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Unpleasant

Bhagavad-gita As It Is

BG Chapters 1 - 6

BG 5.20, Translation and Purport:

A person who neither rejoices upon achieving something pleasant nor laments upon obtaining something unpleasant, who is self-intelligent, who is unbewildered, and who knows the science of God, is already situated in transcendence.

The symptoms of the self-realized person are given herein. The first symptom is that he is not illusioned by the false identification of the body with his true self. He knows perfectly well that he is not this body, but is the fragmental portion of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. He is therefore not joyful in achieving something, nor does he lament in losing anything which is related to his body. This steadiness of mind is called sthira-buddhi, or self-intelligence. He is therefore never bewildered by mistaking the gross body for the soul, nor does he accept the body as permanent and disregard the existence of the soul. This knowledge elevates him to the station of knowing the complete science of the Absolute Truth, namely Brahman, Paramātmā and Bhagavān. He thus knows his constitutional position perfectly well, without falsely trying to become one with the Supreme in all respects. This is called Brahman realization, or self-realization. Such steady consciousness is called Kṛṣṇa consciousness.

BG Chapters 13 - 18

BG 13.8-12, Translation:

Humility; pridelessness; nonviolence; tolerance; simplicity; approaching a bona fide spiritual master; cleanliness; steadiness; self-control; renunciation of the objects of sense gratification; absence of false ego; the perception of the evil of birth, death, old age and disease; detachment; freedom from entanglement with children, wife, home and the rest; even-mindedness amid pleasant and unpleasant events; constant and unalloyed devotion to Me; aspiring to live in a solitary place; detachment from the general mass of people; accepting the importance of self-realization; and philosophical search for the Absolute Truth—all these I declare to be knowledge, and besides this whatever there may be is ignorance.

BG 18.48, Purport:

Even though there is smoke in the fire, fire is still considered to be the purest of all elements. If one prefers to give up the work of a kṣatriya and take up the occupation of a brāhmaṇa, he is not assured that in the occupation of a brāhmaṇa there are no unpleasant duties. One may then conclude that in the material world no one can be completely free from the contamination of material nature.

Srimad-Bhagavatam

SB Canto 4

SB 4.28.37, Translation:

Through austerity, King Malayadhvaja in body and mind gradually became equal to the dualities of cold and heat, happiness and distress, wind and rain, hunger and thirst, the pleasant and the unpleasant. In this way he conquered all relativities.

SB Cantos 10.14 to 12 (Translations Only)

SB 10.29.28, Translation:

Śukadeva Gosvāmī said: Hearing these unpleasant words spoken by Govinda, the gopīs became morose. Their great hopes were frustrated and they felt insurmountable anxiety.

SB 10.60.22, Translation:

Goddess Rukmiṇī had never before heard such unpleasantries from her beloved, the Lord of universal rulers, and she became frightened. A tremor arose in her heart, and in terrible anxiety she began to cry.

SB 11.22.56, Translation:

For one who is meditating on sense gratification, material life, although lacking factual existence, does not go away, just as the unpleasant experiences of a dream do not.

Sri Caitanya-caritamrta

CC Adi-lila

CC Adi 12.38, Translation and Purport:

Seeing Kamalākānta Viśvāsa unhappy, Advaita Ācārya Prabhu told him, “You are greatly fortunate to have been punished by the Supreme Lord, the Personality of Godhead, Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu.

This is an authoritative judgment by Śrī Advaita Prabhu. He clearly advises that one should not be unhappy when reverses come upon him by the order of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. A devotee should always be happy to receive the fortune awarded him by the Supreme Lord, which seems pleasant or unpleasant according to one's judgment.

Other Books by Srila Prabhupada

Sri Isopanisad

Sri Isopanisad 3, Purport:

There are swine, dogs, camels, asses, etc., whose economic necessities are just as important to them as ours are to us, but the economic problems of these animals are solved only under nasty and unpleasant conditions. The human being is given all facilities for a comfortable life by the laws of nature because the human form of life is more important and valuable than animal life.

Lectures

Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures

Lecture on BG 4.11-12 -- New York, July 28, 1966:

Janārdana: What is the difference between spiritual body and spiritual atoms?

Prabhupāda: Yes. Matter is not eternal, and spirit is eternal. Matter is full of ignorance, and spirit is full of knowledge. Matter is full of unpleasantness, and spirit is full of pleasure, sac-cid-ānanda. That is the difference between matter and spirit.

Lecture on BG 8.12-13 -- New York, November 15, 1966:

We have been acclimatized to birth, death. We don't care. The modern scientists, they are very much proud of their advancement, but they have no solution of these unpleasant things. They cannot make anything which will check death, or which will check disease, or which will check old age. That is not possible. You can, you can manufacture something which will accelerate death, but you cannot manufacture anything which will stop death.

Lecture on BG 9.2-5 -- New York, November 23, 1966:

Our activities can be made a fried seed by the fire of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. So there will be no reaction. Pratyakṣāvagamaṁ dharmyaṁ susukhaṁ kartum avyayam (BG 9.2). Susukham, very pleasant. Śravaṇaṁ kīrtanaṁ viṣṇoḥ (SB 7.5.23). This devotional service is not very unpleasant. It is very pleasant. You very melodiously sing with instruments, and somebody will participate in hearing, śravaṇaṁ kīrtanaṁ viṣṇoḥ. Of course, it must be in relationship with the Supreme Lord. Not ordinary music. We take the advantage of musical science. But we don't sing any ordinary song. We glorify the Supreme Lord. But we enjoy. Therefore it is happy.

Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures

Lecture on SB 1.1.4 -- London, August 22, 1971:

Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura says, "At that time again I promised: 'This time by coming out of my mother's womb, I shall become a devotee.' " But as soon as he comes out, he becomes forgetful. This is going on. This is going on. There is no science, so-called science, who know, the scientists, who know these are facts, how we are passing through repeatedly unpleasant condition. When, as soon as we get a little light with this body, we forget everything. That is called māyā.

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

We live under the protection of the Supreme Lord; otherwise that is not a living condition. Just imagine within the womb. So this we forget, and being taken care of, affectionate father and mother, on the lap, we think life is very nice, this life. But this is māyā, this is illusion. Actually, this bhava, to take birth, is very, very unpleasant task.

Lecture on SB 3.25.35 -- Bombay, December 4, 1974:

You talk in such a way that He will be pleased upon you. He will be pleased. He is pleased, He is satisfied in Himself, but He wants to see that you are also talking about Him pleasingly. That's all. Therefore He comes. Paritrāṇāya sādhūnāṁ vināśāya ca duṣkṛtām (BG 4.8). You talk unpleasingly or pleasingly; it doesn't matter to Kṛṣṇa. But if you talk pleasingly, then you become benefited.

Lecture on SB 5.5.1 -- Tittenhurst, London, September 12, 1969:

We should depend on Kṛṣṇa. If Kṛṣṇa is kind, wherever we go, everyone will be pleased, everyone will be kind. And if Kṛṣṇa is unpleased, even in your family life you'll not be comfortable. Therefore, according to the Vedic system, at a certain age, it is indicated that one should retire from family life.

Lecture on SB Lecture -- Melbourne, May 19, 1975:

And every step of life, as we are... In the material way of life we are experiencing, only unpleasure, difficulties, the just opposite. Ānandāmbudhi-vard... Āmbudhi means the ocean. So this ocean does not increase, but when you come to the spiritual ocean of ānanda, blissfulness, it will increase daily.

General Lectures

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

Therefore it is called tapasya. The Sanskrit word is tapasya. Tapasya means voluntarily accepting some unpleasurable thing, voluntarily. That is called tapasya.

Conversations and Morning Walks

1976 Conversations and Morning Walks

Room Conversation -- October 3, 1976, Vrndavana:

Hari-śauri: And I was looking at the front and it gives your residence in Vṛndāvana at Rādhā-Dāmodara and your office in Delhi.

Prabhupāda: It was not unpleasant. When I was living alone, doing everything, it was not unpleasant. I was... Very nice. That was an accident. Otherwise, it was not unpleasant. Alone everything I was doing. Rather, I had not so much anxiety for management.

Correspondence

1967 Correspondence

Letter to Subala -- Delhi 8 October, 1967:

Your wife is always assisting you so why make her unhappy by uttering something which is unnecessary and unpleasant? Even if you accept vanaprastha there is no restriction for keeping one's wife in company. Only a Sannyasi can not have any connection with woman.

1968 Correspondence

Letter to Rupanuga -- Seattle 15 October, 1968:

When you speak the truth it must be very palatable. So this social convention is not applicable to a person who is preaching the Absolute Truth. Absolute Truth is not dependent on material pleasure or unpleasure.

1976 Correspondence

Letter to Sumati Morarjee -- Valencay, France 7 August, 1976:

I am sorry to learn that you have become a little agitated regarding the publication of an article in our Back to Godhead magazine. It is certainly unpleasant, but the officers who publish the magazine do not know satyam bruyat priyam bruyat, in this material world only palatable truth should be spoken. Unpalatable truth should be carefully avoided.

Page Title:Unpleasant
Compiler:Sahadeva, ChandrasekharaAcarya, Visnu Murti
Created:06 of Dec, 2010
Totals by Section:BG=3, SB=4, CC=1, OB=1, Lec=9, Con=1, Let=3
No. of Quotes:22