Go to Vanipedia | Go to Vanisource | Go to Vanimedia


Vaniquotes - the compiled essence of Vedic knowledge


For a moment (Conversations)

Conversations and Morning Walks

1969 Conversations and Morning Walks

Conversation Including Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.2.1-34 Recitation & Explanation -- April 1, 1969, San Francisco:

Prabhupāda: This is second chapter, First Canto. Sūta Gosvāmī, before speaking to the audience, he is offering his respect to the spiritual master. To offer respect to anyone means to remember his qualification. Just like we sing... Just like you offer respect to your spiritual master. What is the meaning?

nama oṁ viṣṇu-pādāya kṛṣṇa-preṣṭhāya bhū-tale
śrīmad-bhaktivedānta-svāmin iti nāmine

Yes. "I offer my respectful obeisances to Swami Bhaktivedanta, who is very dear to Kṛṣṇa, and has come before us to deliver." This is the meaning. So his qualification is described. Similarly, here also Sūta Gosvāmī is offering respect to his spiritual master, Śukadeva Gosvāmī. And he is repeating the history of Śukadeva Gosvāmī. Śukadeva Gosvāmī, just after taking birth from the mother's womb, immediately he started, without staying for a moment. Just see the brahmacārī. The... Father, they are naturally affectionate. So father saw that "This man, child, immediately after birth is going away? How is that? My dear boy, where you are going? Where you are going?" (laughter) So that is being ex... Yaṁ pravrajantam anupetam apeta-kṛtyaṁ (SB 1.2.2). The Śukadeva Gosvāmī, who was going without any ceremonial function... Because after birth there is ceremony, there is nāma-karaṇa, so many things to be done. But he didn't care for anything, any rituals. He immediately started. So it is specifically mentioned that he began to start without observing any formality any rituals. Immediately started. Yaṁ pravrajantam anupetam apeta-kṛtyaṁ (SB 1.2.2). Kṛtyaṁ means things which have to be done. Just like you are initiated, there are so many things to be done. So he didn't care for anything. Dvaipāyano ciraha-kātara ājuhāva. Dvaipayana is father's name, Dvaipayāna Vyāsa. Kṛṣṇa Dvaipāyana Vyāsa, his father's name.

1972 Conversations and Morning Walks

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

Prabhupāda: Any kind of distress we suffer, it is due to our impious activities in the past.

Bob: But when one is removed from karmic influence...

Prabhupāda: Yes?

Bob: ...does he still get sick?

Prabhupāda: No. Even if he gets sick, that is very temporary. Just like this fan is moving. If you disconnect with the electric power, then the fan will move for a moment. That movement is not due to the electric current. That is force. What is called physically, this...

Śyāmasundara: Momentum.

Prabhupāda: Huh?

Śyāmasundara: Momentum.

Prabhupāda: Momentum. But as soon as he stops, no more movement. Similarly, a devotee who has surrendered to Kṛṣṇa, even he's found that he's suffering from material consequences, that is temporary. Therefore a devotee does not take any material miseries as misery. He takes as Kṛṣṇa's, God's, mercy.

Bob: But what about a perfected soul, a devotee, a pure devotee?

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

Prabhupāda: But if you do not know what is liberation, then how fast and slow liberation? (laughs) There is no question of liberation. It is neither fast nor slow. You first know what is liberation. If you do not know where the train is going, then what is the use of asking or understanding fast and slow? You do not know your destination. What is liberation?

Bob: Umm...

Prabhupāda: I am asking. You daily ask me; I am asking you today.

Bob: Okay, yes. (laughs) I'll think for a moment.

Śyāmasundara: Shall I turn this off, this fan? It's cool now.

Prabhupāda: Yes, yes. No, he'll do. Where is Nanda Kumāra? He can do. (break) ...is described in the Bhagavad-gītā, er, Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. The exact Sanskrit word for liberation is called mukti. So that mukti is defined in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam: muktir hitvānyathā rūpaṁ svarūpeṇa vyavasthitiḥ (SB 2.10.6). One should stop doing all nonsense, and he must be situated in his original position. But this is also more embarrassing because nobody knows what is his original position. And how to act properly. Muktir hitvānyathā rūpam. People are generally acting differently. But they do not know what is differently and what is properly. So much ignorant are the modern population about their life. It is very, very awkward position. They do not know.

Bob: (break) ...who is honest?

Prabhupāda: But he does not know what is honesty. How he can be honest? If you know what is honesty, then you can become honest. But you do not know what is honesty. What is honesty? First of all explain.

Bob: Honesty is doing what you really feel is right.

1973 Conversations and Morning Walks

Room Conversation -- March 17, 1973, Mayapur:

Prabhupāda: Yes. He was my intimate friend. So in their house, old Tīrtha Mahārāja went to beg some alms—they are very rich man. So, he informed me that "One nice sannyāsī came to our house," and he was invited, "in Ultadanga there is Gauḍīya Maṭha, so he has invited me. I wish to go there. Why don't you come? Let us go together." He was my very intimate friend. So at that time I was a little pessimistic (?), "I know all these sādhus there, I am not going." So he forced me, "Oh, why not come? Let us go." "All right, let us go." So I went to see His Divine Grace Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura in 1922 in that Ultadanga building, and that time Prabhupāda was sitting on the roof. There was small house (indistinct) room, and we were welcome, because they thought Naren Mullik was very rich man and he has contributed some money. So, we went to see Prabhupāda, offered our obeisances. So immediately he said that "You are all educated young men, why don't you preach Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu's message throughout the whole world?" So I replied him, "Sir, we are dependent nation, who will hear our message? We can talk all these things after we get independence," because I was politically-minded at that time. So he refuted my argument. Certainly I was defeated, and I took his words very seriously, I appreciated. Then we were offered some prasādam, we came down, and my friend Naren Mullik asked me, "How did you like this sādhu?" "Yes, here is a sādhu in whose hands Caitanya Mahāprabhu's message is there, and it will be done. I think this is very nice." That was my appreciation. Then 1923, I resigned my post as manager in Bose's laboratory, and I accepted the agency of whole U.P., beginning from Mughalsarai (?) up to Delhi, and I made my head office in Allahabad. So I was always thinking, "Oh yes, I met a very nice sādhu." From the very beginning, that was my impression, that "I have met a real sādhu." So, actually the words, lava mātra sādhu saṅge sarva siddhi haya (CC Madhya 22.54), was actually... I perceived a kind (?) for a moment, and he impressed so much, Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura, that it was, it continued. Then in 1928, when there was Kumbha-melā... Mahārāja, when you joined Gauḍīya Maṭha?

Morning Walk -- April 25, 1973, Los Angeles:

Prabhupāda: What is that? Even if you live longer, does it mean that eternal life? That is already there. I'll live for eighty years. Another lives, for, say, sixty years. Another lives for hundred years. That is already there. The trees live for thousands of years. Does it mean it is life? A tree lives for... In your San Francisco there is a tree which is said seven thousand years. Does it mean it is life? To live for so long duration of life? Then the tree is better than you. It is also living. Śaṅkarācārya lived for thirty-two years. Lord Caitanya lived for forty-eight years. So what is the use of living for hundred years? Who is more famous than Śaṅkarācārya and Caitanya Mahāprabhu? So you live for a moment. But live worth. Then it is life. And living for seven thousand years, standing like the tree, is that life?

Svarūpa Dāmodara: Like the (indistinct) says, "One crowded hour of glorious life is worth a day without a name."

Prabhupāda: Yes. That's a fact. Kalpa-sthāyino guṇāḥ. Cāṇakya Paṇḍita says that if you have got qualities, then you live for millions of years. Millions of years. If you have got quality. And if you have no quality, then living for thousands of years like the tree, what is the use? Is that very glorious life to stand up in a place like a tree for thousands of years? Actually they do not know what is the value of life. (Break) ...how people are busy here. And we see how people are wasting time. This is the vision.

Brahmānanda: They say progress.

Prabhupāda: Yes. Progress towards death. That's all. That the animal has got also. They're also progressing. The frog, ca ca canh, ca ca canh, progress. The progress is that the snake is coming nearer, kāla-sarpa. (pause) Not a single instance of these birds being overpowered by the waves. They're so expert. Not touching the water, although working with big, big waves. Wherefrom he got this knowledge? You can study. You stand. Not a single instance you'll find that it is overpowered by the waves. Immediately comes. Spontaneously.

1974 Conversations and Morning Walks

Morning Walk -- April 3, 1974, Bombay:

Prabhupāda: And that is being described.

Dr. Patel: Bodhayantaḥ parasparam, kathayantaś ca māṁ nityaṁ tuṣyanti ca ramanti ca.

Prabhupāda: Ramanti ca, yes. So instead of talking of Kṛṣṇa, they talk of politics, sociology, all nonsense. Simply waste of time.

Dr. Patel: Mad-gata-prāṇāḥ.

Prabhupāda: One cannot talk of Kṛṣṇa unless he is kṛṣṇa-gata-prāṇāḥ. Kṛṣṇa-gata-prāṇāḥ. Just like your loveable objects, you cannot forget even for a moment, similarly, one who has developed real love for Kṛṣṇa, he cannot do without thinking of Kṛṣṇa, without talking of Kṛṣṇa, without acting for Kṛṣṇa. Mad-gata-prāṇāḥ.

Dr. Patel:

teṣāṁ satata-yuktānāṁ
bhajatāṁ prīti-pūrvakam
dadāmi buddhi-yogaṁ taṁ
yena mām upayānti te
(BG 10.10)

Prabhupāda: Yes. So therefore one who has taken to this... Sometimes these Māyāvādīs rascals say that the bhakti is meant for the less intelligent class of men. So how he can be less intelligent? Kṛṣṇa says, teṣāṁ satata-yuktānāṁ bhajatāṁ prīti-pūrvakam. So Kṛṣṇa personally gives you intelligence. So how He can be less intelligent?

Dr. Patel: He gives intelligence that, dadami buddhi-yogam.

Prabhupāda: Ah. And what kind of buddhi-yoga?

Room Conversation with Richard Webster, chairman, Societa Filosofica Italiana -- May 24, 1974, Rome:

Prabhupāda: On the whole, as I began, that there is no guiding men. The brain is lacking.

Richard Webster: Well, perhaps I should go now. I've taken too much time. Excuse me. Thank you very much and...

Prabhupāda: Give him some... Give him some... Just wait.

Yogeśvara: It's our custom in Vedic tradition that anyone who comes is offered graciously foodstuffs...

Richard Webster: Oh, thank you, yes, I've been here quite long. Thank you.

Yogeśvara: Maybe you can stay just for a moment.

Richard Webster: Yes, thank you.

Prabhupāda: Gṛhe śatrum api prāptaṁ viśvastam akuto-bhayam. In the Vedic civilization even an enemy comes to your home, he should be offered respect. Take more. Now, these foodstuffs are meant for human being. They are not meant for cats and dogs. You should produce more of this foodstuff. And the remaining balance, the skin, you can offer to the animal. They will eat. You take the substance, and the outward, external skin you offer to the animals, and he will eat. She gives you milk. This is cooperation. You produce... Man can produce fruits and flowers, grains, take the substance, and the rejected portion give to the animal. She gives you milk. You require milk. This is cooperation.

Richard Webster: Well, I do myself because we have a small garden and we grow vegetables, (break)

Prabhupāda: ...will the state allow you to kill somebody and remain peacefully at home?

Richard Webster: Is it wrong to kill, to eat fish?

Room Conversation with Catholic Cardinal and Secretary to the Pope -- May 24, 1974, Rome:

Prabhupāda: No, no. Our... Yes. Theoretically atheistic, but because they believe in Lord Buddha, they are theistic. Because we accept Lord Buddha as incarnation of God, Kṛṣṇa.

Cardinal Pignedoli: Also some of them, they believe in... They think Buddha is a god, and they are believers.

Prabhupāda: Yes. Buddha is God. That is stated. You will find?

Cardinal Pignedoli: Excuse me if I go back for a moment to this question which is not that I ask if you are, excuse it, if you go only to some, you go to all the people. I agree this is not (indistinct). But because we are few... I give an example. Why, instead of going, suppose, to South Africa where the majority, the great majority, are believers, you don't go to Japan?

Prabhupāda: Yes, we go.

Cardinal Pignedoli: This is more important because you have not so many. If you go to South Africa, and although... I mean because also we. We have not so many. It's a question of possibility, of chances. Why don't you choose...? This is my question. These areas where Japan for instance is an area very atheistic and where yesterday I had this sect with me of the not perfectly... It's called... No. It's a different one. Mr. Kalyana is the president. He came yesterday. He came yesterday. Mr. Kalyana. Well, they don't believe, as you say. This is philosophy. Welfare, is happiness, but not in your meaning, in my meaning. Well, this is only to ask, then you go to Japan?

Dhanañjaya: Yes, we have a center in Tokyo.

Prabhupāda: Yes. We have got center in Japan, in Hong Kong.

Cardinal Pignedoli: Are you welcome in Japan? People are interested, eh?

Room Conversation with Mr. C. Hennis of the International Labor Organization of the U.N. -- May 31, 1974, Geneva:

Prabhupāda: It can be a decoration. That we describe, "The decoration of the dead body." Anyone who has no brain, lost all brain, it is a dead body. So a dead body you can decorate to your full satisfaction, but what is the use of decorating a dead body?

C. Hennis: Well, thank you very much again. It's very kind of you.

Prabhupāda: Give him some prasāda. Please sit down for a moment.

C. Hennis: I have to go because I have a...

Yogeśvara: If you can wait just two minutes. One tradition is that we always offer our guests prasādam, foodstuffs that we prepared.

C. Hennis: Thank you very much. But I have to go very shortly. I have to...

Yogeśvara: Well perhaps I should give him downstairs.

Prabhupāda: No, no. Give him.

C. Hennis: May I, may I? Thank you very much. That's very kind of you. Thank you.

Prabhupāda: Thank you. (Mr. Hennis goes out)

Puṣṭa-kṛṣṇa: It's true what you say Prabhupāda. They come and they put forward their idea and if you don't like it, well, "Oh!" but if you like, "Oh, very good man." They have their own ideas.

Morning Walk -- June 11, 1974, Paris:

Prabhupāda: Yes. Ādau śraddhā tataḥ sādhu-saṅgaḥ (Cc. Madhya 23.14-15). This chanting and hearing should be in the association of devotees. First of all, one must have faith that chanting is good. Then he should chant in the society of the devotees. Then it will develop. He can chant anywhere. But if he chants along... Therefore saṅkīrtana. Bahubhir milita. Many devotees, chanting together, that is called saṅkīrtana. So one, our movement is saṅkīrtana movement, many devotees together would chant the holy name of God. Then it is very quickly successful. Just like a person who comes to our center in the association of the devotees, after few weeks, he also becomes devotee. Quickly. And there are many others, they are seeing that there is a group like this, but because they do not come, they do not understand. Therefore the quick development process is to execute devotional service in the association of devotees, sādhu-saṅga (CC Madhya 22.83).

sādhu-saṅga, sādhu-saṅga—sarva-śāstre kaya
lava-mātra sādhu-saṅge sarva-siddhi haya
(CC Madhya 22.54)

Caitanya Mahāprabhu says that sādhu-saṅga, association of devotees, is very, very important. Even for a moment, if there is association, he immediately comes to the path of perfection. (pause) So if you actually remain a sādhu, devotee, then anyone who will come with your association, he'll be perfect by association. Means, this process of perfection will begin immediately.

Paramahaṁsa: Our position in preaching should be to encourage people in all respects to associate with us.

Prabhupāda: Yes.

Paramahaṁsa: That means sometimes we might have to compromise in certain ways.

Room Conversation with Scientists -- July 2, 1974, Melbourne:

Prabhupāda: No, not Sanskrit, but knowledge we have received by disciplic succession from my Guru Mahārāja, from my spiritual master. Sanskrit is the language but mostly we derive knowledge from Vedic revealed scriptures. And this is also one of them, Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. This is the ripened fruit of Vedic knowledge.

Dr. Harrap: And you're interpreting this in terms of modern day living to a large extent in some of your writings, and, of course, some of your disciples writings, as in this book.

Prabhupāda: Yes.

Guest (2): Could I borrow this for a moment? Thanks.

Prabhupāda: Bhagavad-gītā, yes.

Guest (2): We were very interested in your comments on the dairy industry in particular. Dr. Harrap is in charge of the dairy research. How do you relate your strong interest in dairy products to modern thinking on cholestrol and similar problems? This doesn't disturb you?

Satsvarūpa: There are modern theories that milk is actually harmful.

Dr. Harrap: Well, that butter...

Dr. Muncing: The milkfat and...

Dr. Harrap: Yes, milkfat.

Prabhupāda: Milk is harmful? How it is harmful? If it is harmful why you are giving milk to the child?

1975 Conversations and Morning Walks

Room Conversation with Kim Cornish -- May 8, 1975, Perth:

Prabhupāda: That is ātmā's nature. Sat cit ānanda. Eternal, full of knowledge, and blissful.

Kim: A question. Is there, is it the ātman...

Prabhupāda: Just hear.

Kim: Ātman is attached to each person?

Prabhupāda: Just hear.

Amogha: He says hear for a moment.

Kim: I'm listening, of course.

Prabhupāda: Ātmā's nature. One question should be understood, thoroughly. You have asked what is the nature of ātmā. The ātmā's nature is that he is eternal. He never dies. Never takes birth. He is already existing. Just like, you were a child, you were a baby. The body is no longer existing. Your childhood body is no longer existing, but you know that you were a child. You remember your childhood days. Therefore, you are different from the body. The body is passed away, but you remember that you had a body like that. Therefore you exist. You know that you'll become an old man. So this body will not exist. Another body you will get, old age body. Therefore you will exist; the body will change. Now try to understand this fact first of all, and if you cannot understand, ask questions.

Kim: The ātman, there is one to a person, or there is only one ātman?

Prabhupāda: You are ātmā, I am ātmā, we are not one. You are individual, I am individual. I don't agree with you, you don't agree with me. So how one?

Garden Conversation with Dr. Gerson and devotees -- June 22, 1975, Los Angeles:

Prabhupāda: Yoga-kṣemam. Yes, that's all right, yoga-kṣemam. Read.

Upendra: Translation: But those who worship Me with devotion, meditating on My transcendental form—to them I carry what they lack and preserve what they have.

Purport: One who is unable to live for a moment without Kṛṣṇa consciousness cannot but think of Kṛṣṇa twenty-four hours, being engaged in devotional service by hearing, chanting, remembering, offering prayers, worshiping, serving the lotus feet of the Lord, rendering other services, cultivating friendship and surrendering fully to the Lord. Such activities are all auspicious and full of spiritual potencies; indeed, they make the devotee perfect in self-realization. Then his only desire is to achieve the association of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. This is called yoga. By the mercy of the Lord, such a devotee never comes back to this material condition of life. Kṣema refers to the merciful protection of the Lord. The Lord helps the devotee to achieve Kṛṣṇa consciousness by yoga, and when he becomes fully Kṛṣṇa conscious the Lord protects him from falling down to a miserable conditioned life.

Prabhupāda: But that requires faith. One who does not know what is God and what is protection, how he can take to it? He depends on his own energy. That is karmīs. He wants to happy by his own energy not only in this life but also next life, by acting very piously, wants to be promoted in the heavenly planets. That is fact. One can go. But that is on account of his own labor. But here the bhaktas, they are taken care of, the Supreme Lord. So just like child. He doesn't care how he will live comfortably. But the father takes care. That is the position of bhakta. The karmīs, they are taking care of themselves. But the devotees, they are taken care of by the Supreme. That is difference. What is that?

Room Conversation with Mr. & Mrs. Wax, Writer and Editing Manager of Playboy Magazine -- July 5, 1975, Chicago:

Prabhupāda: "With mind attached to Me." This Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement means to keep the mind attached to Kṛṣṇa. That is success. That yoga we are practicing, how to keep the mind attached to Kṛṣṇa. Then it is successful. Our mind is attached to something. Without attachment, mind cannot be free even for a moment. So the bhakti-yoga means how to transfer the attachment of mind to Kṛṣṇa, that's all. That is Kṛṣṇa consciousness. You are working, you are rendering your service without any charges, without any profit—why? Because your mind has been attached to Kṛṣṇa. Otherwise what business you have got to work for Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement without any remuneration? You are all American boys. You are qualified. You can earn thousands of dollars. But why you have given up? Because you are attached to Kṛṣṇa. Paraṁ dṛṣṭvā nivartate (BG 9.59). You have found better attachment; therefore you given up. So that is Kṛṣṇa consciousness. We are attached to so many nonsense things. When we wind up all these attachments and concentrate on Kṛṣṇa, then life is perfect. That is wanted. We are not going to sacrifice attachment. But we are trying to transfer the attachment from matter to Kṛṣṇa. Then our life is successful. But that attachment is very rare.

1976 Conversations and Morning Walks

Morning Walk -- March 5, 1976, Mayapur:

Pusta Kṛṣṇa: Sometimes we have difficulty discriminating where the enjoying spirit stops and where the service spirit begins, especially when we take prasādam.

Prabhupāda: No, you should remember it is Kṛṣṇa's mercy. Then it is all right. Actually everything is Kṛṣṇa's mercy. Without Kṛṣṇa's mercy, you cannot live even for a moment. You should always remember. Kṛṣṇa bado dayāmaya. That is Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Kṛṣṇa badā dayāmaya karibāre jihvā jāya, sva-prasāda-anna dila bhāi.

Hari-śauri: So if one cooks according to one's own tastes, and then offers it to the Deity, that is not so good.

Prabhupāda: Oh, you have to learn this now?

Hari-śauri: No, I'm just parrotting.

Pusta Kṛṣṇa: So is it that everything we do, are we trying to make some mental adjustment, that "We're taking prasādam..."?

Prabhupāda: Mental adjustment is nonsense. No mental adj... Actual. Mental adjustment is material. You have to follow the orders of superior. There is no question of mental adjustment. (break) You get all your necessities of life from the earth. Now, you get food, you get drinking water, you get shelter, bamboo. These things will... You get cotton. So what is that slogan? Kapara...?

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: Roṭi kaparā makān.

Morning Walk -- March 10, 1976, Mayapur:

Prabhupāda: Niyamagrahaḥ is not good. Niyama means regulative principles. And niyama-āgrahaḥ is niyamāgrahaḥ. Āgrahaḥ means not to accept. And niyama-āgraha. Āgraha means only eager to follow the regulative principles, but no advancement spiritually. Both of them are called niyamāgrahaḥ. So the basic principle is that niyamāgrahaḥ is not recommended. The real business is that.... And if we advance in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, simple method, chanting twenty-four hours, kīrtanīyaḥ sadā hariḥ (CC Adi 17.31), then things will be automatically adjusted. You cannot find in Kali-yuga everything is being done very correctly, to the point. That is very difficult. Just like our poet, Allen Ginsberg. He was always accusing me, "Swamijī, you are very conservative and strict." Actually, I told him that "I am never strict, neither I am conservative. If I become conservative, then I cannot live here for a moment. So I'm not at all conservative." (laughter) I was cooking, and I saw in the, what is called, refrigerator of Yeargen, Yeargon? What is his...?

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Yeah. (sic:) Jergen. That boy you were staying with.

Prabhupāda: Ah, ah! I saw he kept some pieces of meat for his cat. So still, I kept my things in that refrigerator. What can be done? I had no place at that time. Jaya. (break) ...will be little earlier?

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Hm. The walk should be earlier.

Prabhupāda: Quarter to six. And class beginning quarter to seven. Because the sun is rising earlier.

Madhudviṣa: It's getting warmer.

Prabhupāda: (aside:) Hare Kṛṣṇa. The foodstuff is supplied very nice.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Now it's very nice.

Prabhupāda: Yes. So this should be maintained. Thank you very much.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Sufficient, ample, and very tasteful...

Morning Walk -- March 13, 1976, Mayapur:

Prabhupāda: So if this is the practice in a country which is so opulent, just imagine what is there in India.

Pañcadraviḍa: I had experience, because when I was younger I was stealing, and I was taking to the hock shop one typewriter, and while I was taking to the hock shop this typewriter, the police came and showed me his badge and took this typewriter and one French horn from... He took the money, and he said, "I am going to check to see if this is stolen." So one week later I was worried. I called him. I said, "What is happening?" He said, "That typewriter was reported one year ago stolen from the school." But he said, "Because I think you're a good boy, I'm not going to arrest, you because I don't think you did it. If I thought for a moment you did it, I would immediately come and take you." So I said, "That's all right. What about the French horn? When can I have my money back?" He said, "You just forget about this. You leave it to me."

Prabhupāda: To keep you honest. (laughter) To keep you honest, you just don't hope your money.

Guru-krpa: Their practice is that they watch our saṅkīrtana devotees collect all day, and they know when he has good pocketful of money. Then they arrest him...

Prabhupāda: In Germany they have done this.

Guru-krpa: ...take to jail, and then they say... Actually the boy collected two hundred dollars. They say, "Oh, he only collected thirty dollars," and then the others, they split.

Prabhupāda: Where it is done?

Guru-krpa: This happened in Chicago to us.

Prabhupāda: Then? What action is taken?

Guru-krpa: Nothing we can do.

Morning Walk -- April 13, 1976, Bombay:

Prabhupāda: Yes.

Dr. Patel: Parā-bhakti.

Prabhupāda: Man-manā bhava mad-bhaktaḥ: "To become My devotee means you shall think of Me twenty-four hours," man-manā. Then you become a bhakta. Not that meditation—I meditate fifteen minutes and twenty-four hours thinking of something else.

Dr. Patel: Then you never, I mean, even for, it is just like you, even for a moment you slip down, just like a (indistinct). It should be perpetual conscious within yourself.

Prabhupāda: I have seen Gandhi's prayer meeting, and I attended. Utmost, five minutes reading Bhagavad-gītā, then again politics immediately. Immediately politics. I was in Delhi. I attended the meeting when Nawa Khalia (Noakhali?) fast. So this was his prayer. I have seen. And as a result of this, in that prayer meeting he was killed. (Hindi) So nature punishment are there. (Hindi) The last stage of Kali-yuga means you die.

Dr. Patel: But the way the modern civilized nations are exploiting the resources of the world, another fifty years there will be no resources left, and civilization automatically will die out.

Prabhupāda: Wars. The occasional war, pestilence, famine, that's all.

Dr. Patel: Even there is no war, sir, or no pestilence, the population...

Interview with Professors O'Connell, Motilal and Shivaram -- June 18, 1976, Toronto:

Prabhupāda: This is ācārya.

Indian man (2): Swamiji, you think bhakti is the solution to the problem of the world today?

Prabhupāda: Oh, yes, yes. That is your natural position. You are protected, and God is protector. That's a fact. You cannot live even for a moment without protection of God. That is your position. That is explained by Caitanya Mahāprabhu: jīvera svarūpa haya nitya-kṛṣṇa-dāsa (Cc. Madhya 20.108-109). Perhaps you have read it in Caitanya-caritāmṛta. You have read Caitanya-caritāmṛta? Yes. So Caitanya Mahāprabhu says, He immediately gives the definition and position of the living entity: jīvera svarūpa haya nitya-kṛṣṇa-dāsa. Sanātana Gosvāmī asked Him, "People glorify me that I am very learned scholar." Grāmya-vyavahāre kahe paṇḍita satya kari' māni. You understand Bengali? Grāmya-vyavahāre kahe paṇḍita. "My these neighbors, they call me paṇḍita. And I accept, 'Yes, I am paṇḍita.' But I am such a paṇḍita," āpanāra hitāhita kichui nā jāni, "I do not know what is my aim of life and what is good for me. I'm such a paṇḍita." Therefore Caitanya Mahāprabhu answered, 'ke āmi,' 'kene āmāya jāre tāpa-traya' ihā nāhi jāni kemane hita haya. So mistake is, Caitanya Mahāprabhu immediately pointed out, that "You are learned, of course, there is no doubt, but you are submitting yourself as others..." Now He said that "You have questioned that ke āmi, 'Who I am?' " So He said that "You are servant of God. That is your real identification." Then He begins teaching. So our position is servant of God. Eko yo bahūnāṁ vidadhāti kāmān. Nityo nityānāṁ cetanaś cetanānām (Kaṭha Upaniṣad 2.2.13). One singular number and plural number, ceta, eternal. The singular number cetana is the maintainer, and the plural number cetana is the maintained. So our position is maintained. Just like father maintains the children. That is natural. And children's duty is to remain obedient to the father. That's all. That is bhakti. Then the family is all right. Family means father, mother and children. They're missing.... The children they are seeing, the mother they are seeing, and they are saying there is no father. This is modern civilization. How is that?

Garden Discussion on Bhagavad-gita Sixteenth Chapter -- June 26, 1976, New Vrindaban:

Dhṛṣṭadyumna: Purport. "The demoniac accept that the enjoyment of the senses is the ultimate goal of life, and this concept they maintain until death. They do not believe in life after death, and they do not believe that one takes on different types of bodies according to one's karma, or activities in this world. Their plans for life are never finished, and they go on preparing plan after plan, all of which are never finished. We have personal experience of a person of such demoniac mentality, who, even at the point of death, was requesting the physician to prolong his life for four years more because his plans were not yet complete. Such foolish people do not know that a physician cannot prolong life even for a moment. When the notice is there, there is no consideration of the man's desire. The laws of nature do not allow a second beyond what one is destined to enjoy. The demoniac person, who has no faith in God or the Supersoul within himself, performs all kinds of sinful activities simply for sense gratification. He does not know that there is a witness sitting within his heart. The Supersoul is observing the activities of the individual soul. As it is stated in the Vedic literature, the Upaniṣads, there are two birds sitting in one tree; the one is acting and enjoying or suffering the fruits of the branches, and the other is witnessing. But one who is demoniac has no knowledge of Vedic scripture, nor has he any faith; therefore he feels free to do anything for sense enjoyment, regardless of the consequences."

Prabhupāda: Now discuss any points.

Kulādri: One of the richest men in the United States, Howard Hughes, he just recently died, and he had sores all over his body. With all of his money, he died in a very miserable condition. He had so many millions and millions of dollars.

Dhṛṣṭadyumna: He said at the time of death, "I think I've made a mistake."

Prabhupāda: What he was?

Morning Walk -- December 5, 1976, Hyderabad:

Prabhupāda: Govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi **.

Devotee (3): " 'I worship the primeval Lord Govinda who is always seen by the devotee whose eyes are anointed with the pulp of love. He is seen in His eternal form of Śyāmasundara situated within the heart of the devotee.' At this stage Lord Kṛṣṇa never disappears from the sight of the devotee, nor does the devotee ever lose sight of the Lord. In the case of a yogi who sees the Lord as Paramātmā within the heart, the same applies. Such a yogi turns into a pure devotee and cannot bear to live for a moment without seeing the Lord within himself."

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 -- January 19, 1977, Bhuvanesvara:

Prabhupāda: I am talking of that man. (laughter)

Hari-śauri: "...who even at the point of death was requesting the physician to prolong his life for four years more because his plans were not yet complete. Such foolish people do not know that a physician cannot prolong life even for a moment. When the notice is there, there is no consideration of the man's desire. The laws of nature do not allow a second beyond what one is destined to enjoy. The demoniac person, who has no faith in God or the Supersoul within himself, performs all kinds of sinful activities simply for sense gratification. He does not know that there is a witness sitting within his heart. The Supersoul is observing the activities of the individual soul. As it is stated in Vedic literature, the Upaniṣads, there are two birds sitting in one tree. One is acting and enjoying or suffering the fruits of the branches, and the other is witnessing. But one who is demoniac has no knowledge of Vedic scripture, nor has he any faith. Therefore he feels free to do anything for sense enjoyment, regardless of the consequence."

Room Conversations -- February 20, 1977, Mayapura:

Svarūpa Dāmodara: He can also give wonderful guru.

Prabhupāda: Yes. Guru-kṛṣṇa-prasāde pāya bhakti-latā-bīja (CC Madhya 19.151). It is Kṛṣṇa's wonderful mercy that one can get guru. Guru-kṛṣṇa-prasāde pāya. Don't forget for a moment, that Kṛṣṇa is insignificant. He's always the most wonderful. He can do anything, whatever He likes. They have no such belief. They have no such idea. They are different. "We believe in this." Not believe. This is a fact! You believe or not believe, who cares for you? Fact is fact. So arrange. We shall go. (break) "...Kṛṣṇa is wonderful," that makes one perfect. You know that story? The cobbler and Nārada Muni? Hm? The cobbler believed, "Yes, Kṛṣṇa is wonderful." And Nārada Muni immediately certified, "Yes, your salvation, this life guaranteed." The cobbler has his conviction, "Yes, Kṛṣṇa is wonderful. Kṛṣṇa can do anything. Kṛṣṇa can draw an elephant through the hole of a needle. Why not? It's possible." That faith made him perfect. If Kṛṣṇa is not wonderful, is it possible for me to do all these things? What I am?

Svarūpa Dāmodara: Sometimes people ask whether I have seen anything very powerful in Śrīla Prabhupāda. I sometimes answer, saying that when Śrīla Prabhupāda came to the United States, all the foreign disciples, all the Americans, they all because of their social structure, eating all kinds of things, but they are all now pure Vaiṣṇavas. So it is the greatest wonder that one can expect. So they become very silent, just hearing the answer, seeing that there is something very powerful.

Room Conversation -- February 25, 1977, Mayapura:

Prabhupāda: Ananyāś cinta... Simply you have to think how to execute Kṛṣṇa's program. Ananyāś cintayanto mām?

Hari-śauri: Ye janāḥ paryupāsate.

Prabhupāda: Ye janāḥ paryupāsate: "One who has dedicated his life for this program," teṣāṁ nityābhiyuktānām, "because he is twenty-four hours engaged," yoga-kṣemaṁ vahāmy aham (BG 9.22). Clear. Purport? Read.

Hari-śauri: Translation: "Those who worship Me with devotion, meditating on My transcendental form, to them I carry what they lack and preserve what they have." Purport. "One who is unable to live for a moment without Kṛṣṇa consciousness cannot but think of Kṛṣṇa twenty-four hours, being engaged in devotional service by hearing, chanting, remembering, offering prayers, worshiping, serving the lotus feet of the Lord, rendering other services, cultivating friendship and surrendering fully to the Lord. Such activities are all-auspicious and full of spiritual potency. Indeed, they make the devotee perfect in self-realization. Then his only desire is to achieve the association of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. This is called yoga. By the mercy of the Lord such a devotee never comes back to this material condition of life. Kṣema refers to the merciful protection of the Lord. The Lord helps the devotee to achieve Kṛṣṇa consciousness by yoga, and when he becomes fully Kṛṣṇa conscious, the Lord protects him from falling down to a miserable conditioned life."

Prabhupāda: Why not do this business, guaranteed by Kṛṣṇa?

Bali-mardana: By your grace it is all possible. By your grace.

Prabhupāda: Yes. (laughs) You do this.

Page Title:For a moment (Conversations)
Compiler:MadhuGopaldas, RupaManjari
Created:19 of Apr, 2013
Totals by Section:BG=0, SB=0, CC=0, OB=0, Lec=0, Con=24, Let=0
No. of Quotes:24