Mystery (Lectures)

Expressions researched:
"mysteries" |"mysterious" |"mysteriously" |"mystery"

Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures

Introduction to Gitopanisad (Earliest Recording of Srila Prabhupada in the Bhaktivedanta Archives):

Unless one receives this Bhagavad-gītā in a submissive spirit and aural reception, it is very difficult to understand Bhagavad-gītā because it is a great mystery.

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

So this is the mystery. This is the mystery. Without becoming devotee, the mystery of understanding God is not possible. And Kṛṣṇa has said in the Bhagavad-gītā how one can know Him. Bhaktyā mām abhijānāti yāvān yaś cāsmi tattvataḥ (BG 18.55). Only by devotion, simply. He could have said, "By high, topmost knowledge" or "By yogic process" or "By acting, becoming a very great karmī, worker, one can understand Me." No, he has never said, never said.

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

Just like the air passing over the rose tree carries the flavor of the rose, and the air passing over a filthy place carries the flavor of that filthy place—the air is pure, but because it is passing over certain conditions, it carries the flavor—similarly, the mind, intelligence and ego carries the flavor of our present activities to the next life. That is the subtle mystery of transmigration of the soul from one body to another.

Lecture on BG 2.26 -- Hyderabad, November 30, 1972:

There are many theories and philosophical speculation all over the world about understanding the soul. Therefore Kṛṣṇa is concluding that "Somebody's explaining wonderfully, somebody is hearing wonderfully, but even after hearing and speaking, it remains a mystery, and less intelligent person cannot understand it." That is the fact. There are so many theories. Therefore we have to accept the reality from the authority. By theorizing, by speculating, we cannot come into any decision. I may be very good logician. You may be greater logician. So you can defeat my logic. I can defeat your logic. So what is the conclusion? This kind of talking, it is called ku-tarka, unnecessarily talking, because you'll not come to my decision, I'll not come to your decision. So everyone is mysterious.

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

Hear about the soul, (for) the general people, it is amazing. Still, in the modern society, which is so proud of scientific advancement, so far soul is concerned, it is amazement. Nobody understands, still. And those who are hearing about the existence of soul, some of us also in amazement. It is a mysterious thing.

Lecture on BG 3.1-5 -- Los Angeles, December 20, 1968:

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Purport: "In the previous chapter, as a prelude to the Bhagavad-gītā, many different paths were explained, namely sāṅkhya-yoga, buddhi-yoga, controlling the senses by intelligence, work without fruitive desire, the position of the neophyte, etc. This was all presented unsystematically. A more organized outline of the path would be necessary for action and understanding. Arjuna therefore wanted to clear up these apparently confusing matters so that any common man could accept them without misinterpretation. Although Kṛṣṇa had no intention of confusing Arjuna by any jugglery of words, Arjuna could not follow the process of Kṛṣṇa consciousness either by inertia or active service. In other words, by his questions he is clearing the path of Kṛṣṇa consciousness for all students who are serious about understanding the mystery of the Bhagavad-gītā."

Prabhupāda: Yes. Sometimes it appears to the student contradictory. But actually, the master who is well conversant, he does not say anything contradictory. It is the misunderstanding of the student that sometimes he thinks that it is contradictory. Therefore the question is allowed. You'll find that a student is advised to question to the spiritual master. Tad viddhi.

Lecture on BG 4.1 and Review -- New York, July 13, 1966:

Just like the disciplic succession was coming down from Vivasvān, the, the, I mean to say, the principal man in the sun, the sun-god, and the sun-god taught the Bhagavad-gītā, the mystery of Bhagavad-gītā, to his son, Manu, and Manu taught the mystery of Bhagavad-gītā to Ikṣvāku, and Ikṣvāku taught the mystery of Bhagavad-gītā to his disciple or son, like that... But now, in course of time, it is now lost. Now I am again establishing that disciplic succession through you. So anyone who has to understand Bhagavad-gītā, he has to understand as Arjuna understood it.

Lecture on BG 4.1 and Review -- New York, July 13, 1966:

And there are different philosophers who are always contradictory. One philosopher is deviating. He's not in agreement with another philosopher. He has got a different theory. Another has got different theory. So philosophers also cannot give you the real truth. So neither you can understand the real truth simply by going through different scriptures, nor you can understand the real truth simply by your logical force or argument. So dharmasya tattvaṁ nihitaṁ guhāyām. The, the, I mean to say, the mystery of Absolute Truth is very confidential, very confidential. Then how I can understand? Mahājano yena gataḥ sa panthāḥ: (CC Madhya 17.186) "If you follow the mahājana, the authorities, then you can understand."

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

Madhudviṣa: "This supreme science was thus received through the chain of disciplic succession and the saintly kings understood it in that. But in the course of time the succession was broken, and therefore the science as it is appears to be lost."Three: "That very ancient science of the relationship with the Supreme is today told by Me to you. Because you are My devotee as well as My friend, therefore you can understand the transcendental mystery of this science."

Purport: "There are two classes of men, namely the devotee and the demon. The Lord accepted Arjuna as the recipient of this great science owing to his being a devotee of the Lord. But for the demons it is not possible to understand this great, mysterious science. There are a number of editions of this great book of knowledge and some of them are commented upon by the devotees, and some of them are commented upon by the demons. Commentary by the devotees is real, whereas that of the demons is useless."

Prabhupāda: Because it is said here that "that very ancient science of the relationship with the Supreme is today told by Me to you because you are My devotee," so this transcendental science cannot be understood simply by academic education.

Lecture on BG 4.3 -- Bombay, March 23, 1974:

Pradyumna: (leads chanting)

sa evāyaṁ mayā te 'dya

yogaḥ proktaḥ purātanaḥ

bhakto 'si me sakhā ceti

rahasyaṁ hy etad uttamam

(BG 4.3)

Translation: "That very ancient science of the relationship with the Supreme is today told by Me to you because you are My devotee as well as My friend. Therefore you can understand the transcendental mystery of this science."

Prabhupāda: This is very important verse to understand Bhagavad-gītā. By rascal interpretation, you cannot understand what is Bhagavad-gītā. It is a mystery. Rahasyam, mysterious. Only a devotee who is in intimate relation with Kṛṣṇa, he can understand. That is clearly stated here. When Kṛṣṇa was speaking Bhagavad-gītā to Arjuna, it was in the battlefield.

Lecture on BG 4.3 -- Bombay, March 23, 1974:

So why He selected Arjuna? He was a military man. He was not a Vedantist. A military man is not supposed to become a Vedantist, a very great sannyāsī. No. Because the so-called Vedantists, they cannot understand Bhagavad-gītā. It is not possible. It is a mystery. Kṛṣṇa, in other place, He says, nāhaṁ prakāśaḥ sarvasya yoga-māyā-samāvṛtaḥ (BG 7.25), "I cannot be exposed to anyone." Yoga-māyā-samāvṛtaḥ. Therefore, those who are fools, rascals, they consider Kṛṣṇa as fictitious, Kṛṣṇa as a human being, Kṛṣṇa as a historical person. Or "There was no Kṛṣṇa. It is an imaginary writing." Because these rascals, they cannot understand.

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

Kṛṣṇa says that "I am speaking to you..." Sa evāyaṁ mayā te 'dya: (BG 4.3) "What I am speaking to you now, today, it is not new. It was spoken long, long before. It is that oldest system of yoga I'm speaking to you." Bhakto 'si. Bhakto 'si: "And why I am speaking to you?" This is the point to be noted, that bhakto 'si. This Bhagavad-gītā yoga is to be understood by a person who is a bhakta, who is a devotee of Kṛṣṇa. Nobody can understand it. Bhakto 'si me sakhā ceti rahasyam... Because there is a mystery, mystery of Kṛṣṇa consciousness, which is impossible to be adopted by a person who is not a devotee of Kṛṣṇa.

Lecture on BG 4.4 -- Bombay, March 24, 1974:

Arjuna knew it perfectly well that Kṛṣṇa, his friend, is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. But to clarify the matter for others.... Because those who are not devotee, they cannot understand Kṛṣṇa or Bhagavad-gītā. That we have explained in the previous verse. Kṛṣṇa says that "The subject matter of Bhagavad-gītā is a great mystery, rahasyam, but because you are My devotee and because You are My friend, therefore I am again, speaking to you the same yoga system which was long long, millions of years ago I spoke to the sun-god." Imaṁ vivasvate yogaṁ proktavān aham avyayam (BG 4.1).

Lecture on BG 4.4 -- Bombay, March 24, 1974:

Sometimes we do not accept. There are many so-called scholars, they say that: There was no Kṛṣṇa. It is all fictitious. There was no battlefield of Kurukṣetra. It is all fictitious." They imagine their own meaning. But that is not the fact. Kṛṣṇa is also historical, at the same time, He is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. These things cannot be understood unless one is a devotee. Therefore in the previous verse it has been said, bhakto 'si. The mystery of Bhagavad-gītā can be opened, disclosed, to the devotees, not to the nondevotees. The nondevotees may speculate in their specific platform of activities, as politician or as mundane philosopher or mundane scientist, but that is not the fact. The fact should be learned from the devotees of Kṛṣṇa.

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

And in the Fourth, beginning of the Fourth Chapter, we have also discussed that Kṛṣṇa said to Arjuna that "I am speaking to you the old process of yoga system, this bhakti-yoga system of Kṛṣṇa consciousness in the Bhagavad-gītā unto you, because you are My devotee." This point also we have discussed, that without becoming a Kṛṣṇa conscious person, nobody can understand the mystery of Bhagavad-gītā. Bhagavad-gītā is not a book that you can purchase from the market, and simply by your scholarship you can understand it. No. It is not possible.

Lecture on BG 4.15 -- Bombay, April 4, 1974:

Now, follow pūrvataraiḥ. Now, we are listening Bhagavad-gītā. So Bhagavad-gītā was first heard by the Vivasvān, the sun-god. So giving aside sun-god, we can take at least Arjuna. Pūrvataraiḥ, mahadbhiḥ. Arjuna is mahat, mahat. Sa mahātmā su-dur... Because he knows Kṛṣṇa. Śiṣyas te 'haṁ śādhi māṁ tvāṁ prapannam (BG 2.7). He surrendered to Kṛṣṇa for solution of the problem, whether he was to fight or not to fight. So Kṛṣṇa instructed directly and Kṛṣṇa certified him, bhakto 'si me priyo 'si: (BG 4.3) "You are my dear friend. You are My devotee. Therefore I shall talk to you the mystery." Rahasyam etad uttamam, Bhagavad-gītā. So take the lesson from Arjuna, how he acted, how he understood Bhagavad-gītā. Then pūrvataraiḥ. You don't have to go very long, long before. You take the symbolical representation of Kṛṣṇa, Arjuna. So how did he understood? How he did understand Kṛṣṇa? He understood Kṛṣṇa: paraṁ brahma paraṁ dhāma pavitraṁ paramaṁ bhavān (BG 10.12). So you understand like that.

Lecture on BG 6.1-4 -- New York, September 2, 1966:

Kṛṣṇa is asking Arjuna, tasmād yogī bhavārjuna. "My dear Arjuna, therefore you become a yogi." But at the same time, He's asking to fight. Now, we know the yogi sits down at a place and meditates and concentrates his mind and controls his senses. How is that he is fighting, at the same time yogi? Huh? This is the mystery of Bhagavad-gītā. You can remain a fighting man, at the same time the highest yogi, highest sannyāsī. How? In Kṛṣṇa consciousness. You have to fight for Kṛṣṇa. That's all. That is the secret.

Lecture on BG 7.1 -- Auckland, April 15, 1972:

Generally you understand that a vedāntī, a sannyāsī, a brāhmaṇa may know about spiritual knowledge, about God. No, that is not the fact. The fact is, as Kṛṣṇa says, bhakto 'si priyo 'si me rahasyaṁ hy etad uttamam: (BG 4.3) "Because you are My devotee, because you are My dear friend, you can understand the mystery of Bhagavad-gītā."

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

That science of God is Śrīmad-Bhāgavata, Bhagavad-gītā and Śrīmad-Bhāgavata. Bhagavad-gītā is the preliminary study of the science of God. So anyone who is actually interested in God, they should study the science of God, Bhagavad-gītā. Vijñānam. Vijñānam means science. Jñānaṁ me parama-guhyaṁ yad vijñāna-samanvitam. In the Bhāgavata there is a statement like this. Jñānam. Jñānam means knowledge. Parama-guhyam, very confidential, very subtle and confidential. Parama-guhyam. Yad vijñāna-samanvitam, which is full of scientific knowledge. Sa-rahasyam. It is full of mystery also.

Lecture on BG 9.2-5 -- New York, November 23, 1966:

Nārada Muni, he used to visit Nārāyaṇa every day. So when he was passing on the road, so one very learned brāhmaṇa and taking thrice bath and everything very nicely, he asked Nārada Muni, "Oh, you are going to Lord. Will you inquire when I shall get my salvation?" "All right. I shall ask." And then another cobbler, he was under the tree, sewing the shoes, old shoes. He also saw Nārada Muni. He also inquired, "Will you kindly inquire from God when my salvation is...?" Now, when he inquired Kṛṣṇa, Nārāyaṇa... Nārada Muni goes generally to Nārāyaṇa, in another planet. So "Yes, two, one brāhmaṇa and one cobbler, they inquired like this. So may I know what is their destination?" So Nārāyaṇa said, "Well, yes, the cobbler, this after giving up this body, he's coming here at Vaikuṇṭha." "And what about that brāhmaṇa?" "Oh, he has to remain there still so many births, or I do not know when he's coming." So Nārada Muni was astonished, that "I saw that he's very nice brāhmaṇa, and he's a cobbler. Why is that?" So he inquired that "I could not, cannot understand the mystery. Why You say that cobbler is coming this, after this body, and why not this brāhmaṇa?"

Lecture on BG 10.1 -- New York, December 30, 1966:

Now in the beginning of the Bhagavad-gītā, in the fourth chapter, we have discussed this point that the Bhagavad-gītā was specifically instructed to Arjuna for his only one qualification that he was a devotee. Bhakto 'si priyo 'si me rahasyam etad uttamam (BG 4.3). The Lord said that "The mystery of Bhagavad-gītā is very confidential. So, without becoming a pure and unalloyed devotee of Mine, it is very difficult to understand."

Lecture on BG 13.5 -- Paris, August 13, 1973:

Because when one has very much attraction for a certain land, then he again takes birth in that land, so if you take your birth not as human being or as a cat and dog or a cow, then you'll be sent to the slaughterhouse. Then what is the use of your becoming nationalist? Your men, for whom you have worked so hard, next life, if you take your birth as a cow, the same men will send you to the slaughterhouse. But these rascals, they do not know what is the mystery.

Lecture on BG 13.19 -- Bombay, October 13, 1973:

When Bhagavad-gītā was taught to Arjuna, he said, bhakto 'si me sakhā ceti rahasyaṁ hy etad uttamam. "My dear Arjuna, I am speaking to you this mystery of Bhagavad-gītā which was spoken long long ago to the sun-god, but now it is lost because the paramparā is lost. Disciplic succession is lost. Therefore I am again speaking to you the same truth so that from you people will understand what is Bhagavad-gītā."

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

So here Kṛṣṇa says that idaṁ te na atapaskāya na abhaktāya. Abhakta, rascal, will not understand what is Bhagavad-gītā. Nābhaktāya. In the beginning also, Kṛṣṇa, before speaking Bhagavad-gītā, He selected Arjuna because... He said, bhakto 'si priyo 'si me rahasyam etad uttamam: (BG 4.3) "The mystery of Bhagavad-gītā, it is very transcendental subject matter. Therefore I shall speak to you." "Why? Why You are selecting me? I am not a Vedantist. I am not a sannyāsī. I am ordinary gṛhastha. That also, I am a soldier, fighting man. Why You are selecting me?" Bhakto 'si: "Because you are My devotee." Nobody can understand Bhagavad-gītā unless he's a devotee of Kṛṣṇa.

Lecture on BG Lecture -- Ahmedabad, December 8, 1972:

Arjuna was a military man. He was not a Vedantist. He was a gṛhastha, not even a sannyāsī. Why Kṛṣṇa selected to instruct Arjuna as the disciple of the renovated paramparā system? That is also spoken by Kṛṣṇa: bhakto 'si priyo 'si me (BG 4.3), rahasyam etad uttamam: "Because you are My dear friend, because you are My devotee, you can understand the mysteries of Bhagavad-gītā." Kṛṣṇa did not select a so-called Vedantist to understand Bhagavad-gītā. Because Arjuna was not a Vedantist. He was a military man. He's not supposed to become a great philosopher. He was a gṛhastha. But the real qualification is to become a devotee of Kṛṣṇa. Then one can understand what is Bhagavad-gītā.

Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures

Lecture on SB 1.2.9-10 -- Delhi, November 14, 1973:

So this bhakti-yoga, Kṛṣṇa consciousness, is so nice that if you take it very seriously, if you enter into the mystery of this bhakti-yoga... It is not all mystery, it is very open. Then naturally, paraṁ dṛṣṭvā nivartate (BG 9.59). And that is required. Vairāgya.

Lecture on SB 1.2.17 -- Vrndavana, October 28, 1972:

Kṛṣṇa is so kind that if you want a tiger's body, Kṛṣṇa will give you. If you want a demigod's body, Kṛṣṇa will give you. If you want a body like Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa will give you. Mad-yājino 'pi yānti mām. That is stated in the Bhagavad-gītā. Yānti deva-vratā devān pitṟn yānti pitṛ-vratāḥ (BG 9.25). Whatever you want, especially in this human form of life, whatever you desire, Kṛṣṇa will give you chance. It may be very unpalatable, but this is a fact. We have heard from authorities.That is why in Vṛndāvana there are so many hogs and monkeys and dogs. This is very mysterious thing.

Lecture on SB 1.3.29 -- Los Angeles, October 4, 1972:

Pradyumna: (leads chanting, etc.)

janma guhyaṁ bhagavato

ya etat prayato naraḥ

sāyaṁ prātar gṛṇan bhaktyā

duḥkha-grāmād vimucyate

(SB 1.3.29)

Translation: "Whoever carefully recites the mysterious appearances of the Lord with devotion in the morning and in the evening gets relief from all miseries of life."

Prabhupāda: This is called phala-śruti,(?) result. This chapter was describing different incarnations of God, and it is concluded that kṛṣṇas tu bhagavān svayam (SB 1.3.28).

Lecture on SB 1.3.29 -- Los Angeles, October 4, 1972:

So anyone who will recite these incarnations of God, Kṛṣṇa, regularly, in the morning and evening, that is the phala-śruti...(?) Janma guhyaṁ bhagavataḥ. Bhagavataḥ. He is the original source of everything, and He is taking birth. Therefore it is called guhyam. It is very mysterious. Just like Kuntī, when offered prayer to Kṛṣṇa, she said that "You are inside and You are outside. You are all-pervading. You are present everywhere. Still, people cannot see You." This is the mystery. God is everywhere, but we cannot see. How it is? That is explained by Kuntī. Just like somebody's father is playing on the stage dressed in a different way like a king or something. But the son cannot recognize him, although the father is playing just before him. The father is playing in his front, but he cannot understand. He's seeing some king is playing. Similarly, God is everywhere. God is everywhere. Simply you require to purify your eyes to see God.

Lecture on SB 1.3.29 -- Los Angeles, October 4, 1972:

One who is not in bhakti-yoga, he cannot see God, even God is present before him. Nāhaṁ prakāśaḥ sarvasya yogamāyā-samāvṛtaḥ (BG 7.25). "I am not exposed to everyone. The yoga-māyā curtain is there." So first of all, before asking anybody, "Can you show me God?" you must be qualified to see God. That is required. That qualification is taught in Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement, how to see God, how to understand God. Otherwise it is mysterious. Dharmasya tattvaṁ nihitaṁ guhāyāṁ mahājano yena gataḥ sa panthāḥ (CC Madhya 17.186).So seeing God is very mysterious, but it is very easy also, very easy, provided we know the method how to see God. So that is bhakti-yoga. And therefore Kṛṣṇa recommends in the Bhagavad-gītā, bhaktyā mām abhijānāti yāvān yaś cāsmi tattvataḥ: (BG 18.55) "Only through devotional service one can understand Me as I am."

Lecture on SB 1.3.29 -- Los Angeles, October 4, 1972:

So we do not know how to know Kṛṣṇa's activities. Therefore Bhagavad-gītā says, janma karma me divyam (BG 4.9). These are all transcendental subject. Here also, it is said, janma guhyaṁ bhagavataḥ. Very confidential. These mysteries, confidence, are open to the confidential devotees. Bhaktyā mām abhijānāti (BG 18.55). One who is devotee, He understands everything. Others cannot understand.

Lecture on SB 1.8.32 -- Los Angeles, April 24, 1973:

And Kṛṣṇa has also said in the Bhagavad-gītā: avajānanti māṁ mūḍhāḥ. "Those who are rascals. they think that I am also just like ordinary human being." Avajānanti māṁ mūḍhā mānuṣīṁ tanum āśritam (BG 9.11). "Because I have appeared just like a human being, so some of the rascals, they think that I am also one of the human beings." No. Paraṁ bhāvam ajānantaḥ. He does not know what is the mystery behind the God's taking birth like human being. Paraṁ bhāvam ajānantaḥ. So similarly Kṛṣṇa is aja. He takes birth likely, not exactly He takes birth. He is everywhere.

Lecture on SB 1.15.27 -- New York, March 6, 1975:

So we should take this instruction of Arjuna that govinda abhihitāni me: "Govinda has narrated the mystery of Bhagavad-gītā unto me, and when I remember, not read, the instruction, immediately there is minimizing the..." Smarataś cittam, hṛt-tāpa upaśamāni. Upaśamāni means relief immediately. So read Bhagavad-gītā. Our this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is based on this Bhagavad-gītā.

Lecture on SB 2.3.17 -- Los Angeles, June 12, 1972:

In the Bhagavad-gītā the Lord says, janma karma me divyaṁ yo jānāti tattvataḥ: (BG 4.9) "Anyone who understands about My birth and appearance..." Lord does not take birth. Aja. Aja means who never takes birth. Ever-existing. Ajo 'pi sann avyayātmā bhūtānām īśvaro 'pi san, sambhavāmi yuge yuge. So aja, one who does not take birth, but still we see that Kṛṣṇa is taking birth. We are observing the birth anniversary of Lord Kṛṣṇa. So therefore what is the mystery? He does not take birth. Still, we are observing the birth anniversary of Kṛṣṇa, Janmāṣṭamī. So this is to be understood, tattvataḥ, in truth. Yo jānāti tattvataḥ. Kṛṣṇa says, Veda says that na tasya kāryaṁ karaṇaṁ ca vidyate. "The Supreme Lord God has nothing to do." Why He shall do? So... And again, we see that Kṛṣṇa, since the day of His appearance at His maternal uncle's prison till His going back to His own home, He was always active.

Lecture on SB 3.26.42 -- Bombay, January 17, 1975:

So whole material world is nothing but tejo-vāri-mṛd-vinimayaḥ, exchange of, elementary, this earth, water, and fire. The same principle here also: taste. Just like we cook the same oil, ghee, and salt and turmeric, but we prepare different preparations, hundred, two hundred preparation, simply by the process of mixing earth. So that is going on. Now, by Kṛṣṇa's energy... Parāsya śaktir vividhaiva śrūyate (Cc. Madhya 13.65, purport). His energy is working in such subtle way, mysterious way. Therefore Kṛṣṇa is known as Yogeśvara.

Lecture on SB 5.5.2 -- Johannesburg, October 22, 1975:

Arjuna is a householder, and he is a kṣatriya, royal family, and he was a warrior. He knew how to fight. But his friendship with Kṛṣṇa was very, very intense. Kṛta-sauhṛdārthā. Therefore Kṛṣṇa instructed Arjuna that "Arjuna, I am instructing this mystery of Bhagavad-gītā unto you." Arjuna might have said that "Why you are giving me instruction? I am neither sannyāsī, nor a very learned scholar in Vedānta or... I am gṛhastha, householder, a politician, in royal family. So why You have selected me?" Bhakto 'si: "Because you are My devotee."

Lecture on SB 5.5.3 -- Hyderabad, April 15, 1975:

The first-class example is Arjuna. He was a military man, a politician, and gṛhastha, kṣatriya, not brāhmaṇa, not sannyāsī, but still Kṛṣṇa accepts him. Sakhā ceti, for you are my dear friend bhakto 'si sakhā ceti. "You are not only My devotee, you are My best friend," Kṛṣṇa says. Although he is gṛhastha, a military man, and as kṣatriya, still Kṛṣṇa accepts him that "I shall speak to you the mystery of Bhagavad-gītā, because you are My dear friend and bhakta."

Lecture on SB 5.5.3 -- Hyderabad, April 15, 1975:

Bhagavad-gītā is a mystery, rahasyam, and uttamam, transcendental. So without becoming a devotee of Kṛṣṇa, nobody can understand Bhagavad-gītā. The karmī, jñāni, yogi, they cannot understand Bhagavad-gītā. Otherwise Kṛṣṇa would have instructed Bhagavad-gītā to many karmīs, jñānīs, yogis. They are present, but He knows it well, these karmīs, jñānīs, yogis, they cannot understand Bhagavad-gītā. Therefore He said to His devotee and friend, bhakto 'si, priyo 'si. So in order to understand Bhagavad-gītā, one has to come to this position to become a devotee of Kṛṣṇa.

Lecture on SB 6.1.3 -- Melbourne, May 22, 1975:

And yuga, yuga means the 4,300,000 years makes a yuga. And multiply it by one thousand: that period is Brahma's one day. Similarly, he has got one night. Similarly, he has got one month. Similarly, he has got one year. And such hundred years he will live. So how you can calculate? How it is within your experience? You will think something mysterious. No. Your experience is nothing. Therefore you have to take experience from the perfect person, Kṛṣṇa. Then your knowledge is perfect. That I have already said. Don't try to understand with your teeny experience everything. Then you will be failure.

Lecture on SB 7.6.1 -- New York, April 9, 1969:

Kṛṣṇa did not like to instruct the confidential system of yoga to any so-called impersonalist or so-called Vedantist. Arjuna was ordinary householder. He was, of course, belonging to the royal family. He was a great warrior, that's all, but he did not belong to the brāhmaṇa family or any learned scholar. He was a military man. Then why Kṛṣṇa to discuss the mystery of Bhagavad-gītā to him? Because his qualification is accepted by Kṛṣṇa that, "I am speaking to you that old system of Bhagavad-gītā, Arjuna, because you are My devotee and you are My confidential friend." So we have to become a devotee or we have to establish a transcendental relationship with Kṛṣṇa. Then it is possible to understand what is the mystery of Bhagavad-gītā. Bhagavad-gītā cannot be understood by so-called scholars by academic degrees. One has to become a devotee of Kṛṣṇa. One has to become a friend or some way related with Kṛṣṇa. Then it is possible to understand Bhagavad-gītā. Otherwise it is impossible.

Lecture on SB 7.6.1 -- Hong Kong, April 18, 1972:

The mystery of religious life is very, very secret. Secret means for ordinary man it is very difficult to understand. Therefore śāstra says tarko 'pratiṣṭhāḥ. If you want to learn what is spiritual life simply by your argument, dry, philosophical speculation, it will never be achieved. Tarko 'pratiṣṭhāḥ śrutayo vibhinnā. If you study the Vedas, there are different Vedas. Principally Sāma, Yajur, Atharva, Ṛg. But you cannot understand the objective of the Vedas simply by studying yourself. Therefore Vedas says, Kaṭhopaniṣad, tad vijñānārthaṁ sa gurum evābhigacchet śrotriyaṁ brahma-niṣṭham samit-pāṇiḥ (MU 1.2.12). Like that. In every śāstra the injunction is if you want to understand the essence of Veda, then you must approach a realized, self-realized person. In the Bhagavad-gītā also the same thing is said. Tad viddhi praṇipātena paripraśnena sevayā (BG 4.34).

Lecture on SB 7.12.2 -- Bombay, April 13, 1976:

And if you prepare yourself to come to Me, back to home, back to God, you can do that." So what should be our aim of life? We shall go to the higher planetary system or back to home, back to Godhead? "Back," we say, because we have come from God. Just like one man is put in the prison house. He has come from his free home. By his work he is criminal; therefore he is put into the prison house. Similarly, we are all part and parcel of God. Our real home is Vaikuṇṭha. But we have come here. How we have come, that is a very mysterious thing; but we are part and parcel.

Sri Isopanisad Lectures

Sri Isopanisad, Mantra 9-10 -- Los Angeles, May 14, 1970:

Everyone takes birth and everyone will die. There is no difference of opinion about it. We shall die and they shall die. They can say that "You are thinking of birth, death, old age and disease. So do you mean to say that because you are cultivating Kṛṣṇa consciousness knowledge, you will be free from these four principles of nature's onslaught?" No. That is not the fact. The fact is, the Garga Upaniṣad says, etad viditvā yaḥ prayāti. One who quits this body after knowing what he is, sa eva brāhmaṇa, he is brāhmaṇa. Brāhmaṇa... We are offering you the sacred thread. Why? Just you try to understand what is the mystery of life. That is brāhmaṇa. Vijānataḥ. We have read in this verse, vijānataḥ. One who quits this body after knowing things as they are, he is brāhmaṇa. And etad aviditvā yaḥ prayāti... And one who quits this body without knowing the mystery of life, he's a kṛpaṇā. Kṛpaṇā means miser.

Sri Brahma-samhita Lectures

Lecture on Brahma-samhita, Lecture -- Bombay, January 3, 1973:

But Kṛṣṇa is available, Kṛṣṇa has to be seen from the Kṛṣṇa's devotee. Not from others. Therefore Kṛṣṇa said to Arjuna that "I am again explaining to you this Bhagavad-gītā because bhakto 'si priyo 'si rahasyaṁ hy etad uttamam (BG 4.3). There is a very nice mystery in this Bhagavad-gītā, and that will be understood by you because you are My devotee. You are My very dear." So in order to understand Kṛṣṇa, one has to first of all become a great devotee, dear friend of Kṛṣṇa. Then he can understand.

Festival Lectures

Sri Vyasa-puja -- Hyderabad, August 19, 1976:

So this is the guru's qualification. Guru does not show any magic or produce some wonderful things then he becomes guru. So practically I have done this. People are giving me credit that I have done miracles, but my miracle is that I carried the message of Caitanya Mahāprabhu: yāre dekha tāre kaha 'kṛṣṇa'-upadeśa (CC Madhya 7.128). So this is the secrecy. So anyone of you, you can become guru. It is not that I am an extraordinary man, an extraordinary god coming from some mysterious place. It is not that—it is very simple thing. Caitanya Mahāprabhu says that yāre dekha tāre kaha kṛṣṇa'-upadeśa (CC Madhya 7.128). So I request you follow the Caitanya Mahāprabhu's instruction that you also, you become a guru at your home.

General Lectures

Lecture -- Montreal, June 26, 1968:

Muni means mental speculator. So you cannot find any mental speculator who is not differing from another mental speculator. So tarkaḥ apratiṣṭhaḥ, the path of so-called logic and argument, is not perfect. Then, simply if you study different books of knowledge, that will also not give you perfect knowledge. If you consult so-called mental speculators, their different views, then dharmasya tattvaṁ nihitaṁ guhāyām. The ultimate goal of life is very confidential and mysterious. And how to know it? Mahājano yena gataḥ sa panthāḥ (CC Madhya 17.186). Mahājana means the perfect realized souls who have realized, you have to follow them. That's all. Mahājano yena gataḥ sa panthāḥ. Therefore this process of Kṛṣṇa consciousness is accepting the mahājana, the authority. The first authority is Kṛṣṇa.

Lecture -- Gorakhpur, February 18, 1971:

So our Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is to awaken the dormant Kṛṣṇa consciousness which is lying within everyone's heart. It is not artificial. It is not that I have spoken to these boys and girls in America and all over the world (and) with my speeches they have been enticed and they are Kṛṣṇa conscious. No. Nobody has such power that simply by artificial, by speaking, one can convert. That is not possible. The real, real mystery is, as it is stated in the Caitanya-caritāmṛta,

nitya-siddha kṛṣṇa-bhakti sādhya kabhu naya

śravaṇādi-śuddha-citte karaye udaya

Kṛṣṇa-bhakti, Kṛṣṇa consciousness, is in everyone's heart, dormant. Every living entity. Because every living entity is part and parcel of Kṛṣṇa.

Pandal Lecture at Cross Maidan -- Bombay, March 26, 1971:

Kṛṣṇa said to Arjuna, bhakto 'si priyo 'si me (BG 4.3). "Because you are My pure devotee, because you are My friend, dear friend, therefore I am speaking to you Bhagavad-gītā, which is very mysterious." And that mystery is very nice. So in order to understand Bhagavad-gītā we have to learn it from the devotees. That is also not very difficult. It is not necessary that you have to find out a devotee. The devotee is already there, Arjuna. And if you simply follow the footsteps of Arjuna, if you simply try to understand Bhagavad-gītā as Arjuna understood, then your study of Bhagavad-gītā is complete. That is not difficult.

Pandal Lecture -- Bombay, March 31, 1971:

So in this way, if we try to understand Bhagavad-gītā as it is, then we become liberated, we become a devotee of Kṛṣṇa, we become fully Kṛṣṇa conscious. That is the objective of Bhagavad-gītā. Kṛṣṇa therefore says, "Arjuna, I am trying to deliver this knowledge of Bhagavad-gītā unto you because you are My devotee." Bhakto 'si priyo 'si me rahasyaṁ hy etad uttamam (BG 4.3). "Without you, nobody can understand what is the mystery of this Bhagavad-gītā knowledge."

Pandal Lecture -- Bombay, March 31, 1971:

Caitanya Mahāprabhu is both ācārya and Kṛṣṇa Himself. Apart from His being Kṛṣṇa, if we take the part which He played as ācārya, that is, He also accepts Kṛṣṇa as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Ārādhyo bhagavān vrajeṣa-tanayas tad-dhāma vṛndāvanam. So we are to follow the ācāryas, not these casual interpretations, interpreters, to understand Bhagavad-gītā. Then we will be misled. We cannot understand. Because Kṛṣṇa says that "The mystery of Bhagavad-gītā will be understood by you because you are My very dear friend." So... "Because you are My devotee." So unless one is devotee, how one can understand Bhagavad-gītā and Kṛṣṇa? That is not possible. Kṛṣṇa says plainly in the Bhagavad-gītā, bhaktyā mām abhijānāti yāvān yas cāsmi tattvataḥ: (BG 18.55) "Only through devotional service one can understand."

Pandal Lecture -- Bombay, April 7, 1971:

So Bhagavad-gītā, Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, they are meant for paramahaṁsa-sādhika-caraṇam, for the paramahaṁsas. Those who are duṣkṛtina, miscreant, crows, they cannot enjoy what is the taste of Bhagavad-gītā. Therefore Kṛṣṇa says to Arjuna... When He was teaching to him beginning of the Bhagavad-gītā, He said, bhakto 'si me priyo 'si me rahasyaṁ hy etad uttamam: "Because you are My devotee, because you are My friend, very dear friend, therefore I am disclosing you the mysteries, rahasyam." Not anybody can understand Bhagavad-gītā. It is not possible if he does not follow the principles adopted by Arjuna. Bhakto 'si priyo 'si me (BG 4.3). That is the way of studying Bhagavad-gītā.

Lecture -- Visakhapatnam, February 18, 1972:

So the question is why Kṛṣṇa selected Arjuna to explain this paramparā system? There were many learned scholars five thousand years ago, many Vedantists, many great sages. But Kṛṣṇa selected Arjuna, a military man, a gṛhastha, and dealing with ordinary things, fighting for his own interest. Why he was selected? That is also explained by Kṛṣṇa, bhakto 'si priyo 'si (BG 4.3), "This is the only reason. Although you are not Vedantist, you are not supposed to be a great scholar because you are a military man, you are gṛhastha, but still I have selected you because you are My dear friend and bhakta." Without being bhakta, who can become Kṛṣṇa's dear friend? "So therefore, I am speaking to you this confidential." Rahasyaṁ hy etad uttamam. It is very mysterious. The first thing is that without becoming a devotee of Kṛṣṇa, bhakta, and dear friend... Kṛṣṇa, we can establish our relationship with Kṛṣṇa in so many ways.

Lecture -- Tokyo, May 1, 1972:

Why Kṛṣṇa was advising about Bhagavad-gītā to Arjuna? He was a gṛhastha, householder, a kṣatriya, fighter, warrior. He was not a Vedāntist, neither he had any time to study Vedas. He was a gṛhastha. Study of Vedas is the business of the brāhmaṇas. So he was not a brāhmaṇa. But still, Kṛṣṇa said that "Still, I am instructing you this Bhagavad-gītā, rahasyam etad uttamam. The most confidential, secrecy, mystery of Bhagavad-gītā is difficult to understand, but I am instructing you." "Why? Why You have selected me?" Bhakto 'si: "Because you are My devotee." This is the only qualification to understand Bhagavad-gītā. Otherwise, unless one is a devotee of Kṛṣṇa, he cannot understand the confidential teachings of Kṛṣṇa, Bhagavad-gītā.

General Lecture -- (location & date unknown):

But to understand Kṛṣṇa, that is explained also in the Bhagavad-gītā. Bhaktyā mām abhijānāti (BG 18.55). Not by learning, not by education, not by scholarship. Bhaktyā. Bhaktyā mām abhijānāti yāvān yaś cāsmi tattvataḥ: "In reality what I am, that can be understood by the devotees, not by others." And in the beginning also, of the Bhagavad-gītā teaching, He said Arjuna that "I am teaching Bhagavad-gītā to you because you are devotee." Bhakto 'si priyo 'si: (BG 4.3) "You are My very dear friend and devotee. Therefore," rahasyam hy etad uttamam, "I am delivering this mystery of Bhagavad-gītā-yoga to you." So to understand Bhagavad-gītā requires that qualification: bhakto 'si.

Philosophy Discussions

Philosophy Discussion on Hegel:

Prabhupāda: America is dominant now. Actually most of you don't support Mr. Nixon. But he is on the head. So how he has become head, that is mysterious. Because people, when you study the people, they do not support him. There are so many, I mean to say, procession against, protesting against Mr. Nixon's policy and so many things. But still he is on the head, of the executive power. So there is something mysterious. Actually, the present government does not represent the others. That is everywhere. So, how we can understand that this nation is good or bad by the state behavior. Just like we issued that statement that these Americans not... These Americans were following the Nixon philosophy. There was a cartoon, that in our temple nobody is coming.

Philosophy Discussion on Charles Darwin:

Hayagrīva: At first Darwin was a Christian, but his faith in the existence of a personal God dwindled, and he finally wrote, "The whole subject"—that is the subject of religion, or God—"is beyond the scope of man's intellect. The mystery of the beginning of things is insoluble by us, and I for one must be content to remain an agnostic. I have steadily endeavored to keep my mind free, so as to give up any hypothesis, however much beloved, as soon as facts are shown to be opposed to it." So he didn't argue against Plato or Descartes or Kant or any other philosopher, but he simply presented what evidence he had amassed during a five..., only a five-year voyage, on a British freighter, oh, from 1831 to 1836. But what is considered important is that his book, The Origin of Species, marks what they call the emancipation of science from philosophy.

Prabhupāda: What is that, emancipation?

Hayagrīva: That is to say he simply presented what material he found—that is the fossils. He investigated certain life forms on these island during this trip and theorized about evolution.

Prabhupāda: That is philosophic; that is not scientific. He found something and he based his thesis on that. He cannot find out all the bodies, because there are, at the end, some section, some sect they burn the body. So how he can get information of their body, burned? So his theory is not at all scientific. It is always defective.

Philosophy Discussion on Charles Darwin:

Hayagrīva: Bryan, the prosecutor, chastised the Darwinists for not telling us where life began and at the same time speaking of evolution. He says, "They do not dare to tell you that it began with God and ended with God. Darwin says, 'In the beginning of all things is a mystery insoluble by us.' He does pretend to say how these things started." And he goes on...

Prabhupāda: That means imperfect knowledge. We say that material world is creation, and within the material world the living entities are allowed to act. So the living entities coming from God; therefore He says bījo aham. So God... Just like our life begins from the womb of the mother, but the father gives the bīja. The mother's womb cannot produce itself; then there was no need of father. The father gives the bīja and the mother gives the body. Similarly, the living entity, part and parcel of God, is put into the material nature, and according to his desire the material nature gives him a body. That is the beginning.

Philosophy Discussion on Henri Bergson:

Śyāmasundara: But the modern interpretation of the word mystic is something different. People take mystic to mean someone who is very mysterious and magic.

Prabhupāda: Yes. It has come to that. God consciousness... Just like at the present moment if a guru can show some miracles, just like that Sai Baba, so they accept. That's a mystic.

Philosophy Discussion on Edmund Husserl:

Śyāmasundara: Yes. But he's still dealing on the lowest level now, just to really understand things (?). He says that this ego as truer subjectivity—that is the understanding that "I am"—is the wonder of wonders, and he considers that it is a mystery that the world should contain a being which is aware of its own existence. The phenomenological ego becomes a fundamental fact of the universe in which all truth is found. In other words, beginning with this understanding that "I am existing," that "I am this," becoming aware of myself, this is the springboard or launching pad to know the truth. And an animal, he does not have that knowledge, subjective...

Prabhupāda: So how you developed that knowledge, better knowledge than...?

Śyāmasundara: That is the mystery.

Prabhupāda: ...better knowledge than the animal?

Śyāmasundara: That is what he calls the mystery. That gradually that...

Prabhupāda: Then next mystery will be: there is somebody who is better than you.

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

Śyāmasundara: But the modern interpretation of the word mystic is something different. People take "mystic" to mean someone who is very mysterious and magic.

Prabhupāda: Yes. It has come to that. God consciousness... Just like at the present moment, if a guru can show some miracles, just like that Sai Baba, (laughter) so they accept that he's mystic. Yes.

Philosophy Discussion on Blaise Pascal:

Prabhupāda: This is, this is instruction of Bhagavad-gītā, that one who does not believe in God or disobeys the orders of God, a day will come when God will come as death, and his all power, all false prestige, all imagination, all plans will be all broken. Then after that, according to the transmigration of the soul, that person, because he did not obey the orders of God, he acted like animals, he gets the body of an animal. This is transmigration. And he suffers.

Hayagrīva: He also writes, "If we submit everything to reason, our religion will have no mysterious and supernatural element. If we offend the principles of reason, our religion will be absurd and ridiculous."

Prabhupāda: Yes, that is a fact. Because religion means the orders given by God. So if we faithfully carry out the orders of God, then that is religion. But if we don't carry out the orders of God, this is cheating religion. That is not religion.