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Practitioner (Lectures)

Lectures

Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures

Introduction to Bhagavad-gita As It Is -- Los Angeles, November 23, 1968 :

Devotee: "Now in the Fourth Chapter the Lord tells Arjuna that this yoga system of the Bhagavad-gītā was first spoken to the sun-god. The Blessed Lord said, 'I instructed this imperishable science, imperishable science of yoga to the sun-god, Vivasvān, and Vivasvān instructed it to Manu, the father of mankind, and Manu in turn instructed it to Ikṣvāku. This supreme science was thus received through the chain of disciplic succession and the saintly kings understood it in that way. But in the course of time the succession was broken and therefore the science as it is appears to be lost.' "

Prabhupāda: That is the instruction in the Bhagavad-gītā, that this science of Bhagavad-gītā has to be accepted by disciplic succession. That is the way of accepting any scientific thing. Just like even in material science, suppose if you have to become medical practitioner or a lawyer. So you have to study the law books by the previous lawyers, by the judgments of the courts. One who has studied the previous records of legal implications, he is best lawyer. Similarly a medical practicer, practitioner, who has studied the previous books and knowledge and experience, he is called experienced physician. The same principle is there that the spiritual knowl..., you cannot manufacture any spiritual knowledge. That is atheism. You cannot manufacture any religious principle. It is not possible. That is not accepted in Vedas. Dharmaṁ tu sākṣād bhagavat-praṇī. Dharma means the rules and regulation which is given by God. That is accepted everywhere. In Bible, in Koran also. The laws of God. You cannot manufacture. So Kṛṣṇa said that this principle of Bhagavad-gītā... At the present moment Bhagavad-gītā is being interpreted by anyone and everyone according to his whims. That is not permissible. That is not Bhagavad-gītā. We have to understand this. Simply Bhagavad-gītā is that which is received by the paramparā system. That is being explained. Go on.

Lecture on BG 1.28-29 -- London, July 22, 1973:

So dṛṣṭvā imaṁ svajanam. Arjuna is a great warrior, fighter, and for a kṣatriya to kill one is not very difficult task. The kṣatriyas are trained up. Hunting. Hunting is allowed for the kṣatriyas. Just like medical practitioners, they are trained up how to practice surgical operation on dead body. It is not possible to, of course, for a gentleman, to push knife in someone's body. It is naturally very difficult thing. Rogues and thieves, they can stab. So as the doctors, medical men, surgeons are trained up to operate their knife on the dead body to see where are the nerves, similarly, kṣatriyas are also allowed for being trained how to kill. Kṣatriya means... Kṣat. Kṣat means injury. And tra means trāyate, saves.

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

Now this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is meant for creating some brāhmaṇas, or the most intelligent class of men. There is no hindrance. Anyone can become brāhmaṇa. Just like in education anyone can become engineer, anyone can become medical practitioner or anyone can become lawyer if he takes such education from the very beginning, similarly, brāhmaṇa, kṣatriya, vaiśya, śūdra, there are natural division of the society. But at the present moment there is scarcity of brāhmaṇa. Brāhmaṇa means who has got very nice intellectual brain, who can understand the Absolute Truth. He is called brāhmaṇa. So this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is trying to create some good brains so that he can understand, one can understand what is the Absolute Truth. This is the movement.

Lecture on BG 2.26 -- Hyderabad, November 30, 1972:

Uttama means transcendental subject matter. You cannot learn it. Just like if you purchase one pharmacology book from the bookseller's shop, and if you read, at home, do you mean that you become a medical practitioner, pharmacist? No. You must go to the university, you must go to the college. You must hear the experienced professor and learn it and practically experiment it. Then you can learn. Not that by purchasing a book you become a medical practitioner or lawyer. That is not possible. Therefore the direction is that tad-vijñānārthaṁ sa gurum eva abhigacchet: (MU 1.2.12)

Lecture on BG 2.27-38 -- Los Angeles, December 11, 1968:

There is no difficulty to find out a madman. Any man you find out, he's a madman. And that is medical version also. That is medical version. In India, there was a case. A man was murdered, and the criminal lawyer pleaded that he was in madness. So the expert medical practitioner was invited and he was asked to examine whether this man is in madness. So he said that "So far my experience goes, I have studied, every man is a madman, more or less." Every man in the material concept of life is a madman because he does not know his identification. Therefore he's a madman. Piśācī pāile yena mati-cchana haya. Just like a ghostly-haunted man. His father is standing before him and he's calling the father by ill names, because he's ghostly-haunted. Similarly, a living entity who is entrapped by this material energy, illusion, he's a madman.

Lecture on BG Lecture Excerpts 2.44-45, 2.58 -- New York, March 25, 1966:

You can replace that part into new part, and the machine will work. But this is not like that. If you think that something has deteriorated in this body, therefore it has become dead. Say, for example, that they say generally, due to heart failure. Now, heart... Medical practitioners they know it that heart is always pumping like this, pumping like this. Now, can you produce heart action by artificial pumping? No. It is not possible. They give respiratory oxygen gas and so many things, but it cannot be revived.

Lecture on BG 3.8-13 -- New York, May 20, 1966:

You are taking advantage. Just like this Bhagavad-gītā, or any scripture, any book of knowledge.

So we are indebted. Deva, ṛṣi and bhūta. Bhūta means ordinary, general living beings in our dealings. Suppose if I go to consult some lawyer, I have to pay. If I want to consult some medical practitioner, I have to pay. So this is obligation. This is no mercy; this is obligation. Similarly, we are obliged in so many respects—to the supernatural power, to the sages, to the ordinary living beings, and to the animals also. Because we are drinking milk from the cows, so we are indebted. But instead of paying our indebtedness, we are killing. You see? These are all reactions. We are creating reactions. If you don't pay bill for the electricity for a many long time, your electricity will be cut off. Your telephone will be cut off. But we must be conscious of our indebtedness to so many things.

Lecture on BG 3.18-30 -- Los Angeles, December 30, 1968:

There is no question of birth. Kṛṣṇa never said birth. Otherwise He would have said cātur-varṇyaṁ mayā sṛṣṭaṁ janma-karma-vibhāgaśaḥ. No. He says guṇa-karma. Guṇa means quality, and karma...

Just like if you have achieved the quality of a medical practitioner, then your work shall be a medical practitioner. Similarly if one has achieved the quality of a brāhmaṇa or Vaiṣṇava, then his activities should be like that. If I become Kṛṣṇa conscious and if I work as a butcher, that will not be. You have to work just like a Vaiṣṇava. So guṇa-karma-vibhāgaśaḥ. You have to acquire the qualities and work like that. Then it is perfect.

Lecture on BG 4.3-6 -- New York, July 18, 1966:

This is to receive the knowledge in disciplic succession, bona fide disciplic succession. It is not a thing... Any knowledge, even material knowledge, if it is not received in bona fide disciplic succession, that knowledge is not perfect. Suppose if you want to be a lawyer, or if you want to be an engineer, or a medical practitioner. You have to receive the knowledge from the authoritative lawyer, authoritative engineer. Of course, I do not know what is the custom here. In India the custom is that a new lawyer, he has to become an apprentice of an experienced lawyer before he is given the license to practice. That is the Indian system. So any knowledge, unless we receive it through the authoritative sources, it is not perfect. It is not perfect.

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

Study, yes. Study, simply study will not help you. You must study from a bona fide teacher. Otherwise it will be misleading. Just like if you want to be a medical practitioner if you purchase books from the bookstore, medical books, and you study, that will not help you. You have to admit yourself in a medical college and study there. Then you will understand. If you say that "I have studied all the medical books," the government will not recognize you as a medical practitioner. When he will see and the government will see or any person will see that you have regularly passed medical examination from authorities then you will be accepted.

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

We don't ask him, "Well, sir, are you Christian? Are you Jew or Indian or American or a brāhmaṇa?" No. We are concerned with the qualification. It doesn't matter what he is. He may be an American, he may be an Indian, he may be Christian, he may be Jew, he may be Hindu or Mohammedan. Doesn't matter. He's a practiced medical practitioner, so he's a qualified man. I have gone there for my treatment.

Similarly, Lord Caitanya also says the same thing, and Kṛṣṇa also says the same thing. Never it is, He is stressing on birth. Birth is no consideration. Nobody is responsible for his birth. He may be lowborn but what is that? Or he may be highborn. That doesn't matter. But when he comes out from the womb of the mother, he has got his own responsibility. He has to advance his cultural life in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. That is his responsibility. That is his responsibility. Of course, father, mother, state, teacher, friend, they can help us, but ultimately, the responsibility lies with me.

Lecture on BG 4.34 -- New York, August 14, 1966:

In the material world also, suppose if I want to learn the art of music. Then I have to find out somebody who is a musician. Without having the association of a musician, nobody can learn the art of music. Or any art. Suppose if you want to become an engineer. So you have to enter yourself in an engineering college or technical college and learn there. Nobody can become a medical practitioner simply by purchasing book from the market and reading at home. That is not possible. You have to admit yourself in a medical college and undergo training and practical examination, so many things.

Lecture on BG 4.34-38 -- New York, August 17, 1966:

So it doesn't matter. If anyone is able to answer about the science of Kṛṣṇa, he is spiritual master. He is spiritual master. It doesn't matter where he's born or what he is, whether he's a brāhmaṇa, or a śūdra, or an American or an Indian or whatever he is. Never mind.

Just like... It is practical. When you go to a doctor, medical practitioner, you do not ask, "Well, Doctor, are you American or Indian? Are you brāhmaṇa? Are you Jew? Are you Christian?" No. Oh, he has got the qualification of a medical man, so you surrender, "Doctor, treat me. I am suffering." So there is no question. So Caitanya Mahāprabhu has given liberal that "Anyone who knows the spiritual science, or the Kṛṣṇa science..." Kṛṣṇa science is spiritual science. Because Kṛṣṇa is the ultimate goal of spiritual science.

Lecture on BG 4.34-39 -- Los Angeles, January 12, 1969:

You must admit yourself into the engineering college, learn how to practice engineering. Suppose if you want to become a medical practitioner, so you have to admit yourself in some medical college. Similarly, if you want to know about spiritual matter, then you must approach a spiritual master who knows the things. How you can learn it from anywhere and everywhere? One must be expert in spiritual knowledge. From him you have to learn. Therefore it is said here, "Just try to learn the truth by..."

Lecture on BG 6.16-24 -- Los Angeles, February 17, 1969:

Devotee: "Success is sure for the rigid practitioner. Regarding bhakti-yoga, Rūpa Gosvāmī says, 'The process of bhakti-yoga can be executed successfully with full-hearted enthusiasm, perseverance and determination by following the prescribed duties in the association of devotees and by engaging completely in activities of goodness.' "

Prabhupāda: Yes, go on.

Lecture on BG 6.32-40 -- New York, September 14, 1966:

So, just like if you want to be a medical student there are five years', six years' course. If you study for two years and give it up, then you cannot have that title, or you cannot be recognized as a medical practitioner. But if you complete the course, you get the university degree, MD, Doctor of Medicine, or something like that, and you are recognized; you can practice. Now, here it is said that ayatiḥ śraddhayopetaḥ. Somebody is attracted that "I shall make my life successful by a spiritual process, the yoga system or jñāna system or bhakti system." Without inclination... Because this inclination also does not come ordinarily... That also requires good asset in the past life, this inclination for spiritual advancement. Manuṣyāṇāṁ sahasreṣu (BG 7.3).

Lecture on BG 6.35-45 -- Los Angeles, February 20, 1969:

Devotee: "Therefore the mind must be controlled by engaging it constantly in the transcendental loving service of the Lord. Unless one is engaged in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, he can't steadily control the mind. A Kṛṣṇa conscious person easily achieves the result of yoga practice without separate endeavor. A yoga practitioner cannot achieve perfect success without becoming Kṛṣṇa conscious."

Prabhupāda: Then? Go on. So far yoga practice is concerned is explained, discussion between Kṛṣṇa and Arjuna. Now, supposing that I practice yoga, real yoga I mean to say, not this pseudo yoga. And if I cannot do it properly, I fail. Then what is the result? Suppose if I give up my business, I give up my ordinary occupation and I begin to practice yoga. But somehow or other it is not completed, it is failure. Then what is the result? That is being questioned by Arjuna. That will be answered by Kṛṣṇa. What is that? Go on. "Arjuna said..."

Lecture on BG 6.35-45 -- Los Angeles, February 20, 1969:

Devotee: "Consequently whenever a person tries to escape the clutches of the illusory energy, she tries to defeat the practitioner by various allurements. A conditioned soul is already allured by the modes of material energy and there is every chance of being allured again while performing such transcendental practice. This is called yogāc calita-mānasaḥ."

Prabhupāda: Calita-mānasaḥ. Calita-mānasaḥ means diverting the mind from the practice of yoga. Yogāc calita-mānasaḥ. Yogāt means from the practice of yoga and calita means diversion. Mānasaḥ means mind. Yogāc calita-mānasaḥ. So there is every chance. Everyone has got experience. You're trying to read some book, concentration, but mind is not allowing, it is disturbed. So it is very important factor to control the mind. That is the real practice.

Lecture on BG 7.1 -- Calcutta, January 27, 1973:

If one is born in a brāhmaṇa family, he has got the opportunity to develop the brāhmaṇa qualities. Similarly, if one is born in the family of a kṣatriya, he gets the opportunity of kṣatriya spirit. Similarly vaiśya. Cātur-varṇyaṁ mayā sṛṣṭaṁ guṇa-karma-vibhāgaśaḥ (BG 4.13). But the quality and actual action. Just like a boy is born of a medical practitioner. He has got greater chance of becoming, becoming a medical student, medical practitioner. But simply by getting birth as a son of medical practitioner is not sufficient. He has to take education. So cātur-varṇyaṁ mayā sṛṣṭaṁ guṇa-karma-vibhāgaśaḥ (BG 4.13). Kṛṣṇa does not say "By birth." By acquiring the qualities and action. One must have the brahminical qualities and act as a brāhmaṇa; then he'll be accepted as brāhmaṇa.

Lecture on BG 9.22-23 -- New York, December 8, 1966:

So if you take this advantage of Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa Hare Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Hare Hare, Hare Rāma Hare Rāma Rāma Rāma Hare Hare, in whatever position you may be, you will never be unhappy. You will always be prosperous. So why don't you take this advantage? Be situated. Oh, you are medical practitioner? That's all right. You are engineer? That's all right. You are a clerk? That's all right. You are a real estate man? That's all right. Never mind whatever doing. Everyone has to do something to keep his body and soul together. That is the law of nature. Niyataṁ kuru karma tvaṁ karma jyāyo hy akarmaṇaḥ. Arjuna was Kṛṣṇa's friend, but He never said that "You stop your working." Rather, He engaged him in his real work. He was a fighter. He was a soldier.

Lecture on BG 9.26-27 -- New York, December 16, 1966:

That's all right. But you cannot learn them by your own study. Tad-vijñānārthaṁ sa gurum evābhigacchet (MU 1.2.12). One must go and learn it from the spiritual master, exactly you purchase some scientific book, medical science, or engineering and study at home. Oh, you will never be acknowledged as a medical practitioner. You have to admit yourself into the, that disciplic succession, medical college. You have to attend lectures. Then, when you pass degree, then you will be admitted.

Lecture on BG 10.1 -- New York, December 30, 1966:

In, in the market you'll have so many commentaries of the Bhagavad-gītā. In India we have counted, there are about six hundred and forty-five different commentaries of Bhagavad-gītā. One Dr. Rele(?) of Bombay, he has interpreted Bhagavad-gītā as the talks between the patient and the medical practitioner. Yes. He has imposed on Kṛṣṇa as the physician and Arjuna as the patient. And in his commentary he has tried to, I mean to say, interpose all the meanings of anatomy, physiology, everything in his own imagination.

Lecture on BG 13.5 -- Bombay, September 28, 1973:

That is very natural. That is very natural. Yasya hi yal-lakṣaṇaṁ syād varṇābhivyanjakam. To ascertain which class a man belongs, whether he is a brāhmaṇa, or a kṣatriya, or vaiśya, there are qualifications. Just like ordinarily we know. We understand an engineer by qualification, a medical practitioner by qualification. We don't ask, "Whose son you are, Mr. Engineer?" No. If you have got engineer's qualification, you are engineer. Otherwise, how can you be engineer? Similarly, yasya hi yal-lakṣaṇaṁ syād varṇābhivyanjakam. Varṇa. This is brahminical quality.

Lecture on BG 13.8-12 -- Bombay, October 5, 1973:

So Kṛṣṇa recommends also here that if you actually want to become in knowledge, if you want to have real knowledge, then you must worship ācārya. Ācāryopāsanam. This is Vedic system. Tad vijñānārthaṁ sa gurum evābhigacchet (MU 1.2.12).

It is not that "If I like, I can go to a guru; if I don't like I can learn the books at home and learn everything." No, that is not possible. Practically... Just like if you purchase some medical book and study at home and if you begin to practice, you will be called a quack. You will not be recognized by the government. You will not get the practitioner's registration. You will not. Unless you have passed through the medical college, your medical examination, you will not be accepted, even if you say that "I have read all the books." Similarly, if you simply think that "I have read... As we see generally, "Oh, I have read Bhagavad-gītā hundred times." But you ask him what is Kṛṣṇa, he cannot say. Because he has not approached the ācārya. This is the difficulty. He might have read Bhagavad-gītā a thousand times, but he will not understand a single word because he has not approached.

Lecture on BG 13.13 -- Bombay, October 6, 1973:

Everyone has got particular type of occupational duty. That is called dharma. Dharma is not a faith. The particular duty... Just like you are a medical practitioner. So your dharma is to treat patients. That is your dharma. So everyone has got particular occupational duty. (break) Actually, what is going on as Hindu dharma... Actually, Hindu dharma this word is not there in the śāstras. In the śāstra it is called varṇāśrama-dharma. Four varṇas: brāhmaṇa, kṣatriya, vaiśya, śūdra; and four āśramas: brahmacārī, gṛhastha, vānaprastha, and sannyāsa.

Lecture on BG 18.45 -- Durban, October 11, 1975:

Then I have got guṇa, but I do not practice it. Suppose I have passed medical examination, but I do not practice. Then nobody will call me a doctor sir. I must practice. I must cure patient. Then I will be known as medical practitioner. So guṇa-karma-vibhāgaśaḥ, not only quality but also practice. So what are the guṇas? The guṇas are described in the Bhagavad-gītā. Everything is there. Simply we have to study thoroughly and understand it thoroughly. Then the whole human society will be in peace and they will make progress not only in this life but in the next life also. Therefore it is said, saṁsiddhiṁ labhate naraḥ. Sve sve karmaṇi nirataḥ saṁsiddhiṁ labhate naraḥ. What is that saṁsiddhi?

Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures

Lecture on SB 1.1.4 -- London, August 22, 1971:

If a man is snakebitten... (aside:) He's sleeping. Why? Don't sleep and you can sleep at the end. Don't in the front. It is disturbing. Enechi auṣadhi māyā nāśibāro lāgi'. Lord Caitanya said that "I have brought the medicine." Māyā nāśibāro lāgi'. Just like the snake charmers, they chant mantra. That is factual. It is not story. One medical practitioner friend of mine, when he was student in Lucknow, he stated that there is a palace building, Satar Manji?(?) Satar Manju, in Lucknow. There is some government office. So there were several snakebite cases. Several men were killed by snakebite. So they could understand that there is a venomous snake in this building; at the opportunity he bites. So one snakecharmer was called, and one Muhammadan snakecharmer, he came, and he captured that snake and took it away.

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

That is the test of the mantra. By mantra, an animal, animal put into the fire, comes out again with rejuvenated life. People think that gomedha yajña, aśvamedha yajña are made for killing the animal. No. It was testing the mantra of the Vedas, whether actually being pronounced. That was the test. Just like in biological laboratory, the medical practitioner, they test with animals to observe the physiological and anatomical conditions. Similarly... But they cannot give life, they simply kill. But here in the Vedic yajña, the animal was put in the fire and it was again taken alive. Because such yajnic brāhmaṇa is not there in this Kali-yuga, therefore the all the yajñas are forbidden.

Lecture on SB 1.3.13 -- Los Angeles, September 18, 1972:

By training, either he becomes a brāhmaṇa or a kṣatriya.

Just like a man has got several sons, but all of them, in the beginning, they are illiterate. Now, in their grown-up age, by accepting different departmental knowledge, one becomes a medical practitioner, one becomes engineer, one becomes lawyer, or one becomes vagabond. So not by birth, one becomes engineer or medical man or this or... No. Everything by culture, by education. Similarly, the Vedic culture means everyone is given the chance to become first-class brāhmaṇa. That is called brahminical culture. Everyone is given. Because without becoming a brāhmaṇa, nobody can understand what is God. And the human life is meant for understanding God. That is the only business of human form of life.

Lecture on SB 1.3.15 -- Los Angeles, September 20, 1972:

We are preaching the same thing. No change. No change. There is no possibility of change. Then how Kṛṣṇa is authority? So change means imperfect knowledge. This very change. And perfect knowledge... You will find that one who is very experienced medical practitioner, he gives you a prescription, and you visit him again and again, he gives you the same prescription unless you are cured. His prescription is so nice that he doesn't change. But a nonexperienced physician, every time you go, he will change the prescription. But actually, those who are experienced, he knows "This is the disease, and ultimately this medicine will cure. So let him repeat that medicine." So our is that platform. Harer nāma harer nāma harer nāmaiva kevalam (CC Adi 17.21).

Lecture on SB 1.5.11 -- New Vrindaban, June 10, 1969:

"Because I have got this disinfectant method, so I shall commit sinful activities and I'll chant Hare Kṛṣṇa, and it will be neutralized," so that is the greatest sin. Similarly... (break)

So my manager supplied morphine preparation to an unlicensed doctor, medical practitioner. In India there are many so-called medical practitioners. They are compounders, and after... Because there is scarcity of medical man. So there was one compounder. Some way or other, he took supply of morphine preparation from my manager. But the license was in my name. I am the proprietor. So I was called by the magistrate. So he asked my explanation: "Why you have done this?"

Lecture on SB 1.7.7 -- Vrndavana, April 24, 1975:

So if we want to become free from anartha then we must follow the Vedic way of civilization. Guṇa-karma-vibhāgaśaḥ. Cātur-varṇyaṁ mayā sṛṣṭaṁ guṇa-karma-vibhāg... (BG 4.13). According... The other day I was suggesting the governor that "Open varṇāśrama college." As we are training a medical practitioner and an engineer or any particular type of line, similarly, there must be training school and college where a person or a boy may be educated as a brāhmaṇa or as a kṣatriya. It is very simple thing. We should not... I was suggesting, "The secular government does not mean that let people do whatever he likes." No. Yata mata tata patha. No, that is not... A government's duty is, if anyone is proclaiming himself a Hindu, the government must see that he is acting as a Hindu.

Lecture on SB 1.8.44 -- Mayapura, October 24, 1974:

Kṛṣṇa, if you simply hear about Kṛṣṇa... Sthāne sthitāḥ. It doesn't require to change your place. You may be in, in your place, position. You may be a medical practitioner. You may be engineer. You may be any other man, mercantile man. Whatever you may be, it doesn't... You may be a learned man. You may be a foolish man. It doesn't matter. But you hear. That is... If you want to get the position of Vaikuṇṭha, then you simply hear. It doesn't matter what is your position. Kṛṣṇa never said, "Only this kind of man..." Of course, there is classification. The classification is sinless and sinful. Only the persons who are sinless, they can understand about God. That sinlessness can be achieved very easily, as I was explaining last night. Śṛṇvatāṁ sva-kathāḥ kṛṣṇaḥ puṇya-śravana-kīrtanaḥ (SB 1.2.17).

Lecture on SB 1.8.44 -- Mayapura, October 24, 1974:

Because one has to become sinless, so one has to adopt some means by which one can become sinless. So simply by hearing, you become sinless. And after being sinless, you become more and more interested.

Just like in jaundice disease that, if you... Because the doctors, the medical practitioners, they give sugar candy. The physician gives sugar candy. The sugar candy, to the person suffering from jaundice, tastes bitter: "Oh, it is bitter." But actually sugar candy is not bitter. Similarly, to the sinful man the kṛṣṇa-kathā, discussion about Kṛṣṇa, does not appear to be very palatable. They do not like to hear. They think it is waste of time.

Lecture on SB 1.9.2 -- Los Angeles, May 16, 1973:

For example, suppose you have to go to see a friend, and nowadays, friend or anything, not less than ten miles. So you have to go ten miles, and then see your friend, and then do your work. So I am taking the trouble of going ten miles to see a friend or thirty miles to see a medical practitioner, but I am very much proud of my car, that I have got a car. I don't consider that although I have got car, still, I have to waste so much time. I have to take so much trouble. And there is every possibility of accidents. So many calamities are awaiting me. But we think that "Now we have discovered this horseless carriage, we are advanced." Similarly, if you study every item, you will find that although you have created by the modern scientific advancement a little comfort of life, side by side, we have created many discomforts. That we do not find.

Lecture on SB 1.9.49 -- Mayapura, June 15, 1973:

This is the system. Cātur-varṇyaṁ mayā sṛṣṭaṁ guṇa-karma-vibhāgaśaḥ (BG 4.13). According to quality and work—brāhmaṇa's quality and brāhmaṇa's work; kṣatriya's quality and kṣatriya's work; vaiśya's quality and vaiśya's work.

Quality means education, culture. Just like a medical practitioner. When he passes his examination in the medical college, that is his quality. Or a lawyer. When he passes his examination in the university, that is his quality. But simply by passing the examination, if he sits down at home, then he cannot be called a medical practitioner. He must work as a medical man. Not only... (aside:) You sit down properly, not like that. Not simply acquiring the quality, but he must work as a brāhmaṇa. Then he will be accepted as a brāhmaṇa. Now everything is thrown away.

Lecture on SB 1.9.49 -- Mayapura, June 15, 1973:

Not like that. It is the... Just like a medical man. A medical man, if he wants to practice, then he must get certificate from the medical board, registration. The medical board will see whether he is qualified as a medical man, whether he has passed medical examination. Then he will be allowed to practice as a medical man. So whenever a medical practitioner gives you a prescription along with his name, he gives his title, M.D., B.S. and registered number. That means he is approved. Then he can practice. This is common sense affairs in the every state, a lawyer is given certificate by the government.

Lecture on SB 1.10.6 -- Mayapura, June 21, 1973:

And still, he is patting him, "Don't worry. I shall get you released by appeal. Now you can go to be hanged, and I shall get you released." Like that. I have seen it. One big European barrister... In those days European barristers were very valuable. Mr. Armstrong. I had also one case in high-court. So one man, one medical practitioner, he killed his servant in the operation room very mercilessly. The servant was implicated with his wife. To revenge, he called the servant in the operation room. The servant did not know that he was to be killed. And immediately he was captured, chloroform, and mercilessly killed with knife and then packed up in a box. He was taking the corpse in a different place to throw away. In the meantime a police officer was passing. He saw that drops of blood is coming out of the box. He immediately arrested.

Lecture on SB 2.1.2 -- Mombassa, September 13, 1971:

So we have got about twenty books already published, and our program is to publish at least sixty books like this. So our subject matter is very vast. We have no time to read newspapers, neither any magazines. Vyavasāyātmikā buddhiḥ. Just like a big scientist or a big medical practitioner, he reads scientific magazines, a scientist. A medical man, a doctor, physician, he reads medical journals. He does not waste his time in big, big capture(?) in the newspaper. He has no time. So those who are interested in self-realization, that is the only business for the human form of life. Human form of life means to make solution of all the problems of material life.

Lecture on SB 2.9.9 -- Tokyo, April 25, 1972, Informal Class in Room:

So he said, "Horrible," Dr. Ghosh, because he was Indian student. So Colonel (indistinct) replied, "Why you are saying horrible? In your country ninety percent people are attacked malaria. So there, syphilis. So as a medical practitioner why you take this disease as bad or that disease as good? Your business is to see that there should be no disease. Don't consider in that way, that 'This disease is good, this disease is bad.' " That's nice explanation. But fifty years ago or hundred years ago syphilitic poison was very much prevalent. Still it is in Europe and America. And now it is spreading all over.

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

Therefore the shastric injunction is, Vedic injunction, that tad-vijñānārthaṁ sa gurum eva abhigacchet (MU 1.2.12). If you want to know transcendental knowledge, tad-vijñāna... Tad-vijñā... It is also vijñāna. Actually, human life is meant for understanding tad-vijñāna. Tad-vijñāna means transcendental knowledge, not material knowledge, bodily. Bodily... Even a medical practitioner, he does not know, he has no knowledge of the spirit soul. He simply studies the mechanical arrangement of the body. The body's a big machine made by nature. It is called yantra. Actually it is a machine.

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

One should approach guru for seeing the tattva, the Absolute Truth. That is necessary. Not for any material benefit. One should not search out a guru for, I mean to say, curing some material disease. For that, there is medical practitioner. Why should you search out after a guru? But people search out, that "I have got some material disease, and if somebody can cure, some saintly person, then he's guru or he's Bhagavān. I am poor. If he can give me some money, then he's guru." No. The śāstra does not say like that. Guru means śrotriyaṁ brahma-niṣṭham (MU 1.2.12). Tasmād guruṁ prapadyeta jijñāsuḥ śreya uttamam, śābde pare ca niṣṇātam (SB 11.3.21). Guru means who knows the Vedic śāstra, the Vedas. He knows the Vedic conclusion. And the Vedic conclusion is to understand Kṛṣṇa. That is Vedic conclusion. Vedaiś ca sarvair aham eva vedyaḥ (BG 15.15).

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

You are executing your occupational duty very nicely. Suppose if you are, from material point of view, you are big businessman or big medical practitioner, big engineer, or anything. Everyone has got some occupational duty. So if you are doing your duties very nicely, dharmaḥ svanuṣṭhitaḥ, very nicely you are doing, puṁsām, but you have no Kṛṣṇa consciousness... Your, you are functioning your duties, occupational duties, very nicely, but you do not develop Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Dharmaḥ svanuṣṭhitaḥ puṁsāṁ viṣvaksena-kathāsu yaḥ (SB 1.2.8). Viṣvaksena. Kṛṣṇa's another name is Viṣvaksena.

Lecture on SB 5.5.2 -- Boston, April 28, 1969:

"You can eat so much quantity of food, not more than that," although he desires to eat more. So the desire is there, but because he wants to come to the healthy standard of life, he follows the restriction of the physician. The demand is there. A patient lying in the hospital, he wants whatever is very palatable for me, for him, he wants to eat that. But the medical practitioner has advised, "Oh, you cannot take it. You cannot take." So he's following, "All right, just to become..." But when he's healthy there is no such restriction. The doctor does not restrict the diet of a healthy person. The restriction is for the person who is suffering from certain type of disease.

Lecture on SB 6.1.22 -- Indore, December 13, 1970:

They never heard of the Ramakrishna. And here... Just like homeopathics. They advertise, "American homeopathics." But there is not a single shop of homeopathic medicine in America, not a single shop. And this is going on. All these bogus homeopathic practitioners, they write, "American homeopathic medicine," and so on, so on. They do not allow this homeopathic medicine as bona fide practice. They are not so foolish that you will give water and it will be accepted as medicine. There you cannot ask even any medicine directly from the drug shop without doctor's prescription. If you go, offering to a medical drug shop, and "Give me this medicine," no, he'll not do so. "Bring doctor's prescription." That is law.

Lecture on SB 7.6.1 -- Madras, January 2, 1976:

Anyone who knows law, he is accepted a lawyer. Similarly, the quality of brāhmaṇa is stated in the Bhagavad-gītā, śamo dama titikṣa satyaṁ śaucam ārjavam, jñānaṁ-vijñānam āstikyaṁ brahma-karma svabhāva-jam (BG 18.42). So you can train anyone. Just like you can train anyone as lawyer, you can train anyone as an engineer or medical practitioner, similarly, you can train anyone as brāhmaṇa. That is wanted. That is wanted. So our Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is like that. We are trying to train some men as real brāhmaṇa because brāhmaṇa is the head, is the brain of the society. If the society has no brain, it is in chaotic condition. Brahma-jānāti iti brāhmaṇaḥ. Janmanā jāyate śūdraḥ saṁskārād bhaved dvijaḥ. So some section of the people must know what is Brahman, what is God, and they should preach all over the world.

Nectar of Devotion Lectures

The Nectar of Devotion -- Vrndavana, October 31, 1972:

So-called commentator, teacher of Bhagavad-gītā, he does not come in the disciplic succession. He is self-made guru. Therefore he's not guru. Self-made guru cannot be guru. He must be authorized by the bona fide guru. Then he's guru. This is the fact. Here... Nobody can be self-made anything. A medical practitioner, he cannot become self-made, that "I have studied all the medical books in my home." No. "Have you ever gone to the medical college and taken instruction from the bona fide teachers?" Then, if you have got the certificate, then you are medical practitioner. Similarly, bona fide guru means he must be authorized by the superior guru. Just like Caitanya Mahāprabhu says, āmāra ājñāya guru hañā tāra' ei deśa (CC Madhya 7.128).

Sri Brahma-samhita Lectures

Lecture on Brahma-samhita, Lecture -- Bombay, January 3, 1973:

Three times. When we stress upon some important point, we say three times, "Do it, do it, do it!" It is like that. Kalau nāsty eva nāsty eva nāsty eva gatir anyathā. So yoga practice is approved process, but it requires long, long period, time, and the time is not at all suitable in this age. And persons are differently cultured. They are eating everything, they are drinking everything, smoking. And it is not possible. It is not possible. Simply childish. It is not possible. And you can see practically. Just like I have given the example. Bring any so-called yogi, mystic practitioner...

Festival Lectures

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

It can be available in the market. If you purchase one medical book and study and you become doctor, that is not possible. You must hear the medical book from a medical man in the college, medical college. Then you will be qualified. And if you say, "Sir, I have read all the medical books. Recognize me as a medical practitioner," no, that will be not.

Arrival Addresses and Talks

Arrival Lecture -- Calcutta, February 4, 1977:

So if you come daily and see Kṛṣṇa at least once-man-manā bhava mad-bhaktoḥ—where is the difficulty? But people are so much engrossed. Their education is so low grade. Just now, when I was coming from Bhuvaneśvara, the next room, next apartment, was occupied by some young men. As they were talking, it appeared they were educated, medical practitioner. They were addressing amongst themselves, "Dr. this," "Dr. this..." (break)

So our mission is para-upakāra, Caitanya Mahāprabhu's mission, para-upakāra. This para-upakāra mission was entrusted to the Indians. Caitanya Mahāprabhu said, bhārata bhūmite haila manuṣya-janma yāra (CC Adi 9.41)—"to the human beings," not to the cats and dogs. Unfortunately, we have become like cats and dogs. We do not take the responsibility of an Indian. It is the duty of the Indian.

General Lectures

Lecture on Teachings of Lord Caitanya -- Seattle, September 25, 1968:

So anyone who represents Lord Caitanya and Kṛṣṇa, he is spiritual master. That's all. Anyone who speaks exactly what Lord Caitanya said, exactly what Kṛṣṇa said, then he is spiritual master. Just like a teacher who says that "I have passed M.A." Now what is the proof? That means if he speaks exactly like persons who have passed M.A. examination, then he is M.A. A medical practitioner who is approved by other medical practitioners in the medical college, he is medical practitioner. Similarly, if you want to test who is spiritual master, you have to see the standard spiritual master, Kṛṣṇa and Lord Caitanya and similar.

Lecture -- Seattle, October 18, 1968:

And because sādhu, saintly persons have accepted, therefore it is scripture. That is the test. Just like... It is common sense affair. If the lawyers accept some book, then it is to be understood that this is lawbook. You cannot say that "How can I accept this is law?" The evidence is the lawyers are accepting. Medical... If the medical practitioners accept, then that is authoritative medical. Similarly, if saintly persons are accepting Bhagavad-gītā as scripture, you cannot deny it. Sādhu śāstra: saintly persons and scriptures, two things, and with spiritual master, three, three parallel lines, who accept the sādhu and the scripture. Sādhu confirms the scriptures and spiritual master accept the scripture.

Lecture Excerpt -- Los Angeles, February 9, 1969:

And (in) the presence of good medicine, good physician, many people are dying. It is not guaranteed. Suppose one is diseased, suffering. If you engage good, qualified physician, good medicine, and therefore there is no guarantee of cure. No. There is no guarantee. The medical practitioners say, "We cannot guarantee. We are trying our best. That's all." Similarly, when a person is drowning in the water, if you send a good boat to save him, that is also not guaranteed. In this way, if we study that we are completely dependent on something else... Our process of making ourself independent... We may manufacture so many things for our independence, but śāstra says, unless there is protection from the Supreme Personality of Godhead, these methods and processes will not save us. Tāvat tanu-bhṛtāṁ tvad-upekṣitānām.

Philosophy Discussions

Philosophy Discussion on William James:

Prabhupāda: It is not better. It is bad. Therefore it is explained by Caitanya-caritāmṛta, 'dvaite bhadrābhadra sakali saman, ei bhalo ei manda sab more ghara. 'Dvaite: when you are contaminated, diseased... I will give you one... I heard from one of my medical practitioners friend. So he told me that when he was a student in Calcutta there was a big professor, Colonel Megha, English professor. He was lecturing, and with in talking he said that in our country that seventy-eight percent of the students are infected with syphilis. Yes. So the doctor said as soon as he heard from Professor Megha, he said, "Horrible."

Philosophy Discussion on William James:

Prabhupāda: Why do you think that this is a horrible and this is not horrible? You are thinking that malaria is not horrible; syphilis is horrible. But in our country we think syphilis is not horrible and malaria is horrible. So as a medical practitioner you should consider the disease, not the aftereffects. Aftereffects of all diseases is suffering, either it is malaria or it is syphilis." So we should be concerned that this soul, pure soul, is affected by these sattva, rajas, tamaguṇa, material modes of nature, and he is suffering. So he should be given relief from this suffering, not that because one is contaminated by this sattva-guṇa, one is a brāhmaṇa, very nice brāhmaṇa, therefore that is, from a material point of view, the brāhmaṇa is better than a śūdra. But from the spiritual platform, either a brāhmaṇa or a śūdra, they are contaminated by this material nature, so they are suffering.

Page Title:Practitioner (Lectures)
Compiler:Visnu Murti, RupaManjari, Sahadeva
Created:20 of Dec, 2011
Totals by Section:BG=0, SB=0, CC=0, OB=0, Lec=55, Con=0, Let=0
No. of Quotes:55