Use Kṛṣṇa’s Things In His Service

Krsna consciousness is not contrary to life with material comforts; the point is to love God in whatever we are doing. Krsna instructed Arjuna in the Gita, "O Arjuna, surrendering all your works unto Me, with mind intent on Me, without desire for gain, and free from egoism and lethargy, fight." (Bg. 3.30) The idea is that we should perform our prescribed duties only for the satisfaction of the Supreme Lord, with our consciousness fixed on the Lord. But even if we cannot surrender fully to the Lord, we can offer some of the fruits of our activities to God and remember Him while working by chanting Hare Krsna.

Thus money, airplanes, tape recorders, printing presses-all modern facilities-can be used for Krsna. But if our material facilities are used without reference to God, we are doomed. If one gives a bird a beautiful cage, keeps it clean, polishes and decorates it, and then never feeds the bird, the bird will certainly be unhappy and ultimately die. Similarly, if we use our modern civilization only to gratify, prolong, decorate and patch up the body, never feeding the soul within it, then surely the living entity will suffer and die. Therefore, Srila Prabhupada said to us in America, "You have wealth, beauty, friends, education-but they are all zeros. But if you put a one in front of all those zeros, you get millions, and that one is Krsna." The point is not to give up anything; the point is to add love of God.