Bhakti Vikasa Swami's Blog, page 18

Youngsters: join us immediately

People addicted to householder life wonder how one can give up the enjoyment of grhastha life, which is a concession for sex enjoyment, simply to become a mendicant in Krsna consciousness. They do not know that the householder’s concession for sex life cannot be regulated unless one accepts the life of a mendicant. The Vedic civilization therefore enjoins that at the end of one’s fiftieth year one must give up household life. This is compulsory. However, because modern civilization is misled, householders want to remain in family life until death, and therefore they are suffering. In such cases, the disciples of Narada Muni advise all the members of the younger generation to join the Krsna consciousness movement immediately. There is nothing wrong in this.

Srila Prabhupada, SB 6.5.36, ppt.

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Eat animals if you like, but no slaughterhouse

Prabhupada: Animals, you can eat if you like. But there was no slaughterhouse. If you like, you can kill your own animal and eat. That was open. But the state did not maintain any slaughterhouse. And the third-class, fourth-class men, they would eat. So simply by saying that “You don’t eat,” they will not accept that. They’re free, but the state would not maintain the slaughterhouse. At the present moment also, if the slaughterhouse are closed, then immediately seventy-five-percent meat-eating will be stopped. They maintain slaughterhouse. That is the most sinful activity.

Morning Walk — April 6, 1975, Mayapur

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Unprotected women + irresponsible men → unwanted children

As children are very prone to be misled, women are similarly very prone to degradation. Therefore, both children and women require protection by the elder members of the family. By being engaged in various religious practices, women will not be misled into adultery. According to Canakya Pandit, women are generally not very intelligent and therefore not trustworthy. So the different family traditions of religious activities should always engage them, and thus their chastity and devotion will give birth to a good population eligible for participating in the varnasrama system. On the failure of such varnasrama-dharma, naturally the women become free to act and mix with men, and thus adultery is indulged in at the risk of unwanted population. Irresponsible men also provoke adultery in society, and thus unwanted children flood the human race at the risk of war and pestilence.

Srila Prabhupada, BG 1.40, purport

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How to become as powerful as Hanuman

To help the preaching work, that is also preaching. If you can get money to help expand our preaching activities, that is preaching. We require money. Laksmi is the immediate assistant of Narayana. Narayana is always preceded by the word Laksmi. The Mayavadi philosophers do not touch Laksmi, but we accept for the service of Krishna. We are not of the mentality of Ravana who took Laksmi from Narayana and became ruined. Keep Laksmi and Narayana always together and you will become as powerful as Hanuman. He is always worshiped along with Lord Rama and Laksmi-Sita. There are many temples of Hanuman in India.

From Srila Prabhupada’s letter to Karandhara — 18 June, 1975

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Money is not an issue

“Money is not an issue,” Prabhupada used to say, and it’s so true. That money is just hanging there in the sky, you just have to put your hand out and take it. He said, “I can give you so many schemes.”

Adbhuta Hari Dasa, The Jolly Swami, p. 1086

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Devotees must preach; it helps them too

“If a living entity is developed in Krsna consciousness and is merciful to others, and if his spiritual knowledge of self-realization is perfect, he will immediately attain liberation from the bondage of material existence.”

PURPORT
In this verse the words daya jivesu, meaning mercy to other living entities, indicates that a living entity must be merciful to other living entities if he wishes to make progress in self-realization. This means he must preach this knowledge after perfecting himself and understanding his own position as an eternal servant of Krsna. Preaching this is showing real mercy to living entities. Other types of humanitarian work may be temporarily beneficial for the body, but because a living entity is spirit soul, ultimately one can show him real mercy only by revealing knowledge of his spiritual existence. As Caitanya Mahaprabhu says, jivera ‘svarupa’ haya-krsnera ‘nitya-dasa.’ [Cc Madhya 20.108]. “Every living entity is constitutionally a servant of Krsna.” One should know this fact perfectly and should preach it to the mass of people. If one realizes that he is an eternal servant of Krsna but does not preach it, his realization is imperfect. Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura therefore sings, dusta mana, tumi kisera vaisnava? pratisthara tare, nirjanera ghare, tava hari-nama kevala kaitava. “My dear mind, what kind of Vaisnava are you? Simply for false prestige and a material reputation you are chanting the Hare Krsna mantra in a solitary place.” In this way people who do not preach are criticized. There are many Vaisnavas in Vrndavana who do not like preaching; they chiefly try to imitate Haridasa Thakura. The actual result of their so-called chanting in a secluded place, however, is that they sleep and think of women and money. Similarly, one who simply engages in temple worship but does not see to the interests of the mass of people, or cannot recognize devotees, is called a kanistha-adhikari:

arcayam eva haraye
pujam yah sraddhayehate
na tad-bhaktesu canyesu
sa bhaktah prakrtah smrtah
(SB 11.2.47)

A devotee who faithfully engages in the worship of the Deity in the temple but does not behave properly toward other devotees or people in general is called a prakrta-bhakta, a materialistic devotee, and is considered to be in the lowest position.

Srimad-Bhagavatam 4.29.1b, rendered by Srila Prabhupada

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The Lord has inaugurated this movement to benefit human society

Whenever the principles of religion deteriorate and the principles of irreligion increase, the supreme controller, the Personality of Godhead Sri Hari, appears by His own will.

In the present age, the Supreme Personality of Godhead has appeared as Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu to inaugurate the Hare Krsna movement. At the present time, in Kali-yuga, people are extremely sinful and bad…. They have no idea of spiritual life and are misusing the benefits of the human form to live like cats and dogs. Under these circumstances Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu has inaugurated the Hare Krsna movement, which is not different from Krsna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. If one associates with this movement, he directly associates with the Supreme Personality of Godhead. People should take advantage … and thus gain relief from all the problems created in this Age of Kali.

Srimad-Bhagavatam 9.24.56, translation and purport extracts by Srila Prabhupada

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Srila Prabhupada on hellish London

London, hellish — always moist, raining and cloudy. You cannot distinguish whether it is night or day. Now I was in London. When I was, I think, last year, in this time, December, the morning was at ten o’clock, and the evening was at three o’clock. Five hours day. And nineteen hours night. So of course, I was rising, as usual, early in the morning. So I wanted to go out. So I couldn’t go out before half-past nine to the Regent Park. And it was full of snow and ice, and it is very difficult to walk.

From Srila Prabhupada’s lecture on Srimad-Bhagavatam 6.1.6 — November 6, 1970, Bombay

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The purpose of installing Krsna-Balarama in Vrindavan

We are expending so much money for installing Krsna-Balarama here. What is this purpose? The purpose is that you will be able to see Him present in this temple, and therefore you can think of Him. That is very natural. If you see the Deity always, then you get His picture impressed within your mind, and if you always think of Him, then you see Him within your mind.

From Srila Prabhupada’s lecture on SB 1.7.6 — Vrindavan, April 18, 1975

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All-good Lord Ramacandra

SB 9.10.54

TRANSLATION
Lord Ramacandra took a vow to accept only one wife and have no connection with any other women. He was a saintly king, and everything in His character was good, untinged by qualities like anger. He taught good behavior for everyone, especially for householders, in terms of varnasrama-dharma. Thus He taught the general public by His personal activities.

PURPORT
Eka-patni-vrata, accepting only one wife, was the glorious example set by Lord Ramacandra. One should not accept more than one wife. In those days, of course, people did marry more than one wife. Even Lord Ramacandra’s father accepted more wives than one. But Lord Ramacandra, as an ideal king, accepted only one wife, mother Sita. When mother Sita was kidnapped by Ravana and the Raksasas, Lord Ramacandra, as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, could have married hundreds and thousands of Sitas, but to teach us how faithful He was to His wife, He fought with Ravana and finally killed him. The Lord punished Ravana and rescued His wife to instruct men to have only one wife. Lord Ramacandra accepted only one wife and manifested sublime character, thus setting an example for householders. A householder should live according to the ideal of Lord Ramacandra, who showed how to be a perfect person. Being a householder or living with a wife and children is never condemned, provided one lives according to the regulative principles of varnasrama-dharma. Those who live in accordance with these principles, whether as householders, brahmacaris or vanaprasthas, are all equally important.

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