ISKCON

Published on August 3rd, 2024 | by HDG A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

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Keep this standard then things will go automatically in ISKCON

So keep this standard as you are now keeping, then things will go automatically, and one day people will understand in the history that this movement was for saving the human society. That day will come.

Arrival Lecture — Dallas, March 3, 1975

Prabhupada: We are trying to push this brahminical culture within the demoniac culture. It is very difficult task, but still, by grace of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, we are more or less successful.

I am very glad to see your temple worship, not only here, everywhere. So you American boys and girls, you are fortunate that this movement is started from America, and some of you are taking seriously, trying to help me. So I am very much obliged to you. So keep this standard as you are now keeping, then things will go automatically, and one day people will understand in the history that this movement was for saving the human society. That day will come.

So I am very much pleased to see the atmosphere here. Education means Krsna consciousness. That is education. If simply we understand that “Krsna is the Supreme Person. He is great, and we are all subordinate. So our duty is to serve Krsna,” these two lines, if we understand, then our life is perfect. If we simply learn how to worship Krsna, how to please Him, how to dress Him nicely, how to give Him nice foodstuff, how to decorate Him with ornaments and flowers, how to offer our respectful obeisances unto Him, how to chant His name, in this way, if we simply think, without any so-called education we become the perfect person within the universe. This is Krsna consciousness. It doesn’t require A-B-C-D education. It requires simply change of consciousness. So if these children are being taught from the very beginning of their life… We had the opportunity of being trained up by our parents like this. So some way or other, they have come to… [break] Many saintly persons used to visit my father’s house. My father was Vaisnava. He was Vaisnava, and he wanted me to become a Vaisnava. Whenever some saintly person would come, he would ask him, “Please bless my son that he can become a servant of Radharani.” That was his prayer. He never prayed for anything. And he gave me education how to play mrdanga. My mother was against. There was two teachers- one for teaching me A-B-C-D, and one for teaching me mrdanga. So the one teacher was waiting and the other teacher was teaching me how to play on mrdanga. So my mother would be angry that “What is this nonsense? You are teaching mrdanga? What he will do with this mrdanga?” (chuckles) But perhaps my father wanted that I should be a great mrdanga player in the future. (laughter)

Therefore I am very much indebted to my father, and I have dedicated my book, Krsna book, to him. He wanted this. He wanted me to be preacher of Bhagavata, Srimad-Bhagavatam, and player of mrdanga and to become servant of Radharani. So every parent should think like that; otherwise one should not become father and mother. That is the injunction in the sastra. That is stated in the Srimad-Bhagavatam, Fifth Canto, pita na sa syaj janani na sa syad gurur na sa syat sva-jano na sa syat. In this way, the conclusion is, na mocayed yah samupeta-mrtyum. If one is unable to rescue his disciple from the imminent danger of death, he should not become a guru. One should not become father or mother if he cannot do so. In this way, no friend, no relatives, no father, no…, if one cannot teach his other party how to save from the clutches of death.

So that education is wanting throughout the whole world. And simple thing is that one can avoid this entanglement of birth, death, old age and disease simply by becoming Krsna conscious. That is stated in the Bhagavad-gita.

janma karma ca me divyam
yo janati tattvatah
tyaktva deham punar janma
naiti mam eti kaunteya
[Bg. 4.9]

“My dear Arjuna, if one can simply understand what I am, why do I come here in this material world, what is My duty, what duty I perform…” These two, three things, if one understands, that “Krsna comes for this purpose, He is like this,” then the result will be tyaktva deham… We have to give up this body. That’s a fact. But this person who has understood Krsna, he is not coming back again to accept another material body. Tyaktva deham punar janma naiti [Bg. 4.9]. Mam eti. If he does not take birth again, so does he become zero? Sunyavadi? No. Mam eti: “He enters into My family.” Krsna’s family… Krsna in Vrndavana has got a great family. He has got His father. He has got His mother, mother Yasoda, Nanda Maharaja. He has got so many friends, hundreds and thousands- boyfriends, girlfriends. The trees, the plants, the flowers, the fruits, the land, the water, the cows, the calves- He is surrounded by a great family. He is not a single person.

Suppose if we say, “Now the president is coming.” So president means he is not only coming alone; he is coming with secretaries, his ministers, his military secretary and so many other people, some soldiers and bodyguards. He is not alone. So if a material president, insignificant, is always surrounded by his associates, so the Supreme Being, how He is associated with His surroundings, you can just imagine. He cannot be alone. That is Krsna. Krsna is not zero, sunyavadi, as they say that “Everything zero after this,” or nirvisesa, “Everything like sky.” No. He is individual, person. And He says in the Bhagavad-gita in the Second Chapter, “My dear Arjuna, you, you are a person. Me, I am also a person, and all these soldiers and kings who are assembled here, they are also person. So don’t think that we were not person in the past, and we are not person at present, and in future also we shall not become person. We are all person, eternally person.” And whenever there is person, there is associates, there is family, there is exchange of love. That is Krsna consciousness.

So this Krsna consciousness movement means to become trained up sufficiently how to enter Krsna’s great family. In Krsna’s family there is no sannyasi. Have you seen, anyone, a sannyasi in Vrndavana? At least in the books? Sannyasa means to make this material life sannyasa, finished, “No more this,” renounce. Just like Caitanya Mahaprabhu did. He renounced His material family life. He had very nice wife, young wife, and He was young man, twenty-four years old, and there was a very affectionate mother. He had very good position in the society, Nimai Pandita. Yesterday you showed one play called Chand Kazi. So He was so influential that simply by His calling, hundreds and thousands of men immediately joined to go to the Chand Kazi’s house to perform kirtana. So just imagine what was His social position, so popular, leader. He had very good position.

As a learned scholar, He was known as Nimai Pandita. Beautiful, very beautiful body, Gaurasundara. Very beautiful wife. Very honored brahmana, Jagannatha Misra’s son, grandson of Nilambara Cakravarti, very social, aristocratic position. But still, He gave up everything. That means that although He had nothing material, but to show us that material things should be renounced, that is sannyasa; and enter into the spiritual family of Krsna. Tyaktva deham punar janma naiti mam eti [Bg. 4.9]. He does not become again entangled in these material varieties of life. In material world there is also varieties, but that is false.

This morning we were discussing this point, mirage. In the mirage there is a show of false water, and the animal runs after it. But there is no water, and finally he becomes more thirsty, and it is desert; he falls down and dies. So the material world means we are running after false family. But don’t think that there is no real family life. There is real family. That is Krsna’s real family, eternal family, blissful family.

So this Krsna consciousness movement means to train up people to be detached from this false family and to enter into the real family. That is the point. Not that if I give up this false family I will become zero. No. There is no such disappointment. The other philosophers, they simply… Just like Buddha philosophy. Their philosophy is “Finish this,” nirvana. But if people are not interested to finish all this, they want it, then what is the positive gain? So generally people are attached to these Buddhist and Mayavadi philosophies; therefore they feel hopelessness. On account of future hopelessness, they become more attached to this false family. But our philosophy is not like that. Our philosophy is that you become detached to this false family and enter into the real family.

So these children… Kaumara acaret prajno dharman bhagavatan iha [SB 7.6.1]. That is Prahlada Maharaja’s instruction, that you produce children as much as you can train them to become eternally family members of Krsna. That is spiritual contraceptive. Don’t produce children like cats and dogs. This is our philosophy. If you can produce Krsna conscious children, produce one hundred children. There is no objection. But if you cannot do that, then either don’t produce children or produce children as much as you can manage. This is Krsna philosophy. Our philosophy is not simply a negation. It is positive. They, general people, they are unnecessarily producing children, then cannot manage. So they are adopting so many sinful activities, so much so that they are now killing their own child within the womb and becoming implicated in sinful activities and prolong the life in this material world very miserably.

Just see the miserable condition of the child, baby within the womb. She is… It is in the mother’s womb, and the mother, at the advice of the doctor, is killing. Why? Because that child- now it is child- he did it. He killed so many other children in his previous life; now he is being killed. Not only in one womb, but he will enter another womb- he will be killed. As many children he has killed, he will be killed in this way. But they do not know. They do not know this, blind, mudha, that how nature’s law is going on, how tit for tat is going on. They do not know it. Therefore this Krsna consciousness movement is to give them right knowledge and become free from all sinful life. So long there is sinful life, you cannot be allowed to enter into Krsna’s family. That will not be allowed.

yesam anta-gatam tu papam
jananam punya-karmanam
te dvandva-moha-nirmukta
bhajante mam drdha-vratah
[Bg. 7.28]

So avoid sinful life. We have given you prescription: no illicit sex, no gambling, no intoxication, no meat-eating.

Avoid the sinful life and make your children Krsna conscious purely. Then you can produce hundreds of children. There is no objection. And so far maintaining your children, we are taking charge. Come on. We are taking charge. We shall supply everything. Of course, not to the whims of these material man, but as much which is needed to maintain them, that we take, Krsna consciousness, ISKCON society will take charge… (end)

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About the Author

HDG A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada Founded the Hare Krishna Movement in 1966 in New York. In only 11 years he spread the movement all over the world. He wrote more than 80 books including Bhagavad-gita As It Is, Srimad-Bhagavatam, Sri Caitanya-caritamrta, Sri Isopanisad. Prabhupada's books constitute a complete library of Vedic philosophy, religion, literature and culture.