Understanding Bhagavad-gita (Conversations)

Prabhupāda: Amongst the leading personalities, you try to understand Bhagavad-gītā as it is and spread it, it will have immediate effect. That is already experimented. Just like in western countries, before me, hundreds and thousands, swamis and yogis went there. But not a single person could understand what is Bhagavad-gītā, and what is Kṛṣṇa. Now hundreds and thousands of these boys in Europe, America, Canada, Africa, everywhere, Australia, everywhere, they are now become devotees... So they're intelligent persons, they're coming from rich family. Why they have taken seriously? Because they have understood Bhagavad-gītā nicely.

Prabhupāda: The Bhagavad-gītā, the Chapter, Fourth Chapter explains that you cannot understand Bhagavad-gītā by your own interpretation. You must follow the instruction of the original speaker of Bhagavad-gītā. The original speaker is Kṛṣṇa. So what Kṛṣṇa says, they have to follow it. Then it is Bhagavad-gītā. Otherwise if you interpret it in a different way then it is not Bhagavad-gītā.

Prabhupāda: Dr. Rādhākrishnan says "It is not to the Kṛṣṇa person." But Kṛṣṇa person says, man-manā bhava mad-bhaktaḥ, "You just always think of Me." And he's deviating his readers, "Not to Kṛṣṇa." How much harm he's doing. This is going on. Why? It is said, Kṛṣṇa says, man-manā bhava mad-bhaktaḥ, "Just think of Me. Just become my devotee." What right he has got to say that here it is not to Kṛṣṇa? This is going on. So if we interpret in that nonsense way then we shall not be able to understand Bhagavad-gītā. We shall miss this point.

Room Conversation with Indonesian Scholar -- February 27, 1973, Jakarta:

Prabhupāda: The Bhagavad-gītā is the only source of scientific knowledge of God and our relationship with God. I am very glad that you are already very serious about understanding Bhagavad-gītā. But I request you only that try to... and understand Bhagavad-gītā without any, our man-made interpretation. That will be my request.

Prabhupāda: So if one has surrendered to Kṛṣṇa, then He's admitted in the college of studying Bhāgavata. Before that he has no place. Just like without passing entrance examination, nobody's admitted in the college course. Similarly, without understanding Bhagavad-gītā perfectly well, one cannot understand what is Bhāgavata. Bhāgavata is the graduate study.

Room Conversation With David Lawrence -- July 12, 1973, London:

Prabhupāda: Kṛṣṇa and Arjuna. Kṛṣṇa is speaking to Arjuna. He is plainly speaking that "I am speaking to you this Bhagavad-gītā because You are My devotee." Bhakto 'si priyo 'si me rahasyaṁ hy etad uttamam (BG 4.3). So first condition to understand Bhagavad-gītā is to become a devotee of Kṛṣṇa. So in the Bhagavad-gītā, the only talk is about devotion. There is no other talk. There are other talks, but they are subordinate. They are not principal talks. The principal talk is to understand Kṛṣṇa through bhakti-yoga. Bhaktyā mām abhijānāti yāvān yaś cāsmi tattvataḥ (BG 18.55).

Room Conversation with Mister Popworth and E. F. Schumacher -- July 26, 1973, London:

Prabhupāda: I am acting for my satisfaction, not for Kṛṣṇa's satisfaction. So when we act for Kṛṣṇa's satisfaction, that is the perfection. Then we save the material pollution. This is the secret. Arjuna is a good example. Before fighting, he was thinking in terms of his own satisfaction. But when he understood Bhagavad-gītā and he agreed to act for Kṛṣṇa's satisfaction, then he became perfect.

Room Conversation with Anna Conan Doyle, daughter-in-law of famous author, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle -- August 10, 1973, Paris:

Anna Conan Doyle: Yes, Arjuna, yes.

Prabhupāda: Not only family man, he was in the battlefield. So if he could understand Bhagavad-gītā in that position, why we cannot?

Anna Conan Doyle: Yes, that's right.

Prabhupāda: So it is no question of you have to give up family life. There is no such thing. You have to understand the science. Arjuna was a family man. After understanding Bhagavad-gītā, he did not give up family.

Anna Conan Doyle: No.

Prabhupāda: No. So it is a wrong impression that to become Kṛṣṇa conscious one has to give up family relations. No, that's not the fact. Sometimes people think like that, but that is wrong thinking.

Room Conversation -- September 2, 1973, London:

Guest: (Bengali) Gandhiji, he was politician, he was actually not devotee, and he could not understand Bhagavad-gītā. But how the name of Rāma has come when he died? The name of Rāma, Hare Rāma, has come from his last word. How it has come. It is, it is...

Prabhupāda: Practice, practice. Raghupati rāghava rājā rāma.

Guest (1): So that came at the last word.

Prabhupāda: Yes.

Guest (1): It is due to his pious or practice.

Prabhupāda: Practice. That will act, that will act, that will act.

Room Conversation -- September 2, 1973, London:

Prabhupāda: Heaven is in the material world. Heaven is in the material world. You can get greater standard of life, greater duration of life, that's all. Higher standard of life. Just like Brahmā. Brahmā's one day you cannot calculate. He's so powerful, how he's created this universe. But he is in the material world. He's also a living entity like us, but very exalted. So he cannot get the post of Brahmā. But he can get life in higher planetary system. That is certain. That is explained in the, find out that verse. That is explained in the...um. That verse, yoga-bhraṣṭo 'bhijāyate śucīnāṁ śrīmatāṁ gehe (BG 6.41). But he did not understand Bhagavad-gītā, that's a fact.

Room Conversation -- September 19, 1973, Bombay:

Prabhupāda: Just like Brahmā was also bewildered whether Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Brahmā, the first creature of this universe, he's also... muhyanti yat sūrayaḥ. Therefore we should take advantage of this opportunity. Kṛṣṇa is explaining Himself in the Bhagavad-gītā, about Himself. That is the highest perfection of life, simply to understand Bhagavad-gītā as it is. As spoken by Kṛṣṇa. Then one's life is perfect. But unfortunately, so many scholars and swamis, they are misinterpreting Kṛṣṇa and Bhagavad-gītā. The people are placed in darkness. They are already in darkness. By misinterpretation, they are putting them in darkness. They cannot understand Kṛṣṇa.

Room Conversation -- November 4, 1973, Delhi:

Prabhupāda: You were Surat? He was asking, that bābājī, that, "Learn Sanskrit then you'll understand Bhagavad-gītā." So I immediately asked him that, "You go away, you go away from this place."

Guest: Not at all.

Prabhupāda: So he supposed.... I went to preach in the Western countries. Did they know Sanskrit? Then how they have become Vaiṣṇavas? It is a training, it is a training. It doesn't matter whether you know Sanskrit or not Sanskrit. But some rascals inquire, "Do you know Sanskrit, otherwise you cannot become..."

Morning Walk -- December 4, 1973, Los Angeles:

Prabhupāda: Not to speak like mad man. That you are scientists, you are, "We shall solve all the questions." This nonsense thing should stop. They should come to God and understand what God says. Then their life is successful. God Himself is speaking in the Bhagavad-gītā. Just try to understand. This is not meant for the dogs and cats; this is meant for persons like Arjuna. Because Bhagavad-gītā was taught to Arjuna—for enlightened, ah, topmost class of men. They'll understand. Imaṁ rājarṣayo viduḥ. Evaṁ paramparā prāptam (BG 4.2). So be yourself amongst the topmost intelligent class of men and try to understand Bhagavad-gītā. Then you'll be happy.

1974 Conversations and Morning Walks

Morning Walk -- January 22, 1974, Hawaii:

Prabhupāda: Bhagavad-gītā says, "Surrender." If you take Bhagavad-gītā, then Bhagavad-gītā says... You cannot understand... If you want to understand Bhagavad-gītā, you must understand from Bhagavad-gītā. And apart from Bhagavad-gītā, you are already surrendered to God; you are not independent. Are you independent? Now, if, when there is rain, we could not come here to walk. So we are already surrendered. You cannot stop the rain and walk. You are already surrendered. So if Bhagavad-gītā says that "You completely surrender," what is the wrong there?

Room Conversation -- February 13, 1974, Vrndavana:

Prabhupāda: Surrender means, whatever is favorable for Kṛṣṇa we apply, that's all. You cannot say, just like Arjuna, he first of all declined, "Kṛṣṇa, I am not going to fight." That is not surrender.

Guest (1): "I'll do whatever you want, but don't ask me to fight."

Prabhupāda: You cannot deny Him. That is surrender. Then, when he understood Bhagavad-gītā he said "Yes, I shall do that." So long I deny Kṛṣṇa that is disunity, and as soon as I agree, "Kṛṣṇa, yes." Then this unity. Unity does not mean that Kṛṣṇa and Arjuna become united, homogeneous. No. Kṛṣṇa is distinct and Arjuna. They continue to exist.

Morning Walk -- April 2, 1974, Bombay:

Prabhupāda: All conditioned souls, they are envious of God, envious. "Why He should be God? I am God. I am God." So Arjuna is not like that person. Therefore he is speaking to Arjuna. He is devotee. In the Fourth Chapter also, He said bhakto 'si priyo 'si (BG 4.3). Therefore Kṛṣṇa does not expose Himself unless one is devotee. This is first qualification. So to understand Bhagavad-gītā one must be a devotee. The so-called jñānī, yogis, they cannot understand. It is not possible, because they are trying to become God. Although it is simply dream, they can never become, but they are envious, that "Why Kṛṣṇa should be God? I have got so many gods."

Morning Walk -- April 8, 1974, Bombay:

Prabhupāda: Material science? No, no, I am talking of Kṛṣṇa science.

Indian man (2): About the existence of God?

Prabhupāda: Not only existence. What is God, first of all. He must exist. Otherwise, where there is question of "What is God?" So what is the nature of God, what is our position, what is our relationship with God, what is our duty, and what is the goal of life, these things are very thoroughly discussed in Bhagavad-gītā. So if we understand Bhagavad-gītā very nicely, then we understand the whole science of God.

Morning Walk -- April 11, 1974, Bombay:

Indian Man (1): But the teachers give different interpretation of the same thing.

Prabhupāda: No. The same thing means he is a rascal teacher. He is not teacher. He is cheater. When a cheater takes the place of a teacher, he explains differently. And when a teacher is there, he will explain rightly. Where is the difficulty? I have several times said that "Where is the difficulty to understand Bhagavad-gītā?" There is not a single line which is very difficult to understand. Just like Kṛṣṇa says, imaṁ vivasvate yogaṁ proktavān aham avyayam: (BG 4.1) "I first of all said this philosophy to Vivasvan, the sun-god." So where is the difficulty to understand this line? Where is the difficulty?

Indian Man (1): No difficulty in understanding. Interpretation...

Prabhupāda: Why they should interpret? Interpretation is required when there is no understanding. If the matter is clearly understood, why interpretation? This is rascaldom.

Press Conference -- April 18, 1974, Hyderabad:

Prabhupāda: So this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is meant for spreading the knowledge contained in the Bhagavad-gītā as it is, without any malinterpretation. Bhagavad-gītā as it is. In the Bhagavad-gītā it is said that Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Paraṁ brahma paraṁ dhāma pavitraṁ paramaṁ bhavān (BG 10.12). After understanding Bhagavad-gītā from Kṛṣṇa, Arjuna affirmed, "Kṛṣṇa, You are Parabrahman, the Supreme Personality of Godhead."

Press Conference -- April 18, 1974, Hyderabad:

Guest (1): What I mean to say is do you believe that the soul and God is one as Rāmānuja and Śaṅkarācārya says, or as Madhvācārya says...

Prabhupāda: We are speaking from the Bhagavad-gītā as it is. What Śaṅkarācārya says, what Rāmānujācārya says, that we shall consider there. You try to understand Bhagavad-gītā as it is.

Press Conference -- April 18, 1974, Hyderabad:

Prabhupāda: But here Bhagavad-gītā is very simple. There is no need of great education. What is the difficulty to understand? If Kṛṣṇa says, man-manā bhava mad-bhakto mad-yājī māṁ namaskuru (BG 18.65), where is the difficulty? "You always think of Me, become My devotee, worship Me, offer My obeisances." Cātur-varṇyaṁ mayā sṛṣṭam: (BG 4.13) "Divide the society in four classes of men." Annād bhavanti bhūtāni: (BG 3.14) "You just produce sufficient foodgrain and eat sufficiently. Be strong. Perform yajña." Where is the difficulty to understand Bhagavad-gītā?

1975 Conversations and Morning Walks

Room Conversation with Yoga Student -- March 14, 1975, Iran:

Prabhupāda: No, no, why advaita, dvaita? First of all you take the preliminary things, that you are accepting the philosophy of Kṛṣṇa, Bhagavad-gītā, but you have no knowledge of the person who has spoken Bhagavad-gītā. Then where is your understanding? You do not understand the person who has spoken the Bhagavad-gītā. Then what is the meaning of your understanding Bhagavad-gītā?

Indian man: No, we have to try...

Prabhupāda: No, no. Try, try, another thing.

Indian man: We have to understand it.

Prabhupāda: No, you have to understand it... First of all you have to understand Kṛṣṇa, the person who is speaking.

Indian man: Oh, you mean Kṛṣṇa the person you must understand, then Kṛṣṇa of Bhagavad-gītā you must understand.

Prabhupāda: Yes, that is the way. You read any book; you learn first of all about the author, his life, his everything.

Room Conversation with Yoga Student -- March 14, 1975, Iran:

Indian man: If it is accepted, then we can surrender. I was questioning only this point, whether the Kṛṣṇa of Bhāgavata is necessary to accept...

Prabhupāda: No, no, set aside Bhāgavatam. I have told you that first of all you try to understand Kṛṣṇa from the Bhagavad-gītā.

Indian man: If that is enough, it's enough.

Prabhupāda: Enough. But if you say that you don't believe in the Kṛṣṇa, whether He was living or not, then you have not understood Bhagavad-gītā.

Indian man: I know the living Kṛṣṇa will come in Bhagavad-gītā, I hope.

Prabhupāda: No. He says... He says that mattaḥ parataraṁ nānyat kiñcid asti dhanañjaya: (BG 7.7) "There is no superior authority than Me." Then if you do not understand what is that Kṛṣṇa, then how you accept Him as superior authority?

Guest: I think we have to define the concept of God first, and then only...

Prabhupāda: No, no, concept of God is there in the Bhagavad-gītā.

Room Conversation with Yoga Student -- March 14, 1975, Iran:

Prabhupāda: That He says, mattaḥ parataraṁ nānyat (BG 7.7). God means the Supreme. So He says, "There is no more superior supreme than Me." Then He is God. And if you accept the teachings of Bhagavad-gītā, then you have to accept He is God. Otherwise what you have understood, Bhagavad-gītā? You have manufactured your own way. He says... If you study Bhagavad-gītā, He says, mattaḥ parataraṁ nānyat kiñcid asti dhanañjaya (BG 7.7). So God means the Supreme. So He says, "I am the Supreme. There is no more superior supreme." Then you have to accept Him God.

Morning Walk -- May 10, 1975, Perth:

Prabhupāda: Avyayam means which is never under deterioration. It is eternally existing. That is avyayam. Just like ātmā, soul, avyayam. There is no deterioration. It is there. So forty millions of years ago once it was spoken, but in due course of time it is now lost; therefore I am speaking it again to you. You did not read Bhagavad-gītā it is said there? How do you say it was written five thousand years ago? It is already there. It was first spoken forty millions of years ago, now it is lost. The material world is like that. One thing is lost sometimes. Therefore I am speaking to you. And why are you speaking to me? Because you are my devotee. This is the beginning of Bhagavad-gītā. That means only the devotees can understand Bhagavad-gītā, and it is always existing, and because it is now lost... Just like we are putting Bhagavad-gītā, why am I stressing so much? It is lost. By the so-called Gandhis and Dr. Radhakrishnan, they have made it lost. Therefore we are stressing. The thing is there. We are simply trying to revive it again.

Morning Walk -- May 10, 1975, Perth:

Prabhupāda: We are not talking of Indian history, we are talking on the truth. We never say it is Indian truth.

Amogha: But Bhagavad-gītā has been presented in so many ways also, and now we are saying it is another way.

Prabhupāda: Therefore Kṛṣṇa says that "I am showing you the way how to understand Bhagavad-gītā. You have to accept that." Not so many ways. Only that way. That I have explained in the Preface, that when you have to take a medicine, you have to take the direction: dose, such and such. Not that so many ways doses are prescribed. According to the prescription you have to take. Otherwise you will waste your time.

Room Conversation with Justin Murphy (Geographer) -- May 14, 1975, Perth:

Prabhupāda: That is Vedānta philosophy. Athāto brahma jijñāsā. Now, by evolutionary process, we have come to the human form of life, and it is meant for asking, "What is my constitutional position? Am I this body, or I am something else?" The dogs, he cannot put this inquiry. A dog, he thinks that he is dog, that's all. He is jumping, he is barking, and eating, sleeping, and having sex. That's all. If I ask one dog, "Please sit down. Hear Bhagavad-gītā," it is not possible. But you are human being, if I ask you, "Mr. such and such, sit down, hear from the Bhagavad-gītā," you can do that. First of all we must know the difference between dog and me. The dog is incapable to understand Bhagavad-gītā. But human being... Just like we are selling this book in the Western countries, many millions of copies, because they are human being. We are not selling among the cats and dogs.

Room Conversation with Dr. Copeland, Professor of Modern Indian History -- May 20, 1975, Melbourne:

Prabhupāda: Ekaś candras tamo hanti: "If one man accepts, then he can become the bright moon." Na ca tārāḥ sahasraśaḥ: "The so-called stars has no value." One moon is sufficient. So our preaching is: Let one man understand Bhagavad-gītā As It Is. We don't want disciples. I never collected disciples. I never compromised that "You can do whatever you like, and you become my disciple. "No. You have to follow this.

Conversation with Professor Hopkins -- July 13, 1975, Philadelphia:

Prof. Hopkins: I'm not thinking so much of the specific Cantos as the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam as a whole. Is that, for you, as you see it, more important than Bhagavad-gītā?

Prabhupāda: No, Bhagavad-gītā is the preliminary study of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.

Prof. Hopkins: So you would see the two related to each other.

Prabhupāda: Yes. If one can understand Bhagavad-gītā then he becomes a bona fide student of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.

1976 Conversations and Morning Walks

Morning Walk -- January 12, 1976, Bombay:

Prabhupāda: No, no. It is understood that I am person, my father is person, his father is person, and the supreme father is not a person. Just see. If the supreme father is not a person, then wherefrom these personal fathers came here? Mūḍho nābhijānāti mām ebhyaḥ param avyayam. "Mām"—this is person. The mūḍhas cannot understand that the supreme father is a person. Therefore Arjuna, at the, when he understood Bhagavad-gītā, he declared that "It is very, very difficult..." (aside:) Hare Kṛṣṇa. Jaya. Hare Kṛṣṇa. "...to understand Your personality. It is very, very difficult." Arjuna has said. And he has accepted Him as person, puruṣaṁ śāśvatam: "You are eternally person." Paraṁ brahma paraṁ dhāma pavitraṁ paramam, puruṣaṁ śāśvataṁ divyam ādyam (BG 10.12). These things are there. The real understanding is there.

Room Conversation with Reporter -- June 4, 1976, Los Angeles:

Reporter: ...Bhagavad-gītā and other books, that a person merely by reading these could attain knowledge of Kṛṣṇa?

Prabhupāda: Yes. Why not?

Reporter: Would that person have to have contact with you and learn from you also?

Prabhupāda: Yes, it is explained, there is no difficulty. But if there is difficulty to understand, then we have to approach a person who has understood Bhagavad-gītā. Otherwise the language is very plain, there is no difficulty. Unfortunately they bring their own interpretation and spoil the whole thing.

Conversation in Airport and Car -- June 21, 1976, Toronto:

Prabhupāda: So this is ignorance, this is ignorance. And they are kept, the whole world—the state, the father, the guardian, everyone, the priest. Everyone is ignorant. Dull-headed ignorant. And they are passing on as philosopher, scientist, religious leader. (break) ...hard to bring them to Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Taking these few years, fifty years or sixty years living here, and dance like dog and finish. There is no life. You die peacefully or (indistinct). And not dying peacefully, they cry. Hare Kṛṣṇa.

Kīrtanānanda: How to save them is very difficult.

Prabhupāda: Simply chant. This is the only. Give them chance to come and chant with us, take prasāda. Then after few days or few months, let them understand Bhagavad-gītā

Garden Conversation -- June 27, 1976, New Vrindaban:

Kulādri: One must understand Bhagavad-gītā before Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam?

Prabhupāda: Yes. It is stated there yad advaitaṁ brahma upaniṣadi. That means he must understand the Upaniṣads. He must understand what is Brahman. So without understanding this, how he can understand Caitanya-caritāmṛta?

Evening Darsana -- July 6, 1976, Washington, D.C.:

Prabhupāda: A bhakta is submissive. And nondevotees, they are not submissive. They are so proud that they say "I am Bhagavān, I am God." So that attitude will not help to understand. (Prabhupāda converses in Hindi with an Indian lady about how one does not have to renounce family life to understand Kṛṣṇa.) He says paraṁ brahma paraṁ dhāma pavitraṁ paramaṁ bhavān (BG 10.12). He understands perfectly. There is no question of gṛhastha or sannyāsī. It is a question of understanding. And Arjuna is gṛhastha, politician, fighter, and still he is selected to understand Bhagavad-gītā. So gṛhastha.

Devotee (1): So many intelligent people, they are going to Transcendental Meditation simply because it's costing money. They want to pay. My sister, her husband, they are intelligent people, but they are simply...

Prabhupāda: So intelligent that they cannot understand Bhagavad-gītā. What kind of intelligence is that, the plain thing in the Bhagavad-gītā, they cannot...

Indian man (3): Not I, I'm talking discussion. In a discussion it's difficult to convince people of the West, what is to answer to that?

Prabhupāda: But if you know Kṛṣṇa, that He is God, then whatever He speaks, it is all right. Just like Arjuna, he accepted Kṛṣṇa, paraṁ brahma paraṁ dhāma pavitraṁ paramaṁ bhavān (BG 10.12). So he said, sarvam etad ṛtaṁ manye yan māṁ vadasi keśava (BG 10.14). Find out this verse. So "Whatever You say, I accept it as truth." That is understanding of Bhagavad-gītā. If you have understood Bhagavad-gītā, then you should have understood that whatever Kṛṣṇa has said, that is truth.

Indian man (3): I said that, as an Indian, suppose I try to speak about Gītā or philosophy of Hinduism to people in the neighborhood, either in the office or elsewhere, especially with the Europeans, it becomes a point for discussion where it becomes difficult to convince as to why a person should take action without knowing the consequences or even with knowing that the consequences are going to be bad. For instance, Arjuna had to kill his relatives. If he knows that if he's going to do it, or if somebody, for instance, in a war, he knows that his friends are on the other side, he may find it hard to shoot at them...

Prabhupāda: So why Arjuna did later on?

Indian man (3): Because I think he took God's...

Prabhupāda: Because he was fool in the beginning, and after understanding Bhagavad-gītā he became intelligent. Why don't you take in that way? In the beginning, he was rascal. Therefore he needed instruction of Bhagavad-gītā. And when he understood Bhagavad-gītā, what did he say? Naṣṭo mohaḥ smṛtir labdhā. Find out this verse. Naṣṭo mohaḥ, "Now my illusion is over." Smṛtir labdhā tvat prasādān madhusūdana.

Interview with Trans-India Magazine -- July 17, 1976, New York:

Prabhupāda: But on the whole, Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Lord, the supreme authority; His instruction is final, and anyone who can understand this, his life is successful. Therefore our request is that don't make unnecessary useless interpretation. You take Bhagavad-gītā as it is and act accordingly, your life will be successful. This is our mission. That is Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement. But if you cannot understand Bhagavad-gītā, we can try to explain before you what it is.

Prabhupāda: So it is India's mission to become exactly on the line of Bhagavad-gītā. That is also spoken by Caitanya Mahāprabhu, that perfection of life means to understand Bhagavad-gītā. He said āmāra ājñāya guru hañā tāra' ei deśa: (CC Madhya 7.128) "You just become a guru and deliver this country." "This country" means wherever you are living—it doesn't matter whether in India or America or anywhere else—you just deliver them.

Interview with Trans-India Magazine -- July 17, 1976, New York:

Interviewer: Can you briefly tell us what the difference, how your approach is different from the approaches of the other gurus who have come? You seen to have rather a unique place in...

Prabhupāda: First of all, we do not accept anyone as guru if he's not competent to understand Bhagavad-gītā and preach it also. He's not a guru. The guru's definition given in the Bhagavad-gītā, imaṁ vivasvate yogaṁ proktavān aham avyayam (BG 4.1), in the Fourth Chapter you'll find, vivasvān manave prāha manur ikṣvākave 'bravīt.

evaṁ paramparā-prāptam

imaṁ rājarṣayo viduḥ

sa kāleneha mahatā

yogo naṣṭaḥ parantapa

(BG 4.2)

Kṛṣṇa said to Arjuna, "My dear Arjuna, this Bhagavad-gītā philosophy or yoga system, first of all I spoke to the sun-god. And then he spoke to his son, Manu. Then Manu spoke to his son Ikṣvāku." In this way the knowledge comes down from the spiritual master to the disciple or from the father to the son. So unless one comes in this disciplic succession, he cannot become guru. Therefore I do not know all of them. All the swamis and yogis who came here, they do not belong to this paramparā system, so therefore they are not bona fide guru. They are presenting themselves as guru, but they are not guru. Therefore people are misled.

Conversation at House of Ksirodakasayi dasa -- July 25, 1976, London:

Prabhupāda: Sometimes they commit mistake that ātmā and Paramātmā, they are the same, but that is not the fact. Here Kṛṣṇa explains very distinctly that "I am also ātmā, but I am Paramātmā." That is the distinction between God and ourselves. When Arjuna understood Bhagavad-gītā, he addressed Kṛṣṇa, paraṁ brahma paraṁ dhāma pavitraṁ paramaṁ bhavān (BG 10.12). Paraṁ brahma.

Room Conversation With French Commander -- August 3, 1976, New Mayapur (French farm):

Prabhupāda: So we generally speak that Arjuna was military commander. So before understanding Bhagavad-gītā, he was commander, and after understanding, he remained a commander, but he became Kṛṣṇa conscious.

Evening Darsan -- August 10, 1976, Tehran:

Prabhupāda: There are so many scholars, politicians, philosophers, they are talking of Bhagavad-gītā. Nobody is talking that Kṛṣṇa, surrender to Kṛṣṇa. Am I right or wrong? They'll say "We have got different meaning of Kṛṣṇa" All the sages, all the saintly persons, they have accepted Kṛṣṇa. Just like Arjuna, when he understood Bhagavad-gītā, he immediately accepted Kṛṣṇa: paraṁ brahma paraṁ dhāma pavitraṁ paramaṁ bhavān (BG 10.12). This is understanding of Kṛṣṇa. Sarvam etad ṛtaṁ manye yan māṁ vadasi keśava (BG 10.14). "Keśava, whatever You have spoken, I take it altogether as it is."

Evening Darsan -- August 10, 1976, Tehran:

Prabhupāda: If somebody asks me, "Where is your nose?" if I say, "Here is my nose." And if I say, "No here," (laughter) then it is difficulty. If I say directly, "Here is my nose," then there will be no difficulty. But if I want to do like this, then it is difficulty. There is no difficulty. We have created difficulty. That is our folly. Therefore there is no result. That is the present position, that we have created difficulty in understanding Bhagavad-gītā and we Indians are now practically out of our own culture.

Evening Darsan -- August 10, 1976, Tehran:

Mr. Sahani: But we don't want to go and fight like Arjuna, go out and kill people.

Prabhupāda: Why? If Kṛṣṇa orders, you must. Why don't you like? That is your misfortune. What Kṛṣṇa's... Kariṣye vacanaṁ tava. That is following. You like or may not like. Arjuna did not like to fight. That's a fact. Therefore whole Bhagavad-gītā is spoken to him. Arjuna did not like fight. But when he understood Bhagavad-gītā, he said, "Yes," kariṣye vacanaṁ tava (BG 18.73). You cannot give your verdict. What Kṛṣṇa says, you have to do it. That is Kṛṣṇa conscious.

Room Conversation -- August 16, 1976, Bombay:

Yaśomatīnandana: In other words, first one should understand Bhagavad-gītā. Then gradually the First Canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Then ultimately Caitanya-caritāmṛta. Without that, simply taking Caitanya-caritāmṛta...

Prabhupāda: Yes. Bhagavad-gītā is the entrance. Then Bhāgavata is graduate and Caitanya-caritāmṛta... This is the step by step. But if one is sincere everything becomes revealed. He does not commit mistake.

Press Interview at Muthilal Rao's House -- August 17, 1976, Hyderabad:

Interviewer (4): No, no, my colleague's point is, we have not been accepting, we are not able to understand Bhagavad-gītā on our own. Just because first Western people understand, and because of their...

Prabhupāda: No, no, you have neglected. My charge is that you have neglected. Bhagavad-gītā is there. Bhagavad-gītā is spoken in India. Bhagavad-gītā is there. I think every home has got a Bhagavad-gītā, but if you do not study it, you neglect it, that is your fault.

Press Interview -- October 16, 1976, Chandigarh:

Prabhupāda: "Now, this paramparā system being lost, I am again reviving the Bhagavad-gītā again to you, Arjuna." That means the author says if one does not understand Bhagavad-gītā through the paramparā system then the whole thing is lost. So you cannot interpret Bhagavad-gītā in your own way. Then the authority and the purport of Bhagavad-gītā is lost.

Prabhupāda: So where is the faith in Bhagavad-gītā and faith in the words of Kṛṣṇa? Understanding Hamlet without Hamlet. (distortion) You cannot make your interpretation that whatever is written there, I take instead of..., I take... (coughing) That is not the way of understanding Bhagavad-gītā. Then from the very beginning you'll spoil it. Then what is the meaning of preaching Bhagavad-gītā? If you do not accept the direction of the author, then what right you have got to say that you have understood Bhagavad-gītā?

Guest (Indian man): Could it be that there may be different interpretations?

Prabhupāda: No, that is not possible. That is not the process. You cannot interpret Bhagavad-gītā. If you want to preach Bhagavad-gītā, you must preach what Kṛṣṇa has said. If you have got a different philosophy, you can say differently. You don't cheat people that you take Bhagavad-gītā and interpret in your own way and cheat others and be cheated yourself. You cannot do that.

Guest: Well, for example, Tilak Maharaj...

Prabhupāda: Tilak may be, Gandhi may be, whoever may be. But the point is that you have to understand Bhagavad-gītā according to the direction of the author. Because you are Mr. Tilak or Mr. Gandhi, you can do everything on Bhagavad-gītā...

Prabhupāda: You cannot make a mass meeting and pass resolution and you'll understand Kṛṣṇa. It is not like that. Workers must be also very śreṣṭhas, not ordinary workers. He must understand Kṛṣṇa. Then he can... It is not foolish, what kind of (indistinct). So if you want to prove Bhagavad-gītā, find out the śreṣṭhas of the country, sit down. Not that at mass conference—you bring meeting (?) And preaching. Select! If you understand then you can preach. But if you do not understand what is Bhagavad-gītā, how to understand Bhagavad-gītā, what is Kṛṣṇa...