Celebrated (Lectures)

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Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures

Lecture on BG 2.2 -- London, August 3, 1973:

"When the body is burned into ashes, then where is the chance of coming back?" That means he had no information of the soul. (break)

...accepted by the Vedic civilization. The anārya... (break) The Āryan theory is that what is next life, what is next life, progressive. That is ārya. Civilized man. They may think like that. But you are belonging to the Āryan family, Pāṇḍava family. Akīrti-karam. You are celebrated as Kṛṣṇa's friend. (break) So people will say that "Kṛṣṇa's friend, he's not fighting." Therefore akīrti-karam, reputation defamation it is. "Don't do this." And He says, kutaḥ-kaśmalam idaṁ viṣame samupasthitam. "And in this, at this time of danger... There is fighting; you have to fight. And viṣame, at this time of danger, you are so much bewildered that you given up your weapons down. And now you promise that 'No, I shall not fight.' " So immediately Arjuna was condemned.

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

According to the instruction of the Vedas: Harer nāma harer nāma harer nāmaiva kevalam (CC Adi 17.21). Repeatedly, in every Vedic literature. And practically, Caitanya Mahāprabhu introduced practically. And He asked every Indian to go outside India and preach this cult, Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra. But we are not doing that. We are going outside our country to beg only. Not to give. And here is a prime gift. You can give all over the world. Your country will be glorified. They're anxious for this. Pṛthivīte āche yata nagarādi grāma. Caitanya Mahāprabhu's prediction: "As many towns and villages are there on the surface of the globe, everywhere this Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra, or Lord Caitanya's name, will be celebrated." That is being done. There is immense field for introducing this Hare Kṛṣṇa cult all over the world. That is practical. Unfortunately, although Caitanya Mahāprabhu entrusted the matter to every Indian... Not that to the Bengalis, because He appeared in Bengal. He never said for the Bengalis. He said, bhārata-bhūmite manuṣya-janma haila yāra (CC Adi 9.41). "On this holy land of Bhāratavarṣa, anyone who has taken his birth as a human being, he should make his life perfect." Janma sārthaka kari'. You cannot preach without making your life first of all perfect. If I remain imperfect, I cannot preach. One must be perfect. That is not very difficult. We have got direction of great sages and saintly persons and God, Kṛṣṇa, Himself.

Lecture on BG 13.1-2 -- Bombay, December 29, 1972:

And Kṛṣṇa Himself, as Caitanya Mahāprabhu says: pṛthivīte āche yata nagarādi grāma. "As many villages and towns are there, sarvatra pracāra haibe mora nāma, that My name will be celebrated in every village, every town." So this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is not a crippled movement. It is very broad movement, claiming all living entities to come to Kṛṣṇa, back to home, back to Godhead. Therefore we should not be bodily conscious. Kṛṣṇa, here says: the body is not I am this body. Idaṁ śarīraṁ kṣetram. It is a field of activities. Kṣetram. Field of activities. Just like one who is bodily conscious, he undergoes many severe exercises. So body becomes very stout and strong and he's happy. He's happy. Because he thinks: "I am this body."

Lecture on BG 1322 -- Hyderabad, August 17, 1976:

When Kṛṣṇa says dharma-kṣetre kuru-kṣetre samavetā yuyutsavaḥ (BG 1.1), where is the difficulty? The Kurukṣetra is still there. Everyone knows. There is a railway station of the name Kurukṣetra and there is a place Kurukṣetra. Now it is being developed by the government. So how you can explain Kurukṣetra otherwise? Kurukṣetra is a fact, and it is a dharma-kṣetra. Still many millions of Indians go there to visit, especially during the solar eclipse occasion they go there. And when Kṛṣṇa was staying on this planet He, His brother Balarāma, and His sister Subhadrā also visited Kurukṣetra. That ceremony is observed as Ratha-yātrā. Three persons, two brothers and one sister. We are celebrating, introduced this Ratha-yātrā system in the Western countries and recently we had this festival in New York. Very successfully. Perhaps you have read in the paper.

Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures

Lecture on SB 1.3.13 -- Los Angeles, September 18, 1972:

Dhīra means even there is cause of disturbance he will not be disturbed. That is dhīra. And one who is disturbed by the slight agitation, he is not dhīra. He is adhīra. So mostly, people are adhīra. They are agitated by a slight disturbance, because they have not been trained in such a way. Otherwise... Just like Kṛṣṇa. When Kṛṣṇa was being elected as president in the rājasūya-yajña assembly of Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira, so somebody remarked that "This man..." Because those who were blind, they would see Kṛṣṇa as ordinary man... So "He is woman-hunter from the very beginning. So how He can be elected?" So at that time Bhīṣma, the most celebrated brahmacārī... He never accepted any wife or he had no connection with any woman. He immediately stood up. He said that "I am celebrated throughout the whole world as brahmacārī, but if I would have been in the position of Kṛṣṇa... He was dancing with young girls, but He was not agitated. But I would have been agitated. I admit. Therefore He is dhīra. He should be elected."

Lecture on SB 1.3.14 -- Los Angeles, September 19, 1972:

So this Veṇa was made king by the desire of the saintly person. The significance is that formerly the brāhmaṇas, the kṣatriyas, the vaiśyas and the śūdras, these four departments, they must remain. Varṇāśrama. That must be maintained, class division. So the brāhmaṇas, the saintly persons, sages, they used to recommend that "Yes, this person is fit for becoming king." Then the coronation was celebrated. Or... This means that the kṣatriyas were under the order of the brāhmaṇas. So when Veṇa become king, of course, the rogues and thieves, they were immediately subdued. Because rogues and thieves, and here the king is also greater rogue. So the smaller rogues were subdued immediately. That was one of the benefit, because he was very strong and cruel. Immediately, caught a rogue, he will immediately cut off his head. So they were subdued. But he himself is a rogue. Nūnaṁ mahatāṁ tatra. This is our experience. "Might is right." If you are stronger, then you can subdue less strong. But he became very much disturbing. He was atheist, and he ordered that "There is no God. I am God. So what I say, you have to abide." The brāhmaṇas were also... "You cannot perform yajñas. This is not required." In this way, he became too much disturbing.

Lecture on SB 1.7.2-4 -- Durban, October 14, 1975:

So these mūḍhas, these asses, they consider Kṛṣṇa as one of us. Avajānanti māṁ mūḍhā mānuṣīṁ tanum āśritam, paraṁ bhāvam ajānantaḥ (BG 9.11). Paraṁ bhāvam ajānantaḥ, they do not know what is the value of Kṛṣṇa. Therefore the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is there to teach people to understand properly Kṛṣṇa. And what will be the result? The result will be, janma karma ca me divyaṁ yo jānāti tattvataḥ (BG 4.9). If anyone simply understands Kṛṣṇa, why He comes here, yadā yadā hi dharmasya glānir bhavati bhārata, tadātmānaṁ sṛjāmy aham (BG 4.7). So this is divyam, this is not ordinary birth. Ordinary birth, then why, not only in India and other parts of the world, the Kṛṣṇa's birthday is celebrated very pompously? If He would have been an ordinary man, then why people are interested? No. Therefore janma, His janma is divyam. That is transcendental, that is not ordinary birth. Therefore you worship the birthday of Kṛṣṇa, everyone, every Hindu, every Indian. Even Muhammadans, they also observe. In India, there are many Muhammadans, they also observe Kṛṣṇa's birthday.

Lecture on SB 1.8.32 -- Los Angeles, April 24, 1973:

Similarly Kṛṣṇa appeared in the dynasty of Mahārāja Yadu just to glorify. He was a great devotee of Kṛṣṇa, and He is born in the family of Mahārāja Yadu. The whole family is celebrated still: Yādava. Kṛṣṇa's name is Yādava, because He took His birth in the Yadu family. So how is it that, that Kṛṣṇa took...? Now to glorify the family. Exactly, the example is given: Just like malayasyeva candanam (SB 1.8.32). Candana. This is a tree. A tree can grow anywhere, but the sandalwood tree, because it is very prominent in the Malaysia country, formerly they were growing this candana tree, as I told you, because there was good demand, in India especially, of sandalwood. So they, nowadays they are growing rubber tree because there is good demand for rubber.

Lecture on SB 2.1.1-5 -- Boston, December 22, 1969:

"You have to hear about Bhagavān, Hari, Īśvara." Tasmād bhārata sarvātmā. "Bhārata" because Parīkṣit Mahārāja happened to be a descendant of the Kuru dynasty. The Kuru dynasty was begun from King Bharata, Bharata. There are two, three Bharatas in the history of Vedic literature. One Bharata is Lord Rāmacandra's brother, younger brother. His mother, Bharata's mother, wanted to make Bharata king. Therefore, by palace diplomacy, Rāmacandra was sent to the forest. But His brother Bharata declined, "No." His mother wanted that "My son should be king." There were three wives of Mahārāja Daśaratha. So this is one Bharata. He was faithful to His brother, but by His mother's diplomacy Lord Rāmacandra was sent to the forest. So this is one celebrated Bharata. Another Bharata is the forefather of the Kuru dynasty. His name is also Bharata. And another Bharata was the son of King Ṛṣabhadeva, by whose name this planet is called Bhāratavarṣa. This whole planet is called Bhāratavarṣa. So he is addressing Parīkṣit Mahārāja as the descendant of King Bharata, Bhārata." He bhārata. You have to talk and hear about sarvātmā, the Supersoul who is sitting in everyone's heart, Bhagavān, the Personality of Godhead, full with all opulences." Bhagavān, this word, every word, suggests volumes of meaning. And Hari: "who can take away all your sufferings." Īśvara: "and He is the controller, supreme controller."

Lecture on SB 2.3.18-19 -- Bombay, March 23, 1977, At Cross Maidan Pandal:

The ass is an animal who is celebrated as the greatest fool, even amongst the animals. The ass works very hard and carries burdens of the maximum weight without making profit for itself. Footnote. The ass is generally engaged by the washerman, whose social position is not very respectable. And the special qualification of the ass is that it is very much accustomed to being kicked by the opposite sex. When the ass begs for sexual intercourse, he is kicked by the fair sex, yet he still follows the female for such sexual pleasure. A henpecked man is compared, therefore, to the ass. The general mass of people work very hard, especially in the age of Kali. In this age the human being is actually engaged in the work of an ass, carrying heavy burdens and driving ṭhelā and rickshaws. The so-called advancement of human civilization has engaged a human being in the work of an ass. The laborers in great factories and workshops are also engaged in such burdensome work, and after working hard during the day, the poor laborer has to be again kicked by the fair sex, not only for sex enjoyment but also for so many household affairs.

Lecture on SB 6.1.21 -- Chicago, July 5, 1975:

This Kānyakubja is still there. It is now known as Kanauj, within the division of Kanpur. It is very old city resided by brāhmaṇas especially. Still, in that city the most inhabitants are brāhmaṇas. Just like Nadia, Navadvīpa. It was formerly, even in Caitanya Mahāprabhu's time, inhabited by brāhmaṇas, learned scholars. So similarly, in northern India this place, Kanauj, since very long, long time, it is a very celebrated place. Now this place is very much famous for manufacturing perfumes, rosewater, scented attars, like that.

Lecture on SB 7.6.6-9 -- Montreal, June 23, 1968:

Meditation means to absorb your mind in the Supreme Personality of Godhead. That is meditation, real meditation. In all the standard scriptures and in yoga practice formula, the whole aim is to concentrate one's mind in the Supreme Personality of Godhead. That is called samādhi, samādhi, ecstasy. So that ecstasy is immediately brought by this chanting process. You begin chanting and hear for the few seconds or few minutes: you immediately become on the platform of ecstasy. Therefore Caitanya Mahāprabhu recommended this process not only for India but for all the people of the world. He said that pṛthivīte āche yata nagarādi grāma. Pṛthivī means "on the face of the world"; ache, "when there is." Nagar means "towns," and grāma means "village" or "county." So He said, "As many villages, towns, or counties, the human society, there are on the surface of the globe," sarvatra pracāra haibe more nāma, "My name"—means Lord Caitanya's name, because He introduced the simple method of chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa—"will be celebrated." That is His prediction.

Lecture on SB 7.9.43 -- Calcutta, March 23, 1976:

So those who are after these things... That is the material world, lābha, pūjā, pratiṣṭhā. Everyone is for some material profit. That is called lābha. And pūjā. Pūjā means he wants a position so that all others will come and worship him: "Sir, you are so great. You are big minister. You are big president. You are this, that. Kindly give me this favor, that favor." That is called pūjā, "Everyone will come and worship me." And pratiṣṭhā: "And I will be so celebrated man that even after my death, there will be a statue in the maidan and people will come to worship me." After death where he is going? He is going to be a dog or cat. He doesn't mind. But his statue should be worshiped. Such rascals. He does not know where he is going after death. Tathā dehāntara-prāptiḥ (BG 2.13). He'll have to change his body. So as soon as he changes body, he has to accept another body, but he keeps in memory of this body. A drunkard, a woman-hunter, and such a person, most sinful life in this, and what will help him by having a statue? But they are fools, vimūḍhān, rascals. Māyā-sukhāya bharam udva... (SB 7.9.43), making big, big arrangements. That is material world. Everyone is.

Sri Caitanya-caritamrta Lectures

Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 21.62-67 -- New York, January 6, 1966:

So this Sanskrit scholar, Keśava Kāśmīrī, he came from Kashmir to challenge the learned scholars in other parts of the country. There were four celebrated places where highly educated scholars were there. One was at Benares. Benares still, it is considered to be the center of Sanskrit scholars place. Similarly Navadvīpa, where Caitanya Mahāprabhu was born. And in Bihar there was a place, Darbhanga. That is also a scholarly. So Benares, and Berhampur (?), Berhampur in East Bengal near Dacca. So some of the places in India, they are very famous for learned scholars. Still they are continuing. So Sanskrit scholars would come in such celebrated places, and they would challenge for arguing on the śāstras. So the rule was that two parties will argue, and the defeated party will become the disciple of the victorious party. That was the system. So Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu, when He was sixteen years old, this Keśava Kāśmīrī came to Navadvīpa to challenge. In other places he was victorious. He became champion. And then, at last, he came to Bengal, Navadvīpa. So that scholarly discussion will take place.

Festival Lectures

Sri Rama-Navami, Lord Ramacandra's Appearance Day -- Hawaii, March 27, 1969:

So similarly, the other qualification, nobody can be stronger than God, nobody can be wiser than God, nobody can be more beautiful than God, and nobody can be more renouncer than God. So here Rāmacandra, Lord Rāmacandra exhibited the quality how He renounced the whole kingdom simply on the order of His father, His obedience to father. He could have argued with His father, "My dear father, you, simply for keeping your promise and actuated by the dictation of a woman, you are doing this. Let us stop it. Everyone is expecting that tomorrow My coronation will be there, and they love Me so much." Because He... Just like Kṛṣṇa was so much loved, similarly, Lord Rāmacandra was the life of the people. They were very much expecting that Rāmacandra was going to be enthroned tomorrow. So how they were celebrating, how they were decorating the whole city. Everything. He never argued. He accepted immediately: "Yes, father. I am ready."

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

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

Sri Vyasa-puja -- Hamburg, September 5, 1969:

So today is called Vyāsa-pūjā. Vyāsa-pūjā means the Vyāsadeva, Veda-vyāsa, who wrote the Vedic literature, he is the supreme spiritual master because he has given us the spiritual knowledge. In the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam it is..., nārāyaṇaṁ namāskṛtya naraṁ caiva narottamam, devīṁ sarasvatīṁ vyāsam (SB 1.2.4). So Vyāsa. So this platform is called "the seat of Vyāsa." So spiritual master should be representative of Vyāsa. Then the instruction is complete, and the benefit is assured. So I do not wish to take much of your time. We will now distribute prasādam. And one thing, coincidence, the Vyāsa-pūjā means to observe the birthday of the spiritual master. That is called Vyāsa-pūjā. And so today, this Nandotsava day, fortunately, seventy-three years ago I was born on this date. So this date, Nandotsava, is also a very fortunate occasion, because after Kṛṣṇa's birth, Mahārāja Nanda, the father of Kṛṣṇa, he celebrated a utsava, a ceremony, and this day is called Nandotsava. So a little I shall speak about Nandotsava. Nanda Mahārāja, he was a little elderly when Kṛṣṇa was born, and some of his friends came to congratulate, "My dear friend, you have got a son in your old age," and Nanda Mahārāja said amongst the friends that "How can you say I am old? An old man cannot beget a child. I am young man." So these things are stated in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. And all the villagers... Because, you know, Vṛndāvana is a village, a big village, and Nanda Mahārāja is the head of that village, Vṛndāvana, so all the people came to congratulate the child, and this is called Nandotsava. So one brāhmaṇa, he has spoken a nice verse in this connection. He said that śrutim apare smṛtim itare bhāratam anye bhajantu bhava-bhītāḥ. There are different kinds of Vedic literature: śruti, smṛti, Mahābhārata, Vedānta. So he says, "Let others read śruti, Vedic literatures, Vedānta-sūtra and Upaniṣad, and so many there are in Vedic literatures. Let others read that. But I have come here..." Aham iha nandaṁ vande: "I have come to worship Nanda Mahārāja. Nanda Mahārāja." "Why you have left everything and you have come to worship Nanda Mahārāja?" Yasyālinde paraṁ brahma: "Because in his courtyard the Supreme Personality of Godhead is crawling. The people are searching after what is God, and God is crawling in his yard. So therefore I do not find anyone more than Nanda Mahārāja, so I offer my respects to Nanda Mahārāja."

Sri Vyasa-puja -- Hamburg, September 5, 1969:

Just like Nanda Mahārāja. He is not anxious to become one with God, but he underwent so great penances that he became the father of God. That is possible. A devotee is so great that he can pray the Supreme Lord as his son. Of course, it is a very subtle science for understanding of spiritual knowledge. So today Nanda-mahotsava is celebrated because the father of Kṛṣṇa... Ajo 'pi sann avyayātmā bhūtānām īśvaro 'pi san, in the Bhagavad-gītā it is said. Although God is unborn and He is the Supreme, still, by love, He accepts one of His devotees as His father and appears as his son. So today is very nice day, that Kṛṣṇa has appeared. The Supreme Lord has appeared as the son of Nanda Mahārāja. So there is some arrangement of prasādam on account of Nanda Mahārāja. So you can distribute and enjoy.

Arrival Addresses and Talks

Arrival -- Philadelphia, July 11, 1975:

Reporter (2): Your celebration is tomorrow: Of what will that celebration consist?

Prabhupāda: Celebration? It is remembering Kṛṣṇa, or Lord. He, with His brother and sister, visited Kurukṣetra, a place in India. So in memory of that visit we observe this Ratha-yātrā. (break) (in car:) ...is nice there.

Kīrtanānanda: Very nice. You're looking beautiful. (break)

Prabhupāda: ...delphia, and I think I came while going to New Vrindaban? No.

Kīrtanānanda: I don't think so.

Ravindra-svarūpa: That was Pittsburgh.

Prabhupāda: Pittsburgh, yes. I came Philadelphia in the beginning...

General Lectures

University Lecture -- Calcutta, January 29, 1973:

Our Vedic culture is divided into four varṇas: brāhmaṇa kṣatriya vaiśya śūdra. Unfortunately we are simply manufacturing śūdras, not brāhmaṇas. That is the defect of modern education. Śūdra, śūdra means paricaryātmakam kāryaṁ śūdra karma svabhāva-jam (BG 18.44). After education, every (indistinct) is hankering after a service. That is śūdra karma svabhāva-jam. This is not perfect education. There must be brāhmaṇas who are independent. Cāṇakya Paṇḍita, whose name is still, still celebrated, he was prime minister of Mahārāja Candragupta, but he was not accepting a single paisa as salary. That was the, formerly, although there was monarchy, still there was a council of learned brāhmaṇas and sages. They used to advise the king. The brāhmaṇas did not take part in politics, but they gave advice, instruction to the kings, rājarṣi. Imaṁ rājarṣayoḥ viduḥ. The rājarṣi used to understand what is the values of life under the instruction of brāhmaṇas, and they execute the order of the brāhmaṇas. The people were happy. And because at the present moment such system is lost, people are confused and they are in frustration.

Philosophy Discussions

Philosophy Discussion on Carl Gustav Jung:

Hayagrīva: In 1938 Jung was invited by the British government to take part in celebrations connected with the twenty-fifth anniversary of the University of Calcutta. He writes, "By that time I had read a great deal."

Prabhupāda: Twenty-fifth anniversary?

Hayagrīva: Hm?

Prabhupāda: Twenty-fifth.

Hayagrīva: Anniversary, 1938.

Prabhupāda: So Calcutta University was started long ago.

Hari-śauri: 1913.

Prabhupāda: Huh?

Devotee: 1913.

Hayagrīva: The University of Calcutta.

Prabhupāda: No. Calcutta University was started long ago.

Hayagrīva: Before that?

Prabhupāda: Yes.

Philosophy Discussion on Auguste Comte:

Hayagrīva: Comte conceives the worship of woman as preparatory for the worship of mankind at large. He says, "The worship of woman begun in private and afterwards publicly celebrated is necessary in man's case to prepare him for any effectual worship of humanity," and that "Only man is the supreme being. It must not, however, be supposes that the new supreme being is like the old, merely a subjective result of our powers of abstraction. Existence in the true sense can only be predicated of humanity."

Prabhupāda: What is the idea?

Hayagrīva: That man is all there is.

Prabhupāda: Huh? Can you explain what is the idea expressed in this sentence?

Hayagrīva: He wants to do away with the Catholic religion and institute the worship of humanity, or the worship of man. He says that everything else is abstraction, is speculation, and that only man is the..., man is the only existence in the true sense. Atheism.

Prabhupāda: Man is existence?

Hayagrīva: Man is the only existence.

Prabhupāda: Then? There is nobody else? What about the animals? Man is the only existence, and what about the animals? They are also...

Hayagrīva: He doesn't seem to consider the animals.

Prabhupāda: So what, what is the position of the animals? They are also living being.