Srila Prabhupada - Vedic Teachings

  The Lord replied: O brāhmaṇas, know that the punishment you inflicted on them was originally ordained by Me, and therefore they will fall to a birth in a demoniac family. But they will be firmly united with Me in thought through mental concentration intensified by anger, and they will return to My presence shortly. The Lord stated that the punishment inflicted by the sages upon the doorkeepers Jaya and Vijaya was conceived by the Lord Himself. Without the Lord's sanction, nothing can happen. It is to be understood that there was a plan in the cursing of the Lord's devotees in Vaikuṇṭha, and His plan is explained by many stalwart authorities. The Lord sometimes desires to fight. The fighting spirit also exists in the Supreme Lord, otherwise how could fighting be manifested at all? Because the Lord is the source of everything, anger and fighting are also inherent in His personality. When He desires to fight with someone, He has to find an enemy, but in the Vaikuṇṭha world there...

  Bhagavad-gita As It Is 16.19 Those who are envious and mischievous, who are the lowest among men, are cast by Me into the ocean of material existence, into various demoniac species of life. PURPORT In this verse it is clearly indicated that the placing of a particular individual soul in a particular body is the prerogative of the supreme will. The demoniac person may not agree to accept the supremacy of the Lord, and it is a fact that he may act according to his own whims, but his next birth will depend upon the decision of the Supreme Personality of Godhead and not on himself. In the Srimad-Bhagavatam, Third Canto, it is stated that an individual soul, after his death, is put into the womb of a mother where he gets a particular type of body under the supervision of superior power. Therefore in the material existence we find so many species of life-animals, insects, men, and so on. All are arranged by the superior power. They are not accidental. As for the demoniac, it is c...

                               "Yamarāja is not a fictitious or mythological character; he has his own abode, Pitṛloka, of which he is king. Agnostics may not believe in hell, but Śukadeva Gosvāmī affirms the existence of the Naraka planets, which lie between the Garbhodaka Ocean and Pātālaloka. Yamarāja is appointed by the Supreme Personality of Godhead to see that the human beings do not violate His rules and regulations. As confirmed in (Bhagavad-gītā 4.17): karmaṇo hy api boddhavyaṁ boddhavyaṁ ca vikarmaṇaḥ akarmaṇaś ca boddhavyaṁ gahanā karmaṇo gatiḥ "The intricacies of action are very hard to understand. Therefore one should know properly what action is, what forbidden action is, and what inaction is. "One should understand the nature of karma, vikarma and akarma, and one must act accordingly. This is the law of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The conditioned souls, who have come to this ...

                                 "Religion does not mean to follow some ritualistic process. That helps us to approach, but they are not, I mean to say, primal necessity. That ritualistic process may be different. Hindus may be following a different kind of ritualistic process. The Christian may be following a different kinds of ritualistic process. That does not matter. Just like the same example: your relationship with the state. You Americans, you follow the state laws, keep the car right, "Keep right." In India and in England I have seen also that, "Keep to the left." So the process may be different, but the actual obedience to the state is there, either in India or in America or in England or everywhere. Similarly, religion means love of Godhead. Now, that love of Godhead you may learn under certain process, I may learn under certain process. Just like love between boys and girls may be different...

  "Therefore Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement means solution of all problem, teaching people not to become sinful. Because a sinful man cannot become Kṛṣṇa conscious. To become Kṛṣṇa conscious means that he has to give up his sinful activities. No illicit sex life, no meat-eating, no intoxication, no gambling. These are the four pillars of sinful life. So people are not ready to give up this. But we do not make any compromise, that you go on with your sinful life, at the same time I sanction that you have become Kṛṣṇa conscious. No, that we cannot do. There is no compromise on this point. You must give up all this sinful life. Because there is no chance of becoming Kṛṣṇa conscious. Why you shall make a show? There is no benefit by making a show. Just like Arjuna. Arjuna is trying to make a show of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. He has good attachment for other things. And the whole Bhagavad-gītā is taught to Arjuna to give up that attachment." (Lecture on BG 1.31 -- London, July 24, 1973)

                            „ Kṛṣṇa-Kāntī: Prabhupāda, I've heard that every one of us who are in the movement now has had some association with Lord Caitanya . . . (indistinct) Prabhupāda: Yes. Kṛṣṇa-Kāntī: Is it so? Prabhupāda: Yes. He's associating with Lord Caitanya just now. Kṛṣṇa-Kāntī: Yes, now. But in some other life, this is what is . . . Prabhupāda: Well, other life may not, but he is associating at the present. That's a fact. Ātreya Ṛṣi: When you first came, Śrīla Prabhupāda, a lot of people probably presented you arguments such as, "If you call the movement 'God consciousness' you'll be more successful. If you not wear tilaka and do not shave your head and do not wear robes and do not go on saṅkīrtana, you will be more successful." And people still tell us things like this, that "You tell us the philosophy. We like the philosophy. But why do you go on saṅkīrtana?" So what were some of ...

  "Prabhupāda: So a crazy man's statement is not accepted. Child's statement, crazy man's statement, unauthorized person's statement, blind man's statement we cannot accept. Ātreya Ṛṣi: A woman's statement? Prabhupāda: Huh? Ātreya Ṛṣi: A woman's statement? Prabhupāda: If a woman is perfect in Kṛṣṇa consciousness . . . just like Jāhnavā-devī, Lord Nityānanda's wife, she was ācārya. She was ācārya. She was controlling the whole Vaiṣṇava community. Ātreya Ṛṣi: Lord Nityānanda? Prabhupāda: Wife. Jāhnavā-devī. She was controlling the whole Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava community. Ātreya Ṛṣi: Do you have references about that in any of your books, Śrīla Prabhupāda? Prabhupāda: I don't think. But there are many ācāryas. Maybe somewhere I might have mentioned. It is not that woman cannot be ācārya. Generally, they do not become. In very special case. But Jāhnavā-devī was accepted as, but she did not declare. Ātreya Ṛṣi: Women today . . . t...

  „ Woman: Swamiji, would you say something about the place of women in your movement? Prabhupāda: There is no distinction between man and woman. That is clearly said in the Bhagavad-gītā . Māṁ hi pārtha vyapāśritya ye 'pi syuḥ pāpā-yonayaḥ striyo śūdrās tathā vaiśyāḥ (BG 9.32). The first is mentioned, striya. Striyaḥ śūdrās tathā vaiśyāḥ. These classes are understood to be less intelligent-woman, śūdra, and the vaiśyas. But Kṛṣṇa says, "No, even for them it is open." Because in the spiritual platform there is no such distinction, man, woman, or black, white, or big or small. No. Everyone is spirit soul. Paṇḍitāḥ sama-darśinaḥ (BG 9.32) . Vidyā-vinaya-sampanne brāhmaṇe gavi hastini śuni caiva śva-pāke ca paṇḍitāḥ (BG 9.32) , one who is actually learned, he is sama-darśinaḥ. He does not make any distinction. But so far our material body is concerned, there must be some distinction for keeping the society in order. Woman: The women could become paṇḍitas, then. Prabh...

                             “Suppose I have heard something from my spiritual master, so I speak to you the same thing. So this is paramparä system. You cannot imagine what my spiritual master said. Or even if you read some books, you cannot understand unless you understand it from me. This is called paramparä system. You cannot jump over to the superior guru, I mean to say, neglecting the next acarya, immediate next acarya.”  (Srila Prabhupada Lecture on SB, 1.15.30, 8/12/73) “There is no need by any of my disciples to read any books besides my books – in fact, such reading may be detrimental to their advancement in Krishna Consciousness. All reading of outside books, except in certain authorized cases such as for example to read some philosopher like Plato to make an essay comparing his philosophy with Krishna’s philosophy – but otherwise all such outside reading should be stopped immediately.”  (S...

  „Mahadeva:  Here's the text, here's the original Sanskrit. And we have a Roman transliteration, and then individually, the word meanings. Jesuit Priest:  Oh, I see. I've got it, yes. Mahadeva:  And then a full translation. Jesuit Priest:  Translation. Yes. They're marvelous. Yes. Yes. Revatīnandana:  Actually, most of the Sanskrit, much of that work is done by one of Prabhupāda's disciples now. He handles much of the Sanskrit. Prabhupāda:  Yes, they are being trained. Revatīnandana:  It's a mechanical process, after all. But the translation, that requires not only knowledge of the language, it requires spiritual realization. Prabhupāda:  Yes. Revatīnandana:  And the spiritual translation is done by Prabhupāda. Not just from knowledge of Sanskrit, but from spiritually realized knowledge. That is the qualification to put the meaning into any language. You have to have realized the message.” (Conversation, 25/7/73 London...

                                  „Satsvarūpa: Next we have a question about the BBT. At present, no translation work is to be published without your seeing and approving it. So the question is, is there any system for publishing works in the future that you may not see? For example, we've heard suggested that the Padma Purāṇa or the Ṣaṭ-Sandarbha may be translated. But what would the system be to insure the paramparā if you would not personally see these translations? Prabhupāda: That you have to examine expertly. Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: In other words, there's no set principle that only the works which you have already translated can be published by the BBT. If there is some worthy translation of a bona fide Vedic reference, if it's properly done, the BBT could publish it. Prabhupāda: That we are doing, just like Hindi. We are doing other languages. If it is properly translated, it can be... Tamāla...

  „ Bhava , birth, should be understood to refer to the body. As far as the soul is concerned, there is neither birth nor death; that we have discussed in the beginning of Bhagavad-gītā. Birth and death apply to one's embodiment in the material world. Fear is due to worrying about the future. A person in Kṛṣṇa consciousness has no fear because by his activities he is sure to go back to the spiritual sky, back home, back to Godhead. Therefore his future is very bright. Others, however, do not know what their future holds; they have no knowledge of what the next life holds. So they are therefore in constant anxiety. If we want to get free from anxiety, then the best course is to understand Kṛṣṇa and be situated always in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. In that way we will be free from all fear. In the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (11.2.37) it is stated, bhayaṁ dvitīyābhiniveśataḥ syāt: fear is caused by our absorption in the illusory energy. But those who are free from the illusory energy, those who are c...

  „Kali-yuga means the duration of age will reduce, the memory will reduce, the bodily strength will reduce, mercifulness will reduce. In this way everything will reduce. This is Kali-yuga.” (Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 8.128 -- Bhuvanesvara, January 24, 1977) „This age of Kali is not at all suitable for self-realization as was Satya-yuga, the golden age, or Tretā- or Dvāpara-yugas, the silver and copper ages. For self-realization, the people in Satya-yuga, living a lifetime of a hundred thousand years, were able to perform prolonged meditation. And in Tretā-yuga, when the duration of life was ten thousand years, self-realization was attained by performance of great sacrifice. And in the Dvāpara-yuga, when the duration of life was one thousand years, self-realization was attained by worship of the Lord. But in the Kali-yuga, the maximum duration of life being one hundred years only and that combined with various difficulties, the recommended process of self-realization is that of h...

  Prabhupāda: Just like loke vyavāyāmiṣa-madya-sevā nityā hi jantoḥ. There is tendency for eating meat. Therefore Vedas says that "You can eat meat, but..." Not only Vedas, in other scriptures also. The Jews also say. The Mohammedans also say that you can kill in the synagogue or in the, what is called, mosque, one animal. But not slaughterhouse. No religion prescribes that you open slaughterhouse. No. Prajāpati: It's always done under... Prabhupāda: That is restricted. Why it is advised to kill in the synagogue? Why not publicly? That means it is not wanted, but if you go on killing in the mosque, some day you may come to your sense, that you are a rascal; you are becoming responsible. But if you open slaughterhouse, that sense will never come. Hṛdayānanda: And not to kill the cow? Pabhupāda: Especially not to kill cow. That animal is very, very important to the human society. According to the Vedic system, those who are meat-eaters, they are recommended to ...

  „The ksatriyas, when they are fighting in the battlefield, the killing is not a sin for them. Similarly, a brāhmin, when he's offering sacrifice, sometimes animals are sacrificed; so that does not mean that he is committing sin. This animal sacrifice was made not for eating the animals. It was for testing the Vedic mantra. Whether the brāhmins who were engaged in offering sacrifice, whether they were chanting the Vedic mantra in right way, that was tested by offering one animal and again giving the animal a new youth life. That was animal sacrifice. Sometimes horses, sometimes cows were offered. But in this age, Kali-yuga, they are forbidden because there is no such yājñika-brāhmin. All kinds of sacrifices are forbidden in this age.”  (Lecture on BG 2.2-6 -- Ahmedabad, December 11, 1972)   „Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: "The purpose of the Vedas is to establish such principles under the order of the Supreme Lord, and the Lord directly orders at the end of the Bhagavad-gītā tha...