Go to Vanipedia | Go to Vanisource | Go to Vanimedia


Vaniquotes - the compiled essence of Vedic knowledge


Tender

Srimad-Bhagavatam

SB Canto 1

SB 1.18.32, Translation and Purport:

The sage had a son who was very powerful, being a brāhmaṇa's son. While he was playing with inexperienced boys, he heard of his father's distress, which was occasioned by the King. Then and there the boy spoke as follows.

Due to Mahārāja Parīkṣit's good government, even a boy of tender age, who was playing with other inexperienced boys, could become as powerful as a qualified brāhmaṇa. This boy was known as Śṛṅgi, and he achieved good training in brahmacarya by his father so that he could be as powerful as a brāhmaṇa, even at that age. But because the age of Kali was seeking an opportunity to spoil the cultural heritage of the four orders of life, the inexperienced boy gave a chance for the age of Kali to enter into the field of Vedic culture. Hatred of the lower orders of life began from this brāhmaṇa boy, under the influence of Kali, and thus cultural life began to dwindle day after day. The first victim of brahminical injustice was Mahārāja Parīkṣit, and thus the protection given by the King against the onslaught of Kali was slackened.

SB Canto 3

SB 3.31.6, Translation and Purport:

Bitten again and again all over the body by the hungry worms in the abdomen itself, the child suffers terrible agony because of his tenderness. He thus becomes unconscious moment after moment because of the terrible condition.

The miserable condition of material existence is not only felt when we come out of the womb of the mother, but is also present within the womb. Miserable life begins from the moment the living entity begins to contact his material body. Unfortunately, we forget this experience and do not take the miseries of birth very seriously. In Bhagavad-gītā, therefore, it is specifically mentioned that one should be very alert to understand the specific difficulties of birth and death. Just as during the formation of this body we have to pass through so many difficulties within the womb of the mother, at the time of death there are also many difficulties. As described in the previous chapter, one has to transmigrate from one body to another, and the transmigration into the bodies of dogs and hogs is especially miserable. But despite such miserable conditions, due to the spell of māyā we forget everything and become enamored by the present so-called happiness, which is described as actually no more than a counteraction to distress.

SB 3.31.27, Translation and Purport:

In his helpless condition, gnats, mosquitoes, bugs and other germs bite the baby, whose skin is tender, just as smaller worms bite a big worm. The child, deprived of his wisdom, cries bitterly.

The word vigata jñānam means that the spiritual knowledge which the child developed in the abdomen is already lost to the spell of māyā. Owing to various kinds of disturbances and to being out of the abdomen, the child cannot remember what he was thinking of for his salvation. It is assumed that even if a person acquires some spiritually uplifting knowledge, circumstantially he is prone to forget it. Not only children but also elderly persons should be very careful to protect their sense of Kṛṣṇa consciousness and avoid unfavorable circumstances so that they may not forget their prime duty.

SB Canto 4

SB 4.8.22, Translation and Purport:

My dear boy, you also should take shelter of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is very kind to His devotees. Persons seeking liberation from the cycle of birth and death always take shelter of the lotus feet of the Lord in devotional service. Becoming purified by executing your allotted occupation, just situate the Supreme Personality of Godhead in your heart, and without deviating for a moment, engage always in His service.

The system of bhakti-yoga described by Queen Sunīti to her son is the standard way of God realization. Everyone can continue in his constitutional occupational duties and at the same time keep the Supreme Personality of Godhead within his heart. This was also instructed by the Lord Himself to Arjuna in Bhagavad-gītā: "Go on fighting, but keep Me within your mind." That should be the motto of every honest person seeking perfection in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. In this connection, Queen Sunīti advised her son that the Supreme Personality of Godhead is known as bhṛtya-vatsala, which indicates that He is very kind to His devotees. She said, "You came to me crying, having been insulted by your stepmother, but I am unable to do any good for you. But Kṛṣṇa is so kind to His devotees that if you go to Him, then the combined kindness of millions of mothers like me will be surpassed by His affectionate and tender dealings. When everyone else fails to mitigate one's misery, Kṛṣṇa is able to help the devotee." Queen Sunīti also stressed that the process of approaching the Supreme Personality of Godhead is not easy, but is sought after by great sages who are very advanced in spiritual realization. Queen Sunīti also indicated by her instruction that Dhruva Mahārāja was only a small child, five years old, and it was not possible for him to purify himself by the way of karma-kāṇḍa. But by the process of bhakti-yoga, even a child less than five years old, or anyone of any age, can be purified. That is the special significance of bhakti-yoga. Therefore she advised him not to accept worship of the demigods or any other process, but simply to take to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and the result would be all perfection. As soon as one places the Supreme Personality of Godhead within one's heart, everything becomes easy and successful.

SB 4.9.37, Translation and Purport:

When King Uttānapāda heard that his son Dhruva was coming back home, as if coming back to life after death, he could not put his faith in this message, for he was doubtful of how it could happen. He considered himself the most wretched, and therefore he thought that it was not possible for him to attain such good fortune.

Dhruva Mahārāja, a five-year-old boy, went to the forest for penance and austerity, and the King could not at all believe that a small boy of such a tender age could live in the forest. He was certain that Dhruva was dead. He therefore could not fix his faith in the message that Dhruva Mahārāja was coming back home again. For him this message said that a dead man was coming back home, and so he could not believe it. After Dhruva Mahārāja's departure from home, King Uttānapāda thought that he was the cause of Dhruva's leaving, and thus he considered himself the most wretched. Therefore, even though it was possible that his lost son was coming back from the kingdom of death, he thought that since he was most sinful it was not possible for him to be so fortunate as to get back his lost son.

SB 4.9.49, Translation:

Sunīti, the real mother of Dhruva Mahārāja, embraced the tender body of her son, who was dearer to her than her own life, and thus forgot all material grief, for she was very pleased.

SB 4.12.42, Purport:

The Supreme Godhead is unconquerable; no one can conquer the Lord. But He voluntarily accepts subordination to the devotional qualities of His devotees. For example, Lord Kṛṣṇa accepted subordination to the control of mother Yaśodā because she was a great devotee. The Lord likes to be under the control of His devotees. In the Caitanya-caritāmṛta it is said that everyone comes before the Lord and offers Him exalted prayers, but the Lord does not feel as pleased when offered such prayers as He does when a devotee, out of pure love, chastises Him as a subordinate. The Lord forgets His exalted position and willingly submits to His pure devotee. Dhruva Mahārāja conquered the Supreme Lord because at a very tender age, only five years old, he underwent all the austerities of devotional service. This devotional service was of course executed under the direction of a great sage, Nārada. This is the first principle of devotional service—ādau gurv-āśrayam. In the beginning one must accept a bona fide spiritual master, and if a devotee follows strictly the direction of the spiritual master, as Dhruva Mahārāja followed the instruction of Nārada Muni, then it is not difficult for him to achieve the favor of the Lord.

SB 4.12.52, Translation and Purport:

The transcendental activities of Dhruva Mahārāja are well known all over the world, and they are very pure. In childhood Dhruva Mahārāja rejected all kinds of toys and playthings, left the protection of his mother and seriously took shelter of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Viṣṇu. My dear Vidura, I therefore conclude this narration, for I have described to you all its details.

It is said by Cāṇakya Paṇḍita that life is certainly short for everyone, but if one acts properly, his reputation will remain for a generation. As the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa, is everlastingly famous, so the reputation of Lord Kṛṣṇa's devotee is also everlasting. Therefore in describing Dhruva Mahārāja's activities two specific words have been used-vikhyāta, very famous, and viśuddha, transcendental. Dhruva Mahārāja's leaving home at a tender age and taking shelter of the Supreme Personality of Godhead in the forest is a unique example in this world.

SB Canto 5

SB 5.4.17, Translation and Purport:

Lord Ṛṣabhadeva performed all kinds of sacrifices one hundred times according to the instructions of the Vedic literatures. Thus He satisfied Lord Viṣṇu in every respect. All the rituals were enriched by first-class ingredients. They were executed in holy places according to the proper time by priests who were all young and faithful. In this way Lord Viṣṇu was worshiped, and the prasāda was offered to all the demigods. Thus the functions and festivals were all successful.

It is said, kaumāra ācaret prājño dharmān bhāgavatān iha (SB 7.6.1). A ritual should be performed by young men, even boys, at a tender age in order for the ritual to be performed successfully. From childhood, people should be trained in Vedic culture, especially in devotional service. In this way, one can perfect one's life. A Vaiṣṇava does not disrespect the demigods, but on the other hand he is not so foolish that he accepts each and every demigod as the Supreme Lord. The Supreme Lord is master of all demigods; therefore the demigods are His servants. The Vaiṣṇava accepts them as servants of the Supreme Lord, and he worships them directly. In the Brahma-saṁhitā, the important demigods—Lord Śiva, Lord Brahmā and even the incarnations and expansions of Lord Kṛṣṇa like Mahā-Viṣṇu, Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu and all the other viṣṇu-tattvas, as well as the śakti-tattvas like Durgādevī—are all worshiped by the process of worshiping Govinda with the words govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi **. A Vaiṣṇava worships the demigods in relation to Govinda, not independently. Vaiṣṇavas are not so foolish that they consider the demigods independent of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. This is confirmed in Caitanya-caritāmṛta. Ekale īśvara kṛṣṇa, āra saba bhṛtya: (CC Adi 5.142) the supreme master is Kṛṣṇa, and all others are His servants.

SB Canto 7

SB 7.5.39-40, Translation:

The demons (Rākṣasas), the servants of Hiraṇyakaśipu, thus began striking the tender parts of Prahlāda Mahārāja's body with their tridents. The demons all had fearful faces, sharp teeth and reddish, coppery beards and hair, and they appeared extremely threatening. Making a tumultuous sound, shouting, "Chop him up! Pierce him!" they began striking Prahlāda Mahārāja, who sat silently, meditating upon the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

SB 7.5.56-57, Translation and Purport:

My dear King Yudhiṣṭhira, all the children were very much affectionate and respectful to Prahlāda Mahārāja, and because of their tender age they were not so polluted by the instructions and actions of their teachers, who were attached to condemned duality and bodily comfort. Thus the boys surrounded Prahlāda Mahārāja, giving up their playthings, and sat down to hear him. Their hearts and eyes being fixed upon him, they looked at him with great earnestness. Prahlāda Mahārāja, although born in a demon family, was an exalted devotee, and he desired their welfare. Thus he began instructing them about the futility of materialistic life.

The words bālā adūṣita-dhiyaḥ indicate that the children, being of a tender age, were not as polluted by materialistic life as their fathers. Prahlāda Mahārāja, therefore, taking advantage of the innocence of his class friends, began teaching them about the importance of spiritual life and the insignificance of materialistic life. Although the teachers Ṣaṇḍa and Amarka were instructing all the boys in the materialistic life of religion, economic development and sense gratification, the boys were not much polluted. Therefore, with great attention they wanted to hear from Prahlāda Mahārāja about Kṛṣṇa consciousness. In our Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement, the guru-kula plays an extremely important part in our activities because right from childhood the boys at the guru-kula are instructed about Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Thus they become steady within the cores of their hearts, and there is very little possibility that they will be conquered by the modes of material nature when they are older.

SB 7.6.1, Translation:

Prahlāda Mahārāja said: One who is sufficiently intelligent should use the human form of body from the very beginning of life—in other words, from the tender age of childhood—to practice the activities of devotional service, giving up all other engagements. The human body is most rarely achieved, and although temporary like other bodies, it is meaningful because in human life one can perform devotional service. Even a slight amount of sincere devotional service can give one complete perfection.

SB 7.6.7, Translation and Purport:

In the tender age of childhood, when everyone is bewildered, one passes ten years. Similarly, in boyhood, engaged in sporting and playing, one passes another ten years. In this way, twenty years are wasted. Similarly, in old age, when one is an invalid, unable to perform even material activities, one passes another twenty years wastefully.

Without Kṛṣṇa consciousness, one wastes twenty years in childhood and boyhood and another twenty years in old age, when one cannot perform any material activities and is full of anxiety about what is to be done by his sons and grandsons and how one's estate should be protected. Half of these years are spent in sleep. Furthermore, one wastes another thirty years sleeping at night during the rest of his life. Thus seventy out of one hundred years are wasted by a person who does not know the aim of life and how to utilize this human form.

SB 7.6.9, Purport:

Prahlāda Mahārāja's first proposal was kaumāra ācaret prājño dharmān bhāgavatān iha: (SB 7.6.1) "One who is sufficiently intelligent should use the human form of body from the very beginning of life—in other words, from the tender age of childhood—to practice the activities of devotional service, giving up all other engagements." Dharmān bhāgavatān means the religious principle of reviving our relationship with the Supreme Personality of Godhead. For this purpose Kṛṣṇa personally advises, sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja: (BG 18.66) "Give up all other duties and surrender unto Me." While in the material world we manufacture so many duties in the name of so many isms, but our actual duty is to free ourselves from the cycle of birth, death, old age and disease. For this purpose, one must first be liberated from material bondage, and especially from household life. Household life is actually a kind of license for a materially attached person by which to enjoy sense gratification under regulative principles. Otherwise there is no need of entering household life.

SB 7.6.10, Purport:

One may risk everything to acquire money, and this is especially true of rich men who are too attached to household life. Formerly, of course, the members of the higher castes—the brāhmaṇas, kṣatriyas and vaiśyas (everyone but the śūdras)—were trained in the guru-kula to adhere to a life of renunciation and sense control by practicing brahmacarya and mystic yoga. Then they were allowed to enter household life. There have consequently been many instances in which great kings and emperors have given up household life. Although they were extremely opulent and were the masters of kingdoms, they could give up all their possessions because they were trained early as brahmacārīs. Prahlāda Mahārāja's advice is therefore very appropriate:

kaumāra ācaret prājño
dharmān bhāgavatān iha
durlabhaṁ mānuṣaṁ janma
tad apy adhruvam arthadam
(SB 7.6.1)

"One who is sufficiently intelligent should use the human form of body from the very beginning of life—in other words, from the tender age of childhood—to practice the activities of devotional service, giving up all other engagements. The human body is most rarely achieved, and although temporary like other bodies, it is meaningful because in human life one can perform devotional service. Even a slight amount of sincere devotional service can give one complete perfection." Human society should take advantage of this instruction.

SB Canto 10.1 to 10.13

SB 10.7.7, Translation and Purport:

Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa was lying down underneath the handcart in one corner of the courtyard, and although His little legs were as soft as leaves, when He struck the cart with His legs, it turned over violently and collapsed. The wheels separated from the axle, the hubs and spokes fell apart, and the pole of the handcart broke. On the cart there were many little utensils made of various metals, and all of them scattered hither and thither.

Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura has commented on this verse as follows. When Lord Kṛṣṇa was of a very tender age, His hands and legs resembled soft new leaves, yet simply by touching the handcart with His legs, He made the cart fall to pieces. It was quite possible for Him to act in this way and yet not exert Himself very much. The Lord in His Vāmana avatāra had to extend His foot to the greatest height to penetrate the covering of the universe, and when the Lord killed the gigantic demon Hiraṇyakaśipu, He had to assume the special bodily feature of Nṛsiṁhadeva. But in His Kṛṣṇa avatāra, the Lord did not need to exert such energy. Therefore, kṛṣṇas tu bhagavān svayam: (SB 1.3.28) Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Personality of Godhead Himself. In other incarnations, the Lord had to exert some energy according to the time and circumstances, but in this form He exhibited unlimited potency. Thus the handcart collapsed, its joints broken, and all the metal pots and utensils scattered.

The Vaiṣṇava-toṣaṇī remarks that although the handcart was higher than the child, the child could easily touch the wheel of the cart, and this was sufficient to send the demon down to the earth. The Lord simultaneously pushed the demon to the earth and superficially broke the handcart.

SB 10.13.7, Translation:

Accepting Lord Kṛṣṇa's proposal, the cowherd boys allowed the calves to drink water from the river and then tied them to trees where there was green, tender grass. Then the boys opened their baskets of food and began eating with Kṛṣṇa in great transcendental pleasure.

SB 10.13.49, Translation and Purport:

Every part of Their bodies, from Their feet to the top of Their heads, was fully decorated with fresh, tender garlands of tulasī leaves offered by devotees engaged in worshiping the Lord by the greatest pious activities, namely hearing and chanting.

The word bhūri-puṇyavad-arpitaiḥ is significant in this verse. These forms of Viṣṇu were worshiped by those who had performed pious activities (sukṛtibhiḥ) for many births and who were constantly engaged in devotional service (śravaṇaṁ kīrtanaṁ viṣṇoḥ (SB 7.5.23)). Bhakti, devotional service, is the engagement of those who have performed highly developed pious activities. The accumulation of pious activities has already been mentioned elsewhere in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (10.12.11), where Śukadeva Gosvāmī says,

itthaṁ satāṁ brahma-sukhānubhūtyā
dāsyaṁ gatānāṁ para-daivatena
māyāśritānāṁ nara-dārakeṇa
sākaṁ vijahruḥ kṛta-puṇya-puñjāḥ

"Those who are engaged in self-realization, appreciating the Brahman effulgence of the Lord, and those engaged in devotional service, accepting the Supreme Personality of Godhead as master, as well as those who are under the clutches of māyā, thinking the Lord an ordinary person, cannot understand that certain exalted personalities—after accumulating volumes of pious activities—are now playing with the Lord in friendship as cowherd boys."

In our Kṛṣṇa-Balarāma Temple in Vṛndāvana, there is a tamāla tree that covers an entire corner of the courtyard. Before there was a temple the tree was lying neglected, but now it has developed very luxuriantly, covering the whole corner of the courtyard. This is a sign of bhūri-puṇya.

SB Cantos 10.14 to 12 (Translations Only)

SB 10.30.30, Translation:

These footprints of that special gopī greatly disturb us. Of all the gopīs, She alone was taken away to a secluded place, where She is enjoying the lips of Kṛṣṇa. Look, we can't see Her footprints over here! It's obvious that the grass and sprouts were hurting the tender soles of Her feet, and so the lover lifted up His beloved.

SB 10.31.19, Translation:

O dearly beloved! Your lotus feet are so soft that we place them gently on our breasts, fearing that Your feet will be hurt. Our life rests only in You. Our minds, therefore, are filled with anxiety that Your tender feet might be wounded by pebbles as You roam about on the forest path.

SB 10.35.2-3, Translation:

The gopīs said: When Mukunda vibrates the flute He has placed to His lips, stopping its holes with His tender fingers, He rests His left cheek on His left arm and makes His eyebrows dance. At that time the demigoddesses traveling in the sky with their husbands, the Siddhas, become amazed. As those ladies listen, they are embarrassed to find their minds yielding to the pursuit of lusty desires, and in their distress they are unaware that the belts of their garments are loosening.

SB 10.44.8, Translation:

What comparison can there be between these two professional wrestlers, with limbs as strong as lightning bolts and bodies resembling mighty mountains, and these two young, immature boys with exceedingly tender limbs?

SB 10.60.23, Translation:

With her tender foot, effulgent with the reddish glow of her nails, she scratched the ground, and tears darkened by her eye makeup sprinkled her kuṅkuma-reddened breasts. There she stood, face downward, her voice choked up by extreme sorrow.

SB 10.60.27-28, Translation:

Wiping her tear-filled eyes and her breasts, which were stained by tears of grief, the Supreme Lord, the goal of His devotees, embraced His chaste wife, who desired nothing but Him, O King. Expert in the art of pacification, Śrī Kṛṣṇa tenderly consoled pitiable Rukmiṇī, whose mind was bewildered by His clever joking and who did not deserve to suffer so.

SB 11.7.58, Translation:

When the time was ripe, baby pigeons, with tender limbs and feathers created by the inconceivable potencies of the Lord, were born from those eggs.

Sri Caitanya-caritamrta

CC Adi-lila

CC Adi 4.173, Translation and Purport:

"O dearly beloved! Your lotus feet are so soft that we place them gently on our breasts, fearing that Your feet will be hurt. Our life rests only in You. Our minds, therefore, are filled with anxiety that Your tender feet might be wounded by pebbles as You roam about on the forest path."

This text from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (10.31.19) was spoken by the gopīs when Kṛṣṇa left them in the midst of the rāsa-līlā.

CC Madhya-lila

CC Madhya 18.65, Translation and Purport:

""O dearly beloved! Your lotus feet are so soft that we place them gently on our breasts, fearing that Your feet will be hurt. Our life rests only in You. Our minds, therefore, are filled with anxiety that Your tender feet might be wounded by pebbles as You roam about on the forest path.""

This is a verse from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (10.31.19) spoken by the gopīs when Kṛṣṇa left them in the midst of the rāsa-līlā.

CC Madhya 19.177, Purport:

Devotional service is always dormant in everyone's heart, and by the offenseless chanting of the holy names of the Lord, one's original dormant Kṛṣṇa consciousness is awakened. This awakening to Kṛṣṇa consciousness is the beginning of sādhana-bhakti. This can be divided into many different parts, including faith, association with devotees, initiation by the spiritual master, engagement in devotional service under the instructions of a spiritual master, steadiness in devotional service and the awakening of a taste for devotional service. In this way, one can become attached to Kṛṣṇa and His service, and when this attachment is intensified, it results in ecstatic love for Kṛṣṇa. The word rati is explained in the Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu (1.3.41) as follows:

vyaktaṁ masṛṇatevāntar-lakṣyate rati-lakṣaṇam
mumukṣu-prabhṛtīnāṁ ced bhaved eṣā ratir na hi

"When a tenderness of the heart is manifested, there is rati, or attachment. But those who are interested in being liberated from material bondage will not manifest this tenderness." This attachment is not like material attachment. When one is free of material contamination, attachment for Kṛṣṇa's service awakens and is called rati. In the material world there is attachment for material enjoyment, but this is not rati. Transcendental rati can be awakened only on the spiritual platform.

CC Antya-lila

CC Antya 7.40, Translation and Purport:

“"O dearly beloved! Your lotus feet are so soft that we place them gently on our breasts, fearing that Your feet will be hurt. Our lives rest only in You. Our minds, therefore, are filled with anxiety that Your tender feet might be wounded by pebbles as You roam about on the forest path."

This verse is spoken by the gopīs in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (10.31.19).

Other Books by Srila Prabhupada

Teachings of Lord Caitanya

Teachings of Lord Caitanya, Chapter Prologue:

Most of his contemporary biographers have mentioned certain anecdotes regarding Caitanya which are simple records of his early miracles. It is said that when he was an infant in his mother's arms he wept continually, and when the neighboring ladies cried Haribol he used to stop. Thus there was a continuation of the utterance of Haribol in the house, foreshewing the future mission of the hero. It has also been stated that when his mother once gave him sweetmeats to eat, he ate clay instead of the food. His mother asking for the reason, he stated that as every sweetmeat was nothing but clay transformed, he could eat clay as well. His mother, who was also the consort of a paṇḍita, explained that every article in a special state was adapted to a special use. Earth, while in the state of a jug, could be used as a water pot, but in the state of a brick such a use was not possible. Clay, therefore, in the form of sweetmeats was usable as food, but clay in its other states was not. The lad was convinced and admitted his stupidity in eating clay and agreed to avoid the mistake in the future. Another miraculous act has been related. It is said that a brāhmaṇa on pilgrimage became a guest in his house, cooked food and read grace with meditation upon Kṛṣṇa. In the meantime the lad came and ate up the cooked rice. The brāhmaṇa, astonished at the lad's act, cooked again at the request of Jagannātha Miśra. The lad again ate up the cooked rice while the brāhmaṇa was offering the rice to Kṛṣṇa with meditation. The brāhmaṇa was persuaded to cook for the third time. This time all the inmates of the house had fallen asleep, and the lad shewed himself as Kṛṣṇa to the traveler and blessed him. The brāhmaṇa was then lost in ecstasy at the appearance of the object of his worship. It has also been stated that two thieves stole away the lad from his father's door with a view to purloin his jewels and gave him sweetmeats on the way. The lad exercised his illusory energy and deceived the thieves back towards his own house. The thieves, for fear of detection, left the boy there and fled. Another miraculous act that has been described is the lad's demanding and getting from Hiraṇya and Jagadīśa all the offerings they had collected for worshiping Kṛṣṇa on the day of Ekādaśī. When only four years of age he sat on rejected cooking pots which were considered unholy by his mother. He explained to his mother that there was no question of holiness and unholiness as regards earthen pots thrown away after the cooking was over. These anecdotes relate to his tender age up to the fifth year.

Nectar of Devotion

Nectar of Devotion 32:

When mother Yaśodā heard that Kṛṣṇa's cows were being forcibly moved by the strong servants of Kaṁsa and that the tender cowherd boys were trying to protect their cows, she began to think, "How can I protect these poor boys from the invasion of Kaṁsa's servants?" This is an instance of a superior attitude in a devotee.

As soon as mother Yaśodā found her son Kṛṣṇa returning from the pasturing ground, she immediately began to pat Him, touching her fingers to the cheeks of the Lord.

Krsna, The Supreme Personality of Godhead

Krsna Book 44:

Being compassionate and favoring Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma, the many ladies in the audience began to talk as follows: "Dear friends, there is injustice here." Another said, "Even in front of the King this wrestling is going on between incompatible sides." The ladies had lost their sense of enjoyment. They could not encourage the fighting between the strong and the weak. "Muṣṭika and Cāṇūra are just like thunderbolts, as strong as great mountains, and Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma are two delicate boys of very tender age. The principle of justice has already left this assembly. Persons who are aware of the civilized principles of justice will not remain to watch this unfair match. Those taking part in watching this wrestling match are not very much enlightened; therefore whether they speak or remain silent, they are being subjected to the reactions of sinful activities."

Renunciation Through Wisdom

Renunciation Through Wisdom 2.10:

If only a devotee of the Lord had been present there, the villagers' devotion would not have been molested. The neophyte devotees' tender devotion is always susceptible to damage. But bread, after all, does came from God, and not from the atheists. If those villagers had been more conversant with the scriptures, the atheists would never have been successful in their evil plan. The simple villagers were illiterate, and hence they had no idea that the Supreme Lord alone can give them food. If the earth did not produce grain, then the atheists, despite their advanced material science, could never make bread or other foods.

Lectures

Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures

Lecture on BG 7.3 -- Vrndavana, October 31, 1973:

We have to die. We have to take birth again, and again we have to become old, and there will be disease. Between birth and death... Birth is very miserable, To remain in the womb of the mother in a packed-up stage within a bag, and... That is miserable. Biting, the worms biting tender skin. We have forgotten, but these were the miseries for birth. In suffocated condition...But we have forgotten. So forgetfulness is not solution. Closing the eyes before the enemies is no solution. Daivī hy eṣā guṇamayī mama māyā duratyayā (BG 7.14). So long you are in material condition, you have to suffer all these miseries, either you become rich man or poor man. You may become American or Indian. The miseries of birth, death, old age and disease, they are all the same everywhere, not only within this planet, but also in other planets also. Ābrahma-bhuvanāl lokāḥ. This is the intelligence. They are trying to go to the moon planet, or somebody, by karma-kāṇḍīya consideration, they are trying to go to the heavenly planet. But wherever you go, you must know that these four conditions of material life, they are present. Janma-mṛtyu-jarā-vyādhi-duḥkha-doṣānudarśanam (BG 13.9).

Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures

Lecture on SB 2.1.1-5 -- Melbourne, June 26, 1974:

Even if we become an animal of Kṛṣṇa, that is also very worthy. That is not ordinary thing. Kṛṣṇa is embracing. Kṛṣṇa... You see the picture. Kṛṣṇa is embracing. Surabhīr abhipālayantam. Cintāmaṇi-prakara-sadmasu kalpa-vṛkṣa-lakṣāvṛteṣu surabhīr abhipālayantam (Bs. 5.29). Kṛṣṇa always tends the cows. His name is cowherd boy. To become animal of Kṛṣṇa is a great, great fortune. It is not ordinary thing. Any associate of Kṛṣṇa, either His cowherd boyfriends or calf or cows, or the Vṛndāvana trees, plants, flowers or water, they are all devotees of Kṛṣṇa. They like to serve Kṛṣṇa in different capacities. Somebody is serving Kṛṣṇa as animal. Somebody is serving Kṛṣṇa as fruits and flowers, as tree, as Yamunā water, or the beautiful cowherds men and damsels or Kṛṣṇa's father and mother, so many with Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa is not imperson. So He has got so many lovers. Kṛṣṇa also loves them. So Kṛṣṇa's another name is paśu-pāla, paśu-pāla-paṅkaja. He is, mean, tender of the animals. Surabhīr abhipālayantam (Bs. 5.29). He takes pleasure in tending the cows, surabhī. These are surabhī cows, not these ordinary cows, surabhī cows. Surabhī cows means you can milk the cow as many times as you like and as much milk as you like. That is surabhī.

Lecture on SB 7.6.7 -- Vrndavana, December 9, 1975:

Harikeśa: Translation: "In tender childhood age, when everyone is bewildered, he passes ten years. Similarly, in boyhood, being engaged in sporting and playful things, another ten years. In this way twenty years are wasted. Similarly, in old age, when a person becomes invalid and he is unable to execute even material activities, he passes another twenty years wastefully."

Prabhupāda:

mugdhasya bālye kaiśore
krīḍato yāti viṁśatiḥ
jarayā grasta-dehasya
yāty akalpasya viṁśatiḥ
(SB 7.6.7)

So fifty years out of one hundred years, fifty years wasted by sleeping. And then balance fifty years, twenty years in childhood and youthhood, sporting, playing; another twenty years in old age... Jarayā grasta. Janma-mṛtyu-jarā-vyādhi (BG 13.9). These are inevitable. As birth is inevitable, death is inevitable, similarly, old age is inevitable. So in this way our time is wasted because we do not know how valuable this human form of life is. There is no such education. They think human life is as cheap as dog's life, but factually it is not. Bahūnāṁ janmanām ante (BG 7.19). One gets this human form of life, 8,400,000 species of life, especially advanced life, the Aryan civilization... Aryan means advanced, advanced in spiritual knowledge. The materialists, they claim Aryan only from the bodily conception, but that is not the fact. Anyone who is advanced in spiritual life, they are called Aryans. Anārya-juṣṭam. Arjuna was chastised by Kṛṣṇa that "You are talking like non-Aryan." Anārya-juṣṭam. So non-Aryan and Aryan, what is the difference? The Aryan civilization means this varṇāśrama-dharma, four varṇas, four āśramas. And non-Aryan means there is no division. Everyone is one or equal. That is advocated now at the present moment. In India also, they think of casteless society, no caste. But it is not caste. It is division of culture. Brāhmaṇa means advanced in culture, kṣatriya means less advanced than the brāhmaṇa, and vaiśya means less advanced, and śūdra is less advanced, and the pañcamas, fifth grade, sixth grade, kirāta-hūṇāndhra-pulinda-pulkaśā ābhīra-śumbhā yavanāḥ khasādayaḥ (SB 2.4.18), they are less. In this way high grade and low grade division of the society, one who follows the high grade culture, they are called Aryans, Arya. In many places in Vedic literature the superior person is addressed as Arya.

Initiation Lectures

Initiations and Lecture Sannyasa Initiation of Sudama dasa -- Tokyo, April 30, 1972:

Living entity for a second cannot be inactive. You know that even in sleeping we are acting: we dream, we go somewhere, we see something. Although the body is silent, I, the spirit soul, I create another subtle body, and with that subtle body I create so many things and try to enjoy it or suffer it. Therefore a living entity is not inactive even for a second. So these activities, when they are performed in the bodily concept of life—"I am this body," "I am Indian," "I am Japanese," "I am Hindu," "I am Muslim," "I am Christian"—in this way, so long we act on this bodily concept of life, it is called material existence. But when we understand that we are not this body—"I am spirit soul"—and on this understanding I understand that I am the part and parcel of the Supreme Absolute Person, that is called brahma-bhūtaḥ situation.

It is explained in the Bhagavad-gītā, brahma-bhūtaḥ prasannātmā na śocati na kāṅkṣati (BG 18.54). Now, this boy is very tender age. He has renounced this material life. He has got young wife, but still, he has given up with mutual consent. The wife also has agreed that "You take sannyāsa for the service of Kṛṣṇa." So this is actually renouncement. Young boy, young man, everyone wants young wife, enjoy this material life. But he has renounced everything. This is great sacrifice. Instead, in spite of presence of young wife and facilities for material enjoyment, one who renounces for the sake of serving Kṛṣṇa, he is sannyāsī. He is called sannyāsa. Paraṁ dṛṣṭvā nivartate (BG 9.59). For better service he ceases to act materially.

General Lectures

Lecture -- Gorakhpur, February 18, 1971:

Janma-mṛtyu-jarā-vyādhi-duḥkha-doṣānudarśanam (BG 13.9). We should not be illusioned. We should know that there is, I mean to say, distresses when we take birth. We have forgotten. We do not know how much suffering we had to undergo when we were within the belly of our mother. It is very miserable condition. We had to remain there in packed-up condition like this in a bag, and it is suffocating. And because we are... At that time, the skin is very tender. There are many worms and germs within the belly, mixed up with stool and urine; they bite. We have forgotten that, the actual position. Anyone who knows how a child remains within the womb of his mother... The medical profession, they also know how much it is suffocating. Suppose you are packed up in a bag... It is simply by the mercy of God, Kṛṣṇa, that we can remain in that condition. If you are put again into that condition, you will immediately die. So we have forgotten what is the distress to remain in the womb of mother. And that also, sometimes a child is killed. At the present moment, advanced civilization, pregnancy is killed sometimes. So we cannot see even light. We die within the womb of a mother and again enter another womb. And it may be we die again. So just try to understand what is the miserable condition of birth. But because we forget, we think we are very happy. And again, not only that, as soon as we take birth, again a new chapter of life begins. Again you... Even after coming out of the womb, when we are little child we cry. There may be mosquito biting or bugs biting or something in the belly, troubling, crying. Mother is trying to pacify, but we are crying, crying. We cannot express. So these are the miserable condition of life.

Philosophy Discussions

Philosophy Discussion on William James:

Prabhupāda: Different men have got different ideas of peace, that does not mean that is peace. Peace is a different thing. Peace is that which applies to everyone. That is peace. Not that because I think by drinking I shall be peaceful, therefore drinking is peace. No. And somebody thinks, "By doing this thing, I'll feel peaceful." No. There must be a standard of peace which will be applicable to everyone. That is real peace. We are talking of that peace.

Śyāmasundara: He sees that there are two basic or fundamental philosophical temperaments. The one he calls tendermindedness, which is exemplified by the rationalist, the idealist, the optimist, the religionist, and the dogmatist; and toughmindedness, or the empiricist, the materialist, the pessimist, the irreligious, the fatalist and the skeptic. He says that philosophers are of two types: tender minded and tough minded.

Prabhupāda: So this depends upon one's education. If one is educated, in one way he may become tender, and another man, if he is educated in a different way, he may be hard. But our proposition is that originally the soul is good. This tenderness and hardness, they are developed later on. But they are not standard. When you come to the platform of soul, there everything is good. In that platform, either tenderness or hardness, both of them are in the absolute. So our philosophy is that, as we understand from Bhagavad-gītā, that every living entity is part and parcel of God. So God is good, pavitra. Just like Arjuna accepts, paraṁ brahma paraṁ dhāma pavitram (BG 10.12). Pavitra means pure. But because we are part and parcel of God, therefore we are pure. The impurities are acquired by our contamination with this material world. So either you become tender or hard—that is impurity of this material world. So we don't give any credit to any person, either he is tender or hard. These are all material qualifications. When he is spiritually placed, then we give him, that he is now liberated, either from tenderness or from hardness. These are all material qualifications. One is hard, one is tender. So that is our material quality. Just like a disease. One is suffering from headache, one is suffering from indigestion, or one is suffering from fever. So one who is suffering from headache, he is thinking, "Instead of having a headache, if I would have suffered from indigestion it was better." You see? And the man who is suffering from indigestion, passing stool every three minutes, he is thinking that "If I would have suffered from headache instead of this nasty disease, I would have been all right." So these rascaldom, either tenderness or something, it is the same thing. It is our mental concoction that he thinks this is a better disease. It is not better. It is bad.

Philosophy Discussion on Sigmund Freud:

Prabhupāda: Simply in the middle struggling for understanding without any perfect knowledge, what is the value of this philosophy and knowledge? There is no value. You must come to the ultimate goal, the ultimate source of everything. "By accident," "perhaps," that, that is not knowledge. Definite knowledge. Just like in the Bhagavad-gītā you'll learn, Kṛṣṇa says,

ahaṁ sarvasya prabhavo
mattaḥ sarvaṁ pravartate
iti matvā bhajante māṁ
budhā bhāva-samanvitāḥ
(BG 10.8)

Why one should become a devotee of Kṛṣṇa? When he understands perfectly that "Here is the ultimate source." Ahaṁ sarvasya prabhavo mattaḥ sarvaṁ pravartate.

So when you have got this knowledge, that this knowledge, jñāna, that how this knowledge comes? By researching for many, many life. Then, bahūnāṁ janmanām ante (BG 7.19), in this way researching, researching, researching, after many, many births, when he actually becomes in full awareness that "Here is the source," then He says, vāsudevaḥ sarvam iti sa mahātmā su-durlabhaḥ: (BG 7.19) "Oh, here is..., Vasudeva is everything." Sa mahātmā su-durlabhaḥ. Then he begins his bhajana. Mahātmānas tu māṁ pārtha daivīṁ prakṛtim āśritāḥ bhajanty ananya-manaso (BG 9.13). That is life. Simply speculation, coming to know definite knowledge, "perhaps," "maybe," and this and that—what is the value of this knowledge? That is childish. That is childish. He is, he is saying others, for giving him God, that is childish, but he is himself a child. He cannot give us any definite knowledge. "By chance," "by accident," "perhaps." What is the value of that knowledge?

Hayagrīva: Freud's..., this is Freud's final conclusion on this point: "True, without religion man will then find himself in a difficult situation. He will have to confess his utter helplessness and his insignificant part in the working of the universe. He will have to confess that he is no longer the center of creation, no longer the object of the tender care of a benevolent providence. He will be in the same position as the child who has left the home where he was so warm and comfortable. But, after all, is it not the destiny of childishness to be overcome? Man cannot remain a child forever. He must venture at last into the hostile world. This may be called education to reality. Need I tell you that it is the sole aim of my book to draw attention to the necessity for this advance?"

Prabhupāda: Yes.

Hayagrīva: The advance to reality.

Prabhupāda: That reality is good advice. But unfortunately, who is taking advantage of his advice?

Conversations and Morning Walks

1976 Conversations and Morning Walks

Garden Conversation -- June 10, 1976, Los Angeles:

Hṛdayānanda:

mugdhasya bālye kaiśore
krīḍato yāti viṁśatiḥ
jarayā grasta-dehasya
yāty akalpasya viṁśatiḥ
(SB 7.6.7)

"In the tender age of childhood, when everyone is bewildered, one passes ten years. Similarly, in boyhood, engaged in sporting and playing, one passes another ten years. In this way twenty years are wasted. Similarly, in old age, when one is an invalid, unable to perform even material activities, one passes another twenty years wastefully."

Prabhupāda: Just like old man like me, eighty years, suppose another twenty years I may live, but I am invalid, I cannot do any solid work. So twenty years in the beginning as child, as young man, in sporting, jumping, twenty years passed. And last twenty years, simply old man's home, invalid home. So forty years gone out of hundred years.

Conversation with George Harrison -- July 26, 1976, London:

Hari-śauri:

mugdhasya bālye kaiśore
krīḍato yāti viṁsatiḥ
jarayā grasta-dehasya
yāty akalpasya viṁśatiḥ
(SB 7.6.7)

"In the tender age of childhood, when everyone is bewildered, one passes ten years. Similarly, in boyhood, engaged in sporting and playing, one passes another ten years. In this way, twenty years are wasted. Similarly, in old age, when one is an invalid, unable to perform even material activities, one passes another twenty years wastefully."

durāpūreṇa kāmena
mohena ca balīyasā
śeṣaṁ gṛheṣu saktasya
pramattasyāpayāti hi
(SB 7.6.8)

"One whose mind and senses are uncontrolled becomes increasingly attached to family life because of insatiable lusty desires and very strong illusion. In such a madman's life the remaining years are also wasted, because even during those years he cannot engage himself in devotional service."

Prabhupāda: So hundred years finish. (laughs) Fifty years, twenty years, twenty years and ten years.

George Harrison: Which volume is that?

Hari-śauri: This is the one before that one.

George Harrison: Part Two.

1977 Conversations and Morning Walks

Room Conversation with Svarupa Damodara -- January 30, 1977, Bhuvanesvara:

Pradyumna: There are all kinds of many living entities there in the sewers of New York. In all sewers in big Western cities. There's once... There's a very famous French novel, and it describes how a prisoner was escaping from troops, so he went in the sewer. And in the sewer there was all kinds of so many things. Once an article about New York sewers...

Prabhupāda: They can live in that nasty water?

Hari-śauri: It's warm. The reason why they're down there is because the sewers are always very warm. So it's very conducive for the alligators. So they grow very big.

Prabhupāda: And what they eat?

Hari-śauri: Rodents. Rats and different things.

Pradyumna: London sewers also.

Svarūpa Dāmodara: The idea behind this is that the jaws of this crocodile is so big and so powerful that they can crush, they say, the femur of a buffalo, the thigh, a big all at once, they can crush it immediately. But in the case of the egg, he has this loving tendency, tender care, so that the little one is not hurt, the feeling, their conscious feeling.

Prabhupāda: Affectionate.

Room Conversation -- October 22, 1977, Vrndavana:

Prabhupāda: Yes. Vegetable boiled. Fresh vegetables. I can take little.

Svarūpa Dāmodara: Jaya.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: 'Cause there everything that we eat is grown on our own land, Śrīla Prabhupāda.

Prabhupāda: Yes. Bindi. Yes. Whatever vegetable is grown there, so boil. I can take. What vegetable grown?

Bhavānanda: Now we're growing begun and tomato and portal.

Prabhupāda: Where...?

Bhavānanda: That was when I left. The portal were very tender.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: I think portal grows a lot of the time in Māyāpura, doesn't it?

Bhavānanda: And sim.(?)

Prabhupāda: Very good.

Correspondence

1968 Correspondence

Letter to Uddhava -- Los Angeles 16 February, 1968:

After killing the demon Hiranyakasipu, the Lord Nrsimhadeva was pacified by Prahlada Maharaja, who offered prayers in hymns which are very instructive. I shall be preparing these for you in my Srimad-Bhagavatam. I will simply cite one nice verse: "Oh Benevolent Lord! Friend of the fallen! Oh the Tender-Hearted! Bound by my own Karma I have been thrown into the midst of these demons who are destroying every thing of Your devotees! I am therefore extremely averse to the unbearable and terrible miseries of this cycle of birth and death in this world devoid of service and devotion to You. Oh Lord! When will You be pleased with me and call me to the shelter of Your Lotus Feet which are soothing like the smiling beams of ten million autumnal moons?"

Letter to Acyutananda, Jayagovinda -- Seattle 13 October, 1968:

Jaya Govinda's idea that if you go there to Bombay, Mr. Karambar may force him to marry his daughter, is simply imagination, because his daughter is only 9 or 10 years old. How she can be married in this tender age? I do not know who has suggested all these nonsense ideas.

1973 Correspondence

Letter to Lynne Ludwig -- Los Angeles 30 April, 1973:

Your complaint is that you have met two of my young disciples in California and they appeared to you as having "a very negative outlook towards the people they meet." Of course, I do not know the case, what are the circumstances, but kindly forgive my beloved disciples any unkindness or indiscretions on their part. After all, to give up one's life completely for serving the Lord is not so easy thing. And Maya, or the illusory material energy, she tries especially hard to try to get back and entrap those who have left her service to become Devotees. So sometimes in the neophyte stage of devotional service, in order to withstand the attack of Maya and remain strong under all conditions of temptation, young or inexperienced devotees will adopt an attitude against those things or persons possibly harmful, threatening to their tender devotional creeper. They may even over-indulge in such feelings just to protect themselves, and thus they will appear to some non-devotees, who are perhaps themselves still very enamoured by the material energy of Maya, as being negative or pessimistic.

Page Title:Tender
Compiler:Visnu Murti, Surabhi
Created:27 of Feb, 2012
Totals by Section:BG=0, SB=25, CC=4, OB=4, Lec=7, Con=4, Let=3
No. of Quotes:47