There are four social divisions of human society: the brāhmaṇas, or intellectuals; the kṣatriyas, or administrators; the vaiśyas, or businessmen and farmers; and the śūdras, or laborers. There are also four spiritual orders, or āśramas: the brahmacārīs, or students; the gṛhasthas, or householders; the vānaprasthas, or retired persons; and the sannyāsīs, or those in renounced life. Regardless of one's social or spiritual position, however, one who is lacking in devotional service, or Kṛṣṇa consciousness, cannot be released from material bondage, even if he executes his prescribed duty. On the contrary, he will glide down to hell due to material consciousness. Therefore, whoever is engaged in his occupational or spiritual duty must simultaneously cultivate Kṛṣṇa consciousness in devotional service if he wants liberation from the material clutches.
On the contrary (CC and Other Books)
Sri Caitanya-caritamrta
CC Adi-lila
The product of the hlādinī-śakti is love of Godhead, which has two divisions—namely, pure love of Godhead and adulterated love of Godhead. Only when the hlādinī-śakti emanates from Śrī Kṛṣṇa and is bestowed upon the living being to attract Him does the living being become a pure lover of God. But when the same hlādinī-śakti is adulterated by the external, material energy and emanates from the living being, it does not attract Kṛṣṇa; on the contrary, the living being becomes attracted by the glamor of the material energy. At that time instead of becoming mad with love of Godhead, the living being becomes mad after material sense enjoyment, and because of his association with the qualitative modes of material nature, he is captivated by its interactions of distressful, unhappy feelings.
According to social convention one may be superior to Kṛṣṇa, but factually everyone engages in His service. Therefore in the spiritual sky or the material sky, in all the different planets, no one is able to supersede Lord Kṛṣṇa or demand service from Him. On the contrary, everyone engages in the service of Lord Kṛṣṇa. As such, the more a person engages in the service of the Lord, the more he is important; and, conversely, the more one is bereft of the transcendental service of Kṛṣṇa, the more he invites the bad fortune of material contamination. In the material world, although materialists want to become one with God or compete with God, everyone directly or indirectly engages in the service of the Lord.
Taking this paper, the scholar approached Jīva Gosvāmī for a similar certificate of defeat, but Jīva Gosvāmī did not agree to give him one. On the contrary, he argued with him regarding the scriptures and defeated him. Certainly it was right for Jīva Gosvāmī to stop such a dishonest scholar from advertising that he had defeated Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī and Sanātana Gosvāmī, but due to their illiteracy the sahajiyā class refer to this incident to accuse Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī of deviating from the principle of humility. They do not know, however, that humility and meekness are appropriate when one's own honor is insulted but not when Lord Viṣṇu or the ācāryas are blasphemed. In such cases one should not be humble and meek but must act. One should follow the example given by Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu.
The incident of Lord Caitanya's meeting the all-knowing astrologer is not mentioned in the Caitanya-bhāgavata, but we cannot therefore say that it did not take place. On the contrary, we must accept the statement of Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja Gosvāmī that whatever the Caitanya-bhāgavata did not mention he has especially mentioned in the Caitanya-caritāmṛta.
The Supreme Personality of Godhead is asamaurdhva; in other words, no one can be equal to or greater than Him. But pāṣaṇḍīs do not believe this. They worship any kind of demigod, thinking it all right to accept whomever they please as the Supreme Lord. The pāṣaṇḍīs were against the Hare Kṛṣṇa movement of Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Mahāprabhu, and now we see practically that they also do not like our humble attempts to spread Kṛṣṇa consciousness all over the world. On the contrary, these pāṣaṇḍīs say that we are spoiling the Hindu religion because people all over the world are accepting Lord Kṛṣṇa as the Supreme Personality of Godhead according to the version of Bhagavad-gītā As It Is.
But the proud student community did not become submissive. On the contrary, the students spoke of the incident anywhere and everywhere. In a laughing manner they criticized the Lord.
CC Madhya-lila
Although Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu was thinking that the quantity of food was enormous, Nityānanda Prabhu, on the contrary, thought it not even a morsel. He had been fasting for three days and had greatly hoped to break fast on that day. Indeed, He said, "Although I am invited to eat by Advaita Ācārya, today also is a fast. So small a quantity of food will not fill even half My belly."
"The gopīs are not like the mystic yogīs. They will never be satisfied simply by meditating on Your lotus feet and imitating the so-called yogīs. Teaching the gopīs about meditation is another kind of duplicity. When they are instructed to undergo mystic yoga practice, they are not at all satisfied. On the contrary, they become more and more angry with You."
Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura remarks that although the brāhmaṇa did not belong to a superior community, he fearlessly chastised so-called caste brāhmaṇas because he was situated on the platform of pure devotional service. There are people who are opposed to Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu's accepting a Vaiṣṇava belonging to a lower caste. Such people do not consider mahā-prasādam transcendental, and therefore they are described here as mūrkha (foolish) and duṣṭa (mischievous). A pure devotee has the power to challenge such high-caste people, and his brave statements are not to be considered proud or puffed up. On the contrary, he is to be considered straightforward. Such a person does not like to flatter high-class brāhmaṇas who belong to the non-Vaiṣṇava community.
Vallabha Bhaṭṭācārya said, "Since these two are constantly chanting the holy name of Kṛṣṇa, how can they be untouchable? On the contrary, they are most exalted."
CC Antya-lila
“When a child passes stool and urine that touch the body of the mother, the mother never hates the child. On the contrary, she takes much pleasure in cleansing him.
Other Books by Srila Prabhupada
Teachings of Lord Caitanya
We must always remember that the Supreme Lord has His creative function and that the infinitesimal living entities have their creative functions also. It is not that their creative function is lost when they are liberated and enter into the Supreme after the dissolution of the material body. On the contrary, the creative function of the living entity is properly manifested in the liberated state. If the living entity's activities are manifest even when he is materially conditioned, then how is it possible for his activities to stop when he attains liberation? The living entity's entering the state of liberation may be compared to a bird entering a tree, or an animal entering the forest, or a plane entering the sky. In no case are activities stopped.
Nectar of Devotion
When affection is symptomized by direct happiness and distress, it is called attraction. In such an attracted state of ecstatic love, one can face all kinds of disadvantages calmly. Even at the risk of death such a devotee is never bereft of the transcendental loving service of the Lord. A glorious example of this ecstatic love was exhibited by King Parīkṣit when he was at the point of death. Although he was bereft of his entire kingdom, which spread over all the world, and although he was accepting not even a drop of water in the seven days remaining to him, because he was engaged in hearing the transcendental pastimes of the Lord from Śukadeva Gosvāmī he was not in the least distressed. On the contrary, he was feeling direct transcendental ecstatic joy in association with Śukadeva Gosvāmī.
Nectar of Instruction
In this regard, Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura warns all devotees engaged in broadcasting the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement not to speak to the impersonalist Māyāvādīs who are always determined to oppose such theistic movements. The world is full of Māyāvādīs and atheists, and the political parties of the world take advantage of Māyāvāda and other atheistic philosophies to promote materialism. Sometimes they even back a strong party to oppose the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement. The Māyāvādīs and other atheists do not want the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement to develop because it educates people in God consciousness. Such is the policy of the atheists. There is no benefit in feeding a snake milk and bananas because the snake will never be satisfied. On the contrary, by taking milk and bananas the snake simply becomes more poisonous (kevalaṁ viṣa-vardhanam).
Easy Journey to Other Planets
A devotee of the Lord is never a disturbing element in society—on the contrary, he is a great social asset. Since no sincere devotee is attracted to sinful actions, as soon as a man becomes a pure devotee he can do inestimable selfless service to society for the peace and prosperity of all concerned, in this life and in the next. But even if such a devotee commits some offense, the Lord Himself rectifies it in no time. Therefore, there is no need for a devotee to cultivate materialistic knowledge, nor does a devotee need to renounce everything and live as a hermit. He can simply remain at home and execute devotional service smoothly in any order of life. And there are instances in history of extremely cruel men becoming kindhearted simply by the execution of devotional service. Knowledge and abnegation of an inferior way of life follow automatically in the life of a pure devotee without his having to make extraneous effort.
Krsna, The Supreme Personality of Godhead
After hearing such enlightening instructions from Śrī Balarāma, Rukmiṇī immediately became pacified and happy and adjusted her mind, which was very much afflicted by the degraded position of her brother Rukmī. As far as Rukmī was concerned, his promise was not fulfilled, nor was his mission successful. He had come from home with his soldiers and military phalanx to defeat Kṛṣṇa and release his sister, but on the contrary he lost all his soldiers and military strength. He was personally degraded and very sorry, but by the grace of the Lord he could continue his life to its fixed destination. Because he was a kṣatriya, he could remember his promise that he would not return to his capital city, Kuṇḍina, without killing Kṛṣṇa and releasing his sister, which he had failed to do; therefore, he decided in anger not to return to his capital city, and he constructed a small cottage in the village known as Bhojakaṭa, where he resided for the rest of his life.
Satrājit, however, did not come to see Kṛṣṇa; he was instead overwhelmed by the Syamantaka jewel. He installed the jewel in a temple to be worshiped by brāhmaṇas he engaged for this purpose. This is an example of a less intelligent person worshiping a material thing. In the Bhagavad-gītā it is stated that less intelligent persons, in order to get immediate results from their fruitive activities, worship the demigods created within this universe. The word "materialist" means one concerned with gratification of the senses within this material world. Although Kṛṣṇa later asked for this Syamantaka jewel, King Satrājit did not deliver it; on the contrary, he installed the jewel for his own purposes of worship. And who would not worship that jewel? The Syamantaka jewel was so powerful that daily it produced a large quantity of gold. A quantity of gold is counted by a measurement called a bhāra. According to Vedic formulas, one bhāra is equal to about twenty-one pounds, and one mound equals about eighty-two pounds. The jewel was producing about 170 pounds of gold every day. Besides that, it is learned from Vedic literature that in whatever part of the world this jewel was worshiped there was no possibility of famine, and wherever the jewel was present, there was no possibility of anything inauspicious, such as pestilence.
Then King Yudhiṣṭhira also praised Kṛṣṇa as the Supreme Personality and universal friend of everyone, but because Kṛṣṇa was taking special care of the Pāṇḍavas, King Yudhiṣṭhira said, "My dear Kṛṣṇa, we do not know what sort of pious activities we have executed in our past lives that have made You so kind and gracious to us. We know very well that the great mystics who always engage in meditation to capture You do not find it easy to obtain such grace, nor can they draw any personal attention from You. I cannot understand why You are so kind to us. We are not yogīs; on the contrary, we are attached to material contaminations. We are householders dealing in politics, worldly affairs. I do not know why You are so kind to us."
Rukmiṇī was the daughter of Bhīṣmaka, a powerful king. Thus Kṛṣṇa did not address her as Rukmiṇī; He addressed her this time as the princess. “My dear princess, it is very surprising. Many great personalities in the royal order wanted to marry you. Although not all of them were kings, all possessed the opulence and riches of the kingly order; they were well behaved, learned, famous among kings, beautiful in their bodily features and personal qualifications, liberal, very powerful in strength, and advanced in every respect. They were not unfit in any way, and over and above that, your father and your brother had no objection to such a marriage. On the contrary, they gave their word of honor that you would be married with Śiśupāla. Indeed, the marriage was sanctioned by both your parents. Śiśupāla was a great king and was so lusty and mad after your beauty that if he had married you I think he would always have remained with you just like your faithful servant.
There is no cause to lament for such a penniless condition; I possessed nothing in the past, so why should I lament that I do not possess anything at present? You may note also that My devotees are not very opulent; they also are very poor in worldly goods. Persons who are very rich, possessing worldly wealth, are not interested in devotion to Me, or Kṛṣṇa consciousness. On the contrary, when a person becomes penniless, whether by force or by circumstances, he may become interested in Me if he gets the proper opportunity. Persons who are proud of their riches, even if they are offered association with My devotees, do not take advantage of consciousness of Me. In other words, the poorer class of men may have some interest in Me, but rich men have no interest. I think, therefore, that your selection of Me was not very intelligent. You appear very intelligent, trained by your father and brother, but ultimately you have made a great mistake in selecting your life's companion.
Śukadeva Gosvāmī assured King Parīkṣit that the narration of the fight between Lord Śiva and Lord Kṛṣṇa is not at all inauspicious, like ordinary fights. On the contrary, if one remembers in the morning the narration of this fight between Lord Kṛṣṇa and Lord Śiva and takes pleasure in the victory of Lord Kṛṣṇa, he will never experience defeat anywhere in his struggle of life.
Once the family members of Lord Kṛṣṇa, such as Sāmba, Pradyumna, Cāru, Bhānu and Gada, all princes of the Yadu dynasty, went for a long picnic in the forest near Dvārakā. In the course of their excursion, all of them became thirsty, and so they tried to find out where water was available in the forest. When they approached a well, they found no water in it, but, on the contrary, within the well was a wonderful living entity. It was a large lizard, and all of them were astonished to see such a wonderful animal. They could understand that the animal was trapped and could not escape by its own effort, so out of compassion they tried to take the large lizard out of the well. Unfortunately, they could not get the lizard out, even though they tried to do so in many ways.
He will be defeated by his enemies, and after being bereft of his royal position, when he gives up his body he will become a serpent, giving trouble to all other living entities. My dear boys and relatives, I therefore advise you that even if a brāhmaṇa becomes angry with you and calls you by ill names or curses you, still you should not retaliate. On the contrary, you should smile, tolerate him and offer your respects to the brāhmaṇa. You know very well that even I Myself offer My obeisances to the brāhmaṇas with great respect three times daily. You should therefore follow My instruction and example. I shall not forgive anyone who does not follow them, and I shall punish him. You should learn from the example of King Nṛga that even if someone unknowingly usurps the property of a brāhmaṇa, he is put into a miserable condition of life.”
Currents of blood flowed from the gorilla's head with great force, but the stream of blood simply enhanced his beauty, like a stream of liquid manganese coming out of a great mountain. The striking of Balarāma's club did not even slightly disturb him. On the contrary, he immediately uprooted another big oak tree and, after clipping off all its leaves, again struck Balarāma's head with it. But Balarāma, with the help of His club, tore the tree to pieces. Since the gorilla was very angry, he took another tree in his hands and struck Lord Balarāma's body.
His bodily features became so much agitated that it was difficult for anyone to look at Him. He laughed very loudly and said, "It is true that if a man becomes too much puffed up because of his family, opulence, beauty and material advancement, he no longer wants a peaceful life but becomes belligerent toward all others. It is useless to give such a person good instruction for gentle behavior and a peaceful life; on the contrary, one should search out the ways and means to punish him." Generally, due to material opulence a man becomes exactly like an animal. To give an animal peaceful instructions is useless, and the only means is argumentum ad baculum. In other words, the only means to keep animals in order is a stick. “Just see how impudent are the members of the Kuru dynasty! I wanted to make a peaceful settlement despite the anger of all the other members of the Yadu dynasty, including Lord Kṛṣṇa Himself. They were preparing to attack the whole kingdom of the Kuru dynasty, but I pacified them and took the trouble to come here to settle the affair without any fighting. Yet these rascals behave like this! It is clear that they do not want a peaceful settlement, for they are factually warmongers. With great pride they have repeatedly insulted Me by calling the Yadu dynasty ill names.
Dear Lord, we are not among these surrendered souls; we are still within the duality and illusion of this material existence. We therefore take shelter of Your lotus feet, for we are afraid of the cycle of birth and death. Dear Lord, we think that there are many living entities like us who are eternally entangled in fruitive activities and their reactions. They are never inclined to follow Your instructions by performing devotional service, although it is pleasing to the heart and most auspicious for one's existence. On the contrary, they are against the path of Kṛṣṇa conscious life, and they are wandering within the three worlds, impelled by the illusory energy of material existence.
Absolute has no legs, no hands, no eyes, no ears and no mind, and yet He can act through His potencies and fulfill the needs of all living entities. As stated in the Bhagavad-gītā, His hands and legs are everywhere, for He is all-pervasive. The hands, legs, ears and eyes of all living entities are acting and moving by the direction of the Supersoul sitting within the living entity's heart. Unless the Supersoul is present, it is not possible for the hands and legs to be active. The Supreme Personality of Godhead is so great, independent and perfect that even without having any eyes, legs or ears He is not dependent on others for His activities. On the contrary, others are dependent on Him for the activities of their different sense organs. Unless the living entity is inspired and directed by the Supersoul, he cannot act.
Therefore a devotee's happiness and distress and a karmī’s happiness and distress are not on the same level. This fact is corroborated by a speech by Yamarāja to his servants in connection with the liberation of Ajāmila. Yamarāja advised his followers that they should approach only those persons who have never uttered the holy name of the Lord or remembered the form, qualities and pastimes of the Lord. Yamarāja also advised his servants never to approach the devotees. On the contrary, he instructed his messengers that if they meet a devotee they should offer their respectful obeisances. So there is no question of a devotee's being promoted or degraded within this material world. As there is a gulf of difference between the punishment awarded by the mother and the punishment awarded by an enemy, so a devotee's distress is not the same as the distress of a common karmī.
Renunciation Through Wisdom
The Māyāvādīs reject the theory of transformation of energy and subscribe to the theory of the transformation of Brahman itself. Thus they become fixed in their belief that Brahman is impersonal. The Supreme Lord has described the specific situations in which He manifests Himself in His impersonal form. There are many quotes from the scriptures substantiating this point. The Supreme Lord, by manifesting both His personal and impersonal features, has firmly established the principle that the Supreme Absolute Person is inconceivably and simultaneously one with and different from His energies. This philosophical conclusion—called acintya-bhedābheda-tattva—has been explained by Lord Kṛṣṇa Himself in the Bhagavad-gītā (7.12): matta eveti tān viddhi na tv ahaṁ teṣu te mayi. "I am, in one sense, everything, but I am independent. I am not under the modes of material nature, for they, on the contrary, are within Me."
Message of Godhead
Affinity for family relations, which Marshal Arjuna displayed overwhelmingly in the manner of the typical modern man, is the sign of our lack of transcendental knowledge. But attaining transcendental knowledge does not necessarily mean renouncing the duties of our ordinary life. After Arjuna had understood the spirit of the philosophy of Bhagavad-gītā, the Personality of Godhead, Śrī Kṛṣṇa, never advised him to give up his seemingly ordinary duties. On the contrary, Arjuna fought the battle with even greater energy and vigor after he had obtained the transcendental knowledge imparted by Śrī Kṛṣṇa. The real spirit we attain through transcendental knowledge is self-negation and the determination to render transcendental service unto the Personality of Godhead. The purport of Bhagavad-gītā is this and nothing else.
Persons who are a little above such gross materialists believe firmly in life after death and thus try to rise a little above the plane of gross sensory enjoyment of this one life. They try to accumulate something for the next life by acts of virtue, just as a man banks some money for future happiness. But these people do not understand that neither any sinful nor any virtuous act can bring freedom from the bondage of work, as we have explained above. On the contrary, both sinful and virtuous acts will bind the worker up in the wheel of action and reaction.
If they are influenced by a desire other than the transcendental service of Viṣṇu, every effort to raise them up from their degraded position will result in disaster and disturbance of the peace and tranquillity of the social order. Leaders who incite such downtrodden laborers uselessly—simply for the sake of temporary gain—can never do the laborers any good. Nor can the leaders themselves benefit by such ill-conceived actions. On the contrary, through such material activities both the laborers and the capitalists inevitably fall into unwholesome quarreling and so bring on great disturbance of the social order. The problem can be solved only by a determined program of karma-yoga. If karma-yoga, or work with transcendental results, is systematically performed, we shall transcend and more than fulfill all fragmented endeavors—whether by the socialists toward equality, by the Bolsheviks toward a grand social order of fraternity, or by the laborites toward a mundane heaven wherein laborers surpass capitalists in the acquisition of wealth.
The karma-yogī can help revive this transcendental relationship of the living spirit with Kṛṣṇa as His eternal servitor. And the karma-yogī renders this immense benefit to the ordinary living entities-who are entirely addicted to mundane activities—without disturbing them in their ordinary engagements. In fact, the Bhagavad-gītā advises that in the interest of the mundane workers, they should not be restrained from their ordinary engagements; on the contrary, they may be encouraged to stay engaged in that way, within the process of karma-yoga, or work with transcendental results.
The hands, legs, eyes, nose, and so forth are all parts of the complete whole that is the body. Now if the hands, legs, eyes, nose and so on do not endeavor to provide food for the stomach, but themselves try to enjoy the eatables collected by them, then there will be a maladjustment of the whole body. The bodily parts would be working against the interest of the body as a whole. By such foolish activities, the hands, legs, and so on could never improve their respective positions, but on the contrary, for want of sufficient nourishment of the whole body through the medium of the stomach, the whole system of bodily structure and function would become weakened, deteriorated, and diseased.
Sri Isopanisad
According to the Bhagavad-gītā (2.42, 7.15), mistaken mundane educators are known as veda-vāda-rata and māyayāpahṛta-jñāna. They may also be atheistic demons, the lowest of men. Those who are veda-vāda-rata pose themselves as very learned in the Vedic literature, but unfortunately they are completely diverted from the purpose of the Vedas. In the Bhagavad-gītā (15.15) it is said that the purpose of the Vedas is to know the Personality of Godhead, but these veda-vāda-rata men are not at all interested in the Personality of Godhead. On the contrary, they are fascinated by such fruitive results as the attainment of heaven.
That should be the aim of human life. The modern trend of material civilization is to increase the temperature of the feverish material condition, which has reached the point of 107 degrees in the form of atomic energy. Meanwhile, the foolish politicians are crying that at any moment the world may go to hell. That is the result of the advancement of material knowledge and the neglect of the most important part of life, the culture of spiritual knowledge. Śrī Īśopaniṣad herein warns that we must not follow this dangerous path leading to death. On the contrary, we must develop the culture of spiritual knowledge so that we may become completely free from the cruel hands of death.
The temporary material body is certainly a foreign dress. The Bhagavad-gītā (2.20) clearly says that after the destruction of the material body the living entity is not annihilated, nor does he lose his identity. The identity of the living entity is never impersonal or formless; on the contrary, it is the material dress that is formless and that takes a shape according to the form of the indestructible person. No living entity is originally formless, as is wrongly thought by those with a poor fund of knowledge. This mantra verifies the fact that the living entity exists after the annihilation of the material body.
| Page Title: | On the contrary (CC and Other Books) |
| Compiler: | Visnu Murti, Mayapur |
| Created: | 01 of Dec, 2010 |
| Totals by Section: | BG=0, SB=0, CC=11, OB=27, Lec=0, Con=0, Let=0 |
| No. of Quotes: | 38 |