Prabhupāda: Just like a boy is going to school with no enthusiasm, and a boy is going to school with nice enthusiasm. One boy is passing in the first class, first division and another boy is failing or he's passing in the third division. So the probation period, of course, I've already explained: to associate with us, the second stage. First stage is faith and respect, the second stage is association. That is probational period. And so far attaining enlightenment according to one's rate of development; that development depends on your enthusiasm; how far you are serious. But one should become very serious. That is the law in every sphere of achievement. So for attaining to the perfectional stage of Kṛṣṇa consciousness, one should be very much enthusiastic. Yes. He must attain to the perfectional stage in this life. And then one should be patient also. Enthusiasm does not mean if I attain something immediately the result is immediate. No. The result may be delayed but we should not be disturbed. But we must go on working with enthusiasm. This is called patience. Enthusiasm, patience and confidence. Because we believe in Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa says that if you do this you get this result. Therefore I must have confidence.
Sphere (Conversations)
Conversations and Morning Walks
1968 Conversations and Morning Walks
1970 Conversations and Morning Walks
1971 Conversations and Morning Walks
Prof. Kotovsky: Oh, you are right in this sense to my mind that the Indian cultural heritage is to be made known everywhere. That's right. But from the..., in the same time, in what way this would benefit Indian training masters(?) themselves? Because they are sitting in India...
Prabhupāda: No, India...
Prof. Kotovsky: ...and they have nothing from spreading of Indian cultural heritage and etc. over the world. Indian villagers have to have fertilizers, tractors, etc...
Prabhupāda: We do not object to that. There is no objection.
Prof. Kotovsky: Yes, I don't think that you object.
Prabhupāda: No.
Prof. Kotovsky: But at the same time, something has to be done in India itself. In what line, if you... One may call it Westernization from this introduction of technical revolution in all spheres of Indian life, in agriculture, industry, etc...
Prabhupāda: Now, this picture... This is Viṣvarūpa. It was shown to Arjuna. Now, Arjuna, before understanding Bhagavad-gītā, was a fighter, warrior. And after understanding Bhagavad-gītā, he remained a fighter. So we don't want to change the position. Just like you are a respectable professor, teacher. We don't say that you change your position. We have come to convince you about our philosophy. That's all. So just like the same example: Arjuna, he was denying to fight, "Kṛṣṇa, I do not like to kill my relatives. I don't want this kingdom." But he was taught Bhagavad-gītā. And at the end, when Kṛṣṇa inquired, "What is your decision now?" he said, kariṣye vacanaṁ tava (BG 18.73): "Yes, I shall act accordingly, as You say." That means his consciousness was changed. He remained a fighter. He was a fighter, he remained a fighter, but he changed his consciousness. We want that. We don't want to disturb the present condition of the society. No. But we try to make them understand that "There is a great necessity of you to understand this consciousness, Kṛṣṇa consciousness." That is our goal.
1972 Conversations and Morning Walks
Dr. Kapoor: I think the journey is so, fast because it is not in time. Time is transcended.
Prabhupāda: Time has nothing to do. That is stated in the Second Canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam that time has no influence there.
Dr. Kapoor: Neither day nor night.
Prabhupāda: No, there is no such thing.
Dr. Kapoor: Modern conception of speed is within the sphere of time. But our journey transcends time. Naturally it has to be faster than any journey you can imagine.
Prabhupāda: No. We speak from the śāstra. There is no question of imagination. We speak from śāstra. So we have explained, tried to explain these things in Easy Journey to Other Planets. And people are taking it very nicely. It is sold very quickly, very quickly. (break) I would like to see you that you are living in palaces.
1973 Conversations and Morning Walks
Prabhupāda: Kṛṣṇa went outside this universe, penetrating the sky. And Arjuna also accompanied Him. So it is Kṛṣṇa's power, He took His friend also. For ordinary human being it is not possible. But because Kṛṣṇa said that "All right, I'll take you." So He took him. This covering, universal covering, there are seven layers: earth, water, fire, air... Each layer is ten times bigger than the one layer. Then you go to the spiritual world.
Svarūpa Dāmodara: Ten times bigger than each layer, it increases?
Prabhupāda: That one layer, the other layer is ten times bigger than the first layer, and the third are ten times bigger than that, ten times. In this way the whole universe is covered. What your scientists know? (laughs)
Svarūpa Dāmodara: Scientists say that there are different layers in the atmosphere. There is ionosphere and all those spheres.
Prabhupāda: So anyway, some ideas are there. But in Bhāgavata it is all written.
Svarūpa Dāmodara: But they do not say that ten times.
Prabhupāda: What do they know? They do not know anything. Know something.
Revatīnandana: Another related question that also arose... These come in Bhāgavata class with the devotees because they think about the questions and sometimes they come up with nice ones. When Kṛṣṇa is incarnating in His plenary incarnations like Varāha, Nṛsiṁha, like that...
Prabhupāda: That is in this material world.
Revatīnandana: Yes. And sometimes devotees become devoted to those forms. Are there corresponding planets in Vaikuṇṭha for those forms of incarnation? Is there a planet of Nṛsiṁha or Nṛsiṁha-loka in the Vaikuṇṭha sphere?
Prabhupāda: So far (I) know, those planets are here within this material world.
Revatīnandana: Wherever He is appearing.
Prabhupāda: Hm. Even Rāmacandra's. So far I have...
Revatīnandana: On all the Vaikuṇṭhas, Kṛṣṇa is in His catur-bhuja, four-armed form?
Prabhupāda: Hm.
Karandhara: But if this energy was never created, then what is the need for a creator?
Prabhupāda: No. We admit the energy is not created. But energy comes from the energetic. Energy. Just like you may become angry. So that anger energy is there in you, but it is not manifested. So there are certain energies which sometimes manifested, sometimes not manifested. So this energy, material energy, is of God. This energy is sometimes manifested, sometimes not manifested. But there is another energy which is eternal. That is spiritual world. That is our... This is scientific study. (break)
Prajāpati: They will say that such talk may be of use in a religious sphere, but it has no use ultimately in terms of science.
Prabhupāda: Everywhere it is useful because in scientific world also, you follow leader, Sir Isaac Newton, Professor Einstein. Why do you follow? There must be a leader.
Karandhara: Well, they just use the leaders as springboards. They don't accept them as absolute authorities.
Prabhupāda: No, it may be springboard, but you have to take their help. Because it is springboard, you cannot neglect. What do you think?
Svarūpa Dāmodara: No.
Prabhupāda: Yes, you have to take help.
1974 Conversations and Morning Walks
Prabhupāda: Not four thousand, 400,000. So here the time is coming. And now the partial killing is going on. You drop this... The atom bomb is ready. You have got, I have got. I drop on you, and you drop on me. Both of us, we finish. This is going to be happening. People are so degraded. So unless one takes to Kṛṣṇa consciousness, there is no possibility of being saved. There is example, that grinding mill... You know, grinding mill?
Prof. Regamay: Yes.
Prabhupāda: Yes, and the grains are put within it and they are all smashed. But one grain who takes shelter of the center, the pivot, it is not smashed. Similarly the modern civilization is such that everyone will be smashed. And one takes the central point shelter, Kṛṣṇa consciousness, he will not be. Kaunteya pratijānīhi na me bhaktaḥ praṇaśyati (BG 9.31). So best thing is to take shelter of Kṛṣṇa and save yourself. Save means... This is saving, if you simply understand Kṛṣṇa. Janma karma... Kṛṣṇa appears, disappears. Kṛṣṇa works here also, in the battlefield or in other field. Kṛṣṇa has a whole activity. You study Kṛṣṇa Book, beginning from the birth up to the point of His leaving this world. Full of activities. Not that because He is God, He is sitting one place. No. Full of activities in all different spheres of life. Art, philosophy, politics, sociology, military arts—everything complete. That is Kṛṣṇa.
1975 Conversations and Morning Walks
Prabhupāda: They are intelligent. Otherwise when the dog jumps here, and goes to one man and come here-he's enjoying. It is enjoyment. So you are doing like that.
Amogha: But we cook very nice food to eat.
Prabhupāda: They also eat, according to their taste. The hogs, they eat stool and they enjoy it. So, according to our calculation you are eating stool—the meat. And you are thinking you are enjoying, as the hog's thinking, that's all. It is a question of standard of enjoyment. Otherwise, enjoyment is there in every living sphere. (In car)
Amogha: It sounds very nice. If we chant Hare Kṛṣṇa we can feel unlimited pleasure.
Paramahaṁsa: It sounds too simple to be true.
Prabhupāda: The advancement of knowledge in any department, that is very good. But what is the aim? The aim is to glorify the Supreme Lord. Just like you are lawyer. You gave us help in some difficulty time. Why? Because you wanted to continue glorification of the Lord, that "These men are doing nice. Why they should be harassed?" So that means you helped glorification of the Lord. So that's your success as a lawyer. So anyone who helps this movement, that "They are spreading Kṛṣṇa consciousness, God consciousness. They should be helped in all respect," that is the perfection. Everything is required, but it should be culminated in the matter of glorifying the Supreme. Then it is perfect. In another place... Find out this verse,
- ataḥ pumbhir dvija-śreṣṭhā
- varṇāśrama-vibhāgaśaḥ
- svanuṣṭhitasya dharmasya
- saṁsiddhir hari-toṣaṇam
- (SB 1.2.13)
Just like you have helped this institution in a difficult position. That means you have pleased Kṛṣṇa. That is your success. My devotees are in difficulty.
They wanted some legal help. You, as a lawyer, helped them, so you have pleased Kṛṣṇa, God. That is the aim of life. Whether by my work in different spheres, as a lawyer, as a businessman, or as a scholar, as a philosopher, as a scientist, as an economist... There are so many demands. It doesn't matter. But you should see whether you are successful. And what is the standard of success? The standard of success is whether you have pleased God.
Prabhupāda: So that is bodily concept.
Dr. Patel: But he was in politics.
Prabhupāda: Poor or rich, that is due to this body.
Dr. Patel: In politics you have got to be body conscious. Politics or war is the same thing, after all. Your sphere is much different, sir, than those. And we cannot compare them with you or you with them. You are a, I mean, out and out a bhakta and a saint. He was a politician.
Prabhupāda: No. I am talking about the Bhagavad-gītā,...
Dr. Patel: All right, Bhagavad-gītā. Whatever little we understand, we preach.
Prabhupāda: ...that the first principle of Bhagavad-gītā is to understand that "I am not this body."
Prabhupāda: I do not say which religion accepts and which religion does not, but unless one understands that he is not this body—he is different from this body—his education is imperfect.
Indian man (2): But do I mean that up till now your excellency were giving the question of transmigration, field of science, and now you are also taking that subject of God in this sphere of science?
Prabhupāda: It is not God. God is far away. First of all I must know what I am. God is long, long distant.
Indian man (2): But what should be the...
Prabhupāda: First of all you understand what you are, whether you are this body or something other than the body. That is first.
1976 Conversations and Morning Walks
Prabhupāda: If it is like a tree, then these things can be as dvīpa, island.
Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Wow. You know...
Prabhupāda: Eh?
Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: The scientists are getting smashed to bits by your statements, Śrīla Prabhupāda. This destroys their whole theory. Orbs, round spheres. I think that this Māyāpura building, we must build a big planetarium in it.
Prabhupāda: Yes. That, that I am going to do, Vedic planetarium.
Prabhupāda: Jaya. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Dr. Patel: The difference of each comes in practically two, three Upaniṣads, the one which you have also commented. There is. That happens, the Muṇḍakopaniṣad, the beginning. (Sanskrit) So we are the scientists of the aparā-vidyā; you are the scientist of the parā-vidyā. So we must not have any quarrel. We have divided our sphere of activity.
Prabhupāda: No, there is no quarrel, but we say that these are for the rascals. Yes. Aparā-vidyā is for the rascals.
Dr. Patel: No, no, even the greatest of the saints, namely, the guru of.... I mean, Śuka(?) Mahārāja, also he had the first aparā-vidyā. Then parā-vidyā.... Aparā-vidyā is the first step.
Prabhupāda: And so long you are in aparā-vidyā, you remain a rascal.
Prabhupāda: Where is the question of going fast and slow?
Jayādvaita: They say that because the smaller portion of the earth..., the earth is spherical, and by the top it's smaller, so when that top side is pointed toward the sun, the sun is, as the earth turns, the sun is hitting each place sooner in each day. So it's going, traveling less distance on that surface. Then when it turns the other way, it has to go more distance. Some..., they have some concocted idea. (laughter)
Prabhupāda: (laughing) All concoction. That is not explanation. This is nice explanation, that in this season the sun goes faster and in this season the sun goes slower. That is quite understandable. Just like you are walking. Sometimes you walk slow, sometimes you walk fast. That is possible.
Indian man: Survival of the fittest theory may be applicable in our spheres because fit means...
Prabhupāda: Fittest means who does not get next a material body. He is fit. He is fit. Because as soon as you get a material body...
- nūnaṁ pramattaḥ kurute vikarma
- yad indriya-prītaya āpṛṇoti
- na sādhu manye yata ātmano 'yam
- asann api kleśada āsa dehaḥ
- (SB 5.5.4)
They are mad, working day and night. Pramatta. And acting just adverse to his interest. So Ṛṣabhadeva says this is not good. You should know that he has already got a body for which he is suffering. Pritar yantra.(?) And again he is creating another body. By his karma he is creating another body. So as soon as you get a material body you'll have to suffer. Either you become a king or a dog. Because you have got this material body you have to suffer. Pritar yantra. So asann api kleśada āsa dehaḥ (SB 5.5.4). This body will not exist. But still so long you'll exist in this body you'll suffer.
1977 Conversations and Morning Walks
Prabhupāda: Lotus is also round. Lotus, that petal is also round. Lotus petal is round. So within one lotus petal this round or that round, there is.
Śatadhanya: And within their own limited sphere they can go this way or that way. But they don't know the whole shape.
Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: We have to draw the shape probably, because according to what we've drawn so far...
Prabhupāda: That you can do, but real thing is we can remain within the limit.
| Page Title: | Sphere (Conversations) |
| Compiler: | Visnu Murti, Serene |
| Created: | 10 of Mar, 2012 |
| Totals by Section: | BG=0, SB=0, CC=0, OB=0, Lec=0, Con=18, Let=0 |
| No. of Quotes: | 18 |