Negation (Lectures)

Expressions researched:
"negation"

Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures

Lecture on BG 2.23 -- Hyderabad, November 27, 1972:

So definition by negation. Directly we cannot appreciate what is that spiritual fragment, particle, which is within this body. Because the length and breadth of that spirit soul is impossible to be measured by our material instruments, although the scientists say that we can measure it. Anyway, even it is possible, first of all, you have to see where the soul is situated. Then you can attempt to measure it.

Lecture on BG 2.58-59 -- New York, April 27, 1966:

Now negation. Negation. "All right. I shall not do this, which will produce reaction." That, I mean to say, forceful negation will not stand. "I shall not do this." Or, for example, take the small incident of our life, eating. Now, because eating has reaction, because whatever I am eating I have to repay for that... Either you eat vegetable or flesh, that doesn't matter. "Then let me... I shall not eat." Oh, that cannot be. How you cannot eat? You cannot do it. If you have to live, then you have to eat.

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

Similarly, if you become active in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, you automatically become silent in material activities. Without any separate endeavor. It is so nice. And if you try artificially to stop, to become silent from material activities, it will not be possible. You may meditate for fifteen minutes or for fifteen hundred minutes or fifteen thousand years, it will not be possible. The mind is very strong. Mind's business is to accept and reject, accept and reject. You accept something, you reject something. Better thing is that we accept something Kṛṣṇa conscious under the direction of disciplic succession. That is your, should be, the aim of life, and you are successful. You have to accept something. Simply by rejecting, it will not help you. But you have to accept something. That acceptance is Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Simply negation will not help you. You must have some positive engagement.

Lecture on BG 4.9-11 -- New York, July 25, 1966:

The impersonalists, their philosophy is that they want to merge into the impersonal existence of the Absolute Truth. They are afraid of the life of variegatedness. Because they have got a very bitter experience of this life of variegatedness, therefore they want to make a negation of this variegatedness and they want to turn themselves into the impersonal feature. So these things are there. So vīta-rāga. So one has to give up this attachment and detachment also.

Lecture on BG 4.11-18 -- Los Angeles, January 8, 1969:

You are giving definition in the... Just like you do not know what it is. You say simply "It is not this," that's all. But you do not know what it is. That is not concrete definition. If I say, "This is not watch. This is not book. This is not light. This is not microphone." I can go on thousands of years saying, "This is not, this is not, this is not," but that does not mean it is this. And if you know it immediately say, "It is glass, spectacle." That means you do not know it. Simply negation, "This is not, this is not, this is not," is not the realization of the Absolute. You must give concrete idea of the Absolute. That is transcendental meditation.

Lecture on BG 4.26 -- Bombay, April 15, 1974:

So this artificial type of saṁyamāgniṣu juhvati, it may help you for the time being to stop the activities for the indriya, but that will not be permanently done. Therefore this process, that sarvopādhi-vinirmuktaṁ tat-paratvena nirmalam... (CC Madhya 19.170). When you become free from all designation... As Caitanya Mahāprabhu said—I was going to explain—that "I am not a brāhmaṇa, I am not a śūdra, I am not a kṣatriya, I am not a vaiśya, I am not..." This is negation. Then what you are? Caitanya Mahāprabhu says, gopī-bhartuḥ pada-kamalayor dāsa-dāsānudāsaḥ (CC Madhya 13.80). There is activities. As soon as we accept dāsa-dāsānudāsaḥ, there must be activities. A dāsa has got activities. So dāsa, when these activities are there, then hṛṣīkeṇa hṛṣīkeśa-sevanaṁ bhaktir ucyate (CC Madhya 19.170), that is called bhakti.

Lecture on BG 4.37-40 -- New York, August 21, 1966:

Disciple: In other words, there's no negation of the senses?

Prabhupāda: No negation?

Disciple: Of the senses.

Prabhupāda: Senses. Yes. Here... Senses... We have got our transcendental senses. Now it is covered. Just like in our diseased condition, the same hand, the same nose, same ear, are there, but we feel something extraordinary. "Oh, my, there is headache. Oh, my hand is burning, burning. Oh!" But when the disease is cured, then you don't feel that sensation. So senses we have got. That is our spiritual senses. So we have to revive our spiritual senses. We are not senseless. As spirit soul, we have got our original senses, but that senses are now covered by this material contamination. Just like my senses, my hand burns during fever, due to the fever. But when the fever is moved, removed, when I get free from the fever attack, then I feel nice, similarly, we have got our senses; when we are freed from this material contamination, then we have got our proper use of the sense and enjoyment.

Lecture on BG 4.39-42 -- Los Angeles, January 14, 1969:

Just like you take milk. So you have to find out where the butter is there. So if you know the process, then you can find out the butter. But if you do not know the process, you can say, "Oh, this is simply milk. Where is butter?" You must know the process.

Similarly, the impersonalists, they think that "I am Brahman, but I am not this matter." That is a fact. I am spirit. I am not this matter. But that understanding is not sufficient. What is my position as spirit? Then, when we come to the supreme spirit, the all-spirit, that is perfection of knowledge. So impersonal conception is simply a negation of these material varieties. But above that, there is spiritual variety. And that is real knowledge. That is Kṛṣṇa consciousness.

Lecture on BG 4.39-42 -- Los Angeles, January 14, 1969:

Negation... Just like there is no fever. In diseased condition one is trying to get out of the feverish condition. So by medicinal treatment one gets out of fever. But that is not healthy condition. That is not final. There is negation of fever. That's admitted. That's all right. But that is convulsion (convalescent) stage. You may relapse again. When you actually come to the healthy state, that is your life. So negation of fever is not as good as your healthy life. So negation of this materialistic idea, impersonalism, is not complete knowledge. Because I am spirit soul, I am active even in this material diseased condition. How much active I must be in my healthy condition. That is real knowledge. Healthy condition does not mean that I am dead. This is no treatment.

Lecture on BG 4.39-42 -- Los Angeles, January 14, 1969:

If some physician comes and tells to the patient, "Oh, you are so suffering. All right. let me cut your throat so you will not suffer. Everything will be stopped," is that good treatment? (laughs) You have to stop his fever and keep him into his healthy life. That is treatment. Simply stoppage, simply negation, void, that is not treat...

Lecture on BG 6.1 -- Los Angeles, February 13, 1969:

But if he can work nicely, "Oh yes," mother asks, "My dear boy, you have to do this, you have to do that, you have to do that." Sit down tightly for the nonsense. Not for the sensible. For the nonsense, the more he sits down, at least he does not commit any nonsense, that's all. Negation of nonsense. That is not positive. Here is positive activities.

Lecture on BG 6.1 -- Los Angeles, February 13, 1969:

So negation is no life. Positive life is life. "Don't do this," is no life. "Do this," this is life. But in order to do rightly, there are some things "don't." "Don't" is not life, "do" is life. The whole Bhagavad-gītā is "do." "Do fight for Me." There is nothing "don't." Arjuna wanted, "Don't induce me." And Kṛṣṇa did not like that. "You are speaking like non-Aryan." Kutas tvā kaśmalam idam. Anārya-juṣṭam. "This kind of words are spoken by the non-Aryans." He was accused of being non-Aryan. Anārya. So Kṛṣṇa consciousness does not mean sitting idly, no. We have the whole pastimes of Kṛṣṇa is full of activities.

Lecture on BG 7.1 -- San Diego, July 1, 1972:

Devotee: It's a process of negation.

Prabhupāda: Eh?

Devotee: It's a process of negation for some yoga systems...

Prabhupāda: Negation how?

Devotee: Of feeling. Thinking, feeling, and willing.

Prabhupāda: No, no. Negation... Something positive you negate. So what is that positive, and what is that negation? Nobody can...

Devotee: Desires, negating the desires, natural desires? They want to...

Prabhupāda: That means these are manufacturing. Actually, there is no fixed-up knowledge. Just like somebody was asking (about) transcendental meditation. What is that transcendental meditation? Can anyone explain?

Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures

Lecture on SB 1.1.2 -- London, August 15, 1971:

Therefore they want sāyujya-mukti, to merge into the existence of the..., to become one with the Supreme. That is possible. You can have it. But it you lose your individuality then you can get eternity, but you cannot get blissful life of knowledge, because you lose your individuality. So that is suicidal. But a living entity being individual soul, he cannot remain in that impersonal state of life. Because the other two factors, namely acquire knowledge and acquire blissful life, is wanting there. It is simply negation of these material varieties. Or eternity only—sat. But there are two other parts, cit and ānanda. That is absent there.

Lecture on SB 1.2.6 -- Montreal, August 3, 1968:

Kṛṣṇa's name... Kṛṣ means to become, to appear. Bhū-vācakaḥ. Or attraction. We have got attraction for material enjoying, and ṇaś ca nirvṛti-vācakaḥ. Ṇa means ānanda. Another meaning is negation. So "the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who, by His attractive features, by attraction of His bodily beauty, by attraction of His opulence, by attraction of His pastimes, so many things..." Kṛṣṇa is all-attractive. And one who is all-attractive, He is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. This is the meaning of "Kṛṣṇa."

Lecture on SB 1.2.9 -- Vrndavana, October 20, 1972:

So dharmasya hy āpavargyasya. "A" means negation, negation of pavarga. Pa means pariśrama, labor. Here, in this material world, the sense gratificatory platform is not very easy. You have to work very hard. Karma. Even Arjuna was advised, śarīra-yātrāpi ca te na prasiddhyed akarmaṇaḥ: "My dear Arjuna, you are denying to fight, but you do not know that without fighting, you cannot live even. You cannot maintain your body." Śarīra-yātrāpi. Just see how hard they are laboring. Even just like an ass. In big cities, we have seen, human beings are pulling on rickshaws, ṭhelās. What for? Simply for maintaining this body.

Lecture on SB 1.2.9 -- Hyderabad, April 23, 1974:

Here it is said, dharmasya hy āpavargyasya. Apavarga. A means negation, and pavarga... Pavarga-pa pha ba bha ma. Just like—those who are acquainted with Sanskrit grammar—there are five vargas: ka varga, ca varga, ta varga, similarly, pa varga. Pa pha ba bha ma. So pavarga means they have taken the material life in different aspect. First of all, material life is pariśrama, hard labor. This is called pa, pariśrama. And then, pha: the labor is so hard, sometimes foam comes. We have seen from the mouth of the horse, cows, and bulls, dogs. We sometimes, we have also, our tongue becomes dry after working very hard.

Lecture on SB 1.2.25 -- Vrndavana, November 5, 1972:

We are relative. Relative truth. On the existence of the Absolute Truth, we are existing, but we have no independent existence, neither we have got independent knowledge. We are all dependent. The independent knowledge, Absolute Truth, is Kṛṣṇa. Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya. That is the beginning of Vedānta-sūtra. Therefore, bhejire munayo 'thāgre bhagavantam adhokṣajam. Bhagavān, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, beyond the sense perception. This impersonal concept of the Absolute Truth is in negation of the material duality. But that is not absolute knowledge. Absolute knowledge is that when we reach bhagavantam adhokṣajam. Sattvaṁ viśuddham. His existence is viśuddha, not contaminated. Our existence in this material existence, this is not viśuddha. This is contaminated by the modes of material nature. But His existence is viśuddha.

Lecture on SB 1.3.18 -- Los Angeles, September 23, 1972:

He is even within the atom. So He can come out from anywhere provided He is called by a pure devotee. And He is all-powerful. He can come out from anywhere and everywhere. He is everywhere. And this word is nara—from human being—but He is not nara, He is nara, meaning He is appearing like human being, half human being, and siṁha, half-lion. And the nails of the hands, and this great giant atheist was killed within a second. And keeping Brahmā's promise, he took benediction that he would not be killed by any man, any demigod, any animal, by any weapon, in daytime, in night, so many things, definition by negation. First of all he wanted directly, "Kindly make me immortal." So Brahmā said that "I am not immortal. How can I make you immortal? You can ask something else?" So he thought, "Let me become immortal indirectly. I shall not die in daytime, nighttime," because he has no idea that beyond day and night there is also another time. That he forgot.

Lecture on SB 1.3.20 -- Los Angeles, September 25, 1972:

It does not mean that material stone, material, and spiritual means it becomes zero. They are thinking like that. Śūnyavādi. They think spiritual means just the opposite number of material. "So material, we have got variegated experience, solid experience, so make it zero." That is not spiritual. That is simply negation. That philosophy is the Buddha philosophy, that "You are suffering from some disease painful, so I cut your throat. That's all. Everything finished. No more suffering. Zero. Make it zero." No. The process should be, if you are diseased, if you are suffering, the suffering should be stopped.

Lecture on SB 1.8.26 -- Mayapura, October 6, 1974:

So that attitude should be maintained because here it is said, tvām akiñcana-gocaram (SB 1.8.26). And Caitanya Mahāprabhu also, he said that niṣkiñcanasya. Here it is called akiñcana. And the same thing in different way, niṣkiñcana. Akiñcana."A" means negation, and "na" means negation. Niṣkiñcana. So Caitanya Mahāprabhu said that niṣkiñcanasya bhagavad-bhajanonmukhasya. Bhagavad-bhajana, to advance in spiritual life, to be engaged in Kṛṣṇa's devotional service, that is the aim of life. That is the purpose of human form of life. So for him, he should always remain niṣkiñcana. Niṣkiñcanasya bhagavad-bhajanonmukhasya. So therefore Gaura-kiśora dāsa Bābājī, he remained niṣkiñcana. And his disciple, Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī, he also remained niṣkiñcana although he possessed so many temples, because nothing was for his personal..., but for Kṛṣṇa.

Lecture on SB 1.8.36 -- Mayapura, October 16, 1974:

So who can see unless he is advanced spiritually? First of all, everyone is under the impression there is no God. And another way of denying God: "Yes, there is God, but He has no form. He has no head, He has no tail, He has no leg, He has no... He has no, no, no..." It is another way of denying God, definition by negation. I... One says directly, "There is no God," and another man says, "Yes, there is God, but He has no leg. He has no hand. He has no mouth. He has no this. He has no that." Then where is God? It is another way of denying God. This Māyāvādī philosophy... (aside:) What is that? Crows? No.

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

So therefore we must have positive engagement. Simply negation, jagan mithyā... Why jagan mithyā? We don't say jagan mithyā. This building, this nice building, is it mithyā? It is not mithyā. It is perfectly true because here Kṛṣṇa is being worshiped, the devotees are chanting... This is life, this, truth. So why shall I say "jagan mithyā"? You have to utilize jagat in such a way that it will become truth. That process is saṁsiddhir hari-toṣaṇam (SB 1.2.13). Here only business is how Kṛṣṇa will be satisfied. That is the only business. That is perfection. To become perfect means to learn how to satisfy Kṛṣṇa. That is perfection. It doesn't require education and doesn't require big, big titles or... Nothing. You try to satisfy Kṛṣṇa. Saṁsiddhir hari-toṣaṇam (SB 1.2.13).

Lecture on SB 1.8.44 -- Los Angeles, May 6, 1973:

So such prayers, we can have many. Because many devotees of Kṛṣṇa... Just like Kuntī is offering her prayer. So we can practice how to offer prayer to Kṛṣṇa. Instead of writing ourself, if we, in the beginning, follow the footprints of the great devotees of Kṛṣṇa and follow their principles, taken to heart, how they have spoken, that will be advantageous, because Kṛṣṇa will be pleased. Kṛṣṇa... The Māyāvādī prayers... What is that prayer? Now call Kṛṣṇa by ill names. That is their prayer. They offer prayer to the Supreme that "You have no eyes, You have no hand, You have no leg, You cannot speak, You cannot..." So many things, all negation. So is that prayer? If I say, "You have no eyes," so in an indirect way it is to call you, "You are blind." If you have no legs, that means you are lame. You cannot hear: you are deaf. You cannot speak: you are dumb. So is that prayer? If I say, "My dear sir, you are blind, you are lame, you have no eyes..."

Lecture on SB 1.10.3 -- Mayapura, June 18, 1973:

So if you are devotee of the demigods, you can become powerful for some time. Just like Hiraṇyakaśipu became. He took benediction from Lord Brahmā that "I shall not die at daytime, at nighttime, on land, on sea, on the sky. I shall not be killed by any animal, by any demigod, by any man, by any..." So many ways, definition by negation. "Not this, not this, not this." First of all he wanted, "Make me immortal." Brahmā said, "I am not immortal. How can I make you immortal? That is not possible." Then he thought, "I am intelligent enough. I shall indirectly become mortal. I shall not be killed in this way, I shall not be killed in this way. No animal can kill me, no man can kill me, no demigod can kill me. I shall not die at night, I shall not die in daytime, not on the land, not on the sea, not in the sky." In this way, whatever imagination he could manufacture, he settled up, "Now I am immortal." But Kṛṣṇa is so cunning and intelligent that He kept all the promises of Brahmā; still, he was killed, Hiraṇyakaśipu. He was not killed at daytime. He was not killed at night. He was not killed in the sky, not on the land, not on the sea-on the lap. Hiraṇyakaśipu, he did not think that "I will have to die on the lap of the Supreme Personality of Godhead." That was his fortune. Anyway...

Lecture on SB 1.15.40 -- Los Angeles, December 18, 1973:

He is so much attached to the post that he cannot give it, even for two years or three years or for one day. And here you see in comparison, Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira, the emperor of the whole world, and so much opulence... I think any executive officer of any state has bangles or ornaments or jewels? No. There is no possibility. But he is giving up, everything. He divided the kingdom to his grandsons, to the grandson of Kṛṣṇa and others. And now he is becoming completely nir, no possessions. No possessions. Why? Nirmama nirahaṅkāraḥ. Nirmama. Nirmama means... Mama means "my." Mama means "my." And nir means negation. This is called nirmama. And nirahaṅkāra. Ahaṅkāra, "egotism," and nir means "not."

Lecture on SB 1.16.6 -- Los Angeles, January 3, 1974:

So actual civilization means to deny material conveniences. That is actual civilization. That is perfection of civilization. Otherwise the cats and dogs, they are also after food, after sleeping, after sexual intercourse, after defense. Then what is the difference? The difference is the animals after it and the human beings should be not after it. Negation. That is perfection of life. So how we can negate? The Māyāvādī philosophers, they want to negate. Or the Buddhist philosopher. "Make it zero. Make it zero." Śūnyavādi. Śūnyavādi. Nirviśeṣavādi. Nirviśeṣavādi and śūnyavādi, almost the same. So they are after negation. But that is not possible. Artificially, if you negate, "I shall not eat," you cannot continue it for very many days. That is not possible. That is not possible. Similarly, eating, sleeping, mating—everything—artificially you cannot do. But you can do it as perfectly, as much possible, simply by Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Therefore it is said here that kim anyair asad-ālāpaiḥ. If we stop hear Kṛṣṇa talking, then that is negation. If we stop artificially these mundane talks, that will be artificial. You cannot sit down. If I say that the so-called meditation... So meditation is artificially stopping mundane activities. That is meditation. But how long you will do that? He is becoming suffocated, "When I shall talk? When I shall talk? I am meditating, meditating, meditating." But how will it stop? That is not possible. Just like these Māyāvādī philosophers, they say, "Become desireless, no more desire." That is not possible. I am a living entity. How can I be desireless? It is not possible.

Lecture on SB 1.16.6 -- Los Angeles, January 3, 1974:

So this kind of artificial going up and making things negation will not help us. That is not possible. Therefore they are failure. Āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ (SB 10.2.32). These Māyāvādī philosophers, they may go very high by knowledge, by speculation, but they will again fall down. Why? Anādṛta-yuṣmad-aṅghrayaḥ: "Because they could not get the shelter of Your lotus feet, therefore they will fall down." That is not secure. Because a man cannot remain without any activity, without any desire. That is not possible. A man, animal, any, even insect, he must be doing something. I have got practical experience. One of my sons in child..., when I was young man, he was very naughty. So sometimes we used to put him on the rack. He could not get down. So he was feeling so uncomfortable because his activities stopped on the rack. So you cannot stop activity. That is not possible. You must give better activity. Then you will stop. Paraṁ dṛṣṭvā nivartate (BG 9.59).

Lecture on SB 1.16.6 -- Los Angeles, January 3, 1974:

So this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is that you get better activity. Therefore you can give up the inferior activities. Otherwise, simply by negation, it is not possible. We must work. We must work for Kṛṣṇa's sake. We shall go to the Kṛṣṇa's temple, or we shall go for selling Kṛṣṇa's books, or meeting some Kṛṣṇa devotee. That is nice. But you cannot stop working. That is not possible. Then your idle brain will be devil's workshop. Yes.

Lecture on SB 2.1.2 -- Mombassa, September 13, 1971:

So Śukadeva Gosvāmī says the subject matter for hearing for the people in general, there are varieties, varieties. Why varieties? Why not one? Why people are not interested in one subject matter? That is replied in the next line that ātmā... Śrotavyādīni rājendra nṛṇāṁ santi sahasraśaḥ, apaśyatām ātma-tattvam (SB 2.1.2). Apaśyatām means those who are blind. Paśya means to see, a means negation. Those who are blind, those who cannot see, what is that?

Lecture on SB 2.1.3 -- Paris, June 12, 1974:

So this movement, we should understand very clearly that there is no question (of) artificial negation. The question is purification. As soon as you become purified, and you become fully Kṛṣṇa conscious, then your life is successful. That is wanted.

Lecture on SB 2.3.1-3 -- Los Angeles, May 22, 1972:

To keep the position of the servant, Kṛṣṇa orders, "Yes, you give." Just like Hiraṇyakaśipu. Hiraṇyakaśipu took benediction from Brahmā. So many things. "I shall not die at daytime, I shall not die at night, I shall not die on land, I shall not die on water." In this way, all definitions by negation. Brahmā said, "Yes." Now, to keep the words of Brahmā, Kṛṣṇa is so kind... Brahmā is servant. He appeared in such a way that all the prayers of Hiraṇyakaśipu was not touched. Hiraṇyakaśipu said that "I shall not die by any man or any animal or any demigod." So He appeared in Nṛsiṁha-mūrti, who is neither animal nor man nor demigod. You cannot define. Then Hiraṇyakaśipu prayed for that "I shall not die in daytime, at night."

Lecture on SB 2.4.2 -- Los Angeles, June 25, 1972:

They want salvation, to merge into the impersonal Brahman effulgence of the Lord. And yogis, they also want some mystic power. So karmī, jñānī, yogi—everyone wants something, but a devotee does not want anything. That is devotion. They know, "What shall I do with all these things?" They have no attraction for anything material. These are all material. Some, a better position, and in some lower position. That's all. Karmīs are entangled in this materialistic way of life, and the jñānīs, they are also some or less entangled. Because they have no idea what is God, they think God is impersonal. God is impersonal means there is no God. So if they have no idea of God, how to go back to kingdom of God? So they are also materialistic. Negation of material, negation. Because they are very much frustrated. Just like in your country, the hippies. The hippies means negation of a positive materialistic life. That's all. Negation. They are simply denying that "I, we don't want the way of life as our father and grandfathers are going on."

Lecture on SB 2.4.2 -- Los Angeles, June 25, 1972:

That's a negation, but there is no positive gain. So negation is no good. You must have some positive gain. So our, this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is negation of the materialistic way of life and regain the blissful eternal life of spiritual understanding. So simply negation is no gain. With something, if you are disgusted, "I don't want it," but... Just like sometimes a man commits suicide, "I don't want this life." So what is the gain? And that is ignorance.

Lecture on SB 2.4.2 -- Los Angeles, June 26, 1972:

Devotion for Lord Kṛṣṇa means negation of all material attachments as detailed above. By the grace of Lord Kṛṣṇa, Mahārāja Parīkṣit was awarded all material amenities and an undisputed kingdom in which to enjoy the undisturbed position of king, but by the grace of the Lord he was able to give up all connections with material attachment. That is the position of a pure devotee. Mahārāja Parīkṣit, due to his natural affection for Lord Kṛṣṇa as a devotee of the Lord, was always executing his royal duties on behalf of the Lord, and as a responsible king of the world he was always careful to see that the influence of Kali would not enter his kingdom. A devotee of the Lord never thinks of his household paraphernalia as his own, but surrenders everything for the service of the Lord. Thereby living entities under a devotee's care get the opportunity for God realization by the management of a devotee-master. Attachment for household paraphernalia and for Lord Kṛṣṇa go poorly together.

Lecture on SB 2.9.14 -- Melbourne, April 13, 1972:

Because in Upaniṣad the negating, that negation, negation of the material form... Therefore it is described in an impersonal form. These nonsense are sticking to that impersonal form. Impersonal—there is no form. Really, Veda says, apāni-pāda javano grahitā: "The Supreme Absolute Truth has no legs, has no hands, but He accepts whatever you offer." Now, how He accepts? He has no hand; then how He accepts? But they have no brain. They have no brain. When it is said that "He has no hand," it is said that "He has no hand like you." When he says that "He has no leg," it means that "He has no leg like you." If he has no hand, then how Kṛṣṇa says in the Bhagavad-gītā, patraṁ puṣpaṁ phalaṁ toyaṁ yo me bhaktyā prayacchati tad aham aśnāmi bhakty-upahṛtam: (BG 9.26) "If I accept them"?

Lecture on SB 3.26.4 -- Bombay, December 16, 1974:

Therefore we are forbidden, "Don't take like that." It is a fact that this Kṛṣṇa in this temple is the same origin Kṛṣṇa who is in the Vaikuṇṭha, but because we have no eyes to see, because we are not mature to see Kṛṣṇa, therefore we should accept this, I mean to say, negation, that "Don't think like that." Then we will be able to understand.

Lecture on SB 3.26.16 -- Bombay, December 25, 1974:

So śṛṇvatāṁ sva-kathāḥ kṛṣṇaḥ puṇya-śravaṇa-kīrtanaḥ. We become purified. This is purificatory process. Sarvopādhi-vinirmuktaṁ tat-paratvena nirmalam (CC Madhya 19.170). Nirmalam means purification. On account of impure life, we are embarrassed with so many designation, impure life. So we have to become designationless, no designation, sarvopādhi... "I am not Hindu. I am not Mussalman. I am not Christian. I am not brāhmaṇa." This is designation. Even sannyāsī... Caitanya Mahāprabhu, therefore, nāhaṁ vipro na ca nara-patir yatir vā, He described Himself, "No, I am not kṣatriya. I am not brāhmaṇa. I am not sannyāsī. I am not gṛhastha. I am not vaiśya." simply negation. He simply said, gopī-bhartuḥ pada-kamalayor dāsa-dāsānudāsaḥ: (CC Madhya 13.80) "I am the servant of servant of servant of the gopī-bhartuḥ, the maintainer of the gopīs, Kṛṣṇa."

Lecture on SB 5.5.1-8 -- Stockholm, September 6, 1973:

So he was a demon, he thought by cheating Brahmā, indirect way, he took all the benediction, that "I shall not die by any, killed by any man, any demigod, any animal, or any living being. I shall not die in daytime, I shall not die at night, I shall not die in the sky, I shall not die on the land, I shall not die in water." In this way, as much as possible, by the definition of negation, no this, not this, not this, he thought, "Now I have become immortal." But he was also killed by Nṛsiṁhadeva, keeping all the promises of Brahmā. He was not killed daytime, neither at night. He was not killed on water, he was not killed in the sky. He was killed on the lap of the Lord. So in this way... Actually even the demons in those days they were thinking that "Why should we be subjected to these laws of birth, death and disease. We must rescue (?)." But the demons cannot. But there is possibility. But who knows? Ask anybody, ask any scientist, philosopher that, "Have you any process by which we can become immortal?" What they will answer? "Up to date we have no such process, but we are trying. In future." They will say like that. But no question of future. Immediately, you can have.

Lecture on SB 5.5.30 -- Vrndavana, November 17, 1976:

So what is that thing? It is definition by negation. We cannot understand in our present state what is that spirit soul. Although we can perceive that there is something—in the absence of that something, this body is nothing but a lump of matter. That we get experience every day. But we cannot see what is that. Therefore atheist class or the persons with poor fund of knowledge, they deny the existence. They cannot see. But they cannot answer that why the body is no more working, what is that thing which is absent? They have tried to explain in so many ways how that something... But they could not practically explain. We have to understand it by the śruti process, Vedic knowledge. That is real understanding. And understanding from the right person, Kṛṣṇa or His representative. And it has to be understood simply by hearing. There is no other process. You cannot see; it is so small particle.

Lecture on SB 5.5.34 -- Vrndavana, November 21, 1976:

So here is Ṛṣabhadeva giving example. So far the body is concerned, it has nothing to do with the spiritual activities. The body is as good as that of the animals, the crows and the cows, birds, beasts. He is showing the same now, that so far body is concerned, it is the same thing. But when you come to the spiritual platform, that is... This is negation or equation with the material body. But real activities are ānukūlyena kṛṣṇānuśīlanaṁ bhaktir uttama. Simply be ready to work for Kṛṣṇa, sad-dharma-pṛcchāt, as Sanātana Gosvāmī exemplified. He came to Caitanya Maha Tyaktvā tūrṇam aśeṣa-maṇḍala-pati-śreṇīm. He was minister. His business was with the big, big men, maṇḍala-pati. Tyaktvā tūrṇam aśeṣa-maṇḍala-pati-śreṇīm sadā tucchavat: "It has no meaning. No more dealing with them." Tucchavat. Bhūtvā dīna-gaṇeśakau karuṇayā kaupīna-kanthāśritau. And in order to give some benefit to the dīna-gaṇeśakau Gaṇa. Gaṇa means general public. To give them some benefit, that is Vaiṣṇava life. Stop material activities, and for the benefit of the mass of people, dīna. They are very dīna, very poor. Mahad-vicalanaṁ gṛhiṇāṁ dīna-cetasām. Dīna-cetasām. They're very, very crippled, dīnasām. Gṛhiṇām. Those who are gṛhi, they are very dīna, very poor-hearted, because they do not know anything except to maintain the family.

Lecture on SB 6.1.15 -- Auckland, February 22, 1973:

We cannot be desireless. We cannot be inactive. That is also not possible. We must be active—but active for working for Kṛṣṇa. Then it is devotional life. That is being taught in Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement, that it is not simply negation. Simply negation will not help you. There must be some positive occupation. So we say, "Do not do this, but do this." We say, "Do not eat meat," but we say, "Eat Kṛṣṇa's nice prasādam, halavā." So he forgets meat-eating. This is our process. We give immediately alternative. You dance. You don't dance in the naked club; dance in the Kṛṣṇa's temple.

Lecture on SB 6.1.16 -- Denver, June 29, 1975:

To become a staunch devotee of Kṛṣṇa, perfect devotee of Kṛṣṇa, means one has become freed from all reaction of sinful life. Yeṣām anta-gataṁ pāpam. No more committing any sinful activities. And whatever sinful activities he had done in his previous life, that is also negated. That is also made negation. There is no more reaction. Yeṣām tu anta-gataṁ pāpaṁ janānāṁ puṇya-karmaṇām. So people are engaged either in sinful activities or in pious activities. So those who have not only finished the resultant action of their past sinful activities but at the present moment, they are simply engaged in pious activities, such person, yeṣāṁ tu anta-gataṁ pāpaṁ janānāṁ puṇya-karmaṇām, te, such person, dvandva-moha-nirmuktā, without any hesitation, without any doubt, bhajante māṁ dṛḍha-vratāḥ.

Lecture on SB 6.1.16 -- Denver, June 29, 1975:

To become a staunch devotee of Kṛṣṇa, perfect devotee of Kṛṣṇa, means one has become freed from all reaction of sinful life. Yeṣām anta-gataṁ pāpam. No more committing any sinful activities. And whatever sinful activities he had done in his previous life, that is also negated. That is also made negation. There is no more reaction. Yeṣām tu anta-gataṁ pāpaṁ janānāṁ puṇya-karmaṇām. So people are engaged either in sinful activities or in pious activities.

Lecture on SB 6.2.16 -- Vrndavana, September 19, 1975:

So this is our misfortune. Why they cannot realize? Duṣkṛtina. Duṣkṛtina means acting sinfully. Specifically denying the existence of God. That is the greatest offense. Suppose you are a gentleman, and if I say, "You are blind. You are lame. You are handless. You are armless. You have no head. You are...," will you be sat..., happy? Will anybody be happy? Similarly, those persons who are describing the Absolute Personality of Godhead, "He has no eyes..." In other words, he is blind. "He has no hand" mean armless. "He has no leg," then he is lame man. "He has no tongue." In this way it is the definition by negation, and after all, make it zero. If you cut my hand, leg, my head, my eyes, ears, then what I remain?

Lecture on SB 6.3.20-23 -- Gorakhpur, February 14, 1971:

Anyone who can understand in truth, not ephemerally, substantially, if one understands what is Kṛṣṇa, how He appears, what are His activities, what is our relation—these things, when one understands, immediately he becomes liberated. Tyaktvā dehaṁ punar janma (BG 4.9). Such person, giving up this body, no more comes into this material world. The same thing is herein: jñātvā. If one can understand what is religion and what is Kṛṣṇa, only by this understanding, jñātvā amṛtam aśnute. Amṛtam. Mṛtam means death. A means "none," "not," negation. So amṛtam aśnute: he drinks nectarine.

Nectar of Devotion Lectures

The Nectar of Devotion -- Calcutta, January 29, 1973:

Yes. Three kinds of happinesses, bhoga, tyāga, and bhakti, sevā. Bhoga tyāga sevā. The karmīs, they are after bhoga, sense enjoyment. And the jñānīs, they are after another side of negation of sense enjoyment. When one is fed up with sense enjoyment... Just like in your country, the young boys, they are practically fed up with the way of sense enjoyment as their fathers and grandfathers had done. So in the name of tyāga, renunciation, they have taken another kind of sense enjoyment—intoxication, unrestricted sex. So this is also another sense enjoyment. Bhoga and tyāga. Real enjoyment is devotion.

Sri Caitanya-caritamrta Lectures

Lecture on CC Adi-lila 1.3 -- Mayapur, March 27, 1975:

These are negation. Then what is the positive? He says, gopī-bhartuḥ pada-kamalayor dāsa-dāsānudāsaḥ: (CC Madhya 13.80) "I am the servant of the servant of the servant of the gopī-bhartuḥ, Kṛṣṇa, who maintains the gopīs."

Lecture on CC Adi-lila 7.8 -- Vrndavana, March 15, 1974:

I am not śūdra. I am servant of Kṛṣṇa," that is called brahma-bhūta. Śrī Caitanya Mahaprabhu, He said that "I am not brāhmaṇa. I am not sannyāsī. I am not kṣatriya. I am not householder. I am not brahmacārī. I am not sannyāsī. I am not... I am...," This is definition by negation. He said positive definition: gopī-bhartuḥ pada-kamalayor dāsa-dāsa-dāsānudāsaḥ (CC Madhya 13.80). "That is my identification.

Lecture on CC Adi-lila 7.8 -- Vrndavana, March 15, 1974:

Oh, this is māyā." They do not know that. Therefore they are called poor fund of knowledge. They think that by avoiding this līlā, making minus, making void, making zero, we become liberated. No, that is not liberated. That is a disgusted negation only. And as soon as I am disgusted with something, I want to make it "No." Just like sometimes a man commits suicide. He thinks that "This life is simply disgusting. So finish this life."

Lecture on CC Adi-lila 7.149-171 -- San Francisco, March 18, 1967:

And whenever there is question of enjoyment, there must be variety. Variety is the mother of enjoyment. So philosophically or theoretically, we may accept voidness, negation, out of frustration. When we are frustrated in these material varieties we adopt the suicidal policy, "Let me commit suicide, finish." This is called Māyāvāda. Actual spiritual variegatedness, unless one is informed about it and one is situated in spiritual varieties, there is no satisfaction.

Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 20.294-298 -- New York, December 19, 1966:

No animal can kill me. Then where is the killing? Everything finished." But God is so cunning that He assumed neither man nor animal, and no weapons. He killed him with the nails. He never expected that "I will be killed by the nails." This is the definition by negation, defective definition. In argument, if you define negatively, "This is not this. This is not this. This is not this," then something will come that will nullify all your arguments. So he protected himself in all negative ways: "This will not. This will not. This will not. This will not." Something came which was not in his power. So this Nṛsiṁhāvatāra.

Festival Lectures

Six Gosvamis Lecture, Sri Sri Sad-govamy-astaka -- Los Angeles, November 18, 1968:

The Sanskrit word vān... Just like bhagavān. Bhaga means opulence, and vān means one who has. So Bhagavān means one who has got six kinds of opulences in full. Every Sanskrit word has got its root meaning. It is not... Just like Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa has got His root meaning. Kṛṣṇa, "the greatest." Kṛṣ, and ṇa means negation. There are different meanings, but this is one of the meanings. Another Kṛṣṇa meaning is "all-attractive." So God is great. That very idea is perfectly expressed in the word Kṛṣṇa. So bahūnāṁ janmanām ante jñānavān (BG 7.19). Jnanavān means who has attained, who has possessed, who is in possession of highest wisdom. That is Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Bahūnāṁ janmanām ante jñānavān māṁ prapadyate.

Arrival Addresses and Talks

Arrival Lecture -- Dallas, March 3, 1975:

This is our philosophy. If you can produce Kṛṣṇa conscious children, produce one hundred children. There is no objection. But if you cannot do that, then either don't produce children or produce children as much as you can manage. This is Kṛṣṇa philosophy. Our philosophy is not simply a negation. It is positive. They, general people, they are unnecessarily producing children, then cannot manage. So they are adopting so many sinful activities, so much so that they are now killing their own child within the womb and becoming implicated in sinful activities and prolong the life in this material world very miserably. Just see the miserable condition of the child, baby within the womb. She is...

General Lectures

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

Nitya, nityaḥ sarva-gataḥ sthāṇur acalo 'yaṁ sanātanaḥ. There are many other symptoms of the living entity. They are described in the Bhagavad-gītā very nicely, positively and negatively. In some of the verses, the definition is being given in negation: "It is not this." Because with our blunt material eyes, we cannot find out where is the soul in this body; therefore Kṛṣṇa is describing the characteristic of the soul in a negative way in several verses. And you know that sometimes it is required, according to logic, that definition by negation: "It is not this." I cannot express for the time being a thing, what it is, but I can distinguish what it is not. So similarly, at the present moment, everyone is under ignorance.

Evening Lecture -- Bhuvanesvara, January 23, 1977:

Yes. The brahmānu-bhūti is simply negation of this material world. Brahmā satya jagan mithyā. But brahmānu-bhūti is not final. We are part and parcel of Kṛṣṇa, sac-cid-ānanda-vigrahaḥ (Bs. 5.1). So simply understanding of our eternity-ahaṁ brahmāsmi—is not sufficient. So that is only appreciation of the eternity portion. And then, if one further makes progress, he... Paramātmā. Paramātmā means cit, cid-āṁśa. And lastly, unless we come to the shelter of the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa, there is no ānanda. And every one of us-ānandamayo 'bhyāsāt (Vedānta-sūtra 1.1.12). God is also ānandamaya.

Evening Address to Pandas and Scholars -- Jagannatha Puri, January 26, 1977:

So I have specially come to request you to remove this restriction and be friendly to the foreign devotees. And you also come there, see how there are so many Jagannātha temples, Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa temples, how They are being worshiped, how these foreigners, they have become pure Vaiṣṇava. They are strictly observing the four principles of sinful life by negation: no illicit sex, no meat-eating, no fish-eating, no egg-eating, no intoxication, no gambling. They are purified. And Śrīla Sanātana Gosvāmī openly says, tathā dīkṣā-vidhānena dvijatvaṁ jāyate nṛṇām. So there is authority.

Philosophy Discussions

Philosophy Discussion on Immanuel Kant:

Prabhupāda: By speculation, the real world for them is negation of this world. That is voidism. I am experiencing everything here material, so this material thinking and other material thinking induces him to conclude that it must be opposite. It must be opposite. This is material. So spiritual means not this form, or formless, or void. So that is also material thinking. Just the opposite number.

Philosophy Discussion on Arthur Schopenhauer:

Prabhupāda: Behind the willing activities there is a person who is willing. So simply by negation of this temporary willing will not help him. He has to will reality. That is eternal willing. That is Kṛṣṇa consciousness. He has been willing his sense satisfaction, material world, because he does not know there is another field of willing. So the same willing, when he will satisfy the senses of the Supreme, that is his eternal willing. Jīvera svarūpa haya nitya kṛṣṇa dāsa (Cc. Madhya 20.108-109). Because when he analyzes, comes to the real knowledge, he finds himself that he is eternal servant of God. As such, when willing will be concentrated how to serve God, that is his real position of life—eternity, knowledge and bliss. That is Kṛṣṇa consciousness.

Philosophy Discussion on Carl Gustav Jung:

Prabhupāda: That he does not know. As soon as we train ourself, that just like Caitanya Mahāprabhu said, "I am not a brāhmaṇa, I am not a kṣatriya, I am not a śūdra, I am not a sannyāsī, I am not brahmacārī." By negation. "I am not, I am not, I am not." Then what is your actual? That gopī-bhartuḥ kamalayor dāsa-dāsānu: (CC Madhya 13.80) "I am the servant of the servant of the servant of the maintainer of gopīs." That means Kṛṣṇa. "That is my real identification." So I have, so long we do not identify as the eternal servant of Kṛṣṇa, there will be so many varieties of identification, and bhakti, devotional service, means to become purified from all this false identification.

Philosophy Discussion on Karl Marx:

Hayagrīva: Like Comte, Marx believed that atheism was unnecessary because it was negative denial. He felt that socialism is positive assertion. He says, "Atheism no longer has any meaning, for atheism is a negation of God and postulates the existence of man through this negation. But socialism as socialism no longer stands in any need of such a mediation. It proceeds from the practically and theoretically sensuous consciousness of man and of nature the essence. Socialism is man's positive self-consciousness no longer mediated throught the annulment of religion, just as real life is man's positive reality through Communism." So that Communism really has nothing whatsoever to do with religion.

Prabhupāda: No. Our point is that religion is not sentiment. Leadership has to be accepted, either by the Communist or the theist or atheist. There is leadership. So when the leadership is selected and the direction given by the leader, you can take it as some "ism." So religion is the same thing. When we accept the leadership of God and His direction, that is religion. I don't think on principle the Communist can change this idea. The same leader is Lenin or Stalin, and he is giving his direction, and people must follow it. So where is the difference of philosophy? Similarly, Kṛṣṇa is there, His instruction is there, and we are following. So where is the difference in fact?