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In the following purport His Divine Grace A.C.Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada explains the definition and mission of the Krsna consciousness movement. Bhagavata-dharma and krsna-katha are identical. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu wanted everyone to become a guru and preach the instructions of Krsna everywhere from Bhagavad-gita, Srimad-Bhagavatam, the Puranas, Vedanta-sutra and similar Vedic literatures. Aryans, who are advanced in civilization, follow bhagavata-dharma. Prahlada Maharaja, although merely a child of five years, recommended: kaumara acaret prajno dharman bhagavatan iha durlabham manusam janma tad apy adhruvam arthadam (SB 7.6.1) Prahlada Maharaja preached bhagavata-dharma among his classmates as soon as an opportunity was afforded by the absence of his teachers from the classroom. He said that from the very beginning of life, from the age of five, children should be instructed about bhagavata-dharma because the human form of life, which is very rarely obtained, is meant for understanding this subject. Bhagavata-dharma means living according to the instructions of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. In Bhagavad-gita we find that the Supreme Lord has arranged human society in four social divisions, namely brahmana, ksatriya, vaisya and sudra. Again, the Puranas and other Vedic literatures set forth four asramas, which are the divisions of spiritual life. Therefore bhagavata-dharma means the varnasrama-dharma of the four social and four spiritual divisions. The members of human society who strictly follow the principles of bhagavata-dharma and live according to the instructions of the Supreme Personality of Godhead are called Aryans or arya. A civilization of Aryans who strictly follow the instructions of the Lord and never deviate from those instructions is perfect. Such civilized men do not discriminate between trees, animals, human beings and other living entities. panditah sama-darsinah: [Bg. 5.18] because they are completely educated in Krsna consciousness, they see all living beings equally. Aryans do not kill even a small plant unnecessarily, not to speak of cutting trees for sense gratification. At the present moment, throughout the world, killing is prominent. Men are killing trees, they are killing animals, and they are killing other human beings also, all for sense gratification. This is not an Aryan civilization. As stated here, sthira-cara-sattva-kadambesv aprthag-dhiyah. The word aprthag-dhiyah indicates that Aryans do not distinguish between lower and higher grades of life. All life should be protected. All living beings have a right to live, even the trees and plants. This is the basic principle of an Aryan civilization. Apart from the lower living entities, those who have come to the platform of human civilization should be divided into a society of brahmanas, ksatriyas, vaisyas and sudras. The brahmanas should follow the instructions of the Supreme Personality of Godhead as stated in Bhagavad-gita and other Vedic literatures. The criterion must be guna and karma. In other words, one should acquire the qualities of a brahmana, ksatriya, vaisya or sudra and act accordingly. This is the civilization accepted by the Aryans. Why do they accept it? They accept it because they are very much eager to satisfy Krsna. This is perfect civilization. Aryans do not deviate from the instructions of Krsna, nor do they have doubts about Krsna, but non-Aryans and other demoniac people fail to follow the instructions of Bhagavad-gita and Srimad-Bhagavatam. This is because they have been trained in sense gratification at the cost of all other living entities. Nunam pramattah kurute vikarma: [SB 5.5.4] their only business is to indulge in all kinds of forbidden activities for sense gratification. Yad indriya-pritaya aprnoti: they deviate in this way because they want to gratify their senses. They have no other occupation or ambition. Their method of civilization is condemned in the previous verse. Kah ksemo nija-parayoh kiyan varthah sva-para-druha dharmena: "What is the meaning of a civilization that kills oneself and others?" This verse, therefore, advises that everyone become a member of the Aryan civilization and accept the instructions of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. One should conduct his social, political and religious affairs according to His instructions. We are spreading the Krsna consciousness movement to try to establish a society the way that Krsna wants it. This is the meaning of Krsna consciousness. We are therefore presenting Bhagavad-gita as it is and kicking out all kinds of mental concoction. Fools and rascals interpret Bhagavad-gita in their own way. When Krsna says, man-mana bhava mad-bhakto mad-yaji mam namaskuru [Bg. 18.65] -- "Always think of Me, become My devotee, worship Me and offer your homage unto Me" -- they comment that it is not Krsna to whom we must surrender. Thus they derive imaginary meanings from Bhagavad-gita. The Krsna consciousness movement, however, strictly follows bhagavata-dharma, the instructions of Bhagavad-gita and Srimad-Bhagavatam for the complete welfare of human society. One who misinterprets Bhagavad-gita, twisting out some meaning for his sense gratification, is a non-Aryan. Therefore commentaries on Bhagavad-gita by such persons should be immediately rejected. One should try to follow Bhagavad-gita as it is. In Bhagavad-gita (12.6-7) Lord Sri Krsna says: ye tu sarvani karmani mayi sannyasya mat-parah ananyenaiva yogena mam dhyayanta upasate tesam aham samuddharta mrtyu-samsara-sagarat bhavami na cirat partha mayy avesita-cetasam "For one who worships Me, giving up all his activities unto Me and being devoted to Me without deviation, engaged in devotional service and always meditating upon Me, who has fixed his mind upon Me, O son of Prtha, for him I am the swift deliverer from the ocean of birth and death." SB 6.16.43 purport

The originator of the yatha mat tatha pat -”all paths lead to the same goal”doctrine is a so-called Indian incarnation. Born in the 19th century, this person proclaimed to become the Supreme God, the cause of all causes and foolish persons lacking mature discrimination believed him. Any sane reasonable man will ask though: “If God is eternal and absolute, how can He ever become God? What was before He became God and who gave birth to such a cheap God?” Only a fool can accept an ordinary man, who is subjected to the laws of nature as God.  Nevertheless the rascal philosophies of these so-called incarnations of God are confusing people until this day. Although completely off from the conclusions of the Vedic scriptures(which are considered to be the top most authority in the matter of India’s rich and deep spiritual knowledge), these twisted nonsense conceptions have actually become the fundamental basis of the Western society's excuse for spiritual life. For example, as a result of the propaganda of such unauthorized yogis and swamis, there's a notion going around suggesting that dogma means to follow one teaching strictly without mixing it with anything else. People who are very much fond of calling themselves "open-minded", "liberal" and so many noble sounding names can be spotted huffing and puffing whenever a bona fide Vedic philosophy is presented to them. The absolute devotion to Krsna, which is the conclusion of Vedic understanding is simply too much to handle. This is however an imperfect definition of dogma. If I say Ottawa is a capital of Canada it is a fact and if someone says: “Why are you so dogmatic? C'mon, Ottawa is also a capital of Japan, Holland and China" he's a fool.  There are so many things we take in a one way fashion on day to day basis, yet we don’t call them dogmatic. In fact, we cannot avoid the one way approach as it is our very nature to look for one way because I am one. I'm not simultaneously you and hundred other people. No. I'm me and I'm individual and no one in the whole universe is exactly like me.  Even a soldier in a uniform is marching in his own specific way and yet externally he might seem to us like a totally brainwashed robot. Therefore whatever I choose can only be one way. Even the "all paths lead to the same goal" slogan is actually one way as the one who teaches it obviously has a preference for it.  The slogan is actually a nonsense because there is a path which says that "not all paths lead to the same goal" (For example there are some people who say that jesus is the only way) One can only wonder how to include this one into the little shall we say a rizzotto of paths? How will it co-exist with the other ones? Because just think about it - if we truly believe the slogan then we should accept that all paths lead to the same goal and not all paths lead to the same goal at the same time.  We would then be a half fanatic and a half liberal. But you cannot be the two at the same time, because individuality means choice. If we dont choose we are not living beings. Unfortunately this is the position of someone who in his scepticism unlimitedly trusting his limited mind voluntarily cuts himself from his own free will and attains the cherished ideal –total neutrality. He ends up like a dead stone. Another point, which I would like to mention, is that although those who preach the so-called all-inclusive slogan want to establish it as superior to any other path, they are hardly telling us anything about where the paths lead to. In other words, they completely avoid the subject of the goal. You might have different path than I do, that's ok, but where are we going? Isn’t that kind of important? There's no point in arguing who's more cool if both of us are going to end up in a ditch, or is there? So far I can understand, there's a suggestion in the air that the goal might be God. What they mean by God though, they choose to keep as a mystery. For the rest of us, it would be worthwhile to understand what we exactly mean by God as the word God has been used very effectively in the past to inflict pain, manipulation and obstruction of individuality, freedom and creativity. It would be worthwhile to verify whether the word God is not used in a similar way in this case as well. Such careful inquiry will distinguish us from foolish fanatics, who accept whatever one says blindly without caution. The desire to misuse the God word in order to force one’s will on others manifests as an attempt to bring the subject of God into relative or limited  platform. It actually ceases to be God at that point, because God is absolute and can never be subjected to the limited conception of an insignificant living entity. We cannot bring God to our limited conception because God is unlimited. Just like the statement Ottawa is a capital of Canada is meant for everyone, similarly the conception of God must be for everyone. God is not a Christian, Jew, Buddhist or Hindu. Sectarian religions have been created by people, but God is totally beyond this. Srila Prabhupada says: So He's not so easy to understand. "Oh, Krsna is born in Mathura. His father is Vasudeva. Oh, He..." No. He's unborn. He's unborn, but I am seeing that He's born. Just like sun is unborn. I am seeing that at five o'clock sun is born in the eastern side of New York City. This is my foolishness. Sun is never born. He's always there. It is my imperfectness that I am seeing that sun is born this hour. Similarly, Krsna is never born. Krsna is just like sun. So as they are, if we want to understand... "Things which are beyond your conception, beyond your expression, beyond your knowledge, don't apply your so-called argument and reason." That is Vedanta study. CC Adi lila 7.107-109 -- San Francisco, February 15, 1967 To our imperfect vision it might appear that the teachings of God are coming from a certain corner of the world, from a certain tradition, but in actuality, just as God, the teachings of God are eternal and have no particular origin. This can be very nicely seen in the Bible which says: “In the beginning there was the Word and that Word was God.” Before God began to create this material world, his Word was already there. That means that even before the material time began to tick, the Word of God existed. If God's Word was created and in actuality God was silent, then God would be a looser, cuz we would be able to do something He couldn't-talk. Eternity however is not the only aspect of God. God is also complete. In other words, there's nothing beyond Him. When we speak of ourselves, we are limited to our body. I cannot feel what you feel in your body and you cannot feel what I feel in mine, but God is all bodies and God is us also. God is everything and therefore He is also His word. Because the Word of God was already here before the manifestation of duality of the material universe, there is no difference between God and His Word. In the absolute platform –there’s no cause and consequence like here. Now coming back to the pathways, if the goal is God as some people suggest, there's no question of actually walking any path since God is everywhere, neither there's a question of different paths since God is everything. We simply have to first of all understand what God actually means! God is already here and the whole point is to realize God or not. Freedom means to choose one of the two-to realize Him by following His word or carry on with our dogmatic thinking.  Because God is for everyone, naturally not to choose realizing God means to isolate oneself from God and this is the real definition of a dogma. Dogma is a false attempt to make a division from God with the purpose to create a situation where one can take His position. By making up one’s subjective idea of God, we have to fight with other subjective ideas for supremacy –God-competitors.  In such mentality, one even sees the genuine understanding of God which applies to everyone as subjective and thus commits a mistake of projecting his dogmatic thinking on the teachers of the true teachings of God. What is funny is that because God or Krsna allows free will, such an illusion is also God. It is God and yet not God at the same time. By Me, in My unmanifested form, this entire universe is pervaded. All beings are in Me, but I am not in them. Bg 9.4 It is not God for the living entity who wants to use God for his selfish purposes and it is God for an intelligent man who can see how God is skillfully cheating the living entity by manifesting such an illusion of Himself to fulfill the entity’s desire to forget God more and more. I am never manifest to the foolish and unintelligent. For them I am covered by My eternal creative potency [yoga-maya]; and so the deluded world knows Me not, who am unborn and infallible. Bg 7.25 Krsna consciousness is therefore the ability to see along with the oneness of all of us with God, also our difference. Yes, I am a tiny god making my silly little satellite, but Krsna is the God, who is flying innumerable planets and universes. This rare consciousness can be developed by the dogmatic too if he simply opens up to the idea that he might be dogmatic. The ability to question one’s understanding of God is closely interrelated with how much we understand that we’re not all-knowing. In other words, an open person knows that his so-called opinion conditioned by so many factors in his life is not shaped according to his freedom but it is influenced by circumstances into which he’s so to speak thrown into and against his will. The bewildered spirit soul, under the influence of the three modes of material nature, thinks himself to be the doer of activities, which are in actuality carried out by nature. Bg 3.27 No one decides where he takes his birth, yet since childhood our consciousness, opinions, dreams and so-called originality is being shaped according to what our parents tell us, according to country where we’re born, social group, etc. etc. Therefore an open minded person knows very well that his opinion is as original as for example a DJ spinning records in a club is considered to be a composer. In other words, an open person is not taking his so-called opinion that seriously. He actually laughs about it.  He’s not burdened by the false ego of knowing everything. He's like: “What? Krsna? Lol. Why not?  What do I know? I’m completely brainwashed anyway.” Although appearing as a looser to so-called wise, such an attitude is actually a proof of his great intelligence. Another quality of an open person is that he understands his inability to fight the nature. He understands that even if he becomes the most intelligent and gets to know all the different paths in the universe, it’s all ultimately futile because he has to die. We may mention a Greek mythological character called Sizifos in this connection. Sizifos is condemned to push a big stone up the hill and then seeing it rolling down, he has to push it up again for eternity. Our life is just like that. We try for so many things like being famous, honored, successful, more creative, etc. yet at the end we all fail to grasp the meaning of it all when death comes and puts all our efforts into an absurd context. It is for this reason an open minded person is ready to perhaps explore whether there is another purpose of life than just illusory happiness of  “I’m not thinking of the death problem right now” . What is he opening up to though? He’s opening to something more. You can never open up to something less, because opening up to something less is called limitation. It is only for this reason that an open minded person can accept that there might be knowledge or opinion which is superior to his. You can only open to something more than you. This is not anything special. We do it every day. It is called “the process of acquiring knowledge” or shortly –learning. Let’s be honest, if we never opened up to the possibility that the teacher in school might actually know the ABC better than us we would hardly be writing and reading right now as we’re doing right now. Those who never opened up to such an idea for some reason or other can’t read what I just wrote. In other words, if one does not open up, he must remain in ignorance. When discussing God or Krsna, the same applies. Just like any other taboo, you have to be open to discuss it, otherwise you cannot understand it. In other words, the whole realization of God is directly depending on whether you want to use your free will to do it or not. That’s why it is not a dogma. The "non-fanatical" even if they found the correct path to God would still not accept it if it didn’t tally with their subjective conception of what the right path is supposed to be. “If there’s God, he must be like this, like that exactly as I want, otherwise let Him go to hell” –they say. We can only ask then in what way they want to understand the Absolute? This leaves us with nothing else to think but that they actually do not want to understand God, but want to stay in their illusion of being God themselves. The only reason why they are discussing it is because the subject matter of God is perhaps a threat to their illusion of already knowing God and the genuine understanding of God can only disturb their hallucinatory trip of being open minded. Unable to stand up to the challenge and face the opposing arguments against his nonsensical conception like a man, the dogmatic will try to attack the genuine and logical understanding of God by finding irrelevant reasons for not opening up. It is just like a child who refuses to accept the authority of a teacher who wants to teach him ABC. The child because of his ignorance of the ABC has no power to understand whether the teacher really knows the ABC or not and therefore his reasoning as to why not accept what the teacher says will consist of non-related so-called flaws of the teacher. For example he might say that the teacher looks ugly, or he has stinky breath, or is too old as though his beauty, his breath, his age or let's be a little spicy his race, sexual orientation, religion or nationality were the criteria to determine whether he knows the ABC or not. The truth is however, that the child actually does not want to study because of laziness. The dogmatic will also try to point out some so-called flaws about the proponents of the genuine understanding of God in order to evoke sympathy from a limited circle of similarly superficial and close minded people without ever touching the point of why a particular teaching cannot be a genuine and scientific answer to the question of God for all to benefit from in the first place. When a person’s viewpoint is not accepted on its own merit, but due to the fact that he’s black, we call it racism. When a person’s viewpoint is not accepted, due to the fact that he belongs to a particular religious group, whose practices are “weird”, “unusual” or “Hindu” we call it religious discrimination. I find it quite admirable that such people do not fear exposing their narrow minded mentality so nonchalantly for everyone to see especially in the context of today’s open minded society when most of us are not that much fond of fascists anymore. An honest admittance however is undoubtedly a good sign, but the person should now seriously take up the study of opening up. Unless he takes up the positive alternative, simple lamentation about how biased he is is not going to have any practical result. If he agrees, then we can point him out to the Bhagavad-gita, which gives a very nice proposal of how to resolve the conflict of many different paths. Krsna says: yavan artha udapane sarvatah samplutodake tavan sarvesu vedesu brahmanasya vijanatah All purposes that are served by the small pond can at once be served by the great reservoirs of water. Similarly, all the purposes of the Vedas can be served to one who knows the purpose behind them. Bg 2.46 The word Veda means knowledge. Knowledge is for everyone and there are many books of knowledge. In the West, there is the Bible, in the Middle East it is the Koran. These are all Vedas. In India the book of knowledge is the Bhagavadgita. In the 15th chapter of this great literature, Krsna, who is considered to be the Supreme Godhead by all the stalwart acaryas, or saintly teachers, who shaped the India’s culture for thousands of years, says: "By all the Vedas am I to be known" Therefore if we know God, who is the ultimate aim of all knowledge, we will be able to understand all different books of knowledge and we do not even necessarily have to study all of them in minute detail. If however, we do not come to the understanding of God, never mind how many different paths we have researched, our endeavor has been wasted. We are still limited. It is just like watering a root of a tree. If we water the root, automatically all its branches and leaves are nourished. Without watering the root, no matter how many branches and leaves we water, the tree dries out. To understand God is the only way how to be truly open minded. We, the Krsna consciousness movement, are presenting God here: Krsna, along with His form, His activities, His associates, His abode. If you’re looking for God and unless you have a more thorough description of God, why don't you open up to Krsna? Prof. Hopkins: People, various people read your writings, your commentaries, and they, they react to them sometimes with reservation because they see your writings as dogmatic. Prabhupada: Hm? Prof. Hopkins: They see your writings... Some people see your writings as dogmatic. Prabhupada: Or "He is dogmatic." (laughter) Prof. Hopkins: They say, "He is dogmatic," okay. Do you feel that you are dogmatic or... Prabhupada: No. You find out any passage in my book dogmatic, then you say dogmatic. Any page you open, where is dogmatic? Prof. Hopkins: Well, dogmatic, to call someone else dogmatic means to start with that you don't agree with what they are saying. If I agree with you and you... Prabhupada: No, you have to agree. You open any passage of my book. Prof. Hopkins: Well, some people would say to insist that Krsna is the only way, that Krsna consciousness is the only way... Prabhupada: No, no. The only thing that God is one, that you have to accept. God cannot be many. If God has got competitor, then he is not God. Prof. Hopkins: Okay. Prabhupada: So if we don't admit Krsna is the only God then you present who is only God. You say me. Either you have to learn from me or I have to learn from you. Prof. Hopkins: So to insist... Prabhupada: If you do not know what is God you cannot say, "Krsna is not God." As soon as you say, "Krsna is not God," that means you must know what is God. You present. But if you cannot present, you say, "No, I do not know God," then you cannot say, "Krsna is not God." Prof. Hopkins: All right. Prabhupada: So they are dogmatic. Dogmatically they are saying, "Krsna is not God." He does not know God and he says, "Krsna is not God." So what is this nonsense? You do not know God. How you can say Krsna is not God? Prof. Hopkins: I agree with you, I just... I want to get... (laughter) If we're dogmatic, we're on the same side. Prabhupada: We are not dogmatic. Those people who are talking us as dogmatic, he is dogmatic. He does not know God, and when God is presented before him, he says, "No, He is not God." That is dogmatic. Conversation with Professor Hopkins -- July 13, 1975, Philadelphia

The following is a verse and a purport from the translation of the Srimad Bhagavatam by His Divine Grace A.C.Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. kah ksemo nija-parayoh kiyan varthah sva-para-druha dharmena sva-drohat tava kopah para-sampidaya ca tathadharmah TRANSLATION How can a religious system that produces envy of one's self and of others be beneficial for oneself and for them? What is auspicious about following such a system? What is actually to be gained? By causing pain to one's own self due to self-envy and by causing pain to others, one arouses Your anger and practices irreligion. PURPORT Any religious system but the process of bhagavata-dharma-service as an eternal servant of the Supreme Personality of Godhead -- is a system of envy of one's own self and of others. For example, there are many systems of religion in which animal sacrifices are recommended. Such animal sacrifices are inauspicious both for the performer and for the animal. Although one is sometimes permitted to sacrifice an animal before the goddess Kali and eat it instead of purchasing meat from a slaughterhouse, permission to eat meat after a sacrifice in the presence of the goddess Kali is not the order of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. It is simply a concession for the miserable person who will not give up eating meat. It is meant to restrict his desire for unrestricted meat-eating. Such a religious system is condemned. Therefore Krsna says, sarva-dharman parityajya mam ekam saranam vraja: [Bg. 18.66] "Give up all other duties and surrender unto Me." That is the last word in religion. One may argue that the sacrifice of animals is recommended in the Vedas. This recommendation, however, is a restriction. Without Vedic restrictions on the purchase of meat, people will purchase meat from the market, which will be overflooded with meat shops, and slaughterhouses will increase. To restrict this, sometimes the Vedas say that one may eat meat after sacrificing an insignificant animal like a goat before the goddess Kali. In any case, a system of religion in which animal sacrifices are recommended is inauspicious for those who perform the sacrifices and for the animals. Envious persons who perform ostentatious animal sacrifices are condemned in Bhagavad-gita (16.17) as follows: atma-sambhavitah stabdha dhana-mana-madanvitah yajante nama-yajnais te dambhenavidhi-purvakam "Self-complacent and always impudent, deluded by wealth and false prestige, they sometimes perform sacrifices in name only without following any rules or regulations." Sometimes animal sacrifices are performed very gorgeously with grand arrangements for worshiping the goddess Kali, but such festivals, although performed in the name of yajna, are not actually yajna, for yajna means to satisfy the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Therefore it is recommended that in this age specifically, yajnaih sankirtana-prayair yajanti hi sumedhasah: [SB 11.5.32] those who have good intelligence satisfy the yajna-purusa, Visnu, by chanting the Hare Krsna mantra. Envious persons, however, are condemned by the Supreme Personality of Godhead as follows: ahankaram balam darpam kamam krodham ca samsritah mam atma-para-dehesu pradvisanto 'bhyasuyakah tan aham dvisatah kruran samsaresu naradhaman ksipamy ajasram asubhan asurisv eva yonisu "Bewildered by false ego, strength, pride, lust and anger, the demon becomes envious of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is situated in his own body and in the bodies of others, and blasphemes against the real religion. Those who are envious and mischievous, who are the lowest among men, are cast by Me into the ocean of material existence, into various demoniac species of life." (Bg. 16.18-19) These persons are condemned by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, as indicated by the words tava kopah. A person who commits murder is envious of himself and also the person he has killed, for the result of committing murder is that he will be arrested and hanged. If one transgresses the laws of a man-made government, he may escape being killed by the state, but one cannot escape the laws of God. A killer of any animal must be killed in his next life by the same animal. This is the law of nature. One must follow the instructions of the Supreme Lord: sarva-dharman parityajya mam ekam saranam vraja [Bg. 18.66]. If one follows any other system of religion, he is subject to punishment by the Supreme Personality of Godhead in many different ways. Therefore if one follows a concocted system of religion, he is envious not only of others but also of himself. Consequently his system of religion is useless. Srimad-Bhagavatam (1.2.8) says: dharmah svanusthitah pumsam visvaksena-kathasu yah notpadayed yadi ratim srama eva hi kevalam "Duties (dharma) executed by men, regardless of occupation, are only so much useless labor if they do not provoke attraction for the message of the Supreme Lord." Following a system of religion that does not awaken one's Krsna consciousness, or God consciousness, is merely a waste of time and labor. SB 6.16.42 purport

There have been a few quotes of Srila Prabhupada related to vaccines and modern medical science circulating lately, but we have not seen this one yet on any website. Srila Prabhupada explains the principle of Ayurveda, where the germs are not the cause of a disease, but its after effect. Something to think about it in our present situation. Devotee: Sometimes infections the germs are attacking the body. [indistinct] various tiny germs are attacking the body. Prabhupada: Ah. Devotee: Is that really what is taking place -- germs are attacking the body? [indistinct] [break] Prabhupada: Ayurvedic principles, the germ is not attack. When you go... When you develop a certain type of disease the germs grows and disease becomes visible when your internal function are not in order. The example is just like if you make a place filthy you'll find so many germs in place. Devotee: Yes. Prabhupada: ...not the germs are coming and make it filthy. Svarupa Damodara: Well the germs are already there but they find a suitable food in to grow in a... Prabhupada: Just like in a bed, bed bugs they do not come outside you keep your bed unclean and you perspire by contact the bugs will come. Devotee: Yes. Prabhupada: So the conclusion is germs do not attack but if you make the condition favourable the germs will grow. They do not know hygienic principles the doctors, they do not advise their patients hygienic principles. The germs are growing, they are seeing that, "oh the germs are infecting." That is another foolishness. Devotee: The disease is due that nothing is clean? Prabhupada: Ah yes. Therefore in the Western countries so many diseases. Devotee: Yes. Prabhupada: That is very very unclean. In India you won't find so many diseases. They take... Use sufficient water -- three times taking bath, washing their cloth, washing the floor everything hygienic, cleaning it. Devotee: Then the germs won't come there? Prabhupada: No. As soon as you keep things unclean, you'll find cockroaches, this germ that germ. But if you keep very clean everything, flies cockroaches they will not come. [Car doors closing] asaucam neti caracarahna vidhu asritah bhutana[?], so they are keeping these dogs eh? So that is another source of growing so many germs disease. Devotee: Dogs. Prabhupada: But they keep the dog on the bed. Devotee: Yeah. Prabhupada: Their best friend [laughs]. Svarupa Damodara: In our home we are not allowed to touch the dog. Prabhupada: No. Svarupa Damodara: Or outside the house. Prabhupada: Yes the dog cannot enter in the house, [indistinct], what to speak of... he must [indistinct]. Svarupa Damodara: The medical doctors say that inside the body there is a white blood corpuscles are the defensive mechanisms so when some germ develops they say the white blood corpuscles is not good enough or is not enough to defend the coming germs. So that is why the disease attacks. Prabhupada: Yes they will say something because you have [indistinct], to satisfy you, and you have to be satisfied because you cannot [indistinct]. Devotee: If you ask them they say they do not know, we do not have the patience. Svarupa Damodara: But the common people believe these things, everybody that's why the... Prabhupada: The common people are rascals. They are called sudras, sudra means rascal less intelligent. Janmana jayate sudrah, everyone is born a sudra he [indistinct]. We are introducing this reformatory method to make them into brahmanas. Otherwise everyone is sudra. Svarupa Damodara: Everyone in this country Srila Prabhupada there is, there is some sort of health insurance. Some sort of health insurance, almost everybody so that means they put some money. Prabhupada: Yes. To pay the doctors and hospital care, hospitalisation. Because they know that their science will not be able to keep them healthy, in spite of all talks by the scientists he has to be assured of his treatment by paying money. Svarupa Damodara: But nobody came to save my money. Prabhupada: At least they think like that. If money is my [indistinct] if you have got money then you have everything. Money means a few scrap paper that's all. That is also another cheating, I am paying you a $100 it is just scraps of paper [indistinct], "oh I've got big amount [indistinct]" but that is not dollar that's paper. And it is understood that in exchange of this paper you can get gold but you'll never get gold. That is a permanent cheating. Morning Walk – September 26, 1972, Los Angeles

Watch this livestream event to learn more about the real nature of untouchable self. This is a study of Srila Prabhupadas' Srimad-Bhagavad-gita with His Grace Purujit dasa. People from all over the world are joining us to study this great literature, so don't miss out!

In this BLISS podcast, Maitreya Rishi dasa explains that, actually, all paths lead to the same goal. This might come as a surprise to those that have been following this website for a while, but this new realization is just according to the conclusions of the Bhagavad-gita.

The following is a summarized but comprehensive biography of the spiritual master of the Hare Krishna movement— His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. When His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada first visited his devotees in England in 1969 and was asked by a reporter to explain what he had come to teach, he calmly responded: ‘‘I am trying to teach what you have forgotten.’’ And indeed, this is the sole role of a bona fide spiritual master. The message of Krishna (God) consciousness reaches beyond the limited sphere of one’s nationality, race, sex, religious denomination or similar sectarian considerations. We, as spirit souls, are eternal, and our eternal function is to serve the Supreme eternal Person. The guru’s duty is to reawaken such consciousness, without creating artificial impositions on the mind. Through his instructions, one has a chance to discover one’s original state of being, liberate the self from all misconceptions, and engage in a loving devotional relationship with God. His Divine Grace, or more commonly Srila Prabhupada, is performing this task most brilliantly at this very moment by instructing millions of Krishna devotees all over the world on the science of bhakti-yoga through his highly esteemed transcendental books, the medium of recorded transcendental vibration. He is thus fulfilling the purport of a poem written by a great Vaishnava saint, who wrote: ‘‘He reasons ill who says that Vaishnavas die, when thou art living still in sound! The Vaishnavas die to live, and living try to spread the holy name around.’’ His Books Srila Prabhupada’s teachings are not appreciated exclusively by a limited circle of disciples or followers of Krishna. Numerous scholars, professors, linguists and scientists from various fields admire him for his expert grasp on the ancient Vedic knowledge, and proclaim him to be the true ambassador of the original Indian culture. Therefore, it does not come as a surprise to find Srila Prabhupada’s scholarly translations practically in every major university and college on the planet. In fact, the teachers in many of these institutions use them as standard textbooks. The following is just a small sample of what prominent scholars wrote about Srila Prabhupada’s most popular Bhagavad-gita As It Is: ‘‘Whether the reader be an adept of Indian spiritualism or not, a reading of the Bhagavad-gita As It Is will be extremely profitable. For many this will be the first contact with the true India, the ancient India, the eternal India.’’ Francois Chenique, Professor of Religious Sciences from the Institute of Political Studies in Paris ‘‘This is a work to be treasured. No one of whatever faith or philosophical persuasion who reads these books with an open mind can fail to be both moved and impressed.’’ Dr. Garry Gelade, Professor of Psychology from Oxford University “There is little question that this edition is one of the best books available on the Gita and devotion. Prabhupada’s translation is an ideal blend of literal accuracy and religious insight.” Dr. Thomas J. Hopkins, 
Professor of Religion, Franklin and Marshall College What is significant is that Srila Prabhupada’s voluminous literary contribution confirms the powerful potency of the Vedic writings. The Vedas, the most ancient scriptures in the world, are also called sruti, because they are understood by hearing. It has been said that a fool remains unnoticed until he speaks. The real master never deviates or contradicts the scripture, and in this way the potency of the spiritual message passes through him in a same way electricity passes through a linked-up wire. It is therefore the knowledge the spiritual master is speaking which is important rather than his physical presence, and we should study such knowledge from the lips of the spiritual master to ascertain his qualification. Disciples all around the world are experiencing Srila Prabhupada’s direct guidance on a daily basis through his literatures, and the effect of this spiritual potency manifests in their ability to easily refrain from meat-eating, illicit sex, gambling and intoxication, even without meeting Srila Prabhupada personally. Although it is a standard practice for every disciple of Krishna to refrain from these activities, is not an easy job—especially in a modern society, where one is practically raised to indulge in these sinful activities. However, anyone who links himself up with Srila Prabhupada through his instructions can very easily come up to this standard. How is this possible? As Srila Prabhupada mentions in one of his purports: ‘‘The potency of transcendental sound is never minimized because the vibrator is apparently absent.’’ Predictions Although the knowledge of the Vedas has no beginning, they were written down by Srila Vyasadeva 5,000 years ago. They contain complete knowledge ranging from spirituality, religion, art, politics, economics, astronomy and astrology—up to military art and medicine. The essence or the cream of the Vedas is the beautiful Srimad-Bhagavatam, or Bhagavata Purana. It is the last contribution of Srila Vyasadeva to the world. In the First volume of this great literature we find the following prediction made: “This Bhagavata Purana is as brilliant as the sun, and it has arisen just after the departure of Lord Krishna to His own abode, accompanied by religion, knowledge, etc. Persons who have lost their vision due to the dense darkness of ignorance in the age of Kali shall get light from this Purana.” (Bhag. 1.3.43) According to the Vedas, history is divided into four ages, the last of which being the present age, Kali-yuga, the age of quarrel and hypocrisy. The above-mentioned verse says that the knowledge contained in the Bhagavatam will bring the solution to the world wide crisis, and it is due to Srila Prabhupada that the Srimad-Bhagavatam is now accessible on a massive scale. It is of no wonder, therefore, that the Delhi-printed translation of this work, along with a bag of cereals and a few coins, was the only possession he took with him on his journey to the western countries from his motherland India. Furthermore, in the 16th century, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, the last, yet disguised appearance of Lord Krishna in this world, predicted that the name of Krishna would be heard in every town and every village in all countries across the globe. Similarly, a great acarya, Srila Bhaktivinode Thakura, wrote in his 19th century journal, Vaisnava Toshani, that soon the Hare Krishna movement would be propagated all around the world and people from England, France, Russia, Germany and America would assemble together and chant the names of Krishna in the streets of their towns. Srila Prabhupada fulfilled both of these prophecies by sending groups of his disciples to chant the Hare Krishna mantra in all the corners of the planet—a task that is unparalleled in the history of the Vedic tradition, thus turning the Hare Krisna mantra into a household term. These, and numerous other references, might give us a little hint as to the significance of Srila Prabhupada’s appearance in this world. Disciplic Line Of Spiritual Masters His Divine Grace was born as Abhay Caran De on September 1, 1896 in Calcutta. In 1920 he finished his schooling, majoring in philosophy, English and economics at the University of Calcutta. Soon afterward, he took up the duties of a manager at a large chemical company. Then in 1922, he met His Divine Grace Sri Srimad Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Gosvami Maharaja, the founder of 64 Gaudiya Vaishnava Maths in India, Berlin and London. Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati belongs to the ancient disciplic succession (parampara) of spiritual masters through which the science of bhakti-yoga is passed down since Lord Krishna introduced it to his friend Arjuna as the Bhagavad-gita 5,000 years ago. The succession is still current, and in short we can say that His Divine Grace belongs to the Brahma-Madhva Gaudiya-Vaishnava sampradaya: 1) Krishna, 2) Brahma, 3) Narada; 4) Vyasa, 5) Madhva, 6) Padmanabha, 7) Nrhari, 8) Madhava, 9) Aknobhya, 10) Jayatirtha, 11) Jnanasindhu, 12) Dayanidhi, 13) Vidyanidhi, 14) Rajendra, 15) Jayadharma, 16) Purusottama, 17) Brahmanyatirtha, 18) Vyasatirtha, 19) Laksmipati, 20) Madhavendra Puri, 21) Isvara Puri, (Nityananda, Advaita), 22) Lord Caitanya, 23) Rupa (Svarupa, Sanatana), 24) Raghunatha, Jiva, 25) Krishnadasa, 26) Narottama, 27) Visvanatha, 28) (Baladeva) Jagannatha, 29) Bhaktivinode, 30) Gaurakisora, 31) Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati, 32) His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. The succession protects the message from being adulterated by imposters and consists of fully-realized, liberated pure devotees of Krishna, who act as transparent via mediums through which the teachings are broadcasted to the people of the world, as they are, without change. Any deviation from the line as above-mentioned will bewilder the student’s understanding. Unless one is on the highest platform of spiritual realization and strictly follows the instructions of his predecessor, one cannot become a spiritual master. At Allahabad in 1933, Abhay Caran De was formally initiated, and in 1936, just days before Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati’s departure from this mortal world, he was specifically ordered by his master to spread Krishna Consciousness in the English language to the West. Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati also instructed his disciples in his Gaudiya Matha institution to form a governing body commission to conduct the preaching in his absence. Unfortunately, the order was not followed, and the institution thereby broke into factions. Srila Prabhupada writes about these events in his purports to Caitanya-caritamrta: ‘‘In the beginning, during the presence of Om Vishnupada Paramahamsa Parivrajakacarya Astottara-sata Sri Srimad Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura Prabhupada, all the disciples worked in agreement; but just after his disappearance, they disagreed. One party strictly followed the instructions of Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura, but another group created their own concoction about executing his desires. Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura, at the time of his departure, requested all his disciples to form a governing body and conduct missionary activities cooperatively. He did not instruct a particular man to become the next acarya. But just after his passing away, his leading secretaries made plans, without authority, to occupy the post of acarya, and they split into two factions over who the next acarya would be. Consequently, both factions were asara, or useless, because they had no authority, having disobeyed the order of the spiritual master.’’ (C.C. Adi 12.8) Journey to America Remaining aloof from the politics of the Matha, in 1944 Srila Prabhupada started the periodical ‘‘Back to Godhead’’ in the English language, and at the end of the 50’s published Easy Journey to Other Planets—a small booklet challenging the authenticity of the moon landing expedition program, on the basis of astronomical information contained in the ancient Vedic texts. He also adopted the renounced order of life (sannyasa) and started working on his life’s masterpiece—the translation of the 60-volume Srimad-Bhagavatam. He resided in the Radha Damodara temple in Vrndavana, the birth place of Krishna, where he found spiritual inspiration being surrounded by the places of pilgrimage commemorating the six Gosvamis, the direct disciples of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Then at the age of 70 in 1965, His Divine Grace arrived in the USA. He had only a great aspiration to fulfill the order of His Guru Maharaja Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati to spread the message of Krishna, as it is, in the West. Upon arriving, he wrote the following prayer: "How will I make them understand this message of Krishna consciousness? I am very unfortunate, unqualified and the most fallen. Therefore I am seeking Your benediction so that I can convince them, for I am powerless to do so on my own.’’ ‘‘Somehow or other, O Lord, You have brought me here to speak about You. Now, my Lord, it is up to You to make me a success or failure as You like.’’ ‘‘O spiritual master of all the worlds! I can simply repeat Your message, so if You like You can make my power of speaking suitable for their understanding.’’ ‘‘Only by Your causeless mercy will my words become pure. I am sure that when this transcendental message penetrates their hearts they will certainly feel engladdened and thus become liberated from all unhappy conditions of life.’’ ‘‘O Lord, I am just like a puppet in Your hands. So if You have brought me here to dance, then make me dance, make me dance, O Lord, make me dance as You like.’’ ‘‘I have no devotion, nor do I have any knowledge, but I have strong faith in the holy name of Krishna. I have been designated as Bhaktivedanta, and now, if You like, You can fulfill the real purport of Bhaktivedanta.’’ (Markine Bhagavata-dharma, Boston Harbor, September 18, 1965) Manifesting a perfect example of how a sincere disciple should be determined to fulfill the orders of the spiritual master, he manifested a pastime of struggling for one year without any external success in New York, the greatest city in the world. But by chanting the maha-mantra: Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare / Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare under a tree in Tompkins Square Park, he soon attracted the attention of the younger generation, who resonated with the message of Krishna and who joined him to form the International Society for Krishna Consciousness. A world wide Hare Krishna revolution began. Temples were established first in America, then Europe and gradually on all other continents. Thousands of young people of all faiths, races, sexes and nationalities took up devotional life and turned into saints practically over night. This marked the only time in history that a Krishna devotee was successfully training non-Indians in the strict disciplines of Vaishnavism. In 1970, George Harrison, of the popular musical group the Beatles, and Srila Prabhupada’s personal friend and admirer, applauded the movement by his song ‘‘My Sweet Lord’’ where he used the Hare Krishna chant. He also financed the printing of Srila Prabhupada’s ‘‘Krishna—The Supreme Personality of Godhead’’ book and wrote a foreword for it, in which he openly encouraged his fans to take up the chanting process. The Hare Krishna movement became widely-known, and in 1976 the Hare Krishna movement was recognized by the American government as a bona fide religion. According to the Sri Caitanya￾caritamrta this is not a feat of an ordinary man. Unless directly empowered by Krishna, one cannot propagate the sankirtana movement. Wonderful Accomplishments Just like a lotus growing in muddy water remains untouched by the muddy water, similarly a pure devotee of the Lord can use all modern facilities; corporations, banks, dictaphones, airplanes, computers, television, etc. to broadcast the message of Krishna consciousness and yet remain completely unaffected. Srila Prabhupada’s exemplary behavior in dealing with the material world serves as an impetus to many aspiring spiritualists up to the present day. Srila Prabhupada, within a short span of 12 years, accomplished his mission by writing approximately seventy books on the science of Krishna consciousness. The Encyclopedia Britannica proclaimed that his voluminous translations from the original Sanskrit and his lucid commentaries “have astounded literary and academic communities worldwide.” (By 1976, over 55,000,000 literatures had been published in twenty-five languages and distributed in almost every country, making the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust the world’s largest publisher of Indian religious and philosophical texts. One printing alone of Bhagavad-gita As It Is required seventy-six train cars to ship the paper needed to print it.) He also managed to initiate over 5,000 disciples, establish 108 Krishna temples on six continents, install the deity of Krishna in each center and train his disciples in the process of deity worship. He inaugurated the Ratha-yatra Festival of Lord Jagannatha in major cities around the globe, which in effect brought the temple to the people. He also instructed his disciples in 1967 to start an incense business in order to provide financial support for the maintenance of the temples. Within four years, the business, Spiritual Sky Incense, generated an annual revenue of one million dollars (equivalent to $4,600,000 in 2004). He introduced the “Sunday Love Feast” and other prasadam (sanctified food) distribution programs that provided millions of free meals to the public. He created the world’s first chain of vegetarian restaurants. He built major temples in Bombay and Vrndavana, and founded a spiritual city at Mayapur. All became international sites of pilgrimage. He established primary schools to provide education in the principles of devotional service and founded The Bhaktivedanta Institute to advance Krishna consciousness within the scientific community, engaging serious academics in the consideration of the science of self-realization. He also set up farm communities to teach “simple living and high thinking,” emphasizing cow protection and dependence on God and nature. He Lives Forever Through His Instructions As the organization grew, Srila Prabhupada would accept new devotees not physically, but through his more experienced disciples. They would train the new devotees in the basic principles of Krishna consciousness and perform the formalities of the initiation ceremony on his behalf. Srila Prabhupada did not choose a successor, but requested all his disciples to continue associating with him through his books and work cooperatively even after his physical departure. Let us therefore take advantage of this wonderful opportunity. “There are two ways of association - by vani and by vapu. Vani means words, and vapu means physical presence. Physical presence is sometimes appreciable and sometimes not, but vani continues to exist eternally. Therefore we must take advantage of the vani, not the physical presence.” (Caitanya-caritamrta 1975, Concluding Words) —The Editors

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Is violence ever necessary? Or, moreover, is it ever spiritual? Let's delve into this controversial question and it's surprising answer through the teachings of Krishna in Srila Prabhupada's Bhagavad-gita As It Is, lead by His Grace Purujit dasa. Join us on Facebook for this exciting evening class. https://fb.me/e/5BDDq1Qkv

Sometimes Krishna puts His devotees to the test. This is simply to help them realize the futility of material endeavour and increase their devotion to Him. Purujit Dasa leads a discussion on Srila Prabhupada's Srimad Bhagavatam in the following video.

Check out the new comics with our friend Ricky Tricky. Today he is going to shock the world with a very shocking and outrageous claim. Please do not ban him from the internet!

Here is an excerpt from the upcoming biography of Srila Prabhupada, wherein the nature of the material world is described in brief and those who do not believe in such a spiritual world are informed of the foolishness of their limited idea. The principle of creation is that the Supreme Lord, the Personality of Godhead, is by nature joyful, and He becomes many in order to enhance His transcendental joy. The living entities like ourselves, being part and parcel of the Supreme Lord, are meant to satisfy the senses of the Lord. Thus, whenever there is a discrepancy in that harmony, the living entity is immediately entrapped by maya (illusion). The external energy of the Lord is called the material world, and the kingdom of the internal energy of the Lord is called Vaikuntha, or the kingdom of God. To a gross materialist, this kingdom of God, Vaikuntha, is certainly a mystery. But to an ignorant man everything is a mystery for want of sufficient knowledge. The kingdom of God is not a myth. Even the material planets, which float over our heads in the millions and billions, are still a mystery to the ignorant. Material scientists are now attempting to penetrate this mystery, and a day may come when the people of this earth will be able to travel in outer space and see the variegatedness of these millions of planets with their own eyes. In every planet there is as much material variegatedness as we find in our own planet.