Hrsikesa Masa Vol-03 - The Eight Petals - ebooks - ISKCON desire ...

Hrikesha MasVolume: 03Issue: Sep’11-Oct’11Swedish man (3): Is there free will?Prabhupada: Yes, yes. Just like you are sitting here. If you don’t like, you can goaway. That’s your free will. There is free will. Because we are part and parcel ofGod, God is completely free to do anything.And because we are part and parcel of God,therefore we have got minute quantity offreedom. Just like a drop of ocean water, it isalso salty, but the quantity of salt in that dropis not equal to the salt in the ocean. Similarly,you have got a little quantity of freedom, butnot as freedom as God has got. That is notpossible. You are subordinate. Your freedom issubordinate to God’s freedom. Therefore ifyou misuse your freedom, then you becomepunishable. The government gives youfreedom, but if you misuse your freedom, ifyou violate the laws, then you are criminal.Yes? [Ref. VedaBase > Bhagavad-gita 7.1-3 — Stockholm, September 10, 1973]***Prabhupada: Free will means…Hayagriva: …infallible judgment?Prabhupada: Free will means that you can act wrongly. That is free will. Unlessthere is chance of doing wrong or right, there is no question of free will. Where isfree will then? If I act only one sided, that means I have no free will. Because weact sometimes wrongly, that means free will.Hayagriva: A man may know better but still act wrongly.Prabhupada: Yes.…Prabhupada: But that is free will. He misuses his. Just like a thief, he knowsthat his stealing, it is bad, but still he does it. That is free will. He cannot check hisgreediness, so in spite of his knowing that he is doing wrong thing — he will bepunished, he knows; he has seen another thief, he was punished, he was put intoprison — everything he knows, but still he steals. Why? Misuse of free will.Unless there is misuse of free will, there is no question of free will.[Ref. VedaBase > Rene Descartes]Make Vrndavan Villages