Everything for Krsna

Bhagavad-gita As It Is

BG Chapters 1 - 6

BG 3.37, Purport:

This inquiry is the beginning of the Vedānta-sūtras, wherein it is said, athāto brahma jijñāsā: one should inquire into the Supreme. And the Supreme is defined in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam as janmādy asya yato 'nvayād itarataś ca, or, "The origin of everything is the Supreme Brahman." Therefore the origin of lust is also in the Supreme. If, therefore, lust is transformed into love for the Supreme, or transformed into Kṛṣṇa consciousness—or, in other words, desiring everything for Kṛṣṇa—then both lust and wrath can be spiritualized. Hanumān, the great servitor of Lord Rāma, exhibited his wrath by burning the golden city of Rāvaṇa, but by doing so he became the greatest devotee of the Lord. Here also, in Bhagavad-gītā, the Lord induces Arjuna to engage his wrath upon his enemies for the satisfaction of the Lord. Therefore, lust and wrath, when they are employed in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, become our friends instead of our enemies.

BG 4.20, Purport:

This freedom from the bondage of actions is possible only in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, when one is doing everything for Kṛṣṇa. A Kṛṣṇa conscious person acts out of pure love for the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and therefore he has no attraction for the results of the action. He is not even attached to his personal maintenance, for everything is left to Kṛṣṇa. Nor is he anxious to secure things, nor to protect things already in his possession. He does his duty to the best of his ability and leaves everything to Kṛṣṇa. Such an unattached person is always free from the resultant reactions of good and bad; it is as though he were not doing anything. This is the sign of akarma, or actions without fruitive reactions. Any other action, therefore, devoid of Kṛṣṇa consciousness, is binding upon the worker, and that is the real aspect of vikarma, as explained hereinbefore.

BG 4.25, Purport:

Those who are interested in material benefits worship the demigods by various sacrifices according to the Vedic rituals. They are called bahv-īśvara-vādī, or believers in many gods. But others, who worship the impersonal feature of the Absolute Truth and regard the forms of the demigods as temporary, sacrifice their individual selves in the supreme fire and thus end their individual existences by merging into the existence of the Supreme. Such impersonalists sacrifice their time in philosophical speculation to understand the transcendental nature of the Supreme. In other words, the fruitive workers sacrifice their material possessions for material enjoyment, whereas the impersonalist sacrifices his material designations with a view to merging into the existence of the Supreme. For the impersonalist, the fire altar of sacrifice is the Supreme Brahman, and the offering is the self being consumed by the fire of Brahman. The Kṛṣṇa conscious person, like Arjuna, however, sacrifices everything for the satisfaction of Kṛṣṇa, and thus all his material possessions as well as his own self—everything—is sacrificed for Kṛṣṇa. Thus, he is the first-class yogī; but he does not lose his individual existence.

BG 6.4, Purport:

When a person is fully engaged in the transcendental loving service of the Lord, he is pleased in himself, and thus he is no longer engaged in sense gratification or in fruitive activities. Otherwise, one must be engaged in sense gratification, since one cannot live without engagement. Without Kṛṣṇa consciousness, one must be always seeking self-centered or extended selfish activities. But a Kṛṣṇa conscious person can do everything for the satisfaction of Kṛṣṇa and thereby be perfectly detached from sense gratification. One who has no such realization must mechanically try to escape material desires before being elevated to the top rung of the yoga ladder.

Srimad-Bhagavatam

SB Canto 3

SB 3.27.1, Purport:

As stated in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, liberation means reinstatement in one's original position. The original position is one of rendering service to the Lord (bhakti-yogena, bhaktyā). When one becomes detached from material attraction and engages fully in devotional service, that is changlessness. Akartṛtvāt means not doing anything for sense gratification. When one does something at his own risk, there is a sense of proprietorship and therefore a reaction, but when one does everything for Kṛṣṇa, there is no proprietorship over the activities. By changlessness and by not claiming the proprietorship of activities, one can immediately situate himself in the transcendental position in which one is not touched by the modes of material nature, just as the reflection of the sun is unaffected by the water.

SB Canto 6

SB 6.9.45, Purport:

The word mṛṣṭa-yaśase is significant herein because Kṛṣṇa is always famous for relieving His devotee from danger. A devotee who has sacrificed everything for the service of Kṛṣṇa and whose only source of relief is the Lord is known as akiñcana.

Sri Caitanya-caritamrta

CC Adi-lila

CC Adi 4.175, Translation:

They renounced everything for Kṛṣṇa. They have pure attachment to giving Kṛṣṇa pleasure.

CC Madhya-lila

CC Madhya 22.116, Translation:

“The next steps are as follows: (6) One should be prepared to give up everything for Kṛṣṇa's satisfaction, and one should also accept everything for Kṛṣṇa's satisfaction. (7) One must live in a place where Kṛṣṇa is present—a city like Vṛndāvana or Mathurā or a Kṛṣṇa temple. (8) One should acquire a livelihood that is just sufficient to keep body and soul together. (9) One must fast on the Ekādaśī day."

Other Books by Srila Prabhupada

Nectar of Devotion

Nectar of Devotion 33:

Dāna-vīra, or chivalry in giving charity, may be divided into two parts: munificence and renunciation. A person who can sacrifice everything for the satisfaction of Kṛṣṇa is called munificent. When a person desires to make a sacrifice because of seeing Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa is called the impetus of the munificent activity. When Kṛṣṇa appeared as the son of Nanda Mahārāja, in clear consciousness Nanda Mahārāja desired all auspiciousness for his son and thus began to give valuable cows in charity to all the brāhmaṇas. The brāhmaṇas were so satisfied by this charitable action that they were obliged to say that the charity of Nanda Mahārāja had excelled the charity of such past kings as Mahārāja Pṛthu and Nṛga.

Krsna, The Supreme Personality of Godhead

Krsna Book 35:

In the absence of Kṛṣṇa the gopīs were constantly shedding tears, but sometimes, when they expected that Kṛṣṇa was coming, they would stop crying. But when they saw that Kṛṣṇa was not coming, then again they would become frustrated and begin to cry. Kṛṣṇa is the original Personality of Godhead, the origin of all Viṣṇu forms, and the cowherd boys are all demigods. Lord Viṣṇu is always worshiped and surrounded by different demigods like Lord Śiva, Lord Brahmā, Indra, Candra and others. When Kṛṣṇa traveled through the Vṛndāvana forest or walked on Govardhana Hill, He was accompanied by the cowherd boys. While walking, He played His flute just to call His cows. Just by His association, the trees, plants and other vegetation in the forest immediately became Kṛṣṇa conscious. A Kṛṣṇa conscious person sacrifices everything for Kṛṣṇa. Although the trees and plants were not very advanced in consciousness, by the association of Kṛṣṇa and His friends they also became Kṛṣṇa conscious. They then wanted to deliver everything—whatever they had—namely their fruits, flowers and the honey incessantly falling from their branches.

Krsna Book 65:

After being received by the cowherd men and boys, the gopīs, and King Nanda and Yaśodā, Lord Balarāma sat down, feeling satisfied, and they all surrounded Him. First Lord Balarāma inquired from them about their welfare, and then, since they had not seen Him for such a long time, they began to ask Him different questions. The inhabitants of Vṛndāvana had sacrificed everything for Kṛṣṇa, simply being captivated by the lotus eyes of the Lord. Because of their great desire to love Kṛṣṇa, they never desired anything like elevation to the heavenly planets or merging into the effulgence of Brahman to become one with the Absolute Truth. They were not even interested in enjoying a life of opulence, but were satisfied in living a simple life in the village as cowherds. They were always absorbed in thoughts of Kṛṣṇa and did not desire any personal benefits, and they were all so much in love with Him that in His absence their voices faltered when they began to inquire from Balarāmajī.

Krsna Book 65:

When the gopīs arrived, Lord Balarāma glanced over them with loving eyes. Being overjoyed, the gopīs, who had so long been mortified on account of Kṛṣṇa's and Balarāma's absence, began to ask about the welfare of the two brothers. They specifically asked Balarāma whether Kṛṣṇa was enjoying His life surrounded by the enlightened women of Dvārakā Purī. "Does He sometimes remember His father Nanda and His mother Yaśodā and the other friends with whom He so intimately behaved while in Vṛndāvana? Does Kṛṣṇa have any plans to come here to see His mother, Yaśodā, and does He remember us gopīs, who are now pitiably bereft of His company? Kṛṣṇa may have forgotten us in the midst of the cultured women of Dvārakā, but as far as we are concerned, we still remember Him by collecting flowers and sewing them into garlands. When He does not come, however, we simply pass our time by crying. If only He would come here and accept these garlands we have made. Dear Lord Balarāma, descendant of Dāśārha, You know that we would give up everything for Kṛṣṇa's friendship. Even in great distress one cannot give up the connection of family members, but although it might be impossible for others, we gave up our fathers, mothers, sisters and relatives. But then Kṛṣṇa, without caring a pinch for our renunciation, all of a sudden renounced us and went away. He broke off our intimate relationship without serious consideration and left for a foreign country. But He was so clever and cunning that He manufactured very nice words. He said, "My dear gopīs, please do not worry. The service you have rendered Me is impossible for Me to repay." After all, we are women, so how could we disbelieve Him? Now we can understand that His sweet words were simply for cheating us."

Krsna Book 82:

The gopīs, having been instructed by Kṛṣṇa in this philosophy of simultaneous oneness and difference, remained always in Kṛṣṇa consciousness and thus became liberated from all material contamination. The consciousness of the living entity who falsely presents himself as the enjoyer of the material world is called jīva-kośa, which means imprisonment by the false ego. Not only the gopīs but anyone who follows these instructions of Kṛṣṇa is immediately freed from the jīva-kośa imprisonment. A person in full Kṛṣṇa consciousness is always liberated from false egoism; he utilizes everything for Kṛṣṇa's service and is not at any time separated from Kṛṣṇa.

Renunciation Through Wisdom

Renunciation Through Wisdom 1.9:

Since the karma-yogī knows that the ultimate enjoyer of the fruits of all his activities is Lord Kṛṣṇa, he does not hanker after those fruits and is fully detached from them. He always thinks of doing everything for Lord Kṛṣṇa. Such an unattached karma-yogī never thinks that action in Kṛṣṇa consciousness is meant for enjoying sense pleasure or avoiding pain. The sannyāsī renounces everything, including activities prescribed by the scriptures, in favor of cultivating knowledge of the Absolute. The yogī retires from active service and, desiring to see the Supersoul within his heart, spends his days in meditation with half-closed eyes. But he whose work is a sacrifice for the satisfaction of the Supreme makes no endeavors for his physical requirements. Since he is engaged in devotional service to the Supreme Lord, he is not required to execute the ritualistic activities recommended in the scriptures. Such a detached karma-yogī is superior to one who is merely unattached to the fruits of his work. The karma-yogī is automatically accomplished in the knowledge of the Absolute that the sannyāsī seeks and the eight mystic perfections that the meditating yogī aspires for.

Message of Godhead

Message of Godhead 2:

The fact is that Śrī Kṛṣṇa Himself becomes the enjoyer of the fruits of the work performed by the transcendentalist. Thus, the transcendentalist has no responsibility for the results of his work, may those results be good or bad in the estimation of worldly people. The transcendentalist acts under the impetus of his obligation to do everything for the sake of Śrī Kṛṣṇa. He never views any activity as an object of enjoyment or renunciation on his own account. In contrast, the sannyāsī or renouncer relieves himself of all worldly responsibilities in order to free himself for acquiring knowledge relating to the all-pervasive Spirit. The mystic takes similar measures so that he can enhance his meditation and better visualize within himself the localized aspect of the same Supreme Spirit. But the transcendentalist who acts only for the satisfaction of the Supreme Person, without being impelled by a motive of self-satisfaction, is actually free from all worldly duties—without the separate effort made by the sannyāsīs and the mystics. The spiritual knowledge acquired by the sannyāsīs and the eightfold perfections achieved by the mystics are all within easy reach of the transcendentalist. Therefore, the transcendentalist does not desire to achieve any profit, adoration, or distinction. He desires no gain whatever, except to be engaged in the transcendental service of Godhead—because simply by such service, he gains all. Once one achieves the supreme gain, which encompasses all other gains, what is there still to be achieved?

Narada-bhakti-sutra (sutras 1 to 8 only)

Narada Bhakti Sutra 7, Purport:

Lust leads to fruitive activity for sense gratification. There are different kinds of duties for the human being, such as political obligations, performance of Vedic rituals, obligations for maintaining the body, and social formalities and conventions, but all such activities are directed toward satisfying one's own senses. The gopīs, however, simply wanted to satisfy Kṛṣṇa's senses, and thus they completely gave up the conventional path of social restriction, not caring for their relatives or the chastisement of their husbands. They gave up everything for the satisfaction of Kṛṣṇa, showing their strong attachment to Kṛṣṇa to be as spotless as washed white cloth.

Lectures

Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures

Lecture on BG 1.44 -- London, July 31, 1973:

So Kṛṣṇa is not immoral. Kṛṣṇa is not engaging Arjuna to commit such sinful activities, svajanaṁ hatvā. No. Kṛṣṇa is engaging him in His service. So one has to understand that. So when Arjuna will understand that "This war, this fighting is not for my sense gratification, it is for Kṛṣṇa's sense gratification..." Then he agreed, because he is a devotee. Kariṣye vacanaṁ tava: (BG 18.73) "Yes I shall now act." This is the proposition. So ātmendriya-tṛpti-vāñchā dhare tāra nāma kāma. Kāma means lust. What is lust? Lust means whenever you try to satisfy your senses, that is called lust. And the same, whenever you try to satisfy Kṛṣṇa's senses, that is love. Practically the same business, but personal and Kṛṣṇa. So Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement means we have to act everything for Kṛṣṇa under proper direction. We cannot manufacture that "I am doing for Kṛṣṇa." Then that is another misleading. Therefore we require the guidance of the spiritual master. Kṛṣṇa. Guru-kṛṣṇa-kṛpāya (CC Madhya 19.151). In the Caitanya-caritāmṛta, that you have to seek the mercy both of Kṛṣṇa and guru, not that you have become so advanced that you are directly in connection with Kṛṣṇa and whatever you are doing, it is mercy. No. Don't think like that. It must be guided, it must be confirmed by guru. Guru-kṛṣṇa-kṛpāya pāya bhakti-latā-bīja (CC Madhya 19.151). Bhakti line is there. So our business is, Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is that we have to satisfy Kṛṣṇa.

Lecture on BG 2.9 -- London, August 15, 1973:

So therefore Kṛṣṇa is described, Hṛṣīkeśa. Hṛṣīkeṇa hṛṣīkeśa-sevanaṁ bhaktir ucyate (CC Madhya 19.170). And bhakti means to serve Hṛṣīkeśa by the hṛṣīka. Hṛṣīka means senses. Kṛṣṇa is the master of the senses, and therefore, whatever senses I have got, the master is Kṛṣṇa, proprietor is Kṛṣṇa. So when our senses are engaged in the satisfaction of the master of the senses, that is called bhakti. This is the definition of bhakti, devotional service. And when the senses are engaged for sense gratification, not for the master, that is called kāma. Kāma and prema. Prema means to love Kṛṣṇa and do everything for satisfaction of Kṛṣṇa. That is prema, love. And kāma means everything done for the satisfaction of my senses. This is the difference. The sense is the medium. Either you do it, satisfy your senses, or you satisfy Kṛṣṇa's senses. But when you satisfy Kṛṣṇa's senses, you become perfect, and when you satisfy your senses, you become imperfect, illusioned. Because you cannot satisfy your senses. That is not possible without Kṛṣṇa. Hṛṣīkeṇa hṛṣīkeśa-sevanaṁ bhaktir ucyate (CC Madhya 19.170).

Lecture on BG 3.1-5 -- Los Angeles, December 20, 1968:

Nirbandhaḥ kṛṣṇa-sambandhe yuktaṁ vairāgyam ucyate. Yuktaṁ vairāgya, real renunciation, is to dovetail everything for Kṛṣṇa. That is renunciation. Not renunciation that "I earn whole time millions of dollars and distribute among my children and are all engaged in some other way, and I become Kṛṣṇa conscious in a secluded place." No. You can begin Kṛṣṇa consciousness from the very beginning. Earn for Kṛṣṇa, spend for Kṛṣṇa, think for Kṛṣṇa, work for Kṛṣṇa. That is Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Fight for Kṛṣṇa. Nothing to be rejected. Everything to be dovetailed with Kṛṣṇa. That is Kṛṣṇa consciousness.

Lecture on BG 3.1-5 -- Los Angeles, December 20, 1968:

That will be taught in the karma-yoga section. And how one can, unless one is spiritually advanced how he can sacrifice his hard-earned money for Kṛṣṇa? Everyone thinks, "Oh, I have earned this money working so hard. Why shall I spend it for Kṛṣṇa? Let me keep it. I shall do it for my sense gratification." This is, this kind of advancement is no value. You see. How one has learned to sacrifice everything for Kṛṣṇa.

Lecture on BG 3.1-5 -- Los Angeles, December 20, 1968:

Just like Arjuna. He sacrificed his whole family for Kṛṣṇa. In the beginning he hesitated, "How can I kill my family members, this fight?" And when he became Kṛṣṇa conscious, "Never mind, I shall kill all of them." This is called sacrifice. This is Kṛṣṇa conscious. He sacrificed all sentiments, all connection, everything for Kṛṣṇa. That is called sannyāsa, real sannyāsa. Although he was a warrior, a fighter, a householder having more than dozen wives, but he was sannyāsa. Because he sacrificed everything for Kṛṣṇa. That is wanted. That is Kṛṣṇa conscious.

Lecture on BG 3.1-5 -- Los Angeles, December 20, 1968:

So everyone can test how far he has advanced simply by this, "How far I have become prepared to sacrifice everything for Kṛṣṇa?" He doesn't require to take certificate from others. He can test himself, "How far I am prepared?" Then it is all right. This is the standard. All right. Chant Hare Kṛṣṇa.

Lecture on BG 4.1 -- Montreal, August 24, 1968:

Kṛṣṇa is asking, kuruṣva tad mad-arpaṇam. So if anyone is agreed, "Yes, Kṛṣṇa, here is the money for You," then he's a karma-yogī. Otherwise he's a karmī. And the difference between karma-yogī and karmī means he has to suffer the result, good or bad, and karma-yogī has nothing to suffer because he's doing everything for Kṛṣṇa. Just like Arjuna. In the beginning he considered that "If I kill my kinsmen and my grandfather I'll be sinful." Yes. But the same thing he acted under the direction of Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa wanted. So he's free. So karma-yogī means he is free from the reaction of activities. He is karma-yogī.

Lecture on BG 4.1 -- Montreal, August 24, 1968:

So for Kṛṣṇa's pleasure you can become His enemy, you can become His friend, you can become anything. That is bhakti-yoga. Because your aim is how to please Kṛṣṇa. And as soon as the point comes, to please your senses, then you come to material world, immediately.

kṛṣṇa-bahirmukha hañā bhoga vāñchā kare

nikaṭa-stha māyā tāre jāpaṭiyā dhare

(Prema-vivarta)

As soon as we forget Kṛṣṇa and we want to do things for our sense gratification, that is māyā. And as soon as we give up this process of sense gratification and do everything for Kṛṣṇa, that is liberation.

Lecture on BG 4.10 Festival at Maison de Faubourg -- Geneva, May 31, 1974:

The practical example is that these European, American boys, they are all qualified, but they have dedicated their life to Kṛṣṇa. They are working, and we are collecting also thousands and thousand of dollars daily, but we are spending for Kṛṣṇa. This is service. You can see by their practical example. They can earn daily hundreds of dollars, but they are not demanding any very comfortable place to sit down or to lie down or to have some palatable dishes. Whatever is Kṛṣṇa's prasādam, they are accepting, and they are living in any condition of life. So far I am concerned, I am Indian. I am coming from a poor country. But they are not coming from poor country. From their childhood they are accustomed to all comforts of life. How they have sacrificed everything for Kṛṣṇa? That is practical example. So the point is when one learns how to love Kṛṣṇa, how to serve Kṛṣṇa, immediately he becomes detached from all material comforts. That is explained, vīta-rāga-bhaya-krodhā man-mayā mām upāśritāḥ (BG 4.10). If you accept Kṛṣṇa... We are serving. We cannot do without serving. But we are serving our senses. So instead of serving our senses, if we serve the senses of Kṛṣṇa, that is perfection of life.

Lecture on BG 4.16 -- Bombay, April 5, 1974:

That is tyāga. Tyāga means to give up the result to Kṛṣṇa. That is sannyāsa. Sat-nyāsa. Sat means the Supreme. And anyone who renounces everything for Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme, he is sannyāsī. That will be explained in the Fifth Chapter. Kāryaṁ karma karoti yaḥ. Anāśritaḥ karma-phalaṁ kāryaṁ karma karoti yaḥ, sa sannyāsī (BG 6.1). Kāryam, "It is my duty."

Lecture on BG 4.20 -- Bombay, April 9, 1974:

Anyābhilāṣitā-śūnyaṁ jñāna-karmādy-anāvṛtam (Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu 1.1.11). Jñāna-karmādy-anāvṛtam (CC Madhya 19.167). This karma-phala... A devotee doesn't want karma-phala. Therefore he is not implicated. He doesn't want. Therefore it is said, karmaṇy abhipravṛtto 'pi. Although he is engaged in karma... Because superficially it looks like karma.... Karma and bhakti looks the same thing. But the difference is that the result is for Kṛṣṇa and the karmī's result is for "myself." That is the difference. That is the difference. Karmaṇy abhipravṛtto 'pi naiva kiñcit karoti saḥ. This is the.... Although he is doing day and night, but he is still doing nothing. Doing nothing means doing, but he is not becoming entangled with the results. That is.... Because karma and karma-phala, one has to accept the karma-phala, but this man who is doing everything for Kṛṣṇa, he is not becoming entangled.

Lecture on BG 5.3-7 -- New York, August 26, 1966:

So we don't want monkey renouncement; we want real renouncement. We don't use anything for my personal comfort; everything for Kṛṣṇa. That is called renouncement, not a single farthing for my personal comfort, but millions of dollars for Kṛṣṇa. Bhoktāraṁ yajña-tapasāṁ sarva-loka-maheśvaram (BG 5.29). He is the only enjoyer. So this is called renouncement. Anyone who has renounced everything... Therefore Lord Caitanya has recommended the renouncement of the gopīs as the highest renouncement. Gopīs. The gopīs in Vṛndāvana... When Kṛṣṇa was present, He was so attractive. Now, why? Because He was said... Yesterday I explained that the God's one qualification is that He has all the beauty. Aiśvaryasya samagrasya vīryasya yaśasaḥ śriyaḥ (Viṣṇu Purāṇa 6.5.47). Śriyaḥ means beauty.

Lecture on BG 5.17-25 -- Los Angeles, February 8, 1969:

There are many examples. Just like you are American citizen. If you think yourself that "I am part and parcel of the state..." Sometimes there is some advertisement that "If you spoil this thing, you must know you are spoiling your own thing because the state is yours." Similarly, if I know the science of God, if I know science of Kṛṣṇa, then I am, my duty is to utilize everything for the satisfaction of Kṛṣṇa, just like the same citizen who is conscious that "I am part and parcel of this state. I shall see that everything is nicely done for the interest of the state." In Communist state they are very much strict. In other state they are not so much strict but in Communist state, if you go a little against the state, you are immediately punished.

Lecture on BG 6.1-4 -- New York, September 2, 1966:

Now, we know the yogi sits down at a place and meditates and concentrates his mind and controls his senses. How is that he is fighting, at the same time yogi? Huh? This is the mystery of Bhagavad-gītā. You can remain a fighting man, at the same time the highest yogi, highest sannyāsī. How? In Kṛṣṇa consciousness. You have to fight for Kṛṣṇa. That's all. That is the secret. That is the secret. If you fight for Kṛṣṇa, if you fight for work...work for Kṛṣṇa, if you eat for Kṛṣṇa, if you sleep for Kṛṣṇa, if you do everything for Kṛṣṇa, then you are the yogi, you are the sannyāsī, and you are everything. That is the secret of Bhagavad-gītā. It is practical example. We see that Arjuna is asked, tasmād yogī bhavārjuna. "My dear..." Now you'll find in this chapter, Kṛṣṇa will instruct Arjuna how to become a dhyāna-yogī. That is meditation, yogi in meditation.

Lecture on BG 6.13-15 -- Los Angeles, February 16, 1969:

Therefore here it is said, "By meditating in this manner, meditating upon Me, Kṛṣṇa, always controlling the body." The first control is tongue. And the next control is the genital. Then you control everything. You give your tongue engagement for chanting and eating Kṛṣṇa prasāda, it is controlled, finished. And as soon as your tongue is controlled, immediately your stomach is controlled, immediately next your genital is controlled. Simple thing. Controlling the body, mind. Mind being fixed on Kṛṣṇa, no other engagement, controlled. Activities always doing Kṛṣṇa's work. Gardening, typing, cooking, working, everything for Kṛṣṇa—activities. "The mystic transcendentalist then—immediately they become mystic transcendentalist—attains to peace, the supreme nirvāṇa, which abides in Me." It is all in Kṛṣṇa. You cannot find out peace outside Kṛṣṇa activities. Outside Kṛṣṇa consciousness. That is not possible.

Lecture on BG 6.25-29 -- Los Angeles, February 18, 1969:

Suppose you are trying to concentrate your mind on Kṛṣṇa, and your mind is diverted, going somewhere, in some cinema house. So you should withdraw, "Not there, please, here." This is practice of yoga. Not to allow the mind to go away from Kṛṣṇa. If you can practice this simply. Don't allow the mind to go away from Kṛṣṇa and because we cannot fix up our mind sitting in one place in Kṛṣṇa, that requires very high training. To sit down in a place and always fix up in Kṛṣṇa the mind, that is not very easy job. One who is not practiced to it, if he simply imitates, then he will be confused. We have to engage ourself always in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Everything we do must be dovetailed in Kṛṣṇa. Our usual activities should be molded that it has to do everything for Kṛṣṇa. Then your mind will be fixed up in Kṛṣṇa. Artificially when you are not advanced if you try to fix up your mind in Kṛṣṇa, that yoga practice as it is recommended here, that you have to sit down in this way, straight, you have to concentrate your eyesight on the tip of the nose in a secluded sacred place.

Lecture on BG 9.26-27 -- New York, December 16, 1966:

So Bali Mahārāja is one of the mahājanas whose footprints we have to follow. He has given tacit example. Anyone who is against God, he should be at once rejected. Never mind what he is. Yes. Never mind what he is. He should at once be rejected. This is the example of Bali Mahārāja. So Kṛṣṇa also approached him as a beggar. So here is also... He is... "All right. You are very powerful king. You have got much wealth. You think that yourself, that you are very much charitably disposed. All right, give Me something." So Kṛṣṇa is so kind. Dadāsi yat. If you are in cha..., give for..., charity, charity for Kṛṣṇa. Eating for Kṛṣṇa. Working for Kṛṣṇa. Sacrificing for Kṛṣṇa. Everything for Kṛṣṇa. Then you become perfect. Yat karoṣi yad aśnāsi yaj juhoṣi dadāsi yat, yat tapasyasi kaunteya (BG 9.27).

Lecture on BG 13.3 -- Bombay, December 30, 1972:

And akarma means you act in such a way that you become liberated. Akarma. You are not bound up. That akarma is yajña, yajñārthāt karmaṇaḥ anyatra karma-bandhanaḥ (BG 3.9). If you act for Viṣṇu or Kṛṣṇa, then you are not, I mean to say, liable of the responsibilities of karma. Because you are doing everything for Kṛṣṇa. Just like Arjuna did. Arjuna was thinking that "If I kill my grandfather, the other side, then I shall be merged into the sinful activities. He's my superior. He's my guru. And he's my..." In this way, he was thinking. Actually it was so. So he was declining to fight. Because that was karma. But when he decided to fight on the order of Kṛṣṇa, that is not karma. That if there is any sin, that is... It may be transferred to Kṛṣṇa.

Lecture on BG 16.5 -- Calcutta, February 23, 1972:

So Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is so easy. Everyone can take it and make his life successful. Daivī sampad vimokṣāya nibandhāyāsurī matā, mā śucaḥ sampadaṁ... (BG 16.5). Here, just to tell the devotees that even they are engaged, that Hanumān become engaged in fighting with Rāvaṇa, but he became the greatest devotee of Lord Rāmacandra. Arjuna also became engaged with, in fighting with the Kauravas, and he is the greatest. Bhakto 'si priyo 'si me (BG 4.3). Kṛṣṇa gives (indistinct) to him: "You are My dear friend, priyo 'si bhakto 'si." Similarly, we can do everything for Kṛṣṇa.

Lecture on BG 16.9 -- Hawaii, February 5, 1975:

Kṛṣṇa never said that "My dear Arjuna, you are My first-class devotee. Now you sit down and I'll do everything for you." No. Kṛṣṇa never said. Rather, Arjuna was not willing to fight, and Kṛṣṇa was inducing him, "You must fight. You must fight." Kṛṣṇa never said that "You become idle kṛṣṇa-bhakta," never said. So those who are trying to be idle kṛṣṇa-bhakta, they are not devotees. One must be engaged with Kṛṣṇa's work. That is devotion. Satataṁ kīrtayanto māṁ yatantaś ca dṛḍha-vratāḥ (BG 9.14). Always chanting the glory of Kṛṣṇa and trying everything for benefit of Kṛṣṇa, that is mahātmā. Mahātmānas tu māṁ pārtha daivīṁ prakṛtim... (BG 9.13), bhajanty an... Bhajanti means "He's always engaged in My service." That is mahātmā. Laziness is not bhakti. There must be something. But if somebody says, "Now I'll chant sitting down. Who is going to see me? I'll doze and people will know I am chanting." You see? This kind of cheating will not do.

Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures

Lecture on SB 1.2.7 -- Hyderabad, April 21, 1974:

If you learn how to practice bhakti-yoga, and that is upon Vāsudeva, Kṛṣṇa... Vāsudeva... And bhakti-yoga therefore says, śravaṇaṁ kīrtanaṁ viṣṇoḥ. Not śravaṇaṁ kīrtanam of the politician. That will not help you. Śravaṇaṁ kīrtanaṁ viṣṇoḥ. If you hear about Kṛṣṇa, if you chant about Kṛṣṇa, if you think about Kṛṣṇa, if you offer worship to Kṛṣṇa, if you engage yourself with some service to Kṛṣṇa, if you offer everything for Kṛṣṇa, you'll see Kṛṣṇa always, twenty-four hours. This is the process. Vāsudeve bhagavati bhakti-yogaḥ prayojitaḥ (SB 1.2.7). This is bhakti-yoga. Bhakti-yoga means always be engaged in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Satataṁ kīrtayanto māṁ yatantaś ca dṛḍha-vratāḥ (BG 9.14). That is stated in the Bhagavad... Satataṁ kīrtayanto mām. These boys and girls who are in bhakti-yoga, they are satataṁ kīrtayanto kṛṣṇam. They are going... Sometimes we go to make membership with these books. So we have to speak about Kṛṣṇa. Satataṁ kīrtayantaḥ. They are cooking for Kṛṣṇa. They are dancing for Kṛṣṇa. They are singing for Kṛṣṇa. They are talking for Kṛṣṇa. They are going round the world for Kṛṣṇa. Everything for Kṛṣṇa. This is Kṛṣṇa consciousness and bhakti-yoga. Everyone can adopt these principles.

Lecture on SB 1.2.22 -- Vrndavana, November 2, 1972:

If we simply learn how to render devotional service to Vāsudeva, Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa consciousness, vāsudeve bhagavati bhakti-yogaḥ prayojitaḥ. This is actually translated into English as Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Everything for Kṛṣṇa. So that Kṛṣṇa consciousness, if we take to Kṛṣṇa consciousness, then janayaty āśu vairāgyam. Āśu, very soon, one becomes detached from this material bondage. Janayaty āśu vairāgyaṁ jñānaṁ ca. And jñāna, knowledge, real knowledge.

Lecture on SB 1.7.40 -- Vrndavana, October 1, 1976:

Now here Kṛṣṇa is advising. So ānukūlyena kṛṣṇānuśīlanam. There is a... Parīkṣatā, as Kṛṣṇa is examining, similarly, Arjuna also very intelligently acting. He knew that although Kṛṣṇa was encouraging him to kill Aśvatthāmā, "He wanted to see me, how I deal with the matter." This is also... So there is competition between bhaktas. Duye lagye hura huri(?). It is stated in the Caitanya-caritāmṛta, between Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa is being enlivened by seeing Rādhārāṇī, and Rādhārāṇī is becoming more beautiful by seeing Kṛṣṇa. Duye lagye hura huri. The competition. This is described in the fourth chapter of Caitanya-caritāmṛta. So it is transcendental sporting between the devotee and the Lord. It is not nirviśeṣa-vāda. The Lord wants to see "How he is My pure devotee." And the devotee wants to see that "I'll not accept anything from Kṛṣṇa. I shall sacrifice everything for Kṛṣṇa." That is duye lagye hura huri. That is devotee, and that is Kṛṣṇa.

Lecture on SB 1.10.2 -- Mayapura, June 17, 1973:

This world is created by Kṛṣṇa, and He wants to see it is properly maintained. And who will maintain? His own representative. Not the demons. Therefore king is supposed to be a representative of Kṛṣṇa. He will maintain this world properly. A Vaiṣṇava, he knows how to utilize everything for Kṛṣṇa. The aim of this creation is giving these conditioned souls another chance for liberation. That is the purpose. When the whole world is annihilated, then all the living entities again enter into the body of Mahā-Viṣṇu. Then, when there is again creation, then the living entities again come out, according to their past position. We do not accept this rascal theory, Darwin's, that from lower-grade life they... There is a promotion like that, but in the creation everything is there. All the 8,400,000 species, they are all there. Although the gradations are there. So according to the past karma, karmaṇā daiva-netreṇa (SB 3.31.1), everyone comes out again, gets a different type of body, and begins his work.

Lecture on SB 3.25.11 -- Bombay, November 11, 1974:

So we have go live in this material world in such a way that we shall do everything for Kṛṣṇa, but we'll have no attachment for this material world. We may have big, big buildings, big, big temples, but we should not be attached to this. But for Kṛṣṇa's sake we must have. Because it is Kṛṣṇa's property. That is our mission. Īśāvāsyam idaṁ sarvam (ISO 1). We have to teach people that "Everything belongs to Kṛṣṇa. Why you are occupying it unnecessarily?" Stena eva sa ucyate (BG 3.12). "You are thief. Why you are claiming Kṛṣṇa's property, 'This is my land, America,' 'This is my land, India,' 'This is my land, Pakistan'?" It is not your land; it is Kṛṣṇa's land. You are imagining, "This is my land." You come here for, say, twenty years, twenty-five years, fifty years, and fight between yourselves, "This is my Pakistan," "This is my Bhāratavarṣa," and fight. And when you die you do not claim either Pakistani or Indian or American or European. You flat, fall flat. That's all. And then taken away this body and thrown. That's all.

Lecture on SB 3.25.22 -- Bombay, November 22, 1974:

We are indebted to the demigods. The body, the material body, which we have got, it is running by the direction of the demigods. There are different demigods controlling different parts of the body. So that means as soon as we get a body, we become indebted to the demigods. Then, when we are educated, we take knowledge. Then we become indebted to the great sages, saintly persons, who have given us all the directions how to live comfortably, sinlessly. Then devarṣi-bhūta. Bhūta, ordinary, general living beings. Just like we are taking milk from the cows, service from the bull, from the horse, from the ass—even cats and dogs. So we are also indebted to them. Devarṣi-bhūta-āpta. Relatives. We get so many help from relatives. Bhūta-āpta. Devarṣi-bhūtāpta-nṛṇām. General public. Devarṣi-bhūtāpta-nṛṇāṁ pitṟṇām (SB 11.5.41). And the forefathers. So a ṛṇī we are immediately. But if we renounce everything for the sake of Kṛṣṇa, then we are not ṛṇī, or indebted. That is the injunction of the śāstra.

Lecture on SB 5.5.3 -- Hyderabad, April 15, 1975:

Just now we explained. ye vā mayīśe kṛta-sauhṛdārthā, you keep your intimate relationship with Kṛṣṇa. It doesn't matter whether you are in family or without family. It doesn't matter. Just like I have given already example. Arjuna, he is a family man, he is not a sannyāsī. Not only family man, a military man, and politician, but he was prepared to sacrifice everything for Kṛṣṇa. That is wanted. If you do not become a family man, so what is the gain there? Or if you remain a sannyāsī, if you have no Kṛṣṇa consciousness, just like you said, "So many swamis they want to become Kṛṣṇa instead of becoming devotee of Kṛṣṇa." So this kind of sannyāsī is also useless. Similarly, gṛhastha, if he's simply attached to family, that is also useless. Any condition of life, if you remain fixed-up with Kṛṣṇa consciousness, that is your perfection of life. Yei kṛṣṇa-tattva-vettā, sei 'guru' haya (CC Madhya 8.128). Anyone who is fully Kṛṣṇa conscious and fixed-up in devotional service, knowing fully well what is Kṛṣṇa, he is guru. It doesn't matter whether he is a sannyāsī, or gṛhastha or brāhmaṇa, and śūdra. It doesn't matter. Is that all right? Chant Hare Kṛṣṇa.

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

So who will read Vedānta at the present moment? There is no education. But if we follow the footsteps of Caitanya Mahāprabhu, that Vedānta philosophy is not for ordinary person, simply if we chant—harer nāma harer nāma harer nāma eva kevalam—then you get the same result. What we get by studying Vedānta and Vedic literature, if we understand that kṛṣṇas tu bhagavān svayam (SB 1.3.28), and we sacrifice everything for achieving the mercy of Kṛṣṇa, then our Vedānta study is complete. That is the instruction of Caitanya Mahāprabhu.

Lecture on SB 6.1.8 -- New York, July 22, 1971:

Therefore in the Bhagavad-gītā the peace formula is given. The peace formula is that one should understand that Kṛṣṇa is the only enjoyer. Just like in this temple, our central point is Kṛṣṇa. If we are cooking, it is for Kṛṣṇa, not that we are cooking for our purpose. Ultimately, although we shall eat the prasādam, but when we cook, we don't think that we are cooking for ourself. We are cooking for Kṛṣṇa. When you go outside to collect some funds, it is not that the persons who are in the kīrtana party, they have got any personal interest. No. They are collecting, or they are distributing the literature, for Kṛṣṇa's sake, for making people Kṛṣṇa conscious. And whatever collection is there, that is being spent for Kṛṣṇa. So in this way, when we are practiced to this system of life, everything for Kṛṣṇa, that is Kṛṣṇa consciousness. The same thing, what we are doing, we have to do. Simply we have to change the consciousness, that "I am doing for Kṛṣṇa, not for my personal." In this way, if we develop Kṛṣṇa consciousness, then we come to our original consciousness. Then we become happy.

Lecture on SB 6.1.34-39 -- Surat, December 19, 1970:

Real vairāgya means one who can sacrifice everything for Kṛṣṇa. That is vairāgya. Karma-phala-tyāga—that is karma-yoga. One should give up the result of his fruitive activities to Kṛṣṇa. That is karma-yoga. Anāśritaḥ karma-phalaṁ kāryaṁ karma karoti yaḥ (BG 6.1). Anāśritaḥ karma-phalaṁ. One who is not desirous to enjoy the fruits of his activities, fruitive activities, anāśritaḥ karma-phalaṁ, but does it as a matter of duty... "Kṛṣṇa wants it. Kṛṣṇa will be satisfied by doing this." Kāryam: "It must be done." Just like Arjuna. Arjuna, for his personal interest, he was not willing to fight. But when he understood that "Kṛṣṇa wants this fighting," then he took it as kāryam: "It must be done. It doesn't matter whether I like it or not, but Kṛṣṇa wants it. Therefore I must do it." That is called anāśritaḥ karma-phalaṁ kāryaṁ karma karoti yaḥ, sa sannyāsī. He is sannyāsī. Na niragnir na cākriyaḥ. Niragnir and akriya. Akriya means they are freed, all kinds of fruitive activities. So they are not sannyāsīs, they are not yogis, but a yogi is he who gives away the result of his activities to Kṛṣṇa. Anāśritaḥ karma-phalaṁ kāryaṁ karma karoti yaḥ.

Lecture on SB 6.3.12-15 -- Gorakhpur, February 9, 1971:

So the conclusion is that nāhaṁ prakāśaḥ sarvasya yogamāyā-samāvṛtaḥ (BG 7.25). Kṛṣṇa says, "I am not revealed to everyone." Yogamāyā. Therefore very few persons can understand what is Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa does not reveal Himself. Those who are devotees... Sevonmukhe hi jihvādau svayam eva sphuraty adaḥ (Brs. 1.2.234). Those who are actually devotees, dedicated the life and everything for Kṛṣṇa, for them only, Kṛṣṇa reveals: "Yes, I am like this." Teṣāṁ satata-yuktānāṁ bhajatāṁ prīti-pūrvakam (BG 10.10). Those who are twenty-four hours engaged in the devotional service—not as a routine, but with faith and love—bhajatāṁ prīti-pūrvakam. Not that official. Official, he cannot understand. But one who is serving the Deity with love and faith, to him only, Kṛṣṇa will reveal and He will give intelligence. Kṛṣṇa is very intelligent. Kṛṣṇa ye bhaje... Only intelligent men can worship Kṛṣṇa.

Lecture on SB 7.6.11-13 -- New Vrindaban, June 27, 1976:

Iti puṁsārpita, all for Kṛṣṇa. Hear about Kṛṣṇa, chant about Kṛṣṇa. Śravaṇaṁ kīrtanaṁ viṣṇoḥ, not for others. Hearing and chanting Viṣṇu. Smaranam, remembering Kṛṣṇa. Arcanam, this is arcanam. Vandanam, offering prayers. Dāsyam, to act as His servant, to spread His glories, that is vandanam. Dāsyam. Sakhyam, to take Kṛṣṇa as most dear friend. For a friend, one friend can do anything. So dāsyam, sakhyam, ātma-nivedanam. And Bali Mahārāja gave everything for Kṛṣṇa. Bali Mahārāja conquered even up to the heavenly kingdom. So Kṛṣṇa or Viṣṇu is always in favor of the demigods. They were in difficulty. So Vāmanadeva went to Bali Mahārāja for begging some land. So Bali Mahārāja agreed to give him land. In other words, by trick, Vāmanadeva took everything of Bali Mahārāja. He also gave everything.

Lecture on SB 7.9.10 -- Montreal, July 9, 1968:

So puṇya-śravaṇa-kīrtanaḥ, hṛdy antaḥ stho hy abhadrāṇi vidhunoti suhṛt satyam. The Lord is friend of the devotee, and as soon as He sees—He is within you—that you are engaged in hearing about Him, He helps you. How He helps you? He cleanses your heart. Therefore a person, although he is born of low family, because he is thinking of Kṛṣṇa, or God, always, oh, he is being purified. Prahlāda Mahārāja gives us evidence that manye tad-arpita-manaḥ. Because he has placed his life, he has placed his endeavor, everything for Kṛṣṇa, by mind, by his body, by activities, therefore prāṇaṁ punāti sa kulaṁ: he is purifying not only himself but his whole family. This is a prerogative. If a boy becomes a devotee, the whole family becomes purified. Sva-kulaṁ. The whole family becomes purified. What best service he can give otherwise than by becoming the devotee of Lord? That is the best service to his father, mother, forefathers, grandfather, everyone. That we will find in this Prahlāda Mahārāja said, sva-kulaṁ. And na tu bhūrimānaḥ.

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

Just like Lord Jesus Christ. He sacrificed even his life. The gopīs, they also sacrificed everything for Kṛṣṇa. This is wanted. The degree of sacrifice, the degree of attachment is taken into consideration by God, not any material opulence. So Prahlāda Mahārāja is encouraged. Tasmād ahaṁ vigata-viklava īśvarasya sarvātmanā mahi gṛṇāmi yathā manīṣam: "Therefore I shall try to offer my prayers according to my capacity." It is not that because one does not know Sanskrit or a particular type of language and he cannot pray very nicely with poetic simile, metaphors... These things are not required. Simply you have to open your feelings of love of Godhead. Then He's pleased. It does not depend on the particular type of language or poetic ideas.

Lecture on SB 7.9.13 -- Montreal, August 21, 1968:

Somebody asked me this question, "Swamijī, if a person is moral and dutiful and benevolent, all the good qualifications, so what is the use of worshiping God?" My reply was that anyone who is not God conscious or Kṛṣṇa conscious, he cannot be good, cannot be moral. It is not possible. Harāv abhakta... I am not manufacturing this. This is the statement of Śrīmad-Bhagavatam. Harāv abhaktasya kuto mahad-guṇa mano-rathenāsati dhāvato bahiḥ (SB 5.18.12). So take for example that, our, in our country, Mahatma Gandhi, he was considered to be a very good man... (break) They may be good, but they are not ultimate good. The ultimate good is Kṛṣṇa consciousness. That is good for you and good for all. Anyone who is in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, he is good in this sense, because he is in transcendental position, and whatever he speaks, because he speaks about God, therefore speaking is not adulterated. So this position, as soon as you take it a principle of your life, that "I shall simply be engaged in Kṛṣṇa's service, or God's service. I shall talk about Kṛṣṇa, I shall work for Kṛṣṇa, I shall write for Kṛṣṇa, I shall read for Kṛṣṇa. Everything for Kṛṣṇa," that is the transcendental position beyond goodness, better than goodness. So one can be situated in this position immediately by surrendering to Kṛṣṇa. It is not very difficult.

Nectar of Devotion Lectures

The Nectar of Devotion -- Bombay, December 26, 1972:

The first principle is that one should be prepared to sacrifice any, everything for Kṛṣṇa. Everything. It doesn't matter—my fate, my honor, my money, my prestige. He doesn't care. Kṛṣṇa must be satisfied. Just (like) Arjuna did. Arjuna didn't like to fight, to kill, on the other side his brother, his grandfather. No. But when he understood, "No, Kṛṣṇa wants it. Yes, kariṣye vacanaṁ tava (BG 18.73). That's all right." This is Kṛṣṇa consciousness. No consideration for anything else. Simply to satisfy Kṛṣṇa. Satisfy Kṛṣṇa, or Kṛṣṇa's representative. The same thing. That is bhakti. Anyābhilāṣitā-śūnyaṁ jñāna-karmādy anāvṛtam (Brs. 1.1.11). Jñāna. Jñāna, it should be, it should not be tinged by jñāna. This is jñāna. "Oh, I am going to speak lie. I'll go to hell. I am going to kill my grandfather. I'll go to hell." This is called jñāna, knowledge. But the definition is, jñāna-karmādy anāvṛtam (CC Madhya 19.167). It should be untouched by jñāna and karma. Untouched. Yes.

The Nectar of Devotion -- Bombay, December 26, 1972:

There is a verse—I just now forget—that this laulyam. This is called laulyam. Laulyam means just like we become very much greedy in achieving some success or receiving something sometimes. We become mad. That is required. Laulyam eka mūlyam. To achieve Kṛṣṇa consciousness perfectly, this ecstatic eagerness or greediness, to serve Kṛṣṇa, that is the only price to achieve success in devotional service. That is the only price. Not money, not anything. Not prestige, not good parentage, not beauty—nothing. Simply this ecstatic, intense desire, "How I shall get Kṛṣṇa?" Then you'll get Kṛṣṇa. He'll take you. That is the example of the gopīs, intense desire. Tatra laulyam eka mūlyam. Now, janma-koṭi, na labhyate janma-koṭibhiḥ sukṛtinaḥ. This ecstatic desire, that "I, this life, I shall get recognition by Kṛṣṇa, that I have sacrificed everything for Kṛṣṇa," this is required.

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

Just like in your body you have got divisions, the head division, the arms division, the belly division and the leg division. It is not that leg is less important than the head. But leg is... Head is most important. Without head, the arms, the belly, or the leg cannot work. So there should be cooperation. But the division must be there. This is the vision of Kṛṣṇa. And Kṛṣṇa conscious persons. They do not say it is false. They utilize everything for the purpose of Kṛṣṇa. That is Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement. Most scientific and authorized movement. Trying to place people in his original, constitutional position and cooperate for the service of Kṛṣṇa. That is Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement.

The Nectar of Devotion -- Vrndavana, October 20, 1972:

If Kṛṣṇa relieves me from all kinds of sinful activities, then where is my miserable condition of life? Miserable condition of life is for them who are enjoying or suffering... There is no question of enjoyment. But it sometimes taken, enjoyment. The fruitive action, the result of fruitive action. So a devotee does not enjoy anything or suffer anything. Because a devotee does everything for Kṛṣṇa. So therefore for his personal self, there is no question of karma-phala. That is confirmed in the Bhagavad-gītā: yajñārthe karma anyatra karma-bandhanaḥ. If you act for Kṛṣṇa, that is nice. If you act otherwise, then it is karma-bandhana. Yajñārthe karma anytra. Anyatra. Anyatra means except Kṛṣṇa consciousness activities, the activities of the karmīs and the jñānīs and the yogis, they are all karma-bandhana, bound up. Suppose karmīs, they are going to the heavenly planet or higher planetary system for getting higher standard of life, to take birth by pious activities in nice family, to become rich. But that is bandhana. That is bondage.

Festival Lectures

Gundica Marjanam Cleansing of the Gundica Temple, Lecture (the day before Ratha-yatra) -- San Francisco, July 4, 1970:

Everything has got some connection with the Supreme Lord. Īśāvāsyam idaṁ sarvam (ISO 1). Everything is in connection or has relationship with the Supreme Lord. That is our philosophy. We don't say that this speaker, microphone, is false. Why it is false? The microphone is produced out of the energy of Kṛṣṇa. This matter, this iron, or this wood, that is a production of Kṛṣṇa's energy. If Kṛṣṇa is true, Absolute Truth, then His energy is also true. And anything produced of His energy, that is also truth. But as the energy is utilized for the energetic, similarly anything produced by Kṛṣṇa's energy should be utilized for Kṛṣṇa. That is our philosophy. So we don't say that false. We say reality. Therefore in Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement we accept everything, but accept everything for service of Kṛṣṇa. Nothing for my sense gratification. That is Kṛṣṇa consciousness.

His Divine Grace Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Gosvami Prabhupada's Disappearance Day, Lecture -- Bombay, December 22, 1975:

So the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement means variety of service to the Supreme. The example is just like, the varieties of different parts of the body: the head is there, the hand is there, the brain is there, the leg is there. The head cannot work like the leg, neither the leg can work like the brain. The hand cannot work the belly, or belly cannot work like the hand. Varieties. Similarly, there are varieties of service to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and if we serve Kṛṣṇa with our varieties, sa karmaṇā manasā vācā, then it is everything peaceful. That is Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement. We do not want to stop the varieties. Varieties must be there. We are not nirveśeṣa-vādī, impersonalist. No. We are completely personalist. Kṛṣṇa is person, Rādhārāṇī is person, the devotees are person, the demigods are person, the cats person, the dogs person, the cows person, the calves person. But what is the meaning of Vṛndāvana? Vṛndāvana means everyone—the father and mother of Kṛṣṇa, Nanda Mahārāja, Yaśodāmāyī, the gopīs, the girlfriends of Kṛṣṇa, Rādhārāṇī and others, and the cowherd boys, and the cows, the calfs, the trees, the flowers, the fruits, the water. Everyone is for serving Kṛṣṇa. This is Vṛndāvana. Vṛndāvana means there is variety, and varieties of service and everything for Kṛṣṇa. That is Vṛndāvana.

Initiation Lectures

Initiations and Lecture Sannyasa Initiation of Sudama dasa -- Tokyo, April 30, 1972:

So ātmā vastu, that ātmā is also part and parcel of the Supreme Truth sat. Now at the present moment I am given to this misunderstanding that "I am this body." Sannyāsa means to give up this false concept of bodily concept of life and surrender, nyāsa. Nyāsa means renounce-renounce everything for the sake of Kṛṣṇa, the Absolute Person. This is called sannyāsa. Actually this is the beginning of my liberated activities. Sannyāsa means that living entity is acting. Living entity for a second cannot be inactive. You know that even in sleeping we are acting: we dream, we go somewhere, we see something. Although the body is silent, I, the spirit soul, I create another subtle body, and with that subtle body I create so many things and try to enjoy it or suffer it. Therefore a living entity is not inactive even for a second. So these activities, when they are performed in the bodily concept of life—"I am this body," "I am Indian," "I am Japanese," "I am Hindu," "I am Muslim," "I am Christian"—in this way, so long we act on this bodily concept of life, it is called material existence. But when we understand that we are not this body—"I am spirit soul"—and on this understanding I understand that I am the part and parcel of the Supreme Absolute Person, that is called brahma-bhūtaḥ situation.

General Lectures

Lecture -- Hawaii, March 23, 1969:

Everything can be utilized in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Why should I give up anger? Kṛṣṇa is also angry, and I am son of Kṛṣṇa. So anger is in me because I have got the qualities of my father. So how can I give up anger? But I use anger only for Kṛṣṇa. So we do not leave anything, but we utilize everything for Kṛṣṇa. That is our Kṛṣṇa consciousness philosophy. So (reading:) "Don't followers of Kṛṣṇa consciousness ever get angry?" Yes, we get angry. Why not? We are not artificial. Human nature is to become anger, sometimes satisfied, sometimes... So we utilize this. We are angry when one is not Kṛṣṇa conscious, when he's against God.

Philosophy Discussions

Philosophy Discussion on Hegel:

Śyāmasundara: But he wanted to reverse this trend, from abstraction to concretion. He believed that every phenomenal object had its relationship with the whole and that the whole is reality. So in order to understand reality one had to examine every object and relate it to the whole, and to each other, then he would understand what is the truth.

Prabhupāda: Yes, that we are doing. The whole is Kṛṣṇa. And just like, take this material example. The whole is sun. The sunshine expanding, that is also in relation with this whole, and similarly Kṛṣṇa is the whole and everything is relative to Kṛṣṇa. That is our philosophy. We see everything related with Kṛṣṇa and because everything is in relationship with Kṛṣṇa that I do not give up anything. We try to utilize everything for service of Kṛṣṇa. The Māyāvādī philosophers, they, although they say everything is Brahman, they say this is non-Brahman. They say neti, neti, not this, not this. Just like Māyāvādīs, they also say Kṛṣṇa and māyā. This Kṛṣṇa worship is māyā. So we say there is nothing māyā, it is simply illusion; but they say also like that, one, but as soon as Kṛṣṇa actually comes they say Kṛṣṇa is māyā. So our philosophy is that everything is manifestation of Kṛṣṇa's energy. The energy and the energetic, they're one. So Nārada explains idaṁ hi viśvaṁ bhagavān ivetaro. The whole universe is bhagavān, Kṛṣṇa, but ivetaraḥ, it appears like separate. So how it is not separate, that can be understood through this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement. Otherwise, ordinary man, they think Kṛṣṇa and non-Kṛṣṇa. Actually there is no non-Kṛṣṇa, that is illusion, everything is Kṛṣṇa.

Philosophy Discussion on Karl Marx:

Śyāmasundara: He says that this is purely the nature of matter, that there are always two conflicting properties, and that this inner impulse, this inner pulsation of opposite forces, will cause history to take leaps like you just said, from one revolution to another. But the Communist revolution he calls the final revolution because it is the perfect answer.

Prabhupāda: Yes. I can take it in this sense. If the Communist idea is spiritualized. So long the Communist idea will remain materialized, it is not final. We have got Communistic idea. Just like we believe... They believe that the state is the owner; we believe God is the owner. So this state is a small state, Russian state. They can be satisfied, but because it is wrong application... State is not the owner. Real owner is God. So from state, when they come to the conclusion, "Not the state but God is owner," then their Communistic idea will be fulfilled. And as they say that everything must be done for the state, we are actually teaching perfect Communism. We are teaching that Kṛṣṇa is the owner. Bhoktāraṁ yajña-tapasāṁ sarva-loka-maheśvaram (BG 5.29). Kṛṣṇa says, "I am the supreme enjoyer. Everything is..." Just like in our society we are doing everything for Kṛṣṇa because we know Kṛṣṇa is the enjoyer. Sarva-loka-maheś... He is the proprietor. So this Communistic idea is vague, but it can be perfected when they come to the conclusion, according to the Bhagavad-gītā, that Kṛṣṇa is the supreme proprietor; He is the supreme enjoyer; He is the supreme friend of everyone. Then the people will be happy: "Oh, we have got a friend like Kṛṣṇa." Just like Arjuna was certain that "Kṛṣṇa is my charioteer. Oh, I am victorious." And it is confirmed, yatra yogeśvaraḥ kṛṣṇaḥ: (BG 18.78) "Where Yogeśvara, Kṛṣṇa, is there," yatra pārtho dhanur-dharaḥ, tatra śrīr vijayo, "there victory and everything is there." So this is an idea. This idea can be welcomed provided they are prepared to replace the so-called state by God.

Philosophy Discussion on Johann Gottlieb Fichte:

Prabhupāda: No, I am is eternal, Kṛṣṇa is eternal, and I (am) also eternal.

Śyāmasundara: So he says that the noncaused ego posits the nonego, or it gives them meaning, existence. It gives...

Prabhupāda: That is our philosophy, nonego means although I have got my identification, I am, still I have sacrificed everything for Kṛṣṇa. If Kṛṣṇa says "You do this," I don't say, "I will not do." I don't impose my will. I sacrifice my individuality. Kṛṣṇa says, I must do. Therefore my ego is not there.

Śyāmasundara: He uses the same example of Barthe(?) that essais persice(?) means that this exists because I perceive it, that all these non-ego objects are...

Prabhupāda: No, that we don't agree. It exists independent from our perception.

Purports to Songs

Purport to Bhajahu Re Mana -- Los Angeles, January 7, 1969:

Therefore kamala-dala-jala, jīvana ṭalamala. "And you do not know how long you shall enjoy this life. Because it is tottering. You are on the tottering platform. Just like there is water on the lily leaf. It is tilting. At any moment it will fall down. So our life is tilting. At any moment it may collapse. We may meet, by chance, any danger, and finished. So don't waste life in that way." Bhajahū hari-pada nīti re. "Be always engaged in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. That is the success of your life." And how to discharge this Kṛṣṇa consciousness? He advises, śravaṇa kīrtana, smaraṇa vandana, pāda-sevana dāsya re. You can adopt out of the nine ways of devotional service any one. If you can adopt all of them, that's very nice. If not, you can adopt eight of them. You can adopt seven of them, six of them, five of them, four of them. But even if you adopt only one of them, your life will be successful. What are those nine methods? Śravaṇaṁ kīrtanam. Hearing from authoritative sources. And chanting. Śravaṇaṁ kīrtanam. Smaraṇam. Memorizing. Vandanam, prayers. Śravaṇa kīrtanaṁ, smaraṇaṁ vandana, pāda-sevanam. Offering service to His lotus feet as eternal servant. Pūjana sakhī-jana. Or just try to love Kṛṣṇa as your friend. Ātma-nivedana. Or give up everything for Kṛṣṇa. That is the way of devotional service, and Govinda dāsa is aspiring after that Kṛṣṇa consciousness business.

Conversations and Morning Walks

1968 Conversations and Morning Walks

Questions and Answers -- Montreal, August 26, 1968:

Prabhupāda: So Caitanya Mahāprabhu, this is one of the brilliant examples of opulence, that He renounced His so happy family life, not disturbing life, and very, at a very young age, when everyone is after enjoying family life. So is it not a great opulence? Very great opulence. Young man, having good mother, good wife, good home, good reputation, good following, good parentage, beauty—everything—but He renounced. That is the greatest opulence. He renounced everything for Kṛṣṇa. That is the greatest opulence of Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Similarly, if we can follow His footprints. Not that we have to give up everything, but give up everything for Kṛṣṇa. That is very nice.

1969 Conversations and Morning Walks

Room Conversation -- May 10, 1969, Columbus, Ohio:

Prabhupāda: Just see His mercy. Dvārā. Dvārī. Dvāri means doorman. So by serving Kṛṣṇa, nobody is loser; he is gainer. He is gainer permanently, eternally. We do not know what is the value of that gain now. Because we are materially covered, we think service means just like service in this world. This service is māyā. Nobody will be satisfied, nobody. You cannot satisfy, neither you will be satisfied. The best example is in your country, that your president, Mr. Kennedy, he gave you the best service, and the result was that you killed him. You or some of your member killed him. That means his service was not appreciated, although he gave his best service. So similarly, in the material world, whatever service you render, that is spoiling time. But you render service to Kṛṣṇa—you will be satisfied, Kṛṣṇa will be satisfied, and as Kṛṣṇa will be satisfied, everyone will be satisfied. So take to this Kṛṣṇa consciousness service by hearing, by speaking, by remembering, by giving actually service, by worshiping, by making friendship, and after all, everything for Kṛṣṇa. That is perfection. Now these new boys have come. Let them question and I shall answer. That will be nice.

Meeting with Devotees -- June 9, 1969, New Vrindaban:

Prabhupāda: No. There is no problem for Vaiṣṇava here in America. They are not trained. They are simply... Just like there are so many Christians. Practically they are not following. Similarly, these Hindus at the present moment, they are in name. Either Hindus, Muslim, or..., they are in name only.

Kīrtanānanda: There's no real substance.

Prabhupāda: No.

Kīrtanānanda: When one starts tasting the real substance then there is no problem giving up any of the...

Prabhupāda: Yes. When he gives importance to Kṛṣṇa he can sacrifice everything for Kṛṣṇa. That is another state. That is not ordinary stage. That is transcendental state. Yes.

Hayagrīva: You mentioned with the payments...

Prabhupāda: Caitanya Mahāprabhu has said that veda mukha mane..., veda viruddha kārya kare, veda mukhe mane: "They do everything against Vedas, but they say that 'We are following. We are followers of the Vedic religion.' "

1970 Conversations and Morning Walks

Room Conversation -- December 13, 1970, Indore:

Haṁsadūta: If we stayed there for five hours everyone would chant. (indistinct conversation)

Prabhupāda: Yes. No, mahāmantra they can also do, but it will not be effective because they are not pure. Here is the secret. We have... Our devotees, they are anyābhilāṣitā-śūnyaṁ (Brs. 1.1.11), they have no other business than to satisfy Kṛṣṇa. They perform kīrtana to take something from Kṛṣṇa. Everyone goes to some dharma-saṁsthāna just to take something. But our proposition is to give everything for Kṛṣṇa and that is far different.

Haṁsadūta: Everyone is pleased with the devotees, everybody.

Guest (2) (Indian man): (indistinct)

Prabhupāda: That when you do, I shall tell you. Now why do you waste your time in that way? That's all right, you are not doing so you have no business.

1971 Conversations and Morning Walks

Darsana -- June 28, 1971, San Francisco:

Prabhupāda: So in your country also that position may come. Now in America you are happy. Because the nature is changing, jagat. Jagat means which is changing. So before any further changes come, you spread this Kṛṣṇa consciousness all over your country. You should utilize these fruits and flowers for Kṛṣṇa and be happy. Don't slip down. That is my request. Whatever I could do, I have done. Now it is up to you to spread this movement all over the world. Don't go away. There is some tendency, somebody. Therefore, I ask you, no. This is all nonsense. This is māyā's peeping, "Why you are working so hard for a sentiment, chanting and dancing? Come on, take to service and be happy with your wife and children." This is māyā. This is māyā. I did not ask my students to marry to become a lost child. I wanted to give them some facility, because you cannot do without wife. But now I am seeing that some of them are slipping away. This is not to be done, no. Every one of us as good as sannyāsī because we have sacrificed everything for Kṛṣṇa. Sannyāsī does not mean simply having no wife and children, he's a sannyāsī. No. Nothing to possess except Kṛṣṇa. That is sannyāsī. One should know that "I will have simply Kṛṣṇa, nothing more." Then he is sannyāsī. This mentality, that "I have nothing to serve, I have nobody to serve except Kṛṣṇa." But if you serve Kṛṣṇa, you will serve everyone.

Room Conversation -- August 15, 1971, London:

Prabhupāda: Then there is no... (break) ...and if we conquer our eating then we can conquer our sleeping also. Nidrāhāra vihārakādi vijitau **. (break) Don't make fuss. If you are serious, then it is all right. Otherwise, you are young men. If you again give up sannyāsa or you try to marry, it will be scandalous for our society. Don't do that. If you are steady... But so far report is you are not very steady. Do you admit this or not?

Kulaśekhara: Yes. Prabhupāda.

Prabhupāda: Then how you can take sannyāsa? It is a very great responsibility. (break) There is no need of taking sannyāsa. If you are sincere in preaching you can do in this dress. Where is the harm? Simply by changing, taking a rod, you'll not become God immediately. You have to work, steadily. What is there in sannyāsa? Do you mean to say taking a rod one becomes sannyāsa? Sannyāsa means you must be sacrificing everything for Kṛṣṇa. That is sannyāsa. Anāśritaḥ karma-phalaṁ kāryaṁ karma karoti yaḥ, sa sannyāsī (BG 6.1). Sa sannyāsī, he's sannyāsī. Anāśritaḥ karma phalaṁ kāryaṁ karma karoti. You went to Israel but again came back. Why? What was the difficulty?

Kulaśekhara: Well, there's no activity there Prabhupāda. I got attacked on the street. I got very sick and I was attacked on the street when I was on saṅkīrtana.

Prabhupāda: Do you like to go to Africa? It is warm country.

Kulaśekhara: Yes Prabhupāda. That would be nice.

1972 Conversations and Morning Walks

Talk with Bob Cohen -- February 27-29, 1972, Mayapura:

Bob: You're working towards material gains, not giving up all material.

Prabhupāda: Material life means when you desire to gratify your senses, that is material life. And when you desire to serve God, that is spiritual life. That is the difference between material life and spiritual life. Now we are trying to serve our senses. Instead of serving the senses, when we serve God, that is spiritual life. What is the difference between our activities and others' activities? We are using everything: table, chair, bed, this tape recorder, typewriter. So what is the difference? The difference is that we are using everything for Kṛṣṇa.

Bob: This I see. The devotees have said that the sensual pleasures that they have given up are replaced with spiritual kinds of pleasures. But see, I haven't...

Prabhupāda: Spiritual kinds of pleasure means when you desire to please Kṛṣṇa, that is spiritual pleasure. Just like example, a mother is more pleased by feeding her son.

1973 Conversations and Morning Walks

Morning Walk -- May 14, 1973, Los Angeles:

Paramahaṁsa: And one can worship Him within the stone or within everything.

Prabhupāda: Yes. We worship everything. We worship everything, see Kṛṣṇa everywhere. We don't see the tree. We see Kṛṣṇa's energy. Therefore the tree's also worshipable because Kṛṣṇa and Kṛṣṇa's energy both are worshipable. Therefore we say Hare Kṛṣṇa. Hare means Kṛṣṇa's energy. We worship everything. In our childhood we are taught by our parents, if there is small grain and if it is strut (?) on the feet, we shall pick it up and touch on the forehead. We are taught like this, how to see everything in relationship with Kṛṣṇa. That is Kṛṣṇa conscious. We cannot therefore see anything wasted, anything misused. Why you are preaching? Why we are after so many rascals? That his life is being misused. Let us give him some enlightenment. This is our mission. Or let him go to hell. Just like Māyāvādī sannyāsīs, they're engaged in meditation or in the Himalayas, but we have come to Los Angeles. Why? This is our mission. Oh, these things, these people are being misused under māyā, let him gain some enlightenment. This is our mission. We are teaching that, how to utilize everything for Kṛṣṇa. How to understand Kṛṣṇa in everything. That is our mission. See Kṛṣṇa in everything. Yo māṁ paśyati sarvatra. Everything is there in Bhagavad-gītā, why don't you read? Sarvaṁ ca mayi paśyati, yo māṁ paśyati sarvatra, "Anyone who sees Me everywhere and sarvaṁ ca mayi paśyati... and everything in Me, he's perfect."

Room Conversation -- November 2, 1973, New Delhi:

Prabhupāda: By the result, not theoretical.

Śyāmasundara: No. So we were showing pictures and books.

Prabhupāda: Hmm. Every sane man should appreciate. When European and American young men, who are after material sense gratification, they're taking sannyāsa, it is not joke. They should appreciate it. In an age where material sense enjoyment is very prominent, and they give up everything for Kṛṣṇa, and they're going far away from their comfortable position... Just like Brahmānanda has gone to Africa. So what for? Unless they appreciate Kṛṣṇa consciousness, how they take up this job? This is practical. There is no question of theoretical.

Brahmānanda: You said that last night when you spoke that about we are actually siddhas.

Prabhupāda: Yes.

Brahmānanda: We are not...

Prabhupāda: That I wanted to prove... (laughs)

Brahmānanda: Yes.

Prabhupāda: ...that these boys are siddhas. Others, they do not know what is siddhi.

1974 Conversations and Morning Walks

Morning Walk -- March 24, 1974, Bombay:

Dr. Patel: Everything is Kṛṣṇa's. How can you give anything? Even a leaf?

Prabhupāda: Oh yes, yes. Just like these boys and girls are giving. Oh, that is the philosophy. These boys, girls, they are giving everything. Whole life. Whole life. They have no... They do not ask even a single payasā from me that "My dear sir, please give me four ānās. I'll go to the cinema." You see? They are serving. Everything they have given. This boy, you like this Girirāja. He's earning at least 50,000 per month. Not a single payasā, even fifty n.p. he does not keep. This is service. They are not poor. They're earning, but everything for Kṛṣṇa.

Morning Walk -- March 24, 1974, Bombay:

Dr. Patel: Girirāja, how you are earning fifty thousand rupees a month?

Prabhupāda: Yes. Fifty-thousand. Because fifty members. Fifty members, eleven hundred rupees. He makes at least two, three members. If some day absent, average fifty. Fifty thousand. Not a single fifty n.p. he keeps. There are many. All, all of them. Not that everyone is earning fifty thousand, but even fifty hundred or fifty payasā, everything for Kṛṣṇa. That is tam abhyarcya. And if you divide partially, "Some percentage for Kṛṣṇa, some percentage for my sense gratification," then Kṛṣṇa says, ye yathā māṁ prapadyante tāṁs tathaiva bhajāmy aham (BG 4.11). Proportionately. If you have spent cent percent of your energy for Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa is cent percent for you. And if you have spent one percent for Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa is one percent for you. Responsive cooperation. (laughter) Yes. This institution has advanced so much all over the world because we have got these boys who have dedicated everything for Kṛṣṇa. Therefore it has so quickly advanced all over the world. They do not think of anything of personal. Svakarmaṇā tam abhyarcya. Saṁsiddhir hari-toṣaṇam (SB 1.2.13). Kṛṣṇa is also... Huh?

Guest (1): What is that saṁsiddhi noun?

Prabhupāda: Saṁsiddhi means perfection. Saṁsiddhiḥ paramaṁ gataḥ.

Morning Walk -- April 1, 1974, Bombay:

Prabhupāda: They are conch shells, small conchshells. They are called gunja, gunja. They are called gunja? (break)

Guest (4) (Indian man): ...ahaṁ yogī nikita.(?) So what is that? Can you give me some light on that?

Prabhupāda: Karma-yogī means one who does everything for Kṛṣṇa. He's karma-yogī.

Guest (1): One who does everything for...?

Prabhupāda: For Kṛṣṇa.

Guest (1): For Kṛṣṇa.

Prabhupāda: Just like you are doing, doing some work. For whom you are doing?

Guest (1): For my own benefit.

Prabhupāda: That's all. So that is karma. But when you do the same thing for Kṛṣṇa, that is karma-yoga.

Morning Walk -- April 2, 1974, Bombay:

Prabhupāda: Yes. Sannyāsa-yoga means sa sannyāsī, the one who acts for Kṛṣṇa, sa sannyāsī.

Dr. Patel: Sannyāsa-yoga-yuktātmā. Means you have actually, I mean, sannyāsa means nyāsa of all attachment for the...

Prabhupāda: Nyāsa means giving up, giving up. Sat nyāsa, sannyāsa. Oṁ tat sat. Sat is Kṛṣṇa. Therefore when you sacrifice everything for Kṛṣṇa, that is real sannyāsa, not this dress. This dress is symbolical. That's all. Real thing is kāryaṁ karma karoti ya. Kāryam. "Oh, it is my... Kṛṣṇa wants, everyone should surrender unto Him. Then I shall teach everyone to surrender to Kṛṣṇa." Kāryam. "This is my business." Kāryaṁ karma karoti, sa sannyāsī. What is that kāryam? Kāryam means this is kāryam.

Morning Walk at Villa Borghese -- May 26, 1974, Rome:

Prabhupāda: Just like these Romans. They have left. They constructed so big, big building just to enjoy, but they had to leave it by nature's force and accept another body. That they do not know. They are satisfied, "Never mind, I accept the next life a dog's body. Now let me enjoy this, say, twenty-five years or fifty years, that's all." This is their philosophy. No future. "Trust no future, however pleasant." In India, those who are interested in spiritual life, they take sannyāsa. Everybody sannyāsa, bābājī. Rūpa Gosvāmī gave up his service, everything, and became no possessions voluntarily. Big, big kings, Bharata Mahārāja... To practice that "I have no more interest in anything material." (break) ...introduction of my Guru Mahārāja that sannyāsīs and preachers may use big, big buildings, motorcars and..., just to give the information to the western world. Because they, if you ask them, that "You become a mendicant, possessionless," still, they are not very much interested. Because they see our dress, our living condition is not very equal to their standard, they do not like. Is it not? Yes. So just to give these Westerners facilities at least to understand this philosophy, this method was accepted by Guru Mahārāja, to live in nice building, to have cars, to use everything for Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Otherwise, nobody would take.

Bhagavān: It was revolutionary. Prabhupāda: Yes. Tyāga-bhūmikā, renouncement. The platform of renouncement. So how this was broken, by war fights or what? Huh? Last war? Devotee: Yes. The bombs? Bhagavān: These are all holes. Prabhupāda: Just see, in humanity. The historical buildings, what is there? They destroy them. This building, I think it was constructed later.

1975 Conversations and Morning Walks

Room Conversation with Indian Guests -- March 13, 1975, Tehran:

Prabhupāda: When Kṛṣṇa was playing flute at dead of night, all the gopīs were flying to Kṛṣṇa. His father, his husband—"Where you are going in this dead of...? Where you are going?" They didn't care. Society, friendship, love—all sacrificed: "We shall go to Kṛṣṇa." This is kṛṣṇa-bhakti. That is the highest perfection of life, to sacrifice everything for Kṛṣṇa. "Only Kṛṣṇa should be satisfied." That is Kṛṣṇa consciousness. But that is not very easy job. But one can do if he likes, everything for Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa says also, sarva-dharmān parityajya (BG 18.66). Gopīs did not care for social, for religious or family and nothing. Sarva-dharmān parityajya. They went: "Kṛṣṇa now is calling. Let us go." This is the typical example of sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ. So, of course, it is not possible to become on the standard of gopīs. That is not possible. But at least we shall try to follow these devotees. Arjuna is there, gopīs are there, Uddhavas are there—many devotees. Lord Brahmā is there. Lord Śiva is there. Kapiladeva is there. The four Kumāras are there. Bhīṣmadeva is there. Prahlāda Mahārāja is there. Janaka Mahārāja is there. Śukadeva Gosvāmī is there. So mahājano yena gataḥ sa panthāḥ (CC Madhya 17.186). If we simply follow these big, big devotees, then our life is successful.

Room Conversation with Dr. John Mize -- June 23, 1975, Los Angeles:

Dharmādhyakṣa: It's His mercy. So if Kṛṣṇa gets angry at us, that's actually...

Prabhupāda: Everything has got proper use. In the material condition we do not know that. Therefore Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura has made a list, how to use your, this anger, greediness, like that. He says, kamaḥ kṛṣṇa-karmārpaṇe. We are lusty for doing something for our sense gratification. The same desire, same propensity, can be utilized for serving Kṛṣṇa. Just like we are writing books, keeping night, whole night. So for an old man like me, it is tedious. But we are doing for Kṛṣṇa. So similarly, another author may be writing whole night for some sex literature. So the labor for producing a sex literature and the labor for producing a Bhāgavata is the same. It may be same ambition that "Let me become a big author. My name will be very popular." But one thing is being done for Kṛṣṇa; one thing is being done for sense gratification. So that propensity of becoming a reputed author or the labor, this, same, but it is being utilized for different purposes. Similarly, you take anything, if you use it for... Just like Hanumān. He became angry upon Rāvaṇa. He set fire in his city, destroyed the whole city. He showed his anger, but not for his personal sense gratification. He wanted to serve Lord Rāma. Sītā was stolen by him, so there was arrangement for fighting, and he did the same thing, set fire. To set fire in your home or your country, it is not good, but he did it for satisfaction of Lord Rāmacandra. So everything has its proper use when it is utilized for serving Kṛṣṇa. That is Kṛṣṇa consciousness. We are living beings. We are conscious. We cannot give up anything, but we are being trained up how to utilize everything for Kṛṣṇa. That is Kṛṣṇa consciousness. So give him some prasāda.

Conversation with Professor Hopkins -- July 13, 1975, Philadelphia:

Prabhupāda: I enjoy(?) that. And that is what the whole human society (indistinct).

Prof. Hopkins: Well I... I have been a friend for many years now. I suspect... I suspect sometimes that I may end up as a sannyāsī among your line at some point. (laughs)

Prabhupāda: Sannyāsa does not mean change of dress. Sannyāsa means everything for Kṛṣṇa. That is sannyāsa.

Prof. Hopkins: What is your view of Śrī Aurobindo? (loud laughter) Or should I have left well enough alone? He is not an impersonalist, he's not a Māyāvādī.

Prabhupāda: He says that above the Māyāvāda philosophy there is something else, super. That is bhakti. (indistinct) ...bhakti, but he could not understand because he did not take any education from realized person. He wanted to realize himself. That is his defect.

1976 Conversations and Morning Walks

Room Conversation with Ambarisa and Catholic Priest -- June 14, 1976, Detroit:

Prabhupāda: He, Moscow, he was chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa on the street, and when people asked "What is this?" "This is cinema song."

Ambarīṣa: Sometimes as devotees we have to be a little bit crooked.

Prabhupāda: (indistinct) We shall do everything as the material person does, karmīs do, but we have to do everything for Kṛṣṇa, not person. Then it is all right. So?

Śrutikīrti: There's one thing, our best hours, some of the best business in the restaurant, would be very late at night, like between nine to eleven o'clock at night. So is that all right as long as we can arrange...

Prabhupāda: Oh, yes.

Room Conversation -- September 6, 1976, Vrndavana:

Prabhupāda: No, this world is full of cheaters. We have to live with them. Sate sattvaṁ samācaret. You also have to become better cheater. That is wanted. Otherwise, you cannot exist.

Akṣayānanda: But we have to cheat for Kṛṣṇa.

Prabhupāda: Do everything for Kṛṣṇa, that is all right, but this world, if you become simple and the whole world is full of cheaters, then you suffer.

Akṣayānanda: You lose everything.

Prabhupāda: Therefore you have to know and protect yourself from the cheaters. So sometimes we have to become a bigger cheater. This is the world. Vañcaka-vañcī. Whole world is going on, my Guru Mahārāja used to say that one is cheater, another is cheated.

Morning Walk -- December 5, 1976, Hyderabad:

Prabhupāda: You are seeing also Kṛṣṇa, but because you have no love, therefore you cannot appreciate how we are seeing. If you love some person you keep his photograph on the breast. Is it not? So you are seeing Kṛṣṇa in the temple, but because you have no love you think that "I am not seeing Him." That is the defect. They are seeing Kṛṣṇa. Otherwise why they have sacrificed everything for worshiping Kṛṣṇa, for dressing Kṛṣṇa, for feeding Kṛṣṇa? They are seeing Kṛṣṇa. They are not wasting their time. But you have no love for Kṛṣṇa. You're thinking that "They have not seen Kṛṣṇa. They are worshiping an idol." That is the difference. One who loves somebody he keeps his picture on his chest. He does not? He throws it, same picture. It is question of love. Therefore it is said, premāñjana-cchurita-bhakti-vilocanena santaḥ sadaiva hṛdayeṣu (Bs. 5.38). One who has developed that love and bhakti, he can see Kṛṣṇa at every moment. Otherwise it is not possible. And because you cannot see, you ask them also, "Can you see?" But the seeing process is different. We do not know the process; therefore we are thinking that Kṛṣṇa cannot be seen. And one who knows the process, he sees every moment. Is it clear? You learn the process; you will see Kṛṣṇa every moment. Therefore this word is used, premāñjana-cchurita. By the eye ointment of love you have to smear your eyes; then you'll be able to see Kṛṣṇa. Nāhaṁ prakāśaḥ sarvasya yoga-māyā-samāvṛtaḥ (BG 7.25). Find out this verse. Yoga-māyā-samāvṛtaḥ. When one's eyes is covered by the yoga-māyā he cannot see, see Kṛṣṇa.

1977 Conversations and Morning Walks

Room Conversation -- February 2, 1977, Bhuvanesvara:

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: And now they're getting two vans for book distribution.

Prabhupāda: Yes. And now Gargamuni is asking to purchase this van and with that money they will purchase Indian van. That will solve the problem. Those who are coming... (break) Anāśritaḥ karma-phalaṁ kāryaṁ karma karoti yaḥ, sa sannyāsī (BG 6.1). Kṛṣṇa says. Anāśritaḥ, now you are working so hard not for your benefit, personal, and that is sannyāsī. That is sannyāsī. Anāśritaḥ karma-phalaṁ kāryam. "Oh it is my duty to serve Kṛṣṇa." And he is sannyāsī. Anyone who has got this consciousness that "It is my duty to serve Kṛṣṇa. I must serve Him with my life and soul and everything," he's a sannyāsī. Not the dress. So you are doing that. Now fix up. Go on doing this. Life is successful. That's all. Anāśritaḥ karma-phalaṁ kāryaṁ karma karoti yaḥ, sa sannyāsī. Find out this verse. Anāśritaḥ karma-phalam. It is so nice to work for Kṛṣṇa without any personal profit. This is Vṛndāvana. The gopīs, they sacrificed everything for Kṛṣṇa, their position, their honor, their prestige. So do like that. I am very glad to see when you work so hard for Kṛṣṇa. That gives me much pleasure.

Room Conversation -- March 1, 1977, Mayapura:

Gargamuni: Yes. They had a loudspeaker next to our stall. So this was hindering the film. And the manager, they wouldn't turn it down, you know, because so many people were being attracted, they wanted to stop us, so I gave some small bribe and made a man climb up and take it down, and now it's all right. (laughter)

Prabhupāda: This is called how to do business, (laughter) natural instinct from his father.

Gargamuni: I had no intelligence till I met you, Śrīla Prabhupāda.

Yaśomatī-nandana: Even Sanātana Gosvāmī bribed to get out of the...

Prabhupāda: Yes. We can do everything for Kṛṣṇa—for Kṛṣṇa, not for personal sake. So your drama is going on.

Gargamuni: Yes, I heard about it.

Prabhupāda: Last night it was very successful.

Room Conversation -- October 22, 1977, Vrndavana:

Bhavānanda: Bhakti-caru is just waiting to go and get the kavirāja in the front. Do you want me to bring him?

Prabhupāda: Call him.

Bhavānanda: He's up in the aradesko.(?)

Prabhupāda: They will simply guess.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Oh, he's guessing.

Bhavānanda: On and on.

Prabhupāda: So it is failure. Now take makara-dhvaja, one dose, and leave everything for Kṛṣṇa.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Hm?

Bhavānanda: Take that medicine and leave everything to Kṛṣṇa.

Prabhupāda: That makara-dhvaja.

Bhavānanda: Yes. We felt that your dream, Śrīla Prabhupāda, was very significant.

Prabhupāda: Doctor treatment is finished. Don't try any... They will simply guess and make huge complication.

Correspondence

1968 Correspondence

Letter to Mukunda -- San Francisco 9 April, 1968:

I am in due receipt of your letter dated March 29, 1968, and am very much appreciating it. Please do all your nice proposals, do it economically and save everything for Krishna. Yes, it is very good idea to build a nice Temple for Krishna, apply all energy for Krishna. How one is successful in his work is tested by whether or not Krishna is satisfied. The Impersonalists cannot enjoy this bliss of how to satisfy Krishna. They make Krishna dead, so they will remain dead, never to understand Krishna. They cannot understand.

Letter to Umapati -- Los Angeles 11 November, 1968:

It takes a little time to understand the philosophy of Krishna Consciousness but I am glad that now you are prepared to do anything for Krishna's sake, this is a great causeless mercy of Krishna upon you. Please continue your present attitude of serving Krishna and His cause, and certainly you will be successful in the matter of Krishna Consciousness even in this life. You know that your intimate friend, Hayagriva, is devoting his whole energy and money now. Similarly other students they are also doing that and the more we do so, it is better for us. Exactly if we supply nice nutritious foodstuff to the stomach, it is better for all the senses. Similarly, to serve Krishna more nicely is better for our own interests. Krishna is not in need of our service but if we sacrifice everything for Krishna, that is for our good. You should always remember this maxim.

1970 Correspondence

Letter to Madhavananda -- Los Angeles 3 June, 1970:

My Guru Maharaja used to say that everything is already supplied by Krsna; all the ingredients of different varieties already are there; there is no lack of anything in this world. The only thing that is lacking is Krsna consciousness. So Krsna is supplying us with all facilities, so there is no question of scarcity of anything. Simply we must become Krsna conscious and conscientiously apply our energy to utilizing all facilities in the matter of pleasing Krsna or devotional service. We should always be very careful to avoid utilizing any of the facilities available for our own sense gratification, but we should use everything for the satisfaction of Krsna only.

1971 Correspondence

Letter to Karandhara -- Bombay 22 April, 1971:

So far taking sannyasa is concerned, you are already more than Sannyasi because your life is dedicated to Krsna. Sannyas does not mean change of dress. That is stated in the fifth chapter of Bhagavad-gita: anyone who works for Krsna is a sannyasi and a yogi. Arjuna was an householder, but at the same time more than a sannyasi because he fought for Krsna. Our principle should be only to do something and everything for Krsna under the guidance of the Spiritual Master. Yes, for begetting children sex life is religion. That is stated by Krsna. But sex should not be for any other purpose. After all we are in the material existence which is a bad bargain, so we have to make the best of a bad bargain. Perfection, in our philosophy, is to act with unflinching faith in Krsna and Spiritual Master and that will save us from all opposing situations.

Letter to Atreya Rsi -- London 13 August, 1971:

It is very much pleasing to me that you are so much sacrificing everything for Krishna. Krishna will surely bless you. You can open better a Mayapur construction scheme fund and deposit as much money as possible there and in due course we shall withdraw it. The estimate for the project is Rupees 40 lakhs (Rs. 4,000,000) which in ordinary exchange comes to $500,000. So you can deposit in this fund as much as possible. That will be very nice.

1972 Correspondence

Letter to Sri Govinda -- Bombay 25 December, 1972:

In the Krishna Consciousness Movement there is no question of enviousness, hatred, things like that. Material life means hatred for Krishna and desire for matter. So we have to convert ourselves. When one becomes Krishna conscious actually, he does not even hate material things because he becomes expert how to utilize everything for Krishna. Krishna Consciousness is so nice. We do not hate anything material because we have learned from our disciplic succession how to utilize material things for Krishna's service. Actually, bhakti means realization of the Supreme, and this means increasing attachment for Him and reforming of detachment or hating of material name and fame.

Page Title:	Everything for Krsna
Compiler:	Visnu Murti, Serene
Created:	14 of Aug, 2012
Totals by Section:	BG=4, SB=2, CC=2, OB=8, Lec=47, Con=23, Let=6
No. of Quotes:	92