Present day

Expressions researched:
"present day"

BG Preface and Introduction

BG Introduction:

In this present day, people are very much eager to have one scripture, one God, one religion, and one occupation. Therefore, ekaṁ śāstraṁ devakī-putra-gītam: let there be one scripture only, one common scripture for the whole world-Bhagavad-gītā. Eko devo devakī-putra eva: let there be one God for the whole world-Śrī Kṛṣṇa. Eko mantras tasya nāmāni: and one hymn, one mantra, one prayer—the chanting of His name: Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/ Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare. Karmāpy ekaṁ tasya devasya sevā: and let there be one work only—the service of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

BG Chapters 1 - 6

BG 2.31, Purport:

Out of the four orders of social administration, the second order, for the matter of good administration, is called kṣatriya. Kṣat means hurt. One who gives protection from harm is called kṣatriya (trāyate—to give protection). The kṣatriyas are trained for killing in the forest. A kṣatriya would go into the forest and challenge a tiger face to face and fight with the tiger with his sword. When the tiger was killed, it would be offered the royal order of cremation. This system has been followed even up to the present day by the kṣatriya kings of Jaipur state. The kṣatriyas are specially trained for challenging and killing because religious violence is sometimes a necessary factor. Therefore, kṣatriyas are never meant for accepting directly the order of sannyāsa, or renunciation. Nonviolence in politics may be a diplomacy, but it is never a factor or principle.

BG 3.11, Purport:

Performance of yajñas has many side benefits, ultimately leading to liberation from material bondage. By performance of yajñas, all activities become purified, as it is stated in the Vedas: āhāra-śuddhau sattva-śuddhiḥ sattva-śuddhau dhruvā smṛtiḥ smṛti-lambhe sarvagranthīnāṁ vipramokṣaḥ. By performance of yajña one's eatables become sanctified, and by eating sanctified foodstuffs one's very existence becomes purified; by the purification of existence finer tissues in the memory become sanctified, and when memory is sanctified one can think of the path of liberation, and all these combined together lead to Kṛṣṇa consciousness, the great necessity of present-day society.

BG 6.33, Purport:

As a practical man, Arjuna thought it was impossible to follow this system of yoga, even though he was favorably endowed in many ways. He belonged to the royal family and was highly elevated in terms of numerous qualities; he was a great warrior, he had great longevity, and, above all, he was the most intimate friend of Lord Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Five thousand years ago, Arjuna had much better facilities than we do now, yet he refused to accept this system of yoga. In fact, we do not find any record in history of his practicing it at any time. Therefore this system must be considered generally impossible in this Age of Kali. Of course it may be possible for some very few, rare men, but for the people in general it is an impossible proposal. If this were so five thousand years ago, then what of the present day? Those who are imitating this yoga system in different so-called schools and societies, although complacent, are certainly wasting their time. They are completely in ignorance of the desired goal.

BG Chapters 13 - 18

BG 15.11, Purport:

There are many transcendentalists on the path of spiritual self-realization, but one who is not situated in self-realization cannot see how things are changing in the body of the living entity. The word yoginaḥ is significant in this connection. In the present day there are many so-called yogīs, and there are many so-called associations of yogīs, but they are actually blind in the matter of self-realization. They are simply addicted to some sort of gymnastic exercise and are satisfied if the body is well built and healthy. They have no other information. They are called yatanto 'py akṛtātmānaḥ. Even though they are endeavoring in a so-called yoga system, they are not self-realized. Such people cannot understand the process of the transmigration of the soul. Only those who are actually in the yoga system and have realized the self, the world, and the Supreme Lord—in other words, the bhakti-yogīs, those engaged in pure devotional service in Kṛṣṇa consciousness—can understand how things are taking place.

SB Canto 3

SB 3.4.29, Purport:

By practical experience also, it is seen, up to the present day, that the Lord's transcendental form is worshiped by devotees in different temples, and all the devotees of the Lord factually realize that the form of the Deity in the temple is nondifferent from the form of the Lord. This inconceivable performance of the internal potency of the Lord is described in Bhagavad-gītā (7.25): nāhaṁ prakāśaḥ sarvasya yoga-māyā-samāvṛtaḥ. The Lord reserves the right of not being exposed to everyone. In the Padma Purāṇa it is said, ataḥ śrī-kṛṣṇa-nāmādi na bhaved grāhyam indriyaiḥ (CC Madhya 17.136). The name and form of the Lord cannot be perceived by the material senses, but when He appears within the vision of the mundane people He assumes the form of the virāṭ-rūpa. This is an additional material exhibition of form and is supported by the logic of a subject and its adjectives. In grammar, when an adjective is taken away from the subject, the subject it modifies does not change. Similarly, when the Lord quits His virāṭ-rūpa, His eternal form does not change, although there is no material difference between Himself and any one of His innumerable forms. In the Fifth Canto it will be seen how the Lord is worshiped in different planets in His different forms, even now, and how He is worshiped in different temples of this earth also.

SB 3.17.15, Purport:

According to Bhagavad-gītā, Seventh Chapter, the laws of nature are so stringent that it is impossible for the living entity to surpass their enforcement. It is also explained that only those who are fully surrendered to Kṛṣṇa in Kṛṣṇa consciousness can be saved. We can learn from the description of the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam that it is because of the birth of two great demons that there were so many natural disturbances. It is to be indirectly understood, as previously described, that when there are constant disturbances on the earth, that is an omen that some demoniac people have been born or that the demoniac population has increased. In former days there were only two demons—those born of Diti—yet there were so many disturbances. At the present day, especially in this age of Kali, these disturbances are always visible, which indicates that the demoniac population has certainly increased.

SB 3.33.17, Purport:

It is understood from this statement that the opulences of household life were exhibited in valuable jewels, ivory, first-class marble, and furniture made of gold and jewels. The clothes are also mentioned as being decorated with golden filigree. Everything actually had some value. It was not like the furniture of the present day, which is cast in valueless plastic or base metal. The way of Vedic civilization is that whatever was used in household affairs had to be valuable. In case of need, such items of value could be exchanged immediately. Thus one's broken and unwanted furniture and paraphernalia would never be without value. This system is still followed by Indians in household affairs. They keep metal utensils and golden ornaments or silver plates and valuable silk garments with gold embroidery, and in case of need, they can have some money in exchange immediately. There are exchanges for the moneylenders and the householders.

SB Canto 4

SB 4.1.6, Purport:

In the Cāṇakya-śloka, the moral instructions of Cāṇakya Paṇḍita, it is said that if a husband and wife are always satisfied with one another, then the goddess of fortune automatically comes. In other words, where there is no disagreement between husband and wife, all material opulence is present, and good children are born. Generally, according to Vedic civilization, the wife is trained to be satisfied in all conditions, and the husband, according to Vedic instruction, is required to please the wife with sufficient food, ornaments and clothing. Then, if they are satisfied with their mutual dealings, good children are born. In this way the entire world can become peaceful, but unfortunately in this age of Kali there are no ideal husbands and wives; therefore unwanted children are produced, and there is no peace and prosperity in the present-day world.

SB 4.9.66, Purport:

When a Vaiṣṇava king like Dhruva Mahārāja is the head of the government of the entire world, the world is so happy that it is not possible to imagine or describe. Even now, if people would all become Kṛṣṇa conscious, the democratic government of the present day would be exactly like the kingdom of heaven. If all people became Kṛṣṇa conscious they would vote for persons of the category of Dhruva Mahārāja. If the post of chief executive were occupied by such a Vaiṣṇava, all the problems of satanic government would be solved. The youthful generation of the present day is very enthusiastic in trying to overthrow the government in different parts of the world. But unless people are Kṛṣṇa conscious like Dhruva Mahārāja, there will be no appreciable changes in government because people who hanker to attain political position by hook or by crook cannot think of the welfare of the people. They are only busy to keep their position of prestige and monetary gain. They have very little time to think of the welfare of the citizens.

SB 4.27.8, Purport:

Not only was Purañjana, the King of Pañcāla, satisfied in his own sex life, but he arranged for the sex life of his 1,100 sons and 110 daughters. In this way one can elevate an aristocratic family to the platform of a dynasty. It is significant in this verse that Purañjana got both sons and daughters married. It is the duty of a father and mother to arrange for the marriage of their sons and daughters. That is the obligation in Vedic society. Sons and daughters should not be allowed freedom to intermingle with the opposite sex unless they are married. This Vedic social organization is very good in that it stops the promulgation of illicit sex life, or varṇa-saṅkara, which appears under different names in this present day. Unfortunately in this age although the father and mother are anxious to get their children married, the children refuse to get married by the arrangement of the parents. Consequently, the number of varṇa-saṅkara has increased throughout the world under different names.

SB 4.28.22, Purport:

Since death must take away the living entity without hesitation, it is the ultimate God realization of the atheists, who spoil their lives thinking of country, society and relatives, to the neglect of God consciousness. In this verse the word atad-arhaṇam is very significant, for it means that one should not be overly engaged in welfare activities for one's family members, countrymen, society and community. None of these will help a person to advance spiritually. Unfortunately, in present-day society so-called educated men have no idea what spiritual progress is. Although they have the opportunity in the human form of life to make spiritual progress, they remain misers. They use their lives improperly and simply waste them thinking about the material welfare of their relatives, countrymen, society and so on. One's actual duty is to learn how to conquer death.

SB Canto 5

SB 5.2.1, Purport:

Just contrary to the principles mentioned here, the presidents and chief executives in the age of Kali are simply tax collectors who do not care whether religious principles are observed. Indeed, the chief executives of the present day introduce all kinds of sinful activity, especially illicit sex, intoxication, animal killing and gambling. These sinful activities are now very prominently manifested in India. Although a hundred years ago these four principles of sinful life were strictly prohibited in the families of India, they have now been introduced into every Indian family; therefore they cannot follow religious principles. In contrast to the principles of the kings of old, the modern state is concerned only with propaganda for levying taxes and is no longer responsible for the spiritual welfare of the citizens.

SB Canto 6

SB 6.3.20-21, Purport:

There are four lines of disciplic succession: one from Lord Brahmā, one from Lord Śiva, one from Lakṣmī, the goddess of fortune, and one from the Kumāras. The disciplic succession from Lord Brahmā is called the Brahma-sampradāya, the succession from Lord Śiva (Śambhu) is called the Rudra-sampradāya, the one from the goddess of fortune, Lakṣmījī, is called the Śrī-sampradāya, and the one from the Kumāras is called the Kumāra-sampradāya. One must take shelter of one of these four sampradāyas in order to understand the most confidential religious system. In the Padma Purāṇa it is said, sampradāya-vihīnā ye mantrās te niṣphalā matāḥ: if one does not follow the four recognized disciplic successions, his mantra or initiation is useless. In the present day there are many apasampradāyas, or sampradāyas which are not bona fide, which have no link to authorities like Lord Brahmā, Lord Śiva, the Kumāras or Lakṣmī. People are misguided by such sampradāyas. The śāstras say that being initiated in such a sampradāya is a useless waste of time, for it will never enable one to understand the real religious principles.

SB 6.18.42, Purport:

A woman's nature has been particularly well studied by Kaśyapa Muni. Women are self-interested by nature, and therefore they should be protected by all means so that their natural inclination to be too self-interested will not be manifested. Women need to be protected by men. A woman should be cared for by her father in her childhood, by her husband in her youth and by her grown sons in her old age. This is the injunction of Manu, who says that a woman should not be given independence at any stage. Women must be cared for so that they will not be free to manifest their natural tendency for gross selfishness. There have been many cases, even in the present day, in which women have killed their husbands to take advantage of their insurance policies. This is not a criticism of women but a practical study of their nature. Such natural instincts of a woman or a man are manifested only in the bodily conception of life. When either a man or a woman is advanced in spiritual consciousness, the bodily conception of life practically vanishes. We should see all women as spiritual units (ahaṁ brahmāsmi), whose only duty is to satisfy Kṛṣṇa. Then the influences of the different modes of material nature, which result from one's possessing a material body, will not act.

SB Canto 7

SB 7.2.13, Purport:

The followers of demoniac principles, as described here, are thoroughly envious of the general populace. In the present day, scientific advancement exemplifies such envy. The discovery of nuclear energy has been disastrous to people in general because demons all over the world are manufacturing nuclear weapons. The word kadana-priyāḥ is very significant in this regard. The demoniac persons who want to kill the Vedic culture are extremely envious of the feeble citizens, and they act in such a way that ultimately their discoveries will be inauspicious for everyone (jagato 'hitāḥ). The Sixteenth Chapter of Bhagavad-gītā fully explains how the demons engage in sinful activities for the destruction of the populace.

SB 7.13.34, Purport:

Here is the difference between Vedic civilization and the modern demoniac civilization. Vedic civilization concerned itself with how to achieve self-realization, and for this purpose one was recommended to have a small income to maintain body and soul together. The society was divided into brāhmaṇas, kṣatriyas, vaiśyas and śūdras, and the members of this society would limit their endeavors to meeting their minimum demands. The brāhmaṇas, in particular, would have no material desires. Because the kṣatriyas had to rule the people, it was necessary for them to have money and prestige. But the vaiśyas were satisfied with agricultural produce and milk from the cow, and if by chance there were excess, trade was allowed. The śūdras were also happy, for they would get food and shelter from the three higher classes. In the demoniac civilization of the present day, however, there is no question of brāhmaṇas or kṣatriyas; there are only so-called workers and a flourishing mercantile class who have no goal in life.

SB 7.14.11, Purport:

As mentioned in Bhagavad-gītā (4.13), cātur-varṇyaṁ mayā sṛṣṭaṁ guṇa-karma-vibhāgaśaḥ: there must be four divisions of human society according to the work and qualities of men. Men with the lowest qualities cannot do any work that requires higher intelligence. However, although such a division of men must exist according to their quality and work, it is suggested herewith that everyone must have the necessities of life. The communists of the present day are in favor of supplying the necessities of life to everyone, but they consider only the human beings and not the lower animals. The Bhāgavatam's principles are so broad, however, that it recommends that the necessities of life be supplied to everyone, man or animal, regardless of good or bad qualities.

SB 7.14.27-28, Purport:

In this verse it is indicated that a Vaiṣṇava temple where the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa, is worshiped, and where Vaiṣṇavas are engaged in the service of the Lord, is the best sacred place for performing any religious ceremonies. At the present day, especially in big, big cities, people live in small apartments and are not able to establish a Deity or temple. Under the circumstances, therefore, the centers and temples being established by the expanding Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement are the best sacred places for performing religious ceremonies. Although people in general are no longer interested in religious ceremonies or Deity worship, the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement gives everyone the chance to advance in spiritual life by becoming Kṛṣṇa conscious.

SB 7.15.10, Purport:

Animal sacrifice in the name of religion is current practically all over the world in every established religion. It is said that Lord Jesus Christ, when twelve years old, was shocked to see the Jews sacrificing birds and animals in the synagogues and that he therefore rejected the Jewish system of religion and started the religious system of Christianity, adhering to the Old Testament commandment "Thou shalt not kill." At the present day, however, not only are animals killed in the name of sacrifice, but the killing of animals has increased enormously because of the increasing number of slaughterhouses. Slaughtering animals, either for religion or for food, is most abominable and is condemned herein. Unless one is merciless, one cannot sacrifice animals, either in the name of religion or for food.

SB Canto 8

SB 8.3.27, Purport:

"I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, who is Śyāmasundara, Kṛṣṇa Himself, with inconceivable innumerable attributes, whom the pure devotees see in their heart of hearts with the eye of devotion tinged with the salve of love." The bhakti-yogī constantly sees Śyāmasundara—beautiful Lord Kṛṣṇa with His blackish bodily hue. Because the King of the elephants, Gajendra, thought himself an ordinary animal, he thought himself unfit to see the Lord. In his humility, he thought that he could not practice yoga. In other words, how can those who are like animals in the bodily concept of life, and who have no purity of consciousness, practice yoga? In the present day, people who have no control over their senses, who have no understanding of philosophy and who do not follow religious principles or rules and regulations are nonetheless pretending to be yogīs. This is the greatest anomaly in the practice of mystic yoga.

SB 8.12.10, Purport:

Factually speaking, even those who are situated in the material mode of goodness cannot understand the position of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. What then is to be said of those who are situated in rajo-guṇa and tamo-guṇa, the base qualities of material nature? How can we even imagine the Supreme Personality of Godhead? There are so many philosophers trying to understand the Absolute Truth, but since they are situated in the base qualities of material nature and are addicted to so many bad habits, like drinking, meat-eating, illicit sex and gambling, how can they conceive of the Supreme Personality of Godhead? For them it is impossible. For the present day, the pāñcarātrikī-vidhi as enunciated by Nārada Muni is the only hope.

SB Canto 10.1 to 10.13

SB 10.2.32, Purport:

There are persons who advocate accepting any process and who say that whatever process one accepts will lead to the same goal, but that is refuted in this verse, where such persons are referred to as vimukta-māninaḥ, signifying that although they think they have attained the highest perfection, in fact they have not. In the present day, big, big politicians all over the world think that by scheming they can occupy the highest political post, that of president or prime minister, but we actually see that even in this life such big prime ministers, presidents and other politicians, because of being nondevotees, fall down (patanty adhaḥ). To become president or prime minister is not easy; one must work very hard (āruhya kṛcchreṇa) to achieve the post. And even though one may reach his goal, at any moment one may be kicked down by material nature.

SB 10.5.8, Purport:

When we consider the past condition of the agriculturalist in the village, we can see how opulent he was, simply because of agricultural produce and protection of cows. At the present, however, agriculture having been neglected and cow protection given up, the agriculturalist is suffering pitiably and is dressed in a niggardly torn cloth. This is the distinction between the India of history and the India of the present day. By the atrocious activities of ugra-karma, how we are killing the opportunity of human civilization!

SB Cantos 10.14 to 12 (Translations Only)

SB 10.14.31, Translation:

O almighty Lord, how greatly fortunate are the cows and ladies of Vṛndāvana, the nectar of whose breast-milk You have happily drunk to Your full satisfaction, taking the form of their calves and children! All the Vedic sacrifices performed from time immemorial up to the present day have not given You as much satisfaction.

SB 12.13.2, Translation:

When the Supreme Personality of Godhead appeared as Lord Kūrma, a tortoise, His back was scratched by the sharp-edged stones lying on massive, whirling Mount Mandara, and this scratching made the Lord sleepy. May you all be protected by the winds caused by the Lord's breathing in this sleepy condition. Ever since that time, even up to the present day, the ocean tides have imitated the Lord's inhalation and exhalation by piously coming in and going out.

CC Adi-lila

CC Adi 7.45, Purport:

Before the time of Caitanya Mahāprabhu, the suvarṇa-vaṇik class was condemned by Ballāl Sena, who was then the King of Bengal, due to a personal grudge. In Bengal the suvarṇa-vaṇik class are always very rich, for they are bankers and dealers in gold and silver. Therefore, Ballāl Sena used to borrow money from a suvarṇa-vaṇik banker. Ballāl Sena's bankruptcy later obliged the suvarṇa-vaṇik banker to stop advancing money to him, and thus Ballāl Sena became angry and condemned the entire suvarṇa-vaṇik society as belonging to the śūdra community. He tried to induce the brāhmaṇas not to accept the suvarṇa-vaṇiks as followers of the instructions of the Vedas under the brahminical directions, but although some brāhmaṇas approved of Ballāl Sena's actions, others did not. Thus the brāhmaṇas also became divided amongst themselves, and those who supported the suvarṇa-vaṇik class were rejected from the brāhmaṇa community. At the present day the same biases are still being followed.

CC Adi 7.119, Purport:

The material potency is the energy of darkness, or complete ignorance of spiritual activities. In the material potency, the living entity engages himself in fruitive activities, thinking that he can be happy through expansion in terms of material energy. This fact is prominently manifest in this Age of Kali because human society, not understanding the spiritual nature, is busily expanding in material activities. The men of the present day are almost unaware of their spiritual identity. They think that they are products of the elements of the material world and that everything will end with the annihilation of the body. Therefore they conclude that as long as one has a material body consisting of material senses, one should enjoy the senses as much as possible. Since they are atheists, they do not care whether there is a next life. Such activities are described in this verse as avidyā-karma-saṁjñānyā.

CC Adi 10.84, Purport:

The genealogical table of Sanātana Gosvāmī, Rūpa Gosvāmī and Vallabha Gosvāmī can be traced back to the twelfth century Śakābda, when a gentleman of the name Sarvajña appeared in a very rich and opulent brāhmaṇa family in the province of Karṇāṭa. He had two sons, named Aniruddhera Rūpeśvara and Harihara, who were both bereft of their kingdoms and thus obliged to reside in the highlands. The son of Rūpeśvara, who was named Padmanābha, moved to a place in Bengal known as Naihāṭī, on the bank of the Ganges. There he had five sons, of whom the youngest, Mukunda, had a well-behaved son named Kumāradeva, who was the father of Rūpa, Sanātana and Vallabha. Kumāradeva lived in Fateyabad, an area bordering Bāklācandradvīpa in East Bengal (now Bangladesh). The present-day village of Prembagh, which lies near Ramshara in the Jessore district of Bangladesh, is said by many to be the site of Kumāradeva's house. Of his many sons, three took to the path of Vaiṣṇavism. Later, Śrī Vallabha and his elder brothers Śrī Rūpa and Sanātana came from Candradvīpa to the village in the Maldah district of Bengal known as Rāmakeli. It is in this village that Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī took birth, accepting Vallabha as his father. Because of engaging in the service of the Muslim government, the three brothers received the title Mullik. When Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu visited the village of Rāmakeli, He met Vallabha there. Later, Śrī Rūpa Gosvāmī, after meeting Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, resigned from government service, and when he went to Vṛndāvana to meet Lord Caitanya, Vallabha accompanied him. The meeting of Rūpa Gosvāmī and Vallabha with Caitanya Mahāprabhu at Allahabad is described in the Madhya-līlā, Chapter Nineteen.

CC Adi 17.104, Purport:

The brāhmaṇas who went door to door as if beggars had perfect command of such vast knowledge. Thus the highest knowledge was easily available even to the poorest man in society. The poorest man could inquire from an astrologer about his past, present and future, with no need for business agreements or exorbitant payments. The brāhmaṇa would give him all the benefit of his knowledge without asking remuneration, and the poor man, in return, would offer a handful of rice, or anything he had in his possession, to satisfy the brāhmaṇa. In a perfect human society, perfect knowledge in any science—medical, astrological, ecclesiastical and so on—is available even to the poorest man, with no anxiety over payment. In the present day, however, no one can get justice, medical treatment, astrological help or ecclesiastical enlightenment without money, and since people are generally poor, they are bereft of the benefits of all these great sciences.

CC Adi 17.126, Purport:

It appears that from the aggression of Baktiyār Khiliji in Bengal until the time of Chand Kazi, Hindus, or the followers of the Vedic principles, were greatly suppressed. Like the Hindus in present-day Pakistan, practically no one could execute the Hindu religious principles freely. Chand Kazi referred to this condition of Hindu society. Formerly the Hindus had not been straightforward in executing their Hindu principles, but now they were freely chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra. Therefore it must have been by the strength of someone else that they were so daring.

CC Adi 17.141, Purport:

In the present day also, people all over the world may join together in the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement and protest against the present degraded governments of the world's godless societies, which are based on all kinds of sinful activities. Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam states that in the Age of Kali, thieves, rogues and fourth-class people who have neither education nor culture capture the seats of governments to exploit the citizens. This is a symptom of Kali-yuga that has already appeared. People cannot feel secure about their lives and property, yet the so-called governments continue, and government ministers get fat salaries, although they are unable to do anything good for society. The only remedy for such conditions is to enhance the saṅkīrtana movement under the banner of Kṛṣṇa consciousness and protest against the sinful activities of all the world's governments.

CC Adi 17.217, Purport:

Confirming the potency of the saṅkīrtana movement, these words from the very mouth of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu express how people can be purified simply by chanting the holy name of Lord Kṛṣṇa. The Kazi was a Muslim mleccha, or meat-eater, but because he several times uttered the holy name of Lord Kṛṣṇa, automatically the reactions of his sinful life were vanquished and he was fully purified of all material contamination. We do not know why the pāṣaṇḍīs of the present day protest that we are deteriorating the Hindu religion by spreading Kṛṣṇa consciousness all over the world and claiming all classes of men to the highest standard of Vaiṣṇavism. But these rascals disagree with us so vehemently that some of them do not allow European and American Vaiṣṇavas to enter the temples of Viṣṇu. Thinking religion to be meant for material benefit, these so-called Hindus have actually become vicious by worshiping the numerous forms of the demigods. In the next verse Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu confirms the Kazi's purification.

CC Madhya-lila

CC Madhya 1.151, Translation and Purport:

For five consecutive days all the people gathered to see the Lord, and still there was no rest. Out of fear of the crowd, Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu left at night and went to the town of Kuliyā (present-day Navadvīpa).

If one considers the statements of the Caitanya-bhāgavata along with the description by Locana dāsa Ṭhākura, it is clear that present-day Navadvīpa was formerly known as Kuliyā-grāma. While at Kuliyā-grāma, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu bestowed His favor upon Devānanda Paṇḍita and delivered Gopāla Cāpala and many others who had previously committed offenses at His lotus feet. At that time, to go from Vidyānagara to Kuliyā-grāma one had to cross a branch of the Ganges. All of those old places still exist. Cināḍāṅgā was formerly situated in Kuliyā-grāma, which is now known as Kolera Gañja.

CC Madhya 11.88, Purport:

Govinda Ghoṣa belonged to the kāyastha dynasty of the Uttara-rāḍhīya section, and he was known as Ghoṣa Ṭhākura. Even to the present day there is a place named Agradvīpa, near Katwa, where a fair takes place and is named after Ghoṣa Ṭhākura. As far as Vāsudeva Ghoṣa is concerned, he composed many nice songs about Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, and these are all authorized Vaiṣṇava songs, like the songs of Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura, Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura, Locana dāsa Ṭhākura, Govinda dāsa Ṭhākura and other great Vaiṣṇavas.

CC Madhya 16.199, Purport:

The very wide mouth of the Ganges near present-day Diamond Harbor was called Mantreśvara. Through the Ganges, the boat entered the Rūpa-nārāyaṇa River and reached the village of Pichaldā. Pichaldā and Mantreśvara are located very close together. After passing Mantreśvara, the Muslim governor accompanied the Lord as far as Pichaldā.

CC Madhya 16.207, Purport:

In a book named Navadvīpa-dhāma-parikramā, also written by Ghanaśyāma dāsa, it is stated: kuliyā-pāhāḍapura grāma pūrve koladvīpa-parvatākhyānanda nāma. "The town of Kuliyā-pāhāḍapura was previously named Koladvīpa-parvatākhyānanda."

Therefore one can conclude that the present-day city of Navadvīpa and the places known as Bāhiradvīpa, Kolera Gañja, Kola-āmāda, Kolera Daha, Gadakhāli, etc., were known as Kuliyā, but the so-called Kuliyāra Pāḍa is not the original Kuliyā.

CC Madhya 16.217, Purport:

The village of Saptagrāma is located on the Eastern Railway from Calcutta to Burdwan, and presently the railway station is called Triśabighā. In those days there was a large river there known as the Sarasvatī, and present-day Triśabighā is a great port. In 1592, the Pāṭhānas invaded, and due to a flooding of the Sarasvatī River in the year 1632, this great port was partially destroyed. It is said that in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, Portuguese businessmen used to come aboard their ships. In those days, Saptagrāma, situated on the southern side of Bengal, was very rich and popular. The merchants, who were the principal residents, were called Saptagrāma suvarṇa-vaṇiks. There were very many rich people there, and Hiraṇya Majumadāra and Govardhana Majumadāra belonged to the kāyastha community. They also were very rich, so much so that it is mentioned in this verse that their annual income as landlords amounted to 1,200,000 rupees. In this connection, one may refer to Ādi-līlā (Chapter Eleven, verse 41), which describes Uddhāraṇa Datta, who also belonged to the Saptagrāmī suvarṇa-vaṇik community.

CC Antya-lila

CC Antya 13.61, Purport:

Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura comments on this incident as follows: Vaiṣṇavas are all liberated persons, unattached to anything material. Therefore a Vaiṣṇava need not accept the dress of a sannyāsī to prove his exalted position. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu accepted the renounced order from a sannyāsī of the Māyāvāda school. Present-day Vaiṣṇava sannyāsīs, however, never think that by accepting the dress of the sannyāsa order they have become equal to Caitanya Mahāprabhu. In fact, a Vaiṣṇava accepts the sannyāsa order to remain an eternal servant of his spiritual master. He accepts the sannyāsa order knowing that he is unequal to his spiritual master, who is a paramahaṁsa, and he thinks that he is unfit to dress like a paramahaṁsa. Therefore a Vaiṣṇava accepts sannyāsa out of humility, not out of pride.

Teachings of Lord Caitanya

Teachings of Lord Caitanya, Chapter Mission:

Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu instructed His disciples to write books on the science of Kṛṣṇa, a task which those who follow Him have continued to carry out down to the present day. Due to the unbreakable system of disciplic succession, the elaborations and expositions on the philosophy taught by Lord Caitanya are in fact the most voluminous, exacting and consistent of any religious culture in the world. Although Lord Caitanya was widely renowned as a scholar in His youth, He left only eight verses, called Śikṣāṣṭaka. These eight verses clearly reveal His mission and precepts. These supremely valuable prayers are translated herein.

Teachings of Lord Caitanya, Chapter 9:

Lord Caitanya further explained that not only is the potency of Kṛṣṇaloka limitless, but so also is that of Vṛndāvana, Lord Kṛṣṇa's abode on this planet. From one point of view, Vṛndāvana is about thirty-two square miles in area, yet in one part of this Vṛndāvana all the Vaikuṇṭhas exist. The area of present-day Vṛndāvana contains twelve forests and covers about eighty-four krośas, or 168 miles in area, and Vṛndāvana City is estimated to be about sixteen krośas, or thirty-two square miles. How all the Vaikuṇṭhas can exist there is beyond material calculation. Thus Caitanya Mahāprabhu concluded that the potencies and opulences of Kṛṣṇa are unlimited. Whatever He told Sanātana Gosvāmī was only partial, but by such a partial presentation one can try to imagine the whole.

Teachings of Lord Caitanya, Chapter 19:

In the first two chapters of the Vedānta-sūtra the relationship between the living entities and the Supreme Lord is explained, and in the Third Chapter the discharge of devotional service is explained. The Fourth Chapter deals with the result of discharging devotional service. The natural commentary on the Vedānta-sūtra is Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. The great ācāryas of the four Vaiṣṇava communities (sampradāyas)—namely, Rāmānujācārya, Madhvācārya, Viṣṇu Svāmī and Nimbārka—have also written commentaries on the Vedānta-sūtra by following the principles of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. The followers of these ācāryas, down to the present day, have written many books following the principles of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam and accepting it as the natural commentary on the Vedānta. Śaṅkara's commentary on the Vedānta-sūtra, known as the Śārīraka-bhāṣya, is very much adored by the impersonalist scholars, but such materialistic commentaries are completely adverse to the transcendental service of the Lord. Consequently Lord Caitanya said that direct commentaries on the Upaniṣads and Vedānta-sūtra are glorious, but that anyone who follows the indirect path of Śaṅkarācārya's Śārīraka-bhāṣya is certainly doomed.

Krsna, The Supreme Personality of Godhead

Krsna Book 66:

The story of King Pauṇḍraka is very interesting because it proves that there have always been many rascals and fools who have considered themselves God. Even in the presence of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa, there was such a foolish person. His name was Pauṇḍraka, and he wanted to declare himself God. While Lord Balarāma was absent in Vṛndāvana, this King Pauṇḍraka, the King of Karūṣa Province, being foolish and puffed up, sent a messenger to Lord Kṛṣṇa. Lord Kṛṣṇa is accepted as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, but King Pauṇḍraka directly challenged Kṛṣṇa through the messenger, who stated that Pauṇḍraka, not Kṛṣṇa, was Vāsudeva. In the present day there are many foolish followers of such rascals. Similarly, in Pauṇḍraka's day, many foolish men accepted Pauṇḍraka as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Because he could not estimate his own position, Pauṇḍraka falsely thought himself to be Lord Vāsudeva. Thus the messenger declared to Kṛṣṇa that King Pauṇḍraka, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, had descended to the earth out of his causeless mercy just to deliver all distressed persons.

Krsna Book 68:

Lord Balarāma triumphantly reached Dvārakā, where He met with many citizens who were all His devotees and friends. When they all assembled, Lord Balarāma narrated the whole story of the marriage, and they were astonished to hear how Balarāma had made the city of Hastināpura tremble. It is confirmed by Śukadeva Gosvāmī that in those days the river flowing through the city of Hastināpura, present-day New Delhi, was known as the Ganges, although today it is called the Yamunā. From authorities like Jīva Gosvāmī it is confirmed that the Ganges and Yamunā are the same river flowing in different courses. The part of the Ganges which flows through Hastināpura to the area of Vṛndāvana is called the Yamunā because it is sanctified by the transcendental pastimes of Lord Kṛṣṇa. The part of Hastināpura which slopes toward the Yamunā becomes inundated during the rainy season and reminds everyone of Lord Balarāma's threatening to cast the city into the Ganges.

Renunciation Through Wisdom

Renunciation Through Wisdom 1.2:

Mahisāsura, the most powerful demon, who was the personification of the forces of evil, was in fact endowed with intelligence, education, wealth, the ability to perform severe penances and attract large followings, and so on. His present-day followers, possessing identical qualifications, are no less enterprising and expert in exploiting the divine energy. They carry out elaborate scientific research, misspending huge amounts of money, time, energy, intelligence, men, and so on. But instead of bringing peace and joy, what they discover through these researches ends up producing untold misery for humanity. This is a perfect example of daivī māyā's throwing agency in action. All these evil activities bring great losses to human society. As a result of this evil, the mundane scientists incur grievous sin, which destroys their real intelligence. And this loss of intelligence turns them away from God and robs them of their chance to surrender to Him.

Renunciation Through Wisdom 1.8:

Nowadays, different societies are shooting up like mushrooms. One such society that has made its presence felt claims to have started a movement for establishing the ideal kingdom of Lord Rāmacandra. But the kingdom of Rāma it is propagating seems to be without Lord Rāma. Lord Rāma's biggest competitor was a demon named Rāvaṇa, and present-day descendants of Rāvaṇa are also busy trying to kill Lord Rāma. So, where is the question of wanting to usher in the golden age of Lord Rāma? If one is sincere about establishing the ideal kingdom of Lord Rāma, then everything in the world should be engaged in Lord Rāma's service. But the attempt to reduce the position and prestige of Lord Rāma is in fact an attempt to establish the tyrannical rule of Rāvaṇa, the demon king. And if such a mistake is committed, then Hanumān, the valiant and invincible servant of Lord Rāma, will have to come and rectify the situation by destroying the entire race of demons. In order to avoid this mistake at the outset, we must follow the path of karma-yoga taught by Lord Kṛṣṇa.

Renunciation Through Wisdom 3.2:

The process of jñāna-yoga has been delineated in the Vedānta-sūtra, the philosophical essence of the Vedas. The Supreme Lord, Kṛṣṇa, accepts the authority of the Vedānta-sūtra and considers the philosophical presentation proper. Up till the present day, every spiritual line, even in the impersonalist school, has based its philosophical authority on the Vedānta-sūtra. And the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is the natural and faultless commentary on the Vedānta-sūtra. This is Lord Caitanya's opinion.

Renunciation Through Wisdom 4.5:

That Lord Kṛṣṇa is the original Supreme Personality of Godhead is accepted not only by Arjuna but by illustrious saints and sages like Vyāsadeva, Nārada, Devala, and Asita. All the previous spiritual preceptors, as well as present-day saints and countless millions of ordinary people, unanimously accept Lord Kṛṣṇa as the Supreme Godhead, but a famous paṇḍita like Dr. Radhakrishnan hesitates to accept Him as God! Why? Śrīla Yāmunācārya aptly explains in his Stotra-ratna:

tvāṁ śīla-rūpa-caritaiḥ parama-prakṛṣṭaiḥ

sattvena sāttvikatayā prabalaiś ca śāstraiḥ

prakhyāta-daiva-paramārtha-vidāṁ mataiś ca

naivāsura-prakṛtayaḥ prabhavanti boddhum

O my Lord, those influenced by demoniac principles cannot realize You, although You are clearly the Supreme by dint of Your exalted activities, forms, character, and uncommon power, which are confirmed by all the revealed scriptures in the quality of goodness and the celebrated transcendentalists in the divine nature.

Light of the Bhagavata

Light of the Bhagavata 2, Purport:

In ancient days the kings were taught lessons in political philosophy by ideal teachers, and the citizens from village to village were taught the principles of self-realization according to the Vedic codes for both the material and the spiritual upliftment of society. Therefore the citizens were God conscious and honest in their dealings, and the kings were responsible for the welfare of the state. The same basic principles are accepted in the democratic governments of the present day, for the irresponsible party of the people is always voted out of power and must yield to the responsible party for a better government. In the cosmic administration there is only one party, which consists of the servants of God, and the responsible deities of the various planets maintain the cosmic laws in terms of the orders of the Supreme Lord. But the people suffer on account of their own folly.

Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures

Lecture on BG 2.2-6 -- Ahmedabad, December 11, 1972:

The leg division is the śūdra, the belly division is the vaiśya, and the arm division is the kṣatriya, and the head division is the brāhmaṇa. So these divisions are now lost. Actually, there is no kṣatriya, no brāhmaṇa. Maybe there are some vaiśyas and śūdras. So suppose if your whole body there is only belly and leg, then what is the body? If you have no head and no arm, then how it is? What kind of body it is? So therefore, in the social order of the present day, there is no brāhmaṇa, no kṣatriya. Only there are some few vaiśyas and śūdras. So therefore there is chaos all over the world. So this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is meant for creating some real brāhmaṇa. At least, there may be head. They are all mad after the influence of the material energy. So there is need of some brāhmaṇa who can give advice to the people how to live, how to become God conscious, how to become happy. There is great need of this movement. Simply so-called classless society will not help us. That is not Vedic civilization.

Lecture on BG 3.11-19 -- Los Angeles, December 27, 1968:

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: "All these together lead to Kṛṣṇa consciousness, the great necessity of present-day society."

Twelve: "In charge of the various necessities of life, the demigods, being satisfied by the performance of yajña supply all needs to man. But he who enjoys these gifts without offering the demigods in return is certainly a thief (BG 3.12)."

Prabhupāda: Yes. Just see, a strong word is used. Suppose if there is mention, there is recommendation that you should perform sūrya-yajña. Sūrya means the sun. The sun is supplying you so much heat, warmth, and don't you want to give him some tax or satisfy him by sacrifices? So that is our duty. If you are receiving from me so many things and if you do not at least acknowledge your gratitude, then you are a thief. We are receiving so many benefits through the agents of the Supreme Personality of Godhead and if we do not acknowledge even, "God is great, He is so kind, in spite of our so many faults He's supplying us nice foodstuff, nice everything," so how much ungrateful the human society has become, just imagine. And they want peace and prosperity. Nonsense. Where is peace and prosperity? You must suffer. You must suffer. That is your due.

Lecture on BG 4.10 -- Bombay, March 30, 1974:

This is service. Especially it is ordered to the Indians, the inhabitants of the Bhārata-varṣa. Because in Bhārata-varṣa it is easier to become Kṛṣṇa conscious. Because by nature, because they have taken birth in this land of Bhārata-varṣa, in the blood there is Kṛṣṇa consciousness. But unfortunately, the leaders are inducing them to forget Kṛṣṇa. This is the misfortune of present-day Bhārata-varṣa. You go to the village and if there is bhāgavata-pāṭha, hundreds and thousands of people will gather immediately. Immediately. Not only in the village. In the town, when we held Kṛṣṇa festival in Bombay, Calcutta, twenty-thousand, thirty-thousand people come. By nature. We cannot expect this big assembly in other countries. That is my experience. But India, because it is Bhārata-varṣa, it is very easy.

Lecture on BG 4.20-24 -- New York, August 9, 1966:

The present day, Kali-yuga, is not favorable for such sacrifice which was being performed in the Satya-yuga or Tretā... Not Tretā-yuga. Sacrifice was being performed in the Tretā-yuga, second millennium. The duration of a period. Just like in a year we have got different seasons, similarly, in the existence there are different periods. According to Vedic literature, they are called Satya-yuga, Tretā-yuga, Dvāpara-yuga, Kali-yuga. Now we are passing through the Kali-yuga. The Kali-yuga, duration of Kali-yuga is four hundred thousands, four hundred twenty-seven thousands of year. Out of that, we have passed only five thousands of years. That is the Vedic calculation.

Lecture on BG 6.30-34 -- Los Angeles, February 19, 1969:

Prabhupāda: This system of yoga, this aṣṭāṅga-yoga. Yes.

Viṣṇujana: "In fact, we do not find any record in history of his practicing it at any time. Therefore this system must be considered impossible, especially in this age of Kali. Of course it may be possible for some very few, rare men, but for the people in general it is an impossible proposal. If this was so five thousand years ago, then what to speak of the present day? Those who are imitating this yoga system in different so-called schools and societies, although complacent, are certainly wasting their time. They are completely in ignorance of the desired goal."

Prabhupāda: Yes. So this aṣṭāṅga-yoga is not possible. Therefore this yoga system, bhakti-yoga system, is applicable to anyone. You have seen when this chanting, bhakti-yoga system goes on, even a small child, he also begins to clap. You see? Without any training, without any education, automatically he takes part. So therefore Lord Caitanya has said that this is the only system in this age: harer nāma harer nāma harer nāma eva kevalam (CC Adi 17.21). Simply chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa. Kalau, in this age of Kali. Kalau nāsty eva, nāsty eva. Nāsty eva: there is no other alternative, no other alternative, no other alternative. If you adopt this system, this bhakti-yoga system, very simple, simply chanting. You'll find immediately result. Pratyakṣāvagamaṁ dharmyam. Any other yoga system, if you practice, you are in the darkness. You do not know how far you are making progress. But this system, you will understand, "Yes, I'm making such and such progress." This is the only yoga system, bhakti-yoga system, that one can practice for quick result and self-realization and liberation even in this life. He hasn't got to wait for another life. It is so nice, Kṛṣṇa consciousness.

Lecture on BG 6.32-40 -- New York, September 14, 1966:

So, now, Arjuna flatly says that "My dear Kṛṣṇa, the process which You have described is very nice process. But so far I am concerned, I admit that it is not possible for me. It is not possible." Now, we have to think that "What was not possible for Arjuna in such favorable conditions, and five thousand years before, how it is possible for me, a tiny living entity and disturbed by so many things at the present moment. My..." Kṛte yad dhyāyato viṣṇum. They used to live for ten millions of years, and it is very difficult to live for fifty years or sixty years at the present moment. Utmost, a man lives eighty years. That's all. Then again, we are not such much advanced. We are always disturbed in our circumstances. There is disease; there is war; there is pestilence; there is famine—so many disturbances. So our duration of life is smaller, and at the same time, we are disturbed, and we are not intelligent, and we are unfortunate at the same time. At the present moment, you will find, 80% people, they are unfortunate. If we compare what is fortune or misfortune, then we'll find, in every country, 80% people, they are unfortunate, and therefore this world is getting to Communism because they are fighting. They are fighting. So this is the condition of the present day.

Lecture on BG 6.47 -- Ahmedabad, December 12, 1972:

There is great opportunity for persons who are born in India for spiritual advancement. Unfortunately by force, by propaganda, we are suppressing them. That is the cause. We are suppressing them. Otherwise still we get experience. We hold these Hare Kṛṣṇa Festival in Calcutta, Bombay, and other places. Here also. Many thousands of people are coming. Because at heart there is Kṛṣṇa consciousness, but, by external forces, they are being suppressed. That is going on. It is not natural. It is unnatural. Natural is every Indian is Kṛṣṇa conscious. That is natural. By artificial means they are being suppressed. This is the misfortune of the present day of India. (break) ...can be done? In the educational system no Bhagavad-gītā. Just see. How much unfortunate... One Indian girl in Berkeley University, she asked me, "Swamiji, what is God?" Just see. She's Indian, where God takes birth, Rāmacandra, Kṛṣṇa, and she is now materially advanced. Now she is asking what is God. This is our position. The land where God come, from that land a advanced student is asking: "What is God?" This is our advancement. Hare Kṛṣṇa.

Lecture on BG 7.1 -- San Francisco, March 17, 1968:

So there is derangement of the social order in the present-day world. Why? There is no head. They are all rascals. I frankly say it. Anybody may come. Any society where there is no intellectual persons or Kṛṣṇa consciousness, that is a rascal society because there is no head. Either it is madman or a headless man, or dead body. If there is no brain, there is no head. If the brain is not working properly, then he's a madman. And if there is no head at all, then he's a dead man. So do you think in a dead society or in a mad society there can be any peace? No. What is peace? If the dead..., society is already dead, what do you mean by peace? And if the society is all full of madmen, then where is the question of peace?

Lecture on BG 7.1 -- San Francisco, March 17, 1968:

Therefore Kṛṣṇa consciousness is the most important subject of the present-day society. The responsible men who are leading the society, the president, or the secretaries, or the mayor, they should have intelligence to understand. But if we approach... The other day when I was coming to your country, I met in Japan, Tokyo, one chief secretary of the governor. I wanted to explain to him that "You just cooperate with this movement." He said, "Oh, we are secular. We cannot cooperate with any religious movement." Just see. He's one of the chief secretaries of the governor, and he's such a fool. He is taking this movement as religious movement. Just like they have got so many sentimental religions. Oh, it is not sentimental. It is the necessity of the society that a class of men should be Kṛṣṇa conscious. Otherwise the society is doomed. It is going to hell. They have no brain.

Lecture on BG 7.1 -- Los Angeles, December 2, 1968:

Now, here the word yogam is also explained. What sort of yoga Kṛṣṇa is recommending? Mayy āsakta-manāḥ. Keeping the mind always attached to Kṛṣṇa, this yoga system. This Kṛṣṇa consciousness is yoga system. At the present day, they are concentrating their mind on something void, impersonal, according to their own prescription. The real process is to concentrate the mind on something. But that something, if we make it void, it is very difficult to concentrate our mind in that way. That is also explained in the Bhagavad-gītā in the Twelfth Chapter: kleśo 'dhikataras teṣām avyaktāsakta-cetasām (BG 12.5). Those who are trying to meditate on something impersonal and void, their trouble is greater than those who are meditating on the Supreme Person. This is explained. Why? Avyaktā hi gatir duḥkhaṁ dehavadbhir avāpyate. We cannot concentrate our mind (on) something impersonal. If you think of your friend, if you think of your father, mother, or somebody whom you love, you can continue such thinking for hours together. But if you have no objective to fix up your mind, then it is very difficult. But people are being taught to concentrate on something void and impersonal.

Lecture on BG 7.1 -- Calcutta, January 27, 1973:

So my request is that we Indians, we shall take this order of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu very seriously. People are suffering for want of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. There is immense field for preaching this philosophy all over the world. You can see the example, the European and American boys, how they have been attracted, how they are singing in ecstasy. They have taken it seriously. So in India I don't find all our young men are so serious about Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement, but I invite that "Come and join this movement, make your life successful by understanding the Kṛṣṇa philosophy, and try to distribute it all over the world." This is necessity of the present day. It is not sectarian, or crooked philosophy. It is meant for my brother and my sister, not for anyone else. No. It is meant for everyone. And this knowledge can be distributed especially if the Indians take it seriously. They are doing. There are... You'll find many sannyāsīs. The... Indians should have done it. Because Caitanya Mahāprabhu says, bhārata-bhūmite haila man... But because there is scarcity of Indian philanthropists to do this business, so we are pushing on this movement through the Americans. But actually there is no such difference. Actually American or Indian, for Kṛṣṇa consciousness, we have no such distinction. Anyone, everyone is Kṛṣṇa's, and Kṛṣṇa is for everyone.

Lecture on BG 10.1 -- New York, December 27, 1966:

If God is giving you bread daily, so you have no duty to return. God will give you bread, either you want it or not want it. He is giving bread to the cats and dogs and ants and so many animals. So why not to you, human beings? Oh, that He will give. Don't bother about that. Don't bother about that. Your bread will come, wherever you may be. Either you may remain in America or in Europe or in India, wherever. Your bread is already there.

Therefore tasyaiva hetoḥ prayateta kovidaḥ. You should rise up to the occasion, how to serve God. And this is the greatest necessity of the present day civilization. People are suffering due to Godlessness, and, if you want to serve the people, your society, your country, the whole human society, then try yourself, best, try your best, you just rise up to the occasion of becoming Kṛṣṇa conscious and just spread this philosophy to the world. There will be happiness, there will be peace and everyone will be, blessing (?).

Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures

Lecture on SB 1.7.32-33 -- Vrndavana, September 27, 1976:

So many upadravas. Actually, we are very much harassed on account of the time, place, circumstances, so on, so on. It is a very hopeless condition. Therefore śāstra has recommended that "You chant Hare Kṛṣṇa." It is very hopeless condition. Harer nāma. Harer nāma harer nāma eva kevalam (CC Adi 17.21). Three. Three times. When you speak three times anything, it means I am giving stress, "You do this, you do this, you do this." So it is like that, that in order to stop so many inconveniences of the present day life, Kali-yuga... Kali means quarrel, simply creating quarrel, misunderstanding. This is Kali. So śāstra has given us... Kali-yuga is very dangerous to... One cannot make his life's mission fulfilled. One is not very happy. There are so many obstacles in the peaceful way of life. Even in the family, in the society, politically, nationally, internationally—so many difficulties. Everyone has got the experience.

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

To understand this truth, the varṇāśrama system required. Without this varṇāśrama system nobody can understand that we are individual person, we existed in the past, and we shall exist in the future, and we are existing at present. Anyone can understand. There was no change in the past, neither there will be change in the future. Simply we change the dress: tathā dehāntara-praptir dhīras tatra na muhyati (BG 2.13). This is our self-realization. This is called ātma-tattva-jñāna. But people in the present day, they are not interested. Apaśyatām ātma-tattvam (SB 2.1.2). Yāvan na jijñāsata krūraḥ ātma-tattvam. Parābhavas tāvad abodha-jāto yāvan na jijñāsata ātma-tattvam. Our activities, they are all defeat. The difference... Just like you are constructing this huge, gorgeous building and another person also constructing another huge skyscraper building. So what is the difference? The difference is here we are doing on the ātma-tattva, and they are doing for being defeated in the material world. That is the difference. You'll find the same activities, dealing with stones and bricks and workers, engineers. But one is based on ātma-tattva and the other is based on without any ātma-tattva. That is the difference.

Lecture on SB 7.6.1 -- San Francisco, March 6, 1967:

n this way, as the other day I was speaking, not here, in San Francisco, that in this age especially, a man will think himself very successful if he simply can maintain one wife and a few children. That's all. He will think himself very successful. And actually, it is a problem for present day people to maintain even an wife, which is... An animal, an animal is also maintaining a wife. There is no difficulty for him. A dog has a wife and children, so he has no economic problem. A bird has wife and children, but he has no economic problem. But man has gone so down that he is thinking to keep wife and children is an economic problem, to avoid it. To avoid it use contraceptive method, no children, simply indulge in sex life. So man has become so down and down, especially in this age. But it is not a problem. Bhāgavata says that this is not a problem. You are thinking of maintaining your wife and children. Oh, that is already arranged. As this is arranged for the animals, for the birds, for the beasts, to have a wife and enjoy sex life and beget some children, then why not for you? You are advanced human being. Then Bhāgavata says that tasyaiva hetoḥ prayateta kovidaḥ. One who is intelligent, one who knows things as they are, he is called kovidaḥ. Kovidaḥ means very expert.

Lecture on SB 7.6.1 -- Montreal, June 12, 1968:

Therefore you have to be guided by your spiritual master. Otherwise how can you know? It is not possible. Any school you go, you have to be guided by the school teacher. Otherwise you don't have any education. So this is also a kind of education, Kṛṣṇa education. So you have to find out a bona fide school, you have to find out a bona fide teacher, and then you learn. That's all. If, for Kṛṣṇa consciousness, you go to somebody who is engineer, then you cannot have Kṛṣṇa consciousness. But if you go to engineer, how to become engineer, you can become engineer. Unfortunately, we have got departments of knowledge in our educational system, but actually there is no department of knowledge where Kṛṣṇa consciousness is taught scientifically. That is the great necessity of the present day. But if you are sincere to learn, tad-vijñānārthaṁ sa gurum eva abhigacchet (MU 1.2.12), it is indicated by the direction of the Vedas, "Then you have to approach a bona fide person who can teach you Kṛṣṇa consciousness." Then you will learn it.

Lecture on SB 7.9.22 -- Mayapur, February 29, 1976:

Sa tvaṁ hi nitya-vijitātma-guṇaḥ sva-dhāmnā kālo vaśī-kṛta. Kāla, the time factor. We are under the kāla, we conditioned souls, past, present future. Kāla. Kāla, time. Time has got three factors: past, present, future. So what is past, present, future for me, that may not be past, present, future for Brahmā, or that may not be past, present, future for the ant. Every... This world is relative world. My past, present future is relative to me. My limited span of life, say a hundred years. So before hundred years, it is past. And after hundred years, it is future. And the present hundred years is present. But so far Brahmā is concerned, his past, present, future is different. Our forty-three lakhs of years multiplied by one thousand—his present day. That is his present day. Just like we have got this present day, beginning from six-thirty to five-thirty, that. So Brahmā hasn't got such day. This six-thirty to five-thirty, say eleven hours, and Brahma, this eleven hours means our forty-three lakhs of years multiplied by one thousand. Sahasra-yuga-paryantam ahar yad brahmaṇo viduḥ (BG 8.17). So in this way, relatively... Similarly, one ant, his one hundred years, he cannot imagine that so long period of man is one day. So everything is relative in our condition. But for Kṛṣṇa, He's eternal.

Sri Caitanya-caritamrta Lectures

Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 6.254 -- Los Angeles, January 8, 1968:

He lived only for forty-eight years. He took sannyāsa at the age of twenty-four years, and He passed away in... Twenty-four years He was very busy all over India. Therefore He left His legacy to the Indians, any Indian, to take up this cause and preach this cult of saṅkīrtana movement all over the world. So I shall request you to understand the philosophy of Caitanya Mahāprabhu and His movement. We have got already six centers, five centers in your country. I started first in 1966, July, in New York. Then I started in San Francisco, then Boston, then at Montreal. Of course, I did not go everywhere. These boys, the sincere boys and girls who are helping me, who have joined this movement, they are doing. This center was started also by one boy. I have come for the first time here. Now I will request you that this movement is nothing sectarian or anything bluff. It is the movement as the necessity of the human society. You join it, you consider it. You put your logic, arguments. In every way, you'll find that this is the necessity of the present day.

Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 20.100-108 -- Bombay, November 9, 1975:

So these Gosvāmīs, Sanātana Gosvāmī and Rūpa Gosvāmī, they were the principal disciples of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu, six Gosvāmī. Śrī rūpa sanātana bhaṭṭa raghunātha, śrī jīva gopāla bhaṭṭa dāsa raghunātha. All of them were very, very big, stalwart scholars, ministers, rich men, zamindars. They all joined Caitanya Mahāprabhu just to help Him to spread Kṛṣṇa consciousness. It is not a sentimental movement. It is meant for the learned scholars and highly situated person. Bhagavad-gītā is also that. Kṛṣṇa says, imaṁ rājarṣayo viduḥ (BG 4.2). The Bhagavad-gītā was not meant for any third-class man. Rājarṣi. Rājarṣi, great kings, at the same time saintly. Not kings of the present day. Saintly kings, rājarṣi. So these Vedic literatures, they are meant for the high-class men, brāhmaṇas, kṣatriyas, but Caitanya Mahāprabhu is so kind, so merciful, that He has made a process that anyone can take it. That is Caitanya Mahāprabhu's mercy. Therefore His name is Patita-pāvana. In this age everyone is fallen, everyone is fallen, and Caitanya Mahāprabhu is called "the deliverer of the fallen," patita-pāvana.

Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 21.1-10 -- New York, January 3, 1967:

So this is the position of the present-day population, and the author of Caitanya-caritāmṛta, he says that Lord Caitanya is the only hope for these people. Why? Because spiritual realization is not an ordinary subject matter. But He has given us the shortcut. He's so kind to the people of the world that simply He has introduced this Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/ Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare. By simple chanting of this transcendental vibration the people of this age will make exact progress in the matter of spiritual realization. Therefore this reference is there, agaty-eka-gatim. Those who are hopeless about their spiritual realization, Lord Caitanya is the only one hope. So hīnārthādhika-sādhakam śrī-caitanyaṁ likhāmy asya. So "I am just offering my respect to Lord Śrī Caitanya. I am trying to describe about His transcendental activities and instructions and philosophy."

Initiation Lectures

Lecture & Initiation -- Seattle, October 20, 1968:

So Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement means to approach the original Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa. This is Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Directly. This is a special gift of Lord Caitanya that... In this age there are so many anomalies, defects in the life of human being that gradually they are giving up the idea of Kṛṣṇa consciousness, or God consciousness. Not only gradually they are giving up, they have already given up. So Vedānta-sūtra therefore says, athāto brahma jijñāsā. It is not that a different type of religious system we have introduced. It is a great necessity of the present day. Because we say that either you follow scripture, Bible, or you follow Koran or you follow Vedas, the aim is God. But at the present moment, due to the influence of this Kali-yuga... Kali-yuga means the age of quarrel and disagreement. So in this age people are embarrassed in so many ways. First disqualification is that they do not live for long time. The average duration of life in India is thirty-five years, and I do not know exactly what is the average age here, but in India the people are overcrowded. They have no such intelligence, or they did not care to go outside India, colonize. Everyone went there to exploit, but they never thought of exploiting other places.

General Lectures

Press Release -- Los Angeles, December 22, 1968:

I shall speak. Record it. "Manifesto of Kṛṣṇa Consciousness." The International Society for Krishna Consciousness is a movement aiming at the spiritual reorientation of mankind through the simple process of chanting the holy names of God. The human life is meant for ending the miseries of material existence. Our present-day society is trying to do so by material progress. However, it is visible to all that in spite of the extensive material progress, the human society is not in peaceful condition. The reason is that a human being is essentially a spirit soul. It is the spirit soul which is the background of development of the material body. However the materialist scientist may deny the spiritual existence in the background of the living force, there is no better understanding than accepting the spirit soul within the body.

Lecture Engagement and Prasada Distribution -- Boston, April 26, 1969:

So there are many other formulas explained here. So therefore, as Lord... And in the Bhāgavata it is stated that kṛte tad dhyāyato viṣṇum: "These processes were tangible or possible to perform in the age which is known as Satya-yuga, or the Golden Age." Now you will find in these Bhagavad-gītā pages that after explaining the process or practice of yoga system, Arjuna said, "My dear Kṛṣṇa, excuse me. I cannot practice it. I cannot practice it. It is impossible for me." Why? "Oh, I am a military man. How can I find out a secluded place? How can I sit in such a way? My mind is always restless. I have to do so many political affairs. So it is not possible for me." So how it is possible for the present-day people, which was refused by Arjuna five thousand years ago? It is not possible. The yoga system is accepted in the Vedic literature, that is a standard practice for self-realization. But the diagnosis of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, that kṛte yad dhyāyato viṣṇum (SB 12.3.52), "The yoga system of meditation was possible to be practiced in the Golden Age, or in the Satya-yuga," but not in this age. Then how self-realization is possible? That is said, kalau tad dhari-kīrtanāt: "Simply by chanting this Hare Kṛṣṇa." It doesn't require a secluded place, a sanctified place, or so many rules and regulations. Anywhere you can chant. While you are walking on the street, you can chant Hare Kṛṣṇa. You are in meditation. While you are working, you can chant Hare Kṛṣṇa. Nobody is going to tax you; nobody is going to bother you. You have no loss, but the gain is immense. So this Hare Kṛṣṇa movement is started, and it is easy, it is prescribed. If you at all want to get some spiritual benefit, you try to follow this prescribed method. Just like if you want at all to be cured, you must take the prescription of an experienced physician. Don't take any prescription who is a quack. If you take proper treatment, if you follow the instruction, then you be sure that you get the result out of it.

Rotary Club Lecture -- Hyderabad, November 29, 1972:

So if we try to follow the already perfect statements in the śāstras, and if we apply in the, our practical life, then the whole human society will be perfect. Otherwise, if we do not follow the instruction which is perfect, already there in the śāstras—we manufacture or concoction—the social order will never be perfect and there will be always a confusion. And that is going on. I have seen. I have traveled all over the world, especially in America. They're the richest country, but there is a confusion now. The younger section, they do not like to live like their father or grandfather. They want a different body, different life. They, they are joining this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement because they are in search of such thing, perfect thing. They are fed up with this materialistic way of life. Therefore... It is not that I am playing something magic; it is the need of the present-day situation, present-day civilization, that people want Kṛṣṇa consciousness, spiritual advancement. So if we can administer the spiritual advancement of life in the proper way, as they are in our Vedic literatures, so we can contribute greatest contribution to the world, and that will glorify India's name. If we simply imitate them, or beg from them, then India's position is always remain as beggar. Because we are already known: "The nation of beggars." Because our ministers go there to ask, "Please give me this. Please give me this. Please give me." Nothing to contribute. Here is a thing, Kṛṣṇa consciousness. We can contribute to the whole world. Please help this movement.

Rotary Club Lecture -- Ahmedabad, December 8, 1972 'The Present Need of Human Society':

Mr. President, Rotarians, Ladies and Gentlemen, I thank you very much for your kindly inviting me to speak before you on the subject matter "The Present Need of the Human Society." At the present day... According to our Vedic calculation, this is called Kali-yuga. Kali means disagreement and fighting, kālaḥ. So in this age, a slight disagreement will cause some fighting, some misunderstanding. And practically, this is the age of misguidance; therefore it is called Kali-yuga. So in different Purāṇas, the symptoms of Kali-yuga is described. Śāstra. Śāstra means tri-kāla-jña. Śāstra is not ordinary book. Therefore our Vedic literatures are known as apauruṣeya, "not written by ordinary human being." Ordinary human being, who is called, according to śāstra, conditioned souls, they are conditioned by so many, nature's law. So the imperfectness of the conditioned soul are described as that a conditioned soul is sure to commit mistake; however great he may be, he'll commit mistake. And... "To err is human," they say. And he may be illusioned. Not may be. He's illusioned. Illusioned means accepting something for something else. Just like we accept this body, material body, as self. That is the conception of the general people at the present moment, especially. "I am this body." "I am Indian," "I am American," "I am brāhmaṇa," "I am śūdra." Like that. Bodily conception of life. This is illusion.

Subha Vilasa Home Engagement -- Toronto, June 19, 1976:

So just like Prahlāda Mahārāja, Śrīla Prabhupāda, even at this advanced age, in spite of so many difficulties... Just like I'm somehow or another Śrīla Prabhupāda's secretary, and I'm always trying to arrange for his physical comforts. But he's always saying, "To preach means to accept discomfort," that for an older person to travel on airplanes and to always move about and to go here and there for the service of the Lord is naturally more difficult than for a very young person. But Prabhupāda is accepting this uncomfortable situation simply to establish Kṛṣṇa consciousness throughout the world, at least to give people the opportunity that "Choose, if you like, between the internal potency and the external potency." The external potency means you're forced. We have no choice. We're forced to undergo repetition of birth and death. Janma-mṛtyu-jarā-vyādhi (BG 13.9). Nobody likes to grow old, but this youthful age, soon it will become old age. And nobody likes to die. So present-day civilization is blindly going on. Andhā yathāndhair upanīyamānās: (SB 7.5.31) the blind leading the blind. People are thinking that "My parents did it. Their parents did it. Generations have done it. So also we engage blindly in materialistic way of life and everything will be okay." But the result is that everyone is simply suffering, and after this lifetime they also have to suffer the consequences of this present life's activities blindly, not knowing that they're responsible for their activities.

Philosophy Discussions

Philosophy Discussion on Henri Bergson:

Hayagrīva: There's no way to know.

Prabhupāda: Poor fund of knowledge.

Hayagrīva: But new worlds are being added, but not indefinitely.

Prabhupāda: No, new worlds added and old worlds subtracted. That is going on, bhūtvā bhūtvā pralīyate (BG 8.19).

Hayagrīva: The present-day material scientists, astronomers, state..., one of the theories is that the universe is expanding, that the systems are going outward into space and are moving proportionately further and further from one another, just like raisins rising in dough. When raisin bread is in the oven, the raisins, they go further and further and further apart as the dough expands. So is this...?

Prabhupāda: That expansion goes to a certain extent. Then the expansion stops, then it becomes dwindling and then finished.

Purports to Songs

Purport Excerpt to Sri Sri Siksastakam -- Los Angeles, December 28, 1968:

Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu instructed His disciples to write books on the science of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. A task which those who follow Him have continued to carry out down to the present day. The elaboration and exposition on the philosophy taught by Lord Caitanya are in fact the most voluminous, exacting, and consistent, due to the unbreakable system of disciplic succession of any religious culture in the world. Yet Lord Caitanya in His youth widely renowned as a scholar Himself, left us only eight verses called Śikṣāṣṭaka.

Glories to the śrī-kṛṣṇa-saṅkīrtana, which cleanses the heart of all the dust accumulated for years together. Thus the fire of conditioned life, of repeated birth and death is extinguished. This saṅkīrtana movement is the prime benediction for humanity at large because it spreads the rays of benediction moon. It is the life of all transcendental knowledge, it increases the ocean of transcendental bliss, and it helps to have a taste of the full nectar for which we are always anxious. Second verse. Oh my Lord, Your holy name alone can render all benediction upon the living beings and therefore You have hundreds and millions of names like Kṛṣṇa, Govinda, etc. In these transcendental names You have invested all Your transcendental energies and there is no hard and fast rule for chanting these holy names. Oh my Lord, You have so kindly made approach to You easy by Your holy names, but unfortunate as I am, I have no attraction for them. Three. One can chant the holy name of the Lord in a humble state of mind, thinking himself lower than the straw in the street, more tolerant than the tree, devoid of all sense of false prestige, and ready to offer all respects to others. In such a state of mind one can chant the holy name of the Lord constantly. (end)

1968 Conversations and Morning Walks

Interview -- September 24, 1968, Seattle:

Prabhupāda: So far Hindu religion is concerned, it is a very broad thinking. The Hindu religion, Vedic religion, is divided into two kinds of philosophers. One kinds of philosopher is the impersonalist. They take the Absolute Truth as impersonal, all-pervading impersonal. And the another philosophers, they take that the Supreme Absolute Truth is person. The impersonal feature is one of the features of that person, but ultimately he is person. So without person there cannot be any question of love. Therefore the section who believes in person... Not believing, they know actually what He is, and there is method how to love that person. The example is given: just like the sun and the sunshine and the predominating Deity in the sun globe, similarly, one who comes to the light, he first of all sees the sunshine. That is impersonal. Then, if he goes further, if he is able to go to the sun planet, that is localized. And if he can enter into the sun planet and see the predominating deity there, then he is a person. So this is a vast science. People are too much engrossed with material activities. They do not try to understand actually what is the position of Absolute Truth, what is the position of the soul. Practically in the present day they are more or less animalistic. Just like animal does not know anything beyond eating, sleeping, mating and defending, similarly, the modern civilization is too much busy for increasing the method of eating and increasing the process of comfortable life or sleeping, and increasing the matter of, method of sexual life, or increasing the method of defense. So these things, are found even in the animals. They also eat, they also sleep, they also have sex life and they also defend in their own way. So human life is not limited within these four walls. He has to understand what he is, what is this world, what is this creation, what is God, how it is going on. But they are neglecting that fact. And Kṛṣṇa consciousness will give information to this department of knowledge.

Room Conversation -- October 27, 1968, Montreal, With First Devotees Going to London On Evening of Their Departure:

Prabhupāda: This is the age for injecting Kṛṣṇa consciousness. If children are taught Kṛṣṇa consciousness from this age, the face of the world will be different. (break) ...but they are not Hindus. They have got also obstinacy like that. (break) It is very important. "I thought in that way. When my mother died, as the devotees of the Lord think, I also thought in that way. What is that? 'Oh, it is a grace of the Lord. My mother is now dead.' Because she is the, I mean to say, real cause of my nonfreedom. So she is now dead. Then I am free." It is very contradiction from the materialistic point of view. It is said that, bhaktanam śam abhīpsataḥ. "As the devotees think, so I also in that way thought." What is that? Anugrahaṁ manyamānaḥ. "I thought it a special grace of the Supreme Personality of Godhead." Anugrahaṁ manyamānaḥ pratiṣṭhāṁ disam uttaram: "And I at once took leave of my so-called home and went away." So that is the difference between the devotees of the Lord and materialistic persons. When their materialistic relationship, comforts, are taken away, they think "Oh, it is all grace." And the materialistic person, when their materialistic comforts are increased, they think, "It is grace." Yā niśā sarva-bhūtānāṁ tasmin jāgrati saṁ... That is also stated in the Bhagavad-gītā. Just like... There is a crude example. I think I have cited this example many times, that a foolish patient thinks that increase of fever is very nice. Fever, so what should be the ideal? Fever should decrease. But those who are less intelligent, they think, "Yes, it must increase." (chuckles) There is a drama in Bengali that in a house a doctor came to diagnose. There were two patients, the housewife and the maidservant. So doctor said, "The maidservant's fever is 105, so there is some anxiety. I give some medicine. And the, that landlady, she has no fever practically, 99, so there is no anxiety." But the landlady became angry, that "This doctor is useless. I am the landlady. I have got 99, and my maidservant 105. And maidservant should have 98. I should have 110!" (laughter) This is the mentality. The modern civilization is trying to increase the degree of fever to 110 degrees. And, you know, as soon as the degree comes to 107 it is death. Do you know that? If the fever increases to hundred and... Therefore as soon as the high fever is there, the doctor try to decrease it by icebags and so many things because to come to the fever degree, 107 or 8, means immediate death. So the modern civilization, they are trying to increase the degree of material fever, and they have come to the point, 107 degree-atomic bomb. Now they are going to die. You see? The American atom bomb or the Russian atom bomb will kill the whole material scientists' advancement. You see? So this is the... So, and devotees, they want to decrease the fever. Decrease the fever. Therefore the highest, ideal life, according to Vedic civilization: brāhmaṇas, Vaiṣṇava. They decrease their demands of the body. Minimum demand. You see? There is amongst the brāhmaṇa, not now, in the Vedic system, the uñca-vṛtti. It is called uñca-vṛtti. Uñca-vṛtti means they will go the paddy field, and after the cultivator takes all the paddies, some paddies are thrown away. They will collect those paddies only. Just like birds, they collect. They collect those paddies, and that they will eat, not even beg, ask anybody for any morsel of food. So completely... And in the Bhāgavata, Śukadeva Gosvāmī recommends that "Oh, this open field is your bed, this is your pillow, this is your pot, and the water in river is sufficient water, the tree is full of fruits, and in the cave, there is sufficient apartment. So why should you go, anyone, to ask for your shelter, for your food?" Kasmād bhajanti kavayor dhana-durmadandhān: "Why should you approach the materialistic, puffed-up, monied men to give you some help?" So Śukadeva Gosvāmī was strictly following this, strictly following, completely independent. That is not possible at the present day. (chuckles) If we imitate, that will be not good. We have to depose(?). Our Gosvāmīs, they have prescribed yukta-vairāgya: accept everything in relationship with Kṛṣṇa. Then it is yukta-vairāgya. It is also vairāgya. Śuṣka-vairāgya and yukta-vairāgya. Śuṣka-vairāgya means simply renunciation without assimilation. Māyāvādī sect, Śaṅkara sect, they have got stringent laws for renunciation. But Vaiṣṇavas, they have no stringent law. They accept everything as Kṛṣṇa-prasādam, actually offering Kṛṣṇa, working for Kṛṣṇa, living for Kṛṣṇa. This is the best use. My Guru Mahārāja used to say, "The best use of a bad bargain." Everything in Kṛṣṇa relationship. That is yukta-vairāgya. Nirbandhaḥ kṛṣṇa-sambandhe yukta-vairāgyam ucyate. Vairagya means detachment. So when we are attached to Kṛṣṇa, automatically we are detached to māyā. Not artificially we want to be detached from māyā. Just like theoretically I know that I am not this body, but the bodily necessities are there because I am encaged in the body. Therefore the bodily necessities-eating, sleeping, mating, defending-should be done in relationship with Kṛṣṇa. Then it is all right. Then my consciousness is always in Kṛṣṇa, and I am detached to my bodily demands. And those who are not Kṛṣṇa conscious, their bodily demands is on the materialistic platform. They are going on, increasing the degree of fever and coming to the 107 degree. You are also going tomorrow?

1972 Conversations and Morning Walks

Room Conversation with John Griesser (later initiated as Yadubara Dasa) -- March 10, 1972, Vrndavana:

Śyāmasundara: Not yet come.

Prabhupāda: When?

Śyāmasundara: He will ring as soon as it comes. He telephoned it is on its way. It should be here any moment.

Prabhupāda: They are so slow. They do not understand the spiritual value of life, and simply they are satisfied with something hodgepodge, that's all. The entire population of the present-day world. Just like the hippies. There are so many hippies. They want something spiritual, but no clear... Something hodgepodge, that's all.

Yadubara: Has this happened before, the material wealth that we have now? Has it happened in past ages?

Prabhupāda: Yes.

Yadubara: Technological advancement, scientific?

Prabhupāda: All scientific. As this is winter season, so there will be a summer season. Anyone can say that after two months there will be summer season. Similarly, these ages are also, what is called, changing. So now it is Kali-yuga. After this Kali-yuga, there will be Satya-yuga. Cycle. So everything is happening. When there is winter season, everyone feels cold. So there is no question of asking. The particular type of age and its reaction of the quality of the nature, it will be there. So as there are many Kali-yugas, so it is to be understood that many times these things happened, and many times again will happen. Seasonal flowers, fruits. In the past, there were many times all those flowers and fruits, and in the future also they will appear. What is the difficulty to understand? But if in all these changing circumstances, if you become Kṛṣṇa conscious, then your position becomes transcendental. You are no more subjected to all this changing process. So that opportunity is in the human life. It doesn't matter whether he is in the Kali-yuga or Satya-yuga. Because he has got this human form of life, he must be Kṛṣṇa conscious. Then his problem is solved. So you have to preach like this, that we are giving the best human welfare activities to utilize this human form of life.

Room Conversation with Maharishi Impersonalists -- April 7, 1972, Melbourne:

Prabhupāda: Lalitā-Kṛṣṇa. Yes.

Upendra: He went to Malaysia. He is going to university here, and he went back home, looking all over for the devotees, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, couldn't find them. He was looking all over for them. Then he came back here for study.

Prabhupāda: They do not issue the visa. The difficulty is. What can be done? Now you... Lalitā-Kṛṣṇa, his name is Lalitā-Kṛṣṇa? He is now initiated. He is pukka devotee. He is chanting, dancing, like anything, in ecstasy. He is a very good boy. Where he is now?

Śyāmasundara: Juhu.

Prabhupāda: Bombay. Oh, he is very intelligent. So if some of you become devotees, then you can start this movement there in Malaysia. It is a very nice movement. It is the movement for the present day, for human peace and love. So if... Every one of you should study the philosophy, try to understand it and spread it. That is good for you and good for others. (end)

1973 Conversations and Morning Walks

Room Conversation with Indonesian Scholar -- February 27, 1973, Jakarta:

Scholar: But we think in the present day, Indonesia's, we think about harmonizing spiritual and material aspects of life, this our...

Prabhupāda: No. No. Harmonize means... First of all you must know what is harmonization. Harmonization means that this material life means bodily concept of life. This is material life. "I am this body." Generally people think like that: "I am Indonesian." "I am American." "I am Hindu." "I am Muslim." And they take care of the country where he's born. Yasyātma-buddhiḥ kuṇape tridhātuke sva-dhīḥ kalatrādiṣu bhauma ijyadhīḥ, but this conception, bodily conception of life, has made the whole human society like cats and dogs. "It is my land. It is my..." Just like a dog. As soon as another dog comes. "Bark, bark, bark, bark. Why you have come here? Why you have come here." So this, this kind of harmonization is dog civilization.

Room Conversation with Sir Alistair Hardy -- July 21, 1973, London:

Sir Alistair Hardy: Yes.

Mukunda: That's our main concern.

Sir Alistair Hardy: Well, I'd very much like to have records of experience, accounts of present-day experience. Although as I say, at the moment I'm rather tending to concentrate on the western. I'm hoping to get scholars who are really Sanskrit scholars and those people who can really understand the language of oriental affairs.

Prabhupāda: No, first thing is: this, this is a different science. Science of God is not material science. Simply material, academic career will not help.

Sir Alistair Hardy: No, no. I agree.

Revatīnandana: "Eastern-Western" will not help.

Sir Alistair Hardy: No, I get example (?) to both, both from the East and the West.

Prabhupāda: Simply by becoming Sanskrit scholar or Latin scholar, it is not sufficient. He must be God-realized, purified. Then it is possible. Ataḥ śrī-kṛṣṇa-nāmādi na bhaved grāhyam indriyaiḥ: (Brs. 1.2.234) "By your these blunt senses it is not possible to understand what is God, what is His form, what is His name, what is His quality, what is His kingdom, what is His paraphernalia." These things are to be understood. God means... Just like when we speak of "king." King does not mean alone. King means he has got his queen, he has got his kingdom, he has got his secretary, he has got his minister, he has got his palace, he has... so many things, king, royal. When we speak of Queen, we immediately remember the Buckingham Palace, his (her) bodyguards and so many, so many other things. Similarly, God means He has got His entourage also, everything. He's not alone. To understand God means to understand everything of God—His name, His fame, His līlā, His pastimes. So nāmādi. With all these blunt senses, how can we... We cannot understand even the Personality of Godhead, what to speak of other things? "God is a person:"—it is a very difficult subject matter for ordinary man to take it, very difficult subject. That is stated in the... Even the demigods they cannot understand. That is... Because he's thinking materially that "This cosmic manifestation, then creation, is so big, and it is created by a person. How it is possible?" But... Because they do not know what is that person. Simply by the word "person," he is afraid: "Oh, oh, oh, oh."

Room Conversation with Dr. Arnold Toynbee, Famous Historian, at his home or office -- July 22, 1973, London:

Prabhupāda: Otherwise, let him work in the factory or in the office, in the city. It doesn't matter. One has to change his consciousness. Then he's perfect, Kṛṣṇa conscious, sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja (BG 18.66). That consciousness has to be changed. Then everything will be, automatically become...

Dr. Arnold Toynbee: Yes, yes. (pause)

Prabhupāda: What book you are writing now?

Dr. Arnold Toynbee: Oh, I'm writing a book about Greece, about the effect of ancient Greece on present-day Greece.

Prabhupāda: Oh.

Dr. Arnold Toynbee: The Greeks, like Indo-China, have a great past, and this is quite a difficulty for them. They're rather overshadowed by their own past. They don't quite know how to deal with it. I am writing about that.

Prabhupāda: What is your view about connection of the old Greeks with India?

Dr. Arnold Toynbee: About the Greeks in India?

Prabhupāda: Greek, Greek people and Indian.

Dr. Arnold Toynbee: For several centuries they had a very important part in Indian history. Very important.

Prabhupāda: Yes, yes.

Morning Walk -- December 6, 1973, Los Angeles:

Prajāpati: So much of it is based on politics, also, Prabhupāda. They...

Prabhupāda: Yes, They, they, they're everything, motivated. So therefore they're imperfect. I have got... Just like this United Nations. They have gone there for becoming united, but they remain disunited forever. Just see. All the best men go there for becoming united, but forever they will remain disunited. Just see the practical. Because they're all imperfect, rascals, motivated. How they can be united? They cannot be united. Simply spoiling their time and public money. That's all. Simply spoiling. But public have no eyes to see them. They're also rascal. Therefore my Guru Mahārāja used to say that the whole society's now combination of cheaters and cheated. That's all. The cheated want cheaters, and cheaters take the opportunity of the cheated. And that is the combination of the present day society. Somebody, they want to be cheated. And there are some cheaters. So the whole society is combination of cheater and cheated.

1974 Conversations and Morning Walks

Morning Walk -- April 20, 1974, Hyderabad:

Pañcadraviḍa: For instance, Rāmānuja sampradāya or also Madhva-sampradāya, they sometimes don't accept Pañca-tattva as being supreme. So is their actions also considered offensive even if they are acting within sampradāya?

Prabhupāda: Yes, yes, yes.

Mahāṁsa: (break) ...Rāmānuja sampradāya, do they have a chain of disciplic succession, bona fide chain, to this present day?

Prabhupāda: Yes.

Mahāṁsa: And the other sampradāyas also?

Prabhupāda: Yes. Chain must be there. Now, whether strictly following the..., that is another thing.

Pañcadraviḍa: (break) ...invited us to their program at Udupi, Madhva-sampradāya. When they are changing the ācāryas every two years, they extended one invitation to come for their program, main temple program.

Prabhupāda: So why did you not accept?

Pañcadraviḍa: There was no transportation available.

Prabhupāda: Transportation?

Mahāṁsa: Should we go to such programs, Prabhupāda?

Prabhupāda: If they invite, why not? That means they recognize. But one thing, you be certain whether this Tirupati temple is going to allow our men.

Room Conversation -- June 11, 1974, Paris:

Prabhupāda: You can export after death. What is the wrong? You can export. Immediately, you take the cows after death, take the skin and take the meat also, skin and flesh, and put it into refrigerator and make export. We simply say that until the death of the cow, don't kill. Let us take the milk. That is our appeal only. What is the wrong there?

Puṣṭa-kṛṣṇa: Also, the other day, Śrīla Prabhupāda, you were telling us in Geneva that in India it was, at least until the present day forbidden to eat cows, and that those who would eat animals, they would eat dogs or goats, like this.

Prabhupāda: Yes. We recommend the meat-eaters who eat dogs, as Korea, they're eating dogs, so you can eat also dog. But don't... You eat it. After death. We don't say don't eat. You are so much fond of eating. All right. You eat. Because after the death, we have to give somebody, some living entity. So generally, it is given to the vultures. So why to the vultures? Take the civilized men, who are as good as vultures. (laughter) The so-called civilized men. Yes. What is the difference between the vultures and these rascals? The vultures also enjoy a dead body. And they also kill, make it dead and enjoy. They're vultures.

Room Conversation with Bishop Kelly -- June 29, 1974, Melbourne:

Bishop Kelly: Well, of course, the difficulty as you rightly point out many times there, that man in the present day civilization, he is so often mesmerized, he is captivated by what he sees in front of him... It is the modern garden of Eden that he sees. He sees many delectable apple trees, so to speak, and he feels in the new vaunted value given to personalism and the expression of self, and the self-seeking, that he reaches out towards those things, and I'm afraid that in many cases the difficulty is to convince him that he is only getting poor substitutes until he has tasted and eaten and tried to digest and finds, you know, that there is no satisfaction, there is no wholesome food to be found there.

Prabhupāda: That is also stated in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam by... That is also statement of Prahlāda Mahārāja, this boy devotee. He says, na te viduḥ svārtha-gatiṁ hi viṣṇum: (SB 7.5.31) "These foolish people, they do not know, what is their actual self-interest." So he says, "They do not know the actual self-interest is approaching God. That is real self-interest. But they do not know it." Na te viduḥ svārtha-gatiṁ hi viṣṇuṁ durāśayā (SB 7.5.31). "They have made their plan wrongly to become happy in this material world." Na te viduḥ svārtha-gatiṁ hi viṣṇuṁ durāśayā ye bahir-artha-māninaḥ (SB 7.5.31). Bahir-artha-māninaḥ means external: "They have taken the external energy, the material world, as very important. And the leaders also, the so-called leaders... They are being led. The leaders, they are blind, and they are leading some other blind men without knowing that they cannot be happy in that way because he is under strict, stringent laws of nature, material nature."

1975 Conversations and Morning Walks

Room Conversation with Sanskrit Professor, other Guests and Disciples -- February 12, 1975, Mexico:

Prabhupāda: They... Anyone can. Rabindra Bābu was also like that. (laughter) He was a bābu, but he became guru. This is going on.

Guest (4): That means that about this varṇa-saṅkara etc—Lord Kṛṣṇa mentions in Gītā—that this present day society is varṇa-saṅkara.

Prabhupāda: Varṇa-saṅkara. There is no varṇāśrama; therefore all the children, they are varṇa-saṅkara. And as soon as there is varṇa-saṅkara population, the world becomes hell. Therefore we are trying to check—"No illicit sex"—to stop this varṇa-saṅkara. Now the varṇa-saṅkara has come to such an extent that they are killing child, and that is legal. They have come down to such a extreme position.

Guest (4): But surely there is a practical point of view also. There is nothing to eat. What will happen?

Prabhupāda: Who says nothing to eat? That is also their manufacture.

Room Conversation with Tripurari -- March 2, 1975, Atlanta:

Prabhupāda: Others will follow.

Devotee: The mass will follow. Some other times I've heard you say, like the other day, that the masses of people... When Balavanta Prabhu was running for office you were saying that it'd be very difficult to get our present-day leaders to take to Kṛṣṇa consciousness. I'd just like to try to understand further, whether it is the masses or the leaders?

Prabhupāda: No, we are dealing generally with the masses. But if we can convert one leader, then it is equal to turning many people in the mass. That is the idea. Some way or other, we are doing Kṛṣṇa's service. Either you serve the mass or the leader, it doesn't matter. Your service is recognized.

Tripurāri: Sometimes the devotees question, if they were pure, then they could get everyone to take a big book. It's simply our fault that we're not pure enough that we can't get everyone to take a big book. Or is it just that we can't engage everyone, we can't get everyone to surrender completely?

Prabhupāda: Well, that is also a devotional attitude. Just like Caitanya Mahāprabhu said that "I do not love Kṛṣṇa. So that's... And if I would have loved, then I would have died without His presence. But I am living now. Therefore I have no love for Kṛṣṇa." This is another thing. One who is too much addicted to the service of Kṛṣṇa, that is very good sign. So your headquarter is now Pittsburg?

Tripurāri: No, now Philadelphia.

Conversation with Devotees on Theology -- April 1, 1975, Mayapur:

Prabhupāda: Eh?

Acyutānanda: He says the Bible is not... The Bible is not the complete authority?

Prajāpati: No, it's the tradition of the church through the great founding fathers, the great theologians up until the present day.

Viṣṇujana: Sādhu, śāstra, guru.

Prabhupāda: No... Vāk...

Prajāpati: Yes, unfortunately no guru.

Prabhupāda: Church... Church is following Bible.

Prajāpati: Yes.

Prabhupāda: So ultimately Bible becomes authority.

Prajāpati: In certain segments of Christianity, not all.

Acyutānanda: So what is their conclusion?

Pañcadraviḍa: Excuse me one minute before we go on. What is this in relation to, this discussion? I just walked in.

Prabhupāda: This... The subject matter is whether by theological arguments one can understand God.

Pañcadraviḍa: Well, according to dictionary, theology, theo, the Latin word theo, it means, that means God. Theo means God. And as far as I know, theology means the science or the study of God.

Prabhupāda: Yes.

1976 Conversations and Morning Walks

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

Prabhupāda: What is this article? Ah. "Kṛṣṇa Consciousness-The Spirit of '76." "Curing the Crimes of a Lifetime." Vibhavatī. "Curing the Crimes"—read it.

Puṣṭa Kṛṣṇa: (reads) "Adapted from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, translation and commentary by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda." In the middle there is a picture of Arjuna piercing the target, and Draupadī. "With the recent disgrace of an American president still fresh in our minds, it is interesting to read of a similar case in ancient times. Five thousand years ago a blind king named Dhṛtarāṣṭra dishonored his high post and caused the death of millions. This story is of special importance even today, because he found an antidote to the crimes of a lifetime and in his old age became self-realized. King Dhṛtarāṣṭra was the acting monarch of Hastināpura, the capital of the Vedic kingdom of Bhārata, which five thousand years ago, according to the Vedic literature, spread over most of the planet. Hastināpura was on the banks of the Yamunā River at the present-day site..., at the site of present day Delhi. As its name indicates-hasti means elephant—it was a city full of opulently decorated elephants. Noble men rode elaborate chariots past marble palaces inlaid with glittering jewels. The sweet smell of incense drifted out of lattice windows. Trees bearing fruits and flowers lined the wide streets, which were sprinkled with scented water. There was no hint of poverty or distress. Hastināpura was the crown jewel of the abundant Vedic civilization. From the beginning, Dhṛtarāṣṭra's position as king was never legal, for he was blind, and Vedic law ruled that a blind man cannot be king. Thus the throne went to his younger brother Pāṇḍu. But when Pāṇḍu died in his young manhood, Dhṛtarāṣṭra began ruling on behalf of Pāṇḍu's five sons, who were still children. In an age of great and honorable kings, Dhṛtarāṣṭra was an exception. Swayed by his eldest son Duryodhana's ruthless lust for power, Dhṛtarāṣṭra began to abuse the guardianship of the Pāṇḍavas by closing his already blind eyes to the planned and purposeful efforts of Duryodhana to destroy the boys. As the descendant of a great royal dynasty, Dhṛtarāṣṭra had the lineage and rearing of a proper monarch, but it seemed that he was as blind spiritually as he was physically. Although he admired and even loved the five fatherless princes, he began to contemplate taking away their kingdom, and even their lives."

Prabhupāda: At seven o'clock we shall go there?

Kīrtanānanda: Yes.

Room Conversation -- August 22, 1976, Hyderabad:

Prabhupāda: Yes. And it details everything. So you purchase some copies. We have to prepare...

Maṇihāra: "...of varying degrees of education and from many walks of life, students, teachers, scientists, servicemen, laborers, and professionals—indeed numerous race, creeds and nationalities—are attached towards it. The unifying characteristics that brings such diverse individuals to Kṛṣṇa consciousness are high ethical standards and a sincere desire to understand spiritual truths. To make a pleasure-loving and easy-going Western youth to shed his fashionable dress and make him give up his dearly cherished beefsteaks, wine and women, cannabis and LSD, and don the saffron robe, shave his head, hold the daṇḍa, and chant Hare Kṛṣṇa, is no mean achievement. That ISKCON has made thousands of Western youths perform this seemingly impossible task is an eloquent testimony of the impact it has made on the life of the contemporary West. ISKCON does offer to the modern man a haven of refuge from the complexity of anxiety of present-day life. The society has indeed set before itself a noble and laudable ideal..."

Prabhupāda: When the Englishmen were ruling over this country and Gandhi had to do so much labor, his life sacrificed, some way or other they were gone. Now the same Englishman is working here as book distributor. (laughs) Who was our ruler. So whose achievement is better? Gandhi's or mine?

Gargamuni: Yours.

1977 Conversations and Morning Walks

Evening Darsana -- January 23, 1977, Bhuvanesvara:

Guest (2): Exactly. We Indian people, we know what is religion, not politics.

Prabhupāda: No. Politics is there. Politics means formerly the brāhmaṇas were the guide, teacher of the society, guide of the society. Brahminical culture. The brāhmaṇas were not interested in politics. They would give advice to the kṣatriyas, and the kṣatriyas would administer. Brāhmaṇas were not interested to take politics, from time immemorial, even during the time of Mahārāja Pṛthu. Not that the kṣatriyas were irresponsible, no. They were taking guidance from the learned brāhmaṇas, saintly persons, and they were ruling over. Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira was doing that. Mahārāja Parīkṣit was doing that. Lord Rāmacandra also.

Guest (2): During the present day, sir, to whom we will treat as brāhmaṇa, kṣatriya and vaiśya and śūdra?

Prabhupāda: That I was explaining. According to the symptom.

Guest (1): Cātur-varnyam mayā sṛṣṭaṁ guṇa-karma-vibhāgaśaḥ (BG 4.13).

Prabhupāda: So actual...

Mr. Pandiya: Bratim(?) eva tu kāraṇam.

Prabhupāda: Yes. Unfortunately, at the present moment there is no brāhmaṇas. Kalau śūdra-sambhavāḥ.

Room Conversation about BTG the Moon -- February 18, 1977, Mayapura:

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: There was an underlying question of whether the magazine... Brahmānanda Mahārāja had mentioned that your original idea was that this magazine was meant for the devotees to write into the magazine and the spiritual master would read the articles and thus see how the devotees were making advancement, and the magazine was for the devotees to read each other's articles. Generally how the one..., the kind of the present-day idea behind the magazine is that it is for the common man outside. It is not so much for the devotee as much as for the karmīs. And therefore...

Prabhupāda: No, what is the purpose? To distribute to the karmīs?

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Yes. The purpose is to somehow connect the karmīs and give them a favorable opinion of our society, a general idea and favorable opinion of our movement. But the criticism on the part of some of the senior devotees now is that in doing this they have compromised our philosophy and our position.

Brahmānanda: Instead of quoting from some śāstra, they quote from a mundane book.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: All the books. There's no more Sanskrit used.

Prabhupāda: So who has done this? You are asking me?

Brahmānanda: Rāmeśvara Swami's in charge.

Hari-śauri: Another example's like that they put a recipe for halavā in the magazine, two-page spread in color.

Prabhupāda: So the Rāmeśvara should not be in charge. The Satsvarūpa should be in charge.

Satsvarūpa: I'm very eager to take it over again.

Prabhupāda: Immediately do.

Room Conversation -- April 10, 1977, Bombay:

Prabhupāda: Very nice.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: When I was studying world history in college, when I read this system, they call it feudal, feudal system, I was very peaceful in my mind. I was very interested how nice everything, orderly... I was impressed with the order. Of course, I did not understand Kṛṣṇa consciousness, but I could see it was much nicer. This is chaos, the present-day system.

Prabhupāda: There was fighting between two political parties. The cultivator is working on the field. One party soldier and, "Where is the other party's soldiers?" "I have seen, they have gone this way." The soldiers of the king, let them fight. Therefore all the soldiers, they assembled in Kurukṣetra. It had nothing to do with the public. Fighting is going on, killing is going on in that big place. They were peaceful. "You conquer or either Kauravas. We shall pay tax. That's all." Why the public should be drawn?

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Nowadays they drop one atom bomb, a whole half the country, half the people destroyed.

Prabhupāda: Then whole meeting, people are coming, Russian people. When Indira is empowered they are coming to hear her, and she is gone. Rascals. What is the value of their vote? Sometimes giving vote here, sometimes giving vote there.

Room Conversation -- June 18, 1977, Vrndavana:

Prabhupāda: There are other islands.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Yes.

Prabhupāda: Andaman, Nicobar, like that.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Oh. But we're not... Bhakti-prema Mahārāja said that yesterday he was going to look through the commentaries to try and understand which these referred to in present-day geography. He wasn't certain about. He only knew that one was...

Prabhupāda: There are nearby islands. I don't know whether it is... Andaman, Nicobar Islands. So those islands similarly from India were sent. Now it is inhabited. (break) ...work is stopped on account of your (indistinct)?

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: No. (break) No, I mean in terms of our drawings and things, will we be... Will you be staying here for a little while still, in Vṛndāvana?

Prabhupāda: Why not?

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: I mean, you have no... I'm just trying to think in terms of pacing ourselves, what the schedule...

Prabhupāda: No, we can stay here unless business is finished. There is no other engagement.

Room Conversation -- October 11, 1977, Vrndavana:

Prabhupāda: Hm. That is good. That's all.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Many people will come to this community to see how it is done. I think it will become very, very important in many different respects—for farmers, for people who are interested in designing ideal communities, for so many people who would like to live an ideal life, for people who want to come and see a unique place to visit, because there will be a temple of Kṛṣṇa-Arjuna there, a doll exhibit. I think it can be a wonderful preaching opportunity. And most wonderful of all is if we can exhibit self-sufficiency, that simply by farming the land, we can get enough grains, and taking care of the cows, we can get enough good foods to keep the body healthy. We can produce our own clothing. This is very much needed in this age. It's a positive alternative to artificial civilization. And the center will be Kṛṣṇa. All of the different activities and varṇas will be demonstrated, and all the different āśramas will be ideally being lived by the different devotees. People will see everything that they're doing is here but in its pure form and everyone working happily and cooperatively together. Actually, Śrīla Prabhupāda, in order for it to really work you have to come there, to be very honest. I know it will never be there unless you come and stay with us there and just show us and teach us. 'Cause I've seen practically that although everything is already written, Your Divine Grace has had to come and show personally a little bit, "Do like this; do like that." As the ācārya, you have adjusted everything perfectly to suit the situation of the present day and age. No one else could do that, none of your Godbrothers. No one in India could ever do that except you. So you are required. Everything is there, but you are also..., you have to be there. Otherwise I don't know if it's actually possible. And it's very important. You have to get better, Śrīla Prabhupāda. We're prepared to stay with you—all of the devotees feel this way—to encourage you to get better. Our plans are there, we're there, but we need you. You have to be there with us to guide us. I think that this disease is simply Kṛṣṇa testing our actual..., our love for you, Śrīla Prabhupāda, so that we will learn that we fully need you, 'cause actually we do. Everything we've done in this movement you've guided us with. We're realizing that you have to continue to guide us. We're not self-realized. We simply are able to carry out your instructions. So we have nothing else to do but to be with you here until you get healthy again and then lead us. This is our business now—to be with you. It seems like there are so many opportunities now that are beginning to present themselves. When you first went to the West there was nothing at all, and you created a whole world of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. And now the public is beginning to actually take a real interest in our movement and people, respectable people from all over the world, are coming forward to want to help our movement. So there's a great facility that's available now even more than ten years ago. So if we've made so much progress in ten years, in another ten years there's no way to measure how much our movement can be expanded. And we're all just ready to follow each one of your directions. You don't have to tax yourself by... You can just talk to us and tell us, and we'll act. And we're very happy. In the meantime, we will give you the medicine of hari-nāma.

Prabhupāda: Hm. That is real medicine.

Room Conversation -- October 13, 1977, Vrndavana:

Prabhupāda: According to our śāstra, mind is meant for speculation. It does not give us any definite knowledge. My mind is working in one way; your mind is working another way. There is no conclu... Manorathenāsati dhāvato bahiḥ (SB 5.18.12). This is the result of mental speculation. And Gītā also says that manaḥ ṣaṣṭhānīndriyāṇi prakṛti-sthāni karṣati (BG 15.7). This spiritual spark, being bound up by the mind and the senses, is struggling hard on the material nature. And he's simply struggling. No fixed up condition. Everyone will say, "I think this is right." What is right, he does not know. That is struggle. Is it not?

Svarūpa Dāmodara: Yes, Śrīla Prabhupāda. There are a group of physicists in the world today that... They think that the phenomena and the relationship between life and matter is some sort of a complementary. Just like they took this idea from a physicist called Niels Bohr. He tried to explain the quality of a particle called electron that has two properties. Sometimes is behaves like a wave, and sometimes it behaves like a particle. So he proposed an idea called "complementarity." Taking from that idea, some of the present-day physicists think that life and matter are some sort of a complementary. But we are saying that that is wrong, saying that life is completely different from matter, inanimate matter. We're going to make that stand strong and also make it quite clear in the conference.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Śrīla Prabhupāda, Bhavānanda Mahārāja is here.

Prabhupāda: Hm. Bhavānanda Mahārāja?

Bhavānanda: Yes, Śrīla Prabhupāda.

1947 to 1965 Correspondence

Letter to Dr. Rajendra Prasad, President of Indian Union -- Delhi 21 November, 1956:

I beg to submit herewith that by the Grace of Sri Krishna through His mercy personified—my spiritual master, I have realized it most thoroughly that going "Back to Godhead" is the highest privilege of mankind and that is the supreme perfection of human life.

Unfortunately, the present day human civilization is very much attracted with the beauty of Apara Prakrti the illusory material Nature and as such they are overpowered by a demoniac form of propensity in the atheistic set up of civilization manifested in the matter of sense gratification. This tendency is dangerously harmful to the real progress of life.

1968 Correspondence

Letter to Janardana -- Los Angeles 21 January, 1968:

I become very much proud of nonsense rascal disciples like you. Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu represented Himself as a nonsense rascal to understand Vedanta philosophy. Actually, at the present day the people in general cannot understand Vedanta philosophy. The other day I met here Swami Pravhavananda, and I talked with him. To speak plainly how I found him—a great rascal. I know that this station is one of Rama-Krishna mission, beginning from Vivekananda, down to this age, all are living in fool's paradise. Pravhavananda said that Rama-Krishna in his previous life was Lord Caitanya. Similarly it is said that he was formerly Rama and Krishna.

Letter to Mr. David J. Exley -- Los Angeles 21 February, 1968:

I do not know what further pertinent material ___ need of concerning our organization's qualification ___ entered upon the list of Non-Governmental Organizations ___ simply assure you that the enclosed copies of certification support the fact that I am recognized Acarya of ___ al Movement. The people in this part of the world ___ understanding the importance of this most needed ___ present day. I may inform you in this connection ___ court case, in which one of my students was involved ___ us. Before joining our Society, he was condemned ___ imprisonment. Fortunately enough, the boy was released as the court judge learned that he is affiliated ___ ution. the judge remarked, "This boy belongs to ___ religious order that is doing much for the community ___ against drug addiction, and for healthy life."

Letter to Harer Nama -- Allston, Mass 28 May, 1968:

Actually this Krishna Consciousness movement is the greatest need of the present day situation of the world. It is authorized approved and very old, and practical. It can be accepted by any person in any part of the world; that is already tested. Now each one of us has got a great responsibility to spread this movement as far as possible and that is the greatest service to the suffering humanity. You are a student of psychology, so you can study this movement more clearly than others, and try to spread it to your best capacity.

1969 Correspondence

Letter to Jaya Gopala -- Los Angeles 12 July, 1969:

I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter of July 4, 1969, and I have carefully noted the contents. For the time being you should go on with your work there. I shall consult with Tamala Krishna, and if possible I shall try to send devotees there to help you. In the meantime you should continue going out on Sankirtana as much as possible and preach to the many boys and girls with whom you come into contact there. Krishna Consciousness is the absolute need of the present day society, and there are many people who will come to join us if we simply make these teachings of Bhagavad-gita and rest of the Vedic literature available to them. So try to sell Back to Godheads as far as you are able to do with only Arundhati and yourself on Sankirtana Party, and soon others will come to join you.

Letter to Madhusudana -- Tittenhurst 19 September, 1969:

Here in England there is very good potency for spreading Krishna Consciousness. When I arrived on September 11th, there was a nice reception at the airport, and one article reporting on the event is enclosed herewith. Last Tuesday evening we appeared for 40 minutes on a popular interview show on the BBC television station. This Monday there is to be shown another one hour long documentary program on our activities in England. Perhaps you have heard by now that there are three new centers opened recently; Tokyo, Laguna Beach and Colorado. So Lord Caitanya is being very merciful to many of the boys and girls of the present day Western world by giving them the intelligence to understand the importance of developing Krishna Consciousness.

Letter to Satsvarupa -- Tittenhurst House, England 31 October, 1969:

Now coming to some other points discussed in the Cathedral Sermons pamphlet, we may take notice of the writer's statement which may help us in understanding the real position of Christian religion. In one of the statements he says the Bishop Dean, the former Executive Officer of the Anglican Communion, said to the general Synod of the Anglican Church of Canada last month that he gives the church as it exists today ten more years of life. The reason the church was dying he said was because it had become irrelevant. This means that the church people no more can convince the advanced, educated men of the present day. In another place he says in discussing the Ten Commandments of the Bible about the sanctity of (human life). Instead of exactly quoting the commandment "Thou shalt not kill," he replaces by his own words "Thou shalt do no murder". But he does not know how his own words reflect to the then society wherein Lord Jesus Christ was preaching.

1971 Correspondence

Letter to Professor Kotovsky -- Moscow 24 June, 1971:

Tulsidas was a devotee of Lord Rama and he has given his thoughts in his book Ramayana. But the real original thoughts and ideas are in Srimad-Bhagavatam. I have already given you a sample copy of my translation of Srimad-Bhagavatam (one chapter only) and there are many hundreds of chapters like that. I think some of you should translate this great book of knowledge into Russian and it will be a great contribution. I am fully prepared to cooperate with you. India has very many authorized transcendental literatures for the benefit of the whole world. I am glad to note on page 72 of your book that "They (the Soviet scholars) regard the ancient literary heritage of India notes a petrified miracle of bygone times but as a living and growing tradition that exerts a fruitful influence on present-day literature and remains an inexhaustible source of literary and cultural development of contemporary India."

1972 Correspondence

Letter to Rupanuga -- Calcutta 22 February, 1972:

I am very, very pleased with your program to infiltrate the schools and colleges, especially by introducing our books and classes in Krishna Yoga. I say one thing, if you can somehow or other turn all of these students and hippies, or even a portion of them to Krishna Consciousness, then this Movement will sweep across the world and save it from the present-day precarious condition when everything has become so much degraded. If many of their student class take up this Movement, your country's government will help, and if they help, there is immense potency for spreading to all other places. Now you push very cool-headedly and tactfully on this program of reaching and convincing the student-class with our books and philosophy, and that will be your success of life and for that Krishna will very quickly reveal Himself to such sincere worker face-to-face, you may know it for certain.

Letter to Balavanta -- Los Angeles 28 May, 1972:

At least this will give our movement good publicity and you will be able to enlighten in general by pointing out the bad state of affairs of present day society. At present moment, our leaders are simply misleading people, and the people in general are innocently following them to their ruin. So it is very much our duty to come to their aide and point out exactly how this sinful living, namely, slaughtering animals, intoxication, illicit sex life, and gambling, how these sinful activities are so much degrading to the human kind and how they are only producing hippies, wars, and endless suffering as a result. So we want to give the citizens the positive value of Krishna consciousness way of life, so for that activity we must always be preaching very strongly in the public. Therefore I approve your plan to run for public office, now you do it with full confidence and conviction, never mind there may be some opposition, that is to be expected.

Letter to Rsabhadeva -- London 14 July, 1972:

I have heard from Bhakti das that that University in San Diego where I spoke is willing to have me there, so unless you are able to arrange something there at Berkeley or San Francisco, I shall probably teach at San Diego. Accredited or not accredited, it doesn't matter, I simply want to present this great philosophy to serious students who will understand it and deliver the world from the present-day ignorance of misinformation, so if you can help me in this way I shall very much appreciate.

1973 Correspondence

Letter to Damodara -- Bombay, India 9 January, 1973:

So I am very glad to hear that you are taknog so many steps for improving things and spreading Krsna Consciousness more and more to the citizens at large. Main thing is to somehow or other create first quality preachers on Krsna's behalf. So many boys and girls are simply wasting their time in so many frivolous ways, but if we are sincere and serious to attract them to Krsna's fold, very easily we shall be able to persuade them to join us. That means simply let them get a taste of something higher than their present-day sense pleasure. Of course, that will not be so easily done, and that will be your credit for doing it. You have got now good experience, and you are mature, cool-headed and sincere devotee, therefore, I shall expect a very good result from your activity in this way.

Letter to Damodara -- Bombay, India 9 January, 1973:

So far your ideas about influencing the leaders of society, yes, that must be done. But political power is not in their hands actually, factually speaking. It is the common people who elect the leaders of your country. Therefore we must get the support of the common men. What good is the support of a handful of so-called leaders of society? But, on the other hand, if such leaders of society can be influenced to preach on our behalf, help us to spread Krsna Consciousness in some practical way, that is the best service. But simply supporting, that will not help us. Support of mass of people will help us. But mass of people take direction from their leaders, so if the leaders of present day society can be persuaded of our beneficial working for the human welfare, and if they help us somehow to spread what they have learned from us to the people in general, that is the point to be considered. By going out for sankirtana and selling books to the citizens at large, in this way we are gradually getting the support of everyone, not just a select few.

Letter to Lynne Ludwig -- Los Angeles 30 April, 1973:

Krishna tells Arjuna, His disciple, that "It is lust only . . . which is the all-devouring, sinful enemy of this world." In the Vedic language, their word for materialistic "love" as we call it at present day; "kama" lust for material desire, not love. The word for love, actually love we find in Vedas is "prema", meaning one's love of God, only. Outside God, there is no possibility of loving. Rather it is lusty desire the whole range of human activities, whatever and whenever, so long with this atmosphere of matter, the every activity of the human being—or any living entity—is based upon or given impetus, and thus polluted, by the attraction between male and female, sex-desire. For that sex-life, the whole universe is spinning round—and suffering! That is the harsh truth. So-called love, here, means "you gratify my senses, I'll gratify your senses," and as soon as that gratification stops: immediately there is divorce, separation, quarrel, hatred. So many things there are, going on under this false conception of love. Actual love means love of God, Krishna.

1975 Correspondence

Letter to Prabhakar -- Honolulu 31 May, 1975:

So, if we start a varna-asrama college in terms of Bhagavad-gita instructions and approved by Srimad-bhagavatam, why the university will not give degree to a qualified person as approved brahmana. This is the necessity of the present day. In the days past, when Prthu Maharaja was the emperor, his government was inspecting to see whether a brahmana is acting actually as a brahmana, whether a ksatriya is acting as a ksatriya, and all the different castes were engaged in all their respective duties. At the present moment, even though one is qualified brahmana, he does not get sufficient opportunity to act as brahmana, and therefore he is obliged to accept the occupational duty of someone who is outside the brahminical post. But if we accept the principle of varna and asrama as they are recommended in the sastra, and if we push on the Krishna Consciousness movement, surely everyone will be engaged in his occupation and the question of unemployment will be finished. Therefore, I think if we propagate this movement on the principles of Bhagavad-gita, all the problems of the human society will be solved. I can do all this business if some leading man of India co-operate with me. When I was in Delhi, Nandaji met me and I spoke to him exactly as I am writing now, but he said that immediately, these things cannot be introduced. But, I think it can be introduced immediately without any loss of time, provided you are serious about it.