Clarification (Lectures)

Expressions researched:
"clarification" |"clarified" |"clarifies" |"clarify" |"clarifying" |"clarity"

Notes from the compiler: VedaBase query:clari* not butter

Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures

Lecture on BG 4.4 -- Bombay, March 24, 1974:

Arjuna knew it perfectly well that Kṛṣṇa, his friend, is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. But to clarify the matter for others.... Because those who are not devotee, they cannot understand Kṛṣṇa or Bhagavad-gītā. That we have explained in the previous verse. Kṛṣṇa says that "The subject matter of Bhagavad-gītā is a great mystery, rahasyam, but because you are My devotee and because You are My friend, therefore I am again, speaking to you the same yoga system which was long long, millions of years ago I spoke to the sun-god." Imaṁ vivasvate yogaṁ proktavān aham avyayam (BG 4.1). It is lost now. Sa kāleneha yogo naṣṭaḥ parantapa. "Because the paramparā system has been diverted or misused, therefore it is now lost.

Lecture on BG 4.4 -- Bombay, March 24, 1974:

The Americans, they have got their president. Similarly, each and every planet has got its president. The present president is called Vivasvān. Of course, their duration of life is very, very great, greater than ours. But still they are also human being. They are also living being, having a different type of body. They can live in that sun planet although it is fiery. That I have already explained. (children talking) The children must not talk.

So Arjuna knew it perfectly well. "But as there are foolish men like me..." They cannot understand that Kṛṣṇa spoke this Bhagavad-gītā millions of years ago to the sun-god. We immediately say, "Oh, these are all story." But it is not story. It is fact. Therefore Kṛṣṇa, to clarify the matter, Arjuna, to clarify matter to the fools like us, he's asking this question that "My dear Kṛṣṇa, we are contemporary. As I am born some years ago, You are also born some years ago. We are cousin-brothers. So how can I believe that You spoke this science, or the yoga system of Bhagavad-gītā, to the sun-god?

Lecture on BG 4.4 -- Bombay, March 24, 1974:

So people do not believe that Kṛṣṇa is a historical person, at the same time, He's the Supreme Personality of Godhead. They think that He is a very learned man or a great politician, or a beautiful man. Like that. Avajānanti māṁ mūḍhā mānuṣīṁ tanum āśritam, paraṁ bhāvam ajānantaḥ (BG 9.11). They do not understand the background of Kṛṣṇa.

So this thing is being clarified by the question of Arjuna, aparaṁ bhavato janma. "You are born along with me. You are my contemporary." And paraṁ janma vivasvataḥ. "And the sun-god, or the president of the sun, Mr. Vivasvān, he's long long ago. How can I believe that you talked with him?" This is the question. Aparaṁ bhavato janma paraṁ janma vivasvataḥ, katham etad vijānīyām. "How I shall believe it?" Yes. This is possible, to inquire like that. Tvam ādau proktavān iti. "You first of all spoke this." This is the difference between God and the living entity. The.... God does not forget. We forget.

Lecture on BG 4.4 -- Bombay, March 24, 1974:

So Kṛṣṇa knows everything. Vedāhaṁ samatītāni (BG 7.26). He says that "I know everything, past, present, and future." That is perfect knowledge.

Why you are hankering after Kṛṣṇa? Because He is perfect. We are not perfect. We have got so many deficiencies. We commit mistake, we are illusioned, we cheat and our senses are imperfect. We cannot acquire knowledge by sense perception perfectly. So with so many imperfectness, if we try to become a teacher, then I am a cheater. I am not a teacher. We must know first of all. So we are receiving knowledge from Kṛṣṇa because Kṛṣṇa is accepted the Supreme Personality of Godhead and with perfection of knowledge.

So here the matter is being clarified, and Kṛṣṇa is answering also that bahūni me janmāni vyatītāni. Kṛṣṇa appears.... Kṛṣṇa says, yadā yadā hi dharmasya glānir bhavati bhārata tadātmānaṁ sṛjāmy aham (BG 4.7). He comes on this planet or in this universe. When He comes in this universe, He comes on this planet. There are innumerable universes. Not one, but innumerable. So there is a rotation of Kṛṣṇa's coming here.

Lecture on BG 4.4 -- Bombay, March 24, 1974:

Immediately He desires, everything is done. That is Kṛṣṇa. Immediately what He wants, as soon as. Sa aikṣata. As soon as He glanced over the material nature, there was creation. These are the Vedic statements.

Therefore here, to inquire about Kṛṣṇa, to clarify the matter, that what is Kṛṣṇa. Because He is all-powerful, all-cognizant, fully conversant, sva-rāṭ, therefore He could speak millions of years ago to the sun-god. This is not story. This is fact. To clarify this matter, Arjuna inquired from Kṛṣṇa, "How can I believe it?" And the answer is next verse, that "We, you, you and Me, both of them took many many times our birth, but you have forgotten because you are a living being and I am the Supreme Personality of Godhead, I have not forgotten. This is the difference between you and Me."

Lecture on BG 4.7 -- Montreal, June 13, 1968:

Janārdana: How come that if in this age of Kali people in general are less intelligent, in this particular age they've received the fullest revelation of knowledge? Why not in the Satya-yuga?

Prabhupāda: The fullest revelation of knowledge in Satya-yuga there was automatically. People were so advanced. Just like gradually we are declining our memory, duration of age, so many facilities we have declined. So in Satya-yuga people were by nature fortunate to have many facilities. So for this age, when we are in very fallen condition, this facility is offered so that we can take the same advantage as people in the Satya-yuga had by other processes. (break) They are not attending.

Pradyumna: I just want to clarify the meaning of dharma. Dharma always means, it always says the meaning, "That which cannot be changed."

Prabhupāda: That is real dharma. Just like the spirit soul is eternal, similarly, the spirit soul's natural occupation is also eternal. That cannot be changed. But when the spirit soul identifies himself with this body and the mind, that is changed. Just like at the present moment you have got American body. So your dharma or your occupational duty is different from another body. And the next life, if you change this body, you become say other animal or human being, then your occupational duty changes.

Lecture on BG 7.4-5 -- Bombay, March 30, 1971:

His fighting weapons were Śrī Advaita Prabhu, Śrī Nityānanda Prabhu, śrīvāsādi-gaura-bhakta-vṛnda, and other many devotees.

So Lord Caitanya's movement is also fighting, but it is a fight in a different way. So the soldiers, Nityānanda Prabhu, soldier, was sent to deliver Jagāi-Mādhāi. This is also fighting. Therefore all the devotees, all the preachers of Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement, they are mahā-bāhu, strongly armed by the weapons of Kṛṣṇa. They cannot be defeated. They will push on the fight with māyā, this illusion. What is that illusion? The living entity under illusion is thinking that he will be happy by material comforts. That is not possible. So this movement, Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement, is a declaration of war with māyā. Declaration of war, but in a different way—by this chanting process: Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare. The transcendental vibration will clarify the whole atmosphere, and as soon as these Kṛṣṇa conscious soldiers comes out victorious, the whole world will be peaceful.

Lecture on BG 9.11 -- Calcutta, June 30, 1973:

A Vaiṣṇava should be ready to give respect to anyone, all living entities, because all living entities are part and parcel of Kṛṣṇa. They should offer respect to everyone. Just like this finger is my part and parcel of the body. If you respect my body and kill my, cut my finger, shall I be happy? No. Therefore Vaiṣṇava knows this, that "Even a small ant, he is the part and parcel of Kṛṣṇa. So if I kill this ant, Kṛṣṇa will be unhappy. Kṛṣṇa will be unhappy."

There was a vyādha. In the Padma Purāṇa, this story is there. He was habituated to kill animals. Vyādha, you know, hunter. So he was killing so many animals half-dead. So Nārada Muni was passing through that forest, he was very much aggrieved, "Who is this rascal, killing these animals half, and they are flapping out of painful condition? Let me see this rascal." So he searched out this vyādha, hunter. The vyādha was very busy in his hunting. So he thought... Because, after all, Nārada Muni is a Vaiṣṇava, after seeing him personally his heart was immediately little clarified. So he offered respect: "Sir, you have come here for some tigerskin or deerskin. I shall give you, but don't disturb (me) in my business. Please let me do my business."

Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures

Lecture on SB 1.3.27 -- Los Angeles, October 2, 1972:

So if we take the Vedic statement, Vedic literature statement, as fact, then our knowledge is perfect. You don't require to research. There is no need. It is perfect knowledge and very easy. Kṛṣṇa says that imaṁ vivasvate yogaṁ proktavān aham avyayam (BG 4.1). So Kṛṣṇa said this. Arjuna was playing just like ordinary man, although he is not ordinary man. Just to give us lessons, he was asking question just like ordinary man. So when Kṛṣṇa said that "I spoke this Bhagavad-gītā science of God, or philosophy, to Vivasvān, the sun-god," He clarified the matter. He said... Arjuna said, "My dear Kṛṣṇa, You are my contemporary, of the same age. So how can I believe that You spoke Bhagavad-gītā some 400 millions of years ago to sun-god? How can I believe You?" So Kṛṣṇa answered, "Yes, you were also present, but you have forgotten. I remember." That is the difference between God and human, living entity. God knows everything, past, present, future. We do not know. We are teeny. We cannot be equal with God at any stage of life. Even Arjuna, who is constant companion of Kṛṣṇa, he is also forgetting that... Kṛṣṇa replied, "Both you and Me had many, many births. We appeared. But you have forgotten; I remember. That is the difference."

Lecture on SB 1.8.29 -- Mayapura, October 9, 1974:

Nitāi: "O Lord, no one can understand Your transcendental pastimes, which appear to be human and are so misleading. You have no specific object of favor, nor do You have any object of envy. People only imagine that You are partial."

Prabhupāda:

na veda kaścid bhagavaṁś cikīrṣitaṁ

tavehamānasya nṛṇāṁ viḍambanam

na yasya kaścid dayito 'sti karhicid

dveṣyaś ca yasmin viṣamā matir nṛṇām

(SB 1.8.29)

So Kuntīdevī is clarifying the matter that people may think that Kṛṣṇa was partial to the Pāṇḍava family and He was envious to the Kurus because He always took part on behalf of the Pāṇḍavas. That has been described. So just like worldly men, we, we make some friends, and we make some enemies. To somebody we are envious, and to somebody we are very friendly. This is material nature. The material nature means to become envious, generally. And if somebody satisfies my sense gratification, then he's friend. That is also temporary. As soon as the sense gratification process is disturbed, then again envious. The real nature is enviousness. So Kuntīdevī says that "Because You are playing the part of human being, and it appears that You are partial to somebody and You are envious to somebody, this is viḍambanam; this is Your misleading. Actually You are not like that. Actual... But because You are playing the part of the ordinary human being, not ordinary, but as human being, so Your dealing like that appears that You are, to some, to somebody You are very partial and somebody You are inimical."

Lecture on SB 1.16.25 -- Hawaii, January 21, 1974:

Therefore, in the Bhakti-rasāmṛta..., er, Hari-bhakti-vilāsa by Sanātana Gosvāmī it is directed that the spiritual master and the disciple must meet together at least for one year so that the disciple may also understand that "Here is a person whom I can accept as my guru," and the guru also can see that "Here is a person who is fit for becoming my disciple." Then the business is nice. Because the business is tad viddhi praṇipātena (BG 4.34), one must be prepared to surrender. So unless that character is there, surrendering, how he can become a disciple? It is not possible.

So these are very difficult things, but because it is the age of Kali, kālena balīyasā, as we studied yesterday, that kālena vā te balināṁ balīyasā: time is very hard time. Therefore Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu has said that it is very difficult time, kalau. It is not Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu's version; it is the Vedic version. Kalau nāsty eva nāsty eva nāsty eva. Simply chant Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra. This will clarify your heart. Then you can understand who is guru, where to surrender, where to take lesson. In this way we can make... Haphazardly, if we accept, then there will be failure.

Lecture on SB 3.26.22 -- Bombay, December 31, 1974:

Nitāi: "After the manifestation of the mahat-tattva, these features appear simultaneously. As water in its natural state, before coming in contact with earth, is clear, sweet and unruffled, so the characteristic traits of pure consciousness are complete serenity, clarity, and freedom from distraction."

Prabhupāda:

svacchatvam avikāritvaṁ

śāntatvam iti cetasaḥ

vṛttibhir lakṣaṇaṁ proktaṁ

yathāpāṁ prakṛtiḥ parā

(SB 3.26.22)

In the previous verse we have discussed that yat tat sattva-guṇaṁ svaccham. Svaccham means transparent, clear. Now that svacchatvam is explained, what is the meaning of clarity, clear-uncontaminated. These are the symptoms: svacchatvam avikāritvam, without any change. "Freedom from all distraction." Just like here there are many mothers sitting, and the natural affection for the child and the child's complete dependence on the mother's mercy is visible. There is no need of explanation. That is natural. If the mother is taking care of the child, it is not artificial. And if the child is feeling uncomfort without being on the lap of the mother, that is also natural. This is called avikāritvam, natural affection between the mother and the son. Similarly, we have got our natural affection for Kṛṣṇa.

Lecture on SB 3.26.22 -- Bombay, December 31, 1974:

So the mission of human life should be how to clarify this consciousness again into that pure consciousness of Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa consciousness. That is the mission of human life. The consciousness is impure; therefore there are so many varieties, material varieties, and we are captivated by these material varieties. But that is not giving us any happiness. We are especially very much unhappy on account of janma-mṛtyu-jarā-vyādhi (BG 13.9). So if we want to get relief from the miserable condition of this material life... This place is described in the Bhagavad-gītā, duḥkhālayam aśāśvatam: (BG 8.15) "This place is meant for miseries." Do not try to become happy here. That is foolishness, mūḍha. Nābhijānāti mām ebhyaḥ param avyayam. "The mūḍhas, these rascals, they do not know that here he cannot be..., one cannot be happy, because real happiness is when he comes back to Me." Mām ebhyaḥ param... Tyaktvā dehaṁ punar janma naiti mām eti (BG 4.9). That is real happiness. Sukham ātyantikaṁ yat tad atīndriya-grāhyam (BG 6.21). Everything is explained in the Bhagavad-gītā.

Lecture on SB 5.5.2 -- Hyderabad, April 11, 1975:

Guest (1): Brahma-sūtra, as propounded by Vyāsa is one. It is only one. But after reading Brahma-sūtra, the bhāṣyas, Śaṅkara-bhāṣya, Madhva-bhāṣya, and Śrī-bhāṣya as written by Rāmānujācārya, all these things differ in many ways, and they leave us confused to know what is actually existing. Am I to follow this or that or this? Because "Jagat is mithyā," it is said by Śaṅkarācārya. Madhvācārya says, "It's not mithyā. It is realistic." It's contradiction. And Rāmānuja used another way of explanation, that he says, "It is that, and it is this." And in that way, tava dāsaḥ aham, Madhvācārya says, "I am your slave." Tava dāsaḥ aham, tava dāso 'ham. But Śaṅkarācārya says, "No. Ātmā itself is Paramātmā. There is no question of his saying, tava dāso 'ham." Like that, jagan mithyā, brahma satyaṁ jagan mithyā. And then we see, as propounded by Śaṅkarācārya, as explained by Śaṅkarācārya, the same it is said by Madhvācārya as jagat satyam and brahma satyam: "Both are satya." And when Śaṅkarācārya says that jagan mithyā brahma satyam, the same Brahma-sūtra it is taken up by Madhvācārya in a different way. He says jagan mithyā, er, I'm sorry, jagat satyam and brahma satyam. And Rāmānuja says in a different way again, most confusing, he says at some stage, "It is realistic, and at a different stage it becomes unrealistic." So, in so many factors, I find that there are so many contradictions there. If you kindly clarify the matter in a very clear and straightforward manner, I will be and people will be much obliged to you. So Swamiji will have to say something about this, whether the world is temporary, or whether the world is unrealistic or not, or is it realistic. And if it is realistic, why Śaṅkarācārya has said that it is mithyā, and Rāmānujācārya says, "At one stage it is realistic, and after some stage it becomes unrealistic"? And therefore I want clarification so that I can understand.

Prabhupāda: The Śaṅkarācārya is accepted as Māyāvādī because these Māyāvādī philosophers, they think everything is māyā; even Kṛṣṇa is māyā. So, our Caitanya Mahāprabhu... We belong to Caitanya Mahāprabhu, and Caitanya Mahāprabhu belongs to Madhvācārya-sampradāya. As I have already explained, there are mahājanas. So all mahājanas, they have got different sampradāyas. Just like Lord Brahmā, he has got his sampradāya; it is called Brahma-sampradāya. Similarly, Lord Śiva has his sampradāya; it is called Rudra-sampradāya. Lakṣmījī has got his (her) sampradāya; it is called Śrī-sampradāya. So śāstra says that śrutayo vibhinnaḥ. You hear different types of philosophy from different sources. Na cāsāv munir yasya mataṁ na bhinnam. One cannot be accepted as a great saintly person unless he puts forward his own theory.

Lecture on SB 5.5.2 -- Hyderabad, April 12, 1975:

Acyutānanda: Question: I believe in Kṛṣṇa but please clarify the following doubts. Lord Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, so when Kṛṣṇa is the only God in the world, the creator of the whole universe, then why the existence of Jesus Christ and Allah? Why should not only one God for all? Why Christians and Muslims are not accepting Kṛṣṇa as God?

Prabhupāda: They are accepting God, but they did not disclose the name of God because the people are unable to understand. "Kṛṣṇa" means "the all-attractive." That is the meaning of Kṛṣṇa. So unless God is all-attractive, how He can be God? "Kṛṣṇa" means all-attractive.

Lecture on SB 5.5.2 -- Hyderabad, April 13, 1975:

Acyutānanda: Please clarify whether Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu was a devotee of Kṛṣṇa or is He Himself avatāra?

Prabhupāda: If you plug your ears then how can I explain? So many times we have said that Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu is Kṛṣṇa, kṛṣṇāya kṛṣṇa-caitanya-nāmine gaura-tviṣe namaḥ. He has appeared in the name of Kṛṣṇa Caitanya, but He's Kṛṣṇa Himself. We have to follow this.

Acyutānanda: How can the world survive when people forget their karma and immerse themselves in Kṛṣṇa consciousness? Won't it lead to inaction and a stand-still condition?

Prabhupāda: What is that? (laughter)

Pancadravida: If they stop their karma and take to Kṛṣṇa consciousness, everything will stand still.

Prabhupāda: Nothing stands still. We are not karmīs. At least, we are not doing anything. We go and become guests of Pittieji and he does everything. We do not benefit. So you try to become Kṛṣṇa conscious, everything will be done automatically. You don't have to worry.

Lecture on SB 5.5.3 -- Boston, May 4, 1968:

Guest (7): Swamiji, are the Hindus essentially vegetarian in the sense of the Seventh Day Adventist...

Prabhupāda: Not necessarily all Hindus are vegetarian. Not necessarily. There are many Hindus who are worse than others. So it is not that because one is Hindu or one is Indian, he's vegetarian. No. But generally Hindu culture is based on this Vedic civilization. So those who are strictly following, they're following the rules and regulations. So any other questions? Yes, you can ask. We are very glad to discuss all this. This should be discussed.

Guest (2): Well, I don't feel that the issue I brought up before was entirely clarified... (noise)

Prabhupāda: They have no training, you see. These children, no training. So it is a risky civilization. We don't train our children and they are going to be future... Child is the father of man, or what is called?

Guest (4): Child is the father of man.

Prabhupāda: Yes. So if from the beginning there is no training, so how we can expect good father and good children?

Lecture on SB 7.6.3 -- Montreal, June 16, 1968:

Śāradīyā: I want to know, when we serve Kṛṣṇa, we have spiritual senses, then that satisfies our spiritual senses when we serve Kṛṣṇa in Kṛṣṇaloka?

Prabhupāda: Yes. You dance with Kṛṣṇa, you eat with Kṛṣṇa, talk with Kṛṣṇa, you enjoy with Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa will kiss you also. (laughter) Kṛṣṇa is very kind to everyone, either you love Him as a lover, either you love Him as your son, either you love Him as your friend, or you love Him as your master. In whichever way you like you can love, and Kṛṣṇa will respond. Ye yathā māṁ prapadyante tāṁs tathaiva bhajāmy aham (BG 4.11). In the Bhagavad-gītā you will see Kṛṣṇa says, "Anyone who loves Me in different ways or different type," so Kṛṣṇa also loves reciprocating that way. If somebody Kṛṣṇa..., loves Kṛṣṇa as enemy, Kṛṣṇa also gives him salvation in that way also. Kṛṣṇa is so kind. Yes.

Guest (2): Swamijī, I think this man's question needs a little bit more clarification. He was asking how do we know what Kṛṣṇa dictates, by what authority. How do we know how we can serve Kṛṣṇa? Is that your question? How do we know how we can serve Kṛṣṇa?

Guest (1): Yes. Well, I, one thing...

Prabhupāda: That I have answered, that you can serve Kṛṣṇa by following the dictation of Kṛṣṇa. Is it not clear? The next question may be how you receive dictation of Kṛṣṇa. Is that?

Guest (1): Right. Yes. That would be the next question. (laughter)

Lecture on SB 7.9.36 -- Mayapur, March 14, 1976:

Puṣṭa Kṛṣṇa: "Then Lord Brahmā could see You possessing thousands and thousands of faces, legs, heads, hands, eyes, noses, and ears. You were decorated with varieties of ornaments and weapons and very nicely dressed. Seeing You as Lord Viṣṇu with Your transcendental symptoms and form, Your legs extending to the lower planets, Lord Brahmā achieved transcendental bliss."

Prabhupāda:

evaṁ sahasra-vadanāṅghri-śiraḥ-karoru-

nāsādya-karṇa-nayana ābharaṇayudhāḍhyam

māyāmayaṁ sad-upalakṣita-sanniveśaṁ

dṛṣṭvā mahā-puruṣam āpa mudaṁ viriñcaḥ

(SB 7.9.36)

So in the previous verse we understood that Lord Brahmā executed severe austerity for hundreds of years just to become purified. Tīvra-tapasā pariśuddha-bhāvaḥ. Bhāva, situation, or nature, bhāva, nature also... So we have a bhāva, nature, at the present moment which is not real bhāva. We have acquired this bhāva on account of long, long years' material association. But this bhāva can be changed. That is spiritual. Śrī Rūpa Gosvāmī also says bhāva, and another place, in Bhagavad-gītā, it is said, budhā bhāva-samanvitāḥ, bhāva (BG 10.8).

So at the present moment we have got a bhāva: "I am this. I am that. I belong to this family. I belong to this nation." Bhāva is ecstasy, and everyone is overwhelmed with such kind of ecstasy. The politicians, they think that we are simply wasting time in chanting and dancing. "They have no sense how to improve the position of the country." They do not like because they are in different bhāva. But we are trying to change that bhāva. The bhāva must be there. The whole Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is to purify the bhāva. Bhāva. That is stated here. Pariśuddha-bhāva. We are not negativating everything. We are simply changing from material bhāva to spiritual bhāva. That's all. Here is a big building, but there are many other hundreds and thousands of big building in this district or in this country. But here the bhāva is changed. The bhāva is changed. In your country there are many big, big skyscraper buildings. In comparison to those buildings, this is nothing. But still, you have come, spending thousands of dollars here, to change the bhāva. That is the... That is required. Otherwise you American boys and girls, you have no business to come here to see this big building. No. To change the bhāva, that requires. That is very important thing.

So,

sarvopādhi-vinirmuktaṁ

tat-paratvena nirmalam

hṛṣīkena hṛṣīkeśa-

sevanaṁ bhaktir ucyate

(CC Madhya 19.170)

Hṛṣīkeśa-sevanam. That bhāva is changed. Bhakti means to change the bhāva. At the present moment we are in a different bhāva. It has to be cleansed, pariśuddha-bhāva. Prakṛṣṭa-rūpena or pariśuddha, clarified, cleansed bhāva. We have nothing to reject. Simply we have to change the bhāva. Budhā bhāva-samanvitāḥ.

Sri Caitanya-caritamrta Lectures

Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 20.106 -- New York, July 12, 1976:

We are all engaged in occupational duties, all asad-dharma. But the Vedic injunction is asato mā sad gama: "Don't remain in this asat platform. Come to the sat platform." And the same thing is described here, sad-dharmasyāvabodhāya. So the human life begins when we can distinguish between sat and asat. If we remain in darkness without understanding what is sat and asat, then we are no better than dogs and cats. So the modern civilization, not only... Nowadays very big problem. People are very much attached to asad-dharma. They are not... Because they are so dull-headed, they cannot understand what is sat and what is asat. They cannot understand, dull-headed. Therefore brain requires to be clarified.

Initiation Lectures

Initiations -- San Diego, June 30, 1972:

That is stated in the Bhagavad-gītā. Yoginām api sarveṣāṁ (BG 6.47). There are different kinds of yogis. "Of all the yogis..." Yoginām api sarveṣāṁ. Sarveṣām means "of all." Mad-gata āntarātmanā: "One who is always thinking of Me." You can think of one if you are attached to him; otherwise, artificially you cannot do. That's not possible. If you love somebody, then you will always see his picture, his form, always. These are simple yoga. And it is said... As it is said in the Vedic literature, premāñjana-cchurita-bhakti-vilocanena santaḥ sadaiva hṛdayeṣu vilokayanti (Bs. 5.38). We have to create our eyes or purify our eyes to see God. And that purification is possible when you apply the ointment of love of God, daily. How to love Kṛṣṇa? Take it as ointment. As we apply some ointment to increase the sight of our eyes... Doctor gives some prescription. We use it also. So similarly, how to see God. You will see God with these eyes when it is clarified. Premāñjana-cchurita, by the ointment of love of Godhead. So these are the function, how to love.

General Lectures

Lecture -- Montreal, June 26, 1968:

Everyone is trying to attract others. A girl is trying to attract another boy, the boy is trying to attract another girl. These attracting features is going on. And as soon as they are actually attracted and joined together, the illusion becomes doubly knotted. Tayor mitha hṛdaya-granthim āhur. Hṛdaya-granthim means everything is within the heart. If I study, "Oh, what is this attraction?" if I understand how it is simply combination of blood, stool and urine and intestine and muscle and skin and hair and nails, then if I study philosophically, so what is there? Have I got any attraction for all these things? No. So it is all false. Therefore Caitanya Mahāprabhu said that ceto-darpaṇa-mārjanam (CC Antya 20.12), that if we clarify our heart, then we become liberated. So this Hare Kṛṣṇa chanting process is clarifying.

Lecture at Harvard University -- Boston, December 24, 1969:

At the present moment practically nobody has any information what is his relationship with God or what is God. Practically, they are declaring "God is dead," and "I am God, you are God, everyone is God." These things are all... "There is void." "There is no God," "There is no control." So, so many things are going on. That is the disease of this present age. And this movement is practically against this idea of godlessness, this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement. The whole idea of this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is to fight against the idea of godlessness. So the Bhagavad-gītā is there. We are fighting in two ways. One way is that this chanting, Hare Kṛṣṇa. Very simple thing. Everyone can join: Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/ Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare. By chanting this movement, by the vibration, gradually one's heart, which is so contaminated that he is denying the existence of God, will be gradually simplified or clarified.

Lecture on Teachings of Lord Caitanya -- Bombay, March 17, 1971:

nitya-siddha kṛṣṇa-bhakti sadhu kabhu naya

śravaṇādi-śuddha-citta karaye udaya

This is the statement of Caitanya-caritāmṛta. The Kṛṣṇa consciousness is already there but by hearing and purifying yourself, that consciousness comes. Just like water. Water is very clean. When it rains from the clouds it is very clean, but as soon as it drops on the ground it becomes muddy. So that muddiness has to be cleansed then water will come out again clean. Similarly, our consciousness is clean, Kṛṣṇa conscious, actually, originally, but because it is contaminated with the muddy things of the material nature, it is cloudy. So, this process—Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare—is the cleaning, clarifying process, of the consciousness. Clarifying process. Ceto-darpaṇa-mārjanaṁ bhava-mahā-dāvāgni-nirvāpanam (CC Antya 20.12). If you take to this clarifying process, then it will be just like as clear as mirror and you will be able to see your face nicely, what I am. Then you'll understand that I don't belong to this material world, I belong to the spiritual world, ahaṁ brahmāsmi; and when you realize that, then if you can act yourself as Brahman, then your life is successful.

Pandal Lecture -- Bombay, April 6, 1971:

And in the bhakti-yoga system, the same thing is also recommended:

premāñjana-cchurita-bhakti-vilocanena

santaḥ sadaiva hṛdayeṣu vilokayanti

yam śyāmasundaram acintya-guṇa-svarūpaṁ

govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi

(Bs. 5.38)

This is spoken in the Brahma-saṁhitā by Lord Brahmā. He says that "The devotee whose eyes are smeared with the ointment of love of Godhead..." Just like we sometimes use surma for clarifying our eyesight, similarly, one whose eyesight is purified... We have to purify the position of our senses in order to perceive. With our present senses, materialistic senses, we cannot understand Kṛṣṇa, or God. It is not possible. Ataḥ śrī-kṛṣṇa-nāmādi na bhaved grāhyam indriyaiḥ (CC Madhya 17.136). He is not... Kṛṣṇa is not perceivable by our material senses. "Then why you are troubling so much, because you have nothing but material senses?" No. It can be purified. How it can be purified? By love of God.

Pandal Lecture -- Bombay, April 11, 1971:

There are religions of different qualities, and there are actions of different qualities. Exactly the same example: as there are differences between the crows and the swans, similarly there are different persons in the human society. One class of person, they take pleasure in one class of thing, and another person, they take in a different type. So that divisions will continue so long we are in this material world. But we are talking of original consciousness. These are contaminated consciousness. When we come to the original consciousness, that is Kṛṣṇa consciousness. We are trying to bring everyone to that platform. That is our program. (break) ...we explain... Just like when the water from the sky drops on the ground, immediately it becomes muddy. Now, if the water drops in too much muddy place, it becomes too much muddy. And if it drops in a clear place, then it remains clarity. Similarly, our coming in contact of this material world means we come in contact of the three qualities of matter: sattva-guṇa, rajo-guṇa, tamo-guṇa.

Lecture Engagement at Birla House -- Bombay, December 17, 1975:

Devotees: Jaya, Śrīla Prabhupāda!

Prabhupāda: Any questions?

Girirāja: Any questions? (long silence)

Prabhupāda: Boliya mātājī. Prāśna boliya? There should be question. (another long silence)

Girirāja: The process of hearing and then asking questions is the way to clarify our understanding, just like Kṛṣṇa and Arjuna. So actually we must have some questions in our minds; otherwise we would all immediately surrender to Kṛṣṇa.

Prabhupāda: Yes. Either you surrender to Kṛṣṇa or clear it by question. (end)

Philosophy Discussions

Philosophy Discussion on Hegel:

Prabhupāda: There is a real table. Therefore the whole material creation is a perverted reflection and people are enamored by it. People are taking, "This is real table. This is real body. This is real happiness. This is real country. This is real society."

Śyāmasundara: This is what Hegel says, that this is the real table, that these are real objects. They are not images of the real but they are themselves real. There's where...

Prabhupāda: Then he has not the idea what is real. What do you mean by real?

Śyāmasundara: This is a real fact, this table, that this is spirit itself.

Prabhupāda: This is not real fact. This is imitation of the real table. It is fact to a person who has no knowledge of the real. Because it will not exist; that, our reality means which will exist. Otherwise it is not reality.

Śyāmasundara: So this may be real for some time and then...

Prabhupāda: It is temporary, temporary. It is not real. It is some temporary manifestation. The same example, like dreaming; dreaming is not real but temporary hallucination, that's all. You cannot say this "dream-real". This word is used, svapna-draṣṭur ivāñjasā. Just like dream, it is very nice example. In dream everything appears to be real but it is not real, it is all false or temporary.

Śyāmasundara: So what I want to clarify is that you say...

Prabhupāda: He wants to say something.

Devotee: So actually we say there's a difference between reality and existing, even though it exists doesn't mean that it's real.

Prabhupāda: No, real means which exists eternally, that is real.

Philosophy Discussion on Hegel:

Śyāmasundara: Families, when they relate together in communities, are related by certain laws or rights, that one voluntarily abstains from killing and stealing from other families so that no one will do the same to him.

Prabhupāda: Yes.

Śyāmasundara: So but...

Prabhupāda: This is not applicable to the animal family?

Śyāmasundara: No.

Prabhupāda: This is philosophy. (chuckles) What kind of philosopher he is? Our, Lord Buddha preached that if you feel pain when somebody pinches you, you should not pinch (them). He does not say that you should not pinch a human being. Therefore his dharma is ahiṁsā paramo dharmaḥ. This is philosophy, something. What is this philosophy? Nonsense philosophy. That you protect your family but you eat the animal family. This Lord Buddha's philosophy has got meaning, but where is the meaning of this philosophy?

Śyāmasundara: Well, he doesn't consider the animal kingdom at all.

Prabhupāda: And he is a rascal. He is a rascal. A philosopher must be all-pervading(?). This is (indistinct).

Śyāmasundara: Yes, he purports to cover everything. He says that his philosophy is complete, that it covers everything.

Prabhupāda: Then complete. (indistinct) complete.

Śyāmasundara: He says that one understands himself the more he relates to others, so eventually as he relates to the whole universe, then he understands himself perfectly.

Prabhupāda: Universe means his brother. And white men. That's all. (laughter) That is his universe. There is a Bengali verse, (Bengali), "My elder brother is good man, I am good man. All bad men (?). This philosophy. (Bengali-repeats saying).

Śyāmasundara: He gets as far as the state, he says that one relates with all of the citizens in the state but it is nearly impossible to relate with the citizens of another state. Therefore disputes must be settled by war between states. So he clarifies war as a means of progressing.

Philosophy Discussion on Ludwig Wittgenstein:

Prabhupāda: So that is evidence that this body is false, the soul is true. That is our statement. Body is false. Just like this, this (indistinct), this sweater, this is false. It has got a hand but it is false hand. The real hand is within, within the shirt, that is real hand. Similarly, this body also. It is compared with dress. The dress is false. The man who puts on the dress, he is true. Similarly, the soul is the truth and the body is false. If you want to make distinction between false and true, then this is the distinction: the soul is the truth, the body is false.

Śyāmasundara: He says that philosophy is that mental activity which seeks to analyze or clarify the meanings of scientific propositions.

Prabhupāda: This is philosophy: to study what is this body and how it is moving. This is analytical study. And you come to the understanding that the body is a dead lump of matter, there is something which is called the soul. Because the soul is there. This is scientific truth. One who has not this knowledge, he is not scientific; he is foolish.

Śyāmasundara: In other words, if you make a scientific proposition that "Because I am, the body moves," that is your scientific proposition?

Prabhupāda: Yes, this is scientific proposition.

Śyāmasundara: Then philosophy is a clarification of that proposition.

Prabhupāda: Clarification... It is supported by the greatest authority, Kṛṣṇa. Dehino 'smin yathā dehe kaumāraṁ yauvanaṁ jarā, tathā dehāntara-prāptiḥ (BG 2.13). He says that, the greatest authority, God Himself, He says that as the body's changing in different phases of my life, similarly, ultimately, at the end, this body is left and another body is accepted. That is scientific. It is not our bogus proposition. It is supported by the whole Vedic knowledge and especially by Kṛṣṇa, and who can be greater authority than Kṛṣṇa?

Philosophy Discussion on Ludwig Wittgenstein:

Śyāmasundara: He says that philosophers present old facts in new light, but philosophers do not discover any new facts.

Prabhupāda: Because they're all rascals and fools, what they can discover? (laughter) They simply theorize on their rascaldom, that's all. That is their business. (indistinct) There is no fact. And those who are rascals, they believe them. That's all. So we are not such rascals, because our knowledge is received from the greatest scientist, Kṛṣṇa. I personally may be rascal, but because I follow the greatest scientist, therefore my proposition is scientific. I do not know how this dictaphone is working, but somebody has said "This is dictaphone," I accept. And it is working. That is my scientific knowledge. I may not be the mechanic, but I am working.

Śyāmasundara: He says that philosophy is a process which attempts to clarify God, not that itself it has factual content.

Prabhupāda: This is clarification. Mostly the people are under illusion, identifying the body with the self. But we are clarifying that "You are not this body, you are spirit soul." Therefore it is a scientific proposition.

Śyāmasundara: So we are clarifying a scientific proposition with our philosophy.

Prabhupāda: Yes. This is it. Philosophy means the science of sciences. Another definition of philosophy is "the science of sciences." All sciences are derived from philosophy. So philosophy's actual position is on the higher level than the sciences.

Philosophy Discussion on Ludwig Wittgenstein:

Śyāmasundara: Later he said that it's the way in which a word is used, not its meaning as a name for some object, which gives a language a statement for validity. In other words, the way we use words, not that words in themselves have absolute meaning, but the way we use them.

Prabhupāda: Yes. Just like when you use one word, it has got some meaning. When you say "Brahman," it has got some meaning. "Brahman" means nothing is greater than Brahman. When you use the word Brahman it means nothing is greater that Brahman.

Śyāmasundara: But that statement, "Nothing is greater than," if you use it in another context, say with three or four objects, and you say that "nothing," meaning these three objects, "is greater than this object," that is another...

Prabhupāda: No. Any object you bring. When I say "God is great," anything you bring, nothing is greater than God. That's all.

Śyāmasundara: He says when we ask, for example, "What is the meaning of the word good..." He says we must inquire as to how we learn the meaning of the word good, what its functions have been, and strive to clarify its use, not as a picture of reality but as a tool for describing, recording, and asserting facts or ideas.

Philosophy Discussion on Ludwig Wittgenstein:

Śyāmasundara: Something which satisfies God's senses, that is real good.

Prabhupāda: That is absolute.

Śyāmasundara: So even words, if they are used to satisfy God...

Prabhupāda: That is good. Anything that satisfies God, that is good. Just like Arjuna was thinking fighting is bad, but when he understood that this fighting will be utilized for Kṛṣṇa's satisfaction, therefore it is good. So how the same bad thing becomes good? Because it satisfies Kṛṣṇa. So anything which satisfies Kṛṣṇa, that is good. Anything which does not satisfy Kṛṣṇa, that is bad.

Śyāmasundara: His final statement was that philosophy must describe the actual uses of language, never interfere with it, in order to achieve clarification. In other words...

Prabhupāda: This is clear clarification, that God is the Supreme, God is all-good; therefore what satisfies God, that is good. What will satisfy God, that is nice.

Śyāmasundara: So our philosophy describes the actual uses of words. There may be the word good and several...

Prabhupāda: Otherwise why you are chanting the words Hare Kṛṣṇa? There are also words.

Śyāmasundara: There may be ten philosophies, and each one will purport this same word good differently. But real philosophy is (indistinct).

Prabhupāda: Absolute good means to satisfy God.

Philosophy Discussion on Ludwig Wittgenstein:

Śyāmasundara: No. His philosophy describes the actual use of language. That is philosophy. So any philosophy that describes how language is used, that's proper philosophy.

Devotee: He doesn't describe how to use language; he describes principles for judging how to use language. But he has not himself described how to use language. So therefore he has not presented a philosophy. He has presented so many methods for presenting philosophy.

Śyāmasundara: But those methods, they are also philosophy.

Devotee: The philosophy of presenting philosophy, but no philosophy itself.

Devotee (2): But philosophy is meant to understand the ultimate goal of life. What does he say the ultimate goal of life is? What is his ultimate goal of life?

Prabhupāda: That they do not know.

Devotee: He said you have to transcend what he presented to find out what that ultimate goal of life is. So anybody...

Śyāmasundara: His philosophy is an active attempt to clarify.

Devotee: Clarify what? What is he clarifying?

Prabhupāda: Clarify his nonsense. He is talking all nonsense. That will be clarified.

Philosophy Discussion on Carl Gustav Jung:

Śyāmasundara: The contents of the unconscious come into a conscious mind during dreams...

Prabhupāda: That is consciousness. That is dream. You can say dream. You must analyze scientifically. Dream goes such-and-such. But anaesthetic stage is unconscious. When your throat is being been cut up, you (indistinct). But in sleeping state, if (indistinct) immediately (indistinct). That is not unconscious.

Devotee: Yes.

Śyāmasundara: In other words, he says that there are many factors which are unconscious which determine our personality that we may not be aware of-many hopes, many fears, many contents of our own consciousness that clarify our personality and which we are not aware of...

Prabhupāda: Yes, (indistinct). Just like when we are in the womb of our mother. Up to seven months we are unconscious. That means to remain unconscious for seven months, that is death. Living entity does not die; he remains unconscious for seven months.