View source for If we were in plays and we are playing such great personalities, how should we be thinking?

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{{terms|"If we were in plays and we are playing such great personalities, how should we be thinking"}}
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{{compiler|Rishab|MadhuGopaldas}}
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{{first|20Apr11}}
{{last|13Jun12}}
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[[Category:Questions asked to Srila Prabhupada]]
[[Category:Questions asked to SP... 1968]]
[[Category:Questions On... Devotional Singing, Dancing, Drama]]
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<div id="Lectures" class="section" sec_index="4" parent="compilation" text="Lectures"><h2>Lectures</h2>
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<div id="Initiation_Lectures" class="sub_section" sec_index="8" parent="Lectures" text="Initiation Lectures"><h3>Initiation Lectures</h3>
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<div id="InitiationLectureLosAngelesDecember191968_0" class="quote" parent="Initiation_Lectures" book="Lec" index="12" link="Initiation Lecture -- Los Angeles, December 19, 1968" link_text="Initiation Lecture -- Los Angeles, December 19, 1968">
<div class="heading">You think yourself that you are servant of him.
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<span class="link">[[Vanisource:Initiation Lecture -- Los Angeles, December 19, 1968|Initiation Lecture -- Los Angeles, December 19, 1968]]: </span><div class="text"><p style="display: inline;">Bīrabhadra: I would like to know if it is all right to play the Battle of Kurukṣetra.</p>
<p>Prabhupāda: Huh?</p>
<p>Bīrabhadra: Like, is it all right to pretend you're Bhīṣma and pretend...</p>
<p>Prabhupāda: What does he say?</p>
<p>Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: He wants to know if it's all right to make believe he's in the Battle of Kurukṣetra. Sometimes we are playing that he is Bhīṣma and one of us might be Arjuna or Kṛṣṇa.</p>
<p>Prabhupāda: No. No. You should not ever think that "I am Bhīṣma. I am Arjuna." No. Never think like that. You should always think that "I am the servant of Bhīṣma, servant of Arjuna, servant of Kṛṣṇa, servant of His servant." Never think... That is Māyāvāda. If I think I am Kṛṣṇa or if I think I am Bhīṣma, if I think I am Prahlāda, this is Māyāvāda. This monism, this is offense. Never think like that. You should always think that "I am servant of such devotee or Kṛṣṇa." Never think that "I am that." No.</p>
<p>Viṣṇujana: What he wants to know is that... He has a little kṣatriya blood in him. He likes to play. He likes to express his energy a lot, run around.</p>
<p>Prabhupāda: That is different thing. Just like you have got the blood of your father. That does not mean you are father. That is different thing. Everything is one: Kṛṣṇa. That is the difference between the philosophy of Māyāvāda and Vaiṣṇava. They simply take the One, but we take One, but there is diversity. That they do not understand. Actually, unity... Diversity in unity. Monism means they do not accept the diversity. They simply take that oneness. Oneness is certainly—there is nothing but Kṛṣṇa. Just like Kṛṣṇa says in the Bhagavad-gītā, "I am everywhere spread." Mayā tatam idaṁ sarvam. "Everything, whatever you see, that is I am, but I am not there." Nāhaṁ teṣu avasthitaḥ BG 9.4 . They are existing. Everything existing in Kṛṣṇa. But that does not mean... Just like this table. The table is also Kṛṣṇa in one sense, because it is the manifestation of Kṛṣṇa's energy. Therefore this is not different from Kṛṣṇa. But if you think that "Instead of worshiping Kṛṣṇa, let me worship this table," that is wrong, nonsense. This is the difference between Māyāvāda philosophy and Vaiṣṇava philosophy. The Māyāvāda philosophy says that even if I worship the table, it is all right. But Kṛṣṇa does not say. It is Māyāvāda philosophers said. Kṛṣṇa says, "Yes, table is existing in Me. I am also table. But I am not there." You see in the Bhagavad-gītā. So never think like that, that "I am Bhīṣma" or "I am Prahlāda" or "I am..." No. You are always servant of such devotee. That's all.</p>
<p>Bīrabhadra: If we pretend we're the servant of... If we pretend we're the servant of Bhīṣma and...</p>
<p>Prabhupāda: Servant of his servant CC Madhya 13.80 .</p>
<p>Bīrabhadra: Servant of the servant of Bhīṣma...</p>
<p>Prabhupāda: Yes, that's all.</p>
<p>Bīrabhadra: Is it all right to play the Battle of Kurukṣetra if you're the servant of the servant of Bhīṣma?</p>
<p>Prabhupāda: What is that?</p>
<p>Viṣṇujana: Is it all right to play like he's fighting the battle as servant of the servant of Bhīṣma? He likes to play like he's in the battle. He likes to run and play. It makes him think of the Lord.</p>
<p>Prabhupāda: Oh, you are playing in the battle? No, you should not manufacture anything. You should be directed by the spiritual master. Don't manufacture anything. That is not good. You'll manufacture today something; next day you'll manufacture something; then you'll go astray. Don't do that. To be under disciplinary activities means to be directed by the authorities. Don't manufacture anything. There are so many activities. Why should we manufacture some other thing? Manufacturing means Māyāvāda, mental concoction. That is not the process of bhakti. Yes.</p>
<p>Jaya-gopāla: If he plays...</p>
<p>Prabhupāda: Mahājano yena gataḥ sa panthāḥ CC Madhya 17.186 . You have to simply follow the footprints. Yes. </p>
<p>Jaya-gopāla: If we were in plays and we are playing such great personalities, how should we be thinking?</p>
<p>Prabhupāda: Huh?</p>
<p>Jaya-gopāla: In plays if we would be...</p>
<p>Prabhupāda: Play is play. Suppose you are playing the part of Cromwell, are you Cromwell? So similarly, why do you think like that you have become Cromwell?</p>
<p>Jaya-gopāla: No. How should we think, though?</p>
<p>Prabhupāda: You think yourself that you are servant of him. Suppose you are playing the part of George Washington in a drama. Are you George Washington? But while playing, you may feel like that; otherwise the play will not be successful. That is different thing.</p>
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