Whole thing (Lectures, Other)

Expressions researched:
"whole thing"

Nectar of Devotion Lectures

The Nectar of Devotion -- Bombay, January 1, 1973:

He does not see. He does not know that Kṛṣṇa can eat simply by His glance, by seeing. He eats. Because He says in the Bhagavad-gītā that patraṁ puṣpaṁ phalaṁ toyaṁ yo me bhaktyā prayacchati tad aham aśnāmi (BG 9.26). Is He speaking lies? No. He eats, but we do not know His eating process. We compare Kṛṣṇa as ourself. If one plate is given to me, I immediately devour the whole thing. But Kṛṣṇa, He is complete. He can eat the complete; still it remains complete. Pūrṇasya pūrṇam ādāya pūrṇam eva avaśiṣyate (Īśo Invocation).

So in this way we have to understand Kṛṣṇa from the śāstra, from the Vedas. Then we shall understand Kṛṣṇa. And once we understand Kṛṣṇa, our life is successful. Janma karma me divyaṁ yo jānāti tattvataḥ. Anyone who understands Kṛṣṇa in truth, his life is perfect. Tyaktvā dehaṁ punar janma naiti (BG 4.9). The perfection of life is that after giving up this body, we shall not accept any more material body. That is perfection. The people do not know that.

The Nectar of Devotion -- Bombay, January 2, 1973:

So he's thinking that twigs are very nice, these thorns are very nice. Similarly, this material existence, it is simply thorny life. Padaṁ padaṁ yad vipadām. Every step. Here is our friend, Mr. Cakravartī. He was going to business, and immediately there was accident. The whole thing became turned into something else. Padaṁ padaṁ yad vipadām. We do not understand this, that every step there is danger. This material life is so dangerous. Padaṁ padaṁ yad vipadāṁ na teṣām. Na teṣām, who are they? Who do not face this padaṁ padaṁ yad vipadām? Samāśritā ye pada-pallava-plavaṁ mahat-padaṁ puṇya-yaśo murāreḥ. Puṇya-yaśo murāreḥ mahat-padam. One who has taken shelter. Bhavāmbudhir vatsa-padaṁ paraṁ padaṁ padaṁ padaṁ yad vipadāṁ na teṣām (SB 10.14.58).

So the bhakti, bhakti cult... Everyone should take. Because that is natural. Natural. Nitya-siddha kṛṣṇa-bhakti. Bhakti's not unnatural.

The Nectar of Devotion -- Bombay, January 9, 1973:

Pūrṇasya pūrṇam ādāya pūrṇam eva avaśiṣyate (Īśo Invocation). This is the Vedic information. You take... Here we have got experience, one minus one equal to zero. But we get the Vedic information that one minus one equal to one, one plus one equal to one. Pūrṇasya pūrṇam ādāya pūrṇam evāvaśiṣyate. You take whole thing, but still, advaita acyuta. Acyuta. Advaita. God may expand Himself and so, eko bahu śyām, He has expanded Himself as svāṁśa and vibhinnāṁśa. Svāṁśa means viṣṇu-tattva, just like Kṛṣṇa, Balarāma, Vāsudeva, Saṅkarṣaṇa, Aniruddha, Pradyumna, Nārāyaṇa, Viṣṇu, Mahā-Viṣṇu, Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu, so many. Ananta, advaita acyuta ananta-rūpa. So ananta-rūpam, that does not mean the original, kṛṣṇas tu bhagavān svayam (SB 1.3.28), He is lost. No. He is not lost. He is there, although He has expanded Himself. We are also expansion of Kṛṣṇa. We are vibhinnāṁśa. We are small particles, not with the full power. The Viṣṇu expansion, They're with full power.

The Nectar of Devotion -- Vrndavana, November 5, 1972:

So that is potential. Now if we add and subtract something from these sixteen words, that is my manufacture. That will have not the potency. They do not understand it. They are thinking if they can manufacture some new line, adding with Hare Kṛṣṇa, then he becomes particularly noted. But he spoils the whole thing. That is the... He does not make any new thing. The new thing he does, he spoils the whole thing. So Caitanya Mahāprabhu never did so, although He's Kṛṣṇa Himself. He stuck to the point of śāstra. Kṛṣṇa, He is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. He also indicates: yaḥ śāstra-vidhim utsṛjya vartate kāma-kārataḥ na siddhiṁ sāvāpnoti (BG 16.23). He indicates that nobody can give up the injunction of the śāstra. Brahma-sūtra-padaiś caiva hetumadbhir viniścitaiḥ (BG 13.5). Kṛṣṇa says. He can give. Whatever He says, that is śāstra, that is Veda. But still, He gives reference to the śāstra.

The Nectar of Devotion -- Vrndavana, November 13, 1972:

We are presenting Bhagavad-gītā as it is all over the world, and it is becoming successful. Not adulteration. That is spoiling. Adulteration means... The example is given..., it was given by my Guru Mahārāja that there is a cup of sweet rice, and you mix with some grains of sand. Then it is, whole thing is spoiled. You cannot comment on Bhagavad-gītā according to your whims. Kṛṣṇa did not leave Bhagavad-gītā to be understood by your commentation. Try to understand Bhagavad-gītā as it is. You'll be benefited. That is sādhu-mārga-anugamanam.

Sri Caitanya-caritamrta Lectures

Lecture on CC Adi-lila 1.8 -- Mayapur, April 1, 1975:

Māyātīte, beyond this māyā, there is another kingdom where there is no kuṇṭha, vaikuṇṭha-loke. And there is management. As here there is management, the king or president, or ministers and so many things, there is also management. But that management is conducted by the Supreme Personality of Godhead personally. Here the president or king manages whole thing. And therefore the ideal manager or the executive head is a person who is a saintly person and devotee. That is wanted. In politics also, there is need of devotees. The devotee... The politicians, they first require to understand Kṛṣṇa consciousness if they actually want to do good to others. If they remain like animals, it is not possible. Then whole world, the people, will suffer. That is the position now. There is no standard ruler. A ruler must be representative of Kṛṣṇa. Then... Then everything will be... Just like Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira. Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira was representative of Kṛṣṇa. Or Lord Rāmacandra, He was God Himself.

Lecture on CC Adi-lila 7.106-107 -- San Francisco, February 13, 1967:

All live peacefully. But we nonsense, rascals, we have created all these distinctions: "Oh, this is American," "This is Indian," "This is Chinese," "This is Russian," "I am this," "I am that," "Oh, I am Christian," "I am Hindu." Why? All of you, you are God's servant, dependent on God. The leader is God. Just think in that way; the whole thing becomes perfect. Everything is there, perfect. The arrangement, nature's arrangement is such that you eat nicely, whatever your bodily wants are there, there is sufficient supply. You take, eat nicely, and live peacefully, and utilize the words of God. There are Bible. There are, I mean to say, Koran. There is Vedas. And try to understand God and make your life perfect and go back to Godhead. This is the whole policy.

Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 20.105 -- New York, July 11, 1976:

Practical. If is practical. So if you expand this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement, you'll find whole world full of happiness. Viṣvaṁ pūrṇaṁ sukhāyate. How it is possible? Yat-kāruṇya-kaṭākṣa-vaibhavavatāṁ gauram eva stumaḥ. It is possible simply by the mercy glance of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. If He simply glances over anybody, then the whole thing happens.

So Caitanya Mahāprabhu is giving, empowering Sanātana Gosvāmī. So we should follow. Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura says, ei chai gosāi yār, tāro mui dās: "I am servant of that person who has followed the six Gosvāmīs."

Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 20.107 -- New York, July 13, 1976:

Sad-dharma means eternal life. Dharma means occupational duty. Here we are engaged in temporary occupational duty. That this dull brain cannot understand. Now I have got Indian body or American body, I am engaged in American consciousness, but as soon as the body is changed, I get the dog's body, then dog's consciousness. Whole thing changed. So therefore it is temporary. This consciousness is temporary, say for fifty years or a hundred years utmost. But this dull brain cannot understand that there is a life of eternity, blissful knowledge. The dull bra... So to... Just like a madman cannot understand. So our task is very difficult. We have to cure so many. It is not possible to cure all of them, but as far as possible we are trying to cure, and simply one has to accept this philosophy seriously, then he'll get knowledge. Sad-dharmasyāvabodhāya yeṣāṁ nirbandhinī matiḥ.

Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 20.113 -- London, July 23, 1976:

Then there must be father. And when the father says, ahaṁ bīja-pradaḥ pitā (BG 14.4), "I am father," then if we believe this version, then thorough knowledge. Father, mother, children. That is family, creation. So yato ato brahmaṇas tās tu sargādyā bhāva-śaktayaḥ. So this creation is another. Just like children is creation of the semina of the father, similarly, the whole thing is creation of the Absolute Truth. And the example is given: bhavanti tapatāṁ śreṣṭha pāvakasya yathoṣṇatā. The fire, the fire must have heat, and by heat you can create so many things. In the Western countries, the electricity... What is electricity? It is heat. So heat, through electricity so many things are being created, through electric energy. The heat is created and the cool is also created. The refrigerator is going on by electric current, and heater is also going on. Two contradictory, but still, the energy is the same. Similarly, viṣṇu-śaktiḥ parā proktā (CC Madhya 6.154). It is, we have already described.

Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 20.121-124 -- New York, November 25, 1966:

So memory shortened, shortened. So just to give us remembrance again, the books are... Vyāsadeva, he wrote those Vedic traditions into books. Vyāsadeva is the first man who wrote this Vedic knowledge into writing. Before that, there was no writing. Only by hearing, by memory, the students will grasp the whole thing and coming down, tradition, tradition. Yes. Śruti, by hearing.

So jīvere kṛpāya kaila kṛṣṇa veda-purāṇa.

'sādhu-guru-ātma'-rūpe āpanāre jānāna

'kṛṣṇa mora prabhu, trātā'-jīvera haya jñāna

So what is the utility of this Vedic knowledge? Now, by understanding, by hearing from authorized sources, or by reading from authorized sources, the forgetful living entities will come to his senses. That is the purpose.

Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 20.144-146 -- New York, December 1, 1966:

He says that vedādi sakala śāstre kṛṣṇa-mukhya sambandha. All the Vedas, all the Vedic literature, all scriptures, all over the world, all over the universe—what is meant? What is the purpose of the scripture? The purpose is to understand Kṛṣṇa. That's all. He is summarizing the whole thing, that "All purposes of different types of scriptures, Vedas, they are meant for realizing what is Kṛṣṇa." That's all. Tāṅra jñāne ānuṣaṅge yāya māyā-bandha. Simply by understanding Kṛṣṇa, one becomes automatically liberated from this material entanglement. A Kṛṣṇa conscious person hasn't got to make separate endeavor and attempt to become liberated. The more you understand Kṛṣṇa, the more you become liberated, ānuṣaṅge, as a by-product. (coughing) Just see how material entanglement, this body. At any moment, at any moment you can be finished. You cannot be finished, but your all activities is.

Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 20.146-151 -- New York, December 3, 1966:

This is a material idea, that "Because God has become all-pervading, therefore He has lost Himself." Why He should lose His identity? This is confirmed in the Vedic literature: pūrṇasya pūrṇam ādāya pūrṇam evavaśiṣyate. If you take from the... He is so full that if you take the whole thing from Him, still, He is whole. Pūrṇasya pūrṇam ādāya pūrṇam evāvaśiṣyate.

So as described here, kṛṣṇa svarūpa ananta vaibhava apāra. So although He is transmitting innumerable energies and although He is expanding Himself in innumerable forms, still, He is one. Still, He is the same and one. That is the spiritual conception, or absolute conception. Absolute is not relative. "Because something has being taken away, therefore it is something less"—it is relative. It is not absolute. This idea is relative. I have got in my pocket ten dollars. So I have taken two dollars. Now it is eight dollars. This is relative truth.

Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 20.318-329 -- New York, December 22, 1966:

So in one breathing of Mahā-Viṣṇu, you cannot calculate how many Manus are there. This is called unlimited. We say "unlimited," but we should have some knowledge how it is unlimited. There is no question of counting the energies displayed by the Supreme Lord in so many ways. Because we cannot explain something, we dismiss the whole thing. "There is void, nothing. Void." Because my mind, my intelligence, cannot go so far, we say, "Perhaps, maybe it was like this." So this is all mental speculation. And how we can say? Now, the opposite party may say, "How you can say?" Now, we have got evidence from the Vedic literature. But the other party, they have no evidence. They are simply speculationist. We can give some evidence. The Vedas are accepted by ācāryas, and they are following, and they are getting the result. So therefore, śruti-pramāṇa. Śruti-pramāṇa. There are three kinds of evidences. Out of that, śruti-pramāṇa, evidence from higher authorities, that is the first-class evidence.

Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 20.358-359 -- New York, December 29, 1966:

This is temporary. Nothing, without, nothing can exist without being divine because everything is coming out from the Lord. Sarvaṁ khalv idaṁ brahma. Therefore the impersonalists, they have taken everything as Brahman. That is their... That is also true. Everything is Brahman. That's right. That's all right. Just like in this store. This whole thing is store. That's all right. But we have to take advantage of the store, not sitting in this, I mean to say, lighted(?)... You have to sit here. If you say, "That is also sitting place. Why not go there? And deliver the lecture from there?" No. We have to utilize here. So you have to take advantage of the best. Everything is energy of Kṛṣṇa. That's all right. But we have to take the advantage of the better energy, superior energy. So na te viduḥ, they do not know how to take advantage of that superior energy. So there are two energies, the superior and inferior, or the spiritual and material. The material energy...

Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 25.31-38 -- San Francisco, January 22, 1967:

This is simply waste of time. Teṣāṁ kleśala eva śiṣyate.

Therefore such persons who are simply wasting their time in that way, if they think that "I have become liberated." So Bhāgavata says that their intelligence is not purified. They are less intelligent still, because the result of his being qualified is not being utilized. He's not engaged in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. The whole thing is that you have to meditate. Then meditate, you have to practice the haṭha-yoga. Haṭha-yoga is the practice for the person who is too much addicted to this body. One who has got very stubborn conviction that "I am this body," for them, such foolish creatures are recommended that "You try to exercise and see what is there within you." Meditation. But one who knows that "I am not this body," he begins immediately that "I am not this body; I am pure soul, and I am part and parcel of the Supreme Lord. So my duty is to serve the Supreme." It is very simple truth. If I am part and parcel of the Supreme, then what is my duty?

Sri Isopanisad Lectures

Sri Isopanisad, Mantra 7 -- Los Angeles, May 10, 1970:

This is the perfection of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Ekatvam anupaśyataḥ. A Kṛṣṇa conscious person sees oneness; all living entities, they see one. Just like fire and the sparks, although there are different types of illuminating properties, the whole thing is seen as one. Similarly, these diversities in unity. Diversities means the expansion of different energies of Kṛṣṇa. That is diversity. Otherwise, the one: Kṛṣṇa, only Kṛṣṇa. Parasya brahmaṇaḥ śaktiḥ tathaiva akhilaṁ jagat. The whole universe, parasya brahmaṇaḥ śakti... Parasya, the Supreme Brahman, Parameśvara, īśvaraḥ paramaḥ kṛṣṇaḥ (Bs. 5.1), His energy.

The example is just like fire. Fire has got many energies, especially heat and light. Wherever there is fire, there is heat and there is light. Now this heat is not different from the fire, and the light is not different from the fire, but still heat and light is not fire. The... From the fire, there is heat.

Festival Lectures

Sri Rama-Navami, Lord Ramacandra's Appearance Day -- Hawaii, March 27, 1969:

The Purāṇas, the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Mahābhārata, and Rāmāyaṇa, they are counted amongst the history. The history of Rāmacandra is that His father wanted to retire. Daśaratha, Mahārāja Daśaratha. And he decided to enthrone Lord Rāmacandra and retire. So everything was settled, but just one day before, his youngest wife turned the whole thing into different way. Sometimes Mahārāja Daśaratha was suffering from what is called whitlow, some trouble in the finger? And this queen served him very nicely, and he was pleased. And he said, "My dear Śarmiṣṭhā, if you want some benediction from me, I can give you." And she replied that "I shall ask you for the benediction when I require it. Not now." So just one day before Lord Rāmacandra's coronation, she approached her husband Mahārāja Daśaratha and reminded him, "My dear husband, you promised to give me some benediction, and I told you that I shall ask you when I require it." Mahārāja Daśaratha said, "Yes, I remember.

Gundica Marjanam Cleansing of the Gundica Temple, Lecture (the day before Ratha-yatra) -- San Francisco, July 4, 1970:

The modern civilization is defective. They do not know how to maintain society. There is therefore no peace. Especially there is want of brain. Crazy. Just like throughout the whole body, the head is the most important part of the body. If you cut your hands, you can live, but if you cut your head, you cannot live. Then whole thing is gone. Similarly, at the present moment the society is headless, a dead body, or head cracked, crazy. There is head, nonsense head. Nonsense head. What is the use of nonsense head? Therefore there is a great necessity of creating a class who will act as brain and head. That is Kṛṣṇa conscious movement.

Ratha-yatra Lecture at The Family Dog Auditorium -- San Francisco, July 27, 1969:

If you will take this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement very seriously, then we have volumes of books to convince you what is your relationship with God, what is your duty, what is your ultimate goal of life—these things are all very nicely explained in the Bhagavad-gītā. But unfortunately, so-called scholars and so-called wise men misinterpret the whole thing. That is why the Lord appeared as Lord Caitanya five hundred years ago to establish the correct principles of Bhagavad-gītā, and He showed that even if you do not understand the processes of religion, you simply chant

Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare

Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare

And it is practical. Just like when we were chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa, all the members who were assembled here were joining in, but when I am now talking about philosophy, some are leaving. It is very practical to see. The Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra is so enchanting that anyone can take part in any condition. And if he continues to chant, gradually he develops his dormant love of God. His heart will be cleansed of all dirty things, and gradually he will be freed from the material concept of life, and he will be joyful, and he will see everyone as sons of God, and then he will begin his loving transcendental service to Kṛṣṇa.

Sri Vyasa-puja -- London, August 22, 1973:

If you want to become overintelligent, to present something, to interpret something, whatever over you have heard from spiritual master you can make some further addition, alteration, then you'll spoil whole thing. Then you'll spoil whole thing. Don't make addition or alteration. Simply present as it is. Therefore, we have begun Bhagavad-gītā As It Is. Don't try to become over spiritual master. Then you'll spoil. Remain always a servant of your spiritual master and present the thing as you have heard. You'll be spiritual master. This is secret. You should know it. Don't try to become overintelligent. That will spoil. Evam paramparā prāptam imaṁ rājarṣayo viduḥ (BG 4.2). This is the... So (child talking) you can stop.(?)

Radhastami, Srimati Radharani's Appearance Day -- Montreal, August 30, 1968:

So Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa is the one Supreme, but in order to enjoy, They have divided into two. Again Lord Caitanya joined the two into one. Caitanyākhyaṁ prakaṭam adhunā. That one means Kṛṣṇa in the ecstasy of Rādhā. Sometimes Kṛṣṇa is in ecstasy of Rādhā. Sometimes Rādhā is in ecstasy of Kṛṣṇa. This is going on. But the whole thing is Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa means the one, the Supreme.

So Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa philosophy is a very great philosophy. It is to be understood in the liberated stage. Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa philosophy is not to be understood in the conditioned stage. But when we worship Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa in our conditional stage, actually we worship Lakṣmī-Nārāyaṇa. You have seen that picture, this viddhi-mārga and rāga-mārga. Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa worship is on the platform of pure love, and Lakṣmī-Nārāyaṇa worship is on the regulative principles. So long we do not develop our pure love, we have to worship on the regulative principles.

Arrival Addresses and Talks

Arrival Lecture -- Los Angeles, May 18, 1972:

We are not sentimental, simply chanting and dancing. We have got more than two thousand volumes of books. If you want to learn it through science, philosophy, it is also there. Otherwise, the simple method—simply chant Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/ Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma, Rāma, Hare Hare, and you'll realize the whole thing. The child can take part, the philosopher can take part, the scientist can take part, the politician can take part, the religionist can take part, the public can take part. It is so universal. And it is open; there is no secrecy. It is not that "I shall give you some secret mantra, and give me some money, I go away." It is open.

So I especially appeal to the Americans, whose boys and girls are helping me so much, please take this philosophy, try to understand this philosophy. Make your life successful—your country and the whole world. You are helping other parts of the world who are not very much developed with money, resources.

Arrival Speech -- Stockholm, September 5, 1973:

Actually, there are three words—Hare, Kṛṣṇa and Rāma—but they have been adjusted in such a way, they are composition sixteen words. So we are simply requesting the people in general that "You chant this mantra. It is not very difficult. And if you chant this mantra, then gradually your heart will be cleansed." The whole thing is that due to our material association, we are contaminated. We cannot understand what is spiritual life. But if we take advantage of this mantra, chanting, then gradually our heart will be cleansed and immediately we shall be able to understand that "I am not this body; I am spirit soul." Then real awakening will come. Because at the present moment, every one of us is working on the bodily concept of life, which I am not. This is the fact. I am acting for something which I am not; therefore it is called māyā, or illusion. Phantasmagoria.

Arrival Conversation -- Los Angeles, June 20, 1975:

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: The whole thing is being done by the mercy of your books, Prabhupāda.

Prabhupāda: Well, it is not my book; it is Kṛṣṇa's book. I am trying my best to present it as it is. That's all. That much you can say my, but there is nothing mine.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: The effect of these books is hard to perceive immediately because we can't imagine how... So many millions of books have gone out. In the future they will all fructify as devotees, the people who have read them.

Prabhupāda: Yes. When they will read, then they will get. Nowadays in the Sixth Canto, Fourth Chapter, the soul and how the soul is covered, that is being described wonderfully. Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam amalaṁ purāṇam. Vidvāṁś cakre sātvata-saṁhitām. It is written by the most learned Vyāsadeva, vidvāṁs, and sātvata-saṁhitām. How merciful he was. He is still living, Vyāsadeva. He is still existing.

Initiation Lectures

Initiation of Rukmini Dasi -- Montreal, August 15, 1968:

Cakhu-dān dilo yei. Cakhu-dān means one who has opened the eyes, that is spiritual master. Janme janme pitā sei. Janme janme means birth after birth, he is my father. All right, distribute prasādam. Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/ Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare. Oh, the whole thing? (laughs) All right. Give him. (devotees chanting japa) (break) You are not taking? Take more. Oh, where is Mādhavī-latā? Why you are in the back side? Come on, take more. Come here. You are not taking more? Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare, Hare Kṛṣṇa Hare Kṛṣṇa. Yes.

Brahmana Initiation Lecture -- New Vrindaban, May 25, 1969:

The lakṣaṇa is there; the symptom is there. Yasya hi yal lakṣaṇaṁ varṇābhivyañjakaṁ tat tenaiva vinirdiśet (SB 7.11.35). One should take him into that classification. He is truthful? Oh, he is immediately to the brahminical place. If he is a liar, immediately he is pañcama, less than śūdra. You see? So these things were done. People have misused the whole thing: "Now I am born of a brāhmaṇa. By force I am brāhmaṇa." You see? Just like Paṇḍitajī, our late Prime Minister Paṇḍitajī. He was less than the caṇḍāla, but he was addressed as "Paṇḍitajī." "Paṇḍitajī" is the address of the brāhmaṇa. You see? By lakṣaṇam... Nobody cared for lakṣaṇa because his forefather, somebody, was a brāhmaṇa, although there was no garbhādhāna ceremony, no system, still. This is not accepted. People misunderstand Hindu culture, Vedic culture, that there are forced caste system. No. It is varṇābhivyañjakam, by the symptom, quality, qualification. It is not by birth.

Lecture at Initiation Fire Sacrifice -- Los Angeles, July 16, 1969:

So this mantra, apavitraḥ pavitro vā sarvāvasthām, any condition of life, you can simply remember Puṇḍarīkākṣam, Kṛṣṇa. As soon as you chant "Kṛṣṇa," you remember everything.

So this remembering is the whole thing. If you have got always within your heart Kṛṣṇa, by sound or by mental thoughts, by work, some way or other, by reading books, any way, if simply you keep your consciousness in Kṛṣṇa, then your life is successful. That's all. And in the Bhagavad-gītā such person who is keeping always Kṛṣṇa within himself, he's certified as the greatest of all yogis. Yoginām api sarveṣāṁ, "Of all the yogis," mad-gatenāntarātmanā, "simply who is keeping Me within his heart..."

Initiation Lecture -- Hamburg, August 27, 1969:

So long you are rendering service to the state properly, your independence as citizen is there. But as soon as you rebel against the state, your independence is gone. Similarly, our, this conditional life is due to our rebellious condition towards God. As soon as we agree surrender and be one with Him by transcendental loving service, the whole thing becomes adjusted. So Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement means to teach people and to give them practical suggestion and help to... (end)

Initiation Sri Ranga, Romaharsana, Sridhara Dasas -- Los Angeles, July 3, 1970:

Yes. The whole thing is purification. Material contamination means desire to enjoy this material world. That is contamination. We have nothing to do with this material world. Brahma-bhūtaḥ. You are spirit. Unfortunately, we are put into this association. So that is another chapter. But now we are trying to come out of it. So at the same time I am trying to go back to home, back to Godhead, at the same time, desiring some material sense gratification, this is another offense. This should not be... We should try to forget. We shall try to forget, "No more I'll... No. There is no necessity of my materialness enjoyment." That sort of vow, determination, must be there. Then what is next?

Initiation Lecture -- Los Angeles, July 13, 1971:

So Caitanya Mahāprabhu picked up a very important persons, the Six Gosvāmīs, Rāmānanda Rāya, Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya, like that, eight or ten direct disciples. And later on, they preached the whole thing. In the Bhagavad-gītā there is a verse, yad yad ācarati śreṣṭha itaras tad anuvartate (BG 3.21). If a śreṣṭha, if an important man, acts in some way, others follow. That is natural. So by the grace of Lord Caitanya we are meeting and you have got great responsibility, because you came here to take your doctorate degree. That's very nice. When one of my Godbrothers went to England during my Guru Mahārāja's time, so Lady Wellington, she challenged that Godbrother that "Your men from India, they come here, and we give them some degree, and they become big men there. So what you have got to teach us?" That was her challenge.

General Lectures

Lecture on Maha-mantra -- New York, September 8, 1966:

So this sound, this Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/ Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare, is the sound representation of the Supreme Lord. The sarvaṁ khalv idaṁ brahma. The whole thing, either material or spiritual, whatever we have got experience, nothing is separated from the Supreme Absolute Truth. Nothing is separated. Everything has emanated from the Absolute Truth. (aside:) Come on. Sit down. But just like... The example... Just like earth. Earth, then from earth, you have got wood, fuel. From fuel, when you get fire, first of all there is smoke. Then, after smoke, there is fire. And the fire, from fire, you can take work. Now, beginning from earth, from earth there is wood; from wood there is smoke; from smoke there is fire.

Lecture on Maha-mantra -- New York, September 8, 1966:

Nothing has disappeared. If you say there is no blood-oḥ, that is not very difficult thing, blood, a red substance. Do you mean to say something red injected within this body will bring back the life? No. If redness is the cause of life or consciousness, then modern chemical can make immediately by chemical combination the whole thing red. Or take example: there are many natural stones, they are by nature red. If you say that "This artificial redness cannot give life; the natural redness is the cause of life," then you take the stone. It has got natural redness, but there is no life. But there is no life. So redness is also not the cause of consciousness of life. That is a wrong theory. That is a complete... Consciousness is completely different thing, qualitatively different. Nothing is different from one to another, just like I have explained already that the earth, wood, then smoke, then fire—everything is linked up, but everything is also different from one another.

Lecture on Maha-mantra -- New York, September 8, 1966:

So the whole thing... The Supreme Lord is represented throughout everything, whatever you see, matter or spirit or anything, physical, chemical—whatever you can give name—there are so many things. But they are not separated from God. God is linked up in everywhere. Īśāvāsyam idaṁ sarvam (ISO 1). Just like our Bhagavad-gītā, we have begun that yena sarvam idaṁ tatam: "That thing which is present all over the body, that you are." So this is individual consciousness: "I am present all over my body." Similarly, the supreme consciousness, he is present all over the universe, all over. This is only a small manifestation of God's energy, very minute. In the Bhagavad-gītā you will find, ekāṁśena sthito jagat (BG 10.42). This jagat... Jagat means this material manifestation. This material manifestation is a one-fourth part demonstration of this whole energy of the Supreme Lord, one-fourth part. So nothing is different from God. But there are certain philosophers, they say, pantheist or monotheist... There are so many theists. They are also be...

Lecture -- Seattle, October 9, 1968:

Fight or no fight. Even without fighting, he may be bad. Just like the instruction which we get from Bhagavad-gītā, Arjuna was denying to fight and he was considered by Kṛṣṇa bad, because He was not satisfied. This is the evidence. And when Arjuna decided to fight to satisfy Kṛṣṇa, it was taken as good. So whole thing should be tested, judged, by the satisfaction of the Supreme Lord. Saṁsiddhir hari-toṣaṇam (SB 1.2.13). The perfection of any action... In the material world, "This thing is good," "This thing is bad," that is our mental concoction. Everything is bad here. Everything is bad. We have simply manufactured by our own imagination that "This is good," "This is bad." But to keep pace with the human society or peace in the human society, there is necessity of doing or adopting something which is approved by somebody, or the state. That is different thing. That is material.

Lecture -- Seattle, October 9, 1968:

Yes. Kṛṣṇa consciousness means purification of all faculties. Because the faculties work on the basis of consciousness. If your consciousness is pure... Just like I am seeing. I am not seeing; my mind is seeing. So if my mind is pure, then my seeing is pure. Similarly, if my consciousness is pure, my mind is pure. It is superficial. I am moving my hand. I am not moving; my mind is moving. So all the senses, ten senses... And the central sense is mind. And behind mind, there is intelligence, and behind intelligence, there is consciousness. This consciousness, if purified, then whole thing is purified. If this consciousness is polluted, then the whole thing is polluted. So we have to purify the consciousness. That is Kṛṣṇa consciousness.

Class in Los Angeles -- Los Angeles, November 15, 1968:

Punaḥ punaś carvita-car..., carvita-carvaṇa means chewing the chewed. Something is chewed and thrown away in the street, and if somebody comes and chews again that thrown away article, he cannot get any juice out of it. Similarly, we are making plan, but because it is on the platform of sense gratification, the whole thing is coming to the four principles of animal life—eating, sleeping, mating, defending—that's all. That means in a circle, coming to the same animal platform. The distinction between animal and man is that... Man and animal, they have got common platform of these four principles of life: eating, sleeping, mating, and defending. The only extra qualification of man is that he can come to understand what is Kṛṣṇa and what is God. That is his special qualification. But because they are trying to keep themselves within the limit of sense gratification, they're coming again and again to that same platform, eating, sleeping, mating, and defending, without Kṛṣṇa consciousness.

Lecture -- Los Angeles, December 4, 1968:

Then... Just like Arjuna's example is karma-yoga. Arjuna is a fighter, he's a warrior, military man. And he fought for Kṛṣṇa. This is called karma-yoga. You be whatever you may be. You may be a brāhmaṇa, you may be a kṣatriya, you may be a vaiśya, you may be a intelligent man, you may be a military man, you may be a administrator, you may be a business man, or you may be ordinary worker, it doesn't matter. But if you offer the result of your work for the satisfaction of God, then you are perfect. This is the whole thing. That Bhāgavata says,

ataḥ puṁsāṁ dvija-śreṣṭhā

varṇāśrama-vibhāgaśaḥ

svanuṣṭhitasya dharmasya

saṁsiddhir hari-toṣaṇam

(SB 1.2.13)

There are different classes of men. Generally, they are divided into four classes: the intelligent class of men, the administrator class of men, the business class of men, and the general worker, laborer class of men. So Bhāgavata says, "Whatever you may be, it doesn't matter.

Lecture -- Hawaii, March 23, 1969:

This is called material world. So what to speak of the spiritual world? The spiritual world is at least three times greater than this material world. That information we get from Bhagavad-gītā. Ekāṁśena sthito... Ekam means one part. Even you take... One part, maybe, one hundred. But even not going so far, one part means divide the whole thing into four parts. That will be one fourth. This material world is only one fourth of the whole creation, and the three-fourth part is spiritual world. In the spiritual world there is similarly innumerable planets, innumerable living entities. Just like, as I have already explained, that this material world is the just like prison house of the criminals. So our criminal department in the state, say, jail or prison house, that is not the countrywise, as big as the country. That is a fractional part only. Maybe a few hundred people or few thousand people living there, but the state is very big.

Lecture -- New York, April 16, 1969:

That means by the sputnik speed, the three days... To circumambulate the earth three times means three day and night. That means according to our calculation, seventy-two hours. That seventy-two hours was finished in one hour and twenty-five minutes. How? Because the thing is relative. If you accelerate your speed, the whole thing becomes relative. So what is seventy-two hours on this planet, just above this planet, say about a few thousand miles up it becomes one hour twenty-five minutes. Similarly, when we speak of that in other planet the life is ten thousand years, that ten thousand years is in our calculation on this planet. But on their calculation, the same hundred years. Similarly, in the Bhagavad-gītā you'll learn, sahasra-yuga-paryantam ahar yad brahmaṇo viduḥ (BG 8.17). Kṛṣṇa is instructing Arjuna that our one thousand yugas... One yuga, one aggregate of yuga, according to our, this planet's calculation, it is forty-three hundred thousands of years.

Lecture Engagement and Prasada Distribution -- Boston, April 26, 1969:

There are trees, there are aquatics, there are germs, reptiles, then birds, then beasts, then human beings. Out of this human form of life, more than fifty percent, they are uncivilized, and maybe twenty-five percent of the human beings, they are civilized. And out of them, maybe ten percent are believing in God, following religious principles. In this way the whole thing is being reduced. So in the Bhāgavata it is said that not only they are living for short duration of life, they are not intelligent enough that this human form of life is meant for God-realization. Now, especially nowadays amongst the educated circles, they inquire, "What is God? What is God?" You see. But apart from your country or Western countries, in... I have met in many, many large gatherings of universities. Especially, I am very sorry to say, many Indian students ask me that "What is God?" Now, India is supposed to be the place where God descends as Lord Kṛṣṇa, as Lord Rāmacandra, Caitanya Mahāprabhu.

Lecture -- New Vrindaban, June 22, 1969:

So, so many children will come. This place is nice. And Kṛṣṇa will give us all opportunity. So I will also come again, and I like this place. So... Because I have come to preaching work, so let me finish whatever little work is still remaining. I want to go once to London and Germany. Then I will entrust the whole thing to you. So let us cooperate in this movement very nicely, and here in this spot, New Vrindaban, the woman's business will be to take care of the children, cooking cleansing, and churning butter. (laughter) And those who have the knowledge of typing can help in typing also. No other hard work. That's all. This is for woman. And for men, hard work, field work, taking care of the cows, of the animals, to go to collect wood, to construct building. In this way cooperate. The girls who are here, they should prepare nice prasādam so that the boys, in time they can get their prasādam, timely. This is the duty. And they must be given timely breakfast, lunch prasādam. They will work hard.

Conway Hall Lecture -- London, September 15, 1969:

Try to understand this philosophy. We are teaching nothing, no new philosophy. Bhagavad-gītā as it is, that's all. Unfortunately, Bhagavad-gītā is read all over the world, but there are many rascal interpreters. They have spoiled the whole thing. Simply spoiled. So we are struggling against them. You try to understand Bhagavad-gītā as it is, and you get the thing. The thing is immediately delivered. That is our request. And in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam it is stated by Śukadeva Gosvāmī. He says, kaler doṣa-nidhe rājann asti hy eko mahān guṇaḥ: "My dear King..." He was explaining Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam to King Mahārāja Parīkṣit. So he says... Before saying this, he described about the condition of this age of Kali. It is very... At the end of this age the condition will be very horrible. So... Of course, there is not much time. Otherwise I would have explained something. But you know.

Lecture -- Gorakhpur, February 17, 1971:

Just like Kṛṣṇa's pastimes with the gopīs, some rascal people take it as ordinary dealings between young boys and girls. But it is all transcendental. It requires, I mean to say, service attitude to understand this. The whole thing, the basic principle of understanding Kṛṣṇa consciousness is surrender. Nobody can understand except one who has fully surrendered him... Sevonmukhe hi jihvādau. Sevonmukhe. One whose attitude is to serve, not to challenge, to him only, Kṛṣṇa is revealed, not to others. Ataḥ śrī-kṛṣṇa-nāmādi na bhaved grāhyam indriyaiḥ (CC Madhya 17.136). These blunt senses, material senses, they cannot understand śrī-kṛṣṇa-nāmādi, beginning from Kṛṣṇa's name. Because devotional service begins from this chanting of Kṛṣṇa's name. Śravaṇaṁ kīrtanaṁ viṣṇoḥ (SB 7.5.23). Not of others, only of Viṣṇu. People are imitating. There are so many imitations, that "Why Kṛṣṇa's name? Let there be Kālī's name be chanted."

Speech -- New Vrindaban, August 31, 1972:

The six kind of changes. Not only these six kind of changes, but also there are many tribulations. They are called threefold miseries: pertaining to the body, pertaining to the mind, miseries offered by other living entities, miseries happening by natural disturbances. And after all, the whole thing is summarized into four principles, namely birth, death, old age and disease. These are our conditional life.

So, in order to get out of these conditions of life, if we revive our bhāgavata consciousness, or Kṛṣṇa consciousness, or God consciousness, whatever you like... When we speak of "Kṛṣṇa," means the Supreme Lord. God consciousness, Kṛṣṇa consciousness, or our original consciousness. Just like, every one of us, we remember always that "I am the son of such-and-such gentleman.

Lecture -- London, August 26, 1973:

So yuktāhāra-vihārasya yoga bhavati siddhitaḥ. In the Bhagavad-gītā it is said if you want to be a yogi or spiritualist, you should not take more than what you can digest, what can you eat. Yuktāhāra. You can satisfy your hunger, but according to yogic principle. Or from health point of view, even if you can eat so much, you can understand that "I can eat so much," you should not eat the whole thing. You should eat half. And one fourth you shall fill up with water, and one fourth you should leave vacant so that there may be ventilation, your digestion will be easily done. This is Āyurvedic law. Even if you think that you can eat so much, you should not voluntarily eat so much. You should eat half, and one-fourth you should fill up with water, and one-fourth you keep vacant for air ventilation. Then there will be no disease. It is hygienic principle. And as soon as you eat more than what you can digest, you become diseased. That means you are punished.

Public Lecture -- Konigstein, Germany, June 19, 1974:

Therefore His eating process is different. But He has eaten. That you have to learn from the śāstra, that pūrṇasya pūrṇam ādāya pūrṇam evāvaśiṣyate (Iso Invocation). He is not hungry; still, He can eat the whole world. But still, the world remains as it is. That will require some brain to understand. (laughter) Kṛṣṇa eats. Kṛṣṇa eats and again keeps the whole thing as it is for your eating. So you are not loser. If you offer to Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa will eat and He will again get you the foodstuff for eating. That is His fullness. That is His fullness. So therefore you prepare very, very nice foodstuff and offer to Kṛṣṇa and take it. Then your desire for eating nice foodstuff will be automatically fulfilled. And at the same time become devotee of Kṛṣṇa. Why don't you do this? Anyone can do, either in this temple or at home. But they will not worship Kṛṣṇa. They will worship a dog. Instead of God, keeping dog and taking all care. This is the mentality. Then next life he becomes a dog.

Lecture with Translator -- Sanand, December 27, 1975:

People go to Kurukṣetra for executing religious rituals. And in the Vedas it is stated, kuru-kṣetre dharmam ācaret. So why it should be interpreted as "body"? And where is the dictionary where dharma-kṣetra means "body"? So in this way, if we interpret Bhagavad-gītā, then we spoil the whole thing. I spoil myself and spoil others. Therefore the conclusion is we shall accept Bhagavad-gītā as it is, as it is spoken by Kṛṣṇa.

So here the bhagavān uvāca, the Supreme Personality of Godhead is speaking. So we shall take it without any interpretation. The Bhagavān says, mayy āsakta-manāḥ.

Philosophy Discussions

Philosophy Discussion on Immanuel Kant:

Prabhupāda: That is also not miracle. That is not miracle, because in the yoga-siddhi you can make anything lighter than this cotton. So Kṛṣṇa is Yogeśvara. So by His yogic power He made the whole hill as a cotton swab. That is yogic principle. But for a layman, for a human being, he has to practice this yoga for millions of years; then he comes to perfection. But Kṛṣṇa is Yogeśvara. By His will, immediately it is done. It is not a miracle. It is turning the whole thing. Just like Kṛṣṇa is floating so many big big planets in the air. These modern scientists can say all nonsense, but it is miracle, it is miracle to them. But to Kṛṣṇa it is not. Kṛṣṇa has got such a saṅkarṣaṇa. He has got some power, Yogeśvara. He can do that.

Philosophy Discussion on Charles Darwin:

Prabhupāda: The whole thing is that Dr. Frog, famous story. He comes to this country, Dr. Frog's understanding. He has studied the three-feet-wide well, and he says he is satisfied with that. He has nothing to do with the Atlantic Ocean. But Atlantic Ocean is also a reservoir of water, and that well is also a reservoir of water. But (there is a) vast difference. So we take knowledge of who has created Atlantic Ocean. Therefore our knowledge is perfect. What do you say?

Śyāmasundara: I just want to try to cover this from every angle so that Darwinists will not be able to argue. Today I'd like to find out how they date earth layers, how geologists find...

Philosophy Discussion on Charles Darwin:

Karandhara: They had a big meeting recently in Europe of the foremost scientists, chemists, physicists and researchers, and they predicted that by the year 2050, the scientists will be able to make the superhuman eternal human being. Then they started asking themselves, "Well, who will decide? Who will play God? If we can make an eternal person or manipulate, who will decide?" What if they make a hundred Hitlers or some demoniac scientists who knows how to do this makes a hundred Hitlers. So even if their whole thing is (indistinct), they'll misuse whatever power they acquire by understanding the laws of nature. They've misused the atomic energy.

Prabhupāda: They can produce for human being, many (indistinct)?

Śyāmasundara: They call it the genetical xerox machine.

Philosophy Discussion on Henri Bergson:

Prabhupāda: This is spiritual following. Just like we are doing. We are also not neglecting the bodily necessities of life, but our main business is how to advance in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. So this is not supported by the state or the leaders of the society. They think they are unnecessary because they are animals. So that is the... If the leaders, yad yad ācarati śreṣṭhas tad tad eva itaraḥ janaḥ (BG 3.21), that is, every leading man accept that this is necessary. Just like we say "No illicit sex." So if the state helps, it can stop immediately. "No meat-eating": the state can immediately do it, "No slaughterhouse." If somebody says that it is enforcement for a person who wants to eat meat and the state has stopped, no. State at least can do this, that state is not going to maintain slaughterhouse. If you want to eat meat, you can kill an animal at your own house, but state is not going to commit these sinful activities, statewise. That is changed in every respect. No more breweries. State cannot maintain the manufacturing of liquor. If anyone individual wants, he can prepare for himself, but he cannot sell, he cannot induce others to take. He can for his personal (indistinct), he can take. In that case, state is giving liberty, "If you want eating meat, so do." But that is not encouragement; that is discouragement. That is Vedic injunction. Vedic injunction is that yes, you can have sex, but get yourself married properly like gentlemen and ladies do. But sex will not be allowed unrestricted intermingling of men and women and prostitution, brothels. That state has to stop. In this way whole thing can be revolutionized, and the society will be completely in human civilization and God consciousness. That is wanted.

Philosophy Discussion on William James:

Prabhupāda: Yes. I can measure it is about 3000 miles by 3000 miles. And whereas India is 1000 miles. What is the area of India? Maybe 1000 miles by 800 miles, whereas in America 3000 miles by 3000 miles. And the population is one quarter of India's. The land is four times than India, but the population is one quarter of India. So they can produce enough. Actually they are producing enough. And that can be distributed to the portion where the food is a scarcity. And that is arrangement of God. The land and the water given by God is sufficient for the whole population. Not only human beings—all beasts, birds... Sufficient food. But we are, I mean to say, mismanaging the whole thing. Therefore we find that India is poverty-stricken and America is throwing grains in the water. So actually, if we take the perfection made by God, that "This planet belongs to us, we human beings, and it is God's property, so let us live peacefully..." But..., but no. That is māyā. So therefore the whole solution of the problem is Kṛṣṇa consciousness. If people will understand that "We are all sons of Kṛṣṇa's.

Philosophy Discussion on John Dewey:

Prabhupāda: If you want to satisfy the Supreme Lord, then you must execute the functions as they are prescribed in the varṇāśrama system. Then everything is all right. The same example: If all the parts of a machine is in order, working, it will make no trouble. If one of the screws, I mean, is slack, or it has fallen down, then another part is dislocated, that whole work is stopped. So we should consider in that way, that we are all part and parcel of Kṛṣṇa. So according to part and parcel, you must execute your duty—as brāhmaṇa, as kṣatriya, as vaiśya, as śūdra. And the brāhmaṇa being head, he should give the direction. Therefore he is considered the guru of other varṇas. But he... Because if there is no head, no brāhmaṇa, then the whole thing is disturbed. And that is the position at the present moment. Actually there is no brāhmaṇa, or scarcity of brāhmaṇa. So others are not guided properly. Therefore there is chaos in the whole society. So we require to create some brāhmaṇas, and others should understand to abide by the direction of the brāhmaṇas. Then the whole society will be in order.

Philosophy Discussion on Sigmund Freud:

Prabhupāda: That is our brahmācārya system. The psychology is that everyone has a sex appetite, everyone has a tendency for intoxication, and everyone had a tendency for meat-eating. Vyavāya āmiṣa madya sevā. These tendencies are already there. There is injunction in the śāstras that one can have sexual intercourse by marriage, legal sex. We are prohibiting illicit sex, but we are not prohibiting legal sex. Just like in the Bhagavad-gītā Kṛṣṇa says, dharmāviruddho' bhūteṣu kāmo 'smi bharatarṣabha, sex indulgence which is not against religious principles. That is (indistinct). So religious principle means regulated sex life. People have a tendency... Just like those who are not regulated by the Vedic injunctions are also having sex. So what is the meaning of this legal sex? Legal sex means it is restricted, that is all. Where there is no set injunction. Just like in Western countries, they are having sex without any restrictions. But according to the Vedic system, there are restrictions. Just like eating meat, that is also restricted. You cannot eat meat from the slaughterhouse, but the injunction is that you can take a goat and in the presence of goddess Kali you can offer it, and then you can eat it. In the śāstras this is called (indistinct). Amisa means meat which is not sacrificed. There are so many rules and regulations. Similarly, there is also injunction for drinking. By worshiping (sandamani) you can drink. So when the śāstras deal with meat-eating, drinking and sex, which is already there... Psychologically everyone has this tendency. Then why is it mentioned in the śāstras in this way? The whole thing is to restrict.

Philosophy Discussion on Sigmund Freud:

Prabhupāda: Yes. Mind is the beginning of subtle. Just like my senses are gross, but my senses are being controlled by the mind. The mind is the subtle element, but mind is controlled by intelligence, and intelligence is controlled by ego. So if the ego is false, then the whole thing is false. If I am thinking I am this body, this false identification, ego, then all other things which are coming out of this false ego, they are also false. Therefore it is called māyā, or illusion, because they are standing on false platform. Therefore the whole Vedic education is that you be relieved from this false platform and come to the real platform. That is called brahma-jñāna, real platform. And in Bhagavad-gītā it is stated, (indistinct). When one comes to that knowledge that I am spirit soul, than immediately he becomes happy. All this trouble is due to this false ego. Immediately he comes back. (indistinct) What does this mean?

Philosophy Discussion on Sigmund Freud:

Hayagrīva: He felt that the father God is an infantile wish. He says, "The whole thing is so patently infantile, so incongruous with reality, that one whose attitudes..."

Prabhupāda: So what is his reality? Infantile conception of God, but what he is, except the child? Huh? He is also planning something. That is also childish. So how he becomes more than a child? He cannot give us any definite program by which everyone will be hopeful.

Hayagrīva: Well, he felt psychoanalysis was the answer.

Prabhupāda: That is jugglery of word. Psychoanalysis, nobody will, can understand, a common man. Psychoanalysis, if there is meaning, that there is supreme controller, that is psychoanalysis. We see everywhere controller, so it is natural. This is psychoanalysis, that there is a supreme controller. That is natural. Why defying this fact?

Philosophy Discussion on Jean-Paul Sartre:

Prabhupāda: But if the beginning is irresponsibility, then where is the question of responsibility? This is nonsense philosophy. If the beginning is irresponsibility... Just like there is a story, some thieves stolen some gold, and there were many, four, five thieves, so they were dividing the stolen property, and one them said, "Now let us divide it honestly." (laughter) The whole thing is stolen property, and they are speaking of honesty. Just like you Americans, you came from Europe and other countries, and you have stolen the property. Now you make immigration, "You cannot come, you cannot come." It is like this philosophy. The whole thing is stolen property, and they are talking of honesty; they are citing scripture. So where is the responsibility, if the beginning is irresponsibility, chance?

Philosophy Discussion on B. F. Skinner:

Devotee: So it seems that the whole philosophy (indistinct) and then in the course of there, the whole material world is attached to sex life, so that the whole thing is that all the philosophies that they are inventing are so that they may have liberty to think that they are free and that they are (indistinct). That is all.

Prabhupāda: Yes.

Devotee: That is their whole thing. All their philosophy tries to have good sex life so that they don't have to think that they will be punished. So if I can have this freedom then I am right.

Prabhupāda: Yes. The real point is sense gratification. Freedom of sense gratification. That is their point. But these fools, they do not know that by sense gratification you are entangling yourself in repetition of birth and death.

Philosophy Discussion on Karl Marx:

Hayagrīva: Well he would rather do..., do away with the whole thing.

Prabhupāda: No, that is impossible. God means, as I have explained, the supreme father. He is the father of every man or every living entity. So how the father can be different? If man manufactures a different... There are ten sons in the family; the father is one. It is not that one son say, "No, I shall select my own father." So what kind of father he is? So that is imperfectness of understanding the father. Nobody can say that "I can select my own father." How it is possible? Father is one. Similarly God is one, and if one is actually religious and obeying the same one father's order, then where is dissension? That the difficulty is nobody knows who is that supreme father, neither they are prepared to obey the orders of the father. That is the difficulty. In one family there cannot be two father. The one father. Similarly, when you speak of the supreme father, "O father, give us our daily bread," He is father of everyone. So why one should select one father, another man will select another father? That means he does not know who is father. That is the defect.

Philosophy Discussion on Plato:

Prabhupāda: Yes, that, uh, He says that everything has got some defect, material. Even the fire, so powerful, so fire has also some defect: the smoke. So apart from that imperfection, if we execute our prescribed duties exactly in the way as it is enjoined in the śāstra, that even there is some defect, still we can get perfection. Just like Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is giving chance, everyone, to become perfect by his own work. It doesn't matter brāhmaṇa, kṣatriya, vaiśya or what means according to Vedic civilization, brāhmaṇa, kṣatriya, vaiśya, śūdra. So brāhmaṇa is giving knowledge, kṣatriya is giving protection, vaiśya is giving food, and śūdra is general help to everyone. So if the whole thing is done under the direction of the brāhmaṇa, kṣatriya executes the orders of the brāhmaṇa, and the vaiśyas supply food—because food is required, that is materially required—then everything is perfect. (break) (aside with Hari-śauri regarding tape recorder)

Philosophy Discussion on Auguste Comte:

Hayagrīva: He draws a distinction between atheism and positivism. He says, "Atheism, even from the intellectual point of view, is a very imperfect form of emancipation, for its tendency is to prolong the metaphysical stage indefinitely by continuing to seek for new solutions of theological problems instead of setting aside all inaccessible researches on the grounds of their utter inutility. In a word, atheism is still concerned with studying the 'why' instead of the 'how,' and positivism, true positivism, is concerned with the 'how' instead of the 'why.' " In other words, he felt that religion quo religion, religion as religion, had best be set aside because religious questions are basically childish. They can never be answered. So atheism is rejected because atheists "occupy themselves with theological problems and yet reject the only appropriate method of handling them." And for him the only appropriate method is to forget the whole thing.

Prabhupāda: So how can he forget? Atheism will help anyone to improve his position? Just like death. Atheist, if he does not believe in God and God sends him death, how he can counteract it? He has no power to counteract it. We understand from Bhagavad-gītā that death is God for the atheist. Atheists do not believe in God, but God comes to him as death to convince him that "Here I am." So how the atheist can avoid? How it will improve his present situation by atheistic speculation? So how the atheist can become independent? That is not possible.

Purports to Songs

Purport to Jiv Jago -- Columbus, May 20, 1969:

"Please relieve me from this awkward position, and this life I shall fully engage myself in developing my God consciousness or Kṛṣṇa consciousness." But as soon as the child comes out of the womb of his mother, under the spell of these three modes of material nature he forgets, and he cries, and the parents take care, and the whole thing is forgotten.

There is one instance of Parīkṣit Mahārāja. When he was in the womb of his mother, their paternal, I mean to say, enemy, Droṇa..., son of Droṇācārya, Aśvatthāmā, he released a weapon called brahmāstra. The brahmāstra could kill even within the womb. So at that time Lord Kṛṣṇa entered and saved the child. The child saw the form of Kṛṣṇa and was remembering. And when the child came out, he was trying to find out where is that form. He was searching after Kṛṣṇa. So the astrologers who were present there, they could understand that this child is seeking something. Therefore his name was given, Parīkṣit.