Superiority means

Expressions researched:
"superiority means"

1973 Conversations and Morning Walks

Superiority by simply explanation will not do. You must be (indistinct). Guṇa, karma, superiority means guṇa, karma. You must have the quality and you must work in that quality.

Morning Walk -- December 8, 1973, Los Angeles:

Svarūpa Dāmodara: In Bengal, Śrīla Prabhupāda, the brāhmaṇa caste family like Mukherjees, then Bannerjees, then,... I had a roommate when I was in Calcutta, his was Mukherjee. So he was telling me one day that we are much more superior brāhmaṇas than other like Chaudhuris and Sanyals.

Prabhupāda: But where is your superiority?

Svarūpa Dāmodara: He was explaining like that.

Prabhupāda: That's all right. But what is your superiority. You're a servant now. You're śūdra. You're not even a brāhmaṇa. Superiority by simply explanation will not do. You must be (indistinct). Guṇa, karma, superiority means guṇa, karma. You must have the quality and you must work in that quality. You're a scientist, but after a few generation, a foolish boy in your family say, "We belong to the scientist's family." So what is the use of saying like that? You must become scientist. When you are a scientist then you are superior not by simply... This has killed the Indian, I mean Vedic culture when they began to claim superiority simply by birth without any qualification. That killed the whole civilization.

Svarūpa Dāmodara: But I think tradition must be still...

Prabhupāda: But tradition, what is that tradition? Tradition is here, in the proof. Cātur-varṇyaṁ mayā sṛṣṭaṁ guṇa-karma-vibhāgaśaḥ (BG 4.13). The reference is given to the quality, guṇa, and karma, and action. How you can simply say that because I'm born in such and such family, therefore I have also the same thing. Because my father was high-court judge, therefore I am high-court judge. Is that very good logic? How you became superior? You have to prove your superiority by your qualification and actual work. This is very nice. The world is accepting like that. Somebody's coming to you to accept some scientific instruction. He accepts you're superior in scientific knowledge, not for your birth, but for your quality and work. That is fact. So you first of all come to the platform of the quality and work, then you claim superior.

Yaśomatīnandana: Yes. That is foolishness.

Prabhupāda: And that foolishness has killed the whole Vedic civilization.

1972 Correspondence

When we think of superior person, we think he is superior because he knows something more than I, superiority means more knowledge. Krishna knows everything, and He claims that if anyone knows Him, then he also knows everything. So knowledge means to know only that Krishna is the Proprietor of everything, that Krishna is the Friend of everyone, and that Krishna is the Enjoyer of everything.

Letter to Sri Govinda -- Calcutta 5 March, 1972:

Please accept my blessings. I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter dated February 22, 1972, along with the letter from Santosa, and I especially appreciate his report of enthusiastic distribution of books and generally very highly determined and pure attitude of Krishna Consciousness devotional service. I am so much engladdened by his report. Just see how you all are giving all of your time and energy and attention to serving Krishna and how this simple formula is having such effect of creating topmost yogis and saintly young persons. You are the flowers of your nation, the devotees of the Lord, and so you go on in this way and always remember Krishna by remembering that you are His devotee and servant, and that this position is the most exalted of all and never to be thought of as inferior or less than even the most so-called elevated materialistic person. When we think of superior person, we think he is superior because he knows something more than I, superiority means more knowledge. Krishna knows everything, and He claims that if anyone knows Him, then he also knows everything. So knowledge means to know only that Krishna is the Proprietor of everything, that Krishna is the Friend of everyone, and that Krishna is the Enjoyer of everything. These three things: Proprietor, Friend, and Enjoyer. If somebody knows this, he is actually wise. Therefore because the devotee always knows this, he is more superior person because he has got all knowledge. But even more important than the knowledge of Krishna is the acting upon that knowledge, or devotional service. By the acting he realizes his knowledge and becomes complete. So I am very much encouraged that all you young boys and girls are working so hard to please Krishna, and even I cannot give you any nice thing, still, because you have got some love for Krishna and your Spiritual Master, therefore you have given up everything for selling books door-to-door and working very hard in every way just to push on this movement. For your sincere helping me I thank you all very very much.