A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada (1896–1977) was a prominent Indian spiritual leader and the founder-acharya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), commonly known as the Hare Krishna movement. Born Abhay Charanaravinda Bhaktivedanta Swami in Calcutta, India, he was a disciple of Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura, a leading figure in the Gaudiya Vaishnavism tradition.

A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada Quotes

“Beginning of all knowledge comes from humility.”
— A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

“If you sell diamonds, you cannot expect to have many customers. But a diamond is a diamond even if there are no customers.”
— A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

“One should not be happy or distressed over desirables and undesirables, knowing that such feelings are just created by the mind.”
— A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

“Humility means that one should not be anxious to have the satisfaction of being honored by others.”
— A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

“A tree full of ripened fruits bows down naturally, because of the weight of the fruits and its willingness to make its fruits accessible to others.”
— A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

“You should not be carried away by the dictation of the mind, but the mind should be carried by your dictation.”
— A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

“Books are the basis; purity is the force; preaching is the essence; utility is the principle.”
— A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

“Every living creature is the son of the supreme Lord, and He does not tolerate even ants being killed.”
— A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

“The genuine Guru is God’s representative and he speaks about God and nothing else.”
— A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

“A grain of devotion is more valuable than tons of faithlessness.”
— A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

“When a Krishna Conscious person is elevated to a responsible position, he never becomes puffed up. Just like a tree when over-laden with fruits becomes humble and lower down. Similarly, a great soul in Krishna Consciousness becomes humbler than the grass and bowed down like the fruitful trees because a Krishna Conscious person acts as the agent of Krishna, therefore he discharges his duty with great responsibility.”
— A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

“This chanting of the Hare Krishna mantra is enacted from the spiritual platform and thus this sound vibration surpasses all lower strata of consciousness – namely sensual, mental and intellectual.”
— A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

“To kill nothing, that is love.”
— A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

“When a pure devotee or spiritual master speaks, what he says should be accepted as having been directly spoken by the Supreme Personality of Godhead in the Parampara System.”
— A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

“It’s better to be an outspoken atheist than a hypocrite.”
— A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

“The artist draws a picture of a rose very nicely with all attention and artistic sense, and yet it does not become as perfect as the real rose. If that is the real fact, how can we say that the real rose has taken its shape without Intelligence behind the beauty?”
— A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

“Faith is unflinching trust in something divine.”
— A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

“Religion without philosophy is sentiment, or sometimes fanaticism, while philosophy without religion is mental speculation.”
— A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

“Be very humble when you plan so that Krishna is happy with you.”
— A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

“Just try to learn the truth by approaching a spiritual master. Inquire from him submissively and render service unto him. The self-realized soul can impart knowledge unto you because he has seen the truth.”
— A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

“The holy name of Krishna has extraordinary spiritual potency because the name of God is nondifferent from God Himself.”
— A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

“Our first duty is to satisfy the spiritual master, who can arrange for the Lord’s mercy. A common man must first begin to serve the spiritual master or the devotee. Then, through the mercy of the devotee, the Lord will be satisfied. Unless one receives the dust of a devotee’s lotus feet on one’s head, there is no possibility of advancement. Unless one approaches a pure devotee, he cannot understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead.”
— A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

“It is said about Lord Buddha sadaya-hrdaya darsita-pasu-ghatam. He saw the whole human race going to hell by this animal killing. So he appeared to teach ahimsa, nonviolence, being compassionate on the animals and human beings. In the Christian religion also, it is clearly stated, ‘Thou shall not kill’. So everywhere animal killing is restricted. In no religion the unnecessary killing of animals is allowed. But nobody is caring. The killing process is increasing, and so are the reactions. Every ten years you will find a war. These are the reactions.”
— A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

“The Lord has different names according to His different activities. For example, His name is Madhusüdana because He killed the demon of the name Madhu; His name is Govinda because He gives pleasure to the cows and to the senses.”
— A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

“The spiritual master and Krishna are two parallel lines. The train, on two tracks, moves forward. The spiritual Master and Krishna are like these two tracks. They must be served simultaneously. Krishna helps one to find bona fide Spiritual Master and bona fide Spiritual Master helps one to understand Krishna. If one does not get bona fide Spiritual Master, then how he can ever understand Krishna? You cannot serve Krishna without Spiritual Master, or serve just Spiritual Master without serving Krishna. They must be served simultaneously.”
— A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

“A devotee should be fixed in the conclusion that, the spiritual master cannot be subject to criticism and should never be considered equal to a common man.”
— A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

“The highest summit of spiritual perfection is knowledge of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.”
— A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

“A spiritual master who is one hundred percent Krishna conscious is the bona fide spiritual master.”
— A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

“In spiritual life, one must conduct one’s whole life under the guidance of the guru. Only one who executes his spiritual life under the direction of the spiritual master can achieve the mercy of Krishna.”
— A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

“Therefore a person fully absorbed in the bodily concept of life is surely killing himself by not making spiritual progress. Such a person is called pasu-ghna. Especially excluded from spiritual life are the animal hunters, who are not interested in hearing and chanting the holy name of the Lord. Such hunters are always unhappy, both in this life and in the next. It is therefore said that a hunter should neither die nor live because for such persons both living and dying are troublesome.”
— A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

“Anyone who is steady in his determination for the advanced stage of spiritual realization and can equally tolerate the onslaughts of distress and happiness is certainly a person eligible for liberation.”
— A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

“First birth is from your parents, but real birth, real life, begins when one accepts a bona fide spiritual master and renders service unto him. Then the path is open for going back to home, back to Godhead, to live eternally in full knowledge and full bliss and in association with the Supreme Personality of Godhead Himself, Lord Krishna.”
— A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

“A disciple serves the spiritual master with the sole purpose of getting instructions from him.”
— A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

“Living entity is food for another living entity, it does not mean that I shall eat my children also. There is discretion.”
— A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

“Out of many millions of wandering living entities, one who is very fortunate gets an opportunity to associate with a bona fide spiritual master by the grace of Krishna. By the mercy of both Krishna and the spiritual masters, such a person receives the seed of the creeper of devotional service.”
— A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

“There is a word Kristos in the Greek dictionary, and this word is supposed to be borrowed from the Sanskrit word ‘Krishna,’ and Christ is derived from Kristos.”
— A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

“Indulgence in animal killing for the taste of the tongue is the grossest kind of ignorance.”
— A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

“Christ means Krishna, love of Godhead, Who has His face anointed with tilak.”
— A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

“To be nonviolent to human beings and to be a killer or enemy of the poor animals is Satan’s philosophy. In this age there is always enmity against poor animals, and therefore the poor creatures are always anxious. The reaction of the poor animals is being forced on human society, and therefore there is always strain of cold or hot war between men, individually, collectively or nationally.”
— A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

“One who loves Krishna will give Him whatever He wants, and he avoids offering anything which is undesirable or unasked for. Thus, meat, fish and eggs should not be offered to Krishna… Vegetables, grains, fruits, milk and water are the proper foods for human beings and are prescribed by Lord Krishna Himself. Whatever else you eat cannot be offered to Him, since He will not accept it.”
— A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

“Krishna was conceived in the womb of Devaki mysteriously as the sun setting in the West imparts his rays to the rising moon in the East.”
— A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

“The Srimad-Bhagavatam states that any bona fide preacher of God consciousness must have the qualities of titiksa (tolerance) and karuna (compassion). In the character of Lord Jesus Christ we find both these qualities.”
— A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

“One has to ascertain the right path for his activities by following in the footsteps of great saintly persons and books of knowledge under the guidance of a spiritual master.”
— A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

“Since one cannot visually experience the presence of the Supersoul, He appears before us as a liberated devotee. Such a spiritual master is none other than Krishna himself.”
— A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

“If after accepting the spiritual master and being initiated one does not follow the rules and regulations of devotional service, then he is again fallen.”
— A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

“By the grace of the spiritual master, the cloud of the mercy of the Personality of Godhead is brought in, and then only, when the rains of Krishna consciousness fall, can the fire of material existence be extinguished.”
— A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

“A bona fide spiritual master, under the guidance of authorities, can turn anyone to the Vaisnava cult so that naturally he may come to the topmost position of a brahmana.”
— A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

“In the last stage of the spiritual master’s life, the devotees of the spiritual master should take preaching activities into their own hands. In this way the spiritual master can sit down in a solitary place and render nirjana-bhajana.”
— A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

“It is imperative that one approaches a spiritual master, for by such association one proportionately develops his consciousness towards the Supreme Personality of Godhead.”
— A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

“Spiritual master is representative of God. Similarly, king is also representative of God. The father is also representative of God. These are the statements of the sastras. Because they will guide. The king will guide. The spiritual master will guide. The father will guide. What is that guidance? That guidance is how one can become Krishna Conscious by education, by culture.”
— A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

“One must execute devotional service under the guidance of a devotee or directly under the guidance of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. It is not possible, however, to train oneself without guidance from the spiritual master.”
— A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada