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Parts of the body (Conversations and Letters)

Expressions researched:
"bodily part" |"bodily parts" |"body part" |"body parts" |"part of a body" |"part of body" |"part of her body" |"part of his body" |"part of my body" |"part of my body" |"part of one's body" |"part of our body" |"part of the body" |"part of your body" |"parts of a body" |"parts of body" |"parts of her body" |"parts of his body" |"parts of my body" |"parts of our body" |"parts of the body" |"parts of your body"

Conversations and Morning Walks

1968 Conversations and Morning Walks

Radio Interview -- March 12, 1968, San Francisco:

Interviewer: Now, one more thing, you have some paint or color down your forehead and your nose and on all your followers who are here in the studio.

Prabhupāda: Yes. These marks are a temple of Kṛṣṇa. We mark these different twelve parts of the body. The idea is that we are being protected by God from all sides.

1969 Conversations and Morning Walks

Discussion with Guests -- December 23, 1969, Boston:

Guest (2): Then you said that the technique, that you decide as to whether you are succeeding is, you'll find out whether a technique is the best or not when your love for God will increase and love for matter will decrease.

Prabhupāda: No. In relationship with God... What is matter? Matter is another manifestation of God's energy. Just like if you love yourself, your body, then naturally you love your finger, the part of the body. Therefore God is the supreme whole. If you love God, then you can understand that I have to love everybody.

Discussion with Guests -- December 23, 1969, Boston:

Guest (4): But I don't know what is God, but I know man within which God is present, a part of God is present.

Prabhupāda: That's all right. That's all right. That means we are, I mean to say for argument's sake. If God is everything...

Guest (4): We are the parts of God.

Prabhupāda: That's all right. Now parts of God, just like your finger is part of your body. Suppose if you wash your finger, does it mean you are taking bath whole body?

Guest (4): No, no, no, no. No.

Prabhupāda: Then how we can serve the whole by serving the part?

Discussion with Guests -- December 23, 1969, Boston:

Guest (4): Service of the body means the service of part of God because body is an embodiment of the...

Prabhupāda: Now, I'll give you the example. Suppose if you want to... Take the whole body. If you want to serve this body you must give food. So where to give the food? To the finger or to the stomach? Therefore God is the stomach. Supply food there and every part of the body will be full.

1972 Conversations and Morning Walks

Room Conversation -- June 29, 1972, San Diego:

Prabhupāda: You should fight... No, brāhmaṇas will not fight. the kṣatriyas will fight. The brāhmaṇas, kṣatriyas, they are part and parcel of the same unit. Just like hand. Hand is the part of your body. When there is attack, you first of all spread your hand. So this is kṣatriya's business. When somebody is coming to attack you, you don't put your legs, you put your hands. And the hand is raised by the order of the brain. And the hand and the brain is maintained by the belly. Why don't you study your own body? As in your own body there is brahminical department, there is kṣatriya department, vaiśya department and śūdra department... (laughter) But nobody is less important.

Conversation with Bajaj and Bhusan -- September 11, 1972, Arlington, Texas, At Their Home:

Guest (2): Fifteenth, yes. What is the difference between the jīva and soul? Is it good to learn the differences and understand the depth of these things?

Prabhupāda: Yes. If you do not learn, then you are darkness. Just like mamaivāṁśo. Just like your finger is the part of your body, similarly, you are part of the body of Kṛṣṇa. Now you have to learn. If you are part, just like finger is the part of my body... What is the duty of the finger?

Guest (2): To serve body.

Prabhupāda: That's all. The finger, so long it is serving my body like this, like this, it is in real condition, real, healthy condition.

Room Conversation with Kenneth Keating, U.S. Ambassador to India -- October 14, 1972, New Delhi:

Prabhupāda: Yes. By serving I share. Just like this milk. The hand helps me, brings it here. I drink, and as soon I drank, the benefit is shared by all the parts of body. Is it not?

Ambassador: That's true.

Prabhupāda: You do not require to pass the milk through the finger, then with the toes. No. Simply put the tea, tea or milk, within, and every part of the body is satisfied. Just like you pour water in the root of the tree. The energy immediately, I mean to say, distributed to the leaves, to the tree, to the flowers, to the fruits, everything, immediately. Similarly, there must be something which is the root of everything. That is God.

1973 Conversations and Morning Walks

Room Conversation -- September 2, 1973, London:

Guest (4) (English woman): Could I ask please, if prāṇa is the life force, isn't it? Is it the prāṇa is the life force, isn't it?

Pradyumna: Says like prāṇa is the life force.

Guest (4): Is it in different parts of the body?

Prabhupāda: These are air. Prāṇa, in the prāṇa, air, the soul floats. Therefore the controlling the air is called prāṇāyāma. That is yogic process.

1974 Conversations and Morning Walks

Morning Walk -- March 23, 1974, Bombay:

Dr. Patel: In the seed there is the whole banyan tree.

Prabhupāda: Yes, matter... They manifested into varieties. First of all, they, after sex intercourse, the two seminas is emulsified, and it becomes like a pea. And it develops into different parts of the body.

Morning Walk -- April 1, 1974, Bombay:

Prabhupāda: Yes. The animals, they do not know. (break) They do not know it, that "We have to satisfy the Supreme Viṣṇu." So unless the society comes to this consciousness that "We have to satisfy the Supreme," that is not human society. Now, how they will understand? Therefore four divisions.

Dr. Patel: Guṇa-karma-vibhāgaśaḥ (BG 4.13).

Prabhupāda: Guṇa... Yes. So if the four divisions work nicely, then it is healthy society. Otherwise it is not. If different parts of your body work nicely, then you are healthy.

Room Conversation with Mr. C. Hennis of the International Labor Organization of the U.N. -- May 31, 1974, Geneva:
Prabhupāda: When the energy goes to the hands, it acts differently. The electricity energy is the same, but sometimes by working on the dictaphone, sometimes on the microphone, sometimes in electric heater, sometimes in refrigerator... The different apparatuses are there, but the energy is the same, equal. In that sense, the communistic idea that whatever energy is there, whatever resources are there, they should be equally distributed, that is nature's way. From the body we can understand that when the foodstuff turns into secretion, it goes to the heart and becomes blood. The blood is transfused through different veins to different parts of the body, and you will find everybody is satisfied.
Room Conversation with Mr. Deshimaru -- June 13, 1974, Paris:

Prabhupāda: As soon as that spirit soul will be off from this body, this part of the body also will be without any sensation. Therefore the distinction of sensation and no sensation is due to the presence of the spirit soul. (French)

Yogeśvara: He says the important thing is the basic principles. If you accept the basic principle, for example that the soul has a form, then we can discuss many many things afterwards.

Prabhupāda: Yes, soul has a form. (French)

Room Conversation with Mr. Deshimaru -- June 13, 1974, Paris:

Prabhupāda: But it is hand. Why there is no consciousness?

Karandhara: It's part of the body. It should have its own consciousness if the body and consciousness is the same.

Prabhupāda: You say the consciousness and body is the same. So when it is cut, why there is no consciousness? Therefore the body is different from consciousness. Therefore body is different from consciousness.

Room Conversations -- September 11, 1974, Vrndavana:
Prabhupāda: One who is impotent, he wants to see others enjoying sex life. You know this? He enjoys. He cannot do it. There are many persons, he is impotent, so he brings another man to his wife, then he watches. You know this? This is going on. Sex. They will see the dog's sex life, very (indistinct), how he is enjoying. Cow's sex life. Dog is having sex, and there will be crowd. This is the basic principle of material life: sex. In this way, prostitution, this way, that way, that way, that way, this is the only point. There is no other aim. Yan maithunadi-grhamedhi-sukham hi tuccham (SB 7.9.45). And this kind of happiness is most abominable. Most abominable. But that is the center of life. Is it not? Yan maithunādi-gṛhamedhi-sukhaṁ hi tuccham. Most abominable part of the body for passing urine, obnoxious smell, but that is the point of life. How much degraded this material life. Yan maithunādi-gṛhamedhi-sukhaṁ. The śāstra has picked up most abominable thing: that is the point of pleasure. Yan maithunādi. Maithunādi, either he himself, or for his son, for his grandson, for his great-grandson, the family. Very aristocratic.

1975 Conversations and Morning Walks

Room Conversation with Metaphysics Society -- February 21, 1975, Caracas:

Prabhupāda: That we have admitted. God is spirit; I am spirit. So both of them "I." But God's power and your power is not equal. God said, "Let there be creation." There was creation. But you say, "Let there be capati," there will be no capati unless you work. (laughter) You have to work for it.

Lady (Hṛdayānanda): God is the whole, and we are parts, and we are evolving to integrate ourselves with that whole.

Prabhupāda: That is all right. But as part... Just like the finger. You can say, "part of the body," but it is not the whole body. So finger is working. Just like I am rubbing the head. The finger is... But the head is different, the finger is different, but if you take the whole thing, it is body.

Lady (Hṛdayānanda): She said without all the parts, it would not be the body so we are all parts of the whole.

Prabhupāda: That's all right. Still, this is axiomatic truth. Part is not equal to the whole.

Interview -- March 5, 1975, New York:

Prabhupāda: That if you pour water on the root of the tree, the service reaches everywhere.

Reporter: How is that manifesting?

Prabhupāda: Manifested? That's like if you eat and give the foodstuff to your stomach, then you realize that you have got energy in every part of your body.

Interview -- March 5, 1975, New York:

Prabhupāda: It is material service, as I showed. If you put foodstuff in your stomach, all the parts of your body feel energetic. That is material service. That is not spiritual service. Spiritual service (is) beyond that. Similarly, the center is God. If you understand God, then you understand everything.

Reporter: Understood, Swamiji. But your disciples do not build houses, they don't work in hospitals, they don't perform—as far as I know, and I could just be swimming in ignorance here—as far as I know, they do not perform service to the outer world other than offering free meals at the temple and preaching the word of Lord Kṛṣṇa.

Prabhupāda: I, I quite follow. That is your ignorance. Because you do not know that what is the real service. You do not know. Do you know what is real service?

Morning Walk -- April 2, 1975, Mayapur:

Prabhupāda: Jam. Yes. So one monkey came. They monkey came. He, he began to, as his business, (makes sound "kut, kut, kut," and the plug was taken away and his half part of the body—"Jam." And the... (Makes sound, monkey crying) "tahn, tahn, tahn, tahn." Who is coming to help him? He died. So this is not his business. He's a monkey. And he wanted to do that business. Similarly, these things are directly in the hands of God, and these monkeys are coming to get out the plug. So they'll die simply, that's all, like the monkey. They'll never be able to successfully produce soul and these things.

Room Conversation with Justin Murphy (Geographer) -- May 14, 1975, Perth:

Justin Murphy: I'm afraid my life is one of these selfish lives. It's a life that's dominated by...

Prabhupāda: No, it is natural, just natural. Just like why first-class men required in society? Just like in your body there is first-class part, second-class part, third-class part, and fourth-class part. Just like your head is the first-class part of your body. If your head is cut off, then everything is finished.

Justin Murphy: True.

Room Conversation with Jesuit -- May 19, 1975, Melbourne:

Prabhupāda: Therefore it is superior energy, and the material energy, inferior energy. Just like in your body there are some inferior parts and some superior parts. But they are body, parts of the body. This part is superior part, and the rectum is inferior part. But that does not mean it does not form the constitution parts of your body. Otherwise how you become whole? Whole means comprising everything, superior, inferior. But comparatively, there is superior part, inferior part. So the material energy is also God's energy. And spiritual energy is also God's energy, but the spiritual energy is described here as superior energy, and the material energy is described here as inferior energy. But altogether, they are energies. So those who are expert devotees of God, they can utilize inferior energy for the purpose of superior energy. That is the proper utilization. Just like the same brick and stone is required for constructing an ordinary house, and the same brick and stone can be used for constructing a church.

Television Interview -- July 9, 1975, Chicago:

Prabhupāda: Solution not only of your country or our country, it is the solution for the whole human society. I told that as there are different divisions in the same body, the head, the arms, the belly, and the leg... Although the body is one, but there are different parts for different function. Then the body is going nicely. The head is the most important part of the body. So if the head is not in order, then, in spite of presentation of other parts of the body, hands, leg, the body is useless. Just like a madman. Madman, this brain is not in order. Therefore despite the presentation of the hands, legs, and other things, it is useless. Similarly, the human society should be divided into four classes according to quality. Not everyone is on the same level. So for, even for material purposes there must be four divisions: first-class, second-class, third-class, fourth-class, means... The definition of the first-class, find out. This is the definition of the first-class man.

Television Interview -- July 9, 1975, Chicago:

Prabhupāda: Not cattle raising, cow protection.

Nitāi: Cow protection.

Prabhupāda: Yes. Farming and cow protection and trade, this is meant for the third-class division. And worker, fourth-class. These divisions must be there. Then the society will go on very nicely. Exactly the same example, that if the different parts of the body—the brain, the arms, the belly and the legs—all are in order, the bodily function will go on very nicely. This is natural.

Press Conference -- July 9, 1975, Chicago:
Prabhupāda: We shall try to know God and try to love Him. That is the business of human form of life. If we are missing that occupational duty, how to learn how to love God... Our philosophy... Or this is the philosophy, that that is the first quality religious system which teaches how to love God. Sa vai puṁsāṁ paro dharmo yato bhaktir adhokṣaje (SB 1.2.6). And if we learn how to love God without any motive, nobody can check our love of God. And if we reach that platform, then we become actually happy. God is the supreme proprietor of everything, He is friend of everyone, and He is the enjoyer. We, being part and parcel of God, our duty is to serve God how He is pleased. Our... Just like part and parcel of our body, this finger, it is always engaged in serving the body according to the desire of the person. Similarly, we being part and parcel of God, our duty is to serve God as He wants service from us. This is perfection. If the finger or any part of my body cannot give service to the whole body, it is to be understood that the part is diseased. Similarly, when we do not give service to God, that is our material condition, or diseased condition, or miserable condition. And if we learn how to love God, how to serve Him, that is our healthy condition. So in the material world everyone is busy how to satisfy the senses. Nobody is interested to satisfy God.
Press Conference -- July 9, 1975, Chicago:
Prabhupāda: Just like in our body we have got four divisions, the head, the arms, the belly and the leg. All of them are required. But the position of the head and position of the leg are different. Head means giving direction, and arms means giving protection, and belly means receiving food for energy of the body, and leg means working. So the human society must be divided into four section, and they should work combinedly, cooperatively. Then there will be peaceful condition for realization of the goal of life, back to home, back to Godhead. Our Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is teaching this process of life, and the whole world is now in chaos on account of no brain. Just like we have got this body. If the brain is not working in good condition, then he is called a madman. So in spite of possessing other parts of the body, namely, the arm, the belly, and the leg, if the head is not in good condition, then the body is useless. At this present moment there is want of first-class men and also second-class men. The whole world is filled up with third-class, fourth-class, fifth-class men. Therefore the society is not properly adjusted. By accepting this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement... The process is described very nicely in the Bhagavad-gītā.
Morning Walk -- July 14, 1975, Philadelphia:

Svarūpa Dāmodara: So similarly, we were discussing with the Balavanta Prabhu one day about the... He was giving a nice example that in a kingdom where the king stays... Just like Śrīla Prabhupāda's example: living in an apartment. Śrīla Prabhupāda and disciples and many other living entities stay in the same apartment, but a person, an individual, who knows his position, is to serve the order of the head of the apartment. But somebody doesn't follow. He just goes away from the apartment. So Balavanta was asking what is the use of that? So similarly, when the cells... We can take out from one part of the body and can culture it, but what is the use? It produces, but actually it's not really behaving as it should. It has no value.

Prabhupāda: Yes. They are just like machine parts. Parts and parcels, they are helping the whole machine work.

Svarūpa Dāmodara: About Guru dāsa prabhu's point, when the heart transplant, the soul stays in the subtle body. Is that sound?

Prabhupāda: Yes. Soul is always staying in the subtle body, and the subtle body is left when he goes to God or kingdom of God.

Morning Walk -- July 24, 1975, Los Angeles:

Prabhupāda: So you will never discover the cure, and he will never come out. Now somebody was saying that this freezing, the body within, they decompose. The parts of the body are separate. That is... As we have... You take the frozen vegetable. It is tasteless. It is decomposed.

Paramahaṁsa: So actually it comes down to what Tamāla Kṛṣṇa asked. For example, the scientists may say, "Well, you say that we have a life after death, that we should conquer over death, but I cannot see it. I cannot see anyone who has come back."

Prabhupāda: You cannot see even what is there after hundred years. What is the value of your eyes? Why you are proud of your eyes?

Paramahaṁsa: So you say it's based on faith.

Prabhupāda: Not faith, it is fact. Just like if somebody says me, "The other side is Japan." I cannot see, so I may disbelieve. But that's a fact; Japan is there.

Morning Walk -- October 5, 1975, Mauritius:

Indian boy (2): Then, apart from Brahmā, there would have been something else.

Prabhupāda: No, Brahmā created male and female.

Indian boy (2): Oh, he himself created it from...?

Prabhupāda: From his ear, from his eyes, from his..., like that. From many parts of his body.

Indian man (3): Swamijī, there is something quite confusing.

Prabhupāda: Hm?

Indian man (3): Lord Kṛṣṇa created Lord Viṣṇu, and Lord Viṣṇu in His turn created Lord Brahmā. So...

Prabhupāda: Not created, expanded. Just like one candle is burning, and you lit up another candle. So this candle is not created, it is simply power transfer. Expansion. You can call it expansion. Dīpārcir eva hi daśāntaram abhyupetya (Bs. 5.46). Expansion of the light.

Morning Walk -- October 18, 1975, Johannesburg:
Prabhupāda: Mohinī, mohinī. This is captivation. And nature has made the woman's face so attractive, beautiful, their breast, their hips, attractive, their sound, talking, singing, all very attractive, walking, and now they are dressing naked. They are showing simply the vagina, all other parts of the body clothed. This is going on. Whole thing is based on sex life, and that is tuccham, most abominable. Prakṛtiṁ mohinīṁ śritāḥ. It will take three hundred times births to understand that this sex life is abominable. Therefore it is bahūnāṁ janmanām ante (BG 7.19). Not that immediately, simply by hearing our Bhagavad-gita lecture, they will give it up. It will take many, many births to understand. Bahūnāṁ janmanām ante. In the Vedic system, sex life is allowed only for begetting children. Therefore they are... Restriction. Allowed, but with great restriction under religious rules and regulation and so many things, garbhādāna. Then the first principle is, even it is taken for begetting child, it is not secret.
Room Conversation -- October 29, 1975, Nairobi:

Prabhupāda: This is right answer, that you cannot non-cooperate with the stomach. You must serve the stomach. Otherwise your position is very precarious. That is the answer. If the finger thinks that "I shall remain independent and be happy," that is not possible. The stomach must be supplied food, and then all the parts of the body, they'll be happy. That is the point. So you cannot non-cooperate with the stomach. Similarly, Kṛṣṇa is the central enjoyer. Bhoktāraṁ yajña-tapasāṁ sarva-loka-maheśvaram (BG 5.29). He is the center. Just like ordinarily this African state, if you do not satisfy the state or the president, then you cannot remain happy. Independently you cannot be happy. We require in every step sta... We have come to this park because state is cooperating. In the morning we shall come, and they have prepared it nicely. We are not going to the jungle. So if we actually want happiness we must cooperate with the state. This is crude example. Similarly, if our ultimate aim is to become happy, then we must cooperate with Kṛṣṇa. This is obligatory. You cannot escape it. Then you'll be unhappy.

Morning Walk -- December 10, 1975, Vrndavana:

Prabhupāda: Not subordinate actually. The occupations are different. It does not mean... That is another mistake. Just like the leg is walking, and the head is directing, so although the occupation is different, both of them are important. We require the head and leg also. If simply head is there, if there is no leg, then who'll walk? This is the understanding, not equal. Everyone must have his separate duties to serve the whole. That is the arrangement. This is real understanding. The most important part of the body is head, but that does not mean the leg is not important. Leg is important in its work, and head is important in its work. So we require both, head and tail both, not that simply leg or simply head. But when we make comparative study, we can understand that head is more important than the leg. If you cut your leg, you can live, but if you cut your head, you'll die. Therefore the conclusion is: head is more important than the leg. Comparative study. Otherwise head is also required and leg is also required. You collect some flowers, nice flowers, and, add with it some green foliage, it becomes more beautiful. Simply flower is not so beautiful. When it is arrayed with some green foliage, then it becomes more beautiful. So we have to take in that sense. But comparatively, the flower is more important than the foliage. But the both of them are required.

1976 Conversations and Morning Walks

Room Conversation -- May 1, 1976, Fiji:

Puṣṭa Kṛṣṇa: The goal of knowledge is not there.

Prabhupāda: They do not know. And animals.... Therefore they are animals. What the dogs will understand? When there is one lady dog, one dozen dog will come. Smelling the best part of the body. (laughter) This is their philosophy. So Freud is that: best part of the body, he's writing philosophy.

Room Conversation -- May 4, 1976, Honolulu:

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: They say the topmost is the general mass of everyone, the proletariat, all people combined.

Prabhupāda: That's all right, general. But you know how to make general mass of people happy. That example we give, that the whole body.... You can make the whole body happy simply by supplying food to the stomach. That is the best way. And if you want to make happy every part of the body, individual, that will never be successful. You must know where to touch. Just like the huge machine is going on by the expert manipulation of the pilot. He is pushing one.... Works. Immediately the plane becomes.... It is.... So you must know where to touch. If.... I am layman, I am put into that, then, instead of putting here, I shall put my here, and then it will go down. "Ohhh." So finished. So this is nature's way, that you supply food to the stomach, and the energy will be distributed every part. You supply water to the root of the tree, it will be supplied everywhere. That you must know.

Room Conversation -- June 10, 1976, Los Angeles:

Prabhupāda: Suppose if you see with your eyes, and then you see with microscope, then you see with telescope, different processes. Yes. But you see with your spiritual eyes, that is perfect.

Richard: Now suppose the brain dies, as in the case...

Prabhupāda: Brain dies.... Brain is part of the body.

Richard: Right, it's a part of the body. It can fail just as the heart or the lungs or anything else. Now suppose the brain dies, the soul...

Prabhupāda: You get another brain.

Richard: Pardon me?

Prabhupāda: You get another brain. Suppose, just like you are working with the glass, spectacle, it breaks, you get another spectacle. That's all.

Conversation with Clergymen -- June 15, 1976, Detroit:

Kern: God consciousness..., would you explain something of the religious experience of God consciousness?

Prabhupāda: No, God consciousness is the highest level. It is not possible for everyone. But in whatever platform he is, if there is cooperation with God consciousness movement, then he gets the result. Just like in this body.... Same example: leg's duty is different and brain duty is different, hand's duty is different, belly's duty different, but when there is cooperation, all the parts of the body derive the same benefit.

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

Prabhupāda: It is not possible that, because, at the present moment the number of educated persons, there are many. Many Ph.D.'s, D.H.C.'s but nobody understands it. You cannot expect a fair number of persons understanding it. It requires little higher brain. But even some percent of the population understands this philosophy, then there will be peace and prosperity. Not that everyone. Just like in my body, not that every part of my body is brain. But if the brain is in order, then other parts of the body will act nicely. The leg is not brain, but if the brain is in order, the leg will move nicely. The difficulty is there is no brain. So without brain, without head, when the body moves it is ghost. So it is ghostly civilization. All ghosts. There is a kind of ghost, perhaps you know, that without head. If a man is chopped of his head, and if he has got attraction, then he becomes a ghost without head. So at the present moment, all these so-called educated civilized men are ghosts without head. You now this, there is some ghosts without head?

Jayādvaita: I hadn't heard about them.

Prabhupāda: No, in India they know. And I have described in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.

Prabhupada Inspects New BTG -- June 24, 1976, New Vrindaban:

Prabhupāda: "You require brāhmaṇas, kṣatriyas, vaiśyas and śūdras. Just as when you want to construct a building you require engineers. You don't want sweepers. Isn't that so? What will the sweeper do? No. There must be engineers. So if you follow the division of varṇāśrama, only kṣatriyas are allowed to govern. And for the legislative assembly, the senators, only qualified brāhmaṇas. Now the butcher is in the legislative assembly. What does he know about making laws? He is a butcher. But by winning votes he becomes a senator. At the present moment, by the principle of vox populi, a butcher goes to the legislature. So everything depends on training. In our Kṛṣṇa consciousness society we are actually doing that. But in the case of politics they forget it. There cannot be just one class. That is foolishness. Because we have to engage different classes of men in different activities. If we do not know the art then we will fail, because unless there is a division of work there will be havoc. We have discussed all the responsibilities of the king in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. The different classes in society should cooperate exactly as the different parts of the body do. Although each part is meant for a different purpose, they all work for one cause, to maintain the body properly."

Interview with Newsday Newspaper -- July 14, 1976, New York:

Prabhupāda: Yes. So long the soul is there, the consciousness is there.

Bali-mardana: Kṛṣṇa consciousness.

Prabhupāda: Not Kṛṣṇa cons..., immediately Kṛṣṇa conscious. Consciousness is there. Just like so long the soul is there, you pinch any part of your body—you'll feel pain. That is consciousness. And when the soul is gone out of the body, If you cut the hand, there will be no consciousness.

Room Conversation -- August 8, 1976, Tehran:
Prabhupāda: So many big, big scientists, they are trying to understand what is the constitution, how this universe is made, how it is created. Nobody knows, but He knows. Just like you have got this body, I have got this body, but we do not know everything of this body. I do not know how many hairs are there. Is it not? So, so many things. I am eating, and it is transformed into blood, and it is directed towards brain, towards other parts of the body and we are working very strong, but we do not know how things are happening. Although I am claiming I am this body, I am my body. But God knows every particular, any... anvayād itarataḥ. How the stone is made, He knows. How this flower is colored, He knows. That is called wise, wisdom. Vedāhaṁ samatītāni (BG 7.26). He knows. That is God. He is the possessor of all wealth, all knowledge, all beauty, all strength, all influence. In this way you have to understand God.

Ātreya Ṛṣi: His question is "How can I have more faith in God?" Prabhupāda: The more you know about these things.

Room Conversation -- November 3, 1976, Vrndavana:

Prabhupāda: When the animal enjoy sex, they know which part of the body has to be used.

Hari-śauri: They don't have to be taught.

Prabhupāda: There is no need of education. He knows it. And these rascals, they are presenting Freud's philosophy, sex. Just see how they are wasting time.

Morning Walk -- December 5, 1976, Hyderabad:

Vāsughoṣa: But what about the poor, hungry, and the suffering bodies?

Prabhupāda: Yes, poor, hungry, come. We can give you food. We are giving, already. Show the pictures. You have not seen the pictures of Māyāpura, how two thousand, three thousand people we are giving. That is included. Bhāgavata-sevā includes that. You do not require to do it separately. It is already there. Just like if you pour water on the root, the watering the leaf is included. But if you water the leaf, then that tree will dry. And that is not complete. But if you pour water on the root of the tree, it is complete. Why don't you give this reason? This is natural. If you give food to the stomach, the service of the other parts of the body is included. But if you give food to the eyes, it is spoiled only. The food is spoiled, the eyes are spoiled, and nobody is satisfied. Why don't you give this reason?

Morning Walk -- December 5, 1976, Hyderabad:
Prabhupāda: So the whole thing is just like a tree. God is the origin of everything. He is the root. Aham ādir hi devānām (Bg 10.2). Ahaṁ sarvasya prabhavaḥ (BG 10.8). Therefore He is the root. So if you pour water in the root, then the water is distributed everywhere. But if you pour water on the leaves, on the twigs, on the fruits, it will take time and it will not be successful. So one who is not in awareness of the laws of nature, they commit this mistake. We can say that pouring water on the leaves is also pouring water on the tree. By serving human being you can serve the Supreme Lord, but that is not the way. Another example is that if you supply food to the stomach, then the share is partaken by all the parts of the body. But if you supply food to the part of the body, it is not shared by other part of the body. They are opening hospital for men, human being, but what about the animals? They are also part and parcel of God. They are killing them. So they have no realization of God. God says, sarva-yoniṣu kaunteya sambhavanti mūrtayaḥ, ahaṁ bīja-pradaḥ pitā (BG 14.4).
Room Conversation with Life Member, Mr. Malhotra -- December 22, 1976, Poona:

Prabhupāda: It is body, you can say that, but part of it.

Mr. Malhotra: Part of my body. All enjoined together, it makes the whole body. If it is separated...

Prabhupāda: That's all right. But still you say it is aṅguli (finger). It is not the body.

Mr. Malhotra: Aṅguli. (Laughs) It is one part, to say many.

Prabhupāda: No. You should be, should be senses. Just like this aṅguli, I am asking, "Do like this." It is my servant. After all, it is part of the body, it is my servant. If it cannot serve my body then it is diseased. Similarly we are part and parcel of God. If we cannot serve God, that is our diseased condition. The same example. This finger is part and parcel of my body. But I ask finger, "Please come here, to my nostrils." If it cannot do, then it is diseased. It is not in normal condition. So anyone who does not serve the whole, part and whole, he is diseased. He is not in normal condition.

Room Conversation with Life Member, Mr. Malhotra -- December 22, 1976, Poona:

Mr. Malhotra: By pleasing Lord, one does not please one's own ego also to some extent?

Prabhupāda: It is just like if you put water on the root of the tree, so all the parts of the tree may become satisfied, automatically. Or if you put food in the stomach, all the parts of your body becomes satisfied that is automatic. You don't require to make a separate endeavor. That is not required.

1977 Conversations and Morning Walks

Evening Darsana -- May 15, 1977, Hrishikesh:

Prabhupāda: Just like in the Upaniṣads it is said, paśyaty acakṣuḥ: "He sees, but He has no eyes." So what is that? How we can think of, one is seeing without eye? Aiye. There are so many. Śṛṇoty akarṇaḥ: "He has no ears..." So both things are there. When it is said, paśyaty acakṣuḥ... Mean cakṣuḥ, eyes, as soon we think of eyes, we think of our eyes, own eyes, and therefore it is forbidden, "Not like your eyes." Paśyati. He can see everywhere. Therefore we have to discuss śāstra. In the Brahma-saṁhitā it is said, aṅgāni yasya sakalendriya-vṛttimanti paśyanti pānti kalayanti ciraṁ jaganti (Bs. 5.32). The aṅga, the different parts of the body of Kṛṣṇa, has got all the qualities of other aṅga. Just like we can see with eyes, but Kṛṣṇa can speak also with eyes. He can eat also with eyes. That is difference. Aṅgāni yasya sakalendriya-vṛttimanti. So paśyaty acakṣuḥ means He has different type of eyes, not like our eyes. When there is nirākāra... Nirākāra means He hasn't got a ākāra, a form, like ours. That is nirākāra. But He has his form.

Room Conversation -- October 30, 1977, Vrndavana:

Svarūpa Dāmodara: So the philosophy of acintya-bhedābheda-tattvam...

Prabhupāda: Matter is also energy. It is also energy. As energy, they are one. But have... They have differentiated in different... Is it clear?

Svarūpa Dāmodara: Yes.

Prabhupāda: The... Except spirit, other things are superficial, but they are there. Prakṛti-stha. So his fault is to come in touch with the matter. Just like we are cleansing. The stool is also part of the body, but we are cleaning. Is it clear?

Svarūpa Dāmodara: Yes, Śrīla Prabhupāda.

Correspondence

1947 to 1965 Correspondence

Letter to Chief-Justice Sri M.C. Chagla -- Bombay 20 February, 1957:

The matter is more explicitly understood by the example of our own bodily structure. The whole body is constituted of the senses and organs. All the senses and organs are equally supplied with energy when the stomach is fully fed up. Stomach is the central figure for distributing equal energy to the respective parts of the body as much as watering the root of the tree is the source of supplying energy to all the branches and leaves of the tree.

Letter to Ved Prakash -- Bombay 28 July, 1958:

The human form of life although temporary it has a great value for utilizing for the service of the Supreme. The Supreme is everything but everything is not the Supreme. The stomach can digest foodstuff for all the sense organs but all the parts of the body is not the stomach. This philosophy of acintya bhedabheda tattva was preached by Lord Caitanya for world welare. It is our duty to help its practical preaching by all efforts. Nobody is competent to interpret on the Sastras by one's whim. It is science it has to be learnt from the proper sources. Sri Krishna is not a man in flesh and blood and His Lila was not meant for interpretation by any mundane scholar.

1967 Correspondence

Letter to Dayananda, Nandarani, Uddhava -- Delhi 20 September, 1967:

The Tiloks on the forehead and other parts of the body are symbolic representation of Radha Krishna Temples. In other words by marking Tiloks on all parts of our body we become protected by the Lord from all sides. Besides Tilok marking at once makes one known as Vaisnavas therefore they are necessary as much as the beads. Hope you are well and shall be glad to hear from you.

Letter to Madhusudana -- Navadvipa 2 November, 1967:

As there is individual spirit in individual body, similarly there is the Great Spirit in the universal material form. As the individual spirit is working systematically within the individual material body, similarly, the Supreme Spirit is conscious of the universal body. The lord knows what is happening in each & every planet as much as an individual soul knows what is happening in each & every part of his body. Therefore, the individual consciousness which is limited, when dovetailed with the Supreme Consciousness of the Lord is called Krishna Consciousness. When I return some of you shall be offered Sacred Thread. I very much appreciate your version that Rayarama is roaring like a Lion-cub. I wish that every one of you should be Lion's descendant. Our Lord Krishna assumed the form of Lion & killed the atheist, Hiranyakasipu, & by disciplic succession we shall also kill all impersonalist atheist. Absolutely there is no Krishna Consciousness for the impersonalist.

1969 Correspondence

Letter to Kirtanananda -- Los Angeles 25 January, 1969:

You have asked some questions, and I will answer them herewith. The first question is, "When making arati offerings, is it proper to meditate on the different parts of the Lord's Body?" The answer is that there is no need to meditate in that way. The Lord is actually there with you, and you are seeing all of His parts of the Body, so there is no need to meditate in that way. In regard to the other questions, food should be offered before arati. In the morning, after arati, you can offer some food and then perform kirtana.

Letter to Madhusudana -- London 23 November, 1969:

Regarding your question, it is welcome. It is not outrageous. Any honest question is welcome. The Spiritual Master is meant for answering any honest question. Krishna has genitals certainly. It is said that He has eternal, blissful Body, full of knowledge. So when He has got a body, He must have all the parts of a body. But we should not consider that His parts of the body are the same as ours. In the Brahma Samhita it is said that His parts of the body, or limbs, each of them has got potency of the others. For example, with our eyes we can see only, but we cannot eat. But Krishna's eyes can not only see, but also eat and beget children also. In the Vedas it is said that He put His glance over Maya and impregnated her with all the living entities.

1970 Correspondence

Letter to Japanese brothers and sisters -- Los Angeles 10 March, 1970:

Everyone of us knows it very well by practical experience that when we eat something, or in other words when we put foodstuffs in the stomach, the energy created by such action is immediately distributed throughout the whole body. Similarly, when you pour water on the root of the tree, the energy created by such watering is immediately distributed in the whole tree, never mind how great it is. But it is not possible to water the tree part by part, neither it is possible to feed the different parts of the body separately. One who does not know this method is missing the point.

1971 Correspondence

Letter to Dr. Bigelow -- Allahabad 20 January, 1971:

Undoubtedly the soul is present in the heart of the living entity, and it is the source of all the energies for maintaining the body. The energy of the soul is spread all over the body and this is known as consciousness. On account of this consciousness spreading of energy of the soul all over the body, you can feel pains and pleasures in any part of the body. The soul is individual and he is transmigrating from one body to another, just as a person transmigrates from babyhood to childhood, from childhood to boyhood, from boyhood to youthhood and then to advanced old age. Then the change called death takes place when we change to a new body just as we change our old dress to a new dress. This is called transmigration of the soul.

Letter to Jadurani -- Los Angeles 3 July, 1971:

Lord Caitanya was not holding Sudarsana cakra; simply he was calling; Narada came out of Brahma's heart very little and then grew like a child; Narada entered the body of Narayana. That you have to show yourself. Now can I instruct you? He can enter through any part of the body. Just like so many universes are coming out from all parts of the body of Maha Visnu, so where is the difficulty to understand that the entire creation can re-enter from any part of the body?; Narayana appeared and disappeared to Narada's vision like lightning. So you can show Him almost invisible and speaking.

Letter to Kirtanananda , Vrindaban Candra, Silavati -- Calcutta 6 November, 1971:

The Deities can be installed in a temple and then taken for travelling. That will be best. So far Silavati's other questions: The large brass Deities can be bathed the same as the small ones if they can be handled easily; Cooking can go on after the Deities' plate is made. Without offering to the Deity nobody can be supplied, but after the offering if there are so many men and more is required then how can it be stopped?; In Vrindaban dhupa is offered without a flower sometimes, but either way is all right. If a flower can be offered, then that is nice; generally sandalwood paste is offered on the forehead, but on other parts of the body is all right; Kumkum powder should be offered on the feet.

1973 Correspondence

Letter to Subrata Lahiri -- Bombay 4 January, 1973:

Factually we are related to the Supreme Lord in service. The Supreme Lord is the supreme enjoyer, and we living entities are His servitors. We are created for His enjoyment, and if we participate in that eternal enjoyment with the Supreme Personality of Godhead, we become happy. We cannot become happy otherwise. It is not possible to be happy independently, just as no one part of the body can be happy without cooperating with the stomach. It is not possible for the living entity to be happy without rendering transcendental loving service unto the Supreme Lord, Krishna.

Page Title:Parts of the body (Conversations and Letters)
Compiler:Rishab, Serene
Created:12 of Jan, 2011
Totals by Section:BG=0, SB=0, CC=0, OB=0, Lec=0, Con=45, Let=11
No. of Quotes:56