Boys and girls, today I shall explain to you the importance of Kṛṣṇa consciousness as it was conceived by one of the greatest devotees in this disciplic succession. You know we are under disciplic succession. We do not manufacture anything by mental concoction. We do not approve that method. We receive knowledge from the authorities, and out of such many ācāryas, or authorities, who have appeared and disappeared . . . we don't say born and die. No. (laughter) Appear and disappear. This is the actual explanation.
None of us, either Kṛṣṇa or we or all living entities, they appear and disappear. It is stated in the Bhagavad-gītā, Lord Kṛṣṇa says in the battlefield, "My dear Arjuna, either you or Me or all the kings and soldiers who have assembled in this battlefield, don't think that they did not exist in the past and they'll not exist in the future." That means they existed in the past and they're existing at present and they would exist also in the future. That means eternal. Eternal. We are all eternal.
But this misunderstanding is . . . just like we are . . . because the passing phase is this body, and the body is changing, and the final change, when you transmigrate from one body to another, it is called death. Actually, there is no death. Na jāyate na mriyate kadācit (BG 2.20).
In the Bhagavad-gītā you'll find that the living entity never is born, neither never dies. Na hanyamāne hanyate, hanyamāne śarīre. Then, "I see that he is dying." Oh, that is dying not; that is his finishing his this present body. The example is given, vāsāṁsi jīrṇāni yathā vihāya (BG 2.22).
Just like one person changes his dress, similarly, when this dress, the present body, is unworkable . . .
Just like one man cannot see. What do you mean by "cannot see"? When the power of vision is no longer working or the spectacle is broken, therefore he cannot see. Similarly, when the all the senses will be broken or cannot work . . . just like eye cannot . . . the eyes cannot work, therefore it is blind, similarly, the hand cannot work, the leg cannot work, the tongue cannot work, because at the last stage when this mechanical arrangement of this body will stop to function, that is called death.
That you try to understand, that as . . . because I cannot see, it does not mean I am dead. Similarly, because these senses of the body cannot function does not mean that I am dead. It is to be understood with little intelligence and with cool head.
So Prahlāda Mahārāja, a great devotee, he's in the line of disciplic succession. He's considered one of the great ācāryas, an authority, ācārya. And who is ācārya? Ācārya means one who knows the intricacies of Vedic knowledge, and he personally behaves in terms of that knowledge and teaches his disciple in terms of that knowledge.
Ācārya means the person whose behavior is to be followed. Not that as we follow somebody according to our taste. Not like that. That ācārya comes in the standard disciplic succession. So ācārya. So this Prahlāda Mahārāja . . . we are discussing the instruction of Prahlāda Mahārāja because he happens to be one of the stalwart ācāryas. And the names of such ācāryas, authorized ācāryas, are also mentioned in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.
So who are they? Svayambhūr nāradaḥ śambhuḥ (SB 6.3.20). Svayambhuḥ means Brahmā. Brahmā is supposed to be born without any material father and mother. Therefore he is called Svayambhuḥ. He is the only living creature within this universe who is born without the father and mother. How it is? Without the father and mother means this material father and mother.
But he has his father. His father is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Nārāyaṇa. And he's born out of the lotus flower which is grown from the abdomen of Nārāyaṇa. Therefore he's called Svayambhuḥ. Svayambhuḥ means self-manifested. Because before him, there was no existence of material creation. Therefore he is called Svayambhuḥ.