Lenient (Lectures)

Expressions researched:
"lenience" |"leniency" |"lenient" |"leniently"

Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures

So he may not be lenient in fighting." So in order to encourage Duryodhana, tasya sañjanayan harṣam. "Don't think that I am lenient. I am strong."

Lecture on BG 1.12 -- London, July 13, 1973:

So Duryodhana was doubting that "My grandfather, Bhīṣma, is more affectionately inclined to the other party. So he may not be lenient in fighting." So in order to encourage Duryodhana, tasya sañjanayan harṣam. "Don't think that I am lenient. I am strong." Immediately, to encourage him, he blew his conchshell. Nowadays they use bugle. Formerly the conchshells were used by the kings.

And not that in modern days the fighting takes place—the poor soldiers, they come to fight, and the leaders, they remain in safety place. It is not like that. All of them came out, kṣatriya. Bhīṣmadeva came, Duryodhana came, Arjuna came. And face to face, they had to fight.

Kṛṣṇa is not lenient to His friend or to His devotee. Because that leniency will not help him.

Lecture on BG 2.1-10 and Talk -- Los Angeles, November 25, 1968:

Prabhupāda: So-called compassion. He was thinking that by showing that compassion he'll be, I mean to say, eulogized by Kṛṣṇa. But Kṛṣṇa condemned it. Yes. Just the opposite. In other words, Kṛṣṇa is very strict also. That is the qualification of Kṛṣṇa and His associates. Vajrād api kaṭhora and kusumād api kamala. Softer than the flower and harder than the thunderbolt. Two sides. When Kṛṣṇa is strict He's harder than the thunderbolt, and when He's soft, He's softer than the flower. These two examples are given. Vajrād api kaṭhora, kusumād api kamala. So Kṛṣṇa is not lenient to His friend or to His devotee. Because that leniency will not help him, will not help him. Sometimes He appears to be very hard for the devotee, but He's not hard. Just like father sometimes becomes very strict. That is good. That will be proved, how Kṛṣṇa's hardness will prove his salvation. At the end Arjuna will admit, "By Your mercy, my illusion is now over." So this sort of stricture by..., from God on the devotee is sometimes misunderstood. Because we are always accustomed to accept what is immediately very pleasing, but sometimes we'll find that we are not getting which is immediately very pleasing, but we should not be disappointed. We shall stick to Kṛṣṇa. That is Arjuna's position.

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.

Lecture on BG 2.14 -- Germany, June 21, 1974:

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.

Kṛṣṇa is very strict. But the devotees are very lenient.

Lecture on BG 9.1 -- Vrndavana, April 17, 1975:

Actually we are trying to get because we are eternal. We are trying to get eternal happiness. That is... Kṛṣṇa is speaking here. Jñānaṁ te 'haṁ sa-vijñānaṁ pravakṣyāmy anasūyave (BG 7.2). Anasūyave. Asūya means envious. Envious. Everyone is envious of Kṛṣṇa. That is demon. Just like Kaṁsa. In this tract of land, Mathurā, there was Kaṁsa. He was so envious that he ordered to his servant that "As soon as Kṛṣṇa is born, please bring the child. I shall kill Him." This is asūya. So at the present moment, practically the whole world, they want to be godless. The scientists and the..., everyone is trying to prove that "There is no God. There is no Kṛṣṇa. This is all sentiment." Especially in the Communist countries. So if you become demon, Communist, or in favor of them, then you are also infected with asūya, envious of Kṛṣṇa. Then you cannot understand. Then you cannot understand. Kṛṣṇa is very strict. But the devotees are very lenient. Kṛṣṇa doesn't want to speak even with demons. But the devotees are so kind, they go to the demons and pray, "Kindly hear. Kindly hear about Kṛṣṇa."

Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures

My father was very lenient. I was not going to school.

Lecture on SB 3.25.13 -- Los Angeles, November 10, 1968:

Śreyaḥ and preyaḥ, there are two things. One is called preyaḥ. Preyaḥ means immediately pleasing. And śreyaḥ means ultimately benefit, benediction. Generally, conditioned souls, they are attracted with immediate pleasing things. Just like children. They are attracted by playthings more than education. They do not like to go to school. They like to play the whole day. In my childhood also, I was very naughty boy, and I was not going to school. And my mother kept a special man to drag me to the school. At that time, there was no system like in your country, school buses. One had to go to school on foot. So my father was very lenient. I was not going to school. Preyaḥ, pleasing. Children like to play. Similarly, there are two paths, śreyaḥ and preyaḥ.

Either your son or disciple, you should always chastise them. Never give them lenience. Little leniency, immediately so many faults will grow. Now, we are forgetting shaving because there is little leniency.

Lecture on SB 5.6.3 -- Vrndavana, November 25, 1976:

Now, if you want to bring somebody under your control, then you must always chastise him; otherwise it is impossible. Cāṇakya Paṇḍita, the moral instruction, he also says, lālane bahavo doṣās tāḍane bahavo guṇāḥ: "If you pat your subordinate, then it will increase the faulty habits." Bahavo doṣaḥ. And tāḍane bahavo guṇāḥ: "And if you chastise, then they will improve." Tasmāt śiṣyaṁ ca chatraṁ ca tāḍayen na tu lālayet. Therefore it is advised, "Either your son or disciple, you should always chastise them. Never give them lenience." So little leniency, immediately so many faults will grow.

Now for our practical life we are known all over the world as shaven-headed. Is it not? Now we are becoming hair-headed. We are forgetting shaving because there is little leniency. Immediately faulty things are creeping in. So we should be known as shaven-headed, not long-hair-headed. This is discrepancy. At least once in a month you must be clearly shaven-headed. In the bright fortnight on the day of pūrṇimā, four days after ekādaśī, once in a month in the bright fortnight, you must be shaved. It is not desirable that in grown-up ages also you should be chastised. That is not desirable. That is also difficult, because when the disciple or the son is grown up, if he is chastised, then he breaks. So before being chastised, you..., we should be conscious that "This is our rules and regulation. We must observe."

Sense pleasure is offered to the monkeys and pigs and dogs more leniently.

Lecture on SB 6.1.67 -- Vrndavana, September 3, 1975:

So this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is very important, scientific movement. Take to it. Stick to the principles. Don't live uselessly like a tree or cats and dogs. They have also sense pleasure. It is not that because in human life we have got full opportunity for sense pleasures... Well, sense pleasure is offered to the monkeys and pigs and dogs more leniently. So that is means that is life? No. That is not life. This has been discussed in the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam. Bhastrāḥ kiṁ na śvasanty uta, taravo kiṁ na jīvanti. They have been analyzed. No, the real life is Kṛṣṇa conscious life. That is success of life. So some way or other, you have come to this platform of Kṛṣṇa conscious life. Stick to the principle carefully. Don't fall down. Then try to understand Kṛṣṇa. Then life is successful.

We should not take very leniently that we are going back to Godhead.

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

Devotee (1): He would circumambulate?

Prabhupāda: Yes. Just see how much good exercise it is. Huh? Just like I fall down in this way, flat. Then I make a line. And I stand again in that line; again fall down. Make a line. Again that line. In this way, round. Tapasya. This is called tapasya, austerity. We should not take very leniently that we are going back to Godhead. Of course, there is so many concession for the... But at the same time, we should be very much aware of the responsibility that we have decided to go back to Godhead after leaving this body, so we have to perform some austerities. The austerity in our Gauḍīya-sampradāya is very simple: following the four principles, restriction, avoiding the offenses, and chanting regular beads. That's all. And hearing. Chanting and hearing, both things. Not only chanting; we have to hear Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. In this way we should engage twenty-four hours' business.

According to Vedic system, brāhmaṇas are treated very leniently because they are not so sinful.

Lecture on SB 7.9.9 -- Montreal, July 6, 1968:

Guest (2): Is it true that in India śūdras are kept more leniently than brāhmaṇas are?

Prabhupāda: No. No. Why?

Guest (2): I just wondered.

Prabhupāda: No. The law does not ask, "Are you brāhmaṇa or are you śūdra?" But according to Vedic system, rather, brāhmaṇas are treated very leniently because they are not so sinful. Just like Aśvatthāmā. He happened to be a brāhmaṇa, and he committed a great sin, killing the five innocent...

Nectar of Devotion Lectures

N our Brahmā, Vaiṣṇava sannyāsa, there is little leniency. But there is leniency.

The Nectar of Devotion -- Vrndavana, October 20, 1972:

Śāstra says that āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padam (SB 10.2.32). To go to that paraṁ padam, that is also not very easy. Kṛcchreṇa. Severe austerities and penances, one has to undergo to merge into the Brahman effulgence. Therefore you'll find, the Māyāvādī sannyāsīs, their stricture is very rigid. They must take bath thrice in, in a day and lie down underneath a tree and... Their renunciation is very rigid. Of course, those who are strictly following. In our Brahmā, Vaiṣṇava sannyāsa, there is little leniency. Because they live in Kṛṣṇa, so there is no need of very strict, rigid following. Although it is stated that they should live like this. But there is leniency. But Māyāvāda, they are very rigid in their principles of sannyāsa life. That is called āruhya kṛcchreṇa. Kṛcchreṇa, with great difficulty, they merge into the Brahman effulgence. Āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padam (SB 10.2.32). They attain in the perfectional stage. Not perfectional. Paraṁ padam. In the spiritual realm. But patanty adhaḥ. Again falls down. Again falls down means because in the effulgence there is no varieties.

Sri Caitanya-caritamrta Lectures

Don't take it leniently. It is very serious thing that Bhāratavarṣa is meant for cultivation of Kṛṣṇa consciousness.

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

So especially in India, the atmosphere is very good. It is especially meant, within this universe, this plot of land known as Bhāratavarṣa, India, is the most sacred place within this universe. And of the whole land Bhāratavarṣa, in Bengal, it is very sacred. And the whole of Bengal, this Nadia is very sacred. And in the whole Nadia, this part is very sacred, Māyāpura Candradoya Temple. So by Kṛṣṇa's grace, you have got this opportunity to live here. Take advantage, full advantage of this opportunity, spiritually fortunate. This is the statement of Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura. Not that I am manufacturing. We cannot manufacture anything, but we can repeat the words of our predecessors. Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura, in his Jaiva-Dharma, or in Caitanya-śikṣāmṛta, he has stated like that. In the Bhāratavarṣa, Bengal is the most important place, and in Bengal, the district Nadia is most important place, because Caitanya Mahāprabhu appeared. Don't take it leniently. It is very serious thing that Bhāratavarṣa is meant for cultivation of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Unfortunately, the present leaders, they are misleading them. Anyway, you are fortunate. You take advantage of this cult of Kṛṣṇa consciousness which was spoken by Kṛṣṇa Himself, in this land of Bhāratavarṣa, dharma-kṣetre kuru-kṣetre samavetā yuyutsavaḥ (BG 1.1).

Initiation Lectures

Don't take anything very lenient. Very serious.

Deity Installation and Initiation -- Melbourne, April 6, 1972:

Prabhupāda: Say, "I, Sanaka dāsa..."

Sanaka: I, Sanaka dāsa...

Prabhupāda: "...take charge of you..."

Śyāmasundara: "...take charge of you..." (girl laughs)

Prabhupāda: Why you are laughing? It is laughing thing? I told you first. Don't take anything very lenient. Very serious.

Śyāmasundara: "I, Sanaka dāsa, (Sanaka dāsa repeating) do hereby promise from this day henceforward to always protect and take for my wife Devadarśana dāsī."

This initiation by the grace of guru and Kṛṣṇa, do not take it very leniently. Take it very seriously.

Initiation Lecture Excerpt -- Melbourne, April 23, 1976:

The living entities, they are transmigrating from one form of life to another and wandering from one planet to another, sometimes low-grade life, sometimes high-grade life. This is going on. This is called saṁsāra-cakra-vartmani. Last night we were explaining, mṛtyu-saṁsāra-vartmani. This very word is used, mṛtyu-saṁsāra-vartmani. Very difficult ways of life, to die. Everyone is afraid of dying because after death nobody knows what is going to happen. Those who are foolish, they are animals. Just like animals are being slaughtered, the other animal is thinking that "I am safe." So any person with little intelligence will never like to die and accept another body. And we do not know what kind of body we are going to get. So this initiation by the grace of guru and Kṛṣṇa, do not take it very leniently. Take it very seriously. It is a great opportunity. Bīja means seed, seed of bhakti.

General Lectures

Whenever there is lenient government, the rogues and thieves will increase.

Lecture at Christian Monastery -- Melbourne, April 6, 1972:

So according to Vedic scripture, God comes, and He says personally why He comes: yadā yadā hi dharmasya glānir bhavati (BG 4.7). Whenever there is discrepancy in the prosecution of religious principles, He comes. Yadā yadā hi dharmasya glānir bhavati, abhyutthānam adharmasya. And whenever there is discrepancies in religious procedure, irreligious activities increases. That is natural. Whenever there is lenient government, the rogues and thieves will increase. It is natural. And if the government is very strict, then rogues and thieves cannot become very prominent. So when Kṛṣṇa comes, He has got two business: paritrāṇāya sādhūnāṁ vināśāya ca duṣkṛtām (BG 4.8)—for giving protection to the devotees, to the faithful, and for killing the demons. So Kṛṣṇa, when He was present, He exhibited these two things. Perhaps you have seen our picture of Nārāyaṇa, or Viṣṇu. Viṣṇu has got four hands. In two hands He has got lotus flower and conchshell, and in the other two hands He has got a club and a disc. The disc and club is meant for vināśāya ca duṣkṛtām, for killing the demons and the miscreants. And the conchshell and the lotus flower is meant for giving benediction and blessings to the devotees.