Prabhupada: Perfection of life means ultimately you become lazy; you haven’t got to work. That is perfection, they say. Otherwise why they get a cottage in a secluded place and live? All these Americans, they go weekend. They leave aside all working, they become tired, hard working, and they go. That is the intention, that you should live peaceful life, not working very hard. That is human life. Huh? Otherwise why they go outside the city at the weekend? Why do they go? Hm?

Indian man (1): They want rest, I suppose. They want rest.

Prabhupada: So that means lazy.

Indian man (1): No.

Prabhupada: Yes. Rest means lazy; you don’t work.

Indian man (1): If one works five days a week, you rest for two…

Prabhupada: That is another thing. You have to work to become lazy. (laughter) That is another thing. But the goal is to become lazy. You work five days very hard just to become lazy for two days. That’s all. So if you have got means to become seven days lazy, you’ll prefer it.

Pusta Krsna: But I think people would… Most people would go crazy if they didn’t have any work.

Prabhupada: No, that means their life is not properly conducted. And therefore the word laziness has come. Laziness is not actually the word. Laziness means minimizing the bodily labor and engaged in spiritual work.If you ask people, “Please come to our temple,” who is coming? Because he says, “I have no time.” But we are not working hard. So real aim of life is to… In German, I think, or somewhere there is classification: “Lazy intelligent, busy intelligent, lazy fool, and busy fool.” So at the present moment (laughs) the whole world is full of busy fools. But the first-class man, he is lazy intelligent. Lazy and intelligent, that is first-class man. And second-class man, busy intelligent. And third class means lazy fool and fourth class means busy fool. When the fools are busy… Just like nowadays they are busy but they are fools. Like monkey, he is very busy. You see? And they prefer to be generation of monkey, busy fool. That’s all. Fools, when he is busy, he is simply creating havoc. That’s all. Better… Lazy fool is better than him because he will not create so much harm, but this busy fool will simply create harm. And first class-man is lazy intelligent. He knows the value of life, and soberly he is thinking. Just like all our great saintly persons. They were living in the forest, meditation, tapasya, and writing books. All, you will find, lazy intelligent. They are first-class men.

Indian man (1): Not like the monkey jumping from one …

Prabhupada: Busy fool, what is the value? He is fool, and he is busy. So nowadays the education is to make busy fool. That’s all.

Indian man (1): About the busy intelligent?

Prabhupada: The second class.

Indian man (1): How does he behave?

Continue reading →

Lectures : Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures : Canto 7: Lectures : SB 7.9: Lectures : Srimad-Bhagavatam 7.9.28 — Mayapur, March 6, 1976 : 760306SB.MAY :
So “How it can be zero? I am a living being. How it can be zero? I am always thinking, planning. I have got so many desires,” they say. One who does not know what is the position of a living being, they say that “Give up desires. Desireless.” That is not possible. Desirelessness is not possible. Because I am a living being, I must desire. Therefore desires may be purified. That is wanted. You cannot make the desires zero. That is not possible. Sarvopādhi-vinirmuktaṁ tat-paratvena nirmalam[Cc. Madhya 19.170]. Now our desires are there according to my designated position. “I am Hindu,” “I am Muslim. Why shall I take Kṛṣṇa consciousness?” Because I am designated, I have taken this designation, “I am Hindu,” “I am Muslim,” “I am Christian.” Therefore we cannot take Kṛṣṇa consciousness. “Oh, this is… Kṛṣṇa is Hindu God. Kṛṣṇa is Indian. Why shall I take Kṛṣṇa?” No. “You have to be desireless” means you have to purify your this false understanding that “I am Hindu,” “I am Muslim,” “I am Christian,” “I am Indian,” “I am this.” This has to be purified. One has to understand that “I am gopī-bhartur pada-kamalayor dāsa. I am the servant of the servant of the servant of Kṛṣṇa [Cc. Madhya 13.80].” That is purification. Then desire. Then you’ll not desire anything except Kṛṣṇa’s service. That is perfection. When you come to that platform, that you desire nothing but to serve Kṛṣṇa, always, twenty-four hours, then you are liberated. Sarvopādhi-vinirmuktaṁ tat-paratvena nirmalam[Cc. Madhya 19.170]. Then you become nirmalam, without any material tinge. In that position only, hṛṣīkena hṛṣīkeśa-sevanaṁ bhaktir ucyate. Then… My senses will be there; not that I become senseless nonsense. No. My senses are there. They will act. They’ll act for simply to serve Kṛṣṇa. That is wanted. So that can be possible when you are trained up by the servant of Kṛṣṇa. Otherwise it is not possible.

So here Prahlāda Mahārāja said that… Prahlāda Mahārāja is alsomahājana because he follows mahājana. He says, viriñca–gītāḥ: “I’ll enjoy. I shall relish tava līlā–kathaḥ, Your pastime, the narration of Your pastime.” But it is not that narration, as it is written by some mundane dramatic drama writer or novel writer. No, not that. That is useless. You should not touch. If some ordinary person has written something about Kṛṣṇa’s līlā, you should not touch even. It must be in the sampradāya, must be authorized person. Otherwise it is useless. You should not touch even. Therefore he especially mentioned, līlā-kathās tava nṛsiṁha viriñca–gītāḥ: “which is given by mahājanas like Brahmā.” Just like we offer prayers from Brahma–saṁhitā. We cannot offer prayer from any other persons, written by any other nonsense. No, that is not possible. Viriñca–gītāḥ. There is power. If you recite the prayers composed by mahājana, it has got spiritual power. Just like in your country, Mr. Max Mueller, he’s very famous as translator of Vedas. But… Many scholars, they have read the translation of Max Mueller, but nobody could understand what is the purpose of Vedas because he’s not in the line. He’s useless.

(When I was in high school I read Max Muellers BG and could not understand anything from it at all-this is 100% correct)

Similarly, that French professor, he has mentioned specially… In comparison to my writing—he has rejected even Aurobindo and Dr. Radhakrishnan. Yes, that is right. What Dr. Radhakrishnan, Aurobindo, knows about Kṛṣṇa consciousness? Because they are not in the line. They simply tried to exhibit their erudite scholarship. So that is useless. Nāyam ātmā pravacanena labhyo na medhayā nabahunā śrutena. This is the injunction given in the Vedas. Ayamātmā, self-realization, God realization… Nāyam ātmā bala-hīnenalabhyaḥ: “One who has no spiritual strength, he cannot understand.” It is not possible. Nāyam ātmā bala hīnena… Na medhayā. If you have got very good fertile brain for manufacturing concocted ideas, that doesn’t mean you’ll be able to understand Kṛṣṇa. That is not possible.
…. Any literature, very nicely written, just like Shakespeare writing or some other, big, big mundane writers, their writing, it is very nicely written, grammatically very correct, and metaphorically very nicely meant… Na tad vacaś citra–padam. Citra–padam means very artistically written. There are literatures very artistical. Na tadvacaś citra–padaṁ harer yaśo pragṛṇīta karhicit. But there is no glorification of the Lord; simply literary presentation. Such kind of literature is described, tad vāyasa–tīrtham: “This kind of literature is preferred by the class of men who are like crows.” Crows. But the Vedic literature, which is sung by Lord Brahmā or Lord Śiva or a devotee, even that is broken language presented, tad gṛṇanti śṛṇvantisādhavaḥ: “They’ll be accepted by saintly person. They’ll sing it and they’ll accept it.” That is the secret of success. If your literature is exactly following the mahājano yena sa gataḥ, then it will be liked by highly advanced saintly person. And if it is a presentation of mundane literary career… Therefore that gentleman has rejected even Aurobindo and Dr… Others he has rejected: “They are useless.”

Hare Krsna to all
Pranams
All glories to Srila Prabhupada and
Sri Krsna Janmastami Mahotsava

On Sunday Aug 17th in Snohomish Wash at the ashram of Kanhaiya das and family, we celebrated
the Divine appearance of Lord Sri Krsna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Many Indian families showed
up as well as many local “Americans” as well. We began with a pre program kirtan,then an arotik, done by Kanhaiya prabhu, with Makhancora prabhu leading kirtan, followed by some bhajans and Bhagavad Gita class given by Damaghosa das, and then we went into another temple room and performed abhisek to baby Krsna murti, and a swing was available nearby if one wanted to give another diety of Krsna a push as well.

Following that was a grand feast. Everybody left happy and purified of sinful contaminations. In this way
the movement generated over 500 years ago by Sri Krsna Caitanya Mahaprabhu, of the chanting of the holy Names of God, is continuing in almost, but not quite yet, “every town and village” on the face of this planet. Continue reading →