Go to Vanipedia | Go to Vanisource | Go to Vanimedia


Vaniquotes - the compiled essence of Vedic knowledge


Sensation (Lectures)

Lectures

Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures

Lecture on BG 2.13 -- Public Lecture With German Translation Throughout -- Hamburg, September 10, 1969:

So go to God, or Kṛṣṇa, means you'll have to acquire your original, spiritual body. The spiritual body is already there, but we are now covered by this material body. So how we are eternal, that is described in the Bhagavad-gītā:

avināśi tu tad viddhi
yena sarvam idaṁ tatam
vināśam avyayasyāsya
na kaścit kartum arhati

The hint is given: the something which is spread all over the body, that is eternal. And what is that something? That something is our consciousness. Here it is stated, avināśi tu tad viddhi yena sarvam idaṁ tatam. In this body there is something. That is consciousness. That is eternal. Just like if you or I pinch my body, I feel pain because the consciousness is there. But when the consciousness will not be there, if I cut my hand or cut your hand, you'll not protest. Even scientists have proved this consciousness is there in the tree also. If you cut the tree, there is sensation, feeling some pain, and this is recorded in the machine. So here it is hinted that this consciousness is spread all over the body, that is eternal. The body is not eternal. As soon as the consciousness is gone, the body is dead. Therefore we should take care of the thing which is cons... That is the soul. On account of presence of the soul, there is consciousness.

Lecture on BG 2.14 -- London, August 20, 1973:

So what is the happiness of the gṛhamedhi? Yan maithunādi, that sex pleasure, that's all. Otherwise they have no other happiness, working day and night like ass. The only hope is, at night they will enjoy sex. That's all. Yan maithunādi-gṛhamedhi. What is that sex? That itching. Mātrā-sparśās tu kaunteya śītoṣṇa-sukha-duḥkha-dāḥ (BG 2.14). That itching sensation. Therefore śāstra says that "Tolerate that itching. Don't be implicated with this repetition of birth and death." First thing, brahmacārī—"Tolerate this itching. You'll avoid so much displeasure, so much unhappiness of life. Be careful." That is brahmacārī life. Mātrā-sparśās tu kaunteya It is simply itching, satisfying the itching sensation, little happiness. What is that happiness? Just like there is itching in your body. If you itch it, you feel some pleasure. It is like that. So viṣaheta dhīraḥ. Dhīra, one who is sober, one is advanced, he will little tolerate that itching sensation and be happy because this is not my necessity. This is only of the skin. This is my skin disease.

Lecture on BG 2.15 -- London, August 21, 1973:

Don't be disturbed by the sensuous disturbance of the body. Become dhīra. Dhīras tatra na muhyati (BG 2.13). Become dhīra.

So one who has practiced to become dhīra, not to become disturbed by the sensuous or bodily sensations, he's supposed to be kalpate, he's supposed to be, to become immortal at the end. And the Bhāgavata says also that you do not become a spiritual master, you do not become a father, you do not become a mother, you do not become a friend, a relative, in this way, if you cannot make your subordinate immortal. Pitā na sa syāt, gurur na sa syāt, gurur na sa syāt, jananī na sā syāt pitā na sa syāt. In this way, there is a list. You become father of hundreds of children. That's all right. No restriction. You beget children. But you must make your children immortal. That is the injunction. You have become guru.

Lecture on BG 2.15 -- Mexico, February 15, 1975:

So we have to realize this, that we can become eternal, immortal, all qualified like God, if we get out of these material clutches. And for this, we have to become dhīra. Dhīra means, I have already explained, not to be disturbed, even the cause of disturbance is there. So that is the qualification of becoming immortal. So little tolerance of the sensation... Just like there is some sensation. If you have got some itches and you are feeling that "I should itch," but if you stop itching, this will be cured, and if you go on itching, it will increase. So itching... Anyone who has got some experience of itching... Itching is very pleasing at the time of itching, but next time it is not very pleasing. It has created so many disturbing condition. Therefore śāstra says that we should try to control the itching of our senses. Then he is dhīra. And as soon as you become dhīra, you are the first-class candidate for going back to home, back to Godhead. So there is method; there is practice; there is process.

Lecture on BG 2.17 -- Hyderabad, November 22, 1972:

Without seeing the sun... When, as soon as I come to the sunshine, I feel light and heat; therefore immediately I can understand there is sun. It is not very difficult. Similarly just like we try to... When a man is dying, we try to feel whether the man is breathing, or he's feeling touch sensation. These are the tests. So the touch sensation is there so long the soul is there. Now I am living body. If somebody pinches my body, because the consciousness is all over the body, so I feel: "Somebody's pinching me." But when the conscious, consciousness is not there, if somebody chops up my body I will not protest. Therefore we should understand what is that living thing. That consciousness, which is spreading all over this body, that is living force. Kṛṣṇa says here: avināśi tu tad viddhi yena sarvam idaṁ tatam. Yena, by that consciousness.

Lecture on BG Lecture Excerpts 2.44-45, 2.58 -- New York, March 25, 1966:

Now, body has got many parts: the hands, the legs, the eyes, the ears, the head, so many things. But these parts of the body, they cannot enjoy separately out of the body. This hand, cut off from this body, is useless. There is no enjoyment. But a hand, so long attached to this body, it has got all the enjoyment of sense, touch. Touch sensation, the enjoyment of the hand can be perceived when the hand is attached with the body. If the body... If the hand is cut off from this body, then the special enjoyment of this hand, touch, it cannot be perceived. (break) (end)

Lecture on BG 4.37-40 -- New York, August 21, 1966:

We have got our transcendental senses. Now it is covered. Just like in our diseased condition, the same hand, the same nose, same ear, are there, but we feel something extraordinary. "Oh, my, there is headache. Oh, my hand is burning, burning. Oh!" But when the disease is cured, then you don't feel that sensation. So senses we have got. That is our spiritual senses. So we have to revive our spiritual senses. We are not senseless. As spirit soul, we have got our original senses, but that senses are now covered by this material contamination. Just like my senses, my hand burns during fever, due to the fever. But when the fever is moved, removed, when I get free from the fever attack, then I feel nice, similarly, we have got our senses; when we are freed from this material contamination, then we have got our proper use of the sense and enjoyment.

Lecture on BG 4.37-40 -- New York, August 21, 1966:

So for the present, saṁyatendriya, we have to control the senses just to get us cured from this material disease. That is the way. You have not to kill your senses. That is not given. Because your hand is burning, due to some disease, oh, if the physician says, "All right, cut off this hand," oh, that is not treatment. The treatment is that sensation, that burning sensation, should be cured. Hand should live as it is. So we are, we have got all desires, we have got all senses, spiritually. And we have to revive that, and that, Kṛṣṇa consciousness will help us to revive our original status of senses. And that original status of senses, that sense of enjoyment, will be spiritual enjoyment. That will give us real... Sukham atyantikaṁ yat atīndriya-grāhyam (BG 6.21).

Lecture on BG 4.37-40 -- New York, August 21, 1966:

And in the Nārada-bhakti-sūtra also you'll find that hṛṣīkeṇa hṛṣīkeśa-sevanaṁ bhaktir ucyate. Sarvopādhi-vinirmuktaṁ tat-paratvena nirmalam (CC Madhya 19.170). When our senses are freed from all designation... Just like due to fever, I am feeling some extra sensation in my hand. That is a designation. When that designation is freed, then I come to my normal state. Similarly, at the present moment, due to this covering of material body, I have got different designative sensation, designative sensation. I am feeling I am, I am just using my senses under some designation. So we have to get free from this designation. That is the whole spiritual process. You haven't got to kill your senses. That will help you when you are in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. (break)

Lecture on BG 5.14-22 -- New York, August 28, 1966:

And what is that sex happiness? It is kaṇḍūyanena karayor iva duḥkha-duḥkham. Suppose you have got some itches in your hand, and you itch it very..., according to your satisfaction. Then, after the effect, the effect of such itching is very horrible. Oh. So similarly, this is a kind of itching sensation. So kaṇḍūtivan manasijaṁ viṣaheta dhīraḥ. So one who wants to cure these itches, he should be a little tolerant. Tolerant. And then he'll be cured of this itching. Itching, if you stop itching, then it automatically cures. Similarly, the sparśajā sukham, the happiness which is enjoyed by sense touch, that is duḥkha-yonayaḥ. Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa says that is, I mean to say, generating, generating distress only, generating distress only. Duḥkha-yonaya eva te, ādy-antavantaḥ kaunteya na teṣu ramate budhaḥ (BG 5.22). "Oh, no," somebody may say, "no, this is very good happiness." But Kṛṣṇa says, "That is distress in the beginning, and that is distress at the end, Kaunteya."

Lecture on BG 5.22-29 -- New York, August 31, 1966:

Saṁsparśajāḥ means happiness, so-called happiness derived by touch senses. Ye hi saṁsparśajā bhogāḥ, enjoyment. Duḥkha-yonaya eva te. Lord Kṛṣṇa says that this is not real happiness. Anything, any happiness derived out of touch sensation, that is not real happiness. Rather, that is the gate for various miseries. The whole Vedic scripture describes that happiness derived of sense perception out of the body, that is not real happiness. If we are to enjoy real happiness, then we have to transcend these bodily pleasures. Happiness is there because I am spirit soul. Actually I am full of pleasure, but because my sense of happiness is being manifested through this matter, therefore we are being frustrated in deriving real pleasure. So those who are in the, advanced in spiritual life, they are called yogis. Yoginaḥ. Ramante yoginaḥ anante (CC Madhya 9.29). Those who are spiritualists, they also enjoy.

Lecture on BG 7.1 -- San Francisco, September 10, 1968:

I want a tangible thing. I want a boy, I want a girl, then I can love. How I can love sky?" So simply understanding of greatness is not all. Then from the development of the, from the idea of sky, there is, next development is air. In the air you can perceive something. When the air is blowing you can at least have some touch sensation. So as in the material world from the sky develops the air, from air develops the fire, electricity, and from electricity or fire develops the water, and from water develops this land... When it comes to the land you can understand something very tangible. Similarly, greatness of God has to be developed how? From greatness of God, the idea of greatness, the sense of service must develop. God is so great, so I must render some service to God. This sense of service is further development. Just like from the sky the air develops, similarly, from the idea of greatness of God the sense of service develops. Because I am serving somebody great, I go to some office because he provides me.

Lecture on BG 7.1-3 -- Stockholm, September 10, 1973:

Actually if we make analysis what is the symptoms of possessing soul, you will find everywhere. Even in plants' life you will find. Sir Jagadish Chandra Bose, one of the greatest scientist of the world, he has proved by machine that when you cut the trees or the leaves, they feel sensation, pain, and that is recorded by machine. So everyone has got soul.

Lecture on BG 7.2 -- San Francisco, September 11, 1968:

Similarly, just like you have got some itching on the body, and the part of your body, the fingers, itches on that body, the satisfaction also felt by the fingers also. Not that the particular part only is feeling the sensation of satisfaction, but the whole body is feeling this satisfaction sense. Similarly, Kṛṣṇa being the full, when you satisfy Kṛṣṇa, sense of Kṛṣṇa, Govinda, then the satisfaction of the whole universe takes place. This is the science. Tasmin tuṣṭe jagat tuṣṭa. The another example is just like if you satisfy the stomach in your body, then the whole body is satisfied. The stomach will issue such energy by digestion of the foodstuff that it will transform into blood, it will come into the heart, and from the heart it will be diffused all over the body, and all over the body the depression, the exhaustion which has undergone, that will be satisfied.

Lecture on BG 7.11-12 -- Bombay, February 25, 1974:

They are called pāda-pa. Pāda-pa means they have got legs for eating. We are eating with mouth; they are eating with legs.

So everything, analytical study is there in the śāstras very minute, senses and power, who has got. The fish, they have got very good sensation power. Means two miles away, they get sensation there is enemy, "Somebody's coming to eat me." These are all described in the Bhāgavatam. The frogs, they can become in samādhi, situated in samādhi, for many, many years. So these things are not very great things, to have samādhi, to have yogic principles. Even in the animals you will find. I read long, long ago that in the coal mine, while they were digging coals, one frog came out from the coal and jumped over and died. That means the frog was buried within the lump of coal for many, many thousands of years, and he was keeping samādhi.

Lecture on BG 16.7 -- Hyderabad, December 14, 1976:

"I shall give you daily a cup of milk. Do not commit this harmful life, biting unnecessarily others. You come here, take a cup of milk and live peacefully," that he will not be able. He... By drinking, drinking that cup of milk, his poison will increase, and as soon as the poison is increased—it is also another itching sensation—he wants to bite. He'll bite. So the result will be payaḥ-pānaṁ bhujaṅgānāṁ kevalaṁ viṣa-vardhanam. The more they starve, that is good for them because the poison will not increase.

The nature's law is there. And as soon as one sees a snake, immediately everyone becomes alert to kill the snake. And by nature's law... It is said, "Even a great saintly person, he does not lament when a snake is killed." Modeta sādhur api sarpa, vṛścika-sarpa-hatyā. Prahlāda Mahārāja said.

Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures

Lecture on SB 1.2.4 -- Rome, May 28, 1974:

Tā'ra madhye jihvā ati lobhamoy sudurmati tā'ke jetā kaṭhina saṁsāre. Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura says, "Amongst the senses, the most powerful sense is the tongue." Most powerful sense. You see? They are smoking, chain smoker, going on, going on. What is this? There is some sensation. And if we smoke cigarette or drink, it is simply the tongue. The tongue is dictating, "Do this, do that. Take this, take coffee, take tea, smoke, take flesh, take chicken, take this, take this, take..." That means that out of the all senses, the tongue is most formidable. Therefore Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura says, tā'ra madhye jihvā ati lobhamoy sudurmati tā'ke jetā kaṭhina saṁsāre. It is very difficult to conquer over the tongue. And if you can conquer over the tongue, then you can conquer over the belly, and then you can conquer over the genital. The straight line, one after another. Tā'ra madhye jihvā ati.

Lecture on SB 1.2.5 -- Vrndavana, October 16, 1972:

So, so long we shall be attached to this viṣaya, simply, there cannot be any peace. There cannot be any peace. It is impossible. Therefore Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura says that viṣaya-viṣānale. Anala means fire. There are different types of fire also. Vi..., viṣānala, the burning sensation by drinking poison. Viṣaya-viṣānale, dibā-niśi hiyā jvale. "Whole day and night, twenty-four hours, my heart is burning." Viṣaya-viṣānale, juṛāite nā koinu... "I did not try, how to get out of this blazing fire." Golokera prema-dhana, hari-nama-saṅkīrtana, rati nā janmila kene tāy. "The only, only relief is this kṛṣṇa-saṅkīrtana, hari-nāma-saṅkīrtana."

Lecture on SB 1.3.25 -- Los Angeles, September 30, 1972:

So there are different species of life. Just like the aquatics in the ocean. There are so many living entities. But if you preach there Kṛṣṇa consciousness, it is not possible Their number is far greater than human being. Still, they have no capacity. Next development, plants and trees, there also, no sensation. You cut the trees, no protest, because there is no sensation. There is practically consciousness... There is consciousness, very slight. Sir Jagadish Candra Bose has proved that when you cut tree, he feels, and that is recorded in what is called, that machine? So everyone has got consciousness. Living entity means there is consciousness. But they have their consciousness only for eating, sleeping, sex life and defending. There is consciousness amongst the fish. Their consciousness is so strong, two miles away if some big fish is coming, they can understand. Immediately they can take precaution defending. These are all described.

Lecture on SB 1.7.28-29 -- Vrndavana, September 25, 1976:

So this is brahminical qualification. But there are others also. A kṣatriya, he is expert in the military science, how to kill. So the killing art is there. You cannot make it null and void by advocating nonviolence. No. That is required. Violence is also a part of the society. Just like here is some itching sensation. This is violence. That is required for the comfort. So similarly, Arjuna was kṣatriya. He knew the art of killing, and still, Kṛṣṇa is... Kṛṣṇa also, He appeared as a kṣatriya in the dynasty of kṣatriyas. Vāsudeva, son of Vasudeva. He also knew the art of killing. That is also one of the part of His business. Yadā yadā hi dharmasya glānir bhavati bhārata (BG 4.7), paritrāṇāya sādhūnāṁ vināśāya ca duṣkṛtām (BG 4.8). So vināśa-requires violence.

Lecture on SB 1.8.44 -- Los Angeles, May 6, 1973:

Ahaṁ sarvasya prabhavo mattaḥ sarvaṁ pravartate (BG 10.8). Whatever you see, that is coming from Kṛṣṇa. There are so many other words.

What is this world? This world is made of two energies, material and spiritual. Actually it is spiritual, but some portion is material. The same example, that this, my body is full of consciousness, sensation, but some parts, just like the nail, there is no consciousness, there is no sensation. If you cut the nail, you won't feel any pain. But just a, a small, I mean to say, one tenth part of an inch, if you come down on the skin portion, immediately there will be sensation and painful. As they're side by side. Therefore, similarly, the material creation and spiritual creation is side by side. The material creation is another part of spiritual creation. Just like the cloud. The cloud is creation of the sunshine. Not that the sunshine is creation of cloud.

Lecture on SB 1.15.45 -- Los Angeles, December 23, 1973:

This is the position. Yan maithunādi-gṛhamedhi-sukhaṁ hi tuccham (SB 7.9.45). Maithunādi. Maithunādi means sexual intercourse. Yan maithunādi-gṛhamedhi-sukhaṁ hi tucchaṁ kaṇḍūyanena karayor iva duḥkha-duḥkham. It is a pleasure just like itching sensation. It is all described. Yan maithunādi... A gṛhamedhi... Gṛhamedhi means a so-called householder. There are two words: gṛhamedhi and gṛhastha. Gṛhastha means... That is called āśrama, gṛhastha-āśrama, to live with wife and children, but the business is how to developed Kṛṣṇa consciousness. That is gṛhastha-āśrama, as we recommend. And where there is no such attempt how to develop Kṛṣṇa consciousness, simply living like cats and dogs... They have also sex life. They also produce children. They also eat. They also work.

Lecture on SB 2.9.4-8 -- Tokyo, April 23, 1972:

Durdāntendriya-kāla-sarpa-paṭalī. Kāla-sarpa. Just like cobra. Someway or other, it touches—immediately death. So our senses are so strong that it is simply dragging us towards hell. Adānta-gobhir viśatāṁ tamisram (SB 7.5.30). Mind is dragging somewhere, eye is dragging somewhere, ear is dragging somewhere, and touch sensation is dragging somewhere. In this way we are perplexed.

Therefore the process is sa vai manaḥ kṛṣṇa-padāravindayor vacāṁsi vaikuṇṭha-guṇānuvarṇane (SB 9.4.18). You have to engage your mind unto the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa, and your tongue, always chanting and taking little prasādam. Then all senses will be controlled. Sa vai manaḥ kṛṣṇa-padāravindayor vacāṁsi vaikuṇṭha-guṇānuvarṇane. And see. Eyes should be engaged to see the Deity, very gorgeously, nicely dressed.

Lecture on SB 3.26.32 -- Bombay, January 9, 1975:

And from the sound the instrument of hearing is created, śrotram. Similarly, our subtle senses-rūpa, rasa, śabda, sparśa, gandha... So śabda, sparśa..., then sparśa. Sparśa means touching. When there is air, there is touching. Touching sensation is created. And when there is fire, then form sensation is created. When there is water, then rasa, taste sensation, is created. And from rasa, water, when there is earth, then gandha, gandha sensation, or smell, is created. How scientifically it is described: rūpa, rasa, gandha, śabda, sparśa. They are the sense perception. The sense perception is created from the five elements: earth, water, air, fire, and ether. And above that, there is still finer materials: mind, intelligence, ego. And then, behind that, the soul is there. As the material creation, behind everything, the Supreme Personality of Godhead is there, bhagavat-coditāt... It is not automatically taking place. Vikurvāṇād bhagavad-vīrya-coditāt.

Lecture on SB 3.26.41 -- Bombay, January 16, 1975:

Nitāi: "By the interaction of fire and the visual sensation, the subtle element taste evolves under a superior arrangement. From taste, water is produced, and the tongue, which perceives taste, is also manifested."

Prabhupāda:

rūpa-mātrād vikurvāṇāt
tejaso daiva-coditāt
rasa-mātram abhūt tasmād
ambho jihvā rasa-grahaḥ
(SB 3.26.41)

How water is manufactured, that is explained here. The modern scientists, they speak of manufacturing water by combination of two gases: hydrogen, oxygen. May be true to certain extent. But from Vedic literature we understand that by the interaction of form and touch through the agency of fire maybe there is perspiration. Just like when our body becomes too much heated, there is perspiration, the water comes out, similarly, the same process we get the water, ambu.

Lecture on SB 3.26.41 -- Bombay, January 16, 1975:

Whatever we have got in possession...

Now it is explained by Kapiladeva, how things are developing, everything. This evening we were discussing. Here it is said that jihvā ambhaḥ. They are coming out by interaction of touch sensation, the fire. In this way everything is emanating. Janmādy asya yataḥ (SB 1.1.1). The original source is Kṛṣṇa. Ahaṁ sarvasya prabhavo mattaḥ sarvaṁ pravartate (BG 10.8). This is the real science. Everything is coming from Him. So whatever we possess, the physical transformation, the gross body and the subtle mind, intelligence, everything is produced from the original source, Kṛṣṇa. So same thing, when it is utilized by clear understanding, that "Everything is emanation from Kṛṣṇa. Everything belongs to Kṛṣṇa. So let us utilize it for Kṛṣṇa's service," then we are situated in the daivī-māyā. Mahātmānas tu māṁ pārtha daivīṁ prakṛtim āśritāḥ (BG 9.13). This is daivī-prakṛti.

Lecture on SB 5.5.1 -- Delhi, November 28, 1975:

And when it is cut off from my body it has no value. Similarly, we being part and parcel of God, when we are forgetful or cut off It cannot be cut off, but still, when we forget God, then we have no value. The same example: When I ask my finger to come here and give me some itching sensation, then the finger is in normal condition. And if the finger cannot give me any service, that is useless. Similarly, we being part and parcel of God, our business is to give service to God. That is our normal condition. And if we do not give service to the Lord, if we keep separately, then we have no value.

This point is stressed here that nāyaṁ deho deha-bhājāṁ nṛloke kaṣṭān kāmān arhate viḍ-bhujāṁ ye (SB 5.5.1). Ṛṣabhādeva is advising to His sons, "My dear sons, this body specially," nāyaṁ deha nṛloke, "in the human society, it is not to be spoiled."

Lecture on SB 6.1.43 -- Los Angeles, June 9, 1976:

So when Kṛṣṇa says that "All these living entities, they are My part and parcel..." Mamaivāṁśo jīva-bhūtaḥ jīva-loke sanātanaḥ (BG 15.7). Not that the part and parcel is differently created. As soon as the body is there, the part and parcel are also there. So what is the duty of the part and parcel? Just like this finger. I am feeling some itching sensation; immediately comes, naturally, without asking. It's always ready to serve. This is the duty of the part and parcel. So if we are part and parcel of God, then what is our duty? To serve God, that's all. This is our duty. So anyone who is serving always Kṛṣṇa, or God, he is dharmī; he is in dharma. And who is not serving is adharma. Because a duty... It requires treatment. This finger, part and parcel of my body. I want to get some service from the finger, but if the finger is diseased or due to some pain or some injury it cannot serve the body, it requires treatment. This is natural. Similarly, punishment means treatment.

Lecture on SB 7.6.3 -- Toronto, June 19, 1976:

So in the material world, so long we have got this material body, two things will be there: suffering or enjoyment. And what is the suffering and enjoyment? With reference to the senses. Or... Senses... Just like the skin is called touch sensation. We feel pleasure by touching the skin. So this pleasure, due to the touch sense, sometimes it is painful, sometimes it is pleasing, due to different circumstances. Just like water. Water is very pleasing to the skin if it is winter. So water is the same, my skin is the same, but due to seasonal changes, the same water is sometimes pleasing and sometimes displeasing. Mātrā-sparśās tu kaunteya śītoṣṇa-sukha-duḥkha-dāḥ. So, so long we have to remain in this material world or so long we have to continue this material body, two things will continue. You cannot stop it. It is not possible. Mātrā-sparśās tu kaunteya śītoṣṇa-sukha-duḥkha-dāḥ. And what are actually there?

Lecture on SB 7.7.25-28 -- San Francisco, March 13, 1967:

You see? So Prahlāda Mahārāja says, "Just change this kindly. Don't become any more servant of..." Servant of dog means servant of your senses. That's all. We are here all servant of senses. That's all. A swami means master of the senses. "Oh, sense wants? Oh, my tongue wants immediately to smoke? There is some sensation. Oh, I must say, 'No. There is no smoking. Stop.' " Then you are master. And if you have become servant, "Oh, I want. Will you kindly give me a cigarette?" Because I am servant of cigarette. So you have to train yourself to become swami, master of your senses. Then everything is all right. Don't be servant of your senses. Servant you are. Just change your servitorship. Instead of becoming servant of senses, just become the servant of the master of the senses. The master of senses is Kṛṣṇa. Therefore He is called Hṛṣīkeśa.

Lecture on SB 7.9.40 -- Mayapur, March 18, 1976:

Puṣṭa Kṛṣṇa: "My dear Lord, the infallible one, my high position is just like a person having more than one wife, the co-wives trying to attract the husband in their own different ways. For example, the tongue is being attracted to palatable dishes. The genital wants to have sex with an attractive woman. The touch sensation is trying to contact soft things. The belly, although fulfilled, still wants to eat more. And generally the ear, without attempting to hear about You, is attracted for cinema songs. The smelling sensation is still another side; restless eyes to see sense gratificatory sense scenes; and the active senses attracting on another side. In this way I am embarrassed."

Prabhupāda:

jihvā ekato acyuta vikarṣati māvitṛptā
śiśno 'nyatas tvag-udaraṁ śravaṇaṁ kutaścit
ghrāṇo anyataś capala-dṛk kva ca karma-śaktir
bahvyaḥ sapatnya iva geha-patiṁ lunanti
(SB 7.9.40)

It is a very good example. In the previous verse Prahlāda Mahārāja explained, naitan manas tava kathāsu vikuṇṭha-nātha samprīyate durita-duṣṭam asādhu tīvram. So Kṛṣṇa-kathā is not palatable. This is māyā's influence. So we cannot engage our senses for Kṛṣṇa. This is the disturbing condition of material world. Senses are there, I am there, and how the senses should be utilized, the subject matter is also there, but it is misled. This is called māyā. Caitanya Mahāprabhu says, jīvera svarūpa haya nitya kṛṣṇa dāsa (Cc. Madhya 20.108-109).

Nectar of Devotion Lectures

The Nectar of Devotion -- Bombay, January 10, 1973:

How people can be happy? Everyone is andhā, blind. They have no jñāna, no knowledge, and misleading only. So the, ānandāmbudhi-vardhanam. You can have unlimited ānanda, but because you are falsely trying to enjoy through this material body, therefore you are becoming confused and frustrated. That they do not know. They think, "I have got this material body, I have got some senses, let me enjoy the senses to the best possibility." But you cannot do it, because it is false, it is not real. Real senses, unless you feel sensation, that sensation, consciousness is there because the spirit soul is there. Otherwise there is no sensation, and unless you feel sensation, there is no enjoyment.

Sri Caitanya-caritamrta Lectures

Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 20.294-298 -- New York, December 19, 1966:

Similarly, He took the incarnation of tortoise, Kūrma. There was a churning of the ocean, and the churning rod must be rested on something solid. So He became the churning rod, resting. And the hill, Mandara Hill, was placed, and He was feeling some itching sensation. So it was nicely itched by churning rod. So this is... He is Kūrmāvatāra. Then Raghunātha. Raghunātha. Raghunātha, this Rāma, Lord Rāma, He came to kill that daśanana, who had ten faces. Vitarasi dikṣu raṇe dik-pati-kamanīyam. So in this way there are innumerable incarnation of pastime. Nṛsiṁha. Nṛsiṁha.

Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 22.5 -- New York, January 7, 1967:

Duty you sometimes may avoid, and you may be excused, but obligation we cannot. Obligation means you have to. Because you are meant for that, if you do not do that, then you will be in difficulty. Our obligation as living entities... We are part and parcel of the Supreme. Just like the hand. At once I feel some itching sensation here, so at once the hand comes without asking for it. It is so made psychologically and mechanically and whatever you may say. At once I feel some itching; at once the hand comes—obligation. It is obligation. Similarly, we are part and parcel of the Supreme. We have got obligation to serve Kṛṣṇa. If we are not doing that... That means if the hand is cut off from this body, there is no obligation. The hand which is cut off from this body, that hand will not come to cure my itching.

Festival Lectures

Varaha-dvadasi, Lord Varaha's Appearance Day Lecture Dasavatara-stotra Purport -- Los Angeles, February 18, 1970:

And the churning rod was a great hill called Mandara-pārvata. And the resting place was on the back of the Lord appeared as a tortoise. So he's offering his prayer that "You appeared as a tortoise just to become the resting place. And this happened because You were feeling some itching sensation on Your back. So You accepted this big rod, Mandara Hill, to itch, as the itching instrument."

General Lectures

Lecture at Krsna Niketan -- Gorakhpur, February 16, 1971:

Svābhāvikī jñāna-bala-kriyā ca. We are thinking it is taking automatically. No. It is not. It is taking very perfectly, and we are so ignorant that we cannot understand. We should always know our position, how much we are ignorant. I am claiming I am the... "It is my body." How your nails are growing, can you explain? Why there is no sensation in the nail? So many things you are unaware, even of your body. So how you can be aware that how your body is changing? You have to learn, therefore, from authorities, "It is being done." Just like Kṛṣṇa says, dehino 'smin yathā dehe kaumāra... (BG 2.13). That is the process of knowledge. You have to know from the authorities how things are there. The person who is actually enacting, you have to know from Him. Otherwise, there is no possibility of knowledge.

Hare Krishna Festival Address -- San Diego, July 1, 1972, At Balboa Park Bowl:

Yan maithunādi-gṛhamedhi-sukhaṁ hi tuccham (SB 7.9.45). It is said in the śāstra that the gṛhamedhi, those who are attracted by this material world, their center of enjoyment is sex. Yan maithunādi-gṛhamedhi-sukhaṁ hi tucchaṁ kaṇḍūyanena karayor iva duḥkha-duḥkham. This sex urge is a, a sort of itching sensation. Kaṇḍūyanenam. Tṛpyanti neha kṛpaṇā bahu-duḥkha-bhājaḥ. By satisfying this itching sensation, he becomes entrapped in so many ways. So many ways. That's a fact. Apart from those who are enjoying illicit sex, even those who are enjoying sex in regulated principles, they are also entrapped. Take, for example, one regular householder. In your country, it is different social situation, but in our country, in India, a family life is a great responsibility. The father and mother has to take full responsibility for education of the children, grow up nicely, and the father, mother is under obligation to get the boys and the girls married.

Public Speech -- Bad Homburg, Germany, June 22, 1974:

In this body there is something. That is consciousness. That is eternal. Just like if you or I pinch my body, I feel pain because the consciousness is there. But when the consciousness will not be there, if I cut my hand or cut your hand, you will not protest. Even scientists have proved this consciousness is there in the tree also. If you cut the tree, there is sensation, feelings of pain, and that is recorded in the machine. So here it is hinted that this consciousness is spread all over the body. That is eternal. The body is not eternal. As soon as the consciousness is gone, the body is dead. Therefore we should take care of the thing which is consciousness. That is the soul. On account of presence of the soul, there is consciousness. So Kṛṣṇa further says in this connection, antavanta ime dehā nityasyoktāḥ śarīriṇaḥ (BG 2.18). This body—deha means body—antavat, it is perishable. Nityasya uktāḥ śarīriṇaḥ. But the thing which is covered by this material body, that is eternal.

Philosophy Discussions

Philosophy Discussion on Sigmund Freud:

Prabhupāda: It is botheration, painful. It is called pain. (indistinct) (indistinct) means pain. So nature is prohibiting that, (indistinct), child delivery, so the man is also given so much trouble. The woman is also given so much trouble. So why is the trouble there? The (indistinct) for everything is don't be implicated in this sex life. If you simply tolerating a little itching sensation, then you will not have so much pain. Yan maithunādi-gṛhamedhi-sukhaṁ hi tuccham (SB 7.9.45). These ordinary men who are attached to the materialistic way of life, their only happiness is this sexual intercourse. So śāstra says this happiness derived from sexual intercourse is very, very insignificant. Yan maithunādi-gṛhamedhi-sukhaṁ hi tuccham. This is not happiness. It is very (indistinct) third class or even lower than happiness. But because we have no idea of other happiness, Kṛṣṇa consciousness, the materialistic way of life, that is the happiness. Yan maithunādi-gṛhamedhi-sukhaṁ hi tuccham. That is a very insignificant happiness.

Philosophy Discussion on Sigmund Freud:

Prabhupāda: Not only that. A person does not like to bear children; therefore this contraceptive method is there. It is botheration, painful. It is called pain. (indistinct) (indistinct) means pain. So nature is prohibiting that, (indistinct), child delivery, so the man is also given so much trouble. The woman is also given so much trouble. So why is the trouble there? The (indistinct) for everything is don't be implicated in this sex life. If you simply tolerating a little itching sensation, then you will not have so much pain. Yan maithunādi-gṛhamedhi-sukhaṁ hi tuccham (SB 7.9.45). These ordinary men who are attached to the materialistic way of life, their only happiness is this sexual intercourse. So śāstra says this happiness derived from sexual intercourse is very, very insignificant. Yan maithunādi-gṛhamedhi-sukhaṁ hi tuccham. This is not happiness. It is very (indistinct) third class or even lower than happiness. But because we have no idea of other happiness, Kṛṣṇa consciousness, the materialistic way of life, that is the happiness. Yan maithunādi-gṛhamedhi-sukhaṁ hi tuccham. That is a very insignificant happiness. Then how is this happiness experienced? Kaṇḍūyanena karayor iva duḥkha-duḥkham. You have got itching, and if you scratch like this, so you get some happiness, but aftereffects of that happiness is very abominable. So even if you have legal sex, the mother has to undergo the labor pains and the father has to take responsibility for raising the children nicely, give them education. Of course, one who is irresponsible like cats and dogs, that is another thing. But those who are actually gentlemen, for them it is not painful. Therefore they are avoiding children by contraceptive methods, because they know to raise children is a very difficult job. So śāstra's injunction is simply to try to tolerate this itching sensation and you save so much pain. This is real psychology. That itching sensation can be tolerated if one practices this Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Then you will not be very much attracted by this sex life.

Philosophy Discussion on Sigmund Freud:

Prabhupāda: Therefore this Vedic system is so scientific, varṇāśrama-dharma. When these things are automatically adjusted and checked, our life becomes very peaceful and we make progress in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Then these things will not come.

Śyāmasundara: This sexual energy, or the libido energy, he sees as not only sexual intercourse but is associated with a wide variety of pleasurable sensations relating to bodily activities, such as pleasure of the mouth, of the different organs. He says it's all sexual energy-eating, sucking.

Prabhupāda: That is already stated, that the only happiness in this material world, maithunādi-gṛhamedhi-sukham. Ādi means the basic principle is maithuna, sexual intercourse. And now there are some maithuna-ādi. Or you can take it that one is very happy—just like one gentleman proposed to (indistinct), "Give me a son." But that is also maithuna-ādi, by sexual intercourse. He is thinking that "I will have a son and I will get him married; he will also begin maithuna-ādi—and a grandson." So the whole system, this materialistic way of life, just like Bhāgavata is saying, yan maithuna gṛhamedhi sukham. This is happiness. (indistinct). Suta means son and āpta means friend. (indistinct) wife, mother, sister, they are enjoying this life. (indistinct), that's in the desert, one drop of water.

Philosophy Discussion on Carl Gustav Jung:

Prabhupāda: His character is transcendental character, not like the material character. Āprakṛta. It is said, just like bhakta-vatsala, He is very kind to His devotee. This kindness is, is one of His characteristic. Similarly, He has got unlimited qualities, and according to that transcendental quality He is sometimes described, but all those qualities are permanent. Whatever qualities and character we have got, they are minute manifestation of God's character, because we have got character also. That is only a minute manifestation of God's character. He is the origin of all character. That is described in the śāstras. He has got also mind, He has got also feelings, He has got also sensation, He has got senses, sense perception, sense gratification. Everything is there. That is unlimitedly, and we, being part and parcel of God, we possess in minute quantities all the God's quality. Actually our characteristics, qualities are simply atomic manifestation of God's quality. The original qualities are in God.

Philosophy Discussion on St. Augustine:

Hayagrīva: Well, this..., thinking in this way Augustine writes, he says, "We do not apply 'Thou shalt not kill' to plants, because they have no sensation, or to irrational animals that fly, swim, walk or creep, because they are linked to us by no association or common bond. By the creator's wise ordinance they are meant for our use, dead or alive. It only remains for us to apply the commandment 'Thou shalt not kill' to man alone, oneself and others." So...

Prabhupāda: So that is imagination of Augustine. But Jesus Christ does not say such qualitative killing. He says frankly, "Thou shalt not kill." When he says that, he means, "You should not kill." But when there is absolute necessity, just like he says that "One life is food for the another life..." Does he not say it like that?

Page Title:Sensation (Lectures)
Compiler:Visnu Murti, RupaManjari
Created:27 of Feb, 2012
Totals by Section:BG=0, SB=0, CC=0, OB=0, Lec=43, Con=0, Let=0
No. of Quotes:43