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Attracted to... (Lectures)

Lectures

Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures

Lecture on BG 2.8-12 -- Los Angeles, November 27, 1968:

Prabhupāda: Yes.

Devotee: But he was attracted to Kṛṣṇa's pastimes. So what...?

Prabhupāda: Yes. That is the sign of liberated soul. Because to become attracted by Kṛṣṇa, that is our normal condition. So he was liberated; therefore normally he became attracted with Kṛṣṇa's pastimes. That is his normal life. One who is not attracted by Kṛṣṇa's pastimes, he will be attracted by President Johnson's pastimes. (laughter) One has to be attracted. One has to be attracted by the dog's pastimes. Don't you see a person how he is serving the dog? The dog stands, passes urine, he also stands. You see? He's a human being, and he is waiting for the dog passing urine. How much he is attending the pastimes of the dog? So if you (are) not attracted by the pastimes of God, then you'll have to be attracted by the pastimes of the dog. There is no other alternative. Either māyā or Kṛṣṇa. The atheist, agnostic, they deny Kṛṣṇa's pastimes; therefore they remain attracted by the pastimes of this material world. Yes?

Madhudviṣa: Prabhupāda, I think this is... Did Lord Caitanya take sannyāsa from a Māyāvādī sannyāsī?

Lecture on BG 2.15 -- Mexico, February 15, 1975:

In the spiritual world the number of liberated person—many, many times greater than these conditioned soul. Just like the prison house and outside the prison house. The population outside the prison house, their number is very great, but within the prison house there are small number, criminals. So there are innumerable living entities. Out of them, some of them become attracted to this material enjoyment; others not. So one who does not want to serve Kṛṣṇa and wants to serve his senses, he's put into this material world. And he's given all facilities to enjoy, but he becomes entangled. This is the position. Yes?

Lecture on BG 2.16 -- London, August 22, 1973:

Asat means which will not exist. I've already explained. In India, of course, materially, five hundred, five thousand years ago, materially also, India was very opulent. Why five thousand years? Even five hundred years or four hundred years, India was so opulent that Europeans were attracted to go to India. Even during the time of Mogul Empire. It was so opulent. Those who have gone to India, you'll find if you visit in Delhi, the Red Fort. Red Fort you'll find there are pictures of birds and trees on the wall and the eyes of the bird is now hole or some parts. Means it was bedecked with jewel. On the wall there was decoration of birds. Just like we paint now. There is also paint. But that is not painting. Set up with stones, and the eyes and other parts of the bird, or trees, flowers, they are bedecked with different types of jewels. Now all these jewels have been taken away when British government was there, and they are now protected in the British museum.

Lecture on BG 2.18 -- Hyderabad, November 23, 1972:

Alpa-medhasaḥ. Medhā means brain substance. So those who are alpa-medhasaḥ, they, means less brain substance. Antavat tu phalaṁ teṣāṁ tad bhavaty alpa-medhasām (BG 7.23). Alpa-medhasaḥ, less intelligent, less brain substance, they worship different demigods. Kāmais tais tair hṛta-jñānāḥ yajante anya-devatāḥ (BG 7.20). The anya-devatās are there, but who are attracted to worship other demigods? Those who are lusty. Kāmais tais tair hṛta-jñānāḥ. These are the statements in the Bhagavad-gītā. You know. Those who are lusty, and, being lusty, they have lost their senses. Hṛta-jñānāḥ. Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura, he says, hṛta-jñānāḥ naṣṭa-buddhayaḥ. No intelligence. Kāmais tais tair hṛta-jñānāḥ prapadyante 'nya-devatāḥ (BG 7.20). Antavat tu phalaṁ teṣāṁ tad bhavaty alpa-medhasām (BG 7.23).

Lecture on BG 2.25 -- Hyderabad, November 29, 1972:

Tejo-vāri-mṛdāṁ vinimaya. What is this world? This world is a mixture of fire, earth, water, air. That's all. What is this? Tejo-vāri-mṛdāṁ vinimayaḥ tri-sargo 'mṛṣā. It is a false thing. Actually it is a combination of these five elements. And we are accepting... This body's also like that. Body's also combination of five elements. And we are attracted to this. "Oh, I have got so, such a, such a nice, beautiful body, strong body, American body," "Indian body," "Brāhmaṇa body," "This body," "That body." All māyā. You'll never be happy by this bodily concept of life. Because you are...

Therefore Kṛṣṇa indirectly saying that: acchedyo 'yam adāhyo 'yam. The body is burned into ashes. Then how we are body? The body, when the man is dead, the body is put into the fire. So it is dāhya, it becomes burned. Then how we are body? One man is claiming, "Oh, I am born brāhmaṇa. I have got this body from my birth." So that's all right.

Lecture on BG 4.13 -- New York, April 8, 1973:

This is Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement. How, we are helping people how to get out of this material body, and revive your own spiritual body and, in that spiritual body, you go back to home, back to Godhead. This is the process. Tyaktvā dehaṁ punar janma naiti (BG 4.9). But people are so attracted to this material body that they are prepared to become cats and dogs next life, but they are not prepared to go back to home, back to Godhead. This is the problem.

So why this problem? Because the human society is in chaos. A chaotic condition. There must be division of four classes. One class must be brāhmaṇa, intelligent class of men. And one should be kṣatriya, one class, the administrators. Because human society, they require good consulting brain, good administrators, good producers and good worker. That is the division of brāhmaṇa, kṣatriya, vaiśya, śūdra. Therefore Kṛṣṇa says: catur varṇyaṁ mayā sṛṣṭam (BG 4.13).

Lecture on BG 4.39-42 -- Los Angeles, January 14, 1969:

Just like Bilvamaṅgala Ṭhākura. You have heard the story of Bilvamaṅgala Ṭhākura. There are many stories. So he was very much fond of his girlfriend prostitute. So when one night when he approached there within torrents of rain and with great difficulties, the woman was sympathetic. She said, "Bilvamaṅgala, you are so much attracted with this flesh and bone. Oh, if you had been so much attracted to Kṛṣṇa, how you would have been." Oh, immediately he turned: "Yes." So he immediately went back and went to Vṛndāvana.

So these are the points of knowledge. You see? One... When one is struck with that knowledge, that "What I have gained? I have tried life after life, hours after hours, days after days, this sense gratification. What I have got?" this is knowledge. Then searching begins. Go on.

Lecture on BG 5.17-25 -- Los Angeles, February 8, 1969:

Prabhupāda: Yes. Go on.

Revatīnandana: "Verse 21: Such a liberated person is not attracted to material sense pleasure but is always in trance, enjoying the pleasure within. In this way the self-realized person enjoys unlimited happiness for he concentrates on the Supreme (BG 5.21)."

Prabhupāda: There is a word, ātmārāma, in Sanskrit. Ātmārāma means one who is satisfied with his self. He is called ātmārāma. Because self is the basic principle of this body, the soul. So one who is satisfied with his soul, he is called ātmārāma, or self-realized person. One who seeks pleasure externally, he is materialist, and one who seeks pleasure internally, he is spiritualist. That is the difference. Yes.

Revatīnandana: "An intelligent person does not take part in the sources of misery which are due to contact with the material senses. O son of Kuntī, such pleasures have a beginning and an end, and so the wise man does not delight in them (BG 5.22)."

Lecture on BG 7.1 -- Nairobi, October 27, 1975:

Especially in the Western countries we see. He has no family, but he keeps one pet dog or pet cat because he wants to be attracted by somebody. This is nature. So here Kṛṣṇa says that "You have got already attraction, but in false things which will not exist. You turn that attraction unto Me. Then you'll get pleasure." You are attracted to something for getting some pleasure. So that pleasure is interrupted because we have posed our attraction in some false things. You have to change that attraction to the real thing, Kṛṣṇa. Then you'll be happy. Mayy āsakta. Mayy āsakta. Mayi: "Unto Me," Kṛṣṇa says personally. If you... Attraction means you have to engage your mind. Mayy āsakta-manāḥ. Attraction does not come in the air. The mind, mind fully engaged in something, is called attraction.

Lecture on BG 7.7 -- Bombay, February 22, 1974:

Otherwise why we are chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa...? It is not material sound. Any material sound, you chant thrice, you'll be tired. But you go on chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra twenty-four hours, you'll never be tired. Therefore it is not a sound of this material world; it is a sound of the spiritual world. Golokera prema-dhana, hari-nāma-saṅkīrtana, rati nā janmilo kene tāy. "I am not attracted to this." This is the lamentation of Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura, a Vaiṣṇava. Saṁsāra-biṣānale, dibā-niśi hiyā jvale. "In this material existence, this eating, sleeping, mating and defending, with this business, always my heart is burning." Saṁsāra-biṣānale, dibā-niśi hiyā jvale, juṛāite nā kainu upāya. "I did not make any means to get out of this." Golokera prema-dhana. Therefore indirectly he is giving hint that human life is meant for worshiping Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa and chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra.

Lecture on BG 7.8-14 -- New York, October 2, 1966:

Everything is being generated. And the Vedānta-sūtra confirms it: janmādy asya yataḥ (SB 1.1.1), everything. "That is the Supreme Truth from where everything is emanating." That is Supreme Truth. So what we are thinking bad, good, that is bad and good for me, because I am conditioned, but because He is not conditioned, therefore for Him, there is no bad and good. He is not conditioned. I am conditioned; therefore I am feeling heat and cold. But because He is not conditioned, everything is all right for Him. So such is Kṛṣṇa.

So how Kṛṣṇa has described Himself as He is. But why we are not attracted to Kṛṣṇa? That is explained in the next.

Lecture on BG 16.6 -- South Africa, October 18, 1975:

That is jaḍa-vidyā, māyār vaibhava. They can expand the influence of māyā. We are already influenced by māyā. Prakṛtiṁ mohinīṁ śritaḥ. We have taken this material world as very fascinating, very attractive. We want to stay here and enjoy. This is material life. Everyone who is attracted to the material world, they are sinful or fallen. Kṛṣṇa-bahirmukha hañā bhoga vāñchā kare. The, our material life begins... We are spirit soul. When our material life...? When we try to deny, try to not serve Kṛṣṇa but independently we want to enjoy life, that is called material life. Independently we want to enjoy without Kṛṣṇa, without God. That is called material life. So such persons are called demons.

Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures

Lecture on SB 1.1.1 -- London, August 7, 1971:

When we say "Kṛṣṇa" name of God, that means He's all-attractive. All-attractive means He's not only attractive to the devotees but to the nondevotees. It's not that Kṛṣṇa is one-sided, He's attractive to the devotees. No. To the nondevotees also. Just like Kaṁsa. Kaṁsa was also attracted by Kṛṣṇa. He was attracted to Kṛṣṇa as enemy. There are two kinds of attraction. We can become attracted to somebody as friend as well as enemy. That is also attraction. If you think of some person that "This man is my enemy. I want to kill him, or I want to do some harm to him. How I shall do? How shall I capture him? He goes on the office, on the road. So I can capture him in that way..." So many. Just like in America the President Kennedy was killed. So the man who killed him, he made it a plan, thinking of President Kennedy always. That is attraction.

Lecture on SB 1.1.1 -- London, August 7, 1971:

All-attractive means, therefore, that Kṛṣṇa is attractive to everyone, either one is Kṛṣṇa's devotee or nondevotee. The best example is Kaṁsa. Kaṁsa heard that the eighth son of his sister, Devakī, would kill him. Since that time, he became attracted to Kṛṣṇa. "Oh, somebody's coming in the name Kṛṣṇa, as my sister's eighth son. So He will kill me. So let me kill my sister, the source of Kṛṣṇa." So he first of all wanted to kill his sister. That is due to attraction of Kṛṣṇa. He was very kind to his sister. After the marriage of his sister he was taking very jubilantly his sister and his brother-in-law in a chariot, and he was personally driving, because Devakī happened to be younger sister of Kaṁsa. Naturally, everyone has got some love for younger brother and sister. So he was affectionate. Although he was a nondevotee demon, still, natural attraction one cannot avoid. Just like a tiger. Tiger is killer of everyone.

Lecture on SB 1.1.3 -- London, August 20, 1971:

Śrī Śukadeva Gosvāmī, due to his being a perfectly liberated soul, did not have to undergo an evolutionary process for spiritual realization. Yet despite his being a completely liberated person situated in the transcendental position above the three material modes, he was attracted to this transcendental rasa of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is adored by liberated souls who sing Vedic hymns. The Supreme Lord's pastimes are more attractive to liberated souls than to mundane people. He is of necessity not impersonal, because it is only possible to carry on transcendental rasa with a person. In the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam the transcendental pastimes of the Lord are narrated, and the narration is systematically depicted by Śrīla Śukadeva Gosvāmī. Thus the subject matter is appealing to all classes of persons, including those who seek liberation and those who seek to become one with the Supreme Whole. In Sanskrit the parrot is also known as śuka.

Lecture on SB 1.2.5 -- Montreal, August 2, 1968:

Therefore He is known as Yaśodā-nandana, Nanda-nandana. He was lover of Rādhārāṇī; therefore He is called Rādhā-ramaṇa. In this way, Kṛṣṇa has got different names, or God has got different names, according to His activities. But His real name is Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa means all-attractive. He attracts everyone. Kṛṣṇa attracts both the nondevotees and devotees. Devotees are very much attracted to Kṛṣṇa to render service, and nondevotees are attracted to Kṛṣṇa to kill Him, but everyone is attracted. Somebody is attracted to vanquish God. That is also another attraction, indirect attraction. If I always think of my enemy, "How shall I vanquish him?" that is an attraction. And if I think of somebody, of my friend or somebody, "How shall I make him happy?" that is also attraction.

Lecture on SB 1.2.12 -- Los Angeles, August 15, 1972:

Some way or other, if you develop this eagerness, that "I must see Kṛṣṇa," then Kṛṣṇa will be seen.

So here is... The first thing is how much eager you are to see Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa will respond. If you are actually eager to see Kṛṣṇa... It, the reason may be different, either you are lusty or to steal His ornament. Some way or other, you become attracted to Kṛṣṇa, then your business is successful. Rūpa Gosvāmī has advised that... He says in a poetry. It is on the matter of the gopīs talking. One gopī is advising another gopī that "My dear friend..."

Lecture on SB 1.2.24 -- Vrndavana, November 4, 1972:

Acyutānanda: If we, when we show the books to new life..., potential life members, they go to that part. They look...

Prabhupāda: Yes. Everyone is attracted to that. So therefore it is said: śrotra-ramo 'bhirāmāt. It is pleasing to everyone. But unless one becomes a devotee—it may be pleasing—he cannot derive the effect. He cannot derive the effect. As we practically see, generally, the Bhāgavata reciters, they read these chapters and they hear also, but they do not improve. They do not improve; simply sentiment. They do not understand Kṛṣṇa.

Lecture on SB 1.5.15 -- New Vrindaban, June 19, 1969:

Then Vyāsadeva says, Nārada Muni says, tataḥ karuṇārthe vibhu anātmanaḥ deha-vimāna athaiva guṇaiḥ satyādibhiḥ pravartamānasya guṇair janasya darśaya bhavān iti.(?) "Therefore you write literature in such a way that people will become attracted to Kṛṣṇa, or the Supreme Lord." Simply official understanding of Kṛṣṇa—"God is great" or "Kṛṣṇa is all-powerful"—but my attention is only how to improve my material condition... So this picture was given in our Back to Godhead. Perhaps you all remember that a bridegroom party was to go to the bride's home. In India the marriage party, bridegroom party, the bride, his father, his relatives, go with the bride, bridegroom, to the bride's home, and the marriage ceremony takes place there in the presence of all kinds of relatives. That is the system. So the marriage was to take place in a different village some miles away, and in Bengal the land is full of rivers. The rivers are considered to be high roads. So it was settled that the bridegroom's party will start in the evening before the marriage day and reach there in the morning and rest whole day, and in the evening the marriage will take place.

Lecture on SB 1.7.10 -- Vrndavana, September 9, 1976:

They are not material. But they are attracted to Kṛṣṇa in different varieties. (break)

...varieties are not of matter. Here in this material world the varieties are of material external energy, bahiraṅga. Bahiraṅga-śakti. There are three manifestations of Kṛṣṇa's energy. Parāsya śaktir vividhaiva śrūyate (Cc. Madhya 13.65, purport). That is the Vedic injunction, that the Lord's energy is manifested in varieties—not impersonal. If we study very intelligently, then we can understand how Kṛṣṇa's energy is working in varieties. You study even one flower, you'll see how varieties of color and arrangement of the petals, everything. Don't think as the rascals, they say "nature." What is nature? Nature is an instrument, just like typewriter . You're typewriting... You are typewriting, not that the typewriter typewriting. That is a mistake. Those who have less intelligence, poor fund of knowledge, they see that the typewriter is working. No. The typewriter means the person who is using the machine, he is just like this microphone. Microphone is not talking; I am talking. It is an instrument. Similarly, what we call nature, that is an instrument only, not that nature is working. Nature is dull. What is this microphone? It is made of dull matter. It cannot work. But a human being has arranged these material things in such a way...

Lecture on SB 1.7.27 -- Vrndavana, September 24, 1976:

He had written so many books—all the Vedas, Upaniṣads, Purāṇas. But he was not feeling satisfied even after writing the Vedānta-sūtra. So at that time Nārada Muni happened to come to him, and he chastised him that "You have written so many books, but they're not very useful." Because people are generally attracted to dharma, artha, kāma, mokṣa (SB 4.8.41, Cc. Ādi 1.90). They're attracted. Those who are civilized men, they are attracted with some sort of religion, system. It doesn't matter whether he's Hindu or Muslim or Christian. They have some sort of religious practice. That is the beginning of human civilization. When there is no religious practice, that is not civilized man. Just like in the jungle, aborigines, or the animals, they have no religious system. In the human society there is some religious system. Therefore when the human society becomes without any religious understanding, dharmeṇa hīnāḥ paśubhiḥ samānāḥ, immediately they're animals.

Lecture on SB 1.8.26 -- Mayapura, October 6, 1974:

There are many, many instances. So to become voluntarily akiñcana, "I have nothing. I don't possess anything." Here in this material world, everyone is trying to possess more—more wealth, more education, more beauty, more family prestige, aristocracy. This is materialism. And spiritualism means just the opposite. Therefore people are not attracted to spiritualism. I have told you that I was thinking when I was dreaming that "Guru Mahārāja is asking me to come out, and I was going..." Did I say this story? Yes. So I was afraid: "Oh, I have to give up my family. And I become... I have to become sannyāsī? And I have to go behind my Guru Mahārāja? No, no, it is horrible." I was thinking. But he forced me to it. He is so kind that he forced me, somehow or other. That is mercy. I can understand now that how much merciful was my Guru Mahārāja that he forced me to take this life.

Lecture on SB 1.8.26 -- Mayapura, October 6, 1974:

So we have to become akiñcana. Akiñcana. Then we shall realize Kṛṣṇa. Therefore it is said, akiñcana-gocaram: "You are understandable only by a person who does not possess so-called material opulence." So we should always remember that whatever we are trying for material..., it is all for Kṛṣṇa, nothing for us. So that people may... Big, gorgeous temple means people will be attracted to come here, and we'll distribute Kṛṣṇa's prasādam. The aim is some way or other to turn them to convert them into Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Then you remain akiñcana. And if we think that "We have got now very big house. We shall live comfortably and sleep comfortably," then na gocaram, then Kṛṣṇa will not be realized. Then that comfort will be realized only, not Kṛṣṇa. Akiñcana-gocaram. We should always remember this.

This is... Kuntī devī is saying, tvām akiñcana-gocaram (SB 1.8.26). And Caitanya Mahāprabhu said also, niṣkiñcanasya bhagavad-bhajanonmukhasya.

Lecture on SB 1.15.27 -- Los Angeles, December 5, 1973:

Pradyumna: Translation: "Now I am attracted to those instructions imparted to me by the Personality of Godhead (Govinda) because they are impregnated with instructions for relieving the burning heart in all circumstances of time and space." (SB 1.15.27)

Prabhupāda: Go on reading the purport.

Pradyumna: "Herein Arjuna refers to the instruction of the Bhagavad-gītā, which was imparted to him by the Lord in the Battlefield of Kurukṣetra. The Lord left behind Him the instructions of the Bhagavad-gītā not only for the benefit of Arjuna alone, but also for all times in all lands. The Bhagavad-gītā, being spoken by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is the essence of all Vedic wisdom. It is nicely presented by the Lord Himself for all who have very little time to go through the vast Vedic literatures, like the Upaniṣads, Purāṇas and Vedānta-sūtras. It is put within the study of the great historical epic Mahābhārata, which was especially prepared for the less intelligent class, namely the women, the laborers, and those who are worthless descendants of the brāhmaṇas, kṣatriyas and the higher sections of the vaiśyas. The problem which arose in the heart of Arjuna on the Battlefield of Kurukṣetra was solved by the teachings of the Bhagavad-gītā.

Lecture on SB 1.15.27 -- New York, March 6, 1975:

Nitāi: "Now I am attracted to those instructions imparted to me by the Personality of Godhead, Govinda, because they are impregnated with instructions for relieving the burning heart in all circumstances of time and space."

Prabhupāda:

deśa-kālārtha-yuktāni
hṛt-tāpopaśamāni ca
haranti smarataś cittaṁ
govindābhihitāni me
(SB 1.15.27)

So this word hṛt-tāpa upaśamāni... Hṛt means heart, and tāpa means miseries or burning, heat. Tāpa means burning heat. If there is fire and there is heat, sometimes it is intolerable. So hṛt-tāpa means the burning fire blazing within the heart. So that is always. Anyone who is in this material world, he has got this disease, burning fire within the heart, anyone. That means severe anxiety, everyone. Even a small bird, he is also full of anxiety. You give him some grains. It will come. It will eat. At the same time, it will look this way, that way, this way, full of anxiety. Although there is food, he is eating, still, there is anxiety, "Somebody may come, kill me." So everyone is full of anxiety. That is the material nature. Nobody can say "I have no anxiety." That is not possible. If he says like that, he is a liar.

Lecture on SB 1.16.16 -- Los Angeles, January 11, 1974:

And when the calf goes to Kṛṣṇa... This is described in the Kṛṣṇa book, how all the cows and calves were so much, I mean to say, attached to Kṛṣṇa. That is Vṛndāvana. Everyone is attached to Kṛṣṇa. It doesn't matter whether he is human being or plant or trees or water or animal or the land or the flowers or the fruits. Whatever there is, they are all attracted to Kṛṣṇa.

So similarly, if we become attracted to Kṛṣṇa... We are attracted to... Actually we love Kṛṣṇa. That is the fact. But we have forgotten it. We are under illusion. Just you analyze yourself. Why we love this body? It is very easy to understand. Because the soul is there. Does anybody love a dead body? Is there any instance, a dead body is loved and embraced and taken into the room and kept it? Nobody cares. Throw it. Or burn it. So the body is not a lovable object. But because the soul is there within the body, therefore we love this body. This house, if it is vacant, nobody will come. But because there is Kṛṣṇa or because there are devotees of Kṛṣṇa, so many people come.

Lecture on SB 2.1.4 -- Delhi, November 7, 1973:

"I am the seed-giving father of all different forms of life." Kṛṣṇa claims that He is... Therefore, because He is the father of all living beings, therefore there is response from Europe and America. Otherwise what connection they have got? They have got their Jesus Christ or something else. But why they are attracted to Kṛṣṇa?

Because actually the father is the... Kṛṣṇa is the father not only of the human society—of the bird society, the beast society, dog society, cat society, everyone's father, sarva-yoniṣu. That is Kṛṣṇa. Try to understand Kṛṣṇa. And if you simply try to understand and little understand, then your life is successful. Janma karma me divyaṁ yo jānāti tattvataḥ, tyaktvā dehaṁ punar janma naiti mām eti kaunteya (BG 4.9). Simply by understanding even little, your life is successful. Svalpam apy asya dharmasya trāyate mahato bhayāt. Mahato bhayāt. This is bhaya. They do not know what is bhaya, fearfulness.

Lecture on SB 2.1.4 -- Vrndavana, March 19, 1974:

This is struggle. Everyone wants to live, but... He may live for some time—for few seconds, for few minutes, or for few years, or for few millions of years. But death will come. And our struggle is how to overcome death. In the human form of life a living being is competent enough to come to an understanding of this great struggle for existence, but being too attracted to the family members, society, country, etc., he wants to win over the invincible material nature by the aid of bodily strength, children, wife, relatives, etc. Although he is sufficiently experienced in the matter by dint of past experience and previous examples of the diseased predecessors, he does not see that the countrymen are all fallible in the great struggle. One should examine the fact that the father or father's father has already died, and therefore he himself is also sure to die. And similarly his children, who are the would-be fathers of their children, will also die in due course. No one will survive in the struggle with material nature.

Lecture on SB 2.4.1 -- Los Angeles, June 24, 1972:

Pradyumna: "The word satīm is very significant. This means "existing" and "chaste," and both imports are perfectly applicable in the case of Mahārāja Parīkṣit. The whole Vedic adventure is to draw one's attention entirely unto the lotus feet of Lord Kṛṣṇa without any diversion, as it is instructed in the Bhagavad-gītā (15.15). Fortunately Mahārāja Parīkṣit had already been attracted to the Lord from the very beginning of his body, in the womb of his mother. In the womb of his mother, he was struck by the brahmāstra atomic bomb released by Aśvatthāmā, but by the grace of the Lord he was saved from being burnt by the fiery weapon, and since then the King continually concentrated his mind upon Lord Kṛṣṇa, which made him perfectly chaste in devotional service. So by natural sequence he was a chaste devotee of the Lord, and when he further heard..."

Prabhupāda: Here, one important matter is there, that Parīkṣit Mahārāja, while he was in the womb of his mother, there was brahmāstr a targeted on him by Aśvatthāmā. And he was to be killed. Practically he was killed. His mother felt a miscarriage and immediately approached Kṛṣṇa, that "I am feeling like this. The only son of the Pāṇḍava dynasty is going to be lost." So Kṛṣṇa immediately entered the womb of Uttarā and saved the baby. Now, Parīkṣit Mahārāja is recognized devotee; otherwise Kṛṣṇa would not have taken so much trouble. He wanted that Parīkṣit Mahārāja. Now, when he was cursed by a brāhmaṇa to die within seven days, why Kṛṣṇa did not save him, or why he did not seek Kṛṣṇa's protection? This question may be raised. He was young man. He was not old man. He could live.

Lecture on SB 2.9.9 -- Tokyo, April 25, 1972, Informal Class in Room:

Prabhupāda: ...transcendental vibration. So everything is there. If you do not practice, what can I do? The transliteration is there, the accent is there, and now our Pradyumna is there also. Utilize time; become attracted. As Kṛṣṇa is all-attractive, you become attracted at least to some. Kṛṣṇa is all-attractive. You cannot become all-attracted. At least you become attracted to some. They are becoming attracted by good apartment, by shaving the beard or..., like that. You told me they are trying to remain young?

Sudāmā: Yes, yes. You have given us so many. Now we have so much to start. So many mantras, Bhagavad-gītā, Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Īśopaniṣad.

Prabhupāda: Huge. So why you are not utilizing this facility?

Sudāmā: We're missing the point.

Lecture on SB 3.25.7 -- Bombay, November 7, 1974:

In this material world, they are simply struggling. There is no solution. Therefore the every Indian should study Bhagavad-gītā and if possible Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, and assimilate it, and preach all over the world. This is the duty of India. India has no other duty. Para-upakāra. So with our one man's endeavor, teeny effort, you, we can see that so many outsiders, they're attracted to Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Unless there is something substance... They are not illiterate. They are not fools. They are not poor. Why they are attracted? There is something to be learned from Kṛṣṇa consciousness. So if this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is spread all over the world regularly, then the face of the world will change. That's a fact. Sarve sukhino bhavantu. This is the Vedic mission: "Let everyone become happy." And how he'll be happy? He cannot become happy by mental concoction. That is not possible. Manorathenāsati dhāvato bahiḥ (SB 5.18.12). If one is situated on the mental platform, speculating, he will simply go to the asat. Asat means this material world.

Lecture on SB 3.25.13 -- Los Angeles, November 10, 1968:

So this friendship, this love, this society, this country—everything illusion. Just like dream. At night we dream, "Oh, I have been made a king," and in the morning I see everything finished. So we should not be attached to these temporary attractions. We admit these are temporary attractions, but we are still... Just like children. They are attracted to the..., but the parents, they're guiding, "Oh, you must go to school." Niḥśreyasāya. That is śreyaḥ. The boy, the child, does not like it, but the parents, they are anxious, "Oh, my child is not going to school; he is being spoiled." So dragging him.

Similarly, the scriptures, the sages, the saintly persons, the devotees, the representative of Kṛṣṇa, God, they're very much anxious to take us back to Godhead, back to home. That is niḥśreyasāya. That is the ultimate benediction. To be repaired(?), enamored by the temporary society, friendship and love.

Lecture on SB 3.25.29 -- Bombay, November 29, 1974:

Kṛṣṇa-bhajana is not so easy. But if you voluntarily, if after hearing so many qualities of Kṛṣṇa, transcendental qualities, if you somehow or other become attracted to Kṛṣṇa consciousness, then your life is successful. Yena tena prakāreṇa manaḥ kṛṣṇe niveśayet. Somehow or other you attach your mind to Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Sarve vidhi-niṣedhāḥ syur etayor eva kiṅkarāḥ.

Then Kṛṣṇa says that "Anyone who is engaged in My devotional service with love and faith, buddhi-yogaṁ dadāmi tam." This is buddhi-yoga. Buddhi-yoga means bhakti-yoga. Buddhi-yoga means, bhakti-yoga is not for the foolish person. Bhakti-yoga means buddhi-yoga, one who is highly intelligent. Or somehow or other he has become intelligent, that "I shall take to Kṛṣṇa consciousness." Then his life is perfect immediately, and gradually he will realize Kṛṣṇa, tattvataḥ. Bhaktyā mām abhijānāti yāvān yaś cāsmi tattvataḥ (BG 18.55). You somehow or other take to Kṛṣṇa consciousness, engage yourself in devotional service under the direction of śāstra and the spiritual master, then you will understand Kṛṣṇa and then your life is perfect.

Lecture on SB 3.26.26 -- Bombay, January 3, 1975:

The yogis especially, they do that. And jñānīs also, they read philosophy, discuss philosophy. The yogis control the senses. Yoga indriya-saṁyamaḥ. In this way they are trying to get out of this chain of fruitive activities. Karmāśayaṁ grathitam.

But devotees, being attracted to the flavor of the lotus flower of Kṛṣṇa's feet, lotus flower... Kṛṣṇa, His face is called also lotus-eyed, His navel is called padma-nābha, His feet is called lotus feet, pāda-padma, and His garland is also padma. He is very much fond of padma. So when a devotee is attached to the lotus flower of Kṛṣṇa's feet, automatically they forget the all such material activities. They haven't got to endeavor separately. The jñānīs and the yogis, they are trying to, by their endeavor, by their different endeavors, they are trying to get out of this entanglement, but the devotees, simply by engaging himself in the vāsudeva-bhakti, vāsudeva-parāyaṇa, simply by bhakti, they come out of the entanglement without any difficulty.

Lecture on SB 5.5.8 -- Vrndavana, October 30, 1976:

Pradyumna: "The attraction between male and female is the basic principle of material existence. On the basis of this misconception, which ties together the hearts of the male and female, one becomes attracted to his body, home, property, children, relatives and wealth. In this way one increases life's illusions and thinks in terms of "I" and "mine."

Prabhupāda:

puṁsaḥ striyā mithunī-bhāvam etaṁ
tayor mitho hṛdaya-granthim āhuḥ
ato gṛha-kṣetra-sutāpta-vittair
janasya moho 'yam ahaṁ mameti
(SB 5.5.8)

This is material world, ahaṁ mameti, "I am this," artho 'ham, balavān aham. "I am everything," aham, "and this is mine. This is my property. This is my country. This is my society. This is my nation." Mine, mine, mine. And I, I, I. This is material world. Kṛṣṇa says, bhoktāraṁ yajña-tapasāṁ sarva-loka-maheśvaram (BG 5.29). The Supreme Personality of Godhead declares clearly that "I am the proprietor." Śāstra says, Veda says, īśāvāsyam idam sarvam: (ISO 1) it is God's property, everything. We are claiming, our country, "This is my country," but as soon as you go on the beach of the sea, your country finishes, the land. Then whose, the water, whose water that is? But the foolish person: "No, it is in my throne(?), it is mine."

Lecture on SB 5.5.8 -- Vrndavana, October 30, 1976:

Because a man is searching after woman and woman is searching after man, when they unite, then the kāma becomes hard knot, very tightly. When they are separated, there is chance of not being tied, but as soon as they are tied by marriage or by some way or other, then tayor mitha hṛdaya-granthim āhur. Hṛdaya-granthim. We are already attracted to these things, and when it is united, then we see practically in our Indian families that when the boy is grown up and the girl is grown up, the father-mother unite them by marriage system. Everywhere. But India still going on. Why? Because unless he is married, he'll not get attracted to this material life.

So the father and mother's duty is to unite them so that they may not be spoiled, they may not be like cats and dogs. At least there will be some regulative principles they will follow. But the bondage is, as soon as they are united, the economic development, ataḥ gṛha-kṣetra-sutāpta-vittair (SB 5.5.8), then searching after: "Now we must have an apartment, so to..."

Lecture on SB 6.1.14 -- Bombay, November 10, 1970:

Prabhupāda: He knew there is no difference between Kṛṣṇa and Nārāyaṇa because he was in perfect knowledge. Why Bhīṣma? Everyone of us. You do not know?

Revatīnandana: Bhīṣma was more attracted to four-armed form.

Prabhupāda: That is, that is... Some devotee is worshiper of Viṣṇu, some devotee is worshiper of Kṛṣṇa.

Revatīnandana: Their constitutional nature is that way.

Prabhupāda: That is rasa. He likes this form. Just like Hanumān said that "Although I know Rāma and Kṛṣṇa are the same, still, I want to see Rāma." We also. Although we know Rāma and Kṛṣṇa the same but we want to see Kṛṣṇa.

Devotee: Tulasi dāsa said that he wanted to see Rāma.

Lecture on SB 6.1.15 -- New York, August 1, 1971:

There are many instances. Many sannyāsīs, they give up this world as mithyā, all false. "Let me take to Brahman." But again they become implicated to philanthropic work, welfare activities. If this world is false, why you are attracted to the welfare activities? If it is false in your opinion... We say it is not false. Our philosophy is... We don't say that the world is false; we say the world is temporary. How it can be false? If God created this world, if God is true, how His creation can be false? We don't approve this philosophy. We accept that this is not false, but this is temporary. And because it is creation of God, because He's Absolute Truth, it is also true. Simply we are seeing it otherwise. Just like I'm claiming something within this world as my property. That is false. But this is someone's property—that is fact. That is God's property. Īśāvāsyam idaṁ sarvam (ISO 1). Not that the property is false.

Lecture on SB 6.1.19 and Room Conversation -- Bombay, November 15, 1970:

Now he again says that "Those who are attracted to devotional service of Kṛṣṇa even to a very little extent, for them," na te yamaṁ pāśa-bhṛtaś ca tad-bhaṭān svapne 'pi paśyanti hi cīrṇa-niṣkṛtāḥ, "they do not even dream the Yamarāja or his constables." Because at the time of death those who are very sinful, they are taken away to Yamarāja's place... That's a fact. Not only that, he even in dream does not see them because that little service to Kṛṣṇa has made him freed from all sinful contamination. (Hindi) The very word is used, cīrṇa-niṣkṛtāḥ.

Lecture on SB 6.1.22 -- Indore, December 13, 1970:

In this way he was living with his prostitute wife, and many children he got because he was attracted to the prostitute, say, at the age of twenty, very young man. And as such... (aside:) Aiye. He begot many children. He begot many children. Evaṁ nivasatas tasya lālayānasya tat-sutān. Tat-sutān. Here it is not stated that it is Ajāmila's son. The tat-sutān means the children were of the prostitute. Because she was not married, therefore that woman did not belong to him. Just like a land you possess. The production goes to the possessor of the land, not to others. Therefore, because the prostitute was not married to Ajāmila, her sons were not Ajāmila's sons. They were all sons of the prostitute. Therefore, at least still in India, a prostitute's son has no position in the society.

Lecture on SB 6.1.25 -- Chicago, July 9, 1975:

Nitāi: "The child's broken language and movements were very pleasing to Ajāmila, who was very attracted to the child. He always took care of the child and enjoyed his activities."

Prabhupāda: "Attached, attached to the child."

Nitāi: "...very much attached to the child."

Prabhupāda:

sa baddha-hṛdayas tasminn
arbhake kala-bhāṣiṇi
nirīkṣamāṇas tal-līlāṁ
mumude jaraṭho bhṛśam
(SB 6.1.25)

So this is called material attachment. He is very much attached to the child, but he does not know this will break. This attachment will not endure. When the child is grown up, neither the father will have so much attachment, nor the child will have so much... This is called material world. But the same attachment is there in the spiritual world. Just like mother Yaśodā. Mahārāja Nanda, he is attached to Kṛṣṇa. They are also enjoying the same way, but that enjoyment is never broken. That is the difference. This attachment between father and son or mother and son in this material world, it will not stay. It will break, today or tomorrow. That is the nature.

Lecture on SB 6.1.28-29 -- Philadelphia, July 13, 1975:

Sometimes you will find the dying man is crying, ākulendriyaḥ, tearful eyes. He cannot express. He is not practiced. But he was given the chance. Kṛṣṇa gave him the conscience when the child was born to keep his name Nārāyaṇa. This is Kṛṣṇa's mercy, that "This rascal was My devotee, and now he is so fallen. All right, he is attracted to his children." So He gave the conscience, "Now keep your son's name Nārāyaṇa." Sarvasya cāhaṁ hṛdi sanniviṣṭaḥ. Kṛṣṇa is situated in everyone's heart. Mattaḥ smṛtir jñānam apohanaṁ ca (BG 15.15). Kṛṣṇa says, "From Me everything, remembrance and forgetfulness, come." Those who want to forget Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa helps him to forget: "All right, you forget." He does not give. He does not dictate from the within. And one who is foolishly in bad association, unfortunately forgets Kṛṣṇa, then Kṛṣṇa gives him chance. Offenders are very nuisance. Kṛṣṇa... Too much offender, purposefully, guru—Vaiṣṇava, his position is very difficult. But by chance if one forgets Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa does not forget him.

Lecture on SB 6.1.56-62 -- Surat, January 3, 1971, at Adubhai Patel's House:

Although he was so much trained up, still, vimohita, forcibly he was attracted to this thing, forcibly. Because young man.

So these things are being shown regularly in the cinema. What character will be formed of the young men? By seeing once, this Ajāmila, he fell down so much, and our boys and girls are seeing these things every day in the cinema. So what kind of character you can expect from them? These are the instruction to be taken from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. But generally people go to hear Bhāgavatam to the professional reciters when the rāsa-līlā of Kṛṣṇa is described, because they think, "Oh, Kṛṣṇa is doing this, embracing a nice girl. So this is very nice." Not this part of Bhāgavata is interesting. That part of Bhāgavata is very interesting, and people gather in ten thousands to hear rāsa-līlā. And the reciter will make very monetary profit. This is going on, Bhāgavatam. Nobody is interested to hear the incidences of Ajāmila.

Lecture on SB 6.2.12-14 -- Allahabad, January 17, 1971, at Kumbha-mela:

Actually, religion does not mean to improve your material condition. That is not religion. Śrīmad-Bhāgavata therefore says that sa vai puṁsāṁ paro dharmo yato bhaktir adhokṣaje: (SB 1.2.6) "That type of religion is first class which elevates one to the platform of pure devotional service to the Absolute Truth." That is religion. People are not attracted to the bhāgavata-dharma, or the religion. Bhāgavata-dharma is actually sanātana-dharma. Sanātana-dharma does not mean that one must have a certain type of religious life. Sanātana-dharma means the eternal religion. Sanātana-dharma is applicable for all living entities. A living entity is eternal, God is eternal, and there is an eternal abode also. Paras tasmāt tu bhāvo 'nyo 'vyakto 'vyaktāt sanātanaḥ (BG 8.20). So the religious principles which promote a follower to the highest platform of serving the eternal, supreme God, that is called sanātana-dharma. Nityo nityānāṁ cetanaś cetanānām (Kaṭha Upaniṣad 2.2.13). That is first-class religion.

Lecture on SB 6.2.12-14 -- Allahabad, January 17, 1971, at Kumbha-mela:

That is the art of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. In spite of your all engagement, your mind should be fixed up in Kṛṣṇa. Naikāntikaṁ tad dhi kṛte 'pi niṣkṛte manaḥ punar dhāvati ced asat-pathe. Because mind is inclined, inclined to go astray. Asat-pathe. Asat means this material, and pathe means way. Mind is generally attracted to this asat-pathe. but you have to draw the mind to the sat-pathe. Sat means spiritual, eternal. That is the practice.

Tat karma-nirhāram abhīpsatāṁ harer guṇānuvādaḥ khalu sattva-bhāvanaḥ. Therefore tat karma-nirhāram abhīpsatām. Karma. Because if you are engaged in ordinary karma... Karma I have already explained. Karma means doing something for your personal benefit. That is called karma. Or, in plain words, doing something for sense gratification, that is called karma. And as soon as you engage your activities for such sense gratification or for your personal benefit, then you have to commit sins. That's a fact. Therefore we are entangled in this birth and death problem.

Lecture on SB 7.6.9-17 -- San Francisco, March 31, 1969:

"Money is very dear to the mercantile people, money is very dear to the thieves, rogues, money is dear to everyone. And sometimes they risk life for money. Money is so pleasant and so dear that sometimes we risk our life for getting money. So how we can give up the monetary attraction when we are too much, I mean to say, attracted to this materialistic way of life?" Then again he says, kathaṁ priyāyā anukampitāyāḥ saṅgaṁ rahasyaṁ rucirāṁś ca mantrān. Then he said that "In old age the affection between husband and wife is revived." First of all, in young age, they enjoy life, and in old age they remember, "Oh, how we enjoyed in our young age. How we talked together, how we would walk together." These things, by contemplation, they enjoy. Suhṛtsu tat-sneha-sitaḥ śiśūnāṁ kalākṣarāṇām anurakta-cittaḥ. In this way, children, the children, they talking very nicely, laughing very nicely, and they are thinking, contemplating. In this way, attachment increasing, daily, attachment increasing.

Lecture on SB 7.6.9-17 -- San Francisco, March 31, 1969:

That means that is the process of controlling the tongue. And if you can control the tongue and draw a straight line, then you control your belly and control your sex also. That is the formula. Because these three things are making us too much attracted to the society, friendship and love. Kuṭumba-poṣāya viyan nijāyur na budhyate 'rthaṁ vihataṁ pramattaḥ. In this way, for maintaining the family members—kuṭumba, kuṭumba means family members—he is in madness. Pramattaḥ. The very word is used here, pramattaḥ. In madness, he is forgetting his real business and he's simply wasting time in this way for maintaining family or society and friendship.

Lecture on SB 7.9.8 -- Mayapur, February 15, 1976:

Those who are too much attached for material enjoyment, they do not become attracted to Kṛṣṇa consciousness. That is natural. So anyway, Prahlāda Mahārāja was doubting because he was requested by Lord Brahmā, "My dear boy, my dear child, we could not pacify His Lordship Nṛsiṁhadeva, but He has appeared for you." Paritrāṇāya sādhūnāṁ vināśāya ca duṣkṛtām (BG 4.8). "Nṛsiṁhadeva, this wonderful form, is there only for you." Paritrāṇāya. "You are sādhu. For your deliverance Nṛsiṁhadeva has appeared and to kill your sinful father. So business is with your father and yourself. So kindly, you take care of the business. He is very, very angry."

Lecture on SB 7.9.11 -- Montreal, August 17, 1968:

A young man was passing, and another young man and girl was embracing. Naturally he became excited. And of course this kind of embracing and kissing on the public street is done not by any high class. So he was a śūdra. So this Ajāmila was standing there, and the śūdrāṇī or the śūdra woman also called, and he became more excited, and he embraced and kissed her, and gradually became attracted to her. And he left his wife and home and father and mother, then became drunkard and everything for that prostitute. At the last moment, when he was old enough, when he could not earn, he could not cheat to bring money, the man Ajāmila was thrown in the street by that woman. Because she was not his legalized wife, she was prostitute. So did not like him. But this man had a youngest son whose name was Nārāyaṇa. So when he was in precarious condition, he was just asking his youngest son Nārāyaṇa, "My dear boy, please come here." And by reciting this word "Nārāyaṇa," he remembered the same Nārāyaṇa whom he worshiped in his early age. Just see.

Lecture on SB 7.9.40 -- Mayapur, March 18, 1976:

Puṣṭa Kṛṣṇa: "My dear Lord, the infallible one, my high position is just like a person having more than one wife, the co-wives trying to attract the husband in their own different ways. For example, the tongue is being attracted to palatable dishes. The genital wants to have sex with an attractive woman. The touch sensation is trying to contact soft things. The belly, although fulfilled, still wants to eat more. And generally the ear, without attempting to hear about You, is attracted for cinema songs. The smelling sensation is still another side; restless eyes to see sense gratificatory sense scenes; and the active senses attracting on another side. In this way I am embarrassed."

Prabhupāda:

jihvā ekato acyuta vikarṣati māvitṛptā
śiśno 'nyatas tvag-udaraṁ śravaṇaṁ kutaścit
ghrāṇo anyataś capala-dṛk kva ca karma-śaktir
bahvyaḥ sapatnya iva geha-patiṁ lunanti
(SB 7.9.40)

It is a very good example. In the previous verse Prahlāda Mahārāja explained, naitan manas tava kathāsu vikuṇṭha-nātha samprīyate durita-duṣṭam asādhu tīvram. So Kṛṣṇa-kathā is not palatable. This is māyā's influence. So we cannot engage our senses for Kṛṣṇa. This is the disturbing condition of material world. Senses are there, I am there, and how the senses should be utilized, the subject matter is also there, but it is misled. This is called māyā. Caitanya Mahāprabhu says, jīvera svarūpa haya nitya kṛṣṇa dāsa (Cc. Madhya 20.108-109). We are eternal servant of Kṛṣṇa. So what is the business of the servant?

Nectar of Devotion Lectures

The Nectar of Devotion -- Bombay, December 26, 1972:

Without, without some attractive feature, nobody is interested. Just like we are talking here about Kṛṣṇa-bhakti, but people in general, they're not very much attracted to Kṛṣṇa consciousness. So they do not care to come. There must be some attractive feature. Otherwise... So different people have got different attractive features. Therefore Kṛṣṇa says,

manuṣyāṇāṁ sahasreṣu
kaścid yatati siddhaye
yatatām api siddhānāṁ
kaścid māṁ vetti tattvataḥ
(BG 7.3)

This attraction for Kṛṣṇa can be developed in the association of devotees, satāṁ prasaṅgāt. Automatically, nobody's attracted for Kṛṣṇa. The whole world is like that. So the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement means to give these people a chance to associate with devotees and thus become attracted to Kṛṣṇa. That is required. Mayy āsakta-manāḥ pārtha yogaṁ yuñjan mad-āśrayaḥ. Mayy āsakta, to become attracted by Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa means attractive, Kṛṣṇa. Akasatira-śakti. Kṛṣṇa means attractive. Just like magnetic stone, attractive, naturally the iron... But the iron, if it is rusty, it cannot attract. It cannot attract. Similarly, Kṛṣṇa is attractive, and we are part and parcel of Kṛṣṇa. We are also attracted by Kṛṣṇa. But because we are now covered by the māyā rust, we are not attracted. This māyā rust has to be polished; then you'll be attracted. Otherwise Kṛṣṇa is attractive. Kṛṣṇa means attractive.

The Nectar of Devotion -- Vrndavana, November 11, 1972:

Madana-mohana, Madana-mohana. Madana means sex attraction. Madana, sex attraction, Cupid, and Kṛṣṇa is called Madana-mohana. One can, I mean, neglect even sex attraction if one is attracted to Kṛṣṇa. That is the test. Madana (is) attracting in this material world. Everyone is attracted by sex life. The whole material world is existing on sex life. This is the fact. Yan maithunādi-gṛhamedhi-suhkhaṁ hi tuccham. Here, the happiness, the so-called happiness is maithuna, maithunādi. Maithunādi means here happiness begins from maithuna, sex intercourse. Generally, people..., a man marries. The purpose is to satisfy sex desire. Then he begets children. Then again, when the children are grown up, they, the daughter is married with another boy and the boy is married with another daughter, another girl.

The Nectar of Devotion -- Vrndavana, November 11, 1972:

So therefore śāstra says, "Here, this material world, we are entangled, we are encaged in this material world only for this sex life." That is Cupid. Cupid is the god of sex life, Madana. Unless one is, what is called, induced by Madana, the Cupid, he cannot be, I mean to say, engladdened in sex life. And Kṛṣṇa's name is Mādana-mohana. Mādana-mohana means that one who is attracted to Kṛṣṇa, he'll forget the pleasure derived from sex life. This is the test. Therefore His name is Mādana-mohana. Here is Mādana-mohana. Sanātana Gosvāmī worshiped Mādana-mohana. Mādana or Mādana. Mādana means to become mad. And Madana, the Cupid.

The Nectar of Devotion -- Calcutta, January 27, 1973:

It is confirmed by Lord Caitanya that the only..., only the fortunate persons, by mercy of both the bona fide spiritual master and Kṛṣṇa, will get the seed of devotional service. In this connection, Lord Kṛṣṇa says in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Eleventh Canto, Twentieth Chapter, verse 8: 'My dear Uddhava, only by exceptional fortune does someone become attached, attracted to Me, Kṛṣṇa. And even if one is not completely detached from fruitive activities or is not completely attached to devotional service, such service is quickly effective.'

"Devotees can be divided into three classes. The first, or uppermost class, is described as follows: One is very expert in the study of relevant scriptures and he is also expert in putting forward arguments in terms of those scriptures. He can very nicely present conclusions with perfect discretion and can consider the ways of devotional..."

The Nectar of Devotion -- Calcutta, January 30, 1973:

Bhavānanda: (reading) "The attention of a pure devotee is so much attracted to glorification of the pastimes, name, qualities, forms, and so forth of the Lord that the devotee does not care for mukti. Śrī Bilvamaṅgala Ṭhākura has said, 'If I am engaged in devotional service unto You, my dear Lord, then very easily can I perceive Your presence everywhere. And as far as liberation is concerned, I think liberation stands at my door with folded hands, waiting to serve me.' "

Prabhupāda: Yes. By chanting the mantra, Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra, ceto-darpaṇa-mārjanam (CC Antya 20.12), gradually we become cleansed of all dirty things within our heart. Thus our mind becomes purified. And in the purified condition of the mind we can think of Kṛṣṇa rightly. In this way, Kṛṣṇa becomes practically dependent on the devotees. Kṛṣṇa is the master, controller of everything, but to the pure devotee He becomes dependent. So why the pure devotee will ask for anything else? Adurlabham ātma-bhaktau. For a devotee, Kṛṣṇa is within the palms of a devotee. Ajita, jito 'py asau. Although Kṛṣṇa is not conquerable, but He likes to be conquered by His devotee. That is the position.

Sri Caitanya-caritamrta Lectures

Lecture on CC Adi-lila 1.15 -- Dallas, March 4, 1975:

Therefore, Kavirāja Gosvāmī, being attracted to Madana-mohana, he is offering his prayer, jayatāṁ suratau paṅgor. Paṅgor, paṅgoḥ means lame man; one cannot walk. At least, one cannot walk very swiftly. So jayatāṁ suratau paṅgor mama manda-mater gatī. He is placing himself as manda-mati. Mama manda-mater gatī. Manda, this word, means bad or slow. So every one of us in this material world, we are all bad because... Why bad? Now, because we accepted this material body. Just like in the prison house, all the prisoners, they are bad. Why? Because they have accepted their home in the prison house. Therefore the conclusion is they are all bad. Maybe degrees of difference, but they are all bad. Similarly, anyone who is living in this material world, beginning from Lord Brahmā down to the small insect or ant, who are struggling in this material world... Manaḥ ṣaṣṭhānīndriyāṇi prakṛti-sthāni karṣati (BG 15.7). Kṛṣṇa said that "These living entities within this material world, they are My part and parcel" or "They are My sons." In another place He says, ahaṁ bīja-pradaḥ pitā.

Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 8.128 -- Bhuvanesvara, January 24, 1977:

So this svābhāvika ākarṣaṇa can be... At the present moment we have no natural attraction for Kṛṣṇa; therefore we must understand by knowledge what is Kṛṣṇa. That is Kṛṣṇa tattva vettā. So why one should be attracted to Kṛṣṇa unless Kṛṣṇa has all the attractive features? The attraction... Generally, in this material world we are attracted to a rich man or to a powerful man, man or woman. Just like our Prime Minister, she is woman, but because she is powerful, we are attracted. We talk of her. So the points of attraction are discussed by Parāśara Muni as bhaga. Bhaga means opulence. So these opulences... When one is very rich, he is opulent. One is very powerful, he is attractive. One is very influential, one is very beautiful, one is very highly learned... In this way, attraction.

Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 20.98-99 -- Washington, D.C., July 4, 1976:

Kṛṣṇa made some condition, sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja (BG 18.66), but here now, as devotee of Kṛṣṇa, You are distributing Kṛṣṇa without any condition. Therefore mahā-vadānyāya: You are the most munificent incarnation." So somehow or other, Sanātana Gosvāmī, he became attracted to Caitanya Mahāprabhu. He resigned his ministerial post, and he has come to surrender to Caitanya Mahāprabhu while he was at Benares. Therefore it is said, tabe sanātana prabhura caraṇe dhariyā.

So when we approach guru, our first condition is that we must be humble and surrender. Praṇipāta. Prakṛṣṭa-rūpeṇa-nipāta. Then sevā, to serve the spiritual master; yasya prasādād, to gain his favor. Yasya prasādād bhagavat-prasādo **. This is the process. So Caitanya Mahāprabhu... Sanātana Gosvāmī's teaching how to approach guru, so, very humbly... Dante tṛṇa lañā. In India the system is that to... Symbolic representation of humbleness is to take one piece of grass in the mouth.

Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 22.27-31 -- New York, January 15, 1967:

Kṛṣṇa consciousness is not ordinary thing. It is very easy. At the same time very, I mean, difficult also. Those who are not attracted by the Kṛṣṇa conscious activities, there is every chance of falling down again in the... Because he has no other alternative. Either he has to serve this way or serve that way. If he is not attracted to serve in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, then he has to serve in material consciousness. So those who are not fixed up in Kṛṣṇa, however he may be advanced in spiritual realization, that, there is falldown. It is stated in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ patanty adhaḥ (SB 10.2.32). Again falls down.

Sri Brahma-samhita Lectures

Lecture on Brahma-samhita, Lecture -- Bombay, January 3, 1973:

So there is process, how to come to the platform of prāṇāyāma. You have to find out a secluded place, and you should sit down there alone in perpendicular stature, you cannot close your eyes fully, half, then you'll have to see the tip of the nose. In this way, you have to concentrate your mind on Viṣṇu or Kṛṣṇa. This is prāṇāyāma. So... But actually when one becomes already attracted to Kṛṣṇa by devotional service, then the prāṇāyāma process is already there. Therefore Kṛṣṇa says in the Bhagavad-gītā:

Festival Lectures

Ratha-yatra and Press Conference -- San Francisco, July 4, 1970:

Prabhupāda: You can sit down.

Pressman: Why do you think a growing number of young Americans are attracted to the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement?

Prabhupāda: It is very interesting question. Our, this body is combination of matter and spirit. So we have got some temporary necessities of this body. That is called material necessities. So far your country is concerned, your country is opulent. They have got all supplies of the necessities of the body. Now after this, there is another urge, which is described in the Vedānta-sūtra as brahma-jijñāsā, inquiring about the Supreme Absolute Truth. When one is above material poverty or material necessities of life, the next question is—that is natural—about spiritual. Because we are combination of matter and spirit, so that spiritual inquiry is there. Therefore generally, these boys and girls, they looked to some Indian swami to give them some enlightenment. Unfortunately, perhaps before me all the swamis who came here, they did not give them the right information. Perhaps they did not know it. So I am giving, delivering, the right message of spiritual life, Bhagavad-gītā. It is not manufactured by me or concocted by me. It is the old story, five thousand years.

Janmastami Lord Sri Krsna's Appearance Day -- Montreal, August 16, 1968:

And so He has appeared, and we are now celebrating the Janmāṣṭamī day, the day when Lord Kṛṣṇa came to this conditioned plane out of His own transcendental power, with His full spiritual potency, in order to reveal the supreme nature of sac-cid-ānanda vigrahaḥ (Bs. 5.1), eternal knowledge, consciousness, and bliss, to all the conditioned souls so that they might be attracted to Him, and so that they might come out of the miseries of material existence and of ignorance. At this particular time in the world it is very much necessary that all people hear about Kṛṣṇa and that they should become attracted to chanting the name of Kṛṣṇa, to hearing about Kṛṣṇa's wonderful pastimes. So that by this exquisite attraction for Kṛṣṇa they might forget their lower desires, which are now leading everybody to a hellish condition of life in which it seems inevitable there are going to be wars and pestilences and starvation, diseases, all kinds of social injustice.

Arrival Addresses and Talks

Arrival Address -- Los Angeles, June 20, 1975:

It is natural. And if the iron is covered with dirt, then it does not become attracted. So this is the test, to make people prepared for being attracted by Kṛṣṇa. This is Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement. They are by nature... Nitya-siddha kṛṣṇa-bhakti. It is not unnatural. Otherwise how you European, American, you are so much attracted to Kṛṣṇa? If Kṛṣṇa is artificial and Kṛṣṇa consciousness is artificial something, so how you should be attracted? That they are surprised. They are attracted because that attraction is there already. We are trying simply to awaken that attraction. Śravaṇādi-śuddha-citte karaye udaya. The matter is already there. Just like the young man and young woman, the attraction is already there, nitya-siddha. It is natural. And when they come near, talk little confidentially, then attraction increases, not that an artificial attraction. Similarly, our attraction for Kṛṣṇa is already there. Therefore... That is the Vṛndāvana picture. Vṛndāvana, everything is attracted with Kṛṣṇa. That is Vṛndāvana.

Arrival Address -- Los Angeles, June 20, 1975:

Similarly, our attraction for Kṛṣṇa is already there. Therefore... That is the Vṛndāvana picture. Vṛndāvana, everything is attracted with Kṛṣṇa. That is Vṛndāvana. The animals, the trees, the flowers, the land, and the cowherd boys, the elderly cowherds men, Nanda Mahārāja and others—all are attracted to Kṛṣṇa. This is Vṛndāvana. The Yamunā water, everything. Fruits, flowers and everything. That is Vṛndāvana. So Kṛṣṇa is the center of attraction. You might have read that when Brahmā stolen all Kṛṣṇa's associates, so He created Himself again all of them, and everyone was feeling more attracted by Kṛṣṇa. So this is natural. This is not unnatural. Our position is, natural position is, to be attracted by Kṛṣṇa. If we do not become attracted by Kṛṣṇa, that is unnatural. And to become attracted by Kṛṣṇa, that is not unnatural. That is natural.

Initiation Lectures

Initiation of Mrga-netri Dasi -- Los Angeles, June 22, 1970:

Your name is Mṛga-netrī. Mṛga-netrī. Mṛga-netrī means staring eyes like she-deer. When Kṛṣṇa and Rādhārāṇī used to pass through the forest of Vṛndāvana, these deers and stags, they were looking with staring eyes—"When Kṛṣṇa will pass this way?" These animals were also attracted to Kṛṣṇa. The birds, everyone, the flowers, the fruits, everyone engage... Vṛndāvana means everything engaged in Kṛṣṇa. So if all of you similarly engage yourself always in Kṛṣṇa's service, this is Vṛndāvana. Vṛndāvana is not that... As Kṛṣṇa is not located... He is located, but by His inconceivable potency He can simultaneously become located and distributed. Akhilātma-bhūtaḥ. Goloka eva nivasaty akhilātma-bhūtaḥ (Bs. 5.37). He is always in Goloka Vṛndāvana, but still, He is everywhere. That is God's omnipotency. We say that God is omnipotent, but we do not know what does it mean. The omnipotency means simultaneously to do or to act or to remain everywhere. That is Kṛṣṇa.

Initiation of Mrga-netri Dasi -- Los Angeles, June 22, 1970:

All right. She may be named as Anaṅga, Anaṅga-mañjarī. That's a name of one of the assistant gopīs. Yes. So your daughter is fortunate. She is getting association of these devotees from childhood. So give her protection and raise her nicely. She is becoming attracted to the Vaiṣṇavas, to Kṛṣṇa. This is the opportunity, to get nice father and mother and become Kṛṣṇa conscious. Yes. So that is the duty of the father and mother, parents, to raise the children to complete Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Then she will no more have to come back in the womb of any other mother. This is the... This finishes. That is the duty of father and mother. Father and mother should think that "This child will no more come in any other womb. I shall train him or her in such a way." That is the duty. That is the duty of spiritual master, that is the duty of parents, that is the duty of state. But it is Kali-yuga; everything is different.

General Lectures

Speech to Maharaja and Maharani and Conversations Before and After -- Indore, December 11, 1970:

Prabhupāda: That is a fact. So be sincere, do your duty. You will never be in trouble. Never.

Himāvatī: All the members of this family are attracted to you, Prabhupāda. They are becoming more and more attracted every day.

Prabhupāda: But some of them are very envious that I went there with forty rupees, and I got so many boys and girls, children, they become envious. Profitable. They began to say, "Oh, it is profitable business." Is it not? So I said, "All right, I leave your country." If the Kṛṣṇa is there, I can make profit anywhere. All right. So you have to wait?

Haṁsadūta: They should come any minute.

Prabhupāda: So all our men are ready?

Speech -- Vrndavana, April 20, 1975:

This is the position. This should be stopped. They have got natural tendency for becoming Kṛṣṇa conscious. Therefore in these days, still so many hundreds and thousands of people coming to Vṛndāvana to relish the transcendental mellow of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. And now the foreigners are also attracted to Kṛṣṇa consciousness. And I am trying to place them in our temple. This temple is one of them. We have got four, five temples in India. We are constructing one big temple in Hyderabad, and we are getting good response. So it is our request to the leaders of the society and to the people of India that they may take this Kṛṣṇa conscious movement, Hare Kṛṣṇa movement, very seriously. It will be good for everyone and the whole world will become peaceful. We do not expect that throughout the whole world everyone will take to Kṛṣṇa consciousness. But even five percent, two percent, three percent people takes to Kṛṣṇa consciousness, there will be great example. Yad yad ācarati śreṣṭhaḥ lokas tad anuvartate (BG 3.21).

Evening Address to Pandas and Scholars -- Jagannatha Puri, January 26, 1977:

What is that? So people will come in your Jagannātha Purī now from all parts of the world. That is beneficial from various point of view. From the point of tourist program, the government will benefit. And when they're attracted to see Jagannātha Purī, Jagannātha Swami... Unfortunately, you do not allow these foreigners to enter the temple. How it can be adjusted? This stumbling block should be dissolved. If you want Jagannātha Swami to pack up within your home, and you do not expand the mercy of Jagannātha... He is Jagannātha. He's not only this Purī-nātha, or Oriya-nātha; He's Jagannātha. Kṛṣṇa declares in the Bhagavad-gītā, bhoktāraṁ yajña-tapasāṁ sarva-loka-maheśvaram (BG 5.29). That is the definition of Jagannātha, sarva-loka-maheśvaram. So why you should deny the inhabitants of Sarva-loka the darśana of Jagannātha? That is not... Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu never approved such thing.

Philosophy Discussions

Philosophy Discussion on Aristotle:

Hayagrīva: I read that Socrates was a very ugly man but that he had a very beautiful soul, and people were attracted to his soul. That was the, supposedly...

Prabhupāda: Yes. The example can be given that the quail, it is called kokil, it is very black, just like crow. But when you vibrates the voice, it is so beautiful that people are attracted. So the beauty of the body is secondary. The beauty of the soul is primary. So just like a mūḍha, a illiterate man, nicely dressed—he is beautiful so long he does not speak. And as soon as he speaks, we can understand what is his position. So dhavaca so vate mūḍha yavad kiñcid na vasa (?). A ugly, illiterate rascal, fool, is beautiful so long he does not speak, and as soon as he speaks we can understand what is his position. So this external beauty is no beauty. If an ugly man, if he speaks very nicely, he will attract so many people, and if a beautiful man, if he speaks nonsense, nobody cares for him. So real attraction is different and artificial is different.

Purports to Songs

Purport to Parama Koruna -- Los Angeles, January 4, 1969:

Paśu pākhī jhure, pāṣāṇa vidare. And it is so nice that even the most stonehearted men will be melted. Pāṣāṇa vidare. Pāṣāṇa means stone, and vidare. Pāṣāṇa, even stone, will melt. It is so nice. But he regrets that, viṣaya majiyā: "Being entrapped by sense gratification..." Viṣaya majiyā, rohili bhuliyā. He's addressing himself, "My dear mind, you are entrapped in the sense gratification process and you have no attraction for chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa."

Viṣaya bhuliyā, rohili majiyā, se pade nahilo āśa: "You have no attraction for the lotus feet of Caitanya-Nityānanda. So what can I say? It is only..." Āpana karama, bhuñjāya śamana: "I can simply think of my misfortune only that Yamaraja, the superintendent of death, he is punishing me in this way, that he is not allowing me to be attracted to this movement." This is the statement of Kahoye locana-dāsa: "This is the statement of Locana dāsa Ṭhākura."

Page Title:Attracted to... (Lectures)
Compiler:Visnu Murti, RupaManjari
Created:02 of Oct, 2012
Totals by Section:BG=0, SB=0, CC=0, OB=0, Lec=71, Con=0, Let=0
No. of Quotes:71