Category:We Should Be (Disciples of SP)
Theme Analysis
The Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is meant to produce the highest class of human beings. In this vast collection of instructions, Śrīla Prabhupāda repeatedly uses the phrase "we should be" to paint a comprehensive picture of the ideal devotee's character. He expects his followers to be extraordinarily vigilant against the attacks of māyā, strictly avoiding offenses while treating all Vaiṣṇavas with profound respect. Furthermore, he emphasizes that disciples should be deeply conversant with the philosophy to boldly defeat atheists, and above all, they should be absolutely serious about utilizing every single second to finish their material existence in this very lifetime.
- Vigilance Against Māyā: The illusory energy is incredibly powerful, and a devotee must always remain on guard. If one forgets their duty to serve Kṛṣṇa for even a moment, māyā is immediately ready to strike and extinguish their spiritual fire.
- Exhibiting Ideal Character: The members of the society carry the heavy responsibility of representing the supreme absolute truth; therefore, their behavior, frugality, and personal character must be entirely ideal and exemplary for the rest of the world.
- Respecting All Vaiṣṇavas: A true devotee treats every initiated Godbrother and Godsister with the utmost reverence. Women should be respected as mothers, and fellow devotees should be honored as prabhus (masters), fostering a dhīra (sober) and cooperative society.
- Avoiding Offenses and Mistakes: While accidental mistakes may be forgiven, willful defiance of the rules is extremely dangerous. Devotees must be exceptionally cautious not to commit offenses against the holy name or the devotees, which can ruin their advancement.
- Becoming Expert Preachers: It is not enough to simply follow rules; disciples should be well-versed in the philosophy of Bhagavad-gītā and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, ready to boldly challenge and defeat atheistic arguments anywhere.
- Seriousness to Finish the Material Business: Time is the most valuable asset in the human form of life. A serious practitioner does not wait for their next life to achieve perfection; they minimize unnecessary eating and sleeping to finish their spiritual duties immediately.
- Explore the synthesized essence of this category in this Vanipedia article: Prabhupāda Teaches His Disciples How They Should Behave.
Pages in category "We Should Be (Disciples of SP)"
The following 146 pages are in this category, out of 146 total.
A
- A living being, to become desireless, how you can? I am living. I am not a dead body. Desire should be to satisfy Krsna. Attachment should be for Him. That's all. You have to change. That is Krsna consciousness
- Accidental mistake is not dangerous. Willful mistake is dangerous. That we should be careful. We should be very careful always so that accidental mistakes also may not take place. But if it takes place, it is excused
- According to Vedic system, girls 16 years and boys 25, they should be married. There must be difference of age 8 to 10 years. That is nice. And before that none of them should have sex life
- Actually due to our lack of Krishna Consciousness sometimes we become disturbed with shortage of funds. But we should be confident that our necessities will certainly be fulfilled by the Supreme Lord
- Actually, you have only one Spiritual Master, who initiates you, just as you have only one father. But every Vaisnava should be treated as prabhu, master, higher than me, and in this sense, if I learn from him, he may be regarded as guru
- Advanced life in Krsna Consciousness means one should be always very much anxious to calculate whether every moment of his life has not been utilized in devotional service. This is called feeling of being afraid for misusing time
- All necessary expenditures will be paid by check from the Book Fund. For petty expenses, not exceeding Rs. 200 - may be kept with you always and everything should be accounted for with vouchers
- All our managers should be spiritually advanced simple and honest in carrying out the orders of the spiritual master and Krsna. That will be a nice standard
- All our members, the members of the Krsna consciousness society, should be ideal. At least people may see that "Here is a class of men - ideal character, ideal behavior, spiritual advanced, and very frugal and very nice"
- All the devotees should be satisfied. They have given their lives to Krishna, so we should see they are always happy. Their service is voluntary. It is not that we can force anyone to do anything. If we do they will go away and that is a great loss
- All the members should be very careful to execute their spiritual duties so that whoever comes will automatically become a devotee and will be able to return back to Godhead in this very life
- All the wives of our students should be especially trained up for Deity worship and cooking, and when possible they should go outside on Sankirtana Party with their husbands and others
- 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
- Another should be elected
- Any god-brother's wife or any unmarried girl in our society should be always treated as mother and sister. Any married woman should be treated as mother
- Any new brahmacaris who come with good faith should be helped. We are living in the Kingdom of Maya, so Maya's influence is very great in the material world. It is just like an epidemic. So one has to become immune very carefully by Krishna Consciousness
- As I suggested, Kirtanananda Maharaja should be given the top post to give honor to the position of a sannyasi
- At every moment we should be doing this or that service for Krishna's transcendental pleasure. If we do not remember this, then Maya is right there to grab us
D
E
- Enclosed you will find one letter from Austin temple. So that is in your zone. He has so many questions, and these types of enquiries should be answered locally. So you can reply this letter and send me a copy also so that I can see how you are answering
- Every devotee should be ready to take instructions from a superior Vaisnava, and a superior Vaisnava must be ready to help an inferior Vaisnava in all respects
- Every student should be very much careful not to commit any offense which will be detrimental to this promotion to the Spiritual Kingdom, and thereby the Spiritual Master has to incarnate again to deliver him
- Everyone should be continuously engaged in either chanting, studying or working and preaching. This full schedule will save you from engagement elsewhere. Maya and Krsna are always side by side. Either one is serving Krsna or he is serving Maya
- Everyone should be very alert in their behavior. Rising early in the morning, taking bath, be prepared for mangala aratik immediately. Then class
- Everything should be regulated in devotional service. Just like eating. Eating is necessary to remain fit, but too much eating means disease and too little eating means starving. One must adjust things properly, that is the program of Krsna Consciousness
F
- Following in the footsteps of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, all the preachers engaged in the service of ISKCON should be very expert in putting forward strong arguments and defeating all types of atheists
- For devotional service nobody should be anxious to get some material power. Rather, we should be always anxious to acquire how we can advance our anxiety, our eagerness, to serve the Lord
- For our instruction, Bharata Maharaja acted in such a way. We should be very careful not to be misled by so-called welfare activities conducted in bodily terms. One should not give up his interest in attaining the favor of Lord Visnu at any cost
G
- Girls should be taught how to become faithful wife, how to learn nice cooking, cleansing, dressing. Simple method. There is no objection of their becoming scholar, but that is not necessary
- Girls who are living in New Vrindaban should be engaged in the following activities; 1) taking care of the children, 2) cleaning the temple, kitchen, etc. 3) cooking, and 4) churning butter
I
- I am so glad to hear that the devotees are appreciating that everything belongs to Krishna. That attitude is very nice and should be maintained. Actually it is a fact. By illusion only we think things belong to someone else
- I am very much encouraged to learn that you are bold enough to challenge any nondevotee as you did with that impersonalist yoga student. That should be the temperament of all our preachers
- I have chosen my best men to be GBC and I do not want that the GBC should be disrespectful to the temple presidents
- I have heard one rumor from Gargamuni that Kanupriya and Hayagriva are smoking ganja. In that case, Hayagriva should be asked to leave for U.S.A. immediately to sit down in New Vrndavana and do what he likes
- I want that New Vrindaban should be completely self-sufficient for this ghee production, not that the Society should have to subsidize New Vrindaban for nothing. No, you make only pure ghee, as much as possible, and ship to all our centers
- If he is not satisfied with the standard of lectures in our temple, then he should be permitted to give some lectures himself, but this habit of going outside to hear others should be stopped immediately
- If there is still the concept that, "I am this body and anything belonging to this body is mine," then you have to chant very cautiously to make progress. Yes. That's all. These ten kinds of offenses you should be guard against
- In every publication house all printing matters are edited at least three times. So we should be very much careful about grammatical and printing mistakes. That will mar the prestige of the press and the institution
- In our society, you are all Godbrothers, Godsisters. Or those who are married, they are like mothers. So you should be very careful. Then you will remain dhira, sober
- In the beginning there may be some mistake, but we must see that "Whether my mistakes are now correct?" That should be vigilance. Never trust the mind. That is the instruction here. Mind should not be trusted
- Initiation should be given as a future hope, but we should be careful about the second initiation
- It is also nice that you are caring for the devotees. They have left everything for me, so they should be treated as sons and daughters
- It is good news that you have come to your senses that nothing should be done by contractor. Everything should be done by ourselves. Mr. Saraf is experienced, so take his help. So go on raising funds, constructing, and send me the plans
- It is my desire that three places at the present moment namely San Francisco (New Puri), New Vrndavana and New Navadvipa should be especially organized for three great festivals; namely Janmastami, Rathayatra and Lord Caitanya's Birthday
- It is not that because all these are temporary arrangement, we should be unfaithful to our family members, to our children, to our wife. As duty, we should take care, but we should not be simply absorbed in such thoughts
- It is not that everyone should be equally expert. But the thing that is needed is that we should be serious and sincere in our engagement. Nobody can adequately serve Krishna because Krishna is unlimited
- It is our duty to follow in the footsteps of Dhruva Maharaja, for he was very determined. We should also be determined to finish our duties in executing devotional service in this life; we should not wait for another life to finish our job
K
- Kirtana is our first duty. The Deity worship should be simple and the eating should be as meager as possible
- Krsna has His house, prakara-sadmasu. Cintamani-prakara-sadmasu. Sadma. Sadma means house. So we should take very, very careful attention that this temple is kept very nicely, managed very nicely
M
- Married means that one should be satisfied with one woman and one man. That's all. And there is no question of divorce. Divorce is introduced by the modern rascals, but it is not sanctioned by any religious person
- My idea is that all our centers should be self-supported. We do not like that idea that for your support you have to go 100 miles to get your bread. That is a very dangerous drawback. You produce your food locally and then support yourself
N
O
- Oh, you are playing in the battle? No, you should not manufacture anything. You should be directed by the spiritual master
- One should not be satisfied with this comfortable or so-called educated human body. We should be prepared what we are going to get next. That is real knowledge
- Only initiated disciples should be allowed to speak on the subject matter of Krsna consciousness
- Our Bombay should be organized. Work is our life. There is no question of "How long?" As long as possible. Krsna giving us good opportunities. Now we should take it seriously. It is not joke. "Hare Krsna movement is bona fide religion"
- Our business is to chant, so if there is restriction, sathe sathyam acaret, we should be also very clever. So anyway, chant Hare Krsna mantra and be happy. That is Krsna consciousness movement
- Our main business is to distribute BTG and Sankirtana and whatever little income we get from that we should be satisfied
- Our members of Krishna Consciousness society should be ideal human beings, and if they try to follow the principles, surely they will be the ideal men in the world
- Our stress should always be on Sankirtana Party. These "yoga" societies are useless
- Our vision is different. We are not under the control of maya. At least we should be like that. Then we remain in the transcendental state
P
- Para-duhkha-duhkhi. We should be sorry for their plight. So we shall remain strong in our spiritual consciousness
- People are suffering for want of Krsna consciousness. Therefore each and every one of us should be engaged in the preaching work of Krsna consciousness for the benefit of the whole world
R
- Realization means you should write, every one of you, what is your realization. What for this BTG is? You write your realization, what you have realized about Krsna. That is required. It is not passive. Always you should be active
- Regarding marriage, generally the man should be older than the woman. We have not had good experience with marriages when the woman is older. But everything must be done with reference to time, place and circumstance
- Regarding the farm in Gainesville, yes we require land for food grain production. One of our programs should be to send food grains to India for Vrindaban and Mayapur. If we distribute profusely prasadam we will become very popular
- Regarding the hippy religion; we must distinguish ourselves from the hippies. The hippies generally maintain long hair & beard & in order to distinguish ourselves from them we should be clean shaved
- Regarding the New York temple's books, they should be charged the regular temple price for all literature
S
- Simply our prayer should be, My dear Krishna, please remind me to always chant Your Holy Name, please do not put me into forgetfulness. You are sitting within me as Supersoul, so you can put me into forgetfulness or into remembering You
- So by nature we should be always engaged in pleasure potency. But then why you are in this miserable condition? This question must arise in human form of life. If it does not, then he has not come to the perfection of human life
- So far Ksirodakasayi is concerned, or anyone else who is newcomer, should be allowed some concession. And after some time when he is accustomed to our principle, then we can make the screw tight. I think this point will be sufficient hint to deal with him
- So far the living arrangement is concerned, the grhasthas should be given chance to live together as husband and wife. If not, then all the girls can stay in a place and all the boys can stay in a place, if there is not sufficient space
- So with that feeling I want to produce them also, my followers. Everyone should be like that
- Sometimes our devotees fall down because he has not come to that platform, ever-existing. Therefore the fire extinguished. That is possible, but everyone should be very, very careful that the fire may not be extinguished. Then again maya
T
- The devotees of Krsna should be trained up both ways: not only to give protection to the devotees, to give them encouragement, but if need be, they should be prepared to kill the demons
- The duty of a ksatriya is to give protection to the citizens and levy taxes upon them, but he is forbidden to tax the brahmanas. The members of the Krsna consciousness movement should therefore be exempt from government taxation
- The enquirer should be very submissive, and the answer-giver also should always remember the lotus feet, so the right answer can be given. This is the way of spiritual enquiry and spiritual answer. This is called sva-gosthi
- The first medicine which you should be concerned with is to chant Hare Krishna and to become increasingly steady in Krishna Consciousness
- The flies, they go in a nasty place. So you should be cleansed. You should take protection in that way. You cannot kill them
- The human form of life is meant for saving time for spiritual cultivation. We should be satisfied with the bare necessities of life, and the time should be saved to cultivate self-realization. That is the basic principle of Vedic civilization
- The individual presidents should be more managerial, more individual, and you can supervise, and if some defect is detected, you can make suggestions how to correct it. But if we lose individuality and simply become mechanical, what is the point?
- The maya is very strong and as soon as there is opportunity the Maya will come and attack. Therefore every one should be very careful against the attack of Maya
- The person who is working in the garden, Krsna's garden, he should be as careful as the man who is worshiping the Deity in the temple
- The preachers of the Krsna consciousness movement should be extremely careful not to misuse the immense quantities of money needed to spread this movement. Let us not make this money the cause of our distress
- The real purpose of marriage is to get children. So if the husband and wife simply love within the mind and there is no action, there is no prayojana-siddhi. We should be practical, not simply theoretical
- They must translate as it is, they must not deviate. Anyway, our motto should be to somehow or other express the objectives of Krishna Consciousness to the German-speaking people
- They were wrongly initiated. We want recommendation from the authority, whether one should be initiated, but they gave wrong information. That is the defect of the informer
- This life should be utilized. Now we are conscious, Krsna conscious. It should be so utilized that no more coming back to United States of America and no more coming back of this condemned earthly planet. That should be the aim
- This process of KC is offered to every one, but only one out of many thousands of people will accept it. Therefore you should be very serious about perfecting your life in KC & thereby becoming qualified to enter into the Kingdom of God, Goloka Vrindaban
- This Sankirtana Movement should be planned very diligently, and it should be pushed on. Then our propaganda will surely come out successful
- This world is full of danger (padam padam yad vipadam (SB 10.14.58)). Therefore we should be encouraged to chant the Hare Krsna maha-mantra so that in our family, society, neighborhood and nation, everything will be smooth and free from danger
- Those who are coming to the touch of Krsna consciousness and initiated to execute, they should be very determined that "In this life we shall make a solution. No more. No more coming again." That should be our determination
- Those who are members of this society, they should be ideal. Simply by their association people will become good, very good responsibility. And if they become bad themselves, there is no possibility because we are giving instruction
- Those who are responsible should be very frugal to see that not one penny is unnecessarily spent
- To minimize this material work means the energy should be employed for Krsna. Minimize work this, means this side, material side. And save time and chant Hare Krsna. That's all
W
- We are also giving our student position as brahmana, but if he remains a fool number one, then we are misusing our attempt. He should be very learned scholar. That should be the aim
- We are endeavoring to create some ideal men, Krsna conscious men, their character, their behavior, their ideal aim of life. So those who have taken to Krsna consciousness seriously, they should be ideal men
- We are interested in the words of Krsna. If Krsna is like us, He has got the same material body, then why we should be interested to read Bhagavad-gita, He is also a man like us?
- We don't want to give any chance for Maya to enter in our business. That should be our motto, and we should be very much vigilant
- We have come to Vrndavana. Let us follow the Gosvamis. Rupa raghunatha pade haibe akuti. We should be very, very anxious to follow the principles laid down by the six Gosvamis
- We have taken the vow to see Krsna or to understand Krsna. We should be very, very serious and do the needful. Then our life will be successful
- We should always be very careful to avoid utilizing any of the facilities available for our own sense gratification, but we should use everything for the satisfaction of Krsna only
- We should be careful not to eat anything which is not offered to Krsna, prasadam. That should be determination. We cannot purchase things from the market and eat. No. That is not possible. We cannot eat
- We should be conscious of our fallen condition and pray to the Lord in that way, that "My dear Lord, somehow or other I am fallen. Now kindly pick me up."
- We should be fixed up on the order of Krsna coming through the spiritual master. Then our life is successful. This is the secret of success in spiritual life. Yasya prasadad bhagavat-prasadah. This is assured
- We should be in love of God, means "Oh, God has supplied us so many things." Why not? Therefore pure devotees, they like to supply God. They want to become order-supplier of God, not to make God as order-supplier. What God wants?
- We should be known as shaven-headed, not long-hair-headed. This is discrepancy. At least once in a month you must be clearly shaven-headed
- We should be satisfied with our pictures hanging in our different temples. But we may not sacrifice our valuable time for becoming famous artists so that pictures may be sold like hotcakes
- We should be very careful about the regulative principles and follow the footprints of Vaisnava. Don't think that Prahlada Maharaja is ordinary boy. We should learn from Prahlada Maharaja how to advance in devotional service
- We should be very careful of our time. Time once wasted, you cannot get it back return. Better utilize this time. The best utilization is to chant Hare Krsna or think of Krsna, worship Krsna. That is Krsna consciousness movement
- We should be very honest and live with sadhu, those who are devotees. Tandera carana-sebi-bhakta-sane bas. First of all our mission should be how to serve the Gosvamis
- We should be very much angry. When? When there is anything against God and God's devotee. But generally, for my personal interest, I should not be angry. "All right, if you like to call me by ill names, I don't mind. You go on with your business"
- We should be very much careful not to become their (duskrtina's) victim. So although the atheists say there is no God, jagad ahur anisvaram, but we are convinced that God is the origin - janmady asya yatah - of both matter and spirit
- We should be very much careful. Our Krsna consciousness cannot be diverted. Then you are gone to hell. Even there is danger, even there is suffering in Krsna consciousness, we should tolerate
- We should be very much strictly follower of the Vaisnava principle. Vaisnava's only business is how to deliver these fallen souls. Caitanya Mahaprabhu, He appeared as a Vaisnava. The business is to deliver
- We should be very serious. We should not fall down from the standard of Vedic culture
- We should be very strongly inclined to Krsna consciousness like Haridasa Thakura. Then we shall be able very easily to overcome the allurement of maya
- We should be very, very careful not to commit any offense at the feet of Vaisnava. Vaisnava does not take any offense. He does not care who is offender, but Krsna takes care. Krsna will never tolerate if a person is Vaisnava aparadha
- We should be very, very careful not to waste the duration of life even by a second. We shall eat less, then we shall sleep also less. Nidrahara-viharakadi: then our sex appetite also will be lessened
- We should be very, very careful. This Krsna consciousness movement is simply a very scientific movement that will help the human society not to be degraded again; to be elevated
- We should not waste our time for these things, but we should be ready to enquire about the Absolute Truth
- When the disciple or the son is grown up, if he is chastised, then he breaks. So before being chastised, we should be conscious that "This is our rules and regulation. We must observe"
- When you hear about Krsna, that is also Krsna. Actually, when you are reading Krsna book, Krsna is fighting with demons, that is also His pastime. So Krsna is present. So you should be very attentive and worship this hearing
- Wherever you may go, our main business is service to Krsna & awkward circumstances may happen anywhere, & we should be able to hold up to all such circumstances, steadfastly we will go on with our business of service to Lord Krsna
- With great difficulty we get a man. We have to reform them. Our business is to become sympathetic to fallen souls. So in future do not do it all. Everything should be done amicably
- Without preaching, without understanding philosophy, you cannot keep your strength. Everyone should be thoroughly well-conversed with the philosophy which we are putting... That means you must read thoroughly every day
Y
- Yes, everyone of us should be ideal to the other so everyone can get impetus to make progress more and more
- You have dedicated your life for Krsna and therefore you should be ideal. We are introducing KCM for the harmony and good will of humanity. But if you are suffering from the very ills we are trying to remove, how can the people be influenced favorably
- You have to prepare strong devotees, not import them. You yourself become strong devotees and teach others by your example. Importation is not a good plan; everyone should be strong by behavior and action
- You mention there is fighting and making politics in the temple. But that is your previous qualification. That means you could not give up your qualification. You or anyone. So you should be careful not to revive your old qualifications
- You should all read very carefully Srimad-Bhagavatam and BG, and you should be able to answer all questions like this, and only in rare cases approach me. But it is important that our students must be able to answer all questions for becoming preachers
- You should all read very carefully Srimad-Bhagavatam and Bhagavad-gita, and you should be able to answer all questions like this, and only in rare cases approach me
- You should be firmly convinced in your own philosophy, Bhagavad-gita, otherwise you may be misled
- You should be satisfied whatever Krsna has allotted to you. Therefore we are training our devotees to take Krsna-prasadam. Whatever Krsna has willfully left after His eating, we take it
- You should be very careful. Don't commit any offense in the dhama. Then one life is sufficient to go back to home, back to Godhead
- You should be very much careful to see that our devotees are following the regulative principles and standard practices such as attending morning Arati, classes, Sankirtana, and reading our books
- You should be very serious for trying for it, as I think that you are one of my senior disciples and I am very much relying on you now to carry on this mission with full responsibility
- Your (GBC) first job should be to make sure that every one of the devotees in your zone of management is reading regularly our literatures and discussing the subject matter seriously from different angles of seeing
- Your full energy should be engaged in the Lord's service. That is the secret of success