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Variegatedness (Lect., Conv. & Letters)

Lectures

Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures

Lecture on BG 2.8-12 -- Los Angeles, November 27, 1968:

Yes. He says that there was no such time when we are not individual, and there will be no such time in the future when we shall not remain individual. And so far present is concerned, we are all individual. You know. So where is the possibility of losing individuality? Become imperson? No. There is no possibility. This voidism, impersonalism, they are artificial ways of negating the perplexing variegatedness of this material existence. That is the negative side only. That is not a positive side. A positive side is that, as Kṛṣṇa says, tyaktvā dehaṁ punar janma naiti mām eti kaunteya (BG 4.9). "After giving up this material tabernacle, one comes to Me." Just like after leaving this room, you have to enter another room. You cannot say that "After leaving this room, I shall live in the sky." Similarly, after leaving this body, if you go to Kṛṣṇa in the spiritual kingdom, your individuality will be there, but you'll have that spiritual body. When there is spiritual body there is no perplexities.

Lecture on BG 4.5 -- Montreal, June 10, 1968:

So when there is no these material impediments, naturally the life is eternal, the knowledge is eternal, the bliss is eternal. As soon as we are free from this material body, then these questions of past, present, future, pleasure, not pleasure, knowledge, no knowledge, these dualities, this world of duality will finish. The impersonalists, the Māyāvādī philosophers, they think that because the past, present, and future, and this duality is finished, therefore there is no variegatedness. They cannot understand. They cannot accommodate in their tiny brain that this is possible.

Lecture on BG 4.5 -- Montreal, June 10, 1968:

Pradyumna: Different time is when the spirit, place, different time and place.

Prabhupāda: No. No. That is the difference between spiritual world and material world. Practically the all variegatedness are there but without any inebriety. That is the difference.

Janārdana: When Kṛṣṇa appears in each of the four yugas, does each appearance of svayaṁ bhagavān, personally He appearance?

Prabhupāda: As the necessity of the time. Sometimes He appears as svayaṁ bhagavān, sometimes He appears as plenary expansion. But svayaṁ bhagavān or plenary expansion, there is no difference. Just like in the present age, Kṛṣṇa has appeared as holy name. So we should not consider that holy name of Kṛṣṇa is less important than Kṛṣṇa. The holy name of Kṛṣṇa is as powerful as Kṛṣṇa. Nāmnām akāri bahudhā nija-sarva-śaktis tatrārpitā. All the potencies of Kṛṣṇa is there. As soon as we are able to chant pure name... Pure name means offenselessly. We have discussed several times that there are ten kinds of offenses in the matter of chanting this holy name. And if we be careful to avoid those ten kinds of offenses, then pure, we can appreciate the purity of Kṛṣṇa's name. Kṛṣṇa's name is always pure. Nitya-mukta-śuddha-abhinnatva-nāma.

Lecture on BG 4.9-11 -- New York, July 25, 1966:

Kṛṣṇa says, vīta-rāga. Vīta-rāga. Vīta means one who has been able to give up this attachment. Rāga means the attachment of this material world. And bhaya, one who has developed this transcendental sense... The impersonalists, their philosophy is that they want to merge into the impersonal existence of the Absolute Truth. They are afraid of the life of variegatedness. Because they have got a very bitter experience of this life of variegatedness, therefore they want to make a negation of this variegatedness and they want to turn themselves into the impersonal feature. So these things are there. So vīta-rāga. So one has to give up this attachment and detachment also. Vīta-rāga-bhaya and krodha.

Lecture on BG 7.18 -- New York, October 12, 1966:

So they are three angles of vision. Just like from a distant place, if you see one mountain, you'll see just like something cloudy. If you advance more, the same mountain you'll see something green. And if you enter into that mountain, you'll find so many variegatedness, so many trees, so many animals. So objective is the same. But under different angles of vision, from distance, different people have got different conception of the Absolute Truth. Another example: just like the sun—the sunshine and sun disc and the sun planet. One who is in the sunshine, or one who is studying the sunshine, or one who is studying the sun disc and one who is entering within the sun planet... Just like we are trying to enter into the moon planet, similarly, you can enter into the sun planet provided you have got the qualification. So in the sunshine, or in the sun disc or in the sun planet, they are in the sun, but there are degrees. One who is in the sunshine, he cannot claim that "I am in the sun planet." He cannot claim that. So one who is in the sun planet, he is better situated than one who is in the sunshine. So sunshine is compared with the Brahman effulgence, brahma-jyotir. And sun disc is compared to the Supersoul. And the sun planet, within, that is compared with the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

Lecture on BG 13.18 -- Bombay, October 12, 1973:

So as the sunshine is the cause of all material variegatedness, similarly, the sunshine is also due to the brahma-jyotir. The sunshine, yac cakṣur eṣa savitā sakala-grahāṇām. The sun is described in the Brahma-saṁhitā as the eyes of all the planets. Yac cakṣur eṣa, eṣa sakala-grahāṇāṁ cakṣuḥ. The sun is the actual eyes for all the planets because unless there is sunshine you cannot see. We are very much proud of our eyes. Sometimes we challenge, "Can you show me God?" But he does not think that what power his eyes have got. It is simply completely dependant on the sunshine. If there is no sunshine his so called eyes are useless. Still, with that useless eyes he wants to see God. Just see. "Can you show me God? I am not seeing God, Therefore God cannot be seen. Therefore I don't believe in God." But he does not think that what power he has got to see. It is only dependant on sunshine. Not only this planet, all the planets, unless there is sunshine... Because it is darkness. This material world is simply darkness.

Lecture on BG 15.1 -- Calcutta, February 26, 1974:

This tree, being the reflection of the real tree, is an exact replica. Everything is there in the spiritual world. The impersonalists take Brahmā to be the root of this material tree, and from the root, according to sāṅkhya philosophy, come prakṛti, puruṣa, then the three guṇas, then the five gross elements (pañca-mahābhūta), then the ten senses (daśendriya), mind, etc. In this way they divide up the whole material world. If Brahmā is the center of all manifestations, then this material world is a manifestation of the center by 180 degrees, and the other 180 degrees constitute the spiritual world. The material world is the perverted reflection, so the spiritual world must have the same variegatedness, but in reality. The prakṛti is the external energy of the Supreme Lord, and the puruṣa is the Supreme Lord Himself, and that is explained in Bhagavad-gītā. Since this manifestation is material, it is temporary.

Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures

Lecture on SB 1.3.20 -- Los Angeles, September 25, 1972:

The more you expand how to satisfy your senses, that is material. And the more we expand how to satisfy Kṛṣṇa, that is spiritual. That is the difference between material and spiritual. It does not mean that material stone, material, and spiritual means it becomes zero. They are thinking like that. Śūnyavādi. They think spiritual means just the opposite number of material. "So material, we have got variegated experience, solid experience, so make it zero." That is not spiritual. That is simply negation. That philosophy is the Buddha philosophy, that "You are suffering from some disease painful, so I cut your throat. That's all. Everything finished. No more suffering. Zero. Make it zero." No. The process should be, if you are diseased, if you are suffering, the suffering should be stopped. Not that to kill you to stop the suffering. No. That is our philosophy.

Lecture on SB 2.1.5 -- Los Angeles, August 13, 1972:

So Kṛṣṇa's or God's position is always transcendental. Therefore those who are impersonalists, they are not attracted with the variegatedness of this material life. They want to make it void, because they have no information of the spiritual variegatedness. But this Śukadeva Gosvāmī, he became attracted with the pastimes of Kṛṣṇa because Kṛṣṇa's pastimes are not variegatedness of this material world. It completely spiritual. And to discuss about Kṛṣṇa, to hear about Kṛṣṇa, to chant about Kṛṣṇa, to glorify about Kṛṣṇa, everything is spiritual. So if you are engaged twenty-four hours in this business you are not in this material world. You are in the spiritual world.

Lecture on SB 2.9.3 -- Melbourne, April 5, 1972:

This Māyāvādī philosophy, they are thinking of Brahman, ahaṁ brahmāsmi, ahaṁ brahmāsmi, "I have become Nārāyaṇa." So how long they will think like that? Therefore they fall down. Artificially he is Brahman. That's all right. Everyone is Brahman. But simply thinking, "I am Brahman, I am Brahman." Suppose you are rich man. So if you simply think, "I am rich man, I am rich man, I am rich man," will that give you pleasure? You must act like a rich man. If I am rich man, I must have a very nice motor car, I must have very nice society, friendship, love, buildings. Then that will give me pleasure. And if I have got millions of dollars bank balance and if I think, "Oh, I am so rich man, I am so rich man, I am so rich man." That will not give you pleasure. Is it not practical? Try to understand. Will any rich man, if he thinks simply that "I am rich man, I am rich man," will he be happy in that way? Rather, a poor man who has got variegated life, he is happy.

Lecture on SB 2.9.13 -- Melbourne, April 12, 1972:

Pradyumna: "Purport: It appears that in the Vaikuṇṭha planets there are airplanes also, brilliantly glowing, and they are occupied by the great devotees of the Lord, with ladies of celestial beauty as brilliant as lightning. As there are airplanes, so there must be different types of carriages also, like the airplanes, and they may not be driven machines as we have experience in this world. Because everything is of the same nature of eternity, bliss and knowledge, the airplanes and carriages are of the same quality as Brahman. As there is nothing except Brahman, so it should not be misconceived that there is only void and no variegatedness. To think like that is due to a poor fund of knowledge. Otherwise no one would have such a misconception of voidness in the Brahman. As there are airplanes, ladies and gentlemen, so there must be cities and houses and everything else just suitable to the particular planets. One should not carry the ideas of imperfection from this world to the transcendental world without taking into consideration the nature of the atmosphere as completely free from the influence of time, etc., as described previously."

Prabhupāda: So, in all other planets, not only within this material world, but also in the spiritual world there are also varieties of planets. The difference is: here the varieties are made of matter, and there the varieties are made of spirit. That's all. There are two things: material energy and spiritual energy. That is described in the Bhagavad-gītā. The material energy is also one, mahat-tattva. But bahudhā iva ivābhāti. The one thing is matter. But bahudhā ivābhāti. What is that?

Lecture on SB 2.9.14 -- Melbourne, April 13, 1972:

Prabhupāda: In the English also there is long e. Yes. Go on. Next.

Pradyumna: "The goddess of fortune in her transcendental form is engaged in the loving service of the Lord's lotus feet, and being moved by the black bees, followers of spring, she is not only engaged in variegated pleasure-service to the Lord, along with her constant companions, but also she is engaged in singing the glories of the Lord's activities." (SB 2.9.14)

Prabhupāda: So this is not impersonal, the actual description of the spiritual world, all personal varieties. There are the bees, there are goddess of fortune, and followed by her associate, and there is service and so many things, all opulences, śrī. Śrīr yasya. Aiśvaryasya ṣriyaḥ yaśasaḥ. The definition of the Lord is given that He's full of beauties. In the Brahma-saṁhitā also, Lakṣmī. And not only one, all of them are lakṣmīs. The associates of Lakṣmī, the maidservants of Lakṣmī, they are also lakṣmīs. They are not ordinary women, just like Rādhārāṇī is the chief gopī and all Her young girl friends, they are also gopīs. They are of the same category. Ānanda-cinmaya-rasa-pratibhāvitābhiḥ (Bs. 5.37). They are all expansion of Kṛṣṇa, pleasure potency. So this is the information of the Vaikuṇṭhaloka or Goloka Vṛndāvana. So one should take advantage of this life. What we are gaining here by attachment? What we shall get here? The all rascaldom. There is nothing substantial. Therefore one should little risk, that "If there is some chance of entering such a immortal, eternal kingdom of God, why should I not take chance?" You should take chance at all risk in this life to enter into the nitya-līlā, nitya-līlā, eternal pastimes of the Lord.

Lecture on SB 3.26.20 -- Bombay, December 29, 1974:

Nitāi: "Thus, after manifesting variegatedness, the effulgent mahat-tattva, which contains all the universes within itself, which is the root of all cosmic manifestations and which is not destroyed at the time of annihilation, swallows up the darkness that covered the effulgence at the time of dissolution."

Prabhupāda:

viśvam ātma-gataṁ vyañjan
kūṭa-stho jagad-aṅkuraḥ
sva-tejasāpibat tīvram
ātma-prasvāpanaṁ tamaḥ
(SB 3.26.20)

Viśvam ātma-gatam. This body, everyone's body, is also a small universe. Whatever the arrangement is there in this body, the similar arrangement is there in the whole universe. The principle is the same. The same arrangement is within the seed of a banyan tree. We have got practical experience that a small seed of banyan tree, very small, but the potency within the seed is there, a big tree.

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

You cannot stop desire. That is not possible. The kāma-sambhavaḥ... Saṅkalpa-vikalpābhyāṁ vartate kāma-sambhavaḥ. This is the mind's position. I am desiring something, and if it is not very palatable, then I reject it. I accept another desire. This is. You cannot keep the mind vacant even for a single moment. Nobody has got this experience, that mind is vacant. If, by force, you are trying to do that, it is simply laboring. It is not possible. Just like to concentrate one's mind in the vacant... Kleśo 'dhikataras teṣām avyaktāsakta-cetasām (BG 12.5). Kleśaḥ, kleśaḥ adhikataras teṣām. Impersonal and void. If you want to engage your mind in the impersonality or voidness of variegatedness, it is simply very, very difficult. The best, easy way of controlling the mind... Because Kṛṣṇa has said that yoginām api sarveṣāṁ mad-gatenāntar-ātmanā (BG 6.47), antar-ātmanā, śraddhāvān bhajate yo mām. This is the way. Anyone who is making plan, the plan-making... Kāma-sambhavaḥ means plan-making. You see the whole world, the big, big politicians. In our government, central government, there is a planning commission.

Lecture on SB 6.1.6 -- Bombay, November 6, 1970:

Five hours day. And nineteen hours night. So, of course, I was rising, as usual, early in the morning, so I wanted to go out. So I couldn't go out before half-past-nine to the Regent Park, and it was full of snow and ice, and it is very difficult to walk. So just like in this planet there are different places of different conditions, so it is natural to accept it that different planets have got different atmosphere, different opulences, different kinds of population, living entities. Keśava tuyā jagat vicitra. Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura has sung that "My dear Kṛṣṇa, Your creation is variegated." There are different types. Similarly, there are planets where hellish conditions perpetually continue. Just like you can compare the northern pole. It is a hellish condition within this earth. And similarly, there are planets, so, and they are suffering.

Lecture on SB 7.9.1 -- Mayapur, February 10, 1977:

Therefore Absolute, everything is variegated, blissful. They do not understand. The sahajiyā means the blissful dealings, transcendental, spiritual dealings of gopīs and Kṛṣṇa, they take it as material. Therefore they are condemned. They are... It looks similar, but it is not the same, thing. One is gold; one is iron. A polished iron, a golden thing, golden color, does not mean it is gold. "All that glitters is not gold." So we should not mistake. Therefore one who cannot distinguish the spiritual lust and the material lust, they should avoid very strictly. They have no spiritual realization. Therefore Caitanya Mahāprabhu has strictly avoided. In His kīrtana He never described the pastimes of Kṛṣṇa, His dealings with gopīs.

Lecture on SB 7.9.8 -- Hawaii, March 21, 1969:

Now, if you go to another island, there also you will find the same varieties as you find here. Similarly, if you go to other planet, you will find the same varieties as here. Maybe little different, climatic, but the quality of variety is the same. There is no reason to believe that there is no life, no variegated. This is all nonsense. If I come from the mainland of America, USA, to this island, I'll find the same trees or same population and same working. What is the reason to believe that there is no life, there is no vegetable? Why? This is lack of knowledge. Everywhere the same varieties. And wherefrom the varieties are coming? From the sunshine. That is fact, scientific. Because the sunshine is there, so many varieties of planet are coming out, and in each and every planet there are so many varieties of vegetation, human being, animals, seas, mountain. And similarly... This is explained in the Brahma-saṁhitā: yasya prabhā prabhavato jagad-aṇḍa-koṭi (Bs. 5.40). Yasya prabhā.

Lecture on SB 7.9.31 -- Mayapur, March 9, 1976:

They see only sixty percent soda bicarb. No. There are many, many finer chemicals. Who is that rascal who can say that so many things are there, "This is soda bicarb"? And this is scientific, that's all. Nobody scientist; all fools and rascals, mūḍhā. They do not know anything. Kṛṣṇa says in the Bhagavad-gītā, "I am this." That is the actual fact. But His energies are so, mean, manifestedly variegatedness energy. You'll find so beautiful world. It is condemned place. Still, you see, by Kṛṣṇa's energy the world is so beautiful—so many trees, so many flowers, so many fruits, so many varieties of life, so many varieties of human beings. This is Kṛṣṇa, varieties. Parasya śaktir vividhaiva śrūyate sva-bhāvikī... (Cc. Madhya 13.65, purport). And every energy is acting automatically. You give the seed, sow the seed on the earth, and automatically the flower, flavor, beauty—everything will come automatically. There will be no... There is no question of accidents. The so-called scientist, they cannot explain. "Accidents." Why accidents? A rose flower seed-rose will come. Why not by accident, lemon? No. There is no such things as accidents. This is all rascaldom. Everything is going on... Parasya śaktir vividhaiva śrūyate sva-bhāvikī jñāna-bala-kriyā ca. In the energy there is automatic knowledge and activities, and they are being manifested.

Nectar of Devotion Lectures

The Nectar of Devotion -- Bombay, December 28, 1972:

Because on account of this combination of matter, earth, water, fire, air, ether, this body's made, and the body is subjected to pains and pleasure on account of this mixture. So Buddha philosophy is that you dismantle this mixture. Let earth go to the earth portion and water portion to the water portion. Then there is no existence of the body, and there is no pains and pleasure. Make it zero. This is called śūnyavādī. And the Māyāvādī, their philosophy is stop this variegatedness. We are suffering pains and pleasure within this material world on account of these varieties. So these varieties, they are on, built on the foundation of the Supreme Spirit. So merge into the Supreme Spirit and get out of these varieties. This is their philosophy. So the Buddha philosophy or the Māyāvāda philosophy, they're almost one, because their ultimate goal is to make things zero.

Sri Caitanya-caritamrta Lectures

Lecture on CC Adi-lila 7.149-171 -- San Francisco, March 18, 1967:

They want to simply negate, nullify, but they have no positive information, so they are called Māyāvādī. So the Śaṅkarites... Śaṅkarites, of course, they give positive information. Brahma satya jagan mithyā. They say that this world is false and Brahman is reality. But because we want reality in variety, therefore impersonal philosophy, although we take it as a matter of sectarian philosophy, it does not appeal to the heart because by nature we want enjoyment. And whenever there is question of enjoyment, there must be variety. Variety is the mother of enjoyment. So philosophically or theoretically, we may accept voidness, negation, out of frustration. When we are frustrated in these material varieties we adopt the suicidal policy, "Let me commit suicide, finish." This is called Māyāvāda. Actual spiritual variegatedness, unless one is informed about it and one is situated in spiritual varieties, there is no satisfaction.

Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 20.156-163 -- New York, December 11, 1966:

Lord Caitanya says that "The conception of Brahman is that it is the rays of the body of Kṛṣṇa. Just like the sunshine is the rays of the body of the sun disc, similarly," brahma-aṅga-kānti tāṅra nirviśeṣa prakāśe. And in that brahma-jyotir, or rays, there is no variegatedness. Just like if you all of a sudden see to the sun, you don't find any variegatedness in the sky. It appears just like only dazzling effulgence. But when the sunlight is not there, we can see millions and millions of stars in the firmament. So in the Upaniṣad also, it is prayed that "My Lord, You kindly move this curtain of glaring effulgence so that I can actually see You."

Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 20.156-163 -- New York, December 11, 1966:

So those who want to see God or the Supreme Absolute Truth by the agency of their imperfect senses, they say that God is impersonal. They're imperfect. That is a realization of the imperfect senses. Perfectly, the perfectly vision, perfect vision of the Supreme Lord is a person. Just like nobody can enter into the sun disc. They can say from distant place, "Oh, there is nothing. It is simply fire." But from scripture we understand, "No, that is a planet." And as in this planet we have got so many variegatedness, similarly, in that planet also, there are... In every planet. There is no reason to disbelieve that in, in the, in other planets there is no life, there is no variegatedness. No. According to Vedic literature, it is not acceptable. Each and every planet, there is variegatedness as we find in this planet. The difference is that in some of the planets earthly matter is prominent, some of the planets fiery elements are prominent. So in the sun, sun planet, fiery elements is very prominent. There the living entities and everything, they are made of fire.

Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 21.1-10 -- New York, January 3, 1967:

They are all made of sac-cid-ānanda-vigrahaḥ (Bs. 5.1), eternity and bliss and full of knowledge. The land is also eternal, blissful and full of knowledge; the inhabitants are also eternal, blissful and full of knowledge; and the presiding Deity expansion of Kṛṣṇa, Nārāyaṇa, He is also eternal, blissful and full of knowledge. This is called absolute. Here in the material world we have got difference. I am spirit soul, but there is difference between me and my body; there is difference between me and this material world. But there, everything is spiritual. Therefore there is no difference. The impersonalists, they cannot understand. Because everything is spiritual, they think that there is no variegatedness. But from this description of Caitanya-caritāmṛta and other scriptures like Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Bhagavad-gītā, we can understand that the spiritual sky is exactly like this, but that is spiritual and this is material.

Initiation Lectures

Initiation Lecture -- Hamburg, August 27, 1969:

So Kṛṣṇa is very kind. He has given you hundreds and thousands of palatable dishes, remnants of foodstuff eaten by Him. You eat. In this way, if you simply make it a determination that "I shall not allow my tongue to taste anything which is not offered to Kṛṣṇa, and I shall engage my tongue always chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa," then all perfection is within your hold. All perfection. Two simple things: Don't eat anything which is not offered to Kṛṣṇa. That's all. Our Kṛṣṇa prasādam are so variegated, nice varieties... The variety is the mother of enjoyment. How much enjoyment you want with your tongue? You can have simply by eating Kṛṣṇa prasādam. And the more your tongue is purified, the more you relish the chanting of Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra. Relish. Ānandāmbudhi-vardhanam. It is stated by Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu that it increases the ocean of bliss, transcendental bliss. Ocean does not increase. We have no experience within this material world.

General Lectures

Lecture to College Students -- Seattle, October 20, 1968, Introduction by Tamala Krsna:

This is not to say that the Bible is nonsense. The Bible is the Absolute Truth. It is Absolute Truth that Lord Jesus taught. But look at the people to whom he taught. They crucified him for teaching about God. He could not teach as great a depth as he would have liked to. He could teach only to the audience that was listening, and yet they still crucified him. These Vedic scriptures, the Bhagavad-gītā which our spiritual master speaks from, is also the Absolute Truth, but it is in all its variegatedness, all its detail. And there's such a need to hear a man like our spiritual master, A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami, speak. He is a pure devotee, pure lover of the Lord. That is the qualification for one who can teach about God. He must be one hundred percent engaged in glorifying the Lord, that his every action, every word, must be spent on account of the Supreme Lord. Nothing else.

Lecture -- Los Angeles, November 13, 1968:

So everything is spiritual. Background is also spiritual. That is creation of Kṛṣṇa. Eko bahu-śyāma. Just like a painter paints a picture, he makes a nice background. Similarly, Kṛṣṇa wants to enjoy, so He has created us in different varieties to supply His pleasure potency. You see. Eko bahu-śyāma. This Vedic literature says that alone He has many. Why? Just to enjoy. Why? Ānandamayo 'bhyāsāt (Vedānta-sūtra 1.1.12). He's by nature joyful, sac-cid-ānanda-vigrahaḥ (Bs. 5.1). So ānanda does not mean that one. No. Variety. Variety is the mother of enjoyment. So that variety, they're all spiritual. Just like the same example: you paint a picture with the same brush and color, but as soon as you make it variety, variegated, it becomes very enjoyable. So we don't say that the varieties created by God is false. No. It is real. How can I say it is false? This flower, it is designed by God so nicely, it is colored so nicely. It has got its use. There is variety. Even there is greenness... There is so many things varieties. There is color display, sometimes a dark red, sometimes it is light red.

Philosophy Discussions

Philosophy Discussion on Aristotle:

Prabhupāda: These Western philosophers, mostly they are contemplating about the sunshine in darkness. But that is not the way of understanding the sun. Best thing is to come in the sunshine, see yourself, see the sunshine, see the sun. There is (indistinct).

Hayagrīva: Here's another point. Aristotle says that it is not material objects that are trying to realize God, like as Plato says, but God realizing Himself through material objects. God does this in a variegated way and in an infinite way. So God realizes the potentiality of a rose or of a man by creating a rose, a flower, a man that is perceivable by the material senses. So the world is more real to Aristotle than it is to Plato.

Prabhupāda: If God has created the material world and material variety, so means He is in full awareness how to do things nicely. That is perfectness of God. He knows everything how to do it perfectly, naturally. Just like even a child, we get daily experience, when we offer some cake in the Deity room, the child immediately takes it and puts in the mouth. Although she is very small baby, (s)he doesn't require any education about taking the cake and what to do with it. Immediately puts in the mouth. So this natural, what is called, knowledge, that is God's knowledge. He knows everything perfectly well, and when He produces a rose flower, it is all-perfect. That is God's... God is not..., He has to get the knowledge through some source. He is already in awareness of everything. That is God. So He hasn't got to know His capacity through matter.

Conversations and Morning Walks

1973 Conversations and Morning Walks

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

Prabhupāda: From meat-eating?

Brahmānanda: Yeah.

Prabhupāda: Just see. (pause)

Svarūpa Dāmodara: Śrīla Prabhupāda, the material world is a reflection of the spiritual world. So we have different variegatedness in the material world, different living entities, plants, animals.

Prabhupāda: Without the inconvenience. Mean, in the material world there are so many inconveniences. So spiritual world, there is no inconvenience. Inebriety. It is a reflection of the spiritual world, but there are so many difficulties here. Therefore it is called material world.

Svarūpa Dāmodara: No, my question being, so they have all the variegatedness in the spiritual world?

Prabhupāda: Yes there are trees, there are water, birds, beasts, but they are all spiritual. Just like here everything is material. Here water is working according to the material laws. In the spiritual world if I say, "Please come here," he will come here. That is spiritual world.

Morning Walk -- December 2, 1973, Los Angeles:

Hṛdayānanda: Kīrtanānanda, his argument was, when he was an atheist, he said that actually the void is truth, and all categories or all varieties are illusion. So he said that we may think that actually spiritual variegatedness is transcendental, but that's actually also our illusion. That was his argument.

Prabhupāda: So what did you reply?

Hṛdayānanda: I replied that if categories are illusion, then his talking is also illusion.

Prabhupāda: Yes, that's nice.

Hṛdayānanda: So I wouldn't let him say anything else.

Prabhupāda: (laughs) Yes, very good reply. "And you are also illusioned. Whatever nonsense you are talking, that is also illusion. Finish. Void, everything." Then what did he reply?

Hṛdayānanda: He said... I just wouldn't let him say anything. Whenever he tried to talk, I just said, "That's illusion." (break)

Prabhupāda: This reply we give to the Māyāvādīs. So we speak to the Māyāvādī guru, that "Whether you are in māyā? Because everything is māyā, so whether you are also in māyā?" So if he says, "Yes," then how he can become guru?

1974 Conversations and Morning Walks

Morning Walk -- January 15, 1974, Hawaii:

Prabhupāda: They believe because they're rascals. Why necessary? We are not meat-eaters, why it is necessary? You have created necessary. Tongue. Tār madhye jihvā ati lobhamoy sudurmati: "The tongue is very greedy and it does not satisfy." Therefore they create their necessity. Civilized human, how they can eat meat? It is meant for the cats, dogs, tigers, not for human beings. So they're not human beings even. Actually they're animals. What religion animals may have? (break) ...Kṛṣṇa's craftsmanship, from one seed, a small, such a big tree has come, and within that seed there are the potency of demonstrating how variegatedness, nicely, within that seed. You produce such things? Make by chemical composition something and sow it and a tree will come out like this?

Bali Mardana: We will have it next year.

Prabhupāda: Eh?

Bali Mardana: Next year we will have it.

Prabhupāda: Next year?

Bali Mardana: Yes, we are working on it.

Morning Walk -- April 4, 1974, Bombay:

Dr. Patel: Combination, combination.

Prabhupāda: Yes, changing. These are in the śāstra, siddhārtha-saṁhitā, how many forms are there. This is aneka. Not evasively, that "All is one." No. There are so many, so many varieties, variegated, all spiritual, aneka.

Girirāja: "Mālya-garlands..."

Prabhupāda: These things are there. Each of them were garlanded, had helmets, had, I mean to say, ornaments. Everything aneka.

Dr. Patel: Mālyāmbara-dharam.

Prabhupāda: Yes. Dress, everything, garment, all varieties.

Girirāja: (continues synonyms to:) "divya-divine..."

Prabhupāda: Divine. That means they are not material. Kṛṣṇa's dress, Kṛṣṇa's helmet, Kṛṣṇa's bedding, Kṛṣṇa's shoes, they are all expansion of Lord Sesa. They are not material.

Room Conversation with Professor Durckheim German Spiritual Writer -- June 19, 1974, Germany:

Professor Durckheim: You can't help cultivate all three in the long run.

Prabhupāda: No, all three are one. But it is the angle of vision only. Just like a mountain—somebody from distant place looking, hazy clouds, something. The mountain is the same, but from long distance one realizes as hazy cloud. Little more nearer, they realize something green. And if somebody goes in the mountain, he realizes the mountain and the animals and the residential place, everything. The objective is the same, but the angle of vision different. So in India or everywhere, some realizing the Absolute Truth as impersonal, without any variegatedness.

Professor Durckheim: As Buddhists do.

Prabhupāda: Buddhists, they, I think, they... Yes, you are right, impersonal. But their philosophy is to stop all kinds of realization, nirvāṇa. Realization they do not want. They want to stop realization, to become zero. Is it not that?

Professor Durckheim: To become? I didn't understand.

Prabhupāda: Zero.

1976 Conversations and Morning Walks

Room Conversation and Reading from Srimad-Bhagavatam Canto 1 and 12 -- June 25, 1976, New Vrindaban:

Pradyumna:

na yad vacaś citra-padaṁ harer yaśo
jagat-pavitraṁ pragṛṇīta karhicit
tad vāyasaṁ tīrtham uśanti mānasā
na yatra haṁsā niramanty uśikkṣayāḥ
(SB 1.5.10)

"Those words which do not describe the glories of the Lord, who alone can sanctify the atmosphere of the whole universe, are considered by saintly persons to be like unto a place of pilgrimage for crows. Since the all-perfect persons are inhabitants of the transcendental abode, they do not derive any pleasure there." Purport. "Crows and swans are not birds of the same feather because of their different mental attitudes. The fruitive workers or passionate men are compared to the crows, whereas the all-perfect saintly persons are compared to the swans. Crows take pleasure in a place where garbage is thrown out, just as the passionate fruitive workers take pleasure in wine and women and places for gross sense pleasure. The swans do not take pleasure in the places where crows are assembled for conferences and meetings. They are instead seen in the atmosphere of natural scenic beauty, where there are transparent reservoirs of water nicely decorated with stems of lotus flowers in variegated colors of natural beauty. That is the difference between the two classes of birds. Nature has influenced different species of life with different mentalities, and it is not possible to bring them up into the same rank and file. Similarly there are different kinds of literature for different types of men of different mentality. Mostly the market literatures which attract men of the crow's categories are literatures containing refuse remnants of sensuous topics. They are generally known as mundane talks in relation with the gross body and subtle mind. They are full of subject matter described in decorative language full of mundane similies and metaphorical arrangements. Yet with all that, they do not glorify the Lord. Such poetry and prose on any subject matter is considered decoration of a dead body. Spiritually advanced men, who are compared with the swans, do not take pleasure in such dead literatures, which are sources of pleasure for men who are spiritually dead. These literatures in the modes of passion and ignorance are distributed under different labels, but they can hardly help the spiritual urge of the human being, and thus the swanlike spiritually advanced men have nothing to do with them. Such spiritually advanced men are called also mānasa, because they always keep up the standard of transcendental voluntary service to the Lord on the spiritual plane. This completely forbids fruitive activities for gross bodily sense satisfaction or subtle speculation of the material egoistic mind. Social literary men, scientists, mundane poets, theoretical philosophers and politicians who are completely absorbed in the material advancement of sense pleasure are all dolls of the material energy. They take pleasure in a place where rejected subject matters are thrown. According to Śrīdhara Swami this is the pleasure of the prostitute hunters. But literatures which describe the glories of the Lord are enjoyed by the paramahaṁsas who have grasped the essence of human activities." When you said that transcendentally spiritually advanced men are called mānasa, that means "with the mind," because they are always thinking of?

Prabhupāda: Yes, always. Sa vai manaḥ kṛṣṇa padāravindayoḥ (SB 9.4.18). They are thinking of Kṛṣṇa.

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

Puṣṭa Kṛṣṇa: "Knowledge of the transcendental science of the Upaniṣads can free one from the entanglement of existence in the material world, and when thus liberated, one can be elevated to the spiritual kingdom of the Supreme Personality of Godhead by advancement in spiritual life. The beginning of spiritual enlightenment is realization of impersonal Brahman. Such realization is effected by gradual negation of material variegatedness. Impersonal Brahman realization is the partial, distant experience of the Absolute Truth that one achieves through the rational approach. It is compared to one's seeing a hill from a distance and taking it to be a smoky cloud. A hill is not a smoky cloud, but it appears to be one from a distance because of our imperfect vision. In imperfect or smoky realization of the Absolute Truth, spiritual variegatedness is conspicuous by its absence. This experience is therefore called advaita-vāda, or realization of the oneness of the Absolute. The impersonal glowing effulgence of Brahman consists only of the personal bodily rays of the Supreme Godhead, Śrī Kṛṣṇa. Since Śrī Gaurasundara, or Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, is identical with Śrī Kṛṣṇa Himself, the Brahman effulgence consists of the rays of His transcendental body. Similarly, the Supersoul, which is called the Paramātmā, is a plenary representation of Caitanya Mahāprabhu. The antaryāmi, the Supersoul in everyone's heart, is the controller of all living entities. This is confirmed in Bhagavad-gītā, wherein Lord Kṛṣṇa says sarvasya cāhaṁ hṛdi sanniviṣṭaḥ: "I am situated in everyone's heart." (BG 15.15) Bhagavad-gītā also states; bhoktāraṁ yajña-tapasāṁ sarva-loka-maheśvaram (BG 5.29), indicating that the Supreme Lord, acting in His expansion as the Supersoul, is the proprietor of everything. Similarly, the Brahma-saṁhitā states, aṇḍāntara-stha-paramāṇu-cayāntara-stham: (Bs. 5.35) the Lord is present everywhere within the heart of every living entity and within each and every atom as well. Thus by this Supersoul feature the Lord is all-pervading. Furthermore, Lord Caitanya is also the master of all wealth, strength, fame, beauty, knowledge and renunciation because He is Śrī Kṛṣṇa Himself. He is described as pūrṇa, or complete. In the feature of Lord Caitanya, the Lord is an ideal renouncer, just as Śrī Rāma was an ideal king. He accepted the order of sannyāsa and exemplified exceedingly wonderful principles in His own life. No one can compare to Him in the order of sannyāsa. Although in Kali-yuga acceptance of the sannyāsa order is generally forbidden, Lord Caitanya accepted it because He is complete in renunciation. Others cannot imitate Him but can only follow in His footsteps as far as possible. Those who are unfit for this order of life are strictly forbidden by the injunctions of the śāstras to accept it. Lord Caitanya, however, is complete in renunciation as well as all other opulences. He is therefore the highest principle of the Absolute Truth. By an analytical study of the truth of Lord Caitanya, one will find that He is not different from the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa; no one is greater than or even equal to Him. In Bhagavad-gītā Lord Kṛṣṇa says to Arjuna, mattaḥ parataraṁ nānyat kiñcid asti dhanañjaya: (BG 7.7) 'O conqueror of wealth (Arjuna), there is no truth superior to Me.' Thus it is here confirmed that there is no truth higher than Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya. The impersonal Brahman is the goal of those who cultivate the study of books of transcendental knowledge, and the Supersoul is the goal of those who perform the yoga practices. One who knows the Supreme Personality of Godhead surpasses realization of both Brahman and Paramātmā, because Bhagavān is the ultimate platform of absolute knowledge. The Personality of Godhead is the complete form of sac-cidananda (full life, knowledge and bliss). By realization of the sat portion of the Complete Whole (unlimited existence), one realizes the impersonal Brahman of the Lord. By realization of the cit portion of the Complete Whole (unlimited knowledge) one can realize the localized aspect of the Lord, Paramātmā. But neither of these partial realizations of the Complete Whole can help one realize ānanda, or complete bliss. Without such realization of ānanda, knowledge of the Absolute Truth is incomplete. This verse of Caitanya-caritāmṛta by Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja Gosvāmī is confirmed by a parallel statement in the Tattva-sandarbha by Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī. In the Eighth Part of Tattva-sandarbha it is said that the Absolute Truth is sometimes approached as impersonal Brahman, which, although spiritual, is only a partial representation of the Absolute Truth. Nārāyaṇa, the predominating Deity in Vaikuṇṭha, is to be known as an expansion of Śrī Kṛṣṇa, but Śrī Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Absolute Truth, the object of the transcendental love of all living entities."

Prabhupāda: So is it clear? (laughs) It is not so easy. Therefore it is postgraduate.

Puṣṭa Kṛṣṇa: Can these things be understood theoretically, Śrīla Prabhupāda, or is realization required?

Prabhupāda: Realization required. What is the use of theoretical knowledge?

Devotee (2): Śrīla Prabhupāda, can realization be had through service without theoretical understanding?

Prabhupāda: This whole science is understood through service only. Everything becomes revealed. Sevonmukhe hi jihvādau svayam eva sphuraty adaḥ (BRS. 1.2.234). Revelation. Everything is revelation. Unless one is very sincere servant, there is no revelation.

Answers to a Questionnaire from Bhavan's Journal -- June 28, 1976, Vrndavana:

Puṣṭa Kṛṣṇa: So what daily prescribed religious observances would one who is aspiring for this sanātana-dharma, what would they do? What kind of daily prescribed religious observance? Because the complaint is that within this Hinduism, or let's say sanātana-dharma, there is such a breadth, there is so much variegatedness in different types...

Prabhupāda: So why do you go to variegatedness? Why don't you take the real purpose of religion from Kṛṣṇa? Kṛṣṇa says, "This is real dharma," sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ... (BG 18.66)." Why don't you take that? Why are you going to variegated things or varieties under the name of so-called Hinduism? Why do you go there? Why don't you take the advice of the sanātana, Kṛṣṇa? You don't take what is sanātana-dharma, what sanātana God says, and you say, "How we can come to the right point, avoiding so many varieties?" Why you go to the varieties? Take to this one consciousness, sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ. Why don't you do that?

Puṣṭa Kṛṣṇa: How can people practically do this on a daily basis?

Prabhupāda: How we are doing? Is it not practical? They'll manufacture their own way of religion. And that is... That is not practical. You take this practical system. What is this? Man-manā bhava mad-bhakto mad-yājī... Where is impracticality? You simply think of Kṛṣṇa, become His devotee, worship Kṛṣṇa. Or just offer a little obeisances to Kṛṣṇa. Where is the difficulty? Why don't you do that? Kṛṣṇa says, "This is the duty. If you do this, you come to Me."

'Life Comes From Life' Slideshow Discussions -- July 3, 1976, Washington, D.C.:

Puṣṭa Kṛṣṇa: How can you say, though, that the soul has a complex form?

Svarūpa Dāmodara: Well, we get information that in the spiritual world the spiritual world is full of variegatedness. It is not just one variety. It is full of varieties. So we take that as proof of the complex nature of life.

Prabhupāda: We see that so long the life is there in the material body, he has got varieties of thoughts. That is the proof that life is full of varieties. As soon as the life is not there, no more varieties, only one variety, dead body, that's all, finished. And as long as the life is there, he has got so many ideas, so many arts, so many philosophies, so many... That is the proof that life is full of varieties. That is the proof. As soon as the life is off, there is no variety. So what do you want, more proof that life is full of variety.

Svarūpa Dāmodara: Yes. Śrīla Prabhupāda, in this connection, this variegatedness in connection with life, can you take it as some sort of complex structures?

Prabhupāda: You can... Because we, at the present moment, we cannot understand, except physics and chemistry, we cannot understand life. So as we do not understand life, so therefore the definition by negation is there. It is not physical, not chemical. It is something beyond. But by practical experience we can see that when there is life, a living man wants varieties. That's a fact. Varieties. Otherwise, why we disagree? I have got some varieties, you have got some varieties. So the conclusion should be tested that living condition or life is full of varieties, therefore the kingdom of life, the spiritual kingdom, must be full of varieties. That is the conclusion.

'Life Comes From Life' Slideshow Discussions -- July 3, 1976, Washington, D.C.:

Hari-śauri: "After many births and deaths, he who is actually in knowledge surrenders unto Me, knowing Me to be the cause of all causes and all that is. Such a great soul is very rare." Purport. "The living entity, while executing devotional service or transcendental rituals after many, many births may actually become situated in transcendental pure knowledge that the Supreme Personality of Godhead is the ultimate goal of spiritual realization. In the beginning of spiritual realization, while one is trying to give up one's attachment to materialism, there is some leaning towards impersonalism. But when one is further advanced he can understand that there are activities in the spiritual life and that these activities constitute devotional service. Realizing this, he becomes attached to the Supreme Personality of Godhead and surrenders to Him. At such a time one can understand that Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa's mercy is everything, that He is the cause of all causes, and that this material manifestation is not independent from Him. He realizes the material world to be a perverted reflection of spiritual variegatedness and realizes that in everything there is a relationship with the Supreme Lord, Śrī Kṛṣṇa. Thus he thinks of everything in relation to Vāsudeva, or Śrī Kṛṣṇa. Such a universal vision of Vāsudeva precipitates one's full surrender to the Supreme Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa as the highest goal. Such surrendered great souls are very rare. This verse is very nicely explained in the Third Chapter of Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad: 'In this body there are power of speaking, of seeing, of hearing, of mental activities, etc. But these are not important if not related to the Supreme Lord. And because Vasudeva is all-pervading and everything is Vasudeva, the devotee surrenders in full knowledge.' "

Prabhupāda: Vāsudeva, surrenders. That's nice. All right, continue tomorrow. Vāsudevaḥ sarvam iti (BG 7.19).

Devotees: Thank you, Śrīla Prabhupāda.

Room Conversation With Scientists -- July 6, 1976, Washington, D.C.:

Rūpānuga: Just like in a body that is growing and getting bigger, that's because the spirit soul is present, and there's action going on because the spirit soul is there. So in that sense a body may become bigger and more complex because the spirit soul is present in that body. That is what we were trying to say, that this matter can become even more complex, if we can use that word, or variegated, because the presence of the spirit soul is there.

Prabhupāda: Yes. You have to take help of the spirit soul to work the matter. Otherwise matter is dead.

Svarūpa Dāmodara: Actually matter becomes more complicated when it is in association with life. That is actually what we want to say.

Sadāpūta: We were speaking not of the spirit soul, we're saying designed by God. That's the kind of life we were referring to.

Hari-śauri: Just like the material energy in its unmanifested state, when it's pradhāna, there's no living entity present. But when the living entity is put into the material energy by God, then the whole complex system of workings in the material world come into being.

Rūpānuga: What we're trying to show is that such complex activity cannot go on without the presence of life. And with life there, spirit soul, movements are going to go in this material world. That's our point. Isn't that the point?

Svarūpa Dāmodara: Yes. One thing also, in the spiritual world, it is full of variegatedness.

Prabhupāda: That is spiritual variety.

Room Conversation -- July 6, 1976, Washington, D.C.:

Prabhupāda: We have to hear this thing: "Somehow they have made a mistake."

Svarūpa Dāmodara: Actually it is very controversial. This... I read an article from the university of Berkeley, Berkeley and some other western campuses, saying that now the theory of this mutation by which the different species are formed is very controversial at this time. Because of the knowledge in our molecular biology, now what they have thought that this mutation is the cause of this variegatedness is a misnomer, being complete mistaken.

Prabhupāda: All mistaken. Where is the difference, then how do you experiment in the biological class by dissecting animal body? What is the difference in the composition of social construction, I er, bodily construction. You have to suffer. That's why I have said, there must be (indistinct). The same principle is there. Otherwise how the mosquito fly like this and...

Svarūpa Dāmodara: They can make a mosquito but they...

Prabhupāda: No, they cannot make mosquito. They can make 747.

Svarūpa Dāmodara: They can make a sample like mosquito.

Prabhupāda: No... They cannot, they cannot. That is my challenge. That first of all you bring life from the egg. You prepare a egg composition, and put it in the incubator and let some living entity come out. So can they do it? So why they will speak all nonsense?

Yadubara: They admit they can't do it.

1977 Conversations and Morning Walks

Room Conversation With Bharadvaja -- October 16, 1977, Vrndavana:

Prabhupāda: Hm?

Bharadvāja: The last portion of the exhibition is called "The Perfection of Life," and it is comprised of two portions, two parts. The first part describes the process of self-realization, and the second part is called the transcendence into the spiritual world, with emphasis on the reality of transcendental variegatedness and personality. That means we're actually going to try to give the viewer an experience of becoming purified. His senses are gradually becoming purified through the process of self-realization, and then we take him through the different spiritual realizations. And then the last part is Vṛndāvana-līlā of Kṛṣṇa, to show that the Lord is a perfect person and that everyone has a place in His personal service in the spiritual world. So this is the... That's the simple outline, and I have another portion here which deals a little more elaborately. I'll just read some of the things to you. So we call the introduction to the exhibition, we call it "The Overture." In this introduction there are several points. The first point is that we are not made up of... We're showing what is the body. So we're showing that the body is made up of different elements. And there's a film that shows how the man is made up of different component parts We are showing that different organs are just like different machines and mechanical systems, and that life is consciousness and that consciousness is different from and did not come from matter. So we're showing that the heart is like a pump, and lungs are like bellows, and the eyes are like cameras, and the ears are like tape recorders, and the brain is like a computer, and so on. But behind all of these machines there is the witness, there is the seer, or the soul. So he is different from all these different machines. Then we show... We take everything down to smaller and smaller particles, and we bring everything down to atomic structure, and then we show that there does not seem to be any purpose to this. So where is life? Are we just...? My life is full of purpose, so where is the life here? Can we be just molecules? Where does life begin? On this portion of the exhibit we are working with Svarūpa Dāmodara and the Bhaktivedanta Institute to make a scientific presentation. This will involve films and dolls and other special effects to show the..., how ridiculous is the idea of material evolution, so-called evolution of matter into consciousness. So Svarūpa Dāmodara has his own presentation that we're going to use here. We've seen some of it during the conference. Then the second exhibit will perhaps be a whole group of scientists, and these scientists are sitting in one room, but they're all from different ages. And each one of them in turn expresses that they're having so many doubts. This we will take directly from their own quotations from different biographies, and we will show that the scientists are very confused about the origin of life, that they cannot actually explain anything, and they are saying this in their own words. Many scientists have said things like this-Darwin, Einstein. We have a list of eight here, and we can use their quotes. And they express bafflement, ignorance and failure to understand life or explain the universe. Then we show how... We put man back together out of chemicals, so-called. We're going back to the original man, which... We have analyzed one man, and now we're going back from the molecular level again back to the man. And then we show how the fetus is developing. We're showing that the life and consciousness is there from the very beginning. And then there is a film that shows this, and then that shifts to that display of the changing body.

Prabhupāda: Life begins from water.

Bharadvāja: Life begins from water? How is that?

Prabhupāda: Just like the sea. Sea, and from within the sea an exhibition of life begins in the form of sea animals or fish or similar. Then life develops, evolves. Life... Sea does not generate life, but in the material world, life begins from water.

Correspondence

1947 to 1965 Correspondence

Letter to K. M. Munshi -- Bombay 21 February, 1957:

If I remember rightly, you have been criticizing in the meeting of the 16th instant about the culture of Hollywood cinemas. The Mayavadi philosophy having killed the spiritual variegatedness of the Supreme Being—the people are generally attracted in the variegatedness of material existence. In the vedanta sutras, we have direct information of how a spiritual entity is joyful—full of spiritual bliss. This idea of enjoyment is focussed through a material _ and as such the spiritual focus is reflected in a perverted manner. The attention of the people in general is attracted by the cinemas in place of temples, because the Mayavadi philosophy—impersonality of Godhead has created a void in the spiritual realm. But in fact the spiritual realm is not at all void. It is full of variegatedness of spiritual mellows. If you create a void in the Spirit unnecessarily, you have to create necessarily a fill-up in the material existence and that is the cause why temples are being replaced by vulgar cinemas.

Letter to Sir -- Unknown Place May 1964:

The fact is that we all living energies in different species of life are all individual parts and parcels of the Supreme Energetic person as the son is the part and parcel of the father. The whole creation including all material or spiritual planes and planets are different parts and parcels of One Unit only but there are immense diversities in unity for variegatedness is the necessary paraphernalia of eternal pleasure which we are all seeking in the wrong way without the right information to have it.

1968 Correspondence

Letter to Satsvarupa -- Los Angeles 15 February, 1968:

I was very pleased to hear your statement about the tape, and about Brahmacari life. Yes, the anchor, as in the sketch-story "The Grand Procession" is sex life, and we are 50% liberated if we can make it nil. There isn't any difference between chanting the Holy Name at the same time washing the dishes of the Temple. So do not be worried when you are attracted for doing other work in the Temple. There is variegatedness in transcendental activities. Sometimes we like to chant, sometimes we like to wash dishes. There is no difference on the Absolute plane. I am sure Krishna will give you all intelligence to work transcendentally.

Letter to Yadunandana -- San Francisco 13 April, 1968:

Regarding your questions, how material things dissolve, I may give you one example: Material manifestation is temporary, as it is stated in Bhagavad-gita, that material manifestation at times comes into being and it at times vanquishes. So, when material variegatedness vanquishes, it does not mean that spiritual variegatedness also vanquishes. Material variegatedness is perverted reflection of the spiritual variegatedness, as it is described in the Bhagavad-gita, that this material manifestation is just like a tree with the root upward. Roots upwards of a tree means it is reflection. So also in Bhagavatam it is stated like this, that the material world is a combination of earth, water, and fire; just like a beautiful girl made of earth, water and fire, standing in the window of a storefront. Similarly, this material world is imitation beauty of the spiritual world, as much as the doll-girl is imitation of the real girl. So when the doll-girl is broken, it does not mean that the real girl is also finished. Material manifestation is just like occasional cloud in the sky, so when the cloud disappears, the sky remains. Similarly, when the material world dissolutes, the spiritual world remains. Krishna and His Kingdom, the spiritual world, are eternal. We have to understand things in this method. That is Krishna Consciousness. Do not misunderstand that after the variegatedness of the material world being finished, everything becomes impersonal, that is nonsense. Try to understand Bhagavad-gita nicely.

Letter to Advaita -- Seattle 6 October, 1968:

So far service to Krishna is concerned, it is variegated. Krishna has got multi-energies, therefore, He can receive services from us in multi-forms. So anyone can render loving service to Krishna by his talents, that is the technique of Krishna Consciousness. So by the Grace of Krishna, you have got the talent and you have got the opportunity also to serve Him, and I wish that Krishna may give you more and more such opportunity to make your progress in Krishna Consciousness. I have already written to Uddhava about binding and size of the book, and again I am repeating that all my books shall be printed in the size 6 1/2 x 9, but next printing, I am willing to do it, canto by canto. That is to say, the three volumes already published of Srimad-Bhagavatam maybe printed in one volume. And the paper should be that Indian thin paper. And the pages shall not be less than 1000. Of course, the composition all in Roman type, we shall avoid not the Sanskrit type. Simply we shall put transliteration, translation, and purport. In this way volumes 1, 2, 3, 4, etc. 12 volumes, of Srimad-Bhagavatam will be published. So we can do the needful. And so far Back To Godhead is concerned, it is already known to you how to do it.

1969 Correspondence

Letter to Hamsaduta -- Los Angeles 9 February, 1969:

Regarding your question about Subhadra and Durga, they are not at all the same. Durga's other name is Bhadra, not Subhadra, and Durga's activities are within the material world. Subhadra does not work as Durga. Subhadra is internal energy, and Durga is external energy. As energy, they have a relationship as much as we are energies of Krishna, but the energies are working in different capacities. Although originally the energy is one, by their expansion, the accents of the energies are different, and as we are not impersonalists, this variegatedness of actions are essential for the Supreme Personality of Godhead, as much as the government is one but there are multi-departments for management of the government. The education department and the criminal department are all departments of the government. The government is connected with all parts and departments, but the education activities are different from the criminal activities. This is the philosophy of inconceivably simultaneously one and different manifestations of the Absolute Truth.

Letter to Janardana -- Los Angeles 2 March, 1969:

In this modern age, people being scientifically advanced, they seek economic development without any reference to worship of God or following any religious principle. So such people are gradually forgetting their eternal relationship with God because they think that without God they can inquire sufficient progress in economic development which is required for sense gratification. Some of them, when they are frustrated, try thinking of voidness or merging into the impersonal absolute truth. So voidness or impersonal idea of the absolute truth is just an opposite of material variegatedness. So this idea can also be accepted as the material concept of transcendence. So things are going on like this, not only now, but it is the nature of the material world.

Page Title:Variegatedness (Lect., Conv. & Letters)
Compiler:Visnu Murti, Mayapur
Created:19 of Mar, 2012
Totals by Section:BG=0, SB=0, CC=0, OB=0, Lec=27, Con=13, Let=7
No. of Quotes:47