"The Indian government would not allow me to take any money out of the country, so I came with only a few books and forty rupees."
The Science of Self Realization, Chapter 8: […] When I left India alone in 1965, I feared that I would have a great deal of trouble. The Indian government would not allow me to take any money out of the country, so I came with only a few books and forty rupees.
I arrived in New York City in such a condition, but it was all by the grace of Guru Maharaja and Krishna. Everything happens by the combined mercy of Krishna and the spiritual master. In the Caitanya-caritamrta it is stated that the mercy of Krishna and guru are combined.
This is the secret of the success of this Krishna consciousness movement. Krishna is always within us, and consequently He knows everything about our purposes, and He gives us the opportunity to work as we decide.
If we decide to enjoy this material world, Krishna gives us the intelligence to become a very shrewd businessman or a popular politician or a cunning man so that we can earn money and enjoy ourselves. According to the standards of material life, many people are becoming great. They begin as very poor men and soon, by good fortune, become millionaires.
We Should not think, however, that they are attaining such success by their own puny endeavors. Without intelligence, no one can improve, and that intelligence is given by Krishna. In the Bhagavad-gita Krishna states that He is seated in everyone’s heart as the Supersoul and that by His will a man can remember, and by His will a man can forget.
Krishna supplies forgetfulness and remembrance according to the living entity’s desire. If we want to forget Krishna and enjoy the material world, He will give us the necessary intelligence so that we can forget Him for good.
Many people are thinking, “I can enjoy this material world very nicely. Everyone is having such a good time. There is no reason I can’t enjoy myself as much as they.” This idea is illusion because there is no real enjoyment in the material world.
We may rise to a very high position like President Kennedy. We may be very good-looking, very famous, very intelligent, and well educated, very wealthy and very powerful, and we may have a very beautiful wife and children and hold the highest position in the country—but at any moment we are subject to be shot down.
This is the nature of the material world: we have to face danger at every step. There is no question of having pleasure without impediments.
Even when the pleasures are earned, they are earned after a great deal of struggle and sacrifice, and whatever pleasure may be acquired is temporary, for in the material world there is no pleasure that can give us constant and unending enjoyment. Only Krishna can give us that.
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