This edition of Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta is presented for the study of sincere scholars who are really seeking the Absolute Truth. It is not the arrogant scholarship of a mental speculator but a sincere effort to serve the order of a superior authority whose service is the life and soul of this humble effort. It does not deviate even slightly from the revealed scriptures, and therefore anyone who follows in the disciplic line will be able to realize the essence of this book simply by the method of aural reception.
Superior authority
Bhagavad-gita As It Is
BG Chapters 1 - 6
BG 2.25, Purport:
As far as the soul's existence is concerned, no one can establish his existence experimentally beyond the proof of śruti, or Vedic wisdom. We have to accept this truth, because there is no other source of understanding the existence of the soul, although it is a fact by perception. There are many things we have to accept solely on grounds of superior authority.
Srimad-Bhagavatam
SB Canto 1
SB 1.17.19, Purport:
As referred to above, philosophers like Jaimini and his followers establish that fruitive activity is the root cause of all distress and happiness, and that even if there is a superior authority, some superhuman powerful God or gods, He or they are also under the influence of fruitive activity because they reward result according to one's action.
SB Canto 2
SB 2.5.7, Purport:
Following in the footsteps of Śrī Nārada Muni, one should not blindly accept his spiritual master as God Himself. A spiritual master is duly respected on a par with God, but a spiritual master claiming to be God Himself should at once be rejected. Nārada Muni accepted Brahmā as the Supreme due to Lord Brahmā's wonderful acts in creation, but doubts arose in him when he saw that Lord Brahmā also worshiped some superior authority. The Supreme is supreme, and He has no worshipable superior.
SB Canto 3
SB 3.20.9, Purport:
To know matters beyond one's perception, one has to learn from a superior authority in the line of disciplic succession. Just to know who is our father is beyond our perception. For that, the mother is the authority. Similarly, we have to understand everything beyond our perception from the authority who actually knows.
SB 3.26.38, Purport:
Because of destiny, the touch sensation, the interactions of air, and the situation of the mind, which is produced of the ethereal element, one receives a body according to his previous activities. Needless to say, a living entity transmigrates from one form to another. His form changes according to destiny and by the arrangement of a superior authority which controls the interaction of air and the mental situation. Form is the combination of different types of sense perception. Predestined activities are the plans of the mental situation and the interaction of air.
SB Canto 4
SB 4.8.57, Purport:
The conditioned soul is forced to accept a particular type of body according to his karma given by the laws of material nature under the direction of the Supreme Lord. But when the Lord appears, He is not forced by the dictation of material nature; He appears as He likes by His own internal potency. That is the difference. The conditioned soul accepts a particular type of body, such as the body of a hog, by his work and by the superior authority of material nature. But when Lord Kṛṣṇa appears in the incarnation of a boar, He is not the same kind of hog as an ordinary animal.
SB 4.21.51, Translation:
The citizens continued: Today you have opened our eyes and revealed how to cross to the other side of the ocean of darkness. By our past deeds and by the arrangement of superior authority, we are entangled in a network of fruitive activities and have lost sight of the destination of life; thus we have been wandering within the universe.
SB 4.24.73, Purport:
As stated in Brahma-vaivarta Purāṇa, there is a gradual evolutionary process, but it is not the body that is evolving. All the bodily forms are already there. It is the spiritual entity, or spiritual spark within the body, that is being promoted by the laws of nature under the supervision of superior authority.
SB Canto 6
SB 6.2.13, Purport:
The Viṣṇudūtas, who are superior authorities, gave orders to the Yamadūtas, who did not know that Ajāmila was no longer subject to tribulation in hellish life for his past sins. Although he had chanted the holy name Nārāyaṇa to indicate his son, the holy name is so transcendentally powerful that he was automatically freed because he had chanted the holy name while dying (ante nārāyaṇa-smṛtiḥ (SB 2.1.6)).
SB 6.17.17, Purport:
Since Citraketu was a devotee of the Lord, he was not at all disturbed by the curse of mother Pārvatī. He knew very well that one suffers or enjoys the results of one's past deeds as ordained by daiva-netra-superior authority, or the agents of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. He knew that he had not committed any offense at the lotus feet of Lord Śiva or the goddess Pārvatī, yet he had been punished, and this means that the punishment had been ordained. Thus the King did not mind it.
SB Canto 7
SB 7.2.12, Purport:
Yajñārthāt karmaṇo 'nyatra loko 'yaṁ karma-bandhanaḥ (BG 3.9)). Yajña must be performed, as indicated by the superior authorities.
Sri Caitanya-caritamrta
CC Adi-lila
CC Adi 7.53, Purport:
The Vedic injunctions state, tad viddhi praṇipātena paripraśnena sevayā: one must approach a superior authority in humbleness (BG 4.34). One cannot challenge a superior authority, but with great submission one can submit his proposal for acceptance by the spiritual master or spiritual authorities.
CC Adi 8.5, Purport:
In Vaiṣṇava philosophy there are three ways for perfection—namely sādhana-siddha, perfection attained by executing devotional service according to the rules and regulations, nitya-siddha, eternal perfection attained by never forgetting Kṛṣṇa at any time, and kṛpā-siddha, perfection attained by the mercy of the spiritual master or another Vaiṣṇava. Kavirāja Gosvāmī here stresses kṛpā-siddha, perfection by the mercy of superior authorities. This mercy does not depend on the qualifications of a devotee. By such mercy, even if a devotee is dumb he can speak or write to glorify the Lord splendidly, even if lame he can cross mountains, and even if blind he can see the stars in the sky.
CC Adi 11.7, Purport:
One should not write books or essays on transcendental subject matter for material name, fame or profit. Transcendental literature must be written under the direction of a superior authority because it is not meant for material purposes. If one tries to write under superior authority, he becomes purified. All Kṛṣṇa conscious activities should be undertaken for personal purification (āpanā śodhite), not for material gain.
CC Madhya-lila
CC Madhya 24.326, Purport:
The writing of Vaiṣṇava literatures is not a function for ordinary men. Vaiṣṇava literatures are not mental concoctions. They are all authorized literatures meant to guide those who are going to be Vaiṣṇavas. Under these circumstances, an ordinary man cannot give his own opinion. His opinion must always correspond with the conclusion of the Vedas. Unless one is fully qualified in Vaiṣṇava behavior and authorized by superior authority (the Supreme Personality of Godhead), one cannot write Vaiṣṇava literatures or purports and commentaries on Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam and the Bhagavad-gītā.
CC Madhya 24.345, Purport:
One cannot write on spiritual matters without being blessed by Kṛṣṇa and the disciplic succession of gurus. The blessings of the authorities are one's power of attorney. One should not try to write anything about Vaiṣṇava behavior and activities without being authorized by superior authorities. This is confirmed in the Bhagavad-gītā (4.2): evaṁ paramparā-prāptam imaṁ rājarṣayo viduḥ.
Other Books by Srila Prabhupada
Teachings of Lord Caitanya
Teachings of Lord Caitanya, Chapter 28:
In Stotra-ratna (46), Yāmunācārya writes: "My Lord, those who keep themselves independent of Your service are helpless. They work on their own account, and they receive no support from superior authority. Therefore I long for the time when I shall engage fully in Your transcendental loving service without any desire for material satisfaction and without being confined to the mental plane. Only when I engage in such unalloyed devotional service will I enjoy actual spiritual life."
Nectar of Devotion
Nectar of Devotion Preface:
A living entity is offered a particular type of body as a result of his action in the present body. These activities are taken into account by a superior authority known as daiva, or the authority of God. This daiva is explained in Bhagavad-gītā as the prime cause of everything, and in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam it is stated that a man takes his next body by daiva-netreṇa, which means by the supervision of the authority of the Supreme.
Easy Journey to Other Planets
Easy Journey to Other Planets 2:
Whether we are American, Indian, Chinese or Russian, we have been given this planet to live on. We cannot leave—although there are millions and billions of planets and although we have machines by which we can—because we are conditioned by the laws of nature, God's laws. A man who is put into a certain cell cannot change at will without superior authority. Kṛṣṇa says in the Bhagavad-gītā that one should not try to change from one cell to another. That will not make anyone happy. If a prisoner thinks, "I am in this cell—let me request the warden to change my cell, and I will be happy," that is a mistaken idea.
Krsna, The Supreme Personality of Godhead
Krsna Book 80:
Modern society does not aim at fulfilling the mission of human life, which is to go back home, back to Godhead. To fulfill this mission, the system of varṇa and āśrama must be followed. When the system is followed rigidly and consciously, it fulfills this mission, but when followed indirectly, without the guidance of superior authority, it simply creates a disturbing condition in human society, and there is no peace and prosperity.
Krsna Book 87:
In Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Third Canto, it is explained that under the control of superior authority a living entity is put within the semen of a male and injected into the womb of a particular female in order to develop a particular type of body. A living entity utilizes his senses, intelligence, mind and so on in a specific way of his own choosing and thus develops a particular type of body, within which he becomes encaged. In this way the living entity becomes situated in different species of life, either in a demigod, human or animal body, according to different situations and circumstances.
Sri Isopanisad
Sri Isopanisad 8, Purport:
A living being desires something, and the Lord supplies the object of that desire in proportion to one's qualification. If a man wants to be a high-court judge, he must acquire not only the necessary qualifications but also the consent of the authority who can award the title of high-court judge. The qualifications in themselves are insufficient for one to occupy the post: it must be awarded by some superior authority. Similarly, the Lord awards enjoyment to living entities in proportion to their qualifications, but good qualifications in themselves are not sufficient to enable one to receive awards. The mercy of the Lord is also required.
Sri Isopanisad 10, Purport:
The material body and mind are bad bargains for the spiritual living entity. The living entity has actual functions in the living, spiritual world, but this material world is dead. As long as the living spiritual sparks manipulate the dead lumps of matter, the dead world appears to be a living world. Actually it is the living souls, the parts and parcels of the supreme living being, who move the world. The dhīras have come to know all these facts by hearing them from superior authorities and have realized this knowledge by following the regulative principles.
Lectures
Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures
Lecture on BG 1.21-22 -- London, July 18, 1973:
God never becomes fallen down from His original position. The original position is, God describes Himself, mattaḥ parataraṁ nānyat: (BG 7.7) "There is no more superior authority than Me." That is God. One, if he is controlled, how he can be God? The supreme controller is God, the supreme controller is Kṛṣṇa.
Lecture on BG 2.2 -- London, August 3, 1973:
One does not become spiritual master by his own whims. That is not spiritual master. He must be ordered by superior authority. Then he's spiritual master. Āmāra ājñāya. Just like in our case. Our superior authority, our spiritual master, he ordered me that "You just try to preach this gospel, whatever you have learned from me, in English." So we have tried it. That's all. It is not that I am very much qualified. The only qualification is that I have tried to execute the order of superior authority. That's all. This is the secret of success.
Lecture on BG 2.3 -- London, August 4, 1973:
So this sympathy is like Arjuna's sympathy. The sympathy... Now the state is sympathizing with the murderer not to be killed. This is Arjuna. That is hṛdaya-daurbalyam. That is not duty. One has to discharge the duty ordered by the superior authority very strictly, without any consideration. So these are weakness of the heart, this kind of sympathy. But ordinary person will not understand. Therefore to understand Kṛṣṇa, one requires special senses, special senses, not ordinary senses. Special senses means you have to pluck your eyes and you have to put another eyes? No. You have to purify.
Lecture on BG 2.7 -- London, August 7, 1973:
So who is guru? Samit-pāṇiḥ śrotriyaṁ brahma-niṣṭham. A guru is full Kṛṣṇa conscious. Brahma-niṣṭham. And śrotriyam. Śrotriyam means who has heard, who has received knowledge by the śrotriyaṁ paṭha. By hearing from superior authority. Evaṁ paramparā-prāptam imaṁ rājarṣayoḥ viduḥ (BG 4.2). So here we have to learn from Arjuna that when we are perplexed, when we forget our real duty, and therefore we are puzzled, then our duty is to approach Kṛṣṇa as Arjuna is doing. So if you say: "Where is Kṛṣṇa?" Kṛṣṇa is not there, but Kṛṣṇa's representative is there. You should approach him. That is the Vedic injunction.
Lecture on BG 2.12 -- London, August 18, 1973:
That eka, that eka, Kṛṣṇa, He orders. He does not order actually. Just like, not every time the police has to be ordered by the superior authority to punish the criminal. They know how to punish. So the nature knows how to punish these criminals. Therefore, the scientists are finding now shortage of petrol, shortage of this, shortage... What to do? What to do? This is the position.
Lecture on BG 2.12 -- Hyderabad, December 12, 1976:
By superior examination we get a body, karmaṇā. So at the time of death it is decided what kind of body you are going to have next. That is decided by superior authority. You cannot dictate that "Give me this body," or "I don't want this body. I want a body..." No. That is not in your hand. You can do, you are given freedom. In the human form of life you are given freedom to act although there is direction that "You act like this." But if you don't like, you can act. Yathecchasi tathā kuru. (BG 18.63) You can act, but you become implicated with your karma because you have to act according to the modes of nature.
Lecture on BG 2.14 -- Germany, June 21, 1974:
This is atheistic view, that they are trying to forget that there is... Therefore they deny, "There is no life." Why not? Kṛṣṇa says that "You had a childhood body. You had a baby... Now you have... Where is that body? You have left that. You are in different body. Similarly, this body you'll change. You will get another body." And who says? Kṛṣṇa says. The most superior authority, he says. I may not understand, but when He says... This is the process of our knowledge. We accept knowledge from the perfect person. I may be fool, but the knowledge received from the perfect person is perfect. This is our process. We don't try to speculate.
Lecture on BG 2.20-25 -- Seattle, October 14, 1968:
Yajña means Viṣṇu or Kṛṣṇa. Whatever you do, or what... Not whatever you do. You have to do only for Kṛṣṇa. Yajñārthe karma. Whatever you act. Never mind. Whatever you do. But you have to act for Kṛṣṇa. Yajñārthe karma anyatra. Otherwise, karma-bandhanaḥ, you'll be bound up by the reaction. The same example: just a person acting on behalf of some superior authority, government, personally he has no responsibility because he is acting on behalf of the supreme authority.
Lecture on BG 2.20-25 -- Seattle, October 14, 1968:
Viṣṇujana: "We have to accept this truth because there is no other source for understanding the existence of the soul, although it is a fact by perception. There are many things we have to accept solely on grounds of superior authority."
Prabhupāda: Yes.
Viṣṇujana: "No one can deny the existence of his father based on the authority of his mother. There is no other source for understanding..."
Prabhupāda: Now everyone knows that "When I am born, there must have been somebody my father." This is the conclusion. "And now, who is my father?" That is evidence to be taken from mother. Similarly nobody can deny the existence of God because everything has got a father, generator.
Lecture on BG 2.26 -- Hyderabad, November 30, 1972:
So we should follow... This is called paramparā system. As Arjuna understood Bhagavad-gītā, if we understand in that way, then we are perfect. I may be imperfect, but because I understand Bhagavad-gītā as it was understood by Arjuna, I am perfect. Because the knowledge I am distributing, that is not imperfect. Just like a post peon. A post peon is delivering you one thousand dollars. So he may be poor man, but the one thousand dollars, he is delivering, that is a fact. That is not bogus thing. Because he has not manufactured something. He has received that money order from the post office. He's asked to deliver it to such and such person. His honesty is to deliver the money order as it is to the bona fide person. That is his perfection. He doesn't require... Because he's delivering one thousand dollars, he doesn't require to become a very rich man. He may be a poor man. Similarly, a guru, a guru is perfect when he delivers the words of the superior authority as it is. Then he's perfect. He may be imperfect in your estimation. But that is his perfection, that he is not misleading people by becoming a so-called rascal scholar and interpreting in a different way and misleading the whole population.
Lecture on BG 3.13-16 -- New York, May 23, 1966:
For spiritual life you can do anything and everything, whatever you like, what you manufacture in your own brain? No. How can you do it? In every field of your work, in practical life, you have got some direction, that "You have to act in this direction." Suppose you are working, running on a factory. Oh, there are so many factory laws. Anywhere you go, there are direction from the superior authorities.
Lecture on BG 4.10 -- Calcutta, September 23, 1974:
A human body can understand what is written in the Bhagavad-gītā. Tathā dehāntara-prāptiḥ (BG 2.13). You have to change your body. You do not know what change is going to be happened. But you have to change your body. How? There are so many bodies. Cats, dogs, demigods, and so many others. You have to accept. According to your karma. Karmaṇā daiva-netreṇa (SB 3.31.1), by the judgement of superior authority, and according to your karma, you'll get a body.
Lecture on BG 6.13-15 -- Los Angeles, February 16, 1969:
Ascending process—my endeavor, what is called inductive process. Inductive process. Just like my father says that man is mortal. I accept it. Now if you want to study whether man is mortal, you study, you see many thousands of men, whether he is immortal or mortal. That will take so much time. But if you take the knowledge from the superior authority, that man is mortal, your knowledge is complete.
Lecture on BG 6.41 -- Detroit, July 17, 1971:
If he has maintained a dog mentality, then he'll get a dog's body. All this property he made in this life goes to hell. He becomes a dog if he has maintained a dog mentality. And if he has maintained a god's mentality, then he becomes a god also. But that will depend on his work. But generally the karmīs, they are not very good mentality. So there is risk. You do not know. Karmaṇā daiva netreṇa (SB 3.31.1). The judgement will be done by the superior authority, and he'll be given a particular type of body, as he has maintained the consciousness.
Lecture on BG 7.3 -- London, March 11, 1975:
Nobody knows. Nobody knows. Therefore he is blind. He does not know what is his future. But there is future. You cannot say no. The example is here. And besides that, Kṛṣṇa says, tathā dehāntara-prāptiḥ (BG 2.13). Kṛṣṇa, the most superior authority, He says, and it is accepted by all the ācāryas and all persons who have attained perfection. So we should learn it, that "What is my next life?" And if I prepare for the next life, that is called siddhi. That is called siddhi.
Lecture on BG 7.4 -- Bombay, February 19, 1974:
Everyone has got experience. When we want to do something wrong, there is conscience: "Don't do it." "No, no, let me do." There is struggle. So this is the struggle between the soul and the Supersoul. But when you're persistent, that "I must do it," then the Supersoul orders, "All right, you can do at your own risk." That is called karma-phala. We have become subjected to the resultant action of our karma. That is called karmaṇā. By the activities, daiva-netreṇa, by the superior authorities' superintendence, daiva-netreṇa, jantur deha-upapatti, the living entity gets a type of body.
Lecture on BG 7.7 -- Bombay, February 22, 1974:
Try to understand Bhagavad-gītā as it is. Kṛṣṇa says, mattaḥ parataraṁ nānyat: (BG 7.7) "There is no more superior being or superior authority than Me." If you accept that "There is no more superior authority or supreme being than Kṛṣṇa," then you study Bhagavad-gītā. And if you cut the head and the tail and accept something and reject something, that is not Bhagavad-gītā. Take it as it is. Therefore we are presenting Bhagavad-gītā as it is, not curtailing this or that: "This meaning is that; that meaning is that." No such nonsense.
Lecture on BG 7.7 -- Vrndavana, August 13, 1974:
So either we say Viṣṇu or we say Kṛṣṇa or Rāma, Nṛsiṁha, Balarāma, They are all expansions of the Supreme Person Kṛṣṇa. Therefore Kṛṣṇa says, mattaḥ parataraṁ nānyat: (BG 7.7) "There is no more superior authority than Me." This is the conclusion. Mattaḥ, "from Me," na anyat, "nobody else is superior." That is the conclusion of the śāstra. And Kṛṣṇa personally also says. Mattaḥ parataraṁ nānyat kiñcit. "Nobody."
Lecture on BG 9.2 -- Calcutta, March 8, 1972:
My body is different from your body, your body, so now we are sitting here, say fifty or hundred men—everyone's body is different from another body, you'll find. Then you go to other species of life, that is also different from other and other. So why this difference? Because we are differently situated according to our karma. Karmaṇā daiva-netreṇa jantur deha upapattaye (SB 3.31.1). Karmaṇā daiva-netreṇa. We do, we act according to our whims, but that whims is judged by daiva-netreṇa, by a higher, superior authority, just like Yamarāja. Then we get another body. This is the process. Yaṁ yaṁ vāpi smaran lokam tyajaty ante kalevaram (BG 8.6). Bhagavad-gītā also says. We should be very, very careful.
Lecture on BG 13.4 -- Miami, February 27, 1975:
This is called Vedic knowledge. Exactly what is the fact, that is stated there. So our process of understanding, this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement—we do not hear from any bogus person. We hear from Kṛṣṇa. Therefore Kṛṣṇa says for us, those who are Kṛṣṇa conscious, tat samāsena me śṛṇu: "From Me because I am the supreme authority, Kṛṣṇa." Kṛṣṇa says that mattaḥ parataraṁ nānyat kiñcid asti dhanañjaya: (BG 7.7) "There is no more superior authority than Me." So we get knowledge from superior authority. That is the process of acquiring knowledge.
Lecture on BG 13.5 -- Bombay, September 28, 1973:
Realization of Bhagavad-gītā is to know Kṛṣṇa—the Supreme Personality of Godhead. That is realization. Ārādhyo bhagavān vrajeśa-tanayaḥ. Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Kṛṣṇa says in the Bhagavad-gītā, mattaḥ parataraṁ nānyat kiñcid asti dhanañjaya: (BG 7.7) "There is no more superior authority than Me." If we accept that, that Kṛṣṇa is the supreme authority, then you'll learn Bhagavad-gītā. And if you try to make minus Kṛṣṇa, or if you want to take the position of Kṛṣṇa like the Māyāvādīs, then you become a rascal.
Lecture on BG 16.2-7 -- Bombay, April 8, 1971:
You should accept because Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. You should accept His word as it is. And because we are doubtful, we are presenting Kṛṣṇa in a different way. And there are so many commentators, so many swamis, they put Kṛṣṇa in a different way. But Kṛṣṇa is Kṛṣṇa. Law of identity. You cannot comment on the Kṛṣṇa's personality. He says that "I am the Supreme Personality of Godhead." Mattaḥ parataraṁ nānyat kiñcid asti dhanañjaya: (BG 7.7) "There is no more superior authority than Me." We accept that. Then we can understand Bhagavad-gītā and take advantage of it; otherwise (it is) not possible.
Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures
Lecture on SB 1.2.5 -- Vrndavana, October 16, 1972:
If you want peace, then you try to understand these three principles of life. What is that? That Kṛṣṇa is the supreme enjoyer. No one else. All servants. Ekale īśvara kṛṣṇa āra saba bhṛtya (CC Adi 5.142). Everyone is servant. Not that "Oh, everyone is equal to Kṛṣṇa." That has become a cheap business. So many kṛṣṇa-avatāras and so many demigods, they are counted as good as Kṛṣṇa. But Kṛṣṇa says, mattaḥ parataraṁ nānyat kiñcid asti dhanañjaya (BG 7.7), "There is no more superior authority than Me."
Lecture on SB 1.2.5 -- Aligarh, October 9, 1976:
Just like if you pass medical examination, there is possibility of your becoming a medical officer to get a service in the government medical service board, but still, it must be selected by the medical board and so on, so on. There are so many condition. Similarly to get the next body, that is not your selection. That selection depends on superior authority. Karmaṇā daiva netreṇa jantur dehopapattaye (SB 3.31.1). That we do not know, that next life. Neither we endeavor what is next life. We have to accept a next life after giving up this body.
Lecture on SB 1.2.5 -- Aligarh, October 9, 1976:
You simply begin this chanting of Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra and reading of Bhagavad-gītā As It Is. Don't try to be ustad in interpreting. That is very dangerous. Ustadi is not good. Simply try to understand Bhagavad-gītā as it is. Bhagavān says, mattaḥ parataraṁ nānyat kiñcid asti dhanañjaya (BG 7.7). "My dear Arjuna, there is no more superior authority than Me." You accept it. That's all. You haven't got to interpret foolishly. No, then you are gone. Then you become condemned.
Lecture on SB 1.2.8 -- Bombay, December 26, 1972:
We may gratify our senses while we are living, but when we quit this body, we are completely under the grip of material nature. Prakṛteḥ kriyamāṇāni guṇaiḥ karmāṇi sarvaśaḥ (BG 3.27). And when you are on the clutches of prakṛti, you cannot dictate that "Give me this kind of body." That will be decided by superior authority, daiva netreṇa, karmaṇā daiva ne. These are the scientific knowledge, but unfortunately, there is no culture of this scientific knowledge. Superficially, simply for sense gratification, that is going on in the name of advancement of civilization.
Lecture on SB 1.2.9 -- New Vrindaban, September 7, 1972:
We do not find anyone equal to Him or greater than Him. That is God. God is great. "Great" means nobody should be greater than Him. And God says in the Bhagavad-gītā, mattaḥ parataraṁ nānyat kiñcid asti dhanañjaya: (BG 7.7) "There is no other superior authority than Me." Ahaṁ sarvasya prabhavo mattaḥ sarvaṁ pravartate (BG 10.8): "I am the origin of everything." So other demigods like Lord Śiva, Lord Brahmā, even Lord Viṣṇu, mattaḥ sarvaṁ pravartate—everyone emanates from Him.
Lecture on SB 1.2.9 -- Detroit, August 3, 1975, University Lecture:
If I am controlled by a dentist—a god has become affected with tooth trouble and goes to the... Then he is not God. Such kind of god we do not worship, that when there is some toothache, he goes to a doctor. So no, that is not God. God means īśvaraḥ paramaḥ kṛṣṇaḥ (Bs. 5.1). And Kṛṣṇa says, mattaḥ parataraṁ nānyat: (BG 7.7) "There is no more superior authority than Me." And Arjuna accept, paraṁ brahma paraṁ dhāma pavitraṁ paramaṁ bhavān (BG 10.12).
Lecture on SB 1.2.16 -- Vrndavana, October 27, 1972:
When we increase the taste for Kṛṣṇa, for understanding Kṛṣṇa... This ruci comes when one is actually liberated. This ruci. Tato 'nartha-nivṛttiḥ syāt. First of all, śraddadhānasya. As it is stated here, śraddhā, faith. Kṛṣṇa is... Kṛṣṇa says that mattaḥ parataraṁ nānyat kiñcid asti dhanañjaya (BG 7.7), "There is no more superior authority than Me." Mattaḥ parataraṁ na anyat. Na, "Nobody else. I am the Supreme." So when we have faith in this explanation of Kṛṣṇa...
Lecture on SB 1.3.19 -- Los Angeles, September 24, 1972:
The śāstra says, kṛṣṇas tu bhagavān svayam (SB 1.3.28). Īśvaraḥ paramaḥ kṛṣṇaḥ (Bs. 5.1). God is Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Lord, the original God. Īśvaraḥ paramaḥ kṛṣṇaḥ sac-cid-ānanda (Bs. 5.1). God, Kṛṣṇa also says in the Bhagavad-gītā, mattaḥ parataraṁ nānyat: (BG 7.7) "There is no superior authority than Me." The Vedānta-sūtra also says, janmādy asya yataḥ (SB 1.1.1). The original source of everything. Who is that original source? God. Who is that God? Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa says, ahaṁ sarvasya prabhavo mattaḥ sarvaṁ pravartate (BG 10.8). "I am the origin of everything."
Lecture on SB 1.5.29 -- Vrndavana, August 10, 1974:
So you don't want to..., if you don't want to become a rascal, if you want to become a mahātmā, then you accept what Kṛṣṇa says and preach that. Kṛṣṇa says, mattaḥ parataraṁ nānyat: (BG 7.7) "There is no more superior authority than Me." You say that. You say, vāsudevaḥ sarvam iti (BG 7.19). "Here is... Kṛṣṇa is the cause." You understand or don't understand, if you simply pick up the words of Kṛṣṇa and talk like that, then you become mahātmā.
Lecture on SB 1.7.6 -- Vrndavana, April 23, 1975:
In the English dictionary also it is said "God means the Supreme Person." God means the Supreme Person. So that Supreme Person is Kṛṣṇa, and Kṛṣṇa says in the Bhagavad-gītā, mattaḥ parataraṁ nānyat: (BG 7.7) "There is no more superior authority than Me." But people do not understand, because ajānataḥ. Ajānataḥ means without any knowledge.
Lecture on SB 1.8.20 -- Mayapura, September 30, 1974:
We do some activities, sinful or pious, mostly sinful. So we create another life, and we are forced to enter into such body. It may be now I am in the human form of body. Next life, according to my karma, I may be forced to enter into the dog's li..., dog's body. So we are forced. There is no, I mean to say, choice. I cannot say (to) nature that "Do not put me into the dog's body. Kindly put me into the king's body." No. Karmaṇā daiva-netreṇa (SB 3.31.1). This decision will be taken by superior authority. You cannot dictate that "I shall become like that." No, that is not possible. Karmaṇā daiva-netreṇa.
Lecture on SB 1.8.47 -- Mayapura, October 27, 1974:
Of course, any devotion is, any devotee is not on the material platform. He is... But if we remain more on the material platform, not on the spiritual platform, then we'll fall down. We'll fall down. Therefore one should try to make forward march. The forward march is to become a preacher. Bhakteṣu cānyeṣu. Preaching means to obey the order of the spiritual master or superior authorities and to do good to others, do good to others. They are suffering for want of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Try to preach them. This is the second stage. If we simply become blocked up for Deity worship and do not preach, then we remain in the lowest stage. But when we take up this work, preaching...
Lecture on SB 1.16.22 -- Hawaii, January 18, 1974:
Writing book is not a whimsical, whatever I like. No. You must be empowered by superior authority; then you can deliver the right things. So Vyāsadeva was empowered by his guru, Nārada.
Lecture on SB 1.16.23 -- Hawaii, January 19, 1974:
At the time of death, by superior authority, what body I'm going to take next, that has to be decided. Then, when it is decided, if he takes little... Because that is for the most sinful person. And for the devotee, it is already decided.
Lecture on SB 2.1.7 -- Paris, June 15, 1974:
These Gosvāmīs, they were always writing books. Guṇānukathane. Guṇa. What is the writing books? When we write these books, what is that? We are simply describing the different activities and attributes of Kṛṣṇa. Anukathane. Anu means not whimsically. Following the superior authorities. You cannot write anything which is not approved by the superior authorities. Therefore, we have to give examples, quotation from the śāstra, that "What I am speaking, it is supported by the śāstras. Not that I have inventive power—I have, I can do, I can write anything I like." That is nonsense.
Lecture on SB 2.3.17 -- Los Angeles, July 12, 1969:
Although there are millions and billions of planets, and although you have got machine to fly, but because we are conditioned, checked by the laws of nature or God, you cannot go. Exactly like the man who is put into certain cell, he cannot change at his will without the superior authority. So Kṛṣṇa says in the Bhagavad-gītā that don't try to change this cell, from this cell to that cell. That will not make you happy. If you think, if a prisoner thinks that "I am in this cell. Let me request the superintendent of the jail to change my cell and I'll be happy," that is a mistaken idea.
Lecture on SB 2.9.2 -- Melbourne, April 4, 1972:
By the stringent laws of superior authority, uru-dāmni baddhāḥ. You are bound up, uru-dāmni. Uru means strong, dāmni means rope. Uru-dāmni, very strong rope. Just like big ship. Immediately bound up on the pier by some rope. You have seen it?
Lecture on SB 3.25.13 -- Bombay, November 13, 1974:
Representative is very easy. You can become representative of Kṛṣṇa if you do not interpret Kṛṣṇa's words in your whimsical way. Kṛṣṇa says, mattaḥ parataraṁ nānyat kiñcid asti dhanañjaya: (BG 7.7) "There is no more superior authority than Me." And if you take it as it is, and if you speak to the people that "There is no more superior authority than Kṛṣṇa," then you become guru. You become guru. You don't change. Then you become guru. Caitanya Mahāprabhu has instructed this.
Lecture on SB 3.25.17 -- Bombay, November 17, 1974:
Asama means nobody is equal to Him. And nobody is greater than Him. That is God. If somebody claims to be God, then he has to prove that nobody is equal to him and nobody is greater than him. Then he's God. This is the simple definition of God, that nobody equal to Him and nobody greater than Him. That is Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa says that mattaḥ parataraṁ nānyat kiñcid asti dhanañjaya: (BG 7.7) "My dear Dhanañjaya, Arjuna, there is no more superior authority than Me."
Lecture on SB 3.25.21 -- Bombay, November 21, 1974:
Attachment to the material qualities, we are conditioned. And suppose we have got now human form of body or in a very rich family, that is all right, but it will not continue. You have to give it up. And any moment, by the superior authority, when it is ordered, "Immediately please leave this position," you have to do it. This is called conditioned life. You cannot stay in any status of life for all the days. If you think that "I am American. I am very happy," that... That's all right. You're American, you're happy, or Indian, you are very happy.
Lecture on SB 3.25.21 -- Bombay, November 21, 1974:
If there are so many processes you have to undergo from this country to that country, is it possible that you want to go to another planet without such qualification? This is futile attempt. It is not possible. Therefore you are conditioned. It is called conditioned. We cannot go, we cannot move freely, without being sanctioned by the superior authority. So we generally say, "Not a blade of grass moves without the sanction of God." Similarly, we cannot do anything.
Lecture on SB 3.25.25 -- Bombay, November 25, 1974:
So not only in America, everywhere, it is not easy that one man is born immediately very rich and one man is born in very poor family or very ugly family. There is distinction. There is some superior authority. It is not accident. Karmaṇā daiva-netreṇa jantur dehopapattaye (SB 3.31.1). A living entity gets his body by superior administration, by nature's quality. There is big science.
Lecture on SB 5.5.2 -- Boston, April 28, 1969:
Tapaḥ means just like sometimes we don't want scorching heat, but under certain conditions, we tolerate scorching heat for better purpose. Or very severe cold. Sometimes we do not like, but for some higher purpose we sometimes suffer. So these voluntary sufferings under the direction of superior authority is called tapasya. Tapasya. Tapasya means accepting voluntarily some suffering. That is the way of spiritual realization. That is not actually suffering. That is nectarean. But in the beginning it appears like suffering. So that is called austerity.
Lecture on SB 6.1.39-40 -- Surat, December 21, 1970:
Veda means Nārāyaṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead directly. Just like lawbook is directly government, similarly, veda nārāyaṇaḥ sākṣāt svayambhūr iti śuśruma. Again he says, susruma, "I have heard it. I have heard it." When I say, "I have heard it," that means I have heard it from a superior authority. Śuśruma. No follower of Vedic principle will say, "It is my opinion." Your opinion is nonsense. What you are? This is the way of understanding Vedas.
Lecture on SB 6.1.48 -- Dallas, July 30, 1975:
They are thinking that "I shall remain in this human form of beautiful body and in opulent..." No, changing. Tathā dehāntara-prāptiḥ (BG 2.13). You have to change your body according to the decision of superior authority, daiva-netreṇa. We should always remember it.
Lecture on SB 7.7.30-31 -- Mombassa, September 12, 1971:
Everyone is trying to live, struggle for existence, but these living conditions are different, according to the body. The body is made according to his destination of happiness and distress by superior authority. I cannot say that I will have such-and-such body my next life. But in one sense, if I am intelligent, I can prepare my next body. I can prepare my body to live in certain planets, in certain societies.
Lecture on SB 7.7.30-31 -- Mombassa, September 12, 1971:
You will find Lord Siva is in the pose of meditation, but you will never find Kṛṣṇa in meditation. Therefore, He is the Supreme Lord. And He says personally that mattaḥ parataraṁ nānyat kiñcid asti dhanañjaya (BG 7.7). "Dhanañjaya, Arjuna, just take it from Me. There is no other superior authority than Me." And that's a fact. So when Kṛṣṇa was present on this planet, He showed that nobody in the history of the world is superior than Kṛṣṇa.
Lecture on SB 7.7.30-31 -- Mombassa, September 12, 1971:
Devotee (2): Kṛṣṇa knows everything in the past and everything in the future, so can we say it is predestined?
Prabhupāda: Yes, so long within these material laws, it is predestined, but according to karma. Karmaṇā daiva-netreṇa (SB 3.31.1). You are doing work, you are acting, and that is being supervised by the superior authorities. And you get a type of body that this living entity has worked in this way, he should get this type of body. Therefore, it is predestined.
Lecture on SB 7.9.5 -- Mayapur, February 25, 1977:
Simply these things are required: you become innocent, accept the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and fall down at His lotus feet. Everything is complete. This is wanted, simplicity. Simplicity. Believe in Kṛṣṇa. As Kṛṣṇa said, mattaḥ parataraṁ nānyat kiñcid asti dhanañ... (BG 7.7), believe it! There is no more superior authority than Kṛṣṇa.
Lecture on SB 7.9.13 -- Mayapur, February 20, 1976:
Lord is one, Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa says, declares, in the Bhagavad-gītā, mattaḥ parataraṁ nānyat kiñcid asti dhanañjaya: (BG 7.7) "There is no more superior authority than Me." In many places... Asamaurdhva. Asama, nobody can be equal with God, neither anybody can be higher than Him. That is God. So God is one. There cannot be two Gods. Then there is no meaning of God. Now they manufacture God. In every street, every lane, there is a God.
Nectar of Devotion Lectures
The Nectar of Devotion -- Vrndavana, October 17, 1972:
We Vaiṣṇava ācāryas, they differ little with Śaṅkarācārya. Impersonalist and personalist. But Śaṅkarācārya even, even though he was impersonalist, he accepted Kṛṣṇa in his commentary on Bhagavad-gītā. Sai bhagavān svayaṁ kṛṣṇa. So Kṛṣṇa is accepted as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. There is no doubt about it. By all authorities. And Kṛṣṇa Himself says in the Bhagavad-gītā, mattaḥ parataraṁ nānyat (BG 7.7). "There is no more superior authority than Me."
The Nectar of Devotion -- Vrndavana, October 19, 1972:
Just like by becoming philanthropist I may do so many sinful activities. Because when one is mad after something... Kāmais tais tair hṛta-jñānāḥ (BG 7.20). When, then his knowledge becomes bewildered. They do not care to do anything, either sinful... Generally, they act sinfully. But according to our acts, karmaṇā daiva-netreṇa (SB 3.31.1), the superior authority will examine your karma. Not so-called philanthropism. Actually philanthropism has no meaning because, according to the law of karma...
The Nectar of Devotion -- Bombay, December 28, 1972:
Pradyumna: "We prepare our next life by our actual activities in the present life. A living entity is offered a particular type of body as a result of his action in the present body. These activities are taken into account by a superior authority..."
Prabhupāda: Yes.
Pradyumna: "...known as daiva."
Prabhupāda: People do not believe this. They think that everything is going on automatically. No. There is everything, account, witness. The Lord...
The Nectar of Devotion -- Bombay, December 28, 1972:
Everything is being witnessed and that is being recorded. So just like in a office in government service, there is service record, and at the end of the year, everything is considered. So the man is promoted, given some bonus on the proprietor or the directors, they're not meeting that man. But the service record is there. Similarly, whatever we are doing, good or bad, that is being recorded and it is examined. Karmaṇā daiva netreṇa (SB 3.31.1). We are acting and there is superior authority. They are examining what kind of body he has to get next. So that, that, that science is not being taught, that what is our next body? They are thinking that there is no next body, there is no life, this life is finished.
The Nectar of Devotion -- Bombay, December 28, 1972:
Pradyumna: "These activities are taken into account by a superior authority known as daiva, or the authority of God. This daiva is explained in the Bhagavad-gītā as the prime cause of everything."
Prabhupāda: Yes. There are five causes. Karta, the, the doer, the place, the instrument, and providence. In this way, there are five causes for acting anything. Just like you are doing business. So if you are a nice businessman, that's very good asset. If you place your business in a market place, there is good opportunity. If you have got sufficient capital, good instrument, and if God is favorable, then your business is successful.
The Nectar of Devotion -- Bombay, December 28, 1972:
Guest: For material men like us it is not possible to accept the Vedas. Because we do not know. I do not see. It may not be there. But all we can say that we are still in the dark or ignorant about the...
Prabhupāda: But we have to take knowledge from superior authority. I am always not in knowledge. That is my position. But we take knowledge from superior authority. So we are taking knowledge from Kṛṣṇa, the most superior authority. (break) ...our Vedic system.
The Nectar of Devotion -- Vrndavana, October 27, 1972:
Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī wanted to please Sanātana Gosvāmī. Our duty is to please the superior, not the public. We are giving service to the public according to the direction of the superior authority. We do not manufacture any program of service. That is not our business. Whatever is ordered by the... Just like Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Caitanya Mahāprabhu, He's Kṛṣṇa Himself. Still, He was following the authorities.
Sri Caitanya-caritamrta Lectures
Lecture on CC Adi-lila 1.1 -- Mayapur, March 25, 1975:
Anyone who understands Kṛṣṇa... What is that understanding? Kṛṣṇa says, mattaḥ parataraṁ nānyat kiñcid asti dhanañjaya: (BG 7.7) "My dear Arjuna, there is no more superior authority or person or truth than Myself." Mattaḥ parataraṁ nānyat kiñcid asti dhanañjaya (BG 7.7). These few words, if you simply understand... Blindly or openly, it doesn't matter. Because if you touch fire, either blindly or openly, it will act. It will act.
Lecture on CC Adi-lila 7.1 -- Atlanta, March 1, 1975:
One should not be writing in spiritual subject matter without being authorized by some superior authority. It is not ordinary writing. The writing on spiritual subject matter is authoritative. By the order of superior authority, one can write. It is not speculation. Therefore he said that śrī-caitanyaṁ likhyate asya: "By the order of superior authority, I am trying to describe Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu."
Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 20.100-108 -- New York, November 22, 1966:
Just like Arjuna did not know what he is. He thought that "I am this body, and these persons who are in relationship with my body, they're my own men, they're my kinsmen." That was his knowledge. So you cannot know, we cannot know "What I am." A superior authority will let you know what you are. You cannot know. This is the mistaken idea, that "I shall find out what I am." No. You cannot know. Just see. Sanātana Gosvāmī said that ke āmi: "Kindly, as You have very kindly delivered me from this illusory position, now I am surrendered soul to You. Please let me know what I am."
Festival Lectures
Srila Krsnadasa Kaviraja Gosvami's Appearance Day -- Vrndavana, October 19, 1972:
This atheistic view of life means he has no knowledge. Anyone who denies the existence of God, superior authority of God, he must be considered as māyayā apahṛta-jñānā, asurī-bhāvam āśritāḥ. "I was suffering in the dark well of material enjoyment, and I never knew the actual goal of my life." That is the position of everyone. We get here a little material opulence and we forget our real business. We remain intoxicated in material enjoyment and forget the real business of life. That is a great blunder.
His Divine Grace Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Gosvami Prabhupada's Appearance Day, Lecture -- Atlanta, March 2, 1975:
If you don't keep in touch with the original link, then it will be lost. And if you keep touch with the original link, then you are directly hearing Kṛṣṇa. Similarly, Kṛṣṇa and Kṛṣṇa's representative, spiritual master, if you keep always intact, in link with the words and instruction of the superior authorities, then you are always fresh. This is spiritual understanding.
General Lectures
Lecture -- Seattle, October 7, 1968:
There are so many parties, so many "isms," and the main principle is that "Why shall I surrender?" That is the main disease. Whatever political party is there... Just like the Communist party. Their revolt is against the superior authority they call capitalists. "Why shall we..." Everywhere, the same thing is, "Why shall I surrender?" But we have to surrender. That is our constitutional position. If I don't surrender to some particular person or particular government or particular community or society or something, but ultimately I am surrendered. I am surrendered to the laws of nature. There is no independence. I have to surrender.
Speech at Gaudiya Math Center -- Visakhapatnam, February 19, 1972:
Kṛṣṇa is the original Personality of Godhead, as it is said in the Bhagavad-gītā and other Vedic literature. Kṛṣṇa says Himself, mattaḥ parataraṁ nānyat kiñcid asti dhanañjaya (BG 7.7), "There is no more superior authority than Me." There is no difference between Lord Rāma, Lord Kṛṣṇa, Lord Nrsiṁha, Varāha, They are all the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
Lecture at Christian Monastery -- Melbourne, April 6, 1972:
And at the time of death, the condition of my mind will carry me to a particular type of body. And there are 8,400,000's of bodies. We may accept any of them according... That will be given by superior authority. Karmaṇā daiva-netreṇa (SB 3.31.1). Just like in huge, big establishment, management, a man is promoted by the superior authority or sometimes he is degraded, similarly, in this form of human body we have got intelligence to understand about God, about ourself, our relationship with God. If we don't utilize this body for this purpose, there is every possibility to be glided down in the animal kingdom.
Lecture -- Tokyo, May 1, 1972:
Budhā means one who is actually in knowledge, one who is actually in understanding. Such person, he knows that Kṛṣṇa is the origin of everything, janmādy asya yataḥ (SB 1.1.1). The Vedānta-sūtra gives hint that "Absolute Truth is that which is the original source of emanation of everything." That Absolute Truth is Kṛṣṇa. He says further, mattaḥ parataraṁ nānyat kiñcid asti dhanañjaya: (BG 7.7) "Beyond Me, there is no other superior authority or truth."
Lecture -- London, August 23, 1973:
Dharma does not mean any material activities. Dharma means spiritual activities, viśuddham, pure, pure of the contamination of the material qualities. Guhyam viśuddhaṁ durbodham. Durbodham means very difficult to understand. Anything which is very difficult to understand, if you go to a superior authority, it becomes simplified. Just like you do not know law. Suppose you are in need of some legal protection, but you do not know "Under which legal protection I will be safe." You have to approach a good lawyer. You cannot say that "I'll defend myself. I will do." No, that is not possible.
Lecture at Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan -- Bombay, October 18, 1973:
Don't try to interpret in a fashionable way: "This means that, that means that." No. "Kṛṣṇa" means Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa means... Kṛṣṇa says, mattaḥ parataraṁ nānyat kiñcid asti dhanañjaya: (BG 7.7) "My dear Dhanañjaya, there is no more superior authority than Me." You have to accept that. Kṛṣṇa says, mām eva ye prapadyante māyām etāṁ taranti te. You have to accept that. Kṛṣṇa says, man-manā bhava mad-bhakto mad-yājī māṁ namaskuru (BG 18.65). You have to accept that.
Tenth Anniversary Address -- Washington, D.C., July 6, 1976:
"All these incarnations, they are part and parcel or plenary expansion of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, but the name which I have mentioned as Kṛṣṇa, that Godhead, kṛṣṇas tu bhagavān svayam, He is the Supreme Original Personality of Godhead." That is Vyāsadeva's... So we have to accept. And Arjuna also says, svayaṁ caiva bravīṣi me, "You are also personally speaking that mattaḥ parataraṁ nānyat kiñcid asti dhanañjaya (BG 7.7), 'There is no more superior authority than Me.' " So this is confirmed.
General Lecture -- (location & date unknown):
So karmaṇā daiva-netreṇa jantor deha upapattaye (SB 3.31.1). We act, and the result of the action is just by the superior authority, daiva-netreṇa. And then, according to that result, we accept a certain type of body. So there are many discussions about this karmavāda. But these are Vedic conclusions, according to karma. So this human form of life... I was speaking of the dharma. The dharma... Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, says that "I come down, I descend, I appear, for the reason to establish, reestablish"—not establish, reestablish—"to reestablish the principle of religion,"
Philosophy Discussions
Philosophy Discussion on David Hume:
Prabhupāda: Therefore our process of knowledge is to take from the authorities. That is perfect. Our senses cannot read, that is a fact. But it is not that without senses, no knowledge can be... No. We receive by senses, but from superior authority, one who knows. That is perfect knowledge. According to him, there is no possibility of having perfect knowledge?
Philosophy Discussion on Henri Bergson:
Prabhupāda: Yes. So this personality can change to become perfect if he follows the instruction of Kṛṣṇa.
Hayagrīva: Because obviously, say in my next life, I'll be a different personality.
Prabhupāda: Yes. According to your work, this karmaṇā daiva netreṇa (SB 3.31.1), by..., the body will be selected, not by you but by superior authority, that "This man has acted like this, so he should get this body."
Philosophy Discussion on John Stuart Mill:
Prabhupāda: That means you have to approach Christ through... One cannot determine himself. Golden rules of Christianity means that he has to abide by the orders of Christ. That is superior authority.
Philosophy Discussion on Socrates:
Prabhupāda: So these impersonalists or less intelligent persons, they cannot understand that how a person can dictate the wonderful activities of the material nature; therefore they remain impersonalist. But actually, person. That is the understanding of Bhagavad-gītā. God is person. Mattaḥ parataraṁ nānyat kiñcid asti dhanañjaya: (BG 7.7) "There is no more superior authority than Me." So when He says mattaḥ, that means there is a person, person.
Philosophy Discussion on Socrates:
Prabhupāda: God is person.
Hayagrīva: Yes.
Prabhupāda: And He says, mattaḥ parataraṁ nānyat kiñcid asti dhanañjaya: (BG 7.7) "There is no more superior authority than Me." Ahaṁ sarvasya prabhavo mattaḥ sarvaṁ pravartate (BG 10.8): "I am the origin of everything. Everything emanates from Me." And the Vedānta-sūtra confirms, "The Absolute Truth is that from which everything comes," janmādy asya yataḥ (SB 1.1.1). So the Absolute Truth is person, and Arjuna, when he understood Bhagavad-gītā, he addressed Kṛṣṇa, paraṁ brahma. That is Absolute Truth.
Philosophy Discussion on Samuel Alexander:
Prabhupāda: He is worshipable by everyone. Therefore Kṛṣṇa says in the Bhagavad-gītā, mattaḥ parataraṁ nānyat kiñcid asti dhanañjaya: (BG 7.7) "Everyone has got higher than him for worship, but I have nothing to worship. I am the Supreme, mattaḥ parataram. No..., there is no more superior authority than Me." Then He is God. So long one has superior authority, he is not God. He is subordinate. But when he comes to a person who has no more superior than Him, then He is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. That is Kṛṣṇa.
Conversations and Morning Walks
1971 Conversations and Morning Walks
Discussion with Indians -- January 18, 1971, Allahabad:
Prabhupāda: Just like lawyer, representative of the law, means who carries the order of the supreme executive. He is lawyer. Similarly, a spiritual master means who carries the order of superior authority. We are carrying the order of Caitanya Mahāprabhu or Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa taught this Bhagavad-gītā, and He has said that "Anyone who will preach this confidential message of Bhagavad-gītā, he is very dear to Me."
1972 Conversations and Morning Walks
Room Conversation -- April 1, 1972, Sydney:
Prabhupāda: So these foolish persons are taking as chance, but it is not chance. God is omnipotent. As soon as He understands that I want this, He gives me some facility so that I get it. So it is not chance. It is by arrangement of superior authority. But because they are atheists, they have no sense of God consciousness, they are taking as chance, that necessity creates that chance; automatically it is coming. Not automatically. Chance does not mean automatically. I cannot see something, but all of a sudden falls... Just like I am hungry, I want some food.
Introduction Speech By Dr. Kapoor and Conversation -- October 15, 1972, Vrndavana:
Prabhupāda: According to his karma and by the consideration of superior authority, the spirit soul is immediately transferred in the semina of the male, father. And he injects in the womb of the woman. And the two secretion emulsified, it becomes just like a pea, and that pea grows. And then nine holes are coming out, and they become eyes, ears, like that. But Kṛṣṇa says, tyaktvā deham. So after giving up this body, one is immediately transferred to another material body.
1973 Conversations and Morning Walks
Room Conversation with Krishna Tiwari -- May 22, 1973, New York:
Krishna Tiwari: No, that is not true. I didn't say that. I agreed with it. But I do not know who the person is...
Prabhupāda: No, no.
Krishna Tiwari: ...when I will have...
Prabhupāda: I don't say who, but you have to believe that there is a person and there is a superior authority.
Krishna Tiwari: Person, I don't think so. It's not from person. Not in my opinion.
Prabhupāda: Or not person; something, something superior to these laws of material nature. That you have to accept.
Room Conversation with Two Buddhist Monks -- July 12, 1973, London:
Prabhupāda: We have simply placed, administered, the same thing which was spoken five thousand years ago. That's all. Five thousand years ago, Kṛṣṇa said that "There is nothing, no more superior authority than Me." We are preaching the same thing. The same old thing. Kṛṣṇa said, sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja (BG 18.66). "You just surrender unto Me." Kṛṣṇa said that "Surrender unto Me," and we are speaking, "Surrender unto Kṛṣṇa;" same thing. Kṛṣṇa said that "I am the origin of everything." Ahaṁ sarvasya prabhavo mattaḥ sarvaṁ pravartate (BG 10.8). We are speaking the same thing, that the original source of everything is Kṛṣṇa.
Room Conversation with Dr. Arnold Toynbee, Famous Historian, at his home or office -- July 22, 1973, London:
Prabhupāda: Similarly, in this life, my karma... That is stated in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, karmaṇā daiva-netreṇa. According to your karma and by the supervision of superior authority, you get a body. Karmaṇā daiva-netreṇa jantur deha upapattaye (SB 3.31.1). The living entity gets a certain type of body according to the karma. And this is allotted by superior authority.
Room Conversation -- September 19, 1973, Bombay:
Prabhupāda: When one understands Kṛṣṇa, the original source of everything, janmādy asya yataḥ (SB 1.1.1), which Kṛṣṇa explains, mattaḥ parataraṁ nānyat: (BG 7.7) "There is no superior authority beyond Me." Ahaṁ sarvasya prabhavaḥ: (BG 10.8) "I am the origin of all." When one understands Kṛṣṇa like that... The Māyāvādī philosophers, they think that "I am also Kṛṣṇa, I am also Kṛṣṇa." But people who follow, they do not ask him that "If you are Kṛṣṇa, you show something as Kṛṣṇa showed. Kṛṣṇa lifted the Govardhana Hill when He was seven years old.
Morning Walk -- December 5, 1973, Los Angeles:
Prabhupāda: Yes, not ava... Yes, avaroha process. Yes, thank you. Here Kṛṣṇa says, mattaḥ parataraṁ nānyat (BG 7.7). We have to accept that. Mattaḥ parataraṁ nānyat kiñcid asti dhanañjaya (BG 7.7). So "There is no more superior authority than Me." Harer nāma harer nāma... (CC Adi 17.21).
Morning Walk -- December 6, 1973, Los Angeles:
Prabhupāda: So our Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement, we are not speculating. We are accepting God the authority, and He's speaking about Himself. We are accepting. That is our position. Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa says, mattaḥ parataraṁ nānyat: (BG 7.7) "There is no more superior authority than Me." We accept it. Kṛṣṇa says, man-manā bhava mad-bhaktaḥ: "You always think of Me. Become my devotee." We become... This is Kṛṣṇa consciousness. We are imperfect, but we accept the perfect. Therefore we are perfect. We are imperfect. We don't say that we are God, or perfect. We are imperfect. But we accept the perfect version of the perfect. Therefore we are perfect.
1974 Conversations and Morning Walks
Morning Walk -- January 22, 1974, Hawaii:
Nitāi: We can see that he hasn't done anything; others would say that "Oh, he's got a movement just like you."
Prabhupāda: No, it is not my movement; it is old. I don't say it is my movement. Neither I say that I am God. I am simply speaking of the established movement. Now, my movement is that Kṛṣṇa is God. So Kṛṣṇa says, mattaḥ parataraṁ nānyat (BG 7.7), "There is no more superior authority than Me," but is it a fact that this rascal is the supreme authority?
Morning Walk -- January 22, 1974, Hawaii:
Bali Mardana: No one has any idea what is God. So he, the people... they say, "Here is God", and no no can disprove it, 'cause they have no idea what is God.
Prabhupāda: No, no, here is the idea. God must be the supreme authority. So let him prove that he is the supreme authority. He's checked by the custom authority and he's God? He goes to the hospital and he's God? Here is the definition of God, that "There is no more superior authority than Me." And Kṛṣṇa proved. History says that there was no more superior authority than Kṛṣṇa. Then let him prove that first.
1975 Conversations and Morning Walks
Room Conversation with Professors -- February 19, 1975, Caracas:
Prabhupāda: Similarly, if somebody says, "I don't believe in the next life," that does not mean he is authority. Nature will give him. Nature will not agree or obey the imperfect person. The same example: if the young man says, "I don't want old body," nature will not hear him. Nature will give him, force him: "You must accept old body." Everyone does not want to die, but nature puts him forcibly: "Yes, you must die." So after all, we are perfectly under the control of superior authority. We cannot become independent, and our independent thoughts has no value.
Room Conversation with three Trappist Monks, Psychologists from the University of Georgia, and Atlanta Lawyer, Michael Green -- March 1, 1975, Atlanta:
Prabhupāda: These instruction are meant for the rājarṣis, not for the śūdras. So the rājarṣis, they would take instruction from superior authority, brāhmaṇas and Vaiṣṇavas, and they will accordingly rule over. And the vaiśyas would produce food grains sufficiently and milk sufficiently. People would eat very nicely, and they keep their health fit and save time for understanding his relationship with God. That is perfect civilization.
Room Conversation with Canadian Ambassador to Iran -- March 13, 1975, Iran:
Prabhupāda: And Kṛṣṇa also says in the Bhagavad-gītā, mattaḥ parataraṁ nānyat: (BG 7.7) "There is no more superior form or superior authority than Me." And that is confirmed by Lord Brahmā. Īśvaraḥ paramaḥ kṛṣṇaḥ (Bs. 5.1). Īśvaraḥ means controller. There are different grades of controller, but the supreme controller is Kṛṣṇa. And Kṛṣṇa says, mām ekam: "Unto Me alone."
Room Conversation with Yoga Student -- March 14, 1975, Iran:
Indian man: I know the living Kṛṣṇa will come in Bhagavad-gītā, I hope.
Prabhupāda: No. He says... He says that mattaḥ parataraṁ nānyat kiñcid asti dhanañjaya: (BG 7.7) "There is no superior authority than Me." Then if you do not understand what is that Kṛṣṇa, then how you accept Him as superior authority?
Room Conversation with Yoga Student -- March 14, 1975, Iran:
Prabhupāda: But we cannot permit or do not like that as the commentary of Bhagavad-gītā you will place something different. That is not very honest. You put your own theory. Why should you try to put your theory through Bhagavad-gītā? That we protest. Therefore we are presenting Bhagavad-gītā As It Is. And in the Bhagavad-gītā it is clearly said that "There is no superior authority than Me." Therefore He is the God. Mām eva ya prapadyante māyām etāṁ taranti te. Ahaṁ sarvasya prabhavo mattaḥ sarvaṁ pravartate (BG 10.8): "I am the origin of everything." And if you have got different idea, that somebody else is the origin, that you can explain differently. But you cannot keep it as explanation of Bhagavad-gītā.
Room Conversation -- October 4, 1975, Mauritius:
Prahupada: Then you have to accept some higher authority, God.
Cyavana: But he is not a person. He is not a person.
Prabhupāda: Whatever it may be. That is another thing. That is another question. But you have to accept some superior authority. As soon as you accept fate, destiny, then you have to accept superior authority.
Cyavana: They also say "nature." They say "by nature."
Prabhupāda: Whatever it... Whatever it may be. You have to accept some superior authority. That means you are not independent. You are under the control of the superior authority.
1976 Conversations and Morning Walks
Answers to a Questionnaire from Bhavan's Journal -- June 28, 1976, Vrndavana:
Prabhupāda: No. There is no different role. God is one. God cannot be duplicate. As it is stated in the Bhagavad-gītā that mattaḥ parataraṁ nānyat kiñcid asti dhanañjaya (BG 7.7). "There is no more superior authority than Me." That is God. Now people is to understand that Kṛṣṇa is God. There is no different role. The role is the same. Five thousand years Kṛṣṇa said that "I am the supreme authority. There is no more superior authority than Me." Still He is so. So we are simply attempting to introduce Kṛṣṇa. Nobody attempted. Although five thousand years past, nobody attempted to introduce the supreme authority Kṛṣṇa. We are just trying to introduce following the orders of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. He, five hundred years appeared. He is Kṛṣṇa. He wanted that this Kṛṣṇa consciousness should be spread all over the world.
Interview with Newsday Newspaper -- July 14, 1976, New York:
Interviewer: On what basis, though, can you tell me some of the things that...
Prabhupāda: Basis, just to see whether he's qualified, that's all. Just like ordinarily one manager is appointed by the superior authority on the merit, on his qualification. That's all.
Evening Darsan -- August 10, 1976, Tehran:
Prabhupāda: No, first of all you have to understand. So Kṛṣṇa is explained Himself, "I am this." Mattaḥ parataraṁ nānyat kiñcid asti dhanañjaya (BG 7.7). "There is no more superior authority than Me." We accept it. Why you accept another authority to understand Kṛṣṇa? Kṛṣṇa says mattaḥ parataraṁ nānyat (BG 7.7). So there is no difficulty as it is. But we create difficulty. If somebody asks me, "Where is your nose?" if I say, "Here is my nose." And if I say, "No here," (laughter) then it is difficulty. If I say directly, "Here is my nose," then there will be no difficulty.
Room Conversation -- August 11, 1976, Tehran:
Prabhupāda: That's all right, but they cannot explain what is this controller; therefore they disbelieve. Just like yesterday we were discussing that atheist class, that they are by chance there was lusty desires and there was pregnancy and there will be child. So we say, "No. Daiva-netreṇa. These things have been arranged by superior authorities." This is destiny, that what is already arranged by superior authority, that is destiny. You cannot change it. A man is ordered to be hanged by court justice, you cannot change. He is to be hanged. And they will say, "By chance he will be hanged."
Evening Darsana -- August 14, 1976, Bombay:
Prabhupāda: Kṛṣṇa said, mattaḥ parataraṁ nānyat kiñcid asti dhanañjaya (BG 7.7). "There is no more superior authority than Me."
- ahaṁ sarvasya prabhavo
- mattaḥ sarvaṁ pravartate
- iti matvā bhajante māṁ
- budhā bhāva-samanvitāḥ
- (BG 10.8)
- bahūnāṁ janmanām ante
- jñānavān māṁ prapadyate
- (BG 7.19)
These things are there. Iti te jñānam ākhyātaṁ guhyād guhyataraṁ mayā. Then explain. Vimṛśya, this word is there. Vimṛśyaitad yathecchasi tathā kuru. Find out this verse, iti. These are strong words. Because we are misled by foolish leaders, we are confused. Otherwise everything's clear.
Garden Conversation -- October 9, 1976, Aligarh:
Prabhupāda: Yamarāja is there. Now, this man is now dead, this soul is now changing body. What kind of body he'll get next? That is judged by the superior authority. Just like in the office a person is promoted. So his record is examined, how he has worked honestly to the interest of the establishment. All this consideration. Then he's given increment of salary or promotion to higher post. This is common sense. So it is not accident.
Evening Darsana -- December 3, 1976, Hyderabad:
Prabhupāda: This is duty. Kṛṣṇa never said that everything is all right. He says, sarva-dharmān parityajya: "Simply surrender unto Me." That is duty. They do not know what is duty. And he's manufacturing his duty. That is not duty. Duty is that which is ordered by the superior authorities, "You do this." So if he does that, that is discharge of duty. And if he manufactures his duty, that is not duty. That is concoction. So they are manufacturing duty. That is not duty. If the child manufactures a duty that "I shall play all day. This is my duty," will the parents accept it?
Press Conference -- December 16, 1976, Hyderabad:
Prabhupāda: Yes. Yes. Simply... Yes. No, Kṛṣṇa... Kṛṣṇa says, mattaḥ parataraṁ nānyat (BG 7.7). There is no more superior authority, more superior authority than Kṛṣṇa. And when Kṛṣṇa was present on this earth, He proved it. There was nobody superior than Him. That's a fact. Still He is superior. His Bhagavad-gītā is being studied all over the world with respect, determination, because He is still superior. That is superior.
Room Conversation with Indian Man -- December 22, 1976, Poona:
Indian man: Such a supreme knowledge is there from our superior authorities. This knowledge is, we are not even able to follow.
Prabhupāda: Yes. That's a fact. Therefore people are coming out like cats and dogs. But here is Bhagavad-gītā. If you are guided by Bhagavad-gītā, then it is all right. But this question, next question you'll say that "How I can save?" That is answered in Bhagavad-gītā. How you can save? Now you say. You tell me what is that verse. How you can save your child from death?
1977 Conversations and Morning Walks
Evening Darsana -- May 9, 1977, Hrishikesh:
Prabhupāda: You simply repeat. Don't misinterpret. Boliye. This is Caitanya Mahāprabhu's... Every one of you become a guru, not a bluffer, but a guru, real guru. "How real guru? What can be done? I have no qualification." Yāre dekha tāre kaha kṛṣṇa-upadeśa: (CC Madhya 7.128) "You simply take the words of Kṛṣṇa and preach." Kṛṣṇa says, mattaḥ parataraṁ nānyat (BG 7.7). You simply repeat, "Sir, Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Being, God." What is the difficulty? Kṛṣṇa says, "There is no superior authority than Me." You simply say, "Kṛṣṇa is the supreme authority." That's all. Kṛṣṇa says, man-manā bhava mad-bhakto mad-yājī mām... You preach, "Come here in the temple. See Kṛṣṇa's Deity and always think of Him." Where is the difficulty? Now, these Europeans and Americans, what I have done to them? I have not given any bribe. I say, "Here is Kṛṣṇa. He is God."
Correspondence
1947 to 1965 Correspondence
Letter to Ved Prakash -- Bombay 28 July, 1958:
With reference to my interview with you yesterday, I beg to inform you that the cause of our difference of opinion is based on the fact that you have got you own opinion in the matter of preaching our spiritual culture in the foreign countries but so far I am concerned I am conducted by the order of a superior authority and liberated person. My spiritual master Om Visnupada Sri Sri Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Goswami Maharaja wanted it and just trying to serve Him without any personal whim.
Letter to Jawaharlal Nehru -- Bombay 4 August, 1958:
If the aim of spiritual realization is missed, the whole plan of materialism is sure to be frustrated and that is the law of Nature. The law of nature is so made by a superior authority and no body can surpass the intricacies of material nature simply by partial adjustment of material science. The history of the West beginning from the time of the Greeks and the Romans down to the modern age of atomic war—is a continuous chain of sense gratificatory materialism and the result is that the westerners were never in peace within the memory of 3000 years of historical records. Neither it will be possible for them at any time in future to live in peace till the message of spiritualism just suitable to the present age does not reach their heart.
| Page Title: | Superior authority |
| Compiler: | Visnu Murti, Alakananda, Matea |
| Created: | 20 of Nov, 2008 |
| Totals by Section: | BG=1, SB=10, CC=6, OB=7, Lec=78, Con=27, Let=2 |
| No. of Quotes: | 131 |