Autonomy

Expressions researched:
"autonomous" |"autonomously" |"autonomy"

CC Adi-lila

CC Adi 2.103, Purport:

The internal potency of the Lord, which is called cit-śakti or antaraṅga-śakti, exhibits variegatedness in the transcendental Vaikuṇṭha cosmos. Besides ourselves, there are unlimited numbers of liberated living beings who associate with the Personality of Godhead in His innumerable features. The material cosmos displays the external energy, in which the conditioned living beings are provided all liberty to go back to the Personality of Godhead after leaving the material tabernacle. The Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad (6.8) informs us:

na tasya kāryaṁ karaṇaṁ ca vidyate

na tat-samaś cābhyadhikaś ca dṛśyate

parāsya śaktir vividhaiva śrūyate

svābhāvikī jñāna-bala-kriyā ca

(Cc. Madhya 13.65, purport)

"The Supreme Lord is one without a second. He has nothing to do personally, nor does He have material senses. No one is equal to Him or greater than Him. He has unlimited, variegated potencies of different names, which exist within Him as autonomous attributes and provide Him full knowledge, power and pastimes."

Krsna, The Supreme Personality of Godhead

Krsna Book 25:

Ordered by King Indra, all the dangerous clouds appeared above Vṛndāvana and began to pour water incessantly, with all their strength and power. There was constant lightning and thunder, blowing of severe wind, and incessant falling of rain. The rain seemed to fall like piercing sharp arrows. By pouring water as thick as pillars, without cessation, the clouds gradually filled all the lands in Vṛndāvana with water, and there was no visible distinction between higher and lower land. The situation was very dangerous, especially for the animals. The rainfall was accompanied by great winds, and every living creature in Vṛndāvana began to tremble from the severe cold. Unable to find any other source of deliverance, they all approached Govinda to take shelter at His lotus feet. The cows especially, being much aggrieved from the heavy rain, bowed down their heads, and taking their calves underneath their bodies, they approached the Supreme Personality of Godhead to take shelter of His lotus feet. At that time all the inhabitants of Vṛndāvana began to pray to Lord Kṛṣṇa. "Dear Kṛṣṇa," they prayed, "You are all-powerful, and You are very affectionate to Your devotees. Now please protect us, who have been much harassed by angry Indra."

Upon hearing their prayer, Kṛṣṇa could understand that Indra, being bereft of his sacrificial honor, was pouring down rain that was accompanied by heavy pieces of ice and strong winds, although all this was out of season. Kṛṣṇa understood that this was a deliberate exhibition of anger by Indra. He therefore concluded, "This demigod who thinks himself supreme has shown his great power, but I shall answer him according to My position, and I shall teach him that he is not autonomous in managing universal affairs. I am the Supreme Lord over all, and I shall thus take away his false prestige, which has risen from his power. The demigods are My devotees, and therefore it is not possible for them to forget My supremacy, but somehow or other he has become puffed up with material power and thus is now maddened. I shall act in such a way as to relieve him of this false prestige. I shall give protection to My pure devotees in Vṛndāvana, who are at present completely dependent on My mercy and whom I have taken completely under My protection. I must save them by My mystic power."

Thinking in this way, Lord Kṛṣṇa immediately picked up Govardhana Hill with one hand, exactly as a child picks up a mushroom from the ground. Thus He exhibited His transcendental pastime of lifting Govardhana Hill. Lord Kṛṣṇa then addressed His devotees, "My dear brothers, My dear Father, My dear inhabitants of Vṛndāvana, you can now safely enter under the umbrella of Govardhana Hill, which I have just lifted. Do not be afraid of the hill and think that it will fall from My hand. You have been too much afflicted from the heavy rain and strong wind; therefore I have lifted this hill, which will protect you exactly like a huge umbrella. I think this is a proper arrangement to relieve you of your immediate distress. Be happy along with your animals underneath this great umbrella." Being assured by Lord Kṛṣṇa, all the inhabitants of Vṛndāvana entered beneath the great hill along with their property and animals, and they all appeared to be safe.

Philosophy Discussions

Philosophy Discussion on B. F. Skinner:

Devotee: (indistinct) ...come criminals, and they are causing disruption in this society. So he says that that is our fault. He says that everyone from childhood should be trained in a controlled environment and then be conditioned to a certain pattern so that they will not commit what is crime and will only do what is good. In other words, they become like robots. So what they do is program these robots. They're programmed to do a certain thing.

Prabhupāda: So that program is already there. But if you create your own program, you do not follow the standard program. That is the defect.

Śyāmasundara: This program, because Skinner himself believes in Judeo-Christian ethics combined with a scientific tradition. But he fails to answer how it is possible to accept those ethics without accepting something like an inner person with an autonomous concept. In other words, he says we can program society to be good to your neighbor, to love one another, to be honest, upright, like that. But he is still not sure how it would be possible without accepting a free will.

Prabhupāda: The defect is that these programs are being forwarded by some rascal. Therefore they are defective. If they would have been forwarded by perfect man, then you would have actual (indistinct). Now one rascal is forwarding some program, another rascal next time (indistinct) this is true. So this is going on in Western world. Because according to Bhāgavata we belong to the category of dogs, hogs, camels. So what is the benefit of a dog's program and (indistinct) by camel's program. If they are on the, basically there is nothing but dogs, hogs, camels and asses, then suppose dog has given some program and the camel says, "No. This program is better than this one." And the ass comes, he introduces another program, "This program is better than this program." So either of these programs, because they are made by dogs, hogs, asses and camels, they cannot be perfect. Take a program from a real human being. Then it is perfect. The defect is there. One philosopher is proposing something, another philosopher is proposing something...

1973 Conversations and Morning Walks

Conversation with Sridhara Maharaja -- June 27, 1973, Navadvipa:

Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Labor... "Then a big child must come." At last it was seen that a mice, a mouse was produced. So the big, giants of the present world, so-called leaders of the scholars...

Prabhupāda: Scientists.

Śrīdhara Mahārāja: ...scholars, with world, they are producing like a mouse. That is a dying substance, in this form or that form.

Prabhupāda: Punaḥ punaś carvita-carvaṇānām (SB 7.5.30).

Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Ah, this is sheer deception, a deception to be a challenge to the real thinkers. We should abhorrently throw it out at once. It is within the boundary of janma-mṛtyu-jarā-vyādhi (BG 13.9). Throw it off.

Prabhupāda: So I, I try to impress upon them this fact, that this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is a challenge for this deception. They're simply deceived.

Śrīdhara Mahārāja: All sorts of deception. Even Vaikuṇṭha. Paravyome (Bengali) And the calculation, even they, the self is, a sort of calculation comes between the, the servitor and the object of service, then also it throws us down. In Kṛṣṇa consciousness, that sort of calculation is also absurd. Where there is love, there cannot be any calculation. It is autonomous. Autonomous anurāga. Cultivate, do. No sort of calculation of any benefit. The calculation disturbs autonomy.

Prabhupāda: (Bengali) Goloka-nāmni nija-dhāmni tale ca tasya devī-maheśa-hari-dhāma... (Bs. 5.43). (Bengali) About our temple contemplation, it will be almost a skyscraper building.

Bhavānanda: Will be.

Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Eh?

Prabhupāda: Skyscraper building in temple shape, with four divisions. Goloka-nāmni nija-dhāmni tale ca tasya devī-maheśa... (Bs. 5.43). So Maheśa-dhāma, how it will be depicted? Pārvatī-wise. (?)

Śrīdhara Mahārāja: It has been already described by Sanātana Gosvāmī in Bṛhad-Bhāgavatāmṛtam. After crossing Brahmaloka,

Prabhupāda: There is Maheśa-dhāma, in between.

1969 Correspondence

Letter to Tamala Krsna -- Tittenhurst 18 October, 1969:

I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter dated October 12, 1969 along with the copy of the West Coast president's report of the meeting held at Berkeley. Gradually this meeting should develop into a committee of the West Coast presidents, and similarly there should be one for the East Coast, so in the future we can form a central governing body for the whole institution. Therefore the management should be done very cautiously so that everyone is satisfied in their autonomous managing capacity. Of course, the central point is the order of the Spiritual Master, and I am very glad that you are trying to give importance to this aspect of management. The difficulty is sometimes things are interpreted in a manner dovetailing one's own sense gratification. I have got this personal experience in my Guru Maharaja's institution. Different Godbrothers took the words of Guru Maharaja in different interpretations for sense gratification and the whole mission disrupted. This is still going on for the last 40 years without any proper settlement. I am always afraid of this crack, but I am sure if our aim is to serve Krishna sincerely and the Spiritual Master simultaneously, that will be our success. That means serve Krishna and the Spiritual Master simultaneously with equal faith and serious vow, and then success is sure. Yourself, Gargamuni, Brahmananda and the others are intelligent. You should always deal things so tactfully that people may not fall away. Every living being is important in Krishna Conscious service, and we must take all precautions that one may not fall away.