Trunk

Expressions researched:
"trunk" |"trunkloads" |"trunks"

SB Canto 2

SB 2.3.22, Translation:

The eyes which do not look at the symbolic representations of the Personality of Godhead Viṣṇu (His forms, name, quality, etc.) are like those printed on the plumes of the peacock, and the legs which do not move to the holy places (where the Lord is remembered) are considered to be like tree trunks.

SB 2.7.15, Translation:

The leader of the elephants, whose leg was attacked in a river by a crocodile of superior strength, was much aggrieved. Taking a lotus flower in his trunk, he addressed the Lord, saying, "O original enjoyer, Lord of the universe! O deliverer, as famous as a place of pilgrimage! All are purified simply by hearing Your holy name, which is worthy to be chanted."

SB 2.7.16, Translation:

The Personality of Godhead, after hearing the elephant's plea, felt that the elephant needed His immediate help, for he was in great distress. Thus at once the Lord appeared there on the wings of the king of birds, Garuḍa, fully equipped with His weapon, the wheel (cakra). With the wheel He cut to pieces the mouth of the crocodile to save the elephant, and He delivered the elephant by lifting him by his trunk.

SB 2.7.25, Translation:

When Rāvaṇa was engaged in the battle, the trunk of the elephant which carried the King of heaven, Indra, broke in pieces, having collided with the chest of Rāvaṇa, and the scattered broken parts illuminated all directions. Rāvaṇa therefore felt proud of his prowess and began to loiter in the midst of the fighting soldiers, thinking himself the conqueror of all directions. But his laughter, overtaken by joy, along with his very air of life, suddenly ceased with the tingling sound of the bow of Rāmacandra, the Personality of Godhead.

SB 2.7.33, Translation:

When the Lord was engaged in His pastimes of the rāsa dance in the forest of Vṛndāvana, enlivening the sexual desires of the wives of the inhabitants of Vṛndāvana by sweet and melodious songs, a demon of the name Śaṅkhacūḍa, a rich follower of the treasurer of heaven (Kuvera), kidnapped the damsels, and the Lord severed his head from his trunk.

SB Canto 3

SB 3.9.16, Translation:

Your Lordship is the prime root of the tree of the planetary systems. This tree has grown by first penetrating the material nature in three trunks—as me, Śiva and You, the Almighty—for creation, maintenance and dissolution, and we three have grown with many branches. Therefore I offer my obeisances unto You, the tree of the cosmic manifestation.

SB 3.13.40, Purport:

The fortune of the earth planet is praised because of its being specifically sustained by the Lord; its beauty is appreciated and compared to that of a lotus flower situated on the trunk of an elephant. As a lotus flower with leaves is very beautifully situated, so the world, with its many beautiful mountains, appeared on the tusks of the Lord Boar.

SB 3.18.22-23, Purport:

The way of the demon is to take power from the demigods and then tease the demigods themselves. There is an instance of a great devotee of Lord Śiva who obtained a boon from Lord Śiva that the head of whomever he touched with his hand would come off its trunk. As soon as the boon was offered to him, the demon wanted to touch the very head of Lord Śiva. That is their way. The devotees of the Supreme Personality of Godhead do not, however, ask any favor for sense gratification. Even if they are offered liberation, they refuse it. They are happy simply engaging in the transcendental loving service of the Lord.

SB Canto 4

SB 4.4.12, Purport:

Lord Śiva is also called Āśutoṣa, which refers to one who is satisfied very easily and who offers to any person the highest level of benediction. For example, once a devotee of Lord Śiva wanted the benediction that whenever he touched someone on the head, that person's head would at once be separated from his trunk. Lord Śiva agreed. Although the benediction asked was not very commendable because the devotee wanted to kill his enemy, Lord Śiva considered the devotee's good quality in worshiping and satisfying him and granted the benediction.

SB 4.7.36, Purport:

Material civilization is very proud of being advanced, but it is actually the useless trunk of a body without a head. Without Kṛṣṇa consciousness, without an understanding of Viṣṇu, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, any advancement in a civilization, no matter how sophisticated, is of no value.

SB 4.10.24, Translation:

My dear faultless Vidura, in that rainfall there was blood, mucus, pus, stool, urine and marrow falling heavily before Dhruva Mahārāja, and there were trunks of bodies falling from the sky.

SB 4.17.10-11, Translation:

Dear King, just as a tree with a fire burning in the hollow of the trunk gradually dries up, we are drying up due to the fire of hunger in our stomachs. You are the protector of surrendered souls, and you have been appointed to give employment to us. Therefore we have all come to you for protection. You are not only a king, but the incarnation of God as well. Indeed, you are the king of all kings. You can give us all kinds of occupational engagements, for you are the master of our livelihood. Therefore, O king of all kings, please arrange to satisfy our hunger by the proper distribution of food grains. Please take care of us, lest we soon die for want of food.

SB 4.19.40, Purport:

Yajña means Lord Viṣṇu, for all yajña is meant to please the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Viṣṇu. Since the demigods automatically become very pleased with the performance of sacrifice, they bestow benediction upon the executors of yajñas. When one pours water on the root of a tree, the branches, trunk, twigs, flowers and leaves are all satisfied. Similarly, when one gives food to the stomach, all parts of the body are rejuvenated. In the same way, if one simply satisfies Lord Viṣṇu by the performance of yajña, one satisfies all the demigods automatically. In turn, the demigods offer their benedictions to such a devotee. A pure devotee therefore does not ask benedictions directly from the demigods. His only business is to serve the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Thus he is never in need of those things supplied by the demigods.

SB 4.23.5, Translation:

In the tapo-vana, Mahārāja Pṛthu sometimes ate the trunks and roots of trees, and sometimes he ate fruit and dried leaves, and for some weeks he drank only water. Finally he lived simply by breathing air.

SB 4.23.5, Purport:

In Bhagavad-gītā, yogīs are advised to go to a secluded place in the forest and live alone in a sanctified spot there. By Pṛthu Mahārāja's behavior we can understand that when he went to the forest he did not eat any cooked food sent from the city by some devotees or disciples. As soon as one takes a vow to live in the forest, he must simply eat roots, tree trunks, fruits, dried leaves or whatever nature provides in that way.

SB 4.31.14, Translation:

As pouring water on the root of a tree energizes the trunk, branches, twigs and everything else, and as supplying food to the stomach enlivens the senses and limbs of the body, simply worshiping the Supreme Personality of Godhead through devotional service automatically satisfies the demigods, who are parts of that Supreme Personality.

SB Canto 7

SB 7.2.7-8, Translation:

The Supreme Personality of Godhead has given up His natural tendency of equality toward the demons and demigods. Although He is the Supreme Person, now, influenced by māyā, He has assumed the form of a boar to please His devotees, the demigods, just as a restless child leans toward someone. I shall therefore sever Lord Viṣṇu's head from His trunk by my trident, and with the profuse blood from His body I shall please my brother Hiraṇyākṣa, who was so fond of sucking blood. Thus shall I too be peaceful.

SB 7.9.31, Purport:

True oneness, however, is not equivalent to the conception of the Māyāvādīs. The true understanding is that the differences are manifested by the energy of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The seed is manifested as a tree, which displays varieties in its trunk, branches, leaves, flowers and fruits. Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura has therefore sung, keśava tuyā jagata vicitra: "My dear Lord, Your creation is full of varieties." The varieties are one and at the same time different. This is the philosophy of acintya-bhedābheda-tattva.

SB Canto 8

SB 8.2.25, Translation:

The King of the elephants entered the lake, bathed thoroughly and was relieved of his fatigue. Then, with the aid of his trunk, he drank the cold, clear, nectarean water, which was mixed with the dust of lotus flowers and water lilies, until he was fully satisfied.

SB 8.2.26, Translation:

Like a human being who lacks spiritual knowledge and is too attached to the members of his family, the elephant, being illusioned by the external energy of Kṛṣṇa, had his wives and children bathe and drink the water. Indeed, he raised water from the lake with his trunk and sprayed it over them. He did not mind the hard labor involved in this endeavor.

SB 8.3 Summary:

In this way the King of the elephants, Gajendra, offered prayers directly to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, without mistaking Him for one of the demigods. None of the demigods came to see him, not even Brahmā or Śiva. Rather, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Nārāyaṇa, seated on Garuḍa, personally appeared before him. Gajendra, by lifting his trunk, offered obeisances to the Lord, and the Lord immediately pulled him from the water along with the crocodile who had captured his leg. Then the Lord killed the crocodile and thus rescued Gajendra.

SB 8.3.30, Purport:

"As pouring water on the root of a tree energizes the trunk, branches, twigs and everything else, and as supplying food to the stomach enlivens the senses and limbs of the body, so simply worshiping the Supreme Personality of Godhead through devotional service automatically satisfies the demigods, who are parts of that Supreme Personality." (SB 4.31.14) When the Supreme Personality of Godhead is worshiped, all the demigods are satisfied.

SB 8.3.32, Translation:

Gajendra had been forcefully captured by the crocodile in the water and was feeling acute pain, but when he saw that Nārāyaṇa, wielding His disc, was coming in the sky on the back of Garuḍa, he immediately took a lotus flower in his trunk, and with great difficulty due to his painful condition, he uttered the following words: "O my Lord, Nārāyaṇa, master of the universe, O Supreme Personality of Godhead, I offer my respectful obeisances unto You."

SB 8.5.15-16, Purport:

It is described that while Durvāsā Muni was passing on the road, he saw Indra on the back of his elephant and was pleased to offer Indra a garland from his own neck. Indra, however, being too puffed up, took the garland, and without respect for Durvāsā Muni, he placed it on the trunk of his carrier elephant. The elephant, being an animal, could not understand the value of the garland, and thus the elephant threw the garland between its legs and smashed it. Seeing this insulting behavior, Durvāsā Muni immediately cursed Indra to be poverty-stricken, bereft of all material opulence. Thus the demigods, afflicted on one side by the fighting demons and on the other by the curse of Durvāsā Muni, lost all the material opulences in the three worlds.

SB 8.5.49, Translation:

When one pours water on the root of a tree, the trunk and branches of the tree are automatically pleased. Similarly, when one becomes a devotee of Lord Viṣṇu, everyone is served, for the Lord is the Supersoul of everyone.

SB 8.5.49, Purport:

"Just by pouring water on the root of a tree, one nourishes its trunk and all of its branches, fruits and flowers, and just by supplying food to the stomach, one satisfies all the limbs of the body. Similarly, by worshiping Lord Viṣṇu one can satisfy everyone." Kṛṣṇa consciousness is not a sectarian religious movement. Rather, it is meant for all-embracing welfare activities for the world. One can enter this movement without discrimination in terms of caste, creed, religion or nationality. If one is trained to worship the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa, who is the origin of viṣṇu-tattva, one can become fully satisfied and perfect in all respects.

SB 8.9.16-17, Translation:

O King, as the demigods and demons sat facing east in an arena fully decorated with flower garlands and lamps and fragrant with the smoke of incense, that woman, dressed in a most beautiful sari, Her ankle bells tinkling, entered the arena, walking very slowly because of Her big, low hips. Her eyes were restless due to youthful pride, Her breasts were like water jugs, Her thighs resembled the trunks of elephants, and She carried a waterpot in Her hand.

SB 8.10.39, Translation:

In the course of the battle, the warfield became strewn with the severed heads of heroes, their eyes still staring and their teeth still pressed against their lips in anger. Helmets and earrings were scattered from these severed heads. Similarly, many arms, decorated with ornaments and clutching various weapons, were strewn here and there, as were many legs and thighs, which resembled the trunks of elephants.

SB 8.10.40, Translation and Purport:

Many headless trunks were generated on that battlefield. With weapons in their arms, those ghostly trunks, which could see with the eyes in the fallen heads, attacked the enemy soldiers.

It appears that the heroes who died on the battlefield immediately became ghosts, and although their heads had been severed from their bodies, new trunks were generated, and these new trunks, seeing with the eyes in the severed heads, began to attack the enemy. In other words, many ghosts were generated to join the fight, and thus new trunks appeared on the battlefield.

SB 8.11.47, Translation:

There, on that hill, Śukrācārya brought to life all the dead demoniac soldiers who had not lost their heads, trunks and limbs. He achieved this by his own mantra, known as Saṁjīvanī.

SB Canto 9

SB 9.11.1, Purport:

Sarvārhaṇam acyutejyā. If Acyuta, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is worshiped, then everyone is worshiped. As stated in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (4.31.14):

yathā taror mūla-niṣecanena

tṛpyanti tat-skandha-bhujopaśākhāḥ

prāṇopahārāc ca yathendriyāṇāṁ

tathaiva sarvārhaṇam acyutejyā

"As pouring water on the root of a tree nourishes the trunk, branches, twigs and leaves, and as supplying food to the stomach enlivens the senses and limbs of the body, worshiping the Supreme Personality of Godhead satisfies the demigods, who are part of that Supreme Personality."

SB 9.11.26, Translation and Purport:

During the reign of Lord Rāmacandra, the streets of the capital, Ayodhyā, were sprinkled with perfumed water and drops of perfumed liquor, thrown about by elephants from their trunks. When the citizens saw the Lord personally supervising the affairs of the city in such opulence, they appreciated this opulence very much.

We have simply heard about the opulence of Rāma-rājya during the reign of Lord Rāmacandra. Now, here is one example of the opulence of the Lord's kingdom. The streets of Ayodhyā were not only cleaned but also sprinkled with perfumed water and drops of perfumed liquor, which were distributed by elephants through their trunks. There was no need of sprinkling machines, for the elephant has a natural ability to suck water through its trunk and again throw it out in a shower. We can understand the opulence of the city from this one example: it was actually sprinkled with perfumed water. Moreover, the citizens had the opportunity to see the Lord personally supervising the affairs of the state. He was not a sleeping monarch, as we can understand from His activities in sending His brothers to see to affairs outside the capital and punish anyone who did not obey the emperor's orders. This is called dig-vijaya. The citizens were all given facilities for peaceful life, and they were also qualified with appropriate attributes according to varṇāśrama. As we have seen from the previous chapter, varṇāśrama-guṇānvitāḥ: the citizens were trained according to the varṇāśrama system. A class of men were brāhmaṇas, a class of men were kṣatriyas, a class were vaiśyas, and a class were śūdras. Without this scientific division, there can be no question of good citizenship. The King, being magnanimous and perfect in His duty, performed many sacrifices and treated the citizens as His sons, and the citizens, being trained in the varṇāśrama system, were obedient and perfectly ordered. The entire monarchy was so opulent and peaceful that the government was even able to sprinkle the street with perfumed water, what to speak of other management. Since the city was sprinkled with perfumed water, we can simply imagine how opulent it was in other respects. Why should the citizens not have felt happy during the reign of Lord Rāmacandra.

SB Canto 10.1 to 10.13

SB 10.10.27, Translation:

By dragging behind Him with great force the wooden mortar tied to His belly, the boy Kṛṣṇa uprooted the two trees. By the great strength of the Supreme Person, the two trees, with their trunks, leaves and branches, trembled severely and fell to the ground with a great crash.

SB Cantos 10.14 to 12 (Translations Only)

SB 10.27.22-23, Translation:

Śukadeva Gosvāmī said: Having thus appealed to Lord Kṛṣṇa, mother Surabhi performed His bathing ceremony with her own milk, and Indra, ordered by Aditi and other mothers of the demigods, anointed the Lord with heavenly Gaṅgā water from the trunk of Indra's elephant carrier, Airāvata. Thus, in the company of the demigods and great sages, Indra coronated Lord Kṛṣṇa, the descendant of Daśārha, and gave Him the name Govinda.

SB 10.30.27, Translation:

(The gopīs said:) Here we see the footprints of some gopī who must have been walking along with the son of Nanda Mahārāja. He must have put His arm on Her shoulder, just as an elephant rests His trunk on the shoulder of an accompanying she-elephant.

SB 10.35.8-11, Translation:

Kṛṣṇa moves about the forest in the company of His friends, who vividly chant the glories of His magnificent deeds. He thus appears just like the Supreme Personality of Godhead exhibiting His inexhaustible opulences. When the cows wander onto the mountainsides and Kṛṣṇa calls out to them with the sound of His flute, the trees and creepers in the forest respond by becoming so luxuriant with fruits and flowers that they seem to be manifesting Lord Viṣṇu within their hearts. As their branches bend low with the weight, the filaments on their trunks and vines stand erect out of the ecstasy of love of God, and both the trees and the creepers pour down a rain of sweet sap.

Maddened by the divine, honeylike aroma of the tulasī flowers on the garland Kṛṣṇa wears, swarms of bees sing loudly for Him, and that most beautiful of all persons thankfully acknowledges and acclaims their song by taking His flute to His lips and playing it. The charming flute song then steals away the minds of the cranes, swans and other lake-dwelling birds. Indeed they approach Kṛṣṇa, close their eyes and, maintaining strict silence, worship Him by fixing their consciousness upon Him in deep meditation.

SB 10.39.49-50, Translation:

He had large loins and hips, thighs like an elephant's trunk, and shapely knees and shanks. His raised ankles reflected the brilliant effulgence emanating from the nails on His petallike toes, which beautified His lotus feet.

SB 10.41.20-23, Translation:

The Lord saw Mathurā, with its tall gates and household entrances made of crystal, its immense archways and main doors of gold, its granaries and other storehouses of copper and brass, and its impregnable moats. Beautifying the city were pleasant gardens and parks. The main intersections were fashioned of gold, and there were mansions with private pleasure gardens, along with guildhalls and many other buildings. Mathurā resounded with the calls of peacocks and pet turtledoves, who sat in the small openings of the lattice windows and on the gem-studded floors, and also on the columned balconies and on the ornate rafters in front of the houses. These balconies and rafters were adorned with vaidūrya stones, diamonds, crystal quartz, sapphires, coral, pearls and emeralds. All the royal avenues and commercial streets were sprinkled with water, as were the side roads and courtyards, and flower garlands, newly grown sprouts, parched grains and rice had been scattered about everywhere. Gracing the houses' doorways were elaborately decorated pots filled with water, which were bedecked with mango leaves, smeared with yogurt and sandalwood paste, and encircled by flower petals and ribbons. Near the pots were flags, rows of lamps, bunches of flowers and the trunks of banana and betel-nut trees.

SB 10.43.6, Translation:

The lord of the elephants charged Kṛṣṇa and violently seized Him with his trunk. But Kṛṣṇa slipped away, struck him a blow and disappeared from his view among his legs.

SB 10.43.7, Translation:

Infuriated at being unable to see Lord Keśava, the elephant sought Him out with his sense of smell. Once again Kuvalayāpīḍa seized the Lord with the end of his trunk, only to have the Lord forcefully free Himself.

SB 10.43.13, Translation:

The Supreme Lord, killer of the demon Madhu, confronted the elephant as he attacked. Seizing his trunk with one hand, Kṛṣṇa threw him to the ground.

SB 10.54.57, Translation:

The city's streets were cleansed by the intoxicated elephants belonging to the beloved kings who were guests at the wedding, and these elephants further enhanced the beauty of the city by placing trunks of plantain and betel-nut trees in all the doorways.

SB 10.56.23, Translation:

The two fought furiously in single combat, each determined to win. Contending against each other with various weapons and then with stones, tree trunks and finally their bare arms, they struggled like two hawks battling over a piece of flesh.

SB 10.67.17, Translation:

Mighty Dvivida also came forward to do battle. Uprooting a śāla tree with one hand, he rushed toward Balarāma and struck Him on the head with the tree trunk.

SB 10.76.9-11, Translation:

Śālva besieged the city with a large army, O best of the Bharatas, decimating the outlying parks and gardens, the mansions along with their observatories, towering gateways and surrounding walls, and also the public recreational areas. From his excellent airship he threw down a torrent of weapons, including stones, tree trunks, thunderbolts, snakes and hailstones. A fierce whirlwind arose and blanketed all directions with dust.

SB 11.3.11, Translation:

Hoards of clouds called Saṁvartaka pour torrents of rain for one hundred years. Flooding down in raindrops as long as the trunk of an elephant, the deadly rainfall submerges the entire universe in water.

SB 11.12.22-23, Translation:

This tree of material existence has two seeds, hundreds of roots, three lower trunks and five upper trunks. It produces five flavors and has eleven branches and a nest made by two birds. The tree is covered by three types of bark, gives two fruits and extends up to the sun. Those lusty after material enjoyment and dedicated to family life enjoy one of the tree's fruits, and swanlike men in the renounced order of life enjoy the other fruit. One who with the help of the bona fide spiritual masters can understand this tree to be a manifestation of the potency of the one Supreme Truth appearing in many forms actually knows the meaning of the Vedic literature.

CC Adi-lila

CC Adi 9 Summary:

The seed of the tree was first sown in Navadvīpa, the birth site of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu, and then the tree was brought to Puruṣottama-kṣetra (Jagannātha Purī), and then to Vṛndāvana. The seed fructified first in Śrīla Mādhavendra Purī, and then in his disciple Śrī Īśvara Purī. It is figuratively described that both the tree itself and the trunk of the tree are Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Paramānanda Purī and eight other great sannyāsīs are like the spreading roots of the tree. From the main trunk there extend two special branches, Advaita Prabhu and Śrī Nityānanda Prabhu, and from those branches grow other branches and twigs. The tree surrounds the entire world, and the fruits of the tree are to be distributed to everyone. In this way the tree of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu intoxicates the entire world. It should be noted that this is a figurative example meant to explain the mission of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu.

CC Adi 9.11, Translation:

The seed of devotional service next fructified in the form of Śrī Īśvara Purī, and then the gardener Himself, Caitanya Mahāprabhu, became the main trunk of the tree of devotional service.

CC Adi 9.12, Translation:

By His inconceivable powers, the Lord became the gardener, the trunk and the branches simultaneously.

CC Adi 9.13-15, Translation:

Paramānanda Purī, Keśava Bhāratī, Brahmānanda Purī and Brahmānanda Bhāratī, Śrī Viṣṇu Purī, Keśava Purī, Kṛṣṇānanda Purī, Śrī Nṛsiṁha Tīrtha and Sukhānanda Purī—these nine sannyāsī roots all sprouted from the trunk of the tree. Thus the tree stood steadfastly on the strength of these nine roots.

CC Adi 9.17, Translation:

From the trunk grew many branches, and above them innumerable others.

CC Adi 9.21, Translation:

At the top of the tree the trunk branched into two. One trunk was named Śrī Advaita Prabhu and the other Śrī Nityānanda Prabhu.

CC Adi 9.22, Translation:

From these two trunks grew many branches and subbranches that covered the entire world.

CC Adi 9.26, Translation:

Since Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Mahāprabhu was the original trunk, the taste of the fruits that grew on the branches and subbranches surpassed the taste of nectar.

CC Adi 12.7, Translation:

As the trunk and branches were watered, the branches and subbranches spread lavishly, and the tree grew full with fruits and flowers.

CC Adi 12.68, Translation:

Some branches did not accept the original trunk that vitalized and maintained the entire tree. When they thus became ungrateful, the original trunk was angry at them.

CC Adi 12.73, Purport:

In this connection, Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura, in his Amṛta-pravāha-bhāṣya, gives this short note: "Śrī Advaita Ācārya is one of the important trunks of the bhakti-kalpataru, or desire tree of devotional service. Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, as a gardener, poured water on the root of the bhakti tree and thus nourished all its trunks and branches. But nevertheless, under the spell of māyā, the most unfortunate condition of a living entity, some of the branches, not accepting the gardener who poured water on them, considered the trunk the only cause of the great bhakti-kalpataru. In other words, the branches or descendants of Advaita Ācārya who considered Advaita Ācārya the original cause of the devotional creeper, and who thus neglected or disobeyed the instructions of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, deprived themselves of the effect of being watered and thus dried up and died. It is further to be understood that not only the misguided descendants of Advaita Ācārya but anyone who has no connection with Caitanya Mahāprabhu—even if he is independently a great sannyāsī, learned scholar or ascetic—is like a dead branch of a tree."

CC Adi 12.78, Translation:

There are multifarious branches and subbranches of Advaita Ācārya. It is very difficult to enumerate them fully. I have simply given a glimpse of the whole trunk and its branches and subbranches.

CC Adi 12.91, Translation:

Simply by remembering the names of all these branches and subbranches of the three trunks I have described (Nityānanda, Advaita and Gadādhara), one attains freedom from the entanglement of material existence.

CC Adi 13.61, Purport:

Near Garbhavāsa is a place called Bakulatalā, where Śrī Nityānanda Prabhu and His boyfriends used to take part in sporting activities known as jhāla-jhapeṭā. There is a bakula tree there that is wonderful because all its branches and subbranches look like the hoods of serpents. It has been suggested that by the desire of Śrī Nityānanda Prabhu, Anantadeva manifested Himself in that way. The tree is very old. It is said that formerly it had two trunks, but later on, when the playmates of Nityānanda Prabhu felt inconvenience in jumping from the branches of one trunk to those of the other, Nityānanda Prabhu, by His mercy, merged the two trunks into one.

CC Adi 17.323, Translation:

The Tenth Chapter describes the branches and subbranches of the main trunk and the distribution of their fruits.

CC Madhya-lila

CC Madhya 2.31, Purport:

The eyes which do not look at the symbolic representations of the Personality of Godhead Viṣṇu (His forms, names, qualities, etc.) are like those printed on the plumes of a peacock, and the legs which do not move to the holy places (where the Lord is remembered) are considered to be like tree trunks. The person who has not at any time received upon his head the dust from the feet of a pure devotee of the Lord is certainly a dead body. And the person who has never experienced the flavor of the tulasī leaves from the lotus feet of the Lord is also a dead body, although breathing. Certainly that heart is steel-framed which, in spite of one's chanting the holy name of the Lord with concentration, does not change and feel ecstasy, at which time tears fill the eyes and the hairs stand on end.”

CC Madhya 14.200, Translation:

“"Actually She has no desire to stop Kṛṣṇa"s endeavor to touch Her body with His hands, yet Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī, whose thighs are like the trunk of a baby elephant, protests His advances and, sweetly smiling, admonishes Him. At such times She cries without tears on Her charming face.’

CC Madhya 22.63, Translation:

“"By pouring water on the root of a tree, one automatically satisfies the trunk, branches and twigs. Similarly, by supplying food to the stomach, where it nourishes the life air, one satisfies all the senses. In the same way, by worshiping Kṛṣṇa and rendering Him service, one automatically satisfies all the demigods."

CC Antya-lila

CC Antya 17.16, Translation:

His arms and legs had entered the trunk of His body, exactly like those of a tortoise. His mouth was foaming, there were eruptions on His body, and tears flowed from His eyes.

CC Antya 18.89, Translation:

“Kṛṣṇa forcibly swept Rādhārāṇī away and took Her into water up to Her neck. Then He released Her where the water was very deep. She grasped Kṛṣṇa's neck, however, and floated on the water like a lotus flower plucked by the trunk of an elephant.

Nectar of Devotion

Nectar of Devotion 21:

Any comparison of the different parts of the Lord's body to different material objects cannot factually be a complete comparison. Ordinary persons, who cannot understand how exalted are the bodily features of the Lord, are simply given a chance to understand by a material comparison. It is said that Kṛṣṇa's face is as beautiful as the moon, His thighs are powerful just like the trunks of elephants, His arms are just like two pillars, His palms are expanded like lotus flowers, His chest is just like a doorway, His hips are dens, and the middle of His body is a terrace.

Nectar of Devotion 22:

Regarding Kṛṣṇa's heroism in fighting, there is the following statement: "My dear killer of the enemy, just as the elephant while taking bath in the lake destroys all the lotus stems within the water by swinging its trunk, so simply by moving Your arms, which are compared to the trunks of elephants, You have killed so many lotuslike enemies."

Regarding Kṛṣṇa's expertise in releasing weapons, when Jarāsandha and thirteen divisions of soldiers attacked Kṛṣṇa's army, they were unable to hurt even one soldier on the side of Kṛṣṇa. This was due to Kṛṣṇa's expert military training. This is unique in the history of military art.

Nectar of Devotion 26:

When Kṛṣṇa arrived at the age of thirteen to fourteen years, His two arms and chest assumed an unspeakable beauty, and His whole form became simply enchanting. When Kṛṣṇa attained thirteen years of age, His two thighs were challenging the trunks of elephants, His rising chest was trying to come to peace talks with doors of jewels, and His two arms were minimizing the value of the bolts found on doors. Who can describe the wonderful beauty of these features of Kṛṣṇa? The special beauty of Kṛṣṇa's body was His mild smiling, His restless eyes and His world enchanting songs. These are the special features of this age.

Nectar of Devotion 41:

In this way all the five Pāṇḍava brothers enjoyed the fraternal friendship of Kṛṣṇa in transcendental mellow. Of the five Pāṇḍavas, Arjuna is the most intimately connected with Kṛṣṇa. He has a nice bow called Gāṇḍīva in his hand. His thighs are compared to the trunks of elephants, and his eyes are always reddish. When Kṛṣṇa and Arjuna are together on a chariot, they become celestial beauties, pleasing to the eyes of everyone. It is said that once Arjuna was lying on his bed with his head upon Kṛṣṇa's lap and was talking and joking with Kṛṣṇa in great relaxation, enjoying Kṛṣṇa's company with smiling and great satisfaction.

Krsna, The Supreme Personality of Godhead

Krsna Book 27:

Then the surabhi cow bathed Kṛṣṇa with her milk, and Indra bathed Him with the water of the celestial Ganges through the trunk of his carrier elephant. After this, the surabhi cows and all the demigods and their mothers joined the heavenly king, Indra, in worshiping Lord Kṛṣṇa by bathing Him with Ganges water and the milk of the surabhis. Thus Govinda, Lord Kṛṣṇa, was pleased with all of them. The residents of all higher planetary systems, such as Gandharvaloka, Vidyādharaloka, Siddhaloka and Cāraṇaloka, all combined and glorified the Lord by chanting His holy name as their wives and damsels danced with great joy.

Krsna Book 39:

In other words, after returning to the Yamunā, Akrūra saw Balarāma turned into Śeṣa Nāga and Kṛṣṇa turned into Mahā-Viṣṇu. He saw the four-handed Supreme Personality of Godhead, smiling very beautifully. The Lord was very pleasing to all and was looking toward everyone with a merciful glance. He appeared beautiful with His raised nose, broad forehead, attractive ears and reddish lips. His arms, reaching to the knees, were very strongly built. His shoulders were high, His chest was very broad, and His neck was shaped like a conchshell. His navel was very deep, and His abdomen was marked with three lines. His hips were broad and big, resembling those of a woman, and His thighs resembled the trunks of elephants.

Krsna Book 43:

The caretaker, being thus insulted by Kṛṣṇa, became very angry, and in order to challenge Kṛṣṇa, as was previously planned, he provoked the elephant to attack. The elephant then moved before Kṛṣṇa like inevitable death. It rushed toward Him and tried to catch Him with its trunk, but Kṛṣṇa very dexterously moved behind the elephant. Being able to see only to the end of its trunk, the elephant could not see Kṛṣṇa hiding behind its legs, but it tried to capture Him with its trunk. Kṛṣṇa again very quickly escaped capture, and He again ran behind the elephant and caught its tail. Holding the elephant by its tail, Kṛṣṇa began to pull it, and with very great strength He dragged it for at least twenty-five yards, just as Garuḍa drags an insignificant snake. Kṛṣṇa pulled the elephant from this side to that, from right to left, just as He used to pull a calf by its tail in His childhood. After this, Kṛṣṇa went in front of the elephant and gave it a strong slap. He then slipped away from the elephant's view and ran to its back. Then, falling down on the ground, Kṛṣṇa placed Himself in front of the elephant's two legs and caused it to trip and fall. Kṛṣṇa immediately got up, but the elephant, thinking that He was still lying down, tried to push an ivory tusk through the body of Kṛṣṇa by forcibly stabbing it into the ground. Although the elephant was harassed and angry, the caretaker riding on its head tried to provoke it further. The elephant then rushed madly toward Kṛṣṇa. As soon as it came within reach, Kṛṣṇa caught hold of the trunk and pulled the elephant down.

Krsna Book 59:

The demon Bhaumāsura immediately released a weapon called Śataghnī, by which he could kill hundreds of warriors with one stroke, and all his assistants simultaneously threw their respective weapons at the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Lord Kṛṣṇa counteracted all these weapons by releasing His feathered arrows. The result of this fight was that all the soldiers and commanders of Bhaumāsura fell to the ground, their arms, legs and heads separated from their trunks, and all their horses and elephants also fell with them. In this way, all the weapons released by Bhaumāsura were cut to pieces by the Lord's arrows.

Krsna Book 71:

The roads, streets and lanes of Hastināpura were all sprinkled with fragrant water through the trunks of intoxicated elephants. In different places of the city there were colorful festoons and flags decorating the houses and streets. At important crossroads there were gates with golden decorations, and at the two sides of the gates there were golden water jugs. These beautiful decorations glorified the opulence of the city. Participating in this great ceremony, all the citizens gathered here and there, dressed in colorful new clothing and decorated with ornaments, flower garlands and fragrant scents. The houses were all illuminated by hundreds and thousands of lamps placed in different corners of the cornices, walls, columns, bases and architraves, and from far away the rays of the lamps appeared to be celebrating the festival of Dīpāvalī (a particular festival observed on the New Year's Day of the Hindu calendar). Within the walls of the houses, fragrant incense was burning, and smoke rose through the windows, making the entire atmosphere very pleasing. On the top of every house, flags were flapping, and the golden waterpots kept on the roofs shone brilliantly.

Krsna Book 72:

When the clubs of Jarāsandha and Bhīmasena loudly collided, the impact sounded like that of the big tusks of two fighting elephants or like a thunderbolt in a flashing electrical storm. When two elephants fight together in a sugarcane field, each of them snatches a stick of sugarcane, holds it tightly in its trunk and strikes the other. At that time the sugarcane becomes smashed by such heavy striking. Similarly, when Bhīmasena and Jarāsandha were heavily striking each other with their clubs on different parts of their bodies—namely the shoulders, arms, collarbone, chest, thighs, waist and legs—their clubs were torn to pieces.

Krsna Book 76:

Śālva thus attacked the city of Dvārakā from the sky, and he also surrounded the city by a large number of infantry. The soldiers on the surface attacked the beautiful spots of the city. They began to destroy the nice parks, the city gates, the palaces and skyscraper houses, the high walls around the city, and the beautiful spots where people would gather for recreation. While the soldiers attacked on the surface, the airplane began to drop big slabs of stone, tree trunks, thunderbolts, poisonous snakes and many other dangerous things. Śālva also managed to create such a strong whirlwind within the city that all of Dvārakā became dark because of the dust that covered the sky. The airplane occupied by Śālva put the entire city of Dvārakā into distress equal to that caused on the earth long, long ago by the disturbing activities of Tripurāsura. The inhabitants of Dvārakā Purī became so harassed that they were not peaceful for even a moment.

Message of Godhead

Message of Godhead 1:

In the darkness, if we want to perceive a certain object, we cannot use just our eyes; we have to rely on some other means to aid our perception. So, in the darkness, the object cannot be known to us in its entirety. In such a situation, even if we get some knowledge by touch or otherwise, it is all either mistaken or incomplete. It is just like the group of blind men who had encountered an elephant and tried to describe the strange new creature to one another. One man felt the trunk and said, "This is a huge snake." Another man felt a leg and said, "No, this is a great pillar." And so forth.

Light of the Bhagavata

Light of the Bhagavata 47, Purport:

The Transcendence is compared to milk, and the emanations are compared to yogurt. Yogurt is nothing but milk, but at the same time it is different from milk. Yogurt is a milk preparation, but it cannot be used in place of milk. The Lord is also sometimes compared to a tree. The root of the tree is the cause of the trunk, branches, twigs, leaves, and fruits, yet the trunk is not the fruit, the fruit is not the leaf, nor is the leaf the root. When water is needed it has to be poured on the root, not on the leaves. Pouring water on the leaves serves no purpose, but pouring water on the root serves all purposes. This is the essence of the philosophy of spiritual culture.

Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures

Lecture on BG Introduction -- New York, February 19-20, 1966:

Now, this material world is described in the Fifteenth chapter of the Bhagavad-gītā as a tree which has got its root upwards, ūrdhva-mūlam. Have you experience of any tree which has its root upwards? We have got this experience of a tree, root upwards by reflection. If we stand on the bank of a river or any reservoir of water, we can see that the tree on the bank of the reservoir of water is reflected in the water as trunk downwards and the root upwards. So this material world is practically a reflection of the spiritual world. Just like the reflection of the tree on the bank of a reservoir of water is seen downwards, similarly, this material world, it is called shadow. Shadow. As in the shadow there cannot be any reality, but at the same time, from the shadow we can understand that there is reality. The example of shadow in the, shadow of water in the desert, suggests that in the desert there is no water, but there is water. Similarly, in the reflection of the spiritual world, or in this material world, there is undoubtedly, there is no happiness, there is no water. But the real water, or the actual happiness, is in the spiritual world. The Lord suggests that one has to reach that spiritual world in the following manner, nirmāna-mohā.

Lecture on BG 7.1 -- San Francisco, March 17, 1968:

Just like in your body, for maintenance, proper maintenance of the body you require the head, you require the arms, you require the belly, you require the legs. So all these four divisions of the body required. You cannot say, "Oh, we don't require this head." Oh, it is nonsense. You require everything. You require the head, you require the arms, you require the belly, and you require the leg. This is fit body. Suppose if there is a body without head—oḥ, it is dead body. It is body undoubtedly, but if there is no head, simply the trunk is there, it is called dead body. The head is considered to be the intellectual part of the body. Similarly, if there is no brāhmaṇa in the society, that is a dead body. If there is no spiritual man in the society, that is a dead society.

Lecture on BG 7.1 -- Calcutta, January 27, 1973:

This is from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, instruction given by Nārada Muni to Pracetasas. Those who have read Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, they know how he was explaining. So this example is very nice. Yathā taror mūla-niṣecanena. If you water on the root of the tree, automatically the trunk, the branches, the twigs, the leaves, the flowers, fruits, everything is refreshed. Another example is also there in the next line: prāṇopahārāc ca yathendriyāṇām. As by supplying food to the stomach all the indriyas, all the senses, become refreshed, energetic, similarly acyutejyā, by loving Kṛṣṇa, Acyuta... Acyuta is another name of Kṛṣṇa. Senayor ubhayor madhye rathaṁ sthāpaya me acyuta (BG 1.21). Kṛṣṇa is addressed as Acyuta. So acyuta-ijyā, by worshiping Kṛṣṇa, by satisfying Kṛṣṇa, you can satisfy everyone. This is the process.

Lecture on BG 7.2 -- London, March 10, 1975:

So this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is teaching this education, that perform... You cannot escape it. You cannot say that "You are interested. You can do. We are not interested." If you are not interested, then you are living a very risky life because you have to change your body. Dehāntaram. You can see. There are examples of so many types of body. Now, suppose if you live at the risk of your life and next life you become a tree, stand up for five thousand years in the snow, scorching heat, scorching, blasting and so many disturbances, and you cannot move an inch, and people may cut down you, your leaves, your trunk, or you, they are cutting so many... What is that life? And if you think, "No, I am living for five thousand years," what is the use of living such five thousand years? No. Don't risk life. Karma-bandhanaḥ. If you don't perform yajña, if you don't try to satisfy the Supreme Lord... Just like if you don't try to satisfy the government, then it is your risky life. You cannot say that "I am living very happily." Because you are cheating government or do not following the laws of the government, that is very risky life. Similarly, if you do not perform yajña, you cannot avoid it. Saha-yajñāḥ prajāḥ sṛṣṭvā. You are, you have got this human form of life for performing yajña.

Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures

Lecture on SB 1.2.10 -- Bombay, December 28, 1972:

So those who are anxious to understand the Absolute Truth by dint of imperfect knowledge, this is right conclusion. If your senses are imperfect, whatever your knowledge may be, that is imperfect, because you are gathering knowledge from..., by imperfect senses. You know the story of studying..., blind man studying an elephant. So blind man is going, somebody is catching the leg. So they, "Oh, elephant is just like a pillar, a column." And somebody is studying the tail, somebody is studying the trunk. So different knowledge, because they have no eyes. And one who sees the elephant as it is, he can understand that elephant is neither column, nor a trunk, nor this; he is a complete body. Similarly, those who are trying to understand the Absolute Truth by dint of blind knowledge, they come to the understanding of impersonal Brahman, brahmeti.

Lecture on SB 1.2.23 -- Los Angeles, August 26, 1972:

Therefore, in the Bhagavad-gītā it is said, ūrdhva-mūlam adhah-śākham (BG 15.1). You have... You know. Just like a tree, standing on the shore of a reservoir of water. You'll find the reflection of the tree downward. Everything is topsy-turvied. The trunk, the root is on the up, and the foliage, which is on the up, that has come down. Similarly, this material world is described in the Bhagavad-gītā, Fifteenth Chapter: ūrdhva-mūlam adhah-śākham. Generally, we see tree downwards, root, but in the reflection you will find the roots upward. Therefore ūrdhva-mūlam adhah-śākham means these material varieties are simply an imitation of the original variety. Just like I'll give you very nice example. Just there will be a great fair. Just like we had in this Allahabad, Māgha-melā.

Lecture on SB 1.2.33 -- Vrndavana, November 12, 1972:

Now, from that seed, first of all, the trunk will come, the branches will come. Then the twigs will come, the leaves will come, and the fabrication of the leaf. Everything see, wonderful. Everything we see, wonderful. But svābhāvikī, as if coming automatically, automatically. A creeper is coming, is trying to find out a shelter. As soon as it finds out shelter, immediately captures. We have seen in our Los Angeles. Behind my house, the electric post and the wire, the creeper is taking shelter and giving flower and fruits and everything. Svābhāvikī. Now, you can say it has no eyes. How it is seeing, how it is coming here and is, what is called, squirreling? No. The energy's so perfect that svābhāvikī, it is working like nature. Automatically. Svābhāvikī. There is knowledge. Svābhāvikī jñāna-bala-kriyā. Everything is done by knowledge, by power, and by action.

Lecture on SB 1.5.35 -- Vrndavana, August 16, 1974:

This body, your body, my body, this is material—everyone knows. It is made of earth, air, water, fire, like that. But how it is manifested? How the beautiful body is manifested? Because there is spiritual touch. The spirit soul is there. Dehino 'smin yathā dehe kaumāraṁ yauvanaṁ jarā tathā... (BG 2.13). This external body is changing, but it is forming on account of that spiritual touch. That spiritual touch means Kṛṣṇa. Bījo 'haṁ sarva-bhūtānām. So therefore the origin of everything is Kṛṣṇa. Just like the origin of a big tree is the root. Similarly, Kṛṣṇa is the ādi-puruṣam. Govindam ādi-puruṣam, sarva-kāraṇa-kāraṇam (Bs. 5.1). Just like in the tree there are trunk, branches, twigs, sub-branches, leaves, flowers, so many things. But the cause is the root.

Lecture on SB 1.7.30-31 -- Vrndavana, September 26, 1976:

As we know, sometimes there is forest fire. Similarly, the fire will take place, and everything will be burned into ashes. Then there will be rain. After heat... You have got experience when the atmosphere is too hot, then the rain falls. Same process. When everything will be burned into ashes there will be rain, torrents of rain, and it is said just like the trunk of the elephant, the rainfall will be like that. So everything will be covered with water. That is annihilation. Pralaya-payodhi-jale dhṛtavān asi vedam **. Then there will be pralaya, and by the grace of the Lord the Vedas will be saved. Keśava dhṛta-mīna-śarīra jaya jagadīśa hare.

Lecture on SB 1.8.44 -- Los Angeles, May 6, 1973:

So the whole world is dissatisfied because the spiritual hunger is not satisfied. Kṛṣṇa is the central point. So spiritual hunger means... We are, our general propensity is to satisfy our hunger. So Kṛṣṇa is the center, Kṛṣṇa is the root, mūla. Yathā taror mūla-niṣecanena tṛpyanti tat-skandha-bhujopaśākhāḥ (SB 4.31.14). Just like watering to the root, you can satisfy the whole tree—the trunk, branches, twigs, leaves, flowers, fruits, everything—if there is water in the root. Similarly, Kṛṣṇa is the root of all creation. Ahaṁ sarvasya prabhavaḥ. "Everything is emanating from Me," Kṛṣṇa says. Ahaṁ sarvasya prabhavo mattaḥ sarvaṁ pravartate (BG 10.8). Whatever you see, that is coming from Kṛṣṇa. There are so many other words.

Lecture on SB 2.3.22 -- Los Angeles, June 19, 1972:

Pradyumna: (reads synonyms, then:) Translation: "The eyes which do not look at the symbolic representations of the Personality of Godhead, Viṣṇu, His forms, name, quality, etc., are like those printed on the plumes of the peacock, and the legs which do not move to the holy places, where the Lord is remembered, are considered to be like tree trunks."

Prabhupāda: So, the peacock plumes, they look like eyes, painted. But it has no power to see. Similarly, if we do not see the forms of the Lord, just like in this temple we are seeing, then these eyes are to be considered as painted eyes. Not real eyes. Simply just appearing like eyes. It has no use. The human form of life, the eyes are there, particular eyes, to see the forms of the Lord eye to eye. And because our present position is that with these material eyes we cannot see the Lord in His spiritual form, therefore the Lord has kindly appeared before us in a manner in which we can see Him. The forms of the Lord is not imagination. They say that they imagine some form. Sādhakānāṁ hitvārthāya brahmaṇo rūpa-kalpanaḥ. The Māyāvādī philosophers, due to their poor fund of knowledge, they think that "The Absolute Truth is formless, but because we cannot meditate upon formless, something formless, let us imagine some form." Imagine. Nirviśeṣa-vādī, nirākāra-vādī, they imagine forms.

Lecture on SB 2.3.24 -- Los Angeles, June 22, 1972:

So those who are not following the authorized instructions, they are simply creating disturbance, and by such process one cannot be happy, neither perfect, and what to speak of going back to home, back to Godhead? We do not therefore accept anything which is not authorized by the disciplic succession. We reject immediately. There is example that in India there is a tree, sāgu, sāgu(?) tree. I do not know whether it is in your country. That, that tree has a very, I mean to say, thick trunk. But a little jerking, it will break. A little jerking. Sāgu. And there is another tree which is called tamarind tree. So even a fingerlike stem, you cannot break. It is so strong. So our policy should be that when we are falling down, we must take shelter of this tamarind tree, not that sāgu tree. The tamarind tree is Vedic instruction, infallible, without any mistake. As I have given you several times the example that Vedas says that stool of animal is impure, and in another place it says that stool of cow is pure.

Lecture on SB 6.1.10 -- Honolulu, May 11, 1976:

Kuñjara means elephant. Elephants taking bath. Perhaps you have not seen. In India we had some opportunity. They wash the body very nicely, repeatedly throwing water with the trunk, and as soon as come on the shore of the tank, again take some dust and throws over the body. We have to study from nature that how is that. This rascal washed so nicely his body, and immediately, coming out of the tank, he throws dust. Śaucye manye kuñjara-śaucavat. Very appropriate. It is that hasti-snāna. In Sanskrit it is called hasti-snāna. Snāna means bathing and hasti means elephant. So if we are not changing our character, then what is the use of advancement of knowledge, education? That I told you yesterday, that in spite of so-called advancement of education, culture, science, philosophy, the result is when you go to the airport you are proved you are a dishonest man.

Nectar of Devotion Lectures

The Nectar of Devotion -- Vrndavana, November 8, 1972:

This is statement in the Padma Purāṇa. And many other Purāṇas, Vedic literatures, the same thing is confirmed. But simply by taking shelter of Mukunda, one can be free from all types of obligation. Devarṣi-bhūtāpta-nṛṇāṁ pitṟnām (SB 11.5.41). There are so many obligations. We have obligation to perform to satisfy the demigods; the great sages; general human society; pitṟnām, the pitṛs, forefathers. So many obligation. But one who takes shelter of Mukunda, he has no other, no more obligation. Nāyam ṛṇī na kiṅkara rājan. Simply by... Just like watering the root of the tree, you can satisfy the trunks, the branches, the twigs, the leaves, the flowers, everything. Similarly, sarvārhaṇam acyutejyā. Simply by executing devotional service, you can execute all other obligations without any deviation.

Sri Isopanisad Lectures

Sri Isopanisad, Mantra 13-15 -- Los Angeles, May 18, 1970:

So except devotional service, there is no possibility of understanding the Absolute Truth. Any other process means covered. Just like the... You understand the sun planet from here. You are seeing the sun planet, that's a fact, but that does not mean you know what is actually the sun planet is, because you have no access to approach there. You may speculate, that's all. Speculation means the blind man seeing the elephant. Somebody thought, "Oh, it is just like a pillar." Yes. Big, big legs. Somebody understood the trunk. Somebody understood the ears, elephant. There is a story, some blind men studying the elephant. So they were giving different conclusions. Somebody: "The elephant is just like a pillar." Somebody says, "Elephant is just like big boat." Somebody is... Somebody is... But actually what is elephant, if you have no eyes to see, you can go on speculating. Therefore it is here said that pūṣann apāvṛṇu. "Please uncover the covering. Then I can see You."

Initiation Lectures

Sannyasa Initiation Lecture -- Calcutta, January 26, 1973:

So the purport of this verse, etāṁ sa āsthāya, this sannyāsa order I am accepting. Why? Etāṁ sa āsthāya parātma-niṣṭhām. Just to fix up my mind steadily on the lotus feet of the Supreme Lord, parātma-niṣṭhā. My only life is meant for serving the Supreme Lord, original Nārāyaṇa, not daridra-nārāyaṇa. That is my iṣṭhā. Etāṁ sa āsthāya parātma-niṣṭhā. You... If we serve the Supreme Nārāyaṇa, the daridra-nārāyaṇa is automatically... There is no such word as daridra-nārāyaṇa. The poor souls, they can be served automatically. Just like taror mūla-niṣecanena tṛpyanti tat-skandha-bhujopaśākhāḥ. If the root is watered, then the trunk and branches and the twigs and the flowers, automatically... Prāṇopahārāc ca yathendriyāṇām. Prāṇopahārāc. Just like offering foodstuff to the stomach. Then every indriya, every sense is satisfied.

General Lectures

Lecture -- Seattle, September 30, 1968:

The central point is father. This is crude example. Similarly, if you love Kṛṣṇa, then your love will be expanded everywhere. Another example, just like if you love a tree, the leaves, the flowers, the branches, the trunks, the twigs, everything. You simply pour water on the root, then your loving affairs for the tree will automatically serve. If you love your countrymen, if you want to see that your countryman becomes educated, advanced economically and mentally, physically, then what you'll do? You pay tax to the government. You don't hide your income tax. You simply pay tax to the central government and it will be distributed to the educational department, to the defense department, to the hygienic department, everywhere. Therefore... These are crude examples, but actually, if you want to love everything, then you try to love Kṛṣṇa. You'll not be frustrated because that is complete. When your love is complete, then you will not be frustrated. Just like you have got complete feeding. If you are satisfied with food completely, then you say, "I am satisfied. I don't want any more."

Lecture Engagement and Prasada Distribution -- Boston, April 26, 1969:

"In that seat you have to concentrate your mind in order to purify your senses." That is the process. Real yoga process means to purify the senses and purify the mind. Then how one has to execute that yoga system? It is said, samaṁ kāya-śiro-grīvam. Kāya means this trunk, body, and śira means head, and grīva means the neck. So it should be in a straight line. Samaṁ kāya-śiro-grīvaṁ dhārayann acalam. You should sit in such a posture that it will not move. It will not move. Straight, straight line. Then samprekṣya nāsikāgraṁ svam: "You have to see the tip of your nose, sitting straight line, without any movement, and you have to see the tip of your nose." Samprekṣya nāsikāgraṁ svaṁ diśaś cānavalokayan: "And you cannot see any other side.

Northeastern University Lecture -- Boston, April 30, 1969:

That is also mentioned in the Śrīmad-Bhagavad-gītā. Just like you'll find in the "Sāṅkhya-yoga." This Bhagavad-gītā As It Is, as we have published, page number 153, there is a statement how one should practice this transcendental meditation. Verse number thirteen and fourteen, it is said, "One should hold one's body, neck and head erect in a straight line." This body, this body, this head, this neck, and the body, whole body, trunk, should be erect in a straight line, and stare steadily at the tip of the nose. Just like you have to sit like this and you have to look, not closing your eyes but half-closing your eyes, and you have to look on the point of your nose. "One should hold one's body, neck and head erect in a straight line and stare steadily at the tip of the nose.

Lecture at Bharata Chamber of Commerce 'Culture and Business' -- Calcutta, January 30, 1973:

You are very much anxious to give service to the humanity, but you are sending animals to the slaughterhouse. Why? (indistinct) the lack of knowledge. You do not (indistinct) is part and parcel of God. You cannot select this part and... Therefore the śāstra says, yathā taror mūla-niṣecanena tṛpyanti tat-skandha-bhujopaśākhāḥ (SB 4.31.14). Just like by watering the root, you can water automatically the branches, the trunks, the twigs, the flowers, the fruits, the leaves—everything is watered. Sarvārhaṇam acyutejyā. Or by supplying foodstuff to the stomach, you serve all the senses of the body perfectly. Similarly, when you begin to serve Kṛṣṇa, then not only to the human society, to the animal society, to the tree society. Every society will be served. That is perfect service. And if you simply limit your service, that is, may be good, but that is not good. According to śāstra... Just like you simply water the leaves, the leaves will not live. They'll dry. But if you supply water to the root, everything will be protected. So actual service will begin when you are Kṛṣṇa conscious. Brahmā-bhūtaḥ prasannātmā na śocati na kāṅkṣati (BG 18.54), samaḥ sarve... That is samaḥ sarveṣu. And so long you limit, that is limited service. That is not perfect service.

Philosophy Discussions

Philosophy Discussion on Soren Aabye Kierkegaard:

Prabhupāda: So in any form of religion, if love of God is instructed, that is first-class religion. It doesn't matter whether it is Christian religion or Hindu religion or Muslim religion. The test is how the followers have learned to love God. And now God being the center of love and everything being God's expansion, so a lover of God is lover of everyone. He does not discriminate that "Only man should be loved, and man should be given service." No. He is interested with all living entities, never mind in which form he is existing. So he is interested in..., lover of God loves everyone, and the love reaches everyone. The example is given in this connection. Just to water the root of the tree means to expand nourishment for all other parts of the tree, namely the trunk, branches, leaves, twigs, everything. Or to supply food in the stomach means satisfying the necessities of all parts of the body. This is the fact.

Philosophy Discussion on Jacques Maritain:

Prabhupāda: Yes. It is contaminated. The varieties are there in the spiritual world. The same varieties when they are presented here with material contamination, it is called perverted. Just like the example in the Fifteenth Chapter of Bhagavad-gītā, ūrdhva-mūlam adhaḥ-śākham (BG 15.1), reflection on the bank of a river, reservoir of water, the tree is reflected, varieties are there. The trees or trunks, branches, twigs, flowers, everything is reflected, but they are all false. Real variety is there, on the bank of the river. Because it is reflection, it appears that everything is there in the perverted way, and then they are all false.

1976 Conversations and Morning Walks

Morning Walk -- May 29, 1976, Honolulu:

Prabhupāda: Sadaputa. He has said nicely that "They depend on chance. We depend on God." That's all. (break) Some dress? No, bird (indistinct)

Devotee (2): No, they have some bathing trunks on.

Hari-śauri: Sometimes they wear like a rubber suit. Something like the scales of a fish. It keeps them.... (laughing)

Devotee (2): Aldous Huxley liked to think of the idea that there's no controller, so that he could enjoy without the feeling of guilt.

Prabhupāda: Yes. That is the whole idea. Thieves and rogues, they think "If there's no government, then we can do whatever we like." Who is there of the thieves and rogues?

Room Conversation with Reporter -- June 3, 1976, Los Angeles:

Prabhupāda: Yes. God, service to God means, just like you put foodstuff in the stomach. Then the service, supplying energy, is distributed automatically. The eyes get service, the ears get service, the hands get service, legs get service, everything. But if you put foodstuff in the eyes, instead of giving service, you make it blind. If you put foodstuff in the ear, instead of hearing, it is blocked. Then that is ignorance. You do not know where to give service. The knowledge, God consciousness, means to know where to give service, so that the service will be automatically distributed. You pour water on the root of the tree and the energy will be distributed to the trunk, to the branches, to the twigs, to the leaves, to the flowers, everyone.

Garden Conversation -- June 23, 1976, New Vrindaban:

Prabhupāda: So this distinction-manufactured or not manufactured, secondary. But really the earring is also gold, and the lump of gold is also gold. So why should we say that earring is false? It is also gold. In relationship with the supreme source, janmādy asya yataḥ (SB 1.1.1), there is no such distinction. In another place, while Vyāsadeva was instructed by Nārada, he said, idaṁ hi viśvaṁ bhagavān ivetaro. This viśva, the virāṭ-rūpa, is also Bhagavān, but it appears different from Him. Just like the shadow appears different from the sunshine, but actually, taking the central point of emanation, it is different manifestation. That's all. Tree—there are so many varieties. One is trunk, one is branch, one is twig, one is leaf, one is.... So the varieties are there, but the tree is one, the root. So ultimately there is no variety, only one. Sarvaṁ khalv idaṁ brahma. The difference is the Māyāvādīs, they abruptly say everything is one. Not everything is one. The trunk is not one with the leaf, but ultimately because the root is the cause, so there is no difference between the trunk and the leaf. This is acintya-bhedābheda philosophy, simultaneously one and different. On the whole, everything is the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

Morning Walk -- July 9, 1976, Washington D.C.:

Prabhupāda: Ah. Then publish in a book.

Rūpānuga: That's good. Like we did with your Bhāgavatam one time, we made little chapter editions. (break)

Puṣṭa Kṛṣṇa: ...when they mention that the trees, the trunk of the trees we'll use for clothes. Barks of trees?

Prabhupāda: Yes.

Evening Darsana -- August 11, 1976, Tehran:

Prabhupāda: Bīja, bīja. Bījāhaṁ sarva-bhūtānām. You sow the seed, there will come out a tree, and from that tree there will be big trunk and you cut the tree, then you get wood.

Hari-śauri: That's all right, that's agreed.

Prabhupāda: But that is real, that is intelligence, that wherefrom the tree has come.

1977 Conversations and Morning Walks

Room Conversation -- January 19, 1977, Bhuvanesvara:

Gargamuni: Yes, I'm going to take. I was thinking if my vans get kicked out of the country because of the customs, that we would go to Bangladesh and take trunkloads of Gītārgāns and go to Dacca and Chittagong and some of the big cities.

Prabhupāda: Bangladesh. It will be great service.

Gargamuni: Yes.

Hari-śauri: There's a few people asking for darśana.

Prabhupāda: Yes.

Room Conversations -- February 20, 1977, Mayapura:

Prabhupāda: Oh. "Unfortunately, after seven-hour stopover in Tokyo, they lost my reservations on my connecting flight. That, coupled with the fact that after arriving last night I find they've sent my belongings to Bombay, so I am waiting until the evening for the flight from Bombay when I get my trunk. I shall try to hire a taxi directly to Māyāpur. I would come now but I have absolutely no personal clothes or anything. Please tell Prabhupāda that I am due this evening. If not, then I shall ask the Calcutta devotees to care for my luggage and I'll proceed immediately."

Prabhupāda: No, there is no need of coming. We are going.

Room Conversation -- October 26, 1977, Vrndavana:

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Bring... There's a mirror on my trunk.

Prabhupāda: One dose.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Yes, it's very little.

Prabhupāda: That's all right. (break) Old kavirāja?

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: No, no. This is from the new kavirāja.

Prabhupāda: And what is this?

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: This mirror?

Prabhupāda: Mirror!?

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: (laughs) No. I was just using this mirror to show you the medicine.

Bharadvāja: Can you see it?

Prabhupāda: Oh, yes.

1967 Correspondence

Letter to Hayagriva -- New York 21 July, 1967:

When you come to India, you'll take my trunk and whatever packages I leave labelled in my room. Also, you should take either the tape recorder I have here, or one which Mr. Kallman will supply. Finally, there is the big Royal typewriter, which you must pack nicely and bring.

I shall let you know my arrival news from India. Hope this will find you all right.

1969 Correspondence

Letter to Brahmananda -- Los Angeles 1 July, 1969:

Your proposal to keep my apartment by arrangement with Mr. Chudy by the residence of Vaikunthanatha there is very nice. If this is done, I shall be pleased. So far as my goods are concerned, they must be packed in trunks with inventory taken of where each item is being kept. For the time being, you may send me immediately from my book-shelf #6 (SB, Cantos 4, 5, and 6—a red book), #48 (Websters Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary), and the black bound typewritten manuscripts of Srimad-Bhagavatam and Caitanya-caritamrta. I hope by now you have received the key from Purusottama, which I think is for the closet door. There are some important files in the closet. One of them is for the Radha-Damodara temple. That file contains many important documents. That should be kept very carefully. Immediately I don't require it, but I shall send for it when it is needed. When Gargamuni comes, or if Rayarama is coming, then the tape recorder, as well as the suitcase with my clothings may be sent.

Letter to Brahmananda -- London 2 December, 1969:

That is success of preaching. I am very pleased that Jayadvaita Brahmacari will be going to Boston soon for typing BTG and our books. He is the first class typist in our society so far I have heard, so he can create so many assistants. In the meantime I have also asked Pradyumna and his wife to go there. I understand that you have spoken to him on the telephone. Regarding the Bhakti-sastri certificates, the papers have been marked, but the certificates were not taken due to our minimizing the luggage to Europe. Therefore, if there is urgent need of the certificates immediately, you can look in the trunk left in New York and send here the certificate which we will have printed here. Otherwise, we shall take care of this business when I return to the States, most likely around December 20th.

1970 Correspondence

Letter to Yamuna -- Los Angeles 2 March, 1970:

Krsna Consciousness means full cooperation with Krsna, and Krsna means with all His entourage. We should always remember this. Just like when we speak of a tree, it includes the root, the trunk, the branches, the leaves, the flowers—everything. Therefore to love Krsna means to love Him along with all His Name, His fame, His qualities, His entourage, His abode, His devotees, etc.

Letter to Puri Maharaja -- Bombay 2 December, 1970:

I shall go to your place from Vrndavana or from Allahabad, and we have to arrange in that way. We are thirty men and women all together. Whether you want us all to visit? Perhaps if we go from Vrindaban we shall have to take advantages of the Grand Trunk Express. Of course there is sufficient time now, and I shall be in regular correspondence with you on my tour, but I accept to visit all the places mentioned by you when I go by that side.

Letter to Syamasundara -- Surat 30 December, 1970:

You write to say that on last Monday morning you were to see Mr. G. R. Jolly, but you talked with Hamsaduta by trunk call this morning and you did not mention anything about your meeting with Mr. Jolly. If Jolly accepts our terms of Rs. 50,000 down immediately and the balance to be paid by Rs. 2,000 every month as I have advised you previously, then why not settle up the thing that way? If these terms are settled up, then I can pay him immediately Rs. 50,000 down payment on my arrival in Bombay.

1972 Correspondence

Letter to Bali-mardana -- Honolulu May 9, 1972:

We have found Chapters 17, 18, 19 on one tape left by Aravinda, but chapters 14, 15, and 16 (part) are still missing. I do not know where Aravinda has gone, I have asked Bhagavan to find out his parents in Detroit and enquire from them. Or there is chance the missing parts are in a trunk we have sent from Bombay to Los Angeles. So I am very much disturbed that I shall work so hard and the manuscripts are lost. If they are not in that trunk, then I shall have to translate 14, 15, and 16 (part) again? Pradyumna is typing the chapters 16 through 20, so he shall be sending them very soon.

Letter to Ksirodakasayi -- Bombay 28 December, 1972:

Please accept my blessings. Since long time I have not heard from you, neither you replied my letter to you from Vrindaban last. I enquired from you about one month ago in that letter what is the position with yourself there in London? And I wanted to know where is that Gift Deed for the Saraf land in Raman Reti, whether it is with you. You told Gurudasa that it is in some trunk in Vrindaban, but we have opened and it is not there. So if you have got it, kindly send it to me at once. Now we have made good progress there in the construction work, but I want to keep that deed with me.

1976 Correspondence

Letter to Svarupa Damodara -- Auckland 27 April, 1976:

Please accept my blessings. Now our Ph.D's must collaborate and study the 5th Canto to make a model for building the Vedic Planetarium. My final decision is that the universe is just like a tree, with root upwards. Just as a tree has branches and leaves so the universe is also composed of planets which are fixed up in the tree like the leaves, flowers, fruits, etc. of the tree. The pivot is the pole star, and the whole tree is rotating on this pivot. Mount Sumeru is the center, trunk, and is like a steep hill, like the alps mountains which also have very high peaks. I have seen in Switzerland one mountain peak which was so high that is penetrated through the clouds. The tree is turning and therefore, all the branches and leaves turn with the tree. The planets have their fixed orbits, but still they are turning with the turning of the great tree. There are pathways leading from one planet to another made of gold, copper, etc., and these are like the branches. Distances are also described in the 5th Canto just how far one planet is from another.