Manager (Lectures)

Expressions researched:
"manager" |"manager's" |"managers"

Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures

Lecture on BG 1.43 -- London, July 30, 1973:

Prabhupāda: There are so many kingdoms, so many planets. In each planet there is government, there is authority, and above all of them, there is the supreme authority, Kṛṣṇa. Īśvaraḥ paramaḥ kṛṣṇaḥ sac-cid-ānanda-vigrahaḥ (Bs. 5.1). This is the śāstric injunction. There are many controller. In this planet there is controller. There is another planet, another planet. Even Brahma is the controller of the whole universe. Just like in our government there is system. One department... Several departments is being managed by another director. Several directors is being managed by another secretary. As... The same system. Kṛṣṇa is the supreme proprietor, sarva-loka-maheśvara (BG 5.29), and He has got many secretaries, assistants. They are called Brahmā. So Brahmā means the manager of one brahmāṇḍa, universe. And there are millions of Brahmās, millions, trillions. They are numberless. Ananta-koṭi. Yasya prabhā prabhavato jagad-aṇḍa-koṭiḥ (Bs. 5.40). Koṭi. Koṭi means unlimited. Jagad-aṇḍa. Jagad-aṇḍa means universe. Brahmāṇḍa or jagad-aṇḍa. Aṇḍa. Aṇḍa means it is egg-shaped, round, egg-shaped. Therefore it is called aṇḍa, brahmāṇḍa. Bhū-gola. Gola means round. I have heard that before the science, the people were under the impression that this world is square. Is it not?

Devotees: Flat.

Prabhupāda: Flat. Flat, yes. But in the Vedic śāstra, millions of years ago it is mentioned: bhū-gola. Gola means round. Just see. And these rascals say that formerly people were not so intelligent. They are intelligent because they are thinking that this world is flat. And those who have spoken millions of years ago, "It is round," they will have less intelligence. Just see. Bhū, gola. Gola means round. Bhū-gola. Similarly, jagad-aṇḍa. Abda means round, just like egg. Aṇḍa means egg. Jagad-aṇḍa. This universe is egg-shaped. And we can see also, the sky is round. This is the wall of this universe.

Lecture on BG 2.20 -- Hyderabad, November 25, 1972:

The living entities, they are compared with the sparks, and the Supreme Lord as the big fire. So the big fire, that is the comparison. And the small sparks, both of them are fire. But sometimes the sparks fall down from the big fire. That is our falldown. Falldown means we come into the material world. Why? Just to enjoy, to imitate Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa is the supreme enjoyer. So we are servants. Sometimes... It is natural. The servant desires that "If I could enjoy like the master..." So when this sentiment or proposition comes, that is called māyā. Because we cannot be enjoyer. This is false. If I think that I can become enjoyer, even in this material world, so-called... They're, everyone is trying to become enjoyer. And the last snare of enjoyer means that one thinks that "Now I shall become God." This is a last snare. First of all, I want to become manager, or proprietor. Then prime minister. Then this and that. And when everything is baffled, then one thinks that "Now I shall become God." That means the same propensity, to become master, to imitate Kṛṣṇa, is going on.

Lecture on BG 2.20-25 -- Seattle, October 14, 1968:

So if I like, I can utilize this body for higher grade of life. Kṛṣṇa will give us all facilities. And if I like, I can utilize this body for lower grade of life. Kṛṣṇa will give us facilities. So He's always friendly. And He gives us also friendly advice, that "Don't act independently. Just act in Kṛṣṇa consciousness under Me. Then you'll be happy." That is His actual instruction. But the living entity does not care for the instruction of the Supersoul. He wants to act independently, and he has to suffer the consequence. That is stated in the Bhagavad-gītā in the Fourth Chapter. Yajñārthāt karmaṇo 'nyatra loko 'yaṁ karma-bandhanaḥ (BG 3.9). Yajña means Viṣṇu or Kṛṣṇa. Whatever you do, or what... Not whatever you do. You have to do only for Kṛṣṇa. Yajñārthe karma. Whatever you act. Never mind. Whatever you do. But you have to act for Kṛṣṇa. Yajñārthe karma anyatra. Otherwise, karma-bandhanaḥ, you'll be bound up by the reaction. The same example: just a person acting on behalf of some superior authority, government, personally he has no responsibility because he is acting on behalf of the supreme authority. Just like a manager or agent, attorney. Just like we signed one lease agreement. That Mr. Brown, he is acting as attorney on behalf of the landlord. So he has no responsibility.

Lecture on BG 2.21-22 -- London, August 26, 1973:

So this proves that the spiritual body is not impersonal. It is not a zero, it is, it has got form. But the form is so minute, aṇor aṇīyān mahato mahīyān: one form is lesser than the atom. Aṇor aṇīyān mahato mahīyān. Two forms are there spiritual. One is the Supreme Lord's form, virāḍ-rūpa, mahato mahīyān, and our form, aṇor aṇīyān, lesser than the atom. That is stated in the Kaṭha Upaniṣad. Aṇor aṇīyān mahato mahīyān ātmāsya jantor nihito guhāyām. Nihito guhāyām, guhāyām means in the heart. Both of them are there. Now find out modern science. Both the soul and the Supersoul, they are situated within the heart. Īśvaraḥ sarva-bhūtānāṁ hṛd-deśe (BG 18.61). It is not said that "Anywhere in the body it is sitting." No. Hṛd-deśe, in the heart. And actually, by medical science, the heart is the center of all activities of the body, office. And the brain is the manager. The director is there, Kṛṣṇa. He says also in another place, sarvasya cāhaṁ hṛdi sanniviṣṭaḥ. Everything is clear. Sarvasya cāhaṁ hṛdi sanniviṣṭaḥ, "I am sitting in everyone's heart." Find out God, find out Kṛṣṇa. In several places, all Vedic literature, guhāyām. Guhāyām means in the heart. Sarvasya cāhaṁ hṛdi sanniviṣṭo mattaḥ smṛtir jñānam apohanaṁ ca (BG 15.15). The supreme director, Kṛṣṇa, is sitting there, and He is directing, "Now this living entity wants to fulfill his desire in this way."

Lecture on BG 2.21-22 -- London, August 26, 1973:

Therefore we have become rascals. Sat-saṅga chāḍi kainu asate vilāsa. Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura therefore regrets that "I gave up the association of the devotees. I simply associate with these all rascals." Asat, asat-saṅga. Te kāraṇe lāgile mora karma-bandha-phāṅsa: "Therefore I have become entangled in this repetition of birth and death." Te kāraṇe. "So give up this." Cāṇakya Paṇḍita also says, tyaja durjana-saṁsargam, "Give up the association of these rascals." Bhaja sādhu-samāgamam, "Only associate with devotees." This will be the right. We are establishing different centers, not for sense enjoyment, but for good association of devotees. If we miss this, those who are working, those who are managers of this institution, they must always know that we cannot make this institution or this center as a brothel. There must be such management and or such arrangement that we must have always good association for advancement. That is required.

Lecture on BG 3.1-5 -- Los Angeles, December 20, 1968:

Temple worship is also not possible. Temple worship, you go in India, there are some temples still. Daily, they are spending thousands of dollars for temple worship. Daily. The process... In Jagannātha temple, fifty-six times offered prasāda, and any time you go they will supply you prasāda for one thousand persons. It is all ready. Still. Although India is being advertised there is no food, but if you go to Jagannātha temple, any time, and ask the manager that "We have come, one thousand devotees. Please supply us prasāda." "Yes, ready." (laughter) So that is being done. The arrangement is there since last two thousand years. The Jagannātha has property, there is production, there is good management. That is going on. Similarly, there is another temple, Nathadwar. They're also spending thousands of... In Madras also, there are many temples. There is a big estate. They are also collecting money daily, $4,000, $5,000. Yes. Still. The temple arrangement is there.

Lecture on BG 4.4 -- Bombay, March 24, 1974:

Therefore we are presenting Bhagavad-gītā As It Is, and it is being accepted all over the world. We have the greatest sale of our edition, this Bhagavad-gītā. Just three months before I got report. In London, in two months, we sold about thirty thousand copies. And the trades manager of Macmillan Company, he has sent me letter that while the other editions, they're diminishing, this edition is increasing by sale. Why? Because it is presented as it is, without any wrong interpretation. People are appreciating. This is a fact.

So people do not believe that Kṛṣṇa is a historical person, at the same time, He's the Supreme Personality of Godhead. They think that He is a very learned man or a great politician, or a beautiful man. Like that. Avajānanti māṁ mūḍhā mānuṣīṁ tanum āśritam, paraṁ bhāvam ajānantaḥ (BG 9.11). They do not understand the background of Kṛṣṇa.

Lecture on BG 4.10 -- Vrndavana, August 2, 1974:

Just like I am sannyāsī. Somebody is sannyāsī. So sannyāsī, what is that sannyāsī? We are also eating, we are also sleeping. But there is no mating. No sex life. So one item dropped, at least. The very important item. So that is called vīta-rāga. And there is no fear. Vita-raga. Everything can be practiced. Abhyāsa-yoga-yuktena cetasā nānya-gāminā (BG 8.8). If we practice, then things will be all right.

Therefore Kṛṣṇa says that bahavaḥ, not one. Bahavaḥ. Kṛṣṇa says, many. Many persons. We have got many instances in the śāstras. By tapasya, brahmacaryeṇa, tapasā, jñānena, yamena, niyamena, tyāgena. These are the different items. But either you practice the different items or simply take to Kṛṣṇa consciousness, all these practices will be automatically done. Kecit kevalayā bhaktyā vāsudeva-parāyaṇāḥ (SB 6.1.15). If you become vāsudeva-parāyaṇa, then these things will be practiced.

Just like everyone in this country. In the morning the manager of the Central Bank came. He was very much praising that how these European, American boys have become so nice. Because they have taken to bhakti-yoga.

Lecture on BG 4.19-25 -- Los Angeles, January 9, 1969:

Yes. Suppose a man is a manager, a cashier in the bank. He is receiving millions of dollars daily but he does not claim the proprietorship. He is simply handling millions of dollars but he knows that "I am not the proprietor."

Similarly, in our this material activities we may have the chance of handling millions of dollars practically nobody comes here with millions of dollars, neither one goes with millions of dollars. Everyone comes here empty-hand. The child comes empty-hand and the dead body goes empty-hand. So between the birth and death this small duration of life we are supposed to possess so many things. That is our false possession. Actually you don't possess.

Lecture on BG 7.1 -- Sydney, February 16, 1973:

The impersonalist class, or atheist class of men, they have interpreted Bhagavad-gītā in their own way. When I was in America in 1966, one American lady asked me to recommend an English edition of Bhagavad-gītā so that she could read it. But honestly I could not recommend any one of them, on account of their whimsical explanation. That gave me impetus to write Bhagavad-gītā As It Is. And this present edition, Bhagavad-gītā As It Is, is now published by Macmillan Company, the biggest publisher in the world. And we are doing very nice. We published this Bhagavad-gītā As It Is in 1968, in small edition. It was selling like anything. The trades manager of Macmillan Company reported that our books are selling more and more; others are reducing. Then recently, in this 1972, we have published this Bhagavad-gītā As It Is, complete edition. And Macmillan Company published fifty thousand copies in others, but it was finished in three months and they are arranging for second edition.

Lecture on BG 7.1-3 -- London, August 4, 1971:

There are so many examples. Just like you can... Although you are in this room, you can know that sun is not yet set because you can see your watch and you can understand the sunset time is not yet there. So you can understand perfectly that there is sun in the sky. It is a method. Similarly, you can understand God is there. You have to accept the method. If you accept... That method is recommended here: yogaṁ yuñjan mad-āśrayaḥ. "You have to practice this yoga system under the shelter of Me." "Me" means... Just like the same example, a business firm signs "We." "We agree to this point." The manager signs, the proprietor signs, he says "We," means "We, the company, any one of us." Similarly, when Kṛṣṇa says mad-āśrayaḥ, "under My shelter," it means that taking shelter of Kṛṣṇa or anyone in the disciplic succession of Kṛṣṇa. The same example: anyone attached to that business transaction, he's as good as the proprietor or the manager.

Lecture on BG 7.18 -- New York, October 12, 1966:

So why? You can question, "Why the Vedic literature recommends the worship of other demigods?" There is necessity. There is necessity because people are... Generally, they want to love something, so they are given some opportunity. These demigods are just like treated as the different, I mean to say, officers of the Supreme Lord. Just like government has got so many officers in different branches of management, similarly... Those who do not know, that is a different thing. Similarly, for this material world, there are different directors, managers. Just like the Indra. He is controlling the clouds. Candra, he is controlling this light. Sūrya, he is controlling the heat. So they are all government officers, or Kṛṣṇa's officers. They are actually performing. We simply, I mean to say, flash away, "Oh, this is nature. This is nature. This is nature." Oh, nature is not my father's servant. There is nature's father also, nature's master also. You'll find in the Bhagavad-gītā, mayādhyakṣeṇa prakṛtiḥ sūyate sa-carācaram (BG 9.10). Oh, there is rules. There are rules and regulations of conducting this nature's way.

Lecture on BG 9.3 -- Toronto, June 20, 1976:

This is the beginning of this chapter. Rāja-vidyā, the king of education. Rāja-vidyā rāja-guhyam. And very confidential. It is not understood by any ordinary man. Because it is very confidential. You go anywhere. Suppose you go to a bank. A few persons in the bank, like the manager or the cashier or the accountant, they know everything confidential. Not the clerks or the customers, no. So this is, also Kṛṣṇa concludes Bhagavad-gītā with these words, guhya guhyatamam. This knowledge is very confidential. This means when one thing is very confidential means it is very, very important. So Kṛṣṇa says therefore that aśraddadhānāḥ puruṣāḥ (BG 9.3). "This is so nice confidential. And I am speaking personally to enlighten the people in general." Not general, but people like Arjuna. Arjuna was not ordinary person. He was born in royal family and he was so exalted that he could speak with Kṛṣṇa face to face. He's not an ordinary person. So this confidential knowledge is not for ordinary person, but it is so easy. As it is said, susukhaṁ kartum avyayam. It is so easy to perform that everyone can do it.

Lecture on BG 10.4-5 -- New York, January 4, 1967:

I'll give you one very nice example. This is practical. In my youthhood I was manager in a big chemical firm. So there was a sulphuric acid chamber. There was some defect. It was not working well. In that chamber sulphur is given, and it is fused, and then acid comes out. So it was not working. So there were many scientists. They were sitting, consulting books: "Oh, why it is not working?" Then the managing director, Dr. Bose... He was very intelligent man. He at once went to another firm. They were also chemical. He knew there was an ordinary worker; he was very experienced. So... He was Muhammadan. He called him at once, "Just come and see what is defect there." And he at once came and manipulated some machine—at once acid transformed. All the theoretical scientists, they sat down. So this kind of experience you'll find even an ordinary man.

Lecture on BG 13.3 -- Bombay, December 30, 1972:

So this Vedic civilization is meant for, I mean to say, training the whole people in such a way, that they'll be engaged in the performance of yajña. That is called yajña, yajñārthe karma. So that either he acts as a śūdra or either he acts as a brāhmaṇa, it doesn't matter. The real aim is to satisfy the Supreme. This is very easy. Now, there are so many grades of officer in a big establishment. Either the manager or the orderly or the servant. Because the whole thing is to satisfy the supreme authority of the office, everything is all right.

Similarly, according to the capacity, one is ordinary servant, one is manager, one is clerk, one is this and that. That, That's all right. Similarly, according to our particular quality, one may be a brāhmaṇa, one may be a kṣatriya, nor be a śūdra, or vaiśya. It doesn't matter. But the whole society, if they are engaged in satisfying Kṛṣṇa, that is perfection. The Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is not that we are asking everyone to become a sannyāsī like me, and give up everything. No. That is not our program. You act as a brāhmaṇa, as a kṣatriya or a vaiśya or a śūdra. It doesn't matter. But you try to satisfy Kṛṣṇa. That is the program.

Lecture on BG 13.8-12 -- Bombay, September 30, 1973:

And Brahmā is called jagad-aṇḍa-natha. Jagad-aṇḍa-nātha means Brahmā. As in each department, for management there is a manager, similarly, in each brahmāṇḍa there is a manager who is called Brahmā. And each planet, there is also a manager or head. That is the system. And the supreme head is Kṛṣṇa.

Just like we have a manager, a head, on this planet. Now we have divided. Formerly this planet was one unit, and there one head, the emperor. Just like Yudhiṣṭhira Mahārāja was the emperor of the whole world. Parīkṣit Mahārāja. All kings formerly, whoever became king, emperor, he ruled over the whole planet. In each and every planet there was a ruler, but now, in the days of democracy, there are so many rulers, practically each and every one of us is a ruler. This is democracy.

Lecture on BG 15.1 -- Calcutta, February 26, 1974:

Prabhupāda: Even, what is that? Macmillan Company. Their trades manager, statistics, he has said that our Bhagavad-gītā sale is increasing, other Bhagavad-gītā decreasing. In America also, they are seriously studying how this movement is being spread so quickly. People ask me also how it is wonderfully increasing. Because there is no adulteration. That's all. (speaks to someone in Hindi) (break) ...before the public. And that's a fact, if you don't accept this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement, you will never be happy. This is fact. Everything is there, social, political, economical, philosophical, religious—all perfect knowledge. So what goes on next?

Devotee: Prasādam.

Prabhupāda: Prasādam? (end)

Lecture on BG 16.8 -- Tokyo, January 28, 1975:

So what is the use of meeting others? That is stated in the Bhagavad-gītā. Kāmais tais tair hṛta-jñānāḥ yajante anya-devatāḥ (BG 7.20). They go to other demigods, to meet, for some benefit, their knowledge being lost, hṛta-jñānāḥ. Just like if I want some benefit in your Japanese state and if I know the emperor, I can ask him, "I want it." Why shall I go to some departmental manager? What is the use? Let them become very big man in their department, but if I want to take some benefit, then I can... If I am known to the emperor, I can ask him that "I want this." He will immediately give me. Why shall I go to the departmental manager? They are subordinate. Therefore it is said, kāmais tais tair hṛta-jñānāḥ yajante anya-devatāḥ (BG 7.20). Antava t tu phalaṁ teṣāṁ tad bhavaty alpa-medhasām. We do not disrespect anyone in the government service, but if I know the supreme person in the government, why shall I go and beg from the lower grade officer? If I want something, I can ask the supreme. Is it all right or not? What is the use? They may come to see me, "Oh, he is known to the emperor." They may come to see me. I cannot go to see them. And we have no want. Why shall I see the demigods? We have no want. Kṛṣṇa knows.

Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures

Lecture on SB 1.1.1 -- London, August 7, 1971:

So the present situation is the so-called modern civilization, they have no knowledge of God, although they are trying to study the laws of God. But they should accept at least theoretically there must be God. How I can say God is dead? Because if God is the law-giver, by His order everything is moving nicely. The sun is rising exactly at the time, the moon is rising exactly at the time, the seasonal changes are taking place exactly in due course of time. Everything is going on. Foods are grown for our feeding, for animals. Everything is going on nicely. So how I can say the manager who is managing all these things, He is dead? How we can accept? These are imperfect knowledge or demonic knowledge or rascaldom.

Lecture on SB 1.1.2 -- London, August 17, 1971:

There is knowledge. That is knowledge. Everything is being maintained so nicely and there is no brain, there is no manager? One who says, "God is dead, there is no God," he's a rascal number one. Nothing else. Immediately take him he's a rascal number one. That's all. However educated he may be. Because he does not know the psychology, how we accept the Supreme. Suppose a child has come to London. So he cannot see the Queen. Or even a child's father. So many people are coming to visit London. It is not that everyone is seeing the Queen. But if he says, "Oh, there is no Queen," or "Queen is dead," will it be accepted? Similarly, some rascals who do not know how this universe is being managed, he may say, "God is dead, there is no God," but that will not be accepted by a sane man. A sane man will say, "There must be somebody, the origin of everything." Janmādy asya yataḥ (SB 1.1.1). That is the Bhāgavatam. Janmādy asya (SB 1.1.1). First aphorism in the Vedānta-sūtra is that "What is the Absolute Truth?" Athāto brahma jijñāsā. "Let us discuss about the Supreme Truth, Absolute Truth." The answer is that Brahman, the Supreme, is that from whom everything comes out. He is the origin of everything. Very simple description. Janmādy asya yataḥ (SB 1.1.1).

Lecture on SB 1.1.2 -- London, August 17, 1971:

So there are 330,000,000's officers of Kṛṣṇa. Must be. Such a huge affair. If for managing a small shop, we have got so many things... This is manager, this is assistant manager, this is... In such a huge universal affair, there Kṛṣṇa has got assistants. And 330,000,000 assistants within one universe, and there are innumerable universes. And each and every universe, there must be similarly 330,000,000's or like that. They are called demigods. Demigods means exactly under the position of God. Just like here there is governor. Immediately under him there are secretaries. Similarly these demigods, they are different officers, secretaries, directors under God. We don't deny the existence of demigod, but we don't worship that he is God. We worship, we give him all respect. Just like if the queen's secretary comes here, we shall give him all respect because he's queen's secretary. But we'll never accept that he is king. No. That is not possible. That is sane. It is not that... We Vaiṣṇavas, we are prepared to offer respect even to the ant, and why not to the secretary? When we offer to a big officer, it is not that we are flattering. It is the etiquette, it is the duty, to offer respect to the respectable persons.

Lecture on SB 1.2.11 -- Vrndavana, October 22, 1972:

Then where is the authority of Bhagavad-gītā? I am a third-class man, and if I change the statements in the Bhagavad-gītā, then where is the authority of Bhagavad-gītā? That is going on. Therefore it is practically... You have got experience that there are hundreds of Bhagavad-gītā editions in the Western countries, but because we are presenting Bhagavad-gītā as it is, our sale is better than all others. There is a report from the trade manager of Macmillan. He says, "While other editions are dwindling, going down, this edition is coming up." They published our, this present enlarged edition of Bhagavad-gītā, fifty thousand in the month of August. They are going to print again, second edition, August, September, October. So the reason is that if we present things as they are, it will be accepted. Without any adulteration. Sometimes, you know, people say that I have done miracles. They say everywhere. But I do not know anything, miracles or magic. If there is any miracle, that miracle is that we present things as they are. That's all. Without any adulteration. So that should be the principle. Present as it is. It will be accepted.

Lecture on SB 1.2.19 -- Calcutta, September 27, 1974:

Sadā samudvigna-dhiyām. Prahlāda Mahārāja says. That is the material symptom. What is the material symptom? Always full of anxiety. Sadā samudvigna-dhiyām. Why? Asad-grahāt. Because he has accepted the temporary position, asat. Asat means "which will not exist." Here everything will not exist. This body, it will not exist. But I have taken this body as everything. "I am Indian." "I am American." "I am the father of this family." "I am the manager of the so big business." And so on, so on, so on, so on. Asad-grahāt. But everything concentrated on this body. So you must be an..., full of anxiety. Asad-grahāt. You accepted this body as fact. But it is not fact. Similarly, the whole world. Asad-grahāt samudvigna-dhiyām. This was a question several times. This is very nice question.

Lecture on SB 1.5.1-8 -- New Vrindaban, May 23, 1969:

Parāvareśo manasaiva viśvaṁ sṛjaty avati. Manasaiva, "simply by thinking." Just like in the Bible it is said, "Let there be creation." Immediately there is creation. Manasaiva. We can compare just a very rich man, many assistants, many managers. Just like, take, in your country, Rockefeller or somebody like that. He thinks something to do, business. Simply he orders his secretary, "This should be done," it is done. Without his personal effort, immediately done. Because why? Because he has got superior energy or power. In the material world... Material world means this monetary strength he has got. So simply by his desire, the secretary arranges everything and everything is nicely done. But he is sitting in his room. If it is possible for a person who is little materially rich, just imagine how much it is possible by God, the Supreme. Simply by willing, everything will be done. He hasn't got to do anything. Na tasya kāryaṁ karaṇaṁ ca vidyate. Veda also.

Lecture on SB 1.5.2 -- Los Angeles, January 10, 1968:

If one is perfect in his inquiry from the authorized spiritual master, he can write things. Otherwise, what is the use of writing nonsense? Those books will be thrown away. After reading..., just like the newspaper thrown away and the other books are thrown away. But Bhagavad-gītā or Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam you cannot throw away. You cannot throw away. I'll give you one practical example in my life. In Calcutta... My birthplace is in Calcutta. So my friend, he had one European gentleman tenant. I am speaking of, say, about thirty years before story. So that gentleman, he was a very respectable man, manager of a big firm, and he was tenant of my friend. So he was going to take possession of the house. He was vacating. So I also went with him. That European gentleman... I forgot his name now. It is... There was a Bhagavad-gītā in his almirah. So my friend, Mr. Mullik, he, out of inquisitiveness, he was touching that book. He thought that "He is European Christian. Why he has kept this Bhagavad-gītā?" So he was seeing that Bhagavad-gītā. And that European gentleman, he thought that "I'm going, and this landlord may ask this book, because the Bhagavad-gītā belongs to the Hindus." He immediately said, "Dear Mr. Mullik, I can give any book you like, but I cannot give that Bhagavad-gītā. This is my life." Just see. I heard it in my own ear. So he replied, "No, Mr. such and such, I don't want your book. I was just seeing that how, why you have kept Bhagavad-gītā in your almirah?" "Oh, Bhagavad-gītā is my life."

Lecture on SB 1.5.11 -- New Vrindaban, June 10, 1969:

So my manager supplied morphine preparation to an unlicensed doctor, medical practitioner. In India there are many so-called medical practitioners. They are compounders, and after... Because there is scarcity of medical man. So there was one compounder. Some way or other, he took supply of morphine preparation from my manager. But the license was in my name. I am the proprietor. So I was called by the magistrate. So he asked my explanation: "Why you have done this?" So I gave my explanation, that "I am, of course, I am proprietor. The license is my name. But actually the business is done by my assistants, manager. So they have done it. In future I shall be strict. There will be no such mistake." So I was excused. But that does not mean that I shall again do that and again ask excuse. Because I confess, that does not mean... I'll never be excused. It is a common sense.

Lecture on SB 1.8.27 -- Los Angeles, April 19, 1973:

So that's a long history. I got good opportunity for becoming very rich man in business. And some astrologer told me that: "You should have become like Birla." So there was some chances, very good chances. I was manager in a big chemical factory. I started my own factory, the business was very successful. But everything was dismantled. I was forced to come to this position to carry out my order of my Guru Mahārāja. Akiñcana-vittāya. When everything was finished, then I took Kṛṣṇa, that: "You are the only..." Therefore Kṛṣṇa is akiñcana-vitta. When one becomes finished of all his material opulences

And now I am realizing that I have not lost. I've gained. I've gained. That's a fact. So to lose material opulences for Kṛṣṇa's sake is not loss. It is the greatest gain. Therefore it is said: akiñcana-vitta. When one becomes akiñcana, nothing to possess, everything finished, then Kṛṣṇa becomes the only riches for such person. Because he's devotee.

Lecture on SB 1.8.41 -- Los Angeles, May 3, 1973:

So by ... Here, Kuntī's addressing Kṛṣṇa: Viśveśa. Viśva means the universe. Īśa, īśa means the Lord, the controller. So viśveśa, He is controlling. He's controlling. So nicely the universal affairs are going on. The sun is rising just in due time. Everything is going on nicely. There is no mismanagement. Everyone can understand. The seasons are changing; the seasonal fruits and flowers, they are coming out. Everything is going nicely. But how things are going nicely if there is no controller? But they have no common sense. If we see any establishment very nicely going on, we immediately understand the manager or the director or the controller of this institution is very nice. Similarly, if we see things of these universal affairs are going on very nicely, then we must know that there is a good controller. Who is that controller? That controller is Kṛṣṇa. That is stated in the Bhagavad-gītā: mayādhyakṣeṇa prakṛtiḥ sūyate sa-carācaram (BG 9.10). Therefore He is addressed, "Viśveśa, O the controller of the universe."

Lecture on SB 1.8.42 -- Mayapura, October 22, 1974:

We are divisioned. Either you take it varṇa, āśrama, or by occupation, anything, there must be some division, not that everyone is the same. Somebody is engineer. Somebody is medical man. Somebody is chemist. Somebody is philosopher. Somebody is brāhmaṇa. Somebody is śūdra. You take. Division must be there. It is not possible to make everyone all the same. That is rascaldom. That is, means, they have no knowledge. Just like the communists. They tried to make one. They failed. That is not possible. Still, they are going on: "Laborer class and the manager class." Why you make two? So if instead of two, if we make four, what is the difference in philosophy? They could not do it. That is not possible. There must be, because Kṛṣṇa says, cātur-varṇyaṁ mayā sṛṣṭam: (BG 4.13) "The four divisions is created by Me." How you can nullify Kṛṣṇa's creation? That is not possible. So division may be there. It doesn't matter. That is created by Kṛṣṇa. But still, there can be oneness. What is that? Saṁsiddhir hari-toṣaṇam (SB 1.2.13). Everyone try to satisfy Kṛṣṇa. Then it is oneness.

Lecture on SB 1.10.11-12 -- Mayapura, June 25, 1973:

So Kṛṣṇa takes birth. That is Janmāṣṭamī. So if anyone tries to understand why the Aja, the Unborn, takes birth, janma karma... And God, Kṛṣṇa, who has nothing to do... That is the Vedic information. Na tasya kāryaṁ karaṇaṁ ca vidyate. Why He has to do? Actually He hasn't got to do anything. He has to enjoy only. Just like we see the Deity Kṛṣṇa is not working in the factory as a factory manager. He's enjoying the company of Rādhārāṇī. We have to work. If we enjoy with our so-called Rādhārāṇī, then we'll starve to death. We have to work. But God is not like that. Na tasya kāryaṁ karaṇaṁ ca vidyate. Na tat-samaś cābhyadhikaś ca dṛśyate. These are the informations from Vedas, Upaniṣads, that He has nothing to do. Yes. That is real God. If God has to work, God has to do something, then what kind of God He is? Here, the so-called imitation Gods, even a rich man, he does not do anything. And why God will work? Therefore God comes... He's aja, unborn. He comes, janma, karma, He works also. Just like Kṛṣṇa. He worked ordinary cowherd's boy. He worked as ordinary politician. He worked as ordinary philosopher, left the instruction of Bhagavad-gītā and so many other instructions, sublime instructions.

Lecture on SB 1.15.39 -- Los Angeles, December 17, 1973:

But we are trying to give the contribution, what is God. Not only God—His form, His name, His address, everything we are giving. Here is the form of God, Kṛṣṇa. If you do not believe, that He is not God, then you must say what is your idea of God. If you do not know what is the idea of God, then you must accept from me. And how can you deny that Kṛṣṇa is not God? First of all you have to know what is God. God means the Supreme. That is the dictionary word, "Supreme Being." So Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Being. Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Being. Here we see a rich man, he enjoys, and his assistants, his managers, his secretaries, they work. They bring money from business, from factory, and the proprietor enjoys. This is a crude example. Similarly, here is God. He is in the enjoying spirit. He is not going to the office to manage his factory. No. He doesn't go. He simply enjoys. That is the injunction of the Vedas: na tasya kāryaṁ karaṇaṁ ca... Definition of God, what is God.

Lecture on SB 1.15.49 -- Los Angeles, December 26, 1973:

Oh. So you might have seen that. It is good that at least the managers of the state, they are coming to their sense, but this sentiment will not help. One must be serious. The sinful activities, as we have forwarded or manifested, that no illicit sex, no meat-eating, no intoxication, no gambling. But I think they will not agree to this the state. And what prayer will do? No. God is not so foolish that you go on doing all nonsense, and simply by prayer you become out of it, punishment. No. That is not possible. Therefore I am speaking of the Viduras.

Lecture on SB 2.9.1 -- Tokyo, April 20, 1972:

Parasyānubhavātmanaḥ. Na ghaṭeta artha-sambandha. There cannot be any relation at all. Na ghaṭeta. Cannot be. Artha sambandhaḥ. Svapna-draṣṭur ivāñjasā. The very exact example is given, svapna-draṣṭuḥ. Just like a man seeing dream: "Oh, there is tiger, tiger, tiger, tiger! Save me!" He is crying. Another man is, "Where is tiger? Why you are crying? Where is tiger?" But he, in the dream, he is actually feeling: "The tiger has attacked me." Therefore this example is given, na ghaṭetārtha-sambandhaḥ. There cannot be any meaning of this relationship except like a man dreaming and he is creating a situation. He is dreaming there is a tiger and he is creating a situation, fearful situation. Actually there is no cause of fear. There is no tiger. That situation is created by dream. Actually there is no tiger. Similarly we have created this material world and activity. People are running, "Oh..., sonh, sonh, sonh, sonh, sonh, sonh, sonh," identifying that "Oh, I am the manager. I am the factory owner. I am this, I am that. We have got his politics. We have to defeat such competitors." All these things are created exactly like that, svapna-draṣṭur ivāñjasā, just like a man is creating his particular situation simply by dream. That's all.

Lecture on SB 2.9.2 -- Melbourne, April 4, 1972:

So the conclusion is the expert manager, the bank manager, so, if some man in the establishment, is absent, he can do the work immediately because he has learned all the things. Bank manager becomes from the lower clerk. When I was manager in Bose's laboratory there was a strike. So there was no packer. So I asked all the clerks to, "Come on. Let us pack." As soon as we begin packing, the strike was broken. So a man claiming to be in the high position, he must be expert in everything. He must be expert in everything. So therefore a Vaiṣṇava is called dakṣa, expert. Expert. So our, this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement being the highest, topmost quality, so in case we require to do the work, some lower quality, we cannot say that "I do not know." We must do it.

Lecture on SB 2.9.9 -- Tokyo, April 25, 1972, Informal Class in Room:

Śyāmasundara: Cox.

Prabhupāda: Cox. He is living there.

Devotee: Simply insanity. Insanity.

Prabhupāda: Insanity. Yes. He is the manager. What manager? He has got motorcycle and goes round. He must be given some post. And he has also married another? That...

Śyāmasundara: Dan? I don't think he is legally married.

Prabhupāda: Friend. She has got, he has got a child?

Śyāmasundara: One or two small children.

Prabhupāda: So he has to maintain all of them. On this contract that Yoko is there.

Śyāmasundara: Yes. Dan was her old friend. Dan was her friend. That's why he became manager.

Prabhupāda: So all this business on the basis of sex. That's all. Yan maithunādi-gṛhamedhi-sukhaṁ hi tuccham (SB 7.9.45). For very insignificant happiness they are encumbered in so many ways. Yan maithunādi-gṛhamedhi-sukhaṁ hi tucchaṁ kaṇḍūyanena karayor iva duḥkha-duḥkham.

Lecture on SB 3.25.37 -- Bombay, December 6, 1974:

Jagad-aṇḍa-nāthāḥ means... Jagad-aṇḍa means universe. In each universe there is a nātha, or the supervisor, or the manager, or the supreme person. Just like for management we are. Similarly, in each universe there is Lord Brahmā. He is the supreme creature, manager. So these managers live only to that period when Mahā-Viṣṇu exhales. When the niśvasita-kālam. Just like we exhale and inhale, so... But exhaling the all these universes are created, and at His inhale they go into the Mahā-Viṣṇu, in the... The coming and going. So many universes, and the Brahmā, whose duration of life is also described in the Bhagavad-gītā, sahasra-yuga-paryantam ahar yad brahmaṇo viduḥ... (BG 8.17). Brahmā's duration of life is explained in the Bhagavad-gītā, sahasra-yuga. We know yugas. The yuga, the four yugas make one divya-yuga, that Satya, Tretā, Dvāpara, Kali. Satya-yuga, eighteen lakhs of years duration; and Dvāpara-yuga, twelve lakhs of years; and Tretā-yuga, eight lakhs of years; and Kali-yuga, four lakhs of years. So altogether it comes to forty-three lakhs of years. This is yuga. And multiply it by one thousand. That means forty-three lakhs plus three zeros, how much it comes to? Huh? Some crores of years.

Lecture on SB 5.5.17 -- Vrndavana, November 5, 1976:

So one person is utpathagam yathāndham, another person is vipaścid tad-abhijñaḥ. Two classes of men generally: one who knows the things as they are and one who does not know what is the value of life, how to make progress. So one does not know and one knows. So naturally there must be two classes of men to make real social progress or any, anything. Actually we see that there are a class of men in the school, colleges, universities, who can teach, and class of men who are taught. So without these two classes of men, how society can make progress? But the modern theory is "classless society." Modern rascal theory is classless society: "There is no need of teacher, or there is no need of higher class, or there is no need of... One class." Therefore they fall down. Even in socialistic country like Russia, first of all they wanted to make classless society. Later on they have made a manager class and worker class, because this is not possible.

Lecture on SB 5.6.10 -- Bombay, December 28, 1976:

So we should be very much careful not to be afflicted by the karma. Karmānu bandha. This is very delicate task. Simply... (break) ...but they do not know what is the importance of the varṇāśrama-dharma. They have broken it. They don't like. They want to say classless society. Classless society cannot be. Even in Russia, the Communist country, they wanted to break down the classless society, but they cannot manage. They have now created a manager class and the worker class. Why manager class? Make it classless. But that is not possible. Therefore in the society there must be managers and the workers. Without this you cannot work, you cannot make, keep any systematic... So managers... The varṇāśrama-dharma: the managers, the brāhmaṇas and the kṣatriyas; and the workers, the vaiśyas and the śūdras. And less than that, less than the śūdras, the caṇḍālas, they have to be fully controlled, kirata-hūṇāndhra-pulinda-pulkaśā (SB 2.4.18), because they do not know the regulative principles of life. They are called caṇḍālas. So they are described in the śāstra. So the kṣatriyas, they used to keep these caṇḍālas under full control. Otherwise the society would be lost.

Lecture on SB 6.1.6 -- Honolulu, June 8, 1975:

The one who is working as a gardener, he is as good as the one who is dressing the Deity, because it is Absolute plane. There is no difference between... Just like in the material world, if one is working as manager and the other is working as menial servant, there is difference of pay or difference of service. No. In the spiritual world there is no such thing. In the spiritual world even a small ant who is serving Kṛṣṇa by chance... Suppose if there is an ant and the flower is thrown into the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa and the ant kisses the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa, he is as good as the pūjārī. This is spiritual world. So we should give everyone chance how to serve Kṛṣṇa. Then he will remain on the upper platform. Samatītya. Atītya mean transcending. Etan guṇān. Etan guṇān means because the material world is complicated with the modes of material nature, so this is called guṇa. So anyone who is engaged constantly in devotional service, sa guṇān samatītyaitān (BG 14.26), he immediately transcends the influence of the material qualities. Sa guṇān samatītya etān brahma-bhūyāya kalpate.

Lecture on SB 6.1.41 -- Los Angeles, June 7, 1976:

The same date, same month, and the same appearance of the sun and the moon. Everything. And still we say "There is no God," "God is dead," "There is no controller." This is foolishness. Mūḍha. The mūḍhas, the asses... Mūḍha means asses, one who has no knowledge. It is commonsense affair. That if everything is going on so nicely, how I can think there is no controller? In your house, in your office, if everything goes very nicely, systematically, there is the director, there is the manager, superintendent, and everything is going nice, how, without these things, how the whole universal affair can go so nicely? That is not accidental, that there was a chunk and immediately it became a this and that. No. There was no accident. Mayādhyakṣeṇa prakṛtiḥ sūyate sa-carācaram (BG 9.10). There is no question of accidents. Kṛṣṇa says, "Under My supervision, everything is going on."

Lecture on SB 6.3.16-17 -- Gorakhpur, February 10, 1971:

One can become very small. Just like there was a trailiṅga swami in Benares. He was staying naked on the street, and the police objected, and he was put into police custody. He again came out. That means people became more devoted to him. But still... This is a perfection by the gymnastic of yoga process, but that does not mean he knows God. That does not mean. There was another yogi in Benares. Anyone who would come to him, immediately in a pot he will present two rasagullā. And after eating two rasagullā, the man will be captivated, and big man, manager of bank and this and that, and they... They become captivated. He does not know "What he has given me? Two rasagullā. Say, two annas, or four annas at most." So, but they become captivated: "Oh, here is a yogi. He can manufacture immediately." In Calcutta I was passing in a street, Cornwallis Street, and there was some crowd, and I entered that crowd, long ago, when I was young man. So I saw that he was a Muhammadan (indistinct). He was giving everyone some pieces of grass, straw. So he gave me one. So I saw it is raisin, kismis. You see? So I immediate threw it away and went away. So some yogi can show. He'll press his beads, and there milk will come. So there are so many yogic fantasies. But that does not mean that he knows God. Or a great philosopher like Dr. Radhakrishnan, that does not mean he knows God.

Lecture on SB 7.9.40 -- Mayapur, March 18, 1976:

So I am master... I'm not master; I'm servant of the tongue. Then just below the belly there is one genital. He has used it with his wife, and still, he goes to the prostitute. Servant. "Let us have some new taste." For tasting new sex enjoyment, people simply travel from one place to another. Especially nowadays, I have got experience in Delhi. I have seen. The foreigners, they are coming, ordering the manager that "I want this, I want that, because I have come here by the dictation of my genital." People go to Paris—I know many gentlemen—for satisfying the genital. So genital has become my master, the tongue has become my master, the hand has become my master, the leg has become my master, so I am the servant of so many masters. So my position is very precarious. How can you satisfy so many masters? Eh? Even in the animal kingdom, they are also servant, but they are servant of one sense. That is also described in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Just like the fish. The fish is only strongly under the servitude of the tongue. Therefore the fishing tackle gives something eatable, and the fish immediately... It is not that it is hungry, but because the fish is so greedy—something nonsense is there in tackle—he immediately..., and becomes caught up.

Sri Caitanya-caritamrta Lectures

Lecture on CC Adi-lila 1.8 -- Mayapur, April 1, 1975:

So Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is the only endeavor where, by becoming Kṛṣṇa conscious you become transferred from this māyā to Vaikuṇṭha. This is the purport. Māyātīte, beyond this māyā, there is another kingdom where there is no kuṇṭha, vaikuṇṭha-loke. And there is management. As here there is management, the king or president, or ministers and so many things, there is also management. But that management is conducted by the Supreme Personality of Godhead personally. Here the president or king manages whole thing. And therefore the ideal manager or the executive head is a person who is a saintly person and devotee. That is wanted. In politics also, there is need of devotees. The devotee... The politicians, they first require to understand Kṛṣṇa consciousness if they actually want to do good to others. If they remain like animals, it is not possible. Then whole world, the people, will suffer. That is the position now. There is no standard ruler. A ruler must be representative of Kṛṣṇa. Then... Then everything will be... Just like Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira. Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira was representative of Kṛṣṇa. Or Lord Rāmacandra, He was God Himself. Such executive head needed, not these rascals. Then you'll never be happy. Simply by hook and crook you select some rascal president; you'll never be happy. He must be Kṛṣṇa Himself or Kṛṣṇa's representative.

Lecture on CC Adi-lila 1.9 -- Mayapur, April 2, 1975:

So we have discussed yesterday that in the spiritual world, Saṅkarṣaṇa is the supreme manager. And so far the material world is concerned, the same person is the Supreme, but His name is different, Kāraṇodakaśāyī. In the spiritual world, the name is Saṅkarṣaṇa, and the material world, the supreme superintendent is also the same person, but name is different—Kāraṇodakaśāyī. This Kāraṇodakaśāyī is māyā-bhartā. Bhartā means husband. Just like a husband begets children in the womb of the wife, similarly, all these universes are impregnated in the total material energy, māyā, by Kāraṇodakaśāyī Viṣṇu. That is stated in the Bhagavad-gītā: ahaṁ bīja-pradaḥ pitā.

Lecture on CC Adi-lila 1.12 -- Mayapur, April 5, 1975:

So there are three principles—the īśvara principle and the māyā principle and the jīva principle—these three principles. So Advaita Ācārya is īśvara principle. He belongs to the īśvara group. Even in communistic country, they call "classless society," but they are also creating a managerial class. They cannot do without that. They could not avoid it, managers. Why manager? Make classless society, all worker. That is not possible. There must be īśvara. Īśvara means controller. That is the beginning, from the creation, īśvara. So īśvara, there are innumerable īśvara forms, as it is stated in the Brahma-saṁhitā. Advaitam acyutam anādim ananta-rūpam (Bs. 5.33). Many, many, many millions and trillions of īśvara forms... It is stated in the Bhāgavatam that many... How many, how you can calculate? That is compared—just like in the river or in the ocean there are waves, but you cannot count how many waves are there. That is not possible. Can you count the waves of the ocean, going on, day and night, waves? Similarly, in big, big rivers... So God's incarnation, they are coming out, innumerable, just like the waves, but we can understand by the action that He is incarnation of God.

Lecture on CC Adi-lila 7.2 -- Mayapur, March 2, 1974:

So, Kavirāja Gosvāmī the author of Caitanya-caritāmṛta, he first offered his obeisances to Lord Caitanya in the first verse, agaty-eka-gatiṁ natvā (CC Adi 7.1). After offering obeisances to the Supreme Lord, who is the only hope for the hopeless, now he's again offering, jaya jaya mahāprabhu śrī-kṛṣṇa-caitanya. Prabhu and Mahāprabhu. Nityānanda Prabhu, Advaita Prabhu. Any Vaiṣṇava is addressed as prabhu, but Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu is Mahāprabhu, the topmost prabhu, the master prabhu. All others are servant prabhu. Just like, it is very easy to understand: if you are working in an office, your immediate boss, you consider him as your master, but he's not the master. The master of the office is the managing director, manager or the proprietor. But still those who are working under him, sub-prabhus, they are also called prabhu. So all Vaiṣṇava should be addressed as prabhu; that is the etiquette. But Caitanya Mahāprabhu is Mahāprabhu. As soon as you utter the name of Śrī Caitanya, the Mahāprabhu... Because He's the greatest master.

Lecture on CC Adi-lila 7.39-47 -- San Francisco, February 1, 1967:

Kāśīte lekhaka śūdra-śrīcandraśekhara. Lekhaka śūdra means he was a clerk, clerk. The clerk, clerical post was offered to the śūdras, to the laborer class. There was a strike in Calcutta of the clerks. George and Skinner (?), an European firm, they had many jute (indistinct). The clerks, I mean to say, made a strike. So when their, I mean to say, chief man met the manager, so, and asked that "Whether you want to compromise with us?" the manager said, "No. I don't wish to compromise with you. I don't care for you because you are educated laborer." He gave the title to the clerks, "educated laborer." So actually in Hindu society, the clerks were called educated laborers. So here it is lekhaka śūdra. Lekhaka śūdra means clerk, but he's śūdra. Lekhaka śūdra śrīcandraśekhara, tāṅra ghare rahilā. But spiritually there is no such distinction. We should always remember that materially, there may be higher, lower class. There is, always, in every society, in every country. But spiritually there is no such consideration. That is Caitanya Mahāprabhu's propaganda. He made Haridāsa Ṭhākura—he was a Muhammadan—as the spiritual master for saṅkīrtana, namācārya. And He picked up Sanātana Gosvāmī and Rūpa Gosvāmī, who were rejected by the Hindu society, and He made them gosvāmīs. That is Caitanya Mahāprabhu's peculiarity. And here also we see that a śūdra, a laborer class, a clerk, who is considered to be lower in the society, He was staying at his house.

Festival Lectures

Lecture-Day after Sri Gaura-Purnima -- Hawaii, March 5, 1969:

Even here there are so many: "Why there should be God? I am God. I am God." Are you God? But you have got this mentality, that "I am God." You cannot qualify yourself. You do not know what is God, what is the meaning of God. You are claiming God. Because you do not want to serve God, that is your mentality. So for these last, lowest class of men, there is external energy. (break) ...class of men, they will not abide by the laws of the state. They'll repeatedly break it. Therefore, "All right, you go there and do whatever you like." That is not government's intention, that people go there and indulge in unrestricted gambling and there... That Mr. Bhaṭṭācārya told me that sometimes some rich man goes there with all his wealth and stake it, and when he's lost, he fires himself, and the gambling managers puts him down and throws him in the... There is no law for such killing or such homicide or anything. Do whatever you like. You see? So there is a class of men. Just like a liquor shop. Liquor shop is licensed by the government. Does it mean the government is encouraging, that "You become drunkard"? But government is giving this license because there is a class of men who must drink, and they will violate all... Say, "All right. Let them have it."

His Divine Grace Srila Sac-cid-ananda Bhaktivinoda Thakura's Appearance Day, Lecture -- London, September 3, 1971:

They do not understand. Formerly, in India there was no necessity of hotel. Anyone goes anywhere, even in a village, he goes to a temple-prasāda is ready. There is no need of going to a hotel. You pay or don't pay. If you say that "I want little prasāda," "Yes, take it." That is the system still. There is the Nāthadvārā temple in Rajasthan. You pay two annas only. Two annas means one cent. You get sumptuous prasāda for two annas, all very nice prasāda, still. So prasāda distribution in temple is longstanding usage. So Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura... The Jagannātha temple is managed by a body, and it is the custom that the local magistrate of the district, he becomes the president, or manager. So Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura was manager in that sense, because he was magistrate. The managing committee was being presided by him. So there was a complaint. In Orissa, this Jagannātha temple is situated in Orissa. Utkāla. Utkāla, this state, was originally belonging to Dhruva Mahārāja. His son's name was Utkāla, Mahārāja Utkāla. Anyway, so this Utkāla, there was a pseudo yogi. He declared himself that... Just like you'll find nowadays also, there are so many rascals declaring that "I am incarnation of God." And they know some mystic power, play some jugglery, and foolish people take them: "Oh, he's God." So there appeared one like such pseudo God, Viṣṇu, in a village of Orissa.

His Divine Grace Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Gosvami Prabhupada's Disappearance Day, Lecture -- Los Angeles, December 9, 1968:

Anyway, apart from others, the devotee, for him, appearance and disappearance the same thing. Just like when my spiritual master appeared at Jagannātha Purī... He was the son of a very big government officer, Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura. He was magistrate, government officer. In those days a magistrate is a big officer in the government, practically next to governor. And Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura was in charge of the Jagannātha temple. That is the system in Jagannātha Purī. The manager in charge of the temple is the district magistrate. So there was a Ratha-yātrā festival, and the car was passing in front of Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura's house. Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura's name was Kedaranath Datta. When he was magistrate, he was known as K.N. Datta. Kedaranath Datta. So the car stopped before his house, and at that time, Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura, a child in the lap of his mother. The mother took the opportunity of rising on the car. He (She) was magistrate's wife, so he (she) had the facility. Immediately, people gave her way to go on the top of the car and place the child on the lotus feet of Jagannātha. And there were many garlands. One garland fell upon him, Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī, blessings. This was one of the... There were so many other things.

His Divine Grace Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Gosvami Prabhupada's Disappearance Day, Lecture -- Los Angeles, December 13, 1973:

So when I met Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura... It is a long story, how I met him. One of my friends, he dragged me. (laughing) (laughter) I was at that time nationalist and manager in a big chemical factory. My age was about twenty-four years. So one of my friends, he asked me that "There is a nice sādhu, Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura. He has come in Calcutta. So let us go and see." So I was reluctant. I thought just like so, there are so many sādhus. So I was not very much... Because I had very bad experience, not very good. So I said, "Oh these kind of sādhus, there are many." You'll be glad to know that even my in young age or early age—it was Kṛṣṇa's grace—even amongst my young friends, I was considered the leader. (laughing) (laughter) In my school days, in my college days, in my private friendship, some way or other I became their leader. And one astrologer sometimes he read my hand. He said in Hindi, kukum calena(?). Kukum calena means "Your hand speaks that your order will be executed."

His Divine Grace Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Gosvami Prabhupada's Disappearance Day, Lecture -- Hyderabad, December 10, 1976:

The disciple, Abhaya Charan Dāsa, was to become His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, founder-ācārya of International Society, Krishna Consciousness." So whatever I appreciated forty years ago, the same principle is going on. We have no change. What I understood my spiritual master... Practically I met him in 1922, and this poetry was written in 1936. That means fourteen years before writing this poetry, I met my Guru Mahārāja in 1922. At that time I was quite a young man, twenty-five years old only, and I was posted in a very responsible position and as the office manager of Dr. Bose's laboratory. And I was fond of in those days, of Gandhi's movement. In 1922 I joined Gandhi's movement, and I gave up my educational career because one of the Gandhi's program was to boycott the universities. That's a very long story. And many students gave up their educational career and joined this Gandhi's movement, and I was one of them.

His Divine Grace Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Gosvami Prabhupada's Disappearance Day, Lecture -- Hyderabad, December 10, 1976:

Yes. "When he appeared at Purī, the holy place, my lord and master, His Divine Grace." So Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura appeared as the son of Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura, his fourth son. Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura, he was family man. He has several children, sons and daughters. So Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura, known in his previous life as Bimala Prasāda Datta, son of Kedaranath Datta... His father, Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura, his name was. He was magistrate and he was manager also, the managing board of Jagannātha Purī. The system is, the local magistrate becomes the official manager of the managing board of Jagannātha Purī. So at that time he was situated in Jagannātha Purī, and Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura appeared at Purī. And the Ratha-yātrā, the Ratha-yātrā ceremony takes place, and sometimes the big ratha stops at interval. So the house in which Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura appeared, in front of that house the ratha stopped. So his mother took the advantage and... Because Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura was magistrate, so the son, the little baby, was brought before the ratha, and the pūjārīs allowed him to bring the child before the Deity, and the child was placed before the Deity and a garland was offered by Jagannātha. So that was the first sign of his becoming the ācārya. In this way there are many incidences.

His Divine Grace Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Gosvami Prabhupada's Disappearance Day, Lecture -- Hyderabad, December 10, 1976:

So recently... I am very pleased to say that our Harikeśa, I ordered him to go immediately to Poland, and he thought that he was being punished. That was... No. I was thinking that "Here is a very very intelligent boy. If he is given chance to preach he'll come out very successful." So I see the glimpses that he has got now post. He's a very good organizer. That's a chance. At that time he might have thought that I was separating him. No. My good will was there that he should be given chance for better opportunity. So I am very much happy that he is doing there very nice. So this should be the attitude. 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. How many years?

His Divine Grace Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Gosvami Prabhupada's Appearance Day, Lecture -- Los Angeles, February 7, 1969:

So his method of preaching is just according to the, strictly according to the rules and regulation of Caitanya Mahāprabhu. And as Caitanya Mahāprabhu was called by Advaita Prabhu, similarly, Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura, when he saw this condition of pseudo Vaiṣṇava all over the country, he also prayed to Lord Caitanya that "You kindly send somebody from Your personal staff so that I can start this movement." You see? So by the grace of Lord Caitanya, as we pray, śrī-gaura-karuṇā-śakti-vigrahāya namo 'stu te. Gaura... He is mercy representation of Lord Caitanya. And he appeared as the son of this Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura. At that time he was known as Kedaranath Datta. Ken Datta. And he appeared in 1867 as the child of Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura. And the house is still preserved in Jagannātha Purī. At that time Jagannātha Purī, he was magistrate in Jagannātha Purī, and he was... The system in the Jagannātha Purī, the manager, the official manager, is the district magistrate. So he was district magistrate. And in February 1867, Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura appeared. And when he appeared, his, this what is called, the intestine?

His Divine Grace Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Gosvami Prabhupada's Appearance Day, Lecture -- Los Angeles, February 7, 1969:

Embryo cord. That embryo cord was like this. Yes. That means brāhmaṇa from the beginning. You see? So when he was a child... He appeared in February. Then... When the Ratha-yātrā takes place? In July. So February, March, April, May, June, July. So when he was six months old, the Ratha-yātrā festival was held. And by chance the big cart stopped in front of that house. That is generally in the Jagannātha car stops. Just like our car also stops somewhere. And you have some difficulty to push it again? That's nice. That also happens in Jagannātha Purī. It was stopped, and some people were... Caitanya Mahāprabhu used to push with His head. So that was wonderful. So anyway the car stopped, and mother of our Guru Mahārāja, the child Guru Mahārāja, so she took the opportunity, and because she was manager's wife, so everyone respected with the child. So she put the child on the leg of Jagannātha. And as there are so many garlands, one garland immediately fell on the child. Yes. Automatically. So in this way Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura could understand that "This child is not ordinary child," and he knew that "I prayed to Gaurasundara to send me somebody. So this boy, this child, is sent by Him." So he took care of him very carefully. And in this way his name was Bimala Prasāda, Bimala Prasāda Datta.

His Divine Grace Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Gosvami Prabhupada's Appearance Day, Lecture -- Los Angeles, February 7, 1969:

So then Dr. Bose, he was my father's friend. So he asked, "What this Abhaya is doing?" And my sister told him, "Oh, he has appeared in the B.A. examination, but he is not doing anything." So Dr. Bose was my father's friend. So he appointed me the manager of his laboratory. I did not know anything; still, he appointed me. So that was in 1921. In 1920 I gave up my education. Of course, I was married in 1918, and I got my first child in 1921. So in 1922, when I saw my Guru Mahārāja and when I was convinced about his argument and mode of presentation, I was so much struck with wonder. I could understand that "Here is the proper person who can give real religious idea." That I appreciated at that time. And at that time I thought, "This great personality is asking me to preach. I would have immediately joined, but now I am married. It will be injustice." Of course, I thought like that, in that way. Of course, Guru Mahārāja did not say anything, that "You give up your family life." No, never said. He simply gave the idea. So I thought that "It would have been better if I was not married." Anyway, then, 1923, I left Calcutta on my business, and I established my headquarter at Allahabad. So all the days I was thinking of this, "Oh, I saw a very nice saintly person. But I am now off from Calcutta." So I was thinking like that. Practically he initiated me because I was thinking of..., always.

His Divine Grace Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Gosvami Prabhupada's Appearance Day, Evening -- Gorakhpur, February 15, 1971:

Śrī Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Gosvāmī Mahārāja, my spiritual master, his advent day today. In 1922, I was at that time very much engaged in Congress activity. I was very much devout follower of Mahātmā Gandhi, and at that time, I was manager also in a very big chemical concern in Calcutta. Perhaps you may know, Dr. Bose's laboratory. One of my friends—he's still living, Śrī Narendranath Mullik—he informed me that "One saintly person has come. Let us go and see." At that time I was young man, and I did not care for very much about so-called saintly persons. Because in our house, my father used to receive so many sannyāsīs, but some of them were not very to the standard, and due to my association with college friends, younger days, I lost my faith practically, although I was born in a Vaiṣṇava family. My father was a pure Vaiṣṇava. From my childhood, he gave me Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa Deity for worshiping. A ratha... I was playing with my boyfriends, Ratha-yātrā, Ḍola, like that. My father encouraged.

His Divine Grace Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Gosvami Prabhupada's Appearance Day, Lecture -- Atlanta, March 2, 1975:

So I was convinced. But at that time, although he wanted me to immediately join him and spread this movement, so at that time I was a married man, young man. I was married in 1918. And I got a son also at that time, 1921. And in 1922 I met him. At that time I was manager in a big chemical factory. So I thought that "I am married man. I have got so many responsibilities. How I can join immediately? It is not my duty." Of course, that was my mistake. I should have joined immediately. (laughter) I should have taken the opportunity immediately. But māyā is there. So I thought like that. So that's a long history. Then in 1954, no, not 1954, 1968, when I was fifty-four years old... Nineteen fifty-four, yes. Nineteen fifty-four, I was at that time fifty-eight years. So I left home, and I was living alone. Then, 1958, I took sannyāsa, and then I decided to take up the responsibility of my Guru Mahārāja. I thought that "My other Godbrothers are trying, so I am not capable to do it. They are better situated." But somehow or other, they could not do very much, appreciative activities, in this connection.

Arrival Addresses and Talks

Arrival Talk in Room -- Mayapur, March 23, 1975:

Jayapatākā: Now Illustrated Weekly is nothing compared to Back to Godhead.

Prabhupāda: No. (laughs) Better than Illustrated Weekly. I thought of getting some help from artist. For painting picture, I will dictate, and they will paint picture. Now Kṛṣṇa has got lots of artists. So depend on Kṛṣṇa. He can do everything. Kṛṣṇa-Balarāma. This new catalogue you have seen? They have made nice catalogue, Rāmeśvara prabhu. Rāmeśvara prabhu is very competent manager of the BBT.

Jayatīrtha: Yes, he's first class.

Prabhupāda: Yes. And he works very hard. That is his qualification. What is the news of our Karandhara prabhu? He's not coming?

Jayatīrtha: He came. The week before we left, he came three times to the temple, twice for the evening āratik and once for the Sunday feast. He came and listened to the lecture. So he is doing a little better. (break)

Rāmeśvara: Scientific Basis?

Prabhupāda: Yes?

Rāmeśvara: It is being printed now in America.

Prabhupāda: Oh, you wanted to bring it?

Rāmeśvara: We may print it in India also.

Prabhupāda: Oh.

Arrival -- Chicago, July 3, 1975:

Prabhupāda: "Window-breaking."

Brahmānanda: Yes, violent.

Prabhupāda: "Window-breaking crowd." We are not that. (break) Let them have this O'Hare Kṛṣṇa.

Brahmānanda: Yes, O'Hare Kṛṣṇa.

Prabhupāda: Suggest the establishment manager.

Śrī Govinda: That's the name of the airport,

Prabhupāda: What is that?

Brahmānanda: He said the name of the airport is...

Prabhupāda: Oh. O'Hare? (pronouncing as in Hare Kṛṣṇa)

Brahmānanda: O'Hare. (laughs)

Prabhupāda: What is this? This is airport O'Hare?

Brahmānanda: O'Hare (pronouncing as "hair").

Prabhupāda: Hare (as "hair") it is.

Brahmānanda: O'Hare.

Prabhupāda: O'Hare.

Initiation Lectures

Initiation Lecture -- Los Angeles, July 13, 1971:

Actual aim of spiritual life—to come to the stage of loving God. That is real spiritual life. If one wants to take to spiritual life for some other gain, that is not. That is offense, that "I will chant Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra. So my income is now one thousand dollar. It will be three thousand dollar." Not like that. It may be reduced (laughter) sometime. (laughs) Just like our Dayānanda is... His income is now reduced by chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa, but he is not giving up. That is wanted. You see? Sometimes it is found that in incidents you will find in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, yasyānugṛhṇāmi hariṣye tad... Therefore sometimes people do not come to worship because generally they say, "The Viṣṇu worship, or Vaiṣṇavas, they are generally poor. So I don't want to be poor." Yes. I was thinking like that. (laughter) When my Guru Mahārāja ordered me... When I was manager in Bose's laboratory, so he ordered me. So I thought, "Oh, I cannot do this. I cannot accept this sannyāsa." But he was so kind, and he is so kind still. Then he forced me, that "You must do it," taking, pulling my ear, he brought me to this line. In the beginning I was not willing. So it is his causeless mercy upon me. That I can understand now. I can understand now how much I have been relieved by accepting this life. So sometimes we find that our income is reduced.

General Lectures

Lecture -- Los Angeles, May 18, 1972:

Aiśvaryasya samagrasya vīryasya, yaśasaḥ, then reputation. His fame, reputation, is still going on. Apart from us... We are devotees of Kṛṣṇa. We may glorify Him. But apart from us, many millions of people are there in this world; still, they know how much reputed and famous is Kṛṣṇa by His Bhagavad-gītā. In all countries, all over the world. This Bhagavad-gītā is read by all philosophers, all scholars, all religionists. Still, those who are reading Bhagavad-gītā... There are many editions in your country. There are many editions. All of them are selling nicely. Our Bhagavad-gītā, Bhagavad-gītā As It Is, the latest report is from the trades manager of Macmillan Company, who are our publisher. The report is that our Bhagavad-gītā As It Is is increasing in sale, others are decreasing. The reason is that we are presenting Bhagavad-gītā as it is, without any adulteration. Anything, market, if the commodity is pure... Gold, if it is pure, it has more customers. Milk, if it is pure, it has got more customers. So that we are finding. Because we are presenting Bhagavad-gītā as it is, we are finding more customers. So, this is the fame. And, yaśasaḥ śriyaḥ. Śriyaḥ, beauty. Kṛṣṇa is Himself very beautiful, and all His associates are very beautiful. That is also opulence.

Rotary Club Lecture -- Ahmedabad, December 5, 1972:

Rotarians, Ladies and Gentlemen, I thank you very much for your kindly inviting me this evening to speak something on Sanātana-dharma. Sanātana means eternal, and dharma also means eternal characteristic. Just like every ingredient, element, of this world has got a certain type of characteristic. As I have been introduced, I was manager in a chemical factory. So you know... (aside:) That sound may be stopped... that every chemical has got a certain characteristic—its color, its taste, its granules. In pharmacology and pharmaceutical formulas, each and every chemical is tested according to that characteristic. That characteristic is called dharma in Sanskrit word. Dharma is not a type of faith, as it is explained in English dictionary, "kind of faith." Faith you can change. Today you are Hindu: you can become Christian next day. Or today you are Christian; you can become a Muhammadan next day. So political field also, changing faiths. So dharma does not exactly mean a kind of faith. It is characteristic. Just like sugar is sweet. That is the characteristic of sugar. If sugar becomes pungent, then that is not sugar.

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

So if all over the world... Or make an experiment in some portion. Just go. Just like we are making samples in West Virginia. They are self-sufficient. And the saved time is being utilized for Kṛṣṇa consciousness. This is the remedy. But they'll not take this remedy. They have got their own remedy. So a few men may be happy, so-called happy. The other day, I saw in Calcutta Mr. Kanunga. He's the son of late governor of Gujarat. So he said... He's the manager of that coal distribution, government... So he said that "Now, being government concerned, the laborers, they're not working. They're sitting idly. So we have to increase the price. Cost is..." So this is the problem. People, being godless, they are dishonest, they are not working honestly and so many things. The only remedy is that people should be taught to become God conscious. And this method is very simple: chant Hare Kṛṣṇa. Harer nāma harer nāma harer nāma eva kevalam, kalau nāsty eva... (CC Adi 17.21). And samples are there, these European and American boys. They were addicted to so many bad habits. Now they are... Just see how sober they are, and they're chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa. So everything is possible, provided you people take our instruction. Otherwise, there is no other remedy. What can be done? The remedy's there. The medicine is also there. But if you don't take the medicine, how the disease will be cured?

Philosophy Discussions

Philosophy Discussion on John Dewey:

Prabhupāda: That we are doing. We are asking everyone that "You become Kṛṣṇa conscious and do things intelligently, your life will be successful. You'll be happy." How else you'll be happy? That is our propaganda.

Śyāmasundara: Well, we also are influencing the managers, intelligent managers of society.

Prabhupāda: That I say. The managers, when they are forgetful of Kṛṣṇa, he cannot manage. Cannot manage. That he has (indistinct) relationship. You are managing something, but you have to satisfy somebody. So that is given in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, that svanuṣṭhitasya dharmasya saṁsiddhir hari-toṣanam (SB 1.2.13). If you want perfection of your managerial work, then you should try to see whether Kṛṣṇa is satisfied. If not, you are simply wasting time. You cannot satisfy anyone. Yasmin tuṣṭe jagat tuṣṭo. If you satisfy Kṛṣṇa, then everyone will be satisfied.

Śyāmasundara: His idea was that no philosophy can be fixed or finished or absolute, but that all ideas must be continually revised.

Prabhupāda: Because they have got imperfect philosophy. Imperfect is not perfect; therefore he is thinking of advancing further to make it perfect. So without Kṛṣṇa consciousness he remains always incomplete; therefore imperfect.

Philosophy Discussion on Karl Marx:

Śyāmasundara: Suppose there is a social system where everyone gets the same amount, no one gets excess.

Prabhupāda: That is simply theory, that is not possible.

Śyāmasundara: But that's what happens in Russia. The managers, they don't get much more than the workers, so that everyone only can have a certain income. Just like Himavati's relatives,they sent their relatives in Russia some gifts for Christmas. The relatives sold the gifts and used the money to buy wood to add a room to their house, and because of that they were greatly punished, severely punished, by the state. But they should have given that money to others, they should have distributed it equally, that was the state's theory because anything that I use for my own benefit is wrong.

Prabhupāda: So my tendency is to (consider) everything as my own, but by the taking of the state I am forced to avoid(?). So how long will this work? By force how you can change one's mind? It is not possible. Therefore we say these things are only nonsense proposition. It will never happen because anyone who is in this material world, he has the prime tendency that I shall become the Lord. (indistinct) pratiṣṭhā. The material world means everyone is seeking after some profit, everyone is seeking after some adoration, and everyone is seeking, I mean to say, some position. This is the material world. So, if everyone, seeks profit, adoration and position, so how you can make equal by force?

Philosophy Discussion on Karl Marx:

Indian man: Some time one thing happened...

Prabhupāda: Eh?

Indian man: One Marwari first of all thought that his manager was getting two thousand rupees and doing nothing so he said, "I will do all the manager's work," and he (indistinct) scientist, engineer like. So he saved the two thousand rupees a month. After a couple of months that (indistinct) and that nobody could get right. And that man was (indistinct). Then he told that Marwari that you were giving me three thousand(indistinct).

Prabhupāda: There is a story that one king, he had ministers, a prime minister, so other salaried workers complained, "Sir, we are actually working. This minister is giving nothing, you are giving him so much salary. We are so (indistinct). So, "Oh, all right." So he called the minister, and brought one elephant. (indistinct), "Please immediately take this elephant and let me know what is the weight. Take this elephant. Weigh him." So they went to... All market, they went to find out a scale, how to weigh this. Where is the scale for weighing an elephant? So they could not do anything. They came back. "What happened?" "Sir, we could not get such a scale." "Oh, you could not weigh? All right. Minister, will you kindly weigh this elephant?" "Yes, sir." "All right, take it." So within six minutes he said, "It is twenty mounds," and like that. You see? So they were standing. They were surprised: "How is that? Within some minutes he came back and he said the exact weight." So king asked that "How did you weigh? Did you get some very big scale?" "No sir. It is not possible to weigh the elephant in the scale. Very difficult." "Then how did you weigh?" "Yes, I took it in a boat. I got it on the boat. I saw the water mark, and I marked it, and then, after getting down the elephant, I put weight on it. So when it came to that water mark, I understood." So the king said, "Now you see the difference?" They agreed, "Yes." Buddhir yasya bālaṁ tasya nirbuddhes tu kuto bālam: "One who has got intelligence, he has got strength, and one who has got no intelligence, rascal fool, what strength there is?" These people are like that, rascal fools. We don't take advice from them. We take advice from Kṛṣṇa or His representative.

Philosophy Discussion on Mao Tse Tung:

Prabhupāda: That superficial means it is changing. It will never be perfect. If you take superficial thing, then it is changing always. That is nature's law.

Śyāmasundara: My only interest is in the dictatorship of the proletariat, that everyone should have an equal opportunity, equal pay, equal property, everything.

Prabhupāda: That is theory, but it will never be successful. Why in Russia there is manager's pay and the worker's pay? Why not equal pay?

Revatīnandana: He says, "Abolish that." Mao says, "Abolish that system."

Devotee: No, Russia is not a Communist state.

Revatīnandana: The Chinese scoff at the Russians, that they are not Communist. They say we will not abide by this different manager... Only one pay scale for everybody.

Prabhupāda: First of all, this Communistic idea came from Russia and China imitated.

Devotee: Well, it came out of the proponent philosophers.

Prabhupāda: Anyway, the Russia is supposed to be leader of the Communistic idea.

Philosophy Discussion on Auguste Comte:

Hayagrīva: He says..., he's speaking of the working man.

Prabhupāda: Hm.

Hayagrīva: In this he is a..., he influenced Marx considerably in his belief in the worth of the working man.

Prabhupāda: But so far we have seen that even the working man requires a director. In the present Communist society there is working man and the manager class. So as soon as you have to accept a manager, then simply working man will not help us. There must be a managerial person. Otherwise, how the working man can be, I mean to say, systematically engaged in working?

Hayagrīva: He believed in forming working men's clubs that would be dedicated to the philosophy of positivism. He wrote, "The real intention of the club is to form a provisional substitute for the church of old times." He's referring specifically to the Catholic Church; he's a Frenchman. "Or rather, the working man is to prepare the way for the religious building of the new form of worship, the worship of humanity."

Prabhupāda: What is that humanity? The working man does not know...

Hayagrīva: Humanity is all mankind.

Prabhupāda: All mankind to do what?

Hayagrīva: The worship of humanity, he spoke of, that the working man will usher in or introduce...

Prabhupāda: These stamps are not very clear. What does it mean, "humanity"? To supply the necessities of the human being? Or what?

Philosophy Discussion on B. F. Skinner and Henry David Thoreau:

Hayagrīva: Well he doesn't believe in any leaders.

Prabhupāda: Then who will control? Society controlled without any controller? What is the meaning?

Rāmeśvara: It's a type of communism, where the people work together in a communal way.

Prabhupāda: How they will work together? They require Lenin, Stalin, or something like that, to force them to work. Still, in Communist country there are manager class. Not only worker class, the manager class. So this is all utopian theory. It has no practical value.

Hayagrīva: In the United States all of the successful utopian communities have had a strong religious leader.

Prabhupāda: Leader must be there, religious or not religious. Everyone has leader. The Communist has got leader, and the spiritualists, Kṛṣṇa consciousness, we have also leader. So without leader nothing can be done. They may defy leadership, they may defy authority, but one who defies authority, he wants to become authority. So this is natural. Without leader nothing can be done.

Hayagrīva: That's the end of B. F. Skinner. (end)