Category:Good Men
Theme Analysis
Śrīla Prabhupāda clarifies the distinction between mundane morality and true spiritual character. In the material world, a good man is often defined by his philanthropy, nationalism, or polite behavior. However, these relative designations still bind the living entity to the cycle of birth and death. True goodness begins with following the four regulative principles, which elevate a person to the mode of goodness, a necessary platform for understanding God. Ultimately, though, one must transcend even material goodness by fully surrendering to Kṛṣṇa. By taking to the Vaiṣṇava platform, a person automatically acquires all good qualities. The perfection of life is not striving for the material reputation of a good man, but shedding all bodily designations to simply become Kṛṣṇa's man.
- Material vs. Spiritual Goodness: Worldly welfare work and mundane morality are insufficient for spiritual progress; true goodness means acting solely for the pleasure of Kṛṣṇa.
- The Four Pillars of Character: A practically good man in this world is one who strictly avoids the sinful activities of meat-eating, illicit sex, intoxication, and gambling.
- The Power of Devotion: Independent endeavor is not required to build character; simply by practicing Kṛṣṇa consciousness, even a bad man is rapidly transformed into the best person in society.
- Transcending Duality: The labels of "good man" and "bad man" are products of material illusion. The pure devotee transcends these relative designations entirely.
- The Ultimate Identity: The highest stage of realization is abandoning the ego of being a good man of this world and embracing the eternal identity of being a servant of God.
- Explore the synthesized essence of this category in this Vanipedia article: First We Must Become Good Men, Then We Can Understand God.
Pages in category "Good Men"
The following 83 pages are in this category, out of 83 total.
A
- A devotee is naturally very good man, but when he acts just like a bad man on behalf of Krsna, he does not fall down. He still remains a pure devotee
- A gang of thieves has a signboard - "Goodman and Company." The philosophy is that when an animal is not properly nourished, that is cruelty. Therefore instead of allowing it to starve, better to kill it. That is their theory. Is it not
- A good man or woman accepts anything very easily, but a man of average intelligence does not do so. But, anyway, we should not give up our reason and discriminatory power just to be gentle
- All sinful activities are done in ignorance or in mixed-up passion and ignorance. Therefore one has to raise himself to the quality of goodness. He must be good, very good man
- All women should be sent from Calcutta to Mayapur. No women should be in Calcutta. Woman is good and man is good, but if you combine them, then both become bad, unless there is regulation
- An avaisnava never becomes a good man, however severely he is punished
- As soon as you come to the platform of God, you transcend all the qualities. There is no such distinction, "good man," "bad man," "this man" or - that man
- As you want good government or good man as president, similarly, formerly, although there was fight between the two kings, the objective was different, not to occupy one's property, not to become a big thief
E
- Everyone is bad man. Here there is no good man. Do you think in the prison house any good men go there? All criminals. So anyone who has come in this material world, he is a criminal. Therefore he is punished by this material body, simply suffering
- Everyone who will come to this Krsna consciousness will become good man, even he's a bad man. That is the influence of Krsna consciousness. Sarvair gunaih tatra samasate surah - SB 5.18.12
H
- He (Arjuna) was a good man, religious man, devotee. Naturally he was not inclined to fight with his relatives, kinsmen
- How the government will be good? This is also bad. Mahaprabhu's name is Patita-pavana; He is delivering all bad men. In the Kali-yuga there is no good men at all - all bad. Strong you will have to become to deal with all bad men
I
- I am a good man, - "I am a bad man," both of them are designations. From spiritual point of view, there is no difference between good man and bad man
- I have heard that you are a very good man with cows. Your service would be very valuable here in India. I think that you could travel to the centers here where we keep cows and try to establish a very high cow-protection standard
- I think you should take Australian rather than American passport. Australian passport is better because it is Commonwealth. You take Australian passport & immediately go to India. We require good men in India now. Indonesia is not a very important place
- I understood that you (Sanatana Gosvami) had eight coins with you, and I was thinking of killing you to take them," the hotelkeeper confessed. "But I can understand that you are such a good man that you don't have to offer me the money
- I will, "Come anyone." Who is bad, who is good I do not know. But I know even bad man comes, he becomes a good man. That I know. So who will come?
- If anyone observes these four principles, he is considered a good man, and if he does not observe them, he is a bad man. So good men will take to this Krsna consciousness movement, and bad men will not
- If I (Krsna) do not set examples in this way, then the whole population of the world will be contaminated, and there will be unwanted population and the whole world will appear just like hell. It will not be inhabitable for good men
- If there is a good man, he'll act very nice. Just like if a man is honest, you can trust him. This is our experience. So similarly, if the leaders be good according to this standard, then the whole human society will be happy. This is our propaganda
- If you want good government, then - this is democratic age - then you must be good. You must know who is good. Then you can elect: "Here is good man"
- If you want to become very good man, then you have to follow these regulative principles: no illicit sex life, no meat-eating, no intoxication, no gambling. These are the four pillars of sinful life
- In the beginning, Arjuna did not like to fight. He was a good . . . good man, religious man, devotee. Naturally he was not inclined to fight with his relatives, kinsmen
- In the Kali-yuga there is no good men at all—all bad. Strong you will have to become to deal with all bad men
- In the material world, even if one is a philanthropist, a nationalist and a good man according to materialistic estimations, these conceptions of life form a hindrance to spiritual advancement
- In this material world there are good men and bad men, similarly, amongst the persons who has no this gross body, they are sometimes called ghosts and sometimes they are called pramatha
- It does not matter whether he is a Christian or a Muslim or a Hindu or Buddhist. It does not matter. But if he strictly abides by the laws given in that religion, then he is a good man, religious man
- It is a fact that whoever takes to Krsna consciousness does not have to endeavor independently to become a good man. All the good qualifications will automatically come
M
- Man is dangerous for both. I have given that: man is good, woman is good, when they come together - bad. Both of them bad
- Many good men such as yourself are required here in India to complete the works that are started in various places such as Vrndavana, Mayapur, Hyderabad, Delhi, like that. But this is difficult work, and it will require very strong devotees
- Materially, it appears very nice that Arjuna is giving up his claim of kingdom for satisfying his relatives. Oh, he's very good man. But Krsna did not approve it. Why? Because the basic principle was Arjuna decided to satisfy his own senses
N
- No good man will say like that (You must have intoxication, take illicit sex life). That is the difference between good man and bad man
- Now I am getting old, so if you can do things without me, that will be a great pleasure for me. You are an experienced devotee and know how to manage things, and you have good men there to help you so I am sure that you can carry on things nicely
- Now we are very powerful, and we have good weapons to fight with, and we can kill many people. But these are no qualifications for good men or a good society
O
- O greatest of all good men, by the combination of Kali and Harsh Speech were born children named Mrtyu (Death) and Bhiti (Fear). From the combination of Mrtyu and Bhiti came children named Yatana (Excessive Pain) and Niraya (Hell)
- Oh, he's not a good man - therefore we have to hate - No. That is not our business. No. But this is the conclusion. And because the world is full of no good men, therefore we have to preach
- One should not be attached to being a good man or a bad man in this material world
- One who is not a Krsna conscious person, he's not a good man. But our duty is preach. Because the world is full of no-good men, therefore we have to preach. Otherwise what is the use of preaching? Therefore we should not be envious
- One who is not prepared to practice injunctions prescribed in the sastras cannot be a good man simply by book knowledge
- Our business is not in the estimation of this material world to become a good man. Our estimation is how Krsna will accept me as good man, that's all. We don't care for this world. Just like gopis, they left their husbands
S
- So far your question about the earthquake, so suppose if there is plane crash, there are many good men, bad men, so everyone is crashed. But the good man gets a good body again, the bad man gets a bad body again
- So take for example that, our, in our country, Mahatma Gandhi, he was considered to be a very good man... They may be good, but they are not ultimate good. The ultimate good is Krsna consciousness
- So we want good quality men. So the one process - to make him God conscious. He'll become the best person in the society. And if the society is composed of the nice person, then where is the war, where is the strife, where is the competition
- Some say work done on the platform of Brahman is good action. Others say that good action includes works beneficial for the self, the society, the nation & humanity at large. When a person acts with such lofty intentions, he is surely known as a good man
T
- The deer has put its faith in me, just as a good man who has a natural interest in good behavior forgets the misbehavior of a cunning friend and puts his faith in him. Although I have proved faithless, will this deer return and place its faith in me?
- The four classes of good men acknowledge the authority of the Almighty God, and therefore such good men (1) when they are in difficulty, (2) when they are in need of money, (3) when they are advanced in knowledge, intuitively take shelter of the Lord
- The man who is talking, he is also bad man. Everyone is bad man. Here there is no good man. Do you think in the prison house any good men go there? All criminals
- The past, present and future are open for everyone. There is no restriction. No one says: "This class of men shall be good, and this class of men shall be bad." Anyone can become good
- The pious King (Pariksit) regretted his accidental improper treatment of the powerful brahmana (Samika Rsi) who was faultless. Such repentance is natural for a good man like the King and it delivers a devotee from all kinds of sins accidentally committed
- The sastra says that you should become free from becoming a good man or bad man. You must become a devotee. That is required. To become a good man of this world is not a very good qualification
- The so-called good men of this world, who are engaged in so many welfare activities, humanitarian activities, by mental concoction, they may be all foolish activities in the estimation of the Supreme Personality of Godhead
- There are four classes of good men, and there are four classes of bad men also
- There are good men and bad men, and good men are taking to this movement because it is a good movement. "Good" means not having illicit sex, not eating meat, not indulging in intoxication and not indulging in gambling
- There is an immediate need for a good government - a government by the people, with Krsna consciousness. Unless the masses of people become Krsna conscious, they cannot be good men
- These are good men and we want more men like this in our community
- They (Vedic regulations, Vedic culture, scriptures) are meant for human society. Because they have got developed consciousness they can accept it, they can follow it. If a man wants to become very good man, he can become; he has got the capacity
- They are foolish, all bad men. Manda sumanda-matayah (SB 1.1.10). And if he is supposed to be a good man, he will manufacture some mata, manda-mata, not approved by the sastras. This is going on
- This man is good, - "This man is sincere," "This man is bad," they are all mental concoction. Only good is he who is Krsna conscious. Others all rascals
- Tiger can kill many animals. Does it mean it is very important animal? No. It has no use in the society. Undoubtedly, it is very powerful. It has got the good weapons to fight and it can kill many. These are not qualifications for good men or good society
- To avoid taxation means you become good man and you select your ruler, good men. Then there will be no taxation
- To be a good man or a nonviolent man is a personal attachment, but to act on behalf of the Supreme is to act without attachment for the result. That is perfect action of the highest degree, recommended by the SP of Godhead, Sri Krsna . BG 1972 purports
- To be good man, this consciousness is, "I am very good man." Or to bad man, "I am very bad man." But if you become Krsna conscious, "I am neither good man or bad man. I am Krsna's man." That's all. Finished. All business
- To become honest is also good karma. How to become a good man is described in the Bhagavad-gita very elaborately (BG 16.5): So if you become qualified with the daivi sampad (transcendental qualities), then, vimoksaya - you will be liberated
W
- We cannot understand father unless there is son. We cannot understand good man unless there is bad man. So these things, duality or relative world, they should exist in this material world
- What is the value of such election, and what is the value of such important men, where the whole system is condemned? Is it not the fact? Everywhere, not only in India. Not that the actual good man is on the head of the ruling power
- When Lord Krsna and Baladeva were present, the good men of Vrndavana realized that it was due to the presence of the Lord that their supply of food grains was sufficient
- Why shall I surrender? That is our mentality. If somebody says, good man, that "You surrender. I shall give you good instruction," "Oh, why shall I surrender to you?" That is material life
Y
- Yes, your appointment as the new president of the Miami Temple is completely approved by me, now take advantage and preach among all the young people there and recruit some good men
- You have to come above, transcend this position of goodness also. So goodness is not qualification for spiritual advancement, but it is helping. If a man is very good man, then it is helping to spiritual life. But that is not the cause