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Who is authority?

Lectures

Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures

Who is authority? Authority is Kṛṣṇa and, or God, or His representative. Just like Lord Jesus Christ, he's representative of God. So he's authority. Similarly, any authorized incarnation.
Lecture on BG 9.15 -- New York, December 1, 1966: So nobody can be equal to God. Therefore we should be, instead of becoming God or instead of understanding God personally by our teeny knowledge and imperfect senses, better to become submissive. Give up this habit. Jñāne prayāsam udapāsya. Just give up this habit, foolish habit, that "I can know God." Just become submissive and try to hear from authorities. San-mukharitām. Who is authority? Authority is Kṛṣṇa and, or God, or His representative. Just like Lord Jesus Christ, he's representative of God. So he's authority. Similarly, any authorized incarnation. But that incarnation will never say that "I am God." "I am servant of God"—that is his representation. He'll never say, "I am God." That makes confirmation that he's representative of God. So he is authority, who does not say that "I am God," but he says, "I am servant of God. I am son of God. I am devotee of God." He is representative, real representative. So we have to hear from him. Jñāne prayāsam udapāsya namanta eva. I am just trying to explain to you the process of hearing. The process of hearing.
If we follow the Arjuna's process and if we try to understand as Arjuna understood, then the authority is there. It is not very, very difficult to understand who is authority.
Lecture on BG 10.2-3 -- New York, January 1, 1967: So just like Kṛṣṇa is handing over the authority to Arjuna. And Arjuna says paraṁ brahma paraṁ dhāma pavitraṁ paramaṁ bhavān [Bg. 10.12]. So here, if we follow the Arjuna's process and if we try to understand as Arjuna understood, then the authority is there. It is not very, very difficult to understand who is authority. So sthāne sthitāḥ śruti-gatāṁ tanu-vāṅ-manobhiḥ. Jñāne prayāsam udapāsya namanta eva san-mukharitām. You have to find out that authority. That's all. That authority you have to find out and remain in your place and try to hear submissively everything, svayam eva sphuraty adaḥ. As soon as you become submissive and hear from authorities, then the whole thing will reveal within yourself. God is the always ready to be revealed to you. But how does He reveal? He reveals as soon as you become submissive, you become devotee, you become Kṛṣṇa conscious, you just follow the path traversed by the great mahājanas, great ācāryas. Then it is... Everything is known.
Authority is your spiritual master. You do not know who is authority? Why this question is there? If one is initiated, then he accepted the authority. And if he does not follow the instruction of spiritual master, he is a rascal. He is defying the authority.
Lecture on BG 17.1-3 -- Honolulu, July 4, 1974:

Sudāmā: There also is the position of or some question is raised as to how to actually follow the authority. What is the authority between...?

Prabhupāda: Authority is your spiritual master. You do not know who is authority? Why this question is there? If one is initiated, then he accepted the authority. And if he does not follow the instruction of spiritual master, he is a rascal. He is defying the authority. That's all.

Sudāmā: The question also is there: the authority is the spiritual master, but the via media to the spiritual master... The difference between, like we were discussing in the automobile of śikṣā and dīkṣā-guru.

Prabhupāda: Then so śikṣā and dīkṣā-guru... A śikṣā-guru who instructs against the instruction of spiritual, he is not a śikṣā guru. He is a demon. Śikṣā-guru, dīkṣā-guru means... Sometimes a dīkṣā-guru is not present always. Therefore one can take learning, instruction, from an advanced devotee. That is called the śikṣā-guru. Śikṣā-guru does not mean he is speaking something against the teachings of the dīkṣā-guru. He is not a śikṣā-guru. He is a rascal.

General Lectures

Authority we have to obey. But the difficulty is: who is authority? That we require to learn who is actually authority. So authority means who has no mistakes, who has no illusion, who does not cheat, and whose senses are perfect. That is authority. That is the definition of authority.
Lecture Engagement -- Montreal, June 15, 1968: So this movement is very scientific movement, and we have got authoritative statements. You cannot defy authority, authority. As an authority, minister of this Unitarian Church, in one place he has denied authority, and in another place he has quoted so many authorities. So many authorities he has quoted. Why? If you deny authority, then why you quote other authority? So you cannot defy authority. This is not possible. From the beginning of your life, when you were child, you asked your parents, "Mother, father, what is this?" Why? That is the beginning of life. You cannot go even a step without authority. You are governed by authority. You are running your car by authority—"Keep to the right." Why? Why don't you defy it? So authority we have to obey. But the difficulty is: who is authority? That we require to learn who is actually authority. So authority means who has no mistakes, who has no illusion, who does not cheat, and whose senses are perfect. That is authority. That is the definition of authority. A conditioned soul who... Just... "To err is human." Any human being is sure to commit mistakes. However learned he may be, however advanced he may be, he must commit mistake. Therefore this word is, "To err is human." And one must be illusioned. And there is cheating propensity of every man. Even a child, he wants to cheat. The mother asks, "Oh, what is in your hand?" Oh, the child says, "No, mother, nothing," although the mother can see he has got something. So the cheating propensity is there. And above all, your senses are imperfect. You are proud of your eyes: "I want to see." What you can see? If the light is off, your seeing power is immediately gone. If there is no sun, your seeing power is gone. Therefore we see under conditions. Therefore imperfect. So you cannot get perfect knowledge by imperfect senses, by speculative knowledge. You have to accept authority.
So you have to accept authority. There is no other alternative. Now you have to find out who is authority. That requires intelligence.
Lecture "Nobody Wants to Die" -- Boston, May 7, 1968: One who accepts the authority, then it is not hopeless for him. It is very simple. Just like one is asking, "Swamijī, what is this?" I say, "It is rose flower." Then the knowledge of rose flower is there. Then, if somebody says, "I don't accept it," then he may not know. So you have to accept authority. There is no other alternative. Now you have to find out who is authority. That requires intelligence. If you go to a bogus man and ask him about God, you may be misled. That is a fact. That is your duty—to find out a man who knows God. Then you'll get. Just like... This is commonsense affair. Suppose if you want to purchase something in the market, some milk. So you have to know that "I'll have to go to some store." You don't go to a hardware man, hardware dealer's. If you go to a hardware dealer and ask him, "Give me one bottle of milk," he'll say, "You are crazy. This is hardware shop." So you must have such common sense where to go and ask for God. That common sense must be there. And that is also very easily understood. Those who have devoted their life for God and they have no other business than God, to serve God, he is the right man.

Conversations and Morning Walks

1973 Conversations and Morning Walks

You manufacture your own authorities. You do not know. That is your misfortune. You do not know who is authority.
Room Conversation -- July 9, 1973, London:

Revatīnandana: His argument was "Well there's no point in talking about this matter. All of us accept this." He's saying: all big authorities, they accept this point of view, that this was recently written literature.

Prabhupāda: No, they don't know who are authorities.

Revatīnandana: That's right.

Prabhupāda: You manufacture your own authorities. You do not know. That is your misfortune. You do not know who is authority.

Devotee (2): They all smoke cigarettes and they think they're authorities. They're nonsense.

Revatīnandana: I met another old authority on Sanskrit and he is sitting behind his desk and his whole body is shaking: "No, I'm not interested in the spiritual side of these Vedas. I'm just interested in the Sanskrit." He's dying you know, and still he's like that. That's their authority. You can't save them but...

Prabhupāda: Adhyaki, adhyaki(?), therefore adhyaki(?).

1977 Conversations and Morning Walks

If Bhagavad-gītā is a book who is authority, and if you interpret and give your own interpretation, then where is the authority? Suppose Parliament passes one law, and if I interpret in my own way, then where is the authority of the law? This is the idea.
Room Conversation with Ratan Singh Rajda M.P. "Nationalism and Cheating" -- April 15, 1977, Bombay: Prabhupāda: Similarly, tathā dehāntara-prāptiḥ, it is not in your hand or in my hand. It is in the hand of the prakṛti. Prakṛteḥ kriyamāṇāni guṇaiḥ karmāṇi sarvaśaḥ, ahaṅkāra-vimūḍhātmā [Bg. 3.27]. So there are so many things that... The human society requires this knowledge and we are trying to give this knowledge alone with our humble attempt, and these foreigners are helping with their prāṇair arthair dhiyā vācā, by their life, by their money, by their intelligence, by their words. (aside:) Give them pad. They cannot sit comfortably. There is pad. Give him. Pads. Yes. No, no. Oh. (Hindi) Sukham asinaḥ.(?) First of all one must... Give her. So we have got, at least in Bombay, the most important place in India, this institution. So come here. Try to understand the philosophy. There is no difficulty. But we neglect it. We are simply ne..., and distorting. Everyone is giving his own interpretation. Eh? Then when, where is the importance of Kṛṣṇa? If Bhagavad-gītā is a book who is authority, and if you interpret and give your own interpretation, then where is the authority? Suppose Parliament passes one law, and if I interpret in my own way, then where is the authority of the law? This is the idea. If you want to give some idea of your own, give it separately. Why do you take Bhagavad-gītā and distort it? This is not gentlemanly, this. We are presenting, therefore, Bhagavad-gītā as it is, and it is being accepted. And before me so many swamis, yogis went there. They also tried to explain Bhagavad-gītā, but nobody accepted. There was... In the history there was not a single devotee of Kṛṣṇa before my going. Now there are thousands. Why? The secret is that I am presenting as it is.
Page Title:Who is authority?
Compiler:Visnu Murti, Serene
Created:05 of Dec, 2008
Totals by Section:BG=0, SB=0, CC=0, OB=0, Lec=5, Con=2, Let=0
No. of Quotes:7