720913 - Conversation A - Dallas

Conversations by Date, 1972

His Divine Grace
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

720913R1-DALLAS - September 13, 1972 - 05:21 Minutes

Prabhupāda: God and we living entities all of us are persons, individual persons . . . (indistinct) . . . so all of us living entities person-to-person, God is the supreme person and the living entities are, just like in a family the head of the family is the father. He is the head all others, the wife, the children, the servants, they are all subordinate.

Similarly God the supreme father he's the principal head of the entire family and all others subordinate, eko bahūnāṁ yo vidadhāti kāmān (Kaṭha Upaniṣad 2.2.13). The singular number person God is supplying the necessities of all others. This is Vedic knowledge, nityo nityānāṁ cetanaś cetanānām eko bahūnāṁ yo vidadhāti kāmān, the Upaniṣads.

So our bhakta philosophy is we are all individuals. God is individual and we are all individuals we live together and along with the supreme person we also enjoy. Just like the gopīs are dancing with Kṛṣṇa, that is the highest perfection. To keep your individuality and dance with the supreme individual person, association. So?

Devotee: . . . (indistinct) (break)

Devotee: . . . discipline them in that way.

Indian Mātājī: Discipline . . .

Prabhupāda: I don’t want to that way . . . (indistinct)

Indian Mātājī: No but like in this case. like many time it happens we go on repeating the same, we don’t want . . . (indistinct)

Prabhupāda: How to do it? It's material . . . so far as you know in our childhood our teacher used to keep our skin . . .

Indian Mātājī: Right, but in Vedic system we don’t have that. Parents all we are forced with spanking they had a very big spat over that. Parents don’t want their children to be spanked from the school, from the school as well as from home . . . (indistinct) (break)

Prabhupāda: . . . found out how to control them otherwise how they will be able to manage?

(aside) Carefully . . . oh!

Indian Mātājī: (laughs) . . . (indistinct)

Devotee: Twist her ear?

Prabhupāda: They must be conscious that if I do not obey that there will be punishment. That much impression . . . (indistinct)

Satsvarūpa: As far as the constant conduct, you know that we can hit and also to instruct them in proper worship of Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa.

Prabhupāda: Now that worship they will do automatically when they will worship, let them come in the temple . . . (indistinct)

Satsvarūpa: Sometimes in the class they come and instead of worship they run around and play, fight with one another.

Devotee (2): Fight with each other in front of the Deities.

Prabhupāda: Eh?

Devotee (2): Fight each other in front of the Deities.

Prabhupāda: So children must be . . . must be very obedient and respectful to the Deities.

Satsvarūpa: Śrīla Prabhupāda, should only the devotees, like we have three teachers for each group, or 15 teachers to discipline them.

Prabhupāda: Three teachers there is sufficient if you want to keep 300 teachers then I have no objection but three teachers is sufficient.

Satsvarūpa: And those three should be the only ones involved with the stick, hitting with a stick none of the other devotees.

Prabhupāda: No already three is sufficient.

Satsvarūpa: Concerning, like you have indicated in past letters that association with the children should be only first-class devotees. What about when . . . (break) (end)