From Material Addiction to Becoming Addicted to Kṛṣṇa
The word "addiction" usually carries a negative connotation, bringing to mind dependency on drugs, alcohol, or illicit behaviors. However, Śrīla Prabhupāda explains that the propensity to be addicted is an inherent characteristic of the soul. We are pleasure-seeking entities, and we inevitably become attached to whatever gives us pleasure. This article explores the dynamic of shifting this natural propensity from the destructive habits of material life to the liberating "addiction" of Kṛṣṇa consciousness.
Trap of Material Sense Gratification
Material life is essentially a cycle of addiction to the senses. Śrīla Prabhupāda explains that when one repeatedly engages in sinful activities—such as intoxication, gambling, or illicit sex—one becomes entrapped. This addiction is compared to a disease that increases with indulgence, causing the living entity to lose their good sense and forget their constitutional position. The result is a degradation of consciousness, leading to lower births.
- As soon as we become addicted to sinful activities, then our real, constitutional position we forget, and we become mad after it, and the disease increases.
- The materialistic way of life is based on sex life. Both becoming addicted to sex life and associating with persons who are addicted to sex life are condemned in Vedic literature because such association will simply interfere with one's spiritual progress.
- If we become addicted to sinful activities, the result will be we shall be degraded. But they do not know. Even so-called religious priest, they support killing, astonished.
Why Artificial Repression Fails
Śrīla Prabhupāda frequently observed the struggle of Western governments to curb the drug epidemic among the youth. He noted that despite spending millions of dollars and establishing numerous institutions, these efforts largely failed. The reason, he explains, is that you cannot simply stop a natural drive without providing a superior engagement. If the mind is not filled with something positive, it will naturally revert to its former inferior habits.
- In the Western countries, the younger generation are becoming too much addicted to this intoxication, LSD habit, and it has become a problem to the government and they have established so many institutions to stop this habit, but they have failed.
- The appreciated one point, that the American younger generation, they have become addicted to this LSD, intoxication, and they have spent millions of dollars to stop this, but they could not.
Positive Addiction
The solution lies in the principle of param dṛṣṭvā nivartate—giving up the lower taste by experiencing a higher taste. Śrīla Prabhupāda daringly uses the word "addicted" to describe the devotee's relationship with Kṛṣṇa. Just as a lover cannot stop thinking of their beloved, a devotee must become so addicted to Kṛṣṇa that they cannot live without Him. This spiritual addiction is the perfection of yoga, as it enables one to think of the Lord constantly, twenty-four hours a day.
- How you can think of Krsna always? That is not possible unless you become too much addicted. Just like if you love somebody, then you can think of him always.
- When a person actually revives his consciousness with thoughts of Kṛṣṇa by the mercy of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, he revives his spiritual life and becomes addicted to the service of the Lord. Only then can he act as an ācārya.
- You train up your senses in such a way that it becomes addicted to material pleasure. It cannot get out of the entanglement. So this Krsna consciousness will save you.
Conclusion
Therefore, the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is not a dry process of negation. It is a method of transferring our attachment. By becoming addicted to the chanting of Hare Kṛṣṇa, eating prasādam, and serving the Deity, the natural urge for intoxication and sense gratification is satisfied spiritually. Śrīla Prabhupāda assures us that this positive attachment effectively saves the soul from the dangers of material existence.
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 Becoming Addicted. We invite you to visit this link to study the complete compilation and experience Śrīla Prabhupāda's teachings in their direct, verbatim form.