Prabhupāda: Otherwise, before Lord Buddha, there was all the... Not only in India, in other parts of the world. They were followers of Vedic principles. So in that sense, you can say if followers of Vedic principles are called Hindus, then before Lord Buddha, everyone was Hindu all over the world. Not that particular part of India. So far we have got historical reference from Mahābhārata, Indo-European stock, they are also Hindus, the so-called Hindus, followers of Vedic principles. Yes. Gradually, they deviated.
Mahabharata (Conversations)
Conversations and Morning Walks
1968 Conversations and Morning Walks
1969 Conversations and Morning Walks
Conversation Including Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.2.1-34 Recitation & Explanation -- April 1, 1969, San Francisco:
Prabhupāda: "So we want to see him naked in this assembly." So she prayed Kṛṣṇa. Mahābhārata story is very nice, how Kṛṣṇa, protecting His devotee.
Room Conversation with Allen Ginsberg -- May 13, 1969, Columbus, Ohio:
Prabhupāda: So we have accepted Lord Caitanya as Kṛṣṇa not fanatically. There are evidence in Mahābhārata, in Upaniṣads, in Purāṇas, in Bhāgavata, in all Vedic scripture.
Room Conversation With John Lennon, Yoko Ono, and George Harrison -- September 11, 1969, London, At Tittenhurst:
Prabhupāda: Everything belongs to God, Kṛṣṇa. Sarva-loka. Not only on this planet. We have divided this planet in so many states. Actually this planet was not divided. From the history of Mahābhārata we understand. This planet, there was only one king, one emperor, in India, Hastinapur. Even up to five thousand years ago, there was only one king, Mahārāja Parīkṣit, one flag. And he came out for touring over his kingdom, and he found somebody near Sindh, a black man killing a cow.
Room Conversation With John Lennon, Yoko Ono, and George Harrison -- September 11, 1969, London, At Tittenhurst:
Prabhupāda: The adjective dharma-kṣetra, it is from Vedic age. Then the Pāṇḍavas and the Kauravas, they are historical persons. The history is there, Mahābhārata. Then where is the question of interpreting Kurukṣetra as "this body," and the Pāṇḍavas as "the senses"? Where do you get this opportunity to interpret?
1970 Conversations and Morning Walks
Room Conversation -- December 13, 1970, Indore:
Prabhupāda: So we Vaiṣṇavas, we are chanting. It does not mean that when there is need of fighting with avaiṣṇava we shall lack in strength. We can fight. One gentleman inquired from me that "Vaiṣṇavism makes one dull. He cannot act." And, "No. You have not seen a Vaiṣṇava." In the two fightings, great fighting, the Rāmāyaṇa and Mahābhārata, the hero was Hanuman and Arjuna, and they fought.
1971 Conversations and Morning Walks
Conversation with Prof. Kotovsky -- June 22, 1971, Moscow:
Prabhupāda: We published most of them, then some parts of Rāmāyaṇa, eight volumes in Russian, Mahābhārata... We have also second edition of Mahābhārata, translated by different people.
Room Conversation with Dr. Weir of the Mensa Society -- September 5, 1971, London:
Śyāmasundara: Bhagavad-gītā-did it take place? There was a battlefield of Kurukṣetra.
Prabhupāda: Yes. It is historical. Mahābhārata. Mahābhārata means the history of Greater India. Mahābhārata.
Dr. Weir: Mahābhārata.
Prabhupāda: This Mahābhārata means, mahā means greater. Formerly 5,000 years ago, the whole planet was called Bhārata, India. India it is now called. Actually the name is Bhārata. Bhārata is the name given after the reign of Mahārāja, one King Bhārata. He was the ruler, emperor, of the whole world. After his reign this planet is called Bhārata, this whole planet, Mahābhārata. Mahābhārata is Greater India or Greater Bhārata. The headquarter was in India but it was greater, according to Mahābhārata history and this Bhagavad-gītā is given there in the Mahābhārata. Therefore it is history. And actually it is historical because the battlefield is still existing...
1972 Conversations and Morning Walks
Room Conversation -- June 29, 1972, San Diego:
Prabhupāda: So that carrying out the order of Caitanya Mahāprabhu depends on one's personal capacity. Āmāra ājñāya guru hañā. Acceptance of Caitanya Mahāprabhu as Kṛṣṇa, that is there in the śāstra, in the Upaniṣads, in Mahābhārata, in Bhāgavata.
1973 Conversations and Morning Walks
Morning Walk -- March 1, 1973, Jakarta:
Prabhupāda: These are all oriental countries. Five thousand years ago this whole planet was India, Bhārata-varṣa. That we get from history, Mahābhārata. This planet name is Bhārata-varṣa.
Room Conversation with Indian Guests -- July 11, 1973, London:
Guest (3): So so many stories he had memorized, and he started writing and asking many questions, Prabhupāda, so I'm not... But he has got the talent that if he'll get the right guidance and all this, he can easily translate Mahābhārata, many stories in the book shape, in different articles, which can very much help in our movement.
Prabhupāda: Yes.
Room Conversation with Indian Guests -- July 11, 1973, London:
Prabhupāda: Vidura was neutral. He left home when he understood that "Fighting is now inevitable. They'll fight. Why shall I remain here?" He left home. And Kṛṣṇa also said that "I will not fight. I'll not fight because this is family quarrel. I am known to every one of you. We are related. So I cannot take this side or that side. I may be..." He divided... He, by tricks... His soldiers one side, and He Himself one side. So Duryodhana preferred, Duryodhana preferred His soldiers, that "Why shall I take this one man. I'll take His soldiers." And Arjuna said, "No, I want Kṛṣṇa." So Kṛṣṇa said, "Although I'm going to your side, but I'll not fight. Mind that." And, "Never mind, You don't fight." Mahābhārata is very nice. "Greater India." Mahābhārata means "The History of Greater India." Mahābhārata. Mahā means "greater."
Room Conversation with Indian Guests -- July 11, 1973, London:
Prabhupāda: And that was written for strī-śūdra-dvija-bandhūnām (SB 1.4.25). Mahābhārata was written by... This is history, but it was written by Vyāsadeva for woman, strī, śūdra and dvija-bandhu. Dvija-bandhu means those who are born in high family, brāhmaṇa, kṣatriya, vaiśya, but they are not cultured as their forefathers. They are called dvija-bandhu. And they are compared with śūdras. So strī-śūdra-dvija-bandhūnām. For these women, śūdra and dvija-bandhu, Mahābhārata is Vedic literature. But for their understanding... They could not understand the Vedic language directly. Therefore Mahābhārata was written. And in Mahābhārata he gave the topics, Kṛṣṇa and Arjuna, Bhagavad-gītā. Therefore Bhagavad-gītā is the essence of all Vedic literatures.
Room Conversation with Two Buddhist Monks -- July 12, 1973, London:
Prabhupāda: From Mahābhārata we can understand that when Bhīma, Arjuna and Kṛṣṇa went to Jarāsandha to fight with him, enemy, so in the daytime they were fighting like enemies, and at night Kṛṣṇa, Bhīma and Arjuna were guests in the house of the same Jarāsandha.
Room Conversation with Dr. Arnold Toynbee, Famous Historian, at his home or office -- July 22, 1973, London:
Prabhupāda: No, they... So far our Mahābhārata is concerned, we understand that the Greek people came from India.
Room Conversation with Sanskrit Professor -- August 13, 1973, Paris:
Pradyumna: Uh. "Kirāta. A province of old Bhāratavarṣa mentioned in the Bhīṣma-parva of the Mahābhārata. Generally the Kirātas are known as the aboriginal tribes of India. And in modern days the Santal Parganas in Bihar and Chota Nagpur might comprise the old province named Kirāta."
Prabhupāda: They're black.
Pradyumna: "Hūṇa. The area of East Germany and part of Russia is known as the province of the Hūṇas. Accordingly, sometimes a kind of hill tribe is known as the Hūṇas, the Huns."
Prabhupāda: Hoons.
Pradyumna: "Andhra. A province in Southern India mentioned in the Bhīṣma-parva of Mahābhārata. It is still extant under the same name. Pulinda. It is mentioned in Mahābhārata, Ādi 174.38, that is the inhabitants of the province of the name, Pulinda. This country was conquered by Bhīmasena and Sahadeva. The Greeks are known as Pulindas, and it is mentioned in the Vana-parva of the Mahābhārata that the non-Vedic race of this part of the world would rule over the world. This Pulinda province was also one of the provinces of Bhārata, and the inhabitants were classified amongst the kṣatriya kings. But later on, due to their giving up the brahminical culture, they were mentioned as mlecchas, just as those who are not followers of the Islamic culture are called kafirs, and those who are not followers of the Christian culture are called heathens. Ābhīra. This name also appears in Mahābhārata, both in the Sabhā-parva and the Bhīṣma-parva. It is mentioned that this province was situated on the River Sarasvatī in Sind. The modern Sind province formerly extended on the other side of the Arabian Sea. All the inhabitants of that province were known as the Ābhīras. They were under the domination of Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira and, according to the statements of Mārkaṇḍeya, the mlecchas of this part of the world would also rule over Bhārata. Later on, this proved to be true, as it was proved in the case of the Pulindas. On behalf of the Pulindas, Alexander the Great conquered India, and on behalf of the Ābhīras, Muhammad Ghori conquered India. These Ābhīras were also formerly kṣatriyas within the brahminical culture, but they gave up the connection. But the kṣatriyas who were afraid of Paraśurāma and had hidden themselves in the Caucasian hilly regions later on became known as the Ābhīras, and the place they inhabited was known as Ābhīradeśa. Śumbha, or the..." (break)
Prabhupāda: One Yavana fought with him, Kālayavana.
Professor: Because usually the Yavanas is considered as being Greeks.
Prabhupāda: Greeks.
Professor: Yes.
Prabhupāda: Yes.
Room Conversation with Sanskrit Professor -- August 13, 1973, Paris:
Prabhupāda: Turks and Greeks...
Professor: Yes.
Prabhupāda: What is the mention there?
Pradyumna: Turkey.
Prabhupāda: Hm. Then?
Pradyumna: Then... "Another ..."
Prabhupāda: As far as I have searched out from Mahābhārata... Yes.
Conversation at Airport -- October 26, 1973, Bombay:
Prabhupāda: No, no, this is not the question, population. Population was... Formerly one man used to beget one hundred children. From Mahābhārata we understand that Dhṛtarāṣṭra, his name is mentioned because he was king. That means at that time people were able to beget one hundred children. And who is begetting one hundred children now? One, two, three, four, that's all. How the population can be increased now? It is all bogus propaganda.
Guest (1): What do you think is the solution of these difficulties?
Prabhupāda: Solution of difficulty is to take to Kṛṣṇa consciousness.
Morning Walk -- December 30, 1973, Los Angeles:
Prabhupāda: Yes. So without revolution, (indistinct), you cannot change old order. "Old orders changes giving place to new." That old order changes... Everywhere it is by violence. The Mahābhārata also, the Battle of Kurukṣetra. Kṛṣṇa was there. He tried to settle up. But it was not settled without violence.
1974 Conversations and Morning Walks
Morning Walk 'Varnasrama College' -- March 14, 1974, Vrndavana:
Prabhupāda: No, there is no need. History, we simply read Mahābhārata, history of the great men, Pāṇḍavas, how they were fighting for the good cause, how they were reigning. That history. Not this rascal history. If you study that history millions of years, what is that history and what you'll learn from that history? You learn history of the really great men, how they worked, how they ruled. That is a... You study history of Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira.
Hṛdayānanda: Mahābhārata.
Prabhupāda: Study the history of Mahārāja Parīkṣit. That is required. Not that simply chronological record, all nonsense, and big, big books, and making research. Why should you waste your time in that way?
Morning Walk -- March 25, 1974, Bombay:
Prabhupāda: Whole Sanskrit language in poetry. Bhagavad-gītā is in poetry. Bhāgavata in poetry. Mahābhārata in poetry.
Morning Walk -- April 5, 1974, Bombay:
Prabhupāda: This is the Māyāvādī's version. They do not accept the Purāṇas. This is Māyāvādī version. But our paramparā system, Madhvācārya, he has accepted Purāṇas, Rāmāyaṇa, Mahābhārata, as Vedic literature. So we have to follow the ācārya. Ācāryavān puruṣo... Yes. Not only Madhvācārya, all, all other ācāryas.
Morning Walk -- April 16, 1974, Bombay:
Dr. Patel: ...Mahābhārata. I think produced by, in Baroda.
Prabhupāda: I have got Mahābhārata. Not that published by the Gita Press.
Dr. Patel: They are all, really they have made it... For forty years they collected all the books...
Prabhupāda: Anyway, I have got this Mahābhārata.
Morning Walk -- April 17, 1974, Bombay:
Prabhupāda: ...purpose of life. But they do not know what is the purpose of life. They have taken the idea of cats and dogs, simply sense gratification. Now, where, how there will be good government. (break) ...all leniency to the Mohammedans to get vote. That's a fact. (break) Mahābhārata, anywhere, or Rāmāyaṇa, you'll never find a woman is elected on the topmost post.
Press Conference -- April 18, 1974, Hyderabad:
It is the duty of the leader, government, father, teacher, gurus, to see that the subordinates are very, very happy. We find in the history of Mahābhārata that during the time of Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira people were not suffering even from excessive heat or cold or any anxiety. So it is the duty of the leaders of the people and the government to see that the citizens are perfectly happy in their occupational duties and they are advancing in spiritual knowledge, because human life is not to live a polished animal life. That is not human life.
Morning Walk -- May 3, 1974, Bombay:
Prabhupāda: ...accepted by Indra is all described in the Bhagavad-gītā. (break) ...composed after Mahābhārata.
Room Conversation with Prof. Regamay, Professor of Sanskrit at the University of Lausanne -- June 4, 1974, Geneva:
Prabhupāda: Gandhi, actually he did not know anything.
Prof. Regamay: Yes, he read Bhagavad-gītā in English.
Prabhupāda: That is also nonsense. There was no Kṛṣṇa. There was no Mahābhārata or Kurukṣetra. He has written like that.
Room Conversation with Scientists -- July 2, 1974, Melbourne:
Prabhupāda: No, practically also we see. Formerly big, big saintly person they used to live in the forest, and their livelihood was fruits and milk. They used to keep cows and draw milk from them, and whatever fruits are available in the forest, and they have given us these literatures, Vyāsadeva. So the... He has written Mahābhārata, one hundred thousand verses and similarly, this Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, he has given us eighteen thousand verses. And each verse is full of so grave meaning that if you study, it will take months and months together. So they developed such nice brain simply by drinking milk and fruits. Yes.
Room Conversations -- September 10, 1974, Vrndavana:
Prabhupāda: We take that it is a competition of the thieves. All rascals. That's not the civilization. And Mahābhārata history also we find so many demons. Just like..., what is called, that asura, he simply plundered all the beautiful princesses.
Devotee (2): Bhaumāsura?
Prabhupāda: Bhaumāsura, something like that. They all of them became Kṛṣṇa's wife. They prayed to Kṛṣṇa to be rescued from the hands of...
1975 Conversations and Morning Walks
Room Conversation with Indian Guests -- March 13, 1975, Tehran:
Prabhupāda: So do that. Don't approach the cheater guru, bluffer guru, and be cheated. Stop this business. This has spoiled the whole spiritual atmosphere of the world. Take guru, the supreme guru, Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa, when in Mahābhārata when Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira performed rājasūya yajña, in the rājasūya yajña one person is elected the chief guest. So in that yajña many big, big demigods were present, and Bhīṣmadeva was present, Vyāsadeva was present, and many, many other saintly person, brāhmaṇa, from the whole universe were present. And Kṛṣṇa was decided to be accepted as the... Everyone agreed to accept Him as the chief guest.
Room Conversation with Yoga Student -- March 14, 1975, Iran:
Indian man: Some people take Kṛṣṇa of Bhagavad-gītā. So far as Bhagavad-gītā was preached by a philosopher like Kṛṣṇa, all other things are not so pertinent. But when people associate Kṛṣṇa with Bhāgavata, Kṛṣṇa of Mahābhārata and Kṛṣṇa of Bhagavad-gītā, Bhagavad-gītā being a apart from Bhārata, if they all take together there's a lot of confusion.
Prabhupāda: Kṛṣṇa of Bhagavad-gītā, Kṛṣṇa of Bhāgavata and Kṛṣṇa, Mahābhārata—the same.
Morning Walk -- May 16, 1975, Perth:
Paramahaṁsa: The Greeks say that they built their buildings... They hired some very big men called cyclopses, big giants. And they came and built all the buildings.
Prabhupāda: Yes. And such stories are in Mahābhārata also. The demons were engaged, giants and demons, for construction. Yes. And they were very good artist, how to do it. Now we employ the first-class men, so-called first-class engineering, but they were meant for the demons and giants. Yes.
Morning Walk -- July 12, 1975, Philadelphia:
Balavanta: ...the Vikings first discovered America, they said.
Brahmānanda: From Scandanavia came, before Columbus.
Balavanta: But Mahābhārata describes all the continents even way before that, doesn't it?
Prabhupāda: Yes.
Morning Walk -- September 26, 1975, Ahmedabad:
Prabhupāda: Kṛṣṇa is always smiling because Kṛṣṇa is ānandamayo abhyāsāt. That is the feature of God. He is ānandamaya.
Indian man (4): But (unclear) even in Mahābhārata at the time of chariot, while sitting on the chariot of Arjuna, He was always smiling. There was a lot of battle going on, but He never lost His...
Prabhupāda: Temper.
Indian man (4): Temper.
Indian man (5): Yes. How do you think about somebody in last few days defeated the existence of Mahābhārata itself? They say it is a...
Prabhupāda: Who is that man?
Indian man (4): They may, they may.
Prabhupāda: He has defeated?
Indian man (5): No, if they say that "There was nothing like Mahābhārata," you tell.
Indian man (3): They may say, but...
Prabhupāda: The foolish man can say anything. (Hindi) How he becomes more than all the ācāryas, this rascal?
Morning Walk -- November 4, 1975, Bombay:
Prabhupāda: Yes. Somebody has constructed big, big, big building but he does not think that how long he will be able to enjoy it. After this body he has to change.
Dr. Patel: That is... In Mahābhārata there is one śloka. I don't remember the exact Sanskrit wording, but Yudhiṣṭhira said that he so much... I mean, he cannot understand why people see every day people dying outside but they don't think about that they are going to die...
Prabhupāda: Kim āścāryam ataḥ param. Kim āścāryam ataḥ param.
Morning Walk -- November 7, 1975, Bombay:
Prabhupāda: Yes. In this kind of-Bhagavad-gītā śloka, Bhāgavata śloka, and doll exhibition—so you prepare. I will give you the suggestion.
Dr. Patel: Sir, I have one point to ask you, that Vyāsa Bhagavān was not satisfied, doing all these things, and he finally composed the Bhāgavatam. But even Mahābhārata can be called equal to any of them. Mahābhārata, with the Bhagavad-gītā in... With the Vidura-nīti, with the Viṣṇu-sahasra-nāma and all these things can be equal to any other...
Prabhupāda: Stri-śūdra-dvija-bandhūnām (SB 1.4.25). It is meant for less intelligent class of men: stri, woman; śūdra; and dvija-bandhu. Dvija-bandhu means persons who are born in high family but they have no education. Just like a man born in brāhmaṇa family...
Dr. Patel: Brahma-bandhu.
Prabhupāda: ...but without education, without qualification, he wants to become a brāhmaṇa. They are called brahma-bandhu or dvija-bandhu. So Mahābhārata is meant for the, these persons: stri-śūdra-dvija-bandhunam. They cannot understand directly the Vedic injunctions; therefore it is simplified in a history. Mahābhārata is the history. History and stories, ordinary people, they can read with interest. But those who are advanced, they want higher philosophical thoughts. That is Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.
Morning Walk -- November 7, 1975, Bombay:
Dr. Patel: But, sir, mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja, He has already said in Mahābhārata also, you know?
Prabhupāda: Yes.
Dr. Patel: He composed Mahābhārata much before he composed Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.
Prabhupāda: Mahābhārata... Gītā is part of Mahābhārata.
Dr. Patel: That is what I said. He has already mentioned that, mam ekam śaraṇaṁ vraja.
Prabhupāda: Yes.
Morning Walk -- November 8, 1975, Bombay:
Prabhupāda: Jaya. Hare Kṛṣṇa. (break) ...explained in Bhagavad-gītā. Unfortunately the rascals will not take it. That is the difficulty.
Dr. Patel: In my time, when, your time, I mean our time, in the school there was a compulsion of learning the Mahābhārata and Rāmāyaṇa. Now these modern principals,(?) they don't know anything about it. Absolutely there is no knowledge. My daughter said, "What is Rāmāyaṇa?" I had to look at a English edition of Rāmāyaṇa and give her Mahābhārata. That is what they are teaching now in the schools. So this race is going bankrupt. What about knowing about Bhagavad-gītā and Bhāgavata? They don't know simple Mahābhārata.
Morning Walk -- November 12, 1975, Bombay:
Dr. Patel: If the modern politicians of the world follow the teaching of even Mahābhārata and śanti-parva, there will be śanti all over. What is your opinion, sir? That is sufficient if they don't go ahead further.
Prabhupāda: Śānti means to become devotee. Otherwise there is no question of. Jñātvā māṁ śāntim ṛcchati. That is wanted. If one does not know Kṛṣṇa, where is śanti?
Morning Walk -- November 13, 1975, Bombay:
Brahmānanda: They say the Mahābhārata was written 1400 B.C., and that date correlates with dates of the Egyptian and Greek Empire.
Prabhupāda: No, no, so many dates have been quoted there. Which is correct? That is our question. So many dates they have discussed. And which one is correct? Either everyone is correct or everyone is incorrect. This is the... There cannot be many dates; that is not possible. Date must be one. So which one is correct? Who will answer this?
Morning Walk -- November 13, 1975, Bombay:
Prabhupāda: Others, they do not accept. So...
Yaśomatīnandana: Funny thing is that some of the historians, they say, "There was no war like Mahābhārata. It's all fictitious. There's nothing like Kurukṣetra." Some historians say that there is Kurukṣetra and there is evidences of war of Mahābhārata. But none of them completely agree with the scriptures. They all have their own fantastic theories, even those who say that...
Prabhupāda: So why shall I accept them?
Yaśomatīnandana: How can we prove the...
Prabhupāda: They cannot prove. Our proof is already there. They cannot prove. Why don't you take that point, that these rascals, they are contradictory to one another, so they cannot prove. Our proof is already there.
Morning Walk -- November 13, 1975, Bombay:
Yaśomatīnandana: But how can we impress the masses that we are right, the innocent people?
Prabhupāda: They are not historians, rascals. They will believe Mahābhārata. They are not so-called historians, scientists. They still believe in the Vedic standard.
Yaśomatīnandana: People in general.
Prabhupāda: Oh, yes. They're actually doing that. They may believe or not believe; our belief is going on all over the world. Is it not?
Morning Walk -- November 13, 1975, Bombay:
Prabhupāda: They have been taught like that.
Yaśomatīnandana: And they put out books on Mahābhārata or Rāmacandra, "Indian mythology."
Prabhupāda: But who cares for them?
Morning Walk -- December 10, 1975, Vrndavana:
Indian man: Raja Gopalācārya, he has written in Mahābhārata that Kṛṣṇa was killed by a hunter.
Prabhupāda: Therefore the hunter is...
Indian man: "Kṛṣṇa Passes Away," the heading of his chapter.
Harikeśa: You said about a couple of years ago that "What ordinary man would be killed if he was shot in the arrow by a heel," I mean, "shot in the heel by an arrow?" No ordinary man dies that way.
Prabhupāda: So who reads Raja Gopalācārya's Mahābhārata? (laughter) They are rotting at Bharatiya Vidyabhavan.
Morning Walk -- December 17, 1975, Bombay:
Prabhupāda: There was one devotee, he, some Queen or somebody, she was approached by somebody, that two poets are come... Ah, Kalidāsa, yes. "Kalidāsa poet has come to see you." So she immediately said, "I know only two poets, Vyāsadeva and Valmikī, and all other poets I kick out!"
Dr. Patel: This is Rāmāyaṇa and Mahābhārata.
Prabhupāda: "I know only two poets." So she refused to see Kalidāsa.
1976 Conversations and Morning Walks
Morning Walk -- January 6, 1976, Nellore:
Acyutānanda: It already has our name. If the Bhagavad-gītā is in the Mahābhārata—that's itihāsa—how did it get the name Upaniṣad, Gītopaniṣad?
Prabhupāda: Because it is spoken by Kṛṣṇa. Itihāsa also Vedic literature. Pañcama-veda, Mahābhārata, for understanding of the common man. Strī-śūdra-dvija-bandhūnāṁ trayi na śruti-gocarāḥ (SB 1.4.25). Woman, śūdra, and dvija-bandhu, they cannot understand directly the Vedas.
Morning Walk -- March 18, 1976, Mayapura:
Prabhupāda: Each rich.... Is it impossible to compose verses by the cavemen? How foolish they are. Not only that, in Mahābhārata there are 100,000 verses. In Bhāgavata, there are 18,000 verses. In the Purāṇas... Where is such rich literature? If they were cavemen, wherefrom this literature came?
Satsvarūpa: They also said Kṛṣṇa was a tribal chief. But how could He speak such philosophy?
Prabhupāda: How rascal they are.
Morning Walk -- April 12, 1976, Bombay:
Dr. Patel: They will agree later on that the dialectical materialism is not the right thing, but the dialectical spiritualism is the right thing. What Karl Marx said was wrong. But they have started reading the Vedas and all these, Rāmāyaṇa, Mahābhārata, and...
Prabhupāda: They have got good sympathy for Indian culture.
Morning Walk -- May 30, 1976, Honolulu:
Devotee (3): People sometimes ask, "If Bhagavad-gītā was spoken by Kṛṣṇa and it was recorded by Vyāsadeva in the Mahābhārata, was Vyāsadeva actually present there on the Battlefield of Kurukṣetra, or did he see it by revelation?"
Prabhupāda: No. Here, just like something's happening ten thousand miles away. You can record it by modern machine.
Morning Walk -- June 4, 1976, Los Angeles:
Prabhupāda: Yes, there is a nice story in this connection. There was one Gopal Ban. So he was very cunning fellow. In the Muhammadan period in Bengal. So the Mohammedan Nawab asked him, "Gopal Ban, can you prepare a Mahābhārata in my name?" "Oh, yes!" So, "I'll engage so many paṇḍitas, and they will make a Mahābhārata, your activities, your glories, everything. So give me one hundred thousand rupees, just begin." He was taking money, taking money, "Yes, it is going on, going on." "Then when it will be published?" "Yes, just last few days more. Now, sir, everything is prepared. So the one thing is, you have to give me information how many husbands you have got, your wife, huh? How many husbands your wife has got?" That is very insulting. "What, you nonsense, you take." "No, that is the main feature of Mahābhārata. Draupadī had five husbands, so how many husbands your wife has got? Tell me that." Then, "No, no, I don't want that. I am the only husband." "Then how can you write Mahābhārata?" (laughter) "I don't want." "All right. If you want Mahābhārata you must tell how many your wife has got husbands." That he cannot say. So Mahābhārata finished.
Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: And he kept the money.
Prabhupāda: Yes.
Room Conversation After Film -- June 28, 1976, New Vrindaban:
Prabhupāda: Yes. Court jesters, yes. So there was a man, court jester, in Bengal. So the Muhammadan governor asked one Gopal Bhan, jester... He was jester in the court of Raja Krishna Chandra. So he asked him, Nawab, that "Gopal Bhan, I have heard you are very expert. Can you write a similar book, Mahābhārata, about my kingdom?" (laughter) "Oh, yes. Why not?" That is not... So he took some hundred thousands of rupees and again come: "Give me another ten thousand," "Another ten," in this way. "When the book will be finished? You have taken so much money." "It is just on the verge of being finished." Then, when he saw that no more money can be taken—"I have taken so much money"—then he one day said that "Now, sir, one information is very essential. That is wanted. You give me, and the Mahābhārata will be finished. Everything is there." "What is that information?" "Now, your wife, how many husband she has got?" "This is nonsense!" "Eh? Well, that is the main subject matter of Mahābhārata. Draupadī had five husbands, so you are such a great person, your wife must have at least one dozen. Otherwise how Mahābhārata will...?" "It is the subject matter of?" "Yes, that is the only subject matter, that Draupadī had five husbands. So you are such a big nawab, your wife must at least have one dozen. So give me their names." So he became very angry, "Don't talk all this nonsense." "Then I cannot finish your Mahābhārata." "I have already invested..." So he took another ten thousand rupees, and he said, "Stop all this nonsense. That's all right." So these rascals, they are writing Gopal Bhan's Mahābhārata, and the rascal government is paying them.
Room Conversation -- July 2, 1976, New Vrindaban:
Prabhupāda: Śruti mahāpure. (indistinct) yasya linde paraṁ brahma. "Let others worship the śrutis and others smṛtis, all these Vedic literature, and others Mahābhārata for liberation. But I shall worship Nanda Mahārāja, because in his courtyard the Param Brahmā is loitering. I shall worship Nanda Mahārāja. He's so powerful that he's made the Param Brahman come here and carry his shoes."
Conversation with Prof. Saligram and Dr. Sukla -- July 5, 1976, Washington, D.C.:
Dr. Sukla: We have started teaching your Gītā at Georgetown University, where I teach. Before we had, we have two years course of Sanskrit, and we had some excerpts from Mahābhārata and some Pañca-tantra and so on, but there was no Gītā. So I decided and we were using the entire Gītā for the second year. Your contributions can't be duplicated.
Prabhupāda: Thank you very much.
Evening Darsana -- July 6, 1976, Washington, D.C.:
Guest (1) (Indian man): When you talk of Kṛṣṇa, sometimes when we talk with our friends here, to ask you this thing, when you talk of Kṛṣṇa, do we mean that we are talking of Kṛṣṇa of Mahābhārata, or we are talking of the Kṛṣṇa the God, or the supreme head?
Prabhupāda: Kṛṣṇa Mahābhārata and Kṛṣṇa God is the same person. Why do you differentiate? My question will be how do you differentiate the Kṛṣṇa Mahābhārata and Kṛṣṇa God different? Because Kṛṣṇa is speaking Bhagavad-gītā. That is a chapter in the Mahābhārata. So how do you differentiate? What is the cause that you are differentiating?
Evening Darsana -- July 6, 1976, Washington, D.C.:
Prabhupāda: No, you think you have already explained. But where is the basis of your thinking like that? Because everyone knows the Mahābhārata battle was there, Battle of Kurukṣetra, that is a chapter in the Mahābhārata. And Kṛṣṇa is the speaker in that Battle of Kurukṣetra and Arjuna is the fighter. How do you take away the Kṛṣṇa of Mahābhārata from the Battlefield of Kurukṣetra? What is your reason?
Evening Darsana -- July 6, 1976, Washington, D.C.:
Prabhupāda: You have to take it, because there is no difference. As soon as you bring in Mahābhārata and Kṛṣṇa, the Kṛṣṇa is the same. You cannot take it differently. Because Kṛṣṇa is speaking to one of the parties of the fighters, the Kurus and the Pāṇḍavas, and that is the beginning of Bhagavad-gītā. Dharma-kṣetre kuru-kṣetre samaveta yuyutsavaḥ (BG 1.1). Yuyutsavaḥ means two parties desiring to fight. Who are those parties? Māmakaḥ pāṇḍavāś caiva (BG 1.1). That is the beginning of Bhagavad-gītā. That is the Mahābhārata history. So how you can differentiate this Kṛṣṇa, that Kṛṣṇa? There is no possibility, it is imagination. The beginning is Mahābhārata and the Bhagavad-gītā.
Evening Darsana -- July 6, 1976, Washington, D.C.:
Guest (2) (Indian man): Swamiji, excuse me for this, I read an article recently. One of my secretaries he brought that article to me, it was written by Dr. Bannerji in India-he's a professor at Calcutta University. And he says that Kṛṣṇa and the Mahābhārata, the Kurukṣetra, that is all a visionation.
Prabhupāda: That is his foolishness. He's a fool. He does not know the facts, and he has posed himself as a learned scholar. That is the difficulty-fools and rascals presenting themselves as scholar and misrepresenting. People are being misguided. Because he is a learned scholar, you are citing his example. But he is a fool. He does not know what is Mahābhārata, what is Kṛṣṇa. And still, he wants to say something, that is his foolishness. He does not know, and still he wants to speak something. That is cheating. The cheating propensity is there for conditioned souls. He does not know one thing, still he wants to speak as an authority. That is cheating. How you can differentiate? If you are actually student of Mahābhārata, then how we can differentiate the speaker in the Battlefield of Kurukṣetra and Kṛṣṇa? Kṛṣṇa is accepted there as Bhagavān. Whenever Vyāsadeva writes Kṛṣṇa statements, he writes bhagavān uvāca. He's Bhagavān, as well as He's a historical person in the Mahābhārata. He never writes kṛṣṇa uvāca, he writes bhagavān uvāca. And Arjuna admits, paraṁ brahma paraṁ dhāma pavitraṁ paramaṁ bhavān puruṣam ādyam (BG 10.12), "You are the Supreme Person." How can you differentiate Kṛṣṇa of Mahābhārata and Kṛṣṇa of Bhagavad-gītā, Kṛṣṇa...? These are miscalculations.
Guest (1): No, sir, we didn't say Kṛṣṇa of Mahābhārata; we said that when you read the Vedic literatures, there comes some nirguṇa-brahman and saguṇa-brahman. Now my question...
Prabhupāda: But Kṛṣṇa is paraṁ brahman.
Room Conversation -- July 6, 1976, Washington, D.C.:
Hari-śauri: But if somehow or other that sun-moon thing can be proved, then they'll all be finished, completely.
Prabhupāda: It will not be finished because some rascals, fools will remain to support it.
Svarūpa Dāmodara: It's always like that, just like in Mahābhārata...
Prabhupāda: Yes.
Evening Darsana -- July 11, 1976, New York:
Indian man (6): No, even in Rāmāyaṇa and Mahābhārata we find this kind of, Ekalavya was discriminated, Karṇa was discriminated...
Prabhupāda: Because he was not accustomed to the practice of brāhmaṇa. One must be brāhmaṇa by practice; that is wanted.
Press Interview at Muthilal Rao's House -- August 17, 1976, Hyderabad:
Prabhupāda: We are misled. But the knowledge is there already, the Vedic knowledge is there. There are so many Vedas, Upaniṣads, Vedānta-sūtra, and Bhagavad-gītā, Rāmāyaṇa, Mahābhārata, Purāṇas, but there is no systematic study of this literature. We are neglecting.
Room Conversation -- August 20, 1976, Hyderabad:
Prabhupāda: Anukūla. Ānukūlyena kṛṣṇānuśīlanam (CC Madhya 19.167). So whatever we are using, that is not material. It is all spiritual. So what are these? So... Mahābhārata Sunday? (?)
Meeting with Endowments Commissioner -- August 24, 1976, Hyderabad:
Prabhaviṣṇu: When I speak to some of these archaeologists that I meet, these professors, I ask them do they believe in the historical validity of this Mahābhārata and Bhāgavatam, and they say, "Personally, I believe, but officially we have to follow the archaeology, the techniques of measuring the time." So they have two faces, one for official life and one for personal life.
Prabhupāda: Duplicity. Duplicity.
Prabhaviṣṇu: Yes. But there are some of them that are trying to prove also that the Mahābhārata was historical.
Prabhupāda: Mahābhārata. That very name suggests history. Bigger India. Mahā means bigger, and Bhārata means India. Where is Mahāṁsa?
Garden Conversation -- October 14, 1976, Chandigarh:
Prabhupāda: No, no. Kṛṣṇa did not write, but Kṛṣṇa spoke. If you speak and if I note down and write, what is the difference? Because you did not see, therefore it is not good? He spoke and I note down, er, you note down. Then it is as good. Kṛṣṇa was speaking, and Sañjaya was noting, and that was written by Vyāsadeva in the Mahābhārata. So what is the difference?
Room Conversation -- December 20, 1976, Bombay:
Prabhupāda: No, I mean to say instead of collecting so many hundreds and thousands of literature on the Bhagavad-gītā, why not take Bhagavad-gītā as it is? What is the difficulty? Kurukṣetra is this position is fact. Mahābhārata, Mahābhārata means greater India. And that is, it is itihasa. It is called itihāsa. Itihāsa, if you don't believe that there was a battle in the Kurukṣetra... But that is the fact. It is the history.
Room Conversation with Life Member, Mr. Malhotra -- December 22, 1976, Poona:
Prabhupāda: That is history, Mahābhārata. And all the ācāryas, they have accepted, Rāmānujācārya, Madhvācārya, Nimbārka.
Morning Walk and Room Conversation -- December 26, 1976, Bombay:
Dr. Patel: In Mahābhārata in Vidura-nīti, Vidura has mentioned that a doctor should not be trusted and should not be allowed to come in the house. I am reading presently that part of Mahābhārata. Why? Because they must be right from the beginning all the times also they must be of the same type.
Prabhupāda: Another place, Vaiṣṇava says, either he is businessman, or doctor, anyone, they are all madmen.
Room Conversation -- December 29, 1976, Bombay:
Prabhupāda: So Mahābhārata is the history and there was Battle of Kurukṣetra. And that Kurukṣetra is mentioned there in the Bhagavad-gītā, and it is dharma-kṣetra since Vedic age. So the word used, dharma-kṣetre and kuru-kṣetre, it is completely understood. Why should you interpret unless you have got a motive.
1977 Conversations and Morning Walks
Room Conversation -- January 3, 1977, Bombay:
Setterji: Running! In Mahābhārata(?) I was heard that body was running. But actually I have seen at that time. Head was cut and the body was running.
Prabhupāda: Just see. (laughter) And then he fell down.
Room Conversation -- January 8, 1977, Bombay:
Pradyumna: Just one thing. What does... It said in a text in just one wife-about Jarāsandha. Jarāsandha. Actually the story in Mahābhārata is that one half came from one wife and another half came from another.
Prabhupāda: Yes.
Morning Discussion about Kumbhamela -- January 8, 1977, Bombay:
Dr. Patel: We have a story in Mahābhārata that all Ataravart, he can do. The Hastināpura in just when Abhimanyu was going for fight. In those days they were using camels.
Gurudāsa: In Rajastan they use widely.
Dr. Patel: Rajastan is a desert.
Prabhupāda: No, Vṛndāvana quarter there are many camels.
Room Conversation with Film Producer about Krsna Lila -- January 22, 1977, Bhuvanesvara:
Prabhupāda: So why don't you present Kṛṣṇa's fighting in the...? Just like Kurukṣetra.
Guest (1): That is Mahābhārata. That is the part also.
Prabhupāda: That is also Kṛṣṇa-līlā.
Room Conversation with Svarupa Damodara -- February 28, 1977, Mayapura:
Svarūpa Dāmodara: Every day in the radio, all Manipur radio, they have Caitanya-caritāmṛta reading at one o'clock. They read Bengali. One reads and another translates. It is a regular feature. And Mahābhārata, Rāmāyaṇa. These are radio programs.
Prabhupāda: Just see. So why not? I may go or not go, but let the leaders take up this process to make Manipur an ideal state of Kṛṣṇa consciousness.
Room Conversation -- March 24, 1977, Bombay:
Prabhupāda: In the history of India there is no woman leader. Throughout Mahābhārata you'll find... Mahābhārata is the greater history, history of greater India. Mahā means greater, and bhārata. So "Greater Bhārata." That means this whole planet. So you won't find woman leader
Room Conversation with Ram Jethmalani (Parliament Member) -- April 16, 1977, Bombay:
Girirāja: There was some discussion earlier whether Kṛṣṇa had an actual existence or whether He is imaginary.
Prabhupāda: Why imaginary? He is in the history, Mahābhārata. Mahābhārata means greater, history of greater India.
Room Conversation with Ram Jethmalani (Parliament Member) -- April 16, 1977, Bombay:
Ram Jethmalani: One of the historical pieces of evidence is that if Rāmāyaṇa was historically earlier than Mahābhārata, it is curious that there is no reference in the Mahābhārata at all that any other gods of Rāmāyaṇa. And if it will be the other way around, there is no reference to...
Girirāja: But there is reference in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam...
Prabhupāda: About Rāmāyaṇa. Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam there is reference of Rāmāyaṇa. Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is the last writing of Vyāsadeva.
Second Meeting with Mr. Dwivedi -- April 24, 1977, Bombay:
Prabhupāda: So Bhīma and Jarāsandha were equally powerful, so no decision. But still, he was guest at Jarāsandha's house. At night they were eating together, talking together. This is India's culture. They forgot. Arjuna went to see in the battlefield to Duryodhana. And Duryodhana immediately said, "Come here, my brother. You have come. What do you want? How can I help you? You want your kingdom without fight? I can give you." He said, "No, no, that is not my business." This is kṣatriya. He... He thought that "He has come to beg." "No, no, that already... That we shall decide in the battlefield." This is kṣatriya. But when he's at my place, I offer, "All right, if you want without fight, you can take." This is... They... This is India's culture. Ei sab mahābhārata hai, "History of Greater India." (Hindi) Apkara Gandhiji (Hindi) fiction hai.
Mr. Dwivedi: Gandhi thought that the Mahābhārata is within.
Evening Darsana -- May 9, 1977, Hrishikesh:
Prabhupāda: "So don't trust woman and politician." This is Cāṇakya Paṇḍita. And she is both politician and woman. We have got Mahābhārata, there is not a single instance... We had very, very great, qualified women. But they were in charge of state...? Very, very qualified women. You know. Na svatantratām arhati, striyaḥ. For woman there is no independence. The Manu-saṁhitā. They must stay under father, under husband, or under elderly sons. Three stages.
Evening Darsana -- May 12, 1977, Hrishikesh:
Indian man (5): We are living in more horrible conditions than what was in the time of Mahābhārata.
Prabhupāda: What?
Indian man (5): And Kṛṣṇa had promised definitely that He would appear whenever there is...
Prabhupāda: Yes, He has appeared, nāma-rūpe avatāra.
Room Conversation -- August 8, 1977, Vrndavana:
Yaśomatīnandana: They also say, Śrīla Prabhupāda, that the Kṛṣṇa of Mahābhārata is different from Kṛṣṇa of Bhāgavata.
Prabhupāda: Just see. How they are distorting history and everything. And in Mahābhārata... He's advertising himself as staunch student of Bhagavad-gītā, and he is distorting the meaning in so many ways. That is his business. And he's mahātmā.
Room Conversations Bangladesh Preaching/Prabhavisnu Articles by Hamsaduta -- August 11, 1977, Vrndavana:
Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: He says, "Fairy stories like Mahābhārata, Rāmāyaṇa, Bible, Koran, Pilgrim's..." Oh, this man... "Pilgrim's Progress, Jataka stories, astrology, palmistry, numerology, theology, demonology, etc., are the products of subjective thinkers. While the former are factual, the latter are all fictitious. Some of the marvelous achievements of mankind in recent years are the liberation of atomic energy, radio telescopy..."
Prabhupāda: What is value of atomic energy? A man is dying; you have accelerated his death. That's all.
| Page Title: | Mahabharata (Conversations) |
| Compiler: | Visnu Murti, Laksmipriya |
| Created: | 21 of Dec, 2010 |
| Totals by Section: | BG=0, SB=0, CC=0, OB=0, Lec=0, Con=80, Let=0 |
| No. of Quotes: | 80 |