Unassigned legacy quotes

Lord Krsna also gives more information about the soul's constitution. "It is said that the soul is invisible, inconceivable, immutable, and unchangeable. Knowing this, you should not grieve for the body." (Bg. 2.25) The soul, being spiritual, cannot be perceived by material eyes. Even the most powerful microscope cannot see the spirit soul. It is experimentally impossible to establish the existence of the soul, and therefore sruti, or Vedic wisdom, must be accepted as proof. We do, however, perceive symptoms of the soul as life symptoms. We understand that when the soul has left the body, the body is dead. These are symptoms of the soul which can be perceived materially. Beyond this we have to accept the existence of the soul on the grounds of Vedic authority. Here the supreme authority Lord Krsna states that the soul is beyond human conception, immutable and unchangeable. The body is everlasting and is always the same, although it may inhabit countless bodies. (More...)

"One who is not disturbed in spite of the threefold miseries, who is not elated when there is happiness, and who is free from attachment, fear and anger, is called a sage of steady mind." A devotee should not be aggrieved in an awkward position, nor should he feel extraordinarily happy in material opulence. This is the way of expert management of material life. Because a devotee knows how to manage expertly, he is called jivan-mukta. As Rupa Gosvami explains in Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu: (More...)

Please accept my blessings. I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter dated October 17, 1973 and have noted the contents. You should know it that without surrender bhakti does not begin. Surrender to Krsna or to His representative is absolutely necessary. I do not know why your understanding of Krsna consciousness is different from that of Madhudvisa Swami's.

[text missing] ...s, it is required that 16 rounds be chanted as an [text missing] ...te necessity. Because we have got many duties, [text missing] ...ve minimized the amount to 16 rounds, otherwise [text missing] ...minimum is 64 rounds, but Western people cannot [text missing] ...this. So 16 rounds must be executed.
Regarding your recommendations, I accept the following as my initiated disciples:

Sutapa Das - Luke
Anakadundubhi Das - David
Trivarga Das - Jerry

I have chanted on the beads you have sent me, and they are mailed under separate post. But, in future I request you to send the beads for being chanted upon by Madhudvisa Maharaja. This is to avoid the postal charges back and forth. Please see that the new disciples are always engaged in devotional service.

I hope this meets you in good health.

Your ever well-wisher,
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami

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"All living bodies subsist on food grains, which are produced from rains. Rains are produced by performance of yajna [sacrifice], and yajna is born of prescribed duties." (Bg. 3.14) When food grains are sufficiently produced, both animals and human beings can be nourished without difficulty for their maintenance. This is nature's arrangement. Prakrteh kriyamanani gunaih karmani sarvasah. Everyone is acting under the influence of material nature, and only fools think they can improve upon what God has created. The householders are specifically responsible for seeing that the laws of the Supreme Personality of Godhead are maintained, without fighting between men, communities, societies or nations. Human society should properly utilize the gifts of God, especially the food grains that grow because of rain falling from the sky. As stated in Bhagavad-gita, yajnad bhavati parjanyah. So that rainfall will be regulated, humanity should perform yajnas, sacrifices. Yajnas were previously performed with offerings of oblations of ghee and food grains, but in this age, of course, this is no longer possible, for the production of ghee and food grains has diminished because of the sinful life of human society. However, people should take to Krsna consciousness and chant the Hare Krsna mantra, as recommended in the sastras (yajnaih saṅkirtana-prayair yajanti hi sumedhasah). If people throughout the world take to the Krsna consciousness movement and chant the easy sound vibration of the transcendental name and fame of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, there will be no scarcity of rainfall; consequently food grains, fruits and flowers will be properly produced, and all the necessities of life will be easily obtained. Grhasthas, or householders, should take the responsibility for organizing such natural production. It is therefore said, tasyaiva hetoh prayateta kovidah. An intelligent person should try to spread Krsna consciousness through the chanting of the holy name of the Lord, and all the necessities of life will automatically follow. (More...)

We are not stones but men, and our senses are superior to dull matter. Lord Krishna says, "Mind is higher than the senses; intelligence is still higher than the mind; and he, the soul, is even higher than intelligence. Thus knowing oneself to be transcendental to the material senses, mind and intelligence, one should control the lower self by the higher self and thus by spiritual strength conquer this insatiable enemy known as lust." (Gita, 3.42-43) The material senses which belong to the lower self are actually reflections of the transcendental senses which belong to the higher self. The process of total devotional engagement of the senses as practiced by Maharaj Amburish transcendentalizes our senses. "For one who has conquered his mind, it is the best of friends; but for one who has failed to do so, his very mind will be the greatest enemy." (Gita, 6.6) (More...)

And why the Lord never forgets is further explained in the sixth verse: "Although I am unborn and My transcendental body never deteriorates, and although I am the Lord of all sentient beings, I still appear in every millennium in My original transcendental form." The Lord's body is called advaita, which means that there is no distinction between the Lord and His body-everything is spirit. But the conditioned soul is different from his material body. Therefore when he leaves one material body and goes to another he forgets, but the Lord never takes a material body; He always appears in the same sac-cid-ananda body. Sac-cid-ananda means eternal, knowledgeable and blissful, so that is called His transcendental body, and it never deteriorates, and He never changes bodies. (More...)

O chastiser of the enemy, the sacrifice of knowledge is greater than the sacrifice of material possessions. O son of Prtha, after all, the sacrifice of work culminates in transcendental knowledge. (More...)

One who works in devotion, who is a pure soul, and who controls his mind and senses, is dear to everyone, and everyone is dear to him. Though always working, such a man is never entangled. (More...)

In the meeting of learned men when there is any congratulation or address for the speaker in the meeting, the qualification of such congratulator shall be as follows. He must be the leader of the house and elderly men. He must be vastly learned also. Sri Sounaka rishi represented all these qualifications and thus he stood up to congratulate Sri Suta Goswami when he expressed His desire to present Srimad Bhagwatam as he exactly heard it from Sukadeva Goswami and also by his personal realisation. Personal realisation does not mean that one should attempt to show the vanity of one's own learning trying to surpass the previous Acharya. He must have full confidence in the previous Acharya and at the same time he must realise the subject matter so nicely that he may be able to present the matter just for the particular circumstances in a suitable manner. The original purpose of the text must be maintained. No interesting meaning shall be screwed out of it and yet it may be presented in an appreciable manner for the understanding of the audience. This is called realisation. The leader of the assembly Sounaka could just estimate the value of the speaker Sri Suta Goswami simply by his uttering Yathadhitam and Yathamatih and therefore he was very glad to congratulate him in ecstacy. No learned man may be willing to hear a person who does not represent the original Acharya. So the speaker as well as the audience were both bonafide in this meeting where Bhagwat was being recited for the second time. That should be the standard of recitation of Bhagwatam so that the real purpose can be served and Lord Sri Krishna can be realised without any difficulty. Unless this situation is created, Bhagwat recitation for ulterior purposes will be useless labour both for the speaker and the audience. (More...)

One can achieve the seed of bhakti-lata, devotional service, by the mercy of guru and Krsna. The duty of the guru is to find the means, according to the time, the circumstances and the candidate, by which one can be induced to render devotional service, which Krsna accepts from a candidate who wants to be successful in going back home, back to Godhead. After wandering throughout the universe, a fortunate person within this material world seeks shelter of such a guru, or acarya, who trains the devotee in the suitable ways to render service according to the circumstances so that the Supreme Personality of Godhead will accept the service. This makes it easier for the candidate to reach the ultimate destination. The acarya's duty, therefore, is to find the means by which devotees may render service according to references from sastra. Rupa Gosvami, for example, in order to help subsequent devotees, published such devotional books as Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu. Thus it is the duty of the acarya to publish books that will help future candidates take up the method of service and become eligible to return home, back to Godhead, by the mercy of the Lord. In our Krsna consciousness movement, this same path is being prescribed and followed. Thus the devotees have been advised to refrain from four sinful activities-illicit sex, intoxication, meat-eating and gambling-and to chant sixteen rounds a day. These are bona fide instructions. Because in the Western countries constant chanting is not possible, one should not artificially imitate Haridasa Thakura, but should follow this method. Krsna will accept a devotee who strictly follows the regulative principles and the method prescribed in the various books and literatures published by the authorities. The acarya gives the suitable method for crossing the ocean of nescience by accepting the boat of the Lord's lotus feet, and if this method is strictly followed, the followers will ultimately reach the destination, by the grace of the Lord. This method is called acarya-sampradaya. It is therefore said, sampradaya-vihina ye mantras te nisphala matah (Padma Purana). The acarya-sampradaya is strictly bona fide. Therefore one must accept the acarya-sampradaya; otherwise one's endeavor will be futile. Srila Narottama dasa Thakura therefore sings: (More...)

Although Sri Advaita Prabhu is an incarnation of Visnu, for the welfare of the conditioned souls He manifested Himself as a servitor of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and throughout all His activities He showed Himself to be an eternal servitor. Lord Caitanya and Lord Nityananda also manifested the same principle, although They also belong to the category of Visnu. If Lord Caitanya, Lord Nityananda and Advaita Prabhu had exhibited Their all-powerful Visnu potencies within this material world, people would have become greater impersonalists, monists and self-worshipers than they had already become under the spell of this age. Therefore the Personality of Godhead and His different incarnations and forms played the parts of devotees to instruct the conditioned souls how to approach the transcendental stage of devotional service. Advaita Acarya especially intended to teach the conditioned souls about devotional service. The word acarya means "teacher."The special function of such a teacher is to make people Krsna conscious. A bona fide teacher following in the footsteps of Advaita Acarya has no other business than to spread the principles of Krsna consciousness all over the world. The real qualification of an acarya is that he presents himself as a servant of the Supreme. Such a bona fide acarya can never support the demoniac activities of atheistic men who present themselves as God. It is the main business of an acarya to defy such imposters posing as God before the innocent public. (More...)

Here is an important point. Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu wanted to invent a way to capture the Mayavadis and others who did not take interest in the Krsna consciousness movement. This is the symptom of an acarya. An acarya who comes for the service of the Lord cannot be expected to conform to a stereotype, for he must find the ways and means by which Krsna consciousness may be spread. Sometimes jealous persons criticize the Krsna consciousness movement because it engages equally both boys and girls in distributing love of Godhead. Not knowing that boys and girls in countries like Europe and America mix very freely, these fools and rascals criticize the boys and girls in Krsna consciousness for intermingling. But these rascals should consider that one cannot suddenly change a community's social customs. However, since both the boys and girls are being trained to become preachers, those girls are not ordinary girls but are as good as their brothers who are preaching Krsna consciousness. Therefore, to engage both boys and girls in fully transcendental activities is a policy intended to spread the Krsna consciousness movement. These jealous fools who criticize the intermingling of boys and girls will simply have to be satisfied with their own foolishness because they cannot think of how to spread Krsna consciousness by adopting ways and means which are favorable for this purpose. Their stereotyped methods will never help spread Krsna consciousness. Therefore, what we are doing is perfect by the grace of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu, for it is He who proposed to invent a way to capture those who strayed from Krsna consciousness. (More...)

An acarya should devise a means by which people may somehow or other come to Krsna consciousness. First they should become Krsna conscious, and all the prescribed rules and regulations may later gradually be introduced. In our Krsna consciousness movement we follow this policy of Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. For example, since boys and girls in the Western countries freely intermingle, special concessions regarding their customs and habits are necessary to bring them to Krsna consciousness. The acarya must devise a means to bring them to devotional service. Therefore, although I am a sannyasi I sometimes take part in getting boys and girls married, although in the history of sannyasa no sannyasi has personally taken part in marrying his disciples. (More...)

In India there are many so-called gurus, and they are limited to a certain district or a province. They do not even travel about India, yet they declare themselves to be jagad-guru, gurus of the whole world. Such cheating gurus should not be accepted. Anyone can see how the bona fide spiritual master accepts disciples from all over the world. The guru is a qualified brahmana; therefore he knows Brahman and Parabrahman. He thus devotes his life for the service of Parabrahman. The bona fide spiritual master who accepts disciples from all over the world is also worshiped all over the world because of his qualities. Lokanam asau pujyo yatha harih: the people of the world worship him just as they worship the Supreme Personality of Godhead. All these honors are offered to him because he strictly follows the brahminical principles and teaches these principles to his disciples. Such a person is called an acarya because he knows the principles of devotional service, he behaves in that way himself, and he teaches his disciples to follow in his footsteps. Thus he is an acarya or jagad-guru. Even though a person is born in a brahminical family and is very expert in performing sacrifices, he cannot be accepted as a guru if he is not a strict Vaisnava. A guru is a brahmana by qualification, and he can turn others into brahmanas according to the sastric principles and brahminical qualifications. Brahmanism is not a question of heredity. In Srimad-Bhagavatam (7.32.11) Sri Narada Muni tells Maharaja Yudhisthira what a brahmana is. He states that if brahminical qualifications are observed in ksatriyas, vaisyas or even sudras, one should accept them as brahmanas. In this regard, Srila Sridhara Svami has commented: samadibhir eva brahmanadi-vyavaharo mukhyah, na jati-matradity aha-yasyeti. yad yadi anyatra varnantare 'pi drsyeta, tad-varnantaram tenaiva laksana-nimittenaiva varnena vinirdiset, na tu jati-nimittenety arthah. (More...)

Persons are called buddha, or really learned, who fasten themselves only to the worship of Sri Krsna. This conviction can he established when one hears the transcendental message from the undisturbed acarya, with faith and love. One who has no faith in, or love for, Lord Krsna cannot be convinced of this simple truth. Such faithless persons are described in the Bhagavad-gita as mudhas, foolish as the ass. It is said that the mudhas deride the Personality of Godhead because they don't have complete knowledge from the undisturbed acarya. One who is disturbed by the whirlpool movements of the material energy is not qualified to become an acarya. (More...)

So every student, any disciple, every disciple, especially those who are competent, he requested that "You take up this mission of Caitanya Mahaprabhu and preach in the Western countries." That was Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati's Thakura first attempt. Before that, even the acaryas, Rupanuga, Gosvamis, they left literature, but they did not attempt to preach practically. And Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura, he was very, very anxious to preach this Caitanya cult in the Western countries. This is Sri Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura's special contribution. (More...)

I am in due receipt of your letter from Bombay dated June 14, 1972 and I have understood its contents. Today I have received one telephone call from Giriraja and he has informed me that there is some disagreement among you leaders there in our Bombay Center. This is not at all a pleasant situation for anyone. I am entrusting this huge task to all of you for working together cooperatively for doing something wonderful. I can understand that you are responsible and cool-headed along with the others, so you take the hand in reconciling all differences. (More...)

Narayana is the transcendental Personality of Godhead beyond the material creation. Everything that is created, sustained, and at the end, annihilated, is within the compass of mahat-tattva (material principle) and is known as the material world. The existence of Narayana, or the Personality of Godhead, is not within the jurisdiction of this mahat-tattva, and as such, the name, form, attributes, etc., of Narayana are beyond the jurisdiction of the material world. By speculation of empiric philosophy, which discerns matter from spirit, or by cultivation of mystic powers, which ultimately helps the performer to reach any planet of the universe or beyond the universe, or by discharge of religious duties, one can achieve the highest perfection, provided one is able to reach the stage of Narayana-smrti, or constant remembrance of the Personality of Godhead. This is only possible by the association of a pure devotee, who can give a finishing touch to the transcendental activities of all jnanis, yogis, or karmis, in terms of the prescribed duties defined in the scriptures. There are many historical instances of the achievement of spiritual perfection, such as that of the Sanakadi Rsis or the nine celebrated Yogendras, who attained perfection only after being situated in the devotional service of the Lord. None of the devotees of the Lord ever deviated from the path of devotional service by taking to other methods as adopted by the jnanis or yogis. Everyone is anxious to achieve the highest perfection of his particular activity, and it is indicated herein that such perfection is Narayana-smrti, for which everyone must endeavor his best. In other words, life should be molded in such a manner that one is able to progressively remember the Personality of Godhead in every step of life. (More...)

In the desert there is no water, but the mirage suggests that there is such a thing as water.

"The Supreme Lord said: There is a banyan tree which has its roots upward and its branches down, and the Vedic hymns are its leaves. One who knows this tree is the knower of the Vedas." (Bg. 15.1) Here the material world is described as a tree whose roots are upwards and branches are below. We have experience of a tree whose roots are upward: if one stands on the bank of a river or any reservoir of water, he can see that the trees reflected in the water are upside down. The branches go downward and the roots upward. Similarly, this material world is a reflection of the spiritual world. The material world is but a shadow of reality. In the shadow there is no reality or substantiality, but from the shadow we can understand that there is substance and reality. In the desert there is no water, but the mirage suggests that there is such a thing as water. In the material world there is no water, there is no happiness, but the real water of actual happiness is there in the spiritual world. (More...)