To begin our yearlong commemoration of the fiftieth anniversary of the founding of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, I present here excerpts from Srila Prabhupada’s lectures and conversations where he speaks about the philosophy and purposes of ISKCON – “the Krishna consciousness movement.” This is just a sampling, and his books contain many more statements on this topic.
“Krishna says . . . ‘Give up all other ideas of so-called dharma and surrender to Me. We don’t say of ourselves, ‘I am the authority.’ No, we say, ‘Krishna is the authority, and you should surrender to His instruction and try to understand Him.’ This is the Krishna consciousness movement.”
“Krishna does not require your service to become happy. He is complete in Himself. But if you try to make Krishna happy, then you’ll be happy. This is the Krishna consciousness movement.”
“This Krishna consciousness movement is trying to bring everyone under the shelter of the lotus feet of Krishna, so that they may become free from all anxieties.”
“This is the Krishna consciousness movement. The beginning is to hear about Krishna in order to understand Him. We give everyone the chance to hear about Krishna. This is our program. We are trying to construct a temple here, not for making any profit, but to give people a chance to hear about Krishna. We are opening temples all over the world just to give people the chance to hear about Krishna.”
“This Krishna consciousness movement is nothing concocted. It is fact. Everyone is a servant, but at the present moment he’s serving maya. So, instead of serving maya, let him serve Krishna, the original Personality of Godhead. This is the Krishna consciousness movement.”
“When you take this conclusion, ‘Yes, by surrender to Krishna, by surrendering unto the lotus feet of Krishna, everything is done very nicely,’ this is called shraddha [faith]. And the more you increase this shraddha , the more you become perfect. This is the Krishna consciousness movement.”
“My Guru Maharaja used to say, ‘Don’t try to see God.’ Just try to understand. ‘Just work in such a way that God may see you.’ This is the Krishna consciousness movement.”
“Some way or other, if you remember Krishna at the time of death, then your life is successful. So it doesn’t matter whether you remain outside home or inside home, . . . but do not forget your real business. This is the Krishna consciousness movement.”
“In the human form of life, you have got all facilities given by God. Take advantage of it. Don’t put yourself again in the laws of nature. Be liberated. Go back to home, back to Godhead. This is the Krishna consciousness movement.”
“You may become an engineer or a medical practitioner, a businessman or a worker, this or that – that doesn’t matter. Please engage yourself in Krishna consciousness, and your life will be successful. This is the Krishna consciousness movement.”
“If we take to Krishna consciousness – that means if we understand what is God, what I am, what is our relationship, what is the ultimate goal of our life – if these things we understand, then we can get out of these clutches of illusion, the repetition of birth, death, old age, and disease. This is the sum and substance of the Krishna consciousness movement.”
“Why do you not come here and live with us? The Krishna consciousness movement is that you come here, live with us, and produce your food, produce your milk, be happy, healthy, and chant Hare Krishna. This is our movement. . . . We give you sufficient food, shelter, health, philosophy, religion, character – everything in purity.”
“Take the mercy of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and distribute it throughout the whole world. This is the Krishna consciousness movement.”
– Nagaraja Dasa