Great man (Lectures)

Expressions researched:
"great man" |"great men"

Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures

Lecture on BG 1.20 -- London, July 17, 1973:

How can I claim to take the position of God?" And they become famous among rascals.

As it is stated in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, śva-viḍ-varāhoṣṭra kharaiḥ (SB 2.3.19). What is that verse? Uṣṭra-kharaiḥ, saṁstutaḥ puruṣaḥ paśuḥ. They.... in this world we see there are many great men, so-called great men, and they are very much praised by the general people. So Bhāgavata says, that anyone who is not a devotee, who never chants the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra, he may be very great man in the estimation of rascals, but he is nothing but an animal. Śva-viḍ-varāha-uṣṭra-kharaiḥ. "So how you can say such a great man. You are saying that animal." Our business is very thankless task. We say any man who is not a devotee, he is rascal. We say generally. It is very harsh word, but we have to use it. As soon as we see that he is not a devotee of Kṛṣṇa, then he's a rascal. How do we say? He is not my enemy, but we have to say because it is stated by Kṛṣṇa.

Lecture on BG 1.28-29 -- London, July 22, 1973:

So the preaching process is to take a straw in the mouth, dante nidhāya tṛṇakaṁ padayor nipatya, and falling down on your feet, dante nidhāya tṛṇakaṁ padayor, kāku-śataṁ kṛtvā ca ahaṁ bravīmi. And flattering you: "Sir, you are so great man, you are so intelligent man." This is flattering. Although he is fool number one, we have to flatter like that. "Oh, there is no greater man like you. You are so intelligent, you are so rich, you are so beautiful." So all these things. Just like the beggars. Sometimes: "You become king." And one thinks, "Oh, he is blessing me. All right, you take one paisa." So this flattering is also required. So kāku-śataṁ kṛtvā cāhaṁ bravīmi. So the man may ask that "Why you are so humble and flattering? What is your intention? Tell me." So he is now telling. He sādhavaḥ, "Oh, you are great sādhu." He sādhavaḥ, sakalam eva vihāya dūrāt: "You have learned so many nice things. I know that. But kick them out, please." Sakalam eva.

Lecture on BG 2.11 -- New York, March 4, 1966:

Just like we are ordinary man. We have got four imperfectness. What is that imperfectness? That we must commit mistake. We must commit mistake. Our constitutional position at the present moment is such that we are sure to commit mistake. Even greatest politician like Gandhi, he committed mistake, and so many great men, they committed mistake. "To err is human," therefore, it is called, that any, any man, however he may be great in the estimation of this world, he is sure to commit mistake. And another imperfection is that he is illusioned.

Lecture on BG 2.11 -- Rotary Club Address -- Hotel Imperial, Delhi, March 25, 1976:

Just like a motorcar. So long it is moving, it is worth one lakh, and so long it does not move, it is simply lump of iron and copper and something. Who cares for it? It is thrown away. Same thing. The body has no value. It has value so long the soul is there. Otherwise suppose a big man... They are lamenting such, "A great man has passed away." But what is that such great man? He is lying on the floor, on the bed, the same man. So why you are seeing that he has gone? Then who has gone? You have never seen him who has gone. This is knowledge. So our human life is meant for understanding what has gone from the body which makes the body a lump of matter... (break)

Lecture on BG 2.12 -- New York, March 7, 1966:

Therefore Śrī Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. And He says something—we must agree to accept it. (laughs) We must... If we don't agree, that will not be beneficial for us. When a great man says something... And He is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. He is saying that we are all individual persons. We are all individual persons. God is also individual person. It is confirmed in the Vedic literature. Nityo nityānāṁ cetanaś cetanānām (Kaṭha Upaniṣad 2.2.13). Nityo nityānām. Nitya means eternal. We are all eternal. This is plural number. So amongst all the eternal living entities, He is the chief. This is a definition of God, is given in the... Nityo nitya. Cetanānām, nit..., cetanaś cetanānām: "We are all conscious, conscious beings." So He is the supreme conscious. He is the supreme conscious. Now, of course, there are some yogic schools. In America you'll find. They do not believe in God.

Lecture on BG 2.14 -- Germany, June 21, 1974:

Śruti means by hearing from the Supreme. So our process is śruti. Śruti means we hear from the highest authority. That is our process, and that is very easy. Highest authority, if He is not in default... Ordinary persons, they are in default. They have got imperfection. The first imperfection is: the ordinary man, they commit mistake. Any great man of the world, you have seen, they commit mistake. And they are illusioned. They accept something as reality which is not reality. Just like we accept this body as reality. This is called illusion. But it is not reality. "I am soul." That is reality. So this is called illusion. And then, with this illusory knowledge, imperfect knowledge, we become teacher. That is another cheating. If you have not... They say, all these scientists and philosophers, "Perhaps," "It may be." So where is your knowledge? "It may be" and "perhaps." Why you are taking the post of a teacher? "In future we shall understand." And what is this future? Would you accept a post-dated check? "In future I shall discover, and therefore I am scientist." What is this scientist?

Lecture on BG 2.25 -- London, August 28, 1973:

Simply try to understand Kṛṣṇa, what is Kṛṣṇa. Then tyaktvā dehaṁ punar janma naiti (BG 4.9). Simply by understanding Kṛṣṇa, even you don't serve Kṛṣṇa. If you serve, then you are already liberated. If you simply philosophically try to understand the position of Kṛṣṇa. But no, the mūḍhas, the rascals, they'll say: "We accept Kṛṣṇa as a great man. We don't accept Kṛṣṇa as God." The Arya-samajis say. All right if you accept a great man, great personality, why don't you accept his teaching, huh? Then what kind of accepting a great personality? If you actually accept Kṛṣṇa as a great personality, at least you must follow the instruction of Kṛṣṇa. And know.(?) That also they'll not do. And still they are Arya-samaj. Ārya means advancing party. They are degrading party. Real advancing party is Kṛṣṇa conscious persons, the devotees of Kṛṣṇa. They're Aryan. Just like Arjuna, when he was trying to neglect the instruction of Kṛṣṇa, "Sir, I'll not fight," He said, anārya-juṣṭam. Anyone who disobeys the instruction of Kṛṣṇa, he's anāryan.

Lecture on BG Lecture Excerpts 2.44-45, 2.58 -- New York, March 25, 1966:

That is knowledge. But this knowledge, whatever knowledge you acquire, as soon as you leave this body, whole knowledge is void. Just imagine in your previous lives you had been a great man of knowledge, but in this life, since your childhood, you had to go to school, college, and acquire knowledge. The knowledge which you had in your previous lives is now forgotten. Therefore we are seeking eternal knowledge, but that eternity of knowledge is not possible with this temporary body. We have to understand that thing. Bhogaiśvarya. We are enjoying, we want to enjoy life, but the instrument of enjoyment is not proper. We are thinking of enjoying through this body. But bodily enjoyment is not my enjoyment. It is artificial. So if you want to stick up to this artificial enjoyment of life, then you cannot enjoy or you cannot be elevated to your real constitutional position of eternal enjoyment.

Lecture on BG Lecture Excerpts 2.44-45, 2.58 -- New York, March 25, 1966:

You do not know. At the end of Gandhi's later part of life he was so disgusted with his life that he always wanted..., he spoke to his secretaries, associates, that "If death would come to me, I would be satisfied." Such a big man, such a great man. One of his practical difficulty was that he could not sleep soundly, partly due to his big occupation and partly due to the disturbance of the people. Wherever he will go, thousands and thousands of people will gather and will loudly speak, "Mahatma Gandhi kī jaya." Even at dead of night, at twelve o'clock of night, he is passing through a train, and if the train is stopped at the middle station, people will get information and gather, "Mahatma Gandhi kī jaya." So I have seen personally. When he was going through some crowd, he was closing, capping his ears like this. His brain was being unnecessarily taxed with this sound, "Mahatma Gandhi kī jaya." People thought that they were glorifying Mahatma Gandhi, but Mahatma Gandhi was being killed by that voice.

Lecture on BG 3.18-30 -- Los Angeles, December 30, 1968:

Prabhupāda: Yes.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Twenty-one: "Whatever action is performed by a great man, common men will follow in his footsteps. And whatever standards he sets by exemplary acts, all the world pursues (BG 3.21)."

Prabhupāda: This is very important. Therefore leaders must be very ideal men. Then automatically the country or the society becomes nicely situated. Because if the leader of the society is perfect... Therefore formerly, monarchy, monarchy was current, and the king was educated very highly, how to administer state. Just like Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira. Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira, ideal king. Lord Rāmacandra, ideal king. Somebody came to Lord Rāmacandra and made Him responsible that "How Your kingdom is going that my son in the presence of his father has died?" You see, king was responsible for that. If there is severe cold, the king is responsible for that. If there is severe heat, the king is responsible for that.

Lecture on BG 3.18-30 -- Los Angeles, December 30, 1968:

They were ideal king, and therefore the citizens also followed. They became Kṛṣṇa conscious, they became all devotees. And if the leader is a sinful man and doing all impious activities, then how you can expect the citizens to be all good and pious? It is not possible. Therefore here, it is a very important subject matter. "Whatever action is performed by a great man, common men will follow in his footprints." Therefore good leader wanted. You haven't got to educate individually every citizen. If you have got a good leader, then the citizens automatically become good. And whatever standard he sets by exemplary acts, all the world pursues." Go on.

Lecture on BG 3.21-25 -- New York, May 30, 1966:

And in the morning he was having Bhagavad-gītā class; in the evening he was having Bhagavad-gītā class. So that was his life and soul. But unfortunately he interpreted Bhagavad-gītā in his own way. Although he took Bhagavad-gītā as his life and soul, so, but he interpreted it in his own way. That is not the way of understanding Bhagavad-gītā. Therefore such a great man and such a good man... He was not only a great man; he was very good man in the worldly estimation. His character, his behavior, his dealing—everything was good. He was ideal personality. But just see. He was killed by violence. He could not stop violence.

Lecture on BG 3.21-25 -- New York, May 30, 1966:

So nāsāv ṛṣir yasya mataṁ na bhinnam, dharmasya tattvaṁ nihitaṁ guhāyām. Therefore this truth of religion is very confidential. Nihitaṁ guhāyām. Guhāyām means it is very confidential.

Now, how to know it? Now, mahājano yena gataḥ sa panthāḥ: (CC Madhya 17.186) "You just try to find out great men, great men of religious life, and you just try to follow." Now, you may have in your own ideal some great men. No. They are also checked. In the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam twelve different personalities have been described that "These persons are great men." So we have to follow their principle and, or their, in the principle in their disciplic succession. Then we can fulfill. The same thing is here also described. Yad yad ācarati śresthas lokas tad anuvartate (BG 3.21). And Śrī Kṛṣṇa Himself... Undoubtedly Śrī Kṛṣṇa is the greatest personality in those days and still now also. Still, in all, not only in India, in all parts of the world, Śrī Kṛṣṇa is accepted as the greatest leader of philosophical presentation of this Bhagavad-gītā.

Lecture on BG 4.11-12 -- New York, July 28, 1966:

Why? Sthānābhilāṣi tapasi sthito 'ham:(?) "I came to accept this severe type of penance just to acquire the land of my father, or just desiring the possession of a few acres of land or any... But I have seen You. Who are You?" Deva-munīndra-guhyam: "Who is never seen even by the great demigods or great sages or great men by many years penances. Therefore my profit is that I came to search out some particles of glass, broken glass, and I have got the diamond. So what I have got to ask You? I am now satisfied."

So result is that even one is in need of money or he is in distress, as we'll find in the Seventh Chapter, that catur-vidhā bhajante māṁ sukṛtino 'rjuna, so even if you have got some desire within yourself, so the Bhagavad-gītā says, in spite of having that desire, you can worship Kṛṣṇa and ask so that in future your desires will be desireless. You will not ask anything because that is pure devotion. So we have to wait.

Lecture on BG 4.19-25 -- Los Angeles, January 9, 1969:

Bahv-īśvara-vādī means believing in many gods. Actually God is one but His servants who are known as demigods. So less intelligent class of men they accept demigods as God. Just like a less intelligent class of men takes a police constable, he raises his hand like this and the car is stopped even it belong to a great rich man. So his child may think that "This constable is very great man. You see. He is very important man." But the father knows he is nothing. Similarly, those who are interested in demigods they are like children. "Oh, this constable is very important." You see. "Because by his hand my father had to stop my car." You see.

So the antavat tu phalaṁ teṣām (BG 7.23). Therefore in the Bhagavad-gītā you'll find there is a statement, kāmais tais tair hṛta-jñānā yajanti anya-devatāḥ (BG 7.20). "Those who go to worship the demigods they have lost their intelligence on account of too much lusty propensity."

Lecture on BG 5.14-22 -- New York, August 28, 1966:

So if something is obtained, achieved, some favorable thing, he engages that thing in the service of the Lord. Na prahṛṣyet priyaṁ prāpya. That... That is his happiness. That is his happiness. Just like family man. Whatever he earns, if he can spend for the family, then he becomes happy because his affection is there in the family. Similarly, some great man of the country, if he can give some service to the people, to the country, he is... He feels happy. Similarly, a man who is in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, if he gets some opportunity to serve more, I mean to say, accelerately in the service of the Lord, then he feels happy. But not materially.

Na prahṛṣyet priyaṁ prāpya nodvijet prāpya ca apriyam (BG 5.20). This is our disease. In the material conception of life we do not want what is unfavorable, but we want simply favorable. But the laws of nature, they are so cruel that they enforce upon us unfavorable things. But one who is transcendentally realized, he does not care for the unfavorable or the favorable.

Lecture on BG 7.1 -- Los Angeles, December 2, 1968:

That is, cheating process is one of the items of conditional life. There are four defects of conditional life. One defect is that we commit mistake, and another defect is that we accept something which is not that. Just like commit mistake, that is not to be very difficult to understand. Every one of us know how we commit mistake, blunder. Even great men, they also commit blunder, you see. Just like there are so many instances amongst the politicians, a little mistake or a blunder, great blunder... So mistake, "To err is human," mistake is there. Similarly, accepting something as fact which is not fact. How it is? Just like everyone in the conditioned life, they think that "This body is my self." But I'm not this. I'm not this body. So this is called illusion, pramāda. The best example is to accept a rope as a snake. Suppose in the darkness there is a rope like this, and you are..., "Oh, here is a snake." This is the best example of illusion. Accepting something which is not that.

Lecture on BG 7.3 -- Montreal, June 3, 1968:

Many people go there, to the sacred place. And in the Vedic literature it is stated that kuru-kṣetre dharmaṁ yājayet: "If you want to perform religious rites, then you should perform at Kurukṣetra."

So Kurukṣetra is a place of pilgrimage; that is a fact. But unfortunately even a great man like Mahatma Gandhi, he comments that "Kurukṣetra means this body. Kurukṣetra means this body." Now, wherefrom he got this meaning, "Kurukṣetra means this body," which is that dictionary, I do not know. But he has interpreted in that way. Similarly, in Dr. Radhakrishnan's book also the translation is... Kṛṣṇa says, man-manā bhava mad-bhakto mad-yājī māṁ namaskuru: (BG 18.65) "My dear Arjuna, you just always think of Me, you just become My devotee, you just offer your all obeisances unto Me, and the result will be that you'll come to Me, without any doubt." That means you'll come to the spiritual planets. So "come to Me..."

Lecture on BG 7.15-18 -- New York, October 9, 1966:

He says that "A show of devotion, a show of spiritual," I mean to say, spirituality, "a show of devotion, a show of spirituality, without reference to the Vedic knowledge, śruti, smṛti, and corollaries to the Vedas, pañcarātra-vidhim, and the definition of bhakti-sūtras like Nārada-bhakti-sūtra and such authoritative books," aikāntikī harer bhaktiḥ, "if a man is showing himself that he is very great devotee, and a man in knowledge, without any reference of the authoritative śāstra, books—oḥ, that is simply disturbance," Utpāta. Utpāta means disturbance. A man showing that he is a great devotee, he's great man of knowledge, but he has no reference with the books of knowledge, or the authoritative books, oh, that is simply creating disturbance. That is not religiosity, neither devotion, nothing else.

Lecture on BG 7.15-18 -- New York, October 9, 1966:

Because a jñānī knows that "What are these material things? They are only flickering, flickering. Suppose I get too much wealth and too much everything. What is this mighty lābha?" Lābha, pūjā, pratiṣṭhā. These material assets are three. Something, I want some gain out of my work, profit. And pūjā. Pūjā means people will adore me: "Oh, you are such a rich man. You are so great man." Lābha, pūjā, and pratiṣṭhā, and fame: "People may know me that 'I am Carnegie,' 'I am Rockefeller,' 'I am Birla.' " But he does not know that Birla or Rockefeller is this body. As soon as this body is finished, all Birla or Rockefeller is finished. Then I do not know whether I am entering into cat or dog. Because after finishing this body, you are neither Birla, neither Rockefeller—you are spirit soul. And according to your own karma, according to your own work, your own work, you have to enter another body, which is different from Birla and Carnegie. A jñānī knows, "So why shall I bother myself for these temporary designations?" That is jñānī. He is jñānī.

Lecture on BG 13.4 -- Miami, February 27, 1975:

"Taking a straw in my teeth," and padayor nipatya, "and falling down on your leg," kāku-śataṁ kṛtvā ca, "hundred times flattering you," ahaṁ bravīmi, "I want to submit something."

Naturally the man will be inclined: "All right, you say it. What you want?" So he says, he sādhavaḥ: "You are very nice man, you are very great man, but you kindly forget what you have learned. (laughter) You all nonsense, whatever you have learned, please forget." "Then, what I have to do?" Caitanya-candra-caraṇe kurutānurāgam: "Just take shelter of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Your life will be successful."

So we shall flatter, we shall hold our hands, we shall fall on the feet and do everything, but we shall, "You nonsense, please forget what you have learned." That is our submission.

Lecture on BG 13.6-7 -- Montreal, October 25, 1968:

Therefore Caitanya Mahāprabhu says that tṛṇād api sunīcena, "You are soul, you are spirit soul, but you are smaller than the smallest straw in the street." So actually, there is no miscalculation. The conclusion is there. So adambhitvam dharmikatva-khyāti-phalaka-dharmācaraṇa. Khyāti. We should not be very much anxious about being famous. Not, "Oh, there is a great man who knows everything about spirit and who is perfect." No. We should be very sincere to understand things as they are. We should not falsely claim which I am not.

The most, I mean to say, prideful claim is that "I am God." This is strictly forbidden by our sampradāya, that "Don't claim." Caitanya Mahāprabhu especially, when He was talking with one of His devotees, Rāmānanda Rāya... The subject matter was how to get perfection. Rāmānanda Rāya was suggesting... Of course, from Vedic literature, perfection, the path of perfection, is to follow the institution of four varṇas and four āśramas. That is a fact. Four varṇas and four āśramas.

Lecture on BG 16.7 -- Tokyo, January 27, 1975:

So these boys and girls were accustomed to all these habits, pravṛtti. But they have now changed their pravṛtti because they want to become sura. They want to achieve the ultimate goal of life. One may not know what mode of life we should accept. One may not know what mode of life we should reject, but in the śāstra, in the teachings of great men, learned scholars, things are there. We have to accept. We may not know, but we should accept. The Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is for this purpose, to change the pravṛtti nivṛtti. Just like there is pravṛtti for meat-eating. We are advising, "Please do not eat meat." This is nivṛtti. Before that, they do not know what is the difference between meat-eating and not meat-eating. But now they are understanding. Therefore they are becoming sura. One who adopts the methods... And why one should eat meat at all?

Lecture on BG 17.1-3 -- Honolulu, July 4, 1974:

According to the time, according to circumstances... Therefore the Vedic principle has got garbhādhāna-saṁskāra. To beget a child, it requires also reformation-time, mentality, situation. So... Not like cats and dogs. So, creating the background very nicely, sattva-guṇa, they will beget a child. That child will come, some great man, some great devotee. So everything has got the material relationship, how to do it. That is śāstra. So you do it, but follow the shastric injunction. So the shastric injunction, so far is concerned, as it is said here, that is sāttvikī, rājasī, tāmasī.

The example is: just like the same fire spark is falling down from the blazing fire... You have seen the sparks. There are sparks, fire sparks, with the blazing fire. Now, the sparks sometimes fall down outside the fire. So take the fire as spiritual world, and the spark is in the spiritual world, within the fire, but sometimes it falls down. Now, when it falls down it comes in the material world and... Now what kind of falldown it is?

Lecture on BG 18.67-69 -- Ahmedabad, December 9, 1972:

That is a Indian system, you know. To accept a grass, that means to become very humble. Dante nidhāya tṛṇakaṁ padayor nipatya. "And falling down on your feet," kāku-śataṁ kṛtvā cāhaṁ bravīmi, "I am flattering you hundred times. I am just appealing to you one thing." "What is that?" He sādhavaḥ: "You are a very great man. You are a very pious man. But I request you: 'You give up everything. Whatever you nonsense, you have learned, please give up.' " "Then what I have to do?" Caitanya-candra-caraṇe kuruta anurāgam: "Just become a devotee of Lord Caitanya." And becoming Lord Caitanya, devotee of Lord Caitanya, what, what is the business? Lord Caitanya says, āmāra ājñāya guru hañā tāra' ei deśa, yāre dekha tāre kaha kṛṣṇa-upadeśa (CC Madhya 7.128). Just that "On My order, you become a guru." And what is the business of guru? The guru's business is, yāre dekha tāre kaha kṛṣṇa-upadeśa: "You simply spread what Kṛṣṇa has said, or what is said about Kṛṣṇa, kṛṣṇa-upadeśa."

Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures

Lecture on SB 1.1.2 -- London, August 15, 1971:

You don't want condition; you want liberation. This question arises in the human form of life, not in the cat's life, dog's life. No. So we should remember this is the difference between other bodies and this body. Here, we become awakened that "Why I am conditioned?" Just like Sanātana Gosvāmī, when he approached Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu... He was minister, great man, very opulent. So the first question was put before Lord Caitanya, 'ke āmi,' 'kene āmāya jāre tāpa-traya.' "My dear master, I have come to You to ask the first question, that 'What I am? Why I am conditioned to suffer three kinds of miserable condition of life always?' " Why you are using this fan? Because I am conditioned. I cannot bear too much heat or too much cold. As soon as I go out in the park, I was covering. So these questions should arise, that "Why I am conditioned? Sometimes I am covering, sometimes I want fan."

Lecture on SB 1.2.6 -- London, August 26, 1971:

Not the rituals that go in a hectic way to a temple or to a mosque or to a church, and as a matter of formalities you pay something and come back and do all nonsense of things. That is not religion. Religion is how far you have... Just like in the same way a man is supposed to be great. How? He is considered a great man if he has got riches or he has got knowledge or he has got influence or he has got beauty, so many things. So similarly, how a man can be tested that he is a man of religious principles? The test is that whether he has developed love of God. Then he is religious. Just see how nice definition. Is there any nicer definition of religion than it is stated in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam? Can you say? The one word, sa vai puṁsāṁ paro dharmaḥ, that is the best kind of religious principle to be followed, by which one can develop love of God, yato bhaktir adhokṣaje.

Lecture on SB 1.2.7 -- Hyderabad, April 21, 1974:

This is the main mission of human life, to understand his position. Sanātana Gosvāmī, the first disciple of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, he, when approached Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Mahāprabhu at Benares, Vārāṇasī, Kāśī, so he was minister, prime minister of Nawab Hussein Shah, very great man. But when he met Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, he decided to retire from the service and join Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu's Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement. So about them it is said, tyaktvā tūrṇam aśeṣa-maṇḍala-pati-śreṇīṁ sadā tuccha-vat. They were very big, big leaders of the maṇḍala-pati. Maṇḍala-pati means big, big leaders of the society, because they were ministers, all zamindars. All big, big businessmen they used to see, they used to visit, because minister's business... So he was associating with highly aristocratic families and societies, but they gave it up. Tyaktvā tūrṇam aśeṣa-maṇḍala-pati..., sadā tuccha-vat. Tuccha-vat means very...

Lecture on SB 1.2.9 -- New Vrindaban, September 7, 1972:

To make it nullified. No more hard labor, no more frustration, no more fearfulness, no more death. That is real problem. So to become religious, dharmic, means how to nullify these five principles of material existence. In the material world, you have to work very, very hard. You cannot think that "Oh, I am so great man. I'll not work." Na hi suptasya siṁhasya praviśanti mukhe mṛgāḥ. Suppose the lion... Lion is supposed to be the king of the forest. Still, he has to work. It is not that a lion will sleep, and some animal will come, "My dear lion, please open your mouth. I shall enter." (laughter) That is not possible. Even he is most powerful, even if he is... Just like your President. He is most powerful man, but he's working hard, more than asses and hogs, to get the post of presidency. So pariśrama...

So nobody can say that "Without working hard, I shall achieve something." That is not possible.

Lecture on SB 1.2.16 -- Vrndavana, October 27, 1972:

We have rejected Kṛṣṇa." That's all. Nonsense. What is your value, rejecting your Kṛṣṇa? Harāv abhaktasya kuto mahad-guṇāḥ. You are rejected. You have no good qualification. You have rejected Kṛṣṇa. Therefore we reject you. Harāv abhaktasya kuto mahad-guṇāḥ. Anyone who is not Kṛṣṇa conscious, he has no value. We don't give any value, however he may pose himself as a very great man. No. We say, harāv abhaktasya kuto mahad-guṇāḥ. Mano-rathenāsati dhāvato bahiḥ. "Because you are not Kṛṣṇa conscious, you are hovering on the mental plane. Therefore you must fall down." This is the conclusion of śāstra.

Lecture on SB 1.3.14 -- Los Angeles, September 19, 1972:

So man has become like that. If his belly is filled up with some rubbish thing and if he is free to have sex life, then he thinks, "My life is perfect now." And more perfect life, dākṣyaṁ kuṭumba-bharaṇam. In this age, if one man can maintain his wife and children, he will be considered a great man "Oh, he is so able, that he is maintaining his wife and children." Maintaining wife and children, even cats and dogs can do. But in this age, if a man can maintain his wife and children, he will be considered as very expert. Because most people will have no wife, no children. This is the age. So more you become sinful, the more you become irresponsible, the more you become Godless—these things are awaiting.

Lecture on SB 1.5.12-13 -- New Vrindaban, June 11, 1969:

There are four kinds of impediments for the conditioned soul. What are those? That we are subjected to commit error. Any man will commit error because he's conditioned, he'll be illusioned, and he will try to cheat, and his senses are imperfect. These four imperfectness of a conditioned soul. Anywhere, you take any great man, any big man, he has got these four imperfections. Therefore without liberated man, you cannot get real knowledge. Therefore you'll find even the so-called scientists, astrologer, and the astronomer, or... They're studying this nature, "Perhaps," "It might be," because they have no clear vision. And another scientist comes. They changes. But you'll find in the Vedic literature, everything clear understanding. Just like the Vedic literature says the division of the living entities. Jalajā nava-lakṣāṇi. Accurate number is that "There are 900,000 species of life in the water." Accurate. So they might have said ten, one million, or 800,000. No. Nine hundred thousand. Nine hundred thousand.

Lecture on SB 1.5.13 -- New Vrindaban, June 13, 1969:

Then Caitanya Mahāprabhu saw that these things are going on in the Raṅganātha temple. But He saw that "This brāhmaṇa is very gentle and grave, and he's handling the book. That's all." So He inquired, "My dear brāhmaṇa, what you are reading?" He said... He could understand that "He's not criticizing. He's a, mean, a great man." So he said, "Sir, what can I say? My spiritual master asked me to read every day Bhagavad-gītā, so many chapters, but I am illiterate. I cannot read. Therefore I have taken the book, simply seeing. That's all. What can I do?" "But I see you are sometimes crying. You must be reading. Otherwise, how you are feeling and you are crying?" "Yes, I am feeling. That's a fact." "How, what is that?" "Now, as soon as I take this book, Bhagavad-gītā, the picture of Kṛṣṇa and Arjuna comes before me. I see that both Kṛṣṇa and Arjuna are sitting on the chariot, and Kṛṣṇa is instructing Bhagavad-gītā.

Lecture on SB 1.5.13 -- New Vrindaban, June 16, 1969:

So viṣṇu-bhakto bhaved daiva āsuras tad-viparyayaḥ. Unless, even after having all the qualifications, material qualifications, if one is simply nonsense about God, he is rākṣasa, or demon. That is the injunction, or that is the verdict of Vedas. You may have all material qualifications. That's all right. You may be very great man. You may be very well situated man, very much educated, but if you are godless, then you are demon. Viṣṇu-bhakta... That is also confirmed in the Bhagavad-gītā. Kṛṣṇa says, na māṁ duṣkṛtino mūḍhāḥ prapadyante narādhamāḥ (BG 7.15). Duṣkṛtinaḥ. Duṣkṛtinaḥ means these rascals, these demons, these atheists, these godless men can act in any way for their sense gratification. They can do any sinful act, never mind, however grievous it may be. If it is applicable for their satisfaction of senses, they'll do it. They'll do it. They don't care anything. "Oh, I can satisfy my senses by this way. Never mind. Oh, we don't care for God, don't care for sin or hell or this or that. They are all simply allegory."

Lecture on SB 1.5.17-18 -- New Vrindaban, June 21, 1969:

Not, I don't think very rich men contributes. They also, middle class of men, they contribute something. So to become too much rich, too much puffed up with opulence like the two sons of Kuvera, is another chance of being degraded. To remain a little poor is better condition for developing Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Therefore our duty should be not to become a very great man in the consideration of these materialistic men. If he wants thousands and millions of dollars, become like a Rockefeller or Ford, that will be great a estimation of these common materialistic man, but from spiritual point of view, such things have no value—unless such opulence is engaged in the service of the Lord. Otherwise, it is the cause of falldown.

Lecture on SB 1.7.41-42 -- Vrndavana, October 2, 1976:

That is the difference. Therefore according to Vedic civilization, the woman must be protected because they are very simple. They can be led to goodness also very easily, and they can be polluted also very easily. By nature, they are very simple. Therefore śāstra says that... Just like child. If you mold the character of a child from the very beginning, then he can become a great man. Similarly, if you train woman from the very beginning how to become chaste and faithful to the husband, they can become a very good mother, very good asset in the family.

Lecture on SB 1.10.6 -- Mayapura, June 21, 1973:

He was so respectful to Sanātana Gosvāmī. The same Sanātana Gosvāmī approached Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, asking Him the question: "What I am? Why I am put into these threefold miserable condition of life?"

So this is our position. We may be very great man in the estimation of our friends and countrymen, but everyone is subjected to the miserable condition of life. They cannot make any solution. That is not possible. They have made a solution, big, big learned scholars, just that Mr. Kotovsky said, "Swamiji, after death, there is no life. Everything is finished." Unless they think like that, then life becomes more horrible, full of anxieties. If they think of that there is another life and there is punishment and reward, according to our karma, then their life is very horrible. So just like the animals, poor animal, sometimes facing enemy, close the eyes, as if there is no enemy, so they do like that, close the eyes. Children, when there is danger, they close the eyes.

Lecture on SB 1.15.44 -- Los Angeles, December 22, 1973:

Pradyumna: (leads chanting, etc.)

udīcīṁ praviveśāśāṁ

gata-pūrvāṁ mahātmabhiḥ

hṛdi brahma paraṁ dhyāyan

nāvarteta yato gataḥ

(SB 1.15.44)

Translation: "He then started towards the north, treading the path accepted by his forefathers and great men, to devote himself completely to the thought of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. And he lived in that way wherever he went."

Prabhupāda: Udīcīṁ praviveśa. So one who goes to the northern side, it is to be understood he never comes back. Northern side means the Arctic zone, covered with snow. So this was known in Bhāgavata days. Not only in Bhāgavata days, some, about a thousand years ago also, there is Kālidāsa's book Kumāra-sambhava. Kumāra-sambhava, "The Birth of Kārttikeya." So in the book the beginning is asty uttarasyaṁ diśi himālayo nāma nagadhirājaḥ. Uttarasyaṁ diśi, in the northern side, there is mountain which is covered with snow, Himalaya. Hima means ice, hima. Asty uttarasyaṁ diśi himālayo nāma nagadhirājaḥ: "In the northern side, there is a hill or a mountain which is always covered by snow."

Lecture on SB 1.16.6 -- Los Angeles, January 3, 1974:

In this way, every step, Svayaṁ Bhagavān is personally..., Kṛṣṇa is instructing us, and we are so fool, we cannot understand. We cannot understand. Big, big politicians, they read Bhagavad-gītā, in our country. But by their action it is seen they did not understand even a word of Bhagavad-gītā. Even a word of Bhagavad-gītā. Big, big politician. They became very big, big mahātmās or great men, but they tried for this body, which is to be finished. Antavanta ime dehāḥ. Nobody tried for that thing which will never be finished, that is eternal. You find from their life, they never instructed about the soul. They dealt with politics very nicely, to give bluff that "Within one year I shall give you liberation and this and that," about the... What is the value of this liberation? Because they did not know the thing which is not perishable, they are after this body, which is, liberated or not liberated, will perish. They are busy. They are busy with the activities of this body, which is surely perishable.

Lecture on SB 2.3.19 -- Los Angeles, June 14, 1972:

That's all. So every one of you must be very careful that "Here is Kṛṣṇa personally present." Not that wood and stone, as atheists think. Atheist will think, "Oh, they are worshiping a wood, a stone statue." Because they have their ideas, worshiping of great man. They make also statue, but place them in the open air, and their worship is by the stools of crows. Worship him. So if... The crows take it a place of passing stool on the head of your leader. (laughter) That is their method of worship. They are respecting president George Washington, keeping a statue and honoring him with the stool of crows.

You see. This is their intelligence. This is their intelligence. And our Indian people are also imitating. I have seen one statue of Sir Asutosh Mukherjee. He was a very respectable man. Or Gandhi. The whole year, the crows passed stool on the face. It becomes covered with stool.

Lecture on SB 2.3.20 -- Bombay, March 24, 1977, At Cross Maidan Pandal:

Indian man (8): And is it so, that in Śrīmad-Bhāgavata it is also written, many really great men want to be here in Kali-yuga, because it is easier to be for salvation? Only by...

Prabhupāda: Yes. That I am speaking. Kīrtanād eva kṛṣṇasya. Kṛṣṇasya kīrtanād eva mukta-saṅgaḥ param. Simply by chanting. Therefore we practically see that these Western people, they are not coming from high-class brāhmaṇa or Vaiṣṇava family, but still, by kīrtanād eva kṛṣṇasya they are becoming so liberated that they are preaching Kṛṣṇa consciousness all over the world.

Indian man (8): Another thing, my last question. I shall not disturb you. The name is power, and to utter name...

Prabhupāda: The name is the person. This is absolute. Absolute.

Lecture on SB 3.25.32 -- Bombay, December 2, 1974:

So Caitanya Mahāprabhu is Kṛṣṇa. He is ordering, āmāra ājñāya, "By My order," guru hañā, "you become guru." "Sir, it is very difficult to become guru. I have no education. I have no culture. I am not born in a very high family. I am very low." A devotee always thinks like that. He never thinks that "I have become very great man." Just like Caitanya-caritāmṛta, author of, he says, purīṣera kīṭa haite muñi se laghiṣṭha (CC Adi 5.205). Purīṣa, purīṣa means stool, and there are worms in the stool. So Caitanya-caritāmṛta author is saying that "I am lower than the worms in the stool." That is Vaiṣṇava conception. Tṛṇād api sunīcena. He is very humble. He never says, "Oh, I am the Supreme. I have become God." A most rascal, foolish. So that is not... Therefore we have to follow. If we actually want to become guru, there is necessity of many thousands of gurus to teach this cheated public. But how to become guru? That is... Caitanya Mahāprabhu says, āmāra ājñāya: "By My order." "What is Your order, Sir?"

Lecture on SB 3.28.17 -- Nairobi, October 26, 1975:

This word is very important, bhṛtyānugraha-kātaram. Anugraha. Anugraha means favor. Just like the father wants to favor the son always. Father wants that "My son may become very fit, competent to take all my favors." This is father's wish. Every father, even in this material world, if father is very big man, great man, he wants that "My son also, let him become bigger than me." Is it not practical? So if God, Kṛṣṇa, is the original father... Ahaṁ bīja-pradaḥ pitā (BG 14.4), Kṛṣṇa says. It is not concoction or contemplation. No. It is the fact.

Lecture on SB 6.1.18 -- Denver, July 1, 1975:

Kṛṣṇa, your love for Kṛṣṇa is not awakened, then simply by performing such ritualistic ceremony or rules and regulation of your religious system, if you do not become develop yourself to love God, then it is all useless waste of time. It has no meaning. That is the test, how to become, how to advance in loving service of the Lord. That is the... Then you are religious, you are philosopher, you are great man, you are everything. Otherwise, if you do not awaken your dormant love for Kṛṣṇa, or God, then all such labor is useless. Śrama eva hi kevalam. Dharmaḥ svanuṣṭhitaḥ puṁsāṁ viṣvaksena-kathāsu yaḥ, notpādayed yadi (SB 1.2.8). By performing religious ceremonies or following the religious principle, the test is how one has become advanced in the loving service of the Lord. This is required. And his example is very strong, that surā-kumbham ivāpagāḥ. Surā-kumbha, the pot which contained liquor, it cannot be purified. Therefore it is so strictly prohibited about liquor.

Lecture on SB 6.2.24-25 -- Gorakhpur, February 13, 1971:

"Why? What we are...?" Just like Caitanya Mahāprabhu. As soon as he was addressed "Kṛṣṇa," He was doing like this: "Oh, what you are nonsense speaking?" That should be done. He was enjoying: "Yes. I am greater than Kṛṣṇa. Oh." Because he is leader of the fools, so he is a great fool. Because leader—a great man becomes leader—so he is a fool, so he is a great fool. That's all. Caitanya Mahāprabhu, by His practical... He was Kṛṣṇa Himself. So as soon as He was addressed that "You are Kṛṣṇa..." When He went to Vṛndāvana... The incident is that people saw at night some light in Yamunā dancing. So people thought that "Kṛṣṇa has again come and He is curbing down the Kāliya." So people gathered. Every night they used to gather on the bank of the Yamunā that "Kṛṣṇa has again come." So Caitanya Mahāprabhu had one personal assistant, Balabhadra. So he asked permission from Caitanya Mahāprabhu that "Can I go and see Kṛṣṇa? So many people are going." And Caitanya..., "Don't be foolish. Where is Kṛṣṇa?"

Lecture on SB 7.9.14 -- Mayapur, February 21, 1976:

Kṛṣṇa said, na māṁ duṣkṛtino mūḍhāḥ prapadyante narādhamāḥ (BG 7.15). Anyone who is not surrendered to Kṛṣṇa, anyone who is not Kṛṣṇa conscious, he is rascal, he's sinful, he's lowest of the mankind, he has no knowledge, he's gone to hell. This is our conclusion. Sometimes they come to fight us tlat "Sir, you said such a great man, 'rascal.' " But we must say, "Yes, he is a rascal. Where is his greatness?" Harāv abhaktasya kuto mahad-guṇā (SB 5.18.12). Anyone who is not Kṛṣṇa conscious, he cannot be a great man. This is our conclusion. There is no question. Immediately, as soon as you see he's against Kṛṣṇa, or he does not know Kṛṣṇa, then he's a rascal, That's all.

Lecture on SB 7.9.51 -- Vrndavana, April 6, 1976:

He wants to satisfy his senses. When he grows up, he may distribute that eatable to his other brother and sister. So this does not mean you have changed the quality of sense gratification. (indistinct) In the material world we see sometimes you are working for your family. But if you work for the nation, you become a very great man. But what is the basis? The basis is sense gratification. Very big, big politicians, they work for the nation, sacrifice their life, but that exalted politician, it is not nirguṇa, it is saguṇa. You can expand, expand, expand—unless you come to the point of satisfying the senses of Kṛṣṇa, you are saguṇa. And when you live to satisfy the senses of Kṛṣṇa, that is nirguṇa, that is (indistinct). In that state, you can satisfy Kṛṣṇa and your life is successful.

Lecture on SB 7th Canto -- Calcutta, March 7, 1972:

Similarly, this is a fact. Kṛṣṇa has got also energy, the original puruṣa—Rādhārāṇī, energy, prakṛti. Kṛṣṇa is engladdened in the presence of Rādhārāṇī. That is nature. Similarly, a man, he becomes energized if he has got a good wife or good mother. This is the history of the whole world. Any great man in this world, you will find that behind him he has got a good wife or good mother. Prakṛti, energy. That energizes. In our country how we have seen many persons. Just like Sad Guru Das Bannerjee, (indistinct), they had very good mothers, and they became very great men. Similarly, we saw one Englishman, Lord Wellington, he had a very intelligent wife and he became great man. So this prakṛti is energy. By the energy of one woman, one becomes very great. That is the material arrangement. Not only material, in the spiritual world also the same thing. Just like Kṛṣṇa is energized in the presence of Rādhārāṇī, in the presence of Rādhārāṇī. Kṛṣṇa is called Madana-mohana and Rādhārāṇī is called Madana-mohana-mohinī.

Sri Caitanya-caritamrta Lectures

Lecture on CC Adi-lila 7.2 -- Mayapur, March 2, 1974:

They are very, very valuable for advancement of spiritual understanding, especially Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura's Prārthanā. So, by reading them, by understanding them, we can understand Kṛṣṇa very easily. Otherwise, it is very, very difficult to understand Kṛṣṇa. Big, big scholars, big, big sannyāsīs, they cannot understand Kṛṣṇa. They understand Kṛṣṇa that Kṛṣṇa is like us—a very great man, politician, historical person—or sometimes thinks of Kṛṣṇa as a debauch because He was in association with the gopīs or He married sixteen thousand wives. So, we shall be misled to understand Kṛṣṇa if we try to do so by our own knowledge. We have to accept Kṛṣṇa through Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. And Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu advises everyone:

Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 6.254 -- Los Angeles, January 8, 1968:

You have got the opportunity of doing the best service to the humanity by presenting such important literatures. Therefore you are mahā-bhāga."

To serve the human society is not ordinary task. And now it is not possible for any ordinary man. All great men or great personalities who have appeared on this earth and rendered great service to the humanity, they are still remembered. Just like in your country, President Washington, he rendered very valuable service to your country. He's still remembered. Recently, President Kennedy... He's still remembered. Similarly, those persons who have dedicated their life for the welfare of the human society, they are not ordinary men. Therefore he is addressed as mahā-bhāga, the most fortunate personality, because he dedicated his life for the good of the humanity. The greater man is engaged for the service to the humanity, he is considered the great man. Similarly, Lord Caitanya, He also renounced this world.

Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 20.137-146 -- Bombay, February 24, 1971:

Then you'll see God: "Here is God." The asuras, they'll never accept God, but when they are killed by God, they understand that "Yes, there is God." That is the difference between asuras and devas. The devas, they accept God while living, and the asuras accept God by being killed. That's all. And who can escape killing? Is there any scientist, is there any philosopher, any great man who can stop being killed by the cruel death? Is there any man? That is stated in the Bhagavad-gītā, mṛtyuḥ sarva-haraś cāham (BG 10.34). "I am mṛtyu." Mṛtyu means death, which takes away everything at a time. Just like "I am very rich man," "I am very big industrialist," "I am prime minister," this, that, so many things. "I am in possession of all I survey. I am the master of my country and everything." That's all right. As soon as death comes, "Oh, I am Jawaharlal Nehru," "I am Gandhi," "Oh! Never mind! Please go away! Finish Stop your all leadership." That is God. You don't believe, you may not believe God, but when death comes you have to believe in God.

Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 22.14-20 -- New York, January 10, 1967:

Dāna-parā means there are many persons who are munificent, making charity, dāna-parā. And yaśasvinaḥ: there are many persons who are very famous. Tapasvino dāna-parā yaśa..., manasvinaḥ. Manasvinaḥ means mental speculators, philosophers, thinking, high thinkers, great thinkers. So these are worldly, great men. Who? One who performs great penance, one who is very charitably disposed, one who is very famous, one who is very mentally advanced, he can think nice things, writes philosophical thesis, write nice poetry. Manasvinaḥ. These are the products of great mind. Manasvino mantra-vidaḥ. Mantra-vidaḥ means the chanters of Vedic hymns. Mantra-vidaḥ sumaṅgalāḥ. These things are all nice, auspicious. These things are all... But kṣemaṁ na vindanti vinā yad-arpaṇam. But these things cannot... By these things you cannot alone have success unless it is not offered to the Supreme Lord. Your good qualification should be engaged in the service of the Supreme Lord. Then you get the desired result.

Festival Lectures

His Divine Grace Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Gosvami Prabhupada's Appearance Day, Lecture -- Los Angeles, February 7, 1969:

In your country there was George Washington. He sacrificed so many. There were other leaders. In every country, in political field. Similarly, social field also. Even the political leaders, the Marx, they also, he was also compassionate by seeing the terrible condition of the Russian peasants, so he started that communist movement. That is the way. Great men, they work for the general mass of people. They are not... That is their greatness.

So Advaita Prabhu, when He found that people are simply engaged in eating, sleeping, and they are not, they have no concern with Kṛṣṇa, and their life is being spoiled, so He wanted to start this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement, say, about six hundred years ago, but He considered Himself as unable to take up this movement seriously because the condition of the people was so wretched. He thought that "If Kṛṣṇa Himself comes, then it can be done. Otherwise it is not possible."

Initiation Lectures

Initiation of Lokanatha dasa -- New Vrindaban, May 21, 1969:

"Poor fund of knowledge."

So this is the opportunity to... You are part and parcel of God. Don't try to become artificially like God. That is not possible. That will be simply waste of energy. This is māyā. Everyone under the spell of māyā, they are working very hard. Why? Everyone is trying to become God: "I shall be the great man of this country," or "My country shall be the greatest country in the world." That means God is great, and everyone is trying to be great like that. That is competition. So you are trying, I am trying, he is trying, everyone is trying. This is called māyā. But our Bhāgavata philosophy says that "Don't try artificially in that way. Better remain what you are. Better remain..." Just like the same example: If you want to be the greatest man in your country, just like President Nixon, so you have to work very hard. And that is also for temporary. It will be finished within five years. Then you are ordinary man again. So better remain and in your own capacity, and try to become Kṛṣṇa conscious or God conscious.

General Lectures

Engagement Lecture -- Buffalo, April 23, 1969:

We are conditioned. At this stage of our material existence, we are conditioned by so many laws of nature. Under the circumstances, every conditioned soul has four defects. Just like to commit mistake. There is no man, even great man, who does not commit mistake. More or less, he commits mistake. Just like in our country there was Mahatma Gandhi. He was supposed to be a very great personality, mahātmā, but he also committed mistake because when he was killed, five minutes before his coming to the meeting, he was warned by his confidential associates not to go to that meeting, but he persisted, and as soon as he entered the meeting hall he was killed. So I am giving an instance that even a great personality like Mahatma Gandhi, he also committed mistake. So in the conditioned state of our life, committing mistake is very natural. Just like we say, "To err is human." Any human being is susceptible to commit mistake.

Lecture Engagement and Prasada Distribution -- Boston, April 26, 1969:

One can understand what is God by the mercy of God, not by mental speculation. It is not possible. We have got very limited scope of knowledge. Our senses are imperfect, we are full of cheating propensities, and we are liable to commit mistake. These four defects are within us. However a great man one may be, he is sure to commit mistake. I shall give you one tangible example in the life of Mahatma Gandhi. You know he was a very great man, political leader in India. So he was also very God-fearing man, a very nice soul. But he also committed mistakes so many times. So to err is human. This is a fact in every person. Therefore, because we commit mistake, because we are sometimes illusioned, and because we have got a propensity of cheating others, and because our senses are imperfect, therefore, simply by mental speculation it is not possible to realize God. Then how one can realize God?

Lecture Excerpt -- Boston, May 5, 1969:

Then there will be no more want. You see?

Just like there is a story, "Alexander and the Cynic." Perhaps most of you know. There was a cynic. He was saintly person. He was sitting in a solitary place, almost naked body. Alexander the Great went there and asked him, "If I can do something for you? You are a great man." He said, "Oh, please don't obstruct sunshine. Please be aside, That's all. (laughter) You may do this. Don't obstruct the sunshine. I am quite pleased. You please set aside." Because he was fully satisfied, why this Alexander Great will, can do him?

Pandal Lecture -- Bombay, April 6, 1971:

It is not that those who are preaching this Kṛṣṇa cult, they are all perfect. There may be many deficiencies. Any conditional soul has got four deficiencies naturally. He is to commit mistakes. However great man he may be, surely, because he is conditional soul, he'll commit mistake. You know. In our country Mahatma Gandhi, he was a great man undoubtedly, but he also committed mistake, so what to speak of us? A conditioned soul must commit mistake. And he must be illusioned. To accept something as something else, that is called illusion. Just like illusion, best example of illusion, is given that māyā-marīcika, to accept water in the desert. An animal sees that there is water in the desert, and being thirsty, he goes after the water, but the water also makes progress, and he also makes progress. In this way he dies. That is called illusion. Actually, there is no water, but he is fleeing after water.

General Lecture -- (location & date unknown):

If you simply hear the activities of Kṛṣṇa, which is confirmed by Parīkṣit Mahārāja, that kṛṣṇa-kathā is relished by persons, nivṛtta-tarṣaiḥ, who has transcended the three qualitative action and reaction of this material nature... Tṛṣṇa. Everyone who are materially situated, he has got hankering: "I shall become this great man," "I shall become this big businessman," "I shall become such politician," "I shall become such and such." Always, everyone is struggling. But this kṛṣṇa-kathā is relished by them who are above this hankering. And that is also confirmed in the Bhagavad-gītā. Brahma-bhūtaḥ prasannātmā na socati na kāṅkṣati (BG 18.54). This kāṅkṣa, this tṛṣṇa, the same thing... Kāṅkṣa means hankering. In the ordinary position we are hankering and lamenting, hankering to possess something, and if, somehow or other, that possession is lost, then you are lamenting, again hankering. These two features of the material life.

Philosophy Discussions

Philosophy Discussion on John Dewey:

Prabhupāda: He can define, but he must be a very, what is called, sane man to define. The sane man's definition of God is there. Just like everyone says, "God is great." So now if he can define what is the greatness... The greatness, if one man is very rich, we consider him great man. If a man is very wise we call him a great man. If a man is very strong or influential or beautiful... Greatness according to our estimation. So all this greatness must be there in God. God must be the richest, God must be the strongest, God must be the most beautiful, God must be wisest. In this way, six opulences calculated, and when these opulences are in completeness, that is God. So that completeness we find in the history Kṛṣṇa. In the history of humanity it is very easy to find out that when Kṛṣṇa was present on this planet, so He proved the strongest, the most influential, the most beautiful, the supreme wise—everything—supreme famous. Kṛṣṇa's fame, fame is still going on. Kṛṣṇa's knowledge, stated in the Bhagavad-gītā, is still being studied all over the world. This is the proof that He is God. And all saintly persons in India, they are not controlled by these foreign Dr. Frogs. So these big, big ācāryas, like Rāmānujācārya, Madhvācārya, Nimbārka, Śaṅkarācārya, and Caitanya Mahāprabhu, all big ācāryas, they have accepted Kṛṣṇa as the Supreme Lord. So there is complete uniformity of the authorities in the past, present and future. So here is God. If one cannot accept Him God, then he is insane.