Unworthy

Expressions researched:
"unworthy"

BG Chapters 1 - 6

BG 2.3, Purport:

Arjuna was addressed as the son of Pṛthā, who happened to be the sister of Kṛṣṇa's father Vasudeva. Therefore Arjuna had a blood relationship with Kṛṣṇa. If the son of a kṣatriya declines to fight, he is a kṣatriya in name only, and if the son of a brāhmaṇa acts impiously, he is a brāhmaṇa in name only. Such kṣatriyas and brāhmaṇas are unworthy sons of their fathers; therefore, Kṛṣṇa did not want Arjuna to become an unworthy son of a kṣatriya.

BG 2.11, Purport:

Arjuna argued that religious principles should be given more importance than politics or sociology, but he did not know that knowledge of matter, soul and the Supreme is even more important than religious formularies. And because he was lacking in that knowledge, he should not have posed himself as a very learned man. As he did not happen to be a very learned man, he was consequently lamenting for something which was unworthy of lamentation. The body is born and is destined to be vanquished today or tomorrow; therefore the body is not as important as the soul. One who knows this is actually learned, and for him there is no cause for lamentation, regardless of the condition of the material body.

BG 2.56, Purport:

Such a fully Kṛṣṇa conscious person is not at all disturbed by the onslaughts of the threefold miseries, for he accepts all miseries as the mercy of the Lord, thinking himself only worthy of more trouble due to his past misdeeds; and he sees that his miseries, by the grace of the Lord, are minimized to the lowest. Similarly, when he is happy he gives credit to the Lord, thinking himself unworthy of the happiness; he realizes that it is due only to the Lord's grace that he is in such a comfortable condition and able to render better service to the Lord. And, for the service of the Lord, he is always daring and active and is not influenced by attachment or aversion.

BG Chapters 13 - 18

BG 17.22, Translation:

And charity performed at an impure place, at an improper time, to unworthy persons, or without proper attention and respect is said to be in the mode of ignorance.

SB Canto 1

SB 1.7.40, Purport:

Arjuna was a great soul undoubtedly, which is proved here also. He is encouraged herein personally by the Lord to kill the son of Droṇa, but Arjuna considers that the son of his great teacher should be spared, for he happens to be the son of Droṇācārya, even though he is an unworthy son, having done all sorts of heinous acts whimsically for no one's benefit.

SB 1.7.42, Purport:

Women as a class are no better than boys, and therefore they have no discriminatory power like that of a man. Aśvatthāmā proved himself to be an unworthy son of Droṇācārya or of a brāhmaṇa, and for this reason he was condemned by the greatest authority, Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, and yet a mild woman could not withdraw her natural courtesy for a brāhmaṇa.

SB 1.7.43, Purport:

According to revealed scriptures, a teacher or spiritual master is liable to be rejected if he proves himself unworthy of the position of a guru or spiritual master. A guru is called also an ācārya, or a person who has personally assimilated all the essence of śāstras and has helped his disciples to adopt the ways.

SB 1.7.53-54, Purport:

As a brahma-bandhu, or a worthless son of a brāhmaṇa, Aśvatthāmā was not to be killed, but he was at the same time an aggressor also. And according to the rulings of Manu, an aggressor, even though he be a brāhmaṇa (and what to speak of an unworthy son of a brāhmaṇa), is to be killed. Droṇācārya was certainly a brāhmaṇa in the true sense of the term, but because he stood in the battlefield he was killed.

SB 1.19.32, Translation:

The fortunate King Parīkṣit said: O brāhmaṇa, by your mercy only, you have sanctified us, making us like unto places of pilgrimage, all by your presence here as my guest. By your mercy, we, who are but unworthy royalty, become eligible to serve the devotee.

SB 1.19.32, Purport:

For a devotee who desires to go back to Godhead, two things are strictly prohibited: worldly enjoyers and women. Therefore, devotees of the standard of Śukadeva Gosvāmī are never interested in seeing kings. Mahārāja Parīkṣit was, of course, a different case. He was a great devotee, although a king, and therefore Śukadeva Gosvāmī came to see him in his last stage of life. Mahārāja Parīkṣit, out of his devotional humility, felt himself an unworthy descendant of his great kṣatriya forefathers, although he was as great as his predecessors. The unworthy sons of the royal orders are called kṣatra-bandhavas, as the unworthy sons of the brāhmaṇas are called dvija-bandhus or brahma-bandhus. Mahārāja Parīkṣit was greatly encouraged by the presence of Śukadeva Gosvāmī. He felt himself sanctified by the presence of the great saint whose presence turns any place into a place of pilgrimage.

SB Canto 2

SB 2.3.14, Purport:

For example, the epics or the histories of Rāmāyaṇa and Mahābhārata, which are specifically recommended for the less intelligent classes (women, śūdras and unworthy sons of the higher castes), are also accepted as Vedic literature because they are compiled in connection with the activities of the Lord. Mahābhārata is accepted as the fifth division of the Vedas after its first four divisions, namely Sāma, Yajur, Ṛg and Atharva.

SB Canto 3

SB 3.1.13, Purport:

But if the son is already an enemy of Viṣṇu, how, in such an inimical mood, can he offer sacrifice unto Lord Viṣṇu's lotus feet? Lord Kṛṣṇa is directly the Personality of Godhead, Viṣṇu, and Duryodhana was inimical to Him. He would therefore be unable to protect his father, Dhṛtarāṣṭra, after his death. He himself was to fall down because of his faithlessness towards Viṣṇu. How, then, could he protect his father? Vidura advised Dhṛtarāṣṭra to get rid of such an unworthy son as Duryodhana as soon as possible if he was at all anxious to see to the good of his family.

SB 3.5.12, Purport:

Those persons who are busy with the mundane inquiries which fill the newspapers and other such literatures are classified as strī-śūdra-dvija-bandhus, or women, the laborer class and unworthy sons of the higher classes (brāhmaṇa, kṣatriya and vaiśya). Such less intelligent men cannot understand the purpose of Vedānta-sūtra, although they may make a show of studying the sūtras in a perverted way.

SB 3.15.23, Translation:

It is very much regrettable that unfortunate people do not discuss the description of the Vaikuṇṭha planets but engage in topics which are unworthy to hear and which bewilder one's intelligence. Those who give up the topics of Vaikuṇṭha and take to talk of the material world are thrown into the darkest region of ignorance.

SB 3.15.23, Purport:

The most unfortunate persons are the impersonalists, who cannot understand the transcendental variegatedness of the spiritual world. They are afraid to talk about the beauty of the Vaikuṇṭha planets because they think that variegatedness must be material. Such impersonalists think that the spiritual world is completely void, or, in other words, that there is no variegatedness. This mentality is described here as ku-kathā mati-ghnīḥ, "intelligence bewildered by unworthy words."

SB 3.32.42, Purport:

The bona fide spiritual master must see the bona fide qualities of a person whom he is going to initiate. An unworthy person should not be initiated. The spiritual master should train his disciple in such a way so that in the future only the Supreme Personality of Godhead will be the dearmost goal of his life.

SB Canto 4

SB 4.4.18, Translation:

Therefore I shall no longer bear this unworthy body, which has been received from you, who have blasphemed Lord Śiva. If someone has taken food which is poisonous, the best treatment is to vomit.

SB 4.4.30, Translation:

Dakṣa, who is so hardhearted that he is unworthy to be a brāhmaṇa, will gain extensive ill fame because of his offenses to his daughter, because of not having prevented her death, and because of his great envy of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

SB 4.4.30, Purport:

Satī tried her best to mitigate the misunderstanding between the son-in-law and the father-in-law by coming to her father's house, even without an invitation, and at that time Dakṣa should have received her, forgetting all past misunderstandings. But he was so hardhearted that he was unworthy to be called an Āryan or brāhmaṇa. Thus his ill fame still continues.

SB 4.22.45, Purport:

According to this arrangement, modern presidents, governors and chief executive officers are all unworthy of their posts because they are not conversant with Vedic administrative knowledge and they do not take direction from great saintly persons and brāhmaṇas. Because of his disobedience to the orders of the Vedas and the brāhmaṇas, King Vena, Pṛthu Mahārāja's father, was killed by the brāhmaṇas.

SB Canto 5

SB 5.8.16, Purport:

Bharata Mahārāja was very noble and exalted, and therefore when the deer was absent from him he thought himself unworthy to give it protection. Due to his attachment for the animal, he thought that the animal was as noble and exalted as he himself was. According to the logic of ātmavan manyate jagat, everyone thinks of others according to his own position. Therefore Mahārāja Bharata felt that the deer had left him due to his negligence and that due to the animal's noble heart, it would again return.

SB 5.26.20, Translation:

A man or woman who indulges in sexual intercourse with an unworthy member of the opposite sex is punished after death by the assistants of Yamarāja in the hell known as Taptasūrmi. There such men and women are beaten with whips. The man is forced to embrace a red-hot iron form of a woman, and the woman is forced to embrace a similar form of a man. Such is the punishment for illicit sex.

SB Canto 9

SB 9.14.28, Translation:

Urvaśī treated the two lambs like her own sons. Therefore, when they were being taken by the Gandharvas and began crying, Urvaśī heard them and rebuked her husband. "Now I am being killed," she said, "under the protection of an unworthy husband, who is a coward and a eunuch although he thinks himself a great hero.

SB Canto 10.1 to 10.13

SB 10.4.4, Translation:

Devakī helplessly, piteously appealed to Kaṁsa: My dear brother, all good fortune unto you. Don't kill this girl. She will be your daughter-in-law. Indeed, it is unworthy of you to kill a woman.

SB Cantos 10.14 to 12 (Translations Only)

SB 11.4.22, Translation:

To diminish the burden of the earth, the unborn Lord will take birth in the Yadu dynasty and perform feats impossible even for the demigods. Propounding speculative philosophy, the Lord, as Buddha, will bewilder the unworthy performers of Vedic sacrifices. And as Kalki the Lord will kill all the low-class men posing as rulers at the end of the age of Kali.

CC Madhya-lila

CC Madhya 6.147, Purport:

The great sages present the Purāṇas in order to make the Vedic mantras understandable for common men (strī-śūdra-dvija-bandhūnām (SB 1.4.25)). Considering that women, śūdras and dvija-bandhus (unworthy sons of the twice-born) cannot understand the Vedic hymns directly, Śrīla Vyāsadeva compiled the Mahābhārata.

Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures

Lecture on BG 3.17-20 -- New York, May 27, 1966:

Because woman class and less intelligent class, and these unworthy sons of the brāhmaṇas and kṣatriyas, they will not be able to understand the original Vedic literature, therefore it has been presented in a story form with historical facts so that they can understand. That was the origin of Mahābhārata.

Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures

Lecture on SB 2.3.19 -- Los Angeles, June 15, 1972:

So this is the position of Kali-yuga. Mlecchā rājanya-rūpiṇo bhakṣayiṣyanti prajās te. That is predicted in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, that in Kali-yuga the mlecchas, means the rejected from human society, such persons, rogues and fools and rascals, they will take the post of king. Rājanya-rūpiṇaḥ. They are unworthy to be kicked, but they will take the post of government.

1977 Conversations and Morning Walks

Evening Darsana -- May 9, 1977, Hrishikesh:

Prabhupāda: Trusteeship... Trustee... Who will be trustee? Who is trustworthy? All thieves and rogues? Who is trustworthy? Trustee is Kṛṣṇa.

Indian man (1): Or He's the owner.

Prabhupāda: Yes. So He's the owner, and if you follow Kṛṣṇa, then you become trustee. You do not follow Kṛṣṇa; you are unworthy of trusteeship. You interpret in a different way Kṛṣṇa. Even sometimes you say that "Kṛṣṇa is fictitious." Do you not do? Don't you say like that?

1967 Correspondence

Letter to Brahmananda -- Calcutta 11 November, 1967:

We do not require more men to start. If there is one sincere soul that is sufficient to start a new center. With this expectation I wanted to send Kirtanananda to London but he has proved himself unworthy. When I arrive in your state, I may ask Rayarama to go to London and your good self to Russia and Gargamuni to Holland. The incident created by Kirtanananda and Hayagriva may not disappoint us in the least. Let us remain sincere to Krishna and His bona fide representative and we are sure to carry out our mission successfully.

1970 Correspondence

Letter to Hayagriva -- Los Angeles 14 January, 1970:

So I accept you all as assistants or representatives of my Guru Maharaja Who is still helping me because I am so feeble and unworthy. Anyway, the business which we have taken to work together is neither your business nor my business as far we are personally concerned, but it is the business of Lord Caitanya and His bona fide servants like my Guru Maharaja.

Letter to Kirtanananda -- Los Angeles 6 May, 1970:

Actually I am the most unworthy servant of His Divine Grace because I delayed to execute His order by so many years. But it was better I began late than never, and therefore He has kindly sent to me so many young hearts to cooperate with me in this great Movement. Please therefore continue your good cooperation, and I am sure great things will happen without delay.

1972 Correspondence

Letter to Balavanta -- Ahmedabad 13 December, 1972:

In one stroke Krishna can finish them all. But you may get some relief in this connection if you can approach very carefully some leading members of the city government, or big, big men of the town, and convince them by your words and behavior that our devotees are not in any way unworthy persons, that in fact they have left their lives of criminals to try to turn others away from being criminals, and that if simply we get a little facility we can render immense service to the cause of law and order.

1975 Correspondence

Letter to Hamsaduta -- Dallas 29 July, 1975:

It is good to think that I am incomplete and useless. Actually Krishna is unlimited, and our energy is limited. Actually we cannot serve the unlimited, but Krishna's unlimited mercy induces us to serve, and He accepts. Actually we are unworthy. He is so kind that He accepts our little service as if it were very big and great.