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This is our preaching (Lectures)

Expressions researched:
"Preaching means" |"That is Caitanya Mahaprabhu's preaching" |"That is His preaching" |"That is also part of preaching" |"That is also preaching" |"That is another preaching" |"That is called kirtitavyas ca, preaching" |"That is called preaching" |"That is my all preaching" |"That is my preaching" |"That is our main preaching" |"That is real preacher" |"That is real preaching" |"That is success of preaching" |"That is the best preaching" |"That is your preaching" |"That is, killing is also preaching" |"That is, means preaching" |"This is Bhagavad-gita preaching" |"This is Caitanya Mahaprabhu's preaching" |"This is also another preaching" |"This is an example in preaching" |"This is real Sankirtana preaching" |"This is really preaching" |"This is the formula of preaching" |"This is the opportunity for preaching" |"This is the preaching" |"This is the process of preaching" |"This is very good preaching" |"This is what we are preaching" |"that is best preaching" |"that is good preaching" |"that is nice preaching" |"that is our method of preaching" |"that is our preaching" |"that is perfect preaching" |"that is preacher" |"that is preacher" |"that is preaching" |"that is preaching" |"that is solid preaching" |"that is the demonstrative preaching" |"that is the preaching" |"that is the real preaching" |"that is the real successful preaching" |"that is the success of preaching" |"that is the way of preaching" |"this is Krsna Caitanya Mahaprabhu's preaching" |"this is a successful preacher" |"this is a successful preacher" |"this is also preaching" |"this is business of the preacher" |"this is our actual solid preaching" |"this is our preaching" |"this is preacher" |"this is preacher" |"this is preaching" |"this is the greater preaching" |"this is the success of preaching" |"this is the way of preaching"

Lectures

Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures

Lecture on BG 1.28-29 -- London, July 22, 1973:

So from the beginning we have to practice Kṛṣṇa consciousness if we are actually serious to go back to home, back to Godhead. Not that let it be left for two or three years before death. Oh, it is not so easy. It is not so easy. Prahlāda Mahārāja recommends therefore,

kaumāra ācaret prājño
dharmān bhāgavatān iha
durlabhaṁ mānuṣaṁ janma
tad apy adhruvam arthadam
(SB 7.6.1)

He was five years old, Kṛṣṇa conscious, from the womb of his mother. He heard instruction of Nārada. Nārada was instructing his mother. He was in the womb. Fortunately, by God's grace, he heard all the instruction of Nārada when he was in the womb of his mother. And the result was, from the beginning of his life, he is Kṛṣṇa conscious. From the beginning. As soon as he took birth, he was Kṛṣṇa conscious. So he was advising his class friends, preaching. Just see. He was five-years-old boy, but he was taking the opportunity of preaching. Because the teacher... He is born of demon family. So all those class friends, they were also sons of demons. So there is no question of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. But he learned Kṛṣṇa consciousness from the womb of his mother.

So he was trying to preach. Because he was king's son, there was no other opportunity for preaching, and he was a five-years-old boy. He took the opportunity in the classroom, as soon as the teacher is away, he would preach. He would preach. This is preaching spirit. As soon as you get some opportunity, preach. What is that preach? Preaching, Caitanya Mahāprabhu has advised us, yāre dekha tāre kaha kṛṣṇa-upadeśa (CC Madhya 7.128). This is preaching. "Whoever you meet, simply speak of the instruction of Kṛṣṇa." So if you are advanced, if you know what is the instruction of Kṛṣṇa by reading Bhagavad-gītā, you can preach to others. And if you have not read anything, suppose you do not know anything, then you can also preach. What is that? "Just become a devotee of Kṛṣṇa, my dear sir." That's all. This is also preaching. "Just surrender to Kṛṣṇa." You go door to door. If you cannot do anything, simply say, "My dear sir, you are very good man. Oh, you are very intelligent man. Chant Hare Kṛṣṇa." Sakalam eva vihāya dūrāt. This preaching was taught by Prabodhānanda Sarasvatī. Dante nidhāya tṛṇakaṁ padayor nipatya kāku-śataṁ kṛtvā ca ahaṁ bravīmi. This is the preaching process. Dante nidhāya tṛṇakam. According to Vedic civilization, if one wants to become very humble and approach another person, then he has to take one straw in the mouth. Tṛṇa. So the preaching process is to take a straw in the mouth, dante nidhāya tṛṇakaṁ padayor nipatya, and falling down on your feet, dante nidhāya tṛṇakaṁ padayor, kāku-śataṁ kṛtvā ca ahaṁ bravīmi. And flattering you: "Sir, you are so great man, you are so intelligent man." This is flattering. Although he is fool number one, we have to flatter like that. "Oh, there is no greater man like you. You are so intelligent, you are so rich, you are so beautiful." So all these things. Just like the beggars. Sometimes: "You become king." And one thinks, "Oh, he is blessing me. All right, you take one paisa." So this flattering is also required. So kāku-śataṁ kṛtvā cāhaṁ bravīmi. So the man may ask that "Why you are so humble and flattering? What is your intention? Tell me." So he is now telling. He sādhavaḥ, "Oh, you are great sādhu." He sādhavaḥ, sakalam eva vihāya dūrāt: "You have learned so many nice things. I know that. But kick them out, please." Sakalam eva. "Whatever you have nonsense learned, rascaldom you have learned, please kick them out. This is my request." Sakalam eva vihāya dūrāt caitanya-candra-caraṇe kurutānurāgam. "Just hear what Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu says. This is my request." This is preaching.

Lecture on BG 1.28-29 -- London, July 22, 1973:

This is preaching. Flatter, fall down on his feet, and eulogize him as great sādhu, as great intelligent, great rich. Do so that he may little hear. And when he says, "What do you want?" "Now, (laughter) I want this, sir. Whatever rascaldom you have learned, please forget. Because I know you are rascal number one. (laughter) You have got so many hodge-podge thing in your brain. So you kick them out please." Sakalam eva vihāya dūrāt. "Kick them, throw away, long distance. Don't look upon them." "Then what to do?" Caitanya-candra-caraṇe kurutānurāgam. "Please hear what Caitanya-candra says." śrī-kṛṣṇa-caitanya-dayā karaha vicāra, vicāra karile citte pābe camatkāra: (CC Adi 8.15) "Just try to understand the mercy of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu and you will feel so sublime." Śrī-kṛṣṇa-caitanya-dayā karaha vicāra (CC Adi 8.15). "Don't take it blindly. If you are intelligent, just make a judgment, what Caitanya-candra is." Tell him.

So this is preaching. This is preaching. So Arjuna has to be a preacher. Practical preacher. What is that preaching? That he has to sacrifice everything for Kṛṣṇa's sake. That's all. This is preaching. Sakalam eva vihāya dūrāt. Arjuna will be the greatest example, how he became Kṛṣṇa conscious, in the last Tenth Chapter. He will say, sarvam etad ṛtaṁ manye yad vadasi keśava: (BG 10.14) "My dear Kṛṣṇa, Keśava, whatever you say, I accept in total." Without any interpretation, or "This is like this, this is like that, this is not very good." Ardha-kukkuṭī-nyāya (Cc. Ādi-līlā 5.176). All rascals, they accept this Bhagavad-gītā on the principle of ardha-kukkuṭī-nyāya. In the nyāya, in the logic. There is a logic, ardha-kukkuṭī-nyāya. What is that ardha-kukkuṭī-nyāya? Kukkuṭī means the hen. So hen gives one egg every day. So the man, proprietor of the hen, he is considering that "This hen is very good, giving every day one egg. But the, its mouth is expensive. It eats. So let me cut the mouth, simply take the egg." So there are rascals, they study Bhagavad-gītā on this principle of ardha-kukkuṭī-nyāya. "Cut this, take this, cut this, take this." So if you cut the head, there will be no more egg. The rascal does not know. If you cut the head there will be no more production of egg. So similarly, if you try to study Bhagavad-gītā according to your whims, cut this and take this, that is not study of Bhagavad-gītā. That is something else. That is something else. That is something else.

Lecture on BG 4.3 -- Bombay, March 23, 1974:

So why He selected Arjuna? He was a military man. He was not a Vedantist. A military man is not supposed to become a Vedantist, a very great sannyāsī. No. Because the so-called Vedantists, they cannot understand Bhagavad-gītā. It is not possible. It is a mystery. Kṛṣṇa, in other place, He says, nāhaṁ prakāśaḥ sarvasya yoga-māyā-samāvṛtaḥ (BG 7.25), "I cannot be exposed to anyone." Yoga-māyā-samāvṛtaḥ. Therefore, those who are fools, rascals, they consider Kṛṣṇa as fictitious, Kṛṣṇa as a human being, Kṛṣṇa as a historical person. Or "There was no Kṛṣṇa. It is an imaginary writing." Because these rascals, they cannot understand. Unless one is a bona fide devotee and intimately related with Kṛṣṇa, one cannot understand. That is the purport of this verse. One must become a devotee first of all. Because... You'll find in the Eighteenth Chapter: bhaktyā mām abhijānāti yāvān yaś cāsmi tattvataḥ (BG 18.55). Tattvataḥ, in reality, what Kṛṣṇa is, that can be understood through devotion and service. This is what we are preaching all over the world, devotional service, the...

śravaṇaṁ kīrtanaṁ viṣṇoḥ
smaraṇaṁ pāda-sevanam
arcanaṁ vandanaṁ dāsyaṁ
sakhyam ātma-nivedanam
(SB 7.5.23)
iti puṁsārpitā viṣṇau
bhaktiś cen nava-lakṣaṇā
kriyeta bhagavaty addhā
tan manye 'dhītam uttamam

This is the statement of Prahlāda Mahārāja. These are the b hakti process. If one wants to become bhakta, then he must begin with śravaṇam. Just like you have kindly come here to hear about Kṛṣṇa. This is the beginning of bhakti. Unless you hear about the Supreme Person... This is Vedic process. Śruti. Śruti. Veda is known as śruti.

Lecture on BG 7.1 -- Ahmedabad, December 13, 1972:

Madhyama. Īśvara. By arcana-vidhi, he understands Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, by this process. By the regulative process, by the instruction of the spiritual master, by the regulative principles set up in the bhakti-śāstras, just like Nārada-pañcarātra, Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu. There are many. So at that time, if one comes from the lower platform to the... Of course, we must know that any devotee, either in the lower platform or in the second platform or on the firs platform, they are to be considered as devotees. Not that because one is in the material platform, he's not devotee. He is also devotee. But he has to improve. The improvement means he must know what is Kṛṣṇa. Simply if he remains attached to the temple worship and does not try to understand who is a Kṛṣṇa devotee and how he has to deal with others... Na tad-bhakteṣu cānyeṣu. We have got some duty to others. This is preaching work. This is preaching work. One should not be satisfied simply by worshiping in the temple. Then he'll remain a neophyte. He must become a preacher, Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Then he comes to the second platform.

Lecture on BG 7.1 -- Nairobi, October 27, 1975:

Devotee (3): Śrīla Prabhupāda, when we are preaching to Christian people or to Muslim people, is there advantage in being familiar with their scriptures or simply Bhagavad-gītā, Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam?

Prabhupāda: We are not preaching to Christian or Hindu or Muslim. We are preaching to human being. We do not see, "Here is a Christian. Here is a Muslim. Here is a Hindu. Here is a white man. Here is a black man." No. Every living being, his duty is to understand God. This is our preaching. This is our preaching, that "You are living being. You are part and parcel of Kṛṣṇa. This designation, that 'You are Hindu,' 'You are Muslim,' 'You are Christian,' 'You are this'—these are all designations. Actually you are living being, part and parcel of Kṛṣṇa. Therefore your main duty is to understand Kṛṣṇa." This is our preaching. We are not going to convert Hindu into Muslim, Muslim into Christian. No, that is not our... That is not our business. He may think that he is Christian, he is Hindu, he is Muslim, but we think that he is a spirit soul, part and parcel of God.

Lecture on BG 7.1 -- Bombay, December 20, 1975:

So our request is that every one of you become a guru. That is Caitanya Mahāprabhu's order. He wants that everyone must become a guru. How? That He says:

yāre dekha tāre kaha 'kṛṣṇa'-upadeśa
āmāra ājñāya guru hañā tāra' ei deśa
(CC Madhya 7.128)

This is guru. Suppose you are family member. So many living entities, you sons, your daughters, your daughter-in-law, or children, you can become their guru. Exactly like this you can sit down in the evening and talk about the Bhagavad-gītā, yāre dekha tāre kaha kṛṣṇa-upadeśa (CC Madhya 7.128). You haven't got to manufacture something. The instruction is there; you simply repeat and let them hear—you become guru. It is not difficult at all. So that is our preaching. We do not want to become alone guru, but we want to preach in such a way that every, the chief man, or any man, he can become guru in his surroundings. Anyone can do that. Even a coolie, he can also, he has got family, he has got friends, so even though he is illiterate, he can hear the instruction of Kṛṣṇa, and he can preach the same. This we want. And we invite all respectable gentlemen, leaders, to learn this, it is very simple: man-manā bhava mad-bhakto mad-yājī māṁ namaskuru (BG 18.65), and by executing this order of Kṛṣṇa, he assures, mām evaiṣyasi, "You come to Me." Yad gatvā na nivartante tad dhāma paramaṁ mama (BG 15.6). Tyaktvā dehaṁ punar janma naiti mām eti kaunteya (BG 4.9). Very easy thing.

Lecture on BG 7.3 -- London, March 11, 1975:

So why not try one life to get back your spiritual life, get back your spiritual body, sac-cid-ānanda-vigrahaḥ (Bs. 5.1), and live eternal, blissful life with full knowledge and live with Kṛṣṇa and dance with Kṛṣṇa, eat with Kṛṣṇa? Why you are missing this opportunity? This is our solicitation to everyone.

dante nidhāya tṛṇakaṁ padayor nipatya
kṛtvā ca kāku-śatam etad ahaṁ bravīmi
he sādhavaḥ sakalam eva vihāya dūrād
caitanya-candra-caraṇe kurutānurāgam

This is our preaching process, that "Flattering you hundred times, falling down on your feet, I am speaking one thing. Please hear." "What is that?" "Whatever nonsense you have learned, forget." This is our only solicitation, that "You have learned all nonsense. Please forget. Try to hear Caitanya Mahāprabhu and be perfect."

Lecture on BG 7.3 -- Nairobi, October 29, 1975:

Jñāna: Śrīla Prabhupāda, how may we best approach the rulers and the leaders and the politicians to interest them in this?

Prabhupāda: You simply go and chant Hare Kṛṣṇa.

Jñāna: Just the same.

Prabhupāda: That's all. You flatter them. That other day I you told that our preaching process is this: dante nidhāya tṛṇakaṁ padayor nipatya. According to Vedic civilization, if one approaches before you with a straw in his mouth, that means he is fully surrendered. That is the sign. Therefore Prabodhānanda Sarasvatī, he is speaking that "With a straw in my mouth," dante nidhāya tṛṇakam. Dante, "teeth," padayor nipatya, "I am just falling down at your lotus feet, and I have come before you with this straw very humbly." Dante nidhāya tṛṇakaṁ padayor nipatya kāku-śataṁ kṛtvā ca: "And I am flattering you hundred times." Then naturally any rogue, any rascal will be pleased: "All right, you can speak something." If you become so humble and meek, there is no man in the world who will say, "No, no, I am not going to hear you." Of course, there are many rascals. They will say so, that "I have no time." So anyway, generally people will hear. So when he says, "All right, what do you want to say?" Dante nidhāya tṛṇakaṁ padayor nipatya kāku-śataṁ kṛtvā ca ahaṁ brav..., he sādhavaḥ, again flattering: "O the great sādhu, you are...," although you know he is a great rascal. (laughter) Still, I will have to speak to him. This is the process of preaching. Is that all right? You tell him, "Oh, you are a great sādhu." Then he will be: "Oh, yes, yes. (laughter) You are right. You are right. What do you want from me? Tell me." Then you can say, he sādhavaḥ sakalam eva vihāya dūrād: "What every rascaldom you have learned, please forget. (laughter) Please forget." "Then what I have to do?" Caitanya-candra-caraṇe kurutānurāgam. "You become adhered to the lotus feet of Lord Caitanya. That is my... That's all. So I have brought this Caitanya-caritāmṛta, seventeen volumes. If you kindly take this..." So they will take. They have got money. And if he reads one line, he'll be perfect. This should be your process of preaching.

Lecture on BG 7.7 -- Bombay, February 22, 1974:

The Vedānta-sūtra also says, janmādy asya yataḥ anvayāt (SB 1.1.1). The Bhāgavata explains, janmādy asya yataḥ anvayāt itarataś ca artheṣu abhijñaḥ sva-rāṭ. He's abhijñaḥ. He knows everything. Janmādy asya yataḥ (SB 1.1.1). That is Kṛṣṇa. And Arjuna accepted. Arjuna said, in the Tenth Chapter, sarvam etad ṛtaṁ manye yad vadasi keśava: (BG 10.14) "My dear Kṛṣṇa, whatever You are saying, I accept in toto." This is understanding of Bhagavad-gītā. 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. We accept... This is Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement. Kṛṣṇa says that He is the supreme authority. We are preaching "Kṛṣṇa is the supreme authority." Where is the difficulty? We don't manufacture anything. We don't say, "I am the supreme authority." No. I am rascal. I am fool. I am imperfect. But Kṛṣṇa is Supreme, Kṛṣṇa is perfect. That is our preaching. As servant of Kṛṣṇa.

Lecture on BG 13.13 -- Bombay, October 6, 1973:

Formerly there was one president or king on this planet. Now they have now so many presidents. But according to God's plan, there is one president or king in each and every planet. So in the sun planet there is also one king or one chief person. His name is also given in the Bhagavad-gītā, Vivasvān. If you accept Bhagavad-gītā, then you have to accept all these things. You cannot make minus anything. That is not knowledge of Bhagavad-gītā.

Therefore we are presenting Bhagavad-gītā as it is. We cannot use the ardha-kukkuṭī-nyāya (Cc. Ādi-līlā 5.176)—half. I take half of the hen. I take the rear part, and the front part I reject. This kind of logic, argument, will not be very successful. You have to take as it is, in toto, and you have to understand That is understanding of Bhagavad-gītā. If you take something to your choice, that is useless, useless waste of time. Just like Mahatma Gandhi, he wanted to prove from Bhagavad-gītā nonviolence. How it is possible? Bhagavad-gītā is spoken in the battlefield. So in this way, if we try to understand Bhagavad-gītā, it will be not Bhagavad-gītā, it will be something else. We must understand Bhagavad-gītā as it is. That is our preaching method. We are presenting Bhagavad-gītā as it is all over the world. So we accept.

Lecture on BG 13.26 -- Delhi, September 22, 1974:

So don't think that He's stone Deity. Sākṣād vrajendra-nandana: "Directly Kṛṣṇa." But He is available to my capacity of understanding Him. Not that He is different from the original Kṛṣṇa. (break) Kṛṣṇa's name, Kṛṣṇa's form, Kṛṣṇa's quality, Kṛṣṇa's pastimes, everything absolute. You're chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra. It does not mean that it is a sound only. It is Kṛṣṇa personally. You are in direct touch with Kṛṣṇa when you chant Hare Kṛṣṇa. This is realization. This is Kṛṣṇa consciousness.

So how one can learn? Therefore it is said here, anye, anyebhyaḥ... What is that?

Brahmānanda: Anye tu evam ajānantaḥ.

Prabhupāda: Ah. Those who do not know, they can come to this Kṛṣṇa conscious center and they will understand by hearing the members. Anye anya eva. They do not know. People... We are opening so many centers—why? Because people do not know, and it is our duty to give them chance to know what is Kṛṣṇa. This is preaching. This is... (break) Not that... (break) Because people in general, they do not know what is Kṛṣṇa, we are giving them chance to know Kṛṣṇa. So by knowing Kṛṣṇa what will happen?

Lecture on BG 16.6 -- South Africa, October 18, 1975:

Girl: Śrīla Prabhupāda, even if... All living entities are part and parcel of Kṛṣṇa. Even if we don't surrender to Kṛṣṇa in this lifetime, eventually we'll surrender to Him, each and every one of us.

Puṣṭa Kṛṣṇa: Everyone... Even if we don't surrender to Kṛṣṇa in this life, will everyone surrender to Kṛṣṇa? Will everyone go back to Godhead eventually?

Prabhupāda: Hm? So you have got doubt? Rest assured not everyone will do that. So you have no worries. It is not that everyone will do that. Therefore Caitanya Mahāprabhu says, ei rūpe brahmāṇḍa bhramite kona bhāgyavān jīva (CC Madhya 19.151). Unless one is bhāgyavān, very fortunate, he'll not go back to home, back to Godhead. He will rot here. So this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement means we are trying to make people bhāgyavān. If he wants, he can become bhāgyavān. That is our attempt. We are creating so many centers. We are teaching how to become bhāgyavān, fortunate, how to go back to home, how he can be happy. Now, if one is fortunate, they will take this instruction and turn his life. Therefore this is mission. But without becoming bhāgyavān, nobody can go. Fortunate. So we are giving them chance to become fortunate. This is our mission. The most unfortunate is getting the chance of becoming fortunate. Any one of us can consider this, how from unfortunate life they are coming to fortunate. This is Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement, that we are giving chance to the unfortunate. Everyone is unfortunate, everyone is a rascal. We are giving chance how to become intelligent and fortunate. This is Kṛṣṇa consciousness. If the people are not so unfortunate and rascal, then what is the meaning of preaching? Preaching means that you have to turn the rascals and unfortunate to become intelligent and fortunate. That is preaching. But unless you are fortunate and intelligent, you cannot take to Kṛṣṇa consciousness. That is a fact.

Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures

Lecture on SB 1.2.15 -- Vrndavana, October 26, 1972:

So this is the easiest process. If one is very, very intelligent, then he takes to Kṛṣṇa consciousness, surrenders to Kṛṣṇa, and his life becomes successful, he becomes free from so many addictions... This is the result of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Yasyāsti bhaktir bhagavaty akiñcanā sarvair guṇais tatra samāsate surāḥ (SB 5.18.12). Simply by becoming a devotee of Kṛṣṇa, all the good qualities of the demigods... Demigods... Just like Lord Brahmā, Lord Śiva, Nārada. There are many, many demigods. They are good qualified. Otherwise, how they are posted in such exalted position? They are very qualified. So simply by becoming Kṛṣṇa conscious, all the good qualities of the demigods, or all godly qualities, will manifest. There is no doubt about it. Bhaktiḥ pareśānubhavo viraktir anyatra... (SB 11.2.42). They will be reluctant. Paraṁ dṛṣṭvā nivartate (BG 9.59). They will find something so nice that they will give up all this nonsense. This is the process. Unless you give something better, how one can give up his bad habits?

Just like Caitanya Mahāprabhu. He delivered Jagāi-Mādhāi. They were all this: addicted to illicit sex, meat-eating, drinking and intoxication, gambling. That was their business. So Nityānanda Prabhu went to deliver them, that "First of all, these rascals should be delivered." Therefore He went there. They were very angry. They hurt Him by throwing one stone on His forehead, and blood came out. Still, Nityānanda Prabhu said, "All right, I don't mind. Please chant Hare Kṛṣṇa." This is preaching, Nityānanda. But when Lord Caitanya heard it, He became very angry. He wanted to kill them immediately. So Nityānanda Prabhu requested that "In this incarnation You have promised not to accept any weapons. Please become," I mean to say, "kind upon them." This is the person... This is the business of guru. Guru introduces with God and prays to God, "Please excuse him." This is guru's business. And by the request of guru, God agrees to excuse him. This is the process.

Lecture on SB 1.2.16 -- Los Angeles, August 19, 1972:

So śuśrūṣoḥ śraddadhānasya vāsudeva-kathā-ruciḥ. In the previous verse, it has been explained, yad anudhyāsinā yuktāḥ. One has to be engaged always thinking. This is the sword. You have to take this sword of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Then you become free. The knot is cut by this sword. So... Now how we can get this sword? That process is described here that you simply, with faith, you try to hear. You'll get the sword. That's all. Actually, our this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is spreading. We are getting the sword one after another, simply by hearing. I started this movement in New York. You all know. I had no actually any sword. Just like in some religious principles, they take the religious scriptures in one hand and another hand, sword: "You accept this scripture; otherwise, I'll cut your head." This is also another preaching. But I had also sword, but not that kind of sword. This sword—to give chance people to hear. That's all.

Lecture on SB 1.3.26 -- Los Angeles, October 1, 1972:

"You have committed so much sinful activities during your material existence. There is no limit. But if you surrender unto Me, I immediately make you immune from all reaction of your sinful life. Immediately." Just like Caitanya Mahāprabhu. When He met Jagāi and Mādhāi... You know the story. Their life was sinful. What is that sinful? That illicit sex, intoxication, meat-eating, and gambling. This Jagāi-Mādhāi. They were born in nice brāhmaṇa family, but due to bad association, they became drunkard, prostitute hunters, gambler, and meat-eater. So they were simply creating disturbance. So these people will create disturbance. The whole world is disturbed. Why? Because it is full of these sinful men: drunkards, woman hunters, gamblers, and intoxicants. The whole world. And they are expecting peace. Nonsense. Where is peace? First of all educate them to become sinless. Then you talk of peace. There cannot be peace.

So these two brothers were creating disturbance in the, on the street, and there was a crowd. Lord Nityānanda saw the crowd and inquired from persons, "What is this crowd?" Lord Nityānanda and Haridāsa Ṭhākura were out for preaching. So people informed that "There are two brothers, most sinful, and they are creating disturbance. So there is crowd." So immediately Nityānanda Prabhu said, "Why not deliver these two brothers immediately? Then it will be a great credit for Caitanya Mahāprabhu." This is preacher. He is thinking the credit of the master, not for himself. He risks his life. And the Jagāi-Mādhāi brothers hurt Him on the head by throwing a stone. So blood also came out, but still, they said "All right, it is all right. You have hurt Me. Blood is oozing out. That doesn't matter. You chant Hare Kṛṣṇa." That is preaching. Not that I remain safety and chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa. No. We have to go out, meet the Jagāi Mādhāi. That is Caitanya Mahāprabhu's mission. Because the world is full of Jagāi-Mādhāi.

Lecture on SB 1.5.32 -- Vrndavana, August 13, 1974:

So the best service, as recommended by Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, is this preaching work. Yāre dekha tāre kaha kṛṣṇa-kathā, kṛṣṇa-kathā. Āmāra ājñāya guru hañā tāra' ei deśa, yāre dekha tāre kaha kṛṣṇa-upadeśa (CC Madhya 7.128). That's all. This is preaching. Doesn't require any good academic qualification. You have got your tongue. You chant Hare Kṛṣṇa, and whomever you meet, you ask him, "You become a devotee of Kṛṣṇa." That's all. In this way preach and live very nicely by eating kṛṣṇa-prasāda, chanting, dancing, and then get a life like Nārada Muni. This is the formula.

Lecture on SB 1.5.36 -- Vrndavana, August 17, 1974:

Kṛṣṇa teaches that raso 'ham apsu kaunteya prabhāsmi śaśi-sūryayoḥ... (break) Is there any land within this universe where there is no sunshine, moonshine? Everywhere. So where is the difficulty to become Kṛṣṇa conscious? You are practicing meditation. Why not this simple meditation? "Here is Kṛṣṇa. Here is light, here is Kṛṣṇa. Oh, here is Vedic study. Oṁ tad viṣṇoḥ paramaṁ padam." Or oṁkāra. Oṁkāra sarva-vedeṣu. (break) If you, as soon as you get a nice flower, you smell it, Kṛṣṇa says, "That fragrance I am." You can remember Kṛṣṇa. So any part of the world, anywhere. You may be whatever you are.

Another point is as soon as you try to become Kṛṣṇa conscious, then your purification begins immediately. Śṛṇvatāṁ sva-kathāḥ kṛṣṇaḥ puṇya-śravaṇa-kīrtanaḥ (SB 1.2.17). If you simply remember or say that "I have heard it from my spiritual master or from a saintly person, that while drinking water, that taste is Kṛṣṇa. So you accept it," this is preaching. This is preaching. You are preaching. Or one who hears from you, śṛṇvatāṁ sva-kathāḥ, if you simply carry this work. Just try to understand the importance of preaching. Sva-kathāḥ kṛṣṇaḥ, you are remembering and you are preaching. So you are preaching means somebody else is hearing you. So he is also being purified. Śṛṇvatāṁ sva-kathāḥ kṛṣṇaḥ puṇya-śravaṇa-kīrtanaḥ (SB 1.2.17). Even he does not know what is Kṛṣṇa, but he simply hears from you, then he becomes purified.

Lecture on SB 1.8.29 -- Mayapura, October 9, 1974:

So because you are preacher, you are being trained up to become preacher, especially in the Western countries, so it is your duty. I have several times requested you that "You American people, you are fortunate. Janmaiśvarya-śruta-śrīḥ (SB 1.8.26). You have got the four things. Now, because these people are misusing these four material gains simply for sense gratification, māyā-sukhāya..." Māyā-sukhāya means sense gratification. Māyā... "They should be delivered from these clutches of māyā, and they should take to Kṛṣṇa consciousness." That is preaching. Preaching is required. That is the mission of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, certainly He took His birth here, but He did not remain here. He did not remain here. He could have remained here very easily. His influence was very great. He was known as Nimāi Paṇḍita, very learned scholar. Everyone knew. And He was very respectful. Otherwise, how He could gather 100,000 people in one day to go to the Kazi's house? That means He was very influential. But still, He... There was good wife, young wife, most affectionate mother. So Caitanya Mahāprabhu could stay at His birthplace very nicely without any difficulty. And what will be difficulty? He's Kṛṣṇa Himself, Nārāyaṇa Himself. And there was Lakṣmī. But still, to show the example personally, āpani ācari prabhu jīvere śikhāya, He left home, He took sannyāsa, and He preached.

Lecture on SB 1.8.47 -- Mayapura, October 27, 1974:

So one has to make advance. What is that advance? That advance is... What is that verse? The four kinds of... Prema-maitrī-kṛpopekṣā yaḥ karoti sa madhyamaḥ. Īśvare tad-adhīneṣu. The further advancement... One has to make advance, stage by stage, from the kaniṣṭha-adhikārī, from the lower stage, to the middle stage to the higher stage. So the next stage, from prākṛta, from material position... 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...

Preaching means he must be conscious, Kṛṣṇa conscious, advanced. Kṛṣṇa conscious means that he's a lover of Kṛṣṇa. Iśvare tad... He'll see four things: first Kṛṣṇa, īśvara; and tad-adhīna, the devotees... Iśvare tad-adhīneṣu and bāliśeṣu. Bāliśa means people, ignorant men, who do not know what is Kṛṣṇa consciousness. They are called bāliśa, just like child. Child is called bāliśa. Ignorant men, bāliśeṣu, dviṣatsu ca, and other class. He'll see four things: īśvara, the Supreme Personality of Godhead; he'll see the devotees of Kṛṣṇa; he'll see some ignorant person; and he'll see some envious person. That you will have to meet. If you become preacher, then you'll create so many enemies also. Just like Prahlāda Mahārāja. His father became enemy, not outside. Outside he might have many enemies, but the five-years-old boy, because he was taking opportunity in the school and as soon as the teachers are out, in the tiffin hour, he would immediately stand up on the bench and preach... You have seen the picture. He was preaching amongst his small class friends. That preaching work is there in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, how he was intelligently preaching.

Lecture on SB 2.1.1 -- Vrndavana, March 16, 1974:

Parīkṣit Mahārāja is talking with Śukadeva Gosvāmī at the point of death. He was given notice that "Within seven days you'll be bitten by a snake and you'll die." This was a curse by a brāhmaṇa boy. So he was ready. He was not afraid. Nārāyaṇa-parāḥ sarve na kutaścana bibhyati (SB 6.17.28). He could retaliate. He was a great devotee. He could counteract the cursing of the brāhmaṇa boy, but he did not do so. Because he was cursed, the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam came. He was perplexed what to do, and Śukadeva Gosvāmī appeared there, and everyone accepted the verdict of Śukadeva Gosvāmī, "Mahārāja, you are a great devotee. So I shall quote from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, and you hear only. That's all. You have nothing to do. Simply you hear."

śravaṇaṁ kīrtanaṁ viṣṇoḥ
smaraṇaṁ pāda-sevanam
arcanaṁ vandanaṁ dāsyaṁ
sakhyam ātma-nivedanam
(SB 7.5.23)

These are the nine different processes of devotional service. So generally, we are expected to execute all the nine different processes. Śravaṇaṁ kīrtanaṁ viṣṇoḥ. Śravaṇaṁ kīrtanam about Viṣṇu, not for any other demigods. No, Viṣṇu. The Māyāvādīs, they take it that "We can hear of any demigod, of anyone," because they are Nirākāravādī. So "You can imagine anyone and hear about him." But śāstra does not say. Śāstra does not say that you can hear about anybody. No. Śāstra says, śravaṇaṁ kīrtanaṁ viṣṇoḥ, about Viṣṇu.

harer nāma harer nāma harer nāmaiva kevalam
kalau nāsty eva nāsty eva nāsty eva gatir anyathā
(CC Adi 17.21)

This is the śāstra's injunction, that if you have to chant, if you have not to chant, means you must chant. Kalau nāsty eva gatir anyathā. You cannot avoid it. If you actually want relief from this conditional life, duḥkhālayam aśāśvatam (BG 8.15), then you must... This is the only means. Kalau nāsty eva nāsty eva gatir anyathā. Karma-jñāna-yoga, there are different processes of self-realization, karma-jñāna-yoga, but it is stressed, nāsty eva nāsty eva nāsty eva, not karma, not jñāna, not yoga. Simply chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa. That is required. That is the preaching of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, this, this verse of Agni Purāṇa:

harer nāma harer nāma harer nāmaiva kevalam
kalau nāsty eva nāsty eva nāsty eva gatir anyathā
(CC Adi 17.21)

So this is the bhakti process, chanting and hearing. So chanting, hearing, or questioning and answering, the same thing.

Lecture on SB 2.1.5 -- Delhi, November 8, 1973:

There is no question of education. It is not that one who is not educated, he will not understand what is God. He will understand, because the ear is there. Śravaṇaṁ kīrtanaṁ viṣṇoḥ: (SB 7.5.23) Viṣṇu, of Lord, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, you hear. Therefore we are opening so many branches, just to give people the chance of hearing. And as soon as you perfectly hear, the next position will be to glorify. Just like these European, American boys. First of all they heard. Now they are preaching. Śravaṇaṁ kīrtanam. Because they have perfectly heard, therefore they are very enthusiastic. They are going all over the world. They are preaching. And so śrotavyaḥ kīrtitavyaś ca. If one has actually heard, known about God, then next stage will be he will be very much enthusiastic to speak to others. That is preaching. Śrotavyaḥ kīrtitavyaś ca smartavyaḥ. Smartavya means remembering. Unless you remember what is God, what is His form, what is His quality, what is His pastimes, what are His activities, what are His entourage, everything about God, if you hear... Just like if you hear Bhagavad-gītā, you understand everything, what is God. And that is our only duty.

Lecture on SB 2.1.5 -- Paris, June 13, 1974:

So here is the solution, that if you want to be saved from this chaotic condition of life, if you want to be free from all anxieties, then your business is śrotavyaḥ: "You hear about the supreme controller, Kṛṣṇa." And for hearing about the supreme controller we have got eighty books like that. Not one, two, three, four-eighty books. So if you are actual intelligent, if you are actually scientist, if you are actually philosopher, read these books. That is called śrotavyaḥ. Hear about the supreme controller. Not that simply God is there. Just try to understand how God is there. That you will find in this literature. There is no other literature throughout the whole world. You will find here. Śrotavyaḥ kīrtitavyaś ca. Not only hearing like dull. As soon as hear, if you are... Then you spread this knowledge. Kīrtitavyaḥ: "My dear sir, there is God. God is like this. I have heard from the authority." That is called kīrtitavyaś ca, preaching. First of all hearing. Without hearing, how you will preach? So this is called śravaṇaṁ kīrtanam (SB 7.5.23), another name. Śrotavyaḥ kīrtitavyaś ca. And smartavyaḥ. As soon as you become expert hearer and expert, I mean, chanter, then you will remember always, smartavyaḥ, as is here. And as soon as you will always remember Kṛṣṇa, then there is no more fear, finished. That is life.

Lecture on SB 2.3.1-3 -- Los Angeles, May 22, 1972:

So in the material world there cannot be prema. Prema means love. The prema is only possible in the spiritual world. Here, what is going on as love, that is not love, that is lust. A boy loves a girl, a girl loves a boy. That is not love, that is lust. As soon as there is some disturbance in lusty affair, they divorce. So therefore that is not love. So we should note it, that so-called love is bogus in this material world. Love cannot be possible. This very word love, prema, is specially reserved for Kṛṣṇa. Premā pum-artho mahān. That is Caitanya Mahāprabhu's preaching, that the highest perfection of life is to evoke one's dormant love for Kṛṣṇa.

Lecture on SB 3.25.7 -- Bombay, November 7, 1974:

So when Caitanya Mahāprabhu was going to South India for His touring, he specially requested Him that "I neglected this person, Rāmānanda Rāya. He was talking with me about spiritual subject matter, very highly elevated, and that I thought that he was a sentimentalist. So I neglected him. But I can understand now that he is a very exalted personality. When You are going to South India, please meet him. Please try to meet him. You'll be very much pleased." So Caitanya Mahāprabhu, at Kabur,(?) He met Rāmānanda Rāya, and He was talking about spiritual subject matter, very highly elevated, simply. So because he was born in a śūdra family and a gṛhastha and a politician, so he was hesitating, that "Caitanya Mahāprabhu is a brāhmaṇa and sannyāsī. Such an exalt..." Hesitating. So Caitanya Mahāprabhu said that

kibā vipra kibā nyāsī śūdra kene naya
yei kṛṣṇa-tattva-vettā sei guru haya
(CC Madhya 8.128)

"Don't hesitate. Why you are hesitating because you are a gṛhastha or you are in politics or you are a, born a śūdra family? Why you are...? I am learning from you." This is Caitanya Mahāprabhu's preaching. He did not think anyone negligible. Anyone who is qualified with Kṛṣṇa consciousness, he can become guru. It doesn't matter where he is born, what is his family and identification. It doesn't matter. He must know the science. It is very practical. Just like when you go to consult an engineer or a medical man or some lawyer, you do not ask him whether he's a brāhmaṇa or a śūdra. If he's qualified, if he can help you in the particular subject matter, you consult with him, you take his help. That is practical. So similarly, in the spiritual matter it doesn't matter what he is. If he knows Kṛṣṇa, then he can become guru. It doesn't matter.

Lecture on SB 3.25.30 -- Bombay, November 30, 1974:

Nitāi: "...after all, I am a woman. It is very difficult for me to understand the Absolute Truth because my intelligence is not very great. But if You will kindly explain it to me, even though I am not very intelligent, I can understand it and thereby feel transcendental happiness."

Prabhupāda:

tad etan me vijānīhi
yathāhaṁ manda-dhīr hare
sukhaṁ buddhyeya durbodhaṁ
yoṣā bhavad-anugrahāt
(SB 3.25.30)

So this is submission. The process of understanding transcendental subject matter is not by challenge but by submission. The whole bhakti process is submission. That is Caitanya Mahāprabhu's preaching.

tṛṇād api sunīcena
taror api sahiṣṇunā
amāninā mānadena
kīrtanīyaḥ sadā hariḥ
(CC Adi 17.31)

If one is interested to advance by chanting, then Caitanya Mahāprabhu advises that you should be humbler than the straw or grass and tolerant than the tree. Tṛṇād api sunīcena taror api sahiṣṇunā, amāninā: Without feeling oneself becoming very proud of intelligence, he should give respect to others and in this way one can chant Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra offenselessly.

Lecture on SB 3.26.27 -- Bombay, January 4, 1975:

When Kṛṣṇa says, sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja (BG 18.66), He does not say only to Arjuna; He says to everyone. So that is Kṛṣṇa's desire, and if you want to serve Kṛṣṇa, to fulfill His desire, that means you canvass everyone to surrender to Kṛṣṇa. This is preaching. Kṛṣṇa wants it. It is declared. So your business is to satisfy Kṛṣṇa. So do it. Why don't you do it? Why you are aspiring after mukti, siddhi, and bhukti? These are all personal. Anyone who is executing pious activities, acquiring puṇya, what is the result? Puṇya means he will go to the heavenly planet. That is sense gratification. Heavenly planet, you go to the heavenly planet. You live for many thousands of years, many millions of years, and get the association of apsarās, very nice standard of life, and so on, so on. These are all personal comforts, bhukti, a better standard of material enjoyment. To go to the heavenly planet means a better standard of, thousand times better, millions times better than this planet.

Lecture on SB 5.5.30 -- Vrndavana, November 17, 1976:

You must present Bhagavad-gītā as it is. Yāre dekha, tāre kaha 'kṛṣṇa'-upadeśa. There is everything, very easily done, provided we follow paramparā system.

So our Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement should be pushed on very humbly.

tṛṇād api sunīcena
taror api sahiṣṇunā
amāninā mānadena
kīrtanīyaḥ sadā hariḥ
(CC Adi 17.31)

Kīrtanīya. This preaching means kīrtana, not that simply with mṛdaṅga we can have musical kīrtana. No. Preaching is also kīrtana. Abhavad vaiyāsaki-kīrtane. Vaiyāsaki, the son of Vyāsadeva, Śukadeva Gosvāmī, he simply described Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam and became perfect. Abhavad vaiyāsaki-kīrtane. Śrī-viṣṇu-śravaṇe parīkṣit. Parīkṣit Mahārāja simply listened; he became perfect. And Śukadeva Gosvāmī simply described. That is also kīrtana. So this is also kīrtana. As Prabodhānanda Sarasvatī teaching us, he sādhavaḥ sakalam eva vihāya dūrād caitanya-candra-caraṇe kurutānurāgam: "You are sādhu, best person, noble, but this is my request." This is humbleness. If you say, "Oh, you are a karmī, you are a mūḍha..." Actually he's a mūḍha, but don't... In the beginning, if you say, then there will be no opportunity to speak. He is a mūḍha, that there is no... Working like hogs and dogs day and night for sense gratification, certainly he is mūḍha, karmī. Similarly, jñānī, they are simply speculating. That logic, kākā-taliya nyāya: "Whether the crow first of all sat down on the palm fruit; then the palm fruit fell down? Or the palm fruit fell down; therefore the crow could not sit on the palm fruit?" Logic. One paṇḍita said, "No, no. First of all, the palm fruit fell down, and the crow wanted to sit down on it, so he could not." Now another paṇḍita says, "No, no. The palm fruit was there, and because the crow sat down on it, it fell down." Now this is logic. They are wasting time speculating. Kākā-taliya nyāya. Kupa-manduka-nyāya. There are.

So that will also not help. They are presenting themself as big scholar. No. Māyayāpahṛta-jñānā. Simply wasting time. Simply wasting time. They are so-called jñānī, but māyayāpahṛta-jñānā—there is no knowledge, Vedānta. Big, big Vedānti. Kṛṣṇa said, the supreme authority, vedaiś ca sarvair aham eva vedyaḥ vedānta-kṛt vedānta-vid ca aham (BG 15.15). Now they do not care for Kṛṣṇa, and they are Vedānti. What kind of Vedānti? Nonsense. So this will not help. We have to preach... But if we say directly that "You are all mūḍhas, māyayāpahṛta-jñānā, and duṣkṛtina," they will be angry. Because satyaṁ bruyad na bruyat satyam apriyam. You have to speak the truth very cautiously. Otherwise they will be angry. Murkhayopadeṣo hi prokapāya na śāntaye: "If you give good instruction to a rascal, he'll be angry." Therefore Prabodhānanda Sarasvatī is teaching us how we should present our case. Dante nidhāya tṛṇakam: "Sir, I have come to you, taking this grass in my teeth." This is a symbolic representation of becoming very humble in India. They take a grass. Dante nidhāya padayor nipatya: "And I am falling down on your feet." Kāku-śataṁ kṛtvā: "And I am flattering you. You are very grand. You are very nice. You are very learned. You are so on, so on." If you flatter, people become puffed-up. So, dante nidhāya tṛṇakaṁ padayor nipatya kāku-śatam kṛtvā cāham: "I have one submission." "What is that?" No... He sādhavaḥ: "You are a great learned sādhu. My one request is that whatever you have learned, please forget. Whatever nonsense you have learned, please forget. This is my submission." "I have learned so many things, and I have to forget? Then what I have to do?" He sādhavaḥ sakalam eva vihāya dūrāt caitanya-candra-caraṇe kurutānurāgam: "You just submit yourself to Caitanya-candra. Then everything will be perfect."

So our preaching is like that.

Lecture on SB 6.1.8 -- New York, July 22, 1971:

So in order to become God conscious, you have to follow some rules and regulations. We do not give any credit to the vegetarians than the meat-eaters. Because one has to eat. But our proposal is, Kṛṣṇa conscious men, that we shall eat remnants of foodstuff offered to Kṛṣṇa. That is our philosophy. And Kṛṣṇa says, patraṁ puṣpaṁ phalaṁ toyaṁ yo me bhaktyā prayacchati (BG 9.26), that Kṛṣṇa says that "Anyone who offers Me a little fruit, a little water, and little leaf with devotion and love, I accept it." Kṛṣṇa is not hungry that He is begging some food from us. No. He is trying to create loving transaction: "You love Me; I love you." Kṛṣṇa is God. Kṛṣṇa, practically by His energy everything is produced. Janmādy asya yataḥ (SB 1.1.1). So why He should beg for, from me, a little leaf and little fruit and little water? He has no business. But if we offer a little fruit and little leaf and little water with love—"Kṛṣṇa, I am so poor that I cannot secure anything. I have secured this little fruit and little flowers and a leaf. Kindly accept it"—Kṛṣṇa is very glad. Yes. And if He eats, offered by you, your life is successful. You make friendship with Kṛṣṇa. That is our preaching.

Lecture on SB 6.1.38 -- Los Angeles, June 4, 1976:

So we have got two tests. One test is sufficient. If one is not devotee, if one is not Kṛṣṇa conscious, he's a demon, has finished our conclusion. We simply ask whether you are Kṛṣṇa conscious, whether you know Kṛṣṇa. If he says, "No, I don't know..." I think our Śyāmasundara's daughter is... She used to preach. She used to go to any elderly person when she was four years old. "Do you know Kṛṣṇa?" she said. So he says, "No, I don't know." "Oh, the Supreme Personality of Godhead." This is preaching. Finish, preaching. A child can preach. A child can understand, "Do you know God?" "No." "You are a demon." (laughter) Finished. Where is the difficulty? As soon as you say "I do not know God," you are a demon. Bās. First-class demon. "I am scientist." "You are rascal." "No, I have studied, I have got my degrees." "Māyayāpahṛta-jñāna. (laughter) Rascal, you have studied so long, simply waste of time. Your real knowledge is taken away because you do not know God." That is described. We have got very simple test in Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement how to distinguish between an intelligent man a rascal. As soon as we understand that he's not Kṛṣṇa conscious, he's a rascal. Bās. There is no need of testing.

Lecture on SB 6.1.43 -- Los Angeles, June 9, 1976:

Caitanya Mahāprabhu's movement is so nice that you don't require to acquire something artificial. No. Wherever you are, remain there. Simply hear. And preaching means to propagate or to vibrate what Kṛṣṇa has said. So this is the position of the preacher, that you simply repeat, like a parrot, no qualification. You simply ... Whatever is said in the Bhagavad-gītā, you repeat. And the others simply hear. Śravaṇaṁ kīrtanam (SB 7.5.23). Then both of them become liberated. There is no question of that, to become a qualified person. This is the only qualification, that a preacher should preach only what Kṛṣṇa has said. That's all. No manufacturing, no concoction. And the audience? They will hear from such person who does not speak anything else except Kṛṣṇa's teaching, that's all. These two things, if carried, then your both the life,(?) the śravaṇaṁ kīrtanam, the one who is speaking and one who is hearing, both of them are benefited.

Lecture on SB 6.1.47 -- Dallas, July 29, 1975:

So we have to follow the principle of religion; otherwise we are misguided. Just like a child has to be sent to school to understand, to become learned scholar. It is compulsory, not that I may send my child to school or if I like, I don't send. No. It is compulsory. Tad-vijñānārthaṁ sa gurum evābhigacchet (MU 1.2.12). This is Vedic injunction. If you want to be learned fully, especially if you want to learn the transcendental science, gurum eva abhigacchet: "One must go to a guru." Guru—the spiritual master as well as the teacher also, guru. So he must att..., he must go to a guru. Tad viddhi praṇipātena paripraśnena sevayā (BG 4.34). And going to guru, what you have to do? Praṇipātena. You have to fully surrender. Paripraśnena. After surrendering, then you can enquire, you can put question. Otherwise, it is illegal. If you do not accept anybody as guru, then don't put question before him to waste his time and your time. This is the process. First of all find out whom you like to accept as guru. Then put question. But sometimes we have to talk with persons who is not student: outsider. That is preaching work. But śāstra says that one should approach a guru, and with surrender he would ask him, and guru will talk with a person who is surrendered. Otherwise, there is no necessity of talk, because he will not accept. One who has come to challenge the guru, so he will simply waste time. He will not accept. But a disciple who has surrendered, he will accept. Therefore talking is recommended between guru and disciple, not outsider. Tad-vijñānārthaṁ sa gurum eva abhigacchet (MU 1.2.12). This is essential. And guru trains the disciple according to the Vedic principle. Therefore there are division of varṇa and āśrama.

Lecture on SB 6.1.50 -- Detroit, June 16, 1976:

Do something for Kṛṣṇa. Then the mind automatically will be engaged. Something. Just like a nationalist, a family man, he is doing always something for the welfare of the family. Or for the welfare of the society. Or a big, big nationalist, leaders. Why they become big leaders? Why they are worshiped? Because they are thinking always of the nation, of the community. That is good. But a Vaiṣṇava is not only thinking of the community or society or family, he is thinking of all living entities. That is Vaiṣṇava. Lokānāṁ hita-kāriṇau, all planets. That is Vaiṣṇava. Nānā-śāstra vicāraṇaika nipuṇau sad-dharma-saṁsthāpakau lokānāṁ hita-kāriṇau tri-bhuvane mānyau śaraṇyākarau. This is Vaiṣṇava business. They are not thinking for a particular... That includes, Kṛṣṇa includes everything. So if you think of Kṛṣṇa, then automatically you'll think of everything. The same process, watering the root. Why we are preaching? Why, what was the necessity to come in the Western country? No. Kṛṣṇa wants, Caitanya Mahāprabhu wants. Therefore devotee goes from town to town, village to village. Pṛthivīte āche yata nagarādi-grāma. This is Vaiṣṇava. He is thinking for everyone. Because it is a fact, without Kṛṣṇa consciousness, everyone is suffering. That's a fact. So therefore preaching is so important—to awaken them. Jīva jago, jīva jago, gauracand... This is Gauracand, Caitanya Mahāprabhu's mission, to awaken everyone from this material entanglement. That is preaching.

Lecture on SB 6.3.18-19 -- Gorakhpur, February 12, 1971:

Dharmaṁ tu sākṣād bhagavat-praṇītam (SB 6.3.19). Now, the Yamadūtas may be in doubt, that "You are Dharmarāja. You are the protector of all religious principles. You are entrusted. So how your business can be interfered by the Viṣṇudūtas?" So Yamarāja is explaining what is real dharma. This is very important. Dharmaṁ tu sākṣād bhagavat-praṇītam. (aside:) You can take sleep over here(?). Don't be inattentive. Better sleep. Dharmaṁ tu sākṣād bhagavat-praṇītaṁ na vai vidur ṛṣayo nāpi devāḥ (SB 6.3.19). Dharma means... This is authority. Yamarāja is authority. What is dharma? What is religion? Now, he says—he is authority—"Dharma means what is enacted by the Supreme Personality of Godhead. That is dharma." Dharmaṁ tu sākṣād bhagavat-praṇītaṁ na vai vidur ṛṣayaḥ: "The essence of dharma is not known even to the great sages." Na vai vidur ṛṣayo nāpi devāḥ: "Not by the demigods." Now, the authority, Dharmarāja, says that dharma cannot be manufactured by anybody, even great sages or demigods. But nowadays everyone is manufacturing a dharma, and the so-called rascals, they are supporting that "As many opinions there are, all of them are good." Yata mata tata patha. That is the preaching of the Ramakrishna Mission, that "Anyone can manufacture his own. It is personal." Is it not? And I have seen in your country also this, the same opinion he gave, that "Everyone has got his personal religion." And there is the hippies also. They are against any organized religion. These things are going on.

Lecture on SB 7.5.31 -- Mauritius, October 4, 1975:

Guest (1): You just said that the soul takes rebirth when he does. Therefore what's the soul? Got rebirth, soul, so that he will make always difficult thing in life and would not fix in God, or what God do with the souls?

Prabhupāda: Soul is there, and God is there. When you take rebirth, God is also there. He is trying to guide you. You are desiring the... Just like "I want to enjoy like this," and God is giving you facility: "All right, you enjoy like this." Just like driver. You are asking driver, "Please take me to this place," so driver is taking you to that place. Similarly it is said in the Bhagavad-gītā, īśvaraḥ sarva-bhūtānāṁ hṛd-deśe arjuna tiṣṭhati: (BG 18.61) "My dear Arjuna, the God is situated in everyone's heart, core of the heart," bhrāmayan sarva-bhūtāni (BG 18.61), "and He is causing the traveling of the living entity," yantrārūḍhāni māyayā, "on a machine which is given by this material nature." So this body is just like a machine, motorcar, and Kṛṣṇa is the driver, charioteer. And as you are desiring, He is driving your car in the same way or He is supplying different types of car. In this way you are... Life after life, you are trying to satisfy your senses. Kṛṣṇa is giving you the facility, God is giving you the facility, but He is asking you that "Give up this business, nonsense." Sarvam-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja. He is simply finding out the opportunity how to say that, this ultimate truth of life. So our business is, instead of traveling in different cars and fulfill our whimsical desire, better surrender to God and abide by His order and be happy.

Guest (1): One more. If Kṛṣṇa knows when he dies that he will...

Prabhupāda: Kṛṣṇa knows everything. There is no question.

Guest (1): Does He know that he will rebirth and then come to earth and to preach us and make all that?

Prabhupāda: He is preaching always. He is preaching always, "Do this like this." Just like Bhagavad-gītā is open to everyone. That is His preaching. But we are not accepting. That is our fault. Otherwise He is preaching always.

Lecture on SB 7.9.4 -- Mayapur, February 11, 1976:

In the madhyama-adhikārī he can see four things. What is that? Four things means, first of all the Supreme Lord, īśvara, the controller, he can see. He can see means he understands, he appreciates, he can conceive, "Yes, the Supreme Lord is there". There is no more theoretical. So īśvara, and tad-adhīneṣu, and persons who have become devotee, he can understand, "Here is a devotee." Īśvare tad-adhīneṣu bāliśeṣu. Bāliśa means he knows imperson. They do not know what is God, what is to be done, they are called bāliśa. Just like children, arbhakaḥ, bāliśa. And then dviṣāt, envious. Just like you have experienced so many rascals, as soon as they hear of God, immediately they become agitated. They are called dviṣāt, envious, demons. So four things, God, His devotees, and the innocent person, and the demonic atheist. He can see, madhyama-adhikārī. And then he behaves with these four classes of men differently. What is that? Prema, for Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Lord, how to increase love. That is first business, prema. And those who are devotees, to make friendship with them maitrī. Those who are higher than him, he should offer very respectful obeisances, those who are equal, treat them with nicely, and those who are lower then instruct them, bāliśeṣu. Those who are innocent, how to raise him in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. This is preaching. And dviṣatsu, upekṣaḥ, those who are atheist, don't associate with them. Don't associate with them. That is the madhyama-adhikārī.

Lecture on SB 7.9.10-11 -- Montreal, July 14, 1968:

Pūrṇam idaṁ pūrṇam adaḥ pūrṇāt pūrṇam udacyate (Īśopaniṣad, Invocation). That is the version of Upaniṣad. The thing is, difference between Māyāvādī and Vaiṣṇava, they do not know the proprietorship. We know the proprietorship. We don't accept anything as "I am the proprietor." This is mistake. This is māyā. Actually... If I take, "It is Kṛṣṇa's," then I am liberated. Just try to understand. You are sitting here. You know that this apartment or this loft belongs to somebody. So there is no harm sitting here, hearing here. But if you think that "This is mine," and if you want you take something out of this, then there is trouble. Similarly, this world belongs to Kṛṣṇa. If you have always that consciousness that it belongs to Kṛṣṇa... Just like a bank cashier. He knows that millions of dollars is coming to him, but he knows that "This is belonging to the bank. I am simply cashier." Similarly, you can deal with all the worldly things, but if your consciousness is Kṛṣṇa then you are free. Nikhileṣv apy avasthāsu jīvan muktaḥ sa ucyate. In any condition of life if one is Kṛṣṇa conscious, he's always liberated. He's not affected. So that is Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Kṛṣṇa consciousness does not teach you to become a false renouncer. What is the use of becoming a renouncer? After all, you have got this body. How can you renounce it? Either you cover it with underwear or either you cover it with costly dress, you have to cover it. So that covering also belongs to Kṛṣṇa. So we have to be situated under the consciousness that "Everything is Kṛṣṇa's. Nothing belongs to me." That is the actual fact. But by illusion we are accepting, "This is mine, this is mine, this is mine." We have to give up this consciousness and accept the Kṛṣṇa consciousness. That is our preaching. Is that clear?

Lecture on SB 7.9.47 -- Vrndavana, April 2, 1976:

We (conduct) our Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement, therefore, engaging each and every one of you in some active service. We don't advise that "You have become so advanced... Now you are initiated. You can sit down in one place and chant Hare Kṛṣṇa." That is not possible. So therefore, although it is recommended in a secluded place, but that is not possible in this age. We should be always engaged in active service. Then, some way or other, our mind will be engaged in Kṛṣṇa's lotus feet. That is required, activities. Sa vai manaḥ kṛṣṇa... Just like Mahārāja Ambarīṣa. He was statesman, emperor; still, he was fixing up his mind in Kṛṣṇa's lotus feet. That practice we should... Abhyāsa-yoga-yuktena (BG 8.8). If we do something... Suppose you are going to distribute books. But what is the idea? "It is Kṛṣṇa's books; it must be distributed." So Kṛṣṇa is remembered there. At the same time, because it is Kṛṣṇa's book, if somebody purchases, if he pays something, he'll look at it, something, that "What this nonsense has written? Let me see." Then he will get some idea. And if he reads one line, he comes hundred times forward to Kṛṣṇa consciousness. This is the idea. If you want... Svalpam apy asya dharmasya trāyate mahato. This is preaching. And a layman, he does not know anything about... (break) ...the wood. Similarly, Kṛṣṇa is everywhere. Aṇḍāntara-sthaṁ paramāṇu-cayāntara-stham. Any wood you take, there is fire undoubtedly. Everywhere is Kṛṣṇa, but sevonmukhe hi svayam eva sphuraty adaḥ. If you engage yourself in service, then you'll see the fire, Kṛṣṇa, there, in everywhere. Sarvatra sphurāya tāra iṣṭa-deva-mūrti. That stage one can..., that whatever he'll see, he'll see Kṛṣṇa. "Here is microphone. Here is loudspeaker. Where is Kṛṣṇa?" Yes, here is Kṛṣṇa because we are speaking about Kṛṣṇa through this microphone. He is there.

Nectar of Devotion Lectures

The Nectar of Devotion -- Vrndavana, October 21, 1972:

The Kṛṣṇa consciousness message is kṛṣṇas tu bhagavān svayam (SB 1.3.28). There is no other Bhagavān. Bhagavān means full of six opulences. So Kṛṣṇa is completely, cent percent full of all opulences. Even Nārāyaṇa, He is ninety-six percent. And Lord Śiva is eighty-four percent. And Brahmā is seventy-eight percent. These are calculated by the Gosvāmīs. So Kṛṣṇa is cent percent Bhagavān. And Kṛṣṇa says in the Bhagavad-gītā, mattaḥ parataraṁ nānyat (BG 7.7). Nānyat. Nobody. So simply you have to... Just like our little girl, Sarasvatī, she also preaches. She goes to some friend. She asks, "Do you know what is Kṛṣṇa?" If he says "No, I do not know very much." So she says, "The Supreme Personality of Godhead." That's all. This is preaching. It is not difficult. Simply, just like the child, you go everyone, talk to everyone that "Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Personality of Godhead." That's all. Everyone can do it. It is not very difficult. You believe it. You be convinced on the statement that Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Īśvaraḥ paramaḥ kṛṣṇaḥ (Bs. 5.1).

The Nectar of Devotion -- Vrndavana, October 23, 1972:

Artificially, if we say that "In my view, everyone is the same..." That is, of course, higher stage. Paṇḍitāḥ sama-darśinaḥ (BG 5.18). But we should not imitate that stage. Because we are in the neophyte stage, we should not imitate the vision of mahā-bhāgavata. Mahā-bhāgavata does not see anyone nondevotee. He sees everyone better devotee than himself. Just like Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja Gosvāmī. He writes in the Caitanya-caritāmṛta:

jagāi mādhāi haite muñi se pāpiṣṭha
purīṣera kīṭa muñi se lagiṣṭha

So he's not pretending. Actually, a mahā-bhāga, bhāgavata, thinks like that, that "I am the lowest." But he's the highest. One who thinks like that, humble...

tṛṇād api sunīcena
taror api sahiṣṇunā
amāninā mānadena...

He wants to give respect to everyone, but he doesn't expect any respect for him, himself. That is mahā-bhāgavata. And if one wants respect for him, that means he's still in kaniṣṭha adhikārī. A mahā-bhāgavata is ready to give respect to, even to the ant. And for himself he doesn't any, want any respect. That is mahā-bhāgavata. As Caitanya Mahāprabhu teaches. Tṛṇād api sunīcena taror api sahiṣṇunā, amāninā. For himself, he doesn't require any respect. Mānadena. But he's ready to give respect to everyone, even to the ant. That is mahā-bhāgavata. So generally, we are in the lower stage of devotional service. Just like generally, people come to res..., offer respect to the Deities in the temple, but one does not know how to give respect to the devotee, how to help others to become devotee. They are in the lowest stage. A devotee should not only give respect to the devotees, but he should try to make others a devotee. That is, means preaching. Preaching. The preaching...

What is the meaning of this preaching. People are engaged in material activities, and the preacher should approach them that "You are spoiling your time, my dear sir. You become devotee of Kṛṣṇa." This is preaching. "You are simply spoiling. You have got this human form of life, but you are utilizing like animals—eating, sleeping, mating and defending. You may be very great political leader, but your engagement is like animal." That is the fact. What these politicians do? They make arrangement for eating, sleeping, mating, and defending. That's all. They promise that "I shall give you nice eating. You give me vote. I'll... Make me minister of food. I shall give you enough food." Or so many things, they falsely promise, or rightly promise. They know. So actually, minister or minister's father cannot give you food. The food is supplied by Kṛṣṇa. Eko bahūnāṁ vidadhāti kāmān.

So anyway, the kaniṣṭha adhikārī is just learning how to become devotee and he is, by regulative principles, engaged in Deity worship, and gradually he's raised to the platform of madhyama adhikārī. And madhyama adhikārī means he knows what is the position of God, Kṛṣṇa, what is the position of devotee, what is the position of people in general, and what is the position of a, of an atheist.

The Nectar of Devotion -- Vrndavana, November 4, 1972:

So we must elevate ourself to the second class devotee position. To become first-class devotee, that is very difficult job. We can expect after executing devotional service as a madhyama-adhikārī. Then we can be promoted. But if we keep ourself simply on the lower stage of devotional service, then there is chance of falling down. Sa bhaktaḥ prākṛtaḥ smṛtaḥ. Simply... Just like, generally, they keep in the kaniṣṭha-adhikārī stage. Of course, there is no loss. In any adhikāra, in any position, you are benefited because you have taken to devotional service. But our attempt should be from kaniṣṭha-adhikāra to madhyama-adhikāra. Madhyama-adhikāra means preacher. Unless one comes to the madhyama-adhikāra, he cannot preach. Because in the uttama-adhikāra there is no need of preaching, because uttama-adhikāra, he sees everything good. He does not think anyone is lacking Kṛṣṇa consciousness. He says everyone is Kṛṣṇa conscious, "Simply I am not Kṛṣṇa conscious." Just like Kavirāja Gosvāmī says, purīṣera kīṭa haite muñi sei lagiṣṭha (CC Adi 5.205). He sees himself lower than the worm in the stool... But he's not so, but he thinks like that. So uttama-adhikārī, it is not to be imitated. One must keep himself in the madhyama-adhikārī stage. Madhyama-adhikārī stage means that one knows what is Kṛṣṇa, īśvara, one knows who is Kṛṣṇa's devotee. Īśvare tad-adhīneṣu. And one knows who is innocent, neither devotee nor nondevotee, and he knows who is nondevotee. This is preaching. In kaniṣṭha-adhikārī, he knows simply how to worship the Deity. Arcāyām eva haraye śraddhayā pūjāṁ śraddhayehate.

Sri Caitanya-caritamrta Lectures

Lecture on CC Adi-lila 7.4 -- Mayapur, March 4, 1974:

So tṛṇād api sunīcena taror api sahiṣṇunā, amāninā mānadena. Everyone in this material world is very much fond of getting honor. Although he's not honorable, still, he wants to get honor. Although he is unfit, still, he wants. That is the material propensity. So Caitanya Mahāprabhu says that "You give them honor. Don't ask for yourself any honor, respect, but others, you give them." That is the process of Caitanya Mahāprabhu's preaching.

As Prabhodānanda Sarasvatī has explained,

dante nidhāya tṛṇakaṁ padayor nipatya
kāku-śataṁ kṛtvā ca etad ahaṁ bravīmi
he sādhavaḥ sakalam eva vihāya dūrāt
caitanya-candra-caraṇe kurutānurāga

He says... This is the process of preaching: "My dear sir, I am falling down on your lotus feet and with folded hands and am flattering you thousand times, and I have taken one grass in my mouth to show my humbleness. So you kindly hear my one word." "What is that?" He sādhavaḥ, "You are very great sādhu, but you have learned so many things," he sādhavaḥ sakalam eva vihāya dūrāt. "This is my request, that whatever you have learned, so many things, kindly forget. Kick them out." "Then what shall I take?" Caitanya-candra-caraṇe kurutānurāga: "Just become a servant on the lotus feet of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. This is my request." So we have to preach like that. Just flatter him, but request him that "You forget all these bogus things. Simply take to Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Your life will be successful," as it is... We have already... Tāṅhāra caraṇāśrita, sei baḍa dhanya: (CC Adi 7.2). He's glorified because he receives... To become under the lotus feet of Śrī "Anyone who takes shelter at the lotus feet of Caitanya Mahāprabhu, he becomes glorified." Sei baḍa dhanya.

Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 20.98-99 -- Washington, D.C., July 4, 1976:

So here Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, He's also Kṛṣṇa. Śrī-kṛṣṇa-caitanya rādhā-kṛṣṇa nahe anya. He has appeared as devotee. He appeared first of all as the Supreme Lord, Kṛṣṇa, and He instructed Bhagavad-gītā to the fallen souls and He asserted His Lordship, sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja (BG 18.66). But puffed-up, so-called learned scholars and men of position, they declined, "Why should I surrender to Kṛṣṇa?" Therefore Kṛṣṇa Himself as devotee of Kṛṣṇa appeared. That is Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Caitanya Mahāprabhu is Kṛṣṇa Himself, but He's teaching how to approach Kṛṣṇa. And His disciples, they are also teaching the same philosophy. There is no difference between Kṛṣṇa's philosophy and Caitanya Mahāprabhu's philosophy. It is not that we can manufacture some philosophy. That is nonsense. Philosophy is one; religion is one. Everyone has to follow. There is no second alternative. That is the preaching about... Mām ekam, not that "Whatever you like, you can do." No, that is not. Mām ekam—simply Kṛṣṇa. There are some missionaries. They say that you can manufacture in your..., your own way of worship, and whatever you accept, that is all right. These bogus things are not accepted by the ācāryas. Mām ekam, Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇas tu bhagavān svayam (SB 1.3.28). If you want to understand what is Bhagavān, that is Kṛṣṇa. Bhagavān... Religion means to understand Bhagavān. The other day we were consulting dictionary? Religion means the process by which we can understand the supreme controller. There is a supreme controller, as in every department, in every state, every affair, every business, every institution there is a controller. That you have got experience, practical. Without controller, nothing can be properly discharged. Controller is required.

Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 22.5 -- New York, January 7, 1967:

So our duty is to serve God. There is no other duty. That is Caitanya Mahāprabhu's preaching, that "You have no other duty, anything. That is all false illusion. If you have selected any other duty than to serve Kṛṣṇa in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, then you are foolish. You are doing something wrong, which is not for your interest." This is the teaching of Lord Caitanya and the Bhāgavata also. So if somebody may argue, "Oh, if I completely engage myself in the service of Kṛṣṇa, then what to do? How I shall live in this material world? Who will take care of my maintenance?" that is our foolishness. If you serve an ordinary person here, you get your maintenance; you get your wages, dollars. You are so foolish that you are going to serve Kṛṣṇa and He is not going to maintain you? Yoga-kṣemaṁ vahāmy aham (BG 9.22). Kṛṣṇa says in the Bhagavad-gītā that "I personally take charge of his maintenance." Why don't you believe it? Practically you can see. That means faithlessness. There is no reason. Suppose I am serving some master here, so-called master, and he is at once paying me wages—"Take your wages"—twenty-five dollars, ten dollars or whatever it may be, at once paying. And I am going to serve the Supreme, and there is no maintenance for me? Oh, what a foolishness. This is called forgetful. This is called spell of māyā. Māyā will dictate, "Oh, you are going to serve Kṛṣṇa? How you'll maintain yourself, you foolish. Don't go there. Don't go to the Kṛṣṇa consciousness society. It is cheating." No, it is not cheating. It is actual fact. Yes. It is not cheating. But if you want to gratify your senses, oh, there is no scope. Then go to hell. Then go to hell. But if you want to serve Kṛṣṇa, there is every arrangement for you. There is every arrangement for you. If you want to cheat Kṛṣṇa, then Kṛṣṇa will also cheat you. Dyūtaṁ chalayatām asmi. Kṛṣṇa has said in His vibhūti-yogam that "Amongst all cheating process, I am gambling. I am gambling." There is cheating process. Wherefrom this cheating process comes? There is cheating process in Kṛṣṇa also because He is the origin of everything. Whatever there is, even cheating process, thieving process, what is condemned in this world, that is also there in Kṛṣṇa, but that is without any contamination. That is difference. When He cheats, it becomes worshipable. Kṛṣṇa wanted to cheat Dronācārya. That is a fact in the Mahābhārata. He advised Arjuna, "Just go," asked Yudhiṣṭhira that "Just go and tell lie to Dronācārya that 'Your son is dead.' " Don't you think Kṛṣṇa is trying to cheat? So there is cheating. Everything is there, but that is in full. God is good; therefore His cheating is good, His thieving is good. Everything is absolute. Unless you cannot understand this Absolute Truth, there is no understanding of Kṛṣṇa. There is no understanding of Kṛṣṇa.

Festival Lectures

Sri Vyasa-puja -- Hamburg, September 5, 1969:

To become a spiritual master is not very wonderful thing. Simply one has to become sincere soul. That's all. Evaṁ paramparā-prāptam imaṁ rājarṣayo viduḥ (BG 4.2). In the Bhagavad-gītā it is said that "By disciplic succession this yoga process of Bhagavad-gītā was handed down from disciple to disciple. But in course of time that disciplic succession is now lost. Therefore, Arjuna, I am teaching you again the same philosophy."

So this is the process. Simply if we... Therefore Vedic knowledge is called śruti. One has to hear it properly, assimilate it, and then practice it in life and preach the same thing. Then everyone becomes spiritual master. Caitanya Mahāprabhu says, āmāra ājñāya guru hañā tāra 'sarva-deśa: "O My dear disciples, I tell you that you, all of you, become spiritual master. Simply you carry out My order. That's all." "And what is Your order?" "The order is the same: yāre dekha, tāre kaha 'kṛṣṇa'-upadeśa (CC Madhya 7.128). Just like Kṛṣṇa gave instruction in the Bhagavad-gītā, and if you simply place the instruction received from Bhagavad-gītā as it is..." I am publishing Bhagavad-gītā As It Is because in the market there were so many Bhagavad-gītā misinterpreted, but that is not the process of presenting Bhagavad-gītā. Bhagavad-gītā should be presented as it is. In the Bhagavad-gītā it is simply said that Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. But most books which you have seen in English lang..., they are trying to make minus Kṛṣṇa. That is their attempt. So what sort of Bhagavad-gītā is that? That should not be done. Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme. You should speak that Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme. That is the preaching of Bhagavad-gītā.

Arrival Addresses and Talks

Arrival -- Chicago, July 3, 1975:

Nitāi: "For example, marriage, or the combination of a man with a woman, is necessary for progeny, but it is not meant for sense enjoyment."

Prabhupāda: Now this progeny is bother. It is sense enjoyment, homosex. Progeny, they don't want. They're not interested. Only sense gratification. This is another sign of impotency. When after enjoying so many women, they become impotent, then they artificially create another sex impulse in homosex. This is the psychology. So people are degraded so much. Especially in the... Everywhere, not specially this or that. Everywhere. This is Kali-yuga. But thoughtful leaders, they are thinking, "What to do?" That's very good sign. And take advantage and give them program exactly to the direction of Bhagavad-gītā. Then the world will be saved. Otherwise it is doomed. It is a fact. This is the opportunity for preaching. You can take that paper and heading. There are so many headings. Each heading reply. We are the only persons who can give solution. There is no other group or any man in the world. We are only. So let them take advantage of our knowledge and apply in the society to the ben... That's all right. Now all the sannyāsīs have got the good opportunity to preach.

General Lectures

Lecture -- Jakarta, February 26, 1973:

So from Bhagavad-gītā, if you study scrutinizingly each word and each śloka—not by man interpretation, but actually as it is—then we can understand what is our eternal life, what is our eternal pleasure, how we can return and sport there. Everything is explained there. Everyone can go. Everyone can transfer himself in that spiritual world—simply by understanding Kṛṣṇa. That's all. And the Kṛṣṇa understanding is there. Kṛṣṇa is explaining Himself in the Bhagavad-gītā. He, if you do not introduce your so-called foolish scholarship, then you get actually back to home, back to Godhead, by simply studying Bhagavad-gītā. But if you add your foolish rascal scholarship, that "Kṛṣṇa means this and that means this, this means that," then you are lost. Study Bhagavad-gītā as it is. You get all information how to realize Brahman, ahaṁ brahmāsmi. So 'ham. Don't misinterpret. Don't... There is no... Just like Kṛṣṇa... This verse is very plain. This verse says, na tv evāhaṁ jātu nāsam. Where is the difficulty? "My dear Arjuna, both I, you... It is not that I did not exist, you did not exist. Neither this soldier." Where is the difficulty to understand? Why should we misinterpret?

dharma-kṣetre kuru-kṣetre
samavetā yuyutsavaḥ
māmakāḥ pāṇḍavāś caiva
kim akurvata sañjaya
(BG 1.1)

No. The main meaning is very plain: that Dhṛtarāṣṭra was asking his father's secretary, Sañjaya, "My dear Sañjaya, māmakāḥ, my sons and pāṇḍavāḥ, my brother's sons, Pāṇḍavas, they assembled," dharma-kṣetre kuru-kṣetre (BG 1.1), "in the Kurukṣetra Field, which is known as dharma-kṣetra, the religious pilgrimage. After that meeting, what did they do?" Now, where is the difficulty to understand this verse? But unfortunately, one so-called scholar or so-called foolish man will come, he'll say, "Dharma-kṣetre kuru-kṣetra means this body." No. "Where you get this meaning, sir?" But he'll say, explain in this way: "The Pāṇḍava means five senses." Well, in which dictionary you'll find? This is going on. This rascaldom is going on. If you'll give up this rascaldom, simply read Bhagavad-gītā as it is, then you'll become successful in life. That is our preaching Kṛṣṇa consciousness.

Sunday Feast Lecture -- Atlanta, March 2, 1975:

So Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu's movement is, the starting point is, the spirit soul. And automatically, unless... In the Bhagavad-gītā, the Lord said the sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja: (BG 18.66) "You give up the so-called man-made duties or occupation or dharma. You just surrender unto Me." So actually this is dharma, or religion, to surrender to God. God is one. He is neither Hindu nor Muslim nor Christian. God is one. If there is another God, then there is competition. God cannot be two. God is one. Eko brahma dvitīya nasti. That is the Vedic injunction. So God is one. So either you become Hindu or Muslim, the God is one. This is to be understood. So the science of God, that is Kṛṣṇa consciousness. You try to understand scientifically what is meant by God, what is meant by religion. That is Caitanya Mahāprabhu's preaching. Jīvera svarūpa haya nitya kṛṣṇa dāsa (Cc. Madhya 20.108-109). He begins His teaching on this principle, that every living being is eternal servant of God. That's all. And this is religion. Religion does not mean stamping in different way. Religion means to know God the great and we are subordinate, maintained by God. This is religion. If anyone knows these two things only—God is great, and we are subordinate; our duty is to abide by the orders of God—that is religion.

Sunday Feast Lecture -- Atlanta, March 2, 1975:

And Kṛṣṇa said, God says, "One who is completely freed from sinful life, he can take to devotional service." So therefore we have prescribed four principles, regulative principles: No illicit sex. We don't say "No sex." No illicit sex. No meat-eating. There are so many things, nice things, especially in your country, America, so many nice fruits, so many nice grains, milk. Why should you kill? We are not. We have got hundreds of centers. We are strictly following. And you have taken our prasādam feast. How delicious they are. So why they should kill? The argument is sometimes offered: "The vegetable has got life." Yes, we admit also. But our process is to take the prasādam. Prasādam means we offer foodstuff to Kṛṣṇa and after eating, whatever He left, we take that. This is our principle. We don't take directly. What is the meaning of this temple? We don't use anything directly unless it is offered to Kṛṣṇa. So the vegetable has got life, but Kṛṣṇa says, patraṁ puṣpaṁ phalaṁ toyaṁ yo me bhaktyā prayacchati, tad aham aśnāmi (BG 9.26). We have invited Kṛṣṇa, Caitanya Mahāprabhu, as our guest, and He has consented to come here. So we must offer foodstuff, what He wants, not that according to my whims. That is not etiquette. If some respectable guest comes to your house, you ask him, "What shall you eat, sir? What kind of food I can give you?" So whatever he orders, you have to supply. That is real receiving the guest. So Kṛṣṇa says that "Give Me food amongst these items-patraṁ puṣpaṁ phalaṁ toyaṁ yo me bhaktyā prayacchati. That also with bhakti, not neglectfully. With great devotion, if somebody offers Me these things, then I can take." So Kṛṣṇa takes these, these patraṁ puṣpaṁ phalaṁ toyaṁ, grains, food grains, and milk and vegetables and fruits. So we prepare hundreds of items with these things. You can do that. And they are all delicious and full of vitamins. So why one should kill unnecessarily the poor animals and become vicious and sinful?

So this is Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Mahāprabhu's preaching, that you live peacefully. Be gentleman. Realize God. Make your life happy in this world and the next world. This is Caitanya Mahāprabhu's mercy. And He wanted to spread this cult in every town, every city, every village. So this group, Hare Kṛṣṇa movement, is just trying to serve Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu. And you also see how much beneficial it is. Caitanyera dayāra kathara karaha vicāra. You don't be blind, but try to consider it a little liberally without any, what is called, sophistry? Without any bias, prejudice. Don't be carried by prejudice. Try to understand the philosophy of Caitanya Mahāprabhu and be happy.

Sunday Feast Lecture -- Atlanta, March 2, 1975:

We have invited Kṛṣṇa, Caitanya Mahāprabhu, as our guest, and He has consented to come here. So we must offer foodstuff, what He wants, not that according to my whims. That is not etiquette. If some respectable guest comes to your house, you ask him, "What shall you eat, sir? What kind of food I can give you?" So whatever he orders, you have to supply. That is real receiving the guest. So Kṛṣṇa says that "Give Me food amongst these items-patraṁ puṣpaṁ phalaṁ toyaṁ yo me bhaktyā prayacchati. That also with bhakti, not neglectfully. With great devotion, if somebody offers Me these things, then I can take." So Kṛṣṇa takes these, these patraṁ puṣpaṁ phalaṁ toyaṁ, grains, food grains, and milk and vegetables and fruits. So we prepare hundreds of items with these things. You can do that. And they are all delicious and full of vitamins. So why one should kill unnecessarily the poor animals and become vicious and sinful?

So this is Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Mahāprabhu's preaching, that you live peacefully. Be gentleman. Realize God. Make your life happy in this world and the next world. This is Caitanya Mahāprabhu's mercy. And He wanted to spread this cult in every town, every city, every village. So this group, Hare Kṛṣṇa movement, is just trying to serve Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu. And you also see how much beneficial it is. Caitanyera dayāra kathara karaha vicāra. You don't be blind, but try to consider it a little liberally without any, what is called, sophistry? Without any bias, prejudice. Don't be carried by prejudice. Try to understand the philosophy of Caitanya Mahāprabhu and be happy.

Philosophy Discussions

Philosophy Discussion on Origen:

Hayagrīva: During his lifetime Origen was a great teacher and was very much in demand. For him, preaching simply meant explaining the words of God and no more. He believed that first of all a preacher must be a man of prayer and must be in contact with God, and that he should pray for a better understanding of the scriptures.

Prabhupāda: Yes. That is real preacher. That is explained in the Vedic literature, śravaṇaṁ kīrtanam. First of all he becomes perfect by hearing. This is called śravaṇam. And when he is perfectly situated in spiritual life by hearing perfectly from the perfectly authorized person, then his next stage begins, kīrtanam. That is preaching. That śravaṇaṁ kīrtanam, everyone is hearing in this material world. Everyone is hearing. Even this material educationist, he also hears from the material person, professor. That hearing is there. Then he acts when he is grown-up, passed his examination, sometimes acts as professor. The same process: if one hears from the perfect spiritualized person, he becomes perfect, then he becomes actual preacher. Preaching, śravaṇaṁ kīrtanam, about Viṣṇu, not for any other person within this material world. The Supreme Person, transcendental Personality of Godhead, to hear about Him and to preach about Him, that is the duty of a liberated soul.

Page Title:This is our preaching (Lectures)
Compiler:Visnu Murti, MadhuGopaldas
Created:07 of Oct, 2010
Totals by Section:BG=0, SB=0, CC=0, OB=0, Lec=50, Con=0, Let=0
No. of Quotes:50