Category:Attitude
Theme Analysis
The concept of attitude forms the very crux of the conditioned soul's existence in the material world. According to Vedic philosophy, the living entity is an expansion of the Lord's marginal potency. Śrīla Prabhupāda explains that this marginal position means the soul possesses two potential attitudes: the tendency to lovingly surrender unto the Supreme Lord, and the tendency to become completely independent of Him. When the soul chooses independence, this rebellious attitude immediately places it under the jurisdiction of the illusory energy (māyā).
In the material condition, this rebellious attitude manifests as the false ego (ahaṅkāra). Śrīla Prabhupāda reveals that false ego is characterized by two distinct mentalities: ahantā (thinking "I am this material body") and mamatā (thinking "everything related to this body belongs to me"). This arrogant, egocentric attitude leads individuals to exploit one another, claim absolute proprietorship over nature, and even audaciously declare themselves to be God. However, when faced with the absolute power of death, this false bravado is instantly shattered.
The cure for the miseries of material existence is a complete shift in attitude. Śrīla Prabhupāda stresses that one must abandon the arrogant desire to be the enjoyer and instead cultivate the mood of an eternal servant ("I am Your eternal servitor"). This pure service attitude is so powerful that it overrides all social designations; a person acting in this humble mood becomes a perfect human being, regardless of whether they are a brāhmaṇa or a śūdra. Ultimately, the perfection of the spiritual attitude is found in the highest realms of Vṛndāvana, where the loving mood (rasa) of the devotees is so intense and intimate that it entirely supersedes the formal, reverential attitude generally offered to the Supreme Lord.
- The Marginal Potency: The soul's core choice lies between two attitudes: remaining an eternal, surrendered servant of God or attempting to be an independent enjoyer.
- The Disease of False Ego: The material attitude is defined by the false conceptions of "I" and "mine," leading to anger, exploitation, and the atheistic desire to become God.
- The Power of the Service Mentality: Developing a sincere, submissive attitude of service to the Supreme Lord and the spiritual master guarantees spiritual perfection, bypassing all material disqualifications.
- The Perfection of Love: In the highest stages of devotion, such as sakhya-prema (friendship), the respectful attitude is discarded in favor of spontaneous, equal, and intimate love for Kṛṣṇa.
- Explore the synthesized essence of this category in this Vanipedia article: Attitude - The Tendency to Surrender or Rebel.
Subcategories
This category has the following 29 subcategories, out of 29 total.
A
C
D
E
G
H
K
L
O
P
R
S
Pages in category "Attitude"
The following 164 pages are in this category, out of 164 total.
1
- Attitude (BG)
- Attitude (CC)
- Attitude (Conversations 1968 - 1974)
- Attitude (Conversations 1975 - 1977)
- Attitude (Lectures, BG)
- Attitude (Lectures, Other)
- Attitude (Lectures, SB)
- Attitude (Letters 1967 - 1970)
- Attitude (Letters 1971 - 1977)
- Attitude (Other Books)
- Attitude (SB cantos 1 - 4)
- Attitude (SB cantos 5 - 12)
2
- Argumentative attitude
- Atheistic attitude
- Attitude of a king
- Attitude of separation
- Attitude of surrender
- Eternally conditioned souls, are entrusted to His external energy, maya, for rectification of their rebellious attitude toward the Supreme Father
- Friendly attitude
- His attitude
- Joyful attitude
- Mental attitude
- Miscellanious negative attitudes
- Nice attitude
- Pleasing attitude
- Present attitude
- Rebellious attitude
- Respectful attitude
- Revengeful attitude
- Should be the attitude
- Sporting attitude
- Such an attitude
- Their attitude
- This attitude
- Transcendental loving attitude
- Understand the attitude
- Vaikuntha attitude
- Your attitude
A
- A fully Krsna conscious person, although situated in this material world, does not see anything but Krsna anywhere & everywhere. This is the sign of a maha-bhagavata. The maha-bhagavata sees Krsna everywhere because of his attitude of pure love for Krsna
- A ksatriya king is proud to give protection to the surrendered souls. This attitude of a king is called isvara-bhava, or factual power to give protection in a righteous cause
- Above all, the offering (of Krsna) should be made with an attitude of love. BG 1972 purports
- According to one's attitude, Krsna becomes one's direct adviser, or Krsna becomes unknown. This is not Krsna's partiality; it is His response to one's ability to understand Him
- Although his commanders and captains were agitated and were about to kill the demigods, Maharaja Bali, seeing that the demigods were coming to him without a militant attitude, forbade his commanders to kill them
- Antah krsna refers to one who is always thinking of Krsna. This attitude is a predominant feature of Srimati Radharani
- Argumentative attitude is against the Vedic principles, and it is very difficult for one who adopts it to understand that the holy name of Krsna is as good as Krsna Himself
- Arjuna's putting this (BG 4.4) question before the Lord is simply an attempt by the devotee to defy the atheistic attitude of persons who consider Krsna to be an ordinary human being subject to the modes of material nature. BG 1972 purports
- As Krsna was speaking with Rukmini, the commanders of the Yadu dynasty's soldiers, headed by Balarama, known as Sankarsana, by Gada, not tolerating the opposing soldiers' defiant attitude, began to strike their horses, elephants, & chariots with arrows
- As soon as Amogha said this, Sarvabhauma Bhattacarya turned his eyes upon him. Seeing the Bhattacarya's attitude, Amogha immediately left
- As supreme teacher of the world, Lord Krsna condemns the attitude of Arjuna who said - I do not find any good in this fighting. It will cause perpetual habitation in hell - Such statements by Arjuna were due to ignorance only. BG 1972 purports
- At such a (further advanced) time, the devotee is fully convinced that Krsna is a friend and cannot at all be dissatisfied if the devotee lives with Him on an equal level. This understanding is called visrambha, that is, devoid of a respectful attitude
- At the present moment there are no garbhadhana-samskaras, and therefore people generally have a lusty attitude when they beget children
- At the present moment there are no such garbhadhana-samskaras, and people generally have a lusty attitude when they beget children
- Attitude of love
C
- Crows and swans are not birds of the same feather because of their different mental attitudes. The fruitive workers or passionate men are compared to the crows, whereas the all-perfect saintly persons are compared to the swans
- Cyavana Muni had an irritable temperament. His wife, Sukanya, could understand his attitude, and under the circumstances she treated him accordingly
D
- Daityas, who are materialistic persons, sometimes think of philosophy when some relative meets death. The technical term for this attitude of the materialistic person is smasana-vairagya, or detachment in a cemetery or place of cremation
- Detached atittude
- Devaki, on seeing her brother approaching, prayed in a very meek attitude to Kamsa: “My dear brother, please do not kill this female child. I promise that this child will be the wife of your son; therefore don’t kill her
- Don't claim that there is no God. There is God, and He is great, and you are small. Then what is your position? You have to serve Krsna. This is simple truth. So that rebellious attitude is called maya
E
- Endowed with right vision and strengthened by devotional service and a pessimistic attitude towards material identity, one should relegate his body to this illusory world through his reason. Thus one can be unconcerned with this material world
- Even if one is not a perfect brahmana, ksatriya, vaisya or sudra but takes to the service of the Lord, not caring for the perfection of his social position, he becomes a perfect human being simply by developing the attitude of service to the Supreme Lord
H
- He (Hiranyakasipu) never forgot his vengeful attitude toward Visnu for having killed his brother, Hiranyaksa
- He (Mandalibhadra) always carries a stick of various colors. He wears a peacock feather on his head and always looks very beautiful. Mandalibhadra's attitude is revealed in his statement
- He (the Lord) is by nature merciful toward us, despite our rebellious attitude. Even in our rebellious condition we get all our necessities from Him, such as food, air, light, water, warmth, and coolness
- Hiranyakasipu decided to kill his innocent child, who was only five years old, simply because the boy had become a devotee of the Lord. This is the attitude of nondevotees toward devotees
- His (a wise man's) attitude is - I have an eternal connection with Krsna, the Supreme Lord. Now let me establish that relationship firmly so that Krsna will take me back to His kingdom
- His (Balarama's) eyes rolled in a pleasing attitude. He was decorated with long garlands of forest flowers, and the whole situation appeared to be a great function of happiness because of this transcendental bliss
- His (Dhruva's) revengeful attitude towards his stepmother and stepbrother was satisfied, his desire for a more exalted position than that of his great-grandfather was also fulfilled, and at the same time, his eternal position in Dhruvaloka was fixed
I
- I am God. I can do anything. This is demonic attitude. Completely being dependent, as soon as the death comes, immediately we have to leave this position. "Sir, let me stay for one hour more." "No, not even a minute." This is our position
- I am happy to note that you are all trying to serve the Deities more and more nicely. Please go on in this attitude and such efforts in devotional service will become the greatest pleasure or Krishna Consciousness
- I do not know what makes the management (at Jagannatha Temple) take this attitude. If you can remove this restriction you will do a great service to the Gaudiya Vaisnava community
- I wish that my kingdom, strength and riches burn up immediately by the fire of the brahmana's wrath so that in the future I may not be guided by such inauspicious attitudes
- If Arjuna abandoned the battle, he would be committing an infamous act; therefore Krsna said that such an attitude in Arjuna did not fit his personality. BG 1972 purports
- If the mind is directly engaged in the service of the Lord constantly, then there is no chance of the senses becoming engaged in other ways. This mental attitude has already been explained. BG 1972 purports
- Impersonal attitude
- In a pretentious attitude both avahittha and pride are to be found
- In the attitude of anubhava, one dances and sometimes falls down, sometimes sings loudly, shows convulsions, yawns, and sometimes breathes very heavily - all without concern for circumstances
- In the attitude of the denizens of Vrndavana, such as Nanda Maharaj and Mother Yasoda, is to be found the ideal transcendental concept of becoming the father and mother of Krsna, the original Personality of Godhead
- In the Bhagavad-gita it is said, mayayapahrta-jnana asuram bhavam asritah: when one becomes inimical to the SPG, adopting an atheistic attitude (asuram bhavam), even if one is a learned scholar the essence of knowledge does not become manifested in him
- In the transcendental world also, Krsna reciprocates with His pure devotees in the transcendental attitude, just as the devotee wants Him. BG 1972 purports
- In this attitude of constantly serving Krsna, which is called bhava, he (a devotee) always thinks of Krsna in many different ways
- In this reverential devotional attitude, Pradyumna never talked to his father in a loud voice
- Influenced by an envious temperament and dissatisfied because of an attitude of sense gratification, mundaners criticize a real acarya. In fact, however, a bona fide acarya is nondifferent from the Personality of Godhead
- It is actually better to be a sudra than to be a brahmana and not develop the service attitude, because that attitude alone satisfies the Lord
- It is necessary to select a person to whom we can surrender ourselves. Of course no one likes to surrender to anyone. We are puffed up with whatever knowledge we have, and our attitude is, - Oh, who can give me knowledge
M
- Maitreya Muni was greatly attached to Him (the Lord), and he was listening in a pleasing attitude, with his shoulder lowered. With a smile and a particular glance upon me, having allowed me to rest, the Lord spoke as follows
- Material world is so polluted that one wants to have a son even though he is useless. This attitude was represented in the history of King Citraketu
- Materialistic people do not care to know how the evolutionary process is taking place, nor are they eager to know what will happen after they finish their small human life span. This is the attitude of sudras
- Modern civilization's attitude is, "Let me suffer. Let me cover it by some intoxication, that's all." But as soon as the intoxication is over, the miseries return
- Mother Sita was very submissive, faithful, shy and chaste, always understanding the attitude of her husband. Thus by her character and her love and service she completely attracted the mind of the Lord
- My dear Lord - Prahlada began - I am not very anxious for my own deliverance. At this point we may contrast this attitude with that of the Mayavadi philosophers who are very careful that their personal salvation is never interrupted
N
- Nanda Maharaja could understand Garga Muni's purpose and that his own duty was to act according to Garga Muni's advice. Thus he said, Please tell me what is my duty. This should be the attitude of everyone, especially the householder
- No one can repay the debt to the spiritual master, but the spiritual master is very much pleased by such an attitude by the disciple
- No one should think the Deity in the temple to be made of wood or stone, and no one should think that a person coming from a lower-caste family who has taken to Krsna consciousness is still of the same low caste. These attitudes are forbidden
O
- One can actually see how this attitude (of being interested in krsna-katha) automatically develops in persons who are Krsna conscious
- One should not concern oneself with the conclusions of various logicians or philosophers. Of course, those who preach sometimes need to argue with the contentions of opponents, but as much as possible one should avoid an argumentative attitude
- One should not desire to do anything else, even to earn his livelihood. There are many, many examples of this attitude. Madhavendra Puri, for instance, would never go to anyone to ask for food
- One's desire to hide his real mentality is called avahittha, or concealment, and a desire to exhibit superiority is called pride. Both of these may be classified under pretension. In a pretentious attitude both avahittha and pride are to be found
- Only Svarupa Damodara Gosvami knew the purpose for which the Lord recited that verse. According to the Lord’s attitude, he used to quote other verses to enable the Lord to relish mellows
- Our attitude should be that of Arjuna: "I believe everything that You (Krsna) have said." BG 1972 Introduction
- Our attitude, our mentality, is unreal, that "The whole world is for my enjoyment." No. The creator says, bhokta aham: "I am enjoyer." Why you are claiming you are enjoyer? That is your false claim
P
- Paramatma, or Supersoul, sits in everyone's heart and can understand the attitudes and desires of His devotees
- Parvata Muni said, "Any person who develops the devotional attitude has all the good qualities automatically manifested in his person. A devotee is never a cause of distress to anyone"
- Peaceful attitude
- Prahlada Maharaja did not ask for anything for himself; rather, he prayed for the Lord to excuse his demoniac father. This is the attitude of a Vaisnava, who always thinks of the welfare of the entire universe
- Prahlada Maharaja maintained an attitude of noncooperation with the philosophy of his father, Hiranyakasipu, yet he was tolerant and humble
- Prahlada Maharaja wanted to reply that an attitude favorable toward Visnu can develop only when the Lord is favorable (sa yadanuvratah). As stated in Bhagavad-gita, Krsna is the friend of everyone
S
- Serious attitude
- Since Lord Brahma and Lord Siva lost their peaceful attitude upon a slight provocation, how can they maintain the peace and tranquillity of their devotees?
- Since the attitude of wives gradually changed with the advancement of Kali-yuga. Thus the system of saha-marana has practically been abolished
- Smiling attitude
- Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu says that the living entity, since time immemorial, is suffering the threefold miseries of material nature due to his demoniac attitude, which is his spirit of revolt against the Supreme Personality of Godhead
- Such an egocentric attitude (the false egocentric attitude of thinking oneself to be all in all) on the part of the conditioned soul, who is completely under the control of material nature, is described in Bhagavad-gita as foolish
- Sukadeva Gosvami said, "At first they were planning to chastise their sons for stealing butter, but as soon as the sons came before their eyes, they lost all of their angry attitudes and became overwhelmed with affection"
T
- The above attitudes of dissatisfaction and anger in devotional service are called irsyu
- The attitude of a married man who desires another wife or a wife who desires another husband is called parakiya-rasa
- The attitude of exploiting one another, the custom of the day, will only bring misery
- The attitude of the disciple should always be to satisfy the bona fide spiritual master. Then it will be very easy for him to understand spiritual knowledge
- The basic principle of their impersonal attitude does not allow them the transcendental pleasure which is relished by a devotee whose basic principle of understanding is the Supreme Person
- The egocentric attitude is a manifestation of the Rudra principle in the heart, wherein krodha (anger) is generated. This anger develops in the heart and is further manifested through various senses, like the eyes, hands and legs
- The form of the Lord is described herein (SB 4.8.45). The Lord's face is perpetually very beautiful and pleasing in attitude. To the devotees who see Him, He appears never to be displeased, and He is always prepared to award benedictions to them
- The hippies appreciated my lecture and I appreciated their attitude. They joined in Rathayatra very enthusiastically
- The king, being the representative of the Lord, must possess this attitude of giving protection to the surrendered souls at all risk
- The living entities are also called marginal potency because they have, potentially, two attitudes - namely the tendency to surrender unto Krsna and the tendency to become independent of Him
- The Lord (Caitanya), understanding his (the muslim tailor's) attitude, showed him His original form as Krsna. The tailor then began to dance, saying - I have seen! I have seen! - He became absorbed in ecstatic love and began to dance with Lord Caitanya
- The neophyte student (of Lord Caitanya in CC Adi 17.249) was certainly convinced of the piety in the chanting of Krsna’s holy name, but this sort of attitude is also offensive
- The particular loving mood or attitude relished in the exchange of love with the Supreme Personality of Godhead is called rasa, or mellow
- The particular mode of the devotional attitude of the living entity toward a particular type of demigod is also arranged by the Supreme Lord. The demigods cannot infuse the living entities with such an affinity. BG 1972 purports
- The personified Vedas said, "The gopis, who are embraced by Your serpentine hands and who have such lusty attitudes, also achieve the same perfection"
- The simple method is that one has to give up the arrogant attitude of declaring oneself to be God Himself
- The system of panca-upasana, recommending five mental attitudes for the common man, is also enacted for this purpose, namely gradual development
- The world is going on, the material world, because the living entities in the attitude of becoming purusa, they are trying to exploit the resources of this material nature. This is going on
- There is a symptom of ecstatic love known as concealment, or trying to hide one's real mental condition by externally showing another attitude
- There is no question of giving anything up in Krsna consciousness. That is the sum and substance of the Bhagavad-gita. Arjuna also thought like that "I shall not fight and fell silent" but Krsna did not approve of this sentimental attitude of Arjuna
- There may be some difficulty in understanding that both the gopis and Kamsa achieved the same goal, so this point should be clearly understood, because the attitudes of Kamsa and Sisupala were different from that of the gopis
- They had the opportunity to take advantage of the contribution of great sages, rsis, to study and to become a successful human being, but you are, by force, dragging them from that attitude to this materialistic way of life. This is violence
- This devotional attitude is explained in the Bhagavad-gita: a devotee is never distressed in reverse conditions of life, nor is he overjoyed in favorable conditions
- This misconception (of the living entity that he is not energy but the energetic) of his own existence leads him to the attitude of lording it over material nature
- This sudden development of the devotional attitude in a person must be understood as a special mercy of Krsna or of His devotee
- Those who work without fruitive results are also perfect in their attitude. They are given a chance to advance to the platform of devotional service in Krsna consciousness. BG 1972 purports
- Two attitudes
U
- Unflinching faith in Krishna and in the Spiritual Master enlightens a devotee in the progressive march of Krishna Consciousness, and keep this attitude, and I am sure Krishna will give you sufficient intelligence to make your life successful
- Unless one worships the lotus feet of Krsna, he again has to descend to the material platform. The ideal attitude should be - I am Your eternal servitor. Please let me somehow engage in Your service
- Unless you develop your devotional attitude, you cannot see God. Therefore those who are not devotees, they cannot see God. It is not possible
- Upon hearing this, Mother Yasoda shook her curved eyebrows. She could only look at her friend with a smiling face. May Mother Yasoda bless everyone with this smiling attitude. In this example the whole is the parental love, and the part is the laughter
W
- We may have many dangerous moments in our lives, but if we are training ourselves in Krsna consciousness and preparing ourselves to go home, back to Godhead, we will not care for them. Our attitude will then be: Dangers come and go - so let them happen
- What is recorded in the Hari-bhakti-vilasa strictly follows the Vedic scriptures and is certainly pure, but the attitude of the karmis is always one of giving up the conclusion of pure Vaisnava understanding
- When a king thinks that because he is the head of the state, he can utilize the citizens for his sense gratification, he is in error. Such an attitude is not appreciated by learned scholars
- When Lord Krsna was entering the nicely decorated city of Mathura in a festive attitude, the ladies and girls of Mathura prepared different kinds of flower garlands to make the ceremony most auspicious
- When lust & hankering are unsatisfied, the element of krodha appears, which is the formidable enemy of the conditioned soul. This most sinful passion is represented as ahankara, or the false egocentric attitude of thinking oneself to be all in all
- When one gives up his unwanted attitude of superiority, he becomes situated in his original position
- When the border of Her (Radharani) sari and the cloth veiling Her face are caught, She externally appears offended and angry, but within Her heart She is very happy. Learned scholars call this attitude kuttamita
- When the demigods saw Vrtrasura's attitude, they were so afraid that they practically fainted, and Vrtrasura began trampling them down
- When the living entity accepts this supreme proprietorship of the Lord and acts in that attitude, he resumes his real identity. In order to elevate the living entity to this standard of knowledge, there is the necessity of spiritual association
- When this (devoid of a respectful) attitude is chosen, it becomes sakhya-prema, or love of Godhead in friendship. On this stage there is developed consciousness of equality between the Lord and the devotee
- When Vasudeva was addressing his divine sons in that way, Lord Krsna and Balarama were smiling. Because They are very affectionate to Their devotees, They accepted all the appreciation of Vasudeva with a kindly, smiling attitude
- With this attitude, Prsadhra became a great saint, and when he entered the forest and saw a blazing forest fire, he took this opportunity to burn his body in the fire. Thus he achieved the transcendental, spiritual world
Y
- Yasoda began to think, "How can I protect these poor boys from the invasion of Kamsa's servants?" This is an instance of a superior attitude in a devotee
- Yavanas utter the holy name in a different attitude than devotees, but the holy name ha rama is so powerful spiritually that it acts anywhere, whether one knows it or not
- Your attitude of determination to progress in your transcendental knowledge of the Supreme Personality of Godhead Krsna and perfect your devotional service to Him, is very praiseworthy