Society, Friendship and Love - The Soul's True Demand
A fundamental drive within every living entity is the search for connection. In the material world, this search manifests as a desperate pursuit of society, friendship, and love. We work tirelessly to build families, foster friendships, and identify with communities and nations, hoping these structures will provide us with enduring happiness and security. However, Śrīla Prabhupāda repeatedly exposes the flawed nature of this endeavor. He teaches that because our material bodies are temporary, all relationships based on the body are equally fleeting, offering no genuine protection from the miseries of birth, death, old age, and disease. This does not mean the desire for love is wrong; rather, it is misdirected. The soul's profound thirst for connection can only be satisfied by awakening our original, eternal relationship with the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa. By examining Śrīla Prabhupāda's profound statements on society, friendship, and love, we learn how to elevate our consciousness from the shadowy reflections of the material world to the reality of the spiritual kingdom.
The Illusion of Material Relationships
Śrīla Prabhupāda points out that material relationships are entirely circumstantial, brought together temporarily by the waves of material nature. Under the spell of māyā, we invest all our energy into these bonds, falsely believing that our family or society can save us from the inevitable reality of death.
- Creating temporary relationships in terms of society, friendship, love, nationality and community, which are all finished at death. These temporary relationships did not exist in the past, nor will they exist in the future.
- In a dream we form a society of friendship and love, and when we awaken we see that it has ceased to exist. Similarly, one's gross society, family and love are also a dream, and this dream will be over as soon as one dies.
- Family, society and friendship are flickering, and so they are called asat. It is said that as long as we are attached to this asat, temporary, nonexisting society and family, we are always full of anxieties.
- The conditioned soul, under the illusion of maya, or the external energy, thinks that he is completely protected by his country, society, friendship and love, not knowing that at the time of death none of these can save him.
A Drop of Water in the Desert
While Śrīla Prabhupāda acknowledges that there is a certain fascination in material love, he emphasizes its sheer inadequacy. Quoting the great poet Vidyāpati, he explains that attempting to satisfy the soul's vast desire for eternal joy with mundane relationships is like trying to quench the thirst of a desert with a single drop of water.
- Vidyapati, a great Vaisnava devotee and poet, says, "My dear Lord, undoubtedly there is some pleasure in the midst of society, friendship and love, although it is materially conceived, but such pleasure cannot satisfy my heart, which is like a desert."
- Material sense gratification, with society, friendship and love, is herein (SB 4.25.12) compared to a drop of water falling on a desert. A desert requires oceans of water to satisfy it, and if only a drop of water is supplied, what is its use.
- Happiness derived from society, friendship and love is like a drop of water in the scorching heat of the desert. One may want to become very great and powerful in society, but this is like attempting to climb a hill full of thorns.
- The society, friendship and love as we materially experience have got some fascination, but such fascination is compared by the poet Vidyapati as a drop of water of the ocean.
The Original Demand of the Soul
The philosophy of Kṛṣṇa consciousness does not demand that we destroy our desire to love. Śrīla Prabhupāda clarifies that the craving for friendship and society is an inherent, spiritual demand of the soul. The goal is to elevate this propensity from the temporary shadows of the material world to its true reality in relation to the Supreme Lord.
- Naturally, everyone wants to love someone. Society, friendship, and love are needed. They are demands of the spirit soul, but they are being pervertedly reflected.
- The idea of society, friendship, and love is not at all false, but the place where we search for it is false. We have to give up this false position and rise to the reality. That is the result of cultivating the human spirit.
- We should always remember that the society, friendship, only shadowy representations of the real society, friendship, and love reciprocated in the kingdom of God.
- Somebody is loving his family, somebody is loving his wife, somebody is loving his society or friendship - society, friendship, they say divine. But the ultimate, ultimate point of love is when you come to Krsna.
Taking Shelter of Govinda
When one experiences the superior taste of devotional service to Kṛṣṇa, detachment from material entanglements occurs naturally. Śrīla Prabhupāda assures us that by turning our attention to the beautiful form of Govinda, we gain access to an ocean of eternal bliss that instantly renders mundane society and friendship insignificant.
- If one wants to be satisfied in the pleasure of society, friendship and love, he need not seek shelter at the lotus feet of Govinda, for if one takes shelter under His lotus feet he will forget that minute quantity of so-called pleasure.
- The actual import of the verse is that one must see the form of Govinda if one at all wants to forget the nonsense of material friendship, love and society.
- When a devotee realizes the effect of association with the Supreme Lord, he naturally hates the association of so-called society, friendship and love.
- Krsna consciousness, devotional service to Krsna, is the ocean of eternal bliss. In comparison to this eternal bliss, the so-called happiness of society, friendship and love is simply useless and insignificant.
Conclusion
Our relentless pursuit of society, friendship, and love is proof of our divine nature, for we are originally eternal associates of Kṛṣṇa. However, when we try to fulfill this pure desire through the temporary vessels of the material body, we inevitably meet with frustration, like a thirsty man chasing a mirage in the desert. By following the instructions of Śrīla Prabhupāda, we learn to detach ourselves from the fleeting shadows of this world and invest our loving propensity in the Supreme Personality of Godhead. In doing so, our consciousness is purified, and we awaken to the ultimate, eternal society of Kṛṣṇa and His devotees in the spiritual sky.
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 Society, Friendship and Love. We invite you to visit this link to study the complete compilation and experience Śrīla Prabhupāda's teachings in their direct, verbatim form.