1996 Lectures

…The gopīs’ say, “I believed Kṛṣṇa and I fell for His charming ploy. So no one else should be cheated by Kṛṣṇa; that dhūrta (cheater).” So Kṛṣṇa cheated this parrot, and He was giving so much honor and affection to the parrot. In the meantime, two girls came running from Varsānā; they were Lalitā and Viśākhā. They told Kṛṣṇa “Oh, Vrajendra-nandana return our parrot, it is very much loved and held dear by our sakhī (Śrīmatī Rādhikā). Our sakhī cannot live without this parrot, so return the parrot at once!”…

This is a policy. Policy means a political thing. I don’t want to go to any politics. I want to help all the little beings, the living entities like Svāmījī has done. I am helping everyone causelessly. I don’t want to be political; I only want to support everyone. It is not written in any śāstra; my Gurudeva or any Gurudeva has not said like so. We see that…

Pratyakṣa—this knowledge refers to what we realize by our five kinds of senses and by what we see. This is pratyakṣa. But pratyakṣa is not helpful. It is not real. It is only the shadow; it is the perverted reflection of that aprākṛta (transcendental) world. It changes every minute. So, pratyakṣa means direct knowledge. Direct knowledge is not good. We cannot rely on this. If you rely on it then you will have to go in the chain of birth and death that has repeated sufferings and sorrows.

So, Prabhupāda spoke of another form of knowledge. Do you know who Cārvāka is? He propagated the philosophy of eat, drink, and make merry. They say, “We have not seen God. There is no God…

There is no guarantee regarding your life span. Tūrṇaṁ, at once, you should give up your bad habits like smoking. You should not think of waiting for tomorrow. You should give it up this very moment. And you should try to chant harināma starting today, not tomorrow or any other day. You should not think, “Oh, I will gradually give these things up.” You should start to engage in bhakti at once. Who knows what will happen tomorrow? Tūrṇaṁ yateta na pated anu-mṛtyu yāvat. Before we die we should try to go to a bona fide guru…

Keep this truth of Gurudeva’s grace firmly fixed in your mind as told in this kīrtana by Śrīla Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura. ‘Guru-mukha-padma-vākya, cittete koriyā aikya,’ you should know that the teachings that come from the lotus mouth of Gurudeva should always be kept in your heart. By only giving due consideration to the words of Gurudeva, will we cross māyā. By properly practicing bhakti, śraddhā will come first, followed by niṣṭhā, ruci, āsakti, bhāva, and prema. If prema has not blossomed in your heart, avidyā will not be removed completely. And it maybe that…

A godbrother of Guru Mahārāja and Svāmījī called Sanātana Prabhu also took sannyāsa with Svāmījī. His age was 99 years. He told Svāmījī, “If you take sannyāsa, then I will also take sannyāsa, despite my advanced age.”
And then Svāmījī became so energetic and he said, “Yes. I should take sannyāsa.”
Then I made a very good sannyāsa-daṇḍa for Svāmījī. I also arranged the sannyāsa cloth for Svāmījī—the uttarīya and bahirvāsa. I showed

The gopīs are incomparably beautiful. They are more beautiful than Nārāyaṇa’s consort, Lakṣmī-devī. They are more beautiful than the queens of Dvārakā. They are highly qualified. Their love and affection for Kṛṣṇa is unparalleled. None are like the gopīs. No personalities of this material or spiritual realms can be compared to the gopīs. By their transcendental beauty and qualities, they can easily attract the Supreme Personality of Godhead in a moment. This is the glory of the gopīs…

There are two Durgās—Yogamāyā and Mahāmāyā. Yogamāyā is beyond this material world. She does not control the material worlds, but controls those who like to serve Kṛṣṇa. She descends as Yogamāyā and gives much energy and strength to the devotees, who wish to realize Kṛṣṇa. But, the shadow of Yogamāyā is called Durgā, Mahāmāyā, who can give facilities for the soul’s desires of sense gratification. And this desire for happiness and pleasure in this world is illusory. She cannot give spiritual happiness, peace and tranquility. This has been declared…

They are all in one family. Vaiṣṇavas are not different from Kṛṣṇa. Caitanya Mahāprabhu is not different from Kṛṣṇa. This is unity in diversity. There is nothing that can be called one, this oneness cannot be defined by any dictionary also. “O-N-E,” these are three letters. In Hindi, one is called ek, E-K. In Urdu and different languages, one is called in many different terms. You may just say that…