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Block (Lectures)

Lectures

Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures

Lecture on BG 1.4-5 -- London, July 10, 1973:

So these, I mean to say, warriors' name mentioning, we should not neglect. Kṛṣṇa wanted to gather all the demoniac power in that Battlefield of Kurukṣetra and kill them. That was His plan. So there is a plan of Kṛṣṇa. Nirbandhaḥ kṛṣṇa-sambandhe. We should not be attached to things as there, but we should try to understand that there is relationship with Kṛṣṇa. And as soon as there is relationship with Kṛṣṇa, we shall properly utilize it. That is Kṛṣṇa consciousness. As soon as we understand that there is relationship with Kṛṣṇa, nirbandhaḥ kṛṣṇa-sambandhe... Everything can be utilized for Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa is not a stereotyped, stagnant block. Kṛṣṇa is a dynamic force. Therefore everything can be dovetailed in the service of Kṛṣṇa. Simply one should learn the art under proper guidance how to utilize. Then that will be perfect form of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Read next verse

Lecture on BG 1.31 -- London, July 24, 1973:

This is yogi. This is mystic power. What do they know about mystic power? Simply press the nose, that's all. This kind of yoga..., of course these are preliminary processes, dhyāna, dhāraṇā, prāṇāyāma. This prāṇāyāma requires to get the breathing from the opposite side... We have got experience. The two holes of the nostrils, one is blocked, one is open. So prāṇāyāma means to try to open the blocked side. That is called. So there are so many. But ultimate yoga means to get this power. That is yoga. So all these powers, they are simply fragmental. The yogis, they can attain. Although they can become, they are already smaller than the smallest. So Kṛṣṇa is the supreme master of all mystic power. Therefore He is called Yogeśvara. He is called Yogeśvara. So if Kṛṣṇa is on your side, then you do not require to practice yoga. If you are a devotee of Kṛṣṇa, because how much power you shall get. You may gain some power by this mystic process, but you cannot be equal with Kṛṣṇa's power. Just like aṇimā, laghimā.

Lecture on BG 2.20-25 -- Seattle, October 14, 1968:

Yes, invisible. That is a fact. I am soul, you are soul, but I cannot see with these eyes. I am seeing your body. Just like I am seeing my son or husband or brother, and as soon as my son or husband or son, anyone, dies, "Oh, my son is gone." Where has your son gone? He's lying here. Why do you say gone? "No, he's gone. He's gone." Then what is that son? Have you ever seen him? That is the problem. He has never seen his son or husband. He has seen this body as husband or son or father. Therefore invisible. You cannot see even a small particle of soul which is spiritual, you want to see God immediately without preparing your eyes? Just see. They want to see God. They cannot see even the small particle of God, the soul, and they want to see immediately God. Yes, one can see God. But not immediately. You have to prepare your eyes. You'll see God, you'll see soul, everything. Everything will be visible. At the present moment it is invisible because we have got material eyes. With material eyes we cannot see anything spiritual. It is blocked.

Lecture on BG 2.20-25 -- Seattle, October 14, 1968:

Therefore the nondevotee class of men, they cannot understand God, they cannot convince others about God. That's a fact. They'll simply present hodge-podge thing, they do not understand clearly, and they present hodge-podge. That's all. Without being... Bhaktyā mām abhijānāti yāvān yaś cāsmi tattvataḥ (BG 18.55). "If anyone wants to understand Me as I am..." Of course, nobody can understand Kṛṣṇa as He is, still, as far as possible. That is only through bhakti. Bhaktyā, it is stated in the Bhagavad-gītā. It doesn't say that through knowledge, philosophical speculation or through haṭha-yoga system. No. He says bhaktyā, clearly. And in the beginning also He says, "Because you are My bhakta, therefore I shall reveal to you." The whole science is for the devotee. Not for anyone else. Those who are not devotees, their understanding of God is blocked forever. They cannot understand. It is a fact. Therefore Caitanya Mahāprabhu says, māyāvādī-bhāṣya śunile haya sarva-nāśa (CC Madhya 6.169). If anyone tries to understand these impersonalist Māyāvādī philosophers, then his, I mean to say, progress is blocked for good. Not for good, of course. Nothing can be for good. But for the present at least his progress is blocked. Sarva-nāśa. Chant. Hare Kṛṣṇa.

Lecture on BG 3.31-43 -- Los Angeles, January 1, 1969:

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Thirty-four: "Attraction and repulsion for sense objects are felt by embodied beings, but one should not fall under the control of senses and sense objects because they are stumbling blocks on the path of self-realization (BG 3.34)."

Thirty-five: "It is far better to discharge one's own prescribed duties, even though they may be faulty, than another's duties. Destruction in the course of performing one's own duty is better than engaging in another's duties, for to follow another's path is dangerous (BG 3.35)."

Thirty-six: "Arjuna said: O descendant of Vṛṣṇi, by what is one impelled to sinful acts, even unwillingly, as if engaged by force (BG 3.36)?"

Prabhupāda: Here Kṛṣṇa says that "Destruction in the course of performing one's own duty is better than engaging in another's duties, for to follow another's path is dangerous." Now, Arjuna was a military man, a kṣatriya. His business was to fight for the good cause. But in the battlefield he thought that "Why should I engage myself in this killing business? Better retire from it. If I don't get my kingdom, I shall rather beg." This begging business is for us.

Lecture on BG 4.11-18 -- Los Angeles, January 8, 1969:

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: "Akarma means without reaction to work. The impersonalist ceases fruitive activities out of fear so that the resultant action may not be a stumbling block on the path of self-realization whereas the personalist knows rightly his position as the eternal servitor of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Therefore he engages himself in the activities of Kṛṣṇa consciousness because everything is done for Kṛṣṇa he enjoys only transcendental happiness in the discharge of his service. Those who are engaged in this process or without desire for personal sense gratification, the sense of eternal servitorship to Kṛṣṇa makes one immune to all reactionary elements of work."

Prabhupāda: That's all. Now any question? Yes?

Lecture on BG 6.47 -- Ahmedabad, December 12, 1972:

The more we make advancement in the temporary materialistic comforts, the more we become implicated in unnecessary things and they are all impediments for making progress in spiritual life. That is his opinion. And that's a fact. We have seen in Western countries, they are still more materially advanced, but spiritually, they are dull, block-headed, spiritually. Very difficult to convince them spiritually. So sādhu-saṅga (CC Madhya 22.83), by association of sādhus one can achieve advancement in spiritual life. And in all śāstras it is recommended that associate.

Cāṇakya Paṇḍita, the great politician, you know, he also says: tyaja durjana-saṅgam, tyaja durjana-saṅgaṁ bhaja sādhu-samāgamam. Tyaja durjana-saṅga. Give up association with bad elements. What are the bad elements? That is also explained by Caitanya Mahāprabhu. A devotee asked him that what should be the behavior of a person who is spiritually inclined, or Vaiṣṇava?

Lecture on BG 7.28-8.6 -- New York, October 23, 1966:

"Because at the time of death, my dear Kṛṣṇa, I do not know what will be my position, because at that time all the functions of my body will be stopped and naturally there will be a block in my throat of the coughs..." At the time of death... One who has seen a dying man, he'll see there is cough in this kaṇṭha, in this throat, in the channel, throat. So he prays, at the time of death, kaṇṭhāvarodhana-vidhau kapha-vāta-pittaiḥ: "By the derangement of the bodily function, when kapha will choke up my throat, then how I shall be able to chant? Because I am now healthy. I am now chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare, but at that time, how I shall be able to chant? So therefore, while I am chanting now in good health, please let me die immediately so that I can die chanting." Yes. That is the prayer. But, er, because that is the ultimate examination.

Lecture on BG 9.18-19 -- New York, December 4, 1966:

Just like there is a very nice story. A monkey... Monkeys, they are very busy. Do you know? But their business is to simply destroy. You will find monkey always busy, very active. So in the village there was a carpenter who was bifurcating one big beam by saw. So at the end of his work, half of the beam was cut into two, so he put one block between the two pieces and he went away. And then one monkey came, and he pulled out the block, and his tail was captured in that, between the two, and it was cut. So he went to his society, and he said that "This is the fashion. This is the fashion." Langulim segar(?). He advertised, "To cut one's tail, this is the latest fashion." Similarly, I saw one cinema in my childhood, a similar story. One Mr. Maxlin or something like that, he played that. He was sitting in park, and some naughty boy nailed his tail, that tail coat, when ball dancing. So when he got up that half part of that tail was taken away. So when he was dancing in the ball, everyone is looking to his back side: "What is this? His tail is cut." So he saw in the mirror that "My tail is cut."

Lecture on BG 10.4-5 -- New York, January 4, 1967:

So if in the tenth class the students fail, then the tenth class becomes overpopulated. Similarly, the present civilization we sometimes find that there is overpopulation. Overpopulation means we are not being promoted to higher life. We are being blocked, and therefore nature's course is: there must be some pestilence; there must be some war to finish it.

So there is no such intelligence, there is no such knowledge, and they are very much proud. So if we want really... Because these things are God gift, knowledge... It is explained here, buddhir jñānam asammohaḥ. All these things are gift of God. So we must utilize. This human form is developed for utilizing the gifts of God. God has given us nice foodstuff; God has given us intelligence; God has given us knowledge; now God has given us books of knowledge. He is personally speaking this Bhagavad-gītā. Why don't you utilize it? Why don't you utilize it? If we utilize it, then we may be proud of become Aryan or human being.

Lecture on BG 13.1-2 -- Bombay, September 24, 1973:

So our only aim is to spread this Kṛṣṇa consciousness, spiritual life, all over the world. We have got more than a hundred temples all over the world, but we wanted one also in Bombay. Therefore we took this land. It was not meant for making any business. Even if we had this land after paying so much money, we are not going to make any profit out of it. The money will be blocked(?). But if we want to have it, it is for the reason that the people of Bombay may take interest in Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement so that their life may become successful.

So I'll remain here for a few days. I'll come here in the evening. If you like, you can come also and hear from Bhagavad-gītā and shall be very happy. Thank you very much. Hare Kṛṣṇa.

Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures

Lecture on SB 1.2.7 -- New Vrindaban, September 5, 1972:

God's name, God's form, God's quality, God's pastime, God's paraphernalia, and so many things, na bhaved grāhyam indriyaiḥ. Indriya means senses. Our present senses are blunt, imperfect. They are defective with so many faults. Everyone can understand that I am very much proud of my eyes, I want to see God, but I cannot see my eyelid. When I block my eyes, I cannot see what is this little fragment of the skin, and still I am proud, I want to see God. Just see. You have to qualify yourself, then you can see God. Just like Caitanya Mahāprabhu, when (He) entered the Jagannātha Temple, He immediately fainted, "Oh, here is My Lord." And other person says, "What is this nonsense. A wooden, not even very beautiful form, and He is..." So because he hasn't got eyes. One who has got eyes to see God, he does not see anything except God. Premāñjana-cchurita-bhakti-vilocanena santaḥ sadaiva hṛdayeṣu vilokayanti (Bs. 5.38). You have to anoint your eyes with love of God, then you will see that God is present everywhere.

Lecture on SB 1.2.17 -- Los Angeles, August 20, 1972:

Therefore it is said in the Brahma..., yac-cakṣur eṣa savitā sakala-grahāṇām. The gāyatrī-mantra, gāyatrī-mantra, oṁ bhūr bhuvaḥ svaḥ, that is worshiping the sun, sun-god, savitā, savitṛ. So, yac-cakṣur eṣa savitā sakala-grahāṇām. Rājā samasta-grahāṇām. Just like there is king, president, similarly, the sun planet is the king of all planets. (aside:) Those who are standing, they can stand near the wall; don't block. Yac-cakṣur eṣa savitā sakala-grahāṇāṁ rājā samasta-sura-mūrtiḥ. All the demigods, they are worshiping. This gāyatrī-mantra... Yac-cakṣur eṣa savitā sakala-grahāṇāṁ rājā samasta-sura-mūrtir aśeṣa-tejāḥ. Unlimited temperature, unlimited temperature. For millions and millions of years it is diffusing temperature, and if it is little more, we become, ninety millions away, ninety millions of miles away, still, little rising of temperature, we become suffocated. Aśeṣa-tejāḥ, unlimited temperature. And moving, yac-cakṣur eṣa savitā sakala-grahāṇāṁ rājā samasta-sura-mūrtir aśeṣa-tejāḥ, yasyājñayā, "by whose order," bhramati, "is moving," sambhṛta-kāla-cakraḥ, "the orbit." Sun has got orbit. Sixteen thousand miles per second moving. But moving how?

Lecture on SB 1.2.26 -- Vrndavana, November 6, 1972:

Their liberation means so-called political liberation and making humbug all these things. Fighting with one an... That is not liberation. Liberation means to get out of the cycle of repetition of birth and death. That is called liberation. But they have no idea whose liberation, what is liberation, after liberation, where to go. All this knowledge, practically blocked. So it is very difficult to understand the statements of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam like this verse: mumukṣavo ghora-rūpān hitvā bhūta-patīn atha. They do not understand. People are so misguided, ill-educated, that they do not understand it. Otherwise, the land of Bhāratavarṣa is meant for liberation. In other land they take birth. They have no information of liberation. Here, in this land, Bhāratavarṣa, there is the idea of liberation, mukti. Mukti. So we should be interested in that liberation. Mumukṣava. Mumukṣa icchavaḥ, "those who are desiring." Those who want to remain within this bondage, material bondage of transmigrating from one body... Ābrahma-bhuvanāl lokāḥ punar āvartino 'rjuna (BG 8.16). Ābrahma-bhuvanāl lokāḥ.

Lecture on SB 1.2.34 -- Vrndavana, November 13, 1972:

We shall talk..." Like that. Even Caitanya Mahāprabhu, who is actually Kṛṣṇa, He avoided to be addressed as Kṛṣṇa. And these rascals, false, they are claiming "Kṛṣṇa." Just see. Kṛṣṇa Himself, in Vṛndāvana... In Vṛndāvana, when Kṛṣṇa, Caitanya Mahāprabhu was present, many devotees used to come and address Him, "My Lord, You are Kṛṣṇa." Caitanya Mahāprabhu used to block His ears: "Don't say like that. Don't say. It is a great offense to address a man as Viṣṇu, as Kṛṣṇa." He taught us like that. And these rascals, they're declaring: "I am God. I am Kṛṣṇa." "I am God, I am Kṛṣṇa."

So only the rascals will follow such rascals. A man is known by his company. God has become so cheap. God, they, there are incarnation, there are hundreds and thousands of incarnation, but to accept that incarnation, we have to follow the direction of the śāstra. The śāstra, in every incarnation is described there, His symptoms are described there.

Lecture on SB 1.3.11-12 -- Los Angeles, September 17, 1972:

He appeared as the son of Jagannātha Miśra, but His incarnation is stated in the śāstra. Therefore we accept Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu as incarnation. Caitanya Mahāprabhu never said that "I am incarnation." Rather, to warn the ordinary people that they should not accept any so-called incarnation, when somebody stated Caitanya Mahāprabhu that "You are incarnation of Kṛṣṇa," He immediately blocked His ears: "Don't say like that. It is great offense, great offense." Because He was playing the part of devotee. Caitanya Mahāprabhu was teaching us how to execute devotional service. And He deprecated Māyāvāda philosophy in so many ways. He was to establish the worship of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and He was exemplifying Himself, how to become a devotee. So He never mentioned that He is incarnation. But we understand from the features of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu that He (is) incarnation of Kṛṣṇa.

Lecture on SB 1.7.6 -- Vrndavana, September 5, 1976:

So anartha-nivṛtti, that is required because we are surrounded by so many anarthas, unwanted things. They are all impediments, stumbling blocks on our progressive journey to Kṛṣṇa realization. Here it is said anartha-nivṛttiḥ syāt bhakti-yogam adhokṣaje lokasyājānataḥ. People do not know it. Therefore vidvān, Vedavyāsa, he has compiled this Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Sātvata-saṁhitā. It is Vedic version, and directly to understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead and become free from all contamination of the material nature. Because we are now under the contamination of material nature.

Lecture on SB 1.8.19 -- Mayapura, September 29, 1974:

This is the position. How much one must be alert. Then one can understand. Just like the Gosvāmīs. Is Kṛṣṇa is so easy thing to be understood? But there is process. So if we do not adopt the process, then how we can understand Kṛṣṇa? These are the so many difficult things. One side, one thing is the māyā is checking. Māyā is trying to put stumbling block for your advancement of spiritual life. Māyā-javanikācchannam. And the other side, we are all fools and rascals. And the, again, Kṛṣṇa is adhokṣaja, beyond the range of sense perception. This is the position.

So unless we become very serious to understand Kṛṣṇa, it is very, very difficult to understand Kṛṣṇa. Māyā-javanikācchannam. On the one side, Kuntī says, antar bahir avasthitam: "Kṛṣṇa, You are within..." Īśvaraḥ sarva-bhūtānāṁ hṛd-deśe (BG 18.61). Kṛṣṇa is not far away. Kṛṣṇa is always with you. He, He's so friendly that just like two birds... It is said in the Upaniṣads: the one bird is eating the fruit of the tree; another bird is simply guiding and seeing. Because this material world, living entity wanted to enjoy.

Lecture on SB 1.8.20 -- Mayapura, September 30, 1974:

You are meant for the bhakti-yogī. You are meant for the great muni. You are so many things... You are meant for persons whose heart is cleansed. How we can see You? We are woman." That is her humbleness. She knows perfectly well what Kṛṣṇa is.

So following her footsteps, any woman can also understand Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa is ready to be understood by anyone. Māṁ hi pārtha vyapāśritya ye 'pi syuḥ... (BG 9.32). Simply we have to follow the path how to appreciate Kṛṣṇa, how to understand Kṛṣṇa, how to see Kṛṣṇa, how to talk with Him, how to walk with Him. These things are there. That is called bhakti-yoga. Where you learn this science of bhakti-yoga—that we have mentioned, Nectar of Devotion, the perfect science of bhakti-yoga. So if one is interested in seeing Kṛṣṇa, then there is no hindrance, there is no block. Anyone. Striyo vaiśyās tathā śūdrās te 'pi yānti parāṁ gatim.

Lecture on SB 1.8.47 -- Mayapura, October 27, 1974:

The forward march is to become a preacher. Bhakteṣu cānyeṣu. Preaching means to obey the order of the spiritual master or superior authorities and to do good to others, do good to others. They are suffering for want of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Try to preach them. This is the second stage. If we simply become blocked up for Deity worship and do not preach, then we remain in the lowest stage. But when we take up this work, preaching...

Preaching means he must be conscious, Kṛṣṇa conscious, advanced. Kṛṣṇa conscious means that he's a lover of Kṛṣṇa. Iśvare tad... He'll see four things: first Kṛṣṇa, īśvara; and tad-adhīna, the devotees... Iśvare tad-adhīneṣu and bāliśeṣu. Bāliśa means people, ignorant men, who do not know what is Kṛṣṇa consciousness. They are called bāliśa, just like child. Child is called bāliśa. Ignorant men, bāliśeṣu, dviṣatsu ca, and other class. He'll see four things: īśvara, the Supreme Personality of Godhead; he'll see the devotees of Kṛṣṇa; he'll see some ignorant person; and he'll see some envious person. That you will have to meet.

Lecture on SB 3.25.29 -- Bombay, November 29, 1974:

They are not mad, they are not foolish. They are human being. And how they have given up everything simply by chanting if it is not ānandāmbudhi-vardhanam, if it is not increasing in spiritual blissfulness. Practical. They have forgotten everything, they are also young men. They don't go to cinema. Just one block after there is cinema, they will never go, giving up this chanting and go to the cinema. Don't you see practically?

So spiritual life, that is spiritual life, that if you take to spiritual life and take to the process then your ānandāmbudhi-vardhanam, your spiritual life, will be blissful more and more. It is not decrease. Because we want ānanda. Ānandamayo 'bhyāsāt (Vedānta-sūtra 1.1.12). That is the Vedānta-sūtra. Living being or Para-brahman or Brahman, everyone is ānandamaya. That ānanda can..., you get perfectly when you take ānandamaya with Kṛṣṇa, in association with Kṛṣṇa. You associate with Kṛṣṇa as servant or as friend or as father, as mother, as conjugal lover.

Lecture on SB 5.5.2 -- Hyderabad, April 11, 1975:

Acyutānanda: "When a person dies, his soul will take another body? Then why is the population today increasing?"

Prabhupāda: Because they are blocked-up, bottle-necked. They are not going back to home, back to Godhead. Therefore it is crowded. (laughter)

Acyutānanda: "Why does Kṛṣṇa allow us to commit mistakes and later punishes us?"

Prabhupāda: That is His mercy. You want to do something bad, Kṛṣṇa says, "Don't do it," but if you want to do it at your risk, Kṛṣṇa allows, "All right, do it, and suffer yourself." Kṛṣṇa says, sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja (BG 18.66). He does not say anything. But if you want to do something else, do it at your risk. That's all right. Chant Hare Kṛṣṇa.

Lecture on SB 5.6.6 -- Vrndavana, November 28, 1976:

One brāhmaṇa cursed him. Caitanya Mahāprabhu, to receive some blessings from the brāhmaṇas, when He was boy He was voluntarily trying to give some service to the brāhmaṇas who were engaged in bathing in the Ganges. He'll clear the place because the brāhmaṇa, after taking bath in the Ganges, would sit down, would chant mantra. So He'll cleanse and He'll wash the cloth, and in... Voluntarily He was doing that, service. So one brāhmaṇa blessed Him, "My dear boy, You'll be very happy in your family life. You'll have good wife, very opulent position." And Caitanya Mahāprabhu was blocking the ears. The brāhmaṇa said, "What is this?" "No, this is not blessing, sir." "Oh, it is not blessing? Then You'll never be happy in Your family life." "Yes, this is the..." (laughter) "This is all right." So therefore He took sannyāsa. Arya-vacasā yad agād araṇyam. Similarly, Lord Rāmacandra, ārya-vacasā yad agād araṇyam. These are the characteristic of the Personality of Godhead. Try to follow Them, not imitate, but follow them.

Lecture on SB 6.2.9-10 -- Allahabad, January 15, 1971:

So this is going on. A Māyāvādī philosophers, they are so dangerous that they mislead their followers to the hell. Caitanya Mahāprabhu has therefore strongly warned, māyāvādi-bhāṣya śunile haya sarva-nāśa: (CC Madhya 6.169) "If you attempt to hear some Māyāvādī philosopher, then your life will be spoiled. Your path to devotional service will be blocked, so don't try to hear a Māyāvādī." This is the recommendation by Caitanya Mahāprabhu. So we should always remember, when there is question of chanting the holy name, that means Viṣṇu, not any other's name. Vyāharaṇaṁ viṣṇor yatas tad-viṣayā matiḥ.

So there is advantage, a special advantage. What is that advantage? Immediately you become freed from all sinful reaction by chanting Viṣṇu's name, Hari's name, Hari's name, Kṛṣṇa's name. And not, even not immediately, that is the beginning of your spiritual life, because without being freed from sinful reactionary life there is no possibility of becoming a pure Vaiṣṇava.

Lecture on SB 7.9.11-13 -- Hawaii, March 24, 1969:

No condition. Ahaituky apratihatā. If you want to love Kṛṣṇa, there is no check. There is no check. The road is open. Simply you have to become sincere. That's all. Then Kṛṣṇa will clear the way. And if there is no sincerity, then Kṛṣṇa's māyā is there. He'll always, she'll always put some stumbling block: "Not this, not this, not this." So Prahlāda Mahārāja decided that "Although I am a child, I have no education, I have no studies of the Vedas, and born of atheistic father, lowborn, so all bad qualification... So God is worshiped by highest intellectual persons, offering Vedic hymns, and brāhmaṇas, highly cultured. So I have no such qualification. But still, all these demigods who are so highly elevated in their position, they have requested me. That means God can be pacified even by me. Otherwise how they recommend? So whatever qualification I have got, whatever intelligence I have got, I may offer Kṛṣṇa." Therefore our, this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is like this, that whatever qualification you have got, that is sufficient. You begin with that qualification.

Nectar of Devotion Lectures

The Nectar of Devotion -- Bombay, December 28, 1972:

Yes. Just like we have seen, we have experience. Sometimes the car becomes blocked. But some fellow pushes it. We have got this experience. What is called that? Chocked up? Then you get, get down and push the car and (makes noise:) brut brut brut, goes. Similarly the bhakti-rasa is there in everyone's heart. Nitya-siddha kṛṣṇa-bhakti. Because we, we are part and parcel of Kṛṣṇa. Just like father and son. A father and son may be separate for many, many, many, many years. But as soon as they meet together, again the same affection comes. Again the same affection comes. Wife and husband. Therefore sannyāsī is strictly prohibited to see his wife. Because there is staunch affection. By meeting again that affection. By meeting again that affection may come. He may fall down. Therefore strictly prohibited. At least, other members can be seen. But not the wife. So the fact is that we have got devotion for Kṛṣṇa.

The Nectar of Devotion -- Bombay, January 1, 1973:

Yes. The process of seeing God... Sevonmukhe hi jihvādau svayam eva sphuraty adhaḥ. Ataḥ śrī-kṛṣṇa-nāmādi na bhaved grāhyam indriyaiḥ (CC Madhya 17.136)]. Just like a person suffering from some disease, his eyesight is blocked. He has got the eyesight to see, but on account of some cataract disease, he cannot see. Similarly God is there, and I can see Him also. But the cataract of illusion is covering via media between God and me. Therefore in the Brahma-saṁhitā it is said:

premāñjana-cchurita-bhakti-vilocanena
santaḥ sadaiva hṛdayeṣu vilokayanti
yam śyāmasundaram acintya-guṇa-svarūpaṁ
govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi
(Bs. 5.38)

That treatment is to invoke your dormant love for God. That is the treatment. We have got love for God. We want to love somebody, either man or woman, even animals. You'll find between the two dogs, there is love. They are jumping over one another, playing very nicely. Sometimes the mother dog is pretending to bite the cub, but it actually it is not biting.

Sri Caitanya-caritamrta Lectures

Lecture on CC Adi-lila 7.2 -- Mayapur, March 2, 1974:

There'll be no benefit. It is simply... (break)

...that "I am Kṛṣṇa." Never said. Rather, when He was (in) Vṛndāvana, some of the devotees eulogized Him that "You are Kṛṣṇa," He immediately blocked His ear: "No, no. Don't say like that." That is the indication that to claim to become God or Kṛṣṇa is the highest type of rascaldom. That is rascaldom. Those who are these Māyāvādīs who are claiming that "Everyone is God. I am God, you are God," they are all rascals. Therefore I have said in connection, with reference to that boy-god..., you know, I do not wish to repeat. We do not accept such cheap God. No. We accept Kṛṣṇa. And we accept Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu as God because śāstra says, the ācārya says; therefore we follow the footsteps of the ācāryas. Rūpa Gosvāmī says, kṛṣṇāya kṛṣṇa-caitanya-nāmne: "Sir, You have now come... You are Kṛṣṇa. You have come under the name of Kṛṣṇa Caitanya.

Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 20.142 -- New York, November 30, 1966:

Oh, there was no boat, and it was, river was waving. The waves were very furious. And he thought that "How can I go to the other side?" He was daily going to the other side of the river. Then, anyway, he swimmed over, crossed over by swimming. Then the prostitute thought, "Oh, it is today raining, and he may not come." So he (she) blocked the door and went to sleep. And when he came to the house he saw, "Oh, the door is blocked," and it was raining still. "So how can I go?" So he crossed over the wall by catching one snake. Just see how much intensely he was attached. And he went to the prostitute, and she was astonished: "Well, Bilvamaṅgala"—his name was Bilvamaṅgala—"how do you dare to come here like this?" Oh, he described, "Yes. I did this, I did this, I did this, I did this." Oh, the prostitute was astonished. Her name was Cintāmaṇi. So the prostitute said, "My dear Bilvamaṅgala, if you have got so intense love for me, oh, had it been for God, for Kṛṣṇa, how would have been, your life, sublime." Oh, that struck him: "Yes." He at once left and went away: "Yes, you are right."

Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 20.313-317 -- New York, December 21, 1966:

It is confirmed in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam that He is the Supreme Personality, original Personality of Godhead. He is nobody's under control. Even He was not controlled by His supreme lover Rādhārāṇī. Rādhārāṇī is considered... The gopīs are considered the topmost lover of Kṛṣṇa. But when Kṛṣṇa decided to leave Vṛndāvana, oh, they began to cry. They blocked the way. Kṛṣṇa didn't care, went away. Went away. He didn't care even. So much dear Rādhārāṇī. They became blind, crying, crying, crying, crying, whole life. But Kṛṣṇa never returned. Never returned. He sent His message, He sent His letter, that "I am very sorry, but..." That is God. He is not controlled by anything. Anything. That is Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇas tu bhagavān svayam (SB 1.3.28). So,

brahmā, śiva-ājñā-kārī bhakta-avatāra
pālanārthe viṣṇu-kṛṣṇera svarūpa-ākāra

Therefore all demigods, including Śiva, Brahmā and everyone, they are only order-carrying servants. Ekale īśvara kṛṣṇa āra saba bhṛtya (CC Adi 5.142). In the Caitanya-caritāmṛta you will find one passage, that "Only master is Kṛṣṇa, and everyone—never mind what he is—is servant, is servant."

Arrival Addresses and Talks

Arrival Conversation -- Los Angeles, June 20, 1975:

Prabhupāda: No, I gave to Gurukṛpa and he sent through somebody.

Jayatīrtha: He did not give it to me. Maybe he gave it to Rāmeśvara. I'll check with him. I think he must have forgotten.

Prabhupāda: So the engineering block is now occupied?

Jayatīrtha: Oh, yes. As we go by it, you can see the big sign is there, "Bhaktivedanta Book Trust." It's over here to the left.

Prabhupāda: Oh. (laughs) So that Bhaktivedanta go-down has come here? No.

Jayatīrtha: No, go-down is still there. This building is not large enough for that.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: You have not seen this building yet, Prabhupāda.

Prabhupāda: Oh, here is for lease. (Tamāla Kṛṣṇa and Jayatīrtha discuss in background about leasing one of the buildings for a restaurant) (break)

Wedding Ceremonies

Initiation of Sri-Caitanya dasa and Wedding of Pradyumna and Arundhati -- Columbus, May 14, 1969:

"Why You are speaking to me? I am not a Vedantist. I am not a sannyāsī. I am not even brāhmaṇa. Why You want to teach me?" Bhakto 'si: "Because you are My devotee." Therefore the first qualification of understanding the Vedas or Bhagavad-gītā is to become a devotee of Kṛṣṇa; otherwise it is blocked. Just like if you take a bottle of honey and lick it on the bottle, you won't get the taste. It has to be opened, who has got the key. Then you get the taste of honey. So Bhagavad-gītā cannot be understood by academic scholarship. It is not possible, the same bottle-licking. But it has to be opened by the devotee, just like Arjuna opened it: paraṁ brahma paraṁ dhāma pavitraṁ paramaṁ bhavān, puruṣaṁ śāśvatam ādyam (BG 10.12). He understood Kṛṣṇa. So we have to follow the opener of the bottle, honey bottle. Then you will taste what is Bhagavad-gītā.

General Lectures

Lecture -- Seattle, October 4, 1968:

So we have to take the examples of great personalities, we have to study authorized books and Vedas, and we have to follow their example; then Kṛṣṇa consciousness or God realization or God consciousness is not difficult. It is very easy. There is no, I mean to say, any stumbling block on the path of your understanding what is God. Everything is there. The Bhagavad-gītā is there, the Śrīmad-Bhāgavata is there. Even you accept, your Bible is there, the Koran is there, everywhere. Without God, there cannot be any book or scripture. Nowadays, of course, they are manufacturing so many things. But in any human society the conception of God is there—according to time, according to the people, but the idea is there. Now you have to understand, jijñāsā. Therefore Vedānta-sūtra says that you try to understand God by inquiry, inquiry. This inquiry is very important. In our process, ādau gurvāśrayaṁ sad-dharma pṛcchāt.

Lecture to International Student Society -- Boston, December 28, 1969:

Just like you don't find any disease amongst the animals. But amongst the human beings, oh, there are so many medical science, so many things. Why? They live unnaturally. So if you live naturally there is natural evolution, but if you block the natural course, then how you can do it? If you lit fire and let it go, it will grow. But if you pour water in it, how it will grow? So in the human form of life we do not go according to natural intuition. Just like amongst the animals, amongst the birds you'll see. Take the pigeons. You give them some peas—they will eat. But if you give them some particles of meat, they'll not eat because they are living natural life. A tiger, he will not accept. You give him nice foodstuff, prepare your vegetables, he'll not accept. So natural life evolves up to the animal life. But when you come to the human form of life you have got developed consciousness, and instead of using your intelligence and consciousness for further develop naturally, you put unnatural impediments; therefore you are covered.

Lecture -- Tokyo, May 1, 1972:

The Lord is Kṛṣṇa, but we are trying to be lord. And the endeavor, the labor which we are giving incessantly, that we are thinking happiness. The nature, the material nature, is putting stumbling block every time. That, to overcome the impediments offered by the material nature and our trial for overcoming that stumbling block, that is our endeavor. And we are thinking this is happiness. Just like you are making one high road and there is, material nature is offering a big hill, a big mountain before you. Now you have to make tunnel. You have to call for dynamite and try to penetrate through the hill. That struggle is known as advancement of material condition. That you cannot. In America and other materialistic countries we see—here also, in Japan—they are laying down one kind of road for plying their motorcars. After some years it becomes a problem—another flyway, another flyway. So this is going on. This is called struggle for existence.

Evening Address to Pandas and Scholars -- Jagannatha Puri, January 26, 1977:

That is beneficial from various point of view. From the point of tourist program, the government will benefit. And when they're attracted to see Jagannātha Purī, Jagannātha Swami... Unfortunately, you do not allow these foreigners to enter the temple. How it can be adjusted? This stumbling block should be dissolved. If you want Jagannātha Swami to pack up within your home, and you do not expand the mercy of Jagannātha... He is Jagannātha. He's not only this Purī-nātha, or Oriya-nātha; He's Jagannātha. Kṛṣṇa declares in the Bhagavad-gītā, bhoktāraṁ yajña-tapasāṁ sarva-loka-maheśvaram (BG 5.29). That is the definition of Jagannātha, sarva-loka-maheśvaram. So why you should deny the inhabitants of Sarva-loka the darśana of Jagannātha? That is not... Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu never approved such thing.

Philosophy Discussions

Philosophy Discussion on Carl Gustav Jung:

Hayagrīva: Jung laments the fact that such a nonmaterialistic faith does not presently exist in the West. He writes, "Not only does the West lack a uniform faith that could block the progress of a fanatical ideology"—that is Marxism—"but as the father of Marxist philosophy," because Marx was a Westerner, "it makes use of exactly the same spiritual," so-called spiritual, "assumptions, the same arguments and aims." So he feels that man is desperately in need of a religion that has immediate meaning, and he feels that Christianity is no longer effective in combating this.

Prabhupāda: He has predicted very nice. This is Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement, which is above everything, either Christianism or Marxism or capitalism or anything. It is based on Bhagavad-gītā, sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja (BG 18.66). So actually it is a fact. Kṛṣṇa says that if you adopt this principle of life, Kṛṣṇa consciousness, then you will remain above all sinful reaction of life and make progress spiritually, gradually.

Philosophy Discussion on Origen:

Hayagrīva: As far as seeming contradictions and seeming absurdities in scripture are concerned, Origen considered these as stumbling blocks allowed by God to exist in order for man to go beyond the literal meaning. He says, "In some cases no useful meaning attaches to the obvious interpretation, but everything in scripture has a spiritual meaning, but not all of it has a literal meaning."

Prabhupāda: Literal... Generally, every word in the scripture there is literal meaning, but one who cannot understand properly because one does not hear from the proper person, he makes some interpretation. But there is no need of interpretation in the words of God. It may be that the words of God sometimes cannot be understood by ordinary person; therefore he requires to understand through the via-media of transparent guru. Guru is fully cognizant of the words spoken by God.

Page Title:Block (Lectures)
Compiler:SunitaS, RupaManjari, Mayapur
Created:03 of Aug, 2011
Totals by Section:BG=0, SB=0, CC=0, OB=0, Lec=38, Con=0, Let=0
No. of Quotes:38