THE PRABHUPADA CONNECTION
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My Guru Maharaja, Part 2
(Srila Prabhupada's guru maharaj, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Gosvami Prabhupada)

"Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura used to say, 'If I could perfectly deliver even one soul back home, back to Godhead, I would think my mission—propagating Kṛṣṇa consciousness—to be successful.' "

(Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 4.12.33, Purport)

"Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura used to say that in the morning our first business should be to beat the mind with shoes a hundred times. and, before going to bed, to beat the mind a hundred times with a broomstick. In this way one's mind can be kept under control."

(Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 5.6.4, Purport)

"Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja Gosvāmī wrote Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta in his old age, in an invalid condition, but it is such a sublime literature that Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Gosvāmī Mahārāja used to say, 'The time will come when the people of the world will learn Bengali to read Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta.' "

(Caitanya-caritāmṛta Ādi 8.39, Purport)

"Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura used to say, 'There is no scarcity of anything within this world. The only scarcity is of Kṛṣṇa consciousness.' That is the vision of all pure devotees. Because of this lack of Kṛṣṇa consciousness in human society, people are suffering terribly, being merged in an ocean of nescience and sense gratification. A devotee onlooker is very much aggrieved to see such a situation in the world."

(Caitanya-caritāmṛta Ādi 13.67, Purport)

"People generally pray for material benefits: 'O God, give us our daily bread. Give me nice position. Give me nice wife. Give me nice following or this or victory,' so on, so on, so on, simply for material existence. My Guru Mahārāja used to say that if we pray to God for all these nonsense things, it is just like a man goes to a king and the king says, 'Whatever you want you can ask from me,' and if the man says, 'Kindly give me a pinch of ashes.' It is like that. If we ask from God for some material benefit, it means that I am asking from a king a pinch of ash."

(Srila Prabhupada Lecture, London, August 20, 1973)

"Every field, there must be mahā-bhāgavata. So my Guru Mahārāja used to say that when we shall see that the high-court judges are devotees of Kṛṣṇa, then our preaching will be somewhat forward. So that is the aim of Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement, that everyone, at least those who are ruling, those who are on the executive function, they must be all mahā-bhāgavata. Under them everything should be ruled. Then people will be happy. Because they will never do anything unjustly. Their only desire is... Mahā-bhāgavata is how to give relief to the suffering humanity. That is mahā-bhāgavata."

(Srila Prabhupada Lecture, Los Angeles, December 29, 1973)

"My Guru Mahārāja used to say that 'I am a sannyāsī. I am not married, neither I am meant for marrying. But if I can produce Kṛṣṇa conscious children, I can marry hundred times.' That is the responsibility. Don't produce cats and dogs; produce Kṛṣṇa devotees. Then you marry. Otherwise don't marry. This is Vedic injunction. Marriage is not meant for sense gratification. Marriage is meant for producing nice children, Kṛṣṇa devotees. So that is our aim. Our aim is not to produce cats and dogs. There are so many cats and dogs—the world is not happy. Now there is need of producing nice children, sober, gentle, devotee of Kṛṣṇa, good brain, good character. These things are required."

(Srila Prabhupada Lecture, Vrindavan, April 24, 1975)

"You should be very careful. People are very much accustomed to see rāsa-līlā in Vṛndāvana. Maybe they are advanced, but the test is whether he has given up his lusty desire. That is the test. If he has given up, then, after seeing rāsa-līlā, he should not have returned to home. My Guru Mahārāja used to say, 'Do not go to Vṛndāvana with return ticket.' "

(Srila Prabhupada Lecture, Vrindavan, August 28, 1975)

"We have given the list of qualification of a devotee. One of the qualification is poetic. Poetic means not write poetry. Poetic means literary man. They must give literature. Naturally they'll give. That is the nature of devotee. Because without literature, how can we enlighten the people at large? My Guru Mahārāja used to say that this press is bṛhad-mṛdaṅga. Bṛhat means bigger, at large, bigger mṛdaṅga, bigger. Just like we are playing mṛdaṅga. This mṛdaṅga can be vibrated in the neighboring quarter, but our mṛdaṅga, Back to Godhead, that will go far, far away. So therefore this press was considered by my Guru Mahārāja as bṛhad-mṛdaṅga. He said. You'll find in the picture: there is this mṛdaṅga and press. He was very much fond of press."

(Srila Prabhupada Lecture, New Vrindaban, June 11, 1969)

"My Guru Mahārāja used to give one nice example that a man was drowning. Another man came, that 'I shall save this man.' So he jumped on the water, and when coming out of the water he brought the shirt and coat: 'Now I have saved the man.' The social service, or any service which is going on, that is serving the shirt and coat. Nobody is serving the soul. That is the mistake of modern civilization. There are many hospitals to cure the bodily diseases, but there is no hospital to cure the disease of the soul. So this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is to cure the disease of the soul. Disease of the soul."

(Srila Prabhupada Lecture, Montreal, June 26, 1968)

"The Kṛṣṇa conscious people, they should not be lazy. They should always remember that 'Death is already there. Let me finish my business properly so that after death I may not be a cat and dog. My Guru Mahārāja used to say that 'Why should you wait for another life? Finish Kṛṣṇa consciousness business in this life.' In this life. Why you should set aside the business for another life? No. Tūrṇaṁ yateta anumṛtya pateta yāvat (SB 11.9.29). This is the instructions of... Before the next death you should prepare yourself for death. Death is inevitable. You cannot avoid death. But before the next death comes, if you become fully Kṛṣṇa conscious, then your life is successful."

(Srila Prabhupada Lecture, Vrindavan, December 7, 1975)
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<< Part 1                                                                                            Continued in Part 3 >>
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