Vaniquotes - User contributions [en]

Material topics

2013-08-02T07:52:13Z

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<div class="section" id="Srimad-Bhagavatam" text="Srimad-Bhagavatam"><h2>Srimad-Bhagavatam</h2></div>

<div class="sub_section" id="SB_Canto_1" text="SB Canto 1"><h3>SB Canto 1</h3></div>

<div class="quote" book="SB" link="SB 1.5.15" link_text="SB 1.5.15, Purport">
<div class="heading">In histories like the Mahābhārata, of course, there are topics on transcendental subjects along with material topics. The Bhagavad-gītā is there in the Mahābhārata.</div>

<div class="text">'''[[Vanisource:SB 1.5.15|SB 1.5.15, Purport]]:''' In the Vedas it is distinctly said that the perfection of life is never to be attained either by voluminous work, or by accumulation of wealth or even by increasing the population. But it is so attained only by renunciation. The materialistic men do not care to listen to such injunctions. According to them, the so-called renounced order of life is meant for those who are unable to earn their livelihood because of some corporeal defects, or for persons who have failed to achieve prosperity in family life.
In histories like the Mahābhārata, of course, there are topics on transcendental subjects along with material topics. The Bhagavad-gītā is there in the Mahābhārata. The whole idea of the Mahābhārata culminates in the ultimate instructions of the Bhagavad-gītā, that one should relinquish all other engagements and should engage oneself solely and fully in surrendering unto the lotus feet of Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa. But men with materialistic tendencies are more attracted to the politics, economics and philanthropic activities mentioned in the Mahābhārata than to the principal topic, namely the Bhagavad-gītā. This compromising spirit of Vyāsadeva is directly condemned by Nārada, who advises him to directly proclaim that the prime necessity of human life is to realize one's eternal relation with the Lord and thus surrender unto Him without delay.</div>
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<div class="sub_section" id="SB_Canto_3" text="SB Canto 3"><h3>SB Canto 3</h3></div>

<div class="quote" book="SB" link="SB 3.9.4" link_text="SB 3.9.4, Translation and Purport">
<div class="heading">Those who are destined to be dispatched to the path of hell neglect Your personal form because of speculating on material topics.</div>

<div class="text">'''[[Vanisource:SB 3.9.4|SB 3.9.4, Translation and Purport]]: This present form, or any transcendental form expanded by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Śrī Kṛṣṇa, is equally auspicious for all the universes. Since You have manifested this eternal personal form upon whom Your devotees meditate, I therefore offer my respectful obeisances unto You. Those who are destined to be dispatched to the path of hell neglect Your personal form because of speculating on material topics.

Regarding the personal and impersonal features of the Supreme Absolute Truth, the personal forms exhibited by the Lord in His different plenary expansions are all for the benediction of all the universes. The personal form of the Lord is also worshiped in meditation as Supersoul, Paramātmā, but the impersonal brahmajyoti is not worshiped. Persons who are addicted to the impersonal feature of the Lord, whether in meditation or otherwise, are all pilgrims to hell because, as stated in Bhagavad-gītā (12.5), impersonalists simply waste their time in mundane mental speculation because they are addicted more to false arguments than to reality. Therefore, the association of the impersonalists is condemned herewith by Brahmā.</div>
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<div class="sub_section" id="SB_Canto_5" text="SB Canto 5"><h3>SB Canto 5</h3></div>

<div class="quote" book="SB" link="SB 5.12.13" link_text="SB 5.12.13, Translation and Purport">
<div class="heading">The pure devotee is never interested in material topics. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu has strictly prohibited His devotees to talk about worldly matters.</div>

<div class="text">'''[[Vanisource:SB 5.12.13|SB 5.12.13, Translation and Purport]]: Who are the pure devotees mentioned here? In an assembly of pure devotees, there is no question of discussing material subjects like politics and sociology. In an assembly of pure devotees, there is discussion only of the qualities, forms and pastimes of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. He is praised and worshiped with full attention. In the association of pure devotees, by constantly hearing such topics respectfully, even a person who wants to merge into the existence of the Absolute Truth abandons this idea and gradually becomes attached to the service of Vāsudeva.'''

The symptoms of pure devotees are described in this verse. The pure devotee is never interested in material topics. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu has strictly prohibited His devotees to talk about worldly matters. Grāmya-vārtā nā kahibe: [Cc. Antya 6.236] one should not indulge in talking unnecessarily about news of the material world. One should not waste time in this way. This is a very important feature in the life of a devotee. A devotee has no other ambition than to serve Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. This Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement was started to engage people twenty-four hours daily in the service of the Lord and in His glorification. The students in this institution engage in the cultivation of Kṛṣṇa consciousness from five in the morning to ten at night. They actually have no opportunity to waste their time unnecessarily by discussing politics, sociology and current events. These will go their own way. A devotee is concerned only with serving Kṛṣṇa positively and seriously.</div>
</div>

<div class="sub_section" id="SB_Canto_10.1_to_10.13" text="SB Canto 10.1 to 10.13"><h3>SB Canto 10.1 to 10.13</h3></div>

<div class="quote" book="SB" link="SB 10.1.4" link_text="SB 10.1.4, Purport">
<div class="heading">For kṛṣṇa-kathā, topics about Kṛṣṇa consciousness, there must be a speaker and a hearer, both of whom can be interested in Kṛṣṇa consciousness if they are no longer interested in material topics.</div>

<div class="text">'''[[Vanisource:SB 10.1.4|SB 10.1.4, Purport]]:''' For kṛṣṇa-kathā, topics about Kṛṣṇa consciousness, there must be a speaker and a hearer, both of whom can be interested in Kṛṣṇa consciousness if they are no longer interested in material topics. One can actually see how this attitude automatically develops in persons who are Kṛṣṇa conscious. Although the devotees of the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement are quite young men, they no longer read materialistic newspapers, magazines and so on, for they are no longer interested in such topics (nivṛtta-tarṣaiḥ). They completely give up the bodily understanding of life. For topics concerning Uttamaśloka, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the spiritual master speaks, and the disciple hears with attention. Unless both of them are free from material desires, they cannot be interested in topics of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. The spiritual master and disciple do not need to understand anything more than Kṛṣṇa because simply by understanding Kṛṣṇa and talking about Kṛṣṇa, one becomes a perfectly learned person (yasmin vijñāte sarvam evaṁ vijñātaṁ bhavati, Muṇḍaka Upaniṣad 1.3).</div>
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<div class="section" id="Sri_Caitanya-caritamrta" text="Sri Caitanya-caritamrta"><h2>Sri Caitanya-caritamrta</h2></div>

<div class="sub_section" id="CC_Madhya-lila" text="CC Madhya-lila"><h3>CC Madhya-lila</h3></div>

<div class="quote" book="CC" link="CC Madhya 24.330" link_text="CC Madhya 24.330, Purport">
<div class="heading">The bona fide disciple should be inquisitive to understand transcendental subject matter. He must not search out faults among good qualities, and he should no longer be interested in material topics.</div>

<div class="text">'''[[Vanisource:CC Madhya 24.330|CC Madhya 24.330, Purport]]:''' The qualifications of a bona fide disciple are described in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (11.10.6) as follows:
amānya-matsaro dakṣo nirmamo dṛḍha-sauhṛdaḥ
asatvaro ‘rtha-jijñāsur anasūyur amogha-vāk
The disciple must have the following qualifications. He must give up interest in the material bodily conception. He must give up material lust, anger, greed, illusion, madness and envy. He should be interested only in understanding the science of God, and he should be ready to consider all points in this matter. He should no longer think, “I am this body,” or, “This thing belongs to me.” One must love the spiritual master with unflinching faith, and one must be very steady and fixed. The bona fide disciple should be inquisitive to understand transcendental subject matter. He must not search out faults among good qualities, and he should no longer be interested in material topics. His only interest should be Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead.</div>
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Material tendency

2013-08-02T07:43:06Z

Stritama:

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<div class="section" id="Srimad-Bhagavatam" text="Srimad-Bhagavatam"><h2>Srimad-Bhagavatam</h2></div>

<div class="sub_section" id="SB_Canto_4" text="SB Canto 4"><h3>SB Canto 4</h3></div>

<div class="quote" book="SB" link="SB 4.28.55" link_text="SB 4.28.55, Purport">
<div class="heading">This material tendency is mentioned in this verse as grāmya-matiḥ (sense gratification). All living entities within this material world are sensually inclined</div>

<div class="text">'''[[Vanisource:SB 4.28.55|SB 4.28.55, Purport]]:''' Actually, it is Kṛṣṇa who personally advises all living entities to return home, back to Godhead. Sometimes Kṛṣṇa sends His representative, who, delivering Kṛṣṇa’s very message, canvasses all living entities to return home, back to Godhead. Unfortunately the living entity is so greatly attached to material enjoyment that he does not take the instructions of Kṛṣṇa or His representative very seriously. This material tendency is mentioned in this verse as grāmya-matiḥ (sense gratification). The word mahīm means “within this material world.” All living entities within this material world are sensually inclined. Consequently they become entangled in different types of bodies and suffer the pangs of material existence.</div>
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<div class="sub_section" id="SB_Canto_6" text="SB Canto 6"><h3>SB Canto 6</h3></div>

<div class="quote" book="SB" link="SB 6.1.53" link_text="SB 6.1.53, Purport">
<div class="heading">The duty of a human being is to understand that since he is essentially spirit, he must abide by the spiritual tendency and not be carried away by material tendencies</div>

<div class="text">'''[[Vanisource:SB 6.1.53|SB 6.1.53, Purport]]:''' One’s original natural tendency is to act in Kṛṣṇa consciousness because one’s real nature is spiritual. The duty of a human being is to understand that since he is essentially spirit, he must abide by the spiritual tendency and not be carried away by material tendencies. Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura has therefore sung:

: (miche) māyāra vaśe, yāccha bhese’,
: khāccha hābuḍubu, bhāi

“My dear brothers, you are being carried away by the waves of material energy and are suffering in many miserable conditions. Sometimes you are drowning in the waves of material nature, and sometimes you are tossed like a swimmer struggling in the ocean.” As confirmed by Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura, this tendency to be battered by the waves of māyā can be changed to one’s original, natural tendency, which is spiritual, when the living entity comes to understand that he is eternally kṛṣṇa-dāsa, a servant of God, Kṛṣṇa.</div>
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<div class="section" id="Sri_Caitanya-caritamrta" text="Sri Caitanya-caritamrta"><h2>Sri Caitanya-caritamrta</h2></div>

<div class="sub_section" id="CC_Adi-lila" text="CC Adi-lila"><h3>CC Adi-lila</h3></div>

<div class="quote" book="CC" link="CC Adi 6.14–15" link_text="CC Adi 6.14–15, Purport">
<div class="heading">Material tendencies as bodily intuition cannot be accepted as independent, for they suggest the existence of a spirit soul within the body</div>

<div class="text">'''[[Vanisource:CC Adi 6.14–15|CC Adi 6.14–15, Purport]]:''' “Sometimes the material scientist suggests that trees grow from the earth automatically, without assistance from a gardener, because that is a tendency of matter. They also consider the intuition of living creatures from birth to be material. But such material tendencies as bodily intuition cannot be accepted as independent, for they suggest the existence of a spirit soul within the body. Actually, neither the tree nor any other body of a living creature has any tendency or intuition; the tendency and intuition exist because the soul is present within the body. In this connection, the example of a car and driver may be given very profitably. The car has a tendency to turn right and left, but one cannot say that the car itself, as matter, turns right and left without the direction of a driver. A material car has neither tendencies nor intuitions independent of the intentions of the driver within the car. The same principle applies for the automatic growth of trees in the forest. The growth takes place because of the soul’s presence within the tree.</div>
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<div class="section" id="Other_Books_by_Srila_Prabhupada" text="Other Books by Srila Prabhupada"><h2>Other Books by Srila Prabhupada</h2></div>

<div class="sub_section" id="Krsna,_The_Supreme_Personality_of_Godhead" text="Krsna, The Supreme Personality of Godhead"><h3>Krsna, The Supreme Personality of Godhead</h3></div>

<div class="quote" book="OB" link="KB 16" link_text="Krsna Book, Chapter 16, Subduing Kaliya">
<div class="heading">My dear Lord, kindly excuse me for my inevitable material tendencies. I surrender unto You. Now You can punish me or save me, as You desire</div>

<div class="text">'''[[Vanisource:KB 16|Krsna Book, Chapter 16, Subduing Kaliya]]:''' “My dear Lord,” Kāliya continued, “You are the original creator of the modes of material nature, by which the universe is created. You are the cause of the different kinds of mentality possessed by living creatures, by which they have obtained different varieties of bodies. My dear Lord, I am born as a serpent; therefore, by natural instinct I am very angry. How is it then possible to give up my acquired nature without Your mercy? It is very difficult to get out of the clutches of Your māyā. By Your māyā we remain enslaved. My dear Lord, kindly excuse me for my inevitable material tendencies. I surrender unto You. Now You can punish me or save me, as You desire.”</div>
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<div class="section" id="Correspondence" text="Correspondence"><h2>Correspondence</h2></div>

<div class="sub_section" id="1975_Correspondence" text="1975 Correspondence"><h3>1975 Correspondence</h3></div>

<div class="quote" book="Let" link="Letter to Jagaddhatri, Pasupati, Sailogata, Pamela -- Dallas 30 July, 1975" link_text="Letter to Jagaddhatri, Pasupati, Sailogata, Pamela -- Dallas 30 July, 1975">
<div class="heading">Preaching purifies us of these material tendencies for sense gratification</div>

<div class="text">'''[[Vanisource:Letter to Jagaddhatri, Pasupati, Sailogata, Pamela -- Dallas 30 July, 1975|Letter to Jagaddhatri, Pasupati, Sailogata, Pamela -- Dallas 30 July, 1975]]:''' Aggression for the cause of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu is pure. If you become completely absorbed in such aggression to spread Sankirtana Movement, there will be no question of wanting to lord it over in the temple. Preaching purifies us of these material tendencies for sense gratification. It is simply a matter of time that you will see this. Do not worry. Krishna will help you.
I hope this meets you in good health.
Your ever well wisher,
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami</div>
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Material source

2013-08-02T07:40:35Z

Stritama:

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<div class="section" id="Srimad-Bhagavatam" text="Srimad-Bhagavatam"><h2>Srimad-Bhagavatam</h2></div>

<div class="sub_section" id="SB_Canto_2" text="SB Canto 2"><h3>SB Canto 2</h3></div>

<div class="quote" book="SB" link="SB 2.8.9" link_text="SB 2.8.9, Translation">
<div class="heading">Brahmā was not born of a material source but of the lotus flower coming out of the navel abdomen of the Lord.</div>

<div class="text">'''[[Vanisource:SB 2.8.9|SB 2.8.9, Translation]]: Brahmā, who was not born of a material source but of the lotus flower coming out of the navel abdomen of the Lord, is the creator of all those who are materially born. Of course, by the grace of the Lord, Brahmā was able to see the form of the Lord.'''</div>
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<div class="sub_section" id="SB_Canto_6" text="SB Canto 6"><h3>SB Canto 6</h3></div>

<div class="quote" book="SB" link="SB 6.16.26" link_text="SB 6.16.26, Purport">
<div class="heading">The youth are practically disgusted with material pleasure from material sources, and this has resulted in a population of hippies throughout the Western countries.</div>

<div class="text">'''[[Vanisource:SB 6.16.26|SB 6.16.26, Purport]]:''' The Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is progressing successfully in the Western countries at the present moment because the youth in the West have reached the stage of vairāgya, or renunciation. They are practically disgusted with material pleasure from material sources, and this has resulted in a population of hippies throughout the Western countries. Now if these young people are instructed about bhakti-yoga, Kṛṣṇa consciousness, the instructions will certainly be effective.</div>
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<div class="section" id="Other_Books_by_Srila_Prabhupada" text="Other Books by Srila Prabhupada"><h2>Other Books by Srila Prabhupada</h2></div>

<div class="sub_section" id="Light_of_the_Bhagavata" text="Light of the Bhagavata"><h3>Light of the Bhagavata</h3></div>

<div class="quote" book="OB" link="LOB 4" link_text="Light of the Bhagavata 4">
<div class="heading">Permanent happiness is possible when one is free from material sources of happiness.</div>

<div class="text">'''[[Vanisource:LOB 4|Light of the Bhagavata 4]]:''' Our duty is to achieve permanent happiness and eternal life, and it is for that purpose only—for the ultimate gain—that we should undertake all sorts of penances and austerities.
This ultimate gain is possible to achieve in the human form of life. permanent happiness is possible when one is free from material sources of happiness, for continuation of material bondage means continuation of the threefold miseries. Human life is meant for ending these miseries.</div>
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<div class="section" id="Correspondence" text="Correspondence"><h2>Correspondence</h2></div>

<div class="sub_section" id="1972_Correspondence" text="1972 Correspondence"><h3>1972 Correspondence</h3></div>

<div class="quote" book="Let" link="Letter to Caturbhuja -- Mayapur 28 February, 1972" link_text="Letter to Caturbhuja -- Mayapur 28 February, 1972">
<div class="heading">Krishna prasada is never contaminated by any material source.</div>

<div class="text">'''[[Vanisource:Letter to Caturbhuja -- Mayapur 28 February, 1972|Letter to Caturbhuja -- Mayapur 28 February, 1972]]:''' Krishna Prasad is always all right. The consideration of spoiling foodstuff after 3 hours, that is ordinary or it is so for persons who are not advanced in accepting Krishna prasada as transcendental, just like Ragunatha Goswami: he was collecting rejected rice from the cooking of Lord Jagannatha and he was eating only that. So this is a higher stage, so for the time being you should know that Krishna prasada is never contaminated by any material source.</div>
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Material realization

2013-08-02T06:18:44Z

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<div class="section" id="Lectures" text="Lectures"><h2>Lectures</h2></div>

<div class="sub_section" id="General_Lectures" text="General Lectures"><h3>General Lectures</h3></div>

<div class="quote" book="Lec" link="Lecture Excerpt -- Boston, May 5, 1969" link_text="Lecture Excerpt -- Boston, May 5, 1969">
<div class="heading">Spiritual realization is easier than any kind of material realization because we are not meant for material realization</div>

<div class="text">'''[[Vanisource:Lecture Excerpt -- Boston, May 5, 1969|Lecture Excerpt -- Boston, May 5, 1969]]::''' Tasmād guruṁ prapadyeta jijñāsuḥ śreya uttamam [SB 11.3.21]. That is the injunction of all Vedic literature. Just like Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa is teaching Arjuna. Arjuna is surrendering to Kṛṣṇa, śiṣyas te 'ham māṁ prapannam: [Bg. 2.7] "My dear Kṛṣṇa, so long I was speaking with You just as friends. Now I surrender unto You as Your student, as Your disciple. You become my spiritual master and teach me properly." This is the process. Arjuna is exampling himself that he's accepting Kṛṣṇa as the spiritual master, teacher. And then Kṛṣṇa began to teach the Bhagavad-gītā, and he changed his decision, and he was freed from all anxieties. This is spiritual life. So this spiritual realization is easier than any kind of material realization because we are not meant for material realization. We are meant for spiritual realization, the human form. So that we should take advantage of. That is the mission of human form of life. If we miss this, then we are committing suicide.</div>
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<div class="sub_section" id="Philosophy_Discussions" text="Philosophy Discussions"><h3>Philosophy Discussions</h3></div>

<div class="quote" book="Lec" link="Philosophy Discussion on William James" link_text="Philosophy Discussion on William James">
<div class="heading">There is no material realization. No more material realization means no more forgetfulness of our eternal relationship with God</div>

<div class="text">'''[[Vanisource:Philosophy Discussion on William James|Philosophy Discussion on William James]]:'''

Prabhupāda: There is no material realization. No more material realization means no more forgetfulness of our eternal relationship with God. Then it is spiritual.</div>
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<div class="section" id="Correspondence" text="Correspondence"><h2>Correspondence</h2></div>

<div class="sub_section" id="1970_Correspondence" text="1970 Correspondence"><h3>1970 Correspondence</h3></div>

<div class="quote" book="Let" link="Letter to Unknown -- Los Angeles 12 April, 1970" link_text="Letter to Unknown -- Los Angeles 12 April, 1970">
<div class="heading">When God-realization is there distinguished from material realization, this is called liberated stage of transcendental enlightenment</div>

<div class="text">'''[[Vanisource:Letter to Unknown -- Los Angeles 12 April, 1970|Letter to Unknown -- Los Angeles 12 April, 1970]]:''' The first class religion is therefore that which teaches human being love of God because religion means to understand one's position in relationship with God. This God-realization also depends on three phases of life. When God-realization is there distinguished from material realization, this is called liberated stage of transcendental enlightenment.</div>
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<div class="sub_section" id="1977_Correspondence" text="1977 Correspondence"><h3>1977 Correspondence</h3></div>

<div class="quote" book="Let" link="Letter to Inquirer -- Boston Unknown Date" link_text="Letter to Inquirer -- Boston Unknown Date">
<div class="heading">When God realization is there, distinguished from material realization, this is called the liberated stage of transcendental enlightenment</div>

<div class="text">'''[[Vanisource:Letter to Inquirer -- Boston Unknown Date|Letter to Inquirer -- Boston Unknown Date]]:''' This God realization also depends on three phases of life. When God realization is there, distinguished from material realization, this is called the liberated stage of transcendental enlightenment. The next stage is to realize God everywhere in His localized aspect, and the highest stage of God realization is to know Him as the Supreme Person—all-powerful, full of all riches, all reputation, all beauty, all wisdom, and all renunciation.</div>
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Material opportunities

2013-08-02T06:13:29Z

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<div class="section" id="Srimad-Bhagavatam" text="Srimad-Bhagavatam"><h2>Srimad-Bhagavatam</h2></div>

<div class="sub_section" id="SB_Canto_6" text="SB Canto 6"><h3>SB Canto 6</h3></div>

<div class="quote" book="SB" link="SB 6.9.44" link_text="SB 6.9.44, Purport">
<div class="heading">Admitting that they have forgotten pure devotional service because of extensive material opportunities, the demigods fully surrender to the Lord</div>

<div class="text">'''[[Vanisource:SB 6.9.44|SB 6.9.44, Purport]]:''' The four classes of neophyte devotees who approach the Supreme Personality of Godhead to offer devotional service because of material motives are not pure devotees, but the advantage for such materialistic devotees is that they sometimes give up their material desires and become pure. When the demigods are utterly helpless, they approach the Supreme Personality of Godhead in grief and with tears in their eyes, praying to the Lord, and thus they become almost pure devotees, free from material desires. Admitting that they have forgotten pure devotional service because of extensive material opportunities, they fully surrender to the Lord, leaving to His consideration whether to maintain them or annihilate them. Such surrender is necessary. Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura sings, mārabi rākhabi-yo icchā tohārā: "O Lord, I fully surrender unto Your lotus feet. Now, as You desire, You may protect me or annihilate me. You have the full right to do either."</div>
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<div class="quote" book="SB" link="SB 6.11.25" link_text="SB 6.11.25, Purport">
<div class="heading">A pure devotee never desires to gain material opportunities by rendering transcendental loving service to the Lord</div>

<div class="text">'''[[Vanisource:SB 6.11.25|SB 6.11.25, Purport]]:''' A pure devotee never desires to gain material opportunities by rendering transcendental loving service to the Lord. A pure devotee desires only to engage in loving service to the Lord in the constant association of the Lord and His eternal associates, as stated in the previous verse (dāsānudāso bhavitāsmi). As confirmed by Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura:

: tāṅdera caraṇa sevi bhakta-sane vāsa
: janame janame haya, ei abhilāṣa

To serve the Lord and the servants of His servants, in the association of devotees, is the only objective of a pure, unalloyed devotee.</div>
</div>

<div class="sub_section" id="SB_Canto_9" text="SB Canto 9"><h3>SB Canto 9</h3></div>

<div class="quote" book="CC" link="CC Madhya 9.269" link_text="CC Madhya 9.269, Translation">
<div class="heading">For a pure devotee whose mind is always engaged in the service of the Lord, even liberation, or merging into the existence of the Lord, is insignificant. And what to speak of material opportunities</div>

<div class="text">'''[[Vanisource:CC Madhya 9.269|CC Madhya 9.269, Translation]]: ‘It is very difficult to give up material opulence, land, children, society, friends, riches, wife or the blessings of the goddess of fortune, which are desired even by great demigods. But King Bharata did not desire such things, and this was quite befitting his position, because for a pure devotee whose mind is always engaged in the service of the Lord, even liberation, or merging into the existence of the Lord, is insignificant. And what to speak of material opportunities?’'''</div>
</div>

<div class="section" id="Sri_Caitanya-caritamrta" text="Sri Caitanya-caritamrta"><h2>Sri Caitanya-caritamrta</h2></div>

<div class="sub_section" id="CC_Madhya-lila" text="CC Madhya-lila"><h3>CC Madhya-lila</h3></div>

<div class="quote" book="CC" link="CC Madhya 9.269" link_text="CC Madhya 9.269, Translation">
<div class="heading">For a pure devotee whose mind is always engaged in the service of the Lord, even liberation, or merging into the existence of the Lord, is insignificant. And what to speak of material opportunities?</div>

<div class="text">'''[[Vanisource:CC Madhya 9.269|CC Madhya 9.269, Translation]]: “‘It is very difficult to give up material opulence, land, children, society, friends, riches, wife or the blessings of the goddess of fortune, which are desired even by great demigods. But King Bharata did not desire such things, and this was quite befitting his position, because for a pure devotee whose mind is always engaged in the service of the Lord, even liberation, or merging into the existence of the Lord, is insignificant. And what to speak of material opportunities?’'''</div>
</div>

<div class="section" id="Correspondence" text="Correspondence"><h2>Correspondence</h2></div>

<div class="sub_section" id="1970_Correspondence" text="1970 Correspondence"><h3>1970 Correspondence</h3></div>

<div class="quote" book="Let" link="Letter to Jagadisa -- Los Angeles 9 July, 1970" link_text="Letter to Jagadisa -- Los Angeles 9 July, 1970">
<div class="heading">For those who are hankering after material opportunities the Lord as Supersoul is giving them the opportunities to enjoy the material nature and the facility is being supplied by the material nature</div>

<div class="text">'''[[Vanisource:Letter to Jagadisa -- Los Angeles 9 July, 1970|Letter to Jagadisa -- Los Angeles 9 July, 1970]]:''' Regarding your questions with reference to B.G. III,5, and the Vedic hymn quoted in the purport to B.g. 14.15 and the statement ". . . when the living entity is bewildered in his desires, the Lord allows him to fulfill those desires . . ." You have quoted, "The Lord engages the living entity in pious activities so he may be elevated. The Lord engages him in impious activities so he may go to hell . . ." So that is also originally the individual soul's desire and as Supersoul the Lord is giving everyone the opportunity to go to heaven or to hell or to Vaikuntha if he so desires. For those who are hankering after material opportunities the Lord as Supersoul is giving them the opportunities to enjoy the material nature and the facility is being supplied by the material nature.</div>
</div>
</div>

Spiritual tastes

2013-08-02T06:09:27Z

Stritama:

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<div class="section" id="Srimad-Bhagavatam" text="Srimad-Bhagavatam"><h2>Srimad-Bhagavatam</h2></div>

<div class="sub_section" id="SB_Canto_1" text="SB Canto 1"><h3>SB Canto 1</h3></div>

<div class="quote" book="SB" link="SB 1.1.3" link_text="SB 1.1.3 Purport">
<div class="heading">The highest spiritual realization is knowledge that the Personality of Godhead is the reservoir of all spiritual tastes, or rasas</div>

<div class="text">'''[[Vanisource:SB 1.1.3|SB 1.1.3 Purport]]:''' The Vedas are compared to the desire tree because they contain all things knowable by man. They deal with mundane necessities as well as spiritual realization. The Vedas contain regulated principles of knowledge covering social, political, religious, economic, military, medicinal, chemical, physical and metaphysical subject matter and all that may be necessary to keep the body and soul together. Above and beyond all this are specific directions for spiritual realization. Regulated knowledge involves a gradual raising of the living entity to the spiritual platform, and the highest spiritual realization is knowledge that the Personality of Godhead is the reservoir of all spiritual tastes, or rasas.</div>
</div>

<div class="section" id="Conversations_and_Morning_Walks" text="Conversations and Morning Walks"><h2>Conversations and Morning Walks</h2></div>

<div class="sub_section" id="1974_Conversations_and_Morning_Walks" text="1974 Conversations and Morning Walks"><h3>1974 Conversations and Morning Walks</h3></div>

<div class="quote" book="Con" link="Morning Walk at Marina del Rey -- July 14, 1974, Los Angeles" link_text="Morning Walk at Marina del Rey -- July 14, 1974, Los Angeles">
<div class="heading">Bhakti means enhancing spiritual taste. That is bhakti. And as he increases his spiritual taste, he becomes detestful to this material enjoyment. This is the taste</div>

<div class="text">'''[[Vanisource:Morning Walk at Marina del Rey -- July 14, 1974, Los Angeles|Morning Walk at Marina del Rey -- July 14, 1974, Los Angeles]]:'''

Prabhupāda: Bhakti means enhancing spiritual taste. That is bhakti. Bhaktiḥ pareśānubhavo viraktir anyatra syāt [SB 11.2.42]. And as he increases his spiritual taste, he becomes (sic:) detestful to this material enjoyment. This is the taste.</div>
</div>

<div class="sub_section" id="1975_Conversations_and_Morning_Walks" text="1975 Conversations and Morning Walks"><h3>1975 Conversations and Morning Walks</h3></div>

<div class="quote" book="Con" link="Morning Walk -- May 21, 1975, Melbourne" link_text="Morning Walk -- May 21, 1975, Melbourne">
<div class="heading">Spiritual life means curing the contamination of material disease. That is spiritual life. And when you are purified, you relish the spiritual taste</div>

<div class="text">'''[[Vanisource:Morning Walk -- May 21, 1975, Melbourne|Morning Walk -- May 21, 1975, Melbourne]]:'''

Prabhupāda: Our existence is now impure. Therefore we have to accept birth, death, old age, and disease. And when it is purified, without any contamination, then there is no birth, death, old age. In diseased condition you cannot relish. Even if you are given actually rasagullā you will not taste it very nice. If there is no appetite, even it is rasagullā, it is useless. Spiritual life means curing the contamination of material disease. That is spiritual life. And when you are purified, you relish the spiritual taste.</div>
</div>

<div class="sub_section" id="1976_Conversations_and_Morning_Walks" text="1976 Conversations and Morning Walks"><h3>1976 Conversations and Morning Walks</h3></div>

<div class="quote" book="Con" link="Morning Walk -- July 5, 1976, Washington, D.C." link_text="Morning Walk -- July 5, 1976, Washington, D.C.">
<div class="heading">The more we minimize this āhāra-nidrā-bhaya-maithuna, this means we are advanced in spiritual taste</div>

<div class="text">'''[[Vanisource:Morning Walk -- July 5, 1976, Washington, D.C.|Morning Walk -- July 5, 1976, Washington, D.C.]]:'''

Prabhupāda: Eating, sleeping, sex and defense. Āhāra-nidrā-bhaya-maithuna. They're required. So long we have got this body, we require to eat something, we require to sleep sometimes, we require a little sense gratification, and we require defense. But it should be minimized, not increased. That is tapasya. In the human life this is possible, this is possible. Nidrāhāra-vihārakādi-vijitau **. One can conquer over these things, by practice. The more we minimize this āhāra-nidrā-bhaya-maithuna, this means we are advanced in spiritual taste.(?) It is practiced. My, my personal life, I don't sleep at night. And nowadays, at most, one hour. Yes. But I take rest in the daytime, at least two to three hours. So it is not that I am sleeping one hour. I sleep three to four hours total. But if practiced, it can be reduced, practiced.</div>
</div>
</div>

Material divisions

2013-07-31T08:35:05Z

Stritama:

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<div class="section" id="Srimad-Bhagavatam" text="Srimad-Bhagavatam"><h2>Srimad-Bhagavatam</h2></div>

<div class="sub_section" id="SB_Canto_5" text="SB Canto 5"><h3>SB Canto 5</h3></div>
<div class="quote" book="SB" link="SB 5.7.4" link_text="SB 5.7.4, Purport">
<div class="heading">It is the duty of the government to see that the citizens act according to these material divisions for their spiritual advancement</div>

<div class="text">'''[[Vanisource:SB 5.7.4|SB 5.7.4, Purport]]:''' It is most important that the chief executive rule the citizens by keeping them fully engaged in their respective occupational duties. Some of the citizens were brāhmaṇas, some were kṣatriyas, and some were vaiśyas and śūdras. It is the duty of the government to see that the citizens act according to these material divisions for their spiritual advancement. No one should remain unemployed or unoccupied in any way. One must work as a brāhmaṇa, kṣatriya, vaiśya or śūdra on the material path. and on the spiritual path, everyone should act as a brahmacārī, gṛhastha, vānaprastha or sannyāsī. Although formerly the government was a monarchy, all the kings were very affectionate toward the citizens, and they strictly kept them engaged in their respective duties. Therefore society was very smoothly conducted.</div>
</div>

<div class="section" id="Sri_Caitanya-caritamrta" text="Sri Caitanya-caritamrta"><h2>Sri Caitanya-caritamrta</h2></div>

<div class="sub_section" id="CC_Antya-lila" text="CC Antya-lila"><h3>CC Antya-lila</h3></div>

<div class="quote" book="CC" link="CC Antya 6.294" link_text="CC Antya 6.294, Purport">
<div class="heading">If one thinks that the worshipable śālagrāma-śilā is a mere stone, that the spiritual master is an ordinary human being or that a pure Vaiṣṇava preaching the bhakti cult all over the world is a member of a particular caste or material division of society, he is considered a nārakī, a candidate for hellish life</div>

<div class="text">'''[[Vanisource:CC Antya 6.294|CC Antya 6.294, Purport]]:''' Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura writes in his Anubhāṣya that in the opinion of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, the govardhana-śilā, the stone from Govardhana Hill, was directly the form of Kṛṣṇa, the son of Mahārāja Nanda. The Lord used the stone for three years, and then in the heart of Raghunātha dāsa the Lord awakened devotional service to the stone. The Lord then gave the stone to Raghunātha dāsa, accepting him as one of His most confidential servants. However, some envious people conclude that because Raghunātha dāsa had not taken birth in the family of a brāhmaṇa, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu did not give him the right to worship the Deity directly but instead gave him a stone from Govardhana. This kind of thought is nārakī, or hellish. As stated in the Padma Purāṇa, arcye viṣṇau śilā-dhīr guruṣu nara-matir vaiṣṇave jāti-buddhiḥ . . . yasya vā nārakī saḥ. If one thinks that the worshipable śālagrāma-śilā is a mere stone, that the spiritual master is an ordinary human being or that a pure Vaiṣṇava preaching the bhakti cult all over the world is a member of a particular caste or material division of society, he is considered a nārakī, a candidate for hellish life. When Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu instructed that the govardhana-śilā, the stone taken from Govardhana, is nondifferent from the body of Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, He indirectly advised such foolish persons that one should not be envious of a Vaiṣṇava who belongs to a different caste or sect. One should accept a Vaiṣṇava as transcendental. In this way one can be saved; otherwise, one is surely awaiting a hellish life.</div>
</div>

<div class="section" id="Lectures" text="Lectures"><h2>Lectures</h2></div>

<div class="sub_section" id="Bhagavad-gita_As_It_Is_Lectures" text="Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures"><h3>Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures</h3></div>

<div class="quote" book="BG" link="BG 2.40 - London, September 13, 1973" link_text="BG 2.40 - London, September 13, 1973">
<div class="heading">One must be fixed up to his own position. That is the real perfect social system. Now here it is said, tyaktvā sva-dharmam. This is material division. The spiritual is different</div>

<div class="text">'''[[Vanisource:BG 2.40 - London, September 13, 1973|BG 2.40 - London, September 13, 1973]]:''' Because the world is being conducted by the three modes of nature, you cannot find all men of the same category. There must be intelligent class of men, there must be martial spirit, administrative class of men, there must be business minded men. There must be śūdras, they do not know anything, they want to serve only, master. So therefore, scientifically it is divided. Mukha bahu rupadebhyo(?). Just like in your body you find scientifically it is designed by God or Lord Brahmā: "This is brain department, this is arms department, this is belly department, this is leg department." All of them required. You cannot avoid any one of them. This is called sva-dharma. One must be fixed up to his own position. That is the real perfect social system.
Now here it is said, tyaktvā sva-dharmam. This is material division. The spiritual is different. So far... I am combination of matter and spirit; so far my body is concerned, there is division. But when I come to Kṛṣṇa consciousness, it is not like that. That is simply for everyone. Either he's externally a brāhmaṇa, kṣatriya, vaiśya, śūdra, American, Indian, black, white, it doesn't matter. That is bodily. When you come to the spiritual platform, that is one. Because spirit is one.</div>
</div>

<div class="section" id="Conversations_and_Morning_Walks" text="Conversations and Morning Walks"><h2>Conversations and Morning Walks</h2></div>

<div class="sub_section" id="1973_Conversations_and_Morning_Walks" text="1973 Conversations and Morning Walks"><h3>1973 Conversations and Morning Walks</h3></div>

<div class="quote" book="Con" link="Room Conversation with French Journalist and UNESCO Worker -- August 10, 1973, Paris" link_text="Room Conversation with French Journalist and UNESCO Worker -- August 10, 1973, Paris">
<div class="heading">We are transcendental to all these material divisions. This is material division</div>

<div class="text">'''[[Vanisource:Room Conversation with French Journalist and UNESCO Worker -- August 10, 1973, Paris|Room Conversation with French Journalist and UNESCO Worker -- August 10, 1973, Paris]]:'''

Bhagavān: There is, there is kind of socialist or communist philosophy that says that everyone must be able to do the same work in order to be equal.

Prabhupāda: That is not possible. That is rascaldom. We have divided already four classes of men. Even in Russia... Even in Russia, I have seen, they have created two classes, the worker class, the manager class. I have seen it. Yes. So you cannot say that everyone will do the same work. That is not possible. I have given already the example, the brain, the arms, the abdomen and the leg. The leg cannot do the work of brain. Leg can cooperate with the brain, but cannot do the work of brain. This is natural position.

Yogeśvara: He asks: In our society do these four divisions also exist?

Prabhupāda: Yes. Yes.

Yogeśvara: In ISKCON, are there these four divisions?

Prabhupāda: No, we are transcendental to all these material divisions. This is material division.

Yogeśvara: In that case, in which of these four divisions are we?

Prabhupāda: First-class. That is the beginning. But we go above the first-class. [break] Similarly, socially also, you must have four divisions. The reason is the material nature is working under three divisions, goodness, passion and ignorance. In our body also, the brain is working under goodness quality. The arm is working under the influence of passion. The belly is working in between passion and ignorance. And the leg is working under ignorance. Leg cannot work unless there is direction by the brain. At the present moment, the society's working under the influence of passion and ignorance. The brain is lacking now. Therefore we are creating Kṛṣṇa conscious men who has got real brain. Intelligent class of men. So other classes of men who are acting under influence of passion and ignorance, they should take direction from us. And for our directing business, we don't charge anything. And if they follow our direction, they have no loss.</div>
</div>
</div>

Spiritual vibration

2013-07-31T07:54:57Z

Stritama:

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<div class="section" id="Srimad-Bhagavatam" text="Srimad-Bhagavatam"><h2>Srimad-Bhagavatam</h2></div>

<div class="sub_section" id="SB_Canto_4" text="SB Canto 4"><h3>SB Canto 4</h3></div>

<div class="quote" book="SB" link="SB 4.6.30" link_text="SB 4.6.30, Purport">
<div class="heading">The spiritualistic minds of the inhabitants of Vaikuntha are absorbed in the spiritual vibration of chanting the glories of the Lord</div>

<div class="text">'''[[Vanisource:SB 4.6.30|SB 4.6.30, Purport]]:''' In complete contrast with the influence of this atmosphere on the minds of the living entities within the material world is the description of the spiritual world. The women there are hundreds and thousands of times more beautiful than the women here in this material world, and the spiritual atmosphere is also many times better. Yet despite the pleasant atmosphere, the minds of the denizens do not become agitated because in the spiritual world, the Vaikuṇṭha planets, the spiritualistic minds of the inhabitants are so much absorbed in the spiritual vibration of chanting the glories of the Lord that such enjoyment could not be surpassed by any other enjoyment, even sex, which is the culmination of all pleasure in the material world.</div>
</div>

<div class="section" id="Lectures" text="Lectures"><h2>Lectures</h2></div>

<div class="sub_section" id="Bhagavad-gita_As_It_Is_Lectures" text="Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures"><h3>Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures</h3></div>

<div class="quote" book="Lec" link="Lecture on BG 2.9 -- Auckland, February 21, 1973" link_text="Lecture on BG 2.9 -- Auckland, February 21, 1973">
<div class="heading">This transcendental vibration will awaken to spiritual consciousness. This transcendental, spiritual vibration will help you.</div>

<div class="text">'''[[Vanisource:Lecture on BG 2.9 -- Auckland, February 21, 1973|Lecture on BG 2.9 -- Auckland, February 21, 1973]]:'''

Devotee: ...and she wants to know if you can offer a scientific explanation how the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra can give a person...

Prabhupāda: Yes. That is very easy to understand. Suppose you are sleeping, and if I vibrate some sound, you can hear and can wake up. No other method will act. Suppose you are sleeping. Then I have to call "Mr. or Mrs. Such-and-such, please get up, get up, get up." You get up. Similarly, at the present moment it is our sleeping stage. Therefore this transcendental vibration will awaken to spiritual consciousness. Just try to understand. When one is asleep, the sound vibration can help him. Similarly, at the present moment, in our material condition of life we are sleeping. This transcendental, spiritual vibration will help you. That is the process.</div>
</div>

<div class="quote" book="Lec" link="Lecture on BG 2.11 -- Edinburgh, July 16, 1972" link_text="Lecture on BG 2.11 -- Edinburgh, July 16, 1972">
<div class="heading">This Hare Kṛṣṇa movement, it has got a special effect. Don't think this Hare Kṛṣṇa movement is ordinary sound vibration. It is spiritual vibration. It is called mahā-mantra.</div>

<div class="text">'''[[Vanisource:Lecture on BG 2.11 -- Edinburgh, July 16, 1972|Lecture on BG 2.11 -- Edinburgh, July 16, 1972]]:''' So our present situation is that the whole civilization is going on under the wrong impression that everyone is the body. That is not a fact. Therefore, this Kṛṣṇa kīrtana, this Hare Kṛṣṇa movement, it has got a special effect. It is... Don't think this Hare Kṛṣṇa movement is ordinary sound vibration. It is spiritual vibration. It is called mahā-mantra. Mahā-mantra. Just like... I do not know in your country whether there's snake chanters. In India still, there are many snake chanters, enchanters, I am sorry. So they chant some mantra, and a man, snake-bitten, can be revived to his consciousness. Anyone Indian present here, they know. Still. Especially I have seen in Punjab, there are many snake enchanters who know the how to chant the mantras. So if it is physically possible that a dead man... Of course, when a man is bitten by a snake he's not dead. He becomes unconscious. He's not dead. But by this chanting of mantra, he comes to his consciousness. Therefore, it is the system in India, if a man is bitten by a snake, he's not burned, or he's not taken as dead body. He's floated in some lifeboat and given to the water. If he gets chance he may come out again to consciousness.</div>
</div>

<div class="sub_section" id="Srimad-Bhagavatam_Lectures" text="Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures"><h3>Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures</h3></div>

<div class="quote" book="Lec" link="Lecture on SB 2.1.5 -- Los Angeles, August 13, 1972" link_text="Lecture on SB 2.1.5 -- Los Angeles, August 13, 1972">
<div class="heading">In the material world, if I say, "Let there be some mango," That is not possible. But in the spiritual vibration, that is possible. This vibration is not material. Kṛṣṇa personality is also transcendental, spiritual.</div>

<div class="text">'''[[Vanisource:Lecture on SB 2.1.5 -- Los Angeles, August 13, 1972|Lecture on SB 2.1.5 -- Los Angeles, August 13, 1972]]:''' So Kṛṣṇa and His pastimes, His name, quality, paraphernalia, entourage, everything is spiritual. That is accepted by great scholars like Śaṅkarācārya. He says: nārāyaṇa parā. "Nārāyaṇa, or the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is beyond this material world." There are many examples. In your Bible also, those who are Christians, God said, "Let there be creation." So there was creation. Now this world, this word is not vibration of this material world. In the material world, if I say, "Let there be some mango," so no. That is not possible. But in the spiritual vibration, that is possible. That is possible. So the study is that God said, "Let there be creation." So there was creation. Now this word existed before the creation, because "Let there be creation" means when God is speaking there was no creation. And the creation means this material world. Therefore this vibration is not material. So when God is saying, "Let there be creation," then He's a person. Therefore His personality is also transcendental, spiritual. Otherwise how He speaks? These things are there in the Vedic literature. Sa aikṣata: "He glanced over, and there was creation." And Bhagavad-gītā also it is said that mayādhyakṣeṇa prakṛtiḥ sūyate sa-carācaram [Bg. 9.10].</div>
</div>

<div class="sub_section" id="Nectar_of_Devotion_Lectures" text="Nectar of Devotion Lectures"><h3>Nectar of Devotion Lectures</h3></div>

<div class="quote" book="Lec" link="The Nectar of Devotion -- Bombay, January 4, 1973" link_text="The Nectar of Devotion -- Bombay, January 4, 1973">
<div class="heading">Even they do not understand what is Hare Kṛṣṇa, if you chant loudly Hare Kṛṣṇa, even the ants and insect who is hearing, he'll be delivered, because it is spiritual vibration. It will act for everyone.</div>

<div class="text">'''[[Vanisource:The Nectar of Devotion -- Bombay, January 4, 1973|The Nectar of Devotion -- Bombay, January 4, 1973]]:''' We love everyone, even the animals. But because human beings can understand the Kṛṣṇa philosophy, therefore we hold meetings of the human beings. But still, whenever we get opportunity, we give protection to the animals. We give them prasādam. We do not prohibit even some animal comes to hear. They also hear some, sometimes. The hear, hearing is there. Everyone can hear. Even they do not understand what is Hare Kṛṣṇa, if you chant loudly Hare Kṛṣṇa, even the ants and insect who is hearing, he'll be delivered, because it is spiritual vibration. It will act for everyone. We... Just like fire. The fire will act, either you are human being or insect. If you touch fire, it will do its work. Similarly, Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra is transcendental vibration. When we chant loudly, anyone who hears—it doesn't matter whether he's man, animal, tree, insect—anyone who will hear, he'll get profit. This is transcendental vibration. Just like when there is... Not to speak of this transcendental vibration, even the vibration of cloud, that is also Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa says in the Bhagavad-gītā: śabdaḥ khe pauruṣaṁ nṛṇām. Raso 'ham apsu kaunteya prabhāsmi śaśi-sūryayoḥ [Bg. 7.8].</div>
</div>

<div class="sub_section" id="General_Lectures" text="General Lectures"><h3>General Lectures</h3></div>

<div class="quote" book="Lec" link="Lecture on Maha-mantra -- New York, September 8, 1966" link_text="Lecture on Maha-mantra -- New York, September 8, 1966">
<div class="heading">This sound vibration of the spiritual world is here so that even in this material world, where there is a scarcity of that spiritual fire, we can appreciate, we can feel, the warmth of that fire. So this is the meaning of, spiritual vibration.</div>

<div class="text">'''[[Vanisource:Lecture on Maha-mantra -- New York, September 8, 1966|Lecture on Maha-mantra -- New York, September 8, 1966]]:''' There is a link between the fire and the earth. But the work of the fire, the benefit of the fire, can be had at the last stage, when there is real ignition of fire. Similarly, there is link. The whole material cosmic situation, manifestation, what we see, it is just like the smoke. The fire is behind it. That is spiritual sky. But still, in the smoke, you can feel some heat also. So similarly, this sound vibration of the spiritual world is here so that even in this material world, where there is a scarcity of that spiritual fire, we can appreciate, we can feel, the warmth of that fire.
So this is the meaning of, in a nutshell, meaning of this, I mean to say, spiritual vibration. And grammatical meaning is these, all these words, sixteen words: Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/ Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare, sixteen... Now, according to grammatical rules, when somebody is addressed... Just like in your English language it is, note of address is, "O Mr. such and such," similarly, in grammar, Sanskrit grammar, the same note of address, which is called sambodhana, that is expressed in this way. So Hare, Hare is the note of address form of the sound Harā. Harā. Harā means the potency of the Supreme Lord, potency. The Supreme Lord is represented everywhere by His potency.</div>
</div>

<div class="quote" book="Lec" link="Lecture at Wayside Chapel -- Sydney, May 13, 1971" link_text="Lecture at Wayside Chapel -- Sydney, May 13, 1971">
<div class="heading">One doesn't require to understand what is Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra, but because it is spiritual vibration, it appeals to the spirit soul, and immediately he become ecstatic. That is the process.</div>

<div class="text">'''[[Vanisource:Lecture at Wayside Chapel -- Sydney, May 13, 1971|Lecture at Wayside Chapel -- Sydney, May 13, 1971]]:''' "If anyone understands in truth," tyaktvā deham, "then such person, after giving up this body," punar janma naiti, "do not come to take birth again in this material world, but he comes to Me." Mām eti. And if you come back to Kṛṣṇa, wherefrom you generated, then you become eternally living, not to come back again in this material world full of miseries and frustration.
So these informations are there, and our propaganda is to train people how to become Kṛṣṇa conscious, how to understand Kṛṣṇa in truth so that next life, after giving up this body, you get your original, spiritual body, and you live forever with complete knowledge and blissful life. And to understand Kṛṣṇa, in this age it is very simple: this chanting process. This chanting process—Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/ Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare—it is simple. Even a child can chant. We have got experience. When we hold meetings, unless one is very obstinate, he joins and chants Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra and dances also with ecstasy. He doesn't require to understand what is Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra, but because it is spiritual vibration, it appeals to the spirit soul, and immediately he become ecstatic. That is the process. So by chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra, your heart, the mirror of your heart, becomes cleansed so that you can see.</div>
</div>
</div>

Spiritual ocean

2013-07-31T07:06:32Z

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<div class="section" id="Srimad-Bhagavatam" text="Srimad-Bhagavatam"><h2>Srimad-Bhagavatam</h2></div>

<div class="sub_section" id="SB_Canto_2" text="SB Canto 2"><h3>SB Canto 2</h3></div>

<div class="quote" book="SB" link="SB 2.6.36" link_text="SB 2.6.36, Purport">
<div class="heading">The material ocean is stagnant, but the spiritual ocean is dynamic.</div>

<div class="text">'''[[Vanisource:SB 2.6.36|SB 2.6.36, Purport]]:''' Spiritual happiness is ānandāmbudhi-vardhanam, or the ocean of happiness which increases. The material ocean is stagnant, but the spiritual ocean is dynamic. In the Caitanya-caritāmṛta, (Ādi-līlā, Fourth Chapter) Kavirāja Gosvāmī has very nicely described this dynamic increment of the ocean of spiritual happiness in the transcendental person of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī, the pleasure potency of Lord Kṛṣṇa.</div>
</div>

<div class="section" id="Lectures" text="Lectures"><h2>Lectures</h2></div>

<div class="sub_section" id="Srimad-Bhagavatam_Lectures" text="Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures"><h3>Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures</h3></div>

<div class="quote" book="Lec" link="Lecture on SB 2.4.1 -- Los Angeles, June 24, 1972" link_text="Lecture on SB 2.4.1 -- Los Angeles, June 24, 1972">
<div class="heading">This material creation is like that. It is just like a cloud in the vast spiritual ocean, sky.</div>

<div class="text">'''[[Vanisource:Lecture on SB 2.4.1 -- Los Angeles, June 24, 1972|Lecture on SB 2.4.1 -- Los Angeles, June 24, 1972]]:''' This material world... There was no material world. Simply there was spiritual world. Just like when all of a sudden cloud appears in the sky. The sky was there, the cloud has appeared. Similarly, this material creation is like that. It is just like a cloud in the vast spiritual ocean, sky. The sky is spiritual. This sky in which we are now existing, that is not spiritual. Just like the sky, covered by the clouds, is the same sky, but it is covered. Similarly, we are living within the covered sky, and if you penetrate the cover, then you go to the spiritual sky. While going to the spiritual sky, you have to give up your body.</div>
</div>

<div class="quote" book="Lec" link="Lecture on SB 7.9.13-14 -- Montreal, August 22, 1968" link_text="Lecture on SB 7.9.13-14 -- Montreal, August 22, 1968">
<div class="heading">The spiritual ocean is so nice that it increased, and the enjoyer of that ānanda, he also increases.</div>

<div class="text">'''[[Vanisource:Lecture on SB 7.9.13-14 -- Montreal, August 22, 1968|Lecture on SB 7.9.13-14 -- Montreal, August 22, 1968]]:''' Ānandāmbudhi-vardhanam. And the more and more you get relish in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, your transcendental pleasure becomes more and more appreciated. It is so nice. Ānandāmbudhi-vardhanam. Caitanya Mahāprabhu has said, ambudhi... Ambudhi means ocean. In the ordinary course, the ocean does not increase. If ocean would have increased, then there would..., so many towns would have been washed away. Sometimes it happens of course, temporarily. But anandāmbudhi. The spiritual ocean is so nice that it increased, and the enjoyer of that ānanda, he also increases.</div>
</div>

<div class="quote" book="Lec" link="Lecture on SB Lecture -- Melbourne, May 19, 1975" link_text="Lecture on SB Lecture -- Melbourne, May 19, 1975">
<div class="heading">So this ocean does not increase, but when you come to the spiritual ocean of ānanda, blissfulness, it will increase daily.</div>

<div class="text">'''[[Vanisource:Lecture on SB Lecture -- Melbourne, May 19, 1975|Lecture on SB Lecture -- Melbourne, May 19, 1975]]:''' And as soon as you become cleansed of all dirty things, then your actual progress of life begins. Just like kairava-candrikā, just like the moon, on the first day it is just like a line, then gradually increases; the body and the moonshine increases. Therefore this comparison is given. The more you become Kṛṣṇa consciousm the shining of your life increases. Śreyaḥ-kairava-candrikā-vitaraṇaṁ vidyā-vadhū-jīvanam. Then this life will be full of knowledge. Vidyā-vadhū-jīvanam. Ānandāmbudhi-vardhanam. And to increase the life of knowledge means ananda. Ānanda means pleasure. We want pleasure. So you will get more and more pleasing life. Ānandāmbudhi-vardhanam. And prati-padaṁ pūrṇāmṛtāsvādanam. And every step of life, as we are... In the material way of life we are experienced, only unpleasure, difficulties, the just opposite. Ānandāmbudhi-vard... Āmbudhi means the ocean. So this ocean does not increase, but when you come to the spiritual ocean of ānanda, blissfulness, it will increase daily.</div>
</div>
</div>

Spiritual regulative principles

2013-07-31T07:00:29Z

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<div class="section" id="Srimad-Bhagavatam" text="Srimad-Bhagavatam"><h2>Srimad-Bhagavatam</h2></div>

<div class="sub_section" id="SB_Canto_1" text="SB Canto 1"><h3>SB Canto 1</h3></div>

<div class="quote" book="SB" link="SB 1.13.47" link_text="SB 1.13.47, Purport">
<div class="heading">The spiritual regulative principles, however, do not allow a man to slaughter weaker animals on one side and teach others peaceful coexistence.</div>

<div class="text">'''[[Vanisource:SB 1.13.47|SB 1.13.47, Purport]]:''' Exploitation of the weaker living being by the stronger is the natural law of existence; there is always an attempt to devour the weak in different kingdoms of living beings. There is no possibility of checking this tendency by any artificial means under material conditions; it can be checked only by awakening the spiritual sense of the human being by practice of spiritual regulations. The spiritual regulative principles, however, do not allow a man to slaughter weaker animals on one side and teach others peaceful coexistence. If man does not allow the animals peaceful coexistence, how can he expect peaceful existence in human society? The blind leaders must therefore understand the Supreme Being and then try to implement the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God, or Rāma-rājya, is impossible without the awakening of God consciousness in the mass mind of the people of the world.</div>
</div>

<div class="section" id="Lectures" text="Lectures"><h2>Lectures</h2></div>

<div class="sub_section" id="Bhagavad-gita_As_It_Is_Lectures" text="Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures"><h3>Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures</h3></div>

<div class="quote" book="Lec" link="Lecture on BG 1.43 -- London, July 30, 1973" link_text="Lecture on BG 1.43 -- London, July 30, 1973">
<div class="heading">If we think that "Now I have become perfect, paramahaṁsa," then the spiritual regulative principles will never be followed, and you will fall down.</div>

<div class="text">'''[[Vanisource:Lecture on BG 1.43 -- London, July 30, 1973|Lecture on BG 1.43 -- London, July 30, 1973]]:''' This is the way, nobody think himself as one has become very big man and he has his own opinion to give. This is rascaldom. So everyone should think that "What is my value?" That is really learned, humble and meek. Nobody should think that "Now I have learned everything. I can surpass everyone. I have become above all rules and regulation. Now I have become paramahaṁsa." This is rascaldom. Everyone should always think, "I am fool number one." Therefore the endeavor will go on, to become perfect. If we think that "Now I have become perfect, paramahaṁsa," then the spiritual regulative principles will never be followed, and you will fall down.</div>
</div>

<div class="section" id="Correspondence" text="Correspondence"><h2>Correspondence</h2></div>

<div class="sub_section" id="1971_Correspondence" text="1971 Correspondence"><h3>1971 Correspondence</h3></div>

<div class="quote" book="Let" link="Letter to Sudama -- Nairobi 3 October, 1971" link_text="Letter to Sudama -- Nairobi 3 October, 1971">
<div class="heading">Remain fixed up in your spiritual regulative principles. Chant not less than 16 rounds regularly and preach this cult of Krishna Consciousness.</div>

<div class="text">'''[[Vanisource:Letter to Sudama -- Nairobi 3 October, 1971|Letter to Sudama -- Nairobi 3 October, 1971]]:''' I beg to acknowledge receipt of your pictures and note and it has so much engladdened me that I must admit that there is a little fraction of Caitanya Mahaprabhu's merciful glance upon you. You are alone doing such marvelous work and it is impossible for a person without being blessed by Krishna. So you should always be conscious of this special favor upon you and continue to work more vigorously to get more and more blessings of Lord Caitanya and his disciplic succession. Remain fixed up in your spiritual regulative principles. Chant not less than 16 rounds regularly and preach this cult of Krishna Consciousness to the Japanese people to the best of your knowledge and you will get more and more strength in the matter of preaching work.</div>
</div>
</div>

Spiritual living being

2013-07-31T06:49:29Z

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<div class="section" id="Srimad-Bhagavatam" text="Srimad-Bhagavatam"><h2>Srimad-Bhagavatam</h2></div>

<div class="sub_section" id="SB_Canto_1" text="SB Canto 1"><h3>SB Canto 1</h3></div>

<div class="quote" book="SB" link="SB 1.1.3" link_text="SB 1.1.3 Purport">
<div class="heading">The spirit souls are one qualitatively with the Supreme Lord. Therefore, the rasas were originally exchanged between the spiritual living being and the spiritual whole, the Supreme Personality of Godhead.</div>

<div class="text">'''[[Vanisource:SB 1.1.3|SB 1.1.3 Purport]]:''' There is no possibility of an exchange or rasa between a man and an animal or between a man and any other species of living beings within the material world. The rasas are exchanged between members of the same species. But as far as the spirit souls are concerned, they are one qualitatively with the Supreme Lord. Therefore, the rasas were originally exchanged between the spiritual living being and the spiritual whole, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The spiritual exchange or rasa is fully exhibited in spiritual existence between living beings and the Supreme Lord.</div>
</div>

<div class="section" id="Other_Books_by_Srila_Prabhupada" text="Other Books by Srila Prabhupada"><h2>Other Books by Srila Prabhupada</h2></div>

<div class="sub_section" id="Light_of_the_Bhagavata" text="Light of the Bhagavata"><h3>Light of the Bhagavata</h3></div>

<div class="quote" book="OB" link="LOB 22" link_text="Light of the Bhagavata 22">
<div class="heading">The spiritual living being, less attracted by the impersonal form of spiritual emancipation, becomes more attracted by the material form and becomes hopeless of spiritual emancipation.</div>

<div class="text">'''[[Vanisource:LOB 22|Light of the Bhagavata 22]]:''' Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, appears with His personal entourage once in paraphernalia, just to attract the conditioned souls of the material world. Although the material world is only a shadow of the spiritual world, the materially encaged living entities seek spiritual happiness here in a form perverted by materialistic attachment. Empiric philosophers with a poor fund of knowledge imagine a spiritual picture that is impersonal. But the spiritual living being, less attracted by the impersonal form of spiritual emancipation, becomes more attracted by the material form and becomes hopeless of spiritual emancipation.
Therefore the Absolute Personality of Godhead, out of His limitless and causeless mercy, descends from the spiritual kingdom and displays His personal pastimes at Vṛndāvana, the replica of the Kṛṣṇaloka planet in the spiritual sky. Vṛndāvana is the most sacred place within this cosmic universe, and people seeking to achieve spiritual emancipation by entering the kingdom of God may make a home at Vṛndāvana and become serious students of the six Gosvāmīs, who were instructed by Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. The six Gosvāmīs were headed by Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī, who was followed by Śrīla Sanātana, Śrīla Bhaṭṭa Raghunātha, Śrīla Jīva, Śrīla Gopāla Bhaṭṭa, and Śrīla Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī. They were all seriously engaged in research and excavation of the mystery of Vṛndāvana-dhāma.</div>
</div>

<div class="quote" book="OB" link="LOB 26" link_text="Light of the Bhagavata 26">
<div class="heading">The Lord derives transcendental pleasure by accepting services from His devotees, who are situated in various grades of rasas. These transcendental rasas are pervertedly reflected in the material atmosphere, and thus the spiritual living being, out of ignorance only, vainly seeks the same bliss in matter.</div>

<div class="text">'''[[Vanisource:LOB 26|Light of the Bhagavata 26]]:''' The Lord is never hungry, nor does He require any food to fill His empty stomach. He is complete in Himself. Yet He always mercifully eats the foods offered by His devotees in sincere affection. The cowherd boys brought simple foodstuffs from home, and the Lord, who is constantly served by hundreds and thousands of goddesses of fortune, is always glad to accept such simple foodstuffs from His devotee friends. All the relatives of the Lord are His devotees only, and they are situated in different transcendental mellows as friends, parents, and lovers. The Lord derives transcendental pleasure by accepting services from His various grades of devotees, who are situated in various grades of rasas. These transcendental rasas are pervertedly reflected in the material atmosphere, and thus the spiritual living being, out of ignorance only, vainly seeks the same bliss in matter.</div>
</div>

<div class="sub_section" id="Mukunda-mala-stotra_(mantras_1_to_6_only)" text="Mukunda-mala-stotra (mantras 1 to 6 only)"><h3>Mukunda-mala-stotra (mantras 1 to 6 only)</h3></div>

<div class="quote" book="OB" link="MM 6" link_text="Mukunda-mala-stotra mantra 6">
<div class="heading">Philosophers with a poor fund of knowledge cannot conceive of these positive spiritual relationships between the Lord and the all-spiritual living beings, and thus they simply think in terms of negating material relationships. In this way such philosophers naturally adopt the concept of impersonalism.</div>

<div class="text">'''[[Vanisource:MM 6|Mukunda-mala-stotra mantra 6]]:''' The defiance is due to the transcendental position of the Lord's form, name, qualities, pastimes, and so on. The śruti mantras declare that although the Lord has no hands He can accept anything we offer Him with devotion, although He has no feet He can travel anywhere, and although He has no mundane eyes He can see anywhere and
everywhere without hindrance. The Brahma-saṁhitā describes each of His senses as omnipotent. The mundane eye can see but not hear, but His eyes can see, hear, eat, generate offspring, and so on. The śruti mantras say that He impregnates material nature with the seeds of living beings simply by casting His glance at her. He does not need any other kind of intercourse with mother nature to beget the living beings in her womb and become their father.
Therefore any relationship the Lord has with His many devotees—whether fatherhood, sonhood, or any other—is not at all material. The Lord is pure spirit, and only when the living being is in his pure spiritual state can he have all sorts of relationships with Him. Philosophers with a poor fund of knowledge cannot conceive of these positive spiritual relationships between the Lord and the all-spiritual living beings, and thus they simply think in terms of negating material relationships. In this way such philosophers naturally adopt the concept of impersonalism.</div>
</div>

<div class="section" id="Lectures" text="Lectures"><h2>Lectures</h2></div>

<div class="sub_section" id="Nectar_of_Devotion_Lectures" text="Nectar of Devotion Lectures"><h3>Nectar of Devotion Lectures</h3></div>

<div class="quote" book="Lec" link="The Nectar of Devotion -- Vrndavana, October 27, 1972" link_text="The Nectar of Devotion -- Vrndavana, October 27, 1972">
<div class="heading">Because the spiritual sky and the spiritual living being, it merges it does not merge. The individuality is there. We are one of the nityas. There are innumerable nityas and cetanaś, the living entities, part and parcel of the supreme living entity, Kṛṣṇa. They're all individual.</div>

<div class="text">'''[[Vanisource:The Nectar of Devotion -- Vrndavana, October 27, 1972|The Nectar of Devotion -- Vrndavana, October 27, 1972]]:''' Our philosophy is go back to home, back to Godhead. Not in the spiritual sky. Paravyoma. Spiritual sky, there is chance of falling down. Why chance? It is sure. Those who are merging into the Brahman effulgence, the śāstra says that they again fall down. Āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ patanty adhaḥ [SB 10.2.32]. Āruhya kṛcchreṇa. They, jñānīs, they undergo severe austerities, penances to merge into the existence of impersonal Brahman. But they fall down again. They fall down again because they have no shelter. Anādhṛta-yuṣmad-aṅghrayaḥ. As, as in this sky, there are many planets. You can go with high speed to the Moon planet or Venus planet. But if you have no shelter to stay there, you come back again on this earthly planet, that is practically experienced, similarly you may merge into the Brahman effulgence. Just like our plane goes very high and, at a certain point, we see it is invisible, merged. Actually, it is not merged. Our eyes cannot see any more. They take it as merge.
Therefore Jīva Gosvāmī, this merging principle, he has explained: just like a green bird enters into a green tree, it, it appears that the bird is no more existing. To the imperfect eyes. But the bird is existing. We cannot see. Both the tree and the bird being green, we see it has merged. Because the spiritual sky and the spiritual living being, a small, it merges it does not merge. It is there. The individuality is there. And because this individuality, fragment of the Supreme Brahman, is eternal, is eternal, sanātana... It is not that spirit can be cut into pieces. That is not possible. So we are fragmental parts. That means eternally we are so, individual. Nityo nityānāṁ cetanaś cetanānām (Kaṭha Upaniṣad 2.2.13). We are one of the nityas. There are innumerable nityas and cetanaś, the living entities, part and parcel of the supreme living entity, Kṛṣṇa. They're all individual.</div>
</div>
</div>

Spiritual forms

2013-07-31T06:31:35Z

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<div id="Srimad-Bhagavatam" class="section" sec_index="1" parent="compilation" text="Srimad-Bhagavatam"><h2>Srimad-Bhagavatam</h2>
</div>
<div id="SB_Canto_1" class="sub_section" sec_index="1" parent="Srimad-Bhagavatam" text="SB Canto 1"><h3>SB Canto 1</h3>
</div>
<div id="SB1223_0" class="quote" parent="SB_Canto_1" book="SB" index="46" link="SB 1.2.23" link_text="SB 1.2.23">
<div class="heading">Both the jīvas and Godhead have their original spiritual forms
</div>
<span class="link">[[Vanisource:SB 1.2.23|SB 1.2.23, Purport]]: </span><div style="display: inline;" class="purport text"><p style="display: inline;">Viṣṇu is manifested by His millions and billions of integrated forms and separated forms. The integrated forms are called Godhead, and the separated forms are called the living entities or the jīvas. Both the jīvas and Godhead have their original spiritual forms. Jīvas are sometimes subjected to the control of material energy, but the Viṣṇu forms are always controllers of this energy. When Viṣṇu, the Personality of Godhead, appears in the material world, He comes to deliver the conditioned living beings who are under the material energy. Such living beings appear in the material world with intentions of being lords, and thus they become entrapped by the three modes of nature.</p>
</div>
</div>
<div id="SB_Canto_2" class="sub_section" sec_index="2" parent="Srimad-Bhagavatam" text="SB Canto 2"><h3>SB Canto 2</h3>
</div>
<div id="SB2217_0" class="quote" parent="SB_Canto_2" book="SB" index="57" link="SB 2.2.17" link_text="SB 2.2.17">
<div class="heading">The devotees experience the above-mentioned state of affairs by attainment of spiritual forms for activity in the transcendental loving service of the Lord
</div>
<span class="link">[[Vanisource:SB 2.2.17|SB 2.2.17, Purport]]: </span><div style="display: inline;" class="purport text"><p style="display: inline;">The above-mentioned state of affairs is factual on the transcendental plane, but is factually revealed in a transcendentalist's knowledge of the advanced state of pure consciousness. Such transcendentalists are of two types, namely the impersonalists and the devotees. For the impersonalist the ultimate goal or destination is the brahmajyoti of the spiritual sky, but for the devotees the ultimate goal is the Vaikuṇṭha planets. The devotees experience the above-mentioned state of affairs by attainment of spiritual forms for activity in the transcendental loving service of the Lord. But the impersonalist, because of his neglecting the association of the Lord, does not develop a spiritual body for spiritual activity, but remains a spiritual spark only, merged in the effulgent spiritual rays of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.</p>
</div>
</div>
<div id="SB_Canto_3" class="sub_section" sec_index="3" parent="Srimad-Bhagavatam" text="SB Canto 3"><h3>SB Canto 3</h3>
</div>
<div id="SB3936_0" class="quote" parent="SB_Canto_3" book="SB" index="344" link="SB 3.9.36" link_text="SB 3.9.36">
<div class="heading">The Lord may appear in any of His many, many spiritual forms, but He is not materially composed, nor has He any difference between body and self. That is the way of conceiving the spiritual form of the Lord.
</div>
<span class="link">[[Vanisource:SB 3.9.36|SB 3.9.36, Translation and Purport]]: </span><div style="display: inline;" class="trans text"><p style="display: inline;">Although I am not easily knowable by the conditioned soul, you have known Me today because you know that My personality is not constituted of anything material, and specifically not of the five gross and three subtle elements.</p>
</div>
<div class="purport text"><p>Knowledge of the Supreme Absolute Truth does not necessitate negation of the material manifestation but understanding of spiritual existence as it is. To think that because material existence is realized in forms therefore spiritual existence must be formless is only a negative material conception of spirit. The real spiritual conception is that spiritual form is not material form. Brahmā appreciated the eternal form of the Lord in that way, and the Personality of Godhead approved of Brahmā's spiritual conception. In Bhagavad-gītā the Lord condemned the material conception of Kṛṣṇa's body which arises because He is apparently present like a man. The Lord may appear in any of His many, many spiritual forms, but He is not materially composed, nor has He any difference between body and self. That is the way of conceiving the spiritual form of the Lord.</p>
</div>
</div>
<div id="SB_Canto_6" class="sub_section" sec_index="6" parent="Srimad-Bhagavatam" text="SB Canto 6"><h3>SB Canto 6</h3>
</div>
<div id="SB6830_0" class="quote" parent="SB_Canto_6" book="SB" index="323" link="SB 6.8.30" link_text="SB 6.8.30">
<div class="heading">The Lord is called advaya jñāna, indicating that there is no difference between Him and His names, forms, qualities, weapons and so on. Anything pertaining to Him is in the same category of spiritual existence. They are all engaged in the service of the Lord in varieties of spiritual forms.
</div>
<span class="link">[[Vanisource:SB 6.8.30|SB 6.8.30, Translation and Purport]]: </span><div style="display: inline;" class="trans text"><p style="display: inline;">May the Supreme Personality of Godhead's holy names, His transcendental forms, His carriers and all the weapons decorating Him as personal associates protect our intelligence, senses, mind and life air from all dangers.</p>
</div>
<div class="purport text"><p>There are various associates of the transcendental Personality of Godhead, and His weapons and carrier are among them. In the spiritual world, nothing is material. The sword, bow, club, disc and everything decorating the personal body of the Lord are spiritual living force. Therefore the Lord is called advaya jñāna, indicating that there is no difference between Him and His names, forms, qualities, weapons and so on. Anything pertaining to Him is in the same category of spiritual existence. They are all engaged in the service of the Lord in varieties of spiritual forms.</p>
</div>
</div>
<div id="SB_Canto_101_to_1013" class="sub_section" sec_index="10" parent="Srimad-Bhagavatam" text="SB Canto 10.1 to 10.13"><h3>SB Canto 10.1 to 10.13</h3>
</div>
<div id="SB10143_0" class="quote" parent="SB_Canto_10.1_to_10.13" book="SB" index="41" link="SB 10.1.43" link_text="SB 10.1.43">
<div class="heading">Both the living entity and the Supreme Lord have original, spiritual forms (sac-cid-ānanda-vigraha), but the Lord, the Supreme, does not change His form.
</div>
<span class="link">[[Vanisource:SB 10.1.43|SB 10.1.43, Purport]]: </span><div style="display: inline;" class="purport text"><p style="display: inline;">The living entity is part and parcel of the supreme sac-cid-ānanda-vigraha, but his material forms are temporary, or illusory. Both the living entity and the Supreme Lord have original, spiritual forms (sac-cid-ānanda-vigraha), but the Lord, the Supreme, does not change His form. The Lord appears as He is, whereas the living entity appears because material nature forces him to accept different forms. When the living entity receives these different forms, he identifies with them, and not with his original, spiritual form. As soon as the living entity returns to his original, spiritual form and understanding, he immediately surrenders to the supreme form, the Personality of Godhead. This is explained in Bhagavad-gītā (7.19). Bahūnāṁ janmanām ante jñānavān māṁ prapadyate. When the living entity, after many, many births in different forms, returns to his original form of Kṛṣṇa consciousness, he immediately surrenders unto the lotus feet of the supreme form, Kṛṣṇa. This is liberation.</p>
</div>
</div>
<div id="SB_Cantos_1014_to_12_Translations_Only" class="sub_section" sec_index="11" parent="Srimad-Bhagavatam" text="SB Cantos 10.14 to 12 (Translations Only)"><h3>SB Cantos 10.14 to 12 (Translations Only)</h3>
</div>
<div id="SB12846_0" class="quote" parent="SB_Cantos_10.14_to_12_(Translations_Only)" book="SB" index="4668" link="SB 12.8.46" link_text="SB 12.8.46">
<span class="link">[[Vanisource:SB 12.8.46|SB 12.8.46, Translation]]: </span><div style="display: inline;" class="trans text"><p style="display: inline;">O Lord, because fearlessness, spiritual happiness and the kingdom of God are all achieved through the mode of pure goodness, Your devotees consider this mode, but never passion and ignorance, to be a direct manifestation of You, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Intelligent persons thus worship Your beloved transcendental form, composed of pure goodness, along with the spiritual forms of Your pure devotees.</p>
</div>
</div>
<div id="Sri_Caitanya-caritamrta" class="section" sec_index="2" parent="compilation" text="Sri Caitanya-caritamrta"><h2>Sri Caitanya-caritamrta</h2>
</div>
<div id="CC_Adi-lila" class="sub_section" sec_index="1" parent="Sri_Caitanya-caritamrta" text="CC Adi-lila"><h3>CC Adi-lila</h3>
</div>
<div id="CCAdi1217_0" class="quote" parent="CC_Adi-lila" book="CC" index="1492" link="CC Adi 12.17" link_text="CC Adi 12.17">
<div class="heading">Before Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu exhibited His spiritual forms during His residence at Navadvīpa, He asked Śrī Rāma Paṇḍita, Śrīvāsa Ṭhākura's brother, to go to Śāntipura and bring back Advaita Ācārya.
</div>
<span class="link">[[Vanisource:CC Adi 12.17|CC Adi 12.17, Purport]]: </span><div style="display: inline;" class="purport text"><p style="display: inline;">Before Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu exhibited His spiritual forms during His residence at Navadvīpa, He asked Śrī Rāma Paṇḍita, Śrīvāsa Ṭhākura's brother, to go to Śāntipura and bring back Advaita Ācārya. Acyutānanda joined his father at that time. It is said, advaitera tanaya "acyutānanda" nāma/ parama-bālaka, seho kānde avirāma. Acyutānanda also joined in crying in transcendental bliss.</p>
</div>
</div>
<div id="CC_Madhya-lila" class="sub_section" sec_index="2" parent="Sri_Caitanya-caritamrta" text="CC Madhya-lila"><h3>CC Madhya-lila</h3>
</div>
<div id="CCMadhya6167_0" class="quote" parent="CC_Madhya-lila" book="CC" index="1136" link="CC Madhya 6.167" link_text="CC Madhya 6.167">
<div class="heading">Just as there are material forms in this material world, there are spiritual forms in the spiritual world.
</div>
<span class="link">[[Vanisource:CC Madhya 6.167|CC Madhya 6.167, Translation and Purport]]: </span><div style="display: inline;" class="trans text"><p style="display: inline;">“One who does not accept the transcendental form of the Lord is certainly an agnostic. Such a person should be neither seen nor touched. Indeed, he is subject to be punished by Yamarāja.</p>
</div>
<div class="purport text"><p>According to the Vedic instructions, the Supreme Personality of Godhead has His eternal, transcendental form, which is always blissful and full of knowledge. Impersonalists think that "material" refers to the forms within our experience and that "spiritual" refers to an absence of form. However, one should know that beyond this material nature is another nature, which is spiritual. Just as there are material forms in this material world, there are spiritual forms in the spiritual world. This is confirmed by all Vedic literature. The spiritual forms in the transcendental world have nothing to do with the negative conception of formlessness. The conclusion is that a person is an agnostic when he does not agree to worship the transcendental form of the Lord.</p>
</div>
</div>
<div id="CCMadhya20217_1" class="quote" parent="CC_Madhya-lila" book="CC" index="4705" link="CC Madhya 20.217" link_text="CC Madhya 20.217">
<div class="heading">Although the arcā-mūrti, the worshipable Deity form of the Lord, appears to be made of material elements, it is as good as the spiritual forms found in the spiritual Vaikuṇṭhalokas.
</div>
<span class="link">[[Vanisource:CC Madhya 20.217|CC Madhya 20.217, Translation and Purport]]: </span><div style="display: inline;" class="trans text"><p style="display: inline;">“At Viṣṇu-kāñcī there is Lord Viṣṇu, at Māyāpur Lord Hari, and throughout the universe a variety of other forms.</p>
</div>
<div class="purport text"><p>All of these forms are mūrti forms, and They are worshiped in the temples. Their names are Keśava at Mathurā, Puruṣottama or Jagannātha at Nīlācala, Śrī Bindu Mādhava at Prayāga, Madhusūdana at Mandāra, and Vāsudeva, Padmanābha and Janārdana at Ānandāraṇya, which is situated in Kerala, South India. At Viṣṇu-kāñcī is Lord Varadarāja, and Hari is situated at Māyāpur, Lord Caitanya's birth site. Thus in different places throughout the universe there are various Deities in temples bestowing Their causeless mercy upon the devotees. All these Deity forms are nondifferent from the mūrtis in the spiritual world of the Vaikuṇṭhas. Although the arcā-mūrti, the worshipable Deity form of the Lord, appears to be made of material elements, it is as good as the spiritual forms found in the spiritual Vaikuṇṭhalokas. The Deity in the temple, however, is visible to the material eyes of the devotee. It is not possible for one in material, conditioned life to see the spiritual form of the Lord. To bestow causeless mercy upon us, the Lord appears as the arcā-mūrti so that we can see Him. It is forbidden to consider the arcā-mūrti to be made of stone or wood.</p>
</div>
</div>
<div id="Other_Books_by_Srila_Prabhupada" class="section" sec_index="3" parent="compilation" text="Other Books by Srila Prabhupada"><h2>Other Books by Srila Prabhupada</h2>
</div>
<div id="Renunciation_Through_Wisdom" class="sub_section" sec_index="5" parent="Other_Books_by_Srila_Prabhupada" text="Renunciation Through Wisdom"><h3>Renunciation Through Wisdom</h3>
</div>
<div id="RTW213_0" class="quote" parent="Renunciation_Through_Wisdom" book="OB" index="25" link="RTW 2.13" link_text="Renunciation Through Wisdom 2.13">
<div class="heading">The impersonalists, in trying to destroy the illusion inherent in material forms, do away with even the eternal spiritual forms.
</div>
<span class="link">[[Vanisource:RTW 2.13|Renunciation Through Wisdom 2.13]]: </span><div style="display: inline;" class="text"><p style="display: inline;">Lord Viṣṇu's impersonal aspect is known as Brahman. So when the jīva soul, a product of Lord Viṣṇu's superior, spiritual energy, attains sāyujya-mukti, or liberation by merging with Brahman, it is not at all surprising. The energetic principle always enjoys the prerogative of enfolding within itself His own energy, but that does not destroy the energy's eternal individuality. The impersonalists, desiring to merge with Brahman and knowing that it is feasible, still experience intense suffering in their effort to reach brahmānanda, "the bliss of Brahman." The Lord's devotees consider the pleasures of such liberation worse than hell. The impersonalists, in trying to destroy the illusion inherent in material forms, do away with even the eternal spiritual forms. That is indeed very foolish. Treating a patient to cure his disease is one thing, but ending the patient along with the disease is the work of an idiot.</p>
</div>
</div>
<div id="Lectures" class="section" sec_index="4" parent="compilation" text="Lectures"><h2>Lectures</h2>
</div>
<div id="Bhagavad-gita_As_It_Is_Lectures" class="sub_section" sec_index="0" parent="Lectures" text="Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures"><h3>Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures</h3>
</div>
<div id="LectureonBG91MelbourneApril191976_0" class="quote" parent="Bhagavad-gita_As_It_Is_Lectures" book="Lec" index="298" link="Lecture on BG 9.1 -- Melbourne, April 19, 1976" link_text="Lecture on BG 9.1 -- Melbourne, April 19, 1976">
<div class="heading">In the Bhagavad-gītā the material forms, they have been described as inferior, and spiritual forms... There is spiritual world also. That is called parā-prakṛti. There is another nature.
</div>
<span class="link">[[Vanisource:Lecture on BG 9.1 -- Melbourne, April 19, 1976|Lecture on BG 9.1 -- Melbourne, April 19, 1976]]: </span><div style="display: inline;" class="text"><p style="display: inline;">Amongst the trees, plants, there are two million forms. So there are hundred and thousands of forms in the material world. But in the spiritual world the form is sac-cid-ānanda-vigraha. Every form is eternal, full of knowledge and full of bliss. That is the difference between material world and spiritual world. Material world means... Although the varieties are there in the spiritual world... There are also trees, as we have got here trees. But there the forms are spiritual form, and here they are material form. Material form and spiritual form, what is the difference?</p>
<p>The difference is that just like a living being. I can ask any of my disciple to do something. He'll do it. But this microphone, it has also a form, but if I want microphone, "Please do this," he cannot, it cannot do because it is material. It can mechanical, give some mechanical service, one only, but it cannot do any other thing. A man can speak or he can dance or he can become a thief, he can become so many—because he's living. That is the difference between material form and spiritual form.</p>
<p>Therefore in the Bhagavad-gītā the material forms, they have been described as inferior, and spiritual forms... There is spiritual world also. That is called parā-prakṛti. There is another nature. So we have no information. But information means we have in the Vedic literature. In other literatures also there are slight information, but in the Vedic literature you'll find described information of the spiritual world.</p>
</div>
</div>
<div id="Srimad-Bhagavatam_Lectures" class="sub_section" sec_index="1" parent="Lectures" text="Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures"><h3>Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures</h3>
</div>
<div id="LectureonSB1223LosAngelesAugust261972_0" class="quote" parent="Srimad-Bhagavatam_Lectures" book="Lec" index="89" link="Lecture on SB 1.2.23 -- Los Angeles, August 26, 1972" link_text="Lecture on SB 1.2.23 -- Los Angeles, August 26, 1972">
<div class="heading">There is a difference between ordinary form and Viṣṇu form. Ordinary forms, they are controlled by Viṣṇu.
</div>
<span class="link">[[Vanisource:Lecture on SB 1.2.23 -- Los Angeles, August 26, 1972|Lecture on SB 1.2.23 -- Los Angeles, August 26, 1972]]: </span><div class="text"><p style="display: inline;">Pradyumna: "The materialists and the foolish human beings do worship Brahmā and Śiva respectively, but the pure transcendentalists do worship the form of goodness, Viṣṇu, in His various forms. Viṣṇu is manifested by His millions and billions of integrated forms and separated forms. The integrated forms are called Godhead, and the separated forms are called the living entities, or the jīvas. But either the jīvas or Godhead, both of them have their original, spiritual forms. The jīvas are sometimes subjected under the control of the material energy, but the Viṣṇu forms are always controller of the material energy. When..."</p>
<p>Prabhupāda: There is a difference between ordinary form and Viṣṇu form. Ordinary forms, they are controlled by Viṣṇu. Go on... nityo nityānāṁ cetanaś cetanānām eko bahūnāṁ yo vidadhāti (Kaṭha Upaniṣad 2.2.13). That is the Vedic injunction.</p>
</div>
</div>
<div id="LectureonSB1330LosAngelesOctober51972_1" class="quote" parent="Srimad-Bhagavatam_Lectures" book="Lec" index="127" link="Lecture on SB 1.3.30 -- Los Angeles, October 5, 1972" link_text="Lecture on SB 1.3.30 -- Los Angeles, October 5, 1972">
<div class="heading">Because we are spiritual forms, maybe very minute, therefore we grow our hands and legs and heads and so many things. That is materially coated.
</div>
<span class="link">[[Vanisource:Lecture on SB 1.3.30 -- Los Angeles, October 5, 1972|Lecture on SB 1.3.30 -- Los Angeles, October 5, 1972]]: </span><div style="display: inline;" class="text"><p style="display: inline;">So as our this material body is not our real form... The real form is within this body, spiritual form. This body is explained as the dress. The dress is made when there is a real form. Just like you have got coat. Because you have got hands, the coat has got a hand. Your shirt: because you have got hand, the shirt has got a hand. But you are not the shirt or the coat. Similarly, because we are spiritual forms, maybe very minute, therefore we grow our hands and legs and heads and so many things. That is materially coated.</p>
</div>
</div>
<div id="LectureonSB11535LosAngelesDecember131973_2" class="quote" parent="Srimad-Bhagavatam_Lectures" book="Lec" index="303" link="Lecture on SB 1.15.35 -- Los Angeles, December 13, 1973" link_text="Lecture on SB 1.15.35 -- Los Angeles, December 13, 1973">
<div class="heading">Our rūpam, our this form, is imitation of one of the forms of Kṛṣṇa. This is imitation. So but His forms are not like our form. His forms are spiritual. He is existing in different spiritual forms.
</div>
<span class="link">[[Vanisource:Lecture on SB 1.15.35 -- Los Angeles, December 13, 1973|Lecture on SB 1.15.35 -- Los Angeles, December 13, 1973]]: </span><div style="display: inline;" class="text"><p style="display: inline;">So you are also changing body. We, everyone we have to change body. Similarly, advaitam acyutam anādim ananta-rūpam (Bs. 5.33). Kṛṣṇa has got also ananta-rūpam. Our rūpam, our this form, is imitation of one of the forms of Kṛṣṇa. This is imitation. So but His forms are not like our form. His forms are spiritual. He is existing in different spiritual forms. Advaitam acyutam anādim ananta-rūpam (Bs. 5.33). Ananta means unlimited. But every form is spiritual. So He is changing. He is changing, yathā naṭaḥ. He is changing like naṭaḥ. Naṭaḥ means actor, dramatic actor. Just like in the stage the dramatic actor is sometimes coming as a king and next time by changing the dress he is coming as (indistinct). This is an example. Similarly, Kṛṣṇa is the same but He has got different manifestations. That different manifestation He takes. Why? Bhū-bhāraḥ kṣapitaḥ. Bhū-bhāraḥ. He comes in different forms just to liquidate the burden of the earth, bhū-bhāraḥ. Bhū-bhāraḥ kṣapitaḥ, just to reduce the burden of this earth.</p>
</div>
</div>
<div id="LectureonSB631617GorakhpurFebruary101971_3" class="quote" parent="Srimad-Bhagavatam_Lectures" book="Lec" index="721" link="Lecture on SB 6.3.16-17 -- Gorakhpur, February 10, 1971" link_text="Lecture on SB 6.3.16-17 -- Gorakhpur, February 10, 1971">
<div class="heading">Yes. Viṣṇudūtas are looking exactly like Viṣṇu.
</div>
<span class="link">[[Vanisource:Lecture on SB 6.3.16-17 -- Gorakhpur, February 10, 1971|Lecture on SB 6.3.16-17 -- Gorakhpur, February 10, 1971]]: </span><div class="text"><p style="display: inline;">Devotee (1): The Viṣṇudūtas, they had spiritual bodies, spiritual forms. Are they traveling through all the planets or only where there are devotees?</p>
<p>Prabhupāda: All the planets. Everywhere there are devotees. You are thinking that only in America there are devotees? (laughter)</p>
<p>Devotee (1): No, I'm speaking particularly of the four-armed form described as... Particularly of those.</p>
<p>Prabhupāda: Yes. Viṣṇudūtas are looking exactly like Viṣṇu.</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>

Purpose of training

2013-07-03T06:52:48Z

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<div class="section" id="Srimad-Bhagavatam" text="Srimad-Bhagavatam"><h2>Srimad-Bhagavatam</h2></div>

<div class="sub_section" id="SB_Canto_6" text="SB Canto 6"><h3>SB Canto 6</h3></div>

<div class="quote" book="SB" link="SB 6.4.44" link_text="SB 6.4.44, Purport">
<div class="heading">If one begets children with the purpose of training them to surrender to Kṛṣṇa, fatherhood is very good.</div>

<div class="text">'''[[Vanisource:SB 6.4.44|SB 6.4.44, Purport]]:''' Prajāpati Dakṣa is trying to benefit the conditioned souls by begetting them to give them a life with a chance for liberation. Liberation means surrender to Kṛṣṇa. If one begets children with the purpose of training them to surrender to Kṛṣṇa, fatherhood is very good. Similarly, when the spiritual master trains the conditioned souls to become Kṛṣṇa conscious, his position is successful. If one gives the conditioned souls a chance to become Kṛṣṇa conscious, all his activities are approved by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is extremely pleased, as stated here (prīto 'ham). Following the examples of the previous ācāryas, all the members of the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement should try to benefit the conditioned souls by inducing them to become Kṛṣṇa conscious and giving them all facilities to do so. Such activities constitute real welfare work. By such activities, a preacher or anyone who endeavors to spread Kṛṣṇa consciousness is recognized by the Supreme Personality of Godhead.</div>
</div>

<div class="section" id="Correspondence" text="Correspondence"><h2>Correspondence</h2></div>

<div class="sub_section" id="1967_Correspondence" text="1967 Correspondence"><h3>1967 Correspondence</h3></div>

<div class="quote" book="Let" link="Letter to Lilasukha -- San Francisco 17 December, 1967" link_text="Letter to Lilasukha -- San Francisco 17 December, 1967">
<div class="heading">I think Krishna has brought me again in your country for the purpose of training you perfectly.</div>

<div class="text">'''[[Vanisource:Letter to Lilasukha -- San Francisco 17 December, 1967|Letter to Lilasukha -- San Francisco 17 December, 1967]]:''' I think Krishna has brought me again in your country for the purpose of training you perfectly. One must be educated. The education may be taken either in schools or privately but one must be educated. We want many preachers to broadcast this message Krishna Consciousness. Without education we cannot preach because a preacher has to meet many kinds of opposite elements. One has to be engaged in one's specific occupation and at the same time to advance in Krishna Consciousness. Herewith please find your beads. Get some Small Beads to be fixed up in your neck. Have regularly the Tilaka marks. Brahmananda will assist you in all details. Be happy in Krishna Consciousness.</div>
</div>
</div>

Purpose of education

2013-07-03T06:43:20Z

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<div class="section" id="Srimad-Bhagavatam" text="Srimad-Bhagavatam"><h2>Srimad-Bhagavatam</h2></div>

<div class="sub_section" id="SB_Canto_4" text="SB Canto 4"><h3>SB Canto 4</h3></div>

<div class="quote" book="SB" link="SB 4.29.50" link_text="SB 4.29.50, Purport">
<div class="heading">The purpose of education is to understand Kṛṣṇa and His devotional service.</div>

<div class="text">'''[[Vanisource:SB 4.29.50|SB 4.29.50, Purport]]:''' "Conquering the world by means of material education is not desirable. If one engages himself in devotional service, his education is perfected." (Ādi 13.173)

:paḍe kene loka—kṛṣṇa-bhakti jānibāre
:se yadi nahila, tabe vidyāya ki kare

"The purpose of education is to understand Kṛṣṇa and His devotional service. If one does not do so, then education is false." (Ādi 12.49)</div>
</div>

<div class="sub_section" id="SB_Canto_7" text="SB Canto 7"><h3>SB Canto 7</h3></div>

<div class="quote" book="SB" link="SB 7.10.45" link_text="SB 7.10.45, Purport">
<div class="heading">To understand the science of the Supreme Personality of Godhead is the real purpose of education.</div>

<div class="text">'''[[Vanisource:SB 7.10.45|SB 7.10.45, Purport]]:''' Through the principles of religion, one can understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Brahman (the impersonal feature of the Supreme Lord) and Paramātmā (the localized aspect of the Lord). When one is well conversant with all these principles, he becomes a devotee and performs bhāgavata-dharma. Prahlāda Mahārāja, the spiritual master in the line of disciplic succession, advised that this bhāgavata-dharma be instructed to students from the very beginning of their education (kaumāra ācaret prājño dharmān bhāgavatān iha [SB 7.6.1]). To understand the science of the Supreme Personality of Godhead is the real purpose of education. Śravaṇaṁ kīrtanaṁ viṣṇoḥ [SB 7.5.23]. One must simply hear about and describe Lord Viṣṇu and His various incarnations. This narration concerning Prahlāda Mahārāja and Lord Nṛsiṁhadeva, therefore, has properly described spiritual, transcendental subjects.</div>
</div>

<div class="section" id="Lectures" text="Lectures"><h2>Lectures</h2></div>

<div class="sub_section" id="Bhagavad-gita_As_It_Is_Lectures" text="Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures"><h3>Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures</h3></div>

<div class="quote" book="Lec" link="Lecture on BG 16.7 -- Hyderabad, December 14, 1976" link_text="Lecture on BG 16.7 -- Hyderabad, December 14, 1976">
<div class="heading">The demons have universities, educational institution and advancement of knowledge, what is the aim of life, why education is being imparted, what is the purpose. These they do not know. The asura-jana, they do not know what is the purpose of education.</div>

<div class="text">'''[[Vanisource:Lecture on BG 16.7 -- Hyderabad, December 14, 1976|Lecture on BG 16.7 -- Hyderabad, December 14, 1976]]:'''

Prabhupāda: These are the first qualification of the demons, that they do not know which way one has to make progress. That they do not know. This is the defect of the modern civilization. They have universities, educational institution and advancement of knowledge, so on, so on. But ask them what is the aim of life, why education is being imparted, what is the purpose. These are... They do not know. Do they know?

Haṁsadūta: No.

Prabhupāda: They simply know how to eat, how to sleep, how to have sex, and how to defend. For this purpose they are giving education. That is... Does it require any education, how to eat? Everyone, even a child, he knows. You give him something eatable. Immediately takes and he knows it is to be put here, not there, not there. Natural. You don't require any education for these things, primary, I mean to say, wants of the body, eating, sleeping, sex. It doesn't require any high education, how to enjoy sex life. Everyone knows. Even the cats and dogs, they know. Similarly eating, everyone knows. Sleeping, it doesn't require that "You have to sleep in this way." Whenever you feel tired, there is sleep. But the asura-jana, they do not know what is the purpose of education. That they do not know.</div>
</div>

<div class="sub_section" id="Srimad-Bhagavatam_Lectures" text="Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures"><h3>Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures</h3></div>

<div class="quote" book="Lec" link="Lecture on SB 1.8.45 -- Los Angeles, May 7, 1973" link_text="Lecture on SB 1.8.45 -- Los Angeles, May 7, 1973">
<div class="heading">The purpose of education means to know God, to know Kṛṣṇa. That is the ultimate purpose.</div>

<div class="text">'''[[Vanisource:Lecture on SB 1.8.45 -- Los Angeles, May 7, 1973|Lecture on SB 1.8.45 -- Los Angeles, May 7, 1973]]:''' So the purpose of education means to know God, to know Kṛṣṇa. That is the ultimate purpose. But they do not know. These rascals, they do not know. Na te viduḥ svārtha-gatiṁ hi viṣṇum [SB 7.5.31]. They do not know the ultimate goal of life is Viṣṇu. They are trying to be learned scholar simply by material acquisition. Therefore it is called durāśayā. What is the purpose of education? Purpose of education to know the supreme cause, sarva-kāraṇa-kāraṇam [Bs. 5.1], and become happy. Everyone is inquisitive, jijñāsu. Everyone is jijñāsu. So that jijñāsu, that propensity, for the lower animals, they are anxious to inquire "Where is food? Where is food?" Āhāra-nidrā. "Where is shelter, where is sex, and where is defense?" The jijñāsu. Everyone is inquiring. The whole world is inquiring. Those businessmen going into the market, they immediately inquires. The answers are, nowadays there is what is called telex.</div>
</div>

<div class="sub_section" id="Sri_Caitanya-caritamrta_Lectures" text="Sri Caitanya-caritamrta Lectures"><h3>Sri Caitanya-caritamrta Lectures</h3></div>

<div class="quote" book="Lec" link="Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 20.124-125 -- New York, November 26, 1966" link_text="Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 20.124-125 -- New York, November 26, 1966">
<div class="heading">The purpose of education is to make man the highest of the mankind, but modern education is teaching lowest of the mankind.</div>

<div class="text">'''[[Vanisource:Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 20.124-125 -- New York, November 26, 1966|Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 20.124-125 -- New York, November 26, 1966]]:''' Mankind. Mankind is meant for recognizing. This is the life. In animal life, one cannot recognize that there is God and everything is coming from God. They cannot read Vedas, or scriptures. They cannot take any instruction. So these Vedas and scriptures are there for human beings. Therefore, a human being, so-called human being with two hands and two legs, but they're animals who do not accept the authority of scripture and do not accept the existence of God, so Bhagavad-gītā very nicely describes them, narādhamāḥ. Naradhāmāḥ means lowest of the mankind. So our civilization is going to the lowest of the mankind. And we are, we are trying to advertise ourself that we are advancing, but the... Yesterday some boy came: "Who is God? I am God." He was speaking like that. You see. And he appears to be educated student. From his appearance it appears that he, he's educated. So this is education is going on, that they're going to be the lowest of the mankind. The purpose of education is to make man the highest of the mankind, but modern education is teaching lowest of the mankind.</div>
</div>

<div class="section" id="Conversations_and_Morning_Walks" text="Conversations and Morning Walks"><h2>Conversations and Morning Walks</h2></div>

<div class="sub_section" id="1973_Conversations_and_Morning_Walks" text="1973 Conversations and Morning Walks"><h3>1973 Conversations and Morning Walks</h3></div>

<div class="quote" book="Con" link="Garden Conversation with Mahadeva's Mother and Jesuit Priest -- July 25, 1973, London" link_text="Garden Conversation with Mahadeva's Mother and Jesuit Priest -- July 25, 1973, London">
<div class="heading">What is the purpose of education? What is the best part of education? So far my school, college education is concerned, that is not being used here.</div>

<div class="text">'''[[Vanisource:Garden Conversation with Mahadeva's Mother and Jesuit Priest -- July 25, 1973, London|Garden Conversation with Mahadeva's Mother and Jesuit Priest -- July 25, 1973, London]]:'''

Prabhupāda: Because your son has come here, you may not be happier. But he happier.

Mother: Oh, you're saying this. I'm not saying this. I'm very disappointed that he is not continuing with education. I'm not sorry that... I'm happy for his happiness, wherever he is.

Prabhupāda: But what is the... What is the purpose of education?

Mother: You are a cultured man. You're educated.

Prabhupāda: Yes.

Mother: Did you not learn...? Who gave you the talent to translate your Vedic scriptures?

Prabhupāda: Yes.

Mother: Who gave you the talent, father?

Prabhupāda: No, I'm asking that what is the best part of education? So far my school, college education is concerned, that is not being used here.</div>
</div>

<div class="sub_section" id="1975_Conversations_and_Morning_Walks" text="1975 Conversations and Morning Walks"><h3>1975 Conversations and Morning Walks</h3></div>

<div class="quote" book="Con" link="Room Conversation with Professor Olivier -- October 10, 1975, Durban" link_text="Room Conversation with Professor Olivier -- October 10, 1975, Durban">
<div class="heading">If this line of activity is taken seriously, sometimes I may come and teach them. And they should be helped. That is the purpose of education.</div>

<div class="text">'''[[Vanisource:Room Conversation with Professor Olivier -- October 10, 1975, Durban|Room Conversation with Professor Olivier -- October 10, 1975, Durban]]:'''

Puṣṭa Kṛṣṇa: Yes. Some of the girls are very, very proficient and they're doing this now, and we hope that within a year or so's time we'll have a polished copy to print. We're working in this direction.

Prof. Olivier: I see.

Prabhupāda: If this line of activity is taken seriously, sometimes I may come and teach them. Yes.

Puṣṭa Kṛṣṇa: It is a very nice opportunity because you have all Indian students and they are eager, eager to know. They want to know. And they want to...

Prabhupāda: And they should be helped to...

Prof. Olivier: They should be helped, yes. They should be helped.

Prabhupāda: Yes. That is the purpose of education.</div>
</div>
</div>

Purpose of a temple

2013-07-03T06:42:23Z

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<div class="section" id="Sri_Caitanya-caritamrta" text="Sri Caitanya-caritamrta"><h2>Sri Caitanya-caritamrta</h2></div>

<div class="sub_section" id="CC_Adi-lila" text="CC Adi-lila"><h3>CC Adi-lila</h3></div>

<div class="quote" book="CC" link="CC Adi 11.31" link_text="CC Adi 11.31, Purport">
<div class="heading">Some time ago, the zamindars of Bājāravana Kābāśī, the Mulliks, constructed a big house for the purpose of a temple, but for the last sixty-five years the temple has been broken down and abandoned.</div>

<div class="text">'''[[Vanisource:CC Adi 11.31|CC Adi 11.31, Purport]]:''' Some time ago, the zamindars of Bājāravana Kābāśī, the Mulliks, constructed a big house for the purpose of a temple, but for the last sixty-five years the temple has been broken down and abandoned. The foundation of the old temple is still visible. There is a tulasī pillar near the temple, and every year during the month of Kārtika (October-November) the disappearance day of Dhanañjaya is observed. It is said that for some time Paṇḍita Dhanañjaya was in a saṅkīrtana party under the direction of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, and then he went to Vṛndāvana. Before going to Vṛndāvana, he lived for some time in a village named Sāṅcaḍāpāṅcaḍā, which is six miles south of the Memārī railway station.</div>
</div>

<div class="section" id="Conversations_and_Morning_Walks" text="Conversations and Morning Walks"><h2>Conversations and Morning Walks</h2></div>

<div class="sub_section" id="1972_Conversations_and_Morning_Walks" text="1972 Conversations and Morning Walks"><h3>1972 Conversations and Morning Walks</h3></div>

<div class="quote" book="Con" link="Room Conversation -- October 27, 1972, Vrndavana" link_text="Room Conversation -- October 27, 1972, Vrndavana">
<div class="heading">Just to attract people to give them spiritual inspiration. That is the purpose of temple.</div>

<div class="text">'''[[Vanisource:Room Conversation -- October 27, 1972, Vrndavana|Room Conversation -- October 27, 1972, Vrndavana]]:'''

Gurudāsa: So what is the purpose for very large temples in India? Just for the...

Prabhupāda: Just to attract people to give them spiritual inspiration. That is the purpose of temple. Not that you think that "People will come and give me money and I shall eat and sleep very nicely." Then it will gradually become Rādhā-Dāmodara temple or any other temple. Bharatpur Mahārāja's house.

Gurudāsa: I'm thinking that if we're endeavoring with as much energy to preach and have a modest temple that everyone's energy will be increased, our devotees' and the outsiders'.

Prabhupāda: That is the basic principle. If you lose your energy, then it is everything is lost. And to keep the energy intact, you must be very strict in following the principles.</div>
</div>

<div class="section" id="Correspondence" text="Correspondence"><h2>Correspondence</h2></div>

<div class="sub_section" id="1947_to_1965_Correspondence" text="1947 to 1965 Correspondence"><h3>1947 to 1965 Correspondence</h3></div>

<div class="quote" book="Let" link="Letter to K. M. Munshi -- Bombay 21 February, 1957" link_text="Letter to K. M. Munshi -- Bombay 21 February, 1957">
<div class="heading">No intelligent person is now attracted in such temples, because the purpose of these temples have been lost sight of due to negligence on the parts of both the public and pujaris.</div>

<div class="text">'''[[Vanisource:Letter to K. M. Munshi -- Bombay 21 February, 1957|Letter to K. M. Munshi -- Bombay 21 February, 1957]]:''' A thorough reformation of the management of these temples are required for spreading Theistic knowledge through these centres. No intelligent person is now attracted in such temples, because the purpose of these temples have been lost sight of due to negligence on the parts of both the public and pujaris. As a matter of fact, therefore, no new temples or places of spiritual enlightenment are constructed now in the newly constructed colonies of different cities. There are some of the signs of materialistic trend.</div>
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</div>

Would-be devotees

2013-05-21T02:44:25Z

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<div id="Other_Books_by_Srila_Prabhupada" class="section" sec_index="3" parent="compilation" text="Other Books by Srila Prabhupada"><h2>Other Books by Srila Prabhupada</h2>
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<div id="Nectar_of_Devotion" class="sub_section" sec_index="1" parent="Other_Books_by_Srila_Prabhupada" text="Nectar of Devotion"><h3>Nectar of Devotion</h3>
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<div id="NOD35_0" class="quote" parent="Nectar_of_Devotion" book="OB" index="276" link="NOD 35" link_text="Nectar of Devotion 35">
<div class="heading">In Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam it is said that the foolish do not know that Viṣṇu is the ultimate goal of life. According to the conclusion of all authoritative Vedic scriptures, when a person comes to the stage of appreciating Viṣṇu, he is at the beginning of devotional service. If one cultivates devotional service further and further, under proper guidance, other features of devotional service will gradually become manifest. At this stage of śānta-rasa, one can see Lord Viṣṇu, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the deliverer of even the demons. The Lord is appreciated by such would-be devotees as the eternal transcendental form, the chief of all self-realized souls, the Supersoul and the Supreme Brahman.
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<span class="link">[[Vanisource:NOD 35|Nectar of Devotion 35]]: </span><div style="display: inline;" class="text"><p style="display: inline;">Without worshiping the arcā-vigraha, the form or Deity of the Lord, one cannot understand such literature as Bhagavad-gītā and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. For those great sages situated in the position of transcendental neutrality, the beginning should be to take shelter of Lord Viṣṇu, the four-handed eternal form of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The mystic yogīs are therefore advised to meditate on the form of Lord Viṣṇu, as recommended by Kapila Muni in the sāṅkhya yoga system. Unfortunately, many mystic yogīs try to meditate on something void, and as stated in the Gītā, the result is that they simply undergo trouble and do not achieve any tangible result.</p>
<p>When some great saintly persons who had undergone penances and austerities saw the four-handed transcendental form of Viṣṇu, they remarked, "This four-handed form of the Lord, manifested in a bluish color, is the reservoir of all pleasure and the center of our living force. Actually, when we see this eternal form of Viṣṇu, we, along with many other paramahaṁsas, become immediately captivated by the beauty of the Lord." This appreciation of Lord Viṣṇu by saintly persons is an instance of situation in śānta-rasa, or the neutral stage of devotional service. In the beginning, those who are aspiring for salvation try to get out of the material entanglement by performing painful austerities and penances, and ultimately they come to the impersonal status of spiritual realization. At this brahma-bhūta ([[Vanisource:SB 4.30.20|SB 4.30.20]]) stage of liberation from material entanglement, the symptoms, as explained in Bhagavad-gītā, are that one becomes joyous beyond any hankering or lamentation and gains a universal vision. When the devotee is situated in the śānta-rasa, or neutral stage of devotional service, he appreciates the Viṣṇu form of the Lord.</p>
<p>Actually, all Vedic culture is aiming at understanding Lord Viṣṇu. In the Ṛg Veda one mantra says that any advanced saintly person is always aspiring to be fixed in meditation upon the lotus feet of Viṣṇu.</p>
<p>In Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam it is said that the foolish do not know that Viṣṇu is the ultimate goal of life. According to the conclusion of all authoritative Vedic scriptures, when a person comes to the stage of appreciating Viṣṇu, he is at the beginning of devotional service. If one cultivates devotional service further and further, under proper guidance, other features of devotional service will gradually become manifest. At this stage of śānta-rasa, one can see Lord Viṣṇu, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the deliverer of even the demons. The Lord is appreciated by such would-be devotees as the eternal transcendental form, the chief of all self-realized souls, the Supersoul and the Supreme Brahman. He is also appreciated as being completely peaceful, completely controlled and pure, merciful to the devotees and untouched by any material condition. This appreciation of Lord Viṣṇu in awe and veneration by the saintly is to be understood as the sign that they are situated in the śānta-rasa, or the neutral stage of devotional service.</p>
<p>This stage of śānta-rasa can be attained by the impersonalists only when they are in association with pure devotees. Otherwise it is not possible. After Brahman realization, when a liberated soul comes in contact with a pure devotee of Lord Kṛṣṇa and submissively accepts the teachings of Lord Kṛṣṇa without misinterpretation, he becomes situated in this neutral stage of devotional service. The best example of saintly persons situated in the śānta-rasa are Sanaka, Sanātana, Sananda and Sanat-kumāra, the Kumāra brothers. These four saintly persons (known as Catuḥ-sana) are sons of Lord Brahmā. After their birth, when they were ordered by their father to become householders and increase human society, they refused the order. They said that they had already decided not to become entangled with family life; they would rather live as saintly brahmacārīs for their own perfection. So these great saints have been living for millions of years now, but still they appear to be just like boys of four or five years. Their complexions are very fair, there is an effulgence in their bodies, and they always travel naked. These four saintly persons almost always remain together.</p>
<p>In one of the prayers of the Kumāra brothers, this declaration is made: "O Lord Mukunda (Kṛṣṇa, the giver of liberation), only so long as one does not happen to see Your eternal form of bliss and knowledge, appearing just like a newly-grown tamāla tree, with a bluish hue—only for so long can the impersonal feature of the Absolute Truth, known as Brahman, be very pleasing to a saintly person."</p>
<p>The qualifications of a saintly person are described in the Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu as follows. A saintly person is one who understands fully that simply by discharging devotional service he can become confident of liberation. He is always situated in the regulative principles of devotional life and at the same time aspires to be liberated from material entanglement.</p>
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Worshipful devotees

2013-05-21T02:44:05Z

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<div id="Srimad-Bhagavatam" class="section" sec_index="1" parent="compilation" text="Srimad-Bhagavatam"><h2>Srimad-Bhagavatam</h2>
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<div id="SB_Canto_1" class="sub_section" sec_index="1" parent="Srimad-Bhagavatam" text="SB Canto 1"><h3>SB Canto 1</h3>
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<div id="SB11821_0" class="quote" parent="SB_Canto_1" book="SB" index="712" link="SB 1.18.21" link_text="SB 1.18.21">
<div class="heading">There are four sects of worshipful devotees of the Lord, and the chief amongst them are the Brahma-sampradāya, Rudra-sampradāya and Śrī-sampradāya, descending directly from Lord Brahmā, Lord Śiva and the goddess of fortune, Lakṣmī, respectively.
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<span class="link">[[Vanisource:SB 1.18.21|SB 1.18.21, Translation and Purport]]: </span><div style="display: inline;" class="trans text"><p style="display: inline;">Who can be worthy of the name of the Supreme Lord but the Personality of Godhead Śrī Kṛṣṇa? Brahmājī collected the water emanating from the nails of His feet in order to award it to Lord Śiva as a worshipful welcome. This very water (the Ganges) is purifying the whole universe, including Lord Śiva.</p>
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<div class="purport text"><p>The conception of many gods in the Vedic literatures by the ignorant is completely wrong. The Lord is one without a second, but He expands Himself in many ways, and this is confirmed in the Vedas. Such expansions of the Lord are limitless, but some of them are the living entities. The living entities are not as powerful as the Lord's plenary expansions, and therefore there are two different types of expansions. Lord Brahmā is generally one of the living entities, and Lord Śiva is the via medium between the Lord and the living entities. In other words, even demigods like Lord Brahmā and Lord Śiva, who are the chief amongst all demigods, are never equal to or greater than Lord Viṣṇu, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The goddess of fortune, Lakṣmī, and all-powerful demigods like Brahmā and Śiva are engaged in the worship of Viṣṇu or Lord Kṛṣṇa; therefore who can be more powerful than Mukunda (Lord Kṛṣṇa) to be factually called the Supreme Personality of Godhead? The goddess of fortune, Lakṣmījī, Lord Brahmā and Lord Śiva are not independently powerful; they are powerful as expansions of the Supreme Lord, and all of them are engaged in the transcendental loving service of the Lord, and so also are the living entities. There are four sects of worshipful devotees of the Lord, and the chief amongst them are the Brahma-sampradāya, Rudra-sampradāya and Śrī-sampradāya, descending directly from Lord Brahmā, Lord Śiva and the goddess of fortune, Lakṣmī, respectively. Besides the above-mentioned three sampradāyas, there is the Kumāra-sampradāya, descending from Sanat-kumāra. All of the four original sampradāyas are still scrupulously engaged in the transcendental service of the Lord up to date, and they all declare that Lord Kṛṣṇa, Mukunda, is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and no other personality is equal to Him or greater than Him.</p>
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Worshipable devotees

2013-05-21T02:43:44Z

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<div id="Conversations_and_Morning_Walks" class="section" sec_index="5" parent="compilation" text="Conversations and Morning Walks"><h2>Conversations and Morning Walks</h2>
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<div id="1969_Conversations_and_Morning_Walks" class="sub_section" sec_index="2" parent="Conversations_and_Morning_Walks" text="1969 Conversations and Morning Walks"><h3>1969 Conversations and Morning Walks</h3>
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<div id="DiscussionwithBTGStaffDecember241969Boston_0" class="quote" parent="1969_Conversations_and_Morning_Walks" book="Con" index="24" link="Discussion with BTG Staff -- December 24, 1969, Boston" link_text="Discussion with BTG Staff -- December 24, 1969, Boston">
<div class="heading">The policy should be that the people may not understand gopīs like ordinary girls or like that. You should be careful to present the gopīs. It does not mean that "We shall not utter even the name of gopīs. We have taken vow to boycott the gopīs." No. They are our worshipable devotees. How we can avoid them?
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<span class="link">[[Vanisource:Discussion with BTG Staff -- December 24, 1969, Boston|Discussion with BTG Staff -- December 24, 1969, Boston]]: </span><div class="text"><p style="display: inline;">Prabhupāda: This Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is composed of four different stages. The first stage is to understand the relationship with Godhead, or Kṛṣṇa. Because the conditioned souls at the present moment, they have forgotten self. They have forgotten their relationship with Kṛṣṇa. Actually the relationship is there, eternal, but under the influence of māyā he is thinking that "I am something of this material world," identifying himself with this body. So we have to awake them from that illusory existence, what he is not. The whole mistake of the modern status of life... I don't say modern civilization. This is coming up since the creation of this material world. Sometimes it is in greater degree and sometimes in lesser degree. In Satya-yuga the same condition, but in lesser degree. But in Kali-yuga the condition is in greater degree. So the first business is to awake the conditioned souls from their illusory position, that he is thinking, "I am this body and anything in relationship with this body is very important." Janasya moho 'yam ahaṁ mameti ([[Vanisource:SB 5.5.8|SB 5.5.8]]). This is illusion. We speak of illusion, māyā. This is illusion, that "I am this body and anything in relation of this body..." I have got special relationship with certain woman, so I think, "She is my wife. I cannot do without her." Or another woman from whom I have taken birth, "She is my mother." Similarly father, similarly sons. In this way, country, society, at the most, humanity. That's all. But all these things are illusion because they are in bodily relationship. Yasyātmā-buddhiḥ kunape tri-dhātuke sa eva go-kharaḥ ([[Vanisource:SB 10.84.13|SB 10.84.13]]). Those who are passing on on this illusory condition of life, they are compared with the cows and the asses. So our first business is to wake up the general mass of people from this illusory condition of life. So Back to Godhead is specially meant for that purpose. We are pushing our Back to Godhead to the general mass of people to the first condition, first status of enlightenment. And then those who are becoming enlightened, coming forward, "Swamiji, or the society, please make me a member. Please initiate me," he is coming forward, understanding his position. So that is second stage, to train him how to awaken his, that dormant love of God. That is another stage, training. Sambandha abhidheya. Then, when he is actually in love of Godhead, then he can understand the higher status of loving exchange between Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa and the Vṛndāvana. This is third, third stage, yes. And the fourth stage is paramahaṁsa stage, who is always enjoying. Santaḥ sadaiva hṛdayeṣu vilokayanti. Premāñjana-cchurita-bhakti... When one is completely merged in the ocean of love of Godhead, he will relish in any condition of life Kṛṣṇa, present. Kṛṣṇa present means, Kṛṣṇa present, His name present, His form present, His līlā present, His paraphernalia present. Everything. Kṛṣṇa is not alone. We are not impersonalist. As soon as we say, "Kṛṣṇa," Kṛṣṇa means with His name, fame, opulence, entourage, pastime, etc. So Back to Godhead generally deals in two stages of understanding, the, to awaken the relationship and to train them. Although our aim is... That is our aim, to come to the highest platform of loving exchange, but generally, we are dealing with the mass of people. Therefore our propaganda should be how to, by reasoning, by philosophy, by science, by argument, how to convince him that he is in illusory stage. These politicians, these scientists, these philosophers, they have no advanced knowledge except the human being. That's all. Their ultimate goal is that if they can do something, humanitarian work, welfare work to the... The Vivekananda, or the Aurobindo, or this, what is called, the Russell, or Romain Roland, and so many, they are coming. And the yogis, they are trying to be self-satisfied by meditation. But nobody is concerned with God, or Kṛṣṇa. Nobody is concerned. This is the position of the world. So under the circumstances, our first business is how to awaken people from this illusory condition, that he is thinking, "I am this body," or the most well-being is taking care of this body or bodily relationships. So we have to take out from that illusory condition. So that should be the policy of our Back to Godhead. And the, so far the editors are concerned, they are supposed to know all these conclusions. Now we have got two editors, Hayagrīva and Satsvarūpa. I believe both of you know the conclusion which I am trying to push on within this movement. So you should work cooperatively in such a way that you don't deviate from the policy, and conjointly, consulting together, so that I may be relieved from petty minor things. But if there is some difficulty, I am at your service. Now what is the difficulty at the present moment? (break)</p>
<p>Hayagrīva: So we want to discuss content first? I have a list. Do you have a list, Satsvarūpa?</p>
<p>Satsvarūpa: I have a different list.</p>
<p>Prabhupāda: And so far the article Hayagrīva written, it is very nice. It should be published. Yes. I have seen it.</p>
<p>Satsvarūpa: That means that we can make reference to the gopīs.</p>
<p>Prabhupāda: Oh, it is done. Gopīs are boycotted.</p>
<p>Satsvarūpa: No, gopīs are not boycotted.</p>
<p>Prabhupāda: The policy should be that the people may not understand gopīs like ordinary girls or like that. You should be careful to present the gopīs. It does not mean that "We shall not utter even the name of gopīs. We have taken vow to boycott the gopīs." No. They are our worshipable devotees. How we can avoid them?</p>
<p>Satsvarūpa: What about writing down "kissing the lips of Kṛṣṇa"?</p>
<p>Prabhupāda: No. That we should avoid. That we should avoid. But that is not abominable. According to time and circumstances... That thing I have described. The fact is fact. Just like when I am describing Kṛṣṇa's līlā—I writing Kṛṣṇa's life—so I cannot give up that portion of His life, when Kṛṣṇa is actually kissing the gopīs in rasa dance.</p>
<p>Satsvarūpa: But that's in the books. Not in the public...</p>
<p>Prabhupāda: Yes. So in such circumstances, of course, we can give. But as far as possible, very cautiously and very rarely we shall present. Caitanya Mahāprabhu's life we see that in public He never discussed about Kṛṣṇa's līlā with the gopīs. That was very confidential discussion amongst His own circle, Rāya Rāmaṇanda, Svarūpa Dāmodara, like that. And He inquired... Even a learned scholar, He discussed about the philosophy, that Sarvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya. But when there was a great devotee like Rāmānanda Rāya, He relished gopīs', I mean to say, intimate behavior with Kṛṣṇa. So we should remember this, that public may misunderstand this. Therefore we have to present these things very cautiously, not very openly. They may misunderstand. But so far this article is concerned, that is nicely written. That is quite in order. So this should be published.</p>
<p>Hayagrīva: There is nothing specificially objectionable?</p>
<p>Prabhupāda: No, no. There is nothing.</p>
<p>Hayagrīva: Our process thus far has been to halve up the material about 50-50. He takes half, and I'll take a half, and that seems to be working fairly nicely.</p>
<p>Prabhupāda: That's all right. But first thing is that when you are in the post of editors, you are supposed to know. But whenever there is some difficulty, either you get it solved by consulting amongst yourselves, or if it is not possible, then refer to me. That's all.</p>
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</div>

Working devotee

2013-05-21T02:43:23Z

Stritama:

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<div id="Srimad-Bhagavatam" class="section" sec_index="1" parent="compilation" text="Srimad-Bhagavatam"><h2>Srimad-Bhagavatam</h2>
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<div id="SB_Canto_2" class="sub_section" sec_index="2" parent="Srimad-Bhagavatam" text="SB Canto 2"><h3>SB Canto 2</h3>
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<div id="SB2230_0" class="quote" parent="SB_Canto_2" book="SB" index="70" link="SB 2.2.30" link_text="SB 2.2.30">
<div class="heading">The ripe fruits of love of God are relished only by the devotees constantly engaged in the watering process as described above. But the working devotee must always be mindful so that the creeper which has so grown will not be cut off. Therefore he should be mindful of the following considerations:.
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<span class="link">[[Vanisource:SB 2.2.30|SB 2.2.30, Translation and Purport]]: </span><div style="display: inline;" class="trans text"><p style="display: inline;">The devotee, thus surpassing the gross and the subtle forms of coverings, enters the plane of egoism. And in that status he merges the material modes of nature (ignorance and passion) in this point of neutralization and thus reaches egoism in goodness. After this, all egoism is merged in the mahat-tattva, and he comes to the point of pure self-realization.</p>
</div>
<div class="purport text"><p>Pure self-realization, as we have several times discussed, is the pure consciousness of admitting oneself to be the eternal servitor of the Lord. Thus one is reinstated in his original position of transcendental loving service to the Lord, as will be clearly explained in the following verse. This stage of rendering transcendental loving service to the Lord without any hopes of emolument from the Lord, or any other way, can be attained when the material senses are purified and the original pure state of the senses is revived. It is suggested herein that the process of purifying the senses is by the yogic way, namely the gross senses are merged in the mode of ignorance, and the subtle senses are merged in the mode of passion. The mind belongs to the mode of goodness and therefore is called devamaya, or Godly. Perfect purification of the mind is made possible when one is fixed in the conviction of being the eternal servitor of the Lord. Therefore simple attainment of goodness is also a material mode; one has to surpass this stage of material goodness and reach the point of purified goodness, or vasudeva-sattva. This vasudeva-sattva helps one to enter into the kingdom of God.</p>
<p>We may also remember in this connection that the process of gradual emancipation by the devotees in the manner mentioned above, although authoritative, is not viable in the present age because of people's being primarily unaware of yoga practice. The so-called yoga practice by the professional protagonists may be physiologically beneficial, but such small successes cannot help one in the attainment of spiritual emancipation as mentioned herein. Five thousand years ago, when the social status of human society was in perfect Vedic order, the yoga process mentioned herein was a common affair for everyone because everyone, and especially the brāhmaṇa and kṣatriya, was trained in the transcendental art under the care of the spiritual master far away from home, in the status of brahmacarya. Modern man, however, is incompetent to understand it perfectly.</p>
<p>Lord Śrī Caitanya, therefore, made it easier for the prospective devotee of the present age in the following specific manner. Ultimately there is no difference in the result. The first and foremost point is that one must understand the prime importance of bhakti-yoga. The living beings in different species of life are undergoing different terms of encagement according to their fruitive actions and reactions. But in the execution of different activities, one who secures some resources in bhakti-yoga can understand the importance of service to the Lord through the causeless mercy of the Lord, as well as that of the spiritual master. A sincere soul is helped by the Lord through meeting a bona fide spiritual master, the representative of the Lord. By the instruction of such a spiritual master, one gets the seed of bhakti-yoga. Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu recommends that the devotee sow the seed of bhakti-yoga in his heart and nurture it by the watering of hearing and chanting the holy name, fame, etc., of the Lord. The simple process of offenselessly chanting and hearing the holy name of the Lord will gradually promote one very soon to the stage of emancipation. There are three stages in chanting the holy name of the Lord. The first stage is the offensive chanting of the holy name, and the second is the reflective stage of chanting the holy name. The third stage is the offenseless chanting of the holy name of the Lord. In the second stage only, the stage of reflection, between the offensive and offenseless stages, one automatically attains the stage of emancipation. And in the offenseless stage, one actually enters into the kingdom of God, although physically he may apparently be within the material world. To attain the offenseless stage, one must be on guard in the following manner.</p>
<p>When we speak of hearing and chanting, it means that not only should one chant and hear of the holy name of the Lord as Rāma, Kṛṣṇa (or systematically the sixteen names Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/ Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare), but one should also read and hear the Bhagavad-gītā and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam in the association of devotees. The primary practice of bhakti-yoga will cause the seed already sowed in heart to sprout, and by a regular watering process, as mentioned above, the bhakti-yoga creeper will begin to grow. By systematic nurturing, the creeper will grow to such an extent that it will penetrate the coverings of the universe, as we have heard in the previous verses, reach the effulgent sky, the brahma-jyotir, and go farther and farther and reach the spiritual sky, where there are innumerable spiritual planets called Vaikuṇṭhalokas. Above all of them is Kṛṣṇaloka, or Goloka Vṛndāvana, wherein the growing creeper enters and takes repose at the lotus feet of Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the original Personality of Godhead. When one reaches the lotus feet of Lord Kṛṣṇa at Goloka Vṛndāvana, the watering process of hearing and reading, as also chanting of the holy name in the pure devotional stage, fructifies, and the fruits grown there in the form of love of God are tangibly tasted by the devotee, even though he is here in this material world. The ripe fruits of love of God are relished only by the devotees constantly engaged in the watering process as described above. But the working devotee must always be mindful so that the creeper which has so grown will not be cut off. Therefore he should be mindful of the following considerations:</p>
<p>(1) Offense by one at the feet of a pure devotee may be likened to the mad elephant who devastates a very good garden if it enters.</p>
<p>(2) One must be very careful to guard himself against such offenses at the feet of pure devotees, just as one protects a creeper by all-around fencing.</p>
<p>(3) It so happens that by the watering process some weeds are also grown, and unless such weeds are uprooted, the nurturing of the main creeper, or the creeper of bhakti-yoga, may be hampered.</p>
<p>(4) Actually these weeds are material enjoyment, merging of the self in the Absolute without separate individuality, and many other desires in the field of religion, economic development, sense enjoyment and emancipation.</p>
<p>(5) There are many other weeds, like disobedience to the tenets of the revered scriptures, unnecessary engagements, killing animals, and hankering after material gain, prestige and adoration.</p>
<p>(6) If sufficient care is not taken, then the watering process may only help to breed the weeds, stunting the healthy growth of the main creeper and resulting in no fructification of the ultimate requirement: love of God.</p>
<p>(7) The devotee must therefore be very careful to uproot the different weeds in the very beginning. Only then will the healthy growth of the main creeper not be stunted.</p>
<p>(8) And by so doing, the devotee is able to relish the fruit of love of God and thus live practically with Lord Kṛṣṇa, even in this life, and be able to see the Lord in every step.</p>
<p>The highest perfection of life is to enjoy life constantly in the association of the Lord, and one who can relish this does not aspire after any temporary enjoyment of the material world via other media.</p>
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</div>

Wonderful devotees

2013-05-21T02:43:02Z

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<div id="Sri_Caitanya-caritamrta" class="section" sec_index="2" parent="compilation" text="Sri Caitanya-caritamrta"><h2>Sri Caitanya-caritamrta</h2>
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<div id="CC_Adi-lila" class="sub_section" sec_index="1" parent="Sri_Caitanya-caritamrta" text="CC Adi-lila"><h3>CC Adi-lila</h3>
</div>
<div id="CCAdi171_0" class="quote" parent="CC_Adi-lila" book="CC" index="1941" link="CC Adi 17.1" link_text="CC Adi 17.1">
<div class="heading">The members of the present Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement were not born in India, nor do they belong to the Vedic culture, but within the short time of four or five years they have become such wonderful devotees simply by chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra that even in India they are well received as perfectly well behaved Vaiṣṇavas wherever they go.
</div>
<span class="link">[[Vanisource:CC Adi 17.1|CC Adi 17.1, Translation and Purport]]: </span><div style="display: inline;" class="trans text"><p style="display: inline;">Let me offer my respectful obeisances to Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, by whose mercy even unclean yavanas become perfectly well bred gentlemen by chanting the holy name of the Lord. Such is the power of Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu.</p>
</div>
<div class="purport text"><p>There is a persistent misunderstanding between caste brāhmaṇas and advanced Vaiṣṇavas, or gosvāmīs, because caste brāhmaṇas, or smārtas, are of the opinion that one cannot become a brāhmaṇa unless he changes his body. As we have discussed several times, it is to be understood that by the supremely powerful potency of the Lord, as described by Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja Gosvāmī, everything is possible. Caitanya Mahāprabhu is as fully independent as Kṛṣṇa. Therefore no one can interfere with His activities. If He wants, by His mercy He can convert even a yavana, an unclean follower of non-Vedic principles, into a perfectly well behaved gentleman. This is actually happening in our propagation of the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement. The members of the present Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement were not born in India, nor do they belong to the Vedic culture, but within the short time of four or five years they have become such wonderful devotees simply by chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra that even in India they are well received as perfectly well behaved Vaiṣṇavas wherever they go.</p>
<p>Although less intelligent men cannot understand it, this is the special power of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Actually, the body of a Kṛṣṇa conscious person changes in many ways. Even in the United States, when our devotees chant on the street, American ladies and gentlemen inquire from them whether they are actually Americans because no one could expect Americans to become such nice devotees all of a sudden. Even Christian priests are greatly surprised that all these boys from Jewish and Christian families have joined this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement; before joining, they never regarded any principles of religion seriously, but now they have become sincere devotees of the Lord. Everywhere people express this astonishment, and we take great pride in the transcendental behavior of our students. Such wonders are possible, however, only by the mercy of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. They are not ordinary or mundane.</p>
</div>
</div>
<div id="Correspondence" class="section" sec_index="6" parent="compilation" text="Correspondence"><h2>Correspondence</h2>
</div>
<div id="1969_Correspondence" class="sub_section" sec_index="4" parent="Correspondence" text="1969 Correspondence"><h3>1969 Correspondence</h3>
</div>
<div id="LettertoNaranarayanaLosAngeles7February1969_0" class="quote" parent="1969_Correspondence" book="Let" index="96" link="Letter to Nara-narayana -- Los Angeles 7 February, 1969" link_text="Letter to Nara-narayana -- Los Angeles 7 February, 1969">
<div class="heading">Your statement about Brahmananda that he is a wonderful devotee is 100% agreed by me. He is in charge of the New York center, and, therefore, if proper obedience is not given to him it will be impossible for him to manage the affairs of the temple.
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<span class="link">[[Vanisource:Letter to Nara-narayana -- Los Angeles 7 February, 1969|Letter to Nara-narayana -- Los Angeles 7 February, 1969]]: </span><div style="display: inline;" class="text"><p style="display: inline;">Please accept my blessings. I beg to thank you very much for your letter pointing out some of the discrepancies of many of the devotees in New York. You are correct regarding the items which you have stated, such as sleeping in front of the deities, eating in front of the deities, taking of unoffered foodstuffs, drinking water from the bathroom, and non-chanting of rounds. But the thing is discipline can not be observed unless there is obedience. As you are obedient to me, you should be similarly obedient to my representative. Your statement about Brahmananda that he is a wonderful devotee is 100% agreed by me. He is in charge of the New York center, and, therefore, if proper obedience is not given to him it will be impossible for him to manage the affairs of the temple. Under the circumstances, the discrepancies you have observed in the temple may be referred to him, and he is quite reasonable, and will handle the matter with the respective devotees. Please don't you take any direct actions because it will cause disruption. You are a very talented boy, and I have every confidence in you, so I hope you will do this and oblige.</p>
<p>I have seen the plans for New Vrindaban, and I can understand that you have a great talent in house planning also. This will be fully utilized in the matter of our developing our New Vrindaban scheme when I go there. In the meantime, please let me know if you can get some pairs of Radha-Krishna deities in some brass foundry there. This is the immediate important work for you. You have asked in your letter to Purusottama if you should observe the lists of 44 offenses and 44 regulations for deity worship, and the answer is no; there is no need of this for the present.</p>
<p>I will be glad to hear from you by early return mail. I hope this will meet you in very good health.</p>
<p>Your ever well-wisher,</p>
<p>A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami</p>
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</div>

Well-situated devotees

2013-05-21T02:39:27Z

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<div id="Other_Books_by_Srila_Prabhupada" class="section" sec_index="3" parent="compilation" text="Other Books by Srila Prabhupada"><h2>Other Books by Srila Prabhupada</h2>
</div>
<div id="Light_of_the_Bhagavata" class="sub_section" sec_index="7" parent="Other_Books_by_Srila_Prabhupada" text="Light of the Bhagavata"><h3>Light of the Bhagavata</h3>
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<div id="LOB31_0" class="quote" parent="Light_of_the_Bhagavata" book="OB" index="32" link="LOB 31" link_text="Light of the Bhagavata 31">
<div class="heading">Well-situated devotees of the Lord refrain from materialistic sense enjoyment, for they are attracted by the beauty of the Transcendence.
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<span class="link">[[Vanisource:LOB 31|Light of the Bhagavata 31, Purport]]: </span><div style="display: inline;" class="purport text"><p style="display: inline;">In the varṇāśrama system the student goes to the āśrama of the master to take lessons from him and serve him, even as a menial servant. The troubles o the student are at once mitigated when he attains transcendental knowledge in terms of his relation with Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the Personality of Godhead. As the white clouds no longer bear the burden of water in the autumn sky, the student finds that the troubles of drawing water for the master become a burdenless job if the student, by the grace of his master, attains to spiritual knowledge.</p>
<p>Householders who beget children without restriction, like weeds in the rainy season, become solitary as soon as they attain to the stage of devotional service. The family planning of a godless civilization cannot check weedlike unwanted population. People should learn to check sex life by voluntary restraint. This voluntary restraint is possible when one is dovetailed with the service of the Lord. This is confirmed in Bhagavad-gītā. Well-situated devotees of the Lord refrain from materialistic sense enjoyment, for they are attracted by the beauty of the Transcendence. Forcible restraint by regulative family planning or similar artificial means cannot work very long; one must be attracted by the Transcendence. Once can give up the inferior quality of enjoyment as soon as one receives the superior quality of spiritual enjoyment. So family planning is successful when one is engaged in the culture of the human spirit.</p>
<p>The vānaprasthas, who voluntarily avoid cleaning themselves and who allow their beards and nails to grow, no longer feel the discomforts of these burdens when they engage in the service of the Lord. And above all, the mendicants who take a vow to refrain from sex life no longer feel sexual urges when fixed in the transcendental service of the Lord.</p>
<p>Therefore, in all four spiritual orders and four grades of social life, devotional service to the Lord is essential. Without this relationship, all the regulative principles of varṇa and āśrama become burdensome duties, as they have in the age of Kali. When the regulative principles have no aim, the varṇas become a caste system and the āśramas become the business of various shopkeepers. All these anomalies of the present social system can be reformed only by cultivation of the human spirit in the devotional service of the Lord.</p>
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Wandering devotees

2013-05-21T02:36:21Z

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<div id="Srimad-Bhagavatam" class="section" sec_index="1" parent="compilation" text="Srimad-Bhagavatam"><h2>Srimad-Bhagavatam</h2>
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<div id="SB_Canto_4" class="sub_section" sec_index="4" parent="Srimad-Bhagavatam" text="SB Canto 4"><h3>SB Canto 4</h3>
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<div id="SB43037_0" class="quote" parent="SB_Canto_4" book="SB" index="1347" link="SB 4.30.37" link_text="SB 4.30.37">
<div class="heading">Everyone should take advantage of the wandering devotees, whose only business is to deliver conditioned souls from the clutches of māyā.
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<span class="link">[[Vanisource:SB 4.30.37|SB 4.30.37, Translation and Purport]]: </span><div style="display: inline;" class="trans text"><p style="display: inline;">Dear Lord, Your personal associates, devotees, wander all over the world to purify even the holy places of pilgrimage. Is not such activity pleasing to those who are actually afraid of material existence?</p>
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<div class="purport text"><p>There are two kinds of devotees. One is called goṣṭhyānandī and the other bhajanānandī. The word bhajanānandī refers to the devotee who does not move, but remains in one place. Such a devotee is always engaged in the devotional service of the Lord. He chants the mahā-mantra as taught by many ācāryas and sometimes goes out for preaching work. The goṣṭhyānandī is one who desires to increase the number of devotees all over the world. He travels all over the world just to purify the world and the people residing in it. Caitanya Mahāprabhu advised:</p>
:pṛthivīte āche yata nagarādi grāma
:sarvatra pracāra haibe mora nāma
:(CB Antya-khaṇḍa 4.126)
<p>Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu wanted His followers to move all over the world to preach in every town and village. In the Caitanya-sampradāya those who strictly follow the principles of Lord Caitanya must travel all over the world to preach the message of Lord Caitanya, which is the same as preaching the words of Kṛṣṇa—Bhagavad-gītā—and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. The more the devotees preach the principles of kṛṣṇa-kathā, the more people throughout the world will benefit.</p>
<p>Devotees like the great sage Nārada, who travel all over to preach, are called goṣṭhyānandī. Nārada Muni is always wandering throughout the universe just to create different types of devotees. Nārada even made a hunter a devotee. He also made Dhruva Mahārāja and Prahlāda devotees. Actually, all devotees are indebted to the great sage Nārada, for he has wandered both in heaven and in hell. A devotee of the Lord is not even afraid of hell. He goes to preach the glories of the Lord everywhere—even in hell—because there is no distinction between heaven and hell for a devotee.</p>
:nārāyaṇa-parāḥ sarve
:na kutaścana bibhyati
:svargāpavarga-narakeṣv
:api tulyārtha-darśinaḥ
<p>"A pure devotee of Nārāyaṇa is never afraid of going anywhere and everywhere. For him heaven and hell are one and the same." ([[Vanisource:SB 6.17.28|SB 6.17.28]]) Such devotees, wandering all over the world, deliver those who are actually afraid of this material existence. Some people are already disgusted with material existence, being confused and frustrated by material enjoyment, and some people, who are intelligent, are interested in understanding the Supreme Lord. Both may take advantage of the pure devotee who wanders throughout the world.</p>
<p>When a pure devotee goes to a place of pilgrimage, he desires to purify that holy place of pilgrimage. Many sinful men bathe in the holy waters of the places of pilgrimage. They take their baths in the waters of the Ganges and Yamunā at places such as Prayāga, Vṛndāvana and Mathurā. In this way the sinful men are purified, but their sinful actions and reactions remain at the holy places of pilgrimage. When a devotee comes to take his bath at those places of pilgrimage, the sinful reactions left by the sinful men are neutralized by the devotee. Tīrthī-kurvanti tīrthāni svāntaḥ-sthena gadā-bhṛtā ([[Vanisource:SB 1.13.10|SB 1.13.10]]). Because the devotee always carries the Supreme Personality of Godhead within his heart, wherever he goes becomes a place of pilgrimage, a holy place for understanding the Supreme Personality of Godhead. It is therefore the duty of everyone to associate with a pure devotee and thus attain freedom from material contamination. Everyone should take advantage of the wandering devotees, whose only business is to deliver conditioned souls from the clutches of māyā.</p>
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</div>
</div>

Visiting devotees

2013-05-21T02:35:48Z

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<div id="Sri_Caitanya-caritamrta" class="section" sec_index="2" parent="compilation" text="Sri Caitanya-caritamrta"><h2>Sri Caitanya-caritamrta</h2>
</div>
<div id="CC_Madhya-lila" class="sub_section" sec_index="2" parent="Sri_Caitanya-caritamrta" text="CC Madhya-lila"><h3>CC Madhya-lila</h3>
</div>
<div id="CCMadhya83_0" class="quote" parent="CC_Madhya-lila" book="CC" index="1410" link="CC Madhya 8.3" link_text="CC Madhya 8.3">
<div class="heading">On one stone tablet it is mentioned that formerly a queen covered the Deity with gold plate. This is mentioned in the Visakhapatnam Gazetteer. About the temple, there are residential quarters for the priests and devotees. Indeed, at the present moment there are many residential quarters to accommodate visiting devotees.
</div>
<span class="link">[[Vanisource:CC Madhya 8.3|CC Madhya 8.3, Translation and Purport]]: </span><div style="display: inline;" class="trans text"><p style="display: inline;">According to His previous program, Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu went forward on His tour and after some days arrived at the place of pilgrimage known as Jiyaḍa-nṛsiṁha.</p>
</div>
<div class="purport text"><p>The Jiyaḍa-nṛsiṁha temple is situated on the top of a hill about five miles away from Visakhapatnam. There is a railway station on the South Indian Railway known as Siṁhācala. The temple known as Siṁhācala is the best temple in the vicinity of Visakhapatnam. This temple is very affluent and is a typical example of the architecture of the area. On one stone tablet it is mentioned that formerly a queen covered the Deity with gold plate. This is mentioned in the Visakhapatnam Gazetteer. About the temple, there are residential quarters for the priests and devotees. Indeed, at the present moment there are many residential quarters to accommodate visiting devotees. The original Deity is situated within the depths of the temple, but there is another Deity, a duplicate, known as the vijaya-mūrti. This smaller Deity can be moved from the temple and taken on public processions. Priests who generally belong to the Rāmānuja-sampradāya are in charge of the Deity worship.</p>
</div>
</div>
<div id="Conversations_and_Morning_Walks" class="section" sec_index="5" parent="compilation" text="Conversations and Morning Walks"><h2>Conversations and Morning Walks</h2>
</div>
<div id="1976_Conversations_and_Morning_Walks" class="sub_section" sec_index="9" parent="Conversations_and_Morning_Walks" text="1976 Conversations and Morning Walks"><h3>1976 Conversations and Morning Walks</h3>
</div>
<div id="RoomConversationSeptember51976Vrndavana_0" class="quote" parent="1976_Conversations_and_Morning_Walks" book="Con" index="296" link="Room Conversation -- September 5, 1976, Vrndavana" link_text="Room Conversation -- September 5, 1976, Vrndavana">
<div class="heading">You must make a rule.
</div>
<span class="link">[[Vanisource:Room Conversation -- September 5, 1976, Vrndavana|Room Conversation -- September 5, 1976, Vrndavana]]: </span><div class="text"><p style="display: inline;">Prabhupāda: Budget is there. Hundred rupees per head. Fifty men if you keep, it is five thousand.</p>
<p>Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: We can keep less. We don't want fifty.</p>
<p>Prabhupāda: That's all right. It will be less. But I'm prepared to pay you five thousand rupees for fifty men. Not more than that. That I can pay. You do not require to collect. You sit down. But work hard here. Not that eating, sleeping. No. That cannot be. That cannot be done. They must be engaged twenty-four hours. That is wanted. It is not a lazy free hotel. Anyone lives, he must be engaged twenty-four hours. Kīrtanīyaḥ sadā hariḥ ([[Vanisource:CC Adi 17.31|CC Adi 17.31]]). If he has no work, chant Hare Kṛṣṇa here. That should be done.</p>
<p>Akṣayānanda: Śrīla Prabhupāda? We have this twenty-four kīrtana. I've requested everyone who comes to do at least one hour per day.</p>
<p>Prabhupāda: There is no question. This is the condition. If you agree, then stay here. Otherwise, you go to Rādhā-kuṇḍa.</p>
<p>Akṣayānanda: Also visiting devotees should do that too. Anyone who comes here should do that.</p>
<p>Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: Everyone.</p>
<p>Prabhupāda: You must make a rule.</p>
<p>Akṣayānanda: At least one hour in the temple.</p>
<p>Prabhupāda: Why one hour? Four hours. Four hours. Four times. Morning, evening, night, morning again.</p>
<p>Akṣayānanda: Already, the rule is made...</p>
<p>Prabhupāda: No, no, already rules we are... Just like to continue kīrtana there must be four batches.</p>
<p>Akṣayānanda: Yes, four men I have...</p>
<p>Prabhupāda: Four batches. That means six hours, four. Three hours. Three hours. Not four hours. So one batch four hours. From morning six to nine. Another batch from nine to twelve. Another batch twelve to three. Another batch three to six. Again the morning batch six to...</p>
</div>
</div>
<div id="1977_Conversations_and_Morning_Walks" class="sub_section" sec_index="10" parent="Conversations_and_Morning_Walks" text="1977 Conversations and Morning Walks"><h3>1977 Conversations and Morning Walks</h3>
</div>
<div id="RoomConversationNovember101977Vrndavana_0" class="quote" parent="1977_Conversations_and_Morning_Walks" book="Con" index="291" link="Room Conversation -- November 10, 1977, Vrndavana" link_text="Room Conversation -- November 10, 1977, Vrndavana">
<div class="heading">Keep that palanquin.
</div>
<span class="link">[[Vanisource:Room Conversation -- November 10, 1977, Vrndavana|Room Conversation -- November 10, 1977, Vrndavana]]: </span><div class="text"><p style="display: inline;">Lokanātha: That will be ever-new experience for us also.</p>
<p>Prabhupāda: Yes.</p>
<p>Jayapatākā: It will be historic. Many people have been invited to the temple here. Many people have been invited to attend the function here at the mandira.</p>
<p>Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: Thousands of people are expected to come tomorrow.</p>
<p>Pañca-draviḍa: That can also go on.</p>
<p>Prabhupāda: When they have invited?</p>
<p>Svarūpa Dāmodara: To Kṛṣṇa-Balarāma temple, Śrīla Prabhupāda.</p>
<p>Prabhupāda: When?</p>
<p>Svarūpa Dāmodara: Tomorrow.</p>
<p>Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: "What time?" he's asking.</p>
<p>Bhavānanda: At 11 a.m.</p>
<p>Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: At around noontime, Śrīla Prabhupāda.</p>
<p>Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: There's a big feast at one o'clock.</p>
<p>Prabhupāda: So half of our men may come back.</p>
<p>Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Half of the men may come, and half should stay. All the Vṛndāvana devotees can stay. All the visiting devotees should go. All right, we'll make that division, Śrīla Prabhupāda.</p>
<p>Prabhupāda: Keep that palanquin.</p>
<p>Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Keep the palanquin on the cart?</p>
<p>Prabhupāda: Cart?</p>
<p>Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: What, Śrīla Prabhupāda?</p>
<p>Prabhupāda: Palanquin.</p>
<p>Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Where should we keep it? With us on the cart?</p>
<p>Prabhupāda: Carry it.</p>
<p>Haṁsadūta: Bring it along.</p>
<p>Pañca-draviḍa: We'll bring it along. (discussion of how to do this)</p>
<p>Svarūpa Dāmodara: So when we'll come back from Govardhana?</p>
<p>Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: Tomorrow night.</p>
<p>Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: So after circumambulating Govardhana, we will return to Vṛndāvana or stay out?</p>
<p>Prabhupāda: What do you think?</p>
<p>Pañca-draviḍa: Maybe we could stay overnight.</p>
<p>Lokanātha: When we are there, out, we'll decide.</p>
<p>Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: He can't come back tomorrow night.</p>
<p>Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: It's helpful for the devotees to know, just so they can bring something to wrap around when it gets to be nighttime. It's not the middle of the summer, you know. It is...</p>
<p>Lokanātha: We have two, three vehicles here.</p>
<p>Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: I'm saying it's something that should be considered now, and not when we get there. You said when we get there we'll see.</p>
<p>Svarūpa Dāmodara: We should make all the plans complete.</p>
<p>Prabhupāda: That you consider.</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>

Vira-bhakti-rasa devotee

2013-05-21T02:35:18Z

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<div id="Sri_Caitanya-caritamrta" class="section" sec_index="2" parent="compilation" text="Sri Caitanya-caritamrta"><h2>Sri Caitanya-caritamrta</h2>
</div>
<div id="CC_Madhya-lila" class="sub_section" sec_index="2" parent="Sri_Caitanya-caritamrta" text="CC Madhya-lila"><h3>CC Madhya-lila</h3>
</div>
<div id="CCMadhya19187_0" class="quote" parent="CC_Madhya-lila" book="CC" index="4425" link="CC Madhya 19.187" link_text="CC Madhya 19.187">
<div class="heading">When attachment to Kṛṣṇa mixes with the bellicose tendency, the charitable tendency or the merciful tendency in the heart of the devotee, such devotion is called vīra-bhakti-rasa.
</div>
<span class="link">[[Vanisource:CC Madhya 19.187|CC Madhya 19.187, Translation and Purport]]: </span><div style="display: inline;" class="trans text"><p style="display: inline;">“In addition to the five direct mellows, there are seven indirect mellows, known as laughter, wonder, chivalry, compassion, anger, disaster and fear.</p>
</div>
<div class="purport text"><p>Hāsya, adbhuta, vīra, karuṇa, raudra, bhaya and bībhatsa—the seven indirect mellows—are explained in the Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu (4.1.6). The hāsya-bhakti-rasa, laughing devotion, is explained as follows:</p>
:vakṣyamāṇair vibhāvādyaiḥ puṣṭiṁ hāsa-ratir gatā
:hāsya-bhakti-raso nāma budhair eṣa nigadyate
<p>"When through devotional service a laughing attachment to Kṛṣṇa is developed, it is called hāsya-bhakti-rasa by learned scholars."</p>
<p>Similarly, adbhuta-rasa is described in the Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu (4.2.1):</p>
:ātmocitair vibhāvādyaiḥ svādyatvaṁ bhakta-cetasi
:sā vismaya-ratir nītādbhuta-bhakti-raso bhavet
<p>“When one's general attachment is fixed in wonder, it is called adbhuta-bhakti-rasa.”</p>
<p>Vīra-bhakti-rasa is described as follows (B.r.s. 4.3.1):</p>
:saivotsāha-ratiḥ sthāyī vibhāvādyair nijocitaḥ
:ānīyamānā svādyatvaṁ vīra-bhakti-raso bhavet
:yuddha-dāna-dayā-dharmaiś caturdhā-vīra ucyate
<p>"When attachment to Kṛṣṇa mixes with the bellicose tendency, the charitable tendency or the merciful tendency in the heart of the devotee, such devotion is called vīra-bhakti-rasa."</p>
<p>Karuṇa-bhakti-rasa is described as follows (B.r.s. 4.4.1):</p>
:ātmocitair vibhāvādyair nītā puṣṭiṁ satāṁ hṛdi
:bhavec choka-ratir bhakti-raso hi karuṇābhidhaḥ
<p>“When one's devotional attitude and attachment for Kṛṣṇa is mixed with lamentation, it is called karuṇa-bhakti-rasa.”</p>
<p>Similarly, raudra-bhakti-rasa is described as follows (B.r.s. 4.5.1):</p>
:nītā krodha-ratiḥ puṣṭiṁ vibhāvādyair nijocitaiḥ
:hṛdi bhakta-janasyāsau raudra-bhakti-raso bhavet
<p>"When devotion is mixed with anger in the heart of the devotee, the taste is called raudra-bhakti-rasa."</p>
<p>Bhayānaka-bhakti-rasa is described as follows (B.r.s. 4.6.1):</p>
:vakṣyamāṇair vibhāvādyaiḥ puṣṭiṁ bhaya-ratir gatā
:bhayānakābhidho bhakti-raso dhīrair udīryate
<p>"When devotion is mixed with fear, it is called bhayānaka-bhakti-rasa."</p>
<p>Bībhatsa-bhakti-rasa is described as follows (B.r.s. 4.7.1):</p>
:puṣṭiṁ nija-vibhāvādyair jugupsā-ratir āgatā
:asau bhakti-raso dhīrair bībhatsākhya itīryate
<p>“When one's attachment for Kṛṣṇa develops in an abominable way, and the devotee enjoys it, that is called bībhatsa-bhakti-rasa.”</p>
<p>In conclusion, when a pure devotee is situated in any of the five principal mellows (śānta, dāsya, sakhya, vātsalya or madhura) and that mellow is mixed with one or more of the seven indirect bhakti-rasas (hāsya, adbhuta, vīra, karuṇa, raudra, bhayānaka or bībhatsa), the indirect mellows become prominent.</p>
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</div>

Veteran devotee

2013-05-21T02:34:56Z

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<div id="Srimad-Bhagavatam" class="section" sec_index="1" parent="compilation" text="Srimad-Bhagavatam"><h2>Srimad-Bhagavatam</h2>
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<div id="SB_Preface_and_Introduction" class="sub_section" sec_index="0" parent="Srimad-Bhagavatam" text="SB Preface and Introduction"><h3>SB Preface and Introduction</h3>
</div>
<div id="SBIntroduction_0" class="quote" parent="SB_Preface_and_Introduction" book="SB" index="1" link="SB Introduction" link_text="SB Introduction">
<div class="heading">The Lord accepted Śrīla Haridāsa Ṭhākura, a veteran devotee of the Lord coming from a Mohammedan family.
</div>
<span class="link">[[Vanisource:SB Introduction|SB Introduction]]: </span><div style="display: inline;" class="text"><p style="display: inline;">Śrī Rāmānanda Rāya was a self-realized soul, although outwardly he belonged to a caste lower than the brāhmaṇa in social status. He was not in the renounced order of life, and besides that he was a high government servant in the state. Still, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu accepted him as a liberated soul on the strength of the high order of his realization of transcendental knowledge. Similarly, the Lord accepted Śrīla Haridāsa Ṭhākura, a veteran devotee of the Lord coming from a Mohammedan family. And there are many other great devotees of the Lord who came from different communities, sects and castes. The Lord's only criterion was the standard of devotional service of the particular person. He was not concerned with the outward dress of a man; He was concerned only with the inner soul and its activities. Therefore all the missionary activities of the Lord are to be understood to be on the spiritual plane, and as such the cult of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, or the cult of Bhāgavata-dharma, has nothing to do with mundane affairs, sociology, politics, economic development or any such sphere of life. Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is the purely transcendental urge of the soul.</p>
</div>
</div>
<div id="Correspondence" class="section" sec_index="6" parent="compilation" text="Correspondence"><h2>Correspondence</h2>
</div>
<div id="1969_Correspondence" class="sub_section" sec_index="4" parent="Correspondence" text="1969 Correspondence"><h3>1969 Correspondence</h3>
</div>
<div id="LettertoSubalaLosAngeles8July1969_0" class="quote" parent="1969_Correspondence" book="Let" index="426" link="Letter to Subala -- Los Angeles 8 July, 1969" link_text="Letter to Subala -- Los Angeles 8 July, 1969">
<div class="heading">You are now a veteran devotee, so you can help others and yourself nicely.
</div>
<span class="link">[[Vanisource:Letter to Subala -- Los Angeles 8 July, 1969|Letter to Subala -- Los Angeles 8 July, 1969]]: </span><div style="display: inline;" class="text"><p style="display: inline;">Regarding your arrest by the police, it was Krishna's desire, so that it is now authoritatively admitted that we are not guilty. You can take a certified copy of the judgement. This will help not only your center, but other centers also. It will be of considerable aid in getting permission from the police. You take this copy immediately and make several photostat copies, and send to every center and one copy to me. Get mrdangas and karatalas from New York. Keep our books and magazines sufficiently, and make propaganda. You are now a veteran devotee, so you can help others and yourself nicely. Simply you have to execute the principles very rigidly and faithfully. Then everything is there, and all success is at your command. Regarding you taking a job, I hope if you properly execute your activities, you will have no lack of money. In the beginning there may be a little hardship, but everywhere it has proved successful. I have information from Brahmananda that last month they collected about $2,400. So after all, it is all Krishna's money. When He sees us very faithful and trustworthy, He gives up His money for expenditures. Simply pray to Krishna that you may be able by His Grace to serve Him nicely. Our prayer of the Hare Krishna Mantra means addressing Radha and Krishna for being engaged in Their service. Hare Krishna means "Oh Hare, Oh Radharani! Oh Krishna! Please engage me in Your service so that I can get relief from the service of Maya." Just like a person resigns from an inferior quality of service and accepts a superior quality of service, similarly, our prayer to Krishna is to give us relief from the inferior quality of service to Maya, and to be engaged in the superior quality of service to Krishna. Service we have to render, and the whole process is to accept the superior quality of service in Krishna Consciousness.</p>
</div>
</div>
<div id="1971_Correspondence" class="sub_section" sec_index="6" parent="Correspondence" text="1971 Correspondence"><h3>1971 Correspondence</h3>
</div>
<div id="LettertoKarandharaDelhi3December1971_0" class="quote" parent="1971_Correspondence" book="Let" index="555" link="Letter to Karandhara -- Delhi 3 December, 1971" link_text="Letter to Karandhara -- Delhi 3 December, 1971">
<div class="heading">Now you must guide them very nicely in Krishna Consciousness, because you are a veteran devotee and practically speaking the future of our Krishna Conscious Society rests in the hands of my older disciples.
</div>
<span class="link">[[Vanisource:Letter to Karandhara -- Delhi 3 December, 1971|Letter to Karandhara -- Delhi 3 December, 1971]]: </span><div style="display: inline;" class="text"><p style="display: inline;">I am in due receipt of your letter of November 13, 1971, in which you have recommended that Sriman Howard Sorgen and Srimate Jo An McNamara be accepted by me as my disciples. I am very glad to accept them as my initiated students, and I have given their spiritual names as Ganga Narayana das and Jaga Mohini dasi respectively. Now you must guide them very nicely in Krishna Consciousness, because you are a veteran devotee and practically speaking the future of our Krishna Conscious Society rests in the hands of my older disciples. Give them all facility to perfect their lives by protecting them and instructing them nicely, that is now the duty of my senior disciples.</p>
</div>
</div>
<div id="1972_Correspondence" class="sub_section" sec_index="7" parent="Correspondence" text="1972 Correspondence"><h3>1972 Correspondence</h3>
</div>
<div id="LettertoMadhudvisaTokyo26April1972_0" class="quote" parent="1972_Correspondence" book="Let" index="205" link="Letter to Madhudvisa -- Tokyo 26 April, 1972" link_text="Letter to Madhudvisa -- Tokyo 26 April, 1972">
<div class="heading">You are now a veteran devotee and very sincere, so you organize everything in Australia and New Zealand.
</div>
<span class="link">[[Vanisource:Letter to Madhudvisa -- Tokyo 26 April, 1972|Letter to Madhudvisa -- Tokyo 26 April, 1972]]: </span><div style="display: inline;" class="text"><p style="display: inline;">Karandhara has sent many books there from Japan, so you can encourage them there to sell as many books as possible, and all the money can go towards building, there will be no division of Book Fund/Building Fund for the time being.</p>
<p>You can go to Australia, there you have got enough field for your dancing. Melbourne, Sydney, and Auckland are very good field and you will have very good assistance from Mohanananda. In New Zealand we have already got one land of 3 acres. You are now a veteran devotee and very sincere, so you organize everything in Australia and New Zealand. Here, Sudama is taking sannyasa to overhaul the whole of Japan. I see these Japanese as better than the Americans, they offered me their obeisances immediately.</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>

Very very nice devotee

2013-05-21T02:34:35Z

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<div id="Correspondence" class="section" sec_index="6" parent="compilation" text="Correspondence"><h2>Correspondence</h2>
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<div id="1972_Correspondence" class="sub_section" sec_index="7" parent="Correspondence" text="1972 Correspondence"><h3>1972 Correspondence</h3>
</div>
<div id="LettertoDayanandaLosAngeles20May1972_0" class="quote" parent="1972_Correspondence" book="Let" index="264" link="Letter to Dayananda -- Los Angeles 20 May, 1972" link_text="Letter to Dayananda -- Los Angeles 20 May, 1972">
<div class="heading">I have received notice from Mandakini that her Russia trip was very much successful and that she will be returning to marry Anatole as soon as she can get proper visa. So you please give her all assistance to get proper visa so that she may continue her work. She is very very nice devotee.
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<span class="link">[[Vanisource:Letter to Dayananda -- Los Angeles 20 May, 1972|Letter to Dayananda -- Los Angeles 20 May, 1972]]: </span><div style="display: inline;" class="text"><p style="display: inline;">My dear Dayananda,</p>
<p>Please accept my blessings. I am in due receipt of your letter undated and your telegram from London dated May 16, 1972. I shall be very glad to see Lord Jagannatha dancing in His new dress when I come to London sometime in July. So you can immediately fix up a date for my coming there, along with my three assistants and you can send return airline tickets. It is certainly a great tragedy that there are no books in London Center so Kesava was not able to display his great talent for distributing them. But I have heard from him that you are all very enthusiastic to distribute books so when I come there I shall give you some hints how to do it. One thing is, when I come there I do not like to stay in any hotel. I shall stay in my room above the temple on the first floor.</p>
<p>I have just heard from Malati that our Digvijaya and Pritha devi are presently staying with the devotees in Vrindaban in India. So we must take every precaution to prevent our devotees from slackening and falling away. This is done by observing that they are always chanting 16 rounds and observing the regulative principles. If these things are neglected, then they will fall down. It is not good if small numbers of devotees open a center and then fall away. Association of devotees is the most important thing. So I think in the future at least 10 or 12 men must open a center. But you have done the right thing to concentrate our forces on travelling sankirtana.</p>
<p>I am very much encouraged that you are trying for that temple and that you have paid 1000 pounds into the temple fund. But if the temple costs between 200,000 and 500,000 pounds then 1000 pounds is not a very big sum, so how you will raise so much money? Another thing, I have heard that Revatinandana wants to return to USA but I do not see any need that he should return. It is simply sentimental feeling. You report that he is doing very nicely by speaking at colleges and schools so let him continue in that way. He may take as many assistants as he requires and very strongly preach this philosophy to the student class of men. That is the greatest service. But if we allow ourselves to wander here and there without any fixed-up program that is not good. So at least let him remain there until I come and then we shall discuss further.</p>
<p>I have seen your wife Nandarani dasi here in Los Angeles and she is doing very well. I want that she shall help me improve the conditions at our Dallas school by going there and teaching the children. If children are allowed to play just like Krishna was playing with his cowherd boyfriends, then little ABC, then see the deity and have arati, then take little prasadam; in this way if they are always diversified, they will be always jolly and become fixed-up devotees at young age. And small children, they learn better these things from their mother and women in general. So I thing that some mothers of our children should go to Dallas and take charge of teaching the children, especially how to play nicely the pastimes of young Krishna. If you ask one child to be a tree, he will immediately hold out his arms "Just see I am a tree." If you ask him to be a cow he will walk on his hands and knees immediately and you can hit him with a stick and say "hut, hut." And if they will not take prasadam you can say "Now you are a cow and you must eat the grass" and immediately they will stand on hands and legs and eat prasadam like cow eating grass. So in this way our children in Dallas school should be trained because I want that a new generation of devotees shall carry on this great mission successfully.</p>
<p>I have received notice from Mandakini that her Russia trip was very much successful and that she will be returning to marry Anatole as soon as she can get proper visa. So you please give her all assistance to get proper visa so that she may continue her work. She is very very nice devotee.</p>
<p>Regarding your request to take sannyasa order of life, we shall see to that when I come there.</p>
<p>Hoping this meets you in good health.</p>
<p>Your ever well-wisher,</p>
<p>A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami</p>
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Very pious devotee

2013-05-21T02:29:55Z

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<div id="Lectures" class="section" sec_index="4" parent="compilation" text="Lectures"><h2>Lectures</h2>
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<div id="Srimad-Bhagavatam_Lectures" class="sub_section" sec_index="1" parent="Lectures" text="Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures"><h3>Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures</h3>
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<div id="LectureonSB1425MontrealJune201968_0" class="quote" parent="Srimad-Bhagavatam_Lectures" book="Lec" index="128" link="Lecture on SB 1.4.25 -- Montreal, June 20, 1968" link_text="Lecture on SB 1.4.25 -- Montreal, June 20, 1968">
<div class="heading">Now the history of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is like this, that Parīkṣit Mahārāja was a great king, emperor of the world, very pious devotee, all qualified. So sometimes he went to the forest for hunting.
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<span class="link">[[Vanisource:Lecture on SB 1.4.25 -- Montreal, June 20, 1968|Lecture on SB 1.4.25 -- Montreal, June 20, 1968]]: </span><div style="display: inline;" class="text"><p style="display: inline;">So this Mahābhārata is also history, and as history is liked by common man, so Mahābhārata was written by Vyāsadeva for understanding of the most common men. Strī-śūdra-dvijabandhūnaṁ trayī na śruti-gocarā ([[Vanisource:SB 1.4.25|SB 1.4.25]]). The Vyāsadeva has given explanation why he compiled Mahābhārata, the great history of this Bhārata. Now it is called India, but the planet was called Bhārata, Bhārata-varṣa. So he has given explanation that "The Vedic principle, Vedic instructions, they are not directly understandable by commen men and women." Strī-śūdra-dvijabandhūnaṁ. Who are common men? Women class, as a class, and śūdra, laborer class, working class, and Strī-śūdra-dvijabandhūnaṁ. And dvija means twice-born, the higher caste. The higher caste means they must be twice-born. How is that? One birth is father and mother, real father and mother, and the next birth is spiritual master and the Vedas. That means when one is trained up in the matter of real knowledge—Veda means real knowledge—by the guidance of the spiritual master, he is supposed to be twice-born. So dvija-bandhu. Twice-born means cultural society. Those who have Vedic cultured, those who have followed the Vedic principles rigidly, it doesn't matter whether he is a householder or a brahmacārī or a sannyāsī. There are eight divisions of human society: four divisions social structure, and four divisions for spiritual enlightenment. So unless the eight divisions are properly managed, that is not human society. Human society is distinct from animal society by culture. What is that culture? Vedic culture, knowledge. Vedic means knowledge. One must be equipped with full knowledge. "So this Vedic culture," Vyāsadeva says, "or the Vedic principles, are not very easily understood by women class, by worker class, and dvija-bandhu." Dvija-bandhu means the boys who have taken birth in the family who are supposed to be very cultured, but their habit is different. They are called dvija-bandhu. In every country, that deterioration of social structure has already begun. They are called varṇa-saṅkara. Varṇa-saṅkara factually means that those who are illiterate. So for them it is very difficult to understand the Vedic principles. Therefore the same knowledge is described in stories just like Mahābhārata, Purāṇas, and for understanding of all men, all women. So Mahābhārata is especially written for such class of men and women. And the hero of Mahābhārata is Arjuna. Similarly, the hero of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is Arjuna's grandson, Mahārāja Parīkṣit, King Parīkṣit.</p>
<p>Now the history of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is like this, that Parīkṣit Mahārāja was a great king, emperor of the world, very pious devotee, all qualified. So sometimes he went to the forest for hunting. The hunting is allowed to the kṣatriyas, kings, royal kings. Why? Because a king has to look after administration of the society; therefore sometimes he has to order to kill some men, "Hang this man." Or sometimes he will take the sword in his own hand and kill the culprit, criminal, immediately. So therefore the killing practice was allowed to the kṣatriyas, royal family. Therefore sometimes the king would go into the forest and kill some animals to practice. Just like in the medical laboratory, physiological laboratory, some animals are tested to see the physiological condition of the body, similarly, always these experiments are made on the animals. So Mahārāja Parīkṣit went to the forest for hunting. So he was very tired. He was very tired, and he entered the cottage of one hermitage. He was at that time in meditation. So Parīkṣit Mahārāja was very much thirsty and hungry, and because he was king, he can order anyone, royal order, so he entered the cottage and asked the hermitage, that muni, that "Please give me something to eat. I am very hungry," or "Give me some drinking water." But he was in meditation. By chance he could not hear Mahārāja Parīkṣit. He was silent. But because he was king, king, royal power, he little became agitated, although he was very nice king, "Oh, he is disordering, er, disobeying my orders?" then he became disgusted. And there was a dead serpent lying there. So he took that dead serpent and put it on the neck of the hermitage and went away.</p>
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</div>

Very intimate devotee

2013-05-21T02:26:54Z

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<div id="Correspondence" class="section" sec_index="6" parent="compilation" text="Correspondence"><h2>Correspondence</h2>
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<div id="1970_Correspondence" class="sub_section" sec_index="5" parent="Correspondence" text="1970 Correspondence"><h3>1970 Correspondence</h3>
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<div id="LettertoUmapatiTokyo23August1970_0" class="quote" parent="1970_Correspondence" book="Let" index="500" link="Letter to Umapati -- Tokyo 23 August, 1970" link_text="Letter to Umapati -- Tokyo 23 August, 1970">
<div class="heading">Am so pleased to note your Vaisnava attitude in your letter under reply. In this connection the incidence which occurred during Lord Caitanya's time may be remembered. One very intimate devotee of Lord Caitanya, most probably Vasudeva Dutta, requested Lord Caitanya to deliver all the conditioned souls in his presence.
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<span class="link">[[Vanisource:Letter to Umapati -- Tokyo 23 August, 1970|Letter to Umapati -- Tokyo 23 August, 1970]]: </span><div style="display: inline;" class="text"><p style="display: inline;">My Dear Umapati,</p>
<p>Please accept my blessings. I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter dated Hamburg August 19th, 1970, and I am pleased to learn that you are all engaged in the publication work. I shall be so much pleased to see the French and German BTG's published as soon as possible.</p>
<p>What you have heard about me that I have left the U.S. for the time being is more or less correct. I left L.A. on the 7th August. I lived for one day in Honolulu on my way to Japan and then I have come to Tokyo on Saturday the 8th August, 1970. I am starting for Calcutta on the 29th August to see if the World Sankirtana Party could be organized and to see if our Mayapur Temple could be constructed.</p>
<p>The Mayapur matter is lingering since a long time, so we are going to Calcutta, seven including one Japanese Brahmacari, to complete the transaction.</p>
<p>I am so pleased to note your Vaisnava attitude in your letter under reply. In this connection the incidence which occurred during Lord Caitanya's time may be remembered. One very intimate devotee of Lord Caitanya, most probably Vasudeva Dutta, requested Lord Caitanya to deliver all the conditioned souls in his presence. He said, "Let me suffer for their sinful actions, but my dear Lord You take them with You back to home, back to Godhead." So this attitude of offering facilities to others for going back to home, back to Godhead, and personally accepting their suffering thereof is perfect Vaisnava Attitude. Perhaps you know I have already formed a Governing Body Commission, so in my absence they will manage the affairs of the Society. I shall begin my 75th year from the Vyasa Puja Day and if you all combined together manage the affairs of the Society nicely, that will give me a great pleasure.</p>
<p>I shall try to do some work in India regarding the Krsna Consciousness Movement although my physical strength is diminishing. But still now if all you cooperate with me with your full young energy I am still competent to work with you with greater energy.</p>
<p>Hope this will meet you in good health.</p>
<p>Your ever well-wisher,</p>
<p>A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami</p>
<p>ACBS:ds</p>
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Very important devotee

2013-05-21T02:24:18Z

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<div id="Lectures" class="section" sec_index="4" parent="compilation" text="Lectures"><h2>Lectures</h2>
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<div id="Srimad-Bhagavatam_Lectures" class="sub_section" sec_index="1" parent="Lectures" text="Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures"><h3>Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures</h3>
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<div id="LectureonSB6122ChicagoJuly61975_0" class="quote" parent="Srimad-Bhagavatam_Lectures" book="Lec" index="632" link="Lecture on SB 6.1.22 -- Chicago, July 6, 1975" link_text="Lecture on SB 6.1.22 -- Chicago, July 6, 1975">
<div class="heading">So in this way Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī, one of the six Gosvāmīs, very important devotee, he used to live. He used to eat every alternate day, not daily. One day starving, and the next day, a little butter. But he was observing his regulative principles, taking thrice daily bath and offering daṇḍavat, what is called? Counting, numerical. Just like we count twenty-five rounds minimum, so Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī was also chanting by counting. Similarly, he was offering daṇḍavat. You offer daṇḍavat, the same way.
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<span class="link">[[Vanisource:Lecture on SB 6.1.22 -- Chicago, July 6, 1975|Lecture on SB 6.1.22 -- Chicago, July 6, 1975]]: </span><div class="text"><p style="display: inline;">Prabhupāda: So this is the advancement of spiritual life. When we conquer over these things, that means we have come to the spiritual platform. So, so long we have got this material body, it is not possible, but try to minimize. Try to minimize. Therefore Śrīla Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī... He was very rich man's son. His father's income, five hundred years, ago was twelve hundred thousand rupees. So now, you know, the exchange is... What is the exchange today? It is at least five hundred times increased. Anyway, that Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī, when left home... His father and uncle was very strictly observing. He was given very nice beautiful wife and very beautiful house. But he was not very much satisfied. He wanted to join Caitanya Mahāprabhu. So his father was very strictly keeping guard, that "This boy may not go out." Just like some of your parents do. (laughter) So... But this cannot be checked. So Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī, after all, by some tricks—after all, he was very intelligent, rich man's son—he went away to Caitanya Mahāprabhu. And his mother was advising to his father that "Why don't you handcuff this boy?" So his father was saying that "I have already handcuffed him with such beautiful wife and such beautiful residence, and he has opened this. Now what this material handcuff will do?" So anyway, he left father's home and approached Caitanya Mahāprabhu when He was in Jagannātha Purī, and he was intrusted to Svarūpa Dāmodara Gosvāmī, Caitanya Mahāprabhu's secretary, to take care of him.</p>
<p>So he was practicing this thing, how to conquer over eating, sleeping, mating, and defense. It is a long story. Perhaps one who has read Caitanya-caritāmṛta... So at last, when he was living at Rādhā-kuṇḍa, he was taking every alternate day a little quantity of butter. That's all. Nothing else. So it is possible. When he left home, his father sent four men, and with arrangement that he would get four hundred rupees. In those days four hundred rupees meant at least twenty times. What is the four hundred rupees, twenty times?</p>
<p>Devotee: Eight thousand.</p>
<p>Prabhupāda: Eight thousand rupees for his personal expenditure. So he was utilizing that money by inviting sannyāsīs of Jagannātha Purī. There were many sannyāsīs. So Caitanya Mahāprabhu was also being invited. So after a few days, there was no invitation. So Caitanya Mahāprabhu inquired His secretary that "Why Raghunātha does not invite?" So he replied that "He refused to take his father's contribution." So Caitanya, "Oh, it is very nice." It is not that "Money will come from home, and I shall become a renounced order of life." No. He understood that "I have left my home. Why shall I take money from my father?" He refused.</p>
<p>So in this way Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī, one of the six Gosvāmīs, very important devotee, he used to live. He used to eat every alternate day, not daily. One day starving, and the next day, a little butter. But he was observing his regulative principles, taking thrice daily bath and offering daṇḍavat, what is called? Counting, numerical. Just like we count twenty-five rounds minimum, so Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī was also chanting by counting. Similarly, he was offering daṇḍavat. You offer daṇḍavat, the same way. That is also counting. Saṅkhyā-pūrvaka-nāma-gāna-natibhiḥ. Saṅkhyā-pūrvaka, keeping a strength, a numerical strength, just like we are advised at least sixteen rounds. So these things were going on. Not that because he was taking little butter alternate day, he lost his strength. No. The strength was all right. So the fasting means if you don't feel weak, then you fast. Not that you imitate Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī. That is not possible in the beginning. But it is possible if you practice, if you practice. Nidrāhāra-vihārakādi-vijitau cātyanta-dīnau ca yau saṅkhyā-pūrvaka-nāma-gāna-natibhiḥ kālāvasānī-kṛtau **. So everything is possible. But that is advanced spiritual life. It is no use imitating a higher authority, Haridāsa Ṭhākura. Just like he was chanting not sixteen rounds, but 164 rounds. So that is not possible. Gradually, śanaiḥ śanaiḥ, gradually, we have to practice.</p>
<p>So, so long we are in this material world, not in the spiritual world, still we have to live very honestly. Then there is hope for raising oneself to the spiritual platform. So here... Yesterday we have discussed, ajāmilaḥ nāmnā kaścid dvijaḥ. Dvija, a brāhmaṇa. Dvija is not still brāhmaṇa. Dvija means he is initiated, dvija, means second birth. Saṁskārād bhaved dvijaḥ. By reformatory method one is initiated for the second time or second birth. Then he is educated by the Vedic literature. Just like we have got so many books. After initiation, one become bona fide student to study all these Vedic literatures. Then he become vipra. That is brahminical stage. Veda-pāṭhād bhaved vipraḥ. And not only simply reading, but when he realizes what is Brahman, then he is brāhmaṇa. Not easy, the stages. Veda-pāṭhād bhaved vipro brahma jānātīti brāhmaṇaḥ. This Brahman is impersonal Brahman, and still, you have to go above. When... Brahmeti paramātmeti bhagavān iti ([[Vanisource:SB 1.2.11|SB 1.2.11]]). In the beginning, Brahman realization, impersonal. Then, as you gradually increase, then Paramātmā realization. That is meditation. That is meditation. Dhyānāvasthita-tad-gatena manasā paśyanti yaṁ yoginaḥ ([[Vanisource:SB 12.13.1|SB 12.13.1]]). The yogis, by meditation, they observe the Supreme Personality of Godhead Viṣṇu within the heart. That is yoga system perfection. And above that, there is personal realization, Bhagavān. So when you realize the Personality of Godhead, then you become a Vaiṣṇava. This is gradual steps.</p>
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Very honest devotee

2013-05-21T02:23:26Z

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<div id="Lectures" class="section" sec_index="4" parent="compilation" text="Lectures"><h2>Lectures</h2>
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<div id="Srimad-Bhagavatam_Lectures" class="sub_section" sec_index="1" parent="Lectures" text="Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures"><h3>Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures</h3>
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<div id="LectureonSB6155ParisAugust111975_0" class="quote" parent="Srimad-Bhagavatam_Lectures" book="Lec" index="690" link="Lecture on SB 6.1.55 -- Paris, August 11, 1975" link_text="Lecture on SB 6.1.55 -- Paris, August 11, 1975">
<div class="heading">Sādhu, very honest devotee, sādhu. And mita-vāg: did not speak more than required. This is also good qualification: don't talk nonsense. Unless you are required to speak, don't speak.
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<span class="link">[[Vanisource:Lecture on SB 6.1.55 -- Paris, August 11, 1975|Lecture on SB 6.1.55 -- Paris, August 11, 1975]]: </span><div class="text"><p style="display: inline;">Prabhupāda: Now, these Yamadūtas explained about the past life of Ajāmila. His past life is described in this way, ayaṁ hi śruta-sampannaḥ: "This man, Ajāmila, was formerly, was a very learned scholar, brāhmaṇa." Śruta. Śruta means Vedic knowledge, and sampannaḥ means accomplished. So ayaṁ hi śruta-sampannaḥ śīla-vṛtta-guṇālayaḥ. "And very well behaved, properly situated in his position," dhṛta-vrata, "and avowedly following the regulative principles." So he was learned, he was well-behaved, and he was avowedly, strictly following the regulative principles. Mṛduḥ. Mṛdu means very gentle. Dāntaḥ: he had control over his senses. Satya-vāṅ: he was very truthful. Mantra vit śuciḥ: and he knew all the Vedic mantras and he was very clean. Then gurv-agny-atithi-vṛddhānām. Guru, spiritual master; agni, sacrificial fire; vṛddhā, aged person; and atithi... Atithi means guest without invitation. This is the Vedic culture, that these men should be well received. Guru means spiritual master; agni, fire; atithi... Atithi. Atithi means without any fixed-up invitation if somebody comes at your place. And old men, they should be respectful. Not very long ago, when we were young men, say thirty years old, that time we have seen that a young man would not smoke before an old man. This was the etiquette. Now they have all forgotten this cultural civilization. They have no respect for old men. And the time is coming when old men will be killed as mercy?</p>
<p>Brahmānanda: Mercy-killing.</p>
<p>Prabhupāda: Mercy-killing. Sarva-bhūta-suhṛdam. Not only these particular persons, but he was friendly to all living entities, sarva-bhūta-suhṛdam. Sādhu, very honest devotee, sādhu. And mita-vāg: did not speak more than required. This is also good qualification: don't talk nonsense. Unless you are required to speak, don't speak. This is also another good feature. Mita-vāg anasūyakaḥ: and not envious to anyone. These were his qualification when he was young man. Up to the age of, say, twenty, he was like this.</p>
<p>Ekadāsau vanaṁ yātaḥ pitṛ-sandeśa-kṛd dvijaḥ. Once upon a time, he was passing through the forest to collect flowers, dry wood, by the order of his father for performing sacrifices, worshiping the Deity. He asked his son, "Please collect all these things and bring it." Ekadāsau vanaṁ yātaḥ pitṛ-sandeśa-kṛd dvijaḥ. He is explained as dvija. Dvija means twice-born. So this dvija He was a brāhmaṇa, dvija. He was initiated for the second time, dvija. So about his going to the forest for collecting all these things he was going. Yes. Ādāya tata āvṛttaḥ phala-puṣpa-samit-kuśān. In this way he collected all the things required for sacrifice, yajña. Sacrifice, yajña is It doesn't require any money. You can collect. Just like flowers you can collect, leaves you can collect, kuśa, a kind of grass, you can collect, and nobody will object. Even you collect from a nice garden nobody will object. So while he was coming back home with all these things, what happened? Dadarśa kāminaṁ kañcic chūdraṁ saha bhujiṣyayā. Kāma, a lusty ś\ udra. There are four classes—brāhmaṇa, kṣatriya, vaiśya, and śūdra. So he saw one lusty śūdra, fourth class. Dadarśa kāminaṁ kañcic chūdraṁ saha bhujiṣyayā. What he saw? That this śūdra was embracing another śūdrāṇī, woman śūdra. So nowadays it has become a fashion—young man is kissing another young woman on the street. So this embracing of young man and young woman on the public street was strictly prohibited, especially for the higher castes. But the śūdras, the lower class, fourth-class men, they used to do such things sometimes, not always. And what was their position? Pitvā ca madhu maireyaṁ madāghūrṇita-netrayā. They were not only embracing but they were drunken. And their eyes were rolling in a different way. Mattayā, and being mad, almost mad, mattayā, or intoxicated, viślathan nīvyā vyapetaṁ nirapatrapam, the dress of both of them were loose and they did not care for it. So in this posture—krīḍantam, doing their own business; anugāyantam, singing; hasantam, laughing, cheering, hasantam; anayāntike, in a place in the forest—so he saw, this young man. So after seeing that, he also become inclined, lusty, and that will be explained next, that he became a victim of this lusty woman and then he lost his good character and left home and his young wife, coming of very respectable family. He forgot everything. Then, in association with this prostitute, he gradually became degenerated, degraded. He became a thief. He became a rogue. He became a cheater. That will be explained later on.</p>
<p>The purport is: human life is not meant for these things. Human life is meant for being elevated to the highest platform of good character and controlling the senses, controlling the mind, remain very clean. Then you can make progress and your life can become successful. So because they are not accustomed already to follow this, therefore so many rascals and dangerous yogis are advertising that "There is no need of control. You can join this yoga system and give me money. I shall give you mantra, and you become God." Be careful of these dogs.</p>
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Very favorite devotee

2013-05-21T02:19:43Z

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<div id="Sri_Caitanya-caritamrta" class="section" sec_index="2" parent="compilation" text="Sri Caitanya-caritamrta"><h2>Sri Caitanya-caritamrta</h2>
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<div id="CC_Madhya-lila" class="sub_section" sec_index="2" parent="Sri_Caitanya-caritamrta" text="CC Madhya-lila"><h3>CC Madhya-lila</h3>
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<div id="CCMadhya7113_0" class="quote" parent="CC_Madhya-lila" book="CC" index="1366" link="CC Madhya 7.113" link_text="CC Madhya 7.113">
<div class="heading">Śrī Puruṣottama Yati appeared as the instructor of many learned men. He was a very favorite devotee of Lord Viṣṇu.
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<span class="link">[[Vanisource:CC Madhya 7.113|CC Madhya 7.113, Translation and Purport]]: </span><div style="display: inline;" class="trans text"><p style="display: inline;">When Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu came to the holy place known as Kūrma-kṣetra, He saw the Deity and offered prayers and obeisances.</p>
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<div class="purport text"><p>Kūrma-sthāna is a well-known place of pilgrimage. There is a temple there of Kūrmadeva. In the Prapannāmṛta it is said that Lord Jagannātha took Śrī Rāmānujācārya from Jagannātha Purī and one night threw him to Kūrma-kṣetra. Kūrma-kṣetra is situated on the line of the Southern Railway in India. One has to go to the railway station known as Srikakulam Road. From this station one goes eight miles to the east to reach the holy place known as Kūrmācala. Those who speak the Telugu language consider this holy place very important. This statement is reported in the government gazette known as Gañjāma Manual. There is the Deity of Kūrma there, and, as mentioned above, Śrīla Rāmānujācārya was thrown from Jagannātha Purī to this place. At that time he thought that the Deity of Kūrma was Lord Śiva's deity; therefore he was fasting there. Later, when he understood that the kūrma-mūrti was another form of Lord Viṣṇu, he instituted very gorgeous worship of Lord Kūrma. This statement is found in the Prapannāmṛta (Chapter Thirty-six). The holy place of Kūrma-kṣetra, or Kūrma-sthāna, was actually reestablished by Śrīpāda Rāmānujācārya under the influence of Lord Jagannātha-deva at Jagannātha Purī. Later the temple came under the jurisdiction of the king of Vijaya-nagara. The Deity was worshiped by the Vaiṣṇavas of the Madhvācārya-sampradāya. In the temple there are some inscriptions said to be written by Śrī Narahari Tīrtha, who was in the disciplic succession of Madhvācārya. Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura explains those inscriptions as follows: (1) Śrī Puruṣottama Yati appeared as the instructor of many learned men. He was a very favorite devotee of Lord Viṣṇu. (2) His preaching was accepted throughout the world with great respect, and by his power he liberated many nondevotees with strong reason and logic. (3) He initiated Ānanda Tīrtha and converted many foolish men to accept sannyāsa and punished them with his rod. (4) All his writings and words are very potent. He gave people devotional service to Lord Viṣṇu so they could be elevated to liberation in the spiritual world. (5) His instructions in devotional service were able to elevate any man to the lotus feet of the Lord. (6) Narahari Tīrtha was also initiated by him and became the ruler of Kaliṅga Province. (7) Narahari Tīrtha fought with the Śabaras, who were caṇḍālas, or hunters, and thus saved the temple of Kūrma. (8) Narahari Tīrtha was a very religious and powerful king. (9) He died in the Śaka Era 1203, in the month of Vaiśākha, in the fortnight of the moon's waxing period, on the day of Ekādaśī, after the temple was constructed and dedicated to the holy name of Yogānanda Nṛsiṁhadeva. The tablet is dated 1281 A.D., 29 March, Saturday.</p>
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Very exemplary devotees

2013-05-21T02:17:31Z

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<div id="Correspondence" class="section" sec_index="6" parent="compilation" text="Correspondence"><h2>Correspondence</h2>
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<div id="1969_Correspondence" class="sub_section" sec_index="4" parent="Correspondence" text="1969 Correspondence"><h3>1969 Correspondence</h3>
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<div id="LettertoBhagavanKrsnaBhaminiLosAngeles13July1969_0" class="quote" parent="1969_Correspondence" book="Let" index="446" link="Letter to Bhagavan, Krsna Bhamini -- Los Angeles 13 July, 1969" link_text="Letter to Bhagavan, Krsna Bhamini -- Los Angeles 13 July, 1969">
<div class="heading">As you have requested to be sent a nice householder couple to come and help you, I am going to arrange with Hamsaduta and Himavati that they may go there soon to join you in Detroit. They are both very exemplary devotees, and they are already trained in managing all areas of Sankirtana Party and temple affairs.
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<span class="link">[[Vanisource:Letter to Bhagavan, Krsna Bhamini -- Los Angeles 13 July, 1969|Letter to Bhagavan, Krsna Bhamini -- Los Angeles 13 July, 1969]]: </span><div style="display: inline;" class="text"><p style="display: inline;">My Dear Bhagavan das and Krishna Bhamini,</p>
<p>Please accept my blessings. I thank you both so much for your encouraging letter of July 9, 1969. I am so pleased to learn that you are now in Detroit and already you have begun some program to introduce the residents there to this sublime practice of Krishna Consciousness. You are both very sincere souls I know, and Krishna will help you in every way as you continue to work nicely. As you have requested to be sent a nice householder couple to come and help you, I am going to arrange with Hamsaduta and Himavati that they may go there soon to join you in Detroit. They are both very exemplary devotees, and they are already trained in managing all areas of Sankirtana Party and temple affairs. So their presence will be a great help to you. I understand that Hamsaduta works best when he can be in charge of the situation, so when he arrives he may act as the temple president and you shall be his assistants. When I speak with Hamsaduta and Himavati in San Francisco during Rathayatra Festival we shall make definite arrangements as to when they shall arrive. In the meantime, I am very pleased with both of your nice attitudes and endeavors, and may Krishna bless you for this.</p>
<p>I hope this will meet you in good health.</p>
<p>Your ever well-wisher</p>
<p>A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami</p>
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Very excellent devotees

2013-05-21T02:16:54Z

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<div id="Correspondence" class="section" sec_index="6" parent="compilation" text="Correspondence"><h2>Correspondence</h2>
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<div id="1972_Correspondence" class="sub_section" sec_index="7" parent="Correspondence" text="1972 Correspondence"><h3>1972 Correspondence</h3>
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<div id="LettertoSudamaBombay5January1972_0" class="quote" parent="1972_Correspondence" book="Let" index="26" link="Letter to Sudama -- Bombay 5 January, 1972" link_text="Letter to Sudama -- Bombay 5 January, 1972">
<div class="heading">I am very glad that you are all attending Japanese school full time. That is most important now. The Japanese people will make very excellent devotees, once you can explain to them our philosophy in their own language. I have seen the last time I was in Japan that the people have great respect still for spiritual persons.
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<span class="link">[[Vanisource:Letter to Sudama -- Bombay 5 January, 1972|Letter to Sudama -- Bombay 5 January, 1972]]: </span><div style="display: inline;" class="text"><p style="display: inline;">My dear Sudama,</p>
<p>Please accept my blessings. I beg to acknowledge receipt of your recent air-letter, part II, which has been redirected to me from Madras. I have not yet received the first part to your letter so I am replying anyway so that you may not be too anxious.</p>
<p>I thank you for being so sincere in helping me to spread this great mission of Krishna Consciousness. You have always served me very faithfully, so I pray that Krishna may bless you with a long life with which to open many temples and that in this very lifetime you may return back to home, back to Godhead.</p>
<p>I am planning to leave India just after the appearance day of Lord Caitanya, in the beginning of March. First I shall go to Hong Kong for a few days, and from there I will go to Australia and perhaps New Zealand. Three devotees are leaving here shortly to open a center in New Zealand. So after that, say by the end of April, I will come to Japan. It would be very nice if you can organize a pandal program as they have organized here in India. There are so many people in Tokyo, that a pandal program will attract thousands of Japanese people. So if you can organize such a program that will be very excellent. Perhaps the Indian community would be able to help you. Try and arrange as many engagements as possible at places like universities where English is understood.</p>
<p>I am very glad that you are all attending Japanese school full time. That is most important now. The Japanese people will make very excellent devotees, once you can explain to them our philosophy in their own language. I have seen the last time I was in Japan that the people have great respect still for spiritual persons. And the people are very intelligent. If you remain patient and determined, then it will not be too long before we start to have real success in Tokyo. Now learn the language, that is of first importance.</p>
<p>We have received the 50 sets of tapes you have sent and are recording on them daily. I have written Bhanu instructing him to go immediately to Japan, so very soon he will be coming. Is it true that Karatieya Swami has returned to Japan?</p>
<p>I hope this meets you all in good health.</p>
<p>Your ever well-wisher,</p>
<p>A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami</p>
<p>ACBS:tkd</p>
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Various levels of devotees

2013-05-21T02:13:38Z

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<div id="Sri_Caitanya-caritamrta" class="section" sec_index="2" parent="compilation" text="Sri Caitanya-caritamrta"><h2>Sri Caitanya-caritamrta</h2>
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<div id="CC_Adi-lila" class="sub_section" sec_index="1" parent="Sri_Caitanya-caritamrta" text="CC Adi-lila"><h3>CC Adi-lila</h3>
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<div id="CCAdi182_0" class="quote" parent="CC_Adi-lila" book="CC" index="79" link="CC Adi 1.82" link_text="CC Adi 1.82">
<div class="heading">Now I have worshiped all the various levels of devotees. Worshiping them is the source of all good fortune.
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<span class="link">[[Vanisource:CC Adi 1.82|CC Adi 1.82, Translation and Purport]]: </span><div style="display: inline;" class="trans text"><p style="display: inline;">Now I have worshiped all the various levels of devotees. Worshiping them is the source of all good fortune.</p>
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<div class="purport text"><p>To offer prayers to the Lord, one should first offer prayers to His devotees and associates.</p>
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Various kinds of personal devotees

2013-05-21T02:13:13Z

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<div id="Other_Books_by_Srila_Prabhupada" class="section" sec_index="3" parent="compilation" text="Other Books by Srila Prabhupada"><h2>Other Books by Srila Prabhupada</h2>
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<div id="Teachings_of_Lord_Caitanya" class="sub_section" sec_index="0" parent="Other_Books_by_Srila_Prabhupada" text="Teachings of Lord Caitanya"><h3>Teachings of Lord Caitanya</h3>
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<div id="TLC31_0" class="quote" parent="Teachings_of_Lord_Caitanya" book="OB" index="37" link="TLC 31" link_text="Teachings of Lord Caitanya, Chapter 31">
<div class="heading">There are various kinds of personal devotees of Lord Kṛṣṇa in the transcendental abode. For example, there are servants of Kṛṣṇa like Raktaka and Patraka and friends of Kṛṣṇa just like Śrīdāmā and Sudāmā. There are also parents of Kṛṣṇa, just like Nanda and Yaśodā, who are also engaged in the service of Kṛṣṇa according to their respective transcendental emotions. One who desires to enter into the supreme abode of Kṛṣṇa can take shelter of one of such transcendental servitors.
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<span class="link">[[Vanisource:TLC 31|Teachings of Lord Caitanya, Chapter 31]]: </span><div style="display: inline;" class="text"><p style="display: inline;">When one is actually situated in that understanding, he becomes eligible to enter into the confidential pastimes of Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa. There is no alternative to understand Their confidential pastimes. This is confirmed in Govinda-līlāmṛta (10.17): "Although manifest, happy, expanded and unlimited, the emotional exchanges between Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa can only be understood by the damsels of Vraja or by their followers." Just as no one can understand the expansion of the spiritual energy of the Supreme Lord without His causeless mercy, no one can understand the transcendental sex life between Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa without following in the footsteps of the damsels of Vraja. The personal associates of Rādhārāṇī are called sakhīs, and Her near assistants are called mañjarīs. It is very difficult to express their dealings with Kṛṣṇa because they have no desire to mix with Kṛṣṇa or to enjoy Him personally. Rather, they are always ready to help Rādhārāṇī associate with Kṛṣṇa. Their affection for Kṛṣṇa and Rādhārāṇī is so pure that they are simply satisfied when Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa are together. Indeed, their transcendental pleasure is in seeing Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa united. The actual form of Rādhārāṇī is just like a creeper embracing the tree of Kṛṣṇa, and the damsels of Vraja, the associates of Rādhārāṇī, are just like the leaves and flowers of that creeper. When a creeper embraces a tree, the leaves and flowers as well as the creeper automatically embrace it. Govinda-līlāmṛta (10.16) confirms that Rādhārāṇī is the expansion of the pleasure potency of Kṛṣṇa and is compared with a creeper, and Her associates, the damsels of Vraja, are compared to the flowers and leaves of that creeper. When Rādhārāṇī and Kṛṣṇa enjoy Themselves, the damsels of Vraja relish the pleasure more than Rādhārāṇī Herself.</p>
<p>Although the associates of Rādhārāṇī do not expect any personal attention from Kṛṣṇa, Rādhārāṇī is so pleased with them that She arranges individual meetings between Kṛṣṇa and the damsels of Vraja. Indeed, Rādhārāṇī tries to combine or unite Her associates with Kṛṣṇa by many transcendental maneuvers, and She takes more pleasure in these meetings than in Her own meetings with Him. When Kṛṣṇa sees that both Rādhārāṇī and Her associates are pleased by His association, He becomes more satisfied. Such association and loving reciprocation have nothing to do with material lust, although it resembles the material union between man and woman. It is only because that similarity is there that such reciprocation is sometimes called, in transcendental language, transcendental lust. As explained in Gautamīya-tantra (Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu 1.2.285): "Lust means attachment to one's personal sense gratification. But as far as Rādhārāṇī and Her associates are concerned, they did not desire personal sense gratification. They only wanted to satisfy Kṛṣṇa." This is further confirmed in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (10.31.19) in one of the speeches of the gopīs:</p>
:yat te sujāta-caraṇāmburuhaṁ staneṣu
:bhītāḥ śanaiḥ priya dadhīmahi karkaśeṣu
:tenātavīm aṭasi tad vyathate na kiṁ svit
:kūrpādibhir bhramati dhīr bhavad-āyuṣāṁ naḥ
<p>"My dear friend Kṛṣṇa, You are now roaming in the forest with Your bare feet, which You sometimes keep on our breasts. When Your feet are on our breasts, we think that our breasts are too hard for Your soft feet. Now You are wandering in the forest and walking over stones, and we do not know how You are feeling. Since You are our life and soul, the displeasure You undergo in traveling over rough stones is giving us great distress." Such feelings expressed by the damsels of Vraja constitute the highest Kṛṣṇa conscious emotions. Anyone who actually becomes captivated by Kṛṣṇa consciousness approaches this level of the gopīs. There are sixty-four categories of devotional service by performance of which one can rise to the gopīs' stage of unconditional devotion. Affection for Kṛṣṇa on the level of the gopīs is called rāgānuga, spontaneous love. When one enters into a spontaneous loving affair with Kṛṣṇa, there is no need to follow the Vedic rules and regulations.</p>
<p>There are various kinds of personal devotees of Lord Kṛṣṇa in the transcendental abode. For example, there are servants of Kṛṣṇa like Raktaka and Patraka and friends of Kṛṣṇa just like Śrīdāmā and Sudāmā. There are also parents of Kṛṣṇa, just like Nanda and Yaśodā, who are also engaged in the service of Kṛṣṇa according to their respective transcendental emotions. One who desires to enter into the supreme abode of Kṛṣṇa can take shelter of one of such transcendental servitors. Then, through the execution of loving service, one can attain transcendental affection for Kṛṣṇa. In other words, the devotee in this material world who executes loving service in pursuance of the activities of those eternal associates with Kṛṣṇa also attains the same post when he is perfected.</p>
<p>The sages mentioned in the Upaniṣads and in śruti also desire the post of the gopīs, and they also follow in the footsteps of the gopīs in order to attain that highest goal of life. This is confirmed in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (10.87.23) when it is said that the sages practice prāṇāyāma (trance) by controlling the breathing process, mind and senses through the mystic yoga practice. Thus they try to merge into the Supreme Brahman. This same goal is attained by atheists who deny the existence of God. If such atheists are killed by an incarnation of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, they also merge into the Brahman existence of the Supreme Lord. However, when the damsels of Vṛndāvana worship Śrī Kṛṣṇa, it is as though they have been bitten by a snake, for Kṛṣṇa's body is compared with the body of a snake. A snake's body is never straight; it is always curling. Similarly, Kṛṣṇa often stands in a three curved posture, and He has bitten the gopīs with transcendental love. The gopīs are certainly better situated than all mystic yogīs and others who desire to merge into the Supreme Brahman. The sages of Daṇḍakāraṇya also follow in the footsteps of the damsels of Vraja in order to attain a similar position. One cannot attain that position simply by following the regulative principles. Rather, one must seriously follow the principles of the gopīs. This is confirmed in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (10.9.21) wherein it is stated that Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the son of Śrīmatī Yaśodā, is not easily available to those following the principles of mental speculation but is easily available to all kinds of living beings who follow the path of devotional service.</p>
<p>There are many pseudo-devotees, claiming to belong to Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu's sect, who artificially dress themselves as the damsels of Vraja, and this is not approved by advanced spiritualists or advanced students of devotional service. Such people dress the outward material body because they foolishly confuse the body with the soul. They are mistaken when they think that the spiritual bodies of Kṛṣṇa, Rādhārāṇī and Their associates, the damsels of Vraja, are composed of material nature. One should know perfectly well that all such manifestations are expansions of eternal bliss and knowledge in the transcendental world. They have nothing to do with these material bodies; thus the bodies, dresses, decorations and activities of the damsels of Vṛndāvana are not of this material cosmic manifestation. The damsels of Vṛndāvana are not a subject for the attraction of those in the material world; they are transcendental attractions for the all-attractive Kṛṣṇa. Because the Lord is all-attractive, He is called Kṛṣṇa, but the damsels of Vṛndāvana are attractive even to Kṛṣṇa. Therefore they are not of this material world.</p>
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Useful devotees

2013-05-21T02:02:37Z

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<div id="Sri_Caitanya-caritamrta" class="section" sec_index="2" parent="compilation" text="Sri Caitanya-caritamrta"><h2>Sri Caitanya-caritamrta</h2>
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<div id="CC_Adi-lila" class="sub_section" sec_index="1" parent="Sri_Caitanya-caritamrta" text="CC Adi-lila"><h3>CC Adi-lila</h3>
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<div id="CCAdi1211_0" class="quote" parent="CC_Adi-lila" book="CC" index="1486" link="CC Adi 12.11" link_text="CC Adi 12.11">
<span class="link">[[Vanisource:CC Adi 12.11|CC Adi 12.11, Translation]]: </span><div style="display: inline;" class="trans text"><p style="display: inline;">There is no need to name those who are useless. I have mentioned them only to distinguish them from the useful devotees.</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>

Unlimited devotees

2013-05-21T02:01:35Z

Stritama:

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<div id="Sri_Caitanya-caritamrta" class="section" sec_index="2" parent="compilation" text="Sri Caitanya-caritamrta"><h2>Sri Caitanya-caritamrta</h2>
</div>
<div id="CC_Adi-lila" class="sub_section" sec_index="1" parent="Sri_Caitanya-caritamrta" text="CC Adi-lila"><h3>CC Adi-lila</h3>
</div>
<div id="CCAdi1160_0" class="quote" parent="CC_Adi-lila" book="CC" index="1473" link="CC Adi 11.60" link_text="CC Adi 11.60">
<span class="link">[[Vanisource:CC Adi 11.60|CC Adi 11.60, Translation]]: </span><div style="display: inline;" class="trans text"><p style="display: inline;">I have briefly described only some of the followers and devotees of Lord Nityānanda Prabhu. Even the thousand-mouthed Śeṣa Nāga cannot describe all of these unlimited devotees.</p>
</div>
</div>
<div id="Lectures" class="section" sec_index="4" parent="compilation" text="Lectures"><h2>Lectures</h2>
</div>
<div id="Philosophy_Discussions" class="sub_section" sec_index="13" parent="Lectures" text="Philosophy Discussions"><h3>Philosophy Discussions</h3>
</div>
<div id="PhilosophyDiscussiononBenedictSpinoza_0" class="quote" parent="Philosophy_Discussions" book="Lec" index="36" link="Philosophy Discussion on Benedict Spinoza" link_text="Philosophy Discussion on Benedict Spinoza">
<div class="heading">So far God is concerned, and undoubtedly He is unlimited and His qualities are unlimited. So His one of the most important quality is called Bhakta-vatsala. He is very much dear to His devotee, Bhakta-vatsala. So He has unlimited devotees and unlimited dealings with them; therefore He is unlimitedly expanded. That is pantheism.
</div>
<span class="link">[[Vanisource:Philosophy Discussion on Benedict Spinoza|Philosophy Discussion on Benedict Spinoza]]: </span><div class="text"><p style="display: inline;">Hayagrīva: Spinoza. Spinoza says that "The infinite God must possess infinite attributes." He is saying that God, being the basis of all existence, cannot be described in a material way. He is a pantheist in the sense that he believes in the one substance. However, he believes that God has infinite divine attributes, and only two of these attributes fall within the realm of human experience, and these are thought and extension, or mind and matter.</p>
<p>Prabhupāda: So, so far God is concerned, and undoubtedly He is unlimited and His qualities are unlimited. So His one of the most important quality is called Bhakta-vatsala. He is very much dear to His devotee, Bhakta-vatsala. So He has unlimited devotees and unlimited dealings with them; therefore He is unlimitedly expanded. That is pantheism. But it does not mean because He is unlimitedly expanded, His personality is lost. He is person always, even though He is unlimitedly expanded. That is the Vedic version: pūrṇasya pūrṇam ādāya pūrṇam eva avaśiṣyate (Iso Invocation). He is complete, and if another complete form expands from Him, still He remains complete. He is not lost. The material conception is if one unit, if something is taken from it, then it becomes less of that thing. But God is so complete that you can go on taking from Him unlimitedly, still He remains unlimited. That is pantheist. I think they are impersonalist.</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>

Uncontaminated devotees

2013-05-21T01:59:18Z

Stritama:

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<div id="Srimad-Bhagavatam" class="section" sec_index="1" parent="compilation" text="Srimad-Bhagavatam"><h2>Srimad-Bhagavatam</h2>
</div>
<div id="SB_Canto_4" class="sub_section" sec_index="4" parent="Srimad-Bhagavatam" text="SB Canto 4"><h3>SB Canto 4</h3>
</div>
<div id="SB4127_0" class="quote" parent="SB_Canto_4" book="SB" index="502" link="SB 4.12.7" link_text="SB 4.12.7">
<div class="heading">Dhruva Mahārāja, the son of King Uttānapāda, was already known throughout the universe as a great devotee of the Lord, constantly thinking of His lotus feet. Such a pure, uncontaminated devotee of the Lord is worthy to have all the benedictions that can be offered by the demigods.
</div>
<span class="link">[[Vanisource:SB 4.12.7|SB 4.12.7, Translation and Purport]]: </span><div style="display: inline;" class="trans text"><p style="display: inline;">My dear Dhruva Mahārāja, son of Mahārāja Uttānapāda, we have heard that you are constantly engaged in transcendental loving service to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is known for His lotus navel. You are therefore worthy to take all benedictions from us. Please, therefore, ask without hesitation whatever benediction you want from me.</p>
</div>
<div class="purport text"><p>Dhruva Mahārāja, the son of King Uttānapāda, was already known throughout the universe as a great devotee of the Lord, constantly thinking of His lotus feet. Such a pure, uncontaminated devotee of the Lord is worthy to have all the benedictions that can be offered by the demigods. He does not have to worship the demigods separately for such benedictions. Kuvera is the treasurer of the demigods, and he is personally offering whatever benediction Dhruva Mahārāja would like to have from him. Śrīla Bilvamaṅgala Ṭhākura stated, therefore, that for persons who engage in the devotional service of the Lord, all material benedictions wait like maidservants. Mukti-devī is just waiting at the door of the devotee to offer liberation, or more than that, at any time. To be a devotee is therefore an exalted position. Simply by rendering transcendental loving service unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead, one can have all the benedictions of the world without separate endeavor. Lord Kuvera said to Dhruva Mahārāja that he had heard that Dhruva was always in samādhi, or thinking of the lotus feet of the Lord. In other words, he knew that for Dhruva Mahārāja there was nothing desirable within the three material worlds. He knew that Dhruva would ask for nothing but to remember the lotus feet of the Supreme Lord constantly.</p>
</div>
</div>
<div id="SB_Canto_5" class="sub_section" sec_index="5" parent="Srimad-Bhagavatam" text="SB Canto 5"><h3>SB Canto 5</h3>
</div>
<div id="SB5259_0" class="quote" parent="SB_Canto_5" book="SB" index="629" link="SB 5.25.9" link_text="SB 5.25.9">
<div class="heading">Lord Śrī Ananta is worshiped by all the uncontaminated devotees mentioned above. He has thousands of hoods and is the reservoir of all devotional service.
</div>
<span class="link">[[Vanisource:SB 5.25.9|SB 5.25.9, Purport]]: </span><div style="display: inline;" class="purport text"><p style="display: inline;">The following quotations from Caitanya-bhāgavata (Ādi-khaṇḍa, 1.48-52 and 1.58-69) tell of the glories of Lord Ananta:</p>
<p>ki brahmā, ki śiva, ki sanakādi 'kumāra'</p>
<p>vyāsa, śuka, nāradādi, 'bhakta' nāma yāṅra</p>
<p>"Lord Brahmā, Lord Śiva, the four Kumāras (Sanaka, Sanātana, Sanandana and Sanāt-kumāra), Vyāsadeva, Śukadeva Gosvāmī and Nārada are all pure devotees, eternal servants of the Lord.</p>
<p>sabāra pūjita śrī-ananta-mahāśaya</p>
<p>sahasra-vadana prabhu—bhakti-rasamaya</p>
<p>"Lord Śrī Ananta is worshiped by all the uncontaminated devotees mentioned above. He has thousands of hoods and is the reservoir of all devotional service.</p>
<p>ādideva, mahā-yogī, 'īśvara', 'vaiṣṇava'</p>
<p>mahimāra anta iṅhā nā jānaye saba</p>
<p>"Lord Ananta is the original person and the great mystic controller. At the same time, He is a servant of God, a Vaiṣṇava. Since there is no end to His glories, no one can understand Him fully.</p>
<p>sevana śunilā, ebe śuna ṭhākurāla</p>
<p>ātma-tantre yena-mate vaisena pātāla</p>
<p>"I have already spoken to you of His service to the Lord. Now hear how the self-sufficient Anantadeva exists in the lower planetary system of Pātāla.</p>
<p>śrī-nārada-gosāñi 'tumburu' kari' saṅge</p>
<p>se yaśa gāyena brahmā-sthāne śloka-vandhe</p>
<p>"Bearing his stringed instrument, the tumburu, on his shoulders, the great sage Nārada Muni always glorifies Lord Ananta. Nārada Muni has composed many transcendental verses in praise of the Lord."</p>
<p>sṛṣṭi, sthiti, pralaya, sattvādi yata guṇa</p>
<p>yāṅra dṛṣṭi-pāte haya, yāya punaḥ punaḥ</p>
<p>"Simply due to the glance of Lord Ananta, the three material modes of nature interact and produce creation, maintenance and annihilation. These modes of nature appear again and again.</p>
<p>advitīya-rūpa, satya anādi mahattva</p>
<p>tathāpi 'ananta' haya, ke bujhe se tattva?</p>
<p>"The Lord is glorified as one without a second and as the supreme truth who has no beginning. Therefore He is called Anantadeva (unlimited). Who can understand Him?</p>
</div>
</div>
<div id="Sri_Caitanya-caritamrta" class="section" sec_index="2" parent="compilation" text="Sri Caitanya-caritamrta"><h2>Sri Caitanya-caritamrta</h2>
</div>
<div id="CC_Madhya-lila" class="sub_section" sec_index="2" parent="Sri_Caitanya-caritamrta" text="CC Madhya-lila"><h3>CC Madhya-lila</h3>
</div>
<div id="CCMadhya4197_0" class="quote" parent="CC_Madhya-lila" book="CC" index="794" link="CC Madhya 4.197" link_text="CC Madhya 4.197">
<div class="heading">The uncontaminated devotees who strictly depend on the Vedānta philosophy are divided into four sampradāyas, or transcendental parties. Out of the four sampradāyas, the Śrī Madhvācārya-sampradāya was accepted by Mādhavendra Purī.
</div>
<span class="link">[[Vanisource:CC Madhya 4.197|CC Madhya 4.197, Translation and Purport]]: </span><div style="display: inline;" class="trans text"><p style="display: inline;">"O My Lord! O most merciful master! O master of Mathurā! When shall I see You again? Because of My not seeing You, My agitated heart has become unsteady. O most beloved one, what shall I do now?"</p>
</div>
<div class="purport text"><p>The uncontaminated devotees who strictly depend on the Vedānta philosophy are divided into four sampradāyas, or transcendental parties. Out of the four sampradāyas, the Śrī Madhvācārya-sampradāya was accepted by Mādhavendra Purī. Thus he took sannyāsa according to paramparā, the disciplic succession. Beginning from Madhvācārya down to the spiritual master of Mādhavendra Purī, the ācārya named Lakṣmīpati, there was no realization of devotional service in conjugal love. Śrī Mādhavendra Purī introduced the conception of conjugal love for the first time in the Madhvācārya-sampradāya, and this conclusion of the Madhvācārya-sampradāya was revealed by Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu when He toured southern India and met the Tattvavādīs, who supposedly belonged to the Madhvācārya-sampradāya.</p>
<p>When Śrī Kṛṣṇa left Vṛndāvana and accepted the kingdom of Mathurā, Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī, out of ecstatic feelings of separation, expressed how Kṛṣṇa can be loved in separation. Thus devotional service in separation is central to this verse. Worship in separation is considered by the Gauḍīya-Mādhva-sampradāya to be the topmost level of devotional service. According to this conception, the devotee thinks of himself as very poor and neglected by the Lord. Thus he addresses the Lord as dīna-dayārdra nātha, as did Mādhavendra Purī. Such an ecstatic feeling is the highest form of devotional service. Because Kṛṣṇa had gone to Mathurā, Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī was very much affected, and She expressed Herself thus: "My dear Lord, because of Your separation My mind has become overly agitated. Now tell Me, what can I do? I am very poor and You are very merciful, so kindly have compassion upon Me and let Me know when I shall see You." Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu was always expressing the ecstatic emotions of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī that She exhibited when She saw Uddhava at Vṛndāvana. Similar feelings, experienced by Mādhavendra Purī, are expressed in this verse. Therefore, Vaiṣṇavas in the Gauḍīya-Mādhva-sampradāya say that the ecstatic feelings experienced by Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu during His appearance came from Śrī Mādhavendra Purī through Īśvara Purī. All the devotees in the line of the Gauḍīya-Mādhva-sampradāya accept these principles of devotional service.</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>

Unconditional devotees

2013-05-21T01:58:57Z

Stritama:

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<div id="Srimad-Bhagavatam" class="section" sec_index="1" parent="compilation" text="Srimad-Bhagavatam"><h2>Srimad-Bhagavatam</h2>
</div>
<div id="SB_Canto_2" class="sub_section" sec_index="2" parent="Srimad-Bhagavatam" text="SB Canto 2"><h3>SB Canto 2</h3>
</div>
<div id="SB2323_0" class="quote" parent="SB_Canto_2" book="SB" index="95" link="SB 2.3.23" link_text="SB 2.3.23">
<div class="heading">Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa is the property of His pure unconditional devotees, and as such only the devotees can deliver Kṛṣṇa to another devotee; Kṛṣṇa is never obtainable directly.
</div>
<span class="link">[[Vanisource:SB 2.3.23|SB 2.3.23, Purport]]: </span><div style="display: inline;" class="purport text"><p style="display: inline;">Mahārāja Rahūgaṇa inquired from the great saint Jaḍa Bharata as to how he had attained such a liberated stage of a paramahaṁsa, and in answer the great saint replied as follows ([[Vanisource:SB 5.12.12|SB 5.12.12]]):</p>
:rahūgaṇaitat tapasā na yāti
:na cejyayā nirvapaṇād gṛhād vā
:na cchandasā naiva jalāgni-sūryair
:vinā mahat-pāda-rajo-'bhiṣekam
<p>"O King Rahūgaṇa, the perfectional stage of devotional service, or the paramahaṁsa stage of life, cannot be attained unless one is blessed by the dust of the feet of great devotees. It is never attained by tapasya (austerity), the Vedic worshiping process, acceptance of the renounced order of life, the discharge of the duties of household life, the chanting of the Vedic hymns, or the performance of penances in the hot sun, within cold water or before the blazing fire."</p>
<p>In other words, Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa is the property of His pure unconditional devotees, and as such only the devotees can deliver Kṛṣṇa to another devotee; Kṛṣṇa is never obtainable directly. Lord Caitanya therefore designated Himself as gopī-bhartuḥ pada-kamalayor dāsa-dāsānudāsaḥ ([[Vanisource:CC Madhya 13.80|CC Madhya 13.80]]), or "the most obedient servant of the servants of the Lord, who maintains the gopī damsels at Vṛndāvana." A pure devotee therefore never approaches the Lord directly, but tries to please the servant of the Lord's servants, and thus the Lord becomes pleased, and only then can the devotee relish the taste of the tulasī leaves stuck to His lotus feet. In the Brahma-saṁhitā it is said that the Lord is never to be found by becoming a great scholar of the Vedic literatures, but He is very easily approachable through His pure devotee. In Vṛndāvana all the pure devotees pray for the mercy of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī, the pleasure potency of Lord Kṛṣṇa. Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī is a tenderhearted feminine counterpart of the supreme whole, resembling the perfectional stage of the worldly feminine nature. Therefore, the mercy of Rādhārāṇī is available very readily to the sincere devotees, and once She recommends such a devotee to Lord Kṛṣṇa, the Lord at once accepts the devotee's admittance into His association. The conclusion is, therefore, that one should be more serious about seeking the mercy of the devotee than that of the Lord directly, and by one's doing so (by the good will of the devotee) the natural attraction for the service of the Lord will be revived.</p>
</div>
</div>
<div id="SB2410_1" class="quote" parent="SB_Canto_2" book="SB" index="106" link="SB 2.4.10" link_text="SB 2.4.10">
<div class="heading">The statement of the Bhagavad-gītā that one must first of all surrender unto the Lord, being freed from all other engagements, means that one must become a pure, unconditional devotee of the Lord.
</div>
<span class="link">[[Vanisource:SB 2.4.10|SB 2.4.10, Purport]]: </span><div style="display: inline;" class="purport text"><p style="display: inline;">The expansions of different forms of the Lord, as from Kṛṣṇa to Baladeva to Saṅkarṣaṇa, from Saṅkarṣaṇa to Vāsudeva, from Vāsudeva to Aniruddha, from Aniruddha to Pradyumna and then again to second Saṅkarṣaṇa and from Him to the Nārāyaṇa puruṣāvatāras, and innumerable other forms, which are compared to the constant flowing of the uncountable waves of a river, are all one and the same. They are like lamps of equal power which kindle from one lamp to another. That is the transcendental potency of the Lord. The Vedas say that He is so complete that even though the whole complete identity emanates from Him, He still remains the same complete whole (pūrṇasya pūrṇam ādāya pūrṇam evāvaśiṣyate (Īśo Invocation)). As such, there is no validity in a material conception of the Lord produced by the mental speculator. Thus He remains always a mystery for the mundane scholar, even if he is vastly learned in the Vedic literatures (vedeṣu durlabham adurlabham ātma-bhaktau (Bs. 5.33)). Therefore, the Lord is beyond the limit of conception for mundane learned scholars, philosophers or scientists. He is easily understandable for the pure devotee because the Lord declares in the Bhagavad-gītā (18.54) that after surpassing the stage of knowledge, when one is able to be engaged in the devotional service of the Lord, then only can one know the true nature of the Lord. One cannot have any clear conception of the Lord or His holy name, form, attributes, pastimes, etc., unless one is engaged in His transcendental loving service. The statement of the Bhagavad-gītā that one must first of all surrender unto the Lord, being freed from all other engagements, means that one must become a pure, unconditional devotee of the Lord. Only then can one know Him by the strength of devotional service.</p>
</div>
</div>
<div id="SB_Canto_3" class="sub_section" sec_index="3" parent="Srimad-Bhagavatam" text="SB Canto 3"><h3>SB Canto 3</h3>
</div>
<div id="SB3911_0" class="quote" parent="SB_Canto_3" book="SB" index="320" link="SB 3.9.11" link_text="SB 3.9.11">
<div class="heading">The conclusion is that the Lord cannot become the order supplier of a pseudodevotee, but He is always prepared to respond to the desires of a pure, unconditional devotee, who is free from all tinges of material infection.
</div>
<span class="link">[[Vanisource:SB 3.9.11|SB 3.9.11, Purport]]: </span><div style="display: inline;" class="purport text"><p style="display: inline;">This attachment of the devotee to a particular form of the Lord is due to natural inclination. Each and every living entity is originally attached to a particular type of transcendental service because he is eternally the servitor of the Lord. Lord Caitanya says that the living entity is eternally a servitor of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Śrī Kṛṣṇa. Therefore, every living entity has a particular type of service relationship with the Lord, eternally. This particular attachment is invoked by practice of regulative devotional service to the Lord, and thus the devotee becomes attached to the eternal form of the Lord, exactly like one who is already eternally attached. This attachment for a particular form of the Lord is called svarūpa-siddhi. The Lord sits on the lotus heart of the devotee in the eternal form the pure devotee desires, and thus the Lord does not part from the devotee, as confirmed in the previous verse. The Lord, however, does not disclose Himself to a casual or unauthentic worshiper to be exploited. This is confirmed in Bhagavad-gītā (7.25): nāhaṁ prakāśaḥ sarvasya yoga-māyā-samāvṛtaḥ. Rather, by yoga-māyā, the Lord remains concealed to the nondevotees or casual devotees who are serving their sense gratification. The Lord is never visible to the pseudodevotees who worship the demigods in charge of universal affairs. The conclusion is that the Lord cannot become the order supplier of a pseudodevotee, but He is always prepared to respond to the desires of a pure, unconditional devotee, who is free from all tinges of material infection.</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>

Unauthorized devotee

2013-05-21T01:57:59Z

Stritama:

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<div id="Srimad-Bhagavatam" class="section" sec_index="1" parent="compilation" text="Srimad-Bhagavatam"><h2>Srimad-Bhagavatam</h2>
</div>
<div id="SB_Canto_1" class="sub_section" sec_index="1" parent="Srimad-Bhagavatam" text="SB Canto 1"><h3>SB Canto 1</h3>
</div>
<div id="SB1212_0" class="quote" parent="SB_Canto_1" book="SB" index="35" link="SB 1.2.12" link_text="SB 1.2.12">
<div class="heading">An unauthorized devotee should never be recognized as a pure devotee.
</div>
<span class="link">[[Vanisource:SB 1.2.12|SB 1.2.12, Purport]]: </span><div style="display: inline;" class="purport text"><p style="display: inline;">A third-class devotee, therefore, has to receive the instructions of devotional service from the authoritative sources of Bhāgavata. The number one Bhāgavata is the established personality of devotee, and the other Bhāgavatam is the message of Godhead. The third-class devotee therefore has to go to the personality of devotee in order to learn the instructions of devotional service. Such a personality of devotee is not a professional man who earns his livelihood by the business of Bhāgavatam. Such a devotee must be a representative of Śukadeva Gosvāmī, like Sūta Gosvāmī, and must preach the cult of devotional service for the all-around benefit of all people. A neophyte devotee has very little taste for hearing from the authorities. Such a neophyte devotee makes a show of hearing from the professional man to satisfy his senses. This sort of hearing and chanting has spoiled the whole thing, so one should be very careful about the faulty process. The holy messages of Godhead, as inculcated in the Bhagavad-gītā or in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, are undoubtedly transcendental subjects, but even though they are so, such transcendental matters are not to be received from the professional man, who spoils them as the serpent spoils milk simply by the touch of his tongue.</p>
<p>A sincere devotee must, therefore, be prepared to hear the Vedic literature like the Upaniṣads, Vedānta and other literatures left by the previous authorities or Gosvāmīs, for the benefit of his progress. Without hearing such literatures, one cannot make actual progress. And without hearing and following the instructions, the show of devotional service becomes worthless and therefore a sort of disturbance in the path of devotional service. Unless, therefore, devotional service is established on the principles of śruti, smṛti, purāṇa or pañcarātra authorities, the make-show of devotional service should at once be rejected. An unauthorized devotee should never be recognized as a pure devotee. By assimilation of such messages from the Vedic literatures, one can see the all-pervading localized aspect of the Personality of Godhead within his own self constantly. This is called samādhi.</p>
</div>
</div>
<div id="Sri_Caitanya-caritamrta" class="section" sec_index="2" parent="compilation" text="Sri Caitanya-caritamrta"><h2>Sri Caitanya-caritamrta</h2>
</div>
<div id="CC_Adi-lila" class="sub_section" sec_index="1" parent="Sri_Caitanya-caritamrta" text="CC Adi-lila"><h3>CC Adi-lila</h3>
</div>
<div id="CCAdi7102_1" class="quote" parent="CC_Adi-lila" book="CC" index="1046" link="CC Adi 7.102" link_text="CC Adi 7.102">
<div class="heading">An unauthorized devotee should never be recognized as a pure devotee.
</div>
<span class="link">[[Vanisource:CC Adi 7.102|CC Adi 7.102, Purport]]: </span><div style="display: inline;" class="purport text"><p style="display: inline;">A sincere devotee must, therefore, be prepared to hear the Vedic literature like the Upaniṣads, Vedānta-sūtra and other literatures left by the previous authorities, or Gosvāmīs, for the benefit of his progress. Without hearing such literatures, one cannot make actual progress. And without hearing and following the instructions, the show of devotional service becomes worthless and therefore a sort of disturbance in the path of devotional service. Unless, therefore, devotional service is established on the principles of śruti, smṛti, Purāṇa and Pañcarātra authorities, the make-show of devotional service should at once be rejected. An unauthorized devotee should never be recognized as a pure devotee. By assimilation of such messages from the Vedic literatures, one can see the all-pervading localized aspect of the Personality of Godhead within his own self constantly. This is called samādhi.</p>
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</div>
</div>

Udiya devotees

2013-05-21T01:56:53Z

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<div id="Sri_Caitanya-caritamrta" class="section" sec_index="2" parent="compilation" text="Sri Caitanya-caritamrta"><h2>Sri Caitanya-caritamrta</h2>
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<div id="CC_Adi-lila" class="sub_section" sec_index="1" parent="Sri_Caitanya-caritamrta" text="CC Adi-lila"><h3>CC Adi-lila</h3>
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<div id="CCAdi119_0" class="quote" parent="CC_Adi-lila" book="CC" index="20" link="CC Adi 1.19" link_text="CC Adi 1.19">
<div class="heading">The devotees of Orissa are called Uḍiyās.
</div>
<span class="link">[[Vanisource:CC Adi 1.19|CC Adi 1.19, Purport]]: </span><div style="display: inline;" class="purport text"><p style="display: inline;">Gauḍīya indicates the part of India between the southern side of the Himalayan Mountains and the northern part of the Vindhyā Hills, which is called Āryāvarta, or the Land of the Āryans. This portion of India is divided into five parts or provinces (Pañca-gauḍadeśa): Sārasvata (Kashmir and Punjab), Kānyakubja (Uttar Pradesh, including the modern city of Lucknow), Madhya-gauḍa (Madhya Pradesh), Maithila (Bihar and part of Bengal) and Utkala (part of Bengal and the whole of Orissa). Bengal is sometimes called Gauḍadeśa, partly because it forms a portion of Maithila and partly because the capital of the Hindu king Rāja Lakṣmaṇa Sena was known as Gauḍa. This old capital later came to be known as Gauḍapura and gradually Māyāpur.</p>
<p>The devotees of Orissa are called Uḍiyās, the devotees of Bengal are called Gauḍīyas, and the devotees of southern India are known as Drāviḍa devotees. As there are five provinces in Āryāvarta, so Dākṣiṇātya, southern India, is also divided into five provinces, which are called Pañca-draviḍa. The four Vaiṣṇava ācāryas who are the great authorities of the four Vaiṣṇava disciplic successions, as well as Śrīpāda Śaṅkarācārya of the Māyāvāda school, appeared in the Pañca-draviḍa provinces. Among the four Vaiṣṇava ācāryas, who are all accepted by the Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇavas, Śrī Rāmānuja Ācārya appeared in the southern part of Andhra Pradesh at Mahābhūtapurī, Śrī Madhva Ācārya appeared at Pājakam (near Vimānagiri) in the district of Mangalore, Śrī Viṣṇu Svāmī appeared at Pāṇḍya, and Śrī Nimbārka appeared at Muṅgera-patana, in the extreme south.</p>
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</div>
<div id="CCAdi1017_1" class="quote" parent="CC_Adi-lila" book="CC" index="1272" link="CC Adi 10.17" link_text="CC Adi 10.17">
<div class="heading">Śrī Govinda dāsa, an Oriyā devotee of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu, has described the life of Vakreśvara Paṇḍita in his book Gaura-kṛṣṇodaya.
</div>
<span class="link">[[Vanisource:CC Adi 10.17|CC Adi 10.17, Translation and Purport]]: </span><div style="display: inline;" class="trans text"><p style="display: inline;">Vakreśvara Paṇḍita, the fifth branch of the tree, was a very dear servant of Lord Caitanya's. He could dance with constant ecstasy for seventy-two hours.</p>
</div>
<div class="purport text"><p>In the Gaura-gaṇoddeśa-dīpikā (71) it is stated that Vakreśvara Paṇḍita was an incarnation of Aniruddha, one of the quadruple expansions of Viṣṇu (Vāsudeva, Saṅkarṣaṇa, Aniruddha and Pradyumna). He could dance wonderfully for seventy-two continuous hours. When Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu played in dramatic performances in the house of Śrīvāsa Paṇḍita, Vakreśvara Paṇḍita was one of the chief dancers, and he danced continuously for that length of time. Śrī Govinda dāsa, an Oriyā devotee of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu, has described the life of Vakreśvara Paṇḍita in his book Gaura-kṛṣṇodaya. There are many disciples of Vakreśvara Paṇḍita in Orissa, and they are known as Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇavas although they are Oriyās. Among these disciples are Śrī Gopālaguru and his disciple Śrī Dhyānacandra Gosvāmī.</p>
</div>
</div>
<div id="CCAdi10135136_2" class="quote" parent="CC_Adi-lila" book="CC" index="1387" link="CC Adi 10.135-136" link_text="CC Adi 10.135-136">
<div class="heading">King Pratāparudra of Orissa, the Oriyā devotees Kṛṣṇānanda and Śivānanda, and Paramānanda Mahāpātra, Bhagavān Ācārya, Brahmānanda Bhāratī, Śrī Śikhi Māhiti and Murāri Māhiti constantly associated with Caitanya Mahāprabhu while He resided in Jagannātha Purī.
</div>
<span class="link">[[Vanisource:CC Adi 10.135-136|CC Adi 10.135-136, Translation and Purport]]: </span><div style="display: inline;" class="trans text"><p style="display: inline;">King Pratāparudra of Orissa, the Oriyā devotees Kṛṣṇānanda and Śivānanda, and Paramānanda Mahāpātra, Bhagavān Ācārya, Brahmānanda Bhāratī, Śrī Śikhi Māhiti and Murāri Māhiti constantly associated with Caitanya Mahāprabhu while He resided in Jagannātha Purī.</p>
</div>
<div class="purport text"><p>Pratāparudra Mahārāja, who belonged to the dynasty of the Gaṅgā kings and whose capital was in Cuttak, was the Emperor of Orissa and a great devotee of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu. It was by the arrangement of Rāmānanda Rāya and Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya that he was able to personally serve Lord Caitanya. In the Gaura-gaṇoddeśa-dīpikā (118) it is said that King Indradyumna, who established the temple of Jagannātha thousands of years ago, later took birth again in his own family as Mahārāja Pratāparudra during the time of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Mahārāja Pratāparudra was as powerful as King Indra. The drama named Caitanya-candrodaya was written under his direction.</p>
</div>
</div>
<div id="CC_Madhya-lila" class="sub_section" sec_index="2" parent="Sri_Caitanya-caritamrta" text="CC Madhya-lila"><h3>CC Madhya-lila</h3>
</div>
<div id="CCMadhya1696_0" class="quote" parent="CC_Madhya-lila" book="CC" index="3591" link="CC Madhya 16.96" link_text="CC Madhya 16.96">
<span class="link">[[Vanisource:CC Madhya 16.96|CC Madhya 16.96, Translation]]: </span><div style="display: inline;" class="trans text"><p style="display: inline;">After taking Lord Jagannātha's permission early in the morning, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu departed, and all the devotees of Orissa began following Him.</p>
</div>
</div>
<div id="CCMadhya1697_1" class="quote" parent="CC_Madhya-lila" book="CC" index="3592" link="CC Madhya 16.97" link_text="CC Madhya 16.97">
<span class="link">[[Vanisource:CC Madhya 16.97|CC Madhya 16.97, Translation]]: </span><div style="display: inline;" class="trans text"><p style="display: inline;">With great care Caitanya Mahāprabhu forbade the Orissan devotees to follow Him. Then, accompanied by His personal associates, He first went to Bhavānīpura.</p>
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</div>

Typical devotee

2013-05-21T01:55:47Z

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<div id="Srimad-Bhagavatam" class="section" sec_index="1" parent="compilation" text="Srimad-Bhagavatam"><h2>Srimad-Bhagavatam</h2>
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<div id="SB_Canto_2" class="sub_section" sec_index="2" parent="Srimad-Bhagavatam" text="SB Canto 2"><h3>SB Canto 2</h3>
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<div id="SB287_0" class="quote" parent="SB_Canto_2" book="SB" index="256" link="SB 2.8.7" link_text="SB 2.8.7">
<div class="heading">Mahārāja Parīkṣit, being a typical devotee, is not only satisfied by confirming the importance of hearing the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam from the representative of Brahmājī by disciplic succession, but he is still more anxious to establish the philosophical basis of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.
</div>
<span class="link">[[Vanisource:SB 2.8.7|SB 2.8.7, Translation and Purport]]: </span><div style="display: inline;" class="trans text"><p style="display: inline;">O learned brāhmaṇa, the transcendental spirit soul is different from the material body. Does he acquire the body accidentally or by some cause? Will you kindly explain this, for it is known to you.</p>
</div>
<div class="purport text"><p>Mahārāja Parīkṣit, being a typical devotee, is not only satisfied by confirming the importance of hearing the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam from the representative of Brahmājī by disciplic succession, but he is still more anxious to establish the philosophical basis of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is the science of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and as such all questions that may arise in the mind of a serious student must be cleared by the statements of the authority. A person on the path of devotional service may inquire from his spiritual master all about the spiritual position of God and the living beings. From the Bhagavad-gītā, as well as from the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, it is known that qualitatively the Lord and the living beings are one. The living being in the conditioned state of material existence is subjected to many transmigrations by continuous changing of the material body. But what are the causes of the material embodiment of the part and parcel of the Lord? Mahārāja Parīkṣit inquires about this very important matter for the benefit of all classes of candidates on the path of self-realization and devotional service to the Lord.</p>
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<div id="SB2816_1" class="quote" parent="SB_Canto_2" book="SB" index="265" link="SB 2.8.16" link_text="SB 2.8.16">
<div class="heading">Mahārāja Parīkṣit is a typical devotee of Lord Kṛṣṇa, and as such he is anxious to know the complete significance of the creation of the Lord. He wants to know the inner and outer space of the universal form.
</div>
<span class="link">[[Vanisource:SB 2.8.16|SB 2.8.16, Translation and Purport]]: </span><div style="display: inline;" class="trans text"><p style="display: inline;">Also, please describe the inner and outer space of the universe by specific divisions, as well as the character and activities of the great souls, and also the characteristics of the different classifications of the castes and orders of social life.</p>
</div>
<div class="purport text"><p>Mahārāja Parīkṣit is a typical devotee of Lord Kṛṣṇa, and as such he is anxious to know the complete significance of the creation of the Lord. He wants to know the inner and outer space of the universal form. It is quite fitting for the real searcher of knowledge to know all about this. Those who are of the opinion that the devotees of the Lord are satisfied with mere sentiments can find in the inquiries of Mahārāja Parīkṣit good lessons as to how inquisitive a pure devotee is to know things in their true perfection. The modern scientist is unable to know about the inner space of the universal horizon, and what to speak of the space which covers the universe.</p>
<p>Mahārāja Parīkṣit is not satisfied with only material knowledge. He is inquisitive about the character and activities of the great souls, the devotees of the Lord. The glories of the Lord and the glories of His devotees, combined together, comprise the complete knowledge of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Lord Kṛṣṇa showed His mother the complete universal creation within His mouth, while she, completely charmed by her son, wanted to look inside the mouth of the Lord just to see how much earth the child had eaten. By the grace of the Lord the devotees are able to see everything in the universe within the mouth of the Lord.</p>
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Two types of devotees

2013-05-21T01:54:56Z

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<div id="Sri_Caitanya-caritamrta" class="section" sec_index="2" parent="compilation" text="Sri Caitanya-caritamrta"><h2>Sri Caitanya-caritamrta</h2>
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<div id="CC_Madhya-lila" class="sub_section" sec_index="2" parent="Sri_Caitanya-caritamrta" text="CC Madhya-lila"><h3>CC Madhya-lila</h3>
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<div id="CCMadhya20397_1" class="quote" parent="CC_Madhya-lila" book="CC" index="4884" link="CC Madhya 20.397" link_text="CC Madhya 20.397">
<div class="heading">There are two types of devotees—the sādhaka, who is preparing for perfection, and the siddha, who is already perfect.
</div>
<span class="link">[[Vanisource:CC Madhya 20.397|CC Madhya 20.397, Translation and Purport]]: </span><div style="display: inline;" class="trans text"><p style="display: inline;">“The eternal pastimes of Kṛṣṇa are continuously taking place in the original Goloka Vṛndāvana planet. These same pastimes are gradually manifested within the material world, in each and every brahmāṇḍa.</p>
</div>
<div class="purport text"><p>Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura elucidates this complicated explanation of Kṛṣṇa's pastimes. Kṛṣṇa's pastimes are always present in the material world in one of the many universes. These pastimes appear in the universes one after the other, just as the sun moves across the sky and measures the time. Kṛṣṇa's appearance may be manifested in this universe at one moment, and immediately after His birth, this pastime is manifested in the next universe. After His killing of Pūtanā is manifested in this universe, it is next manifested in another universe. Thus all the pastimes of Kṛṣṇa are eternally existing both in the original Goloka Vṛndāvana planet and in the material universes. The 125 years calculated in our solar system to be Kṛṣṇa's lifetime equal one moment for Kṛṣṇa. One moment these pastimes are manifested in one universe, and the next moment they are manifested in the next universe. There are unlimited universes, and Kṛṣṇa's pastimes are manifested one moment after the other in all of them. This rotation is explained through the example of the sun's moving across the sky. Kṛṣṇa appears and disappears in innumerable universes, just as the sun appears and disappears during the day. Although the sun appears to rise and set, it is continuously shining somewhere on the earth. Similarly, although Kṛṣṇa's pastimes seem to appear and disappear, they are continuously existing in one brahmāṇḍa (universe) or another. Thus all of Kṛṣṇa's līlās are present simultaneously throughout the innumerable universes. By our limited senses we cannot appreciate this; therefore Kṛṣṇa's eternal pastimes are very difficult for us to understand. One should try to understand how they are taking place by understanding the example of the sun. Although the Lord is appearing constantly in the material universes, His pastimes are eternally present in the original Goloka Vṛndāvana. Therefore these pastimes are called nitya-līlā (eternally present pastimes). Because we cannot see what is going on in other universes, it is a little difficult for us to understand how Kṛṣṇa is eternally manifesting His pastimes. There are fourteen Manus in one day of Brahmā, and this time calculation is also taking place in other universes. Kṛṣṇa's pastimes are manifested before fourteen Manus expire. Although it is a little difficult to understand the eternal pastimes of Kṛṣṇa in this way, we must accept the verdict of the Vedic literatures.</p>
<p>There are two types of devotees—the sādhaka, who is preparing for perfection, and the siddha, who is already perfect. As far as those who are already perfect are concerned, Lord Kṛṣṇa says in the Bhagavad-gītā (4.9), tyaktvā dehaṁ punar janma naiti mām eti so ’rjuna: "After giving up this material body, such a devotee comes to Me." After leaving the material body, the perfect devotee takes birth from the womb of a gopī on a planet where Kṛṣṇa's pastimes are going on. This may be in this universe or another universe. This statement is found in the Ujjvala-nīlamaṇi, which is commented upon by Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura. When a devotee becomes perfect, he is transferred to the universe where Kṛṣṇa's pastimes are taking place. Kṛṣṇa's eternal associates go wherever Kṛṣṇa manifests His pastimes. As stated before, first the father and mother of Kṛṣṇa appear, then the other associates. Quitting his material body, the perfect devotee also goes to associate with Kṛṣṇa and His other associates.</p>
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Twelve authorized devotees

2013-05-21T01:52:46Z

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<div id="Srimad-Bhagavatam" class="section" sec_index="1" parent="compilation" text="Srimad-Bhagavatam"><h2>Srimad-Bhagavatam</h2>
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<div id="SB_Canto_7" class="sub_section" sec_index="7" parent="Srimad-Bhagavatam" text="SB Canto 7"><h3>SB Canto 7</h3>
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<div id="SB71021_0" class="quote" parent="SB_Canto_7" book="SB" index="433" link="SB 7.10.21" link_text="SB 7.10.21">
<div class="heading">Of the twelve authorized devotees—Lord Brahmā, Nārada, Lord Śiva, Kapila, Manu and so on—Prahlāda Mahārāja is understood to be the best example.
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<span class="link">[[Vanisource:SB 7.10.21|SB 7.10.21, Translation and Purport]]: </span><div style="display: inline;" class="trans text"><p style="display: inline;">Those who follow your example will naturally become My pure devotees. You are the best example of My devotee, and others should follow in your footsteps.</p>
</div>
<div class="purport text"><p>In this connection, Śrīla Madhvācārya quotes a verse from the Skanda Purāṇa:</p>
:ṛte tu tāttvikān devān
:nāradādīṁs tathaiva ca
:prahrādād uttamaḥ ko nu
:viṣṇu-bhaktau jagat-traye
<p>There are many, many devotees of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and they have been enumerated in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (6.3.20) as follows:</p>
:svayambhūr nāradaḥ śambhuḥ
:kumāraḥ kapilo manuḥ
:prahlādo janako bhīṣmo
:balir vaiyāsakir vayam
<p>Of the twelve authorized devotees—Lord Brahmā, Nārada, Lord Śiva, Kapila, Manu and so on—Prahlāda Mahārāja is understood to be the best example.</p>
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Tried devotee

2013-05-21T01:50:29Z

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<div id="Other_Books_by_Srila_Prabhupada" class="section" sec_index="3" parent="compilation" text="Other Books by Srila Prabhupada"><h2>Other Books by Srila Prabhupada</h2>
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<div id="Krsna_The_Supreme_Personality_of_Godhead" class="sub_section" sec_index="4" parent="Other_Books_by_Srila_Prabhupada" text="Krsna, The Supreme Personality of Godhead"><h3>Krsna, The Supreme Personality of Godhead</h3>
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<div id="KB88_0" class="quote" parent="Krsna,_The_Supreme_Personality_of_Godhead" book="OB" index="92" link="KB 88" link_text="Krsna Book 88">
<div class="heading">The mercy bestowed upon the tried devotee by the Supreme Personality is described as brahma, which indicates that the greatness of that mercy can be compared only to the all-pervasive greatness of Brahman. Brahma means unlimitedly great and unlimitedly expanding. That mercy is also described as paramam, for it has no comparison within this material world, and it is also called sūkṣmam, very fine. Not only is the Lord's mercy upon the tried devotee great and unlimitedly expansive, but it is of the finest quality of transcendental love between the devotee and the Lord.
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<span class="link">[[Vanisource:KB 88|Krsna Book 88]]: </span><div style="display: inline;" class="text"><p style="display: inline;">Here another question may be raised: If the Supreme Lord is all-powerful, why should He try to reform His devotee by putting him in distress? The answer is that when the Supreme Personality of Godhead puts His devotee in distress, it is not without purpose. Sometimes the purpose is that in distress a devotee's feelings of attachment to Kṛṣṇa are magnified. For example, when Kṛṣṇa, before leaving the capital of the Pāṇḍavas for His home, asked Kuntīdevī for permission to leave, she said, "My dear Kṛṣṇa, in our distress You were always present with us. Now, because we have been elevated to a royal position, You are leaving us. I would therefore prefer to live in distress than to lose You." When a devotee is put into a situation of distress, his devotional activities are accelerated. Therefore, to show special favor to a devotee, the Lord sometimes puts him into distress. Besides that, it is stated that the sweetness of happiness is sweeter to those who have tasted bitterness. The Supreme Lord descends to this material world just to protect His devotees from distress. In other words, if devotees were not in a distressed condition, the Lord would not have come down. As for His killing the demons, or miscreants, this can be easily done by His various energies, just as many asuras are killed by His external energy, Goddess Durgā. Therefore the Lord does not need to come down personally to kill such demons, but when His devotee is in distress He must come. Lord Nṛsiṁha-deva appeared not in order to kill Hiraṇyakaśipu but to save Prahlāda and to give him blessings. In other words, because Prahlāda Mahārāja was put into very great distress, the Lord appeared.</p>
<p>When after the dense, dark night there is finally sunrise in the morning, it is very pleasant; when there is scorching heat, cold water is very pleasant; and when there is freezing winter, hot water is very pleasant. Similarly, when a devotee, after experiencing the distress of the material world, relishes the spiritual happiness awarded by the Lord, his position is still more pleasant and enjoyable.</p>
<p>The Lord continued: "When My devotee is bereft of all material riches and is deserted by his relatives, friends and family members, because he has no one to look after him he completely takes shelter of the lotus feet of the Lord." Śrīla Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura has sung in this connection, "My dear Lord Kṛṣṇa, O son of Nanda Mahārāja, You are now standing before me with Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī, the daughter of King Vṛṣabhānu. I am now surrendering unto You. Please accept me. Please do not kick me away. I have no shelter other than You."</p>
<p>When a devotee is thus put into so-called miserable conditions and bereft of riches and family, he tries to revive his original position of material opulence. But although he tries again and again, Kṛṣṇa again and again takes away all his resources. Thus he finally becomes disappointed in material activities, and in that stage of frustration in all endeavors, he can fully surrender unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Such persons are advised by the Lord from within to associate with devotees. By associating with devotees they naturally become inclined to render service to the Personality of Godhead, and they immediately get all facilities from the Lord to advance in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. The nondevotees, however, are very careful about preserving their material condition of life. Generally, therefore, such nondevotees do not come to worship the Supreme Personality of Godhead, but worship Lord Śiva or other demigods for immediate material profit. In the Bhagavad-gītā it is said, therefore, kāṅkṣantaḥ karmaṇāṁ siddhiṁ yajanta iha devatāḥ: "The karmīs, in order to achieve success within this material world, worship the various demigods." It is also stated by Lord Kṛṣṇa that those who worship the demigods are not mature in their intelligence. The devotees of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, therefore, because of their strong attachment for Him, do not foolishly go to the demigods.</p>
<p>Lord Kṛṣṇa said to King Yudhiṣṭhira, "My devotee is not deterred by any adverse conditions of life; he always remains firm and steady. Therefore I give Myself to him, and I favor him so that he can achieve the highest success of life." The mercy bestowed upon the tried devotee by the Supreme Personality is described as brahma, which indicates that the greatness of that mercy can be compared only to the all-pervasive greatness of Brahman. Brahma means unlimitedly great and unlimitedly expanding. That mercy is also described as paramam, for it has no comparison within this material world, and it is also called sūkṣmam, very fine. Not only is the Lord's mercy upon the tried devotee great and unlimitedly expansive, but it is of the finest quality of transcendental love between the devotee and the Lord. Such mercy is further described as cin-mātram, completely spiritual. The use of the word mātram indicates absolute spirituality, with no tinge of material qualities. That mercy is also called sat (eternal) and anantakam (unlimited). Since the devotee of the Lord is awarded such unlimited spiritual benefit, why should he worship the demigods? A devotee of Kṛṣṇa does not worship Lord Śiva or Brahmā or any other, subordinate demigod. He completely devotes himself to the transcendental loving service of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.</p>
<p>Śukadeva Gosvāmī continued: "The demigods, headed by Lord Brahmā and Lord Śiva and including Lord Indra, Candra, Varuṇa and others, are apt to be very quickly satisfied or very quickly angered by the good or ill behavior of their devotees. But this is not so with the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Viṣṇu." This means that every living entity within this material world, including the demigods, is conducted by the three modes of material nature, and therefore the qualities of ignorance and passion are very prominent within the material world. Those devotees who take blessings from the demigods are also infected with the material qualities, especially passion and ignorance. Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa has therefore stated in the Bhagavad-gītā that to take blessings from the demigods is less intelligent because when one takes benedictions from the demigods the results of such benedictions are temporary. It is easy to get material opulence by worshiping the demigods, but the result is sometimes disastrous. As such, the benedictions derived from demigods are appreciated only by the less intelligent class of men. Persons who derive benedictions from the demigods gradually become puffed up with material opulence and neglectful of their benefactors.</p>
<p>Śukadeva Gosvāmī addressed King Parīkṣit thus: "My dear King, Lord Brahmā, Lord Viṣṇu and Lord Śiva, the principal trio of the material creation, are able to bless or curse anyone. Of this trio, Lord Brahmā and Lord Śiva are very easily satisfied but also very easily angered. When satisfied they give benedictions without consideration, and when angry they curse the devotee without consideration. But Lord Viṣṇu is not like that. Lord Viṣṇu is very considerate. Whenever a devotee wants something from Lord Viṣṇu, Lord Viṣṇu first considers whether such a benediction will ultimately be good for the devotee. Lord Viṣṇu never bestows any benediction which will ultimately prove disastrous to the devotee. By His transcendental nature, He is always merciful; therefore, before giving any benediction, He considers whether it will prove beneficial for the devotee. Since the Supreme Personality of Godhead is always merciful, even when it appears that He has killed a demon, or even when He apparently becomes angry toward a devotee, His actions are always auspicious. The Supreme Personality of Godhead is therefore known as all-good. Whatever He does is good."</p>
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Transcendentally situated devotee

2013-05-21T01:50:04Z

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<div id="Other_Books_by_Srila_Prabhupada" class="section" sec_index="3" parent="compilation" text="Other Books by Srila Prabhupada"><h2>Other Books by Srila Prabhupada</h2>
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<div id="Renunciation_Through_Wisdom" class="sub_section" sec_index="5" parent="Other_Books_by_Srila_Prabhupada" text="Renunciation Through Wisdom"><h3>Renunciation Through Wisdom</h3>
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<div id="RTW213_0" class="quote" parent="Renunciation_Through_Wisdom" book="OB" index="25" link="RTW 2.13" link_text="Renunciation Through Wisdom 2.13">
<div class="heading">As the Supersoul within the heart, He inspires all the activities of a transcendentally situated devotee. Those who possess true knowledge of the Absolute can render service to Lord Kṛṣṇa in the mood of a servitor, a friend, and so on. Their hearts are always absorbed in thoughts of Lord Kṛṣṇa, and they yearn to perceive and relish His eternal, transcendental pastimes.
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<span class="link">[[Vanisource:RTW 2.13|Renunciation Through Wisdom 2.13]]: </span><div style="display: inline;" class="text"><p style="display: inline;">Whatever exists—manifest or unmanifest, material or spiritual—has one primary source: the Supreme Lord, Kṛṣṇa. He is the primeval, supreme controller, the cause of all causes, the Lord of all lords. As the Supersoul within the heart, He inspires all the activities of a transcendentally situated devotee. Those who possess true knowledge of the Absolute can render service to Lord Kṛṣṇa in the mood of a servitor, a friend, and so on. Their hearts are always absorbed in thoughts of Lord Kṛṣṇa, and they yearn to perceive and relish His eternal, transcendental pastimes.</p>
<p>By the grace of the Supreme Lord, these unalloyed devotees can unravel the mysteries of His intimate worship. Then, due to their love for the Lord, they find it difficult to maintain their lives without hearing and chanting the glories of the Lord's name, form, qualities, pastimes, associates, and paraphernalia. They seek the association of like-minded devotees, and with them they dive into the ocean of the nectar of devotion. Situated in their spiritual identity, they relish spiritual exchanges and hear, discuss, and remember the all-auspicious topics of Lord Kṛṣṇa's transcendental pastimes, thus practising the ninefold devotional process.</p>
<p>They execute this ninefold devotional service in the stage of sādhana, or practice, and feel deep satisfaction in the perfected, or siddha, stage. They become saturated with the transcendental spiritual mellows of servitorship, friendship, and so on, from which they derive divine ecstasy. Lord Kṛṣṇa grants genuine transcendental understanding, buddhi-yoga, to those devotees who experience spiritual satisfaction and divine bliss through constant devotional service; gradually their specific devotional attitude increases to the point where they can relish pure love of God.</p>
<p>In the stage of bhāva, or spontaneous devotional service in ecstasy, there is a direct transcendental exchange of mellows between Lord Kṛṣṇa and His pure devotee. The Supreme Lord Himself gives His devotee buddhi-yoga, or spiritual intelligence, and the devotee, acting with that intelligence, serves the Lord until he gradually approaches the Lord's supreme abode. Such a devotee can never be affected by ignorance.</p>
<p>The impersonalists and empiric philosophers consider the unalloyed devotees of the Lord sentimental fools, and thus they deride them. This is a big offense. Such offences cause the impersonalists and pseudo-devotees to slowly become demoniac. Having lost good sense and a stable mind, they gradually develop animosity toward the Supreme Lord and find all their life's endeavors reduced to suffering and futility. If one of these deluded demoniac impersonalists comes in contact with a pure devotee and by his mercy regains his lost insight, then he can begin to understand that the pure devotees he offended are exchanging spiritual mellows with Lord Kṛṣṇa and are thus forever free from ignorance and illusion. The impersonalists must understand that the Supreme Lord, acting from within as the Supersoul, removes all ignorance from the devotee's heart.</p>
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Traditionally devotees of Dvarakadhisa

2013-05-21T01:47:53Z

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<div id="Correspondence" class="section" sec_index="6" parent="compilation" text="Correspondence"><h2>Correspondence</h2>
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<div id="1966_Correspondence" class="sub_section" sec_index="1" parent="Correspondence" text="1966 Correspondence"><h3>1966 Correspondence</h3>
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<div id="LettertoTirthaMaharajaNewYork4February1966_0" class="quote" parent="1966_Correspondence" book="Let" index="4" link="Letter to Tirtha Maharaja -- New York 4 February, 1966" link_text="Letter to Tirtha Maharaja -- New York 4 February, 1966">
<div class="heading">The Singhania family is traditionally devotees of Dvarakadhisa and therefore they are the right persons to take up this transcendental service of the Lord. Srila Prabhupada wanted such temples in foreign countries such New York, London, Tokyo, etc and I had personal talks with him when I first met Himat Ultadingi in 1922.
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<span class="link">[[Vanisource:Letter to Tirtha Maharaja -- New York 4 February, 1966|Letter to Tirtha Maharaja -- New York 4 February, 1966]]: </span><div style="display: inline;" class="text"><p style="display: inline;">Kindly accept my humble dandabats, I am in due receipt of your kind letter of the 1st instant and I am glad to note that you will get the Exchange sanction on receipt of the letter of the donor. The donor is a big business magnet of India and as required by you I am enclosing here with the letter of Sri Padampat Singhania of the J.K. Organizations, Kamla Tower, Kanpur dated 14th January 1966 which will speak for itself. I think you may also know the gentleman and he is competent to spend any amount for a nice temple of Sri Sri Radha Krishna in New York. The Singhania family is traditionally devotees of Dvarakadhisa and therefore they are the right persons to take up this transcendental service of the Lord. Srila Prabhupada wanted such temples in foreign countries such New York, London, Tokyo, etc and I had personal talks with him when I first met Himat Ultadingi in 1922. Now here is a chance for me to carry put His transcendental Order and because you are Srila Prabhupada's foremost and favorite disciple and actually engaged in His service, I am just seeking your favor and mercy in making this attempt successful. Everything is ready namely the house is ready, the donor is ready and my humble service on the spot is also ready. Now you are to give the finishing touch because you are most affectionate disciple of His Divine Grace. I think Srila Prabhupada wants that in this great attempt by my humble self your valued service may also be dovetailed.</p>
<p>Please therefore immediately take steps in this direction and if need be you may personally see Dr. Radha Krishna because he is sympathetic with the Gaudiya Math workers as they are sincerely trying to respiritualise the whole world. He is also personally known to me but because I am out of India it is not possible for me to see him.</p>
<p>As you will know from the enclosed letter of Sir Padampat Singhania, he is prepared to spend any amount for this purpose, you can get sanction as large an amount as it is possible. Minimum ten lacs of rupees.</p>
<p>So far men for working here in the temple, do not worry about it. I have already some American young men with me and they strictly vegetarian. Besides that there are many Indian students here and I shall be able to recruit workers both from Indian and Americans. I am confident of this. I may cite herewith one incidence which happened yesterday evening. I have prepared some Tape record of my personal Kirtana. When one of this Tape record was played the audience became practically charmed by that although not a single word of my language was understandable by them. So I am confident of the statement of Srila Haridasa Thakura that the transcendental sound of Lord Caitanya's Harinama can do good even to the birds and the beasts. Undoubtedly these Americans are habituated to take nonvegetarian food but I am confident that they can be trained up to our line of living because they are sincere to take up the training. This will be all practically possible as soon as we have regular institution here in New York. If it is possible to send some men from India who must be educated it is well and good otherwise I shall manage everything by the Grace of Srila Prabhupada. We cannot do anything whatsoever but if our sincere service is accepted by the Vaisnavas everything is possible and may not have the audacity to speak all these before your holiness who is expert in this service. Please therefore make the transaction complete immediately and oblige.</p>
<p>By the by I beg to enclose herewith one cheque for Rs 10/- as my humble offerings to the lotus feet of Srila Prabhupada through your good self and I wish that you may ask for His blessings for becoming successful in this great attempt for His service.</p>
<p>Thanking you once more and I beg to remain,</p>
<p>Yours obediently</p>
<p>A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami.</p>
<p>Enclosure:2.</p>
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Tirtha-padiya - devotees

2013-05-21T01:45:09Z

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<div id="Srimad-Bhagavatam" class="section" sec_index="1" parent="compilation" text="Srimad-Bhagavatam"><h2>Srimad-Bhagavatam</h2>
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<div id="SB_Canto_4" class="sub_section" sec_index="4" parent="Srimad-Bhagavatam" text="SB Canto 4"><h3>SB Canto 4</h3>
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<div id="SB42211_0" class="quote" parent="SB_Canto_4" book="SB" index="892" link="SB 4.22.11" link_text="SB 4.22.11">
<div class="heading">In this verse the word tīrtha-pādīya indicates devotees of Lord Viṣṇu, or Vaiṣṇavas.
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<span class="link">[[Vanisource:SB 4.22.11|SB 4.22.11, Translation and Purport]]: </span><div style="display: inline;" class="trans text"><p style="display: inline;">On the contrary, even though full of all opulence and material prosperity, any householder's house where the devotees of the Lord are never allowed to come in, and where there is no water for washing their feet, is to be considered a tree in which all venomous serpents live.</p>
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<div class="purport text"><p>In this verse the word tīrtha-pādīya indicates devotees of Lord Viṣṇu, or Vaiṣṇavas. As far as brāhmaṇas are concerned, in the previous verse the mode of reception has been already described. Now, in this verse, special stress is being given to the Vaiṣṇavas. Generally the sannyāsīs, or those in the renounced order of life, take trouble to enlighten the householders. There are ekadaṇḍī sannyāsīs and tridaṇḍī sannyāsīs. The ekadaṇḍī sannyāsīs are generally followers of Śaṅkarācārya and are known as Māyāvādī sannyāsīs, whereas the tridaṇḍī sannyāsīs are followers of Vaiṣṇava ācāryas—Rāmānujācārya, Madhvācārya and so on—and they take trouble to enlighten the householders. Ekadaṇḍī sannyāsīs can be situated on the platform of pure Brahman because they are aware that the spirit soul is different from the body, but they are mainly impersonalists. The Vaiṣṇavas know that the Absolute Truth is the Supreme Person and that the Brahman effulgence is based on the Supreme Personality of Godhead, as confirmed in the Bhagavad-gītā (14.27): brahmaṇo hi pratiṣṭhāham. The conclusion is that tīrtha-pādīya refers to Vaiṣṇavas. In the Bhāgavatam (1.13.10) there is also another reference: tīrthī-kurvanti tīrthāni. Wherever he goes, a Vaiṣṇava immediately makes that place a tīrtha, a place of pilgrimage. The Vaiṣṇava sannyāsīs travel all over the world to make every place a place of pilgrimage by the touch of their lotus feet. It is mentioned here that any house which does not receive a Vaiṣṇava in the manner already explained in the previous verse is to be considered the residential quarters of venomous serpents. It is said that around the sandalwood tree, which is a very valuable tree, there is a venomous serpent. Sandalwood is very cold, and venomous serpents, because of their poisonous teeth, are always very warm, and they take shelter of the sandalwood trees to become cooler. Similarly, there are many rich men who keep watchdogs or doormen and put up signs that say, "Do not enter," "Trespassers not allowed," "Beware of the dog," etc. Sometimes in Western countries a trespasser is shot, and there is no crime in such shooting. This is the position of demoniac householders, and such houses are considered to be the residential quarters of venomous snakes. The members of such families are no better than snakes because snakes are very much envious, and when that envy is directed to the saintly persons, their position becomes more dangerous. It is said by Cāṇakya Paṇḍita that there are two envious living entities—the snake and the envious man. The envious man is more dangerous than a snake because a snake can be subdued by charming mantras or by some herbs, but an envious person cannot be pacified by any means.</p>
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Tested devotees

2013-05-21T01:40:46Z

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<div id="Correspondence" class="section" sec_index="6" parent="compilation" text="Correspondence"><h2>Correspondence</h2>
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<div id="1969_Correspondence" class="sub_section" sec_index="4" parent="Correspondence" text="1969 Correspondence"><h3>1969 Correspondence</h3>
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<div id="LettertoMadhudvisaLosAngeles15August1969_0" class="quote" parent="1969_Correspondence" book="Let" index="516" link="Letter to Madhudvisa -- Los Angeles 15 August, 1969" link_text="Letter to Madhudvisa -- Los Angeles 15 August, 1969">
<div class="heading">Jayananda and Chidananda are tested devotees as much as yourself and Tamala Krishna. You are all unique pairs.
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<span class="link">[[Vanisource:Letter to Madhudvisa -- Los Angeles 15 August, 1969|Letter to Madhudvisa -- Los Angeles 15 August, 1969]]: </span><div style="display: inline;" class="text"><p style="display: inline;">I thank you very much for your letter of August 11th, 1969, and I am so pleased to learn that your activities in San Francisco are going on nicely in cooperation with Jayananda and Cidananda. Jayananda and Chidananda are tested devotees as much as yourself and Tamala Krishna. You are all unique pairs. So I am gradually realizing that my attempt in this country to spread Krishna Consciousness has now taken some root, and I am sure this will grow more and more 'til it reaches the Lotus Feet of Krishna in Goloka Vrindaban. Actually, our most Beloved Object is Krishna. Our love reposed on anything within our experience is due to our ultimate love for Krishna. People are trying to love the branches and leaves without taking care of the root. But when water is poured down on the root, the branches and leaves automatically become luxurious. This philosophy of taking care of the Supreme is missing in the modern civilization. They do philanthropic work, humanitarian work, national work, social work and many similar other works; now ultimately they have invented the United Nations and world health organizations. But all these attempts are exactly the same process as to water the leaves and the twigs. They don't know the missing point: Krishna. So we have got very great responsibility to spread Krishna Consciousness throughout the world.</p>
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<div id="LettertoBalimardanaSudamaTittenhurst3October1969_2" class="quote" parent="1969_Correspondence" book="Let" index="598" link="Letter to Bali-mardana, Sudama -- Tittenhurst 3 October, 1969" link_text="Letter to Bali-mardana, Sudama -- Tittenhurst 3 October, 1969">
<div class="heading">You are tested devotees; please handle the matter carefully, and Krishna will give you all help.
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<span class="link">[[Vanisource:Letter to Bali-mardana, Sudama -- Tittenhurst 3 October, 1969|Letter to Bali-mardana, Sudama -- Tittenhurst 3 October, 1969]]: </span><div style="display: inline;" class="text"><p style="display: inline;">You write to say that the Japanese students inquire very intelligently, more so than the American boys. Yes, it is a fact that the Japanese people are actually very intelligent, perhaps more than the Europeans and Americans. That is admitted by one German scholar, my Godbrother. So if you can satisfy them intellectually and answer all their questions, that will be your success. All the answers are there in Srimad-Bhagavatam, Bhagavad-gita As It Is, and Teachings of Lord Caitanya. You will simply have to study these books to find out the answers. Anyway, I think Japan will be good field in future for spreading our Krishna Consciousness Movement. You are tested devotees; please handle the matter carefully, and Krishna will give you all help.</p>
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<div id="1970_Correspondence" class="sub_section" sec_index="5" parent="Correspondence" text="1970 Correspondence"><h3>1970 Correspondence</h3>
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<div id="LettertoTamalaKrsnaLosAngeles4March1970_0" class="quote" parent="1970_Correspondence" book="Let" index="146" link="Letter to Tamala Krsna -- Los Angeles 4 March, 1970" link_text="Letter to Tamala Krsna -- Los Angeles 4 March, 1970">
<div class="heading">Now Mukunda, Hamsaduta, yourself, Krsna das, Umapati, Janardana, Suridas, etc., all of you are tested devotees, now do everything nicely in full cooperation.
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<span class="link">[[Vanisource:Letter to Tamala Krsna -- Los Angeles 4 March, 1970|Letter to Tamala Krsna -- Los Angeles 4 March, 1970]]: </span><div style="display: inline;" class="text"><p style="display: inline;">Organization of the European centers and the World Sankirtana Party later on—for these two reasons I called you in London. Now Mukunda, Hamsaduta, yourself, Krsna das, Umapati, Janardana, Suridas, etc., all of you are tested devotees, now do everything nicely in full cooperation. Always remain engaged in Krsna's service, then there will be no misunderstanding.</p>
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<div id="1976_Correspondence" class="sub_section" sec_index="11" parent="Correspondence" text="1976 Correspondence"><h3>1976 Correspondence</h3>
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<div id="LettertoBishambharNewYork11July1976_0" class="quote" parent="1976_Correspondence" book="Let" index="391" link="Letter to Bishambhar -- New York 11 July, 1976" link_text="Letter to Bishambhar -- New York 11 July, 1976">
<div class="heading">Aksayananda Maharaja and yourself are tested devotees and I fully depend on you.
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<span class="link">[[Vanisource:Letter to Bishambhar -- New York 11 July, 1976|Letter to Bishambhar -- New York 11 July, 1976]]: </span><div style="display: inline;" class="text"><p style="display: inline;">You can spend the Rs. 10,000 necessary to fix up the Taparia house. Utilize the house properly. There is sweet water well there so all the women and children can go there. It is very encouraging that in May the temple and guesthouse income was Rs. 20,000. So kindly help the management as Krishna Balarama is your worshipable Deity. Kindly guide our foreign disciples to manage nicely and increasingly you will be able to please Their Lordships Krishna and Balarama. Although I've established their temple, Their Lordships want me to keep outside the temple for touring. So in my absence you kindly manage nicely. Aksayananda Maharaja and yourself are tested devotees and I fully depend on you. I always think of how you are selflessly working for the temple. Please see that the accounts are kept and that no money is wasted. That's my only request. After all money is collected with great hardship. Not a single paise should be wasted.</p>
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Swanlike devotees

2013-05-21T01:40:06Z

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<div id="Sri_Caitanya-caritamrta" class="section" sec_index="2" parent="compilation" text="Sri Caitanya-caritamrta"><h2>Sri Caitanya-caritamrta</h2>
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<div id="CC_Madhya-lila" class="sub_section" sec_index="2" parent="Sri_Caitanya-caritamrta" text="CC Madhya-lila"><h3>CC Madhya-lila</h3>
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<div id="CCMadhya25274_0" class="quote" parent="CC_Madhya-lila" book="CC" index="5945" link="CC Madhya 25.274" link_text="CC Madhya 25.274">
<div class="heading">The buds of those lotus flowers are the pastimes of Kṛṣṇa, and they are edibles for the swanlike devotees.
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<span class="link">[[Vanisource:CC Madhya 25.274|CC Madhya 25.274, Translation]]: </span><div style="display: inline;" class="trans text"><p style="display: inline;">The devotees who have a relationship with Kṛṣṇa are like the swans and cakravāka birds who play in that forest of lotus flowers. The buds of those lotus flowers are the pastimes of Kṛṣṇa, and they are edibles for the swanlike devotees. Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa is always engaged in His transcendental pastimes; therefore the devotees, following in the footsteps of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, can always eat those lotus buds, for they are the pastimes of the Lord.</p>
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