Excellence (Lectures)

Expressions researched:
"excel" |"excelled" |"excellence" |"excelling" |"excels"

Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures

Introduction to Bhagavad-gita As It Is -- Los Angeles, November 23, 1968 :

So these six principles are there. Just like we are minute part and parcel of the Supreme Lord. Fragment, very small fragment. So every one of us have got some money according to our capacity. Every one of us has got some strength or some reputation or some beauty or some knowledge. Comparatively it may be that your position may be greater than me or other's position may be greater than you, that not all of us on the same level. There are comparative positions. So bhagavān means you go on searching. When you find a person that nobody is richer than Him, nobody is stronger than Him, nobody is richer than Him, nobody is reputed than Him, nobody is wiser than him, nobody is beautiful, more beautiful than Him, and nobody is renouncer than Him, He is Bhagavān, He is God.

So all these you will find in Kṛṣṇa. That is the significance of Kṛṣṇa. When Kṛṣṇa was present on this material world so nobody could excel Him in any of these opulences. Nobody.

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

Nobody is equal to or above Him. He is the primeval Lord or Bhagavān known as Govinda, and He is the supreme cause of all causes. It is stated as follows: There are many personalities possessing the qualities of Bhagavān, but Kṛṣṇa is Supreme over all of them because none can excel Him. He is the Supreme Person and His body is eternal, full of knowledge and bliss. He is the primeval Lord Govinda and the cause of all causes.

Lecture on BG 2.19 -- London, August 25, 1973:

Material life means every living entity has got these propensities. But they have to be restricted. Pravṛttiḥ eṣaṁ bhūtānām.(?) That is natural instinct. But if you can stop them, that is your excellence. That is called tapasya. Tapasya means I have got naturally some propensity, but that is not good. Not good in this sense, if we continue that propensity, then we have to accept this material body. This is the law of nature.

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

So He gives you intelligence. Buddhi-yogaṁ dadāmi tam: "I give him intelligence how he can approach Me, how he can excel himself by this Kṛṣṇa consciousness." The help will come from within. And so far ignorance is concerned, that will be vanquished within no time. Teṣām eva aham anukampārtham: "for special favor." Kṛṣṇa has got special favor for persons who are trying to be Kṛṣṇa conscious. He's God, He's God. He's equal to everyone.

Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures

Lecture on SB 1.1.1 -- New York, July 6, 1972:

So if, those who are Indians, especially present in this meeting, that if you want to glorify your country, then you present this Vedic literature. You cannot excel the western countries by so-called technological knowledge. That is not possible. They are far advanced. Hundred years advance. Whatever machine you may discover, that machine was discovered one hundred years ago in western countries. So you cannot. Anything. So if you want, Indians, to glorify your country, then present this Vedic culture heart and soul, and Just like I am trying to do it.

Lecture on SB 1.2.6 -- New Vrindaban, September 5, 1972:

If you simply understand God, Kṛṣṇa, then everything will be revealed to you because Kṛṣṇa says, buddhi-yogaṁ dadāmi tam. If Kṛṣṇa gives you intelligence from within, who can excel Him? Nobody can excel Him. But Kṛṣṇa can give you intelligence provided you become a devotee, or lover of Kṛṣṇa. Teṣāṁ satata-yuktānāṁ bhajatāṁ prīti-pūrvakam, buddhi-yogaṁ dadāmi tam (BG 10.10).

Lecture on SB 1.2.12 -- Delhi, November 18, 1973:

Bhagavān means ṣaḍ-aiśvarya-pūrṇa, complete in six opulences. He is Bhagavān. Bhaga means opulence. Just like we say bhāgyavān. This bhāgyavān word comes from bhaga. Bhaga bhavārthe śrī-karṇa(?), bhāgya. And vān is vatup, asty arthe vatup(?). If somebody possesses something, this affix vat or mat is used. So bhagavān means one who has opulences. So Bhagavān, Kṛṣṇa, when He was present on this planet, nobody could excel His opulences. That's a fact. Everyone knows. People want to enjoy. That is natural tendency, the association of woman. Here also we see that very, very rich men, they want to associate with nice, beautiful woman. In the Western countries I have seen. In Paris there are many clubs. So the club business is to go and enjoy the association of nice beautiful woman. So everyone knows it. So tendency is there. That is also richness. So that richness I have already explained. Here in the material world the same thing is represented pervertedly, not in actual position. Therefore we are frustrated.

Lecture on SB 1.7.10 -- Vrndavana, September 9, 1976:

So this śloka is still more elaborately explained in the Caitanya-caritāmṛta. This is the summary. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu explained this verse in sixty-four ways, each word explained—and how many ways each word can be explained—and from all angles of vision He has proved that Kṛṣṇa is all-attractive. So Caitanya Mahāprabhu's scholarship... Of course, He is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. There is no comparison to His excellence in every respect. Six opulences. Na caitanyāt kṛṣṇāj jagati para-tattvaṁ param iha. That is explained by Kavirāja Gosvāmī. Ṣaḍ-aiśvaryaiḥ pūrṇo ya iha bhagavān sa svayam ayam (CC Adi 1.3). He has explained like that. Ṣaḍ-aiśvaryaiḥ pūrṇaḥ—all knowledge, all beauty, all strength—everything in full. Pūrṇam. Pūrṇam idam. Pūrṇāt pūrṇam udacyate (Īśopaniṣad, Invocation). He is pūrṇa, and whatever He does, that is also pūrṇa. You cannot find any defect in the creation of the Lord. In the arrangement of maintenance and in the arrangement of annihilation you cannot find out any flaw. Perfection. Pūrṇa.

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

The topmost bhakta is Rādhārāṇī. So although Kṛṣṇa is the īśvaraḥ paramaḥ, the supreme controller, He is controlled by Rādhārāṇī, because She is bhakta. Nobody can excel Her devotion, Her service. In sixty-four ways... These are described in the Bhakti-rasa..., Nectar of Devotion, how Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī excels in Her devotional service, everyone, everyone. There are stages, different. Just like the Pāṇḍavas, they are also bhaktas. But the gopīs excel them. And the gopīs are also bhaktas, but Rādhārāṇī excels all of them. So there are stages of bhaktas.

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

So Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu said ramyā kācid upāsanā vrajavadhū-vargeṇa yā kalpitā, and there is no better method of worship than the system invented by the gopīs. So gopīs invention of worshiping Kṛṣṇa was to remain always Kṛṣṇa conscious without any material profit. That is the super excellence of (the) gopīs. They never expected any return from Kṛṣṇa. That was not their business. "Kṛṣṇa, we have done so much for You, You cannot give me this benediction?" No, they never asked like that. That is the first-class worship. "Kṛṣṇa, You take whatever you like from us, but we do not ask anything, neither we have any need." This is gopīs' worship. We have got everything to give You and we have no need to ask You. This is gopīs' worship.

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

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. So, all these young girls, they are all married—some of them are mothers—so immediately (they) left their home. That is described in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Some of them were cooking, some of them were feeding, breast-feeding the children, some of them were feeding the husband or the father. In this way everyone was engaged, but as soon as Kṛṣṇa's flute was heard at dead of night, they left home immediately. All the guardians. Generally in India for young girls, the guardians are the father, the husband, the brother, all male members they forbid, "Where you are going? Where you are...?" Nobody cares. No love for so-called children, no love for home, no love for brother, father or no respect. Kṛṣṇa. That is gopīs' super-excellence.

Lecture on SB 2.3.1-3 -- Los Angeles, May 22, 1972:

That is Kṛṣṇa. That you may be very intelligent to avoid Kṛṣṇa or the laws of Kṛṣṇa, but Kṛṣṇa is more intelligent. He will also cheat you. Because you wanted to cheat Him, so He will also cheat you in such a way that (is) beyond your imagination. Yes. That is Kṛṣṇa. You cannot excel Kṛṣṇa. You have to be always under Him, even your cheating process. This is Kṛṣṇa. So take shelter of Kṛṣṇa and be happy.

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

So these are the tangible examples. So if you want to increase your life there are many living entities, they are living many, many years more than you. So what excel, what is excellence in your part? And if you say that "I am breathing. The tree cannot breathe." Oh, there is the bhastrāḥ, the bellows. It can breathe better than you. Then he says, "No, they have no enjoyment of eating and mating." Then the Bhāgavata replies, kiṁ na khādanti na mehanti kiṁ grāme paśavo 'pare. Wherever we live, there are many other lower animals, just like dogs, cats, hogs, asses, animals, camels. Of course, in city we do not find these, but in villages these are domestic animals. Dogs, asses, hogs, camel, monkey, and so many others. Therefore he says, grāme, "In your vicinity, in your neighborhood, there are many animals. They have got the facility of eating and sexual intercourse." So how do we excel them? The modern civilization is such a foolish civilization that they think they are advanced.

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.

Lecture on SB 3.26.45 -- Bombay, January 20, 1975:

So we may be very intelligent scientifically or mathematically or physically, biologically. That's all right. But when we compare with the intelligence of Kṛṣṇa, it is less by two cubits. It is less. That we should always understand. Mattaḥ parataraṁ nānyat (BG 7.7). We have to accept this, that we cannot excel the intelligence of Kṛṣṇa. That is not possible. I may show varieties of magic and declare myself Kṛṣṇa, or God. But still, you cannot show as perfectly magical arts as Kṛṣṇa is showing. That is not possible. If we understand this fact and realize it, then we can understand what is Kṛṣṇa.

Lecture on SB 6.1.28-29 -- Philadelphia, July 13, 1975:

So Kṛṣṇa... Because Droṇācārya will not believe anyone. He knew that Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira is a most pious man; he never tells lies. So if Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira goes and says that "Your son is dead," then he will believe. Otherwise, Kṛṣṇa could have gone personally, but He knew that people do not believe Him. (laughter) He is very tricky. (laughter) So therefore no tricky man can excel Him. A man may be very tricky, very intelligent, but he will not be able to excel Kṛṣṇa. He is more tricky.

Lecture on SB 7.6.9 -- Vrndavana, December 11, 1975:

We are bound up, hands and legs, by the tantryām, the shackles or ropes of nature, or God. We are not free. 'Pīśa tantryāṁ baddhāḥ. We are not free; still, we are trying to excel the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The modern scientists, they are very much proud that they have advanced very much so that there is no need of talking about God. This is the material civilization. So many wonderful things are going on. They cannot explain even how things are going on, and still they are proud of scientific advancement and declare, "There is no God." This is foolish civilization, narādhama. Na māṁ duṣkṛtino mūḍhāḥ (BG 7.15).

Lecture on SB 7.9.3 -- Mayapur, February 10, 1976:

Sva-pitre kupitaṁ prabhum: "Our Lord, Prabhu, He has become very, very angry." Nobody can excess in His anger. Just like nobody can excel the Supreme Personality of Godhead in anything, similarly, when He is angry, nobody can excel Him. He becomes so angry. So He is always... "God is great" means great in everything. When He is angry, nobody can excel Him in His anger. And when He is very peaceful, nobody can excel Him. This is God. Asamaurdha. God means nobody is equal; nobody is greater. So when the Lord was angry, nobody can show His anger equally and nobody can become greatly anger or more greatly angry than Kṛṣṇa. He is always topmost.

Lecture on SB 7.9.9 -- Montreal, July 4, 1968:

Prahlāda Mahārāja is submitting his humbleness, because he has practically experienced that all great personalities present in that meeting, headed by Brahmā, the original person, original created person, as well as all other demigods, they are all highly qualified, but they could not satisfy the Lord. Therefore he says, "I think that any kind of material qualification, such as tejaḥ, prabhāva, influence, strength, bodily beauty, tejaḥ, prabhāva, pauruṣa, capacity, buddhi, intelligence, yoga, mystic power, and all similar qualifications"—they are divided into six opulences: strength, influence, fame, and beauty, knowledge, renunciation—"these six kinds of opulences are fully present in the Supreme Personality of Godhead. So how you can conquer over the Supreme Personality of Godhead by all these material qualifications?" Suppose if you are going to see some gentleman who is very rich, just like Rockefeller, and suppose you are drawing, say, one thousand dollars per month, or say five thousand dollars. So how we can become proud of your opulence before a very rich man? So Kṛṣṇa, or the Supreme Personality of Godhead, means that nobody can excel Him in richness, in fame, in strength, in beauty, in wisdom, and renunciation. However you may exhibit or manifest your opulences, still it is very insignificant.

Lecture on SB 7.9.9 -- Montreal, July 4, 1968:

Nobody can be proud that "Because I am born of a very rich family and because I am born of a very great, rich nation like America, therefore I can purchase the favor of God." No. That is not possible. Prahlāda Mahārāja says it is not possible. Nārādhanāya bhavanti parasya puṁsaḥ. Parasya puṁsaḥ means the transcendental personality. He excels all personalities. We are all persons. The Lord, Kṛṣṇa, or God, He is also a person, as you are a person, I am a person. He is not imperson. Otherwise how He can be richest, the most famous, the most beautiful? These qualifications are for person. But He is so great, God is so great, His personality is so great that He transcends all personalities. Parasya puṁso. Parasya means transcendental, and puṁso, the person.

Lecture on SB 7.9.9 -- Montreal, July 4, 1968:

So Prahlāda Mahārāja recommends that the Supreme Personality of Godhead cannot be satisfied by your material opulences. That is not possible. You cannot excel Him. However you may be great in material science, knowledge, opulence, economic development, or everything, but if you want to see God, then you have to accept this process, bhakti. In the Bhagavad-gītā also the same thing affirmed. Not only in the Bhagavad-gītā—in all Vedic scriptures the same thing is affirmed. Simply if you want to see God, if you want to make your relationship with God, then it is bhakti.

Sri Isopanisad Lectures

Sri Isopanisad, Mantra 2-4 -- Los Angeles, May 6, 1970:

"The Personality of Godhead, although fixed in His abode, is more swift than the mind and can overcome all others running. The powerful demigods cannot approach Him. Although in one place, He has control over those who supply the air, rain. He surpasses all in excellence." This is also confirmed in Brahma-saṁhitā: goloka eva nivasaty akhilātma-bhūtaḥ (Bs. 5.37). Kṛṣṇa, although He is always in Goloka Vṛndāvana, He has nothing to do. He is simply enjoying in the company of His associates, the gopīs and the cowherds boy, His mother, His father. Free, completely free. And those who are associates, they are still more free. Because when the associates are in danger, Kṛṣṇa has got some anxiety how to save them, but the associates, they have no anxiety. "Oh, there is Kṛṣṇa." Just see. (chuckles) The associates, they have no anxiety.

Festival Lectures

Lecture-Day after Sri Gaura-Purnima -- Hawaii, March 5, 1969:

This is a fact, that this sort of life, seek material happiness... Material happiness means sense gratification. That's all. Actually, according to Bhagavad-gītā... Not according to Bhagavad-gītā—that is a fact according to any authoritative statement. Sukham ātyantikaṁ yat tad atīndriyaṁ grāhyam (BG 6.21). Śrī Kṛṣṇa says that sukham ātyantikam. Ātyantikam means the super, superhappiness, ātyantikam—means that which you cannot excel more... That is the final point. That sort of happiness is not possible to achieve...

Initiation Lectures

Initiation Lecture -- Los Angeles, July 13, 1971:

God is one, and that is Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇas tu bhagavān svayam. That is stated in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Ete cāṁśa-kalāḥ puṁsaḥ kṛṣṇas tu bhagavān (SB 1.3.28). Even incarnation of God, they are part and parcel. They are bigger part. Just like we are, living entities, we are also part and parcel, Viṣṇu-tattva, they are also part and parcel, but nobody can excel Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇas tu bhagavān svayam. That is the verdict. Īśvaraḥ paramaḥ kṛṣṇaḥ sac-cid-ānanda-vigrahaḥ (Bs. 5.1). There are so many evidences, Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme. And Kṛṣṇa Himself says, mattaḥ parataraṁ nāsti: "There is no more superior than Me," in the Bhagavad-gītā. So God is one, and that is Kṛṣṇa.

Gurudasa Sannyasa Initiation -- San Francisco, July 21, 1975:

And Caitanya Mahāprabhu's learning, nobody could excel Him, He was so learned scholar. And when He was sixteen years old, He defeated one of the most learned scholar of India, Keśava Bhāratī.

General Lectures

Lecture Excerpt -- New York, April 12, 1969:

Try to understand actually what is God. And the man who is claiming, "I am God," whether he has got such qualification. That can be tested by only three, six things. Try—whether he's richest than all the people of his contemporary life. Is he the richest than all? Or is he the strongest man than all? Or is he the most reputed person than all? Or is he most beautiful? Or most wise? You have to test like that. Don't accept cheaply if some rascal comes, "I am God," and "Yes." Don't do it. You test like this. Test in six symptoms: wealth, strength, reputation, wisdom, beauty, and renunciation. If he excels... (break) ...in all these qualification all other contemporary persons, then he's God. Very simple description. If he is God, then who can be richer than him? And who can be stronger than him? These six things, six opulences.

Lecture Excerpt -- Los Angeles, July 5, 1971:

So these Vṛndāvana people, they were... Nanda Mahārāja, he had 900,000's of cows, and he was a big man amongst the agriculturists. So they were ordinary men, agriculturists, taking care of the cows. They were not Vedāntists, not philosopher, not scientist. Ordinary. But what is their credit? The credit is nobody could love Kṛṣṇa excelling them. That was their credit. Therefore Caitanya Mahāprabhu recommended, ramyā kācid upāsanā vrajavadhū-vargeṇa yā kalpitā: "There is no comparison of the method of worship which was adopted by the damsels of Vraja." Unalloyed love for Kṛṣṇa. No bargaining: "By loving Kṛṣṇa, I shall become a big man, I shall become a great philosopher, or great scientist," or "I shall improve my material condition."

Philosophy Discussions

Philosophy Discussion on John Dewey:

Prabhupāda: Yes. Experience... You may not have experience, but the superior has got experience. Just like Kṛṣṇa says, yad gatvā na nivartante tad dhāmaṁ paramaṁ mama (BG 15.6). He says that "If you come to Me, you will never come back again." Just see. Who can excel Kṛṣṇa's experience? Vedāhaṁ samatītāni: (BG 7.26) He knows past, present, and future, so you have to take His assertion.