(Click to enlarge photo of Srila Prabhupada)
"Our Society is like one big family and all our relationships should be based on love and trust."
(Srila Prabhupada Letter, August 6, 1970)
"You are all my children and I love my American boys and girls who are sent to me by my spiritual master and I have accepted them as my disciples."
(Srila Prabhupada Letter, July 27, 1970)
"The whole system was that. Love exchange. I give you some service; you give me something out of your love. dadati pratigrhnati. Love means six symptoms. I give you something, you give me something. I give you something for eating, you also give me something for eating. dadati pratigrhnati bhojayate akhyati prcchati. If I am in trouble, I express my open mind before you, and you also try to help me. These are the six signs of love. That is Vedic civilization. Everything exchange of love. No business, mercantile."
(Srila Prabhupada Lecture, Los Angeles, June 22, 1972)
"You have got some bit of love for me, therefore you carry my order. Otherwise it is not possible. And I cannot also. You are foreigners. You are Americans. I came from another country, I have no account. I cannot also order you: 'You must do it, otherwise I will chastise you.' Because there is love. It is a connection of love. I can also become bold enough to chastise you, but you also, in whatever condition, you carry my order due to the basic principle of love. And our whole philosophy is love. We are just trying to learn how to love Krishna, that's all. So without the basic principle of love, these things cannot be conceived."
(Srila Prabhupada Conversation, Dialectic Spiritualism, Ch. 7)
"I can only suggest, and wherever possible that can be applied, but I do not force anyone. After all, you are working so hard to please Krishna only out of love for me, so there can be no question of force if love is there. We should not ever try to force anyone or reduce our Society to an impersonal business exchange. This will kill everything. Our only purpose in every endeavor is simply to make advancement in spiritual life or in pleasing Krishna."
(Srila Prabhupada Letter, April 9, 1972)
"Regarding your question should force be used on children, no, there shall be no forcing the children to do anything. Child should not be forced. This is all nonsense. Who has devised these things? If we want them to become great devotees, then we must educate the children with love, not in a negative way."
(Srila Prabhupada Letter, December 10, 1972)
"I have received one complaint from Indian devotee at Mayapur Prabharupa Das Brahmacari that he is mal treated by our American devotees. Kindly inquire into this matter and do the needful. Either Indian or foreign whoever joins us they are not under any obligation, our only tie is Love of Godhead. It should be our definite policy that nobody is ill treated that he may go away. We recruit a person to join us after spending gallons of blood. Everyone comes for reformation, you cannot expect everyone to be perfect, rather it is our duty to make everyone perfect as far as possible. So we shall be very much cautious and careful in this connection."
(Srila Prabhupada Letter, August 23, 1973)
"Everyone should be friendly for the service of the Lord. Everyone should praise another's service to the Lord and not be proud of his own service. This is the way of Vaisnava thinking, Vaikuntha thinking. There may be rivalries and apparent competition between servants in performing service, but in the Vaikuntha planets the service of another servant is appreciated, not condemned. This is Vaikuntha competition. There is no question of enmity between servants. Everyone should be allowed to render service to the Lord to his best ability, and everyone should appreciate the service of others. Such are the activities of Vaikuntha. Since everyone is a servant, everyone is on the same platform and is allowed to serve the Lord according to his ability."
(Srimad-Bhagavatam 7.5.12, Purport)
"We are giving Krishna consciousness. That is loving, real loving. We are giving him eternal life, eternal bliss. Unless we love them, why we are taking so much trouble? The preacher must love the people. Otherwise why he is taking? He can do it for himself at home. Why he is taking so much trouble? Why in eighty years old I have come here if I do not love? So who can love better than a preacher?"
(Srila Prabhupada Morning Walk, Perth, May 17, 1975)
"Even though a person is rejected by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the devotees of the Lord do not reject him; therefore the Lord's devotees are more merciful than the Lord Himself. Srila Narottama dasa Thakura thus sings, chadiya vaisnava-seva nistara payeche keba: one cannot be relieved from the material clutches without engaging in the service of pure devotees. The Lord Himself may sometimes be very hard, but the devotees are always kind."
(Caitanya-caritamrta Madhya 10.67, Purport)
"Brahmana means perfect gentleman. A rogue, thief, cannot become brahmana. Brahmana is perfect gentleman. Who feels for others, that is gentleman. Who does not feel for others, for his sense gratification, he is a rogue."
(Srila Prabhupada Morning Walk, Vrindavan, April 9, 1976)
"It is a gentleman’s greatest duty to be compassionate upon a person who is distressed."
(Srimad-Bhagavatam 4.27.26)
"Affection for God-brothers is nice, it is a good sign. Affection for God-brothers as well as for all other living entities, even they are not God-brothers, these signs are seen in the advanced devotees."
(Srila Prabhupada Letter, July 29, 1968)
"Our philosophy is to educate people how to love God. That is real religion. Sa vai pumsam paro dharmo yato bhaktir adhoksaje (SB 1.2.6). That is first-class religion which teaches the follower how to love God. And as soon he becomes a lover of God... Just like I am Indian, but I have come to western countries to teach love of God. It is not that I am satisfied only in myself that I love God, that's all right. But due to my love to God I love others also, because I am trying to teach them to love God, the same philosophy. So if people take seriously this movement, how to love God, then human society will be first-rate."
(Srila Prabhupada Conversation, London, September 5, 1971)
"You cannot survive without my mercy and I cannot survive without your mercy. It is reciprocal. This mutual dependence is based on love—Krishna Consciousness."
(Srila Prabhupada Letter, January 22, 1976)
.
.
