Bhakti Vikasa Swami's Blog, page 197

More than a brahmacari

I am very glad to note when you write to say that both you and Himavati miss your sleep and go to bed late. By Krishna’s grace, Himavati is not only beautiful externally, but she is beautiful within also. Otherwise how she can say that you may have the license for sense gratification but what will you do with this license? A brahmacari is good for living a life of celibacy, but a person who can live a life of celibacy in the presence of a beautiful and obliging wife is more than a brahmacari. Of course anyone who is stuck up with only one wife is also called brahmacari. You will set a very good example if both of you agree not to have sense gratification anymore and still you remain as husband and wife together. This is possible, however, only if both of you are fixed up in Krishna Consciousness activities. I thank you very much for your sincere endeavor to do this activity.

From Srila Prabhupada’s letter to Hamsaduta — Los Angeles 12 January, 1968

Reflections of real love

Loving affairs in the material world are only shadows or reflections of the real love with Krishna. If you love Krishna in any capacity, you shall never be frustrated because everything in Krishna is perfect, eternal, blissful, and full of knowledge.

From Srila Prabhupada’s letter to Kancanbala — Los Angeles 14 January, 1968

Real contraceptive

Punah punas carvita-carvananam. Chewing the chewed. Just like you chew one sugarcane and throw it on the street. But if somebody comes again to chew it, then he’s a fool. He must know, “The juice has been taken away from that sugarcane. What shall I get by chewing?” But there are animals like that. They want to chew again.

So this material society means chewing the chewed. A father gives education to his son to earning livelihood, gets him married and settles him, but he knows that “This kind of business, earning money and marrying, begetting children, I have done, but I am not satisfied. So why I am engaging my son in this business?” This is called chewing the chewed. Chewing the same thing. “I have not been satisfied with this business, but why I am engaging my son also?” The real father is he who does not allow his son to taste the chewing the chewed. That is real father. Pita na sa syaj janani na sa syat, na mocayed yah samupeta-mrtyum [SB 5.5.18].

This is real contraceptive. A man should not desire to become a father, a woman should not desire to become a mother, unless they are fit to save the children from the impending clutches of death. That is the duty of father and mother.

From Srila Prabhupada’s lecture on Srimad-Bhagavatam 3.25.12 — November 12, 1974, Bombay

Advancement beyond the lust & greed of “civilization”

The whole world is working so hard, especially in Western countries. They have got their nice motorcar, nice roads, and flyover. Very good facility for driving motorcar, and they have got enough motorcar also. Every third man has got a car. But what are these civilization? Kama and lobha, lustiness and greediness. That’s all. The basic principle is lust and greediness. That’s all. This is their qualification. So anyone who has become free from this lusty and greedy status of life, he’s advanced. He’s advanced. Kama-lobhadayas ca ye. Because these lusty desires and greediness will not help him at any time to realize his self or to realize God.

Srila Prabhupada; lecture on Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.2.19 — Vrndavana, October 30, 1972

Children should drink plenty of milk

Srila Prabhupada: Children must get at least two cups of milk a day. If they drink plenty of milk, their body becomes stout and strong, and they develop a keen brain for understanding the distinction between their body and their soul.

From BTG. Original follows:

Children must get at least one pound milk. If they drink more milk they become stout and strong.

Then their life is built up strong, and nice brain to understand.

>>> Ref. VedaBase => Room Conversation — June 24, 1976, New Vrindavan

More stories

There is another story — it may be fact — that a boy was raised by his aunt very liberally. Then, gradually, the boy became, in bad association, a thief. And the aunt was encouraging, “Oh, it is a very good business. You are bringing so many things without any labor.” So… Or out of affection he [she] did not chastise the boy when he was stealing. Then he, at the end, became a murderer. So he committed a murder. Then when he was to be hanged, so the government men inquired, “What is your last wish?” “Now, I want to speak with my aunt through the ear.” Then he was allowed. And the aunt was generally crying, that “My nephew is going to be hanged.” She was… So he caught up her ear with the teeth and cut it. So he said, “My dear aunt, if you would have chastised me in the beginning, then today, this position, that you are crying and I am going to be hanged, this would not have happened. But you did not do that. Therefore you are uselessly crying now, and this is your punishment: I cut off your ear with the teeth.” A very good instruction.

So the so-called sneha, if it is not properly done… Nature’s regulation is so strict that you cannot avoid the consequence. That is not possible. These are practical. I have seen another practical. In front of our residence there was another neighbor. So the old man had his daughter-in-law. So she was beating her one child. So I inquired through my servant, “Why this young woman is beating her child?” Now, then the servant brought me the news that this boy gave parata to his elder brother who is suffering from typhoid. The typhoid… In typhoid fever, solid food is forbidden strictly, but the boy did not know. He asked his younger brother that “If you steal one parata and if you give me, I am very much hungry.” So he became very sympathetic to his brother, and he gave the parata. And the boy was ill; he aggravated the illness. So as soon as the mother heard that he gave a parata to him, he [she] began to beat him: “Why did you give?” Now, it was charity, it was affection and sympathetic, but the result was beating with shoes. So if we do not know where charity should be given, then, where affection should be there, then we are under the laws of nature; we shall be punished if it is not properly done. There is punishment.

From Srila Prabhupada’s lecture on Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.8.47 — October 27, 1974, Mayapur

A foolish old woman begs for the wrong thing

An old woman who was carrying a bundle of dry wood through the forest. Somehow or other the bundle, which was very heavy, fell to the ground. The old woman became very disturbed, and thought, “Who will help put this bundle back on my head?” She then began to call on God, saying, “God help me.” Suddenly God appeared and said, “What do you want?” She said, “please help me put this bundle back on my head.” So this is our foolishness. When God comes to give us some benediction, we simply ask Him to load us down again with all these material bundles. We ask Him for more material things, for a happy family, for a large amount of money, for a new car or whatever.

Caitanya Mahaprabhu teaches us that we should only beg God for His service life after life. This is the actual meaning of the Hare Krsna maha-mantra.

>>> Ref. VedaBase => TLK Vs 32

Stories of hell

{A missionary, preaching to miners:]

“Jesus Christ is son of God. If you don’t worship him, you will go to hell.” So they enquired, “What is that hell?”

“It is very dark and moist and so on, so on…”

They did not reply, because they are working in the mine. So this is the position.

People are kept in so much darkness, they do not know what is hell, what is heaven, what is God, what is misery. They do not mind. They are accustomed to all these things.

There is another story like that, a Bengali story. One man said, “Oh, you are drinking, you will go to hell.” So he explained what is hell: “It is a miserable life.” “Oh, my father also drinks.” “Oh, he will also go to hell.” “And my mother also drinks.” “Oh, she will also go.” In this way whole, the family. “Then where it is hell? It is heaven. Because the father is there, mother is there, brother is there. Everyone, we are going… So where is hell?” This is the… “Even in hell, if we are all there, then where it is hell? It is heaven.”

Srila Prabhupada — May 13, 1975, Perth

Preaching by moonlike devotees

Danavira: I’m in charge of the New Bhakta program in Los Angeles, and yesterday one boy called up the temple, and he was seventeen years old, and he said, “Five years ago, when I was coming out of a store, I received this Back to Godhead magazine. So I took it home — I was twelve years old — and I began reading it. I read six pages, but my mother, she was a strict Baptist, and she took it away; I couldn’t read it. I never saw devotees again until this time.” He called up. Yesterday he came and joined the temple and became your disciple. [Prabhupada chuckles]

Devotees: Jaya.

Ramesvara: Just by reading one word of your books.

Prabhupada: What is that word?

Ramesvara: Any word. [laughter] “Surrender to Krsna!” [break] … making almost ten devotees, new men, every month. And they’re all coming from your books, from reading your books — every one of them.

Prabhupada: Therefore I am insisting, “Spread books.”

Danavira: Srila Prabhupada, there was one boy who just joined a few months ago, and he had been reading your books, and he came to join the temple. He had graduated from college and he’s been to law school, and we found out after some time that his father, his name was Dr. Royal McClain, he was a very, very big preacher in the South, and he had his own television program.

Ramesvara: Christian. His father was the biggest Christian preacher in the South. He had his own TV show. Very big preacher, very strict Christian, and his son joined our movement. So the father calls up the son, “How could you desert our religion and join this Krsna movement?” So… [laughter]

Danavira: He explained how he was actually feeling real love of God now for the first time in his life.

Ramesvara: He convinced his father that he should stay in our movement.

Tamala Krsna: Recently, in New York, my parents came to visit me. You know they… Actually, they didn’t come to see me, they came to the restaurant, but I happened to be there. [Prabhupada laughs] So, ah, they related a very unusual incident that one of their friends is a lawyer in New York. So they were having dinner with him the other day, and he mentioned that recently he had gone to Las Vegas for a vacation. In Las Vegas there are many gambling casinos. So when he was about to depart on the plane, one of his friends gave him a five dollar bill and told him that “In order that your gambling should be fortunate, the first good person you see there, you give this five dollar bill to him, and it will automatically bring you good luck.” So the man went to Las Vegas, and when he got out at the airport, one of our devotees approached him. And this gentleman happens to be a lawyer who’s fighting against us to keep us out of the New York airport. He’s representing the airline company. So he didn’t know it was one of our devotees because they were in the regular clothes, civilian clothes. So our devotee said, “Please, we’re doing good work, educating people, you kindly give a donation.” So the man thought: “Well, my friend gave me this,” he gave him five dollars, and naturally, the devotee gave him a book. So the man didn’t look at it, but he went into the taxi, the lawyer, and then when he looked he realized [laughter] he was supporting the enemy. And another incident they related is that they go on vacation to South America. So they were in the Amazon, in the jungle, in the Amazon…

Hrdayananda: Oh, I heard this when I…

Tamala Krsna: …and they, right in the middle of the jungle, suddenly the devotees were there. [laughter] Hrdayananda’s men were there preaching, and they said they could not imagine that they were in this most unusual place, no one was around, but suddenly Hare Krsna devotees appeared.[laughter]

Hrdayananda: They told me they met Tamala Krsna’s mother.

Tamala Krsna: Yes.

Radha-vallabha: If he gets a book in an unusual place, they always say, “You people are everywhere.”

Ramesvara: When we tell the public that we only have maybe ten thousand devotees, they are very surprised that there are so few Hare Krsna devotees, because they see us everywhere.

Pusta Krsna: Therefore we’re the most enthusiastic missionaries in the world.

Prabhupada: …say that all the ten thousand devotees, each of them is a moon, not a star.

(Morning Walk – June 5, 1976, Los Angeles)

Sex life is not condemned, provided…

To beget a child in a godly atmosphere is known in the Vedic scriptures as Garbhadhana-samskara. If the parents want a child in the godly qualities they should follow the ten principles recommended for the social life of the human being. In Bhagavad-gita we have studied also before that sex life for begetting a good child is Krsna Himself. Sex life is not condemned, provided the process is used in Krsna consciousness. Those who are in Krsna consciousness at least should not beget children like cats and dogs but should beget them so that they may become Krsna conscious after birth. That should be the advantage of children born of a father and mother absorbed in Krsna consciousness.

Srila Prabhupada — Bg 16.1-3, purport