Go to Vanipedia | Go to Vanisource | Go to Vanimedia


Vaniquotes - the compiled essence of Vedic knowledge


Cowherd boys (Conversations)

Conversations and Morning Walks

1968 Conversations and Morning Walks

Questions and Answers -- September 6, 1968, New York:

Candanacarya: ...to know something about Kṛṣṇa. (indistinct) I think you have to know something about Kṛṣṇa before you know Him to love Him.

Prabhupāda: Yes. That I explained. For ordinary neophyte devotees... This is the highest stage. The stage of the gopīs or the cowherd boys playing with Kṛṣṇa, oh, they are kṛta-punya-puñjāḥ. Many, many lives they have undergone many types of sacrifices, austerities, penances, and then they have come to that stage. That stage is not ordinary stage. In the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam Śukadeva Gosvāmī says, itthaṁ satāṁ brahma-sukhānubhūtya dāsyaṁ gatānāṁ para-daivatena, māyāśritānāṁ nara-dārakeṇa sākaṁ vijahruḥ kṛta-puṇya-puñjāḥ (SB 10.12.11). He is describing when Kṛṣṇa was playing with His cowherds boy. So he is describing that "These cowherds boy—who are they? They are living entities who have amassed volumes and volumes of pious activities." Kṛta-puṇya-puñjāḥ. "After many, many lives Just like bank balance increases, similarly, one who has increased the balance of pious activities for many, many thousands of lives, oh, such persons are now playing with Kṛṣṇa. They have taken the body of His cowherds boy, transcendental spiritual body, and just they are playing with Kṛṣṇa. And who is Kṛṣṇa?" Itthaṁ satāṁ brahma-sukhānubhūtya: "The great saints and sages who are trying to understand the Supreme Brahman, here is Kṛṣṇa. That Supreme Brahman is here, playing." Itthaṁ satāṁ brahma-sukhanubhutya dāsyaṁ gatānāṁ para-daivatena: "The impersonalist Brahman is... Because Kṛṣṇa's effulgence is impersonal Brahman, so here is He." And dāsyaṁ gatānāṁ: "Those who are devotees, those who have accepted Kṛṣṇa as the master, for them here is Kṛṣṇa." And māyāśritānāṁ nara-dārakeṇa: "And those who are materialistic—they simply think Kṛṣṇa is ordinary boy or man—He is also there. But who are these boys? They are playing with the same person who is Brahman, who is Bhagavān, or who is ordinary man, according to different calculation. But these boys who are playing with Him, they have accumulated many, many lives' heaps of pious activities." They are not ordinary men. So all these gopīs, all the cowherds boy in Vṛndāvana, they are not ordinary living entities. They have approached that stage after many, many pious activities. Yeṣāṁ tv anta-gataṁ pāpaṁ.

Questions and Answers -- September 6, 1968, New York:

Prabhupāda: That stage is not ordinary stage. In the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam Śukadeva Gosvāmī says, itthaṁ satāṁ brahma-sukhānubhūtya dāsyaṁ gatānāṁ para-daivatena, māyāśritānāṁ nara-dārakeṇa sākaṁ vijahruḥ kṛta-puṇya-puñjāḥ (SB 10.12.11). He is describing when Kṛṣṇa was playing with His cowherds boy. So he is describing that "These cowherds boy—who are they? They are living entities who have amassed volumes and volumes of pious activities." Kṛta-puṇya-puñjāḥ. "After many, many lives Just like bank balance increases, similarly, one who has increased the balance of pious activities for many, many thousands of lives, oh, such persons are now playing with Kṛṣṇa. They have taken the body of His cowherds boy, transcendental spiritual body, and just they are playing with Kṛṣṇa. And who is Kṛṣṇa?" Itthaṁ satāṁ brahma-sukhānubhūtya: "The great saints and sages who are trying to understand the Supreme Brahman, here is Kṛṣṇa. That Supreme Brahman is here, playing." Itthaṁ satāṁ brahma-sukhanubhutya dāsyaṁ gatānāṁ para-daivatena:

Questions and Answers -- September 6, 1968, New York:

Prabhupāda: They are playing with the same person who is Brahman, who is Bhagavān, or who is ordinary man, according to different calculation. But these boys who are playing with Him, they have accumulated many, many lives' heaps of pious activities." They are not ordinary men. So all these gopīs, all the cowherds boy in Vṛndāvana, they are not ordinary living entities. They have approached that stage after many, many pious activities. Yeṣāṁ tv anta-gataṁ pāpaṁ. After brahma-bhūtaḥ prasannātmā na śocati na kāṅkṣati (BG 18.54). Their position is different. Therefore they have reached that unalloyed stage: without any consideration, simply loving Kṛṣṇa. That stage they have passed already. There is no such consideration. Pure love. That is pure love. Pure love means anyābhilāśitā-śūnyaṁ jñāna-karmādy-anāvṛtam (Brs. 1.1.11). There is no question of knowledge. What these gopīs...? They were damsels, cowherds girls. They had no study of Vedānta or anything knowledge. Simply ordinary village girls. How they attained such love for Kṛṣṇa?

1969 Conversations and Morning Walks

Room Conversation -- April 11, 1969, New York:

Prabhupāda: No, no, no, you ask. Yes. Yes.

Govinda dāsī: Could you describe Kṛṣṇa's pastimes as cowboy whenever He goes out in the morning with the cowherds boys?

Prabhupāda: Yes, you can... Because... Have you seen how the... You have no experience here in your country. Have you got any experience? But in India we have got experience how in the morning the cowboy takes some food from the mother and with the cows he goes to the field. The cows are let loose on the grazing ground. They are enjoying, and this cowboy is sometimes singing. The flute, Kṛṣṇa's flute is because He is cowboy. The cowboys still play in that flute. In India you'll find. Because the cows are let... They are doing their own work, and what this boy will do? They are playing. There are many cowherds boys, they are playing. Sometimes playing on flutes, sometimes sporting, sometimes eating. So Kṛṣṇa was exactly doing like that. All the cowboy friend went with Him. Kṛṣṇa was, of course, a very rich man's son. His father was very rich. So He used to take with Him very nice foodstuff, lugdoo, kacaurī.

Room Conversation -- April 11, 1969, New York:

Prabhupāda: Yes. And māyāśritānāṁ nara dārakeṇa. Those who are under the clutches of māyā, they will think these Kṛṣṇa's pastimes, "What is this? What is this? Kṛṣṇa conscious persons, they are enjoying about Kṛṣṇa's going to the field with some cows?" Yes. Just like one of our students, that Raṇacora. He asked me, "Swamiji, how is that God has become a cowherd boy?" Yes. Because ordinary people, they are thinking God must be so great, so great, great, that they cannot conceive. And that great personality, how He becomes a cowherd boy playing with cowherd boys? Yes. Brahmā also became astonished, and therefore he came to check "Whether He is my Lord or not?" (laughter) Yes. Bewildered. Muhyanti yatra sūrayaḥ. The Bhāgavata says therefore, even the great personalities like Brahmā, they are also bewildered to understand the personality. He, Brahmā also heard that at Vṛndāvana Kṛṣṇa has appeared and He is acting as a cowherd boy. He was also astonished. "Oh, my Lord? He has become a cowherd boy?" So he came to check. He, I mean to say, took away all the cowherd boys and cows and everything. And after a few seconds he came, he said Kṛṣṇa is playing in the same way. And although the, I mean, stolen cowherd boys and cows they, by the, I mean to say, energy of māyā, by influence of Brahmā, they were kept in a secret cave.

Room Conversation -- April 11, 1969, New York:

Prabhupāda: And after a few seconds he came, he said Kṛṣṇa is playing in the same way. And although the, I mean, stolen cowherd boys and cows they, by the, I mean to say, energy of māyā, by influence of Brahmā, they were kept in a secret cave. They were sleeping. But Kṛṣṇa is playing. That means He has manifested again with the cowherd boys and cows. Then he was convinced, "Yes, He is my Lord." Then Brahma-stava is there. Ānanda cinmaya rasa pratibhāvitābhis tābhirya eva nija-rūpatayā kalābhiḥ (Bs. 5.37). So Kṛṣṇa can expand in many, many thousand times. What Brahmā will do by stealing His... No, that is not possible. So Brahmā was also convinced. These things you'll find in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Brahma-vimohana. Even Brahmā is bewildered, what to speak of ordinary men like us. So Kṛṣṇa-līlā, to understand... There is no need of understanding. Simply you love Kṛṣṇa, then the whole business finished. Just like if you touch fire, if you understand it or not understand it, the warmness is there. Similarly, either you understand Kṛṣṇa or do not understand Kṛṣṇa, it doesn't matter. Simply if you love Kṛṣṇa, then your life is perfect. That's all.

Room Conversation -- April 27, 1969, Boston:

Prabhupāda: Oh, yes. All right. Take. Distribute little. Na tasya kāryaṁ karaṇaṁ ca vidyate. Just like Kṛṣṇa. He is the Lord, but He has nothing to do. He is simply enjoying with His friends, with Radharani, with cowherds boy, with gopīs. That is greatness. He has nothing to think, "How to provide?" (chuckles) That is greatness. He is taking the cows as a sporting. You see? And when He was called for killing Kaṁsa, He left everything, renounced everything. Aiśvarya samagrasya yaśasaḥ... Everything in full, so much love, so much everything, but at once, in a moment, He renounced everything, went to..., left Vṛndāvana, and all these devotees, they began to cry for Kṛṣṇa for the rest of life. And whenever Kṛṣṇa was reminded, oh, He will say, "I am very soon coming. Don't worry. I am very soon coming." (chuckles) You see?

1971 Conversations and Morning Walks

Television Interview -- July 29, 1971, Gainesville:

Interviewer: As confirmed by all the Vedic scriptures and by the great sages in the disciplic succession, He has a body made of eternity, bliss, and all knowledge. God has infinite forms and expansions. But of all His forms, His original form, His transcendental form, is as a cowherd boy. A form which He reveals only to His most confidential devotees. So go the teachings of Kṛṣṇa as laid down in the Vedic literature. And of the sages in the disciplic succession, which I mentioned, one is our guest for this conversation today. He is His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, founder of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, foremost teacher in the West of the Kṛṣṇa philosophy, which, moreover, he teaches not only by word, but by example. He came to this country in 1965 on orders of his spiritual master. As a Kṛṣṇa disciple, he is the present human exponent of a line of succession going back five hundred years to the appearance in India of Lord Caitanya, and beyond that, to a time five thousand years ago when Lord Kṛṣṇa Himself was on this planet and His words were recorded. Welcome, sir. What is Kṛṣṇa consciousness?

Prabhupāda: Yes. Kṛṣṇa consciousness means that every living being, part and parcel of Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa has got many expansion. That is called personal expansion and separated expansion. So separated expansions we are, we living entities. But although we are very intimately connected with Kṛṣṇa, somehow or other we are now separated by contact of material nature.

Room Conversation -- August 17, 1971, London:

Haṁsadūta: And Śrīla Prabhupāda, in the spiritual world, everything is composed of cintāmaṇi, just like here everything is composed of atoms. So suppose someone develops a spiritual form in the spiritual sky. That form, I mean, that cintāmaṇi, they are living entities also? Are they conscious entities or is that an expansion of the jīva soul's own potency? Just like if someone develops the form of a boy, cowherds boy with Kṛṣṇa, is that an expansion of his potency, of that living spirit soul's potency?

Prabhupāda: That you consider. That we imagine.

Haṁsadūta: That's why I'm asking. Or like in this world, so many living entities are forming of one spiritual form.

Prabhupāda: In one sense it is right. They are spiritual molecules. Yes. Here also, spiritual molecules, but here it is called material because there is no sense of Kṛṣṇa.

Śyāmasundara: Forgetfulness. They are covered by ignorance.

Room Conversation -- August 17, 1971, London:

Prabhupāda: In one sense it is right. They are spiritual molecules. Yes. Here also, spiritual molecules, but here it is called material because there is no sense of Kṛṣṇa.

Śyāmasundara: Forgetfulness. They are covered by ignorance.

Prabhupāda: Yes.

Revatīnandana: The cowherd boy with Kṛṣṇa, he is also vibhinnāṁśa expansion. Correct?

Prabhupāda: Yes.

Revatīnandana: But he's remembering. He is remembering, therefore he is...

Prabhupāda: He may not remember.

Revatīnandana: Well, he's with Kṛṣṇa, he loves Kṛṣṇa. Therefore...

Prabhupāda: Just like when cowherds boy were playing, they did not know Kṛṣṇa is God. They did not know. They did not care to know.

Room Conversation -- August 17, 1971, London:

Prabhupāda: That is Volume Two. No, no. It is not in Volume Two.

Revatīnandana: It's in Volume One, when Brahmā kidnaps the cowherd boys. When I went to Paris, they had gotten all confused. Someone was thinking that Brahmā, Lord Brahmā is not a pure devotee, because...

Prabhupāda: In one sense, not. In one sense.

Revatīnandana: By his behavior sometimes...

Prabhupāda: No, no, behavior... Because he is in the material world, he wants to lord it over. But a pure devotee has no such desire.

Haṁsadūta: But at the same time, he appeared as Ṭhākura Haridāsa in this world. So Brahmā, he appears as Ṭhākura Haridāsa with Caitanya Mahāprabhu.

Prabhupāda: But Brahmā, it does not mean Brahmā cannot be pure devotee.

1972 Conversations and Morning Walks

Room Conversation -- July 4, 1972, New York:

Prabhupāda: Yes. They should have no scope, simply chant and dance, daily engagement, and (indistinct) says that they should play Kṛṣṇa play-cowherds boy going to the forest, someone, someone has become cow, like that. If they have got good engagement, and sometimes they fight, after all, they're coming from fighting father and mother. So you have to change them.

Ātreya Ṛṣi: Yes (laughter)

Prabhupāda: The father and mother, they're also fighting (laughter)

Ātreya Ṛṣi: Yes.

Prabhupāda: So what is their fault?

Room Conversation -- July 4, 1972, New York:

Ātreya Ṛṣi: Children here play hide and seek, which is also..., the gopīs play.

Devotee (5): Cowherd boys.

Ātreya Ṛṣi: Cowherd boys play the game.

Prabhupāda: Yes, also in India. That is a popular play for children. We..., we played. It gives great pleasure, that "I have hidden; my friend cannot see me." This is going on.

Ātreya Ṛṣi: Śrīla Prabhupāda, if she decides to leave her child at the school, what are the instructions to her? She should not write him, or she should come... How often can she come to visit him?

Prabhupāda: As many times as she likes.

Ātreya Ṛṣi: Oh.

Prabhupāda: She may come daily, or she can remain there to see.

1973 Conversations and Morning Walks

Morning Walk At Cheviot Hills Golf Course -- May 17, 1973, Los Angeles:

Prabhupāda: "Oh, these are all stories." What is called? Mythology. But these great, great sages, Vālmīki and Vyāsadeva and other ācāryas, they simply wasted their time in writing mythology? Such learned scholars? And they have not interpreted that it is mythology. They have accepted it as actual fact. There was forest fire. All the friends and cowherd boys, they became disturbed. They began to see towards Kṛṣṇa: "Kṛṣṇa, what to do?" "All right." He simply swallowed up the whole fire. This is inconceivable mystic power. That is God. Aiśvarya-vairāgya-yaśo-'vabhodha-vīrya-śriyā. These six opulences in full. That is God. That inconceivable power, inconceivable energy or mystic power, we have got also. Very minute quantity. So many things are going on within our body. We cannot explain. The same example. My nails are coming exactly in the form. Although it is spoiled by disease, again it is coming. I do not know what machinery is going on, and the nail is coming, exactly fitting the position and everything. That is coming from my body. So that is mystic power.

Room Conversation with Anna Conan Doyle, daughter-in-law of famous author, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle -- August 10, 1973, Paris:

Prabhupāda: He's the controller of the whole universe. He also bowing down before little Kṛṣṇa. "Sir, I wanted to show You my superior power, but I am insignificant before You." Brahmā stole away all His calves and cows and cowherd boys, and he saw again the same calves and cows and boys are playing with Him. So he became surprised: "How is that? I took away, and again He's keeping. He has expanded himself." You have read that portion? So God is called self-sufficient because He can expand Himself to satisfy His needs, whatever He wants. So He doesn't require anyone's help. He's completely independent. But still He's so kind that He comes to your temple, as He has come today, and He's dependent. If you give Him some foodstuff, He'll eat. Otherwise, He'll starve. So we should always remember the most powerful, self-sufficient has come kindly at my place, just to become dependent on my foodstuff. This is His kindness. And if we think: "Oh, I am giving food to Kṛṣṇa. What is Kṛṣṇa?"

Morning Walk -- December 8, 1973, Los Angeles:

Prabhupāda: Some of them gopīs, some of them cowherd boys, some of them father, mother, like that.

Svarūpa Dāmodara: In Bengal, Śrīla Prabhupāda, the brāhmaṇa caste family like Mukherjees, then Bannerjees, then,... I had a roommate when I was in Calcutta, his was Mukherjee. So he was telling me one day that we are much more superior brāhmaṇas than other like Chaudhuris and Sanyals.

Prabhupāda: But where is your superiority?

Svarūpa Dāmodara: He was explaining like that.

Prabhupāda: That's all right. But what is your superiority. You're a servant now. You're śūdra. You're not even a brāhmaṇa. Superiority by simply explanation will not do. You must be (indistinct). Guṇa, karma, superiority means guṇa, karma. You must have the quality and you must work in that quality. You're a scientist, but after a few generation, a foolish boy in your family say, "We belong to the scientist's family." So what is the use of saying like that? You must become scientist.

1974 Conversations and Morning Walks

Morning Walk -- March 12, 1974, Vrndavana:

Prabhupāda: Eh? No. Devotees are devotees. Actually devotees are above this brāhmaṇa, kṣatriya, vaiśya, śūdra. But for management of material things, we have to divide. Just like in the body there are divisions. There are... Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa was acting as a kṣatriya. In His boyhood, He was acting like a vaiśya. But Kṛṣṇa is neither kṣatriya nor, nor brāhmaṇa. This is the example. He was a cowherd boy. That is business of vaiśya. And when He was fighting in the battlefield, He was a kṣatriya. He was marrying as a kṣatriya. So although He was acting sometimes as kṣatriya, sometimes as vaiśya, but He's neither of these. So devotee is like that. He may act in any position, but He is above all the material conception of life. That is perfection. Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa...

Nitāi: Śrīla Prabhupāda?

Prabhupāda: Eh?

Nitāi: What should the kṣatriyas be taught?

Morning Walk -- March 24, 1974, Bombay:

Prabhupāda: That is saṁsiddhi. Tyaktvā dehaṁ punar janma naiti mām eti kaunteya (BG 4.9). This is saṁsiddhi. "After giving up this body, no more accepting any more material body." Then, he's zero? No. Mām eti. "He comes to Me, to dance with Me, to play with Me." That is saṁsiddhi. Kṛta-puṇya-puñjāḥ. When Śukadeva Gosvāmī was describing the cowherds boy playing with Kṛṣṇa, he described, itthaṁ brahma-sukhānubhūtyā...

itthaṁ satāṁ brahma-sukhānubhūtyā
dāsyaṁ gatānāṁ para-daivatena
māyāśritānāṁ nara-dārakeṇa
sākaṁ vijahruḥ kṛta-puṇya-puñjāḥ
(SB 10.12.11)

These boys, these cowherds boys, they have accumulated, kṛta-puṇya-puñjāḥ, heaps of pious activities, therefore they are now allowed to play with Kṛṣṇa. Kṛta-puṇya-puñjāḥ. Not ordinary thing. So the impersonalists, they cannot understand, "What is this, playing with Kṛṣṇa, cowherds boy?" But here it is said, kṛta-puṇya-puñjāḥ. This is not ordinary thing. Itthaṁ brahma-sukhānubhūtyā. Satām. Those who are trying to appreciate brahma-sukha, for them, here is the Supreme Truth, Kṛṣṇa.

Morning Walk -- March 31, 1974, Bombay:

Prabhupāda: The cowherd boys, the girls, the elderly persons, the trees, the flowers, the land, the birds, the beasts, the cows-their center was Kṛṣṇa. So we have to follow their footprints, how to... We have got already attachment.

Mr. Sar: Yes. Yogaṁ yuñjan mad-āśrayaḥ.

Prabhupāda: No, attachment we have got for material things. That we have to transfer. This is yoga practice.

Mr. Sar: That is yoga practice. Correct.

Prabhupāda: Yes. Yoga indriya-saṁyamaḥ. Yoga, the... I think it is Patañjali sūtra.

Guest (1): Yoga citta bhūti yoga. (?)

Prabhupāda: Yes. Citta bhūti...

Guest (1): Yoga citta bhūti nirodha.

Morning Walk -- April 10, 1974, Bombay:

Girirāja: (break) ...the position of being Kṛṣṇa's parents or hearing Bhagavad-gītā or being a cowherd boyfriend, can be filled by different living entities qualified in the different universes.

Prabhupāda: Yes.

Satsvarūpa: But that makes them sound like they are posts instead of individuals. I thought you once said that Arjuna, he always stays in the material universes. He's a person and he always travels with Kṛṣṇa, not that it's a post.

Prabhupāda: Everyone, all the associates of Kṛṣṇa, like Kṛṣṇa. (break)

Girirāja: Right now Kṛṣṇa is in so many different universes.

Prabhupāda: Yes.

Girirāja: And He is having the same pastimes.

Prabhupāda: Yes.

Girirāja: And in each universe there is an Arjuna.

Prabhupāda: Everything.

Morning Walk -- April 10, 1974, Bombay:

Prabhupāda: Take it for granted, different. What is the wrong there? After all, everyone is Kṛṣṇa's expansion. Ānanda cinmāyā-rasa-pratibhāvitābhiḥ (Bs. 5.37). We are also expansion. (aside:) Hare Kṛṣṇa. But still, we have got individuality. Kṛṣṇa proved it—I explained that in Vṛndāvana when everything was stolen by Brahmā. Again another batch of cows and calves and cowherds boys. (aside:) Hare Kṛṣṇa. Immediately. What is the difficulty for Kṛṣṇa? Is it clear or not? You wanted to clarify. Is it clear or not?

Satsvarūpa: Yes, you said the answer is that it's different persons, not just one Arjuna, not just one Yaśodā.

Prabhupāda: Just like I have got hundred branches. Each branch I have got a set of my sitting room, of my books and everything. And wherever I go I see the same place. If it is possible for an ordinary man to have a hundred sets of the same thing, why not for Kṛṣṇa?

Morning Walk Excerpts -- May 2, 1974, Bombay:

Girirāja: (break) "...narration of the Kāliya serpent and his punishment will need fear no more the envious activities of snakes. The Lord also declared, 'If one takes a bath in the Kāliya lake where My cowherd boyfriends and I have bathed, or if one, fasting for a day, offers oblations to the forefathers from the water of this lake, he will be relieved from all kinds of sinful reaction.' " (break)

Bhāgavata: ...actually are devotees or how do they become demons? Are they devotees? Obviously Kāliya is... Just like Jaya and Vijaya, they were devotees. And due to some offense, then they became demons and they fought with Kṛṣṇa to satisfy Kṛṣṇa.

Prabhupāda: Anyone who is living in this material world is a demon. Hare Kṛṣṇa. Where is your mother?

Indian Lady: She is at home.

Bhāgavata: But only certain demons get to fight with Kṛṣṇa.

Prabhupāda: Yes. That is special demon.

Room Conversations -- September 11, 1974, Vrndavana:

Prabhupāda: Kṛṣṇa says that "You and Me and all these soldiers, we existed before, we are existing now, and we shall exist in this way in the future." Where does He say that "We shall be mixed up"? He never says. And these rascals, they have got so many parties, the same thing. Where do you get this idea? There is sayujya-mukti, but Kṛṣṇa never says that "You take it." All this Ramakrishna Mission, all these, this (indistinct), he gives the example that rivers come from different sources, but when it comes to the ocean it is mixed up. Why don't you see within the water? Within the water there are big, big fishes, they do not mix up with the water. They see superficially the water. This is going on. Andhā yathāndhair upanīyamānās (SB 7.5.31). Our philosophy is "Come. Come here, play with Kṛṣṇa as cowherd boy. Come here, dance with Kṛṣṇa as gopī. Come here, accept Kṛṣṇa as your son, Kṛṣṇa will accept you as His mother." There will be always two, and enjoy, any way. Even as enemy, demon displaying part of enemy, Kṛṣṇa killing, that is also pastime too. That is also enjoyment.

1975 Conversations and Morning Walks

Morning Walks -- June 18-19, 1975, Honolulu:

Prabhupāda: Everything is exactly like this. And in any circumstance they are happy. It is not that in Vṛndāvana Kṛṣṇa is a sannyāsī. He cannot see the face of woman. It is not like that. (chuckles) But because it is spiritual, it is all-attractive. There are also the trees, animals, the river, the fruits, the flowers, the father, the mother, the beloved girls, beloved boys, sporting among the cowherd boys, going to the forest, the cows and calves, everything. So that attraction is required. The Māyāvādī philosophers, they are thinking, "Again attraction like this? So make it zero, no attraction. Become zero." So their philosophy is zero philosophy. That is also no information of the spiritual world, Buddha philosophy and Māyāvāda philosophy, śūnyavādī, nirviśeṣa, without varieties or zero. Without varieties means zero. So two philosophers. But therefore they invent: "Anything is all right." They invent. After all, they want zeroism. (break) ...pārtha yogaṁ yuñjan mad-āśrayaḥ. (break) ...one increases the attraction for Kṛṣṇa, they will never be happy. (break) ...simply changing attraction on the material platform under different names. That will be failure.

Morning Walk -- June 23, 1975, Los Angeles:

Prabhupāda: ...killed the Gardhabhāsura in the palm forest. The fruit is so tasteful but the cowherds boy could not enter the forest on account of this demon.

Brahmānanda: Which demon was that?

Jayatīrtha: Dhenukāsura.

Prabhupāda: Dhenuka... Not Dhenukāsura. Gardhabhāsura. Dhenukāsura also, they come?

Brahmānanda: That was that ass.

Prabhupāda: Ass, ass, yes. (break)

Jayatīrtha: Here there are many date palms, very high producer of dates.

Prabhupāda: Just see. In the desert there are so nice fruit.

Morning Walk -- June 29, 1975, Denver:

Prabhupāda: Therefore we say that whatever you are doing under the influence of māyā, it is suffering. It is not enjoyment. (break) This way? (break)

Kuruśreṣṭha: In Kṛṣṇaloka are there asses?

Prabhupāda: Yes, maybe. But they are not these asses. Kṛṣṇa... I don't... the cowherds boys, they are keeping only cows. I never saw any ass or goat.

Satsvarūpa: They killed all those asses. They killed Dhenukāsura and all those...

Prabhupāda: Yes, yes, there were asses, yes. They killed. But they were asuras, of course, No, that means asses are there.

Satsvarūpa: Śrīla Prabhupāda, I thought you said that the demons are not in Kṛṣṇaloka. That's just in Gokula, when Kṛṣṇa comes here.

Prabhupāda: Yes. Kṛṣṇa wants to enjoy to kill the demons. In the Kṛṣṇaloka there is no demons. He doesn't get that opportunity. Therefore He comes down to enjoy killing. Just like hunter, by killing, enjoys, so Kṛṣṇa enjoys by killing the demons. (break) Water?

Morning Walk -- July 2, 1975, Denver:

Prabhupāda: If you are suffering from cataract, how you can see distinctly? You have to get your eyes operated. Then you can see. So our bhakti process is simply purifying, purifying, more, more, more. When you are completely purified, you see God face to face, eye to eye, talk with Him, play with Him, just like cowherds boys, they are playing, the gopīs are dancing. You get that position. (break)

Yadubara: ...You said in the Bhāgavatam, speaking about Dhruva Mahārāja, that his senses became enlivened.

Prabhupāda: Senses are there. It is purified. Sarvopādhi-vinirmuktaṁ tat-paratvena nirmalam (CC Madhya 19.170). The bhakti process is completely, complete process to purify you. Other process are not. Karma, jñāna, yoga cannot purify you cent percent, but bhakti process can purify you cent percent.

Room Conversation -- October 29, 1975, Nairobi:

Prabhupāda: Oh. (laughter) Just like this tendency was exhibited by Kṛṣṇa. In the forest the two brothers and other cowherds boys, they were also imitating. They were flying. The bird is flying; they were also flying like this. And coming to the monkey, coming to the peacock and imitating the..., like this. These are description in the Kṛṣṇa book.

Brahmānanda: But his imitating the bird means he will become a bird?

Prabhupāda: Hm?

Brahmānanda: This man's imitating the bird means that he will become a bird.

Prabhupāda: Not necess... This is sporting. It will be decided what he is thinking at the time of death. That will become prominent.

Morning Walk -- November 12, 1975, Bombay:

Prabhupāda: It is very difficult. So we are dealing with very, very difficult task. It is not very easy, the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement. Naturally we have got attraction for God. That is spiritual kingdom. Just like Vṛndāvana. Vṛndāvana means center is Kṛṣṇa. The elderly person like Nanda Mahārāja, Yaśoda, their friends, their..., they are also attracted to Kṛṣṇa. The gopīs are attracted to Kṛṣṇa, the cowherds boys, they are attracted to Kṛṣṇa. The cows, calves, animals and peacock—everyone is attracted to Kṛṣṇa. The water is attracted to Kṛṣṇa. That is Vṛndāvana. And here in the material world nobody is attracted by Kṛṣṇa.

Dr. Patel: Who prevents them, sir? māyā.

Prabhupāda: No. He wanted this; therefore māyā is there.

Dr. Patel: So that their position may go on.

Morning Walk -- December 23, 1975, Bombay:

Prabhupāda: Hm? First of all finish my Bhāgavatam, then we shall talk of other things.

Indian man: Lord Brahmā took away the cows and the cowherd boys that Kṛṣṇa was playing with. At that time Kṛṣṇa expanded Himself just to (indistinct) about a year or so that these cows are all Kṛṣṇa expansions, but the gopīs were so much (indistinct) to (indistinct) Kṛṣṇa's (indistinct). Now he started, he doubted that gopīs are (indistinct) with Kṛṣṇa because these cowherds and ah, they are part and parcel of Kṛṣṇa only, so he was not...

Prabhupāda: Hm. That is called, they were playing the role of human being. (pause)

Indian man: ...would be nearing the portion where that (indistinct) is there. I told Girirāja prabhu, when you were sick, that fever is there, you were having fever, so I...

Prabhupāda: No, I had no fever.

Indian man: When you went to Vṛndāvana? Some...

Prabhupāda: Oh, yes.

1976 Conversations and Morning Walks

Morning Walk -- January 15, 1976, Calcutta:

Prabhupāda: No.

Madhudviṣa: No? Well, Kṛṣṇa did, Balarāma did, and the cowherd boys.

Prabhupāda: We don't find. That is normal. Kṛṣṇa can do anything. You cannot imitate Kṛṣṇa.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Also...

Madhudviṣa: No, it seemed like that was the style during those days, long hair.

Prabhupāda: Hare Kṛṣṇa.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Also from the pictures we see that the residents of Nabadwip and Māyāpur seemed to have long hair, the householders.

Prabhupāda: Then why this statement is there, lāvaṇyaṁ keśa-dhāraṇam? If it is approved, why Bhāgavata criticizing?

Morning Walk Excerpt -- April 2, 1976, Vrndavana:

Ādi-keśava: (break) ...the devotees are asking one question. They're wanting to know how it was that even though there is so much distance between, let's say, Govardhana and Rādhā-kuṇḍa and Vṛndāvana, Nanda-grāma, Varṣāṇā, how it was that still Kṛṣṇa and Rādhā could go and meet, and the cowherd boys could go and meet at these various places. They could go such great distances.

Prabhupāda: That is distance for you, not for them. Just like a small ant. It goes from here to here. It is a great, three hundred miles, but for you, one step. Why do you study Kṛṣṇa like you? Why do you think that Kṛṣṇa was like you? Avajānanti māṁ mūḍhā mānuṣīṁ tanum āśritam (BG 9.11). Kṛṣṇa can do anything, so His associates.

Pañca-draviḍa: In the Upadeśāmṛta, in the translation you refer to this, the līlā-aṣṭa...

Tripurāri: Aṣṭakāla-līlā.

Morning Walk -- June 7, 1976, Los Angeles:

Rāmeśvara: Each one of us has an original relationship with Kṛṣṇa, some as plant, some as tree, some as cow, some as cowherd boy. So if that is re-established, why should the devotee desire to change it?

Prabhupāda: Well, that is spiritual kingdom. You can change if you like.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: It is not static, Prabhupāda once explained. Love is not static.

Prabhupāda: Generally, it is not changed. Just like Mother Yaśodā, she's mother all the time, eternally.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: The question came in Bombay two or three years ago. Prabhupāda said that it is not static. You can have (inaudible).

Hari-śauri: I always understood before that the rasa was fixed, but that within that rasa one may take different..., one may take a different line.

Prabhupāda: That will be revealed when you are liberated. Why you are bothering now?

Answers to a Questionnaire from Bhavan's Journal -- June 28, 1976, Vrndavana:

Prabhupāda: Let them remain godly. Godly means servant of God. That will make him perfection, his life perfect. Vaiṣṇava philosophy is to remain, to act as servant of God. That is perfect. And if the servant tries to become like the master, that is artificial. Although in the spiritual world there is no difference between the master and the servant... Just like the boys, Kṛṣṇa's cowherd boy friends, they do not know Kṛṣṇa is God. They are playing with Him on equal terms. When Kṛṣṇa is defeated in the play He has to take His friend on His shoulder and he rides on the shoulder. So there is no such distinction who is God and who is not God. So that is spiritual conception. But the difference is always there. God and the part and parcel. Kṛta-puṇya-puñjāḥ. We can attain that position after many, many lives' pious activities. That is stated in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.

Evening Darsana -- July 8, 1976, Washington, D.C.:

Prabhupāda: So we offer Him, and then we take. Besides that, everybody has to eat something. So generally, food grains, vegetables, they are recommended for eating purpose. And those who want to eat meat or fish, they can do so, but at least they can avoid the important life of cow. That is recommended. So far we are concerned, we are eating Kṛṣṇa prasādam, foodstuff offered to Kṛṣṇa, and this, there is no such thing as meat or fish, or egg, but we are living. Not that because we do not eat meat or fish, we are dying. We can eat very easily. Anna. Annād bhavanti bhūtāni (BG 3.14). Actually, if we take food grains like wheat, rice, pulses, vegetables, fruits, milk, that is quite sufficient, nutritious foodstuff, full with vitamins and, what is called, protein, carbohydrate. That is sufficient. Why should we kill? At least, cow? That is our request, because Kṛṣṇa says go-rakṣya. And in His practical life He played as a cowherd boy giving protection to other cows. There is a picture, Kṛṣṇa is sitting, and the cow and the calf is feeling very safety. Kṛṣṇa is embracing. So because we want to be Kṛṣṇa conscious, we want to follow His personal behavior and instruction.

Room Conversation -- July 26, 1976, London:

Prabhupāda: Why not? Our Kṛṣṇa is most luxurious person. He is never poverty-stricken. Always with gopīs, cowherd boys, killing all demons.

Jayatīrtha: Harikeśa Maharaja and I were discussing last night about your travel plans, and we were debating on what was actually the best place for you to go. So someone was saying Tehran, someone was saying Paris farm, like this, but the point that came out was that as far as health is concerned, India is not the best place for you to go at all.

Prabhupāda: India.

Jayatīrtha: Not the best place. However, the main point is that you want to go there. That was what was felt by the devotees who were discussing, that you want to go to India immediately and that you will feel more comfortable by going to India immediately. That was what was being discussed. Although for health purposes that may not actually be the best.

Room Conversation -- August 17, 1976, Hyderabad:

Prabhupāda: Akhila-rasāmṛta, yes. Akhila-rasāmṛta-sindhu. So you can have all the rasas. That is the origin of bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu. In bhakti, that rasa, you become in the ocean of rasa. You're hankering after rasas. There is a Vedic injunction, raso vai saḥ labdhvānandi ānandī.(?) One who has got the rasa, labdhvānandi, then he gets the real ānanda. That ānanda-cinmaya-rasa expansion is Kṛṣṇa's calves, cows, gopī friends, cowherd boy friends, Nanda, Yaśodāmāyi, so many. So to be Kṛṣṇa conscious means to participate with these rasas. It is not dry. It is not dry like, simply so 'ham, so'ham. So 'ham, they do not know the meaning. So 'ham means I belong to the same rasa. I also eligible to enjoy the same rasa. But Kṛṣṇa is... (break) ...and the calves, the cows are enjoying the rasa as predominated. Just like husband and wife, they are enjoying, both. But one is enjoying as the husband, predominator. The husband is forcefully dragging the wife. She's also... While she is dragged by force, she enjoys. That is another rasa. But there is rasa. Combined together it becomes rasa. Similarly Kṛṣṇa does not enjoy this material. This material rasa is the perverted reflection of that cinmaya-rasa.

Room Conversation -- November 13, 1976, Vrndavana:

Prabhupāda: He was a politician. That you cannot blame. Politics require all these things. A politician cannot be a saintly person. That is not possible. For politics he has to do so many things. That is necessary. Just like Arjuna wanted to be a nonviolent. Immediately it was condemned by Kṛṣṇa, "What is this nonsense? You are a military man. Nonviolent." And similarly, politicians, they require all this. Businessman must deal in black market. It is inevitable. Otherwise he cannot improve. Because the world is bad, you, if you become honest, then you cannot make pros..., cannot become prosperous. Sate sārtham samācaret.(?) Brāhmaṇa's dealing must be very straight and honest. They are not meant for politics or business. They are for transcendental knowledge. Kṛṣṇa conscious person should be all-inclusive. He must be a politician, he must be a brāhmaṇa, he must be a kṣatriya, he must be a śūdra—everything. All-inclusive. Because he is transcendental. In otherwise he is neither a brāhmaṇa, neither a śūdra, neither a... Yes. Nāhaṁ vipro na ca nara-patir na yatir vā. Neither of these. In other side he is everything. That is Kṛṣṇa conscious. As Kṛṣṇa is sometimes cowherd boy, politician, sometimes dancing with, artist—He is everything, not one-sided. So all food is finished?

Morning Walk and Room Conversation -- December 7, 1976, Hyderabad:

Prabhupāda: Very good.

Mahāṁśa: The same road. That's where the dioramas will be. (break)

Devotee (1): ...having lunch with the cowherd boys on this rocky place and then people can come and sit here also.

Prabhupāda: Later on. First of all grow vegetable. Let us eat first of all. Immediately grow vegetables sufficient. And this is good idea, we shall do that, but first of all let us organize the vegetables, fruits. What are these trees?

Mahāṁśa: These are nimbu (lemon) trees which Badrukas have planted and were neglected. They have become very stunted. We dug them out, and we put some cow dung just last, two, three months back. We're going to bring them up, but they will not be very good now. They've already been stunted.

Prabhupāda: Hm?

Morning Walk and Room Conversation -- December 26, 1976, Bombay:

Prabhupāda: When Kṛṣṇa was playing with His cowherd boys friend, so Śukadeva Gosvāmī said, "Who are these boys who are playing with Kṛṣṇa who is the source of brahma-sukha?" Brahma-sukhānubhūtyā. These boys are playing with another boy known as Kṛṣṇa. He is the source of brahma-sukhānubhūti. And dāsyaṁ gatānāṁ para-daivatena. Those who are devotees, for them He is the Supreme Lord. And māyāśritānāṁ nara-dārakeṇa. And those who are under the influence of māyā, they are seeing He's an ordinary boy. But whatever He may be, these boys who are playing with him, sākaṁ vijahruḥ kṛta-puṇya-puñjāḥ (SB 10.12.11). After many, many lives acquisition of pious activities, now he has got this opportunity to play with this boy, the source of brahma-sukha. Itthaṁ brahma-sukhānubhūtyā. They are not playing with ordinary child. He is the source of brahma-sukha. This is the statement of Śukadeva Gosvāmī. So if we come to Kṛṣṇa and Kṛṣṇa is personally presenting Himself, that is Vedānta.

1977 Conversations and Morning Walks

Discussion on Deprogrammers -- January 9, 1977, Bombay:

Prabhupāda: Yes. That is conditioned. The Vṛndāvana life means the gopīs, the cowherd boys, the cowherdsmen, the elderly men, Nanda Mahārāja, Yaśodārāṇī, his (her) status, every-cows, calves, trees, flowers, Yamunā—everyone is dedicated to Kṛṣṇa. That is the Vṛndāvana. They have no other business. That is Vṛndāvana. Everywhere, the whole description of the Kṛṣṇa book, center is Kṛṣṇa.

Hari-śauri: Yeah, Kṛṣṇa book's so nice.

Prabhupāda: That is Vṛndāvana life, either in rasa dance or the cowherd's play or killing the demons or in dining and dancing. The friends are eating, they are being stolen by Brahmā—but the center is Kṛṣṇa. That is Vṛndāvana. All activities are going on, just like in other place. But here in Vṛndāvana, all activities centered around Kṛṣṇa. When Brahmā is stealing His friends, the center is Kṛṣṇa. The demon is coming to destroy—the center is Kṛṣṇa. When there is forest fire, the center is Kṛṣṇa. This is Vṛndāvana beauty. In happiness, in danger, in perplexities, in friendship—everything Kṛṣṇa. Kāliya-damana. "Oh, Kṛṣṇa has gone to Yamunā. He has fallen down in the..., to fight the Kāliya." It is a very, what is called, calamity.

Discussion on Deprogrammers -- January 9, 1977, Bombay:

Prabhupāda: That I was explaining, that what is Vṛndāvana life. In Vṛndāvana life there is everything—the cowherds boy, the calves, the cows, the elderly person like Nanda Mahārāja, Yaśodāmayī, friend. What is their aim? The aim is Kṛṣṇa. The demons... (laughter) Everything is Kṛṣṇa. The demon is coming there. That is also... Center is Kṛṣṇa. And gopīs are dancing. That is also... Center is Kṛṣṇa. And Brahmā is stealing the friends and cows. That is also center Kṛṣṇa.

Trivikrama: Now we are also getting the demons.

Prabhupāda: That is Vṛndāvana life. When everything is Kṛṣṇa, that is Vṛndāvana life. Why Vṛndāvana life is so exalted? Because they have no other shelter except Kṛṣṇa. The whole book Kṛṣṇa is therefore center Kṛṣṇa. That's all. But there are many varieties of activities.

Room Conversation with Film Producer about Krsna Lila -- January 22, 1977, Bhuvanesvara:

Prabhupāda: No, no. Why you start from this? Why not start Kṛṣṇa's birth, Kṛṣṇa's playing with cowherd boys, Kṛṣṇa's...?

Guest (1): So we have that līlā. That is bāla-līlā.

Prabhupāda: Yes.

Guest (2): Then here Kṛṣṇa... The spring has come, and this is... You have got here the Govardhana pūjā, and Kṛṣṇa's līlā with these cowherd boys, and they're going on. In the spring they are going out... Here, in Orissa also, in Bengal also. On the full moon day of Phalguṇa we get that..., where all the cows meet together and we get this. From that function we started. We have established that...

Prabhupāda: On the whole, my point is: it is a very difficult subject matter. So unless we very carefully deal, people will misunderstand.

Room Conversation -- January 28, 1977, Bhuvanesvara:

Prabhupāda: So he was stating about when..., that he came to Vṛndāvana, and he met one boy, and "He asked me some sweets, I gave him sweet. Later on, when I was coming back to Delhi, I saw that boy was running on the train." He said. Such a big barrister, he said like that. "Oh, he was so..." Posturing like this. What can I say? "Kṛṣṇa as cowherd boy was running after you in the train?" This is going on. Another friend's wife, she came to Jagannātha Purī. So Jagannātha Purī, those who are rich men, they are allowed to go near the Jagannātha. So that lady said that "While I was circumambulating, Jagannātha was snatching my cloth." Jagannātha became so much attached with that blackish woman that He began to snatch his (her) cloth. So many stories I know. So what can be said? "Why did you not remain with Jagannātha? Why you came back?" This is going on. So I have got experience of many such stories. Kṛṣṇa as cowherd boy was running with his train. I have to take. And Jagannātha was snatching her cloth. They are very poisonous things.

Room Conversation -- January 31, 1977, Bhuvanesvara:

Prabhupāda: That may be. But this should be our aim. We should not be attracted by the modern city life. Simplified life. Save time and utilize for advancing in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. That is perfect life. Just like Vṛndāvana. Vṛndāvana life means agriculturist, cowherd boys, uneducated girls, cows and calves, and tree, fruits. This is Vṛndāvana. The center is Kṛṣṇa.

Yogeśvara: Simple living.

Prabhupāda: But they are the topmost devotees. These (chuckling) uneducated, without any town life, cow-men, they are Kṛṣṇa's best friend. Unsophisticated, no education, but love intense—that is perfect. That attracted Kṛṣṇa more. Vṛndāvanaṁ parityajya na padam ekaṁ (sic:) na kartavya... Kṛṣṇa is so much attached to Vṛndāvana that He goes nowhere... What is that? They are not educated girls, up-to-date fashion, (indistinct) or nothing. Crude. As soon as there was blowing of the flute, immediately they began to run towards Kṛṣṇa. Somebody is taking care of children, somebody is engaged in boiling milk, and somebody was even lying down with her husband.

Evening Darsana -- February 19, 1977, Mayapura:

Prabhupāda: You can keep it there. Can keep it. All right. We have to stop this change, and that is the mission of human life: no more cat, no more dog, no more demigod, but eternally servitor of Kṛṣṇa as cowherd boys, and gopīs, or whatever you like. As trees, as calves, as cows, as Yamunā water, as Vṛndāvana-bhūmi—everything spiritual. Enjoy. Somebody's enjoying spiritual happiness by becoming Yamunā water. Somebody's enjoying as flower of Vṛndāvana, somebody as calf, somebody as cow, somebody as father, as mother, as friend, as conjugal friend, gopīs—all concentrated in Kṛṣṇa. That is Vṛndāvana. Center is Kṛṣṇa. Yaśodā-nandana... What is that? Braja-jana-rañjana... Huh? Yāmuna-tīra-bana-cārī. Rādhā-mādhava kuñja-bihārī, yāmuna-tīra-bana-cārī. So Yamunā is spiritual. Yāmuna-tīra is spiritual. The varieties, the Māyāvādī cannot understand. Āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ patanty adhaḥ (SB 10.2.32). They want varieties, but don't accept spiritual variety. Therefore again material life.

Evening Darsana -- February 19, 1977, Mayapura:

Prabhupāda: (Bengali) Yes. Multi-varieties, all spiritual. Ānanda-cinmaya-rasa-pratibhāvitābhis tābhir ya eva nija-rūpatayā kalābhiḥ... (Bs. 5.37). (Bengali) There is nothing material. Everything ānanda-cinmaya-rasa-pratibhāvitābhis tābhir ya eva nija-rūpatayā kalābhiḥ. Just like Brahmā took away—again He expanded. For one year nobody could understand that it is all expansion of Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa has become calf, Kṛṣṇa has become cow, Kṛṣṇa has become a cowherd boy—everything. Then Brahmā saw, "Oh, I have done mistake." He can immediately expand into many thousands forms. Advaitam acyutam anādim ananta-rūpam ādyaṁ purāṇa-puruṣam... (Bs. 5.33). What is that clipping? Go on reading.

Satsvarūpa: A number of clippings. This is a headline, that a new president, Carter, pardons draft evaders.

Evening Darsana -- February 25, 1977, Mayapura:

Prabhupāda: Oh. Very good. The more you distribute books, the more you are blessed. There is no more or less. Everyone is blessed... (laughter) There is no such discrimination, but still, there is some competition. (laughter) In Vṛndāvana there is no discrimination that gopīs are the highest and others... No. Every one is all right. Still, from neutral point of view, the gopīs are the highest. Caitanya Mahāprabhu..., ramya kaścid upāsanā vraja-vadhu vargabhir ya kalpita,(?) that "There is no standard of worship, what was conceived by the gopīs." Caitanya Mahāprabhu said. There is no distinction between the cowherd boys and the gopīs or the trees and the flowers and the calves and cows. It is the absolute platform. But still, in the spiritual world also there is distinction between living entities. That is variety, spiritual variety, viśeṣavāda.

Room Conversation With Artists and About BTG -- February 25, 1977, Mayapura:

Prabhupāda: Yes.

Rāmeśvara: ...how Kṛṣṇa and the cowherd boys would enter the forest, and the gopīs would be thinking that Kṛṣṇa's feet are walking on hard rocks. So this is just a very simple sketch to show the idea. They're entering the forest, and the gopīs are standing by the houses, watching.

Prabhupāda: That's nice.

Rāmeśvara: We have a plan to increase the number of paintings, starting with the Tenth Canto, because many more artists have been coming, and some of them are becoming qualified to paint for the books. The standard right now is there's a picture of Your Divine Grace and seven paintings. So we want to increase it to a picture of Your Divine Grace and eleven paintings.

Prabhupāda: You can... If you want to increase picture, you can take important words... Just like the verse nivṛtta-tarṣair upagīyamānāt: "One who has no more material hankering..." Paint it in picture. Nivṛtta-tarṣaiḥ, no more hankering for anything material. And there is word, dharma-śīla, "religious." What is that religion? One who has surrendered to Kṛṣṇa, he is religious.

Morning Talk -- April 18, 1977, Bombay:

Prabhupāda: No. (laughs) They know Kṛṣṇa is there. As soon as there is danger... There is torrents of rain. Innocent, they do not know. Kṛṣṇa: "Yes! Come on." They come, "Come on under the umbrella. Let there be rain. Now they are safe." Then Indra could understand, "Oh, the challenge... My Lord..." He was surprised that "A boy, cowherd boy, these people, they're worshiping as God? Oh, that may be..." Brahmā challenged, "This cowherd boy..."

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Didn't they know who Kṛṣṇa was?

Prabhupāda: Who Kṛṣṇa was, they knew it. But "This cowherd boy is Kṛṣṇa?" Just like we are also despising these so-called avatāras. That does not mean we do not know Kṛṣṇa. We know actually Kṛṣṇa. Therefore we despise all these rascals, "avatāra." Their master is Kṛṣṇa they know. They're servants. Otherwise how they are devatā? But the mistake was that "My master has come, has become a cowherd boy and playing with insignificant and boys and girls, and He is my master?" That is going on. Sūrayaḥ. Muhyanti yat sūrayaḥ. You know this, the Bhāgavata? Muhyanti yat sūrayaḥ.

Room Conversation -- October 13, 1977, Vrndavana:

Rāmeśvara: We showed this painting to the princess and told her that if you give something to Kṛṣṇa, He returns it millions of times. (laughter) She liked this. This is the cowherd boys sporting in the mouth of Aghāsura.

Prabhupāda: Very nice.

Rāmeśvara: This is Kṛṣṇa eating dirt, and the boys are telling Mother Yaśodā. So she is forcing Him to open His mouth, and she sees the whole universe.

Prabhupāda: Hare Kṛṣṇa.

Rāmeśvara: This painting shows Kṛṣṇa about to bifurcate the Bakāsura demon. This is Kṛṣṇa's first birthday, Janmāṣṭamī, and Mother Yaśodā and Rohiṇī are bathing Kṛṣṇa, abhiṣeka. This painting is Kṛṣṇa eating butter. (laughter) These are fourteen new paintings for one book. These are the first pictures from the Fiji temple opening. Yaśodā-nandana is performing the abhiṣeka for the small Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa. They have so many metal bowls with different...

Hari-śauri: This abhiṣeka took us seven hours.

Prabhupāda: Fiji Island. (Bengali)

Room Conversation -- October 14, 1977, Vrndavana:

Prabhupāda: The... Kṛṣṇa has become everything. After Brahmā has stolen the original cowherds boys and cows and calves, Kṛṣṇa has expanded Himself. So on account of Kṛṣṇa's expansion, the cowherdsmen got a special attraction. First of all they were angry. The cowherdsmen were on the top of the hill. They did not like to come down. But on account of Kṛṣṇa, the boys were very, very attracted, and they immediately come down with special affection. Is it explained?

Pradyumna: Yes, Śrīla Prabhupāda.

Prabhupāda: It will help? Eh?

Pradyumna: Yes, Śrīla Prabhupāda.

Prabhupāda: So you can do that.

Room Conversation -- October 14, 1977, Vrndavana:

Prabhupāda: Balarāma was surprised, "This māyā may be some rākṣasī-māyā. But how rākṣasī-māyā can influence upon Balarāma? That is not possible. Therefore it must be the māyā of Kṛṣṇa." Therefore He inquired. What is there in the English?

Jayādvaita: "Balarāma inquired from Kṛṣṇa about the actual situation. He said, 'My dear Kṛṣṇa, in the beginning I thought that all these cows, calves and cowherd boys were either great sages and saintly persons or demigods. But at the present it appears that they are actually Your expansions. They are all You. You Yourself are playing as the calves and cows and boys.' " This is later? Before that, "Balarāma had concluded that the extraordinary show of affection was something mystical, either performed by the demigods or some powerful man. Otherwise how could this wonderful change take place? He concluded that this mystical change must have been caused by Kṛṣṇa, whom Balarāma considered His worshipable Personality of Godhead. He thought, 'It was arranged by Kṛṣṇa, and even I could not check its mystic power.' Thus Balarāma understood that all those boys and calves were only expansions of Kṛṣṇa."

Room Conversation -- October 14, 1977, Vrndavana:

Prabhupāda: Do it.

Pradyumna: "Thinking in this way, He was able to see with the eye of transcendental knowledge that all these cows and calves were expansions in the form of Śrī Kṛṣṇa, these calves." (Sanskrit) "These calves, along with the cowherd boys," (Sanskrit) "were Śrī Kṛṣṇa, expansions of Śrī Kṛṣṇa."

Prabhupāda: Then?

Pradyumna:

naite sureśā ṛṣayo na caite
tvam eva bhāsīśa bhid-āśraye 'pi
sarvaṁ pṛthak tvaṁ nigamāt kathaṁ vadety...
(SB 10.13.39)

Prabhupāda: Try to...

Pradyumna: Translate as I...

Prabhupāda: Word to word.

Pradyumna: Yes, (he) īśa-O Lord; (he prabho kṛṣṇa)-O Lord Kṛṣṇa; ete sureśāḥ (gopālaka-rūpa-dharāḥ deva-śreṣṭhāḥ garuḍādayaḥ iti...

Room Conversation -- October 14, 1977, Vrndavana:

Prabhupāda: Word to word. Why you go?

Pradyumna: He says, "All these lords of the demigods..." He says that "The cowherd boys are actually the best of the demigods in the form of cowherd boys." Ete sureśāḥ.

Prabhupāda: No. They were all expansion of Kṛṣṇa.

Pradyumna: (Sanskrit-iti to jñātam) "As was formerly understood by Me." He formerly understood that these were all like demigods.

Prabhupāda: Yes. No, Baladeva could understand before asking.

Pradyumna: Na (idānīṁ tathā na paśyāmi). "I do not see it now. Now I do not see it in the same way. I do not see in such a way now." Ete vā ṛṣayaḥ na: "These are not ṛṣis also." (break)

Jayādvaita: This Bhāgavatam commenting has attracted more men to come here.

Prabhupāda: Hm. That's all.

Page Title:Cowherd boys (Conversations)
Compiler:Visnu Murti, RupaManjari
Created:17 of Aug, 2011
Totals by Section:BG=0, SB=0, CC=0, OB=0, Lec=0, Con=55, Let=0
No. of Quotes:55