Reverence (Lectures)

Expressions researched:
"revered" |"reverence" |"reverent" |"reverential" |"reverentially" |"reveres" |"reverently"

Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures

That is very good. At least, one accepts God is great. But how He is great and what is the extent of His greatness, if we understand, then our regard and reverence for Kṛṣṇa increases.

Lecture on BG 4.10 -- Bombay, March 30, 1974:

Prabhupāda:

vīta-rāga-bhaya-krodhā

man-mayā mām upāśritāḥ

bahavo jñāna-tapasā

pūtā mad-bhāvam āgatāḥ

[Bg. 4.10]

This is the perfection of life, mad-bhāvam. Kṛṣṇa says, budhā bhāva-samanvitāḥ. There is another version in Bhagavad-gītā. Budhā bhāva-samanvitāḥ. What is the beginning of the verse?

Devotee: Ahaṁ sarvasya...

Prabhupāda:

ahaṁ sarvasya prabhavo

mattaḥ sarvaṁ pravartate

iti matvā bhajante māṁ

budhā bhāva-samanvitāḥ

[Bg. 10.8]

This is bhāva. "Oh, Kṛṣṇa is so great." When one understands greatness of Kṛṣṇa, how great He is. Because people do not understand... They generally speak, "God is great." That is very good. At least, one accepts God is great. But how He is great and what is the extent of His greatness, if we understand, then our regard and reverence for Kṛṣṇa increases. Just like we have got some friend, but if we know the opulence of the friend, how great he is... He may be a very big man, very big business magnate or minister. If we know, then our, "Oh, you have got such a nice friend." Similarly, we should try to understand Kṛṣṇa.

Without being a devotee, how with faith and adherence and reverence and obedience you can serve Kṛṣṇa unless you love Kṛṣṇa?

Lecture on BG 7.1 -- Nairobi, October 27, 1975: Religion means to know God. Dharmaṁ tu sākṣād bhagavat-praṇītam [SB 6.3.19]. One must know God, and one must know what God desires. That is religion. Just like you must know your government, and you must know what government wants, expects from you. If you do that, then you are a good citizen. And if you don't know what is government, if you do not know what government desires, expects from you, then what is the meaning of your good citizenship? There is no meaning. Similarly, to become religious without any clear understanding of God is bogus, is cheating. That is cheating. That is not religion. Therefore Kṛṣṇa said that "If you want to know Me," asaṁśayam, "without any doubt..." God may be personal, impersonal, or this, that, but you must know it perfectly well. Don't say, "Perhaps it may be like this. Perhaps may be like this..." That is imperfect knowledge. That is no knowledge. So therefore Kṛṣṇa personally says, mayy āsakta-manāḥ pārtha yogaṁ yuñjan. This is a yogi. This is the first-class yogi. Kṛṣṇa has explained that yoginām api sarveṣāṁ mad-gatenāntar-ātmanā śraddhāvān bhajate yo māṁ sa me yukta... [Bg. 6.47]. So śraddhāvān bhajate yo mām, one who is worshiping Kṛṣṇa with śraddhā, with faith, complete faith, bhajate, and serving Him, so who is that person? A devotee. Without being a devotee, how with faith and adherence and reverence and obedience you can serve Kṛṣṇa unless you love Kṛṣṇa?

Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures

Everyone prays to God with reverence and vow and obedience, but He wants to be chastised sometimes.

Lecture on SB 1.7.49-50 -- Vrndavana, October 7, 1976: God is all-powerful. He can do anything. He can appear. Why should you restrict Him not to become the son of Devakī? Why should you restrict? Is He under your control or you are under His control? He can become the Devakī-suta. He can become a small child to be chastised by mother Yaśodā. He likes it. Everyone offers Him with reverence all respect. Nobody dares to restrict Him and chastise Him. Nobody goes to God, that "You cannot do this. You are fool, You are rascal." Nobody says. But still He wants to hear all this. That is a pastime. Just like a big rich man. He eats so many nice things. But sometimes he says, "Give me some puffed rice." Puffed rice is not his food, but he likes sometimes. Similarly, everyone prays to God with reverence and vow and obedience, but He wants to be chastised sometimes. That chastisement, from where this chastisement will come? It will come from His devotee, not ordinary. If ordinary man chastises, imitating Yaśodāmāyi, he will be offender. He will be punished.

When Kṛṣṇa sees that "He is worshiping Me with faith and reverence and love," then buddhi-yogam dadāmi tam. He'll give you intelligence. He is within you.

Lecture on SB 3.28.21 -- Nairobi, November 1, 1975: Teṣāṁ satata-yuktānāṁ bhajatāṁ prīti-pūrvakam [Bg. 10.10]. When Kṛṣṇa sees that "He is worshiping Me with faith and reverence and love," then buddhi-yogam dadāmi tam. He'll give you intelligence. He is within you. Therefore I was saying, "First of all become fit. First of all deserve. Then desire." Why foolishly you desire something for which you do not deserve? That is your fault. That is misuse. Don't desire something without being deserving. So these are the process given how to think, how to meditate upon Kṛṣṇa. So practice it. Become qualified. Then you'll see everything. Without being qualified, why you want to see? This devotional service means practicing how to become qualified. Sarvopādhi-vinirmuktaṁ, sarvopādhi-vinirmuktaṁ tat-paratvena nirmalam [Cc. Madhya 19.170]. You have to become fully cleansed. Tat-paratvena nirmalam. Sarva... What is that? Anyābhilāṣitā-śūnyam [Brs. 1.1.11]. We have to become completely zero about material desires. Anyābhilāṣitā-śūnyam. Then you become qualified. So long you have got any pinch of material desires, you are disqualified.

Sometimes people joke us, "Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Haribol." But even in such way one chants the holy name, then it can vanquish immediately many millions of sinful reactions.

Lecture on SB 6.2.12-14 -- Allahabad, January 17, 1971, at Kumbha-mela: Sometimes people joke us, "Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Haribol." That is... That has also its effect, pārihāsyam. Sāṅketyaṁ pārihāsyaṁ vā stobham, "or with devotion and reverence," stobhaṁ helanam eva vā. Or helanam means "without giving any importance, if one chants." Helanam eva vā vaikuṇṭha-nāma-grahaṇam. Vaikuṇṭha means Kṛṣṇa or Nārāyaṇa. Vaikuṇṭha-nāma-grahaṇam aśeṣāgha-haraṁ viduḥ. But even in such way one chants the holy name, then it can vanquish immediately many millions of sinful reactions. There is another Bengali verse, eka hari-nāme, yata pāpa hare, pāpī haya tata pāpa, karibāre nahe:(?) "Once chanted Hare Kṛṣṇa, or Kṛṣṇa's name, it has so potency, so much potencies that it can vanquish millions and millions of sinful reaction that so much a sinful man cannot commit." A sinful man can commit hundreds of thousands of sinful activities, but the holy name of Kṛṣṇa is so powerful that a sinful man will be unable to commit so many sins as the name can vanquish simply by chanting once offenselessly. This is the conclusion.

Festival Lectures

Simple expression of reverence and love. The disciple, Abhaya Charan Dāsa, was to become His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, founder-ācārya of International Society, Krishna Consciousness. So whatever I appreciated forty years ago, the same principle is going on.

His Divine Grace Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Gosvami Prabhupada's Disappearance Day, Lecture -- Hyderabad, December 10, 1976: "...simple expression of reverence and love. The disciple, Abhaya Charan Dāsa, was to become His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, founder-ācārya of International Society, Krishna Consciousness." So whatever I appreciated forty years ago, the same principle is going on. We have no change. What I understood my spiritual master... Practically I met him in 1922, and this poetry was written in 1936. That means fourteen years before writing this poetry, I met my Guru Mahārāja in 1922. At that time I was quite a young man, twenty-five years old only, and I was posted in a very responsible position and as the office manager of Dr. Bose's laboratory. And I was fond of in those days, of Gandhi's movement. In 1922 I joined Gandhi's movement, and I gave up my educational career because one of the Gandhi's program was to boycott the universities. That's a very long story. And many students gave up their educational career and joined this Gandhi's movement, and I was one of them.

Arrival Addresses and Talks

Here, you are trying to enjoy the company of young girls, but Kṛṣṇa is also doing that in the spiritual world. They're with great respect and reverence trying to serve Kṛṣṇa.

Arrival Lecture -- Los Angeles, May 18, 1972: Here, you are trying to enjoy the company of young girls, but Kṛṣṇa is also doing that in the spiritual world. Sahasra-śata-sambhrama, lakṣmī. Each girl there is a goddess of fortune. Not only one, but many hundreds and thousands. They're with great respect and reverence trying to serve Kṛṣṇa. Lakṣmī-sahasra-śata-sambhrama-sevyamānam. So you can also enter in the company of Kṛṣṇa, as Kṛṣṇa's friend, as Kṛṣṇa's servant, as Kṛṣṇa's consort, as Kṛṣṇa's father, anything. Everything... Here also, there are five relationship: relationship between master and servant, relationship between friend and friend, relationship between father and son, and relationship between boyfriend and girlfriend. All these relationships are emanating from Kṛṣṇa.

General Lectures

So since the beginning of this meeting the speakers were talking in Hindi, but these foreigners, they could not understand. But out of reverence they were sitting.

Speech to Devotees -- Vrndavana, April 7, 1976: So since the beginning of this meeting the speakers were talking in Hindi, but these foreigners, they could not understand. But out of reverence they were sitting. So I have taken permission to give them the summary of the speeches spoken by the Vaiṣṇavas, especially by Śrīman Bhakti-dīpa Mahārāja. Bhakti-dīpa Mahārāja is disciple of my elder Godbrother, so naturally he is very affectionate to me especially. Sometimes we lived together, and we follow the same principles of philosophy. So his speech about vaiṣṇave jāti-buddhi, arcye viṣṇau-śilā-dhīr, this is very important. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu wanted that pṛthivīte āche yata nagarādi grāma. He wanted that everywhere in the nook and corner of this world, every city, every town, every village, there should be the chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra. Chanting should be preached. So by His grace it is going on.

Philosophy Discussions

You cannot derive benefit unless the aesthetic sense is applied to the higher authority, with reverence and respect.

Philosophy Discussion on Arthur Schopenhauer:

Śyāmasundara: So even aesthetically, one can have permanent salvation.

Prabhupāda: Oh, yes. Aesthetic with a—I mean to say—solid program. Because Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is all goodness. You find whatever the so-called philosophers will describe, we have got already there. Already there. If you say aesthetic salvation, this is aesthetic salvation. Śrī-vigrahārādhana-nitya-nānā-śṛṅgāra-tan-mandira-mārjanādau **. To worship the Deity. And you cannot derive benefit unless the aesthetic sense is applied to the higher authority, with reverence and respect. That is wanted.