Real goodness

Expressions researched:
"real goodness"

SB Canto 3

The Supreme Personality of Godhead's paraphernalia and His entourage all belong to the transcendental world. Real goodness is in the transcendental world.

SB 3.24.10, Purport: Another important point is stated here. Sattvenāṁśena: when the Supreme Personality of Godhead appears, He brings with Him all His paraphernalia of Vaikuṇṭha; therefore His name, His form, His quality, His paraphernalia and His entourage all belong to the transcendental world. Real goodness is in the transcendental world.

Message of Godhead

Real goodness lies in the activities of karma-yoga, even if one is only in the preliminary stages.

Message of Godhead 2: When ordinary work aims at such a transcendental objective, this work is called karma-yoga. By this process of karma-yoga, one gradually attains self-purification, then transcendental knowledge, next perfect meditation, and ultimately transcendental service to the Personality of Godhead. Sometimes a mundane worker is misunderstood to be a tapasvī (renunciant) or a mahātmā (great soul) because of the many austerities he performs to attain his mundane goals. But these austerities accepted by such rigid mundaners are, after all, aimed merely at material sense gratification, and therefore these austerities are useless in the transcendental sense. Some of the asuras, or demons, such as Rāvaṇa and Hiraṇyakaśipu, also underwent a severe process of austerity and penance, but they obtained nothing except some temporary objects of sensory pleasure. Therefore, only when one has transcended the limits of sensory pleasure can he be classified as a karma-yogī, or a worker for transcendental results. Real goodness lies in the activities of karma-yoga, even if one is only in the preliminary stages. Further, a karma-yogī makes progressive headway life after life, and this is confirmed as follows in the Bhagavad-gītā (6.43): "Even after successive births, the karma-yogī revives the transcendental sense of service, and by his natural attachment, he tries again to give further perfection to the progress of his transcendental activities."

Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures

If you want really happy, happiness, if you want real goodness, then you try to become Kṛṣṇa conscious.

Lecture on BG 2.15 -- Hyderabad, November 21, 1972: Our real business is, as Kṛṣṇa says, man-manā bhava mad-bhakto mad-yājī māṁ namaskuru [Bg. 18.65]. "Always think of Me." So this practice should go on. Never mind I am so-called distressed or happy. Here... In the Caitanya-caritāmṛta it is said, 'dvaite' bhadrābhadra-jñāna saba 'manodharma', 'ei bhāla ei manda' ei saba 'bhrama'. Dvaite, in this dual, the world of duality, here, in this material world, the, "This thing is very good, this thing is very bad," it is simply mental concoction. Everything here is bad. Nothing good. So this is our mental creation only. "This is good, this is bad." We are doing that. Just like in political field. "This party is nice. This party's bad." But any party goes in the power, your condition is the same. The commodities price are increasing. It has no decreasing, either you change this party or that party. So these are all concoctions. If you want really happy, happiness, if you want real goodness, then you try to become Kṛṣṇa conscious. That will make you real happy. Otherwise, if you are simply disturbed by this material condition, that is not a very good position.

Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures

Real goodness is in the spiritual world. Here in the material world the goodness is, of course, taken as the highest quality, but such goodness is liable to be infected by the other two qualities, passion and ignorance.

Lecture on SB 1.3.26 -- Los Angeles, October 1, 1972: So incarnation of God, there is no limit. The example is given. Just like there is no limit of waves in the ocean, similarly, there is no limit of incarnation. Sattva-nidheḥ. Nidhi means ocean, and sattva means existentional. And sattva means also goodness. Sattva-nidheḥ. So goodness, here in this material world there is the modes of nature: goodness, passion and ignorance. But real goodness is in the spiritual world. Here in the material world the goodness is, of course, taken as the highest quality, but such goodness is liable to be infected by the other two qualities, passion and ignorance. It is exposed. And here also, goodness is also the cause of bondage in this material world. As passion is cause of bondage, ignorance is also cause of bondage, similarly, the material goodness is also cause of bondage. So we have to transcend the material goodness also. Then, when we get stability of goodness, that is spiritual life. When it is disturbed by passion and ignorance, that means it is not yet perfect. Therefore, sometimes we find a student is doing everything nice goodness, but he is attacked by passion and ignorance, and he becomes entangled.

Real goodness means without being attacked by the other modes, passion and ignorance.

Lecture on SB 1.3.26 -- Los Angeles, October 1, 1972: So real goodness means without being attacked by the other modes, passion and ignorance. That goodness is in God. Hareḥ sattva-nidheḥ. When you go to the spiritual platform, sattvaṁ viśuddham... That spiritual platform is called goodness unaffected by other qualities. Sattvaṁ viśuddham. Viśuddham means complete pure. No adulteration. So long we are in the material platform, the goodness is liable to be adulterated. Just like we purchase milk from the market or anything. There is adulteration. Although there are so many laws by the government, "You cannot adulterate, you cannot do this, you cannot...," but people, propensity is to adulterate. So you cannot get pure thing. The whole atmosphere is so polluted. Therefore here the so-called goodness also is the cause of bondage. "Now I have become a Vaiṣṇava. I have become now learned." And God is so clever that "Now you fight with this passion and ignorance, if you are so good." And he fails, falls a victim. You see? So by pure devotional service only, you can remain in pure goodness. Otherwise it will be adulterated. Pure devotional service.

n the material world there cannot be anything good. It is bad. If there is real goodness, that is spiritual world, śuddha-sattva. Sattva-guṇa.

Lecture on SB 7.6.9 -- Vrndavana, December 11, 1975: Bhadra means good, and abhadra means bad. But Caitanya-caritāmṛta-kav, Kṛṣṇa dāsa Kavirāja Goswami, he says that this good and bad-concocted. They are neither good nor bad. They are the same thing—material quality. Dvaite bhadrābhadra sakali saṅg... Then how things are going on, "This is good; this is bad"? Ei bhāla ei manda saba manodharma. This is mental concoction. In the material world there cannot be anything good. It is bad. If there is real goodness, that is spiritual world, śuddha-sattva. Sattva-guṇa. In the material world there are three guṇas. Of these, sattva-guṇa is accepted as very good—the modes of goodness. But above this mode of goodness there is śuddha-sattva, pure goodness. "Goodness is goodness"—no. This goodness is polluted with ignorance and passion. Therefore we see in the material world a person very good But yesterday morning we were discussing about Brahmā: very good, but sometimes he is also polluted. Therefore it is not pure goodness in this material world. Even there is goodness, it is not pure. There is always chance of becoming polluted by the other base qualities, ignorance and passion. Therefore here cannot be pure goodness. Pure goodness is Kṛṣṇa consciousness platform, devotional service. If you keep yourself rigidly on the platform of devotional service, then you are pure goodness. And as soon as you are slack, immediately the other two base qualities will attack you.

Philosophy Discussions

Real goodness is God. God is good. That is good.

Philosophy Discussion on Ludwig Wittgenstein:

Śyāmasundara: He says when we ask, for example, "What is the meaning of the word good..." He says we must inquire as to how we learn the meaning of the word good, what its functions have been, and strive to clarify its use, not as a picture of reality but as a tool for describing, recording, and asserting facts or ideas.

Prabhupāda: (indistinct) limited science, when you are in the limited material world, good means which satisfies my senses good. That is good. And bad means which does not satisfy my senses. But so far my senses are concerned, this is temporary (indistinct); therefore in this material world, the conceptions of good and bad, they are all the same. Real goodness is God. God is good. That is good.

Devotee: Jaya! Haribol! Haribol!

Śyāmasundara: So he is saying...

Prabhupāda: Everything which is not God, that is bad. That is real goodness.

Śyāmasundara: He says it's how we use the word good, not what the word good means.

Prabhupāda: Good means, I already explained, which satisfies my senses. That is good. But God is good. He satisfies my senses and all others' senses. The relative good is it may satisfy my senses but it may not satisfy your senses. Therefore it is not good. Therefore what is good to me is not good to you. One man's food is another man's poison. Therefore this is relative good.

1975 Conversations and Morning Walks

Therefore I say blind. He does not know what is good. real goodness is to understand God. That is real goodness.

Room Conversation with Two Lawyers and Guest -- May 22, 1975, Melbourne:

Prabhupāda: That is another foolishness. When you are trying to be a lawyer or barrister, that does not mean you are barrister. When you are a student of law you cannot say that "I am barrister," or "advocate," that you cannot say. You are trying to be, that is another thing. But while they are trying to be, they are taking the position of leader. That is the misleading. That is described in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, andhā yathāndhair upanīyamānāḥ [SB 7.5.31]. "One blind man is trying to lead many other blind men." What is the use of such leading? If the leader is blind, how he will do well to other blind men?

Guest 3: Beethoven was deaf.

Prabhupāda: Hmm?

Guest 3: Beethoven was deaf.

Prabhupāda: What is that?

Madhudviṣa: Beethoven, the great composer, he was deaf.

Guest 3: At least, for part of his life.

Guest 1: But can't you have people doing good for the sake of goodness?

Prabhupāda: But he does not know what is good.

Guest 1: But there are certain people...

Prabhupāda: Therefore I say blind. He does not know what is good. real goodness is to understand God. That is real goodness.

Guest 1: But there are certain things that you don't..., that are good, that you can accept as being good just by themselves. Now if you see an old lady who gets run over by a car, you go and help her. Now there are certain things that are good by themselves, I think, and that people will react and do the good thing even though they mightn't have any concept of God.

Prabhupāda: No. Unless you have got the real platform how you can do good? Just like our Madhudviṣa Mahārāja was obliged to you. You have done some good in legal affairs. But unless you are a lawyer, legal man, how can you do it? You have a mind to do good, but if you are not a lawyer, how could you do?