Learned man (Lectures, other)

Expressions researched:
"learned man" |"learned man's" |"learned men"

Nectar of Devotion Lectures

The Nectar of Devotion -- Vrndavana, October 19, 1972:

Now, this is the destiny. If you have to suffer some distress, you must suffer. That is called distress. So Bhāgavata says therefore that as you don't try for distress and it overcomes you, similarly if you don't try for happiness, if you have got some happiness, it will overcome you. It will come automatically. Therefore we should not try either for happiness or for distress. We should simply try to develop our Kṛṣṇa consciousness. That is our business. Tasyaiva hetoḥ prayateta kovidaḥ. A learned man should try for that only. That means this Kṛṣṇa consciousness.

The Nectar of Devotion -- Bombay, January 11, 1973:

Prabhupāda: In the beginning, he was becoming very good gentlemen, nonviolent, but Kṛṣṇa chastised him:

kutas tvā kaśmalam idaṁ

viṣame samupasthitam

anārya-juṣṭam asvargyam

akīrti-karam (arjuna)

(BG 2.2)

"Oh, you are proposing something which is the action of the anārya, not of the Aryans. So give up this klaibhyam, this deficiency, defect or..." What is called?

Devotee: Weakness.

Prabhupāda: "...weakness, weakness of your heart. Give it up." So then when he became His śiṣya, śiṣyas te 'haṁ śādhi māṁ prapannam (BG 2.7), at that time, as his śiṣya, He immediately chastised him: aśocyān anvaśocas tvaṁ prajñā-vādāṁś ca bhāṣase. "My dear Arjuna, you are talking just like a very learned man, but you do not know what is learning. You do not know."

Sri Caitanya-caritamrta Lectures

Lecture on CC Adi-lila 7.49-65 -- San Francisco, February 3, 1967:

He was learned man, Prakāśānanda Sarasvatī. He could understand the hint given by Caitanya Mahāprabhu. He himself personally went to receive Caitanya Mahāprabhu and caught His hand: "Please come here. Sit with us. Why You are sitting here?"

Lecture on CC Adi-lila 7.66-76 -- San Francisco, February 6, 1967:

Now here is the point, that was Caitanya Mahāprabhu a foolish person? No. He was not a foolish person. In His childhood He was known as Nimāi Pandit, the greatest learned man. Even when He was sixteen years old, He defeated another very learned fellow from Kashmir. So He was reputed scholar, and He was known. And Prakāśānanda Sarasvatī knew it that Caitanya Mahāprabhu, even in His gṛhastha āśrama or in His householder life, He was a teacher of nyāya, logic, and He's great learned man. He knew it. But Caitanya Mahāprabhu says that "My spiritual master found Me a rascal, a fool (CC Adi 7.71). Therefore he said that 'You have no chance for understanding Vedānta. Therefore You take to this principle: chant simply Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare.' " What is the purpose of presenting Himself as fool and rascal? The idea is that in this age, 99.9% are fools and rascals; therefore it is very difficult for them to understand what is the purpose of Vedānta. He's representing Himself as one of the fools and rascals.

Lecture on CC Adi-lila 7.76-81 -- San Francisco, February 2, 1967:

So Caitanya Mahāprabhu says, ei ājñā pāñā: "I received this order from My spiritual master, and I follow it strictly." Nāma la-i anukṣaṇa: "Because My spiritual master told Me that 'You don't touch Vedānta. You, You fool. You just go on.' " Or, in other words, Caitanya Mahāprabhu was not a fool. He was a vastly learned man. He's representing the fools of the present age. What they will understand, Vedānta-sūtra? Their life is so molded by the present atmosphere, materialistic atmosphere, that they are unable to touch Vedānta-sūtra. They are unfit to touch even Vedānta-sūtra, what to speak of understanding it.

Lecture on CC Adi-lila 7.76-81 -- San Francisco, February 2, 1967:

Now His disciple, Sanātana Gosvāmī, when he approached Caitanya Mahāprabhu, he also placed him in that way, that "I am a fool." That Sanātana Gosvāmī, he was great scholar in Sanskrit. He was great scholar in Parsi and Urdu. And he was minister, very learned man, and very man of position. But when he approached Caitanya Mahāprabhu, he said that "Ordinary people, they say that I am very learned man. And I am such a fool that I also accept their version. I think that I am learned man." "What is the objection? You are already learned. You are very good scholar." "Yes. Now I understand that I am fool because I do not know what I am. I may be materially advanced in learning, but if somebody asks me, 'Can you say what you are, wherefrom you have come, where you are going after death, why you are suffering all these material miseries? Can you have any remedy?' oh, there is no answer. So what sort of learned man I am? I cannot answer all these things. Therefore I have come to You."

Lecture on CC Adi-lila 7.107-109 -- San Francisco, February 15, 1967:

So any religion which is directing to obey the Supreme Lord, that is bona fide. And anything minus or "Not to Kṛṣṇa but to me," this is a nonsense rascaldom. You see. So before studying Vedānta, we should understand this fact. Caitanya Mahāprabhu is therefore stressing on this point, that there is no cheating, there is no mistake, there is no illusion, there is no imperfectness. Then we can make progress. If we are doubtful: "Oh, Bhagavad-gītā is spoken by some Kṛṣṇa, somebody. He was learned man, philosopher. So I can point out my own point..." No. Not like that.

Lecture on CC Adi-lila 7.149-171 -- San Francisco, March 18, 1967:

Now the author humbly presents himself that "Lord Caitanya, Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Prabhu, these five personalities, I offer my respectful obeisances unto the feet of these five personalities." Yaiche taiche kahi kichu caitanya... "Therefore if I have got faith in these five personalities, then it will be possible for me to describe something about Lord Caitanya." Because he is writing this book, it is description of Lord Caitanya. So he is humbly presenting himself before... This is bhakti-mārga. He is not proud that he is very learned man, he can very nicely comment. No. He is just trying to follow the footprints of his predecessors. This is the way of disciplic succession.

Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 20.98-99 -- Washington, D.C., July 4, 1976:

So we are combination of spirit and matter. This body is matter, and the moving force which is moving this body, that is spirit soul. So we are manda. We are so dull that the highest learned man and the so-called scientist and philosopher, they cannot understand this distinction. They think this body is everything. But that is not the fact. Body is not everything. The moving power of the body is the spirit soul. We are repeatedly trying to convince people this simple truth, but they are so dull-headed they cannot understand.

Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 20.98-99 -- Washington, D.C., July 4, 1976:

So therefore Sanātana Gosvāmī, he is very learned man in that time. Because it was Muhammadan time, he used to learn very nicely Arabic and Parsi, Persian language. Just like during British period we had to learn English, similarly, the state language was somewhere Arabic and somewhere Parsi. Sometimes, they are called mixed—that is called Urdu. So he was learned scholar, and he was also born of very nice brāhmaṇa family, Sanātana Gosvāmī, sārasvata-brāhmaṇa. So born brāhmaṇa family, well-educated, minister, everything, but he presents himself, nīca jāti, nīca-saṅgī, patita adhama, kuviṣaya-kūpe paḍi' goṅāinu janama! He has understood that the so-called, bodily conception that "I am rich man," "I am very learned man," "I am brāhmaṇa" or "I am American," these are useless understanding.

Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 20.98-102 -- April 27, 1976, Auckland, New Zealand:

Then Sanātana Gosvāmī said,

kṛpā-kari' yadi more kariyācha uddhāra

āpana-kṛpāte kaha 'kartavya' āmāra

"My Lord, Caitanya Mahāprabhu, very kindly You went to my place and You have delivered me so that after Your visit I decided to resign from the government service, and I have come to You. So You have delivered me from the pitfalls of this materialistic way of life. Now tell me what is my duty." This is student. This is disciple. Approach a bona fide guru, a spiritual master, and abide by his orders and do accordingly. Then your life will be successful. And if you keep yourself in the darkness, that "I am very rich man. I am very learned man, but unfortunately, I do not know what I am," so what is the use?

Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 20.100 -- Washington, D.C., July 5, 1976:

So these are Vedic instructions, and Sanātana Gosvāmī, although he was a minister in Muhammadan government, Nawab Hussain Shah's, but in touch with Caitanya Mahāprabhu, he has come to his knowledge that grāmya-vyavahāre paṇḍita: "Actually, I am not paṇḍita, but in village, in ordinary common sense, because I happen to be a brāhmaṇa, they call me paṇḍita. I also accept as paṇḍita. But my real position is that I am such a paṇḍita, such a learned man, that I do not know what is good for me. This is my position." He is submitting to Caitanya Mahāprabhu, his guru.

Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 20.100-108 -- New York, November 22, 1966:

So here, Sanātana Gosvāmī's asking that ke āmi kene āmāya jāre tāpa-traya. "Now I place myself that I do not know, but I request You to explain what I am." Now this "what I am..." Sanātana Goswami is such a learned man, he's asking from Caitanya Mahāprabhu, "What I am, I cannot know." If one thinks, "What I am?" I shall think myself that "There are so many foolish people, they're meditating, 'What I am? What I am?' 'What I am,' you are a foolish. You cannot know, 'What I am?' "

Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 20.100-108 -- New York, November 22, 1966:

So Caitanya Mahāprabhu appreciated his humbleness, because actually he was a very learned and very man of position in the society, so as a matter of reciprocation, exchange of, I mean to say, etiquette, he also accepted, "No, you are not fallen. You don't be discouraged. Simply it is the duty of any learned man to place himself like that. But you are not fool." Kṛṣṇa śakti dhara tumi: (CC Madhya 20.105) "Because you are already devotee."

Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 20.100-108 -- New York, November 22, 1966:

Just like in the Bhagavad-gītā Arjuna did not know what he was; therefore Kṛṣṇa first of all taught him that "You are not this body. You are not this body." That was the first instruction. Dehino 'smin yathā dehe kaumāraṁ yau... (BG 2.13). "You are so much absorbed in bodily conception of life, and you are thinking that you are a learned man. That is your foolishness." In the Bhagavad-gītā you'll find the first instruction of Lord Kṛṣṇa is there, aśocyān anvaśocas tvaṁ prajñā-vādāṁś ca bhāṣase: (BG 2.11) "You are thinking, you are talking with Me just like a very learned man. You are arguing with me. But from your behavior I can understand you are a fool number one." Because such kind of talk is never, I mean to say, placed by a learned man. So indirectly He said that "You are a fool." And "Why you are fool?" He said that "You are not this body. You are changing every moment your body. Why don't you think that you are not this body? Why you are identifying yourself as with the body?"

Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 20.102 -- Baltimore, July 7, 1976:

So we are after knowledge, but so many things are unknown to us. Therefore Sanātana Gosvāmī is teaching us by his practical behavior to approach the spiritual master, and putting his case that "I am suffering in this way." He was minister, there was no question of suffering. He was very well situated. That he has already explained, that grāmya-vyavahāre paṇḍita, tāi satya kari māni. "There are so many questions I cannot answer. There is no solution. Still, people say that I am very learned man—I accept it foolishly." Nobody is learned man unless he goes to the guru. Tad-vijñānārthaṁ sa gurum evābhigacchet (MU 1.2.12). Therefore Vedic injunction is that if you want to be learned, then go to guru, bona fide guru, not the so-called guru.

Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 20.104 -- New York, July 10, 1976:

Therefore in the Bhagavad-gītā the first lesson is, Kṛṣṇa began the lessons of Bhagavad-gītā that aśocyān anvaśocas tvaṁ prajñā-vādāṁś ca bhāṣase: (BG 2.11) "My dear Arjuna, you are talking like a very learned man, but you are lamenting on a subject matter which has nothing to do with you."

Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 20.120 -- Bombay, November 12, 1975:

Kṛṣṇa is the supreme father. So a devotee knows that the dog is also part and parcel of Kṛṣṇa, living entity, but he is in a different dress, dog's dress, and a learned paṇḍita, he is also the same spirit soul, but he is dressed as a learned scholar. Similarly,

vidyā-vinaya-sampanne

brāhmaṇe gavi hastini

śuni caiva śva-pāke ca

paṇḍitāḥ sama-darśinaḥ

(BG 5.18)

That is oneness, one who can see. Even from material point of view, a paṇḍita, a learned man knows that "What is this material form, your body or my body?"

Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 20.334-341 -- New York, December 24, 1966:

Now, the incarnation of God in the Dvāpara-yuga is the Supreme Personality of Godhead who is pīta-vāsā nijāyudhaḥ. He has got His own wheel, His instrument, and He has many signs on His chest, śrī-vatsa-ādibhiḥ. Kṛṣṇa was accepted as the Supreme Personality of Godhead by signs also. There are many signs on the sole, underneath the sole. There are many signs on His chest. And other characteristic of Kṛṣṇa, incarnation of Kṛṣṇa's presence, they are described in the śāstras, in the scriptures. So learned men, sages, they understood that "Here is the Supreme Personality of Godhead."

Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 20.337-353 -- New York, December 25, 1966:

So there are different hankerings, there are different persons. So, the demigods, "All right, you worship. You want this thing, you want a beautiful wife? All right, you worship Umā. You want to be very learned man? All right, you worship this Devī-Sarasvatī. Oh, you want to be, get out of your disease? All right, you worship the sun-god." So in this way, there are recommendations.

Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 20.358-359 -- New York, December 29, 1966:

Tene brahma hṛdā ādi-kavaye. Ādi-kavaye means Brahma. Kavi means the learned. Kavinaṁ purāṇam anuśāsitāram. In the Bhagavad-gītā. He's the kavinaṁ purāṇam. He's the oldest learned man. Oldest. Purāṇam. Purāṇam means oldest. Then why God is not recognized? Now muhyanti yat sūrayaḥ.

Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 25.36-40 -- San Francisco, January 23, 1967:

So Prabodhānanda Sarasvatī, he says that "I have taken the straw in my mouth." Dante nidhāya tṛṇakaṁ padayor nipatya. "And I am falling down at your feet." Padayor nipatya kāku-śataṁ kṛtvā cāham. "And I am flattering you in hundreds and thousands ways." Why? Why you are so humble? What is the intention? Kāku-śataṁ kṛtvā cāhaṁ bravīmi: "I want to say something. Please hear." "All right. Say it. What is that?" He sādhava, "Oh, you are very learned man and you are very honest man." He sādhava sakalam eva vihāya dūrād. "For the time being, so long I shall speak, whatever you have learned, please set aside. Please set aside." Sakalam eva vihāya dūrād caitanya-candra-caraṇe kurutānurāgam: "Kindly hear for some time about the topics which Caitanya Mahāprabhu has presented before you."

Sri Brahma-samhita Lectures

Lecture on Brahma-samhita, Verse 32 -- New York, July 26, 1971:

When one comes to the standard of high elevated knowledge, naturally he becomes vegetarian. Because paṇḍitāḥ sama-darśinaḥ (BG 5.18). Paṇḍita means one who is very highly learned, paṇḍita. Sama-darśinaḥ. Sama-darśinaḥ means he does not distinguish between a man, learned man...

vidyā-vinaya-sampanne

brāhmaṇe gavi hastini

śuni caiva śva-pāke ca

paṇḍitāḥ sama-darśinaḥ

(BG 5.18)

Festival Lectures

Nrsimha-caturdasi Lord Nrsimhadeva's Appearance Day -- Srimad-Bhagavatam 7.5.22-34 -- Los Angeles, May 27, 1972:

So Prahlāda Mahārāja says, iti puṁsārpitā viṣṇau bhaktiś cen nava-lakṣaṇā. All these items means hearing. Hearing about Viṣṇu, chanting about Kṛṣṇa, giving everything to Viṣṇu, offering prayers to Viṣṇu, offering arcana, temple worship, Viṣṇu. In this way Prahlāda Mahārāja summarizes that "Anyone who is doing like this, everything about Viṣṇu..." iti puṁsārpitā viṣṇau bhaktiś cen nava-lakṣaṇā, "this nine kinds of different devotional services," kriyeta bhagavatay addhā, "directly to the Supreme Personality of Godhead," tan manye 'dhītam uttamam, "I think he is the best learned man in the world. He is the most learned."

Srila Krsnadasa Kaviraja Gosvami's Appearance Day -- Vrndavana, October 19, 1972:

Just like Sanātana Gosvāmī has left his highly-salaried post, ministership, and he has come to surrender unto Caitanya Mahāprabhu. That is the beginning of spiritual life. He's a learned man, highly learned man in Sanskrit and Arabian language. Just like during British period we learned English, and it has now become established fact. I am Indian. I am speaking in Indian, uh, in English. Of course, I am speaking between, before Englishing public, but still in India, English is still predominant. Similarly, when there was Muhammadan kingdom, people learned Sanskrit, Arabian, and Persian languages. So Sanātana Gosvāmī was expert; both Rūpa Gosvāmī and Sanātana Gosvāmī were expert in three languages: Sanskrit, Arabian, and Persian. So he was not a fool. He was very learned man. From his later contributions, we can see how highly learned he was, he, how he gave references from Vedic literatures in their writings, Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu, Līlā-smaraṇam and others, books.

Srila Krsnadasa Kaviraja Gosvami's Appearance Day -- Vrndavana, October 19, 1972:

Now Sanātana Gosvāmī says that "Although in the mundane sphere I am what is known as a great, learned man..." Sanātana Gosvāmī informed Caitanya Mahāprabhu: grāmya vyavahāre kahaye paṇḍita. Just like in India, you'll find there is a system. A brāhmaṇa is addressed, "Paṇḍitji." Still, that is the etiquette. A brāhmaṇa is addressed as "Paṇḍitji," a kṣatriya is addressed as "Ṭhākura Saheb," and a vaiśya is addressed as a "Sethji" and a śūdra is addressed as "Choudhari." They have got respect for everyone. So Sanātana Gosvāmī was not a false paṇḍita.

His Divine Grace Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Gosvami Prabhupada's Appearance Day, SB 6.3.24 -- Gorakhpur, February 15, 1971:

That is also condemned in Kṛṣṇa in the Bhagavad-gītā. Na māṁ duṣkṛtino mūḍhāḥ prapadyante narādhamāḥ māyayāpahṛta-jñānāḥ (BG 7.15). You'll find amongst them very, very learned men, very, very good scholar. They can quote... Intelligent men. Because their Māyāvādī commentary, they can utilize, and Kṛṣṇa gives them intelligence also, that "You misuse this verse in this way because you want..." Tān ahaṁ dviṣataḥ krūrān (BG 16.19). Kṛṣṇa is sitting within the heart of everyone. So Māyāvādī philosopher wants to kill God, or Kṛṣṇa. Or nirviśeṣa-śūnyavādi, they want to make Kṛṣṇa as zero or Kṛṣṇa as nirākāra. So Kṛṣṇa also gives them intelligence, "Yes, you just put forward this logic, that logic, that logic, and you prove."

His Divine Grace Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Gosvami Prabhupada's Appearance Day, Lecture -- Mayapur, February 21, 1976:

So the spiritual education begins from the understanding that "I am not this body." This is spiritual education. In the Bhagavad-gītā the first instruction given by Kṛṣṇa to Arjuna is this, that we are not this body. Because Arjuna was speaking from the bodily platform, so Kṛṣṇa chastised him that aśocyān anvaśocas tvaṁ prajñā-vādāṁś ca bhāṣase: (BG 2.11) "Arjuna, you are talking like a very learned man, but you are lamenting on the subject matter on which no learned man laments." Aśocyān anvaśocas tvam.

Arrival Addresses and Talks

Arrival Lecture -- Paris, July 20, 1972:

So one brāhmaṇa who is qualified with gentle qualities and high learning vidyā-vinaya-sampanne, and a cow, an animal, and an elephant, a dog, a low-born caṇḍāla, all these living entities... A learned man sees all of them on the equal level because a learned man who is actually on the spiritual platform, he knows that "Here is a dog and here is a learned brāhmaṇa. By their karma they have got different dress only, but within the brāhmaṇa, within the dog the same spirit soul is there."

Arrival Lecture -- Philadelphia, July 11, 1975:

Paṇḍita means spiritually advanced. A person who is spiritually advanced, he sees on equal level a very learned man, vidyā-vinaya-sampanne brāhmaṇa, brāhmaṇa, the first-class man; vidyā-vinaya-sampanne gavi, an animal like cow; hasti, animal like elephant; vidyā-vinaya-sampanne brāhmaṇe gavi hastini, śuni, means dog; śva-pāka, means the dog-eater; caṇḍāla—all of them, they see equal. So what is that seeing? If I invite one learned scholar, and if I ask him, "Please sit down with the dog," will he be pleased? He will feel insulted. But I see that within the dog, there is spirit soul, and within the learned scholar, there is spirit soul.

Initiation Lectures

Initiation of Rukmini Dasi -- Montreal, August 15, 1968:

There is a nice verse in Cāṇakya Paṇḍita... Vidvatvāṁ ca nṛpatyāṁ ca naiva tulyaṁ kadācana. He says that a rich man and a learned man cannot be compared. There is no comparison. Why? Because sva-deśe pūjyate rājan vidvān sarvatra pūjyate. A rich man may be honored in his own country but a learned man, a devotee of God, he will be honored wherever he goes.

General Lectures

Lecture -- Montreal, June 26, 1968:

Because he accepted Kṛṣṇa as spiritual master, so spiritual master has the right to chide his disciple. So He immediately chided him, that aśocyān anvaśocas tvaṁ prajñā-vādāṁś ca bhāṣase. "My dear Arjuna, you are talking just like a very learned man, but you are fool number one." That was His first words. Of course, He did not say directly "fool number one," but He said indirectly that "No learned man speaks like this, as you are speaking." That means, "You are not learned man. You are fool." He indirectly said, nānuśocanti paṇḍitāḥ. Paṇḍita means learned. "No learned man speaks like that. But because you are speaking like that, that means you are not learned man. Or in one word, you are fool."

Lecture -- Montreal, June 26, 1968:

Arjuna was speaking just like ordinary gentleman on the material field, but Kṛṣṇa, when He took up his charge, He said that "You are hovering over the material plane. That is not your learning. The learning is when you understand from the spiritual platform."

aśocyān anvaśocas tvaṁ

prajñā-vādāṁś ca bhāṣase

gatāsūn agatāsūṁś ca

nānuśocanti paṇḍitāḥ

(BG 2.11)

"The paṇḍitāḥ, the learned man, he does not lament over the body, either living or dead."

Speech to Indian Audience -- Montreal, July 28, 1968:

I have read one book written by one Chinese gentleman. That book is recommended in the New York University for study. That Chinese gentleman is very learned man. He has given comparative studies of all religion and philosophies, but he recommends that "If you want to study religion as it is, then you have to go to India." So our Indian spiritual culture is still adored and worshiped by the learned section of every part of the world. And especially in America and Germany and England, they are hankering after it.

Lecture on Teachings of Lord Caitanya -- Seattle, September 25, 1968:

Now he's presenting himself before Lord Caitanya that "I am very low born, and my association is abominable. And people call me a very learned man, and I also accept that I am very learned man. But actually, I am not, because I do not know what I am." It is very nice picture, you see? In the Vedas the injunction is that if anyone wants to understand the transcendental science, he must approach to a bona fide person or a spiritual master in such humbleness as Sanātana Gosvāmī is approaching. He is born of a very high aristocratic family, but he says that "I am born very low." He's very learned man, but he says that "People say me learned man, but actually I am not." Just the position. So why he's saying that? That will be explained. Because actual learning means to know oneself. That is real knowledge.

Lecture on Teachings of Lord Caitanya -- Seattle, September 25, 1968:

So threefold miseries are always there, either one or two or three. So Sanātana Gosvāmī is presenting himself that "People call me very learned man, but I am so learned that I do not know why I am suffering from these threefold miseries." These question do not arise. Actually, when people will come to the understanding, when they will inquire that "Why I am suffering from the threefold miseries...?"

Lecture on Teachings of Lord Caitanya -- Seattle, September 25, 1968:

Praṇiptena means surrender. Paripraśnena. If you find out such, if you are fortunate enough to find out some person where you can surrender, then you can put questions before him. That Sanātana Gosvāmī is putting, that "What is my position? I think that I am very learned man, I am born of very aristocratic family and so on, so on, but actually, I do not know what I am. What is my position?" This is paripraśna, inquiry. Surrender, inquiry, and sevayā. That answer should be received in service mood.

Lecture on Teachings of Lord Caitanya -- Seattle, September 25, 1968:

The Bhagavad-gītā, the beginning of Bhagavad-gītā is that when Arjuna surrendered to Kṛṣṇa, He immediately said that "My dear Arjuna, you are posing yourself as very learned man but you are fool number one." Why? "Because you are identifying yourself with this body." Aśocyān anvaśocas tvaṁ prajñā-vādāṁś ca bhāṣase (BG 2.11). "My dear Arjuna, you are talking just like very learned man, but you are lamenting on the subject matter of your body." Gatāsūn agatāsūṁś ca nānuśocanti paṇḍitāḥ. Actually one who is learned, he has no necessity for lamenting on the subject, on the body, either living or dead. So the whole process of education in the materialistic way of civilization is on the body, how to keep the body fit, how to avoid death, how to avoid disease. Simply concentration on the body. So this bodily concept of life is immediately discouraged in the Bhagavad-gītā.

Lecture -- Seattle, October 9, 1968:

Caitanya Mahāprabhu has taught this lesson in His life, that He represented Himself as a fool. So everyone should think of himself that "I am still a fool." Just like it is said that Sir Isaac Newton... He was such a learned man, but he used to say that "I have simply collected a few grains of sand from the beach of knowledge." Knowledge is so vast that his knowledge was simply a few grains of the vast amount of sand of knowledge. So everyone should think like that. Caitanya-caritāmṛta kaj, the author, he says that "I am lowest than the germs in the stool. I have no knowledge." So the more you become advanced in knowledge, you'll know that how insignificant you are in comparison to the Supreme.

Lecture -- Montreal, October 26, 1968:

Even you become a very good man, moralist, that is also a bondage. That is also your bondage. You may have good knowledge, you may be a very good philosopher, you can understand, you may be a very learned man to understand what is this world, what is this, how it is working—very great scientist, advanced, educated man. That is goodness. But that is not the cause of your being freed from material contamination. You have to go above goodness.

Lecture -- Hawaii, March 23, 1969:

So Kṛṣṇa was accepted by Arjuna as spiritual master just to teach him what is the actual duty in that warfield. So at that time the first śiṣya, śāsana, ruling: He chastised Arjuna by these words, "My dear Arjuna, you are talking just like a very learned man, but no learned man talks like this." That means "You are a fool." He very politely said that "You are talking with Me as if you are very learned man, but your subject matter is so third-class that no learned man takes this subject matter very seriously." What is that? Bodily conception of life. "You are talking just like a very learned man, but your center of activity is the body. So this is not a learn..., symptom of a learned man."

Lecture -- Hawaii, March 23, 1969:

So if we take this crucial test of learning, we shall find hardly a learned man in this world, hardly one man, because everyone is absorbed in this bodily conception of life. All their ideas—this nationality, humanity, this duty, that duty, all—everything on this. Yasyātma-buddhiḥ kuṇape tri-dhātuke (SB 10.84.13). They are accepting this bag of skin and bones as self. You see? This is a bag made of skin and bone, and this... Is spirit soul so cheap thing that it is a bag of skin and bone and some stools and urine, combination? That is nonsense. So hardly you'll find any sane man or any learned man in this world. You see? So first teaching is that "You are not this body." That is the beginning of Kṛṣṇa's teaching.

dehino 'smin yathā dehe

kaumāraṁ yauvanaṁ jarā

tathā dehāntaraṁ prāptir

dhīras tatra na muhyati

(BG 2.13)

"My dear Arjuna, you are posing yourself as very learned man, but a learned man is not disturbed by this change of body."

Lecture at International Student Society -- Boston, May 3, 1969:

So our business is to inform you. Just like one of the devotees of Lord Caitanya, he said that padayor nipatya, "Falling down on your feet," padayor nipatya, dante nidhāya tṛnakaṁ padayor nipatya, "taking a blade of grass on my mouth and falling down on your feet with flattering and informing you, 'My dear sir, you are very learned man. I know that. But for the time being, please set aside all your learning. Kindly hear what Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu says.' " We belong to that sect, Lord Caitanya's disciplic succession. So our business is falling down on your feet and flattering you and making many, I mean to say, salvation(?), I mean simply we request you that try to understand this philosophy, Kṛṣṇa consciousness. You will be benefited.

Lecture -- Detroit, July 16, 1971:

Kṛṣṇa consciousness means paṇḍitāḥ sama-darśinaḥ, learned. One who is Kṛṣṇa conscious, he is fully learned, paṇḍita. So what is the symptom of a paṇḍita, learned man? That is stated in the Bhagavad-gītā:

vidyā-vinaya-sampanne

brāhmaṇe gavi hastini

śuni caiva śva-pāke ca

paṇḍitāḥ sama-darśinaḥ

(BG 5.18)

Lecture -- Detroit, July 16, 1971:

In our society we have got devotees from all section of people—from Christian, from Jews, from Hindus, from Muhammadan, from black, from white. It doesn't matter, because we are seeing according to the Bhagavad-gītā, paṇḍitāḥ sama-darśinaḥ (BG 5.18). A learned man sees every living entity on the equal level. So we are trying to see in that light, and we are trying to teach others also how to accept that light, how to enjoy that light.

Lecture -- Visakhapatnam, February 18, 1972:

The first question was, "What I am? Why I am placed in this miserable condition of life in the material world, suffering three kinds of miserable conditions?" Grāmya-vyavahāre kahe paṇḍita. He was prime minister of Nawab Hussain Shah, he was great learned scholar, and in Sanskrit, in Arabic language, a very respectful personality. But he is placing his difficulty to Caitanya Mahāprabhu that "Ordinarily these people, they speak of me that I am very learned man. But actually I do not know what I am." That is our position.

Sunday Feast Lecture -- Atlanta, March 2, 1975:

So Caitanya Mahāprabhu's movement is not on the bodily platform. It is on the spiritual platform. That He explained when He was talking with Sanātana Gosvāmī, that what is the identity of this living entity. Or he said, "What is my identity? Actually people address me as very learned man." He was very learned man. He was minister and was a brāhmaṇa. Naturally in those days he knew Sanskrit very well and Urdu, because Muhammadan kingdom, the Urdu language was state language just like during British period the state language was English. So he was quite conversant with these two languages, Urdu, Parsi, and Sanskrit. So he first of all submitted to Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, "My dear Lord, people address me as panditji." The brāhmaṇas are generally addressed still in India as panditji, means learned. Because brāhmaṇa means learned. A brāhmaṇa cannot be mūrkhaji. That is not possible. Brāhmaṇa means brahma jānātīti brāhmaṇaḥ. One who knows the Absolute Truth, he becomes brāhmaṇa; therefore he is addressed as panditji. So Sanātana Gosvāmī submitted that "These ordinary people address me as very learned man, panditji. But I know my position. I do not know myself, what I am. This is my position."

City Hall Lecture -- Durban, October 7, 1975:

"My dear Arjuna, you talk very much just like a learned man." Prajñā-vādāṁś ca bhāṣase. Prajñā-vādāṁs means talking just like a learned man. "Unfortunately, you are not a learned man because you are lamenting on this body." He said, gatāsūn agatāsūṁś ca nānuśocanti paṇḍitāḥ: "Anyone who is learned, he does not lament over this body whether in living position or dead position. So you are talking like a learned man, but you are not a learned man." This is the first instruction. Because Arjuna accepted Kṛṣṇa, He chastised him with little hard words, that "You are not a paṇḍita."

Address to Rotary Club -- Chandigarh, October 17, 1976:

So you cannot understand God without the mercy of God. That is the verdict of the Vedic literature. It is very easy to understand. Suppose here is a big man, rich man, learned man. You want to know about him. So you cannot understand him by speculation: "He may be of this standard. He may be like this. He may have so much money." You suggest; another friend suggests. In this way the study of that particular man is not complete. But if the same person kindly speaks and explains about himself that "Sir, I am like this." (aside:) Water. "My position is like this. I have got so much bank balance," that is the way. This is the way of understanding. It is called descending process.

Address to Rotary Club -- Chandigarh, October 17, 1976:

"Arjuna, you are talking with Me—of course, you are My friend—on equal level. You are talking just like a very learned man." You have read in the Bhagavad-gītā. He submitted his proposition, that "How can I kill my..., the other side? They are my brothers, and if the brothers are dead, my sister-in-laws will be widow and they will be polluted, and there will be varṇa-saṅkara. And so..." These things are facts, but Kṛṣṇa says that "You are simply taking calculation of the body. Body. You have no spiritual calculation. The life is meant for spiritual understanding, athāto brahma jijñāsā. But you have no such understanding. You have no such knowledge, and still you are speaking." Aśocyān anvaśocas tvaṁ prajñā-vādāṁś ca bhāṣase: (BG 2.11) "You are talking like a very learned man, but My dear friend, you are not learned."

General Lecture -- (location & date unknown):

You can see that before me many Indians came in this Western world. They also preached about this Kṛṣṇa message or Bhagavad-gītā. Great scholars came. But you have to admit that before this, the Westerners never accepted this principle of Kṛṣṇa consciousness, because they could not deliver as it is. Now they are accepting. And there is immense potency. I have studied. There is immense potency of accepting. They are actually looking after this Kṛṣṇa consciousness, the Western people. The other day I was talking with our Indian high commissioner. He also happens to be very nice, learned man. He said that "Swamiji, yes, they are looking after, like this." So, so far material advancement is concerned, they have seen enough of it. Therefore, these youngsters, they are no more interested in the material advancement. They have tasted it.

Philosophy Discussions

Philosophy Discussion on Edmund Husserl:

Śyāmasundara: No. This... All that I've described so far is only the first part of this process to understanding... He comes to the idea eventually that everything is spiritual, or noumenal, that what we see is merely a reflection. He comes to that point. So far, all I've described is the first part, so I don't think, if we make judgments on the philosophy so far, that it makes (indistinct). But actually he was very, very thoughtful and spent many years on this philosophy. So he's not stupid. He hasn't just concocted something. But his ideas are...

Prabhupāda: These arguments, he may not be stupid, these arguments, but arguments, one can..., a very learned man can be called stupid. (laughter) Because as soon as he... If you take by argument (indistinct), that's all.

Philosophy Discussion on Karl Marx:

Śyāmasundara: So he said that God does not create man, that man creates God.

Prabhupāda: That is another nonsense. He is a nonsense rascal. That is being proved by his talks. Tāvac ca śobhate mūrkho yāvat kiñcin na bhāṣate. You cannot understand a rascal fool unless he talks. Now he is talking. And sooner I did not know that he is so fool, but I can understand now he is a great fool. This is the test. Tāvac ca śobhate mūrkho yāvat kiñcin na bhāṣate. Mūrkha, you can... A mūrkha can dress himself very nicely, like gentleman sitting amongst the gentlemen, but a learned man and a fool will be understood as soon as he speaks. As soon as talks like a foolish man, one can understand, "Oh, he is a rascal." And as soon as one speaks great subject matter, then one can understand, "Oh, he is learned." So by his talking, now we can understand he is a great fool.

Philosophy Discussion on Plato:

Hayagrīva: He also stressed the process of remembering. It's called the, his, Plato's doctrine of recollection. And he says you can ask a boy, who may be ignorant of a subject, you can elicit answers from him, and this answers, he may give you the right answers, and this would suggest that he acquired this knowledge in a previous existence.

Prabhupāda: Yes. Therefore we find a student in school is very intelligent and less intelligent. Otherwise both of them of the same age, why one is more intelligent, he grasps the matter very quickly, and why the other is not so intelligent? This is everything that putra-janma dṛḍhaṁ vidyā putra-janma dṛḍhaṁ dhanam. (indistinct) The two things especially, knowledge, education and money, they are earned in the previous birth, not that all of a sudden one has become rich, all of a sudden one has become very learned man. No. It is continuous. So if one man is extraordinarily learned, it is to be understood that it is the result of his previous culture.

Philosophy Discussion on Plato:

Prabhupāda: So in monarchy also there was council of learned men, brāhmaṇas, great saintly persons. Even Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira was guided like that. Lord Rāmacandra was guided. That is the system. Even monarchy was there, still he was advised by learned scholars and brāhmaṇas and saintly persons, and he would do according to their decision.

Purports to Songs

Purport to Brahma-samhita Verses 32 and 38 -- New York, November 5, 1966:

(Sings Brahma-saṁhitā, verses 32-35, 37, 38, 29) Premāñjana-cchurita-bhakti-vilocanena santaḥ sadaiva hṛdayeṣu vilokayanti (Bs. 5.38). Now, people say that "Whether God can be seen? If anyone has seen God?" Yes, God can be seen. There is no doubt about it. But it requires some qualifications. Not some, but only one qualification. God is so kind that He does not require any material qualification. He does not require that you should be very learned man, very beautiful, or very rich man, or a king or emperor or minister or president, no, nothing of the sort. You can be anything. But only one qualification required. Then you can see God.