Reviving Our Eternal Relationship with Kṛṣṇa
The fundamental premise of the Kṛṣṇa consciousness philosophy is that every living entity has an eternal relationship with the Supreme Personality of Godhead. This relationship is not a mental concoction or a temporary religious affiliation; it is the constitutional nature of the soul. Śrīla Prabhupāda emphasizes that our current state of existence—characterized by birth, death, and suffering—is solely due to our forgetfulness of this eternal bond. The highest perfection of life is to revive this lost connection.
Root of Problem
Why are we suffering? Śrīla Prabhupāda identifies the root cause as avidyā, or ignorance. This ignorance is not a lack of academic knowledge but a specific forgetfulness of our relationship with Kṛṣṇa. When the soul forgets its position as the eternal servant of the Lord, it falls under the sway of the material energy and identifies with the temporary body.
- Any living entity who forgets his eternal relationship with Krsna is under the sway of the material condition. Bereft of the Lord's transcendental loving service, he is subjected to the reactions of fruitive activity.
- The living entities in the material world are forgetful of their eternal relationship with the Supreme Personality of Godhead. This forgetfulness is called avidya, or nescience.
- A Krsna conscious person knows that if a man is suffering it is due to his forgetfulness of his eternal relationship with Krsna. Therefore, the highest benefit one can render to human society is relieving one's neighbor from all material problems.
Nature of Relationship
This relationship is described as sambandha. Just as the sun rays are eternally related to the sun, the living entities are eternally related to Kṛṣṇa as His parts and parcels. The constitutional nature of this relationship is service—Kṛṣṇa is the predominator, and the jīva is the predominated.
- The living beings are all component parts and parcels of the Absolute Personality of Godhead, and therefore they are eternally related with Him as the servitor and the served.
- We are all eternally related with Him (Lord Krsna) as the sun rays are eternally related with the sun disc.
- Doubts about the eternal relationship of the Lord and the living entity are created by mental speculators in different ways, but the conclusive fact is that the relationship of God and the living entity is one of the predominator and the predominated.
Purpose of Human Life
The human form of life is a unique opportunity to rectify this mistake. Unlike animals, who are concerned only with eating, sleeping, mating, and defending, human beings have the intelligence to inquire into the Absolute Truth. The goal of education and culture should be to reestablish this lost connection.
- Our eternal relationship with God can be revived in the human form of life, and that should be the goal of education. Indeed, that is the perfection of life and the perfection of education.
- The civilized form of human life is meant for man's reviving the lost consciousness of his eternal relation with the Supreme Truth, the Personality of Godhead Sri Krsna, who is all-powerful.
- Instead of wasting our time for economic development, which cannot give us any happiness, if we simply try to revive our eternal relationship with Krsna, we will properly utilize our lives.
Process of Revival
This relationship is not something to be artificially imposed; it is already there, dormant within the heart. By hearing from the Vedas and the pure devotee, the memory is awakened. The Bhagavad-gītā and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam are specifically meant to guide the conditioned soul back to this original consciousness.
- The Vedic literatures give information about the living entity's eternal relationship with Krsna, which is called sambandha. The living entity's understanding of this relationship and his acting accordingly is called abhidheya.
- The transcendental vibration from the mouth of a pure devotee is so powerful that it can revive the living entity's memory of his eternal relationship with the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
- Srimad-Bhagavatam teaches us how to reestablish our eternal relationship with the Supreme Lord, how to act in that relationship, and, lastly, how to achieve the highest benefit from it.
Conclusion
To be Kṛṣṇa conscious means to be fully aware of one's specific, eternal relationship with the Lord. Whether one is a servant, friend, or parent, the perfection of life lies in discovering and acting in that capacity. This revival brings an end to all material miseries and situates the living entity in their constitutional position of eternal bliss.
- When one is mature in devotional service and is a realized soul, he can know his own eternal relationship with Krsna.
- We should not be puffed up. If we want to make success of our life, then we must revive our eternal relationship with Krsna. That is the movement of Krsna consciousness.
Dive Deeper into Śrīla Prabhupāda's Vani
Śrīla Prabhupāda lives within his instructions. This article is a summary of the profound truths found in the Vaniquotes category Eternal Relationship. We invite you to visit this link to study the complete compilation and experience Śrīla Prabhupāda's teachings in their direct, verbatim form.