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Vedanta (Conversations 1976 - 1977)

Expressions researched:
"vedanta" |"vedanta's" |"vedantas"

Notes from the compiler:

  • VedaBase query: vedanta* not "vedanta sutra*" not "vedanta philosop*"@3

Conversations and Morning Walks

1976 Conversations and Morning Walks

Morning Walk -- March 12, 1976, Mayapur:

Prabhupāda: Kṛṣṇa is seeing that, how everyone is ready to serve. Similarly, Kṛṣṇa-bhakta also sees how everyone is eager to serve Kṛṣṇa. (break) ...engage them rightly, that is leadership. Yes. Otherwise andhā yathāndhair upanīyamānāḥ (SB 7.5.31). As a blind leader is leading other blind men, this whole world is going on like that. They do not know how to properly lead the people. Misleaders. (break) ...grains, cows, all they should be very properly taken care of and the products offered to Kṛṣṇa. Everyone should be engaged as Kṛṣṇa's servant. That is Vṛndāvana. In Vṛndāvana everyone is engaged how to please Kṛṣṇa. That is Vṛndāvana. (break) ...business to study Vedānta. In Vṛndāvana life we see they were not interested to know what is Brahman. They were interested how to please Kṛṣṇa, how to see Kṛṣṇa smiling. That is Vṛndāvana. Huh? Is it not? From Vṛndāvana picture you see they are simply busy to see how Kṛṣṇa is smiling. They didn't care for studying. What they will study? They were all village girls born in the ordinary class, and they did not know. (break) That is the... Ārādhito yadi haris tapasā tataḥ kim: (Nārada Pañcarātra) "If Kṛṣṇa is served, then where is the necessity of tapasya?" No more tapasya. Tapasya is meant for the third-grade men to come to the stage of serving Kṛṣṇa. And one who is, with heart and soul is serving Kṛṣṇa, he has finished all tapasya. Tepus tapas te juhuvuḥ sasnur ārya (SB 3.33.7). They have already finished all this tapasya. Therefore they have come to this stage. Kṛta-punya-punjaḥ (SB 10.12.11). What is called? Piling.

Morning Walk -- March 13, 1976, Mayapur:

Satsvarūpa: "With all the books on Vedānta and bland neo-transcendentalism that are at present available to the English-speaking public, it is good to have on the popular market such an uncompromising statement of an opposing view from the pen of one who is as firmly rooted in a disciplic tradition, guru-paramparā, as Bhaktivedanta Swami."

Devotees: Haribol!

Ghanaśyāma: At this school, Śrīla Prabhupāda, they ordered two orders. They were so favorable, for their Theology Department Library and also for the main library, because there were so many professors like this one who were favorable, they wanted your books to be very easily accessible.

Devotee (1): This is the largest professor in Sanskrit in the whole United States, from Harvard University.

Satsvarūpa: Most distinguished of all men.

Ghanaśyāma: He never writes reviews for anyone, Śrīla Prabhupāda, but he wrote for you. He just refuses. He hides himself, you know.

Prabhupāda: What? Tell me. What does he say?

Morning Walk -- April 24, 1976, Melbourne:

Prabhupāda: Hm?

Guru-kṛpā: The jñānīs, they are trying to study Vedānta to find out what is the end. So that is better than being karmī.

Prabhupāda: Yes.

Guru-kṛpā: Even if they don't know the answer, they are trying to seek out.

Prabhupāda: No, their answer is there, merging with the Supreme.

Guru-kṛpā: But again they must come back. That's not complete liberation.

Prabhupāda: That means not complete knowledge.

Guru-kṛpā: So they have also stopped, ended in Brahman.

Prabhupāda: Āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ patanty adho 'nādṛta-yuṣmad-aṅghrayaḥ (SB 10.2.32).

Puṣṭa Kṛṣṇa: Practically, Śrīla Prabhupāda, we see that we're dealing mostly with karmīs, not with jñānīs, in our preaching work.

Prabhupāda: Yes.

Morning Walk -- June 7, 1976, Los Angeles:

Prabhupāda: Yes, first of all be rich man, then do all things, how you shall kick your wife. This is going on. Caitanya Mahāprabhu said that "My Guru Mahārāja found Me rascal number one; therefore he ordered, 'You cannot study Vedānta. You chant Hare Kṛṣṇa.' " They will not read this portion. That Caitanya Mahāprabhu, He posed Himself as a rascal.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: But they prefer to read about all the ecstatic symptoms on Caitanya Mahāprabhu's body

Prabhupāda: That's all right. That.... Be, first of all bona fide. That is good ambition. But how this good ambition can fulfill when you are a potter, poor man? Actually be rich, and then kick your wife. And without being rich, if you think all this nonsense, you're spoiling time. (japa)

Rāmeśvara: Śrīla Prabhupāda, some devotees, sometimes they feel that in ISKCON we're talking so much about the business of how to spread Kṛṣṇa consciousness, but we're not talking enough about Kṛṣṇa's pastimes, kṛṣṇa-kathā, they say. So that's another reason why they want to read all these pastimes.

Prabhupāda: Then let them read. What kind of kṛṣṇa-kathā? The kṛṣṇa-kathā test is as soon as he'll get the taste, he'll lose this taste. That is the.... What is this nonsense?

Room Conversation -- June 17, 1976, Toronto:

Jagadīśa: He's a...

Hari-śauri: From the Shivananda Yoga Vedanta Center. (laughs) He's going to lecture on the five basic aspects of yoga. Admission three dollars. (break)

Viśvakarmā: We're getting quite a few calls. Within the last two months four Indian people have come to me requesting that they can get married in the temple. I told them not...

Prabhupāda: No, we are not marriage company. We get married our students if there is necessity, but we don't.... Marriage means they will arrange their marriage in our temple.

Viśvakarmā: They arrange the marriage on their own; they have the ceremony here. And they pay some fee.

Jagadīśa: They don't even know..., they don't even know that the Deity is nondifferent from Kṛṣṇa.

Prabhupāda: Similar proposal was there in Montreal. Then it will become a business. They are not devotees. They have no good place to perform the marriage, they come here.

Interview with Professors O'Connell, Motilal and Shivaram -- June 18, 1976, Toronto:

Prabhupāda: So, it is actually bhāṣyāyāṁ brahma-sūtrāṇām. It is stated. This is the real commentary on Brahma-sūtra by Vyāsadeva himself, author. Vyāsadeva is the author of Brahma-sūtra, and he has written personally, under the instruction of his guru, Nārada Muni, this Brahma-sūtra-bhāṣya. And it begins with the Brahma-sūtra aphorism: janmādy asya yataḥ (SB 1.1.1). The Brahma-sūtra begins with these words: janmādya, athāto brahma jijñāsā. Janmādy asya yataḥ. So these things are explained elaborately. Therefore Brahma-sūtra-bhāṣya, bhāṣyāyāṁ brahma-sūtra. Vedārtha paribṛṁhita. So therefore in our Gauḍīya, Caitanya Mahāprabhu did not write any bhāṣya of the Brahma-sūtra, neither the gosvāmīs, because they took it that Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is the real bhāṣya of Brahma-sūtra. But when.... Sometimes the Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇavas are challenged that "You cannot be accepted as bona fide community, spiritual community, because you have no bhāṣya on Brahma-sūtra." Then Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa wrote govinda-bhāṣya. But Caitanya Mahāprabhu did not like or ask His disciples to write, because He thought, "This is the Gauḍīya, Brahma-sūtra-bhāṣya." Not Gauḍīya—for every Vaiṣṇava. Bhāṣyāyāṁ brahma-sūtrāṇām. So we have got now Gauḍīya Vedānta-bhāṣya. Rāmānuja Vedānta-bhāṣya is there. Madhvācārya Vedānta-bhāṣya is there, all. And Gauḍīya had not. But since this challenge was made in Jaipur, then Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa, he took: "Yes," and he finished, Gauḍīya bhāṣya, and it is called Govinda-bhāṣya. Actually, in India, unless one follows the ācāryas and has given commentary on the Brahma-sūtra, he's not a bona fide. Nyāya-prasthāna. Brahma-sūtra is called nyāya-prasthāna. Śruti-prasthāna, smṛti-prasthāna, nyāya-prasthāna. So any bona fide ācārya must give his understanding about these three prasthānas.

Garden Conversation -- June 23, 1976, New Vrindaban:

Prabhupāda: Āra nā koriha mane āśā. Don't concoct. Don't you sing daily? Āra nā koriha mane āśā. Don't manufacture ideas. That is dangerous. Caitanya Mahāprabhu teaches by His example. Guru more mūrkha dekhi' karilā śāsana (CC Adi 7.71). Caitanya Mahāprabhu said to Prakāśānanda Sarasvatī that "My spiritual master saw Me fool number one, so he has chastised Me, that 'Don't try to read Vedānta; chant Hare Kṛṣṇa.' So I'm doing." (motorcycle in background) Just hear. He has come to this turn. This sound is purposefully created? (motorbike going back and forth through much of the tape)

Kulādri: Yes, Śrīla Prabhupāda.

Prabhupāda: Just to show that he has a motorcycle? Or what is purpose?

Kulādri: They have given us trouble sometimes.

Prabhupāda: Demons.

Garden Conversation -- June 27, 1976, New Vrindaban:

Prabhupāda: Yes. No. Try to understand everything, but understanding Kṛṣṇa, you understand everything. Yasmin vijñāte sarvam eva vijñātaṁ bhavanti. And because you do not understand Kṛṣṇa, therefore you do not understand Brahman, you do not understand Paramātmā. But if you understand Kṛṣṇa, then it is automatically understood. We have not understood Brahman, Paramātmā, because we have not understood Kṛṣṇa properly. Kṛṣṇa says, aham sarvasya prabhavaḥ (BG 10.8), "I am the source of everything." So Brahman is also from Kṛṣṇa, Paramātmā is also from Kṛṣṇa. And so other Bhagavāns—there are so many Bhagavāns also—they are from Kṛṣṇa. So if you understand Kṛṣṇa you can understand everything. And as soon as you say that you have not understood it, therefore you have not understood Kṛṣṇa. They cannot understand, just like Māyāvādīs, they do not understand Kṛṣṇa, therefore they do not understand Brahman also. And therefore they fall down, because they have not understood either Brahman or Kṛṣṇa. Patanty adhaḥ. This is stated in the śāstra. Anādṛta-yuṣmad-aṅghrayaḥ, because they have not understood Kṛṣṇa, even they have gone up to the Brahman, they cannot stand there; they fall down. Again they come to the material world. The Māyāvādīs, they say, brahma satyma jagan mithyā, "Brahman is truth, and this material world is false." They take sannyāsa, but after some time they fall down, again take to other businesses than Brahman in the material world. Just like our Vivekananda. He came to the Western countries to preach Vedānta, and he has advertised that "Whole America has become Vedantist." The proof of Vedānta is when he returned to India he became very enthusiastic to open hospitals like the Christian missionaries. So if the material world is false, so why he's trying to open hospitals? Brahma satyaṁ jagan mithyā. Jagat is mithyā. So why in the mithyā platform he's taking credit by opening hospitals?

Answers to a Questionnaire from Bhavan's Journal -- June 28, 1976, Vrndavana:

Prabhupāda: Yes. Smṛti means... The Vedas are considered as, taken as śruti. But simply by hearing one cannot understand. Therefore smṛtis, they have explained. Purayati iti purāṇa. Complete. The Vedic mantra is not always understood. Just like the Vedānta mantra, janmādy asya yataḥ (SB 1.1.1). This is very short cut. But Bhāgavata explains, janmādy asya yataḥ anvayād itarataś ca artheṣu abhijñaḥ svarāṭ. Explanation. The smṛti is explanation. So either you take śruti or smṛti, subject matter is the same. But these are the evidences. Śruti-smṛti-purāṇādi-pāñcarātriki-vidhiṁ vinā (BRS 1.2.101). You cannot be purified or become actually God conscious without reference to the śruti-smṛti. We are pushing on this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement, it is not whimsically. It is based on śruti-smṛti-pāñcarātriki-vidhi. Therefore it is becoming effective.

Puṣṭa Kṛṣṇa: Is it necessary from time to time to change the smṛtis?

Prabhupāda: That cannot be changed.

Puṣṭa Kṛṣṇa: Smṛti cannot be changed?

Answers to a Questionnaire from Bhavan's Journal -- June 28, 1976, Vrndavana:

Prabhupāda: Hm. Yes. The Vedantists they have come from the impersonal explanation of Śaṅkarācārya. Śārīraka-bhāṣya. But they simply give stress on the Śārīraka-bhāṣya, but there are other bhāṣyas. Bhāṣyas means commentary. And the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is the natural commentary by the author himself. Besides that, there are Vedānta-bhāṣyas written by the Rāmānujācārya, Madhvācārya, Viṣṇu Svāmī, and all the Vaiṣṇava ācāryas. Unfortunately, they do not care to read all these Vedānta-bhāṣyas. They simply take Śārīraka-bhāṣya and become impersonalist and call themselves as Vedantist.

Puṣṭa Kṛṣṇa: What is the reason for that?

Prabhupāda: Reason means people do not know. They cheat. Suppose I present something, a misconception, and if there are others also who can speak something on the... There are two lawyers. One is speaking one point of law, another lawyer is speaking. So if you take one side only, then how you will understand? So they are simply reading this Śārīraka-bhāṣya. They are not reading other bhāṣyas, just like the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, which is natural. And they are cheating people. That's all. Why there are two lawyers? Two opposite parties, there are two lawyers. One lawyer says this law is like this, and the other party says, "No, it is this."

Answers to a Questionnaire from Bhavan's Journal -- June 28, 1976, Vrndavana:

Prabhupāda: Vedaiś ca sarvair aham eva vedyo vedānta-krd veda-vid eva cāham. Read it?

Hari-śauri:

sarvasya cāham hṛdi sanniviṣṭo
mattaḥ smṛtir jñānam apohanaṁ ca
vedaiś ca sarvair aham eva vedyo
vedānta-kṛd veda-vid eva cāham
(BG 15.15)

Prabhupāda: Vedānta-kṛd, I am the compiler of Vedānta. Why these rascals do not take who compiled Vedānta? Vyāsadeva is the incarnation of God. He compiled Vedānta. Why he does not take the original Vedantist. Here it is clearly stated, vedānta-kṛd. Read the purport.

Hari-śauri: "Translation: I am seated in everyone's heart and from Me comes remembrance, knowledge and forgetfulness. By all the Vedas am I to be known. Indeed, I am the compiler of Vedānta and I am the knower of the Vedas."

Answers to a Questionnaire from Bhavan's Journal -- June 28, 1976, Vrndavana:

Prabhupāda: So they do not go to the compiler of Vedānta. They go to a rascal. How they will understand Vedānta? Suppose I have written this book. If you cannot understand something, if you come directly to me, that is real. Why do you go to a rascal who has nothing to do with this book? If some rascal claims that "I am Vedanti," so your description should... Why shall I not go to the real compiler of Vedānta. Why shall I go to a rascal? That means they are rascals. They are being cheated. Let them take to Bhagavad-gītā and let them take to Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. They will understand Vedānta. They're real Vedantist. But these rascals, they're avoiding Bhagavad-gītā and avoiding Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam and claiming themselves as Vedantist. So if you go to a cheater you'll be cheated. That is your business. Read the purport.

Hari-śauri: "The Supreme Lord is situated as Paramātmā in everyone's heart and it is from Him that all activities are initiated. The living entity forgets everything of his past life, but he has to act according to the direction of the Supreme Lord, who is witness to all his work. Therefore he begins his work according to his past deeds. Required knowledge is supplied to him and remembrance is given to him and he forgets also about his past life. Thus the Lord is not only all-pervading, He is also localized in every individual heart. He awards the different fruitive results.

Answers to a Questionnaire from Bhavan's Journal -- June 28, 1976, Vrndavana:

Prabhupāda: He clearly says, vedānta-kṛd. "I am the compiler of..." So why one should go to learn Vedānta from others?

Puṣṭa Kṛṣṇa: How does bhakti tie into the Vedantic, the conclusion of Vedantic knowledge or wisdom? He says here that bhakti is the most suitable and easiest path of God realization. This is proclaimed, but the Vedantic teachings... He says in the Vedantic teaching the stress is on jñāna. Is that a fact?

Prabhupāda: Jñāna, what is jñāna? Jñāna means... That is explained in the Bhagavad-gītā: bahūnāṁ janmanām ante jñānavān māṁ prapadyate (BG 7.19). So unless one surrenders to Kṛṣṇa, there is no jñāna. This is all nonsense. And they're passing as jñāna. There is no knowledge at all. Vedānta means the ultimate knowledge. So ultimate knowledge, the subject matter of ultimate knowledge is Kṛṣṇa, God.

Room Conversation -- July 1, 1976, New Vrindaban:

Prabhupāda: They do not know what is bhakti, what is Vedānta. They do not know. Simply aspiring, all after women and money, that's all. First-class rogues. I know all of them, all first-class rogues, after money and women. Beginning from Vivekananda. But they are so popular, if you say openly... Satyam bruhet ma bruhet satyam apriyam(?). "You can speak truth, but don't speak which is unpalatable." But we speak in a different way. And directly we don't speak. People will be angry. They're already fools and rascals.

Puṣṭa Kṛṣṇa: All of the others are trying to make some compromise.

Prabhupāda: That is also bad. How we can make compromise? Here is gold, here is iron, how you can compromise? Can we accept iron as gold? All right, let us accept. (laughs) Where is the possibility?

Hari-śauri: They don't see that clearly. They are looking at their iron and thinking it's gold.

Room Conversation -- July 1, 1976, New Vrindaban:

Prabhupāda: They are seeing... They're tested. I don't make any compromise. All my speaking is also no compromise. Here is guru, here is Kṛṣṇa, here is God, here is Vedānta. Real version they neglect, and they stick to the rascal's version, Śaṅkara's version, Śārīraka-bhāṣya. All over India, they are reading Śārīraka-bhāṣya.

Hari-śauri: Rāmānujācārya is very well known in India, so why don't they read his commentary?

Prabhupāda: They hate Rāmānujācārya because he's Vaiṣṇava.

Hari-śauri: Because he doesn't allow them to speculate.

Prabhupāda: He is very strict. He is a stubborn enemy of Śaṅkarācārya. All the Vaiṣṇava ācāryas. Caitanya Mahāprabhu said, declare it: māyāvādi-bhāṣya śunile haya sarva-nāśa (CC Madhya 6.169). If you hear the interpretation of Māyāvādīs, then you are doomed. You have no hope for spiritual advancement. This is the statement. Māyāvādi-bhāṣya śunile haya sarva-nāśa. Finished, your spiritual life is finished. You can write this also, that Caitanya Mahāprabhu's instruction is strictly to avoid the so-called Vedantists.

Room Conversation -- July 1, 1976, New Vrindaban:

Prabhupāda: And people, leaders of India, they are thinking, "Where is this Vedantist?" In foreign countries, what is their position?

Hari-śauri: Somehow or other, they seem to think that the Vedānta is something better than any of the other śāstra. Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam doesn't seem to be so popular in India as Vedānta or something like that.

Prabhupāda: It is very popular amongst the Māyāvāda people. You speak also... Now the so-called Vedantists they are speaking on Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, distorting. Akhoyananda, Akandananda, Karpatri, the rascals. Because they have no subject matter to speak, they are distorting the meaning of Bhāgavata. This boy appears to be nice, this fat boy.

Puṣṭa Kṛṣṇa: Yes. Kīrtanānanda said he's the only local boy who has taken interest. He's from hereabouts.

Prabhupāda: He said that "I've wanted to see you since a long time." So, keep friendship with... Giving them prasādam?

Puṣṭa Kṛṣṇa: Kīrtanānanda Swami cut up some watermelon, and we distributed it to the guests.

Puṣṭa Kṛṣṇa: Śrīla Prabhupāda, shall I lock this up?

'Life Comes From Life' Slideshow Discussions -- July 3, 1976, Washington, D.C.:

Hari-śauri:

sarvasya cāhaṁ hṛdi sanniviṣṭo
mattaḥ smṛtir jñānam apohanaṁ ca
vedaiś ca sarvair aham eva vedyo
vedānta-kṛd veda-vid eva cāham
(BG 15.15)

"I am seated in everyone's heart, and from Me come remembrance, knowledge and forgetfulness. By all the Vedas am I to be known; indeed, I am the compiler of the Vedānta, and I am the knower of the Vedas."

Prabhupāda: So you are searching, you are surprised how this direction is coming. Here is the answer, mattaḥ, "from Me." The answer is there.

Sadāpūta: A comparison can be made with things like this, and, say, a computerized factory. A computerized factory, there has to be direction all the time, or else it breaks down.

Prabhupāda: Yes, that direction is coming from Kṛṣṇa. He is all-perfect.

Svarūpa Dāmodara: The instructions are given so vividly here, that first there is called the initiation step. It has to get specific information coded in this, they are called bases, and now, then it elongates, and then finally it's called stop signal. There's some message coming that "You stop right there." And if there is some mistake or something wrong along the path, then there will be a correction signal: "You made a mistake, so correct there." This type of...

Morning Walk -- July 4, 1976, Washington, D.C.:

Svarūpa Dāmodara: But it seems to me they are not so much interested. There was a man who came from Calcutta about two months ago, a Bengali, and in fact we were class friends in Calcutta when I was studying in Calcutta. And I discussed this problem with him, why so-called Bengali intellectuals are not attracted to our movement. And his answer was that the Caitanya movement was mostly for less intellectuals. For those who are educated, they want to be followers of Ramakrishna and Vivekananda. In fact, they have a society called Vedanta Society. All the Bengalis get together...

Prabhupāda: And waste their time. The rascals waste their time.

Svarūpa Dāmodara: And they discuss... So I was a little mad at him, this friend.

Prabhupāda: Because the real fact is they do not want to give up meat-eating and fish-eating. Therefore they like Vivekananda. That is the real reason. And Caitanya Mahāprabhu's movement, Vaiṣṇava, they have to give up so many things. That is the disease of the Bengalis. And Vivekananda is recognized only in Bengal. To some part, not all.

Vipina: There is also a small Vedanta Society here in Washington. I had one of our Indian associates, whom I hope you will be able to meet, go there, and he said they could not even discuss the topics of Bhagavad-gītā. They had no conclusions, they were arguing in their own meeting, and no one had any idea what Bhagavad-gītā was, and so many technical points.

Conversation with Prof. Saligram and Dr. Sukla -- July 5, 1976, Washington, D.C.:

Devotee (1): The Vedanta Society was formed...

Prabhupāda: No, no, the other day we spoke that... Now in Vṛndāvana, you know we have got our temple. So the Ramakrishna Mission, they have got their temple also. In our temple, thousands and thousands of these Americans came, and not a single one went here. If they had preached anything, then why these American boys and girls are not interested, "Let us see where the Ramakrishna Mission stays." They do not know even. There are many present here who went to Vṛndāvana, and none of them were interested to see. Why? lf there was any propaganda... This is practical proof. Why none of them were interested, "Oh, here is also Ramakrishna Mandir, let us go here"? Nobody. Is it practical?

Guest: Yes, of course. Of course, even in India I don't think Vivekananda is that popular.

Dr. Sukla: Within one period, people who probably just had no good books to read, and they got some of his writings. I know my father brought some books and...

Prabhupāda: So where is your home?

Conversation with Prof. Saligram and Dr. Sukla -- July 5, 1976, Washington, D.C.:

Prabhupāda: In India they know, everyone. They observe Janmāṣṭamī.

Dr. Sukla: Kṛṣṇa paraṁ bhajami. In India everybody knows Kṛṣṇa, even the illiterate person, but nobody knows Vivekananda. Only a few people, they started a Vedanta Society. Of course Veda is a very serious literature, it's not just anybody can get into that, it's a very, it's a disciplic...

Prabhupāda: Brahma-sūtra-padaiś caiva hetumādbhir viniścitaiḥ (BG 13.5). Very.... Nyāya-praṣṭhāna. But Vedānta-sūtra is explained in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Therefore our Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇavas, they did not write any comment on the Vedānta-sūtra. They accept Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is the real bhāṣya. But when the Gauḍīya-Vaiṣṇavas are challenged that "You have no Vedānta-sūtra-bhāṣya, therefore you cannot be accepted as transcendental party," so Baladeva Vidyābhūṣana immediately gave Govinda-bhāṣya on Vedānta. Our Gosvāmīs, they did not write because they knew Brahma-sūtra bhāṣya, Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.

Indian devotee: Śrīla Prabhupāda, I was also a victim of this Vivekananda philosophy for a long time, and my father was very against.

Prabhupāda: What is the philosophy?

Conversation with Prof. Saligram and Dr. Sukla -- July 5, 1976, Washington, D.C.:

Prabhupāda: Otherwise how Kṛṣṇa says, vedaiś ca sarvair aham eva vedyam (BG 15.15)?

Guest (3): The Māyāvādīs say that Vedānta is impersonal, and (indistinct) Vedānta...

Prabhupāda: You do not know what is Vedānta. (indistinct) In the beginning of Vedānta, athāto brahma jijñāsā. "Now try to inquire about this Supreme, (indistinct) Brahman." The next verse is janmādy asya yataḥ (SB 1.1.1), Brahman is there, from whom everything emanates. So now, what is that thing from which everything emanates? What is the nature of that thing? That is explained in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Bhāgavatam is the real explanation of Veda. Brahma-sūtra, (indistinct) mahasyam brahma-sūtrānāṁ vedasya parividyatam (?), this Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, vedasya parividyatam, (indistinct) avyayam, brahma-sūtrasya (?) uvaca, by Vyāsadeva himself. Vyāsadeva is the writer of Vedānta-sūtra, so he's writing himself under the instruction of Nārada. So to understand Vedānta, you have to study Bhāgavatam. He's explained janmādy asya (SB 1.1.1). Brahman is the original source of everything. Janmādy asya yataḥ. So what is the nature? Janmādy asya yataḥ anvayād itarataś ca... (end)

Evening Darsana -- July 7, 1976, Washington, D.C.:

Prabhupāda: Perfection of knowledge means to understand God. That is perfection of knowledge. Otherwise, it is imperfect knowledge. Therefore it is called Vedānta. Veda means knowledge. (more people enter)

Vṛṣākapi: This is Bill Sauer. He wrote this book, The Fourth Kingdom.

Prabhupāda: Fourth kingdom? What is the idea?

Vṛṣākapi: The idea is that the goal of life should be to...

Bill Sauer: To put people on other planets.

Vṛṣākapi: Put people on other planets, so that the race can survive.

Bill Sauer: So that all of life can survive.

Vṛṣākapi: So that all of life can survive.

Prabhupāda: That is stated in the Bhagavad-gītā:

Evening Darsana -- July 11, 1976, New York:

Prabhupāda: Charges four things, He wants: to always think of Him, become His devotee, worship Him, mad-yājī, and offer obeisances unto Him. Therefore this temple is there. These four things can be done even by the child. So why don't you do it? And the guarantee is that if anyone does like that, he goes back to home, back to Godhead. Every one of you should come to the temple, always think of the Deity, and if possible chant His holy name and offer Him some worship and obeisances. That will make you perfect. New York is such a big city, there are so many Indians, they should come. Where is the difficulty, to become a thinker of Kṛṣṇa, always thinking, man-manā? The Deity is there. As soon as you come, you get some impression of the Deity. So if you think of the Deity, where is the difficulty? (Hindi) Can anyone say that there is difficulty in thinking of Kṛṣṇa? And as soon as you think of Kṛṣṇa, you become a devotee, immediately. And as soon as you become a devotee, you'll offer something for worship. And at the end of worship, you offer your obeisances. There is no need of education or Vedānta knowledge. Vedānta knowledge means this, man-manā bhava mad-bhakto mad-yājī māṁ namaskuru (BG 18.65). Four things. Anyone can do. And practically see. These foreigners, ten years, five years ago they did not know what is Kṛṣṇa, and because they are following this man-manā bhava mad-bhaktaḥ, they are now advanced devotees. So why Indians are lacking? Hmm? What is the objection?

Room Conversation -- August 8, 1976, Tehran:

Prabhupāda: Yes. The more you become eager to know God, God will reveal Himself. From our side, we should not be stereotyped. People in different sects of religion, they say, "We believe." But they do not want to go further than they believe. That is very difficult. You must be dynamic and progressive, then you will have. I have talked with many sects, especially Christian priests. They will say "We believe," no more further than that. So knowledge is not like that. Knowledge must be progressive. "We believe there is no soul of the animal"—bas, fixed up. You believe like a rascal, so I shall remain rascal. What is this? We should be progressive. That is wanted. Of course, in the lower stage one may have a type of belief, but if you want more clearly, you must be progressive. According to Vedānta system, the life, human life, is only for inquiring about Brahman. Athāto brahma jijñāsā. We shall talk again.

Ātreya Ṛṣi: Jaya Śrīla Prabhupāda.

Evening Darsana -- August 9, 1976, Tehran:

Prabhupāda: The Supreme Being, the Supreme Self, is situated in everyone's heart. That is being explained. Go on.

Hari-śauri: "By all the Vedas am I to be known; indeed, I am the compiler of Vedānta, and I am the knower of the Vedas." Purport?

Prabhupāda: Yes, purport. Yes.

Hari-śauri: Purport: "The Supreme Lord is situated as Paramātmā in everyone's heart, and it is from Him that all activities are initiated. The living entity forgets everything of his past life, but he has to act according to the direction of the Supreme Lord, who is witness to all his work. Therefore he begins his work according to his past deeds. Required knowledge is supplied to him, and remembrance is given to him, and he forgets, also, about his past life. Thus, the Lord is not only all-pervading; He is also localized in every individual heart. He awards the different fruitive results. He is not only worshipable as the impersonal Brahman, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and the localized Paramātmā, but as the form of the incarnation of the Vedas as well. The Vedas given the right direction to the people so that they can properly mold their lives and come back to Godhead, back to home. The Vedas offer knowledge of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa, and Kṛṣṇa in His incarnation as Vyāsadeva is the compiler of the Vedānta-sūtra.

Press Interview at Muthilal Rao's House -- August 17, 1976, Hyderabad:

Prabhupāda: It is not exactly religious. You have taken by it because we misunderstand the meaning of religion. Religion generally understood as a kind of cult and faith. But in the Vedic literature, religion means the characteristic. Just like sugar is sweet, that is its religion. If sugar becomes pungent, that is not sugar's characteristic. Similarly, a human being must be God conscious. So that God consciousness is religion. Because in the human form of life one can understand what is God, and if he does not become, he remains an animal. Animal cannot understand. So therefore his business is how to athāto brahma jijñāsā. This is not our manufactured word, this is the Vedānta words. Atha, now we have got this human form body, based on that transmigration of the soul after millions and millions of years, bahūnāṁ janmanām ante (BG 7.19), you have got this human form of life, now it is your business to inquire about the Absolute Truth. This is the business of human life. And āhāra-nidra-bhaya-maithuna, how to eat, how to sleep, how to enjoy sex life and how to defend, that is animal business. If you remain busy with these four principles of bodily necessities of life, āhāra-nidra-bhaya-maithuna, then you remain on he animal platform. Beyond that, when you inquire about God, that is human life. Athāto brahma jijñāsā. So we are trying to raise him from this animal life to human life. This is our business.

Interviewer (3): So you help people inquire God.

Room Conversation -- August 21, 1976, Hyderabad:

Prabhupāda: Bluffer? Our Tīrtha Mahārāja's Caitanya Research Institute. Here is an Indian Institute for... What is that? Bon Mahārāja's? Institute for Indian Culture and Philosophy. But where is your book? You have seen that Tīrtha Mahārāja's one book? The Vedānta as Caitanya Has Seen, like that. And he has given a picture of himself with effulgence on his head. You have seen that?

Gargamuni: No, I have not seen that one. In all the mandiras where his picture is there, they have all the ācāryas' pictures, but only his picture has the effulgence.

Prabhupāda: Such a rascal. He has given Prabhupāda's picture, no effulgence. His picture, effulgence. He's such a rascal. Publicly he's showing.

Jayapatākā: But unfortunately that had to be painted in. He could not just show...

Gargamuni: There's no natural...

Prabhupāda: Could not illuminate. Remain in darkness. Effulgence in darkness. And such a shameless man. He is giving effulgence in the picture. (break)

Gargamuni: ...see that this society is replacing the Ramakrishna Mission there.

Prabhupāda: Huh?

Room Conversation with Endowments Commissioner of Andhra Pradesh -- August 22, 1976, Hyderabad:

Prabhupāda: There may be some percentage. If you do not accept the recognized process... Just like Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Caitanya Mahāprabhu, He was a great scholar. So He was chanting and dancing. So some of the sannyāsīs, Māyāvādī sannyāsīs in Benares... (to servant:) You keep it there, they will take. There was a meeting, and the question was that "You are a sannyāsī..." This question was put to Caitanya Mahāprabhu, that "You have taken sannyāsa, you do not read Vedānta, and you are mixing with the sentimental persons, chanting and dancing. What is this?" This was the question. So He explained that, "Yes, My Guru Mahārāja found Me a great rascal." Guru more mūrkha dekhi' karila śāsana (CC Adi 7.71). You understand Bengali? No. "My Guru Mahārāja saw Me a rascal number one. Therefore he has chastised Me." What is that? Guru more mūrkha dekhi' karila śāsana. "He has said that 'You are rascal, you cannot read Vedas and Vedānta. You are rascal. You chant Hare Kṛṣṇa.' So I'm doing that."

Commissioner: Chanting, yes. Yes.

Room Conversation with Endowments Commissioner of Andhra Pradesh -- August 22, 1976, Hyderabad:

Prabhupāda: So He's Kṛṣṇa Himself. He's neither rascal nor fool. But He represented the rascal and fools that who will read Vedānta. Everyone is after this Veda. No student will come to study Vedānta. That is not possible in this age. You see? Maybe somebody interested, but generally they'll not come. Even if one is born in the brāhmaṇa family, he is no more interested.

Commissioner: May I submit, Swamiji, therefore what we did was, these three hundred people, if they chant, three hundred rupees for a dāna-paṭha,(?) and two hundred rupees for him and a hundred rupees a...

Prabhupāda: No, no, brāhmaṇa, why he will take money?

Commissioner: It is, no, we are giving it as dakṣiṇā.

Prabhupāda: No, dakṣiṇā. But they are chanting in exchange of dakṣiṇā. Because you are giving dakṣiṇā, therefore they are chanting. And you stop that dakṣiṇā, nobody will come.

Commissioner: True. You are correct. (laughs) That we have told them. If they teach their own children, hundred rupees for him for teaching, forty rupees for a child who learns.

Prabhupāda: That they will do, but when the hundred rupees will not be sufficient, they'll give up.

Room Conversation with Pandita from Tirupati and Government Minister -- August 24, 1976, Hyderabad:

Paṇḍita: So until the father makes one (indistinct) of Śrī Vaiṣṇava... And the śaraṇāgati makes them assured of mukti. So kṛta-kṛtya. Now, the later part of life, (Sanskrit). (Hindi)... of Rāmānuja school. This Rāmānuja school has been fortified by his works, so many works on Vedānta, like (Sanskrit names of books) These are all the major Vedānta works he has composed. All these works I have sat before a guru and studied for eight years at Śrī Raṅgam. My ācārya has been a great scholar in Vedānta and tarka, who was lecturer in...

Prabhupāda: I know, Rāmānuja sampradāya, they are very learned scholars. I know that.

Paṇḍita: And they are very particular about ācaraṇas also, more than...

Prabhupāda: Sadācāra.

Paṇḍita: Ha. Sadācāra.

Prabhupāda: Yes.

Paṇḍita: And I have been given guidance by these ācāryas to stick to this paramparā sampradāya ācāra. So I belong to this sahogala(?) order. I have taken initiation from this guru, as well as Vedantic knowledge from another guru. I am practicing my ācāra, sampradāya ācāra very strictly in that order. As far as I see, there is... Without disturbing this set-up, I can do service, I think. Is it not?

Room Conversation with Pandita from Tirupati and Government Minister -- August 24, 1976, Hyderabad:

Paṇḍita: Now, this Bhagavad-gītā, this Śrī Bhāṣya of Rāmānuja, and commentary on which is Śruta-prakāśikā, composed by one Sudarśana Suri... He was later, about hundred years later than Rāmānuja. He has commented on Śrī Bhāṣya. These works are the standard works, for (indistinct). Actually it is the foundation over which the superstructure is constructed by Vedānta-deśika.

Prabhupāda: You see, we have got different philosophical... Ultimately the conclusion is how to surrender to Kṛṣṇa.

Paṇḍita: That is it.

Prabhupāda: So the Western countries, their brain is not so sharp to clearly understand the difference between viśiṣṭādvaita, advaita-dvaita, dvaitādvaita, or advaita. (laughs) Their brain does not allow to think very deeply about... So we are simply teaching them, man-manā bhava mad-bhakto mad-yājī māṁ namaskuru (BG 18.65). That includes all philosophy. In this way we are preaching all over the world and there is little response. We are selling our books very nicely. So our main purpose is to spread Kṛṣṇa consciousness. That is our main... So what is your idea now. How you want to utilize your learning about Vaiṣṇava philosophy? Yes. Yes. How you want to do it?

Room Conversation with Pandita from Tirupati and Government Minister -- August 24, 1976, Hyderabad:

Prabhupāda: They have no idea.

Paṇḍita: No facility. So I left there. I came all the way, decided to select a place for myself. After touring Mathurā, Vṛndāvana, all these places, Kāśī, I came to Lucknow. In Lucknow Ramakrishna Mission I had been to. There was one Gauda Shivananda. He discussed with me, and he directed me to Calcutta. Then I went to Calcutta, and when I went to Calcutta, that Swami Gambhirananda, who is the general secretary now, was there. He asked me to join the Mission. I joined Ramakrishna Mission. I was in Ramakrishna Mission in Calcutta for one year. And I was taking care of their printing section, this proof-reading, editing, etc., Ramakrishna Vivekananda literature for one year. But still, my idea of going to the original texts of this Vedānta commentary etc., was not fulfilled. So I was not satisfied. Then I left that Ramakrishna Mission and traveled all the way from Calcutta to Kerala. There is another āśrama at Kerala, Parlika near Trichu, where there was one Swami Purnananda Tirtha who used to come to Bombay every year for giving lectures. So I went to his āśrama. I knew of that. And there I started studying this Śaṅkara Bhāṣya, Gītā Bhāṣya and Sūtra Bhāṣya for six months under one Swami Atmananda, who is no more, who has written Śaṅkara's words, the words, in his own words, teachings in his own words. Bhavan's Journal has published and the four yogas and so on and so forth, such books. He was a disciple of Swami Ramadasa of Kanaiḥ. So after six months that was also not satisfying to me. I then came to Śrī Raṅgam.

Room Conversation with Pandita from Tirupati and Government Minister -- August 24, 1976, Hyderabad:

Prabhupāda: There I went to a Vaiṣṇava ācārya. He said, first you equip yourself with the fundamental śāstras of tarka, vyakāraṇa, and mīmāṁsā. Then come to Vedānta. Then, later on, in Sanskrit College I went and studied for two and a half years this fundamentals of Vedānta, tarka, vyakāraṇa, mīmāṁsā, and then I came to Śrī Raṅgam back and studied Vedānta. There for eight years I studied Vedānta. Say in all twelve years. Ten years. Another two years... I have been in Tirupati for the past two years, specializing in the higher texts of Mīmāṁsā. (pause)

Prabhupāda: Then?

Paṇḍita: So this is how for the past twelve years I have been going in search of this sources from where I can get all this knowledge, and after much roaming about, I have got this knowledge. So I would like to put it to proper use. I would like to teach it to so many people who are interested in it. At least...

Prabhupāda: So that opportunity you'll get in our mission.

Paṇḍita: That is how I want to serve.

Prabhupāda: That opportunity you'll get. So now give him some resting place just now. And you take some of our books and go on. Then, after taking my meals, I shall come.

Hari-śauri: Śrīla Prabhupāda, this Minister Rao, he's just arrived.

Prabhupāda: Just now? So...

Room Conversation (Bullock Cart SKP) -- September 12, 1976, Vrndavana:

Prabhupāda: That's all... But what is that great? What is God you do not know. We know. Kṛṣṇa says, mattaḥ parataraṁ nānyat kiñcid asti dhanañjaya (BG 7.7). There is no more greater principle than Me. That is great. How you are great? Aham ādir hi devānām (Bg 10.2). "I am the origin of all the demigods." Next how you are great? Ahaṁ sarvasya prabhavo mattaḥ sarvaṁ pravartate (BG 10.8). This is their ignorance. They have simply heard God is great, but how He is great, that they do not know. Here is the... God is personally speaking, "Yes, I am great in this way." Ahaṁ sarvasya. Vedānta says janmādy asya yataḥ (SB 1.1.1). That is greatness. The original source of everything. So we are presenting God, "Here is God." Kṛṣṇas tu bhagavān svayam. Ete cāṁśa-kalāḥ puṁsaḥ (SB 1.3.28). There are other incarnations, but kṛṣṇas tu bhagavān svayam. That's a fact. So try to present the real fact. It will be effective. If there is real reality, just like first class pure ghee... If one tastes, he'll hanker after. Without any advertisement, by the taste of the ghee, it will go on. Is it not? If you put little pure ghee on the rice, it will be so tasteful, that he'll want it again. But give the pure thing. Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Try to give Him to the people. And how to take it? Hare Kṛṣṇa. He hasn't got to pay anything. God has given him the tongue. Induce him, chant Hare Kṛṣṇa. And that is the beginning. Sevonmukhe hi jihvādau (Brs. 1.2.234). It begins from the jihvā.

Letter to Sai Baba -- September 13, 1976, Vrndavana:

Pradyumna: "Those who are worshipers of demigods have been described as less intelligent persons, and here the impersonalists are similarly described. Lord Kṛṣṇa in His personal form is here speaking before Arjuna, and still, due to ignorance, impersonalists argue that the Supreme Lord ultimately has no form. Yāmunācārya, a great devotee of the Lord in the disciplic succession from Rāmānujācārya, has written two very appropriate verses in this connection. He says, 'My dear Lord, devotees like Vyāsadeva and Nārada know You to be the Personality of Godhead. By understanding different Vedic literatures, one can come to know Your characteristics, Your form and Your activities, and one can thus understand that You are the Supreme Personality of Godhead. But those who are in the modes of passion and ignorance, the demons, the nondevotees, cannot understand You. They are unable to understand You. However expert such nondevotees may be in discussing Vedānta and the Upaniṣads and other Vedic literatures, it is not possible for them to understand the Personality of Godhead.' In the Brahma-saṁhitā it is stated that the Personality of Godhead cannot be understood simply by study of the Vedānta literature. Only by the mercy of the Supreme Lord can the Personality of the Supreme be known. Therefore in this verse it is clearly stated that not only the worshipers of the demigods are less intelligent, but those nondevotees who are engaged in Vedānta and speculation on Vedic literature..."

Prabhupāda: You can give up to that Yāmunācārya's quotation. What you have written.

Pradyumna: So far? Everything? Or just... Only, is one's word only...

Prabhupāda: What you have written.

Letter to Sai Baba -- September 13, 1976, Vrndavana:

Prabhupāda: You can bring here. Then?

Pradyumna: So this quote goes on. "But those who in the modes of passion and ignorance, the demons, the nondevotees, cannot understand You. They are unable to understand You. However expert such nondevotees may be in discussing the Vedānta and the Upaniṣads and other Vedic literatures, it is not possible for them to understand the Personality of Godhead."

Prabhupāda: So in this connection, the statement of Bhāgavatam, is especially important. Brahmeti paramātmeti bhagavān iti śabdyate (SB 1.2.11). Brahman is impersonal, Paramātmā is localized, and Bhagavān is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The Supreme Personality of Godhead...

Pradyumna: Brahman is the impersonal.

Prabhupāda: Brahman is impersonal. Not "the." Paramātmā is localized, and Bhagavān is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. When Arjuna understood Kṛṣṇa after hearing Bhagavad-gītā, he addressed Kṛṣṇa as follows. Quote this, paraṁ brahma paraṁ dhāma (BG 10.12). Find out. No. Find out in the book.

Morning Walk and Room Conversation -- December 26, 1976, Bombay:

Prabhupāda: No, He... Nirākāra is there. So far His management power is going on, that is nirākāra. But that nirākāra does not mean that I am also nirākāra. That is the defect. The Supreme Person, it is confirmed by the śāstra. The Absolute Truth is person ultimately.

vadanti tat tattva-vidas
tattvaṁ yaj jñānam advayam
brahmeti paramātmeti
bhagavān iti śabdyate
(SB 1.2.11)

So those who are simply captivated by the Brahman, nirākāra, they are in the, just in the beginning of knowledge. Their knowledge is not perfect. That is not Vedānta. That is knowledge, but it is not anta. And Vedānta means the ultimate knowledge. And that is explained in the Bhagavad-gītā. Vedaiś ca sarvair aham eva vedyaḥ (BG 15.15). If one does not know Kṛṣṇa, he's not a Vedāntist. That is my point . He does not know what is Vedānta. The veda-anta means Kṛṣṇa. Anta means the last word. The last word is brahmeti paramātmeti bhagavān iti śabdyate. Bhagavān. Unless one goes to the Supreme Lord Bhagavān, Kṛṣṇa, he's not a Vedāntist. That is my point. Veda means knowledge.

Morning Walk and Room Conversation -- December 26, 1976, Bombay:

Prabhupāda: That's all right. One who says... We are studying from our common sense. Veda means knowledge and anta means the last. And Kṛṣṇa says, vedaiś ca sarvair aham eva vedyaḥ (BG 15.15). So unless you know Kṛṣṇa, there is no question of Vedānta. There may be Veda...

Guest (4): Knowledge.

Prabhupāda: Ha, knowledge. But that is not the ultimate knowledge. The ultimate knowledge will come when you surrender to Kṛṣṇa. That is said in the Bhagavad-gītā. Bahūnāṁ janmanām ante (BG 7.19). Therefore all these so-called Vedāntists, they will have to wait for many millions of years to understand Kṛṣṇa. That is the position. Bahūnāṁ janmanām ante. And if he's actually in knowledge, bahūnāṁ janmanām ante jñānavān māṁ prapadyate (BG 7.19). That is the sign. Vāsudevaḥ sarvam iti sa mahātmā sudurlabhaḥ (BG 7.19). That is wanted. So Vedāntist, so-called Vedāntist, we do not approve them because they have not come to the ultimate point of knowledge. This is clear. Veda means knowledge, anta, anta means the last point. So unless you come to that last point of knowledge, that is not Vedānta. That may be Veda, but it is not Vedānta. Vedānta means māṁ prapadyate. Now, whether you approve these statements? Vedānta means to know Kṛṣṇa. Vedaiś ca sarvair aham eva vedyo vedānta-kṛd veda-vid ca aham.

Morning Walk and Room Conversation -- December 26, 1976, Bombay:

Prabhupāda: Yes, He is the... So He can speak what is Vedānta. And unless one accepts this Vedānta, he's not a Vedāntist. Therefore some of our Vaiṣṇava friends, they have given me this title, Bhaktivedanta. In 1947, something, they, purposefully, they gave me the title that Vedānta means bhakti. "So you take this title, Bhaktivedanta." And we are preaching this Vedānta, that the ultimate platform of Veda, knowledge, is to understand Kṛṣṇa. Vāsudevaḥ sarvam iti (BG 7.19). Aham ādir hi devānām (Bg 10.2). Ahaṁ sarvasya prabhavo mattaḥ sarvaṁ pravartate (BG 10.8). Mattaḥ parataraṁ nānyat kiñcid asti dhanañjaya (BG 7.7). So he's person, he's speaking. So not that the Māyāvādīs, they take that paratattva is the nirākāra-brahman. But that is not paratattva. Here the person says mattaḥ parataraṁ nānyat kiñcid asti dhanañjaya (BG 7.7). So if you have to accept Kṛṣṇa as the supreme authority, then Vedānta means, He says also, to know Kṛṣṇa. Otherwise, it is not anta, it may be middle, it may be beginning, but not anta.

Dr. Patel: Sir, Śaṅkarācārya has made so many abstructs (obstructs?) for this bhakti. And I mean to follow it...

Morning Walk and Room Conversation -- December 26, 1976, Bombay:

Prabhupāda: Whatever books I have written, only about this-Kṛṣṇa. In our book in every page you will find Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa. My Guru Mahārāja, if we used to write some article, so we wanted to show him how it is written. So he was very busy. So somebody would read and Guru Mahārāja would say, "How many times he has said 'Kṛṣṇa'?" (laughter) If he finds that in every page there is Kṛṣṇa, it is all right. That's all. (laughter) So we are making Vedāntist, "How many times he chants Kṛṣṇa?" If he chants always Kṛṣṇa, yes, he's Vedāntist. That's all. Bas. Because śāstra says, kīrtanād eva kṛṣṇasya mukta-saṅgaḥ paraṁ vrajet (SB 12.3.51). That is being effective. These boys, their forefathers or their father, grandfather never knew what is Kṛṣṇa. But kīrtanād eva kṛṣṇasya mukta-saṅgaḥ paraṁ vrajet. So unless there is Kṛṣṇa consciousness there is no question of Vedānta. That is my point. (Hindi) That is real Vedānta. And the Vedānta says also... If you actually read Vedānta, what is the beginning of Vedānta? Boliye? What is the beginning?

Dr. Patel: Īśāvāsyam idaṁ sarvam (ISO 1).

Prabhupāda: This is not Vedānta. This is Īśopaniṣad.

Devotee: Janmādy asya yataḥ.

Morning Walk and Room Conversation -- December 26, 1976, Bombay:

Prabhupāda: Janmādy asya yataḥ (SB 1.1.1). Athāto brahma jijñāsā. This is Vedānta. Yes. That is Vedānta. Brahma-sūtra. This is Vedānta. So this life is meant for Vedānta. Athāto brahma jijñāsā. And what is Brahman? Janmādy asya yataḥ. Brahman means the Supreme Soul of everything. And Kṛṣṇa replies, ahaṁ sarvasya prabhavaḥ (BG 10.8). Then Vedānta study... I'm inquiring what is the ultimate source of everything and here is the answer. If you don't believe, that is another thing. You go on talking like anything. That is another thing. But answer is there. Aham ādir hi devānām (Bg 10.2). Ahaṁ sarvasya prabhavo mattaḥ sarvaṁ pravartate (BG 10.8). Vāsudevaḥ sarvam iti sa mahātmā sudurlabhaḥ (BG 7.19). So we have to go to such mahātmā who knows vāsudevaḥ sarvam iti. Then it will be all right. If we want to waste time, that is another thing. I am very glad to see you. So I wish that you may spread real Vedānta. That is essence of Vedas. Vedānta means the essence of Vedas. Vedaiś ca sarvair aham eva vedyaḥ (BG 15.15). Light is, of course there is light in the sunshine and there is light in the sun-globe, but the source of light is coming from the sun-god. Just like electric bulb, thousand power. So the illumination is also light and the source of illumination, the bulb, that is also light. And what is that? Filament within? That is also light. But what is the anta light? Not this illumination. Similarly Kṛṣṇa is the original source of light. Yasya prabhā prabhavataḥ (Bs. 5.40).

Morning Walk and Room Conversation -- December 26, 1976, Bombay:

Prabhupāda: Not this illumination. Similarly Kṛṣṇa is the original source of light. Yasya prabhā prabhavataḥ (Bs. 5.40). It is confirmed in The Brahma-saṁhitā. So Brahman knowledge is partial Kṛṣṇa knowledge. Paramātmā knowledge, partial Kṛṣṇa knowledge. And Kṛṣṇa knowledge is perfect. So partial knowledge is also knowledge but Vedānta means full knowledge. So unless you come to that point it is not Vedānta. The another example is just like from a distant place you see one mountain. You'll see just like something cloud. It is not cloud. It is the mountain, but because you are seeing from a distant place you see it is something cloud. If you go little further, you'll see something green, and when you actually go to the mountain you'll find so many trees, so many living entities, so many everything full of varieties. The same mountain, absolute knowledge, advaya-jñāna, tattva-jñāna. If we accept tattva-jñāna from distant place it is Brahman. If you see that tattva-jñāna still nearer, then it is Paramātmā. Īśvaraḥ sarva-bhūtānāṁ hṛd-deśe 'rjuna (BG 18.61). And when you go directly to the person, just like we are talking face to... That is possibility. And that possibility Kṛṣṇa comes to show us.

Morning Walk and Room Conversation -- December 26, 1976, Bombay:

Prabhupāda: "Who are these boys who are playing with Kṛṣṇa who is the source of brahma-sukha?" Brahma-sukhānubhūtyā. These boys are playing with another boy known as Kṛṣṇa. He is the source of brahma-sukhānubhūti. And dāsyaṁ gatānāṁ para-daivatena. Those who are devotees, for them He is the Supreme Lord. And māyāśritānāṁ nara-dārakeṇa. And those who are under the influence of māyā, they are seeing He's an ordinary boy. But whatever He may be, these boys who are playing with him, sākaṁ vijahruḥ kṛta-puṇya-puñjāḥ (SB 10.12.11). After many, many lives acquisition of pious activities, now he has got this opportunity to play with this boy, the source of brahma-sukha. Itthaṁ brahma-sukhānubhūtyā. They are not playing with ordinary child. He is the source of brahma-sukha. This is the statement of Śukadeva Gosvāmī. So if we come to Kṛṣṇa and Kṛṣṇa is personally presenting Himself, that is Vedānta. Otherwise, bahūnāṁ janmanām... We have come to that point, but if we neglect, then it will take many, many births to come to that point. Because that is the ultimate. Unless we come to that point, to understand Kṛṣṇa, there is still scarcity of knowledge. And Kṛṣṇa says that "When there is scarcity of knowledge, then I appear." Yadā yadā hi dharmasya glānir bhavati bhārata (BG 4.7). When the scarcity of knowledge is polluted... Not only scarcity, but it is polluted. Glāniḥ. Yadā yadā hi dharmasya glāniḥ. This is dharma, to come to the perfect knowledge. Human being must come to the perfect knowledge, because this is a boon. Not the cats and dogs can understand. Human being. So when there is glāniḥ, they are accepting the preliminary beginning of knowledge as the perfect knowledge, that is glāniḥ. Yadā yadā hi dharmasya glānir bhavati bhārata (BG 4.7). Paritrāṇāya sādhūnāṁ vināśāya ca... (BG 4.8).

Morning Walk -- December 27, 1976, Bombay:

Prabhupāda: Yes, that's a fact. We do not make any compromise. Vivekananda went there. He came back. He said, "What is the wrong in meat-eating?" He introduced meat-eating amongst his contemporary sannyāsīs. This is his vedānta-pracāra. So he is advertised that he preached Vedānta all over America, and everyone has become Vedantist. What is...? What kind of Vedantist? Now, he introduced meat-eating amongst the sannyāsīs, which was never in India, any... There are two sets of sannyāsīs, the Śaṅkara sampradāya and Vaiṣṇava sampradāya. But their ācāra is the same. They may differ in philosophy, but their ācāra is the same. Rather, the Śaṅkara sampradāya sannyāsī are more strict than the Vaiṣṇava sannyāsī. Śaṅkara sampradāya sannyāsī, they'll never occupy a seat, those who are strictly following. They'll sit down on the floor. Without any āsana. They lie down on the floor. They are so renounced. And what is this, that sannyāsī smoking and drinking? And ordinary sannyāsīs, they are drinking also tea, one ghara (?). I have seen it.

Bhava-bhūti: Now Rajneesh gives sannyāsī and sannyāsinī.

Prabhupāda: Ācchā, yes. Sannyāsinī, woman sannyāsī.

1977 Conversations and Morning Walks

Room Conversation -- January 8, 1977, Bombay:

Mr. Asnani: He was a politician. Pseudopolitician.

Prabhupāda: He went to preach Vedānta, but instead of preaching Vedānta, he learned so many things which is objectionable from Vedic civilization.

Mr. Asnani: He also said that you cannot teach the religion on empty stomachs.

Prabhupāda: That is his philosophy.

Girirāja: So many people say that.

Prabhupāda: But why the kings left their kingdom and became empty stomach? There were...

Mr. Asnani: They lived in jungle for tapasya.

Prabhupāda: Why this Bhārata-varṣa, Bharata Mahārāja, at the twenty-four years of age and his wife was young, children were young, and he was emperor of the whole world, so why went voluntarily to become empty stomach? He was not poverty-stricken. But why he accepted?

Devotee: Tapasya.

Evening Conversation -- January 25, 1977, Puri:

Prabhupāda: Then if you can believe newspaper, why shall not believe in the Veda, Vedānta?

Gargamuni: No, but one man has come.

Prabhupāda: So one man... You have not done. You have no experience. So one man you believe authority.

Gurukṛpā: But we saw the television. They showed on the television.

Prabhupāda: No. Television could not show that. You can arrange in the laboratory such television, cheat others. And you have done it. But anyway, television or man or newspaper—you believe on others. You have not personally gone. So you believe some authority. We believe some authority. What is the difference. You take newspaper as authority. We take Vedic literature as authority. Where is the difference? You have personally not gone. How do you believe? The difference is that you believe somebody, we believe somebody. I asked this question to Professor Kotovsky, that "You believe Lenin; we believe Kṛṣṇa. Then where is the difference between philosophy?" Now it is to be judged whether Lenin is all right or Kṛṣṇa is all right. That is another thing. But the principle is there. "You believe in Lenin; we believe in Kṛṣṇa. The process is the same. So where is your improvement?"

Morning Talk -- April 5, 1977, Bombay:

Prabhupāda: Just like Sarvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya and Caitanya Mahāprabhu was talking. Caitanya said, "When the meaning is clear, why you are giving us this, nonsense?"

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Sarvabhauma asked Him, "You have sat here hearing vedānta for seven, eight days, but You have not said anything. Are You not understanding?" Caitanya Mahāprabhu said, "I understand the vedānta, but I cannot understand your interpretation."

Indian man: (Hindi)

Prabhupāda: (Hindi)

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: If you give me the key to the almirah, then I can fix the tacks (tax?).

Prabhupāda: Take.

Room Conversation Meeting with Dr. Sharma (from Russia) -- April 17, 1977, Bombay:

Prabhupāda: Guru more mūrkha dekhi' karila śāsana (CC Adi 7.71). Caitanya Mahāprabhu also presented Himself as idiot number one. He said to Prakāśānanda Sarasvatī. Prakāśānanda Sarasvatī asked Him that "You are a sannyāsī. You do not read Vedānta and You chant and dance. What is this?" So He answered, guru more mūrkha dekhi' karila śāsana. "My guru found Me a fool number one, so he has chastised Me, 'You rascal, You are fool, You cannot read Vedānta. You Chant Hare Kṛṣṇa.' " So it is good that we remain as fools and idiot. Then we can make progress. And if we think, "Oh, I know everything," then finished. It is a good attitude. Guru more mūrkha dekhi' karila śāsana.

Dr. Sharma: Śāsana means punishment, to check.

Prabhupāda: Yes. We get very much happy when our Guru Mahārāja chastises us. So you are already reading our books. So let us cooperate, and I think if you will preach systematically, the Russian people, they are intelligent, they will appreciate it.

Dr. Sharma: They have an interest, an innate interest, to know about these things.

Prabhupāda: Yes. They want to get something from India. So why not give this?

Second Meeting with Mr. Dwivedi -- April 24, 1977, Bombay:

Prabhupāda: No, Kṛṣṇa is the root.

Kārttikeya: Kṛṣṇa is the root.

Prabhupāda: Janmādy asya yataḥ (SB 1.1.1). This is the Vedānta. Aham ādir hi devānām (Bg 10.2), Kṛṣṇa says. So devānām, Brahmā, Viṣṇu, Maheśvara, He is the origin of Brahmā, Viṣṇu, Maheśvara. The root is Kṛṣṇa. Kāraṇam... Sarva-kāraṇa-kāraṇam (Bs. 5.1).

īśvaraḥ paramaḥ kṛṣṇaḥ
sac-cid-ānanda-vigrahaḥ
anādir ādir govindaḥ
sarva-kāraṇa-kāraṇam
(Bs. 5.1)
Root is Kṛṣṇa.

Indian man: Origin.

Prabhupāda: Origin, yes. Ahaṁ sarvasya prabhavo mat... (BG 10.8). That is the difficulty. You do not read Bhagavad-gītā. You quote Vivekananda. You quote another, another. But Kṛṣṇa is God. That is the cause of misfortune of India. You don't accept Kṛṣṇa as the authority. Everyone accepts, all the great sages formerly, Asita, Devala, Vyāsa.

Evening Darsana -- May 13, 1977, Hrishikesh:

Prabhupāda: Whatever it may be, but we are denying. Is it not? When... Suppose a big man. You do not know what he is. But if the man says, "You want to know me? All right, I shall disclose all my secrets to you. Try to understand." So why don't you..., do not take it? If you want to know the person, and the person is explaining himself, why don't you take it? Why theorize that "God is like this. God is like this"? What is the meaning? When the person has come to explain about himself... Asaṁśayaṁ samagraṁ māṁ yathā jñāsyasi tac chṛṇu: (BG 7.1) "Hear." Hearing is the process of knowledge. Therefore our Vedas are called śruti. The knowledge has to be acquired through ear. My Guru Mahārāja used to say that "Don't try to see a sādhu by your eyes. You try to see a sādhu by ears." Karṇe sādhu dekhi. (Hindi) Tāvac ca śobhate mūrkhaḥ yāvat kiñcin na bhāṣate. (Hindi) For real perfect knowledge, one has to hear. Śrotriyaṁ brahma-niṣṭham. Tad-vijñānārthaṁ sa gurum eva abhigacchet, śrotriyaṁ brahma-niṣṭham (MU 1.2.12). Śābde pare ca niṣṇātaṁ brahmaṇy upaśamāśrayam. That is guru. One who has heard perfectly from the authority, he is guru. Tasmād guruṁ prapadyeta jijñāsuḥ śreya uttamam (SB 11.3.21). And who is guru? Śābde pare ca niṣṇātaṁ brahmaṇy upaśamāśrayam. Everything direction is there.

tad viddhi praṇipātena
paripraśnena sevayā
upadekṣyanti te jñānaṁ
jñāninas tattva-darśinaḥ
(BG 4.34)

So about from... Apart from śāstra, the vedānta-kṛt, vedānta-vit, Kṛṣṇa, He is speaking. Asaṁśayaṁ samagraṁ māṁ yathā jñāsyasi tac chṛṇu: (BG 7.1) "Just hear." And He's vedānta-vit, vedānta-kṛt. He knows what is Vedānta, and He has compiled Vedānta, and He is ready to speak. We don't hear Kṛṣṇa. How much unfortunate we are. (aside:) Here.

Conversations -- May 17, 1977, Vrndavana:

Indian man (2): Kavi. In the mission only he is to poet, no other sannyāsīs and nobody, even not Prabhupāda, any sannyāsī. But he realized it. How much love he saw, Prabhupāda. Yesterday I spoke, yesterday night. The greatest living export that has been brought down by God, it is what Bhaktivedanta Prabhupāda has... He's such a living export, Indian culture... (Hindi) ...in the world.

pṛthivīte āche yata nagarādi grāma
sarvatra pracāra haibe mora nāma
(CB Antya-khaṇḍa 4.126)

It is the literary living translator and implemented and carried out by single person. And that single person is so much infested and imbued with such a divine power. None of us can do. It is impossible. Practically it is impossible. The Prabhupāda's unfulfillment mission has been fulfilled by this Vedanta Prabhupāda. Śrīmad-Bhāgavata, all quotes, quotations, praising this all types of the power, all propagating the hari-nāma. And it is all-powerful... So there is a medium of literature, medium of professor, medium of the cinema, but still, medium of the personality who in (indistinct) presented it himself. And you, of all people, that attracted by transcendental personality. What with these social religions; there are many authorities and leaders have gone there, and social-religious reformers who practice the yoga, jñāna, karma, etcetera, etcetera. But the one person imbued and empowered fully, transcendental form, by Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu Himself, and by his guru, Prabhupāda. It is not that... Nobody can empower. And as a result our this Vaiṣṇava culture installing the Supreme as Kṛṣṇa pronounced in the mantra to worship Him. (Hindi) The nāma... If he fulfills the propagation of this out of the nāma, and then more powerful... Means that he is the more loved. This kīrtana, and then this saṅkīrtana. These things themselves teach us, though in one word—kṛṣṇa-nāma-saṅkīrtana is one faith. But still it has the three aspects—Kṛṣṇa, then nāma, then kīrtana, then saṅkīrtana. So he has, by his mission, his translations, and in the world he has given this Kṛṣṇa. He has given this Kṛṣṇa. He has given the nāma. He has given the kīrtana, the saṅkīrtana which we have seen this morning, the saṅkīrtana, bahubhir militvā. Wonderful. In the Caitanya-caritāmṛta...

Prabhupāda: So you have got assets. You have got parentage. Everything you have got. Now do something. You have come. It is a good association. Satāṁ prasaṅgān mama vīrya-saṁvidaḥ. (break) But they have dedicated their life to Kṛṣṇa. That is their qualification. Bhajate mām ananya-bhāk sādhur eva sa man... So their association is sādhu-saṅga (CC Madhya 22.83).

Talk with Svarupa Damodara -- June 20, 1977, Vrndavana:

Prabhupāda: Yes, personal. Vedānta means last knowledge. Vedānta is there. And that last knowledge is bhakti. Therefore bhakti-vedanta is most scientific.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: They should learn the real meaning of Bhaktivedanta. They take it wrongly, but we should teach them what is the real meaning, that it is scientific. You always point out that sometimes people say that bhakti is sentimental, but where is there more scientific person than Jīva Gosvāmī, more philosophical?

Prabhupāda: Mad-bhaktiṁ labhate param. It is the last stage of knowledge. Brahma-bhūtaḥ prasannātmā (BG 18.54). When you surpass all the stages... Mad-bhaktiṁ labhate param. It is the last word of knowledge. Yasmin vijñāte sarvam evaṁ vijñātaṁ bhavanti. So unless you understand the supreme cause, Kṛṣṇa, there is no knowledge. And if you understand Kṛṣṇa, then you understand everything. Yasmin vijñāte sarvam evaṁ vijñātaṁ bhavanti. Kṛṣṇa also says, aham ādir hi devānām (Bg 10.2), ahaṁ sarvasya prabhavo mattaḥ sarvaṁ pravartate (BG 10.8). If you understand Kṛṣṇa, then everything.... And how Kṛṣṇa can be understood? Bhaktyā mām abhijānāti (BG 18.55). No other way. You cannot understand by any other way. Therefore bhakti-vedanta is last knowledge. There is.... Argument there is.

Room Conversation With Son (Vrindavan De) -- July 5, 1977, Vrndavana:

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: "Satsvarūpa, American-born personal secretary to Swami Bhaktivedanta, presents the official Hare Kṛṣṇa approach." They don't even identify you. They know who you are. You are so well known in these literary circles now that someone says, "Swami Bhaktivedanta." They don't have to say "Founder of ISKCON." They know already from your other books. "...presents the official Hare Kṛṣṇa approach in an articulate and highly serviceable introduction to this immense body of literature. The readings include the Īśopaniṣad, the Bhagavad-gītā and excerpts from Purāṇas, supplemented with a glossary and index. Preliminary essays detail the logic by which his group rejects both the academic experts and the rival approach of advaita-vedānta that Westerners know through the writings of Vivekananda and Radhakrishnan. This is a book long needed to balance out the monist theology that is but one aspect of Indian religious thought." In other words, this is one of the first books to present the Vaiṣṇava viewpoint, not simply the Māyāvādī viewpoint. He says, "It's well needed." That's all he's written.

Prabhupāda: Very appreciated. Very much appreciate.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Satsvarūpa writes that this will very much help the... He says it will help its sales in America. Then this article...

Prabhupāda: It is very thoughtful article.

Room Conversation-Recent Mail -- July 14, 1977, Vrndavana:

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: "Important Muslim reviews." He's labeled their... This is from N. H. Hashmi, Head Professor and Head of the Department of Urdu at Lucknow University. " 'Though I have little knowledge of Sanskrit, but as a student of literature I have been impressed by the meticulous care and clarity with which each mantra of the...' " (break) " '...my mother tongue Urdu. It could not only universalize the teachings of the Vedāntas but also it could very much help in bringing about the much needed integration of the multilingual humanity.' "

Prabhupāda: Yes. That's a fact. We are trying for that.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Here's another one from the Head of the Department of Philosophy and Social Sciences in Madras. His name is Usair Mohammed Kasim. " 'Swami Prabhupāda's Bhagavad-gītā As It Is is a remarkable exposition of Vedānta philosophy. What impressed me most is its nonsectarian analysis and acceptability.' " He says its nonsectarian. Everyone would say... Most Hindus would say, "The Bhagavad-gītā is our book." But here is a Muslim saying it's nonsectarian. " 'Furthermore, this book I'm sure will inspire men of all faiths. The rendering is authentic and lucid. I am confident that this admirable classic will contribute to a greater understanding of Indian philosophical heritage.' " This book should be shown to these government men in Delhi, Śrīla Prabhupāda. This review. Usair Mohammed Kasim.

Bhāgavatāśraya: We can make copies?

Meeting With Governor of Tamil Nadu -- July 31, 1977, Vrndavana:

Prabhupāda: Just see. She is natural Vaiṣṇavī. Natural Vaiṣṇavī. So give them proper education. This is real education. Vedaiś ca sarvair aham eva vedyaḥ (BG 15.15). That is the Vedic civilization, to understand Kṛṣṇa. Vedaiś ca sarvair aham eva vedyo vedānta-vid vedānta-kṛt ca aham. So at least this knowledge from India must be spread all over the world. We are making a humble attempt. We have no such thing, these... "You have got money and I'll snatch it." The Communists take it. Just see. They have taken. "Why so big, big buildings? Take them away."

Governor: In Madras I find quite a good atmosphere for this religious character.

Prabhupāda: Oh, yes, I know that.

Governor: That Kanjarama Śaṅkarācārya, he's doing a lot for spread of Gītā and Vedānta literature. Though he's eighty-four he's doing wonderful work. And another Śaṅkarācārya is also moving. (Hindi) (prasādam offered to guests)

Prabhupāda: This is our homemade.

Governor: And there I find many good institutions working for Vedānta, Veda. The pronunciations are also...

Prabhupāda: Very nice.

Room Conversation -- October 13, 1977, Vrndavana:

Svarūpa Dāmodara: Yes. Once we get incorporated in Bombay, then we can also get some grants from the government, also in the United States when we get it properly established. And the word bhakti-vedānta is so important that it seems everybody knows what it means, at least in India. When they say bhakti, "Oh," they say, "Oh, that's different from Maharishi Yogi. That's different from anybody else. You have to start with bhakti." So the word is so nice also.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: And Prabhupāda is very famous also. So people think about Prabhupāda and Hare Kṛṣṇa movement when they hear it also.

Svarūpa Dāmodara: When they hear "Bhaktivedanta," they immediately know that this is Prabhupāda. Many of them told me that "Oh, I have heard Swamiji's lecture in Delhi. It's very nice and very impressive and very convincing." Many of them told me like that.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Your lectures in Delhi drew the most intelligent class of people, Śrīla Prabhupāda. The other swamis, when they would lecture, they would get just the typical pious Indian people, but yours also drew very intelligent group of people, sophisticated people.

Prabhupāda: They danced. (laughter) With coat-pant. I have seen.

Room Conversation -- October 18, 1977, Vrndavana:

Prabhupāda: No, whatever you think is approved.

Svarūpa Dāmodara: Whatever you think is approved.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Hm. We can discuss...

Svarūpa Dāmodara: Also that will add attractions to the outsiders, if we have these nice places. Everybody who came here, those few scientists... About fifty-five, I think, all came. Most of them told me that they never knew that such thing existed in Vṛndāvana. It's such a nice place, and very peaceful and... They never expected that these things existed in Vṛndāvana. And they were very impressed. Even our incomplete building and with all our incomplete arrangements, they were very amazed that such thing existed. And one... Actually a few of them from Agra told me that "Next time, if you hold a conference," he said, "I will take all responsibility to bring all the scientists from around Agra, Delhi, and everything." He said he didn't know that such things might exist. So Vṛndāvana is also a place where people come and we can cultivate their..., to bring them to the spiritual consciousness, Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Actually it's very true that when they see our temple and to see our children, oh, they were so impressed that they say they will come back. And some of them attended maṅgala-ārati and some of them attended Bhāgavatam class, even those who came for our conference. And so... Especially those who came with wives, very attracted to see our Deities and the photographs, nice, from all over the world. Everything was so attractive. Even the Mishra, who was so Māyāvādī during our conference, also was almost materialist, his wife was so influential. His wife was actually a devotee. And I spent about two hours in his room with them, and she was instructing him that "You think that everything is just chemicals." And she was telling him that "Why don't you think that God existed before, there was God, and everything's coming from Him? And do research on the basis of that. If you do that, then everything will be nice." She was telling him that "Without bhakti, your science isn't going to give you any happiness, no pleasure." So actually she... Then he almost became a devotee. He said, "Yes, yes, yes." (laughter) And they wanted to see Śrīla Prabhupāda just before they went. I told them that doctor told us that we shouldn't allow any, even the devotees, not so crowded in the room, because doctor advises not to do so. So I requested that "When Prabhupāda gets better, you please come back. Prabhupāda's going to get better. Then we'll have the opportunity to allow you to have Prabhupāda's darśana." So they say they will come back, bring their children. Especially they were very impressed by our Gurukula boys. They said it reminded them Kṛṣṇa's boyhood pastimes just seeing our Gurukula boys. Especially every day we had invocation by the Gurukula boys and Yaśodānandana Mahārāja from Brahma-saṁhitā. The vibrations were so potent that everybody was very impressed. Though we didn't have all the guests that we invited, but still, I think, those few who came, I think they have very good appreciation about Śrīla Prabhupāda's program. Especially bhakti-vedānta... Mishra's relation was very significant. He said he never had in his life to see this bhakti-vedānta.

Room Conversation -- October 21, 1977, Vrndavana:

Pradyumna: Yes, Śrīla Prabhupāda. There is just one more point on that verse. He says there are some verses that say upaniṣada puruṣaḥ namo vedānta vedyāya kṛṣṇāya.(?) So Śrīla Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa has raised a question that it says Kṛṣṇa is not seen by the Upaniṣads, but then there's some verses that say He is known by the Vedas, He is known by the Upaniṣads. He says it is proved that the Absolute is able to be known by Vedas, veda-gamyatvam kintu... Then he quotes other verse. It says sakalyena avedatvam, He cannot be known completely through Vedas, only through devotional service

Prabhupāda: Yes. When one is purified by Vedic knowledge, then mad-bhaktir labhate param. Then he is allowed entrance in devotional understanding. Bhaktyā śruta-gṛhītayā. There is a...? Eh? In Bhāgavatam?

Room Conversation -- October 21, 1977, Vrndavana:

Prabhupāda: Śruta-gṛhītayā. And śruta-gṛhītayā is Vedānta knowledge, not sentimental. Śruta-gṛhītayā. That is sound knowledge. Discuss Bhāgavatam daily, as much as possible. Everything will be clarified. Because Bhāgavata is the essence. Nigama-kalpa-taror galitaṁ phalam idam (SB 1.1.3). And vyāsadeva-kṛta. Kim anyaiḥ śāstraiḥ. When he's self-realized, he made this. Mahā-muni-kṛte. So the more we read Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, the knowledge becomes clarified. Each and every verse-transcendental. Is this clear?

Devotees: Yes, Śrīla Prabhupāda. (break)

Prabhupāda: Ah, how are you?

Dayānanda: Very nice, Śrīla Prabhupāda. Thank you.

Prabhupāda: So everything is going nice?

Dayānanda: Yes, Śrīla Prabhupāda. I brought you some fruits. Ātreya Ṛṣi told me to bring you some oranges and some lemons.

Prabhupāda: Oh, you are all so kind. How is your family?

Dayānanda: Very nice, Śrīla Prabhupāda.

Prabhupāda: So...

Room Conversation -- October 27, 1977, Vrndavana:

Prabhupāda: Yes.

Hari-prasāda: They've gone, preached, come back, but they have created devotee in every place in the world.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: The other missions that went, like the Vedānta Society, all dry.

Prabhupāda: "Brahman, Brahman."

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: (laughs) Prabhupāda said, "Brahman, Brahman."

Pañca-draviḍa: Simply drew zeroes.

Svarūpa Dāmodara: Now Prabhupāda's books are reaching almost every home all over the world, in all languages.

Prabhupāda: That is stated in the Caitanya-caritāmṛta: māyāvādī haya kṛṣṇe aparādhī. While discussing with Prakāśānanda Sarasvatī... "Caitanya," "Brahman," that's... Nothing like Kṛṣṇa. Here they are doing, this Akshandananda, and what is his name? Another...? "Brahman Brahman." When they cannot explain anything—"Brahman," bas, finished.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Śrīla Prabhupāda? Pradyumna Prabhu is here. Would you like to hear some verse?

Page Title:Vedanta (Conversations 1976 - 1977)
Compiler:Visnu Murti, RupaManjari
Created:17 of Nov, 2012
Totals by Section:BG=0, SB=0, CC=0, OB=0, Lec=0, Con=60, Let=0
No. of Quotes:60