Causeless mercy (Conversations)

Expressions researched:
"causeless extraordinary mercy" |"causeless mercy" |"causeless unlimited mercy" |"mercy is causeless" |"mercy may be causeless" |"mercy upon me is causeless"

1972 Conversations and Morning Walks

Garden Conversation -- June 14, 1972, Los Angeles:

Prabhupāda: Dear Kṛṣṇa, dear friend, we know very well that You are not actually the son of mother Yaśodā or the cowherd man Nanda Mahārāja. You are the Supreme Personality of Godhead and the Supersoul of all living entities. You have, out of Your own causeless mercy, appeared in this world, requested by Lord Brahma for the protection of the world. It is by Your kindness only that You have appeared in the dynasty of Yadu. O best of the dynasty of Yadu, if anyone afraid of this materialistic way of life takes shelter of Your lotus feet, You never deny him protection. Your movements are sweet, and You are independent, touching the goddess of fortune with one hand and in the other bearing a lotus flower.

1973 Conversations and Morning Walks

Morning Walk -- December 4, 1973, Los Angeles:

Prabhupāda: Yes. That is Kṛṣṇa's special favor. Because by your free will you are going to hell. If Kṛṣṇa interferes, that is Kṛṣṇa's special favor. Just like a child is going to touch fire by free will, and father, "Eh, don't do it." That is his special favor.

Devotee: Jaya.

Svarūpa Dāmodara: But it's called causeless mercy.

Prabhupāda: Ah? Causeless mercy. His mercy is already there, but we are denying the mercy. That is the defect of material existence.

Morning Walk -- December 4, 1973, Los Angeles:

Svarūpa Dāmodara: But it's called causeless mercy.

Prabhupāda: Ah? Causeless mercy. His mercy is already there, but we are denying the mercy. That is the defect of material existence.

Yaśomatīnandana: Spiritual master is the mercy of God?

Prabhupāda: Yes. God is distributing His mercy from within and from without. Without mercy is the spiritual master. Without means externally, just in front of you.

1974 Conversations and Morning Walks

Morning Walk -- April 20, 1974, Hyderabad:

Pañcadraviḍa: Śrīla Prabhupāda, you were talking that a person, he can come up to that position of nitya-mukta by either following the principles of sādhana-bhakti or causeless mercy, or you said there was also the question of kṛpā, the kṛpā-siddhi, that one can attain perfection...

Prabhupāda: No, that is sādhana-bhakti.

Pañcadraviḍa: One gets mercy by sādhana-bhakti.

Prabhupāda: Yes. In the stage of sādhana-bhakti... Sadhana-bhakti is for the conditioned soul. And siddha. Siddha means they are already mature. Siddha means nitya-siddha.

Room Conversation with Richard Webster, chairman, Societa Filosofica Italiana -- May 24, 1974, Rome:

Prabhupāda: It is a great transcendental science and begins with the process of hearing and chanting the name, fame, glory, etc., of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Revival of the dormant affection or love of Godhead does not depend on the mechanical system of hearing and chanting, but it solely and wholly depends on the causeless mercy of the Lord. When the Lord is fully satisfied with the sincere efforts of the devotee, He may endow him with His loving transcendental service. But even with the prescribed forms of hearing and chanting, there is at once mitigation of the superfluous and unwanted miseries of material existence. Such mitigation of material affection does not wait for development of transcendental knowledge. Rather, knowledge is dependent on devotional service for the ultimate realization of the Supreme Truth.

Room Conversation with Prof. Regamay, Professor of Sanskrit at the University of Lausanne -- June 4, 1974, Geneva:

Prabhupāda: Everything is done by Kṛṣṇa. That's all right. But ye yathā māṁ prapadyante (BG 4.11). As you want Kṛṣṇa to do that, He says, "Only just surrender unto Me." He wants that. But you want so many things. Therefore He gives facility. "All right, do it, at your risk." He doesn't want. He says, "Give up all this nonsense." Sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇam (BG 18.66). "Just surrender unto Me." That He wants. But because we will not do that, we want to do something else, but I cannot do without His sanction, therefore He sanctions. That means Kṛṣṇa does everything. But I want to do, and simply I want His sanction. Therefore, out of His causeless mercy, He agrees, "All right do it." But you have to get the result of it.

1975 Conversations and Morning Walks

Room Conversation with Ganesa dasa's Mother and Sister -- May 14, 1975, Perth:

Ganeśa: reading purport: In other words, such a faithful devotee of the Lord attains perfection, and this is confirmed by the following Vedic assertion: tam eva viditvāti mṛtyum eti nānyaḥ panthā vidyate 'yanāya. One can attain the perfect stage of liberation from birth and death simply by knowing the Lord, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. There is no alternative because anyone who does not understand Lord Kṛṣṇa as the Supreme Personality of Godhead is surely in the mode of ignorance. Consequently he will not attain salvation, simply, so to speak, by licking the outer surface of the bottle of honey, or by interpreting the Bhagavad-gītā according to mundane scholarship. Such empiric philosophers may assume very important roles in the material world, but they are not necessarily eligible for liberation. Such puffed up mundane scholars have to wait for the causeless mercy of the devotee of the Lord. One should therefore cultivate Kṛṣṇa consciousness with faith and knowledge, and in this way attain perfection."

Prabhupāda: So if you distribute this knowledge, that will be real social work. And if you give some help, temporary, but he remains subjected to the rules of birth, death, and old age, that is temporary.

Room Conversation with Mr. & Mrs. Wax, Writer and Editing Manager of Playboy Magazine -- July 5, 1975, Chicago:

Prabhupāda: Devotional service, or Kṛṣṇa consciousness, can help one gain such release. Kṛṣṇa, being the Lord of illusory energy, can order this insurmountable energy to release the conditioned soul. He orders this release out of His causeless mercy on the surrendered soul and out of His paternal affection for the living entity who is originally a beloved son of the Lord. Therefore surrender unto the lotus feet of the Lord is the only means to get free from the clutches of the stringent material nature.

1976 Conversations and Morning Walks

Morning Walk -- March 17, 1976, Mayapura:

Madhudviṣa: So we say that everything has a cause.

Prabhupāda: Yes.

Madhudviṣa: But then we have causeless mercy. So would that be chance?

Prabhupāda: Eh?

Madhudviṣa: We have also causeless mercy, meeting the pure devotee. Is that a chance?

Prabhupāda: No. I.... We don't accept that chance. The causeless is a mercy. Causeless mercy is the cause.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Yeah. The mercy is the cause.

Prabhupāda: The mercy may be causeless, but the mercy is the cause.

Madhudviṣa: But the which is the cause?

Puṣṭa Kṛṣṇa: The mercy is the cause.

Interview with Jackie Vaughn (Black Congressman) -- July 12, 1976, Detroit:

Prabhupāda: Devotional service, or Kṛṣṇa consciousness, can help one gain such release. Kṛṣṇa, being the Lord of the illusory energy, can order this insurmountable energy to release the conditioned soul. He orders this release out of His causeless mercy on the surrendered soul, and out of His paternal affection for the living entity, who is originally a beloved son of the Lord. Therefore surrender unto the lotus feet of the Lord is the only means to get free from the clutches of the stringent material nature. The words mām eva are also significant. Mām means unto Kṛṣṇa, Viṣṇu, only, and not Brahmā or Śiva. Although Brahmā and Śiva are greatly elevated and are almost on the level of Viṣṇu, it is not possible for such incarnations of rajo-guṇa (passion) and tamo-guṇa (ignorance) to release the conditioned soul from the clutches of māyā.

Conversation with Prof. Saligram and Dr. Sukla -- July 5, 1976, Washington, D.C.:

Devotee (3): Śrīla Prabhupāda, the only way back to Godhead is to to attain the causeless mercy of the spiritual master. So...

Prabhupāda: And he'll sleep. Just as your spiritual master will do for (indistinct) everything (indistinct). It is not magic. Kṛṣṇa, when He advised Arjuna, He never said that "Arjuna, I'm your friend, God, I shall do everything (indistinct). You don't fight." Did He say? "You have to fight!" That's Kṛṣṇa's mercy. Not that by spiritual master's mercy (indistinct). You have to struggle. You have to follow the rules and regulations. Yes, what does He say?

Devotee (3):

rāja-vidyā rāja-guhyaṁ

pavitram idam uttamam

pratyakṣāvagamaṁ dharmyaṁ

su-sukhaṁ kartum avyayam

(BG 9.2)

"This knowledge is the king of education, the most secret of all secrets. It is the purest knowledge, and because it gives direct perception of the self by realization, it is the perfection of religion. It is everlasting, and it is joyfully performed."

Devotee (3): So by struggling to overcome our senses, we can please you and obtain your mercy?

Prabhupāda: Yes.

Comments on Bhagavad-gita Play -- July 12, 1976, New York:

Prabhupāda: ...of this human being, people do not know how they are kept in ignorance. And because we are part and parcel of Kṛṣṇa, out of His causeless mercy He comes to deliver us from this ignorance. Unfortunately, they are so much engrossed by the illusory energy, they do not take advantage of the instruction of Kṛṣṇa. So therefore this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is being propagated that these dull-headed mūḍha—they are being described as mūḍha, dull-headed; they do not know actual interest of life. Na te viduḥ svārtha-gatiṁ hi viṣṇum (SB 7.5.31). These dull-headed conditioned souls, they do not know their real self-interest, being influenced by māyā. Māyā is also Kṛṣṇa's energy, so it is her duty to punish the conditioned soul because they have decided to forget Kṛṣṇa. Still, Kṛṣṇa is so merciful, He comes personally, He authorizes His devotees, servants, to enlighten these conditioned souls. Now our Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is an humble attempt to raise the standard of these conditioned souls to Kṛṣṇa consciousness.

Room Conversation -- July 17, 1976, New York:

Prabhupāda: The impersonal Brahman can be conceived by persons who are already in the inferior energy of the Lord, but the Personality of Godhead cannot be conceived unless one is in the transcendental position. Because most men cannot understand Kṛṣṇa in His actual situation, out of His causeless mercy He descends to show favor to such speculators. Yet despite the Supreme Lord's uncommon activities, these speculators, due to contamination in the material energy, still think that the impersonal Brahman is the Supreme. Only the devotees who are fully surrendered unto the Supreme Lord can understand, by the grace of the Lord, that He is Kṛṣṇa. The devotees of the Lord do not bother about the impersonal Brahman conception of God. Their faith and devotion bring them to surrender immediately unto the Supreme Lord, and out of the causeless mercy of Kṛṣṇa, they can understand Kṛṣṇa. No one else can understand Him. So even great sages agree, 'What is ātmā? What is the Supreme? It is He whom we have to worship.' "

Evening Conversation -- August 8, 1976, Tehran:

Prabhupāda: One can attain the perfect stage of liberation from birth and death simply by knowing the Lord, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. There is no alternative because anyone who does not understand Lord Kṛṣṇa as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is surely in the mode of ignorance. Consequently he will not attain salvation, simply, so to speak, by licking the outer surface of the bottle of honey, or by interpreting the Bhagavad-gītā according to mundane scholarship. Such empiric philosophers may assume many important roles in the material world, but they are not necessarily eligible for liberation. Such puffed up mundane scholars have to wait for the causeless mercy of the devotee of the Lord. One should therefore cultivate Kṛṣṇa consciousness with faith and knowledge, and in this way attain perfection."

Arrival Conversation -- August 13, 1976, Bombay:

Prabhupāda: Three chariots, very gorgeous.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: It's due to your causeless mercy this is spreading everywhere. There were hundreds of orders from libraries. Actually we cannot even keep up, there are so many orders coming. Every order has been dispatched, Śrīla Prabhupāda. There's not one order outstanding, but we are getting lot of correspondence, everything. And I spoke to Rāmeśvara two nights ago, he's shipping the books right away. Because we only got the sea. By Kṛṣṇa's grace, first our application for import of books was rejected. Then I went and met this very big man and preached to him. So now he's become a devotee and he said, "You just come to me. I'll give you in one day whatever you want."

Prabhupāda: Ācchā.

1977 Conversations and Morning Walks

Evening Conversation -- January 25, 1977, Puri:

Prabhupāda: In many statements in Bhāgavatam we have observed that the demigods from heaven used to visit this earth to attend sacrifices performed by influential kings and emperors. Herein also we find that during the time of the horse sacrifice ceremony of Mahārāja Parīkṣit, the demigods from other planets were visible even for the common man due to the sacrificial ceremony. The demigods are not generally visible to common men as the Lord is not visible. But as the Lord also by His causeless mercy descends to be visible to the common man..."

Room Conversation -- January 31, 1977, Bhuvanesvara:

Prabhupāda: Guru and Kṛṣṇa, both. Unless Kṛṣṇa is also merciful-guru says something; Kṛṣṇa is within; if he says, "Yes, you accept this"—we cannot accept.

Yogeśvara: Causeless mercy.

Prabhupāda: Yes. Guru's business is on behalf of Kṛṣṇa. As Kṛṣṇa comes, causeless mercy, the guru is engaged in Kṛṣṇa's business. Ya idaṁ paramaṁ guhyaṁ mad-bhakteṣv abhidhāsyati (Bg 18.68). Faithful servant of Kṛṣṇa. And guru means faithful servant of the Lord. That is guru. Yāre dekha tāre kaha 'kṛṣṇa'-upadeśa (CC Madhya 7.128). Bas. You become guru, faithful servant. Don't make any change. That is guru. Guru..., to become guru is not difficult thing.

Evening Darsana -- May 15, 1977, Hrishikesh:

Prabhupāda: A Kṛṣṇa conscious person has no desire for self-satisfaction. His criterion of success is the satisfaction of Kṛṣṇa, and thus he is a perfect sannyāsī or perfect yogi. Lord Caitanya, the highest perfectional symbol of renunciation, prays in this way,

na dhanaṁ na janaṁ na sundarīṁ

kavitāṁ vā jagadīśa kāmaye

mama janmani janmanīśvare

bhavatād bhaktir ahaitukī tvayi

(Cc. Antya 20.29, Śikṣāṣṭaka 4)

"O Almighty Lord, I have no desire to accumulate wealth, nor to enjoy beautiful women, nor do I want any number of followers. What I want only is the causeless mercy of Your devotional service in my life birth after birth."