Therefore kṣatriyas are allowed to go in the forest and kill some animal. Because he has to practice. So what kind of animal? Not the cows or simple animal. He must kill one tiger, one lion, one jungle boar. Ferocious, very ferocious animals, That was the kṣatriya's business. Not that a rabbit (laughter) or an innocent bird, sports. This kind of sporting was not allowed. If you want to kill, you must kill one rhinoceros. Then one can understand that you have power of killing. That kṣatriya used to do. Even, say, twenty-five years ago, Mahārāja of Jaipur, he used to go into the forest every year and he would fight with a tiger, simply with a sword, simply with a sword. He would fight with a tiger in the jungle, and he was so expert, he would kill. And then the tiger would be brought in procession, in royal procession. Because the king used to say, "This tiger is the king of forest, or the lion is the king of the forest. I am also king. So after his death, there must be a royal reception." So this was, the function was going on. So kṣatriya means they used to kill, practice. Unless they practice, how they can kill? And now our president, they practice only smoking, (laughter) that's all. That's all. And when there is fight, he is in the chamber, safety chamber, and others are, the poor boys, they are called by the draft board, and go and fight. This is not kṣatriya, These are śūdras. Kṣatriya, when there is fight, the king must come forward first. The other party's king also. The king will fight with king, and the soldiers will fight soldiers according to position. And when the king is killed, then victory is owned. It doesn't require that all the soldiers were killed. No.
Frivolous sports
Srimad-Bhagavatam
SB Canto 1
In this age, men are victims not only of different political creeds and parties, but also of many different types of sense-gratificatory diversions, such as cinemas, sports, gambling, clubs, mundane libraries, bad association, smoking, drinking, cheating, pilfering, bickerings, and so on. Their minds are always disturbed and full of anxieties due to so many different engagements. In this age, many unscrupulous men manufacture their own religious faiths which are not based on any revealed scriptures, and very often people who are addicted to sense gratification are attracted by such institutions. Consequently, in the name of religion so many sinful acts are being carried on that the people in general have neither peace of mind nor health of body.
SB Canto 3
Whosoever you may be, O beautiful girl, we are fortunate in being able to see you. While playing with a ball, you have agitated the minds of all onlookers.
Demons arrange many kinds of performances to see the glaring beauty of a beautiful woman. Here it is stated that they saw the girl playing with a ball. Sometimes the demoniac arrange for so-called sports, like tennis, with the opposite sex. The purpose of such sporting is to see the bodily construction of the beautiful girl and enjoy a subtle sex mentality. This demoniac sex mentality of material enjoyment is sometimes encouraged by so-called yogīs who encourage the public to enjoy sex life in different varieties and at the same time advertise that if one meditates on a certain manufactured mantra one can become God within six months. The public wants to be cheated, and Kṛṣṇa therefore creates such cheaters to misrepresent and delude. These so-called yogīs are actually enjoyers of the world garbed as yogīs. Bhagavad-gītā, however, recommends that if one wants to enjoy life, then it cannot be with these gross senses. A patient is advised by the experienced physician to refrain from ordinary enjoyment while in the diseased condition. A diseased person cannot enjoy anything; he has to restrain his enjoyment in order to get rid of the disease. Similarly, our material condition is a diseased condition. If one wants to enjoy real sense enjoyment, then one must get free of the entanglement of material existence. In spiritual life we can enjoy sense enjoyment which has no end. The difference between material and spiritual enjoyment is that material enjoyment is limited. Even if a man engages in material sex enjoyment, he cannot enjoy it for long. But when the sex enjoyment is given up, then one can enter spiritual life, which is unending. In the Bhāgavatam (5.5.1) it is stated that brahma-saukhya, spiritual happiness, is ananta, unending. Foolish creatures are enamored by the beauty of matter and think that the enjoyment it offers is real, but actually that is not real enjoyment.
The Gandharva Viśvāvasu, while flying in the sky, could see Devahūti playing ball on the roof of the palace. Ball playing was also current, but aristocratic girls would not play in a public place. Ball playing and other such pleasures were not meant for ordinary women and girls; only princesses like Devahūti could indulge in such sports.
SB Canto 4
The great sage Nārada told Dhruva: My dear boy, you are only a little boy whose attachment is to sports and other frivolities. Why are you so affected by words insulting your honor?
Generally, people think that childhood is meant for enjoying life by engaging oneself in sports and play, youth is meant for enjoying the company of young girls, and when one becomes old, at the time of death, then he may try to execute devotional service or a mystic yoga process. But this conclusion is not for devotees who are actually serious.
The desire of the living entity to come into the material world is not very difficult to understand. Although one may be born in a family of Āryans, where there are restrictions against meat-eating, intoxication, gambling and illicit sex, still one may want to enjoy these forbidden things. There is always someone who wants to go to a prostitute for illicit sex, to a hotel to eat meat and drink wine, or to a gambling club to enjoy so-called sports. All these propensities are already within the hearts of the living entities (loke vyavayamisa-madya-seva nitya hi jantor). Some living entities can check the desire to enjoy these abominable activities, but others cannot and consequently fall down to a degraded platform.
SB Canto 8
The inhabitants of the higher planets—the Siddhas, Cāraṇas, Gandharvas, Vidyādharas, serpents, Kinnaras and Apsarās—go to that mountain to sport. Thus all the caves of the mountain are full of these denizens of the heavenly planets.
As ordinary men may play in the salty ocean, the inhabitants of the higher planetary systems go to the ocean of milk. They float in the ocean of milk and also enjoy various sports within the caves of Trikūṭa Mountain.
Sri Caitanya-caritamrta
CC Adi-lila
As in the modern day there are many champions in sports, so in bygone days there were many learned scholars in India who were champions in learning. One such person was Keśava Kāśmīrī, who came from the state of Kashmir. He traveled all over India and at last came to Navadvīpa to challenge the learned scholars there. Unfortunately he could not conquer the learned scholars in Navadvīpa, for he was defeated by the boy scholar Caitanya Mahāprabhu.
Lectures
Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures
Nectar of Devotion Lectures
We are simply setting example that how we can execute our daily affairs in connection with Kṛṣṇa. That is our propaganda. So every gṛhastha, every house, where is the difficulty? Everyone can install the Deity. All the family members can gather together, chant Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra, and read śāstras, as we are doing in this temple. But the present tendency is that we have..., they have got sufficient time to smoke, they have got sufficient time for playing cards, they have sufficient time for drinking, going to the cinema, going to the sports. But they have no time for developing Kṛṣṇa consciousness. This is the difficulty. As soon as you talk of them, talk to them about Kṛṣṇa consciousness, they'll immediately say, "Sir, we have no time." And for other things, the paraphernalia of Kali-yuga, they have got enough time. They'll read newspapers, all full of rascal news. "One man has stolen, one man has kidnapped, one man has stabbed." These news, he'll very, with great interest he'll read. And as soon as we present Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu, "Oh, this is not good." This is the position.
Festival Lectures
So we're very shocked and astonished that so many people are coming to the West, to the United States, and posing as holy men and simply making business, charging money, and giving somebody some magical formula whereby they can become God in half of a year. And so many people who are sincere seekers are being deluded, and this is very unfortunate. There is said to be two classes of men. One class of men is satisfied with his existence. He goes from one pleasure to another. From the cinema to the restaurant to sports, from one to the other. "I can't wait to finish one to go to the next," and still he's saying, "I'm happy. I'm satisfied." And there's another class of men that is not satisfied. These men are searching, that there is always something on his mind. He is thinking, "There must be something behind all of this. That I can look at all of this as a unified whole." So this first class of men will not want to take to spiritual knowledge, but the person who is inquisitive and is not satisfied with this material life, he can hear this knowledge submissively and derive great benefit from it. The symptom of the human being is that he is not satisfied. He's disgusted, he's searching. The symptom of animal life is that he is satisfied taking everything, "That's very nice. Everything is fine." Like a hog, hog eating stool. He's thinking, "Oh, it's very nice." But the human being will not accept such awful things. The human being has the chance to get out of this shackle of continued, repeated births and deaths.
Philosophy Discussions
Hayagrīva: Skinner believes in what he calls reinforcement, reinforcing people's behavior. He doesn't believe in punishing people when they do wrong, but he believes more in a system of rewards. He writes, "A government may prevent defection by making life more interesting, by providing bread and circuses, and by encouraging sports, gambling, the use of alcohol and other drugs, and various kinds of sexual behavior, where the effect is to keep people within reach of aversive sanctions." So he...
Prabhupāda: He recommends these things?
Hayagrīva: So he believes that through..., by providing the people with sense gratification the government can keep people from acting in an antisocial way.
Prabhupāda: That means he is also of the same category. No, that will not help. Just like, the example is given in this connection, that when there is fire, if you think that putting more and more ghee the fire will extinguish, that is not possible. To keep the society in order they must be educated according to his capacity, and they should be engaged for common benefit. That is required. Not that to encourage them in their bad habits things will be done nicely. No. That is not possible.
Hayagrīva: Well, uh, he mentions, oh, working together, types of work, all, all types of work are shared equally. Family ties are discouraged. Children are generally held in common. People can live the good life, and he defines, "The good life means the chance to exercise talents and abilities. And we have let it be so. We have time for sports, hobbies, arts and crafts, and, most important of all, the expression of that interest in the world which is science in the deepest sense, an exploration of nature. Last of all, the good life means relaxation and rest." So the, the woman would be able to participate in the good life when she's finished bearing children at the age of twenty-three or whatever.
Prabhupāda: They are, difficulty, that is missing, that what is their ideal life, what is the aim of life. So he is prescribing so many things. That will not help the human society. And women, about women, this idea that (s)he should be married at sixteen years old, that is good, but it is not that women stops child breeding by the twenty-two years age. No. There are many women and they can beget children in, in advanced age. I, so far personally I know, my mother was the youngest daughter, and she was born when my grandmother was fifty years old. So it is not that the woman stops child begetting at the age of twenty-two years age. Nowadays up to thirty years, twenty-five years, woman, woman is married, so how he, she can stop?
Conversations and Morning Walks
1972 Conversations and Morning Walks
Prabhupāda: Māyā-sukhāya, for flickering happiness arranging huge paraphernalia, just like for sporting, restaurants(?), so many things. Māyā-sukhāya bharam udvahato vimūḍhān (SB 7.9.43). No use. There is no use, but sporting, for frivolous sporting as we saw yesterday. Beginning from the morning working, so many people are engaged, but they do not know the value of arranging maṅgala-ārati. They do not know. (laughter) Māyā-sukhāya bharam udvahato vimūḍhān (SB 7.9.43). Making huge arrangement. What for? Only flickering happiness, that's all. Vimūḍhā, rascals. Therefore, Prahlāda Maharaja says, "I don't think for myself; I am simply anxious for these rascals who are engaged in huge affair for some flickering happiness." Śoce tato vimukha-cetasa, māyā-sukhāya bharam udvahato vimūḍhān (SB 7.9.43). (chants japa) (break) Construct a very nice temple in this open park, people will come in the morning and they will see the maṅgala-ārati, take prasādam. That would have been good for this life and the next life. And what are they doing?
Ātreya Ṛṣi(?): They're simply miserable, Prabhupāda.
Prabhupāda: They're going to be cats and dogs and trees. They don't believe that there is life after death, so they think that "Whatever we have got now, let us enjoy sense." And the university education is giving them facility, "Yes, take education and gratify your senses from the age of twelve years." And at the last stage they think that "I would have liked that one would have shot me down on my head." What that old lady was talking?
Pañcadraviḍa(?): Oh, yes. (laughs)
Devotee (2): She said if someone else didn't shoot her, she would. She'd just do herself in.
Prabhupāda: Hopeless life. Māyā-sukhāya. Because they waste their time simply for flickering happiness, in future everything is zero. Śūnyavādī, nirviśeṣa-śūnyavādi. Śūnyavādī means whose ultimate goal is zero. Pāścātya-deśa, Western countries. Nirviśeṣa-śūnyavādi. (chants japa) Every one of you should take this movement very seriously and save your country. Misguided. Andhā yathāndhair upanīyamānas (SB 7.5.31). (laughs) Blind men. This Nixon is a rascal number one, and he's the president. Just see. They have no other selection. All the people are rascals, and they must select one rascal to become their guider, another big rascal. (devotees chant japa)
Prabhupāda: So, religion, very simple—I am talking with that man over there—religion means the laws of God. Simple definition. And one who follows the laws of God, he is religious. It doesn't matter whether he is Christian, whether he is Hindu, whether he is Muslim. It doesn't matter. Take, for example, your Christian religion. Lord Jesus Christ says "Thou shalt not kill", but I think cent percent of the Christian people, they are very much engaged in killing. So there are, I mean, disobeying the laws of God. Don't you think? What is..., what is the value? And if you disobey the laws of God, then what is your religion? It is simply show. God says, or God's representative, God's son, Jesus Christ says, that "Thou shalt not kill," but the whole Christian world, the killing art is very much favored. Maintaining slaughterhouse, shooting in sports, and creating (indistinct), and so many things, simply killing. And any film shown, when it is killing film as is very much popular. Shooting film is very popular.
1975 Conversations and Morning Walks
Amogha: They think catching fish is great sport, great fun.
Prabhupāda: They haven't got any business. They must do all of these sinful activities. That is the defect of the modern civilization—keeping all men in darkness.
Jayadharma: Does that mean that the people that catch the fish have to also become fish?
Prabhupāda: Oh, yes. And who will become fish? That they do not know, how the transmigration of the soul is going on. They cannot explain wherefrom the fish are coming, wherefrom the trees are coming. Everything in darkness. And this civilization, this dark civilization, is going on, in the name of civilization. They cannot explain what is death, what is next life. Sometimes they say, "It is nature," but how nature is working they do not know. All darkness, mūḍhā na abhijānāti, mām ebhyaḥ parama. The birds and beasts are also catching fish, and they are also catching. What is the difference? What is the difference? They have got this nice human body, and they are acting like birds and beasts. And they are kept in darkness. There is no enlightenment. This is the modern civilization.
Prabhupāda: This has got some meaning. What is this matchbox? There is earth, there is sands (sense?), there is comfort. So we shall go this way or...? (break) It is all vacant? (break) Big demonstration of cow fighting, bull fighting, and kill them. Such a Christian is trying to convert others as Christians! Just see the fun. Christ said, "Thou shall not kill," and they are sporting with the life of bull, and they are Christian. We have to believe.
Yadubara: Isn't that somewhat in the kṣatriya spirit?
Prabhupāda: Nonsense spirit. Rascal spirit.
Yadubara: But sometimes those people get killed when they're fighting the bull.
Prabhupāda: But your arrangement is to kill the bull. By chance or by God's desire you become killed.
Brahmānanda: It's a very popular sport.
Prabhupāda: Yes. And they are Christians.
Jayatīrtha: I think before the bullfighter goes to the ring, he first goes to the church and prays for blessings that he will be able to do very nicely.
Prabhupāda: Ācchā?
Brahmānanda: And everyone gets drunk.
Prabhupāda: Very good preaching.
Yadubara: They also have those cock fights, you know, those chicken fights. (break)
Indian man: I think very good sport, swimming?
Prabhupāda: Why it is good?
Indian man: Isn't it refreshing and...?
Prabhupāda: The fishes are swimming always, twenty-four hours, they are swimming. So they must be well situated than yourself because...
Indian man: They are swimming.
Prabhupāda: Man cannot swim twenty-four hours, but they are swimming twenty-four hours.
Indian man: Yes. (break)
Puṣṭa Kṛṣṇa: ...holiday. Big beach day. Bhoga-tyāga.
Prabhupāda: Hare Kṛṣṇa. Jaya.
Puṣṭa Kṛṣṇa: (laughs at something)
Prabhupāda: Any woman surfing?
Puṣṭa Kṛṣṇa: Very, very few. Not so many.
Prabhupāda: Not at all. I don't see any women.
Harikeśa: They're not strong enough. Not strong enough.
Prabhupāda: And still, they want equal right? (break) ...for jumping.
Puṣṭa Kṛṣṇa: Not today, Śrīla Prabhupāda. (break)
Prabhupāda: ...cannot move. "Big sea"? What is this? No, that's all right. Hare Kṛṣṇa. Jaya.
Puṣṭa Kṛṣṇa: This boy, Prabhupāda, he bought one of your books in a store, Bhagavad-gītā. While he was in the army he bought a book in a store, Bhagavad-gītā, and he read the book, and he came to the temple in Johannesburg and he practically joined immediately.
Prabhupāda: What was...
Puṣṭa Kṛṣṇa: He very much likes to read.
Prabhupāda: Yesterday there was sale, some books? How many?
Puṣṭa Kṛṣṇa: How many books were sold last night?
Devotee (3): Not too many, ten, fifteen big books.
Puṣṭa Kṛṣṇa: I think because in Mobeni Heights, where we had the program, we've been there so many times practically everyone has all of your books. One night about two years ago we had a program there, and we sold six hundred dollars' worth of books in one evening.
Prabhupāda: Oh.
Puṣṭa Kṛṣṇa: Yes. They've taken your books in the past. (break) ...preaching, Śrīla Prabhupāda, we don't know whether to be diplomatic towards these other so-called religious movements or whether to simply expose the philosophy which they are putting forward.
Prabhupāda: No. You should be diplomatic. You should give positive information of our philosophy. Where need be, absolutely necessary, you can criticize others. (break) ...preaching is successful.
Puṣṭa Kṛṣṇa: Only because you've sent us here. Otherwise we would have never come to this place in a million years. I think in America the devotees think that Africa is simply a bunch of jungles. No one wants to come here to preach.
Prabhupāda: (break)...very broad. (break) ...ask him about swimming, why they cannot swim all through like the fish. They are defeated.
Indian man: They can't swim like the fish.
Prabhupāda: Therefore they are defeated.
Indian man: They have to put the skins on, I mean the rubber.
Prabhupāda: That I am pointing out, that they are less efficient than the fish. Even a small fish, you will find, he is enjoying, but he cannot. So why they are proud of becoming more intelligent than the fishes? Where is that intelligence?
Indian man: Uh huh. Well, I thought it was a good sport, you know, to swim.
Prabhupāda: No, no. It may be good sport, but you cannot enjoy it. After some time you have to give it up. The fish does not. Therefore fish is more intelligent than this man.
Indian man: On a rainy day is it possible to go swimming? On a rainy day... Some people say you mustn't go near water on a rainy day.
Prabhupāda: No, no, I am not speaking in detail. But by practical experience we can see that these men are not as efficient as the small fish. That is my point. They have advanced in civilization, so many scientists' brain, but they are not enough intelligent more than the fish. That is my point. Am I right or wrong?
Devotee (4): Right. Jaya.
Prabhupāda: If swimming is enjoyable, then let them swim always. Why they cannot?
Indian man: Actually, I go swimming...
Prabhupāda: And the fishes are swimming always. So who is more intelligent, the fish or the man?
Indian man: Well, summertime I go swimming always, you know.
Prabhupāda: Don't speak about yourself. I am speaking generally. You may be very expert, but how long you will swim? How long you can swim?
Indian man: Five minutes. Ten minutes.
Prabhupāda: That's all right. Finished your business. But the fishes are swimming twenty-four hours. If we ask all these young men that "Who is expert? The fish or you are expert?" What will be the answer?
Devotee (3): They'll say he is. He will say he is.
Indian man: The fish is. The swimmer will say the fishes are expert.
Prabhupāda: If he says that he is expert more than the fish, then he's a madman. So? Why he cannot become more expert than the fish?
Indian man: Because he's not meant to swim all the...
Prabhupāda: Then in which way he should be expert? He must show his expertness in a different way which the fish cannot.
Indian man: I suppose, in the mind.
Prabhupāda: Mind is working of the fish. He knows where is his enemy, where to go. They have got better mind. They can understand from two miles that some enemy is coming. They take care.
Devotee (4): Fish.
Prabhupāda: Yes. The mind is so strong. Every fish in the water, although they are expert, they are always in danger. They are always afraid of being eaten by bigger fish. Nūnaṁ mahatāṁ tatra. The world is that the stronger is exploiting the weaker. Nūnaṁ mahatāṁ tatra jīvo jīvasya jīvanam. Still, they are expert.
1976 Conversations and Morning Walks
Prabhupāda: (break) ...made so gigantic and so opulent. And we make Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura on the gate? How foolish they are. The doorkeeper?
Jayapatākā: I challenged them that "Why you are putting Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura on the gateway?" So they say, "Well, this was in memory because when..." They say when Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura was a magistrate that he used to go there and he used to watch the local people do their..., do some sports and horse-racing and things, and so as memory they are making there.
Prabhupāda: So you are so intelligent, Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura was not so intelligent that he could place him. But you are so very intelligent, you are surpassing Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī. So you are intelligent or fool? You should answer like this.
Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Jumping over guru.
Prabhupāda: Yes.
Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Monkey's business.
Prabhupāda: He could not understand where Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura should be placed. You have understood. You are so intelligent, overintelligent. That means rascals. Overintelligent means rascal. Bhaktisiddhānta Ṭhākura, he remained so many years and he could not understand. You have understood to make Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura a gatekeeper. You tell him next time when you..., that "You are overintelligent." (break) ...statue of..., picture, I think, of Bhakti... That Sakhi Babu.
Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Which bābu?
Prabhupāda: Sakhi Babu.
Jayapatākā: Yes, Sakhi Babu, he is there.
Bhavānanda: Opposite.
Prabhupāda: So that means he is on the same level. (break) ...Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura on the gate is the proof how fool he is. He has not shown respect to Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura; he has disgraced.
Jayapatākā: Now the government is saying that they have to knock down those temples because of the encroaching on the roadside.
Prabhupāda: Now where Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura...?
Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Will go now? What was... What was your guru mahārāja's plan for where he...? I don't understand. I mean, did your guru mahārāja want a...
Prabhupāda: Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura's statue was there.
Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: So why was...
Prabhupāda: Bhaktivinoda... Because it was their... My guru mahārāja never tried to bring him here.
Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: So what happened?
Prabhupāda: Huh?
Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: So they did it?
Prabhupāda: No. Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura's picture was there, not that on the gateway.
Bhavānanda: In the back.
Prabhupāda: They should have taken away that building which was constructed, Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura, and placed him there as separate temple. You see? That red... That was constructed by Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura.
Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: You mean that school building?
Bhavānanda: No, no, in the back.
Prabhupāda: Just on the side of the temple.
Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Old building.
Prabhupāda: Yes. If they wanted to show some respect they should have installed him there.
Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Just next to the temple. Your guru mahārāja did not build because there was something already in Svarūpa Gañja.
Prabhupāda: Yes.
Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: So why don't they be satisfied...?
Prabhupāda: No, they are bigger than Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī.
Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: It's not their position.
Prabhupāda: Overintelligent.
Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: I remember one time Kārttikeya Mahārāja was chanting to a picture of Bhaktisiddhānta. You chastised him and said, "What is your connection with Bhaktisiddhānta? Your connection is with me."
Prabhupāda: Who said?
Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: You did.
Sudāmā: You did. I remember.
Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: When Kārttikeya Mahārāja was chanting to your guru mahārāja's picture, you said, "How you can connect with him? Your connection is with me." (end)
Dr. Wolfe: Do not some physical means come into the keeping the body strong, healthy, so that devotion is possible at all? Because to produce sick people, of course, is not in the Lord's spirit either, I think.
Prabhupāda: No. Our aim is not to create sick people. That is not our aim.
Dr. Wolfe: Swimming, walking, is still important I think.
Prabhupāda: No, we do not say. Neither.
Dr. Wolfe: I miss it in the Movement. I think it should not be made a sport, but it should be made, perhaps, a physical must under control.
Prabhupāda: No, if you eat more, then you require more exercise to digest unnecessary loading, but if you eat simply, just to keep our body and soul together, you don't require exercise.
Dr. Wolfe: Well...
Prabhupāda: Little movement is going on, we are walking. But not this severe type of exercise as surfers and fighting with the sea waves for four hours, five hours, ten hours. (devotees laugh)
Dr. Wolfe: But Śrīla Prabhupāda, a kṣatriya has to be strong.
Prabhupāda: That is a.... Kṣatriya is.... Generally...
Dr. Wolfe: And kṣatriyas have to be there.
Prabhupāda: This is especially meant for the brāhmaṇas, intelligent. Go on.
1977 Conversations and Morning Walks
Prabhupāda: Simply eating competition. These American... It's called surfer?
Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: American?
Prabhupāda: What is that sport, surfer?
Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Surfing. You mean on the board in the water? Surfing.
Prabhupāda: So they may become fish next life.
Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Actually you said that in a lecture in Hawaii in our temple. I remember. That really gave everybody a thought. Food for thought.
Prabhupāda: It is in the Bhagavad-gītā.
Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Yes. Yaṁ yaṁ vāpi smaran bhāvam (BG 8.6).
Prabhupāda: It is not my manufactured idea. Kṛṣṇa consciousness, śravaṇaṁ kīrtanaṁ viṣṇoḥ smaraṇaṁ pāda... (SB 7.5.23), this is the only way. In our childhood we used to play golo dhana.(?) You... What is called? Dice, going, going, going. Then it comes in the mouth of a serpent, and the serpent immediately had to come again. All progress you have made, if you are in the mouth of a serpent, then you have to come to the tail of the serpent. Suppose you are on the fifty point and there is mouth of serpent, then you have to come to point three. Again you have to rise. So dice. Golo dhana(?) We used to play in our childhood.
Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: In America they have similar game, but the different points are properties. It's all business. They made a very involved business game.
Prabhupāda: That's all right. It is same.
Correspondence
1968 Correspondence
Please accept my blessings. I am very glad to receive your letter dated May 26, 1968, along with beads, and I am so pleased that you are seeking for being initiated. So, after due chanting I am sending both your beads by separate first class post parcel. Receive it and chant without any offense. The 10 kinds of offenses are like this:
Blaspheming the Lord's devotee
Considering the Lord and the demigods on the same level—or assuming there are many gods
Neglecting the orders of the spiritual master
Minimizing the authority of the Scriptures
Interpreting the Holy Name of God
Committing sin on the strength of chanting
Instructing the glories of the Lord's Name to the unfaithful
Comparing the Holy Name with material piety
Inattention while chanting the Holy Name
Attachment to material things while engaged in the practice of chanting
So you follow those principles as well as the four restrictive rules, namely;
No addiction to indulgence in any form of intoxication, including coffee, tea and cigarettes
No illicit sexual relationships
Must be strictly vegetarian
No gambling
And the other standard practices for initiated devotees:
Must attend evening and morning classes
Should not extensively mix with non-devotees
Should not eat food cooked by non-devotees
Should not waste time in idle talks
Should not become engaged in frivolous sports
Should always chant and sing the Lord's Holy Names
Chanting as enunciated by Lord Caitanya is the only means for spiritual realization in this age of dissension. So chant at least 16 rounds daily, and for other help you can ask assistance from your elderly God-brothers.
Your Holiness:
Please accept my respectful humble obeisances at Your lotus feet. I beg to introduce myself as an Indian monk, following the Vedic principles of religious life, and at the present, I am in the renounced order of Sannyas (aged 72 years) and preaching God consciousness all over the world. I came to America in 1965, and since then I have many followers belonging to both Christian and Jewish faiths. And I have established 8 centers of Krishna consciousness temples in the USA and Canada. In the month of September, 1968, I am scheduled to go to London on this mission, and maybe I can visit other cities of European countries.
My mission is in the line of Lord Caitanya, Who is Personified Love of Godhead, and Who advented Himself 482 years ago in India, and preached God consciousness all over the country. His mission is to revive God consciousness all over the world, on the basis of Srimad-Bhagavatam (Science of God). The principle of Srimad-Bhagavatam is that any religious faith which helps a man to develop Love of God, without any motive, and without being hampered by any material condition, is transcendental religion. And the best process or the easiest process, in this age especially, is to chant the Holy name of God. From this definition of religion as we find in the Srimad-Bhagavatam, the criterion test of religion is how it helps people to develop his dormant Love of God, which is not artificially invoked, but it is aroused from within by bona fide association of devotees and hearing about God.
The human form of life is specially meant for this purpose, namely, to invoke the dormant Love of God, because better development of consciousness is found in the human body. Animal propensities for sense gratification equally found both in man and animals. But the special significance of human life is to achieve Love of God as the prime perfection of life. Unfortunately, at the present moment people are more concerned about the principle of sense gratification, or the animal part of human life, and they are gradually declining in God consciousness. This tendency is very much deteriorating, and because Your Holiness is the Head of a great religious sect, I think we should meet together and chalk out a program for cooperation.
The human society cannot anymore be allowed to continue a Godless civilization at the risk of decreasing truthfulness, hygienic principles, forgiveness, and mercifulness. Because on account of predominance of these principles at the present moment, duration of life, strength, and memory of the human being is decreasing. The human society is gradually degrading in the matter of religiosity, and justice; and "might is right" is gradually taking the place of morality and justice. There is practically no more family life, and the union of man and woman is gradually degrading to the standard of sexuality. I understand it from reliable sources that people are trying to get Your Holiness' sanction for contraceptive method, which is certainly against any religion of the world. In the Hindu religion, such contraceptive method or abortion is considered equivalent to murder.
Therefore, in the matter of sex, the human society is gradually degrading even less decent than the animals. As a result of unrestricted sense gratification, even in ordinary dealing, a man cannot trust another man, because the cheating propensity of a man has increased beyond imagination. Attraction of young boys for young girls is no more as a matter of love, but such attraction is only on the basis of sexual potency. As soon as there is slackening of sex life, there is immediately the divorce petition.
In India, which was one day the land of religion and Brahminical culture, things have deteriorated to such an extent that a man in a higher caste is recognized simply by putting a piece of thread on the body as a sign of sanctity. The so-called Swamis are cheating the public because the public also want to be cheated by cheap method of self-realization. They are practicing so-called yoga performances for the matter of reducing fat, and keeping the body fit for sense gratification. If somebody has no sufficient money, it is very hard for him to get justice from the court. And if anyone can simply bluff by so-called advancement of knowledge, he is offered the doctorate degree. If a man is poor, he is at once accepted as non-civilized. If a man is falsely proud, he is accepted as civilized. By frustration, people are gradually becoming communists and hippies, and the guardians of the society must now take up the situation very seriously, without further delay.
The Krishna Consciousness movement is meant for overhauling the whole situation. We are creating men of character, and we are training our disciples to become Lovers of God, or Krishna. From the very beginning, they are trained to refrain from the following four principles of degradation: 1) Sex life outside of marriage, 2) Meat eating, or eating of any animal food, 3) All forms of intoxication, 4) Gambling and idle sports. The teachings are based on authorized movement of Lord Caitanya, on the principles of Bhagavad-gita, as the beginning, and Srimad-Bhagavatam as the graduation.
I do not wish to prolong the body of this letter further, but if you think that a meeting with You will be beneficial for the human society at large, I shall be very much pleased if Your Holiness will grant me an interview. Thanking you in anticipation for an early reply.
1969 Correspondence
Your Holiness,
Please accept my respectful and humble obeisances. I beg to introduce myself as an Indian monk, following the Vedic principles of religious life. At present, I am in the renounced order of sannyasa (age 73) and preaching God Consciousness all over the world. I came to America in 1965, and since then, I have many followers belonging to both Christian and Jewish faiths. Thus far I have established 17 centers for Krishna Conscious temples throughout the United States, Canada, Germany, London, and France.
My mission is in the line of Lord Caitanya, Who advented Himself 482 years ago in India, and Who preached God consciousness all over the country. His mission is to revive God consciousness throughout the world, on the basis of Srimad-Bhagavatam (Science of God). The basic principle of Srimad-Bhagavatam is that any religious faith which helps a man to develop Love of God, without any other motive, is transcendental religion. And the easiest process for this age is to chant the Holy Names of God. From this definition of religion as we find in the Srimad-Bhagavatam, the criterion test of religion is how it helps people to develop their dormant Love of God. This love is not artificially invoked, but it is aroused by association with devotees of the Lord and by hearing from the authorized scriptures.
The human form of life is especially meant for this purpose of reviving our God consciousness because the better development of consciousness is found only in the human body. Animal propensities are found both in animal life and human life, and unfortunately, people are nowadays more concerned with the principles of sense gratification, or the animalistic part of life. Thus, the world is gradually declining in God consciousness. This tendency is very much deteriorating, and because Your Holiness is the Head of a great religious sect, I would be very pleased to meet with you, and perhaps chalk out some program for helping to alleviate the present Godless situation.
The human society should not be allowed to continue in its present path at the risk of decreasing truthfulness, hygienic principles, forgiveness, and mercifulness. Without proper instruction on these principles, the human society is gradually degrading in the matter of religiosity and justice. At present, "Might makes right" is gradually taking the place of morality and justice. There is practically no more family life, and the union of man and woman is gradually degrading to the standard of mere sexuality. Our Krishna Consciousness Movement is meant for overhauling the whole situation. We are creating man of character, and we are training our disciples to become lovers of God, or Krishna. From the very beginning, they are trained to refrain from the following four principles of degradation: 1) sex life outside marriage, 2) intoxication, 3) meat eating, and 4) gambling and idle sports. Our teaching are based on the authorized movement of Lord Caitanya, the teaching of the Bhagavad-gita as the beginning, and the teaching of Srimad-Bhagavatam as the graduate study.
I do not wish to prolong the body of this note further, but if you think that a meeting with you will be beneficial for the human society at large, I shall be very much pleased if You Holiness will grant me an interview. Thanking you in anticipation for an early reply.
THIS IS TO CERTIFY THAT THOMAS GRITTON ALLIN III (TOSAN KRISHNA DAS BRAHMACHARY) is my bona fide initiated student. He is being trained under me to become an ordained Minister of Religion in the KRISHNA CONSCIOUSNESS (God Consciousness) SOCIETY, and he is studying regularly the following books: (1) Bhagavad-gita As It Is, (2) Srimad-Bhagavatam, (3) The Teachings of Lord Caitanya, and other allied literatures. He is also preaching this perfect religious process amongst university students.
MY INITIATED STUDENTS ARE STRICTLY FORBIDDEN TO INDULGE in the following principles of degradation: (1) All forms of intoxication, including coffee, tea, cigarettes, drugs, alcohol, etc. (2) The eating of animal foods, such as meat, fish, and eggs. Rather, their diet consists of Prasadam, especially offered foodstuffs (vegetarian), (3) Unmarried sex indulgence, (4) Gambling, or idle sports of any sort. Their lives are dedicated to serving God, and as such, they have no time to squander on unbeneficial activities or non-Godly activities.
SOME OF MY STUDENTS HAVE BEEN CLASSIFIED IN THE 4D CLASS or Ministerial Order prior to this by the Selective Service System.
Please accept my greetings. I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter dated June 18, 1969, forwarded to me here from San Francisco. I quite appreciate the difficult problems in India, and I quite agree with you cent per cent that India is now in a miserable condition by its poverty, and natural atrocities like floods, earthquakes, etc. Your suggestion that this can only be solved by Lord Krishna, the Omnipotent, is also right. Therefore, if you want to do something for India, the only remedial measure that you can take is to spread Krishna Consciousness amongst the peoples. Otherwise, the next step is surely communism as you have already suggested. You say that there is a communist menace, and materialism is trying to dominate, but at the same time, religious faith is also progressing. Two things cannot go on simultaneously. Actually, India is the country of religion. The present government policy to kill religious faith of the people is resulting in frustration of religious life because it is not organizedly taught. But by nature the people of India have a hankering for spiritual advancement, and therefore the present situation is a natural result of the clash between two opposite ideals. In this case also the best treatment is to give the people scientific religious ideas which are very clearly stated in the Bhagavad-gita. But unfortunately, unscrupulous and rascal so-called scholars, religionists and philosophers have misinterpreted the teachings of Lord Krishna in the Bhagavad-gita, and they have misled the whole population. Bhagavad-gita is popular not only in India, but also all over the world. Unfortunately, the real idea has been distorted. We have therefore presented our Bhagavad-gita As It Is, and perhaps you know it; it is published by MacMillan. I have tried to explain in this book the real purpose of the Bhagavad-gita. Bhagavad-gita is the authorized book to teach people how to love Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. There is nothing else except devotional service to the Lord described there, but great politicians have misinterpreted the sunshine-like clear statements of Bhagavad-gita with a cloud of mental concoctions. So if you think seriously to improve the condition of India, you can begin even in a small-scale the propagation of Krishna Consciousness, and if you do it seriously and sincerely, surely you will be successful.
I came here alone in 1965. Gradually the young men here took the philosophy very nicely, and now they themselves are spreading and opening many branches, even without my presence. Similarly, you can do this also, under my instructions. Just begin with a small endeavor, and gradually it will spread. You have asked me what are the formalities that you have to observe for recruiting Krishna devotees in India, and the first principle is that you have to become a pure devotee of the Lord. Then you can attempt to convert others to become devotees. To become a pure devotee means one should be firmly convinced of his being the eternal servant of Krishna.
You have hinted about the value of concentration and in the stories from the Bhagavatam and Mahabharata, but I do not exactly follow what you mean by this. The statements in the Bhagavatam and Mahabharata and the Puranas are all different historical incidents. Mahabharata is called, according to Vedic authorities, as the history of India. I do not know who first designated it as an "epic." That is the cause of the falldown of Hindu culture. They did not believe in their Vedic literatures presented by Vyasadeva. They are not stories after all. Stories are imaginary, but they are not imaginary. They are actual facts. But such historical facts are not chronological; but for the teaching of the commonplace people some of the important incidents of history are there. It is said saram saram samud dhritva. This means only the essential facts have been collected, and they are put together in the shape of Puranas, Mahabharata, etc.
The formalities are as follows: You should take a vow not to have any illicit sex life. That means sex life should be accepted only by married couples. You should not take anything beyond the group of grains, fruits, vegetables, flowers, milk and milk products, and that also only after offering to Lord Krishna. You should not accept any kind of intoxication, including drinking coffee, tea, or smoking cigarettes, chewing pan, etc. Finally, you should not take part in any gambling, including so-called sports, cinema, theater, or any such entertainment. Then you will have to be first initiated for chanting the Hare Krishna Mantra under regulative principles, avoiding 10 kinds of offenses and following the above regulative principles. Then, on or before the completion of one year, you will be finally initiated. In the meantime you will read our books like Bhagavad-gita As It Is, Teachings of Lord Caitanya, Srimad-Bhagavatam, Nectar of Devotion, etc. These books are all in English, and in addition you should read our monthly journal, Back To Godhead. You should go on inquiring about your pros and cons ideas in the matter of the Krishna Consciousness. Along with this you chant Hare Krishna in the assembly of friends and family members regularly, morning and evening, and then Krishna Consciousness will become revealed unto you. Krishna Consciousness is already in you—not only in you, but in every living being. Such consciousness is aroused just like a sleeping man is aroused from slumber by vibration of sound. Similarly, a conditioned soul is aroused by the vibration of the Hare Krishna Mantra into Krishna Consciousness. This is the process. We will be glad to give you all instruction on this point, providing you are serious to accept it, and to propagate it.
| Page Title: | Frivolous sports |
| Compiler: | MadhuGopaldas |
| Created: | 26 of Dec, 2011 |
| Totals by Section: | BG=0, SB=7, CC=1, OB=0, Lec=5, Con=8, Let=5 |
| No. of Quotes: | 26 |