Suppose I am a little baby, and some worm is biting me. I cannot say "Mother"—because at time I cannot speak—"something is biting on my back." I am crying, and mother is thinking that "The child is hungry. Give him milk." (laughter) Just see how much this... I want something, and I am given something else. That is a fact. Why the child is crying? He is feeling uncomfortable. Then, in this way, I grow. Then I do not want to go to school. I am forced to go to school. Yes. At least, I was like that. (laughter) I never wanted to go to school. And my father was very kind. "So all right. Why you are not going to school?" I would say, "I will go tomorrow." "All right." But my mother was very careful. Perhaps if my mother would not have been little strict, I would not have gotten any education. My father was very lenient. So she used to force me. One man would take me to school. Actually, children do not want to go to school. They want to play. Against the will of the children, he has to go to school. Then there is examination, not only going to school.
I never (Lectures)
Lectures
Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures
Śrīmatī: In the Caitanya-caritāmṛta you wrote that Kṛṣṇa has no arms or legs as we have arms and legs, and His spiritual body and the other is the same. The spiritual body and...
Prabhupāda: He has got spiritual arms, spiritual legs. I never said that He has no arms and legs.
Śrīmatī: It said that He has no arms and legs as we know arms and legs.
Prabhupāda: Yes. That is the statement in the Vedas. Apāni-pādo javana grahīta.(?) The Supreme Lord has no legs and hands, but still, He accepts whatever we offer. Now we are accepting, we are offering here foodstuff, Kṛṣṇa. So it is confirmed that He accepts. Now He is... We do not know how far away He is staying in Vaikuṇṭhaloka. There is no limit of measurement. Then how He's accepting? It is said that javana, He is accepting our offerings. So He must be accepting with His hand. So He can stretch His hand so many millions and trillions miles away. Therefore when it is said that He has no hand, that means He has no hand like us, limited. But that does not mean He has no hand. He has hand unlimited. Unlimitedly He can stretch. That we cannot conceive. Because we have got this three-feet hand. So Kṛṣṇa must have at least four-feet. That's all. That frog philosophy. (laughter)
And for understanding Kṛṣṇa, here is the nutshell spoken by Kṛṣṇa Himself about Himself. If I, what I am... You can go on thinking that Swamiji is... Like the other day Paul was speaking that somebody has informed that I have got fifteen children. Now, I do not know how one can understand that I have got fifteen children. I never told in this meeting, but he told me that somebody told him I have got fifteen children. This is misunderstanding. If I say... He asked me, "Swamiji, how many children you have got?" I told him I have got at home three boys and two girls. And he told me that "I understood that you have got fifteen children." So that means, anyway, if you want to know about me, then you must know from me. That is authentic. That is authentic.
And if you question me that "Swamiji, why you have taken sannyāsa?" You may ask that question. Yes. So I may tell you frankly that I had no desire to accept this sannyāsa. I never dreamt in my householder... I was a householder. I never dreamt. But circumstantially I was forced to accept the sannyāsa dress just to become a preacher. You see? That is a long history. Sannyāsa, (chuckles) but I was forced some way or other to accept the sannyāsa. Of course, as far as possible, I am following the rules and regulations of a sannyāsī, as far as possible.
We are not going to convert Hindu into Muslim, Muslim into Christian. No, that is not our... That is not our business. He may think that he is Christian, he is Hindu, he is Muslim, but we think that he is a spirit soul, part and parcel of God. That is stated in the...
- vidyā-vinaya-sampanne
- brāhmaṇe gavi hastini
- śuni caiva śva-pāke ca
- paṇḍitāḥ sama-darśinaḥ
- (BG 5.18)
If one is learned paṇḍita, he does not see Hindu, Muslim, Christian. I went to America, I did not go there to turn the Christian to become Hindu. No, I never said that. Did I say, any, anyone, that "You are Christian. You become a Hindu"? No, never I said. That is not my business.
Out of curiosity or out of faith, somehow or other, with little faith you have come here. This is called śraddhā stage. Ādau śraddhā. Then if you increase your śraddhā... Suppose this function is going on. If this function continues and if you come continually, then gradually your attachment for Kṛṣṇa will increase. That's a fact. We have seen it in the Western countries. When I began this movement, I never said that "Only such and such persons will be admitted." No. There was no such restriction. Anyone could enter in our meeting room. And they, simply they were given chance for hearing. So gradually, they developed, they awakened their Kṛṣṇa consciousness, and now you see how they are chanting and dancing in ecstasy. It is possible for everyone. It is possible for you also.
Indian man (4): So you can show?
Prabhupāda: So I am not so powerful that I can show the viśva-rūpa. He has given me this power, that "You go and speak to the foolish rascals that I am Bhagavān," (laughter) that much power. Yes. That is my power. I can say to you that "Kṛṣṇa is Bhagavān." That's all. I never become equal to Kṛṣṇa.
Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures
Just like our students, Kṛṣṇa conscious person, if he is invited, "Come on, there is a nice picture in the cinema," no. He'll never go. He'll never go. (chuckles) Because he has become haṁsa. He is not a crow, that he'll go such places. Why? What is there? So haṁsa, here it is said, tad vāyasaṁ tīrtham uśanti mānasāḥ. They reject, reject. Uśanti mānasā na yatra haṁsā niramanty uśik-kṣayāḥ (SB 1.5.10). There was an incidence in my life. I was, of course, at that time householder. So one my friend, he was going to cinema with his family, and he saw me. I was in the street, and he immediately stopped his car and he asked me that "You come. We are going to cinema." So I refused, that "If you give me one thousand dollars, still I shall not go to cinema." So he dragged me. He took me to the cinema house, but I never entered. I came back. You see? Because it was detestful.
So it does not require any artificial musical knowledge or dancing knowledge. Out of your own ecstasy, you will dance, you'll chant. You don't require to study. Just like our playing of mṛdaṅga. Nobody has gone to an expert mṛdaṅga player to learn it. Whatever I play, I sing, I never studied under some expert teacher. But by practice, chanting, it may be melodious, it may be very nice or not. That doesn't matter. We are not concerned about that, whether it is appealing to the people or not. It will appeal; there is no doubt about it. But we don't require to divert our attention on these things. Simply because there is glorification of the Lord, it will be palatable.
Karandhara: It's going to take a few minutes to get set up so should we just go ahead? It'll take a few minutes for the photographer to get set up, get ready.
Prabhupāda: He can take as we are going on. What is this? Hare Rāma Hare Rāma Rāma Rāma... (pause) So when it is printed? I never saw it.
Dayānanda: From(?) New York.
Prabhupāda: Oh. Nice. Where is that slip yesterday you gave me? That mantra, nṛsiṁha-mantra? There was one extra mantra. You have got everyone, slip? This. (devotees repeat each word) Namas te, narasiṁhāya, prahlāda, āhlāda, dāyine, hiraṇyakaśipor, vakṣaḥ, śilā-ṭaṅka, nakhālaye.
The representative is he who canvasses business for Kṛṣṇa. That is guru. Kṛṣṇa wants this business. What is that? "You rascal, give up everything and surrender unto Me, sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja (BG 18.66)." Kṛṣṇa wants this business. And Kṛṣṇa's representative also says that you give up everything, simply surrender to Kṛṣṇa. This is Kṛṣṇa's representative. Sometimes we are very much eulogized, "I have done a wonderful thing, but I have done as representative of Kṛṣṇa." Same thing. I have told all these boys and girls nothing magic. I never showed any gold-making magic. I simply said to them the "Here is Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, you surrender unto Him." That's all. Ask any (indistinct). I never said anything. So that is actually representative.
So if you follow the instruction and if we chant, even though we do not understand in the beginning what is the effect of chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra, but it will show its effect if you go on chanting. Just like I began this movement in America. I did not ask them anything; I simply invited them, "Please come and chant with me." And just see the result. It is practical. I never bribed them, nor I showed any magic. I simply asked them, "Chant Hare Kṛṣṇa." And see the result. It is practical.
So when I started this movement, somehow or other, I tried to fix up the mind of these boys in Kṛṣṇa. In the beginning I never said that "You have to do this. You have to do that." But somehow or other, they are very nice boys, so they fixed up their mind in Hare Kṛṣṇa chanting. Kṛṣṇa and chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa—the same thing. Therefore we... Our process is to chant, kīrtanīyaḥ sadā hariḥ (CC Adi 17.31), chant Hare Kṛṣṇa always. Then the mind becomes... Chant and hear. Yena tena prakāreṇa. Then everything will be complete.
So we can see practically also that somehow or other, in your country this chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa is introduced practically only for one year, but it is being popularized. People are taking it very seriously. Even some places where I never visited, they are organizing centers. I have received information from Buffalo, from Atlantic City. One little boy, Terry, he is organizing. He has invited some of our brahmacārīs to go there. And I have received letter from Germany, from Holland. They also have begun chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa. In England, the Britain, the Beatles, they are also chanting. So this is getting popular in the Western countries, and it will get, I am sure.
Nectar of Devotion Lectures
I never said in any meeting in the Western countries that "Hindu religion is better than your Christian religion. You give up your Christian religion and come to Hindu religion." No, that was not my propaganda. There are many old students here present. They may remember. I never made propaganda. Rather when they inquired one can attain perfection by following Christian principles, I said yes. So our propaganda is not to proselytize people from Christian to Hinduism. Our propaganda is to make everyone know this fact, that everyone is eternally servant of Kṛṣṇa. That is our propaganda.
Sri Caitanya-caritamrta Lectures
If He takes seriously about your case, if you are fully surrendered, then He'll direct you in such a way that you cannot go elsewhere except to Him, even sometimes you may find that "He is doing something against my will." I have got my personal experience. I never tried, never accepted that I shall become a sannyāsī. And I tried my best to keep myself in this material world. And He has, several times He has frustrated me and has brought me by force (to) this life. And now I am happy. I can understand that how much favor has Kṛṣṇa showed me. Yes. I did not understand in the beginning.
Festival Lectures
One has to accept the renounced order from another person who is in renounced order. So I never thought that I shall accept this renounced order of life. In my family life, when I was in the midst of my wife and children, sometimes I was dreaming my spiritual master, that he's calling me, and I was following him. When my dream was over, I was thinking. I was little horrified. "Oh, Guru Mahārāja wants me to become sannyāsī. How can I accept sannyāsa?" At that time, I was feeling not very satisfaction that I have to give up my family and have to become a mendicant. At that time, it was a horrible feeling. Sometimes I was thinking, "No, I cannot take sannyāsa." But again I saw the same dream. So in this way I was fortunate.
So I am offering my respectful obeisances unto this His Holiness, because he forcefully made me adopt this sannyāsa order. So he is no more in this world. He has entered Kṛṣṇa's abode. So I am offering my respectful obeisances along with my disciples. On the first day of my sannyāsa, I never thought, but I remembered that I'll have to speak in English. So I remember on that sannyāsa day, when there was a reception, so I, first of all, I spoke in English. So it is all arrangement of Kṛṣṇa, higher authority.
If we strictly try to serve the spiritual master, his order, then Kṛṣṇa will give us all facilities. That is the secret. Although there was no possibility, I never thought, but I took it little seriously by studying a commentary by Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura on the Bhagavad-gītā. In the Bhagavad-gītā the verse vyavasāyātmikā-buddhir ekeha kuru-nandana (BG 2.41), in connection with that verse, Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura gives his commentary that we should take up the words from the spiritual master as our life and soul. We should try to carry out the instruction, the specific instruction of the spiritual master, very rigidly, without caring for our personal benefit or loss.
So anyway, from 1922 to 1933 practically I was not initiated, but I got the impression of preaching Caitanya Mahāprabhu's cult. That I was thinking. And that was the initiation by my Guru Mahārāja. Then officially I was initiated in 1933 because in 1923 I left Calcutta. I started my business at Allahabad. So I was always thinking of my Guru Mahārāja, that "I met a very nice sādhu." Although I was doing business, I never forgot him.
My Guru Mahārāja wanted me to preach in the Western countries, although I was at that time a ordinary manager in a chemical firm. I never thought, but I took it seriously. So from that 1922, in 1965 it was fruitful.
The rules and regulation are not very strict. They are very simple. But because you are trained in a different way... But I am so pleased and obliged to you that you have adopted. I never expected. When I came first in Boston, I was thinking, "Oh, who will accept these Vaiṣṇava rules and regulations? These people are after meat and wine and illicit sex, and how they will accept it?" I was hopeless: "How they will chant?" You see? So by the grace of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu, at least, I am hopeful that this movement can be accepted by anyone. It is not so hopeless as I thought.
t is not that he is dead and gone. That is not spiritual understanding. Even ordinary living being, he does not die. Na hanyate hanyamāne śarīre (BG 2.20). And what to speak of such exalted, authorized personality like Bhaktisiddhānta. He is seeing. I never feel that I am alone. Of course, when I came to your country without any friend, without any means... Practically, just like a vagabond I came. But I had full faith that "My Guru Mahārāja is with me." I never lost this faith, and that is fact.
Initiation Lectures
Actually, at that time the foreigners were thinking Indians as very nonsignificant because in the face of so many independent nations, India was dependent. There was one poet, Bengali poet. He lamented that "Even uncivilized nations like China, Japan and Burmese..." Not Burma. Burma was also dependent. "They are independent, and only India is dependent on the Britishers." So anyway, my Guru Mahārāja, he convinced me that "Dependence, independence, they are temporary. But we are concerned with the eternal benefit of the human kind, and therefore you should take up this matter." So I never thought that I will have to take up this matter by his order.
General Lectures
Crab. So, when we were walking, they were flying towards the sea. They have got instinct, or reason, that "Somebody's coming. He may kill me. So let me have shelter of the Pacific Ocean." The crab is not going this side, to the forest, because he knows certain that "The forest cannot give me shelter; the Pacific Ocean can give me shelter." This is the psychology. I never seen the crab is going this side, forest side. It is going to the Pacific Ocean side. And, so far as I am concerned, as soon as the waves are coming, I am going away from the ocean. Although I am a human being, I cannot take shelter of the Pacific Ocean, because I have not the potency.
Indian man: If someone cannot chant sixteen rounds a day...
Prabhupāda: I never said that sixteen rounds. I say chant. Sixteen rounds is not very difficult. But we say chant. You begin chanting. How many rounds, that doesn't matter. You go on chanting.
Philosophy Discussions
Śyāmasundara: Suppose I have an idea, tomorrow I want to go to Pittsburgh. So then I actualize my idea, tomorrow if I go to the airplane, airport, get a ticket...
Prabhupāda: But you have heard that Pittsburgh, there is a place, a substance, you may not have seen. So you are preparing to go to Pittsburgh means Pittsburgh is a fact. Not idea. You are not going to idea Pittsburgh, you are going to actual Pittsburgh. That you have known, therefore you are (indistinct). You might have not seen. Just like I came to New York. I never saw it. I got an idea, "It may be like this." But I was coming to actual fact.
Śyāmasundara: They may be existing, but on this planet we have no evidence...
Prabhupāda: That doesn't mean... That means you limit your study in one planet. That is not full knowledge.
Śyāmasundara: I just want to find out for the time being about...
Prabhupāda: Why time being? If you are not perfect in your knowledge, then why should I accept your theory? That is my point.
Śyāmasundara: Well, if you make claims that millions of years ago there were complex forms of life on this planet...
Prabhupāda: Why you are... I never said on this planet. By nature's way everything is existing.
| Page Title: | I never (Lectures) |
| Compiler: | Labangalatika |
| Created: | 08 of Dec, 2010 |
| Totals by Section: | BG=0, SB=0, CC=0, OB=0, Lec=28, Con=0, Let=0 |
| No. of Quotes: | 28 |