So those who are actually interested in the science of God, they will find here ample opportunity in this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement. It is not that decrying any other religion. No. It is the postgraduate study of higher consciousness, or God consciousness.
So there should be no objection from any religious group to come to Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Just like many students from India, they come to your country for higher studies. So this is the higher study of how to learn . . . to learn how to love God. That is our program.
- sa vai puṁsāṁ paro dharmo
- yato bhaktir adhokṣaje
- (SB 1.2.6)
Where the test of first-class religion is how the followers are developing love of God. It doesn’t matter what that religion is—it may be Christian religion, Hindu religion, or Muhammadan religion—if one is developing love of God, then that system of religion is first class. Of course, every system of religion is nice, but there is a say that sometimes everything is done deśa, kāla, pātra.
Deśa means "country," and kāla means "time" and pātra means "the receiver," or the student. So this Christian religion was taught in a different time. Now people are very much advanced in education, you see. And the country was desert; the people were not very prosperous at that time . . .
(break) They have got description of God. Vedānta means to know God:
- vedaiś ca sarvair aham eva vedyo
- vedānta-kṛd veda-vid eva cāham
- (BG 15.15)
Veda means knowledge. Knowledge means . . . ultimate knowledge means to know God, or Kṛṣṇa. That is perfection of knowledge. Bahūnāṁ janmanām ante (BG 7.19): after many, many births' cultivation of knowledge, when one comes to the point of understanding God, or Kṛṣṇa, then there is perfection. Bahūnāṁ. That there:
- bahūnāṁ janmanām ante
- jñānavān māṁ prapadyate
- (BG 7.19)
So veda-vid, ānanda-mayo 'bhyāsāt (Vedānta-sūtra 1.1.12). God is full of joyful pleasure, reservoir of pleasure, and we are hankering after pleasure. So if we somehow or other . . . we are already connected. Here everyone is connected. I am sitting here, you are sitting here. Without being connected with God, we cannot sit even for a moment. God's energies are working; any moment the whole material world can be vanquished. It is by the mercy of God.