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Instinct (Lectures)

Lectures

Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures

Material life means every living entity has got these propensities. But they have to be restricted. That is natural instinct. But if you can stop them, that is your excellence.
Lecture on BG 2.19 -- London, August 25, 1973:

Sense enjoyment. Loke vyavāya 'miṣa mada-sevā nityas tu jantuḥ.(?) Jantuḥ means living being. Nitya, always, he has got the propensity, vyavāya āmiṣa mada-sevā. Vyavāya. Vyavāya means sex life and āmiṣa means meat-eating. Vyavāya āmiṣa, mada-sevā, and intoxication. These are natural instincts of all living entities, even amongst the ants these propensities are there. Those who have studied... The ants are very much fond of being intoxicated. Therefore, they find out sweet, sugar. Sweet is intoxication. Perhaps you know, all. The liquor is made from sugar. Sugar is fermented with acid, sulphuric acid, and then it is distilled. That is liquor. Therefore too much sweet eating is prohibited.

So loke vyavāya āmiṣa mada-sevā nityas tu jantuḥ. This is propensity. Material life means every living entity has got these propensities. But they have to be restricted. Pravṛttiḥ eṣaṁ bhūtānām.(?) That is natural instinct. But if you can stop them, that is your excellence. That is called tapasya. Tapasya means I have got naturally some propensity, but that is not good. Not good in this sense, if we continue that propensity, then we have to accept this material body. This is the law of nature.

Father is so kind to the son that he wants that "If my son comes back, I shall forgive all his misgiving, if he comes back just like a good boy." That is a natural instinct. You see?
Lecture on BG 2.58-59 -- New York, April 27, 1966:

So if we become sincerely to be servant of God, just like Arjuna became, and if we want to serve His purpose and mission, as soon as... The Lord is within you. Īśvaraḥ sarva-bhūtānāṁ hṛd-deśe 'rjuna tiṣṭhati (BG 18.61). He is simply waiting, when you are turning your face towards Him. You are now turned your face towards māyā, the illusion. As soon as you turn your face towards Him, oh, He will help you in every respect, every respect. He is so kind. He is so merciful. Just like father. However rebellious son he may be, as soon as comes to his father, "Father, forgive me. I shall now obey you," that father at once... He was always ready to forgive him. Father is so kind to the son that he wants that "If my son comes back, I shall forgive all his misgiving, if he comes back just like a good boy." That is a natural instinct. You see?

Tiger will never come to claim on the grains, "Oh, you have got so much grain. Give me." No. Even there are hundreds bags of grains, you don't care, but he'll pounce upon a... That is his natural instinct.
Lecture on BG 3.11-19 -- Los Angeles, December 27, 1968:

Prabhupāda: Other animals, they (eat) meat, but they follow the nature's law. They don't eat grain.

Guest: We don't follow nature's...?

Prabhupāda: No. You don't follow.

Just like a tiger. A tiger eats meat, but tiger does not come to eat grains and fruits. But you eat meat and grains, fruits, milk, whatever you can get you eat. Why? Is that natural? Tiger will never come to claim on the grains, "Oh, you have got so much grain. Give me." No. Even there are hundreds bags of grains, you don't care, but he'll pounce upon a... That is his natural instinct.

How much the father is anxious to get his son back again, back again. That is the natural instinct. And wherefrom this instinct comes? This instinct comes from the Supreme.
Lecture on BG 4.11 -- New York, July 27, 1966:

So here Bhagavad-gītā, Bhagavān, Kṛṣṇa, says, ye yathā māṁ prapadyante (BG 4.11). He is waiting, waiting when you shall turn, when I shall turn my face towards Him. That's all. He is waiting. Just like... Just you can imagine. Just like a father and a rebelled child or insane child. Those who have got... Of course, you are all young men here. Those who are elderly persons, they have got experience. If their sons go wrong, how much they are anxious. How much the father is anxious to get his son back again, back again. That is the natural instinct. And wherefrom this instinct comes? This instinct comes from the Supreme, because in the Vedānta-sūtra you will find that everything, whatever you are finding in this material world or spiritual world, everything, that has come from the Supreme. Janmādy asya yataḥ: (SB 1.1.1) "He is the supreme source, fountainhead of everything."

Therefore we sometimes love the body or sometimes love the mind or sometimes love the soul or in this way, but the ultimate aim is to love Kṛṣṇa. That is our natural instinct.
Lecture on BG 4.11 -- Geneva, June 1, 1974:

Just like every one of us we love our body. Or I love your body. But what is the reason? The reason is because the spirit soul is there. Nobody loves a body, either his own body or other's body, when it is dead. Therefore the conclusion is that each, every one of us, we love our body because I, the spirit soul, is there. Therefore the conclusion is that I love myself, or yourself, the spirit soul. Then the next question will be "Then why one should love the spirit soul?" The spirit soul is loved because it is part and parcel of Kṛṣṇa. Therefore ultimate goal is Kṛṣṇa. We do not know that. Therefore we sometimes love the body or sometimes love the mind or sometimes love the soul or in this way, but the ultimate aim is to love Kṛṣṇa. That is our natural instinct.

So these things are natural. But when we try to stop these material instincts, that is called tapasya.
Lecture on BG 7.1 -- Hyderabad, April 27, 1974:

So āmiṣa-madya-sevā. Madhya means intoxication. Either wine or cigarette, biḍi or gāñjā, bhāṅg, teas, coffees, they are all intoxication. So āmiṣa-madya-sevā and vyavāya. Vyavāya means sex life. You do not require to educate them. In the school, college, the boys and girls are not, I mean, given lesson... Of course now, I think, they are now giving lesson also. But naturally, without any lesson, they know how to do it. Similarly, without an education, one can take to intoxication. So these things are natural. But when we try to stop these material instincts, that is called tapasya, tapasya.So human life is not to be carried away by the so-called natural instinct. Natural instinct, material life... There are two kinds of natural instinct. So long we are in the bodily concept of life, there are different natural instincts, and when we come to the platform of spiritual understanding, that natural instinct is different. That is real natural instinct. So that natural instinct, spiritual natural instinct, can be attained by tapasya. Tapo divyam (SB 5.5.1). That is the instruction of Ṛṣabhadeva.

Everyone has got natural, natural instinct for sex life, for meat-eating and for drinking. This is natural instinct.
Lecture on BG 9.2 -- Calcutta, March 8, 1972:

Dharma means varṇāśrama-dharma, four castes and four orders of spiritual life: brāhmaṇa, kṣatriya, vaiśya, śūdra, brahmacārī, gṛhastha, vānaprastha, sannyāsa. This is the dharma. This is the division of dharma. And according to the dharma, one who is acting, that is called dharma karma. That is dharma-karma. Not that doing anything becomes karma. Karma means just doing. The Vedas are so arranged that we have come here to enjoy material things. So therefore there is prescribed duties. The prescribed duty is that you act, you enjoy life. For example, just like in the Vedas there, everything is there. The propensity of sense enjoyment is sex life, eating meat and drinking. This is the propensity. Material life, these are the propensities. Loke vyavāyāmiṣa-madya-sevā nityā hi jantor na hi tatra codanā. Everyone has got natural, natural instinct for sex life, for meat-eating and for drinking. This is natural instinct. But they are restrained. They are co-ordinated by the Vedic injunctions: "Yes, you'll have sex life, but you get yourself married."

That is natural. As we have got this natural instinct, similarly, God has also the same instinct.
Lecture on BG 12.13-14 -- Bombay, May 12, 1974:

It is not partiality. Just like if a gentleman has got five sons, and out of the five sons, those who are very obedient to the father or one of them, two of them, naturally the father is inclined to them. That is not partiality, that "Why the father is inclined to some sons and other sons, indifferent?" That is natural. As we have got this natural instinct, similarly, God has also the same instinct. If we study ourself analytically, we can understand what is God. Because we are the sample of God. Mamaivāṁśo jīva-bhūtaḥ (BG 15.7).

You'll develop your natural instincts of devotional service.
Lecture on BG 13.6-7 -- Bombay, September 29, 1973:

If we associate with saintly persons and hear from them Bhagavad-gītā and other Vedic literatures, then hṛt-karṇa-rasāyanaḥ kathāḥ, it becomes appealing to the heart, hṛt, and pleasing to the ear. Hṛt-karṇa-rasāyanaḥ kathāḥ taj-joṣaṇād. And if you bring them into practical purposes, apply in your life, then śraddhā bhaktir ratir anukramiṣyati. Then gradually you'll become faithful to the Supreme. Śraddhā bhaktir. You'll develop your natural instincts of devotional service. Śraddhā bhaktir ratir, attachment. Anukramiṣyati, one after another. This is the process.

A living entity has got natural inclination for vyavāya, sex life; and madya sevāḥ, intoxication; āmiṣa sevāḥ, and meat-eating. A natural instinct there is.
Lecture on BG 16.5 -- Calcutta, February 23, 1972:

These are the asuras. They do not know how their life should be directed, in which direction. That is called pravṛtti. And what sort of life they should be detached, give up, nivṛtti. Pravṛttis tu jīvātmana. That is another. Bhunam. Nivṛttis tu mahāphalām. The whole śāstra, whole Vedic direction is for pravṛtti-nirvṛtti. They are gradually training. Just like Loke vyavāyāmiṣa-madya-sevā nityā sujantoḥ. A living entity has got natural inclination for vyavāya, sex life; and madya sevāḥ, intoxication; āmiṣa sevāḥ, and meat-eating. A natural instinct there is. But asuras, they do not try to stop it. They want to increase it. That is asura life.

Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures

So what Śukadeva Gosvāmī did, that after assimilating the whole Vedic literature, he distributed it. That is another instinct.
Lecture on SB 1.2.3 -- London, August 24, 1971:

So this svānubhāva, when there is no darkness in your heart... Svānubhāva. What is Kṛṣṇa, when you understand fully within your heart, at that time your actual liberation is attained.So what Śukadeva Gosvāmī did, that after assimilating the whole Vedic literature, he distributed it. That is another instinct. If you really have learned the essence of Vedic knowledge, automatically you'll be inclined to preach it. Śravaṇaṁ kīrtanam. Śravaṇam means to hear, to receive the knowledge. And next, kīrtanam, means to distribute, to describe the knowledge.

Dharma means the natural instinct. The natural instinct is to obey the superior person. Every one of us, we are meant for obeying the Supreme.
Lecture on SB 1.2.6 -- Calcutta, February 26, 1974:

Therefore Kṛṣṇa says in the Bhagavad-gītā, mattaḥ parataraṁ nānyat kiñcid asti dhanañjaya: (BG 7.7) "There is no more superior living being than Me." That is Kṛṣṇa.So here it is said sa vai puṁsāṁ paro dharmaḥ. Dharma... You have to execute your occupational duty, but, as Kṛṣṇa said, sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja (BG 18.66). That is real dharma. "I am this. I am following this dharma, that dharma"—that is not dharma. Dharma means the natural instinct. The natural instinct is to obey the superior person. Every one of us, we are meant for obeying the Supreme.

Take for example that one who is addicted to take intoxication, eating flesh, and sex life—because these are natural instincts.
Lecture on SB 1.5.9-11 -- New Vrindaban, June 6, 1969:

So he does not deny anybody. He has made books in such a way that any person reading books... Just like in a school there are different classes and different books are recommended for different classes. Similarly, Vyāsadeva has given the whole Vedic literature in such a nice way in the form of Purāṇas that any man can be elevated to the highest position, reading books like this. Take for example that one who is addicted to take intoxication, eating flesh, and sex life—because these are natural instincts. Loke vyavāyāmiṣa-madya-sevā nityā hi jantor na hi tatra codanā. Nobody is required to give lesson, to teach. Nobody required to be taught how he has to make sexual intercourse. Nobody has to be taken, I mean, given lesson how he can become intoxicated. Don't you see that the intoxicants, intoxicated person, they have become automatically? There is no university. There is no educational system that "You become... Take LSD like this." No. That is a natural tendency. To become intoxicated, to take liquor, LSD, gāñjā, pān, oh, very easily you can learn. To use sex life...Loke vyavāya... These, they are natural instincts. They can be... Automatically they will be done. There is no question of... Then what is the use of book? Book is for restricting. That they do not know. When Vyāsadeva recommends that you must have sex life by marriage, that means restriction.

The people in general want to read (that is a natural instinct), but because their minds are polluted they want such literatures.
Lecture on SB 1.5.11 -- London, September 12, 1973:

When there are too many materialistic activities by the people in general all over the world, there is no wonder that a person or a nation attacks another person or nation on slight provocation. That is the rule of this age of Kali or quarrel. The atmosphere is already polluted with corruption of all description, and everyone knows it well. There are so many unwanted literatures full of materialistic ideas of sense gratification. In many countries there are bodies appointed by the state to detect and censor obscene literature. This means that neither the government nor the responsible leaders of the public want such literature, yet it is in the marketplace because the people want it for sense gratification. The people in general want to read (that is a natural instinct), but because their minds are polluted they want such literatures. Under the circumstances, transcendental literature like Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam will not only diminish the activities of the corrupt mind of the people in general, but also it will supply food for their hankering after reading some interesting literature.

Because every Indian is born Kṛṣṇa conscious, naturally he has got instinct.
Lecture on SB 1.7.6 -- Hyderabad, August 18, 1976:

Para-upakāra. The bhārata-bhūmi is meant for doing good to others. Bhārata-bhūmi is not meant for exploiting others. This is not bhāratīya mission. Para-upakāra. So every Indian...That is Caitanya Mahāprabhu's mission. Because every Indian is born Kṛṣṇa conscious, naturally he has got instinct. Don't destroy it. Don't destroy it. That is our request. You have got already. We have seen practically, whenever we hold some festival in Calcutta, Bombay and other big cities, thousands of people, twenty thousand, fifteen thousand, thirty thousand people come. They are hankering. So if we simply introduce this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement, you'll very soon see that the face of India is different.

The only fault is that we have tried to imitate Kṛṣṇa here in this material world. Otherwise, that instinct is there.
Lecture on SB 1.16.5 -- Los Angeles, January 2, 1974:

Because that impersonalist, impersonal person, those who are attached to impersonal philosophy, they do not care to worship the Supreme Personality of Godhead. They say, "It is māyā. To become impersonal is perfection." So they cannot remain imper..., in the impersonal feature for very long time because nature... We are part and parcel of Kṛṣṇa. The only fault is that we have tried to imitate Kṛṣṇa here in this material world. Otherwise, that instinct is there. Just like Kṛṣṇa is enjoying with gopīs and Rādhārāṇī. Now, because I am part and parcel of Kṛṣṇa, that instinct must be in me also, in minute quantity. But that must be in me. Therefore we also want to enjoy with so-called lover or beloved or girls or boys, but we are trying to enjoy in a false platform—this material world. Therefore we are becoming baffled. The same enjoyment is, Kṛṣṇa is offering, by His descendance, that "If you want to enjoy like this in the society of beautiful young boys and girls, come to Me. Here it is, reality."

Caṇḍālas means the dog-eaters. In the human society, the division of higher class and lower class is determined by the standard of eating.
Lecture on SB 1.16.20 -- Hawaii, January 16, 1974:

Prabhupāda: Yes. Go on.

Pradyumna: "The first-class faithful men are the Vaiṣṇavas and the brāhmaṇas, then the kṣatriyas, then the vaiśyas, then the śūdras, then the mlecchas, the yavanas, and at last the caṇḍālas. The degradation of the human instinct begins from the mlecchas..."

Prabhupāda: Caṇḍālas means the dog-eaters. In the human society, the division of higher class and lower class is determined by the standard of eating. So first-class men, just like brāhmaṇa, Vaiṣṇava, they eat very purified prasādam. Their responsibility practically does not depend on them. Because Vaiṣṇava... Brāhmaṇa also. Without becoming a brāhmaṇa, nobody can become Vaiṣṇava. So when you speak of Vaiṣṇava, it is to be supposed that he's already brāhmaṇa. Therefore, to bring the neophyte devotees to the perfectional stage, we offer the brāhmaṇa's sacred thread.

Practically, nowadays all lowest class of life, the life of a caṇḍāla, dog-eaters.
Lecture on SB 1.16.20 -- Hawaii, January 16, 1974:

Pradyumna: "The degradation of the human instinct begins from the mlecchas, and the caṇḍāla state of life is the last word in human degradation. All the above terms mentioned in the Vedic literatures..."

Prabhupāda: This is first-class life, satyaṁ śamo damas titikṣā ārjavaṁ jñānaṁ vijñānam āstikyaṁ brahma-karma svabhāva-jam (BG 18.42). And the lowest class of life... Practically, nowadays all lowest class of life, the life of a caṇḍāla, dog-eaters. So this is the description in the śāstra. Go on.

Yes. So if we qualify ourself as Vaiṣṇava and devotee, then all other good qualities will automatically manifest in the body.
Lecture on SB 1.16.20 -- Los Angeles, July 10, 1974:

Nitāi(Reading): There are gradations of human beings in terms of the proportionate faith in the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The first-class faithful men are the Vaiṣṇavas and the brāhmaṇas, then the kṣatriyas, then the vaiśyas, then the śūdras, then the mlecchas, the yavanas and at last the caṇḍālas. The gradation of human instincts begins from the mlecchas, and the caṇḍāla state of life is the last word in the human degradation. All the above terms mentioned in the Vedic literatures are never meant for any particular community or birth. They are different qualifications of human beings in general. There is no question of birthright or community. One can acquire the respective qualifications by one's own efforts, and thus the son of a Vaiṣṇava can become a mleccha or the son of a caṇḍāla can become more than a brāhmaṇa, all in terms of their association and intimate relation with the Supreme Lord."

Prabhupāda: Yes. So if we qualify ourself as Vaiṣṇava and devotee, then all other good qualities will automatically manifest in the body. That is the purpose of the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement, that you accept this movement...

Nobody goes to a school and colleges how to love, how to be attracted by young man. No. It doesn't require any education.

The natural instinct is already there.

Lecture on SB 2.3.15 -- Los Angeles, June 1, 1972:

Just like attraction for the opposite sex. A girl or a boy. That is natural. It is not unnatural. It has... Nobody goes to a school and colleges how to love, how to be attracted by young man. No. It doesn't require any education.The natural instinct is already there. When the boy and the girl are grown up, naturally the attraction is there, spontaneous. Similarly, he has to be, they have to be brought up in the proper situation. In India, therefore, early marriage is recommended, according to śāstra. According to Vedic civilization, a girl, before attaining puberty, must be married.

Therefore Kṛṣṇa says, don't try to waste your time to elevate yourself or to transfer yourself from this planet to that planet. That is natural instinct.
Lecture on SB 2.3.17 -- Los Angeles, July 12, 1969:

In the Brahmaloka the duration of life is very, very long. It is beyond your arithmatical calculation. But even there is death. Therefore Kṛṣṇa says, don't try to waste your time to elevate yourself or to transfer yourself from this planet to that planet. That is natural instinct. Especially I see in your country that people are so restless, they cannot stay in one place. Sometimes they go from this place to that place, this apartment to that apartment, this country to that country, that country... That restlessness is there because we are searching after that eternal happiness and we are restless.

Arjuna did not like to kill, to fight. That is Vaiṣṇava's natural instinct. He does not wish to do harm or to kill anybody.
Lecture on SB 3.25.24 -- Bombay, November 24, 1974:

That is the beginning of bhakti-yoga. If you do business and you earn money and spend it for Kṛṣṇa consciousness, that is also bhakti. That is also bhakti. Just like vivid example is Arjuna. Arjuna is a fighter, and by fighting, he became a devotee; not by chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa, but by fighting. Kṛṣṇa advised him to fight. He was, rather, because he was a Vaiṣṇava, he was not willing to fight, to kill. Vaiṣṇava does not like to kill. But if there is necessity... Just like Arjuna had to kill. That is by the order of Kṛṣṇa, not by his own will. By his own will, Kṛṣṇa did..., Arjuna did not like to kill, to fight. That is Vaiṣṇava's natural instinct. He does not wish to do harm or to kill anybody. But when a Vaiṣṇava knows that Kṛṣṇa wants it, he doesn't care for his own consideration. "Never mind." That is practical example, Kṛṣṇa.

Really we want ānanda, happiness, blissfulness. That is our natural instinct.
Lecture on SB 3.26.7 -- Bombay, December 19, 1974:

Therefore, those who are yogis, they are also enjoying. Ramante yoginaḥ anante satyānande. That is real happiness which increases. Which decreases, that is not real happiness. That is illusion. Ramante yoginaḥ anante satyānande cid-ātmani. Cit, that is spiritual, spiritual ānanda. Really we want ānanda, happiness, blissfulness. That is our natural instinct.

And the relationship between the master and servant, the transaction, is service.So service we have to... That is our natural, natural instinct.
Lecture on SB 3.26.11-14 -- Bombay, December 23, 1974:

And Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, simply dealing with bhakti; therefore it is amalam. Bhakti means directly in connection with the Supreme Lord, bhakta and Bhagavān, and the transaction is bhakti. There is Bhagavān, and there is bhakta, just like master and the servant. And the relationship between the master and servant, the transaction, is service.So service we have to... That is our natural, natural instinct. We are giving service. But being contaminated, that consciousness, citta, being contaminated by these material elements, we are trying to give service in different way. Somebody is interested in giving service to the family, to the community, to the society, to the nation, to the humanity, to the more and more, but all these services, they are contaminated. But when you begin your service in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, that is perfect service. That is perfect life. So the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is trying to raise the human society to the perfect platform of rendering service.

No. Just like amongst our students there are many married couples also, and there are brahmacārīs also. That I barred from this? He is not barred. Nobody is barred. Simply following some regulation.
Lecture on SB 5.5.3 -- Boston, May 4, 1968:

Guest (2): Let me try to delineate that a little more precisely. I have known people who have said, "Well, yes, you know I don't like birth, and I don't like death, and I don't like old age. But I have a tremendous driving need, and I don't know how to deal with it. You see, I must have sex. I must have sex. And I'm tormented. I'm stuck in the trap. I'm ensnared." You see? That is the individual I'm... Now if you can already reach the person through jñāna and convince him, and he can act on the decision of his will, then he's obviously already in a high state. But what do you do with the sort of person who is split, who is torn by his instinctual physical needs and they drive him? You see? And yet he wants to do something. How can you deal with such a person without forcing him to contain himself in such a way that he will resent it? Or must he be allowed to expend his energy until he is convinced by experience?

Prabhupāda: No. Just like amongst our students there are many married couples also, and there are brahmacārīs also. That I barred from this? He is not barred. Nobody is barred. Simply following some regulation. That will gradually train him. And the main principle is that as you go on hearing about this transcendental message, then you gradually become attached to these transcendental things. And the more you become attached to these transcendental things, the more you forget these material things.

Because we are part and parcel of God, we have got all the instincts of God in minute quantity.
Lecture on SB 6.1.11 -- New York, July 25, 1971:

And actually He's father, because the Vedānta says the Absolute Truth is the original father, janmādy asya yataḥ (SB 1.1.1), from whom everything has taken birth or emanated. So the supreme father cannot be impersonal. He's a person. And in the Vedas, it is confirmed: nityo nityānāṁ cetanaś cetanānām eko bahūnāṁ yo vidadhāti kāmān (Kaṭha Upaniṣad 2.2.13). He is the supreme eternal amongst all eternals. We are all eternal, living entities, and He's the supreme eternal. And we are all living entities, cetana, life symptoms. We have got everything, all desires. So similarly the supreme father has got all desires. Our desires are born because He has got desires. Just like we like to love, young boy, young girl. They're in love. Wherefrom this idea of love comes? It comes from there, Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa. Because we are part and parcel of God, we have got all the instincts of God in minute quantity. But because here we are in this material world, material world means where God is forgotten. That is called material world. In this temple we are not in the material world. We are not in New York. We are in Vaikuṇṭha. Because we have not forgotten Kṛṣṇa.

So attachment, that is my natural instinct. I cannot be free from attachment.
Lecture on SB 7.7.32-35 -- San Francisco, March 17, 1967, (incomplete lecture):

"If anyone prosecutes his devotional service in full Kṛṣṇa consciousness, under the guidance of the bona fide spiritual master, then gradually he develops ratiḥ." Ratiḥ means affection, affinity, attachment for the Lord. Now we have got attachment for the matter. So as we make progress, we gradually become freed from material attachment and come to the platform, complete attachment for God. So attachment, that is my natural instinct. I cannot be free from attachment. I shall be either attached to this matter or I shall be attached to spirit. If I am not attached to spirit, then I must be attached to matter. And if I am attached to spirit, then my material attachment is gone. This is the process.

Nectar of Devotion Lectures

This obedience, the sense of obedience to higher authorities, to love somebody, these propensities are there in everyone. Even a child, we have seen, when there is saṅkīrtana, they also clap their hands.
The Nectar of Devotion -- Calcutta, January 25, 1973:

Devotee:For example, a child learns or practices to walk. This walking is not unnatural. The walking capacity is there originally in the child, and simply by a little practice he walks very nicely. Similarly, devotional service to the Supreme Lord is the natural instinct of every living entity. Even uncivilized men like the aborigines offer their respectful obeisances to something wonderful exhibited by nature's law, and they appreciate that behind some wonderful exhibition or action there is something supreme. So this consciousness, though lying dormant in those who are materially contaminated, is found in every living entity. And, when purified, this is called Kṛṣṇa consciousness."

Prabhupāda: This obedience, the sense of obedience to higher authorities, to love somebody, these propensities are there in everyone. Even a child, we have seen, when there is saṅkīrtana, they also clap their hands. They also try to dance. This is natural. So this has to be little organized. That is called practice. Otherwise the things are there, dormant.

So even in the minds of the jungle people, there is obedience to the Supreme.
The Nectar of Devotion -- Vrndavana, November 13, 1972:

Pradyumna(Reading):So practice means employing both the mind and the senses in practical devotional service. This practice is not for developing something artificial. For example, a child learns or practices to walk. This walking is not unnatural. The walking capacity is there originally in the child, and simply by a little practice, he walks very nicely. Similarly, devotional service to the Supreme Lord is the natural instinct of every living entity. Even the uncivilized men like the aborigines offer their respectful obeisances to something wonderful exhibited by nature's law, and they appreciate that behind some wonderful exhibition or action there is something supreme. So this consciousness, though lying dormant in those who are materially contaminated, is found in every living entity. And, when purified, this is called Kṛṣṇa consciousness."

Prabhupāda: So even in the minds of the jungle people, there is obedience to the Supreme. As soon as there is some thunderbolt strike, so they offer obeisances. As soon as they see a big sea, ocean, they offer obeisances. Offering obeisances to the great, that is natural. That is the gradual appreciation of the potency or energy of the Supreme Lord.

Festival Lectures

If I have got an instinct to love others, so why God shall not, God will not have this instinct to love others?
Ratha-yatra -- Los Angeles, July 1, 1971:

So these are our foolishness. Meditation means to think over all this subject matter very intelligently, not like a rascal, that "If I am person, why God should be imperson? If I am eternal, why God should be dead?" This is meditation, to study diligently. If I have got an instinct to love others, so why God shall not, God will not have this instinct to love others? If I have got attraction for the opposite sex, why God should not have? Why He should not be attracted by Rādhārāṇī? Very simple truth. And why Rādhārāṇī should not be attracted by Kṛṣṇa? But the difference is: here everything is false. False means the attraction is not real attraction. But there the attraction is real.

General Lectures

You have the instinct for loving others. That is instinctive, natural. Simply we are misplacing love and therefore we are frustrated.
Lecture -- Seattle, September 30, 1968:

The Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is not something manufactured to mislead and bluff the people. It is a most authorized movement. Vedic literature, the Bhagavad-gītā, Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Vedānta-sūtra, Purāṇas, and many, many great saintly persons adopted this means. And the vivid example is Lord Caitanya. You see His picture, He is in the dancing mood. So you have to learn this art, then our life will be successful. You haven't got to practice anything artificial and speculating and bother your brain and... You have the instinct for loving others. That is instinctive, natural. Simply we are misplacing love and therefore we are frustrated. Frustrated. Confused. So if you don't want to be confused, if you don't want to be frustrated, then try to love Kṛṣṇa, and you'll feel yourself how you are making progress in peacefulness, in happiness, in everything that you want.

Philosophy received through authorized disciplic succession, and therefore it gives us everything we want, without any artificial change of our natural instincts.
Recorded Speech to Members of ISKCON London -- Los Angeles, December 23, 1968:

This Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement gives you everything you want, without any artificial endeavor. It is transcendentally colorful and full of transcendental pleasure. We prosecute these Kṛṣṇa consciousness activities through singing, dancing, eating, and talking philosophy received through authorized disciplic succession, and therefore it gives us everything we want, without any artificial change of our natural instincts. The consciousness is there in you, but it is now dirty consciousness, and what you have to do now is to cleanse it from all dirty things and make it clear Kṛṣṇa consciousness in pleasant method by chanting the glorified holy name of God: Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/ Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare.

Crab. So, when we were walking, they were flying towards the sea. They have got instinct, or reason, that "Somebody's coming. He may kill me.
Sunday Feast Lecture -- Los Angeles, May 21, 1972:

Crab. So, when we were walking, they were flying towards the sea. They have got instinct, or reason, that "Somebody's coming. He may kill me. So let me have shelter of the Pacific Ocean." The crab is not going this side, to the forest, because he knows certain that "The forest cannot give me shelter; the Pacific Ocean can give me shelter." This is the psychology. I never seen the crab is going this side, forest side. It is going to the Pacific Ocean side. And, so far as I am concerned, as soon as the waves are coming, I am going away from the ocean. Although I am a human being, I cannot take shelter of the Pacific Ocean, because I have not the potency.

Philosophy Discussions

Yes. The culture is important. If he gets the chance of cultured association, then he elevates.
Philosophy Discussion on Charles Darwin:

Hayagrīva: In The Descent of Man Darwin writes, "The belief in God has often been advanced as not only the greatest but the most complete of all the distinctions between man and the lower animals. It is, however, impossible to maintain that this belief is instinctive in man. The idea of a universal and beneficent creator does not seem to arise in the mind of man until he has been elevated by long, continued culture."

Prabhupāda: Yes. The culture is important. If he gets the chance of cultured association, then he elevates. That is explained in the Bhagavad-gītā: yānti deva-vratā devān (BG 9.25). If he, according to his cultural life, he can go to the higher planetary system, he can remain where he is, he can degrade, and he can go back to home, back to Godhead. Therefore culture is very important in human form of life.

That is instinct, or intuition, or whatever you call it.
Philosophy Discussion on Henri Bergson:

Śyāmasundara: The dictionary defines intuition as "immediate apprehension by the mind without any reasoning."

Prabhupāda: That is experience. That is experience. Intuition means mature experience. Just like when as soon as there is mosquito, my hand immediately sees. You can say it is intuition, but it is experience, that when there is mosquito my hand must go there and try to kill him. But the experience is so mature that without consideration the hand goes.

Śyāmasundara: Like instinct?

Prabhupāda: That is instinct, or intuition, or whatever you call it.

Belonging to the same category, that's all. One is little superior than the other.
Philosophy Discussion on Henri Bergson:

Śyāmasundara: He says that evolution through the past history has moved in three stages so far. He says that the first stage of evolution was instinct. The second stage of evolution was intelligence. And now man has moved into the realm of intuition, which is higher than both.

Prabhupāda: Then he agrees that from the lowest stage he has come to the higher?

Śyāmasundara: But you said instinct and intuition were the same thing.

Prabhupāda: Yes.

Śyāmasundara: His description is that instinct is lower because it's almost blind.

Prabhupāda: Belonging to the same category, that's all. One is little superior than the other.

That is checking the natural instinct and to become rightly rational, what to eat, how to sleep, how to have sex, how to defend.
Philosophy Discussion on John Stuart Mill:

Hayagrīva: Pig's feet.

Prabhupāda: Oh.

Hayagrīva: That's considered a delicacy.

Prabhupāda: So this way they have developed their consciousness. So Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura said, nānā yoni brahman kare kadarya bhakṣaṇa kare, this cycle of birth and death is that, that he comes to a species of life, he eats the most abominable food. So that, that is to be prohibited in human life. That is checking the natural instinct and to become rightly rational, what to eat, how to sleep, how to have sex, how to defend. This is also animal propensity. Above that he should search out about the Absolute Truth, then his rationality is properly used. Otherwise he remains animal.

Hayagrīva: He further writes, "The truth is that there is hardly a single point of excellence belonging to human character which is not decidedly repugnant to the untutored feelings of human nature." So he felt that virtues are not instinctive in man, virtues like courage, cleanliness, self-control, these virtues have to be cultivated. They're not...

Prabhupāda: Yes. Therefore in the human society there is educational system. Man has to be made a right rational animal. Although he is animal, he has to be educated in nice way. That depends on education, system of education, but in that connection studying the whole world's education system, the Vedic education is perfect. Therefore every man should be educated as they are instructed in the Vedic literature and a summary of Vedic literature is Bhagavad-gītā.

No. God, evil is created by God undoubtedly, but the, it was necessary on account of the human being as, misuse of his free will.
Philosophy Discussion on John Stuart Mill:

Hayagrīva: This is the continuation of Mill. He writes, "Limited as, on this showing, the Divine power must be, by inscrutable and insurmountable obstacles due to the existence of evil." Mill concludes that the existence of evil in the universe, or what he considers to be evil, pain and death, excludes the existence of an omnipotent God. He sees man in a position to aid the intentions of providence by surmounting his evil instincts. So God is not all-powerful, infinite in His power. If He were, there would be no evil, according to Mill.

Prabhupāda: No. God, evil is created by God undoubtedly, but the, it was necessary on account of the human being as, misuse of his free will. God gives him good direction but when he is disobedient, then naturally the evil power is there to punish him. Therefore the evil is not created by God but still it is created. It is necessary. Just like the government constructs the prison house. So this prison house creation is not the government's intention.

We can, when we are actually in God relationship, we have got natural instinct to accept any one of them.
Philosophy Discussion on William James:

Hayagrīva: Oh, the second point again? "A sense of the friendly continuity."

Prabhupāda: Yes. Friendly continuity means the, there are so many relationship, five relationship. First relationship is the master and the servant, and then friend to friend, then son and father, and then beloved and the lover. So these are all friendly relationship. We can, when we are actually in God relationship, we have got natural instinct to accept any one of them. So our friendly relationship with God can be chosen. Somebody likes sometime as friend to friend, father and son, or beloved and the lover, master and the servant, and the Supreme and the subordinate. They are five relationship. Any one of them, when we are actually liberated, free from material contamination, we being eternal part and parcel of God, the particular relationship is revived. That is called svarūpa-siddhi, revival of our original relationship with God.

Just like you were in the womb of your mother. It was a very painful situation. But you have forgotten. That is natural.
Philosophy Discussion on Sigmund Freud:

Śyāmasundara: What he is talking about is the natural instinct of people to forget painful experiences.

Prabhupāda: (indistinct) forget. Just like you were in the womb of your mother. It was a very painful situation. But you have forgotten. That is natural.

The animal has got this sexual proclivity.
Philosophy Discussion on Sigmund Freud:

Śyāmasundara: His idea is that the one basic instinct which is the most important to the human personality is the drive to procreate, or sexual energy.

Prabhupāda: That we have already discussed, that everyone has got. The animal has got this sexual proclivity.

Therefore this Vedic system is so scientific, varṇāśrama-dharma.
Philosophy Discussion on Sigmund Freud:

Prabhupāda: That we have prescribed. We are trying to make boys brahmacārīs. So of course there is tendency, but by practicing the brahmācārya system, by diverting one's attention to Kṛṣṇa consciousness for Kṛṣṇa's service, there will be very little chance for this shock.

Śyāmasundara: He says that our sexual instincts are often thwarted by social constraints, so in a society which does not have a brahmācārya system, this would be...

Prabhupāda: Therefore this Vedic system is so scientific, varṇāśrama-dharma. When these things are automatically adjusted and checked, our life becomes very peaceful and we make progress in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Then these things will not come.

We are trying to create (indistinct) these falsity. Everyone has got some false egoism.
Philosophy Discussion on Sigmund Freud:

Prabhupāda: We have to convince them as I am convincing you. That is your business.

Śyāmasundara: Later on, Freud began to accept that certain nonsexual factors might produce these unconscious conflicts, also, and he divided the personality into three separate systems, called the ego, the super-ego and the id. The id is the unconscious instinctive drive to enjoy-sex desire, everything animalistic. The ego is that part of the mind concerned with adjusting efficiently to external reality. In other words, it's a moral segment of the personality which tries to adjust or protect.

Prabhupāda: We are trying to create (indistinct) these falsity. Everyone has got some false egoism. That is our (indistinct). Just like Freud is thinking that he is American or (indistinct). This is false ego.

That we have explained by quoting Śrī Yamunācārya's verse, that "Since I have taken to Kṛṣṇa consciousness, whenever I think of sexual intercourse, my mouth becomes deformed and I want to spit."
Philosophy Discussion on Sigmund Freud:

Devotee: His first doctrine was that we should indulge the senses, that this would help, but later he reformed that idea, that instead of indulging the gross senses we should sublimate our natural instincts to some higher cause. So his idea was that instead of actually indulging in gross sex life, we should channel this sexual impulse to some higher cause, such as for developing the culture.

Prabhupāda: That we have explained by quoting Śrī Yamunācārya's verse, that "Since I have taken to Kṛṣṇa consciousness, whenever I think of sexual intercourse, my mouth becomes deformed and I want to spit."

To some extent that is all right, because therefore the kṣatriya race is there, the fighting spirit.
Philosophy Discussion on Sigmund Freud:

Prabhupāda: To some extent that is all right, because therefore the kṣatriya race is there, the fighting spirit.

Śyāmasundara: Another part of Freud's theory is that there is a life instinct and a death instinct, that we all have these two instincts, and that the death instinct is the impulse toward aggression and destruction, whereas the life instinct is the impulse towards self-preservation and sex and procreation. He said that people have these two impulses, and those who have the death impulse to extreme often direct it against the self, so that you have people who have accidents and diseases, that is all self-inflicted; that because I get some disease or have some accident, that is my death instinct directed against myself. So he saw that...

Prabhupāda: That is suicidal policy.

The Bhagavad-gītā says, (indistinct), by giving up this body, that is death, (indistinct).
Philosophy Discussion on Sigmund Freud:

Śyāmasundara: Sometimes he analyzes that if there is a problem facing someone, that he will get sick, and that will resolve the problem. Psychosomatic sickness. And he saw that accidents happen in the same way.

Devotee: It sounds like to me that what he calls life instinct is what we call logical, and what he calls death instinct is what we call tamoguṇa. If some people... Let's say Freud never came across people who have the urge for mukti. People have the urge to go...

Prabhupāda: Neither death nor life...

Devotee: They haven't touch...

Śyāmasundara: That would be part of the life instinct, self-preservation—if you want to live forever.

Prabhupāda: There are others also: to want to die forever.

Śyāmasundara: Yes. Death instinct.

Devotee: Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura writes that "Vaiṣṇavas die to live," so when we die to live, that is another instinct.

Prabhupāda: The Bhagavad-gītā says, (indistinct), by giving up this body, that is death, (indistinct).

Śyāmasundara: Do you attribute accidents and disease to a desire for self-destruction?

Prabhupāda: No. Ultimately we say there is no such thing as accident. Nothing can take place without God's sanction. So there is no question of accidents.

Devotee: If they would have some information of the three kinds of miseries, ādhyātmika, ādibhautika, ādi-daivika, they should stop circulating all these kinds of instincts, because they understand all these different things are categorizing...

Śyāmasundara: I thought I heard you say before that some sicknesses and accidents are caused by the person's desire—the person desires to be sick; the person desires to have accident.

Prabhupāda: (indistinct) person desires to be sick.

Frustration must be there, because you do not desire the right thing.
Philosophy Discussion on Sigmund Freud:

Prabhupāda: Yes, that is intention, not insanity.

Śyāmasundara: Another area of his investigation was the problem of anxiety. He says that the source of anxiety is the id, or the primitive instincts, which are always forcing us to do this and do that. In other words, desire. These impulses threaten to overpower the rational or the moral self. So there is always a tension or an anxiety produced.

Prabhupāda: Anxiety shall continue so long as you are in material condition. You cannot be free from anxiety in your conditioned life.

Śyāmasundara: It is because we desired something and we were always frustrated by that desire?

Prabhupāda: Frustration must be there, because you do not desire the right thing.

Just like if you are in a diseased condition and you desire to eat something which is forbidden by the physician. So consciously you have to repress in order to cure. That is the way.
Philosophy Discussion on Sigmund Freud:

Prabhupāda: Repression is always there. We make plans in so many ways, but by nature it is frustrated. That is repression.

Śyāmasundara: Is conscious repression advisable?

Prabhupāda: Conscious repression?

Śyāmasundara: Yes. Of my basic instincts, my desires. Should I consciously strive to repress these desires?

Prabhupāda: Just like if you are in a diseased condition and you desire to eat something which is forbidden by the physician. So consciously you have to repress in order to cure. That is the way.

The conclusion is that children generally imitate. They do not know what is the value, but they imitate.
Philosophy Discussion on Sigmund Freud:

Śyāmasundara: Freud analyzes that there are different defense mechanisms by which the ego protects itself.

Prabhupāda: The conclusion is that children generally imitate. They do not know what is the value, but they imitate.

Śyāmasundara: He would say there are instinctive defense mechanisms in the psychological make-up of everyone, such as repression, projection, excessive overt reactions of an opposite kind, different mechanisms which the ego employs to cover up, to protect itself from the impulses of the id, primitive impulses.

So where is the pleasure when he is dead? What is that pleasure?
Philosophy Discussion on Sigmund Freud:

Hayagrīva: Now this theory... Freud's principal disciple was the famous psychologist Carl Jung. They had an argument, and Freud once fainted, and when he came to, his words were, Freud's words were, "How sweet it must be to die." And in Beyond the Pleasure Principle, he writes, "The most universal endeavor of all living substance, namely, to return to the quiescence of the inorganic world. We have all experienced how the greatest pleasure attainable by us, that of the sexual act, is associated with the momentary extinction of a highly intensified excitation. Thus the pleasure principle, the sex act itself, is preliminary to the most highly desired nirvāṇa, the extinction of desires, and ultimately the extinction of the life functions themselves. Thus the pleasure principle seems actually to serve the death instincts."

Prabhupāda: So where is the pleasure when he is dead? What is that pleasure?

He is making death as the ultimate pleasure. Is it not?
Philosophy Discussion on Sigmund Freud:

Hayagrīva: But isn't... Materialistic pleasure, he says, serves the death instinct, but doesn't materialistic pleasure just bring out more craving for pleasure?

Prabhupāda: He is making death as the ultimate pleasure. Is it not?

Hayagrīva: Death as the ultimate goal of pleasure.

Prabhupāda: That's all, then commit it immediately. Why you are writing so many book? Commit suicide, that everyone can do that.

Yes. Otherwise why he was making this propaganda unless there is chance that we will be better? And actually we see they are becoming better.
Philosophy Discussion on Carl Gustav Jung:

Prabhupāda: But he does not know what is the standard status of the mind. He doesn't know. Even the psychiatrist, he is also not in sane mind. "Physician heal thyself." Because he's identifying himself with this body, so he is also insane. So that treatment will not perfect. How a diseased man can become a physician? Therefore the English word is, "Physician heal thyself."

Śyāmasundara: So this Jung sees a positive aspect of psychology, not just the negative aspect, whereas Freud saw that the goal of psychology was to restrict or reach (indistinct) these powerful, primitive instincts then to mitigate troublesome symptoms, which is a rather pessimistic or negative philosophy. Jung says that man is capable of changing positively into something better by the use of psychology.

Prabhupāda: Yes. Otherwise why he was making this propaganda unless there is chance that we will be better? And actually we see they are becoming better.

That he does not know.
Philosophy Discussion on Carl Gustav Jung:

Hayagrīva: He did... He speaks of the soul in this way. He says, "If the human soul is anything, it must be of unimaginable complexity and diversity, so that it cannot possibly be approached through a mere psychology of instinct."

Prabhupāda: That he does not know. As soon as we train ourself, that just like Caitanya Mahāprabhu said, "I am not a brāhmaṇa, I am not a kṣatriya, I am not a śūdra, I am not a sannyāsī, I am not brahmacārī." By negation. "I am not, I am not, I am not." Then what is your actual? That gopī-bhartuḥ kamalayor dāsa-dāsānu: (CC Madhya 13.80) "I am the servant of the servant of the servant of the maintainer of gopīs." That means Kṛṣṇa. "That is my real identification."

If somebody comes to attack me, I try to fight with him, trying to save me. So I may not be successful, but that is my natural instinct. So everyone is hero.
Philosophy Discussion on Jean-Paul Sartre:

Śyāmasundara: His idea of a hero would be someone who meets the tiger face-to-face and courageously deals with him instead of running away. Whenever the challenge in life is there, the hero is the one who takes it up.

Prabhupāda: That is natural. It may be hero or not hero, it doesn't matter. If somebody comes to attack me, I try to fight with him, trying to save me. So I may not be successful, but that is my natural instinct. So everyone is hero.

That is nice. That immortal stage is described in the Bhāgavatam, or the Bhagavad-gītā.
Philosophy Discussion on The Evolutionists Thomas Huxley, Henri Bergson, and Samuel Alexander:

Śyāmasundara: He wants to search out what is the pattern of evolution, how it will go in the future, and he says that because man has progressed from the instinctive stage to the intelligent stage, and then to the intuitive stage, that he will obtain eventually the immortal stage, that he will become...

Prabhupāda: That is nice. That immortal stage is described in the Bhāgavatam, or the Bhagavad-gītā. Yad gatvā na nivartante (BG 15.6). Progress means you go, go. Gamati iti gatiḥ, or progress. You go, go, go. So when you come to this śloka... (?) Therefore in the Vedas it is said, oṁ tad viṣṇoḥ paramaṁ padaṁ sadā paśyanti sūrayaḥ. Sūrayaḥ, means those who are learned, those who are advanced in knowledge. They are called sūrayaḥ. So they are always looking forward to the lotus feet of Viṣṇu.

Yes. Time is... We take it reality, time. That we accept also. Time is eternal. Reality. And therefore we take time as another feature of God.
Philosophy Discussion on The Evolutionists Thomas Huxley, Henri Bergson, and Samuel Alexander:

Śyāmasundara: He describes ultimate reality as space-time. Space and time. He says that time is an infinity of instants, single instants, and that the basis of infinity is a point, and that these two are combined and this is called reality.

Prabhupāda: Infinity of?

Śyāmasundara: Point.

Prabhupāda: Points and?

Śyāmasundara: Infinity of instants.

Prabhupāda: Instinct.

Śyāmasundara: Instant. Like a moment is an instant.

Prabhupāda: Yes. Hm.

Śyāmasundara: So he calls this ultimate reality. Time and space.

Prabhupāda: Yes. Time is... We take it reality, time. That we accept also. Time is eternal. Reality. And therefore we take time as another feature of God.

Śyāmasundara: And space?

Prabhupāda: Space is later created.

So what is nonsense instinct? The man has got these symptoms and the small ant has got these symptoms. That is life.
Philosophy Discussion on George Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel:

Prabhupāda: As this table has no life, because the table does not require to eat, the table does not require to sleep... But another thing, a small ant, he is hankering after "Where is a little sugar?" hankering, eating. That is life.

Hayagrīva: He would see that as instinct.

Prabhupāda: So what is nonsense instinct? The man has got these symptoms and the small ant has got these symptoms. That is life. That vague description, and still they are big philosopher. No perfect knowledge.

Page Title:Instinct (Lectures)
Compiler:Vrindi, Sureshwardas
Created:28 of Dec, 2008
Totals by Section:BG=0, SB=0, CC=0, OB=0, Lec=57, Con=0, Let=0
No. of Quotes:57