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Fools rush in where angels dare not

Expressions researched:
"Fools rush in where angels dare not" |"Where angels dare not, fools rush in" |"Where angels dare not, the fools rush in" |"Where angels fail, the fools rush in"

Sri Caitanya-caritamrta

CC Madhya-lila

It is sometimes said that fools rush in where angels dare not, and Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu wanted to point out Dāmodara Paṇḍita’s foolishness in coming forward to criticize the Lord.
CC Madhya 12.25, Purport:

"I shall not meet the King at the request of all the devotees, but I shall do so if Dāmodara will give his permission.""

From the spiritual point of view, a sannyāsī is strictly forbidden to see materialistic people, especially a king who is always engaged in counting pounds, shillings and pence. Indeed, the meeting between a sannyāsī and a king is always considered abominable. A sannyāsī is always subjected to public criticism, and a small fault on his part is taken seriously by the public. People actually expect a sannyāsī to preach and not take part in any social or political matters. If a sannyāsī is subject to public criticism, his preaching will not be fruitful. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu specifically wanted to avoid such criticism so that His preaching work would not be hampered. It so happened that while the Lord was talking to His disciples at that time, the devotee Dāmodara Paṇḍita was present. This Dāmodara Paṇḍita was a very faithful devotee and a staunch lover of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Whenever there was anything that might touch or taint the character of the Lord, Dāmodara Paṇḍita would immediately point it out, not even considering the exalted position of the Lord. It is sometimes said that fools rush in where angels dare not, and Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu wanted to point out Dāmodara Paṇḍita's foolishness in coming forward to criticize the Lord. This is why the Lord stated that if Dāmodara Paṇḍita would give Him permission, He would go to see the King. There was deep meaning in this statement, for it is a warning that Dāmodara should not dare criticize the Lord any more, for it was not befitting his position as a devotee. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu was considered the guide and spiritual master of all the devotees living with Him. Dāmodara Paṇḍita was one of them, and the Lord rendered Dāmodara Paṇḍita a special favor by warning him to avoid criticizing Him any further. A devotee or a disciple should never attempt to criticize the Lord or His representative, the spiritual master.

Lectures

Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures

In this way we are wandering one life after another, one planet to another, in this way, millions, millions of years. We don't care for it because we are not afraid. We are so proud and, I mean to say, brave that tīvraṁ bhayam, we don't care for it. Tīvraṁ bhayam. That is tīvram. Just like after a few years I will enter again the tīvraṁ bhayam, but we are careless. This is foolishness. This is a fool's... "Where angels dare not, fools rush in."
Lecture on SB 3.25.41 -- Bombay, December 9, 1974:

So therefore Caitanya Mahāprabhu offers His prayer, ayi nanda-tanuja patitaṁ kiṅkaraṁ mām. Kiṅkaram. Kiṅkara means servant. He is offering prayer, "My dear Lord, the son of Nanda Mahārāja, Kṛṣṇa..." Kṛṣṇa accepted the sonhood of mother Yaśodā and Nanda Mahārāja, so He is very much pleased if anyone addresses Kṛṣṇa as the son of Vasudeva, or Vāsudeva. Vāsudeva means "the son of Vasudeva." And if someone addresses Him, Yaśodā-nandana, yaśodā-nandana braja-jana-rañjana, He is very happy. Because when you address Kṛṣṇa in relationship with pure devotee, He is very ni..., He is very happy. Therefore we address, "Yaśodā-nandana," "Nanda-nandana," "Vasudeva-nandana," "Rādhikā-ramaṇa," like that. So therefore Caitanya Mahāprabhu addresses Kṛṣṇa, ayi nanda-tanuja: "O the son of Nanda Mahārāja." Ayi nanda-tanuja patitaṁ kiṅkaraṁ māṁ viṣame bhavāmbudhau: "Now I am Your eternal servant. Some way or other, I have fallen down in this ocean of birth and death." Bhavāmbudhau. Bhava. Bhava means you become and again vanish. That is bhava. And that is ambudhi. Ambudhi means a sea. You do not know how long you are taking this business, accepting one body and again dying, again accepting, and... Not only here, throughout the whole universe, many planets, many species of life, this is going on.

Therefore Caitanya Mahāprabhu says,

ei rūpe brahmāṇḍa bhramite kona bhāgyavān jīva
guru-kṛṣṇa-kṛpāya pāya bhakti-latā-bīja
(CC Madhya 19.151)

In this way we are wandering one life after another, one planet to another, in this way, millions, millions of years. We don't care for it because we are not afraid. We are so proud and, I mean to say, brave that tīvraṁ bhayam, we don't care for it. Tīvraṁ bhayam. That is tīvram. Just like after a few years I will enter again the tīvraṁ bhayam, but we are careless. This is foolishness. This is a fool's... "Where angels dare not, fools rush in." That means we are so...

There is an English word, "Where angels fail, the fools rush in." So "I am so lower. I am born of an atheistic father, demon. How can I please the Lord?" So this is the position.
Lecture on SB 7.9.8 -- Montreal, July 2, 1968:

So all the denizens of that particular planet, they are siddhas. Siddhas means they have got all the perfection of yoga practice. So they were also present, offering prayers; Brahmā was present, Lord Śiva was present, and great sages were present. All of them tried to pacify. And how they wanted to pacify? Sattvaikatāna-gatayo vacasāṁ pravāhaiḥ: They were very great learned men. Immediately they began to compose in Sanskrit verses so many nice prayers, and they were all full of goodness, modes of goodness. Sattvaikatāna-vacasāṁ pravāhaiḥ. Pravāhaiḥ means they prayed in such a fluent way, just like the river flows down without any gheck. That is the learned man. Just like a learned man will speak fluently for hours together, similarly, they were so learned scholars that they composed prayers in Sanskrit so nicely and began to speak just like flow of water. So he says, sattvaikatāna-gatayo vacasāṁ nārādhituṁ: "Still, they could not satisfy the Lord." Nārādhituṁ. Puru-guṇair adhunāpi pipruḥ: "Still, the Lord is not pacified. Still." Kiṁ toṣṭum arhati: "Then what can I do?" Where... There is an English word, "Where angels fail, the fools rush in." So "I am so lower. I am born of an atheistic father, demon. How can I please the Lord?" So this is the position.

So a devotee should be very very much afraid of this repetition of birth and death. Saṁsāra... This is Prahlāda Mahārāja... To follow the footprints of Prahlāda Mahārāja, one should be very, very afraid. And the whole process of Vedic civlization, especially devotional service, is how to avoid this saṁsāra-cakra-kadanā. Everyone should be very, very afraid of. Foolish persons... "Where angels dare not, the fools rush in."
Lecture on SB 7.9.16 -- Mayapur, February 23, 1976:

So the ordinary person, they cannot understand what is the difficulty. As soon as I die I enter into the womb of a mother according to my karma. The mother may be a lady dog or lady pig or lady such and such, because the body will be manufactured within the womb of the mother. Karmaṇā daiva-netreṇa jantor dehopapatti (SB 3.31.1). Upapatti means getting one type of body. So that type of body is given by the mother, and the seed is given by the father. Yathā bījaṁ yathā yoni. So we take a form. This is going on. So a devotee should be very very much afraid of this repetition of birth and death. Saṁsāra... This is Prahlāda Mahārāja... To follow the footprints of Prahlāda Mahārāja, one should be very, very afraid. And the whole process of Vedic civlization, especially devotional service, is how to avoid this saṁsāra-cakra-kadanā. Everyone should be very, very afraid of. Foolish persons... "Where angels dare not, the fools rush in." They think, "What is that? I shall die." Now it has come to the stage that in your Western countries, if we say like this, that "Next life you may become a dog," university student, they say, "What is the wrong if I become a dog?" They are not afraid. They think, "If I become a dog, then I'll be free to have sex on the street without any restriction. This is the facility. Because being a human, I have got so much restriction, and if I become a dog, then there will be no restriction. I'll have... I'll be very free to have sex anywhere." So this is the education. In Hawaii, when I was lecturing, one student said, "No, what is the wrong, Swamijī, if I become a dog?" You see? Bah!

Conversations and Morning Walks

1975 Conversations and Morning Walks

Where angels dare not, fools rush in." So big, big, giant, saintly persons, they simply admired, and they are going to understand it. What is that? And they can create, like that? They cannot create even an ant, a small ant, and they are going to create, imitate the creation of God. Just see.
Morning Walk -- June 25, 1975, Los Angeles:

Brahmānanda: The Russians have sent a spaceship to Venus.

Revatīnandana: It's unmanned. There are no men in it. They are going to Venus but there is no man in the ship.

Prabhupāda: Now, why they are going to Venus? They have failed to achieve anything by going to the moon. Now why another attempt, to go to the Venus?

Dr. Judah: Well, the usual explanation that they have given, as I recall, is that these explorations give man more of a knowledge about how the world was created, our universe was created.

Prabhupāda: That is another speculation.

Dr. Judah: Yes.

Bahulāśva: Why do they have to go to Venus, though, to figure that out? They have a planet here they can't get any information out of.

Prabhupāda: Why they are anxious to know how the world was created? It is already created. What is your credit? (break) ...and simply bluffing people, that's all. (break) It is already there. The nice creation is already there.

Dr. Judah: Accept it as it is.

Dharmādhyakṣa: And be joyful. But they want to try to imitate the creation.

Prabhupāda: That is their foolishness. "Where angels dare not, foolish rush in. Where angels dare not, fools rush in." So big, big, giant, saintly persons, they simply admired, and they are going to understand it. What is that? And they can create, like that? They cannot create even an ant, a small ant, and they are going to create, imitate the creation of God. Just see. And we have to believe such fools. (laughter) This is our misfortune.

"Fools rush in where angels dare not." That is the proof. The hog is thinking, "I am very happy." Therefore he is hog. He is not a human being. Hog proves that he is hog by thinking that "I am very happy. I am getting fatty."
Morning Walk -- October 20, 1975, Johannesburg:

Prabhupāda: Yes. Everyone simply working hard like asses. That's all. This is their happiness. Just like the hog, he's working very hard to eat stool, and he is thinking happy. He is getting fatty. Do you think to work hard day and night and eat stool is happiness?

Puṣṭa Kṛṣṇa: No.

Prabhupāda: But he is thinking; therefore he is getting fat. You generally find the pigs are fatty because they think, "Oh, I am very happy." Yes. One man gets fatty when he thinks that "I am very happy." You know that?

Puṣṭa Kṛṣṇa: No.

Prabhupāda: This is psychology. When he thinks, "I am very happy," he gets fatty.

Harikeśa: But if I think I'm happy, isn't that enough?

Prabhupāda: They think. That is another thing. But you do not know what is happiness. These rascals, they do not think that what is happiness. Suppose I have arranged for so-called happiness. Then I am going to die also. Who will enjoy this?

Harikeśa: But I'm not worried about it.

Prabhupāda: That is the proof that you are a rascal. "Fools rush in where angels dare not." That is the proof. The hog is thinking, "I am very happy." Therefore he is hog. He is not a human being. Hog proves that he is hog by thinking that "I am very happy. I am getting fatty." (break)

Puṣṭa Kṛṣṇa: ...suffer. Kṛṣṇa says, duḥkhālayam aśāśvatam (BG 8.15). That's a fact. So why is it that people are thinking they are happy?

Prabhupāda: That I have repeatedly said. Therefore, because they are thinking like that, therefore they are rascals. That is the proof. There is no happiness; still, he is thinking, "I am happy." That is the proof that he's a rascal. (break)

Harikeśa: Well, we can admit that we're not happy all the time, but what is the meaning of happiness without distress? If there's no distress, how can I be happy?

Prabhupāda: So that is material knowledge. In order to taste happiness, you have to suffer. That is material happiness. And happiness, pure, is spiritual happiness. Here, in order to enjoy happiness, you have to suffer; then you can taste. Therefore that is not real happiness.

1976 Conversations and Morning Walks

So the angels, Lord Brahmā, Lord Śiva, they are offering their obeisances, and these rascals are claiming, "I am God." How great rascals they are.
Morning Walk -- February 6, 1976, Mayapura:

Hṛdayānanda: Sometimes, Prabhupāda, when we expose them, their argument is, "Oh, you are a saintly person. Why are you criticizing me?"

Prabhupāda: No, it is not criticizing. It is opening your eyes. You are blind, you are thinking yourself as very big, so we are opening eyes. You are not big. You are not even pig or fig. That is... ajñāna-timirāndhasya jñānāñjana-śalākayā. You are blind with ignorance, so we are trying to open your eyes. See things as they are. It is favoring you. It is not criticizing you. (break)...words, vibhu, the great, and aṇu, the small. So these rascals, they do not understand these two important words, "God is great; I am small." They think, "I am as good as God." This is the folly. (break) ...English proverb? "Where angels dare not, the fools rush in." Eh?

Hṛdayānanda: "Fools rush in where angels fear to tread."

Prabhupāda: So the angels, Lord Brahmā, Lord Śiva, they are offering their obeisances, and these rascals are claiming, "I am God." How great rascals they are. Śiva-viriñci-nutam (SB 11.5.33). Śiva-viriñci-nutam. Lord Śiva, Lord Brahmā, they are offering their respects, and these things are: "I am equal with God." This Māyāvāda philosophy. Mūḍhas.

1977 Conversations and Morning Walks

What is that English proverb? "Fools rush in where angels dare not." You are such a fool that you are running in to obstruct Kṛṣṇa consciousness, which even the demigods, they aspire after it.
Conversation on Train to Allahabad -- January 11, 1977, India:

Prabhupāda: It is so nasty thing, animal-killing. So you require thoroughly to be washed. Then you'll understand. Actually it is brainwashing. Civilized man, in the presence of so many nice grains, fruits, flowers, vegetables, milk, so many things, and you are eating meat like the man in the jungle? Are you civilized? Does it mean that the fruit, flowers and grains is meant for animals? It is meant for human beings. You do not know how to utilize it. You are in the state of the animals. You kill animals and eat. Don't claim that you are civilized. Therefore your brain requires to be thoroughly washed to become civilized. Therefore your brain requires to be thoroughly washed to become civilized, Kṛṣṇa conscious. Then talk of civilization. Therefore Jesus Christ first of all requested you "Don't kill." That is also brainwash, cleanse your brain. But you could not take the brainwash. Your brain is congested with so much dirty things that you could not take the instruction of Jesus Christ, and you claim to be Christian. Be ashamed. Don't come forward. Be ashamed. You have no shame even. You are so—what is called?—fool that you do not know what is defective. What is that English proverb? "Fools rush in where angels dare not." You are such a fool that you are running in to obstruct Kṛṣṇa consciousness, which is... Even the demigods, they aspire after it. You are such a fool. You are rushing in. So we take pity upon you, and therefore we are trying to expand Kṛṣṇa consciousness.

Page Title:Fools rush in where angels dare not
Compiler:Sahadeva, Visnu Murti
Created:02 of May, 2009
Totals by Section:BG=0, SB=0, CC=1, OB=0, Lec=3, Con=4, Let=0
No. of Quotes:8