Spiritual affair means that... We are in this material world. We are suffering. When the question will come in one's mind, "Why I am suffering?" that is spiritual. Just like an animal is being taken to the slaughterhouse. He cannot inquire, "Why I am being taken to the slaughterhouse?" But if a man is being taken forcibly, he'll protest; he will cry; he'll call crowd. Therefore human being can inquire about spiritual affair. So when there is spiritual inquiry, then one requires a guru. And by going to guru, as it is stated, tad viddhi praṇipātena paripraśnena sevayā (BG 4.34). One has to learn by surrendering, praṇipāta. So first of all there must be a strong impulse to inquire about the transcendental subject matter. Then one requires a guru. Not that, to follow a fashion, that one has guru. Ācāryavān puruṣo veda. Unless one becomes under the control of ācārya, he has no perfect knowledge.
Crowd (Lectures)
Lectures
Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures
Wherever he will go, thousands and thousands of people will gather and will loudly speak, "Mahatma Gandhi kī jaya." Even at dead of night, at twelve o'clock of night, he is passing through a train, and if the train is stopped at the middle station, people will get information and gather, "Mahatma Gandhi kī jaya." So I have seen personally. When he was going through some crowd, he was closing, capping his ears like this. His brain was being unnecessarily taxed with this sound, "Mahatma Gandhi kī jaya." People thought that they were glorifying Mahatma Gandhi, but Mahatma Gandhi was being killed by that voice.
So this is the... Just like you know. There is a English proverb, "What is play to you is death to me." So that is the position here. Even if you are glorified, still, you cannot enjoy. You cannot enjoy. Anything, any position. Because this wrong conception of bodily existence is a diseased form of my constitution, so I cannot enjoy. Now, a patient who is suffering from some disease, he is unable to enjoy, but if he forcibly enjoys, then his life becomes risky. He becomes more implicated.
These things dog does not know, or a cow does not know, or an ass does not know, or the animal does not know. Similarly, if we do not know beyond this body, then you are no better than animal, sa eva go-kharaḥ (SB 10.84.13). So if you analyze the whole population, you will find that we are simply a crowd or assembly of so many animals, that's all. This is fact, because they not know beyond this body. So you cannot expect any peace and prosperity in the animal society. That is not possible. The animals, by nature they can not live in peace. They are always in fighting. Just like children. Although they live together, but they will fight. They will fight. So the world is trying to have peace and prosperity, but they want to keep themself as animal. So, therefore it is, conclusion is, that there cannot be any peace and prosperity in this status of social constitution.
We do not know. Because we are foolish, we are trying to adjust these things. That is our foolishness. We should...
Just like in a railway carriage. You are being transported from one place. Suppose it is crowded. So instead of adjusting the crowd, better tolerate for few hours and get down and go to your destination. Similarly, we may have many dangerous spots in this material life, but if we are preparing ourselves for going back to Kṛṣṇa in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, then these things will be not cared for. Let them happen. Āgamāpāyinaḥ anityās tāṁs titikṣasva bhārata. They come and go. Let them happen. The bombing was not for all the days. All right, let them take place for few hours or few days. We have to adjust like that. But it is very difficult to adjust. But one who is situated in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, he is not disturbed. He is not disturbed. That is the technique of not being disturbed. The more we advance in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, we become free from this material entanglement.
Madhudviṣa: Prabhupāda, when we're out on saṅkīrtana, chanting, what would be the best way for us to engage the crowd to become participants in the chant with us? What would be the best of...
Prabhupāda: Best way you go on chanting. Your business is not to, I mean to say, satisfy the crowd. Your business is satisfy Kṛṣṇa, and then crowd will be automatically satisfied. We are not going to please the crowd. We are going to give them something, Kṛṣṇa. So you should be very much careful whether you are delivering Kṛṣṇa in the right way. Then they'll be satisfied. Your only business should be to satisfy Kṛṣṇa. Then everything will be satisfied. Tasmin tuṣṭe jagat tuṣṭa. If Kṛṣṇa is satisfied, then whole world is satisfied. If you pour water on the root, then it is automatically distributed in every parts of the tree. So Kṛṣṇa is the big tree, root of the big tree, and you take to watering Kṛṣṇa, chant Hare Kṛṣṇa and follow the rules and regulation, everything will be all right. Now, yes, any questions?
Wealth, strength, and then fame. If a man is very famous, just take any famous man of the world, if he comes in this room, oh, thousands of people will come here. When Gandhi was alive I read one news from the newspaper in India that in some Italian city, there was great crowd, innumerable people gathered in the station. And nobody could understand why these people are assembled here. So when they are asked, they replied that, "We have heard that Gandhi is coming here." Mahatma Gandhi, perhaps you heard his name. He was very famous man, politician. So actually the news they are published that one, there was one Mr. Glandi. So he was coming. And people misunderstood as Gandhi. So my point is that a famous man also attracts. These things are attraction, richness, wealth, and strength, and famous, fame.
Then beauty. Beauty also attracts. If a man is beautiful, or a woman is beautiful, oh, many man or woman are after them, beautiful. Any beautiful, not only man or woman. Any beautiful flower, any beautiful picture, anything beautiful, that attracts.
Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures
They say, "They are nice people, and we want more of them." At least, they are saying like that. Yes. "These Hare Krishna people, they are very nice, and we want more of them." And in Berkeley, when our procession was taken, the neighboring shopkeepers, they remarked that "These people are not window-breaking crowd." Because as soon as there is some crowd, or procession, immediately they begin to break the windows and throw stones. That is, that has become a custom. So when they see that these people are very peaceful... Even the police, they also give certificate that "We don't have to take much worries to control this crowd," when our Ratha-yātrā festival go.
So actually, this is the fact. Yasyāsti bhaktir bhagavaty akiñcanā sarvair guṇais tatra samāsate surāḥ (SB 5.18.12). If one develops Kṛṣṇa consciousness, devotion to Kṛṣṇa, then naturally, without any separate endeavor, all the good qualities will develop. This is the symptom how one is advancing in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. That means all the good qualities will be visible in his character. That is practical. Anyone can test.
And they are expecting peace. Nonsense. Where is peace? First of all educate them to become sinless. Then you talk of peace. There cannot be peace.
So these two brothers were creating disturbance in the, on the street, and there was a crowd. Lord Nityānanda saw the crowd and inquired from persons, "What is this crowd?" Lord Nityānanda and Haridāsa Ṭhākura were out for preaching. So people informed that "There are two brothers, most sinful, and they are creating disturbance. So there is crowd." So immediately Nityānanda Prabhu said, "Why not deliver these two brothers immediately? Then it will be a great credit for Caitanya Mahāprabhu." This is preacher. He is thinking the credit of the master, not for himself. He risks his life. And the Jagāi-Mādhāi brothers hurt Him on the head by throwing a stone. So blood also came out, but still, they said "All right, it is all right. You have hurt Me. Blood is oozing out. That doesn't matter. You chant Hare Kṛṣṇa." That is preaching. Not that I remain safety and chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa. No.
So Caitanya Mahāprabhu was informed that "The Chand Kazi has warned us not to chant Hare Kṛṣṇa. What shall we do?" Caitanya Mahāprabhu said, "Don't care. Go on chanting. Go on chanting." So then, when the magistrate saw that they have not stopped, then he sent some constables and government police force, who broke their mṛdaṅgas and dispersed the crowd. So this information was given to Caitanya Mahāprabhu, and He said, "All right, then we shall, I mean to say, issue this civil disobedience." So He called for many thousands of people. He was very popular. This incidence shows that even He was at that time sixteen-years-old boy, He was so learned, Nimāi Paṇḍita, that He defeated a great scholar, and at the same time, He was very popular because by His simple calling, many hundred thousands of people gathered with mṛdaṅgas, and they began kīrtana in the street and went to the house of that Kazi.
So there is no scarcity. Simply one has to take shelter of him. That's all. Just like Caitanya Mahāprabhu's mission is to create this canvasser. "Go everywhere." Āmāra ājñāya guru hañā tāra' ei deśa (CC Madhya 7.128). "Go." He used to send Nityānanda Prabhu, Haridāsa Ṭhākura and, to canvass, "Please chant Hare Kṛṣṇa. Please chant Hare Kṛṣṇa. Please surrender to Kṛṣṇa." Also there was a crowd on the street. Nityānanda Prabhu and Haridāsa Ṭhākura saw, and they asked, "What is this crowd?" "No, there are two brothers, Jagāi and Mādhāi, very troublesome. They are drunkards, woman-hunters and meat-eaters, and they are, create always trouble." So Nityānanda Prabhu immediately decided, "Why not deliver these persons first? Then My Lord's name will be glorified. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu's name will be glorified."
This is the business of the disciple, how to glorify the spiritual master, paramparā. I glorify my spiritual master, you glorify your spiritual master. If we simply do that, glorify, then Kṛṣṇa is glorified. That was the decision of Nityānanda Prabhu, that "Why not deliver these fallen souls first?"
There are many rivers, all very nice water. In the Western countries I have seen only one river very nice, in Montreal. What is that river? St. Lawrence, yes. All other rivers I have seen, they are very unclean, especially in Moscow, Hamburg. Oh, it is so dirty. So in India the rivers are very clean, and people take pleasure in taking bath in rivers. If there is river, nobody will take bath at home. They will go all to the river. And it is very refreshing. That you know. So this example is very nice, that if you go to the river, then your all purposes are served. But in the village, they are restricted that "This well is for this purpose, this well is this purpose." It may be crowded. You have to wait for the opportunity. But the river is open. You can go there and have your business done very nicely.
"This much mine. Why (they) are interfering in my business? There must be fight." This illusion is going on. But we do not belong to any one of them. It is temporary. Just like in a railway compartment, if there is some crowd, somebody fights, "Why... Why... Why you have pushed me? Why you have taken my seat?" And there is very big fight. And somebody tolerates that "I shall sit here for two hours or for three hours. Why shall I fight?" This is one mentality. And another mentality is that he knows that for the two hours or three hours or some other hours he'll remain in that compartment, but there is fight, because ahaṁ mameti (SB 5.5.8). But two hours' seat, he's thinking, "It is my permanent seat. Why you should intrude upon my seat?"
This is going on. Nobody will be allowed to stay here in this material world. He will have to change the body, his position. Duḥkhālayam aśāśvatam (BG 8.15).
Acyutānanda: "When a person dies, his soul will take another body? Then why is the population today increasing?"
Prabhupāda: Because they are blocked-up, bottle-necked. They are not going back to home, back to Godhead. Therefore it is crowded. (laughter)
Acyutānanda: "Why does Kṛṣṇa allow us to commit mistakes and later punishes us?"
Prabhupāda: That is His mercy. You want to do something bad, Kṛṣṇa says, "Don't do it," but if you want to do it at your risk, Kṛṣṇa allows, "All right, do it, and suffer yourself." Kṛṣṇa says, sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja (BG 18.66). He does not say anything. But if you want to do something else, do it at your risk. That's all right. Chant Hare Kṛṣṇa.
If one is not Vaiṣṇava, don't be liberal, that "Oh, what is the wrong? He is talking Bhāgavatam." But he does not know who can speak Bhāgavatam. Here in Vṛndāvana there is a big Māyāvādī sannyāsī. He speaks on Bhāgavatam and speaks all nonsense, but there is a big crowd go to hear him. Yes.
So Māyāvādīs are attractive. They are very educated. They can put things in jugglery of words. That capacity they have got. So people become amazed, and almost everyone... So therefore they are not very much pleased with this movement, that "Kṛṣṇa is God." We are preaching, and all full of Māyāvādīs, they are thinking, "What this nonsense is doing? Kṛṣṇa..." They think Kṛṣṇa is māyā. Viṣṇu-kalevara māyā. Kṛṣṇa says, mattaḥ parataraṁ nānyat kiñcid asti dhanañjaya (BG 7.7). Avajānanti māṁ mūḍhā manuṣīṁ tanum āśritaḥ (BG 9.11). Ahaṁ sarvasya prabhavo mattaḥ sarvaṁ pravartate (BG 10.8). Repeatedly He is saying what He is, and He is personally present and all the ācāryas confirming. Even Śaṅkarācārya, he also says sa bhagavān svayaṁ kṛṣṇa.
Nityānanda Prabhu, He is... Hā hā prabhu nityānanda, premānanda sukhī, kṛpābalokana koro, āmi boro duḥkhī. Nityānanda means... Nitya means eternally; ānanda means happy. So Nityānanda has no unhappiness, but He was passing on the street, there was a crowd, and Nityānanda Prabhu inquired, "Why there is so much crowd?" So somebody informed that "There are two brothers, Jagāi and Mādhāi, and they are very fallen souls, although they were born in brāhmaṇa family, very nice, rich family. But being addicted to drinking and prostitution, they have become now rogues, thieves, this way. So they are disturbing the whole neighborhood." So Nityānanda Prabhu considered, "So these two brothers are so fallen? So why not deliver them first?" This is Nityānanda Prabhu. "Then My Lord..." Nityānanda Prabhu considered Caitanya Mahāprabhu as His master. So "My master's name will be famous. Because the master's propaganda is 'Chant Hare Kṛṣṇa,' so if I can induce these two brothers to chant Hare Kṛṣṇa, they will be saved. So why not try?"
They take, "All right, you are selling Back to Godhead. You must come police custody." So our are not punishable although doing the same thing. This is judgment.
Then the animals, they are also working hard day and night for their necessities of life. But if an animal steals something from your house or takes some eatables, he is not punishable. India you will find in the bazaars. There is crowd, and the cows enter there, and they eat the vegetables to their heart's content. But he is not punishable. Still the cow is not punishable. But if a man takes one potato without the permission, he is punishable. So the animals are not punishable. All the lawbooks are meant for the men, for the human being, not for the animals. Just like in your country the police law is: "Keep to the right your car." But if a animal goes, keep to the left, it is not punishable. So everyone not punishable. Then again, human being, all of them, not punishable. Those who are criminals, those who have violated laws, they are punishable. So therefore this question is "Whether and how they are punishable? What is dharma, and what is adharma?
So this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is opening so many centers just to give people opportunity to hear. To hear. So I am very glad that this church... This was a church, and nobody was coming here, and therefore it was sold to us. Now... You are all belonging to America, Los Angeles, and the church also was there. Now why it is crowded? It is not that you are imported from India to hear about Kṛṣṇa. (laughter) So if there is substance, they will hear. If there is no substance, who will hear? That is the difference. So substance is here. Ataeva kṛṣṇa veda-purāṇa karila. You hear these Vedas and Purāṇas and make your life successful.
They become captivated. He does not know "What he has given me? Two rasagullā. Say, two annas, or four annas at most." So, but they become captivated: "Oh, here is a yogi. He can manufacture immediately." In Calcutta I was passing in a street, Cornwallis Street, and there was some crowd, and I entered that crowd, long ago, when I was young man. So I saw that he was a Muhammadan (indistinct). He was giving everyone some pieces of grass, straw. So he gave me one. So I saw it is raisin, kismis. You see? So I immediate threw it away and went away. So some yogi can show. He'll press his beads, and there milk will come. So there are so many yogic fantasies. But that does not mean that he knows God. Or a great philosopher like Dr. Radhakrishnan, that does not mean he knows God.
Therefore Brahma-saṁhitā says, advaitam acyutam anādim ananta-rūpam ādyam purāṇa-puruṣaṁ nava-yauvanaṁ ca vedeṣu durlabha (Bs. 5.33). Simply by Vedic knowledge it is very difficult to understand what is Govinda.
Just like Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Caitanya Mahāprabhu, just you saw in Benares. Not that all the men who joined the procession, they were all good men. From materialist's point of view... But this Caitanya Mahāprabhu is so kind, thousand of men joined Caitanya and they danced. Dhīrādhīra. Not that in the crowd only selected devotees were there. No. Most of them, ninety-nine percent all nondevotees. Similarly, in your country you have seen. That Caitanya Mahāprabhu statue attracted so many people in Berkeley.
Dhīrādhīra-jana-priyau. So Caitanya Mahāprabhu and His servant, they are dear both to the sober and rascals. Dhīrādhīra-jana-priyau. Because in their mind there is no such discrimination that "Here is a rascal. I shall not talk to him," or "Here is only good man. I shall talk to him." No. Nityānanda Prabhu, He first of all selected, "Oh, here is Jagāi-Mādhāi. All right, first..., My first business is with them," and delivered them.
Sri Caitanya-caritamrta Lectures
So how one can exhibit Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Mahāprabhu, that is... By His personal example Nityānanda Prabhu has given us lesson. When Caitanya Mahāprabhu was sending His devotees to preach and Nityānanda Prabhu was doing that, He used to go with Haridāsa Ṭhākura to preach on the street, home to home. So when they saw there was a big crowd on the street, so Nityānanda Prabhu inquired from the people, "Why there is so many people assembled?" He was informed that "There are two gundas, rogues. They are creating some trouble." The gundas, their business is to create trouble, that's all. Every one of us we know, especially at the present moment in Bengal. Yes. This is due to lack of preaching of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Nityānanda Prabhu is not given the chance. Nityānanda Prabhu is very eager to preach, but He's not given chance. Actually, those who are proud of becoming descendants of Nityānanda Prabhu... In Bengal there is a family, they say that they are descendants from Nityānanda Prabhu.
And altogether, there are five thousand temples in a small city like Vṛndāvana, and thousands of men go to see the Deities in every temple almost every day, and especially during the four months Śravaṇa, Bhādra, Āśvina, Kārttika: July, in July, August, September, October. So Vṛndāvana is always crowded by many pilgrims, and anyone who goes there, immediately he feels spiritual consciousness, especially nowadays.
So the Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava especially... Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava means the followers of... (break) ...Mahāprabhu. There are four Vaiṣṇava sampradāya originally: from Lord Brahmā, Brahmā-sampradāya; and from Lord Śiva, Rudra-sampradāya; and from goddess of fortune, Lakṣmī, Śrī-sampradāya; and from the catuḥ-sana, four kinds of sanas, Sanat Kumāra, Sananda, like that. So the four sampradāya is coming from time immemorial. So we belong to the Brahmā sampradāya, the Gauḍīya-sampradāya. Sampradāya means just like there are political parties, but their aim is to develop the country, nation's interest, although.
So many thousands of people gathered before His house, and they wanted to see Him, but due to the crowd, some of them could not enter into the house. Then,
- prabhu yabe yā'na viśveśvara-daraśane
- lakṣa lakṣa loka āsi' mile sei sthāne
But Caitanya Mahāprabhu used to go to the temple of Viśveśvara. At Benares, the most famous temple is Viśveśvara, Lord Śiva's temple. Because this place, Benares, is the place of Lord Śiva. Just like Vṛndāvana is the place of Lord Kṛṣṇa, Ayodhyā is the place of Lord Rāma, so there are different places in India. So Benares is the place of Lord Śiva, and he's known there as Viśveśvara. It is very old city, Kāśī—the real name is Kāśī—and it is coming from the Satya-yuga. It is not new city. It is very old city. Satya-yuga. Mahārāja Hariścandra, he was the king of this, and Hariścandra happens to be previous to Lord Rāmacandra. So it is very old city. Viśveśvara sthāne.
So Caitanya Mahāprabhu's special feature, as you see in the picture, He would simply raise His hands and ask anybody to chant Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa. And people will, in the crowd, they will also respond to Lord Caitanya. So in this way, at Benares He was enjoying.
- bāhu tuli' prabhu bale—bala hari hari
- hari-dhvāṇī kare loka svarga-martya bhari'
And the sound of "Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hari bol," that become... According... There are two slogans. One Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa. And another, short, is Hari bol, Hari bol. You can practice also that. Hari bol.
Puṣṭa Kṛṣṇa: Many people have brought dakṣiṇā and things like that. Should they bring now?
Prabhupāda: When they want to do?
Puṣṭa Kṛṣṇa: I was thinking that maybe they could do... It was a little bit too crowded for everyone to come up earlier. Perhaps we could have a kīrtana and I could ask those devotees who brought some offering to bring them.
Prabhupāda: As you say.
That is Lord Caitanya. Lord Caitanya was very fair complexion, nice looking. So kṛṣṇa-varṇaṁ tviṣā. Tviṣā, by complexion, He is not Kṛṣṇa, but He is Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa-varṇam tviṣākṛṣṇam and sāṅgo 'pāṅgāstra-pārṣadam. And He is associated by His confidential, I mean to say, devotees. You'll find Lord Caitanya always crowded by His devotees, always. His dancing mood—you have seen the picture. Special associates, that Advaita, Gadādhara, Nityānanda. So that incarnation, who is Kṛṣṇa, but His color, His complexion, is not black, but He is associated with devotees... And the process of worshiping that incarnation is to chant Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare.
So in this yuga, this Kali-yuga, incarnation is Lord Caitanya, and the process of worship is this sound vibration. That is mentioned. In every avatāra, every incarnation... Just like Lord Buddha. His name is also mentioned. And there will be another incarnation, Kalki. That is also mentioned.
Sri Brahma-samhita Lectures
Let us go there." So they fly. Āhāra: eating. As we go to office... In your, this New York City, thousands of people are coming from other islands by the ferry boat, waiting for the bus, going to the office. What is the purpose? The purpose is, "Where is food?" The birds are also going. You have made ferry boat and nice—so many not nice—very nice. It is crowded always. But you have to come. For your bread, you have to go fifty miles, forty miles. But the birds are free to fly from tree to another tree without any bus, without any ferry boat.
So the problem—eating, sleeping, mating—these problems are there amongst the living entities other than human being. Other than human being, they're many. If you take a census of the living entities in different categories, how many human beings are there in this city, how many sparrows are there, how many pigeons are there, how many dogs are there, how many trees are there, how many insects are there—they're all living entities—the number of other-than—human-being will be far, far greater.
Festival Lectures
Prabhupāda: Jagannātha svāmī nayana-pathagāmī bhavatu me. (crowd repeats) Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/ Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare. (crowd repeats) Thank you very much. Ladies and Gentlemen, I thank you very much for your kindly participating in this great Ratha-yatra festival. I have already explained what is this Ratha-yatra festival. It is in commemoration of a grand visit by Lord Kṛṣṇa along with His elder brother, Balarāma, and His younger sister, Subhadrā, in a solar eclipse ceremony at Kurukṣetra. This occasion is the subject matter of this Ratha-yatra festival. Apart from these historical references in the matter of Ratha-yatra festival, there is another spiritual meaning, that the Lord is situated in everyone's heart, and this body is just like ratha, or car.
This is our process. We are not very violent pushing. Now, you see our procession came, so many, for three hours. There was no violence. And the police department of your country, they very much appreciate because they have got experience whenever there is some procession, there is violence. "Window-breaking crowd," they say. But these people are not win-breaking crowd. So this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement... You have already accepted it, this movement, your so many young men. So we request. This is another occasion to invite you. So our only request is that you chant Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra, and you will feel very much happy. There will be no anxiety. And then you can do your work. It doesn't matter what you are doing. But chanting of this Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra will make you more and more happy, free from material anxieties, and if we continue this process, then everything will be clearly understood about spiritual life, and very easily we shall be able to go back to home, back to Godhead.
Arrival Addresses and Talks
There is Kṛṣṇa consciousness... (babies crying) Otherwise how it is happening that this place was a church and nobody was coming, so much so that they had to sell it to others? We purchased it. When I first came here to see this church, there was nobody. The place is the same. The people is the same. I have not brought men from India. Why it is crowded now? This is the proof that in everyone's heart Kṛṣṇa consciousness is there. Nitya-siddha kṛṣṇa-bhakti sādhya kabhu naya. It is not artificial way of taking something sentimentally. Otherwise how in my absence all these boys and girls are maintaining the status quo very nicely? I am very glad. That is required. This is the proof that in everyone's heart there is Kṛṣṇa consciousness.
Prabhupāda: "Window-breaking."
Brahmānanda: Yes, violent.
Prabhupāda: "Window-breaking crowd." We are not that. (break) Let them have this O'Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Brahmānanda: Yes, O'Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Prabhupāda: Suggest the establishment manager.
Śrī Govinda: That's the name of the airport,
Prabhupāda: What is that?
Brahmānanda: He said the name of the airport is...
Prabhupāda: Oh. O'Hare? (pronouncing as in Hare Kṛṣṇa)
Initiation Lectures
Yes. Very good. And in Vṛndāvana, when Kīrtanānanda was given sannyāsa, he was looking so nice with this dress and daṇḍa, oh, practically all the devotees of Vṛndāvana came to offer him respect. Yes. On Janmāṣṭamī day I offered him sannyāsa. So many devotees came to see in the temple. So there was a big crowd. He was looking very nice. Caitanya Mahāprabhu was also very fair-complexioned. So with this dress, persons with fair complexion looks very nice, very attractive. People are not attracted with this dress in kīrtana party? (laughs) This bare head with tilaka and this dress, they will know that they are coming from, directly from the kingdom of God. (laughs) Actually it is so. They have forgotten God; otherwise they would have received these brahmacārīs so nicely. In India, oh, you'll be received just like gods with this dress. Hundreds and thousands of people will come to receive you. Yes. That is sufficient. (kīrtana) So how Bīrabhadra is feeling? (Bīrabhadra answers?) He has got pains in the body?
General Lectures
First of all, to practice yoga, you have to find out a very secret and sacred place. Yogī yuñjīta satatam ātmānaṁ rahasi sthitaḥ. Rahasi means in a secluded place. Yoga practice cannot be done, haṭha-yoga system, as it is prescribed, aṣṭāṅga-yoga, the eight divisional yoga system, that cannot be practiced in assembly or in a crowded place or in a class. But Bhagavad-gītā says that yogī yuñjīta satatam ātmānaṁ rahasi sthitaḥ. Rahasi sthitaḥ means in a secluded place. Ekākī. Ekākī means alone. Ekākī yata-cittātmā, "controlling the senses and mind." Nirāśīḥ, "without any material desire," aparigrahaḥ, "or taking some help from others." Not that "I shall teach you yoga system by some monetary exchange." This is not yoga system. Aparigrahaḥ. Aparigrahaḥ means one should not expect something from others for learning or manifesting or exhibiting yoga system. Then not only he has to remain alone in a secluded place, but śucau deśe. Śucau deśe means a very sacred place. Pratiṣṭhāpya sthiram āsanam ātmānaḥ. One should have his own sitting place.
Now we shall have to find out why our happiness has been disturbed so that life after life, we are searching after happiness but we are becoming frustrated. That is our business, not to make the temporary place very comfortable.
Just like when you go to your office but you find the bus too much crowded. But you are not happy. Because the bus is too crowded, you have to stand, or very..., with difficulty you have to stand. You don't like that. But because you have to go to the office, you tolerate. You tolerate. "First my business is to go to office, attend at the time. What can be done? Let me suffer this." Similarly, if you are serious about your business, that seriousness can be understood in this human form of life. The animals cannot understand. The animals, they are taken to slaughterhouse, and one said... If one animal enters, all the animals will enter. They do not know. Even they know that "We are going to be slaughtered," they have no means to protest or to go out.
So the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement, we are not manufacturing anything. We simply place it that here is Kṛṣṇa, you are searching after God.
When I first went to America, they were speaking that God is dead. Even church, in the church, the priest in the church, they were sermoning that God is dead. But when I began chanting in the Tompkinson Square alone underneath a tree, Hare Kṛṣṇa Hare Kṛṣṇa, these boys and girls began to assemble. So next day there was a big publicity in a paper with my picture and all this crowd that they say that "We thought God is dead, but here we see the Swamiji has brought God again in his kīrtana, in his chanting." They admitted. The New York published in all their papers. So God cannot be dead. Not that everyone can be God. God is one, and that is Kṛṣṇa.
Prabhupāda: Ladies and Gentlemen. I thank you very much for your coming here and participating in this great movement known as Kṛṣṇa consciousness, or Hare Kṛṣṇa movement. This Hare Kṛṣṇa movement was started five hundred years ago by Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu in a, a place which is now known as Nadia. It is a district in West Bengal, about sixty miles north of Calcutta. Lord Caitanya appeared there about four hundred and eighty-five years ago, and He took sannyāsa. Sannyāsa means renounced order of life. According to Vedic civilization, at the end of one's life, one has to take sannyāsa, renounced order of life, no family connection. Caitanya Mahāprabhu, at very early age... He was only twenty-four years old, and He had at His home very nice, young wife and very affectionate mother, but still... (someone in crowd starts yelling)
So we are giving opportunity to everyone to hear about Kṛṣṇa. Of course, in your country it is new. But in our country, in India, still although India is fallen in so many ways, still, if there is some bhāgavata discourses, throngs of people, crowds will come there. We are holding bhāgavata discourses in Calcutta, Bombay, Delhi, Madras, Jaipur, big, big cities. So in Calcutta and Bombay we saw thirty thousand people were daily attending, continually, for ten days. Similarly in Bombay. So although there is propaganda in India to forget Kṛṣṇa consciousness, but how they can forget? They're born in a land where Kṛṣṇa appeared. They cannot forget. They have been given the opportunity, took birth in India. That is also due to pious activities. But unfortunately they are being forced to be dragged. I do not wish to discuss this point. But Kṛṣṇa is for everyone. It is not that Kṛṣṇa is for Indians or for the Hindus or for... No. Kṛṣṇa is for everyone. So within your country, this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is started since 1966 from New York, and gradually we are having more and more students and branches. So kindly continue this habit. Simply hear about Kṛṣṇa; then Kṛṣṇa will help you. He is within your heart. He'll help you in every way.
And people take part in the Ratha-yātrā, not all my devotees, even outsiders. Ten to twelve thousand people attend, and we distribute prasādam to all of them. They feel very much obliged. And the newspaper writes that "People in general never felt such ecstasy as they are feeling in the Ratha-yātrā festival." And the police said that the crowd... In the Western country, as soon as there is some big crowd, there is some disturbance. So police were surprised that "This crowd is not window-breaking crowd." And next we introduced Ratha-yātrā in London, in the London, Trafalgar Square. That is the most famous square within the city. And there is a big column. It is called Nelson Column. So our ratha was so high that the Guardian paper, they criticized that "This Ratha-yātrā is rival to Nelson Column." Next we introduced Ratha-yātrā in Philadelphia, and this year we have introduced Ratha-yātrā in New York and.
Philosophy Discussions
Prabhupāda: Therefore everyone should depend on the supreme controller. That is called, technical language, it is called śaraṇāgati, full surrender. Full surrender. That is called śaraṇāgati.
Hayagrīva: He feels that the only thing that keeps modern man..., that will keep modern man from simply dissolving into the crowd is, he says, "We must ask, 'Have I any religious experience, an immediate relation to God and hence that certainty which will keep me as an individual from dissolving in the crowd of humanity?' " So one's relation with God assures one of one's individuality.
Prabhupāda: Yes. Everyone is individual. God is also individual. So one individual is subordinate to the chief individual. That is the Vedic version. Nityo nityānāṁ cetanaś cetanānām (Kaṭha Upaniṣad 2.2.13), God is also individual being, but He is the Supreme Being, and we are individual being, innumerable. So the difference is that the supreme living being is maintaining us, and we are being maintained.
| Page Title: | Crowd (Lectures) |
| Compiler: | Rishab, RupaManjari |
| Created: | 24 of May, 2011 |
| Totals by Section: | BG=0, SB=0, CC=0, OB=0, Lec=38, Con=0, Let=0 |
| No. of Quotes: | 38 |