Blissful (BG Lectures)

Expressions researched:
"blissful" |"blissfully" |"blissfulness"

Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures

Lecture on BG 1.30 -- London, July 23, 1973:

So the Māyāvādī impersonalists, they cannot understand that serving Kṛṣṇa is simply pleasure and blissful. They cannot understand. Therefore they become impersonalists: "No. The Absolute Truth cannot be person." That is another side of the Buddha philosophy. Impersonal means zero. That is also zero. So Buddhist philosophy, they also make the ultimate goal zero, and these Māyāvādīs, they also make the ultimate goal... Na te viduḥ svārtha-gatiṁ hi viṣṇum (SB 7.5.31). They do not understand that there is life, blissful life, by serving Kṛṣṇa.

Lecture on BG 2.1-11 -- Johannesburg, October 17, 1975:

Cit means knowledge. At the present moment we are all in ignorance. We do not know what is the next step, "Whether I am going to live or to die." Everything in ignorance. Therefore this body is also not cit. It is full of ignorance. Then sat, cit and ānanda, that we have got experience... Where is ānanda? Ānanda means blissfulness, joyfulness. There cannot be any joyfulness in this body.

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

When there is spiritual body there is no perplexities. Just like your body is different from the body of the aquatics. The aquatics, they have no disturbance in the water because their body is made like that. They can live there peacefully. You cannot live. Similarly, the fishes, if you take them out of the water, they cannot live. Similarly, because you are spirit soul, you cannot live peacefully in this material world. This is foreign. But as soon as you enter into the spiritual world, your life is eternal, blissful and full of knowledge, real peace.

Lecture on BG 2.11 -- Rotary Club Address -- Hotel Imperial, Delhi, March 25, 1976:

So when we give up this gross body, the subtle body carries me to another gross body. This is the way of transmigration of the soul. The prakṛti, nature, nature's law, is very strict and stringent. The nature will immediately offer you a similar body according to the thinking at the time of your death. Tathā dehāntara-prāptiḥ (BG 2.13).

Therefore this human form of body is meant for going back to home, back to Godhead. Yad gatvā na nivartante tad dhāma paramaṁ mama (BG 15.6). We are eternal. As God is eternal, we are also eternal because we are part and parcel of God. As God is always blissful, jolly, similarly our nature is always blissful and jolly. Sac-cid-ānanda-vigrahaḥ (Bs. 5.1). Sat, cit, ānanda. Sat means eternal, and cit means blissful, cit means full of knowledge; and ānanda. Ānanda means blissfulness. That is our nature.

Lecture on BG 2.11 -- Rotary Club Address -- Hotel Imperial, Delhi, March 25, 1976:

o conclusion is that God is the Supreme Being and we are living being. So our relation is very intimate. Qualitatively we are one because we are part and parcel. So God is eternal, full of knowledge, and blissful; therefore our position is also the same but in minute quantity.

Lecture on BG 2.12 -- New York, March 9, 1966:

Whenever we want to enjoy some pleasure, pleasure is not enjoyed alone. Pleasure is enjoyed with many. Now God is by nature... He's ānandamayo 'bhyāsāt (Vedānta-sūtra 1.1.12). He's always full of pleasure, full of blissfulness.

Lecture on BG 2.12 -- Hyderabad, November 17, 1972:

The difference between the Supreme Person and our personality is that He is all-powerful; we are limited. Our power is limited. Everything, ours, limited. Aṇu, vibhu. He is great; we are small. He is infinite; we are infinitesimal, very small. Otherwise, in all other qualities, we are one. There is no difference. Sac-cid-ānanda-vigrahaḥ (Bs. 5.1). In eternity, in blissfulness, and in knowledge. Everything is there.

Lecture on BG 2.13 -- London, August 19, 1973:

When I shall go to the spiritual world, there is no more change of body. Eternal. As Kṛṣṇa has got His eternal body, sac-cid-ānanda-vigrahaḥ (Bs. 5.1), form, eternal blissful of knowledge, similarly, when we go back to home, back to Godhead, we get also similar body, sac-cid-ānanda-vigrahaḥ.

Lecture on BG 2.14 -- Mexico, February 14, 1975:

Actually, spiritual body means eternal life of bliss and knowledge. This body which we are possessing now, material body, it is neither eternal, nor blissful, nor full of knowledge. Every one of us, we know that this material body will be finished. And it is full of ignorance.

Lecture on BG 2.14 -- Mexico, February 14, 1975:

We can cultivate to get the next body in the higher planetary system or we can cultivate the next body like cats and dog, and we can cultivate such body as eternal, blissful knowledge. Therefore the best intelligent person will try to get next body full of blissfulness, knowledge, and eternity.

Lecture on BG 2.15 -- Hyderabad, November 21, 1972:

As we are, in our own original, constitutional position, we are not subjected to birth, death, old age and disease. Just like Kṛṣṇa is sac-cid-ānanda-vigraha (Bs. 5.1), eternal, blissful, knowledgeable, similarly, we, being part and parcel of Kṛṣṇa, we are also of the same quality.

Lecture on BG 2.15 -- Hyderabad, November 21, 1972:

We are spirit soul. It is external body, or external dress. That is changing. So if we understand nicely, na vyathayanti, and you are not disturbed by these changes, then saḥ amṛtatvāya kalpate, then he's making progress, spiritual progress. That means, spiritual progress means, he's making progress towards eternal life. Spiritual life means eternal, blissful life of knowledge. That is spiritual life.

Lecture on BG 2.15 -- Hyderabad, November 21, 1972:

Vaiṣṇava is very kind-hearted, merciful, because he feels for others. He feels for others in this sense that he knows what he is. He sees every living entity as part and parcel of God: "Now, here is a part and parcel of God. He would have gone back to home, back to Godhead, and danced with Him, and lived very nicely, eternally, blissfully.

Lecture on BG 2.15 -- London, August 21, 1973:

Punar janma, you are trying to own over repetition of birth. The modern civilization, they do not know that it is possible. It is possible to become immortal, to have eternal blissful life of knowledge. That is called immortality. Sac-cid-ānanda. Sat means eternity and cit means knowledge and ānanda means pleasure, bliss. We are part and parcel of Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa is sac-cid-ānanda vigraha (Bs. 5.1). His transcendental body is eternal, blissful and complete knowledge, His body.

Lecture on BG 2.15 -- London, August 21, 1973:

Kṛṣṇa is full of bliss, full of knowledge, and we are also part and parcel of Kṛṣṇa. So we have also the same quality, sac-cid-ānanda, the spiritual body. But because we have contacted this material nature, our blissfulness, our eternity, our knowledge, everything is now disturbed. Everything is now disturbed. We cannot be completely blissful. Anything you take, any pleasurable thing you take, it cannot give you always pleasure. It is not possible.

Lecture on BG 2.15 -- London, August 21, 1973:

Demons, when they get power, they think that "I have got it, I have earned it. It is my thing. Who can challenge me?" But he forgets that everything can be withdrawn within a second by the powerful. That is demoniac. And Vaiṣṇava, devotee means although he is very, very powerful, he never thinks that "I am powerful." He thinks that "I am acting simply by the order of the powerful." This is the difference.

So Prahlāda Mahārāja said "People do not know the aim of life." The aim of life is here, amṛtatva, as good as Kṛṣṇa, as good as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Blissful, full of knowledge and eternal. That is the aim of life. But people do not know. Na te viduḥ svārtha-gatiṁ hi viṣṇum (SB 7.5.31). Vińṇu means the Supreme Lord who is eternal, full of bliss and full of knowledge. So our aim should be how to approach Viṣṇu. Then we get the same power, same eternity, same blissfulness.

Lecture on BG 2.20 -- Hyderabad, November 25, 1972:

There are innumerable planets in the Brahman effulgence. They are called Vaikuṇṭhaloka. And the topmost Vaikuṇṭhaloka is called Goloka Vṛndāvana. So if you are fortunate enough to take shelter in one of these planets, then you are eternally happy in blissful condition of knowledge.

Lecture on BG 2.26-27 -- London, August 29, 1973:

Ānandamayo 'bhyāsāt (Vedānta-sūtra 1.1.12), we are, by nature, we want blissfulness. But we do not know how to become actually happy and blissful. That is ignorance.

Lecture on BG 2.28 -- London, August 30, 1973:

Kṛṣṇa consciousness means spiritual body. As soon as I act on the basis of my spiritual body, that is called liberation. That is wanted. Then I live blissfully in eternal life of knowledge. That is my problem.

Lecture on BG Lecture Excerpts 2.44-45, 2.58 -- New York, March 25, 1966:

The Supreme Being is the embodiment of eternity, bliss and knowledge. Eternity, bliss and knowledge. That is the constitution of the supreme entity. He is eternal, He is blissful, and always full of pleasure. Always full of pleasure. Kṛṣṇa, this word, Kṛṣṇa... Now, we have chanted, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare. This Kṛṣṇa is... Do not take it that we are presenting some sectarian conception of God or like that. This Kṛṣṇa, this is a Sanskrit word. You have to understand, Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa means... Kṛṣ means the greatest, and ṇa means pleasure. He is the symbol of greatest pleasure, greatest pleasure. So we are also part and parcel of that greatest pleasure. Just like the ocean and a drop of water of the ocean, if you chemically analyze, you will find the same ingredients. The volume of the ocean is certainly greater than the volume of the drop of the ocean water, but so far the constitution is concerned, either this drop of ocean water or the full ocean water, the same chemical composition you will find. Similarly, because we are part and parcel of the Supreme, sac-cid-ānanda-vigraha (Bs. 5.1), eternity, blissful and knowledge, therefore, although we are minute particles, minute particle... But the minute particle has got so much energy. You can just see that that minute particle of the soul within this body, how wonderful things we are doing. Everything, whatever material manifestation, at least in this world... In New York City you see so many big, big buildings and so many machineries, factories and organization, but who has done it? That minute particle, embodied liv..., the soul. Just see. If that minute particle can play so much wonderful thing, just see, just imagine what wonderful things cannot be done by the supreme particle. Or not particle, He is the whole. He is the whole. Because we do not understand the capacity, the energy of the... Just calculate mathematically, mathematically. Now, this particle, the particle is so small that it has been calculated that one ten-thousandth part of the upper portion of the hair is the measurement of the soul. Now, we cannot even imagine, but supposing that point, if that point has got so much energy that it is playing wonderful things, everything is being manufactured by the brain of that small particle, now you can just make a proportion: then the full one, how much wonderful things He can do. If a small particle of... A spark of fire, if it is dropped here, it will at once burn it. Now, you can just imagine the big fire, how much capacity has got.

So the thing is that we, we are, because we are part and parcel of that sac-cid-ānanda-vigraha (Bs. 5.1), eternity, blissful and knowledge, therefore our hankering is always to live eternally. Our hankering is always to get full knowledge, and our hankering is always to remain happy. That is our natural hankering.

Lecture on BG 2.49-51 -- New York, April 5, 1966:

So spiritual life is so sublime and so invigorating that you won't feel fatigued. Won't. Once... You have to be engaged. And as you are engaged actually in spiritual life, you won't feel fatigued. You'll be fearless, and your life will be always blissful. These are the symptoms.

Lecture on BG 2.59-69 -- New York, April 29, 1966:

But the fact is that I am put into these material circumstances, and therefore, due to my material condition of life, I am undergoing miseries, so many miseries. So the whole idea is that I have to get out of this material contact and reinstate myself in the pure spiritual life so that I shall not, I shall be free from all miseries. Because spirit soul, as it is, in its pure form, it is sac-cid-ānanda. It is eternal, it is blissful, and it is full of knowledge.

Lecture on BG 3.16-17 -- New York, May 25, 1966:

So as soon as one be confidently convinced that "I am not this body," then he is protected from this fire of this material world, fire, material world. Bhava-mahā-dāvāgni-nirvāpaṇaṁ śreyaḥ-kairava-candrikā-vitaraṇaṁ vidyā-vadhū-jīvanam. Then his actual life begins. Then also... Then he is actually blissful life.

Śreyaḥ-kairava-candrikā-vitaraṇam. Just like the moon rises from the new moon. Gradually the moon rises into the full moon. Therefore the candrikā, candrikā, this very word, is used. It is compared with the moon. Just like on the pratipadā, after the new moon, you see the moon just like a line. Then, next day, it becomes little more, next, little more. Just like pratipadā, on the eleventh day it is practically full. On the eleventh day we observe ekādaśī, and then, after four days, the full moon—the whole world is full of light. So śreyaḥ-kairava-candrikā... As soon as this bhava-mahā-dāvāgni-nirvāpaṇam, as soon as we get rid of this misconception of identifying this body, then our real blissful life begins, gradually develops just like the moon develops. Śreyaḥ-kairava-candrikā-vitaraṇaṁ vidyā-vadhū-jīvanam.

Lecture on BG 4.1-6 -- Los Angeles, January 3, 1969:

Madhudviṣa: "The Lord remembers because He does not change His sac-cid-ānanda body. He is advaita."

Prabhupāda: Sac-cid-ānanda body. Sat means eternal. Cit means full of knowledge. Sat, cit, ānanda. Ānanda means blissful. That is His body. Our body is just the opposite. It is not sat; it is not eternal. It is temporary. And it is not full of knowledge. We are full of ignorance. We do not know what is there beyond this wall. Therefore it is full of ignorance. We are proud of our eyes. If the electricity is immediately gone, we cannot see. So we see, we act, under some conditions offered by the material nature. So we are not fully aware of everything; neither our body is eternal; neither we are blissful. This body is the source of so many diseases. The body is subjected to birth, death. The body is forgetful. The body is suffering old age. So this is not blissful body. But Kṛṣṇa's body—just opposite. His body is blissful, full of knowledge, and eternal. So how can you compare with Kṛṣṇa? It is not possible.

Lecture on BG 4.1-6 -- Los Angeles, January 3, 1969:

When the sun is out of sight, we think that the sun is dead. And when the sun is before our eyes, we think that the sun is on the horizon. Actually the sun is always there. But owing to our defective, insufficient eyesight we must calculate the appearance and disappearance of the sun in the sky. And because His appearance and disappearance are completely different from that of any ordinary common living entity, it is evident that He is eternal in blissful knowledge by His internal potency, and He is not contaminated by material nature. The Vedas confirm that the Supreme Personality of Godhead is unborn, and yet He still appears to be taking His birth in multi-manifestations.

Lecture on BG 4.3-6 -- New York, July 18, 1966:

Sat, cit, ānanda. That is the formation of Kṛṣṇa, and that is our formation also. Sat means eternal. Cit means full knowledge. Eternal, full knowledge and ānanda. Ānanda. Ānanda means bliss. Now, we can make distinction from the spiritual body and the material body is this, that as the description of the spiritual body is given, sat-cit-ānanda, eternal, full of knowledge and blissful, so just the opposite number is this material body. It is neither sat, nor cit, nor ānanda. It is not sat. Sat means eternal.

Lecture on BG 4.7-9 -- New York, July 22, 1966:

And the one who understands this Kṛṣṇa's birth and activities and His presence tattvataḥ, in truth, then what the result is? The result is tyaktvā dehaṁ punar janma naiti mām eti kaunteya (BG 4.9). The result is that any person who understands this Kṛṣṇa's activities, His birth and His pastimes, His paraphernalia, everything, the result will..., simply by understanding it, the result will be that after leaving this material body, he goes directly to Kṛṣṇa. He goes directly to Kṛṣṇa. That means he becomes a liberated soul, and he goes to the eternal world, and he becomes in his constitutional position of blissful and knowledge and eternal life. Simply by knowing this.

Lecture on BG 4.7-10 -- Los Angeles, January 6, 1969:

In the practical life also. President Nixon is the head of your state. You can also become. But you must have the capacity. Simply by thinking that "I am President Nixon, Nixon, Nixon...," that will not do. Tat tvam asi means that, "You have got the same quality as God. Now you have to realize and you have to act. Don't misuse your life simply in animal propensity and go to dog." No. Therefore Vedic... Tamasi mā jyotir-gama: "Don't remain in the darkness. Come out to the light." Tamasi mā jyotir-gama: "Don't remain in birth and death cycle. Come to the eternal life." So everything is there. You can have eternal life, blissful life, life of knowledge.

So this Kṛṣṇa consciousness means training people for becoming fit to enter into that eternal life, blissful life. That training is meant for human being, not for animals. So you should not misuse this human form of life. Try to understand tat tvam asi, and act accordingly. That will be successful of our activities.

Lecture on BG 4.9-11 -- New York, July 25, 1966:

But there is a way. That is also said in the Bhagavad-gītā, mām eva ye prapadyante māyām etāṁ taranti te: "Anyone who surrenders unto Me..." The whole process, the whole process of material activities, material nature, is going on under this principle, that we are required to go back to the eternal world, to get our eternal life and eternal blissful knowledge. These things are awaiting us. But if we do not try, do not endeavor for attaining that sublime position and spoil our reserve energy in making an adjustment of this temporary material world, that is our foolishness.

Lecture on BG 4.9-11 -- New York, July 25, 1966:

But Bhagavad-gītā gives you information, paras tasmāt tu bhāvo 'nyo 'vyakto 'vyaktāt sanātanaḥ (BG 8.20). Beyond this material world which is subjected to these rules of six changes, there is another world which is sanātana. Sanātana means which is eternal. So actually there is existence of an eternal nature, like this nature which you are experiencing. And that nature, transcendental nature... The whole Bhagavad-gītā scheme is to take you back to that transcendental nature. Because you are transcendental, you are eternal, you are blissful, you are full of knowledge... Now we are covered. Now we have to go back to that eternal world, which is full of knowledge, full of bliss. So we have to prepare in that way. That is the policy of the human life.

Lecture on BG 4.9-11 -- New York, July 25, 1966:

Just like after Lord Buddha, Śaṅkarācārya, Śaṅkarācārya came. He gave hint about the spiritual nature of the soul, and he said, brahma satyaṁ jagan mithyā: "This matter is false and temporary, but spirit is eternal." And other ācāryas, just like Rāmānujācārya and Madhvācārya, they came after Śaṅkarācārya, and they established that in the spiritual world there is also life like this, but that is eternal, blissful and full of knowledge.

Lecture on BG 4.10 Public Meeting -- Rome, May 25, 1974:

Yes, the soul does not manipulate. It simply... Just like you had your childhood body, boyhood body. Now you have got a body of young man, youthhood body. And again you will get an old man's body, just like I have got. So these bodies are changing. Here everyone can remember that "I had a small body," but that body is not existing anymore. But I know that I possessed such body. Similarly, when this body will be finished, you will accept another body. You may forget it. Death means forgetting. But the body changing of body is going on perpetually, and spiritual life means how to stop this change of body and remain in the spiritual body. That is blissful and full of knowledge.

Lecture on BG 4.10 Festival at Maison de Faubourg -- Geneva, May 31, 1974:

Our original position is sac-cid-ānanda, means eternity, knowledge, and blissfulness. The Supreme Being, Kṛṣṇa, or God, is also sac-cid-ānanda-vigraha (Bs. 5.1). He has His transcendental form of eternity, knowledge and blissfulness. So the Supreme Lord or Supreme Being is also vigraha. Vigraha means form. As you are form, I am form, similarly, God is also form. He is not formless. So that is described in the Vedic literatures.

īśvaraḥ paramaḥ kṛṣṇaḥ

sac-cid-ānanda-vigrahaḥ

anādir ādir govindaḥ

sarva-kāraṇa-kāraṇam

(Bs. 5.1)

"The Supreme Being, who is called Kṛṣṇa, or all-attractive, He has His body of eternity, full of knowledge and blissfulness." Now, compare your this body.

Lecture on BG 4.10 Festival at Maison de Faubourg -- Geneva, May 31, 1974:

Not only body, the mind, intelligence, and ego. What is going on in your mind, I do not know. Neither you know what is going on in my mind. We are so ignorant. Therefore this body is temporary and full of ignorance. And what to speak of blissfulness? It is always miserable. Here, because we have got this body, we suffer the pains of cold and heat. This is only one example. It is given in the Bhagavad-gītā, mātrā-sparśās tu kaunteya śītoṣṇa-sukha-duḥkha-dāḥ. Śīta means cold. Just like in winter we suffer. In summer also, we suffer. Both seasons, we suffer. So why we suffer? Because we have got this temporary material body.

Lecture on BG 4.11 -- Bombay, March 31, 1974:

So these are the philosophical development. So Kṛṣṇa is summarizing this philosophical development here in this one line, that mama vartmānuvartante manuṣyāḥ pārtha sarvaśaḥ. Either you follow Buddha philosophy or Śaṅkara philosophy or Vaiṣṇava philosophy, the ultimate goal is Kṛṣṇa. Mattaḥ parataraṁ nānyat kiñcid asti dhanañjaya (BG 7.7). So you have to approach Kṛṣṇa through these different types of philosophy. They are partial realization. Just like Brahman realization means eternity realization. Paramātmā realization means eternity and knowledge. And Bhagavān realization means eternity, knowledge and blissfulness. Sac-cid-ānanda. Īśvaraḥ paramaḥ kṛṣṇaḥ sac-cid-ānanda-vigrahaḥ (Bs. 5.1). If you realize Kṛṣṇa, then you realize simultaneously... Yasmin vijñāte sarvam idaṁ vijñātaṁ bhavati. You realize Brahman, you realize Paramātmā, and you realize Bhagavān.

Lecture on BG 4.11 -- Geneva, June 1, 1974:

Here the second line of this verse is very important. It is said, mama vartmānuvartante manuṣyāḥ pārtha sarvaśaḥ: "All human being is searching after Me." As we have explained yesterday, Kṛṣṇa means sac-cid-ānanda-vigraha (Bs. 5.1), the transcendental form of eternity, knowledge and blissfulness. In the Vedānta-sūtra, the summarized philosophy of Vedic knowledge, it is said, ānandamayo 'bhyāsāt: "The spirit soul by nature is jubilant." So the Supreme Personality of Godhead, He is supreme living being, and we are also living being, but we are not the Supreme. Try to find out this difference. But both of us, we are of the same quality. That means jubilant. So our present position being materially contacted... Just like a man in his healthy condition, he is happy, but in his diseased condition he is not happy, similarly, we, being part and parcel of the Supreme, we are naturally jubilant, but on account of being contacted in material nature, we are morose.

Lecture on BG 4.11 -- Geneva, June 1, 1974:

So risk of impersonal realization is that because in the impersonal feature you cannot enjoy that blissfulness eternally, therefore sometimes—not sometimes, mostly—they come back again into the material world. Because by nature we are jubilant, in the impersonal feature of brahma-jyotir, we cannot enjoy life. Therefore again we come back to this material enjoyment. Just like by an airplane, you want to go higher and higher, but if you don't get the shelter, a shelter in another planet, you will have to come back again to this planet.

Lecture on BG 4.11 -- Vrndavana, August 3, 1974:

Ye yathā māṁ prapadyante tāṁs tathaiva bhajāmy aham (BG 4.11). Here it is said, "People who are attached to the bodily conception of life are so absorbed in materialism that it is almost impossible for them to understand that there is a transcendental body which is imperishable, full of knowledge and eternally blissful." So we have now surrendered to the bodily concept of life. We have to understand, therefore, what is our spiritual life.

Lecture on BG 4.11-12 -- New York, July 28, 1966:

And as soon as you get spiritual body, all these miseries over. Because your body is no more subjected to birth and death, disease and old age. That life is eternal, full of knowledge, and blissful. That you can get simply by studying the nature of Kṛṣṇa, transcendental nature of Kṛṣṇa. So we are hankering after so many things. We are taking the leadership of this leader, that leader, that leader just to relieve, get relief from our temporary misery. So our duty should be just to get rid of all misery by developing that spiritual body. That should be the aim of life. And that is possible by Kṛṣṇa consciousness.

Lecture on BG 4.12 -- Bombay, April 1, 1974:

So yogis, they are not interested with material enjoyment because material enjoyment is temporary. So ramante yogino 'nante. Everyone is seeking after happiness, blissful life. But those who are less intelligent, mūḍha, they are satisfied with temporary so-called happiness of material existence. But yogis are not like that. Yogis are interested in the permanent happiness. Ramante yogino 'nante, not ante.

Lecture on BG 4.12-13 -- New York, July 29, 1966:

So just believe it. It is standard. It is accepted by all the great stalwart scholars and ācāryas of repute. Just like Śaṅkarācārya, Rāmānujācārya, Madhvācārya, great scholars and ācāryas. They have accepted it. Mahājano yena gataḥ sa panthāḥ (CC Madhya 17.186). We have to follow the footprints of great saints and sages, those who have achieved success by this indication of Bhagavad-gītā. Don't follow your whims. Take the standard advice. Just try to become Kṛṣṇa conscious. Just try to understand Kṛṣṇa, what is Kṛṣṇa. And the result is that after leaving this body, you are no more going to accept any material body, but you enter into the spiritual kingdom and you have your spiritual body which is eternal, full of knowledge and blissful. This is the chance.

Lecture on BG 4.13 -- Johannesburg, October 19, 1975:

Ānandamayo 'bhyāsāt (Vedānta-sūtra 1.1.12). God is ānandamaya, always full of pleasure. You will see Kṛṣṇa's picture. Just see so many pictures—ānandamaya. He is sitting down on a small rock and enjoying the association of the small animals. Just see. They are also coming to Kṛṣṇa. Simply by touching Him, they are feeling blissfulness. And Kṛṣṇa also embracing, "Yes, come on." So this is ānandamaya. Both of them are enjoying. Kṛṣṇa as a child in the lap of Mother Yaśodā—enjoying. Then Kṛṣṇa as a friend of Rādhārāṇī, He's enjoying. So you'll find always Kṛṣṇa enjoying. This is Vṛndāvana.

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

Revatīnandana: "And such understanding is beneficial for such a person, who easily understands the transcendental activities of the Lord. In the beginning of this chapter, the transcendental activities of the Lord were discussed by the Supreme Lord Himself. One who does not understand the instructions of the Gītā is faithless and is considered to be misusing the fragmental independence awarded to him by the Lord. In spite of such instructions, one who does not understand the real nature of the Lord as the eternal, blissful, all-knowing Personality of Godhead is certainly fool number one. This ignorance of the so-called student of Bhagavad-gītā can be removed by the gradual acceptance of the principles of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Kṛṣṇa consciousness is awakened by different, by different types of sacrifices to the demigods, sacrifice to Brahman, sacrifice in celibacy, sacrifice in household life, sacrifice in control of the senses, sacrifice in practicing mystic yoga, sacrifice in penance, sacrifice of material possessions, sacrifice in studying the Vedas, and sacrifice in observing the scientific social institution of varṇāśrama-dharma, or the divisions of the human society. All of these are known as sacrifice, and all of them are based on regulative action. And within all these sacrifices, the important factor is self-realization. One who seeks that objective is the real student of the Bhagavad-gītā."

Prabhupāda: Yes. Self-realization, "what I am." If one aims to that objective, then his study of Bhagavad-gītā is nice. Yes.

Lecture on BG 6.16-24 -- Los Angeles, February 17, 1969:

Devoid of all material desires. If you are simply desiring for Kṛṣṇa where is the scope of material desire? Finished, all material desire finished. You haven't got to try for it artificially. "Oh, I shall not see any nice girl. I shall close my eyes." That you cannot do. But if you fix up your mind in Kṛṣṇa consciousness you are dancing with so many beautiful girls. That's all right, as brother and sister there is no question. This is practical perfection of yoga. Artificially you cannot do.

Simply in Kṛṣṇa consciousness all perfection is there. Try to understand it. All perfection. Because that is spiritual platform. Spiritual platform is eternal, blissful and full of knowledge. Therefore there is no misgivings.

Lecture on BG 6.35-45 -- Los Angeles, February 20, 1969:

Now, before coming to the point of self-realization, one must take it granted—that is the beginning of Bhagavad-gītā, that he is not this body. That the living entity is not this material body but that he is different from it and his happiness is in eternal life. This life is not eternal. The perfection of yoga system means to get eternal life, blissful life and full of knowledge. That is perfection. So we have to execute any yoga system with that aim. Not that I attend some yoga class to reduce fat or to keep my body very fit for sense gratification. This is not the end of yoga system. But people are taught like that. "Oh, if you practice this yoga system." That you can do if you undergo any exercise process your body will be kept fit. There are so many system of bodily exercise, the system, this weight-lifting system, there are many sporting system, they also keep body very fit. They can digest foodstuff very nicely, they reduce fat. For this purpose there is no need of practicing yoga. The real purpose is here; that to realize that I am not this body. I want eternal happiness, I want complete knowledge, I want eternal life also. That is the ultimate end of yoga system.

Lecture on BG 6.35-45 -- Los Angeles, February 20, 1969:

So if you have trained up your consciousness to the yogic principle, then you get a body, similar body. You get good chance, you get good parents, good family where you'll be allowed to practice this system and automatically you'll get chance again to revive your same consciousness in which you left your previous body. That is explained here. By virtue of divine consciousness. Therefore our present duty is how to make the consciousness divine. That should be our business. If you want divine life, if you want spiritual elevation back to Godhead, back to home, that means eternal life, blissful life full of knowledge, then we have to train ourselves in divine consciousness or Kṛṣṇa consciousness. That you can very easily do by association. Saṅgāt sañjāyate kāmaḥ. If you keep divine association, then your consciousness is made divine. And if you keep hellish association, demonic association, then your consciousness is trained up in that way.

Lecture on BG 6.35-45 -- Los Angeles, February 20, 1969:

So we have to train our consciousness divine. That is the duty of human form of life. If we make our consciousness divine, then we are preparing for next divine life. As there are different grades of life, so human form of life is a chance to make your next life completely divine. Completely divine means eternal, blissful and full of knowledge. So automatically by divine consciousness you try to contact the persons who are developing divine consciousness. So this is explained in this verse.

Lecture on BG 7.1 -- Los Angeles, December 2, 1968:

So everything is His dhāma, His place, His abode. So why should we change here? But He says yad gatvā na nivartante tad dhāma paramam (BG 15.6). Paramam means the supreme. In this dhāma also, they are Kṛṣṇa's dhāma, Kṛṣṇa's planets, but here it is not parama, the supreme. There are troubles. Just like this birth, death, disease, and old age. But if you return to Kṛṣṇa's personal abode, Goloka Vṛndāvana, cintāmaṇi-dhāma (Bs. 5.29), then you get eternal life, blissful life, full of knowledge.

Lecture on BG 7.1 -- Sydney, February 16, 1973:

Therefore, if you think of Kṛṣṇa or God always, immediately you'll be free from the conflagration of the blazing fire of this material existence. Ceto-darpaṇa-mārjanaṁ bhava-mahā-dāvāgni-nirvāpanaṁ. And as soon as this blazing fire of material existence is extinguished, immediately you come to the platform of blissfulness. Ceto-darpaṇa-mārjanaṁ bhava-mahā-dāvāgni-nirvāpanaṁ śreyaḥ-kairava-candrikā (CC Antya 20.12). Then that blissfulness will increase one after another, one after another. Just like the comparison has been given just like the moon. The after the dark moon, the moon comes out just like a line, and then it increases, increases, and one night it becomes full. Similarly, as your heart becomes cleansed of the material dirty things, your real form, sat-cit-ānanda vigrahaḥ, eternity, blissful life of knowledge, becomes visible, just like the moon is visible. And one day you'll come to the full pleasure, full moon night, and that is your sarvātmā snapanam. And at that time you'll enjoy your life like anything. That is our highest perfection of life. Paraṁ vijayate śrī-kṛṣṇa-saṅkīrtanam. The only method is chanting this holy name of God, Kṛṣṇa.

Lecture on BG 7.1 -- Hyderabad, April 27, 1974:

We are accepting different types of bodies, but we are eternal, part and parcel of the Supreme. Not only eternal, full of knowledge and blissful. This is our position. But at the present moment, because we have got this body, it is no very pleasurable condition. It is miserable condition. There are adhyātmika, adhibhautika, adhidaivika miseries, and always we are under. That we cannot understand. We are thinking that "Things go on like this. Don't bother about these things. Go on. Eat, drink, be merry and enjoy." That means we are living very foolishly. Although the problems are there... I do not wish to die; the death is there. I do not wish to be within the womb of my mother, but I am forced to take a body within the womb of my mother. Then when I get the body, I come out, I am subjected to so many tribulation on account of this body, old age, disease and so many.

Lecture on BG 7.1 -- Hyderabad, April 27, 1974:

What is that sac-cid-ānanda-vigraha? Sat means eternal, cit means full of knowledge, and ānanda means blissfulness. But so far my body is concerned, your body is concerned, they are not sac-cid-ānanda-vigraha. My body, your body, will not exist. Therefore it is asat. It is not sat. My body, your body is full of ignorance. Therefore, it is not cit. It is acit. And my body, your body is not at all pleasing. There are so many troubles. Therefore it is not ānanda. Therefore Kṛṣṇa's body is different from us. Therefore He is controller. We think, "If Kṛṣṇa has got a body, then He must have a body like us." Avajānanti māṁ mūḍhā mānuṣīṁ tanum āśritam (BG 9.11). "These mūḍhas, rascals, because I appear before them to give them the lesson about God, what is God, these rascals think of Me as one of them." This is rascaldom. Avajānanti māṁ mūḍhā mānuṣīṁ tanum āśritam, paraṁ bhāvam ajānantaḥ (BG 9.11). That sac-cid-ānanda-vigraha (Bs. 5.1) can control the whole material nature—that they do not know. Paraṁ bhāvam ajānantaḥ.

Lecture on BG 7.1 -- London, March 9, 1975:

And then ānanda. Ānanda means pleasure, blissfulness. He is always... Kṛṣṇa, while He was present on this planet, He showed how to dance with the gopīs. He was always full of ānanda. Here we have got Kṛṣṇa. He is ānanda-mūrti. He is not nirānanda, without blissfulness. He is always with His consort, Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī. And He is playing flute and Rādhārāṇī is dancing. This is ānanda. So where is our ānanda? We imitate Kṛṣṇa, but we are not able to enjoy because we are in this material body. In this way from Bhagavad-gītā, if we study Bhagavad-gītā nicely, then we can understand what is God. Otherwise you can go on speculating for millions of years or for many, many births, you cannot understand what is God. There are so many societies, theological societies, this, theosophical societies, but what do they know about God? They do not know, neither can know. It is not possible, because they are thinking with their imperfect senses? How you can have the idea of the perfect, of the unlimited, by your imperfect speculation? That is not possible.

Lecture on BG 7.1 -- Fiji, May 24, 1975:

Your form, this body, is asat; it will not stay. But Kṛṣṇa's form is sat, just the opposite. And your form or my form is full of ignorance, not cit. But Kṛṣṇa's form is full of knowledge, just opposite. And ānanda. My form is so full of miserable condition of life that I have no ānanda, blissfulness. But Kṛṣṇa's form is blissfulness. You will find Kṛṣṇa's picture always smiling and playing on His flute with His cowherd boyfriends or the gopīs or His mother, Yaśodā, always jolly. Ānanda. Ānandamayo 'bhyāsāt (Vedānta-sūtra 1.1.12). That is, the Vedānta-sūtra says, "The Absolute Truth by nature is ānandamaya, always jolly."

Lecture on BG 7.1-3 -- London, August 4, 1971:

That is the beauty of the body. If you simply keep a lump of body it is not beautiful. Therefore the body should be nicely constructed, and there must be different parts and parcels of body. There is a design. But if simply there is soul, super, and there is no under soul, then how Kṛṣṇa becomes ānandamaya? About the Absolute Truth in the Vedānta-sūtra it is said ānandamayo 'bhyāsāt. "The Absolute Truth is full of bliss." So in order to enjoy bliss there must be Supersoul and under soul. Otherwise it is not blissful. Is it clear? Yes. There must be. Yes.

Lecture on BG 7.1-3 -- Stockholm, September 10, 1973:

We are given a certain type of machine, certain type of body, according to our desire, and we are moving. Just like if we have got a car, we can move from here to there. Similarly, by this body we are moving not only within this planet, but sometimes in other planet also—but within the universe. With this material body we can move within the universe, material world. But if we want to go to the spiritual world—there is another universe, spiritual world—then we have to get rid from this material encagement and transfer ourself in the spiritual body, in the spiritual world. Then we get actually eternal life, blissful life, full of knowledge. This is our Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement.

So we request you to read our books. We have got many volumes of books, but we are giving information to the people of the world that "You can get out of this entanglement of birth, death, old age and disease and be transferred to the spiritual world, where you can live eternally with blissful life and full of knowledge."

Thank you very much.

Lecture on BG 7.1-3 -- Paris, June 13, 1974:

So the jñānīs and the yogis, they cannot understand perfectly what is God. God is transcendental, sat-cit-ānanda, combination of eternity, knowledge and blissfulness. So if we realize the Absolute Truth partially, simply the eternity knowledge, that is called brahma-jñāna. And when one is further advanced and he realizes the Absolute Truth as the localized aspect, Paramātmā, or Lord Viṣṇu within anyone's heart, by the yogic practice, that is called paramātma-jñāna, or knowledge of the Absolute Truth. Actually, the objective is one, but different degrees of understanding.

Lecture on BG 7.1-3 -- Paris, June 13, 1974:

The meaning is that "One can understand Me only by this bhakti-yoga process. And when one is fully aware of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, then he becomes fit to enter into the Kingdom of God." So the purpose of yoga practice is to promote or to leave this material atmosphere and enter into the spiritual atmosphere. All the yogis, the jñāna-yogī, they remain in the impersonal feature of the Absolute Truth. The dhyāna-yogī is practicing the localized aspect, but the bhakti-yogī, he is promoted directly in the planet which is called Goloka Vṛndāvana, and there he associates with the Supreme Personality of Godhead and enjoys life blissfully, eternally.

Lecture on BG 7.2 -- Hyderabad, April 28, 1974 :

We can see, and we can hear also. Because the Supreme Personality of Godhead is Absolute Truth, by any of your senses, either by seeing or by hearing, it is the same thing. Nāma cintāmaṇiḥ kṛṣṇaś caitanya-rasa-vigrahaḥ. Rasa-vigrahaḥ. Nāma, this name, holy name of Kṛṣṇa or holy name of Rāma, they are rasa-vigrahaḥ, transcendental blissful form.

Lecture on BG 7.3 -- Montreal, June 3, 1968:

Actually a living entity is eternal, but the problem is that he is changing body. Just like either I may live at Canada or USA or India, I shall live somewhere, but nobody will allow me to stay. Except in my own country, nobody will allow me to stay for long time. Similarly, this is not your place. This material world is foreign country for you, this material world. We belong to the spiritual world. We belong to the world where life is eternal, where life is blissful, and where there is no ignorance. Just like Kṛṣṇa's body is described in the Brahma-saṁhitā and other Vedic literatures that īśvaraḥ paramaḥ kṛṣṇaḥ sac-cid-ānanda-vigrahaḥ (Bs. 5.1). Sac-cid-ananda-vigrahaḥ means His body is made of spiritual eternity, sat, and cit, full of knowledge, and ānanda, and full of bliss. In the Vedānta-sūtra also, it is stated about the Supreme Personality of Godhead, or the Absolute Truth, as ānandamayo 'bhyāsāt: "By nature He is full of bliss, the Absolute Truth, Absolute Person." You see the Kṛṣṇa's picture: ānanda-cinmaya-rasa-pratibhāvitābhiḥ (Bs. 5.37). He's enjoying in blissfulness. This Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa, this is enjoyment, but this enjoyment is not like here, the young boys and girls, they enjoy. It is not like that because here the ānanda is temporary, it is not eternal, but that ānanda, rādhā-kṛṣṇa-praṇaya-vikṛtiḥ, is eternal blissful. So Kṛṣṇa is canvassing everyone that "You come to Me. Here also you will have this eternal ānanda, eternal blissfulness." You are after loving affairs, but here in this material world, actually there is no love. It is only lust. And even if you accept that this is love, it will not exist. It will be finished.

Lecture on BG 7.3 -- Montreal, June 3, 1968:

I am hankering after pleasure, but whatever pleasure I am acquiring, that is not permanent, or flickering, or simply illusion. But that hankering after pleasure is your constitutional position. Because you are part and parcel of the Supreme Lord, who is ānandamayo 'bhyāsāt (Vedānta-sūtra 1.1.12), who is by nature blissful, and you are part and parcel of that blissful Supreme Personality of Godhead, therefore your nature is also blissful. That is a fact. But you are seeking pleasure or blissfulness in a place where it is not possible. Tapo divyaṁ putrakā yena śuddhyet sattva (SB 5.5.1). And by purification of your existential position, the result will be yasmād brahma-saukhyam. Brahman means the greatest. Greatest. Bṛhatvād bṛhannatvād iti... Brahman means the greatest and who comes in contact with Brahman, he also becomes greatest. That is called Brahman. So if you accept austerity in this life and don't behave like cats and dogs and hogs simply for sex pleasure, then the result will be that your existence will be purified, by which you'll realize eternal happiness, anantam, which has no end, no beginning, no end. Actually it is so.

Lecture on BG 7.3 -- Vrndavana, October 31, 1973:

So this is the actual siddhi to understand, that "I am eternally part and parcel of Kṛṣṇa. I can enjoy eternally blissful life in knowledge with cooperation or in the association of Kṛṣṇa and His devotees." That is real life. Therefore Kṛṣṇa says, yatatām api siddhānām (BG 7.3). Some of them are thinking that by merging into the existence of the Supreme, that is siddhi. That is not siddhi. That is partial siddhi, and it will not exist. That is explained in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ patanty adhaḥ anādṛta-yuṣmad-aṅghrayaḥ (SB 10.2.32). If you do not engage yourself in the service of the lotus feet of the Lord, then you cannot eternally remain in the brahma-jyotir. You cannot remain in the brahma-jyotir. You'll fall down.

Lecture on BG 7.3 -- London, March 11, 1975:

You become perfect, So perfect that... Janma karma ca me divyaṁ yo jānāti tattvataḥ (BG 4.9). If you understand Kṛṣṇa in truth, then immediate benefit is that tyaktvā dehaṁ punar janma naiti (BG 4.9). You have to give up this body. It is a fact. But after giving up, this is your last material body. No more material body. Your spiritual body.

So why not try one life to get back your spiritual life, get back your spiritual body, sac-cid-ānanda-vigrahaḥ (Bs. 5.1), and live eternal, blissful life with full knowledge and live with Kṛṣṇa and dance with Kṛṣṇa, eat with Kṛṣṇa? Why you are missing this opportunity? This is our solicitation to everyone.

Lecture on BG 7.4 -- Nairobi, October 31, 1975:

This is action. If you... Mad-yājino 'pi yānti mām (BG 9.25). If you practice devotional service, then at the time of death there is great possibility of understanding or remembering Kṛṣṇa. Mad-yājino 'pi yānti mām. So you have to practice. This Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement means we are leading person to make the mind absorbed in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Then there is chance of remembering Kṛṣṇa at the time of death. And as Kṛṣṇa says, tyaktvā dehaṁ punar janma naiti: (BG 4.9) "That person, after giving up this body, he does not get any more material body." Then what kind of body? Mām eti. He gets the similar body as Kṛṣṇa, sac-cid-ānanda-vigraha (Bs. 5.1), for eternal life of blissfulness.

Lecture on BG 7.7 -- Vrndavana, August 13, 1974:

It is already explained that Kṛṣṇa has got two energies. Just like heat and light, the energies of the fire. Similarly, Kṛṣṇa is enjoying His spiritual, blissful life. He is spiritual, sac-cid-ānanda-vigrahaḥ ānanda... (Bs. 5.1). Ānandamayo 'bhyāsāt (Vedānta-sūtra 1.1.12). So He is in Vṛndāvana having His ānanda, spiritual bliss, enjoyment, with His associates, ever associ..., eternal associates, the gopīs, the cowherds boys, His mother, His father, Mother Yaśodā, Nanda, Nanda Mahārāja. So He is enjoying in His abode, Goloka.

Lecture on BG 7.14 -- Hamburg, September 8, 1969:

So we should not die like cats and dogs. We should die like brāhmaṇa. Even in one life a solution is not made, then you get next life opportunity. Just like all these boys who have come to us, it is to be understood that they tried in their last life for making a solution of this problem, but it was not finished. There is another opportunity. These things are stated in the Bhagavad-gītā. So now, this life, you should be determined. Those who are coming to the touch of Kṛṣṇa consciousness and initiated to execute, they should be very determined that "In this life we shall make a solution. No more. No more coming again." That should be our determination. (break) ...and go back to home, back to Godhead, where we get eternal, blissful life of knowledge.

Lecture on BG 7.28-8.6 -- New York, October 23, 1966:

Here it is stated, anta-kāle ca mām eva smaran muktvā kalevaram (BG 8.5). Just kalevaram. Kalevaram means this body, and when becomes freed from this body, he..., or gets out of the body and at the very same time he remembers Kṛṣṇa, then one who passes this body, life, in this way, yaḥ prayāti sa mad-bhāvaṁ yāti... Mad-bhāvaṁ yāti means he at once attains the nature of Kṛṣṇa: eternity, blissful and knowledge.

Lecture on BG 8.5 -- New York, October 26, 1966:

The Brahma-saṁhitā says, sac-cid-ānanda-vigraha (Bs. 5.1). His form is full of bliss, and full of knowledge, and eternal. But this body, this body, our body, is neither eternal, neither full of knowledge, neither blissful. So we can distinguish what is the form of God. Sac-cid-ānanda. Sat. Sat means eternal, cit means full of knowledge, and ānanda means full of blissfulness.

So this body is neither blissful, neither eternal, nor full of knowledge. It is full of ignorance and full of miseries and not permanent; temporary. So God hasn't got such body. Therefore sometimes it is said in the Vedic literature: formless. Formless means the form which you can conceive at the present moment, God hasn't got that form.

Lecture on BG 8.5 -- New York, October 26, 1966:

They're given there. Just like Prahlāda Mahārāja. Prahlāda Mahārāja is a great authority in the devotional service. A five-years-old boy, he was chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa. His only fault was that. His father became enemy. His father insistently wanted, "You stop this nonsense, Hare Kṛṣṇa." He would not. So the father wanted to kill him—put him into so many tortures. At last he came out successful, and he was blissful. So therefore he is mahājana. In spite of so much tortures by his father, he did not give it up. Similarly, if we stick to the principle, as it was done by great personalities, Brahmā, Lord Śiva, Nārada, Prahlāda Mahārāja, Janaka Mahārāja... Their stories, their life history is there everywhere in the Purāṇas.

Lecture on BG 8.5 -- New York, October 26, 1966:

"One who at the time of death simply thinks of Me," smaran, "simply by remembering," muktvā, "immediately he becomes liberated." Muktvā kalevaram, yaḥ prayāti. "Anyone who passes away from this body..." So what is the result? Yaḥ prayāti sa mad-bhāvam. Mad-bhāvam means he gets the next body just like Kṛṣṇa. That means that sac-cid-ānanda-vigraha (Bs. 5.1), eternal body, blissful life, and full of knowledge. Yaḥ prayāti sa mad...yāti. He attains, yāti. Nāsty atra saṁśayaḥ (BG 8.5). Do not be doubtful. It is fact.

Lecture on BG 8.5 -- New York, October 26, 1966:

Not become Kṛṣṇa. Just like you are spirit soul. When you take the body of a certain type of body, you act according to the body. Just like the dog is acting differently from human body because he has got a different body. Hog is acting differently because he has got a different body. So there are 8,400,000's of different bodies. So mad-bhāva, mad-bhāva means the nature, Kṛṣṇa's nature. You keep your individuality, but you get Kṛṣṇa's nature. And what is Kṛṣṇa's nature? Kṛṣṇa's nature is always blissful. Ānandamayo 'bhyāsāt (Vedānta-sūtra 1.1.12). Always joyful. So you get a body of joyful, full of knowledge, and eternal. Not that you become Kṛṣṇa.

Lecture on BG 8.15-20 -- New York, November 17, 1966:

We should be very serious about this problem, how to get our eternal life, blissful, and full of knowledge. That is the duty of human life. We have forgotten this, what is our aim of life. Na te viduḥ svārtha-gatiṁ hi viṣṇum (SB 7.5.31). They do not know that their interest, self-interest is how to get that eternal, blissful life in the spiritual planets. That is his interest. Why they have forgotten? Durāśayā ye bahir-artha-māninaḥ. The people have been entrapped by this material glimmer, by skyscraper and big factories and political activities, these..., entrapped, although he cannot live. He knows that "However skyscraper I may make, I'll not be allowed to live here. I'll have to leave it, and I do not know where I am going." Therefore the solution is that we should not spoil our energy for having a skyscraper. We should employ our energy to elevate ourselves to Kṛṣṇa consciousness so that we can, after leaving this material body, we can enter into that spiritual planet. That is the process.

Lecture on BG 8.20-22 -- New York, November 18, 1966:

Therefore if we at all want to go, that spiritual sky, and attain real life, eternal life, blissful life, and full of knowledge, sac-cid-ānanda-vigrahaḥ... Īśvaraḥ paramaḥ kṛṣṇaḥ sac-cid-ānanda-vigrahaḥ (Bs. 5.1). The Lord has got this body, sac-cid-ānanda-vigrahaḥ. We have also that sort of body, but it is very small. Now it is covered by this matter, by this dress, and if we some way or other able to give up this false dress, then we reach that spiritual kingdom, God's kingdom. That is paramāṁ gatim. Yaṁ prāpya: "If you can reach there, if you can achieve that perfection," yaṁ prāpya na nivartante, "if at once you go, you cannot..., no more to come back. No more to come back." Yaṁ prāpya na nivartante tad dhāma paramaṁ mama: "That is My superior abode."

Lecture on BG 8.21-22 -- New York, November 19, 1966:

Oh, yes, I shall, I must be happy. If I can get some place where going I'll have not to die again or not to become old and not to have any diseases, oh, certainly I shall accept it. That is my desire, heart's desire. I want. I want that. Why you want that? Because you have got the right to have that prerogative. You have got the right. Therefore you want. You are eternal. You are blissful. You are full of knowledge. Simply you are covered by this material entanglement. Therefore you have forgotten yourself. Now, here is the chance. Here is the chance to take advantage and revive my original status of life, original status of life. Here it is clearly said, yaṁ prāpya na nivartante: "If you somehow or other can approach that spiritual atmosphere, then you haven't got to return again in this land of miseries of the atmosphere."

Lecture on BG 9.4 -- Melbourne, April 22, 1976:

Then what happens? Now, mām eti: "He comes to Me." That means he gets his original spiritual body. So if we simply try to understand. It is not very difficult. Everything is explained in the Bhagavad-gītā. You try to understand Kṛṣṇa; then your life is successful. After giving up this body there is no more material body. You get spiritual body, and you enter in the spiritual world and dance with Kṛṣṇa, play with Kṛṣṇa, talk with Kṛṣṇa, live happily, blissful life. This is instruction. This is the propaganda we are making. Why we are writing so many books? We have already about eighty-two books simply on the subject matter of Kṛṣṇa, to understand Kṛṣṇa. "To understand Kṛṣṇa, oh, we can read books and we can understand." No, it is not so easy.

Lecture on BG 9.7-10 -- New York, November 25, 1966:

Now, we are concerned how to get out of this temporary life. We are hankering after eternal life, how to get out of this temporary life. That should be our problem. There is no use calculating for how many years one kalpa, one duration of this cosmic manifestation, is maintained. But our concern is that whether we can get out of these clutches of material nature and get into our spiritual nature and have our eternal blissful life. That is our problem. That we can make solution. If we culture the Kṛṣṇa consciousness seriously, then even after annihilation of this body, we can get into the spiritual nature and spiritual nature, and we are also spirit. Therefore there is no difference; there is no question of birth and death. That is the problem.

Lecture on BG 9.20-22 -- New York, December 6, 1966:

So those who are serious about, that "I do not want any more..." But we have become callous. We don't think that "What is miseries of...?" But those who are actually in knowledge, those who want to live, those who want to have perfect knowledge, those who want to have blissful life, they understand that "This material existence, either this Svargaloka or the heavenly planet or this planet or that, will never give me happiness. I will have to... As Kṛṣṇa informs herein, that yad gatvā na nivartante tad dhāma paramaṁ mama (BG 15.6), I will have to enter the kingdom of God, spiritual planet, where going I will have not to return back again to accept this material body."

Lecture on BG 9.29-32 -- New York, December 20, 1966:

Chanting and hearing. When you chant, you hear, and you will enjoy. And you will enjoy so nicely that you will give up all that is not wanted in the advancement of his spiritual life. Kṣipram. This is recommendation by Kṛṣṇa Himself, not that I am advertising. Because I am preaching here Kṛṣṇa consciousness, therefore I am advertising, "The candidate may take it." But Kṛṣṇa Himself says. Kṣipraṁ bhavati dharmātmā śaśvac-chāntiṁ nigacchati. Śānti means very soon he attains that perfect eternal happiness. Perfect peaceful life, eternal life, blissful life, he very soon attains.

Lecture on BG 9.29-32 -- New York, December 20, 1966:

That is destruction, that now, in our material conception of life, we are practically destroyed because, destroyed in this way, because as spiritual being, I have got my eternal life, I have got my blissful life, I have got my knowledge, full knowledge, but here I am living in a wretched condition that my life is not eternal, I am not blissful, and I am not in full knowledge. So don't you think that we are already destroyed? We are thinking that "I am very much advancing in civilization," but unless you revive your original life of eternity and full knowledge and bliss, you should know that you are not advancing; you are being defeated by the illusory energy. This is destruction. Destruction of my real life is materialism.

Lecture on BG 9.29-32 -- New York, December 20, 1966:

Therefore this is the only way, Kṛṣṇa consciousness, to become perfect. Perfection means to attain spiritual life, eternity, blissful, and full of knowledge. That is waiting us. That is waiting us. Why should we refuse it? It is not a theory. Don't think that Bhagavad-gītā is something, imaginary thing. No. People have taken to it. They have practiced. They have attained success. It is coming on since a very, very long time. It was first advised to the sun-god. Then, after many, many millions of years, again, five thousand years before, it was advised to Arjuna. So it is coming down. It is accepted by all great ācāryas of India, and it is being followed, still being followed. So take it. Don't be destroyed. Take to Kṛṣṇa consciousness, and you will be saved.

Lecture on BG 13.1-3 -- Durban, October 13, 1975:

So then why He is there? Because He is friend. Suhṛdaṁ sarva-bhūtānām (BG 5.29). It is stated in the Vedas that two friendly birds. God is our actual friend, well-wisher friend, suhṛdam. He is simply trying to turn our face towards Him. So long he does not do so, he is changing different body and God is also going with him—He is so friendly—just to advise him in due time, that "Why you are changing from one body to another, one body to another? Why don't you come to Me and live peacefully in blissful life?" That is God's mission. Yadā yadā hi dharmasya glānir bhavati, tadātmānaṁ sṛjāmy aham (BG 4.7).

Lecture on BG 13.17 -- Bombay, October 11, 1973:

The modern people, they do not know. They do not know it that material condition cannot be changed. Take, for example, the pig. His body is meant for eating stool. So you cannot induce him to eat halavā. They cannot. He'll not accept it. Because the body is made like that. But in the human form, if we change our consciousness, then we become, we can revive our original status. Original status means eternal life of blissfulness and knowledge. That is the original life. Sac-cid-ānanda-vigrahaḥ (Bs. 5.1). So that Supersoul is always helping us as friend. Therefore here it is said, avibhaktaṁ ca bhūteṣu. Avibhaktaṁ ca bhūteṣu vibhaktam iva ca sthitam.

Lecture on BG 13.18 -- Bombay, October 12, 1973:

There are eight million four hundred thousand species of body. Any type of body we accept, it is troublesome. It is miserable. Mātrā-sparśās tu kaunteya śītoṣṇa-sukha-duḥkha-dāḥ (BG 2.14). The bodily pains and pleasures are perceivable, mātrā-sparśa, because we have got this material skin, mātrā, and when it is touched, in touch with the influence of this material world, mātrā-sparśāḥ, you become subject of pains and pleasures.

But if you don't have this material body, then you are untouched by the material qualities, you are completely in spiritual body, so there is no question of pains and pleasure. It is simply blissful life.

Lecture on BG 13.18 -- Bombay, October 12, 1973:

That is the highest perfection of life. If you come back, if you go back to home, back to Godhead, Kṛṣṇa, there you get sac-cid-ānanda body, eternal, blissful body of knowledge. And that is our aim, jñāna-gamyam, jñeyam. That is jñāna-gamyam.

Lecture on BG 13.19 -- Bombay, October 13, 1973:

Then where does he go? Mad-yāti tyaktvā dehaṁ punar janma naiti mām eti (BG 4.9). "He comes to Me. He comes to Me." Mad-bhāva. Here it is also said, same thing, explained. Mad-bhakta etad vijñāya mad-bhāvāyopapadyate (BG 13.19). Mad-bhāva, "My nature." What is that nature? Sac-cid-ānanda-vigrahaḥ. Īśvaraḥ paramaḥ kṛṣṇaḥ sac-cid-ānanda-vigrahaḥ (Bs. 5.1). He has got a body which is eternal, sat, and cit, full of knowledge. Sat, cit, and ānanda, full of blissfulness.

Lecture on BG 13.19 -- Bombay, October 13, 1973:

Then, originally we, are part and parcel of Kṛṣṇa just like a part and parcel of gold is gold. It is not earth or dirt, it is gold. But when it is covered by something else then it becomes something else. No. Similarly we are also as good as Kṛṣṇa because we are part and parcel of Kṛṣṇa. Acintya-bhedābheda. That is the philosophy of simultaneously one and different. We are one with Kṛṣṇa in the sense by quality. As Kṛṣṇa is sac-cid-ānanda, eternal life, blissful life, knowledge, full of knowledge, we are also like that in minute quantity, not like Kṛṣṇa. But there is the same quality. But now we are covered by this material energy. That Kṛṣṇa is never covered. That is the difference between Kṛṣṇa and ourselves although the quality is the same.

Lecture on BG 13.22 -- Bombay, October 20, 1973:

Therefore it is said, tasyaiva hetoḥ prayateta kovidaḥ. If you are intelligent, then you should try, you should engage your life, how to get out of this cycle of birth and death. Tapo divyaṁ putrakā yena śuddhyet sattvam (SB 5.5.1). We have to purify our existence so that we can revive our original position of eternal life, blissful life, full of knowledge. That is our requirement.

Lecture on BG 16.7 -- Tokyo, January 27, 1975:

Now, if you want to reach to the ultimate goal of life, where only blissful life, sac-cid-ānanda-vigrahaḥ (Bs. 5.1), eternal body of knowledge and bliss, then you have to become sura. It is not that the asuras will remain asura. It doesn't matter. Even born in the asura family one can become sura. Just like Prahlāda Mahārāja. His father was asura, but he was perfect sura. That is possible. It is not prohibited to anyone. If he wants to become sura... Just like in ordinary life also. If you are determined to become medical man, you can become. There is no impediment. If you are persistent, you can become medical man, engineer, or anything. People are trying, education. Similarly, if you want to become sura, there is no impediment, and there is no obstacle. You can become. Simply you have to know what sort of life we should accept, pravṛtti—this is called pravṛtti—and what sort of life we should reject. This is required. This is the distinction between sura and asura.

Lecture on BG 18.45 -- Durban, October 11, 1975:

Therefore, tapo divyaṁ putrakā yena śuddhyet yasmād brahma-saukhyam anantam (SB 5.5.1). If you want really blissful life eternally, then you must come to the eternal existential position platform. Yasmād brahma-saukhyam anantam. To become happy, to become joyful, that is your right because you are part and parcel of Kṛṣṇa, God. He is sac-cid-ānanda-vigrahaḥ (Bs. 5.1). You are part and parcel. So you are now fallen. You are trying to get that blissful life, but you are trying falsely, falsely in a platform where there is duḥkhālayam aśāśvatam (BG 8.15)—It is not possible. You come to the spiritual platform. You come to your original consciousness. Then your sattva, your existence, will be purified and you will enjoy. Enjoyment is your right. So therefore this śamo damaḥ can be practiced provided you agree to execute tapasya, tapasya.

Lecture on BG 18.67 -- Ahmedabad, December 10, 1972:

If you desire to go to the planetary systems of the demigods, you can go. If you want to remain here, in this Bhūrloka, Bhuvarloka, you can remain. If you want to go to the Pitṛlokas... Just like according to our Vedic system, there is pitṛ-tarpaṇa. You know, all. By offering pitṛ-tarpaṇa, you can be promoted to the Pitṛloka. This is the idea. Similarly, if you want to go to the Supreme Planet, yad gatvā na nivartante (BG 15.6), the abode of the Supreme Lord, Goloka Vṛndāvana or Vaikuṇṭhaloka, you can go. So if we want actually promotion of life, I mean to say, established life, eternal life, and eternal body, sac-cid-ānanda, and eternal blissful life of knowledge, then you must worship Kṛṣṇa. That is the verdict.

Lecture on BG 18.67 -- Ahmedabad, December 10, 1972:

So long we are in this material world, we are associating with different modes of material nature. And prakṛti is giving me different types of bodies. In this way, we are rolling, we are wandering. Now, this, this human form of life is meant for understanding that there is spiritual life, there is eternal life, there is blissful life, and prepare for that. That is Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement. Do not waste your time.