Krishna Consciousness Movement is Not a Sectarian Movement

In the Thirteenth Chapter of Bhagavad-gita, you will find, it is described: the body and the knower of the body. Just like you think over your body, you think over your finger. You will understand that it is your finger. When I think of this finger, I know this is my finger. When I think of this leg, I think that "This is my leg." But I don't think your finger as my finger. This knower is individual, and he knows not everything but something of his body. I do not know everything of my body. Suppose I am eating, I am eating something. How this eatable substance transforms into vitamin secretion and how it is being distributed all over the body and is supplying the energy? Or take, for example, I have got my hairs, but I do not know how many hairs I have got. Is not that a fact? Can you count your hairs, how many hairs you have got? So, so many things we do not know even of our body, although I am claiming that "This is my body."

But there is another living being. He is supreme living being, Krishna. He says that "I know everything of everyone's body." Ksetra-jnam capi mam viddhi sarva-ksetresu bharata [Bg. 13.3]. This is the verse. Ksetra-jna means the knower of the body. You are individual knower of your body; I am knower individually of my body. So everyone is knower of his own body. But there is another person, who says that "I know everything of everyone's body." Ksetra-jnam capi mam viddhi sarva-ksetresu bharata. He is known as Paramatma. The individual knower is known as atma, or soul, spirit soul.

The individual soul is called atma. But there is another soul, Supersoul. He is called Paramatma. Paramatma is God, but atma and Paramatma, both of them are cognizant. Both of them know things. Just like I know something about my body or I know something about this world. Similarly, there is another atma, supreme atma, who knows everything of this universe. He is sometimes called God or the Paramatma or Krishna, whatever He..., according to different language. So that God is also knower; you are also knower. So far knowing capacity is concerned, you are one with God. Because Krishna or God is cognizant, you are also cognizant. But you are cognizant with very limited sphere, and He is cognizant unlimitedly everywhere. That is the difference. So try to understand Paramatma and jivatma. Jivatma is small, and Paramatma, or God, is great. That you know, every one of you. You say, "God is great," but how He is great, that we do not know. That we have to know. That is called God consciousness or Krishna consciousness. Everyone says, "God is great. God is omnipotent. God is all-powerful," but we do not know how God is great, how God is all-powerful, how God is omnipotent. That we should know. And that is the prerogative, a special power for the human being. The animals, they cannot know what is God, how God is great, how God is all-powerful. But a human being, if he tries, if he consults books of knowledge just like Bible or Bhagavad-gita or similar other scriptures, he can know what is God, how great He is, how omnipotent He is, and what is our relationship with God.
We should know also our relationship with God. And that is stated in the Bhagavad-gita. Our relationship with God is that we are all part and parcel of God. Just like your father has got many children -- you are part of the father's body -- similarly, God, the supreme father, He has also many children, and you are one of them; therefore you are part and parcel of God. That is stated in the Bhagavad-gita:
mamaivamso jiva-bhutah
jiva-loke sanatanah
manah sasthanindriyani
prakrti-sthani karsati
[Bg. 15.7]
Krishna says that, "All these living entities, they are all My parts and parcels, but being influenced by mental concoction, he is very much struggling hard within this material world." Manah sasthanindriyani prakrti-sthani karsati. This struggle for existence of the human being is due to his lack of knowledge of God. He does not know how God is great. There is no educational institution all over the world to discuss this subject matter, how God is great, how He is omnipotent, how I am servant of God. These things are not discussed. But when we forget our relationship with God we become subjected to the threefold miseries of material existence. Take for example... Just like an Australian citizen. He is under the laws of the state of Australia. But if he says, "I don't care for the government," he becomes lawless, and sometimes he becomes criminal, and he is put into the prison life. In the prison also, he has to abide by the laws of the government, and outside the prison also, one has to abide by the laws of the government. But outside the prison the citizens abide by the laws of the government voluntarily, and inside the prison house, the criminals, they defy the laws of government, and therefore they are put into the prison house. So when we defy the laws of God, we are put into threefold miseries of life. That is called material existence. And when we abide by the laws of God, then we are happy. We should know this fact. And religion means to abide by the laws of God. In the Sanskrit language it is said, dharmam tu saksad bhagavat-pranitam [SB 6.3.19]. Dharma, or religion, means the codes of God. Code. Just like laws cannot be manufactured by some individual man, laws are enacted by the government, similarly, religious principles, they are made by God. Godless man does not care for religion, but those who are sober, devotee, godly, they abide by the laws of God, and they are happy. Just like in your Bible there are commandments. So one has to abide by the commandment; then he will be happy. And if one disobeys the commandments of God, he will be unhappy.
So our, this Krishna consciousness movement is not a sectarian movement. We are trying to bring back people to God consciousness. Because unless one comes to God consciousness, he cannot be happy. That's a fact. He becomes careless, and without abiding by the laws of God, he becomes criminal, subjected to so many troubles inflicted by the laws of nature. So these things should be taught from the beginning. It is said in the Srimad-Bhagavatam, kaumaram acaret prajno dharman bhagavatan iha. In every school and college these codes of God should be taught to the children. Then in future they will be godly or God conscious and their life will be peaceful. And because this is not taught in the schools and colleges... I have got experience by traveling in the Western countries. Especially in America, they have got so many nice arrangements of big, big universities. Unfortunately, nowadays they are producing hippies. So this is not very encouraging. In every school and college the God consciousness should be taught. Never mind whether through Bible or Koran or through Bhagavad-gita. Everywhere there is knowledge of God consciousness. That teaching should be introduced in every school and college so that children, from the very beginning, may understand what is God, how great he is, how we are related with God, and how we have to live. So our, this movement, Krishna consciousness, is teaching that thing. Don't think that it is a sectarian religion. We are making people God conscious. It doesn't matter whichever religion you may belong. We want to see whether you are actually God conscious. Our Bhagavata says, sa vai pumsam paro dharmo yato bhaktir adhoksaje [SB 1.2.6], that "That religious system is first class wherein God consciousness or love of God is taught." That is first-class religion. It doesn't matter whether it is Christian religion or Hindu religion or Muhammadan religion. If by following the principles of religion one becomes advanced in God consciousness, that is first-class religion. That is our motto, and we are preaching all over the world.

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