Srila Gurudeva:
jivera svarupa haya krsnera nitya-dasa
krsnera tatastha sakti bhedabheda-prakasa
-Sri Caitanya-caritamrta, Madhya-lila 20.108
[The jiva’s constitutional nature is to be an eternal servant of Sri Krsna. The jiva is the marginal potency of Krsna and a manifestation simultaneously one with and different from the Lord.]
Jivera svarupa haya krsnera nitya-dasa. By constitution, all souls are the eternal servant of Godhead. Nowadays, in different parts of the world, there are so many different conceptions of God. But God is one without a second. Somewhere, they don’t believe in God. Somewhere, they believe God. But whether they believe or not, there is certainly a person or a power who controls everyone and everything. No human person can control everyone and everything. No human could create this whole world and control the whole universe.
We know that in this world, whether God is accepted or not, anyone cannot deny that death is true. Whether they may be an atheist or a theist, everyone will have to accept that death is true. Also, everyone will have to accept without any doubt that in this world there is birth, death, sorrow, and suffering, and that in this world, no one is satisfied. Everyone is afraid of death. At once some suffering may come to us. So we see that in this world, we may sometimes feel happiness with a lady or with a husband or any lady or male. Sometimes we may eat something very delicious and feel some happiness. Sometimes, so many children may come and we support them and we some little happiness may come and we feel that, “We are happy.”
But all of this happiness is temporary. In this world, there is no permanent happiness. That is why the rsis and munis have searched out this truth to try to understand, “From whom has this world has come from? Who supports and nourishes everyone and everything and into whom does it again enter?” That very person or power is God. G-O-D, God. G, generator, O, operator, and D, destroyer. So if we are not faithful to Him and are not serving Him, then we cannot be happy. He is full of all powers. All opulence is in Him
and He is always so merciful. He wants that all suffering people should come to Him and serve Him, chant His name, and remember Him and thus be happy forever.
They should know that this body is not who they really are. This mind is not their true self either. The body and mind are only temporary. Really they are the soul that is inside the body. That soul is only covered by these two external bodies, the gross and subtle body. Now we have forgotten that God. But we should know that God is a person and also an ocean of rasa. He is very powerful, so we should try to know Him and serve Him. Only then can we become free from death and birth, sorrows and sufferings and we can be happy eternally. Otherwise there is no way to be happy forever.
[Spoken by Srila Gurudeva on December 3rdA, 1998, Malaysia, published as part of the Bhakta Bandhav Anthology, Volume 25]