Respond (CC and other books)

Expressions researched:
"respond" |" responded" |" respondent" |" respondents" |" responders" |" responding" |" respons" |" responds"

CC Adi-lila

CC Adi 5.140, Purport: The playful pastimes of the Lord caused suspicion in the mind of Lord Brahmā, and therefore Lord Brahmā, to test Kṛṣṇa’s Lordship, stole all the Lord’s calves and cowherd boys with his own mystic power. Śrī Kṛṣṇa responded, however, by replacing all the calves and boys in the field. Lord Balarāma’s thoughts of astonishment at such wonderful retaliation are recorded in this verse (SB 10.13.37).

CC Adi 7.141, Purport: Love of God is dormant in everyone, and if one is given a chance to hear about the Lord, certainly that love develops. Our Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement acts on this principle. We simply give people the chance to hear about the Supreme Personality of Godhead and give them prasādam to eat, and the actual result is that all over the world people are responding to this process and becoming pure devotees of Lord Kṛṣṇa. We have opened hundreds of centers all over the world just to give people in general a chance to hear about Kṛṣṇa and accept Kṛṣṇa’s prasādam. These two processes can be accepted by anyone, even a child. It doesn’t matter whether one is poor or rich, learned or foolish, black or white, old or still a child—anyone who simply hears about the Supreme Personality of Godhead and takes prasādam is certainly elevated to the transcendental position of devotional service.

CC Adi 7.159, Translation: Whenever the crowds were too great, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu stood up, raised His hands and chanted, “Hari! Hari!” to which all the people responded, filling both the land and sky with the vibration.

CC Adi 17.135, Purport: This is a scheme for performing kīrtana in a procession. During Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s time, one party was composed of twenty-one men: four people playing mṛdaṅgas, one leading the chanting, and sixteen others striking karatālas, responding to the leading chanter. If many men join the saṅkīrtana movement, they may follow in the footsteps of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu and form different parties according to the time and the number of men available.

CC Madhya-lila

CC Madhya 1.43, Purport: The third Sandarbha is called Paramātma-sandarbha, and in this book there is a description of Paramātmā (the Supersoul) and an explanation of how the Supersoul exists in millions and millions of living entities. There are discussions of the differences between the qualitative incarnations, and discourses concerning the living entities, māyā, the material world, the theory of transformation, the illusory energy, the sameness of this world and the Supersoul, and the truth about this material world. In this connection, the opinions of Śrīdhara Svāmī are given. It is stated that the Supreme Personality of Godhead, although devoid of material qualities, superintends all material activities. There is also a discussion of how the līlā-avatāra incarnations respond to the desires of the devotees and how the Supreme Personality of Godhead is characterized by six opulences.

CC Madhya 3.41, Purport: According to Vedic principles, a householder, before taking lunch, should go outside and shout very loudly to see if there is anyone without food. In this way he invites people to take prasādam. If someone comes, the householder offers him prasādam, and if there is not much left, he should offer his own portion to the guest. If no one responds to his call, the householder can accept his own lunch. Thus the householder’s life is also a kind of austerity. Because of this, the householder’s life is called the gṛhastha-āśrama. Although a person may live with his wife and children happily in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, he also observes the regulative principles followed in any temple.

CC Madhya 13.36, Translation: Svarūpa Dāmodara was chosen as the leader of the first party and was given five assistants to respond to his chanting.

CC Madhya 13.37, Translation: The five who responded to the singing of Svarūpa Dāmodara were Dāmodara Paṇḍita, Nārāyaṇa, Govinda Datta, Rāghava Paṇḍita and Śrī Govindānanda.

CC Madhya 13.38, Purport: In the first group, Dāmodara Svarūpa was appointed chief singer, and the responding singers were Dāmodara Paṇḍita, Nārāyaṇa, Govinda Datta, Rāghava Paṇḍita and Govindānanda. Śrī Advaita Ācārya was appointed as a dancer. The next group was formed, and the chief singer was Śrīvāsa Ṭhākura.

CC Madhya 13.39, Translation: The five singers who responded to the singing of Śrīvāsa Ṭhākura were Gaṅgādāsa, Haridāsa, Śrīmān, Śubhānanda and Śrī Rāma Paṇḍita. Śrī Nityānanda Prabhu was appointed as a dancer.

CC Madhya 13.42, Translation: The Lord formed another group, appointing Govinda Ghoṣa as leader. In this group the younger Haridāsa, Viṣṇudāsa and Rāghava were the responding singers.

CC Madhya 17.189, Translation: When the people assembled, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu raised His arms and said very loudly, “Haribol!” The people responded to the Lord and became ecstatic. As if mad, they began to dance and to vibrate the transcendental sound “Hari!”

CC Antya-lila

CC Antya 7.105, Translation: Advaita Ācārya responded, “In front of you is Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, the personification of religious principles. You should ask Him, for He will give you the proper answer.”

CC Antya 8.86, Translation: When they all requested very fervently that Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu take a full meal, He still would not do so. Instead, He responded to their request by accepting half as much as usual.

CC Antya 10.70, Translation: Raising His two arms, the Lord said, “Chant! Chant!” Floating in transcendental bliss, the people responded by chanting the holy name of Hari.

Nectar of Devotion

Nectar of Devotion 39: When Kṛṣṇa was residing in Dvārakā, some of the elderly members of the Yadu family would occasionally put some important matter before Him. At such a time, Kṛṣṇa would carefully give attention to those matters. And if there were some humorous topics mentioned, Kṛṣṇa would immediately respond with a smiling face. Sometimes when Kṛṣṇa was executing His duties in the assembly known as Sudharmā, He would ask the elderly members for good advice. By such activities He is manifest as the supreme spiritual master, the supreme executive head, the superior intelligence and the supreme power, protector and maintainer.

Krsna, The Supreme Personality of Godhead

Krsna Book 15: The cows taken care of by Kṛṣṇa had different names, and Kṛṣṇa would call them with love. After hearing Kṛṣṇa calling, the cows would immediately respond by mooing, and the boys would enjoy this exchange to their hearts’ content.

Krsna Book 32: “My dear friends,” Kṛṣṇa continued, “you might be aggrieved by My words and acts, but you must know that sometimes I do not reciprocate My devotees’ dealings with Me. My devotees are very much attached to Me, but sometimes I do not reciprocate their feelings properly in order to increase their love for Me more and more. If I can very easily be approached by them, they might think, ‘Kṛṣṇa is so easily available.’ So sometimes I do not respond. If a person has no money but after some time accumulates some wealth and then loses it, he will think of the lost property twenty-four hours a day. Similarly, in order to increase the love of My devotees, sometimes I appear to be lost to them, and instead of forgetting Me, they feel their loving sentiments for Me increase.

Krsna Book 33: Kṛṣṇa is dancing, and every living entity is also dancing, but there is a difference between the dancing in the spiritual world and that in the material world. This is expressed by the author of the Caitanya-caritāmṛta, who says that the master dancer is Kṛṣṇa and everyone else is His servant. Everyone is trying to imitate Kṛṣṇa’s dancing. Those who are actually in Kṛṣṇa consciousness respond rightly to the dancing of Kṛṣṇa: they do not try to dance independently. But those in the material world try to imitate Kṛṣṇa as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The living entities are dancing under the direction of Kṛṣṇa’s māyā and are thinking that they are equal to Kṛṣṇa. But this is not a fact. In Kṛṣṇa consciousness, this misconception is absent, for a person in Kṛṣṇa consciousness knows that Kṛṣṇa is the supreme master and everyone else is His servant. One has to dance to please Kṛṣṇa, not to imitate or attempt to become equal to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The gopīs wanted to please Kṛṣṇa, and therefore as Kṛṣṇa sang, they responded and encouraged Him by saying “Well done! Well done!” Sometimes they presented beautiful music for His pleasure, and He responded by praising their singing.

Krsna Book 35: One gopī said, “My dear friends, Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma are nicely dressed with earrings and pearl necklaces. They enjoy Themselves on the top of Govardhana Hill, and everything becomes absorbed in transcendental pleasure when Kṛṣṇa plays on His flute, charming the whole created manifestation. When He plays, the clouds stop their loud thundering out of fear of Him. Rather than disturb the vibration of His flute, they respond with mild thunder and so congratulate Kṛṣṇa, their friend.”

Krsna Book 46: As stated in the Bhagavad-gītā [4.11], ye yathā māṁ prapadyante tāṁs tathaiva bhajāmy aham: Kṛṣṇa is very responsive. He responds in proportion to the devotee’s advancement in devotional service. Thus, as the gopīs were thinking of Kṛṣṇa in separation twenty-four hours a day, so Kṛṣṇa was also always thinking of the gopīs, mother Yaśodā, Nanda Mahārāja and the other residents of Vṛndāvana. Although He appeared to be away from them, He could understand how they were transcendentally aggrieved, and so He immediately wanted to send Uddhava to give them a message of solace.

Krsna Book 58: "As the Supreme Personality of Godhead, You are equal to everyone, and everyone can take advantage of Your special protection. The fact is that although You are equal to everyone, You are especially inclined to the devotees who always think of You. The devotees are related to You by ties of love. As such, they cannot forget You even for a moment. You are present in everyone’s heart, but because the devotees always remember You, You respond accordingly. Although the mother has affection for all the children, she takes special care of the one who is fully dependent. I know certainly, my dear Kṛṣṇa, that being seated in everyone’s heart, You always create auspicious situations for Your unalloyed devotees.”

Krsna Book 70: By the time the Lord finished all these daily duties and activities, His charioteer Dāruka would come with His wonderful chariot to stand before the Lord with folded hands, intimating that the chariot was ready, and the Lord would come out of the palace to travel. Then the Lord, accompanied by Uddhava and Sātyaki, would ride on the chariot just as the sun-god rides on his chariot in the morning, appearing with his blazing rays on the surface of the world. When the Lord was about to leave His palaces, all the queens would look at Him with feminine gestures. The Lord would respond to their greetings with smiles, attracting their hearts so much that they would feel intense separation from Him.

Krsna Book 78: After the demise of Śiśupāla, Śālva and Pauṇḍraka, a foolish demoniac king of the name Dantavakra wanted to kill Kṛṣṇa to avenge the death of his friend Śālva. He became so agitated that he appeared on the battlefield without the proper arms and ammunition and without even a chariot. His only weapon was his great anger, which was red-hot. He carried only a club in his hand, but he was so powerful that when he moved, everyone felt the earth tremble. When Lord Kṛṣṇa saw him approaching in a very heroic mood, He immediately got down from His chariot, for it was a rule of military etiquette that fighting should take place only between equals. Knowing that Dantavakra was alone and armed with only a club, Lord Kṛṣṇa responded similarly and prepared Himself by taking His club in His hand. When Kṛṣṇa appeared before him, Dantavakra’s heroic march was immediately stopped, just as the great, furious waves of the ocean are stopped by the beach.

Renunciation Through Wisdom

Renunciation Through Wisdom 1.4: At present we are living in the thick of Kali-yuga. The people of this age are mostly short-lived, misguided, unfortunate and always tormented by disease and distress. Therefore it is not easy for them to appreciate the words of the scriptures. The followers of the world's various religions—Hindus, Muslims, Christians, Buddhists, and so on—are transgressing the scriptural injunctions of their own faiths to varying degrees and living as they like. Many people, far from following scriptural injunctions, ridicule the sacred texts and thus gradually slide down to a demoniac life of unrestricted sense enjoyment. The Supreme Lord and His devotees are very much concerned about the deliverance of these conditioned souls afflicted by the ill influence of Kali-yuga. The devotees, or Vaiṣṇavas, are the most compassionate, saintly souls, and thus they ardently desire to deliver the fallen living entities. The Supreme Lord always responds to the desires of these Vaiṣṇavas, and so He answers their prayers for the salvation of these suffering souls of Kali-yuga.

Renunciation Through Wisdom 2.11: One must not misunderstand the meaning of the word samaḥ, "equal." It does not mean that the Lord is impersonal and that He will bless any whimsical act, even unruly behaviour. The Lord is absolutely personal, the reservoir of divine sentiments, the supreme performer of transcendental pastimes. And He is the well-wishing friend of all living beings. But friendship has different degrees of intimacy. Thus the Lord's equal disposition is not without varieties of personalism. In other words, the Lord reciprocates with us according to our intensity of love for Him. In the Gītā (4.11) He says, ye yathā māṁ prapadyante tāṁs tathaiva bhajāmy aham: "As all surrender unto Me, I reward them accordingly." He responds to all the different devotional mellows—servitorship, fraternity, parental affection, and conjugal love. Similarly, he ignores those who disrespect Him by regarding Him as an ordinary mortal. Conversely, He always shelters and protects those who accept Him as the Supreme Lord and serve Him with loving devotion, following in the footsteps of past saintly masters.

Renunciation Through Wisdom 5.1: Therefore, it is a hazardous path of elevation that depends on personal characteristics within the jurisdiction of the three modes of nature. Without transcending these three material modes, a person will find himself securely in their clutches, and thus deluded, he will think that all his activities are divinely inspired. He will then broadcast this false concept, considering himself an advanced devotee and everyone else inferior. Impressed with his own knowledge, he will try to see God by dint of this knowledge instead acting in such a way that God will want to see him. Intoxicated by false ego, he will see his activities, which are motivated by passion, as divine. Those who are proud of their knowledge do not surrender to the Lord; instead, they try to attain the Supreme Lord's mercy by the inductive method and thus exhibit an obnoxious mentality. One should constantly remember the Lord and pray to Him for mercy. The Lord, situated in the devotee's heart, responds to such a prayer and illumines his heart with knowledge, which dissipates the darkness of ignorance.