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Every moment (Lectures, Other)

Lectures

Nectar of Devotion Lectures

The Nectar of Devotion -- Los Angeles, June 23, 1970:

So the whole substance is creamed. You should take advantage of this. And don't indulge in much unnecessary talks. Time should be very properly utilized. Āyuṣaḥ kṣaṇa eko 'pi na labhyaḥ svarṇa-koṭibhiḥ. Value of time is so great that one moment of your life lost, it cannot be returned even in exchange of millions of dollars. Therefore every moment should be properly utilized. Avyartha kālatvam (Cc. Madhya 23.18-19). When one is advanced in Kṛṣṇa consciousness his business becomes to see, "Whether I am wasting my time?" That is one of the sign of advanced devotee. Avyartha kālatvam. Nāma-gāne sadā ruci (CC Madhya 23.32). Attachment for chanting always. Prītis tad-vasati sthale: (Cc. Madhya 23.18-19) and attraction or attachment for living in the temple, vasati, where Kṛṣṇa lives. Kṛṣṇa lives everywhere, but specifically, to give us chance to meet, He lives in the temple or in places like Vṛndāvana. So prītis tad-vasati sthale. One should be enhanced in attachment for living where Kṛṣṇa is living.

The Nectar of Devotion -- Vrndavana, October 19, 1972:

Those who are saintly devotees, they are seeing God, Kṛṣṇa, in every moment. Premāñjana-cchurita-bhakti-vilocanena santaḥ sadaiva hṛdayeṣu vilokayanti (Bs. 5.38). If you become saintly person by your austerities, penances, then you can see God in every step. Otherwise, if you think that "I cannot become saintly person," yes, nobody can become saintly immediately. It requires time. But so long you are material person you can see God also in the water. You drink water. You can see God. You can see sunshine. God is there. Prabhāsmi śaśi-sūryayoḥ. So who has not seen the sunshine? Who has not seen the moonshine? So therefore if you have seen moonshine, if you have seen sunshine, you have seen God.

The Nectar of Devotion -- Bombay, December 27, 1972:

So this is the defect. The atheist class of men, they also see God. One, everyone can see God, provided he has got eyes to see. Actually, premāñjana-cchurita-bhakti-vilocanena santaḥ sadaiva hṛdayeṣu vilokayanti (Bs. 5.38). Those who are yogis, bhakta-yogis, because they are in love with God, Kṛṣṇa, they are seeing every moment within their heart the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Anyone you love, you see always within your heart. Similarly, if you have love for God, Kṛṣṇa, then you can see Kṛṣṇa always. That is called yoga system. Dhyānāvasthita-tad-gatena manasā paśyanti yaṁ yoginaḥ (SB 12.13.1). Yoginaḥ, those who are yogis, under meditation, they see the Supreme Personality of Godhead within the heart. Dhyānāvasthita-tad-gatena manasā paśyanti yaṁ yoginaḥ. So there are many evidences in the śāstras. Yoga means to see the Supreme Lord within the heart. Īśvaraḥ sarva-bhūtānāṁ hṛd-deśe arjuna tiṣṭhati (BG 18.61). Īśvara, the Supreme Lord, is situated in everyone's heart. One has to see. One has to develop that visionary power, how to see God within the heart. That is wanted.

The Nectar of Devotion -- Bombay, January 2, 1973:

So the bhakti, bhakti cult... Everyone should take. Because that is natural. Natural. Nitya-siddha kṛṣṇa-bhakti. Bhakti's not unnatural. Other things unnatural. That is the statement of Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Jīvera svarūpa haya nitya kṛṣṇa dāsa (Cc. Madhya 20.108-109). Eternally you are servant of Kṛṣṇa. But we have accepted the service of māyā, instead of Kṛṣṇa. And we are thinking we are independent. We are being kicked out every moment by māyā, and still I am thinking I'm God, I'm independent. This is called illusion. He's being slapped always, he's being kicked by māyā; still he's thinking that he's independent, he's God, he's big, he's minister, he is something, something, something. This is called māyā. Janasya moho 'yam ahaṁ mameti (SB 5.5.8). This is called moha. So bhakti means to become freed from this moha, illusion. That is bhakti.

Sri Caitanya-caritamrta Lectures

Lecture on CC Adi-lila 1.15 -- Dallas, March 4, 1975:

This is our hospital. We are therefore not interested with this kind of hospital. Our this hospital is treating the materially affected patient to get out of his four kinds of miseries: janma-mṛtyu-jarā-vyādhi (BG 13.9). One type of disease is to take birth; another, death; another, old age; another, disease. So we want to stop. This is not our normal condition of life. Because we living entities, soul, we are spiritual. Our identity is that we are eternal. It is not that because my body is annihilated, therefore I am finished. Na hanyate hanyamāne śarīre (BG 2.20). This is the instruction. The living entity, the soul, is not destroyed after the body being destroyed. The body is destroyed. It is being destroyed every moment. From scientific point of view we are changing our blood corpuscle and another body like the, what is called, film. One after another picture, one after, one after, one after, and when they are displayed, it appears one. But it is not one. There are so many pictures. They put into the machine, and when they work together, it appears that the man within the picture is moving. Actually, that movement is combination of many pictures. Similarly, we are growing. We are not growing, but we are changing body.

Lecture on CC Adi-lila 1.15 -- Mayapur, April 8, 1975:

In this age especially, in Kali-yuga we become very, very slow in spiritual progress, although that is our main business. But on account of this Kali-yuga, we are all very, very slow. We think that "Spiritual cultivation is meant for old age. Now let us enjoy our life in this material world." That is our wrong conception of life. What do you mean by old age? Nearing death. So who can guarantee that he is not nearing death? Everyone is nearing death at every moment. Why should you wait for old age? That is manda-mater, bad intelligence. We should know that death may take place at any moment. Therefore every one of us are already old. (We) generally understand that old age means nearing death, but who can guarantee that there is no death immediately? At any moment. Therefore śāstra says tūrṇaṁ yateta anu-mṛtyu pateta yāvad, Before meeting your next death, you should endeavor so dexterously that you complete your Kṛṣṇa consciousness before your death comes. That is intelligence. Not that "I am now young man, let me enjoy. And in old age, after passing sixty years, when there will be no other engagement, at that time I shall chant Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra." No. Immediately, tūrṇaṁ yate.

Lecture on CC Adi-lila 7.8 -- Vrndavana, March 15, 1974:

Kṛṣṇa is so kind that He comes here, exhibits Himself, how He is dealing in His spiritual abode. Cintāmaṇi-prakara-sadmasu kalpa-vṛkṣa-lakṣāvṛteṣu surabhīr abhipālayantam (Bs. 5.29). Kṛṣṇa, in the spiritual world, Goloka Vṛndāvana, is engaged in tending the cows, surabhīr abhipālayantam (Bs. 5.29). So when He comes on this planet, in this universe... Kṛṣṇa rotates His touring. There are innumerable universes, and in every moment there is Kṛṣṇa-līlā is going on. That is called nitya-līlā. The example, I have given several times. Just like the sun is rotating within the orbit. Now it is, say, eight o'clock at night. But at this time, there is six o'clock, seven o'clock, nine o'clock, ten o'clock—everything is there. Similarly, every moment, Kṛṣṇa's līlā is going in some of the universes. There are innumerable universes. Yasya prabhā prabhavato jagad-aṇḍa-koṭi (Bs. 5.40). So in each universe, Kṛṣṇa-līlā is going on. And in rotation, after some lakhs of years, again Kṛṣṇa comes on this planet. This is... Therefore Kṛṣṇa's līlā is nitya-līlā. So just to attract us, that "You are fond of dancing. Why don't you come back to Me and dance with Me?" this is Kṛṣṇa's business. "Why you are rotting in this rotting dance? You want association. You want sporting. Why don't you come to Me and take part in My sporting with the cowherds boys?" This is invitation of Kṛṣṇa.

Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 6.254 -- Los Angeles, January 8, 1968:

So not only one center in Los Angeles, but you open centers in every village, every country, every home. And the process is very simple. You chant Hare Kṛṣṇa and dance in ecstasy and everything will come within yourself gradually. Everything will come. You'll practically feel how you are becoming reformed. There is no need of wasting time. This Hare Kṛṣṇa movement can be done at home, outside home, when you are working, when you are walking, every moment. So try to understand this movement and try to follow it. It is not sectarian; it is the need. I shall discuss all these points gradually. If you kindly come and attend our classes, I shall be very much thankful.

Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 20.100-108 -- New York, November 22, 1966:

You are arguing with me. But from your behavior I can understand you are a fool number one." Because such kind of talk is never, I mean to say, placed by a learned man. So indirectly He said that "You are a fool." And "Why you are fool?" He said that "You are not this body. You are changing every moment your body. Why don't you think that you are not this body? Why you are identifying yourself as with the body?" Dehino 'smin yathā dehe kaumāraṁ yauvanaṁ jarā: (BG 2.13) "You are changing your body at every moment. From the mother's womb up to the death point, you are changing every body. Then why you are thinking that you are body? But you are the same. In spite of all changes, you are the same." I think, my childhood, I think that I am the same. I forget that I am so much grown-up. That is my position. So the first lesson, the inquiry of Śrī Caitanya, of Sanātana Gosvāmī, is that "What I am? What I am?" Arjuna did not place himself "What I am?" but here, because the instruction which is given in the Caitanya-caritāmṛta is practically higher than Bhagavad-gītā—it is postgraduate study, higher than Bhagavad-gītā. In the Bhagavad-gītā the, Arjuna, he did not question "What I am?" He was perplexed with this bodily conception. Now here, Sanātana Gosvāmī he, he thinks that "I'm not..., I do not know what I am." So he's advanced than Arjuna. He accepts that "I do not know."

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

A fly, a small fly, not a very big man. So, but after all, this is disturbance. I don't like it, but the fly will come and disturb me. So there is no question that "Why this fly is coming and giving me disturbance? I do not want it." This is sane man's inquiry. But there is no inquiry. I do not want... There are three kinds, jāre tāpa-traya, three kinds of miserable condition. One is called ādhyātmika, another is called ādhidaivika, another is called ādhibhautika. Ādhyātmika means pertaining to the body and mind. All of a sudden my mind is not in order. Suppose a friend has come to talk with me, so I refuse to talk, I am not in mood. We have got this experience. "I cannot talk with you, mind is not in order." This is happening daily, every moment. This is called ādhyātmika. I did not want it, but it has come. All of a sudden I am feeling some headache. I did not want it, but it came. This is our practical experience.

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

Of course, it is very common thing to understand that "I am not this body," the distinction between a dead man and living man. When a man is dead, the relatives cry, lament, "Oh, my son is gone," "My father is gone," "My wife is gone." But if we think, "Your wife is there lying. Your son is lying there. Why do you say he is gone?" Actually he is gone, but so long he does not go, we think this body as my son, as my daughter. This is ignorance. At the end we can understand, "Oh, this body is not my son," "This body is not my daughter," "This body is not my father," when the end is done. But still, even after that experience, we think that "This body is myself." This is called ignorance. Ahany ahani lokāni gacchanti yama-mandiram. In every moment, every second, we are seeing that body is this matter; the soul, when gone from the body, it has no value. Still, I am thinking that "I shall live in this world eternally, and I shall... Let me enjoy this bodily sense gratification." This is ignorance.

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

Nitya-līlā-vilāsavān means eternally He's..., He's manifesting His pastimes. Just like Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa-līlā, the manifestation of Kṛṣṇa and His different pastimes in this material world. In the..., on this earth was manifested, that thing is going on, nitya-līlā. As I have several times explained to you that the sun, sunrise and sunset, is going on every moment. Every moment. You inquire by, by communication you'll find in some country, there is always sunrise and some country there is always... Any country, you'll find. Similarly, kṛṣṇa-līlā, Kṛṣṇa's pastimes, are going on in some of the universes, in any of... There are innumerable universes. In some of the universes He is there already.

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

From His childhood, just on the lap of His mother, He killed the demon Pūtanā. Similarly, such pastimes are going on every moment. Every moment. That is called nitya-līlā. In some of the universes... When the round (?) comes in this universe, it takes so many years. For millions and billions years. Just you can imagine how many millions and trillions of universes are there. Ananta brahmāṇḍa, tāra nāhika gaṇana. Ananta means innumerable universes are there. Nāhika gaṇana: nobody can count.

Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 20.385-394 -- New York, January 1, 1967:
So Kṛṣṇa-līlā is always going on like that. Kṛṣṇa's birth, Janmāṣṭamī... We observe Janmāṣṭamī. But that Janmāṣṭamī is going on every moment. Janmāṣṭamī is going on. Kṛṣṇa's nitya-līlā. Kṛṣṇa-līlā-nitya, jyotiścakra-pramāṇe. Jyotiścakre sūrya yena phire rātri-dine. Now here it is also, in the Caitanya-caritāmṛta, it is said that here sūrya is also on the orbit. Sapta-dvīpāmbudhi laṅghi' phire krame krame. Sapta-dvīpa. Now, according to Vedic calculation, this earth has seven, I mean to say, islands. Just like crossing the sea, we have come to your country from India. The crossing the sea means there are different islands. Now you can calculate the Asia, Europe, America, and, and, how many?
Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 20.391-405 -- New York, January 2, 1967:

So premāñjana-cchurita-bhakti-vilocanena (Bs. 5.38). If one takes to this philosophy of Kṛṣṇa consciousness and develops love of Godhead, then he can see God at every moment, in every step, in every thing. He's not, for a single moment, is out of the sight of God. Just like in the Bhagavad-gītā it is said, teṣu te mayi. The devotee who has love, who has developed love for God, he's also seeing God at every moment. Similarly, God is also seeing him at every moment. They are not separated. So simple process. This hari-kīrtana, this is the simple process recommended in this age, and if we sincerely do it without any offense and with faith, then seeing of God is not difficult for a devotee.

Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 20.395 -- Hyderabad, August 17, 1976:

So this is material example. And material, everything is temporary. Still we find some similarity of nitya-līlā. And what to speak of spiritual. Spiritual, it is clearly said, na hanyate hanyamāne śarīre (BG 2.20). So kono brahmāṇḍe kona līlāra haya avasthāna. Just like we are opening the temple. This is also nitya-līlā. In some brahmāṇḍa there is this opening ceremony of temple. When tomorrow we shall open, day after tomorrow it is opened. But day after tomorrow in some brahmāṇḍa it is being opened. This is nitya-līlā. Some other brahmāṇḍa, again it is finished; in another brahmāṇḍa it is being opened. In another brahmāṇḍa it is being opened. There is no end. This is called nitya-līlā. In some brahmāṇḍa Kṛṣṇa is born, Janmāṣṭamī. It is finished here. In other brahmāṇḍa, again Janmāṣṭamī. Every moment. This is pastimes of Kṛṣṇa. Kona brahmāṇḍe kona līlāra haya avasthāna. There must be some... The same example: quarter to eight is somewhere. Similarly, Kṛṣṇa's līlā, it is eternal. Somewhere it is going on. And you have no experience of one brahmāṇḍa, what to speak of innumerable brahmāṇḍas.

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

Or some enemy. This is... There are... These are all miseries, but we forget. And adhidaivika. Adhidaivika. Just like heavy snowfall, severe cold, severe heat, earthquake, famine, war. These are adhidaivika, forced by you by superior power. Nobody wants war, but it is forced. These are called adhidaivika miseries. So three kinds. Here it is stated, ādhyātmikādi tapa-traya tāre. So we are under the control of this material nature, and that trident is pierced on my chest. How can I understand? Now this trident I am experiencing every moment. These three kinds of miseries are there. Either this or that or three or two or one—must be there. Must be there. So those who are, I mean to say, enlightened, they can understand that we are miserable. We are in a miserable condition. And those who are not enlightened, in ignorance, they think, "Oh, this is all right. Don't care for it."

Sri Isopanisad Lectures

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

So yesterday we have explained to some extent what is the culture of nescience and what is the culture of knowledge. Culture of knowledge means spiritual knowledge. That is real knowledge. And advancement of knowledge for comforts or to protect this material body, that is the culture of nescience. Because however you may try to protect this body, its natural course will take place. What is that? Janma-mṛtyu-jarā-vyādhi (BG 13.9). You cannot relieve this body from repeated birth and death, and while manifested, disease and old age. So people are very much busy for culturing knowledge of this body, although they are seeing every moment that this body is decaying. The death of the body was registered when it was born. That's a fact. So you cannot stop the natural course of this body. You must meet the process of the body, namely, birth, death, old age, and disease.

Sri Isopanisad, Mantra 13-15 -- Los Angeles, May 18, 1970:

So that seeing power is the bhakta's, the devotee's, because Kṛṣṇa certifies, bhaktyā mām abhijānāti (BG 18.55). Premāñjana-cchurita-bhakti-vilocanena santaḥ sadaiva hṛdayeṣu vilokayanti (Bs. 5.38). Those who have developed love of Godhead by that ointment, prema, ointment... Just like sometimes... In India it is very... They have got some... What is called? Surma? Ungent, surma. Yes. If you apply that surma your sight becomes bright immediately. So if you smear your eyes with love of Godhead, then you will see God always. Santaḥ sadaiva hṛdayeṣu vilokayanti. Yes. So devotion. So this is the way of understanding God. By service, by enhancing love... This love can be increased only by service. Otherwise there is no possibility. Sevonmukhe hi jihvādau (Brs. 1.2.234). The more you increase your service spirit, the more you increase your dormant love of God. And as soon as you are in the perfectional stage of love of God, you see God always, every moment. Twenty-four hours you can see.

Festival Lectures

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

So Prahlāda Mahārāja is protected by Nṛsiṁha-deva, and... Now, it is a fact that an atheist like Hiraṇyakaśipu, who denied the existence of God, so he was shown God at his last stage of life. Yes. So the atheist will see God, but when he will see, his life is finished. That means death. Atheist will see God in the form of death. And theist, Kṛṣṇa conscious devotee, will see God twenty-four hours within his heart. That is the difference. Nobody can avoid death. So atheist will see God. If he denies God, but he will see God in the form of death. That is explained in the Bhagavad-gītā, that every moment our things are being taken away by time. It is not difficult to understand. Just like my age, seventy-four years, seventy-five, that means seventy-four years from my whole duration of life is already taken away. Therefore everyone of you should think that every moment, whatever asset you have got, the most valuable asset is the life, duration of life. That is being taken away. That is the law of nature.

Ratha-yatra Lecture at The Family Dog Auditorium -- San Francisco, July 27, 1969:

Therefore those who are impersonalists, their knowledge is not yet perfect. They do not know actually what is the situation of their father. The supreme father is a person. It is confirmed in the Vedas, nityo nityānāṁ cetanaś cetanānām: (Kaṭha Upaniṣad 2.2.13) "He is the supreme eternal of all eternals." We are all eternal. Each living entity, they are all eternal. Death means the end of this body. We are dying at every moment as our bodies change. So this death means death of this body, not of the spirit soul. Spirit soul is eternal. God is eternal, and I am His son, you are His son. You are also eternal. But just like particle of gold is still gold, similarly, the part and parcel of the Supreme Lord, he is also God. It is said that we are partly God, and He is the Supreme God. That is stated in the Vedas, nityo nityānāṁ cetanaś cetanānām: "He is the supreme eternal amongst all the eternal, and He is the supreme living creature amongst all living creatures." Supreme, that is the difference. The quality of God, the quality of me and you, is the same. Just like a small portion of the ocean water—if you analyze chemically you will find the same chemical composition. Similarly, as living entity you have got all the qualities of God in minute portion. Therefore He is Supreme. Because we have got all the qualities of God in very minute portions. So He is Supreme. We are subordinate.

Ratha-yatra -- San Francisco, June 27, 1971:

When our eyes are anointed with love of God, we can see Him everywhere. That is the injunction of the śāstras. We have to develop our seeing power by developing love of Godhead. Premāñjana-cchurita bhakti-vilocanena (Bs. 5.38). When one is sufficiently developed in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, he can see the Lord every moment within his heart and everywhere, wherever he goes. So this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is an attempt to teach people how to see God, how to see Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa can be seen if we practice. Just like Kṛṣṇa says, raso 'ham apsu kaunteya (BG 7.8). Kṛṣṇa says, "I am the taste of the water." Every one of us, we drink water everyday, not only one, twice, thrice or more than that. So as soon as we drink water, if we think that the taste of the water is Kṛṣṇa, immediately we become Kṛṣṇa conscious. To become Kṛṣṇa conscious is not very difficult job. Simply we have to practice it. Just like this is an example how to practice to become Kṛṣṇa conscious.

Ratha-yatra -- San Francisco, June 27, 1971:

Please, therefore, take to this chanting of Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra. There is no loss. There is no expenditure. We don't charge anything. We have arranged this Ratha-yatra festival by begging from door to door. Although we have no means, but still we are executing this function for the benefit of the people in general. Please take advantage of this spiritual movement and make your life blissful and perfect. If you miss this opportunity, you do not know what you are going to have next life. Do not think that there is no next life. Next life, every moment we are changing our body. You know that when your body was a baby, that body was very small. Now that body is no longer there. When you were a boy there was another body. That body is no longer there. Now you are young man there is another body, and when you'll become old man like me, you'll have another body. This means that we are changing bodies in every moment, every second, imperceptibly, but I, the spirit soul, exist in all circumstances. Therefore it is natural to conclude that after leaving this body I shall have another body. That's a fact.

Ratha-yatra -- Los Angeles, July 1, 1971:

Nitya, nitya means eternal. We are eternal form. We change our body. We don't die. As we are changing daily, every moment changing body, so the final change means accept another body. This is also accepting another body, but imperceptibly. The change is so quick. Just like in the cinema spool there are so many pictures changing, but it is changing so quickly that we are seeing one picture moving. So that is our ignorance. But actually there are thousands of pictures changing in a moment, and you see that one picture is moving. Why do you not study in this way? Similarly, every second, our body is changing, just like spool, one after another, one after another, one after another. But I am... The spirit soul is there, just like the cinema spool is changing, but the seer is there. That is one, although the pictures are changing. Similarly, we are nitya. Nitya means eternal. And we are nitya. Then why God should be dead? They say, "God is dead." And what is foolishness? You are part and parcel of God, you are living, you are existing, and why the original soul should be dead?

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

Therefore Kṛṣṇa consciousness is the highest goal of life. We should always remember. And Bhagavad-gītā says bahūnāṁ janmanaṁ ante jñānavān māṁ prapadyate (BG 7.19). After many, many births of evolution, one after another, one after another, one after another—that evolution is going, every moment—so when one is perfectly wise, bahūnāṁ janmanām ante jñānavān. Jñānavān means perfectly wise. Jñāna means knowledge, and vān means one who has. The Sanskrit word vān... Just like bhagavān. Bhaga means opulence, and vān means one who has. So Bhagavān means one who has got six kinds of opulences in full. Every Sanskrit word has got its root meaning. It is not... Just like Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa has got His root meaning. Kṛṣṇa, "the greatest." Kṛṣ, and ṇa means negation. There are different meanings, but this is one of the meanings. Another Kṛṣṇa meaning is "all-attractive." So God is great. That very idea is perfectly expressed in the word Kṛṣṇa. So bahūnāṁ janmanām ante jñānavān (BG 7.19). Jnanavān means who has attained, who has possessed, who is in possession of highest wisdom. That is Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Bahūnāṁ janmanām ante jñānavān māṁ prapadyate.

Initiation Lectures

Initiation of Bali-mardana Dasa -- Montreal, July 29, 1968:

Either Kṛṣṇa or the living creatures, all of them are the oldest because they have no death, no birth. There is no history. Na jāyate na mriyate. Bhagavad-gītā says that the living entity, what to speak of God... They say, "God is dead." This is all nonsense. What to speak of God, even these living creatures, they are not dead. The death program is for this body, just like changing, changing the body, er, changing the dress. So if one changes one dress or apartment, that does not mean that he is dead. Similarly, if we change this body to another body... As we are changing our body constantly, every moment, similarly, if we change this body to another body, that does not mean death. So death is not accepted in the Vedic literature. So either God or the living creature, nobody dies. Every one is eternal, śāśvata purāṇa. Similarly, as we are the oldest and eternal; similarly this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is also the oldest and eternal.

Initiation of Rukmini Dasi -- Montreal, August 15, 1968:

Someone is impure, someone is pure. So either way, namo apavitraḥ pavitro, sarvāvasthām, in any condition, yaḥ smaret puṇḍarīkākṣam. Anyone who remembers puṇḍarīkākṣam, means Viṣṇu or Kṛṣṇa... Yaḥ smaret puṇḍarīkākṣaṁ sa, that person, bahyābhyantaraṁ śuciḥ, he immediately becomes clean inside and outside. Śuciḥ, śuciḥ means clean or śuciḥ means brāhmaṇa. Brāhmaṇa means clean. You have got all threads, so you should always prove that you are always clean. Bahyābhyantaraṁ śuciḥ. Śrī viṣṇu śrī viṣṇu śrī viṣṇu. So this is remembering Viṣṇu. So simply by remembering Viṣṇu, if one becomes clean inside and outside, so by chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa, how much purified he is becoming in every moment or every second. It is so nice. There is no question if we always keep ourselves chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/ Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare, so there is no chance of being contaminated by the influence of māyā. It is so nice.

Initiation of Lokanatha dasa -- New Vrindaban, May 21, 1969:

So Bhāgavata says... Caitanya Mahāprabhu says that "Don't be situated in the speculative method, that you are God, you are something—'There is no God,' or 'I am God, this God, that God.' Give up this habit kindly. Give up this nonsense habit." There is God, and you are not God. You are God partially, part and parcel, just like I have explained. So we have to give up this nonsense habit. Jñāne prayāsam udapāsya. Udapāsya means give up. Then what is next? Namanta eva. Just be submissive. Don't be puffed up artificially. You are being slapped always by the laws of material nature. Don't think that you are independent. It is foolishness to say that "I am independent. I don't care for anything of..." No. You have to care. You are being kicked every moment by the laws of nature. You should know it. You are not independent. Therefore be namanta eva, be submissive. Namanta eva. Jñāne prayāsaṁ namanta eva, be submissive. Namanta eva. Jñāne prayāsaṁ namanta eva san-mukharitāṁ bhavadīya-vārtām. San-mukharitām. And try to hear about the Supreme Lord from the right source. San-mukharitām.

General Lectures

Lecture -- San Francisco, April 2, 1968:

This is Sanskrit language. I'll explain it in English. He said that within this body there is soul, and the body is changing every moment, but the soul is there. He is giving example, just as a soul comes from the womb of his mother with a small body, and that small body changes—it becomes the body of a boy, it becomes the body of a youth, then it becomes the body of an old man, then it vanquishes... That we have to admit. We may say that the body is growing, but actually, the fact is, body is changing. It is medically admitted that we are changing our body every second. We are changing our blood corpuscles, and therefore a change of the body is taking place, and that is being manifested in a different shape only. Actually, we are changing every moment our body. So the ultimate change, when this body cannot be worked any more, just like a dress, when it is torn, when it is too old, you have to change it. Similarly, when this body becomes useless, no more, it cannot be pulled on any more, you take another body. Tathā dehāntara-prāptir. As we are, in our practical life, we are changing our body every moment, similarly, the last stage of changing this body is called death. Death means, according to Vedic literature, sleeping for seven months. Just as I give up this body, I have to enter into the womb of some kind of mother. These things are explained in the Vedic literatures.

Lecture to Technology Students (M.I.T.) -- Boston, May 5, 1968:

Just like within this body, when you were a child you were within this body—not exactly this body, but another body, which was so small. Now where is that body? That body is gone. You have got another body. So Bhagavad-gītā says, as we are changing body moment to moment, dehino 'smin yathā dehe... (BG 2.13). Dehinaḥ means the soul, the spirit soul, who is embodied within this body, as he is changing body from moment to moment. This is a fact, a medical fact, that you are changing body every moment. Similarly, the last change is called death. But we have to take..., we have to accept another body. But we do not know what sort of body we are going to accept. That technology is wanting in the modern civilization. But there are 8,400,000's of different bodies, and after leaving this body you may enter any of such bodies. You may become, after leaving this body, you can become American or you can become Indian or you can become Chinaman or you can become god in the moon planet or some other planet, or you can become dog, you can become hog, you can become serpent—anything. That requires... That is under the control of the material nature. That is not under your control. But if you take to this Kṛṣṇa consciousness, it will be under your control.

Lecture at a School -- Montreal, June 11, 1968:

In the Bhagavad-gītā there are description of two consciousness. Just like I am conscious throughout my body. If you pinch any part of my body, then I feel. That is my consciousness. So I am spread, my consciousness is spread, all over my body. This is explained in the Bhagavad-gītā, avināśi tad viddhi yena sarvam idaṁ tatam: "That consciousness which is spread all over this body, that is eternal." And antavanta ime dehā nityasyoktāḥ śarīriṇaḥ: (BG 2.18) "But this body is antavat," means imperishable. "This body is perishable, but that consciousness is imperishable, eternal." And that consciousness, or the soul, is transmigrating from one body to another. Just like we are changing dress. I may have this dress. You may have another dress. I may exchange your dress with me. So this changing of dress going on every moment. How? Now, these children, they are now so small. When they'll become young, this body will grow. We do not know... We say, "It is growing," but growing or not growing, this body will not remain.

Lecture -- Los Angeles, December 4, 1968:

Prabhupāda: Yes, why not?

Guest: In boiling the water do you kill any little insects that are in the water?

Prabhupāda: Yes. But that I have already explained, that we are killing every moment. Therefore we have to keep from the reaction by Kṛṣṇa consciousness. You cannot avoid killing. Whenever we are cooking, we are killing so many germs, the water. While we are burning fire, then so many germs are being killed. So the killing process cannot be stopped, but you should not do it willingly, and you should keep yourself God conscious. Then you are freed from the reaction.

Revatīnandana: What distinguishes bhakti-yoga from karma-yoga?

Prabhupāda: Karma-yoga means karma mixed with bhakti. And bhakti-yoga means pure bhakti. Somebody is attached to some kind of work, so he is advised karma-yoga.

Lecture -- Hawaii, March 23, 1969:

So for us, killing or nonkilling is not very important thing because everyone is killing, knowingly or unknowingly. So our point is we take foodstuff offered to Kṛṣṇa, and whatever Kṛṣṇa eats, that is our foodstuff. We distribute that thing.

(reading:) "Does ISKCON believe in reincarnation?" Well, this, there is no question of belief. It is a fact. I have already explained that the child, a small child, is reincarnating from one body to another, one body to another, one body to another. So similarly, the final change is called reincarnation. So there is no question of believe. It is a fact. Only the blind man, he cannot see it. Believe means it may be fact or not fact—I blindly believe. That is another thing. Here is a science. "One plus one equal to two." Just like that. This body changes, this body changes, this body changes, and the living entity's there, everywhere. Therefore every moment the reincarnation is going on, every second. What is the question of believe? It is a fact.

Lecture -- New York, April 16, 1969:

Your one moment of your life cannot be returned back even if you are prepared to pay millions of dollars. Today is 16th April, 1969. Now it is about 8 o'clock. The 7 p.m. of 16th April, 1969, is gone. If you want to take it back again and if you are prepared to pay millions of dollars, that 7 p.m., 16th April, 1969, will never come back. That's a fact. That 7 p.m., 16th April, 1969, if you have spoiled, then just imagine how much money you have spoiled, because you cannot get it even in exchange of millions of dollars. Therefore if you have spoiled that point of time without any utility, then you have spent at least many millions of dollars for nothing. That should be our calculation. Āyuṣaḥ kṣaṇa eko 'pi na labhyaḥ svarṇa-koṭibhiḥ sa cen nirarthakaṁ nītiḥ. If that valuable time is spoiled without any benefit, then just imagine how much you are losing every moment.

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

Dhīra, those who are sober, intelligent, they are not bewildered when a living entity changes his body. So change of body is going on in every moment, in every second, imperceptibly. Medical science also accepts that in every second we are changing our blood corpuscles. That is a fact. We are changing body every moment. And the final change is called death. But actually, there is no death. Na hanyate hanyamāne śarīre (BG 2.20). You accept another body. Therefore Kṛṣṇa says, bahūnāṁ janmanām ante (BG 7.19), "After many, many births," bahūnāṁ janmanām ante jñānavān, "when a man or a living entity becomes actually wise and intelligent..." Not fools. Fools cannot understand. One has to become very intelligent. Bahūnāṁ janmanām ante jñānavān. Jñānavān means very intelligent, wise man. Bahūnāṁ janmanām ante jñānavān māṁ prapadyate. Kṛṣṇa says that "After many, many births of struggle, or attempt for acquiring knowledge, when one comes to the summit point of understanding, he understands that vāsudevaḥ sarvam iti (BG 7.19), the origin of everything is Vāsudeva, Kṛṣṇa." Vāsudeva. Origin of everything is Kṛṣṇa.

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

So actually everyone is trying to live. Nobody wants to die. Why this psychological desire is there? I want to live. That, that means that he is eternal. Therefore he wants to live. That is confirmed in the Bhagavad-gītā. Na jāyate na mriyate vā kadācit. That soul existing within this body, or "I," I am eternal. So we... I am struggling now with this body. This body's temporary. I am changing different bodies. Just like in my this present life also I have changed so many bodies. So there is no difficulty to understand this philosophy that "I am changing bodies every moment. But I am the same, eternal. Similarly, after changing this body, I shall have another body."

Lecture (Day after Lord Rama's Appearance Day) -- Los Angeles, April 16, 1970:

Asmin dehe, in this body, there is one thing which is the proprietor of the body. And that proprietor of the body, due to the presence of the proprietor of the body, the body is changing from childhood to boyhood, from boyhood to youthhood, from youthhood to old age. And when it is too old, when it is not useful any more, you have to change another body, that is called death. So dhīras tatra na muhyati. One who is intelligent, one who is in the knowledge, he is not bewildered. He sees that every second, every moment, the body is changing, and the last phase of change is called death.

Lecture at Krsna Niketan -- Gorakhpur, February 16, 1971:

It is actually changed. But because... Just like in the spool of your film, there are many pictures. But because you see under certain condition, you see one picture. It is very easy to understand. Actually, the pictures are changing, different pictures, and we are seeing one picture. We are seeing the picture is moving in one picture. Similarly, this body is continuously, every moment, there is different body, different body, different body, every moment, but we are seeing one body. This is our ignorance. But we are changing body. Every moment we are changing body. The spool is going on. The exact example is that, like that, the film. Every second, changing one picture, one picture, one picture, one picture. And it appears that it is only one picture. One who does not know how the machine, cinematographic machine is working—the foolish persons—they say, they think that the picture is one and it is moving. No. It is changing. Similarly, the body is also changing. The exact example is changing of dress. Vāsāṁsi jīrṇāni. That is the exact word used in the Bhagavad-gītā. So even for an ordinary living being, we cannot see how the body is changing, how the living entity is changing from body to another. It is so swiftly, every moment, every second, it is taking place. How you can see? So there is no death; it is simply changing.

Lecture at Krsna Niketan -- Gorakhpur, February 16, 1971:

One cannot understand Kṛṣṇa on account of his being engrossed with these three material modes of nature. And Kṛṣṇa says, "One who understand Me rightly, he becomes immediately free." Tyaktvā dehaṁ punar janma naiti (BG 4.9). Just like we are changing our dress or our different bodies every moment, so Kṛṣṇa says, tyaktvā deham. The last change, last change... Ordinarily, those who are not liberated, those who are conditioned still, they die. Die means they change this body and accept another material body. Another material body. But one who is liberated by understanding Kṛṣṇa, one who is fully Kṛṣṇa conscious, he also changes his body and he accepts immediately a spiritual body. And so long he lives, that is also spiritual body. That is spiritual body in the (this) sense because that body is engaged in spiritual activities only. There is no material activity; therefore that is spiritual.

Lecture at Krsna Niketan -- Gorakhpur, February 16, 1971:

Devotee (2): Every moment we are changing our body.

Prabhupāda: That is, the medical science says. Even medical science, they say the blood corpuscles are changing.

Devotee (2): But we don't feel it so much.

Prabhupāda: You don't feel so many things. That I have explained. That does not mean it is not taking place.

Devotee (2): No, I want to say, like at the point of death we are also changing to another body. Do we feel that then?

Prabhupāda: That I explained. You don't feel, even the change takes place. Yes.

Devotee (2): Even in death...

Prabhupāda: Yes.

Devotee (3): Prabhupāda, you said that at the time of death, if one is Kṛṣṇa conscious, he's given a spiritual body. Is the spiritual body... You said it has been created. Originally, we had a spiritual body, and then we fell under the...

Prabhupāda: I don't say created. It develops.

Lecture -- Paris, June 26, 1971:

So when the body is complete, then the consciousness coming. So long the body is not complete, the consciousness is almost dead. It is called suṣupti, or sound sleeping. Then gradually, when the consciousness comes, the child within the womb feels uncomfortable and wants to come out. Therefore at the stage of seventh month of pregnancy sometimes the child moves. That is the process of growing. And after coming out of the womb the body grows. But if the child comes out dead, the body does not grow. Therefore it is to be understood that due to the presence of the spirit soul the body grows, means changes from one form to another. It is concluded by learned scholars that this change of body is taking place every moment, but the soul is there from the beginning of the life. And when this body is no longer persistable, the soul changes to another body. That is called transmigration of the soul. That is a fact. But the modern civilization does not deal with this subject matter. They are under wrong impression that the body is self. I have talked with many scholars, and they are also under the same impression that with the end of the body, everything is finished. But actual fact is different. We can remember our childhood body. We can remember our boyhood body. Although those bodies are not present, I, the spirit soul, the occupier of the body or the proprietor of the body, I am present.

Speech at Olympia Theater -- Paris, June 26, 1971, (with translator):

So it is the duty of every human being to understand his constitutional position, his relation with God, and understanding the relation, to act accordingly, and then our life becomes successful. This human form of life is meant for that purpose. We are missing the point. So long we are living, sometimes we challenge that "There is no God," "I am God," or somebody says, "I don't care for God." But actually this challenge will not save us. God is there. We can see God in every moment. But if we deny to see God, then God will be present before us as the cruel death. There are different features of the Supreme Personality of Godhead because He is the original root cause of all cosmic manifestation. In the Bhagavad-gītā there is nice description how you can gradually understand and see God personally, face to face. Just like the Personality of Godhead says therein that "I am the taste in water. I am the sunlight. I am the moonlight. I am the sound vibration in the sky and I am the supreme character of a great personality."

Speech at Olympia Theater -- Paris, June 26, 1971, (with translator):

So if we remember this instruction of Bhagavad-gītā, that the taste of the water is God, then the God realization begins, becomes, begins. Similarly, it is said there that God is the light of the moon, God is the light of the sun. Every one of us has seen the sunlight and the moonshine, so how we can say that we have not seen God? Similarly, Kṛṣṇa says that "I am the sound vibration in the sky." So who has not heard the sound vibration of the cloud in the sky? So as soon as we hear the sound vibration in the sky, we can see God or we can hear God. At last, Kṛṣṇa says in the Bhagavad-gītā that mṛtyuḥ sarva-haraś cāham (BG 10.34). If one does not see God, then, Kṛṣṇa says, "I am the death, cruel death, who takes away everything from everyone." The conclusion is that everyone sees God at every moment, but the atheist class, they do not accept that he is seeing God. He denies or telling lies that he is not seeing God. But a devotee of God, he sees God at every moment within his heart. So the difference of seeing God by a devotee and difference of, and denying, denial by the nondevotee, is this, that the atheist class or the atheist can see God at his last stage as death, whereas the devotee sees God by his devotional service every moment and every step of his life.

Pandal Lecture -- November 14, 1971, Delhi:

Then you cannot... You are caught up. Daivī hy eṣā guṇa-mayī mama māyā duratyayā (BG 7.14). Then it will be just what kind of body you should have. Karmaṇā daiva-netreṇa (SB 3.31.1), under superior administration. Just like in the government service there is service record. And according to the service record, one is promoted or degraded. Similarly, there is record in the God's accountant department, statistic department. Every moment, upadraṣṭā anumantā, God is within you, He is seeing all your activities. If you desire something, God will remind you. So that is good record. So all this record will be considered about your karma. Karmaṇā daiva-netreṇa jantur dehopapattaye. It will be decided that "This particular or this individual soul, he has to accept such-and-such body." Daiva-netreṇa jantur. Then that soul is transferred to the father's semina, and the father injects the semina in the womb of the woman. And then in the first night, by emulsification of the two seminas, there is a form like a pea, and that pea grows into the body. This is the secret of different types of body.

Lecture -- Delhi, December 13, 1971:

Devotee (2) (lady): Śrīla Prabhupāda, if a person is in a (indistinct) young body (indistinct) have another body.

Prabhupāda: Yes, every moment. That is the medical science. Every second we are changing body. We are changing the corpuscles of blood, therefore my body is changing.

Devotee (2) (lady): (indistinct).

Prabhupāda: Yes, immediately. It is just like it is said that you forward one step, when you see that the forward step is right place, then you take the other step. Like this. When you find this is solid, then you take it away, then you put again. It is like that. So at the time of death, as soon as it is settled up that this soul should migrate to such and such body, by superior. It is not in my hands. Daiva-netreṇa. Daiva-netreṇa means superior examination. That is called day of judgement in the Bible. Whether this soul is going to hell or heaven, that is the day of judgement. But they have insufficient knowledge, therefore they think that all the souls after death they lie down for perpetually. It is not that. Actually the judgement is there immediately and he gets another birth, either hell or heaven.

Lecture at Art Gallery -- Auckland, April 16, 1972:

So simply to know one, two, three, four, five, six, just like your daughter chants one, two, three, four, five, six, nineteen, eighteen, so that is not sufficient. You must know higher mathematics, how to adjust this one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine. That is higher mathematics. Higher mathematics does not mean that some other figures are brought in. The same one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight. But you must know how to adjust these nine figures—one, two, three—and that is science of God. Simply to know, that is very good. Those who are atheists, they are declining to accept the existence of God. They are less than animals. Less than animals. The animals also, they are afraid of some higher authority. But these atheists, they are not afraid of higher authorities. Although they are being kicked by the laws of material nature in every moment, still, they are proud, "No, there is no God. There is no God."

Lecture at Art Gallery -- Auckland, April 16, 1972:

So their position... Of course, we approach everyone to preach this science of God consciousness, but it is very difficult. Those who have taken to this atheistic view, āsuri-bhāvam āśritāḥ... Āsuri... Just like we have got examples in our Vedic science, Vedic knowledge. There were many atheistic persons like Kaṁsa, Rāvaṇa, Hiraṇyakaśipu, Dantavakra, they never accepted existence of God. But they had to accept the existence of God at the time of death. Therefore in the Bhagavad-gītā it is said, mṛtyuḥ sarva-haraś ca aham, that "Death, which takes away everything from everyone, that is... That death I am." So if we don't try to see God during our lifetime, then there will be an incidence which is sure—"As sure as death." That death is God. So to the atheistic person death is God. And to the theistic person, they can see, premāñjana-cchurita-bhakti-vilocanena santaḥ sadaiva hṛdayeṣu vilokayanti (Bs. 5.38). Those who have developed love of God, oh, they are enjoying the transcendental pleasure in every moment by seeing the artistic work of Kṛṣṇa. So that is the position of a devotee.

Lecture -- Tokyo, April 20, 1972:

Actually, when one becomes Kṛṣṇa conscious... Kṛṣṇa consciousness means one can see Kṛṣṇa every moment. That is Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Premāñjana-cchurita-bhakti-vilocanena santaḥ sadaiva hṛdayeṣu vilokayanti (Bs. 5.38). Those who have developed Kṛṣṇa consciousness, love of Kṛṣṇa, they always see Kṛṣṇa. They do not see anything except Kṛṣṇa. That is described by Kṛṣṇa Himself in the Bhagavad-gītā. Raso 'ham apsu kaunteya (BG 7.8). He is drinking water but seeing Kṛṣṇa: "Oh, this taste of water is Kṛṣṇa." He is eating prasādam: "Oh, Kṛṣṇa is so kind. He has given me so nice prasādam." So actually Kṛṣṇa consciousness means that he always sees Kṛṣṇa in every activity. He has no other vision. In the Caitanya-caritāmṛta it is said, sthāvara-jaṅgama dekhe, nā dekhe tāra mūrti sarvatra sphuraya tāra iṣṭa-deva mūrti (CC Madhya 8.274). A devotee is seeing the tree, but he is not seeing the tree. He will see how Kṛṣṇa's energy is working, that "Here is a tree, and it is so nice." He sees everything, everything in relationship with Kṛṣṇa. Nirbandhe kṛṣṇa-sambandha. Everything. Therefore a Vaiṣṇava is eulogized that vāñchā-kalpataru. He... Because he can give Kṛṣṇa.

Lecture -- London, July 12, 1972:

Just like the... I am changing, you are changing, everyone is changing. Every second, every moment, we are changing bodies. So similarly, changing of this body, accepting another body. After leaving this body, I'll accept another body. That body is not in my hands. What kind of body I am going to accept next, that depends on my work here, in this body. I am preparing my next body in this life. Just like a child is being, a boy is being educated to prepare his next life. If he is nicely educated, his next life is very bright. If he's not nicely educated, that will be very dark. Similarly, this chance, this human form of body, is a junction. From animal forms of life, by gradual process of evolution, I have come to this human form of life. Now I have to make out next what life. You can promote yourself to the higher planetary systems. You can promote yourself to the spiritual world. You can get your eternal life. That is called arthadam. That achievement you can do in this human form of life. So anyone who is attempting to get eternal, blissful life of knowledge, he is intelligent man. Otherwise, one who is spoiling his life simply for animal propensities, eating, sleeping, mating, he's no better than animal. That's all. Cats and dog. Polished cat, polished dog maybe, but he is animal. This bhāgavata-dharma means that, how to get out of these four defects of material life, or four miserable condition of material life—birth, death, old age and disease—and get eternal, blissful life of knowledge. That is called bhāgavata-dharma.

Lecture -- London, August 26, 1973:

Actually, even one's daily life, one can understand that he is different from this body. Just like every one of us, we had a child's body, a boy's body, a youth's body. Now I am old man, but I can remember that I had a body, a small body, baby's body. I remember personally when I was six months old I was lying down on my eldest(?) sister's lap. She was knitting. I still remember. So then I got another body, another body, another body, and according to development of body I had different consciousness, just like child's consciousness is different from the father's consciousness. So we are actually getting different types of body every moment, and the consciousness is changed also according to the body. This is a fact. But I remember that I had such and such body, I was doing such foolish things when I was a child. All these things I remember. Therefore I, the person, the soul, is existing, although the bodies are not existing. This is a fact. Those bodies, my childhood body, my boyhood body, my youthhood body, they are no longer existing. It is a fact. I have got now a different body, but I remember that I possessed such and such bodies. Therefore the conclusion is that, in spite of change of body, the spirit soul remains the same eternally. Similarly, when I shall change this body, I shall get another body. Tathā dehāntara-prāptir. That is called transmigration of the soul.

Address to Rotary Club -- Chandigarh, October 17, 1976:

So everything is very nicely explained in the Bhagavad-gītā, and you have got a nice club. So I request you to discuss on the Bhagavad-gītā as it is, without any malinterpretation. Then it will be beneficial for your club. Because Cāṇakya Paṇḍita... You have heard the name of Cāṇakya Paṇḍita. In New Delhi there is a Cāṇakya Purī. He was a great politician, very learned scholar, brāhmaṇa and great moralist also. So he has instructed about this Brahman knowledge in various ways. So our point is that we should not spoil this life. We should utilize every moment of our life very properly. This Cāṇakya Pandit I am referring because he has given very good instruction how to utilize our life.

Philosophy Discussions

Philosophy Discussion on Immanuel Kant:

Śyāmasundara: But isn't the breaking of a promise a universal moral command, that one should never break his promise, whether it is here or other countries?

Prabhupāda: Well that's all right, but for practical purposes they are breaking promises at every moment.

Śyāmasundara: Yes. He understands this, but his idea, he wants to get to the basis of morality by saying that...

Prabhupāda: That is a good quality. That is brahminical quality, not to break promise, to be truthful. That is goodness.

Śyāmasundara: This is an example of how one should look at his actions; that he should judge his own actions according to what he would want everyone else to do, and that these must be...

Prabhupāda: But it is not possible that everyone will be able to do. Just like you become truthful. It may be universal truth, but you do not expect that everyone will be truthful. That is not possible. Therefore it is not universal. It is meant for certain types of men. How can he say this is universal?

Philosophy Discussion on Charles Darwin:

yāmasundara: ...hasn't evolved. The ancient Greeks had a much higher standard of morality than the British or Darwin's time.

Prabhupāda: Yes.

Svarūpa Dāmodara: (indistinct) degrading (indistinct). We see every day, every moment.

Prabhupāda: So we have seen in our childhood, they're also. No voucher or receipt. I'll tell you one little story. My father was dealing in cloth. So supposing he has come, my customer, he wants so many things. So I haven't got stock all of these things, but I wrote down his order, that you are market broker, I say just get these things immediately from the market. You go to the particular person who has got the stock and you order him to my shop, "Such and such you send me." So you have ordered for say twenty, fifty men. So their men are coming with a load of cloth, and he'll simply ask the firm's name: "This is Rajaram (indistinct)?" And someone declares, "Yes, yes, yes." But no voucher. He simply asks whether this firm is Rajaram (indistinct), and somebody nods, "Yes, yes." So he drops the bundle of cloth. It may be five hundred, or thousand rupees' worth or more than that. So similarly, many porters drop, because I require so many things. Now, you are my broker, you come, you see the stack of cloth, you ask my clerk, "Just credit this from such and such firm." But firm has sent without any voucher, without any (indistinct), and the porter simply asks whether this is the same firm, and somebody nods and we (makes noise like stamping something), that's all. Then you come, you pick up so many bundles, "Just note down, 'This has come from such and such firm.' " You note down.

Philosophy Discussion on Soren Aabye Kierkegaard:

Prabhupāda: So how he'll make it a good cause? The good cause is relative. You think something good cause, I think something good cause, so what is really good cause? Who will, who will decide that this is good cause?

Śyāmasundara: He says that the good cause is determined when we begin to anticipate death. He says that if we lived every moment as if we might die soon in anticipation of death that we will make the right decisions. That then the value, the real value of things will come out.

Prabhupāda: That is not possible, because we see that in the slaughterhouse the animal is seeing that "Next life is mine." What decision he can make? And still he is standing there and does not go away.

Śyāmasundara: He's not exactly human. The human being, he can think of things, death.

Prabhupāda: The human being, if he is like animal, then he must be animal. Just like this is human being, that one should think that "I do not wish to die, but death is overcoming me. So what is the cause, and what should I do?" That is human being. Nobody says, if any one of us is asked, "Would you like to die?" You may whimsically say yes, but no, actually he does not like to die. But death overcomes. If I ask somebody that "Would you like to be diseased?" he'll say no, but disease is coming. So these are the human problems, that simply making some whimsical decision. The real decision is that I do not wish to suffer, but suffering comes upon me. So how to make the solution? And that is real decision. And everyone is trying to do that. Everyone is working so hard just to get out of suffering.

Philosophy Discussion on Edmund Husserl:

Śyāmasundara: Yes. That's his distinction. The "I" feeling is, that would be the conscience which is made up of the data, day to day, that I observe, which is my world, the stream of consciousness, that "I think I am." So I may be allowed to...

Prabhupāda: No. At every moment I speculate my mind-accept something, reject something—then I am, "What is to be done?" Then something dictation is there. That is transcendental ego.

Devotee: How did we get into the conception of transcendental ego?

Śyāmasundara: Well, that we haven't come to yet. That's later. We're still... I mean, if you want to jump to that we can, but we're missing a lot that goes between.

Prabhupāda: That's all right. That will come gradually. But we accept that transcendental ego.

Śyāmasundara: Yes. But now he's discussing the phenomenological ego, or what we would call the false ego, the sense of "I." He says that this ego is an act, an activity—of doubting, understanding, affirming, denying, ruling, refusing, imagining, feeling...

Prabhupāda: Yes. That is called in Sanskrit language saṅkalpa and vikalpa: You accept something and reject something. That's all. You can make a different branches of these two words.

Philosophy Discussion on Sigmund Freud:

Devotee: Is doing it from the beginning necessarily always going to work? For instance in Nairobi, (indistinct) he came with his wife and two children, and his son was so frightened, he never liked to leave the house at night because he thought when he left the house at night, when he returned the house wouldn't be there, and you were saying that that was recalled from his previous life, that he was bringing that... (break) ...simple desires?

Prabhupāda: Yes. That is continued from the previous birth. As soon as the seed is there, we are getting so many impressions, there are seeds, so many impressions. So therefore Lord Caitanya said that we are getting so many seeds, every moment, so one who is fortunate, he gets the seed of bhakti by the mercy of Kṛṣṇa and guru. Guru-kṛṣṇa-prasāde pāya bhakti-latā-bīja (CC Madhya 19.151). The bīja is there, that seed, and if he nourishes that seed by watering, (indistinct), then it grows, he becomes a devotee. Everything is seed. Either bhakti or sinful life or anything—it grows (indistinct). So brahmacārī means from the very beginning sowing the seed of goodness, and if one becomes a devotee, then automatically other things are lost.

Purports to Songs

Purport to Bhajahu Re Mana -- San Francisco, March 16, 1967:

Then he says, kamala-dala-jala, jīvana talamala. Kamala-dala-jala means the lily, lily flower. You have all seen lily flower on the lakes. They are tottering, always in the water. Tottering. Any way, any time, it can be overflooded. Similarly, this life is full of danger always, always in danger. Any moment it can be finished. There are so many instances. People look it, but they forget. That is the wonderful thing. They are seeing every day, every moment, that he is himself in danger, others are in danger. Still, he is thinking that "I am secure." This is the position. So life is very tottering and in dangerous position. Therefore one should take advantage of this human form of life and immediately engage in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. That should be the request of everyone to his mind, "My dear mind, don't drag me in the dangerous position. Please keep me in Kṛṣṇa consciousness." Thus Kṛṣṇa consciousness, how it can be achieved, that is also being described by Govinda dāsa.

Purport to Gaura Pahu -- Los Angeles, January 10, 1969:

These four principles are called viṣaya. And viṣama means dangerously. And viṣa means poison. If one is simply engaged with these four principles of life, just like animals. Then it is to be supposed that he's simply drinking poison. That's all. Viṣaya viṣama satata khāinu. "I know this (is) poison, but I am so much intoxicated that I am drinking this poison every moment." Gaura-kīrtana-rase magana nā painu. "And I could not merge myself into the saṅkīrtana movement started by Lord Caitanya." Oh, that is actually the fact. Those who are too much attached to materialistic way of life, or always drinking the poison of sense gratification, they are not attracted by the saṅkīrtana movement.

Purport to Parama Koruna -- Atlanta, February 28, 1975:

Govinda-viraheṇa: "Being separated from Govinda, God, my life is vacant." This is required. It doesn't matter whether you follow Christianity or Hinduism or Muslimism. Whether you are feeling vacancy, everything vacant without Kṛṣṇa, without God—that is the test. Yugāyitaṁ nimeṣeṇa. Every moment... Because one who is feeling separation from the Lord, he is feeling also, "When I shall see Him?" So this anxiety, Caitanya Mahāprabhu, yugāyitaṁ nimeṣeṇa: "A moment is seeming to Me a millenium, hundreds and millions of years' separation." That is love. If you love somebody and if you... Of course, in the material world, this love is not possible. There is no love in the material world. It is all lust.

Page Title:Every moment (Lectures, Other)
Compiler:Visnu Murti, Mayapur
Created:07 of Mar, 2012
Totals by Section:BG=0, SB=0, CC=0, OB=0, Lec=59, Con=0, Let=0
No. of Quotes:59