While waiting for Kṛṣṇa, he refrained from swallowing the boys. In the meantime, Kṛṣṇa was thinking of how to save the boys and kill Aghāsura. Thus He entered the mouth of the gigantic asura, and when He was within the demon's mouth along with His friends, He expanded His body to such an extent that the asura suffocated and died. After this, Kṛṣṇa, by casting His nectarean glance upon His friends, brought them back to life, and with pleasure they all came out unhurt. Thus Kṛṣṇa encouraged all the demigods, and they expressed their pleasure and happiness. For a crooked, sinful person there is no scope for sāyujya-mukti, or becoming one with the effulgence of Kṛṣṇa, but because the Supreme Personality of Godhead entered the body of Aghāsura, by His touch this demon got the opportunity to merge into the existence of the Brahman effulgence and thus attain sāyujya-mukti.
No scope for...
Srimad-Bhagavatam
SB Canto 1
So all the incarnations of the Lord are mentioned in the revealed scriptures. There is no scope for an imposter to become an incarnation, for an incarnation must be mentioned in the śāstras. An incarnation does not declare Himself to be an incarnation of the Lord, but great sages agree by the symptoms mentioned in the revealed scriptures. The features of the incarnation and the particular type of mission which He has to execute are mentioned in the revealed scriptures.
When the ladies of the city of Dvārakā got up on the roofs of their palaces, they never thought that they had previously many times seen the beautiful body of the infallible Lord. This indicates that they had no satiation in desiring to see the Lord. Anything material seen for a number of times ultimately becomes unattractive by the law of satiation. The law of satiation acts materially, but there is no scope for it in the spiritual realm.
SB Canto 2
In the material world the senses are manipulated for individual and personal satisfaction, whereas in the spiritual world the senses are properly used for the purpose for which they were originally meant, namely the satisfaction of the Supreme Lord. Such sensual activities are natural, and therefore sense gratification there is uninterrupted and unbroken by material contamination because the senses are spiritually purified. And such satisfaction of the senses is equally shared by the transcendental reciprocators. Since the activities are unlimited and constantly increasing, there is no scope for material attempts or artificial arrangements. Such happiness of transcendental quality is called brahma-saukhyam, which will be clearly described in the Fifth Canto.
The cream of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam in the foregoing four ślokas is sometimes squeezed out by the impersonalist for different interpretations in their favor, but it should be carefully noted that the four ślokas were first described by the Personality of Godhead Himself, and thus the impersonalist has no scope to enter into them because he has no conception of the Personality of Godhead. Therefore, the impersonalist may squeeze out any interpretations from them, but such interpretations will never be accepted by those who are taught in the disciplic succession from Brahmā, as will be cleared up in the following verses.
SB Canto 3
After fulfilling his responsibility to produce a nice child, one should take sannyāsa and engage in the perfectional paramahaṁsa stage. paramahaṁsa refers to the most highly elevated perfectional stage of life. There are four stages within sannyāsa life, and paramahaṁsa is the highest order. The Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is called the paramahaṁsa-saṁhitā, the treatise for the highest class of human beings. The paramahaṁsa is free from envy. In other stages, even in the householder stage of life, there is competition and envy, but since the activities of the human being in the paramahaṁsa stage are completely engaged in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, or devotional service, there is no scope for envy.
One should not be excessively eager to satisfy the tongue and eat that which is not meant for humanity. Particularly, a devotee should eat only prasāda, or food which is offered to the Personality of Godhead. His position is to accept the remnants of those foodstuffs. Innocent foods like grains, vegetables, fruits, flowers and milk preparations are offered to the Lord, and therefore there is no scope for offering foods which are in the modes of passion and ignorance. A devotee should not be greedy. It is also recommended that the devotee should be muni, or thoughtful; he should always think of Kṛṣṇa and how to render better service to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. That should be his only anxiety.
Devahūti, the mother of Kapila, instead of prolonging her prayers, summarized that Lord Kapila was none other than Viṣṇu and that since she was a woman it was not possible for her to worship Him properly simply by prayer. It was her intention that the Lord be satisfied. The word pratyak is significant. In yogic practice, the eight divisions are yama, niyama, āsana, prāṇāyāma, pratyāhāra, dhāraṇā, dhyāna and samādhi. Pratyāhāra means to wind up the activities of the senses. The level of realization of the Supreme Lord evidenced by Devahūti is possible when one is able to withdraw the senses from material activities. When one is engaged in devotional service, there is no scope for his senses to be engaged otherwise. In such full Kṛṣṇa consciousness, one can understand the Supreme Lord as He is.
SB Canto 4
The Lord has innumerable devotees all over the universe, and they have been glorifying the Lord since time immemorial and for an unlimited time. But still they cannot completely finish enumerating the glories of the Lord. Pṛthu Mahārāja therefore wanted innumerable ears, as Rūpa Gosvāmī also desired to have millions of ears and millions of tongues to chant and hear the glorification of the Lord. In other words, if our ears are always engaged in hearing the glorification of the Lord, there will be no scope for hearing the Māyāvāda philosophy, which is doom to spiritual progress. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu said that if anyone hears from a Māyāvādī philosopher preaching about the activities of the Lord, even if it is a description from the Vedic literature, he is ultimately doomed. By hearing such Māyāvāda philosophy one cannot come to the destination of spiritual perfection of life.
SB Canto 7
In the previous chapters the great sage Nārada has explained how a brahmacārī, a vānaprastha and a sannyāsī should act. He first explained the dealings of a brahmacārī, vānaprastha and sannyāsī because these three āśramas, or statuses of life, are extremely important for fulfillment of the goal of life. One should note that in the brahmacārī-āśrama, vānaprastha-āśrama and sannyāsa-āśrama there is no scope for sex life, whereas sex is allowed in gṛhastha life under regulations. Nārada Muni, therefore, first described brahmacarya, vānaprastha and sannyāsa because he wanted to stress that sex is not at all necessary, although one who absolutely requires it is allowed to enter gṛhastha life, or household life, which is also regulated by the śāstras and guru. Yudhiṣṭhira Mahārāja could understand all this. Therefore, as a gṛhastha, he presented himself as gṛha-mūḍha-dhīḥ, one who is completely ignorant of the goal of life.
SB Canto 9
The form of Sītā taken by Rāvaṇa was an illusory representation of mother Sītā—maya-sītā. When Sītā was tested in the fire, this māyā-sītā was burnt, and the real Sītā came out of the fire. A further understanding to be derived from this example is that a woman, however powerful she may be in the material world, must be given protection, for as soon as she is unprotected she will be exploited by Rākṣasas like Rāvaṇa. Here the words vaideha-rāja-duhitari indicate that before mother Sītā was married to Lord Rāmacandra she was protected by her father, Vaideha-rāja. And when she was married she was protected by her husband. Therefore the conclusion is that a woman should always be protected. According to the Vedic rule, there is no scope for a woman's being independent (asamakṣam), for a woman cannot protect herself independently.
"Peacefulness, self-control, austerity, purity, tolerance, honesty, wisdom, knowledge, and religiousness—these are the qualities by which the brāhmaṇas work." The brahminical character offers no scope for possessing land and ruling citizens; these are the duties of a kṣatriya. Therefore, although the brāhmaṇas did not refuse Lord Rāmacandra's gift, after accepting it they returned it to the King. The brāhmaṇas were so pleased with Lord Rāmacandra's affection toward them that their hearts melted. They saw that Lord Rāmacandra, aside from being the Supreme Personality of Godhead, was fully qualified as a kṣatriya and was exemplary in character. One of the qualifications of a kṣatriya is to be charitable. A kṣatriya, or ruler, levies taxes upon the citizens not for his personal sense gratification but to give charity in suitable cases. Dānam īśvara-bhāvaḥ. On one hand, kṣatriyas have the propensity to rule, but on the other they are very liberal with charity.
SB Canto 10.1 to 10.13
Sri Caitanya-caritamrta
CC Adi-lila
Māyāvādī philosophers are jealous of the existence of the Personality of Godhead. Therefore the Vedānta-sūtra is not actually meant for them. They unnecessarily poke their noses into the Vedanta-sūtra, but they have no ability to understand it because, as the author of the Vedānta-sūtra writes in his commentary, Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, it is meant for those who are pure in heart (paramo nirmatsarāṇām (SB 1.1.2)). If one is envious of Kṛṣṇa, how can he understand the Vedānta-sūtra or Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam? The Māyāvādīs' primary occupation is to offend the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa. For example, although Kṛṣṇa demands our surrender in the Bhagavad-gītā, the greatest scholar and so-called philosopher in modern India has protested that it is "not to Kṛṣṇa" that we have to surrender. Therefore, he is envious. Since Māyāvādīs of all different descriptions are envious of Kṛṣṇa, they have no scope for understanding the meaning of the Vedānta-sūtra. Even if they were on the liberated platform, as they falsely claim, love of Kṛṣṇa is beyond the state of liberation—a fact stated by Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu and repeated here by Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja Gosvāmī.
This verse describes the beginning of a schism. When disciples do not stick to the principle of accepting the order of their spiritual master, immediately there are two opinions. Any opinion different from the opinion of the spiritual master is useless. One cannot infiltrate materially concocted ideas into spiritual advancement. That is deviation. There is no scope for adjusting spiritual advancement to material ideas.
In his book Caitanya-candrāmṛta, Śrīla Prabodhānanda Sarasvatī says, “One who receives a little favor from the Lord becomes so exalted that he does not care even for liberation, which is sought after by many great scholars and philosophers. Similarly, a devotee of Lord Caitanya considers residence in the heavenly planets a will-o’-the-wisp. He surpasses the perfection of mystic yoga power because for him the senses are like snakes with broken fangs.” A snake is a very fearful and dangerous animal because of his poison fangs, but if these fangs are broken, the appearance of a snake is no cause for fear. The yoga principles are meant to control the senses, but there is no scope for the senses of one engaged in the service of the Lord to be dangerous like snakes. These are the gifts of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu.
CC Madhya-lila
For a pure devotee, there is no scope for indulgence in mystic yoga practice or the cultivation of speculative philosophy. It is indeed impossible for a pure devotee to engage his mind in such unwanted activities. Even if a pure devotee wanted to, his mind would not allow him to do so. That is a characteristic of a pure devotee—he is transcendental to all fruitive activity, speculative philosophy and mystic yoga meditation. The gopīs therefore expressed themselves as follows.
Other Books by Srila Prabhupada
Teachings of Lord Caitanya
Love of God is dormant in everyone, and it can be awakened from its dormant position by the execution of pure devotional service, just as a person bitten by a serpent can be awakened by ammonia. After speaking in this way about devotional service, Lord Caitanya begins to describe devotional service and its symptoms to Rūpa Gosvāmī. He explains that in pure devotional service there can be no desire other than the desire to advance in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. In Kṛṣṇa consciousness there is no scope for worshiping any demigod or any other form of Kṛṣṇa, nor is there room for indulgence in speculative empiric philosophy, nor indulgence in fruitive activities. One should be free from all these contaminations. A devotee should accept only those things that are favorable to keep his body and soul together and should reject those things that increase the demands of the body.
Nectar of Devotion
When Vṛṣāsura appeared in Vṛndāvana as a bull, all of the gopīs became greatly affected with fear. Being perturbed in that way, they began to embrace the tamāla trees. This is an instance of fear caused by a ferocious animal and of the search for shelter while remembering Kṛṣṇa in ecstatic love. Upon hearing the jackals crying in the forest of Vṛndāvana, mother Yaśodā sometimes became very careful about keeping Kṛṣṇa under her vigilance, fearing that Kṛṣṇa might be attacked by them. This is an instance of ecstatic love for Kṛṣṇa in fear caused by a tumultuous sound. This kind of fear is a little different from being actually afraid. When one is afraid of something, he can still think of past and future. But when there is this kind of ecstatic apprehension, there is no scope for such thinking.
Krsna, The Supreme Personality of Godhead
Kṛṣṇa is the Supersoul of all living creatures, so He could understand the mind of Satyā. He was also very much pleased with the respectful worship of the King in offering Him a sitting place, eatables, a residence and so on. He was appreciative, therefore, that both the girl and her father were eager to have Him as their intimate relative. He smiled and in a grave voice said, "My dear King Nagnajit, you know very well that anyone in the princely order who is regular in his position will never ask anything from anyone, however exalted he may be. Such requests by a kṣatriya king have been deliberately forbidden by the learned Vedic followers. If a kṣatriya breaks this regulation, his action is condemned by learned scholars. But in spite of this rigid regulative principle, I am asking you for the hand of your beautiful daughter just to establish our relationship in return for your great reception of Me. You may also be pleased to be informed that in Our family tradition there is no scope for Our offering anything in exchange for accepting your daughter. We cannot pay any price you may impose for delivering her." In other words, Kṛṣṇa wanted the hand of Satyā from the King without fulfilling the condition of defeating the seven bulls.
Lectures
Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures
What is that English word, "Putting the old wine in the new bottle," or what is that? So it is old wine. Simply putting in new bottles. That's all. And what is new? "There is nothing new in the world." The sun was rising on the eastern side. Still it is rising on the eastern side. The sun was setting on the western side. It is still setting. Your forefathers, grandfather, they were also eating; you are also eating. They also died, and we shall also die. What new thing is there? They died, and you will not die? What new we can give? Nothing. You have to follow by nature's law the old principles. They died; I will have to die. They ate; I am eating. They beget children; I am also begetting. So what is the difference? What is the new? Everything is going on in the old principles. It is simply our imagination that we are doing something new. There is nothing new. Āhāra-nidrā-bhaya-maithunaṁ ca sāmānyam etat paśubhir narāṇām. We are under such stringent laws of the nature, there is no scope for inventing something new. That is not possible. We have to follow the old principles by force, by nature's law. All right. Chant Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Actually the mind is acting as my, because I have got little independence, because I am part and parcel of the Supreme who has got full independence, therefore I have got little independence. The mind is controlling that independence. If mind says, "All right, let me go the Kṛṣṇa conscious temple," and the mind can say, "Oh what is that nonsense, Kṛṣṇa, let us go to some club." so mind is driving you. Therefore our Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is to fix up the mind in Kṛṣṇa, that's all. He cannot but act as friend. You see? He has no scope to give any one place. As soon as Kṛṣṇa is seated on the mind, just like as soon as there is sunshine, the sun is on the sky, there is no scope of darkness. There is no possibility. Darkness will never become before the sun. Similarly Kṛṣṇa is just like sun. You keep Kṛṣṇa on the mind. The māyā, darkness will never be able to come. That is the first-class yoga system. That is the perfection of yoga system. One whose mind is so strong that mind will not allow any nonsense to come in, then where is your falldown? The mind is strong, the driver is strong. He cannot take you anywhere unless you desire.
Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures
Try to understand Kṛṣṇa, what He is. But that understanding, how it can be achieved, that is explained in the next verse:
- tac chraddadhānā munayo
- jñāna-vairāgya-yuktayā
- paśyanty ātmani cātmānaṁ
- bhaktyā śruta-gṛhītayā
- (SB 1.2.12)
Bhaktyā śruta-gṛhītayā. You have to hear of Kṛṣṇa in devotion, bhaktyā, not as a nondevotee. A nondevotee cannot understand Kṛṣṇa. He has no scope. If a nondevotee interprets on the Bhagavad-gītā, he is simply wasting time of himself and others. Here it is clearly stated, bhaktyā śruta-gṛhītayā. One has to become devotee and hear from the authorities. Just like Arjuna. Arjuna was a bhakta. Bhakto 'si priyo 'si sakhā ceti (BG 4.3). And he heard from the Absolute Truth, Kṛṣṇa. Therefore he understood Bhagavad-gītā. So one who has not heard Bhagavad-gītā or about Kṛṣṇa and who is not a devotee, his speaking on Bhagavad-gītā is simply useless waste of time.
This is the secret. We have got the ears, and we have got the sound also. Just like we are reading this book. So if we don't fill up our ears with this transcendental sound, then it will be filled up with some rubbish things. It cannot remain empty. Either you fill up with transcendental message, or you fill up with rubbish nonsense. Two ways. So if you take care that your earholes are always filled up with the transcendental message of Kṛṣṇa, so there is no scope for rubbish things to enter into it. So therefore our attempt should be twenty-four hours hearing. Kīrtanīyaḥ sadā hariḥ (CC Adi 17.31). Twenty-four hours. As soon as you get time, read books, discuss amongst yourselves, partial closing.(?) Don't fill up the ears with rubbish things. Then advance will be choked up.
The legs can be engaged... If you are living in a distant place, engage your legs to come here. That is the engagement of the legs. Eyes should be engaged to see very beautiful Deity, well decorated. Then you'll feel satisfaction. Otherwise, your eyes will draw you to see something nonsense beautiful. So all our senses should be engaged. Then there is no māyā. If you have got good engagement, then there is no scope for wrong engagement. The wrong engagement is māyā, and good engagement is Kṛṣṇa. So try to engage yourself always in Kṛṣṇa's service, and māyā will not be able to touch you. Sa vai manaḥ kṛṣṇa-padāravindayoḥ (SB 9.4.18). If you engage your tongue for talking about Kṛṣṇa, to taste kṛṣṇa-prasādam, then there will be no scope of your tongue for being engaged in nonsense talking, for going to restaurant and take nonsense food. You may... The Māyāvādī philosophy is to stop by force, to make it zero. "My senses are giving me trouble. To... So put out, pluck out the eyeballs."
Just like Vedas says that if you touch stool, immediately you have to take your bath. You have become impure. This is Vedic injunction. If you touch bone, then you have become impure. You have to take your bath immediately, full. Then Vedas say, "Now, the stool of cow is pure, cow dung." Now, with your reason you can say, "First of all you said that stool is impure, and as soon as you touch you must take your bathing. Otherwise you remain impure. So another stool, cow stool, you say pure? This is contradiction. You say that the bone is impure, and you are keeping the bone in the Deity's room?" The conchshell is bone. You know this conchshell is a bone of an animal. So it is being used in the Deity room, and the cow dung is also used in the Deity room. Even Kṛṣṇa is smearing His whole body with cow dung. You know Kṛṣṇa's līlā. So if you say, argue, with your poor knowledge, then it becomes contradiction. One stool is good; another stool is bad. But because it is said by the Vedas, you have to accept it. This is Vedic knowledge. You cannot argue. There is no scope of argument. Whatever is said, you have to accept. Otherwise how Vedas become authority? You can change in your own way.
One has taken to Kṛṣṇa consciousness, but on account of immature Kṛṣṇa consciousness, if he falls down, falls down like that, then he gets... Yoga-bhraṣṭaḥ sanjāyate śucīnāṁ. But if one purposefully commits mistake and sinful life, "Now I am chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa. I can do all sinful life. It will become counteracted," that rascal will be punished very, very much. Nāmnād balād yasya hi pāpa-buddhiḥ. "I am living in Vṛndāvana. Oh, it is dhāma, so let me do all nonsense. It will be counteracted." They'll be these cats and dogs and monkeys in Vṛndāvana. Dhāmāparādha. Dhāmāparādha. Of course, Vṛndāvana's influence will be there, but at least one life he has to become the hog and dog in Vṛndāvana. Then next life he'll be... Because as soon as he becomes animal, there is no scope of unlimited committing sinful life. Animals are restricted. They can commit one kind of sinful life. That, the human being, because he is very intelligence, he commits unlimited duration of sinful life. That is another danger. So one who commits this sinful life in Vṛndāvana, remember, he has to become next life cats and dogs.
Sri Caitanya-caritamrta Lectures
So without this brahminical qualification one cannot understand the Vedic knowledge. Therefore it is stated sometimes that a śūdra is prohibited from reading Vedas. That does not mean that reading of Vedic culture or Vedic knowledge is monopolized by a certain class of men. Not that. The idea is... Just like in our ordinary educational system, there is some prohibition that unless one is graduate, he cannot be admitted in the law college. That is not a prohibition; that is the necessary qualification to understand. Similarly, to understand the Vedas, the necessary qualification is that one must be a qualified brāhmaṇa. Not that Mr. Max Muller, he has got little knowledge of Sanskrit and he translates. That kind of translation is no use, just like so many commentaries on the Bhagavad-gītā without becoming a devotee of Kṛṣṇa is useless. It has no meaning, because Kṛṣṇa says that bhaktyā mām abhijānāti: (BG 18.55) "Only through devotional service one can understand Me." How a nondevotee can understand Him? He has no scope to enter into the knowledge of Bhagavad-gītā. So first qualification is that he must be a pure devotee of Kṛṣṇa. Then it will be revealed.
Stop speculation? Don't manufacture ideas. You take what Kṛṣṇa says. Then it will automatically stop. Speculation, the question of speculation comes when you do not accept what Kṛṣṇa says. If you accept Kṛṣṇa, what Kṛṣṇa says, then there is no scope of speculation. That is our movement, that "Accept Kṛṣṇa's teachings as it is. Don't speculate; then it is lost." This is our movement. Kṛṣṇa says that ahaṁ sarvasya prabhavo mattaḥ sarvaṁ pravartate (BG 10.8): "I am the origin of everything. Everything emanates from Me." If you accept, then it is all right. And if you speculate, you can do that, but our movement is to accept Kṛṣṇa.
Suppose I am serving some master here, so-called master, and he is at once paying me wages—"Take your wages"—twenty-five dollars, ten dollars or whatever it may be, at once paying. And I am going to serve the Supreme, and there is no maintenance for me? Oh, what a foolishness. This is called forgetful. This is called spell of māyā. Māyā will dictate, "Oh, you are going to serve Kṛṣṇa? How you'll maintain yourself, you foolish. Don't go there. Don't go to the Kṛṣṇa consciousness society. It is cheating." No, it is not cheating. It is actual fact. Yes. It is not cheating. But if you want to gratify your senses, oh, there is no scope. Then go to hell. Then go to hell. But if you want to serve Kṛṣṇa, there is every arrangement for you. There is every arrangement for you. If you want to cheat Kṛṣṇa, then Kṛṣṇa will also cheat you. Dyūtaṁ chalayatām asmi. Kṛṣṇa has said in His vibhūti-yogam that "Amongst all cheating process, I am gambling. I am gambling." There is cheating process. Wherefrom this cheating process comes? There is cheating process in Kṛṣṇa also because He is the origin of everything.
Sri Brahma-samhita Lectures
Śukadeva Gosvāmī says that these boys who are playing with Kṛṣṇa in Vṛndāvana, kṛta-puṇya-puñjāḥ, for many millions of years they simply accumulated pious results of their activities. The Bhagavad-gītā also says, yeṣāṁ tv anta-gataṁ pāpam, one he, one who is simply free from all reaction of sinful life, yeṣāṁ anta-gataṁ pāpam. How it is possible? Janānāṁ puṇya-karmaṇām. Those who are simply engaged in pious activities, the sinful activity cannot touch them. That is natural. If you are engaged in some type of activities, you are not engaged in other activities, you cannot do. Similarly, if you simply engage yourself in pious activities, the reaction of sinful activities cannot touch you. Yeṣāṁ anta-gataṁ pāpaṁ janānāṁ puṇya-karmaṇām te, such persons, dvandva-moha-nirmuktā, they're released from the duality, bhajante māṁ dṛḍha-vratāḥ. So you are engaged in that business. There is no scope of sinful reaction in your life, provided you follow the four principles. No intoxication, no meat eating, no illicit sex, no gambling. These four items and chant Hare Kṛṣṇa, sixteen rounds. Is it very difficult? And here is Kṛṣṇa's certificate. So do it, rigidly, and be happy.
Festival Lectures
So this Ratha-yātrā Festival is a mass movement for enlightening people to this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement. We have got many other festivities in Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement. We have got Janmāṣṭamī, Śrī Rāma-navamī, Dola-yātrā, Jhulana-yātrā. So there are twelve months, but we have got twenty-four festivals as big as this Ratha-yātrā Festival. So if you kindly take to them, then as advised by Lord Caitanya, kīrtanīyaḥ sadā hariḥ (CC Adi 17.31), you will always be in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, and there will be no scope of your frustration and confusion. For this purpose especially, I came in this meeting, that you kindly accept this humble instruction that wherever you may be, in whatever position, in whatever condition, you kindly chant these sixteen names (everyone chants), Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/ Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare.
General Lectures
So Kṛṣṇa is so nice, so liberal, that if you have got a little tinge of aspiration He will fulfill you, and at the same time, you'll go back to home, back to Godhead. Therefore it is recommended, yajeta paramaṁ puruṣa. If you have got some material desire, still you worship Kṛṣṇa. He'll fulfill; at the same time, you will be able to go back to home, back to Godhead. Kṛṣṇa is all-powerful, almighty, full with six opulences. So if you have got any material desire, that also Kṛṣṇa can fulfill, but you stick to Kṛṣṇa so that your āsakti will be increased. If you divert your attention to other demigods, then this āsakti will fail. Therefore for a devotee who sticks his faith in Kṛṣṇa, he has no chance for worshiping other demigods. So the Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura says, anya devāśraya nāi, tomāre kahinu bhāi, ei parama bhakti karaṇa. For a devotee of Kṛṣṇa there is no scope for worshiping other Deity, because that will not help him to increase his attachment for Kṛṣṇa.
Conversations and Morning Walks
1969 Conversations and Morning Walks
Allen Ginsberg: But I'm wondering what future is there? What's the future of a religious observance so technical as this? So complicated as this? Requires so much sophistication in terms of diet, daily ritual, ārati, ekādaśī, all, the whole thing that you've been teaching, how far can that spread by it's very complexness...
Prabhupāda: Yes. All are complex. The whole idea is to keep the devotees always engaged in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. That is the program. Gradually, we shall introduce more and more so that he has no scope to go outside Kṛṣṇa consciousness.
Prabhupāda: That we have got varieties of duties. Just like we are. You have seen all these boys. They are always engaged. Always engaged. Similarly, everywhere they are always engaged in Kṛṣṇa. We want extra time to work for Kṛṣṇa. The twenty-four hours is not sufficient for us. Yes. Then we shall see that we are sleeping, wasting time. Gosvāmīs, they used to sleep for one half-hour only. That also sometimes forgot.
Allen Ginsberg: To dream?
Prabhupāda: No. They were always engaged. Volumes of books they have written. When there is no writing, chanting, dancing, talking, and like that—engaged in Kṛṣṇa always. That we have been taught by our Guru Mahārāja, twenty-four hours engagement with Kṛṣṇa. So māyā has no scope to enter in our mind. She always remains aloof: "Oh, here is fire. I cannot touch." Bhakti mukulitāñ... Bhaktis tvayi sthiratarā yadi bhagavan syād daivena phalati divya-kiśora-mūrtiḥ, muktir mukulitāñjaliḥ sevate 'smān. Bilvamaṅgala Ṭhākura, a great devotee, he executed devotional service for seven hundred years. He lived for seven hundred years in Vṛndāvana.
Prabhupāda: Yes. Yes. That is very natural. Just like... (knock on door) Come on. Because jīva, although parā śaktī, he has got independence. So when he wants to imitate Kṛṣṇa... In the spiritual world Kṛṣṇa is the enjoyer, and all others, they are enjoyed. Predominator and the predominating. The Lord is the predominating, so there is no disagreement. There they know, "The Lord is predominator. We have to serve." When this service attitude is impaired, that "Why serve Kṛṣṇa? Why not ourself?" that is māyā. Then he falls down in the material energy. There is no scope... Just like in the government system, there is no scope of freedom. You have to act according to government state laws. So long you are agreement, then you are free. If you disagree, then you are placed within the prison house. Similarly, jīva, independent, not fully independent, but they have got. Because part and part of God, therefore that independence quality is there. So when that independence quality is misused, then his place is in the material world. Kṛṣṇa bhuliya jīva bhoga vāṅchā kare.
1972 Conversations and Morning Walks
Prabhupāda: That children should fight, but if you give them, give them good arrangement, more engagement for chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa, always engage them in chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Devotee (5): They should do as much japa as possible.
Prabhupāda: Yes. They should have no scope, simply chant and dance, daily engagement, and (indistinct) says that they should play Kṛṣṇa play-cowherds boy going to the forest, someone, someone has become cow, like that. If they have got good engagement, and sometimes they fight, after all, they're coming from fighting father and mother. So you have to change them.
1976 Conversations and Morning Walks
Prabhupāda: Because they have finished their science. They have researched and done so many years now, their scientific knowledge is liquidated. Now they are giving this chance theory, therefore, because they cannot explain anything. That's all. Their vidyā buddhi is finished. That is the problem now. For the scientists, it is a problem now. Now, so far their limited knowledge is concerned, they have done everything, discovered everything. Now there is no scope of working and discovering. That is the position of the scientists.
Prabhupāda: Well, that is another thing. Rut this is their actual position. Now their position is how to bluff and get money, because talk is finished. Now bluffing stock is now finished. Now they have to give theories like this "chance" and make big, big words, jugglery.
Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Why don't they make research into consciousness?
Prabhupāda: What they'll be finished? Whatever their limited knowledge they possess, that is finished now. They have no scope.
Dr. Wolfe: With regard to opinions, there are the people, especially the scientists, I would say the medium quality of scientists, who don't want to think anymore. They just come to a...
Prabhupāda: They are finished. Rather, they have stopped. They are finished. Whatever they could do, they have already done, and there is no scope of their doing anything. Therefore next business is bluff. That's all.
Prabhupāda: That is imperfect. Inductive knowledge is always imperfect. Deductive knowledge is perfect if it is taken from the authority. Suppose man is mortal. So inductive process is that you examine every man whether he's mortal or immortal. So suppose you have seen millions of men, and they are all mortal, they die. Then your conclusion is man is mortal. But I can say you have not seen a man who does not die. I can say that. So this inductive knowledge will remain always imperfect. It will never be perfect, because your examination is limited. So I can that say you have not seen the person, man... Suppose if I say you have not seen Vyāsadeva, he's immortal. You have not seen Aśvatthāmā, he's immortal. So how this scientific research can be perfect, inductive? It is never perfect. Because you may be missing somebody who is immortal. Then your conclusion is wrong. There is no scope of studying all the living beings. There is no such scope. You have limited scope. So your seeing power is limited. How you can decide from the limited seeing power?
Prabhupāda: No, if he's trained up. Just like here we have got so many young men. They are trained up. So there is no prohibition that a young man cannot become a sannyāsa. If he's able, he can take sannyāsa from the very beginning. But if he's not able, let him enter into household life and then remain as householder up to fiftieth year, then retire, then take sannyāsa. It is not an enforcement. A gradual process. But the ultimate end is to become free from all material attachment and completely devote life for Kṛṣṇa consciousness. That is the ultimate end. Because human life is meant for that purpose, self-realization or spiritual realization, that opportunity must be given to all human beings. Unfortunately at the present moment the civilization has no scope for spiritual realization. They live like other animals, eating, sleeping, mating and defending. That's all. They do not know there is another life, spiritual life, and neither there is any education or institution to educate them. Now we are trying for that purpose.
Correspondence
1947 to 1965 Correspondence
The present environment is undoubtedly different from the old. And if we compare the present with the old—we can very easily discover that
1. People in the present age are generally shortliving. The average duration of life being 30 years or so.
2. They are generally not very simple. Almost everyman is designing and crooked.
3. They have no scope for high thinking because they are perplexed with different relative truths.
4. Unfortunate as they are in this age their problems remain unsolved for the whole life even though they are tackled by their leaders. They make the best effort to solve a problem but unfortunately the same becomes more acute and stringent.
5. And above all, people in this age are always distressed by famine, scarcity, grieves and diseases in an increasing ratio.
In the old days life was not so much conditional and encumbered. The simple problems were then the problems of bread, clothing and shelter which were solved by the simplest process.
1967 Correspondence
I hope this letter will convince you of the actual position. While reading this letter you may consult some friend who knows English very well so that he'll read it correctly and reply correctly. There is no scope for corresponding in Bengali or in Hindi.
You should always try to pacify the living entities in their rebellious propensities. These individual propensities are factual evidence for their becoming individual entities. If everything would have been impersonal there would have been no scope for the individual manifestations. It is understood that Hayagriva will purchase the property at Wilkes-Barr with the help of Dr. Henderson's financial assistance. I do not mind that they will do something separately, but I wish that there may not be any misbehavior between the God-brothers. I think you can write Hayagriva a personal letter regretting the incident which had unfortunately occurred, namely spitting over the person of Kirtanananda.
1968 Correspondence
Similarly, as soon as we see moonlight in the evening we remember Krishna because moonlight is also reflection of sunlight. Similarly, when we hear any sound we can remember Krishna because sound is Krishna, and the most perfect sound, transcendental, is Hare Krishna, which we have to chant 24 hours. So there is no scope of forgetting Krishna at any moment of our life provided we practice in that way. The society for Krishna Consciousness is meant for preaching this philosophy throughout the world and I was very happy to receive your cooperation and I am still hopeful that the philosophy of Bhagavad-gita as Science of God can be preached by you and all your God-brothers.
Similarly, when Ramanujacarya found Sankaracarya a second edition of Buddhist philosophy, he also expunged Sankaracarya as compromising the Buddha, and he established Personal worship of Lord Visnu. Later on, other acaryas, including Sri Caitanya, developed the transcendental reciprocation of devotional service to the Supreme Personality of Godhead and Lord Caitanya preached that loving service in the highest conjugal love with Krishna is also possible. So we are preaching the highest principles of loving service to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and as such, there is no scope for compromising with any of the kinds of philosophies of the impersonalist school.
1970 Correspondence
In the Bhagavad-gita it is always stressed to Krishna by the words aham and mam. Similarly in the Srimad-Bhagavatam the same stress is give from the very beginning—Param satyam, the Supreme Truth. If we divert our attention to worship other demigods, then our faith in Krishna will be flickering. We Gaudiya Vaisnavas, under the guidance of Lord Caitanya, want steady attention for Krishna, not flickering. Therefore, in our line of thoughts and action there is no scope for worshiping any other demigods.
1972 Correspondence
Regarding Mayapur festival, if we cannot do anything there, then because there is very good prospect in Africa I may remain there and not return to India. I especially wanted to stay in India for this Mayapur celebration, but if there is no scope, or if our men are not able to do anything, then I can return via Africa. But why not it is held? Nobody will check us if we simply go there as ordinary pilgrims. But you try for permission for all our men. One form has been sent to all our men outside of Calcutta to apply for the permission. I understand that all Calcutta men they are already applying directly from there. These forms will be sent to you immediately by our men, and you can push seriously with every possible effort to get permission for all. Such festival should be held very grandly.
1974 Correspondence
I know you are working hard and sincerely. I have no business to criticize you but as head of the institution or your spiritual master, it is my duty to find out your faults. Even Caitanya Mahaprabhu presented himself as faulty before his spiritual master. To remain faulty before the spiritual master is a good qualification so he is subjected to rectification. But if one thinks he is all perfect then there is no scope for rectification. Don't be sorry when I find fault. That is my primary duty. Canakya pandita says one must find fault with disciples and sons, it is good for them.
| Page Title: | No scope for... |
| Compiler: | Labangalatika, Serene |
| Created: | 05 of Feb, 2010 |
| Totals by Section: | BG=0, SB=12, CC=4, OB=3, Lec=13, Con=9, Let=8 |
| No. of Quotes: | 49 |