Serving the Supreme Personality of Godhead - That Is Natural
In the material world, people constantly struggle against the inevitability of death, disease, and dissatisfaction, wondering why life is so difficult. Śrīla Prabhupāda explains that this struggle occurs because the living entity has forgotten its original spiritual identity. The true, natural position of the soul is not to suffer in the material world, but to exist eternally in a state of blissful, loving service to the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
The Constitutional Position of Service
Every living being is driven by an inherent need to serve something, whether it be their family, society, or their own senses. Śrīla Prabhupāda clarifies that this service spirit is constitutional, but it only brings true happiness when it is properly directed toward Kṛṣṇa, fulfilling the soul's natural function.
- Service is your essential duty, but because your service is wrongly being executed, you are not happy. But if you render your service to Krsna, that is natural and you will be happy.
- Actually, my position is servant. Just like a woman. Natural position is to remain dependent on man. That is natural position. But if some woman artificially tries to become man or master, that is suffering.
- It is natural to serve God, to remain faithful to Him. This is natural. And artificially you are trying to be independent. This is the Mayavadi . . . Still they are trying to become God himself.
- For all living entities to be attracted toward Krsna is natural, and therefore the Lord's real name is Krsna, meaning He who attracts everyone and everything.
The Inherent Desire for Pleasure and Immortality
It is a universal fact that no one wants to die, grow old, or suffer; everyone is constantly searching for joy. According to Śrīla Prabhupāda, this is not a psychological flaw but a perfectly natural consequence of the soul's eternal, blissful nature rebelling against the incompatible conditions of the material body.
- Now, everyone is trying not to die, everyone is trying not to become old, everyone is trying not to be dead, meet death. This is natural. Because, by nature, we are not subjected to these things.
- All people are working hard, day and night, for pleasure. Because by constitution, he is pleasureful, joyful. As soon as there is little hindrance to the process of his joyfulness he becomes sorry. This is my nature.
- Our basic principle is pleasure. So whatever gives pleasure, we accept. That is natural. But in the material world, they take material pleasure, but we are for spiritual pleasure.
- You don't think of your future. That is foolishness. This is natural. Because every living entity is eternal; therefore he has future. But for himself he is thinking, There is no life, next.
The Perverted Reflection of Material Life
The intense attachments we experience in this world—such as romantic love, family ties, and the desire to protect our homes—are not inherently evil or artificial. Śrīla Prabhupāda explains that these tendencies are completely natural because they originate in the spiritual world, but they are currently being experienced in a perverted, material reflection.
- The tendency to be attracted by womanly beauty is natural because it exists in the spiritual world. In the material world it is reflected pervertedly, and therefore there are so many inebrieties.
- Naturally there is tendency - a man wants woman; a woman wants man. This is the material world, pumsam striya mithuni-bhavam, sex impetus. That is natural. But when they are united, that impact becomes very, very tight. It is very difficult to give it up.
- That is psychology. It may be very worse condition; still, nobody wants to give up "Home, sweet home." That is natural psychology.
- If there is some immediate danger to one's own person, he first takes care of himself, then others. That's natural. That means he loves his own self more than anything else.
The Stringent Laws of Nature
While the soul desires complete freedom, it is tightly bound by the strict laws of material nature as long as it remains in a physical body. Śrīla Prabhupāda emphasizes that just as physical laws like fire and electricity act without bias, the laws of karma naturally deliver the exact results of one's material association, dictating the soul's next birth.
- In the laws of nature also, the laws of nature is very strict. There is no excuse. The laws of nature is very stringent. Just like the fire. Fire, it burns. That is natural. This is the law of nature.
- Those who are associating with the base qualities of material nature, they get lower life. That is natural. Just like you contaminate a kind of disease, it will become manifest in due course of time.
- I remember or forget, but I was in different types of body - that's a fact. So similarly, after leaving this body, I will have another body. That is natural conclusion.
- Jivo jivasya jivanam: "One living entity is the subsistence, life-giving subsistence, for another living being." That is the nature's law.
The Restoration of Purified Senses
The goal of Kṛṣṇa consciousness is not to destroy the senses or suppress natural human emotions, but to purify them. By redirecting the senses away from material exploitation and toward the service of the Lord, Śrīla Prabhupāda teaches that the living entity naturally transcends material bondage and revives their original, blissful state.
- Now, when these senses are used for other than God's purpose, that is bondage, conditioned life. When the senses are purified and it is used for God's purpose, that is natural life.
- When the senses are purified and it is used for God's purpose, that is natural life. That is natural life.
- That is our process. Just like sex impulse is natural for everyone in the material, but if we think of Krsna embracing Radharani or dancing with the gopis, then our sex impulse becomes subordinate, no more stronger.
- We are teaching that you just think of Krsna always, Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna, Krsna Krsna . . . as soon as you pronounce this sound, this vibration, immediately you remember Krsna, "Here is Krsna and Radharani." So that is natural.
Conclusion
Material existence forces the eternal soul into an unnatural state of suffering, where the inherent desires for immortality, perfect love, and supreme pleasure are constantly frustrated by the temporary body. Śrīla Prabhupāda brilliantly reveals that all our worldly attachments and instincts are simply perverted reflections of our original spiritual life. Trying to find happiness by independently manipulating the stringent laws of nature is a futile and unnatural endeavor. Real freedom is achieved not by stopping the senses, but by purifying them. When the living entity stops rebelling against the Supreme Lord and joyfully engages their senses in His service, they immediately transcend the anxieties of the material world. By embracing Kṛṣṇa consciousness, the soul finally returns to its most perfect, joyful, and entirely natural position.
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 That Is Natural. We invite you to visit this link to study the complete compilation and experience Śrīla Prabhupāda's teachings in their direct, verbatim form.