Why should you fight? Can you fight with death? Maya has imposed upon you death. So fight with maya, that there will be no death

Expressions researched:
"Why should you fight? If you cannot . . . suppose you cannot . . . can you fight with death? Māyā, māyā has imposed upon you death. So fight with māyā, that there will be no death"

Conversations and Morning Walks

1974 Conversations and Morning Walks

Yogeśvara: They say, "Well, māyā we cannot fight, but we can fight the government." Prabhupāda: Why should you fight? If you cannot . . . suppose you cannot . . . can you fight with death? Māyā, māyā has imposed upon you death. So fight with māyā, that there will be no death. That you cannot do. So you are always, what is called, defeated. That is your position. Daivī hy eṣā guṇamayī mama māyā duratyayā (BG 7.14). So best thing is surrender to Kṛṣṇa for protection. That is wanted. We don't think "minority.".

740611 - Morning Walk - Paris

Puṣṭa Kṛṣṇa: He said that morning, "What can we do, Prabhupāda?" He said: "What can we do? If we do not compromise, we will make enemies."Prabhupāda: No, you'll not compromise; at the same time, you'll not make enemies. That is tactics. If you make enemies, then what is your tactics? You must speak the truth, at the same time he'll not be displeased. That is tactics. If you can defeat him by your argument, then he'll not be displeased. After all, everyone is human being. If you can find out his defect, why he shall be enemy? Therefore it is said: "You better make a reasonable man an enemy, but don't make a friend fool." Don't make friendship with a fool, but if a man is intelligent, better make him an enemy. Because, because he's intelligent, although he's an enemy, he'll not do any harm, because intelligent. But a fool, he may pose himself as friend, and he can do anything which is very harmful.Paramahaṁsa: So we should be able to see the quality of man we are preaching to.Prabhupāda: Yes, you have to make him intelligent. Everyone is fool, mūḍha. Everyone within this material world is supposed to be a fool, because everyone is thinking, "I am this body." So he's fool. "I am Indian," "I am American," "I am German," "I am Frenchman," "I am this," "I am that." What is the difference? A cat is thinking, "I'm cat." A dog is thinking, "I am dog." So if somebody thinks that, in relationship with the body, "I am Frenchman," "I am Englishman," "I am . . .", then where is the difference between the cat and the dog? He's thinking himself as this body. Therefore everyone is thinking, at least in this modern world, the so-called nationalism, everyone is thinking, "I am Englishman," "I am Frenchman," "I am Indian," "I am this," "black," "white." So everyone is fool. Is it not? Yes. He's thinking in a way what he is not. Therefore he's a fool. All these big, big political leaders, Napoleon, Hitler, Churchill, and in Europe, they fought with this consciousness, "I am Englishman," "I am German," "I am Frenchman." That's all. Even the big, big leaders, they are fools. And what to speak of common men?Yogeśvara: Śrīla Prabhupāda?Prabhupāda: Yes.Yogeśvara: In the United States, there are something called minority groups. Minority group means like the Irish or the Negroes, the Jews . . .Prabhupāda: They're also fools. Minority fools. They're minority fools.Yogeśvara: Minority fools?Prabhupāda: Yes. Because he's thinking, "I am Irishman."Yogeśvara: Yes, but their point is that "Even if we are spirit soul, we are still being exploited because we are a small number. So we must band together to protect ourselves."Prabhupāda: You are exploited always. Why do you blame this man or that man? You are being exploited by māyā. Where is your position of freedom?Yogeśvara: They say, "Well, māyā we cannot fight, but we can fight the government."Prabhupāda: Why should you fight? If you cannot . . . suppose you cannot . . . can you fight with death? Māyā, māyā has imposed upon you death. So fight with māyā, that there will be no death. That you cannot do. So you are always, what is called, defeated. That is your position. Daivī hy eṣā guṇamayī mama māyā duratyayā (BG 7.14). So best thing is surrender to Kṛṣṇa for protection. That is wanted. We don't think "minority." Suppose . . . Hare Kṛṣṇa people, how many there are in the Paris city? How many?Yogeśvara: Seventy, eighty.Prabhupāda: So we are not sorry that minority. Where is the . . .? Insignificant. Don't talk of minority. But we are not sorry. Minority, majority, all these are foolishness. The whole platform is mistaken. (pause) Rūpa Gosvāmī was a minister. He was in the majority. But voluntarily he accepted minority. He went to Vṛndāvana and living alone, underneath a tree. He was enjoying so much honor. Tyaktvā tūrṇam aśeṣa-maṇḍala-pati-śreṇīm. His associates were big, big zamindars, big businessmen, politicians. Because he's minister. But he preferred to resign that post and become a minority, to live alone in Vṛndāvana underneath a tree. Why he preferred this? And remaining there alone, he has given you the Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu. So we have to see how much service we are going to give Kṛṣṇa. This "minority," "majority," these are all material conception of life. If you can give major service to Kṛṣṇa, that is your success of life. I started this movement alone, minority. Is it not?Yogeśvara: Yes, one.Prabhupāda: One only, less than minority. (laughter) The "minority," "majority," these are material conception. And spiritual is how much you are giving service to Kṛṣṇa. That is considered. That is to be taken into consideration. (pause) Kṛṣṇa says Himself, manuṣyāṇāṁ sahasreṣu kaścid yatati siddhaye (BG 7.3): "Out of millions and millions of people, one may understand Me." So if I have turned so many people to understand Kṛṣṇa, so that is service. At least, they are trying to understand Kṛṣṇa. (break) . . . in winter in December, when I was going to the park, Regents Park, all the waters, frozen like stone, and with this stick I was pushing, (makes sound imitation) tung, tung, like that. But I marked it that underneath the tree, there was no frozening. The water was there. Just like here is a tree. Just below the tree, there was water, and all around, frozen. The swans were walking on the . . . but on that place, they were floating. (japa) (pause)Yogeśvara: Actually, Śrīla Prabhupāda, the scientists say that the life, life first came from the water. They say, the scientists say, that life first came from water. In the beginning, there were one-celled creatures that were formed from chemicals in the water.Prabhupāda: That we also say, pralaya-payodhi-jale. Because the whole planet was submerged in water, so there was life in water—aquatics, fishes. That is not a very new thing. We know it.Paramahaṁsa: I have a question about evolution. Our position is that all the species have been established by Kṛṣṇa, even before creation. But yet, in the creation, it comes about through an evolutionary process?Prabhupāda: Yes.Paramahaṁsa: So the fact that evolution is existing, it's a fact. But it does not exist independent of the fact that Kṛṣṇa created it and He established it. It's not something that developed independently.