Assertion (Conv. & Letters)

Expressions researched:
"assert" |"asserted" |"asserting" |"assertion" |"assertions" |"assertive" |"asserts"

1969 Conversations and Morning Walks

Room Conversation -- May 10, 1969, Columbus, Ohio:

Woman: He's a human being. He's part of me.

Prabhupāda: That's all right. He is American. He is human being. In so many qualities you are one. But you cannot claim for that, you are President Nixon. You should understand in that way. In so many respect, qualities, you are one with God, but that does not mean you are God. God is one. That means you have no complete understanding. Just like in spite of your becoming American or human being, you deny to identify yourself with President Nixon because you have full knowledge of President Nixon and yourself. And as soon as you say, "I am God," that means you have no full knowledge of God. You are insane. You do not know what is God. That very thing immediately asserts that you are unknown factor about God. God is said, "Great," but you are claiming that greatness. That means you do not know how great He is. A tiny factor, you are claiming that "I am God," without having that greatness. That means insane, insanity. The same way: if you claim that "I am President Nixon," that is insanity. Similarly, God is, how great He is, how much greater than President Nixon. You deny to become one with President Nixon, and you accept to be one with God? How much insane you are. Just try to understand.

1973 Conversations and Morning Walks

Morning Walk -- December 8, 1973, Los Angeles:

Prabhupāda: No, you can see, but you have no eyes to see. Suppose there are so many richest person. We have not seen, but they must be admitted. Just like in your country, Rockefeller. So it does not mean—one has not heard about Rockefeller—therefore it does not exist.

Karandhara: But Rockefeller is constantly having to prove and assert his power.

Prabhupāda: No, prove to you, prove to me, but there are many who does not know. So that does not mean the Rockefeller is not existing. Your limited sense cannot approach. Therefore you cannot say that the thing is not existing. That is another rascaldom.

Karandhara: Well, on the other hand, they say what you can't say you...

Prabhupāda: No, I can't say? Why I cannot say? I am saying, that this man is richer than this man. This man is richer than this man. You go on, go on, go on, studying. But if you cannot study, you cannot approach, that is your inefficiency. But there is existing actually. This man is greater than this man, this man is greater than... That's all. But who is that highest educated... That you do not see. That does not mean He is not existing. There must be, because the step is going on. How can you deny this?

1975 Conversations and Morning Walks

Room Conversation with Svarupa Damodara -- March 1, 1975, Atlanta:

Prabhupāda: The other fools, they can give some respect, but we are not going to do that. We say, "You will never be able." You can say. This rascal, we can give some knowledge, that "Your this attempt will be failure," because we know life cannot be created. How he will create? We know the formula, na jāyate. So how this rascal will be able to create? I am not a scientist, but on the strength of Bhagavad-gītā's assertion, na jāyate na mriyate. "Neither it is created; neither it dies." So if somebody wants to create, then at once we shall call him a fool. We have got test tube. Very boldly we shall say. Now let them prove that can he create. This is our position. So Kṛṣṇa conscious person, he has got very strong position. He speaks just what Kṛṣṇa speaks. That's all, finished.

Rūpānuga: They're like you described yesterday, when the scorpion comes from the rice. They think that when some living entity becomes manifest that he's being created. That's because the material.

Conversation with Devotees -- April 14, 1975, Hyderabad:

Prabhupāda: Therefore you are fool. You have to learn. That means you have to learn, means you are fool.

Yaśodānandana: But we are learning.

Prabhupāda: Don't assert it, that you have done it already, you shall do it... As soon as you say we have to learn, that means you are fools. And while you are student, why you are claiming all these perfections? You have to learn. That you have to learn from us.

Brahmānanda: Actually, when I was in Germany, there was evidence of how the scientists increased disease. They invented some vaccine to counteract influenza, and they injected all of Germany with this vaccine. But what happened is sometimes the body builds up resistance to these vaccines and produces another germ. So, as a result, another type of influenza was created, which was far more worse than the previous. It made people get fever for four and five days straight, 105 degrees.

Prabhupāda: That is the way of... They have discovered this streptomycin, for tuberculosis, that if one takes too many injections of streptomycin, then it does not act.

Morning Walk -- November 14, 1975, Bombay:

Prabhupāda: There are millions of planets and millions of living entities. So that is their rascaldom. They think that they are perfect. Whatever they see, that is perfect. That is their mistake. If I say, "No, there is no life. I cannot see," is that very good statement? And in the..., externally you don't find any living entity, but is it void of living entities? Then why shall I assert that "There is no living... I cannot see"? Is that very good proposal? Therefore they are rascals. There cannot be any place within this universe which is without life. There cannot be. We see there is life even within sand. How you can say there is no life? "Because I cannot see." What is this argument? What you are? You are a rascal. Because you cannot see, therefore we have to accept? First of all we say you are rascal. And if he says that "I cannot see," is it to be accepted? And the example is there. "I cannot see any life. It is simply water." But there are millions and trillions of life, big, big fish. Where is your perfection of seeing?

Morning Walk -- November 14, 1975, Bombay:

Prabhupāda: Nobody is authority. That is our first assertion. Nobody is authority. Therefore we have placed Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Kṛṣṇa is only authority. All rascals. That is our first assertion-(aside:) Good morning—that except Kṛṣṇa there is no authority. And one who follows Kṛṣṇa, he is authority.

Devotee (3): Why are the so-called scientists trying to make the common people believe that...

Prabhupāda: Because they are so-called scientists. You have already explained. Why you are asking? (laughter) You have already explained, "so-called scientists." That's all. They are not scientists; they are so-called scientists.

Devotee (3): Why do they want to fool the people?

Prabhupāda: Because you are fool. Because you are fool, therefore you become befooled. We do not become befooled by their words. You are fool; you will be befooled. If you want to remain fool, then you will be befooled. And if you become intelligent, then you will not be befooled. They can befool when there are many fools. If there is no fool they cannot befool. So you follow this?

1976 Conversations and Morning Walks

Garden Conversation -- June 22, 1976, New Vrindaban:

Prabhupāda: That is material desire, how to become master. From different types, he's trying to become master. Just like in the morning the dogs are barking. He's also master, thinking "Why you are coming here?" Whatever little power he's got, he's asserting his mastership: "Don't come here." The same mentality. Then?

Puṣṭa Kṛṣṇa: "The best change can be effected only by hearing from authoritative sources. The best example is here."

Prabhupāda: This is the authoritative source, that you are not master, you are servant. Cultivate this knowledge. Don't try to become a master, falsely. That will never be successful. Remain servant of Kṛṣṇa, you'll be happy. That is the business of spiritual master. He gives the right information; therefore he is respected so much, because he does not cheat. "You can become master, even God you can become"—this is cheating. The real spiritual master says that "You can never become master. You are always servant." And therefore he's worshiped. He gives the right information. Therefore he is honored so, because he does not cheat. The so-called spiritual master is cheating, that "You take this mantra and give me some money and you become God." This cheating is going on. Spiritual master is to be worshiped. Why? Because he does not cheat. He gives the right information. That is his credit.

Morning Walk -- June 22, 1976, New Vrindaban:

Kīrtanānanda: But it is a little dirty. Unless you change it to charcoal, there was always some smoke. This is not ours. Our property comes down this way, but not on this corner. (break) ...land, Prabhupāda, and they say overpopulation.

Prabhupāda: In the beginning, I protest against this assertion, there is overpopulation. I never admitted. Perhaps you know.

Kīrtanānanda: Yes.

Prabhupāda: There is no overpopulation. If the Americans allow the Chinese and the Indians to come, they can develop all these un.... "No, this is our land, you cannot come," immigration, gow gow. (break) ...creek is pure water?

Kīrtanānanda: Yes, the water around here is very nice. We can dam it and have big lake.

Prabhupāda: If there is no foam that means it is nice water. Foam means sinful water.

Devotee (2): In Bhagavad-gītā, Lord Kṛṣṇa explains that the soul is situated in the body but he's not the performer of activities. In other words, he does nothing within the body, and yet...

Interview with Mike Darby -- June 30, 1976, Wheeling, W. Virginia:

Prabhupāda: Not only Christians, the whole world is now like that. Religion has become a subject matter of laughing. If one is God conscious, religious, he is considered fool number one, not very much advanced. Especially the scientists, the rascal scientists. And they'll bluff you in so many ways, that life is produced from chemicals. When we challenge them that "You make a little egg with chemicals and put it in the incubator and let life come," what will be the answer? The so-called scientist who says that life is made by combination of chemicals? Anyone can see the composition of egg, a little white and yellow substance. There are many chemicals, they are all white, and there are many chemicals yellow also. Combine together and put it in the incubator and see whether chicken is coming or not. And still they will assert, write big, big books, that life is coming out of chemicals. And people are accepting this bluff. So it is very precarious condition of present world. People want to be bluffed and there are many bluffers. And they are satisfied that "I am bluffed by a big bluffer." That's all. This is going on.

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

Prabhupāda: And, so there are two main points to make about this. Number one, these are very..., these laws describe very simple forces, pushes and pulls between atoms and things like that. And so intuitively it is very hard to imagine why such simple forces should cause anything complex to organize itself together. Now the scientists customarily make the assertion that laws like this are universal, but one thing we can notice is they have no proof of that. These laws which they say are universal are only studied in certain limited experimental situations with inanimate matter, and then they extrapolate and they say that they apply to everything. But actually the equations are so hard to solve even for reasonably simple molecules that they can't actually test out their assertion. So it's actually just a bluffing statement. So in this slide we wanted to point out how limited these laws are, how limited their concept of the laws of nature is. The next slide, according to the scientist's idea, there are two things going on—these laws and also chance. So this is a calculation showing what happens if you just have chance acting to form one of these proteins that Svarūpa Dāmodara was talking about, and you can calculate.

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

Prabhupāda: Putaparti? What is that?

Pradyumna: Putaparti is in Andhra. "His contemporary avatāra rests in the trinity of Sirti Baba, Sai Baba, and Prem Baba to come. So Satya Sai Baba, the second of the triple incarnation, asserted in the course of a marathon interview to add, 'In my present avatāra, I have come armed with the fullness of the power of the formless God to save humanity.' "

Prabhupāda: So, to whom we shall address this letter?

Pradyumna: Well, it depends where we want to send it for publishing. To this or to another magazine.

Prabhupāda: He says that "I'm avatāra." So therefore it should be addressed to him. He says. So address to Satya Sai Baba. Where is he, at Bombay?

Room Conversation with Life Member, Mr. Malhotra -- December 22, 1976, Poona:

Prabhupāda: If he is at all devotee of Kṛṣṇa, he will never say that he is Bhagavān. That is foolishness. That very assertion is foolishness.

Mr. Malhotra: But Bhagavān, they don't call them Bhagavān.

Prabhupāda: That they write in the books. They don't call, but write in the books.

Hari-śauri: There was one article in the Blitz where they quoted him saying, God is man and man is God.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: He said he is the incarnation for this age.

Prabhupāda: And where is the evidence? Anyone can say, "I am incarnation." (laughter) Any rascal can say.

Mr. Malhotra: Anyone can say. (laughing)

Prabhupāda: What is the proof? Just like this Ramakrishna, he was an illiterate priest, and at the time of his death he said to Vivekananda, that I am Kṛṣṇa, I am Lord Rāma, and he accepted. He accepted. (Hindi conversation) Let him create one motorcar. Why he's asking, "Please sir, give me car."

1977 Conversations and Morning Walks

Room Conversation with Film Producer about Krsna Lila -- January 22, 1977, Bhuvanesvara:

Guest (2): This very assertion, to our eyes, that... Our (indistinct) tells about Kṛṣṇa. So we can't take it otherwise.

Prabhupāda: No, no, you cannot take, but the public will take like that.

Guest (1): No, when Mādhava thinks that "Give me the flute and I'll be the Kṛṣṇa," then he remains in the...

Guest (2): Nobody is coming...

Guest (1): This Viśva-rūpa.

Prabhupāda: No, our... Just like we are making Kṛṣṇa consciousness propaganda all over...

Guest (2): That, education, not for... Education.

Prabhupāda: That is wanted. What is Kṛṣṇa you should understand.

Guest (2): That is education, not propaganda.

Prabhupāda: Yes. So these boys, they are advised to follow the regulative principle: no illicit sex, no meat-eating, no fish, no egg, no onion. So many "no's."

Room Conversation with GBC members -- March 2-3, 1977, Mayapura:

Prabhupāda: This planetary system is rotating from east to west, and it is hanging like the chandelier, taking shelter of the polestar. That we can see every night. Now where is the situation, which planet, where is sun, where is moon—so that he has to assert.

Svarūpa Dāmodara: When he's coming, Śrīla Prabhupāda?

Prabhupāda: I have asked him to come in this ceremony.

Satsvarūpa: Resolved: Devotees preaching to raise funds for Māyāpur must make a uniform presentation. A brochure should be prepared by the BBT. The preaching for Māyāpur should not be done differently by different persons in different parts of the world, and a brochure should be prepared for this preaching. Any GBC who wants a BBT loan...

Rāmeśvara: That's specifically for fund raising.

Conversation with Svarupa Damodara -- June 21, 1977, Vrndavana:

Prabhupāda: You are God—limited. Limited God. You cannot maintain. Therefore you are limited. You can become God within your family, within your office, within your kingdom. You are not Supreme God. To a limited extent you are God. Because you have got the quality of God, so according to your capacity, within limited jurisdiction, you may be God. So dictionary is there. Vedic assertion is there. Logic is there. Science is there. Prove. Then your education will be successful. Avicyutaḥ arthaḥ kavibhir nirūpitaḥ. When you can prove this, then the meaning of your education will become... Avicyutaḥ arthaḥ kavibhir nirūpito yad-uttama-śloka-guṇānuvarṇanam (SB 1.5.22). To glorify the exalted position of God, that is... Is it clear?

Svarūpa Dāmodara: Yes.

Prabhupāda: Bhagavad-gītā says, mattaḥ parataraṁ nānyat (BG 7.7). That is Kṛṣṇa. That Supreme Being is Kṛṣṇa.

1947 to 1965 Correspondence

Letter to Dr. Rajendra Prasad, President of Indian Union -- Delhi 21 November, 1956:

I am enclosing herewith 12 (twelve) copies of "Back to Godhead" (I to XII) for your excellency's reference. If possible kindly go through them all and I am sure that your honour will understand me right about my assertion. If it is not so possible, your excellency can kindly give a glance over the head lines only, and I am sure that will also give your excellency an idea of my definite assertion.

To make a world wide propaganda for this most essential service to humanity, it is necessary that your excellency will stretch the helping hand necessary in this matter, as your exalted honour is personally fit also to do this job. Although the method is very simple for universal adoption, it is not possible for me to express in this letter all the words that I wish to tell your honour. As such, I am seeking an interview with your honour herewith.

1968 Correspondence

Letter to Sivananda -- Los Angeles 11 November, 1968:

No, the moon's phases has nothing to do with spiritual. Yes, the students should agree to be malleable by the Spiritual Master, then his success is sure. In your western part of the world, people are falsely taught not to become slavish. Everyone wants to assert his personal views and opinions, without following any authority. That is the general tendency. But although such persons claim not to be slaves, actually they are slaves to the senses. So instead of being a slave of the senses, if one voluntarily becomes the slave of Krishna, or His representative, that is good for him. This is maya, thinking that we are independent. We are slaves—every moment we are serving our senses. We are slaves to so many abominable things, to drugs, intoxication, sex, doing the most abominable things in the service of the senses. So it is not slavish when one agrees to become slave of Krishna and His representative, then this is liberated position, liberated from being slave to the senses.

1973 Correspondence

Letter to Revatinandana -- Mayapur 5 June, 1973:

I am in due receipt of your letter dated 29-5-73, and accompanying essay, and have noted the contents carefully.

Yes, your article is very nice. It is very important that we now expose the nonsense theories of these rascal scientists who assert that life comes from matter. They say that life comes from some chemicals, but they cannot say wherefrom these chemicals have come. Actually, if we examine carefully, chemicals are coming from life, not life from chemicals. Just like the lemon tree. It is producing so many lemons. In each lemon there is so much citric acid. So, due to the presence of life, so many chemicals are being produced. Also, I have experienced, that one of my toenails has come off due to infection, but now my body is replacing that nail with another one of the exact size and shape as the one I have lost. If I have got such a potency to create, then what to speak of the Supreme Living Being lord Sri Krsna. If the sub-living entities can produce so much chemicals then what to speak of the Supreme living entity.