified state, if we can leave this body ultimately, then there is no doubt we enter into the supreme abode of the Personality of Godhead. These things are very nicely explained in the Bhagavad-gītā, and you read carefully. This initiation does not mean... Of course, this chanting will save you, only chanting. But if you read some literatures also, and the philosophy also, then it will be more and more convincing that you are making progress. And in the Ninth Chapter of the Bhagavad-gītā you will find that this is the process by which you can understand practically whether you are making actually progress in spiritual life. Pratyakṣam avagamaṁ dharmyam. This bhakti-yoga system is so nice that one can directly understand how he is making progress, and very quickly. That's a fact. All of our students who have taken to this process, within very short time, they are realizing that actually they are making some progress. Therefore they are sticking to the principles and going on.

General Lectures

Try to understand practically how the senses are strong.

Lecture -- Seattle, September 27, 1968:

kāmādīnāṁ kati na katidhā pālitā durnideśās

teṣāṁ mayi na karuṇā jātā na trapā nopaśāntiḥ

(utsṛjyaitān atha yadu-pate) sāmpratam aham labdha-buddhis

tvām āyātaḥ (śaraṇam abhayaṁ) niyuṅkṣvātma-dāsye

One devotee is praying to Kṛṣṇa that "So long, in my life, I have served my senses," kāmādīnām. Kāma means senses, lust. "So even what I should not have done, still, by the dictation of my lust I have done it." One has to do. When one is a slave or servant, then he's forced to act something which he does not like to act. He's forced. So here, a devotee's admitting that "I have done, dictated by my lust, something which I should not have done, but I have done it." All right, you have done, you are serving your senses. That's all right. "But the difficulty is that teṣāṁ karuṇā na jātā na trapā nopaśāntiḥ. I have served so much, but I find that they are not satisfied. They are not satisfied. That is my difficulty. Neither the senses are satisfied nor I am satisfied nor the senses are kind enough to give me relief, pension from the service. That is my position." If I would have seen that, rather if we would have felt that "I have served so many years my senses, now my senses are satisfied..." No. They are not satisfied. Still dictating. Still dictating. "I am very..." Of course, it is very natural, but I may disclose herewith that some of my students said that in an elderly age of his mother, he's(she's) going to marry. Just see. She has got grown-up children. And somebody complained that his grandmother also married. Why? Just see. In seventy-five years old, in fifty years old, the senses are still so strong that she is being dictated: "Yes, you must do it." Try to understand practically how the senses are strong. It is not that simply the young men are servant of the senses. Even seventy-five years old, eighty years old, or at the point of death, they are all servants of senses. The senses are never satisfied. That is the material dictation. So I'm servant. I am servant of my senses, and by serving my senses, neither I am satisfied nor my senses are satisfied nor they are pleased upon me. There is chaos. So this is the problem.

You chant, you will understand. Practical.

Lecture -- Bombay, September 25, 1973: It is just like without eating, if you question that how one is satisfied by eating food. A hungry man, if you give him food, he will say, "Yes, I am satisfied." There is no question of "How?" If you eat... If you are hungry, if you eat, you will feel satisfaction. It is automatic. Similarly, if you chant Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra, then you will understand. Not from outside. How? You can see how these boys and girls, they are feeling satisfaction. Similarly, if you chant also, you will feel satisfaction. There is no question of "How?" It is so, exactly (as) when you are hungry, if you eat, you will feel satisfaction. It is practical. It is stated therefore,

rāja-vidyā rāja-guhyaṁ

pavitraṁ paramam idam

pratyakṣāvagamaṁ dharmyaṁ

su-sukhaṁ kartum avyayam

[Bg. 9.2]

Pratyakṣāvagamaṁ dharmyam. It is not theoretical. If you practice, you will see, pratyakṣāvagamam. And it is very easy to perform. So if you chant Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra, then you will understand. Exactly like that: if you eat, then you will feel satisfaction. Simply theoretically discussing how it become, we can say to you... It will not be understood. You chant, you will understand. Practical. Pratyakṣāvagamaṁ dharmyam su-sukhaṁ kartum avyayam. This is the process.

Philosophy Discussions

Simply imaginary moral principle. We want practical understanding what is morality.

Philosophy Discussion on Johann Gottlieb Fichte:

Hayagrīva: This is Fichte. He's not as important as Kant or Hegel, but he followed pretty much in the footsteps of Kant. His first work was entitled Our Belief in a Divine Government of the Universe, and he writes, "Our belief in a moral world order must be based on the concept of a supersensible transcendental world."

Prabhupāda: But thing is that what is morality? If he cannot define what is morality, simply saying on moral principles, what is this morality? First of all you have to understand what is morality. Simply imaginary moral principle. We want practical understanding what is morality. That they have not defined.

Either you take yoga system or jñāna system, and bhakti is cent percent simply realization of God. That is the business of human life. He hasn't got to do any other thing. That is practical understanding of God.

Philosophy Discussion on William James: So that our actual business, first business is to have complete idea, complete sense of God and our relationship. That is the business of human life. Therefore in the Vedic process, the real business is realize God. Either you take yoga system or jñāna system, and bhakti is cent percent simply realization of God. That is the business of human life. He hasn't got to do any other thing. That is practical understanding of God. A perfect human being knows that "My necessities of life is supplied by God, so I have no business to improve the economic condition." That cannot be done also. Nobody is going to be very rich, all of them. According to the destiny he gets his position. So one who is self-realized, he does not want to improve the material condition of life, but he wants to improve the spiritual conception of life. That is human life.

1969 Conversations and Morning Walks

This Kṛṣṇa consciousness means practical understanding of Bhagavad-gītā.

Radio Interview -- February 12, 1969, Los Angeles:

Interviewer: Is your philosophy, your approach to consciousness, based on the Gītā?

Prabhupāda: Yes. Yes, Bhagavad-gītā. This Kṛṣṇa consciousness means practical understanding of Bhagavad-gītā. This is the sum and substance. I thank you for your capturing the idea. Bhagavad-gītā is the sum and substance of the whole Vedic literature, and it is very nicely explained, things as they are. Unfortunately there are so many interpreters. They interpret the verses in their own way. That is the nonsense of the whole thing. But if Bhagavad-gītā understood as it is, oh, it is a great boon to the human society.

1971 Conversations and Morning Walks

You try to understand practically.

Room Conversation -- January 17, 1971, Allahabad:

Prabhupāda: These are different coating. Just like you have got your form, therefore your coat has got a form.

Guest (1): No, I was thinking in this form.

Prabhupāda: Don't think like that way. First of all you try to understand. Because you have got a form, your coat has got a form. You try to understand this.

Guest (1): Yes, water, though may not have form, but it has got form.

Prabhupāda: Why may not? You try to understand practically. You have got a form, therefore your shirt has got a form, your coat has got a form.

1973 Conversations and Morning Walks

They will understand, practical demonstration, ārati, worship of the Deity, and they play mṛdaṅga, they chant, they join Hare Kṛṣṇa chanting.

Room Conversation with Indian Guests -- July 11, 1973, London:

Guest (3): Yes. Could you sometime tell me about that school.

Satsvarūpa: Sure, later we can talk.

Prabhupāda: There are good teachers. We are teaching Sanskrit and English especially.

Guest (3): They teach Sanskrit, English?

Prabhupāda: That is what. We are preparing them so that they can read our literature which is in Sanskrit and English. As soon as they can read, that's education finished. They will understand, practical demonstration, ārati, worship of the Deity, and they play mṛdaṅga, they chant, they join Hare Kṛṣṇa chanting. They are not meant for any technology.

Everything is there. And that you have to understand practically.

Room Conversation with Educationists -- July 11, 1973, London:

Prabhupāda: So similarly, if you depend on Kṛṣṇa, God, He'll take care of you. He says in the Bhagavad-gītā:

sarva-dharmān parityajya

mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja

ahaṁ tvāṁ sarva-pāpebhyo

mokṣayiṣyāmi mā śucaḥ

[Bg. 18.66]

Yoga-kṣemaṁ vahāmy aham. Teṣāṁ nityābhiyuktānāṁ yoga-kṣemaṁ vahāmy aham [Bg. 9.22]. Everything is there. And that you have to understand practically.

So it is a question of practice and practical understanding. A theoretically one cannot understand.

Room Conversation with Father Tanner and other guests -- July 11, 1973, London:

Father Tanner: I don't know your disciples, but it is possible that some of them, even with twenty-four hour a day, you know, exercises...

Prabhupāda: Yes, our program is like that.

Father Tanner: ...fail to become spiritual.

Prabhupāda: Now, our program here is like that. We have got Deities, six times ārati. In preparation for that, cleansing the temple room, washing the dishes of the Deity, cooking for the Deity, arranging for the other things... So they are always thinking of Kṛṣṇa. This is Kṛṣṇa consciousness. This is Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Just like we have got so many books. So they are reading books of Kṛṣṇa. This is also Kṛṣṇa consciousness. So... Or they are going to saṅkīrtana party. That is also Kṛṣṇa consciousness. So it is a question of practice and practical understanding. A theoretically one cannot understand. But we have got twenty-four hours engagement for these boys. Not a single moment lost. In this way we train them.

1974 Conversations and Morning Walks

So by practicing bhakti-yoga scientifically, by practical understanding, practical application you become perfect.

Morning Walk -- March 31, 1974, Bombay:

Prabhupāda: Both of them permanent. No, no, no. Permanent... The jīvas and the Supreme Lord, both of them are permanent, nityā. Na hanyate hanyamāne śarīre [Bg. 2.20]. Just like nityaḥ śāśvato 'yam. It is said in the Bhagavad-gītā, nityaḥ śāśvato 'yam. Eternal, always existing. And this material word has been described: asasvataḥ. Duḥkhālayam aśāśvataḥ.

Dr. Patel: Aśāśvatam.

Prabhupāda: Aśāś... It is not permanent. Bhūtvā bhūtvā pralīyate [Bg. 8.19]. It appears and disappears. So because nityo nityānām, there is transaction between the nitya, the Supreme Nitya, Kṛṣṇa, and the...

Dr. Patel: Cetanaś cetanānām.

Prabhupāda: And the subordinate nityas, the living entities. So there must be one place also where this transaction takes place. Because this is anitya. This material world is anitya. So how the transaction between the nitya and nityānām can take place? Because the place is anitya. Therefore there must be a place which is nitya. There must be place. That is Vaikuṇṭha dhāma, spiritual world. So by practicing bhakti-yoga scientifically, by practical understanding, practical application, yogaṁ yuñjan mad-āśrayaḥ, either at the shelter...

Mr. Sar: Anyaj jñātam neha bhūyo...

Prabhupāda: Eh?

Mr. Sar: Anyaj jñātam avaśiṣyate.

Prabhupāda: Ah. Then anyaj jñātavyam. No. Then you become perfect. No more knowledge.

1970 Correspondence

I think George can afford to expand for this whole week celebration at his house. That will be practical understanding of Krishna Consciousness.

Letter to Syamasundara -- Los Angeles 12 April, 1970: During Rathayatra ceremony I will suggest that Lord Jagannatha be carried from London to Oxon in Their chariots and in procession and Lord Jagannatha live for 8 days from the 5th to 14th July at the chapel house of George. And for eight days there should be continued festivals which means Kirtana and distribution of Prasadam. During this 8 days time, George should invite all his friends and guests and they should be informed about the necessity of Krishna Consciousness movement. The chapel house should always be nicely decorated with leaves, flowers, and lights; and then after completion of 8 days stay, Lord Jagannatha shall return back in procession to London temple. I think George can afford to expand for this whole week celebration at his house. That will be practical understanding of Krishna Consciousness. You can suggest this idea to George on my behalf.

1973 Correspondence

A laymans sentimental expression about religious problems is not a practical understanding of religious problems. Religion as we have explained means the orders of God, therefore it must be scientifically studied.

Letter to Sir Alistair Hardy -- Bhaktivedanta Manor 28 July, 1973: So all these problems are due only to a lack of God consciousness. Therefore is you can actually help people to know about the supreme powerful that will be a great help. But I see that your method is not very satisfactory. You are making research by accepting the statements of common peoples expression of religious sentiment. There is no need of research, the result of research in this matter is already there perfectly presented in Bhagavad-gita, all we have to do is accept it and the whole problem of research is solved. You want to establish your conclusion of religious experience by taking the opinions of laymen. A laymans sentimental expression about religious problems is not a practical understanding of religious problems. Religion as we have explained means the orders of God, therefore it must be scientifically studied, what are his orders, how to abide by them. Simply by taking statistics of the sentiments of common men we cannot come to the right conclusion.