“To those who are constantly devoted to serving Me with love, I give the understanding by which they can come to Me.” (Bhagavad-gītā 10.10)

Kṛṣṇa is within, but due to our material conditioning, we do not realize it. Those who are of the nature of fiends and demons (rākṣasīm āsurīm) think that this material life is all and that it is the purpose of human life to squeeze out as much pleasure from matter as possible. They try squeezing, but they are constantly baffled. Squeezing material nature is not the process for finding out real pleasure. If we are searching for real pleasure, we have to take to Kṛṣṇa consciousness. All happiness in the material world has a beginning and an end, but happiness in Kṛṣṇa is unlimited, and there is no end. In order to get this happiness we simply have to sacrifice a little time and chant Hare Kṛṣṇa. In former ages, the great sages and demigods used to sacrifice their whole lives for realizing the Supreme, and still they would not attain success. For this age Caitanya Mahāprabhu has given an easy process for God realization. All that is necessary is careful listening. We have to listen to the Bhagavad-gītā, and we have to chant the names of Kṛṣṇa and listen to them carefully. We should not be puffed up, falsely thinking that our knowledge is great or that we are very learned. We need only become a little gentle and submissive to hear the messages from Kṛṣṇa.

At present, this world is being managed by the Rākṣasas. The Rākṣasas are man-eaters who eat their own sons for the satisfaction of their senses. Now great regimes have been created to smash so many people for the satisfaction of the Rākṣasas’ senses, but they do not realize that their senses will never be satisfied in this way. Nonetheless, the Rākṣasas are prepared to sacrifice everything to satisfy their whimsical desires. It is very difficult for them to understand the real situation because they are overly enamored with material civilization. Who, then, can understand? Those who are mahātmās, whose hearts have become magnified, understand that “everything belongs to God, and I also belong to God.”

Such mahātmās are not under the control of material nature (mahātmānas tu māṁ pārtha daivīṁ prakṛtim āśritāḥ). God is great, and the mahātmā’s heart also becomes great by serving the great. Mahātmā is not a stamp for a political leader. One cannot be stamped mahātmā by votes. The standard for mahātmā is given in the Bhagavad-gītā: The mahātmā is one who has taken shelter of the superior energy of the Lord. Of course, all energies are His, and He does not make distinctions between the spiritual energy and the material energy, but for the conditioned soul who is situated marginally between the material energy and the spiritual energy, there is a distinction. The mahātmās see this distinction and so take shelter under the spiritual energy (daivīṁ prakṛtim).

By serving the great, the mahātmās also become great through identifying with the superior energy: ahaṁ brahmāsmi, “I am Brahman-spirit.” It is not that they become puffed up and think they are God. Rather, if one becomes Brahman, he must show his activities in Brahman. Spirit is active, and to become Brahman is not to become inactive. Brahman is spirit, and these material bodies are active only because Brahman is within them. If we are active despite our contact with material nature, do we cease to be active when we purify ourselves of the material contamination and establish ourselves in our proper identity as pure Brahman? Realizing “I am Brahman” means engagement in spiritual activity because we are spirit, and our activities are exhibited even though we are contaminated by matter. To become Brahman does not mean to become void but to establish ourselves in the superior nature, which means superior energy and superior activities. To become Brahman means to be completely engaged in rendering devotional service to the Lord. Thus the mahātmā understands that if service is to be rendered, it is to be rendered to Kṛṣṇa and no one else. We have so long served our senses; now we should serve Kṛṣṇa.

There is no question of stopping service, for we are meant for service. Is there anyone who does not serve? If we ask the President, “Who are you serving?” he will tell us that he is serving the country. No one is devoid of service. Service we cannot stop, but we do have to redirect our service from the illusion to the reality. When this is done, we become a mahātmā.

This process of kīrtana (kīrtayantaḥ), always chanting the glories of the Lord, is the beginning of becoming a mahātmā. That process is simplified by Caitanya Mahāprabhu, who imparted to humankind this chanting of Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/ Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare. There are nine different processes of devotional service, of which śravaṇaṁ kīrtanam, hearing and chanting, are the most important. Kīrtanam actually means “describing.” We can describe with music, words, pictures, etc. Śravaṇam goes hand in hand with kīrtanam, for unless we hear, we cannot describe. We don’t need any material qualifications in order to attain the Supreme. All we have to do is hear from authoritative sources and repeat accurately what we hear.

Formerly, the Vedas were heard by the student from the spiritual master, and thus the Vedas became known as śruti, “that which is heard.” In the Bhagavad-gītā, for example, we see that Arjuna is listening to Kṛṣṇa on the battlefield. He is not engaged in the study of Vedānta philosophy. We can hear from the Supreme Authority in any place, even on the battlefield. The knowledge is received, not manufactured. Some people think, “Why should I listen to Him? I can think for myself. I can manufacture something new.” This is not the Vedic process of descending knowledge. By ascending knowledge, one tries to elevate himself by his own effort, but by descending knowledge one receives the knowledge from a superior source. In the Vedic tradition, knowledge is imparted to the student from the spiritual master, as in the Bhagavad-gītā (evaṁ paramparā-prāptam imaṁ rājarṣayo viduḥ). Submissive hearing is so powerful that simply by hearing from authoritative sources we can become completely perfect.

In becoming submissive, we become aware of our own imperfections. As long as we are conditioned, we are subject to four kinds of imperfections: we are sure to commit mistakes, to become illusioned, to have imperfect senses, and to cheat. Therefore our attempt to understand the Absolute Truth by our faulty senses and experience is futile. We must hear from a representative of Kṛṣṇa who is a devotee of Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa made Arjuna His representative because Arjuna was His devotee: bhakto ’si me sakhā ceti (Bhagavad-gītā 4.3).

No one can become a representative of God without being His devotee. One who thinks “I am God” cannot be a representative. Because we are part and parcel of God, our qualities are the same as His, and therefore if we study these qualities in ourselves, we come to learn something of God. This does not mean that we understand the quantity of God. This self-realization process is one way of understanding God, but in no case can we preach “I am God.” We cannot claim to be God without being able to display the powers of God. As far as Kṛṣṇa is concerned, He proved that He was God by displaying so much power and by revealing His universal form to Arjuna. Kṛṣṇa showed this awesome form in order to discourage people who would claim to be God. We should not be fooled by one who claims to be God; following in the footsteps of Arjuna, we should request to see the universal form before accepting anyone as God. Only a fool would accept another fool as God.

No one can be equal to God, and no one can be above Him. Even Lord Brahmā and Lord Śiva, the most exalted demigods, are subservient to Him and pay their respectful obeisances. Instead of trying to become God by one meditational process or another, we had better hear about God submissively and try to understand Him and our relationship to Him. The representative of God never claims to be God or an incarnation of God but the servant of God. This is the sign of the bona fide representative.

Whatever we learn of God from authoritative sources can be described, and that will help us make spiritual progress. This description is called kīrtana. If we try to repeat what we hear, we become established in knowledge. By the process of śravaṇaṁ kīrtanam, hearing and chanting, we can become free from material conditioning and attain to the kingdom of God. In this age it is impossible to practice sacrifice, speculation, or yoga. There is no way open to us but the way of hearing submissively from authoritative sources. This is the way the mahātmās received the most confidential knowledge. It is the way Arjuna received it from Kṛṣṇa, and it is the way we must receive it from the disciplic succession stemming from Arjuna.