All Vedic literature concludes that serving Krishna alone is humanity's true obligation and only path to genuine welfare.Listen — Srila Prabhupada Uvaca
Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 22.5 — January 7, 1967, New York 670107CC-NEW YORK [26:13 Minutes] Prabhupāda: kṛṣṇa bhakti abhidheya sarva śāstre kaya ataeva muni-gaṇa kariyāche niścaya [Cc. Madhya 22.5] [A human being’s activities should be centered only on devotional service to Lord Kṛṣṇa. That is the verdict of all Vedic literatures, and all saintly people have firmly concluded this.] So, we have just studied the constitutional position of Kṛṣṇa by His original standing as the Supreme Personality of Godhead—His different expansions, incarnations, and how He is situated as the supreme controller of the spiritual and material manifestation. So far, as far as possible, we have studied through the grace of Lord Caitanya.
And even up to the prime..., primal living entity within this material world, namely Brahmā... Brahmā is considered to be the supreme. He is also living entity like us, but he is supreme powerful within this material universe. Just like within this state, President Johnson is the supreme powerful, but he is a man like us, a living entity, but he has got supreme power. Similarly, Brahmā is a living entity like us, but by meritorious and devotional service to the Lord, he is exalted as the supreme personality within this material world.
But he is not Supreme Personality of Godhead. Supreme Personality of Godhead is Kṛṣṇa. Ekale īśvara kṛṣṇa āra sab... [Cc. Ādi 5.142]. [Lord Kṛṣṇa alone is the supreme controller, and all others are His servants. They dance as He makes them do so.] And only Kṛṣṇa is the master, and everyone is servant, however great he may be. So even Kṛṣṇa's expansion, Viṣṇu, He is also subordinate to Kṛṣṇa. The greatest manifestation of Viṣṇu is the Mahā-Viṣṇu, who is lying on the Causal Ocean of material creation, wherefrom the material universes are emanating by His breathing process. Such a gigantic and huge, I mean to say, form of Viṣṇu with four hands, He is also stated in the Brahma-saṁhitā, yasyaika-niśvasita-kālam athāvalambya jīvanti loma-vilajā jagad-aṇḍa-nāthāḥ viṣṇur mahān sa iha yasya kalā-viśeṣo govindam ādi-puruṣam tam ahaṁ bhajāmi [Bs. 5.48] [Brahmā and other lords of the mundane worlds, appearing from the pores of hair of Mahā-Viṣṇu, remain alive as long as the duration of one exhalation of the latter [Mahā-Viṣṇu]. I adore the primeval Lord Govinda of whose subjective personality Mahā-Viṣṇu is the portion of portion.] "I worship the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Govinda, whose plenary parts of the portion is Mahā-Viṣṇu." And what is that Mahā-Viṣṇu? "In whose breathing period all these universes are coming and being annihilated." That is the process of His breathing. Just like with our breathing we are extricating so many germs, and again we are taking so many germs, similarly, the breathing period of Mahā-Viṣṇu is He is exhaling so many universes and again inhaling so many universes. That Mahā-Viṣṇu is also the plenary expansion of Kṛṣṇa. So we are going to have our relationship with that Supreme Personality of Godhead.
Then how that can be achieved? That is now being explained by Caitanya Mahāprabhu, and that is called—the process of executing the service by which we can attain to that point—is called abhidheya. Abhidheya means execution of duties, execution of duties, or execution of obligation—not duty: obligation. Duty you sometimes may avoid, and you may be excused, but obligation we cannot.
Obligation means you have to. Because you are meant for that, if you do not do that, then you will be in difficulty. Our obligation as living entities... We are part and parcel of the Supreme. Just like the hand.
At once I feel some itching sensation here, so at once the hand comes, without asking for it. It is so made psychologically and mechanically, and whatever you may say, at once I feel some itching, at once the hand comes—obligation. It is obligation. Similarly, we are part and parcel of the Supreme. We have got obligation to serve Kṛṣṇa.
If we are not doing that... That means if the hand is cut off from this body, there is no obligation. The hand which is cut off from this body, that hand will not come to cure my itching. That means it is fallen.