God is one

By His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

There is scarcity of devotees of God at the present moment. People have rejected God. Somebody is saying, “God is dead.” Somebody is accepting a rascal as God. Somebody is declaring himself as God. That is not correct.

One should try to understand God scientifically and become a devotee – a lover of God. If you do that, then your life will be successful. That is Krishna consciousness movement. It is not that “My God” or “Your God;” “This religion” or “That religion.” God is one and religion is one.

And what is that religion? “Love of God”. That’s all. There is no other second religion. This is the real religion. Therefore God comes and says,

sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekam śaranam vraja:

“Abandon all varieties of religion and just surrender unto Me [Bg. 18.66].”

This is religion. Don’t be after so-called religion. If you become a lover of God, then you are first-class religionist. That’s all. That is taught by God in the Bhagavad Gita [18.66]. But if you don’t love God, and you simply love dog, how can you be religious?

[An excerpt from a lecture delivered on Srimad Bhagavatam 1.2.7 in New Vrindaban on September 5, 1972]

By His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead being worshiped by Lord Brahma, a demigod.

There is a misconception about the Hindu religion among people who profess other religions, such as Christians and Muslims, who say that in the Hindu religion there are many Gods. Actually that is not a fact. God is one, but there are many other powerful living entities who are in charge of different departments of administration. They are called demigods. All the demigods are servants who carry out the orders of the Supreme Lord, the Personality of Godhead. Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu disclosed this fact in His childhood. Out of ignorance, sometimes people worship the demigods to receive some particular boon, but actually, one who becomes a devotee and worshiper of the Supreme Personality of Godhead does not need to go to the demigods for any benediction because he obtains everything by the grace of the Supreme Lord. The Bhagavad-gītā (7.20, 28) therefore condemns such demigod worship:

kāmais tais tair hrta-jnānāh prapadyante ’nya-devatāh

tam tam niyamam āsthāya prakrtyā niyatāh svayā

“Only persons whose intelligence is lost and who are mad with lusty desires worship the demigods and follow the particular rules and regulations of worship according to their own natures.”

yesām tv anta-gatam pāpam janānām punya-karmanām

te dvandva-moha-nirmuktā bhajante mām drdha-vratāh

“But persons who are freed from all sinful activities and the duality of delusion engage themselves in the worship of the Supreme Personality of Godhead with determination.” Only the less intelligent worship the demigods for their various purposes. The most intelligent worship only the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krishna.

Sometimes we, the members of the Krishna consciousness movement, are accused of not approving of the Continue reading →