There are two ways of association - by vani and by vapuh. Vani means words, and vapuh means physical presence. Physical presence is sometimes appreciable and sometimes not, but vani continues to exist eternally. Therefore we must take advantage of the vani, not the physical presence.

Govinda dasi: Suppose someone is firmly convinced that Krsna consciousness is the only thing that will save him but yet he still has inclinations toward material activities. Will Krsna force him in this case to become completely surrendered? Prabhupada: Yes. He puts the devotee in such a way that he is obliged to become Krsna consciousness fully. Naturally, because we have materially associated for so many lives, so even though we are trying to become fully Krsna conscious, so our...

Dear Srila Prabhupada, INCONCEIVABLE is the word which to me most thoroughly describes you, because your activities are cent per cent inspired by the divine energy of the Lord -- daivim prakrtim asritah. Yet still, as your disciples, we are supposed to endeavor to understand you in our never-ending attempt to follow you in executing your mission of spreading Krsna consciousness throughout the world. But it is futile. How can a lowborn fool like myself comprehend the position of a...

(By Sura dasa; from St. Louis Vyasa-puja offering 1982) I remember in 1976 at the Vrndavana festival you were in your room and one brahmacari asked me if I could guard on the outside porch while he took prasadam. I jumped at the opportunity for some personal service, yet didn't know what the job entailed, since I had never guarded your quarters at that time in Vrndavana. I was sitting, reading Seventh Canto, thinking how fortunate I was, when all...

You cannot become God if you are not God. Krsna... Krsna was God when He was three months old on the lap of His mother. Krsna was God when He was four months old. Krsna was God when He was seven years old. Now we are chanting, jaya radha-madhava kunja-bihari gopi-jana-ballabha giri-bara-dhari. Krsna was gopi-jana-ballabha. He was always meant for pleasing the gopis, but that does not mean that he was not God. Giri-bara-dhari.

Money, spend for Krsna -- for Krsna's palace, for Krsna's temple, for Krsna's worship, gorgeous.

When Krsna opened His mouth, His mother saw innumerable universes inside. This is Krsna. Anor aniyan mahato mahiyan. Krsna enters within the universe, but at the same time millions of universes are within His mouth. This is the explanation of "greater than the greatest and smaller than the smallest." Of course, although Mother Yasoda saw Krsna's display, she could not believe it, because she never thought that Krsna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. She always thought, "He is...

A pure devotee always yearns to associate personally with the Lord and render service unto Him. The examples given in this regard are most appropriate. A small baby bird is practically never satisfied except when the mother bird comes to feed it, a small calf is not satisfied unless allowed to suck the milk from the mother's udder, and a chaste, devoted wife whose husband is away from home is never satisfied until she has the association of her...

Bhakti comes from the word bhaj-dhatu, so this word has been used, bhajate mam; it means "engaged in devotional service." Yoginam api sarvesam mad-gatenantaratmana -- "a person who is keeping Me always within the core of the heart." The best example are the gopis. They had no other business than to keep Krsna always within the heart. Gopis requested Krsna, "Please, if You get out from our hearts then we can concentrate to our household duties. These yogis and munis...

Dharmah projjhita kaitavah. Kaitava means cheating. To cheat God or to be cheated by God, this kind of religion is rejected. But people are very much fond of that kind of religion by which the God is cheated and he is cheated. He will commit all kinds of sins and he will be excused. That means God is cheated.

Real religion means "God is there; I am there. God is great; I am subordinate. I must abide by the laws of God." This is religion... Real religion means to revive our consciousness -- we say "Krsna consciousness," or God consciousness -- by which we agree to abide by the laws of God... First-class religion: "which teaches us how to surrender to God and love Him."

In this way, as he makes advance in spiritual life, then simply by hearing about Krsna's pastimes, immediately he will be filled up in ecstasy and he will cry. These are the symptoms. Krsna is killing so many demons, Krsna is dancing with gopis, Krsna is playing with His cowherd boys, Krsna is going there, this is lila smaranam. The Krsna book reading means remembering all these activities of Krsna. Simply go on reading Krsna book, repeat it, you...