Prabhupāda's Conviction in Taking His Guru's Word
When Śrīla Prabhupāda says "I took it," he is describing the moment of total commitment. Whether he was taking the order of his Spiritual Master to print books, taking the risk of starting a movement alone in a foreign land, or taking the heavy chastisement of his guru as a divine blessing, his life was defined by his firm acceptance of spiritual responsibility. These quotes illustrate that the success of the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement was not an accident, but the result of one man taking the words of the guru-paramparā as his life and soul without any alteration or cheating.
Taking the Order of His Guru
The foundation of Śrīla Prabhupāda's entire mission was his serious acceptance of his Spiritual Master's instructions. While others may have taken these orders lightly, he made the printing and publishing of books his "life and soul."
- I am giving so much stress and I am working so hard on this. Because this is my life and soul according to the order of my Guru Maharaja. And by his grace it is to some extent successful. And I took it seriously. I take it seriously still now.
- In my last meeting with Prabhupada in Radha Kunda he advised me to print some books if I get money. I took it very seriously and by His grace we have now published my translations of Bhagavad-gita, Srimad-Bhagavatam, etc.
- My Guru Maharaja gave me hint that book publication is more pleasing to me than Matha-mandira. So I took it and I began to publish books and that has come successful.
- It is due to the blessing of my Guru Maharaja. He directly told me that "If you get some money, publish some books." I took it seriously, so he's helping me. All our Godbrothers, they didn't take it.
Taking the Words of His Spiritual Master
Śrīla Prabhupāda attributed his success to his honesty in repeating exactly what he heard. He never felt offended by his Spiritual Master's corrections, but instead took them as a sign of affection and absolute truth.
- I have no capacity, but I took it, the words of my guru, as life and soul. So this is fact. Guru-mukha-padma-vākya, cittete koriyā aikya. Everyone should do that. But if he makes addition, alteration, then he is finished.
- Whatever little success is in our movement, the cause is I have not tried to cheat. Honestly, what I knew, I heard it from Guru Maharaja and scripture, I took it. There was no cheating.
- So far we are concerned, when our spiritual master used to chastise, we took it as blessing. That was very nice. And he would chastise like anything. "Damn rascal, foolish, stupid," anything, all good words.
- Whenever there was question of Jesus, I never disrespected Jesus. Never criticized him, because I know that he is powerful representative of God. We took it from Guru Maharaja.
Taking Risks and Practical Action
Śrīla Prabhupāda’s approach was fearless and practical. He utilized everything in the material world to push forward the movement, taking immense personal risks and depending entirely on Kṛṣṇa's protection.
- You know the history of my starting the society in 1966, it was all risky, and I was alone, but I took it depending on Krishna. So I think if you take the risk of $150, for Krishna's sake, Krishna will supply you the required money undoubtedly.
- The officer whom I met was very sympathetic and he said that Immigration visa from this side would take a long time for being granted better I took the visitors visa - so I have accepted it.
- Because it was famous, that ghost-hauntly house, nobody was taking it. So I took it. (laughs) I don’t care for ghost. Actually there was ghost.
- In my household life, I was doing business in Lucknow. So there was one house, very big house, worth thousands of rupees' rent, but it was ghostly haunted. So nobody would take that house. I took it at two hundred rupees.
Taking Special Grace and Scriptural Lessons
A pure devotee sees the hand of the Lord in all circumstances and views the world through the lens of scripture. Śrīla Prabhupāda describes how he took life's difficulties as grace and applied the same direct understanding to scriptural histories.
- As the devotees think, so I also in that way thought. - "I thought it a special grace of the Supreme Personality of Godhead." "And I at once took leave of my so-called home and went away." So that is the difference between the devotees of the Lord and materialistic person.
- I thought to myself, "Oh, I have done this wrong. I should not have sat with His Divine Grace." So of course, I did not get down immediately, but I took it, and from next day I did not sit. So rules and regulations automatically was taught.
- Ravana took away Laksmi, Sitaji, to his kingdom, and instead of being happy by the grace of Laksmi, his family and his kingdom were vanquished. Thus Laksmi in the house of Ravana is Cancala, or unsteady.
Conclusion
Śrīla Prabhupāda’s usage of "I took it" reveals the essence of his character: his uncompromising integrity and total surrender to the order of his Spiritual Master. He did not merely receive instructions; he took them—meaning he actively embraced them, internalizing them until they became the very fabric of his existence. By taking the risks, taking the corrections, and taking the message of the Gītā without any personal motivation or cheating, he demonstrated the perfect model of a disciple. His example teaches us that the highest spiritual achievement is available to anyone who is willing to take the words of the guru and the scriptures seriously, accepting them as the ultimate guide for their life and soul.
Dive Deeper into Prabhupāda's Vani
Śrīla Prabhupāda lives within his instructions. This article is a summary of the profound truths found in the Vaniquotes category I Took It (Prabhupada). We invite you to visit this link to study the complete compilation and experience Śrīla Prabhupāda's teachings in their direct, verbatim form.