The son inherits the quality of the father

Expressions researched:
"The son inherits the quality of the father" |"The quality of the father is inherited by the son" |"like father like son" |"Like father, like son"

Nectar of Devotion

Out of Kṛṣṇa's many sons, Pradyumna, a son of Kṛṣṇa's chief queen, Rukmiṇī, is considered the leader. Pradyumna's bodily features resemble Kṛṣṇa's exactly. Pure devotees of Kṛṣṇa glorify Pradyumna because he is so fortunate: like father like son.

Nectar of Devotion 40: True reverential devotion is exhibited by persons who think themselves subordinate to Kṛṣṇa and by persons who think themselves sons of Kṛṣṇa. The best examples of this subordination are Sāraṇa, Gada and Subhadrā. They were all members of the Yadu dynasty, and they always used to think themselves protected by Kṛṣṇa. Similarly, Kṛṣṇa's sons, such as Pradyumna, Cārudeṣṇa and Sāmba, felt the same way. Kṛṣṇa had many sons in Dvārakā. He begot ten sons by each of His 16,108 queens, and all of these sons, headed by Pradyumna, Cārudeṣṇa and Sāmba, used to think themselves always protected by Kṛṣṇa. When Kṛṣṇa's sons dined with Him, they would sometimes open their mouths for Kṛṣṇa to feed them. Sometimes when Kṛṣṇa would pat one of His sons, the son would sit on Kṛṣṇa's lap, and while Kṛṣṇa was blessing the son's head by smelling it, the others would shed tears, thinking how many pious activities he must have performed in his previous life. Out of Kṛṣṇa's many sons, Pradyumna, a son of Kṛṣṇa's chief queen, Rukmiṇī, is considered the leader. Pradyumna's bodily features resemble Kṛṣṇa's exactly. Pure devotees of Kṛṣṇa glorify Pradyumna because he is so fortunate: like father like son.

Krsna, The Supreme Personality of Godhead

Kṛṣṇa had 16,108 wives, and in each of them He begot ten sons, all of them equal to their father in the opulences of strength, beauty, wisdom, fame, wealth and renunciation. “Like father, like son.”

Krsna Book 61: Kṛṣṇa had 16,108 wives, and in each of them He begot ten sons, all of them equal to their father in the opulences of strength, beauty, wisdom, fame, wealth and renunciation. “Like father, like son.” All the 16,108 wives of Kṛṣṇa were princesses, and when each saw that Kṛṣṇa was always present in her respective palace and did not leave home, she considered Kṛṣṇa a henpecked husband who was very much attached to her. Every one of them thought that Kṛṣṇa was her very obedient husband, but actually Kṛṣṇa had no attraction for any of them. Although each thought that she was the only wife of Kṛṣṇa and was very, very dear to Him, Lord Kṛṣṇa, being ātmārāma, self-sufficient, felt neither attraction nor enmity toward any one of them; He was equal to all the wives and treated them as a perfect husband would, just to please them. For Him, there was no need of even a single wife. In fact, since they were women, the wives could not understand the exalted position of Kṛṣṇa, nor the truths about Him.

Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures

Just like the son inherits the quality of the father, similarly... We are supposed to be sons of the Supreme Person. Therefore, in minute quantity we have got all the qualities of God. Not all. Seventy-eight percent. In very minute quantity. That is our perfection.

Lecture on SB 1.10.7 -- Mayapura, June 22, 1973: So the foremost feature of the Absolute Truth is a person. And as a person, He has got the same feelings as we have got. As we have got feelings for our relatives, for our brothers, for our sisters, for our friends, for our enemies, the same thing there is also. If you study your personality or your friend's personality, you can get a rough idea of the Supreme Personality because our personality is dependent on the Supreme Personality. Mamaivāṁśaḥ. We are simply fragmental personalities just like the sparks and the fire, or the drop of ocean water and the ocean. The difference is in quantity. A drop of ocean water or a fragmental spark of the fire is of the same quality like the fire or the ocean. But in magnitude it is very, very small. God is vibhu, the greatest, and we are the smallest. God is infinite, we are finite, infinitesimal. That is the difference. Otherwise everything is there, as we have got. Just like the son inherits the quality of the father, similarly... We are supposed to be sons of the Supreme Person. Therefore, in minute quantity we have got all the qualities of God. Not all. Seventy-eight percent. In very minute quantity. That is our perfection. If we revive godly qualities seventy-eight percent, in minute quantity, that is our perfection. That is there, already there. Simply it is covered by this material energy. Otherwise everything is there. So the feelings of affection, there is also in Kṛṣṇa.

Like father, like son. There is no difference between son and disciple.

Lecture on SB 1.7.8 -- Vrndavana, September 7, 1976: So you should be very, very careful. Don't go to hear any Māyāvādī. There are many Māyāvādīs in the dress of Vaiṣṇavas. Śrī Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura has explained about them, that ei 'ta eka kali-celā nāke tilaka gale mālā, that "Here is a follower of Kali. Although he has got a tilaka on the nose and neck beads, but he's a kali-celā." If he's Māyāvādī, sahaja-bhajana kache mama saṅge laya pare bala. So these things are there. You have come to Vṛndāvana. Be careful, very careful. Māyāvādi-bhāṣya śunile [Cc. Madhya 6.169]. There are many Māyāvādīs here, many so-called tilaka-mālā, but you do not know what is there inside. But great ācāryas, they can find out.

śruti-smṛti-purāṇādi

pañcarātra-vidhiṁ vinā

aikāntikī harer bhaktir

utpātāyaiva kalpate

[Brs. 1.2.101]

They create disturbance only. Therefore we have to follow the Gosvāmīs, Gosvāmī literature, especially Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu, which we have translated in The Nectar of Devotion, every one of you should very carefully read and make progress. Don't be victimized by the Māyāvādī so-called Vaiṣṇava. It is very dangerous.

Therefore it is said, sa saṁhitāṁ bhāgavatīṁ kṛtvānukramya cātma-jam. It is very confidential subject matter. He taught it, instructed to Śukadeva Gosvāmī. Ātma-jam. Like father, like son. There is no difference between son and disciple. Cāṇakya Paṇḍita has equalized,

lālane bahavo doṣās

tāḍane bahavo guṇāḥ

tasmāt putraṁ ca śiṣyaṁ ca

tāḍayen na tu lālayet

That is the, I mean to say, Vedic system—to teach the son and teach the disciple. If one cannot teach the son—the son is disobedient—he should give up his family life. Otherwise a father is in obligation to teach the son properly. But if it is not possible... Sometimes it so happens as family members, they do not take care. Otherwise Vyāsadeva's son is expected to become Śukadeva Gosvāmī. If not, such family connection should be given up. Ānukūlyasya saṅkalpaḥ prātikūlyasya varjanam. Family life, if it is favorable for advancing Kṛṣṇa consciousness, it should be accepted; otherwise it should be rejected.

"Like father, like son." It is... The son has got so many propensities. Wherefrom it has come? It must be in Kṛṣṇa. This is intelligence. Everything is there is Kṛṣṇa.

Lecture on SB 3.26.19 -- Bombay, December 28, 1974: So these vīrya, these living entities, seed-giving father is Kṛṣṇa. Therefore we are in quality as good as Kṛṣṇa, as good as Kṛṣṇa. Mamaivāṁśa. The living entities, they are, Kṛṣṇa claims, ahaṁ bīja-pradaḥ pitā: [Bg. 14.4] "And they are My part and parcel." So why we should be other than Kṛṣṇa? We are exactly of the same quality. If Kṛṣṇa is spirit, then we are spirit. He is complete spirit; we are partial spirit. Nityo nityānāṁ cetanaś cetanānām (Kaṭha Upaniṣad 2.2.13). Kṛṣṇa is living force; we are also living force. Kṛṣṇa has got creative power; we have got also creative power. Exactly all the qualities. Kṛṣṇa has got loving propensity; we have got loving propensity. Wherefrom this love has come? Because Kṛṣṇa loves Rādhārāṇī, and we are part and parcel of Kṛṣṇa; therefore we have learned how to love. Janmādy asya yataḥ [SB 1.1.1], the Vedānta-sūtra: "Everything is born out of the Supreme Person, everything, what we see." We are sample Kṛṣṇa, sample Kṛṣṇa. All the propensities, that we have inherited from our supreme father. Everything is there. Kṛṣṇa has got the same propensities. So why Kṛṣṇa should be imperson? That is not complete knowledge.

Complete knowledge is one who understands that "If I have got so many propensities, so the origin of me, the supreme father, why He should be without any propensities? What is this logic?" "Like father, like son." It is... The son has got so many propensities. Wherefrom it has come? It must be in Kṛṣṇa. This is intelligence. Everything is there is Kṛṣṇa. Just like Kṛṣṇa is stealing butter. That means Kṛṣṇa has stealing propensity. But the difference is that Kṛṣṇa's stealing butter is worshiped, and my stealing is beaten with shoes. (laughter) That is the difference. So we should not imitate Kṛṣṇa, but we should understand that janmādy asya yataḥ: [SB 1.1.1] everything... Here it is said, bījam ādhatta. So just like father impregnates the child or the son within the womb of the mother, and he comes, "Like father, like son," generally, similarly, we are. We have got the same propensities, vīryam, but it is being misused in the material connection. Therefore we are not getting pleasure. Otherwise, ānandamayo 'bhyāsāt: (Vedānta-sūtra 1.1.12) All these propensities, varieties of qualities, will give us ānanda.

These varieties are for deriving pleasure, pleasure potency, hlādinī-śakti. The Rādhārāṇī is hlādinī-śakti. Rādhā kṛṣṇa-praṇaya-vikṛtir hlādinī-śaktir asmāt. This is the display of Kṛṣṇa's pleasure potency. So this pleasure potency is there. So how? Then pleasure potency, we can enjoy in cooperation with Kṛṣṇa, in conjunction with Kṛṣṇa. The same thing: just like this body, the finger. The finger is part of the body. The finger can enjoy pleasure so long attached with the body. If the finger is cut off from the body, there is no more pleasure. Similarly, we are also part and parcel of Kṛṣṇa. Because we are now detached from Kṛṣṇa, therefore our position is manaḥ ṣaṣṭhānīndriyāṇi prakṛti-sthāni karṣati [Bg. 15.7]. Detached from Kṛṣṇa, we are in this prakṛti, material nature, and our business is struggle for existence for the same pleasure, which is never obtainable in this material world. Therefore the intelligence is that we should again go back to home, go back to Kṛṣṇa, and dance with Him in His rāsa dance. That will be our pleasure.

Festival Lectures

So he says that "This paramparā, this successive generation, we have been doing this, and we should not give it up." He understood the Kṛṣṇa's purpose, that "He is asking. He is very intelligent boy, so He is asking me all these questions just to forbid me." That He's just... "Like father like son." The father was also intelligent.

Govardhana Puja Lecture -- New York, November 4, 1966: So it is our duty to sacrifice, and according to Vedic rituals, these are recommended, that we should satisfy. So Nanda Mahārāja explained,

tac cheṣeṇopajīvanti

tri-varga-phala-hetve

puṁsāṁ puruṣa-kāraṇāṁ

parjanyaḥ phala-bhāvanaḥ

"Now, this water is so important that it will produce grains and we shall live. And for perfection of our life we must first live. So this is very important thing, so we have to satisfy Indra."

ya evaṁ visṛjed dharmaṁ

pāraṁ paryāgataṁ naraḥ

kāmā lobhād bhayād dveṣāt

sa vai nāpnoti śobhanam

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

1975 Conversations and Morning Walks

There is a Hindi proverb, bap ka beta sipaika gora kusnaita tora tola: "The son inherits the quality of the father, but if he does not know who is his father, then what is his position?" That is going on. The scientist, he is trying to create something, but he does not know the supreme creator.

Room Conversation with Press Representative -- March 21, 1975, Calcutta:

Guest: Our aim of life should be the realization of God?

Prabhupāda: Yes. Because at the present moment we are part and parcel. Just like a son, he has got the symptoms of his father, but he does not know who is his father. He does not know who is his father. There is a Hindi proverb, bap ka beta sipaika gora kusnaita tora tola: "The son inherits the quality of the father, but if he does not know who is his father, then what is his position?" That is going on. The scientist, he is trying to create something, but he does not know the supreme creator. Do you follow? Now the scientists are trying to create living being in the laboratory. But he does not enquire that who has already created so many millions of living entities? He is trying to create a living entity in laboratory. Suppose he creates one living entity. Then what credit is there for him? But he is spending lakhs and crores of rupees.

1976 Conversations and Morning Walks

So you should be like father like son.

Room Conversation -- May 4, 1976, Honolulu:

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Well, we went to New York to meet with Dhṛṣṭadyumna Mahārāja's father, and he was very helpful. We approached him in a frank way, and he immediately got the help of his office. He's the president of this Far East American Council.

Prabhupāda: Yes.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Yes. And not only China, this is for all of Asia. It includes as.... Some of the persons belonging to it are the chairman of Coca-Cola, the Bankers Trust Company first vice president, all of the big banks, Bank of America senior vice president, First National City Bank vice president, all of these men.

Prabhupāda: So you can contract with all big, big men.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Yes. And he's the president of the council.

Prabhupāda: His father?

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Yes.

Prabhupāda: Then he is very influential man.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Very. So he immediately got...

Prabhupāda: So you should be like father like son.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: He has the same name. It's just "Junior" at the end, so they know him.

Prabhupāda: No, intelligence also. Father's intelligence he must inherit. There is an Indian proverb, bāpakā beṭā sepāikā ghoḍā, kucha nehi to thoḍā thoḍā (indistinct), mean "The father's son and the soldier's horse, they acquire the quality, if not all, some, must." If one is good soldier, his horse is also trained up. There is a history in India. The horse has played heroic. The Queen of Jhansi's horse and this, our, what is called, Shivaji's horse, they have played unique part in the history. Sepāikā ghoḍā. It is animal, but because it is the horse of a famous hero, it has played. Similarly, the son of father must be as good as father. If not, to some extent. Yes. So you are the.... Your father is the leader of so many big, big businessmen. You also become leader.

Dhṛṣṭadyumna: For Kṛṣṇa.

Prabhupāda: Hm?

Dhṛṣṭadyumna: For Kṛṣṇa.

Prabhupāda: Yes. And you have got the intelligence. I have seen. I have studied you. Now you combine. Both of you, you are intelligent. You turn the whole America Kṛṣṇa conscious. Bas. Then success all over the world. America is the leader of the nations. Now, if the America becomes Kṛṣṇa conscious, then our movement is perfectly successful. And you have got the potency in America.

The quality of the father is inherited by the son, even physically. Similarly, you have..., God is fully independent, you have got little touch of independence. Now that independence is properly utilized when you carry out the order of God. That is proper.

Evening Darsan -- August 10, 1976, Tehran:

Hari-śauri: Then your argument that I have no independence, that's not correct.

Prabhupāda: No. You have got independence, little independence.

Atreya Ṛṣi: You have freedom to choose intelligence or be a rascal.

Prabhupāda: You have got independence to misuse your independence. That independence you have got. You have been given intelligence. Now you have got, because you have got intelligence, little independence, you can misuse that. Just like you are all my secretaries. So I give you some independence. You can misuse it. So that misuse is wrong. Then you'll become unhappy. Kṛṣṇa says that sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja [Bg. 18.66]. Says. He doesn't force you—you must do it. You do it. That means independence. Now it is your choice. You have got independence of misusing it. So independence is a quality inherent in living beings, because he's part and parcel of God. The quality of the father is inherited by the son, even physically. Similarly, you have..., God is fully independent, you have got little touch of independence. Now that independence is properly utilized when you carry out the order of God. That is proper. Ordinarily, every country is independent. Does it mean that he is cent percent independent? No. Then why there is police department? Similarly, we are part and parcel of God. We have got little independence. But if we misuse it, then we shall be punished. So there is no question of independence. Independence, little. That is interdependence, not independence. Why they declare independence? That is their foolishness.

"Like father, like son." You should be. Gaurāṅgera bhakta..., jane. Everyone. Therefore Caitanya Mahāprabhu said, "āmāra ājñāya guru hañā tāra' ei deśa," He asked everyone, "Just become guru." Follow His instruction. You become guru. Āmāra ājñāya. Don't manufacture ideas. Āmāra ājñāya. "What I say, you do. You become a guru." Where is the difficulty?

Room Conversation with Ratan Singh Rajda M.P. "Nationalism and Cheating" -- April 15, 1977, Bombay:

Prabhupāda: Every one of us messiaḥ. Anyone Kṛṣṇa conscious, he's the messiaḥ. Every one. Why one? All of us. Gaurāṅgera bhakta-gaṇe, jane jane śakti dhari, brahmāṇḍa tari saksi(?): "The devotee of Lord Caitanya, every one has so immense power that every one, they can deliver the whole universe." Gaurāṅgera bhakta-jane, jane jane śakti..., brahmāṇḍa tari... That is Gaurāṅga's men.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Only you are that powerful, Śrīla Prabhupāda. We're like...

Prabhupāda: Why you are not? You are my disciples.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: We're like the bugs.

Prabhupāda: "Like father, like son." You should be. Gaurāṅgera bhakta..., jane. Everyone. Therefore Caitanya Mahāprabhu said, āmāra ājñāya guru hañā tāra' ei deśa [Cc. Madhya 7.128]. He asked everyone, "Just become guru." Follow His instruction. You become guru. Āmāra ājñāya. Don't manufacture ideas. Āmāra ājñāya. "What I say, you do. You become a guru." Where is the difficulty? "And what is Your ājñā?" Yāre dekha tāre kaha kṛṣṇa-upadeśa [Cc. Madhya 7.128]. Bas. Everything is there in the Bhagavad-gītā. You simply repeat. That's all. You become guru. To become a guru is not difficult job. Follow Caitanya Mahāprabhu and speak what Kṛṣṇa has said. Bas. You become guru.

1976 Correspondence

Up to now as I have got respectable situation, I wish that all my disciples will have similar respectable position in society. That will keep my name good. Like father, like son.

Letter to Caitya-guru -- New York 11 July, 1976: Very good. Every thing that you have stated sounds very nice. You are experienced man so do it very conscientiously. Your sign reads "The Perfection of Yoga," actually that is a fact. Bhaktiyoga is the best. Yoginam api sarvesam, madgatenantaratmana . . . [Bg. 6.47]. This Hari-kirtana is the best yoga bhakti-yoga. You just follow our regulative principles and teach others and you will be successful, without any doubt. You are trained up, and you speak the language of the local people, so do everything conscientiously and my blessings are always with you. However, don't create any awkward situation that may be criticized. Caesar's wife must be above criticism. Up to now as I have got respectable situation, I wish that all my disciples will have similar respectable position in society. That will keep my name good. Like father, like son.