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May appear (Lectures)

Lectures

Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures

Lecture on BG Introduction -- New York, February 19-20, 1966:

Rather, impure place or impure things are purified by touch of the cow dung. Now if one argues how it is that in one place it is said that the stool of the animal is impure and another place it is said that the cow dung which is also the stool of an animal, it is pure, so it is contradictory. But actually, it may appear to be contradictory, but because it is Vedic injunction, therefore for our practical purposes we accept it. And by that acceptance we are not committing mistake. It has been found by modern chemists, modern science, one Dr. Lal Mohan Gosal, he has very minutely analyzed the cow dung and he has found that cow dung is a composition of all antiseptic properties. So similarly, he has also analyzed the water of the Ganges out of curiosity. So my idea is that Vedic knowledge is complete because it is above all doubts and all mistakes. So, and Bhagavad-gītā is the essence of all Vedic knowledge. The Vedic knowledge is therefore infallible. It comes down through the perfect disciplic succession.

Lecture on BG 2.7-11 -- New York, March 2, 1966:

"No, no, no, this is not befitting your position. You must fight, must fight."

So here is a point, that sometimes we may do something which is approved by the general public, but it may not be approved by the supreme authority. Superficially it may appear very appealing to the sentiment of the public, but factually such thing may not be correct, may not be correct. If we accept Kṛṣṇa as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and "Why He was inducing Arjuna to fight?" It does not mean that He was inducing Arjuna to do something wrong. But from worldly point of view, Arjuna was a very pious man and he was declining to fight, not to kill his kinsmen, not to kill his friends. This... This is a very important point. So he argued, "No, no, if I fight, my people will die, and their wives will become widow, and they will be adulterated, and then, by adulteration, unwanted population will increase, and who will offer śrāddha?"

Lecture on BG 2.27-38 -- Los Angeles, December 11, 1968:

So acceptance of such wife and sex life in that connection is not abominable. But to keep some friend and enjoy sex life for sense gratification, that is abominable. But the function is the same. Somebody may say, "Oh, this is also sex life, that is also sex life." But there is much difference. Similarly, apparently, a thing may appear to be the same, but it has got great significance. That is to be judged by higher authorities. That higher authority, supreme authority, is there, Kṛṣṇa Himself.

Lecture on BG 3.16-17 -- New York, May 25, 1966:

The Mohammedans also, they go the mosque after washing their hands and feet very nicely. So... And Hindu principle also, the same thing is there. They go to the temple after taking bath and purifying. So many things are there, either Hinduism or Mohammedanism or Christianism, according to country and climate and people. Practically, the principles are the same. They may be... Formally, they may appear to be... But the thing is there.

But here, niyamitaḥ smaraṇe na kālaḥ. Here you don't require that you have to take your bath before chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa. No. Oh, because you are in the bathroom, therefore you cannot chant Hare Kṛṣṇa? No. You can chant even there. So such a thing. Because if actually Kṛṣṇa, that very name, is Kṛṣṇa, then how I can remain impure? The potency is there. It makes me at once pure. Just like as soon as there is light, there is no question of darkness. Darkness and light cannot stand together. Either it must be darkness or must be light. So as soon as there is light...

Lecture on BG 3.31-43 -- Los Angeles, January 1, 1969:

"How shall I kill my kinsmen?" But when he understood, "Kṛṣṇa, my friend, desires. Oh, never mind." So there was no lust. Simply love of Kṛṣṇa. So lust and love, that means the same thing is there. Simply one has to change the account. That's all. Lusty people, they are working on account of sense gratification, and lover of Kṛṣṇa is working for Kṛṣṇa's satisfaction. The activity may appear superficially the same.

Just like these boys in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. People may say, "What they are doing? They are also eating, they are also cooking, and offering Kṛṣṇa, and they say it is Kṛṣṇa conscious. What is the difference between this foodstuff with the hotel foodstuff?" In this way they may think. "Oh, they are also typewriting, they are also using dictaphone and this tape recorder and all this material." But they do not know that everything is being used for Kṛṣṇa. Therefore there is far different. There is no lust. So you can utilize everything if it is in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, not for satisfaction of your lust.

Lecture on BG 4.1-6 -- Los Angeles, January 3, 1969:

Madhudviṣa: Purport: "The Lord has spoken about the peculiarity of this verse. Although He may appear like an ordinary person, He remembers everything of His many, many past births, whereas a common man cannot remember what he has done even a few hours before. If somebody is asked what he did exactly at the same time one day earlier, it would be very difficult for him to answer immediately. He would have to dredge his memory to recall what he was doing. And yet men often dare to claim to be God or Kṛṣṇa. One should not be misled by such meaningless claims. Then again, the Lord explains His prakṛti or His form. Prakṛti means nature as well as svarūpa, or one's own form. The Lord says that He appears in His own body. He does not change His body as the common living entity does from one to another. The conditioned soul may have one kind of body in the present birth, but he has a different one in the next birth. In the material world the living entity transmigrates in this way. The Lord, however, does not do so. Whenever He appears, He does so in the same original body by His internal potency. In other words, Kṛṣṇa appears in this material world in His original eternal form with two hands and holding a flute."

Prabhupāda: Yes. In your Bible also it is said that "Man is made after God," not that God is made after man. The atheist class, they say that "You have created a God according to your own feature," but no scripture says like that. God has eternal two hands, two legs. So man... God is so kind that man is also made according to His form. That is a special facility given to man, not that somebody imagines God, "Because man has two hands, therefore God has two hands." No. That is not a fact. Here it is explained nicely. Go on.

Lecture on BG 4.3-6 -- New York, July 18, 1966:

Because we have got our senses with limited power. And there are so many defects in our conditioned stage. Therefore inductive process is not always perfect. The deductive process, from the authority, the knowledge received, is always perfect. So Vedic process is deductive process. Vedic process is deductive process.

You'll find so many verses in the Bhagavad-gītā which may appear to be dogmatic. The Lord says that mattaḥ parataraṁ nānyat kiñcid asti dhanañjaya: (BG 7.7) "My dear Arjuna, there is nobody else greater than Me. There is no greater authority than Me." Kṛṣṇa says. Now, apparently, it appears very dogmatic. Suppose if I say before you that, "There is nobody greater than me," oh, you'll think, "Oh, Swamiji is very proud." Yes. If a man like me, who is conditioned by so many, I mean to say, restrictions, if I say that I am the greatest of all, that is a blasphemy. I cannot say that. But Kṛṣṇa can say. Because the history of life from Kṛṣṇa, we can understand that actually He was the greatest personality.

Lecture on BG 4.6 -- Bombay, March 26, 1974:

Pradyumna: "The Lord has spoken about the peculiarity of His birth. Although He may appear like an ordinary person, He remembers everything of His many, many past births."

Prabhupāda: That is the test, that He has already explained that He remembers. Therefore His appearance, disappearance, birth, is not ordinary. That is to be understood. Otherwise, how He can remember? We cannot remember. We do not know what we were in our last birth, or millions of years ago. Although we are also eternal. But we do not remember. Therefore there is difference between Kṛṣṇa's birth and our birth.

When Kṛṣṇa appeared as the son of Devakī and Vasudeva, He appeared before them as four-handed Nārāyaṇa. Kṛṣṇa did not come from the womb of Devakī. You have, most of you have read in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam His appearance. He appeared before them as four-handed Nārāyaṇa. Then Devakī prayed, "My Lord, You have come. Kaṁsa is now eager to kill You. As soon as..." As a mother, she's speaking simply the truth, that "Kaṁsa is now eager to kill You.

Lecture on BG 4.7-9 -- New York, July 22, 1966:

That you'll find in the Bhagavad-gītā. And how Kṛṣṇa says that even if he's externally a little immoral... Of course, a devotee or a person who is Kṛṣṇa conscious, he's never immoral. But it may be that due to his past association he may appear to be immoral or he may fall down, fall down. Due to habits, we may sometimes fall down.

There is a story how habit is the second nature. There was a thief, and he went to pilgrimage with some other friends. So at night, when other friends were sleeping... Because his habit was to steal at night, he, so he got up at night and he was taking one body's baggage and tried to pickpocket or take something. But he was thinking, "Oh, I have come to this holy place of pilgrimage. Still, shall I do that, committing theft, my habit? No, no. I shall not do it." So he was taking the bag of one person and was keeping in another place. So in the whole night the poor fellow did like that.

Lecture on BG 6.30-34 -- Los Angeles, February 19, 1969:

Viṣṇujana: Purport. "The person in Kṛṣṇa consciousness certainly sees Lord Kṛṣṇa everywhere and he sees everything in Kṛṣṇa. Such a person may appear to see all separate manifestations within the material nature. But in each and every instance, he is conscious of Kṛṣṇa, knowing that everything is the manifestation of Kṛṣṇa's energy."

Prabhupāda: "Energy." Now, one who sees a tree, he's philosopher, Kṛṣṇa conscious person is philosopher. If he studies, "What is this tree?" He sees the tree has got a material body just like I have got this material body, but he's a living entity, due to his past misdeeds he has got such abominable body that he cannot move even. But his body is material and material means the material energy and material energy, who's energy? Kṛṣṇa's energy. Therefore the tree has got Kṛṣṇa connection. And the tree, as living entity is part and parcel of Kṛṣṇa. So in that way if you discuss philosophy, Kṛṣṇa consciousness, you see, don't see the tree, you see Kṛṣṇa there. That is Kṛṣṇa consciousness. You don't see tree. You see Kṛṣṇa. That is Kṛṣṇa consciousness. So you have to practice like that. That is yoga practice. That is samādhi. Yes, go on.

Lecture on BG 9.2 -- Calcutta, March 8, 1972:

So where is the difficulty? The difficulty is dog obstinacy. They'll not do it. "Oh. Why shall I do it?" This is the difficulty. Dog's obstinacy. Otherwise, no difficulty. Rāja-vidyā rāja-guhyaṁ pavitram paramam. Pavitram, very pious activities, pavitram. Anything done on account of Kṛṣṇa, that is pious. There is no contamination. Api cet sudurācāraḥ. Even in the public eye it may appear sometime that it is not pious, still it is pious. Man-nimitte kṛtaṁ pāpaṁ, if one does. But we should not do that.

But even, just like Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa-Arjuna. Arjuna was considering that killing the other party, his kinsmen, "This is pāpa. Why shall I do this pāpa?" But he did it. But how he did it? For Kṛṣṇa. So that pāpa become puṇya. Is it not? From the Bhagavad-gītā you can understand. He was hesitating to fight with his kinsmen, with his brother, nephews, grandfather. He was concerning pāpa. He said that "I do not want this kingdom which is smeared with the blood of sinful activities." He said like that.

Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures

Lecture on SB 1.2.17 -- San Francisco, March 25, 1967:

Now, simply by hearing the kṛṣṇa-kathā... That means, kṛṣṇa-kathā means... This... kṛṣṇa-kathā, there are many. All the Vedic literatures, they are full of kṛṣṇa-kathā. And all the Vedas means that is also kṛṣṇa-kathā. Any scripture in Veda, that may appear apparently different, but they are meant for kṛṣṇa-kathā. Kṛṣṇa-kathā. Because you'll find in the Bhagavad-gītā that vedaiś ca sarvair aham eva vedyaḥ (BG 15.15). The whole topics, they are meant for kṛṣṇa-kathā. (aside:) You'll excuse me. I am called by nature. I shall... (break) So kṛṣṇa-kathā... śṛṇvatāṁ kṛṣṇa-kathā. If you kindly simply hear about this kṛṣṇa-kathā, topics on Kṛṣṇa, then what will be the result? Because it is pure, transcendental vibration, the result will be śṛṇvatāṁ sva-kathāḥ kṛṣṇaḥ puṇya-śravaṇa-kīrtanaḥ, hṛdy antaḥ stho hy abhadrāṇi.

Lecture on SB 5.5.16 -- Vrndavana, November 4, 1976:

And they are busy. Like monkeys and dogs they are busy. You will see they are very busy, going here, going there, going there. Just like monkey, jumping from one tree to another, jumping. Wherever he is standing, he will move his arm, everything. But people know that "Here is a monkey." He may appear to be very busy, but people will immediately take a stick: "Go away! Go away! Go away!"

So our business is like that. We are making big, big plans to be happy like the monkeys. Therefore here it is said that arthān samīheta nikāma-kāmaḥ. So it is the duty of everyone to do something for his welfare. But here the beginning is lokaḥ svayaṁ śreyasi naṣṭa-dṛṣṭiḥ: "These rascals, they are blind to their real interest." Śreyas means real interest, and preyas means immediate profit. So nikāma-kāmaḥ, sense gratification, is very nice immediately. "I enjoy sex life. This is very nice. Why shall I chant Hare Kṛṣṇa? Let me enjoy sex." Śreyasi. And preyasi: "This is pleasure."

Lecture on SB 5.6.1 -- Vrndavana, November 23, 1976:

So we can become immediately liberated. Liberated means who has no karma-bandhana, no resultant action. Ava-bharjitāni. That is liberation. Tyaktvā dehaṁ punar janma naiti (BG 4.9). Devotee, he may seem, it may appear, that he is also dying, but his death and ordinary death is different. Here—tyaktvā dehaṁ punar janma naiti (BG 4.9); and others—they are dying tathā dehāntara-prāptiḥ (BG 2.13). There is a difference. Karmī... It appears that karmīs... People may say, "A karmī is dying, and bhakta is dying. What is benefit?" No. He's not dying, but he is dying or giving up this body for living forever. And the nondevotees, he is dying to accept another body. That is the difference. Tathā dehāntara-prāptiḥ. So if you remain a minister, a president or some very big man, but if you are not a devotee, then you have to accept another body. Karmaṇā daiva netreṇa (SB 3.31.1). You have to...

Lecture on SB 6.1.11 -- New York, July 25, 1971:

That is Kṛṣṇa consciousness. It is not very difficult. In the Caitanya-caritāmṛta this distinction has been clearly made, what is love and what is lust. Lust means satisfying to gratify one's personal senses. And, and love means trying to satisfy the senses of the lover. And who is the lover? Kṛṣṇa, the supreme lover. So one, one is called prema, love, and the other is called lust—although the process may appear to be the same.

Nectar of Devotion Lectures

The Nectar of Devotion -- Bombay, December 26, 1972:

Superficially they are sinful activities. But Caitanya Mahāprabhu recommends, ramyā kācid upāsanā vrajavadhū-vargeṇa yā kalpitā. There is no upāsanā, method of worship, as it was conceived by the gopīs. First class.

So the point is that superficially it may appear sometimes against the social and religious rules and regulations, but if it is done for Kṛṣṇa, ānukūlyena... Bhakti means ānukūlyena kṛṣṇānu-śīlanam (CC Madhya 19.167). Kṛṣṇa should be satisfied. That is... It doesn't matter. Kṛṣṇa should be satisfied. Just like Kṛṣṇa pretended that He was sick, and many physicians came. He said, "No physician cured Me. If some devotee gives Me the dust of his feet on My head, then I can be cured." So all devotees were asked, and nobody... "Oh! How can I give? My dust on the head of Kṛṣṇa? How it is possible?" Nobody prepared. Then Kṛṣṇa asked that "Go to Vṛndāvana. Just ask the gopīs if they can give. They are My best friends. If they are prepared?

The Nectar of Devotion -- Bombay, December 26, 1972:

You are now engaged in two kinds of dharma. Somebody, karmīs, they are bhoga, bhoga dharmī. They want to enjoy. And tyāgī, they want to renounce this bhoga. So both of these will not help you. Bhoga-tyāga. Then what? Sevā. You have to take the dharma of sevā. That is bhakti. Kṛṣṇa-sevā. For Kṛṣṇa, you can accept anything. That is It may appear bhoga. Just like Prahlāda Mahārāja, Pṛthu Mahārāja, they were kings, very opulent kings. Dhruva Mahārāja. So still they were great devotees. Not only ordinary devotees, mahājanas. So this bhoga-tyāga has no meaning. It has no benefit. One has to become devotee. Either in the bhoga field or in the tyāga field, it doesn't matter. Bhoga-tyāga is not required. Required service. That service, it may be on the platform of bhoga or service... Service is required, Kṛṣṇa's service. Kṛṣṇa has to be satisfied. Either in the bhoga platform or tyāga plat... He does not... Devotee's not concerned with bhoga-tyāga. Devotee's concerned with Kṛṣṇa's service.

Sri Caitanya-caritamrta Lectures

Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 20.354-358 -- New York, December 28, 1966:

That is called svarūpa-lakṣaṇa. And taṭastha-lakṣaṇa, the symptoms which are sometimes present and sometimes not present. They are called... In this way, the experienced sages, they analyze the characteristics of the avatāra, or God—two symptoms. One symptom is always there. As soon as there is God, that constant symptom is there. And there are other symptoms which may appear, sometimes may not appear.

ākṛti, prakṛti, svarūpa—svarūpa-lakṣaṇa
kārya-dvārā jñāna—ei taṭastha-lakṣaṇa

Ākṛti, prakṛti. The form and the activities, all uncommon. Just like Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa, He married sixteen thousand wives and He divided Himself into sixteen thousand. Kṛṣṇa. This is called ākṛti. This is uncommon. God can expand Himself in any number of forms. We cannot do that. That is the..., symptom of God.

Festival Lectures

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

Tāvac ca śobhate mūrkho yāvad kiñcit na hvāyate, sabhāyaṁ vastra-veṣṭhitaḥ.(?) There is a normal instruction that a so-called gentleman, nicely dressed in the assembly of human society, may appear to be very nice so long he does not speak. But he's, if he speaks nonsense, without Kṛṣṇa consciousness, immediately he becomes the lowest of the mankind. If he proves by his speaking that he has no knowledge in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, he's simply well dressed, that's all... That we are finding all over the world. They are very nicely dressed, they have got very nice car, but if we ask him about God consciousness, they say, "Sir, after finishing this body, everything is finished." This is their knowledge. Therefore they are the lowest of the mankind. Lowest of the mankind means that in the human form of life he was supposed to know that life is eternal and the soul is changing different types of bodies on account of karma, different types of activities. But although the gentleman is well dressed, he does not know. He does not know what is going to happen in his next life.

Arrival Addresses and Talks

Arrival Address -- Vrndavana, September 3, 1976:

That is His first instruction. Tathā dehāntara-prāptir. We have to understand that we have to change this body. Don't be happy because you have got by karma a comfortable body. No body is comfortable. It is temporary, even it is comfortable. Even if you have got a very nice body, American body or European body, it may appear to be very nice, better than the Indian body—but that is not permanent. You'll have to change it. That is spiritual consciousness.

So we must be prepared. This is glānir. On the platform of bodily concept of life, whatever we are doing, that is all defeat. Parābhavas tāvad abodha-jāto yāvan na jijñāsata ātma-tattvam. In the bodily concept of life, whatever we are doing, simply defeat. We are thinking, "I'm making very good progress." Rascaldom. There is no progress. Unless you become inquisitive, athāto brahma jijñāsā, there is no progress. That has been taught by our ācāryas. Sanātana Gosvāmī, when he approached..., Sanātana Gosvāmī approached Lord Caitanya, his first question was...

General Lectures

Lecture at Auckland University -- Auckland, April 17, 1972:

The chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa, you have already heard. Superficially it may appear the repetition of the same word, but every mantra with effect is chanted like that. It requires little practice. So the effect of this mantra is stated by Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu: ceto-darpaṇa-mārjanam (CC Antya 20.12). It will cleanse your heart. If you go on chanting this Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra, then gradually the dirty things which are accumulated within our hearts, that will be cleansed. This is the process.

The dirtiest thing now within our heart is the bodily concept of life. Actually, this is the misconception of whole situation of the modern world. If anyone is in bodily concept of life that "I am this body," then the basic principle of our life becomes on the false platform, because I am not this body. This is the dirtiest thing within our heart. If you chant Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra, then gradually, by this bhakti-yoga process, we shall understand that "I am not this body, but I am a spirit soul," ahaṁ brahmāsmi.

Philosophy Discussions

Philosophy Discussion on Immanuel Kant:

Prabhupāda: Therefore, as soon as you say duty, duty should be prescribed by some higher authority. In that sense, this system is very scientific: brāhmaṇa, kṣatriya, vaiśya, śūdra. It is very scientific. For brāhmaṇa, these are the duties; a kṣatriya, these are the duties. Every duty may appear different, but because it is a command of the Supreme, by discharging these duties on different platform, he is serving the Supreme. If Kṛṣṇa says, "All right, I see you are a brāhmaṇa. Your duties are like this," "I see you are a kṣatriya. Your duties are like this," "I see you are a vaiśya. Your duties are like this..." But Kṛṣṇa says cātur-varṇyaṁ mayā sṛṣṭam (BG 4.13). I have divided, so Kṛṣṇa gives duty, that "Your duty is this, your duty is this, and your duty is this." And if he faithfully serves the duty, that means he is serving Kṛṣṇa. The duties may appear different, but because he is serving Kṛṣṇa, he is going to perfection. Just like in our institution, I am the head man, so I may say, "You paint. You preach. You type.

Philosophy Discussion on Charles Darwin:

Prabhupāda: Anyway, the sunbeam, the sunshine, is always (indistinct). How it is constantly coming? Just like heat and the fire. The heat is always coming out of the fire, always.

Karandhara: According to a point of observation, there may appear to be a sequence, or a beginning or an end or an evolution...

Śyāmasundara: If we look back-say our written history goes back three thousand years—if we look back within that span, according to Darwin, our levels of consciousness are getting increasingly higher.

Prabhupāda: No. We say lower. We say lower. Degraded.

Karandhara: They're basing their quality on whether there's a better level of consciousness and what is more (indistinct) sense gratification.

Philosophy Discussion on Jean-Paul Sartre:

Śyāmasundara: He says that this objective being, like these objects, he calls it "being in itself," and only these concrete phenomena are real. But he says these concrete phenomena are more than their phenomenal appearances. Just like this thing is more than what it appears to be, but it is no more than the sum total of all its appearances. In other words, this thing may appear like this, but it is more than this; it is all of its possible appearances, from the time it was clay, to the time the paint was applied, different things, in all its appearances, that is the reality of this thing. It is not just this thing; it is all of its appearances. But that is all. There is nothing more than that. It doesn't have any reality beyond its phenomenal appearances.

Prabhupāda: From where the material came, first of all? Beyond the material, the source of material?

Philosophy Discussion on The Evolutionists Thomas Huxley, Henri Bergson, and Samuel Alexander:

Śyāmasundara: The conclusion is that everything is evolving into ever newer and newer forms, and in the future that...

Prabhupāda: Old order changes, yielding place to new. This law?

Śyāmasundara: Yes. But this new form which may appear in the future, we may have no idea about it now. We may not be able to say what it is, what it will be like.

Prabhupāda: No. We don't think like that. We know that the days are going on. As we have experienced past, summer season and winter season, then forward also, we can say in such and such month there will be summer season. In such and such month there will be winter season. Either you take it from book or take it from our past experience, the things are there.

Śyāmasundara: So in the future there may be nothing unpredictable appearing, such as an entire new form of existence or something like this.

Page Title:May appear (Lectures)
Compiler:Visnu Murti, RupaManjari
Created:27 of Jun, 2012
Totals by Section:BG=0, SB=0, CC=0, OB=0, Lec=25, Con=0, Let=0
No. of Quotes:25