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Survive (Lectures)

Lectures

Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures

The heart attack was very severe. I should have died. Nobody survives such heart attack. But Kṛṣṇa saved me. That's all.
Lecture on BG 2.46-62 -- Los Angeles, December 16, 1968:

Vīrabhadra: My third question is when you had that heart attack, did you feel the pain?

Prabhupāda: Yes.

Vīrabhadra: You felt the pain?

Prabhupāda: Yes. Why shall I not?

Vīrabhadra: Well, because you're a pure devotee. I mean you're pure, so you don't feel pain.

Prabhupāda: Huh?

Vīrabhadra: I thought you said in Bhagavad-gītā a pure devotee wouldn't feel pain because he's always chanting and Kṛṣṇa will always protect him.

Prabhupāda: Yes. Pain was there, but it was not too much. The boys, the disciples, were chanting and I was chanting, so there was not so much. It was not so much painful. That is already explained. When there is distress, the devotee takes it that "I am suffering for my past deeds, but I should have died at this moment, but Kṛṣṇa is simply giving me a little pain, that's all." Actually, that was the thing. That day I should have... The heart attack was very severe. I should have died. Nobody survives such heart attack. But Kṛṣṇa saved me. That's all.

The father is expected to serve. Otherwise, the son will not survive. So this is a service of love.
Lecture on BG 4.6-8 -- New York, July 20, 1966:

Just like mother. There are some good examples in the material world, world, like the father and mother render service to the son. Just like here immediately you see the father is taking his son in a perambulator. It is rendering service. But there is no remuneration. It is duty. Because the father is expected to serve. Otherwise, the son will not survive. So this is a service of love. Similarly, even in this material, this service of love, there is a question of gain. Because sometimes the father thinks that "When the son will be grown up, I'll be happy, I'll get some remuneration," like that... There is some prospect. But actually, when we render service to the Supreme, there is not a single idea like that, "I shall be rewarded by..."

If Kṛṣṇa protects one, even if he has no expert treatment, he'll still survive.
Lecture on BG 6.16-24 -- Los Angeles, February 17, 1969:

If Kṛṣṇa neglects, no other remedy can protect you. No other measure can protect you. Don't think—suppose one is diseased. Many expert physicians treating him. Nice medicine is offered. Is that guarantee for his life? No. That is not guarantee. If Kṛṣṇa neglects, in spite of all these good physicians and medicines he will die. And if Kṛṣṇa protects him, even if he has no expert treatment, he'll still survive. So one who is fixed up in Kṛṣṇa, fully surrendered, and one of the points of surrender is that Kṛṣṇa will protect me. Then you are happy. Just like the child. He's fully surrendered to the parents and he is confident that "My father is there, my mother is there." So he's happy. Kadāham aikāntika-nitya-kiṅkaraḥ. If you know that somebody is there who is my patron, who is my savior, are you not very happy? But if you do everything on your own account, at your responseibility, are you happy? Similarly, if you are convinced in Kṛṣṇa consciousness that "Kṛṣṇa will give me protection" and if you are true to Kṛṣṇa, that is the standard of happiness. You cannot be happy otherwise. That is not possible. Eko bahūnāṁ vidadhāti kāmān.

Just like a man fallen in the ocean, the only survival is... If somebody goes and picks him just one inch above the water, he feels immediately relieved.
Lecture on BG 8.21-22 -- New York, November 19, 1966:

This prayer was offered by Lord Caitanya. He's praying, "O my dear Kṛṣṇa, the son of Nanda..." Kṛṣṇa appeared as a foster son of Nanda Mahārāja. And Kṛṣṇa is very delighted when He is connected with some of His devotees' names. So Lord Caitanya addresses Him, "O the son of Nanda, somehow or other, I have now fallen in this ocean of nescience, ignorance. Please pick me up and fix me as one of the atoms of Your lotus feet." That's all. Just like a man fallen in the ocean, the only survival is... If somebody goes and picks him just one inch above the water, he feels immediately relieved. Immediately. So as soon as we are fixed up in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, the immediate relief. Immediately. There is no question about it. It is such a nice thing.

That is human nature, that unless, until he approaches the final post or platform of happiness, he is not happy. That is called struggle for existence and survival of the fittest.
Lecture on BG 16.7 -- Tokyo, January 27, 1975:

Those who are intelligent, they are very pessimistic. Even materially they are pessimistic. They are living some standard of life. "This is not good." There are many houses very low and cottage, so people think that "This is not very good life. Let us have very nice building." So this struggle is going on. That is human nature, that unless, until he approaches the final post or platform of happiness, he is not happy. That is called struggle for existence and survival of the fittest. So sura and devatā means those who are trying to reach the ultimate goal of life where happiness is guaranteed, one who is trying for that, he is called sura, devatā. And one who is satisfied with this temporary so-called happiness, he is called asura. That is the difference.

Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures

This business, struggle for existence, "Survival of the fittest," they say. But nobody is fit to survive. Everyone has to die.
Lecture on SB 1.7.5-6 -- Johannesburg, October 15, 1975:

You want satisfaction. If you want real life, then you accept this, yato bhaktir adhokṣaje. Here the same thing, anarthopaśa... This business, struggle for existence, "Survival of the fittest," they say. But nobody is fit to survive. Everyone has to die. Nobody, even big, big scientists or big, big philosophers and... They cannot survive. They talk of millions of years, but personally they live only fifty or sixty years. This is their position. They simply cheat people: "Maybe." "Perhaps." "Millions of years." And you are going to live for fifty years. Why talking of millions of years? So this is anartha.

Mahārāja Parīkṣit was in the womb of his mother. They survived. So Duryodhana did not like.
Lecture on SB 1.7.38-39 -- Vrndavana, September 30, 1976:

Sometimes the servants do something abominable for pleasing the master. But he could not please even the master. He wanted to please Duryodhana, his master, promising him that he would kill all the five brothers, the Pāṇḍavas. But instead of killing the Pāṇḍavas, he killed their sons. Duryodhana did not like that, because he knew that the whole Kuru family practically was killed. Only the five brothers. And Mahārāja Parīkṣit was in the womb of his mother. They survived. So Duryodhana did not like. Duryodhana, whatever he may be, he was a kṣatriya and he fought bravely. So he did not like the Kuru dynasty should be finished. He did not like it. But when he understood that the five sons of Pāṇḍavas were also killed, he became very much disappointed because the Kuru dynasty is finished. So he could not satisfy his master. Bhartuś ca vipriyam.

There were so many asuras in this world. There were Lenin, there were Stalin, there were Hitler, there were Hiraṇyakaśipu. So many. But they could not survive. It is not possible.
Lecture on SB 1.8.20 -- Mayapura, September 30, 1974:

So the asura is overpowered, but if the asura makes more attempt to save himself, then there are, only two hands are engaged of Durgā to kill the asura, one catching his hair and one the trident. Only two hands are engaged. But if he shows more power, then there are eight hands more, reserved with different types of weapons. So you cannot overcome the ruling, or the control, of the material nature. That is not possible. Daivī hy eṣā guṇamayī mama māyā duratyayā (BG 7.14). So asura, to kill the asuras, however powerful they may be... We have seen. There were so many asuras in this world. There were Lenin, there were Stalin, there were Hitler, there were Hiraṇyakaśipu. So many. But they could not survive. It is not possible. They'll be finished.

Darwin's only observation is that the struggle is the only business: "Survival of the fittest." But he does not know how to become fit.
Lecture on SB 1.8.25 -- Vrndavana, October 5, 1974:

You may be very expert swimmer, but that does not mean that you are happy. You can go on struggling, swimming, very expert swimming, but that does not mean happiness. Similarly, here, in the ocean of nescience, all these rascals are swimming. They are making plans to become happy, but they are not happy. That's a fact. They can try to become happy. That is natural. Everyone unhappy, he wants to become happy. That is called struggle for existence. But they do not know except this. The Darwin's theory, because he's a rascal, he thinks that the struggle is the only business. His only observation is that the struggle is the only business: "Survival of the fittest." But he does not know how to become fit. He does not know. That is mentioned here, apunar bhava-darśanam (SB 1.8.25). That is fitness, no more struggling, struggling stopped. So that process is not known.

Simply by bodily comforts you cannot exist. Survival of the fittest. Struggle for existence.
Lecture on SB 1.8.33 -- Los Angeles, April 25, 1972:

Suppose a man is very comfortably situated. Does it mean that he will not die? He'll die. So simply by bodily comforts you cannot exist. Survival of the fittest. Struggle for existence. So when we simply take care of the body, that is called dharmasya glāniḥ, polluted. One must know what is the necessity of the body and what is the necessity of the soul. The real necessity of life is to supply the comforts of the soul. And the soul can be comforted not by material adjustment. Because soul is a different identity, the soul must be given spiritual food. That spiritual food is this Kṛṣṇa consciousness. If you give the soul the spiritual food...

Because it was after the battle. Parīkṣit Mahārāja was the only survivor of the whole Kuru dynasty.
Lecture on SB 1.10.7 -- Mayapura, June 22, 1973:

So Abhimanyu was Kṛṣṇa's (Arjuna's) son from the womb of Subhadrā. So he was married. Only sixteen years. Almost the same age. Fortunately Uttarā became pregnant. So Abhimanyu went to fight in the Battlefield of Kurukṣetra and never returned. So Parīkṣit Mahārāja was posthumous child. He took his birth after the death of his father. He did not see. Not only father, many. Because it was after the battle. He was the only survivor of the whole Kuru dynasty. So he was also attempted to be killed by Aśvatthāmā by brahmāstra. Kṛṣṇa saved. So Parīkṣit Mahārāja was born after the death of his father. The grandfathers took care of him, and as soon as the child was grown up, all the grandfathers, Pāṇḍavas, entrusted the kingdom to Parīkṣit Mahārāja, and they left home.

If you drink poison, then you are criminal. If you survive, by law you'll be punished.
Lecture on SB 1.10.11-12 -- Mayapura, June 25, 1973:

If you take poison, that is criminal. Similarly, He says, "A man in renounced order of life, if he's thinking of woman and money, then he's committing suicide more than ordinary suicide." Viṣa-bhakṣaṇato 'py asādhu. Viṣa-bhakṣaṇa. If you drink poison, then you are criminal. If you survive, by law you'll be punished. Perhaps you know it. Anyone attempting to commit suicide, if he survives, by law he'll be punished: "Why you attempted suicide? This is criminal." Similarly, to see, to aspire after women and money, by the renounced order people, is lower than committing suicide. This is Caitanya Mahāprabhu's version.

This is the theory of struggle for existence and survival of the fittest. The law of nature is like that, that the stronger overpowers the weaker.
Lecture on SB 1.15.25-26 -- Los Angeles, December 4, 1973:

This is the theory of struggle for existence and survival of the fittest. The law of nature is like that, that the stronger overpowers the weaker. The stronger overpowers the weaker. In another place it is stated,

ahastāni sahastānām
apadāni catuṣ-padām
phalgūni tatra mahatāṁ
jīvo jīvasya jīvanam

A living entity, they live by eating another living entity. What is that? Ahastāni sahastānām. Sahastānām means those who are endowed with hands. That means man, man form, human form, they have got hands. So those who have no hands..., just like the animals, they have got legs, they have no hands. So ahastāni, those who have no hands, they are food for the animal with hands: bite that animal. Those animal with hands... They are animal, those who are eating another animal; they are not human being.

No one will survive in the struggle with material nature.
Lecture on SB 2.1.4 -- Vrndavana, March 19, 1974:

In the human form of life a living being is competent enough to come to an understanding of this great struggle for existence, but being too attracted to the family members, society, country, etc., he wants to win over the invincible material nature by the aid of bodily strength, children, wife, relatives, etc. Although he is sufficiently experienced in the matter by dint of past experience and previous examples of the diseased predecessors, he does not see that the countrymen are all fallible in the great struggle. One should examine the fact that the father or father's father has already died, and therefore he himself is also sure to die. And similarly his children, who are the would-be fathers of their children, will also die in due course. No one will survive in the struggle with material nature. Daivī hy eṣā guṇamayī mama māyā duratyayā (BG 7.14).

Without fighting, you cannot stay. That is called struggle for existence and survival of the fittest. You must be fit.
Lecture on SB 2.1.5 -- Paris, June 13, 1974:

So fighting, this is called struggle for existence. Everyone wants to exist, and he has to fight. At least, we have to fight with the winter season. If there is no fighting, so at least there must be fighting with the winter season or summer season. Without fighting, you cannot stay. Without fighting, you cannot stay. That is called struggle for existence and survival of the fittest. You must be fit. This is called material world. And spiritual world means there is no fight; simply friendship, that's all. This is spiritual world. Vaikuṇṭha. Vaikuṇṭha. Kuṇṭha means "anxiety," and vaikuṇṭha means "without anxiety."

He is fittest to survive. What is survival? Who is going to survive? Do you mean to say that by cultivating health culture, big, strong, and you will survive? Nobody will survive. So who will survive? Only Kṛṣṇa conscious. If he is strictly Kṛṣṇa conscious, then he will survive.
Lecture on SB 6.1.22 -- Honolulu, May 22, 1976:

The struggle for existence, as I have repeated, this word is very common, but nobody knows what is that struggle for existence and what is the platform of becoming fittest. Nobody knows. It is we are preaching. If you remain in this material world, then struggle for existence will continue. And fittest means one who has come to the spiritual platform. He is fittest to survive. What is survival? Who is going to survive? Do you mean to say that by cultivating health culture, big, strong, and you will survive? Nobody will survive. So who will survive? Only Kṛṣṇa conscious. If he is strictly Kṛṣṇa conscious, then he will survive. Tyaktvā dehaṁ punar janma naiti mām eti (BG 4.9). The Kṛṣṇa conscious person who has studied Kṛṣṇa only (?) perfectly, then he is fit. This body is also... This body is not permanent, that's a fact. But tyaktvā dehaṁ, after giving up this body, no more material body—spiritual body. Sat-cit-ānanda-vigraha.

They are making body very stout and strong so they will survive. Nobody will survive, sir, unless he is Kṛṣṇa conscious.
Lecture on SB 6.1.22 -- Honolulu, May 22, 1976:

So we should be very serious. We should not fall down from the standard of Vedic culture. If you are actually serious about stopping this, manaḥ ṣaṣṭhāni indriyāṇi prakṛti-sthāni karṣati. This is struggle for existence. In this material world everyone is struggling to survive. But who is surviving? That way, materialistic way of life will not help you to survive. That is prakṛteḥ kriyamāṇāni (BG 3.27). Nature is so strong that you must die. "I am very strong." You may be very strong, that's all right. There is a, I mean to say, joking story that one man thought how to avoid death—Hiraṇyakaśipu. So he thought that the Yamarāja is the superintendent of death, he comes to take. So I shall make such policy that he may not come to me. What is that policy? "Bring some stool. I shall smear over my body, and out of bad smell he will not come." So he began to smear stool on his body at the time of death. So this is going on. They are making body very stout and strong so they will survive. Nobody will survive, sir, unless he is Kṛṣṇa conscious.

Nobody will survive. So who will survive? Only Kṛṣṇa conscious. If he is strictly Kṛṣṇa conscious, then he will survive.
Lecture on SB 6.1.23 -- Honolulu, May 23, 1976:

So so long you'll prolong this material way of life, that is called struggle for existence. The "struggle for existence" and "survival of the fittest," this word is very common but nobody knows what is that struggle for existence and what is the platform of becoming fittest. Nobody knows. It is we are preaching that "If you remain in this material world, then struggle for existence will continue." And fittest means one who has come to the spiritual platform, he is fittest to survive. What is survival? Who is going to survive? Do you mean to say by cultivating health culture, very strong, you'll survive? Nobody will survive. So who will survive? Only Kṛṣṇa conscious. If he is strictly Kṛṣṇa conscious, then he will survive. Tyaktvā dehaṁ punar janma naiti mām eti (BG 4.9). The Kṛṣṇa conscious person who has studied Kṛṣṇa only, nothing more, perfectly, that is fit. This body also, this body is not permanent. That's a fact. But tyaktvā deham, after giving up this body no more material body; spiritual body, sac-cid-ānanda-vigrahaḥ (Bs. 5.1).

In this material world everyone is struggling to survive. But who is surviving? That way, materialistic way of life, will not help you to survive.
Lecture on SB 6.1.23 -- Honolulu, May 23, 1976:

So we should be very serious. We should not fall down from the standard of Vedic culture. If you are actually serious about stopping this... Manaḥ-ṣaṣṭhānīndriyāṇi prakṛti-sthāni karṣati (BG 15.7). This is struggle for existence. In this material world everyone is struggling to survive. But who is surviving? That way, materialistic way of life, will not help you to survive. That is... Prakṛteḥ kriyamāṇāni (BG 3.27). Nature is so strong that you must die. "I am very strong." You may be very strong, that's all right, but you must. There is a, I mean to say, joking story that one man thought, "How to avoid death?" Just like Hiraṇyakaśipu. So he thought that "Yamarāja is the superintendent of death. He comes to take, so I shall make such policy that he may not come to me." What is that policy? "So bring some stool. I shall smear over my body, and out of bad smell, he'll not come." So he began to smear stool on his body at the time of death. So this is going on. They are making body very stout and strong so they'll survive. Nobody will survive, sir, unless he is Kṛṣṇa conscious.

If you take the word in a real sense, the survival of the fittest, one who has understood that he is not this body, he is spirit soul, he is fit to survive.
Lecture on SB 6.1.25 -- Chicago, July 9, 1975:

If one, like the cats and dogs and deer, animal, runs after the false water and he dies, struggle for existence... "Survival of the fittest," they say. Nobody will survive. So there is no question. If you take the word in a real sense, the survival of the fittest, one who has understood that he is not this body, he is spirit soul, he is fit to survive. Otherwise, bhūtvā bhūtvā pralīyate (BG 8.19), you will run after this false thing, and this body will be finished, and again you will have to accept another body, and again you will run after, bhūtvā bhūtvā pralīyate (BG 8.19). This is going on. After false thing. Therefore the śāstra says that this human form of life is not meant for running after this false thing. They must understand what is reality. And how to attain that reality? Exactly in the same way: intelligent man knows that "This is my diseased condition. How to get out, achieve that healthy condition? Because I am eternal." Na hanyate hanyamāne śarīre (BG 2.20).

Well, what is the struggle for existence, survival of the fittest? He never thinks of it. This is the eighth wonder.
Lecture on SB 6.1.26 -- Honolulu, May 26, 1976:

Every moment we see that someone is going to the court of Yamaraja—that means death. That is our experience, everything. Ahany ahani lokāni gacchanti yama-mandiraṁ śeṣāḥ sthitam icchanti. Śeṣāḥ, who is not yet dead, he's still alive, he thinks, "I will never die. My dear friend is dying. That's all right. But I'll... Your father is dead. No, still I will be..." Śeṣāḥ sthitam icchanti kim aścaryam ataḥ param. This is the most wonderful thing that we have experience, that "My father is dead, my father's father is dead, so I shall also be die, my sons will die." Well, who will stay? Well, what is the struggle for existence, survival of the fittest? He never thinks of it. This is the eighth wonder.

So these things are going on, struggle for existence, survival of the fittest. This is nice theory.
Lecture on SB 6.1.32 -- Honolulu, May 31, 1976:

So these things are going on, struggle for existence, survival of the fittest. This is nice theory. So here, anywhere you go... Just like your America is the richest country. Do you think there is happiness, there is no fighting, there is no disease, there is no death? No. Everything's there as it is in other countries, poverty-stricken countries. So you cannot avoid. The birth... Kṛṣṇa says, "Birth, death, old age and disease, these are your problems." Janma-mṛtyu-jarā-vyādhi duḥkha-doṣānudarśanam (BG 13.9). Does it mean that these sufferings of birth, death and old age and disease, there is none in America or in other, moon planet? No. There is also same. Neither in greater portion, proportion. So there is stringent laws of the material nature everywhere, and there is God behind him, behind the nature. Mayādhyakṣeṇa prakṛtiḥ sūyate sa-carācaram (BG 9.10). Everything is going on under the direction of the supreme controller, and these are officers, just like Yamarāja, strictly following the regulative principles, the order of sun-god.

Nectar of Devotion Lectures

The leg has to work in his own way, the head has to work in its own way. But the aim should be to survive, to maintain this body. That is the process.
The Nectar of Devotion -- Vrndavana, November 14, 1972:

So, as to maintain this body we require the cooperation of the head, arms, waist and legs, similarly, for serving Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme, the whole, it doesn't matter whether one is a brāhmaṇa or kṣatriya or vaiśya or śūdra; everyone can be engaged. Sva-karmaṇā tam abhyarcya (BG 18.46). One has to worship the Supreme by his own work. The leg has to work in his own way, the head has to work in its own way. But the aim should be to survive, to maintain this body. That is the process. If the aim is one—Kṛṣṇa—then it doesn't matter whether one is brāhmaṇa or one is śūdra. Equally they are serving and they are sharing the equal profit out of it.

Sri Caitanya-caritamrta Lectures

This is called struggle for existence, survival of the fittest. So we are trying to become the fittest, to exist.
Lecture on CC Adi-lila 1.16 -- Mayapur, April 9, 1975:

Now our body is not sat. Kṛṣṇa's body is sat, cid, ānanda. Our, this material body—asat. And because we have got... Asat means temporary, that will not exist. And because we have accepted this material body, therefore we are full of anxiety. Ultimately, what is our anxiety? We are always trying to... This is called struggle for existence, survival of the fittest. So we are trying to become the fittest, to exist. But that is not possible in this body. That is not possible, because it is asat; it is not sat. And because the struggle is that we want to exist in this body, therefore there is anxiety. Asad-grahāt sadā samudvigna-dhiyām asad-grahāt (SB 7.5.5). The śāstra says that we are always full of anxieties.

There are troubles, and you try to save yourself, and survival of the fittest. But nobody is fit, nobody survives. Nobody wants death, but we are talking of survival.
Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 20.102 -- Baltimore, July 7, 1976:

The modern theory is struggle for existence. There are troubles, and you try to save yourself, and survival of the fittest. But nobody is fit, nobody survives. Nobody wants death, but we are talking of survival. Who can escape death? There is no possibility. So there are so many slogans, but actually there is no remedy. There is remedy, but we do not know. That is the defect of modern civilization. There is remedy. Otherwise why we are talking this śāstra? Why Sanātana Gosvāmī is putting this question? Just to get the solution from the spiritual master. Otherwise there was no need of putting these questions, that "What is my position? Why these threefold miseries always give me trouble? Why I die? Why I become old? Why I become diseased? Why I have to take birth?" They are simply struggle for existence, that here is a child, and the child-bearing is very troublesome, and if I give birth to a child... The mother is killing. This is going on. But that means she is implicating herself again in another way of life.

In the human life, the chance is there to make a solution of the whole problem, struggle for existence, survival of the fittest.
Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 20.103 -- Washington, D.C., July 8, 1976:

If a human being does not inquire or he's not trained up to inquire about it, it is a great disadvantage and it is enviousness. In the human life, the chance is there to make a solution of the whole problem, struggle for existence, survival of the fittest. This is going on life after life. Now here is a chance, human life, he can understand what is the goal of life and how to achieve it. He can be trained up. So if that opportunity is refused to the human society by the guardians, by the government, it is a great misservice, a great disadvantage. To keep them in darkness of animal propensities... Because we are changing our body, here is a chance, after many evolutionary process, many thousand and millions of years. We are going to the park. How many plants and creepers are there, how many animals, how many aquatics? We have to come through all these processes, evolutionary process. So here is a chance.

We know this word, "struggle for existence," "survival of the fittest." So this is struggle.
Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 20.108-109 -- New York, July 15, 1976:

Only Kṛṣṇa is the master, and everyone is servant. This is our position, actual. But artificially we are trying to become master. That is struggle for existence. We are trying for something which we are not. We know this word, "struggle for existence," "survival of the fittest." So this is struggle. We are not master; still, we are trying to become master. The Māyāvāda philosophy, they also undergo severe type of austerities, penances, but what is the idea? The idea is that "I shall become one with God." Same mistake. Same mistake. He's not God, but he is trying to become God. Even though he has performed so much severe austerities, vairāgya, renunciation, everything... Sometimes they give up everything of material enjoyment, go to the forest, undergo severe type of penances. What is the idea? "Now I shall become one with God." The same mistake.

Sri Isopanisad Lectures

Everyone is trying, struggling very hard to survive, but defeated.
Sri Isopanisad Invocation Lecture -- Los Angeles, April 28, 1970:

Yesterday I was explaining what is this pavarga to Gargamuni. This pavarga means the line of the alphabet pa. You know, those who have studied this devanāgarī. There are devanāgarī alphabets, ka kha ga gha na ca cha ja jha na. In this way five set, one line. Then come the fifth set, comes pa pha va bha ma. So this pavarga means pa. First of all pa. Pa means parava, defeat. Everyone is trying, struggling very hard to survive, but defeated. First pavarga. Pa means parava. And then pha. Pha means foaming. Just like horse, when working very hard, you'll find some foams coming out of the mouth, we sometimes also, when we are very tired after working very hard, the tongue becomes dry and some foam comes. So everyone is working very hard for sense gratification, but defeated. The pa, pha, and va. Va means this bondage.

Wedding Ceremonies

In this age, because everyone is after employment—without employment he cannot survive—therefore it is said, kalau śūdra sambhava.
Initiation of Sri-Caitanya dasa and Wedding of Pradyumna and Arundhati -- Columbus, May 14, 1969:

Four varṇas: brāhmaṇa kṣatriya, vaiśya, śūdra, according to qualification... And Bhagavad-gītā also says these are the qualification, brāhmaṇas: satya śama dama titikṣa ārjavam, ācāryopāsanam, brahma-karma svabhāva-jam (BG 18.42). Similarly, there are indication of the kṣatriyas, vaiśyas; and śūdras' one qualification: paricaryātmakaṁ karmaṁ śūdra-karma svabhāva-jam (BG 18.44). Paricaryā, to serve others. And in this age, because everyone is after employment—without employment he cannot survive—therefore it is said, kalau śūdra sambhava. In the Kali-yuga... A brāhmaṇa is not expected to serve anyone. A kṣatriya is not expected to serve anyone, nor the vaiśyas. Only the śūdras. So kalau śūdra sambhava. Therefore actually there is no Vedic ritualistic performance for the śūdras. It is meant for the brāhmaṇas only. But there is pāñcarātrikī-viddhi for this age, when śūdras can be elevated to the position of brāhmaṇa or Vaiṣṇava by the Vaiṣṇava-viddhi. That viddhi is a voluminous book by Sanātana Gosvāmī.

General Lectures

Where there is no other food, one must live. Then meat-eating is not bad in that case. Because survival is required.
Lecture -- Los Angeles, December 4, 1968:

Where there is no other food, one must live. Then meat-eating is not bad in that case. Because survival is required. But when there are substitutes... Everyone is eating another life. That is the law of nature. That is stated in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, that sahastānām ahastāni. The animals, animal who has got hands, he eats the animal who has no hand. That means four-legged animals. Ahastāni sahastānām apadāni catuṣ-padām. And the animals or living entities who cannot move, they are foodstuff of the moving. That means the grass, plants, they are the foodstuff for the cows and other animals. Nūnaṁ mahatāṁ tatra. And the big animal eats the small animal.

Our last point of perfection, where we can survive eternally, is Kṛṣṇa consciousness.
Lecture -- Los Angeles, July 11, 1971 :

So, our last point of perfection, where we can survive eternally, is Kṛṣṇa consciousness. This, this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is started in your country. It is not a new manufactured thing, concocted thing. It is very old, because the Bhagavad-gītā is there. Kṛṣṇa consciousness means Bhagavad-gītā. Even from historical calculation, the Bhagavad-gītā was spoken at least five thousand years ago. So, this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is, even from historical calculation, at least five thousand years old.

Philosophy Discussions

So this is a evolutionary process, we accept but it is not that one is extinct, another is surviving. All of them are existing simultaneously.
Philosophy Discussion on Charles Darwin:

Śyāmasundara: There's dinosaurs existing on this planet?

Prabhupāda: Yes, yes, he has no chance to see it, or it is imagination only.

Śyāmasundara: That's very hard to accept. What about the dodo? It was a giant bird...

Prabhupāda: Our proposition is that there is an evolutionary process from aquatics to birds here, plants life, then insect life, then bird's life, then animal life, then human life. So this is a evolutionary process, we accept but it is not that one is extinct, another is surviving. All of them are existing simultaneously.

He survives, but many other men like him, they are existing somewhere.
Philosophy Discussion on Charles Darwin:

Śyāmasundara: Supposing one man is particularly adapted, and he is smart, intelligent, and he survives when everything else is killed...

Prabhupāda: That he may survive, that we don't disagree.

Śyāmasundara: But he would say that that man passes on his superior traits to his children, and it's another species.

Prabhupāda: No. He survives, but many other men like him, they are existing somewhere. He may survive of this catastrophe, but that does not mean that other men are all extinct. You cannot say that. In these circumstances this man may survive or may not survive, but man is existing somewhere else.

He survives means that even if he's dead, that does not mean that the species is dead.
Philosophy Discussion on Charles Darwin:

Śyāmasundara: To go back to this survival of the fittest theory, supposing we are all here and the water comes, like you said. Supposing one of these persons in Los Angeles has the ability to breathe in water, somehow or other he can breathe under water...

Prabhupāda: So we have no objection.

Śyāmasundara: So he survives; everyone else...

Prabhupāda: He survives means... He survives means that even if he's dead, that does not mean that the species is dead. There is another human being in another part of the world.

Śyāmasundara: I accept that, but I mean I want to...

Prabhupāda: So you say that because he does not survive, the whole species is extinct.

Śyāmasundara: No. But he survives..., one man survives because he is able to breathe in the water.

That is the deficiency, that you will not be well equipped if Kṛṣṇa doesn't wish you to survive.
Philosophy Discussion on Charles Darwin:

Śyāmasundara: Darwin would say he wasn't well enough equipped to survive.

Prabhupāda: That is the deficiency, that you will not be well equipped if Kṛṣṇa doesn't wish you to survive. That means you will not be able to counteract with all the counteractions. You cannot.

Atreya Ṛṣi: In other words, Prabhupāda, nature's arrangements, you are saying is Kṛṣṇa's arrangement. In other words, when Kṛṣṇa wishes something it happens in a natural way.

Prabhupāda: Yes.

You are given license to act with this body for some time. That's all. No question of survival. Nobody will survive. You can act for some time.
Philosophy Discussion on Charles Darwin:

Śyāmasundara: Just like a tiger's body and a deer's body—the tiger kills the deer, but the same current is working in both. One survives, one does not survive.

Prabhupāda: Nobody will survive. (laughter) This is called karma. This is activity. The body is the field of activity. You are given license to act with this body for some time. That's all. No question of survival. Nobody will survive. You can act for some time.

Any species. Nobody will survive. That is also false theory. Nobody will survive. Where is the species that is surviving?
Philosophy Discussion on Charles Darwin:

Śyāmasundara: By survival he means species. The species will survive.

Prabhupāda: Any species. Nobody will survive. That is also false theory. Nobody will survive. Where is the species that is surviving?

Śyāmasundara: Just like horses. Horses, they have found in the fossils and millions of years ago, they say millions of years ago horses were there. Slightly different forms, but still they were horses.

What does he mean by survive? What is the meaning of his dictionary, "survive"? Nobody survives.
Philosophy Discussion on Charles Darwin:

Hayagrīva: He spent the rest of his life writing about the material he gathered during this five-year voyage, which is a very short time. And according to his theory of natural selection, the best and the fittest survived. If this is the case, the race will necessarily steadily improve.

Prabhupāda: What does he mean by survive? What is the meaning of his dictionary, "survive"? Nobody survives.

Hayagrīva: Well, by that he means that the strong pass on their hereditary characteristics to their offspring, and that the race..., no individual survives, but that the race improves. But isn't this contradicted by the Vedas? In the present Kali... For instance, Arjuna's physical powers, prowess, was much greater, and that was, what, five thousand years ago. So isn't, instead of improving, instead of the race improving in strength and other qualities, isn't it actually...

So there are different parties. Struggle, struggle for existence, survival of the fittest.
Philosophy Discussion on Martin Heidegger:

Śyāmasundara: He says that man's actions or reality is the existence or his (indistinct). In other words, from the fact that I exist, I can find my..., that is my essence, that is my reality.

Prabhupāda: Yes. This should be done individually, collectively. Therefore there is group of nationality, therefore combined together should exist. The other group also, they are also thinking. So there are different parties. (indistinct) struggle, struggle for existence, survival of the fittest. If you exist killing me, then you are fit. And if I'll exist killing you, because you want to exist at my cost, I want to exist at your cost, so there is struggle. So if you can kill me, then you are fit, and if I kill you, then I am fit. Survival of the fittest.

First thing is what do they mean by survival?
Philosophy Discussion on Thomas Henry Huxley:

Hayagrīva: Huxley, although an evolutionist, and although he was called Darwin's bulldog, he differed with Darwin, especially on the theory of the survival of the fittest. He believed in the survival of those who are ethically the best.

Prabhupāda: That is..., that can be said fittest. "Best" and "fittest," where is the difference?

Hayagrīva: He says the strongest, the most self-assertive, tend to tread down the weaker.

Prabhupāda: First thing is what do they mean by survival?

They do not know what is this survival. Survival means that when the soul remains pure, in his original position, does not change body, that is survival.
Philosophy Discussion on Thomas Henry Huxley:

Prabhupāda: Therefore the real process is gradually bring the being or the soul to the platform of goodness and then transcend also goodness and keep him or let him remain in the actual platform of pure goodness. That is wanted. That is really progress. That pure goodness is bhakti. When the transaction is only with God—there is no other transaction—that is pure goodness. That is survival of the fittest. When one comes to that platform of pure goodness, he survives. Otherwise nobody survives. When... Everyone has to change the body—this body to that body, that, tathā dehāntara-prāp... But one who comes to the pure goodness platform, he understands God, then he hasn't got to change. Tyaktvā dehaṁ punar janma naiti mām eti (BG 4.9). That is survival; otherwise there is no meaning of survival. They do not know what is this survival. Survival means that when the soul remains pure, in his original position, does not change body, that is survival.

They do not know what is the meaning of survival. If there is change, there is no survival. Everyone has to change the body. So survival is explained?
Philosophy Discussion on Thomas Henry Huxley:

Prabhupāda: In the spiritual world there is no more change, so that is survival. And in the material world there is change. That is not survival. So they do not know what is the meaning of survival. If there is change, there is no survival. Everyone has to change the body.

Hayagrīva: Well, that sort of negates the rest of this.

Prabhupāda: So survival is explained?

Hayagrīva: The rest of this doesn't survive (laughing).

Prabhupāda: (laughs) Now what do you think, individually?

When one realizes Brahman understanding, then he survives; otherwise there is no survival.
Philosophy Discussion on Thomas Henry Huxley:

Hayagrīva: Oh, I..., he said Huxley looks on civilization as something of an attempt to give order to nature. "Civilization might be defined as a complex ethical understanding between men enabling as many men as possible to survive."

Prabhupāda: No, that is not possible. Nature is so strong that either you become Huxley or Einstein or somebody else, you must die. That is nature's law. You cannot dictate nature. The nature will go on dictating to you; then you must die. That is the... There is no question of survival under the regulation of the material nature. There is no... When you go above the dictation of the material nature, then you survive. That is explained in the Bhagavad-gītā, sa guṇān samatītyaitān brahma-bhūyāya kalpate (BG 14.26). When one realizes Brahman understanding, then he survives; otherwise there is no survival.

That is explained in the Bhagavad-gītā, that if one simply understands Kṛṣṇa, then he survives; otherwise one has to die.
Philosophy Discussion on Thomas Henry Huxley:

Prabhupāda: Rascal, at last you die. (laughter) You do not like to yield, but the nature kicks on your face and says you must die. That he does not like.

Hayagrīva: Well, at any rate he's dead now, so...

Prabhupāda: So therefore he is..., he is not surviving. He was...

Hayagrīva: He admits, he says, "This seems..."

Prabhupāda: Either you be Englishman or Frenchman or this man, you cannot survive. You have to succumb under the dictation of the superior nature. That is explained in the Bhagavad-gītā, that—I think Huxley read Bhagavad-gītā; he does not know-that,

prakṛteḥ kriyamāṇāni
guṇaiḥ karmāṇi sarvaśaḥ
ahaṅkāra-vimūḍhātmā
kartāham iti manyate
(BG 3.27)

This kind of conception, that "I shall survive, I am Englishman," this is a false egotism and bewildered soul. Whatever he may be, Englishman or this man or that man, he must die. That is the law of nature. So intelligent man first of all makes provision "How I shall not die." That is real business of human being. That is explained in the Bhagavad-gītā, that if one simply understands Kṛṣṇa, then he survives; otherwise one has to die. There is no doubt. Nobody can...

Page Title:Survive (Lectures)
Compiler:Visnu Murti, Serene
Created:29 of Dec, 2008
Totals by Section:BG=0, SB=0, CC=0, OB=0, Lec=44, Con=0, Let=0
No. of Quotes:44