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Sum total

Bhagavad-gita As It Is

BG Chapters 1 - 6

BG 3.43, Translation and Purport:

Thus knowing oneself to be transcendental to the material senses, mind and intelligence, O mighty-armed Arjuna, one should steady the mind by deliberate spiritual intelligence (Kṛṣṇa consciousness) and thus—by spiritual strength-conquer this insatiable enemy known as lust.

This Third Chapter of the Bhagavad-gītā is conclusively directive to Kṛṣṇa consciousness by knowing oneself as the eternal servitor of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, without considering impersonal voidness the ultimate end. In the material existence of life, one is certainly influenced by propensities for lust and desire for dominating the resources of material nature. Desire for overlording and for sense gratification is the greatest enemy of the conditioned soul; but by the strength of Kṛṣṇa consciousness, one can control the material senses, the mind and the intelligence. One may not give up work and prescribed duties all of a sudden; but by gradually developing Kṛṣṇa consciousness, one can be situated in a transcendental position without being influenced by the material senses and the mind—by steady intelligence directed toward one's pure identity. This is the sum total of this chapter. In the immature stage of material existence, philosophical speculations and artificial attempts to control the senses by the so-called practice of yogic postures can never help a man toward spiritual life. He must be trained in Kṛṣṇa consciousness by higher intelligence.

BG 5.10, Purport:

Here brahmaṇi means in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. The material world is a sum total manifestation of the three modes of material nature, technically called the pradhāna. The Vedic hymns sarvaṁ hy etad brahma (Māṇḍūkya Upaniṣad 2), tasmād etad brahma nāma-rūpam annaṁ ca jāyate (Muṇḍaka Upaniṣad 1.2.10), and, in the Bhagavad-gītā (14.3), mama yonir mahad brahma indicate that everything in the material world is a manifestation of Brahman; and although the effects are differently manifested, they are nondifferent from the cause. In the Īśopaniṣad it is said that everything is related to the Supreme Brahman, or Kṛṣṇa, and thus everything belongs to Him only. One who knows perfectly well that everything belongs to Kṛṣṇa, that He is the proprietor of everything and that, therefore, everything is engaged in the service of the Lord, naturally has nothing to do with the results of his activities, whether virtuous or sinful.

BG Chapters 13 - 18

BG 13.21, Purport:

The different manifestations of body and senses among the living entities are due to material nature. There are 8,400,000 different species of life, and these varieties are creations of the material nature. They arise from the different sensual pleasures of the living entity, who thus desires to live in this body or that. When he is put into different bodies, he enjoys different kinds of happiness and distress. His material happiness and distress are due to his body, and not to himself as he is. In his original state there is no doubt of enjoyment; therefore that is his real state. Because of the desire to lord it over material nature, he is in the material world. In the spiritual world there is no such thing. The spiritual world is pure, but in the material world everyone is struggling hard to acquire different kinds of pleasures for the body. It might be more clear to state that this body is the effect of the senses. The senses are instruments for gratifying desire. Now, the sum total—body and instrument senses—are offered by material nature, and as will be clear in the next verse, the living entity is blessed or damned with circumstances according to his past desire and activity. According to one's desires and activities, material nature places one in various residential quarters.

BG 18.18, Purport:

There are three kinds of impetus for daily work: knowledge, the object of knowledge, and the knower. The instruments of work, the work itself and the worker are called the constituents of work. Any work done by any human being has these elements. Before one acts, there is some impetus, which is called inspiration. Any solution arrived at before work is actualized is a subtle form of work. Then work takes the form of action. First one has to undergo the psychological processes of thinking, feeling and willing, and that is called impetus. The inspiration to work is the same if it comes from the scripture or from the instruction of the spiritual master. When the inspiration is there and the worker is there, then actual activity takes place by the help of the senses, including the mind, which is the center of all the senses. The sum total of all the constituents of an activity are called the accumulation of work.

Srimad-Bhagavatam

SB Preface and Introduction

SB Introduction:

The Lord thus spoke on the Vedānta-sūtra and defied all the propaganda of the Māyāvāda school.* The Bhaṭṭācārya tried to defend himself and his Māyāvāda school by jugglery of logic and grammar, but the Lord defeated him by His forceful arguments. He affirmed that we are all related with the Personality of Godhead eternally and that devotional service is our eternal function in exchanging the dealings of our relations. The result of such exchanges is to attain premā, or love of Godhead. When love of Godhead is attained, love for all other beings automatically follows because the Lord is the sum total of all living beings.

SB Canto 1

SB 1.1.3, Purport:

The sum total of all these rasas is called affection or love. Primarily, such signs of love are manifested in adoration, service, friendship, paternal affection, and conjugal love. And when these five are absent, love is present indirectly in anger, wonder, comedy, chivalry, fear, shock and so on. For example, when a man is in love with a woman, the rasa is called conjugal love. But when such love affairs are disturbed there may be wonder, anger, shock, or even horror. Sometimes love affairs between two persons culminate in ghastly murder scenes. Such rasas are displayed between man and man and between animal and animal. There is no possibility of an exchange or rasa between a man and an animal or between a man and any other species of living beings within the material world. The rasas are exchanged between members of the same species. But as far as the spirit souls are concerned, they are one qualitatively with the Supreme Lord. Therefore, the rasas were originally exchanged between the spiritual living being and the spiritual whole, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The spiritual exchange or rasa is fully exhibited in spiritual existence between living beings and the Supreme Lord.

SB 1.2.5, Purport:

Kṛṣṇa is our most intimate master, friend, father or son and object of conjugal love. Forgetting Kṛṣṇa, we have created so many objects of questions and answers, but none of them are able to give us complete satisfaction. All things—but Kṛṣṇa—give temporary satisfaction only, so if we are to have complete satisfaction we must take to the questions and answers about Kṛṣṇa. We cannot live for a moment without being questioned or without giving answers. Because the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam deals with questions and answers that are related to Kṛṣṇa, we can derive the highest satisfaction only by reading and hearing this transcendental literature. One should learn the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam and make an all-around solution to all problems pertaining to social, political or religious matters. Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam and Kṛṣṇa are the sum total of all things.

SB 1.3.10, Purport:

The sum total of the creative elements is twenty-four in all. Each and every one of them is explicitly explained in the system of Sāṅkhya philosophy. Sāṅkhya philosophy is generally called metaphysics by the European scholars. The etymological meaning of sāṅkhya is "that which explains very lucidly by analysis of the material elements." This was done for the first time by Lord Kapila, who is said herein to be the fifth in the line of incarnations.

SB 1.10.25, Purport:

When He descends, He exhibits superhuman acts just to prove His supreme right, and materialists like Rāvaṇa, Hiraṇyakaśipu and Kaṁsa are sufficiently punished. He acts in a manner which no one can imitate. For example, the Lord, when He appeared as Rāma, bridged the Indian Ocean. When He appeared as Kṛṣṇa, from His very childhood He showed superhuman activities by killing Pūtanā, Aghāsura, Śakaṭāsura, Kāliya, etc., and then His maternal uncle Kaṁsa. When He was at Dvārakā He married 16,108 queens, and all of them were blessed with a sufficient number of children. The sum total of His personal family members amounted to about 100,000, popularly known as the Yadu-vaṁśa. And again, during His lifetime, He managed to vanquish them all. He is famous as the Govardhana-dhārī Hari because He lifted at the age of only seven the hill known as Govardhana. The Lord killed many undesirable kings in His time, and as a kṣatriya He fought chivalrously. He is famous as the asamaurdhva, unparalleled. No one is equal to or greater than Him.

SB 1.13.55, Purport:

The living being, by his desiring to lord it over the material world and declining to cooperate with the Supreme Lord, contacts the sum total of the material world, namely the mahat-tattva, and from the mahat-tattva his false identity with the material world, intelligence, mind and senses is developed. This covers his pure spiritual identity. By the yogic process, when his pure identity is realized in self-realization, one has to revert to the original position by amalgamating the five gross elements and the subtle elements, mind and intelligence, into the mahat-tattva again. Thus getting freed from the clutches of the mahat-tattva, he has to merge in the existence of the Supersoul. In other words, he has to realize that qualitatively he is nondifferent from the Supersoul, and thus he transcends the material sky by his pure identical intelligence and thus becomes engaged in the transcendental loving service of the Lord.

SB 1.13.55, Purport:

A pure devotee of the Lord does not live on any planet of the material sky, nor does he feel any contact with material elements. His so-called material body does not exist, being surcharged with the spiritual current of the Lord's identical interest, and thus he is permanently freed from all contaminations of the sum total of the mahat-tattva. He is always in the spiritual sky, which he attains by being transcendental to the sevenfold material covering by the effect of his devotional service. The conditioned souls are within the coverings, whereas the liberated soul is far beyond the cover.

SB Canto 2

SB 2.4.20, Purport:

Since Śukadeva Gosvāmī is one of the prominent gata-vyalīkas, who are freed from all misconceptions, he therefore expresses his own realized perception of Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa as being the sum total of all perfection, the Personality of Godhead. Everyone is seeking the favor of the goddess of fortune, but people do not know that Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa is the beloved husband of all goddesses of fortune. In the Brahma-saṁhitā it is said that the Lord, in His transcendental abode Goloka Vṛndāvana, is accustomed to herding the surabhi cows and is served there by hundreds of thousands of goddesses of fortune. All these goddesses of fortune are manifestations of His transcendental pleasure potency (hlādinī-śakti) in His internal energy, and when the Lord manifested Himself on this earth He partially displayed the activities of His pleasure potency in His rāsa-līlā just to attract the conditioned souls, who are all after the phantasmagoria pleasure potency in degraded sex enjoyment. The pure devotees of the Lord like Śukadeva Gosvāmī, who was completely detached from the abominable sex life of the material world, discussed this act of the Lord's pleasure potency certainly not in relation to sex, but to relish a transcendental taste inconceivable to the mundaners who are after sex life.

SB 2.5.25, Purport:

The five elements, namely sky, air, fire, water and earth, are all but different qualities of the darkness of false ego. This means that the false ego in the sum total form of mahat-tattva is generated from the marginal potency of the Lord, and due to this false ego of lording it over the material creation, ingredients are generated for the false enjoyment of the living being. The living being is practically the dominating factor over the material elements as the enjoyer, though the background is the Supreme Lord. Factually, save and except the Lord, no one can be called the enjoyer, but the living entity falsely desires to become the enjoyer. This is the origin of false ego. When the bewildered living being desires this, the shadow elements are generated by the will of the Lord, and the living entities are allowed to run after them as after a phantasmagoria.

SB 2.6.18, Purport:

The glories of the Lord, in the transcendental seventy-five percent of the Lord's internal potency, are stated in the Padma Purāṇa (Uttara-khaṇḍa). It is said there that those planets in the spiritual sky, which comprises the seventy-five percent expansion of the internal potency of the Lord, are far, far greater than those planets in the total universes composed of the external potency of the Lord. In the Caitanya-caritāmṛta, the total universes in the external potency of the Lord are compared to a bucketful of mustard seeds. One mustard seed is calculated to be a universe itself. In one of the universes, in which we are now living, the number of planets cannot be counted by human energy, and so how can we think of the sum total in all the universes, which are compared to a bucketful of mustard seeds? And the planets in the spiritual sky are at least three times the number of those in the material sky. Such planets, being spiritual, are in fact transcendental to the material modes; therefore they are constituted in the mode of unalloyed goodness only. The conception of spiritual bliss (brahmānanda) is fully present in those planets. Each of them is eternal, indestructible and free from all kinds of inebrieties experienced in the material world.

SB 2.6.42, Translation:

Kāraṇārṇavaśāyī Viṣṇu is the first incarnation of the Supreme Lord, and He is the master of eternal time, space, cause and effects, mind, the elements, the material ego, the modes of nature, the senses, the universal form of the Lord, Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu, and the sum total of all living beings, both moving and nonmoving.

SB 2.10.15, Translation:

From the sky situated within the transcendental body of the manifesting Mahā-Viṣṇu, sense energy, mental force and bodily strength are all generated, as well as the sum total of the fountainhead of the total living force.

SB 2.10.17, Purport:

The process by which all living beings in the womb of the mother develop their sense organs and sense perceptions appears to follow the same principles in the case of the virāṭ-puruṣa, the sum total of all living entities. Therefore the supreme cause of all generation is not impersonal or without desire. The desires for all kinds of sense perception and sense organs exist in the Supreme, and thus they take place in the individual persons. This desire is the nature of the supreme living being, the Absolute Truth. Because He has the sum total of all mouths, the individual living entities have mouths. Similarly with all other senses and sense organs. Here the mouth is the symbolic representation of all sense organs, for the same principles apply to the others also.

SB Canto 3

SB 3.5.11, Translation:

Who in human society can be satisfied without hearing sufficient talk of the Lord, whose lotus feet are the sum total of all places of pilgrimage and who is worshiped by great sages and devotees? Such topics can cut off one's bondage to family affection simply by entering the holes of one's ears.

SB 3.5.27, Translation:

Thereafter, influenced by the interactions of eternal time, the supreme sum total of matter called the mahat-tattva became manifested, and in this mahat-tattva the unalloyed goodness, the Supreme Lord, sowed the seeds of universal manifestation out of His own body.

SB 3.8.14, Translation:

Piercing through, this sum total form of the fruitive activity of the living entities took the shape of the bud of a lotus flower generated from the Personality of Viṣṇu, and by His supreme will it illuminated everything, like the sun, and dried up the vast waters of devastation.

SB 3.8.15, Purport:

This lotus flower is the universal virāṭ form, or the gigantic form of the Lord in the material world. It becomes amalgamated in the Personality of Godhead Viṣṇu, in His abdomen, at the time of dissolution, and it becomes manifest at the time of creation. This is due to Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu, who enters into each of the universes. In this form is the sum total of all the fruitive activities of the living entities conditioned by material nature, and the first of them, namely Brahmā, or the controller of the universe, is generated from this lotus flower. This first-born living being, unlike all the others, has no material father, and thus he is called self-born, or svayambhū. He goes to sleep with Nārāyaṇa at the time of devastation, and when there is another creation, he is born in this way. From this description we have the conception of three—the gross virāṭ form, the subtle Hiraṇyagarbha and the material creative force, Brahmā.

SB 3.10.15, Translation:

Of the nine creations, the first one is the creation of the mahat-tattva, or the sum total of the material ingredients, wherein the modes interact due to the presence of the Supreme Lord. In the second, the false ego is generated in which the material ingredients, material knowledge and material activities arise.

SB 3.10.17, Translation:

The fifth creation is that of the controlling deities by the interaction of the mode of goodness, of which the mind is the sum total. The sixth creation is the ignorant darkness of the living entity, by which the master acts as a fool.

SB 3.20.16, Purport:

It appears from this verse that the conditioned souls who rested within the body of the Personality of Godhead after the dissolution of the last creation came out in the sum total form of the lotus. This is called hiraṇyagarbha. The first living entity to come out was Lord Brahmā, who is independently able to create the rest of the manifested universe. The lotus is described here as effulgent as the glare of a thousand suns. This indicates that the living entities, as parts and parcels of the Supreme Lord, are also of the same quality, since the Lord also diffuses His bodily glare, known as brahmajyoti. The description of Vaikuṇṭhaloka, as stated in Bhagavad-gītā and other Vedic literatures, is confirmed herewith. In Vaikuṇṭha, the spiritual sky, there is no need of sunshine, moonshine, electricity or fire. Every planet there is self-effulgent like the sun.

SB 3.20.43, Purport:

The devotee of the Lord, or one who is in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, however, does not need to perform such ritualistic ceremonies as śrāddha because he is always pleasing the Supreme Lord; therefore his fathers and ancestors who might have been in difficulty are automatically relieved. The vivid example is Prahlāda Mahārāja. Prahlāda Mahārāja requested Lord Nṛsiṁhadeva to deliver his sinful father, who had so many times offended the lotus feet of the Lord. The Lord replied that in a family where a Vaiṣṇava like Prahlāda is born, not only his father but his father's father and their fathers—up to the fourteenth father back—are all automatically delivered. The conclusion, therefore, is that Kṛṣṇa consciousness is the sum total of all good work for the family, for society and for all living entities. In the Caitanya-caritāmṛta the author says that a person fully conversant with Kṛṣṇa consciousness does not perform any rituals because he knows that simply by serving Kṛṣṇa in full Kṛṣṇa consciousness, all rituals are automatically performed.

SB 3.24.33, Translation:

I surrender unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead, descended in the form of Kapila, who is independently powerful and transcendental, who is the Supreme Person and the Lord of the sum total of matter and the element of time, who is the fully cognizant maintainer of all the universes under the three modes of material nature, and who absorbs the material manifestations after their dissolution.

SB 3.26.10, Purport:

The Lord points out material nature in its subtle stage, which is called pradhāna, and He analyzes this pradhāna. The explanation of pradhāna and prakṛti is that pradhāna is the subtle, undifferentiated sum total of all material elements. Although they are undifferentiated, one can understand that the total material elements are contained therein. When the total material elements are manifested by the interaction of the three modes of material nature, the manifestation is called prakṛti. Impersonalists say that Brahman is without variegatedness and without differentiation. One may say that pradhāna is the Brahman stage, but actually the Brahman stage is not pradhāna. pradhāna is distinct from Brahman because in Brahman there is no existence of the material modes of nature. One may argue that the mahat-tattva is also different from pradhāna because in the mahat-tattva there are manifestations. The actual explanation of pradhāna, however, is given here: when the cause and effect are not clearly manifested (avyakta), the reaction of the total elements does not take place, and that stage of material nature is called pradhāna.

SB 3.26.11, Purport:

According to Bhagavad-gītā, the sum total of the twenty-four elements described herein is called the yonir mahad brahma. The sum total of the living entities is impregnated into this yonir mahad brahma, and they are born in different forms, beginning from Brahmā down to the insignificant ant. In the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam and other Vedic literatures, the sum total of the twenty-four elements, pradhāna, is also described as yonir mahad brahma; it is the source of the birth and subsistence of all living entities.

SB 3.26.19, Translation:

After the Supreme Personality of Godhead impregnates material nature with His internal potency, material nature delivers the sum total of the cosmic intelligence, which is known as Hiraṇmaya. This takes place in material nature when she is agitated by the destinations of the conditioned souls.

SB 3.26.49, Purport:

Sound is the cause of the sky, sky is the cause of the air, air is the cause of fire, fire is the cause of water, and water is the cause of earth. In the sky there is only sound; in the air there are sound and touch; in the fire there are sound, touch and form; in water there are sound, touch, form and taste; and in the earth there are sound, touch, form, taste and smell. Therefore earth is the reservoir of all the qualities of the other elements. Earth is the sum total of all other elements. The earth has all five qualities of the elements, water has four qualities, fire has three, air has two, and the sky has only one quality, sound.

SB Canto 4

SB 4.8.78, Purport:

The mahat-tattva, or the sum total of the material creation, is to be understood to be the ultimate end of all universes, including all the living entities therein. Brahman is the resort of the mahat-tattva, which includes all material and spiritual entities. It is described in this connection that the Supreme Brahman, the Personality of Godhead, is the master of both pradhāna and puruṣa. Pradhāna means subtle matter, such as ether. puruṣa means the spiritual spark living entities who are entangled in that subtle material existence. These may also be described as parā prakṛti and aparā prakṛti, as stated in Bhagavad-gītā. Kṛṣṇa, being the controller of both the prakṛtis, is thus the master of pradhāna and puruṣa. In the Vedic hymns also the Supreme Brahman is described as antaḥ-praviṣṭaḥ śāstā. This indicates that the Supreme Personality of Godhead is controlling everything and entering into everything. The Brahma-saṁhitā (5.35) further confirms this.

SB 4.12.42, Purport:

The sum total of devotional qualities is development of unalloyed love for Kṛṣṇa. This unalloyed love for Kṛṣṇa can be achieved simply by hearing about Kṛṣṇa. Lord Caitanya accepted this principle—that if one in any position submissively hears the transcendental message spoken by Kṛṣṇa or about Kṛṣṇa, then gradually he develops the quality of unalloyed love, and by that love only he can conquer the unconquerable. The Māyāvādī philosophers aspire to become one with the Supreme Lord, but a devotee surpasses that position. Not only does a devotee become one in quality with the Supreme Lord, but he sometimes becomes the father, mother or master of the Lord. Arjuna also, by his devotional service, made Lord Kṛṣṇa his chariot driver; he ordered the Lord, "Put my chariot here," and the Lord executed his order. These are some examples of how a devotee can acquire the exalted position of conquering the unconquerable.

SB 4.14.21, Translation:

Dear King, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, along with the predominating deities, is the enjoyer of the results of all sacrifices in all planets. The Supreme Lord is the sum total of the three Vedas, the owner of everything, and the ultimate goal of all austerity. Therefore your countrymen should engage in performing various sacrifices for your elevation. Indeed, you should always direct them towards the offering of sacrifices.

SB 4.24.45-46, Translation:

The Lord's beauty resembles a dark cloud during the rainy season. As the rainfall glistens, His bodily features also glisten. Indeed, He is the sum total of all beauty. The Lord has four arms and an exquisitely beautiful face with eyes like lotus petals, a beautiful highly raised nose, a mind-attracting smile, a beautiful forehead and equally beautiful and fully decorated ears.

Sri Caitanya-caritamrta

CC Adi-lila

CC Adi 7.141, Purport:

Māyāvādī philosophers are satisfied simply to understand Brahman to be the sum total of knowledge, but Vaiṣṇava philosophers not only know in detail about the Supreme Personality of Godhead but also know how to approach Him directly. The method for this is described by Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu as nine kinds of devotional service, beginning with hearing:

śravaṇaṁ kīrtanaṁ viṣṇoḥ smaraṇaṁ pāda-sevanam
arcanaṁ vandanaṁ dāsyaṁ sakhyam ātma-nivedanam
(SB 7.5.23)

The nine kinds of devotional service are hearing about Kṛṣṇa, chanting about Him, remembering Him, offering service to His lotus feet, offering Him worship in the temple, offering prayers to Him, working as His servant, making friendship with Him and unreservedly surrendering to Him. One can directly approach the Supreme Personality of Godhead simply by executing these nine kinds of devotional service, of which hearing about the Lord is the most important (śravaṇādi).

CC Madhya-lila

CC Madhya 6.158, Purport:

According to the verdict of all Vedic literature, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the living entity and the illusory energy (this material world) constitute the subject matter of knowledge. Everyone should try to understand the relationship between them. First of all, one should try to understand the nature of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. From the śāstras we understand that the nature of the Supreme Personality of Godhead is the sum total of eternity, bliss and knowledge. As stated in verse 154 (viṣṇu-śaktiḥ parā proktā (CC Madhya 6.154)), the Supreme Personality of Godhead is the reservoir of all potencies, and His potencies are all spiritual.

CC Madhya 20.153, Translation:
“Kṛṣṇa is the original source of everything and the sum total of everything. He appears as the supreme youth, and His whole body is composed of spiritual bliss. He is the shelter of everything and master of everyone."
CC Madhya 20.267, Translation:
“"Kāraṇābdhiśāyī Viṣṇu (Mahā-Viṣṇu) is the first incarnation of the Supreme Lord, and He is the master of eternal time, space, cause and effects, the mind, the elements, the material ego, the modes of nature, the senses, the universal form of the Lord, Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu and the sum total of all living beings, both moving and nonmoving.""

Other Books by Srila Prabhupada

Teachings of Lord Caitanya

Teachings of Lord Caitanya, Chapter 23:

In the śruti-mantra it is stated that the absolute whole, or Brahman, is the ultimate source of everything. Everything emanates from Him, everything is maintained by Him, and at the end everything enters into Him again. That is the law of nature. This is also confirmed in the smṛti-mantra. There it is said that at the beginning of Brahma s millennium, the source from which everything emanates is the Absolute Truth, or Brahman, and at the end of that millennium the reservoir into which everything enters is that same Absolute Truth. Material scientists haphazardly take it for granted that the ultimate source of this planetary system is the sun, but they are unable to explain the source of the sun. In Vedic literatures the ultimate source is explained; Brahmā is the creator of this universe, but because he had to meditate in order to receive the inspiration for such a creation, he is not the ultimate creator. As stated in the first verse of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Brahmā was taught Vedic knowledge by the Personality of Godhead. In the first verse of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam it is said that the Supreme Lord inspired a secondary creator, Brahmā, and enabled him to carry out his creative functions. In this way the Supreme Lord is the supervising engineer; the real mind behind all creative agents is the Absolute Personality of Godhead, Śrī Kṛṣṇa. In Bhagavad-gītā Śrī Kṛṣṇa personally admits that it is He only who superintends the creative energy (prakṛti), the sum total of matter. Thus Śrī Vyāsadeva neither worships Brahmā nor the sun but the Supreme Lord, who guides both Brahmā and the sun in their creative activities.

Lectures

Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures

Lecture on BG 2.18 -- London, August 24, 1973:

Now you try to understand what is the age of Brahmā by calculating one day. Your sahasra-yuga, we have got four yugas, Satya, Tretā, Dvāpara, Kali—these are called four... This calculation is forty-three hundred thousands of years. That is the sum total of the four yugas. Eighteen, twelve, eight, and four. How many it comes? Eighteen and twelve? Thirty, and then eight, thirty-eight, then four. This is rough calculation. Forty-two, forty-three. Sahasra-yuga-paryantam. So so many years, sahasra-yuga-paryantam ahaḥ. Ahaḥ means day. Sahasra-yuga-paryantam ahar yad brahmaṇo viduḥ (BG 8.17). This is the one day of Brahmā. One day means morning to evening. Forty-three hundred thousands of years your calculation. Therefore these things are to be understood through the śāstra. Otherwise, you have no knowledge. You cannot calculate. You cannot go to Brahmā, you cannot go even to the moon planet. And what to speak of Brahmaloka is the ultimate, the remotest part of this universe. So by your direct experience, you cannot calculate, and neither you can go. They estimate, the modern aeronautics, they estimate, that in order to go to the topmost planet will require forty thousands of years by going in the light year. Just like light year, we have got calculation.

Lecture on BG 3.6-10 -- Los Angeles, December 23, 1968:

Yata, because, ātmanaḥ, the spirit soul, ātmano 'yam... Asann api kleśada āsa dehaḥ (SB 5.5.4). This body is temporary, but so long this body is there, you'll have to suffer. What is that suffering? The sum total of suffering is birth, death, old age and disease. This is due to this body. Therefore the problem is how to stop this material body, repetition. Today I have got this body, Indian, tomorrow I may get American, next birth... Tomorrow means next birth. Next birth another, next birth another, next birth another—it is going on. Going on. There is no stoppage, this transmigration of the soul.

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

Now, here everyone is addressed as jantu. Jantu means animals. Of course, in logic also, human being is called rational animal. They are classified among the animals, but they are called rational animals So here also, in the Bhagavad-gītā, the Lord says, jantavaḥ. Jantavaḥ is the plural number of jantu. Jantu means animal. So nādatte kasyacit pāpam. A... Somebody is engaged in the activities of sinful activities, but he is not induced by the Lord that he should be engaged in sinful activities. Similarly, somebody is engaged in virtuous activities. So that virtuous activity is according to his own, I mean to say, association with the modes of material nature. Ajñānena āvṛtaṁ jñānaṁ tena muhyanti jantavaḥ (BG 5.16). But in this material world, either in the modes of ignorance or in the modes of passion or in the modes of goodness, they are all... Total, sum total, is ignorance. Sum total... Even a man is in the modes of goodness, that is also considered as ignorance because real knowledge, real knowledge is to know his relationship with the Supreme Lord. That is real knowledge. Unless one is elevated to that position, that what is his relation with the Supreme Lord, then all his so-called knowledge is also understood as ignorance.

Lecture on BG 7.4 -- Nairobi, October 31, 1975:

Verse:

bhūmir āpo 'nalo vayuḥ
khaṁ mano buddhir eva ca
ahaṅkāra itīyaṁ me
bhinnā prakṛtir aṣṭadhā
(BG 7.4)

Kṛṣṇa is explaining Himself. God is explaining what is God. That is real knowledge. If you speculate on God, it is not possible. You cannot understand. The God, Kṛṣṇa, in the beginning said, asaṁśayaṁ samagraṁ māṁ yathā jñāsyasi tac chṛṇu (BG 7.1). Samagram. Samagra means whatever... Or samagra means complete. So whatever subject for study and knowledge there is, God is the sum total of everything, one. God is the sum total of everything. Therefore He begins to explain Himself that...

First of all, because we have no information of God but practically we see the vast land, the vast water, ocean, the vast sky, then fire, so many things, material things, material things also mind... Mind is also material. And then ego. Everyone is thinking that "I am something. I am..." Kartāham iti manyate. Ahaṅkāra-vimūḍhātmā. This false ego. This ego means false ego. And there is pure ego. That pure ego is ahaṁ brahmāsmi, and the false ego: "I am Indian," "I am American," "I am African," "I am brāhmaṇa," "I am kṣatriya," "I am this," "I am that." This is false ego, ahaṅkāra.

Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures

Lecture on SB 1.2.5 -- Montreal, August 2, 1968:

So everyone, every religion, accepts "God is great," sum total definition. That's a fact. God is great. And we are minute, small. In the Bhagavad-gītā it is stated, mamaivāṁśo jīva-bhūtaḥ (BG 15.7). God says, Kṛṣṇa says, that "All these living entities, they are My part and parcel." Part and parcel means... We can understand very easily. Just like this finger is part and parcel of my body. Everyone can understand it. So we are part and parcel of God. Take the whole body of God, the virāḍ-mūrti or the gigantic universal form. In whichever you like, you take. So every one of us is part of that universal body. Mamaivāṁśaḥ. So the same example: the finger or the one piece of hair, whatever you take, it is the part and parcel of the body. Whole combined together, it makes the body.

Lecture on SB 1.16.19 -- Hawaii, January 15, 1974:

Living entities, they are in this material world in different forms. That is accepted by Kṛṣṇa, sarva-yoniṣu kaunteya sambhavanti mūrtayo yāḥ (BG 14.4). There are as many forms of life amongst the living entities. Tāsāṁ mahad yonir brahma ahaṁ bīja-pradaḥ pitā. The mahad yoniḥ, mahat, this material world, material elements, or the sum total of material elements... Mother Durgā, she is the mother. And God is the father. Just like father and mother gives birth to a child, similarly, we spirit soul, the part and parcel of the supreme father, and the material elements, bhūmir āpo 'nalo vāyuḥ (BG 7.4), they're the recipient. Tasmin garbhaṁ dadāmy aham. Just like father gives the seed in the womb of the mother, then the child gets a body and it grows and come out, similarly this body is given by mother, material, material energy, but the father is the Supreme Lord Kṛṣṇa. Ahaṁ bīja-pradaḥ pitā (BG 14.4). This is the factual position. We are not this material body.

Lecture on SB 3.25.4 -- Bombay, November 4, 1974:

We are controlled by the material nature, but Kṛṣṇa is not controlled, but He's controller. Mayādhyakṣeṇa prakṛtiḥ sūyate sa-carācaram (BG 9.10). One who understands this, that this prakṛti, this material nature, is working under the direction of Kṛṣṇa, that is our real knowledge. How the things are going on? That is not possible to understand. But the summary, sum total, if we simply understand... Janmādy asya yataḥ (SB 1.1.1). Everything is emanated from the Supreme Absolute Truth, Kṛṣṇa. That much knowledge is sufficient. Then you can increase—how they are working. How, by Kṛṣṇa's energies, the material energy is working by the direction of Kṛṣṇa, that is advanced knowledge. But on the whole, if we... As it is stated in the Bhagavad-gītā, mayādhyakṣeṇa prakṛtiḥ sūyate sa-carācaram (BG 9.10). That is perfect knowledge. If we think that this matter is working independently, as modern scientists, they think that chemical evolution... No. No chemical evolution. Life does not produce by chemical evolution. Life is from life. That... Just like Kṛṣṇa says in the Bhagavad-gītā, that ahaṁ sarvatra, ahaṁ sarvasya prabhavo mattaḥ sarvaṁ pravartate (BG 10.8). The answer is given there. The Vedānta-sūtra, the question is "What is Brahman?" And the answer is there... athāto brahma jijñāsā, janmādy asya yataḥ (SB 1.1.1). Indirectly given. The Brahman, Parabrahman, is that from whom everything emanates.

Lecture on SB 5.5.3 -- Stockholm, September 9, 1973:

So this life is, human life is the sum total of developed consciousness. That is to be understood. But we are not utilizing it. How this developed consciousness should be utilized, that education is lacking. The modern civilization, specially in this age, they are simply busy... Advancement of civilization means advancement of the process of eating, advancement of the process of sleeping, advancement of process of sex life, advancement of defense. That's all. But that will not help us. Just like there are thieves. There were some thieves. They have got very organized system of stealing. Very educated man, scientist, they can enter into the bank safety room. With scientific method, they can open the chest, treasury, and take, at a time, millions of dollars away. And there is another kind of thief, they simply pickpocket or burglar when they get opportunity, take away some goods from your house. In Hindi, it is called hīrā and kṣīrā. Somebody is stealing kṣīrā. Kṣīrā means cucumber. Just like we saw on the street.

Initiation Lectures

Initiation Lecture Excerpt -- Los Angeles, July 2, 1971:

So similarly, Kṛṣṇa's name, we should not try to exact some material profit by chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra. That is not pure devotion. Sarva... What is called? Sarvopādhi-vinirmuktam (CC Madhya 19.170). Anyābhilāṣitā-śūnyam (Brs. 1.1.11). We shall simply aspire to serve Kṛṣṇa. The Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra means, "He Kṛṣṇa, my Lord Kṛṣṇa." He, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare, "O the energy of Kṛṣṇa, O Kṛṣṇa, please engage me in Your service." This is the sum total meaning of this Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra. Simply praying, "Please engage me," that is real profit. Not that "Please give me, instead of hundred dollars, give me thousand dollars." No. This is not pure devotion. You should all understand this. Anyābhilāṣitā-śūnyam (CC Madhya 19.167). Completely freed from any material desire. That is pure devotion. That will make you happy.

General Lectures

Lecture on Maha-mantra -- New York, September 8, 1966:

Generally there are three things: the potent, God, and His three energies. This is the sum total: internal energy, external energy, and marginal energy. External energy is this material manifestation. Just like this body is my external energy. I am soul, so my external energy is this body. Similarly, I have got my internal energy. That is my consciousness. Consciousness is my internal energy, and this body and the mind and this material demonstration, or manifestation, is my external energy. The body has developed, the mind has developed, from me, soul, not that I, consciousness, is developed from this body. No. That is a wrong conception. That is a wrong conception. You cannot develop consciousness from this body. Otherwise a dead man could have been again revived to consciousness. Because if matter is the cause of consciousness, then the whole matter is there already. Whole matter. The dead body means, so far material substance is concerned, everything is there, present. Nothing has disappeared. If you say there is no blood-oḥ, that is not very difficult thing, blood, a red substance. Do you mean to say something red injected within this body will bring back the life? No. If redness is the cause of life or consciousness, then modern chemical can make immediately by chemical combination the whole thing red. Or take example: there are many natural stones, they are by nature red. If you say that "This artificial redness cannot give life; the natural redness is the cause of life," then you take the stone. It has got natural redness, but there is no life. But there is no life. So redness is also not the cause of consciousness of life. That is a wrong theory. That is a complete... Consciousness is completely different thing, qualitatively different. Nothing is different from one to another, just like I have explained already that the earth, wood, then smoke, then fire—everything is linked up, but everything is also different from one another.

Pandal Lecture -- Delhi, November 12, 1971:

So here in this material world, either you worship some demigod or worship some leader or worship some friend, the ulterior motive is that you want to get some benefit from him, that's all. Therefore he is priya. But Kṛṣṇa, when you speak of Kṛṣṇa, there is no such business. Just like you love your ātmā very dearly, your life. Similarly, Kṛṣṇa being the ātmeśvaraḥ, the sum total of all ātmā, therefore ultimately Kṛṣṇa or Viṣṇu is our dear. Not only that; He is suhṛt. Kṛṣṇa is always thinking. In the Upaniṣad also there is a verse that the Supersoul and the individual soul, they are sitting as friends on this tree, or body. The one is eating the fruits of that tree and the other is witnessing. So what business has God, Kṛṣṇa, to witness your activities? No, He has got business because He wants to take you back to home, back to Godhead. Therefore He is suhṛt. Ātmeśvaraḥ suhṛt. Nobody is better friend than Kṛṣṇa, He is always thinking how this bewildered individual soul can be brought back to home, back to Godhead. He personally comes, therefore, canvassing. Sarva-guhyatamam. "The most confidential part of knowledge I am giving you, Arjuna, that you surrender unto Me. That is better." Sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇam (BG 18.66).

Philosophy Discussions

Philosophy Discussion on Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibnitz:

Śyāmasundara: He also believes that God is behind it, but he is trying to analyze. He says that there is no gaps or sudden changes, great changes in nature; that everything is gradual.

Prabhupāda: Yes. As soon as there is a process, there is a link of everything, one after another, one after another. That is nature's way. Just like in the creation, the first creation is mind. We have got it in the Bhagavad-gītā, first creation is mahat-tattva, the sum total of material energy. Then there is interaction of the three guṇas, qualities, and then mind comes out, ego comes out, intelligence comes out, in this way, one after another. That is explained in the Second Canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, how creation takes place. So the Veda says, sa aikṣata. Sa aikṣata. The Supreme Lord, simply by glancing over... In Bhagavad-gītā also it is said that. But just like we impregnate a woman by sex behavior, but here it is said that He simply glanced over the material nature, total material energy, and the creation begins. Sa aikṣata. So because He is omnipotent, He can impregnate the material nature not by sex behavior but simply by glancing, and the material nature immediately becomes agitated, and things begin to happen. So the original cause is glancing over material nature by God. But we materialists, we cannot think how by simply glancing, the material nature is set into motion. That is material conception.

Philosophy Discussion on Hegel:

Prabhupāda: Yes. Yes, that is possible. Now, let us talk of this philosopher. If you bring so many questions then we cannot do it.

Śyāmasundara: His idea was that the truth is in the sum of all moments, he called the organic theory of truth. The truth is not static or composed of isolated segments or parts, but it is the sum total of everything and it is constantly changing. So he says that these phenomena or facts of nature or these moments, they are progressing in an evolutionary process according to a course which is prescribed by a universal reason or the world spirit, weltgeist. That the world spirit is unfolding itself through phenomenal events.

Prabhupāda: That means... This is another nonsense proposition. According to the universal reason. So wherefrom the reason comes unless there is a person? That he does not know.

Philosophy Discussion on Hegel:

Prabhupāda: (indistinct) Idea can be changed so God becomes a thing which is subjected to the whimsical change of rascals. That is his idea.

Śyāmasundara: He says that God is the sum total of all concrete phenomenon.

Prabhupāda: That's all right but that means he has no clear knowledge. That's all. So therefore we can say they are rascals. And one who does not know God, he is rascal. Following, that is our philosophy(?). But because knowledge means to understand God. The animals, they do not understand God. Therefore they are called animal. Similarly, any man, any so-called (indistinct) does not know God, he is animal. He may be nicely dressed, that is another thing, but factually he is an animal, because he does not know God. That is the position of animals. What is the difference between man and animal? That is the difference, the animal cannot know what is God, the man can know. That is fundamental. It may be... There are difference of animals but no animal is able to understand God. And here the difficulty is that one is in the animal's position, he does not know God but he takes the position of teacher. That is the difficulty of this modern civilization. The person in position of animal is trying to teach others. Andhā yathāndair upanīyamānaḥ as Prahlāda Mahārāja says, "The blind man is trying to lead other blind men." That is the defect of the modern civilization.

Philosophy Discussion on Carl Gustav Jung:

Hayagrīva: He says, "If the individual is not truly regenerated in spirit, society cannot be either, for society is the sum total of individuals in need of redemption."

Prabhupāda: Yes. That... It is individual. We are individually initiating to Kṛṣṇa consciousness that the mass of people becomes a majority. If not in majority, at least a less percentage, then the face of the world will change. There is no doubt about it.

Hayagrīva: "The salvation of the world consists in the salvation of the individual soul. Man's individual relation to God would be an effective shield against these pernicious influences," that is, atheistic Marxism.

Prabhupāda: Yes. At least those who have taken Kṛṣṇa consciousness seriously, they never be converted either by Marxism or this "ism" or that "ism." That is not possible. They can convert the Marxist into Kṛṣṇa consciousness, but a Kṛṣṇa conscious person can never be turned into Marxism. That is not possible. Paraṁ dṛṣṭvā nivartate (BG 9.59). That is explained in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Because they have seen the highest perfection of life, they cannot be misled by all these third-class, fourth-class philosophies.

Philosophy Discussion on Jean-Paul Sartre:

Śyāmasundara: Because the structure is not determinant. It is always changing. On both sides there is nothing.

Prabhupāda: Changing is the mind, not the person. Changing positions is of the mind. So he is identifying the person with the mind; therefore he is not a perfect philosopher.

Śyāmasundara: He says that this objective being, like these objects, he calls it "being in itself," and only these concrete phenomena are real. But he says these concrete phenomena are more than their phenomenal appearances. Just like this thing is more than what it appears to be, but it is no more than the sum total of all its appearances. In other words, this thing may appear like this, but it is more than this; it is all of its possible appearances, from the time it was clay, to the time the paint was applied, different things, in all its appearances, that is the reality of this thing. It is not just this thing; it is all of its appearances. But that is all. There is nothing more than that. It doesn't have any reality beyond its phenomenal appearances.

Prabhupāda: From where the material came, first of all? Beyond the material, the source of material?

Śyāmasundara: He says that "Material in itself is nonconscious, inert, fixed, opaque, uncreated, devoid of potency, lacking becoming, and without any reason for existing; therefore it is superfluous." In other words, existence doesn't have any meaning.

Prabhupāda: So what is the substance?

Śyāmasundara: Well, there is no meaning to anything. It's just here. There is no tracing out. It's not created; it's just here.

Prabhupāda: This kind of philosophy is stated in the Bhagavad-gītā as asuric philosophy, demonic philosophy, because the demons, they do not believe in any superior cause. They everything take as accidental. Just like a man and woman unite accidentally and a child is born. It is like that. There is no actually purpose. The Śaṅkara philosophy, atheistic Śaṅkara philosophy is also like that. Prakṛti and puruṣa meets. All of a sudden there is lust and they meet, and there is some product; otherwise there is no other cause. This sort of theory is called asuric.

Conversations and Morning Walks

1971 Conversations and Morning Walks

Conversation with Prof. Kotovsky -- June 22, 1971, Moscow:

Prabhupāda: That is full stop, no more surrendering.

Guest: Final surrendering.

Prabhupāda: Other surrender you have to change by revolution, but when you come to Kṛṣṇa, then it is sufficient. You are satisfied. Just like... I'll give you one example, that a child is crying, and people changing laps, "Oh, you are crying." It is not stopping. But as soon as the small baby comes to the lap of his mother, he stops: "Yes, full satisfied."

Guest: Final satisfaction of...

Prabhupāda: So these changes, this surrendering, will go on in different categories. Actually all the surrenders-sum total is surrender to māyā. Therefore in the Bhagavad-gītā it is said, daivī hy eṣā guṇamayi mama māyā duratyayā (BG 7.14). So this surrender is going on, going on. It is the māyā's, māyāra vaibhava, paraphernalia of māyā, either you surrender to this or to that. But final surrender-mām eva ye prapadyante, māyām etāṁ taranti te—the final surrender to Kṛṣṇa. Then he is happy. Surrender will stay. His process of surrender is there, but this surrender keeps him quite satisfied, transcendental.

1973 Conversations and Morning Walks

Morning Walk -- April 20, 1973, Los Angeles:
Prabhupāda: Āhāra-nidrā-bhaya-maithunaṁ ca sāmānyam etat paśubhir narāṇām. The only special significance of human being is that he has got special intelligence to understand what is Absolute Truth. Athāto brahma jijñāsā. So therefore his first duty is to know the Absolute Truth. Not waste time for eating, sleeping, mating. The modern material civilization is wasting time, so-called advancement of material comforts. Simply wasting time. Nidrayā hriyate naktaṁ vyavāyena ca vā vayaḥ (SB 2.1.3). They are wasting time at night either by sleeping or by sexual intercourse. Divā cārthehayā rājan kuṭumba-bharaṇena vā. And during daytime, simply: "Where is money? Where is money? Where is money?" And as soon as they get money, they spend it for kuṭumba-bharaṇa, for maintaining the family. This is their business. The sum total of modern civilization. And if they can purchase a nice car, that is the success of their life. Kuṭumba-bharaṇena vā. Not only for himself, for his wife, for his children, if he has got three cars. Just like our Mukunda Mahārāja is doing. He's earning one thousand dollars and spending in car. That is his Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Rascal boy is so much captivated with the rascal girl. He's thinking that he's happy. He's spoiling his life. (pause) Divā cārthehayā rājan kuṭumba-bharaṇena vā (SB 2.1.3). Dehāpatya-kalatrādiṣv ātma-sainyeṣv asatsv api, teṣāṁ pramatto nidhanaṁ paśyann api na paśyati (SB 2.1.4). Dehāpatya. Deha means body. Apatya means children. Dehāpatya-kalatra. Kalatra means wife. Dehāpatya-kalatrādiṣv ātma-sainyeṣu. He thinks: "They are my soldiers. I'll fight with nature, struggle for existence. And they'll save me." Dehāpatya-kalatrādiṣv ātma-sainyeṣv asatsv api. Although he knows that they'll not exist, still he's so mad, teṣāṁ pramatto nidhanam, he knows I'll not exist, the soldiers will not be able to help me. paśyann api na paśyati, he sees and still he does not see. Paśyann api na paśyati. He knows by practical experience that "This society, friendship, love, nation, nobody can save me." But still he thinks that "They'll save me."
Morning Walk -- April 27, 1973, Los Angeles:

Svarūpa Dāmodara: Śrīla Prabhupāda? If we add the conservation of energy from the invocation of Īśopaniṣad, it will be a great challenge to science.

Prabhupāda: Yes, yes. That is conservation of energy. Pūrṇam idam, pūrṇam idaṁ pūrṇāt pūrṇam udacyate (Īśopaniṣad, Invocation).

Svarūpa Dāmodara: The understanding in science is that if I burn a piece of wood, that wood contains originally cellulose. So it has certain amount carbons, and a certain amount hydrogens. So if I burn it, that carbon will be converted to smaller molecules like carbon dioxide and water. So if I balance it, starting from the original cellulose, so I'll get a certain number of carbon atoms and hydrogens. So the matter is conserved. In other words, it is not lost. That is the understanding of the science.

Prabhupāda: No, we also, we also say. The energy, we take the sum total, material energy, that is conserved. It is displayed again. When there is annihilation, the whole energy goes back to Kṛṣṇa. Yānti māmikām, prakṛtiṁ yānti māmikām.

Svarūpa Dāmodara: But the original matter is changed.

Prabhupāda: Eh?

Svarūpa Dāmodara: The original substance that I started with, changed to some other form.

Prabhupāda: Yes. It is just like you take cotton. You make thread. Another form. Then from thread, you make cotton cloth.

1974 Conversations and Morning Walks

Morning Walk -- March 30, 1974, Bombay:

Prabhupāda: Just like bodily action. Now you feel call of nature. So you have to pass urine.

Chandobhai: No, that is correct.

Prabhupāda: That's all

Dr. Patel: Does not attach.

Chandobhai: That action, you're not attached.

Prabhupāda: Yes.

Dr. Patel: At least, you are, you are...

Chandobhai: Udāsī, udāsīno... (break)

Prabhupāda: The sum total is how to become guṇātīta. That is bhakti-yoga.

Chandobhai: That is bhakti yoga. Last stage of bhakti, finally, is said like that, māṁ ca yo avyabhicāreṇa bhakti-yogena sevate.

Prabhupāda: Yes. That is the only guṇātīta position.

Morning Walk -- March 30, 1974, Bombay:

Prabhupāda: Cause and effect. The mahat-tattva... Mahat-tattva is cause, and this cosmic manifestation is the effect. So beyond that, beyond that. Therefore Kṛṣṇa is said: mahat-pādam. The mahat-tattva is lying at His lotus feet. Samāśritā ye pada-pallavaṁ plavaṁ mahat-pādam. Mahat-tattva is lying on the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa.

Dr. Patel: Mahat-tattva is nothing but the beginning of the...

Prabhupāda: It is the total, sum total of material energy.

Dr. Patel: Of cosmic energy, yes.

Prabhupāda: Yes. That is mahat-tattva.

1975 Conversations and Morning Walks

Garden Conversation -- June 25, 1975, Los Angeles:

Dr. Wolfe: Prabhupāda, wouldn't it be better to say he is blind, he is stupid?

Prabhupāda: Yes, the same thing. Mad is the sum total of all stupidity. (laughter) When I say mad, it is the sum total of all kinds of stupidity. Now you can give them prasādam. I think we have occupied their time.

Bahulāśva: Śrīla Prabhupāda, when would you like to speak to Dr. Judah about the college?

Prabhupāda: Whenever he finds convenient. I am always ready.

Dr. Judah: About the college?

Prabhupāda: Yes.

1977 Conversations and Morning Walks

Room Conversations -- February 20, 1977, Mayapura:

Prabhupāda: We shall train them. Military march, Manipur. Slogan: "Jaya Rādhe! Jaya Kṛṣṇa! Jaya Babhruvāhana! Jaya Arjuna!" And then let us go. We shall organize Bombay headquarter, Manipur Vaiṣṇava state, send missionary all over the world, bona fide, scientific system of religion, ideal character. Ideal character. Yasyāsti bhaktir bhagavaty akiñcanā sarvair guṇais tatra samāsate surāḥ (SB 5.18.12). That we have to show. "Here is the sum total of all good qualities." That we have to show. We haven't got to go anywhere. Knowledge, good quality, happiness, advancement of life, everything complete. So let us go to Manipur. Arrange for that.

Svarūpa Dāmodara: So should we arrange for this April 5th, 4th, around that time, Śrīla Prabhupāda?

Prabhupāda: April 5th. No harm. We are... Kodaikanal, we wanted to go by the end of the...

Correspondence

1969 Correspondence

Letter to Sai -- Tittenhurst 27 October, 1969:

According to Srimad-Bhagavatam, all of these realizations are on the transcendental plane as much as sunshine, the sunglobe, and the predominating deity on the sunglobe are all full of light and high temperatures. Similarly, either in Brahman, Paramatma or Bhagavan (Personality of Godhead) realization you will always find spiritual light and heat. But as there are different degrees of sunshine, the sunglobe and the sun's deity, similarly there are also degrees of transcendental bliss in the different features of the Absolute. The summary is that the Absolute Truth is the sum total of eternity, bliss and knowledge. Impersonal feature of the Absolute Truth is realization of eternity. Localized Paramatma realization is realization of transcendental knowledge. But above all these as they are described in Bhagavad-gita there is Purusottam, the Supreme Person. That is Krsna. In the Vedas it is stated that one who has understood the Supreme Person has understood everything. This is because everything is subordinate to the Supreme Person. So if you kindly try to understand this philosophy of the Supreme Person as described in Bhagavad-gita, 8th chapter, you will understand our activities more clearly. Or if you so desire, you can write to me for further understanding of this Krsna Consciousness philosophy. Hare Krsna. I thank you again for your interest.

1976 Correspondence

Letter to Madhava -- Mayapur 17 February, 1976:

As for your third question is concerned everything is in the spiritual world. Krishna is the sum total of spirit and everything is coming from Him. Aham sarvasya prabhavo . . . (BG 10.8). Matter, spirit, everything comes from Him. He is the supreme life, the origin of spirit and life. Therefore matter emanates from life. Nityo nityanam . . . He is the Supreme Consciousness of all other consciousness.

Page Title:Sum total
Compiler:Visnu Murti, Serene
Created:01 of Aug, 2012
Totals by Section:BG=4, SB=30, CC=4, OB=1, Lec=16, Con=7, Let=2
No. of Quotes:64