Perfect means

Expressions researched:
"Perfect means" |"perfect, means"

Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures

Nobody can understand, even if he is siddha, perfect. Perfect means not spiritually perfect, means materially perfect. Or even spiritually, partially perfect.

Lecture on BG 1.23 -- London, July 19, 1973:

Actually, that is the fact. We cannot understand Kṛṣṇa. But still, whatever Kṛṣṇa says about Himself in the Bhagavad-gītā, if we accept so much, then we immediately become fit for going back to Godhead, back to home. Simply. Janma karma me divyaṁ yo jānāti tattvataḥ (BG 4.9). Tattvataḥ. Tattvataḥ means in truth. The tattvataḥ cannot understand. Even siddhas, those who are perfect...

manuṣyāṇāṁ sahasreṣu

kaścid yatati siddhaye

yatatām api siddhānāṁ

kaścin māṁ vetti tattvataḥ

(BG 7.3)

Nobody can understand, even if he is siddha, perfect. Perfect means not spiritually perfect, means materially perfect. Or even spiritually, partially perfect. Brahma-jñānī, they are partially perfect. Paramātmā-jñānī, yogis, they are also partially perfect. Not completely perfect. Completely perfect is the devotees. Only devotees, they are completely perfect. Others, the jñānīs and yogis and karmīs... Karmīs are, they are rascals. Jñānīs, they are partially perfect because they can understand the eternity portion of the Supreme Lord, brahma-jñāna. That is eternity portion. And Paramātmā-jñāna is the cid-aṁśa, knowledge or personally seeing God as the four-handed Viṣṇu. So that is also imperfect knowledge. That when He comes to know Bhagavān, īśvaraḥ paramaḥ kṛṣṇaḥ sac-cid-ānanda-vigrahaḥ (Bs. 5.1), then there is perfect knowledge.

Perfect means perfect knowledge. That is called siddha.

Lecture on BG 1.45-46 -- London, August 1, 1973:

So knowing Kṛṣṇa is not so easy thing. Therefore Kṛṣṇa says, manuṣyāṇāṁ sahasreṣu kaścid yatati siddhaye (BG 7.3). First of all you become siddha, perfect. Perfect means perfect knowledge. That is called siddha. And another siddha means very powerful, master of all yogic perfection. That is also siddha. Yogic perfection, eight kinds of perfection,

animā-laghimā-prāptiḥ

prākāmyaṁ mahimā yathā

īśitvaṁ ca vaśitvaṁ ca

tathā kāmāvasāyitā

So they obtain eight kinds of siddhis. They are also called siddhas. From material point of view, a perfect yogi can counteract anything, and whatever he likes, he can do. That is called siddhi, aṣṭa-siddhi. But still, he is not as siddha as Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa's name is Yogeśvara. He is the master of all the yogis. Yogesvara. Yatra yogeśvaraḥ kṛṣṇaḥ (BG 18.78). The yogis also, they are deficient with Kṛṣṇa's power. Still, some rascals, without any yoga siddhi, they claim that "I have become God." What is your qualification? Have you got all the yoga-siddha? Then how you claim that you are... But rascals, they claim to become God, and other rascals, they also believe that "Here is God." Both of them are animals.

When we are perfect, means without any material contamination.

Lecture on BG 4.13 -- Johannesburg, October 19, 1975:

This is perfect understanding of philosophy. This is called acintya-bhedābheda-tattva, inconceivably one and different simultaneously. We are one with God in quality, but we are different in quantity. This is the understanding. Because we are particle of God, we have got all the qualities. Not all the qualities. They have calculated, big, big saintly persons, we have got seventy-eight percent of the qualities of God in very minute quantity. Say God is cent percent, hundred. So we are, when we are perfect, means without any material contamination, then we possess... We have already; it is now covered.

To make life perfect means how to make my next life very perfect or happy or better life.

Lecture on BG 7.3 -- London, March 11, 1975:

So practically you ask so many big, big men... Last time when I was here, Lord Fenner Brockway came here to see me. I asked him this question, that "What is your next life?" He is also old man, eighty-four years. He said, "Swamiji, we shall die peacefully. That's all." Peacefully you may die, but you have to accept the next body. Whether that will be peaceful or not, that they do not know. Similarly, I spoke with Professor Kotovsky in Moscow. He also said that "Swamiji, after finishing this body, everything is finished." This is the position of human society at the present moment, that they do not know how to make life perfect. To make life perfect means how to make my next life very perfect or happy or better life. Otherwise, if I remain in darkness—Kṛṣṇa says, tathā dehāntara-prāptiḥ (BG 2.13)—then I shall be, I may become any of these so many types of body. I may become a tree, I may become a dog, I may become a cat or maybe a demigod. There are so many, different. But I must be sure what kind of life I must have. That is stated in the Bhagavad-gītā. We are not imagining. Our movement, this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement, based on Bhagavad-gītā.

Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures

To become perfect means to learn how to satisfy Kṛṣṇa.

Lecture on SB 1.8.42 -- Mayapura, October 22, 1974:

So therefore we must have positive engagement. Simply negation, jagan mithyā... Why jagan mithyā? We don't say jagan mithyā. This building, this nice building, is it mithyā? It is not mithyā. It is perfectly true because here Kṛṣṇa is being worshiped, the devotees are chanting... This is life, this, truth. So why shall I say "jagan mithyā"? You have to utilize jagat in such a way that it will become truth. That process is saṁsiddhir hari-toṣaṇam (SB 1.2.13). Here only business is how Kṛṣṇa will be satisfied. That is the only business. That is perfection. To become perfect means to learn how to satisfy Kṛṣṇa. That is perfection. It doesn't require education and doesn't require big, big titles or... Nothing. You try to satisfy Kṛṣṇa. Saṁsiddhir hari-toṣaṇam (SB 1.2.13).

Perfect means one must know that "I am not this body; I am soul,"

Lecture on SB 6.1.1 -- Melbourne, May 21, 1975:

A sane man thinks that "I have done it so many lives. I have not been satisfied. I have not become perfection. Then where is perfection?" That inquisitiveness makes him eligible. Just like ādau śraddhā. I have already explained. So after becoming siddha, perfect... Perfect means one must know that "I am not this body; I am soul," ahaṁ brahmāsmi. That is perfection of knowledge. So Kṛṣṇa says, yatatām api siddhānām: (BG 7.3) "Those who have become perfect, out of many millions of them, one can understand what I am." It is not so easy to understand God. But if you take the process as is recommended in the śāstras by saintly person, then it is easy. Otherwise it is not easy. If you speculate to understand God, that is not possible. Then you go on and many, many years speculating. You will never understand God. Either you take the shelter of Lord Jesus Christ or Kṛṣṇa, if you follow his instruction—this is the way of understanding—then you will understand. But if you don't care for his instruction, then you will never understand. This is the process.

Perfect means stop this business of chewing the chewed.

Lecture on SB 7.5.30 -- Mauritius, October 2, 1975:

Unfortunately, we do not know what is the perfect life. Therefore it is said here, punaḥ punaś carvita-carvaṇānām: (SB 7.5.30) "chewing the chewed." If we don't make our life perfect Perfect means stop this business of chewing the chewed. Punaḥ punaś carvita-carvaṇānām. Now, suppose we have got this human form of life. Now, by our pious activities we may be elevated to the higher planetary system, Svargaloka, heavenly planet. But what we shall gain there? The same sense gratification, in higher standard, that's all. Just like sense gratification is there in the society of the cats and dogs, sense gratification is there in one country, in another country, but the arrangement is, may be, little different. But the pleasure of sense gratification is the same, either you enjoy it as a dog, as a human being, or as a demigod. The sense gratification pleasure is not different. It is the same. So we are, in this material world, we are changing our body, tathā dehāntara-prāptiḥ (BG 2.13), and enjoying sense gratification. That is called punaḥ punaś carvita-carvaṇānām (SB 7.5.30), again chewing the chewed.

Perfect means... We have got so many wants because we are imperfect.

Lecture on SB 7.9.11-13 -- Hawaii, March 24, 1969:

Just like when you give me massaging, I say, "Do like this," similarly, when one is engaged in Kṛṣṇa's service, from within He dictates, "Do like this. Do like this." So our business is how Kṛṣṇa will accept our service. This verse we have already discussed, that naivātmanaḥ prabhur ayaṁ nija-lābha-pūrṇaḥ (SB 7.9.11). He does not require any ser..., anyone's service because He's complete. There is no want. Unless He's perfect, how He can be Supreme? The perfect means... We have got so many wants because we are imperfect. Especially in this material condition, we have got so many demands, wants, because we are living in an atmosphere which is imperfect. But Kṛṣṇa is perfect, pūrṇam. Pūrṇa-brahma. Pūrṇa-brahma. Another name of the Absolute Truth is Pūrṇa-brahman. Brahman means the greatest, the great and the greatest. And pūrṇa, pūrṇa means complete. Greatest.

Philosophy Discussions

Perfect means you have got independence also. So you can perfectly misuse also, independence. That is perfect.

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

Śyāmasundara: Is it not that because our real nature is perfect that we're always striving to become perfect again? Striving to reach that point again?

Prabhupāda: Yes, your nature is perfect. Perfect means you have got independence also. So you can perfectly misuse also, independence. That is perfect.

Śyāmasundara: But there is always that urge, even among the lower animals, to improve themselves, be promoted.

Prabhupāda: Yes. That is being done by nature. That is evolution. Darwin has taken this idea from the Vedas, but he has no soul idea.

SB Canto 2

In the sense of "perfect means," is employed to denote the discharging of devotional service.

SB 2.8.21, Purport:

Samplavaḥ, in the sense of "perfect means," is employed to denote the discharging of devotional service, and pratisamplavaḥ means just the opposite, or that which destroys the progress of devotional service. One who is firmly situated in the devotional service of the Lord can very easily execute the function of conditional life. Living the conditional life is just like plying a boat in the middle of the ocean. One is completely at the mercy of the ocean, and at every moment there is every chance of being drowned in the ocean by slight agitation. If the atmosphere is all right, the boat can ply very easily, undoubtedly, but if there is some storm, fog, wind or cloud, there is every possibility of being drowned in the ocean. No one can control the whims of the ocean, however one may be materially well equipped. One who has crossed the oceans by ship may have sufficient experience of such dependence upon the mercy of the ocean. But one can ply over the ocean of material existence by the grace of the Lord very easily, without any fear of storm or fog. It all depends on the will of the Lord; no one can help if there is some unfortunate danger in the state of conditional life. The devotees of the Lord, however, cross the ocean of material existence without anxiety because a pure devotee is always protected by the Lord (BG 9.13). The Lord gives special attention to His devotees in their activities within material, conditional life (BG 9.29). Therefore everyone should take shelter of the lotus feet of the Lord and be a pure devotee of the Lord by all means.

1973 Conversations and Morning Walks

Becoming more perfect means their always position is imperfect. That very word means that, that you are perpetually imperfect.

Morning Walk -- December 17, 1973, Los Angeles:

Prabhupāda: No, that machine is imperfect. That is also imperfect. That machine is made by imperfect senses; so it is imperfect.

Karandhara: Imperfect, but they think it is becoming more perfect.

Prabhupāda: That is imperfect. They are becoming more perfect means they are imperfect. Becoming more perfect means their always position is imperfect. That very word means that, that you are perpetually imperfect. (break)

Svarūpa Dāmodara: It is better than doing something than doing nothing.

Prabhupāda: Yes. That dog also doing, jumping, always. "Yes, we get... Bow! Bow! Bow! Ra, ra, ra, ra!" That kind of... Active business. What is called? Active foolishness. They remain foolish, but still, they are active. That means they are simply creating dangerous position. That's all. Jagataḥ ahitāḥ. It is said in the Bhagavad-gītā. These demons, their progress means only for the mischief of the world. That's all. That is demonic progress.

1974 Conversations and Morning Walks

Perfect means as you have heard from your spiritual master. (indistinct) We are not perfect, none of us, but if you perfectly follow the orders of the perfect, then you are perfect.

Room Conversation -- March 16, 1974, Vrndavana:

Prabhupāda: If you know your mistakes and you're preaching, why this nonsense preaching?

Harikeśa: Preaching must be perfect.

Prabhupāda: Yes. Perfect means as you have heard from your spiritual master. (indistinct) We are not perfect, none of us, but if you perfectly follow the orders of the perfect, then you are perfect. You should not think that "I have become perfect." Caitanya Mahāprabhu also said, guru more mūrkha dekhi (CC Adi 7.71). He presented Himself as fool number one. So we should always keep ourself as fool number one, that "I am not perfect. I am fool number one." But whatever I am doing I am carrying the orders of the perfect. That is my credit. I am not perfect. Suppose I give you, (indistinct), five thousand dollars. That is not my money. I am not rich man. But the money is paid by somebody else and I deliver, that's all. That is my perfection. If I don't touch it, I do not take from five hundred dollars a paise even, and I deliver it, that is my perfection. I may not be rich man, but if I deliver this amount to you, in perfect order, that is my perfection.

1975 Conversations and Morning Walks

Perfect means to become godly.

Press Conference -- October 2, 1975, Mauritius:

Prabhupāda: That is the chance of a human being. Therefore in the human society there is school, college, education, culture, not in the animal society, because they can be made into perfect, not the animals. So if they are denied proper education, that is the greatest harm. They got the opportunity, and the authorities are not giving them their opportunity.

Guest (4): No, but do you mean the perfectness is to become God or to become the man? Then I want...

Prabhupāda: You never become God.

Guest (4): What does perfectness mean?

Prabhupāda: Perfect means to become godly.

Guest (1): Can you be interested directly in politics?

Prabhupāda: Why not? Kṛṣṇa... Kṛṣṇa was in politics. So He instructed Arjuna to fight. This is politic—for a good cause. When Arjuna denied that "Kṛṣṇa, I am not willing to kill my, the other side, my brothers and my uncles," He chastised him that kutas tvā kaśmalam idaṁ viṣame samupasthitam: "How you are talking like non-Aryan? What is this nonsense?" He... Kutas tvā.

1976 Conversations and Morning Walks

Perfect means you learn how to obey My orders." That is perfection.

Room Conversation -- May 2, 1976, Fiji:

Guru-kṛpā: What if sometimes disciple, he may go to preach, but he's not preaching in the exact same spirit of his spiritual master?

Prabhupāda: Therefore he is not to be preached. Caitanya Mahāprabhu says, janma sārthaka kari' kara para-upakāra: (CC Adi 9.41) "Go to do good to others. First of all you do good to yourself." First of all you become really preacher. Then go to preach. Caitanya Mahāprabhu never sent neophyte to go to preach. For neophyte the preaching is not their business. For neophyte, one should stick to the worship of Deity in the temple. And those who have understood the philosophy, applied the philosophy in his life, he should go for preaching. Otherwise he'll preach wrongly, like.... What is that? Charan das Babaji. And it will stop. He wanted to preach, but he did not know how to preach, and therefore, after his life, it is finished. So Caitanya Mahāprabhu does not say like that, that "You remain a rascal and go to preach." No. Janma sārthaka kari. "Your first business is that you make your life perfect. Then go to preach. Perfect means you learn how to obey My orders." That is perfection. Āmāra ājñāya. So if you are actually, perfectly carrying out the orders of Caitanya Mahāprabhu, then you are preaching. Otherwise you will do wrongly, mislead. Don't do that. Andhā yathāndhair upanīyamānāḥ (SB 7.5.31). If you remain blind, don't try to lead other blind men. That is misleading. First of all open your eyes. Everything is there. Nobody can do anything whimsically. If you do whimsically, concoctedly, that will be failure. It will not be effective.