Prabhupāda Assures His Disciples That They Know God Perfectly
A profound and unshakable sense of spiritual certainty was instilled in the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement by Śrīla Prabhupāda. He consistently reminded his disciples that they were not blindly following a sentimental religion, but practicing a highly advanced spiritual science. He boldly assured his followers that because their knowledge descends through the flawless channel of the paramparā, they do not have to guess about the Absolute Truth; they know God perfectly, and therefore, they know exactly how to execute the ultimate mission of life.
The Certainty of Spiritual Science
Modern scientists and philosophers rely heavily on the inductive process—guessing and experimenting to reach conclusions—which inevitably leads to frustration. A sharp contrast was drawn by Śrīla Prabhupāda, who explained that Kṛṣṇa consciousness operates on the perfect, deductive process of receiving knowledge from the supreme authority. He taught his disciples that bhakti is not a miracle, but a tangible, exact science that provides a direct, factual connection to the Supreme Creator.
- People generally have no real conception of God. Ours is a tangible connection with God. We know who is God and how to serve Him. Everything is fact.
- Krishna Consciousness is not a miracle, it is science, and because we are Krishna conscious, therefore we know everything, so practically we can understand how Krishna wanted to please His devotees and He appeared there so wonderfully. We do not see anything miracle.
- In the present age respect for Deductive Process is dwindling whereas respect for Inductive Process is increasing although we know so far the Inductive research is concerned the process has not been successful.
- We know that actual progress in scientific knowledge will certainly take men to the spiritual sky and inform the scientist that there is a supreme creator who has full potencies beyond all materialistic scientific conceptions.
- You know medical science; we know spiritual science. So let us exchange and be happy. Why you are envious of us?
Knowing God Perfectly
Many religious practitioners possess only a vague, formless idea of the Supreme. A bold and uncompromising stance was taken by Śrīla Prabhupāda, who empowered his disciples to declare to the world that they actually know exactly who God is. He explained that a true Vaiṣṇava is never confused by impersonalism; they proudly know Kṛṣṇa's name, His address in the spiritual world, His family members, and His eternal pastimes.
- We know who is God. Therefore this business is possible by us, not by others. We know what is God. We have no vague idea. We know who is God, where does He live, what does He do, His name, address, His father's name - everything we know.
- We say frankly that we know God, His father's name, His address, everything. Let anyone come and challenge. He cannot say that, "No, this is not God," because he has not approached God. He does not know what is God.
- The Absolute Truth is both impersonal and personal, but somebody is stressing on the impersonal point of view and somebody is stressing on the personal. But we Vaisnava, we know what is the meaning of impersonalism and what is the meaning of personalism.
- We know God, Krsna, and Krsna says, man-mana bhava mad-bhaktah: "Always think of Me." This is meditation. So we meditate upon Krsna. So that is perfect meditation, because meditation means to think of God.
- Atheist means who does not take the authority of the Vedas. From philosophical point of view, he is taken as atheist. But we Vaisnava, we know that he is God. He is God, incarnation of God.
Knowledge Sourced from the Paramparā
The absolute certainty possessed by the devotees does not come from their own mental speculation. The secret to this perfect knowledge was revealed by Śrīla Prabhupāda: strict obedience. He taught his followers that because they faithfully accepted the conclusions of the ācāryas, the sādhus, and the śāstras without manufacturing their own ideas, they automatically came to know everything about the Absolute Truth without any defect.
- As far as we know from sadhu-guru-sastra. That's all. That is our understanding.
- Because of our strictly and obediently following in the footsteps of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu, it is to be understood that we know everything regarding the Vedanta-sutra.
- We have got everything perfectly in the Vedic literature. The Krsna consciousness movement is trying to educate people on this principle. We are not manufacturing anything. That is not our business. Because we know we are imperfect.
- Acarya should be always worshiped. Even if you, by ABCD, you have become more learned than the acarya... That is not possible, but if you foolishly think like that, still, you should not exhibit your foolishness, that you know more than the acarya.
- He was so convinced that "What this rascal can say to me? I know. I have heard from Krsna." This is knowledge.
Utilizing Everything for Kṛṣṇa
When a person becomes frustrated with material life, they often conclude that the world is false and embrace a philosophy of voidism. A completely different standard was established by Śrīla Prabhupāda for his disciples. Because they know perfectly well that Kṛṣṇa is the original proprietor of everything, devotees do not artificially reject money, talents, or facilities. Instead, they expertly dovetail every single asset into the service of the Lord.
- Some philosophers, they are meditating to the voidness, that "These things are all nonsense. Voidness is best." This is frustration. But we know that everything belongs to Krsna and it can be used for Krsna.
- We don't say: "Oh, money is material. I do not touch. My hand becomes turned up." No. We don't say all these nonsense philosophy. We know the money, laksmi, is Krsna's property, so it should be engaged in Krsna's service.
- Everyone, we are working for this temple. Every one of us, we know that "This temple not for my sense gratification: This is for Krsna." So that is important.
- We also work hard because we know the goal of life - to please Krishna. So if by these workshops service to Krishna has been increased in everyone, then they are very nice. Why there was no weaving and spinning workshop?
- Expertness is you just try to do which is easily performed by you. You don't accept anything heavy task because Krsna does not want that you have to do this heavy task. Whatever you know, you just apply it. You dovetail it in Krsna consciousness.
The Only Path to True Happiness
Humanity is desperately searching for peace, but without Kṛṣṇa, all efforts end in misery. A supremely confident guarantee was offered by Śrīla Prabhupāda, declaring that his movement was the only welfare activity capable of delivering actual happiness. He taught his disciples that because they know the open secret of how to execute the mission of the Lord, they must bravely push forward with their preaching work, regardless of any opposition from madmen or materialists.
- Live with us and you will be happy. We can guarantee you will be happy. Yes. Hare Krsna. Our Vedic mission is sarve sukhino bhavantu, everyone be happy. This is our mission. And we know how to become happy. That is our credit.
- We are not fools that we have given up everything for advance in Krsna consciousness. Because we know that this, this way we shall never be happy. It is not possible.
- So far we know, this movement is the only movement which can get you out of this entanglement. But if you have got any other, alternative movement, we do not grudge.
- We have taken this danda. This is our determination. You cannot stop us. That's it. - Because we know this is the only welfare activity to the human society. You make talk, madmen. We don't care for it.
- We know how to execute the mission of Krsna. Anyone can know because direction is there. It is not a secret thing. It is open secret. But you have to act upon it. That requires training. And so far my experience goes, the whole world will take to Krsna consciousness.
Conclusion
By anchoring his movement entirely in the unassailable truths of the paramparā, Śrīla Prabhupāda delivered an unparalleled gift of absolute certainty to his followers. He ensured that his disciples understood they were not merely guessing about the purpose of life, but were operating as authorized agents of the Supreme Lord. Armed with the perfect knowledge of who Kṛṣṇa is and how to serve Him, they were empowered to confidently distribute the only proven science capable of delivering humanity from illusion.
Dive Deeper into Śrīla Prabhupāda's Vani
Śrīla Prabhupāda lives within his instructions. This article is a summary of the profound truths found in the Vaniquotes category We Know (Disciples of SP). We invite you to visit this link to study the complete compilation and experience Śrīla Prabhupāda's teachings in their direct, verbatim form.