Faith in the authority
Srimad-Bhagavatam
SB Canto 3
Other Books by Srila Prabhupada
Light of the Bhagavata
Lectures
Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures
Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures
Conversations and Morning Walks
1973 Conversations and Morning Walks
Prabhupāda: So therefore you take the laws of gravitation from Mr. Newton.
Krishna Tiwari: Yes.
Prabhupāda: So there is an authority.
Krishna Tiwari: Well Newton was wrong in many places, although nobody is authority. Things change. I don't...
Prabhupāda: That means you don't accept any authority.
Krishna Tiwari: No, I don't, because once you accept an authority, you are just blindly following something which may be right, which may be absolutely wrong. But you will never find it out, whether it was right or wrong. So blind faith in authority is the most mistaken path a person can ever take.
Prabhupāda: Not blind faith. We don't say authority blind faith. Authority, that's not blind faith.
Krishna Tiwari: And just...
Prabhupāda: Now, just... Suppose, to know your father, the authority is your mother. The mother says, "Here is your father." You follow blindly?
Krishna Tiwari: No.
Prabhupāda: Yes.
Krishna Tiwari: No. It is a different thing.
Prabhupāda: Mother may say wrong.
Krishna Tiwari: Oh, well, this is, this kind of examples are very...
Devotee: Why not this kind of example?
Krishna Tiwari: They're unreal.
Prabhupāda: Not unreal. The authority means you have to follow blindly. That is authority. That is my point.1977 Conversations and Morning Walks
Prabhupāda: Why you should be cheated when Kṛṣṇa says? Kṛṣṇa is not cheating.
Rāmeśvara: They would say, "How do you know God said that? Just because it is written in a book, how do you know?"
Prabhupāda: No, it is not in the book. It is accepted, all the authorities.
Rāmeśvara: But they would question everything.
Prabhupāda: That is another thing.
Gargamuni: It requires faith ultimately, some faith.
Rāmeśvara: Especially in America today...
Prabhupāda: Faith you must have. Because you have no faith in authority, therefore you are dull.
Rāmeśvara: Because all their authorities have cheated them. The President has cheated them, the bankers have cheated them...
Prabhupāda: But they are not authorities. Authorities mean those who are in the paramparā system. Evaṁ paramparā-prāptam [Bg. 4.2].
Rāmeśvara: Of course, in America they have no experience with saintly men. There has never been a saintly man in the history of America. (laughter)
Prabhupāda: Yes.Page Title: | Faith in the authority |
Compiler: | Siddha Rupa, Visnu Murti |
Created: | 18March08, |
No. of Quotes: | 6 |
Totals by Section: | BG=0, SB=1, CC=0, OB=1, Lec=2, Con=2, Let=0 |