Capacity (Lectures, BG)

Expressions researched:
"capabilities" |"capability" |"capable" |"capably" |"capacities" |"capacity"

Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures

Introduction to Gitopanisad (Earliest Recording of Srila Prabhupada in the Bhaktivedanta Archives):

A living being serves another living being in different capacities, and by doing so, the living entity enjoys life. A lower animal serves a human being, a servant serves his master, A serves B master, B serves C master, and C serves D master, and so on.

Introduction to Gitopanisad (Earliest Recording of Srila Prabhupada in the Bhaktivedanta Archives):

The politician present his manifesto before the public and convinces voters about his service capacity. The voter also gives the politician his valuable vote on expectation that the politician will give service to the society. The shopkeeper serves the customer and the artisan serves the capitalist. The capitalist serves his family and the family serves the head man in terms of the eternal capacity of eternal being.

Introduction to Gitopanisad (Earliest Recording of Srila Prabhupada in the Bhaktivedanta Archives):

So our thinkings are absorbed in these literatures. Similarly, if we want to transfer our thinking in the spiritual atmosphere, then we have to transfer our reading capacity to the Vedic literature. The learned sages therefore made so many Vedic literatures, the Purāṇas.

Introduction to Gitopanisad (Earliest Recording of Srila Prabhupada in the Bhaktivedanta Archives):

In the Caitanya-caritāmṛta there is a verse which reads as follows. anādi-bahirmukha jīva kṛṣṇa bhuli' gela ataeva kṛṣṇa veda-purāṇa kailā (CC Madhya 20.117). That these forgetful living entities, conditioned souls, they have forgotten the relationship with the Supreme Lord, and they are engrossed in thinking of the material activities. And just to transfer their thinking power to the spiritual capacity, the Kṛṣṇa-dvaipāyana Vyāsa, he has made so many Vedic literatures. Vedic literatures means first he divided the Vedas into four.

Introduction to Gitopanisad (Earliest Recording of Srila Prabhupada in the Bhaktivedanta Archives):

One who is engaged always... Just like the materialist is always engaged in reading some material literature like newspaper, magazines, and fiction, novel, etc., and so many scientific or philosophies, all these things of different degrees of thought. Similarly, if we transfer our, that reading capacity for these Vedic literatures, as presented by, as very kindly presented by Vyāsadeva, then it is quite possible for us to remember at the time of death the Supreme Lord.

Introduction to Bhagavad-gita As It Is -- Los Angeles, November 23, 1968 :

So these six principles are there. Just like we are minute part and parcel of the Supreme Lord. Fragment, very small fragment. So every one of us have got some money according to our capacity. Every one of us has got some strength or some reputation or some beauty or some knowledge.

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

Just like our Mrs. Sharma. She was working in the family, but now she has come to work for Kṛṣṇa. And this is salvation. This is mukti. Not that we have to stop our working capacity. Simply we have to change the position. In the family life we work uselessly for so-called relatives, but the same labor, when we employ for the service of Kṛṣṇa, every inch of it is utilized.

Lecture on BG 1.41-42 -- London, July 29, 1973:

So, at the present moment, nobody can observe the strict rules and regulations, that "I am born in a brāhmaṇa family. I cannot accept anyone's service." Then you will have to starve. Because he has no brahminical capacity... By education, by culture, he's a śūdra, although falsely he's claiming that he is a brāhmaṇa or kṣatriya. So his jāti-dharma, family tradition, family rituals, everything is lost due to this unwanted children.

Lecture on BG 1.43 -- London, July 30, 1973:

As we have got four divisions in (break) ...brāhmaṇa, kṣatriya, vaiśya, śūdra must be there. (break) And each one should serve according to his guṇa-karma, quality and capacity to work. Then the whole society is organized... (break) ...will be perfect, there will be peace... (break) ...no war, nothing of the sort, and gradually making progress back to home, back to Godhead. Otherwise it will be chaos... (break) ...become at the present moment.

Lecture on BG 2.1 -- Ahmedabad, December 7, 1972:

Indian (2): ...the Pāṇḍavas. So if we do our work so perfect, we can't do it. Otherwise, we... So I am an imperfect devotee. But the question, you see, I was wondering ... all the worldly duties sincerely and honestly to our capacity pride is necessary or inevitable. "Oh, I'm a brāhmaṇa. I'm worshiping God." But pride is necessary that we must do in our own hand. I cannot.

Prabhupāda: Yes. If your life is so made that in every step you are feeling presence of Kṛṣṇa, then it is Kṛṣṇa consciousness. That is the first-class yoga, as it is confirmed by Kṛṣṇa:

Lecture on BG 2.7 -- London, August 7, 1973:

In the Bible also it is said: "Man is made after God." You can study God's quality by studying your quality, or anyone's quality. Simply the difference is quantity's different. I have got some quality, some productive capacity. We also produce, every individual soul is producing something. But his production cannot be compared with production of God. That is the difference.

Lecture on BG 2.13 -- Pittsburgh, September 8, 1972:

So two words are there. One is singular number, nitya, eternal, and the other is plural number, nityānām. So we are plural number. Plural number eternals. We do not know what is the numerical strength of the living entities. They are described as asaṅkhya. Asaṅkhya means without any counting capacity. Millions and trillions.

Lecture on BG 2.13 -- Germany, June 18, 1974:

I am simply occupier. The, the rascal materialists, they do not know that the proprietor is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and He is giving me a particular apartment according to my capacity of paying rent. This is my position. Otherwise, why everyone does not get first-class body, king's body or rich man's body? A child born, immediately he is rich man. So there is no arrangement? And another child born in the same moment is very poor man. Why? This is called karma-kāṇḍa. This child is given a room, an apartment, according to his capacity of paying rent. And the other child is given another apartment, very luxurious apartment, according to his capacity of rent-paying. This is called karma-kāṇḍa. According to your karma, or work, you get a body, either as a king's son or a cobbler's son or a dog's son or a cat's son or a tree's son or a plant's son. This is the nature.

Lecture on BG 2.20-25 -- Seattle, October 14, 1968:

That Mr. Brown, he is acting as attorney on behalf of the landlord. So he has no responsibility. He is acting in landlord capacity or landlord consciousness. He is trying to save the interest of the landlord as far as possible. But if there is any mistake, the landlord will suffer or gain. He has nothing to do. Similarly, if we work in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, if there is something wrong... Because we can act two ways, wrongly or rightly. That's all. If we do rightly, it is all right.

Lecture on BG 2.22 -- Hyderabad, November 26, 1972:

You may be president or you may be secretary; you may be whatever you may be. But you are not enjoyer. Enjoyer is Kṛṣṇa. One should know it. Just like in your... I have come, coming, just replying one letter from the Andhra Relief Committee. What this relief committee will do if Kṛṣṇa is not satisfied? Simply by raising some funds? No, that is not possible. Now there is raining. Now you'll get benefit. But that raining depends on Kṛṣṇa, not on your fund-raising capacity. That is... Yajña, yajñād bhavati parjanyaḥ (BG 3.14).

Lecture on BG 2.22 -- Hyderabad, November 26, 1972:

So yajñād bhavati parjanyaḥ: (BG 3.14) If you perform yajña, then there will be regular rainfall. If you avoid yajña, there will be restriction, and what your plan and fund-raising capacity will help? Now there is saṅkīrtana-yajña and rain is falling. This is a fact. So if you continue performing yajña, then there will be no distress, no unhappiness. That is the plan. Just like the birds and beasts. They have no problem.

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

What capacity you have got? God has created so many things. What you have created? God has shown so many things. What you have done? But still, falsely they are thinking, "I am God." This is māyā, last snare of māyā. Because the real disease as we have already explained, is to lord it over the material nature. Everyone is trying: "I am the lord of all I survey. I want to become lord of this universe. I want to become minister. I want to become president. I want to become business magnitude." And everything fails. Then he wants to become God. That is also māyā. That is not possible.

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

Within this five thousand years, we have so much degraded, illusioned by the māyā as advancement of civilization. This is māyā. So the more days go, we shall be more illusioned. So there will be no capacity to understand about God. At that time, God will come to destroy all this population by cutting their throat. That is kalki-avatāra.

Lecture on BG 2.33-35 -- London, September 3, 1973:

So Kṛṣṇa says, atha cet tvam imaṁ dharmyaṁ saṅgrāmaṁ na kariṣyasi. This fight is not ordinary fight. It is not the politician's fight. "For the sake of religion, you must fight. And if you do not, then sva-dharmam... You are a kṣatriya. Not only kṣatriya, you are a very well known fighter. You have been recognized by so many demigods." Arjuna got the pāśupata-astra. To test Arjuna's fighting capacity, sometimes Lord Śiva, when Arjuna was hunting in the forest, so Lord Śiva also, as a hunter, he appeared before him, and when a boar was killed by hunting, Lord Śiva claimed that "I have done this killing." Arjuna said, "No, I have done this." So there was controversy, who will claim that hunt, I mean to say, killed animal.

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

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.

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

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.

Lecture on BG 2.55-56 -- New York, April 19, 1966:

As Arjuna did not, wanted to fight, Kṛṣṇa said that "I desire that you should fight." But he did not agree in the beginning. But at the last moment, when Arjuna was inquired, "Now what is your decision," he said that naṣṭo mohaḥ smṛtir labdhā tvat prasādān mayācyuta kariṣye vacanaṁ tava: (BG 18.73) "My dear Lord, now my misgivings, my misunderstanding, is now gone by Your mercy. Now I have decided to fight because You desire." That is the summum bonum of learning. That one should decide what God desires. That's all. That will make his life perfect. He should not desire anything. He should not desire anything. His desiring capacity should not be stopped. Somebody says, "Don't desire; become desireless." It is nonsense. Nobody can be desireless. How he can be desireless? Desireless.

Lecture on BG 2.55-58 -- New York, April 15, 1966:

Just like the gold and a particle of gold. That particle of gold is also gold, but that particle of gold and the lump gold, quantitatively, there is difference. Just like fire and the spark of the fire. The spark of the fire is also fire, but the capacity, burning capacity of the spark, is very small in comparison to the whole fire. These are the position.

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

Kṛṣṇa says that raso 'pi, even if you have that desire, so you do not like to use it. Although you have got the privilege, but you are at liberty, but you do not like to do it. Raso 'py asya, rasa-varjaṁ raso 'py asya. Although he has all the full capacity... Not that he has become impotent or he has no capacity for sex life. In spite of his having all strength and all capacity, still, he does not like, "Oh, this is... What is this?" You see? That stage comes. Rasa-varjaṁ raso 'py asya paraṁ dṛṣṭvā. Why? He has got some superior things, superior sex life, in which he wants to engage himself.

Lecture on BG 2.62-72 -- Los Angeles, December 19, 1968:

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: 67: "As a boat on the water is swept away by a strong wind, even so, one of the senses in which the mind becomes fixed can carry away a man's intelligence."

Prabhupāda: Yes. If you... Suppose on the Pacific Ocean you are on a boat or on a nice seat, but if you have no controlling capacity, one wave of that Pacific Ocean can immediately bring you to the bottom of the sea. So this is required. We are in the midst of the Pacific Ocean of this māyika world. Saṁsāra-samudra. It is called samudra. So at any moment our boat can be topsy-turvied if we have no controlling power.

Lecture on BG 3.1-5 -- Los Angeles, December 20, 1968:

Without sleeping, without doing anything. Kṛṣṇa will accept. Kṛṣṇa will accept. And I want it. You American people, you have got so much money, you engage your money in that way. Don't spoil your life by this way and that way. So you can do that. You have got enough, sufficient means to offer Kṛṣṇa fifty-six times. You see? Just see the result. That is utilization. That is karma-yoga. One has the capacity to earn like anything and to spend for Kṛṣṇa like anything. That is karma-yoga.

Lecture on BG 3.8-13 -- New York, May 20, 1966:

Now, this is the formula of spiritual realization, that we should not stop our working capacity, the prescribed duties in which we are engaged. That is not to be stopped. If we stop work and spiritual realization, for spiritual realization, we leave this world and go to the jungle or Himalaya and sit down there for meditation for spiritual realization, oh, how many people will be ready to do this thing? No.

Lecture on BG 3.8-13 -- New York, May 20, 1966:

Now, either you adopt this yajña or that yajña, according to your capacity, but you must have to perform yajña. Without yajña, you cannot be happy.

yajña-śiṣṭāśinaḥ santo

mucyante sarva-kilbiṣaiḥ

bhuñjate te tv aghaṁ pāpā

ye pacanty ātma-kāraṇāt

(BG 3.13)

Now, pacanty ātma-kāraṇāt means cooking. The cooking is the most important business of our life. Cooking... Nobody... A human being... We are not cats and dogs, and every human being has to cook things for eating.