Austin

In material existence everyone is busily engaged in activities based on the bodily misconceptions "I" and "mine". The Vedic knowledge, however, informs us that we are eternal servants of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Krsna and consciously or not, we are engaged in His service. Material existence means that we are unaware of our eternal relationship with Lord Krsna. Thus we feel ourselves to be in a most unnatural situation.

To aid the living entities entrapped by ignorance, Lord Krsna periodically incarnates or sends His bona fide representatives to disseminate information concerning the path back to Godhead. There are numerous welfare organizations to aid suffering humanity, but they fail to see the soul within man's material body. Thus, they ignore entirely the real malady-the absence of genuine spiritual life. His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, thirty-second in a 5,000 year old unbroken line of spiritual masters originating from Lord Sri Krsna Himself, is delivering knowledge beyond the illusory pretensions of our material relationships.

In 1966, His Divine Grace sat in a lower eastside New York park, chanted Hare Krsna and told us that our complicated existence of material enjoyments robbed us of our understanding of the Absolute Truth. Today there are over 60 centers around the world distributing the stolen knowledge of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Thus thousands of disciples are taking shelter under His Divine Grace's instructions, and are finding comfort and light from his lotus feet.

As stated in the Brahma-samhita, the original Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Sri Krsna has an eternal transcendental form, full of bliss and knowledge. He is called Govinda because He is the "reservoir of all pleasure". His pure devotees are connected with Him in a reciprocal relationship of love, and thus enjoy unlimited and unceasing happiness. As a desert is devoid of water, the material world is similarly dead and dry, being a place where one does not experience the sweet mellows of Krsna consciousness.

His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, the present acarya, has been sent to us by Lord Krsna, to practically demonstrate and relate the means of reviving our dormant Krsna Consciousness. As Lord Krsna states in the Bhagavad-gita:

Srila Prabhupada's unceasing efforts to broadcast the Supreme Lord's glories throughout the world prove him to be the great soul or mahatma that Lord Krsna describes-

In the Vedas it is stated that mundane sound vibrations are different from the objects they describe. But the name of God, the words used to describe His name, form, qualities, pastimes etc., being absolute, are non-different from the Personality of Godhead. Chanting of the names of God, Hare Krsna, Hare Rama therefore engages one in a direct relationship with the Supreme, the perfection of which is demonstrated in unalloyed devotion. It is only this natural love for Lord Krsna that can save us from our incessant hankering and lamentation over dead material things.

"I am simply an instrument for my master," His Divine Grace declares. If somehow we can make his example our life, then we may attain the most attractive possession of pure love for God. All Glories to Srila Prabhupada.