The Nectar Of Immortality

The Vedic scripture Srimad-Bhagavatam describes the personal features of God. Not that God is an old man with a beard, as some speculate, but an eternal youth, Krsna. Envious people, flabbergasted to hear that Krsna is eternally youthful and beautiful, surrounded by friends in His own transcendentally pleasing abode, resent that so much information about God is available in the Vedic scriptures. But Krsna, by His descent into the material world 5,000 years ago, revealed His pastimes and form and banished all imaginary ideas about God. This is all described in Srimad-Bhagavatam.

One should not expect to see Krsna immediately, while still in impure material consciousness. In this age, hearing is more important than seeing. The Brhan-naradiya Purana states: "Chanting of the holy name of the Lord is the most successful method for God-realization in the Age of Kali [the present age of quarrel and hypocrisy]." Lord Caitanya declared that one may chant any name of God he finds in his religion, but Lord Caitanya Himself chanted the name "Krsna," accepting it as the original name of God. Such chanting, He taught, can clear the mind of all hazy conceptions of God and enable one to see and understand Krsna everywhere.

Therefore, avoiding both false doctrines and hypocrisy, one should somehow develop his love of God. The purpose of this analysis is not merely to find faults or criticize others, but to clear up some popular misconceptions about spiritual life and offer authorized Vedic information. As explained in the Īsopanisad, by discriminating between knowledge and ignorance one can transcend the confusion of material consciousness and enjoy the nectar of immortality.