Srila Prabhupada - Vedic Teachings

  "Guest (5): You say that we have eternal relationships with the Supreme? Prabhupāda: Yes. Guest (5): Does that mean that at one time we had this relationship, and now we still have it, and then we will still have it later? Prabhupāda: Yes, yes. Not once you have; still. Without God's grace, you cannot live. You are still, but you have forgotten. Just like a prisoner. A prisoner is put into prison house. That does not mean he has lost his relationship with the state. Before coming to the prison house he was a state citizen, and in the prison also, he is also a state citizen. And the government has concern both ways: when he was free, and when he is in prison. So our relationship with God is not broken, or it cannot be separated. It is there always, but at the present moment we are covered. We are thinking there is no God. That is our ignorance. Therefore you are suffering. Guest (6) : What is evolution, according to the Veda? What is this evolution that is talke

"Mundane archeologists are mistaken because they say from monkey the human beings have come into existence, but at the present moment both the human being and the monkey are existing. The monkey is not extinct. So these theories are not correct. Nobody has seen a monkey giving birth to a human being. As the monkey and the human being are existing side by side at present, so for millions of years they were existing like this. That is our theory. The modern material archeology has no meaning for us. Our realization is depending on the spiritual platform. Transmigration of the soul does not depend on history." (Srila Prabhupada Letter to: Bahu Rupa:—Vrindaban 75-09-01)

  "You ask any learned scientist, professor, "Who are you?" He'll say, "I am Mr. John." He'll say, "I am Mr. John, I am American," or "I am Mexican," "I am Indian," like that. So this is ignorance. Nobody is this body. That is the first lesson of spiritual knowledge. So long we identify with this body, that "I am Mr. Such-and-such," "I am American," "I am Indian," this is all ignorance. When you actually understand that you are not this body—therefore you are not American, nor Indian nor Mexican, but you are spirit soul—then your spiritual education begins. And that is... In Sanskrit it is called ahaṁ brahmāsmi: "I am spirit soul." Spiritual... Spirit soul has no connection with this material world. When one understands fully this, I mean to say, fact, that spirit soul is different from this material world, then he's actually learned." (Lecture on BG 2.12 -- Mexico, February

  "That is stated in the Bhagavad-gītā, that we have to try to remember Kṛṣṇa. He's so beautiful, His instructions are so nice. If we simply remember Kṛṣṇa... That was the perfection approved by Lord Caitanya. I think I have narrated the story. When Lord Caitanya was traveling in South India in a big temple, Raṅganātha temple, He went to see the Deity, and He saw one brāhmaṇa was reading Bhagavad-gītā. And people were joking him, "Oh, Mr. brāhmaṇa, how you are reading Bhagavad-gītā?" Because they were the neighbors, they knew that this brāhmaṇa was illiterate and he was studying Bhagavad-gītā. So they were joking. But the brāhmaṇa did not care them. He was taking the book and in his own way he was reading. Caitanya Mahaprabhu saw this incident, He came to the brāhmaṇa. So He asked the brāhmaṇa,"My dear brāhmaṇa, what you are reading?" So he could understand "This persons is not joking with me; He is serious." So he explained, "My dear sir

  ”But I must now remind you that I have to complete the translation of the Srimad-Bhagavatam. This is the greatest contribution; our books have given us a respectable position. People have no faith in this church or temple worship. Those days are gone. Of course, we have to maintain the temples as it is necessary to keep our spirits high. Simply intellectualism will not do, there must be practical purification. So I request you to relieve me of management responsibilities more and more so that I can complete the Srimad-Bhagavatam translation.” (Srila Prabhupada Letter to: All Governing Board Commissioners—Honolulu 76-05-19)  

  „ Lord Kṛṣṇa is the chief King of all kings, and He has created different planets for all kinds of living entities. Even on this planet there are different places for inhabitation by different types of men. There are places like deserts, ice lands, and valleys in mountainous countries, and in each of them there are different kinds of men born of different modes of nature according to their past deeds. There are people in the Arabian deserts and in the valleys of the Himalayan Mountains, and the inhabitants of these two places differ from one another, just as the inhabitants of the ice lands also differ from them. Similarly, there are also different planets. The planets below the earth down to the Pātāla planet are full of various kinds of living beings; no planet is vacant, as wrongly imagined by the modern so-called scientist. In Bhagavad-gītā we find it said by the Lord that the living entities are sarva-gata, or present in every sphere of life. So there is no doubt that on other p

  Nalinī-kaṇṭa:  They say that they can see planets trillions of miles away. Prabhupāda:  Hmm? Nalinī-kaṇṭa:  They say that they can see stars trillions of miles away. Prabhupāda:  But they cannot go. That's a fact. According to their estimation, the moon is the nearest. So they cannot go there. Hare Kṛṣṇa. Jaya. (break) . . . deva-vratā devān (BG 9.25). Moon is one of the heavenly planets. So unless one is very advanced in karma-kāṇḍa, offering sacrifices, nobody can go there. It is not so easy. Ūrdhvaṁ gacchanti sattva-sthāḥ (BG 14.18). Those who are more and more higher status of goodness, they are promoted in the highest planet. Not by drinking wine and driving a sputnik one can . . . (laughter) It is not so easy. (break) . . .also drink soma-rasa. The residents of the moon, they live for ten thousand years. Tamāla Kṛṣṇa:  Ten thousand of their years. Prabhupāda:  Yes, deva. Tamāla Kṛṣṇa:  And their years are equal to six months . . . Prabhupāda:  Six months equal

  „ Everything animate or inanimate that is within the universe is controlled and owned by the Lord. One should therefore accept only those things necessary for himself, which are set aside as his quota, and one should not accept other things, knowing well to whom they belong. Vedic knowledge is infallible because it comes down through the perfect disciplic succession of spiritual masters, beginning with the Lord Himself. Since He spoke the first word of Vedic knowledge, the source of this knowledge is transcendental. The words spoken by the Lord are called apauruṣeya, which indicates that they are not delivered by any mundane person. A living being who lives in the mundane world has four defects: (1) he is certain to commit mistakes; (2) he is subject to illusion; (3) he has a propensity to cheat others; and (4) his senses are imperfect. No one with these four imperfections can deliver perfect knowledge. The Vedas are not produced by such an imperfect creature. Vedic knowledge was o

  "It was at the age of 16 or 17 that he traveled to Gayā with a host to sing the holy name of Hari in the streets and bazaars. This created a sensation and roused different feelings in different quarters. The bhaktas were highly pleased.  The smārta brāhmaṇas became jealous of Nimāi Paṇḍita's success and complained to Chand Kazi against the character of Caitanya as un-Hindu. The Kazi came to Śrīvāsa Paṇḍita's house and broke a mṛdaṅga (khola drum) there and declared that unless Nimāi Paṇḍita ceased to make noise about his queer religion he would be obliged to enforce Mohammedanism on him and his followers. This was brought to Mahāprabhu's notice. He ordered the townspeople to appear in the evening, each with a torch in his hand.  This groups, and on his arrival in the Kazi's house, he held a long conversation with the Kazi and in the end communicated into his heart his Vaiṣṇava influence by touching his body. The Kazi then wept and admitted that he had felt a keen