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Anna means

Other Books by Srila Prabhupada

Krsna, The Supreme Personality of Godhead

A child or an animal is satisfied only by getting nice food. This stage of consciousness, in which the goal is to eat sumptuously, is called anna-maya. Anna means "food."
Krsna Book 87:

Within the body there are five different departments of existence, known as anna-maya, prāṇa-maya, mano-maya, vijñāna-maya and, at last, ānanda-maya. In the beginning of life, every living entity is food conscious. A child or an animal is satisfied only by getting nice food. This stage of consciousness, in which the goal is to eat sumptuously, is called anna-maya. Anna means "food." After this one lives in the consciousness of being alive. If one can continue his life without being attacked or destroyed, one thinks himself happy. This stage is called prāṇa-maya, or consciousness of one's existence. After this stage, when one is situated on the mental platform, his consciousness is called mano-maya. The materialistic civilization is primarily situated in these three stages, anna-maya, prāṇa-maya and mano-maya. The first concern of civilized persons is economic development, the next concern is defense against being annihilated, and the next consciousness is mental speculation, the philosophical approach to the values of life.

Lectures

Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures

Anna means foodstuff, or anna means grains, natural food. Generally, anna means foodstuff, and another technical meaning of anna—anna means grains, which is produced from the land for eating of the human being.
Lecture on BG 3.13-16 -- New York, May 23, 1966:

Annād bhavanti bhūtāni. If you want to exist, if you want to maintain your body and soul together, then you have to take anna. Anna means foodstuff, or anna means grains, natural food. Generally, anna means foodstuff, and another technical meaning of anna—anna means grains, which is produced from the land for eating of the human being. For human being, so many things are produced from the land: the grains, the fruits, the vegetables, so many things. They are meant for human being. The grains are not meant for the tigers. The grains are meant for the human being. The fruits are meant for the dogs. The fruits are meant for the human being. The milk. The milk is produced by the cow, but it is not meant for the cow. It is meant for the human being. If you offer the milk, 30 pounds of milk, after milking the cow, and if you offer to the cow, it will refuse. It will refuse, "I don't want it." Give it dry grass? Oh, it will be very glad. It will be very glad. So everything is organized by the nature.

Anna means this grain. So by eating grains we subsist. Our life prolongs by eating grains.
Lecture on BG 3.16-17 -- New York, May 25, 1966:

You subsist by eating grains. Of course, nowadays we have invented so many artificial foodstuff. But however artificially foodstuff, however flesh and other things we may take, without grains we cannot live. The grains must be there. The wheat and the rice and the paddy and the cereals, there must be there. So real foodstuff is anna. Anna means this grain. So by eating grains we subsist. Our life prolongs by eating grains. So annād bhavanti bhūtāni parjanyād anna-sambhavaḥ. And grains are produced by proper rainfall. Rainfall is the main source of producing everything of our necessities of life. Without rainfall we cannot produce anything of the necessities of life.

Anna means food grains. There is necessity of food grain.
Lecture on BG 4.21 -- Bombay, April 10, 1974:

Everything is described in the Bhagavad-gītā. Bhagavad-gītā does not say that "You live by breathing air." No. Bhagavad-gītā says, annād bhavanti bhūtāni (BG 3.14). Anna. Anna means food grains. There is necessity of food grain. Annād bhavanti bhūtāni. Bhagavad-gītā never says that "you don't require to eat. You simply breathe air and practice yoga." No. But we must eat neither more, nor less. That is recommended. Yuktāhāra-vihārasya. We should not eat more, nor less. And nirāśīḥ. Nirāśīḥ means desireless of extravagance. Now we are desiring for sense gratification more and more. That is not wanted. If you want perfection of life.... This is called tapasya.

Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures

Anna means food grain. Produce sufficient food grain. So the... In the village side you go, hundreds and thousands of acres of land is lying vacant. Nobody is interested. Now they are interested (in) opening slaughterhouse. Kill the poor animals and eat, but don't produce food grain. The whole world, this rascaldom is going on.
Lecture on SB 1.2.18 -- Calcutta, September 26, 1974:

So anartha. We should not create in the society anarthas, unwanted disturbances. The unwanted disturbance is illicit sex. And meat-eating. Meat-eating... Why one should eat meat? No animal foodstuff. Kṛṣṇa has given so many nice things. Produce. Kṛṣṇa says in the Bhagavad-gītā, annād bhavanti bhūtāni (BG 3.14). Kṛṣṇa never says, māṁsād bhavanti bhūtāni, matsyād bhavanti bhūtāni. Never says. Annād. Anna, anna. Anna means food grain. Produce sufficient food grain. So the... In the village side you go, hundreds and thousands of acres of land is lying vacant. Nobody is interested. Now they are interested (in) opening slaughterhouse. Kill the poor animals and eat, but don't produce food grain. The whole world, this rascaldom is going on. I have traveled over many countries, all over the world. In Africa there are so much vacant land. In Australia there are so much vacant land. But nobody is producing food grains. They, they have kept some cattles, these cows. They are automatically maintained. There is grass. And when they are fatty, take them and send to the slaughterhouse and eat. But the land is lying vacant. The land is lying vacant.

Anna means food grains. Either animal or man, they must eat sufficiently. Either you eat grass or you eat rice or wheat or oats, or..., something must be... So they are are called anna.
Lecture on SB 1.10.4 -- London, November 25, 1973:

Ah, bhavanti bhūtāni. Annād. Anna means food grains. Either animal or man, they must eat sufficiently. Either you eat grass or you eat rice or wheat or oats, or..., something must be... So they are are called anna. In Sanskrit language it is called anna. Anna means foodgrains. So annād bhavanti bhūtāni (BG 3.14). Every living entity lives. Nowadays there are scarcity of foodgrains. Even the human being cannot eat sufficiently. But formerly the kings, they used to maintain elephants. They were supplied very nice cāpāṭis. Do you know that? Still there are kings, they have elephants. Therefore elephant can be maintained by very rich man. If suppose, if somebody comes, he says, "Take this elephant, I give you free," will you take? Will you accept? You know that elephant will devour you, your all your means or income and all family income, because you cannot maintain elephant.

Anna means grains. There are different types of grains. That is all wanted.
Lecture on SB 2.3.1-4 -- Los Angeles, May 24, 1972:

So this is kindness, mercy of Kṛṣṇa, that He has given you facility if you want to fulfill your desire. But all of them are kāma. In each and every line, the word is used, kāma. We have marked it. Here, just like annādya-kāmas tv aditim. Annādya. Anna means grains. There are different types of grains. That is all wanted. Annādya-kāmas tu. Kāma. But you won't find here a meat-eater. No, that is not at all... That is aboriginal. That is not for a human being. Anna. You can desire anna, grains. You can desire to become king. You can desire to have nice wife. These are natural. But there is not a single sentence here you will find they are desiring to eat meat, egg, flesh. No. That is beyond human jurisdiction. They are not meant for human being. So these are the different departments if you want to take facility of quickly getting some benefit... Yajanta iha devatāḥ. Kāṅkṣantaḥ karmaṇāṁ siddhiṁ yajanta iha devatāḥ. For particular type of fulfillment of your desire, you can worship the particular type of demigods.

Anna means food grains. Or even you take that "My anna, my food, is animal." That's all right, either you eat animal or vegetable or food grains, it is supplied by God. You cannot manufacture it.
Lecture on SB 6.1.41 -- Los Angeles, June 7, 1976:

So we cannot declare independence. That is not possible. There is no independence. We are completely dependent on Viṣṇu. There is no doubt about it. You cannot manufacture your necessities, all the necessities. You can manufacture some motorcar or some needle or this or that, but you cannot manufacture the primary necessities of life. That is not possible. When there is scarcity of food, you cannot manufacture in your factory. That is not possible. That you have to receive from Viṣṇu, from God. That, that is explained in the Bhagavad-gītā, that annād bhavanti bhūtāni parjanyād anna-sambhavaḥ (BG 3.14). Parjanyād anna-sambhavaḥ. Anna means food grains. Or even you take that "My anna, my food, is animal." That's all right, either you eat animal or vegetable or food grains, it is supplied by God. You cannot manufacture it. Suppose I am eating vegetables, you are eating meat. But meat you cannot manufacture, a vegetable also I may not manufacture. That is supplied by God. Eko yo bahūnāṁ vidadhāti kāmān. Whatever our necessities are there, it is supplied by God, Kṛṣṇa. So He advises... This world, although Kṛṣṇa supplies everything, but still, you have to work. You have to work. This material world means karma-samjñaḥ. Without working, you cannot live. You have to work. There is a verse in the Bhagavad-gītā: śarīra-yātrāpi ca te na prasiddhyed akarmaṇaḥ. Do not stop working. Some foolish people say that we are not working. We are working for Kṛṣṇa. It is not that we are not working. Working is necessary here. But the difference is a bhakta is working under the direction of Kṛṣṇa, and nondevotees are working under the direction of māyā. That is the difference. Therefore bhakti and ordinary work, karmīs, it looks similar, similar, that these men, they are also working, they're also cooking, they're also going to the Press, they're also typing. They're this... So what is the difference between bhakti and karma? The difference is that we are working for Kṛṣṇa and others are working for māyā. That is difference.

Anna means ordinary rice. And paramānna, paramānna means the first-class, sweet rice, cooked with milk.
Lecture on SB 7.6.6 -- New Vrindaban, June 22, 1976:

Unfortunately, the modern civilization has discovered so many artificial ways of life that it is very, very difficult to execute Kṛṣṇa consciousness business. So therefore Prahlāda Mahārāja says that simply for sense gratification, if we waste our time, that is not good. Tat prayāso na kartavyo—don't waste your time for increasing the scope of sense gratification. That is not at all required. Tat-prāyaso na kartavyo yata āyur-vyayaḥ param. Āyur means duration of life. Simply wasted. Vyayaḥ, vyayaḥ means expanded or wasted. Param. This duration of life, human form of life is param. Param means the supreme. Not like cats and dogs. Their āyuḥ, they also live for some time, we also live, but their life is useless. They cannot understand Kṛṣṇa. But we human beings, if we are trained up we can understand Kṛṣṇa consciousness; therefore it is called param. Everything is param. Just like anna. Anna means ordinary rice. And paramānna, paramānna means the first-class, sweet rice, cooked with milk. You have got good experience. (laughter) So similarly, āyuḥ, the ant has got āyuḥ, the worm has got āyuḥ, the cat has got an āyuḥ, some duration of life. But so far the human being is concerned, that is param āyuḥ. Param āyuḥ. So if we waste our time simply for sense gratification, then we waste our valuable life.

Anna, anna means foodstuff, and paramānna means that sweet rice. It is called paramānna. Amongst all sorts of rice preparation, that sweet rice preparation is considered to be the best.
Lecture on SB 7.9.12 -- Montreal, August 18, 1968:

One must know that there is a controller. That is the beginning of knowledge. Why should you deny? In every field of activity we find some controller. How can I deny that there is no controller of this creation? There is. Therefore Caitanya Mahāprabhu particularly uses this word. He's not manufacturing that word. This jagadīśa, this word, is there in the Vedic language in many verses. Jaya jagadīśa hare. Keśava dhṛta-buddha-śarīra jaya jagadīśa hare. The Jagannātha is Jagadīśa, the same word. Jagat-nātha, Jagannātha. Jagat-īśa, Jagadīśa. So... And who is that Jagadīśa? That is being defined by Brahma, the first living creature of this universe, in the Brahma-saṁhitā, īśvaraḥ paramaḥ kṛṣṇaḥ (Bs. 5.1). The Supreme Lord... Parama means supreme. Parama means the best, the supreme, the superior. Just like we manufacture... We not manufacture; we prepare sometimes paramānna. Anna, anna means foodstuff, and paramānna means that sweet rice. It is called paramānna. Amongst all sorts of rice preparation, that sweet rice preparation is considered to be the best. So param is used when it is the best or the supermost. So īśvaraḥ, controller. There are many controllers. "Might is right." But nobody is supreme controller. That is not possible. Nobody. Everyone is trying to become the supreme controller, but that is not being possible. By individual effort, by national effort, by communal effort, any way, every community, every nation, every individual person is trying to be the supreme. Therefore there is competition. Everyone is trying to be the supreme, but that is not possible. This world, this creation is so made that nobody is supreme. Any position you place yourself, you'll find somebody inferior to you and somebody superior to you. Nobody can say that "I am superior" or "I am inferior." If you think that you are inferior, you'll find somebody immediately less inferior than you. And if you think you are superior, you'll find immediately somebody is more superior than you.

Cornerstone Ceremonies

These are the primary necessities of this body, material body. For that, Kṛṣṇa has said, annād bhavanti bhūtāni (BG 3.14). Anna—means food grains—we require. Annād bhavanti bhūtāni. That food grains we can produce very easily by agriculture.
Cornerstone Laying -- Bombay, January 23, 1975:

Just like we were talking of industries. The industries, they are mentioned in the Bhagavad-gītā as ugra-karma. Ugra-karma means ferocious activities. For livelihood, we require our maintenance. Āhāra-nidrā-bhaya-mai... These are the primary necessities of this body, material body. For that, Kṛṣṇa has said, annād bhavanti bhūtāni (BG 3.14). Anna—means food grains—we require. Annād bhavanti bhūtāni. That food grains we can produce very easily by agriculture. In another place, Kṛṣṇa says, kṛṣi-go-rakṣya-vāṇijyaṁ vaiśya-karma svabhāva-jam (BG 18.44). We can produce sufficient food grains for our maintenance, and the whole world has got sufficient land. I have traveled over the world at least fourteen times. During the last eight years, I have traveled all over the world, even interior. I have seen there is enough land, especially in Africa, in Australia, in America, and we can produce so much food grains that ten times of this present population can be easily maintained. Ten times. There is no scarcity of food. But the difficulty is that we have demarcated, "This is my land." Somebody says, "This is America, my land," "Australia, my land," "The Africa, my land," "India, my land." This "my" and "I." Janasya moho 'yam ahaṁ mameti (SB 5.5.8). This is called illusion, that "I" and "my." "I am this body, and this is my property." This is called illusion. And this illusion, if we stand on this platform of illusion, then we are no better than the animals.

General Lectures

Anna means food grain. So we can produce enough quantity of food grains all over the world. And if we actually produce food grains, we can feed ten times of the population which are at present.
Lecture at World Health Organization -- Geneva, June 6, 1974:

So Kṛṣṇa, or God, claims that He is the seed-giving father of all these living entities. So as the father makes provision for maintenance of the sons and children, so God is not incapable. He has made provision for all these living entities. But when we mismanage, we become varṇa-saṅkara, there is calamity. So far I have studied—I am touring all over the world—there are enough place uncultivated. Especially I have seen in Australia and Africa, there is enough place that is not being utilized. In India also, there are enough places still. That is not being utilized. And Bhagavad-gītā says, annād bhavanti bhūtāni (BG 3.14). The maintenance of the living entities—bhūtāni means living entities—can be done by production of food grains. Annād bhavanti bhūtāni. Then parjanyād anna-sambhavaḥ. And then it is said, parjanyād anna-sambhavaḥ, yajñād bhavati parjanyo yajñaḥ karma-samudbhavam (BG 3.14). This formula is given in the Bhagavad-gītā, that living entities, it doesn't matter whether animal or men, they are flourished, they are raised very nicely, provided there is anna. Anna means food grain. So we can produce enough quantity of food grains all over the world. And if we actually produce food grains, we can feed ten times of the population which are at present. But unfortunately, we are not producing food grains. That is the problem. It is not the problem of overpopulation. It is the problem that we are not producing food grains. This is clearly stated, that unless you have sufficient food grains, how you can maintain? They have taken a policy that they would not... Especially in the Western countries, I see that they will not produce food. They will raise some cattles and send them to the slaughterhouse for eating. This policy is going on. And this is not a very good policy. You produce your food grain. Why you should kill the innocent animals and eat them?

Conversations and Morning Walks

1974 Conversations and Morning Walks

Anna means food.
Room Conversation with devotees about Twelfth Canto Kali-yuga, and Conversation with Guest -- June 15, 1974, Paris:

Prabhupāda: Anyway. So vāsaḥ anna. Food. Vāsaḥ anna. Vāsa means residence. Anna means food. Pāna means drinking, milk or water or whatever. You require something drinking. And śayana, sleeping or lying down on bed. Vāsa, anna, pāna, śayana, and vyavāya, sex. Sex also required. Vyavāya, snāna. I have seen in New York. They have no... In a humbug, they have no place for taking bath. They have to go elsewhere. Sometimes some friends come to take bath. The, our students, they were coming to take bath in my bathroom. So snāna. So these things, nil. "When these things will be nil," vāsa, anna, pāna, śayana, vyavāya, snāna, bhūṣaṇaiḥ, "and dress," hīnāḥ, "being devoid of all these things," piśāca-sandarśā bhaviṣyanti, "they will be just like, what is called, urchins."

Yogeśvara: Piśācī.

Prabhupāda: These hippies, they are exactly this. They have no place to sleep, no nothing of the sort and looking like big, big hair. Piśācī. Piśāca. What is the English?

Nitāi: Ghost?

Prabhupāda: Ghost, yes. Ghost, yes. Ghost-like. Hīnāḥ piśāca-sandarśā bhaviṣyanti kalau prajāḥ: "In the Kali-yuga, the prajāḥ, people in general, devoid of residence and proper food, then proper drinking, resting place or sex or bathing and dress, they'll look like ghost."

1976 Conversations and Morning Walks

Anna means food grains, eatables. You must produce sufficient food grains. Why you are producing tire tube instead of food grains?
Conversation with News Reporters -- March 25, 1976, Delhi:

Hṛdayānanda: Economic instability.

Prabhupāda: Economic? Then why don't you accept the economic program given by Bhagavad-gītā? Why don't you accept?

Reporter (2): If you would elaborate on that, I would be very much interested.

Prabhupāda: Well, that is.... It is.... It is known to everyone. Kṛṣṇa says, annād bhavanti bhūtāni (BG 3.14). Anna. Anna means food grains, eatables. You must produce sufficient food grains. Why you are producing tire tube instead of food grains? And just entering your Delhi from Vṛndāvana, a big Goodyear factory, very big factory. You are producing tire tube, then iron, Goodyear and this and that. Where is food grain? And both sides, the field is vacant. Nobody is going to grow food grain. Then why you'll not starve? It is your fault. You are producing tire tube and iron instrument. You are neglecting agriculture. Then why you shall not suffer for want of food grain? And you are pleading, "Indians are starving." Well, why shall not starve if they do not follow Bhagavad-gītā? They are thinking, "By increasing industry in America..." They have got industry, at the same time food grains also. But you are taking to industry without taking care of growing food grains.

Page Title:Anna means
Compiler:Rishab
Created:24 of Jan, 2012
Totals by Section:BG=0, SB=0, CC=0, OB=1, Lec=11, Con=2, Let=0
No. of Quotes:14