Swamis before me
Lectures
Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures
Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures
Festival Lectures
General Lectures
Conversations and Morning Walks
1971 Conversations and Morning Walks
1973 Conversations and Morning Walks
1975 Conversations and Morning Walks
1976 Conversations and Morning Walks
Prabhupāda: Most important movement. (Hindi) You are in a good position. Try to convince others. Life should be for para-upakāra. Not exploiting. This is India's mission. That is Caitanya Mahāprabhu says,
- bhārata-bhūmite haila manuṣya-janma yāra
- janma sārthaka kari' kara para-upakāra
- [Cc. Ādi 9.41]
This is India's... Anyone who has taken birth in India, first of all make his life perfect by understanding the śāstra. The gist of śāstra is Bhagavad-gītā. And then distribute the knowledge. Para-upakāra. This should be India's mission. India hasn't got to learn from anywhere else. Everything is there. Let him understand the whole philosophy of life perfectly and distribute this. This is India's mission. So I have tried alone on this point. So I have got little success. And before me so many swamis, yogis went there. They came and go. No effect. Now I have created a community which will continue. They're now saying, "American Hindus." Therefore there is opposition. They understand, "Now it will stand." It is not that Vivekananda's daridra-nārāyaṇa-sevā. (indistinct).
Indian man: Something permanent.
Prabhupāda: Yes. Jaya. (end)1977 Conversations and Morning Walks
Prabhupāda: And it is the duty of the Indians to give them genuine thing. That is para-upakāra. Before me, all these swamis and yogis went there to cheat them.
Yogi Amrit Desai: No, they were afraid to give the truth because they were afraid they will not be accepted.
Prabhupāda: They did not know what is truth. (laughter) Not afraid. Why? If one is on the platform of truth, why he should be afraid?
Yogi Amrit Desai: Sure.
Prabhupāda: They did not know what is truth, beginning from Vivekananda.
Yogi Amrit Desai: All the way, right. See, after you came... I was there in 1960. I started teaching yoga. But after you came I became fearless to teach bhakti and chant mantras. So now we have lots of bhakti in āśrama, lots of bhakti. And I paid that respect to you because I was afraid to give them because I thought, "They are Christians. They will not like so much devotion. They will misunderstand." But you have performed a miracle. God, Kṛṣṇa, has performed miracle through you. It's just very amazing, greatest miracle on earth. I just feel so strongly about it.
Prabhupāda: It is very kind of you that you give this statement. If we give genuine thing, it will act.Prabhupāda: That is being done all over the world. If you simply understand this one line, tathā dehāntara-prāptiḥ... [Bg. 2.13]. So today I am Indian, and after death I become something else. There are 8,400,000 different bodies. Today I may be very exalted minister, and tomorrow, if I become something else... I'll have to, because nature's law, you cannot check. Tathā dehānt... Just like here is child. You cannot check to become young man. That is not in your power. She must become or he must become. Similarly, tathā dehāntara-prāptiḥ, it is not in your hand or in my hand. It is in the hand of the prakṛti. Prakṛteḥ kriyamāṇāni guṇaiḥ karmāṇi sarvaśaḥ, ahaṅkāra-vimūḍhātmā [Bg. 3.27]. So there are so many things that... The human society requires this knowledge and we are trying to give this knowledge alone with our humble attempt, and these foreigners are helping with their prāṇair arthair dhiyā vācā, by their life, by their money, by their intelligence, by their words. (aside:) Give them pad. They cannot sit comfortably. There is pad. Give him. Pads. Yes. No, no. Oh. (Hindi) Sukham asinaḥ.(?) First of all one must... Give her. So we have got, at least in Bombay, the most important place in India, this institution. So come here. Try to understand the philosophy. There is no difficulty. But we neglect it. We are simply ne..., and distorting. Everyone is giving his own interpretation. Eh? Then when, where is the importance of Kṛṣṇa? If Bhagavad-gītā is a book who is authority, and if you interpret and give your own interpretation, then where is the authority? Suppose Parliament passes one law, and if I interpret in my own way, then where is the authority of the law? This is the idea. If you want to give some idea of your own, give it separately. Why do you take Bhagavad-gītā and distort it? This is not gentlemanly, this. We are presenting, therefore, Bhagavad-gītā as it is, and it is being accepted. And before me so many swamis, yogis went there. They also tried to explain Bhagavad-gītā, but nobody accepted. There was... In the history there was not a single devotee of Kṛṣṇa before my going. Now there are thousands. Why? The secret is that I am presenting as it is.
Mr. Rajda: As it is, quite.
Prabhupāda: No distortion, no cheating. This is the secret. They give me credit, "Swamiji, you have done wonderful. You have done..." I say the secret of wonderful is this, that I have not distorted it. I have presented Bhagavad-gītā as it is. It is open secret.
Mr. Rajda: That creates... It has created... Your attempts have created a good impact on the Western world.
Prabhupāda: Everyone is doing(?). But we have rejected. Our misfortune is that our property, we have rejected.
Mr. Rajda: Instead of rejecting, it would be correct to say that we have locked it up.
Prabhupāda: That means we don't take any importance. But now, if you want to do something, then you maintain this institution rigidly, follow the principles of Bhagavad-gītā. It doesn't matter. It doesn't require many men. Ekaś candras tamo hanti na ca tārā sahasraśaḥ. If there is one moon in the sky, that is sufficient. You don't require millions of stars, twinkling. So let there be an institution, and it is open to everyone. There is no question of "secular" and particular.... Let them learn this art. That is wanted. Not blindly, but apply your consideration and take it after mature judgment. No, what is that? Everything is there. There is no difficulty. Why you are neglecting this important business of India? Do you think it is right?Correspondence
1967 Correspondence
1970 Correspondence
In the Bhagavad-gita, Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The living entities are His eternal parts and parcels. The duty of the part and parcel is to render service to the whole; as much as different limbs of the body are engaged to render service to the whole body. These things are very simple to understand, but when they are presented in a round about way, simply by jugglery of words, it becomes cumbersome, and the desired result is not achieved.
Lord Caitanya advised that everyone of the Indians should go outside and, carrying His order or following His footsteps, one should preach Krsnakatha. The Krsnakatha is Bhagavad-gita as well as Srimad-Bhagavatam. If you split the word Krsnakatha, then it becomes Krishna's words or words spoken about Krishna. So Krishna's words are directly Bhagavad-gita, and words spoken about Krishna is the Srimad-Bhagavatam. I think the Society to which you have referred in your letter under reply, namely Vishva Hindu Parishad, should take up this message of Lord Caitanya if they are actually serious about doing something for the Vedic culture which is known as Hindu culture.Page Title: | Swamis before me |
Compiler: | Namrata |
Created: | 27 of Aug, 2009 |
Totals by Section: | BG=0, SB=0, CC=0, OB=0, Lec=9, Con=8, Let=3 |
No. of Quotes: | 20 |