View source for According to one's own whims (Lectures)

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[[Category:According to One's Own Whims|1]]
[[Category:Compilations from Lectures]]
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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="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>
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<div id="LectureonBG115LondonJuly151973_0" class="quote" parent="Bhagavad-gita_As_It_Is_Lectures" book="Lec" index="11" link="Lecture on BG 1.15 -- London, July 15, 1973" link_text="Lecture on BG 1.15 -- London, July 15, 1973">
<div class="heading">Because we have forgotten Kṛṣṇa, we have rebelled against Kṛṣṇa. We want to act according to our whims.
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<span class="link">[[Vanisource:Lecture on BG 1.15 -- London, July 15, 1973|Lecture on BG 1.15 -- London, July 15, 1973]]: </span><div style="display: inline;" class="text"><p style="display: inline;">Because we have forgotten Kṛṣṇa, we have rebelled against Kṛṣṇa. We want to act according to our whims. Just like a child wants to do something according to his whims. Father checks him, "My dear child, do not do this." But if he likes, if he persists, father says, "All right, you do it." This is the position. The Hṛṣīkeśa, Paramātmā, He is always guiding us, but we do not accept His guidance. This is our position.</p>
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<div id="LectureonBG144LondonJuly311973_1" class="quote" parent="Bhagavad-gita_As_It_Is_Lectures" book="Lec" index="27" link="Lecture on BG 1.44 -- London, July 31, 1973" link_text="Lecture on BG 1.44 -- London, July 31, 1973">
<div class="heading">That Professor Zaehner alleged that "After reading Bhagavad-gītā violence, he committed this violence." So did he take permission from Kṛṣṇa or Kṛṣṇa's representative?
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<span class="link">[[Vanisource:Lecture on BG 1.44 -- London, July 31, 1973|Lecture on BG 1.44 -- London, July 31, 1973]]: </span><div style="display: inline;" class="text"><p style="display: inline;">That reference by that , that one rogue, he did by his whims, and he alleged that "After reading Bhagavad-gītā violence, he committed this violence." So did he take permission from Kṛṣṇa or Kṛṣṇa's representative? But he does not know the technique. He has unnecessarily accused, committed a great offense to the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa. So therefore inexperienced persons, they should not try to teach Bhagavad-gītā to others because he has no knowledge. This knowledge has to be received by paramparā system. Evam paramparā-prāptam imaṁ rājarṣayo viduḥ ([[Vanisource:BG 4.2 (1972)|BG 4.2]]). So simply by academic career, by knowledge of ABCD, you cannot understand Bhagavad-gītā.</p>
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<div id="LectureonBG22LondonAugust31973_2" class="quote" parent="Bhagavad-gita_As_It_Is_Lectures" book="Lec" index="34" link="Lecture on BG 2.2 -- London, August 3, 1973" link_text="Lecture on BG 2.2 -- London, August 3, 1973">
<div class="heading">One does not become spiritual master by his own whims.
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<span class="link">[[Vanisource:Lecture on BG 2.2 -- London, August 3, 1973|Lecture on BG 2.2 -- London, August 3, 1973]]: </span><div style="display: inline;" class="text"><p style="display: inline;">Now the process is, Caitanya Mahāprabhu says, āmāra ājñāya: "On My order." That is the crucial point. One does not become spiritual master by his own whims. That is not spiritual master. He must be ordered by superior authority. Then he's spiritual master. Āmāra ājñāya. Just like in our case. Our superior authority, our spiritual master, he ordered me that "You just try to preach this gospel, whatever you have learned from me, in English." So we have tried it. That's all. It is not that I am very much qualified. The only qualification is that I have tried to execute the order of superior authority. That's all. This is the secret of success.</p>
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<div id="LectureonBG211MauritiusOctober11975_3" class="quote" parent="Bhagavad-gita_As_It_Is_Lectures" book="Lec" index="50" link="Lecture on BG 2.11 -- Mauritius, October 1, 1975" link_text="Lecture on BG 2.11 -- Mauritius, October 1, 1975">
<div class="heading">Unfortunately, we rascals, we do not take Bhagavad-gītā as it is. We want to change it according to our whims.
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<span class="link">[[Vanisource:Lecture on BG 2.11 -- Mauritius, October 1, 1975|Lecture on BG 2.11 -- Mauritius, October 1, 1975]]: </span><div style="display: inline;" class="text"><p style="display: inline;">So here in this Bhagavad-gītā, that Bhagavān is giving you knowledge. So how much perfect it is, you have to consider. Vyāsadeva could have said, "śrī-vyāsadeva uvāca." No. Bhagavān uvāca, so authoritative. So whatever He says, there cannot be any change. It is all perfect. Unfortunately, we rascals, we do not take Bhagavad-gītā as it is. We want to change it according to our whims. This rascal havoc has ruined the whole world. Otherwise, if they would have preached Bhagavad-gītā as it is, the world situation would have been different. Everything would have been in order, tranquility, peace, and everybody would have been prosperous. But the rascals will not do that. That is the defect.</p>
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<div id="LectureonBG23637LondonSeptember41973_4" class="quote" parent="Bhagavad-gita_As_It_Is_Lectures" book="Lec" index="100" link="Lecture on BG 2.36-37 -- London, September 4, 1973" link_text="Lecture on BG 2.36-37 -- London, September 4, 1973">
<div class="heading">By killing, by his whims, he gives the evidence of... Another rascal, although he is learned professor, he says that because this man has killed on the basis of Bhagavad-gītā, therefore Kṛṣṇa is immoral.
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<span class="link">[[Vanisource:Lecture on BG 2.36-37 -- London, September 4, 1973|Lecture on BG 2.36-37 -- London, September 4, 1973]]: </span><div style="display: inline;" class="text"><p style="display: inline;">Dharmyāddhi-yuddha. There are two kinds of of fighting. Dharma-yuddha. Dharma-yuddha means right, righteous fighting, and adharma-yuddha means political. That is... One politician, he wants to keep his position, he engages the people in fighting, declares war. That is another thing. But when right thing, violence is required. So Arjuna... Kṛṣṇa is encouraging Arjuna in dharma-yuddha, not unnecessarily killing in the slaughterhouse. Do not misunderstand Kṛṣṇa. The rascals, they misunderstand. By killing, by his whims, he gives the evidence of... Another rascal, although he is learned professor, he says that because this man has killed on the basis of Bhagavad-gītā, therefore Kṛṣṇa is immoral. Just see. This is going on. Without understanding Bhagavad-gītā, even a so-called learned scholar also talking of Kṛṣṇa as immoral. He has encouraged killing. Just see. Such envious persons. And he is teaching Bhagavad-gītā. This is going on.</p>
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<div id="LectureonBG240LondonSeptember131973_5" class="quote" parent="Bhagavad-gita_As_It_Is_Lectures" book="Lec" index="102" link="Lecture on BG 2.40 - London, September 13, 1973" link_text="Lecture on BG 2.40 - London, September 13, 1973">
<div class="heading">When you come to the bhakti platform, that is simply to satisfy Kṛṣṇa. In the material platform, everyone is to satisfy his own whims.
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<span class="link">[[Vanisource:Lecture on BG 2.40 - London, September 13, 1973|Lecture on BG 2.40 - London, September 13, 1973]]: </span><div style="display: inline;" class="text"><p style="display: inline;">So when you come to the bhakti platform, that is simply to satisfy Kṛṣṇa. In the material platform, everyone is to satisfy his own whims. That is a different thing. So if you give up your material activities, tyaktvā sva-dharmaṁ caraṇāmbujaṁ hareḥ, and, by sentiment or by canvassing or by seeing that "These people are Kṛṣṇa conscious people, they are very nice, they are chanting in the street, let me join," somehow or other, if you come in contact, then... (tape is wavy)</p>
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<div id="LectureonBG25859NewYorkApril271966_6" class="quote" parent="Bhagavad-gita_As_It_Is_Lectures" book="Lec" index="112" link="Lecture on BG 2.58-59 -- New York, April 27, 1966" link_text="Lecture on BG 2.58-59 -- New York, April 27, 1966">
<div class="heading">When our senses are engaged in the service of the supreme consciousness, then we are in pure consciousness situation. And when our senses are used to our whims, to our whims...
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<span class="link">[[Vanisource:Lecture on BG 2.58-59 -- New York, April 27, 1966|Lecture on BG 2.58-59 -- New York, April 27, 1966]]: </span><div style="display: inline;" class="text"><p style="display: inline;">In the beginning Arjuna did not know how to use his senses, and after hearing Bhagavad-gītā, he learned it. He became a learned man, how to use his senses. And when he did not know how to use his senses, he said, "I shall not fight." And when he learned how to use senses, he said, "Yes, I'll fight." Now, what is the difference between "yes" and "no"? That means when our senses are engaged in the service of the supreme consciousness, then we are in pure consciousness situation. And when our senses are used to our whims, to our whims. Just like in the previous śloka it has been explained, prajahāti yadā kāmān sarvān pārtha mano-gatān. We manufacture plans by our mental concoction. That should be given up. Yadā prajahāti kāmān sarvān. All kinds of mental concoction, mental speculation, should be given up. That is the science. That is the beginning of our spiritual life, that "I shall not use my mind for my activities. I shall wait for the direction from the higher authority, supreme consciousness. Then I shall act."</p>
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<div id="LectureonBG71DurbanOctober91975_7" class="quote" parent="Bhagavad-gita_As_It_Is_Lectures" book="Lec" index="245" link="Lecture on BG 7.1 -- Durban, October 9, 1975" link_text="Lecture on BG 7.1 -- Durban, October 9, 1975">
<div class="heading">The difficulty is, as soon as we misinterpret to our whims, to show our scholarship, it is spoiled. Don't do that.
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<span class="link">[[Vanisource:Lecture on BG 7.1 -- Durban, October 9, 1975|Lecture on BG 7.1 -- Durban, October 9, 1975]]: </span><div style="display: inline;" class="text"><p style="display: inline;">Kurukṣetra is there, it is a pilgrimage, and in the past history, five thousand years ago, two sections of the same family, Kuru family... One section was known as Pāṇḍava and the other section as Kurus. They had to fight on political reason. This is historical. So there is no question of misinterpreting it. The difficulty is, as soon as we misinterpret to our whims, to show our scholarship, it is spoiled. Don't do that. Read it as it is and you will get the benefit.</p>
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<div id="LectureonBG71DurbanOctober91975_8" class="quote" parent="Bhagavad-gita_As_It_Is_Lectures" book="Lec" index="245" link="Lecture on BG 7.1 -- Durban, October 9, 1975" link_text="Lecture on BG 7.1 -- Durban, October 9, 1975">
<div class="heading">Sometimes violence is required, and that is not to our whims but at the decision of the Supreme Lord.
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<span class="link">[[Vanisource:Lecture on BG 7.1 -- Durban, October 9, 1975|Lecture on BG 7.1 -- Durban, October 9, 1975]]: </span><div style="display: inline;" class="text"><p style="display: inline;">The government, in order to keep law and order, there is violence also. The police sometimes commit violence, the military force. So in order to keep whole thing in balance, sometimes violence is required, and that is not to our whims but at the decision of the Supreme Lord.</p>
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<div id="LectureonBG92CalcuttaMarch81972_9" class="quote" parent="Bhagavad-gita_As_It_Is_Lectures" book="Lec" index="301" link="Lecture on BG 9.2 -- Calcutta, March 8, 1972" link_text="Lecture on BG 9.2 -- Calcutta, March 8, 1972">
<div class="heading">We do, we act according to our whims, but that whims is judged by daiva-netreṇa, by a higher, superior authority, just like Yamarāja. Then we get another body.
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<span class="link">[[Vanisource:Lecture on BG 9.2 -- Calcutta, March 8, 1972|Lecture on BG 9.2 -- Calcutta, March 8, 1972]]: </span><div style="display: inline;" class="text"><p style="display: inline;">My body is different from your body, your body, so now we are sitting here, say fifty or hundred men—everyone's body is different from another body, you'll find. Then you go to other species of life, that is also different from other and other. So why this difference? Because we are differently situated according to our karma. Karmaṇā daiva-netreṇa jantur deha upapattaye ([[Vanisource:SB 3.31.1|SB 3.31.1]]). Karmaṇā daiva-netreṇa. We do, we act according to our whims, but that whims is judged by daiva-netreṇa, by a higher, superior authority, just like Yamarāja. Then we get another body. This is the process.</p>
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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="LectureonSB113LondonAugust201971_0" class="quote" parent="Srimad-Bhagavatam_Lectures" book="Lec" index="12" link="Lecture on SB 1.1.3 -- London, August 20, 1971" link_text="Lecture on SB 1.1.3 -- London, August 20, 1971">
<div class="heading">Without Vedic injunction, if one wants to enjoy by his whims, then he'll be more and more entangled.
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<span class="link">[[Vanisource:Lecture on SB 1.1.3 -- London, August 20, 1971|Lecture on SB 1.1.3 -- London, August 20, 1971]]: </span><div style="display: inline;" class="text"><p style="display: inline;">Just like for example one wants to enjoy sex life. "Yes," Vedic knowledge, Vedic scripture, says, "Yes, just enjoy in married life, not like cats and dogs." This is the difference. So without Vedic injunction, if one wants to enjoy by his whims, then he'll be more and more entangled. But if he follows the Vedic injunction... Just like what is the difference between sex life as married man and woman and without? So far sex life is concerned, there is no difference. But the restriction and the rules and regulation will not make him mad after sex life. That is the... Just like if anyone wants to eat meat... These are natural tendencies. So Veda says, "Yes, you can eat meat, but by offering sacrifice, or just offer a sacrifice before the goddess Kālī." In this way... Actually, it wants to restrict, but one who is obstinate, he wants to enjoy, he's given some Vedic direction, "You enjoy like this."</p>
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<div id="LectureonSB1151NewYorkNovember291973_1" class="quote" parent="Srimad-Bhagavatam_Lectures" book="Lec" index="287" link="Lecture on SB 1.15.1 -- New York, November 29, 1973" link_text="Lecture on SB 1.15.1 -- New York, November 29, 1973">
<div class="heading">The living entity wants to do something out of his own whims, Kṛṣṇa says, or Kṛṣṇa gives good consultation that "This will not make you happy, don't do this." But he is persistent, he will do it. Then Kṛṣṇa sanctions, Paramātmā, "All right, you do it, at your risk."
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<span class="link">[[Vanisource:Lecture on SB 1.15.1 -- New York, November 29, 1973|Lecture on SB 1.15.1 -- New York, November 29, 1973]]: </span><div style="display: inline;" class="text"><p style="display: inline;">In the Upaniṣad it is said that Paramātmā, Kṛṣṇa, and the living entity they are sitting on the same tree, samāni vṛkṣe. One living entity is eating the fruit of the tree, and the other living entity is simply witnessing, anumantā. So Kṛṣṇa, He's situated in everyone's heart, īśvaraḥ sarva-bhūtānāṁ hṛd-deśe 'rjuna tiṣṭhati ([[Vanisource:BG 18.61 (1972)|BG 18.61]]). Because without His sanction, the living entity cannot do anything. Sarvasya cāhaṁ hṛdi sanniviṣṭo ([[Vanisource:BG 15.15 (1972)|BG 15.15]]), Kṛṣṇa says that "I am seated in everyone's heart." So, the living entity wants to do something out of his own whims, Kṛṣṇa says, or Kṛṣṇa gives good consultation that "This will not make you happy, don't do this." But he is persistent, he will do it. Then Kṛṣṇa sanctions, Paramātmā, "All right, you do it, at your risk." This is going on. Everyone of us (is) very intimately connected with Kṛṣṇa, and Kṛṣṇa is sitting in everyone's heart. Kṛṣṇa is so kind, that He is simply waiting, "When this rascal will turn his face towards Me." He simply is, he is so kind. But we living entities, we are so rascal, we shall turn our face to everything except Kṛṣṇa. This is our position.</p>
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<div id="LectureonSB551TittenhurstLondonSeptember121969_2" class="quote" parent="Srimad-Bhagavatam_Lectures" book="Lec" index="512" link="Lecture on SB 5.5.1 -- Tittenhurst, London, September 12, 1969" link_text="Lecture on SB 5.5.1 -- Tittenhurst, London, September 12, 1969">
<div class="heading">In the Bhagavad-gītā it is said, yaḥ śāstra-vidhim utsṛjya: "A person who gives up obedience to the ruling of the scriptures," vartate kāma-kārataḥ, "and he acts in his own way, by his whims," na siddhiṁ sāvāpnoti, "he cannot attain perfection."
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<span class="link">[[Vanisource:Lecture on SB 5.5.1 -- Tittenhurst, London, September 12, 1969|Lecture on SB 5.5.1 -- Tittenhurst, London, September 12, 1969]]: </span><div style="display: inline;" class="text"><p style="display: inline;">If spiritual master says something which is not in śāstra or scripture, that is not good. Of course, sometimes we do not..., we cannot understand, but that is the principle. Similarly, a saintly person also, a mahātmā also, cannot disregard the regulative principles of śāstra. In the Bhagavad-gītā it is said, yaḥ śāstra-vidhim utsṛjya: "A person who gives up obedience to the ruling of the scriptures," vartate kāma-kārataḥ, "and he acts in his own way, by his whims," na siddhiṁ sāvāpnoti, "he cannot attain perfection." These are the versions of Bhagavad-gītā. Na siddhiṁ sāvāp..., na sukham: "And at the same time, he cannot be happy." Na parāṁ gatim: "And what to speak of liberation?"</p>
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<div id="LectureonSB7941MayapuraMarch191976_3" class="quote" parent="Srimad-Bhagavatam_Lectures" book="Lec" index="847" link="Lecture on SB 7.9.41 -- Mayapura, March 19, 1976" link_text="Lecture on SB 7.9.41 -- Mayapura, March 19, 1976">
<div class="heading">We act according to our whims, and the resultant action is there immediately. The nature's law, God's law, is there.
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<span class="link">[[Vanisource:Lecture on SB 7.9.41 -- Mayapura, March 19, 1976|Lecture on SB 7.9.41 -- Mayapura, March 19, 1976]]: </span><div style="display: inline;" class="text"><p style="display: inline;">We act according to our whims, and the resultant action is there immediately. The nature's law, God's law, is there. We have got experience that if we infect some disease, contaminous disease, then we must suffer from that disease. So it is not God's creation that somebody is suffering from some painful condition and somebody is enjoying. No. We infect ourself with some contamination because this world, this material world, is full of contamination, full of contamination. Just like when there is epidemic, the whole situation is contaminous. Therefore one has to take vaccine injection to protect himself. So anyone who has come to this material world must know that he has come in a place which is a place of epidemic. So you must have to remain very cautious. Otherwise you will have to suffer.</p>
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<div id="Nectar_of_Devotion_Lectures" class="sub_section" sec_index="2" parent="Lectures" text="Nectar of Devotion Lectures"><h3>Nectar of Devotion Lectures</h3>
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<div id="TheNectarofDevotionBombayJanuary101973_0" class="quote" parent="Nectar_of_Devotion_Lectures" book="Lec" index="24" link="The Nectar of Devotion -- Bombay, January 10, 1973" link_text="The Nectar of Devotion -- Bombay, January 10, 1973">
<div class="heading">Ghostly life means one who has misused this life, this body, and by his whims he has killed this body. He becomes ghost.
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<span class="link">[[Vanisource:The Nectar of Devotion -- Bombay, January 10, 1973|The Nectar of Devotion -- Bombay, January 10, 1973]]: </span><div style="display: inline;" class="text"><p style="display: inline;">In the Bhagavad-gītā it is clearly said, na hanyate hanyamāne śarīre ([[Vanisource:BG 2.20 (1972)|BG 2.20]]). So these rascal think if I suicide, if I commit suicide, and just have a knife on my throat, then all my pains and pleasures are finished. No, that is not... He will be put into more pains and pleasure. Sometimes we'll have to accept, why accept, it is certain, the ghostly body. Because Kṛṣṇa has given you, or māyā has given, māyā has given under the direction of Kṛṣṇa, a certain type of body for enjoying for a certain span of life, you cannot finish it. If you disregard it, then, if you commit suicide, the result will be that you will not be allowed to accept another material body. You will have to remain in that subtle body. That is ghost. Ghostly life means one who has misused this life, this body, and by his whims he has killed this body. He becomes ghost. That means he will have to suffer for so many day, then he'll get another material body.</p>
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<div id="Sri_Isopanisad_Lectures" class="sub_section" sec_index="4" parent="Lectures" text="Sri Isopanisad Lectures"><h3>Sri Isopanisad Lectures</h3>
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<div id="SriIsopanisadMantra1LosAngelesApril301970_0" class="quote" parent="Sri_Isopanisad_Lectures" book="Lec" index="5" link="Sri Isopanisad, Mantra 1 -- Los Angeles, April 30, 1970" link_text="Sri Isopanisad, Mantra 1 -- Los Angeles, April 30, 1970">
<div class="heading">We have got some control over this material world. But Kṛṣṇa has control over us also. We cannot do anything out of our own whims.
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<span class="link">[[Vanisource:Sri Isopanisad, Mantra 1 -- Los Angeles, April 30, 1970|Sri Isopanisad, Mantra 1 -- Los Angeles, April 30, 1970]]: </span><div style="display: inline;" class="text"><p style="display: inline;">So our superiority is that either I am trying for decorating my personal apartment, I am trying to decorate this temple—my superiority is there because I am utilizing matter for my purpose. But when it is utilized, his intelligence is applied to utilized this matter for Kṛṣṇa, then his life is successful. The superior intelligence should be utilized for the benefit of Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇārthe akhila-ceṣṭā. Then your life is successful. Then the same superior energy, if you apply it for your sense gratification, you'll be entangled and anxiety. And then you'll have to change your body, one after another. That is going on. So the superior, supreme controller, is Kṛṣṇa, either on this inferior energy or superior energy. That is going on. So superior energy means that we can control over the material world. Not completely. That is also under condition. But we have got some control over this material world. But Kṛṣṇa has control over us also. We cannot do anything out of our own whims.</p>
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<div id="Initiation_Lectures" class="sub_section" sec_index="8" parent="Lectures" text="Initiation Lectures"><h3>Initiation Lectures</h3>
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<div id="InitiationCeremonyMelbourneJuly11974New2003_0" class="quote" parent="Initiation_Lectures" book="Lec" index="57" link="Initiation Ceremony -- Melbourne, July 1, 1974 (New-2003)" link_text="Initiation Ceremony -- Melbourne, July 1, 1974 ">
<div class="heading">To interpret the holy name in different way according to our own whims. This is also offense.
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<span class="link">[[Vanisource:Initiation Ceremony -- Melbourne, July 1, 1974 (New-2003)|Initiation Ceremony -- Melbourne, July 1, 1974 ]]: </span><div style="display: inline;" class="text"><p style="display: inline;">So first offense is to blaspheme great personalities who are engaged in glorifying the Lord within this material world. And, śruti-śāstra-nindanam, and to decry the Vedic literature. And third, to interpret the holy name in different way according to our own whims. This is also offense. And the most dangerous offense is namnaḥ balād yasya hi pāpa-buddhir. Anyone who thinks that "I am chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra, so I am becoming free from contamination of sinful life, therefore let me commit sinful life and counteract it by chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa," this is the greatest offense.</p>
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<div id="General_Lectures" class="sub_section" sec_index="11" parent="Lectures" text="General Lectures"><h3>General Lectures</h3>
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<div id="LectureGorakhpurFebruary181971_0" class="quote" parent="General_Lectures" book="Lec" index="75" link="Lecture -- Gorakhpur, February 18, 1971" link_text="Lecture -- Gorakhpur, February 18, 1971">
<div class="heading">Unfortunately, we also misinterpret Bhagavad-gītā according to our own whims, and therefore we are misguiding.
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<span class="link">[[Vanisource:Lecture -- Gorakhpur, February 18, 1971|Lecture -- Gorakhpur, February 18, 1971]]: </span><div style="display: inline;" class="text"><p style="display: inline;">If we study Bhagavad-gītā as it is, our life will be perfect, undoubtedly. But unfortunately, we also misinterpret Bhagavad-gītā according to our own whims, and therefore we are misguiding. We cannot take the essence of Bhagavad-gītā, and therefore our, this human form of life is also lost, and we cannot do any welfare activities in the world.</p>
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<div id="RotaryClubLectureHyderabadNovember291972_1" class="quote" parent="General_Lectures" book="Lec" index="123" link="Rotary Club Lecture -- Hyderabad, November 29, 1972" link_text="Rotary Club Lecture -- Hyderabad, November 29, 1972">
<div class="heading">If we interpret in that way, Bhagavad-gītā, according to our whims, we'll never understand what is the purport of Bhagavad-gītā.
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<span class="link">[[Vanisource:Rotary Club Lecture -- Hyderabad, November 29, 1972|Rotary Club Lecture -- Hyderabad, November 29, 1972]]: </span><div style="display: inline;" class="text"><p style="display: inline;">Just like "Kurukṣetra means this body," or "The five Pāṇḍavas means the five senses." If we interpret in that way, Bhagavad-gītā, according to our whims, we'll never understand what is the purport of Bhagavad-gītā. We have to learn Bhagavad-gītā as it is; otherwise, we'll miss the opportunity. Just like Kurukṣetra. Kurukṣetra is still there, existing. Everyone, you know. While passing through Delhi to Punjab side you find the Kurukṣetra. The, the field is also there. It is a very big field, and in the śāstra, in the Vedas, it is said, kurukṣetre dharmam ācaret. So people go as a place of pilgrimage. So you cannot interpret Kurukṣetra otherwise. Kurukṣetra should be accepted as it is stated in the Bhagavad-gītā: dharma-kṣetre kuru-kṣetre ([[Vanisource:BG 1.1 (1972)|BG 1.1]]). Then you'll understand Bhagavad-gītā.</p>
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<div id="Philosophy_Discussions" class="sub_section" sec_index="13" parent="Lectures" text="Philosophy Discussions"><h3>Philosophy Discussions</h3>
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<div id="PhilosophyDiscussiononMaoTseTung_0" class="quote" parent="Philosophy_Discussions" book="Lec" index="23" link="Philosophy Discussion on Mao Tse Tung" link_text="Philosophy Discussion on Mao Tse Tung">
<div class="heading">Yaḥ śāstra-vidhim utsṛjya, giving it up, decides by his whims, na siddhim avāpnoti, they'll never get any siddhi, perfection.
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<span class="link">[[Vanisource:Philosophy Discussion on Mao Tse Tung|Philosophy Discussion on Mao Tse Tung]]: </span><div class="text"><p style="display: inline;">Prabhupāda: And Kṛṣṇa also says in the Bhagavad..., yah śāstra-vidhim. Śāstra from that śas-dhātu. Yaḥ śāstra-vidhim utsṛjya, giving it up, decides by his whims, na siddhim avāpnoti, they'll never get any siddhi, perfection. Therefore the śāstra should be mediator. But these people have no śāstras. They have got simply that barrel of gun. That's all. And that is very rude. And it will never come to perfection. For the temporary time, this party may win or that party may win. That will never... That is the position in the modern world. They have no authoritative śāstra. They manufacture their own way, and therefore there is no peace.</p>
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