Stagnation

Expressions researched:
stagnation

Philosophy Discussions

Nobody is in stagnation, everyone is working. Stagnation means, just like a stagnant water, it has no flow. That is stagnation. But who is, he is not, everyone is acting.

Philosophy Discussion on Hegel:

Śyāmasundara: What about the statement that "Peace is stagnation"?

Prabhupāda: Well, nobody is in stagnation, everyone is working. Stagnation means, just like a stagnant water, it has no flow. That is stagnation. But who is, he is not, everyone is acting.

Śyāmasundara: So there is no peace anywhere.

Prabhupāda: No, no, it is not stagnation. Just like we, we have taken to Kṛṣṇa, it is not stagnant. We was going on. We are sending preachers, so we are not stagnant. So the question of stagnation does not come anywhere.

Kīrtanānanda: In the Vedic culture, the thing that keeps it from becoming stagnant is the presence of the brāhmaṇa. The brāhmaṇa community, they give purpose so that all of the other orders, they can remain just as much involved as if they were involved in war because this kind of society that Hegel is describing where there is no brāhmaṇa, there is simply this materialism. So they require war or else they become stagnant. Our answer is that they require the brāhmaṇa community directions so that everyone can work with full energy in Kṛṣṇa consciousness.

Prabhupāda: Yes.

Śyāmasundara: So would you say that we are in a state of peace or a state of war?

Prabhupāda: Real peace... That definition we don't accept, "Stagnation is peace." We don't accept that. Our peace is working for Kṛṣṇa. That is peace.

Suhṛdaṁ sarva-bhūtānāṁ jñātvā mām.

bhoktāraṁ yajña-tapasāṁ

sarva-loka-maheśvaram

suhṛdaṁ sarva-bhūtānāṁ

jñātvā māṁ śāntim ṛcchati

[Bg. 5.29]

So our work is there. We are educating people that Kṛṣṇa is your friend. This is not stagnation, this is the real work, that we take Kṛṣṇa as the supreme enjoyer, so whatever enjoyable things are there, we are supplying to Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa. "Kṛṣṇa, you take all nice foods. Kṛṣṇa you live nicely, you take all women, you enjoy rāsa-līlā, sixteen thousand wives. He is the supreme enjoyer, He should be given all enjoyment.

1977 Conversations and Morning Walks

We are concerned with the living entities. We have no such stagnant idea. Stagnation. We have no such thing.

Interview with Mr. Koshi (Asst. Editor of The Current Weekly) -- April 5, 1977, Bombay:

Mr. Koshi: How are you trying?

Prabhupāda: India is not poverty-stricken. India can give him something which will glorify your life. It is meant... I do not say India is poverty-stricken. I say India is the richest. Believe it, take it. So we have no such concern as "India" or "America," no. We are concerned with the living entities. We have no such stagnant idea. Stagnation. We have no such thing. Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Bhārata-bhūmite haila manuṣya-janma. That bhārata-bhūmite manuṣya. Manuṣya means man. He is different from others. Therefore he should know what is his position. Make his life successful and distribute the knowledge because they are ignorant. This should be India's position, teacher to the whole world. Not beggar.

1975 Correspondence

So there is no question of stagnation in Krishna Consciousness. Krishna is unlimited. The more we advance in Krishna Consciousness, the more we understand about Him.

Letter to Satsvarupa -- Johannesburg 21 October, 1975: The moon is great distance away, and you say that it is just through the branches. So you can focus more easily on the moon because 2 points joined make a straight line. So focusing on the nearby object helps us to focus on the far-away object. This is the use of analogy. So there is no question of stagnation in Krishna Consciousness. Krishna is unlimited. The more we advance in Krishna Consciousness, the more we understand about Him. We cannot finish the process of understanding Him. The little more that we advance, we see still that He is far away. Even Krishna couldn't understand His position in relationship to Radharani, therefore, He took the position of Radharani to understand Himself as Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu.