Guard (Lectures)

Expressions researched:
"guard" |"guarded" |"guarding" |"guards"

Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures

Lecture on BG 3.18-30 -- Los Angeles, December 30, 1968:

Prabhupāda: We have to follow His instruction, what is given in the Bhagavad-gītā. We cannot imitate Him. He is all-powerful. The same example, just like the sunshine. The sunshine can absorb moisture from filthy place, but he, it is not infected. Sun is not infected. But if you go to a filthy place, you become contaminated immediately. Yes. So nobody should try to imitate the all-powerful, but one should try to follow His instruction. That should be motto of life. Go on. "Following and imitating are not the same thing." "Same level." Yes.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: "We cannot imitate the Lord by lifting Govardhana Hill as the Lord did in His childhood. It is impossible for any human being. We have to follow His instructions, but we may not imitate Him in any way. The Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam affirms this as follows: 'One should simply follow the instructions of the controllers and should not imitate them in their activities. Their instructions are all good for us and any intelligent person must perform them as instructed. However, one should guard against trying to imitate their actions. One should not try to drink the ocean of poison imitating Lord Śiva.' "

We should always remember the position of the īśvaras, or those who actually control the movements of the sun and moon. Without such power, one cannot imitate the īśvara or the superpowerful. The example set herein is very appropriate. Lord Śiva drank poison to the extent of swallowing an ocean, but if any common man tries to drink even a fragment of such poison he will be killed. There are many pseudo-devotees of Lord Śiva who want to indulge in smoking gāñjā (marijuana) and similar intoxicating drugs, forgetting that by so imitating the acts of Lord Śiva they are calling death very near. Similarly, there are some pseudo-devotees of Lord Kṛṣṇa who prefer to imitate the Lord in the matter of the rāsa-līlā or dance of love, forgetting their inability to lift the Govardhana Hill. It is best, therefore, that one not try to imitate the powerful, but simply endeavor to follow their instructions. Nor should one try to occupy the posts of the powerful without qualification. There are so many 'incarnations' of God without the powers of the Supreme Godhead."

Lecture on BG 18.67 -- Ahmedabad, December 10, 1972:

Therefore she is equipped with so many weapons, ten kinds of weapons on ten hands. That means there are ten directions. The four corners, east, west, south, north, and the four corners, up and down. These are the ten directions. So you cannot escape. Just like from the jail you cannot escape, there is very strong guard, similarly, we are all put into this fort, durgā, material universe. So... And the deity, predominating deity, is Durgā-devī.

Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures

Lecture on SB 1.8.38 -- Los Angeles, April 30, 1973:

So, so long we are living, our name, our fame, our form, our activities, are glorious, very good. And as soon as the life is gone, nobody cares. It is a lump of matter. That's all. Now at the... When one is living, a big man, nobody can go before him or touch him—there are so many guards. But the same man, when he's dead, if he's lying on the floor, if somebody kicks on his face, nobody cares, finished.

Lecture on SB 1.15.20 -- Los Angeles, November 30, 1973:

Pradyumna: (leads chanting, etc.)

so 'haṁ nṛpendra rahitaḥ puruṣottamena

sakhyā priyeṇa suhṛdā hṛdayena śūnyaḥ

adhvany urukrama-parigraham aṅga rakṣan

gopair asadbhir abaleva vinirjito 'smi

(SB 1.15.20)

Translation: "O Emperor, now I am separated from my friend and dearmost well-wisher, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and therefore my heart appears to be void of everything. In His absence I have been defeated by a number of infidel cowherd men while I was guarding the bodies of all the wives of Kṛṣṇa."

Prabhupāda: So after departure of Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa's all the wives, 16,108, they were being taken care of by Arjuna. But some cowherdsmen, they plundered all the queens, and Arjuna could not protect them.

Lecture on SB 1.16.11 -- Los Angeles, January 8, 1974:

Whether Kṛṣṇa pats somebody and kills somebody, the result is the same. Therefore Kṛṣṇa is Absolute. It is not ordinary fortune to be killed by God. It is a great fortune. Just like Rāvaṇa and Hiraṇyakaśipu. They were Kṛṣṇa's personal guards, Jaya-Vijaya. Some way or other, they became offender to the Kumāras. So they cursed him that "You are not well-behaved." They stopped him going in the house of Kṛṣṇa, Nārāyaṇa. So they became very angry. They cursed him that "You do not deserve this place. You must go to the material world. In the material world there is enviousness, jealousy. In the spiritual world you have become envious. So you are not fit. You must go down to the material world." So they became very much disturbed. Lord Nārāyaṇa personally came out to settle up. "So this you have been cursed; it cannot be withdrawn.

Lecture on SB 5.5.1-8 -- Stockholm, September 6, 1973:

The father saw that this boy is a little restless, he's very much attracted with Caitanya Mahāprabhu's movement, he wants to join, so he'll go away from home. So let him have a very beautiful wife, so that he may not go away. So rich man, to get a beautiful wife is not a very difficult thing, he got, and a special house, garden house, and with guard, so that the son may not go away. This was the position of Raghanatha Dāsa Gosvāmī. So one day Raghunātha Dāsa Gosvāmī's... At that time he was not Gosvāmī, Raghunātha, Raghunātha's mother was advising her husband or Raghunātha's father, "Why don't you shackle him?" As woman she was suggesting that better, just like in prison house they are locked up in iron chain, similarly you do for my son so that he'll not be able to go away. So the father was replying, "You mad woman, don't you see I have given such a nice wife, shackle, he's not attached at all.

Lecture on SB 6.1.22 -- Chicago, July 6, 1975:

Anyway, that Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī, when left home... His father and uncle was very strictly observing. He was given very nice beautiful wife and very beautiful house. But he was not very much satisfied. He wanted to join Caitanya Mahāprabhu. So his father was very strictly keeping guard, that "This boy may not go out." Just like some of your parents do. (laughter) So... But this cannot be checked. So Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī, after all, by some tricks—after all, he was very intelligent, rich man's son—he went away to Caitanya Mahāprabhu. And his mother was advising to his father that "Why don't you handcuff this boy?" So his father was saying that "I have already handcuffed him with such beautiful wife and such beautiful residence, and he has opened this.

Lecture on SB 6.3.18 -- Gorakhpur, February 11, 1971:

Why is barking? So invisible Viṣṇudūtas, they are always everywhere. Just like police constables, Yamadūtas are there, and Viṣṇudūtas are there. Civil guard and the police constables, both are there. So Yamadūtas' business is to arrest the sinful. That is their... Here everyone is sinful. Nobody is free from sin. That is the position of this material world. So Yamadūtas are searching or taking away. Just after leaving this body, one is taken away by Yamadūta to the place of Yamadūta. There is a planet described in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. So those who are very sinful, they are dragged through hot desert. They cannot... They fall down. Such persons fall down, but still, he is dragged through the desert. These descriptions are there.

Lecture on SB 7.9.19 -- Mayapur, February 26, 1976:

You can invent very nice, up-to-date, modernized medicine, but why don't you stop disease? That you cannot do. That is not possible. Janma-mṛtyu-jarā-vyādhi. You are taking so many measures to stop untimely death. Just like in your country there are beaches and so many warning, "Don't come here." And there is guard seeing if anyone is dying, so... But you cannot stop death. That is not possible. You may take measure, so many. You cannot stop death. Children, somebody says, the parents do not take care, but even the parents take care, is it guaranteed that the children will not die? There are many rich men, they are taking care of their children. Rich men, they are taking care of the diseased person, good physician, good medicine. Why the diseased person is dying? Why the children suffering? So, these are to be observed. Why these things happen?

Nectar of Devotion Lectures

The Nectar of Devotion -- Vrndavana, November 1, 1972:

Pradyumna: "Karma, or fruitive activities, are sometimes understood to be ritualistic activities. There are many persons who are very much attracted by the ritualistic activities described in the Vedas. But if one becomes attracted simply to ritualistic activities without understanding Kṛṣṇa, his activities are unfavorable to Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Actually, Kṛṣṇa consciousness can be based simply on hearing, chanting, remembering, etc. Described in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam are nine different processes, besides which, everything done is unfavorable to Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Thus one should always be guarding against falldowns."

Prabhupāda: So we should directly take to the nine different processes of devotional service, śravaṇaṁ kīrtanaṁ viṣṇoḥ (SB 7.5.23). That we are stressing specifically every time, that hearing about Kṛṣṇa is very important. Śravaṇam. As it is described in the Bhāgavatam, śṛṇvatāṁ sva-kathāḥ kṛṣṇaḥ (SB 1.2.17). Śṛṇvatām. Simply hearing, śṛṇvatām, those who are hearing... Caitanya Mahāprabhu has also recommended, sthāne sthitāḥ śruti-gatāṁ tanu-vāṅ-manobhiḥ. One may stay in his position as a brāhmaṇa, as a kṣatriya, as a vaiśya, or as a śūdra. Everyone can hear about Kṛṣṇa. This assembly which we are holding, there is no such thing that only the brāhmaṇas will come here, or the kṣatriyas will come here. Anyone can come and hear about Kṛṣṇa. That is the process of Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement.

Sri Caitanya-caritamrta Lectures

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

His personal expansion, is catur-vyūha. The first expansion is catur-vyūha. Svayaṁ rūpa, svayaṁ prakāśa. Svayam rūpa, the personal self, Kṛṣṇa. And when He begins to expand, the next immediate expansion is Balarāma, Baladeva. And from Baladeva, catur-vyūha, four expansion. Kāya-vyūha. He is guarding, vyūha, guarding. What are those expansion? Saṅkarṣaṇa, Pradyumna, Aniruddha and Vāsudeva, these expansion, catur-vyūha. And from Saṅkarṣaṇa, all kinds of incarnations... 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.

Initiation Lectures

Talk, Initiation Lecture, and Ten Offenses Lecture -- Los Angeles, December 1, 1968:

This is the test, how we are becoming free from these two concept of life. If there is still the concept that "I am this body, and anything belonging to this body is mine," then you have to chant very cautiously to make progress. That's all. These ten kinds of offenses you should guard against. (break) (japa) (leads girl in chanting:)

nama oṁ viṣṇu-pādāya kṛṣṇa-preṣṭhāya bhū-tale

śrīmate bhaktivedānta-svāmin iti nāmine

Come on. Your new name, Anurādhā. A-n-u-r-a-d-h-a. Anurādhā. Anu. Anu means one who follows, and Rādhā, Rādhārāṇī you know. So one who follows Rādhārāṇī. Wherever Rādhārāṇī goes, she follows.

General Lectures

Pandal Lecture -- November 14, 1971, Delhi:

Prahlāda Mahārāja, he could not get to cultivate Kṛṣṇa consciousness because he was born in atheist family, guarded, well guarded, and father was always alert that "My son may not chant Hare Kṛṣṇa." But he was taking opportunity in the school. So he was five-years-old boy, and his class fellows also of the same age. So he used to induce them, "My dear friends, chant Hare Kṛṣṇa, chant Hare Kṛṣṇa." We have got a little girl, perhaps you have all seen, Sarasvatī, she was admitted in a school in Bombay. And because there was no Hare Kṛṣṇa chanting, she began to cry, "No, I shall not be in this school." Practical. There was (indistinct), she was organizing all the children to chant Hare Kṛṣṇa. But they began something else, so she said, "No, I am not going to this school." So śucīnāṁ śrīmatāṁ gehe yoga-bhraṣṭo sañjāyate (BG 6.41). This child must be executing devotional service in her past life. Therefore, she has got the opportunity, a Vaiṣṇava father and Vaiṣṇavī mother.

Lecture at World Health Organization -- Geneva, June 6, 1974:

Guest (1) (Indian man): Swamijī, nobody will disagree with you that taking the world's population at its present level, and also the production at its present level, one can see that the distribution is very uneven. And it is also true, just leaving aside the predictions, the pessimistic predictions of demographers as to what will be the human population five hundred years from now or in the year 2,300 or whatever it is, but also leaving aside the deterioration of the environment as a result of wrong technologies that have begun here (?), it is true that, as you said, there is lot of scope of additional sources, food production and other resources if it is evenly distributed over the existing populations. Yet the fact remains that there are areas of the world where people are living in luxury, and they are guarding their rights, territorial ones, as you rightly said, national...

Prabhupāda: Yes. So-called nationalism.

Philosophy Discussions

Philosophy Discussion on Plato:

Hayagrīva: In his Politics, Plato changes his mind later in life. In the beginning he believed that in an ideal state the leaders should possess nothing of their own, neither property nor family. He felt that they must live together in a community where wives and children are held in common to guard against corruption, bribery and nepotism in government. He felt that the elite philosophers should mate with women of high qualities in order to produce the best children for positions of responsibility. Now, how does this view of common wives and children correspond to the Vedic version?

Prabhupāda: Yes, Vedic civilization is that, that putrārthe kriyate bhāryā. A man should accept a wife for putra, for son. Why son? Putra-piṇḍa-prayojanam: a putra should be responsible for offering piṇḍa, so that after death, even by mistake or somehow or other I am in a wrong position, by the piṇḍa I am elevated. This is idea. So marriage is for having good son, that's a fact, who will deliver me even if I am in the hell. Therefore the śraddhā ceremony in there. So even the father is in hell, by this śraddhā ceremony he will be delivered. This is the idea. So unless one has got son, nobody is going to offer him śraddhā oblation, and even one may be very benevolent, but it is not expected.

Purports to Songs

Purport to Parama Koruna -- Los Angeles, January 16, 1969:

So we should chant this mantra with faith and conviction. But the only qualification required in this connection, he says, viṣaya chāḍiyā, se rase majiyā, mukhe bolo hari hari. We have to chant with faith and conviction at the same time we should take care, we should be guarding against sense enjoyment. Viṣaya chāḍiyā, viṣaya means sense enjoyment. And chāḍiyā means give up. One should give up sense enjoyment. Of course, in this materialistic life we have got our senses and we are practiced to use them. We cannot stop it. But there is no question of stopping, but regulating it. Just like we want to eat. Viṣaya means eating, sleeping, mating, and defending. So these things are not forbidden altogether. But they're adjusted just to make it favorable for executing my Kṛṣṇa consciousness. So we should not take... Just like eating.