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Cannot imagine (Lectures)

Expressions researched:
"can not imagine" |"cannot even imagine" |"cannot imagine" |"could not imagine" |"never imagine" |"never imagined" |"not imagine" |"not imagined" |"not imagining" |"unimaginable" |"unimaginably" |"unimaginative"

Lectures

Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures

Lecture on BG 1.41-42 -- London, July 29, 1973:

Others, they cannot understand. In one sense, the people at that time were so educated, advanced, that they could talk about the Absolute Truth and understand within half an hour, one hour. There was no need of books in those days. People were so sharp memoried. Once heard from the spiritual master they'll never forget. With the advancement of Kali, so many things will reduce. One of them is the memory will be reduced. People will be weaker. There will be no more mercy. The brain will not be so powerful or sharp. These things are described. So we cannot even imagine what kind of brain Arjuna possessed. Another thing, this Bhagavad-gītā is part of Mahābhārata. And the Mahābhārata was written for strī-śūdra-dvija-bandhūnāṁ trayi na śruti-gocarāḥ (SB 1.4.25). Strī, woman, strī, śūdra and dvija-bandhu. Dvija-bandhu means a person born in high family, brāhmaṇa, kṣatriya, vaiśya, at least brāhmaṇa, kṣatriya, but he's not qualified brāhmaṇa or kṣatriya. He's called dvija-bandhu, the friend of the twice-born.

Lecture on BG 2.13 -- Germany, June 18, 1974:

Actual, the fact is the land belongs not to you, not to the Germans, not to the Englishman, not to the American, but it belongs to God. The land was created by God. So it is God's property. Where is the difficulty to understand? You did not create anything. You did not create even your own body. That proprietor is also Kṛṣṇa. Because as soon as Kṛṣṇa asks you, "Please vacate," you must vacate immediately. Can you remain in this body? The proprietor asks you to vacate somehow or other. You have to vacate. Or the proprietor does not repair it. Then you voluntarily vacate, that "This is not to be, no more useful." This is law, going on. And that is... How nicely it is explained. Dehinaḥ asmin yathā dehe kaumāraṁ yauvanaṁ jarā, tathā dehāntara-prāptiḥ (BG 2.13). As we have changed so many different types of body even in this duration of life... Now, how this change is taking place, that you cannot imagine. Therefore we say the same body. But actually it is not the same body. The body is different. It is changing. And because the person, the soul, is there, therefore it is changing. And as soon as the person is not there... Suppose in a child's body, a born baby, a dead body, it will not grow or it will not change. So long the soul is there, it will change. So Kṛṣṇa said that "We existed in the past." This is authoritative statement. So it is to be understood that I existed in the past in different body. As I existed, say, seventy years before in a different body, I was jumping as a boy, now I cannot jump. Now I have to take the stick. This is a different body. So where is the difficulty to understand? If the same body had been, then I could jump like a boy. I remember that I jumped. But now it is not possible. I have to take help of three men. (laughter) So it is different body. Although imperceptibly it has changed, but the body is different. Body's different.

Lecture on BG 2.13-17 -- Los Angeles, November 29, 1968:

Now the question is, "Yes, I understand that my grandfather is spirit soul and this body is material. Still, by nature I'll be unhappy if my grandfather is killed and my teacher is killed. I'll be unhappy." So Kṛṣṇa is instructing Arjuna that this kind of unhappiness, distress, is this world. You cannot avoid it. These are necessary distresses. The example He's giving that severe cold. In the winter season, in the month of January or some month, the winter is very severe, intolerable. Sometimes somewhere it is below 30 degrees zero. But what is to be done? The people in such part of the world who live... Just like in Canada it goes sometimes 30 degrees below zero. Does it mean that they'll close their offices and work and everything? No. Everything is going on as usual. One has to tolerate. That's all. In India also, in India and other parts of the eastern countries. Just like Arabia, Iraq or... During summertime, the temperature is 135. You cannot imagine 135. In India we have experienced temperature, I have experienced up to 118 degrees. Not always, unusually. But 110 degree is usual during summertime, 110 degree. Usual temperature. So does it mean... The scorching heat, you cannot get out on the street. But still, one has to go to office, one has to go to work.

Lecture on BG 2.15 -- Hyderabad, November 21, 1972:

But people have become so foolish, especially at the present days, they're simply making plan on this material world, how they will become happy. We have practically seen. What is in our country? It is far, far behind material civilization. In America, there are so many motorcars. Every third man, or second man has got a car. We are poor man, we are sannyāsīs, brahmacārī. Still, in each temple we have got at least four, five cars. In each temple. Very nice car. Such car even ministers in India cannot imagine. (laughter) You see? Nice, nice cars. So they have got so many cars. But the problem is that always they're engaged in making roads, flyways, one after another, one after another, one after... It has come to this stage, four, five. Four-, five-storied roads. (laughter) So how you can become happy? Therefore tattva-darśibhiḥ na asataḥ. You cannot become permanently happy in this material world. That is not possible. So don't waste your time to become happy here. In another place, it is said, padaṁ padaṁ yad vipadāṁ na teṣām (SB 10.14.58). The same example can be given. In America, so many millions of people die in motor accidents. How many? What is the statistic? You don't remember?

Lecture on BG 2.16 -- London, August 22, 1973:

In the previous verse, yaṁ hi na vyathayanty ete puruṣaṁ puruṣarṣabha, Kṛṣṇa says: "Those who are not disturbed by the material changes..." Sama-duḥkha-sukhaṁ dhīraṁ so 'mṛtatvāya kalpate. Our mission, human mission, is to come to the platform of amṛtatvam, immortality. We have discussed this point. Amṛtatvam, immortality. The modern civilization, the so-called scientists, philosophers, they cannot imagine even that there is possibility of becoming immortal. They cannot imagine. Their brain is so dull that they cannot think of, that we can become immortal. Then how Kṛṣṇa is speaking about immortality? Is He speaking something nonsense, utopian? No, He is speaking the fact. Otherwise, if Kṛṣṇa speaks something nonsense, utopian, then nobody would be interested to read Bhagavad-gītā. We may be third-class men, that we indulge in Bhagavad-gītā, and Kṛṣṇa is speaking something utopian, nonsense. But there are big, big ācāryas—Rāmānujācārya, Madhvācārya. Why they are giving attention to the reading of Bhagavad-gītā? Kṛṣṇa does not speak anything nonsense. It is fact. So if it is the fact that there is possibility of becoming immortal... That is sat.

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

So He must be accepting with His hand. So He can stretch His hand so many millions and trillions miles away. Therefore when it is said that He has no hand, that means He has no hand like us, limited. But that does not mean He has no hand. He has hand unlimited. Unlimitedly He can stretch. That we cannot conceive. Because we have got this three-feet hand. So Kṛṣṇa must have at least four-feet. That's all. That frog philosophy. (laughter) Simply imagining. "Ah, Kṛṣṇa may be very great. So we have got this three-feet, Kṛṣṇa, let Him have six-feet. That's all." But we cannot imagine how long His hand is. Therefore His hand cannot be compared with this material hand. He has no material hand. That is the version of Vedas. But He has hand. That you cannot measure. Just like Arjuna could not measure when He showed the universal form. So avajānanti māṁ mūḍhā mānuṣīm... (BG 9.11). Therefore Kṛṣṇa says, "Because I am moving amongst them as ordinary human being, they are thinking of Me as one of them." Paraṁ bhāvam ajānantaḥ. "They do not know what is My background." Paraṁ bhāvam. "Therefore they fail to understand Me." Mūḍha. Rascals, fools. Everyone is trying to understand Kṛṣṇa from the angle of vision as he can understand. Kṛṣṇa is beyond that. Therefore His name is Adhokṣaja, "beyond the limit." He can simply be presented by Himself, revealed. Just like Kṛṣṇa is revealing Himself to Arjuna. Arjuna is not understanding Kṛṣṇa by his philosophical speculation.

Lecture on BG Lecture Excerpts 2.44-45, 2.58 -- New York, March 25, 1966:

You can just see that that minute particle of the soul within this body, how wonderful things we are doing. Everything, whatever material manifestation, at least in this world... In New York City you see so many big, big buildings and so many machineries, factories and organization, but who has done it? That minute particle, embodied liv..., the soul. Just see. If that minute particle can play so much wonderful thing, just see, just imagine what wonderful things cannot be done by the supreme particle. Or not particle, He is the whole. He is the whole. Because we do not understand the capacity, the energy of the... Just calculate mathematically, mathematically. Now, this particle, the particle is so small that it has been calculated that one ten-thousandth part of the upper portion of the hair is the measurement of the soul. Now, we cannot even imagine, but supposing that point, if that point has got so much energy that it is playing wonderful things, everything is being manufactured by the brain of that small particle, now you can just make a proportion: then the full one, how much wonderful things He can do. If a small particle of... A spark of fire, if it is dropped here, it will at once burn it. Now, you can just imagine the big fire, how much capacity has got.

Lecture on BG 3.27 -- Melbourne, June 27, 1974:

(laughter) No, that can be explained. Just like there is Atlantic Ocean and Pacific Ocean and you are a drop of it, that's all. The quality is the same, a drop of Atlantic or Pacific Ocean and the ocean. If you taste the drop, a small drop it is salty—you can understand that the ocean is also salty. But the containing, the contents of salt, that is very small, and the contents of salt in the ocean, that is very big. That you cannot imagine. It is like that. God is like you and me, a person. But He is Pacific Ocean; we are drop. That's all.

Lecture on BG 4.1 -- Delhi, November 10, 1971:

What is the difference between Supersoul and individual soul? One is very small, minute, and the other is very big. God is great. Aṇor aṇīyān mahato mahīyān, God is greater than the greatest. You can conceive in your idea, the greatness of something, but God is still greater. And you can conceive the smallest—just like the atom—yet God is smaller than the atom. That is God. Not that He's only the great, but He is the smallest also. Aṇor aṇīyān mahato mahīyān. Mahato mahīyān means greater than the greatest, and aṇor aṇīyān, and smaller than the smallest. We cannot imagine the dimension of the atom, or you can imagine, but still God is smaller than that. This is the position of God. So He has got His form, as the atom has got form. Similarly, within the atom, God has got form, and as this whole universe has got form, that God has also got form. When there is a statement in the Vedic language that God has no form, it does not mean God has no form, but He has form which you cannot imagine. That is called formless. Actually God is not formless, but what is that form, you cannot imagine. Because He is greater than the greatest and smaller than the smallest.

Lecture on BG 4.5 -- Montreal, June 10, 1968:

So these four yugas... Satya-yuga means eighteen lakhs of years. Eighteen hundred thousands of years. And Tretā-yuga means twelve hundred thousands of years. And Dvāpara-yuga means eight hundred thousands of years. And Kali-yuga means four hundred thousands of years. This is the rough calculation. Eighteen, then twelve, then eight, plus four. How many years? Eighteen plus twelve becomes thirty, and thirty plus eight, thirty-eight, and four. That means forty-three-hundred thousands of years makes one yuga, divya-yuga. So such one thousand. Sahasra-yuga-paryantam (BG 8.17). That means forty-three hundred thousands of years multiplied by one thousand, ahar yat. That calculation is one day of the inhabitants of the Brahmaloka.

So we cannot imagine, you see, that how long year. Such hundred years they live. That is their twelve hours. Similarly, twelve hours night. Similarly, thirty days, one month. Similarly, twelve months equal to one year. Such hundred years they live. So we cannot imagine even, even in the material world, how long a living entity can live even in this material world. So these are acintya. Acintya means beyond our conception.

Lecture on BG 4.7-10 -- Los Angeles, January 6, 1969:

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: "The Vedic version, tat tvam asi, is actually applied in this case. Anyone who understands Lord Kṛṣṇa to be the Supreme or who says unto the Lord, 'You are the same Supreme Brahman, the Personality of Godhead,' is certainly liberated instantly, and consequently his entrance into the transcendental association of the Lord is guaranteed. In other words, such a faithful devotee of the Lord attains perfection, and this is confirmed by the following Vedic assertion: tam eva viditvāti mṛtyum eti nānyaḥ panthā vidyate ayanāya. One can attain the perfect stage of liberation from birth and death simply by knowing the Lord, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. There is no alternative means, because anyone who does not understand Lord Kṛṣṇa as the Supreme Personality of Godhead is surely in the mode of ignorance. Consequently he will not attain salvation simply, so to speak, by licking the outer surface of the bottle of honey or by interpreting the text of the Bhagavad-gītā according to his own mundane scholarship. Such empiric philosophers may assume very important roles in the material world, but they are not necessarily eligible for liberation. Such puffed up mundane scholars have to wait for the causeless mercy of the devotee of the Lord. One should, therefore, accept the principle of Kṛṣṇa consciousness with faith and knowledge, and in this way one can attain the perfection of life."

Ten: "Being freed from attachment, fear and anger, being fully absorbed in Me and taking refuge in Me, many, many persons in the past became purified, and thus they all attained transcendental love for Me."

Purport: "As described above, it is very difficult for a person who is too materially affected to understand the personal nature of the Supreme Absolute Truth. Generally, people who are attached to the bodily concept of life are so absorbed in materialism that it is almost impossible for them to understand how the Supreme can be a person. Such materialists cannot even imagine that there is a transcendental body which is nonperishable, full of knowledge, and eternally blissful. In the materialistic concept, the body is perishable, full of ignorance and completely miserable. Therefore people in general keep this same bodily idea in mind when they are informed of the personal form of the Lord."

Prabhupāda: Yes. When we try to impress people about the personal nature or the personal body of God, generally, we think, "God is a person like me." Therefore they cannot imagine how God... Actually God is not a person like me, but He is a person. That is to be understood. Sac-cid-ānanda-vigrahaḥ (Bs. 5.1). He has got body, but He hasn't got body like me.

Lecture on BG 4.34-39 -- Los Angeles, January 12, 1969:

Or just a child. A child is attracted generally to his mother, in human being, in animals, everywhere. So if a child wants to know his father, then the authority is the mother, and there is not other authority. The child cannot know the name of his father by his own imagination or speculation, if he thinks, "Oh, he may be my father, he may be my father, he may be my father..." Go on imagining, speculating, but you will never be able to understand who is your father. But the mother indicates, "My dear child, he is your father"—immediately business finished. You see? So if you want to speculate who is God, who is the supreme father, you go on speculating for lives together. But if somebody knows, "Here is your God," you accept it—the business finished. Very simple truth. You cannot imagine, you cannot speculate, even on your ordinary father, what to speak of the supreme father. Is it possible? No.

Lecture on BG 7.1 -- Auckland, April 15, 1972:

Therefore here in this material world there are two energies working. In the spiritual world there is only spiritual energy working. But in the material world, two energies are working: material and spiritual. Material energy is dependent on spiritual energy. Spiritual energy is prominent everywhere, in this material world and the spiritual world. Here also, the matter is developing upon spirit, not that spirit is manifesting under certain conditional stage of matter. That is a wrong theory. For example, the small spiritual spark, the living entity, very small, we cannot even imagine with our material brain. It is one ten-thousandth part of a point. We, in the material world, we cannot measure the length and breadth of point. Therefore those who are mathematicians, they say, "Point has no length, no breadth." But actually that is not a fact. You have no eyes to see the length and breadth of a point. You are so blunt, your senses are so limited, imperfect, that you cannot imagine that a point can have length and breadth. But we get information from Vedic literature, not only the point, but one ten-thousandth part of the point is measured. Keśāgra-śata-bhāgasya śatadhā kalpitasya ca, jīvo bhāgaḥ sa vijñeyaḥ (CC Madhya 19.140). Because we have no imagination, we have no instrument, neither we have sufficient knowledge what is the length and breadth of the form of the living entity, therefore Vedic literature gives you an idea that you just try to imagine one ten-thousandth part of the point, and that is the measurement. Keśāgra-śata-bhāgasya śatadhā kalpitasya ca, jīvo bhāgaḥ sa vijñeyaḥ sa cānantyāya kalpate (CC Madhya 19.140). So living entities, spiritual spark, that measurement is given there. Whenever there is measurement, there is form.

Lecture on BG 7.1 -- Hong Kong, January 25, 1975:

So śāstra-cakṣusā. Śāstra... Either you take direct perception or through the śāstra... Through the śāstra the perception is better than direct perception. Therefore our knowledge, those who are following the Vedic principles, their knowledge is derived from the Vedas. They do not manufacture any knowledge. If one thing is understood by the evidence of the Vedas, that is fact. So Kṛṣṇa is understood through the Vedas. Vedaiś ca sarvair aham eva vedyaḥ (BG 15.15). That is stated in the Bhagavad-gītā. You cannot imagine of Kṛṣṇa. If some rascal says that "I am imagining," that is rascaldom. You have to see Kṛṣṇa through the Vedas. Vedaiś ca sarvair aham eva vedyaḥ (BG 15.15). That is the purpose of studying Vedas. Therefore it is called Vedānta. Kṛṣṇa's knowledge is Vedānta. Anta means the end, the last word, last word. So last word... What is the last word of Vedic knowledge? Brahmeti paramātmeti bhagavān iti śabdyate (SB 1.2.11). First of all knowledge of the Brahman, then Paramātmā, then last knowledge is Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇas tu bhagavān svayam (SB 1.3.28). Janmādy asya yataḥ (SB 1.1.1). Kṛṣṇa says, ahaṁ sarvasya prabhavaḥ (BG 10.8). Sarvasya, or Brahman, Paramātmā, and Bhagavān. The Bhagavān is the origin of Paramātmā and Brahman. Brahmaṇaḥ ahaṁ pratiṣṭhā.

Lecture on BG 7.3 -- London, March 11, 1975:

So practically you ask so many big, big men... Last time when I was here, Lord Fenner Brockway came here to see me. I asked him this question, that "What is your next life?" He is also old man, eighty-four years. He said, "Swamiji, we shall die peacefully. That's all." Peacefully you may die, but you have to accept the next body. Whether that will be peaceful or not, that they do not know. Similarly, I spoke with Professor Kotovsky in Moscow. He also said that "Swamiji, after finishing this body, everything is finished." This is the position of human society at the present moment, that they do not know how to make life perfect. To make life perfect means how to make my next life very perfect or happy or better life. Otherwise, if I remain in darkness—Kṛṣṇa says, tathā dehāntara-prāptiḥ (BG 2.13)—then I shall be, I may become any of these so many types of body. I may become a tree, I may become a dog, I may become a cat or maybe a demigod. There are so many, different. But I must be sure what kind of life I must have. That is stated in the Bhagavad-gītā. We are not imagining. Our movement, this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement, based on Bhagavad-gītā.

Lecture on BG 7.5 -- Nairobi, November 1, 1975:

The Brahma-saṁhitā... This is the description of the spiritual world. Cintāmaṇi-prakara-sadmasu. There are also buildings, but that building is not like this building, bricks and stone. Cintāmaṇi—touchstone. Cintāmaṇi-prakara. Prakara means houses. Sadmasu kalpa... There are also trees, but those trees are spiritual tree. How? Now, kalpa-vṛkṣa. Here go to a mango tree, you get mangoes, but there to go any tree, you ask for mango or any fruit or anything—it will be supplied. That we cannot imagine, that how one tree can supply everything. Yes, that can because they are spiritual. Spiritual. Just like my disciples, if I say, "Bring mango," so he'll go anywhere and bring mango because he is spirit soul, living. But if I ask this pillow, "Bring mango," it will not be possible. (laughter)

Lecture on BG 7.15-18 -- New York, October 9, 1966:

Then, therefore, Kṛṣṇa says, teṣāṁ jñānī nitya-yuktaḥ. Jñānī is nitya-yukta. Jñānī is not a... He is not a jñānī, or man in knowledge, who is not eternally engaged in the service of Kṛṣṇa. There are... There is a class of jñānī, impersonalists. They say that "Because to worship impersonal is very difficult for us, so imagine some form of God." They are not jñānīs; they are fools. Oh, you cannot imagine the form of God. God is so great. That may be your imagination, but that is not the form of God. That is concoction. They are called iconographer, iconographer. There are two classes of men: iconoclast and iconographer. Those who imagine the form of God, they are not jñānī, they are iconographer. And those who think that "I have killed God" or "I have finished God," they are iconoclast. Just like in India we have experienced during British days. There were Hindu-Muslim riots. So the Hindus would go to the mosque of the Muslim and break it, and the Muslim would go the temples of the Hindus and break the idol. And they'll think that "We have finished Hindu's God." Just like Hindus also think, "Oh, we have broken their mosque. Therefore I have broken their God." These are foolishness. In another case... I have got experience. When there was, I mean to say, noncooperation movement of Gandhi's, the people became riotous, and they began to break anything government, especially the post boxes on the street. They thought by breaking the post boxes they are finishing the post office.

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

At the time of death, point of death, "Ommmm," if he can pronounce om, oṁkāra... Oṁkāra is the concise form of transcendental vibration, oṁkāra. So om ity ekākṣaraṁ brahma vyāharan. If he can vibrate this sound, oṁkāra, at the same time, mām anusmaran, plus he remembers Kṛṣṇa or Viṣṇu... The whole yoga system is to concentrate his mind to Viṣṇu. But the impersonalists, they imagine that this is the form of Viṣṇu, or the Lord. But those who are personalists, they do not imagine; they see actual form of the Supreme Lord.

Lecture on BG 9.2 -- Melbourne, April 20, 1976:

So if we can go back to home, back to Godhead, there is no darkness. It is all illuminating. It is stated in the śāstra that there is no need of sun, there is no need of moon, there is no... Na tad bhāsayate sūryo na śaśāṅko na pāvakaḥ (BG 15.6). In the spiritual world there is no need of sun; there is no need of moon; there is no need of electricity or fire. That is the description. Here in the Bhagavad-gītā you'll find. Na tad bhāsayate sūryo na śaśāṅko na pāvakaḥ. We cannot imagine how without sun, without moon, without electricity, without fire, one can live. Yes, but there is a world like that. You do not require sunshine. You do not require. They are all illuminated. So that is uttamam. Udgata tama yasmāt, the Sanskrit word, "from which the darkness is completely eradicated."

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

So similarly, over and above all of them, īśvaraḥ paramaḥ kṛṣṇaḥ... (Bs. 5.1). The Brahma-saṁhitā says that everywhere you'll find the īśvara... Īśvara means controller. In your New York City the Mr. Lindsay is the controller. And in New York State, Mr. Rockefeller, he is controller. In your United States, Mr. Johnson is the controller. Finish. Then you go to another state, and similarly, in every planet, every place, there is a controller. So sun-god is the controller of the sun planet. You cannot imagine that there is no controller; it is vacant place. No. If in a New York City there is no vacant place—every place is valuable; it is occupied—how can you see, think of, that God's kingdom. So many planets, so many big..., are vacant. No. Nothing vacant. Sarva-ga. Everywhere there are living entities, but there are different kinds of entities, not exactly like you.

Lecture on BG 9.4 -- Calcutta, March 9, 1972:

We have, because we are not absolute, we have got distinction between my, our eyes and our hands, our mouth. There are distinction which is called sagata viveḥ. We have got difference of body between yourself and myself, and in the body also there are differences. My eyes are different from my hands, my hands are different from my legs. But Kṛṣṇa, being Absolute, He has no such distinction. That they do not understand. Therefore they can not imagine how God, Kṛṣṇa, can have a form. "If He has a form, then the form is like this, our," the Māyāvādīs they say. They believe that when Brahman comes, He accepts a material body. That is defied by Kṛṣṇa: avajānanti māṁ mūḍhā mānuṣīṁ tanum āśritam (BG 9.11), "Because I come as a human being, these rascals take Me as one of the human being." This is the beginning. Mūḍhā, this word is used, very word. Mūḍhā means rascal. Because Kṛṣṇa comes as this child of Yaśodā-mātā, or as the son of Vāsudeva, therefore these Māyāvādīs, they mistake that Kṛṣṇa or Brahman has taken the form, accepting the body from māyā. But that's not the fact. Kṛṣṇa is not under māyā. Kṛṣṇa says, sambhavāmy ātma-māyayā: not accepting this material energy. He's ordering, sambhavāmi yuge yuge, sambhavāmy ātma-māyayā (BG 4.6).

Lecture on BG 9.4 -- Melbourne, April 22, 1976:

So if we accept Kṛṣṇa's authority, then we can understand the sun globe, which the scientists are trying to understand but they have failed. But if we believe the words of Kṛṣṇa, then from here you can study what is the sun globe. This is a fact. You cannot imagine. You are tiny. You cannot become Dr. Frog within the well and try to understand Atlantic Ocean. That is not possible. Here the defect is, one is a small frog in the well and he is trying to understand the Atlantic Ocean. Three feet water. His jurisdiction is three feet water, and he is trying to understand Atlantic Ocean. That is the defect. For Atlantic Ocean you have to understand one has seen the Atlantic Ocean. Then you can understand. Therefore Bhagavad-gītā recommends,

tad viddhi praṇipātena
paripraśnena sevayā
upadekṣyanti te jñānaṁ
jñāninas tattva-darśinaḥ
(BG 4.34)

Tattva-darśī, one has seen the truth. So here you have no difficulty. Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Person. He knows everything. You take the information, knowledge, from Kṛṣṇa. Then your life will be successful. That is the propaganda of this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement. Thank you very much.

Lecture on BG 9.11 -- Calcutta, June 30, 1973:

In another place Kṛṣṇa says, mattaḥ parataraṁ nānyat: (BG 7.7) "There is no more superior personality than Me." This is... These are the facts. In the Brahma-saṁhitā it is said, īśvaraḥ paramaḥ kṛṣṇaḥ: (Bs. 5.1) "Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Personality of Godhead." You can become God, I can become God, He can become God, but Supreme God is Kṛṣṇa. If we accept that we are all gods... But still, there is distinction. Here is male god, here is female god, here is child god, here is an educated god, here is a foolish god. If we are all gods, then we have to qualify these gods in this way. There are differentiations from one god to another. That means one god is superior than another god. That you have to accept. So in this way, if you go on making progress, who is the best God, then you come to Kṛṣṇa. Īśvaraḥ paramaḥ kṛṣṇaḥ sac-cid-ānanda-vigrahaḥ (Bs. 5.1). Sac-cid-ānanda-vigrahaḥ. So the param, paraṁ brahma, impersonal they say. No. Vigraha, person, just like you and me, person. But they cannot imagine how a person can become so powerful, as in the previous verse it is said, mayādhyakṣeṇa prakṛtiḥ sūyate sa-carācaram (BG 9.10). A person is directing.

Lecture on BG 9.20-22 -- New York, December 6, 1966:

Deva-bhogān means this is with reference to the standard of living. As in this world we have got different standard of living and it may be that your standard of living in America or Europe may be, from material point of view, very high and standard of living in other country may be lower... Different standard of living there are. But in other planets also, there are different standard of living. They are called deva-bhogān. That standard of living we cannot imagine here, in the moon planet and other, surendra-lokam. Surendra-lokam means where the demigods live. They are also human beings, but they are highly intellectual, and their duration of life is very long, and their standard of living is very high, most costly. We cannot imagine even.

Lecture on BG 13.4 -- Miami, February 27, 1975:

Therefore those who are fully Kṛṣṇa conscious or fully advanced in spiritual consciousness, they do not make any difference between an insect and a elephant because he knows very well that the same spirit soul is there within the elephant and within insect, within the microbe, because the dimension of the spirit soul is very small. You cannot imagine. It is one ten-thousandth part of the tip of the hair. Keśāgra-śata-bhāgasya śatadhā kalpita (CC Madhya 19.140), everything is there. So such minute particle is so powerful that it is managing the body of the elephant and it is managing the body of the ant.

Lecture on BG 16.8 -- Tokyo, January 28, 1975:

There are millions and millions and trillions of living entities, and each heart, He is sitting there. Sarvasya cāhaṁ hṛdi sanniviṣṭo mattaḥ smṛtir jñānam apohanaṁ ca (BG 15.15). He is managing like that. So if we think that He is a controller like us, that is our misconception. He is controller. There is controller. With unlimited knowledge and unlimited assistants, with unlimited potencies, He is managing. These impersonalists, they cannot think of that a person can be so unlimitedly powerful. Therefore they become impersonalist. They cannot think of. The impersonalists, they cannot imagine... They imagine, "When one is person, he is a person like me. I cannot do this. Therefore He cannot do." Therefore they are mūḍha. Avajānanti māṁ mūḍhāḥ (BG 9.11). They are comparing Kṛṣṇa with themself. As he is a person, similarly, Kṛṣṇa is a person. He does not know. The Vedas inform that "Although He is person, He is maintaining all unlimited persons." That they do not know. Eko yo bahūnāṁ vidadhāti kāmān. That one singular person, He is maintaining many millions, many millions, trillions of persons. We are each, every one, we are person. I am person. You are person. The ant is person. The cat is person. Dog is person, and the insect is person. The trees are person. Everyone is person. Everyone is person. And there is another person. That is God, Kṛṣṇa. That one person is maintaining all these varieties of millions and trillions of persons. This is the Vedic in... Eko yo bahūnāṁ vidadhāti kāmān, nityo nityānāṁ cetanaś cetanānām (Kaṭha Upaniṣad 2.2.13). This is the information.

Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures

Lecture on SB 1.1.1 -- London, August 7, 1971:

In the Brahma-saṁhitā it is stated that goloka eva nivasaty akhilātma-bhūtaḥ (Bs. 5.37). Kṛṣṇa lives at His home, Goloka Vṛndāvana. Just like Kṛṣṇa is in Goloka Vṛndāvana. So still, He emanates, He expands Himself. Akhilātma-bhūtaḥ. Akhilātma-bhūtaḥ means throughout the whole creation. He has creation; that is also innumerable. We are seeing this creation, this universe. There are innumerable planets. But... Akhilātma-bhūtaḥ (Bs. 5.37), in everywhere Kṛṣṇa is there. Still, He is existing in His own abode. We cannot imagine because we have no such experience. Just like we are sitting in this room. We are not sitting in the other room. Try to understand the distinction between Kṛṣṇa and ourselves. But Kṛṣṇa is here and He's not only in the other room, other building, other city, other universe—everywhere. That is Kṛṣṇa.

Lecture on SB 1.1.1 -- London, August 7, 1971:

So our Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is against all this rascaldom, all this rascaldom. We present, "Here is God." Here is God. Take His name. Take His address also. That is also... It is so perfect. They are searching after God. We are giving the name, address, activity, everything, quality, all. Nāma-rūpa-līlā-parikara-vaiśiṣṭhyam, everything. Nāma means name. Here is Kṛṣṇa, God's name. Form, here is the form. He is engaged in enjoyment with Rādhārāṇī and playing on His flute. Veṇuṁ kvaṇantam aravinda-dalāyatākṣaṁ bar... (Bs. 5.30). We are not imagining. Not that this artist imagines, the poet imagines. No. We don't do that rascaldom. We don't do that. We take information from the Vedas. Kṛṣṇa, when He was present personally, He played on His flute. The gopīs saw and the cowherds boys saw five thousand years ago. And the ācāryas took information. Even if you don't believe in the history, then come to śāstra. The śāstra says veṇuṁ kvaṇantam aravinda-dalāyatākṣam: (Bs. 5.30) "Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is always engaged in playing on His flute." This is Vedic statement. Veṇuṁ kvaṇantam aravinda-dalāyatākṣam: (Bs. 5.30) "His eyes are just like lotus petals." Veṇuṁ kvaṇantam aravinda-dalāyatākṣaṁ barhāvataṁsam asitāmbuda-sundarāṅgam: (Bs. 5.30) "He has got a peacock feather on His head." These are the description in the Vedas. "He has got a peacock feather on His head." Barhāvataṁsam asitāmbuda: "His color is blackish." What kind of blackish? Asitāmbuda: "Just like new cloud." Asitāmbuda-sundarāṅgam: "But don't think because He is blackish, He is not beautiful. He is most beautiful." How much beautiful? Kandarpa-koṭi-kamanīya-viśeṣa-śobham: (Bs. 5.30) "He is so beautiful that if you gather millions of Cupids, still He is more beautiful." These descriptions are there.

Lecture on SB 1.1.2 -- London, August 17, 1971:

So impersonal concept of God is imperfect conception of God. That is not perfect. They are puzzled because Kṛṣṇa, God, is sac-cid-ānanda-vigraha (Bs. 5.1). They cannot imagine that a form of sac-cid-ānanda can be possible. That is their lack of knowledge. But we learn from Vedic literature that God has got form, complete form, like us. Just like Kṛṣṇa, you see, He has got also two hands, He is also playing flute, with consort, Rādhārāṇī. He has also got two hands, nice face, nice head. Everything is there. Only the ingredients are different. These ingredients, at the present moment... I have also got form, spiritual form. You have also spiritual form. Now that spiritual form is covered by material dress. Just like my body is covered by this shirt. You cannot see the actual body. Similarly, the spiritual body is now covered by this material body; therefore we cannot see. Besides that, our present eyes, that is also material. So with material eyes, we cannot see God. But God has got form. That's a fact. Now we are unable to see. Therefore the process is that we have to purify our eyes, our legs, our hands, and everything, so that we may be able to serve God.

Lecture on SB 1.2.1 -- New Vrindaban, September 1, 1972:

When a man takes the risk of becoming family man He's alone, there's no botheration, but he takes the responsibility of maintaining a wife, children and working very hard for maintaining them. Why this botheration? No, this is not botheration. There is pleasure. This is not botheration. Botheration means when I cannot maintain my wife, I cannot maintain children, then it is bother. Otherwise everyone wants that I live in a nice family home with my children, wife and good income, "I shall be very happy". For this reason one takes the risk marrying. There is pleasure there. Therefore God is never alone. He wants to enjoy pleasure with His sons, family members. We belong to God's family member, but because we are out from God's kingdom All these living entities that we are seeing within this material world, we cannot imagine how many living entities are there. How many universes are there. There are millions and trillions of universes, and each and every universe, there are millions and trillions of planets, and each planet there are millions and trillions of living entities. So all of them combined together is only a portion of God's children. The other children, they're living in the Kingdom of God. Their number is far, far greater than us. So this is the position.

Lecture on SB 1.2.5 -- Melbourne, April 3, 1972, Lecture at Christian Monastery:

So you have got a particular type of body. You have been given the chance of particular standard of living. Similarly, in India or in Africa or in other country, the living entity has got a particular type of body and his particular type of standard of living is also there. A tiger has got a particular type of body, it has got his own standard of living. Elephant has got a particular type of body, and it has got its standard of living. Similarly, there are higher beings also, in the higher planetary system. They are called Svargaloka, Janaloka, Maharloka, Tapoloka, Brahmaloka. In the Brahmaloka the duration of life is so long that you cannot imagine even calculating twelve hours' time there. That is stated in the Bhagavad-gītā. Most of you have read Bhagavad-gītā, and it is stated there, sahasra-yuga-paryantam ahar yad brahmaṇo viduḥ (BG 8.17). Sahasra-yuga-paryantam. One yuga... This is Kali-yuga. At the present moment it is called Kali-yuga. Before this... This Kali-yuga has passed only five thousand years, and the duration of life of this Kali-yuga is 432,000's of years. Only we have passed five thousand. Before this Kali-yuga there was another yuga, which is known as Dvāpara-yuga. Before that, there was Tretā-yuga. Before that, there was Satya-yuga. All these yugas, taking aggregate years, forty-three hundred thousands of years. And multiply it by one thousand. Then calculate what is the duration of time. That is only twelve hours duration in the Brahmaloka. Sahasra-yuga-paryantam ahar yad brahmaṇo viduḥ (BG 8.17).

Lecture on SB 1.2.6 -- Montreal, August 3, 1968:

Just like Rāma, Lord Rāmacandra. He married only one wife, Sītā. But Kṛṣṇa married 16,108. Now, if you question why Rāma is so moralist or whatever you like—He is sticking to one wife—and Kṛṣṇa is marrying sixteen thousand, that means you will... We say that God is omnipotent. That is a, I mean to say, qualification of God. So He is showing His omnipotency. That means why sixteen thousand? If He marries sixteen millions, sixteen billions, still, He is potent, full-fledged potency. So we cannot imagine even that how a person can marry sixteen thousand wives. This is inconceivable potency, to give an example of His inconceivable potency. And Rāma presented Himself as an ideal king. He did not manifest Himself as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, but from symptoms of authentic literature we understand that He is God. But Kṛṣṇa personally said that "I am the Supreme Personality of God." Mattaḥ parataraṁ nānyat kiñcid asti dhanañjaya: (BG 7.7) "There is no superior truth beyond Me." The Rāmacandra never said that, that... He never said that "I am God." But those who are intelligent, they understood that He is God.

Lecture on SB 1.3.1-3 -- San Francisco, March 28, 1968:

So these are, I mean to say, technical of understanding, and we can know it from Vedic literatures. Just like in the Vedas it is said, pūrṇasya pūrṇam ādāya pūrṇam evāvaśiṣyate (Īśo Invocation). We cannot imagine. Pūrṇam means full. If you take full from the full, still the balance is full. That is the spiritual calculation. Just like if you have got hundred dollars and I take hundred dollars from you. Still, you have got hundred dollars. This is beyond material conception. Here, one minus one equal to zero, and in the spiritual world, one minus one equal to one. Here one plus one equal to two. And in the spiritual world one plus one equal to one. So these things are very subtle. As we make progress in spiritual understanding... Just like how Kṛṣṇa can eat from such a distant place? No. Kṛṣṇa is everywhere. He's within you. So His eating process is different, because His body is spiritual. Pūrṇasya pūrṇam ādāya (Īśo Invocation). He can take the whole thing; still, one minus one equal to one. Still, the... Pūrṇasya pūrṇam ādāya pūrṇam evāvaśiṣyate. What is your question?

Lecture on SB 1.3.7 -- Los Angeles, September 13, 1972:

So when we speak of "God is great," we cannot imagine how great He is. We apply frog philosophy, Dr. Frog's philosophy. Dr. Frog thinks, because he is in the well of three feet, if he is given the information, "Oh, there is a big mass of water, Atlantic Ocean," he cannot believe it. He will think in terms of the well. The well is three feet. So he may think, "All right, Atlantic Ocean may be four feet. All right, five feet. Come on. All right, six feet." So this Dr. Frog's philosophy. The so-called rascal philosophers and scientists, they are calculating God's creation. One of the universes is resting on Anantadeva's hood just like a mustard seed. Not only that...

yasyaika-niśvasita-kālam athāvalambya
jīvanti loma-vilajā jagad-aṇḍa-nāthāḥ...
(Bs. 5.48)

Every universe has got a predominating deity, president. We can understand. In every country, there is a president to rule over the country. Similarly, to rule over this universe, there is a president. That is Brahmā, Lord Brahmā. Lord Brahmā's duration of life, span of life, you cannot calculate. You can calculate, but it is something like beyond our imagination. His one day is four hundred..., forty-three crores of years, one day. Similarly, one month, thirty days, one month; then twelve months, year. Such hundred years. So he lives such hundred years. So that Brahmā lives hundred years in his calculation; that is also a breathing period of Viṣṇu.

Lecture on SB 1.3.30 -- Los Angeles, October 5, 1972:

So as our this material body is not our real form... The real form is within this body, spiritual form. This body is explained as the dress. The dress is made when there is a real form. Just like you have got coat. Because you have got hands, the coat has got a hand. Your shirt: because you have got hand, the shirt has got a hand. But you are not the shirt or the coat. Similarly, because we are spiritual forms, maybe very minute, therefore we grow our hands and legs and heads and so many things. That is materially coated.

So here it is explained that people are very much fond of this universal form. They cannot imagine that a person—Kṛṣṇa is a person—He can work so wonderfully. Because he cannot do it. How he can do? He is very small. They do not understand that a small fire and big fire. Just like spark. Spark is also fire, so spark can also burn, but it can burn very small portion. Suppose a spark falls on your cloth. It will burn immediately. It will make immediately black. But it is very small. Similarly, the difference between Kṛṣṇa and me is that He is great, God is great, and I am small. Although qualitatively we are one. The same: big fire and small fire. Similarly, we have got also the same qualities, approximately, but very small quantity. We can play very wonderful by discovering some machine, say, the machine, what is called, which goes to the moon planet? Capsule. Or we float something in the sky, sputnik. But that is imitation of God. God is floating gigantic planets like sun, moon, in the space. You cannot do that. You can float a small sputnik.

Lecture on SB 1.5.2 -- Los Angeles, January 10, 1968:

The other day in the television somebody was questioning me that "Why there is caste system in India?" So I answered, "The caste system is everywhere. Why in India?" And what is that caste system? The caste system is that there is a class of men who are intelligent, very intelligent, educationist, philosopher, scientist. They are called brāhmaṇas. That's all. The intelligent class of the society... Just like my head is the most important part of my body. Why? Because from the head all intelligence is coming. If you cut my hand, I will exist. If you cut my leg, I will exist. But if you cut my head, oh, there is no existence. Therefore, as there is the important part of this body, the head, similarly, those who are giving intelligence to the society, they are called brāhmaṇas. That's all. Brāhmaṇa is not a thing which is born by, I mean to say, familywise. No. That is not... In the Bhagavad-gītā you'll find, cātur-varṇyaṁ mayā sṛṣṭaṁ guṇa-karma-vibhāgaśaḥ (BG 4.13). There is no question of birthright. Anyone, anyone. Just like in our ordinary life, anyone can become your president. It is not that a particular family has to become. One who is intelligent enough, if people like, he will be voted, he'll be elected. Similarly, according to the quality and work, the section of the society is imagined. Not imagined, practically designated.

Lecture on SB 1.7.6 -- Geneva, May 31, 1974:

So Vyāsadeva saw the pūrṇaṁ puruṣam. Pūrṇaṁ puruṣaṁ māyāṁ ca tad-apāśrayam. And he saw māyā also, but māyā is not conquering over him. Because Kṛṣṇa is pūrṇam, māyā cannot conquer. In full light there cannot be darkness. Any amount of darkness, you put before the sunshine, there is no possibility... It cannot stand. Within the sun globe, within the orbit of the sun, any amount of... Because the sun globe is so big and the orbit is so big that the whole universal darkness you bring there, there will be no darkness. Just imagine. It is not imagine; it is fact. The universal darkness, all the darkness of the universe, you bring before the sun, it will not effect. It cannot effect. Because the sun is full light. It is not that imitation light. Here we have got this imitation light. The big amount of cloud is there. Immediately it will be dark. But sunlight is full light. Similarly, Kṛṣṇa is pūrṇa-puruṣam. The Māyāvādī philosophers, they think that when Kṛṣṇa comes, He reduces His energy; therefore He also becomes covered by māyā. This is called Māyāvāda. Māyāvāda means the māyā has covered everything; so māyā has covered Kṛṣṇa also. This is Māyāvāda philosophy. "Because māyā has covered me, you and everyone, therefore māyā has covered Kṛṣṇa. Unless Kṛṣṇa or the Absolute Truth, Brahman, becomes covered by māyā, he cannot take a form." This is Māyāvāda philosophy. As we have taken form, because the prakṛti, material nature, has helped us to take this form, similarly, their philosophy is, even the Absolute Truth, Brahman, He incarnates, He accepts a body of this material nature.

Lecture on SB 1.7.26 -- Vrndavana, September 2, 1976:

Sometimes we inquire "Wherefrom this fragrance coming?" You cannot see. Similarly, the soul is very, very small, a small particle of the same ingredient as Kṛṣṇa. Mamaivāṁśa. Mamaivāṁśo jīva-bhūtaḥ (BG 15.7). Jīva is very small particle of the same ingredient as Kṛṣṇa's body. Sac-cid-ānanda-vigrahaḥ. Īśvaraḥ paramaḥ kṛṣṇaḥ sac-cid-ānanda-vigrahaḥ (Bs. 5.1). So we have got our vigraha, very small. That is also stated in the śāstra. Keśāgra-śata-bhāgasya śatadhā kalpitasya ca: (CC Madhya 19.140) one ten-thousandth part of the tip of the hair. We cannot even imagine what is the length and breadth of the hair, but the soul is one ten-thousandth part. So how you can see the soul? That small particle is being carried by the subtle body—mind, intelligence, and ego. And it is pushed through the semina of the father into the womb of the mother, and another body is manufactured in due course of time, and it comes out and works. This is called transmigration of the soul—from one body to another. That body is given by superior examination, Yamarāja. Yamarāja fixes up what kind of body this soul will get.

Lecture on SB 1.8.18 -- New York, April 10, 1973:

This is Brahma-saṁhitā. The Lord, by expansion of one of His plenary portions, He is existing within this universe. Not only within the universe, but within the atom also. Aṇor aṇīyān mahato mahīyān. This is God's qualification, that He can become greater than the greatest. Just like we have got conception the greatest—this universe. We cannot even imagine how long, how far it is extended. But such universes are coming out from the breathing of Mahā-Viṣṇu. Yaḥ kāraṇārnava-jale bhajati sma yoga-nidrām ananta-jagad-aṇḍa-saroma-kūpaḥ (Bs. 5.47). From His breathing, when He exhales, innumerable universes come out, and when He inhales, all those universes again enters. Bhūtvā bhūtvā pralīyate (BG 8.19). It is generated and again annihilated. This is going on. This is one side, that innumerable universes can be put into the nostril hole of the Mahā-Viṣṇu. And another side, He can enter even within the atom. This is God consciousness. Aṇor aṇīyān mahato mahīyān. He is greater than the greatest. We generally say, "God is great," but we do not know how great He is. People say, "God is great," but we have no conception how great He is. He is so great that He can swallow innumerable universes within His belly.

Lecture on SB 1.8.18 -- New York, April 10, 1973:

This is the relationship of the Supreme Personality of Godhead with His devotees. This is wanted. Simply to understand "God is very great," that is not sufficient knowledge. When you deal with the great, exchange your relationship with the great, that is perfect. That is perfect. Suppose your president is very great. That's all right. Everyone knows, "President is very great." But what shall I derive out of that? When I actually deal with him, I become his friend, I become his servant, I become his secretary, I become... Some way or other, if I am related with that great personality, that is my benefit. Otherwise what is the use knowing, "Oh, President Nixon is very great"? There are so many... What I am deriving from that great? This is Kṛṣṇa consciousness. The Māyāvādī philosophers, they simply remain silent, "Oh, God is very great," and they cannot imagine how great He is. But a devotee can understand how great He is. He can see that innumerable universes are within the mouth of God. This is the position of devotee. This is not sufficient knowledge: "God is great." God must be great. That's all right. But unless you come in dealing with that great, you cannot relish actually what is God and how great He is.

Lecture on SB 1.8.29 -- Los Angeles, April 21, 1973:

So if you decorate Kṛṣṇa, so you become decorated. If you satisfy Kṛṣṇa, then you become satisfied. If you offer nice foodstuff Kṛṣṇa, then you eat them. Perhaps those who are outside the temple, they have never imagined such nice foodstuff. But because it is being offered to Kṛṣṇa, we have got the opportunity to take it. This is the philosophy. So you try to satisfy Kṛṣṇa in all respects. Then you'll be satisfied in all respects. This is...

Kṛṣṇa does not require your service. But He kindly accepts. Sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja (BG 18.66). Kṛṣṇa is asking you that: "You surrender unto Me." It does not mean that Kṛṣṇa is lacking one servant, and if you surrender then He'll be profited. Kṛṣṇa can create millions of servants by His only desires. So that is not the point. But if you surrender to Kṛṣṇa, you becomes saved. You become saved. That is your business.

Lecture on SB 1.8.52 -- Los Angeles, May 14, 1973:

Therefore, spiritual education begins from this body. As Kṛṣṇa says in the Bhagavad-gītā, dehino 'smin yathā dehe (BG 2.13). Asmin dehe, in this body there is the spiritual spark who is the proprietor of the body. This is the beginning of spiritual education. What is, the scientists cannot imagine, or they have no idea, from there we begin our education in spiritual life, beyond their jurisdiction, beyond the jurisdiction of the scientists. And how they can understand this movement? It is beyond their jurisdiction. When they will receive one hundred or one thousands of Nobel Prize, at that time they may be able to understand that where Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement begins. They do not know even where the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement begins. Therefore, generally people cannot understand what is this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement. They think it is some religious sentiment. Like so many other religions, it is like that. No. It is most the scientific movement, purifying the existence of the living being so that he can eternally, blissfully live, with complete knowledge. That is Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement. To purify.

Lecture on SB 1.10.11-12 -- Mayapura, June 25, 1973:

So this knowledge can be attained by sat-saṅga. Sat-saṅga. Sat-saṅga means... This is sat-saṅga, associating with devotees of the Lord. So sat-saṅga. Sat-saṅgān mukta-duḥsaṅgaḥ. You cannot make association with two parties. If you want to associate with the devotees, then you have to give up the association of the nondevotees. That will be natural. Just like our, these students, although they are very young... They are not only young, but coming of very luxurious families in America, Europe. Here, the boys, they cannot even imagine how much luxury they enjoyed. Here, they have no employment, our young men. Mostly unemployed. And in Europe, America, especially in America, there is no question of unemployment. Anyone can go and earn immediately ten dollars. Ten dollars means hundred rupees. He's prepared. One of my students, Trayādhīśa, he was, morning, he was absent. So I asked him, "Why you are absent?" "Now I required some money, so I went to get some money." "How you got money?" "Now I went to the shoe brushing shop. So I brushed some gentleman's shoes. I got some money, five dollars." So they know how to earn money. There's no scarcity of money. Even in a hotel, one goes, he washes the dishes—immediately gets ten dollars. So money and woman. So there enough they enjoy, but now they have given up everything. Why:. Due to this sat-saṅga. Due to this sat-saṅga. Sat-saṅgān mukta-duḥsaṅgaḥ. No more. No more association with money and woman. This is so powerful, sat-saṅga. Sat-saṅga is so powerful.

Lecture on SB 1.15.30 -- Los Angeles, December 8, 1973:

So if you want to understand Bhagavad-gītā, then we must understand in the same way as the person who directly heard from. This is called paramparā system. Suppose I have heard something from my spiritual master, so I speak to you the same thing. So this is paramparā system. You cannot imagine what my spiritual master said. Or even if you read some books, you cannot understand unless you understand it from me. This is called paramparā system. You cannot jump over to the superior guru, neglecting the next ācārya, immediate next ācārya. Just like our, this Gau..., Caitanya Mahāprabhu's cult; we cannot understand Caitanya Mahāprabhu directly. It is not possible. We have to understand through the Gosvāmīs. Therefore you'll find in the Caitanya-caritāmṛta and at the end of every chapter, the writer says,

śrī-rūpa-ragunātha-pade yāra āśa
caitanya-caritāmṛta kahe kṛṣṇa-dāsa

This is the process. He does not say that "I've understood Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu directly." No. That is not understanding. That is foolishness.

Lecture on SB 1.15.47-48 -- Los Angeles, December 25, 1973:

Our consciousness is not purified at the present moment, but if we purify it... That purification also is possible by becoming in touch with Kṛṣṇa always. And this touch is very easily made possible. Śṛṇvatām. This is the chance, śṛṇvatām. Śṛṇvatām means by hearing, by aural reception. Simply those who are coming here, even they do not know anything about it, but God has given this ear, and let him hear about Kṛṣṇa. We are therefore discussing so many... We have written so many books simply about Kṛṣṇa. Not all books published—we have published about twenty books—but we have to finish it. It cannot be finished, but at least, to some extent it will be finished by sixty books. And what is that subject matter? Kṛṣṇa. That's all. People cannot imagine that about God, sixty books can be written. There is no, I mean to say, system of religion where you can find... Not only... Sixty is the minimum. Sixty books of four hundred pages can be written simply on God. So there is possible... If we divert our attention to Kṛṣṇa consciousness, we can chant Kṛṣṇa—Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare. Kīrtanād eva kṛṣṇasya (SB 12.3.51). We can read about Kṛṣṇa whole life, such big literature. Whole life. If you read twenty-four hours daily—that you cannot—still, you have to devote your whole life to finish this literature.

Lecture on SB 2.1.2 -- Paris, June 11, 1974:

So Kṛṣṇa is so kind that He, although He is all-pervading, universal, He has agreed to accept your service just to give you liberation from this misunderstanding, no ātma-tattvam. This is Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement, that Kṛṣṇa, God, is great. How great He is, you cannot imagine. But still, He has agreed to accept your service, becoming small. That is greatness. In the material world, if something is big, very big, he cannot become, or it cannot become small. Just like, say, for... Elephant is very big animal. You ask the elephant, "Please become like an ant." "Oh, that is not possible, sir. That is not possible." But God is so great that although He's universal, He can enter into the atom. That is... Aṇor aṇīyān mahato mahīyān: "Greater than the greatest, smaller than the smallest." That is God. Aṇor aṇīyān mahato... Aṇḍāntara-stha-paramāṇu... In the Brahma-saṁhitā it is said, eko 'py asau racayituṁ jagad-aṇḍa-koṭiṁ yac-chaktir asti jagad-aṇḍa-cayā yad-antaḥ, aṇḍāntara-stha-paramāṇu-cayāntara-stham (Bs. 5.35). Eko 'py asau. One portion of Kṛṣṇa, Paramātmā, just to create this material world, He has entered in the mahat-tattva as Mahā-Viṣṇu, and He entered within the universe as Garbhodakaśāyī-Viṣṇu, He has entered everyone's heart as Supersoul, Kṣīrodakaśāyī-Viṣṇu, and He has entered into the atom-although He is so great. So it is Kṛṣṇa's mercy that He can become smaller than the smallest and the greater than the greatest.

Lecture on SB 2.9.4-8 -- Tokyo, April 23, 1972:

Don't appear to you. What do you know about plant life? Something does not appear to you, that does not mean there is nothing such thing. You don't be so courageous that you know everything. You have to know from the śāstra. They have got breathing. They have got feeling also. That is already proved by modern scientists, Sir Jagadish Chandra Bose, that when you cut a plant, it feels the pain and it is recorded in the machine, the feeling. So everything is there. As soon as you find some living entity... A small full stop-like... Sometimes you find in the book. It is lesser than the full-stop. It is moving, (makes sound) "but, but, but, but." It has got heart; it has got legs; it has got everything within it. Otherwise, how it is working? Everything is there. This is rascaldom, that "This has got soul; this has got no soul." This is rascal's theory. Living entity so small, one ten-thousandth part of the top tip of the hair, we are. Very... You cannot imagine. So any life he takes, any form, it has got all the, I mean to say, functional thing. Everything is there. That is God's creation. Aṇor aṇīyān mahato mahīyān. The biggest of the biggest. He has got the same, what is called, physiological construction. And the ant, he has got the same physiological construction. You cannot see. What is your strength? That we are studying with our tiny brain, "Oh, it has got no breathing. It has no soul," that is our tiny brain.

Lecture on SB 2.9.9 -- Tokyo, April 25, 1972, Informal Class in Room:

That means your lavatory. Therefore the demigods do not come here even to urine. (laughter) Formerly they used to come. Now they do not come because it is not fit for their urinating. Here, we are very much proud of our advancement, but the demigods do not come even to pass urine. Why they should come? Now, because another house is raised here, even a common man is not coming to urine here. A little less facility, so they are not occupying. So why the demigods will come to this nonsense place? You can understand. These apartments are lying vacant on account of a little less facility. So why the demigods? Their comforts and their standard of living is many millions times better than yours. You cannot imagine it even. The more you go to the higher planetary system, their standard of living is still higher, higher-duration of life, standard of living, beauty, other facilities. Why they are called higher planetary system? Here in this planet even you don't get the sunshine sufficiently. The bare necessities. Now you can experience that when you go above the cloud by airplane you see there is no more cloudy. The sunshine is free. You can imagine how in the higher planetary system the sunshine is so free. And here as soon as there is little sunshine, oh, today, "Good morning." Today is very good morning. In London, Lennon's gardener, he was meeting, I was walking. He was Mr. Johnson or something.

Lecture on SB 2.9.11-15 -- Tokyo, April 28, 1972:

So in the sunshine, you can see the whitish color. So you can at least imagine what is the color of the sun planet, what is the color of the predominating deity there. A little intelligence required. So if the sky... When clear sky, you see bluish sky. That is reflection of Kṛṣṇa's bodily effulgence. Yasya prabhā prabhavato jagad-aṇḍa-koṭi (Bs. 5.40). Yasya prabhā, by expansion of the bodily effulgence, the brahma-jyotir... In that brahma-jyotir there are many universes, in that brahma-jyotir, jagad-aṇḍa-koṭi. The sky's bluish effulgence is there. Above this material sky there is another sky whose reflection you simply can see little. Just like outside there is a brilliant light, so you can get little reflection within your room, similarly, this universe is dark and covered. It is covered, round, surrounded. But outside that universe... Or this universe is floating in that effulgence. It is reflected. The sky is reflected bluish. This is the... Let the so-called scientist challenge it. Here is a description from the Bhāgavata: yasya prabhā (Bs. 5.40).

So we have to know from the right source what is God. We cannot imagine. You cannot know even what is there within the sky. The scientists calculate that to go to the ultimate region... What is called? Circumference.

Lecture on SB 3.25.37 -- Bombay, December 6, 1974:

So you can calculate. But if you make friendship with that gentleman and if he speaks about himself, then you can understand what he is. Then how you can understand God, Kṛṣṇa, by speculation? This is foolishness. Therefore, śāstra advises you that jñāne prayāsam udapāsya: "If you think that you are very learned scholar, you are very advanced in knowledge, and you can manufacture what is God, give up this foolishness first of all. Don't make this foolishness." Jñāne prayāsam. Oh, what is your knowledge? Limited. Kūpa-maṇḍūka, the frog in the well. How you can imagine? Simply by imagination? Is imagination God? Can you create? The Māyāvādīs say that "We can imagine God. God, it is so great that it is not possible to understand the Brahman, but we can imagine some form." This is Māyāvādī philosophy. This imagination will not... You cannot imagine God. God is fact. God is not subjected to your imagination. And your senses are imperfect. How long you will simply speculate? Give up this practice, foolishness. Don't... Jñāne prayāsam udapāsya nam... Just become submissive. Jñāne prayāsam udapā..., namanta eva: "Be submissive." That is bhakti-mārga. Bhakti-mārga is submissive.

Lecture on SB 3.26.40 -- Bombay, January 15, 1975:

So people may be astonished, that "They are reading Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Why they are discussing the action and reaction of fire?" Generally, they think Bhāgavata reading means rāsa-pañcādhyāya, bas, immediately jump over to the rāsa-līlā of Kṛṣṇa. Actually to know God means to know everything in detail. Yasmin vijñāte sarvam idaṁ vijñātaṁ bhavati. That is the Vedic injunction. If we understand Kṛṣṇa, then we must understand also how Kṛṣṇa's different energies are working. That is called tattvataḥ. Kṛṣṇa says in the Bhagavad-gītā, manuṣyāṇāṁ sahasreṣu kaścid yatati siddhaye (BG 7.3). The other day I was reading Gandhi's discourses on Bhagavad-gītā. He said that "I can imagine any way Kṛṣṇa. I do not accept the historical Kṛṣṇa." In this way, so many things. He was a big man. He can say like that. But we cannot imagine or manufacture Kṛṣṇa. That is not possible. That is not Kṛṣṇa. God is never imagined or speculated or manufactured by my limited knowledge and limited senses. That is not Kṛṣṇa. Of course, Kṛṣṇa is everything. But if we want to know tattvataḥ Kṛṣṇa, in truth, how Kṛṣṇa has created the pañca-bhūta and how each bhūta or each material element is working, that is being discussed. This is perfect knowledge, tattvataḥ.

Lecture on SB 3.26.40 -- Bombay, January 15, 1975:

So if we study in this way, analytically, everything, Kṛṣṇa's energy... Śaśi-sūryayoḥ. Prabhāsmi śaśi-sūryayoḥ. Kṛṣṇa says, "I am the illumination of the sun and the moon." So you can create by... Scientists, they say the sun is combination of so many chemicals. Now you create one sun and illuminate the whole universe. That you cannot do because that is Kṛṣṇa. You cannot create Kṛṣṇa. You cannot imagine Kṛṣṇa. That is not possible. Foolish persons, they may say, "Kṛṣṇa is my imagination." No, He's not imagination. He's fact. Simply one has to know how Kṛṣṇa is present in everything. That is described in the Bhagavad-gītā.

raso 'ham apsu kaunteya
prabhāsmi śaśi-sūryayoḥ
praṇavaḥ sarva-vedeṣu
śabdaḥ khe pauruṣaṁ nṛṣu
(BG 7.8)

So there is list of understanding Kṛṣṇa. Don't say that "We have not seen God. Can you show me God?" Why don't you see? The God says, "I am here," but why don't you see? God says, "I am the taste of water." So when you drink water, why don't you see God in the taste? He is visible in every step. Every working of this nature, He is doing that. Simply we have to make our eyes to see. That is Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Everything is there, present. Kṛṣṇa, God, is present everywhere. Aṇḍāntara-stha-paramāṇu-cayāntara-stham (Bs. 5.35). Kṛṣṇa is present here. Kṛṣṇa is within your heart. Īśvaraḥ sarva-bhūtānāṁ hṛd-deśe 'rjuna tiṣṭhati (BG 18.61). But when you learn the art to see Him within your heart, that is called mystic yoga. Dhyānāvasthita-tad-gatena manasā paśyanti yaṁ yoginaḥ (SB 12.13.1).

Lecture on SB 5.5.2 -- Boston, April 28, 1969:

So Ṛṣabhadeva says, "My dear boys," mahat-sevāṁ dvāram āhur vimukteḥ (SB 5.5.2), "If you at all, if you are at all desirous or eager to attain that perfectional stage of life, then the path is mahat-sevā. You associate or you serve great personalities who are devotees of the Lord." Mahat-sevāṁ dvāram āhur vimukteḥ (SB 5.5.2). Mahat means great soul. Who is great soul? A great soul is a great devotee of the Lord. That is great soul who has captured the Supreme Soul. He's great soul. We are... We are very small. Our identity, magnitude, as stated in the Vedic literature, it is one ten-thousandth part of the tip of the hair. It is very small. You cannot even imagine. So we are very small, but we can become the greatest, almost as good as God, if we engage ourself in the transcendental loving service of the Lord. You have got best example. Just like Lord Jesus Christ. He, he's worshiped as good as God because he dedicated everything for God. Similarly, if you also dedicate your life, your intelligence, your money... Prāṇair arthair dhiyā vācā. By four things you can attain greatness, almost greatness like God. How? By engaging your life, your wealth, prāṇair arthair dhiyā, your intelligence... If you have no money, then you can apply your intelligence. If you have no intelligence, you can simply carry the words of God.

Lecture on SB 5.5.2 -- London, September 17, 1969:

A spirit soul, being part and parcel of the Supreme Lord, he is by nature very powerful. We do not know how much spiritual power we have got, but that is being suppressed by the material covering. Just like this fire. This fire, if there are too many ashes, the heat of the fire is not properly felt. But you move the ashes and just fan it, and when it is blazing, then you get the proper heat and you can utilize it for so many purposes. Similarly, we, as spirit soul, we have immense power. And God is the supreme spirit soul, so we cannot imagine how much power God has got. But even we, who are a simply minute particle... Just like... Comparison is just like the fire and the sparks. The fire and the sparks, both of them are fire. The spark even, wherever the spark will fall, immediately it will burn. Similarly, we have got all the qualities in minute quantity of God. God has the creative force; therefore we are also creating so many things. The scientists are creating so many wonderful things. That is wonderful for persons like us, because we do not know how much wonderful one can play. That we do not know.

Lecture on SB 5.5.2 -- Johannesburg, October 22, 1975:

Kṛṣṇa says that many millions of years ago He went to the sun globe and He preached this Bhagavad-gītā to the sun-god, the president of the sun globe, Vivasvān. So there are living entities. The sun-god is the living entity. The difference is that the living entities there, the body is made of fire. As our body is made of earth, dirt, their body is made of fire. Therefore they are so glowing, everything. It is a fiery planet, airy planet, watery planet, earthly planet—five elements. So if we cannot imagine that "Because we have got earthly body, there cannot be fiery body." That is our lack of knowledge, poor fund of knowledge. In God's creation there are varieties. So just like we can see in the water there are living entities. Their body is made of different..., not different, but different proportion of the material elements so they can remain within the water. Similarly, different proportion in every planet... In the śāstra we see. It is not that, that all the planets are vacant only. This is not very good idea. Everywhere there are living entities. So all these living entities throughout the whole universe, they are possessing body of the material elements. But God has no such body.

Lecture on SB 5.5.21-22 -- Vrndavana, November 9, 1976:

So similarly, Kṛṣṇa's creation, God's creation, is unlimited. That they do not understand. They are the frogs in the well. They are thinking... Kupa-manduka-nyāya. Everyone is thinking... The kupa-manduka is thinking that "This is the whole water, within this well, this three-feet span of water. That is final." And if you say to the kupa-manduka, "Oh, I have seen another vast water, Atlantic Ocean," he cannot imagine. So these rascals, those who are unaware of the potency of God, they think that "God may be like me. I am so little powerful. He may be little more powerful." Therefore they cannot understand what is God because they are thinking in their own terms. And somebody is thinking that "I am God." So this misconception should be given up. He is aṇor aṇīyāṁ mahato mahīyān.

Lecture on SB 5.5.27 -- Vrndavana, November 14, 1976:

Ah, very good. Thank you. Indriyāṇi parāṇy āhur indriyebhyaḥ paraṁ manaḥ, manasas tu parā buddhiḥ (BG 3.42). These are finer. This body means indriya, and finer than the indriyas is the mind. And finer than the mind is intelligence. And finer than the intelligence is the soul, very minute part and parcel of the Supersoul. That is also mentioned: keśāgra-śata-bhāgasya śatadhā kalpitasya ca (CC Madhya 19.140). So minute, you cannot imagine. Keṣa agra, the tip of the hair, it is a small point. Divide into ten thousand, then you can get an idea what is the measurement of the soul. Keśāgra-śata-bhāgasya śatadhā kalpitasya, jīva bhāgaḥ sa vijñeyaḥ (CC Madhya 19.140). Everything, measurement, is there. It is not that without body. It is. There is body. And the impetus is coming from there. Intelligence is working, then mind is producing the senses, and the senses are transforming into a gross body. This is material existence. How finely it is. Where is the science? The rascal do not know except this body. Dehātma buddhi.

Lecture on SB 5.5.31 -- Vrndavana, November 18, 1976:

So we cannot understand what is a spiritual body at the present moment. We have to hear from the right source, Vedic knowledge. That is Vedic knowledge. Everything described about God, Kṛṣṇa, at the present moment is inconceivable. We cannot imagine. Long, long ago I was talking with one Ārya-samajī friend. So he did not believe that a lotus stem can grow on the navel of Viṣṇu and there is Brahmā born. Everyone says like that, "mythology." It is not mythology; it is fact. So I asked him that "Here we see one coconut tree, and about sixty feet above, there is coconut and there is water, there is pulp, and it is being carried from the ground. Where is the pipe? Where is the pump? How the water is there within the coconut? Can you explain?" So he could not explain. And I said that "Even in material things which is front of you, you cannot explain. How you will explain the spiritual position? How the lotus grown from the navel of...?" Therefore it should be accepted as inconceivable. Acintyāḥ khalu ye bhāvā na tāṁs tarkeṇa yojayet. Don't try to argue; it is foolishness. It is inconceivable.

Lecture on SB 6.1.15 -- New York, August 1, 1971:

So long one is in māyā... Now our beginning is that we accept immediately the great the great and the small the small. We understand from the Vedic literature: mahato mahīyān aṇor aṇīyān. Aṇu means atom. The atom, he is, the Brahman, or the spirit, is smaller than the atom. Aṇor aṇīyān, still smaller. And mahato mahīyān: and the greater than the greatest. We have the conception of the greatest, the sky. But Kṛṣṇa showed that millions of skies were within His mouth. So therefore mahato mahīyān. So actually we, the living entities, we are part and parcel of God, but we are very minute quantity, infinitesimal. And God is infinite. So infinitesimal, our magnitude is, I've several times explained, one ten-thousandth part of the tip of the hair. So you cannot even imagine with your material senses. Therefore aṇor aṇīyān, smaller than the atom. The same thing—we are also spirit, and Kṛṣṇa, or the Supreme Lord, is also spirit. Qualitatively we are one. But we are the smallest and He is the greatest. So we accept it immediately from the Vedic information. Therefore our position is safe. We do not falsely declare that "I am God." Just give proof that you are God.

Lecture on SB 6.1.46 -- San Diego, July 27, 1975:

If you unnecessarily becomes too much intelligent and theorize, then he is never successful, he is never sukhi. Na sukhaṁ na... Na siddhiṁ sa avāpnoti na sukhaṁ na parāṁ gatim. Such a rascal, who does not consult the śāstras and thinks whimsically according to his mad conception, such person, na siddhim avāpnoti. That is spoken by Kṛṣṇa. He will never get success. He will simply speculate. There is no, definite knowledge. Na sukham, and he is not happy. And what to speak of going back to home, back to Godhead. He is a rascal. There is no hope. So do not conclude in your foolish way anything. Just refer to the śāstra, authority, śruti. Therefore it is called śruti. We cannot imagine that there is possibility of living entity in the sun planet or moon planet, but śruti... Just like Kṛṣṇa says that "I spoke to sun-god." So by hearing this śruti, we understand that there is also life and there is also system, the government, the chief executive. Everything is there. And that is by śruti anumīyate. Anumīyate means you can imagine it is a fact.

Lecture on SB 7.6.1 -- San Francisco, March 15, 1968:

And what is that spiritual consciousness? Puruṣasyeha viṣṇoḥ pādopasarpaṇam. Viṣṇu. Viṣṇu means the Supreme Lord. The Supreme Lord is called Viṣṇu, all-pervading, the word used here, viṣṇoḥ. Viṣṇu means who is all-pervading at the same time He's a person. The Supreme Personality of Godhead is person; at the same time, He is all-pervading. How it is? In our material conception we cannot imagine, but there is a proof in your presence.

Lecture on SB 7.6.17-18 -- New Vrindaban, July 1, 1976:

So the back to home back to Godhead, we are trying. That is our ambition. But if we have got a little propensity for material enjoyment, then... We may get very better position in the material world, in the Svargaloka, heavenly planet. The description of heavenly planet is given also in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Very, very opulent, we cannot imagine even how they are opulent. The roads are made of pearls, diamonds, coral, the roads are made of like that. And at the same time, no sinful man is admitted there. Everyone highly elevated, pious, there is no crookedness. There is no enviousness. So many... You'll find this description in the Eighth Canto, of Svargaloka. There are... Everything we cannot imagine even. But that is also within this material world. Within this material world. Yānti deva-vratā devān (BG 9.25). We can go there if we want to go. Just like they are trying, the modern so-called scientist, to go to the moon planet, Mars. According to śāstra, these planets are bedecked with such descriptive facilities.

Lecture on SB 7.7.29-31 -- San Francisco, March 15, 1967, (incomplete lecture):

The expert who is in, expert in that knowledge, he will instruct you, upadekṣyanti tad jñānaṁ jñāninas tattva-darśinaḥ. One who has actually realized, he will teach you. Therefore you have to go to such a person. And in the Kathopanisad, Vedas, it is also stated, the same thing: tad-vijñānārthaṁ sa gurum eva abhigacchet (MU 1.2.12). If you want to learn that science, the transcendental science, then you have to approach a bona fide spiritual master. Who is bona fide spiritual master? That is also mentioned. Samit-pāniḥ śrotriyaṁ brahma-niṣṭham. That spiritual master, there are two signs. What is that? Śrotriyam. Śrotriyam means he's coming in disciplic succession by hearing process. This is very important. One has to hear from the superior, not to manufacture. One must hear. Because the subject matter is transcendental, beyond our senses. Simply the same example: if you want to know something about India, and because I have come from India, you can ask me, "What is the Indian condition?" I can present perfectly. But you cannot imagine. Or you have to read some books of India.

Lecture on SB 7.9.3 -- Mayapur, February 17, 1977:

So tad-vijñānam, you cannot imagine, speculate. That is not possible. You have to learn it from a person who is tattva-darśinaḥ, who has seen God. Even by seeing, you cannot... Just like Lakṣmīdevi, she is seeing every moment, constant... Even she does not know. Asruta-purva. Adrstāsruta-purva. So whatever we see or we do not see, everything is there. Ahaṁ sarvasya prabhavaḥ (BG 10.8). Kṛṣṇa says: "Whatever you see, whatever you experience, I am the origin of everything." So anger must be there. How you can say that "God should not be angry. God should not be like this. God should not..."? No. That is not fact. That is our inexperience.

Lecture on SB 7.9.22 -- Mayapur, February 29, 1976:

So Brahmā hasn't got such day. This six-thirty to five-thirty, say eleven hours, and Brahma, this eleven hours means our forty-three lakhs of years multiplied by one thousand. Sahasra-yuga-paryantam ahar yad brahmaṇo viduḥ (BG 8.17). So in this way, relatively... Similarly, one ant, his one hundred years, he cannot imagine that so long period of man is one day. So everything is relative in our condition. But for Kṛṣṇa, He's eternal. There is no such thing as past, present and future. Nityaḥ śāśvataḥ. We are also of the same quality, nityaḥ śāśvataḥ, but under the condition of material nature we are controlled, and this is going on by the time factor. Therefore Prahlāda Mahārāja is regretting, niṣpīḍyamānam: "I am being crushed by this time factor." But we are thinking, "It is all right." This is called ignorance. We are being crushed under this time factor, the wheel, time wheel, with sixteen spokes, senses. Manaḥ-ṣaṣṭhānīndriyāṇi prakṛti-sthāni karṣati, mamaivāṁśo jīva-bhūta (BG 15.7). "These living entities," Kṛṣṇa said, "they are My part and parcel." So they should remain with Him just like the fire and the spark.

Lecture on SB 7.9.32 -- Mayapur, March 10, 1976:

We have got our spiritual body but very, very small. Very small. The measurement is given: one ten-thousandth part of the tip of the hair, very minute. Aṇor aṇīyān mahato mahīyān. The Supreme Lord is great. "God is great." He's greater than the greatest, and He is smaller than the smallest. He is... The living entity is even smaller than the atom, but it has got a body. It is not that without body. We cannot imagine. Just like sometimes we see at night some microbic ant, very small, almost like full stop, but it is moving very nicely here and there. So the same physiological construction, anatomy, is there. Everything is there. So this is God's creation. Aṇor aṇīyān mahato mahīyān. It can also fly. We can manufacture a flying machine, 747, but we cannot manufacture a flying machine like that microbic ant. That is not possible.

Lecture on SB 7.9.49 -- Vrndavana, April 4, 1976:

So in this material world there is ādi, ādy-anta, beginning and ending. But Kṛṣṇa has no beginning or end. The material... Therefore Kṛṣṇa is not material. Urugāya. Kṛṣṇa is urugāya. Uru means He is exalted with nice, many, many ślokas, gāya. Gāya means songs, poetry. Uru. We cannot imagine. Uru-gāya. Just like in the Brahma-saṁhitā: yasyaika-niśvasita-kālam athāvalambya jīvanti loma-vilajā jagad-aṇḍa-nāthāḥ (Bs. 5.48). Loma-vilajā jagad-aṇḍa-nāthāḥ. So this jagad-aṇḍa-nāthāḥ, mean Brahmā... Jagad-aṇḍa. Āṇḍa means egglike, egg-shaped, this Brahmāṇḍa or this universe. And there are jagad-aṇḍa-nāthāḥ, plural number. So in each universe there is a chief living entity. He is called Brahmā because Brahmā is created first. So that Brahmā, there are millions of universes, and there are millions of Brahmās and millions of Śiva and other demigods. Each Brahmā is full with all different types of living entities. But such Brahmās, where they are being born? Not only Brahmā, the brahmāṇḍa. Yasyaika-niśvasita-kālam athāvalambya jīvanti. Niśvasita-kāla. Just like we exhale and inhale. A minute... Or not minute even. A second. Within a second we exhale and inhale so many times.

Nectar of Devotion Lectures

The Nectar of Devotion -- Vrndavana, October 21, 1972:

So how these things happen? Unless one becomes little advanced, one has got little taste in devotional service, they cannot give up these material comforts. The Gosvāmīs are the best example. They were coming from very, very aristocratic family. They were, they did not join the Caitanya Mahāprabhu's movement out of poverty-stricken. No. All of them, six Gosvāmīs... Just like Rūpa Gosvāmī, Sanātana Gosvāmī, they were very, very big men, ministers, very rich men. Similarly, Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī. He was the only son of his father and uncle. And at that time his father and uncle had twelve lakhs of rupees income. So you cannot imagine what is the exchange of twelve lakhs of rupees five hundred years ago. So very rich man. Similarly, Śrī Jīva, Gopāla Bhaṭṭa, and Śrī Jīva Gosvāmī. He was the jewel of all learned philosophers. That is acknowledged even by the greatest philosophers of the world. So these six Gosvāmīs, they were not ordinary men, but still, for Caitanya Mahāprabhu's service, they left everything.

The Nectar of Devotion -- Bombay, January 6, 1973:

Yes, this is vivid example. In America there is no scarcity of food, there is no scarcity of anything. Here we cannot imagine that how there cannot be any scarcity of food because here everything is scarcity, controlled. So similarly, I have seen Russia. Russia is advertising, "So much comfortable," but the poorest country, in my opinion. They stand in line as here, controlled everything. If you have to purchase your necessities, you have to waste two hours at least. Where is Śyāmasundara? Śyāmasundara has gone, huh? So Śyāmasundara was going to purchase our things. So rice practically not available, nice quality. Dahl also not. The butter is available, milk is available, and meat, as much as you like. And no fruits, no vegetables. It was very difficult for the vegetarians. And still, that is everything. He had to spend two hours for bringing milk and butter and little rice. So everything is controlled. What I was speaking?

Sri Caitanya-caritamrta Lectures

Lecture on CC Adi-lila 1.7 -- Mayapur, March 31, 1975:

This Kṣīrodakaśāyī Viṣṇu is the person who is situated in everyone's, every living being's, heart. Īśvaraḥ sarva-bhūtānāṁ hṛd-deśe 'rjuna tiṣṭhati (BG 18.61). That īśvara, antaryāmī, who is existing in everyone's heart, that is Kṣīrodakaśāyī Viṣṇu. Not only within the heart of all living entities, but He is within the atom also. Aṇḍāntara-stha-paramāṇu-cayā... Paramāṇu. Paramāṇu means atom. In this way Viṣṇu expansion are there. It is inconceivable for us, but by the grace of Kṛṣṇa, we can partially understand from the description of the śāstras. Otherwise we cannot imagine how these things can happen, but it happens. We have to accept. Śāstra-cakṣuṣaḥ. We have to see through the pages of śāstra. Otherwise it is not possible. So if we want to know Viṣṇu-tattva, if we want to know Kṛṣṇa, His exalted position, then here are the description of the śāstra, and if we take them as it is, without malinterpretation, without showing any extraordinary intelligence by us... It is not possible. We have to accept. Therefore the injunction is that you accept the statement of the śāstras. That is... Bhagavad-gītā also said, yaḥ śāstra-vidhim utsṛjya vartate-kāma-kārataḥ: (BG 16.23) "If you do not follow the description of the śāstra and if you manufacture something," then na siddhiṁ sa avāpnoti, "then you'll never get perfection."

Lecture on CC Adi-lila 1.10 -- Mayapur, April 3, 1975:

So this is the process of creation, that the Garbhodakaśāyī, here, Kāraṇodakaśāyī Viṣṇu, from His breathing, He created from the breathing, from the pores of the body, He created innumerable universes, and in each and every universe He entered again. And entering there, He produced a lotus flower. Within the stem of that lotus flower there are so many planets. Just see the gigantic lotus stem. These are to be known from the śāstra. You cannot imagine how the creation takes place, huge creation. That sort of explanation—"There was a chunk, and it exploded"—no, these are not explanation. Here is the explanation, in the śāstra. Śāstra cakṣuṣāt. You have to see by your śāstric eyes, not your limited, speculative eyes. That will not help us. Such gigantic business... You are a tiny soul. Your brain is very small. You cannot imagine the process of creation by your sporadic thoughts. That is not possible. So the creation means that first of all the universes are created through the breathing period of Kāraṇodakaśāyī Viṣṇu. Then in each and every universe He enters as Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu, and He creates... Half of the universe is filled up with water. The water came from His perspiration, and then He lies down there. Then He creates the lotus flower. And upon the lotus flower, a Brahmā is first-born. This is creation.

Lecture on CC Adi-lila 7.3 -- Mayapur, March 3, 1974:

So, as Kṛṣṇa expands Himself by His omnipotencies... Parāsya śaktir vividhaiva śrūyate (Cc. Madhya 13.65, purport). Kṛṣṇa has got multi-potencies. We cannot imagine. Inconceivable potencies. So the whole universe is manifestation of His potencies. Śakti parinambha (?). Ekasthāne sthitasyagner jyotsnā. Parasya brahmaṇaḥ śaktir tathedam akhilaṁ jagat. This is said in the Viṣṇu Purāṇa. Just like the fire. We have got this lamp, it is situated in one place, but the light and heat are expanding. Similarly, Kṛṣṇa is situated in His own abode, which is known as Goloka Vṛndāvana. Goloka eva nivasaty akhilātma-bhūtaḥ (Bs. 5.37). This is the statement of Brahma-saṁhitā. He is situated in His own place, own abode, known as Goloka Vṛndāvana, but He is expanding Himself, akhilātma-bhūtaḥ. Everywhere He is present. Aṇḍāntara-stha-paramāṇu-cayāntara-sthaṁ govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi (Bs. 5.35). He has expanded Himself by His energies. Just like heat and light, the energy of fire expands. It is very easy to understand. Similarly the energies, multi-energies... Not only one, but multi-energies. Parāsya śaktir vividhaiva śrūyate (Cc. Madhya 13.65, purport). So His energies are acting so nicely, that everything is coming in front as if automatically done. But it is not automatically done. This is foolishness.

Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 20.121-124 -- New York, November 25, 1966:

So Lord Caitanya says, "Because people in general, by the influence of the illusory energy, they have forgotten their eternal relationship with the Supreme Lord, therefore the Lord Himself, as Kṛṣṇa-dvaipāyana Vyāsa..." Kṛṣṇa-dvaipāyana Vyāsa is considered to be a powerful incarnation of Kṛṣṇa. Unless he was a, he was an incarnation, it was not possible to write so many books. There are eighteen Purāṇas and four Vedas and 108 Upaniṣads, and Vedānta, then Mahābhārata, then Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Each of them contains thousands and thousands and millions of verses. So we cannot imagine that a man can write in that way. You see. So Veda-vyāsa is considered to be incarnation of Kṛṣṇa, and he was very powerful in writing. In the Mahābhārata itself is so many, so big book. And there are... Each Purāṇa contains thousands and thousands of verses. So these are his gifts. So Kṛṣṇa, means Kṛṣṇa-dvaipāyana Vyāsa, he... Because sādhu, sādhu, those who are saintly persons, they're always thinking of the miseries of the people in general. They are not meditating for their own purpose. They are writing books. They are thinking how to establish them in such a way so that they can properly utilize the human form of life. That is their business, sādhu.

Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 20.152-154 -- New York, December 5, 1966:

So as we have seen that Lord Caitanya, when He instructs, He gives at once evidence from authoritative scripture, that is the way of presenting. Always you should remember that we cannot imagine about God: "I think God is like this." This is nonsense. You have no thinking power. You are under the grip of material nature. He is pulling. The material nature is pulling you by the ear, just like this. Prakṛteḥ kriyamāṇāni guṇaiḥ karmāṇi sarvaśaḥ (BG 3.27). You are being acted, influenced. Just like the same example: You are thrown in the Atlantic Ocean. You have no power. By the waves you will have to work. The waves are tossing this way and that way. You are simply struggling. That's all. So how we can think independently within the tossing of Atlantic Ocean? This is all nonsense. So we cannot imagine, we cannot concoct, about God. We have to hear from authoritative scripture, authoritative version. Then we will understand.

Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 20.391-405 -- New York, January 2, 1967:

So he cleared out one question which is generally discussed about the character of Kṛṣṇa because He enjoyed these rāsa-līlā pastimes at dead of night, He played on His flute and all the gopīs of Vṛndāvana, they came into the forest and they had the rāsa dance. So Mahārāja Parīkṣit, or King Parīkṣit, inquired to his teacher, Śukadeva Goswami, that Kṛṣṇa is on this earth, He appeared on this earth for paritrāṇāya sādhūnāṁ vināśāya ca duṣkṛtām, dharma saṁsthāpanārthāya... Dharma saṁsthāpanārthāya (BG 4.8), just to establish the process of religiosity. And India at least, still, the Vedic principle is that a, a lady or a girl who is especially married, or unmarried, she cannot mix with any other men. So that is against religious principles. So this question was raised that these girls who were already married, how they went to Kṛṣṇa for dancing with Him, and how Kṛṣṇa allowed them to dance with Him, because against religious principles. This question was raised by Parīkṣit Mahārāja. Of course, you cannot imagine that a girl going to a friend and dancing with him, that is not against religious principles. But according to Vedic principles, this is irreligious.

Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 22.31-33 -- New York, January 16, 1967:

So this māyā cannot approach to a person who is always engaged in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. This is the version of Lord Caitanya, and with evidences. So if we want to be free from the clutches of māyā, then this is the only path—to become Kṛṣṇa conscious. There is no other means. Because here it is clearly stated, kṛṣṇa sūrya-sama. Just try to understand the argument. Kṛṣṇa sūrya-sama: Kṛṣṇa is just like sun. Māyā andhakāra: and the māyā is just like darkness. It is darkness. So just you cannot imagine where there is sunshine there can be darkness. Similarly, Kṛṣṇa is just like sun; how can you imagine that Kṛṣṇa and māyā can exist together? No. That is not possible. If there is māyā, there is no Kṛṣṇa. And if there is Kṛṣṇa, there is no māyā. This is the test. If we are still in māyā, that means I'm out of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. And if I am actually in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, there is no existence of māyā. And what is the symptom of māyā? Mamāham: "My country, my society, my father, my mother, my wife, my children, my property, my position, my, my, my." There is no end of "my," although nothing belongs to him. This is called māyā.

Sri Brahma-samhita Lectures

Lecture on Brahma-samhita, Verse 35 -- New York, July 31, 1971:

We cannot imagine, we cannot see even atoms with your naked eyes. Unless six atoms combine together, you cannot see. One atom we cannot see. Paramāṇu, aṇu paramāṇu. If six paramāṇu combines in, one becomes atom. There are so minute divisions. So, aṇḍāntara-stha-paramāṇu-cayāntara-sthaṁ govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi (Bs. 5.35). So we worship... Brahmā says tam ahaṁ bhajāmi. I am worshiping that Supreme Personality of Godhead, and we are disciplic succession from Brahmā. Therefore our process is to follow the footsteps of ācāryas. Ācāryopāsanam, in the Bhagavad-gītā it is said, for making progress in knowledge, one has to worship ācārya, ācāryopāsanam. So by paramparā system we follow. How Govinda enters, that doesn't matter. We do not bother about that thing. That is not our business. How Govinda enters in the atom, that is not our business. Our ācārya says, aṇḍāntara-stha-paramāṇu-cayāntara-stham, He enters. We accept, that's all.

Festival Lectures

His Divine Grace Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Gosvami Prabhupada's Appearance Day, Evening -- Gorakhpur, February 15, 1971:

They have got nothing to give. They simply come here to beg." Actually, our ministers go there and, for some begging purpose: "Give us rice, give us wheat, give us money, give us soldiers." That is their business. But this movement, for the first time, India is giving something to them. It is not a begging propaganda; it is giving propaganda. Because they are hankering after this substance, Kṛṣṇa consciousness. They have enjoyed enough of this material consciousness. The material consciousness means to enjoy sex life and drink and have sufficient money. These three items, they have got sufficient, immense. There are... So far material comforts, oh, there is no conception in India how they are materially comfortable. Their roads, their cars, their machines... You cannot imagine how American roads are there. There are freeways. In America, there are freeways: without any stoppage you can run your car in seventy mile speed, and four cars going up and four cars going down. And road just like velvet. (laughter)

Arrival Addresses and Talks

Arrival Address -- Los Angeles, February 9, 1975:

It is all stated there. So Kṛṣṇa can be understood only by devotional service, by no other. You cannot speculate, "Kṛṣṇa may be like this." Just like Māyāvādīs, they imagine. The imagination will not help you. You cannot imagine God. That is foolishness. God is not subjected to your imagination. Then He is not God. Why He should be subjected to your imagination? So these things are to be understood properly, and one can understand properly when he's pure devotee. Otherwise not. Nāhaṁ prakāśaḥ sarvasya yoga-māyā-samāvṛtāḥ: (BG 7.25) "I am not exposed to everyone." Why He should be exposed to everyone? When He's pleased, He will reveal Himself to you. Sevonmukhe hi jihvādau svayam eva sphuraty adaḥ (Brs. 1.2.234). You cannot ask the sun to appear immediately. When he is pleased, he will appear in the morning. Similarly, you have to please Kṛṣṇa so that He will appear before you and talk with you and bless you.

Initiation Lectures

Initiation Lecture -- San Francisco, March 10, 1968:

These four things are paraphernalia of your civilization. In the western... Not only western, eastern, everywhere. The Kali-yuga is spreading very rapidly, and wherever the Kali-yuga is very prominent, these four items are very prominent: unrestricted sex life, gambling, and meat-eating, and intoxication. When people become practiced to all this nonsense, they think, "Oh, what is wrong there?" But it is the most abominable part of human civilization. Anyone who are indulging in these four things, they cannot imagine where is he and how he will be free from this conditional life. So this is the purificatory process. So as you are being initiated, initiation means beginning of your purificatory process. So if we are serious about purification, then we must follow these four principles, if you want to be cured.

General Lectures

Lecture -- New Vrindaban, June 7, 1969:

So vivasvān manave prāha manur ikṣvākave 'bravīt: "And Manu spoke to his son, Ikṣvāku." Evaṁ paramparā-prāptam (BG 4.2). In this way, by disciplic succession, either from the father to the son or from the spiritual master to the disciple, this knowledge is coming. Just like you know your forefather's name—suppose the grandfather of your grandfather. How do you know? By the paramparā system. Your grandfather's grandfather was known to his son, then his son, then his son, then his son, then your father, then you are. You cannot know directly; you have to know by the step. Similarly, you have to know the previous personalities by this paramparā, disciplic succession. You cannot speculate how is your grandfather's grandfather. You have to hear from your father or grandfather. That is the process. Similarly, you cannot imagine what is God. You have to hear from the disciplic succession who is coming from God. Then you will understand what is God. So that is the personal understanding of God.

Lecture -- Tokyo, April 20, 1972:

Vaiṣṇava, devotee of Lord, can give you everything, whatever you desire, fulfilled, because a Vaiṣṇava can deliver Kṛṣṇa. So when Kṛṣṇa is achieved, so there is no more any desire. Just like Dhruva Mahārāja. He underwent severe austerities, penances, meditation. His purpose was that "When I shall see God, Nārāyaṇa, I shall take benediction that I must have a kingdom better than my father or my grandfather achieved." That was his determination. Because he was a child, so his stepmother refused to allow him to sit on the lap of his father. He became insulted, so he decided that "I shall take from Kṛṣṇa such a kingdom which even my father or grandfather could not imagine." It is childish determination, but it was a determination. He was a kṣatriya. His determination... And Kṛṣṇa fulfilled it. But from his part, when he saw Kṛṣṇa, Nārāyaṇa, he said, svāmin kṛtārtho 'smi varaṁ na yāce: "My dear Lord, I don't want anything. I have got You now." Svāmin kṛtārtho 'smi varaṁ na yāce (CC Madhya 22.42).

Lecture -- Jakarta, February 27, 1973:

He has got enough money because He's worshiped by the goddess of fortune. His business, coming down on this planet: to reestablish the religious principles. Dharma-saṁsthāpanārthāya. And what is that religious principle? The religious principle is not man-made. Just like we have manufactured so many religious principles: this is Hindu dharma, this is Muslim dharma, this is Christian dharma, and this is this, this is that. So many. Kṛṣṇa does not come to reestablish the principles of this man-made religion. No. He has nothing to do. Because they are manufactured, concocted by imperfect men, they are not religious principles. The religious system means, dharmaṁ tu sākṣād bhagavat-praṇītam (SB 6.3.19). Religion means the principles which is given by God Himself. That is religion. You cannot imagine. Just like I have already explained. You cannot make law at home, that "I am a big man. I make my own law." That you can do. You may go on amongst some of your friends or your servants, but that law will not be accepted by everyone. But the law given by God, that will be accepted by everyone. Just like law given by the state government is accepted by everyone. So religion means dharmaṁ tu sākṣād bhagavat-praṇītam. The principles of religion means which is given by God.

Sunday Feast Lecture -- Atlanta, March 2, 1975:

So we cannot imagine what is the potential power, energy of the Supreme Person, just like we cannot estimate what is the temperature of the sun globe, sun-god. It is in our front. We have got aeroplanes. We can go there. But before going there we will be finished, the temperature is so high. Everyone knows it. So if the ordinary sun-god or sun globe is such high temperature, how much higher temperature is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, His potency, His power. We say God is almighty, all-powerful, but we have no idea what is meant by "all-powerful." We think that all-powerful means "I am so much powerful. He may be ten times powerful than me." Or somebody says, "twenty times." "All right, let us compromise. Fifty times." (laughter) This kind of speculation is like the frog's speculation within the well. There is a frog within the well, and one of his friends came to him, "My dear friend, I have seen a vast mass of water, Atlantic Ocean." "What is that Atlantic Ocean?" "It is vast." "How much? Maybe ten times more than this? Or twenty times? Come on." (laughter)

Philosophy Discussions

Philosophy Discussion on Hegel:
Prabhupāda: No, there... He has no knowledge of religion. Religion means imagining pure, not pure thought. Religion means the order coming from the most pure. That is religion. You, you cannot imagine. Your imagination... Imagination (indistinct) best thing. But if you receive the best thing directly from the most pure, that is religion. Just like we are receiving directly from the most pure Kṛṣṇa. He says, man-manā bhava mad-bhakto mad-yājī māṁ namaskuru (BG 18.65). That is religion. That is religion, he is directly receiving the orders from the most pure, Kṛṣṇa. He is not imagining. It is not imagination.
Philosophy Discussion on Charles Darwin:

Śyāmasundara: Well, they found bones...

Prabhupāda: Bones, that's all right. There are many... We also say from the Vedic śāstra there is fish, timiṅgila, which can swallow up big, big whales, you see. That is also very big. And there is Varāha incarnation, He picked up the whole earth on the tusk. How much big the Varāha animal was to show that it can pick up the whole earth, earthly planet just like a ball. He cannot imagine such big animals.

Śyāmasundara: But my point is they excavated down into the ground and they found that gradually, through the years, animals are evolving towards more and more complex forms, from very simple forms in the water to land animals, plants, and these big dinosaurs, then they died out.

Prabhupāda: If they died out, that means there is no more existence of that animal. But how can you say that the animal is existing somewhere else? Now, according to his statement that from a certain basic principle, by gradual evolution, the human body is coming. Now his theory is that the human body is coming from the monkey.

Philosophy Discussion on Carl Gustav Jung:

Hayagrīva: ...composed of the conscious and the subconscious, the sub..., can never be fully known by the individual, but it does have individuality.

Prabhupāda: That individual, I, I know that I am individual person, I have got my own ideas, my own activities. Where is the difficulty? Simply it has to be purified. Sarvopādhi-vinirmuktam (CC Madhya 19.170). I am identifying with America or India or Hindu or Muslim or this or that. This should be purified. I should identify with Kṛṣṇa, that "I am only servant of Kṛṣṇa and devotees." Then I am purified.

Hayagrīva: He did... He speaks of the soul in this way. He says, "If the human soul is anything, it must be of unimaginable complexity and diversity, so that it cannot possibly be approached through a mere psychology of instinct."

Prabhupāda: That he does not know. As soon as we train ourself, that just like Caitanya Mahāprabhu said, "I am not a brāhmaṇa, I am not a kṣatriya, I am not a śūdra, I am not a sannyāsī, I am not brahmacārī." By negation. "I am not, I am not, I am not." Then what is your actual? That gopī-bhartuḥ kamalayor dāsa-dāsānu: (CC Madhya 13.80) "I am the servant of the servant of the servant of the maintainer of gopīs." That means Kṛṣṇa. "That is my real identification." So I have, so long we do not identify as the eternal servant of Kṛṣṇa, there will be so many varieties of identification, and bhakti, devotional service, means to become purified from all this false identification.

Philosophy Discussion on Bertrand Russell:

Śyāmasundara: So for each fact there is..., it's also composed of several other facts...

Prabhupāda: Actually, as we say, that anti-matter are fixed up in (indistinct). I say anti-matter is spirit. That spirit soul is very small, keśāgra-śata-bhāgasya: (CC Madhya 19.140) the tip of the hair divided into ten thousand parts. So it is unimaginable by the modern scientist. Therefore the ultimate smallest part is the spirit soul, spark, part and parcel of the Supreme Spirit. Therefore we have to take the knowledge from Vedas. That is the perfect (indistinct).

Śyāmasundara: He says there are two types of logical atoms—the sense data and universals. And this problem, he saw, of the difference between the crude data of the senses and the things as understood by physical sciences. So he divided these into two types of knowledge. The knowledge of sense data is the immediate knowledge by acquaintance with something, and the knowledge of physical science is that knowledge derived from things, or inferred, by description from things. And he says the example of the first type of knowledge...

Prabhupāda: This knowledge, what is that?

Devotee: Inference.

Philosophy Discussion on Johann Gottlieb Fichte:

Prabhupāda: But that is..., that requires little brain. Those who are less intelligent or those practically no brain, simply cow dung, for them it is little difficult. Therefore this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is to cleanse this cow dung and make the brain pure. Then he will understand. Otherwise he is thinking God, "A person like me." But God is not like that. God is goloka eva nivasaty akhilātma-bhūto (Bs. 5.37). He is person. He is in Vṛndāvana, Goloka Vṛndāvana, He is dancing with gopīs, playing with the cowherd boys—still He is everywhere. Not that "Now I am dancing I have no time to go everywhere." That is not. He may be engaged in dancing, but still He is everywhere, īśvaraḥ sarva-bhūtānāṁ hṛd-de... (BG 18.61). Now if He is in Goloka Vṛndāvana only, a person like us, then how He can say that patraṁ puṣpaṁ phalaṁ toyaṁ yo me bhaktyā (BG 9.26)? We are offering some dates to Kṛṣṇa, so He is in Goloka Vṛndāvana, He may say, "I am now busy. How can I go to your temple and eat?" No. He is also temple, in the temple also. That is God. He is everywhere. Goloka eva nivasaty akhilātma-bhūto (Bs. 5.37). This is definition, akhilātma-bhūto. So he has no conception of God. He cannot imagine God. He must take the understanding... (break) ...because they have no standard knowledge. Everyone is manufacturing, so then there must be difference, because everyone is imperfect. You propose something imperfect, I propose something imperfect, so there must be disagreement.

Philosophy Discussion on Socrates:

Hayagrīva: And so in teaching this he was teaching something radically different, and this is one of the reasons that he was condemned to death—for blaspheming the demigods, for blaspheming the gods. He felt that the worship of these gods did not lead to self-realization at all.

Prabhupāda: Yes. That's a fact. That is confirmed in the Bhagavad-gītā: kāmais tais tair hṛta-jñānāḥ tyajante anya-devatāḥ (BG 7.20). They worship other demigods, being too much lusty. Because the demigod is worshiped for some material benefit. So they have been described as hṛta-jñānāḥ. Hṛta-jñānāḥ means one who has lost his intelligence. Actually it is so. Suppose by worshiping a demigod, Sarasvatī, the goddess of learning, so you get the opportunity of being a, becoming a very nice scholar. But how long you shall remain scholar? As soon as the body is finished, your whole scholarship is finished. Then you have to accept another body, and you have to act according to that body. So how you have..., this scholarship will help you? But if you worship God, as Kṛṣṇa says, that janma karma ca me divyaṁ yo jānāti tattvataḥ... (BG 4.9). To worship God means to know God, actually what is God, more perfect—how He is managing, how material nature is working under Him. People cannot even imagine that God can be person, but here is everything person. Mayādhyakṣeṇa prakṛtiḥ sūyate sa-carācaram: (BG 9.10) "Under My supervision the material nature is working." So these impersonalists or less intelligent persons, they cannot understand that how a person can dictate the wonderful activities of the material nature; therefore they remain impersonalist. But actually, person. That is the understanding of Bhagavad-gītā. God is person. Mattaḥ parataraṁ nānyat kiñcid asti dhanañjaya: (BG 7.7) "There is no more superior authority than Me." So when He says mattaḥ, that means there is a person, person.

Page Title:Cannot imagine (Lectures)
Compiler:Visnu Murti, Mayapur
Created:25 of Mar, 2012
Totals by Section:BG=0, SB=0, CC=0, OB=0, Lec=90, Con=0, Let=0
No. of Quotes:90