Srila Prabhupada - Vedic Teachings

Prabhupāda: Everyone has got his particular type of religion or occupation. That's all right. Dharma. Svanuṣṭhitaḥ puṁsām. The result will be... By executing your particular type of religion, the result must be there. The result is "How I shall go back to home, back to Godhead." If that desire is not developed, it is simply waste of time. You may profess this religion or that religion or this religion, or that religion. It doesn't matter. You are simply wasting time by following the dogmas and ritualistic this or that. That will not help you. Phalena paricīyate. Whether you have come to this consciousness, "What I am? I am not matter; I am spirit. I have to go back to my spiritual." That... That is wanted. So either you may be Hebrew or may be Hindu or Christian. We want to see whether that consciousness has arisen. If it is not, then you have simply wasted time. Either you be Hindu or brāhmaṇa or this or that, it doesn't matter. Śrama eva hi kevalam (...

  “Good things do not come so easily; you know the difficulties that I encountered in my first year in your country. Sometimes I did not even know where I was to live, neither when I - came did I have any friends. But I was always determined that somehow I would do everything possible to fulfill the desire of my Guru Maharaja, and despite all difficulties I always remained enthusiastic.” (Srila Prabhupada’s letter –Bombay, 72-01-05)

"One who is free from illusion, false prestige, and false association, who understands the eternal, who is done with material lust and is freed from the duality of happiness and distress, and who knows how to surrender unto the Supreme Person, attains to that eternal kingdom.   PURPORT The surrendering process is described here very nicely. The first qualification is that one should not be deluded by pride. Because the conditioned soul is puffed up, thinking himself the lord of material nature, it is very difficult for him to surrender unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead. One should know by the cultivation of real knowledge that he is not lord of material nature; the Supreme Personality of Godhead is the Lord. When one is free from delusion caused by pride, he can begin the process of surrender. For one who is always expecting some honor in this material world, it is not possible to surrender to the Supreme Person. Pride is due to illusion, for although one comes here, st...

  „   … Guest (5): But if man be part and parcel of God, how do you explain the evil deeds of man? Prabhupāda: Because he likes to do that. Guest (5): That means God also likes to do evil? Prabhupāda: No. God gives simply facility. That's all. Guest (4): Therefore he must have the same power as God. Prabhupāda: Not same power, but it has got a little independence. Guest (1): It will exists on us. Prabhupāda: Yes, independence. By misusing the independence, he can . . . just like a child, a small child, and his father. The father gives the little child little independence. But the child is not as powerful as the father. But still, the father, out of affection, he gives little independence to the child. Even to the dog, a master gives a little independence to the dog. That is affection. Indian man (3): But if you say this affection . . . the child is doing something wrong, say, for example, he has taken a knife to do, and . . . that he kills someb...

  „In the Tenth Canto, Fifty-first Chapter, verse 57, of the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, there is the following statement by King Mucukunda: "My dear Lord, because of my bad deeds in the past I am everlastingly aggrieved. I am always suffering from my desires, but still my senses are never satisfied with material enjoyments. Somehow or other, by Your grace, I am now in a peaceful condition because I have taken shelter of Your lotus feet, which are always free from all lamentation, fear and death. O supreme protector, O supreme soul! O supreme controller! Kindly give me Your protection. I am so much embarrassed." This statement by Mucukunda is an instance of humility resulting from a severely miserable condition of material existence.” (Nectar of Devotion 29)  

  “Now you must guide them very nicely in Krishna Consciousness, because you are a veteran devotee and practically speaking the future of our Krishna Conscious Society rests in the hands of my older disciples. Give them all facility to perfect their lives by protecting them and instructing them nicely, that is now the  duty of my senior disciples.” (Srila Prabhupada’s letter to: Karandhara—Delhi 71-12-03)

  “Foolishly, people who are enamored of the glimmer of modern materialistic advancement are thinking that the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is for less intelligent men. "I am better off being busy with my material comforts-maintaining a nice apartment, family and sex life." These people do not know that at any moment they can be kicked out of their material situation. Due to ignorance, they do not know that real life is eternal. The temporary comforts of the body are not the goal of life, and it is due only to darkest ignorance that people become enamored of the glimmering advancement of material comforts. Śrīla Bhaktivinode Thākur has therefore said that the advancement of material knowledge renders a person more foolish because it causes one to forget his real identification by its glimmer. This is doom for him, because this human form of life is meant for getting out of the material contamination. By the advancement of material knowledge, people are becoming more and more...

  For someone who looks beyond the surface, it is clear that the ISKCON movement has failed (false guru system, gurukula abuses, exploitation, etc.), but the movement fulfilled its mission during Srila Prabhupada's physical presence because complete knowledge was transmitted to the world through Srila Prabhupada's books. However, in a changing world, there are things that need to be adapted to change and things that do not. Among these, we can highlight, for example, that the woman – man or wife - husband (guru) relationships and roles that existed in the old days have changed, but also that today, everyone in society is considered a sudra. To what extent does the Ritvik movement take into account the changes taking place in the world and in society? Is it permissible to ask the question: if Srila Prabhupada were here today in his physical body, would he change anything? Would the correct answer be to change nothing? Even if we don't know the perfect answer, we do know that...

  "God has got many names according to different religious system. But the real name is Kristo (pronounced "Kreesto"). And you will be glad to understand that this Kristo, it is a Greek word, and it is a perverted pronunciation of Kṛṣṇa, this Greek word. The meaning of Kristo in Sanskrit dictionary and the Greek dictionary always the same, about this word. And from this Kristo the word has got Christo or Christ. So even in Christian world the God's name is there. Jesus the Christ or Jesus the son of Kristo, or Kṛṣṇa. So Lord Jesus Christ said, "My Lord, hallowed be Thy name." He wants to glorify the name of the Lord. And some people says that there is no name of God. How? If Lord Jesus Christ says "Hallowed by Thy name," there must be name. The name is there, but he did not pronounce it because the people at that time will not be able to understand or maybe some reason, but he says there is name." (From Lecture on BG 3.27 -- Melbourne, Ju...

There are many articles about the Anunnaki creation theory on Google. We will not go into detail here. (Editor) „Not only Rāma, but there are many other, innumerable incarnations. They are compared with the waves of a river. As the waves of the river or the waves of the ocean cannot be counted, similarly, how many incarnations are there of the Supreme Lord it is not possible to count. But out of them, the principal names are mentioned in the śāstras. Therefore it is said rāmādi. Rāmādi means Rāma and also other . . . many incarnations. And they are existing. Not that one incarnation appeared and it is finished. No. Not like that. Just like Lord Rāmacandra appeared on this planet, say millions of years before. He appeared in the Treta-yuga. Treta-yuga . . . we have passed only five thousand years of this age, Kali-yuga. Before that, there was Dvāpara-yuga. Dvāpara-yuga means 800,000's of years. And before that, there was Tretā-yuga, which continued for twelve thousands . . . twelv...

  „ Now, you should understand Kṛṣṇa as God. When we speak of Kṛṣṇa... Last week I explained that if there can be any name of God... There are many thousands of names of God. Somebody says, "God has no name." Yes, God has no particular name because, as I explained, God's name is ascertained according to His activity. Just the other day I explained. God appeared as the son of Nanda Mahārāja, so He is called son of Nanda. That is another name, Nanda-nandana. Nanda-nandana means one who gives pleasure to Nanda. So everyone's son, child, gives pleasure to his parents. So Kṛṣṇa, by His activities, childhood activities, He gave pleasure to His father and mother, Yaśodā and Nanda. Therefore He is known as Yaśodā-nandana, Nanda-nandana. He was lover of Rādhārāṇī; therefore He is called Rādhā-ramaṇa. In this way, Kṛṣṇa has got different names, or God has got different names, according to His activities. But His real name is Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa means all-attractive. He attracts everyo...

  „When the pure soul wants to give up the Lord's service to enjoy the material world, Kṛṣṇa certainly gives him a chance to enter the material world. As stated in the Prema-vivarta: kṛṣṇa-bahirmukha hañā bhoga vāñchā kare. This is the reason the pure spirit soul falls down to the material world. Due to his activities under the influence of the three modes of material nature, the living entity takes different positions in different species. Sometimes he is a demigod in the heavenly planets and sometimes a most insignificant creature in the lower planetary systems.” (From SB 5.14 Summary) TRANSLATION Those who worship the demigods will take birth among the demigods; those who worship ghosts and spirits will take birth among such beings; those who worship ancestors go to the ancestors; and those who worship Me will live with Me. „If anyone has any desire to go to the moon, the sun, or any other planet, one can attain the desired destination by following specific Vedic principle...

  "Once the world was overburdened by the unnecessary defense force of different kings, who were actually demons but were posing themselves as the royal order. At that time, the whole world became perturbed, and the predominating deity of this earth, known as Bhūmi, went to see Lord Brahmā to tell of her calamities due to the demoniac kings. Bhūmi assumed the shape of a cow and presented herself before Lord Brahmā with tears in her eyes. She was bereaved and was weeping just to invoke the lord’s compassion. She related the calamitous position of the earth, and after hearing this, Lord Brahmā became much aggrieved, and he at once started for the ocean of milk, where Lord Viṣṇu resides. Lord Brahmā was accompanied by all the demigods, headed by Lord Śiva, and Bhūmi also followed. Arriving on the shore of the milk ocean, Lord Brahmā began to pacify Lord Viṣṇu, who had formerly saved the earthly planet by assuming the transcendental form of a boar. In the Vedic mantras, there is a p...

  A sea of Peace and Joy and Light Beyond my reach I know. In me the storm-tossed weeping night Finds room to rage and flow. I cry aloud, but all in vain; I helpless, the earth unkind! What soul of might can share my pain? Death-dart alone I find. A raft am I in the sea of Time; My oars are washed away. How can I reach the clime Of God’s eternal Day? But hark! I hear Thy golden Flute; Its notes bring the Summit down. Now safe am I, O Absolute! Gone death, gone night’s stark frown! (The poem was written by the master who was my master before Srila Prabhupada)

  Prabhupāda: And His being Absolute, His name is not different from Him. The name and the form and the quality of God, they are all Absolute. Therefore chanting His name means associating with God. So when one associates with God, gradually He becomes godly. And when he is fully purified, then he becomes associate of God. (German) Pater Emmanuel: (German) German devotee: (translating for Pater Emmanuel) But we can understand the name of God only in a negative way. Prabhupāda: No. God has unlimited potencies, and therefore He has got unlimited names. Pater Emmanuel: Yes, but we are limited. Prabhupāda: We are limited, but God is not limited. Unlimited. And because He is unlimited, therefore He has got unlimited names, not one or two but unlimited names. There is a Sanskrit book, Aṣṭottara-sahasra. There are 1,008 names of God. So 1,008 is also limited, but because we are limited, the God's names are given to us as far as we can understand. Otherwise He has got unlim...

Regarding your question about why we do not eat meat and yet we eat plant life, the answer is that we do everything as Krishna recommends. Everything we eat is first offered to Lord Krishna, and because Krishna does not eat meat, therefore we also do not eat meat. The fruits, grains, and vegetables which we offer to the Lord are not caused any suffering by our offering them to Krishna. Rather they are greatly benefited because to be offered for the pleasure of the Lord will grant for the living entity within the plant body certain liberation in the near future. Everything that we do in Krishna Consciousness is ultimately beneficial to all living creatures because we are working under the recommendations of the Lord Himself who is the well-wisher of all His part and parcel children. (From Srila Prabhupada's letter to: Ann Clifford — Los Angeles 2 August, 1969)          

  Puṣṭa Kṛṣṇa: Sometimes people ask, Prabhupāda, that if one falls down into lower species of life like plants or animals, how then do they come again to the human form of life? Prabhupāda: Yes. That is nature's way. Give them again chance to develop. From trees they become flies. That is the beginning of movement. Then from flies to birds, birds to beast, and beast to animal, er, human being. This is great chastisement. You cannot move even. Suffer torrents of rain, cyclone, scorching heat, pinching cold. Stand up for hundreds and thousands of years. Then, when the punishment is finished, then he becomes moving. If there is scorching heat he can move to some shelter. But he cannot move. They do not study all this science, why there are so many varieties of life, of different grades. Wherefrom they are coming? Puṣṭa Kṛṣṇa: The living entity, then, in the tree is actually conscious of its condition of life. Prabhupāda: Eh? Puṣṭa Kṛṣṇa: The living entity inside the tree i...

Gargamuni: Why is this human form of life, why is this human life in such a diseased condition with war, pestilence, and famine? Prabhupāda:   These are miserable conditions inflicted by material nature just to remind the conditioned soul that this conditioned life in the material nature is not for you. There is another place, where you can live very peacefully. Just like in the prison life there is always infliction of miseries. If in the prison life one is comfortably situated, then he'll never go out, he'll try to live there. So these material inflictions of miseries reminds us that this place is not suitable for us. It is not our place. Our place is back to Godhead, back to home. Therefore these are the reminders that you must leave this place. (From Radio Interview -- March 12, 1968, San Francisco)

  Prabhupāda: Universal means all. You have to love everyone. Guest: If I didn't love the cow as equally with a child, then it is a personal love, because I'm defining qualifications. Prabhupāda: But how can you avoid this personal? Guest: Because to love the child only, I have to exclude other things, meaning the cow. Prabhupāda : But personal . . . child is the person. How can you avoid person? Guest: How can what? Prabhupāda: How can you avoid person? Guest: I don't understand. Prabhupāda: When you love, how can you avoid a person? What do you mean by love? Whenever you love universally . . . in the universe there are so many men, animals, and plants and beasts and birds, and so many things. So we have to love everyone. That is universal. You cannot discriminate, "Oh, this is not universal; this is universal." Universal means all-including. So how you can avoid this person or imperson? You have to love everyone. That is universal. Gues...

  A person may have a bona fide spiritual master and may be attached to a spiritual organization, but still, if he is not intelligent enough to make progress, then Kṛṣṇa from within gives him instructions so that he may ultimately come to Him without difficulty. The qualification is that a person always engage himself in Kṛṣṇa consciousness and with love and devotion render all kinds of services. He should perform some sort of work for Kṛṣṇa, and that work should be with love. If a devotee is intelligent enough, he will make progress on the path of self-realization. If one is sincere and devoted to the activities of devotional service, the Lord gives him a chance to make progress and ultimately attain to Him.  (From BG 10.10, Purport)