Srila Prabhupada Citing Verses Throughout His Teachings

Introduction

In this category, Prabhupada Citing Verses From Different Scriptures, we have undertaken the monumental project of studying the verses Srila Prabhupada quoted in his teachings. We focused mainly on the Bhagavad-gita and Srimad Bhagavatam, but we have also found and organized verses from 13 other sources. All of the sources are listed in the table at the bottom of this page. The work is not yet complete, but already it is a testament to the vast scope of Srila Prabhupada's knowledge, and his ability to recall hundreds of scriptural references to establish his arguments. By studying where and how Srila Prabhupada quotes these verses, we can better understand how to represent and defend Srila Prabhupada.

Completed Sections

So far the sections we have completed are the Bhagavad-gita As It Is, and the first, second and third cantos of the Srimad Bhagavatam. Every verse quoted from these sources has its own page, showing the context of each time that Srila Prabhupada used it.

Let us look at the Bhagavad-gita section to get an idea of how extensive this project is. There are a total of 700 verses in the 18 chapters of Bhagavad-gītā, and 588 of them, or 84%, are cited by Śrīla Prabhupāda throughout his purports, lectures, conversations and letters. We have gathered all of these citations into 628 pages, which are organized into three categories, each covering six chapters.

Lists of Top-Quoted Verses

Another valuable result that has come from this detailed study is that, for the first time, we have been able to analyze our results and create extensive lists of the verses Srila Prabhupada quoted the most. Now we know, for example, that the most-quoted verse, with almost twice as many citations (1,320) as any other verse, is BG 18.66, sarva-dharman parityajya. Below are presented the top thirty Bhagavad-gita verses and the top twenty Srimad Bhagavatam Canto One verses.

Top 30 Quoted Verses From Bhagavad-gita

01 - BG 18.66 sarva-dharman parityajya... cited = 1,320
02 - BG 02.13 dehino 'smin yatha dehe... cited = 738
03 - BG 04.09 janma karma ca me divyam... cited = 733
04 - BG 07.19 bahunam janmanam ante... cited = 622
05 - BG 07.14 daivi hy esa guna-mayi... cited = 582
06 - BG 18.54 brahma-bhutah prasannatma... cited = 529
07 - BG 07.15 na mam duskrtino mudhah.. cited = 497
08 - BG 03.27 prakrteh kriyamanani... cited = 489
09 - BG 18.61 isvarah sarva-bhutanam... cited = 488
10 - BG 15.15 sarvasya caham hrdi sannivisto... cited = 487
11 - BG 18.65 man-mana bhava mad-bhakto... cited = 451
12 - BG 10.08 aham sarvasya prabhavo... cited = 431
13 - BG 13.08-12 amanitvam adambhitvam... cited = 397
14 - BG 02.20 na jayate mriyate va kadacin... cited = 384
15 - BG 05.29 bhoktaram yajna-tapasam... cited = 356
16 - BG 09.10 mayadhyaksena prakrtih... cited = 354
17 - BG 18.55 bhaktya mam abhijanati... cited = 338
18 - BG 07.03 manusyanam sahasresu... cited = 335
19 - BG 04.13 catur-varnyam maya srstam... cited = 334
20 - BG 04.02 evam parampara-praptam... cited = 325
21 - BG 09.11 avajananti mam mudha... cited = 315
22 - BG 04.07 yada yada hi dharmasya... cited = 310
23 - BG 07.07 mattah parataram nanyat... cited = 301
24 - BG 04.08 paritranaya sadhunam... cited = 297
25 - BG 10.12-13 param brahma param dhama... cited = 282
26 - BG 09.26 patram puspam phalam toyam... cited = 275
27 - BG 15.07 mamaivamso jiva-loke... cited = 274
28 - BG 14.04 sarva-yonisu kaunteya... cited = 273
29 - BG 07.04 bhumir apo 'nalo vayuh... cited = 261
30 - BG 04.34 tad viddhi pranipatena... cited = 256

Top 20 Quoted Verses From Srimad Bhagavatam Canto One

01 - SB 01.01.01 janmady asya yatah... cited = 731
02 - SB 01.02.06 sa vai pumsam paro dharmo... cited = 436
03 - SB 01.02.11 vadanti tat tattva-vidas... cited = 294
04 - SB 01.03.28 ete camsa-kalah pumsah... cited = 269
05 - SB 01.01.02 dharmah projjhita-kaitavo... cited = 236
06 - SB 01.02.17 srnvatam sva-kathah krsnah... cited = 222
07 - SB 01.02.13 atah pumbhir dvija-srestha... cited = 210
08 - SB 01.02.08 dharmah svanusthitah pumsam... cited = 192
09 - SB 01.01.10 prayenalpayusah sabhya... cited = 183
10 - SB 01.02.18 nasta-prayesv abhadresu... cited = 124
11 - SB 01.02.10 kamasya nendriya-pritir... cited = 112
12 - SB 01.02.19 tada rajas-tamo-bhavah... cited = 110
13 - SB 01.07.06 anarthopasamam saksad... cited = 100
14 - SB 01.08.26 janmaisvarya-sruta-sribhir... cited = 74
15 - SB 01.10.04 kamam vavarsa parjanyah... cited = 69
16 - SB 01.02.12 tac chraddadhana munayo... cited = 62
17 - SB 01.02.09 dharmasya hy apavargyasya... cited = 60
18 - SB 01.13.47 ahastani sahastanam.. cited = 58
19 - SB 01.02.20 evam prasanna-manaso... cited = 58
20 - SB 01.01.03 nigama-kalpa-taror galitam phalam... cited = 47

Bhakti-Sastri Verses

We have created this category, Bhakti sastri VTE - Cited Verses, as a gift to Bhakti-Sastri students and teachers all over the world. The twenty-seven verses here are the Key Memorization Verses from the VTE (Vaishnava Training and Education) syllabus. For each of these important verses, we can study how and when Srila Prabhupada used them in his preaching.

All Quoted Sources

Auspicious Invocation Mantras (3)	Katha Upanisad (1)	Srimad-Bhagavatam Canto 08 (1)
Bhagavad-gita Ch.01-06 (285)	Nectar of Instruction (6)	Srimad-Bhagavatam Canto 09 (5)
Bhagavad-gita Ch.07-12 (209)	Siksastaka (10)	Srimad-Bhagavatam Canto 10 (29)
Bhagavad-gita Ch.13-18 (137)	Sri Isopanisad (22)	Srimad-Bhagavatam Canto 11 (27)
Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu (17)	Srimad-Bhagavatam Canto 01 (318)	Srimad-Bhagavatam Canto 12 (17)
Brahma-samhita (33)	Srimad-Bhagavatam Canto 02 (83)	Svetasvatara Upanisad (2)
Caitanya-caritamrta Adi-lila (22)	Srimad-Bhagavatam Canto 03 (132)	Unknown Sources (2)
Caitanya-caritamrta Madhya-lila (38)	Srimad-Bhagavatam Canto 04 (3)	Bhakti-sastri VTE (73)
Caitanya-caritamrta Antya-lila (8)	Srimad-Bhagavatam Canto 05 (52)	Vedanta-sutra (12)
Canakya Pandita (1)	Srimad-Bhagavatam Canto 06 (89)	Visnu Purana (1)
Gurv-astaka Prayers to the Spiritual Master (8)	Srimad-Bhagavatam Canto 07 (126)