# May 23 *Lectures from this day: 6 recordings* --- **[[spoken/660523bg.ny|Bg 3.13-16 — May 23, 1966, New York]]** **Prabhupāda:** [leads *kīrtana*] [*prema-dhvani*]. All glories to the assembled devotees. All glories to the assembled devotees. *Gaura-Premanandi. Hari Haribol.* Thank you very much. This verse we are discussing last meeting, that we should eat after offering sacrifice. Lord Kṛṣṇa says that things which are eatable, we receive by the grace of the Lord, we should acknowledge it. We should not be forgetful, that our eatables which come to us, they can be manufactured by our sweet will. No. The arrangement is so nice in the administration of nature that we shall get all our necessities of life by the grace of God, and our duty is to advance ourself in the right knowledge of our spiritual existence, without unnecessarily engaging ourself for sense gratification. That is the difference between human civilization and animal life. --- **[[spoken/690523sb.nv|SB 1.5.1-8 — May 23, 1969, New Vrindaban]]** --- **[[spoken/720523in.la|Initiations — May 23, 1972, Los Angeles]]** --- **[[spoken/740523r1.rom|Room Conversation with Irish Poet Desmond O’Grady — May 23, 1974, Rome]]** **Yogeśvara:** [reading from *Bhagavad-gītā* 13.22 purport] "It is explained in the Second Chapter that the living entity is transmigrating from one body to another just as one changes dress. This change of dress is due to his attachment to material existence. As long as he is captivated by this false manifestation, he has to continue transmigrating from one body to another. Due to his desire to lord over material nature, he is put into such undesirable circumstances. Under the influence of material desire, the entity is born sometimes as a demigod, sometimes as a man, sometimes as a beast, as a bird, as a worm, as an aquatic, as a saintly man, as a bug. This is going on. And in all cases the living entity thinks himself to be the master of his circumstances, yet he is under the influence of material nature." **Prabhupāda:** So this is our..., because we are developing a different consciousness... Different... Consciousness is one, but it is being colored under different circumstances. And therefore we have to accept a similar type of body. So if our consciousness is cleansed, then we do not undergo the circumstantial changes by different species of life. That is required. In the human form of life we can do that—not to associate with the modes of material nature, but associate with God. That we can do. And if we associate with God, then we become liberated from the clutches of *māyā. Mām eva ye prapadyante māyām etāṁ taranti te* [[bg/7/14|[Bg. 7.14] ]]. And our real business is how to get out of the clutches of *māyā.* **Prabhupāda:** We have to take to Kṛṣṇa consciousness, because such consciousness will help us to be free from the contamination of these different types of material consciousness and save us from transmigrating from one body to another. So we accept this different association on account of our strong propensity for sense gratification. Therefore we have to purify the senses so that the senses may be engaged in the service of the master of the senses. *Hṛṣīkena hṛṣīkeśa-sevanaṁ bhaktir ucyate.* --- **[[spoken/750523mw.mel|Morning Walk in the Botanical Gardens — May 23, 1975, Melbourne]]** **Śrutakīrti:[introducing recording] **The following is Prabhupāda's final morning walk in Melbourne, Australia, in the Botanical Gardens on May 23rd, 1975. **Prabhupāda:** ...filled with fruits and flowers, then it would have invited many nice birds. But they do not know that. [break] ...chirping, the beauty of the gardens would have been more beautiful. But they cannot invite. There is no fruits, no flower. --- **[[spoken/760523sb.hon|SB 6.1.23 — May 23, 1976, Honolulu]]** **Prabhupāda:** *Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam,* Canto Six, Chapter One, verse number 23. [leads devotees in chanting] So in this way the Ajāmila, he practiced this unfair way of livelihood. *Bandy-akṣaiḥ kaitavaiś cauryair garhitāṁ vṛttim āsthitaḥ* [[sb/6/1/22|[SB. 6.1.22] ]]. So *vṛtti* means livelihood. If one adopts abominable livelihood, there is no, I mean to say, hope of spiritual advancement. Finished, because... We have learned from *Bhagavad-gītā.* Arjuna says Kṛṣṇa, *paraṁ brahma paraṁ dhām**a pavitraṁ paramaṁ bhavān* [[bg/10/12|[Bg. 10.12] ]]: "Kṛṣṇa, You are the Supreme Brahman," *param dhāma,* "the supreme resort of everything, and" *pavitraṁ paramaṁ bhavān,* "and the supreme pure." So nobody can approach Kṛṣṇa if he's impure. That is not possible. In the *Bhagavad-gītā* still it is said, *yeṣāṁ tu anta-gataṁ pāpam:* "One who is free from all contamination of sinful activities," *yeṣāṁ anta-gataṁ pāpam janānām puṇya-karmaṇām,* "simply engaged in pious activities only," *te,* "such persons," *dvanda-moha-nirmuktā,* "without any doubt and duality," *bhajante māṁ dṛḍha-vratāḥ,* "with fixed-up mind, he can become Kṛṣṇa conscious."* [[bg/7/28|[Bg. 7.28] ]] --- ## Letters - [[../../letters/pre-1966/640523_mathura_prasad.md|Letter to Mathura Prasad, 1964]] - [[../../letters/1968/680523_gurudasa.md|Letter to Gurudasa, 1968]] - [[../../letters/1968/680523_kirtanananda.md|Letter to Kirtanananda, 1968]] - [[../../letters/1968/680523_krsna_dasa.md|Letter to Krsna Dasa, 1968]] - [[../../letters/1968/680523_yamuna.md|Letter to Yamuna, 1968]] - [[../../letters/1969/690523_gaudiya_mission.md|Letter to Gaudiya Mission, 1969]] - [[../../letters/1969/690523_harer_nama.md|Letter to Harer Nama, 1969]] - [[../../letters/1969/690523_isana.md|Letter to Isana, 1969]] - [[../../letters/1969/690523_nandarani.md|Letter to Nandarani, 1969]] - [[../../letters/1969/690523_tamala_krsna.md|Letter to Tamala Krsna, 1969]] - [[../../letters/1970/700523_hanuman_prasad_poddar.md|Letter to Hanuman Prasad Poddar, 1970]] - [[../../letters/1970/700523_sri_govinda_bob_lindberg.md|Letter to Sri Govinda Bob Lindberg, 1970]] - [[../../letters/1971/710523_hayagriva.md|Letter to Hayagriva, 1971]] - [[../../letters/1971/710523_mukunda.md|Letter to Mukunda, 1971]] - [[../../letters/1972/720523_cyavana.md|Letter to Cyavana, 1972]] - [[../../letters/1972/720523_friends.md|Letter to Friends, 1972]] - [[../../letters/1972/720523_mr._b._d._joshi.md|Letter to Mr. B. D. Joshi, 1972]] - [[../../letters/1972/720523_sudama.md|Letter to Sudama, 1972]] - [[../../letters/1976/760523_gopala_krsna.md|Letter to Gopala Krsna, 1976]] - [[../../letters/1976/760523_jayatirtha.md|Letter to Jayatirtha, 1976]] - [[../../letters/1976/760523_nandevara.md|Letter to Nandevara, 1976]] - [[../../letters/1976/760523_nityananda.md|Letter to Nityananda, 1976]] - [[../../letters/1976/760523_satsvarupa.md|Letter to Satsvarupa, 1976]] - [[../../letters/1976/760523_syama.md|Letter to Syama, 1976]] - [[../../letters/1976/760523_tejiyas.md|Letter to Tejiyas, 1976]]