Staunch (Conversations)

Expressions researched:
"staunch" |"staunchest" |"staunchly"

1972 Conversations and Morning Walks

Interview with the New York Times -- September 2, 1972, New Vrindaban:

John Nordheimer: What problems do you have in making His word, His instructions reach the ears of everyone in the world?

Prabhupāda: We are not preaching our own words; we are preaching God's words. Now it is up to you to make your choice. God says to give up all engagements and just surrender unto Him. God says:

man-manā bhava mad-bhakto

mad-yājī māṁ namaskuru

mām evaiṣyasi yuktvaivam

ātmānaṁ mat-parāyaṇaḥ

(BG 18.65)

"Engage your mind always in thinking of Me, offer obeisances and worship Me. Being completely absorbed in Me, surely you will come to Me." I am a member of the political party and am always thinking of Mr. Such and such, my leader. I become a staunch follower of that leader, worship him and offer obeisances to him. So many people are sacrificing their lives simply by following a political leader, and for party superiority they are doing so many things, always thinking of party's activities, always offering obeisances and worshiping the party's principles. If all these things are transferred to God, they become good. God says, "Think of Me, become My devotee, worship Me and offer obeisances unto Me." If we transfer these activities to God, we can become Kṛṣṇa conscious. That is what we are teaching. We advise that what you are doing for some nonsense, do it for God. That is Kṛṣṇa consciousness. It is not difficult.

1973 Conversations and Morning Walks

Room Conversation with Banker -- September 21, 1973, Bombay:

Banker: Mr. Tata...

Prabhupāda: Yes. Tata, Sarpiosa Mehta. (?) Now from the Parsee community no such big men are coming. What you think? Last big man was Nariman. You do not know? Nariman. He was of our age. I saw him. That Nariman Point. He was a political leader. Come on. So Nariman was a Parsee. I know that.

Lady: I know name like that, but...

Prabhupāda: He was Subhash Bose's contemporary. Yes. Of the same party. (pause) How is your son?

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: Oh, he is very well.

Prabhupāda: And father?

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: Oh, he is okay too.

Prabhupāda: Father, son, he's middle.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: I am trying to make him Kṛṣṇa conscious.

Prabhupāda: Father. And mother?

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: She's a staunch Arya-samaji. She's the chairman of the Santa Cruz Arya-samaj.

1974 Conversations and Morning Walks

Morning Walk -- March 24, 1974, Bombay:

Dr. Patel: And the worst damn... (break)

Prabhupāda: ...beaches. The sand is like this. Not like that.

Dr. Patel: Like this.

Prabhupāda: Yes. This soft sand. But not walking, all sand. This Juhu Beach is specially nice.

Dr. Patel: Made for us. (laughs) (break)

Prabhupāda: ...kingdom, the Maharastrian brāhmaṇas, they were more staunch.

Dr. Patel: They did not serve Muslims, like brāhmaṇas who are from Bengal and Gujarat. Gujarati brāhmaṇas and Bengali brāhmaṇas served the Muslims...

Prabhupāda: Brahminical culture. Sanātana Gosvāmī, he was also brāhmaṇa, but because he served the Mohammedans, he was rejected from the brāhmaṇa society. Then Kĺńṇa, as Caitanya Mahāprabhu, raised them to the position of gosvāmīs. Their name was also changed. Dabir Khas.

Morning Walk -- April 2, 1974, Bombay:

Prabhupāda: Just see. They bhajanti, and these rascals has announced, "This bhajana is nuisance." Just see. This is Kali-yuga, and this is our Indian government. Ye bhajanti māḥ teṅam. He is always associating with God. "I am always with him," ye bhajanti, and this rascal has remarked, "bhajana nuisance." Catur-vidhā bhajante māḥ sukṛtino 'rjuna. These are the statements. But we are... We did not take any...

Dr. Patel: They are durācaris(?).

Prabhupāda: Yes. But we should have taken some step against this, the "Why you have said like this?" But nobody has taken.

Dr. Patel: But we are going to take steps. Let that man come.

api cet sudurācāro

bhajate mām ananya-bhāk

sādhur eva sa mantavyaḥ

samyag vyavasito hi saḥ

(BG 9.30)

Prabhupāda: Yes. Here... The first thing is one must have rigid, staunch faith in Kṛṣṇa. That is the qualification. Other things may be little deviation. It doesn't matter. The first thing is whether he is sticking to Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Then he is sādhu.

Room Conversations -- September 11, 1974, Vrndavana:

Prabhupāda: Our philosophy is "Come. Come here, play with Kṛṣṇa as cowherd boy. Come here, dance with Kṛṣṇa as gopī. Come here, accept Kṛṣṇa as your son, Kṛṣṇa will accept you as His mother." There will be always two, and enjoy, any way. Even as enemy, demon displaying part of enemy, Kṛṣṇa killing, that is also pastime too. That is also enjoyment. Just like sometimes we fight, friend to friend, to enjoy life, because fighting is enjoyment. You become enemy of Kṛṣṇa purposefully, and to fight with Him, that is giving pleasure to Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa is enjoying, and He also becomes so staunch enemy. So this is also transcendental pleasure.

1975 Conversations and Morning Walks

Room Conversation -- April 4, 1975, Mayapur:

Prabhupāda: Maybe that Nixon thought: "If some settlement can be done, without fighting..." Therefore he went to Russia.

Devotee: Yes.

Prabhupāda: Later on. He went to China also.

Bhagavān: Yes.

Prabhupāda: But they are uncompromising. The communists, they, they are staunch enemy of the capitalist. Their whole philosophy is against God and against capitalism. So if America becomes Kṛṣṇa conscious and fights, they have got strength plus God's blessing. They'll come out victorious. Fight is going on. We cannot stop. But if the American people take to Kṛṣṇa consciousness and fight with the communist, they'll come out victorious. Then the menace of communistic movement will stop. And we want that. We want that these demonic communists should be finished.

Room Conversation with writer, Sandy Nixon -- July 13, 1975, Philadelphia:

Devotee: Prabhupāda, earlier today you were speaking in Bhāgavatam class about Ajamila and how by circumstances he fell down, and that because it wasn't intentional, Kṛṣṇa forgave him. So, but still, at one point or another, he agreed to the desires of the prostitute. So isn't that free will?

Prabhupāda: That is free will, but under the point of revolver. So māyā is very strong. māyā is very strong. So when you are under the māyā's clutches, she dictates and you have to do. This is called māyā, daivī hy eṇā guṇamayī mama māyā dura...

(BG 7.14), very, very strong. So mām eva ye prapadyante māyām etāṛ taran... If one is staunchly Kṛṣṇa conscious, he can avoid. Otherwise not possible.

Morning Walk -- October 12, 1975, Durban:

Prabhupāda: Na Gujarati, ne. Hindi I can. (break) ...the four sampradāyas: Rāmānuja, Madhvācārya, then Viṣṇu Svāmī. Vallabhācārya belongs to the Viṣṇu Svāmī group, and we belong to Madhvācārya, so there is no difference.

Indian man (3): She's a very staunch believer in Vallabhācārya and Puti Mahārāja(?).

Prabhupāda: Yes. Mostly Gujaratis are Vallabhācārya follower. I know that. That is good. So you are worshiping Bal Kṛṣṇa?

Indian man (3): Bal Kṛṣṇa, yes.

Prabhupāda: That's nice. (Hindi) ...there one opinion of the Vallabhācārya sampradāya...

Morning Walk -- October 17, 1975, Johannesburg:

Puṣṭa Kṛṣṇa: What is the sign that someone is actually having change in heart?

Prabhupāda: By his action. (break) ...kasipu tried to make Prahlāda atheist. He failed. And Prahlāda tried to make his father theist. He failed. Don't you see?

Puṣṭa Kṛṣṇa: Yes.

Prabhupāda: So unless one agrees you cannot turn him. It is not possible. Five-years'-old boy, staunch devotee, and the powerful Hiraṇyakaśipu, father, who is threatening with his life and so many ways he tried that "You become atheist, godless. Otherwise I shall kill you." He did not agree. And similarly, the son also solicited the father that "You have got so much power by the grace of God. Why you are becoming atheist?" Both of them could not turn to their side. Prahlāda remained Prahlāda, and Hiraṇyakaśipu remained Hiraṇyakaśipu. (break) ...can expect that without agreeing, conceding, one can be reformed. No, that is not possible. Impossible.

1976 Conversations and Morning Walks

Morning Walk -- April 26, 1976, Melbourne:

Puṣṭa Kṛṣṇa: They try to categorize these modern Hindu deviators, like Vivekananda and Ramakrishna. They try to put them as ācāryas also.

Prabhupāda: All rascals. They are not ācāryas.

Guru-kṛpā: Last night this boy sits down and immediately he says, "I am a Hindu." I said, "What is this Hindu business? We are not interested in Hindu." Then he said, "Well, you do not know." "How you can say we do not know?" "Well, I was born a Hindu." So I said, "So how you know what I was born? What does that matter, where we were born? A learned person doesn't speak birth." Representing himself as very advanced or something. "Okay, you become Brahman, but we think that that is hell. That is no better than hell for us. And that is the liberation that the demons get. So we are satisfied to chant Kṛṣṇa's name, and we never want to become one. We would rather go to hell, because in hell we can chant Hare Kṛṣṇa, but in the Brahman we cannot chant."

Prabhupāda: Staunch adherent. (break)

Guru-kṛpā: ...in Bhāgavatam, Śrīla Prabhupāda, that when a devotee, he sees a banyan, fruit of a banyan tree, and there are so many seeds within that fruit, and each seed can mean one tree and one tree means millions of fruits, and in this way the devotee can appreciate Kṛṣṇa. But the jyānīs, they go on speculating, and they can never relish anything. The devotee can simply relish how Kṛṣṇa has done everything in the material nature.

Room Conversation -- May 2, 1976, Fiji:

Prabhupāda: Devotional service means different grades of faith. Today I am in one stage of faith, next day another stage, next day another stage, next day another stage. And when you come to the stage that vāsudevaḥ sarvam iti (BG 7.19) , oh, that is final. Sa mahātmā sudurlabhaḥ. That takes time. And quickly also, if one is fortunate. If one is intelligent—"The śāstra says, 'Vāsudeva is everything,' so why not take Vāsudeva everything?"—then he gains the result immediately. And if he thinks, "All right, let me see for some time," so he may waste his time, but the point is the same. Point is the same, but he has not developed his faith to such extent. You have to wait. And intelligent person, he says, "Why shall I wait? Let me take finally vāsudevau sarvam iti (BG 7.19) . That business is finished." Sa mahātmā. Therefore it is said, sa mahātmā sudurlabhaḥ. That kind of staunch faith is not very easy. It is for the great personality. Immediately accepts. Kṛṣṇa says, sarva-dharmān parityajya (BG 18.66) . Immediately accepts: "Yes." Then sa mahātmā sudurlabhau. That is not very easily done.

Room Conversation -- July 31, 1976, New Mayapur (French farm):

Prabhupāda: So the guru has got two business. He has to make devotees and teach them the principles of Bhagavad-gītā. Therefore he's so dear. Not that he has become God, not Māyāvādī philosophy. He's living entity, but because he acts very confidentially on behalf of Kṛṣṇa, therefore he's as good as God. This is bhakti. Not the Māyāvādī philosophy that guru has become God. Guru as God, not become. He's servant-God. And Kṛṣṇa is master-God. So the success is that both the Gods, when one is accepted by both the Gods, then his life is success. Guru-kṛṣṇa kṛpāya pāya bhakti-latā-bīja (CC Madhya 19.151) . Therefore one has to fix his faith staunchly in the bona fide guru. So if one has got bona fide guru, and if he follows that bona fide guru, then his life is success. This is the process.

Morning Walk -- December 27, 1976, Bombay:

Guest: One Śaṅkarācārya fasted seventy days.

Prabhupāda: Yes, so they didn't care. Now, all of a sudden, why this good sense? Vinode Bhave is not very important. There is some policy.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: They say that Sanjay Gandhi who is very influential is a staunch supporter of Hinduism.

Prabhupāda: Oh, that may be cause.

1977 Conversations and Morning Walks

Room Conversation -- January 8, 1977, Bombay:

Prabhupāda: So without being a bhakta, nobody can understand Bhagavad-gītā. However he may say that "I am very staunch devotee. I am reader of...," he will misunderstand. So here Kṛṣṇa clearly says that "This is the most confidential knowledge. And without being bhakta, nobody will be able to understand."

Morning Walk -- January 9, 1977, Bombay:

Prabhupāda: Faith means extreme faith. Not reserved. Faith does not mean any reservation. What is that? Bhajate mām ananya-bhāk. This is... Ananya-bhāk. No reservation. That is... Sādhur eva. He is sādhu. Whatever he does, it doesn't matter. Bhajate mām ananya-bhāk. Sādhur eva sa mantavyaḥ (BG 9.30) . He sādhu. Mahātmānas tu māḥ pārtha daivī prakṛtim āśritāu, bhajanty ananya-manaso (BG 9.13) . These are the words. Require staunch faithful devotion. Then you are perfect. Then doesn't matter what you are, what you are doing. Whether the real point is fixed up. Bhajate mām ananya-bhāk. Fifty percent, ten percent devotion...

Conversation and Instruction On New Movie -- January 13, 1977, Allahabad:

Prabhupāda: Yes, the nine devotional process and how, by each process, one becomes perfect, just like Parīkṣit Mahārāja, simply hearing, and Śukadeva Gosvāmī, simply chanting, reciting Bhāgavatam. So both of them got salvation. Lakṣmī, she is simply pāda-sevanam, giving massage to the lotus feet of the Lord. Arjuna simply made friendship with Kṛṣṇa. Hanuman simply worked as a hard servant. He doesn't know what He is... "Lord Rāmacandra wants it." Then it is done. Jump over. He does not know any philosophy. He has got bodily strength, so whatever Rāmacandra says, he'll do. He was asked to bring that medicine for Lakṣmaṇa. He did not know where to find it. "Take this whole mountain." (laughter) He was not intelligent. "Fight! We have to fight with Rāvaṇa. Then block his whole city by throwing stones and trees and dirt." Everything became blocked. They could not move. So in one side he is born of animal life, he had no higher intelligence, but his staunch desire, that "I shall serve Lord Rāmacandra..." By that... Only this desire made him perfect. Dāsyam. Śravaṇaṁ kīrtanaṁ vińṇoḥ (SB 7.5.23) , so smaraṇam. Prahlāda Mahārāja, five years old boy, how he could protest against such a powerful demon father? He was simply thinking of Kṛṣṇa, "All right, my father is punishing me. What can I do?" Simply absorbed, smaraṇam.

Room Conversation with Sannyasis -- January 22, 1977, Bhuvanesvara:

Rāmeśvara: Without your activities this man could not have written that... He could not have had that understanding. If you had not started this movement, there would be no difference, no contrast. There would just be Māyāvādī in the Western world.

Prabhupāda: Yes. People heard that Indian philosophy is Māyāvāda. Māyāvādam asac chāstraḥ pracchanaḥ bauddhaḥ ucyate. Caitanya Mahāprabhu repeatedly said, māyāvāda bhāńya śunile haya sarva nāśa: "He is doomed." Māyāvādī haya kṛṣṇe aparādhi. These are the direct charges against the Māyāvāda. My Guru Mahārāja also, a staunch enemy of the Māyāvāda philosophy. And you are also singing, nirviśeṣa-śūnyavādī. The śūnyavādī are the Buddhist, and nirviśeṣavādī are the Māyāvādīs. Paścatya-deśa, they are embarassed with this śūnyavādī and nirviśeavādī. Now we are trying to give them solid personification of the Absolute Truth.

Room Conversation -- February 16, 1977, Mayapura:

Satsvarūpa: Kon vidyā vidyā-madhye sāra, rāya kahe-kṛṣṇa-bhakti vinā vidyā nāhi āra.

Prabhupāda: Āra. So these things will be accepted by kṛṣṇa-bhakta, etaj jyānam. So whatever Kṛṣṇa has said, that is knowledge, vidyā. Everything nonsense. Therefore so boldly we say, "All rascaldom." Never mind. That's a fact. That is a fact. Anyone... Harāv abhaktasya kuto mahad-guṇāḥ. Anyone who is not devotee of Kṛṣṇa, bhagavad-bhakta-useless. Jaya-bidyā jato māyāra vaibhava, jībake karaye gādhā. Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura has said. By this so-called material education, one is already gādhā, go-khara, dehātma-buddhi, and he becomes still more, another staunch gādhā. Now, if you speak the straight truth they'll be angry. Mūrkhāyopadeśo hi. But this is fact.

Room Conversation with Scientists, Svarupa Damodara, and Dr. Sharma -- March 31, 1977, Bombay:

Prabhupāda: So who is caring for the... Because there is no maintenance, there is no education, so how the brāhmaṇas are being maintained?

Dr. Sharma: These, the Rajasthani brāhmaṇas were not that, you know, strong brāhmaṇas as you see in south. In the south the brāhmaṇas are very Vaińṇavas, very staunch, and they were veda-paṭhīs. They had the whole aural...

Prabhupāda: No. Veda... Because the brāhmaṇas, they should be veda-paṭhī, at the same time, the public also must know the importance of Vedas. So if you prepare the public that it is useless, then how these brāhmaṇas can be maintained?

Conversation with Yadubara (after seeing film) -- April 17, 1977, Bombay:

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Born as a cockroach in that country.

Prabhupāda: And then by flit(?) he will be killed. "No, no, sir, I am your countryman, I am countryman. I belong to the same nation." "Who cares for you, flies, cockroaches? Kill them. American flies, who cares for you?" "I was a staunch nationalist. Now I have become fly. Don't kill me." "Who cares for you?" Will they excuse American flies, American cockroaches? But dehāntara-prāpti. That you cannot avoid.

Room Conversation -- August 8, 1977, Vrndavana:

Yaśomatīnandana: They also say, Śrīla Prabhupāda, that the Kṛṣṇa of Mahābhārata is different from Kṛṣṇa of Bhāgavata.

Prabhupāda: Just see. How they are distorting history and everything. And in Mahābhārata... He's advertising himself as staunch student of Bhagavad-gītā, and he is distorting the meaning in so many ways. That is his business. And he's mahātmā. Mahātmā means mahātmānas tu māḥ pārtha daivīḥ prakṛtim āśritāḥ, bhajanty ananya... (BG 9.13) . Mahātmā is a great devotee who has no other business than to obey the orders of Kṛṣṇa. Bhajanti. Bhajana-sevā. And he's is discarding, distorting, and he's mahātmā. Just see. If you study, scrutinizing, these men have done greatest disservice to the country, to the people in general. And they have received no result. And I have worked ten years only with Bhagavad-gītā As It Is.