He Knows Our Hearts

The next point in the definition is that a friend offers help and sympathy. Again let us seek out who is most helpful and sympathetic to us, and we shall find-Krsna! Krsna, situated in our hearts, is so helpful that He guides us and gives us determination in pursuing our goals. Pervading the universe, Krsna is so sympathetic that He fulfills our every desire. Only Krsna can really help us or be sympathetic to us because only He has perfect knowledge of our desires, and He alone has the omnipotency to fulfill them for us. In other words, God is so kind that He gives us whatever we desire. Seated in our hearts, He knows what we actually desire, and directly or indirectly He fulfills that desire. Thus He is called in Sri Īsopanisad the "self-sufficient philosopher who is awarding everyone's desire since time immemorial." (Mantra 8) Krsna says, "If you want to forget Me, you can forget Me forever; if you want to merge with Me, here is My effulgence, the brahma-jyoti; and if you want to love Me, come-we shall play as cowherd boys." God is kind to everyone.

The science of God and His relationship with us is elaborately explained in Bhagavad-gita and other Vedic literatures. These literatures are designed to help the living entity realize his eternal relationship with the Supreme so that he can live happily in life. The factual relation between the Supreme Lord in the heart and the minute living entity, both of whom are spiritual and individual, is compared to that of two birds in a tree. The tree is the material body of the living entity. The living entity "bird," captivated by the fruits of the material tree, is tasting both the bitter and the sweet, while the Supreme Lord "bird" is witnessing the activities of His friend, fulfilling his desires by His omnipotence. This example is given in the Munḍaka and Svetasvatara Upanisads, where the living entity is called "atma," while the Supreme Lord in the heart is called "Paramatma." Though both are spiritual, the Supreme Lord is accepted as superior; therefore the Lord is simply witnessing the activities of His friend, waiting for him to surrender to Him.