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False representation

Bhagavad-gita As It Is

BG Chapters 13 - 18

One should take it very seriously that devotional service as described in the Twelfth Chapter is the only way to get out of this false representation of the real tree.
BG 15.6, Purport:

One should be captivated by this information. He should desire to transfer himself to that eternal world and extricate himself from this false reflection of reality. For one who is too much attached to this material world, it is very difficult to cut that attachment, but if he takes to Kṛṣṇa consciousness there is a chance of gradually becoming detached. One has to associate himself with devotees, those who are in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. One should search out a society dedicated to Kṛṣṇa consciousness and learn how to discharge devotional service. In this way he can cut off his attachment to the material world. One cannot become detached from the attraction of the material world simply by dressing himself in saffron cloth. He must become attached to the devotional service of the Lord. Therefore one should take it very seriously that devotional service as described in the Twelfth Chapter is the only way to get out of this false representation of the real tree. In Chapter Fourteen the contamination of all kinds of processes by material nature is described. Only devotional service is described as purely transcendental.

Srimad-Bhagavatam

SB Canto 1

One who attains full knowledge of these different rasas, which are the basic principles of activities, can understand the false representations of the original rasas which are reflected in the material world.
SB 1.1.3, Purport:

These śruti-mantras indicate that every living being has its constitutional position, which is endowed with a particular type of rasa to be exchanged with the Personality of Godhead. In the liberated condition only, this primary rasa is experienced in full. In the material existence, the rasa is experienced in the perverted form, which is temporary. And thus the rasas of the material world are exhibited in the material form of raudra (anger) and so on. Therefore, one who attains full knowledge of these different rasas, which are the basic principles of activities, can understand the false representations of the original rasas which are reflected in the material world. The learned scholar seeks to relish the real rasa in the spiritual form. In the beginning he desires to become one with the Supreme. Thus, less intelligent transcendentalists cannot go beyond this conception of becoming one with the spirit whole, without knowing of the different rasas.

Under the influence of illusory material energy, we accept this spot-life of only a few years as our permanent existence and thus become illusioned by possessing so-called country, home, land, children, wife, community, wealth, etc., which are false representations created by māyā (illusion). And under the dictation of māyā, we fight with one another to protect these false possessions.
SB 1.8.4, Purport:

Mukti means to be reinstated in one's original spiritual status after giving up the material conception of life. Therefore, human life is specifically meant for qualifying ourselves for this spiritual liberty. Unfortunately, under the influence of illusory material energy, we accept this spot-life of only a few years as our permanent existence and thus become illusioned by possessing so-called country, home, land, children, wife, community, wealth, etc., which are false representations created by māyā (illusion). And under the dictation of māyā, we fight with one another to protect these false possessions. By cultivating spiritual knowledge, we can realize that we have nothing to do with all this material paraphernalia. Then at once we become free from material attachment. This clearance of the misgivings of material existence at once takes place by association with the Lord's devotees, who are able to inject the transcendental sound into the depths of the bewildered heart and thus make one practically liberated from all lamentation and illusion. That is a summary of the pacifying measures for those affected by the reaction of stringent material laws, exhibited in the forms of birth, death, old age and disease, which are insoluble factors of material existence. The victims of war, namely, the family members of the Kurus, were lamenting the problems of death, and the Lord pacified them on the basis of knowledge.

Other Books by Srila Prabhupada

Krsna, The Supreme Personality of Godhead

"Now, Pauṇḍraka, I shall force you to give up this false representation. You wanted Me to surrender unto you. Now this is your opportunity. We shall now fight, and if I am defeated and you are victorious, I shall certainly surrender unto you."
Krsna Book 66:

At this time, Lord Kṛṣṇa told Pauṇḍraka, "Pauṇḍraka, you requested Me to give up the symbols of Lord Viṣṇu, specifically My disc. Now I will give it up to you. Be careful! You falsely declare yourself Vāsudeva, imitating Me. Therefore no one is a greater fool than you." From this statement of Kṛṣṇa's it is clear that any rascal who advertises himself as God is the greatest fool in human society. Kṛṣṇa continued: "Now, Pauṇḍraka, I shall force you to give up this false representation. You wanted Me to surrender unto you. Now this is your opportunity. We shall now fight, and if I am defeated and you are victorious, I shall certainly surrender unto you." In this way, after chastising Pauṇḍraka very severely, Kṛṣṇa smashed Pauṇḍraka's chariot to pieces by shooting an arrow. Then with the help of His disc He separated Pauṇḍraka's head from his body, just as Indra shaves off the peaks of mountains by striking them with his thunderbolt. Similarly, Kṛṣṇa also killed the King of Kāśī with His arrows. Lord Kṛṣṇa specifically arranged to throw the head of the King of Kāśī into the city of Kāśī itself so that his relatives and family members could see it. Kṛṣṇa did this just as a hurricane carries a lotus petal here and there. Lord Kṛṣṇa killed Pauṇḍraka and his friend Kāśīrāja on the battlefield, and then He returned to His capital city, Dvārakā.

Lectures

Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures

So anyone who is declaring himself God, immediately you should know he is the greatest sinful man. And if you study his private life, you will see that he is number one sinful man. This is the test. Otherwise nobody will say that I am God, this false representation.
Lecture on BG 1.20 -- London, July 17, 1973:

Pāpīs, sinful men, they cannot understand. They understand, only think that "Kṛṣṇa is Bhagavān; so I am also Bhagavān. He's an ordinary man, maybe little powerful, historically very famous man. So He is, after all, a man. So I am also man. So why not I am God?" This is the conclusion of the abhaktas, non-devotees and sinful men. So anyone who is declaring himself God, immediately you should know he is the greatest sinful man. And if you study his private life, you will see that he is number one sinful man. This is the test. Otherwise nobody will say that I am God, this false representation. Nobody. Any pious man will not do it. He knows, "What I am? I am ordinary human being. How can I claim to take the position of God?" And they become famous among rascals.

Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures

You have seen sometimes the pigeons fighting. But a pigeon and crow does not fight. A pigeon and pigeon fights. So this is also another indirect way of love. You'll see the pigeons, they will fight and again sit down in the assembly of the pigeons, not that the pigeon is going to the assembly of crows.
Lecture on SB 1.1.3 -- London, August 20, 1971:

Prabhupāda: You have seen sometimes the pigeons fighting. But a pigeon and crow does not fight. A pigeon and pigeon fights. So this is also another indirect way of love. You'll see the pigeons, they will fight and again sit down in the assembly of the pigeons, not that the pigeon is going to the assembly of crows. Go on.

Pradyumna: "The rasas are exchanged between members of the same species. But as far as the spirit souls are concerned, they are one qualitatively with the Supreme Lord. Therefore, the rasas were originally exchanged between the spiritual living being and the spiritual whole, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The spiritual exchange, or rasa, is fully exhibited in spiritual existence between living beings and the Supreme Lord. The Supreme Personality of Godhead is therefore described in the śruti-mantras, Vedic hymns, as "the fountainhead of all rasas."

Prabhupāda: Raso vai saḥ.

Pradyumna: "When one associates with the Supreme Lord and exchanges one's constitutional rasa with the Lord, then the living being is actually happy. These śruti-mantras indicate that every living being has its constitutional position, which is endowed with a particular type of rasa which is to be exchanged with the Personality of Godhead. In the liberated condition only, this primary rasa is experienced in full. In the material existence, the rasa is experienced in the perverted form, which is temporary. And thus the rasas of the material world are exhibited in the material form of raudra (anger) and so on. Therefore, one who attains full knowledge of these different rasas, which are the basic principles of activities, can understand the false representations of the original rasas which are reflected in the material world. The learned scholar seeks to relish the real rasa in the spiritual form. In the beginning he desires to become one with the Supreme. Thus, less intelligent transcendentalists cannot go beyond this conception of becoming one with the spirit whole, without knowing of the different rasas. In this śloka, it is definitely stated that spiritual rasa, which is relished even in the liberated stage, can be experienced in the literature of the..."

Prabhupāda: Rasāmalayam.

If a man is born in a brāhmaṇa family or kṣatriya family or vai..., he must behave like that. That was the king's duty, to see that "This man is not falsely representing himself." Just like in England there is lord family.
Lecture on SB 1.15.46 -- Los Angeles, December 24, 1973:

So satyam, śaucam, kṣamā, dayā, āyuḥ, duration of life, bodily strength and memory. These eight kinds of things will reduce, reduce, reduce. When you will see these symptoms, you will find, "Now the age of Kali is making his progress very nicely." This is progress. Then another symptom is vittam eva kalau nṟṇāṁ janmācāra-guṇodayaḥ. Formerly, according to spiritual understanding, one man's position was calculated. Just like brāhmaṇa. Brāhmaṇa was honored because he knew Brahman. He was aware of the supreme spirit. So now in Kali-yuga, actually there is no brāhmaṇa. That will be also described, how a brāhmaṇa is. So janma ācāra, birthright. Birthright was there, but according to the behavior. If a man is born in a brāhmaṇa family or kṣatriya family or vai..., he must behave like that. That was the king's duty, to see that "This man is not falsely representing himself." Just like in England there is lord family. So to maintain their aristocracy, the family had to deposit some money with the government so that they may not deteriorate in their aristocratic behavior. Still, it is going on. But now things are finished.

Sri Caitanya-caritamrta Lectures

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

Just like we present sometime varieties of foodstuff. Kacaurīs, (indistinct ), purī, and rasagullā, and so many things. But what are these? Varieties of grains and milk, fat, that's all. Similarly, all these varieties, manifestations in the material world, they are... Yatra, yatra, tejo-vāri-mṛdāṁ yathā vinimayo, oh, and yatra trisargo 'mṛṣā.

Amṛṣā. It is false. But it appears to be just like real. 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.

Kṛṣṇa consciousness means to know everything as it is. Nothing will be falsely represented to a person who is in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. He knows everything. By the grace of Kṛṣṇa, he gets knowledge, what is what.
Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 22.27-31 -- New York, January 15, 1967:

Kṛṣṇa-sūrya-sama. If you are actually in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, there is full light, full light. Everything will be seen in its pure perspective. Kṛṣṇa consciousness means to know everything as it is. Nothing will be falsely represented to a person who is in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. He knows everything. By the grace of Kṛṣṇa, he gets knowledge, what is what. So kṛṣṇa-sūrya-sama. Just like in the sunlight. During night, in darkness, we cannot understand what is what. Suppose in darkness, at night, you go up to the roof of the house and you want to see where is your home. You cannot ascertain. But in the light, when the sun is up, you can see: "Oh, that direction is my house." Similarly, as in the sunlight everything becomes clear for our seeing, similarly, in touch with Kṛṣṇa consciousness everything becomes clear, what it is. So for a Kṛṣṇa consciousness person, these material activities appear to be merely false. Not false, but temporary. But he is eternal. Every living entity is eternal. He's interested with eternal happiness. He's not interested, I mean to say, temporary happiness.

Conversations and Morning Walks

1973 Conversations and Morning Walks

First of all the Britishers went there as East India Company to have trade connection.
Room Conversation with David Wynne, Sculptor -- July 9, 1973, London:

Śyāmasundara: When David was commissioned by the Queen's husband, Duke of Edinbur...? Duke of...?

David Wynne: Edinburgh.

Śyāmasundara: Duke of Edinburgh. He went before a committee of the Duke and how many...? You tell us.

David Wynne: Twelve.

Śyāmasundara: He won a competition over many others for that privilege to make the coins. And his point was that the Queen Mother, the Queen on the coin, it should not be false representation. It should be... What was the...? You were telling us, that it should be as she is, depicted as she is. And they did not agree. But then he showed he, but then he showed them an old British coin. What year was it?

David Wynne: Yes. Well, Queen Elizabeth the First, a gold coin, very beautiful. And I said this was a work of art, and I showed them. It's a very beautiful thing. And I said, "I could do you one like that." So they... So I got the job. But he was very annoyed.

Śyāmasundara: East India Company, it says on here.

Prabhupāda: Yes.

Śyāmasundara: So the coins were given out by the East India Company.

Prabhupāda: Yes. First of all the Britishers went there as East India Company to have trade connection.

Śyāmasundara: Disguise. So we should sell it for any price?

Prabhupāda: Yes. Formerly, people could purchase any amount of coins from the currency.

1976 Conversations and Morning Walks

One cannot become detached from the attraction of the material world simply by dressing himself in saffron cloth. He must become attached to the devotional service of the Lord. Therefore one should take it very seriously that devotional service as described in the Twelfth Chapter is the only way to get out of this false representation of the real tree.
Garden Conversation -- June 8, 1976, Los Angeles:

Prabhupāda: One has to associate himself with devotees, those who are in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. One should search out a society dedicated to Kṛṣṇa consciousness and learn how to discharge devotional service. In this way he can cut off his attachment to the material world. One cannot become detached from the attraction of the material world simply by dressing himself in saffron cloth. He must become attached to the devotional service of the Lord. Therefore one should take it very seriously that devotional service as described in the Twelfth Chapter is the only way to get out of this false representation of the real tree. In Chapter Fourteen the contamination of all kinds of processes by material nature is described. Only devotional service is described as purely transcendental. The words paramaṁ mama are very important here. Actually every nook and corner is the property of the Supreme Lord, but the spiritual world is paramam, full of six opulences. In the Upaniṣads it is also confirmed that in the spiritual world there is no need of sunshine or moonshine, for the whole spiritual sky is illuminated by the internal potency of the Supreme Lord. That supreme abode can be achieved only by surrender and by no other means.

That may be, falsely representation, but where he is recommending that "You surrender to Kṛṣṇa and worship Him"? Has he done that? That means misleading.
Morning Walk -- December 25, 1976, Bombay:

Prabhupāda: Religion is to surrender to Kṛṣṇa. But he does not recommend to surrender to Kṛṣṇa. What does he know about Kṛṣṇa? That is the difficulty. He does not know what is Kṛṣṇa, what is religion, and he is preaching religion?

Guest (1): He's supposed to be one of the biggest propagator of Gītā. He had Gītāra jñāna yajña in Bombay. There were thousands of people there.

Prabhupāda: False, everything false. Misled. He does not recognize Kṛṣṇa, he does not recognize religion, and he is religious.

Guest (1): One of the best religious leaders. That's what people think.

Prabhupāda: No, no, that may be, falsely representation, but where he is recommending that "You surrender to Kṛṣṇa and worship Him"? Has he done that? That means misleading. He can become a very good orator, and he can get claps, but what is the benefit? He's a good orator, there is no doubt about it. But Kṛṣṇa does not say that "You become a orator and cheat others." He does not say. He says, "Surrender unto Me." So if actually one is preaching, he should teach the audience that "Surrender to Kṛṣṇa." And that is reading of Bhagavad-gītā. If I take Bhagavad-gītā and speak something of my opinion, that means I am cheating. I am taking advantage of Bhagavad-gītā, and I am impressing people with my nonsense ideas.

Correspondence

1970 Correspondence

Any monies collected with these receipts are not received by ISKCON, neither ISKCON is responsible for such false representation.
Letter to Tamala Krsna, Syamasundara -- Indore 9 December, 1970:

I have advised Gurudasa to print the numbers of the receipts which were lost in Delhi in the public papers with a note that any monies collected with these receipts are not received by ISKCON, neither ISKCON is responsible for such false representation. Please send the numbers of the missing receipts immediately to Gurudasa so he can do the needful. Giriraja says that you now have the only copy of the missing numbers.

Page Title:False representation
Compiler:Visnu Murti, MayuriSakhee
Created:06 of Jul, 2010
Totals by Section:BG=1, SB=2, CC=0, OB=1, Lec=5, Con=3, Let=1
No. of Quotes:13