Hare Krsna-Below is a very nice morning walk conversation wtih Srila Prabhupada where he kindly explains the position of human beings in this present degraded age. They are so brain dead it is not possible for them to appreciate actual religion, or what to speak take it up as responsible human beings.
And even among those who do take up Dharma, we find so many who also do not properly understand Srila Prabhupada Siddhanta.
damaghosa das
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Aug 12 1975 Paris
Brahmānanda: They will say that suffering is a part of life, that suffering is a necessary part of life.
Prabhupāda: Then why you are trying to get out of suffering? Suffer, rascal. Why you are trying to get out of suffering. Why?
Brahmānanda: Because they don’t like it. But they say you have to accept it.
Prabhupāda: Then, if you say… If it is a part of life, why don’t you like it? Suffer. Go on suffering. You are accepting as part of life because you cannot get out of it. “The grapes are sour.” That’s all. After jumping, jumping, jumping, when it is not available, “Oh, the grapes are sour. It is no… There is no necessity.” Jackal’s philosophy.
Bhagavān: They will surrender to the misery, but they will not surrender to Kṛṣṇa.
Prabhupāda: That is their disease.
Yogeśvara: Śrīla Prabhupāda? When you speak of taking care of your responsibilities for Kṛṣṇa, doesn’t that also have a material aspect to it? Just like a parent must bring up the child, must take care of the child, train it to read, and to write, and so on…
Prabhupāda: Yes. That means we are taking care of the children—why? Just to make them Kṛṣṇa conscious, not to become cats and dogs. This is our responsibility. That is Kṛṣṇa conscious, that “Here is a child. He may be saved to make him Kṛṣṇa conscious.” Therefore we are taking so much care in the Dallas. We are not irresponsible. But our responsibility is there, that “Make him Kṛṣṇa conscious.”
Yogeśvara: So when we say that we have finished all responsibility by surrendering to Kṛṣṇa, that doesn’t mean that we’ve abandoned execution of duty, does it?
Prabhupāda: No, no. Who says that?
Yogeśvara: Well, some people say that “You’ve taken to Kṛṣṇa consciousness and now you have given up all of your…”
Prabhupāda: It is not duty? This is the main duty. This is the main duty. Kṛṣṇa says, sarva-dharmān parityajya mām [Bg. 18.66]. We have taken responsibility for Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement. We are doing. Why we are traveling all over the world thrice in a year? We have taken the responsibility. Otherwise, who is, an old man, he’ll take such responsibility? That is a greater responsibility. When you become a big officer of the government, it means you overburdened with responsibility, not this flickering resp… Here the material respons… means it has no use. You are simply wasting time. And here is real responsibility and real life. That I explained to that lady, that “Even if you take respons… what can you do? You cannot do anything.” The example I gave, that “You have taken responsibility for your son’s disease. He is suffering. You have brought good physician, you have brought good medicine, everything, but what can you do? In spite of your all responsibility, your son dies. Then where is the value of your responsibility?” Do you think simply by bringing a nice physician and nice medicine you can save your son? Then where is your responsibility? Actually you cannot do anything, so what is the use of saying that “I am responsible”? You cannot do anything. Andhā yathāndhair upanīyamānāḥ [SB 7.5.31]. If one blind man says, “I’ll take responsibility. You all blind men follow me,” so what is the use of this responsibility? He will die and others will die. So what is the meaning of this responsibility? Even if you take as very responsible man, you cannot do anything. That is not possible. You cannot save. Who wants that “My son dies, my father dies, and I’ll take them and…”? But one little disease will finish your responsibi… Every nation is taken, all the leaders, and as soon as there is war, thousands and thousands will be killed. What responsibility? As soon as one atom bomb is dropped, then is many thousand will be finished. Then what is your responsibility? You cannot give. You can make a statue: “These soldiers died. These soldiers died.” That’s all. But you could not save them from death.
Mādhavānanda: Then they would say that we also must die. Everyone must die.
Prabhupāda: Yes, we die—to live forever. Tyaktvā dehaṁ punar janma naiti [Bg. 4.9]. We die for that. This is the last death.
Mādhavānanda: Then they will say, “How do we know?”
Prabhupāda: That… You are rascal. How you will know? You come to my feet; then you will know. (laughter)
Brahmānanda: To your feet or to your boot.
Prabhupāda: Yes, provided there is boot. Yes. Therefore there is a Vedic injunction, tad-vij�ānārthaṁ sa gurum evābhigacchet: [MU 1.2.12] “Because you are fool, rascal, you must approach a guru.” That is the way. Sa gurum eva, eva, “certainly,” abhigacchet, “must go.” Otherwise there is no possibility. You remain as foolish forever and suffer.
Yogeśvara: There is one German historian named Frederick Engels.
Prabhupāda: Yes, he is another foolish. (laughter) I can…
Yogeśvara: He wrote against Vedic culture by saying that even the brāhmaṇas of Vedic culture were not responsible because the culture failed. It ended at a certain period in history. It was simply exploitation of the workers under the guise of religion. That was his argument.
Prabhupāda: Yes.
Brahmānanda: That was not the fault of the
Prabhupāda: The argument of foolish man—who is caring? Vedic culture when finished?
Yogeśvara: [break] …five thousand years ago.
Prabhupāda: Five thousand years ago. And Caitanya Mahāprabhu, five hundred years, how He accepted if it is finished? He is more than Caitanya Mahāprabhu, this rascal?
Yogeśvara: Haribol.
Bhagavān: They are willing to take so many material risks, but they are not willing to try spiritual life.
Prabhupāda: That is their fault. That is their foolishness. Mūḍho nābhijānāti mām ebhyaḥ param avyayam. Therefore they are called mūḍhas.
Yogeśvara: How would we define the word responsibility in Kṛṣṇa consciousness?
Prabhupāda: Responsibility is that you have got this human form of life. Realize God. This is your responsibility. Otherwise you are finished. Three words: “You have got this human form of life. Your only responsibility is to understand God. This is your responsibility.” That is Vedic culture. For understanding God, many, many kings, many, many saints, they left everything and went to the forest to realize God. That is Vedic culture. Bhārata Mahārāja, under whose name India is called Bhāratavarṣa, he was the emperor of this planet, and at the age of twenty-four years he left everything to realize God. This is Vedic culture. Caitanya Mahāprabhu, His position was very, very nice, as a gṛhastha—a nice beautiful wife, affectionate mother, good influence, brāhmaṇa family, learned scholar, everything first class. He left everything just to show us. He was God Himself, but to set the example, tyaktvā sudustyaja-surepsita-rajya-lakṣmīm [SB 11.5.34]. He gave up a kingdom of fortune which is aspired by the demigods. Such a nice life, such a nice family, but He gave up. Tyaktvā sudustyaja-surepsita-rājya-lakṣmīm dharmistha arya… [SB 11.5.34]. Just to teach us the process of realizing God. This is Vedic system. [break] Somebody may not push. [break] …water? No. Very deep?
Dhana�jaya: Not so much here. [break]
Prabhupāda: When you ask me… What is that, definition of respons…? So you understand what is the responsibility?
Yogeśvara: We have this human life. We must realize God.
Prabhupāda: This, three words. Make the rascals understand it. We speak the whole responsibility in three words. Is it complete or not?
Brahmānanda: Yes.
Prabhupāda: Or you have got any protest? This is the only…
Bhagavān: Let Śrīla Prabhupāda go through.
Brahmānanda: They have not taken God realization as a responsibility.
Prabhupāda: That is their misfortune.
Brahmānanda: Simply as a pastime.
Prabhupāda: That is their ignorance. They do not know what is respons…
Mādhavānanda: They would say that so many may have taken God realization as responsibility, following some Christ… church or something like that, but they are also frustrated.
Prabhupāda: We are not frustrated. Eh? We are not frustrated. Are we frustrated? Then? How the rascal says, “frustrated”? If you take false thing, then you will be frustrated. If you take real path of God realization, there is no question of frustration. It is ānandāmbudhi-vardhanam, increasing pleasure, no frustration.
Mādhavānanda: Then they say that no one has real information of God.
Prabhupāda: You have no, rascal, because you are rascal. I have got. You just wash my feet, and I will inform you.
Devotees: Jaya. Haribol. [break]
Prabhupāda: …not know how to swim; that does not mean I do not. Is it a very honest statement? Oh, nobody can swim because he does not know. But if anyone knows how to swim, then why do you say that no one has done? You do not know. You accept that.
Mādhavānanda: Everyone thinks in terms of their own relative position.
Prabhupāda: Yes. [break] Even an insignificant bird, because he knows swimming, he knows swimming, so he can challenge, and because you do not know swimming, you cannot say like that. Even insignificant bird, just see how nicely he is swimming. He knows the art. [break] ...one, cent percent of the modern people, they do not believe in God, and they do not know what is religion. That is the position. They think, “Religion is sentiment. Anyone can manufacture his own sentiment. There is no God.” This is the position. So we are in fault. “It is folly to be wise where ignorance is bliss.” The whole world is under this conception. Therefore we are at fault. We are preaching God consciousness.
Brahmānanda: Generally they make it difficult for us to preach.
Prabhupāda: Yes.
Brahmānanda: They hinder us in so many ways.
Prabhupāda: Yes.
Brahmānanda: Because they have not realized that we have taken a responsibility. When a man has a responsibility usually he is given some certain facilities to carry out that responsibility.
Prabhupāda: Everyone, cent percent godless, neither they have got intelligence to understand what is God. This is the position.