Difference between (Lectures, Other)

Expressions researched:
"difference between"

Notes from the compiler: VedaBase query: "difference between" not " no difference between" not "what is the difference between" not "not * difference between" not "no * difference between"

Nectar of Devotion Lectures

The Nectar of Devotion -- Vrndavana, October 17, 1972:

Kṛṣṇa and Arjuna, they're eternal friends. So whenever Kṛṣṇa appears, Arjuna also appears. Kṛṣṇa has got His associates. Arjuna is one of the associates. But the, that is the difference between living entity and God. God remembers and the living entity does not remember. He forgets. And another conclusion is: Why Kṛṣṇa remembers and why the living entity does not remember? The reason is that living entity changes the body, Kṛṣṇa does not change the body. Sambhavāmy ātma-māyayā (BG 4.6). When Kṛṣṇa appears, He appears in His original body, but because He looks like ordinary man, avajānanti māṁ mūḍhā mānuṣīṁ tanum āśritam (BG 9.11), the rascals and fools, they think Kṛṣṇa as ordinary man, human being.

The Nectar of Devotion -- Vrndavana, October 18, 1972:

Śrī-kṛṣṇa-nāmādi. Śrī Kṛṣṇa is present by His name, by His form, by His pastimes, by His paraphernalia, by His qualities. Anything about Kṛṣṇa is non-different. Kṛṣṇa and Kṛṣṇa's name, it is the same. There is no difference. In the materialistic view, there is difference between the substance and the name. Just like water. If you are thirsty, simply if I chant, "Water, water, water," it will not quench your thirst. You require the substance, water. So similarly, a, a person's photograph or a statue is different from the person. If there is a photograph of a certain gentleman and if you want to do business with the photograph, it is not possible. You'll have to seek for the actual person. But in case of Kṛṣṇa, it is not like that. Kṛṣṇa, the person, and Kṛṣṇa's name, Hare Kṛṣṇa, the same thing. It is not that we are chanting "Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa" and this Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is different.

The Nectar of Devotion -- Bombay, December 28, 1972:

Therefore there is no loss. His next life as human being is guaranteed. Even if he's fallen down. But the others, who does not take to Kṛṣṇa consciousness, doing his own duty, but he will get a body according to his karma. Not... That, that is the difference between the karmīs and the devotee. Devotee, even if he is not successful to execute the devotional... perfectly, but whatever he has done, ten percent, twenty percent, fifty percent, that is his asset. It will never be lost. That is being stated. Go on.

The Nectar of Devotion -- Vrndavana, October 27, 1972:

Yesterday one so-called jñānī came to me, and he challenged me that "Swamijī, formerly the Christians used to convert the Hindus and the Muhammadans used to convert the Hindus into Muhammadanism or Christianism. Now you are converting the Christians into Hinduism. Then where is the difference between their activities and your activities?" So this fool does not know this is not making a person from Christian to Hindu. This is not the process. We are not interested. I never said in any meeting in the Western countries that "Hindu religion is better than your Christian religion. You give up your Christian religion and come to Hindu religion." No, that was not my propaganda. There are many old students here present. They may remember. I never made propaganda.

The Nectar of Devotion -- Bombay, January 10, 1973:

Now, this material ocean, it has got limit. It cannot increase unlimitedly. That is not possible. Otherwise, how you could build these houses on the beach? No, it is ordered not to come forward beyond this line. But the spiritual bliss type ocean is increasing. Ānandāmbudhi-vardhanam. That is the difference between spiritual bliss and material enjoyment. Material enjoyment is limited. You cannot enjoy unlimitedly. That is not possible. Just for few seconds, for few minutes, or for few hours, then it becomes disgusting. That is the material enjoyment. But the spiritual enjoyment, spiritual bliss is different. That is simply increasing. So, therefore in the śāstra it is said, ramante yoginaḥ anante (CC Madhya 9.29). Those who are yogis, bhakta-yogi, they enjoy unlimitedly. Rāmante yoginaḥ anante, and that is satyānande. That ānanda bliss is real bliss. This is artificial. This is perverted reflection.

The Nectar of Devotion -- Vrndavana, October 29, 1972:

Just like Arjuna is fighting. That energy is inspired by Kṛṣṇa. So Arjuna took it, "I must fight. Kṛṣṇa wants it. I must satisfy Kṛṣṇa." This is spiritual energy. Just see. The other party, they are also fighting in the same energy, but they have no Kṛṣṇa consciousness. So to act in Kṛṣṇa consciousness is nothing wonderful. Simply you have to divert the energy for Kṛṣṇa. This is Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Everyone has got energy, but when it is enacted for one's sense gratification, that is material. And when it is enacted for the satisfaction of Kṛṣṇa, that is spiritual. Try to understand the difference between material and spiritual. Go on.

The Nectar of Devotion -- Vrndavana, October 30, 1972:

So this nāma is also another incarnation of Kṛṣṇa. Nāma-rūpe kali-kāle kṛṣṇa-avatāra. Name is... Because name and Kṛṣṇa is not different. Abhinnatvād nāma-nāminoḥ. There is no difference. Here, in the material world, there is difference between the name and the substance, but advaya-jñāna, in the Absolute world there is no such distinction. The name and the person, the same, identical. So actually, when we chant Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra, we directly associate with Kṛṣṇa, because name is the incarnation of Kṛṣṇa. Nāma-rūpe kṛṣṇa-avatāra. Therefore, if we are sensible, then we should take very much respectful attitude to the name, because name and Kṛṣṇa, the same. Suppose Kṛṣṇa comes here.

The Nectar of Devotion -- Vrndavana, November 3, 1972:

That is spiritual pleasure. In the spiritual world there is competition, but when one is advanced, the competitor become happy: "Oh, he's so advanced. I could not do so." There is no enviousness. In the material world, if one is advanced, other, who is not advanced, he's envious. This is the difference between spiritual pleasure and material pleasure. It is not difficult to understand. Material pleasure means if you are happy, I become unhappy; if you are unhappy, then I become happy. This is material pleasure. And spiritual pleasure means by seeing your happiness, I become happy. By seeing... But there is no distress in the spiritual world. Simply by seeing the happiness of other devotee, another devotee becomes happier.

The Nectar of Devotion -- Vrndavana, November 9, 1972:

He remains outside. Just like if we have got capacity to enter into the sun planet then we can enter. Otherwise we remain in the sunshine. To remain in the sunshine and to enter into the sun planet is not the same thing. Although the sun and the sunshine are light, illumination, still there is difference between the sun and the sunshine. Similarly, impersonal Brahman effulgence and Vaikuṇṭha planets, both of them, absolute, but still Brahman effulgence and entering into the Vaikuṇṭha planets or Goloka Vṛndāvana planets are not the same. Or, in other words, those are not, those who are not devotees, but impersonalists, they can stay outside the Vaikuṇṭha planets in the Brahman effulgence, but they cannot enter into the Vaikuṇṭha planets.

The Nectar of Devotion -- Vrndavana, November 12, 1972:

Just like the gopīs, they took shelter of Kṛṣṇa superficially by lusty desire. But it was not lusty desire. It was pure love. But in the material world same thing will be considered as lusty desire. So where is the difference between love of God and lusty desire? Because ordinary men will consider that gopīs were attracted by Kṛṣṇa in lusty desire. So Caitanya-caritāmṛta Kaja, Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja Gosvāmī, he says that there is difference between material lusty desire and love of God. He has compared that love of God is just like gold, and lusty desire is just like iron. So the difference between lusty desire and love of God is: in the material world, which is going on as love, that is lusty desire.

The Nectar of Devotion -- Vrndavana, November 12, 1972:

Because the party, both the parties are interested in individual sense gratification. But here, the gopīs, or any devotees, they want to satisfy the senses of Kṛṣṇa. That is the difference between material lusty desire and love of Godhead. Ātmendriya-prīti-vāñchā tāra nāma kāma (CC Adi 4.165). When one desires one's own sense gratification... In the material world, suppose a boy loves a girl and a girl loves a boy. That is personal sense gratification. As soon as the personal sense gratification is not satisfied, immediately the so-called love is divorced. No more love. In the Kali-yuga, it is stated in the śāstras, dāmpatye ratim eva hi. In... Love between husband and wife will be disturbed as soon as there is no satisfaction of sex desires.

Sri Caitanya-caritamrta Lectures

Lecture on CC Adi-lila 1.11 -- Mayapur, April 4, 1975:

"It manifests sometimes and again disappears." This is called material world, and because it is never eternally sustained, therefore it is called māyā. It is not false, as the Māyāvādī philosophers says, "It is false." It is not false. Lord Viṣṇu is taking so much care to create this material world. How you can say it is false? It is not false? It is fact, but it is temporary. This is the difference between the material world and the spiritual world. In the spiritual world there is no creation and no destruction. In the material world, there is creation and destruction.

Lecture on CC Adi-lila 1.16 -- Mayapur, April 9, 1975:

Antavanta ime dehā (BG 2.18), Kṛṣṇa says. This body is antavat. Antavat means it will be finished. It grew at a certain date, and it will increase, it will stay, then it will dwindle, then it will produce some by-products and then vanish. This is called ṣaḍ-vikāra, six kinds of changes of the material body. Of the spiritual body there is no such change. That is the difference between spiritual body and material body. Therefore it is called sat. Sat means eternal; there is no change. Just like Kṛṣṇa. His body is sac-cid-ānanda; therefore He never grows old. You'll never find a picture of Kṛṣṇa that He has grown old. No. There is no change. Advaitam acyutam anādim ananta-rūpam ādyaṁ purāṇa-puruṣam (Bs. 5.33). Purāṇa-puruṣam means the oldest person. Because Kṛṣṇa is the origin of everything... Sometimes they consider, "Because God is very old, therefore He must have big, big beard and..." That is imagination.

Lecture on CC Adi-lila 7.108 -- San Francisco, February 18, 1967:

The material conception, they cannot go further. They can simply think of the greatest: the sky. That's all. "As great as the sky." But we Vaiṣṇava, we see that Kṛṣṇa has within His mouth millions of skies. So who is greatest? Kṛṣṇa is greatest or the sky is greatest? This is the difference between the Māyāvādī philosophers. Just like Kṛṣṇa, when He was boy, He was eating clay. His mother asked, "Oh, just open Your mouth. I want to see what You are eating." And Kṛṣṇa showed him (her) that millions of planets and millions of skies are within the mouth. So He is greatest, who can show that "Millions of skies are within Me." He is greatest. That means greatest in opulence of strength, greatest in strength, greatest in wealth, great..., everything greatest. He is greatest. That is Caitanya Mahāprabhu's... He says Brahman means the greatest, and greatest means one who is greatest in six opulences.

Lecture on CC Adi-lila 7.109-114 -- San Francisco, February 20, 1967:

"Oh, I was forgetful in my that delusion. Yes." So your "I" is always there. This "I," this "I," remembering, is purified. So ego has to be purified. Ego has not to be killed. And that cannot be killed, na hanyate hanyamāne śarīre (BG 2.20), because it is eternal. How can you kill ego? It is not possible. So you have to purify your ego. The difference between is between false ego and real ego. Just like ahaṁ brahmāsmi, aham... "I am Brahman." Oh, this is also ego. This is, this Vedic version that "I am Brahman. I am not this matter," so this ego is purified ego, that "I am this." So that "I" is always there. Either in illusion or delusion or dream or in healthy stage, the "I" is always there.

Lecture on CC Adi-lila 7.109-114 -- San Francisco, February 20, 1967:

Prabhupāda: No. Kṛṣṇa is not atom. Kṛṣṇa is big. The biggest. We are atom. That is the difference between Kṛṣṇa and ourself. We are atom.

Bhaktijana: Kṛṣṇa takes the, er, takes the spiritual matter from the food and leaves us the physical matter...?

Prabhupāda: No. He takes, He takes...

Bhaktijana: When we offer up...

Prabhupāda: ...when He takes, He does not take anything material. He takes spiritual.

Bhaktijana: And leaves the material for us...?

Lecture on CC Adi-lila 7.118-121 -- San Francisco, February 24, 1967:

It is not possible. Therefore ignorance... Here it is stated, avidya-karma-samjñānya. This ignorance cannot cover God. That is nonsense. Ignorance covers the God's energy, living entity. Therefore we say that "We are God, but now we have become dog." That is another ignorance. He's never God. He's the energy of God. This is the difference between Māyāvāda philosophy and Vaiṣṇava philosophy. We should always know that we are energies of God, and because we are energies, we are, there are so many things qualitatively equal. Just the same example: The warmth and the illumination of the sunshine and the sun planet is practically the same, but the sun is never covered by cloud, but the sunshine is covered—sometimes, not always.

Lecture on CC Adi-lila 7.118-121 -- San Francisco, February 24, 1967:

Oh, Caitanya Mahāprabhu regrets that such a great difference between God and the living entity, and Śaṅkarācārya has described that we are God? That means he has diminished the opulence and value of God. Suppose if I call a third-class man "His Majesty," then what is that? This word, "His Majesty," is misused. Just like they are saying, daridra-nārāyaṇa. The foolish Ramakrishna mission has, I mean to say, discovered a word, daridra-nārāyaṇa, "poor Nārāyaṇa." Nārāyaṇa, who is the husband of many thousands of goddess of fortune, He has become poor. Just see the theory. You can ask Nikhilananda what is the meaning of daridra-nārāyaṇa. They have discovered. Vivekananda has discovered. Nārāyaṇa has become poor.

Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 6.151-154 -- Gorakhpur, February 14, 1971:

So that is His challenge, that if the Supreme Personality of Godhead is full of ānanda, as it is stated in all the Vedic scriptures, especially in Vedānta-sūtra, ānandamayo 'bhyāsāt, then how He can be imperson? There is no possibility. And He gives other Vedic evidences also. Apāṇi-pādo javano grahītā, that He has no hand; still, He accepts whatever is given to Him. So there is no possibility of the Absolute Truth's being imperson. He is person. Hena bhagavāne tumi kaha nirākāra.

svābhāvika tina śakti yei brahma haya

niḥśaktika kari' tāṅre karaha niścaya

The impersonalists say that the Brahman has no enemy. The difference between Vaiṣṇava philosophy... (aside:) What they are talking? They are not coming here?

Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 8.128 -- Bhuvanesvara, January 24, 1977:

Prabhupāda: So you are suffering. God is not suffering.

Guest (5): No. God is not suffering.

Prabhupāda: Then, therefore, difference between you and God. You are suffering god and he's enjoying God.

Guest (5): We are enjoying the prārabdha, is it not?

Prabhupāda: Yes.

Guest (5): Pain and pleasure is part of God.

Prabhupāda: Yes. That prārabdha. That is the... But God is not...

Guest (5): This is not argument. I have no equal.(?)

Prabhupāda: God is not under the laws of karma.

Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 8.128 -- Bhuvanesvara, January 24, 1977:

Prabhupāda: Yes.

Guest (3): That much clear answer to his question, the difference between the all-pervading Lord...

Prabhupāda: Yes.

Guest (3): ...and the individual soul.

Prabhupāda: Yes.

Guest (3): And also He has said that Paramātmā, He is Puruṣottama, greater than the soul. The soul is also...

Prabhupāda: Puruṣa. Soul is described as puruṣa.

Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 20.102 -- Baltimore, July 7, 1976:

That is the statement given by Kṛṣṇa, that janma-mṛtyu-jarā-vyādhi duḥkha-doṣānudarśanam (BG 13.9). If you are intelligent, you should take up these four problems of life as very dangerous.

So they have no knowledge; therefore they avoid these questions. But we take up these questions very seriously. That is the difference between other movement and Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement. Our movement is how to solve these problems. The śāstra says that if you cannot solve these problems for your children... That is real contraceptive method. Pitā na sa syāj jananī na sā syāt na mocayed yaḥ samupeta-mṛtyum. If you cannot protect your child from the imminent death and repetition of birth, then don't become a father, don't become a mother. This is śāstra's injunction. If you are actually father and mother, you should give him such educational knowledge that this is the last birth. Next he'll not have any such body subjected to birth and death. That is possible.

Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 20.104 -- New York, July 10, 1976:

Here in this material world we are advanced in so-called civilization, but we are very much attached to this body. This is misconception. This is called illusion. This is, the dog is also thinking like that: "I am this body." So where is the difference? If the dog thinks, "I am this body," "I am Indian..." I think, "I am Indian"; Americans thinks he is... So where is the difference between the dog and me? There is no difference. Simply by dressing nicely... If you dress a dog very nicely, does it mean that he becomes a human being? A dressed dog, that's all. Dog dancing. So śāstra says that if one is still in the bodily concepts of life, then he's no better than animal. Yasyātma-buddhiḥ kuṇape tri-dhātuke (SB 10.84.13). Tri-dhātuke. This body is made of, according to Āyurvedic knowledge, it is body development of three dhātus: kapha, pitta, vāyu.

Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 20.110-111 -- Bombay, November 17, 1975:

Originally the Kṛṣṇa's energy is cit-śakti. Cit-śakti means spiritual energy, originally. Everything... Just like the sun and the sunshine. The sunshine originally shining, but when it is covered by cloud it is not shining. Within the cloud the real sunshine is there. So this material energy means it is covered by ignorance. This is the difference between spiritual energy and material energy. There is no two energies. Energy is one: viṣṇu-śakti parā proktā. That is parā, spiritual energy. Kṣetrajñākhyā tathā parā. Kṣetrajñākhyā tathā parā. Kṣetrajña means jīva-śakti, one who knows kṣetra and kṣetrajña. This subject matter is there in the Thirteenth Chapter of Bhagavad-gītā. Kṣetra-kṣetrajñayor jñānam. So when Arjuna inquired, kṣetra-jñam, Kṛṣṇa replied, idaṁ śarīraṁ kṣetram abhidhīyate: "This body is kṣetra, and one who knows this body..." Just like I say, "It is my body," so I am kṣetrajña.

Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 20.110-111 -- Bombay, November 17, 1975:

They never distin... Vidyā-vinaya-sampanne brāhmaṇe gavi hastini, śuni caiva śva-pāke... (BG 5.18). Because there was no bodily concept of life. This is India's prerogative. But now we are also developing the bodily concept of life and becoming one of the animals. There is no distinction. If one is in bodily concept of life he is no better than animal. It may be... The dogs are fighting that "I am dog, and you are a different dog." If the man also fights on that same principle, then where is the difference between dog and man?

So this can be understood when actually... Prahlāda Mahārāja was surprised when his teacher was teaching him how to deal with enemies. He was surprised: "Who is enemy?" So a Vaiṣṇava has no enemy. Vaiṣṇava is friend. Patitānāṁ pāvanebhyo.

Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 20.112 -- New York, July 20, 1976:

There is no such thing as automatically. Same as you, when you paint a flower, you have to employ so much energy, so Kṛṣṇa has also do that, the same energy. But it is because it is so natural for Kṛṣṇa, svābhāvikī jñāna-bala-kriyā ca. Simply by His willing, it is happening. So He hasn't got to endeavor for it. That is the difference between Kṛṣṇa's activities and our activity, although we have got the tendency at least. Because we are part and parcel of Kṛṣṇa, we have got the same quality. Kṣetrajñākhyā tathā parā. Kṣetrajña means living entities. They are also of the same potency. So then what is the difference? The difference is that the kṣetrajña, the living entities, are prone to become under illusion. That is the difference. We are small, very small; therefore we are prone to be extinguished. Just like the fire and the fire spark. The spark, when it is out of the fire, it is extinguished.

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

We, with our tiny brain, we shall make research and make things topsy-turvy and pass on as great scientist doctor. This is our position. Therefore śāstra says that "You rascals, do not waste your time in that way." Acintyāḥ khalu ye bhāvā na tāṁs tarkeṇa yojayet.

So according to the Vedic system, the difference between atheist and theist is that the atheist means who do not believe in the version of the śāstra. Yaḥ śāstra-vidhim utsṛjya vartate kāma-kārataḥ na sa siddhim avāpnoti (BG 16.23). So our, this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is not blind. Don't think wrongly. We are confident. We sometimes challenge big, big scientists. On what ground? Not whimsically, but on the ground of śāstra. So we may not please everyone, but we cannot go out of this scope. We know that in the moon planet, in the Mars planet and all other planets, Jupiter and others, there are living entities, there is a predominating deity in each and every planet.

Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 20.137-146 -- Bombay, February 24, 1971:

Now you have to utilize it, develop it. The aim and objective is already there. But in the Vedic literature they are very explicitly presented. That is the difference. The Christians, they agree, "God is great." We also agree, "God is great." But how God is great, that is explained in the Vedic literature. That is the difference between... There is no difference of opinion if one is actually religious. God created this world, God is the supreme father, God is great. This is accepted by everyone, either Hindu or Muslim or Christian. There is no doubt about it. But in the Vedic literature you'll understand how God is great, how He is acting as father. That's all. Even God's name is there, God's address is there. Do you agree to this point? Yes, that is the difference. Any other scriptures, if you ask what is the name of God, what is His address, what He is doing, they cannot give you. But we can give.

Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 20.137-146 -- Bombay, February 24, 1971:

Then you'll see God: "Here is God." The asuras, they'll never accept God, but when they are killed by God, they understand that "Yes, there is God." That is the difference between asuras and devas. The devas, they accept God while living, and the asuras accept God by being killed. That's all. And who can escape killing? Is there any scientist, is there any philosopher, any great man who can stop being killed by the cruel death? Is there any man? That is stated in the Bhagavad-gītā, mṛtyuḥ sarva-haraś cāham (BG 10.34). "I am mṛtyu." Mṛtyu means death, which takes away everything at a time. Just like "I am very rich man," "I am very big industrialist," "I am prime minister," this, that, so many things.

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

This is only perverted reflection of the real love, which is reciprocated with Kṛṣṇa. Here there is no possibility of love. This is all lust. But we call it love because it is just a reflection. Just a real... That is real, and this is unreal. Just like shadow and reality. There is gulf of difference between the shadow and reality. So whatever love we see in this world, that love is only a perverted reflection of that real love with Kṛṣṇa.

Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 20.164-173 -- New York, December 13, 1966:

Svayaṁ-rūpa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead Himself, He is called svayaṁ-rūpa, His personal feature. Then tad-ekātmā. Tad-ekātma-rūpa means not exactly the same person, but almost the same. Tad-ekātma-rūpa. And āveśa. Āveśa means that empowered. There is always difference between the individual soul and the Supreme Absolute Soul. When the individual soul is specially empowered by the Supreme Soul, that is called āveśa. He can act almost like God. We accept, according to this āveśa, āveśa-avatāra incarnation, authorized incarnation, we accept, my Guru Mahārāja accepted Lord Jesus Christ and Hazrat Muhammad, this āveśa incarnation, almost the same power.

Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 20.298 -- New York, December 20, 1966:

A very nice example. Just like if you mix up with milk something sour and it turns into yogurt or curd, similarly, the difference between Śiva and Lord Kṛṣṇa is like that. He is Kṛṣṇa, but because he is mixed up with this material energy, therefore he is something like that yogurt. So yogurt, the constitutional position of yogurt is nothing but milk, but it cannot become milk again. Once turned into yogurt, there is no possibility of turning into milk. Neither you can derive the benefit of milk from yogurt. Yogurt is used for some purpose; milk is used for some other purpose. Similarly, those who are worshipers of Śiva, they cannot derive the same benefit as persons who are in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Just like you cannot derive the same benefit by drinking, by taking yogurt.

Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 20.298 -- New York, December 20, 1966:

Therefore Viṣṇu and Śiva, the difference is that Viṣṇu is never in touch of this illusory energy, or material energy, but Śiva is in intimate touch with the material energy. That is the difference between Śiva and Viṣṇu.

śivaḥ śakti-yuktaḥ śaśvat

triliṅgo guṇa-saṁvṛtaḥ

vaikārikas taijasaś ca

tāmasaś cety ahaṁ tridhā

harir hi nirguṇaḥ sākṣāt

puruṣaḥ prakṛteḥ paraḥ

Now, Hari, Viṣṇu is beyond this material world. That is accepted by Śaṅkarācārya. Nārāyaṇaḥ paraḥ avyaktāt. Nārāyaṇa, Hari... Although Śaṅkarācārya is impersonalist, but he has accepted Nārāyaṇa, Hari, the Supreme Lord, as beyond this material infection. Nārāyaṇaḥ paraḥ avyaktāt. And he has also agreed to accept Kṛṣṇa. Sa bhagavān svayaṁ kṛṣṇaḥ.

Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 20.313-317 -- New York, December 21, 1966:

Now, I have already told you. Prāya means He is almost like Kṛṣṇa. Because Kṛṣṇa is cent percent, He is 94%. Therefore it is said, kṛṣṇa-sama prāya. All these Viṣṇu-mūrti, They are kṛṣṇa-sama prāya, or almost like Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa aṁśī. The difference is that Kṛṣṇa is the original teṅho aṁśa and this Viṣṇu is plenary expansion. This is the difference between Viṣṇu and Kṛṣṇa. How it is? Somebody may say, "Oh, Lord Caitanya is devotee of Kṛṣṇa, and you are all devotee of Kṛṣṇa. Therefore you are saying that Kṛṣṇa is the original Personality of Godhead." No. In the Bhagavad-gītā you will find, Kṛṣṇa Himself says, mattaḥ parataraṁ nānyat asti kiñcid: (BG 7.7) "There is no more supreme than Me." "All right, He may say personally. He may advertise Himself."

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

. Foolish living entities, under the spell of illusory energy, they have accepted this false exchange of material elements as reality. This is called materialism. One who has accepted this false representation of reality, they are called materialists. And one who knows the real position of this material world, he's spiritualist. That is the difference between materialism and spiritualism. So this, this material representation, false representation, are temporary. The Vaiṣṇava philosophy, they do not say false. Why they will say false? God is real. His energy is real. You cannot say material energy as unreal, because God is there, and His energy is there. Just like the fire is there, the heat is there, the temperature is there. You cannot say temperature false. It may be manifested at some time. Or it may not manifest. Just like the temperature of sun is not perceived nowadays because it is due to the (?) cold season. But the temperature is the same, but it is manifested during June-July.

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

Everything is made of earth, water, temporary things. Just like a doll. Doll is the... You find, you sometimes find in store, storefront of big mercantile firm, there is nice girl standing with dress. So that is kuhakam, illusion. That is illusion. Those who know, "Oh, it is a doll." Similarly, that is the difference between a man in knowledge and man in ignorance. They are accepting this material doll as reality. That is materialism. And those who are in knowledge, they know, "No, it is doll." The reality is different. So sadā nirasta, there is no, kuhakam... That doll illusion is not there. Sadā nirasta-kuhakam. There, satyaṁ param, and there exists the Supreme Truth.

Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 21.1-10 -- New York, January 3, 1967:

The land is also eternal, blissful and full of knowledge; the inhabitants are also eternal, blissful and full of knowledge; and the presiding Deity expansion of Kṛṣṇa, Nārāyaṇa, He is also eternal, blissful and full of knowledge. This is called absolute. Here in the material world we have got difference. I am spirit soul, but there is difference between me and my body; there is difference between me and this material world. But there, everything is spiritual. Therefore there is no difference. The impersonalists, they cannot understand. Because everything is spiritual, they think that there is no variegatedness. But from this description of Caitanya-caritāmṛta and other scriptures like Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Bhagavad-gītā, we can understand that the spiritual sky is exactly like this, but that is spiritual and this is material.

Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 22.6 -- New York, January 8, 1967:

From Saṅkarṣaṇa, all kinds of incarnation comes. In this way we have already discussed to some extent in the previous chapter. Vibhinnāṁśa jīva-tāṅra śaktite gaṇana. And the separated expansions, the living entities, they are counted as a different energy of the Supreme Lord. Just like there is difference between the heat and the fire. Fire is with heat, but heat is, although has got the fire's qualification, it is not fire. Heat you can touch, but fire you cannot touch. Just like there is some distinction. But there is no distinction also because fire is also hot and heat is also hot. But still, there is distinction between fire and heat. So heat, what is the position of heat? Heat is energy of fire. Similarly, although we are expansion of the Supreme Lord, we jīvas, living entities, we are just like heat, not fire. Fire is Kṛṣṇa.

Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 22.14-20 -- New York, January 10, 1967:

Now, the Bhāgavata instructs that even a person in high status of knowledge cannot get success without being taken shelter of acyuta-bhāva. Acyuta. Acyuta means Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa's another name is Acyuta. So Acyutānanda means one who takes pleasure in Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa's name is Acyuta. Acyuta means infallible, who never falls. That is the difference between... Kṛṣṇa is Brahman. We are also Brahman, but we are not acyuta. We are cyuta. Cyuta means falling down. We have got the tendency of falling down. Kṛṣṇa never falls down; therefore His name is Acyuta. So acyuta-bhāva-varjitaṁ jñānam amalam. If you go on speculating on knowledge, but if that knowledge is minus Kṛṣṇa, then na śobhate. It will... It is not very nice thing because it will not give you the desired result. So Bhāgavata says even a man advanced in knowledge, he cannot get the desired result without acyuta-bhāva. Acyuta-bhāva means... Acyuta means Kṛṣṇa, and bhāva means His relationship, sentiment.

Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 22.31-33 -- New York, January 16, 1967:

So yasya prabhā prabhavato jagad-aṇḍa-koṭi (Bs. 5.40). In that shining, this material world, the spiritual world, they are resting. So impersonalists, they are concerned with the shining, that's all. The difference between the personalists and impersonalists is that impersonalists, they take that shining as final. But the personalists, they take, "No. Kṛṣṇa is final." That is their difference of opinion. Otherwise, both of them in the spiritual realm. And so far Kṛṣṇa is the cause of brahma-jyotir, there are many evidences from Vedic literature. In Īśopaniṣad and other Upaniṣads, in Bhagavad-gītā also, the Lord says, brahmaṇaḥ ahaṁ pratiṣṭhā: "I am the source of brahma-jyotir." You'll find in the Fourteenth Chapter, last verse, brahmaṇaḥ ahaṁ jyoti. Is there any Bhagavad-gītā? You find out Fourteenth Chapter, last verse.

Sri Isopanisad Lectures

Sri Isopanisad, Mantra 1 -- Los Angeles, May 3, 1970:

The demons, they are against God. They don't believe in God. So Lord Buddha propagated, "Yes, there is no God. But what I say, you follow." "Yes, sir." But he is God. This is cheating. Yes. They do not believe in God, but they believe in Buddha, and Buddha is God. Keśava-dhṛta-buddha-śarīra jaya jagadīśa hare. So that is the difference between a demon and a devotee. A devotee sees that how Kṛṣṇa, Keśava, is cheating these rascals. The devotee can understand. But the demons, they think, "Oh, we have got a nice leader. He does not believe in God." (laughter) You see? Sammohāya sura-dviṣām (SB 1.3.24). The exact Sanskrit word is stated in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. You have seen, those who have read: sammohāya, for bewildering sura-dviṣām. Sura-dviṣām means persons who are envious of the Vaiṣṇavas. The atheist class, demons, they are always envious of the devotees. That is the law of nature. You see this father.

Sri Isopanisad, Mantra 7 -- Los Angeles, May 10, 1970:

So their ekatvam, Māyāvāda philosophy's ekatvam, oneness, and our ekatvam of oneness—a little different. They say that the energy's false; the Brahman is real. Brahmā satyaṁ jagan mithyā. We say that because Brahman is truth, therefore His energy's also truth. That is the difference between Vaiṣṇava philosophy and Māyāvāda philosophy. We cannot say that energy is false. Energy is temporary; this external energy is temporary, not false. Although... Suppose we have got some trouble. There are so many kinds of troubles pertaining to the body, mind, external affairs. But that trouble comes and goes. But when the trouble is there, it is true. We feel the consequence. We cannot say it is false. The Māyāvādī philosophers say that it is false. But when he's troubled, why he's so much disturbed? So that is not false.

Sri Isopanisad, Mantra 9-10 -- Los Angeles, May 14, 1970:

"Oh, I have got this bank balance," you are happy simply by seeing it, then you are kṛpaṇā. You do not know how to utilize. And one who has got one million dollars and utilizing it and making millions and millions dollars, he is intelligent. Similarly, this body is invaluable. One who is utilizing it for culture of spiritual knowledge, he is brāhmaṇa. That is the difference between brāhmaṇa and kṛpaṇā. And one who is utilizing this body like cats and dogs for sense gratification, he is miser. He does not know how to utilize one million dollars. Everyone does not know. But it is the duty of the father, duty of the state, duty of the teachers to educate from the very beginning. Bhāgavata says that one should not become a father, one should not become a mother, one should not become a teacher, one should not become a king unless they are able to elevate their dependents to this spiritual knowledge, which can save him from repeated birth and death.

Sri Brahma-samhita Lectures

Lecture on Brahma-samhita, Verse 29 -- Los Angeles, November 5, 1968:

There are also trees, but those trees are not like this tree. The trees are kalpa-vṛkṣa. Here you can take one kind of fruit from one tree, but there, from the trees you can ask anything, and you get it because those trees are all spiritual. That is the difference between matter and spirit. Cintāmaṇi-prakara-sadmasu kalpa-vṛkṣa lakṣā-vṛteṣu (Bs. 5.29). Such kind of trees, there are many, not one or two. All the places are covered by all those trees. Cintāmaṇi-prakara-sadmasu kalpa-vṛkṣa-lakṣāvṛteṣu surabhīr abhipālayantam. And the Lord is very much fond of cowherding. And the cows there, they are called surabhīs. Surabhī cow means you can milk as many times and as much as you like. Surabhīr abhipālayantam.

Lecture on Brahma-samhita, Verse 32 Excerpt -- Los Angeles, August 14, 1972:

And because He is complete, He eats and again keeps the thing complete. Pūrṇasya pūrṇam ādāya pūrṇam evāvaśiṣyate (Iso Invocation). He can take everything complete, again it remains complete. Just like when we take food, we finish it. No more. But Kṛṣṇa can eat; at the same time, the things may remain as it is. Otherwise where is the difference between ourself and Kṛṣṇa? That is the difference.

aṅgāni yasya sakalendriya-vṛtti-manti

paśyanti pānti kalayanti ciraṁ jaganti

(Bs. 5.32)

Why it is so? Ānanda-cinmaya-sad-ujjvala-vigrahasya. Vigraha, His form is not like our form. When in the Vedas it is stated, "formless," that means His form is not like our form—not that He is formless. The form is of different quality.

Lecture on Brahma-samhita, Lecture -- New York, July 28, 1971:

Therefore body means the senses. They want to satisfy the senses. And then mental platform, they are satisfying the mind by philosophical speculation or some poetry. So Rabindra..., Rabindranath Tagore, he belongs to the mental platform. So one has to transcend the bodily platform, mental platform, intellectual platform and come to the simple spiritual platform. That is kevalayā. Kevalayā means simply, without any adulteration of bodily, mental and intellectual activities. That is pure devotional service. So Rabindranath Tagore belonged to the mental platform—a little bit higher than persons who are on the bodily platform. But perfection of life comes when one comes to the spiritual platform. That we are giving directly, Kṛṣṇa. Immediately. That is the difference between Rabindranath Tagore and our activities.

Festival Lectures

Nrsimha-caturdasi Lord Nrsimhadeva's Appearance Day -- Boston, May 1, 1969:

Atheist is so unkind, cruel, that he is prepared to kill his own son, beloved son, five years old. That is atheism. And theism, the father who tortured him so much. So after the death of his father, he's praying to Nṛsiṁha-deva, "Please excuse my father." This is theism. So that is the difference between Kṛṣṇa consciousness and ordinary consciousness. They're very kind, everyone. Vāñcha kalpatarubhyaś ca kṛpā-sindhubhya eva ca. You utter this prayer, krpa-sindhubhya eva ca. Vaiṣṇava is the ocean of mercy. There is no end. As you cannot, I mean to say, draw all the waters from the ocean, it is not possible. Similarly, a Vaiṣṇava, a devotee, ocean of mercy. You can draw from it as much mercy as you like; still, it is full.

Nrsimha-caturdasi Lord Nrsimhadeva's Appearance Day -- Bombay, May 5, 1974:

That is the defect. They challenge always God. The dissension between the father and the son was that the son was believer in God, Kṛṣṇa, and the father was not. So at the end the father saw what is God in the form of death. At that time he could not save him. So that is the difference between theist and atheist. The atheist always challenges, "Where is God? Can you show me?" Well, you will see. Not now. Just at the maturation of your all sinful activities, when death will come, you will see Him. This is going on.

So it is very instructive lesson, Prahlāda Mahārāja. Now it is getting late. Otherwise, I would have recited some of the verses recited by Śrī Prahlāda Mahārāja. Prahlāda Mahārāja is one of our gurus. There are twelve gurus, or mahājana.

Gundica Marjanam Cleansing of the Gundica Temple, Lecture (the day before Ratha-yatra) -- San Francisco, July 4, 1970:

That is Śaṅkara-sampradāya. We Vaiṣṇava sampradāya, Caitanya Mahāprabhu's sampradāya, our process is little different. Although we have nothing to do with this material world, but Caitanya Mahāprabhu's sampradāya gives facility that we can make the best use of this material world. That is the difference between the Śaṅkara philosophy and Vaiṣṇava philosophy. Śaṅkara philosophy says that this world is false. We Vaiṣṇava philosophers, we say no. This world is not false because it is emanation from the real, the absolute real. How it can be false? It has got its proper use. One who does not know its proper use, for them it is false. They are after something false. But those who know the value of this world... Hari-sambhandhi-vastunaḥ. Everything has got some connection with the Supreme Lord. Īśāvāsyam idaṁ sarvam (ISO 1). Everything is in connection or has relationship with the Supreme Lord. That is our philosophy.

Ratha-yatra -- Philadelphia, July 12, 1975:

Kṛṣṇa is attractive to every living entities, not only human being, even the animals, birds, bees, trees, flowers, fruits, water. That is the picture of Vṛndāvana. This is material world. We have no experience of the spiritual world. But we can get an glimpse idea, what is spirit and what is matter. Just try to understand the difference between a living man and a dead body. The dead body means as soon as the living force within the body is gone, then it is dead matter, useless. And so long the living force is there, the body is very important. So as we experience in this body, there is something as dead matter and something as living force, similarly, there are two worlds: the material world and the spiritual world. We living entities, every one of us, we belong to the spiritual world.

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

How it is possible that He spoke this Bhagavad-gītā yoga to sun-god?" So what was the reply? The reply was this, that "You also appear many, many times; I also appear many, many times. The difference is that I can remember. You cannot remember."

That is the difference between God and ordinary living creature, that we are also taking birth after birth. There are 8,400,000 species of life, and so long we are in this material world, we are cycling round this birth after birth. So Kṛṣṇa's birth is not like that. Therefore Kṛṣṇa says, janma karma me divyaṁ yo jānāti tattvataḥ (BG 4.9). Tattvataḥ means in truth. Not superficially. Scientifically, one who knows, he can get immediately liberation. And how one can understand the same truths? That is also explained in the Bhagavad-gītā. Bhaktyā mām abhijānāti yāvan yaś cāsmi tattvataḥ (BG 18.55). Again the same thing, tattvataḥ, in truth.

Janmastami Lord Sri Krsna's Appearance Day -- Bhagavad-gita 7.5 Lecture -- Vrndavana, August 11, 1974:

Kṛṣṇa, when He was asked by Arjuna that "You say that this philosophy of Bhagavad-gītā was taught by You to the sun-god. How can I believe it?" the answer was that "The thing is that both of us, we were present, but you have forgotten. I have not forgotten."

That is the difference between Kṛṣṇa and ordinary living be... He is complete; we are not complete. We are incomplete, fragmental portion of Kṛṣṇa. Therefore we must be controlled by Kṛṣṇa. If we do not agree to be controlled by Kṛṣṇa, then we shall be controlled by the material energy, this bhūmir āpo 'nalo vāyuḥ (BG 7.4). Actually, we are spiritual energy. We should voluntarily agree to be controlled by Kṛṣṇa. That is devotional service. That is devotional service.

Govardhana Puja Lecture -- New York, November 4, 1966:

"Now, if you think that it is very confidential, it cannot be disclosed, then I think for a person like you who is doing publicly such sacrifice, you should (sic:) not explain to Me." Na hi gopyaṁ hi sādhūnām: "Sādhu, those who are saintly person, for them there is no secret." There is no secret. There is no privacy. A sādhu, sādhu has no privacy. Just now in our ordinary social affairs, there is difference between private life and his public life. Now, if somebody is teacher... Now, he is very good teacher. He can very good... He can explain very nicely a subject matter, but his private life is not very good. Then he is not a teacher. He is not a sādhu. That is Vedic conception. One must be a teacher according to his own behavior in life. There is no secrecy or privacy. Now, we think that "We don't mind what is private character. We don't mind.

His Divine Grace Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Gosvami Prabhupada's Disappearance Day, Lecture -- Hyderabad, December 10, 1976:

The fact is that gopīs used to dress themselves nicely because by seeing them, Kṛṣṇa will be satisfied, not that for their sense gratification. Generally a girl dresses also to attract the attention of the boy. So the same thing is there but it is Kṛṣṇa's sense gratification, not the gopīs'. The gopīs did not want anything. But Kṛṣṇa will be satisifed. That is the difference between lust and love. Love is there, only possible, when it is diverted towards Kṛṣṇa. That is love. And beyond that... Not beyond that... Below that, everything is lust. So we should always remember this. The senses are not stopped, but when the gratification of the senses is directed towards Kṛṣṇa, that is bhakti, or love. And when the sense gratification is directed towards personal self, that is lust. This is difference between lust and love.

Varaha-dvadasi, Lord Varaha's Appearance Day Lecture Dasavatara-stotra Purport -- Los Angeles, February 18, 1970:

So He appeared from the pillar of the palace as a half-man, half-lion. Because this Hiraṇyakaśipu took benediction from Brahmā that he'll not be killed by any man or any animal. So the Lord appeared neither man nor animal. This is the difference between the Lord's intelligence and our intelligence. We are thinking that we can cheat the Lord by our intelligence, but the Lord is more intelligent than us. This Hiraṇyakaśipu wanted to cheat Brahmā by indirect definition. First of all he wanted to become immortal. Brahmā said, "That is not possible because even I am not immortal. Nobody in this material world is immortal. That is not possible." So Hiraṇyakaśipu, the demon... The demons are very intelligent. He thought that "Round about way I shall become immortal." He prayed to Brahmā that "Please give me the benediction that I shall not be killed by any man or any animal."

Varaha-dvadasi, Lord Varaha's Appearance Day Lecture -- Bhuvanesvara, January 31, 1977:

Here sex life means entailed with so many sufferings. But there is no sex life in the spiritual world but the pleasure is there. That is the difference between material and spiritual. Therefore there is restriction. Just like sex life is there, but a tuberculosis patient, if he enjoys sex life, he'll die very soon. Without sex life he could live for some years. Everyone will die. So for tuberculosis patient sex life is strictly prohibited. So when there is prohibition... Just like in the material world there is prohibition, "No sex life," because we are patient here, tuberculosis patient. If we enjoy sex life then we'll die. Die means... We are already dead because we have to accept this dead body. This body is dead. But so long I am within this body, simply it is moving. Just like motor car. Motor car is a lump of matter, but when the driver is acting, it is moving.

Varaha-dvadasi, Lord Varaha's Appearance Day Lecture -- Bhuvanesvara, January 31, 1977:

When we are not at all concerned with this body, material body, that is the beginning of spiritual life. And so long we are interested with the dead lump of matter without any information of the spirit soul within it, that is material life. This is the difference between material life and spiritual life.

One who is in ignorance, without any knowledge of the spirit soul and identifying with this body and trying to enjoy life, he is implicated. Implicated. Life after life we change and enjoy in different ways. What (is) the enjoyment? The enjoyment is eating, sleeping, sex, and defense. So either you become one little insect or you become Brahmā, the same enjoyment in different forms. Therefore punaḥ punaś carvita-carvaṇānām (SB 7.5.30), repeating the same process-eating, sleeping, mating, and defending. But there is a life eternal which is not this eating-sleeping but another enjoyment, ānanda-cinmaya-rasa.

Lord Nityananda Prabhu's Avirbhava Appearance Day Lecture -- Bhuvanesvara, February 2, 1977:

Bewildered, they do not understand that the real strength is spiritual strength. We see daily, see daily that a very strong man, very powerful man, very good brain, very good scientist... So where is the strength? The strength is ātmā. As soon as the ātmā, or the soul, goes out of this body, so intelligent, so strong, and so many things, that is nothing. That is the difference between dead man and the living man. A living man is very powerful, very good position, everything. As soon as he lies down, he is lying down on the floor, and if you kick him on his face, he'll not protest. So where is that strength? The strength is gone. That is spiritual strength. On the spiritual strength, the body moves. Suppose you have got a very good car, Mercedes car or Rolls Royce car. But when there is no petrol, how the car will move? It is not possible.

Sri Sri Rukmini Dvarakanatha Deity Installation -- Los Angeles, July 16, 1969:

And when you fully become red hot warm, then your body is as good as Kṛṣṇa's. So we have to keep ourself always in the fire of Kṛṣṇa consciousness; then everything is all right. (laughs) Otherwise, it will become dull and it will be simply idol worship. That's all. That is the difference between idol worship and Deity worship. If there is no life, then it is idol worship, hedonism. And when there is life, feeling, "Where is Kṛṣṇa? Here is Kṛṣṇa. Oh, I have to serve Kṛṣṇa, I have to dress Him, I have to serve Rādhārāṇī, She is here. Oh, I must do it very nicely. And as far as possible decorate Her to the best capacity." In this way, if you always feel Kṛṣṇa conscious, then you are fire. The same example, keeping with the fire.

Six Gosvamis Lecture, Sri Sri Sad-govamy-astaka -- Los Angeles, November 18, 1968:

Just like somebody is very liberal and somebody is very miser. So mahātmā is broad, broader-minded, broader soul, whose soul has become broader. How you can become broader? If you dovetail yourself with the supreme broadest, then you become broader. Otherwise you become smaller. So this is the difference between mahātmā and kśūdrātmā. People are generally, they are doing something for his own body, something for his society, something for his family, something for his country. So you can expand your activities, but unless you expand your activities to Kṛṣṇa consciousness, you become the smaller.

Arrival Addresses and Talks

Arrival Address -- Toronto, June 17, 1976:

We are expanded. Or even international members. But I am not this body. So this kind of thinking is there in the animals also. The animals, the dog is thinking, "I am dog." And it is barking-dog's business. Similarly, if we go to the United Nations and bark like the dog, thinking that "I am this body," then where is the difference between the dog and the human being? Simply barking, you'll distinguish from the animal or the human being? No. Actually, our education should be based on that "I am not this body." Ahaṁ brahmāsmi. That is Caitanya Mahāprabhu's movement. Caitanya Mahāprabhu declared that "I am not a brāhmaṇa, I am not a kṣatriya, I am not a gṛhastha, I am not this or that." Designations. He refused to accept these designations. But He introduced Himself as the servant of the servant of the servant of God, Kṛṣṇa. Gopī-bhartuḥ pada-kamalayor dāsa-dāsa-dāsānudāsaḥ (CC Madhya 13.80).

Initiation Lectures

Initiation Lecture -- Los Angeles, December 19, 1968:

That is different thing. Just like you have got the blood of your father. That does not mean you are father. That is different thing. Everything is one: Kṛṣṇa. That is the difference between the philosophy of Māyāvāda and Vaiṣṇava. They simply take the One, but we take One, but there is diversity. That they do not understand. Actually, unity... Diversity in unity. Monism means they do not accept the diversity. They simply take that oneness. Oneness is certainly—there is nothing but Kṛṣṇa. Just like Kṛṣṇa says in the Bhagavad-gītā, "I am everywhere spread." Mayā tatam idaṁ sarvam. "Everything, whatever you see, that is I am, but I am not there." Nāhaṁ teṣu avasthitaḥ (BG 9.4). They are existing. Everything existing in Kṛṣṇa. But that does not mean... Just like this table. The table is also Kṛṣṇa in one sense, because it is the manifestation of Kṛṣṇa's energy.

Initiation Lecture -- Los Angeles, December 19, 1968:

The table is also Kṛṣṇa in one sense, because it is the manifestation of Kṛṣṇa's energy. Therefore this is not different from Kṛṣṇa. But if you think that "Instead of worshiping Kṛṣṇa, let me worship this table," that is wrong, nonsense. This is the difference between Māyāvāda philosophy and Vaiṣṇava philosophy. The Māyāvāda philosophy says that even if I worship the table, it is all right. But Kṛṣṇa does not say. It is Māyāvāda philosophers said. Kṛṣṇa says, "Yes, table is existing in Me. I am also table. But I am not there." You see in the Bhagavad-gītā. So never think like that, that "I am Bhīṣma" or "I am Prahlāda" or "I am..." No. You are always servant of such devotee. That's all.

Lecture at Initiation Fire Sacrifice -- Los Angeles, July 16, 1969:

This Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa with the gopīs, they are enjoying, dancing, chanting. That is eternally; that is never stopped. It is not that they become old and there is no more enjoyment or they are separated or somebody, Kṛṣṇa goes somewhere and the Rādhārāṇī goes to somewhere. No. Everything is eternal. They are enjoying. That is the difference between this rasa and that rasa. This rasa is temporary. Your youthful enjoyment will not exist; it will be finished. Your American life will be finished. Your this life, that life, everything will be finished—and finished forever. Not that you are going to have it again. Therefore this is flashing. It is coming and going. But that life is eternal. That is ānanda-cinmaya. Ānanda-cinmaya-rasa-pratibhāvitābhis tābhir ya eva nija-rūpatayā kalābhiḥ (Bs. 5.37). This ānanda-cinmaya-rasa is called hladini-śakti, Kṛṣṇa's pleasure potency. Parāsya śaktir vividhaiva śrūyate, na tasya karyaṁ karaṇaṁ ca vidyate (Cc. Madhya 13.65, purport).

Initiation Lecture -- Hamburg, August 27, 1969:

It is pure. Caitanya-caritāmṛta kar has distinguished that the loving affairs of the gopīs with Kṛṣṇa and the ordinary, these lustful dealings of human beings, there is a gulf of difference. He compares that the gopīs' love with Kṛṣṇa is gold, and our so-called love here is iron. As there is difference between gold and iron, similarly there is difference between the loving affairs of gopīs with Kṛṣṇa and these mundane, so-called lusty affairs between men and women or boys and girls. It is never equal. Therefore, ataḥ śrī-kṛṣṇa-nāmādi na bhaved... (Brs. 1.2.234). These present senses, these impure senses, contaminated senses, cannot understand Kṛṣṇa; therefore we should follow this principle: sevonmukhe hi jihvādau. First of all, engage chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa. There is Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa. Hara is Rādhā, and Kṛṣṇa, there is. But don't try to understand by the present senses, but simply chant their holy name, Hare Kṛṣṇa. Then ceto-darpaṇa-mārjanam (CC Antya 20.12).

Initiations -- New York, July 23, 1971:

You see? So I am ruled by the senses. And when you will be strong enough, the eyes will say, "Please take me to the cinema," and you will say, "No, you cannot go to the cinema." Then you are ruler. So one is go-dāsa. Go-dāsa means servant of the senses. And one is gosvāmī, master of the senses. That is the difference between gosvāmī and go-dāsa. Go means senses. When we are servant of the senses, then we are in the material world. And when we are master of the senses, then we are in the spiritual world. Come on. Hare Kṛṣṇa. You have got. All right.

Initiations -- Sydney, April 2, 1972:

That is our constitutional position. But that service is meant for rendering to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. So long we remain forgetful where our service should be given, that is called material life. When we come to that consciousness, that "I have to serve Kṛṣṇa," that is spiritual life. That is difference between material life and spiritual life. We are serving. There is no doubt. We cannot be master. Any one of you who are present in this meeting, none of you can say that "I am the master." Every one of you, servant to somebody. That is our position. But that service is being rendered to mistaken places; therefore we are not happy, neither the person whom we are serving, they are happy. This is the position. But as soon as you serve Kṛṣṇa, Śyāmasundara, then you become happy, the whole world becomes happy. This is a great science. Try to understand. Go on. Hare Kṛṣṇa.

General Lectures

Lecture Excerpt -- Montreal, June 29, 1968:

Now I am present in my body, you are present in your body, but the Paramātmā, or Supersoul, is present in everyone's body. Another example can be given. Just like this house, there are many apartments. So I am occupying this apartment, another tenant is occupying another apartment. But the landlord is occupier or the proprietor of all the apartments. That is the difference between ātmā and Paramātmā. I am proprietor of the things which has been offered to me by material nature, but God, or Paramātmā is the proprietor of everything. That is the difference. Prakṛteḥ kriyamāṇāni guṇaiḥ karmāṇi sarvaśaḥ (BG 3.27). Prakṛti, the material nature, is offering me as I want. She is supplying ingredients. If I want to be human being, then she supplies a similar body, and if I want to become a dog, she supplies similar body.

Lecture Excerpt -- Montreal, June 29, 1968:

He was protected. Devotees are not under the karma. In the Brahma-saṁhitā it is stated, karmāṇi nirdahati kintu ca bhakti-bhājām (Bs. 5.54). Prahlāda Mahārāja was tortured by his father in so many ways, but he was not affected. He was not affected. Superficially... Just like in the Christian Bible also, that Lord Jesus Christ was tortured, but he was not affected. This is the difference between ordinary man and the devotees or transcendentalists. Apparently it is seen that a devotee is being tortured, but he is not tortured. There is one example, nice example. Just like the cat. The cat carries the kitties in the mouth, and it carries a mouse also in the mouth. So apparently it is seen that a cat is carrying its kitties in the mouth means it is in pain. But it is not in pain. That is a fact. Rather, she feels very comfortable. You see? But when the cat, the same cat, catches one mouse, his life is gone.

Lecture -- Seattle, October 11, 1968:

"The feature of the Lord by which He is present everywhere is called the Paramātman. Ātman means the individual soul and Paramātman means the individual Supersoul. Both ātman and Paramātman are individual persons. The difference between them is that the ātman, or soul, is present only in one particular place, whereas the Paramātman is present everywhere. In this connection the example of the sun is very nice. An individual person may be situated in one place, but the sun, even though a specific individual entity, is present over the head of every individual person. In the Bhagavad-gītā this is very nicely explained. Therefore even though the qualities of all entities, including the Lord, are equal, the Supersoul is different from the individual soul by quantity of expansion. The Lord or Supersoul can expand Himself into millions of different forms while the individual soul cannot do so.

Lecture -- Seattle, October 11, 1968:

Young man (3): Isn't there a difference between... When I say Christ consciousness, to get your mind on the same level as the atoms, and on a higher level, beyond the atoms as pure spirit—are these two levels of consciousness in the atoms and...

Prabhupāda: Actually, there is no two levels. There is only one level. Just like there is one sky, but when the sky is overcast with cloud, you divide the sky: "This is friendly sky, and this is nonfriendly sky." Just like the airlines, they advertise, "Fly in friendly sky." Wherefrom this "friendly sky" comes? The sky is one. But the part of the sky which is covered with cloud, that is unfriendly sky. Similarly, sarvaṁ khalv idaṁ brahma. There is... Without exception, everything is spirit. But the portion of spirit which is covered by ignorance, the cloud of ignorance, that is matter. Just like what is material civilization? All activities minus God.

Lecture -- Seattle, October 18, 1968:

Just like a boy who is accustomed to playing only, he cannot concentrate in his study, in understanding his future life, or in elevating himself, a higher position. Similarly, if we are engaged like child without knowing the future of life, simply playing with the senses, that is called material life. The difference between material life and spiritual life is that if somebody is simply engaged in sense gratification business, that is called material life. And out of many thousands of such materialistic persons, if somebody is trying to understand, "What I am? Why I have come here? Why I am put into so many miserable condition of life? Is there any remedy...?" these questions, when arises, then, practically, his spiritual life begins. And the human form of life is meant for that. In animal life they do not know anything except sense gratification.

Engagement Lecture -- Buffalo, April 23, 1969:

They are very much pleased to practice this. So it is not troublesome. It is pleasing. So tapo divyaṁ yena śuddhyet sattvam (SB 5.5.1). Your existence will be purified. As soon as your existence is purified... The difference between animal life and human life is that human life, existence, is more purified. He has got better consciousness than the animals. Similarly, if you more purify your existence, you (are) gradually elevated to the spiritual existence, which is completely pure life.

Conway Hall Lecture -- London, September 15, 1969:

Why mind? It is a fact. Why do you say "mind"? Can you say that "Oh, because the sunshine has come within my room, the sun planet has come"? Everyone will say you are a fool. It is not mind. It is a fact. The sunshine is light, and the sun globe is light. So light is there, both, but still, there is difference between sunshine and the sun globe.

Lecture -- London, September 16, 1969:

So eating, sleeping. Then some protection, defense, and sense gratification. We have got our senses; they want some satisfaction. So these are, these principles are bodily needs. These are not the needs of the spirit soul. So long we have got this body, we have to satisfy it, but not, I mean to say, unrestricted. That is not human life. That is the difference between human life and animal life. But at the present moment human life has become more than animal life. The animals have restricted periods of sense gratification, but the human life has no restricted... So Ṛṣabhadeva is instructing, "This should not be done." If you want to purify your existence, then you have to live under restriction. Just like a patient, a diseased fellow. If he wants to be cured, he must live restricted life under the direction of the physician; otherwise, he is sure to die, or he is sure to suffer, prolonging the disease. He must.

Lecture 'Nobody Wants to Die' -- Boston, May 7, 1968:

There is the spiritual platform, everything identical. Just like you get some thousand miles away in the radio: this sound and the person who is transmitting the sound is identical, although materially we cannot derive the same benefit. That is the difference between material sound and spiritual sound. The spiritual sound, there is no such difference. Nāma cintāmaṇiḥ kṛṣṇaś caitanya-rasa-vigrahaḥ (CC Madhya 17.133). So it is a fact that by sound vibration, Kṛṣṇa, you immediately contact Kṛṣṇa. So if there is any spiritual benefit by contacting Kṛṣṇa or be in touch in Kṛṣṇa... Just like if you be in contact with fire you get warm, similarly, by contact with Kṛṣṇa you immediately get spiritual warmth. That is the technique of this chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa. And that is being experienced by the students, those who are sincerely doing it without any offense.

Lecture to International Student Society -- Boston, December 28, 1969:

"I am American," this is a designation. "I am Indian," this is a designation. I am not Indian, you are not American. We are all parts and parcel of the Supreme. This is only dress. It does not mean because I am in this saffron colored dress and you are in black coat or green coat, there is difference between you and me. We are all human beings. Similarly, we have to understand that this body is our dress only. Because we have got a different dress, a black dress or white dress or Indian dress or American dress, that does not mean we are different. When we can feel in that way, when we are trained in that way, that is called sarvopādhi-vinirmuktam (CC Madhya 19.170). He is freed from all designations. Sarvopādhi-vinirmuktam tat-paratvena nirmalam.

Lecture -- Gorakhpur, February 17, 1971:

Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa's name, Kṛṣṇa's quality, Kṛṣṇa's form, Kṛṣṇa's pastimes, Kṛṣṇa's entourage, everything. Kṛṣṇa's abode, everything, they are one Absolute Truth. So any of these items you chant, it is as good as chanting the holy name of Kṛṣṇa. There is no difference. As in the material world there is difference between the object and the name or other paraphernalia, in the spiritual world they are all the same. That we require to understand. Because we have no spiritual understanding at the present moment, we sometimes are misguided, thinking... Just like Kṛṣṇa's pastimes with the gopīs, some rascal people take it as ordinary dealings between young boys and girls. But it is all transcendental. It requires, I mean to say, service attitude to understand this. The whole thing, the basic principle of understanding Kṛṣṇa consciousness is surrender. Nobody can understand except one who has fully surrendered him... Sevonmukhe hi jihvādau. Sevonmukhe.

Pandal Lecture -- Bombay, February 23, 1971:

This Hare Kṛṣṇa, this sound, is not material sound. It is descended from the spiritual world. Kṛṣṇa and Kṛṣṇa's name—not different. Abhinnatvāṁ nāma-nāminoḥ. As in this material world there is difference between the name and the substance... If you are thirsty, then if you simply chant "water, water, water," your thirst will not be quenched. You have to get the substance water. But in the spiritual world it is, being absolute, the name and the person whose name we are chanting, they are the same. Therefore by chanting this holy name of God, Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa... Hare is addressing the spiritual energy of the Lord, and Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Lord. So by being in touch with the Supreme Lord and His energy directly, we become purified. Exactly like if you take one iron rod, put into the fire, it becomes warner, warmer, and at last it becomes red hot. When it is red hot, it is no longer iron; it is fire.

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

Anything you take, it has got its creation, it stays for some time, it produces some by-products, then it grows, and then it dwindles, and then it vanishes. Anything you take. Just like our body. It is produced at a certain time by combination of the semina of father and mother, and then it grows, it stays for some time and it produces some by-products, then becomes older and older, and then vanishes. This is called ṣaḍ-vikāra, six kinds of changes of material world. So although it is temporary, we cannot say it is false. It is not false. That is the difference between Māyāvāda philosophy and Vaiṣṇava philosophy. The Vaiṣṇava philosopher takes the temporary thing, although temporary. They know how to make the best use of a bad bargain. That is Vaiṣṇava philosophy. Nirbandhe kṛṣṇa-sambandhe yukta-vairāgyam ucyate.

Lecture -- Los Angeles, July 11, 1971 :

Arjuna inquired, "My dear Kṛṣṇa, how can I believe that you spoke some millions of years ago this philosophy to the sun-god?" What was the answer? The answer is, Kṛṣṇa said, "Yes, millions and millions of times I also appeared, and you also appeared. The difference is that you do not remember, I remember." That is the difference between God and ordinary living being. Otherwise, qualitatively, God and the living entity the same. So only difference is that He is great, infinite. Therefore, we can not calculate His infinite qualities. But I, being infinitesimal, my qualities, my capacities, my energy, they are very infinitesimal. Therefore, I forget. And because I forget, therefore I cannot remember what was my body in my last birth. Because I cannot remember. Death means forget. Just like at night you forget everything, sleeping. Similarly, when this body is finished, we forget about this body.

Lecture at Caitanya Matha -- Visakhapatnam, February 19, 1972:

Kṛṣṇa says that kṣetra-jñaṁ cāpi māṁ viddhi sarva-kṣetreṣu bhārata (BG 13.3). Just like I am present in my body. I know the pains and pleasure of my body, but Kṛṣṇa, because He is present in everyone's body, īśvaraḥ sarva-bhūtānāṁ hṛd-deśe 'rjuna tiṣṭhati (BG 18.61), He knows the pains and pleasure of all bodies. That is difference between Kṛṣṇa and ourselves, or God and ourselves. This is the test. Somebody is claiming that "I am God." How you can be God? You cannot know the pains and pleasures of others, but Kṛṣṇa knows. That is the difference between God and living entity. (break) So far consciousness is concerned, God is also conscious, we are also conscious, but our consciousness is limited and God's consciousness is unlimited. That is the difference.

Lecture at Caitanya Matha -- Visakhapatnam, February 19, 1972:

How it is that You say that You explained to the Sun-god, long, long year, forty millions of years ago?" Kṛṣṇa answered this point, "My dear Arjuna, you are My eternal friend. You are always with Me. When I instructed the Sun-god, you were also present, but you have forgotten. I do not forget." That is the difference between Kṛṣṇa and Arjuna. Vedāhaṁ samatītāni (BG 7.26). Kṛṣṇa knows everything. Whatever has happened in the past, whatever will happen in the future, and what is happening at the present, vedāhaṁ samatītāni, but we do not know. First of all this is, we should understand this is the difference between God and the living entity. (break)

The jīva are explained in the Bhagavad-gītā as part and parcel of Kṛṣṇa. The example is given, just like the fire, big fire, and the sparks.

Lecture at Caitanya Matha -- Visakhapatnam, February 19, 1972:

So Kṛṣṇa, He is all-powerful. We are also powerful. Kṛṣṇa can create. We also can create. Kṛṣṇa can create, just like innumerable planets floating in the air. We can create a small, teeny aeroplane or sputnik flying in the air. You see. So the creative power is there, but there is far difference between Kṛṣṇa's creative power and my creative power. Kṛṣṇa, in the Vedas it is said,

parāsya śaktir vividhaiva śrūyate

svābhāvikī jñāna-bala-kriyā ca

na tasya kāryaṁ kāraṇam ca vidyate

na tat-samaś cābhyadikaś ca dṛśyate

(Cc. Madhya 13.65, purport)

The difference between Kṛṣṇa and me is this. That suppose, I am painting one nice flower. So I require the brush, I require the color, I require the intelligence, I require the time, so that somehow or other, in few days or in few months, I paint a very nice color fruit, flower or fruit.

Lecture -- Bombay, March 19, 1972:

He inquired as an ordinary man, "My dear Kṛṣṇa"—Kṛṣṇa was his friend and cousin-brother also—that "how can I believe that You spoke this Bhagavad-gītā millions and trillions of years ago to the sun-god?" What was the reply by Kṛṣṇa? The reply was, Kṛṣṇa said, (break) "...have forgotten. I remember all of it." "I remember all of it." That is the difference between Kṛṣṇa, or God, and the ordinary living entity. We have forgotten. If I ask you what you were doing last evening at this time, you will have to remember, "Yes. I was doing that. I forget." But Kṛṣṇa will not forget. Therefore, this is described here, (Sanskrit). He knows everything. (break) "I am sitting in everyone's heart." Sarvasya cāhaṁ hṛdi sanniviṣṭho mattaḥ smṛtir jñānam apohanaṁ ca (BG 15.15). "From Me there is remembrance; jñāna, knowledge; and forgetfulness." Kṛṣṇa... (break) That is also explained in the Bhagavad-gītā:

Lecture -- London, July 12, 1972:

So you see, these European and American boys and girls, simply by chanting how they are advancing in spiritual consciousness. This is practical, not theoretical. "Kṛṣṇa" means Kṛṣṇa. Just like here in this material world, if I want to drink water, if I say "water, water, water," that will not satisfy me. I want the substance water. So here there is difference between the name and the substance. But in the absolute world there is no such difference. Nāma cintāmaṇiḥ kṛṣṇaḥ. Kṛṣṇa the person and Kṛṣṇa's name the same thing. Therefore if you chant "Kṛṣṇa," then you are in direct touch with Kṛṣṇa. So that will help you for your spiritual advancement. Just like if you are in touch with fire you will get yourself warmer and warmer and warmer, and at last you'll get red fire. Similarly, if we are in touch with Kṛṣṇa, then we advance spiritually, and then we become completely spiritualized, our original Brahman.

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

That is not possible. Nobody will care for that. Nobody will care for that. Just like on the street we have got the law, "Keep to the left." So if you say, "Why not go to the right?" you will be immediately arrested. You are criminal, because it is law by the state. By your consideration, where is the difference between going... In some countries, in England... England is "Keep to the left," India. America is "Keep to the right." So this may be changed in different countries and different laws, but law means which is given by the state. Similarly, dharma means which is given by God. You cannot manufacture dharma. That will not be applicable. So therefore Kṛṣṇa says, the Supreme Personality of Godhead says that "I descend." Yadā yadā hi dharmasya glānir bhavati bhārata (BG 4.7). What is that glāniḥ? When one forgets Kṛṣṇa, or God, and manufacture his own religion, paśu-dharma, he cannot be happy.

Public Speech -- Bad Homburg, Germany, June 22, 1974:

I have already explained that God and His name, the one, Absolute. In the material world your name and you, person, they are two different things. That is difference between God and you. So therefore, by chanting God's name, you actually contact with God. But in the material world that is not possible. Suppose I am thirsty; I want water. If I chant "water, water," it will not act. But in the case of chanting the holy name of God, it is as good as to associate with God. Try to understand. (break) That:

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

We are thinking, "I am this body." This is our misgivings. But God does not fall down. He is eternal. We are also eternal, but because we are very small fragment, sometimes we fall down. Therefore God's another name is Acyuta—"Never falls down." We cyuta, we fall down sometimes. When we fall down, then God comes to save us. So this is the difference between God and us, that we are also eternal and God is also eternal. We are also cognizant, God is also cognizant. In this way, qualitatively, you will find God and we are the same. But quantitatively we are different. So far consciousness is concerned, I am conscious about my bodily pains and pleasures, you are conscious about your bodily pains and pleasures. You are not conscious of my bodily pains and pleasure, I am not conscious of your bodily pains.

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

That is the difference between God and you and me. He knows what is pains and pleasure within you, He knows what is pains and pleasure within me or any living entity. He knows everything. Therefore He is all-cognizant, all-powerful, almighty. He knows everything. That is explained in the... Janmādy asya yataḥ anvayād itarataś ca artheṣu abhijñaḥ (SB 1.1.1). He is cognizant of everything. He knows everything. In the Bhagavad-gītā also He says that "I know past, present, future everywhere." So consciousness is there. One is the supreme consciousness, and the other is this limited consciousness.

Sunday Feast Lecture -- Atlanta, March 2, 1975:

So our body, this hand, this leg, this body, is not sac-cid-ānanda. It is not eternal; it will be finished. But God's body will never be finished. That is the difference. He has got His body, and I have got my body. But this body will be finished at a certain date, but His body will remain eternally. That is the difference between God's body and my body. Sat and cit. His body or He Himself knows everything, past, present and future, but I do not know what is beyond this wall. Therefore my knowledge is always imperfect, and God's knowledge is perfect. This is sac, cit. And ānanda. You see in our temple is... God is in dancing always. Caitanya Mahāprabhu, you will never see there is crying. No. Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa is enjoying. Kṛṣṇa is enjoying in the company of Rādhārāṇī.

Life Member House Lecture -- Hyderabad, April 14, 1975:

There is no difference to become a hog or to become a man. A man is also eating; hog is also eating according to one's taste. The man is also sleeping; the hog is also sleeping, according to the position. So that does not make any difference between a human being and a hog. But at the present moment we are taken this civilization that hog is eating stool, and if we are eating very nice plate, then you're civilized. But śāstra says no. Eating and the taste of eating is the same. Always enjoying eating stool, and you're enjoying eating something else—the taste of eating is the same. There is no difference. You like something; I like something. But the common formula is that you eat, I also eat. Therefore we have to change this formula. If you simply waste our time like the hogs—eating, sleeping, sex-life and defense—then that is not human life.

Lecture on Science of Krsna -- Hyderabad, April 14, 1975:

Prabhupāda: Kṛṣṇa is not under karma. That is difference. That is difference between me and Kṛṣṇa. We are...

Woman: (indistinct)

Prabhupāda: Yes.

Woman: (indistinct)

Prabhupāda: But He is not under karma. He is not under karma. Yes. We are. That is the difference.

Woman: (indistinct)

Lecture on Science of Krsna -- Hyderabad, April 14, 1975:

That I am pointing out. That is the difference between Kṛṣṇa and ourself. We are bound up by the laws and regulation of karma. But Kṛṣṇa is not like that. Yes. That is the difference. Na māṁ karmāṇi limpanti na me karma-phale spṛhā (BG 4.14). He's not bound up by the karma. But we take sometimes, mistake, that Kṛṣṇa is like us. Avajānanti māṁ mūḍhā mānuṣīṁ tanum āśritam (BG 9.11). They are mūḍhas. They do not know it, what is Kṛṣṇa. They think Kṛṣṇa as a human being like us. That is mūḍha. Therefore they do not surrender to Kṛṣṇa. Na māṁ duṣkṛtino mudhāḥ prapadyante narādhamāḥ (BG 7.15). So they remain narādhama. They do not make any progress.

Evening Lecture -- Bhuvanesvara, January 19, 1977:

Now explain. Just like I am kṣetrajñam; you are kṣetrajñam. You know the pains and pleasure of your body; I know the pains and pleasure of my body. But either you or I do not know what is the pains and pleasure of your body, and you do not know what is the pains and pleasure of my body. So that is the difference between ātmā and Paramātmā. Kṛṣṇa is Paramātmā. Īśvaraḥ sarva-bhūteṣu hṛd-deśe arjuna tiṣṭhati. That Paramātmā... I am also with Him. I am also living within the heart, and Kṛṣṇa is also living within the heart.

So there are two ātmās, namely ātmā and Paramātmā. This is explained in the Upaniṣad, that "There are two birds on one tree. This tree is this body, and the two birds, one is ātmā and the other is Paramātmā." So one bird is simply witnessing what the other bird is doing, and the other bird, jīvātmā, he is eating the fruit.

Philosophy Discussions

Philosophy Discussion on Hegel:

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.

Devotee: But this exists only temporarily therefore it can't be classified as reality.

Prabhupāda: No, temporary, illusion we'll call it, reality means which exists eternally.

Devotee: That's the table on the spiritual platform.

Prabhupāda: Yes. There, Kṛṣṇa's abode, Kṛṣṇa's house, Kṛṣṇa's table, chair, furniture, they're all existing, ever-existing. Here they will not exist.

Philosophy Discussion on Hegel:

Prabhupāda: That we can understand from our personal self, that I am the soul, I am existing, and the bodily features changes, changes. Then it is changing, therefore it is material. And the spirit soul, it is existing in all conditions. That is the difference between spirit and matter. Hm.

Pradyumna: I wanted to ask you if the difference between the realisation of what... Everything is spiritual in that sense, but some things have more of an effect when we can see everything spiritually. What is the difference between the Ganges water and the ordinary water to someone who doesn't know that the Ganges water is spiritual? He doesn't have the realisation of it but still he gets spiritual benefit.

Philosophy Discussion on Hegel:

Prabhupāda: Yes, one who does not know... Kṛṣṇa, He makes the difference between Ganges water and ordinary water. Because we are giving Ganges water important, but because it is coming out, flowing from the toe of Kṛṣṇa. So, as soon as the other water, it is offered to Kṛṣṇa's lotus feet, then how it becomes other water? It becomes Ganges water. The one who hasn't got to see, by touching to the lotus feet, this Ganges water will form. So any water when it is touched in Kṛṣṇa's feet, it is Ganges water.

Pradyumna: You write in Bhagavad-gītā that by using something in Kṛṣṇa's service it regains it's spiritual qualities.

Philosophy Discussion on Hegel:

Prabhupāda: I know. Something concrete. (indistinct). Substance is concrete. The gold idea and... Just like you know gold, and you know a big mountain. So now you form an idea, the gold mountain. This is idea. But when you see actually gold mountain, that is substance. This is difference between idea and substance. But you have never seen gold mountain but you say gold mountain. You combine some idea. You are thinking, "There is gold. Now if I get the mountain, like gold." So that is idea. But when you actually find a (indistinct), "Here is a gold mountain." That is fact. That is substance.

Śyāmasundara: Hegel's idea is that there is idea, then there is substance but the synthesis is spirit. Spirit combines both idea and substance.

Philosophy Discussion on Henri Bergson:

Prabhupāda: What is demigod? That, there is a difference between demigod and a man. A demigod is in the better position, that's all. Just like a high-court judge and layman. Both of them human being, but the high-court judge in a better position, that's all, but both of them human being.

Hayagrīva: But that's not the purpose of the universe.

Prabhupāda: Everything is the... I am human being, you are human being, but you are in better position. So demigods, they are, on account of their higher qualities, they are in sattva-guṇa, and here raja-guṇa, tamo-guṇa. So..., but as soon we are not subjected to any guṇa, either sattva-guṇa, raja-guṇa, tamo-guṇa, we are transcendental. So if we keep ourselves in that transcendental position, that is engaged in devotional service, then we are above this all, sattva-guṇa, raja-guṇa, tamo-guṇa. That is wanted. Then that is called mukti, muktir hitvānyathā rūpam. We are contaminated or conditioned on account of association with these three modes of material nature, and if we keep ourself aloof from the association of three modes then we are mukta, we are liberated. That is devotional service.

Philosophy Discussion on John Stuart Mill:

Prabhupāda: Authority, that is authority. You can not defy it or you can not deny it. That is authority. We are presenting our Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement on this principle, that you should carry out the orders of the authority, and Kṛṣṇa or God is the Supreme authority. Whatever He is speaking, instructing to the human society, they must accept it without any wrong interpretation. That will make them happy. So those who are sane persons, they do not hesitate to accept the authority of God and they become happy simply by abiding by the orders of the authority. And those who are following exactly the instruction of the Supreme Authority, they are also authority. So that is the difference between the Supreme Lord and spiritual master. Spiritual master is servant authority, and God is the master authority. Therefore sevyā bhagavān, sevā bhagavān.

Philosophy Discussion on William James:

Prabhupāda: No. Because he is imperfect, he does not know what is truth. The same experience: because he cannot hear, other who is hearing is answering and he cannot hear him, so he thinks that he is dumb, deaf. Ātmavan manyate jagat. The difficulty is that everyone thinks others on his own standard. If a fool, he thinks others fool. So that is not the fact. We have to take experience from a person whose experience nobody can surpass. Just like Kṛṣṇa says, vedāhaṁ samatītāni vartamānāni bhaviṣyāni (BG 7.26). He says that "I know past, present, future, everything." So who knows past, present, future, everything? Therefore we have to take experience from Kṛṣṇa. Just like Arjuna inquired from Kṛṣṇa that "You taught this philosophy to the sun-god—how I am to believe this?" Because Kṛṣṇa... Arjuna thought that "Kṛṣṇa is my friend, my cousin-brother. He is of my age. How is that I can believe that He taught this philosophy to the sun-god." This was not for Arjuna. This question was raised for us. So Kṛṣṇa replied that "Both you and Me were present. We took many times appearances. But you have forgotten. I do not forget." That is the difference between Arjuna and Kṛṣṇa, ordinary living entity and God.

Philosophy Discussion on Soren Aabye Kierkegaard:

Śyāmasundara: I think that's the difference between the Christian emphasis and Kṛṣṇa consciousness...

Prabhupāda: Because it's simply mental speculation. There is no basis.

Śyāmasundara: The Christian monks, ascetics, they always thought that the life they were giving up, they were suffering, always that feeling...

Prabhupāda: Poor fund of knowledge, that's all.

Śyāmasundara: Anyway, to go on...

Prabhupāda: And they have developed this philosophy and this Bible, after the demise of Jesus Christ. More or less it is concoction.

Śyāmasundara: He says that the opposite of faith is sin, that sin is the same as despair. Sin and despair are the same.

Philosophy Discussion on Soren Aabye Kierkegaard:

Śyāmasundara: But he makes this statement that "The difference between God and man can be discerned in that God does not think; He creates. God does not exist; He is eternal. Man thinks..."

Prabhupāda: But He's eternal, He does not exist? What is this? What is that nonsense? He's eternal, He does not exist.

Śyāmasundara: He's thinking that the word "existence" as meaning something that becomes something else-developing, growing, that is existence. And in that sense God is eternal because He does not become anything else, He's always...

Prabhupāda: Then He's perfect. Your existence means you are trying to be perfect. You are making progress from one state to another.

Śyāmasundara: Becoming something else.

Philosophy Discussion on Soren Aabye Kierkegaard:

Śyāmasundara: He also recommends that. He says in this case he's simply formalized the difference between God and man, that God does not have to think; He creates. He does not think; He creates.

Prabhupāda: So he (indistinct) if God is omnipotent, all-powerful, as soon as... That we also say, Vedas, that He doesn't require to make plan how to do things.

Śyāmasundara: No. It just comes.

Prabhupāda: Parāsya śaktir vividhaiva śrūyate (Cc. Madhya 13.65, purport). His energies are so perfect and subtle, as soon as He thinks, "Let there be creation," immediately everything perfectly done. That is God. So if God is perfect in that way, then we should take guidance from God and mold our lives. That is perfect leader. That we are doing. We have taken Bhagavad-gītā, the words of God, and guide, that is the guide, and we are following. Therefore our principle, our process is perfect. We don't make any experiments for perfection. Take. Just like a teacher, if he shows that you write "A" like this, that is perfect. That's all. Why should I go on, lifelong, just like this child is doing, this scientist. No. But if he takes guide from his teacher, he immediately teaches, "Make this one like this, one like this, one like that.

Philosophy Discussion on Edmund Husserl:

Prabhupāda: Well, that we know. Therefore we say that Vedic knowledge is authority. That is the difference between the Western philosophers and the Indian philosophers. They accept the authority of the Vedas.

Devotee (2): Well, even when one chooses a spiritual master, it's not as if he accepts anybody that comes along. He must have some criteria for choosing that person, and that criterion must begin with an observation of phenomena because that's all he has to work with. It's not as if you take any bhogī who is walking down the street and say, "All right, you become my spiritual master."

Philosophy Discussion on Sigmund Freud:

Prabhupāda: Tapasā brahmacaryeṇa (SB 6.1.13). So our philosophy is different from his philosophy. And actually we are suffering. The pig has got good facilities for sex. Does it mean that is ideal life, eating stool and having sex without discrimination? They have no discrimination, whether mother or sister or daughter. That is hog life. So if sex life is final pleasure, then hog is in the greatest pleasure. He has no social obligation. He has no discrimination. But our philosophy says "Don't become a hog, become a sane man." There, there, there is a difference between his philosophy and our philosophy.

Hayagrīva: He says, "Everything in our life is an accident, from our very origin..."

Prabhupāda: Just see how foolishness he is.

Hayagrīva: "...through the meeting of the spermatozoa and ovum, an accident, which nevertheless participates in the lawfulness and fatalities of nature, lacking only the connection to our wishes and illusions."

Philosophy Discussion on Carl Gustav Jung:

Revatīnandana: The introspective.

Devotee (3): There's a difference between an introspective person and an introvert. An introvert, somebody who is concerned with his false ego, turns in on himself, that he doesn't express himself outwardly to others, while an extrovert does. "Vert" means "to turn." So he's turned in upon himself, on his own personality.

Prabhupāda: Self-centered.

Devotees: Self-centered, yes.

Devotee (5): An extrovert is also self-centered, he keeps himself in the center of a large social structure. He only considers his own personality without interacting with others.

Devotee (3): One has more or less one or the other...

Prabhupāda: But how do you say that man is a social animal? How can you avoid society?

Philosophy Discussion on Carl Gustav Jung:

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

Philosophy Discussion on Carl Gustav Jung:

Prabhupāda: Yes, that's a fact. He has taken sexuality as God. But our position is that we must accept a leader. That is our natural tendency. So he gave up the leadership of God and took the leadership of sex. That is his position. Leadership we must have. That is..., this question also I asked to Professor Kotovsky, that "Where is the difference between your philosophy and our philosophy? You accept leader, Lenin. We accept leader, Kṛṣṇa. So where is the difference in the process?" So this is the nature of human being, to accept a leader. But this man, unfortunately, he lost the leadership of God and he took leadership of sex. That is his position.

Philosophy Discussion on Carl Gustav Jung:

Prabhupāda: Yes. He was under the leadership of sexuality. That's a fact. Everyone is under the leadership. Just like sometimes we say, "The material scientists say like this, they say like this." He accepts the leadership. So we have to accept the leadership, but if we accept the leadership of Kṛṣṇa, then our life is perfect. Other leadership is māyā, māyā's leadership. But we have to accept leadership. There is no doubt of it. So he accepted the leadership of sex, but he did not admit it, but going on speaking on sex. And those who have taken the leadership of God, they will speak only of God, nothing else. Jīvera svarūpa haya nitya kṛṣṇa dāsa (Cc. Madhya 20.108-109), that is Caitanya Mahāprabhu's philosophy, that we are eternal servant of God. So as soon as we give up the service of Lord, then we have to accept the service of māyā. So all these different atheists, scientists, they are all servants of māyā instead of becoming servant of God. He is servant, but he is servant of māyā. That is the difference between devotee and the materialistic person.

Philosophy Discussion on Bertrand Russell:

Śyāmasundara: He says there are two types of logical atoms—the sense data and universals. And this problem, he saw, of the difference between the crude data of the senses and the things as understood by physical sciences. So he divided these into two types of knowledge. The knowledge of sense data is the immediate knowledge by acquaintance with something, and the knowledge of physical science is that knowledge derived from things, or inferred, by description from things. And he says the example of the first type of knowledge...

Prabhupāda: This knowledge, what is that?

Devotee: Inference.

Philosophy Discussion on B. F. Skinner:

Prabhupāda: His authority is rats and pigeons. Our authority is Vedavyāsa. (laughter) That is the difference. Our authority is Kṛṣṇa. Our authority is Rāmānujācārya, Madhvācārya, Manu, and his authority is rats and pigeons. That is the difference between the West and East.

Śyāmasundara: He shows scientifically that you can train a rat to push..., of many buttons, he will push the one that gives him food. If he pushes one button and the food comes, then he will continually press that button. So he says you can condition a man by rewarding him when he is right and punishing him when he is wrong.

Prabhupāda: Yes. That is the whole Vedic literature—the heaven and hell. If you do like this, then you go to heaven, and if you do like this, you go to hell. If you do like this, you go to Godhead. That is the Vedic literature. It is already there. (Sanskrit). (Sanskrit), therefore if one chants like this, he goes back to home, back to Godhead. And this morning I was speaking, "If you want to be naked, then you become tree." (indistinct) servant, and if he wants to serve Kṛṣṇa, (indistinct). These things are there the Vedic literature.

Philosophy Discussion on B. F. Skinner:

Devotee: So we understand that material advantage isn't satisfying.

Śyāmasundara: That is the difference between the pigeons and the man. The pigeons are satisfied with a few kernels of corn. They don't want more than they can eat. But a man wants more and more and more.

Devotee: In the Bhagavad-gītā Arjuna asks the same question.

Prabhupāda: So this is the important point, that what you are thinking rewarding, that is not. He will think it is insignificant. So what (indistinct). If you give me five dollars, if I steal I will get twenty-five dollars. Why shall I accept your reward?

Śyāmasundara: So what about if I don't steal, my friends will like me. If I do steal, my friends will hate me.

Prabhupāda: But if you have got for friends only thieves, then who will object? "Oh, you are very nice, you are very expert." Why should you mix with such friends? (indistinct) Birds of the same feather flock together.

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

Prabhupāda: This is the difference between lower consciousness and higher consciousness. An animal eating, he is also eating. A man is eating. The man should be developed consciousness that eatable is given by Kṛṣṇa. As it is stated in the Vedas, eko bahūnāṁ vidadhāti kāmān. "The Supreme Lord is supplying all the necessities of life." So "Kṛṣṇa has given me these necessities of life, so first of all let me offer it to Kṛṣṇa." That is called yajña. That is called yajña. Yajñārthāt karmaṇo 'nyatra loko 'yaṁ karma-bandhanaḥ (BG 3.9). Yajña-śiṣṭāśinaḥ santo mucyanti sarva-kilbiṣaiḥ. Yajña means Viṣṇu. For Viṣṇu, for Kṛṣṇa, everything should be done. Otherwise, he will be entanglement. So this is called higher consciousness, fructified consciousness. Just like the flower has got different stages: bud stage, then little grown, then little... Once you'll find it fully grown, nice, beautiful rose, and fragrant. That is, when a human being comes to that full grown consciousness, that is Kṛṣṇa consciousness.

Philosophy Discussion on Johann Gottlieb Fichte:

Prabhupāda: Practical, practical reason is that if I think I am this body, then where is the difference between dead body and living? Living body means I am in this body, that is living body. As soon as I give up this body, I go and accept another body. Then it is dead body. So this is practical reason, that without the soul this body is a lump of matter. It is very practical. Therefore soul is different from this matter.

Śyāmasundara: He says that our progress towards this kind of understanding comes about because we unify our speculative reason, our theoretical reason with our practical reason or our moral reason.

Philosophy Discussion on Johann Gottlieb Fichte:

Prabhupāda: That is our philosophy. Mirage, sometimes mirage, if you see in front of the water in the desert. Actually there is no water in the desert, but you see under illusion. But you know, you are human being, you know that there is no water, you don't go after it. But the animal will go after it and he'll lose his life because (indistinct). He wants to take that water, and the water also goes ahead. In this way when he's too thirsty in the midst of desert he becomes dead. So that is the difference between man and animal. So the human consciousness, when it is developed, you come to Kṛṣṇa consciousness, then you become detached with this material mirage. He does not run after the false water. That is Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Others may go after the false water. That is called māyā, or illusion.

Philosophy Discussion on Johann Gottlieb Fichte:

Śyāmasundara: I am thinking to go somewhere.

Prabhupāda: Yes. Yes, I am thinking. So if there is any difference between thinking, feeling and willing then thinking first.

Śyāmasundara: Will, willing something is more like desiring something, isn't it?

Prabhupāda: That desiring begins from thinking.

Śyāmasundara: Contemplating the objects of the senses one (indistinct). He says that if one combines rational thought with his will then this will help him towards self-realization.

Prabhupāda: What is that?

Philosophy Discussion on Plato:

Prabhupāda: We say that the living entity is part and parcel of God, mamaivāṁśa. Under the circumstances he has got almost all the qualities of God, but partially, because God is great and we are minute. So even though we have got all the qualities of God—not all, certain percentage, say seventy-eight percent—in minute quantity. Just like God has creative power, we have got also creative power. We have created the 747 flying machine. All right, get credit for that, but you cannot create a flying ball like sun floating in the sky. That is difference between God and me. You can take credit that you are keeping suspension in the air a big machine, 747, but it is not in your power that you can float millions and millions of planets floating in the air. That is not possible. Therefore God is great; I am small. That is real Kṛṣṇa consciousness. And as soon as he says, "I am as good or as great as God," then He is a rascal.

Philosophy Discussion on Origen:

Prabhupāda: But single soul is created, he says. But that single soul, his spiritual identity is never created. That is the difference between matter and spirit. Anything material, that is created. Spiritual is never created.

Hayagrīva: At the same time...

Prabhupāda: (aside:) You go and wash your face with water, running.

Hayagrīva: At the same time Origen differed from the later Church tradition in his belief in the transmigration of the soul. Although he believed that the soul was originally created, he believed that it transmigrated, and it transmigrated because the soul, the individual soul, could always refuse to give itself to God, although he believed that ultimately the time will come when everyone will return, and God's rule will be restored to its original integrity. This differed from later Christian tradition, which said that the choice one made in this one lifetime was decisive for all eternity. Origen doesn't believe this. He believes that you can be reincarnated at the end of this lifetime if you don't attain the ultimate goal. You'd be reincarnated in some other form.

Philosophy Discussion on Thomas Aquinas:

Prabhupāda: No. The soul is created and... Actually not created. Soul is existing along with God, just like the sparks of fire is existing with the fire. But the difference between the two fire is that the sparks may be separated from the big fire, and when it is separated, is loses its illumination. Similarly, an individual soul is already there. The master is there and the servants are there, eternally. Just like the body is there, the parts of the body are also there. We cannot say that the parts of the body is separately created. As soon as the body is there, the fingers of the body are there, the other limbs and parts of the body are all there. The soul is never created or never dead. It is explained in the Bhāgavata, na jāyate vā mriyate vā. Soul has neither creation nor death. It appears, because the soul has accepted this material body, with the end of this material body it appears that somebody is dead. But he is not dead.

Philosophy Discussion on Rene Descartes:

Prabhupāda: But they are finite. They are finite, very small particle. That I have already explained many times, that the creative force is in me. I can create also. Now in the modern scientific knowledge, so I have created a big plane floating in the air, but I cannot create another planet with so many mountains and vast water, oceans, and trees. That I cannot do. That is done by God. This planet is also floating in the air and the tiny 747 plane is also floating in the air. So that is created by me, infinite, ah, finite. I have no other more power. Even if I float a city like plane, still I am finite. But God has created this planet or many other planets with so many things—mountains, seas and forests and cities and so many. That is the difference between... The creative power is there. Because I am part and parcel of God, I have got that creative power. So I have got also little knowledge.

Philosophy Discussion on Rene Descartes:

Prabhupāda: That is the difference. When Arjuna questioned Kṛṣṇa that "How it is that You remember millions of years ago, You taught Bhagavad-gītā?" And that Kṛṣṇa says, "Yes, that is the difference between you and Me. I remember; you forgot." So therefore in all cases God is also living being, I am also living being, but I am very, very small, finite, and He is infinite. He is also living being. (break)

Hayagrīva: Continuing Descartes, he writes, "It is not an imperfection in God that He has given me the freedom of assenting or not assenting to things of which He has not placed a clear and distinct knowledge in my understanding. On the other hand, unquestionably it is an imperfection in me that I do not use this freedom right, yet..." So but one may then ask, Why doesn't God give us the understanding whereby we can choose properly in all cases?

Philosophy Discussion on Blaise Pascal:

Prabhupāda: Yes, he is speaking. That is stated in the Bhagavad-gītā, that buddhi-yogaṁ dadāmi taṁ yena mām upayānti te: "I give him intelligence by which he can always live with Me," upayānti. He is living along with... Every living entity is living with God. But out of his ignorance, he does not know. So what for the other bird is there? What He is doing? And He is living as witness. He is friend, that "What this nonsense is doing? He will suffer." So He is finding out the opportunity how he will take instruction from the other bird, God. And He gives instruction. But to whom? When he surrenders, and he is engaged in this service, then He gives him instruction. Teṣāṁ satata-yuktānāṁ bhajatāṁ prīti-pūrvakam, buddhi-yogaṁ dadāmi (BG 10.10). He gives. God is giving intelligence to everyone, but the nondevotee, he is not surrendered; he will not accept. The same example, when the thief goes to steal, God gives him that "Don't do this. You will suffer," and he knows that, that God says, He is speaking that "Don't do this," but still he does. So he suffers. But if he can purify and acts according to the instruction of God, then he is perfect. That is the difference between demon and devotee. Devotee strictly follows the order of God; he is happy.

Philosophy Discussion on George Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel:

Prabhupāda: But then he has no idea what is spiritual. Spiritual is eternal, na hanyate hanyamāne śarīre (BG 2.20). How does it, spiritually... Spirit is also annihilated, then where is the difference between matter and spirit? Imperfect knowledge. And still they are big philosopher. Scanty knowledge.

Hayagrīva: He sees the religion of India as a religion in which man is handed laws from a God who is exterior to man, from a will that is entirely foreign to man. And he sees this to be opposed to what he considers to be a more advanced religion, in which the individual soul is lifted to the supernatural through the use of reason, internal sanction or subjective confirmation. In other words, he sees the Indian religion as being blind following of an exterior will. He says that man can only attain God through the exercise of his own free will.

Philosophy Discussion on George Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel:

Prabhupāda: That is a definite, not vague, speculative. That is the difference between my translation and others. Therefore I have given the name "As It Is." So we will be no spoke or speculation. As soon as you speculate, you are rejected. Therefore others are seeing some danger that "This Bhaktivedanta's..., this Bhagavad-gītā As It Is accepted, then where we are?"

Hayagrīva: Everybody wants to speculate.

Prabhupāda: That's all. We are, I have stopped it. They cannot speculate on the words of Bhagavad-gītā. That is our mission. Won't allow you to speculate. You are finite, imperfect. How you can by speculation give the unlimited, infinite? How it is possible? That is reasonable. Waste of time, misleading others. Aṇḍhā yathāndair upanīyamānāḥ. You are blind; how you can show others, blind men? They are already blind. You open your eyes, then take the leadership of the blind. Ajñāna-timirāndhasya jñānāñjana-śalākayā. That is our process. That's all right. (end)

Philosophy Discussion on Thomas Henry Huxley:

Hayagrīva: This is Thomas Henry Huxley. Huxley felt that the main difference between man and the animals is the ability to speak. Now, is...

Prabhupāda: That is the beginning of another nonsense. Everyone speaks in his own language. What does he..., what he means by speak?

Hayagrīva: But isn't speech, which is the articulation of the intellect, the primary difference between man and the animals in the sense that is it not through words that one can come to understand God?

Prabhupāda: That is another thing, but the animal has a, his own language, as the human being has his own language. So why does he say that? When he speaks, he speaks from the very beginning in his own language.

Hayagrīva: Well he, he, he mentions speech as being "Intelligible, rational speech..."

Philosophy Discussion on Samuel Alexander:

Prabhupāda: He is, He is person, but He is not a person like us. But sometimes, due to our poor fund of knowledge... That is explained, avajānanti māṁ mūḍhā mānuṣīṁ tanum āśritam (BG 9.11). "These rascal, because I am here talking with Arjuna just like a human being, they are thinking that I am also a human being." No. He is infinite, Arjuna is finite. That is explained in the Fourth Chapter also, that "Arjuna, you are doubtful how I can remember that I spoke this philosophy to sun-god some millions of years ago." Naturally a finite man cannot remember how one can remember. "That is the difference between you and Me, that I know everything; you forget. So although you are living being eternal, I am also living being eternal, that is the difference between you and Me."

Purports to Songs

Purport to Brahma-samhita Verses 32 and 38 -- New York, November 5, 1966:

He impregnated all the energies for creating, simply by seeing." Mayādhyakṣeṇa prakṛtiḥ sūyate sa-carācaram (BG 9.10). Simply by His glance. Simply by His glance He impregnates the material energy for functioning. It is going on. So He has got all the potencies in all the parts of His body. Aṅgāni yasya sakalendriya-vṛtti-manti paśyanti pānti kalayanti (Bs. 5.32). That is the difference between His body and our body. So when there is description in the Vedas that "He has no leg, no hand, no eyes, "that does not mean He has no eyes. He has got eyes, but not these eyes just like we have got conception. So here it is explained that aṅgāni yasya sakalendriya-vṛtti-manti (Bs. 5.32). His parts of the body are invested with all the potencies of other parts of the body. With any part of His body He can function any work.