And in the Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu also, you'll find that nirbandhaḥ kṛṣṇa-sambandhe yuktaṁ vairāgyam ucyate. You haven't got to restrain yourself completely, but if you dovetail yourself, nirbandhaḥ, when it is in relation with Kṛṣṇa, then your vairāgya, your detachment, is approved. Only thing is that don't do it for your sense gratification, but do it for the satisfaction of the Supreme. That's all. That should be the motto of our life, that "I shall not do anything for my sense satisfaction, but I shall do everything for the satisfaction of the Supreme." That penance, that sacrifice, will make me perfect spiritualized and perfectly on the spiritual platform and my life becomes perfect. Vaśe hi yasyendriyāṇi tasya prajñā pratiṣṭhitā. In this way one has control. The simple thing is control. Vaśe. Vaśe means under control. Vaśe hi yasyendriyāṇi. Anyone who has got his senses under control, he, he is spiritually perfect.
Motto (Lectures)
Lectures
Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures
Now, Kṛṣṇa at the age of seven years old, He lifted Govardhana Hill. So if we try to imitate, "Oh, Kṛṣṇa lifted the Govardhana Hill. Let me also try." That is not following. You cannot do that. (chuckling) You see? Because sometimes the foolish rascals they say, "Oh, Kṛṣṇa performed rāsa-līlā. Let me also perform rāsa-līlā." Therefore I forbid that don't discuss Kṛṣṇa's rāsa-līlā with the ordinary persons. They cannot understand. They'll simply think that "Oh, it is very nice to dance with girls, boys and girls dancing." No.
We have to follow His instruction, what is given in the Bhagavad-gītā. We cannot imitate Him. He is all-powerful. The same example, just like the sunshine. The sunshine can absorb moisture from filthy place, but he, it is not infected. Sun is not infected. But if you go to a filthy place, you become contaminated immediately. Yes. So nobody should try to imitate the all-powerful, but one should try to follow His instruction. That should be motto of life. Go on. "Following and imitating are not the same thing." "Same level." Yes.
Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: "As the ignorant perform their duties with attachment to results, similarly the learned may also act but without attachment, for the sake of leading people on the right path."
Twenty-six: "Let not the wise disrupt the minds of the ignorant who are attached to fruitive action. They should not be encouraged to refrain from work but to engage in work in the spirit of devotion (BG 3.26)."
Twenty-seven...
Prabhupāda: Just like Haridāsa Ṭhākura. Haridāsa Ṭhākura was chanting in a secluded place always. Now, if somebody, without being elevated to such high position, imitates, "Oh, Haridāsa Ṭhākura chanted. Let me sit down in a solitary place and chant," he cannot do that. It is not possible. He'll simply imitate and he'll do all nonsense.
Therefore everyone should be engaged in his own work, and by the fruit of his work, he should serve Kṛṣṇa. We cannot imitate Haridāsa Ṭhākura. That is a different position. If one is elevated to that position, that is a different thing, but generally, that is not meant for ordinary person. Therefore everyone should do his occupational duty and try to serve the Lord by the result of his work. That should be the motto of life.
If you say that "It may be that I cannot fulfill cent percent Kṛṣṇa consciousness in this life," then that is also guaranteed. What is that guarantee? Kṛṣṇa says that śucīnāṁ śrīmatāṁ gehe yoga-bhraṣṭo 'bhijāyate (BG 6.41). Yoga-bhraṣṭaḥ, those who cannot fulfill the whole program of Kṛṣṇa consciousness, by some way or other falls down, incomplete. So Kṛṣṇa says, "Such persons are given chance to take birth in the next life in rich family and in pure brāhmaṇa's family." So that means your human life is guaranteed. A rich family does not mean animal family. Rich means human being. And brāhmaṇas means intelligent class of men. So you get your birth in a family where your parents are very intelligent, very advanced in philosophical knowledge, in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. You get chance.
From our practical experience we can say we got this chance. We got this chance. We got very nice parents. And I was born in a family, a very pure family. And, of course, in those days they were rich also. We had Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa mūrti-sevā. So from the childhood I was taught... Not taught. I asked my father, "Give me this Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa mūrti. I shall worship." And father encouraged me. I was performing this Ratha-yātrā festival. My father encouraged. So this means that I got this chance again.
So those who are executing Kṛṣṇa consciousness, they are not in loss. Whatever they are doing, they are gaining some meaning, one percent, two percent, three percent, five percent, ninety-nine percent. It if fulfilled cent percent, then it is perfect. But even it is not cent percent, you are not in a loss because you get good chance to make further advance. These things are discussed. In the Sixth Chapter you will find. So there is guarantee.
So try your best to execute Kṛṣṇa consciousness fully. That should be the motto of our life. But if, by chance... We shall not allow us to fall down, but even if we fall down, there is no loss. But that does not mean I shall be slack and allow me to fall down. Yes. We must be very serious. That should be our motto.
Just like... It is very easy to understand. A person trying to appear in the M.A. examination, if he passes, he's all right. Otherwise next chance he will have, another. It does not mean that he has to study again from ABCD. No. Next year he can appear. But his motto should be: "Why shall I wait for next year? Let me pass in this year." Similarly, we should be very serious: "Why we shall wait for the next life? Let us finish this life and go back to Godhead, Kṛṣṇa, and dance there." Yes?
Kṛṣṇa is variety. Ye yathā māṁ prapadyante means there are varieties of Kṛṣṇa's manifestation. Kṛṣṇa is there. Kṛṣṇa personally is there. At the same time, Kṛṣṇa, energy, they are varieties. Parāsya śaktir vividhaiva śrūyate (Cc. Madhya 13.65, purport). Kṛṣṇa is one, but His energies are multi-different energies. So you can take shelter of different energies or Kṛṣṇa directly. The best thing is to take shelter of Kṛṣṇa directly. That is intelligence. Therefore Kṛṣṇa says, sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja (BG 18.66).
But we prefer to take shelter of Kṛṣṇa's energy. That is also external energy, this material nature. So Kṛṣṇa has given us chance. You can work hard in this material energy, but that will not help you. Therefore, those who are devotees, they also take shelter of Kṛṣṇa's energy. That is internal energy, not external energy. Internal. Mahātmānas tu māṁ pārtha daivīṁ prakṛtim āśritāḥ (BG 9.13). Daivīṁ prakṛtim means internal energy.
So our business is that we have to take shelter. Instead of taking shelter of the external energy... That is also Kṛṣṇa. There is no doubt. Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa's energy: nondifferent. But that is not very beneficial to us. We have to take shelter of the internal energy. Mahātmānas tu māṁ pārtha daivīṁ prakṛtim āśritāḥ (BG 9.13). Daivīṁ prakṛtim means internal energy.
And Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī is the, mean, the symbol of internal energy. Therefore we take shelter of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī in Vṛndāvana, and that is our perfection of life. Then it will be easier to associate with Kṛṣṇa very easily. That should be our motto.
We are trained up simply to act, opposite direction. Instead of doing good work, we are educated to do bad work, just the opposite. And that is not good. That is the advice of Ṛṣabhadeva. Nūnaṁ pramattaḥ. What is that bad work? Bad work means sense gratification. That's all. Anything you do for the satisfaction of your sense, that is bad work. And anything you do for satisfaction of Kṛṣṇa, that is good work. This is the division of bad work and good work. The same thing, if you do for your personal satisfaction, it is bad work. And the same thing, if you do for the satisfaction of Kṛṣṇa, that is good work. We must first of all learn this.
Just like Arjuna was thinking in the beginning that "Fighting and killing is not good, especially fighting with the family members and killing them. No, no, I cannot do that." Bad work. He was thinking it was bad. But same thing he did. When he understood Bhagavad-gītā, he did not do anything else, because he was a fighter, he was a warrior. In the beginning he was refusing because he was trying to satisfy his senses. "Oh, it is very good. I think it is... I think..." What you are? You are always misguided if you think like that. But the same Arjuna, when understood Bhagavad-gītā... Kṛṣṇa inquired from him, "Now what is your decision?" Now, kariṣye vacanaṁ tava (BG 18.73). "Yes, now I have decided." So what is that vacanaṁ tava? Kṛṣṇa asked him to fight. So same fighting, how he became good now? Because Kṛṣṇa wanted it. A good work.
So this should be our motto of life, that you should act if Kṛṣṇa is pleased. This is good work. That is confirmed in many places in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.
Prabhupāda: There is no difficulty to become Kṛṣṇa conscious, and the result is so big that mām evaiṣyasi asaṁśayaḥ (BG 18.65). Yad gatvā na nivartante tad dhāma paramaṁ mama (BG 15.6). So for such great benefit of life, if you simply think of Kṛṣṇa and become His devotee, why shall I lose this opportunity? What is that intelligence? Therefore unless one is a rascal, miscreant, lowest of the mankind, he cannot give up Kṛṣṇa consciousness. It is not possible. Na māṁ duṣkṛtino mūḍhāḥ prapadyante narādhamāḥ (BG 7.15). Unless he is rascal number one, lowest of the mankind, full of sinful activities, he cannot avoid Kṛṣṇa consciousness. That's all. This is the position.
Bhagavān: You have given the analogy that when a person turns his back to the sun he creates his shadow. And as he turns towards the sun the shadow disappears.
Prabhupāda: Yes, that is the motto of our... Kṛṣṇa sūrya-sama. Godhead is light, māyā is nescience.
Why Caitanya Mahāprabhu denied these social orders? Because He was to give immediately benefit to the fallen souls of this age. So He denied this system, not that He decried this system, but He knew that this system cannot be introduced strictly at the present moment in this age. So in this way, gradually, he presented jñāna-miśra-bhakti, devotional service with knowledge, renouncement of this material connection. In every step, Caitanya Mahāprabhu said, "Oh, this is not suitable. This is not suitable." Then at last... Not at last, in the middle, Rāmānanda Rāya suggested that jñāne prayāsam udapāsya namanta eva: "One should give up the false knowledge, false knowledge that 'I am God. I am God.' " This is false knowledge. So when this was recommended by Rāmānanda Rāya to Caitanya, that "One should give up this false knowledge..." Jñāne prayāsam udapāsya namanta eva. "One should be very meek and humble," namanta eva jīvanti, "and in that way if he lives," san-mukharitāṁ bhavadīya-vārtām, "and tries to receive knowledge from really self-realized persons..." The motto of life. He is describing the motto of life, that "One should not be falsely proud, one should be very much meek and humble, and try to receive knowledge from self-realized persons. If one continues, follows these principles, then one day he will find that God, who is ajita, who cannot be conquered by anyone, who cannot be known by anyone, God realization..."
Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures
Because we are now in material condition of life, therefore we do not understand what is God and what is our aim. Therefore it is called ajñāna, ignorance. Therefore one who dissipates this ignorance, he is called guru.
- ajñāna-timirāndhasya
- jñānāñjana-śalākayā
- cakṣur unmīlitaṁ yena
- tasmai śrī-gurave namaḥ
The guru means he gives light to the persons who are living in darkness. So that is the motto in our Back to Godhead paper, that "Godhead is light, and nescience is darkness. Where there is God, there is no nescience." So Kṛṣṇa or God or light, the same thing. If you take to Kṛṣṇa consciousness, there will be no more ignorance. Just like here there is light, electric light. There is no darkness. The darkness is there, but when there is light, darkness automatically goes away. Similarly, if you take to Kṛṣṇa consciousness, then darkness of life immediately goes away. And that is required in human life. The animal life means full of darkness, and the human life, although full of darkness, it can be dissipated. So our request is—we are pushing this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement everywhere all over the world—just to drive away the darkness of ignorance and come to the light of knowledge. So this center is open for this purpose. I request you, all of you, to take advantage of this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement and be enlightened and be happy in your life.
If we actually want to be free from the reaction of sinful life, that we are doing, knowingly or unknowingly, then Kṛṣṇa consciousness must be there. Kṛṣṇa says, ahaṁ tvāṁ sarva-pāpebhyo mokṣayiṣyāmi (BG 18.66). Therefore it is recommended, kīrtanīyaḥ sadā hariḥ (CC Adi 17.31). Always we have to be engaged in chanting: Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/ Hare Rāma..., so that Kṛṣṇa will save us. Knowingly we cannot commit any sinful activities. That is one thing. Unknowingly also we cannot do it. Then we'll be liable.
Therefore if you remain in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, if you always keep Kṛṣṇa within your mind, then... Just like when the sun is there, there cannot be any darkness. Similarly, if you keep kṛṣṇa sūrya, the Kṛṣṇa sun... That is our motto in the Back to Godhead: kṛṣṇa sūrya sama māyā andhakāra. Kṛṣṇa is just like brilliant sunshine, and the māyā, ignorance, is just like darkness. But when or while or where the sun is there, there cannot be any darkness. Similarly, you keep Kṛṣṇa in consciousness always, there cannot be any ignorance; there cannot be any darkness. You'll be walking very freely in bright sunshine of Kṛṣṇa.
This arcā-mūrti, it is not idol worship. You practically try to understand. If it was idol worship, idol worship, then these boys and girls, they are American boys and girls, intelligent, educated, they should not have spared so much time for worshiping one idol. No. It is God's mercy that He incarnates Himself as we can handle Him. If we want to worship His gigantic universal form, we cannot approach Him. It is not possible. But He's so kind. He comes just suitable for our, for our being handled by us. That is God's mercy. He, He's in this temple, but He, if you like to worship Him, He can live within your closet. Everyone can take advantage of God, Supreme God. There is no difficulty. Patraṁ puṣpaṁ phalaṁ toyaṁ yo me bhaktyā prayacchati (BG 9.26). There is no expenditure. He is agreeable to accept a little fruit, a little flower, a little water. Simply He wants your devotional love. That's all. He's not hungry. Of course, this Society is, according to our capacity, offering Kṛṣṇa the best foodstuff. Not that because He says patraṁ puṣpaṁ phalaṁ toyaṁ, therefore we offer Him patraṁ puṣpaṁ phalaṁ toyaṁ. No. We offer Him to our best capacity—the best, the best foodstuff. That should be the motto.
We can understand things as they are if we receive the message of Urukrama, Kṛṣṇa. If you give aural reception to the activities of Kṛṣṇa ... Therefore, you should not waste a moment even with nonsense talkings. You have got so many books. Either chant Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare, or read books, discuss amongst yourself. Don't waste your time by so-called drama and play. It is simply waste of time. Don't waste your time in that way. If you have got inclination to enjoy some drama, then you should take hint how that drama should be written or played. Don't manufacture. You are not so expert that you can manufacture things. That is illegal. Just like we do not read any rascal's book. They are manufacturing so many ideas. We read Bhāgavatam, authorized. We read Śrīmad Bhagavad-gītā. We read Brahma-saṁhitā. Not rascal's book. What these rascals can write? They're imperfect. So don't waste your time. Simply always pour in, give aural reception to the message of Urukrama.
Don't waste a single moment. This should be your life's policy. Avyartha-kālatvam (Cc. Madhya 23.18-19). Rūpa Gosvāmī advises an advanced devotee should always look "Whether my time is wasted?" Avyartha-kālatvam. Vyartha means useless. So that is, that should be one of the, mean, target of devotees, that "Whether I am wasting my time?" Don't waste your time. Always pour in the activities of the Lord, Kṛṣṇa. Always, twenty-four hours. Kīrtaniyaḥ sadā hariḥ (CC Adi 17.31), Caitanya Mahāprabhu says. Sadā. Sadā means always, twenty-four hours. Otherwise, it is the snake hole. Similarly, jihvāsatī dārdurikeva sūta. Dārdurikeva. A frog's tongue, ka-ka-kanh, ka-ka-kanh. No. Dārdurikeva sūta na copagāyaty urugāya-gāthāḥ. Urugāya. Glorious activities. This should be our motto of life.
Ṛṣabhadeva is Kṛṣṇa. So He became disturbed while walking on the street. He is not disturbed, but it is instruction that "If you are disturbed, you feel disturbed in this way, so you adopt this way. You sit down." Similarly, if they are disturbing too much, so we can sit down in one place and chant Hare Kṛṣṇa. There is no difficulty. And Kṛṣṇa will send you all necessities. Teṣāṁ nityābhiyuktānāṁ yoga-kṣemaṁ vahāmy aham (BG 9.22). He promises. Kṛṣṇa cannot say anything lie. He is perfect. So if there is actually impediments to push on this movement—people disturb too much—never mind. You sit down in one place and still go on preaching. Yāre dekha, tāre kaha 'kṛṣṇa'-upadeśa (CC Madhya 7.128). People will come still in India. Why India? In your country also, if saintly person goes, they come. That is the practice in everywhere. So you can sit down and still preach. That is Caitanya Mahāprabhu's mission. Āmāra ājñāya guru hañā tāra' ei deśa. Ei deśa means where you are sitting, where you are living, any place. And sit down. Āmāra ājñāya guru hañā tāra' ei deśa (CC Madhya 7.128). And But try to deliver these innocent persons who are suffering.
Everyone is suffering. That should be the motto. Do not sit idly, eat and sleep. No. Either loitering, wandering... I know, our men in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, they are bold enough. They have sometimes been, I mean to say, beaten in the airport. But still, they are so straightforward, suffering from the police, from the public. And Ṛṣabhadeva was sometimes bitten on his body, urine, pass urine on his body, so much. He is the Supreme Personality of Godhead Ṛṣabhadeva. So He is teaching us that for the ultimate benefit of life you prepare yourself to suffer all kinds of tribulations. Caitanya Mahāprabhu has given this instruction:
- tṛṇād api sunīcena
- taror api sahiṣṇunā
- amāninā mānadena
- kīrtanīyaḥ sadā...
You should not give up your preaching work. Kīrtanīyaḥ sadā hariḥ (CC Adi 17.31). If there are tribulations, as Ṛṣabhadeva He is Supreme Personality of Godhead, Vaikuṇṭha, and He has no suffering.
You have to take birth according to your desire, either as Brahmā or as ant, as a cat, as a dog, as demigod, and according to your capacity, Kṛṣṇa will give you: "All right." Ye yathā māṁ prapadyante tāṁs tathaiva bhajāmy aham (BG 4.11). If you want from Kṛṣṇa sense enjoyment, He will give you all facilities. But Kṛṣṇa does not want. Kṛṣṇa said, sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja (BG 18.66). That is His mission, that "You will never be happy in this process of pravṛtti-mārga."
- kṛṣṇa bhuliya jīva bhoga vāñchā kāre
- pāsate māyā tāre jāpaṭiyā dhāre
Māyā means the condition in which I enjoy material sense gratification. That is called māyā. Māyā jāpaṭiyā dhāre. Jāpaṭiyā dhāre means catches, catches: "All right, come on." There are two things: light and darkness. If you remain in light, there is no darkness, and if you prefer to remain in darkness, there is no light. Two things are there. So māyā is darkness, and Kṛṣṇa is light. That is our motto in the Back to Godhead. "Godhead is light and darkness is nescience. Where there is God, there is no darkness." This is our position.
This process of chanting is so nice that ceto-darpaṇa-mārjanam (CC Antya 20.12). It cleanses the heart, misunderstanding that "I am this body. I belong to this nation. I belong to this community. I belong to this religion." No. "I belong to Kṛṣṇa," that's all. This is ceto-darpaṇa-mārjanam. Jīvera svarūpa haya nitya kṛṣṇa dāsa (Cc. Madhya 20.108-109). That is real knowledge, real perfection, as soon as one comes to this conclusion, that "Kṛṣṇa is mine, and I am Kṛṣṇa's," simply this understanding. Ceto-darpaṇa-mārjanam. So by this consciousness automatically all reaction of sinful life becomes washed. Aghaṁ dhunvanti kārtsnyena, totally. How? How it is possible? "He has accumulated sinful reaction of life for so many births, and simply...?" Yes, it is possible. "How?" Now, nīhāram iva bhāskaraḥ. When there is, what is called? Frost.
Devotee: Fog.
Prabhupāda: Fog, yes. When there is fog, you try so many ways; it cannot go. Then, if somehow or other sun rises, immediately finished. Immediately clear. That is our motto in the Back to Godhead: "Godhead is light and nescience is darkness. Where there is Godhead, there is no jurisdiction of darkness."
- kṛṣṇa sūrya-sama māyā andhakāra
- yāhāṅ kṛṣṇa tāhāṅ nāhi māyā adhikāra
- (CC Madhya 22.31)
As soon as there is sunshine, immediately the fog is... It's practical.
The modern civilization is simply increasing the paraphernalia of sense enjoyment. There is no arrangement for advancement of spiritual knowledge. That is the defect of modern civilization. And Prahlāda Mahārāja said that,
- sarvatra labhyate daivād
- yathā dukḥam ayatnataḥ
- (SB 7.6.3)
- tat-prayāso na kartavyo
- yata āyur-vyayaḥ param
- (SB 7.6.4)
If you waste our time which is... Everyone of us should always be conscious that this human form of life, although the body is material and there are so many material demands, so we have to adjust things in such a way that my major portion of my attention or energy may be applied for advancing spiritual consciousness or Kṛṣṇa consciousness. That should be the motto of our life.
The Supreme Personality of Godhead is, although we are thinking we are different from Him, He is within our hearts. Īśvaraḥ sarva-bhūtānāṁ hṛd-deśe arjuna: (BG 18.61) He is so friendly that although we are averse, we do not like even the word of God, God is so kind that He is sitting within my heart. Īśvaraḥ sarva-bhūtānām, He's simply looking forward for the opportunity when I, the living entity, shall look towards Him. He's always anxious.
So little endeavor is sufficient to begin our business with Him, little endeavor. And that endeavor begins by hearing about Him. We are holding classes in different parts of the world just to give people chance for little endeavor, not very much, very hard work. No. Little endeavor. What is that? "Please come here and hear about Kṛṣṇa." Then the business begins immediately. Śṛṇvatāṁ sva-kathāḥ kṛṣṇaḥ puṇya-śravaṇa-kīrtana (SB 1.2.17). Because Kṛṣṇa is very much anxious: "When this conditioned soul will look towards Me? He's now looking towards māyā, the other side, the dark side, and when he'll look towards the light?" The Vedic injunction is, tamasi mā jyotir gama: "Do not look forward to the darkness, but look forward to the light." If you look forward to the light then there is no darkness. We have given our motto in the Back to Godhead that "Kṛṣṇa is the sun and māyā is nescience. Where there is Kṛṣṇa there is no māyā." If you look forward towards the sun there is no darkness. But if you keep sun back side, you'll find your shadow very long. So the beginning is very easy. Just like the children, they are also hearing about Kṛṣṇa. Don't think it is going in vain. Because they are hearing, it will have some effect. They are human child. Even the mosquitos or small germs who are within this boundary of temple, because they are hearing Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra it will never go in vain. It is so nice.
Suppose I have to preach Kṛṣṇa consciousness in Europe or America. So because a sannyāsī has to walk, therefore I shall walk throughout the whole life to go to America? This is foolishness. If I can go to America within fifteen hours for preaching facility, why shall not I use the aeroplane? Why shall I stick... It is called niyamāgraha, "without any profit," to follow the regulative principle without any profit. No. If we get opportunity, preaching facilities for going on car, on airplane, using typewriter, dictaphone, microphone, we must use it. Because this is Kṛṣṇa's property, it must be used for Kṛṣṇa. This is our philosophy. This microphone is Kṛṣṇa's. Īśāvāsyam idaṁ sarvam (ISO 1). So when it is used for Kṛṣṇa it is not material; it is spiritual.
- prāpañcikatayā buddhyā
- hari-sambandhi-vastunaḥ
- mumukṣubhiḥ parityāgo
- phalgu-vairāgyaṁ kathyate
So anything which can be used for Kṛṣṇa's service, that is not material; that is spiritual. So we must use it. But not for sense gratification. Therefore we have to use and work exactly under the direction of spiritual master. Otherwise it will be sense gratification. Don't manufacture. Guru-mukha padma-vākya, cittete kariyā aikya, āra na kariha mane āśa **. If you want to be guided, then take in every step the words of guru. Manufacturing will not help you. Prahlāda Mahārāja become so great because he was initiated by Nārada Muni. That is required. Chāḍiyā vaiṣṇava sevā, nistar payeche kebā. Nobody can become perfect without serving the bona fide spiritual master. That is the motto.
Festival Lectures
Prahlāda Mahārāja is the symbolic representation of Vaiṣṇava. So try to be not imitator, but follower. Don't try to imitate: "Oh, Prahlāda Mahārāja was thrown into boiling oil. Let me try, fall into the boiling oil." No. That is imitation. Just first of all you become like Prahlāda Mahārāja, then that will be possible. Don't try to make experimental. (laughter) That is not good. But follow, try to follow. Mahājano yena gataḥ sa panthāḥ (CC Madhya 17.186). Mahājanas, great personalities, what they have done, you cannot imitate them. You have to follow them. You have to follow the instruction of Kṛṣṇa or His representative, but you cannot imitate them. Then you'll fall down. Anusaraṇa. Not anukaraṇa. Anukaraṇa means imitation; but anusaraṇa, follow. So what Prahlāda Mahārāja did, that we have to follow his example. His example was that in spite of continuous torturing by his father, he never forgot Kṛṣṇa. This we have to follow. In spite of all kinds of inconveniences and torture by the atheist class of men, we shall never forget Kṛṣṇa consciousness. There were many examples. Just like Lord Jesus Christ, he was tortured. So he was crucified, but he never agreed that there is no God. So that should be our motto. This is following. Either you be Christian or be Hindu or be any, but be God conscious. Kṛṣṇa conscious means God conscious. And in any circumstances do not forget. That is called śaraṇāgati. That is surrender.
Arrival Addresses and Talks
I must express, my obligation that you are worshiping the Deity so nicely. That is my great happiness, and that is your happiness also. The more gloriously you worship the Deity, decorate the Deity as gorgeously as possible, the more gorgeous you will be. That is the secret. The materialistic, they are trying to dress themselves very gorgeously, and gradually their dress is being taken away by māyā, and voluntarily they are becoming hippies. Because they did not try to dress Kṛṣṇa, therefore māyā is taking their dresses. So the secret of success is that if you give nice... Everything belongs to Kṛṣṇa. Simply you have to collect them and offer for the pleasure of Kṛṣṇa. Yat karoṣi yaj juhoṣi yad aśnāsi tapasyasi yat yad aśnāsi, kuruṣva tad mad-arpaṇam (BG 9.27). This is the secret of success, that whatever you do... It doesn't matter what you are doing. You are businessman, you are a lawyer, you are engineer or... Something must be done for earning one's livelihood. That is a fact. Without karma, without working, you cannot keep your body and soul together. That's a fact. So in the human form of life the motto should be that "Whatever I do, whatever I earn, it must be given to Kṛṣṇa." This is Kṛṣṇa consciousness.
Initiation Lectures
We have no quarrel with vegetarian and nonvegetarian. We are after Kṛṣṇa-prasādam. If Kṛṣṇa accepts something beyond these vegetarian dishes, then we can accept also. But Kṛṣṇa says, "No. Give Me patraṁ puṣpaṁ phalaṁ toyam (BG 9.26)." Kṛṣṇa can eat everything. He is God. But He says that "Give Me this." Patraṁ puṣpaṁ phalaṁ toyam. "Offer Me this flower, fruit, water. Like that." So we are after Kṛṣṇa-prasādam. That is our motto. We don't fight with vegetarian and non... We are not making propaganda... Just like there is vegetarian society. No. We have no business. Even if a man becomes vegetarian, what does he gain? In this material world, either vegetarian or nonvegetarian, they are on the same platform, birds of the same feather. You see? So that is not our propaganda. We are introducing Kṛṣṇa-prasāda; therefore we invite people to take nice prasāda. So these four principles we should follow. We shall not accept anything which is not offered to Kṛṣṇa. That is our position.
There is a story—that's very interesting—that one doctor, medical man, came to a gentleman's house, and there were two patients, the lady, the wife of that gentleman, and the maidservant. So the doctor examined and informed to the proprietor that "Your wife's fever is only 100. That's not very... But your maidservant's fever is 104. So she has to be taken little care of." So when the wife heard... (break) So we want like that. This material civilization is like that, to increase the temperature to 108 and then atom bomb fall. You see? That is going on. We should not. Yāvad artha-prayojanam. We should not try for increasing simply the material comforts. No. That is not our business. That is 108 degree, then death. But yāvad artha-vinirṇayam. As far as we want, we must take, that much, not more than that. Tena tyaktena bhuñjīthā (ISO 1), the same verse. Tena tyaktena bhuñjīthā. Whatever prasādam you are offered by the grace of the Lord, you accept. Don't take anything more. That is our motto.
General Lectures
It is the system of Vedic system, that... Not Vedic system; everywhere, all over the world. Any civilized society there is nice speaker, learned speaker, and many persons hear him. That is the system from very old time. So Sūta Gosvāmī, he was representative of Śukadeva Gosvāmī, the speaker of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, and he was addressing very learned brāhmaṇas. So he's addressing, dvija-śreṣṭhā. Śreṣṭhā means the, I mean to say, picked-up, the topmost of the brāhmaṇas. They were topmost of the brāhmaṇas; still, they require knowledge. Knowledge is so nice that even if you think that you are very learned, you are well versed in everything, still, you require knowledge. That should be our motto. Don't think that "I have finished." Caitanya Mahāprabhu has taught this lesson in His life, that He represented Himself as a fool. So everyone should think of himself that "I am still a fool." Just like it is said that Sir Isaac Newton... He was such a learned man, but he used to say that "I have simply collected a few grains of sand from the beach of knowledge." Knowledge is so vast that his knowledge was simply a few grains of the vast amount of sand of knowledge. So everyone should think like that. Caitanya-caritāmṛta kaj, the author, he says that "I am lowest than the germs in the stool. I have no knowledge." So the more you become advanced in knowledge, you'll know that how insignificant you are in comparison to the Supreme. Yes.
These Western boys and girls, they are taking to Kṛṣṇa consciousness. So they should have a place like Vṛndāvana. So here is present our Swami Kīrtanānanda. He went to Vṛndāvana with me two years ago, and he has taken the idea, what is Vṛndāvana. So I have instructed him that "You should construct at least seven temples." In Vṛndāvana there are five thousand temples, not one, two. Five thousand temples of Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa. But the most important temples are seven, established by the Gosvāmīs. So our program is to live there, depending on agriculture and cow, cow protection and agriculture. That should be the economic solution. And peacefully be in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, chant Hare Kṛṣṇa. That is the Vṛndāvana scheme. Yuktāhāra-vihārasya yogo bhavati siddhidaḥ. This human form of life is not meant for increasing artificial needs. We should be satisfied just to maintain the body and soul together, and balance time we should save for enhancing our Kṛṣṇa consciousness, or spiritual consciousness, so that after this body we haven't got to make another material body, but we go back to home, back to Godhead. That should be the motto of human life.
A spiritual master or a representative of Kṛṣṇa or a mahātmā, he is praśāntā. Praśāntā means he is freed from all these manufacturing process of the mind. He is no more conducted by the dictation of the mind. He is conducted by the dictation of Kṛṣṇa, or Kṛṣṇa's words. Just like Bhagavad-gītā, Kṛṣṇa's words. Kṛṣṇa and Kṛṣṇa's words are not different. So if you abide by the words of Kṛṣṇa, just like Bhagavad-gītā—there are many others—then you are abiding by Kṛṣṇa. You are not abiding by the dictation of your mind. That should be the motto of our life. And a spiritual master or mahātmā is he who is situated in that position. He is not dictated by the mind. He is simply following the scriptural injunctions. Therefore he is praśāntā.
Never mind whether through Bible or Koran or through Bhagavad-gītā. Everywhere there is knowledge of God consciousness. That teaching should be introduced in every schools and colleges so that children, from the very beginning, may understand what is God, how great he is, how we are related with God, and how we have to live. So our, this movement, Kṛṣṇa consciousness, is teaching that thing. Don't think that it is a sectarian religion. We are making people God conscious. It doesn't matter whichever religion you may belong. We want to see whether you are actually God conscious. Our Bhāgavata says, sa vai puṁsāṁ paro dharmo yato bhaktir adhokṣaje (SB 1.2.6), that "That religious system is first class wherein God consciousness or love of God is taught." That is first-class religion. It doesn't matter whether it is Christian religion or Hindu religion or Muhammadan religion. If by following the principles of religion one becomes advanced in God consciousness, that is first-class religion. That is our motto, and we are preaching all over the world.
Philosophy Discussions
Hayagrīva: Immanuel Kant. Being a son of the Enlightenment, Kant strongly advocated the right and duty of every man to judge for himself in religious and secular matters. Indeed, he considered the motto of the Enlightenment to be, "Have courage to make use of your own intellect." The emphasis here is on individual freedom and on the ability of man to intuit the truth.
Prabhupāda: Does it mean that anyone, whatever he does, that is perfectly right? If he is given that freedom, then anyone will do anything as he likes. So it will be taken as...
Hayagrīva: Well he, at the same time, he considered the Bible to be the best vehicle for the instruction of the public in a truly moral religion.
Prabhupāda: Then he has to accept some authority. Where is freedom?
Hayagrīva: He believed that the individual can intuit truths within, but could be helped from without by scripture.
Prabhupāda: Yes. That means he should not become independent, but he advocates in the beginning that everyone should be independent. So that is not right proposal. One should be dependent on authority, and that authority should be recognized or well established. Then knowledge is possible.
Śyāmasundara: Well, perhaps his ethical man would not make that decision. Perhaps his ethical man would make the decision to protect the cow also. Because the idea is that through a passionate, feeling, awareness inside that one will come to the right decisions, that, that...
Prabhupāda: But he has no standard of right decision. What is the standard of right decision?
Śyāmasundara: His... It's... It's not so much... His motto is not so much "Know thyself" as to "Choose thyself." He's not so much saying that what you...
Prabhupāda: So how you can make your choice if you do not know yourself? You make your choice, "This is good, this is bad." So this choice is made when you know yourself. So this is my interpretation. I have interest in this; therefore it is good. That, so without knowing yourself, how you can make this choice? How you can make your decision?
Śyāmasundara: He says that you will know yourself when you begin choosing yourself. And when you begin making choices and examining them, you find the right choice for you, and you will begin to know yourself. That this passionate, inner awareness when one becomes engaged in life, in doing things actively, and making decisions...
Prabhupāda: So this choice, when you know yourself, so how you can know yourself unless you go to somebody who knows things as they are? Just like people know that "I am this body." But this kind of knowing is animal knowing. This kind of knowing, that "I am this body," yasyātma-buddhiḥ kuṇape tri-dhātuke (SB 10.84.13). If one understands that "I am this body," then he is no better than an ass. The animals, the ass, the ass also thinks, "I am this body," and you also think that you are body, then what is the difference between you and the ass? And what is the value of the philosophy of an ass if you are in the bodily concept of life?
Hayagrīva: And his motto was, "Know thyself." And by knowing oneself through meditation or insight one can gain self-control, and by being self-controlled one can attain happiness.
Prabhupāda: Yes, that is a fact. Meditation means to analyze oneself—that is real meditation—and find out the Absolute Truth. That is the description in the Vedic literature. Dhyānāvasthita-tad-gatena manasā paśyanti yaṁ yogino. Yogi means by his meditation he is seeing the Supreme Truth, Kṛṣṇa, or God, within himself. Kṛṣṇa is there, and so a yogi consults Kṛṣṇa, and Kṛṣṇa advises him. That is the relationship with yogi. Buddhi-yogaṁ dadāmi tam. One who is purified, he is seeing Kṛṣṇa always within himself.
| Page Title: | Motto (Lectures) |
| Compiler: | Visnu Murti, Madhavi, Rishab |
| Created: | 29 of Nov, 2008 |
| Totals by Section: | BG=0, SB=0, CC=0, OB=0, Lec=29, Con=0, Let=0 |
| No. of Quotes: | 29 |