Srila Prabhupada - Vedic Teachings

  "Sometimes when we hear that great sages and devotees go to the forest and engage themselves in devotional service or meditation, we become surprised: how can one live in the forest and not be taken care of by anyone? But the answer, given by a great authority,  Nārada   Muni , is that such persons are well protected by the Supreme Personality of Godhead.  Śaraṇāgati ,  or surrender, means acceptance or firm belief that wherever the surrendered soul lives he is always protected by the Supreme Personality of Godhead; he is never alone or unprotected.  Dhruva  Mahārāja’s affectionate father thought his young boy, only five years old, to be in a very precarious position in the jungle, but  Nārada   Muni  assured him, “You do not have sufficient information about the influence of your son.” Anyone who engages in devotional service, anywhere within this universe, is never unprotected." (SB 4.8.68. Purport)  

  "Guest (3): Well even in revealed religion, where we have the scripture, say, a Vedic scripture or Jewish or Christian scripture, it's still being put into human words and therefore become circumscribed again. And so it seems to me that you've still got the same problem even in revealed religion—that it's not God. It's something short of God. Prabhupāda: No. Just like in the Bible it is said, "God said, 'Let there be creation,' and there was creation." Is it not? It is fact. It is fact. Now you find out who created this universe. If you deny this fact, "No. God does not create," then you explain how it was created. So there is no difference between Bible and Vedic literature. We accept also, "God created." But in the Vedic literature you will find how God created. That you'll find. So if you are actually serious to understand how God created, why don't you come to Vedic literature? That is the duty of every student.

  "Prabhupāda: You can fight against death very nicely, but you cannot stop death. These are the problems. But there is no education in the modern civilization how to stop death, how to stop disease, how to stop old age, how to stop birth, how to attain eternal life, how to attain blissful life. They have no education. But this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement, although it appears a new movement in your country, but it is known to the world. But nobody had previously attempted to put these ideas and movement in practical shape. So that I am doing. That I am attempting. And with this mission, I have come to your country with the hope that if the American people take it very seriously, then it will be the greatest contribution to the world. So I have already published this, my magazines and my books, in this connection. So if people take advantage of this movement, try to understand these books, they will be benefited greatly. So that is the basic principle of my teaching. It is the mos

  "if one is situated firmly in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, the greatest danger cannot disturb him. There are so many dangers in life because the material world is a place of danger. We tend to close our eyes to this, and because we are foolish we try to adjust to these dangers. We may have many dangerous moments in our lives, but if we are training ourselves in Kṛṣṇa 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." It is very difficult to make this kind of adjustment as long as one is on the materialistic platform and is identifying with the gross body, which is composed of perishable elements. But the more one advances in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, the more he becomes free from bodily designations and this material entanglement ." (On the Way to Kṛṣṇa, 1)    

  „ Every one of us is searching after happiness, but we do not know what real happiness is. We see so much advertised about happiness, but practically speaking we see so few happy people. This is because so few people know that the platform of real happiness is beyond temporary things. It is this real happiness that is described in Bhagavad-gītā by Lord Kṛṣṇa to Arjuna. Happiness is generally perceived through our senses A stone, for instance, has no senses and cannot perceive happiness and distress. Developed consciousness can perceive happiness and distress more intensely than undeveloped consciousness. Trees have consciousness, but it is not developed. Trees may stand for a long time in all kinds of weather, but they have no way of perceiving miseries. If a human being were asked to stand like a tree for only three days or even less, he would not be able to tolerate it. The conclusion is that every living being feels happiness or distress according to the degree of development of h

  „It is to be understood, however, that as Arjuna was fortunate enough to understand Kṛṣṇa directly, so, by the grace of Vyāsa, Sañjaya was also able to hear Kṛṣṇa directly. Actually there is no difference between hearing directly from Kṛṣṇa and hearing directly from Kṛṣṇa via a bona fide spiritual master like Vyāsa. The spiritual master is the representative of Vyāsadeva also. Therefore, according to the Vedic system, on the birthday of the spiritual master the disciples conduct the ceremony called Vyāsa-pūjā.” (BG 18.75, Purport) „this day, Vyāsa-pūjā day, whatever honor, contribution and feelings is being offered to the spiritual master," (Sri Vyasa-puja -- New Vrindaban, September 2, 1972)  

  „Your letter is very much encouraging to me, that you are appreciating my humble service in spreading Krishna Consciousness in your great country. It was my ambition to begin my movement from New York; and by Krishna's Grace, I got good cooperation from some boys like you; and I felt too much aggrieved when some of you left me, but I was confident that all of your would come again, because Krishna Consciousness is not a material thing, and cannot be broken: it cannot be burned or wet or dried or stopped at any stage. When I received your letter, it appeared to me that I had received a letter from a lost child; so please continue your present attitude.”  (Letter to Umapati -- Vrindaban 5 September, 1967)