This we have explained last night, how the, a person enjoying happiness as Brahman realization... There are many examples, both in the East and the West, that... In our Eastern countries, the Māyāvādī philosophy is very prominent, and their basic principle is: brahma satyaṁ jagan mithyā. "The world is false, and Brahman, that is truth." But we have practically seen many sannyāsīs, they renounce this world as mithyā and take to Brahman realization path, but after some days, they come down to politics, sociology, philanthropy. Why? If Brahman is satya, jagat is mithyā, false, then why they, from the platform of satya, they fall down again in the mithyā? This is our question. To open hospital or to open a school or similar philanthropic activities are generally being done by persons who are embarrassed with this mithyā world.
Prominent (CC and Other Books)
Lectures
Nectar of Devotion Lectures
Similarly, brahmeti paramātmeti bhagavān iti śabdyate (SB 1.2.11). To approach the impersonal feature of Brahman is not sufficient. We have to approach Kṛṣṇa. So the Rādhārāṇī, the personal,... His energy's also personal. So mahātmānas tu māṁ pārtha daivīṁ prakṛtim āśritāḥ (BG 9.13). If we take shelter of His external energy, where forgetfulness, Kṛṣṇa, is very prominent, then we become far and far away from Kṛṣṇa. But if we take shelter of the internal energy of Kṛṣṇa, Rādhārāṇī, because She's directly serving Kṛṣṇa... Just like in Vṛndāvana, they always speak of Rādhārāṇī because they have taken shelter of Rādhārāṇī to approach Kṛṣṇa very easily. Daivīṁ prakṛtim āśritāḥ. The facility of Vṛndāvana is that you take shelter of Rādhārāṇī directly and She will help you to approach Kṛṣṇa very soon. This is the idea of coming to Vṛndāvana. Go on.
Sri Caitanya-caritamrta Lectures
So there is no difference between these different phases of loving affair, but great devotees and learned scholars, they have given their decision that the loving affairs of Kṛṣṇa in the conjugal platform between husband and wife, or above that, between lover and beloved... That is very much prominent in the Western countries, friend, boyfriend, girlfriend. In the spiritual world that platform of remaining as friend without marriage, that is considered as the highest. And whatever we see here—a perverted reflection of that loving affairs. Just like perverted reflection... It is described in the Bhagavad-gītā, ūrdhva-mūlam adho-śākha aśvatthaṁ prāhur avyayam. This material world has been described as having its root up, ūrdhva-mūlam adho-śākha, and the branches down. We have several times explained this ūrdhva-mūlam adho-śākha. In the material world this is a shadow. Unless it is shadow, how the mūlam, or the root, can be upwards? We have got experience: a tree on the bank of a river.
That austerities begins with brahmācārya. Tapasā brahmacaryeṇa (SB 6.1.13). Brahmacarya means controlling sex life. That is required. If you can control sex impulse... Because that is the medium of bondage. Here in this material world everyone is working hard to enjoy sex life. That is the main aim. Main aim is... And that you will find, in your country especially, very, very prominent. In Paris very, very old men, they are going to the club at night simply for the same purpose. So this has to be controlled. Controlled means mind and the senses. And the prominent sense is sex. That is called control. So if you want to become immortal, then you must practice this. Of course, in Western countries, it is very difficult. They say, "It is impossible." Big, big men, they say, "It is impossible." Yes, it is impossible. Therefore śāstra has given concession that you require sex life, but enjoy it in married life, but no illicit sex. At least, stop this. If you want to be immortal, these things are to be followed: no illicit sex, no intoxication, no meat-eating, no gambling. Then you can think of immortality, gradually.
So make that organization. Don't be falsely puffed up. Follow the ācārya's instruction and try to make yourself perfect, mature. Then it will be very easy to fight out māyā. Yes. Ācāryas, they declare war against māyā's activities, that māyā instructing that "Here is wine. Here is cigarette. Here is that..." In your country these advertisements are very prominent, holding both ways, wine advertisement, cigarette advertisement, naked woman advertisements, and sometimes gambling also, advertisement. What is that? Congo?
When you speak of Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya, we should understand immediately that He's Kṛṣṇa in Rādhā's attitude, Rādhā-bhāva. Kṛṣṇa, Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa, They are one; They are not different. Rādhā kṛṣṇa-praṇaya-vikṛtir hlādinī śaktir asmād (CC Adi 1.5). Rādhārāṇī is expansion of Kṛṣṇa's pleasure potency. So Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Mahāprabhu is Kṛṣṇa Himself, but the pleasure potency of Kṛṣṇa is prominent in His activities. Because Kṛṣṇa, in order to understand Himself, He took the position of Rādhārāṇī to understand Himself. Personally He could not understand His potencies, but when He appeared as Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Mahāprabhu in the attitude of Rādhārāṇī's love for Kṛṣṇa, kṛṣṇa-prema, then He could fully understand Him. These are very intricate subject matter to understand, but this is the fact.
So, as Kṛṣṇa expands Himself by His omnipotencies... Parāsya śaktir vividhaiva śrūyate (Cc. Madhya 13.65, purport). Kṛṣṇa has got multi-potencies.
So Brahman means... Generally we are identified with this body. Body means the senses. We take prominent the senses. Whole world is going on on the sense perception, sense gratification. So indriyāṇi parāny āhuḥ. The indriyas are very prominent in materialistic way of life. Indriyebhyaḥ paraṁ manaḥ. Then, above the indriyas, there is the mind. Just like philosopher, psychologist or scientist, who are thoughtful, thinking, they are also on the mental platform. The ordinary men, they are on the bodily platform like animal, sense gratification. And little higher than that—indriyāṇi parāṇy āhuḥ indriyebhyaḥ paraṁ manaḥ—those who are on the mental platform. But mental platform will not help us. It is said, mano-rathena asato dhāvato bahiḥ. Mano-rathena. If one is on the mental platform, naturally he has no higher information. He'll glide down again to the material platform. Harāv abhaktasya kuto mahad-guṇā manorathena asato dhāvato bahiḥ (SB 5.18.12). So simply mental speculation, the whole world, the scientists... They are working on the mental platform. Therefore today they fix up, "This is the conclusion," and tomorrow, another conclusion, another conclusion, because it is mental platform.
There is no reason to disbelieve that in, in the, in other planets there is no life, there is no variegatedness. No. According to Vedic literature, it is not acceptable. Each and every planet, there is variegatedness as we find in this planet. The difference is that in some of the planets earthly matter is prominent, some of the planets fiery elements are prominent. So in the sun, sun planet, fiery elements is very prominent. There the living entities and everything, they are made of fire.
So He's giving another evidence from Brahma-saṁhitā:
Aiśvarya, the opulence, six kinds of opulence of which mādhurya, I mean to say, His relationship with His devotees in conjugal love... That is very much prominent in Vṛndāvana.
- govindera mādhurī dekhi' vāsudevera kṣobha
- se mādhuri āsvādite upajaya lobha
The beauty, beauty of Kṛṣṇa, is fully manifested in Vṛndāvana. As sixteen-years boy and playing flute, the beauty was so attractive that even Vāsudeva Himself became attracted by the beauty.
And because He defeated the Māyāvādī philosophers, many other scholars also began to meet Him personally and talk with Him, argue with Him.
So this was going on naturally. Whenever a man becomes prominent, so many others, they come to challenge him. That is natural sequence.
- sarva-śāstra khaṇḍi' prabhu bhakti kare sāra
- sayuktika vākye mana phirāya sabāra
The speciality of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu was that He used to put very sound arguments, and He used to defeat His opponents in such a way that they were satisfied. They were not inimical. And with the evidence of śāstra. Not that argumentum vaculum. He was putting reasonable arguments and evidences from śāstra, scripture. Sarva-śāstra khaṇḍi' prabhu bhakti kare sāra. And the beauty was that He was defeating all other arguments against devotional service. He was establishing only that God is great, and we are meant for serving Him.
Sri Isopanisad Lectures
Eka-deśa-sthitasyāgner jyotsnā yathā vistāriṇī tathaiva parasya brahmaṇaḥ śaktiḥ. Similarly, two energies from the Supreme Lord is being distributed all over the creation. One kind of energy is called material energy, and the other kind of energy is called the spiritual energy. So in this world, in this temporary material world, the spiritual energy is there. That is prominent. But it is covered by the material energy. Just like there is sunshine—sunshine, nobody can check—but it is sometimes covered by cloud. When it is covered by the cloud, the sunshine is dim. The more it is covered... Just like in Western countries, in the northern countries, it is very much covered. Practically, there is no sunshine. In London I saw the sunshine is very rare. At ten o'clock it is early in the morning, and at half past three again evening, so long I was there. So this covering of the sunshine is temporary. Actually, sunshine cannot be covered. The whole sunshine cannot be covered. That is not possible.
Arrival Addresses and Talks
Actually you, if you study minutely, what is the benefit by economic development? Prahlāda Mahārāja said that, what is that verse? Only waste of time. Prayateta? Na prayateta, na tasya etad prayateta tat-prayāso kartavyo yata āyur-vyayaḥ param. This modern civilization, it is not modern, but in modern civilization it has become very prominent, that to improve the economic condition. Economic condition means we improve the standard of sense gratification. This is called going on economic condition. But we require a little sense gratification. Dharma artha kāma mokṣa (SB 4.8.41, Cc. Ādi 1.90). This is the gradual process of evolution. Real purpose is mokṣa, how to become free from this entanglement of repetition of birth, death, old age and disease. This is the real aim of life. But because we are coming from the lowest grade of living condition, jalajā nava-lakṣāṇi sthāvarā lakṣa-viṁśati-like that, 8,400,000 different species of life—our tendency is only for sense gratification.
Initiation Lectures
These four things are paraphernalia of your civilization. In the western... Not only western, eastern, everywhere. The Kali-yuga is spreading very rapidly, and wherever the Kali-yuga is very prominent, these four items are very prominent: unrestricted sex life, gambling, and meat-eating, and intoxication. When people become practiced to all this nonsense, they think, "Oh, what is wrong there?" But it is the most abominable part of human civilization. Anyone who are indulging in these four things, they cannot imagine where is he and how he will be free from this conditional life. So this is the purificatory process. So as you are being initiated, initiation means beginning of your purificatory process. So if we are serious about purification, then we must follow these four principles, if you want to be cured.
Of course, this chanting of hari-nāma will make you purified. That's nice.
What are the misgivings? We ask our students to refrain from that illicit sex life, nonvegetarian diet, and intoxication, and to take part in gambling. These four things. So ordinarily these four things are very prominent in the society, especially in the Western countries. But these students who take initiation and follows chanting, they very easily give up these four things without any difficulty. That is called anartha nivṛtti. That is the fourth stage. The fifth stage is then he becomes fixed up: "Yes." Just like one student, Mr. Anderson, I've not seen him, but simply by associating with our other devotees, he has written that "I wish to devote my whole being for this Kṛṣṇa consciousness." This is called niṣṭhā, fixed up. Tato niṣṭhā tato ruci. Ruci means they get a taste. Why these boys are going out? This chanting, they have got a taste. They have developed a taste. Otherwise for nothing they are not wasting time. They are educated, they are grown up. So taste. Fixed up, then taste, tathāsaktis. When the taste is, then attachment. He cannot give it up. And I receive so many letters. Some students, they could not cope with their Godbrothers, they go away, but they'll write that "I cannot go. I cannot go." He's captured. You see?
And karma-saṁjña: and in that energy, one has to enjoy his, the fruit of his own labor. This is the material world. This material world is also energy of Kṛṣṇa, or God, but here ignorance prevails. Ignorance is prominent. Avidyā, ignorance. Therefore one has to work. Practically one hasn't got to work, but because he is, one is in avidyā, ignorance, therefore he has to work. Avidyā-karma-saṁjñānyā tṛtīyā śaktir iṣyate.
So actually, there is one energy, spiritual energy. Kṛṣṇa, or God, is the whole spirit, and the energies emanating from Him, that is also spiritual. Śaktiḥ śaktimator abhinnaḥ. In the Vedic language we understand that the śaktimān, or the energetic, Kṛṣṇa, and the energy, they are nondifferent. So this material energy is also nondifferent from Kṛṣṇa. In other words of Vedic language it is said, sarvaṁ khalv idaṁ brahma: "Everything is Brahman." In the Bhagavad-gītā also, Lord Kṛṣṇa says that māyā tatam idaṁ sarvam. Sarvam means all; idam, this manifestation, this cosmic manifestation, whatever you are experiencing... Kṛṣṇa says that "I am expanded as this cosmic manifestation." Māyā tatam idaṁ sarvam avyakta-mūrtinā.
So not only the devotees who are being initiated today, I request all of you, please come here daily. See the Deity. Even if you cannot offer anything. I think everyone can offer, I think, a flower can be offered, a little fruit can be offered. Even if you do not offer, just come here, see the Deity and take the impression within your mind and offer obeisances. Just see. And chant Hare Kṛṣṇa. Everyone, there is no restriction. So that is our request. We have opened this branch in your city. It is a very prominent place. You can come and take the advantage.
Wedding Ceremonies
"The Absolute Truth is that from whom everything emanates." Very simple definition. That means the fountainhead of everything, the source of everything. Therefore here in this material world we see that the attraction for man and woman, woman's attraction for man, man's attraction for woman, is so prominent. Not only in human society, but in other than: animal society, cat society, dog society, bird society, there is always the attraction, man and woman, or male and female. Why? The answer is in the Vedānta-sūtra: janmādy asya yataḥ (SB 1.1.1). Because it is there in the Absolute Truth. Without being present in the Absolute Truth, how it can be manifested in the relative truth?
Simply you do not know. He is situated. He is everywhere. Within the atom also, He is present. Andantarastham paramanu cayantarastham. God is present within this world, within everything, everywhere, even within the atom. Now, at the present moment, the atomic theory is very prominent, but in the Vedic literature it is said that God is existing even within the atom. Aṇḍāntara-stha-paramāṇu. Paramāṇu means atom. Therefore īśvaraḥ sarva-bhūtānāṁ hṛd-deśe 'rjuna tiṣṭhati (BG 18.61). Ṅśvara, the Supreme Lord, is sitting within your heart. I am also sitting. This is dress. This body is dress, but my place is within the heart. The medical science also says all the energy is coming from the heart. The heart stops to work, that means man is dead. So the soul and the Supersoul both are sitting in the heart. We get this information from Vedic literature. So as soon as we begin hearing about the Supersoul or the Supreme Lord, then the contamination which are accumulated on the covering of our heart for so many years of our past work, by simply hearing, by electrifying or by lighting, it becomes clear. Śṛṇvatāṁ sva-kathāḥ kṛṣṇaḥ puṇya-śravaṇa-kīrtanaḥ (SB 1.2.17).
General Lectures
Because you should always remember that there are three modes of material nature—ignorance, passion, and goodness. Even you are on the platform of goodness, the other two qualities may be studied. Because it is the kingdom of māyā, or material nature, these things are very prominent. Sometimes goodness is prominent, sometimes ignorance is prominent, sometimes passion is prominent. In this way sometimes they are mixed up.
So three into three equal to nine. Nine into nine equal to eighty-one. Therefore you will find manifestation of eighty-one kinds of qualitative living entities. And they are divided into 8,400,000 species of life. These are very scientific studies. Try to understand it. And this human form of life is the chance to get out of this entanglement. These eighty-one, again if you multiply eighty-one by eighty-one, then it becomes huge quantity. So in this way these qualities are mixed up, colors. Just like three colors, blue, red and yellow. You mix and you produce multi-colors.
They should try. If they are very much inquisitive to make research work, now let them research away how the Vedic knowledge says there 8,400,000's of species of life. Let the botanists, let the anthropologists, or so many—there are department of knowledge—let them research out. Darwin's theory, evolution of the organic matter, they are very much prominent in the educational institutions. But there is Padma Purāṇa and other authoritative Vedic scriptures. They give the magnitude of the living entity. They have different forms of body. How they are evolving one after another—everything is there. It is not a new thing. But people are giving stress only to the Darwin's theory. But in the Vedic literature we have got immense information of this living condition in this material world.
You may be very good logician, you can argue very nice, but another logician may come and defeat you. That is going on. New philosopher, new logician, new thinker means he defeats his previous other scripture in some details. Of course, on nkers, logicians, and philosophers, and becomes prominent. That is the materialistic way of gaining name, fame and popularity. But our process is different. Tarko 'pratiṣṭhaḥ. We accept that simply by arguments and logic, it is not possible to approach the Absolute Truth. Absolute Truth is not subjected to our deficient logic or argument.
So tarko 'pratiṣṭhaḥ śrutayo vibhinnā. If somebody says, "Well, argument and logic is not the way to approach the Absolute Truth. Then let us take scriptures, the authority of the scriptures," that is also very nice. In every human society there is some sort of scripture. Just like in your country there is Bible or any other scripture.
That's all. Happiness means sense gratification because body means senses. So indriyāṇi parāṇy āhur indriyebhyaḥ paraṁ manaḥ (BG 3.42). Lord Kṛṣṇa says that in the material concept of life, or bodily concept of life, our senses are very prominent. That is going on at the present moment. Not at the present moment; since the creation of this material world. That is the disease, that "I am this body." Śrīmad-Bhāgavata says that yasyātma-buddhiḥ kuṇape tri-dhātuke sva-dhīḥ kalatrādiṣu bhauma ijya-dhiḥ (SB 10.84.13), that "Anyone who has the concept of this bodily understanding, that 'I am this body...' " Ātma-buddhiḥ kuṇape tri-dhātu. Ātma-buddhiḥ means concept of self in this bag of skin and bone. This is a bag. This body is a bag of skin, bone, blood, urine, stool, and so many nice things. You see? But we are thinking that "I am this bag of bone and skin and stool and urine. That is our beauty. That is our everything."
That is the basic principle of hankering. Puṁsāṁ mitho. Puṁsāṁ striyo mithunī-bhāvam etam. This is Sanskrit language. Mithunī-bhāvam means sex life. Either in human society or animal society or bird society or insects'—everywhere you will find that sex life is very prominent. That is materialistic way of life, indriyāṇi, senses. So the everyone... A boy is hankering after a girl, a girl in hankering after a boy, or a man is hankering after woman, woman is hankering... This is going on. This is not unnatural. This is the natural life. And tayor mitho, the hankering is there. But as soon as they meet or unite, it becomes a hard knot, tayor mitho hṛdaya-granthim āhuḥ (SB 5.5.8), a hard knot in the heart, that "I am matter. I am this matter. This world belongs to me. This country belongs to me. This body belongs to me." That means hard knot. Instead of transcending from the concept of body life, it becomes still more hard knot.
Prabhupāda: What is that similar time?
Student (2): Well, in Russia, in the nineteenth century, there were people who were religious, who traveled the countryside chanting the word "Jesus Christ." It was quite prominent then. Tolstoy tells us about it. And I would assume that a similar kind of teaching was given. The only problem I see with that is that I don't think it would solve the very basic human problems.
Prabhupāda: So do you think that Russia has solved their questions? That their problems, all problems are solved?
Student (2): I would say that in 1917 the state of the Russian peasants was fundamentally better by the revolution.
Especially in Los Angeles, and New York we have got the biggest temple. And in England also, London, we have got our temple, 7 Bury Place. When your Highnesses may visit London or New York or Los Angeles—most probably you visit London occasionally—I invite you to our temple at 7 Bury Place near the British Museum. It is very prominent place. And this girl in front of you, Śrīmatī Yamunā devī, she and her husband Gurudāsa is in charge of the temple. But because I have come to India, they are assisting me. She has seen the Prime Minister also, Indira Gandhi. She is very much impressed with the saṅkīrtana movement. So this Kṛṣṇa consciousness and patronization by the royal family is very old relationship. So I came especially in Indore to see your holinesses..., er, highnesses, that if you give us some shelter we can immediately open a branch of Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement. I have brought with me forty American, European, Canadian students, and they will be exemplary teachers.
So I am very glad that you are following the footprints of the Gosvāmīs, six Gosvāmīs. Vande Rūpa-sanātanau raghu-yugau śrī-jīva-gopālakau. Rūpa Gosvāmī, Sanātana Gosvāmī, vande rūpa-sanātanau raghu-yugau, and two Raghunātha Gosvāmī—one Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī and one Raghunātha Bhaṭṭa Gosvāmī. Vande rūpa-sanātanau raghu-yugau, four. Śrī-jīva-gopālakau: and Sri Jīva Gosvāmī and Gopāla Bhaṭṭa Gosvāmī. They were direct disciple of Lord Caitanya. There are thousands of disciples of Lord Caitanya, but they are prominent, who gave very prominent service to the Lord by executing the mission of Lord Caitanya. By the order of Lord Caitanya they went to Vṛndāvana, and the present city of Vṛndāvana is the contribution of the Gosvāmīs. First of all Sanātana Gosvāmī went there, then Rūpa Gosvāmī. In this way the city was excavated. It was formerly, five hundred years ago, there was no trace where and how Kṛṣṇa līlā was performed in that tract of land. But when Caitanya Mahāprabhu went there, He first of all discovered Rādhā Kuṇḍa, the lake in which Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī used to take bath and Kṛṣṇa used to come. There is Śyāma Kuṇḍa also. The Śyāma Kuṇḍa, Rādhā Kuṇḍa, two lakes are still existing. Hundreds, thousands of people, devotees, go to see that lake every day.
So the six Gosvāmīs were, some of them were very prominent government officers. Just like Rūpa Gosvāmī and Sanātana Gosvāmī, they were two important ministers in the (indistinct) Muhammadan government, Nawab Hussein Shah, his government. They resigned their ministerial post and joined Sri Caitanya Mahāprabhu for propagating His mission of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. So rūpa-sanātanau, they are very responsible government officers, and raghu-yugau, two Raghunātha: one Raghunātha Bhaṭṭa and one Raghunātha dasa. Raghunātha dasa was the only son of his father and uncle, very big landholder, Bengal. Their father's income was twelve hundred thousands of rupees in those days. Now you can increase at least fifty times and then calculate what was the income of Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī. But he left everything to join Caitanya Mahāprabhu's movement. Gopāla Bhaṭṭa Gosvāmī also came from a very learned brāhmaṇa family. Similarly, Jīva Gosvāmī was the greatest scholar till now. Nobody can compete with Jīva Gosvāmī's scholarship in Sanskrit and philosophy. That is the verdict of all learned scholars. The world's best philosopher and Sanskrit scholar was Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī.
And whenever there is discrepancies in religious procedure, irreligious activities increases. That is natural. Whenever there is lenient government, the rogues and thieves will increase. It is natural. And if the government is very strict, then rogues and thieves cannot become very prominent. So when Kṛṣṇa comes, He has got two business: paritrāṇāya sādhūnāṁ vināśāya ca duṣkṛtām (BG 4.8)—for giving protection to the devotees, to the faithful, and for killing the demons. So Kṛṣṇa, when He was present, He exhibited these two things. Perhaps you have seen our picture of Nārāyaṇa, or Viṣṇu. Viṣṇu has got four hands. In two hands He has got lotus flower and conchshell, and in the other two hands He has got a club and a disc. The disc and club is meant for vināśāya ca duṣkṛtām, for killing the demons and the miscreants. And the conchshell and the lotus flower is meant for giving benediction and blessings to the devotees.
According to Vedic religion, Vedic conception, every planet contains living entities. That is also very natural to conclude because within this material world, everything is made of five elements, gross: earth, water, fire, air, and sky. These are gross elements. And the subtle elements are mind, intelligence, and ego. So in some of the planets earth is prominent, some of the planets water is prominent, some of the planets the fire is prominent. In this way these five elements, gross elements... Every planet in the material world is made of these five gross elements. So just like here also we can experience that some of the living entities, just like the fishes, they are living in the water very peacefully. But if you are put into the water, you will not be comfortable. Perhaps you will die. Similarly, if the fishes are taken—that also we experienced—from the water, they will die on the land. Here we can see that some of the living entities, they can live comfortably within water.
In so many ways He's all-attractive. So God's name... The Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is propagating God's name, God's glory, God's activities, God's beauty, God's love. Everything. As we have got many things within this material world, all of them, they are in Kṛṣṇa. Whatever you have got.
Just like here, the most prominent feature in this material world is sex attraction. So that is there in Kṛṣṇa. We are worshiping Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa, attraction. But that attraction and this attraction is not the same. That is real and here it is unreal. We are also dealing with everything which are present in the spiritual world, but it is only reflection. It has no real value. Just like in the tailor's shop, sometimes there are so many beautiful dolls, a beautiful girl is standing. But nobody cares to see it. Because everyone knows that "This is false. However beautiful it may be, it is false." But a living woman, if she is beautiful, so many people see her. Because this is real. This is an example. Here the so-called living is also dead, because the body is matter.
Prabhupāda: Eh?
Devotee (2): You like those gongs.
Prabhupāda: Yes, yes. Very nice.
Devotee (1): This type of temple and culture is prominent in that island of Bali. Many, many people. Here there are just a few, in Jakarta.
Prabhupāda: So we have to introduce this here. And if they give place, immediately take it.
Devotee (1): We have it. We'll take. It's very close to the man's house who built this temple, the man who was speaking in Indonesian. He gave us the house. Over a month ago they offered it to us.
Prabhupāda: So then take it.
At that time, he is no more satisfied with the comforts of the material body. In the Western country, that feeling is now very prominent because there are so many confused, frustrated young men who are known as hippies. They are not satisfied with the ways of life as their fathers and grandfathers are living. They are protesting rather. That means there is spiritual starvation. Therefore we see also as soon as some swami or yogi comes from India, they flock together. They go there to receive some message, because the hankering is already there. Athāto brahma jijñāsā. Now you should take advantage of this hankering and the movement (of) Kṛṣṇa consciousness. That is for your profit. You want something spiritual, and here is the spiritual movement, Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Simply you have to study this movement very carefully and with intelligence. Then you'll understand that this is the thing we are hankering after. This is the position.
Adānta-go. Adānta. Dānta means control. Adānta, not controlled. Adānta-gobhiḥ. So what is that? Viśatāṁ tamisram: "They are going towards hell," because this sense gratification process, unrestricted sense gratification process, he is creating a situation of different mentality and that mentality will be prominent at the time of death, and according to that situation he'll get his next birth.
Yaṁ yaṁ vāpi smaran bhāvaṁ tyajaty ante kalevaram (BG 8.6). Therefore we have to become very, very careful. This life I maybe born in big nation, America, or English nation or some other nation or family, but if I create a mentality of cats and dogs or if I do not take advantage of this human form of life—I remain dull as the trees or the animals—then next life we have to accept a similar body. This is the law of nature. You can say or I can say that "I do not believe in the next life," but that is not the fact.
Kṛṣṇa wants welfare of the whole universe. Yadā yadā hi dharmasya glānir bhavati (BG 4.7). He comes personally. So we are trying to establish this brahminical culture, go-brāhmaṇa-hitāya ca. You'll be very much pleased that in a country where go-hatyā is so prominent, now we have established so many farms in Europe and America. We shall show the pictures how we are giving protection to the cows and how we are trying to revive this brahminical culture all over the world. And they are accepting. It is not that they are rejecting. You can see the presence of so many European and American devotees here. And they are very sincere. They are not superficial. They are very sincere. Their countrymen, the priests, the Christian priests, the Jewish priests, priests, they become surprised that "These young boys, they never cared for any religion or they never cared to come to the church or the synagogue. How they have become so much interested in understanding God as to become a devotee?"
Departure Talks
Rāmeśvara: Nityānanda only. But can He be shown also with His hand upraised in the air?
Prabhupāda: No. Why?
Rāmeśvara: Well, they want to make Lord Caitanya very prominent, because this will be on the cover of the book.
Prabhupāda: You can make it, visible, invisible. Visible, invisible.
Rāmeśvara: You instructed that they should not paint Lord Caitanya transparent even though He's invisible. Just like in the Gītā, when Arjuna saw the universal form, it was painted very solid all over.
Prabhupāda: Arjuna saw solid; others did not.
Philosophy Discussions
Prabhupāda: No. Somebody, he thinks, "By drinking I get strength." There are many men in Bowery Street in your country. So, just like, why these drunkards? I'll give you a practical example. When long ago when Mahatma Gandhi came in Calcutta, so some of the Gauḍīya Math men went to invite him, "Mahatma Gandhi, please come to our temple." At that time charka was very prominent.
Śyāmasundara: What is that?
Prabhupāda: Charka, the, what is called? Spinning wheel.
Śyāmasundara: Spinning wheel.
Prabhupāda: Spinning wheel, yes. Gandhi was himself devoting, just like we chant Hare Kṛṣṇa, he thought that you spin. So he first of all inquired whether in your temple you spin this charka. They replied, "No, sir. We worship Kṛṣṇa, God, and chant Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra. This is our regular routine work." Gandhi replied, "Oh, then I am not going to your temple. My charka is my God." He said that. And actually, for him, charka was God in this sense: by introducing charka the whole Manchester closed. You see? And the British Empire half broken, simply by killing this Manchester industry. So many mills they closed. But later on the, (laughs) Manchester came to Ahmedabad.
Śyāmasundara: ...philosopher is called Kierkegaard. He was a Danish philosopher, last century. He is the father of what is called existentialism, which is a very prominent modern philosophy, probably the most prominent modern philosophy. Last time we were discussing the phenomenologists, who are interested in getting at the "whatness," or the essence of a thing. These existentialists, they are more interested in the "thatness," or the existence of a thing. So this Kierkegaard describes three steps of the life experience. The first step he calls the aesthetic step or stage of life. This aesthetic stage of life is characterized by two types of persons: that one engaged in sense gratification completely, unrestricted sense pleasure; and the mental speculator or philosopher. He said that in both cases that both persons are uncommitted to any specific goals and that they become bored with their activities, unrestricted sense gratification and philosophical speculation; that they are devoid of commitment—they are not committing themselves to anything, simply enjoying and speculating—and that this type of life, this aesthetic type of life, is...
Prabhupāda: So how they can be philosopher if they have no ultimate goal?
Śyāmasundara: He says they are not really philosophers; they are mental speculators.
Prabhupāda: So mental speculator anyone can become, without any aim. What is this? Ship without a rudder, a man without aim.
Prabhupāda: There are two sides. There are two kinds of people are going. The same man, he is giving charity for feeding poor man or giving relief to the distressed man, but at the same time he's encouraging animal-killing. So what is the ethics? What is the ethical law in these two contradictory activities? One side... Just like our Vivekananda. He is advocating daridra-nārāyaṇa sevā, "Feed the poor," but feed the poor with mother Kālī's prasāda, where poor goats are killed. Just like, another, one side feeding the poor, another side killing the poor goat. So what is the ethic? What is the ethical law in this connection? Just like people open hospitals, and the doctor prescribes, "Give this man," what it is called," (Hindi), ox blood, or chicken juice." So what is this ethic? And they're supporting that "Here is chicken juice." Just because animal has no soul, so they can be killed. This is another theory. So why the animal has no soul? So imperfect knowledge. So on the basis of imperfect knowledge this ethic or this humanitarian, what is the value? We do not give any value to all this understanding. Where is the ethics? If you protect the human life by giving him something by killing—there are so many medicines, but the killing is very prominent—then next point should be that if you say that the human life is important, so nonimportant animal-killing can be supported to save the important. Then the question will be, "Why it is important? Why consider the human life is important and the animal life is not important?" These are the questions of ethical law. Where are these discussions on the ethical laws?
Prabhupāda: You are so foolish that you cannot avoid even accident. You are subjected to so many accidents. So what you will do by your philosophy? If accident is so prominent, (laughter) so how you will make adjustment with your philosophy? Stop talking philosophy, accept accidents and suffer, that's all.
Hayagrīva: Concerning sex, Freud explored the realm of infantile sexuality and found a definite sexual nature in the earlier stages of childhood. He concluded that these sexual activities in childhood were normal phenomena, and finally concluded with his famous dictum, "In a normal sex life, no neurosis is possible."
Prabhupāda: That is also his foolishness, because a child can be trained up to become a brahmacārī so that he will have no inclination for sex. It depends on the child's training. The unscrupulous father and mother, they enjoy sex life before the child, and they imitate. I have seen it. I have seen it in Agra. There are two small children. In life, what do they know? The female child laid down, and the man child, just like they have seen father and mother-sex. He does not know anything, but he is imitating.
Prabhupāda: That is five elements. Just like there are differences between tree and your body, my body, but this body is made of the five elements: earth, water, air, fire. The tree is also made of the same elements, earth, water, air, fire... The aquatic body, fish's body, is also made of the same ingredients. Only difference is that one ingredient is prominent, other ingredients... Therefore you can take up this fact that there are living entities in the sun. The sun, because it appears fiery, you cannot exist. Your body cannot exist in the fire. But it does not mean there cannot be somebody whose body itself is fire. How can you deny it? And body being fiery, he can stay in the fiery planet of the same temperature.
Śyāmasundara: So the third and fourth categories he sees that relates to everything are relations and order. Everything relates to everything else and there is an order in everything. Everything is part of an order, a grand order.
Purports to Songs
So he says that "These two Lords," nitāi gauracandra, "Lord Nityānanda and Lord Gaurāṅga, or Lord Caitanya, They are very merciful incarnations." Saba avatāra-sāra śiromaṇi. "They are essence of all incarnations." The incarnation is stated in the Bhagavad-gītā that whenever there is discrepancies in the prosecution of religiosities and there is prominence of impious activities, at that time the Lord incarnates, or He descends on this material world, for protecting the pious and annihilating the impious. That is the mission of incarnation. Every incarnation you'll find two things. Lord Kṛṣṇa, He's so beautiful, so kind, but He is very dangerous to the demons. The demons were seeing Him as thunderbolt and the gopīs were seeing Him as the most beautiful cupid. So in the Bhagavad-gītā also it is stated, ye yathā māṁ prapadyante (BG 4.11). The God is realized in proportion to one's freedom from the demoniac propensities.
So in this age... Of course, the last incarnation, Kalki, will simply kill. Long, long after, He will come. But here Lord Caitanya, His mission is no killing, simply favoring. That is the specific characteristic of Lord Caitanya. Because in this age, of course, there is very much prominence of irreligiosity. But if Lord Caitanya wanted to kill them, then there was no question of their salvation. They would be... Of course, anyone who is killed by incarnation he also gets salvation. But not to the spiritual planets, but they merge into the Brahman effulgence as the impersonalists desire. In other words, the impersonalist's goal of salvation is as good as the goal of salvation of the enemies of God. That is not a very difficult job. So Lord Caitanya is very merciful because He is embracing everyone by bestowing love of Kṛṣṇa. Rūpa Gosvāmī has described Lord Caitanya as the most munificent of all the incarnations because He is giving Kṛṣṇa to everyone, without any qualification.
| Page Title: | Prominent (CC and Other Books) |
| Compiler: | Visnu Murti, RupaManjari |
| Created: | 24 of Aug, 2012 |
| Totals by Section: | BG=0, SB=0, CC=0, OB=0, Lec=42, Con=0, Let=0 |
| No. of Quotes: | 42 |