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Anyone whose work is not meant to elevate him to religious life, anyone whose religious ritualistic performances do not raise him to renunciation, and anyone situated in renunciation that does not lead him to devotional service to the Supreme Personality of Godhead must be considered dead, although he is breathing.

Chanting Krsna\'s sweet name purifies the heart; sanctifies and steadies the mind; destroys the six enemies [lust, anger, greed, envy, illusion, madness]; stops birth and death; dissolves sins; scorches samskaras; annihilates attachment; induces detachment; uproots desires; empowers one; makes one fearless; removes illusion; bestows supreme peace; delivers prema; reveals the Lord and His dhama; shows one\'s svarupa; showers bhakti-rasa; and engages one in his nitya seva for the pleasure of Radha-Syama.

For the soul there is neither birth nor death at any time. He has not come into being, does not come into being, and will not come into being. He is unborn, eternal, ever-existing, and primeval. He is not slain when the body is slain.

This temporary life is full of miseries. Take shelter of the holy name as your only business.

A person who can understand that the Absolute Truth can exist with form and variety in a pure transcendental state can properly see that Visnu, His name, and His qualities are all one and inseparable from Him. This concept of Krsna with personality is actual knowledge. With this understanding one can take to chanting the holy name, knowing that it is Krsna Himself.

Simply we have to desire to please Him (Krishna), and not desire anything for ourselves. Then we become simply instruments for His will. This is the important essence of Krishna consciousness.

Every man should act like this : when he meets a person more qualified than himself, he should be very pleased ; when he meets someone less qualified than himself, he should be compassionate toward him ; and when he meets someone equal to himself, he should make friendship with him. In this way one is never affected by the threefold miseries of this material world.

To say nothing of the spiritual advancement of persons who see the Supreme Person face to face, even a person born in a family of dog-eaters immediately becomes eligible to perform Vedic sacrifices if he once utters the holy name of the Supreme Personality of Godhead or chants about Him, hears about His pastimes, offers Him obeisances, or even remembers Him.

When a pure devotee or spiritual master speaks, what he says should be accepted as having been directly spoken by the Supreme Personality of Godhead in the Parampara system.

Religion without philosophy is sentiment, or sometimes fanaticism, while philosophy without religion is mental speculation.

One may cleanse himself daily by taking a bath in water, but if one takes a bath even once in the sacred Ganges water of Bhagavad-gita, for him the dirt of material life is altogether vanquished.

One who has not listened to the messages about the prowess and marvelous acts of the Personality of Godhead and has not sung or chanted loudly the worthy songs about the Lord is to be considered to possess earholes like the holes of snakes and a tongue like the tongue of a frog.

The individual soul is forever a servant of the Supersoul, and therefore, his relationship with the Supersoul is to offer service. That is called Bhakti-yoga or Bhakti-bhaava.

In this age of Kali, the holy name of the Lord, the Hare Krishna maha-mantra, is the incarnation of Lord Krishna.

I am the only enjoyer and the only object of sacrifice. Those who do not recognize my true transcendental nature fall down.

Even if one distributes ten million cows in charity during an eclipse of the sun, lives at the confluence of the Ganges and Yamuna for millions of years, or gives a mountain of gold in sacrifice to the brahmanas, he does not earn even one hundredth part of the merit derived from chanting Hare Krsna.

Devotional service is dependent on the mercy of Krishna and His devotees. Unless we surrender to the lotus feet of a pure devotee, it is not possible to come to the platform of pure devotional service. By his own efforts a bee cannot taste the honey within a bottle. The bottle must be opened by a superior. If the bee simply licks the outside of the bottle, thinking “Now I am tasting honey,” then he is in illusion. Similarly, no one can enter into devotional service unless the door is opened by a devotee.

Without being self-controlled, without being disciplined and without being fully obedient, no one can become successful in following the instructions of the spiritual master, and without doing so, no one is able to go back to Godhead.

Bhakti is a sort of cultivation. As soon as we say “cultivation”, we must refer to activity. Cultivation of spirituality does not mean sitting down idly for meditation, as some pseudo-yogis teach. Such idle meditation may be good for those who have no information of devotional service, and for this reason it is sometimes recommended as a way to check distracting materialistic activities.

First birth is from your parents, but real birth, real life, begins when one accepts a bona fide spiritual master and renders service unto him. Then the path is open for going back to home, back to Godhead, to live eternally in full knowledge and full bliss and in association with the Supreme Personality of Godhead Himself, Lord Krishna.

Remembrance of Krishna is not possible for the impure soul who has not practiced Krishna consciousness in devotional service. Therefore, one should practice Krishna consciousness from the very beginning of life. If one wants to achieve success at the end of his life, the process of remembering Krishna is essential. Therefore, one should constantly, incessantly chant the Maha-Mantra -- Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare.