Man-made (Conversations)

Expressions researched:
"made by man" |"made by men" |"man-made"

1972 Conversations and Morning Walks

Morning Walk -- June 30, 1972, San Diego:

Prabhupāda: Oh. You have made this nice park, but with the help of God, who has created all these trees. You cannot do that. This means that you try to help or cooperate with God, then your credit is all right. Just like God has created this tree, and you are cooperating to make it nicely trimmed, make this path, this is cooperation. You take this much credit. But the first credit given to God, who has created this tree.

Ātreya Ṛṣi: Does this remind you of Vṛndāvana, Prabhupāda?

Prabhupāda: Hm?

Ātreya Ṛṣi: Is this like Vṛndāvana?

Prabhupāda: Vṛndāvana is different. This is man-made.

Devotee (2): Is this like Dvārakā, when Krsna was living in Dvārakā, they had...

Prabhupāda: Yes, Dvārakā, yes. Vṛndāvana trees are all full of fruits and flowers. These are for fuel, these trees.

Devotee (1): For fuel.

Prabhupāda: That's all. For burning. There is no fruits and flowers. (break)

Devotee (1): ...come on shore and get drunk and make trouble. They have their own police.

Prabhupāda: Military has their own police.

1973 Conversations and Morning Walks

Room Conversation -- February 26, 1973, Jakarta:

Prabhupāda: Therefore in another place, it is stated, bahūnāṁ janmanām ante jñānavān māṁ prapadyate (BG 7.19), "After many, many births, when actually becomes wise, jñānavān māṁ prapadyate, he surrenders unto Me." That is the perfection of knowledge. So this is... The Bhagavad-gītā is the only source of scientific knowledge of God and our relationship with God. I am very glad that you are already very serious about understanding Bhagavad-gītā. But I request you only that try to... and understand Bhagavad-gītā without any, our man-made interpretation. That will be my request.

Morning Walk -- May 1, 1973, Los Angeles:

Svarūpa Dāmodara: When I drove, so the stars were very shining in the sky very clear. (break)

Prabhupāda: Man-made rubbish. Although they have got machine. (break) What other things they can produce there?

Svarūpa Dāmodara: From sand?

Prabhupāda: Yes.

Svarūpa Dāmodara: There is a compound that is called silicon carbide. That is, I think, it is very hard, as hard as diamond They make silicon carbide. I'm not sure but silicon carbide or tungsten carbide. They are used for cutting diamond. They are harder than diamond. Very strong, very hard. They combine this with carbon. It requires tremendous amounts of force to do this, high temperature, high pressure. (pause)

Prabhupāda: Anything eatables?

Svarūpa Dāmodara: (Laughs) No, not so far.

Room Conversation with David Wynne, Sculptor -- July 9, 1973, London:

Prabhupāda: Yes. How a human being can kill another human being or another animal unnecessarily? And if you kill, there is law, life for life. But they have made laws for human beings. When an animal is killed, he's not criminal. But in the God laws you cannot avoid that. If you have killed an ant, you must be shot. That is God's law. You can avoid man-made law, but you cannot avoid God-made law. That you cannot do. You must be responsible. If you kill an ant even without knowledge, you are responsible. Such subtle laws are there. So we must know our responsibility. Without knowledge, if we kill, we are responsible. And with knowledge, there is no question. Where is that culture? They advertise, "Live and let live." What is that? Do they do that? Actually? They want to live at the expense of others. Why not let live others? Where is that culture?

Room Conversation with British Man -- August 31, 1973, London:

Prabhupāda: From practical life, just like world's principal religion, Christianism, Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism, and Mohammedanism also, the principle of not killing is there, every religion. Buddhism, they're completely for not killing. No circumstances, at any circumstances killing is not allowed. Similarly, in Vedic religion, killing is not allowed, but at circumstances, it is allowed. Similarly Christianity, they also say, "Thou shall not kill." Mohammedans also, they allow killing, but circumstantially. So the principle of killing is forbidden every religion, every religion. So the principle of religion is one. Take for example, in every religion there is acceptance of God and religion means to abide by the order of God. So how there can be two religions? There cannot be two religions. "I believe like that, we believe like that." These are man-made. But actual religion is that God is one and religion means the orders, the law given by God. That's all. Simple definition. Just like state is one, government is one, and to become good citizen means to abide by the laws of the government. That's all. Those, one who is abiding by the laws of God, he is perfect religionist. It doesn't matter whether he's a Hindu, he's a Muslim or a Christian. Whether he has got proper sense what is meant by God and what is the order of God. Then he is religionist, perfect religionist.

Morning Walk -- December 21, 1973, Los Angeles:

Prabhupāda: No. So they are opportunists. They are not learned scholar. Our proposition is that five thousand years ago Kṛṣṇa taught that "I am the Supreme." So Arjuna accepted, paraṁ brahma, paraṁ dhāma: (BG 10.12) "Yes, You are Supreme." Then all the ācāryas later on, Rāmānujācārya, Madhvācārya, even Śaṅkarācārya, all accepted. "Yes," kṛṣṇas tu bhagavān svayam (SB 1.3.28). Then after that, ācārya system, Lord Caitanya accepted, "Yes, Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Lord." So after Caitanya, five hundred years, all the ācāryas, they are accepting. So we are accepting or teaching the same thing. No change, no change. Nityaḥ śāśvato 'yam. If there is change, that is not nitya, that is not śāśvata. That is circumstantial. That is material.

Guest (1): Yes. That is the difference between man-made law and... Nitya and śāśvata.

Prabhupāda: Yes. I was coming here at six, but I caught cold. Therefore I have changed the time.

Guest (1): Yes, six is a bit too early.

1974 Conversations and Morning Walks

Morning Walk -- April 5, 1974, Bombay:

Prabhupāda: Bahudhā vadanti, but bahudhā are mentioned. Mentioned. Just like Viṣṇu-sahasra-nāma. That is in the śāstra. Therefore, if you take one of the names, then you have to refer to the śāstra, not that you manufacture one word. That you cannot do.

Indian man (2): The śāstras were also made by men, sages.

Prabhupāda: No, no, then which one you will accept?

Indian man (2): ...by the realized person.

Prabhupāda: Yes. Śāstra means...

Indian man (2): But you cannot say that in this age there are no realized persons.

Prabhupāda: No. It must corroborate.

Indian man (2): Corroborated by whom?

Prabhupāda: Corroborated by you. By you. If somebody says that "I am correct," then you have to refer to the śāstra whether he is correct or wrong. Just like a medical man. There is characteristic of certain chemicals. That is mentioned. So when accepting some chemical, the medical man tests in his laboratory whether it is correct. Not that somebody brings some chemical, some bunch of lime, and he says, "It is sodium chloride," or "Something, something." It must be tested. So the testing method is mentioned there, that the avatāra means, "This avatāra means his feature of body is this, his work is like this, he will come on such and such." Just like Kalki avatāra. Kalki avatāra, it is mentioned in the śāstra... Although He will come after four lakhs of years, it is stated in the śāstra that in Sambal... Sambal, in the house of Viṣṇu-josi, Kalki-avatāra will come.

Morning Walk -- April 10, 1974, Bombay:

Prabhupāda: Lord Śiva is Lord Śiva. He is very powerful demigod. He can give. He has got the power. But in spite of being favored by Lord Śiva, in spite of his becoming the great devotee of Lord Śiva, why he is described as rākṣasa? That is the point. So therefore if I say Rāvaṇa a rākṣasa, according to the śāstra, another devotee may be angry. So what can I do? It is stated in the śāstra, rākṣasa. Similarly, in the śāstra it is stated that na māṁ duṣkṛtino mūḍhāḥ prapadyante narādhamāḥ: "If one is not surrendered to Kṛṣṇa he is duṣkṛtina, the most sinful, mūḍhā, rascal, naradhāma, lowest of the mankind, māyayā apahṛta-jñāna." These things are there. But if we quote the śāstra, that "This man has not surrendered to the Supreme Lord; therefore he is a rascal," then what is wrong with us? It may be very strong words, but it is stated in the śāstra. Just like about Rāvaṇa, it is stated that he is a rākṣasa. So it may be very insulting and strong words, but this is the statement of the śāstra. And if one quotes from the śāstra, what is wrong on his part? Suppose in the court a big man has done something criminal, and the judgement is that he should be punished. So can you accuse the court, "Oh, such a big man?" Just like... For the time being let us understand. Mahatma Gandhi was put to jail in so many times. So nobody could say because according to law there was civil disobedience. So if the law puts you in the jail, so can you protest against that? Then you will be also put into jail, contempt of court. Although everyone respects Mahatma Gandhi, but why he was put into jail? According to law. It may be it is man-made law, it is wrong, but the principle is that whatever is judgement of the śāstra, we have to take. It doesn't matter who is that man and how great he is. That is... Yaḥ śāstra-vidhim utsṛjya vartate kāma-kārataḥ, na siddhim sa... (BG 16.23). The śāstra is given stress always. So you cannot go beyond the verdict of the śāstra. That is the injunction. (break) ...about Guru Nanak's statement that...

Room Conversation with Irish Poet, Desmond O'Grady -- May 23, 1974, Rome:

Prabhupāda: Yes. Spiritual master means who solves all confusion. That is spiritual master. When one is confused, he goes to a spiritual master, and the spiritual master's duty is to save him from all confusion. That is the relationship between the spiritual master and the disciple. If the spiritual master cannot save him from confusion, then he is not spiritual master. That is the test.

saṁsāra-dāvānala-līḍha-loka-

trāṇāya kāruṇya-ghanāghanatvam

prāptasya kalyāṇa-guṇārṇavasya

vande guroḥ śrī-caraṇāravindam **

This whole world is confusion, just like a blazing fire in the forest. When there is forest fire, all the animals become confused, "Where to go? How to save life?" It is very good example. When there is fire in the forest, all the animals become confused. Similarly, this material world is just like a blazing fire in the forest. Everyone is confused. Now how the blazing fire in the forest can be extinguished? You cannot take there your man-made fire brigade. That is not possible. Neither bucketful of water. So in this confused state of the human society you cannot manufacture the solution. The only solution is that when there is rain from the cloud on the forest fire, then it is extinguished. That is not in your hand; that is mercy of God. So spiritual master means who has received the mercy of God and he can deliver to the confused man. Then the solution is there. This is very good verse, saṁsāra-dāvānala-līḍha-loka-trāṇāya kāruṇya-ghanāghanatvam, prāptasya **. One who has received mercy of God, he can become spiritual master. He can deliver the mercy of God.

Room Conversation -- June 20, 1974, Germany:

Prabhupāda: Therefore in the Bhagavad-gītā it is said, yaṁ yaṁ vāpi smaran loke tyajaty ante kalevaram (BG 8.6). At the time of death if I die with designation, then I will have to accept again the body. The mind if it contains contamination, he gets different types of bodies on account of mind being contaminated.

Guest: Contaminated?

Prabhupāda: Yes. Just like if you contaminate some disease, then you must develop that disease. Similarly, if your mind is contaminated with some material designation, then you have to.... By nature's law. Kāraṇaṁ guṇa-saṅgo 'sya (BG 13.22). Because mind associated with a particular type of the modes of material nature, (indistinct). There are three qualities—sattva-guṇa, rajo-guṇa, tamo-guṇa and mixed up. At first mixing it becomes nine and again mixing up it becomes 81. Each quality there are thousands and thousands of varieties and that means by mixing up these qualities there are 8,400,000 species of life. So, it is by the God's law, nature's law, they take account of the particular color and award the quality. It is not man-made law. That there may some mistake. There is no mistake. If you have contaminated this disease, whether small pox or whatever or (indistinct), you must develop. Therefore desireless. Desireless means material desires. Material desires begins with this designation. Just like the child, he has got a childish body and he plays like a child. The same child when he'll get a youthful body (indistinct). The soul is the same but on account of the type of the body, he is acting. This is material. Small child in the childhood talks like nonsense, people enjoy it. But the same child when he is grown up, if he talks like a nonsense, people will call him nonsense, rascal. Why? The body has changed, the circumstances have changed. This is (indistinct) that we have changed this body and on account of the bodily situation we are acting different. That they do not understand. There is not school or college, they do not know about the soul and soul changing different positions, different bodies. In this way he remains materially entangled and the real relief is to get out of this bodily consciousness and advance in spiritual life.

Room Conversation -- June 28, 1974, Melbourne:

Prabhupāda: I say it is very nice, immediately. Because he was embracing tree also. So that is God consciousness, advanced God consciousness. Because everywhere there is part and parcel of God. Any way, either materially or spiritually. In our childhood, actually what I am doing, it was all taught in our childhood by our parents, my family. We were taught, "There is a grain of rice on the ground, and if it is touched by your feet, you should pick up the grain and touch on your head." This was our training. The idea behind—that the grain of rice is not man-made. It is sent by God. "O God, give us our daily bread." So here is the bread. It is God's mercy. Just see how idea, great idea. What is given by God, that is also God. This is God consciousness. You are asking God's mercy. So God's mercy is also God, the Absolute. So how can you disrespect a thing which is given by God? You cannot produce rice. You cannot produce bread. It is given by God. Everything... Therefore Kṛṣṇa said, raso 'ham apsu kaunteya (BG 7.8). Just try to understand Kṛṣṇa from the beginning of drinking water. Therefore Kṛṣṇa said that "The taste of the water, I am." So water, or any liquid thing you are drinking, if you are feeling some pleasure, ānanda... Ānandamaya. That God is ānanda. So there is the sample of ānanda. So if we simply practice this, that wherever I derive some pleasure, that is God, then you become God conscious. To become God conscious is not difficult. Simply one has to learn how to practice it. That's all. Everything stated.

1975 Conversations and Morning Walks

Room Conversation with Canadian Ambassador to Iran -- March 13, 1975, Iran:

Prabhupāda: Because in the Bhagavad-gītā it is said, yaṁ yaṁ vāpi smaran loke tyajaty ante kalevaram (BG 8.6). At the time of death, if I die with designation, then I will have to accept again the body. So the mind is the criterion, contamination. We get different types of body on account of mind being contaminated.

Ambassador: Contaminated.

Prabhupāda: Yes. Just like if you contaminate some disease, then you must develop that disease. Similarly, if your mind is contaminated with some material designation, then you have to accept similar body, by nature's way. Kāranaṁ guṇa-saṅgo 'sya (BG 13.22). Because the mind associated with a particular type of the modes of material nature, he got this body. There are three qualities: sattva-guṇa, raja-guṇa, tamo-guṇa. Now you mix up. By first mixing it becomes nine, and again mixing up, it becomes eighty-one. And each quality, there are thousands and thousands of variety. And that means by mixing up these qualities there are 8,400,000 species of forms of life. So it is very... God's law, nature's law, they take account of the particular color and awards the body accordingly. It is not man-made law, that there may be some mistake. There is no mistake. If you have contaminated this disease, either smallpox or cholera or this or that, you must develop that disease. Therefore we should be desireless. Desireless means material desire. That material desire begins with the designation. That... The child, he has got a childish body, and he plays like a child. The same child, when he will get a youthful body, he will do like that. The soul is the same. But on account of different type of body he is acting differently. That is practical. A small child, in the childhood he will talk like nonsense. People will enjoy it. But the same child, when he is grown up and he talks like nonsense, people will call him nonsense, rascal. Why? The body has changed. The circumstance has changed. This is the real education, that we are changing body, and according to our bodily situation we are acting differently. That they do not understand. There is no school, college or education about the soul and the soul's changing different position of different body, and in this way he remains materially entangled. And the real relief is to get him out of this bodily concept of life and advance in spiritual concept of...

Room Conversation with Yoga Student -- March 14, 1975, Iran:

Prabhupāda: But the name must be chanted that is our program. It may be Turkish name, it may be Arabic name, it may be Sanskrit name. Whatever he knows let him chant. That is our program.

Atreya Ṛṣi: But the concept of name of God is separate than designation, which you are talking about. Man-made designation. And this concept, if you don't accept this concept, how do you accept the concept of chanting in Islam. These are the points. Bhagavad-gītā also. There are so many concepts in there, but we want to interpret them all, we don't want to accept them. We want to accept our mind. Prabhupāda, what he has been saying all evening is: "Let's accept Bhagavad-gītā as authority. Let's accept Koran as authority. Let's accept an authority." Because we want to go by our senses. We want to go around modern...

Guest: Yes, (indistinct) as authorities.

Prabhupāda: Yes.

Morning Walk -- October 28, 1975, Nairobi:

Jñāna: Śrīla Prabhupāda, in Kenya the great majority of people live in the country rather than the towns.

Prabhupāda: That's nice. "Country is made of God, and city is made by man." That is the remark by poet Cowper.

Jñāna: How may we best expand our movement into the rural areas or into the country areas?

Prabhupāda: So, Brahmānanda, explain our scheme.

Harikeśa: Explain our scheme.

Cyavana: About the rural development village program.

Brahmānanda: Of making the men self-sufficient in cloth, foodstuffs, milk products, grains.

Morning Walk -- November 12, 1975, Bombay:

Prabhupāda: First of all let me, let me understand. This bodily transformation does not make any difference. Either it is made like a dog or it is made like a man, it is made from the earth. So one who knows the ingredient, he does not make any difference. Because he knows the dog or the man made of the same ingredient. Hare Kṛṣṇa. Jaya. First of all the body. The bodily conscious even...

1976 Conversations and Morning Walks

Room Conversation -- April 23, 1976, Melbourne:

Guest (2): Could I ask a question? I was told, if I'm not right, that down there in a section of your temple you worship the workmanship of flesh. A man made it.

Prabhupāda: We never do that. Who told you? Who is the rascal?

Guest (2): Well, it was one of your followers.

Guru-kṛpā: He's interpreting that to be the Deity.

Prabhupāda: Eh?

Guru-kṛpā: That is his interpretation of the Deity.

Prabhupāda: Of Deity?

Guru-kṛpā: That is his interpretation of what is the Deity, that it is man-made, matter.

Guest (2): Is it?

Prabhupāda: You do think that, that the form of God is man-made?

Guest (2): Well, all I can.... I just.... That's my feeling.

Prabhupāda: That may be your feeling, but that does not mean that is our feeling.

Guest (2): Well, okay. Your feeling does not mean that our feeling is wrong.

Prabhupāda: No, no, we don't say. I am simply asking that how do you glorify flesh and bone? I do not know. I am asking you.

Guest (2): I don't know. God knows, is what I'm saying.

Prabhupāda: How is that? You do not know your system of glorification?

Morning Walk -- June 4, 1976, Los Angeles:

Mahendra: Thirty or forty years also, Śrīla Prabhupāda, one man made a little plaster body of a human being, and he planted it in his back yard in England. And then he dug it up and said, "Oh, look, I've found the oldest man in history!" And all the scientists came and said, "Oh, yes, this is the oldest man in history." And for twenty or thirty years many men got their Ph.D.s by writing about how this plaster was the oldest man in history.

Prabhupāda: Yes, such fools are leaders.

Interview with Kathy Kerr Reporter from The Star -- June 17, 1976, Toronto:

Kathy Kerr: Do you consider that going..., your movement then is basically more of an educational movement than a religious movement.

Prabhupāda: Yes. Educational. It is religious, but it is not a man-made religious. Our idea.... I have already explained that our idea of religion means that like the sugar, it must be sweet. It is not that in Europe sugar is not sweet, in India it is sweet. Sugar, wherever it is, it is sweet. Similarly, the soul, the spirit soul is the same everywhere. So he, the spirit soul, is now embodied within this material body, and he is suffering on account of this material body. So we are teaching everyone how to get out of this material body and stay in his original, spiritual body. This is our real movement. This is another way..., another name is liberation. We are suffering within this body. Our suffering means on account of this body. So if there is such science how to continue our life without changing body, that science we are teaching. It is purely educational.

Radio Interview -- July 27, 1976, London:

Hari-śauri: He was a little bit confused because first of all you quoted śāstra, said everything was from śāstra. Then again you said "Forget the śāstra; this is logic." (laughter) He couldn't figure out how they both came into play. And then at the end you said that religion is logic.

Prabhupāda: Yes, that is religion. If you have to accept the supreme authority, then as soon as you violate you are punishable. Very common sense.

Hari-śauri: It's because they're so conditioned by this man-made religion. They think that the scriptures they read is something that's made up.

Prabhupāda: Therefore they change.

Hari-śauri: Yes, it's a belief that's...

Prabhupāda: Whatever they are suitable, they make. But he cannot control over the supreme controller. They have no brain. And they are going on under the name of religion. Just see. All these rascals. Therefore they're all cheating. If you believe in the supreme controller, how you can change whimsically the law given by the supreme controller?

1977 Conversations and Morning Walks

Room Conversation Varnasrama System Must Be Introduced -- February 14, 1977, Mayapura:

Prabhupāda: But the Ramakrishna rascal saying. Kṛṣṇa says, yānti deva-vratā devān (BG 9.25). If you worship demigod, you go to the demigod. You can say...

Satsvarūpa: God Himself says.

Prabhupāda: (laughs) Yes. We have not to take the instruction of a man-made God. We have to take instruction of the real God.

Hari-śauri: The second half of that verse says that "As they surrender unto Me I reward accordingly," So it's not that everybody gets the same results.

Prabhupāda: Yes, accordingly, because nothing can happen without Kṛṣṇa's desire. Even if you want some benefit from the demigods, that must be sanctioned by Kṛṣṇa. That is stated. Mayaiva vihitān hi tān. Find out. Ye 'py anya-devatā. Ye 'py anya-devatā-bhaktāḥ. (break)

Evening Darsana -- May 12, 1977, Hrishikesh:

Indian man (4): Secularism means it's opposed to religion.

Devotee (2): Different parties, different government.

Prabhupāda: No, no. We have to study the Indian constitution. It is defective because by the same constitution our present Prime Minister was put into custody for nineteen months. And we are working on the same constitution. So the constitution itself is defective. Anything man-made will be defective.

Indian man (3): It will never be perfect.

Prabhupāda: Therefore I am insisting that "Take the instruction of Kṛṣṇa. You'll be perfect. Don't manufacture."

Indian man (5): You can't have that in authoritarianism. You get that in Delhi, where they feel that they are authority.

Prabhupāda: So become authority. That is... We said that. You become guru, authority. But you learn first of all as celā from the guru. And then you become guru. And without any learning, without any..., how become a guru? That is going on. Everyone is self-made guru. That has to be stopped.

Room Conversation -- October 18, 1977, Vrndavana:

Prabhupāda: Let them learn to rise early in the morning and cleanse. This is the first scheme. This will keep their health nice. Cātur-varṇyaṁ mayā sṛṣṭam (BG 4.13). Unless in the human society the varṇāśrama system is introduced, no scheme or social order, health order or any order, political order, will be successful.

Bhagavān: Everything is there very clearly in your books, Śrīla Prabhupāda.

Prabhupāda: A man-made scheme-useless. Sāttvika-yuga.(?) What is that verse? Sattvāvalambi-para-sattva-viśuddha-sattvam... From Brahma-saṁhitā?

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Which verse, Śrīla Prabhupāda?

Prabhupāda: Sattvāvalambi-para-sattva-viśuddha-sattvam.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Māyā hi yasya jagad-aṇḍa-śatāni sūte (Bs. 5.41)?

Prabhupāda: Yes.