Krishna consciousness liberates one by transcending bodily identification and awakening the original divine consciousness within.Listen — Srila Prabhupada Uvaca
Initiations and Lecture — March 17, 1972, Bombay 720317IN-BOMBAY [20:08 Minutes] Initiations_720317IN-BOMBAY Prabhupāda: …God consciousness at the present moment… [break] …"all-attractive." This is the Sanskrit word meaning, "all-attractive," paraṁ brahma. So unless God is all-attractive, how He can be God? So, aiśvaryasya samagrasya vīryasya yaśasaḥśriyaḥ jñāna-vairāgyayoś caiva saṇṇāṁ iti bhaga gana [Viṣṇu Purāṇa 6.5.47] Aiśvaryasya: God must be the richest of all. God must be strongest than all.
God must be the most beautiful. God must be the wisest of all. In this way, if we analyze what is the meaning of God according to śāstra, or all-attractiveness, then Kṛṣṇa, Lord Kṛṣṇa, is the perfect symbol. So our Vedic literature accept Kṛṣṇa as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, not only at the present moment, but in the past also, great sages like Vyāsadeva, Nārada, Asita, Devala. Later on all the ācāryas, just like Śrī Rāmānujācārya, Śrī Madhvācārya, Nimbārka, Viṣṇu Svāmī and, latest, five hundred years ago, Lord Caitanya—all of them accepted kṛṣṇas tu bhagavān svayam: Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
And Bhagavad-gītā is there. Five thousand years ago this Bhagavad-gītā instruction was given to the world. There also Kṛṣṇa gives His own description personally, because we may mistake. Simply by studying books we cannot understand, although all the Vedic literatures, they aim at Kṛṣṇa.
In the Bhagavad-gītā it is said, vedaiś ca sarvair aham eva vedyaṁ [Bg. 15.15], and in the Ṛg Veda it is…, the mantra is oṁ tad viṣṇoḥ paramaṁ padam sadā paśyanti sūrayaḥ [Ṛg-veda 1.22.20]. So Viṣṇu, the Supreme Personality of Godhead… Viṣṇu is also expansion of Kṛṣṇa, even Mahā-Viṣṇu, the original Viṣṇu. Out of three puruṣa-avatāras—Mahā-Viṣṇu, Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu, Kṣīrodakaśāyī Viṣṇu—the original Viṣṇu is Kṛṣṇa. yasyaika-niśvasita-kālam athāvalambya jīvanti loma-vila-jā jagad-aṇḍa-nāthāḥ viṣṇur mahān sa iha yasya kalā-viśeṣo govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi [Brahmā-saṁhitā 5.48] So this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is pushing on the consciousness. The Kṛṣṇa consciousness means the original consciousness. At the present moment our consciousness is diluted, or rather polluted, with so many consciousness.
We are thinking, "I am American," "I am Indian," "I am African." But if actually we come to the original consciousness, then we become free. We have got students from all parts of the world, but they do not think in terms of this bodily concept of life. That is our first education: dehino 'smin yathā dehe kaumāraṁ yauvanaṁ jarā [Bg. 2.13]. The bodily concept of life is not perfect civilization; rather, it is animal civilization, because animal, they think that they are this body.
So if human being also thinks that he is this body, so that is not very good recommendation. In the śāstras it is said: yasyātma-buddhi-kuṇape tri-dhātuke sva-dhiḥ kalatrādiṣu bhauma ijya-dhīḥ yat-tīrtha-buddhiḥ salile na karhicij janeśv abhijñeṣu sa eva go-kharaḥ [SB 10.84.13] So the whole trouble in… This material world is troublesome, but the trouble is increased when human society is run on the concept of bodily identity. So this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is especially meant for preaching Bhagavad-gītā as it is. It is not a manufactured movement.
We are simply preaching the message of Kṛṣṇa as they are described in the Bhagavad-gītā. The Bhagavad-gītā, the first lesson to Arjuna was to understand that "I am not this body." He… Arjuna, when he was thinking in terms of his bodily relationship with his family members, so this was condemned by Arjuna…, er, Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa said, aśocyān anvaśocas tvaṁ prajñā-vādāṁś ca bhāṣase [Bg. 2.11]: "You are talking just like a very learned man, but no learned man thinks like that. You just try to understand." Then He began Bhagavad-gītā: dehino 'smin yathā dehe kaumāraṁ yauvanaṁ jarā tathā dehāntara-prāptir dhīras tatra na muhyati [Bg. 2.13] So this is the first education, that one should understand that he is not body; he is spirit soul.