Every step (Lectures)

Expressions researched:
"all steps" |"every step"

Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures

Lecture on BG 2.1 -- Ahmedabad, December 7, 1972:

Indian (2): ...the Pāṇḍavas. So if we do our work so perfect, we can't do it. Otherwise, we... So I am an imperfect devotee. But the question, you see, I was wondering ... all the worldly duties sincerely and honestly to our capacity pride is necessary or inevitable. "Oh, I'm a brāhmaṇa. I'm worshiping God." But pride is necessary that we must do in our own hand. I cannot.

Prabhupāda: Yes. If your life is so made that in every step you are feeling presence of Kṛṣṇa, then it is Kṛṣṇa consciousness. That is the first-class yoga, as it is confirmed by Kṛṣṇa:

yoginām api sarveṣāṁ

mad-gatenāntar-ātmanā

śraddhāvān bhajate yo māṁ

sa me yuktatamo mataḥ

(BG 6.47)

Just like these boys, they are being trained up to think of Kṛṣṇa twenty-four hours. Kīrtanīyaḥ sadā hariḥ (CC Adi 17.31). Just like we have constructed this pandal. Our business is to preach Kṛṣṇa. So the energy employed for constructing this temple, that is also Kṛṣṇa, that energy. Somebody is doing... Anything... Nirbandhaḥ kṛṣṇa-sambandhe yuktaṁ vairāgyam ucyate. If our activities are always dovetailed for Kṛṣṇa's satisfaction, that is called vairāgya. Vairāgya. A man is engaged in business. That's all right. But if the fruit of that business is made, is meant for Kṛṣṇa, then sva-karmaṇā tam abhyarcya (BG 18.46). That is sva-karmaṇā.

Lecture on BG 2.1-10 and Talk -- Los Angeles, November 25, 1968:

Prabhupāda: Yes, what is there?

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: "Now I am confused about duty and have lost all composure because of weakness. In this condition I am asking You to tell me clearly what is best for me. Now I am Your disciple and a soul surrendered unto You. Please instruct me (BG 2.7)." Purport. "By nature's own way, the complete system of material activities is a source of perplexity for everyone. In every step there is perplexity, and it behooves one therefore to approach a bona fide spiritual master who can give one the proper guidance for executing the purpose of life. All Vedic literatures advise us to approach a bona fide spiritual master to get free from the perplexities of life which happen without our desire. They appear like a forest fire which takes place without being set by anyone. Similarly, the world situation is such that perplexities of life automatically appear without our wanting such confusion. Nobody wants fire, and yet it takes place and we are perplexed. The Vedic wisdom therefore advises that in order to solve the perplexities of life and to understand the science of the solution one must approach a spiritual master who is in disciplic succession. A person with a bona fide spiritual master is supposed to know everything. One should not therefore remain in..."

Prabhupāda: This is a translation of a Vedic version, ācāryavān puruṣo veda. Ācāryavān, one who has ācārya as his guidance, he is supposed to know everything. Ācāryavān puruṣo veda. That is given there.

Lecture on BG 2.1-11 -- Johannesburg, October 17, 1975:

So when we become puzzled with these material affairs, what to do—to do or not to do, this is the example—at that time we must approach a guru. That is the instruction here, we see. Pṛcchāmi tvāṁ dharma-sammūḍha-cetāḥ. When we are bewildered, we do not distinguish what is religious and what is not religious, do not use our position properly. That is kārpaṇya-doṣopahata-svabhāvaḥ (BG 2.7). At that time there is need of guru. That is the Vedic instruction. Tad-vijñānārthaṁ sa gurum evābhigacchet śrotriyaṁ brahma-niṣṭham (MU 1.2.12). This is the duty. This is civilization, that we are meeting with so many problems of life. That is natural. In this material world the material world is problems of life. Padaṁ padaṁ yad vipadām (SB 10.14.58). Material world means in every step there is danger. That is material world. So therefore we should take guide from guru, from the teacher, from the spiritual master how to make progress, because this... That will be explained later on, that the goal of our life, at least in this human form of life, in the Aryan civilization, the goal of life is to understand our constitutional position, "What I am. What I am." If we do not understand "What I am," then I am equal to the cats and dogs. The dogs, cats, they do not know. They think that they are the body. That will be explained. So in such condition of life, when we are puzzled... Actually we are puzzled every moment. Therefore it is necessary one should approach to a proper guru.

Lecture on BG 2.7-11 -- New York, March 2, 1966:

To part. This parting, this parting is also... There is some meaning. When the parting is here, in the middle, then that girl has her husband and she is coming from respectable family. And if the, I mean to say, partition is here, then she is a prostitute. You see? A prostitute cannot... There was king's ruling that a prostitute cannot (laughs) part here. And then again, when a girl is well dressed, it should be considered that she has got her husband at home. And when she is not well dressed, then it should be understood that her husband is out of home. You see? And a widow's dress... There are so many. There are symptoms. So similarly, this thread, sacred thread, is a sign that this person has accepted somebody as his spiritual master. He has got his... Just like this red mark symbolizes that "This girl has her husband," similarly, this sacred thread is the symbol that "This man has got his spiritual master." So there is a ceremony. You see? So according to Vedic system, one has to accept a spiritual master in order to make a solution of his life. In every step of his life the spiritual master guides him. He also makes question to the spiritual master and he guides him so that he will, his life, his progress of life, may be systematic.

Lecture on BG 2.13 -- Public Lecture With German Translation Throughout -- Hamburg, September 10, 1969:

We are conditioned in every step by the laws of material nature. Still, foolishly, we are thinking we are free. This is foolishness. We are so much controlled by the material nature, exactly like a small child is pulled by the ear by his mother. "Come here." He comes here. "Go there," and goes. Just like a dog. A dog may feel very freedom, jumping. But as soon as the master says "Come here," he comes and immediately chained. This is our position. So that is our position, that we are completely under the clutches of material nature, and according to the modes of material nature, we are acting and changing our body in different species of life. So our real business in this human form of life is to get, try to accept the process by which we can get free from this conditioned life. The process is that we have to give up all our false consciousness. We are, under false consciousness, I am thinking, "I am Indian," you are thinking you are German, and the dog is thinking "I am dog," and cat is thinking "I am cat." So this bodily consciousness, bodily concept of life, will keep us conditioned within the material nature. Therefore our first business is how to get free from all these designations. Just like I am putting on this saffron cloth, but I am not saffron cloth. Or you are putting a red cloth or black coat, you are not that cloth. Within the coat, you are the person. Similarly, within the dress, I am the person. So at the present moment we are on the dress consciousness. "I am German dress," "I am Englishman dress," "I am Indian dress." "I am male dress," "I am female dress."

Lecture on BG 2.49-51 -- New York, April 5, 1966:

So the whole thing is that life should be molded, molded in such a way that in every step or action, we shall feel the presence of the Lord. That is spiritual life. That is spiritual life. You need not change your present occupation. Just like the example, this Singhania family, they do not change. They are doing just like ordinary... But they are always spiritually conscious. The aim is, aim is toward Kṛṣṇa. That is very nice example. It is very ordinary. Everyone will understand it. Now, suppose a man or woman is in love, and the man is a third person, beyond the husband of the wife, beyond the, of the woman. Now, it is a, it is a example given in scripture that the woman who is fallen in love, the woman of man with other woman, other man, opposite sex. So he may be engaged in so many duties, but his mind is always to that point when he or she will meet his lover. With all his duty, or her duties, during the daytime, she or he always thinks, "Oh, when that moment will come when we shall meet together?" That means the mind is always there. The example is said because when there is ecstasy, when there is ecstasy of love, even within our, within the midst of our multifarious duties, we can remember that thing always. Similarly, God consciousness, we shall have to mold our life in that way that in the midst of our very grave duties, serious duties, we shall always remember the Supreme, the Supreme, in every step. That discrimination, that much love, we have to develop. And therefore we require guide, how to develop. How to develop that, we require guide.

Lecture on BG 2.55-56 -- New York, April 19, 1966:

You can dovetail. Instead of thinking of that "I shall eat," if you think that "God shall eat," so your eating process will not be stopped. But that simply by thinking that God shall eat, you shall dovetail your desire with the Supreme. You will... God wants to eat from you, and you want to give Him eating. So your desire and God's desires is dovetailed. You become perfect. Similarly, in every step we can change our present activities, dovetailing our present consciousness, dovetailing with the supreme consciousness, and the result will be, if you go on practicing like that, then what will be the result? Now, the result is,

karma-jaṁ buddhi-yuktā hi

phalaṁ tyaktvā manīṣiṇaḥ

janma-bandha-vinirmuktāḥ

padaṁ gacchanty anāmayam

(BG 9.51)

If you practice in your life, while you are human being, you, if you utilize your life in that way, then at the end, when you give up this body, you go back to Godhead for eternal life, eternal bliss, eternal knowledge, and live happily, without any material miseries. That is the result. It is very difficult to dovetailing our consciousness with the supreme consciousness? Not at all. Not at all! No sane man will say that "It is very difficult problem. Oh, it is not possible." You eat. "Yes. Eh?" So God wants to eat something. Why don't you offer it first to God? Then you eat. "No. If God takes it away, then how shall I eat?" No, no, no. God will not take it. We are offering daily. After preparing our foodstuff, daily to Kṛṣṇa, there is witness, Mr. Paul. We offer Kṛṣṇa, but Kṛṣṇa does not take it. Whole thing, we eat. You see. He does not regard... He eats! But because His spiritual eating is such that even after His eating, the whole thing is there. Pūrṇasya pūrṇam ādāya pūrṇam evāvaśiṣyate (Īśo Invocation). So we shall not suffer a pinch if we dovetail our desires with the Supreme Lord. Simply we have to learn the art, how to dovetail. That's all. And some of the instances I have already cited to you... Just for the matter of eating.

Lecture on BG 4.3 -- Bombay, March 23, 1974:

So take to this Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa movement. It is very easy. Even a child can take part. You see. Those children, they are not born of brāhmaṇa family or this family or that family. Never mind. Because they are taking part in chanting and dancing, they are becoming purified. Every step of their dancing being noted, being noted. Ajñāta-sukṛti. Catur-vidhā bhajante mām. So it is a chance. We are opening these centers to give chance how to become purified, how to understand Kṛṣṇa. Then life is successful.

Lecture on BG 4.10 -- Bombay, March 30, 1974:

And everyone is busy. How to eat... You'll find in Bombay city so many restaurants. Every step a restaurant. Eating. That is going on. Every city, all over the world. Everywhere. Eating. And then sleeping. Nice apartment. And then defense measure. And then very happily have sexual intercourse. These are the demands.

So tapasya means to reduce these. That is tapasya. Tapasya... This is the general demand of the body, and if you want to be free from this material bondage, then you have to undergo tapasya. Tapasya means these demands of the body voluntarily reducing and coming to the point of nil. That is liberation. That is tapasya. Vīta-rāga-bhaya-krodhā man-mayā mām upāśritāḥ (BG 4.10). But here, very nicely Kṛṣṇa de... It can be, tapasya can be executed very easily if one becomes man-mayā, always thinking of Kṛṣṇa. Hare Kṛṣṇa Hare Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Hare Hare, Hare Rāma Hare Rāma Rāma Rāma Hare Hare. Man-mayā.

Lecture on BG 4.34-38 -- New York, August 17, 1966:

So this is another example of punishment. (laughter) We are also punished and they, for whom they are going, they are also punished. So we are all being punished. As we are making progress, as we are violating the law of nature, the law of God, we are being punished in every step. But due to ignorance, we do not know how we are being... We have been accustomed. We have been callous, "Oh, let us be punished. Go on. Go on like this. Go on." Oh, this is not human life. We must make a solution of this punishment. That is human life. Because I am put into jail, "All right, it is very good. Without working, I am getting three times food. Let me remain in the jail." Oh, that is not very intelligent question. You see. We must get out of the jail. So this material world is just like a prison house. We must get out of it. We must get our freedom, the absolute freedom, sac-cid-ānanda-vigraha (Bs. 5.1), full of knowledge, full of bliss and eternal. That is our mission. So this knowledge we must get. "Knowledge is the solution." This is the subject matter of our speech today, "Knowledge is the solution." This is knowledge, that everything belongs, it belongs to Kṛṣṇa, or God. We can use them as much as we like.

Lecture on BG 4.37-40 -- New York, August 21, 1966:

We are trying to go to the moon planet, but because there is no freedom, oh, we are failing in every step, although we are advertising in the paper, "Now it is two years more, two years more." The Russians began to sell land in the moon planet, that "In 1965 we shall go there." But 1965... It is going to 1967. Now they are silent about selling land in moon planet.

Lecture on BG 6.2-5 -- Los Angeles, February 14, 1969:

"Yoga ladder." Yoga ladder, it has been compared with a ladder. Just like steps in a big skyscraper house there are steps. So every step is a progress, that's a fact. So the whole stepladder may be called the yoga system. But one may be on the fifth step, another may be on the fiftieth step, another may be on the five hundredth step, and another may be on the top of the house. So although the whole ladder is called yoga system or stair case, but one who is on the fifth step, he cannot be equal with the person who is on the fiftieth step. Or one who is on the fiftieth step, he cannot be compared with the man who is on the five-hundredth step. Similarly, in the Bhagavad-gītā you'll find karma-yoga, jñāna-yoga, dhyāna-yoga, bhakti-yoga. It is stated with the name yoga. Because the whole yoga ladder is connected with the topmost floor. So every system is connected with God, Kṛṣṇa. But that does not mean every man is on the topmost floor. One who is on the topmost floor, he is to be understood in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Others, they are just like fifth or fiftieth or five-hundred, like that. The whole thing is called ladder.

Lecture on BG 6.21-27 -- New York, September 9, 1966:

So one who has taken shelter there, for him this great ocean of nescience is just like the water containing on the impression of calf leg. Of course, you have no experience. In India I have got experience because these calves and cows, they go on the pasturing ground, and in rainy season their hoofs makes holes, and in that hole there are some water. So that water... This great ocean is compared like that water. So nobody has any difficulty to cross over it. So bhavāmbudhir vatsa-padaṁ paraṁ padam: "And for them, those who have taken shelter of Kṛṣṇa consciousness, for them is waiting paraṁ padam, the supreme abode." Padaṁ padaṁ yad vipadāṁ na teṣām: (SB 10.14.58) "This place, wherein every step there is danger, this place is unfit for them." Padaṁ padaṁ yad vipadāṁ na teṣām. It is very nice. So yasmin sthito na duḥkhena guruṇāpi vicālyate (Bg. 6.20-23). If we are actually situated in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, under the shelter of Kṛṣṇa's lotus feet, then guruṇāpi duḥkhena, very heaviest type of danger may be before me—I shall not be disturbed. Or anyone who has taken the shelter like that, he will never be disturbed. He will never be disturbed.

Lecture on BG 6.40-43 -- New York, September 18, 1966:

We should finish this business in this life so that, according to Bhagavad-gītā, as it is said, tyaktvā dehaṁ punar janma naiti mām eti kaunteya: (BG 4.9) "Then, after leaving this body, then he does not take birth again in this material world, where janma-mṛtyu-jarā-vyādhi (BG 13.9), repeated birth, and death, diseases, are there, but he comes back to Me, Kṛṣṇa." Samāśritā ye pada-pallava-plavaṁ mahat-padaṁ puṇya-yaśo murāreḥ. Mahat-padaṁ puṇya-yaśo murāreḥ. Murāri. Murāri means Kṛṣṇa. One who takes shelter under the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa, then for him, this place, which is padaṁ padaṁ yad vipadāṁ na teṣām (SB 10.14.58), a place wherein every step there is danger... This material world is supposed that every step there is danger. Just see. What we are doing? Innocent, culturing some spiritual process, and there are so many complaints. Just see. We are not stealing. We are not, I mean to say, making propaganda for some political purpose, nothing. Innocent thing we are doing. But still, somebody comes forward and puts some dangerous position. You see? So this is such a place. Lord Jesus Christ, his only fault was that he was preaching God's message. He was crucified. You see? So these things are... This place is like that. Even if you are innocent, still, you'll be put into danger. Therefore this place should be avoided. Padaṁ padaṁ yad vipadām: "Every step there is danger."

Lecture on BG 7.1 -- Sydney, February 16, 1973:

So because Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu chanted these sixteen names—Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/ Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare—therefore we also follow the footprints of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu. We are also chanting the same Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra, and we shall request you also. There is no expenditure, there is no loss on your part, but if there is any gain, why don't you try it? That is our request. Chant Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/ Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare. This is the process for increasing your attachment for God and Kṛṣṇa. And as you increase your love... That is our real constitutional position, to love God. We are loving also, in this fallen state, but not God, all non-God or some pseudo God. But when we come to the real stage of loving God, then at that time our life becomes perfect, and it is said in the Brahma-saṁhitā, premāñjana cchurita-bhakti-vilocanena santaḥ sadaiva hṛdayeṣu vilokayanti (Bs. 5.38). When you develop your love of God, Kṛṣṇa, then you see God every moment, every step. Santaḥ sadaiva. Sadaiva means always. If you say, "Can you show me God?" there is no need of showing God. You qualify yourself, and God will be visible in every step of your life. Then your life will be successful.

Lecture on BG 7.3 -- Montreal, June 3, 1968:

That means even Arjuna was subjected to sinful activities. This world is so made that even if we do not want to be sinful, the circumstances is so made that we'll be obliged to commit sins. It is such a place. Therefore in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam it is stated that this place is padaṁ padaṁ yad vipadām. This material world is full of danger in every step. There is a very nice verse:

samāśritā ye pada-pallava-plavaṁ

mahat-padaṁ puṇya-yaśo murāreḥ

bhavāmbudhir vatsa-padaṁ paraṁ padaṁ

padaṁ padaṁ yad vipadāṁ na teṣām

(SB 10.14.58)

It is very nice poetry. Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, in every verse there is poetic genius. Now, you see in this verse, vatsa-padaṁ paraṁ padaṁ padaṁ padaṁ yad vipadāṁ na teṣām. The padaṁ padam. You see? Anuprāsa. What is called in English, the same word repeated?

Lecture on BG 7.3 -- Montreal, June 3, 1968:

Vatsa-padam means a, just a... You have no such experience. In India, in village, during rainy season the cows and the calf pass on the roads, and there is impression, and there is some water. That is called vatsa-padam, water in the pot or in the hole impressed by the hoof of the cow and calves. That water, anyone, such hundreds of water spot one can cross very easily. Similarly, if anyone takes shelter of the boat, the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa, for him this great ocean of nescience becomes just like vatsa-padam. That means very easily one can cross. And this place... Padaṁ padaṁ yad vipadām (SB 10.14.58). "This material world, where in every step there is danger, this place is not for them." For whom? "One who has taken shelter of the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa."

Lecture on BG 7.3 -- Montreal, June 3, 1968:

But unfortunately we take this ocean of nescience as very pleasant place. This is the spell of māyā. Where there is danger in every step, but we are thinking we are very happy, we are advancing in material civilization, and, as far as we can imagine, that we are very prosperous and everything. This is called māyā. He cannot appreciate that in every step there is danger in this material world. Take, for example, just like I am coming from Boston here by aeroplane. It is very nice discovery. But as soon as you get on the aeroplane, every second there is danger—because there is no guarantee. There is no guarantee. So similarly, we may crossing over the street... Oh, there is danger. Recently in Delhi one of our Godnephew, oh, he was crushed by motor accident, completely crushed. He fell down, and the motor car passed over him, and all the bones were crushed. I have received that letter. So we should know that this place is not at all safe. At any moment there is danger. Padaṁ padaṁ yad vipadām. Therefore in the Cāṇakya Paṇḍita's version it is said that "If you want to have spiritual realization, then you should always think that 'Death is coming, and danger is coming immediately.' " That should be our attitude.

Lecture on BG 7.7 -- Bombay, April 1, 1971:

So therefore our duty is to follow the instruction of Kṛṣṇa as it is given. So Kṛṣṇa says, praṇavaḥ sarva-vedeṣu. The oṁkāra, praṇava... oṁ tad viṣṇoḥ paramaṁ padaṁ sadā paśyanti sūrayaḥ. The Vedic mantras, oṁ bhagavate vāsudevāya namaḥ. This oṁkāra, this praṇava, is Kṛṣṇa. So anyone who is chanting the Vedic hymns, and as soon as he vibrates this sound, transcendental sound, om, here is Kṛṣṇa. So how we can avoid Kṛṣṇa? Simply we have to know. You have to purify your eyes. You have to purify your ears. You have to purify your hands. You have to purify your legs. In this way, when your senses are purified in every step, in every moment, you will see Kṛṣṇa, nothing but Kṛṣṇa. The purificatory process—just to purify the eyes. Kṛṣṇa is present before you in arcā-mūrti, arcāvatāra, nicely dressed by the devotees. Śrī-vigrahārādhana-nitya-nānā **. It is the duty of the devotee to decorate the śrī-vigraha, the form, transcendental form of Kṛṣṇa very nicely so that thousands of people may come in the temple and see Kṛṣṇa. And as you go on seeing Kṛṣṇa and your eyes become purified, then you will see Kṛṣṇa, how nice Kṛṣṇa is. Just like when Caitanya Mahāprabhu entered the Jagannātha temple, as soon as He saw Kṛṣṇa, immediately He fainted because His eyes were prepared to see Kṛṣṇa.

Lecture on BG 7.8 -- Bombay, February 23, 1974:

So there is no difficulty. And as soon as it is purified... Sevonmukhe hi jihvādau (Brs. 1.2.234). The purification... That is bhakti. Bhakti-mārga, devotional service means purifying the senses. That's all. The, at the present moment, our senses are covered by māyā, and this māyā can be moved away simply by remembering in every step Kṛṣṇa. Sevonmukhe hi jihvādau. That, that sevonmukha, that is the devotional service. Jihvādau. You simply engage your jihvā. Jihvā means tongue. The tasting is also tongue. Without tongue, you cannot taste. Therefore it is said, sevonmukhe hi jihvādau: "The beginning, beginning of purification, is to use your tongue in this devotional service." So our prescription is therefore that you use your tongue for chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra and employ your tongue for tasting Kṛṣṇa's prasādam. It is not at all difficult. There is no need of studying, mean, higher knowledge in the Vedic principle. That will auto, automatically will be revealed.

Lecture on BG 7.8 -- Bombay, February 23, 1974:

So it is very difficult for us to understand Kṛṣṇa. Ataḥ śrī-kṛṣṇa-nāmādi. I have already explained. Therefore we have to take advantage of this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement. And wherever there is a chance of hearing about Kṛṣṇa, we should take the opportunity. That is Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement. And learn from the... It is not our manufacture. Kṛṣṇa says. Learn how to become Kṛṣṇa conscious. Simply you try to understand Kṛṣṇa in every step of life. In every step of life. They will be all explained in this chapter, how you can perceive Kṛṣṇa. The beginning is tasting. Everyone drinks water or drinks something else. So try to taste the liquid, thinking that "This taste is Kṛṣṇa." You see in the morning the light of sunshine: "Here is Kṛṣṇa." In the evening you see the moonlight: "Here is Kṛṣṇa." There is sound always, especially in a city like Bombay. It is full of sound. So whenever you hear any kind of sound—sound is the vibration of the sky—you remember: "This sound is Kṛṣṇa." Śabdaḥ khe. And whenever you meet any person very exalted, very extraordinarily able, you understand that "This ability is Kṛṣṇa's mercy, vibhūti."

Lecture on BG 7.8-14 -- New York, October 2, 1966:

Now, Lord Kṛṣṇa is describing how you become Kṛṣṇa conscious fully, in every step of your life. This verse we have been discussing last day, that raso 'ham apsu kaunteya. Now, this glass of water, the taste, the juice of this water, is Kṛṣṇa. You cannot, when you are thirsty..., this water given by God; there is no other replacement. If somebody offers me, "Instead of water, you drink gold," no, this water is required. The taste of water is so nice that when I am thirsty, I require water. No manufacturer can create this taste of the water. Therefore, which is not possible to produce by any human being, that is God's.

Lecture on BG 7.8-14 -- New York, October 2, 1966:

There are nine different process of associating with God. The first, preliminary association is śravaṇam. Just like you are hearing. You are kindly hearing the speeches of Lord Kṛṣṇa. That means you are associating with Kṛṣṇa, or God. Always remember when we speak of Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa means God. So because we are hearing, we are associating with God. And as we are associating with God, then your material contamination is being reduced. Śṛṇvatāṁ sva-kathāḥ kṛṣṇaḥ puṇya-śravaṇa-kīrtanaḥ (SB 1.2.17). As you go on hearing, then the contamination which you have acquired in this material world, that is being reduced. So by the association of God in this way, by consciousness, that "Here is God, here is Kṛṣṇa. In sound there is Kṛṣṇa, in the taste of the water there is Kṛṣṇa, in the illumination there is Kṛṣṇa," so how you can avoid Kṛṣṇa? Every step you can remember Kṛṣṇa. And if you can remember in that way, then your association is permanent, twenty-four hours, your association with Kṛṣṇa.

Lecture on BG 7.8-14 -- New York, October 2, 1966:

This Kṛṣṇa consciousness should be spread. It is very easy. You drink water—Oh, you remember Kṛṣṇa. You hear something—Oh. Suppose there are... So many sounds are occurring in the street, but if you know that "This sound is Kṛṣṇa," then in every step you will feel Kṛṣṇa.

Then again He says,

puṇyo gandhaḥ pṛthivyāṁ ca

tejaś cāsmi vibhāvasau

jīvanaṁ sarva-bhūteṣu

tapaś cāsmi tapasviṣu

He is describing more elaborately. How is that? Now, puṇyo gandhaḥ pṛthivyāṁ ca. Puṇyo gandhaḥ means flavor, the flavor. Any flavor, that is Kṛṣṇa, that is God. You cannot create any flavor. Synthetically, we may create some scent, but that is not as good as natural scent. So that is... When you have a good flavor, you can remember, "Oh, here is God. Here is Kṛṣṇa." When there is some natural beauty, oh, you can understand, "Here is Kṛṣṇa." And when there is something uncommon, very powerful, wonderful, oh, you can understand, "Here is Kṛṣṇa." And when there is life, jīvanam... As long a tree lives, as long a man lives, as long as animal lives, so you understand, "This life, this life is part and parcel of Kṛṣṇa." As soon as the part and parcel of Kṛṣṇa, the spark, is taken away from that body, oh, everything goes. No meaning. So nice brain, we are acting—Sir Isaac Newton, Sir Jagadish Chandra Bose. But as soon as that small particle of Kṛṣṇa's part and parcel is removed from this body, no more Sir Isaac Newton working.

Lecture on BG 7.8-14 -- New York, October 2, 1966:

So jīvanaṁ sarva-bhūtānām: He is the life. He is the life. We can see in every step God. People say, "Can you show me God?" Yes. God is seen in so many ways. You just try to see. If you close your eyes, that "I shall not see God," then who can show you? But you can see God in every step. Jīvanaṁ sarva-bhūteṣu tapaś cāsmi tapasviṣu. Tapaś cāsmi, any kind of penance, any kind of perseverance, that is also God. Tapaś cāsmi tapasviṣu. Bījaṁ māṁ sarva-bhūtānāṁ viddhi pārtha sanātanam (BG 7.10). And bījam. Bījam means seed. The seed is sanātana, that is eternal. Sanātana means eternal. There is a gigantic tree, but what is the platform, what is the background of this gigantic tree seed? That small seed, that mustardlike grain, seed. That is the background of this large tree.

Lecture on BG 7.9 -- Vrndavana, August 15, 1974:

So Kṛṣṇa is describing how He is spread everywhere, in details. In the beginning, before this verse, He has mentioned in so many ways. So we can see Kṛṣṇa in every step and every moment. If we practice to see Kṛṣṇa, it is not difficult. Whenever there is fragrance... Just like rose flower, beauty and fragrance, you can immediately remember Kṛṣṇa, "Here is Kṛṣṇa." Simply we have to practice it.

So as soon as you remember Kṛṣṇa or you say or utter the word "Kṛṣṇa," immediately Kṛṣṇa contacts you. You are in contact with Kṛṣṇa immediately. And if you remain constantly in contact with Kṛṣṇa by studying all these details, then where is the lack of Kṛṣṇa consciousness? And if you remain always in that way, Kṛṣṇa conscious, then you are the topmost yogi. Yoginām api sarveṣām (BG 6.47). Very easy. It is not at all difficult. Simply you have to practice. As soon as there is nice fragrance, nice flower... In another place it is said that the nice flower, or any flower that is fructified, that is blooming, that is smiling, smiling of Kṛṣṇa. So you can see Kṛṣṇa smiling as soon as you see a flower.

So I do not know why they say, "Can you show me Kṛṣṇa?" Kṛṣṇa is showing Himself in so many ways. They will not take it. It is not at all difficult to see Kṛṣṇa every moment, in every step, if we study what Kṛṣṇa says: "I am," "This is." Puṇyo gandhaḥ pṛthivyāṁ ca. Everything is there. Now, within the earth, the every stock is there. The flavor of rose flower is there, and the flavor of some other flower is also there, but you cannot take out by your so-called scientific chemical process. You take some lump of earth and extract from it the flavor of rose. It is there. That is a fact. Because you sow the seed of a rose flower, it will exact the rose flavor from the earth. That's a fact.

Lecture on BG 7.11-16 -- New York, October 7, 1966:

So this is going on. Something misery are due to the body, something miserable due to the mind, something miserable due to the nature. All of a sudden, it becomes very cold. All of a sudden, it becomes very hot, warm. Nature. All of a sudden, there is great snowfall. All of sudden, there is earthquake. So many miseries, due to nature, due to body, due to mind, and due to other living entities. Oh, somebody attacks me with dagger. A tiger attacks me with his jaws. So many difficulties, miseries in every step. Padaṁ padaṁ yad vipadāṁ na teṣām (SB 10.14.58). So we should remember this. But due to the illusion, being covered by the illusion, we don't take account of these miseries. But we must remember that we are always in miseries. An intelligent person who is developed in consciousness, he inquires, "Why I am in miseries? I do not want miseries. Why I am in miseries?" When this question arises, then there is chance of becoming Kṛṣṇa conscious. You will find how one becomes, comes to Kṛṣṇa consciousness. You will find, later verses. Catur-vidhā bhajante māṁ sukṛtino 'rjuna.

Lecture on BG 7.11-16 -- New York, October 7, 1966:

So these kinds of people who are fool number one, impious, lowest of the mankind, and whose knowledge has been exploited by this illusory energy and who is atheistic, these people, they do not go to God. Now why mūḍha? Mūḍha means fool number one. Just like I explained that he is being kicked in every step; still, he is thinking that "Oh, I am very intelligent." This is a sign of fool number one. And narādhama, why narādhama, lowest of the mankind? Oh, because this human form of life is meant for recognizing our relationship with Kṛṣṇa, or God. This is an opportunity. In the life of cat or dog, oh, they cannot come here to understand what is spoken in the Bhagavad-gītā. Even they come, they cannot understand. First of all they will not come. But human being, it is made for human being. So if human being does not take advantage of this knowledge, any knowledge that will help him to rewake his forgotten relationship with the supreme father... That is called knowledge. So here is the book, the Supreme Personality of Godhead personally speaking. So if we do not take advantage of this knowledge, simply like cats and dogs we eat, sleep, and have sexual intercourse with the opposite sex, and die without taking advantage of the higher consciousness, developed consciousness, which have been given to us by the grace of Lord through the material energy... We have got intelligence, but if we misuse this intelligence, do not take advantage, then are we not the lowest of the mankind?

Lecture on BG 8.5 -- New York, October 26, 1966:

So difficulty may be there. We are in difficulties, this material life. But we have to come over. That is required. It is not that you cannot come over the difficulties. In every step of our life there are difficulties. The material life is like that. Padaṁ padaṁ yad vipadām (SB 10.14.58). In every step there is danger. It is a place like that. Even if you are comfortable in a nice car, you are going, oh, there may be any moment accident. Even you are sitting here, there may be accident. So difficulties, this world is full of difficulties. One who does not understand this difficult position, he's a fool. If one thinks that "I am very comfortable," then he's a fool. This is animal life, just as animal thinks, "Oh, I am very comfortable. I am very nice." And dissatisfaction is human life. He's not happy unless he gets the greatest happiness. That is human life. And if he thinks, "Yes, I am well off. I am very happy," then he is animal. Because there is no happiness here. Full of distress. Full of miseries. How he says that "I am happy"? That means he is ignorant. So difficulties are there. You have to work out. That is the problem.

Lecture on BG 8.22-27 -- New York, November 20, 1966:

So there is no rule, or hard-and-fast rule, for chanting. You just take to it as recommended by Kṛṣṇa here: sarveṣu kāleṣu—always, twenty-four hours. You'll be completely safe even in this dangerous position. You, you, you should always know that this material world is always dangerous position. Just like you started the peace movement. Why? You were thinking that danger is coming, danger is coming. Yes, at any moment, there may be danger of war declaration and all these innocent youths may be called to fight. So it is always, however you may think that "I am independent nation" and this and that, you should always remember that this material world is full of danger. It is a dangerous spot. Therefore, who are Kṛṣṇa conscious, who are devotee of Kṛṣṇa, for them, this dangerous place is not suitable. This dangerous... Padaṁ padaṁ yad vipadāṁ na teṣām (SB 10.14.58). Padaṁ padam. In every step there is danger. This place is not suitable for the devotees of the Lord. Padaṁ padaṁ yad vipadāṁ na teṣām. In the Bhāgavata... They are not meant for remaining this miserable, dangerous place. Yes.

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

So if we take, accept this, that "Whatever Kṛṣṇa is saying, it is perfect," this is called śraddadhānaḥ, faith. Without faith you cannot make any progress. In every action you must have faith. Just like if you go to a barber, you spread your neck like this and he is with a razor. He can immediately cut your throat. But because you have got faith—"No, this barber is honest. He'll not cut my throat. He'll cleanly shave..." So faith is required in every step. Without faith you cannot make step. Simply you have to find out the person that "He is worthy of keeping my faith." Here is Kṛṣṇa. He is accepted worthy of accepting His instruction. So take it very seriously. The Bhagavad-gītā is there. Then your life is successful.

Lecture on BG 9.11-14 -- New York, November 27, 1966:

Therefore the Kṛṣṇa conscious person, he knows that "Everything, whatever I have got, it is not my, under my control. The controller is different. I am feeling... I am simply using it. I am talking. This is my hand. I am working, but if the power of working is immediately withdrawn—it is paralyzed—have you got any power to revive this working power of this hand? No. You have not. One hand will work; another hand will stop. Who stops?" These things are to be thought. How can I deny? There is something. If I don't believe in God, but I must believe some power beyond me which is controlling me every step. Either call it God or anything, nature, but there is a controlling power. You have to admit. How can you deny it? Therefore anyone who denies the existence of God, he is a foolish man. He is not very intelligent man. No intelligent man will deny. So Kṛṣṇa says, avajānanti māṁ mūḍhā mānuṣīṁ tanum āśritam (BG 9.11). Kṛṣṇa is saying here, because He was present on this earth just like a human being with some supernatural power. But mostly, 99% of people, they could not recognize Him, could not recognize Him that He is the supreme power, Supreme Personality of Godhead. Paraṁ bhāvam ajānantaḥ. Because they have no eyes to see.

Lecture on BG 9.34 -- August 3, 1976, New Mayapur (French farm):

Just like we are here, we are given this planet to live, and there is this moon planet, we can see. And these rascals try to go there so many ways. They refused, "No, you cannot go." Live there, go. It is practical. We see the moon planet is there, we have got machine, we can go, but you cannot go. This is laws of nature. (laughter) This is laws of nature. This is practically proof. But they are so rascal, fool, they are going to another planet. They do not think with the one planet we have already failed (laughter). They are called punaḥ punaś carvita-carvaṇānām (SB 7.5.30)—chewing the chewed. They are being baffled every step, and still they are trying to overcome the laws of nature. This is their foolishness. Narādhama. Māyayāpahṛta-jñāna. Māyā is so strong upon them that their so-called scientific knowledge is useless. In 1958, when I wrote that book Easy Journey to Other Planets, I write in that book, those who have read it, that this moon planet is simply childish and waste of time. And actually it has proved.

Lecture on BG 10.3 -- New York, January 2, 1967:

Suppose I am proprietor of New York State, but still, I am different from New York State. These things are to be carefully analyzed. Those who are monists, they say, "everything one." How you can say one? How you can say one? In every step different. In every step different. This is dvaita-vāda, duality. So this philosophy of Lord Caitanya, that simultaneously one and different, that is the perfect philosophy. Nobody can say that we are completely different from God, and nobody can say we are completely one with God. We are both, one and different. These things are to be understood analytically like this, as it is explained here. This is understanding of Kṛṣṇa. If you try to understand Kṛṣṇa and your position in such nice analytical way from authoritative sources, then at once you become free from all sinful activities. This process.

Lecture on BG 13.6-7 -- Montreal, October 25, 1968:

Why Caitanya Mahāprabhu denied these social orders? Because He was to give immediately benefit to the fallen souls of this age. So He denied this system, not that He decried this system, but He knew that this system cannot be introduced strictly at the present moment in this age. So in this way, gradually, he presented jñāna-miśra-bhakti, devotional service with knowledge, renouncement of this material connection. In every step, Caitanya Mahāprabhu said, "Oh, this is not suitable. This is not suitable." Then at last... Not at last, in the middle, Rāmānanda Rāya suggested that jñāne prayāsam udapāsya namanta eva: "One should give up the false knowledge, false knowledge that 'I am God. I am God.' " This is false knowledge. So when this was recommended by Rāmānanda Rāya to Caitanya, that "One should give up this false knowledge..." Jñāne prayāsam udapāsya namanta eva. "One should be very meek and humble," namanta eva jīvanti, "and in that way if he lives," san-mukharitāṁ bhavadīya-vārtām, "and tries to receive knowledge from really self-realized persons..." The motto of life. He is describing the motto of life, that "One should not be falsely proud, one should be very much meek and humble, and try to receive knowledge from self-realized persons. If one continues, follows these principles, then one day he will find that God, who is ajita, who cannot be conquered by anyone, who cannot be known by anyone, God realization..."

Lecture on BG 13.26 -- Delhi, September 22, 1974:

So therefore, unless you come to Kṛṣṇa consciousness, whatever you are acting in your daily life, it is sinful. And you are becoming complicated, involved. This is the... Padaṁ padaṁ yad vipadām (SB 10.14.58). This world is so made that in every step you are creating some dangerous position. Padaṁ padaṁ yad vipadām. This material world is like that.

Lecture on BG 16.7 -- Tokyo, January 27, 1975:

The basic principle is to go forward in our spiritual understanding. That is the basic principle. We are suffering in this material world. We may say that "We have no suffering. It is very pleasing," but actually, in every step we are suffering. Just like this is winter season. To take bath in the winter season is suffering. And in the summer season, to take bath in the summer season, it is very pleasing. So either we are suffering or we are enjoying according to different season and circumstances, but actually we are suffering. Because... Take this winter season. We do not want chilly cold. Therefore we are covering. The cause is we are suffering. Therefore we are covering. And after covering, we are feeling some pleasure. This pleasure is, for the time being, absence of suffering. That's all. Actually, we are suffering, but by some arrangement, when we stop that suffering for the time being and feel, enjoying, that is material enjoyment. Actually there is no enjoyment. Because in the winter season by covering the body we are feeling pleased but in the summer season by covering the body we feel not pleased. So this is going on. So rejecting and... Why the same dress, warm dress, does not give us pleasure in the summer season? And the same dress, in the winter season it gives us pleasure. So we do not know whether dress is pleasing or suffering. Means sometimes it is pleasing and sometime it is displeasing.

Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures

Lecture on SB 1.2.3 -- London, August 24, 1971:

They do not know that there is escape. They think this is all. This is their education. They have no knowledge. Although they are suffering in every step, they are making plan in their own way within this material world. Just like the UNESCO and so many others, all nation attempts are there. They are planning within this... That is described in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam as carvita-carvaṇānām. Carvita means chewing the chewed. They see that our previous leaders, they also did like this; it was not successful. Still they are going on in different way. That is not the way. Actually, if you are really anxious to become free from the conditional life, then you have to take to adhyātma-śāstra. You have to take knowledge from spiritual sources.

Lecture on SB 1.2.6 -- Rome, May 24, 1974:

What is that question? There must be question. If one is actually seeking after spiritual realization, there must be intelligent question. The first intelligent question was put forward by Sanātana Gosvāmī, that ke āmi kene āmāya jāre tāpa-traya: "Sir, please let me know what is my identification, why I am put into this miserable condition of material life." People do not know it. Just like cats and dogs. The cat or the dog does not know that his life is very abominable. No, he is happy. This is māyā. Even the hog, he is also thinking, "I am very happy." This is called māyā, moha. Jīvasya moha, ahaṁ mameti (SB 5.5.8). So when human life is there, at least, one must be awakened to this consciousness, that actually "I am not happy." That is the beginning of human life, not to remain in darkness like cats and dog. He is unhappy in every respect, in every step, and still, he is thinking, "I am happy." Cats, dogs, hogs, their whole day working, day and night, and for some food, and sense gratification. This is the modern life. And that is happiness, become very busy whole day and night for getting some food for eating and something for sense gratification. This is happiness.

Lecture on SB 1.2.10 -- Bombay, December 28, 1972:

Kṛṣṇa therefore wants this submissiveness. Sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇam (BG 18.66). Just like we speak sometime to our disobedient son, "First of all you submit. Then I shall do whatever you are require." The same. We have to... Our, this material position is we are all puffed-up, unnecessarily. Although we are on the grip of material nature, we are very much puffed-up. Daivī hy eṣā guṇamāyī (BG 7.14). We are beaten every step, we are so beaten by the material nature, still I am thinking, "I am God." Every step. This position should be given up, and we have to become namanta eva, submissive. Then, becoming submissive, san-mukharitāṁ bhavadīya-vārtām, we have to hear about Kṛṣṇa from the Kṛṣṇa devotee, not from others, not from professional men, not from the impersonalists, even not from the yogi, but from the devotee, san-mukharitāṁ bhavadīya. Because they will misrepresent it. A devotee will not, never misrepresent. A devotee will say exactly what Kṛṣṇa says. He'll not adulterate. That is not his business. Therefore it is recommended that you should hear about the Supreme from the realized devotee. San-mukharitāṁ bhavadīya-vārtāṁ sthāne sthitāḥ śruti-gatāṁ tanu-vāṅ manobhir. You remain in your position. Remain in Calcutta, Bombay or any big city. Because nowadays, in this age is city life. No gentleman, no intelligent man lives in the village. So you remain there, but try to hear from the devotee about Kṛṣṇa.

Lecture on SB 1.2.17 -- San Francisco, March 25, 1967:

Kṛṣṇa, this sound, transcendental sound. Kṛṣṇa means the highest pleasure. Highest pleasure. Everyone, every living being, is seeking after pleasure, but he does not know how to seek pleasure. Therefore in this material conception of life we are being frustrated in every step for satisfying our pleasure. Because we have no information from which platform we can have pleasure. That we are discussing for the last few weeks, that we are not this body. We are consciousness. Not exactly consciousness. Consciousness is the symptom of my real identity. I am pure soul. I am merged within this material body... And the modern material science, they have no stress of it. Therefore they are sometimes misled about this understanding of the spirit soul. But the spirit soul is a fact. And everyone can understand by the presence of consciousness. Any child can understand. The consciousness is the symptom of the spirit soul. So the whole process now we are trying from the Bhagavad-gītā is to bring one to get him on the platform of consciousness. And if we act from the platform of consciousness, then we may not be pushed again into the platform of this bodily conception. And if we can continue that platform, if we continue to act on that platform of consciousness, then, at the end of this body, not even at the end of this body, even in the presence of this body, we shall be free. We shall be free from material contamination. Our spiritual life will be revived and the result will be that in our next life, next life, after leaving this body, we shall have our full spiritual life eternally.

Lecture on SB 1.3.29 -- Los Angeles, October 4, 1972:

In the Bhagavad-gītā it is said raso 'ham apsu kaunteya: (BG 7.8) "I am the taste of water." Now, you are drinking water hundreds times. So as soon as you taste water, how nice it is, you can immediately see God, Kṛṣṇa, "Oh, here is Kṛṣṇa. Here is Kṛṣṇa." So how do you say that "Can you show me Kṛṣṇa?" You can see. Here is the process. You adopt it. You taste water, and when you enjoy the taste, that taste is Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa says, "I am this taste." Then where is the difficulty to see Kṛṣṇa? There is no difficulty. The people say, "Can you show me God?" God is everywhere, in every moment, in every step. You do not like to see Him. That is the difficulty. Raso 'ham apsu kaunteya prabhāsmi śaśi-sūryayoḥ. "I am the sunshine and moonshine." Who has not seen sunshine? Everyone has seen. From the very morning, we see sunshine, and at night also, when there is darkness, there is no sun, we see moonshine. So sunshine, moonshine—Kṛṣṇa says, prabhāsmi śaśi-sūryayoḥ. So as soon as I see the sunshine and moonshine, I see God. What is the difficulty? Śabdaḥ khe. When there is some sound, rumbling sound in the sky, khe... Khe means sky. Kṛṣṇa says, "I am the sound." So as soon as you hear even the sound of airplane, that is also God. Puṇyo gandhaḥ pṛthivyāṁ ca. When you smell a nice flower, that smell is Kṛṣṇa. So you can remember immediately Kṛṣṇa.

Lecture on SB 1.5.32 -- Vrndavana, August 13, 1974:

By contact with Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu he could understand that "Although I am minister, although I am holding very high, exalted position, I am learned scholar in Sanskrit, Urdu, Parsi, but I am not happy." Therefore he approached Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Ke āmi kene āmāya jāre tāpa... He understands that "I am in the suffering." Suffering, everyone can understand. Why you are moving the fan? I am in suffering. But foolish people cannot understand. They think that I am enjoying. (laughter) Just see the example. Why I am moving the fan? Because I am suffering. Every step. Padaṁ padaṁ yad vipadām (SB 10.14.58). Every step danger, every step suffering.

But on being illusioned, moha... It is called moha. Janasya moho 'yam ahaṁ mameti (SB 5.5.8). "I am this. I am brāhmaṇa." "I am kṣatriya. I am American." Aham. False identification. "I am very strong, beautiful." "I am very ugly." "I am poor." "I am rich." Janasya moho 'yam ahaṁ mameti (SB 5.5.8). But you are none of these. You are simply servant of Kṛṣṇa. Jīvera svarūpa haya nitya-kṛṣṇa-dāsa (Cc. Madhya 20.108-109). This is happiness. Otherwise, in whichever way you identify... When they fail to identify with all this nonsense, then "I am God. I am Nārāyaṇa." This will not help. When one will understand that "I am servant, eternal servant of Kṛṣṇa..." This question was put by Sanātana Gosvāmī: ke āmi kene āmāya jāre tāpa-traya.

Lecture on SB 1.7.18 -- Vrndavana, September 15, 1976:

So we should not remain in māyā. We should remain always in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Then our life is successful. Otherwise we shall continue the life of darkness, uttamam. Udgata. Tama, darkness. You have to pass over this darkness. Padaṁ padaṁ yad vipadām (SB 10.14.58). Here in the dark... Just like in the darkness if you walk, in every step there is danger. Every step there is danger. Padaṁ padaṁ yad vipadām. If you want to avoid this dangerous life in darkness, then you must take to Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Kṛṣṇa-sūrya-sama; māyā haya andhakāra. Māyā is andhakāra. Yāhāṅ kṛṣṇa tāhāṅ nāhi māyāra adhikāra. The sūrya, as soon as there is sunshine, the darkness automatically goes away. So if you keep Kṛṣṇa always in view in your brain, within your heart... Sa vai manaḥ kṛṣṇa-padāravindayoḥ (SB 9.4.18). If you simply keep Kṛṣṇa within the heart... Man-manā bhava mad-bhaktaḥ. Kṛṣṇa says, man-manā bhava mad-bhaktaḥ. Then your life is success. Otherwise, in the darkness, there is always danger in every step. Padaṁ padaṁ yad vipadām.

Lecture on SB 1.7.24 -- Vrndavana, September 21, 1976:

If you want to go there then you have to qualify yourself. Not that because you have got a machine, you can go there. No. That is not possible. Therefore conditioned. Conditioned means you have to fulfill the condition. Just like from here if I want to go to America, then I have to fulfill the condition: the visa condition, the passport condition, the health condition, the custom condition—so many conditions. You cannot go immediately. Or nobody can come from there also. In every respect we are conditioned. Every respect. This body is conditioned. You cannot enjoy this body unconditionally. No. That is not possible. You have to change. Dehino 'smin yathā dehe kaumāraṁ yauvanaṁ jarā (BG 2.13). The body has to be changed. A baby has to be changed to become a boy. A boy has to be changed to become a young man. A young man has to be changed to an old man. You cannot stop that. Therefore it is called jīva-loka, conditioned. Every one of us is conditioned. An animal is conditioned. He cannot... There are so many animals in the jungles. They are conditioned. They cannot come in the city or in the town. We are conditioned. We cannot go to the jungle. Conditioned. Every step there is condition.

Lecture on SB 1.7.38-39 -- Vrndavana, September 30, 1976:

So here is Kṛṣṇa's direction. You take always Kṛṣṇa's direction, then that is bhakti, and you remain brahma-bhūyāya kalpate. (BG 14.26) You are always immune from the sinful reactions of this material world. It does not mean... You cannot manufacture. Actually you have to follow the orders of Kṛṣṇa. Just like Arjuna is being advised. You simply follow Kṛṣṇa. Not that whimsically he was going to punish Aśvatthāmā. Under direction of Kṛṣṇa. Similarly, in every step of your life, if you take Kṛṣṇa's direction or His representative's direction, then you are safe.

Lecture on SB 1.8.20 -- New York, April 12, 1973:

So here also she continues her humbleness. This humbleness is very good in devotional service. Therefore Caitanya, Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Mahāprabhu teaches us: tṛṇād api sunīcena taror api sahiṣṇunā. One should be tolerant than the trees and humbler than the grass to make progress in spiritual life. Because there will be so many disturbances. Because māyā... We are living... Just like if we are in the ocean. So you cannot expect very peaceful situation in the ocean. It must be always tilt, what is called, tiltering, tilting. Even, even a big ship, it is also not very fixed up position. At any moment there may be tumultuous waves. So in this material world you should always expect danger. You cannot expect very peaceful life within this material world. Padaṁ padaṁ yad vipadām (SB 10.14.58). Śāstra says in every step there is danger. But if you become a devotee, then you escape.

Lecture on SB 1.8.23 -- Mayapura, October 3, 1974:

So fact is that even Kuntī or Devakī, so intimately connected with Kṛṣṇa, but they had to face so many dangers, so what to speak of others? What to speak of others, ourself? So when we are danger, we are in danger, we should not be discouraged. We should take courage that even Kuntī and Vasudeva and Devakī, they were also in danger, although they were very, very intimately connected with Kṛṣṇa. So we should not be disturbed by the dangers of this material world. If we are actually Kṛṣṇa conscious, we should face the danger and depend on Kṛṣṇa. Avaśya rakhibe kṛṣṇa viśvāsa pālana. This is called surrender, that "I may be in danger, but Kṛṣṇa... I have surrendered to Kṛṣṇa. He must save me." Keep this faith. Don't be disturbed when you are in danger, because this world is such... Padaṁ padaṁ vipadām. Every step there is danger. Just like we are walking on the street. Immediately there is some pinprick, thorn. And by pinprick of that thorn, it may become a boil; it may become dangerous. So even by walking on the street, by talking on the street, by eating our food, there... And in English it is said, "There is many dangers between the cup and the lip."

Lecture on SB 1.8.36 -- Los Angeles, April 28, 1973:

So if you get the help of the pada-pallavam, the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa, bhavam, then by that petal boat, bhavāmbudhir, this great ocean of birth and death, vatsa-padam, it becomes just like the water contained in the hole created by the hoof of a calf. Vatsa-padam. You have no experience, but in India, during rainy season, the roads become muddy and the cows and the calves go. They have got holes created, and there is some water. So such vatsa-padam water, you can jump over, at a time, one dozen. So similarly, this great ocean of bhavāmbudhir, birth and death, although it is very great for others, for a devotee, it becomes like that hole. He can jump over one dozen at a time. Bhavāmbudhir vatsa-padaṁ paraṁ padam. Then, by that way, he attains the paraṁ padam, the supreme abode. Then what about this world? Now this world is padaṁ padaṁ yad vipadām (SB 10.14.58). It is simply full of dangers at every step. Na teṣām, not for the devotees. This is not a, this not the place for the devotees. This is for the persons who are suffering, kliśyamānānām. Therefore Kuntī-devī is suggesting "This is the medicine for your suffering." Take it and be happy. Thank you very much. (end)

Lecture on SB 1.8.39 -- Los Angeles, May 1, 1973:

So where is the difficulty to understand God? There is no difficulty. If actually one is sane man, if he has got some brain substance, not stool substance, then he can understand God in every step, every step. Every step. Raso 'ham apsu kaunteya prabhāsmi śaśi-sūryayoḥ śabdaḥ khe... (BG 7.8). Everything is explained there. Why they speak lies, that "I have not seen God." Why don't you see God as God directs you to see? Why do you manufacture your own way? You cannot see God by your own way. That is not possible. Then you will remain always blind. That is happening at the present moment. The so-called philosophers and scientists, they are trying to see God in their own way. And it is being supported by rascals that "You can find out in your own way to see God." That is not possible. You cannot see God in your own way. You have to see God by God's way. Then you can see Him. It is not possible to see God in you... What you are? Just like if I want to see President Nixon, can I see him in my own way? So how you can expect to see God in your own way? Is it not rascaldom? I cannot see even an ordinary man in big position in my own way. I have to apply, I have to take the sanction of the secretary, appoint some time, and so on, so on, and I am expecting to see God in my own way. And these rascals are supporting this view that "You can see God in your own way. As many ways you invent, they're all bona fide." This is rascaldom.

Lecture on SB 1.8.42 -- Mayapura, October 22, 1974:

So therefore the family attraction especially, the family attraction is so strong that life after life one is bound up again in this material world, and he gets one body. To get body means to suffer. To get material body... Mātrā-sparśās tu kaunteya śītoṣṇa-sukha-duḥkha-dāḥ (BG 2.14). We are suffering the śītoṣṇa... Sometimes we feel some pleasure, sense pleasure. But actually we are suffering. Just see. We thought on the fourth floor, or third floor, such marble, I mean to say, level... And still, there is a snake. How it gone to such a high floor, and...? That is also surprising. But it has managed to go there. That's a fact. And a snake means death. Sa-sarpe ca gṛhe vāso mṛtyur eva na saṁśayaḥ.(?) So you cannot avoid danger in any condition of life. This is material world. But still, they want to remain here. Death is in every step. Padaṁ padaṁ yad vipadām (SB 10.14.58). This material world means in every step vipadām, danger. Such is the condition of material world. Still, they are trying to adjust. Mūḍha. Bahir-artha-māninaḥ.

Lecture on SB 1.8.48 -- Los Angeles, May 10, 1973:

So Yudhiṣṭhira Mahārāja is very advanced devotee. He says that paśyata ajñānam: "Just see my ignorance. I have killed so many soldiers simply for this body." Paśyata ajñānaṁ me hṛdi rūḍhaṁ durātmanaḥ: "And this ignorance is deeply rooted in my heart." People are... Every step, they are being baffled; still, they will do the same thing. Punaḥ punaś carvita-carvaṇānām (SB 7.5.30). No sense is coming. No sense is coming. Durātmanaḥ. Not mahātmanaḥ. Mahātmanaḥ means he is no more interested in this kind of business. That is called mahātmanaḥ. Those who are repeatedly engaged in this kind of business, they are called durātmanaḥ. Only for the body's sake working very hard. So if you analyze, the whole world is doing that. Durātmanaḥ.

Lecture on SB 1.9.1 -- Los Angeles, May 15, 1973:

So this Bhīṣmadeva... When he became puzzled, he went to Bhīṣmadeva, Yudhiṣṭhira Mahārāja, went to Bhīṣmadeva. So this is the process. One must approach a superior person who is called guru. Tad-vijñānārthaṁ sa gurum eva abhigacchet (MU 1.2.12). We, in this material world, we are confused, step by step. This is our position. Step by step. Every step. Padaṁ padaṁ vipadām. Padaṁ padam means every step; vipadām, danger. It is such a nice place, this material world, that every step there is danger. And as soon as there is danger, we are confused. So... And as soon as we are confused: "How to solve?" Tad-vijñānārthaṁ sa gurum eva abhigacchet. Therefore the Vedic instruction is "Because you are confused, because you do not know which path to follow, therefore you must approach a guru." Tad-vijñānārthaṁ sa gurum eva abhigacchet (MU 1.2.12). This word abhigacchet is used when there is compulsory, "You must." You cannot say that "Without going to guru, I shall chalk out my own path." No, that is not possible. Therefore this very word is used, gacchet. In Sanskrit all words are meaningful. Gacchet means it is a question of must, not that "I may and may not." Nowadays it is going on, and there is many rascals who come here in your country to preach that "There is no need of guru. You can become your own guru yourself." That is not Vedic injunction. Vedic injunction is you must go to a guru, tad-vijñānārtham, in order to understand the transcendental science. And that is natural.

Lecture on SB 1.9.40 -- New York, May 22, 1973:

the gopīs' activities, they are the supreme platform of pure devotion. There is no other business, there is no other business. Gopīs, they are not interested to know philosophically whether Kṛṣṇa is God. Although they are seeing every step, Kṛṣṇa is God. Mother Yaśodā is that Kṛṣṇa is God. Gopīs also gopī-jana-vallabha giri-vara-dhārī. Kṛṣṇa is lifting the Govardhana Hill, who can do it except God? They are seeing it, still they do not know that Kṛṣṇa is God. Kṛṣṇa is wonderful, that's all. They do not like to know whether Kṛṣṇa is God or not. They want to love Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa may be God or not God, it doesn't matter. Just like if you love somebody, what he is, is he rich man, poor man, educated or non-educated? There is no consideration. Love has no such thing, consideration. Similarly, gopīs' love for Kṛṣṇa was pure. There was no consideration that Kṛṣṇa was God, therefore they wanted to dance with Him. No, Kṛṣṇa wanted to dance with them, therefore they came to Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa is now calling by the vibration of His flute at this dead of night.

Lecture on SB 1.16.6 -- Los Angeles, January 3, 1974:

In this way, every step, Svayaṁ Bhagavān is personally..., Kṛṣṇa is instructing us, and we are so fool, we cannot understand. We cannot understand. Big, big politicians, they read Bhagavad-gītā, in our country. But by their action it is seen they did not understand even a word of Bhagavad-gītā. Even a word of Bhagavad-gītā. Big, big politician. They became very big, big mahātmās or great men, but they tried for this body, which is to be finished. Antavanta ime dehāḥ. Nobody tried for that thing which will never be finished, that is eternal. You find from their life, they never instructed about the soul. They dealt with politics very nicely, to give bluff that "Within one year I shall give you liberation and this and that," about the... What is the value of this liberation? Because they did not know the thing which is not perishable, they are after this body, which is, liberated or not liberated, will perish. They are busy. They are busy with the activities of this body, which is surely perishable.

Lecture on SB 1.16.21 -- Los Angeles, July 11, 1974:

So be careful that this material world is itself dangerous. Especially in this age of Kali, it is dangerous. It is stated in the śāstra, padaṁ padaṁ yad vipadām (SB 10.14.58), every step there is danger. This is the position. Māyā is so strong that you should always expect simply danger. But if you become Kṛṣṇa conscious, you can overcome these dangers... Padaṁ padaṁ yad vipadāṁ na teṣām. It is not... This dangerous position is not for them. Who? Samāśritā ye pada-pallava-plavam, one who has taken shelter of the lotus feet. It is a great ocean, just like the Pacific Ocean. It is just like a great ocean, big ocean of ignorance. As in the ocean, if you go, even on a boat, it is always dangerous, similarly, we are in the ocean of material civilization. There is always danger. But if you take shelter of the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa, paraṁ padam, then you overcome the danger and you go back to home, back to Godhead.

Lecture on SB 2.3.18-19 -- Los Angeles, June 13, 1972:

So you cannot compete. Simply by competing with these things, animal life, that is not excellence of your life. Real excellence is that these animals, they cannot become Kṛṣṇa conscious. That is the difference only. You can excel with all these lower animals, trees, birds, beasts and others, so many, only by awakening your Kṛṣṇa consciousness. That is the only business. And if you lack in that matter Kṛṣṇa consciousness, then the other animals, lower animals, they are far, far advanced. They are far, far advanced. So as human being, we should consider all these points. The Bhāgavata is pointing out each and every step of our life and helping us how to become Kṛṣṇa conscious. When Nārada Muni advised Vyāsadeva that "You have written so many books, but actually they are not very much beneficial to the human society. You write such a book that they will come to Kṛṣṇa consciousness." So this Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is especially written to bring these rascals and animals to come to Kṛṣṇa consciousness.

Lecture on SB 2.3.19 -- Los Angeles, June 15, 1972:

They take risk, so much risk, for earning money and sense enjoyment. The thief, the burglars, they risk their life. They go to steal to a man's house, and it is known that as soon as he is known, "He has come," the man, the proprietor of the house, may immediately shoot him. That risk he takes. So not only the burglar and thieves, every one of us. It is stated padaṁ padaṁ yad vipadām (SB 10.14.58). In every step there is danger. Every step. We are running our motorcars very fast, seventy miles, one hundred miles speed, but any moment there can be great danger. So actually there cannot be any peace in material life. That is not possible. Samāśritā ye pada-pallava-plavam. We have to take therefore shelter of the lotus feet of the Lord. If we want to be happy, if we want to be peaceful, then this is the only way. And the... Śva-viḍ-varāhoṣṭra-khara... And in the previous verse, kiṁ grāme paśavo 'pare, na khādanti na mehanti. This eating, sleeping, mating, so it is criticized: "Do the cats and dogs and the camels, they do not eat?"

Lecture on SB 3.12.19 -- Dallas, March 3, 1975:

So they cannot come and live here, and we cannot go there and live there. This is called conditioned life. You must live under condition. You are not free. Otherwise they are attempting so much to go to the moon planet. But we are doubtful whether they are actually going. But no benefit has been derived by this excur... Simply you have spoiled your energy, time and money. That is..., means conditioned, that you cannot violate the conditions of the nature. That is not possible. But they are thinking they are free. They can do whatever they like. That is called ignorance, mūḍha, rascal. They are living under condition, but they are falsely thinking that "We are free." Is it not? Where is that freedom? Prakṛteḥ kriyamāṇāni guṇaiḥ karmāṇi sarvaśaḥ (BG 3.27). This rascal civilization do not admit this. They are so fool that they are conditioned in every step, and still they are thinking they are free. This is called illusion.

Lecture on SB 3.25.43 -- Bombay, December 11, 1974:

Akuto-bhayam. Here in this material world—simply bhayam, only fearfulness. Nobody is safe here. At any moment the life may be finished. Nobody can guarantee. Padaṁ padaṁ yad vipadām (SB 10.14.58). In the śāstra it is said that here in this material world there is danger in every step. You are walking very nicely, and sometimes suppose there is a skin of plantain, and you slip, and your leg may be broken. Padaṁ padam. Even walking, even sitting-heart failure.

Lecture on SB 3.26.6 -- Bombay, December 18, 1974:

There is some haunting of ghost, and when a man is ghostly haunted, he speaks so many nonsense. Māyā-grasta. Piśācī pāile yena mati-cchanna haya. Similarly, under the spell of māyā we defy everything, "Where is God? Can you show me God?" He is seeing every step God. God is explained in the Bhagavad-gītā, how you can see God in every step, if you learn how to see God. That is taught in the Bhagavad-gītā. Kṛṣṇa says, raso 'ham apsu kaunteya prabhāsmi śaśi-sūryayoḥ (BG 7.8). God is teaching that "You try to see Me in this way." What is that? "When you taste the water of, the taste of the liquid, water or anything," raso 'ham apsu kaunteya, "that taste is I am." So you want to see God, but you are tasting so many liquid thing. Why don't you think that "Here is God. The taste is God"? God is teaching. You learn how to see God. Your this blunt eyes, how you can see God now? You try to see God in this way, as God says, raso 'ham apsu kaunteya prabhāsmi śaśi-sūryayoḥ (BG 7.8).

Lecture on SB 3.26.9 -- Bombay, December 21, 1974:

So in this way, our position, although we are both in this material world, one is the controller; one is the controlled. And the one who is controlled by the prakṛti, by the material nature, if he accepts to be controlled by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, then his controlling by the material nature upon him, that is finished, no more control. Mām eva ye prapadyante māyām etāṁ taranti te (BG 7.14). This is perfection of life. At the present moment we are being controlled every second, every step. Padaṁ padaṁ yad vipadām (SB 10.14.58). Every step there is danger. This control means punishment. You cannot expect very good treatment in the prison life. So this is prison life, conditioned life. So you cannot expect any good treatment by the material nature because her business is to punish us. That is the business so that we can enquire that "Why I am being punished?" That is required. That "why" philosophy is very important. That is the beginning of human life. But we are so dull, in spite of being kicked every moment by material nature, that "why" question is not coming, so dull-headed. And we are advanced in designation.

Lecture on SB 3.26.16 -- Bombay, December 25, 1974:

This material world is padaṁ padaṁ vipadām, only danger. Every step there is danger. That's a fact. So if we take shelter of that abhaya-caraṇāravinda, then we have no fear. This is a fact. Abhayaṁ sattva-saṁśuddhiḥ. Sattva-saṁśuddhiḥ. Our existence, when it is purified... So this bhakti-mārga, or devotional service, is the process of purifying, purifying process.

Lecture on SB 3.26.18 -- Bombay, December 27, 1974:

So Kṛṣṇa orders only māyā that "Give this living entity a body like a demigod, or a dog, or a pig, or a tree." So there are 8,400,000 varieties of body. He has to manage all these. How He is managing? Is He managing personally? No. He is managing through His potency, ātma-māyayā. Here it is said, ātma-māyayā. Samanvety eṣa sattvānāṁ bhagavān ātma-māyayā. Māyā means energy, energy, tricks. This is called māyā. So everything is being done by His potency. So the Māyāvādī philosopher, they says, "When Bhagavān is everywhere—His action is visible in every step, every atom, everywhere—then the original..., where is the original form of Bhagavān? Everything is Bhagavān." That is called nirviśeṣavādi, nirākāravādi, "Bhagavān has no ākāra. He is finished. Because He is everywhere, therefore there cannot be any particular form of God." This is nirviśeṣavādi. That is material conception. Just like if we take something and make into pieces and throw it everywhere, the original form of that particular thing is finished. This is material conception.

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

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 5.5.1 -- London, August 30, 1971:

So at the present moment, the Kali-yuga, the śāstra says, almost everyone is a śūdra because nobody can live independently. Kalau śūdra-sambhavaḥ. Kalau means in this age, this iron age, almost everyone is a śūdra. It is very difficult to find out really brāhmaṇa, kṣatriya. Vaiśyas maybe there are. But mostly śūdras. Because the other three orders of life are missing, therefore at the present moment there is no peace. In every step there is fight, there is quarrel. Kali means disagreement and quarrel. So this age is called Kali-yuga. This Kali-yuga has begun since the Battle of Kurukṣetra. You have heard in Mahābhārata or in the Bhagavad-gītā. Bhagavad-gītā is within Mahābhārata. The Battle of Kurukṣetra between the two section of cousin-brothers, the Kauravas and the Pāṇḍavas, took place under the guidance of Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa five thousand years ago. And in that battlefield, Kṛṣṇa instructed Arjuna, His friend, the great book of knowledge, Śrīmad Bhagavad-gītā.

Lecture on SB 5.5.16 -- Vrndavana, November 4, 1976:

So we should be very, very careful. We are implicating step by step. Padaṁ padaṁ yad vipadām (SB 10.14.58). They do not know. This material world means at every step we are creating another difficulty. Padaṁ padaṁ yad vipadām. Samāśritā ye pada-pallava-plavaṁ mahat-padam. (break) Kṛṣṇa. Bhavāmbudhir vatsa-padam. For Him the great ocean of nescience becomes just like vatsa-padam, the water containing with the hoofprints of calves. That is called vatsa-padam. And this place, padaṁ padaṁ yad vipadām. This material world, where there is danger in every step, it is not for them. It is not for them. Therefore Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu has warned that niṣkiñcanasya bhagavad-bhajanonmukhasya. Anyone who is desirous of rendering service, dedicates life for the service of Bhagavān, Kṛṣṇa... Kṛṣṇa demands that. Sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekam śaraṇaṁ vraja (BG 18.66). For such person, one who has decided, "Yes, I shall fully surrender to Kṛṣṇa," for such person, niṣkiñcanasya... Surrender means he has finished his all material business.

Lecture on SB 5.5.25 -- Vrndavana, November 12, 1976:

So bhakti-bhājām. So we have to learn what is bhakti. Bhaktiḥ pareśānubhavo viraktir anyatra syāt (SB 11.2.42). If actually we advance in devotional service, then naturally viraktir anyatra syāt. That is niṣkiñcana, no more taste with the material world. Niṣkiñcanasya bhagavad-bhajanonmukhasya pāraṁ paraṁ jigamiṣor bhava-sāgarasya. We must know why we shall take to devotional service, pāraṁ paraṁ jigamiṣor, not to remain within this material world. Padaṁ padaṁ yad vipadāṁ na teṣām (SB 10.14.58). Here in the material world, padaṁ padaṁ vipadām. Every step there is vipada; there is danger. So don't think that "She is dying" or "He is dying, and I shall not die." Everyone will have to die. Every step, there is danger of dying. It is not that The bhute pare gobar hasi(?). Everyone has to die. So before that death we must become fully Kṛṣṇa conscious so that ante nārāyaṇa-smṛtiḥ (SB 2.1.6). The end will come today or tomorrow or day after tomorrow. Nobody will live here. But the success is if we can remember Nārāyaṇa at the end of life. That is success. Ante nārāyaṇa-smṛtiḥ. We should practice that. Don't bother about that "I shall die tomorrow. You are dying today, so I am better than you." Nobody will live here. Everyone will die, and we must be prepared for death. And the devotee has no fear for dying because if he is completely surrendered to Kṛṣṇa, then he is going back to him. Tyaktvā dehaṁ punar janma naiti mām eti (BG 4.9). Simply by surrendering to Kṛṣṇa.

Lecture on SB 6.1.18 -- Honolulu, May 18, 1976:

So just like police: as soon as you become outlaw, the police will take you and the police will go on punishing you unless you become lawful. This is the... So without understanding "Why I am put into the jail?" if I simply think that "It is all right. Let me remain here and suffer the punishment," jail life is not for happiness. That is, everyone knows. Jail life is for punishment. Similarly, in this material world everything is punishment, but by the illusory energy you are thinking, "This is all right." Every step there is punishment. Just study your life or my life. What is that? That beginning from the womb of my mother, when the body is formed, the soul, spirit soul, is injected in the womb of the woman, and then the formation of the body takes place. So the body grows. And now imagine when we are in the womb of the mother, how much difficult position packed up in a bag, airtight bag. If we, at the present moment, if I put into some airtight condition, within three minutes I shall die. Within three minutes. But similarly, just like packed the child remains within the womb of the mother. It is very, very painful. But by the grace of God he lives. He lives. Otherwise it is suffocating. Just imagine if you are put in a airtight box, tied up, hands and legs. How long you can live? So we remain in that condition, unconscious stage. Then, when the body is formed, we get our consciousness. Therefore at the age when the child is seven years, er, seven months old, it moves because he feels the pains.

Lecture on SB 6.1.39-40 -- Surat, December 21, 1970:

So the people do not understand it, and they are declaring, "I am God. I don't care for God. God is dead." How God is dead? You are under so much control, and how God is dead? You can say that there is no government, provided there is nobody to check you. But if you are in every step checked, how you can say that there is no government. That is another foolishness. All men, they have been declared in the Bhāgavata, abodha-jāta, born fools and rascals. But these are very strong words. But if we state the strong, that is another foolishness. It is so, and if we deny, that "We cannot accept such strong things," then another foolishness. Begin.

Lecture on SB 6.1.63 -- Vrndavana, August 30, 1975:

So there are dangers in this material world. It is very dangerous place, padaṁ padaṁ yad vipadām (SB 10.14.58), every step, not only spiritually, materially also. Suppose you are out of this temple, there is every chance you may be dashed by a motorcar and die. So it is dangerous. Padaṁ padaṁ yad vipadām. So our motive of life should be how to get out of this dangerous position of life. How to get out of it, that should be the aim, not that to become more and more implicated in with this dangerous situation of life. That is not intelligence. The intelligence is how to get out of it. That is this movement, Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement, how to get out of this dangerous position and go back to home, back to Godhead—this is the mission.

Lecture on SB 6.2.11 -- Vrndavana, September 13, 1975:

We have got experience while morning walk. You cannot avoid it. It is not possible. And you are responsible for killing the ant. Then? How you can save yourself from the sinful activities? Therefore in the śāstra it is said, padaṁ padaṁ yad vipadam (SB 10.14.58). Padaṁ padaṁ yad vipadam. If you want to stay within this material world, then padaṁ padam—"in every step there is danger." Padaṁ padaṁ yad vipadaṁ na teṣām. Na teṣām. "Not for them." Who? Samāśritā ye pada-pallavaṁ plavaṁ mahat-padaṁ puṇya-yaśo murāreḥ: "One who has taken shelter of the lotus feet of Murāri," means Kṛṣṇa. Samāśritā. Samyag āśritā. Sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekam (BG 18.66). Samyak, fully. Sama means samyak, no reservation: "Kṛṣṇa, I do not know anything more. I simply surrender unto You. Now whatever You do, accepted. If you like to kill me, kill me. If you want to give me protection, that's all right. Anyway, I am surrendered." This is called full surrender.

Lecture on SB 6.2.15 -- Vrndavana, September 18, 1975:

Because this material world is full of dangers, these symptoms of dangerous position, patitaṁ skhalito bhagnaḥ... Especially in the modern age, in the Western countries, accident, motor accident and die, is very common thing nowadays. Here also it is becoming. On the whole, even there is no motor accident, there are so many accidents. In every step there is danger. Padaṁ padaṁ yad vipadām (SB 10.14.58). This material world means every step there is danger. There is no question of safety. At any moment. Therefore Prahlāda Mahārāja recommended, kaumāraṁ ācaret prājño dharmān bhāgavatān iha. Why in the beginning of childhood one should learn bhāgavata-dharma? Durlabhaṁ mānuṣaṁ janma. Somehow or other, we have got this body, human form of body, durlabham, after many, many births. They do not know. The foolish persons, they do not know what is the value of this human form of life. Jalajā nava-lakṣāni sthāvarā lakṣa-viṁśati, kṛmayo rudra-saṅkhyatāḥ. In this way 8,400,000 different forms of life we have to pass through. Then we have got this. Especially a civilized human being. The human race, they are also 400,000..., 400,000 types. Out of them, those who are civilized, they are called Aryans. Aryan means civilized. Aryan means those who are making progress. They are called Aryans.

Lecture on SB 6.2.16 -- Vrndavana, September 19, 1975:

We are put into certain condition; therefore it is called conditional life. Suppose you are very pious man. You are not killing any man or any cow—we are very careful—but still you have to kill. What is that? Because we are walking on the street. You have seen. You are killing so many ants. The position is like that. Even if you do not wish to kill, even if you are very pious man, still you have to kill, unconsciously or consciously. The world situation is like that. Anyone who has come here, he must commit sinful activities. As soon as you get this material body, then you must have to commit sinful activities, even if you are very careful. It is not possible. Therefore śāstra says, padaṁ padaṁ yad vipadām: (SB 10.14.58) "Every step there is vipadā." You cannot be excused. Because you are killing one ant unconsciously while walking, your name is noted. Your ticket is immediately there: "Oh, you have killed so many ants." The law is so nice. Prakṛteḥ kriyamāṇāni guṇaiḥ karmāṇi (BG 3.27). Automatically it is recorded, automatically, and you have to suffer.

Lecture on SB 7.6.9-17 -- San Francisco, March 31, 1969:

So they do not know. Therefore they are described here as pramattaḥ. Pramattaḥ. Sarvatra tāpa-traya-duḥkhitātmā nirvidyate na sva-kuṭumba-rāmaḥ. Actually, they are experiencing every step miserable. It is not that by improving economic condition of life one has become very peaceful. Otherwise why there is war? Why there is struggle? This is... These things cannot be stopped. However you may improve materially, however you may improve your economic condition, the disturbance of the world, at least, birth, death, disease, and old age, cannot be checked.

Lecture on SB 7.7.25-28 -- San Francisco, March 13, 1967:

There are so many attraction of material life. Oh, how they can forget? How they can forget? Especially in your country, there are so many facilities of material enjoyment, and how they can forget all these unless they have got some enjoyment? So it is practical. The more you engage yourself in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, the more you feel joy, joyer. That is joyful life. In the Caitanya-cari..., Caitanya Mahāprabhu said, ānandāmbudhi-vardhanam. Ānandāmbudhi-vardhanam means there is an ocean of joy. Now this ocean is stagnant; it does not increase. But that ānandāmbudhi, the ocean of joy, transcendental bliss, that increases, increases. And there is unlimited space also to allow that increment. Ānandāmbudhi-vardhanaṁ prati-padaṁ pūrṇāmṛtāsvādanam: "In every step you'll feel, oh, that spiritual bliss." Paraṁ vijāyate śrī-kṛṣṇa-saṅkīrtanam: "All glories to Śrī Kṛṣṇa Saṅkīrtana." Just like in the morning lecture, we were, er, Caitanya Mahāprabhu is explaining His practical experience, how He's feeling joyful. So this is practical. There is nothing theoretical. This is standard, practical and easy. This is the beauty of this movement.

Lecture on SB 7.9.8 -- Mayapur, February 28, 1977:

Padaṁ padaṁ yad vipadāṁ na teṣām. Vipadam means dangerous position. Padaṁ padam, every step in this material world—na teṣām, not for the devotee. Padaṁ padaṁ yad vipadāṁ na teṣām. This is Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Even from literary point of view so exalted. So Prahlāda Mahārāja... Just like Kavirāja Gosvāmī. He is writing Caitanya-caritāmṛta, and presenting himself, he says,

purīṣera kīṭa haite muñi se laghiṣṭha

jagāi mādhāi haite muñi se pāpiṣṭha

mora nāma yei laya tāra puṇya kṣaya

(CC Adi 5.205)

Like that. The author of Caitanya-caritāmṛta, he presents himself: "The lighter than the worm in the stool." Purīṣera kīṭa haite muñi se laghiṣṭha. And in Caitanya-līlā, Jagāi-Mādhāi, two brothers are supposed to be most sinful, but he has also They were also delivered. Kavirāja Gosvāmī says, "I am more sinful than the Jagāi-Mādhāi."

Lecture on SB 7.9.10 -- Montreal, July 12, 1968:

Who are conditioned souls? Those who have got this material body. They are called conditioned souls. Because this material body means you have to live under certain conditions. Just like I require fan. Why? Because I have been put into the condition of warm. I cannot tolerate it, but I have to live. Similarly severe cold. I do not want it, but I have to live. I do not want set fire at home, but there is fire, and there is fire brigade. In this way, in every step of our life we are always in danger. But foolish persons, they do not understand it. They are thinking that "I am happy." They are thinking... This is called illusion, māyā. Actually, he's unhappy in every step, but the spell of māyā or illusion is so strong that even in the lowest stage of life, anyone will think that he's happy. Even in the animals, you have experienced that so many animals, they are living in such a miserable condition, but still, he does not like to give up this body. But the pain is more felt by God than the living creature in this conditioned life. So it is always... There is always endeavor on the part of God to send His representative; He comes Himself, He gives book.

Lecture on SB 7.9.12 -- Montreal, August 19, 1968:

So many things. Those things are not possible at the present age because we are so much disturbed by the present atmosphere, everyone. Just like this morning you have news that the Russians have captured Czechoslovakia. How much distressed they are. I heard from the newspaper that several of them were crying. So this is the position. Padaṁ padaṁ yad vipadam (SB 10.14.58). Every step, there is danger. The material conditional life is so obscure that every step. Therefore the first-class process of yoga is this bhakti-yoga. Simply you turn your attention to this vibration and chant it according to your capacity. It does not require any pre-education. Prahlāda Mahārāja said yathā manīṣam. Yathā manīṣam means "as far as it is in my power." So you can chant Hare Kṛṣṇa as far as in your power. That means you can chant whenever it is possible. It is not that you have to go to a temple on a particular time and chant. No. While you are walking, you can chant Hare Kṛṣṇa. Practically we see, when we pass on the street, some of the children, seeing us, say, "Hare Kṛṣṇa. Hare Kṛṣṇa." Even the children, they can also chant. It is so nice thing. Because they have no convention. So this chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa will give him some effect. Yathā manīṣam sarvātmanā.

Lecture on SB 7.9.14 -- Mayapur, February 21, 1976:

"But still may be others, unhappy, may not be your family, because you were also tortured, but others that are killed, such a demon, big, powerful..." So Prahlāda Mahārāja said, lokāś ca nirvṛtim itaḥ: "Everyone is satisfied, even the higher planets, the demigods and everyone." Nirvṛtim itaḥ pratiyanti: "They are waiting only just to see You pacified." Sarve rūpaṁ nṛsiṁha. "But is not this form very fearful to anyone? You may not be afraid of, others?" Prahlāda Mahārāja assures, "No, no. Nobody is fearful. This fearful appearance of Your Lordship is very pleasing to the devotees because as soon as they are in fearful condition, they will remember Your this Nṛsiṁha form and they will be out of that. It is so pleasing." Just like we..., ito nṛsiṁha, tato nṛsiṁha yato yato yāmi... So our only shelter is Nṛsiṁha-deva. This world is very, very dangerous. Padaṁ padaṁ yad vipadam (SB 10.14.58). In every step there is danger. Every step there is envious creatures. You cannot live here peacefully. Duḥkhālayam aśāśvatam (BG 8.15). Kṛṣṇa says. It is a place simply for suffering, and that also not permanent. You cannot make any comprise that "All right, it is suffering. That's all right. Still, I shall stay here." No, that is also not possible. Aśāśvatam. You have to die. Janma-mṛtyu-jarā-vyādhi-duḥkha-doṣānudarśanam (BG 13.9). You cannot solve these problems, miserable condition. Ultimately you have to die.

Lecture on SB 7.9.20 -- Mayapur, February 27, 1976:

So the sun, moon, or anything material that is working, we see they are working very wonderfully, but don't think that they are working automatically or independently. No. That is not possible. The foolish man may think like that, "automatically." No, there is no automatically, no accident. Therefore, yena yasmād yataḥ yad uta, superior, inferior—everything is systematically being done according to the desire. They say, "Not a blade of grass moves without the desire of Kṛṣṇa." That's a fact. Without Kṛṣṇa's desire... Every step we are going forward, it is guided by Kṛṣṇa. It is not directly by Kṛṣṇa but through the instrument of Kṛṣṇa. This is nature. Nature is nothing but instrument. Durgā. Durgā. Sṛṣṭi-sthiti-pralaya-sādhana-śaktir ekā chāyeva yasya bhuvanāni vibharti durgā (Bs. 5.44). This Durgā energy. Durgā energy means this material energy. Durgā. Durgā means fort. We are packed up within this fort. You see the round sky. It is just like a football. And within, we are packed up. Just like the soldiers, they are within the fort or there are other persons also, similarly, this is a durgā. Durgā. Duḥ means difficult, and ga means going. Dur-gā. So because the nature is feminine, therefore it is called Durgā. So just like in the fort, in the jail, if you are put, it is dur-gā, very difficult to come out, very, very difficult. Duḥ means it is not so easy.

Lecture on SB 7.9.30 -- Mayapur, March 8, 1976:

Therefore Jīva Gosvāmī, understanding the desire of Caitanya Mahāprabhu, he compiled Hari-nāmāmṛta-vyakāraṇa. In the vyakāraṇa, in the grammar, all examples, all sandhis, samasa, everything with Hari. Hari-nāmāmṛta-vyakāraṇa. Dhātu. When Caitanya Mahāprabhu was explaining dhātu... Dhātu has got different meaning. Dhātu means the life force, the vital force. So He was explaining that this dhātu means Kṛṣṇa. When Kṛṣṇa is not there, then life is finished. So the disciples who were students, they thought that "This person has gone mad." You see? So they criticized. So immediately Caitanya Mahāprabhu closed the paṭha-śala. So that is Kṛṣṇa varṇayati. In everything He was explaining Kṛṣṇa. And when He was preaching, He talked with the Muhammadans, Afghans, and He proved from Koran there is Kṛṣṇa devotion, from Koran. That is Kṛṣṇa-varṇayati. Kṛṣṇa-varṇam. Anywhere He will explain Kṛṣṇa. Then nothing. And therefore He has advised everyone that yāre dekha tāre kaha kṛṣṇa upadeśa (CC Madhya 7.128). This is Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Yāre dekha tāre kaha kṛṣṇa upadeśa. So one has to learn this art, how to explain Kṛṣṇa in every step of life. That is Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement.

Lecture on SB 7.9.31 -- Mayapur, March 9, 1976:

So Prahlāda Mahārāja says that "Everything, variety, is there, but..." Tvaṁ vā idaṁ sad-asad bhavān: "Except Yourself, to conceive anything else, that 'Beyond Kṛṣṇa there is anything,' that is māyā." That is māyā, illusion. There is nothing except Kṛṣṇa. Therefore those who are advanced devotees, they do not see anything, simply Kṛṣṇa in everywhere. Sthāvara-jaṅgama dekhe nā dekhe tāra mūrti, sarvatra sphūraya tāñra iṣṭa-deva mūrti (CC Madhya 8.274). A devotee sees a tree, but he does not see the tree. He sees: "It is Kṛṣṇa's energy." Immediately he remembers Kṛṣṇa. That is Kṛṣṇa consciousness. When every step you'll simple see Kṛṣṇa, that is Kṛṣṇa... That is possible, provided you follow the footstep of Prahlāda Mahārāja. That will be possible. Or devotees. Mahājano yena gataḥ sa panthāḥ (CC Madhya 17.186). That is the way. If you speculate nonsensically, it will be not possible. If you follow the devotees, mahājano yena gataḥ sa panthāḥ, then you'll be successful.

Lecture on SB 7.9.55 -- Vrndavana, April 10, 1976:

So anything which can be used for Kṛṣṇa's service, that is not material; that is spiritual. So we must use it. But not for sense gratification. Therefore we have to use and work exactly under the direction of spiritual master. Otherwise it will be sense gratification. Don't manufacture. Guru-mukha padma-vākya, cittete kariyā aikya, āra na kariha mane āśa **. If you want to be guided, then take in every step the words of guru. Manufacturing will not help you. Prahlāda Mahārāja become so great because he was initiated by Nārada Muni. That is required. Chāḍiyā vaiṣṇava sevā, nistar payeche kebā. Nobody can become perfect without serving the bona fide spiritual master. That is the motto. So evaṁ pralobhyamāno 'pi varair loka-pralobhanaiḥ (SB 7.9.55). So much attractive... Now, if somebody says, or Kṛṣṇa says that "I'll give you immediately five lakhs of rupees and one beautiful girl also. You give up this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement," how many will be restrained? That is very difficult. But our boys have been tested. They are not after money, most of them, or women. But generally... Therefore it is said, loka-pralobhanaiḥ. In this material world everyone is after money and woman. Money and women. That is called viṣaya. Viṣaya.

Lecture on SB Lecture -- Melbourne, May 19, 1975:

And as soon as you become cleansed of all dirty things, then your actual progress of life begins. Just like kairava-candrikā, just like the moon, on the first day it is just like a line, then gradually increases; the body and the moonshine increases. Therefore this comparison is given. The more you become Kṛṣṇa conscious the shining of your life increases. Śreyaḥ-kairava-candrikā-vitaraṇaṁ vidyā-vadhū-jīvanam. Then this life will be full of knowledge. Vidyā-vadhū-jīvanam. Ānandāmbudhi-vardhanam. And to increase the life of knowledge means ananda. Ānanda means pleasure. We want pleasure. So you will get more and more pleasing life. Ānandāmbudhi-vardhanam. And prati-padaṁ pūrṇāmṛtāsvādanam. And every step of life, as we are... In the material way of life we are experienced, only unpleasure, difficulties, the just opposite. Ānandāmbudhi-vard... Āmbudhi means the ocean. So this ocean does not increase, but when you come to the spiritual ocean of ānanda, blissfulness, it will increase daily.

Nectar of Devotion Lectures

The Nectar of Devotion -- Vrndavana, October 17, 1972:

bhakti is explained, "Bhakti is some active service." It is not a sentiment. And service means work. Not like the karmīs. Karmī or anyone who is working, he is working with some taste. Just like the example is given here: A householder is working day and night. Unless he has got some taste... Suppose one has got wife and children. So to maintain them he has to work very hard. But there is some pleasure in serving the wife and children. This is crude example. Similarly, bhakti means service with some taste. Svādu svādu pade pade. In the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam it is said, svādu svādu pade pade. The more you serve, the more you relish taste. Without relishing taste, nobody can render devotional service. It is practical. Svādu svādu pade pade. In every step... Just like Rūpa Gosvāmī. He was minister in the government of Nawab Hussain Shah. So materially, he was getting honor, money, and therefore he was attached. This is also crude example. So he resigned from the government post and he joined Caitanya Mahāprabhu. So unless he tasted something better, how could he give up his government service? There must be some taste. So that is being explained here.

The Nectar of Devotion -- Vrndavana, October 19, 1972:

Those who are saintly devotees, they are seeing God, Kṛṣṇa, in every moment. Premāñjana-cchurita-bhakti-vilocanena santaḥ sadaiva hṛdayeṣu vilokayanti (Bs. 5.38). If you become saintly person by your austerities, penances, then you can see God in every step. Otherwise, if you think that "I cannot become saintly person," yes, nobody can become saintly immediately. It requires time. But so long you are material person you can see God also in the water. You drink water. You can see God. You can see sunshine. God is there. Prabhāsmi śaśi-sūryayoḥ. So who has not seen the sunshine? Who has not seen the moonshine? So therefore if you have seen moonshine, if you have seen sunshine, you have seen God.

The Nectar of Devotion -- Bombay, January 2, 1973:

Even in the desert Kṛṣṇa has provided food. So this uṣṭra, this camel, they like to eat these twigs, thorny twigs. And as soon as they chew the thorny twigs, blood oozes out from the tongue, and it is mixed and it makes a nice taste. So he's thinking that twigs are very nice, these thorns are very nice. Similarly, this material existence, it is simply thorny life. Padaṁ padaṁ yad vipadām. Every step. Here is our friend, Mr. Cakravartī. He was going to business, and immediately there was accident. The whole thing became turned into something else. Padaṁ padaṁ yad vipadām. We do not understand this, that every step there is danger. This material life is so dangerous. Padaṁ padaṁ yad vipadāṁ na teṣām. Na teṣām, who are they? Who do not face this padaṁ padaṁ yad vipadām? Samāśritā ye pada-pallava-plavaṁ mahat-padaṁ puṇya-yaśo murāreḥ. Puṇya-yaśo murāreḥ mahat-padam. One who has taken shelter. Bhavāmbudhir vatsa-padaṁ paraṁ padaṁ padaṁ padaṁ yad vipadāṁ na teṣām (SB 10.14.58).

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

So God has given us the capacity to cultivate, to produce food. We can produce food, enough quantity. There is no question of scarcity. The scarcity is due to our godlessness. Otherwise, by God's arrangement, pūrṇam idaṁ pūrṇāt pūrṇam udacyate (Īśopaniṣad, Invocation). It is pūrṇam. Everything is complete. Just like nature, nature's produces. Sometimes in some season we see there is ample productions of mangoes, and sometimes there is no mango. So after all, it is in the hand of nature, prakṛti. Prakṛteḥ kriyamāṇāni (BG 3.27). Prakṛti is producing, producing; prakṛti is reducing; and behind the prakṛti there is Kṛṣṇa. Mayādhyakṣeṇa prakṛtiḥ sūyate sa-carācaram (BG 9.10). So just become devotee of Kṛṣṇa and do your duty. Svanuṣṭhitaḥ śruti-gatāṁ tanu-vāṇ-manobhiḥ. Then everything will be complete. There will be no scarcity. This philosophy, they do not know. They want to... Like Kaṁsa, they want to make minus Kṛṣṇa. Like Rāvaṇa, they want to make minus Rāma, and the result is that with their all family, all their wealth and everything, material advance—vanquished, finished. That is prakṛti. Daivī hy eṣā guṇamayī mama māyā duratyayā (BG 7.14). They are trying to avoid God. They are trying to become independent of God. Then what is the benefit? In every step we are seeing that we are dependent on God. Because God has not supplied rain for one year, there is so much catastrophe going on. But still, they will not take it. Matir na kṛṣṇe parato svato vā. Parato svato vā. If we advise that "You take to Kṛṣṇa consciousness and act accordingly. You will be all happy," "No." Matir na kṛṣṇe parato svato vā. Because they have designed their own plan. So this is going on.

The Nectar of Devotion -- Vrndavana, November 10, 1972:

Actually, we are seeing, especially in the Western countries, this motorcar civilization, when we run on on the motorcar, especially with high speed, it is always we think that any moment danger can take place. (aside:) You remember, you were driving your father's car, eighty miles. So I asked you, "Don't go so fast." So the materialistic way of life is that. We create some so-called comforts of life for temporary enjoyment, but at the same time, we take the risk of so many dangerous condition. In the śāstra it is said that this place is padaṁ padaṁ yad vipadām (SB 10.14.58). In every step there is danger. Although we are trying to mitigate all kinds of discomforts, it is simply changing the burden from head to the shoulder. Just like a coolie carrying some burden, when he feels uncomfortable, he changes the burden from head to the shoulder, but actually, that is not mitigating the pains of burden. Similarly, we are trying to get material comforts by manufacturing or adventing so many scientific discoveries, but that is not actually getting happiness. It is simply changing the position. Exactly, we just consider that in your country, especially, you have got many motorcars, but riding on motorcars, how much dangerous conditions you accept. Everyone accept.

Sri Caitanya-caritamrta Lectures

Lecture on CC Adi-lila 1.15 -- Dallas, March 4, 1975:

The boat may not go up to the end. But if you... Samāśritā ye pada-pallava-plavam. If you take shelter of the lotus petal boatlike of... What is that lotus flower? Samāśritā ye pada-pallava-plavaṁ mahat-padaṁ puṇya-yaśo murāreḥ. Murāri, Murāri means Kṛṣṇa. If you take shelter of the boat of the lotus feet of Murāri... What is that feet? Mahat-padam. Mahat-padam means the whole universal creation, the cosmic manifestation, is also resting there. It is not only a small thing. Mahat-padaṁ puṇya-yaśo murāreḥ: "And who is famous very piously." Then what the result? Bhavāmbudhir vatsa-padam. Bhavāmbudhiḥ means the great ocean of material existence. We are struggling here, trying to swim. That becomes vatsa-padam. Vatsa-padam. Vatsa means calf. So you have no experience. In our country, the, in the... The calf walks, and the hoof makes some hole, and there is some water also. So as it is not difficult to cross that water, similarly, the whole material ocean become like that hole of the calf's hoof. In this way you can cross over this material ocean and go back to home, back to Godhead. Why I shall go there? Because here, padaṁ padaṁ yad vipadām (SB 10.14.58). Here, in every step there is danger. Why shall you live here? Take this boat and go, cross the material ocean, and go back to home, back to Godhead. This is the philosophy. Therefore our Kavirāja Gosvāmī is saying, mat-sarvasva: "Everything. This is my everything. I take shelter of You."

Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 20.103 -- Washington, D.C., July 8, 1976:

The same question was raised by Sanātana Gosvāmī that Why there should be struggle for existence? Why not easy life, peaceful life? Why some outer elements, they are giving us opposition? I want to be happy, but there is opposition. That is struggle for existence. This question should be there: Why? Even with a fly we have to fight. I am sitting, without doing any harm to the fly, but it attacks, bothering me. There are so many. Even if you sit down without any offense... Just like you are passing on the street, there is no offense, but from one house all the dogs begin to bark: "Why you are coming here? Why you are coming here?" There was no cause of his barking, but because it is dog, his business is "Why you are coming, why you are coming?" Similarly, we have no freedom to go from one place to another at present moment. There is immigration department: "Why you are coming? Why you are coming?" In many places we have been refused to enter. We have been refused from the airplane. "No, you cannot enter, go back." So I had to go back. So, so many disadvantages. Padaṁ padaṁ yad vipadāṁ na teṣām (SB 10.14.58). In this material world, you cannot live very peacefully. Not very; not peacefully at all. There are so many impediments. The śāstra says, padaṁ padaṁ yad vipadām: every step there is danger. Not only from these lower animals, but from the human society, by nature, on which we have no control. So in this way, our life is not very happy in this material world, and we should be advanced in inquiring about it, that why there are so many impediments. That is human life.

Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 20.104 -- New York, July 10, 1976:

So Sanātana Gosvāmī's question is being answered by Caitanya Mahāprabhu, that "Because you have this inquiry, this is the beginning of human life." So if one is little inquisitive to know what I am, then his real life begins. And if he is kept in the darkness and he remains in the darkness, that "I am this body," there is no value of so-called civilization, education, nothing. It is a very important question, ke āmi kene āmāya. One must be inquisitive. Athāto brahma jijñāsā. He must be conscious that "I do not want all these things, miserable condition of life, and they are enforced upon me. I cannot check them; they are coming. No, there must be somebody superior who's law is being forced." That is the factor. That is religion. Religion means to find out the supreme controller who is forcing everything. That is religion. That is stated in the dictionary. Religion is not some sentiment, some ritualistic ceremony. No. This inquiry about the supreme controller, that's a fact. We see in every step there is a supreme controller, and we are foolishly declaring that we are independent. This is called foolishness. So real religion means to come out from this foolish conception of life, that "There is no controller. We are everything. Whatever we like, you can do. There is no life after death, and there is no life in other planets..." These are all ignorance. Simply fool's paradise. It has no meaning.

Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 20.113 -- London, July 23, 1976:

Anyone who is not Kṛṣṇa conscious, anyone who does not understand Kṛṣṇa, he is within these groups. What are these groups? Duṣkṛtina. Duṣkṛtina means one has got merit, but the merit is utilized for sinful activities. You can use your merit two ways—for good purpose and for bad purpose also. Just like thieves and rogues, they have got merit. They know how to steal, how to cheat. It is not unintelligent. They are intelligent. But their intelligence, merit, is used for bad purposes. They are called duṣkṛtina. And mūḍha-purposefully they are trying to avoid. Every step they are being baffled, and still, they are trying to avoid the supreme controller. Therefore mūḍha. And narādhama, narādhama means the lowest of the mankind. In the animal life they could not understand Kṛṣṇa or God—that is not possible—and they have got this human form of life... In this life one can understand what is God, what is Kṛṣṇa. Just like we are trying. That is possible. But if we do not take advantage of this human form of life to understand what is God, what is Kṛṣṇa, then you are lowest of the mankind. So na māṁ duṣkṛtino mūḍhāḥ prapadyante narādhamaḥ māyayāpahṛta-jñānā (BG 7.15). And if we say that "There are so many doctors of philosophy, doctors of science, they are also hovering under this darkness, how is that? Then what about their education?" Yes, their education, certainly, but māyayāpahṛta-jñānā. The result of education, knowledge, that is taken away by māyā.

Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 20.119-121 -- New York, November 24, 1966:

So one has to accept. Sādhu-śāstra-kṛpāya. They are always merciful. But one has to accept them and become Kṛṣṇa conscious. Sādhu-śāstra-kṛpāya yadi kṛṣṇonmukha haya. And as soon as he agrees to become Kṛṣṇa conscious, then his path becomes clear. He'll get rid of these material clutches and this always full life full of anxiety and problems, he'll kick. These things, sādhu, śāstra, saintly person and scripture, they have to be accepted. If you don't accept them, then there is no other way. Why there is no other way? Daivī hy eṣā guṇa-mayī (BG 7.14). He's citing again from Bhagavad-gītā. The Bhagavad-gītā is the book of evidence. Lord Caitanya is citing. Because it is Vedic. Just like in the law court you have to cite section from the law book, not from your concocted mind. No foolish man can argue in the law court, because he has to refer in every step from the law book. Sādhu means that he has to give evidence from the scriptures. Not that "I think... In my opinion you can do this." He's not a sādhu; he's a fool. What is your opinion? You are a conditioned soul. Can you manufacture something? No. You cannot manufacture anything. You have to give reference from authorized scripture.

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

This māyā has got two kinds of influence: prakṣepātmikā, āvaraṇātmikā. Āvaraṇātmikā means we are already covered by the illusion. Although we are suffering in every step, we are thinking that we are happy. Just, just the day before yesterday the lady, she said, "Oh, the temperature was so high that I could not tolerate it. I could not..." The next moment she said, "Oh, I don't feeling any, any unhappiness." This is called prakṣepātmikā. First things is that I am so much illusioned that I... Just like the animals. They are suffering so much, but they have no knowledge that they are suffering. But human beings, who are above them, they can understand that what sort of suffering there is. A animal, he's, he's being taken to the slaughterhouse, but it does not know due to ignorance. This is called āvaraṇātmikā, covering influence of the material nature. And there is another influence. Suppose one is trying to come out of the covering. Prakṣepātmikā. It throws: "Oh, why you are trying for this? You are very happy. Why do you think, why you are so much pessimistic of this life? Just work hard and enjoy life. That's all."

Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 20.334-341 -- New York, December 24, 1966:

His method is so nice that one who follows His method, he very quickly, instantly, he develops love of God. And when one develops love of God, he becomes perfect. Yaṁ labdhvā cāparaṁ lābhaṁ manyate nādhikaṁ tataḥ. We are hankering after love. We want to love somebody. That is the nature of living entity. But that love is frustrated in every step. The culmination of perfection of love can be realized when we understand, when we try to understand, and really love Kṛṣṇa. That can be achieved by Kṛṣṇa consciousness. And this Kṛṣṇa consciousness was preached by Lord Caitanya. When you become a lover of Kṛṣṇa, then all your loving propensities, all your desires, all your hankerings will be satisfied. And so long we do not understand what is love of Kṛṣṇa, what is Kṛṣṇa consciousness, we will love false things, and at the end we shall be frustrated. That is the going on. At every step we are being frustrated; still, we do not leave that path. Punaḥ punaś carvita-carvaṇānām (SB 7.5.30). We are repeating the same mistake, same mistake, in every step.

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

So premāñjana-cchurita-bhakti-vilocanena (Bs. 5.38). If one takes to this philosophy of Kṛṣṇa consciousness and develops love of Godhead, then he can see God at every moment, in every step, in every thing. He's not, for a single moment, is out of the sight of God. Just like in the Bhagavad-gītā it is said, teṣu te mayi. The devotee who has love, who has developed love for God, he's also seeing God at every moment. Similarly, God is also seeing him at every moment. They are not separated. So simple process. This hari-kīrtana, this is the simple process recommended in this age, and if we sincerely do it without any offense and with faith, then seeing of God is not difficult for a devotee.

Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 22.5 -- New York, January 7, 1967:

So there are two different kinds of Vedic literature. One section is called śruti, originally coming. Just like this Caitanya-caritāmṛta. This is a book written by Kṛṣṇa dāsa Kavirāja Gosvāmī, a great devotee of Lord Caitanya. It is called smṛti. Why? Everything written here is corroborating the Vedic literature. There is nothing, suggestion, "I am a philosopher. I am a speculator. I think this will be like this" Here you'll see in every step he is quoting from Vedas. Caitanya Mahāprabhu is quoting. This is the topics between Sanātana Gosvāmī... This is the Vedic way. Now that sage, a great sage, he is giving his conclusion that śrutir mātā pṛṣṭā diśati bhavad-ārādhana-vidhim: "I have inquired so many Vedic literature. Now I am in conclusion that worshiping the Supreme Lord, that is the injunction of the..., nothing more. Nothing more." The whole idea is... And that is confirmed by Bhagavad-gītā also. Kṛṣṇa says in the Fifteenth Chapter you will find. Vedaiś ca sarvair aham eva vedyam (BG 15.15). What is the purpose of Veda? The purpose of Veda is to understand Kṛṣṇa. That's all. If you can understand to some extent Kṛṣṇa, then your all Vedic studies finished. No more taking trouble. So we have to follow.

Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 22.21-28 -- New York, January 11, 1967:

Now He gives again evidence from scriptures. Every step, whatever He says, He gives some evidence from authoritative scripture. Mostly He gives evidence from Bhagavad-gītā and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, because for the Vaiṣṇava school these two books are sufficient for acquiring knowledge. So far Vedānta-sūtra is concerned, Bhāgavata is Vedānta-sūtra itself. Bhāgavata is the natural commentary on the, on the Vedānta-sūtra. Therefore one who has sufficient knowledge in Bhāgavata, he has automatically sufficient knowledge in Vedānta-sūtra. According to Vedic system, one must have sufficient knowledge in Vedānta-sūtra. Then he'll be considered as learned in spiritual science. So Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, although the Vaiṣṇavas, they have got their commentaries on Vedānta-sūtra, but this Caitanya Mahāprabhu's sampradāya, they did not make any commentary on the Vedānta-sūtra because they belonged to the disciplic succession of Vyāsadeva. So Vyāsadeva is the spiritual master.

Sri Isopanisad Lectures

Sri Isopanisad, Mantra 1 -- Los Angeles, May 4, 1970:

Yes. This is stated in the Bhagavad-gītā, Fourth Chapter: yajña-śiṣṭāśinaḥ santo mucyante sarva-kilbiṣaiḥ. Our, this conditioned life is so situated that in every step we are committing some sins. In every step, without knowing, ignorance, because we, we are born ignorant. Therefore Bhāgavata says, parābhavas tāvad abhodha-jātaḥ. Abodha-jātaḥ. Abodha-jāta means every living entity is born fools. Therefore there are so many educational institutions. If the man born... May be in very high family or in high nation, but he is a fool. Otherwise, what is the necessity of so many educational institution? It is a fact. So that foolishness, when it is come to light... That is stated in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Parābhavas tāvad abodha-jāto yāvan na jijñāsata ātma-tattvam. This foolishness will continue so long as he does not come to the platform of understanding self-realization. Otherwise, all these universities and institution for imparting knowledge, they are continuation of that same ignorance and foolishness. Unless one comes to the point of understanding, "What I am, what is God, what is this world, what is my relationship...?" Unless these questions come into one's heart, and there is no proper answer, he continues to be foolish like animal, and he is subjected to different species of life, transmigration from one body to another. This is ignorance.

Festival Lectures

Ratha-yatra -- San Francisco, June 27, 1971:

This human form of life is a chance for God realization. Without God realization, our life is frustrated. We being part and parcel of God, it is our duty to understand our relationship with God and act accordingly, and then our ultimate goal of life is achieved. The ultimate goal of life is to attain eternal life, full of knowledge and bliss, sac-cid-ānanda vigraha (Bs. 5.1). Sat means eternal, ānanda means bliss and cit means knowledge. This body is just the opposite. It is not sat. This body is temporary. It is not eternal. This body is full of ignorance. There is practically no knowledge. We do not know, after closing our eyes, we do not know what is happening before our eyes. So our knowledge is always imperfect. And this life is also miserable. It is not at all blissful. Every step, there are three kinds of miserable condition: ādhyātmika, adhibautika, adhidaivika. Ādhyātmika means miseries pertaining to the body and the mind. Adhibautika means miserable condition offered by other living entities. And adhidaivika, natural disturbances. So either of these three, or at least one or two, there must be always present. This is the material condition of life. But as spirit soul, we are sac-cid-ānanda vigraha, part and parcel of sac-cid-ānanda vigraha (Bs. 5.1). Sat means eternal, cit means knowledge and bliss, and ānanda means blissfulness.

Janmastami Lord Sri Krsna's Appearance Day -- Bhagavad-gita 7.5 Lecture -- Vrndavana, August 11, 1974:

So Kṛṣṇa is adventing today. There is stotra by the demigods. We should read, how Kṛṣṇa protects the demigods or the devotees. We should seek protection of Kṛṣṇa. This world is so dangerous. It is said, padaṁ padaṁ yad vipadām. Every step there is danger. But if we take shelter, samāśritā ye pada-pallava-plavaṁ mahat-padaṁ puṇya-yaśo murāreḥ, if we take shelter of the lotus feet of Murāri, under whose lotus feet the whole mahat-tattva, cosmic manifestation, is resting, then this big ocean of birth and death, we can cross very easily. Vatsa-padam. Vatsa-padam means the impression by the hoof of a calf and the water contained in it. The whole ocean becomes like a spot, a small spot, created by the impression of the hoof. That is called vatsa-padam.

Arrival Addresses and Talks

Arrival Address -- London, March 8, 1975:

Eighty. That's nice. So Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura has sung, jay sakal bipod... (aside:) It is going now. Jāy sakal bipod, gāi bhaktivinod, jakhon ami o-nām gai, rādhā-kṛṣṇa bolo bolo, bolo re sobāi. The Caitanya Mahāprabhu's preaching is to request everyone to chant Hare Kṛṣṇa or Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa. So Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura says that "When I chant Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra, then all dangers go away." So this place, this material world, is a dangerous place. Padaṁ padaṁ yad vipadām. Vipad means danger, and padaṁ padam means every step. In the material world you cannot expect very smooth, peaceful life. That is not possible. And the only remedy is to take shelter of the lotus feet of Murāri. Murāri means Kṛṣṇa.

Arrival Talk -- Aligarh, October 9, 1976:

Actually, nature's law, you can eat once attar. If you eat little more than that, then there is indigestion immediately. You have to go to the doctor. So what is your independence? You cannot violate a little portion of the laws of nature. So many. In every step. As soon as you violate, immediately there is punishment. And still, we are declaring independence. Asatyam. What is that? Where is Bhagavad-gītā? Find out. Jagad āhur anīśvaram (BG 16.8). Asatyam apratiṣṭhaṁ te jagad ahur anīśvaram. "There is no God." Why you say there is no...? You are under control. There is a controller; otherwise, how you are under control? So this foolishness must be stopped in order to make them happy, really happy. Otherwise, if they are kept into ignorance and things go on like this, then the future picture is very gloomy. It has already become gloomy, and future is very, very gloomy. So everyone should come forward, take this movement seriously, and at least, we are Indians, we should take care of Indians. We should not keep people in ignorance. That is not civilization. That is not civilization. Civilization means tamasi mā jyotir gama. Come to the light. Don't keep yourself in darkness. That is not civilization. That, this civilization is keeping people in darkness. That is very risky. So we should take it very seriously and push this movement very scientifically, soberly, and people will be benefited.

Initiation Lectures

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

At the same time, voluntarily, if you do not commit all these nonsenses, then it will be very nice. And if you continue this water pouring, then... Just like a man is taking medicine at the same time doing all nonsense. Then his disease will not be cured, or may take very, very long time. So we should not be irresponsible in that way because life is very short. We do not know when death is coming, especially in these days. We are moving in the street, we are moving by plane, we are moving... Every step, there is danger. Padaṁ padaṁ yad vipadām (SB 10.14.58). It is a place of danger. So our life... We should consider this human form of life, especially Kṛṣṇa conscious life, is very important life. We should not be inattentive. So we should be very careful. Kṛṣṇa will, of course, protect you, but at the same time, we have got consciousness. We should also take care that before the next death comes, we must be fully prepared for being transferred to Kṛṣṇaloka. And it is very simple thing. If you keep yourself constantly in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, that's the only thing. Then you are sure to be going, transferred next life.

Initiation of Satyabhama Dasi and Gayatri Initiation of Devotees Going to London -- Montreal, July 26, 1968:

It is not possible to enjoy this material world nicely. This is called illusion. Everyone is trying to enjoy this material world very nicely. That is illusion. There is no nice enjoyment. You can rise up to a very nice post, just like the President Kennedy. Oh, with great endeavor he rose up to that post, and all of a sudden he was shot down. So this material world is like that. You cannot have, I mean to say, undeterred, without any impediment, pleasure. No. Every step you want to enjoy material enjoyment and you have to face every step danger also. This is the process. So one who is intelligent, as it is stated in the Caitanya-caritāmṛta, kṛṣṇa ye bhaje se baḍa catura. Unless one is perfectly intelligent and perfectly cleansed, one cannot take to Kṛṣṇa consciousness. So therefore guru-kṛṣṇa kṛpā pāya bhakti-latā-bīja. Kṛṣṇa is seated within everyone's heart. If we want Kṛṣṇa sincerely, and how we want Kṛṣṇa sincerely? That is the mercy of the spiritual master.

General Lectures

Lecture -- Los Angeles, December 4, 1968:

We are in such a position that in every step there is sinful activity, every step. This world is so made. Just like nonviolence. Nonviolence, the Buddhist philosophy, the Jain philosophy, they advocate nonviolence. But how one can be nonviolent? We are walking on the street, there are so many ants and small germs, they are being killed. We are breathing, so many animals are being killed. We are drinking water, so many animals are being killed. How it is possible to become nonviolence? It is not possible. Therefore in every step we have to act in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, or God consciousness. Then there is indemnity from the sinful activities. That is recommended in the Bhagavad-gītā, that yajñarthāt karmaṇo 'nyatra loko 'yaṁ karma-bandhanaḥ (BG 3.9). Unless you act in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, or God consciousness, or as ordered by Kṛṣṇa, or God, then you become bound up by the reaction.

Press Release -- Los Angeles, December 22, 1968:

The Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement teaches these spiritual activities, and if one is trained up in such spiritual activities, one is transferred to the spiritual world, of which we get ample evidence from Vedic literatures and also from the Bhagavad-gītā. And the spiritually trained person can be transferred to the spiritual world easily by change of consciousness. The consciousness is always there because it is the symptom of the living spirit soul. But at the present moment the consciousness is materially contaminated. Just like pouring water, water pouring, down from the cloud is pure, distilled water, but as soon as the water comes in touch with the earth it becomes muddy immediately. Again, by filtering the same water, the original clearness can be regained. Similarly, Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is the process of clearing the consciousness, and as soon as the consciousness clear and pure it is transferred to the spiritual world for eternal life of knowledge and bliss, which we are hankering for in this material world, and being frustrated in every step on account of material contamination. Therefore this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement should be taken very seriously by the leaders of the human society.

Lecture -- London, September 16, 1969:

"Anyone who is engaged in unalloyed devotional service of Me, he is already transcendental to all the three modes of material nature." Sa guṇan samatītya etān. All these. There are three modes of material nature, sattva-raja-tamaḥ. So a devotee surpasses very easily. Bhavāmbudhir vatsa-padaṁ paraṁ padam. Bhavāmbudhiḥ, the great ocean of nescience, becomes just like the water pit made by the hoof of a calf. You see. Bhavāmbudhir vatsa-padaṁ paraṁ padaṁ padaṁ padaṁ yad vipadāṁ na teṣām (SB 10.14.58). For the devotee, this place is not for them. This... Which place? This material world. What is that material world? Padaṁ padaṁ yad vipadām. In every step there is danger. Every step. But they are meant for the paraṁ padam. Paraṁ padam, the supreme post, or the supreme abode. That is also confirmed in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Śukadeva Gosvāmī says, kalau doṣa-nidhe rājann asti eko mahān guṇaḥ. In this age of Kali it is a great ocean of faults. But still, there is one sublime gain. What is that? Now, kīrtanād eva kṛṣṇasya (SB 12.3.51). Simply by kṛṣṇa-kīrtana, kīrtanād eva kṛṣṇasya mukta-saṅgaḥ, he becomes liberated. And paraṁ vrajet, and he goes to the supreme kingdom. Simply. And Caitanya Mahāprabhu also says, paraṁ vijayate śrī-kṛṣṇa-saṅkīrtanam: "All glories to the śrī-kṛṣṇa-saṅkīrtana." So chant Hare Kṛṣṇa and go back to Kṛṣṇa.

Lecture 'Nobody Wants to Die' -- Boston, May 7, 1968:

So this is the simplest method, and Lord Caitanya therefore recommended, kalau nāsty eva nāsty eva gatir anyathā. In this, in this age... This age is called Kali. Kali means the age of disagreement. Nobody agrees. Nobody agrees. I don't agree with you; you don't agree with me. I quarrel with you; you quarrel with me. Everyone thinks that he is independent, he is God or he is everything. But he is dependent in every step. But still, he's proud of becoming God. So these nonsense things are going on. Of course, this is a process of spiritual understanding, ekatvena bahudhā pṛthaktvena bahudhā viśvato-mukham, that "I am God," whether "I" means this body or "I" means this mind, or there is something "I" else than this body and mind. Therefore meditation required. Accepting that you are God, now find out "I." Now what is that "I"? Is that "I" this body or this, that "I" the mind, or is that "I" the intelligence? So meditation means to find out that "I" who's claiming that "I am God."

Lecture at Krsna Niketan -- Gorakhpur, February 16, 1971:

You are walking, you are walking, and immediately you become paralyzed. But while walking you think, "I am walking. I am walking." You are not walking. You are walking under some mechanical arrangement with the help of the material nature, but you are thinking, "I am walking." In every step, in every action, you are completely dependent. Don't you think that "I am walking"? Now when there is some trouble or if the hands or leg become paralyzed, now if you are walking, then you repair it. Bhrāmayan sarva-bhūtāni yantrārūḍhāni māyayā.

Lecture on Teachings of Lord Caitanya -- Bombay, March 17, 1971:

First of all, we do not know that we are suffering in every step. Why we are using this fan? Because we are suffering. Because the excessive heat we cannot tolerate, suffering. Similarly, in the winter season this wind will be another suffering. We have closed the doors tightly so that air may not come. Now the air is counteracting suffering and in another season the same air will be suffering. So, the air is the cause of suffering and it is the so-called cause of happiness also. Actually we are simply suffering, that we do not know. But we get information from Lord Kṛṣṇa that this place is duḥkhālayam aśāśvatam (BG 8.15). It is a place for miseries. You cannot expect any happiness. That is our foolishness. That is our foolishness. We are trying to adjust things to become happy, but we are so foolish that we do not know there cannot be any happiness. This is called ignorance. This is called ignorance. Therefore Bhāgavata says parābhavas tāvad abodha-jāta. Abodha-jāta, every one of us born foolish. And we are acting in different ways to become happy, but we do not know that every step we are being defeated. We are fighting with the stringent laws of nature, struggle, but we are happy by some complacent thoughts that we have become happy, we are advanced. We are happy. We are becoming educated, we are advanced in science.

Speech at Olympia Theater -- Paris, June 26, 1971, (with translator):

So if we remember this instruction of Bhagavad-gītā, that the taste of the water is God, then the God realization begins, becomes, begins. Similarly, it is said there that God is the light of the moon, God is the light of the sun. Every one of us has seen the sunlight and the moonshine, so how we can say that we have not seen God? Similarly, Kṛṣṇa says that "I am the sound vibration in the sky." So who has not heard the sound vibration of the cloud in the sky? So as soon as we hear the sound vibration in the sky, we can see God or we can hear God. At last, Kṛṣṇa says in the Bhagavad-gītā that mṛtyuḥ sarva-haraś cāham (BG 10.34). If one does not see God, then, Kṛṣṇa says, "I am the death, cruel death, who takes away everything from everyone." The conclusion is that everyone sees God at every moment, but the atheist class, they do not accept that he is seeing God. He denies or telling lies that he is not seeing God. But a devotee of God, he sees God at every moment within his heart. So the difference of seeing God by a devotee and difference of, and denying, denial by the nondevotee, is this, that the atheist class or the atheist can see God at his last stage as death, whereas the devotee sees God by his devotional service every moment and every step of his life.

Lecture -- San Francisco, June 28, 1971:

Similarly, Kṛṣṇa says that "I am this and that." He says, raso 'ham apsu kaunteya (BG 7.8). Those who are sober, those who want to understand Kṛṣṇa, they can understand Kṛṣṇa in every step of life. Just like raso 'ham apsu kaunteya, "I am the taste of the water." Water you have to drink. Just like I drank just a minute before and quenched my thirst. But that quenching active principle is Kṛṣṇa. So we can realize Kṛṣṇa every time we'll drink water. This is Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Śās..., prabhāsmi śaśi sūryayoḥ. Kṛṣṇa is the sunshine, Kṛṣṇa is the moonshine. Kṛṣṇa is the fragrance of the flower. As soon as you take a flower and smell it, the fragrance is Kṛṣṇa. In this way, every step we can understand Kṛṣṇa. Even in sex life we can understand Kṛṣṇa. That is also stated in the Bhagavad-gītā: dharmāviruddho kāmo 'smi, sex life which is not against the religious codes. What is that? Sex life for begetting children is allowed. That is not against the religious code, and that is Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa says, dharmāviruddho kāmo 'smi. Kāma, lust. Sex life is the business of lust. Kṛṣṇa says "Yes, lust is also good provided it is not against the religious codes."

Lecture at Bharata Chamber of Commerce 'Culture and Business' -- Calcutta, January 30, 1973:

So immediately you remember Kṛṣṇa. As soon as you see sunshine, you remember, "Oh, here is Kṛṣṇa." As soon as you see moonshine, you remember, "Eh, here is..." As soon as you see something wonderful, pauruṣaṁ nṛṣu śabdaḥ khe, as soon as you hear in the sky some sound, so if you remember, "Here is Kṛṣṇa," that means you are remembering Kṛṣṇa in every step of your life. And if you're remembering Kṛṣṇa in every step of life, then you become the topmost yogi. Because Kṛṣṇa says,

yoginām api sarveṣāṁ

mad-gata āntarātmanā

śraddhāvān bhajate...

(BG 6.47)

Mad-gata āntarātmanā. If you feel Kṛṣṇa in every step of life... It is not very difficult. And, above that, if you practice the chanting—Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare... There is no tax. Your..., there is no loss of your business. You are all businessmen. But if you chant Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra, if you remember Kṛṣṇa while drinking water, what is your loss? Why don't you try it? This is cultivation of knowledge, if you cultivate this knowledge, at the same time go on doing your business, your life will be successful.

Public Speech -- Bad Homburg, Germany, June 22, 1974:

We are conditioned in every step by the laws of material nature. Still, foolishly we are thinking we are free. This is foolishness. We are so much controlled by the material nature, exactly like a small child is pulled by the ear by its mother. "Come here"—he comes here. "Go there." Just like a dog. A dog may feel very freedom jumping, but as soon as the master says, "Come here," he comes and immediately chained. This is our position.

Tenth Anniversary Address -- Washington, D.C., July 6, 1976:

So what is dharma? A simple definition is given: dharmaṁ tu sākṣāt-bhagavat-praṇītam. Dharma means the law given by God, that's all-three words: God and His words. So if we do not know who is God, if we do not know what is His order, then we are lost. If we do not know God and if we... Just like if we do not know what is the government and if we do not know what is the order of government, then what is our position? We'll commit every step some mistake, and we shall suffer. So we must know what is dharma and... A cat, dog cannot understand dharma, but a human being is supposed to understand dharma. Lawbooks are made for the human being, not for the cats and dogs. "Keep to the left" or "Keep to the right," the signboard is there in the street. Or the red light is there, blue light is there—for whom? For the human beings, not for the cats and dogs. The cats and dogs may disobey; there is no criminality on their part because they are cats and dogs. So there is law of God, there is God. If human being does not know what is God and what is the law of God, then he's no better than the cats and dogs. He must know. Dharmaṁ tu sākṣād bhagavat-praṇītam (SB 6.3.19).

Lecture Excerpt -- London, July 25, 1976:

So Kṛṣṇa conscious person are no more interested. Why not interested? They are disgusted. Why disgusted? No, because it is full of danger. Padaṁ padaṁ yad vipadām (SB 10.14.58). Here everything appears to be very nice, but every step there is danger. So the Kṛṣṇa conscious person knows it, that although it is decorated very nicely. The New York is a big city. Twenty-four hours, "dungdungdungdungdungdung-guggugguggugguggug"—fire, always fire. Every minute there is a fire case. Saṁsāra-dāvānala-līḍha-loka **. Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura's description of this material world as blazing fire... We see big, big cities in America, always in blazing fire. Still, they like this kind of life. But one who is advanced in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, they are no more interested, no more interested. They are interested back home, back to Godhead. Back to Godhead. Therefore our magazine is Back to Godhead. They are no more interested in front. They are going back to... (laughter) Therefore this name was given, Back to Godhead. They are trying: "No more we are so foolish. To go forward, material civilization..." And where you'll go? You are packed up within this universal atmosphere. Just like they are running for the moon planet, for the Mars planet. And where the rascals running, they'll come back.

Philosophy Discussions

Philosophy Discussion on Sigmund Freud:

Hayagrīva: Well, he felt that the idea of God arose out of man's helplessness, and the gods...

Prabhupāda: That hopelessness is already there, that's a fact. That is the same logic, that we are finding difficulties in this materialistic way of life. Threefold miseries-miserable condition of this body, this mind, miseries offered by other living entities, and the natural disturbances. So how can you say there is very smooth life? That is not possible. And above these, there is old age, birth, death. So hopelessness is already there. But if one is very rascal, he is hoping against hope and planning that "We shall overcome all these difficulties by this plan, that plan, that plan." That, that is not possible. The nature is so strong, whatever plan you imagine, that will smash into pieces by simply kicking over your face. So you are hopeless but you are so shameless, inspite of becoming hopeless in every step, you are hoping against hope to make adjustment with these material things. You are so rascal and foolish. Hopelessness is always there in every step, and still, out of insanity, you are trying to adjust with another hopeless plan.

Hayagrīva: He felt that the father God is an infantile wish. He says, "The whole thing is so patently infantile, so incongruous with reality, that one whose attitudes..."

Prabhupāda: So what is his reality? Infantile conception of God, but what he is, except the child? Huh? He is also planning something. That is also childish. So how he becomes more than a child? He cannot give us any definite program by which everyone will be hopeful.

Philosophy Discussion on Mao Tse Tung:

Prabhupāda: So that is our process. We say that perceptual fact is that we are controlled. Every one of us, controlled. Who can deny it? Why you are running on this fan? Because you are controlled. There is excessive heat controlling you. Therefore I am trying to counteract it. In every step you are controlled by the laws of nature. So how he thinks that he is independent? Why does he manufacture so many so-called laws of independence? In fact he is controlled. Prakṛteḥ kriyamāṇāni guṇaiḥ karmāṇi sarvaśaḥ (BG 3.27). He is in contact with some modes of material nature, and he is controlled by them. So why does he not accept that "I am not independent, I am controlled. The basic principle is that I am controlled." Then if one is actually conversant with the laws of control, then he makes adjustment according to that. One being controlled, how he can become controller? This is phenomenon. Where one is... Let any man come and say boldly that "I am not controlled." Who is that man? Find out any man. We are sitting, so many men here. Let any one of us declare that "I am not controlled." So therefore basic principle is that "I am controlled." So how this position of being controlled can be perfect, that should be our study. That is our Kṛṣṇa consciousness. We say that you are controlled. So the supreme controller is Kṛṣṇa. So you voluntarily surrender yourself, that "Kṛṣṇa, from this day... I was struggling against Your laws. Now I fully surrender."

Philosophy Discussion on Thomas Henry Huxley:

Hayagrīva: Well, the continuance of a culture.

Prabhupāda: That is going on. Every culture is continued. The Vedic culture is there and other cultures are also there. It is continuing.

Hayagrīva: He says the influence of the cosmic process on the evolution of society is greater the more rudimentary its civilization. Social progress means a checking of the cosmic process at every step, and the substitution for it of another, which may be called the ethical process.

Prabhupāda: So the difference...

Hayagrīva: The cosmic process is the process of creation, maintenance and ultimate annihilation. He says this can be checked by a..., an ethical culture.

Prabhupāda: The cosmic process cannot be checked, but the cosmic process is continuing in different modes. That is called tri-guṇa. One process is the process of goodness, another process is the process of passion, another process is process of ignorance. So in the process of goodness, real advancement goes on, and ultimately one has to transcend the process of goodness also and come to the platform which is all-good. In the material world, whichever process you accept, it is mixed, both goodness, passion and ignorance. It is very difficult in the material way of life to keep the process pure. Therefore the real process is gradually bring the being or the soul to the platform of goodness and then transcend also goodness and keep him or let him remain in the actual platform of pure goodness. That is wanted. That is really progress. That pure goodness is bhakti.