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There is a Bengali proverb: bamboo, while it is green, you can bend it, but when its yellow or dry, oh, it cannot be bent. It will break

Lectures

Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures

There is a proverb in Bengali that kañcaya noyale bhas pas korbe nyastas (?). Bhas means bamboo. Bamboo, while it is green, you can bend it, but when its yellow or dry, oh, it cannot be bent. It will break.
Lecture on SB 7.6.6-9 -- Montreal, June 23, 1968:

There is a proverb in Bengali that kañcaya noyale bhas pas korbe nyastas (?). Bhas means bamboo. Bamboo, while it is green, you can bend it, but when its yellow or dry, oh, it cannot be bent. It will break. It will be break. Therefore school children... Just like Prahlāda Mahārāja is instructing his class fellows. School children, from five years old, they should be given lesson about Kṛṣṇa consciousness or God consciousness. Otherwise, in advanced age, oh, it is not possible. Generally, we find in our class or in this Kṛṣṇa conscious movement, the youngsters, they become little more interested, but we don't find any old men. Why? Because whatever they have been taught, they cannot forget. It is very difficult to forget what he has been already taught. So they do not become interested.

ko gṛheṣu pumān saktam
ātmānam ajitendriyaḥ
sneha-pāśair dṛḍhair (baddham)
utsaheta vimocitum
(SB 7.6.9)

"One who has passed his life simply being attached to household affairs, sneha-pāśair, and when the affection of household life is too strong, it is very difficult to get out of it." That will be very nicely explained, one after another.

Therefore, according to Vedic civilization, there is compulsory get-out from household life. Compulsory get-out means pañcāś ordhvaṁ vanaṁ vrajet. Pañcāś means fifty years. "As soon as one passes over fifty years of age, he should get out." That is the injunction of the scriptures. No more in household affairs.

They did not try to teach them. Now what is the use of teaching? They have gone out of hand. The same thing: if you want to bend bamboo, do it while it is green. And when it is dried, oh, it is not possible. So now the whole society is faithless, godless, very precarious condition.
Lecture on SB 7.9.10 -- Montreal, July 10, 1968:

The present society is just like animals. They have no faith, what to speak of this faith or that faith. That is the position. They are simply after sense enjoyment. That's all. Don't you see? The Pope says that it is not good, it is not God's law, that you should use contraceptive method. But they are so mad after sense enjoyment, they say, "Oh, we don't care for your instruction." Just see how much they have lost their faith. So at the present moment it is very difficult position, no faith at all. (break) ...have no good qualification. Harāv abhaktasya kuto mahad-guṇa (SB 5.18.12). Oh, their education, their scientific advancement, their so-called civilization... Don't you see? The everyone is expected to have national feeling, but the postal strike, mail strike went on for twenty days. The whole nation became disturbed and harassed. Why? They wanted money. "What is this? Go to... Your national feeling go to hell! You pay us. Then we work." So nobody has any faith. Simply he has faith in sense gratification. That's all. "You satisfy my senses. Then you are very good. Otherwise, go to hell." That's all. This is the position. And therefore they are denying the topmost head of Catholic Church, "We don't care for your instruction," because they have become faithless. And that is not their fault. It is fault of the heads of the churches. They did not teach them properly. They were satisfied simply by money. That's all. They did not try to teach them. Now what is the use of teaching? They have gone out of hand. The same thing: if you want to bend bamboo, do it while it is green. And when it is dried, oh, it is not possible. So now the whole society is faithless, godless, very precarious condition. So this process, our process, we don't impose any difficult rules and regulation. Please come here and chant with us and dance with us. At least, there is no loss on your part. If you think there is no gain, but at least there is no loss. So I should request you to come and join with us in our kīrtana. Then everything gradually will be clear.

There is a Bengali proverb, gancai noale vas, mas korbe tans tas(?): "When the bamboo is green, you can bend it, but when it is yellow, dried, it will crack." So education begins from the very childhood. That is education. Therefore gurukula is required. It doesn't require how much he has learned ABCD and grammar. No. First of all character. That is gurukula living.
Lecture on SB 7.12.2 -- Bombay, April 13, 1976:

We have Daily we understand what is guru. Guru-mukha-padma-vākya, citette kariyā aikya, āra nā kariya mane āśā. This is that. This is wanted. If you have got real guru and if you follow him, then your life is successful. There is no doubt. But if you have a so-called bogus guru, and without any knowledge of the śāstra, then your life will be spoiled. Especially the Māyāvādī guru, Caitanya Mahāprabhu has warned, māyāvādī-bhāṣya śunile haya sarva-nāśa (CC Madhya 6.169). Māyāvādī guru means one who thinks that everyone is God. That is Māyāvādī guru. If you approach such guru, then your life is spoiled. Māyāvādī-bhāṣya śunile haya sarva-nāśa. Finished. Your spiritual progress finished. So in this way, guru, arka, these are the training. Where is that training? Where is that school? So why they will not learn from eight years, ten years of age, smoking bidi and cigarette? When I was in America first, I saw some little boys, not more than ten to twelve years, smoking cigarette. I was astonished that "What kind of education is there?" But they don't mind. Even in their classroom, the elderly young boys and girls, they smoke before the teacher. I have seen it in New York University. So this is not training. Training is he must be very controlled. And if you teach from the beginning, then he will be trained up. There is a Bengali proverb, gancai noale vas, mas korbe tans tas(?): "When the bamboo is green, you can bend it, but when it is yellow, dried, it will crack." So education begins from the very childhood. That is education. Therefore gurukula is required. It doesn't require how much he has learned ABCD and grammar. No. First of all character. That is gurukula living. Let him become dānta, guru-gṛhe. Brahmacārī guru-gṛhe vasan dāntaḥ. How to become sense controller, that is first education.

So these rules and regulation, as it is prescribed, guru, arka, agni, and then Bhagavān... You cannot jump over directly to Bhagavān. Then you will never be able to be successful. You have to go through guru, agni, śāstra. Sādhu-śāstra-guru-vākya, tinete kariyā aikya. This is the way.

Philosophy Discussions

You have seen bamboo. When it is green, you can bend it, but when it is yellow, it will break.
Philosophy Discussion on Sigmund Freud:

Devotee: The Freudian method would be to think back to those seeds and rectify them-think back and back and back and try to remember those seeds.

Prabhupāda: (indistinct) he is already grown up. Where is the seed? That is nonsense. Seed means those already grown up, fructified. Where do you find the seed? That is nonsense. Just like as example you have got arrow and bow. So long as it is in your hand, it is all right, but when it is thrown, you cannot control it. It is out of your hand. Another example is this (indistinct). You have seen bamboo. When it is green, you can bend it, but when it is yellow, it will break.

Conversations and Morning Walks

1977 Conversations and Morning Walks

Kancai no wale basa mas korbe tas tas:(?) "If you want to bend this bamboo, when it is green, you can do it. And if it is yellow, can't. It will break." Tas, tas. This is Bengali. If you take one yellow bamboo, to bend it, it will crack and make sound, "Tas, tas." But when it is green, you can bend it.
Evening Darsana -- February 26, 1977, Mayapura:

Prabhupāda: Vasan dānto guror hitam. The word is used, dānta. Dānta means sober. Children are generally restless, and the brahmacārī-āśrama means to train him how to become peaceful. That is the first training, not that to make him very good scholar in grammar. It is not said there. That is later on. First thing is how to make him sober. What is that? Dānta?

Pradyumna: Dānta, from verbal root, dam. "Tamed, broken in..."

Prabhupāda: Tame. Tame. Just see.

Pradyumna: "Restrained..."

Prabhupāda: That's it.

Pradyumna: "...subdued."

Prabhupāda: This is the first training. Otherwise he'll not be able to advance.

Brahmānanda: He'll be animal.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: The word tamed refers to animal.

Prabhupāda: Yes. This, the right... So generally, from the very beginning, they are not tame, so even if he is in older age he's the same untrained animal, dog. A dog, old dog or new dog, the same. (laughs) It doesn't mean that a dog has become old, he's now tame, no. Tame, that is another thing. It has to be trained. And that is possible for the human being. You cannot make animal dānta. That is not possible. So if a human being, from the very beginning of his life, he is not trained up to become restrained... There is another word?

Pradyumna: Yes, restrained. Subdued.

Prabhupāda: Subdued. So then there is no chance. Kancai no wale basa mas korbe tas tas:(?) "If you want to bend this bamboo, when it is green, you can do it. And if it is yellow, can't. It will break." Tas, tas. This is Bengali. If you take one yellow bamboo, to bend it, it will crack and make sound, "Tas, tas." But when it is green, you can bend it. Kancai no wale paca means green. (Bengali) Kancai no wale basa mas korbe tas tas.(?) First human civilization begins when you restrain the children not to become restless. This is the training. Brahmacārī guru-gṛhe vasan dānto guror hitam. This training is lacking. Therefore even in old age, the washerman business. I am bodily conscious, and I am training others also to become bodily conscious: "You feel like Indian," "You feel like American," "You feel like Englishman." This is education, the same dehātma-buddhi, that "I am this body," extended. The extended feeling of bodily consciousness, is that advancement? Is that advancement? The bodily consciousness is animalism.

Correspondence

1970 Correspondence

Extend your activities to the University campus because the younger generation is our future hope. Bamboo while it is green can be bent and carved, but while it is yellow and ripe if there is any attempt to bend it, it cracks.
Letter to Gajendra -- Los Angeles 27 January, 1970:

Extend your activities to the University campus because the younger generation is our future hope. Bamboo while it is green can be bent and carved, but while it is yellow and ripe if there is any attempt to bend it, it cracks. Krishna is evergreen youthful Original Person and He gathers around Him all young boys and girls as cowherd boys and gopis in His eternal Vrndavana Lila. So try seriously to impress upon the young hearts and you will be successful. Try to get that fraternity house as soon as possible.

1972 Correspondence

There is no question of separation in our marriage belief, neither your daughter will ever be separated from that boy, that is their vow. Rather, it is when people are a little grown-up, when they have got little independence and their own ways of doing things, then if they marry there is often difficulty to adjust, just as it is more difficult to bend the bamboo when it is yellow. So I can assure you that you may have nothing to fear that your daughter has married such a nice boy.
Letter to Mr. Loy -- Vrindaban 7 November, 1972:

But this kind of householder life of "grihameda" consciousness does not apply to our marriages in Krishna Consciousness Movement. No. Because the sex-urge is so strong in young persons, and because they are used to mixing freely with one another, I encourage my students to get themselves married. But our point is not that hard knot as above described. It is simply a relationship of mutually helping each other, man and wife, to make advancement in spiritual life, nothing more. We are not after home, money, fame, like that. But that does not mean that he shall not support her nicely, no. It is the duty of husband to protect wife in every way from the onslaught of material nature, and he must act always as her spiritual guide by being perfect example of devotee. Women are not so quick to learn, and they are weak by nature, so they should be protected in this way. In our Vedic science of living, it is enjoined that the society should be organized in such a way to protect women, children, old people and cows, because factually all of them are innocent. So children have parents, elderly persons must have grown up children to protect them, and woman must have husband. And it is recommended they should be married at very early age, then the wife will remain always chaste and devoted to her husband. At such young age, from the first night onwards, she can never for a moment forget him, being still child and unspoiled, therefore she becomes the perfect chaste wife, and in those times the wife was so much devoted to her husband that she would voluntarily die in the fire of his cremation, unable to live without him. Myself, I was very young when I got married, and my wife was 11 years only. But there is no question of separation in our marriage belief, neither your daughter will ever be separated from that boy, that is their vow. Rather, it is when people are a little grown-up, when they have got little independence and their own ways of doing things, then if they marry there is often difficulty to adjust, just as it is more difficult to bend the bamboo when it is yellow. So I can assure you that you may have nothing to fear that your daughter has married such a nice boy: bahunam janmanam ante, jnanavan mam prapadyante, vasudevah sarvam iti, sa mahatma sudurlabhah (BG 7.19). Krishna assures us that "After many many births and deaths, he who is actually in knowledge surrenders unto Me, knowing Me to be the cause of all causes and all that is. Such a great soul is very rare." (Bhagavad-gita, VII, 19). In this light, try to view these children. They have realized that life together spent in the pursuit of God is real knowledge, and that they have not done lightly by any means, no actually they must be considered as great souls, the most exalted persons among all persons. Our married couples are rendering the greatest service to humanity, their countrymen, and to their parents, of that kindly be assured by me. Do not worry for anything in this connection, you are a great gentleman, otherwise you could not have fostered such intelligent daughter, and gentlemen are known to be broad-minded, so therefore I appeal to you as their spiritual father to encourage them in every respect.

Page Title:There is a Bengali proverb: bamboo, while it is green, you can bend it, but when its yellow or dry, oh, it cannot be bent. It will break
Compiler:Labangalatika
Created:22 of Aug, 2012
Totals by Section:BG=0, SB=0, CC=0, OB=0, Lec=4, Con=1, Let=2
No. of Quotes:7