Quote 1
Pañcadraviḍa: Recently, this Bhutto of Pakistan, he was very happy because they were talking about lifting a ten-year holding on arms from the United States, and now, they say, Pakistan will soon get arms from America.
Prabhupāda: Yes, they are getting. They are already getting. The Pakistan will start the war with India. And then everything will be...
Devotees: Oh! Whew!
Devotee: Pakistan will start a war... (devotees talking among themselves.)
Pañcadraviḍa: They have started the war maybe eight times.
Prabhupāda: (Aside:) Hmm? No, we can go.
Pañcadraviḍa: What will the devotees do while the war is going on?
Prabhupāda: Chant Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Devotees: Jaya! (laughter)
Prabhupāda: You have got only business.
Pañcadraviḍa: Will we stay in the cities or will...?
Prabhupāda: We can stay anywhere. We have got our Māyāpur, Vṛndāvana.
Replies
There are many small and nice things about this quote.
1. Prabhupad shows here that to talk about war and politics need not always be a material discussion, but everything can be connected to Krishna.
2. Prabhupad did not say, "Pakistan may start war again," he said, "Pakistan will start war," indicating he knew clearly, as he demonstrates in many other conversations, his knowledge of future events as revealed to him by Krishna.
3. The devotees were all immersed in thoughts of a possible war, while Prabhupad was unconcerned about the topic of conversation, a symptom of complete surrender to Krishna's will.
4. Most importantly, he says clearly that our business, only business, is to concern ourselves with chanting Hare Krishna and not bother about the material activities around us of any scale as long as they are not conducive to Krishna consciousness.
5. Although our process of Krishna consciousness is so sublime that it can be executed anywhere and any time, Prabhupad still gives us the supreme destinations for perfecting our life very quickly: the spiritual realms within the material world.
As far as absolute detachment from matter is concerned, Prabhu, I think that is one striking feature which is not absent in anything spoken by Prabhupad :D So to use this quote to particularly indicate that would seem futile, as that is one feature I've never seen Prabhupad lack for a single moment. All glories to Srila Prabhupada!
Hari bol!
Haha !! Excellent! AGTSP.
Always the theme of conflict. Earth, being a middle class planet, and people being of short lives at this time, always there is the brief and brutal struggle for existence thrown in our faces. Sometimes we are almost in a panic, where will i stay now? how will i live? sometimes we feel thw whole world is lost to us, we have failed, we are finished, how can we go on? It is too much to bear, it is moment by moment a great anguish... Our chasing of love and money rarely succeeds in finding us contentment. And the rich play games with the people like pawns in their psychopathic greed. And every man for himself, and every woman as an object for sex, and every man a servant.
In such madness of bodily consciousness, and rebellion against Godhead and abuse of other living beings, there will be fighting and wars. Everywhere on earth there is this conflcit of independent interests, hardly anyone is working to please Krsna. devotional service is rare,there are bright lights here and there, but war is everywhere.
So what do you like here in this quote, Suresh Prabhu? i think it is the detachment, the absolute detachment from matter, "Yes, we shall chant Hare Krsna!" Kindly explain and elaborate? - course prof. tdasa