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Bhagavad-gītā As It Is 1972 Edition
by His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda
Chapter Seventeen
The Divisions of Faith
The Divisions of Faith
10 Oct 2013 Leave a comment
in A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada Tags: A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Arjuna, as it is, Bhagavad-gita As It Is, Brahma, Candra, demigods, faith, goodness, ignorance, Indra, Krishna, krsna consciousness, passion, sattva, Siva, Spiritual Life, Srila Prabhupada, sun-god, The Divisions of Faith, Visnu
The Three Modes of Material Nature
01 Sep 2013 Leave a comment
in A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada Tags: brahman, devotional service, goodness, goodness passion and ignorance, ignorance, material nature, modes of material nature, nature, passion, three modes, transcendental realization, ultimate happiness
Bhagavad-gītā As It Is 1972 Edition
By His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda
Chapter Fourteen
The Three Modes Of Nature
19 Nov 2012 Leave a comment
in A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Bob Cohen, Free Downloads, Free eBooks, Perfect Answers Perfect Questions Tags: A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Bob Cohen, goodness, higher knowledge, ignorance, passion, perfect questions perfect answers, spirituala master, Srila Prabhupada, three gunas, three modes of material nature
Continuing with our series of a True account entitled Perfect Questions, Perfect Answers… A search for meaning carries Bob Cohen, a young American Peace Corps worker halfway around the world, to an ancient village in the midst of West Bengal. There, in a small bamboo hut, he finds a teacher who is able to tell him everything he ever wanted to know. To download the entire book free on pdf file, click on link at bottom of post.
Perfect Questions, Perfect Answers
By His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
Chapter 4, February 28, 1972 (continued)
The Three Modes Of Nature
Bob: I have read that there are three guṇas—passion, ignorance and goodness—in life. I was wishing that you would explain this somewhat, especially what is meant by the mode of ignorance and the mode of goodness.
Śrīla Prabhupāda: In goodness you can understand things—knowledge. You can know that there is God, that this world was created by Him, and so many things, actual things—the sun is this, the moon is this—perfect knowledge. If one has some knowledge, even though it may not be perfect, that is goodness. And in passion one identifies with his material body and tries to gratify his senses. That is passion. And ignorance is animal life—in ignorance, one does not know what is God, how to become happy, why we are in this world. For example, if you take an animal to the slaughterhouse, it will go. This is ignorance. But a man will protest. If a goat is to be killed after five minutes but you give it a morsel of grass, it is happy because it is eating. Just like a child—even if you are planning to kill her or kill him, he is happy and laughs because he is innocent. That is ignorance.
Bob: Being in these modes determines your karma. Is that correct?
Literatures which Describe the Glories of the Lord are Enjoyed by the Paramahaṁsas
17 Jun 2012 Leave a comment
in A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Srimad Bhagavatam Tags: A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, birds of the same feather, crows, goodness, passion, SB 1.5.10-11, Srimad Bhagavatam, swans, swans and crows
…Crows and swans are not birds of the same feather because of their different mental attitudes. The fruitive workers or passionate men are compared to the crows, whereas the all-perfect saintly persons are compared to the swans. The swans do not take pleasure in the places where crows are assembled for conferences and meetings. They are instead seen in the atmosphere of natural scenic beauty where there are transparent reservoirs of water nicely decorated with stems of lotus flowers in variegated colors of natural beauty. That is the difference between the two classes of birds.
Those words which do not describe the glories of the Lord, who alone can sanctify the atmosphere of the whole universe, are considered by saintly persons to be like unto a place of pilgrimage for crows. Since the all-perfect persons are inhabitants of the transcendental abode, they do not derive any pleasure there.
On the other hand, that literature which is full of descriptions of the transcendental glories of the name, fame, forms, pastimes, etc., of the unlimited Supreme Lord is a different creation, full of transcendental words directed toward bringing about a revolution in the impious lives of this world’s misdirected civilization. Such transcendental literatures, even though imperfectly composed, are heard, sung and accepted by purified men who are thoroughly honest.
… literatures which describe the glories of the Lord are enjoyed by the paramahaṁsas who have grasped the essence of human activities.
Srimad Bhagavatam
By His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
Canto 1, Chapter 5, Texts 10-11
The Hare Krishna Movement 