Omniscience is often cited as the mark of a Paramahansa, and sometimes in critique of Srila Prabhupada. But the all-knowingness (sarva-jnan) of Krishna is different from that of Srila Prabhupada. When this issue came up between Srila Prabhupada and Srutakirti, the latter asked Prabhupada what it meant. Srila Prabhupada answered, “I know exactly how much my spiritual master wanted me to know.” So, for example, if Krishna WANTS someone to know how many hairs are on his or her head, He can give them that kind of omniscience. Yamaraja is an example. In the Srimad Bhagavatam purport to the Sixth Canto, Third chapter, text 10, Srila Prabhupada writes: “Before pursuing either course, however, they [the Yamadutas] wanted to know about the Visnudutas from Yamaraja, who is also omniscient.”

This exchange took place in Los Angeles on January 3rd, 1969, when Srila Prabhupada was speaking in the temple on the first six verses of the fourth chapter of Bhagavad-gita As It Is. Devotee: Prabhupada? Does Lord Jesus Christ appear in the spiritual sky with the body he manifested on the earth? Prabhupada: Yes. Otherwise how there can be resurrection? Ordinary body cannot be resurrected. He appeared in his spiritual body, certainly. Jesus Christ told, if I remember, that “Lord, excuse these persons,” who were crucifying him. Is it not? He knew that “These rascals, they are killing me, but… They are offending certainly. So they do not know that I cannot be killed, but they are thinking that they are killing.” You see? But that was offensive, therefore he begged Lord to be excused because God cannot excuse the offenders of the devotee. He can excuse one who is offender to God, but if somebody is offender to the devotee, God never excuses. Therefore he prayed for them. That is devotee’s qualification. He prays for everyone, even for his enemy. And he could not be killed. That he knew. But those rascals, they thought they were killing Jesus Christ.

British propaganda was so effective that even the Indians themselves came to think that products made in India were inferior to products made in England. An example was cutlery “Made in Sheffield.”

Of the many exalted Vaisnavas who have shuffled off this mortal coil, Bhakti-tirtha Swami was, and still is, known and greatly appreciated for emphasizing the importance of deepening relationships between devotees.

The material world is based on envy, a quality absent in the spiritual world. Once Srila Prabhupada spoke of the relationship between the grass and the trees in the spiritual world. He said that the trees would say, how wonderful is the grass. It provides a nice, soft carpet for the Lord and the gopis to walk on. And the grasses would say, how wonderful are the trees as they give the Lord and the gopis a wonderful sight upon which to gaze.

The French world entrepreneur has been Anglicized and used to designate a successful, enterprising individual. In ISKCON, there has never been a greater entrepreneur than Srila Prabhupada. In New York there was no perceivable interest in what he was teaching. In fact, at one point he was prepared to return to India. But in the spirit of the true entrepreneur he never really doubted what he was doing and so he created a worldwide

In today’s secular world, it is not unusual to encounter religions without God. Buddhism is one such religion. On 7 August 1971, Srila Prabhupada said that religion without God is like Hamlet without Hamlet.

Birth is the name of a popular film. I haven’t seen it, and don’t intend to, but it’s reported to touch on the subject of reincarnation. Transmigration of the soul is a phenomenon that has captured the imagination of many a screenplay writer. Ancient and modern wisdom on this subject has been made into feature films at a cost of up to 100 million US dollars each.

Although I haven’t fully researched this, a case could be made that the most often quoted mantra by Srila Prabhupada is the Srimad Bhagavatam 10.84.13 verse: yasyatma-buddhih kunape tri-dhatuke, sva-dhih kalatradisu bhauma ijya-dhih, yat-tirtha-buddhih salile na karhicij, janesv abhijnesu sa eva go-kharah, or “One who identifies his self as the inert body composed of mucus, bile and air, who assumes his wife and family are permanently his own, who thinks an earthen image or the land of his birth is worshipable, or who sees a place of pilgrimage as merely the water there, but who never identifies himself with, feels kinship with, worships or even visits those who are wise in spiritual truth-such a person is no better than a cow or an ass.”

The word “mellifluous” usually refers to sweet, flowing speech. This – in pure form — certainly applies to Lord Krishna, Who is said to be the best linguist and who know every language, even those of non-human entities who communicate within a given species. “Krsna is the linguist of all wonderful languages. He is a truthful and very pleasing speaker. He is expert in speaking, and He is a very wise, learned scholar and a genius.”