750708 - Morning Walk - Chicago

Morning Walks by Date, 1975

His Divine Grace
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

Listen to a 'Nectar Drop' created from this Morning Walk

750708MW-CHICAGO - July 08, 1975 - 36:59 Minutes

(in car)

Prabhupāda: . . . but to engage them in Kṛṣṇa's service. Our knowledge in spiritual life and your help, material opulence, combined together, there will be great change in the whole world. Cooperate with us. There is no loss on your part, but there is great benefit to the whole world. Try to convince them. Although they are not very big authority, but still, through them, you can approach bigger authorities. (break) . . . big churches, no use, no utility. (laughs) (break) . . . speak, andha-kukkuṭī-nyāya (CC Ādi-līlā 5.176). Andha-kukkuṭī-nyāya, you know that, the lame man and the blind man?

Jayatīrtha: Oh, yes.

Prabhupāda: So America is blind, and we are lame. So let us get on the shoulder of the American blind and give him direction, and both will be benefited. The whole world will be benefited. The America, blind, he cannot see where he is going. (chuckles) And for want of money we cannot make progress. So let the Americans take on the shoulder this lame man, and I will give direction, "Go this way. Go this way." Everything will be done. Andha-kukkuṭī-nyāya. (break) . . . nice building, churches, there is no use. Take our direction. Everything will be all right. (break) . . . take our direction, what is the loss on their part? Hmm? What is the possible loss? Why they will deny to take our direction?

(break) (on walk)

Prabhupāda: Tell them about this andha-kukkuṭī-nyāya.

Jayatīrtha: Prabhupāda was talking about the fact that the Western world is blind, and the, India is lame for lack of money. But by a combination there is very good effect. So if the Western world takes us on its shoulders . . .

Prabhupāda: Especially America.

Jayatīrtha: Especially America. On its shoulders, then we can give . . . Prabhupāda can give direction, and they can provide the resources.

Devotee: India.

Jayatīrtha: America. America will provide the resources, and we will provide the direction. (break)

Prabhupāda: . . . mayor and the police officers, through them, try to approach higher authorities. And what is that? We met yesterday?

Harikeśa: The public relations?

Prabhupāda: Ah, public relation. So convince them to . . ., the Americans should take this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement on the shoulder, and because the American are blind, we shall give them direction on the shoulder, "Go this way. Go this way." So blind and the lame man combined together will perform a great task. (break) . . . blindly, simply accumulating money, but they do not know how to utilize the money. They should take direction, authorized direction from us, and then it will be very nice. (break) . . . not these concocted "isms"—this "ism," that "ism," that "ism." Because it is andhā yathāndhair upanīyamānāḥ. These all rascals are blind. They do not know how to direct. Na te viduḥ svārtha-gatiṁ hi viṣṇuṁ durāśayā (SB 7.5.31). They are trying to adjust the world affairs blindly. They do not know. So let us combine. Let them come forward, take direction from us. After all, your money, my money, your intelligence, my intelligence—everything belongs to Kṛṣṇa. Sarvasya cāhaṁ hṛdi sanniviṣṭhaḥ (BG 15.15). Kṛṣṇa is giving intelligence. We must agree to take His good advice. Early morning till night, we are always thinking, "How people will be happy by Kṛṣṇa consciousness?" And they are coming here for rowing boat. You see? How blind they are. The human life, so intelligent life, and they are utilizing for rowing boat. How blind they are. Not a single moment to be wasted, and they are simply finding out, "How to waste time?" (break) . . . is "Crime, what to do?" "Hippies, what to do?" "Problems, what to do?" Why "What to do?" Here is a direction: "Do like this." "No, sir, that I will not do." (break) . . . to take photo.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Viśakha, take photo. (break)

Prabhupāda: And the steps . . .

Harikeśa: The steps also.

Prabhupāda: Just try to understand. Our lake in Māyāpur we shall make like this, all sides clear, and four sides, the steps, ghāṭa, and garden.

Viśakha: Four sides, the steps?

Prabhupāda: These steps, you see? Here, there . . . There is no . . . Just opposite.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Four corners.

Prabhupāda: Four . . . Not four corners. Four sides.

Viśakha: And also with that in the center? Island?

Prabhupāda: No, island is not required. Make a program like that.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Take photos.

Prabhupāda: And if possible, send them ideas and direction. Bhavānanda has gone. (break) . . . convince them that they are doing very nice, to their best capacity, but they are doing it blindly. You are very good driver, but if you are a blind man, then how you will drive? You will create disaster. So we can open their eyes so that their good driving capacity will be properly utilized. A good driver, blind, what he will do? Ajñāna-timirāndhasya. Darkness, it will not help. The Western method of seeing things—blind eyes. Actually, they are blind. They are trying to see things with microscope. First of all you are blind. What you will see? Microscope, this machine or that machine, but you are blind. That they do not know. (break)

Devotee: What should I do if I'd like to preach more and become free from my family entanglement?

Prabhupāda: (to Tamāla Kṛṣṇa) Just teach him what to do. Tell him.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: What was his ques . . . What should you do . . .?

Devotee: I want to preach more and become free from my family entanglement.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: I think Jagadīśa is having some preaching programs. So your family is no hindrance. Preaching is not hindered by family, one way or the other.

Prabhupāda: Ahaituky apratihatā (SB 1.2.6). Why don't you understand? Preaching cannot be checked by anything—if you want to preach. In any circumstances you can preach. Prāṇair arthair dhiyā vācā (SB 10.22.35). Preaching can be executed by four things: by your life, by your money, by your intelligence and by your words. You have got so many assets. So you can utilize it for preaching. Dedicate your life. If you think that you are family man, you cannot dedicate twenty-four hours, then earn money and give it to Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement as other family men, they are earning money. Eh? Is it not? You can earn. In America there is good facility for earning money. They want that you work and take money. So earn money as gṛhastha and give it to Kṛṣṇa. Prāṇair arthair. If you cannot earn money, then use your intelligence.

There are so many intellectual work: publication, going to this officer, that officer. You, intellectually you try. And vācā, by words. If you cannot do anything, go anyone, anywhere, and say that "Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Just offer your obeisances." Finished. So where is the scarcity? You can serve Kṛṣṇa in any capacity—provided you want to serve. And if you want to engage Kṛṣṇa for your service, that is blunder. Then it is blunder. You cannot engage Kṛṣṇa to your service. The everyone is trying to engage Kṛṣṇa for his service. They are going to the church, "O Kṛṣṇa, give us our daily bread," that "You serve me. You give us our daily bread and serve me." And our proposition is, Yaśodāmayī, "Kṛṣṇa, You are playing all day. Come on! Take food first of all." This is service. They are going to Kṛṣṇa for asking daily bread. And here Yaśodāmayī is commanding, "Come here! If You don't eat, You will get lean and thin. Come on." This is Vaiṣṇava philosophy.

Devotee: Jaya, Śrīla Prabhupāda.

Prabhupāda: Hare Kṛṣṇa. (break) . . . is concerned, "How Kṛṣṇa will keep good health?" And we are concerned, "Kṛṣṇa will go to hell. Please supply me food so that I might keep my health good." That is the difference between materialistic and spiritualist. The foolish man does not understand that Kṛṣṇa is supplying food to the elephant, to the ant, and why I shall go to the church for asking my food? It is already there. And our policy is, "Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, please engage me in Your service." Hare Kṛṣṇa means, "O Kṛṣṇa, O the energy of Kṛṣṇa, please engage me in Your service."

We create problem. Otherwise, no problem. Kṛṣṇa has arranged everything. Īśāvāsyam idaṁ sarvam (ISO 1). Just see so many fruits for the birds. Jaya. So sumptuously supplied, they are thrown. Pūrṇam idam (Īśo Invocation). Everything is sufficient. But these rascal blind, they do not know. They are trying to adjust. What adjustment? It is already sufficient. You are misusing that. Sufficient land, sufficient intelligence. Everything is sufficient. They are misusing. In Africa, in Australia, sufficient land, and they are raising cattle to kill them. This is their intelligence. And growing coffee and tea.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: And tobacco.

Devotee: For money, for profit.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: And tobacco.

Prabhupāda: Tobacco, by which . . . They know tobacco is bad, and they are utilizing time for growing tobacco and smoking tobacco. This is their intelligence. So blind men . . . Give them intelligence, these rascals. We call therefore only rascals. People are dying for want of food grain, and they are growing tobacco, which smoking, they will go to hell. This is their intelligence. Huh? What do you think?

Satsvarūpa: I agree.

Prabhupāda: This is the idea.

Sudāmā: And they even indicate, Prabhupāda, on the advertisements that smoking is hazardous for the health.

Prabhupāda: Yes. (break) . . . for money, the money which will push them to hell. This is their intelligence. We have to give them intelligence, open their eyes. (break) . . . angry first of all, because mūrkhāyo 'padeśo hi prakopāya na śāntaye: "If you give good intelligence to the fools and rascals, they will be angry." But still, you have to do it. Just like when Nityānanda Prabhu went to Jagāi-Mādhāi to deliver them, they became angry, and injured. So that is preacher. These rascals will be angry, will sometimes do harm to you, and still, you have to do it. That is preaching. Are you understanding what is preaching? Yes. You have to prepare like that. At all risk you have to preach. (break) . . . world is full of rascals, and you have to educate them. So according to one's capacity let them preach, prāṇair arthair dhiyā vācā. But everyone can preach to some extent. There is no hindrance.

Jagajīvana: Is everything done in our movement for preaching? Everything that is done in our movement is done for preaching?

Prabhupāda: Yes. To awaken their Kṛṣṇa consciousness. They are in dog consciousness; we have to raise them to God consciousness. Don't you see how much they are taking care of the dog? Because they do not know, blind, whether they will be God conscious or dog conscious. So the dog conscious people should be raised to the platform of God conscious. That is preaching. Mūḍha nābhijānāti. These rascals, they do not know the life is meant for understanding God. That they . . . Ask anyone. Nobody knows. They are so fools. They want to remain dog. The dog is also running; they are also running. (chuckles) And because they can run on by car, they are thinking they are civilized. But the business is running, that's all.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: And the purpose for the running is the same.

Prabhupāda: Yes.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Eating, sleeping, mating and defending.

Prabhupāda: That's all. (break) . . . condemn running by car, but utilize it for Kṛṣṇa. That we want. If the purpose is same, like dog, then what is the use of running by car? (break) . . . by car to preach Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Harer nāma harer nāma harer nāmaiva kevalam (CC Adi 17.21). (break) . . . not after that philosophy, that jagan mithyā brahma satya. No. We say jagat is also satya because brahma satya, the jagat is also satya. It is mithyā because it is improperly utilized. Let it be utilized properly, it is also truth. It is truth actually. You cannot say, "This is a false tree." This is the ignorance. Why it is false? But it is being misused. That is false. You cannot misuse anything which is given by God. You should properly utilize it. Then it is truth. And as soon as you misuse it, it is untruth.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: So material consciousness is false.

Prabhupāda: Yes. Everything can be utilized for Kṛṣṇa. That is our preaching. That is truth. There is a nice car. Why shall I condemn it? Utilize it for Kṛṣṇa. Then it is truth. And the Māyāvādī philosophers, they will say, "It is untruth. Give it up." No. When you have produced something by your good intelligence, it is truth, but when you use it for other purpose than Kṛṣṇa, then it is false. (break) . . . Deity nicely decorated, if I say, "It is all false," is that very good sense? They have created such a nice thing. No, the purpose for which you have created or utilized, that is false. So we want to change the consciousness. We don't condemn the thing.

(break) . . . with a knife you are cutting vegetables and utilizing, but if you use it for cutting your throat, that is bad. That is bad. So they are using the knife for cutting their own throat. This is bad. They are doing. (break) The śāstra says, nidrāham ādyaṁ plavaṁ sukalpam. This body . . . We are just crossing the ocean of nescience. So this body is a good boat. Māyā ete 'rtaṁ guruḥ karṇa-dharam. And the wind is favorable, Kṛṣṇa's instruction. And the captain is guru. He is guiding you. With all these facilities, if you cannot cross the nescience, then you are cutting your throat. (break) . . . boat is there, the captain is there, the favorable wind is there. But we are not utilizing it. That means I am killing myself. (break) . . . tunity is there. (break) . . . policy. The policy is suicidal. That is the defect. So preaching means to remove this defect and utilize the policy for going ahead. (break)

Devotee: Is it because of our impurity that we can't convince them to stop cutting their throat?

Prabhupāda: Hmm?

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: His question is whether is it due to our impurity that we cannot convince people to stop cutting their throats.

Prabhupāda: No, it is due to their impurity, they do not take. What you are saying, that is pure. But the difficulty is if you instruct a rascal, he becomes angry. The example is given that if you give milk and banana to the serpent, he increases his poison. Payaḥ-panaṁ bhujaṅganaṁ kevalaṁ viṣa-vardhanam (Nīti Śāstra). Therefore we have to select sometimes that our preaching is in the proper place. Because a snakelike person, they will not hear. But if you are a good charmer, you can charm the snake also. (laughter) That depends on your quality. Just like Caitanya Mahāprabhu did. He made these snakes, the tigers, the elephants all dancing Hare Kṛṣṇa. That is possible by Caitanya Mahāprabhu.

Tripurāri: Just like you have charmed all of us, Śrīla Prabhupāda.

Prabhupāda: Well, I am not going to imitate Caitanya Mahāprabhu. (laughs) I have come to New York, not to the jungle. (laughter)

Sudāmā: New York is worse than jungle.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: It is called an asphalt jungle.

Prabhupāda: After all, they are human being. Therefore we have collected some nice souls. (break) If you can go to the jungle, that is no hindrance, but let us take the opportunity of the civilized nations, preach them. Yad yad ācarati śreṣṭhaḥ (BG 3.21). They are leading the whole civilization. If they are convinced, it will be great benefit to the human race. (break) Also my Guru Mahārāja said that "You go to the Western country." If he had said that "You go to the jungle," I would have gone. (break) . . . preacher, either the jungle or the city is the same. Nārāyaṇa-paraḥ na kutaścana bibhayati. One who is devotee of the Lord, he does not make any discrimination that "This is jungle and this is city." Svargāpavarga-narakeṣv api tulyārtha-darśinaḥ (SB 6.17.28). For them, everywhere, Kṛṣṇa's property. So where Kṛṣṇa asks him to go and serve, he will go. That's all. (break)

Jagajīvana: All classes of men should preach Kṛṣṇa consciousness?

Prabhupāda: Yes. First of all he must know what to preach. If he does not know what to preach, what he will preach? You have got a preaching capacity, provided you learn the art of preaching. But everyone can preach. That's a fact.

Devotee (2): What is to become of those devotees that leave ISKCON and take to breaking the regulative principles, and stop chanting sixteen rounds?

Prabhupāda: Explain.

Devotee (2): There are even brāhmaṇas in our temple who have left the temple, and they are acting just like karmīs.

Prabhupāda: So they were wrongly initiated. We want recommendation from the authority, whether one should be initiated. But they gave wrong information. That is the defect of the informer. (break)

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: . . . hari-nāma initiation can be a little more liberal.

Prabhupāda: Yes.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: But brāhmaṇa initiation should be strict.

Prabhupāda: Very strict. Very strict means he must be observed that he is actually chanting sixteen rounds, following the regulative principles. That's all.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Those are the important . . .?

Prabhupāda: These are the criterions, that he is actually, seriously doing this. Then he can be initiated. Otherwise useless. He will fall down. (break)

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: . . . stated that one who does not . . . an unsuccessful person in yoga practice takes his next birth, śucīnāṁ śrīmatāṁ gehe (BG 6.41).

Prabhupāda: That is another thing. But you are fallen. To take birth in high family or in opulent, that is the fallen condition. That is not successful con . . . But they are taking, "This is success. I have got so much money. I have got so much prestige. This is success."

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: That's a fallen condition.

Prabhupāda: That is fallen condition.

Devotee (2): They think that is the success of life.

Prabhupāda: They think. They are foolish. They can think like that. Generally, that is . . . Not that devotees are not opulent. No, that is not. But this materialistic opulence means fallen condition.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: The demigods are in a very opulent position also.

Prabhupāda: Yes. But they are devotees.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: But they are devotees, not fallen.

Prabhupāda: They can fall. Everyone can fall. (break)

Tripurāri: . . .of Devotion it says that a sannyāsī should not take . . ., be anxious for disciples but should only take those who are qualified. But sometimes, when there's no one qualified, he takes a risk.

Prabhupāda: Yes. One who does not like to take the risk, they do not take the risk of preaching. But one who takes the risk, he is recognized by Kṛṣṇa immediately, "Oh, he is taking risk." But he must know where to take risk and where to act foolishly. Just like Nityānanda Prabhu took the risk of being injured. But He was certain that "I can deliver him." That is . . .

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: You took a great risk also, Prabhupāda, by coming to us.

Prabhupāda: (laughs) Yes. I have already written that. I was thinking that "What shall I do here? I have come here. As soon as I shall impose these four principles they will say, 'Go home.' " But I took that risk. I never said anything palatable. Against their activities: "You don't do this, don't do this." (break)

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: . . . compromised at all, Śrīla Prabhupāda.

Prabhupāda: No, what is the use of compromise if there is no good result?

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Someone who compromises, he actually wants followers.

Prabhupāda: That is not good. Therefore Caitanya Mahāprabhu decried, na dhanaṁ na janam (Śikṣāṣṭaka 4), "I don't want these followers." What is the use of follower if he does not follow? (break) . . . idam. Everything is sufficient, complete. Why they are embarrassed with incompleteness? Eh? Everyone is trying to adjust incompleteness, but the Vedic information, "Everything is complete." That means lacking knowledge. The car is complete. One who does not know to drive, he will find it incomplete, "Where to push on, this way, that way." He does not know how to drive the car. (end)