What follows are 10 excerpts from various conversations with Srila Prabhupada about how to live in this wonderful age called Kali yuga. His wisdom and advice is appreciated by those who follow him and try to do what he asks of us. And what does he ask us to do? Become happy, by this advice. 

Hare Krsna your humble servant,

Damaghosa das

—————————- 1) 740312mw.vrn Conversations 354338/530501

Tamala-Krsna: In our centers we are awarding brahmana initiation, second initiation… Prabhupada: No, no. Initiation should go on. Even… You do not understand what I have said, that that is for Vaisnava. A Vaisnava and Visnu… Just like Krsna is Visnu, He’s not human being, but He was acting like human being, similarly, Vaisnava is transcendental. But for proper management of the material world, one should be acting like brahmana, one should be acting like ksatriya. That is required. Just like actually we are doing so. Some of you are preaching, and some of you are cleansing the temple. It does not mean that a sannyasi who is preaching, he is better than that man who is cleansing. The… Their position as Vaisnava is the same. But for the management, one is cleansing, one is seeing the construction, one is going to preach, like that. That should be there. It is not that “Because I have taken sannyasa, therefore I cannot any more do anything.” If need be, he has to act as ksatriya. Or a sudra. It doesn’t matter.

Hrdayananda: Oh. Prabhupada: Doesn’t matter. But manage, for management, this division must be there. Otherwise it will be mismanagement. Yes. A Vaisnava coming to the position of doing the work of a sudra does not mean he has become sudra. He’s Vaisnava. Try to understand this point. Just like in the stage. If you want to play something, one must be king, one must be queen, one must be…, but neither of them king or queen. That is stage play. Similarly to manage things in the material world we have to… Guna, karma. Karma there must be. Therefore the karma should be done, executed, according to quality. ———

2) 740312mw.vrn Conversations 354353/530501 Make a small unit of community and show ideal life, not idle life. Ideal life. .. In India the, the brahmana class, they say, “Oh, I am born in brahmana family. Why shall I do this work?” You see. Therefore the whole society has gone to hell. In your country still, they accept any kind of work. It doesn’t matter. And here, in India, if he happens to be a brahmana, he’ll not take any kind of work. Means… Just like plowing. He’ll not agree. Therefore so much land. The ksatriya is thinking, “I am ksatriya.” The brahmana is thinking, “I am brahmana.” And the land is lying fallow. There is no production. He will go to the office and fight with the pen as a ksatriya. And instead of studying Vedas, he’ll study the rules and regulations given by the office. But he’ll not come to plow. Therefore this scarcity of food. He’ll go to a mill to work as ordinary laborer. (Hindi) He’ll not come. So much land we see lying unutilized. And they’re crying for grain. Why? The same example.

I was writing that in New York City, the whole city is full of dirty things, garbage, for want of cleaners, and you go to the Central Park, you’ll find so many hippies are lying down idle. Atreya-rsi: Unemployment. Prabhupada: Unem… Not employment. They’ll not work. That means mismanagement. Why they should remain down? Why they should remain without any employment? But the government is not doing that. 3) Prabhupada: A child does not want to go to school, but it is the duty of the parent to send him to the school by some way or other. So that is government’s duty, that a man should be employed according to his capacity. There should be no unemployment. That is very dangerous position of the society. Now this unemployment question is very strong all over the world. They’ll plan that “This government is not good. That system is not good. He’s not good.” And he’ll do nothing. He’ll personally do nothing. Just like the hippies, they criticize everyone, but he’ll not do anything. It is all… These descriptions are there in the Srimad-Bhagavatam.

4) 740314mw.vrn Conversations 354526/530501 Prabhupada: First of all varna. And asrama, then, when the varna is perfectly in order, then asrama. Asrama is specially meant for spiritual advancement, and varna is general division. It must be there in the human society, or they’re on the animals. If varna is not there, then this is a society of animal. And when the varna is working perfectly, then we give them asrama. Varnasrama. That is later on. Hrdayananda: First they should be taught a skill. Prabhupada: Yes. First of all, the whole society must be divided into four varnas. Otherwise, there will be chaotic condition. That is what is the position now. What is he, what he has to do, one does not know. And there are so many unemployment. But if you organize the society into varnas, there will be no question of unemployment. Hrdayananda: But from the very beginning there should be taught Bhagavad-gita and… Prabhupada: Eh? Hrdayananda: From the very beginning we should teach Bhagavad-gita? Prabhupada: Yes. But our, our position is that we are above varnasrama. But for management or ideal society, we are introducing this. We, so far we are concerned, Krsna conscious men, we are above varnasrama. But to show the people that we are not escaping, we can…

5) 740314mw.vrn Conversations 354544/530501 Prabhupada: What is the difficulty? If I teach you how to cook, is it very difficult? Satsvarupa: Yes, we have to… No, we have to learn, though. Prabhupada: Then similarly, like that. Like that. I am doing that. I am teaching how to mop the floor. Satsvarupa: Then it becomes easy. Prabhupada: But I must know everything because I am a teacher. Hrdayananda: So, for example, if I become a teacher at varnasrama, say, the first teacher at the varnasrama college, then I have to also become expert at how to fight, how to… Prabhupada: Not all of you, but some of you must be, must learn the art of fighting also. But in a practical you are not going to fight. If required, you can fight. I say that we are above all these varnasrama, but we must train others or ourself also for material activities, everything, under these divisions. Visnujana: For example, in New Vrindaban we have brahmanas that are very expert at tilling the soil and taking care of cows. Prabhupada: Yes. Visnujana: And they could travel around and teach others how to do that as well. Prabhupada: Yes. That’s right. He is brahmana, but he’s teaching how to take care of the cows and ploughing. Hrdayananda: It’s not that one teacher has to teach everything. Prabhupada: No, no. Hrdayananda: Oh, I see. So a brahmana teacher should become expert in a particular subject and then teach that. Prabhupada: Yes. Hrdayananda: Oh. It’s very exciting, Prabhupada, because all the, at the present time in the… Prabhupada: No, the thing is that actually, at the present moment, they are sudras or less than sudras. They are not human beings. The whole population of the world. It doesn’t matter whether it is western or eastern. That is the position. So unless they are trained up, so the society’s already in chaos, and it will go on still more in chaos, chaos. It will be hell. How people will live? And these rascals are being elected as government men, and they’re only making budget how to tax. So one side, there is no rain; one side, there is no rice, especially in India; and one side, heavy tax. So they’ll be all confused.

They have already become confused. So in the confusion state it will be very difficult to make them Krsna conscious. Therefore preliminary help should be given.

6) Prabhupada: You should remain always sannyasi within. Outwardly, for others’ convenience, you may do something. Similarly, we are accepting this varnasrama. We are not varnasrama; we are above varnasrama. But to give others facility to come to the stage of Krsna consciousness, this program must be done.

7) 740314mw.vrn Conversations 354632/530501 Prabhupada: Yes. This preaching is also required, to make the groundwork. Because nobody’s taking care. Just like some of the devotees, great devotees, they took the profession of becoming thief. They, in South India, it was done so. They took the profession of becoming thief. So a devotee is a thief? But he took. They took it. Because nobody was paying.[to build a Vishnu temple] So they organized a plundering party. “Plunder all these big men.” Just like the politicians do. There is history. Yes. So even up to the point to become a thief, devotees took it [this we should not imitate] Yes. And the gopis, even up to the point of becoming prostitute–for Krsna. So for Krsna’s sake we have to accept any nonsense type of business.

Or on the highest grade. Anything. But for Krsna we have to do that. Hrdayananda: So, Prabhupada, in our temples, we have so many devotees. Should the devotees…? Prabhupada: They should be engaged. Hrdayananda: Should they be trained in a particular…? Prabhupada: Yes. Those who are not able to preach or to do other things, they must go to the plough department, agriculture. Hrdayananda: Those who cannot preach. Prabhupada: Yes. Those who are less educated, not very much expert in preaching, they must be acting as ksatriya or vaisya, or as sudra. Hrdayananda: And sometimes… Prabhupada: :Not he’s sudra. Always remember that. But he has to act to fulfill the, fill up the gap. Proxy.

Hrdayananda: So we should encourage people, young people, young students to come to our college. Prabhupada: They’ll automatically come if you are ideal. Because they are being forced to poverty. So when there is a question of poverty, they’ll come. Hrdayananda: Room and board and training. Prabhupada: Yes. This poverty. Why there is poverty? Because they are not producing food. Everyone wants so-called comfortable life. So-called education. Sitting idle in the table and chair, and talking all gossips, nonsense, and sleeping. They have been trained up in this way, sudra.

8) 740314mw.vrn Conversations 354648/530501 ..But the human being, this human form of body is meant for taking training. So if they are not properly trained up, they remain animals and the whole society in chaos and confusion. That’s all. (break) …moment, the human society’s so degraded that even we are walking, this is also risky. This is also… Gradually, it is becoming. Just like in our New York… That Berkeley? Berkeley? No. Brooklyn. It is difficult to walk due to the Negroes. They immediately: “Whatever you have got, give me.” There are so many incidents. In such city as New York there is always danger like that. If somebody kills you, nobody will take care of you. The human society has become… [an incident exactly what he describes here just happened in NYC where a hundred people walked right by somebody who just got stabbed in a mugging-it was all on video for the world to see] And in India still, they are not so degraded. You see. Even at night you can safely walk on the street. But in Europe, America, you cannot with confidence walk alone in the big, big streets.

So human being has become so degraded. Less than animals. They can attack you. Just like in the forest any ferocious animal can attack you at any minute. The whole big, big cities have become like that. (break) …

9) 740315mw.vrn Conversations 354690/530501 Prabhupada: “Why you are sitting idly, no employment? Come on to the field! Take this plow! Take this bull. Go on working. Why you are sitting idly?” This is Krsna consciousness movement. Nobody should be allowed to sit down and sleep. They must find out some employment, either work as brahmana or as a ksatriya or as a vaisya. Why there should be unemployment? The same example. Just like I am, this body is working. The leg is working, hand is working, brain is working, belly is working. Why there should be unemployment? You just stop this unemployment, you will see the whole world is peaceful. There is no complaint. And they’ll very happily chant Hare Krsna. Hm? Nobody’s working in this field. They’re all drawn to the cities to work in the factory. Condemned civilization. That communist emblem, what is that? Devotees: Hammer and sickle. Prabhupada: Yes. That is good. Indian: Yeah, good. Prabhupada: But no hammer. Only this… What is called? Devotees: Sickle. Prabhupada: No hammer. That will be our emblem. Only sickle. Not hammer. The hammer has hammered the whole human civilization. So just make a counter-emblem. The communists will appreciate. Devotee: Sickle and tilaka. Prabhupada: Eh? Devotee: A sickle, and then a tilaka. Prabhupada: Yes, that is good idea. 1

0) 740528mw.rom Conversations 363655/530501

This is all described. First of all, the first defect is that you are eternal spirit soul. Why you should be entangled with this material body? That is the first fault. That is anartha. I am spirit soul. Why shall I accept this material body? That is my basic principle of unwanted things. And to make solution how to get out of this material entanglement. And that is… Tyaktva deham punar janma naiti. After leaving this body, now this is the last, and then I am not coming to this material world…This is civilization. Not that “I am now human being; I shall become demigod. Or I am dog, I shall become human being.”

The karmis, they are thinking this is advancement. This is not advancement. Real advancement: no more accepting any material body. That is the real advancement. Just finish. This sense can come in human form of life, that “I have suffered so much. I have come through so many species of life. Now I have got sense.” So the reply is there that mam upetya kaunteya duhkhalayam asasvatam napnuvanti: “Anyone who comes to Me, he does not come again to this miserable condition of material existence.” We should take advantage of this. That is human civilization. What is this human civilization? Jumping like dog, in a motorcar, that’s all. This is not civilization. This is dog civilization, that’s all. And actually what benefit they have derived? They are not satisfied. One man has got this car, and next year another car, another car. And the car manufacturer also giving fashion. “This is 1974 edition, this is 1975 edition.” And they are earning money with hard labor. “All right, get a motorcar.” And again, next year change. What is this civilization? No satisfaction. They do not know where is the point of satisfaction. It is dog civilization.

Yogesvara: Srila Prabhupada, the way you’ve been describing our solutions to the problems of the world, they seem to be on two levels. One is the extended solution, that is to say, the ultimate solution of Krsna conscious. Prabhupada: No, there is no question of extended. You keep yourself in a limited solution. And then, when it is appreciated it will be automatically extended. You don’t touch the extended. You become ideal civilized man. Others will follow. Yogesvara: Well, for example, ultimately, we want to live locally. These cities are not necessary. Prabhupada: No, you make the best use of a bad bargain. We shall depend more… Just like in New Vrindaban. They are coming to the city for preaching. So not absolutely we can abstain immediately because we have been dependent so long, many, many lives. You cannot. But the ideal should be introduced gradually. And make it perfect more and more and more and more. But there is possibility. Possibility if you live locally and make your arrangement, you get your foods… The real necessity is, bodily necessity is, eating, sleeping, mating and defending. This is necessity. So if you can eat locally, you can sleep locally, you can have your sex life also locally and you can defend locally, then what is the wrong? These are the necessities. We are not stopping this. We are not stopping, “No more sex life.” That is nonsense, another nonsense. You must have. Marry. That’s all. So you can marry locally and live.

Where is the difficulty? Defend. If somebody comes to attack, there must be men to defend. And eating and sleeping. Where is your difficulty? Manage locally, as far as- possible. After all, these are the necessities of body. So it can be solved locally. Is it impossible? To solve the bodily necessities? What do you think? Is it impossible? Satsvarupa: No, it’s very simple. Prabhupada: Then do it. Do it. Set example perfectly.

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CONCLUSIONS/SUMMARY TO THE ABOVE STATEMENTS BY SRILA PRABHUPADA 1) A Vaisnava can do anything or any duty, but he still is not involved within the material system of Varnashrama Dharma.

2) Make a small community and show ideal life. In this age the “brahmanas” will go to an office and study the office rules instead of the Vedas , and a “ksatriya” will fight with a pen instead of weapons. But take up the “plow” and grow food the real and most basic necessity-that they will not do. They prefer unemployement instead, meanwhile so much vacant land lies dormant for want of those will till mother earth for their basic necessities of life.

3) “Kalau sudra sambhava”-hippie mentality means to criticize all, and do nothing personally.

4) First thing is establish Varnas-brahmans, ksatriya, vaisya and sudra duties as clearly defined. Once Society is materially organized, and there is no unemployement as a result, then there is hope for them to understand spiritual values.

5) Without Varnashrama it is a confused state of affairs So show by example how to live simply.Once this is done, then chanting comes very nicely and easily.

6) Always remain inwardly a sannyasi (or Vaisnava), but outwardly we can do any or all duties.

7) Devotees can do anything to please Lord Vishnu-even becomming thieves . This example is the Alvars of Southern India when they couldnt get the Kings to donate for the proposed Vishnu temple so they actually organized a band of thieves and killers and literally took the money from the reluctant Kings. But ONLY pure devotees can do this-not conditioned souls acting like devotees. As a side point, where is the precedent in Sastra for THIS Vaisnava activity shown? Nowhere-yet some will still criticize Srila Prabhupada because he did so many things that were without precedent. A final point is that if one does not or cannot preach then they should go to the plough dept. And there is no shame here either, since it would be done for Vishnu, so a Vaisnava activity. To grow ones own food is actually glorious.

8) Human life is for being trained up how to act as Vaisnava. Otherwise humans are only animals. He cites NYC as dangerous to even walk down any street. And we all saw this on youtube last week where a man was stabbed and hundreds of people walked right on by.

9) The new emblem for Vaisnavas–Sickle and Tilak !!

10) The very first ANARTHA–our human body !! It is not needed. This is so wonderful preaching by Srila Prabhupada. So if this body is unwanted and unneeded, why try to improve any of its conditons? Good statement by Prabhupada. Better to finish our business up here by living as simply as possibly, and go back to Godhead. He also told us to become ideal persons and Vaisnavas, then everything will expand from this point. Another good point was telling the devotees to go FROM New Vrndavna INTO the cities to preach, not the other way around. Our base , ideally and eventually, should be the countryside. And he admits this will take some time-maybe lifetimes for some.