–Srila Prabhupada – “One should not make a livelihood by forming a professional band to carry out congregational chanting, nor should one perform devotional service when one is attached to mundane society, friendship and love.”
Here Srila Prabhupada explains about the types of pseudo devotees who whimsically invent their own practices of devotional service and also those who condemn the pure devotees.
Caitanya Caritamrta Madhya Lila 8.83, 1975 Edition TEXT 83
kintu yāṅra yei rasa, sei sarvottamataṭa-stha hañā vicārile, āche tara-tama
SYNONYMS
kintu—nevertheless; yāṅra—of some devotees; yei rasa—whatever the mellow of exchanges of love; sei—that; sarva-uttama—the best; taṭa-stha—neutral; hañā—being; vicārile—if considering; āche—there is; tara-tama—lower and higher levels.
Srila Prabhupada April 1977 prediction – “Not that you take the place of the guru. That is nonsense, very dangerous. Then everything will be spoiled. As soon as you become ambitious to take the place of guru—guruṣu nara-matiḥ . . . that is the material disease. “Hare Krishna, all glories to Srila Prabhupada, an excellent prediction by Srila Prabhupada is presented below just a few months prior to his physical departure. Key predictions:
This is our position. That is very easy for us. We haven’t got to manufacture. To manufacture idea is troublesome.
What our guru has said, that is our life and soul. We do not want . . .” āra nā kariha mane āśā.
As soon as this poison will come—”Suppress guru and I become prominent”—everything finished. Spiritual life is finished. Gauḍīya Maṭha finished, that . . . violated the orders of Guru Mahārāja.
Whatever little success is there for me, I did not manufacture any idea.
Our mission is to serve bhakta-viśeṣa and live with devotees.
Not that you take the place of the guru. That is nonsense, very dangerous.
As soon as you become ambitious to take the place of guru—guruṣu nara-matiḥ . . .that is the material disease.
Adi 17.139–Peforming kīrtana in this way, circumambulating through every nook and corner of the city, they finally reached the door of the Kazi. Adi 17.140–Murmuring in anger and making a roaring sound, the people, under the protection of Lord Caitanya, became mad through such indulgence. Adi 17.141–The loud sound of the chanting of the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra certainly made the Kazi very much afraid, and he hid himself within his room. Hearing the people thus protesting, murmuring in great anger, the Kazi would not come out of his home.
PURPORT-The Kazi’s order not to perform saṅkīrtana could stand only as long as there was no civil disobedience. Under the leadership of the Supreme Lord, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, the chanters, increasing in number, disobeyed the order of the Kazi. Thousands assembled together and formed parties, chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra and making a tumultuous sound of protest. Thus the Kazi was very much afraid, as naturally one should be under such circumstances.In the present day also, people all over the world may join together in the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement and protest against the present degraded governments of the world’s godless societies, which are based on all kinds of sinful activities.Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam states that in the Age of Kali, thieves, rogues and fourth-class people who have neither education nor culture capture the seats of governments to exploit the citizens. This is a symptom of Kali-yuga that has already appeared. People cannot feel secure about their lives and property, yet the so-called governments continue, and government ministers get fat salaries, although they are unable to do anything good for society. The only remedy for such conditions is to enhance the sankīrtana movement under the banner of Kṛṣṇa consciousness and protest against the sinful activities of all the world’s governments.The Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is not a sentimental religious movement; it is a movement for the reformation of all the anomalies of human society. If people take to it seriously, discharging this duty scientifically, as ordered by Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, the world will see peace and prosperity instead of being confused and hopeless under useless governments. There are always rogues and thieves in human society, and as soon as a weak government is unable to execute its duties, these rogues and thieves come out to do their business. Thus the entire society becomes a hell unfit for gentlemen to live in. There is an immediate need for a good government-a government by the people, with Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Unless the masses of people become Kṛṣṇa conscious, they cannot be good men. The Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement that Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu started by chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra still has its potency. Therefore people should understand it seriously and scientifically and spread it all over the world. Adi 17.142–Naturally some of the people who were very much agitated began to retaliate the Kazi’s actions by wrecking his house and flower garden. Śrīla Vṛndāvana dāsa Ṭhākura has elaborately described this incident. Adi 17.143–Thereafter, when Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu reached the Kazi’s house, He sat down by the doorway and sent some respectable persons to call for the Kazi. Adi 17.144–When the Kazi came, his head bowed down, the Lord gave him proper respect and a seat.
PURPORT-Some of the men in Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s civil disobedience movement were agitated because they could not control their minds. But the Lord was thoroughly peaceful, sober and unagitated. Therefore when the Kazi came down to see Him, the Lord offered him proper respect and a seat because he was a respectable government officer. Thus the Lord taught us by His personal behavior. In pushing on our saṅkīrtana movement of Kṛṣṇa consciousness, we might have to face difficult days, but we should always follow in the footsteps of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu and do the needful according to the time and circumstances. Adi 17.152–The Lord said, “My dear uncle, I have come to your home just to ask you some questions.”“Yes,” the Kazi replied, “You are welcome. Just tell me what is in Your mind.” Adi 17.154-The Lord said, “You drink cows’ milk; therefore the cow is your mother. And the bull produces grains for your maintenance; therefore he is your father. Adi 17.155–“Since the bull and cow are your father and mother, how can you kill and eat them? What kind of religious principle is this? On what strength are you so daring that you commit such sinful activities?”
Prabhupada’s lecture – Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 1.15.32 – Los Angeles, December 10, 1973
So now our consciousness is immortal consciousness or mortal consciousness, that is to be seen. I am absorbed in thought of this mortal consciousness, “This is my country, this is my body, this is my family, this is my community, this is my nation…” They are all mortal. But immortal consciousness is that “I am Kṛṣṇa’s.” That is immortal consciousness. “Kṛṣṇa is mine, and I am Kṛṣṇa’s.” This is immortal consciousness. When you come to this consciousness—that is called Kṛṣṇa consciousness—then you are saved. Immortal consciousness. So long you have got temporary consciousness, then… Just like our mind changes. I accept something now; I reject something again. So this body is being manufactured according to the acceptance and rejection of my mind. The body is formed. Otherwise why we have different body? We are sitting here, so many boys and girls, ladies and gentlemen. Nobody’s body will exactly tally with others’ body. No. Because the face is the index of mind. You have got different types of mind; therefore you have got different types of body, not every one. So this is to be understood. Therefore Yudhiṣṭhira Mahārāja, svaḥ-pathāya matiṁ cakre. This is meditation actually. “What I am? Wherefrom I have come? I am eternal. Why my body is not eternal? I would have been very happy if my body would have been eternal, but that is not being possible.” Everyone knows. “But I desire that I may not die, my body may not be vanquished. That is my desire.” But nobody is meditating upon this subject matter. They have learned some meditation—I do not know what kind of medi… This is meditation, matiṁ cakre. Svaḥ-pathāya matiṁ cakre nibhṛtātmā yudhiṣṭhiraḥ. So these things are to be solved. So Yudhiṣṭhira Mahārāja, now he will retire after this. So he will give up the kingdom. Not that… This is the Vedic system. However rich you may be, however prosperous you may be at your home or in your nation or in anyway as you think, but you have to think that “Actually these things are temporary. I am eternal. So what is my eternal function?” That is meditation. “What is my eternal function? What is my eternal duty? Where is my eternal home?” That is Kṛṣṇa consciousness.
December 31. Goodbye, 1966. Hare Krishna and Happy New Year!
New Year’s Eve, Matchless Gifts is crowded with devotees and visitors. Swamiji leads the kirtana, and we all chant and dance by candlelight. It is a celebration none of us will ever forget. “Chant! Chant!” Swamiji tells us, and our chanting drowns out even the drunken revelry on Second Avenue. Again, Swamiji is weaving magic.
A feast follows, and Swamiji eats with us, sitting on his dais and talking amiably. He keeps insisting that Umapati, Satsvarupa, and I take more prasadam. There’s a bucket of gulab jamuns, “ISKCON bullets,” and we stuff ourselves.
“For us, every day is New Year’s,” Swamiji says. “Krishna is always new, always fresh, and we are always celebrating Him. Just see how these people in maya are celebrating, drinking poison to forget everything! Because they are frustrated, they want to forget. But for a devotee, it is just the opposite. The devotee wants to remember Krishna at all times.”
Reference: The Hare Krishna Explosion – Hayagriva Dasa
Srila Prabhupada: The Lord says that even a human being in the lowest status of life, lowest status of life, or even a fallen woman, or a mercantile man, or a laborer class of man… The mercantile class of men, the laborer class of men, and the woman class, they are counted in the same category because their intelligence is not so developed. But the Lord says, they also, or even lower than them, māṁ hi pārtha vyapāśritya ye ‘pi syuḥ (BG 9.32), not only they or lower than them, or anyone, it does not matter who is he, or who is she, anyone who accepts this principle of bhakti-yoga and accepts the Supreme Lord as the summum bonum of life, the highest target, highest goal of life, māṁ hi pārtha vyapāśritya ye ‘pi syuḥ, te ‘pi yānti parāṁ gatim, that parāṁ gatim in the spiritual kingdom and the spiritual sky, everyone can approach. Simply one has to practice the system. That system is hinted in the Bhagavad-gītā very nicely and one can adopt it and make his life perfect and make a permanent solution of life. That is the sum and substance of the whole Bhagavad-gītā. Therefore, the conclusion is that Bhagavad-gītā is a transcendental literature which one should read very carefully. Gītā-śāstram idaṁ puṇyaṁ yaḥ paṭhet prayataḥ pumān. And the result will be, if he properly follows the instruction, then he can be freed from all miseries of life, all anxieties of life. Bhaya-śokādi-varjitaḥ. (Gītā-māhātmya 1) All fears of life, in this life, as well as he’ll get a spiritual life in the next life. 660219-20 – Lecture BG Introduction – New York
Sri Gita-Mahatmya
The Glory of the Gita gita sastram idam punyam,
yah pathet prayatah puman
visnoh padam avapnoti,
bhaya sokadi varjitah
One who, with a regulated mind, recites with devotion this Bhagavad-gita scripture which is the bestower of all virtue, will attain to a holy abode such as Vaikuntha, the residence of Lord Visnu, which is always free from the mundane qualities based on fear and lamentation.
Gita dhyayana-silasya,
pranayama parasya ca
naiva santi hi papani,
purva janma krtani ca
For a self-controlled person who seriously studies this Bhagavad-gita scripture, not a trace of sin remains – either from the previous or present life -since all his sins are burnt to ashes.
malanir mocanam pumsam,
jala-snanam dine dine
sakrd-gitambhasi snanam,
samsara-mala-nasanam
As a person bathes every day with water to cleanse his body, similarly, by bathing only once in the waters of the Bhagavad-gita, all the dirt of painful material existence is dissolved. That is, by devotedly reading the Gita only once, all material contamination is vanquished.
gita sugita kartavya,
kim anyaih sastra vistaraih
ya svayam padmanabhasya
mukha-padmad vinihsrta
One should always very nicely sing with devotion this Gita, the divine song which has emanated from the holy lotus mouth of the Supreme Lord Himself, Lord Sri Krsna. What then is the benefit of studying many other scriptures?
bharatamrta sarvasvam
visnor vaktrad-vinihsrtam
gita-gangodakam pitva,
punar janma na vidyate
By dringing the Ganges waters of the Gita, the divine quintessence of the Mahabharata emanating from the lotus mouth of Lord Visnu, one will never take rebirth in the material world again. In other words, by devotionally reciting the Gita, the cycle of birth and death is terminated.
sarvopanisado gavo
dogdha gopala-nandanahpartho
vatsah sudhir bhokta,
dugdham gitamrtam mahat
All the Upanisads are like a cow, and the milker of the cow is Sri Krsna, the son of Nanda. Arjuna is the calf, the beautiful nectar of the Gita is the milk, and the fortunate devotees of fine theistic intellect are the drinkers and enjoyers of that milk.
ekam sastram devaki-putra-gitam
eko devo devaki-putra eva
eko mantras tasya namani yani,
karmapy ekam tasya devasya seva
There need only be one holy scripture – the divine Gita sung by Lord Sri Krsna; only one worshipable Lord – Lord Sri Krsna; only one mantra – His holy names; and only one duty -devotional service unto that supreme worshipable Lord, Sri Krsna.
Gita Mahatmya of the Padma Purana – Lord Siva’s Glorification of the Bhagavad Gita
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