Conditioned soul cannot give you the truth. I am conditioned soul. I cannot say something which is absolute. So Kṛṣṇa is accepted as the Absolute. So if the Māyāvādī theory is accepted, then Kṛṣṇa's theory has to be rejected. If Kṛṣṇa is rejected, then there is no need of reading Kṛṣṇa's book, Bhagavad-gītā. It is useless, waste of time. If He's a conditioned soul like us... Because we cannot take any instruction from a conditioned soul. So the spiritual master, even if you take that he is conditioned soul, but he does not speak anything from his own side. He speaks from Kṛṣṇa's side. So unless... The Vedic principle is that unless one is not liberated from the material conditions, he cannot give us any perfect knowledge. The conditioned soul, however he may be academically advanced, educated, he cannot give us any perfect knowledge.
Krsna's book
Srimad-Bhagavatam
SB Canto 7
The instructions of Bhagavad-gītā are open to everyone, but some people understand them properly, whereas others understand them so improperly that they cannot even believe in the existence of Kṛṣṇa, although reading Kṛṣṇa's book. Although the Gītā says śrī-bhagavān uvāca, indicating that Kṛṣṇa spoke, they cannot understand Kṛṣṇa. This is due to their misfortune or incapability, which is caused by rajo-guṇa and tamo-guṇa, the modes of passion and ignorance.
Lectures
Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures
Indian: There is no history at all. Even in the United States also there is no mention that Lord Viṣṇu or Lord Kṛṣṇa, like that, and They were also...
Prabhupāda: Have you read, have you read Kṛṣṇa's book, Bhagavad-gītā?
Indian: To some extent.
Prabhupāda: Then you do not know what Kṛṣṇa says, that "Everyone, My son." Kṛṣṇa says, sarva-yoniṣu kaunteya sambhavanti mūrtayaḥ (BG 14.4), tāsāṁ mahad yonir brahma ahaṁ bīja-prada... Kṛṣṇa claims everyone—American, Indians, birds, beasts—everyone, His son. You do not know the philosophy.
Ust like demons like Kaṁsa. He was also Kṛṣṇa conscious. What was his purpose? He was conscious Kaṁsa, he was making plan how to kill Kṛṣṇa. That's all. That is not anukūla. Ānukūlyena. We should be Kṛṣṇa conscious favorably. "What Kṛṣṇa wants and how can I serve Him?" That is anukūla. And "Kṛṣṇa wants this, I'll not do this. Rather I shall kill Kṛṣṇa. I shall read Bhagavad-gītā to kill Kṛṣṇa. There is no Kṛṣṇa. There was no Kṛṣṇa. There was no battlefield of Kurukṣetra. It is imaginary," that means the Kaṁsa's program, for killing Kṛṣṇa. So we should not adopt that. That is pratikūla, Kṛṣṇa consciousness, reading Kṛṣṇa's books but trying to kill Kṛṣṇa. So this is going on. "Not to Kṛṣṇa." Kṛṣṇa says man-manā bhava mad-bhakto mad-yājī māṁ namaskuru (BG 18.65), and a learned scholar, commentator is saying, "It is not to Kṛṣṇa, not to the person Kṛṣṇa." This is going on. This kind of consciousness will not help us.
If we concentrate our mind on Kṛṣṇa, that means Paramātmā is already served. If you have got one million dollars, then ten dollar service is already done. Paramātmā is partial representation of Kṛṣṇa. So if you concentrate your attention, whole attention to Kṛṣṇa, that is far, far better than... And that is, I mean to say, accepted in the Bhagavad-gītā. Yoginām api sarveṣāṁ mad-gatenāntar-ātmanā (BG 6.47). "Anyone who is concentrating his mind upon Me, he is the topmost yogi." He's the topmost yogi. And that is very easy. If you simply see the picture of Kṛṣṇa, the statue of Kṛṣṇa, worship Kṛṣṇa, chant His name Kṛṣṇa, eat Kṛṣṇa's prasādam, talk Kṛṣṇa, read Kṛṣṇa's book, then you are always in samādhi. Samādhi, this is perfect samādhi. So Kṛṣṇa consciousness is not an ordinary thing. It is the highest, topmost yoga system.
So we have to increase the attachment. Kṛṣṇa is already attractive, but we are trying to go away from Kṛṣṇa. This is our business. "Kṛṣṇa may not touch me." We are so clever that "Kṛṣṇa may not touch me." This is māyā. Big, big scholars, big, big politicians, they are writing comments on Kṛṣṇa's book, Bhagavad-gītā, but their aim is very acute, that "Kṛṣṇa may not touch me." This is going on. And then why they are writing on Kṛṣṇa's book? Now, that is their business. Because this book, Gītā, is very famous, so if they can distribute their nonsense philosophy through Gītā, it will be taken very easily. Otherwise they do not know Kṛṣṇa; they do not know what is Bhagavad-gītā. But they take advantage of the popularity of Bhagavad-gītā and push their nonsense philosophy through Bhagavad-gītā. The purpose is to kill Kṛṣṇa, Kaṁsa philosophy. So, then, that way, they'll never get Kṛṣṇa. They'll never understand Kṛṣṇa.
Best intelligence is to accept Supreme Lord, Kṛṣṇa, as the predominator and be predominated by Him. That is our natural life. One who does not know, he falls down. Na tu mām abhijānanti tattvena... Tattvena, by truth. Simply to know Kṛṣṇa, "Oh, Kṛṣṇa was somebody born in India, and He was very powerful and He was very intelligent. He has written Bhagavad-gītā..." But we do not know actually what Kṛṣṇa is. And this society especially meant to broadcast the knowledge about Kṛṣṇa. Therefore we have named particularly this society the Society for Krishna Consciousness. There is the... People do not know it. They are writing commentaries on Kṛṣṇa's book, but they are speaking nonsense because they do not know Kṛṣṇa. Tattvenātaś cyavanti te: "They fall down from the truth."
Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures
Even scholars like Dr. Radhakrishnan and others, they're committing so many mistakes. Because they do not go through tattva-vit. There are so many political leaders who are commenting on Kṛṣṇa's book without knowing Kṛṣṇa, without any knowledge of Kṛṣṇa. Just see their impudency. Without knowing Kṛṣṇa, they want to make trade with Kṛṣṇa. That is not very good. You cannot make trade commodity, Kṛṣṇa as trade commodity. You cannot handle Kṛṣṇa by your whims. Let you be handled by the Kṛṣṇa's whims. Then you'll be successful. Then... My Guru Mahārāja used to say that "Don't try to see Kṛṣṇa; do something so that Kṛṣṇa may see you." That is wanted.
So this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is that you get better activity. Therefore you can give up the inferior activities. Otherwise, simply by negation, it is not possible. We must work. We must work for Kṛṣṇa's sake. We shall go to the Kṛṣṇa's temple, or we shall go for selling Kṛṣṇa's books, or meeting some Kṛṣṇa devotee. That is nice. But you cannot stop working. That is not possible. Then your idle brain will be devil's workshop. Yes. Then you will fall down, "How to go to that woman? How to go to that man?" If you stop working, then you have to work again to sense gratification. That's all. Similarly, you take any sense; you cannot stop it, but you have to engage it. That is Kṛṣṇa consciousness.
Satsvarūpa: Is this life, this present life, is this also being within Kṛṣṇa's pastimes, because Lord Caitanya's saṅkīrtana movement is Kṛṣṇa's pastimes.
Prabhupāda: Yes. Yes. If you actually remain with saṅkīrtana, that means you are with Kṛṣṇa. Therefore He's called jīvan-muktaḥ sa ucyate. He's liberated even in this body. He's liberated. Because Kṛṣṇa and Kṛṣṇa's name is not different. Absolute. Abhinnatvān nāma-nāminoḥ. Nāma cintāmaṇiḥ kṛṣṇaś caitanya... (CC Madhya 17.133). If you have understood that Kṛṣṇa's name and Kṛṣṇa are the same thing, that, you are always living with Kṛṣṇa, if you have understood this... Abhinnatvān nāma-nāminoḥ. Kṛṣṇa is not different. Kṛṣṇa's book, Kṛṣṇa's words, Kṛṣṇa's name, Kṛṣṇa's fame, Kṛṣṇa's glory, Kṛṣṇa's entourage—everything in relationship with Kṛṣṇa—that is Kṛṣṇa. But if you have got that perfect knowledge, then you are living with Kṛṣṇa, always. You are already in the Vaikuṇṭha.
Śukadeva Gosvāmī says "It is glorified question you have inquired about Kṛṣṇa." So about Kṛṣṇa, it is called kṛṣṇa-kathā, topics about Kṛṣṇa. The topics or the instruction given by Kṛṣṇa is the Bhagavad-gītā, and the topics about the activities of Kṛṣṇa is Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. So some way or other, let us always discuss about Kṛṣṇa. That should be the life of Kṛṣṇa conscious people. So this is life of Kṛṣṇa, worshiping Kṛṣṇa in the temple, to sell Kṛṣṇa's books, Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Bhagavad-gītā, to think of Kṛṣṇa—Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa—to eat kṛṣṇa-prasādam, to take all risk for Kṛṣṇa, to do work for Kṛṣṇa, as Arjuna, to fight for Kṛṣṇa. He did not like to fight, but for Kṛṣṇa's sake he fought. So fight for Kṛṣṇa, work for Kṛṣṇa, think of Kṛṣṇa, eat kṛṣṇa-prasādam, talk of Kṛṣṇa, read for Kṛṣṇa. So Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa. This is life. This is Kṛṣṇa consciousness.
If we do something... Suppose you are going to distribute books. But what is the idea? "It is Kṛṣṇa's books; it must be distributed." So Kṛṣṇa is remembered there. At the same time, because it is Kṛṣṇa's book, if somebody purchases, if he pays something, he'll look at it, something, that "What this nonsense has written? Let me see." Then he will get some idea. And if he reads one line, he comes hundred times forward to Kṛṣṇa consciousness. This is the idea.
Nectar of Devotion Lectures
Prabhupāda: So one thing is guaranteed. If you engage in Kṛṣṇa consciousness and suppose you do not become perfectly mature, some way or other, you fall down... We should not fall down. Because if we have got enthusiasm and patience, we shall not fall down. But suppose we fall down. Śāstra says, tasya abhadra abhūd amuṣya kim. There is nothing inauspicity because whatever you have done sincerely, that is recorded in the book. In the Kṛṣṇa's book. Kṛṣṇa has got accountant. He keeps nice account of the activities of His devotees. That's a fact. Just like the nondevotees' accounts are kept by Yamarāja for punishment. Similarly, devotees' accounts are kept by Kṛṣṇa, personally. Ye yathā māṁ prapadyante tāṁs tathaiva bhajāmy aham (BG 4.11). Unless he keeps account, how He says, "I respond to the devotee to the proportionate surrender"? Ye yathā māṁ prapadyante. The real business is surrender to Kṛṣṇa. If we surrender immediately, cent percent, then Kṛṣṇa also gives you the result immediately, cent percent.
Sri Caitanya-caritamrta Lectures
Especially in this age the people are manda-bhāgyā, unfortunate. We have got so much assets to know from the Vedic literature, but they are so unfortunate, they do not take advantage. They do not take advantage. Manda, manda. Manda, slow, and manda-bhāgyā. Mandāḥ sumanda-matayo. They'll read so many bogus literature to waste their time, but they'll not take to the Vedic literature, even the simple book, Bhagavad-gītā, wherein everything is very nicely described, how we should lead our life, how we should utilize the benefit of human life. Everything is described there, but they are manda. They will take interpretation of a rascal of Bhagavad-gītā. Sumanda-matayo. Even they read Bhagavad-gītā, they will read some rascaldom. Sumanda-matayo. The Māyāvādī philosophy, they will take it, not Kṛṣṇa's philosophy. They are reading Bhagavad-gītā, Kṛṣṇa's book, but interpreting in the Māyāvādīc way. Therefore sumanda-matayo. Their intelligence is very bad. Mandāḥ sumanda-matayo manda-bhāgyā. And the unfortunate. In India there are so many Vedic literatures, full of treasure house of transcendental knowledge. But manda-bhāgyās they will read Lenin's literature. Just see how much unfortunate they have become. As if Lenin can speak more than Kṛṣṇa.
Arrival Addresses and Talks
Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: The whole thing is being done by the mercy of your books, Prabhupāda.
Prabhupāda: Well, it is not my book; it is Kṛṣṇa's book. I am trying my best to present it as it is. That's all. That much you can say my, but there is nothing mine.
Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: The effect of these books is hard to perceive immediately because we can't imagine how... So many millions of books have gone out. In the future they will all fructify as devotees, the people who have read them.
Prabhupāda: Yes. When they will read, then they will get.
General Lectures
So we have to believe in the śāstras, and there is no other way for understanding Kṛṣṇa. What is beyond our imagination, beyond our mental cultivation, beyond the reach of our senses, we have to accept authority. Exactly in the same way, just like we have to accept somebody as our father simply on the version of mother, similarly, we have no information of Kṛṣṇa, but we have got Kṛṣṇa's books, we have got Vedic literatures, and if we study... Śāstra-cakṣuṣāt: you have to see through the śāstras. Then you will understand Kṛṣṇa and your life will be successful.
So our process of knowledge very easy. Kṛṣṇa's book, Bhagavad-gītā, is the knowledge, book of knowledge which is given by the perfect person, Kṛṣṇa. You may argue that "You have accepted Him as a perfect person, but we do not." You may not. But He is perfect person on the evidence of many authorities. It is not by my whims I accept Kṛṣṇa as the perfect person. No. There are many authorities, Vedic authorities.
Conversations and Morning Walks
1969 Conversations and Morning Walks
If you study Vedic literature very scrutinizingly, then you come to this conclusion, that Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme. Therefore Kṛṣṇa consciousness will include all other knowledge. Just like if you have got million dollar, ten dollar is included, five hundred dollar is included, thousand dollar is included. But one who has got ten dollar or five hundred dollar, he cannot claim that he has got million dollar. Similarly, Kṛṣṇa science means full spiritual knowledge. That is accepted by the ācāryas. And even you are speaking of Maharsi. He has written some book on Bhagavad-gītā?
John Lennon: Yes. That's the one we've read.
Prabhupāda: So why he's taking Kṛṣṇa's book as authority? Bhagavad-gītā is Kṛṣṇa's book. Everyone knows. Why he's taking Kṛṣṇa's book?
George Harrison: Well, he didn't. He just translated it into English.
Prabhupāda: Why? Unless he has got some respect for that book?
John Lennon: But I've also read another, part of another translation by Yogananda, Paramahamsa Yogananda.
Prabhupāda: Everyone will have to take Kṛṣṇa's book first to prove their authority.
Prabhupāda: Try to understand this, that regarding authority, you say that how to find out the authority. To answer this question, Kṛṣṇa is authority. There is no doubt. Because if Kṛṣṇa is an authority, Maharsi takes also Kṛṣṇa's book and Aurobindo takes Kṛṣṇa's book, Vivekananda takes Kṛṣṇa's book, Dr. Radhakrishnan takes Kṛṣṇa's book. So Kṛṣṇa is authority. Śaṅkarācārya also takes Kṛṣṇa's book. You know Śaṅkarācārya's commentary on Kṛṣṇa? And in that commentary he accepts, kṛṣṇas tu bhagavān svayam (SB 1.3.28), sa bhagavān svayam kṛṣṇaḥ: "Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Personality of Godhead." He accepts. You say that Maharsi accepts Śaṅkarācārya. Śaṅkarācārya accepts Kṛṣṇa as the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
Gurudāsa: So you see many devotees of the authority, and then you decide which is the most sincere devotee. And just like in the ninth chapter He says, "You will come to Me." Now, if I asked you for a glass of water and you poured it on the wall, I'd think you were silly. But if you brought it to me, then I knew you were in knowledge, we were having a reciprocal relationship. Therefore, if the devotee is saying, "Worship Kṛṣṇa," and not putting so much of his own ideas in, but just saying, "Worship Kṛṣṇa," all throughout, as Swamiji does, then you can know he's a sincere devotee.
Prabhupāda: No, no. One thing you try to understand. Why these people, if Kṛṣṇa is not the supreme authority, why they are taking Kṛṣṇa's book and translating? Why don't you try to understand?
George Harrison: I'm not saying Kṛṣṇa isn't the Supreme. I believe that.
Prabhupāda: No, no. I mean to say, even there are other sects, as you say, Maharsi. They accept also indirectly Kṛṣṇa as the supreme authority. Because if we say Maharsi belongs to Śaṅkara sampradāya...
1973 Conversations and Morning Walks
Prabhupāda: So we are teaching them, that always think of Kṛṣṇa, always become devotee of Kṛṣṇa, always offer obeisances to Kṛṣṇa. So what is our difficulty? There is no difficulty. But if we actually do this, then I am Kṛṣṇa's representative. Who is representative? What the original master wants, if one does the same thing, he is representative. It is not difficult. But people will not do that. He'll try to avoid Kṛṣṇa and take Kṛṣṇa's book Bhagavad-gītā and interpret nonsensically and spoil the whole thing. This is going on. He's not ready to speak what Kṛṣṇa has spoken. He speaks his own words of the authority of Kṛṣṇa.
1975 Conversations and Morning Walks
Devotee (5): We are becoming happy by distributing your books.
Prabhupāda: Thank you. It is Kṛṣṇa's book. You have got that cake? Give them.
Devotee (5): I was going to say, Śrīla Prabhupāda, I was talking, and I gave a family a big..., a husband and a wife, a big Kṛṣṇa book. The husband took the Kṛṣṇa book. The wife was indifferent. A year later the wife read the Kṛṣṇa book and left her husband and joined the temple, just from reading the one book. And I was very enlivened by this. When you can see the results like that, you become enlivened.
Tripurāri: Just by distributing your books we can become self-realized.
Prabhupāda: You are already self-realized. Otherwise how you can push on the books? You love Kṛṣṇa. Therefore you are taking so much labor for pushing on. And that is self-realization. If anyone tries to establish that Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Lord, that is self-realization.
Prabhupāda: What Kṛṣṇa is saying, He is saying as a person. Aham. You know the Sanskrit word? Aham, "I," first person. So why these foolish interpreters, they interpret "imperson"? What right they have got? They have no right. Suppose you are teaching something from your own point of view. What right I have got to say that "This is not Mr. Such and such opinion. What I say, that is opinion"? Is that very good judgment? You are saying something from your point of view, and I poke my nose that "This should be spoken like this." Is this honesty?
Dr. Copeland: It's a difference of opinion.
Prabhupāda: No, why should you... I showed opinion on your book? If I have got opinion, I publish another book. Why should I interpret, why shall I poke my nose in your business?
Dr. Copeland: Yeah, but the dialogue is how you learn. Oh, yes.
Prabhupāda: No, that is most dishonest. Oh, yes. You cannot interpret my book in your own way. That is not allowed. No gentleman will do that. You, if you have got a different view, you put your view in your own book. Don't drag my book. That is honesty. And because my book is popular, you take advantage of my book, and you interpret in your own way... This is most dishonest. You cannot do that.
Dr. Copeland: No, but when you have different types of things...
Prabhupāda: Different types we may have, but Kṛṣṇa's book, what Kṛṣṇa is saying, it should be presented as Kṛṣṇa says.
Dr. Copeland: Yeah, but then you think that you know what Kṛṣṇa says.
Prabhupāda: No, I say, "Bhagavad-gītā As It Is."
Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: When we distribute these books, Śrīla Prabhupāda, we think that it is you who are distributing them, that they are your books, and we are simply assisting to offer them to people. It is actually you who are doing all the preaching.
Prabhupāda: It is Kṛṣṇa's book, we are all servants, engaged.
1976 Conversations and Morning Walks
Rāmeśvara: The only hope is to read your books, Śrīla Prabhupāda.
Devotees: Jaya.
Prabhupāda: Not my books, Kṛṣṇa's books.
1977 Conversations and Morning Walks
So you should be very careful not to go to a rascal. Then your mission will be successful. If you want to purchase gold, you must go to a shop where actually gold is purchased, gold. If you do not know, then you'll be cheated. That is not also very difficult. That I have repeatedly said. Those who are interpreting in their own way, Bhagavad-gītā, he's a rascal; he's not guru. (loud kīrtana in background) As soon as he says an interpretation, "I think like this," you reject that. Why should we think like that? You should preach what Kṛṣṇa says. Then you are right. Why should you say something which Kṛṣṇa does not say? Then you are misguided. He does not know Kṛṣṇa. He's not kṛṣṇa-tattva-vettā. So he's cheating. That is going on. Kṛṣṇa says, sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja (BG 18.66), and these rascals say, "It is not to Kṛṣṇa person." So he's a rascal. He's taking Kṛṣṇa's book and preaching against it. So what will be benefit if you go to such a rascal?
Correspondence
1973 Correspondence
When I used to live in Delhi the Americans purchased many copies of my Bhagavatams and they left standing order for any further books which I might publish in future. So you may approach them and they will take minimum 18 copies per volume, as per our former agreement. When you come here you can discuss further with Yadubara all these things, such as the Thompson Press work and other things regarding the books. I have made order from Dai Nippon for 5,000 of each of our big books and 10,000 of each smaller book for distributing in India. We shall henceforward concentrate our full energy in this program of distributing books in India. We shall not be very much concerned any more with properties and big big temples, now we have got our place at Vrndabana and our place at Mayapur, that is sufficient, now let us spend our hard-earned money for printing Krsna's books and distributing widely all over India. If someone steps forward to donate us land or building, that is another thing, but we shall not be very much interested to spend for that.
| Page Title: | Krsna's book |
| Compiler: | Archana, Madhavi |
| Created: | 27 of Nov, 2008 |
| Totals by Section: | BG=0, SB=1, CC=0, OB=0, Lec=16, Con=9, Let=1 |
| No. of Quotes: | 27 |