Quotes from Srila Prabhupäda.......... A Vaishnava is better than a Brahmana SP Letter to Sivarama (12/7/75) “Brahminical life means cleanliness” “Brahminical life means to be very, very clean, inside and out. Inside by chanting and hearing, and outside by bathing three times daily, if not possible at least two times, but never less than once. Bathing after passing stool. The qualifications of the brahamanas are described in the 18th Chapter of Bhagavat Gita verse 42: “Peacefulness, self-control, austerity, purity, tolerance, honesty, wisdom, knowledge, and religiousness — these are the qualities by which the brahmanas work.” So see that these instructions are being followed nicely.” Not Associating with Materialistic Persons [In regard to brainwashing] Ramesvara: They claim that our lifestyle tends to take the devotee and isolate him from the world.” “Yes,” said Srila Prabhupada, “We hate to mix with you. No gentleman tries to mix with loafers. Crows will not like to live with the ducks and white swans; and white swans will not like to live with the crows. That is natural division. Birds of the same feather flock together.” (SP Lil.VI, pg 222) The Feet The feet should not touch (or even be exposed to) anyone or anything especially sacred items). That is offensive. Basically, the feet touch only the floor. Otherwise, they are kept covered. One should not step over (or reach over) anyone a) while they are offering obeisances (e.g., before the vyasasana) b) while they are sitting (as in the temple room) Slamming Doors The slamming of doors, although seemingly a minor fault, greatly disturbed Srila Prabhupada. It symptomized carelessness and misuse, and Prabhupada said the sound cracked his heart. One time Prabhupäda came out of his room and called out, “Who is that slamming the doors? No one knows from where this building has come. You take it for granted, that it is here. But no one cares.” (SP Lil.V, p.144) Stealing * SP Letter to Pradyumna VE (1/22/68) don’t steal “But so far as stealing is concerned, one should not steal except in the rarest circumstances. Moral principle is recommended in all scriptures as a prerequisite for spiritual culture.” More on the Behavior of a Vaishnava “It is the characteristic of a devotee to observe and protect the Vaishnava etiquette. Maintenance of the Vaishnava etiquette is the ornament of a devotee.” Cc. Antya-Lila 4.129-130. 1. The consciousness of a devotee is manifested by his actions. 2. If one has any depth of realization, the jewels of Vaishnava behaviour will naturally pace all of his dealings and activities. 3. We need to be aware that the vast majority of our exchanges are with devotees and the innocent public. Aparadha is the only real stumbling block in spiritual life. We must become fearful of committing offence. Such awareness will give sobriety and gravity to our behaviour. We will naturally become humble, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu will become pleased, and we will make advancement without serious obstruction. 4. Srila Prabhupada’s reputation depends on our behaviour. In his compassion he lifted us up from much degraded backgrounds. He was even criticized by the less intelligent in India for doing so. In order to maintain Srila Prabhupada’s good name our behaviour should be very exemplary. Quotes from Srila Prabhupada “Act in such a way that they will see we are of ideal character.”- Well-known SP quote: When asked, “How do you recognize a Vaishnava?” SP replied, “He is a perfect gentleman.” (Cc Antya 102-3) Sanatana Goswami to Haridasa Thakura: apane acara keha na kare pracara pracara karena keha na karena acara “Some behave very well but do not preach the cult of Krishna consciousness, whereas others preach but do not behave properly.” acara pracara — namera karaha dui karya tumi — sarva guru tumi jagatera arya “You simultaneously perform both activities in relation to the Holy Name by your personal behavior and by your preaching. Therefore you are the most advanced devotee in the world.” “Better than the brahmana who knows the purpose of the Vedas is he who can dissipate all doubts, and better than him is one who strictly follows brahminical principles. Better than him is one who is liberated from all material contamination, and better than him is a pure devotee, who executes devotional service without expectation of reward.” (Srimad Bhagvatam 3.29.32) SP Letter to Rupanuga 5/9/72 “Boil the Milk” “Now I want that we shall concentrate on making our devotees Krishna conscious and ourselves becoming Krishna conscious, and not be so much concerned with expanding ourselves widely but without any spiritual content. Just like boiling the milk, it becomes thicker and sweeter. Now do like that, boil the milk.” To Patita Uddharan (12/12/74) “A devotee is always ideal in behavior.” So we all have to cooperate amongst ourselves, otherwise what will people think if we ourselves fight with one another? A devotee is always ideal in behavior.” SP Letter to Gargamuni 2/5/69 “Vaishnava Symptom is Humility” “Your humble repentance is just like a Vaishnava student, so I thank you very much for this humbleness. Lord Chaitanya taught us to be humbler that the grass on the street and more tolerant that the tree. so these symptoms are Vaishnava symptoms. SP Letter to Dindayal 2/2/70 “Krishna is so very merciful to those who are very humble in their attitude engaged in service of the Lord. Lord Chaitanya advised, therefore, one should be humbler than the straw and more tolerant than the tree and thus be seriously engaged in glorifying the Lord. This world is very awful. Anyone is ready to create some disturbance; especially they are very much apt to disturb Krishna Consciousness persons because that is the way of demoniac life. So, in order to protect us from all dangerous elements, we have to chant the Hare Krishna Mantra regularly being humbler than the straw and more tolerant than the tree. Then Krishna, Who is Dina Dayal, will bestow His Mercy upon us.” SP Letter to 8/18/70 Upendra “You are good for everything but your attitude to remain good for nothing is very nice. A Vaishnava is always humble and meek, and he is never puffed-up, even he has got the highest qualities of demigods.” SP Letter to Janardan 1/21/68 “So we have to be very careful in understanding Krishna Consciousness. …. To understand Krishna as He has spoken in the Bhagavad Gita or in other Vedic literatures through the right sources of disciplic sucession that is our real knowledge. The idea is everyone should try to pace himself as if he doesn’t know anything. His position is secure. But as soon as he says that “I know everything, and I was previously such and such…,” That is actually rascal. So I know that you are trying to know things from the real source, and you are not puffed up like other fools who think that they know everything. Your humbleness is very much appreciated by me.” “Otherwise, we may become subject to criticism” SP Letter to Advaita (5/28/70) “As I have already said many times that we have to maintain two lines parallel; namely the path of Srimad Bhagavatam and the path of Pancaratriki. Srimad Bhagavatam is the path for Paramahansas, and Pancaratra path is for the neophytes. So the Temple worship is necessary for the beginners so that by following the regulative principles, such devotees become more and more purified and thus gradually come on the platform to understand Srimad Bhagavatam. So we shall always keep these principles in view and maintain our centers on this standard. Recently I have received one ‘Kalyan’ magazine in which our activities in the Western world have been very much appreciated. Especially they have appreciated my strong injunctions on the point of following the four prohibitive regulations. So after describing our activities, the editor has remarked in one place that things are going very nicely at present, but it is God only Who knows how it will continue in the future. This means that the Indians, or the rigid followers of Vedic principles, are doubtful about my American and European students about their sticking to these principles. So it is a God-sent warning for us so that we may not deviate from the above mentioned two lines of action and thus become subject to criticism by the opposing elements.” “Our dealings with others must be very clear.” Letter to Bali Mardan (2/22/70) SP Letter to Satsvarupa (8/19/69) “Anyway, do things in good sense, without any disturbance. We have to make progress very soberly, and I am always at your service whenever required.” [Therefore a serious devotee is always ready to take guidance from superior/other Vaishnavas to understand the proper way of acting.] “But we should never steal anything like money, food, water, gasoline, etc., just to enhance our service to Krishna. That is too much dangerous, and if we are caught then all our work is finished. Just like in India recently, this Balyogi Guru Maharaji was detected by the customs authorities attempting to smuggle some small items into India. By this one tiny incident his entire effort for preaching – even he is rascal Number One and his preaching is nonsense, even so the example is there – his work is ruined now and he is practically finished, as the government will not grant him a passport to leave India. So we shall always be careful to avoid any kind of jeopardizing our high standing in the society by some foolish and small act of illegal stealing.” No Salaries “The teacher and the pujari should never receive a salary. They must work in pure devotion. The ksatriya also.” (SP Lil.V,p.65-6) Vaishnava Behavior is Inspiring for Everyone SP Letter to Janardan (1/21/68) Humbleness is appreciated SP Letter to Shivananda (9/14/68) “This Krishna consciousness movement through music, philosophy, spiritual culture, and personal behavior culminating in ideal character of the devotees. All these heavenly contributions combined together will certainly bring about a major change in the life of Western people.” SP Letter to Batu Gopal (2/1/75) “You are right. We must all become ideal in character and then people will become very impressed with such purity. A devotee is faultless — he has no flaws.” But, on the other hand, if we don’t follow: SP Letter to Madhavi Lata (10/28/68) “It is nice that you are doing preaching work there, but you should know that such practices like stealing are against the principles of Krishna consciousness. I always want that my students should be very ideal in character and not discredit our society.” Letter to Çrédama 7/8th/70 “It is very good you have received permission for chanting and distributing literature as well as collecting. Now you should concentrate to develop your spiritual power to attract the fallen souls to Krishna Consciousness. The daily regulative duties must be performed by everyone very strictly: the beads chanted sixteen rounds, and our literatures read and discussed. In this way, everything should be done very nicely. Sankirtan should be done by you in the streets and at gatherings and in this manner display what is this Krishna Consciousness movement and how it is for everyone’s eternal welfare and happiness. So you do all these with great enthusiasm and very carefully. Our all activities must be open so that no one may criticize our mission. So all dealings must be to the standard of Vaishnavism. We cannot misrepresent ourselves for the purpose of taking monies from the public, but as everything is undertaken forthrightly in a Krishna Consciousness way, then Lord Krishna will be pleased to provide all facilities for aiding our sincere service.”
Posted on: Thu, 08 Aug 2013 05:00:32 +0000
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