Māyāvādī philosophers, they say to become desireless. That..., you cannot be desireless because you are living entity. How you can stop your desires? But you have to rectify, you have to purify your desires. Now we are desiring simply for sense gratification, to lord it over the material nature. That is your desires. And, and when this desire is purified, then you'll desire that how everything should be engaged in the service of God. Now I am trying to become God, lord it over the material nature, but when my desires are purified, then I shall understand that everything belongs to God; therefore everything should be dovetailed in the service of God. That is liberation.
Become God (Lectures, other)
Expressions researched:
"became god"
|"become god"
|"becomes god"
|"becoming god"
Notes from the compiler:
Does not include "become God conscious"
Lectures
Nectar of Devotion Lectures
The Nectar of Devotion -- Bombay, January 1, 1973:
When we understand perfectly well that "I am eternal servant of God," servant... I'm not God; I'm servant of God. But one cannot be servant of God without becoming God. That they do not know, the Māyāvādī philosophers. Servant... Just like if one becomes secretary or servant of a very big man, he's in the same position. He's sitting on the same place. He's eating the same way. He's in the same atmosphere. So everything is same. Simply the relationship is different. That's all.
The Nectar of Devotion -- Calcutta, January 29, 1973:
Māyāvādī sannyāsīs... Jagan mithyā. They give up this world, so many sannyāsīs. But at heart there is the desire: "I shall become God. I shall become God." Just see. We are trying... The karmīs are trying to become minister, and he's trying to become God. So how much great desire he has got. And outwardly he appears to be renounced.
The Nectar of Devotion -- Calcutta, January 29, 1973:
Caitanya-caritāmṛta therefore says, bhukti-mukti-siddhi-kāmī sakali aśānta. Bhukti means karmīs, simply wanting, possess. That, that possessing labor is also another aśānti, to struggle to possess. So he's aśānta. Mukti, he wants to become God, one with God. And kṛccha sādhana, austerities, penance, so many things he has to do—meditation—just to become God. So that is also troublesome.
The Nectar of Devotion -- Calcutta, January 29, 1973:
This kind of conception, that "I shall become God," or "I shall declare myself God," this is also material conception. This is not spiritual conception. Spiritually, nobody can become God except God. But he has no knowledge of God. He's thinking that he's God. Vimukta-māninaḥ. Tvayy asta-bhāvād. Ye 'nye 'ravindākṣa vimukta-māninaḥ. Māninaḥ means taking for granted that "I've become liberated. I have become God." And I advertise, and some foolish people, they adore me: "Oh, here is God. Here is Bala-yogi incarnation, God." So such cheap God, we don't accept.
The Nectar of Devotion -- Calcutta, January 29, 1973:
When one thinks artificially that he becomes, he has become liberated, one with the Supreme, that is also kaitava, cheating. He's not. How he can be one with the Supreme Lord? Then how he has become insignificant creature if he's Supreme Lord? Therefore this kind of conception, that "I have become God now," this is also cheating, another cheating. He's cheating, self-deception. He's cheating himself. And what to speak of others. So this kind of oneness, or to become God, they're imperfect knowledge.
Sri Caitanya-caritamrta Lectures
Lecture on CC Adi-lila 7.2 -- Mayapur, March 2, 1974:
...that "I am Kṛṣṇa." Never said. Rather, when He was (in) Vṛndāvana, some of the devotees eulogized Him that "You are Kṛṣṇa," He immediately blocked His ear: "No, no. Don't say like that." That is the indication that to claim to become God or Kṛṣṇa is the highest type of rascaldom. That is rascaldom. Those who are these Māyāvādīs who are claiming that "Everyone is God. I am God, you are God," they are all rascals.
Lecture on CC Adi-lila 7.7 -- Mayapur, March 9, 1974:
Now, Kṛṣṇa, when He was present, He married sixteen thousand wives. Where is competition? One cannot marry even sixteen wives—and he becomes God. Just see the foolishness. Even from materialistic view, who is that god who can marry sixteen thousand wives? Is there any god, so-called rascal god? Is there any possibility? Kṛṣṇa showed, yes.
Lecture on CC Adi-lila 7.108 -- San Francisco, February 18, 1967:
The foolish person who says that God is, can be worshiped as woman, as mother... No. That is not according to Vedic literature. God is always father. Therefore Bible is all right-conception of father, not mother. Not that "I worship Kali, goddess mother, and become God." These are all nonsense. He's always father, puruṣa.
Lecture on CC Adi-lila 7.118-121 -- San Francisco, February 24, 1967:
So the distinction between energy and energetic we have discussed several times. Energy is almost the same qualitative as the energetic. The same example, that the sun planet is hot; therefore the energy of the sun planet, sunshine, it is also hot. Sunshine, the sun is illuminating; therefore the energy of the sun, sunshine, it is also illuminating. So there are so many qualitative equality with the supreme, I mean to say, living entity. But Śaṅkarācārya's statement that "We living entities, we are God, and now we are illusioned in māyā. As soon as we become free from this māyā, we become God," that is not fact. You do not become God, but you are already in godly quality, qualities, to some extent, not fully. So when you are free from these material clutches, you attain your original quality, spiritual quality.
Lecture on CC Adi-lila 7.118-121 -- San Francisco, February 24, 1967:
When the sunshine warms the sea water, it evaporates and becomes cloud. So therefore cloud is also another energy. So similarly, this material energy is also energy of God, but it cannot cover God. That is the difference. God is never covered by ignorance. This is nonsense. Those fools and rascals say that "God... We are God. We are now covered." It is the most rascaldom. How? If we are God, how we can be covered by ignorance? Then what is your value of your becoming God? You are not God.
Lecture on CC Adi-lila 7.119 -- Gorakhpur, February 17, 1971:
How the material nature is supplying you ingredients? Mayādhyakṣeṇa prakṛtiḥ sūyate sa-carācaram (BG 9.10). "Under My direction." So what is the difficulty? And how can you become God? How you can become greater than God? This is all foolishness. You are completely under the control. Daivī hy eṣā guṇamayī mama māyā duratyayā (BG 7.14). You are completely under the prakṛti, this material nature.
Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 6.154-155 -- Gorakhpur, February 19, 1971 (Krsna Niketan):
So the goodness, good man within this material..., he is also covered. He thinks himself that "I am very learned. I have nothing to do," or "I am now realized God. I have become God, Nārāyaṇa. I've become Nārāyaṇa." That is also covering, māyā's covering. He's speaking like that, that he has become God, but that is also another covering.
Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 8.128 -- Bhuvanesvara, January 24, 1977:
Caitanya Mahāprabhu's statement that Kṛṣṇa consciousness is not reserved for any particular person or nation or religion. The central point is that one must understand what is Kṛṣṇa. The other day somebody inquired, "What is the meaning of 'Kṛṣṇa'?" "Kṛṣṇa" means all-attractive. Unless God is all-attractive, how He can become God? So Vṛndāvana life means Kṛṣṇa comes, descends Himself to show what is Kṛṣṇa, what is God.
Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 20.100-108 -- Bombay, November 9, 1975:
So so 'ham means that "I am the same spiritual self," but not as powerful as the supreme master. Kṛṣṇa dāsa. He is... A living entity must always know that "I am servant of God." And without becoming God, nobody can become servant of God. Without becoming fire, you cannot serve fire. That is the principle.
Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 20.100-108 -- Bombay, November 9, 1975:
Therefore here it is said, jīvera svarūpa haya (CC Madhya 20.108). We must... This is our constitutional position. Artificially we should not think that "Now I have become God." That is false. That is the last snare of māyā, because māyā... In this material world everyone is trying to become the chief man, everyone. Everyone is trying to become minister. Everyone is trying to become a Birla. Everyone is trying to become a big doctor or a big financier, everyone. This is the struggle for existence here. Everyone. At last, when failed in everything, then he thinks of him, "I am God." This is the disease, material disease.
Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 20.101-104 -- Bombay, November 3, 1975:
So nityo nityanānām. We are eternal, we are many, and God is also eternal, but He is one. He is singular number. Not that all of us, we are God. That is nonsense. We are part and parcel of God, but we are not as powerful as God. Anyone can understand it very easily. They are claiming to become God. So does he think that he is equal in power with God? No. That is foolishness. Mūḍha. God is one, but we are... We are also eternal, God is also eternal, but we are many.
Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 20.101-104 -- Bombay, November 3, 1975:
Eka-vacana, singular number leader, God... Eko yo bahūnāṁ vidadhāti kāmān. That is the difference, that we are living entity and Kṛṣṇa, or God, is living entity, but Kṛṣṇa maintains all other living entities; we cannot maintain even ourself. And we find difficulty especially nowadays to maintain even a family. That is the difference. And still, as a rascal, I claim that "I am God. I am God." Nobody can claim unnecessarily that one is God. First of all prove that you can maintain all the living entities. You cannot maintain yourself even. You beg from door to door, and how you become God? Very simple question.
Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 20.104 -- New York, July 10, 1976:
How one can become Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu? He is God. How another man can become as good as Caitanya Mahāprabhu? Then he is also God? No. He doesn't require to be God, and neither he can ever become God. That is false. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu's equal person means one who speaks the exactly what Caitanya Mahāprabhu speaks. That makes him equal. He doesn't manufacture. If you simply repeat what Kṛṣṇa says or Caitanya Mahāprabhu says, then you become equal to me. Equal to me? That is guru. Guru means who is equal.
Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 20.105 -- New York, July 11, 1976:
The other day in Washington, one lady came with backache. So she came for curing the leg trouble. That is going on. "So you should approach a spiritual master? There is so many doctors, hospital. You go there." "No. Here you show me your miracles." And people are also cheating like that—some miracles and he becomes God. This is going on. But the miracle of spiritual master is yāṅhāra prasāde bhāi, ei bhava toriyā yāi. This is miracle: no more material existence.
Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 20.108-109 -- New York, July 15, 1976:
The Māyāvāda philosophy, they also undergo severe type of austerities, penances, but what is the idea? The idea is that "I shall become one with God." Same mistake. Same mistake. He's not God, but he is trying to become God. Even though he has performed so much severe austerities, vairāgya, renunciation, everything... Sometimes they give up everything of material enjoyment, go to the forest, undergo severe type of penances. What is the idea? "Now I shall become one with God." The same mistake.
Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 20.108-109 -- New York, July 15, 1976:
By forgetfulness if we think that "I am master," that is also mistake. And willingly, if we reply, "Why shall I serve Kṛṣṇa? Let me become Kṛṣṇa," this Māyāvāda philosophy, "Let me become God..." So all these things are māyā. Real position to become... Not become. We are. But to become sane. Now, in madness, we are talking all this nonsense that "I am one with God. I am God." We have to be treated. This treatment is Kṛṣṇa consciousness.
Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 20.112 -- Bombay, November 24, 1975:
And yogi, they also wanting to be something, siddhi, aṣṭa-siddhi. Aṇimā, laghimā, garimā, prāpti, siddhi, īśitva, vaśitva. There are eight kinds of siddhis. The yogis want to get these siddhis and declare that he has become God, the same, like the jñānī. People are hankering after. If some yogi, some..., play some yogic prakriyā, magic: "Oh, here is God." He does not see the wonderful magic which is going on throughout the whole universe. A simple magic captivate them.
Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 20.112 -- New York, July 20, 1976:
Don't manufacture preaching. Preach as it is in the śāstra. That is Caitanya Mahāprabhu's instruction: yāre dekha tāre kaha 'kṛṣṇa'-upadeśa (CC Madhya 7.128). You do not become a rascal guru yourself by manufacturing some imagination, "You do this. Give me some money and you become God, you become this, you become..." This rascaldom don't do.
Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 20.395 -- Hyderabad, August 17, 1976:
This is one of the brahmāṇḍa, universe. And there are so many universes that is just like this one seed of mustard. One grain of mustard seed, and there is a bag of mustard seeds. That is kona brahmāṇḍe. So in each brahmāṇḍa Kṛṣṇa's līlā is going on. Now you count. This is Kṛṣṇa. They become very cheaply God, Kṛṣṇa, but they do not know what is Kṛṣṇa. Therefore they take it so cheaply, that "Anyone can become God. Anyone can become Kṛṣṇa." Mūḍha. Māyayā-apahṛta-jñānāḥ. These rascals they say like that. But they do not know what is Kṛṣṇa.
Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 25.19-31 -- San Francisco, January 20, 1967:
Now he says that "What Lord Caitanya, Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya, has said, that is very nice. And we simply accept this sannyāsa order. Oh, that will not help us. Simply by accepting, changing the garment, colored garment, and without understanding anything properly or dealing properly, that is not the way for salvation." Because according to Śaṅkarācārya, anyone who accepts sannyāsa, he becomes immediately Nārāyaṇa, God. He immediately becomes God. So that is being refuted by one of the disciples, that "This is nonsense, that simply by accepting and changing the garment I become God. This is not..." Actually, one has to understand things as they are. So therefore, the explanation as given by Caitanya Mahāprabhu, that is right
Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 25.40-50 -- San Francisco, January 24, 1967:
So Śaṅkarācārya's real purpose was no existence of God, because he had a very thankless task. He was dealing with the persons who are Buddhists. They did not believe anything except matter. So for them, to establish that there is God, it is very difficult. Therefore he adopted this means that "There is no separate God. We are all God. You are God, I am God." And a demonic person, if he is addressed, "Oh, you are God," oh, he becomes very happy because he does not become responsible to any higher authority. He becomes God. He can do anything. He can perform any nonsense. Nobody is going to punish him. It is very nice theory, that "I have become God. Because I have no more..."
Sri Isopanisad Lectures
Sri Isopanisad, Mantra 1 -- Los Angeles, April 29, 1970:
Can anyone say that "I am not controlled"? Nobody can say. So if you are controlled, then why you are going to declare yourself that "I am uncontrolled. I am independent. I am God"? Why this nonsense? If you are controlled... Is God, does it mean that He is controlled? They are claiming that "I am God." Is there any meaning? If I am controlled, then how I can become God? This is commonsense affair. Therefore this Māyāvādī philosophy that "Everyone is God. I am God; you are God...," Just like the other, who was speaking, that Meher Baba's... Yes. That he was speaking, "I am God, you are God." So God is never controlled. If somebody is controlled, immediately he is not God.
Sri Isopanisad, Mantra 9 -- Los Angeles, May 13, 1970:
The so-called yoga system, they are preaching, misleading people that "You meditate and you'll understand that you are God." By meditation, one becomes God. (chuckles) You see. So Kṛṣṇa never meditated. Neither He had any chance of meditation, because from the very beginning of His appearance, Kaṁsa was prepared to kill Him. Then He was transferred by His father to the house of Nanda-Yaśodā. There also, when He was sleeping, a baby, three-months-old baby, the Pūtanā demon attacked. So Kṛṣṇa had no chance to meditate to become God. He is God from the very beginning. That is God. God is God and dog is dog. That is the law of identity.
Sri Isopanisad, Mantra 9 -- Los Angeles, May 13, 1970:
So these are all nonsense, that "You become still, you become silent, and you become God." Oh, how I can become silent? Is there any possibility of becoming silent? No. There is no such possibility. "You become desireless." So how I can become desireless? These are all bluffs. We cannot be desireless. We cannot be silent. But our desires, our activities, have to be purified. That is real knowledge. That is real knowledge. We shall desire only to serve Kṛṣṇa. That is purification of desire.
Sri Brahma-samhita Lectures
Lecture on Brahma-samhita, Lecture -- New York, July 28, 1971:
Suppose if there is servant in your office, and if he tries to occupy your seat, would you like him, if you understand that your, "This servant is trying to occupy my seat"? Similarly, any living entity who is trying to become God, he's not very much liked by God. He cannot become God, but this very endeavor, to become God, to become a competitor of God, is not very much liked.
Lecture on Brahma-samhita, Lecture -- New York, July 28, 1971:
They are envious of God's position. They want to occupy high position in this material world, and when they are frustrated, they think "Now I shall occupy the position of God." But that will be also frustrated. Nobody can become God. God is God, and living entity's living entity. He's supreme, He's infinite; we are infinitesimal. Our position is to serve God. That is our perfect position. That will make us happy. Not otherwise. Not by imitating how to become God.
Lecture on Brahma-samhita, Lecture -- New York, July 28, 1971:
That is impossible. How you can become God? Yasyaika-niśvasita-kālam athāvalambya jīvanti loma-vilajā jagad-aṇḍa-nāthāḥ (Bs. 5.48). There are innumerable universes, and within the breathing period of Mahā-Viṣṇu so many universes are coming out by exhaling. And when He inhales, so many universes are dissolved within His body. So how we can become God? God is not so cheap.
Lecture on Brahma-samhita, Lecture -- Bombay, January 3, 1973:
So Govindam ādi-puruṣam tam ahaṁ bhajāmi. These verses, Brahma-saṁhitā, it was composed by Lord Brahmā. Therefore in the Vedic literature, this, this is called Saṁhitā. Saṁhitā means part of the Vedic literature. So Lord Brahmā is describing about Kṛṣṇa. There are some foolish question that "Kṛṣṇa appeared five thousand years ago. How He became God?" Actually that is not the fact. In the Brahma-saṁhitā, Brahmā is describing means from the very creation.
Lecture on Brahma-samhita, Lecture -- Bombay, January 3, 1973:
Kṛṣṇa is not manufactured, as nowadays it has become a fashion to manufacture God by votes. No. God is never manufactured. God is God. Not by mystic power one becomes God or by so-called meditation or magical arts. No. God is God. Nobody can become God.
Festival Lectures
Gundica Marjanam Cleansing of the Gundica Temple, Lecture (the day before Ratha-yatra) -- San Francisco, July 4, 1970:
This is Kṛṣṇa, that He is playing the part of a perfect child. Mother Yaśodā ordering, "Open Your mouth. I want to see." "Yes, mother. Just see." And when she saw His mouth, oh, the mother couldn't adjust(?). That is God, that He is, by being obliged by the devotee, He is playing the part of a child, at the same time maintaining His supremacy as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. That is Kṛṣṇa. Not that by mystic power one becomes God. No. God is God always.
Janmastami Lord Sri Krsna's Appearance Day -- Montreal, August 16, 1968:
So we're very shocked and astonished that so many people are coming to the West, to the United States, and posing as holy men and simply making business, charging money, and giving somebody some magical formula whereby they can become God in half of a year. And so many people who are sincere seekers are being deluded, and this is very unfortunate.
Janmastami Lord Sri Krsna's Appearance Day -- Bhagavad-gita 7.5 Lecture -- Vrndavana, August 11, 1974:
Nowadays, by scientific advancement, they are making so many tunnels within the big, big mountain. Big, big ocean, they are making tunnel. They are drilling oil. Controlling. Therefore superior energy. But that does not mean they have become God. That is mistake. God is different. God is Kṛṣṇa, the supreme controller. He's controller of the material energy and the superior energy. This should be the conclusion.
Sri Vyasa-puja -- New Vrindaban, September 2, 1972:
The all the śāstras in Vedic literature, they have declared that spiritual master is as good as God. Not God, but as good as God. The Māyāvādī, they think that the spiritual master is also God. No. We Vaiṣṇava, we don't accept that theory. But actually how a man can become God? No. But because he is God's representative, he is honored as God, not that he has become God.
Radhastami, Srimati Radharani's Appearance Day -- Bhagavad-gita 18.5 -- London, September 5, 1973:
The Māyāvādī sannyāsīs address amongst themselves: namo nārāyaṇa. "Namo nārāyaṇa" means every one of them has become a Nārāyaṇa. This is their philosophy. And from this namo nārāyaṇa principle, Vivekananda Swami has manufactured the word "daridra-nārāyaṇa." So Nārāyaṇa has become very cheap thing for them. Everyone has become Nārāyaṇa; everyone has become God. Just like the rascal God is now in the hospital. God is under operation. (laughter) A "guruji" God.
His Divine Grace Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Gosvami Prabhupada's Appearance Day, Evening -- Gorakhpur, February 15, 1971:
Persons who are thinking that "I have become liberated. I have become Nārāyaṇa. I have become God. I have become Brahman." Brahman, everyone is Brahman. That's a fact. But there is another Param Brahman. Paraṁ brahma paraṁ dhāma pavitraṁ paramaṁ bhavān (BG 10.12)—Kṛṣṇa.
His Divine Grace Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Gosvami Prabhupada's Appearance Day, Evening -- Gorakhpur, February 15, 1971:
The Māyāvādī philosophers, they say "Renounce this whole..." Brahma satyaṁ jagan mithyā. Jagan mithyā. "But I want to be one with that Supreme." That is for greater enjoyment. "I have failed to enjoy this world even after becoming prime minister or big man. Now I'll become God."
Arrival Addresses and Talks
Arrival Lecture -- New Delhi, November 10, 1971:
Now I am coming via Africa. I was in Nairobi, Mombassa. And the black men, they are also dancing. And they are asking the Indian people there, "Why did you not give us this sublime message so long?" Because there are many Indians in Nairobi and Mombassa. Unfortunately, our swamis go there, make some collection, and preach that "I am God, you are God. Why you are searching God? Gods are loitering in the street," and "Make this gymnastic and you will become God in six months." These things are going on. But nobody was interested.
Arrival Lecture -- San Francisco, July 15, 1975:
Tathā bhāvyata eva sadbhiḥ: "Those who are exalted, advanced, they accept this truth, that guru should be respected as good as God." But why he is respected as such? Because kintu prabhor yaḥ priya eva tasya: "Because he is very, very dear to God." The guru will never think that "My disciples are worshiping me exactly like God; therefore I have become God." He is not guru, he is rascal. Guru is always in the position of servant. And because he is the most confidential servant of Kṛṣṇa, therefore he is to be respected as good as Kṛṣṇa.
Arrival Address -- Toronto, June 17, 1976:
So it is a great science. This Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is not a sentimental movement, not a bluffing movement, that a man has become God by some mystic power or this... No. It is a science. One has to study. That is, it is called kṛṣṇa-tattva. Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement means kṛṣṇa-tattva, the science of Kṛṣṇa, or the science of God.
Initiation Lectures
Lecture & Initiation -- Seattle, October 20, 1968:
Nobody is serious about to learn or to understand what is this movement. And if somebody is interested, they want to be cheated. They want something cheap or cheap something for self-realization. They have got money, they want to pay somebody some fees, and if he says that "I'll give you some mantra and you will, fifteen minutes meditation, within six months you'll become God," these things they want.
Initiations -- Los Angeles, January 10, 1969:
And those who are disgusted with karma—"Now I shall meditate. I shall become God." You see? The same disease, aśānti. And siddhi-kāmī, mystic power: "I shall be light. I shall be great. Whatever I shall want, immediately..." The yogis can do that.
Initiation of Lokanatha dasa -- New Vrindaban, May 21, 1969:
You are part and parcel of God. Don't try to become artificially like God. That is not possible. That will be simply waste of energy. This is māyā. Everyone under the spell of māyā, they are working very hard. Why? Everyone is trying to become God: "I shall be the great man of this country," or "My country shall be the greatest country in the world." That means God is great, and everyone is trying to be great like that. That is competition. So you are trying, I am trying, he is trying, everyone is trying. This is called māyā.
Initiation of Lokanatha dasa -- New Vrindaban, May 21, 1969:
Caitanya Mahāprabhu recommends this process, that you don't try artificially to become God the great. It is not possible. Simply waste of time. Caitanya Mahāprabhu says that jñāne prayāsam udapāsya namanta eva. It is not the statement of Caitanya Mahāprabhu; it is the statement of Bhāgavata, but He quoted this. His disciple, Rāmānanda Rāya, quoted this while discussing what is the objective of human life. So He recommends this objective. What is that? Jñāne prayāsam udapāsya namanta eva. Don't try to be puffed up artificially by your speculative knowledge that you are the same God. Don't try for it. If you actually want to be happy, and if you want, actually, you want to be God realized or Kṛṣṇa conscious person, then the first thing is that you give up this nonsense habit—by speculation, you want to be God.
Lecture at Initiation Fire Sacrifice -- Los Angeles, July 16, 1969:
Self-realization, liberation, the sign is that he becomes joyful, prasannātmā, immediately. If you have actually realized yourself, simply by bluffing that "I am God, I am this, I am..." No. There are signs. If you are God, then you must be as joyful as God, as Kṛṣṇa. If you are suffering still and you are claiming that you are God, that is nonsense. You needn't become God. You, simply if you become in the light of God, you become joyful.
Lecture at Initiation Fire Sacrifice -- Los Angeles, July 16, 1969:
Sun, you cannot become identical with the sun. It is so powerful, the temperature is so high and great, that you cannot approach even sun. The scientists say even from so many millions of miles away, if a planet or somebody goes near the sun, immediately he will be burned into ashes. So this is false claim that brahma-bhūtaḥ means one becomes God. No. That means that you come to the light of God. That is also nice, to come to the light of God.
General Lectures
Lecture to Technology Students (M.I.T.) -- Boston, May 5, 1968:
You may become, after leaving this body, you can become American or you can become Indian or you can become Chinaman or you can become god in the moon planet or some other planet, or you can become dog, you can become hog, you can become serpent—anything. That requires... That is under the control of the material nature. That is not under your control. But if you take to this Kṛṣṇa consciousness, it will be under your control.
Lecture -- Seattle, October 9, 1968:
Young man (5): If we can believe the Beatles, you are not the only wise man to come out of the Indian hills to New York. What do you know of this Maharishi Yogi that has become so world famous, and what could you tell us of his teachings by way of comparison?
Prabhupāda: He's famous amongst the fools. He's not famous for me. (laughter)
Young man (5): Is he famous in India?
Prabhupāda: No. He cheated some fools because they wanted to be cheated. That's all. And he finished his business. After befooling, then he retired. That's all. Because you want to be cheated, some cheap method of become God immediately.
Srila Prabhupada and Disciples Speak -- New York, April 9, 1969:
We don't want petty gods. You see. We want God like that. Yes. When He was on the lap of His mother and the Pūtanā came to kill Him by sucking her breast, so Kṛṣṇa sucked her breast and life both. This is Kṛṣṇa. God is not made, manufactured, that by meditation one becomes God. "First of all he was dog; now he has become God." It is not like that. God is God from the very beginning, always God.
Lecture Excerpt -- New York, April 12, 1969:
People are after becoming religious person or economically very well situated person or desiring all facilities for sense gratification. And when one is frustrated in all these attempts, he wants to become God. You see? By meditation, he wants to become God. You see? God is not so cheap thing that simply by meditation one can become God. People do not know what is God; therefore they accept.
Lecture at International Student Society -- Boston, May 3, 1969:
Very little, very few men are interested to understand this philosophy seriously. Simply they are busy with process of sense gratification, and if somebody comes, "All right, you go on with your sense gratification. You simply meditate for fifteen minutes, and within six months you become God," these bluffs like this will be accepted very easily. But we are not meant for giving people false information.
Address to Indian Association -- Columbus, May 11, 1969:
So this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is nothing... It is not a new thing that we have introduced or manufactured. No. It is authorized on the Vedic principle, authorized by ācāryas like Caitanya Mahāprabhu and all other ācāryas. So join us. You will be happy. Your human life will be sublime. And the method is very simple. There is no loss. We are not charging anything, that "You give me fee. I shall give you some secret mantra, and within six months you shall become God." No. It is open for everyone. Even child, even woman, girls, boys, old—everyone can take it and chant it and see the result.
Lecture 'Nobody Wants to Die' -- Boston, May 7, 1968:
This age is called Kali. Kali means the age of disagreement. Nobody agrees. Nobody agrees. I don't agree with you; you don't agree with me. I quarrel with you; you quarrel with me. Everyone thinks that he is independent, he is God or he is everything. But he is dependent in every step. But still, he's proud of becoming God. So these nonsense things are going on.
Lecture -- Boston, December 23, 1969 :
When you will seek after God, God is situated within your heart, He will give you all facility. And so long you want to become God, you will be cheated, because you are trying to cheat yourself. How you can become God? First thing is that, you are trying to become God, then how you became a dog? God cannot become a dog. God is always God.
Lecture -- Boston, December 23, 1969 :
The Māyāvādī philosopher says that "I am God, but I am, by māyā, I am thinking I am not God. So by meditation I shall become God." But that means he is under the punishment of māyā. So, God has become under the influence of māyā. How is it that? God is great, and if he is under the influence of māyā, then māyā becomes great. How God becomes great?
Lecture -- Boston, December 23, 1969 :
Prabhupāda: Everyone is thinking, "I am God." So what you are thinking? You are trying to become God, or what is? What is your idea? Or you are thinking there is no God?
Man: I am thinking that there is one.
Prabhupāda: There is God? You are thinking like that?
Man: Yes. I am also..., can see that I was trying to become God.
Prabhupāda: So, you are trying to become God, that means you are not God. Is it not? How you became not God? (laughter) How you became not God? God is (indistinct) just like so many think that, there are, it, it becomes not. That God is great, then how He is great? Then you, your conclusion should be that "I am not that God who is great. I am a different God who becomes sometimes not God." (laughter) Therefore you are a different God from that God who is great. Is it not? So that is a fact.
Lecture at Krsna Niketan -- Gorakhpur, February 16, 1971:
The Māyāvādī philosopher thinks that as soon as he has given up, liberated from the matter, now he has become God. No. You give up this material energy, you have to take up spiritual energy. Mahāmāyā, yogamāyā.
Speech at Gaudiya Math Center -- Visakhapatnam, February 19, 1972:
We are, we the jīvas, we are also expansion of Kṛṣṇa or Viṣṇu. But we are a small, separated part and parcel, whereas viṣṇu-tattva expansion, They are full in power. The viṣṇu-tattvas are known as puruṣa-tattva, whereas the jīva-tattva is known as śakti-tattva. Jīva-tattva, as the Māyāvādī philosophers, they think that jīva-tattva can be God or jīva can become God. That is a false theory. It has no value according to Vedic scripture.
Lecture -- Tokyo, May 1, 1972:
We are serving our senses whimsically. I want to become this. I want to become that. First of all I want to become a big businessman, or I want to become a prime minister. I want to become the president. And when I am frustrated, then I want to become God. That want—"I want to become master"—is going on. So this is also māyā. How one can become God? Kṛṣṇa says, mattaḥ parataraṁ nānyat kiñcid asti dhanañjaya (BG 7.7). Nobody can become equal to God or greater than God.
Lecture -- Los Angeles, May 18, 1972:
Kṛṣṇa, when He was present, from the beginning of His birth He had to fight. When he was only three months old... He was lying down on the lap of His mother. There was a Pūtanā demon. She wanted to kill Kṛṣṇa, but she was killed. So that is God. God is from the very beginning God. Not that by some meditation, by mystic power, one becomes God. Kṛṣṇa was not that type of God. Kṛṣṇa was God from the very beginning of His appearance. Vīryasya.
Sunday Feast Lecture -- Los Angeles, May 21, 1972:
So these are the potencies of God. Not that I can show some magic and immediately I become God. Just see the magic, real magic of God. Don't accept cheap God. God must show godly magic. Just like we are showing little magic, floating some airplane or sputnik or jet in the sky. We are taking so much credit, so much credit that scientists are declaring, "There is no God. I am God, because I have made this airplane." And what is your airplane in comparison to these planets? So intelligent person, they will give more credit to God than to these scientists or philosophers.
Sunday Feast Lecture -- Los Angeles, May 21, 1972:
God has nothing to do personally. Na tasya kāryaṁ karaṇaṁ ca vidyate. Na tat-samas cābhyadhikaś ca dṛśyate. Nobody is found equal to him or greater than Him. Nobody. That is God. If somebody is competitor, one God competitor, another God competitor... Just like nowadays it has become a fashion to become God, and there are competitions between one "God" and another. But actually, nobody can compete with God. That is God.
Rotary Club Lecture -- Hyderabad, November 29, 1972:
Because every one of us, in this material condition, we are trying to become master, ultimately to become God. That is māyā. That is illusion. We cannot become master. We are servant by constitution. Every one of us sitting here is a servant to somebody. Nobody can deny it. Either he may be servant of his family or his community or his country or... So many things... If one has no master, then he keeps a dog to become his servant. That is the nature.
Rotary Club Lecture -- Ahmedabad, December 8, 1972 'The Present Need of Human Society':
We have got our beads for chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/ Hare Rāma, Hare... Similarly, if you chant, what is the loss on your part? Is there any loss? But if there is benefit, why don't you take it? What is the harm? We are preaching this. We don't say that "You give us so much money; I give you some mantra, and you, within six months, you become God." We don't make this, all this bluff. We simply say, request, that "God has given you this tongue..." And this is the prescription: kalau doṣa-nidhe rājann asti hy eko mahān-guṇaḥ, kīrtanād eva kṛṣṇasya.
Lecture What is a Guru? -- London, August 22, 1973:
If you simply consult dictionary, you can understand what is the meaning of God. God is so cheap thing, huh? Supreme being. Are you supreme being? Supreme means the highest authority. Highest authority means nobody is equal to him, nobody is greater than him. That is supreme. So these rascals who are claiming to become God, is it a fact that nobody is equal to him, nobody is greater than him?
Lecture What is a Guru? -- London, August 22, 1973:
In all the śāstra, Vedic literature, guru is described as good as God. But guru will never say that "I am God." The disciple's duty is to offer respect to guru as he offers respect to God. But guru will never say that "I am... Because my disciples are offering me respect as God, therefore I have become God." As soon as he thinks so, he becomes dog.
Lecture What is a Guru? -- London, August 22, 1973:
Guru is offered the same respect as we offer respect to God. Just like in the morning. The other side, ārātrika was going on, offering to Kṛṣṇa, and this side was ārātrika was going on to offer respect to the spiritual master. The same respect. But guru will never say, and he's not that. Guru will never say, "Now I have become God." No. God does not become. God is always God. So God is God and guru is guru. But, as a matter of etiquette, God is the sevya God, worshipable God, and guru is the worshiper God.
Philosophy Discussions
Philosophy Discussion on David Hume:
Hayagrīva: He says the sooner we arrive at that divine being—the sooner we arrive at God—so much the better.
Prabhupāda: We become God?
Hayagrīva: No. In the search for God...
Prabhupāda: Oh.
Philosophy Discussion on David Hume:
Prabhupāda: Nature of God, it can be explained by God Himself. That is our Vedic process. We know who is God, and He explains, "My nature is this." Just like He says, "I am the greatest principle," mattaḥ parataraṁ nānyat (BG 7.7). "There is no more higher principle than Me." This is fact. If something is greater than God, then how one can become God? That is not possible.
Philosophy Discussion on Immanuel Kant:
Prabhupāda: Aṇimā, laghimā, prāpti, mahimā, prākāmya, īśitā, vaśitā. You can control anyone. Whatever you say, he will carry out. Any big man, you can put some influence. Vaśitā. Just like these this rascal Maharishi, he has got little yogic power. So he controls, gives you some mantra you'll become God and all this nonsense, but he is controlling. Whatever he'll ask, you will pay. That is control. Actually he is controlling his mind, that whatever he asks, you will do. These are bogus things.
Philosophy Discussion on Henri Bergson:
Prabhupāda: So the supreme living force is God, and he is part and parcel of God, exactly like the spark of the whole fire. So this song, he has finished, bhuliya tomāre saṁsāre. So as soon as the soul receives his independence from (indistinct) become God Himself or wants to become enjoyer of the material nature, he becomes powerless, and he is subjected to the influence (indistinct) by the physical elements, and because he forgets his real identity, he thinks that he is body.
Philosophy Discussion on Henri Bergson:
Hayagrīva: Now let me get this right. He doesn't say that it's a machine for the making..., that man becomes... He's not saying that man becomes God. He never says that.
Prabhupāda: Oh.
Hayagrīva: But that a man may evolve to a state like unto the demigods. Is that a possibility?
Prabhupāda: What is demigod? That, there is a difference between demigod and a man. A demigod is in the better position, that's all. Just like a high-court judge and layman. Both of them human being, but the high-court judge in a better position, that's all, but both of them human being.
Philosophy Discussion on Jacques Maritain:
Prabhupāda: Kaitava means cheating. And Śrīdhara Swami, he comments that atra mokṣa vāñchā (indistinct), those who are after mukti, liberation, they are also rejected herein. The jñānīs, they are after mukti. So Śrīdhara Swami says they are also within the category of these cheating religious systems, because they are being cheated. They are cheating themselves, that "I'll become God." So that is another type of cheating. Therefore Kṛṣṇa says that "Give up all these cheating type of religious systems. Just surrender unto Me." This is religion. Surrender unto Him. This is religion.
Philosophy Discussion on Sigmund Freud:
Prabhupāda: One who is... That, that, that is in the history, we find in the history of life of Kṛṣṇa. When He was three-months-old child He, He could kill big giant like Pūtanā. That is automatic. Either He is child or He is a young man or He is old man, the godly power is there. The nowadays these so-called yogis, they are becoming God by meditation, but the three-months-old child in the lap of His mother, how He became God? The God is God always. He hasn't got to learn it from anyone. That is His svarāṭ, independent.
Philosophy Discussion on Jean-Paul Sartre:
Śyāmasundara: He says that in this unity of myself, the subject, that I desire objectivity, and he says this union of subject and object is called the "being in itself," or God; that man is desiring to be God or "being in himself."
Prabhupāda: This is the position more or less of Māyāvādī philosophy, that when I am completely in knowledge, I become God. It is like that.
Philosophy Discussion on Jean-Paul Sartre:
Śyāmasundara: He says this is man's fundamental orientation, that he wants to become God.
Prabhupāda: Yes. That we confirm in this way, that because he is part and parcel of God, so he wants to be united with God. Because he is now detached from God, so therefore, just like a man who is for long, long years out of home, so he wants to go home again.
Philosophy Discussion on Jean-Paul Sartre:
Prabhupāda: He is desiring to be God, that means he is not God at the present moment. So if he is God, how did he become non-God? Therefore he cannot become God, but he can become godly. That is our philosophy. Just like I am in darkness, I want light, so I can come into the sunshine. That does not mean I become sun. But when I come to the sunshine, I come to the light. Similarly, when you come to perfect knowledge, that is godly. But you cannot become God. If you are God, then there is no question of becoming non-God. Therefore Kṛṣṇa's name is Acyuta. Acyuta means He never becomes non-God. He is God always. When He is three months old on the lap of His mother He is God. When He is seven years old, lifting the hill, He is God. And when He is marrying 16,000 wives He is God. When He is dancing with the gopīs He is God. That is God. God is always God. Not that I am non-God now and I shall become God by some means, mystic factory. No.
Philosophy Discussion on Jean-Paul Sartre:
Śyāmasundara: I'll just read a quote from one of his books. He says, "To be a man means to reach towards being God; or if you prefer, man, fundamentally, is the desire to be God. Every human reality is a passion in that it projects losing itself so as to found being, and by the same stroke to constitute the..."
Prabhupāda: To desire to become God, that is also passion, because he cannot become God. This is simply passion.
Philosophy Discussion on Jean-Paul Sartre:
Śyāmasundara: His idea is that we all want to become God. That is hopeless.
Prabhupāda: No. That is hopeless. That you cannot. That is wrong. We cannot become God. The only answer is that how we can become God? If you are God, then how did you become non-God? God cannot become non-God at any stage.
Philosophy Discussion on Jean-Paul Sartre:
Śyāmasundara: I think he looks at it that we are not God. We know we are not God, but we are trying to become God.
Prabhupāda: That is Māyāvādī philosophy.
Śyāmasundara: But he says it's impossible to become God.
Prabhupāda: Yes. That's nice. That is our philosophy.
Śyāmasundara: But because it is impossible to become God, that means everything else is useless.
Prabhupāda: No. That is another foolishness. You are not God; you are God's servant. Now you are posing to be God. So give up this idea and become servant. That is right idea. You are actually servant of God, but you are posing yourself as master. So you give up this wrong idea and become servant of God, then you are happy.
Philosophy Discussion on Karl Marx:
Śyāmasundara: Does this mean that man's nature, there is no fundamental nature that a man's reality is...
Prabhupāda: Yes, that is spiritual nature. That is spiritual nature. We are teaching people to come to that standard, spiritual nature which will never change. Just like we are trying to serve Kṛṣṇa. This is not (indistinct). We are serving Kṛṣṇa and when we go to Vaikuntha, we serve Kṛṣṇa. That which is called nitya. Nitya means eternal. Nitya-yukta upāsate. Bhagavad-gītā, eternally engaged in the service of the Lord. Not like Māyāvādī. Māyāvādī philosophers, they will say that "Let me serve Kṛṣṇa now. As soon as I become liberated, I become God. I become God." This is another bluff. Just like I am serving you to take your favor and as soon as I get opportunity I ride upon you. You see?
Philosophy Discussion on The Evolutionists Thomas Huxley, Henri Bergson, and Samuel Alexander:
Śyāmasundara: He says how to become God.
Prabhupāda: Who?
Śyāmasundara: This man. In the sense of godly, how to become God.
Prabhupāda: All right. That can be accepted. But a better word is how to become godly or God conscious. That is the exact word.
Philosophy Discussion on The Evolutionists Thomas Huxley, Henri Bergson, and Samuel Alexander:
Prabhupāda: Māyāvāda philosophy. Ahaṁ brahmāsmi. He does not know that... He is already Brahman, but he thinks that "I am the Supreme Brahman. I am moving the sun. I am moving the..." Meditating. He is moving the sun. He is moving... Just another imitate. That is the last snare of māyā. Māyā is giving him allurement that "You become a minister, you become secretary, you become a big merchant, you become a Birla. You..." "Become become become." (S)he is always dictating, and he is working under the dictation of māyā. The last dictation is, "Then you have failed all these things. Better you become God." (laughter) So he thinks, "I am God." And māyā is still kicking. As soon as God gets some toothache, he'll have to, another... So he goes... "After all, what kind of God you are? You come here for toothache cure." This is another man.
Philosophy Discussion on Johann Gottlieb Fichte:
Prabhupāda: Nowadays that the rascals are becoming God by meditation. What is meditation God? God is always God. Does it require meditation to become God? There are all these rascals, they are preaching, "You meditate and you become God. You think that 'I am moving the sun, I am moving the earth, I am...' " This is rascaldom. But Kṛṣṇa, He is not that kind of God. He is always God. Now it is necessary, "All right. Lift this." This is God. Aiśvaryasya samagrasya vīryasya. Whole strength is there to lift the mountain. That is God.
Philosophy Discussion on Johann Gottlieb Fichte:
Hayagrīva: He doesn't bring in meditation. He feels...
Prabhupāda: There are others...
Hayagrīva: Yes.
Prabhupāda: ...they say that meditation you become God. That meditation can make, manufacture God?
Hayagrīva: Well his, his impersonalist stand leads toward pantheism.
Prabhupāda: This is also kind of meditation, speculating that "God should be like this." What is that? But they cannot define what is that, this.
Philosophy Discussion on Socrates:
Prabhupāda: The yogis, they are hankering after some magic power so they can befool others that he has become God, "I can manufacture gold, I can fly in the sky," and foolish people after them. Intelligent person will see, "What is this perfection? Even if he can fly in the sky, there are so many birds are flying. What is the difference between this flying and that flying?" So he doesn't care. So these are not perfection. But they, people, foolish people, they think it is perfection.
Philosophy Discussion on Plato:
Prabhupāda: This is..., they are mūḍha. They are misled. As soon as he thinks Kṛṣṇa is, "Ah, He is a person like me. He is born in Mathurā, I have seen. How He becomes God?" Brahmā was bewildered. "This boy, this cowherd boy is accepted as God. Let me test." Indra was misled. Muhyanti yat sūrayoḥ. Even big, big demigods, they are also bewildered. So Kṛṣṇa answered them.
Philosophy Discussion on Plato:
Prabhupāda: Just like one man in India, he is showing some jugglery. He makes like this and creates some gold, a little gold, but foolish people are enamored. "Ah, he is God." But we are not enamored, but we know that he may create a small piece of gold, but God has created many millions of gold mines. So if creation of gold is the standard of becoming God, then why shall we accept this tiny man as God, who has created the mines, not only one mine, in this planet there are hundreds and thousands of gold mines and there are so many planets.
Philosophy Discussion on Blaise Pascal:
Prabhupāda: This is the original sin. When he thought of not to serve God but to become God, that is the original. Just like the Māyāvādīs, they have knowledge, they have philosophy, everything, but still trying to become God, which is impossible. Then there is no meaning of God. If simply by meditation and by some material efforts one can become God, then where is the use of God? You cannot become God. But artificially you can try to become God, and that artificial way of becoming God is the beginning of sinful life.
Philosophy Discussion on John Locke:
Prabhupāda: Innate idea is in everyone, that is, "God is great, and I am," what is called, "controlled." That innate idea is everywhere. But sometimes, out of ignorance one tries to become God. That is not possible. That is māyā, and he suffers from this. Artificially trying to become God, that is simply waste of time. It will never become possible. That is called māyā. Otherwise, innate idea is that he is servant and God is great. That is innate idea.
Purports to Songs
Purport to Jaya Radha-Madhava -- New York, July 20, 1971:
Prabhupāda: When Kṛṣṇa lifted the hill, He did not practice some yoga system. And that is God. Although He was a child, He was playing like a child, He was dealing like a child, but when there was need, He was manifesting as God. That is Kṛṣṇa. That is Kṛṣṇa, not that He has to go and practice some yoga system. Then He becomes God. No. He's not that type of God, not manufactured God. He's God.
| Page Title: | Become God (Lectures, other) |
| Compiler: | Labangalatika |
| Created: | 26 of May, 2011 |
| Totals by Section: | BG=0, SB=0, CC=0, OB=0, Lec=97, Con=0, Let=0 |
| No. of Quotes: | 97 |