Prabhupāda: Yes. But the test is there, whether he has become a lover of God or lover of dog. That is the test. If you find that he has become a lover of dog, then his religion is useless.
Sister Mary: How does he know?
Prabhupāda: You can see whether he's loving God or dog. That's all. That you can see. Everyone can see whether he has got good love for dog or good love for God. That you can see. Anyone can see. The test is there. Crucial test is there.
Revatīnandana: Jesus used the expression, "Loving God or loving Mammon."
Prabhupāda: Huh?
Revatīnandana: Jesus used the expression "Love God or love Mammon."
Prabhupāda: That says, or . . . everyone says different way. "Mammon" or "dog" is expression in the faith. That is the test. Caitanya Mahāprabhu says:
- yugāyitaṁ nimeṣeṇa
- cakṣuṣā prāvṛṣāyitam
- śūnyāyitaṁ jagat sarvaṁ
- govinda viraheṇa me
- (CC Antya 20.39, Śikṣāṣṭaka 7)
Yugāyitaṁ, "Every moment is just like twelve years," cakṣuṣā pravṛṣāyitam, "crying like torrents of rain." Cakṣuṣā pravṛṣāyitam, śūnyāyitaṁ jagat sarvaṁ, "Oh, I find everything is vacant," govinda viraheṇa me, "without God, without . . ." This is an ideal picture.
So another test is, bhaktiḥ pareśānubhava viraktir anyatra syāt (SB 11.2.42). If one has become lover of God, naturally he will be detached to material enjoyment. Love of God and love of material world cannot go together. Either this or that.
Sister Mary: . . . (indistinct)
Prabhupāda: Just like Lord Jesus Christ: he never advised to . . . for economic development, for industrial development or this and that, so many things. He sacrificed everything for God. That is one test, "Here is a lover of God." He was punished that, "You, you stop this preaching," but he did not. So that is love of God. He sacrificed everything. That is love of God. So the ideal is Lord Jesus Christ, and the follower must be, at least to some extent, to that point. That is the test.
So we say that you follow any religious path—that doesn't matter—we want to see whether you are lover of God. That is our propaganda. And if one is serious about loving God, it doesn't matter in which way he'll develop that dormant love. It doesn't matter. Just like one . . . a person wants to be a very nice student of mathematics. It doesn't matter from which university he takes the degree. It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter. He can go.
Just like students are coming from one country to another, one country to another—because his aim is education. So if one is serious about loving God, then it doesn't matter in which way he learns that art. It doesn't matter. He won't discriminate, "Oh, I must learn this art from this university." No. Any university. It doesn't matter.
So our principle is that we are teaching love of God. So actually, those who are after God, they are coming. It doesn't matter whether he is in America, in Russia, in Africa or Canada. It doesn't matter. They are coming. And the method is simple: chant the holy name of God. If you have got any name, you chant. We preach this. We don't say that you chant "Kṛṣṇa." If you have got any name, God's name, then chant that.