Children must learn Krishna consciousness from the beginning of life; human birth is the only opportunity to understand and love God.Listen — Srila Prabhupada Uvaca
Arrival Address — May 19, 1973, Dallas 730519AD-DALLAS [13:47 Minutes] Arrival_730519AD-DALLAS Prabhupāda: ....five years old. It is a school. He was preaching amongst the class friends this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement. You have seen the picture of Prahlāda Mahārāja standing on the table—of course, there was no tables in those days—and speaking to his class friends about devotional service.
The friends of Prahlāda Mahārāja, they objected, that "We are now children. Let us play now. We shall see about God conscious [indistinct] when we are old enough. Or at the time of death we shall see to it." Prahlāda Mahārāja said, kaumāra ācaret prājño dharmān bhāgavatān iha durlabhaṁ mānuṣaṁ janma tad apy adhruvam arthadam [SB 7.6.1] Prahlāda Mahārāja said, "My dear friends, Kṛṣṇa consciousness should be learned from the very beginning of life," kaumāra.
The learning should be beginning between five years old to ten years old, between this time. This bhāgavata-dharma especially, first thing is, the children from the very beginning of their life should be given instruction on religious principles of life. What are the religious principles? Religious principle means to understand what is God.
That is religious principle. It doesn't matter whether you are Christian or Hindu or Muslim or any... There are many hundreds and thousands patterns of religious system, but according to our bhāgavata school, we accept that religion as first class which teaches how to love God. That is religion.
Sa vai puṁsāṁ paro dharmo yato bhaktir adhokṣaje [SB 1.2.6]. That system of religion is first class wherein the followers are given lessons how to love God. Unfortunately, at the present moment, there is no question of how to teach them for loving God. They deny the existence of God. This is the present situation.
People have become so rascal that they do not believe in the existence of God. Or somebody believes... Not believes; that is affirmed. Some of them say, "God is dead.
Now we have to take to social work, political work. Let the subject matter of God set aside." Especially in India. In India, the country where still God consciousness is so strong, the government wants that they should forget about this God business. So this is Kali-yuga.