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Totally free

Srimad-Bhagavatam

SB Canto 3

The next question is why people are against such auspicious activities as chanting and hearing the glories and pastimes of the Lord, which can bring total freedom from the cares and anxieties of material existence.
SB 3.9.7, Translation and Purport:

O my Lord, persons who are bereft of the all-auspicious performance of chanting and hearing about Your transcendental activities are certainly unfortunate and are also bereft of good sense. They engage in inauspicious activities, enjoying sense gratification for a very little while.

The next question is why people are against such auspicious activities as chanting and hearing the glories and pastimes of the Lord, which can bring total freedom from the cares and anxieties of material existence. The only answer to this question is that they are unfortunate because of supernatural control due to their offensive activities performed simply for the sake of sense gratification. The Lord's pure devotees, however, take compassion upon such unfortunate persons and, in a missionary spirit, try to persuade them into the line of devotional service. Only by the grace of pure devotees can such unfortunate men be elevated to the position of transcendental service.

Sri Caitanya-caritamrta

CC Preface and Introduction

Neither Kṛṣṇa nor His incarnations ever come under the control of material nature. They are totally free.
CC Introduction:

We are all individual in our thoughts and desires, and the Supreme Lord is also an individual person. He is different, though, in that He is the leader, the one whom no one can excel. Among the minute living entities, one being can excel another in one capacity or another. Like each of these living entities, the Lord is an individual, but He is different in that He is the supreme individual. God is also infallible, and thus in the Bhagavad-gītā He is addressed as Acyuta, which means "He who never falls down." This name is appropriate because in the Bhagavad-gītā Arjuna falls into illusion but Kṛṣṇa does not. Kṛṣṇa Himself reveals His infallibility when he says to Arjuna, "When I appear in this world, I do so by My own internal potency." (BG 4.6)

Thus we should not think that Kṛṣṇa is overpowered by the material potency when He is in the material world. Neither Kṛṣṇa nor His incarnations ever come under the control of material nature. They are totally free. Indeed, in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam one who has a godly nature is actually defined as one who is not affected by the modes of material nature although in material nature. If even a devotee can attain this freedom, then what to speak of the Supreme Lord?

Other Books by Srila Prabhupada

Teachings of Lord Caitanya

Thus we should not think that Kṛṣṇa is overpowered by the material potency when He is in the material world. Kṛṣṇa and His incarnations are not under the control of material nature. They are totally free.
Teachings of Lord Caitanya, Chapter Intoduction:

"When you see that there is nothing beyond these modes of nature in all activities and that the Supreme Lord is transcendental to all these modes, then you can know My spiritual nature." (BG 14.19) Thus we should not think that Kṛṣṇa is overpowered by the material potency when He is in the material world. Kṛṣṇa and His incarnations are not under the control of material nature. They are totally free. Indeed, in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam one who has a godly nature is actually defined as one who is not affected by the modes of material nature, although in material nature. If even a devotee can attain this freedom, then what to speak of the Supreme?

Renunciation Through Wisdom

Those who have realized that all desires and feelings are Brahman by nature, and who thus engage them in the Supreme Lord's service, should be considered perfected souls. They are totally free from nescience.
Renunciation Through Wisdom 3.5:

Those who understand that the multifarious human desires are a reflection of the Supreme Brahman's desires are careful not to discard them but to use them in the Lord's service. Long ago, the seven great sages and the Manus all used their God-given desires in the Lord's service, and anyone today who emulates the example of these illustrious ancestors will never see desire as mundane or as an impediment to spiritual progress. If Ramana Mahārṣi advises us to negate desire, then we must conclude that he misunderstands the Vedic statement sarvaṁ khalv idaṁ brahma. Those who have realized that all desires and feelings are Brahman by nature, and who thus engage them in the Supreme Lord's service, should be considered perfected souls. They are totally free from nescience. The desires of these self-realized, elevated, blissful devotees become purified to such an extent that not an iota of ignorance can influence their consciousness, for the Lord Himself destroys the nescience in their hearts.

Conversations and Morning Walks

1976 Conversations and Morning Walks

The Hare Kṛṣṇa member is totally free to increase or decrease his involvement with the Society at any time he or she wishes. Because full commitment, as in any religious tradition, is not easy. A high percentage of those who join eventually leave.
Room Conversation -- December 26, 1976, Bombay:

Prabhupāda: The dynamics of 'conversion' in the case of Kṛṣṇa consciousness are quite informal. Talking with devotees, reading scripture, meditation, etc. and certainly do not include the application of any type of psychological coercion against the desire, will, or knowledge of the potential or novice devotee. Although life in a Hare Kṛṣṇa community is communal and monastic with well-defined guidelines affecting the behavior and religious practice, it is in fact, a good deal more open then many or most types of monastic communities. The Hare Kṛṣṇa member is totally free to increase or decrease his involvement with the Society at any time he or she wishes. Because full commitment, as in any religious tradition, is not easy. A high percentage of those who join eventually leave. If brainwashing is what we're doing, we're not very good at it. Distressed however by an apparent rejection of their own values and lifestyle, and unable to account for what may be radical or abrupt change in the lives of their offspring, some parents of cult members, believing that their sons and daughters have been brainwashed, hire someone like Ted Patrick to forcefully abduct and debrainwash or deprogram them. What is being called deprogramming involves extreme coercive tactics, including rather intense psychological and often physical intimidation aimed at inducing the cult member to renounce his or her religious beliefs and practices.

Page Title:Totally free
Compiler:Visnu Murti, Aparajita Radhika
Created:26 of Dec, 2009
Totals by Section:BG=0, SB=1, CC=1, OB=2, Lec=0, Con=1, Let=0
No. of Quotes:5