Religious (Lectures, Other)

Expressions researched:
"religious" |"religiously" |"religiousness"

Notes from the compiler: VedaBase query: religious* not "religious system*" not "religious principle*" not "religious life"

Nectar of Devotion Lectures

The Nectar of Devotion -- Vrndavana, October 16, 1972:

My Guru Mahārāja, Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Gosvāmī Mahārāja, he used to advise us to read Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu. Everyone, after initiation. At least, he advised me. So this Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu is very important as study book for the Vaiṣṇavas. It is the science of devotional service. And people are, in Western countries, taking interest. In the Temple University, it has become a textbook in the religious class. There are sixty students who are regularly studying the Bhakti, Nectar of Devotion published by us. And gradually it is being introduced in other colleges and schools.

The Nectar of Devotion -- Bombay, December 26, 1972:

Yes, I shall tell lie." That is bhakti. If I consider, "Oh, I never spoken lies in my life. How can I speak lie?" that is not bhakti. Because it is prātikūla, against the desire of Kṛṣṇa. Common people cannot understand this. They'll be shuddered. (aside:) Why one candle is not burning? Get it. You should... They think, "Oh, oh, Kṛṣṇa is teaching Yudhiṣṭhira, such a nice man, religious person, and He's teaching him to speak lie." Avajānanti māṁ mūḍhā mānuṣīṁ tanum āśritam (BG 9.11). If sometimes one thinks like that, he becomes mūḍha. When Karṇa was repairing the wheel of his chariot, Kṛṣṇa asked Arjuna, "Kill him immediately. Kill him immediately." And Karṇa protested: "Arjuna, what you are doing? I am not in fighting now." So Kṛṣṇa said, "No, this is the time of... Otherwise, you cannot be able to kill him. This is the time. This is the opportunity. You kill him." Because Karṇa was greater hero than Arjuna. Dronācārya, Bhīṣma... That is explained by Parīkṣit Mahārāja, that "In the battlefield of Kuru, just like a ocean, and there were big, big crocodiles, animals, like Dronācārya, Bhīṣma, Karṇa. But by the grace of Kṛṣṇa, my grandfather was able to kill them." Arjuna was not so strong that he could kill Bhīṣma or Dronācārya, Karṇa. They were greater heroes. So these things are there.

The Nectar of Devotion -- Bombay, December 26, 1972:

Socially, it is sinful. And Kṛṣṇa instructed them, "What you have done? You go back immediately." And they began to cry. That, this description is there. So now, from the social point of view, this is sin. This is sin when the gopīs went to Kṛṣṇa. Similarly, Prahlāda Mahārāja was standing without any protest and his father is being killed. Now can any sane man see that his father is being killed, and he's standing silently, without any protest? And Bali Mahārāja, he rejected his spiritual master. When Śukrācārya said that "Don't promise. He's Viṣṇu. He'll take everything of your. Don't promise anything," the Bali Mahārāja said, "He is Viṣṇu? And you are asking me not to promise to Him? Oh, I don't want such spiritual master. I reject him." To reject spiritual master is a great sin. So these are, from social point of view, from religious point of view, these are irreligious, sinful activities, to reject one's spiritual master; to see one's father being killed in one's presence; one woman is going to another boy, dead of night. Superficially they are sinful activities. But Caitanya Mahāprabhu recommends, ramyā kācid upāsanā vrajavadhū-vargeṇa yā kalpitā. There is no upāsanā, method of worship, as it was conceived by the gopīs. First class.

The Nectar of Devotion -- Bombay, December 26, 1972:

So the point is that superficially it may appear sometimes against the social and religious rules and regulations, but if it is done for Kṛṣṇa, ānukūlyena... Bhakti means ānukūlyena kṛṣṇānu-śīlanam (CC Madhya 19.167). Kṛṣṇa should be satisfied. That is... It doesn't matter. Kṛṣṇa should be satisfied. Just like Kṛṣṇa pretended that He was sick, and many physicians came. He said, "No physician cured Me. If some devotee gives Me the dust of his feet on My head, then I can be cured." So all devotees were asked, and nobody... "Oh! How can I give? My dust on the head of Kṛṣṇa? How it is possible?" Nobody prepared. Then Kṛṣṇa asked that "Go to Vṛndāvana. Just ask the gopīs if they can give. They are My best friends. If they are prepared? Oh, I am very much suffering from headache." So nobody was prepared to go... As soon as gopīs were approached: "Oh, Kṛṣṇa is sick. They want, oh, dust of...?" Immediately: "Please take. Please take."

The Nectar of Devotion -- Vrndavana, October 17, 1972:

Kṛṣṇa says, does not say that "The Indians are My son, or the Hindus are My son." No, Kṛṣṇa does not say. So Kṛṣṇa cannot be a sectarian God. God is one. God is for Hindus. God is for Muslims, God is for any other religious sect. And the definition of religion is that the law given by God. That's all. Dharmaṁ tu sākṣād bhagavat-praṇītam (SB 6.3.19). Just like law means the code or the order given by the state. You cannot manufacture law at home. When the state gives something to the citizens, that "You must follow this," that is law. It may be very insignificant thing, but it is law. Just like when we go on the street, the law is, in, in this country, the law is "Keep to the left." In other countries the law is "Keep to the right." Yes. Germa... In America it is "Keep to the right."

Guest (Indian man): Not so in China and Russia, I believe.

The Nectar of Devotion -- Bombay, January 2, 1973:

So dharma-artha-kāma-mokṣa (SB 4.8.41, Cc. Ādi 1.90). People are after these four things. Dharma. Dharma. Generally, they try to become religious for some material gain, artha. Material gain. And why artha is required? Because kāma, to fulfill our desires, for lusty desires. We require money. Dharma-artha-kāma. And when we are frustrated in enjoying this material world, then we try to become mokṣa, merge into the existence of Brahman. Brahmā satyaṁ jagan mithyā, when you are frustrated. So that kind of mokṣa... Of course, it is nice. But bhakti is beyond mokṣa. Mokṣa means brahma-bhūtaḥ, to understand that "I am Brahman." That is mokṣa. That is mukti. "I'm not this matter. I'm not this body." That is called mokṣa.

The Nectar of Devotion -- Vrndavana, October 24, 1972:

Compass. Yes. That compass, you put the pointed part on the center, you can make a circle. So if I do not take the central point, I make my own point, then my circle will overlap your circle, there will be a clash. But if the center is the same, I can draw one circle, you can draw one, another circle. None of these circles will overlap. So if taking Kṛṣṇa as the center... Nirbandhe kṛṣṇa-sambandhe. If we relate our activities, social activities, philanthropic activities, political activities, any a..., religious activities, any activity. If you make center Kṛṣṇa, then my circle, your circle, another circle will not overlap. But it will give different lights. Kṛṣṇa being center. That point we were discussing in this morning from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Ataḥ pumbhir dvija-śreṣṭhā varṇāśrama-vibhāgaśaḥ. Everyone is trying to make his own circle. Political, social, humanitarian, philosophical, scientific. That's all right. But Bhāgavata says that make your circle perfect from the point of Kṛṣṇa. Don't miss the point. Svanu, svanuṣṭhitasya dharmasya saṁsiddhir hari-toṣaṇam (SB 1.2.13). Whatever you do, if you try to please Kṛṣṇa, then your circle is perfect. Kṛṣṇa must be center. Rūpa Gosvāmī says, nirbandhe kṛṣṇa-sambandhe. Kṛṣṇa-sambandhe. You can deal in politics. Then politics will be perfect. Kṛṣṇa-sambandhe, you can make circle of scientific knowledge. Then it will be perfect. Making center Kṛṣṇa, either politics, sociology, philosophy, religion, whatever it may be. It will be perfect.

The Nectar of Devotion -- Bombay, January 7, 1973:

This is India's mission. India's mission is that janma sārthaka kari': "Just make your life successful, and spread this knowledge all over the world." This is India's mission. India's mission is not to imitate technology and work like ass day and night. This is not India's business. Indians are not meant for this purpose. Those who have taken birth in Bhāratavarṣa, they are not ordinary human beings. Naturally, they are Kṛṣṇa conscious. Unnaturally they are being forced to be otherwise. Therefore it is misadjustment. It is not taking place. If you, even in this age, in this city, big city, oh, as soon as there is some religious meeting, thousands and lakhs of people gather. Why? They are meant for this purpose. Artificially, they are being withdrawn. "Don't think of Kṛṣṇa. Don't think of religion." Most artificial. Therefore there is fight. There is always fight. Now Andhra is fighting Teliṅga(?). Teliṅga is fighting this way. No peace. India, such a peaceful land. Here, we are killing cows. They are killing animals. You are fighting. You are doing so many sinful activities artificially. This is not our business. Our business is different. Caitanya Mahāprabhu says, bhārata-bhūmite manuṣya-janma haila yāra, janma sārthaka kari (CC Adi 9.41)'. Here you have got the advantages to fulfill the mission of life. Janma-sārthaka kari'. Here is Bhagavad-gītā. Here is Vedas. Here is Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Here is Kṛṣṇa. Here is Lord Rāmacandra. Here is Vyāsadeva.

The Nectar of Devotion -- Vrndavana, October 27, 1972:

Anywhere there are intelligent class of men, God conscious men, they are called brāhmaṇas. Anywhere who are prepared for the right cause, administrator, kṣatriyas. Anywhere who are interested in business, trade, agriculture, they are called vaiśyas. And anywhere who are simply satisfied by serving others, he's called śūdra. So our principle is not to proselytize from Christian to Hindu or Muhammadan to Hindu. We are teaching simply how to revive his own constitutional position to become servant of Kṛṣṇa. This is Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement. So it is applicable anywhere and everywhere. It is not that it is monopoly of India or for the Hindus. No. And actually it is being accepted, practically. In all countries. Even from all religious sect. In our Society there are boys and girls, they are coming from Christian group, Jews group, Muhammadan group, but when they come here, all of them become the servant of Kṛṣṇa. That is Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement.

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

So, for a devotee, the mukti is bothersome. Therefore Prabodhānanda Sarasvatī Prabhupāda says that kaivalyaṁ narakāyate. Mukti means kaivalya. Simply ahaṁ brahmāsmi, that's all. Kaivalya. This perception, Brahman perception, brāhmaṇanda. But for a devotee, he says kaivalyaṁ narakāyate tri-daśa-pūr ākāśa-puṣpāyate (Caitanya-candrāmṛta 5). So for devotee, these things are not very much alluring, mukti, bhukti, siddhi. It is so sublime, Kṛṣṇa consciousness is so sublime, that other things very insignificant in the front of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Muktiḥ mukulitāñjali sevate 'smān dharmārtha-kāma-mokṣa samaya-pratīkṣāḥ. People are after dharma-artha-kāma-mokṣa (SB 4.8.41, Cc. Ādi 1.90), but this bhakti is above these four kinds of principles. Dharma. Actually, human life begins when he is religious, dharma. And artha, when he is economically developed, and when he can satisfy the senses very nicely. And then becomes mukta, liberated. But for a devotee, these four things are not very important. Bhukti, mukti, siddhi. Now siddhi means mukti. Siddhi means yogic siddhi.

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

So in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam also, Vyāsadeva says, in the beginning, dharmaḥ projjhita kaitavo 'tra (SB 1.1.2). This dharma-artha-kāma-mokṣa, these are kaitava. Kaitava means phala visandi (?). I am approaching, I am trying to become a religious person, but my inner desire is how to make my economic position developed. This is my inner position, therefore it is called kaitava, cheating. So phala visandi. As Śrīdhara Swami says, that in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, phala visandi paryantaṁ nirasta. Phala is mukti. Mukti is also phala visandi. So up to mukti, then above mukti, there is bhakti. It is a mistaken idea that one has to attain mukti by bhakti. Sometimes they say that, these pañcopāsanā Māyāvādī, they say that "Ultimately, the absolute truth is nirākāra. There is no form. But because you cannot worship or meditate upon the nirākāra, so just imagine some form. Either of Viṣṇu, or Lord Śiva or Sūrya or Devī." Pañcopāsanā, it is called pañcopāsanā. Sādhakānāṁ hitārthāya brahmaṇo rūpa-kalpanaḥ. This is kalpana, he imagines. "Ultimately the Brahman has no form, but because you are accustomed to meditate on the forms, and it is very difficult for you to meditate upon the formless, so you imagine some form. This is imagine, not fact."

The Nectar of Devotion -- Vrndavana, October 28, 1972:

When we speak of Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa means all Viṣṇu forms, all Viṣṇu forms. Rāmādi-mūrtiṣu kalā-niyamena tiṣṭhan nānāvatāram akarod bhuvaneṣu kintu, kṛṣṇaḥ svayaṁ samabhavad paramaḥ pumān yo (Bs. 5.39). All incarnations, they are also Kṛṣṇa, expansion of Kṛṣṇa. But Kṛṣṇa, this Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa, He's the Supreme Person. Īśvaraḥ paramaḥ kṛṣṇaḥ (Bs. 5.1). So these things are explained in the Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu, as they are in the Bhagavad-gītā, Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. The summary, the juice of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Bhagavad-gītā, devotional service is given in the Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu. We have translated this book as Nectar of Devotion. And you'll be pleased to hear that in some of the universities in U.S.A. this book has been recommended as study book in the religious class. They're now reading regularly.

The Nectar of Devotion -- Bombay, January 11, 1973:

In this age, especially, we cannot execute any other process of religious method. This is... We can, but at the present moment, it is very difficult. The best things is, as it is recommended in the Bṛhan-nāradīya Purāṇa-many other purāṇas also, in Upaniṣad,

hare nāma harer nāma harer nāmaiva kevalaṁ

kalau nāsty eva nāsty eva nāsty eva gatir anyathā

(CC Adi 17.21)

And in the Bhagavad-gītā also you'll find,

satataṁ kīrtayanto māṁ

yatatantaś ca dṛḍha-vratāḥ

namasyantaś ca māṁ bhaktyā

tuṣyanti ca ramanti ca

(BG 9.14)

Satataṁ kīrtayanto mām. Anyone who is chanting, he's mahātmā. He's mahātmā. Chanting. So these, these boys, although they're very young, but because they're chanting, always, they're mahātmās. Mahātmānas tu māṁ pārtha daivīṁ prakṛtim āśritāḥ, bhajanty ananya-manaso (BG 9.13). Kṛṣṇa says, man-manā bhava mad-bhakto mad-yājī māṁ namaskuru (BG 18.65). So this is the process in this age. You can chant. There is no loss, but there is much gain. Why don't you try it?

The Nectar of Devotion -- Vrndavana, November 1, 1972:

Actually, we cannot accept various paths for self-realization. That is not impossible. Sometimes, because we give stress directly to accept this devotional service, people are not very happy that we do not give any importance to the process of jñāna and karma and yoga. We do not condemn, but they're very difficult. The yogic process... Especially in Western countries, they are very much fond of the word yoga. We are therefore publishing this book, Kṛṣṇa Consciousness Is the Topmost Yoga. Actually it is so. So the yoga system or the jñāna system or the karma-kāṇḍa system, we do not make them null and void, but it will be very much slow form of progress. It will take long, long time. Neither it is possible to execute yoga system or karma system very properly in this age. Therefore the best contribution to the people of this age is Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Immediately take to... Directly take to Kṛṣṇa and your life will be successful. Kṛṣṇa also says, sarva-dharmān parityajya (BG 18.66). The yoga system, karma system, jñāna system, they may be taken as different types of religious path, but Kṛṣṇa recommends—not only at the present moment, but eternally He recommends—five thousand years ago, He said, sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja (BG 18.66). "I'll give you protection," ahaṁ tvāṁ sarva-pāpebhyo.

The Nectar of Devotion -- Vrndavana, November 1, 1972:

This is Caitanya Mahāprabhu's blessings, paraṁ vijayate śrī-kṛṣṇa-saṅkīrtanam. So go anywhere and everywhere, chant Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra, and you'll become victorious. This is Caitanya Mahāprabhu's blessings. It is not our invention. And practically we are getting result. All over the world, our only means is to chant Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra. Recently we have become victorious, very recently in Melbourne. You know, our men were being arrested and prosecuted. But one, the chief clergyman, archbishop, he has recommended that "These people are very nice people, God conscious. Don't give them trouble." Yes. And the government has stopped harassing. Now we are free to move on the street and go anywhere. This recent news we have got from Melbourne. Madhudviṣa Mahārāja has sent this news. Similarly, we were harassed in London also, and other places. In USA also. San Francisco. I do not know whether we were harassed in New York, but more or less... And in Japan also, they are talking that "You become bona fide religious organization. Otherwise you cannot come on the street." So although there is harassment by the governing agents, still we are coming out successful. Paraṁ vijayate śrī-kṛṣṇa-saṅkīrtanam. All glories to the Śrī-Kṛṣṇa-Saṅkīrtana! Practically. So you stick to this principle, go on chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra anywhere it is possible, and you'll be victorious. That is the blessings of Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Believe in it and you'll be successful.

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

We have got so many books of knowledge, especially the Bhagavad-gītā, Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Vedānta-sūtra. Vedānta-sūtra means Śrīmad-Bhāgavata. Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is explicit narration of the Vedānta-sūtra. Bhāṣyaṁ brahma-sūtrānām **. So Indians especially should take advantage of this human form of life and spread this knowledge all over the world. Then the whole world will be peaceful and happy. That is our proposition. It is not a... I repeatedly say that this is not a religious cult, that we want to supersede another type of religion. That is not our business. Our aim is to make all people happy. Sarve sukhino bhavantu. This is the Vedic mission. Everyone should be happy. But they are trying to be happy, but they do not know how to, how to become... Na te viduḥ svārtha-gatiṁ hi viṣṇum (SB 7.5.31). They are misguided. They cannot be happy without becoming Vaiṣṇava. This is open declaration in the śāstra. They cannot become happy. Na te viduḥ svārtha-gatiṁ hi viṣṇuṁ durāśayā (SB 7.5.31). If they are trying to become happy otherwise, that is durāśayā, hopeless thing. It will never be fructified. It will never be successful. Na te viduḥ. They do not know. Therefore our business is to make them know that "This is the way of perfection. Take Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Make your life perfect. Be happy, and go back to home, back to Godhead." This is our mission. They do not know.

The Nectar of Devotion -- Vrndavana, November 10, 1972:

Pradyumna: "This is doom for him because this human form of life is meant for getting out of the material contamination. By the advancement of material knowledge, people are becoming more and more entangled in material existence. They have no hope of being liberated from this catastrophe. In the Hari-bhakti-sudhodaya it is stated that Prahlāda Mahārāja, a great devotee of the Lord, prayed to Nṛsiṁha-deva (the half-lion, half-man incarnation), as follows: 'My dear Lord, I repeatedly pray unto Your lotus feet that I may simply be stronger in devotional service. I simply pray that my Kṛṣṇa consciousness may be more strong and steady, because happiness derived out of Kṛṣṇa consciousness and devotional service is so powerful that with it one can have all the other perfections of religiousness, economic development, sense gratification and even the attainment of liberation from material existence.' Actually, a pure devotee does not aspire after any of these perfections because the happiness derived from devotional service in Kṛṣṇa consciousness is so transcendental and so unlimited that no other happiness can be compared with it. It is said that even one drop of happiness in Kṛṣṇa consciousness stands beyond comparison with an ocean of happiness derived from any other activity. Thus, any person who has developed even a little quantity of pure devotional service can very easily kick out all the other kinds of happiness derived from religiousness, economic development, sense gratification and liberation."

Prabhupāda: Dharmārtha-kāma-mokṣa (SB 4.8.41). There are, people are generally after four principles of happiness: being religious, being economically developed, being very good candidate for satisfying senses, and when one is frustrated to derive any happiness from these three principles, he wants liberation, nirbheda-brahmānu-sandhana. That is also not actual happiness, because, as I was explaining this morning, that even one merges into the Brahman effulgence after severe penances and austerity, there is chance of falling down. There is chance. Āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ patanti (SB 10.2.32). Paraṁ pada is to merge into the Brahman effulgence existence. But from there also, one falls down, as I was giving the example of many big sannyāsīs in the modern age. They are very learned scholar. They took to sannyāsa, giving up this world as false, but again, after some time, they come to politics, sociology.

The Nectar of Devotion -- Vrndavana, November 10, 1972:

Pradyumna: "Śrīdhara informed the Lord that he did not want any material opulence. He was quite happy in his present position and wanted only to gain unflinching faith and devotion unto the lotus feet of Lord Caitanya. That is the position of the pure devotees. If they can be engaged twenty-four hours each day in devotional service, they do not want anything else, not even the happiness of liberation or of becoming one with the Supreme. In the Nārada Pañcarātra it is also said that any person who has developed even a small amount of devotional service doesn't care a fig for any kind of happiness derived from religiousness, economic development, sense gratification, or the five kinds of liberation."

Prabhupāda: Hmm. Dharmārtha-kāma, kāma-mokṣaḥ samaya-pratīkṣāḥ muktiḥ mukulitañjali sevate asmān. For a devotee, mukti is not a thing aspirable, because, as it is stated by Bilvamaṅgala Ṭhākura, mukti is trying to serve the devotee with folded hands. Because a devotee is already liberated. Sa guṇān samatītyaitān brahma-bhūyāya kalpate (BG 14.26). A pure devotee, who is constantly engaged in devotional service, māyā cannot touch him. He's already liberated. So what he has got to ask from the liberty? He hasn't got to ask. Anywhere a devotee lives, he's liberated. That is the statement of Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī, īhā yasya harer dāsye karmaṇā-manasā vācā: "Anyone who is simply engaged in the devotional service of the Lord by his activities, karmaṇā, by his mind, and by his words, such person is always liberated in any condition of life." Īhā yasya harer dāsye. Simply we have to engage ourself in the devotional service of the Lord, then māyām etāṁ taranti te (BG 7.14). One who has surpassed the boundaries of māyā, he's liberated. He's liberated. He's already liberated. Why he should aspire after liberation? He's already liberated.

The Nectar of Devotion -- Vrndavana, November 10, 1972:

Pradyumna: "Any kind of happiness derived from religiousness, economic development, liberation or sense gratification cannot even dare to enter into the heart of a pure devotee. It is stated that as the personal attendants and maidservants of a queen follow the queen with all respect and obeisances, similarly, the joys of religiousness, economic development, sense gratification and liberation follow the devotional service of the Lord. In other words, a pure devotee does not lack any kind of happiness derived from any source. He does not want anything but service to Kṛṣṇa, but even if he should have another desire, the Lord fulfills this without the devotee's asking."

Prabhupāda: Yes. Generally, a devotee is anyābhilāṣitā-śūnyaṁ jñāna-karmādy-anāvṛtam (Brs. 1.1.11). He's simply engaged to serve the Lord as He desires, just like Arjuna did. Other things follow. Just like a child who takes shelter of the father without any demand, the father sees to his necessities of life. Yoga-kṣemaṁ vahāmy aham (BG 9.22). Kṛṣṇa, one who is fully surrendered unto Kṛṣṇa, and he's engaged in His devotional service, He would see what is the necessity of his life, what does he require. Yoga-kṣemaṁ vahāmy aham. This is the process.

The Nectar of Devotion -- Vrndavana, November 11, 1972:

Prabhupāda: Hmm. Go on.

Pradyumna: " 'The Happiness of Becoming One with the Supreme.' Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī says that if brahmānanda, or the happiness of becoming one with the Supreme, is multiplied by one trillionfold, still, it cannot be compared with an atomic fraction of the happiness derived from the ocean of devotional service. In the Hari-bhakti-sudhodaya... Prahlāda Mahārāja, while satisfying Lord Nṛsiṁha by his prayers, says, 'My dear Lord of the universe, I am feeling transcendental pleasure in Your presence and have become merged in the ocean of happiness. I now consider the happiness of brahmānanda to be no more than the water in the impression left by a cow's hoof in the earth, compared to this ocean of bliss.' Similarly, it is confirmed in the Bhāvārtha-dīpikā, Śrīdhara Swami's commentary on the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam: 'My dear Lord, some of the fortunate persons who are swimming in the ocean of Your nectar of devotion, and who are relishing the nectar of the narration of Your pastimes, certainly know ecstasies which immediately minimize the value of the happiness derived from religiousness, economic development, sense gratification and liberation. Such a transcendental devotee regards any kind of happiness other than devotional service as no better than straw in the street.' "

Prabhupāda: Go on.

Pradyumna: " 'Attracting Kṛṣṇa.' Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī has stated that devotional service at..."

Prabhupāda: Any, any question arises, you can ask.

The Nectar of Devotion -- Calcutta, January 30, 1973:

Bhavānanda: "A similar passage is also there in Third Canto, Fifteenth Chapter, of the same book, wherein Uddhava addresses Lord Kṛṣṇa and says, 'My dear Lord, for persons who are engaged in Your transcendental loving service there is nothing worth obtaining from religiousness, economic development, sense gratification or liberation, although happiness from these different sources can be very easily had by them.' "

Prabhupāda: Therefore devotee's another name is niṣkiñcana, akiñcana. Niṣkiñcanasya bhagavad-bhajanonmukhasya. Niṣkiñcana. He doesn't possess anything, don't want to possess anything material. These are all material things. What are those? Sense gratification, economic development, liberation. They are all different stages of material existence. And Kṛṣṇa is not for the persons who are hankering after material possessions. Kṛṣṇa is far away. Therefore in the Kuntī-stotra in Śrīmad-Bhāgavata it is said, niṣkiñcanasya gocarāḥ: "You, Kṛṣṇa, You are understood by persons who have become niṣkiñcana." Niṣkiñcana. So niṣkiñcanasya bhagavad-bhajanonmukhasya. The qualification of devotion is to become a niṣkiñcana. Means one should not try to possess anything material. He should simply try to possess Kṛṣṇa. There must be some possession. The Māyāvādī philosophy, to dispossess material things, will not help him. He must possess something positive. Otherwise he'll fall down. That is our... Because we want something. Paraṁ dṛṣṭvā nivartate (BG 2.59).

Sri Caitanya-caritamrta Lectures

Lecture on CC Adi-lila 7.1 -- Atlanta, March 1, 1975:

Just like the Christians go to the church for meeting the problems of bread; similarly, the Hindus or the Muslim, everyone goes to church, temple or mosque to pray something material: "God, I am very distressed. Kindly get me relief from this distressed condition." Or "God, I am in need of money, I am very poor. Kindly give me some money." Or any other, "I am now implicated in war." Just like Churchill, he introduced that everyone should go and pray for victory. So England was also praying for victory, and Germany was also praying for victory. So (chuckles) God is perplexed. (laughter) The thief is praying to God that "This night, I may steal without any hindrances." And the householder is praying, "My Lord, thief may not come here and steal my goods." And God has to adjust everything. So just imagine how much busy is God. There are millions and trillions of living entities. Each one of them, if they are at all interested in God—not all—so they are praying. Everyone is praying, "God, give me this benediction. Give me this benediction." So this is not pure devotional service. For some material profit, one should not become a religious person or devotee of God. Of course, it is better than the person who is not at all interested in God. That is stated in the Bhagavad-gītā, catur-vidhā bhajante māṁ sukṛtinaḥ arjuna. Unless one is pious, he cannot approach God.

Lecture on CC Adi-lila 7.4 -- Mayapur, March 4, 1974:

So this is the position. Kīrtana. Kīrtana, we can glorify the Lord twenty-four hours. Twenty-four hours we have got at our disposal. We have got (not) only twenty-four hours, but unlimited. Ekāṁśena sthito jagat (BG 10.42). This is only one-fourth part manifestation of the whole creation. There is no limit of kīrtana. That is unlimited. So Caitanya Mahāprabhu's instruction is that "Glorify the Lord continuously." Tṛṇād api sunīcena. And as soon as you begin kīrtanīyaḥ, real kīrtana of Kṛṣṇa, then you'll have many enemies. Caitanya Mahāprabhu personally had many enemies. You know that in this spot there was persecution, religious persecution, by the then magistrate, Chand Kazi. His samādhi is still there. So, and we are also experiencing. Our only fault is that we are preaching the saṅkīrtana movement, and there are so many enemies. You see? So that is possible. Even the father become enemy. Prahlāda Mahārāja, a five-years-old boy, and because he was chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra, his father became enemy. So you'll have enemies.

Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 6.254 -- Los Angeles, January 8, 1968:

This is a prayer offering to Lord Caitanya. The central figure, dancing, a boy about eighteen years old, He introduced this movement, saṅkīrtana movement, being compassionate with the fallen souls of this age. He recommended, He recommended from the authorized scriptures, not that He manufactured. Nowadays it has become a fashion to manufacture a certain type or system of religious or yoga principle. Caitanya Mahāprabhu did not do that. What He introduced, that is recommended in the scriptures, that "In this age, for spiritual realization, one may simply chant the holy name of Kṛṣṇa." Kṛṣṇa means God. If you have got any other name for God, you can chant that also. It is not that you have to chant "Kṛṣṇa." But Kṛṣṇa means God. The word meaning of Kṛṣṇa means "all-attractive." Kṛṣṇa, from His beauty, all-attractive. From His strength He's all-attractive. From His philosophy He's all-attractive. From His renunciation He's all-attractive. From His fame He's all-attractive.

Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 20.97-99 -- New York, November 22, 1966:

So he says that grāmya-vyavahāre kahaye paṇḍita: "By social etiquette I am addressed as 'paṇḍita,' but..." Tāi satya māni: "And I also accept that I am paṇḍita." If somebody falsely calls me that "Your Majesty," so it is an insult. It is not honoring him. I am an ordinary man. If somebody calls me, Your Majesty," so a man who has no qualification, if he is eulogized in that way, that is an insult. But we are so much fool that if somebody calls me "Your Majesty," I shall feel, "Oh, I am Majesty. Yes. I am His Majesty." That is our nature. If some false qualifications is awarded to me, I shall be very glad to accept it. I shall think, "Yes." So Sanātana Gosvāmī said that "Actually, I am not paṇḍita because I do not know what is my benefit, what is beneficial to me. I do not know the goal of my life. I simply wasted my time in sense gratification. I do not know. And still, people say, 'You are paṇḍita,' and I accept it. Just see my position." This is blank slate, admitting that "I am fool number one, but people say I am learned, and I accept it." This is our nature. This is called illusion. He will never think that "I am fool number one." He will always think, "Oh, who can be greater than me? I can think myself. Why? What is the necessity of a spiritual master? I can become a religious leader, I can become such and such, or..." This is our mentality.

Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 20.98-99 -- Washington, D.C., July 4, 1976:

So they have been described as animals. The śāstra, they say, yasyātma-buddhiḥ kuṇape tri-dhātuke (SB 10.84.13). One who is in this bodily concept... Yasyātma-buddhiḥ kuṇape tri-dhātuke sva-dhīḥ kalatrādiṣu bhauma ijya-dhīḥ: "In my country, bhauma... I am born in America or I am born in India, so it is my country." How long you'll remain America? How long you'll remain India? They do not know. But they are mad after this conception of life, bodily conception of life. Bhauma ijya-dhīḥ yat-tīrtha-buddhiḥ salile na karhicit. People in every community, religious community, there is tīrtha. People want (indistinct) holy place. So they go, they take bath. Just like in India they go to Hardwar or Vṛndāvana or Prayag, take bath in the Ganges or Yamunā. Similarly, Christians, they go to take bath in the river Jordan. So everyone has got. Yat-tīrtha-buddhiḥ salile na tad janeṣv abhijñeṣu sa eva go-kharaḥ (SB 10.84.13). This kind of life is go-kharaḥ. Go means cows, and kharaḥ means ass. Without understanding the value of life, na tad-janeṣv abhijñeṣu, without associating with abhijñaḥ, learned spiritual master, if he passes his life with this understanding, then he is no better than the cows and ass. This is the verdict.

Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 20.100 -- Washington, D.C., July 5, 1976:

Mr. Deyani: Well, I just have one thing here, you stated about Gandhi, and we respect that he was really a great leader of us, but stated one point in your lecture, this thing, that Gandhi, mostly, was a servant of the country, but in India, during that period, I didn't see other religious people or the great leaders of India fighting for the country, and they..., he's the one...

Prabhupāda: That is admitted. Why you are bringing that question? I mean to say that Gandhi gave the best service to you, but your country is so ungrateful that he killed him. That is my point. So the point is that the best service you can give, but you cannot satisfy everyone. That is material.

Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 20.103 -- Washington, D.C., July 8, 1976:

So don't waste your time bothering about this so-called happiness and distress. Better engage your valuable time to understand what is the goal of life, why there are so many problems, why you have to struggle for existence. This is your business... This is Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement, that we are inducing people to understand the problem. It is not a sectarian movement or so-called religious movement. It is not a religion. It is educational cultural movement. Every man has to understand the goal of life. Every man has to understand why there is struggle for existence, if there is any remedy, if there is any process where we can live very peacefully without any disturbances, without any... These are the things to be learned in human life, and one should approach... Just like Sanātana Gosvāmī, he was minister, very educated, well placed, but he has approached Caitanya Mahāprabhu. So we should approach the Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu or His representative, and surrender. Tad viddhi praṇipātena (BG 4.34). The way is not challenging, "Can you show me God?" These are challenges. Not this way. God is everywhere, but first of all make your eyes to see God, then you challenge, "Can you show me God?" This attitude will not help us. Submissive. Tad viddhi praṇipātena. This is the injunction of the śāstra. If you want to understand the science, transcendental science, tad viddhi try to understand—but praṇipātena, very humbly. Just like Sanātana Gosvāmī is submitting very humbly.

Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 20.104 -- New York, July 10, 1976:

So Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement means to give people right knowledge. Don't think that it is a sentimental so-called religious movement. But you come to the right conclusion to the spiritual platform by this easiest method introduced by Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Chant the holy name of the Lord and your... Because misunderstanding means because we have so many dirty things accumulated on the heart for many, many lives. Beginning from aquatics, then plant life, the trees' life, the insect life, in this way, now we have come a life of enlightenment. Athāto brahma jijñāsā. Now we should inquire. That is, Sanātana Gosvāmī is teaching us that go to the proper spiritual master. He has come. He is not ordinary man, he is minister, so he cannot go to a cheater, to a bluffer. He has selected the right person, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu.

Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 20.124-125 -- New York, November 26, 1966:

So the book, Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam; the ideal worship, the damsels of Vṛndāvana; Kṛṣṇa is the worshipable object; and the necessary of life, necessity of life, is to attain love of God. This is the whole mission of Caitanya Mahāprabhu, sum and substance. Therefore Caitanya Mahāprabhu is saying here, puruṣartha-śiromaṇi prema mahā-dhana. People are, have their objective of life, everyone. Dharmārtha-kāma-mokṣa (SB 4.8.41, Cc. Ādi 1.90). Their objective of life is... Of course, nowadays people are different. Formerly... It is Vedic version, dharma, to make them religious. Therefore every civilized nation has some sort of religion. Religious... Because without becoming religious, there is no possibility of peace and prosperity. So this is one of the aim of human society, religious. And why religious? Dharma-artha. Then the economic condition will be better. If all people are religious, then economic condition will be better. Dharma-artha. And why economic condition better wanted? Kāma. Kāma means then the necessities of your life will be fulfilled nicely. Dharma, artha, kāma, and moksa. Then what is the end? That if you are peacefully in the society, then you can culture for your liberation. So dharmārtha-kāma-mokṣa (SB 4.8.41), so generally these four principles are the aim of human society. But Caitanya Mahāprabhu says that "Yes, these are all right." But premā pumartho mahān: "With all these things, if you have no love of Godhead, it is all nonsense. All nonsense. Therefore try to love God and everything will be all right." This is the mission of Caitanya Mahāprabhu, premā pumartho mahān. So prema. Here, also, Lord Caitanya says that we should understand our relationship with God. We should act in that way. That means in devotion. Then we shall have the highest perfection of life, love of God, and our mission of human life will be fulfilled.

Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 20.125 -- New York, November 27, 1966:

So "give up everything" means there are different processes, different processes, ritualistic process, different religious processes, philosophical processes, meditation, so many. "Give up all them. Simply surrender to Kṛṣṇa." So Lord Caitanya is stressing on that point, that aiche śāstra kahe—karma, jñāna, yoga tyaji'. Karma. Karma means general activities on moral principle. That is called karma. Karma means, real karma means that you have to live, so you have to work. So work in such a way that you may not be entangled. Just like honest businessman, he works, he works according to the law. He does not play any blackmailing, and he pays the proper income tax to the government and the other taxes. He does nicely. This is called work, karma. You have to live. Without working you cannot live. But you work in such a way so that you may not be entangled. That is called work, karma. Now, this work is not the solution of your human life. You can get some morsel of bread and eat and drink and sleep and just enjoy your life and die like cats and dogs, that's all.

Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 20.137 -- New York, November 28, 1966:

Dharma. Dharma means rituals. Everyone has got some faith, and faith means... Just like Hindus are going to the church, er, in temple, and the Christians are going to the church, or Muslims, they are going to the mosque, they..., with idea that "Here is God." That is, of course, beginning. It is nice. But because they are trapped in simply the rituals, they have no other, further knowledge, so that also cannot help to reach because they are trapped. Every religious faith, because the fai... Of course, that conviction must be there. But they do not try to make any further advance. They think that "Here it is ended. Everything is ended here." Therefore they cannot make any progress. (aside:) Please sit down. Don't... So they cannot also. Then svādhyāya. Svādhyāya means study, study of these Vedic literatures. Without any guidance, if you... Just like so many ladies and gentlemen, they purchase books from the market. They have heard that Bhagavad-gītā is very nice book. So svādhyāya. Svādhyāya means studying the scriptures. Studying the Vedic literatures, that is called svādhyāya. Svādhyāya. And tapaḥ. Tapaḥ means penance. Somebody is fasting. Somebody is in the solitary place in the jungle. They are meditating. So many, there are process of penances and austerities. And tyāga, and renunciation. Just like sannyāsī, renounced order of life. So (the) Lord says, "All these processes—the yoga process, the sāṅkhya process, the ritualistic process, or studying the Vedas or undergoing severe type of penance and austerities—all these processes, combined together or individually, they are not suitable for achieving Me. They are not."

Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 20.137 -- New York, November 28, 1966:

So those who are intelligent, they take this simple process. Now, especially in this age, even you cannot perform any other process. You cannot perform perfectly yoga, you cannot perform the religious rituals, neither you can study. The circumstances are so unfavorable that these processes are not possible in this age. Therefore Lord Caitanya, by His causeless mercy, He has given us this process:

harer nāma harer nāma harer nāma iva kevalam

kalau nāsty eva nāsty eva nāsty eva gatir anyathā

(CC Adi 17.21)

"In this age of Kali," harer nāma, "simply by chanting the holy name," harer nāma, "simply by chanting the holy name," harer nāma, again, thrice, "simply by chanting the holy name of Kṛṣṇa..." Harer nāma harer nāma harer nāma iva kevalam. You should always do this. Kalau: "In this age"; nāsty eva, "there is no other alternative," nāsty eva, "there is no other alternative," nāsty eva, "there is no other alternative." Three times again, nāsty eva nāsty eva nāsty eva gatir anyathā: "There is no other process." So these are stressed by the Vedic literatures. This verse is quoted from Bṛhad-Nāradīya Purāṇa. Out of eighteen Purāṇas, this Bṛhad-Nāradīya Purāṇa is also... So this is recommended. So Lord Caitanya's recommendation also is corroborating. He is not recommending this process by manufacturing Himself, but He is quoting from the authorized scripture and authorized sources so that people can accept it.

Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 20.137-146 -- Bombay, February 24, 1971:

You take any literature, any Vedic literature, religious literature, you'll find that the whole literature, whole knowledge is aiming at Kṛṣṇa. That is the purport of all Vedas and religious scripture.

kṛṣṇera svarūpa-ananta vaibhava-apāra

cic-chakti māyā-śakti jīva-śakti āra

Now Caitanya Mahāprabhu is explaining what is the identification of Kṛṣṇa. In the beginning He says, kṛṣṇera svarūpa ananta. Kṛṣṇa has form, svarūpa. Kṛṣṇa is not formless, but He has got many millions of forms. Not one form, many millions of forms. But He has form. He is not impersonal. Kṛṣṇera svarūpa ananta. Ananta means unlimited.

Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 20.137-146 -- Bombay, February 24, 1971:

As have got pilgrimage, everyone has got pilgrimage. Muslims have got, Christians they have got, Hindus they have got. That means they go to pilgrimage with God consciousness. So in Koran there is God consciousness, in Bible there is God consciousness, in Vedas God consciousness. Now you have to utilize it, develop it. The aim and objective is already there. But in the Vedic literature they are very explicitly presented. That is the difference. The Christians, they agree, "God is great." We also agree, "God is great." But how God is great, that is explained in the Vedic literature. That is the difference between... There is no difference of opinion if one is actually religious. God created this world, God is the supreme father, God is great. This is accepted by everyone, either Hindu or Muslim or Christian. There is no doubt about it. But in the Vedic literature you'll understand how God is great, how He is acting as father. That's all. Even God's name is there, God's address is there. Do you agree to this point? Yes, that is the difference. Any other scriptures, if you ask what is the name of God, what is His address, what He is doing, they cannot give you. But we can give. We do not give; God Himself gives, Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa says, "My address is like this." What is that? Yad gatvā na nivartante tad dhāma paramaṁ mama (BG 15.6). That is address.

Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 20.245-255 -- New York, December 16, 1966:

So in this yuga, this Kali-yuga, incarnation is Lord Caitanya, and the process of worship is this sound vibration. That is mentioned. In every avatāra, every incarnation... Just like Lord Buddha. His name is also mentioned. And there will be another incarnation, Kalki. That is also mentioned. So they are mentioned, yugāvatāra. And śaktyāveśāvatāra. Śaktyāveśāvatāra. All avatāras, their mission is to preach the message of God. Avatāra has no other business. The message of God. Śaktyāveśāvatāra. This Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/ Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare, this is also considered śaktyāveśāvatāra, the incarnation of sound. Incarnation of sound. It is described by Lord Caitanya that kali-kāle nāma rūpe avatāra: "In this Kali-yuga, in this age, this incarnation of name—Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare—to give facility to the conditioned soul." They cannot do anything. It is very difficult to perform any other religious rituals. This, the best anywhere, everywhere—you can chant Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa. Nāmnām akāri bahudhā nija-sarva-śakti. Śakti, this word is used, śakti. And from śakti, that energy, śaktyāveśāvatāra. So this name is also śaktyāveśāvatāra.

Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 20.353-354 -- New York, December 26, 1966:

We should always think that we are in the modes of ignorance. We are just trying to make progress from ignorance to goodness and then transcend. This is the process of spiritual realization. Nobody should think that we are perfect. We cannot be. God is... Only God is perfect, and we are all imperfect. Even our so-called liberated stage, we are still imperfect. Therefore one has to take shelter of authority because, constitutionally, we are imperfect. Lord Caitanya says, āmā-sabā jīvera haya śāstra-dvārā 'jñāna'. So therefore, for real knowledge, we have to consult the scriptures, śāstra. Sādhu-śāstra-guru. Sādhu means pious, religious, honest person. Sādhu, whose character is spotless, he's called sādhu. Śāstra means scripture, and guru, guru means spiritual master. They are on the equal level. Why? Because the medium is scripture. Guru is considered to be liberated because he follows the scripture. Sādhu is considered to be honest and saintly because he follows scripture. Sādhu-śāstra-guru-vākya. Nobody can become a sādhu if he does not accept the principles of scripture. Nobody can be accepted as guru, or spiritual master, if he does not follow the principles of scripture. This is the test.

Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 20.367-84 -- New York, December 31, 1966:

Now, so far our experience is concerned, Lord Caitanya says there are innumerable. So how we can accept a avatāra, a śaktyāveśa avatāra, whose names are not mentioned herein? Then we have to... As in the beginning, Lord Caitanya says that by the symptoms we can understand that He is śaktyāveśa. By the symptoms and activities and influence. So what is that symptom? Symptom is that eternal and temporary. So avatāra, incarnation, comes to glorify the eternal existence of the Supreme Lord. So any avatāra, any incarnation, he comes to glorify that "There is spiritual kingdom, there is God, and I have come to reclaim you to back to Godhead, back to home." This is the symptom. So therefore, by that symptom, we accept Lord Jesus Christ as śaktyāveśa avatāra, or Hazrat Muhammad, he's also. Because these two religious leaders of the world, they preached about the glorification of the Supreme Lord. And they sacrificed everything for preaching the glories of the Lord. Therefore... And their influence and their followers, there are... These are the symptoms by which we can understand that Jesus Christ and Hazrat Muhammad was, were śaktyāveśa avatāras.

Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 21.62-67 -- New York, January 6, 1966:

Now, India was united on the strength of religious culture and Sanskrit language. All over India the lingua franca, or the language, common language, at least for the scholars, not for the common man... The common man could speak any language—Hindi, Parsi, or Bengali, Oriya, Telegu, so many. There are so many languages. In every district you will find some language. But that was not taken into consideration. When education is concerned, every student all over India, they would take education in Sanskrit. Sanskrit language was the... So our present government, they have introduced a state language as Hindi. There are so many protests and so many quarrels. They would have done better if they would have introduced Sanskrit language as it was previously. So the Sanskrit language was one, and the culture was Vedic. Therefore there was no disunion. Every part of the country in India, the same system. He may be a Bengali, he may be a Maharastrian, he may be a Gujarati, or he may be Oriya—there were so many provinces—but the culture was the same. Another unity was that sacred places were distributed all over India.

Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 22.14-20 -- New York, January 10, 1967:

Now, there are different process of self-realization. Just like fruitive activities, karma-yoga, jñāna-yoga, dhyāna-yoga, haṭha-yoga. So many, there are different... But they are simply steps. They are not themselves final. One who is unable to engage himself in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, for them these different steps are prescribed, not for the person who is engaged in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Because if he... If one does not engage himself in the service of Kṛṣṇa in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, then he may not like for so many reasons: for social reason, for political reason, for religious reason, for many other reasons. Although we find that it is very nice process, but still, there are some impediments which restrict us not to follow this principle. Now, one who cannot follow this principle, for them these different process are prescribed so that some day in the future he can have this opportunity of becoming a servant of Kṛṣṇa. Because that is the final goal.

Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 25.40-50 -- San Francisco, January 24, 1967:

In every śloka, if you know Sanskrit, you'll see the meaning is clear. Just like in the Bhagavad-gītā, dharmakṣetre kurukṣetre samavetā yuyutsavaḥ (BG 1.1). There was actual some fight between the two cousin groups, and they fought at the battlefield of Kurukṣetra. That Kurukṣetra is still existing. If you go to India that... There is a railway station, Kurukṣetra. It is about 150 miles from Delhi. And people go there for pilgrimage. Therefore it is dharmakṣetra, a place of religious rites. And in the Vedas, Sāma-Veda, I think... I don't exactly remember. But one of the Vedas it is written that kurukṣetre dharma yajayet. In the Kurukṣetra, that place, if anyone wants to perform religious rites, he should go to Kurukṣetra and perform there. It will have better effect. This is the indication in the Vedic literatures. Therefore Kurukṣetra is still accepted. Those who travel, wander in pilgrimages, they go to Kurukṣetra still. The system is going on. If there is a lunar eclipse, they go to Kurukṣetra to make some charities. So Kurukṣetra is accepted from the very, very long period in the Vedic age as the place of pilgrimage. So it is stated there, dharmakṣetra. How can I interpret that this Kurukṣetra means this body? In which dictionary he finds this meaning? But people are so foolish, because Mahatma Gandhi has interpreted, "Oh, it is right." So this is going on.

Sri Isopanisad Lectures

Sri Isopanisad, Mantra 5 -- Los Angeles, May 7, 1970:

So that is the proof. Mahājano yena gataḥ sa panthāḥ (CC Madhya 17.186). Tarko 'pratiṣṭhaḥ śrutayo vibhinnā. If you argue, there is no conclusion. The argument will go on. You put some argument; I put some argument. That is not the process. Śrutayo vibhinnā. Scriptures, in different countries, different circumstances, different scriptures, they're also different. Then tarko 'pratiṣṭhaḥ śrutayo vibhinnā nāsau munir yasya mataṁ na bhinnam. And so far philosophical speculation is concerned, one philosopher is putting some theory, another philosopher putting some theory—there is contradiction. And unless you defy another philosopher, you cannot be a famous philosopher. That is the way of philosophical...

Then where, how to get real information? That is stated, that dharmasya tattvaṁ nihitaṁ guhāyām. The secret of religious process is lying in the cave or within the heart. So how to realize it? Mahājano yena gataḥ sa panthāḥ (CC Madhya 17.186). You have to follow great personalities. Therefore we are trying to follow Lord Kṛṣṇa or Lord Caitanya. That is perfection. You have to take evidences from the Vedas. You have to follow the instruction. The success is sure. That's all.

Sri Brahma-samhita Lectures

Lecture on Brahma-samhita, Lecture -- New York, July 28, 1971:

So Śukadeva Gosvāmī is recommending that either you go through this austerity process, brahmacarya, śama, dama, titikṣa dhana, satya, śauca, yama, niyama (BG 18.42), so many items... Either you go through this process to come to the platform of your spiritual understanding, or kecid, those who are fortunate, kecid kevalayā bhaktyā, the same result is open. Sometimes other people, the so-called yogis, jñānīs, karmīs, or followers of religious, ritualistic ceremonies, they think, "How it is possible that these Hare Kṛṣṇa people have become so quickly self-realized simply by chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa, without undergoing so many processes?" That is the gift of Lord Caitanya. Caitanya, Lord Caitanya seeing, or Lord Kṛṣṇa... Lord Caitanya, Kṛṣṇa—the same person. Kṛṣṇa is Supreme Person; Lord Caitanya is the same Supreme Person, but He's teaching us how to approach the Supreme Person. Just like sometimes my disciple is massaging my body, I take his hand and show him: "Do like this."

Lecture on Brahma-samhita, Lecture -- New York, July 28, 1971:

So kecid. Not all. Someone who is intelligent, bhagavān, fortunate, they take to this process, kevalayā bhaktyā. Our process is kevalayā bhaktyā. Kevalayā means pure devotional service. No other adulteration or amalgamation. No. Simply to serve Kṛṣṇa. This is the program. From early morning at four o'clock til night, ten a.m., p.m., they are all engaged in Kṛṣṇa's service. This is called kevalayā. They have no other business. So this process is recommended for all. That is the perfection of all religious process. Sa vai puṁsāṁ paro dharma yato bhaktir adhokṣaje (SB 1.2.6). That is first-class religion. Sa vai puṁsāṁ paro dharma. Paro means transcendental. There are two things: parā and aparā, superior and inferior, material and transcendental. There are material dharmas, religious process. For some material gain, generally, people go to church, go to temple, some material gain. Just like in your church you pray, "God, give us our daily bread." Your daily bread is a material gain. So these gain is already settled up. You'll get your bread. Just like the birds or beast, they are getting their bread without going to the church. They do not go to the church for asking God, "Give us our daily bread." The bread is there in the tree. They go and take as much bread as they like.

Festival Lectures

Nrsimha-caturdasi Lord Nrsimhadeva's Appearance Day -- Srimad-Bhagavatam 7.5.22-34 -- Los Angeles, May 27, 1972:

"My dear father, don't be afraid. It is not a thing to be taught." Matir na kṛṣṇe. "Nobody can become Kṛṣṇa conscious," matir na kṛṣṇe parato, "being taught by others," matir na kṛṣṇe parataḥ svato vā, "or by mental speculation or thinking oneself," mitho 'bhipadyeta, "or by making conference meeting, religious meeting, conference." No. Three things. One thing is to learn Kṛṣṇa consciousness by speculative method, self-realization. Just like so many people are very much interested that "Why shall I go to a guru? I can realize myself. I shall meditate." So that is called svataḥ. And parataḥ means by others' instruction. And mitho, mitho means by assembly. So who? Now, gṛha-vratānām. If one is gṛha-vratā... There are two things: gṛhastha and gṛha-vratā, or gṛhamedhi. "So those who are gṛha-vratā..." because he is pointing out his father's position, that he's gṛha-vratā. He has no other business. He simply wants to get money, hiraṇya. Hiraṇya means gold, and kaśipu, a nice apartment. That's all. So he says that gṛha-vratānām, "If one makes it his point to remain in a comfortable home life, for him, either by speculation or by teaching or by meeting, he'll never develop Kṛṣṇa consciousness."

Nrsimha-caturdasi Lord Nrsimhadeva's Appearance Day -- Bombay, May 5, 1974:

Actually, if we want to make progress in spiritual life, we have to follow the mahājanas, the great personalities. They are mentioned in the śāstras. Without father and mother, he became manifest. Therefore his name is Svayambhu. Without father and mother, he became manifest. Therefore his name is Svayambhu. Of course, his father is Nārāyaṇa, but not in the usual way. Therefore his name is Svayambhu. Nārada. Nārada Muni is also one of the mahājanas. And Śambhu, Lord Śiva. Kapila, Kapiladeva, the son of Devahūti. Svayaṁbhur nāradaḥ śaṁbhuḥ kapilo manuḥ (SB 6.3.20). And Prahlāda Mahārāja. Prahlāda Mahārāja is our guru in the disciplic succession. So mahājano yena gataḥ sa panthāḥ (CC Madhya 17.186). Dharmasya tattvaṁ nihitaṁ guhāyāṁ mahājano yena gataḥ sa panthāḥ. We cannot chalk out what is the path of religion. It is very difficult to find out because there are many different scriptures and there are many philosophers. Nāsau munir yasya mataṁ na bhinnam. Each philosopher has got different opinion. So how to get real path of religious way? That is recommended in the śāstra that mahājano yena gataḥ sa panthāḥ (CC Madhya 17.186). You have to follow the footsteps of great personalities. And Prahlāda Mahārāja is one of them.

Ratha-yatra -- San Francisco, July 5, 1970:

So I shall not take much of your time, you are tired. But some of the important things I may inform you, that this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is not a religious type; it is a great culture. It is a great culture for spiritual emancipation. Try to understand that we are in this world—not only we are; everything is combination of matter and spirit. Just like your body, this body is matter; but within this body, you, the spirit soul, is encaged or embodied. So anywhere you see, the tree... There are so many species of life, every species, every individual living entity is combination of spirit and matter. When the spirit is out of this body, then the body is matter only. Just like in your Bible also it is said, "Dust thou art, dust thou be-est." That dust is this body but not this spirit soul. So in this material world we are part and parcel of God, Jagannātha, and we are under the auspicious protection of Subhadrā, and we have got, I mean to say, implicitly the spiritual strength. In the Vedic literature you will find, nāyam ātmā bala-hīnena labhyo. Bala, bala means this Balarāma, the spiritual strength. The spiritual realization can be achieved by the grace of Lord Balarāma.

Ratha-yatra -- Philadelphia, July 12, 1975:

So our movement is that "Why not stop this material, conditional life, repetition of birth, death, old age and disease?" This is intelligence. "Why should we remain in this material body and undergo repetition change of body? Let us have our original, spiritual body." That is wanted. That is intelligence. The human life is therefore meant, as it is stated in the Vedānta philosophy, athāto brahma jijñāsā: "Now this life is meant for enquiring about the Absolute Truth." So that is required. That is human intelligence. And if we spoil our life like the animals... They are also eating; we are also eating. They are also sleeping; we are also sleeping. They are also having sex intercourse; we are also having sex intercourse. They are also defending; we are also defending. These four principles are common to the human being and to the animal. The special advantage of human being is that if he likes, he can stop this repetition of birth and death and go back to home, back to Godhead. The Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is trying to educate people about this science, how to go back to home, back to Godhead. It is not a so-called religious movement. Of course, anything which has connection with God, you can take it as religious movement. But it is very scientific movement. For the big scientists, philosophers, thinkers, they should try to understand this movement. We have got fifty-seven books for convincing the philosophers, scientists. If you want to know the value of this movement through science, philosophy, we have got enough ingredients to supply you. Otherwise, it is simple, very simple.

Ratha-yatra -- New York, July 18, 1976:

In India there is still that place, Kurukṣetra, and religious men go there especially on the occasion of solar eclipse. So recently there was solar eclipse. Still, many millions of Indian population gathered there. Those who have gone to India might have seen this holy place, Kurukṣetra. There is a railway station also of the name Kurukṣetra, and it is a vast field. The Battle of Kurukṣetra took place also during Lord Kṛṣṇa's time, and the Bhagavad-gītā is the product in the Battlefield of Kurukṣetra. So this ceremony..., Kṛṣṇa, with His elder brother Balarāma and His younger sister Subhadrā, visited in this chariot at Kurukṣetra, and we are observing this festival. Formerly one king of the name Indradyumna, he started the temple of Jagannātha in Orissa at Purī. Perhaps some of you who have gone there, they know there is a very, very old temple, according to modern calculation, not less than two thousand years old. There is the Jagannātha Deity. The King was very much anxious to establish a temple of Kṛṣṇa, Balarāma and Subhadrā, but there was a contract between the sculptor and the King that the sculptor would go on working in closed door and the King should not disturb him. But when many days passed the King felt, "What this worker is doing?" So he forcefully opened the door, and he saw that the sculptor could not finish the Deity. So this form of Jagannātha, Kṛṣṇa, Balarāma and Subhadrā, was unfinished. They were going under construction, carving, but the King forcibly opened the door. Therefore the King said, "I shall worship this unfinished Deity. Never mind." So this Jagannātha you see in this form because King Indradyumna wanted to worship Him in that form.

Janmastami Lord Sri Krsna's Appearance Day -- Montreal, August 16, 1968:

These are nine processes of devotional service, of which śravanam, hearing, is most important. Without hearing, nobody can understand the science of God. Therefore the Vedic mantras are called śruti. Śruti means it is to be heard. It is not to be experimented in the laboratory. It is simply to be heard. Therefore it is called śruti. So śravanaṁ kīrtanaṁ viṣṇoḥ smaraṇaṁ pāda-sevanam, arcanaṁ vandanaṁ dāsyam. Vandanam, offering prayer. We also offer prayer. The other religious sect, just like the Christians, they offer prayer; the Muhammadans, they offer prayer. So prayer, offering prayer is also one of the items of bhakti. Chanting, hearing, meditating, offering prayers, arcanam, worshiping the Deity in the temple, all of them are together devotional service. So out of the nine... If you can execute all the nine, it is very good. But it is not possible. So even if you can execute one item, you become perfect. It is so nice. Śrī viṣṇu śravane parīkṣit. Just like Mahārāja Parīkṣit, he simply executed the function of hearing, he got perfection. Similarly, abhavad vaiyāsakī kīrtane. Vaiyāsakī means Śukadeva Gosvāmī, he simply glorified the Lord. Prahlādaḥ smarane. Prahlāda Mahārāja, he was simply meditating. There are many examples. Simply by following one principle of this devotional service, they got the highest perfectional life, liberation, back to home, back to Godhead.

Janmastami Lord Sri Krsna's Appearance Day Lecture -- London, August 21, 1973:

So actually if we are anxious for peace and tranquillity in society, then we must be very serious to understand Kṛṣṇa. That is our request. Don't take it neglectfully, the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement. This movement can solve all the problems of life, all the problems in the world. Social, political, philosophical, religious, economical—everything can be solved by Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Therefore, we request those who are leaders—just like His Excellency is present here—you should try to understand this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement. It is very scientific, authorized. It is not a mental concoction or sentimental movement. It is most scientific movement. So we are inviting all leaders from all countries: try to understand. If you are sober, if you are actually reasonable, you'll understand that this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is the sublime movement for the welfare of the whole human society. That's a fact. Anyone may come. We are prepared to discuss this subject matter. Kṛṣṇa bhūliyā jīva bhoga vāñchā kare.

Sri Vyasa-puja -- New Vrindaban, September 2, 1972:

So Vyāsadeva... Formerly, before Vyāsadeva, say, five thousand years ago, before that time there was no need of written literature. People were so sharp in their memory that whatever they would hear from the spiritual master they would remember for life. The memory was so sharp. But in this age—it is called Kali-yuga—we are reducing our bodily strength, our memory, power of memorizing, our feelings of sympathy for others, compassion, age, duration of life, religious propensities. In this way, in this age we are reducing everything. Every one of you can understand very easily. Formerly if somebody is attacked by another man, many persons will come to help him: "Why this man is attacked?" But at the present moment if one man is attacked, the passersby will not care for it because they have lost their sympathy or mercifulness for others. Our neighbor may starve, but we don't care for it. But formerly the sympathy for other living entities, even for an ant... Just like Mahārāja Parīkṣit, while he was touring on his kingdom, he saw that one man was trying to kill a cow. Parīkṣit Mahārāja saw. Immediately he took his sword that "Who are you? You are killing a cow in my kingdom?" Because the king is supposed, or the government is supposed to give everyone protection, not that the government is meant for giving protection to the human being and not to the animals. Because it is Kali-yuga, the government discriminates between two nationals. National means one who has taken birth in the land. That is called national. That is... You know, everyone.

Radhastami, Srimati Radharani's Appearance Day -- Montreal, August 30, 1968:

So in the fifth chapter, Sundara-Khanda, it is a very nice verse. What is that? Śāntaṁ śāśvatam aprameyam anaghaṁ nirvāṇa-śānti-pradam. Each word is meaningful. Śāntam. The Lord is never disturbed. Why He shall be disturbed? Just like we are, in this material world, we are always disturbed in so many ways. The duration life is short, and we are always embarrassed with so many problems, political, social, religious, cultural, so many things. And family, maintenance of family is more difficult than maintaining an empire.

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

So there were sane men also. They took objection, "What is this nonsense? This man is dancing with ladies and gentlemen, er, girls." So they filed a complaint. At that time it was British rule. They complained to the governor or the commissioner, very high officer. The commissioner knew that Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura... His name was Kedāranātha Datta. Datta. Kedāranātha Datta, his household name. So the commissioner of the division, he knew that Kedāranātha Datta is a religious man, and he's magistrate in charge. So he handed over the case for inquiry, "What is this complaint? You please inquire and do the needful." So he was a pure devotee, and he understood that "This rascal is a bogus man, cheating people. I must inquire." So he went to the village in plain dress with some constables, police constables. They were also in plain dress. And as soon as he approached that rascal yogi, he said, "Oh, you are Kedāranātha Datta. So, very nice.

Govardhana Puja Lecture -- New York, November 4, 1966:

"Whether this is a superstition?" Just see how Kṛṣṇa is speaking. "Whether it is a superstition or it has got some actual effect." You should not do anything, religious rituals, under superstition. That is the recommendation of Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa does not like that people should perform anything under superstition. Suppose if you are sacrificing, if you are doing some ceremony, you must have thorough knowledge that there must be the result. There must be the result. Just like there are many sacrifices recommended in the Vedic literature, putreṣṭī-yajña. Putreṣṭī. Suppose a man has no son, and if he performs that sacrifice, he will have a son. That is a fact. Similarly, so many things there are.

So any rituals, religious rituals... Now, according to Kṛṣṇa... How practical He is. He said that "No religious ritual should be performed without practical effect, without practical effect." People have become atheist because in the modern age there are so many rituals in all religions, not only Hindu religion, but Christian religion. But, they say, simply formality; there is no effect. There is no effect. Such sort of rituals, religious ceremony, is not recommended by Kṛṣṇa. You must actually the effect. Just like in Purāṇas there was a talk between Lord Caitanya and Kazi, Chand Kazi. Chand Kazi was a Muhammadan magistrate, and Lord Caitanya, when He started this saṅkīrtana movement, there was many complaints. Just like we are receiving daily reports that our saṅkīrtana movement is disturbing some tenants here.

Govardhana Puja Lecture -- New York, November 4, 1966:

So when the things are not practical, that becomes a forbidden. If you actually get the result by some spiritual or religious rituals, performance, then it is very good. Otherwise it is superstition. Lord Caitanya's opinion is that because all these Vedic injunctions, sacrifices, they are not possible to be performed in this age... They are very difficult. There is no expert leader to perform all these ceremonies and rituals. Therefore, take to this Hare Kṛṣṇa. Take to this. There is no need of rituals. There is no need of expenses. Simply God has given you tongue, and God has given you ear. Just go on chanting: Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/ Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare, and it will fulfill your spiritual advancement. Similarly, Kṛṣṇa said, jñātvā ajñātvā ca karmāṇi jano 'yam anutiṣṭhanti: "Generally, mass of people, they are ignorant. They perform some religious rituals knowingly or unknowingly as a matter of superstition or custom." So, viduṣa karma-siddhiḥ syāt. But one who is intelligent, he should know that "By this sacrifice, I must get the result." Viduṣo karma-siddhiḥ syāt tathā na viduṣo bhavet: "And those who are fools, they, simply by superstition, they do it."

Govardhana Puja Lecture -- New York, November 4, 1966:

He says, "My dear boy, we should not give up this paramparā." Parampara means coming from disciplic succession or from generation. My father did it, my father's fathers did it. So every religious ceremony, and according to Vedic rituals, they are from paramparā, family or society-wise or community-wise. In every country there is. So he says that "This paramparā, this successive generation, we have been doing this, and we should not give it up." He understood the Kṛṣṇa's purpose, that "He is asking. He is very intelligent boy, so He is asking me all these questions just to forbid me." That He's just... "Like father like son." The father was also intelligent.

His Divine Grace Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Gosvami Prabhupada's Disappearance Day, Lecture -- Los Angeles, December 13, 1973:

So I was at that time a fool, but I opined like this. And I accepted him as my spiritual master immediately. Not officially, but in my heart. That was in 1922. Then, in 1923, I left Calcutta on my business tour. And I made my headquarter at Allahabad. Allahabad is about five hundred miles from Calcutta. So I was thinking that "I met a very nice saintly person." That was my thinking always. So in this way, in 1928, there was a Kumbhamelā. At that time, these Gauḍīya Matha people came to Allahabad to establish a center there, and somebody else said, somebody informed them that "You go to that Prayāga Pharmacy." My drug shop was named as Prayāga Pharmacy. My name was also there. "You go and see Abhaya Babu. He is religiously... He will help you." These Gauḍīya Matha people, they came to see me. So "Sir, we have come to you. We have heard your good name. So we want to start a temple here. Please try to help us." And because I was thinking of these Gauḍīya Matha people that "I met a very nice, saintly persons," and as soon as I saw them, I was very much engladdened: "Oh, here are these persons. They have come again."

His Divine Grace Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Gosvami Prabhupada's Disappearance Day, Lecture -- Hyderabad, December 10, 1976:

As the Kumbhamelā is going to be held this year, a similar big Kumbhamelā was held in 1928. In those days they came to open their branch in Allahabad, and somebody recommended that "You go to..." At that time I was running on my big pharmacy and I was very well known man in Allahabad as the proprietor of the pharmacy. So somebody recommended them that "You go to Abhaya Babu. He is a very religious man. He'll help you." So when they entered my shop I was very much pleased that "These men I met in 1922, and now they have come." In this way I became reconnected. And in 1933 I was officially initiated, and my only qualification was when I was introduced to my Guru Mahārāja for initiation, so Guru Mahārāja immediately said, "Yes, I shall initiate this boy. He is very nice. He hears me very patiently. He does not go away." So that was my qualification. The high standard of philosophy which he was speaking at that time, practically I could not follow what was, he was speaking, but still, I liked to hear him. That was my hobby. Whenever... I was asking that "When Guru Mahārāja will speak?" So he took it very seriously.

His Divine Grace Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Gosvami Prabhupada's Appearance Day, Lecture -- Los Angeles, February 7, 1969:

So Dr. Bose was my father's friend. So he appointed me the manager of his laboratory. I did not know anything; still, he appointed me. So that was in 1921. In 1920 I gave up my education. Of course, I was married in 1918, and I got my first child in 1921. So in 1922, when I saw my Guru Mahārāja and when I was convinced about his argument and mode of presentation, I was so much struck with wonder. I could understand that "Here is the proper person who can give real religious idea." That I appreciated at that time. And at that time I thought, "This great personality is asking me to preach. I would have immediately joined, but now I am married. It will be injustice." Of course, I thought like that, in that way. Of course, Guru Mahārāja did not say anything, that "You give up your family life." No, never said. He simply gave the idea. So I thought that "It would have been better if I was not married." Anyway, then, 1923, I left Calcutta on my business, and I established my headquarter at Allahabad. So all the days I was thinking of this, "Oh, I saw a very nice saintly person. But I am now off from Calcutta." So I was thinking like that. Practically he initiated me because I was thinking of..., always.

His Divine Grace Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Gosvami Prabhupada's Appearance Day, Lecture -- Los Angeles, February 7, 1969:

Then, in 1928, there was a big fair which is called Kumbhamelā. At that time I was doing business in Allahabad. My business was very flourishing. It was well-known drug shop. So the persons who went to organize our Gauḍīya Maṭha's camp in that fair, somebody has told that "Here is a Bengali gentleman's business. You can go, and he is very religious man. He will help." So all the disciples of Guru Mahārāja, they approached my shop, my store, drug store. And because I was thinking of them, so I thought, "Oh, here is the men." You see? You see? I was very glad—"So they have come again"—because I was separated from them in 1923, and again I saw them in 1928 after five years, and I was thinking of Guru Mahārāja simply in this way, "Oh, I met a very nice saintly person. Very nice saintly person. If I can see him again?" Like that. So in this way, with my help, the Allahabad center of Gauḍīya Maṭha was established. Then I was initiated in 1933. In 1933. And in 1936 I was, at that time, in Bombay, and Guru Mahārāja was very much indisposed, and he was at Purī, Jagannātha Purī. We have got our temple there. Guru Mahārāja established sixty-four temples, small and big. Just like I am increasing, he increased. So most of the temples were in Bengal. In Bengal there were about fifty out of sixty-four. And one temple was at Allahabad, one was in Madras. In this way, outside Bengal, about three, four, one Benares. And he sent Bon Mahārāja also in 1933 to London for preaching, but unfortunately, some way or other, he could not do anything, so Guru Mahārāja called him back in 1934. He was not satisfied and sent another Godbrother, gosvāmī.

His Divine Grace Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Gosvami Prabhupada's Appearance Day, Evening -- Gorakhpur, February 15, 1971:

In this way, 1966, by selling these books, I had only $200, and I dared to take one apartment and storefront. Storefront one $125 per month, and apartment $75. So I had only $200 dollars. So I advanced him $200. I did not know how to pay next month's rent. So I started in 1966, lecturing in a storefront and living in that apartment in 26 Second Avenue. Then gradually, these boys, American boys and girls, began to come. And then I started my kīrtana in Tompkinson Square. More and more, these younger Americans, they came to me, and things were organized. Then I registered this Kṛṣṇa Consciousness Society under religious act of New York in 1966, and gradually people took interest. People means the younger section. All the boys and girls, they were from sixteen... Not all sixteen, but there were sixteen. Kṛṣṇa dāsa was at that time sixteen years old. And... Between twenty to thirty. Only, I think, Keith—now Kīrtanānanda Mahārāja—he was at that time twenty-nine. Hayagrīva was, I think, twenty-nine. So in this way... This Hayagrīva, I met him on the street. After renting the apartment and storefront, when I was returning, this Hayagrīva, Professor Howard Wheeler, he was philosophically minded. So he asked me, "Swamijī, are you coming from India?" So I told, "Yes, I am coming from India." So, "Are you interested in Indian philosophy?" "Yes, sir." "So why don't you come? I have taken one storefront and apartment." So I came back. I showed him, "Here is my storefront and apartment. You come in the evening."

His Divine Grace Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Gosvami Prabhupada's Appearance Day, Evening -- Gorakhpur, February 15, 1971:

So three, four years, all these branches have grown up, and now practically, throughout the whole continent, Europe and America, they know what is Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra. Due it to our propaganda. Just like these boys. You have seen they are chanting and dancing. We send street saṅkīrtana even the most busiest quarter of New York, Fifth Avenue. And they go. The American boys, they are very daring. Sometimes police arrest them. And police is not harassing. The public and police, both, they are now sympathetic, that "Here is a movement which is actually genuine and very beneficial to our people." They are sympathetic. And even some of the Christian priests, they are also very sympathetic. They say that "These boys, American boys, they are our boys. They're so nice that they're mad after God, but we could not give them. Swamijī has given them." So they appreciate. Actually, these boys, they come from Christian family, Jewish family. There are many churches in America. I was surprised. When I first went to Butler, that's a small county, but I saw there about dozen of churches. So I thought the American people are very religiously-minded. And actually so. The history of the American people, mostly they came from England for this religious purpose. So they migrated in America for being religiously advanced.

His Divine Grace Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Gosvami Prabhupada's Appearance Day, Evening -- Gorakhpur, February 15, 1971:

So American people, I very much appreciate them. They are religious. They have got very good potency for understanding God consciousness. That is my opinion. And I do not know why I was inclined to go to America. It was also Kṛṣṇa's desire. Because I thought that "If this movement, Caitanya Mahāprabhu's movement... " Caitanya Mahāprabhu said that

pṛthivīte āche yata nagarādi-grāma

sarvatra pracāra haibe mora nāma

(CB Antya-khaṇḍa 4.126)

That is His prediction, that "As many towns and villages are there on the surface of the globe, everywhere, this message of Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra and Lord Caitanya's name will be there." So I thought that "I should go to America. If the American people take it seriously, then other people will take it." So actually, that is happening. These boys are so enthusiastic in preaching that on my word, they are going any part of the world. Any part of the world. They are prepared to go any part of the world. And just now I received one letter from my disciple Śrīmān Upendra dāsa. He does not know Hindi, and in the Fiji Island there are many Indians, but still, he is making propaganda. He's simply chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra door to door. They are also husband and wife. And people are very much appreciating.

Six Gosvamis Lecture, Sri Sri Sad-govamy-astaka -- Los Angeles, November 18, 1968:

Caitanya Mahāprabhu was that time seventeen years, eighteen-years-old boy, but He was very popular by introducing this saṅkīrtana, Hare Kṛṣṇa chanting and dancing. And He said that simply by chanting and dancing, as we are saying, one will achieve the highest perfectional stage. So the brāhmaṇas were working as priest, they thought that their business will not go on. They prescribed so many ritualistic performances, and Caitanya Mahāprabhu was saying simply by chanting one can achieve the highest perfection. So they were disturbed, and they lodged complaint to the then magistrate, Kazi. Maulana Chand Kazi, his name was Maulana Chand Kazi. You know, when a Muhammadan is learned and religious he gets the title Maulana. So that magistrate, Chand Kazi, was very learned scholar, not only in Muhammadan scriptures, but he was a great scholar Hindu scripture also. Just like in British period in India, there were many responsible English officers, just like high-court judge, civil service. They were very vastly learned in Sanskrit. One Mr. Woodruff, Justice Woodruff, Englishman in Calcutta high-court, oh, he was a very great scholar, Sanskrit scholar, and he translated all the tantric śāstras. So scholarly people are always there. It doesn't matter. They do not belong to any class of men. Scholars are scholars, saintly persons are saintly persons.

Arrival Addresses and Talks

Arrival Lecture -- Paris, July 20, 1972:

Unfortunately, our science, philosophy in school, college, university, they are simply concerned with the perishable, not with the imperishable. This Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is meant for taking into account of the nonperishable. So it is the movement of the soul, not the movement as political movement, social movement or religious movement. They are pertaining to the perishable body. But Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is pertaining to the imperishable soul. Therefore our this saṅkīrtana movement, simply by chanting this Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra, your heart will be gradually cleansed so that you can come to the spiritual platform. Just like here in this movement we have got students from all countries of the world, all religions of the world. But they no more think of the particular type of religion or nation or creed or color. No. All of them think as part and parcel of Kṛṣṇa. When we come to that platform and when we engage ourself in that positional occupation, then we are liberated.

Arrival Lecture -- Paris, July 20, 1972:

So this movement is very important movement. It is not of course possible to give you all details within a few minutes, but if you are interested you can kindly contact with us either by correspondence or by reading our literature or by personal contact. Any way, your life will be sublime. We have not such distinction that "This is India," "This is England," "This is France," "This is Africa." We think every living entity, not only human being, even animals, birds, beasts, trees, aquatics, insects, reptiles—all are part and parcel of God. But the lower animals, the aquatics, birds, beasts, trees, plants, insect—they are unable to receive this knowledge. The human being has developed consciousness. He can receive this knowledge of spirit soul. So our only request is that do not take this movement as a religious movement. It is the movement of the soul. It is very scientific, based on authority. And practically we are seeing, we are getting good response all over the world. We have got over hundred branches. Even Africa we have got many branches. Canada, Europe, America, Australia, New Zealand—everywhere. So our only request is the leaders of the nation, the scientist, the philosopher, may kindly take some interest in this movement. We can talk with them. We have got many literatures, big, big books, scientifically explained, philosophical explained. So our only request is that you come forward and try to understand this philosophy and spread for the benefit of the whole human society.

Srila Prabhupada Welcomed by Governor at Hotel De Ville -- Geneva, May 30, 1974:

Guru-gaurāṅga: (translating from French) In the name of the Canton of Geneva and the city, we wish to extend our heartfelt welcome to you. This republic is an independent state, part of Switzerland, and it has a reputation for being a great center of dialogue between all men of science, philosophy and religion. Geneva is the seat of the World Council of Churches, and there is a Protestant pastor who is there as representative of the Canton of Geneva. Unique among the cities of the world, Geneva has had the privilege to greet many great religious heads such as Pope Paul VI, head of the Russian Orthodox Church, and many others. As civil authorities, we are very much encouraged by religious or spiritual groups because they contribute to wake up the consciousness of the people, provided, of course, that they respect all the laws. For thousands of years, man has tried to find perfection through religious means, and for us what is so much important is that this be done with tolerance, that whatever the books, whether they be the books of India or the Toraḥ or the Koran, that they contribute to a general welfare of all men and not that they fight each other. There is the need currently for men to understand each other better and hear each other better. The modern world neither has the time nor the interest to tolerate divisions between men, especially on the spiritual platform. As a result, everyone must try to improve the fate of the individual man through these means. Should we not, then, try to find some common language with which to solve these problems, all the while respecting the dignity of the common man? And we hope finally that this trip in Europe will give Your Divine Grace new perspectives in the search for the truth.

Prabhupāda: I can speak in English?

Guru-gaurāṅga: (he asks in French) The president says that you may speak directly in English, no translation needed.

Prabhupāda: So Mr. President and Ladies and Gentlemen, the kind words that you have spoken to receive me, I thank you very much for the same.(?) Our preaching principle is bhāgavata-dharma, and we do not say "This is Christian religion" or "Hindu religion" or "Muhammadan religion." We speak the science of God. So in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam there is a verse which says,

sa vai puṁsāṁ paro dharmo

yato bhaktir adhokṣaje

ahaituky apratihatā

yenātmā samprasīdati

(SB 1.2.6)

"That is first-class religious system which teaches the follower how to love God." It doesn't matter what is the type of religion, religious process. Phalena paricīyate. The thing is proved by the result, how one has learned to love God. Sa vai puṁsāṁ paro dharmaḥ. There are two kinds of religious engagements: one is called inferior and the other is called superior. The superior religious system is that which teaches the followers how to love God. Now, what kind of love? That is also expressed there: ahaitukī, without any motive, and apratihatā. Apratihatā means that religious system cannot be checked by any kind of material impediments. If we come to that platform, then ātmā-ātmā means the mind, the soul, also the body, intelligence—everything becomes fully satisfied.

Arrival Lecture -- Mexico, February 11, 1975, (With Spanish Translator):

So the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is very, very important for the human society. It is not exactly a religious movement as it is understood in the Western countries. Religion is described in the English dictionary as "a kind of faith." Faith you may accept or may not accept, but religion is the word, as we understand from Sanskrit dictionary, it cannot be rejected. Or you and your religion cannot be separated. Therefore we should understand very clearly that we are experiencing two things: one is matter, and another is spirit. Just like there is a stone, and there is a small ant. The stone, it may be very big, but it cannot move. It has no life. But the small ant, although it is very small, it has life. So there are two things, we can very easily understand: one is dead matter, and the other is living force. We are actually living force. Living force, we are covered by the matter, and according to the different types of covering, we are representing different types of living condition. So this living force, being encaged by the dead matter, it is a struggle for existence.

Arrival Address -- London, March 8, 1975:

But we should not create such position, dangerous. It is already dangerous. Because Caitanya Mahāprabhu was also very cautious about spiritual life. Sannyāsīra alpa chidra bāhu kori mane. Others may violate the laws, and so many sinful activities they are doing, but nobody takes very serious care. But when a religious group or a sannyāsī commits little offense, it is magnified a thousand times. Therefore we should be very careful not to make anything which may be magnified to the eyes of the public. Because we are preaching. We are preaching, and there is always demonic party who want to put us in difficulty. That is natural. Even Hiraṇyakaśipu, being the father of Prahlāda Mahārāja, he was also putting him into difficulty. But if we remain sincere and go on chanting, these dangers will be over. Don't be afraid. Don't stop your regular regulative principles and regular activities, program. Go on with it. Depend on Kṛṣṇa, and gradually everything will be all right.

So I think we shall this much today. Now it is time over. The Deities should go to rest. We should not detain. That's all right. Hare Kṛṣṇa. (end)

Arrival Lecture -- San Francisco, July 15, 1975:

So is not the father the best friend of the son? But no. We are claiming, "I shall become your friend. I shall become your leader. I shall lead you to prosperity." No. That is false. The political leaders or the so-called religious leaders or other many leaders there are. They are taking the position of God, that "I shall become your friend. I shall lead you so that you will become happy." That is wrong. You cannot become friend. To how many people or how many men you can become friend? One, two, three, four, five, thousand, ten thousand, million? But there are unlimited, asāṅkhyā. Jīva bhāva sa..., asāṅkhyā. You cannot count how many. Suppose you can become friend of your children at home or your friend's wife, sons and others. But how you can become friends the elephant in the African jungle? You cannot become. But you will see. There are hundreds and thousands of elephants in the jungle of Africa. They are eating, sleeping, very nicely. Who is supplying their necessities? God is supplying. You will find in your room in a hole that thousands of ants are coming out. Are you giving them food? Who is supplying food?

Arrival Address -- Mauritius, October 1, 1975:

So the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is very important movement. We are inviting all intelligent persons, the leaders of the society, to understand the basic principle of this movement. And if the leaders of the society lead the people in the proper channel on the basic principle of spiritual life, then everything will be solved. Everyone will be happy. These instructions are there in the Bhagavad-gītā very elaborately. Simply we have to follow the instruction. It is not at all difficult. Then all the questions—social problem, political problem, economical problem, religious problem—everything will be nicely solved. We are presenting, therefore, Bhagavad-gītā as it is. And you take any question and the answer is there in the Bhagavad-gītā, very nicely given. Just like, say, our first problem is economic problem. So Bhagavad-gītā says, "Yes. Economic problem will be solved very easily if you produce food grains." Annād bhavanti bhūtāni (BG 3.14). You produce food grain. Just like in your country I see there is enough land. If you people produce your food grain, within three months you can get all the necessities of life for the whole year. And the balance time you can save, nine months. And these nine months you can utilize for advancing in spiritual life, because your life or my life, this human form of life, it is distinct from the cats' and dogs' life. The cats and dogs, they cannot understand what is the basic principle of life. But a human being can understand. If he takes little care, he can understand that his problem of life is due to misunderstanding, accepting this body as self. This is the problem.

Arrival Talk -- Aligarh, October 9, 1976:

Prabhupāda: But then, as soon as you say "Bhagavad-gītā," immediately, "Hindu."

Indian man (1): What sister wants to know is that how can we add in innumerable, rather, uncountless schools and colleges? The management will be most willing, I mean, the progressive management will be most willing to introduce classes where such laws of nature and such-on scientific line, without giving it a Hindu or religious name. That should be taught. A curriculum should be drawn up. Because we control some of the schools.

Prabhupāda: That is my program. I am writing all books just only on this point; therefore they are coming. Otherwise, what is the use? They were Christians and Jews. What is the use of becoming Hindus? So anyone wants to understand what is Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement, they can understand easily if he joins Hare Kṛṣṇa, chant. That is all right. If he wants to understand scientifically, there are eighty-four books. Come on. Which way you want?

Indian man (1): No. What we want is a very simple curricular. Elementary type.

Prabhupāda: Simple, this is simple curricular.

Initiation Lectures

Initiation of Satyabhama Dasi and Gayatri Initiation of Devotees Going to London -- Montreal, July 26, 1968:

So your name should be... Is there any name Satyabhāmā? Satyabhāmā? No. So her name, Satyabhāmā dāsī. S-a-t-y-a-b-h-a-m-a. Satyabhāmā dāsī. So this is the process, you know, from, beginning from here, each bead, Hare Kṛṣṇa Hare Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Hare Hare Hare Rāma Hare Rāma Rāma Rāma Hare Hare. And there are ten kinds of offenses. While chanting, you should avoid ten kinds of offenses. So you will get the list. And summarily I can explain that satāṁ nindā. A Kṛṣṇa conscious person will never blaspheme any person, any religious leader, who is trying to spread Kṛṣṇa consciousness or God consciousness. In any country, in any religion, anyone who has tried to spread God consciousness to the people, they are all respectable persons. Those who are atheist, those who do not believe in God or those who personally declare that "I am God," we have nothing to do with such persons. But anyone in any country who accepts God as the Supreme, Kṛṣṇa as the Supreme, kṛṣṇas tu bhagavān svayam (SB 1.3.28), such persons are respectable persons and we should offer our always respect to them. We have... Unnecessarily we do not want to criticize anyone. But when there is necessity, because we are preacher, it may be sometimes you'll be faced with opposite elements, so we have to criticize in that respect. Generally we don't praise or eulogize somebody or criticize somebody. That is not our business. Our business is Kṛṣṇa consciousness, God consciousness, always thinking that we are eternal servant of Kṛṣṇa.

Initiation of Bali-mardana Dasa -- Montreal, July 29, 1968:

So two boys who are now ready to be initiated, my request to all, especially to boys who are just going to be initiated, that this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is authorized because, even taking it for granted that it has begun from Kṛṣṇa, then it is at least five thousand years old. Kṛṣṇa appeared on this planet five thousand years ago. So if you take history of any religious or any cultural program within this world, no religion, no cultural program is older than 2,000 years or 2,500 years. But this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement, even according to history, it is five thousand years old, the older than any principles of religion or culture. And if you go above historical references, then it is coming down from millions and millions of years past, because it was first instructed, as we understand from the Bhagavad-gītā, that it was first instructed to Sūrya. Imaṁ vivasvate proktam: "I first of all spoke this science to Vivasvān, Sūrya." Sūrya means sun-god. So nobody can trace out history when sun-god took the lessons, but we can have little information from Manu-saṁhitā, because Manu's age, Vivasvān... This age is called Vaivasvata Manu. So in the Bhagavad-gītā it is said that first of all this initiation was given by Kṛṣṇa to Vaivasvata, and he instructed his son, whose name is Vaivasvata Manu.

Lecture & Initiation -- Seattle, October 20, 1968:

Yes. Now this function is being done. It should not be taken that we are doing something, religious rituals. No. Religious ritual is different thing. This is... Although it appears like rituals, but it is transcendental. It is above all kinds of religion. It is postgraduate study. The process is how to develop love of Godhead. This is above all rel... Religion means, generally, some kind of faith. But it is not the question of faith. It is actually developing, how much you are loving Kṛṣṇa, or God. So it is above all religions. It is not ordinary religion. Religion means... Suppose you are Christian, I am Hindu. As soon as this body is finished, my Christianism or religion, everything is finished. But this love of God will not finish. It will go with you. Any birth you go, it will develop. If you can finish, then you go directly to Kṛṣṇa, back to Godhead, and finish your all material connection. Even if you are not able, then it goes with you. Asset. It is... The bank balance will not be diminished. It will increase.

Initiation -- Hawaii, March 25, 1969:

So temple, if people come, that is temple. You see? That is temple. And if we, suppose, construct a huge building and nobody comes, then what is the use of spending money? We are not after such thing. But if somebody has got money, he wants to construct temple, it is welcome. We can give nice plan how to do it. In India there are Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa temples, just like one temple is as good as a big fort. They spend so much. You see? But here also, in your country, there are many big churches. So people, formerly they were religiously inclined. So either Christian, Muhammadan or Hindus or anyone, they were constructing temple, churches, mosques. But that mentality is gone. You see? They will spend lots of money for a skyscraper building to get income, and temple is called nonproductive building. You see? They do not wish to engage their money in nonproductive thing because they have become economic. But that is wrong theory. You see? That economic means forgetting God. And that means, I mean to say, animal life. If by becoming a human being, he becomes an animal, if he thinks that he has become economical, that is not very sane conclusion. So godless means animal. The animals, they do not know how to create a church or temple or mosque. The mosque or temple or church, they are done in the human society. So when the human society forgets this responsibility from economic point of view, that means they degrade to the animal life.

Initiation Lecture -- London, August 22, 1971:

(Hindi or Bengali) brahmacārī. (Hindi or Bengali) illicit sex. Illicit sex, (Hindi or Bengali)... one should not have more than one woman or one man. That is nice. And therefore in the human society there is marriage. Not in the animal society. Married means that one should be satisfied with one woman and one man. That's all. And there is no question of divorce. Divorce is introduced by the modern rascals, but it is not sanctioned by any religious person. You see? So we are observing these rules: no illicit sex life, no meat-eating, no intoxication, no gambling. So all my students, they strictly follow these rules, and therefore they're advancing so quickly. Yes. You see the advancement so quickly because they follow my instruction. They follow very obedient, and they have therefore, by grace of Kṛṣṇa... Yasya deve parā bhaktir yathā deve tathā gurau (ŚU 6.23). It is the statement of the Upaniṣad. "Anyone who has got unflinching faith in God and spiritual master..." Yasya deve parā bhaktir. Deve means God. Parā bhaktir, unflinching faith. Tathā gurau, and similarly, in guru. Tasyaite kathitā hy arthāḥ prakāśante mahātmanaḥ. To him all this Vedic knowledge becomes revealed automatically.

Initiation Lecture and Ceremony -- New Vrindaban, September 4, 1972:

This is going on. Kṛṣṇa bhuliya jīva bhoga vāñchā kare pāśate māyā... This is māyā. This disease has to be cured. That requires knowledge and religious (indistinct). That's required. So, this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement means to train people to come to the original constitutional position. What is that? Every living entity is part and parcel of God; therefore the duty of the part and parcel is to serve the whole. The part and parcel cannot enjoy individually or independent—that is not possible. Just like this finger is part and parcel of my body. It has to enjoy at a certain cost. Not that a finger will catch up some rasagullā and enjoy it—that is not possible. It must go through the stomach. The rasagullā will be caught and put into the mouth—it must go to the stomach, and the stomach will digest it, and the energy will be distributed, not only to this finger but other fingers, other parts of the body. This has to be learned. That is called yato bhaktir adhokṣaje. We are discussing that point. And this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is so nice that immediately everyone comes into ecstasy, and he wants to serve Kṛṣṇa.

Cornerstone Ceremonies

Cornerstone Laying -- Bombay, January 23, 1975:

So our Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is to create a class of men ideal, first-class men with satyaṁ śaucaṁ tapo śamaḥ damaḥ titikṣaḥ. This is godly civilization. And this godly civilization can be given to the whole world by India. That is India's special privilege. Because in other countries beyond India they are almost āsuri-janā and ugra-karma. The industries and other ugra-karma has come from the Western countries. But by this way people will never be happy. That is very elaborately explained in the Sixteenth Chapter of the Bhagavad-gītā. Duṣpūra akaṅkṣa. Their desire will never be satisfied by this material advancement. They do not know. They are forgetting. So we selected this Bombay. Bombay city is the best city, most advanced city in India, the best city in India. And people are also very nice. They are religiously inclined. They are opulent. They can take up better things very nicely. Therefore I wanted to start this center, Bombay, for spreading this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement. Although there have been many impediments in my endeavor, still, ultimately it is Kṛṣṇa's business. It will come successful. So today... The foundation and cornerstone establishment was done two years before, but there were many, many impediments from the asuric janā. Now, some way or other, we have got little relief from such impediments. So we are putting this cornerstone this auspicious day, and I am very glad that you have joined us.

Cornerstone Laying -- Bombay, January 23, 1975:

So very clear. Kurukṣetra is dharma-kṣetra still. In the Vedas it is stated, kurukṣetre dharmam ācaret: "One should go to Kurukṣetra and perform religious rituals." Therefore it is dharma-kṣetra from time immemorial. And why should we interpret it that "This Kurukṣetra means this body, dharmakṣetra, this body"? Why? Why mislead people? Stop this misleading. And Kurukṣetra is still there. Kurukṣetra station, railway station, is there. So try to understand Bhagavad-gītā as it is, make your life successful, and spread this message all over the world. You will be happy; the world will be happy. Of course, I am now very old man. I am eighty years old. My life is finished. But I want some responsible Indian and combined with other countries... Other countries, they are giving good cooperation. Otherwise, it was not possible for me to spread in so short time, only seven or eight years, to preach this cult all over the world. So I require the cooperation of the Indian, especially young men, educated men. Come forward. Stay with us. Study Bhagavad-gītā. We haven't got anything to manufacture. Nothing to manufacture. And what we can manufacture? We are all imperfect. Whatever is there, let us study it and practically apply in life and spread the message all over the world. That is our mission.

Wedding Ceremonies

Initiation of Sri-Caitanya dasa and Wedding of Pradyumna and Arundhati -- Columbus, May 14, 1969:

If you are situated in that position, then if you are put into the test of severe difficulties, you will not be moved. You will be steady. Na vicālyate. Just like we have got many instances. Prahlāda Mahārāja, he was a little boy, five years old, and his only difficulty was that he became a devotee of the Lord. His father became enemy, atheistic father, Hiraṇyakaśipu. He tortured him like anything, but he was not to be moved. He was stuck, sticking to his own position. This is... And you have many instances in your, this part of the world. Lord Jesus Christ, he was crucified, but still, he remained steady in his position. Haridāsa Ṭhākura, he was Muhammadan. When he took up this Kṛṣṇa consciousness, the Muhammadan government chastised him like anything. He remained steady. So these religious persecution, this and that, that is the history of the whole world. But if one sticks to the position of becoming pure devotee of the Lord, he has nothing to be afraid of. He will be steady, and he will prosecute his business steadily. Kṛṣṇa will help him. There is no doubt about it.

General Lectures

Lecture to Technology Students (M.I.T.) -- Boston, May 5, 1968:

I don't say any variation. I say that is the best technique by which you develop love of God. Now you find out what is that best technique. If you find that in your technique you are developing love of God, it is best. We don't say that you accept this technique or that technique. Any technique by which... Just like a man is diseased. Any medicine by which he is cured, that is best medicine for him. Similarly, the criterion is whether you have developed love for God or you are still in love for the matter. That is the test. Sa vai puṁsāṁ paro dharmo yato bhaktir adhokṣaje (SB 1.2.6). This is the definition of technique in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. That technique is the best form of technique of religious activity by which you can develop your service attitude towards the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The service attitude is there. You are serving. Either you are serving your family or you are serving your body or you are serving your society or serving your country, or if you have no engagement to service, you are serving some dog, you are serving some cat, you are serving some animal. So serving spirit is there, but we do not know where to place our service and become actually benefited by that service. Therefore you have to develop that spirit of service attitude toward the Supreme Personality of Godhead. When you develop that consciousness, that is called Kṛṣṇa consciousness or God consciousness or whatever technical name you may give.

Speech to Indian Audience -- Montreal, July 28, 1968:

In 1958 there was a special fair in Jagannātha Purī. It was written in the almanac that on that particular day, if somebody takes bath in the sea and has an audience of Lord Jagannātha, then he will be liberated. I was also there and with other friends. You'll be surprised to know that for a few-hour visit, about six million people assembled from all parts of India. And government had to make a special arrangement for their taking bath in the sea and visiting the temple. Similarly, there is Kumbha-melā. These assemblies are not advertised. People know it by paramparā. I am speaking to you; you are speaking to your friend. In this way they know it, and on that particular day they assemble at a place, just like Prayāga, on the confluence of Ganga and Yamunā. Millions of people will assemble. So still, in spite of our present leaders' policy to completely eradicate all religious ideas... They have made secular state. But people are so born that naturally they are inclined to take part in spiritual movement. That is the nature. Therefore Lord Caitanya said that bhārata-bhūmite manuṣya-janma haila yāra (CC Adi 9.41). To take one's birth in the land of India, to take one's birth as human being, is great opportunity undoubtedly. But still more great opportunity is there who has taken his birth in India. We are... We must be proud, provided we do not forget our own Vedic culture.

Lecture -- Seattle, October 2, 1968:

Yes. The point is that what is the constitutional position of the spirit soul is very elaborately discussed in the Śrīmad Bhagavad-gītā. Now the last instruction in the Bhagavad-gītā, as Kṛṣṇa says, sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja (BG 18.66). He has instructed to Arjuna all kinds of yoga system, all kinds of religious ritualistic process, sacrifice, and philosophical speculation, the constitutional position of this body, constitutional position of the soul. Everything He has described in the Bhagavad-gītā. And at last He says to Arjuna, "My dear Arjuna, because you are My very intimate and dear friend, therefore I say the most confidential part of Vedic knowledge." And what is that? "You simply surrender unto Me." That's all. People are not inclined to surrender; therefore he has to learn so many things. Just like a child, he has simply a feeling of surrender to the parents, he's happy. There is no need of learning philosophy how to live very happily. The child is completely dependent on the care of parents and he's happy. Simple philosophy. But because we have advanced in civilization, in knowledge, therefore we want to understand this simple philosophy in so many jugglery of words. That's all.

Lecture -- Seattle, October 7, 1968:

So our, this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is not very difficult either to understand or to execute. Simply we shall be willing to do this. That's all. That willing is in your hand. If you like, you can accept it. Because you have got little independence to accept something or reject something. That independence you have got. And by rejecting something good, we are in distress, and accepting something good, we are happy. So this acceptance and rejection is in your hand. So here is the offering, Kṛṣṇa consciousness, by great authorities, by Lord Kṛṣṇa, by Caitanya Mahāprabhu, and we are humble servants only. We are simply distributing. We have not manufactured a new type of religious sect or method of philosophy. No. It is very, very old system, Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Simply we are trying to distribute in a process which can be accepted by the people in general. So our request to you all who are present here or who are not present here, that you try to understand this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement, and if you do not understand immediately, if you kindly associate with us, put your questions, try to understand... We don't say that you blindly accept it. Put your question, try to understand, read our literature, and you'll understand.

Lecture -- Seattle, October 9, 1968:

Yes, government wants it. You cannot be revolting against the government. (chuckling) You have to live keeping pace with the government. We are in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. That does not mean we shall not use this electricity, we shall not take an apartment or we shall not sleep. Something unnatural we have to do. Why? Everyone abides by the law. We have to abide by the law. There is no difficulty. And government provides that religious society or this society, they should get themselves incorporated so that it is recognized. In so many activities they want to know whether this society is recognized. So we have to take all these measures. We cannot go out of the purview of the general rules and regulations.

Lecture -- Seattle, October 9, 1968:

Then? So similarly, this Bhagavad-gītā is described in the history of India, Mahābhārata. So how you can take it symbolism? Mahābhārata is the history. Mahā means great; great history of India, Mahābhārata. It is historical fact. How you can take a symbolism? Just like in the Bhagavad-gītā... (break) ...verse is dharma-kṣetre kuru-kṣetre (BG 1.1). (break) ...in the battlefield. That Kurukṣetra is still lying in India from very old time. So how you call it symbolism? And it is dharma-kṣetra. In the Vedic literature the injunction is kuru-kṣetre dharmam ācaret. And still people go to Kurukṣetra for religious, performing religious rituals. Still they go. That Kurukṣetra battlefield is there. It is being treated as the place of pilgrimage. How you can say that it is symbolic? This is all nonsense. Historical facts is still being, I mean to say, followed. The Pāṇḍavas, that is historical. Still there is one old fort. People say this fort belonged to the Pāṇḍavas. The Indraprastha, New Delhi is called Indraprastha. Everything is historical. How you take symbolical?

Lecture -- Montreal, October 26, 1968:

In our last meeting we were discussing. Why people are forced to commit sinful activities? This point is also discussed in the Bhagavad-gītā. Arjuna inquired from Kṛṣṇa, "What is that thing which forces a man to commit sinful activities?" Just like the same example that one man is seeing practically that one who has committed something criminal, he is punished. And he has heard it also from authorities, from lawyers or from respectable gentlemen, that "If you commit such and such sinful activities... If you steal, then you will be imprisoned for six months. If you cheat, you'll be imprisoned for such and such period. If you commit murder, then you'll be hanged." These things are taught some way or other. Either in religious scripture or by lawbooks or by morality or ethical principle, they are taught to the human, civilized human society. And he sees also practically that "This man has committed this kind of criminality, and he is punished." And again why does he commit? That is the problem. So kāma eṣa krodha eṣa rajo-guṇa-samudbhavaḥ. Kāma and krodha. Kāma means desire, lust. Kāma. And when the desire or lust is not fulfilled, then there is krodha. Krodha means anger.

Lecture -- Los Angeles, December 4, 1968:

"My dear Arjuna, whatever you do," yat karoṣi, yad aśnāsi, "whatever you eat," yat karoṣi yad aś..., yaj juhoṣi, "whatever you sacrifice," dadāsi yat, "whatever you give in charity," kuruṣva tat mad-arpaṇam, "do it for Me." This is called karma-yoga. Somebody is very much fond of giving in charity. Just like in your country there are so many foundation for giving charity. But as soon as you go that "We are spreading Kṛṣṇa consciousness. You give us some charity," they will immediately deny, "Oh, we are, we have no concern with religious movement." You see? But Kṛṣṇa says, "If you are so much charitable, give Me something, at least portion of your charity, to Me." Dadāsi yat. Yad aśnāsi. "Whatever you eat, you offer Me." In this way, when people are not directly coming to the bhakti-yoga, so he's advised, "All right, you do like this. Whatever you eat, whatever you give in charity, whatever you make in sacrifice, do it for Me." Then... Just like Arjuna's example is karma-yoga. Arjuna is a fighter, he's a warrior, military man. And he fought for Kṛṣṇa. This is called karma-yoga. You be whatever you may be. You may be a brāhmaṇa, you may be a kṣatriya, you may be a vaiśya, you may be a intelligent man, you may be a military man, you may be a administrator, you may be a business man, or you may be ordinary worker, it doesn't matter. But if you offer the result of your work for the satisfaction of God, then you are perfect. This is the whole thing.

Lecture Excerpt -- New York, April 12, 1969:

People are after becoming religious person or economically very well situated person or desiring all facilities for sense gratification. And when one is frustrated in all these attempts, he wants to become God. You see? By meditation, he wants to become God. You see? God is not so cheap thing that simply by meditation one can become God. People do not know what is God; therefore they accept. Just in Los Angeles airport, one boy was asking, some person in your country is declaring himself as God, Meher Baba. So he asked him..., asked me, "Whether you accept Meher Baba as incarnation?" So I asked him, "What do you mean by incarnation?" So he replied that because Kṛṣṇa or God is everyone's heart, therefore everyone is incarnation. Then he... I said, "Then what is difficulty? Then we are all incarnation. What is the specific quality of Meher Baba?" Because īśvaraḥ sarva-bhūtānāṁ hṛd-deśe 'rjuna tiṣṭhati (BG 18.61). The Lord is situated in everyone's heart. The Lord is situated in the heart of cats and dogs also.

Lecture Excerpt -- New York, April 12, 1969:

So in reputation nobody can compete, in wealth nobody can compete, in strength nobody can compete, in wisdom... Take Bhagavad-gītā. Such a book of wisdom, knowledge. There is no comparison in the world. Take it philosophically or religiously or any way, there is no comparison. And renunciation. When Kṛṣṇa was present, His Yadu dynasty consisted of many hundreds of thousands members. And before His departure He finished them and went away. Renunciation. So my request to you all, that don't accept God very cheaply. If you don't like God, that's nice. That's not... Nobody is blaming you. But don't accept a false God. That will be great blunder. Don't do that. Try to understand actually what is God. And the man who is claiming, "I am God," whether he has got such qualification. That can be tested by only three, six things. Try—whether he's richest than all the people of his contemporary life. Is he the richest than all? Or is he the strongest man than all? Or is he the most reputed person than all? Or is he most beautiful? Or most wise? You have to test like that. Don't accept cheaply if some rascal comes, "I am God," and "Yes." Don't do it. You test like this. Test in six symptoms: wealth, strength, reputation, wisdom, beauty, and renunciation. If he excels... (break) ...in all these qualification all other contemporary persons, then he's God. Very simple description. If he is God, then who can be richer than him? And who can be stronger than him? These six things, six opulences.

Lecture -- Boston, April 25, 1969:

So austerity means we are not imposing upon you that you go to the forest and live in a cave or you don't eat or don't see any human being—you just meditate for three hundred years. No. That is not possible. That is not possible. You cannot go to the forest, you cannot go to the mountain, neither you can meditate. All these are not recommended in this age. That is not possible. If somebody imitates or tries to imitate, he is simply wasting time. Only austerity is that don't have illicit sex life just like cats and dogs, because marriage is recommended in the human society. There is no marriage in cat society, dog society, hog society. Any human society you take, either in the Western world or in the Eastern world, or in Christian society, Hindu society, Muhammadan society—in every civilized human society there is a ceremony called marriage. And that is also Vedic system, that one should not have any illicit sex life, but one should be combined according to religious rite and live peacefully and execute Kṛṣṇa consciousness. This much austerity.

Brandeis University Lecture -- Boston, April 29, 1969:

So result is... That is stated by Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu, who inaugurated this movement. You see this picture, five learned brāhmaṇas. In the center there is one picture who is Lord Caitanya. He started this movement when He was only seventeen years old, a boy. A boy only—a schoolboy. He was student, but He introduced this movement five hundred years ago, and some of the elderly men, as you see, one elderly man with beard, He also helped Him, and the others... Actually this movement was originally started by young boys. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, Nityānanda Prabhu, and Advaita Prabhu, They started. And there was a great agitation against Them by the brāhmaṇas, priestly brāhmaṇas, at that time. So Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu picked up these sixteen words from Vedic literature. It is not that He manufactured something. No. In the Vedic way there is no question of manufacturing something, religious process. No. Just like you manufacture law. In your state, privately, you cannot manufacture law. The law is given by the state. Similarly, any process, any process for self-realization, you cannot manufacture. That is to be taken directly from God and His representative. That is the verdict of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam: dharmaṁ tu sākṣād bhagavat-praṇītam (SB 6.3.19).

Lecture at International Student Society -- Boston, May 3, 1969:

So these are plain truths. Kurukṣetra... Still there is a place of the name Kurukṣetra near Delhi. And people interpret, " 'Kurukṣetra' means this body." We do not know wherefrom he gets this meaning, what is that dictionary. Now, how he can establish? Kurukṣetra is still existing, and it is called dharma-kṣetra; it is a place of religious pilgrimage. So everything is clear. There is no need of interpretation. Simply you have to take the teachings. Then you will be benefited. So in this Bhagavad-gītā you will find so many nice information that if you see... If you don't see, that is another thing. You have to see that "Why I am put into so many miserable conditions of life although I do not want it?" That should be your question. If this question does not arise in your mind, that means still you are in the animal state of life. That is the human stage of life, when one inquires that "I do not wish to suffer. I do not want this suffering, but I am put into this suffering. Why?" This "why," for this "why," there is Upaniṣad which is called Kena Upaniṣad. So this "why" question must be there in the developed stage of human consciousness. And when that "why" question comes, there is an answer. There is answer in the Bhagavad-gītā, in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, and all Vedic literatures. So although people are not very much interested with all these questions and answers, but they are essential. If they do not question and seek for the answers, then they are simply wasting their the opportunity of human life.

Lecture at Engagement -- Columbus, may 19, 1969:

So our Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is no religious movement or any sectarian movement. This movement is to see everyone, every human being, not only human being, even the animals, everyone be happy. Sarve sukhino bhavantu. And the process is very simple. Very simple. Chant Hare Kṛṣṇa. That you have already seen. This chanting is not at all difficult. Anyone, even a child was sitting here, he was just trying to clap and understand. It is immediately appealing, because this vibration is from the platform of the soul. Try to understand that we have got different platforms of our life. In the beginning we understand that this body, "I am this body." Therefore, so long the bodily concept of life is there, we are interested in sense gratification, because body means the senses. And when we fail to achieve any gratification by indulging in the senses, then we become philosophers or thoughtful. That is the mental platform. Indriyāṇi parāṇy āhur indriyebhyaḥ paraṁ manaḥ (BG 3.42).

Address to Indian Association -- Columbus, May 11, 1969:

So this movement is not like that is a sentimental movement. Don't think that these boys are dancing in some religious sentiment or fanaticism. No. We have background. We have background, highest philosophical and theosophical. Whatever you like. Just like Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Caitanya Mahāprabhu, while He was preaching, He went to Benares. So Benares is the seat of Māyāvādī sannyāsīs. The followers of Śaṅkarācārya, they are mostly seen in Benares, Vārāṇasī. When Caitanya Mahāprabhu was there, He was chanting and dancing. So some of the people, they became very much appreciative of Caitanya Mahāprabhu's dancing and chanting, and there was a big sannyāsī, Prakāśānanda Sarasvatī, leader of many thousands of Māyāvādī sannyāsīs. So somebody went to him and said, "Oh, from Bengal one young sannyāsī has come. Oh, He is so nicely chanting and dancing." So Prakāśānanda Sarasvatī, he was a great Vedāntist. He did not like the idea. He said, "Oh, He is a pseudo sannyāsī. He is chanting and dancing. This is not the business of a sannyāsī.

Lecture with Allen Ginsberg at Ohio State University -- Columbus, May 12, 1969:

In other words, the indigenous, the importation of a very strange oriental form, almost a hard-shelled Baptist oriental form, in the sense of its traditionality and its fundamentalism, its reliance on ancient texts and interpretation of ancient texts by long tradition of teachers—it's strange it's so far-out and ritualized an Indian form should take root in the United States a little more naturally than the more Protestant Vedānta Society or the extremely rigorous Zen groups that have taken root. I think partly it's due to the magnanimity or generosity or the old-age charm, wisdom, cheerfulness of Swami Bhaktivedanta, his openness of heart, his willingness to come down on to the street, and his sense of his own divinity and the divinity of others around that it's been possible for the bhakti-yoga cult of India to be planted very firmly here in America so that now there are communes, or ashrams, functioning on the basis of the Kṛṣṇa rituals, which are, in some respect, a model for all those anarchists and political people who are interested in establishing indigenous American communes. The regulations on food, on sexual relations, which generally cause much confusion in mutual-living health pads, the regulations on sleep and thinking process, are like an interesting model to study for those who are interested in forming affinity groups or large family communes. I will have my turn at language tomorrow because I'm giving a poetry reading at the student union somewhere—I'm not sure where—which is my regular thing, which is why I was invited here by the student activities committee. So I will cut myself off now and be brief and leave the rest of the evening to Swami Bhaktivedanta, who will give a language explanation, or whatever he wants to say, of the cultural, or metaphysical or religious roots in... Pardon me?

Conway Hall Lecture -- London, September 15, 1969:

So this message of Caitanya Mahāprabhu, Hare Kṛṣṇa movement, is to warn you, "Don't spoil this opportunity of human form of life. Don't spoil it." Āhāra-nidrā-bhaya-maithunaṁ ca sāmānyam etat paśubhiḥ narāṇām. Eating, sleeping, mating and defending, these things are common to the animals and the human being. You eat; the animals eat. You sleep; the animals sleep. You mate; the animals mate. You are also afraid of your enemy; they are also afraid of their enemy. So by discovering very palatable dishes to eat, or fashionable dresses for sex life, or atom bomb for defending... Eating, sleeping, mating and defending, these four principles, if you advance in these four principles only, that does not mean that you are better than animals. You are as good as animals. Then how we can utilize this human form of life? That is stated: dharmeṇa hīnāḥ paśubhiḥ samānāḥ. Dharma, dharma means not a religious faith. According to Sanskrit, dharma means constitutional position, which you cannot change. That is dharma.

Lecture at Harvard University -- Boston, December 24, 1969:

All the problems of our life, whatever you may say, social, political, religious and whatever... There are so many problems. The whole material world is full of problems. These problems are compared just like blazing fire in the forest. Just like in the forest, there is fire, nobody can check. Although nobody goes to the forest to set fire, it takes automatically. Similarly, in this material existence of life, we do not want any problem, but problems are created. Just like automatically there is fire in the forest without our endeavor, similarly, material problems are created automatically by our dealings, by our behavior. So if you chant this Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra, the first result will be that you will understand your real constitutional position, for which many great mystics, sages and saints are meditating, "What I am?" That, I mean to say, procedure of spiritual realization will be the first installment, your profit. You'll understand that ahaṁ brahmāsmi, "I am not matter, I am spirit soul."

Lecture at Harvard University -- Boston, December 24, 1969:

So this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is not any sectarian movement. It is practically postgraduate movement of all religion. Any religion, they have got some idea of God. But here, we are explaining what is God, how great He is, how you can establish your relationship with Him. These things are there. So any religious person, or any person, without being religious, if anyone joins with us in this saṅkīrtana movement, his life will be sublime. And our method is very simple. We place before you to judge and join with us. That is our request.

Lecture at Harvard University -- Boston, December 24, 1969:

Prabhupāda: You can show in the history there was chanting of Hare Kṛṣṇa? Is there any history?

Student (2): I won't say chanting only Hare Kṛṣṇa, but give you a similar time and place.

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.

Prabhupāda: Well, the history will repeat itself again. It will be wars again. So do you think by adopting the Russian method, people have become very happy?

Student (2): No.

Lecture to International Student Society -- Boston, December 28, 1969:

So because so long we are absorbed in this bodily concept of life, then we try to give comforts to the senses, sense gratification. This is one stage. So dharma means occupation. People are engaged in various types of occupational duties for sense gratification. Sometimes in religion they say you'll go to heaven. What is that heaven? That is also sense gratification. You'll live so long years, you'll have so many beautiful wives and so many things, so many things. All flowery language. What is the basic? Sense gratification. That's all. This is one way. Another way is nivṛtti-mārga. When one has seen perfectly that "This process of sense gratification cannot give me actual happiness," then they began to give it up. Just like the Māyāvādī philosophy. They say brahma-satyaṁ jagan mithyā: "This world is false." Just like in your country, a section of youngsters, they're disgusted with this materialistic way of life. They have taken to the hippies' path. Why? It does not give satisfaction, but they do not know the right way. They have taken a wrong way, hippies. So this is called accepting and rejecting. So Kṛṣṇa says, "You have to give up all this nonsense accepting and rejecting. You have to take to Me, then you'll be happy." Sarva-dharmān. Sarva-dharmān means some religious occupation is for sense gratification and some religious occupation is rejection of this material world. So we have to give up both these, the acceptance and rejection. We have to accept the Kṛṣṇa's path, Kṛṣṇa consciousness. "Surrender unto Me." Then we'll be happy.

Speech to Maharaja and Maharani and Conversations Before and After -- Indore, December 11, 1970:

So the Vedic civilization accepts the king or the ruler as representative of God, and he is given the... Not only in India. In other countries also, so far we know, in England also the royal family, the king and the queen is given respect as good as to the God. In every country, in Japan also. That was the system all over the world, the relationship between the citizen and the king. Gradually, with the progress of the Kali-yuga, Mahārāja Parīkṣit was the last kṣatriya king to give protection all over the world. And when he was cursed by a brāhmaṇa boy, his father regretted that "My dear boy, you have brought a scar amongst the brāhmaṇa society by cursing a king like Mahārāja Parīkṣit." So Mahārāja Parīkṣit was protected by Kṛṣṇa. He could counteract it, but still, he tolerated that punishment or the curse given by a brāhmaṇa boy. He immediately resigned from his royal throne, handing over the charge to his son. And he retired on the bank of the Ganges although he had only seven days' time to live. And during those seven days the whole Bhāgavata was recited. So, I mean to say, the royal family has got very intimate relationship with Kṛṣṇa consciousness. And as soon as that was broken, because sometimes it breaks, the religious process declined and the royal power also declined. That is the whole history of the world.

Pandal Lecture -- Bombay, March 31, 1971:

We should consider what are the religion of the world 2,600 years ago because modern history cannot place before you any chronological list of religious evolution within 2,600 years. There was human society before 2,600 years. And what was their religion? We think, from Vedic evidences, the whole world was in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. There was one God, Kṛṣṇa; one scripture, Bhagavad-gītā; one consciousness, Kṛṣṇa consciousness; and one work, service of the Lord. From Mahābhārata, the great history of India, we can understand that up to Mahārāja Parīkṣit, the whole world was ruled by one flag, this Vedic culture. Gradually it deteriorated, as we have practical experience. Twenty years ago there was no Pakistan, but now Pakistan is existing. Similarly, the whole planet was known as Bhārata-varṣa. This Bhārata-varṣa name was after the king Mahārāja Bhārata, the son of Ṛṣabhadeva. Before that, this planet was known as Ilāvṛta-varṣa. And after the king Mahārāja Bhārata—he was a great king—he also left his kingdom at the age of twenty-four years, very young boy, for searching after spiritual realization, self-realization.

Pandal Lecture -- Bombay, March 31, 1971:

The meaning is very clear. Dharma-kṣetre: the land of pilgrimage, the holy land of pilgrimage; kuru-kṣetre: the land which is known as Kurukṣetra. It is not fictitious. It is actual fact. Still there is Kurukṣetra, and people go there to perform religious ritualistic ceremonies. And in the Vedas it is written clearly, kurukṣetre dharmam ācaret. That is the statement of the Vedas. So from time immemorial this Kurukṣetra, land of Kurukṣetra is known as dharma-kṣetra. So what is the difficulty to understand dharma-kṣetre kuru-kṣetre (BG 1.1)? There is no difficulty. Unfortunately, some unscrupulous commentator says that "Kurukṣetra means this body." Where is the chance of interpreting like that, "Kuru-kṣetre is meaning body"? In no dictionary you will find that kuru-kṣetra is meant by body. Neither there is any chance. Interpretation is required when you cannot understand the word very clearly. In that case you can interpret. Just like the example is gaṅgāyāṁ ghoṣapali: "There is a neighborhood which is known as ghoṣapali on the Ganges."

Pandal Lecture -- Bombay, April 11, 1971:

So I'll try to speak something about this Hare Kṛṣṇa people. This Hare Kṛṣṇa people means... Since I started this movement in 1967 in New York, very, in a small scale... In the beginning... I went there in 1965, and for one year I had no shelter, neither any means to maintain myself. I had some books only, Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, and some way or other, I pulled on. In 1966 I started this movement after incorporation in New York under the state religious act, and I began to chant Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra in a park in New York. What is called? Thompkins Square. Thompkins Square. And these young boys and girls, they began to assemble and chant and dance. This is the beginning. And when one well-known poet... Perhaps you know. He is Mr. Allen Ginsberg. He was also coming and joined with us. In this way, first of all we started our center in new York, Second Avenue, and then gradually expanded in San Francisco, in Montreal, in Boston, Buffalo, and Los Angeles. Now we have got fifty-two branches all over the world, including one in Tokyo, one in Hong Kong, in Australia, Sydney.

Lecture at Wayside Chapel -- Sydney, May 13, 1971:

Australian man: Just at this point we'd like to welcome tonight Swami Bhaktivedanta here, as well as all of you who are participating in this Family of Man meeting. The Wayside Chapel, of course, is the home of world religion. As a matter of fact, in three weeks time the Sikh community will conduct their major festival here in this very theater, and everybody is invited to share with the Sikh community on that particular Sunday. So that's part of our program. And therefore it's perfectly natural that this evening we should have in our presence such a renowned world leader of a religious movement, which we have watched with great interest from the Wayside Chapel, and we are very honored that the Swami should be in our presence this evening. And in a few moments time we're going to invite him to speak just as long as he wishes to speak to the whole community which is present. And after that, as usual, in connection with our Family of Man meetings here on Wednesday night, there will be ample opportunity for questions and discussion. I think nothing more needs to be said except to say that we want you to feel very much at home. Everybody here is most anxious to hear what you have to say. The Wayside Chapel originally began... (break)

Prabhupāda: So ladies and gentlemen, I thank you very much for giving me the opportunity to place before you our views on saṅkīrtana movement all over the world. This saṅkīrtana movement, don't take it as a religious movement. As you generally understand in the Western countries, the word religion is used as "a kind of faith." Faith you can change. Today you are Christian; tomorrow you can become Hindu. But religion cannot be changed. What we mean by the exact word, Sanskrit word, corresponding to religion is dharma, d-h-a-r-m-a. That dharma is different thing from the word religion. Religion is generally understood as a kind of faith, but dharma is not like that. Dharma you cannot change. Just like water. Water is liquid. You cannot make it solid. If water becomes solid, then it is not in the natural state. If you can... You can say the water becomes sometimes solid by less temperature under certain condition. But the tendency of water is to become liquid again. Water cannot stand solid for good. This is called dharma, religion.

Lecture -- San Francisco, June 28, 1971:

Similarly, Kṛṣṇa says that "I am this and that." He says, raso 'ham apsu kaunteya (BG 7.8). Those who are sober, those who want to understand Kṛṣṇa, they can understand Kṛṣṇa in every step of life. Just like raso 'ham apsu kaunteya, "I am the taste of the water." Water you have to drink. Just like I drank just a minute before and quenched my thirst. But that quenching active principle is Kṛṣṇa. So we can realize Kṛṣṇa every time we'll drink water. This is Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Śās..., prabhāsmi śaśi sūryayoḥ. Kṛṣṇa is the sunshine, Kṛṣṇa is the moonshine. Kṛṣṇa is the fragrance of the flower. As soon as you take a flower and smell it, the fragrance is Kṛṣṇa. In this way, every step we can understand Kṛṣṇa. Even in sex life we can understand Kṛṣṇa. That is also stated in the Bhagavad-gītā: dharmāviruddho kāmo 'smi, sex life which is not against the religious codes. What is that? Sex life for begetting children is allowed. That is not against the religious code, and that is Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa says, dharmāviruddho kāmo 'smi. Kāma, lust. Sex life is the business of lust. Kṛṣṇa says "Yes, lust is also good provided it is not against the religious codes." So nothing is bad; everything is good, if it is for developing our Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Nothing is bad, because everything is creation of Kṛṣṇa. How it can be bad? It cannot be bad; it is good, provided we follow the rules and regulations. Everything is good.

Lecture -- Detroit, July 16, 1971:

So the ideal pictures are there, that you become Kṛṣṇa conscious and you go back to home, back to Kṛṣṇa, and be happy. That is our program. It is very nice program. This Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is not an ordinary, bluffing movement. It is a solid, authorized movement, and we are opening branches as far as possible in all parts of the world to give facility to the people, to the civilized men, to understand what is the value of his life, how he can be happy. That is our business. We have no business to cheat you, that "I give you some mantra, and you give me some money. I go away." No. We have come to serve you, so you take advantage. You don't misunderstand us, that "It is a religious sect." No. We are not religious sect. We are cultural sect. We are giving the highest culture to the human society, to awaken his lost consciousness. So I am very happy to see you all, American boys, Indians. This is wanted. We want to unite the whole world under this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement. And actually that is happening. In our society we have got devotees from all section of people—from Christian, from Jews, from Hindus, from Muhammadan, from black, from white.

Lecture at Christian Monastery -- Melbourne, April 6, 1972:

Well, God consciousness does not prohibit war, but it must be for the right cause. Just like in Bhagavad-gītā we see that the instruction of the Bhagavad-gītā was given to Arjuna in the battlefield. And in the beginning Arjuna did not like to fight. He was a good, good man, religious man, devotee. Naturally, he was not inclined to fight with his relatives, kinsmen. He said, "Kṛṣṇa, the opposite side, they are all my brothers and nephews and fathers and grandfathers. So there is no use of fighting like this, to kill them and take the... Let... Let them enjoy." That was his conclusion. But Kṛṣṇa induced them, induced Arjuna, "No. This is the right cause. You must fight." So similarly, war is not always bad. Nothing is bad, nothing is good, unless it is used for God. That's it. Our philosophy is everything is good. God is all-good. So if He advises to fight, that is also good. But we shall depend on the discretion of God. If God wants us to fight, then we shall fight. If God wants us to stop fight, then we shall not fight. Because we are surrendered to God, so whatever God orders, we have to do. That's all. We don't say, "This is good; this is bad." Whatever God says, that is good. What God does not say, prohibit, that is bad. This is our conclusion.

Town Hall Lecture -- Auckland, April 14, 1972:

This is very clear. Dharma-kṣetre kuru-kṣetre. Kurukṣetra is a place which is still a place of pilgrimage. The Hindus, those who are followers of Vedic rites, they go there. They perform religious rituals. And there is Vedic injunction, kuru-kṣetre dharmam ācaret, dharma yajet, like that, that "If you want to perform some religious rituals, better go to Kurukṣetra." So Kurukṣetra is from the Vedic age. Millions of years, from time immemorial, it is a dharma-kṣetra. And still it is there. There is a station, railway station, called Kurukṣetra near Delhi, about hundred miles away from Delhi. So these are facts. Why there should be interpretation? These are facts. Why there should be... It is clear. Dharma-kṣetra is... Kurukṣetra is dharma-kṣetra, and historical fact is māmakāḥ pāṇḍavāś caiva yuyutsavaḥ (BG 1.1). Two groups of cousin brothers, they wanted to fight to settle up. Formerly the war was declared—the leader of the war, if he is killed, then the other party is victorious. Not that unnecessarily killing the civil citizens, no. This was nonsense. If there was fight between two kings, the citizens, they were unaffected, not that there is fight now between two parties, there is immediately siren, (imitates siren:) gaw, gaw, gaw, gaw, now bomb and the civil..., the most uncivilized way of war. In those days—those days means at least five thousand years ago—they selected a place, and "Let us fight and decide our fate," kṣatriyas. Why the public should suffer? So in this way Kurukṣetra was selected to fight between the two parties. And still it is existing. It is a great field. And dharma-kṣetre... Just try to understand that there is no need of our imperfect comments on the Bhagavad-gītā. That is my point.

Lecture -- Tokyo, April 29, 1972, (with interpreter):

So this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is on a different platform than this matter. It will be easier to understand that distinction between living body and dead body. So we are talking of the living portion of our existence. The living portion... We have got a living force within this body. Everyone can understand. As soon as that living force is out of this body, this body has no longer any value. It is thrown away on the street. So without any knowledge of the living force within this body, if we simply take care of our body, it is just like decorating a dead body. So do not take this movement as a sectarian, religious movement. It is practically a movement to bestow the essential knowledge of life to the human society.

Sunday Feast Lecture -- Los Angeles, May 21, 1972:

Bherī-ghoṣeṇa means by sound of bugle. Formerly, when there was some declaration by the king, by the government, one should go in the marketplace and, the government men, and take a drum and one bugle, and they'll declare, "This is the law from this day." That's all. No more gazette. So, this is the old system. Somewhere it's still existing. So the Vena king declared that "These are all nonsense." What is this? Na yaṣṭavyam: "No more worship of God, no more sacrifice." Na dātavyam: "No more charity. Stop all this!" Na dātavyaṁ na hotavyam: "No more offering oblations to the fire, sacrifice." Dvijāḥ kvacit iti. This business was meant for the brāhmaṇas; therefore, dvija, he's restricting the brāhmaṇas that "Don't do all this nonsense anymore." Dvijāḥ kvacit. Iti nyavārayad dharmam: "In this way he stopped all religious activities." Bherī-ghoṣeṇa sarvaśaḥ.

Sunday Feast Lecture -- Los Angeles, May 21, 1972:

So formerly, the king was controlled by saintly persons, by priestly order. They would give the king advice. The Vedic society is divided into four classes of men. It is confirmed in the Bhagavad-gītā, cātur-varṇyaṁ mayā sṛṣṭaṁ guṇa-karma-vibhāgaśaḥ (BG 4.13). According to quality and work, there are four divisions of men: The brāhmaṇa, the intelligent class of men; the kṣatriyas, the administrative class of men, the martial class of men; and the vaiśyas, the productive class of men; and the śūdras, the worker class of men. That is still existing in a different name, but the difficulty is, the classification is not made according to quality and work. That was the actual position of classification. Nowadays, a śūdra is on the government. A person who is a nonsense number one, he has no knowledge, he is on the head of the government. The things have been topsy-turvied. A person on religious category, he's advocating something, oh, it is not to be uttered. Homosex. You see? He's advocating homosex. Just see. These has been topsy-turvied. The four classes of men are there, still. But the third-class, fourth-class man is taking the place of first class. And the first-class man is kicked out, "Go out. Don't talk of God." This is the position at the present moment. The classes are there. That is natural.

Hare Krishna Festival Address -- San Diego, July 1, 1972, At Balboa Park Bowl:

So formerly, when the whole world was under the one king of the Pāṇḍavas, just like Parīkṣit Mahārāja, there was equal protection for the animals and the man. Not that man should be given protection by law, and not the animals. The animals, they're also national. What is the meaning of "national"? One who is born in that land. Suppose you are American. You are born in this land of America; therefore you are American national. Why not the cats and the dogs and the cows? They are also national. So this is injustice, that to give protection to the human kind and to send the animals to the slaughterhouse. This, this inequality, discrimination between man and animal is due to lack of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. When one becomes actually Kṛṣṇa conscious, he does not make such distinction that a man should be given protection and the animal should be killed. So our Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is a, a spiritual movement. It is reformatory movement, inclusive all sides of life. Don't think that we are simply chanting and dancing. Our philosophy includes all different activities of humankind, either it may be religious or political or social or cultural. Anything. Industrial—everything. So my request is that this movement was started in your country, and these American boys and girls, they have taken it seriously. So kindly cooperate with this movement, and you'll be happy. That is my request.

University Lecture -- Calcutta, January 29, 1973:

So this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is all-embracing. It can solve all the problems of the world—political, social, economical, religious, everything. It is all-embracing. So my request is that I am working now with my American disciples and European disciples. Why not Indians? I think in this meeting there are many young men, educated, learned scholars. Join this movement and, according to the order of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu,

bhārata-bhūmite manuṣya janma haila yāra

janma sārthaka kari' karo paropakāra

(CC Adi 9.41)

This is the time to do welfare activities for the whole world. They are merged into confusion, everywhere. You know that in the Western countries, the hippy movements. What are the hippies? They're also educated, coming from very rich family also, but they do not like the way of envelopment as their fathers and grandfathers liked. They have rejected. So this is the golden opportunity to preach the Kṛṣṇa cult all over the world. You are lamenting because a few yards of land has been taken away from your country as Pakistan, but if you spread this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement, the whole world will become Hindustan. There is such potency; I give you my direct perception. People are hankering after it. So long I am in India, practically I am wasting my time. Outside India, this reception is taken so seriously that every part of my moment is properly utilized.

Lecture at Indo-American Society 'East and West' -- Calcutta, January 31, 1973:

So I request all you ladies and gentlemen to take this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement. It is not a sentimental movement. It is a very authorized, scientific movement. You are all educated, advanced ladies and gentlemen. I'll request you to understand this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement. The American boys, it is already we are combining East and West socially, politically, religiously, philosophically, economically, everything. There is solution. But if you take it seriously. If you think this is a movement, sentimental move... It is not sentimental movement. It is a most scientific movement. Any scientist come to me. I can convince him that it is a scientific movement. I asked similarly to Professor Kotovsky in Moscow that "My dear Professor, what is the difference between your movement, communist movement, and my movement? You, you have selected Lenin as God. I have selected Kṛṣṇa as God. Where is the difference of principle? You cannot live without a leader or God. I cannot live without a leader or God. That's a fact. Then where is the difference? Now it is to be judged whether Lenin is good or Kṛṣṇa is good. That is another thing. But your position is that you have to accept one leader, either Lenin or Jawaharlal Nehru or Hitler or this or Lord (?) Churchill. You have to accept. You cannot work independently. Therefore you have got so many parties. So here is also one party, Kṛṣṇa party. So where is the difference in philosophy? There is no difference in philosophy. Now let us study whether Kṛṣṇa party is good or Lenin party is good. Then whole solution is there."

Lecture Excerpt -- Jakarta, February 25, 1973:

It is scientific. (indistinct) ...Christian, anyone, because it is science. Automatic, "Two plus two equal to four." It is four for everyone. Not that because one is Muhammadan it will be five, or because one is Christian it will be three. No. "Two plus two equal to four." Just like (indistinct). Similarly, this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement will be efficient for everyone if he studies impartially. Otherwise, how in the Western world the Americans—they are not foolish people, all these young men; they are qualified, educated—they're accepting this movement very seriously? I have got many branches almost in every city in America now. Similarly, in Europe. Why not here? Simply I invite all the intelligent class of men to understand. Take one of our books. We have given not only one Bhagavad-gītā... (indistinct) means (indistinct). Anyone can take part (indistinct) illiterate, literate, rich, poor—anyone. But if anyone is proud of his education, let him come and study our books, understand this philosophy, and I'm sure he'll find (indistinct) satisfying. Don't take it as something sentimental, religious (indistinct). It is a scientific, educational movement. Take it in that (indistinct), and you'll be profited.

Lecture -- Jakarta, February 26, 1973:

The main meaning is very plain: that Dhṛtarāṣṭra was asking his father's secretary, Sañjaya, "My dear Sañjaya, māmakāḥ, my sons and pāṇḍavāḥ, my brother's sons, Pāṇḍavas, they assembled," dharma-kṣetre kuru-kṣetre (BG 1.1), "in the Kurukṣetra Field, which is known as dharma-kṣetra, the religious pilgrimage. After that meeting, what did they do?" Now, where is the difficulty to understand this verse? But unfortunately, one so-called scholar or so-called foolish man will come, he'll say, "Dharma-kṣetre kuru-kṣetra means this body." No. "Where you get this meaning, sir?" But he'll say, explain in this way: "The Pāṇḍava means five senses." Well, in which dictionary you'll find? This is going on. This rascaldom is going on. If you'll give up this rascaldom, simply read Bhagavad-gītā as it is, then you'll become successful in life. That is our preaching Kṛṣṇa consciousness.

Lecture -- London, August 23, 1973:

Therefore we have to understand dharma from scriptures. Veda, veda means the book of knowledge. Veda means knowledge. Vetti veda vido jñānam. Jñāna. So we have to take knowledge from authorized scriptures, authorized lawbook. A big lawyer means who is quite aware of the laws of the state. Similarly, a religious person means who knows completely, at least partially also, the laws of God. That is dharmic. That is dharma. So what is God? You have to understand. Then what does He say? You have to understand, then you can execute actually what is religion. If you do not know what is government, what is the laws of the government, how you can become a good citizen? That is not possible. A good citizen, good citizen means who abide by the laws of the state. Similarly, a religious person means who abides by the order of God. This is dharma.

Lecture at World Health Organization -- Geneva, June 6, 1974:

So this is natural division. Therefore Kṛṣṇa says, cātur-varṇyaṁ mayā sṛṣṭam. If this cātur-varṇyaṁ, this division... The most intelligent class of men, they should be trained up as brāhmaṇa. Śamo damo titikṣa ārjava jñānaṁ vijñānam āstikyaṁ brahma-karma svabhāva-jam (BG 18.42). The social division must be there. The most intellectual class of men, they should be engaged in studying the Vedas and acquire the knowledge and spread it to the human society so that they may be guided and do the needful for peaceful situation of the society. That is the guidance. The kṣatriyas, they're meant for protecting the society, military power, or martial-spirited. When there is danger, attack, they'll give us protection. Similarly, there must be a class of men for producing food grain, and giving protection to the cows. Kṛṣi-go-rakṣya vāṇijyaṁ vaiśya-karma svabhāva-jam (BG 18.44). And the rest of the people, who cannot work as intellectuals or as martial-spirited persons or cannot take to production of foodstuffs, they should assist all these three classes of men. And they are called śūdras. This is the social division. So this is called varṇāśrama-dharma. The word dharma is used. Dharma means occupational duty. Dharma does not mean some religious sentiment. No. Natural division and the occupational duty.

Lecture at World Health Organization -- Geneva, June 6, 1974:

It is factually complete. There is no problem. The problem is that we are not following the, I mean to..., the principles of life as they are enunciated, as they are enjoined. Dharma, the word dharma, it is not a, a religious sentiment. Dharma means occupational duty. So in the... From Vedic literature, we understand that dharmaṁ tu sākṣād bhagavat-praṇītam (SB 6.3.19). Dharma means the laws given by God. Unfortunately, at the present moment, they have no information what is God and what is God's law and how to abide God's law. They're all in ignorance and they're manufacturing their own way of life, every day changing. This will not solve the problems of human society. If we actually follow the Vedic injunction, it is very simple thing. The whole idea is that everything belongs to God. Actually, that's a fact. This is the... Īśāvāsyam idaṁ sarvam (ISO 1). Everything be... Now this United Nations, they're trying to be united, but actually, in the heart, they have got this, "This is my land," "This is my land." The American thinking, "This is my land." The German thinking, "Oh, it is my land." Indians thinking, "My land." Actually, there is no knowledge. Every land belongs to God.

La Trobe University Lecture -- Melbourne, July 1, 1974:

So this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is educational movement. It is not a religious sentiment; it is a science. And as we have got our books also. You have seen. There is demonstration of the book. We have got already twenty books of four hundred pages each, and we are going on, writing more books. Everything will be finished in eighty books. So if you want to know through science and philosophy, we have got our books. You can read. And even if you read the complete set, it will take your whole life to finish it. But if you cannot read or if you do not want to waste your time by such reading... It is not wasting; it is actually utilizing. But if you think so, then our request is that you simply chant the holy name of God.

Lecture with Translator -- Sanand, December 27, 1975:

A human being or a living being is not expected to become as perfect as Kṛṣṇa. That is not possible. Therefore, if a person sticks to the instruction of Kṛṣṇa, does not make any addition and alteration, he is also perfect. Unfortunately, at the present moment especially... It was done formerly also five thousand years, that they make addition and alteration on the version of Kṛṣṇa. Just like Bhagavad-gītā is misinterpreted by so-called scholars and politicians. Just like in the Bhagavad-gītā it is said, dharma-kṣetre kuru-kṣetre samavetā yuyutsavaḥ (BG 1.1). Somebody interprets, "This dharma-kṣetra is this body." Why? Why one should interpret in that way? Interpretation is required when things are not very clear. Dharma-kṣetre kuru-kṣetre is still there. People go to Kurukṣetra for executing religious rituals. And in the Vedas it is stated, kuru-kṣetre dharmam ācaret. So why it should be interpreted as "body"? And where is the dictionary where dharma-kṣetra means "body"? So in this way, if we interpret Bhagavad-gītā, then we spoil the whole thing. I spoil myself and spoil others. Therefore the conclusion is we shall accept Bhagavad-gītā as it is, as it is spoken by Kṛṣṇa.

Tenth Anniversary Address -- Washington, D.C., July 6, 1976:

So why God cannot come? So when God says, "Yes, I come for this purpose. This is My mission..." Yadā yadā hi dharmasya glānir bhavati. What is that glānir? Glānir means discrepancies. Not, the principles of religious..., when it is not executed properly, that is called glānir. So what is dharma? A simple definition is given: dharmaṁ tu sākṣāt-bhagavat-praṇītam. Dharma means the law given by God, that's all-three words: God and His words. So if we do not know who is God, if we do not know what is His order, then we are lost. If we do not know God and if we... Just like if we do not know what is the government and if we do not know what is the order of government, then what is our position? We'll commit every step some mistake, and we shall suffer. So we must know what is dharma and... A cat, dog cannot understand dharma, but a human being is supposed to understand dharma. Lawbooks are made for the human being, not for the cats and dogs. "Keep to the left" or "Keep to the right," the signboard is there in the street. Or the red light is there, blue light is there—for whom? For the human beings, not for the cats and dogs. The cats and dogs may disobey; there is no criminality on their part because they are cats and dogs. So there is law of God, there is God. If human being does not know what is God and what is the law of God, then he's no better than the cats and dogs. He must know. Dharmaṁ tu sākṣād bhagavat-praṇītam (SB 6.3.19).

Sunday Feast Lecture -- London, July 25, 1976:

So people should be very careful, take advantage of this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement. It is not a blind, sentimental religious faith. It is a great science, vijñānam. Jñānaṁ me parama-guhyaṁ yad vijñāna-samanvitam. Jñānaṁ te 'haṁ pravakṣyāmi yad vijñāna-samanvitam. These are the words. It is vijñāna, a great science. Don't think that "These people are sentimentally chanting and dancing." That is the process, very easy made for this age. But if you think yourself that you are a great scientist, great philosopher, then we have got eighty-four books of four hundred pages. If you have got actually learning, you can study them. We can convince you. And people are becoming convinced. We are selling books all over the world, daily, sixty thousand dollars' worth. People are receiving, and they are appreciating. We have got big, big learned scholars' opinion.

Address to Rotary Club -- Chandigarh, October 17, 1976:

So now this Kṛṣṇa movement is being appreciated all over the world. Unfortunately, although Bhagavad-gītā is spoken in this land of Bhāratavarṣa, Chandigarh, the Kurukṣetra, we do not allow Kṛṣṇa to speak. This is our misfortune. Kṛṣṇa spoke these words of Bhagavad-gītā. Many scholars, many so-called saintly persons, they have misinterpreted the words of Bhagavad-gītā. They did not allow to speak Kṛṣṇa. They wanted to speak on behalf of Kṛṣṇa... Not on behalf of Kṛṣṇa. I am sorry. They wanted to speak about themself. If one speaks on behalf of Kṛṣṇa, he is guru. But if one manufactures some idea from the words of Kṛṣṇa by misinterpretation and does not allow Kṛṣṇa to speak, it is a great dangerous position. That has become actually the fact in India. Otherwise such a big culture, complete culture... From the Bhagavad-gītā, any question you can raise, the answer is there. Political, social, religious, philosophical, cultural—any way you study Bhagavad-gītā, the complete answer is there. Therefore our request is that let Kṛṣṇa speak for Himself. Don't try to misinterpret the words of Kṛṣṇa or the words in the Bhagavad-gītā. That will spoil it.

Evening Lecture -- Bhuvanesvara, January 23, 1977:

Prabhupāda: No. Your question is that... We are living very opulently because we are surrendered to Kṛṣṇa. That is point. So if you come to us you will also live very opulently. Surrender. Do that by practical seeing. We have no anxiety. Do you know what is our expenditure? In New York we are spending twelve lakhs of rupees per month. Only in New York. Similarly, in Los Angeles we have got huge expenditure. And our income is also, daily, five lakhs. You can see. Take our account. Audit. People do not touch as soon as one hears, "Oh, it is a religious group." And we are selling religious books, this Bhāgavata and Śrīmad Bhagavad-gītā, six lakhs of rupees daily. Can you imagine?

Guest (6) (Indian man): Where is this consciousness of surrender come in human life? At what stage it can come?

Prabhupāda: At any moment. You must be prepared. Kṛṣṇa said, sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja (BG 18.66). So if you have got intelligence, you can do it immediately. Where is the difficulty? But you'll not do it. They have done it, these young boys. They have no other business. And Kṛṣṇa assures, ahaṁ tvāṁ sarva-pāpebhyo mokṣayiṣyāmi mā śucaḥ: Don't hesitate. But we are hesitating. So there is no surrender. So all right, you remain under the clutches of māyā and suffer. Daivī hy eṣā guṇamayī mama māyā duratyayā (BG 7.14). Māyā is very strong. Mām eva ye prapadyante māyām etāṁ taranti As soon as you surrender to Kṛṣṇa immediately you are mukta. Immediately, instantly. It is in your hand. You follow Kṛṣṇa's instruction, do the needful, you are mukta. Chant Hare Kṛṣṇa.

Departure Talks

Departure Lecture -- London, March 12, 1975:

That is the recommendation of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Premā pum-artho mahān. Pum-artho means puruṣārtha, or the goal of life. The goal of life in the material world, generally, not for the animals but for the human being, the goal of life, generally-religiosity, economic development, sense gratification and liberation. Dharma, artha, kāma, mokṣa (SB 4.8.41, Cc. Ādi 1.90). Some people are interested to become pious, religious, because by becoming pious and religious their economic development will be automatically there. And some of them are interested in simply in economic development for satisfaction of the senses. And some of them—they are considered to be the topmost-interested in liberation. But a Kṛṣṇa conscious devotee, he is not interested in either of these four items. He is interested how to love Kṛṣṇa. That is pure devotion. That is paneama-puruṣārtha (?). So people do not know it. Na te viduḥ svārtha-gatiṁ hi viṣṇum (SB 7.5.31). People do not know it generally. If one is very pious man, he wants to be religious, moralist, religious. And others, karmīs, they are interested how to develop economic position. And others, they are simply interested in sense gratification. This is material world. And when these materialistic persons are disgusted, then they want liberation. Their liberation means to become one, merge into the existence of the Supreme. That is not very difficult. They give the example that the water mixes with the vast mass of water, and they become one. But that is not the fact.

Philosophy Discussions

Philosophy Discussion on David Hume:

Śyāmasundara: He says the only authority is public opinion, and it changes.

Prabhupāda: That's all right. Still it is authority. Public opinion, he says, or without public opinion, the king or royalty. There must be some authority to guide them. Otherwise there will be chaos.

Śyāmasundara: As far as his philosophy of religion, he rejected the idea of absolute matter and the concept of a soul as substance. He rejected the utility of scientific laws, and he rejected moral principles as objective realities. He says all religious ideas are relative. There is no certainty and anything religious may be merely probable but never certain.

Prabhupāda: Yes. That also he says. Therefore religion means love of God. The means may be different in different processes of religion, but ultimately if one develops love of Godhead, that is the prima facie factor, love of God. So if any religious principle love of God is absent, that is simply show, it is not factual religion.

Śyāmasundara: He says that even the idea of God is merely probable but not certain.

Prabhupāda: That he cannot say. As soon as he speaks of authority, there must be a supreme authority. That is God.

Śyāmasundara: For him, the authority is the senses. His authority is the senses.

Prabhupāda: Then why does he say public opinion? Your senses may not be approved by the public opinion. Then where do your senses stand?

Śyāmasundara: That's as far as morality goes, public opinion. But for my understanding of God, I can only rely upon my own senses.

Prabhupāda: Morality, morality means what is sanctioned by... (break)

Śyāmasundara: ...imperfection or finiteness.

Philosophy Discussion on David Hume:

Hayagrīva: "Each disputant triumphs in his turn while he carries on an offensive war and exposes the absurdities, barbarities and pernicious tenets of his antagonists. But all of them," that is, all of the religions, "on the whole, prepare a complete triumph for the skeptic who tells them that no system ought ever to be embraced. A total suspense of judgment is here our only reasonable recourse."

Prabhupāda: No. Our principle is to know God from God, and religion means the principles given by God. Just like the law means the principle given by the state, similarly the principles given by God, that is religion. Otherwise it is pseudoreligion. If there is no conception of God, there is no direction of God, that is not religion. Religion is not a kind of blind faith. Religion is factual. That factual religion can be given by God Himself, and if we know God and what is His instruction, then we are religious.

Hayagrīva: Well, he believes that religion is necessary. He says religion, however corrupted, is still better than no religion at all.

Prabhupāda: Yes. That we also agree. But religion without philosophy, logic, it is sentiment. That will not help us. So just like religion given by Kṛṣṇa, man-manā bhava mad-bhakto mad-yājī māṁ namaskuru: (BG 18.65) "Always think of Me." So if you think of God always, so that is good for us, we become purified. So this is religion. We have to meditate upon God, think about God. Therefore temple worship, Deity worship is necessary so that we can constantly think of God. But if we do not know what is God, what is the form of God, how we can offer Him worship, how we can think of Him, then it is pseudoreligion. His type of religion will not help the follower. One must be definitely in understanding what is God and what does He speak and how to abide by His order. That is real religion.

Philosophy Discussion on David Hume:

Hayagrīva: He says, "The proper office of religion is to regulate the heart of man, humanize their conduct, infuse the spirit of temperance, order and obedience."

Prabhupāda: Yes, that is our system. We say, the social service, that "No illicit sex." If people indulge in illicit sex, society will be in chaotic condition. "No meat-eating." If we go on eating meat, then we revolt against the will of God, because God is the father of all living entities; He does not like that one of His son unnecessarily killed by another son on the plea that he is advanced son. The father cannot agree that the advanced son kill the ignorant or foolish son, the father will not agree. Therefore we say no meat-eating. When other foods are available, why one should eat meat? When there is wife, why there should be illicit sex? So religion means one should be good character. That is religion. This is one of the qualification becoming, that one who is actually religious, God conscious, that all the good qualities, either socially, politically, everything, even politician religious. Just like Arjuna, he was on the battlefield. This is politics. But because he was devotee he was hesitating to kill his enemies all. So this is the character of a devotee, that he can sacrifice his own interest because he has become a devotee. Others cannot do.

Philosophy Discussion on Immanuel Kant:

Hayagrīva: Immanuel Kant. Being a son of the Enlightenment, Kant strongly advocated the right and duty of every man to judge for himself in religious and secular matters. Indeed, he considered the motto of the Enlightenment to be, "Have courage to make use of your own intellect." The emphasis here is on individual freedom and on the ability of man to intuit the truth.

Prabhupāda: Does it mean that anyone, whatever he does, that is perfectly right? If he is given that freedom, then anyone will do anything as he likes. So it will be taken as...

Hayagrīva: Well he, at the same time, he considered the Bible to be the best vehicle for the instruction of the public in a truly moral religion.

Prabhupāda: Then he has to accept some authority. Where is freedom?

Hayagrīva: He believed that the individual can intuit truths within, but could be helped from without by scripture.

Prabhupāda: Yes. That means he should not become independent, but he advocates in the beginning that everyone should be independent. So that is not right proposal. One should be dependent on authority, and that authority should be recognized or well established. Then knowledge is possible.

Philosophy Discussion on Hegel:

Śyāmasundara: Yes, but he means it as the opposite of sensuous form but as something intangible, something you can only relate to...

Prabhupāda: No. Intangible it may be at the present moment, that is another thing. But religion means understanding of God. Otherwise there is no religion. What do you mean by religion? First of all, you must define.

Śyāmasundara: What he means by religion is that the objects of our religious consciousness are mere representations in your consciousness, nothing more, but they are not tangible, like...

Prabhupāda: So then he has got no clear definition of religion. We define religion, is to abide by the laws of God. That is religion. God says, "You do this." When you do it, that is religion.

Śyāmasundara: So you would say that the absolute expresses itself in the laws of God...

Prabhupāda: Yes, that is religion. And should the absolute gives you direction, and if you follow that direction, then you are religious. You cannot create religion.

Śyāmasundara: That's a tangible...

Prabhupāda: That is tangible, that is tangible. That is every religion, actually. Just like in Christian religion, "Thou shall not kill." That is the order. So if you kill, then you are not religious. When you do not kill, then you are religious. So therefore it is very difficult to find out real Christian because everyone is killing, violating the law of God. In one sense there is no Christian.

Philosophy Discussion on Hegel:

Prabhupāda: Philosophy means that there is some order of God. Just like God says "Thou shall not kill." Now if you want to kill, then you must present your philosophy why you are killing, why you are violating the order of God, or why you are accepting the order of God. This is philosophy, not dry speculation.

Śyāmasundara: He says that philosophy is highest because it can...

Prabhupāda: It is highest. But now God says, "Thou shalt not kill." Then you stop killing. That's all right, be religious but did you understand?

Śyāmasundara: Oh, why I (indistinct).

Prabhupāda: Why I shall not kill. That is philosophy. Jñāna, vijñānam(?). Just like devotee, he accept Kṛṣṇa or God, that's all right. He's also devotee but one understands actually what is Kṛṣṇa, therefore he is very dear devotee. Madhyama-adhikārī. He is kaniṣṭha-adhikārī, the lowest stage of devotee. He's as good as the other devotees. He does not like to... Just like gopīs, they are not philosophers and they're, neither they knew that Kṛṣṇa is God, but they loved Kṛṣṇa, that is highest. Without any consideration. Caitanya Mahāprabhu, "Whatever you may be, I love you."

Śyāmasundara: Last time we discussed Hegel, you said, "Yes, philosophy is highest but even higher than philosophy is the practice of philosophy."

Prabhupāda: Yes. This is practice as I say, the gopīs. They're actually loving.

Philosophy Discussion on Hegel:

Śyāmasundara: Oh.

Prabhupāda: Anything nonsense idea, that is not God. God has created you. You cannot create God. And they are creating God. Just like Vivekananda mission, yata mata tata patha. As many opinion you have got, you can have your religious way. Yata mata, this is their mission, yata mata tata patha, "Whatever you are thinking, all right." Ramakrishna, he wanted to realize God from any way. And later on he wanted to realize God by the Mohammedans' way and he asked the proprietor of the temple to allow him to take meat, cow's flesh. So when he asked, the proprietor said, "Please go out. Get out." Now don't real..., I don't want the (indistinct). This philosophy also you can realize God in any way, yata mata. Now he wanted to realize in the Mohammedan's way, therefore he thought it wise that he must eat cow's flesh. These things are there.

Philosophy Discussion on Charles Darwin:

Prabhupāda: So he was teaching, and the government arrested him?

Hayagrīva: The government, the American government, arrested, yes. The Tennessee legislature arrested him. He was arrested and defended by Clarence Darrow, famous trial lawyer, and the prosecutor was William Jennings Bryan, who was a thrice defeated Presidential candidate. So they discussed evolution and religion and how they could co-exist, and Scopes, who was teaching Darwinian evolution, claimed, "All men have a natural and indefeasible right to worship almighty God according to the dictates of his own conscience. No human authority can in any case whatever control or interfere with the rights of conscience, and that no preference should ever be given by law to any religious establishment or mode of worship."

Prabhupāda: This is, this worship and the concept of worship, if actually one believes or knows, so the real worship is that which pleases God. If you manufacture... Just like I want a glass of water, and if my servant gives me a glass of hot milk, is that worship? Worship means what I want, if you give me, then I am satisfied. But if I want a cold glass of water, you give me..., if you think, "No. Milk is better than water," so that, will that satisfy me? So these concocted ideas of worshiping will actually satisfy God, that is wrong theory, that one can worship God according to his own dictation. That means his God is fictitious. He has no idea of God. And he can concoct ideas. But actually if there is God, one should worship according to the dictation of God. But if he does not know what is God, what is the dictation of God, then he is a rascal. What is the use of his so-called worship? It may be to some extent a sentiment, but that is not worship. If you want to worship God, you must worship God according to His dictation. That is real worship. How he can manufacture the way of worship?

Philosophy Discussion on Henri Bergson:

Śyāmasundara: And he sees also in the same way two types of religion. He sees the static religion and calls this... Static religion: myths devised by human intelligence as a means of defense against the depressing experiences of life. He says that being fearful of the future, man attempts to combat his fate by constructing religious myths. (break) ...mythology...

Prabhupāda: Well, that I have already answered. Anything manufactured by man, that is not religion. That is not religion. That I have already answered. Religion is not manufactured, but it is given by God. That is our point, that God is giving religion, "Here is religion: surrender unto Me." So any religious system may be different in method, but ultimately if it comes to this point, (surrendering to God), then it is religion. Otherwise it is not religion; reject it.

Śyāmasundara: He says that prompted by this vital impulse, the human will identifies with the divine will in a mystical union...

Prabhupāda: Yes.

Philosophy Discussion on Jeremy Bentham:

Śyāmasundara: Someone might raise the point, "Well, the man is hungry and he has no food, therefore in order to feel pleasure he must steal it and cause displeasure to someone else." But this Bentham says that there are four natural curves or preventions, preventative forces to keep people from egoistic over-indulgence. One is the physical consequences of over-indulgence. If I eat too much, I get sick. One is political, that I will be imprisoned if I transgress. I will be punished. One is moral, or popular opinion, the public will think badly of me if I over-indulge. And the fourth one is religious, that God will punish me if I am an evil-doer. These four preventions he says, keep us from over-indulging in pleasure.

Prabhupāda: But if there is some happiness, why there is no prevention. That is real happiness. There is no prevention, simply go on increasing.

Śyāmasundara: Indulging.

Prabhupāda: Yes. Just like Kṛṣṇa's happiness, there was no prevention. So that is real happiness. Prevention means material, limited. Just like drinking liquor. There is prevention also. There are no-alcoholic beer. You have seen the signboard? That is prevention.

Philosophy Discussion on John Stuart Mill:

Hayagrīva: Mill envisions God at war with evil, and man's role is in aiding or helping God in this war. He writes, "If providence, or God, is omnipotent, providence intends whatever happens and the fact of its happening proves that providence intended it. If so, everything which a human being can do, is predestined by providence, and is a fulfillment of its designs. But if, as is the more religious theory, providence intends not all which happens, but only what is good, then indeed man has it in his power by his voluntary actions to aid the intentions of providence."

Prabhupāda: Yes. Providence desires only good. The man, the living being, is in this material world on account of his imperfect will. God is very kind that even though he is willing imperfectly to enjoy this material world God is giving him a directed facilities. Just like a child wants to play in certain way, still the child is guided by some nurse, or some servant by, engaged by the parent. So our position is like that. We have come to this material world to enjoy, giving up the company of God. So God has allowed him, "All right, you enjoy and experience. When you will experience that this material enjoyment is not good, then you will again come back." So He is guiding the enjoyment of the living being, especially of the human being so that he may again come back to home, back to Godhead. And nature is the via media agent, under the instruction of God. So if he (is) too much addicted to misuse the freedom, then he is punished, and that is also according to his desire. It is not God's desire that a human being become a pig, but he develops such mentality to eat everything. So God allows him to do everything, to eat everything up to stool in the body of a pig. That is God's concession. But he wanted to eat all this nonsense abominable thing so God gives him the chance that, you take this body of a pig, you can eat up to steel, up to stool. You will not find any difficulty to eat stool.

Philosophy Discussion on John Stuart Mill:

Hayagrīva: Concerning morality, Mill writes, "Belief then in the supernatural, great as are the services which it rendered in the early stages of human development, that is for children," because he says early religious teachings "has owed its power over mankind rather to its being early than to its being religious." That is you can train a child...

Prabhupāda: Religion means to carry out the orders of God. This is the simple definition of religion.

Hayagrīva: But the power over man, he says, is due to early training.

Prabhupāda: Yes, that I have already said, that there are two authorities, one God the master authority and God's representative is the master author..., is the servant authority. So it is the duty of the servant authority to preach the instruction of God. That will make the human society happy, and this instruction should be taught from the very beginning of life. That is said in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam by Prahlāda Mahārāja. Prahlāda Mahārāja was teaching God consciousness when he was five years old only and he was teaching amongst the class friend. The class friends wanted to play in the tiffin hour and Prahlāda Mahārāja asked them to sit down and to learn God consciousness. So the class friend protested, "My dear friend, why you are insisting now? We are now children, let us play." That Prahlāda Mahārāja protested, "No, no, you should not waste your time playing because this God consciousness should be learned from the very beginning of life." Kaumāra ācaret prājño dharmān bhāgavatān iha (SB 7.6.1). From the very childhood Kṛṣṇa consciousness should be learned. Why from the, so early, that durlabhaṁ mānuṣaṁ janma tad apy adhruvam arthadam. He says that this human form of life you have got after many, many millions of births so we should not misuse this opportunity. We do not know when we shall meet next death, but if before meeting the next death we make our life perfect in Kṛṣṇa consciousness that is the special boon to this human form of life. We should utilize it.

Philosophy Discussion on John Stuart Mill:

Hayagrīva: He believed that if man could not, by the exercise of his own energies, improve both himself and his outward circumstances, that is if man could not improve the world to do more good for his, to do good for himself and other creatures, vastly more than God had in the first instance done, the being who called him into existence would deserve something very different from thanks at his hands. In other words that if man couldn't improve the world, then...

Prabhupāda: How it can be improved? One man may be good, religious, abiding by the orders of God, and 99.9 percent, they are Godless. So how it can be improved? This material world, as it is, it can be improved only by the increase of percentage of God conscious men, otherwise there is no possibility of improvement. Every man is differently conscious. So you cannot bring them together. For example, just these modern civilized nations, they are struggling in the United Nation Organization, but they could not do for the last thirty, forty years. That is not possible. That is futile attempt. Unless people become God conscious, there is no improvement of the world.

Philosophy Discussion on William James:

Śyāmasundara: According to James's philosophy...

Prabhupāda: That means he is an atheist. He's a godless.

Śyāmasundara: He considers himself to be a religious man.

Prabhupāda: Considers... He has no idea of God. What kind of a religious man he is? We say he is a nonsense.

Śyāmasundara: In other words, truth is relative, according to him.

Prabhupāda: No. Truth is not relative. Your position is relative. So long you are under the clutches of māyā, your understanding of God is relative. God is not relative. God is absolute. You cannot understand God. Your position is relative. Just like, I will give you a practical example: a man is deaf and he is calling wife, "Mrs. such and such, such and such." She is replying, "Yes. I am coming." But he himself is deaf. He cannot hear the wife is replying. So he is accusing his wife, "Mrs. such and such is very deaf; she cannot hear." She is hearing; she is replying. This rascal cannot hear; therefore she becomes deaf. This is an example. So I cannot understand what is God—therefore there is no God. This is the most rascal position. I cannot see at night the sun-therefore there is no sun. He does not understand that "I am in darkness at night, so there is no possibility of my seeing." He has no such knowledge. But he concludes there is not sun. That is rascaldom.

Philosophy Discussion on William James:

Śyāmasundara: He makes a few comments about religion. He says that "The religious experience is unique, and it enables the individual to realize that the world he perceives is part of a spiritual universe which alone gives the sensory world value, and that man's proper goal is to unite himself with that higher universe. That prayer or inner communion with the universal spirit or God is the means whereby spiritual energy flows in and produces effects, psychological or material, occurring in the phenomenal world. And that religious faith imparts a new zest to life, taking the form either of lyrical enchantment or of appeal to earnestness and heroism, and that religion contributes some assurance of safety and peace and teaches love in human relationships."

Prabhupāda: That's nice.

Śyāmasundara: He says some nice things about...

Prabhupāda: That's nice.

Śyāmasundara: But practically, the practical aspect of religion, that it imparts new zest to life, that it produces psychological and material effects, like that. But he didn't believe that God was unlimited. That was his... He believed that God was somehow limited; because there is evil, because evil exists, that God is somehow limited.

Prabhupāda: He does not know that evil does not exist independently. He does not know. In our śāstras it says that evil is the back side of God. But it is not independent of God. But either back side or front side, it is God; therefore it is absolute. I cannot neglect my back side. I cannot say that "You can beat me on my back side. Go on, kick me." That I cannot say. The back side is as important as the front side. But comparatively it is explained that evil is back side, pāpa, sin. That is back side of God.

Philosophy Discussion on William James:

Hayagrīva: This is William James. All of these quotations are taken from his most famous book, which was entitled The Varieties of Religious Experience. He's an American philosopher. He defines religion in this way: "Were we to limit our view to it, we should have to define religion as an external art, the art of winning the favor of God. The relation goes direct from heart to heart, from soul to soul, between man and his maker."

Prabhupāda: The man or not man, there are living beings, varieties; we simply do not see the man as a living being. We see there are varieties of living beings, beginning from water up to the higher planetary system. There are different forms of living being, we have several times repeated. Jalajā nava-lakṣāṇi sthāvarā lakṣa-viṁśati, like that, nine millions, ah, nine hundred thousands forms of body within the water; then plants, trees, creepers, insects. So all of them are living beings. God is concerned with all of them. Why man is created? Every one of us in different form we are created. Or exactly not created; we are part and parcel of God. In one word God is the father of all living entities. So the simple relationship is that God is maintainer, we are maintained. This is our relationship. In the material world, as a man may have more than one wife, so similarly God has two prakṛtis, or subordinate energies—material and spiritual. So in the material world the material nature is the mother, God is the father, and varieties of living entities, they are all maintained by the father, supreme father. This is the conception of universal brotherhood. And if we understand our relationship with God as father and son... There are so many sons. That is confirmed in the Bhagavad-gītā, sarva-yoniṣu. All different forms of life, the mother is material nature, and God says, ahaṁ bīja-pradaḥ pitā: (BG 14.4) "And I am the seed-giving father." So that relationship should be known, and if we act according to that relationship, there will be actual peace and prosperity and advancement of all knowledge. That is wanted.

Philosophy Discussion on William James:

Hayagrīva: James gave the following estimation of impersonalism and Buddhism. He wrote, "There are systems of thought which the world usually calls religious and yet which do not positively assume a God. Buddhism is in this case. Popularly, of course, the Buddha himself stands in place of a God, but in strictness, the Buddhistic system is atheistic."

Prabhupāda: Yes. That is described in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, sammohāya sura-dviṣām (SB 1.3.24). Lord Buddha appeared at a time when people became atheistic, and especially they began to kill animals in the sacrifice in large quantity. So God, Lord Buddha, appeared, being sympathetic to the poor animals. Sadaya-hṛdaya darśita-paśu-ghātam. He was very, very much aggrieved to see the poor animals are being killed unnecessarily. So he preached the religion of nonviolence, and because the people became atheist, so Lord Buddha, just to take them under his control, he also collaborated and said, "Yes, there is no God, but you hear me." But he is incarnation of God, so it is a kind of transcendental cheating that in the beginning he said there is no God, but he is God himself, and people accepted his words or instruction. That is Buddhism. So this very word is used, sammohāya sura-dviṣām (SB 1.3.24). Sura-dviṣām, atheist class of men, are always against theist class of men. Therefore their name is that atheist means who are envious of devotees. So in order to cheat these persons who are envious of God or devotee, Lord Buddha appeared and established a system of religion on the platform of nonviolence—no more animal killing. Because those who are animal killers, they cannot understand God (indistinct). That is not possible. They may have some vague idea. So Lord Buddha wanted to stop these sinful activities, and he established the system of nonviolence.

Philosophy Discussion on William James:

Hayagrīva: James sees happiness as an integral part of religion.

Prabhupāda: Yes. Happiness is this. When you know God, follow God, you become happy. Brahma-bhūtaḥ prasannātmā na śocati na kāṅkṣati (BG 18.54). As soon as is one actually God-realized person, he is immediately happy, prasannātmā. Prasannātmā means happy. There is no more duality, that distress, like that. He is perfectly happy, prasannātmā. Prasannātmā is described as na śocati na kāṅkṣati: there is no more hankering, no more lamentation. Everything is perfect condition. Samaḥ sarveṣu: there is no distinction between man to man, nation to nation, animal to man, because in perfect state, the one who is actually religious, he is no longer interested only in the human society, but he knows that everyone within this material world, either man or animal or trees, they are all living entities, part and parcel of God. They are different forms only. In this way he has got clear understanding, clear dealing and clear life, clear advancement, and clear success. That is perfection of life.

Hayagrīva: He says that the natural existence often proves itself to be basically unhappy. "With such relations between religion and happiness, it is perhaps not surprising that men come to regard the happiness which a religious belief affords as a proof of its truth. If a creed makes a man feel happy he almost inevitably adopts it. Such a belief ought to be true; therefore it is true. Such, rightly or wrongly, is one of the immediate inferences of the religious logic used by ordinary men."

Prabhupāda: Yes. If you are actually in clear conception of God, and if you have decided to obey God and love Him, that is happiness. Sa vai puṁsāṁ paro dharmo yato bhaktir adhokṣaje, ahaituky apratihatā (SB 1.2.6). This process of acting in obedience to the order of God, as we are doing in Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement... We have no other business than to obey the orders of God. God says that you preach this confidential philosophy of Kṛṣṇa consciousness everywhere. So because we are trying to love God, we have got some affection and love for God; therefore we are so much eager to spread Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Otherwise, "It is Kṛṣṇa's business. Why should we bother about Him?" No. Because we love Kṛṣṇa, and He is happy that His message is being spread, that is our happiness also, that we are trying to serve God, tacitly, without any doubt. So we also feel happy, and God says that He will be very happy if you do this. So this is reciprocation. This is religion. Religion is no sentiment. Actual realization of God, actual carrying out or executing the orders of God, then God is happy, we are happy, and our progress of life is secure.

Philosophy Discussion on William James:

Hayagrīva: James believes that the existence of many religions in the world is not regrettable but is necessary to the existence of different types of men. He says, "All men have, should have... Should all men have the same religion? Ought they to approve the same fruits and follow the same leadings? Are they so like in their inner needs that exactly the same religious incentives are required? Or are different functions allotted to different types of men, so that some may really be the better for a religion of consolation and reassurance whilst others are better for one of terror and reproof?" And he goes on to conclude that he thinks that difference...

Prabhupāda: This is religion. Therefore I was talking in this morning that accept God as the supreme father and the material nature is the mother and we living entities, in 8,400,000 forms, we are all sons of God. So everyone has got the right to live at the cost of the father. The father is the maintainer—that is natural—and we are maintained. So every living being should be satisfied in the condition given by God. Man should live in his own condition, the animal also should live in his own condition. Why the man should encroach upon the rights, living right of other living entities like the animals? No. Nobody should encroach upon other's right. Everyone is son of God. Let him be maintained by the orders of God. That is ideal life, family life. All living entities are the members of the same family. Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura says that kṛṣṇera saṁsāra kara chāḍi' anācāra: just live in the family of Kṛṣṇa without violating the rules and regulation. Then it is family life. Or without violating the orders of God. Just like in the family the father is the chief man, and the sons can live very happily by being obedient to the father. There is no trouble; father will give all supplies and necessities if we remain obedient to the father, and all the brothers can live peacefully. A very common example. But they will not do that. They will encroach upon others' jurisdiction. That is the cause of disturbance: obeying..., disobeying the orders of God.

Philosophy Discussion on William James:

Hayagrīva: Typical of the latter part of the nineteenth century, James' only acquaintance with Hinduism was through the impersonalists, and he spoke of samādhi and the mystical experience in this way. He says, "The Vedantists say that one may stumble into superconsciousness sporadically without the previous discipline, but it is then impure. The test of its purity, like our test of religious value, is empirical. Its fruits must be good for life. When a man comes out of samādhi they assure us that he remains enlightened—a sage, a prophet, a saint, his whole character changed, his life changed, illumined." What is this samādhi or...

Prabhupāda: Samādhi means ecstasy, always in God consciousness. That is samādhi. That is explained in the Bhagavad-gītā, yoginām api sarveṣāṁ mad-gata āntarātmanā (BG 6.47). The yogis means they are always remaining in meditation of the Supreme Lord. Dhyānāvasthita-tad-gatena manasā. Mind is always absorbed in God. That is samādhi. He has no other thought than God. So if we can continue in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, that is samādhi.

Hayagrīva: Now James equates this mystical union, or samādhi, to be a union in which the individual has lost contact with the external world.

Prabhupāda: Yes.

Philosophy Discussion on William James:

Hayagrīva: James, after analyzing all of these religions, different religious experiences, he gives his own conclusions, and he concludes his book in this way. He gives five basic conclusions. The first-one—"That the visible world is part of a more spiritual universe from which it draws its chief significance." (break)

Prabhupāda: Yes. Material world means it is existing in the spiritual effulgence of the Lord. Just like all the planets they are resting, living within the sunshine, but by geographical position, when it is back side, the sun is not in the front but in the back, then it becomes dark. Similarly, everything is existing in the spiritual effulgence, rays of the Lord, and when you forget, this is called material world. So the material world is in that piece of spiritual world, but forgetfulness of God is material. So when we..., our revival of consciousness, God consciousness, then there is no more material world. For such person who is advanced in spiritual consciousness or God consciousness, there is nothing material; everything is spiritual.

Philosophy Discussion on John Dewey:

Prabhupāda: Kṛṣṇa is historical fact. It is not imagination. It is, to think like that, is imaginative. Kṛṣṇa... The Mahābhārata is there. It is accepted by all Indian authority, and Kṛṣṇa is a historical figure. How it can be imaginative? So... he may think like that, like a madman, but India's leader will not accept that. Especially the ācāryas who are controlling the spiritual life of India, they do not accept a lunatic foreigner speaking like that.

Hayagrīva: He writes, "According to the religious and philosophic tradition of Europe, the valid status of all the highest values, the good, true and beautiful, was bound up with their being properties of ultimate and supreme being, namely God. All went well as long as what passed for natural science gave no offense to this conception. Trouble began when science ceased to disclose in the objects of knowledge the possession of any such properties. Then some roundabout method had to be devised for substantiating them." In other words, science began to investigate the phenomenal universe without admitting the proprietorship of anyone, of God, and this brings a breakdown in morality and value. So Dewey attempts to reassemble these shattered values in a philosophical way, but he, like science, attempts to do so without recognizing the proprietorship of an ultimate and supreme being.

Prabhupāda: That is another lunacy, because everything has a proprietor. So why this big cosmic manifestation will not have a proprietor? To accept the proprietor is natural, and that is logical. And not to accept a proprietor, that is lunacy. How it can be possible? Just like we give this example: We are standing on the land. We know that there is government, there is proprietor. And a few yards after, when this ocean begins, how we can think of that the ocean has no proprietor, no government? How any philosopher and man having logic can believe it? What is the answer?

Hayagrīva: Well, he felt that science dealt a death blow to the religions as we know them, to the orthodox religions.

Prabhupāda: No, religion we have repeatedly explained. Religion means to accept the laws of God. That is religion.

Philosophy Discussion on Soren Aabye Kierkegaard:

Śyāmasundara: So he proposes these three stages of existence. The first one we talked about is the aesthetic stage of noncommitment—simply sense gratification and speculation. The second stage he says that a man makes a leap in commitment and begins to concern himself or involve himself with the world on an ethical level. And the third stage is the religious stage, or self-realization. But in the second stage he says that "The despair of life has lead one to the commitment to make choices, to commit himself to action and to enter into life's involvement and become ethically concerned; that suddenly he's turned within himself and in his passion and freedom and decision or subjectivity, then he begins to find himself."

Prabhupāda: What does he find?

Śyāmasundara: This may be likened to the people who do pious works, or the people who do good to others, who are morally committed to life, on that level. To feed others, clothe others, like that. They say that that is a step higher than simply sense gratification and speculation. He says that "This is a move in the right direction toward authentic selfhood, and eventually this way we will understand what I am. And because we are at last doing something, we are involved with life, then we are no more abstract. We are existing." Then we are existing. That someone who is doing all sense gratification and mental speculation, they are living abstract life, abstract life, external life. Simply waiting for the enjoyment of life and speculating what is the meaning of things, that is abstract life, and this being committed to action or decision-making is called existence. This is the first step toward real existence. So in this ethical stage he says that by the very act of making decisions that we become aware, that we become more and more aware, and that decision-making means awareness. And if we make choices about anything, that means that we are becoming aware.

Prabhupāda: What is the decision? Why people become moral—to feed the poor, like that, humanitarian? What is the decision, ultimate decision?

Śyāmasundara: He says that it's not so much the fact of the decision but how the decision is made: if it's made with integrity and self-confidence.

Prabhupāda: How the decision... Why, how the decision is made, that I still don't know. How? Why? Why they make such decision? One man is running on a slaughterhouse. He's killing only. Another man is after humanitarian work, giving food, giving them chance to live. So what is the ultimate decision?

Philosophy Discussion on Soren Aabye Kierkegaard:

Prabhupāda: And he accepts that self is eternal, integrating past, present and future.

Śyāmasundara: Yes. Well, this is the next level. This is the third and highest level. He said that first of all there's the aesthetic level of unrestricted sense gratification, but this ends in despair. Then comes the ethical level, when one decides, "Well, I will take a cause, good cause, and I will commit myself to it and act upon that." Then he comes to the development of the religious stage, or the highest stage. When he, his decision-making power is so advanced that...

Prabhupāda: In other words, he's supporting our movement.

Śyāmasundara: Yes.

Prabhupāda: Because we are in the topmost stage.

Śyāmasundara: He does. The modern philosophers, his foIlowers like Sartre and Camus and people like that, they have only followed his lower development stages. They have not thought of this aspect of a religious stage. He said that the ethical stage is typified by a regard for duty, but this advances to the religious stage when there is obedience and commitment to God. And the chief symptoms of this stage...

Prabhupāda: So it is not that he is supporting our movement?

Śyāmasundara: No, no. He does. He says that the chief symptoms of the religious..., when one is advanced to the religious stage, are suffering and faith.

Prabhupāda: Not always suffering. (indistinct) We are, we in religious. Suppose we are in the topmost. Does it means that we are suffering?

Śyāmasundara: He is a Christian religionist. He's a Christian religionist. They give importance to suffering. "Christ suffered for us, so we..." He says that to abstain from sin means suffering, we are suffering.

Philosophy Discussion on Soren Aabye Kierkegaard:

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: So how does he ever come to the point of religion if he wants men to make their own decisions? How can we make our own decisions according to him?

Prabhupāda: There is no own decision. If we want to become self, that means I am part and parcel, so I have no personal decision. I have to take decisions from the higher authority.

Śyāmasundara: We were talking about the decision; you were talking about the other levels. The religious stage, you said, is obedience and commitment to God.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: But to get to that stage, you have to go through the second stage. So how do you get to the second stage by making your own decisions without God's..., without God's representative? In other words, how can you come to the platform of the third stage from the second stage?

Śyāmasundara: It is gradual development. You gradually develop.

Prabhupāda: Why gradual development? Here Kṛṣṇa says, the Supreme Self, "Surrender unto Me. I give you all protection." Why gradual? Immediate.

Śyāmasundara: He is saying we are motivated by despair to come to this stage.

Prabhupāda: But there is no question. Christ says, or Kṛṣṇa says that "You surrender unto Me, I'll save you," no more disappointment.

Philosophy Discussion on Arthur Schopenhauer:

Śyāmasundara: So tomorrow we will finish Schopenhauer. Today is finished. (break)

Prabhupāda: The will cannot be stopped. Therefore you have to reform your willing process. That is Kṛṣṇa consciousness.

Śyāmasundara: He says..., he mentions a third type of salvation, called religious salvation. He says that this is the highest. But his idea of religious salvation is ascetism. That by denying the will then we can quiet the will.

Prabhupāda: Yes that is in one sense, that you don't will anything which is not favorable to Kṛṣṇa's service. That is our prescription. Ānukūlyasya saṅkalpaḥ prātikūlyaṁ vivarjanam. This is, out of the six items of surrender, these are the two items, that you should give up things which are not favorable in execution of devotional service. You should give up. That sort of willing, you should give up. And you should accept everything which is favorable for Kṛṣṇa consciousness. So willing cannot be... Our process is to purify willing. Sarvopādhi-vinirmuktaṁ tat-paratvena nirmalam (CC Madhya 19.170). So, just like you are working or others are working, somebody is working, "I am American, I must do this as American." And others say, "I am communist, I must do this." This is superfluous. According to designation, they are willing. And when you come to this willing: simply to serve Kṛṣṇa, that is designation-less. That sort of willing we should practice. Not willing with designation. He is thinking of willing of designation.

Philosophy Discussion on Arthur Schopenhauer:

Hayagrīva: He looked on the Indian philosophy and religion as basically a philosophy of the denial of the will, and he gives several examples of religious..., of suicide as a religious act. He says especially when it...

Prabhupāda: That is, that is Māyāvāda. That is not... He did not study Indian philosophy and religion perfectly well. He simply has taken some portion of the Māyāvāda philosophy or Buddha philosophy, but he did not know about Vaiṣṇava philosophy.

Hayagrīva: But he gives the example of...

Prabhupāda: Although he has touched Bhagavad-gītā...

Hayagrīva: Yes.

Prabhupāda: ...he did not study Bhagavad-gītā thoroughly, that in the Bhagavad-gītā Kṛṣṇa says to Arjuna that if you, by your living, what is called, knowledge, if you simply try to have full knowledge about Kṛṣṇa, then his willing, this material willing is purified, and after giving up this body he goes back to home, back to Godhead. That he has not studied. Tyaktvā dehaṁ punar janma naiti mām eti kaunteya (BG 4.9). Either he did not study Bhagavad-gītā thoroughly or he could not understand for want of real spiritual master.

Philosophy Discussion on Arthur Schopenhauer:

Hayagrīva: The... He speaks of the sannyāsī, who lives without a dwelling and entirely without property, who is advised not to lay down often under the same tree least he should acquire a preference or inclination for it above other trees. The Christian mystic and the teacher of the Vedānta philosophy agree in this respect also, that they both regard all outward works and religious exercises as superfluous for him who has attained to perfection. Isn't this the viewpoint of the Māyāvādī, and doesn't Kṛṣṇa recommend the lighting of the sacrificial fire even after one has attained perfection?

Prabhupāda: Yes. Kṛṣṇa says, yajña-dāna-tapaḥ-kriyā na tyājam. Because if he gives up this ritualistic ceremony, then there is chance of falling down. So even though he is liberated, to keep his position secure he should continue these three things: sacrifice, charity, and austerity.

Hayagrīva: He speaks of sleep. He said, "The need for sleep is directly proportionate to the intensity of the brain life, thus the clearness of the consciousness. Those animals whose brain life is weak and dull sleep little and lightly, for example reptiles and fishes. Animals of considerable intelligence sleep deeply and long. Men also require more sleep the more developed both as regards quantity and quality, and the more active their brain is. The more completely awake a man is, the clearer and more lively his consciousness, the greater for him is the necessity of sleep, thus the deeper and longer he sleeps."

Prabhupāda: Those who are ignorant and materially covered, they sleep more. Those who are spiritually enlightened, they sleep less. Sleep is the necessity of the body, not of the soul. So those who are advanced in the platform of spiritual identity, they do not require sleeping, as we find from the life of Rūpa Gosvāmī. Nidrāhāra-vihārakādi-vijitau **: they conquered over sleeping, eating, mating. That is spiritual life. To sleep is waste of time, so those who are actually interested in spiritual life, they adjust life in such a way that almost they sleep nil.

Philosophy Discussion on Sigmund Freud:

Hayagrīva: ...and on Sigmund Freud, you discussed with Śyāmasundara Prabhu the sexual aspects, but not the theological aspects. Freud wrote two basic books on religion, Future of an Illusion, and there was a great deal in Leonardo da Vinci, A Study in Psycho-sexuality. He writes, "Psychoanalysis, which has taught us the intimate connection between the father complex and belief in God, has shown us that the personal God is psychologically nothing but an exalted father. Youthful persons lose their religious belief as soon as the authority of the father breaks down." So he sees God as basically a father complex arising out of the need of help of the little child.

Prabhupāda: That little child, how he can give up the idea of father? And how Mr. Freud can give up the idea? Was he not born by a father?

Hayagrīva: He feels that...

Prabhupāda: He dropped from the sky? Huh? Did, did he?

Hayagrīva: He feels that this is childish.

Prabhupāda: That childish, what is that childish? He had no father?

Hayagrīva: He had a father, but he believed in ultimate emancipation.

Prabhupāda: No, no, ultimate we shall go later on. First of all, he has to think whether he had his father or not. Or his father's father was not there, and go on searching out. So without father, how can one exist or one can come into being? So that if he cannot understand this simple philosophy, what kind of philosopher he is? He had his father. His father had his father. So this is fact. Even though he might not have seen his dead grandfather, but he was there. That is a fact. So if you go on searching, father's father's father, where you will come there is no father? Which..., which is that point when you can say, "Now here there is no father"? And if you actually come to that point that "Here is a person of whom there is no father," that is God.

Philosophy Discussion on Sigmund Freud:

Hayagrīva: He says, "If one attempts to assign religion its place in man's evolution, it seems not so much to be a lasting acquisition as a parallel to the neuroses which the civilized individual must pass through on his way from childhood to maturity."

Prabhupāda: Evidently he is frustrated, without any knowledge of religion. He had no idea. He has seen that so many sentimental religious system, and he has concluded like that. But first of all let him understand what is religion. Religion cannot come into existence without understanding the idea of God. Religion without God cannot be religion. According to Vedic system, religion means the order given by God. But if one has no conception of God, that there is no question of religion. So Godless religion is, certainly, it is sentiment. That is not religion. So he has studied something which is not religion; therefore he has got so many doubts about religion. Real religion is that there is God, that is a fact, and whatever orders the God gives, that is religion. So he does not know what is God. How he will know what order He is giving? So for him everything is not religion.

Hayagrīva: It's often been said of Freud that he tried to repress within himself religious feelings that were definitely there. He says, "I cannot..." In a letter he wrote, "I cannot rid myself of certain sceptic materialistic prejudices, and I would carry them over into the research of the occult." He considered religion the occult.

Prabhupāda: Occult, what is that?

Hayagrīva: Occult, something obscure. The...

Prabhupāda: It is not obscure. It is, everything is obscure to the foolish person. So he is a foolish person. He does not know what is God. How he will know what is religion? Our definition of religion is "the order given by God." But if I do not know what is God, then how can I take His order? That is the defect.

Philosophy Discussion on Sigmund Freud:

Prabhupāda: That, that means he has no clear conception of God, because God has to take power from some parliament. God does not take power from anyone. He is God. That is described in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, that janmādy asya yataḥ anvayād itarataḥ ca artheṣu abhijñaḥ svarāṭ (SB 1.1.1), that the Supreme, God, or Supreme Truth, Brahman, He knows everything. He knows everything in details. And wherefrom? Abhijñaḥ. He is, abhijñaḥ means completely in awareness. Then the question may be raised that "How He got this complete knowledge? From whom He received?" The answer is immediate, svarāṭ. Svarāṭ means independent. That is God. If one has to take knowledge from Mr. Freud, then he is not God. Anyone, if you come to that person that He is independent, parāsya śaktir vividhaiva śrūyate svābhāvikī (Cc. Madhya 13.65, purport), naturally He is all-perfect. He hasn't got to become perfect by some process or from some authority. That is God. He is all-perfect automatically. That is God. So anyone who is trying to be perfect, he is not God. One who is... That, that, that is in the history, we find in the history of life of Kṛṣṇa. When He was three-months-old child He, He could kill big giant like Pūtanā. That is automatic. Either He is child or He is a young man or He is old man, the godly power is there. The nowadays these so-called yogis, they are becoming God by meditation, but the three-months-old child in the lap of His mother, how He became God? The God is God always. He hasn't got to learn it from anyone. That is His svarāṭ, independent. So these people have no conception of God; therefore they are simply speculating and misleading persons. God is not the subject matter of speculation. We, if we want to know God, then we must know it from God Himself or a person who knows Him. That is the direction in the Bhagavad-gītā:

tad viddhi praṇipātena

paripraśnena sevayā

upadekṣyanti tad jñānaṁ

jñāninas tattva-darśinaḥ

(BG 4.34)

Tattva-darśinaḥ, one who has learned about God as fact, as you see eye to eye and you believe it. Similarly, one who has seen God eye to eye, you have to let..., get lessons of God from him. Just like Arjuna. Arjuna is talking with God. So if you have to understand God, then understand how Arjuna has taken his instruction from God and what he's understood. So Arjuna says, paraṁ brahma paraṁ dhāma pavitraṁ paramaṁ bhavān, puruṣaṁ śāśvatam ādyam (BG 10.12). So we have to take lesson from Arjuna not from Mr. Freud, who has no knowledge of God. That is the way.

Philosophy Discussion on Sigmund Freud:

Prabhupāda: Tattva-darśinaḥ, one who has learned about God as fact, as you see eye to eye and you believe it. Similarly, one who has seen God eye to eye, you have to let..., get lessons of God from him. Just like Arjuna. Arjuna is talking with God. So if you have to understand God, then understand how Arjuna has taken his instruction from God and what he's understood. So Arjuna says, paraṁ brahma paraṁ dhāma pavitraṁ paramaṁ bhavān, puruṣaṁ śāśvatam ādyam (BG 10.12). So we have to take lesson from Arjuna not from Mr. Freud, who has no knowledge of God. That is the way.

Hayagrīva: Concerning early religious training, he writes, "So long as a man's early years are influenced by the religious thought inhibition, and by the lore one derived from it, as well as by the sexual one, we cannot really say what he," that is man, "is actually like." So he feels that early religious education actually warps a man's development, that you can't say what man can truly be like if you educate him to believe in a transcendental being.

Philosophy Discussion on Sigmund Freud:

Prabhupāda: That's a fact. If a child is given lesson that there is a supreme being controlling the whole cosmic situation, what is the wrong there? He should learn it.

Hayagrīva: But Freud felt that this inhibited man's natural development, that you can't know what man is naturally like as long as you inculcate him with these religious ideas.

Prabhupāda: Then why do you send your son to a school for education?

Hayagrīva: Well he felt that...

Prabhupāda: Naturally...

Hayagrīva: Some education, there has to be education.

Prabhupāda: That's all. This is also the most important education.

Hayagrīva: So therefore, they are following this line of thought now in the schools, because they've cut out religious education...

Prabhupāda: That, that this is the important education in human life—to learn about God. That is the only business, because in other lives, the animal life, cat's and dog's life, they cannot understand. But in the human form of life there is possibility; therefore that is the first education. The animals, they cannot think of God, but in the human society, why there are religions? Not in the animal society. To understand God, that is the civilized form of human civilization.

Philosophy Discussion on Sigmund Freud:

Hayagrīva: He says, "I disagree with you when you go on to argue that man cannot in general do without the consolation of the religious illusion, that without it he would not endure the troubles of life, the cruelty of reality."

Prabhupāda: Man cannot do without education. Without education a man remains an animal. Therefore in the human society there is a school, college, an institution, teacher—not in the animal society. So the principle is, the man is meant for being learned or being educated. That you cannot deny, that man life should not be like cats and dogs, simply eating, sleeping, mating, and dying. That is not man's life. Man's life is to become advanced in knowledge and education. And as I have already described, the ultimate knowledge: to understand God. If he is so-called educated, without any understanding of God, then his education is imperfect. You can deny the existence of God, but the God conception is there in the human society. Some may accept it, some may not accept it—that is another thing—but the conception of God, the whole civilized world, they have got some type of religion. Either you become Christian or Buddhist or Hindu or Muslim, religion means there is some cultivation of knowledge to understand God. And to understand God is the ultimate knowledge. That is called Vedānta. Veda means knowledge, and the ultimate knowledge: Vedānta. So ultimate knowledge, it, what is that? That is the beginning of Vedānta education. What is that ultimate knowledge? Athāto brahma jijñāsā. The Vedānta begins with this word, "Now this human form of life is to acquire the ultimate knowledge."

Philosophy Discussion on Carl Gustav Jung:

Prabhupāda: The loving propensity is already there, (indistinct) loving God. So somebody is loving, it's a fact. So loving propensity is there, but the loving propensity is misled; therefore he becomes (indistinct). Instead of loving (indistinct), if you love Kṛṣṇa then our loving propensity becomes perfect.

Śyāmasundara: This Jung, Carl Jung, I studied with his disciples in Zurich for six months one winter, and he came..., toward the end of his life he became very religious. At the beginning he was an atheist, but after this study he began to understand that the perfect end of psychology is to integrate and become balanced as a personality. And the best way, the only way, the time-tested way, is to be a religious person.

Prabhupāda: Means to become a religious person means to become a lover of God. Did he love God or something else?

Śyāmasundara: Yes. He became very much religious, and all his disciples are very religious, but in sort of a mystic way, not, not so much an organized religion. A little bit of hodge-podge.

Prabhupāda: That is no (indistinct). Without clear conception of God, must be hodge-podge.

Śyāmasundara: But they lean toward the east, toward Kṛṣṇa consciousness, in the end—Buddhism, Kṛṣṇa consciousness.

Philosophy Discussion on Carl Gustav Jung:

Prabhupāda: I think in one sense they are accepting sattva-guṇa and tamo-guṇa.

Nara-nārāyaṇa: Yes.

Śyāmasundara: Actually this Jung has had a great impact on modern thinkers, because he took psychology out of the laboratories and made it more a human science, a personal, personality science that involves unconscious states, mystic states, religious states, not just something analytical and cold. And especially younger people are very much fond of hearing (indistinct).

Devotee (3): (indistinct) this Carl Jung drew a picture of what he thought the face of a realized soul might look like, a person, a person in perfect knowledge. And that picture was printed, and it looks like Prabhupāda. (laughter) (indistinct)

Śyāmasundara: His investigation of symbols around the world, he found that the symbols most used for someone who has realized the self are the jewel and the child—these two symbols. These are symbolic of someone who has attained the ultimate perfection. A jewel and the child.

Prabhupāda: Jew and the...

Śyāmasundara: Jewel, jewel.

Prabhupāda: Oh, jewel.

Philosophy Discussion on Carl Gustav Jung:

Hayagrīva: He gave the following criticism of Sigmund Freud. He says, "Sexuality evidently meant more to Freud than to other people. For him it was something to be religiously observed."

Prabhupāda: Yes.

Hayagrīva: "One thing was clear. Freud, who had always made much of his irreligiosity, had now constructed a dogma, or rather in the place of God, whom he had lost, he had substituted another compelling image, that of sexuality."

Prabhupāda: Yes, that's a fact. He has taken sexuality as God. But our position is that we must accept a leader. That is our natural tendency. So he gave up the leadership of God and took the leadership of sex. That is his position. Leadership we must have. That is..., this question also I asked to Professor Kotovsky, that "Where is the difference between your philosophy and our philosophy? You accept leader, Lenin. We accept leader, Kṛṣṇa. So where is the difference in the process?" So this is the nature of human being, to accept a leader. But this man, unfortunately, he lost the leadership of God and he took leadership of sex. That is his position.

Philosophy Discussion on Carl Gustav Jung:

Prabhupāda: Hm. Anniversary maybe. Anniversary is going on.

Hayagrīva: It might have been the 50th anniversary also. He writes, "By that time I had read a great deal about Indian philosophy and religious history and was deeply convinced of the value of Oriental wisdom." On this visit Jung had an opportunity to talk with S. Subrahmania Ayer, the guru of the Mahārāja of Mysore, who hosted Jung. Jung says that he studiously avoided the so-called holy men. He says, "I did so because I had to make do with my own truth, not to accept from others what I could not attain on my own. I would have felt it as a theft had I attempted to learn from the holy men and to accept their truth for myself. Neither in Europe can I make any borrowings from the East, but I must shape my life out of myself, out of what my inner being tells me or what nature brings to me."

Philosophy Discussion on Carl Gustav Jung:

Hayagrīva: But he feels that socialism or Marxism, Communism, cannot possibly replace religion in the proper traditional sense.

Prabhupāda: No, it is not religion. It is simply mental speculation—how to adjust material things. It will never be able to adjust it. That is their simply imagination. It will all fail at the ultimate end.

Hayagrīva: He says, "A natural function which has existed from the beginning like the religious function cannot be disposed of with rationalistic and so-called enlightened criticism."

Prabhupāda: The thing is that these people, they do not understand what is religion. Religion you cannot avoid. That is characteristic. Just like we gave several times this example, that everything has got a particular characteristic. Just like salt, salt is never sweet, and sweet is never salt. It has got a characteristic. A chile is pungent. Similarly, living entity, we are..., what is our characteristic? Our characteristic is to render service. Either you take Communism or this "ism" or that "ism," your real characteristic to render service, that will not change. The, in the capitalist country they are asking people that "You work in the factory and work for me, and whatever I say, you do," and the same thing is being dictated by the Communist leaders. Where is the difference? There is no difference, but it is only difference of nonsensical idea. Therefore a mass of people, they have to render service, either to Mr. Lenin or Mr. Roosevelt, it doesn't matter. He has to render service. But both the services are not being profitable to the mass of people. Therefore we suggest following the footprints of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, that you serve Kṛṣṇa. Service is your essential duty, but because your service is wrongly being executed, you are not happy. But if you render your service to Kṛṣṇa, that is natural and you will be happy. So our Kṛṣṇa conscious men, they are happy when rendering service to Kṛṣṇa, or God.

Philosophy Discussion on Carl Gustav Jung:

Prabhupāda: It is because it is simply dogmatic. The preachers of the religion, they have no idea, clear idea, but officially they speak something. Neither he understands, neither he can make others to understand. But Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is not such big thing. It is clear in every respect. Therefore this is the expected movement as Mr. Jung wanted. So every sane man should cooperate with this movement and liberate the human society from the gross darkness of ignorance.

Hayagrīva: He characterizes the true religious man as one who is accustomed to the thought of not being sole master of his own house. He believes that God, and not he himself, decides in the end.

Prabhupāda: Yes. Naturally that is the position. What we can decide? That there is already controller over me, so how I can be Absolute? No. Therefore everyone should depend on the supreme controller. That is called, technical language, it is called śaraṇāgati, full surrender. Full surrender. That is called śaraṇāgati.

Hayagrīva: He feels that the only thing that keeps modern man..., that will keep modern man from simply dissolving into the crowd is, he says, "We must ask, 'Have I any religious experience, an immediate relation to God and hence that certainty which will keep me as an individual from dissolving in the crowd of humanity?' " So one's relation with God assures one of one's individuality.

Prabhupāda: Yes. Everyone is individual. God is also individual. So one individual is subordinate to the chief individual. That is the Vedic version. Nityo nityānāṁ cetanaś cetanānām (Kaṭha Upaniṣad 2.2.13), God is also individual being, but He is the Supreme Being, and we are individual being, innumerable. So the difference is that the supreme living being is maintaining us, and we are being maintained. That we should understand. The same example as I gave, the father and the children in the family. The father is maintainer and the children are maintained. This is the real conception of philosophy. The mother is the material nature and father is God, and we are all children. We have got rights to enjoy the father's property, but not encroaching upon others', but as it is allotted by the father. "You sit down here, you take this, that's all," that, that much right I have got. I do not transgress the order of the father; then it is peaceful situation.

Philosophy Discussion on B. F. Skinner:

Śyāmasundara: He says that society should be full of love and security and harmony, and everyone should work in unison. But because people have freedom to choose what they want, then too much freedom, the society is falling apart.

Prabhupāda: That is Western society, not the society controlled by the Vedic literature. Just like marriage in Vedic society, that is a religious obligation. They cannot cancel. The freedom, the so-called freedom is allowed in the upstart Western society.

Śyāmasundara: So he says we have to change all this now.

Prabhupāda: Then we have to take to the Vedic principles. That is the way.

Śyāmasundara: His idea is taken from his work with rats and pigeons.

Prabhupāda: His authority is rats and pigeons. Our authority is Vedavyāsa. (laughter) That is the difference. Our authority is Kṛṣṇa. Our authority is Rāmānujācārya, Madhvācārya, Manu, and his authority is rats and pigeons. That is the difference between the West and East.

Philosophy Discussion on B. F. Skinner:

Devotee: Or he may never want to take a meal out of (indistinct).

Śyāmasundara: Actually, his idea is not to let them be punished but to reward.

Prabhupāda: This is the (indistinct), that the thief has learned from the lawbooks, from the religious books, that stealing is bad. If one steals he'll be punished. Because in the human society the scriptures that they have got. No scripture will say that you should steal, for example, neither the lawbook will say that you steal. So if you have heard from scriptures and from lawbooks that stealing is criminal, and by committing this sinful activity I shall be punished, and if you have seen also that anyone who has violated this law and stolen others' property has been arrested and policeman has taken him to the jail, he has seen, he has heard, he has completely experienced, but still, why does he steal? What is the answer?

Devotee: Impelled. Because (indistinct) as a human being. He has a tendency because of the four defects of a human being.

Prabhupāda: Then the question arises, how to rectify these defects?

Śyāmasundara: He says by changing the social environment. By changing the social environment.

Prabhupāda: But he cannot do.

Devotee: But in my experience changing the social environment...

Prabhupāda: The social environment is already there, but still you will be punished.

Philosophy Discussion on Karl Marx:

Indian man: Sir, we see that Dr. Stanley Johnson... He is my friend. He said he was traveling in Moscow. One lady got in the train, and she told him, "You look religious. You must very rich also." No. "Sir, you look religious, so you must be very rich." He said, "Why? Why do I look rich?" Because they have the idea that only rich men can think of religion.

Śyāmasundara: Yes. That's their whole idea.

Prabhupāda: That means foolish, all set of foolish rascals, that's all. From his talking we can understand. He is the leader. So he is a big foolish man, and his followers must be all fools. That's all.

Śyāmasundara: Yes. He said that religion is made up by the capitalists to keep the...

Prabhupāda: That means he does not know religion, what is religion, and he wants to define religion. What a foolish man he is. He does not know what is the meaning of religion. Religion means which you cannot change. That is religion. Dharmaṁ tu sākṣād bhagavat-praṇītam (SB 6.3.19). Yes. Even up to this day, because India is standing on religion, although it is (indistinct), it is all broken, still, all over the world—I have traveled—they are adoring India.

Philosophy Discussion on Karl Marx:

Hayagrīva: ...and Śyāmasundara discussed the politics of Karl Marx with you but not the religious attitudes of Marx.

Prabhupāda: He has any religious attitude?

Hayagrīva: Well, he, his father was a Jew, but he became converted to Christianity.

Prabhupāda: His father?

Hayagrīva: His father, Marx's father. And Marx's mother, however, remained Jewish, and Marx was raised a Christian. But at the age of twenty-three, after having studied some philosophy at the university, Marx became an avowed atheist. And Hegel, it was Hegel who wrote, "Because the accidental is not God or the Absolute is," and Marx commented on this, "Obviously the reverse can also be said." That is because God is not, the accidental is.

Prabhupāda: God is not?

Hayagrīva: Yes.

Prabhupāda: What, what does...?

Hayagrīva: So everything is accidental.

Prabhupāda: Accidental.

Philosophy Discussion on Karl Marx:

Hayagrīva: He felt, like Comte, that the proletariat, the worker, would eventually eliminate religion, and he wrote, "The political emancipation of the Jew, the Christian, the religious man in general is the emancipation of the state from Judaism, from Christianity, and from religion generally." So that the worker would become the savior of mankind in emancipating or freeing man from a religion that worshiped a supernatural being.

Prabhupāda: So that has not actually happened. Marx is dead and gone. The Communist theory is already there, but they are not in agreement. The Russians are not in agreement with the Chinese men. Why it has happened? The God is not there; the working class is there. Then why there is dissension and disagreement?

Hayagrīva: Marx felt that religion stood between man and happiness. He said, "The abolition of religion as the illusory happiness of the people is the demand for their real happiness. The demand to abandon the illusions about their condition is the demand to give up a condition that requires illusion. Hence criticism of religion is an embryo, or a beginning of a criticism of this vale of tears whose halo is religion." So religion was like a millstone around the neck of man, and that man must free himself of this illusion.

Prabhupāda: Religious system deteriorates, and without any understanding on philosophical basis. Then, if he is apt to, rejects that religion. But we understand that is fact that there is God on the top of all cosmic manifestation activities, and the law given by the supreme head of the cosmic manifestation, that is religion. And if we create our religious system on sentiments only, that will create troubles only and there will be misunderstandings. But actually it is a fact that there is some brain behind all this cosmic manifestation, and if we know what is that brain, how it is working, that is scientific understanding, and the law given by God is religion. That is our simple definition. Religion cannot be manufactured as law cannot be manufactured. So if we do not know what is God, how He is acting, what..., what are His words, how we have to follow that, that kind of religion will be failure.

Philosophy Discussion on Karl Marx:

Prabhupāda: Still, his theory, he...

Hayagrīva: He's never, he's never, he never saw Communist Russia for instance, or any Communist state. He, he felt that religion has..., was the cause of antagonism between men. He says, "The most persistent form of antagonism between the Jew and the Christian is religious antagonism." How has one solved an antagonism by...

Prabhupāda: No.

Hayagrīva: ...by making it impossible?

Prabhupāda: There is not the question of antagonism. If we actually know who is God and what He desires... I give always this example: if we know the government and the government laws, then there is no antagonism. The government says that "Keep to the right," so there is no question of antagonism; anyone must keep to the right. So there is no question of antagonism. But the antagonism is there when the so-called religious system does not know what is God and what is actually the desire of God. Then there cannot be any antagonism. That perfectness of understanding God and God's regulation or order is clearly described in the Bhagavad-gītā. We are therefore advocating Kṛṣṇa consciousness, that "Here is God and here is God's instructions." So if we deliver it, and the proposal in the Bhagavad-gītā, they are all practical. Just like God says that you divide the society in four division—not only worker, but also the good brain, good administrator, and good producer of food. That is the actually the divisions of the society. So without division of the society, if you simply keep worker, who will give them instruction to work? These are all imperfect ideas. But the perfect ideas are given in the Bhagavad-gītā. If we follow that, then the human society, humanity will be in perfect order. So either you call it religion or a system to..., following which one can become peaceful. Religion means, to understand God means, a system. A system is explained in the Bhagavad-gītā in three principles. God says that He is the proprietor of everything, sarva-loka-maheśvaram (BG 5.29). So we see this planet, and there is different proprietors-individual proprietor of the land or the state proprietor, the king. So there is a proprietor of this earth, either you divide it nationally or you take it wholly.

Philosophy Discussion on Karl Marx:

Hayagrīva: Well, evidently Marx never got over the antagonism between his father and his mother—his mother who was Jewish and his father who was a Christian convert. He says, "As soon as Jew and Christian recognize their respective religions, there is nothing more than different stages of evolution of the human spirit, as different snakeskins shed by history, and recognize man as the snake who wore them. They will no longer find themselves in religious antagonism but only in a critical scientific and human relationship. Science constitutes their unity. Contradictions in science, however, are resolved by science itself." So that, in other words, science, material science, is to replace this religion, and religion is to be shed by mankind just as a snake sheds its skin. And in this way the antagonisms created between Jew and Christian or, or Hindu and Muslim are reconciled.

Prabhupāda: Reconciled can be only when you actually know what is God. Simply by stamping oneself Christian, Jewish, or Hindu and Muslim, without knowing who is God and what is his desire, that will naturally create antagonism. Therefore the conclusion is, as Mr. Marx giving stress on science, so we should understand scientifically what is religion, what is God. Then this antagonism will stop.

Philosophy Discussion on Karl Marx:

Hayagrīva: He felt that the state should eventually assume the role of Christ. He said, "As Christ is the mediator on whom man unburdens all his own divinity and his whole religious burden, so also the state is the mediator on which man places all his unholiness and his whole human burden." So, in other words, that Christ, of course, relieves man of all his burdens and his sins through his message of salvation, and instead of Christ it would be the state that would assume this role.

Prabhupāda: So Christ gives the knowledge how one can be relieved of the material burden. That is the business of all religious preacher. The religious preacher should give information to the people in general the exact position of God or idea of God, and when people will learn scientifically about God's existence and his relationship with God, then everything will be adjusted. That is wanted. Our Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is trying to give people exact idea of God, exact definition of God, and exact instruction of God. If we take that, take to that, then our religious life will be perfect.

Philosophy Discussion on Karl Marx:

Hayagrīva: They had a temple in Delhi.

Prabhupāda: Yes.

Hayagrīva: Well, he says, Marx says, "The incompatibility with religion with the rights of man is so little implied in the concept of the rights of man that the right to be religious according to one's liking and to practice one's own particular religion is explicitly included among the rights of man. The privilege of religion is a universal human right."

Prabhupāda: Yes.

Hayagrīva: So he felt that man should at least be allowed to practice his religion, although he felt that the state should encourage the abolition of religion. That it is an inherent human right for man to be able to practice religion...

Prabhupāda: That, that I explain always, that state duty is the freedom of religion, but the state must see that a person advocating particular type of religion, whether he is acting according to that religion...

Hayagrīva: But he felt that if this religion should be allowed, it should be individual and not communal. He says, "Liberty as a right of man is not based on the association of man with man but rather on a separation of man from man. It is the right of separation..."

Prabhupāda: No, there is no question of separation, that if we accept God as the supreme father. Now the Christian religion believes God as the supreme father. So if the supreme father is there, and if we become obedient to the supreme father, then why, where is the difference of opinion? But we do not know the supreme father and we do not obey the supreme father. That is the cause of dissension. The son's duty is to become obedient to the father and enjoy father's property. So if we know the supreme father, and if we live according to the father's order, so there is question of antagonism, dissension. It is all our own, father being the center. That, the difficulty is that we call supreme father but we do not accept the father's order or what is the order of the supreme father. That is the defect.

Philosophy Discussion on Karl Marx:

Hayagrīva: Well he would rather do..., do away with the whole thing.

Prabhupāda: No, that is impossible. God means, as I have explained, the supreme father. He is the father of every man or every living entity. So how the father can be different? If man manufactures a different... There are ten sons in the family; the father is one. It is not that one son say, "No, I shall select my own father." So what kind of father he is? So that is imperfectness of understanding the father. Nobody can say that "I can select my own father." How it is possible? Father is one. Similarly God is one, and if one is actually religious and obeying the same one father's order, then where is dissension? That the difficulty is nobody knows who is that supreme father, neither they are prepared to obey the orders of the father. That is the difficulty. In one family there cannot be two father. The one father. Similarly, when you speak of the supreme father, "O father, give us our daily bread," He is father of everyone. So why one should select one father, another man will select another father? That means he does not know who is father. That is the defect.

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

Śyāmasundara: And he sees also in the same way two types of religion. He sees the static religion and he calls this static religion "myth devised by human intelligence as a means of defense against the depressing experiences of life. Being fearful of the future, man attempts to combat his fate by constructing religious myths."

Prabhupāda: Just that... Anything created by human being, that is not acceptable. We do not follow that principle. Because a human being is always imperfect. So we cannot take anything manufactured, myth, by any human being. We take directly from God. Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, dharmaṁ tu sākṣād bhagavat-praṇītam (SB 6.3.19). The religious principles, they are given directly by God. Just like Kṛṣṇa says, "This is religion: surrender unto Me." This is religion. It is not man-manufactured. Man is manufacturing, "Oh, this is my type of religion. It is Muhammadanism." "This is Hinduism." "This is Christianism." All these isms, they are imperfect, man-made. But this is perfect. This is perfect because it is given by God Himself. Dharmaṁ tu sākṣād bhagavat... (SB 6.3.19). Very simple thing. "You surrender unto Me." That's all. So any religious system which leads the follower to this point, surrendering to God, that is religion. Otherwise bogus. Real religion is this, surrender to God. So any system of religion, it doesn't matter whether Hinduism, Christianism, Muhammadanism, if it teaches ultimately surrender to God, then that is perfect religion. Otherwise it is not religion.

Philosophy Discussion on Johann Gottlieb Fichte:

Hayagrīva: Not, not specifically.

Prabhupāda: Then what is immoral? Everyone will say this is morality. Just like we say, following the Vedic scripture, we say kṛṣi-go-rakṣya-vāṇijyam (BG 18.44), go-rakṣya, to give protection to the cows. So according to the scripture we would say it is morality, and somebody will say no, killing a cow in some religious place, mosque or synagogue, this is morality. So which one is morality?

Hayagrīva: Well he, following Kant, he emphasized inner reality...

Prabhupāda: He may, he may follow Kant and I may follow Kṛṣṇa, but if there is contradiction, then which one is morality? How it will be decided, and who will decide? He may follow somebody. That this question I asked Professor Kotovsky in Moscow, that "You are following Communism, and we are following, say, Kṛṣṇa-ism, but your leader is Lenin and our leader is Kṛṣṇa, that so far the philosophy is concerned we have to accept a leader." So there is no difference in the basic principle of philosophy that we must have a leader. Now who shall be the leader and who will decide it? Regards to both of us, we have got a leader. Now which leader is perfect? If both of them are perfect, then why there is difference of opinion—one leader does not agree with the other leader? So who will answer this question that who is the best leader? Leader you have to follow. That you cannot avoid. Either you follow Kant or you follow Kṛṣṇa. Either you follow Lenin or you follow Kṛṣṇa. What is the answer? Who is the perfect leader? You cannot avoid leader, either you say according to Kant, I say according to Kṛṣṇa.

Philosophy Discussion on Socrates:

Hayagrīva: Breakneck.

Prabhupāda: Breakneck. And then what is the business? Searching out some means of food, exactly like the hog, he is loitering here and there, "Where is stool? Where is stool? Where is stool?" And this is going on in the polished way as civilization. There is so much risk, as running these cars so many people are dying. There is record, it is very dangerous. At least I feel as soon as I go to the street, it is dangerous. The motorcar are running so speedy, and what is the business? The business is where to find out food. So therefore it is condemned that this kind of civilization is hoggish civilization. This hog is running after, "Where is stool? Where is stool? Where is stool?" And you are running in a car. The same. Purpose is the same: "Where is stool?" Purpose is the same. Therefore this is not advancement of civilization. Advancement of civilization is, as Kṛṣṇa advises, that you require food, so produce food grain. Remain wherever you are. You can produce food grain anywhere, a little labor. And keep cows, go-rakṣya, kṛṣi-go-rakṣya vāṇijyaṁ vaiśya-karma svabhāva-jam (BG 18.44). Solve your problem like... Produce your food wherever you are there. Till little, little labor, and you will get your whole year's food. And distribute the food to the animal, cow, and eat yourself. The cow will eat the refuse. You take the rice, and the skin you give to the cow. From dahl you take the grain, and the skin you give to the... And fruit, you take the fruit, and the skin you give to the cow, and he will give you milk. So why should you kill him? Milk is the miraculous food; therefore Kṛṣṇa says kṛṣi-go-rakṣya vāṇijyaṁ vaiśya (BG 18.44). Give protection to the cow, take milk from it, and eat food grains—your food problem is solved. Where is food problem? Why should you invent such civilization always full of anxieties, running the car here and there, and fight with other nation, and economic development? What is this civilization? Therefore we require to take to Kṛṣṇa consciousness to become happy every way-economically, philosophically, religiously, culturally, everything. That is Kṛṣṇa consciousness.

Philosophy Discussion on Aristotle:

Prabhupāda: Yes. He has got the tilt of Māyāvāda. That is his imperfect knowledge of God. Because he does not receive knowledge from God, he speculates; therefore his knowledge is imperfect.

Hayagrīva: Aristotle's belief in the soul changed. He has three conceptions of the soul. One is that the soul is a separate substance, another is that the body is the instrument of the soul, and the third is the soul is the form of the body.

Prabhupāda: Yes, this can be explained. The body is just like the dress of the soul. So our dress is made according to our body. The tailor takes the measurement of the body and makes the coat accordingly. So the coat appears with the hand because we have got hand. Coat, pant appears as a leg because we have got leg. So this body is simply a, what is called, coating or shirting of the soul. Actually the soul has got form, shape, form, and therefore the cloth, which will generally have no shape, is, when it comes in contact with the soul, it becomes a shape.

Hayagrīva: Now for both Plato and Aristotle, God is known by reason, not by revelation or by religious experience, not by mystical experience...

Prabhupāda: That is nonsense. You cannot... God is unlimited. You have got limited power to see or to smell or to touch. You have got all limited, and God is unlimited. So you cannot understand God by your limited power of sensual activities. Therefore God is revelation. We say that ataḥ śrī-kṛṣṇa-nāmādi na bhaved grāhyam indriyaiḥ (CC Madhya 17.136). You cannot understand by speculating your senses. That is not possible. When you engage yourself in His service, then He reveals. Nāhaṁ prakāśaḥ sarvasya yoga-māyā-samāvṛtaḥ (BG 7.25). God says that "I am not exposed to everyone. I am covered by the yoga-māyā." That is fact. So unless God reveals Himself... So God not only reveals, He appears, and great authorities, they are searching. Just like Kṛṣṇa appeared, and great authorities like Vyāsadeva, Nārada, Śukadeva Gosvāmī and then the ācāryas, Rāmānujācārya, Madhvācārya and Caitanya Mahāprabhu-big, big stalwart scholars and transcendentalists—they accepted Kṛṣṇa. All the śāstras accept Kṛṣṇa. Long, long years, five thousand years, when there was no philosophy in the Western world, God revealed Himself, face to face. Arjuna saw Him and he accepted Him. And similarly other great persons accepted Him. So God is not to be speculated, but by one's service, when He is pleased, He reveals Himself.

Philosophy Discussion on Thomas Aquinas:

Hayagrīva: Aquinas believed that truths, religious truths, are attained through both reason and revelation. He ascribed to Anselm's statement, "I believe in all that I may understand," and also to Abelard's, "I understand in order that I may believe," so that reason and revelation complement one another as a means to truth.

Prabhupāda: Yes. Truth, through reason, that is... Of course human reason is not perfect; therefore revelation also wanted. So that truth arrived at by logic, philosophy and revelation, that is real truth. Our process is to arrive the truth through guru, spiritual master, and he is accepted as representative of the Absolute Truth, Personality of Godhead, and he carries the message of truth because he has seen the Absolute Truth through disciplic succession. So if we accept the bona fide spiritual master (as) representative of God and please him by submissive service, then by his mercy and pleasure we can understand God, the spiritual world, by revelation. We offer, therefore, our great respect to the spiritual master and say, yasya prasādād bhagavat-prasādo **. If you can please the spiritual master, who is carrying the message of the Lord without any speculation, then God becomes revealed. Another place it is said, sevonmukhe hi jihvādau svayam eva sphuraty adaḥ (Brs. 1.2.234). When we engage our senses in the spirit of service to the Supreme Lord, then Lord becomes revealed. In another place it is said, teṣāṁ nityābhiyuktānāṁ bhajatāṁ prīti-pūrvakam, buddhi-yogaṁ dadāmi tam. The Lord is there, but one who is engaged in loving service to the Lord, he gets direct connection with the Lord, and the instruction also, so that the devotee may be able to enter the spiritual world.

Philosophy Discussion on Rene Descartes:

Hayagrīva: ...be certain...

Prabhupāda: Yes, infinite. I am, I am finite. I, as soul or as Brahman, am finite Brahman, and therefore there must be one infinite Brahman. That infinite Brahman is God, and finite Brahman is jīva, living entity. Therefore in the Vedic literature the God is accepted as the chief living being. Just like we have got in our family the father is supposedly chief man in the family, and sons and daughters, they are subordinate. These are common understanding. Similarly, God is the origin of all living entities and we are subordinate living entity, just like the father and the sons, and that is accepted by any religious sect, that God is the supreme father and we are son. That is accepted everywhere. And as the sons, children, they exist by the mercy of the father, similarly, our existence is continuing on account of mercy of the supreme father. This is reasoning.

Hayagrīva: He says, "These perfections which I am attributing to God, which are infinite, immutable, independent, all-knowing, all-powerful..."

Prabhupāda: Yes.

Hayagrīva: "...these perfections are in some fashion potentially in me...,"

Prabhupāda: Yes.

Hayagrīva: "...although they do not show themselves."

Prabhupāda: But they are finite. They are finite, very small particle. That I have already explained many times, that the creative force is in me. I can create also. Now in the modern scientific knowledge, so I have created a big plane floating in the air, but I cannot create another planet with so many mountains and vast water, oceans, and trees. That I cannot do. That is done by God. This planet is also floating in the air and the tiny 747 plane is also floating in the air. So that is created by me, infinite, ah, finite. I have no other more power. Even if I float a city like plane, still I am finite. But God has created this planet or many other planets with so many things—mountains, seas and forests and cities and so many. That is the difference between... The creative power is there. Because I am part and parcel of God, I have got that creative power. So I have got also little knowledge. I know my knowledge within my atmosphere, but God knows everything. That is explained, janmādy asya yataḥ (SB 1.1.1), abhijñaḥ, itarataś ca. Abhijñaḥ, abhijñaḥ means He knows everything. In the Bhagavad-gītā also it is said, vedāhaṁ sarvam, "I know everything." That is the difference. When Arjuna questioned Kṛṣṇa that "How it is that You remember millions of years ago, You taught Bhagavad-gītā?" And that Kṛṣṇa says, "Yes, that is the difference between you and Me. I remember; you forgot." So therefore in all cases God is also living being, I am also living being, but I am very, very small, finite, and He is infinite. He is also living being.

Philosophy Discussion on Benedict Spinoza:

Hayagrīva: Spinoza's God is clearly not a personal God. Spinoza is an impersonalist, and his love for God is more intellectual or philosophical than theistic or religious. Being an impersonalist, Spinoza believed in the identity of the individual soul with God. This is not to say that he believed that the individual soul is infinite, but that it is not distinct from God. He writes, "Thus that love of the soul is a part of the infinite love with which God loves Himself." He sees the soul's intellectual love of God and God's love for the individual soul, which is within man, to be one and the same love.

Prabhupāda: Love is five kinds of love: śānta, dāsya, sākhya, vatsalya, mādhurya. The beginning of love is awe and adoration: "Oh, God is so great. God is everything." When he understands God's potency, unlimitedness, the soul adores Him. That adoration is also love. When that adoration is further advanced, then he serves God as master and servant. When the service is more intimate, then friend to friend—as one friend renders service to other friend, the other friend renders to other friend, like that, reciprocal. Then further expanded, the love is turned into paternal love, and further expanded it is expanding into conjugal love. So there are different stages of love. So Spinoza is touching only the beginning of love, simply adoring, appreciating God's power, expansion, that much. But when this love of adoration expands, that is called dasya-rasa, sākhya-rasa, vatsalya-rasa, madhurya-rasa. So he is on the beginning state of loving God. He has not advanced farther.

Philosophy Discussion on Samuel Alexander:

Prabhupāda: Deity.

Hayagrīva: And in this book he defines religion. He says, "Religion leans on metaphysics for the justification of its conviction of the reality of its object, God. Philosophy leans on religion to justify it, and calling the possessor of Deity by the religious name of 'God.' The two methods of approach, that is philosophy and religion, are therefore complementary."

Prabhupāda: Hmm. That's right. Religion, when it is combined with philosophy, that makes sense, and religion without philosophy is sentiment. It has no practical value.

Hayagrīva: For Alexander, religion is like what...

Prabhupāda: We should say in this connection that Bhagavad-gītā is religion and philosophy combined together.

Hayagrīva: For Ale...

Prabhupāda: The religion is God worship, and everything explained there, just like immortality of the soul, that is philosophy. So it is combination of religion and philosophy that makes sense.

Philosophy Discussion on Samuel Alexander:

Prabhupāda: The religion is God worship, and everything explained there, just like immortality of the soul, that is philosophy. So it is combination of religion and philosophy that makes sense.

Hayagrīva: For Alexander religion is like hunger, and God is the food for that hunger.

Prabhupāda: Yes.

Hayagrīva: He writes, "The religious which sets us in search of God is our groping out to the reality which is God. This religious appetite may either be stirred in us directly, by the impact of the world with its tendency to Deity, or it may first be felt by us as a need of our nature." So the desire or hunger for God may be motivated either externally or internally.

Prabhupāda: That I explained this morning partially, that actually we are seeking love of God beginning with the body. That I have explained in this morning, that we love this body because I live within this body. As soon as I give up this body, the body is neglected, it has no value, throw it. So, so long the living soul is there, the body has value. So why the living soul is valuable? Because he is the part and parcel of God. So God is there also within this body. This is explained is the Bhagavad-gītā. There are two living entities. One is..., they all..., both of them are known as kṣetra-jña. One kṣetra-jña only knows about his body, and the other kṣetra-jña knows all other bodies. That is God and the living entity. So the body is important because the living entities are there. The subordinate living entity is the part of the supreme living entity. So ultimately the conclusion is, because a supreme living entity is in the body or within the universe, therefore we have manufactured so many activities of love and society, friendship, nationality, community. Ultimately, when it culminates with love of God, then it is perfect. So the conclusion is that we are searching after the platform where God is love, but it is going on, I mean to say, by degrees, one after another, in different names.

Philosophy Discussion on Samuel Alexander:

Hayagrīva: Now he analyzes theism, which is the personal aspect, and pantheism, the impersonal aspect, and he finds both defective in themselves, and so what is his position? This is his position: "If the question is asked whether the speculative conception of God or Deity which has been advanced here as part of the empirical treatment of space/time, and has appeared to be verified by religious experience belongs to theism or pantheism, the answer must be that it is not strictly referable to either of them. Taken by itself..."

Prabhupāda: That is his mistake. As you have explained that the sky is also with reference to God... The sky is explained as the heart of God, and the water is explained as the semina of God, the moon is explained as the mind of God, the sun is explained as the eyes of God, the land is explained as the foot of God. So everything is with reference to God. So for a person who understands God, there is nothing existing without God. So how God can be separate? That is the fact. So pantheism or any "ism" you take, it has reference with God. What he says?

Hayagrīva: This, he goes on to say, he says it doesn't belong, strictly belong, strictly belong to theism or pantheism. "The answer must be it is not strictly referable to either taken by itself, that in different respects it belongs to both, and that if a choice must be made, it is theistic," that is personal, "for God for us is..."

Prabhupāda: That, that means when you come to the personal God you see that everything is with reference to God. There is nothing independent. Idaṁ hi viśvaṁ bhagavān ivetaro. That is explained, that this viśvarūpa universe is Bhagavān, but it appears that it is different from Bhagavān to the less intelligent. So then there cannot exist anything without Bhagavān, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, but those who have no sufficient knowledge, they think that "This is separate from God and God is separate from you."

Philosophy Discussion on Auguste Comte:

Hayagrīva: He draws a distinction between atheism and positivism. He says, "Atheism, even from the intellectual point of view, is a very imperfect form of emancipation, for its tendency is to prolong the metaphysical stage indefinitely by continuing to seek for new solutions of theological problems instead of setting aside all inaccessible researches on the grounds of their utter inutility. In a word, atheism is still concerned with studying the 'why' instead of the 'how,' and positivism, true positivism, is concerned with the 'how' instead of the 'why.' " In other words, he felt that religion quo religion, religion as religion, had best be set aside because religious questions are basically childish. They can never be answered. So atheism is rejected because atheists "occupy themselves with theological problems and yet reject the only appropriate method of handling them." And for him the only appropriate method is to forget the whole thing.

Prabhupāda: So how can he forget? Atheism will help anyone to improve his position? Just like death. Atheist, if he does not believe in God and God sends him death, how he can counteract it? He has no power to counteract it. We understand from Bhagavad-gītā that death is God for the atheist. Atheists do not believe in God, but God comes to him as death to convince him that "Here I am." So how the atheist can avoid? How it will improve his present situation by atheistic speculation? So how the atheist can become independent? That is not possible.

Philosophy Discussion on Auguste Comte:

Hayagrīva: He believed in forming working men's clubs that would be dedicated to the philosophy of positivism. He wrote, "The real intention of the club is to form a provisional substitute for the church of old times." He's referring specifically to the Catholic Church; he's a Frenchman. "Or rather, the working man is to prepare the way for the religious building of the new form of worship, the worship of humanity."

Prabhupāda: What is that humanity? The working man does not know...

Hayagrīva: Humanity is all mankind.

Prabhupāda: All mankind to do what?

Hayagrīva: The worship of humanity, he spoke of, that the working man will usher in or introduce...

Prabhupāda: These stamps are not very clear. What does it mean, "humanity"? To supply the necessities of the human being? Or what?

Hayagrīva: Well, humanity for him is all..., simply every man.

Prabhupāda: Every man is already there. So what does he mean by "every man," "humanity"?

Hayagrīva: All mankind.

Prabhupāda: That's all right, all mankind, but what is that humanity? Humanity is some activities? Or simply taking the whole human being together, that is humanity?

Hayagrīva: All human beings together.

Prabhupāda: Hm. So all human beings together, but each and every human being he has got some individuality. So even if you take all humanity, how the individuality will be the same? That is not possible.

Philosophy Discussion on Auguste Comte:

Hayagrīva: Comte felt that love of God has always interfered with man's love of women. He says, "Love of God is inconsistent with love for our fellow men, and it was impiety for the knight to love his lady better than his God. And thus the best feelings of man's nature were repressed by his religious faith. Women, therefore, are not really interested in perpetuating the old system of religion."

Prabhupāda: Generally, women are interested in comfortable home life. That is woman's nature. They are not spiritually very much advanced or interested. But the..., if man is interested, and the woman helps the man, either as mother or wife or daughter, then both of them, if the woman remains subordinate and the man is making spiritual progress and the woman is helping the man, then both of them will make spiritual progress. Or the woman, without working for spiritual elevation, because (s)he is helping the man (s)he will share the profit, spiritual benefit.

Hayagrīva: The role of woman he envisioned as that of man's companion. He says, "The first aspect, then, under which positivism considers women is simply as the companion of man, irrespective of her maternal duties," and that this friendship or companionship has as its basis sex. He says, "Conjugal union becomes a perfect ideal of friendship, yet still more beautiful than friendship, because each possesses and is possessed by the other. For perfect friendship, difference of sex is essential as excluding the possibility of rivalry." So he felt that sex, there can actually be very little friendship between men, because there's no sexual basis, that sex is the basis for the friendship between the sexes.

Prabhupāda: Hmm. So woman, sex, there is sex, sexual necessity and the bodily demand. So woman not only give the sex pleasure to the man, but woman should prepare good foodstuff also for the man. The man is working very hard. When he comes home, if the wife supplies him good foodstuff and nice comfort and sex, then the home becomes very happy. That is practical experience. So after hard working, when man comes home, if he finds out good foodstuff and nicely satisfied by eating, and then the woman gives satisfaction by sex, then both of them remain fully satisfied, and then they can improve their real business, spiritual understanding, because human life is meant for making progress in spiritual understanding.

Philosophy Discussion on Auguste Comte:

Hayagrīva: Well he felt, um, that the worship of humanity could be systematized, just like the worship of God, and he even devised a calendar devoted to the worship of famous dead men, and he felt that the churches could serve for a while as places to carry out these ceremonies. He says, "The buildings erected for the service of God may for a time suffice for the worship of humanity in the same way that Christian worship was carried on at first in pagan temples as they were gradually vacated."

Prabhupāda: Yes, unless one has got full sense of God, they cannot stick to the worshiping method. And we have got practical experience in Los Angeles that we purchased that church because it was not going on at all. They made plans for Sunday school and so on, so on, but somehow or other it failed. Nobody was coming to the church. At last it was sold to us. Now this same church is there, and the same Americans are there, but at the present moment in our Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa Temple it is always packed up. So what is the reason? The same church is there and the same men are there, but formerly nobody was coming, so that the church was sold to us. Now it is all packed up. What is the reason? The reason is that simply religious sentiment, assembly in the church, will not help us unless there is spiritual life and based on philosophy and full understanding of the goal of life. That will make religion perfect; otherwise no.

Philosophy Discussion on B. F. Skinner and Henry David Thoreau:

Prabhupāda: That is primitive life, jungle life. Monkey civilization. Of course they claim to be descendant of monkey, that they will go on like that. But that is not human civilization, to keep the monkey in the jungle. We want life, very peaceful life without any unnecessary, what is called, necessities. That is all right. But the aim should be spiritual perfection. Therefore the first thing is what is the aim of life, that should be ascertained. Without aim, if you lounge on this ocean, where you are going? That is useless attempt. We must first of all know what is the aim of life. These people, they do not know what is the aim of life. Simply, superficially they are trying to adjust, "This will be done, this will be done." No. These are all mental speculation. First of all you must know what is the aim of life, and to this, to that direction, we have to adjust things. That is perfection.

Hayagrīva: He writes, "Walden II isn't a religious community. It differs in that respect from all other reasonably permanent communities of the past. We don't give our children any religious training, though parents are free to do so if they wish." Then he goes on to say that "The simple fact is the religious practices which our members brought to Walden II have fallen away little by little like drinking and smoking." He says, "We have no need for formal religion, either as ritual or philosophy."

Prabhupāda: He has no need of religion? Does he say like that?

Hayagrīva: That's what he says.

Philosophy Discussion on B. F. Skinner and Henry David Thoreau:

Prabhupāda: And put the society in chaotic condition then.

Hayagrīva: In this way society can be controlled, through the use of drugs.

Prabhupāda: Who will control?

Hayagrīva: Well he doesn't believe in any leaders.

Prabhupāda: Then who will control? Society controlled without any controller? What is the meaning?

Rāmeśvara: It's a type of communism, where the people work together in a communal way.

Prabhupāda: How they will work together? They require Lenin, Stalin, or something like that, to force them to work. Still, in Communist country there are manager class. Not only worker class, the manager class. So this is all utopian theory. It has no practical value.

Hayagrīva: In the United States all of the successful utopian communities have had a strong religious leader.

Prabhupāda: Leader must be there, religious or not religious. Everyone has leader. The Communist has got leader, and the spiritualists, Kṛṣṇa consciousness, we have also leader. So without leader nothing can be done. They may defy leadership, they may defy authority, but one who defies authority, he wants to become authority. So this is natural. Without leader nothing can be done.

Hayagrīva: That's the end of B. F. Skinner. (end)

Purports to Songs

Purport Excerpt to Sri Sri Siksastakam -- Los Angeles, December 28, 1968:

Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu instructed His disciples to write books on the science of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. A task which those who follow Him have continued to carry out down to the present day. The elaboration and exposition on the philosophy taught by Lord Caitanya are in fact the most voluminous, exacting, and consistent, due to the unbreakable system of disciplic succession of any religious culture in the world. Yet Lord Caitanya in His youth widely renowned as a scholar Himself, left us only eight verses called Śikṣāṣṭaka.