Without authority
Bhagavad-gita As It Is
BG Chapters 1 - 6
Srimad-Bhagavatam
SB Canto 2
SB Canto 4
Sri Caitanya-caritamrta
CC Adi-lila
Praṇava [oṁkāra] is the mahā-vākya [mahā-mantra] in the Vedas. Śaṅkarācārya’s followers cover this to stress without authority the mantra tat tvam asi.
Other Books by Srila Prabhupada
Krsna, The Supreme Personality of Godhead
“I am the only Supreme Personality of Godhead, Vāsudeva. No man can compete with me. I have descended as King Pauṇḍraka, taking compassion on the distressed conditioned souls out of my unlimited causeless mercy. You have falsely taken the position of Vāsudeva without authority, but You should not propagate this false idea. You must give up Your position. O descendant of the Yadu dynasty, please give up all the symbols of Vāsudeva, which You have falsely assumed. And after giving up this position, come and surrender unto me. If out of Your gross impudence You do not care for my words, then I challenge You to fight. I am inviting You to a battle in which the decision will be settled.”
When all the members of the royal assembly, including King Ugrasena, heard this message sent by Pauṇḍraka, they laughed very loudly for a considerable time.Light of the Bhagavata
Lectures
Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures
General Lectures
Devotee: Should we chant?
Prabhupāda: Yes. Now you can. What is that? Take it. Chant. Authority, it is accepted like that. Because other authorities whom we are accepting, they have accepted... Mahājano yena gataḥ sa panthāḥ. We have to follow the footprints of other authorities. Leadership. In every society they are accepting leadership. So in that way you have to accept authority. There is no other process.
Man (8): No. Change is good wherever it’s necessary, but according to...
Prabhupāda: Authority, everywhere authority is there. You have to accept authority. Without authority there is no, I mean to say, advancement. That is impossible. Now you have to select your authority. That is a different thing. But you have to accept the authority. In every society there is leadership, there is authority. So people accept it, and that is the way. Mahājano yena gataḥ sa panthāḥ. That is stated, that “We have to follow the footprints of the authorities.” Now the next question will be whether you will accept this man as authority or that man as authority. That is a different question. But if you want to advance, you have to... Just like even in the crossing, you ask the police authority, “Whether I shall go this way or that way?” Authority is to be accepted because we are not independent. So you may select a different kind of authority. That is your selection. But authority you accepted, even if he is wrong. Without that, you cannot make progress. Yes?
Man (10): I’m not sure I understand what you mean by a spiritual body. When I look at you, it seems that you’re...
Prabhupāda: A spiritual body is like... This is body, but this is material body. Just like here there is, there are different kinds of bodies, as I explained, 8,400,000’s different forms of bodies. Even in human form of body there are so many difference of bodies. Similarly, there is a body which is called spiritual body, of which you have no experience at the present moment, but there is a spiritual body.Philosophy Discussions
Śyāmasundara: He says that the second sanction for moral conduct is external—that is, fear of displeasing men, other men, or fear of displeasing God, hope of winning their favor, that this keeps us in moral conduct.
Prabhupāda: Yes. So that means accepting authority. That means accepting authority. So without authority, nobody can be good. That is the conclusion of this philosophy.
Śyāmasundara: Yes.
Prabhupāda: That we accept. Without becoming, without following authority, nobody can become good. That is not possible. Therefore our Vedic injunction is tad vijñānārthaṁ sa gurum evābhigacchet [MU 1.2.12]. You must approach a guru if you want to be really learned. Like that.Conversations and Morning Walks
1969 Conversations and Morning Walks
Prabhupāda: Bhagavad-gītā is seven hundred verses.
Yoko Ono: All right, so seven hundred. I don’t know. But what I mean is you use the word authority, saying why would he translate that into English without authority? Now, what is the authority and who has the authority?
Prabhupāda: Authority is the original text.
Yoko Ono: Yes, but everybody’s translating from the original text, I’m sure you know.
Prabhupāda: Yes.
Yoko Ono: So what’s the difference between one and the other?
Prabhupāda: Therefore we say that sampradāya-vihīnā ye mantrās te viphala mataḥ. If we then don’t take from the disciplic succession of the authority... Just like Kṛṣṇa. Now, take for example. We have explained this in our introduction, that nobody is authority. Don’t care. Kṛṣṇa is authority because Bhagavad-gītā is spoken by Kṛṣṇa.1974 Conversations and Morning Walks
Yogeśvara: He says your lecture yesterday evening was very objectionable to many of the young people who made so much disruption. They found many of the things you were discussing...
Prabhupāda: Because the young people gradually degrading. They do not acknowledge authority. (French)
Yogeśvara: Yes. When they saw how much we were speaking authoritative, they rejected it. They reacted.
Prabhupāda: So that is their degradation, due to degradation. They cannot accept any authority. And knowledge cannot advance without authority. (French) But one thing I may say that the disobedience to the authority has begun from their fathers.
Yogeśvara: From?
Prabhupāda: From their fathers. Yes. Because in the Bible it is said, “Thou shalt not kill,” and their fathers indulge in killing business. So naturally their generation has degraded.Correspondence
1974 Correspondence
If it was decided by vote that Hamsaduta would select the president then Hamsaduta is right. Without authority Hamsaduta cannot change the election. If the vote was in favor of Madhavananda, then Hamsaduta cannot whimsically change the vote. But, if by vote he was authorized to select the president, then whomever he selects is right. I was not informed by my secretary that Hamsaduta was authorized by vote to make the selection. But, why was Hamsaduta authorized if the vote was already taken? This I do not know.
On the whole I understand there are so many contradictions, so in the presence of all members you may take the vote again and decide finally.Page Title: | Without authority |
Compiler: | Visnu Murti, Haya |
Created: | 19 of Nov, 2008 |
Totals by Section: | BG=1, SB=2, CC=2, OB=2, Lec=4, Con=2, Let=1 |
No. of Quotes: | 14 |