Characteristic (Other Lectures)

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Nectar of Devotion Lectures

The Nectar of Devotion -- Vrndavana, November 2, 1972:

Pradyumna: " 'The Characteristics of Pure Devotional Service.' In the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Third Canto, Twenty-ninth Chapter, 10th verse, Śrīla Kapiladeva, while instructing His mother, has given the following characteristics of pure devotional service: 'My dear mother, those who are My pure devotees, and who have no desire for material benefit or philosophical speculation, have their minds so much engaged in My service that they are never interested in asking Me for anything—except to be engaged in that service. They do not even beg to live in My abode with Me.' "

Prabhupāda: Yes. This is pure devotional purpose. Natural. "Here is a Kṛṣṇa devotee." How much one should be glad to see a Kṛṣṇa devotee. Naturally, his love for a Kṛṣṇa devotee should enhance. That is pure devotion. Just like in foreign country, when one Indian meets another Indian, naturally, he has got some tendency: "Oh, wherefrom you are coming? How long you are here?" This conversation goes on. Similarly, natural flow of Kṛṣṇa consciousness is that as soon as one sees a person in Vaiṣṇava symptoms, he should be eager to welcome him. He should be very much anxious to talk with him about Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa-kathā. Bodhayantaḥ parasparam tuṣyanti ca ramanti ca. Kṛṣṇa conscious people should be so nice that as soon as they meet together, they talk about Kṛṣṇa, they try to understand about Kṛṣṇa, and they feel pleasure in that way. That is Kṛṣṇa consciousness society. We are trying to make a Kṛṣṇa consciousness society to give this opportunity to these people, how one should be engladdened by seeing one devotee and talk with them, one another, about Kṛṣṇa, forgetting their designations. That is Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Go on.

The Nectar of Devotion -- Vrndavana, November 2, 1972:

Pradyumna: "There are five kinds of liberation, namely, to become one with the Lord, to live with the Supreme Lord on the same planet, to have the same features as the Lord, to enjoy the same opulences as the Lord, and to live as a companion of the Lord. A devotee, not to speak of rejecting material sense gratification, does not even want any of the five kinds of liberation. He is satisfied simply by discharging loving service to the Lord. That is the characteristic of pure devotion."

Prabhupāda: Yes. This is instructed by Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu. He rejects: na dhanaṁ na janaṁ na sundarīṁ kavitāṁ vā jagadīśa kāmaye (Cc. Antya 20.29, Śikṣāṣṭaka 4). The karmīs, they want all these things. Na dhanam. Great riches, and beautiful wife, great followers. So Caitanya Mahāprabhu is rejecting these, and He's rejecting also liberation. Dhiyamanaṁ na ghṛnanti (?). A pure devotee is not interested even in liberation. That is pure devotee. That... Just like Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura, he says, kīṭa janma ha-u yathā tuyā dāsa, bahir mukha brahma janme nāhi mora āśā. A devotee does not pray that "Give me this, give me that, give me that." No. He prays that "Whatever you like, if you like me to take birth as an insect, that's all right. But my only request is that I may become an insect in the house of a devotee so that I may get the chance of prosecuting my devotional service. I may eat the remnants of foodstuff eaten by the devotee." Just like Bhārata Mahārāja, he became a deer, but he was associating with saintly persons. He understood that "I was formerly King Bhārata. My chance, my mind being absorbed in the thinking of a deer, I have become a deer. All right. Doesn't matter."

The Nectar of Devotion -- Vrndavana, November 2, 1972:

When, when Caitanya Mahāprabhu speaks janmani janmani, that means He rejects liberation also. Na dhanaṁ na janaṁ na kavitāṁ vā yāce. This is the karmī's, jñānī's... And even liberation. He rejects liberation. Mama janmani. If one is liberated, then where is the question of janmani janmani? So liberation is also not aspired by a devotee. These are the characteristics of pure devotion. This chapter is "Characteristics of Pure Devotional Service." Pure devotional service should be without any desire, anyābhilāṣitā-śūnyam (Brs. 1.1.11). The others, they are trying to make Kṛṣṇa-śūnyam, śūnyavādi; our attempt should be to make our desires śūnyam. Simply we be engaged in the service of the Lord. That is pure devotion. Go on, one paragraph more. What is the time now?

Pradyumna: "In the above statement by Kapiladeva from the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, the actual position of a pure devotee is described, and the primary characteristics of devotional service are also defined. Further characteristics of devotional service are described by Rūpa Gosvāmī with evidences from different scriptures. He states that there are six characteristics of pure devotional service, which are as follows: (1) Pure devotional service brings immediate relief from all kinds of material distress. (2) Pure devotional service is the beginning of all auspiciousness."

The Nectar of Devotion -- Vrndavana, November 8, 1972:

Actually, dream is false. I am separate from the dream. But while dreaming, I think I am actually enjoying or suffering. Similarly, by the association of the modes of material nature, we are thinking like that. Otherwise, we are free from the contamination of the material nature. Simply by changing the consciousness, immediately we can transfer ourself to the spiritual platform. So the more we become advanced in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, our original characteristics, which are very pure, they become manifest. Yasyāsti bhaktir bhagavaty akiñcanā sarvair guṇais tatra samāsate surāḥ. The factual example is here, these European and American boys. They were addicted to so many nonsense habits, but since they have taken to Kṛṣṇa consciousness they have given up all these nonsense habits immediately, without any very great endeavor. So this is the fact. Yasyāsti bhaktir bhagavaty akiñcanā sarvair guṇais tatra. Pure character, pure qualities will be manifest. Harāv abhaktasya kuto mahad-guṇā (SB 5.18.12). Similarly, just the opposite: if one is not a devotee of Kṛṣṇa, he cannot have any good qualities, however he may be educated academically. That is not possible. Harāv abhaktasya kuto mahad-guṇā (SB 5.18.12). Therefore, at the present moment, although the leaders are all very educated academically, but still, they cannot bring in peace in the society, because they're godless. Harāv abhaktasya kuto mahad-guṇā (SB 5.18.12). Great, great leaders, on account of their godlessness, they cannot lead the people nicely. Therefore there is no peace and prosperity in the society. Go on.

The Nectar of Devotion -- Calcutta, January 31, 1973:

Mādhavānanda: "A similar verse is found in the Eighth Canto, Third Chapter, of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, verse 20. Gajendra says there, 'My dear Lord, I have no experience in the transcendental bliss derived from Your devotional service, so therefore I have asked from You some favor. But I know that persons who are pure devotees and have, by serving the lotus feet of great souls, become freed from all material desires, are always merged in the ocean of transcendental bliss and, as such, are always satisfied simply by glorifying Your auspicious characteristics. For them there is nothing else to aspire to or pray for.'

"In the Ninth Canto of the Bhāgavatam, Fourth Chapter, 49th verse, the Lord of Vaikuṇṭha replies to Durvāsā Muni thusly: 'My pure devotees are always satisfied being engaged in devotional service, and therefore they do not aspire even after the five liberated stages, which are (1) to be one with Me, (2) to achieve residence on My planet, (3) to have My opulences, (4) to possess bodily features similar to Mine, and (5) to gain personal association with Me. So, when they are not interested even in these liberated positions, you can know how little they care for material opulences or material liberation.'

"There is a similar prayer by the nāga-patnī (wives of the Kāliya serpent), in the Tenth Canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Sixteenth Chapter, verse 33. The nāga-patnī say there, 'My dear Lord, the dust of Your lotus feet is very wonderful. Any person who is fortunate enough to achieve this dust does not care for heavenly planets, lordship over all the planetary systems, the mystic perfections of yoga or even liberation from the material existence. In other words, anyone who adores the dust of Your lotus feet does not care a fig for all other perfectional stages.' "

Prabhupāda: This was spoken by the nāga-patnī when Kāliya was being punished by Lord Kṛṣṇa, kicking over his head. So this prayer was offered, that "For Your dust of Your lotus feet, so many great sages are hankering after, and they do not care for even liberation, simply to get Your, that dust of the lotus feet. We do not know how much this fortunate snake is, that he's automatically getting the dust. You are kicking on his head. We do not know what did he do in his previous life that he's so fortunate."

Sri Caitanya-caritamrta Lectures

Lecture on CC Adi-lila 1.1 -- Mayapur, March 25, 1975:

Yes, Life Comes From Life. That is the fact. These modern so-called scientific theory that life comes from matter, that is not fact. Because our original person, Kṛṣṇa, said, ahaṁ sarvasya prabhavo (BG 10.8). Aham, this aham word is applicable to a person, person. And person means living force. So Caitanya-caritāmṛta means that living force is a person, and His caritra, His characteristic, this is Caitanya. And that is amṛta. Amṛta means not dead matter. Mṛta means dead, and amṛta means not dead, living force. So he is living force; his characteristics are also living force; and they are, because living force, they are amṛta. Na hanyate hanyamāne śarīre (BG 2.20). We have got experience what is living force and what is dead matter. That we have got experience. And that is further explained by Kṛṣṇa, that living force means na hanyate hanyamāne śarīre (BG 2.20), na jāyate na mriyate kadācit. That is explained in the Bhagavad-gītā, that living force is not finished even after the annihilation of this body. Very nice statement by Kṛṣṇa. We can understand living... In the life, when we are alive, the body is moving, we can understand what is living force. And we can understand further when the body does not move—that difference, why the body was moving and why the body is not now moving. If we simply study this difference of position we can understand what is living force. It is not very difficult. Simply we have to understand, "Now this living force is gone out of this body; therefore the body is no longer moving and it is a dead matter."

Lecture on CC Adi-lila 1.1 -- Mayapur, March 25, 1975:

So Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya is the same Kṛṣṇa, Purāṇa-puruṣaḥ. Ādyaṁ Purāṇa-puruṣaḥ. Purāṇa-puruṣa means Kṛṣṇa, the original Personality of Godhead, very old. Purāṇa means very old. So, vairāgya-vidyā-śikṣārtham. Because we are suffering here on account of so many designations, so Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Mahāprabhu came to purify us from all these nonsense designations. That is called vairāgya-vidyā. Rāga means attachment. So... And virāga. This false attachment we have to give up. That is practically being manifested by practical life, how to love Kṛṣṇa, how to approach Him. That is the characteristic of Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Mahāprabhu. And therefore He is described in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Eleventh Canto, kṛṣṇa-varṇaṁ tviṣākṛṣṇam (SB 11.5.32). Kṛṣṇa-varṇam: He belongs to the same category, Kṛṣṇa. Or He is describing Kṛṣṇa always. His only business is to describe Kṛṣṇa. But His complexion is not Kṛṣṇa, akṛṣṇa. Akṛṣṇa. Akṛṣṇa means white. Because Kṛṣṇa had many colors. One of the colors was pīta, golden, golden avatāra. So, tviṣākṛṣṇaṁ sāṅgopāṅgāstra-pārṣadam. This sāṅgopāṅgāstra-pārṣadam is described here, that gurūn, īśam, īśa-bhaktān, īśāvatārakān tat-prakāśāṁś ca tat-chaktiḥ. This is sāṅgopāṅga.

Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 6.154 -- Gorakhpur, February 16, 1971:

So these things are there, mandāḥ sumanda-matayo. Manda-bhāgyā, also, very poor. In this age, practically everyone is very poor, mostly, the population. You don't think that in America there is no poor man. There is poor man. Although they are getting money, very large sum of money, but they are utilizing in a different way, and they are poor. There are many poor. Intentionally, they have become poor. So therefore it is called manda-bhāgyā, that this... Each word of the Vedic scriptures is so nice. In spite of... In America I have seen. In spite of ample money and resources, some people have voluntarily accepted to remain as very poor and wretched. Voluntarily. They like that. They have no systematic life. Therefore Bhāgavata says, manda-bhāgyā. If we are unfortunate, even despite all facilities, we cannot be able to accept it. That is called misfortune. Not that in the absence of money and other facilities, one becomes unfortunate, but even in the presence of all these things, one is unfortunate. That is the characteristics of this age. Mandāḥ sumanda-matayo manda-bhāgyā hy upadrutāḥ (SB 1.1.10).

Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 20.101-104 -- Bombay, November 3, 1975:

So He is the supreme conscious person amongst ourself and He is the supreme eternal amongst ourself. That is Caitanya. Caitanya means the Supreme Being, the supreme eternal being, the supreme conscious being. And He is caitanya-caritra. Caritra means character, activities. So Caitanya-caritāmṛta. Amṛta, amṛta means also eternal or nectarine, which does not die. That Caitanya-caritāmṛta is there. It was written by Kavirāja Gosvāmī some four hundred years ago, and it was in Bengali, er, not Bengali-Sanskrit and Bengali. So now we have translated with elaborate explanation. This is the book. It is now Caitanya-caritāmṛta in English. So we have finished this in seventeen volumes like this. So we request you to take these volumes and read that what is the position of Caitanya, or the supreme living entity, and ourself; what is the relationship and what is His characteristics, what is our characteristics, and how we can make our activities as good as the Supreme Caitanya's. That is called Caitanya-caritāmṛta.

Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 20.113 -- London, July 23, 1976:

Pradyumna: (chants verse, etc.)

śaktayaḥ sarva-bhāvānām

acintya-jñāna-gocarāḥ

yato 'to brahmaṇas tās tu

sargādyā bhāva-śaktayaḥ

bhavanti taptatāṁ śreṣṭha

pāvakasya yathoṣṇatā

"Translation: All the creative energies, which are inconceivable to a common man, exist in the Supreme Absolute Truth. These inconceivable energies act in the process of creation, maintenance and annihilation. O chief of the ascetics, just as there are two energies possessed by fire-namely heat and light—these inconceivable creative energies are the natural characteristics of the Absolute Truth."

Prabhupāda: (indistinct) full of living entities, and the moon planet there is no living entity. They are doubting also in the Mars planet. But we get information from the śāstra that every planet is full of living entities. Every planet. Janakīrṇa. This very word is said in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, janakīrṇa, and there is vivid description of different planets and different types of oceans, just like milk ocean. We have got here examples, sweet water and salted water. So there is sweet ocean also. That is mentioned in the śāstra. Not that in this planet there is salted ocean and... There are other planets where there is sweet water ocean and milk ocean and liquor ocean and oil ocean, ghee ocean, butter ocean, milk, butter ocean, and so many different types.

Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 20.142 -- New York, November 30, 1966:

"And one who is situated in that condition, then guruṇāpi duḥkhena, the severest type of miseries, offered to him, he is not shaken." He is steady. He is steady. Just like a five-year-old boy, Prahlāda Mahārāja, and his father, atheist: "Oh, you rascal boy. You are chanting God's name? Who is God? I am God. Why don't you chant my name? If you don't do that, then I shall throw you in the fire." Oh, he is steady. He said, "Father, I cannot do that," this little boy. "You nonsense, you cannot do that? How do you dare to speak before me like this? Even the demigods, they are afraid of me." "Oh, yes, father. By the mercy of whom you are speaking so nicely, so by the mercy of Him I am speaking also like that." "Oh, I don't care for anyone's mercy." So this is... And so much wrath of his severe father, oh, he is not... Steady. Steady. So that is the characteristic of a pure devotee. Even in the greatest difficulty, even in the greatest danger, he is not shaken; he is steady. Yaṁ labdhvā. This is the perfection of yoga. When one is steady in every circumstances, that is the perfection of yoga. That can be achieved easily by this Kṛṣṇa consciousness.

Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 20.334-341 -- New York, December 24, 1966:

Now, the incarnation of God in the Dvāpara-yuga is the Supreme Personality of Godhead who is pīta-vāsā nijāyudhaḥ. He has got His own wheel, His instrument, and He has many signs on His chest, śrī-vatsa-ādibhiḥ. Kṛṣṇa was accepted as the Supreme Personality of Godhead by signs also. There are many signs on the sole, underneath the sole. There are many signs on His chest. And other characteristic of Kṛṣṇa, incarnation of Kṛṣṇa's presence, they are described in the śāstras, in the scriptures. So learned men, sages, they understood that "Here is the Supreme Personality of Godhead." Not all. Nāhaṁ prakāśaḥ sarvasya yogamāyā-samāvṛtaḥ (BG 7.25). Unless one is perfectly in knowledge, even God is present before us, we cannot understand. So this knowledge and this qualification to understand what is possible in the modes of goodness.

Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 20.337-353 -- New York, December 25, 1966:

So here it is said, sarvajña munira vākya-śāstra-'paramāṇa.' Therefore... Tasmāt śāstra pramāṇa ante. In the Bhagavad-gītā also, that everything should act, should be acted in terms of the śāstra. Just like when you go to post something, you are, you are directed by the postal guide. Śāstra pramāṇa only. So Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu, as Kṛṣṇa has given stress upon the evidence, on the scripture, similarly, Lord Caitanya also is giving stress. The question is very interesting. The question is how one should accept a person or a body as incarnation. Lord Caitanya says that through śāstra, by the evidence of śāstra. So many fools, they are presenting themselves as incarnation. An intelligent person should see whether this fool is mentioned in the śāstra. He's presenting himself as incarnation. Whether his activities are, his characteristics is mentioned in the śāstra? Then accept. Otherwise, don't accept. This will be discussed more.

Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 20.353-354 -- New York, December 26, 1966:

Even his father's name, his birthplace, everything is written in the scripture. So we have to identify, lakṣaṇa. Then he'll act like this. He'll come like this, and he'll act like this. So these things we analyze, whether he is actually avatāra. Now, even there are characteristics, somebody does not accept also. Just like Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu, He never said that "I am avatāra." But from His symptoms, from His characteristics, later on great sages, great philosophers, they decided that He's avatāra. Just like here. Sanātana Gosvāmī's stressed Him, testing, and he's trying to confirm it by Lord Caitanya. Because Lord Caitanya described here that in this Kali-yuga the avatāra, His symptoms are like this: kṛṣṇa-varṇaṁ tviṣākṛṣṇaṁ sāṅgopāṅgāstra pārṣadam (SB 11.5.32). He is in the category of Kṛṣṇa; by His complexion, He's non-black. Akṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa-varṇaṁ tviṣākṛṣṇam. And He's always followed by confidential associates. And people who are intelligent, they worship Him by the process of saṅkīrtana. Saṅkīrtanair yajñaiḥ kalau yajanti hi su-medhasaḥ. Su-medhasaḥ means those persons who are, who have got good brain substance.

Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 20.353-354 -- New York, December 26, 1966:

So accept or no accept, His work, His activities, His characterize, characteristics will be known because God will be known. Just like Lord Buddha. Lord Buddha is accepted as incarnation in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. And during the time of Emperor Aśoka, he was patronized, Lord Buddha was patronized, not Buddha, or Buddhism was patronized by Aśoka. So practically the whole of Far East, including India, all over, the Buddhism was broadcast and everyone become Buddhist. Whole of India, practically, became Buddhist during his time. But later on, after Śaṅkarācārya's drive against Buddhism, Buddha-ism... Śaṅkarācārya wanted to establish the difference of Buddhism and Hinduism is that Buddhism, Lord Buddha did not accept Vedic authority. He did not accept Vedic authority. But according to Hindu culture, if somebody does not accept the Vedic authority, then he's not a authority. Vedānta philosophy, there are different parties in India.

Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 20.353-354 -- New York, December 26, 1966:

There are different kinds of authorities. First authority is śāstra, authorized śāstra, scripture. There the description of avatāra, the characteristics and his work, they are mentioned there. And prabalaiś ca śāstrair. Prabala means the very powerful. Just like Vedānta philosophy, it is very powerful. Bhagavad-gītā, it is very powerful. Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, it is very powerful. So even we give evidences from these powerful śāstras, not only that, prakhyāta-daiva-paramārtha-vidāṁ mattaiś ca, with the opinion of great stalwarts like prakhyāta, very famous. Who is that? Just like Vyāsadeva. Who can be more famous than Vyāsadeva? He's the compiler of all Vedic literatures in the world, Vyāsadeva. And Nārada, he's greatest ṛṣi, sage. Asita, Devala—there are many. Vasiṣṭha. There are many stalwarts. And especially these twelve person, just like Brahmā, Lord Śiva, Manu, Kapila, Mahārāja Prahlāda, Bhīṣma.

Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 20.353-354 -- New York, December 26, 1966:

So taṁ sila rūpa caritaiḥ. Rūpa. It is mentioned that Kṛṣṇa, is mention... His... Just like Lord Caitanya's rūpa is mentioned, tviṣā akṛṣṇa: by complexion He's not black. Similarly, everything is mentioned. So Yamunācārya, that "Your character, Your beauty and Your wonderful work, and accepted... You are accepted by great authorities. You are mentioned in śāstras. In spite of all this, those who are atheists, they'll never accept." So the characteristics of avatāra are there in the śāstra. So we should follow that and, in that way, we shall select... That question is being asked by Sanātana Gosvāmī. We discussed this point yesterday and today also, because it is important point, and further we shall discuss tomorrow.

Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 20.354-358 -- New York, December 28, 1966:

The symptoms are analyzed in two divisions. Svarūpa-lakṣaṇa means the symptom which (is) always present. That is called svarūpa-lakṣaṇa. And taṭastha-lakṣaṇa, the symptoms which are sometimes present and sometimes not present. They are called... In this way, the experienced sages, they analyze the characteristics of the avatāra, or God—two symptoms. One symptom is always there. As soon as there is God, that constant symptom is there. And there are other symptoms which may appear, sometimes may not appear.

ākṛti, prakṛti, svarūpa—svarūpa-lakṣaṇa

kārya-dvārā jñāna—ei taṭastha-lakṣaṇa

Ākṛti, prakṛti. The form and the activities, all uncommon. Just like Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa, He married sixteen thousand wives and He divided Himself into sixteen thousand. Kṛṣṇa. This is called ākṛti. This is uncommon. God can expand Himself in any number of forms. We cannot do that. That is the..., symptom of God. Ākṛti, prakṛti. Prakṛti is His nature, supreme nature. As soon as He likes anything to do, He'll do it.

Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 20.354-358 -- New York, December 28, 1966:

Now how the two different characteristics of God can be analyzed, that is mentioned in the beginning of the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Lord Caitanya is referring. Lord Caitanya's mission as preaching was based on, cent percent, on the principles of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. And Bhagavad-gītā is the basic, I mean to say, preliminary study of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Therefore in Caitanya-caritāmṛta you'll find most of the parallel passages and evidences offered by Lord Caitanya, they are from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam and Bhagavad-gītā and some of the Purāṇas. Just like Viṣṇu Purāṇa, Padma Purāṇa, they are called sattvika purāṇa, purāṇas in the modes of goodness. There are eighteen purāṇas, six for each quality, modes of the nature. Six, six purāṇas for the person who are in the modes of ignorance, six purāṇas for the person who are in the modes of passion, and six purāṇas for persons who are in the mode of goodness, those who are actually qualified brāhmaṇas. So Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is called Mahā-purāṇa. Mahā-purāṇa means the topmost of all the purāṇas. You have seen the review by the Theosophical Society of India of my books. They have stated this very word, Mahā-purāṇa, Bhāgavatam, the Mahā-purāṇa.

Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 20.354-358 -- New York, December 28, 1966:

So Lord Caitanya gives evidences from the Mahā-purāṇam, Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, that the Supreme Lord, the Absolute Truth, is analyzed in two characteristics. What are they? The, the personal characteristics and taṭastha characteristics. Taṭastha means they are sometimes manifested and they are not sometimes manifested. So this material world is the taṭastha characteristics, and the spiritual world is the personal characteristics. So our effort is to get out of this taṭastha, or, I mean to say, taṭastha means marginal, marginal characteristics to the permanent characteristics. That is called spiritual elevation. We should not remain in the marginal state, but we should go to the permanent state.

Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 20.358-359 -- New York, December 29, 1966:

So we have been discussing about the symptoms, characteristics, of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. One characteristic is that is eternally constant, or present with Him, and another characteristic is that it is sometimes manifested, sometimes not manifested. These two characteristics are called the superior energy and the inferior energy. Manifestation of the superior energy is always constant, present in the Supreme Personality of Godhead. And manifestation of the inferior energy, that is not always present. It is sometimes manifested, sometimes not manifested. Just like we have got also. It is very easy to understand. We have got several energies, personally. And we have got some mean energy also. That is within us. That is not always manifested. Sometimes I commit theft. That is my energy. That is my energy, but it is not always manifested. This is a crude example.

Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 20.358-359 -- New York, December 29, 1966:

To understand God, even the greatest of the greatest thinkers, philosophers, or sage or saintly person, they are also bewildered. Cannot understand. Panthās tu koṭi-śata-vatsara-sampragamya. So Lord Caitanya is (indistinct) that He has got two characteristics. One characteristic is..., that is always present. What is that? He's independent and full of knowledge and He's conscious. Unconsciousness is not the qualification of God. Voidness cannot be accepted as the qualification of the Supreme. The Supreme must be conscious. Tene brahma hṛdā ya ādi-kavaye, tejo-vāri-mṛdāṁ yathā vinimayo yatra trisargo 'mṛṣā (SB 1.1.1). And yatra, in Him rests the material manifestation. And what is this material manifestation? Tejo-vāri-mṛdāṁ vinimayam. It is simply exchange of fire, water and earth. Of course, there other things are eight elements, fire, water, earth, ether and air. This is the gross material elements. And the finer material elements are the mind, intelligence and false ego. We have discussed this in the Bhagavad-gītā. So this material manifestation is nothing but a manipulation, or a preparation of these things. Just... Just like we present sometime varieties of foodstuff. Kacaurīs, (indistinct ), purī, and rasagullā, and so many things. But what are these? Varieties of grains and milk, fat, that's all. Similarly, all these varieties, manifestations in the material world, they are... Yatra, yatra, tejo-vāri-mṛdāṁ yathā vinimayo, oh, and yatra trisargo 'mṛṣā.

Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 20.358-359 -- New York, December 29, 1966:

So this, this material representation, false representation, are temporary. The Vaiṣṇava philosophy, they do not say false. Why they will say false? God is real. His energy is real. You cannot say material energy as unreal, because God is there, and His energy is there. Just like the fire is there, the heat is there, the temperature is there. You cannot say temperature false. It may be manifested at some time. Or it may not manifest. Just like the temperature of sun is not perceived nowadays because it is due to the (?) cold season. But the temperature is the same, but it is manifested during June-July. It is very strongly, and other seasons, it is not manifested. Similarly, this material energy, you cannot say that it is false. It is false. The Vaiṣṇava philosophy is perfect. As the temperature (indistinct), it is sometimes manifested. And this is called taṭasthā. This characteristic, this symptom of the Supreme Lord, is called taṭasthā. Sometimes manifested, sometimes not manifested. But, so far the superior energy is concerned, that is always manifested. That is explained in the next line. Dhāmnā svena sadā nirasta-kuhakaṁ paraṁ satyaṁ dhīmahi. Now that is paraṁ satyam, the Supreme Truth, where there is no such temporary manifestation.

Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 20.358-359 -- New York, December 29, 1966:

Satyaṁ paraṁ dhīmahi (SB 1.1.1). This dhīmahi is Gāyatrī mantra. Those who are brāhmaṇas, who are elevated, they are given this Gāyatrī mantra, oṁ bhūr bhuvaḥ svaḥ tat savitur vareṇyaṁ bhargo devasya dhīmahi. Dhīmahi. That dhīmahi word is used here in the Bhāgavatam. So Bhāgavatam is meant for persons who are already in the qualification of brāhmaṇa. It is not meant for persons who are in the qualification of śūdra. Because this very word suggests, dhīmahi. Dhīmahi is meant for brāhmaṇas, Gāyatrī mantra. So this is to be understood, that God is always, just like real characteristic, spiritual energy. And another characteristic, material energy, that is temporary.

Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 20.367-84 -- New York, December 31, 1966:

Now the Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu is analyzing the characteristics of God, Kṛṣṇa. Now He has explained about His different incarnations. Now He says, about His ages, how the Lord is old. Lord never becomes old. Ādyaṁ purāṇa puruṣaṁ nava-yauvanaṁ ca (Bs. 5.33). In the Brahma-saṁhitā it is stated that, although He's the oldest personality, ādyam, because He's the original person from whom everything has come out. Everything has generated. So we living entities, we are also sons and grandsons of that Supreme Personality of Godhead. So the Brahma-saṁhitā says although He's the oldest person... In the Bhagavad-gītā He is stated by Arjuna as great-grandfather. Prapitāmahaś ca. You'll find this word in the Bhagavad-gītā. Because Brahmā is addressed as pitāmaha, grandfather. He's the original first creature in this material world, in this universe, and everyone has come from him. Therefore he is called pitāmaha. Pitāmaha means grandfather. And, because he's born also of Viṣṇu, therefore Viṣṇu is prapitāmaha (BG 11.39).

Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 20.367-84 -- New York, December 31, 1966:

So the Supreme Lord, Personality of Godhead, is the oldest of all, but whenever you'll find, you'll find just like a young man. Ādyaṁ purāṇa puruṣaṁ nava-yauvanaṁ ca (Bs. 5.33). Nava-yauvanam means just a fresh youth. So that is being explained, explained by Lord Caitanya, the age of... This is another characteristics of God. Kiśora-śekhara-dharmī vrajendra-nandana. Kiśora-śekhara. Kiśora. Kiśora is... Kiśora age is called from eleven years to sixteen years. These teen years, or, in English, what is called? Adolescent? Yes. This, this age... So Kṛṣṇa represents Himself just like a boy from eleven to sixteen years old. Not more than that. Even in the Battle of Kurukṣetra, when He was great-grandfather, still, His feature was just like a young boy.

Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 22.11-15 -- New York, January 9, 1967:

So the demons... Demons means their characteristic: to challenge the existence of God. And therefore this prakṛti, nature, is piercing, the trident. The trident means threefold miseries: miseries pertaining to the body, pertaining to the mind... Just like yesterday night you had some trouble due to the body. So sometimes mind: "Oh, today I am not very good mood. There is something wrong." The body is all right, but the mind is not all right. This is called ādhyātmika. Then adhibhautika. Adhibhautika means miseries offered by other living entities. Just like at night, bedbugs. (laughter) (laughs) So, very nice situation, whole night there is no sleep. Why? Now there is adhibhautika. Adhibhautika. Or some enemy. This is... There are... These are all miseries, but we forget. And adhidaivika. Adhidaivika. Just like heavy snowfall, severe cold, severe heat, earthquake, famine, war. These are adhidaivika, forced by you by superior power. Nobody wants war, but it is forced. These are called adhidaivika miseries.

Sri Isopanisad Lectures

Sri Isopanisad, Mantra 1 -- Los Angeles, April 29, 1970:

So if you want to purchase gold, at least you must have some preliminary knowledge what is gold. Characteristics. Just like in the chemical laboratory, they test. Suppose in the pharmacy or... This is the government law, that whatever you accept some chemicals or some drug, you must test it, and the testing characteristics are stated there. Just like soda bicarb: the color is like this, the constitution is like this, the reaction is like this, the taste is like this. So a chemist in the laboratory corroborate the characteristic, then accept it, "Yes, it is soda bicarb." Similarly, if you want to know God, of if you want to see God, then first thing is that you must know what is the characteristics of God. Otherwise, if you go to another rascal and you ask him, "Can you show me God," and he shows you something nonsense, you accept it God, is that very nice thing? This is going on. "I want to see God." What qualification you have got to see God? He does not consider his qualification that "Whether I can see God?"

Festival Lectures

His Divine Grace Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Gosvami Prabhupada's Disappearance Day, Lecture -- Los Angeles, December 9, 1968:

When he was a child two, three years old, he ate one mango fruit which was kept for offering to the Deity. So his father mildly rebuked him, "Oh, you have done a very wrong thing. It was meant for Deity, and you have taken it. You should not have done it." The child was two or three years old. He took it so seriously that never after that he took mango. Whenever we offered him mango he said, "No, I am offender. I cannot take mango." He was thinking like that, you see. Never in his life he took a mango. He was thinking that "I offended in my childhood by taking the mango of the Deity." This is the characteristic of ācārya. They teach by their life's action that one should be so much determined, that one should not be... A child took the mango, there was no offense. But he took that vow.

General Lectures

Lecture on Teachings of Lord Caitanya -- Seattle, September 25, 1968:

Prabhupāda: This is another point. Even one thinks that he knows everything, still, he, before the spiritual master, he should be blank slate, that "I do not know anything." That is the qualification of the disciple. He should approach the spiritual master as if he does not know anything. Go on.

Girl: "These are the characteristics of a true devotee. In the Nārada-bhakti-sūtra, it is said that one who is very serious about developing his Kṛṣṇa consciousness by the grace of the Lord has his desire for understanding Kṛṣṇa fulfilled very soon. The Lord said, 'You are a suitable person for protecting the devotional service of the Lord. Therefore it is My duty to instruct you in the science of God.' "

Prabhupāda: Here is another point, that one should not accept somebody as spiritual master all of a sudden. At the same time, the spiritual master also should not accept anybody as his disciple immediately. Now Sanātana Gosvāmī is proving himself that he's qualified disciple, and Lord Caitanya is accepting him, that "You are just the suitable person; therefore I shall accept you as My disciple and teach you the science of Kṛṣṇa consciousness." Yes.

Lecture to College Students -- Seattle, October 20, 1968, Introduction by Tamala Krsna:

So the purpose of religion is to train persons how to love God. That is the purpose of all religion. Either you take Christianism or Hinduism or any "ism," the purport is that you try to love God, because that is our natural inclination. Even in uncivilized society, when there is some thunderbolt, they immediately offer obeisances. That is natural. And in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam it is said, sa vai puṁsāṁ paro dharmo yato bhaktir adhokṣaje (SB 1.2.6). Now this word dharma is translated or explained in the English dictionary, "religion," as "a kind of faith." But in Sanskrit dictionary, dharma means characteristic. Just like sugar. Sugar's characteristic is sweetness. If you are given some sugar, if you find it, it is not sweet, you at once reject it: "Oh, it is not sugar. It is something else." So that sweetness is the characteristic of sugar. Similarly, sour taste is the characteristic of salt, pungency is the characteristic of chili. Similarly, what is your characteristic, living entity? That you have to study. That is your religion. Not that Christian religion, Hindu religion, or this religion, that religion. Your eternal characteristic, what is that eternal characteristic? You want to love somebody, and therefore you want to serve. That is your characteristic. You want your society... You love your society, you love your family, you love your country, you love your community. Because you love, therefore you serve. That is your characteristic. Either you are Christian or either you are Muhammadan, either you are Hindu, this characteristic will go on. Suppose today you are Christian, tomorrow you become Hindu. That service mood, that loving spirit, goes with you, either you become Hindu or Muslim or Christian. Therefore that service spirit and love, the tendency to love and service spirit, is your characteristic, and that is your religion. That is the universal form of religion. You have to apply your natural characteristic in a certain place, where you will be satisfied. Your service spirit is (indistinct). You have to apply your natural characteristic in a certain place, where you will be satisfied. Your service spirit is there, your loving spirit is there, but because it is misplaced, you are not happy, you are frustrated, you are confused.

Lecture -- Bombay, November 2, 1970:

So our this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is to revive the Vedic culture. And the Vedic culture, another name of Vedic culture is sanātana-dharma. Sanātana means eternal, and dharma means characteristic. Dharma, generally, in English is translated "religion." Religion means a kind of faith: "I believe in such and such faith." "I believe in the Muhammadan faith," "I believe in Christian faith," "I believe in Buddha faith." But actually, dharma does not mean faith. Dharma means characteristic. What is that characteristic? Just like everything, every little item, has got his characteristic. Just like take for example chili: it is very hot. The more the chili is hot, it is good. But if the sugar becomes hot like chili, immediately rejected. But if the chili is hot, you accept: "It is good chili." Similarly, dharma means characteristic of the living entity. That is dharma. The living entity is described in the Bhagavad-gītā, mamaivāṁśo jīva-bhūtaḥ jīva-loke sanātanaḥ (BG 15.7). Sanātana means eternal. God is eternal, sanātana. We are eternal, sanātana. And there is an eternal place also. This material world is not eternal. The characteristics of this material world is that it appears at a certain date, it continues to stay for a certain period, it develops, then it dwindles and then vanishes. Just like our body, your body, my body: It has got a date of appearance. It is going or changing from one state to another. It will stay for some time. From this body, some by-products will come out, sons and daughters.

Pandal Lecture at Cross Maidan -- Bombay, March 26, 1971:

So Kṛṣṇa is the origin of everything. Ahaṁ sarvasya prabhavaḥ. Sarvasya means including all other demigods. Even Brahma, Lord Śiva, and even Viṣṇu, they are emanations from Kṛṣṇa. We have got in the Vedic literature how Kṛṣṇa is the original person. Therefore Arjuna accepted, paraṁ brahma paraṁ dhāma pavitraṁ paramaṁ bhavān (BG 10.12). And the Gosvāmīs, the Six Gosvāmīs, they have analyzed Kṛṣṇa's characteristics, Nārāyaṇa's characteristics, Lord Śiva's characteristics, Lord Brahmā's characteristics. They have analyzed very scrutinizingly everything and they have found it that Kṛṣṇa is cent percent God. Nārāyaṇa is ninety-six percent God, Lord Śiva is eighty-four percent God, Lord Brahmā is eighty-seven percent God. Of course, those who have studied Vedic literature, especially the book named Bhakti-rasāmṛta sindhu which we have translated into English, Nectar of Devotion or The Science of Devotion... So you have to learn from the Vedic literatures what is God, what are the living entities, what is their relationship, what is our ultimate goal of life. But everything is very nicely and concise form is stated in the Bhagavad-gītā. But we have to study Bhagavad-gītā as it is, I mean to say, directed.

Pandal Lecture -- Bombay, April 11, 1971:

Exactly like that, if somebody says that "I am Mr. green dress," "I am Mr. white dress," as that is not identification, similarly, if I say "I am American" or "I am Indian" or "Englishman," or so many, "Hindus" or "Muslims," that is not my pure identification. My pure identification is that "I am eternal servant of Kṛṣṇa, or God." That's all. That is pure identification. When comes to this understanding, that "I am eternal servant of God," that is called brahma-bhūtaḥ stage, ahaṁ brahmāsmi.

And what is the characteristic of that brahma-bhūtaḥ stage? The characteristic of brahma-bhūtaḥ stage is stated in the Bhagavad-gītā by Kṛṣṇa Himself:

brahma-bhūtaḥ prasannātmā

na śocati na kāṅkṣati

samaḥ sarveṣu bhūteṣu

mad-bhaktiṁ labhate parām

(BG 18.54)

bhaktyā mām abhijānāti

yāvān yaś cāsmi tattvataḥ

tato māṁ tattvato jñātvā

viśate tad-anantaram

(BG 18.55)

So the brahma-bhūtaḥ stage is described that when one realizes his own self, that is called mukti, liberation. As soon as one understands that "I am not this body. I am something different from this body..." That anyone can understand very easily. That's not a very big job.

Pandal Lecture -- Bombay, April 11, 1971:

So when one comes to this understanding, his characteristics will be that he is jolly. Brahma-bhūtaḥ prasannātmā (BG 18.54). He becomes jolly. In the material state everyone is morose, full of anxiety, but in the spiritual life he is jolly. Na śocati na kāṅkṣati. What is the characteristic of jolliness? That he does not lament, he does not hanker. In the material stage we hanker for things which we do not possess, and we lament for things we have lost. But in the brahma-bhūtaḥ stage, as soon as we understand that we are spirit soul, there is no more hankering or lamenting. That is the characteristic of Brahman realization. Brahma-bhūtaḥ prasannātmā na śocati na kāṅkṣati (BG 18.54). Then you can think of universal brotherhood. So long you are under the category of hankering and lamenting, you cannot think of universal brotherhood. That is impossible. Therefore in spite of so much of conferences in the United Nations, the fighting is going on. The Pakistan is separated on the ground of religion: Hindu, Muslim. Now they are fighting between Muslim and Muslim. Why? Because that disease, hankering and lamenting, is there. It is not brahma-bhūtaḥ stage. And they cannot be on the platform of seeing everyone on equal terms. Samaḥ sarveṣu bhūteṣu. That is not possible.

Pandal Lecture -- November 14, 1971, Delhi:

So Prahlāda Mahārāja is advising his friends, "My dear friends." The friends were replying, "Now we are children, we shall play. Why you are asking us the chanting of Hare Kṛṣṇa or Kṛṣṇa consciousness? This is the business of the old men." "No," Prahlāda Mahārāja said. "No, it is not the business of the old men. You should learn it from the very childhood." Kaumāram. Kaumāra ācaret prājño dharmān bhāgavatān iha (SB 7.6.1). The first thing is that human life is for cultivating dharma, religion. The other day I explained that dharma and religion is not the exactly synonymous. Dharma means which you cannot leave. Dharma, the example I gave the other day, just like sugar cannot give up the quality of sweetness. Similarly, the water cannot give up the quality of liquidity. The fire cannot give up the quality of heat and light. Similarly, every living entity has his original characteristic, which is called dharma. That characteristic is described by Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu, jīvera svarūpa haya nitya-kṛṣṇa-dāsa (Cc. Madhya 20.108-109). This is the characteristic. Svarūpa. Svarūpa means original constitutional position. That is called svarūpa. And mukti means to be situated in that original condition. That is the statement in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, muktir hitvānyathā rūpaṁ sva-rūpeṇa vyavasthitiḥ. That is mukti. As soon as you give up your artificial way of life and you become situated in your original position, that is called mukti. That is... In other words, mukti means brahma-bhūtaḥ. That is also described in the Bhagavad-gītā, brahma-bhūtaḥ prasannātma (BG 18.54). When one realizes Brahman, ahaṁ brahmāsmi, that is brahma-bhūtaḥ stage. At the present moment, we are jīva-bhūtaḥ. We are identifying ourself with matter, with this body: "I am Indian," "I am Hindu," "I am Christian," "I am brāhmaṇa," "I am black," "I am white." These are all designations. This is not my real identity. My real identity is ahaṁ brahmāsmi, "I am spirit soul."

Rotary Club Lecture -- Ahmedabad, December 5, 1972:

Rotarians, Ladies and Gentlemen, I thank you very much for your kindly inviting me this evening to speak something on Sanātana-dharma. Sanātana means eternal, and dharma also means eternal characteristic. Just like every ingredient, element, of this world has got a certain type of characteristic. As I have been introduced, I was manager in a chemical factory. So you know... (aside:) That sound may be stopped... that every chemical has got a certain characteristic—its color, its taste, its granules. In pharmacology and pharmaceutical formulas, each and every chemical is tested according to that characteristic. That characteristic is called dharma in Sanskrit word. Dharma is not a type of faith, as it is explained in English dictionary, "kind of faith." Faith you can change. Today you are Hindu: you can become Christian next day. Or today you are Christian; you can become a Muhammadan next day. So political field also, changing faiths. So dharma does not exactly mean a kind of faith. It is characteristic. Just like sugar is sweet. That is the characteristic of sugar. If sugar becomes pungent, then that is not sugar. That is something else. It may be some other chemical. When you go to purchase chili, you must test it, whether it is very strongly pungent. You do not expect chili should be sweet; then it is not very first quality chili. Similarly, we have got characteristic, we living entities... We are individual living entities. We have got characteristics. That characteristic is service. Our, the all the ladies and gentlemen who are sitting here, if we ask you what is your characteristic, you'll come to the conclusion that "My characteristic is to serve." Somebody is serving in the office. Somebody's serving in the government office. Somebody's serving as minister. Somebody's serving as governor. It is supposed to be that he is master, but actually he's serving. In family also, the head of the family, he's thinking that he's master, but he's servant. He's servant of his wife, of his children, even of his paid servant. Because he has to satisfy everyone. Not only one, but so many members of the family, he has to keep them satisfied; otherwise, they may not be very much happy. So the nature of living entity is to satisfy others. Paraspara. And that business of satisfying others, serving for others' well-being, that must be sanātana, eternal. Our characteristic, service, is eternal, and that should be eternally engagement. Here, in this material existence, I am serving, but my service is not eternal, because I am changing the body or I changing my profession. Sometimes I am serving this party, sometimes I am serving that party.

Rotary Club Lecture -- Ahmedabad, December 5, 1972:

Nitya, nityaḥ sarva-gataḥ sthāṇur acalo 'yaṁ sanātanaḥ. There are many other symptoms of the living entity. They are described in the Bhagavad-gītā very nicely, positively and negatively. In some of the verses, the definition is being given in negation: "It is not this." Because with our blunt material eyes, we cannot find out where is the soul in this body; therefore Kṛṣṇa is describing the characteristic of the soul in a negative way in several verses. And you know that sometimes it is required, according to logic, that definition by negation: "It is not this." I cannot express for the time being a thing, what it is, but I can distinguish what it is not. So similarly, at the present moment, everyone is under ignorance. He does not know what is the soul. That is the basic principle of missing point of this material civilization. I talked with many big, big professors in Europe. Most of them, they do not know what is the soul. (aside:) That sound cannot be stopped for the time being? When I was in Moscow, I had the opportunity of talking with some professors. One of them was very interested, Professor Kotovsky. So he said, "Swamijī, after death everything is finished." So I was simply surprised that a responsible professor, teaching staff, he's completely in ignorance about the existence of soul. So that is the defect of the modern civilization. One who is not perfect in knowledge, he is as a teacher, he's passing on as a teacher. Andhā yathāndair upanīyamānās te 'pīśa-tantryām uru-dāmni baddhāḥ. Andhāḥ means blind. One blind man, he is trying to help other blind man. So what is the use of such advancement of education? If the teacher himself is blind, then what is the use of taking knowledge from him? That is going on.

Rotary Club Lecture -- Ahmedabad, December 8, 1972 'The Present Need of Human Society':

"With the progress, advancement of this Kali-yuga, these following items..." What is that? Now, dharma. First thing is dharma. People will decrease in the conception of dharma, religion. Religion. Religion does not mean a kind of faith. Religion, as I, I think, the other day I described here, the characteristic, the characteristic of the human being, of the living being—to serve. Actually, we are serving, every one of us. We are serving somebody. So everyone is serving. That is his characteristic. Just like a person now, today, is Hindu. Tomorrow he changes his faith, but the service continues. He cannot change the characteristic of service. You may be Hindu or you may be Mussulman, or you may be Christian—you must be serving somebody. Or maybe... Not maybe; actually—who is superior to you. This is called dharma. According our Vedic principles, the dharma is the principle given by God. Dharmaṁ tu sākṣād bhagavat-praṇītam (SB 6.3.19). You cannot manufacture dharma. Therefore Kṛṣṇa, He's giving you dharma, what is dharma. He advents, He appears: yadā yadā hi dharmasya glānir bhavati bhārata, tadātmānaṁ sṛjāmy aham (BG 4.7). He says, "When there is discrepancies in the principles of dharma, then I appear, I advent Myself."

Pandal Lecture -- Bombay, January 14, 1973:

So our this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is to revive the Vedic culture. And the Vedic culture, another name of Vedic culture is sanātana-dharma. Sanātana means eternal, and dharma means characteristic. Dharma generally in English is translated: "religion." Religion means a kind of faith, "I believe in such and such faith"—"I believe in the Muhammadan faith," "I believe in Christian faith," "I believe in Buddha faith." But actually, dharma does not mean faith. Dharma means characteristic. What is that characteristic? Just like every thing, every little item has got its characteristic. Just like take for example chili, it is very hot. The more the chili is hot, it is good. But if the sugar becomes hot like chili, immediately rejected. But if the chili is hot, you accept, "It is good chili." Similarly, dharma means characteristics of the living entity. That is dharma. The living entity is described in the Bhagavad-gītā, mamaivāṁśo jīva-bhūta jīva-loke sanātanaḥ (BG 15.7). Sanātana means eternal. God is eternal sanātana, we are eternal sanātana, and there is an eternal place also. This material world is not eternal. The characteristics of this material world is that it appears at a certain date, it continues to stay for a certain period, it develops, then it dwindles and then vanishes. Just like our body, your body, my body. It has got a date of appearance. It is growing or changing from one shape to another. It will stay for some time. From this body, some by-products will come out, sons and daughters, and then it will become old, dwindling, diminishing, and then it will vanish. One day it will come—no more this body. Similarly, this material world is also like that. It is a gigantic body only.

Lecture -- Jakarta, February 27, 1973:

This is a question made by the great saintly persons who assembled in Naimiṣāraṇya to hear about Bhāgavata-dharma. Real dharma, as I have already explained, just like... Dharma means bhāgavata-dharma. Bhāgavata-dharma is not a faith. It is a fact, characteristic of the human being. Bhāgavata means in relationship with God, bhagavān, bhāgavata-tattva. This word... From bhāgavata-tattva there is bhāgavata. The root is the bhaga, and from that root this word is derived, bhāgavata. It is pertaining to the Personality of Godhead and His devotees. Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is the book of knowledge which is dealing with the Supreme Personality of Godhead with His different devotees. That is called Bhāgavata. There are two kinds of bhāgavata. One bhāgavata is this book, book bhāgavata. This book Bhāgavatam is the sound incarnation of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. And there is another bhāgavata, who is spiritual master or the Vaiṣṇava, a devotee of the Lord. He's also called bhāgavata. A great devotee is called mahā-bhāgavata. So there are two kinds of bhāgavatas. The mercy representation of God is book bhāgavatam. Sound vibration, sound representation of God is from the book bhāgavatam. And the mercy representation of God is called the devotee bhāgavata.

Lecture -- Jakarta, February 28, 1973:

The Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, when Śukadeva Gosvāmī was explaining that duty of the human being... Duty of the human being is explained that first beginning is dharma. Dharmeṇa hīna paśubhiḥ samānāḥ. Unless we come to the platform of understanding what is dharma, or religion... "Religion" is not the exact translation of the word dharma. Religion is understood in English dictionary as a kind of faith. But dharma does not mean that. Dharma means your characteristic which you cannot change. Just like water... Water is liquid. That is the characteristic of water. It cannot be changed. Stone-hardness is the characteristic of the stone. It cannot be changed. If you say that water has now changed its characteristic, it has become now hard, stonelike, that is not actually the fact. Although water sometimes becomes hard like stone by the influence of atmosphere, it immediately begins to melt. That means it is going to its own characteristic, liquidity. So when we speak of dharma, according to Vedic understanding, dharma means your characteristic which you cannot change. Therefore, in other words, sometimes dharma is explained as sanātana-dharma, sanātana-dharma. Sanātana means eternal. You cannot change it.

Lecture -- Jakarta, February 28, 1973:

We can understand by our present experiment. You are individual soul, I am individual soul. I do not agree with you in every respect, neither you agree with me in every respect. All of us, we have got our individuality. That is our characteristic. That we cannot change. We have got our individuality. We cannot change it. This is our characteristic. And that individuality also meant for giving service. Just like you are all sitting here. Every one of us, we are giving service. Nobody can say... I challenge anybody in this meeting if he can say that he's not serving anybody. No. Everyone is serving. Somebody is serving his family, somebody is serving his boss, somebody is serving his country, his community, his nation—must be serving, must render some service. This is explained by Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu, that the characteristic of individual living entity is to remain eternal servant of Kṛṣṇa, jīvera svarūpa haya nitya kṛṣṇa dāsa (Cc. Madhya 20.108-109). Kṛṣṇa dāsa. We do not become Kṛṣṇa. This is a false theory. We never become Kṛṣṇa. We cannot become even equal to Kṛṣṇa. Asama. In the Bhagavad-gītā it is stated that God is not only great but nobody is equal to Him. Asama. Asama means not equal. Everybody is below. Eko bahūnāṁ yo vidadhāti kāmām.

Lecture -- London, August 23, 1973:

Otherwise, there will be no meaning. Water, water is liquid. Any water, any parts of the world, when you take water, it is liquid; therefore this liquidity is the dharma of water. You take anything. Actually, dharma means characteristic—anything you take. Just like I am speaking before this microphone. So if it does not produce the sound, then what kind of microphone it is? The sound production from the microphone is the dharma, is the religion, natural characteristic. So what is the natural characteristic of human being? The natural characteristic is that we serve the superior. That is natural characteristic. Either you become Christian or Hindu or Muslim or Buddhist, nobody can say that "I do not serve any superior." Nobody can say. One must serve. That is dharma. Faith, ritualistic—I am today Hindu; I can accept the ritualistic process tomorrow of the Christian faith; or a Christian may take another ritual—but his business, to serve the superior, that does not change. Either you become Christian or Muslim or Hindu, it doesn't matter. It is not that Hindus, they only serve in the office; the Christian do not. No. The service is there. So actually the service is his dharma, not this rubberstamp, "Hindu," "Muslim," "Christian." No. That is designation. Actual dharma means the characteristic. If you take sugar, if you taste sugar, it is sweet. The sweetness is the characteristic of sugar. That is dharma. If you take chili, it is very hot. If you take a chili and if it is sweet, you immediately say, "Eh, this is not good chili," because there is no dharma. So dharma means characteristic.

Lecture at Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan -- Bombay, October 18, 1973:

Try to understand what is dharma. Dharma means which you cannot give up. Dharma does not mean you accept this dharma today and tomorrow another dharma. That is not dharma. Dharma means the natural characteristic. Just like sugar is sweet. That is its dharma. And chili is hot. That is its dharma. A snake bites. That is his dharma. Water is liquid. That is its dharma. Stone is solid. That is its dharma. You cannot change. So what is the dharma of the living entities, or the human being? Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu has enunciated the dharma of the human being: jīvera svarūpa haya nitya kṛṣṇa-dāsa (Cc. Madhya 20.108-109). This is dharma, that every living entity is eternally servant of Kṛṣṇa. He cannot give it up. If he does not serve Kṛṣṇa, then he will have to serve māyā. Service is there. Nobody can say that "I don't serve anyone." Is there anybody who can say boldly that "I do not serve anyone?" You must serve. That is your dharma. Either you become a Christian or a Muslim or a Hindu or this or that, your real characteristic is that you have to serve. That service attitude, when it is misunderstood, it is applied to māyā, and we are not happy. When it is applied to Kṛṣṇa, then we are happy. Service you must render. That is your position. You cannot become master. Even the politicians, they promise, "I shall give you such and such service. Please give me vote." So the service is promised, because we have to serve.

Lecture at Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan -- Bombay, October 18, 1973:

So this definition given by Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, that jīvera svarūpa haya kṛṣṇa nitya-dāsa: "The real, original characteristic of the living entity is to serve Kṛṣṇa." That is confirmed in the Bhagavad-gītā. Kṛṣṇa says, mamaivāṁśo jīva-bhūtaḥ: (BG 15.7) "All these living entities, they are My parts and parcels." Just try to understand. What is the duty of the parts and parcel? Suppose this finger—they are the parts and parcel of my body. What is the duty of the finger? The finger has to catch the foodstuff or prepare the foodstuff and put into the mouth. The finger cannot enjoy; it has given to the stomach. Similarly, if we are parts and parcel of Kṛṣṇa, we cannot enjoy anything directly without giving Kṛṣṇa. That is our duty. Jīvera svarūpa haya nitya kṛṣṇa-dāsa (Cc. Madhya 20.108-109). So Kṛṣṇa also said in the Bhagavad-gītā, dharma-saṁsthāpanārthāya sambhavāmi yuge yuge.

Lecture at St. Pascal's Franciscan Seminary -- Melbourne, June 28, 1974:

So the common platform is therefore, if we try to understand the Supreme Soul, and we turn our loving propensities to that Supreme Soul, that is called religion. Religion is not kind of... In the dictionary it is said, "Religion is a kind of faith." No. It is a permanent, I mean to say, arrangement. It is not the faith. Faith we can change. Today I am Hindu; I can become Christian tomorrow. You are Christian; you can change your faith tomorrow. So religion... In Sanskrit word religion does not mean faith. Religion means the original characteristic. That is called religion. So original characteristic means that cannot be changed. That quality, that characteristic is always with us. So Vedic version is that the living entity is eternal servant of God. When he forgets this relationship, that he is eternal servant of God, that means his material existence. In the material existence, nobody is prepared to become servant. Everyone is prepared to become the master. That is struggle for existence.

Lecture -- Honolulu, May 25, 1975:

So actually God is neither Hindu God nor Muhammadan God nor Christian God. God is God. His power is omnipotent. It is equally applicable to Hindu, to Muslim, to Christian—anyone—to animal, to human being. Just like God has given this law, "You must die." This is applicable to everyone—Hindu, Muslim, Christian, man, animal, trees, birds, beasts, everyone. It cannot be disobeyed. That is law. That is God's law. You may be very much advanced in knowledge or so-called science, but because God says that in the material life you must die, you cannot avoid this law. That is called dharma. Dharma means the characteristic, that God has given this law that everyone should die; therefore all living beings' characteristic is that he must die. This is called religion. Similarly, God says that "You are My eternal servant. You must obey Me." That is religion. You try to understand the meaning of religion. Religion means the law given by God, and you must accept it. That is religion.

Philosophy Discussions

Philosophy Discussion on Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibnitz:

Śyāmasundara: There's another page. This whole idea is so vague, that the water parting and the rock falling are individual.

Prabhupāda: It is childish.

Śyāmasundara: He says that each monad is given a characteristic nature by the central monad, who is God.

Prabhupāda: That's all right. Then why don't you take to the central monad?

Śyāmasundara: He says that God is the supreme monad, or pure activity.

Prabhupāda: I was speaking like that. If God desires, then the other monads have no independence. The same example as I told you: the stone is falling down in the water, and the monads of the water giving way. It is falling down, but if God desires, the water will not give way, it will float. If God is the ultimate monad, that is possible. Therefore there is no reason for disbelieving that when Rāmacandra threw so many stones on the water of the sea, it began to float. You cannot disbelieve. If Rāmacandra is God and He is the ultimate cause, He can check. Whatever He wills will come into effect.

Philosophy Discussion on Charles Darwin:

Śyāmasundara: ...to show that animals adapt to their environments, just like if you...

Prabhupāda: Why he takes animals first? Why not others?

Śyāmasundara: Animals, trees, plants, insects, men, he examines all the different varieties. For instance if you put a certain animal in a cold climate, he will develop hair to protect his body against the cold, and he will pass on this characteristic to his sons.

Prabhupāda: So why...? The people in Greenland, do they develop hair?

Śyāmasundara: They don't have so much hair, but they develop very fatty tissues. Their eyes are slitted so there is not so much snow and bright light...

Prabhupāda: Then development of hair is not only the existent; there are other many conditions. You cannot say that development of hair is due to the condition as he says, natural condition. That is not a fixed-up...

Śyāmasundara: I was just using that as an example of how a species can adapt to its environment.

Prabhupāda: The question is that this development of body, is there any plan that this body should exist in certain condition of nature, and therefore he must have these equipments, either you say, tissues or veins or hair? Who has made these arrangements? That is the question.

Philosophy Discussion on Charles Darwin:

Śyāmasundara: So they say that each person is different from every other person because the arrangement of the genes in his cell is uniquely his, but the same genes will be passed on...

Prabhupāda: (indistinct) That depends on the father and the mother.

Śyāmasundara: The same genes will be passed on to their children, so they will have characteristics like their parents in that way.

Prabhupāda: That is the body—this body.

Śyāmasundara: So they are considering that by altering these genes in certain ways, they can make very highly intelligent persons come out or very low-bred persons come out.

Prabhupāda: But that is already there. What is their credit?

Atreya Ṛṣi: They want to control more.

Prabhupāda: What is the control? It is already there. It is not under your control.

Śyāmasundara: Their idea is that they can make xerox copies of whatever type of personality they like.

Prabhupāda: That's right; xerox copy means the original sample is already there. So what is the credit there?

Devotee: There may be only one very, very intelligent person, but by their method they may think that they may create a whole society.

Philosophy Discussion on Charles Darwin:

Prabhupāda: What does he mean by survive? What is the meaning of his dictionary, "survive"? Nobody survives.

Hayagrīva: Well, by that he means that the strong pass on their hereditary characteristics to their offspring, and that the race..., no individual survives, but that the race improves. But isn't this contradicted by the Vedas? In the present Kali... For instance, Arjuna's physical powers, prowess, was much greater, and that was, what, five thousand years ago. So isn't, instead of improving, instead of the race improving in strength and other qualities, isn't it actually...

Prabhupāda: They are degrading.

Hayagrīva: ...degenerating. What is the cause of man's physical, mental and spiritual deterioration in the succeeding yugas?

Prabhupāda: That is education. Every individual person, he is a soul, and he has got a particular type of body. Especially in the human body he requires education. What is this animal and what is higher than human race, these are Vedic description. So there are 8,400,000 different forms of life, and the body is being evolved. The body is machine, and the individual soul desires and he gets a suitable body made by material nature under the order of God. This is Vedic idea, as it is said in the Bhagavad-gītā, īśvaraḥ sarva-bhūtānāṁ hṛd-deśe arjuna tiṣṭhati (BG 18.61). God is existing within the core of everyone's heart, and the individual soul is desiring something, and upon the order God he is given a machine made by material nature. So this is evolution, and even a man, although he is human form of body, he can again degenerate to animal form of body according to his desire. Tathā dehāntara-prāptiḥ (BG 2.13). He has to change the body, and the body is changed according to his work and desire. In the animal kingdom they have also desires, but they are under the laws of nature changing body, and one is given the chance to become a human being, and then he may desire, and according to his desires he gets the next body. If he likes, he can go higher forms of life, and if he degenerates he goes lower form of life.

Philosophy Discussion on Henri Bergson:

Prabhupāda: That's all right, but what benefit we will get? Suppose it is not very important thing. If you hear how the persons in other plant are talking, so what benefit we will get?

Hayagrīva: Is this isolation a characteristic only of the lower and middle planetary systems? In the higher planetary system, systems, is there so much isolation?

Prabhupāda: Isolation is always there. Even in this world there is isolation, even in animals. The birds, the crows, they remain together, and the swans remain together. So there is isolation between the swan and the crows. So this isolation will continue because everyone is under different modes of material nature. There are three modes of material nature. Multiply three by three, it becomes nine. Nine by nine, then it becomes eighty-one. So, prakṛteḥ kriyamāṇāni (BG 3.27). So according to the association of different qualities the isolation is there, but when they come to Kṛṣṇa consciousness, spiritual platform, so there is no more isolation. When everyone is engaged in the service of the Lord, there is no isolation.

Philosophy Discussion on William James:

Hayagrīva: James writes of the characteristics of a sādhu in this way. He says, "There is a certain composite photograph of universal saintliness, the same in all religions, of which the features can easily be traced. They are these." And he numbers, "Number one: a feeling of being in a wider life than that of this world's selfish little interests; in a conviction not memerly intellectual, but as it were sensible of the existence of an ideal power. In Christian, saintliness this power is always personified as God." So that's the one characteristic of a sādhu.

Prabhupāda: Yes.

Hayagrīva: A feeling of being in a wider life than that of this world's selfish little interest.

Prabhupāda: Yes. God, the definition of God is there in the Vedic literature, that God is the great. The Christian idea is also that. That greatness, that if we soberly think what is the greatness, the greatness in six opulences, that God is the richest, God is the strongest, and God is the famous, and God is the wisest, and God is the most beautiful, and God is the perfect renounced. He has got so many states, sarva-loka-maheśvaram (BG 5.29), but still He is not very much interested within this material world. He is in spiritual world along with associates. Therefore our proposition is, let us go back to home, back to Godhead. This is our Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement. That is perfection of life.

Philosophy Discussion on William James:

Hayagrīva: His second characteristic of a sādhu is thus: "He has a sense of the friendly continuity of the ideal power with our own life in a willing self-surrender to its control."

Prabhupāda: Yes. That is the ideal. Kṛṣṇera saṁsāra kara chāḍi' anācāra. We are member of the same family. God is the supreme father. That is ideal society. What does he say further?

Hayagrīva: The uh... What?

Prabhupāda: Second point.

Hayagrīva: Oh, the second point again? "A sense of the friendly continuity."

Prabhupāda: Yes. Friendly continuity means the, there are so many relationship, five relationship. First relationship is the master and the servant, and then friend to friend, then son and father, and then beloved and the lover. So these are all friendly relationship. We can, when we are actually in God relationship, we have got natural instinct to accept any one of them. So our friendly relationship with God can be chosen. Somebody likes sometime as friend to friend, father and son, or beloved and the lover, master and the servant, and the Supreme and the subordinate. They are five relationship. Any one of them, when we are actually liberated, free from material contamination, we being eternal part and parcel of God, the particular relationship is revived. That is called svarūpa-siddhi, revival of our original relationship with God.

Philosophy Discussion on Martin Heidegger:

Śyāmasundara: So (indistinct) has these four qualities, or characteristics. A (indistinct), of understanding that I am dying, and living with that understanding, understanding that I am existing, and having different moods.

Prabhupāda: So I am existing till my death. Is it not?

Śyāmasundara: Yes.

Prabhupāda: And when death takes place, I am finished.

Śyāmasundara: Well, that's the common understanding in most...

Prabhupāda: No. He is understanding that "I am existing up to the point of death. After death I am not existing." Is it not? They are rascals.

Śyāmasundara: But later we find that he does believe in some kind of immortality, but he is talking about the (indistinct), or the (indistinct) of individuals that normally, on a normal level, they believe that the body will end or it will die at a certain time, so that they act in such a way with that in mind. And he calls that, that knowledge that I will die some day, that this creates anxiety or dread in the living entity.

Prabhupāda: So this is animal, animals' philosophy, that "I shall die." Then that very attachment, he is imperfect, that he dies. We do not agree that we will die. Actually that's not a fact, because in my life I can understand that I have existed as a child. So the body of child is not there, but still I am existing. Similarly, when this body will be finished, I'll exist. So I exist eternally. I shall not die. That is the philosophy.

Philosophy Discussion on Martin Heidegger:

Śyāmasundara: He calls this concern is the symptoms of..., characteristics of existence, and he says that this existence has priority...

Prabhupāda: Yes. That we also say. Because I want to exist, therefore my concern means the struggle for existence. I am struggling, how to exist.

Śyāmasundara: But he says that this existence has priority over the essence. In other words, only when we get beyond...

Prabhupāda: What is that essence?

Śyāmasundara: This is what the man, a man has to choose-find out his essence. But first there is existence, before that search...

Prabhupāda: But the existence, therefore we say that your real problem is unless you know what is your position, then there cannot be any tangible program. If I know that I exist eternally, then my real concern should be how to check all these concerns so that I may live eternally without any concern. My question will be: "I am existing eternally. Why there should be concerns?" I must live and exist eternally without any concern. Why there have to be so many concerns? I do not want. Suppose the death. I know I shall death, but I do not know; I do not want to die. That is my concern. That my concern should be how I can live without death. That is real intelligent concern. There is death. I know I will die, but I do not wish to die. That is also fact. Suppose you are... If I take a sword and want to kill you, you know that you will die, why don't you accept, "All right, kill me. I'll have to die, so kill me"? Why you protest? Why you protest? Why you fly away? Why you (indistinct) defend? You know you shall die. So die now.

Philosophy Discussion on Martin Heidegger:

Śyāmasundara: So Heidegger says that this (German-indistinct) or this being there, has two characteristics. First is priority of existence over essence. In other words, first I exist, and inside of this existence I can find my essence. During this existence, I can find my essence. And the second characteristic...

Prabhupāda: What is that essence?

Śyāmasundara: Well then he..., his philosophy comes to that point, what is man's essence.

Prabhupāda: What is that?

Śyāmasundara: First of all he says that my existence is prior. First of all I have to exist and live, and then inside of this existence I may come to the point of discovering my essence.

Prabhupāda: But he has not discovered the essence.

Śyāmasundara: But he comes to that point.

Prabhupāda: What is that point?

Śyāmasundara: (laughs) Well, that's at the end.

Prabhupāda: End? You know. You have read it?

Śyāmasundara: Yes.

Philosophy Discussion on Martin Heidegger:

Śyāmasundara: It means being free from guilt, being free from anxiety, being always resolute in purpose.

Prabhupāda: So reality... I see this is reality, that I don't wish to die but there is death. Authenticity means how to live without death. That is all. Is it not?

Śyāmasundara: Yes. (pause) (indistinct) that the conclusions of the philosophy, by going through the different steps (indistinct). First of all, these two characteristics of existence, or (German-indistinct). One is that existence is prior to essence. The second is that (indistinct), or existence, is mine, that it is a personal. Everyone has the feeling that I...

Prabhupāda: I can exist. Others may not exist. Is that philosophy?

Śyāmasundara: No. That is also a person(?) outside of you, but that my existence is personal.

Prabhupāda: Does my existence, it is first; other existence is secondary? Just like (if) I eat meat. I must eat, because I must have meat, so poor animals must be killed. So his existence is this, neglected. Is that their philosophy?

Śyāmasundara: Well he doesn't say that. He just says that "I have the feeling, the unique feeling that I exist individually as a person."

Prabhupāda: That's all right. I exist individually and others may not exist. Is not that philosophy? So I must exist, others may not exist. So others also must think like that. That is animal. I am thinking that "I must exist. I don't care for you." You are thinking that you must exist, you don't care for me, so therefore there is struggle between you and me-struggle for existence. We are fighting. I am thinking I must exist, you are saying you must exist. Is it not?

Philosophy Discussion on Ludwig Wittgenstein:

Śyāmasundara: If we listed for some conditions that it must weigh a certain amount, it must have a certain color, it must have a certain texture, like that...

Prabhupāda: That is already there. Those who are chemists, they know what is the characteristics of gold. That is already there, recorded. So what does he want?

Śyāmasundara: This is part of his system for analyzing what is true or untrue.

Prabhupāda: That analysis is there. It may not be with me, it may not be with you, but it is already there. But what he will do with that analysis? What is his aim?

Śyāmasundara: Well, we can satisfy his conditions and then determine if it is true that this ring is gold.

Prabhupāda: Yes. There are so many conditions. After, at the end, the conditions come to atom, atomic theory. But the atom is also conditioned, aṇḍāntara-sthaṁ paramāṇu cayāntara-stham. Kṛṣṇa is within the atom also; therefore the atom is not absolute or independent. Therefore Kṛṣṇa is the ultimate fact.

Philosophy Discussion on Jacques Maritain:

Śyāmasundara: He says that God, He is pure actuality. There is no potentiality.

Prabhupāda: Absolute.

Śyāmasundara: He is Absolute. He is pure existence and essence together, but that the..., everything else that exists besides God has these two characteristics of potentiality and actuality.

Prabhupāda: That potentiality, actuality, it is material relativity. In the spiritual world there is same—potentiality, reality—they're one. Just like Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa, the rascal scholars, they think that Kṛṣṇa's body and Kṛṣṇa's soul is different, as it is, what is called, expressed by Dr. Radhakrishnan. But that is not the fact. There is no such difference. Kṛṣṇa also says, avajānanti māṁ mūḍhā (BG 9.11). Because He comes in a human form, rascals think of Him as ordinary human being. But He is not that. He is absolute. He has nothing to do with the body and soul as we have got. He is body and soul together-potentiality and the actuality. Similarly, anyone who gets a spiritual body, he also gets the same position. There will be no difference between actuality and potentiality.

Philosophy Discussion on Carl Gustav Jung:

Śyāmasundara: So for instance in nature, he sees male and female characteristics. For instance a mountain, we see a mountain and we give it a male, a male characteristic because it is strong, it is dominant, it is (indistinct), like this. And the sea, which is passive and calm and deep, we give a female aspect. He sees all these in nature.

Prabhupāda: These are all mental concoction. It has to be more scientifical. You can think of something in your own idea. That's all. That is not the real identity of it. What is that?

Devotee (3): You said that all things are created out of the water of origination. There's an ocean, the Kāraṇodaka, by which all these worlds are generated, (indistinct) the primeval ocean, from which (indistinct) the ocean...

Prabhupāda: Wherefrom the ocean has been generated? Everything is generated from the breathing of Lord Viṣṇu. Viṣṇu is lying in that ocean, that's all. So I'm lying on this bed, and something is coming out of my breathing, that does not mean it is coming from the bed. That's all.

Philosophy Discussion on Carl Gustav Jung:

Prabhupāda: (indistinct) You can say like that. (indistinct) And the child is floating in that water.

Śyāmasundara: Well, are there not certain characteristics that are particularly male and certain characteristics that are particularly female?

Prabhupāda: Male is only God. That is the characteristic. Male means enjoyer and female means enjoyed. So except God, except Kṛṣṇa, nobody is enjoyer. Therefore He's God.

Śyāmasundara: So it's a false idea to think that anything is masculine besides God.

Prabhupāda: Masculine is a different (indistinct). Masculine gender. So that is called (indistinct), symbolic. But a real male is Kṛṣṇa.

Śyāmasundara: So what is masculine?

Prabhupāda: Masculine, that means the symbolic representation in the material body is called masculine. Just like we (indistinct)... Just like in Bengali it is said, when you see cow, whether you see male or female, you just raise up the tail and you will understand. So a cow, I mean to say, vagina is covered by the tail, so if you raise on the tail of a calf by, simply by raising the tail you can understand whether it is a male calf or female calf. So this science is a representation of the mentality.

Philosophy Discussion on Carl Gustav Jung:

Śyāmasundara: So to say that, for instance, the ocean is a female, has female characteristics, and the mountain has masculine characteristics...

Prabhupāda: (indistinct) I do not know why the ocean has female characteristics (indistinct).

Śyāmasundara: Well, they say "mother ocean." They sometimes say "mother ocean."

Prabhupāda: Yes, yes. That is just like because ocean keeps within, her cover, covering element. (indistinct) element. As the female keeps the child covered within the abdomen, so in that comparison you can say "mother." But similarly in the mountain also, there are so many minerals, so many gems, and so many nice stones. Simply by saying it is very strong. So generally male is strong and the female is weak. In that sense you can give a terminology.

Śyāmasundara: So he gives a definition of the cell. He says that "The cell is a center or an organization within the personality which seeks to develop towards a goal of maturity and integration, the harmonious bonds of conscious and unconscious disposition." So he says that within the personality there's a center, which strives to organize the personality in such a way that anything is integrated, unconscious and unconscious. Unconscious and conscious states are all integrated, in harmony. This is the cell.

Prabhupāda: What is the explanation, unconscious?

Śyāmasundara: Well...

Prabhupāda: Soul, soul at the present moment as we take it, that is... Present moment his real consciousness is covered. That we are always discussing.

Philosophy Discussion on Carl Gustav Jung:

Prabhupāda: His character is transcendental character, not like the material character. Āprakṛta. It is said, just like bhakta-vatsala, He is very kind to His devotee. This kindness is, is one of His characteristic. Similarly, He has got unlimited qualities, and according to that transcendental quality He is sometimes described, but all those qualities are permanent. Whatever qualities and character we have got, they are minute manifestation of God's character, because we have got character also. That is only a minute manifestation of God's character. He is the origin of all character. That is described in the śāstras. He has got also mind, He has got also feelings, He has got also sensation, He has got senses, sense perception, sense gratification. Everything is there. That is unlimitedly, and we, being part and parcel of God, we possess in minute quantities all the God's quality. Actually our characteristics, qualities are simply atomic manifestation of God's quality. The original qualities are in God.

Philosophy Discussion on Carl Gustav Jung:

Hayagrīva: Jung complained that at least the philosophies and theologies of the West...

Prabhupāda: And He, He is person also.

Hayagrīva: Yes.

Prabhupāda: He is person. That is the Vedic description. He is person exactly like us, but His personality is unlimited. The same example I was giving, that I am a person so far I am concerned with this particular body, but He is a person living in every body, Super Person. And in the Bhagavad-gītā it is also said that that personality, either of God or of the individual soul, eternally existing. In the Bhagavad-gītā Kṛṣṇa says that in the past we are existing, at present we are existing, and in the future we shall continue to exist. So past, present, future. That means all the time, eternally, both of them are person. One person is unlimited, and the other person is limited. Finite and infinite. So God is person, but the unlimited qualities, unlimited characteristics, unlimited power, unlimited strength, unlimited influence, unlimited knowledge. That is God. And we are also the same—person—with little power, little influence, little knowledge, everything limited. That is the difference between two personalities. One is limited, another is unlimited, but the qualities are the same.

Philosophy Discussion on Carl Gustav Jung:

Hari-śauri: Seventy-eight?

Prabhupāda: Seventy-eight percent. That is also very minute quantity of the characteristics and qualities of God. But Kṛṣṇa is full-fledged, cent percent God. That Rūpa Goswami has analyzed in the Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu. We have given the translation in Nectar of Devotion. So God is person. Simply if we study man's character, then we can study also God, the same character. Loving affairs, as we also want to enjoy with friends, with girls, with parents, with superiors, with servants, as we take pleasure in these relationship, similarly, God also takes pleasure in these similar relationship. He has got five relationship primarily, and seven relationship secondarily. So twelve kinds of relationship, and therefore He is described, akhila-rasāmṛta-sindhu, reservoir of all pleasure. That is His completeness. So the philosophers, they should try to understand, and very, I mean, analytically, what is God. They do not know God, and they speak of God, imaginary. That is not perfect knowledge. One must study what is God with perfect knowledge. That is advancement of knowledge.

Philosophy Discussion on Carl Gustav Jung:

Hayagrīva: He conceived of what he called a persona. He says, "The persona is the individual system of adaptation to, or the manner he assumes in dealing with, the world. A profession, for example, has its own characteristic persona, only the danger is people become identical with their personas: the professor with his textbook, the tenor with his voice. One can say, with a little exaggeration, that the persona is that which in reality one is not, but which oneself as well as others think one is."

Prabhupāda: That persona—for as I take it from this statement—that persona, when when comes to the understanding that I am eternal servant of God, that persona is salvation, perfection. Persona must be there, but so long one is in the material world, his persona, or identification with some interest, varieties. Sometimes his persona is with the family, his persona is with the community or with the nation or with some idealism, Communism, this "ism," that "ism," this is going on. But when that persona comes to the understanding of Kṛṣṇa, that "I am eternal servant of Kṛṣṇa," that is perfection. Persona must continue.

Philosophy Discussion on Carl Gustav Jung:

Hayagrīva: He says, "A natural function which has existed from the beginning like the religious function cannot be disposed of with rationalistic and so-called enlightened criticism."

Prabhupāda: The thing is that these people, they do not understand what is religion. Religion you cannot avoid. That is characteristic. Just like we gave several times this example, that everything has got a particular characteristic. Just like salt, salt is never sweet, and sweet is never salt. It has got a characteristic. A chile is pungent. Similarly, living entity, we are..., what is our characteristic? Our characteristic is to render service. Either you take Communism or this "ism" or that "ism," your real characteristic to render service, that will not change. The, in the capitalist country they are asking people that "You work in the factory and work for me, and whatever I say, you do," and the same thing is being dictated by the Communist leaders. Where is the difference? There is no difference, but it is only difference of nonsensical idea. Therefore a mass of people, they have to render service, either to Mr. Lenin or Mr. Roosevelt, it doesn't matter. He has to render service. But both the services are not being profitable to the mass of people. Therefore we suggest following the footprints of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, that you serve Kṛṣṇa. Service is your essential duty, but because your service is wrongly being executed, you are not happy. But if you render your service to Kṛṣṇa, that is natural and you will be happy. So our Kṛṣṇa conscious men, they are happy when rendering service to Kṛṣṇa, or God. So individually or collectively, if every state, every individual person renders service to Kṛṣṇa, then that is perfect stage of life. He has to render service to somebody, but because it is misplaced, he is never happy, but when the service is rendered to Kṛṣṇa, then he will be happy. Service you have to render, without any failure, but he does not know where to render service. That is the difficulty. Communist dictating, "You, sir, render service to me," and the capitalist dictating, "Give me service, sir." But Kṛṣṇa says, "No. No service to this, no service..." Sarva-dharmān parityajya: (BG 18.66) "You simply give your service to Me, then ahaṁ tvāṁ sarva-pāpebhyo, you will become free from all sinful reaction of life." That is our position.

Philosophy Discussion on The Evolutionists Thomas Huxley, Henri Bergson, and Samuel Alexander:

Śyāmasundara: This is his idea: all of creation means motion. There is motion everywhere.

Prabhupāda: Yes. Without motion, how there can be creation? This is called kṣobha. Nothing is created without motion.

Śyāmasundara: So he says that he wants to find some categories which define the characteristics of everything, that everything possesses these things in common.

Prabhupāda: That five elements: earth, water, fire, air... Anything you take, these things are there. And subtler things: mind, intelligence, and ego. As it is stated in the Bhagavad-gītā that these eight kinds of material elements are differentiated energy of Kṛṣṇa.

Śyāmasundara: His categories are a little more abstract. He says that the primary category is motion.

Prabhupāda: But wherefrom the motion comes? That is insufficient knowledge. When you... Motion means somebody must move, push on. That is accepted by Professor Einstein. If somebody has pushed, the motion has begun. Now it is going on. Just like in the billiard table, push one ball, "Hut!" And it goes.

Philosophy Discussion on The Evolutionists Thomas Huxley, Henri Bergson, and Samuel Alexander:

Śyāmasundara: Yes. So he says that there are four major categories besides the primary category of motion and they are 1) identity or diversity. Each thing has a personal identity, an individuality, and each thing is different from every other thing.

Prabhupāda: Yes. That is called sajātīya-vijātīya bheda in Sanskrit. Different... Sajātīya. Just like two trees, two mango trees, but still there is difference. They are one as mango tree, but this tree is different from that tree. Similarly, the fingers. As finger they are one, but this finger is different from this finger. Although sajātī. Sajātī means of the same category, but there is difference. Although the same category, finger, but this finger is bigger than this finger. The whole body. It's a part of the body. Hand is different from leg. Leg is different from his head. Head is different from palm. Palm is different from sole. There are so many differences. They are called sajātī vijātī.

Śyāmasundara: So the one characteristic that they all have is that they are individuals, that they are individual.

Prabhupāda: Yes. One characteris... One is substance, another is character, character.

Śyāmasundara: Category.

Prabhupāda: Category, yes.

Purports to Songs

Purport to Parama Koruna -- Los Angeles, January 16, 1969:

So in this age... Of course, the last incarnation, Kalki, will simply kill. Long, long after, He will come. But here Lord Caitanya, His mission is no killing, simply favoring. That is the specific characteristic of Lord Caitanya. Because in this age, of course, there is very much prominence of irreligiosity. But if Lord Caitanya wanted to kill them, then there was no question of their salvation. They would be... Of course, anyone who is killed by incarnation he also gets salvation. But not to the spiritual planets, but they merge into the Brahman effulgence as the impersonalists desire. In other words, the impersonalist's goal of salvation is as good as the goal of salvation of the enemies of God.

Purport to Parama Koruna -- Los Angeles, January 16, 1969:

So paśu pākhī jhure, pāṣāṇa vidare. Pāṣāṇa means stone. So even the stone-hearted man we also melts by chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa. That we have experienced, seen. Pāṣāṇa vidare, śuni' jāra guṇa-gāthā. Simply by hearing the transcendental pastimes and characteristics of Lord Caitanya, even hard-hearted men, they also melted. There were many instances, Jagāi Mādhāi. Many fallen souls, they became elevated to the highest spiritual platform. Then Locana dāsa Ṭhākura says that viṣaya majiyā, rohili poriyā. "Unfortunately I am so much entrapped in these demands of the body or the senses that I have forgotten the lotus feet of Caitanya Mahāprabhu." Viṣaya majiyā, rohili poriyā, se pade nahilo āśa. "I could not desire to be attached to the lotus feet of Lord Caitanya."