Srila Prabhupada - Vedic Teachings

  „They are mahājanas. So we have to follow Prahlāda Mahārāja. He is our guru, pūrva-ācārya. Nārada is pūrva-ācārya. He is disciple of Nārada. Therefore he is ācārya, and his disciplic succession... There are sampradāyas: Brahma-sampradāya, Kaumāra-sampradāya... Anyone who is bona fide ācārya, he can create his own disciplic succession, but one disciplic succession and the other disciplic—they are not different. They are of the same conclusion. The Vaiṣṇava ācāryas, just like our Rāmānujācārya, Madhvācārya, and Nimbārka, and who that? Rudra-sampradāya? Viṣṇu Svāmī. They are all of the same movement. Ārādhyo-bhagavān vrajeśa-tanayaḥ, kṛṣṇas tu bhagavān svayam [SB 1.3.28]. That is their conclusion. There is no different conclusion. Although they have got varieties of methods—śuddhādvaita, dvaitādvaita, vaśiṣṭādvaita, like that—they present the same philosophy in clear way. And Caitanya Mahāprabhu presented the same philosophy, that acintya-bhedābheda. That is ācārya. Ācārya gives som...

  "So  Prahlāda   Mahārāja , a great devotee, he's in the line of disciplic succession. He's considered one of the great  ācāryas.  An authority,  ācārya .  And who is  ācārya ? Ācārya  means one who knows the intricacies of Vedic knowledge and he personally behaves in terms of that knowledge and teaches his disciple in terms of that knowledge.  Ācārya  means the person whose behavior is to be followed. Not that as we follow somebody according to our taste. Not like that. That  ācārya   comes in the standard disciplic succession. So  ācārya .  So this  Prahlāda   Mahārāja , we are discussing the instruction of  Prahlāda   Mahārāja  because he happens to be one of the stalwart  ācāryas.  And the names of such  ācāryas,  authorized  ācāryas,  are also mentioned in the  Śrīmad- Bhāgavatam ." (Lectures - Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 7.6.1 — New York, April 9, 1969)

  "Cleanliness is essential for making advancement in spiritual life. There are two kinds of cleanliness: external and internal. External cleanliness means taking a bath, but for internal cleanliness one has to think of Kṛṣṇa always and chant Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/ Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare. This process cleans the accumulated dust of past karma from the mind." (BG 13.8-12, Purport) "But as the days of this Kali-yuga will make progress, this system of hygienic cleanliness, cleanliness both inside and outside Outside by taking bath, inside by becoming Kṛṣṇa conscious—two kinds of cleanliness. Simply if we take bath with soap outside, and inside all rubbish things, that is not cleanliness. Cleanliness means bahyābhyantaraḥ. Bahya means outside, without. Abhyantara means inside. Unless we are clean, unless we are pure, how we can make advance to approach the Supreme? The Supreme is described as the purest. In the Bhagavad-gītā Arjun...

  „ As the śāstra gives regulative, we have to accept that. And if we do not accept that, yaḥ śāstra-vidhim utsṛjya vartate kāma-kārataḥ [Bg. 16.23], if we do whimsically, then na siddhiṁ sāvāpnoti, you cannot get any perfection of life, na sukham, neither you'll be happy. So it is the injunction of the śāstra, and Caitanya Mahāprabhu also inaugurated this Hare Kṛṣṇa movement for the benefit of the whole world. And it is being accepted practically. So this is the only way to save us from all kinds of difficulties, upadrava. Upadrutāḥ. Mandāḥ sumanda-matayo manda-bhāgyā hy upadrutāḥ (SB 1.1.10). There will be upadruta, so many times. So we should accept, mataṁ ca vāsudevasya. We should accept the instruction given by Vāsudeva and the śāstra, sādhu. Sādhu, śāstra, guru, they'll speak the same thing. Guru means who speaks on the basis of śāstra; otherwise he's not guru. And śāstra means the opinion of the great authorities. Just like Vyāsadeva, Parāśara Muni, Nārada Muni, mode...

- This is an important article to understand this issue regardless of whether one likes or dislikes the writer. -  The  Sastric  Basis for Srila Prabhupada's  Continued  Diksa  Status by  Krishnakant In this paper we shall look closely at a number of objections raised against Srila Prabhupada remaining the  diksa  guru for ISKCON in relation to the eternal principles of guru,  sadhu  and  sastra . We shall show that the continuance of Srila Prabhupada as the  diksa  guru for ISKCON is in total harmony with these principles, and that specifically with regards Srila Prabhupada's books, it is an unavoidable natural consequence of our theology. We shall demonstrate that Srila Prabhupada's position as the  diksa  guru for ISKCON cannot but prevail if our preaching is properly in line with Srila Prabhupada's teachings. 'Guru,  Sadhu  and  Sastra ' One common objection to keeping Srila Prabhupad...

                             Room Conversation with Dr. Christian Hauser, Psychiatrist -- September 10, 1973, Stockholm: Prabhupāda : If you chant, then, behind the chanting there are so many things. First thing is ceto-darpaṇa-mārjanam, cleansing the heart. All disease are due to unclean heart. Disease means uncleanness. Is it not? Dr. Hauser: Hmm. Prabhupāda: Yes. So our material disease means unclean heart. So we have to cleanse the heart. And this is the process. Hare Kṛṣṇa. Matthew 15,1-20: Then some Pharisees and teachers of the law came to Jesus from Jerusalem and asked, 2 “Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? They don’t wash their hands before they eat!” 3 Jesus replied, “And why do you break the command of God for the sake of your tradition? 4 For God said, ‘Honor your father and mother’[a] and ‘Anyone who curses their father or mother is to be put to death.’[...

„ Prabhupāda: That is . . . karma jagat means that if you have to raise this house, then you have to cut the wood somewhere. You have to destroy somewhere, and then you can make house. You have to adjust things like that. You cannot create. This house was constructed, created, by destroying somewhere else. Is it not? So where is your creation? Creation is God's creation. He has created everything, and if you want to create, you have to destroy somewhere. That is karma. ” (Garden Discussion on Bhagavad-gita Sixteenth Chapter -- June 26, 1976, New Vrindaban)  

  - Heaven - „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.” (SB 5.14 Summary) „So heaven is described in the Vedic literature as tri-daśa-pūr. Tri-daśa-pūr. Tri-daśa-pūr means there are 33,000,000's of demigods, and they have got their separate planets. This is called tri-daśa-pūr. Tri means three, and daśa means ten. So thirty-three or thirty.” (Lecture on BG 2.3 -- London, August 4, 1973)   “Since the human form of life is the sublime position for spirit...