May 3 1976 Honolulu conversations….
Prabhupāda: Go on. Yes, arcye viṣṇau śilā-dhīr guruṣu nara-matiḥ. Narakī, if anyone thinks arca-vigraha, the Deities as made of stone, made of earth, or made of something material, and guru, the spiritual master, “He is an ordinary man”—these are forbidden. So why guru is to be considered sākṣād dharitvena samasta-śāstrair **, exactly (like) the Supreme Personality of Godhead? That reason is given there. That reason is that he is giving the Kṛṣṇa knowledge; therefore he is as good as Kṛṣṇa. Even though his family members or his friend thinking, “Oh, he has now become guru,” still he should be considered the Supreme Personality of Godhead. That reason also given there, that even Kṛṣṇa was taken as ordinary man, but does it mean that He has become ordinary? Similarly any…, our movement, it may appear just like other movement, but because the movement is giving Kṛṣṇa, that means it is as good as Kṛṣṇa. This is the example. Ajñāya haña (follow the order). It may appear to others… And there are so many movements, and the hippies have taken another say(?), but it is not that. It is actually Kṛṣṇa. This same man, he’s guru, so long he gives the real knowledge of Kṛṣṇa. And the same man, he’s ordinary man, as soon as he cannot give. Same thing, just like a stone doll, when it is worshiped according to the regulative principles—Kṛṣṇa. And the same doll, kept in the sculptor’s showroom, it is stone. So if we keep our movement pure, then you are as strong as Kṛṣṇa. And as soon as you deviate from it, immediately, ordinary. This is the secret. Now it is up to us, how to keep it pure. Then no enemy can kill us. Nobody can kill you. That purity is wanted, then it will… So what is there difficulty? Their purity to kill him(?). Follow the rules and regulations, worship the Deity, and chant Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra, as you have given, then you will remain as strong as Kṛṣṇa. And if we manufacture some idea also, that is no good. Kṛṣṇa cannot be manufactured; Kṛṣṇa is Kṛṣṇa. You cannot manufacture another form competitor of Kṛṣṇa. That is no good. Then failure.
(Note-some devotees say the iskcon gurus fell down due to their preaching-but SP says there is no chance an uttama adhikari will fall down due to preaching or serving Krsna..)
(SB 1.9.36-When Arjuna was seemingly polluted by ignorance upon observing the soldiers and commanders before him on the battlefield, the Lord eradicated his ignorance by delivering transcendental knowledge. May His lotus feet always remain the object of my attraction.
Purport… He was not at all afraid of the giant military phalanx presented by Duryodhana, but as a merciful devotee of the Lord, renunciation of worldly things was natural for him, and thus he decided not to fight for worldly possessions. But this was due to a poor fund of knowledge, and therefore it is said here that his intelligence became polluted. His intelligence could not be polluted at any time because he was a devotee and constant companion of the Lord,)
SB 5.16.3 purport
Mahārāja Parīkṣit had already been advised by his spiritual master, Śukadeva Gosvāmī, to think of the universal form of the Lord, and therefore, following the advice of his spiritual master, he continuously thought of that form. The universal form is certainly material, but because everything is an expansion of the energy of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, ultimately nothing is material. Therefore Parīkṣit Mahārāja’s mind was saturated with spiritual consciousness.
… Therefore although Parīkṣit Mahārāja had no need for geographical knowledge of this universe, that knowledge was also spiritual and transcendental because he was thinking of the entire universe as an expansion of the energy of the Lord. In our preaching work also, we deal with so much property and money and so many books bought and sold, but because these dealings all pertain to the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement, they should never be considered material. That one is absorbed in thoughts of such management does not mean that he is outside of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. If one rigidly observes the regulative principle of chanting sixteen rounds of the mahā-mantra every day, his dealings with the material world for the sake of spreading the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement are not different from the spiritual cultivation of Kṛṣṇa consciousness.
Dec 18 1975 Bombay conversations
Dr. Patel: But suppose you had given me a knife to mend the pencil, and I stab somebody with it. So, like that.
Prabhupāda: What is that?
Dr. Patel: You have done a dāna to me, giving your knife to mend my pencil, or some useful work, and I stab somebody with the penknife, so…
Prabhupāda: That is your responsibility.
Dr. Patel: No, but then the dāna that you did was not tamasic. Still, it has ended in tamasic action.
Prabhupāda: Yes, everything. Just like the money. Money is not material. You can spend it for constructing a temple for Kṛṣṇa. Then it is not material; it is spiritual. Everything originally…, nothing is material. But when it is not used for Kṛṣṇa, that is material. Otherwise, īśāvāsyam idaṁ sarvaṁ tena…. tyaktena bhuñjithā [Īśo mantra 1]. If everything is belonging to Kṛṣṇa, how it can be material. He is spirit, so everything belongs to Him, so how it can be material? Material means when Kṛṣṇa’s things are not used for Kṛṣṇa, for oneself, that is material.
Dr. Patel: And that is sin also. Anything which is not…
Prabhupāda: Material anything you do, yajñārthāt karmano’nyatra loko yam. Anything you do, if it is not meant for Kṛṣṇa, then you are criminal, immediately.
Dr. Patel: Sinful activity.
Prabhupāda: Yes. Immediately. To spiritualize everything, Kṛṣṇa says therefore, yat karoṣi yaj juhosi yat tapasyasi dadāsi…. yat kuruṣva mad arpaṇam. Then it is spiritual. Immediately. Karmāny evādhikāras te mā phaleṣu kadācana.
Dr. Patel: Tad-arthaṁ kārma kaunteya.
Prabhupāda: Yes. This is spiritual. Yajñārthāt karma, everything is there. Unless you do it for Kṛṣṇa, everything is material and sinful.
Dr. Patel: That’s a fact. If you are doing work tad-arthaṁ karma, then you become mukta, because there is no, I mean, taking with you anything. Mukta-saṅgaḥ samācara.
Prabhupāda: Yes. Just like government servant, soldiers, they are killing so many; they are not responsible, because he’s doing for the government. Police beats you, but he cannot bring any charge against the police. Another man, if he little slaps, you can bring charge, immediately. That is tad-arthaṁ karma kaunteya. The police and military department, they are doing for the government.
Dr. Patel: [break] …eḥ? Very good discussion we had this morning. And we thank you very much.
