Lecture library

Curated collections of A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada’s lectures by theme — from the essentials to verse-by-verse study of the scriptures.

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An introduction to Śrīla Prabhupāda's teachings: the law of karma and destiny, the eternal soul, who Lord Kṛṣṇa is, the power of the holy name, and the path of bhakti — the essentials in plain language.

Karma and destiny

Lectures by A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda on the law of karma and destiny. Drawing on the Bhagavad-gītā, Prabhupāda explains the difference between pious action (karma), forbidden action (vikarma) and action in Kṛṣṇa consciousness (akarma), and shows how devotional service frees the soul from the bondage of karmic law.

The eternal soul

Lectures by A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda on the eternal soul. Commenting on the Bhagavad-gītā, Prabhupāda explains that the soul (ātmā) is never born and never dies, that we are not the body but eternal servants of Kṛṣṇa, and answers the materialists who claim that everything ends with the death of the body.

Krishna and His pastimes

Lectures by A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda on Lord Kṛṣṇa and His transcendental pastimes. From the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Prabhupāda recounts Kṛṣṇa's līlās and explains how hearing and chanting about them (śravaṇam and kīrtanam) purify the heart and end the cycle of birth and death.

The holy name

Lectures by A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda on the holy name of Kṛṣṇa and the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra. Prabhupāda explains why, in the age of Kali, chanting the names of the Lord (kīrtana and japa) is the most sublime and accessible means of spiritual realization, and how it awakens love of God in the heart.

Bhakti and devotion

Lectures by A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda on devotional service (bhakti). Prabhupāda explains that bhakti-yoga is the highest of all yoga systems — the one that links the soul with the Supreme Lord — and describes the path of pure love for Kṛṣṇa that begins with the practice of devotional service.

Bhakti-shastras

Śrīla Prabhupāda's lectures on the core Vaiṣṇava scriptures — Bhagavad-gītā, Śrī Īśopaniṣad, The Nectar of Devotion and Brahma-saṁhitā — unfolding their meaning verse by verse.

Bhagavad-gita: Chapters 1–6

Śrīla Prabhupāda's lectures on the first six chapters of the Bhagavad-gītā — the science of the self: who we are beyond the body, the eternal nature of the soul, and the path of selfless action (karma-yoga) that carries us from confusion on the battlefield of life to steadiness in spiritual consciousness.

Bhagavad-gita: Chapters 7–12

Lectures on chapters seven through twelve of the Bhagavad-gītā — the heart of the Gītā, where Kṛṣṇa reveals His divine opulences, the most confidential knowledge of His person, and bhakti-yoga: pure loving devotion as the highest and most direct path to the Supreme.

Bhagavad-gita: Chapters 13–18

Lectures on the final six chapters of the Bhagavad-gītā — the analysis of matter and consciousness: the field of the body and its knower, the three modes of material nature, and the perfection of all knowledge in full surrender to Kṛṣṇa.

Sri Isopanisad

A series of lectures by A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda on Śrī Īśopaniṣad (Los Angeles, spring 1970). The eighteen mantras of this Upaniṣad hold the essence of Vedic knowledge: everything in this world belongs to the Lord and is meant for His service. Prabhupāda comments on the mantras one by one.

The Nectar of Devotion

Lectures by A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda on The Nectar of Devotion (Bombay, 1973) — his summary study of Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī's Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu. Prabhupāda unfolds the science of pure devotional service and the eternal activity of bhakti-rasa, which brings the soul real happiness and attracts Kṛṣṇa Himself.

Brahma-samhita

Lectures by A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda on Brahma-saṁhitā — Lord Brahmā's prayers glorifying Govinda, the original Personality of Godhead. Prabhupāda explains the nature of the Lord's eternal body (sac-cid-ānanda-vigraha) and of the spiritual world, Goloka Vṛndāvana.

The modern world and spirituality

Śrīla Prabhupāda's conversations and morning walks bringing Vedic wisdom to the modern world — science and evolution, society and politics, philosophy and other faiths, family and spiritual practice.

Science and evolution

Conversations and morning walks in which Śrīla Prabhupāda challenges the theories of modern science — Darwinian evolution, the origin of life from matter, the Moon missions — and presents the Vedic view: life comes from life, and consciousness can never be reduced to chemistry.

The soul, the body and death

Conversations and walks on the most essential question — who we really are. Śrīla Prabhupāda explains the difference between the temporary body and the eternal soul, the nature of consciousness, the changing of bodies, and what awaits us at the moment of death and beyond.

God, philosophy and worldviews

Conversations and walks in which Śrīla Prabhupāda establishes the existence and personal nature of God, dismantles impersonalism and Māyāvāda, and — in living debate with atheists, philosophers and other faiths — shows the reasonableness of pure devotion.

Civilization and society

Conversations and walks in which Śrīla Prabhupāda diagnoses the ills of modern civilization — politics, economics, democracy, false equality — showing what society becomes when it forgets God, and what Vedic culture makes of it.

Family, education and Vedic culture

Conversations and walks on Vedic culture in everyday life: education, family and marriage, the role of women, varṇāśrama, cow protection, and simple living with high thinking.

Karma, desire and suffering

Conversations and walks on the law of karma: how material desire and the endless chase for enjoyment bind the soul to the wheel of birth and death — and how devotional service sets it free.

Spiritual practice and devotion

Conversations and walks on spiritual practice: chanting the holy name, the guru-disciple relationship, devotional service, deity worship, and surrender to Kṛṣṇa.

Preaching and the Movement

Conversations and walks on Śrīla Prabhupāda's mission: worldwide preaching, the distribution of transcendental books, and the building of the Kṛṣṇa consciousness Movement.