Category:Actor
Theme Analysis
Śrīla Prabhupāda illuminates the fundamental difference between a materialist and a transcendentalist through the metaphor of the stage actor. While the fruitive actor (karmi) performs activities driven by personal desire and remains bound by the reactions of karma, the devotee acts solely for the satisfaction of the Supreme Lord, thereby achieving liberation. This distinction highlights that true freedom lies not in the cessation of activity, but in changing the consciousness behind the action from self-centeredness to surrender.
- The Metaphor of the Stage: The material world is likened to a dramatic stage where the living entity, like an actor, changes bodies and roles (natah), mistakenly identifying with temporary designations rather than their eternal spiritual nature.
- The Bondage of Fruitive Activities: Those who act for their own sense gratification are termed fruitive actors; their work results in karma-bandha, or bondage to material activity, trapping them in the cycle of repeated birth and death.
- The Freedom of the Devotee: A devotee may appear to act like an ordinary person, but because their activities are guided by the Supreme Lord and dedicated to His service (yukta-vairagya), they are free from reaction and make progress toward the spiritual kingdom.
- The Supreme Actor: Ultimately, the Lord is the actual performer and director (antaryami), while the living entity is merely an instrument; realizing this dependence and acting under the Lord's direction constitutes the perfection of life.
- Explore the synthesized essence of this category in this Vanipedia article: Distinguishing Devotees from Fruitive Actors.
Subcategories
This category has the following 2 subcategories, out of 2 total.
G
K
Pages in category "Actor"
The following 70 pages are in this category, out of 70 total.
A
- A question may be raised as to why a devotee should refrain from identifying an actor, although he knows definitely that the Lord is the ultimate doer of everything
- Actually situated in renunciation, such (yukta-vairagya) activities clear the mirror of the mind, and as the actor gradually makes progress in spiritual realization he becomes completely surrendered to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. BG 1972 purports
- Although mental speculators and fruitive actors may perform great austerities and penances, they still fall down because they do not have information about the lotus feet of the Lord
- An actor imitates the activities of a king on stage, although actually he is not the king. Similarly, when the Lord incarnates, He imitates parts with which He has nothing to do
- Another gopi expressed her opinion that Krsna and Balarama, while tending the cows, appeared just like actors going to play on a dramatic stage
- Arjuna said, "In dramatic performances in the theater, an actor may play the part of a king, but no one expects any benefits from such a make-believe king"
- As long as we think we are the actors, we bring about karma-bandha (bondage to activity). If we act for yajna, for Krsna. there is no karma-bandha
- As the actor gradually makes progress in spiritual realization he becomes completely surrendered to the Supreme Personality of Godhead
F
- For some time we play as master or servant, as actors play on the stage under someone else's direction. While we are in the human form, we should put an end to this nonsensical stage performance. We should come to our original constitutional position
- From the Mundaka Upanisad (3.1.3): One who sees that golden-colored Personality of Godhead, the Supreme Lord, the supreme actor, who is the source of the Supreme Brahman, is liberated
- From the Vedic literature it appears that when a theatrical actor dances among many dancing girls, the group dance is called a rasa dance
H
- He (Krsna) is the guide of all living entities, as is confirmed in the Katha Upanisad: nityo nityanam cetanas cetananam. The Supersoul directs the individual soul to act, and the Supersoul is the actor and witness of all action
- He (Vasudeva Datta) was far, far above philanthropists, philosophers and fruitive actors. He was the most exalted personality to ever show mercy to the conditioned souls. This is not an exaggeration of his transcendental qualities. It is perfectly true
I
- In Srimad-Bhagavatam (SB 1.8.19) Srimati Kuntidevi has explained that Krsna appears in this world nato natyadharo yatha, "exactly like an actor dressed as a player"
- It appears that He is acting, but He is not the actor. He is killing, but He is not the killer. Thus it is understood that only by His inconceivable power is everything happening
- It is recommended in the Second Canto of Srimad-Bhagavatam that whether one is a devotee or fruitive actor or liberationist, if he is intelligent enough he should engage himself with all seriousness in the process of devotional service
- It is stated in Srimad-Bhagavatam (SB 4.21.31): The waters of the Ganges flow from the tip of the lotus feet of Krsna, and by bathing in that water, everyone - including fruitive actors and all sages - can wash dirty things from the mind
M
- Merry peacocks danced just like actors and actresses, and merry cuckoos called their mates very nicely
- My dear friend, this dramatic actor appears like a second form of My own self. Like a picture, He displays My pastimes as a cowherd boy overflowing with wonderfully attractive sweetness and fragrance, which are so dear to the damsels of Vraja
N
- Narada spoke as follows: "My dear Lord (Krsna), You are the Supreme, Parabrahman, and Your pastimes as an ordinary human are another tactical resource, exactly like a play on the stage in which the actor plays parts different from his own identity"
- Neither karmis nor jnanis are purified. In the words of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Thakura, they are kukarmis and kujnanis - bad fruitive actors and bad speculators
- No one can estimate the wonderful activities of the Supreme Lord, and therefore He is known as urukrama, the wonderful actor. In the Visvaprakasa dictionary, the word krama is defined as - an expert display of energies or stepping forward very quickly
- Not only does Lord Aniruddha help fruitive actors by elevating them to the higher planetary systems, but He also helps the devotee engage in devotional service by dint of His inexhaustible energy
O
- On the stage a person may be an enemy or whatever, but off the stage all the actors are friends. Similarly, with these bodies we are playing on the stage of material nature, and we attach so many designations to one another
- Opposing princes continued, "There is no question of distress or happiness for a person like you because neither of these conditions is everlasting. Take courage. Don't be disappointed by this temporary reversal. After all, we are not the final actors"
- Ordinary people, or karmis, are fruitive actors who work all day and night to get some enjoyable results and then again suffer. Thus the problems of such karmis are never solved
- Our Krsna consciousness movement is teaching how to serve Krsna from any position. It doesn't matter. Whether you are a brahmana, ksatriya, vaisya, sudra, lawyer, engineer, or film actor or anything, it doesn't matter
S
- Since Narada was a brahmacari, a brahmana and an exalted devotee, even Krsna, while acting as a king, offered His respectful obeisances unto Narada. Such is the conduct visible in the Vedic civilization
- Since sacrifices are generally performed by fruitive actors, it is especially mentioned (tatrapi) that although Maharaja Antardhana was externally engaged in performing sacrifices his real business was rendering devotional service by hearing and chanting
- Some actress, some cinema artist, singing, and people are so fond of hearing that singing that the artist is paid fifteen thousand rupees for one song. There are many in Bombay. So just see how much attraction we have got for the material sound vibration
- Sometimes an actor in a drama plays the part of Narada Muni, although in his private life he is not at all like Narada Muni because he is not a devotee. Such actors are not needed in dramatic performances about the lives of Sri Caitanya and Lord Krsna
- Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura used to refer to such an actor (who doesn't have sense of devotional service) as yatra-dale narada, which means - farcical Narada
- Srila Sanatana Gosvami has forbidden us to hear the holy name of Krsna chanted by non-Vaisnavas, such as professional actors and singers, for it will have no effect. It is like milk touched by the lips of a serpent
T
- The devotee of Lord Krsna has no desire other than serving Krsna. Even so-called liberated people are full of desires. Fruitive actors desire better living accommodations, and jnanis want to be one with the Supreme
- The dramatic actor Madana-mohana has opened a shop of scents that attract the women of the world to be His customers. He delivers the scents freely, but they make the women all so blind they cannot find the path returning home
- The dramatic actors would then play their parts, and the dancing ballet girls would separately display their artistic movements
- The field of material nature is the arena of the activities of fruitive actors, and since the material field is externally related with the Supreme Personality of Godhead, it is also eternal
- The fruitive actor enjoys only the fruits of his own activities, but a devotee, being under the guidance of the Supreme Lord, simply advances in devotional service to achieve the ultimate goal of life - to go back home, back to Godhead
- The fruitive actors can attain their goals by devotional service, and the salvationists can also attain their goal in life by devotional service to the Lord
- The highest perfectional gain of humanity is to engage in discussions of the activities and glories of the Pious Actor
- The Lord always acts in favor of the devotees, and therefore ordinary men who are fruitive actors or seekers of salvation may be attracted to the Lord when He acts as protector of the devotees
- The prakrta-sahajiya mistakenly take the pure devotees and Vaisnava acaryas to be mental speculators or fruitive actors. Consequently they themselves become Mayavadis and leave the service of the Supreme Lord
- The principal ingredients are earth, water and fire, and the principal actor is the mind, which is controlled by the intelligence
- The Supreme Lord is the performer of everything, but out of ignorance the living entity thinks that he is the actor
- The Supreme Lord is the ultimate actor, and the conditioned living entity should simply remember this original actor, Sri Krsna. As living entities, we are being carried away by the waves of prakrti, or nature, which works under the Lord's direction
- The theory of chance can best be explained in the Vedic literature by the words ajnata-sukrti, which refer to pious activities performed without the actor's knowledge
- The transcendentalist desiring freedom from the clutches of maya, or the illusory activities of life, is warned herewith not to be captivated by the external features of fruitive actors
- The word natah is significant. An actor changes dress to play different parts, but is always the same man. Similarly, the Lord assumes many thousands and millions of forms (advaitam acyutam anadim ananta-rupam adyam purana-purusam)
- There are certainly many good qualities among fruitive actors, philosophical speculators and mystic yogis, but all good qualities automatically develop in the character of a devotee. No extraneous endeavor is needed
- There may be wonderful machine, computer, but there must be one actor, one manipulator. So the, this nature is an instrument only. The actually worker is Krsna
- These (adhibhuta, adhyatma and adhidaiva actions) are the material manifestations of cause and effect and the sense of responsibility of the conditioned actors
- They (Krsna and Balarama) learned how to set up a theatrical stage, how to decorate dramatic actors with costumes and with flower ornaments over the ear, and how to sprinkle sandalwood pulp and water to produce a nice fragrance
- They (those who do not know the value of ds) are attracted by material activities, and they become worshipers of material nature. Thus they are known as fruitive actors. They even become entangled in material activities disguised as spiritual activities
- This (nirakara) does not mean that the Supreme Personality of Godhead has no form; it means that it is not understood by the karmis, or fruitive actors
- To His (God's) devotee He says that instead of working in that way, it is better to surrender unto Him, for He will take charge of the devotee. That is the difference between a devotee and a fruitive actor
V
- Vasudeva Datta’s example is unique not only within this world but within the universe. It is beyond the conception of fruitive actors or the speculation of mundane philosophers
- Vidura inquired from Maitreya: O my lord, O greatly learned sage, kindly describe eternal time, which is another form of the Supreme Lord, the wonderful actor. What are the symptoms of that eternal time? Please describe them to us in detail
- Vikarma, or acts against the interest of the actor
W
- When the entrance of the actors is set in motion by the arrival of a suitable time, the entrance is called pravartaka
- While Akrura was offering his prayers to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the Lord disappeared from the water, exactly as an expert dramatic actor changes his dress and assumes his original feature
- While performing such dramas, always the actors must be Vaisnavas. Outsiders may help but devotees should have all the major roles. So you may perform such plays conveniently. It is a very nice program, but do not sacrifice other programs on account of it