Merry Christmas with a few words from Srila Prabhupada

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Who will not respect Jesus Christ? He sacrificed everything for God, even his life. So who is that rascal that he'll not respect to Jesus Christ. What did he do wrong to the human society? He did everything for the good of the human society. Oh, I have got very, very, great respect for Lord Jesus Christ. Not only... Every, I mean to say, God conscious man, he must have respect for Jesus Christ. There is no doubt about it. My Guru Maharaja had very great respect for Muhammad, Jesus Christ...

Srila Prabhupada :: Room Conversation -- June 28, 1974, Melbourne

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My Dear Amogha das:

Please accept my blessings. I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter dated July 16, 1974 with enclosed clippings and the Christian paper Southern Cross. The articles are very nice, and I am very pleased how the Christian community are appreciating our movement. Actually we have no quarrel with them. We accept Lord Jesus Christ as the son of God and he was a great Vaisnava. 

Because he appeared in another country does not mean that we should not offer him respect. If we stick to our principles as I have given you, more and more these priestly class they will come to respect us and appreciate something of our philosophy. Therefore I stress so much the devotional rules and regulations. I very much liked the report of the prasadam distribution at the club for businessmen. 

So I thank you very much for kindly sending me this report. I understand that you are preparing to go to Jakarta for preaching. So just go on as a sincere servant of Krsna, and you will be blessed by Krsna.

I hope this meets you in good health.
Your ever well wisher, A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami

ACBS/bs

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February, 1975 : 75-02-16

Your next question, “Is a pure devotee eternally liberated and if so is he at any time a conditioned soul? We are eternally conditioned, but as soon as we surrender to Krishna do we then become eternally liberated? When Lord Christ appeared he seemed to be conditioned in his growth. Was he a specific incarnation or a conditioned soul who became liberated?” 

You are not eternally conditioned. You are eternally liberated but since we have become conditioned on account of our desire to enjoy materialistic way of life, from time immemorial, therefore it appears that we are eternally conditioned. Otherwise the living entity is not actually conditioned. A living entity is always pure. But he is prone to be attracted by material enjoyment and as soon as he agrees to place himself in material enjoyment, he becomes conditioned, but that is not permanent. 

Therefore a living entity is called on the marginal state, sometimes this side, sometimes that side. These are very intelligent questions. And I am very glad that you are putting such intelligent questions and trying to understand it. It is very good. But best thing is that one should know he is in conditioned life and try to cure it. When a man is in diseased condition he should try to get out of diseased condition without harassing his brain when the disease has begun. 

But it is to be understood that the disease is not our constant companion, it is temporary. So the best thing is to cure the disease, and not waste our time to find out the date when it began. Forgetfulness of Krishna is the disease, so let us keep ourselves always in Krishna Consciousness, and get out of the disease, that is healthy life. Yes, Lord Jesus was jivatattva. He is not Visnu tattva. When a jiva tattva becomes specifically empowered by the Lord, he is called saktyavesa avatara. 

Lord Buddha and Lord Jesus Christ were in this group of saktyavesa avatara.. But they were not in conditioned state when they appeared; they came to teach here.

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Letters : 1968 Correspondence : November : Letter to: Aniruddha — Los Angeles 14 November, 1968 : 68-11-14

“Jesus Christ was such a great personality–the son of God, the representative of God. He had no fault. Still, he was crucified. He wanted to deliver God consciousness, but in return they crucified him–they were so thankless. They could not appreciate his preaching. But we appreciate him and give him all honor as the representative of God.

Of course, the message that Christ preached was just according to his particular time, place, and country, and just suited for a particular group of people. But certainly he is the representative of God. Therefore we adore Lord Jesus Christ and offer our obeisances to him.

Once, in Melbourne, a group of Christian ministers came to visit me. They asked, “What is your idea of Jesus Christ?” I told them, “He is our guru. He is preaching God consciousness, so he is our spiritual master.” The ministers very much appreciated that.

Actually, anyone who is preaching God’s glories must be accepted as a guru. Jesus Christ is one such great personality. We should not think of him as an ordinary human being. The scriptures say that anyone who considers the spiritual master to be an ordinary man has a hellish mentality. If Jesus Christ were an ordinary man, then he could not have delivered God consciousness.”

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Lord Jesus Christ was crucified, Haridasa Thakura was caned in twenty-two marketplaces, and Lord Caitanya’s principal assistant, Nityananda, was violently attacked by Jagai and Madhai. But still they were tolerant because their mission was to deliver the fallen souls. One of the qualifications of a sadhu is that he is very tolerant and is merciful to all fallen souls. He is merciful because he is the well-wisher of all living entities. He is not only a well-wisher of human society, but a well-wisher of animal society as well. 

It is said here, sarva-dehinam, which indicates all living entities who have accepted material bodies. Not only does the human being have a material body, but other living entities, such as cats and dogs, also have material bodies. The devotee of the Lord is merciful to everyone — the cats, dogs, trees, etc. He treats all living entities in such a way that they can ultimately get salvation from this material entanglement. 

Sivananda Sena, one of the disciples of Lord Caitanya, gave liberation to a dog by treating the dog transcendentally. There are many instances where a dog got salvation by association with a sadhu, because a sadhu engages in the highest philanthropic activities for the benediction of all living entities. Yet although a sadhu is not inimical towards anyone, the world is so ungrateful that even a sadhu has many enemies. (SB 3)

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"Regarding the Christmas Day meal with your family, I do not think you should partake of the food prepared by non-devotees. Better you should prepare your own foodstuffs and offer to Krishna and then, if you like, you may offer these remnants to Lord Jesus. I think that Lord Jesus will also appreciate this. Of course you may sit down with your family and take fruits and milk which they offer but rather than taking the foods which they have prepared, you may prepare and offer your own prasadam for Lord Krishna, and then offer the same to Lord Jesus."

Letter to: Hrsikesa
Los Angeles
26 November, 1968

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Now these Christmas holidays you have begun in your country. Throughout the whole month of December you'll observe nice festivals, festivities. Why? Where it began? God consciousness. Lord Christ he came to give you God consciousness, and in his relationship these festivities are going on. It may be degraded in another form. The beginning is God consciousness, but we have lost it. So people cannot be happy without reviving God consciousness."

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 2.2.5
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Los Angeles, December 2, 1968

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Prabhupada: Christian religion is practically, from the name it appears – ‘Christian’ and ‘Krsnian’. Original word of this ‘Christ’ comes from the Greek word ‘Kristo’.

Dr. Weir: Anointed.

Prabhupada: Yes. This ‘Christa’ is Krsna.

Dr. Weir: From the Sanskrit?

Prabhupada: Yes. Krsta is the popular word for Krsna. And Krsna is always anointed with tilaka. We follow this, tilaka, Krsna, anointed with this sandal pulp. So, so far I think, there is some very near relationship with this ‘Christian’ and ‘Krsnia’. Krsta means ‘love’, love of Godhead or love.” 

(Room Conversation, September 4, 1971, London).

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Father Emmanuel: I think Jesus, as the son of God, has revealed to us the actual name of God: Christ. We can call God ‘Father’, but if we want to address Him by His actual name, we have to say ‘Christ’.

Srila Prabhupada: Yes. ‘Christ’ is another way of saying Krsta, and ‘Krsta’ is another way of pronouncing the name of God, Krsna. Jesus said that one should glorify the name of God, but yesterday I heard one theologian say that God has no name-that we can call Him only "Father." A son may call his father ‘Father’, but the father also has a specific name. Similarly, ‘God’ is the general name of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, whose specific name is Krsna. Therefore whether you call God ‘Christ’, ‘Krsta’ or ‘Krsna’, ultimately you are addressing the same Supreme Personality of Godhead.

Father Emmanuel: Yes, if we speak of God's actual name, then we must say, "Christos." In our religion, we have the Trinity: the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit. We believe we can know the name of God only by revelation from the Son of God. Jesus Christ revealed the name of the father, and therefore we take the name Christ as the revealed name of God.

Srila Prabhupada: Actually, it doesn't matter – Krsna or Christ – the name is the same. The main point is to follow the injunctions of the Vedic scriptures that recommend chanting the name of God in this age. The easiest way is to chant the maha-mantra: Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna, Krsna Krsna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare.” 

(Science of Self Realization, Chapter 4).

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“Yes. Krsna means ‘the supreme lover and beloved’. He attracts everyone. There is one Greek word, krista. The meaning is the same, ‘love.’ And from this Krista, the word Christ has come. So this word Christ also has connection with Krsna.” 

(April 13, 1975 Srimad-Bhagavatam lecture)

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“nr-deham adyam su-labham su-durlabham
plavan su-kalpan guru-karnadharam
mayanukulena nabhasvateritam
puman bhavabdhim na taret sa atma-ha

The human body, which can award all benefit in life, is automatically obtained by the laws of nature, although it is a very rare achievement. This human body can be compared to a perfectly constructed boat having the spiritual master as the captain and the instructions of the Personality of Godhead as favorable winds impelling it on its course. Considering all these advantages, a human being who does not utilize his human life to cross the ocean of material existence must be considered the killer of his own soul.” 

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Power of the holy name of God:

(Srimad-Bhagavatam 11.20.17)]

“Ajamila was a resident of Kanyakubja (the modern Kanauj). He was trained by his parents to become a perfect brahmana by studying the Vedas and following the regulative principles, but because of his past, this youthful brahmana was somehow attracted by a prostitute, and because of her association he became most fallen and abandoned all regulative principles. Ajamila begot in the womb of the prostitute ten sons, the last of whom was called Narayana. 

At the time of Ajamila's death, when the order carriers of Yamaraja came to take him, he loudly called the name Narayana in fear because he was attached to his youngest son. Thus he remembered the original Narayana, Lord Visnu. Although he did not chant the holy name of Narayana completely offenselessly, it acted nevertheless. As soon as he chanted the holy name of Narayana, the order carriers of Lord Visnu immediately appeared on the scene. 

A discussion ensued between the order carriers of Lord Visnu and those of Yamaraja, and by hearing that discussion Ajamila was liberated. He could then understand the bad effect of fruitive activities and could also understand how exalted is the process of devotional service.” 

(Srimad-Bhagavatam 6.1 )

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