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“Always chanting My glories, endeavoring with great determination, bowing down before Me, these great souls perpetually worship Me with devotion.” (Bhagavad-gītā 9.14)

We do not need to be very learned. Our only requirement is that we receive the blessings of the Lord. The Lord’s blessings will enable us to become learned and follow His instructions. We only need to stick to this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement on the basis of Bhagavad-gītā. When we are a little further advanced, we can read Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Caitanya Mahāprabhu Himself has opened the way with this saṅkīrtana movement. The entire world is in darkness without Kṛṣṇa consciousness, and in this age people are so dull that they do not even know the difference between mukti (liberation) and bandha (bondage). If a human being does not know this difference, he is no better than an animal.

Presently we are under the sway of the three guṇas, the modes of material nature – sattva-guṇa, rajo-guṇa and tamo-guṇa. Out of these three guṇas, sattva-guṇa, the mode of goodness, is the best. A brāhmaṇa, characterized by the mode of goodness, is truthful and self-controlled. He controls his mind and senses, and he is very tolerant and simple. He has full knowledge, and he knows how to apply knowledge in life. He has full faith in the authority of the Vedas, a quality called āstikyam. Caitanya Mahāprabhu has explained the difference between nāstikyam and āstikyam. According to Vedic understanding, one who does not believe in the Vedas is called nāstika. Caitanya Mahāprabhu says: veda nā māniyā bauddha haya ta’ nāstika (Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya 6.168). Lord Buddha defied Vedic authority, but His mission was to stop animal killing. In the Vedas there are recommendations for animal sacrifice, and therefore to prevent the killing of animals, Lord Buddha rejected the Vedas. Such sacrifice is not possible in this age because there is no brāhmaṇa qualified to carry it out. Those who are intelligent know that such a sacrifice cannot be successful in this age because no one knows the proper mantras capable of giving an old animal the body of a new animal. When an animal sacrifice is properly conducted, an old animal is sacrificed, and it emerges from the fire in a new body. This is not possible in this age, but what is possible is saṅkīrtana-yajña, the chanting of the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra. This is the yajña, or sacrifice, especially intended for this age. We need only chant Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/ Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare. By performing this yajña, the results will be ceto-darpaṇa-mārjanam – the mirror of the mind will be cleansed. When the mirror of the mind is cleansed, one is automatically liberated.

Consciousness is the main principle, either for conditional life or for liberated life. We are therefore proposing Kṛṣṇa consciousness, which means liberation from the repetition of birth and death. Unfortunately, people are so dull in this age that they have no idea how birth and death can be stopped. They think that birth and death cannot be stopped; even famous scientists admit this. However, in Bhagavad-gītā Śrī Kṛṣṇa says that we should always keep in mind the four miserable conditions. These are birth, old age, disease and death. When we are able to put an end to these, we are liberated. This simply requires that we clear our consciousness by thinking of Kṛṣṇa. The purpose of this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is to keep our minds constantly on Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and He is a person. When He was realized by Arjuna, He was addressed as puruṣam. God is puruṣa, male, not female. Puruṣa means “the enjoyer,” and prakṛti means “the enjoyed.” Everything is enjoyed by the supreme puruṣa. It is also stated that we are actually prakṛti, not puruṣa. The human dress is simply māyā, illusion. We are thinking that we are puruṣa, the enjoyer, but actually we are the enjoyed. A man, thinking of enjoying himself, tries to imitate puruṣa, but actually he is prakṛti. As a consequence, he is cast into this material world. Because the living entity wants to enjoy the material world and is attached to the three guṇas, he receives different types of bodies. One who is in the mode of goodness receives the body of a learned brāhmaṇa. This is somewhat elevated, for he can gradually understand what is God. In the modes of passion and ignorance, no one can understand God. Also, from the material point of view, if one is situated in the mode of goodness, he can be elevated to higher planetary systems. Nonetheless, even if one goes to Brahmaloka, the highest planet in the material atmosphere, one is not actually perfectly situated. There is really no benefit because even on Brahmaloka the four miseries of material existence are found: birth, old age, disease and death. Lord Brahmā also dies and takes birth. From Vedic literatures we understand that Lord Brahmā took birth from the lotus flower generated from the navel of Viṣṇu. Thus he had his birth, and when Lord Brahmā dies, the entire material cosmic manifestation will be finished. Just as Lord Brahmā undergoes birth, old age, disease and death, so also a small ant or insect undergoes the same process. The point is that the living entity has to be free from this bondage because he is by nature eternal. According to Bhagavad-gītā, the living entity never actually takes birth, and he never actually dies. Na jāyate mriyate vā kadācit: “For the soul there is never birth nor death.” (Bhagavad-gītā 2.20)

It is the body that is destined to die, whether the body be that of Lord Brahmā or of a small ant. One should not think that one is liberated because one can live millions and millions of years. The life of Lord Brahmā covers millions of earth years, yet he is also subjected to birth and death. That is the way of conditional life. We should take advantage of the perfect knowledge given by Vedic literatures, by the great ṛṣis and Bhagavān Kapiladeva, as well as by Bhagavān Śrī Kṛṣṇa, in order to attain liberation from the cycle of birth and death.

Receiving Kṛṣṇa consciousness means receiving light. People are exhausted with the materialistic way of life, especially in the West. Now the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is giving new life to Western society. By nature, we living entities are liberated. There is actually no question of birth, death, old age and disease. Since we are part and parcel of Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Lord, how can there be a question of these things? Kṛṣṇa is sac-cid-ānanda-vigraha, and being part and parcel of Kṛṣṇa, we are also of the same nature. We are equal in quality, although not in quantity. Why, then, should we suffer the pangs of death? Therefore in the previous verse Kapiladeva instructed: yoga ādhyātmikaḥ puṁsāṁ mato niḥśreyasāya. The soul is entrapped in the body, and the process of perfect yoga is the process of saving the soul from bodily confinement and the four miseries that plague the body. How can this perfect yoga be attained? That is explained by Lord Kapila in the next verse: rataṁ vā puṁsi muktaye. If our consciousness is simply attached to Kṛṣṇa, we will be liberated.

The great souls are always chanting about Kṛṣṇa. Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/ Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare. They are also endeavoring with great determination in their devotional service. For instance, in the Kṛṣṇa consciousness temples the devotees rise early in the morning, at 4:00 A.M., and they immediately bathe. Then they go to maṅgala-ārati at 4:30, and after maṅgala-ārati they study the Vedic literatures. These are the processes by which we can awaken our dormant love for Kṛṣṇa. Because we are part and parcel of Kṛṣṇa – just as a son is part and parcel of his father – there is a natural love between us. However, somehow or other the son leaves home and forgets his father. The father, of course, never forgets his son. He thinks, “Oh, my son has left. If he would only come back!” Kṛṣṇa thinks in this way. We are all sons of Kṛṣṇa, and Kṛṣṇa is more anxious to get us back home, back to Godhead, than we are to go. Therefore Kṛṣṇa comes and says, “You rascal! Give up all this nonsensical material engagement. You have manufactured so many religions and dharmas. Just give them all up and simply surrender unto Me.” Kṛṣṇa comes Himself and leaves behind His words. His words are also Himself because His words are absolute. Presently we do not see Kṛṣṇa, but if we actually advance, we will see Him. When we see the Deity in the temple, we think, “Oh, this is an idol. It is not Kṛṣṇa.” If we think in this way, we have not seen Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa is also present in His words, in Bhagavad-gītā. That is kṛṣṇa-vāṇī, the message of Kṛṣṇa. The stage of awareness of Kṛṣṇa can be attained when one is advanced in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Then one can understand that Kṛṣṇa is present in the Deity, in Bhagavad-gītā, in the taste of water, in the sunshine, in the moonshine and in all sound. Kṛṣṇa is present everywhere, but one has to acquire knowledge in order to know how to see Kṛṣṇa. That is mukti, liberation. That is Kṛṣṇa consciousness. That is also the process of bhakti-yoga – śravaṇaṁ kīrtanaṁ viṣṇoḥ smaraṇam. Deity worship is arcanam, chanting is vandanam, and dāsyam is working for Kṛṣṇa and spreading this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement.

Generally we experience that people are primarily interested in seeing Kṛṣṇa, but why is the emphasis on seeing? Let us hear about Him. We must come with a little faith, and as we hear, that faith will increase. One should come to the temple, listen to talks about Kṛṣṇa, and then, after some time, officially take initiation into the service of the Lord. That is called bhajana-kriyā. At that time one has to abandon illicit sex, intoxication, meat-eating and gambling. If one is still attached to all these habits, he should know that he is not making progress. When one is actually advanced in bhajana-kriyā, all these anarthas (unwanted things) will be finished. Paraṁ dṛṣṭvā nivartate. When one appreciates something better, he rejects all kinds of nonsense. Once one gets a taste of Kṛṣṇa consciousness, he cannot remain without it. A drunkard cannot remain without a drink, but a devotee is drunk with Kṛṣṇa consciousness. The immunization against all material diseases is this Kṛṣṇa consciousness. To be immune to the infection of the guṇas, we have to engage in bhakti-yoga. Once we attain the perfectional stage, we attain ecstatic love of Godhead. In that state we cannot remain without Kṛṣṇa for a moment. That is called bhāva, and that bhāva may increase to mahā-bhāva. This is not possible for ordinary human beings, but it was possible for the gopīs and Rādhārāṇī. Indeed, they could not live without Kṛṣṇa. This is the highest stage of liberation.