Prabhupāda: So Kṛṣṇa has got relationship with everyone because He is the supreme father, and we are all His part and parcel. Just like son, even in this material world, he is the part and parcel of the father or the mother, similarly, we are actually part and parcel of Kṛṣṇa, and Kṛṣṇa is ṣaḍ-aiśvarya-pūrṇa. He is the richest, He is the most famous, He is most strong, all-powerful, all-beautiful. Everything He has got. And we are sons of that Kṛṣṇa. So father's property is enjoyed by the sons. There is no... That is the law. It is not artificial. Then why we are poverty-stricken? Because we are condemned. Condemned. That we should understand. Therefore everyone, intelligent person, should understand that anyone who is in this material world, he is condemned. It doesn't matter what he is. Therefore our first business is how to get out of this conditional life in the material world. That is human consciousness. That is Kṛṣṇa consciousness. So our business is to take shelter of the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa. That is our first business, not this "This is our business, where to find out my food, my bread, and get up early in the morning and running to the office or to the working place." This is not civilization. This is not civilization.
Therefore he says that "I am a lame man." Mama manda-gatī: "I am very slow, so I take shelter of the lotus feet of Madana-mohana." That is our business. The Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is teaching all over the world this philosophy, that your first and foremost business is to become Kṛṣṇa conscious. There is no question of so-called economic development, sense gratification. No. These are not important things. There are many missionaries, they open hospitals or similar philanthropic activities, but we never do that. So many friends advised me to open some hospitals, dispensaries. Oh, I flatly said that "We are not interested in the hospitals." There are so many hospitals. So people who are interested in hospitals, they can go there. Here is spiritual hospital. The disease is the other hospitals, they cannot stop death, but our hospital can stop death.
Devotees: Jaya! Hari! Hari!
Prabhupāda: This is our hospital. We are therefore not interested with this kind of hospital. Our this hospital is treating the materially affected patient to get out of his four kinds of miseries: janma-mṛtyu-jarā-vyādhi (BG 13.9). One type of disease is to take birth; another, death; another, old age; another, disease. So we want to stop. This is not our normal condition of life. Because we living entities, soul, we are spiritual. Our identity is that we are eternal. It is not that because my body is annihilated, therefore I am finished. Na hanyate hanyamāne śarīre (BG 2.20). This is the instruction. The living entity, the soul, is not destroyed after the body being destroyed. The body is destroyed. It is being destroyed every moment. From scientific point of view we are changing our blood corpuscle and another body like the, what is called, film. One after another picture, one after, one after, one after, and when they are displayed, it appears one. But it is not one. There are so many pictures. They put into the machine, and when they work together, it appears that the man within the picture is moving. Actually, that movement is combination of many pictures. Similarly, we are growing. We are not growing, but we are changing body.
Therefore Kṛṣṇa says, dehino 'smin yathā dehe kaumāraṁ yauvanaṁ jarā, tathā dehāntara-prāptiḥ (BG 2.13). We are becoming... We are seeing that "My child is growing." It is not growing; it is changing body just like the film spool. But because it is displayed in a very scientific way, we are seeing that "My child is growing." It is not growing. The actual fact is the child is a soul, and the soul is changing every minute the body. That is real understanding. Kṛṣṇa says, authority says, dehino 'smin yathā dehe kaumāraṁ yauvanaṁ jarā, tathā dehāntara-prā... (BG 2.13). Dehāntara-prāptiḥ means accepting another body. So the child is speaking in one way now; so when he will get another body, a young man's body, he will speak in a different way. The dog is barking because it has got a different body, and a scientist speaking in a different way because he has got a different body. Similarly, every one of us, because we have got different types of body according to my desire, we are acting differently. So if we come back again to the spiritual platform, then we will not work differently. We shall work concomitantly. Everyone will agree with everyone. That is spiritual platform. But unless we come to the spiritual platform—we remain on the bodily platform—we shall speak differently. And as soon as we come to the spiritual platform, then we shall speak in one item only, how to serve Kṛṣṇa. This is the process.
So those who are too much materially affected, their progress is very slow. Especially in this age. In this age the symptoms of the human beings is described in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam that prāyeṇa alpāyuṣaḥ.
- prāyeṇa alpa āyuṣaḥ
- (kalav) asmin yuge janāḥ
- mandāḥ sumanda-matayo
- manda-bhāgyā hy upadrutāḥ
- (SB 1.1.10)
This is the condition at the present moment. This is called Kali-yuga. The first symptom is: our span of life is very short, decreasing. With the advancement of Kali-yuga, our duration of life is decreasing. Everyone knows that. My father lived so many years, my grandfather lived so many years, but it is certain I am not going to live so many years. And then my son is not... Gradually, it is reduced. Reducing, reducing, reducing. By the end of Kali-yuga, the duration of life from twenty years to thirty years will be considered very, very old age, very, very old. If a man is living for twenty-five years, he will be considered a very grand old man. Yes. That is coming gradually. So therefore it is said, manda, manda. Manda means everything bad or everything slow. Duration of life is bad, then their activities also very bad, always sinful activities. Mandāḥ sumanda-matayo (SB 1.1.10). And if somebody is little anxious to take shelter of somebody for spiritual advancement, then he will accept some bogus thing, sumanda-matayo, some bogus incarnation of God, some bogus yogi, some bogus... They will take sumanda-matayo, will not come to the real.