When Sri Krsna Caitanya Mahaprabhu was requested to explain the duty of a Vaisnava, a Krsna conscious person, He immediately said, asat-sanga-tyaga-ei vaisnava-acara [Cc. Madhya 22.87].

​The first business of a Vaisnava is to give up the association of persons who are not devotees of Krsna and who are too attached to material things -- wife, children, bank balance and so on. Prahlada Maharaja also prays to the Personality of Godhead that he may avoid the association of nondevotees attached to the materialistic way of life. If he must be attached to someone, he prays to be attached only to a devotee.

A devotee is not interested in unnecessarily increasing the demands of the senses for gratification. Of course, as long as one is in this material world, one must have a material body, and it must be maintained for executing devotional service. The body can be maintained very easily by eating krsna-prasada. As Krsna says in Bhagavad-gita (9.26):

patram puspam phalam toyam
yo me bhaktya prayacchati
tad aham bhakty-upahrtam
asnami prayatatmanah

"If one offers Me with love and devotion a leaf, a flower, fruit or water, I will accept it." Why should the menu be unnecessarily increased for the satisfaction of the tongue? Devotees should eat as simply as possible. Otherwise, attachment for material things will gradually increase, and the senses, being very strong, will soon require more and more material enjoyment. Then the real business of life -- to advance in Krsna consciousness -- will stop.
 
(SB 5.18.10)

By  Purujit Dāsa

 
Śrīla Prabhupāda says:
 
“You can eulogize your Guru Mahārāja, but you have to learn it and face the public and be strong to defend yourself. That is success. Not by praising your Guru Mahārāja. You'll praise your Guru Mahārāja. That is not very difficult. But be victorious to the opposing elements. Then you will praise your Guru Mahārāja nicely. At home, you can praise your Guru Mahārāja, and Guru Mahārāja be satisfied, "Oh, my disciples are praising me." That is not very.... That is good. Respectful. That is the qualification. But you have to fight. Then your Guru Mahārāja will be glorified?”
(Conversation on Roof -- December 26, 1975, Sanand)
 
What are the opposing elements to the spreading of Krsna consciousness movement at the moment? Corrupted managers, bogus gurus, hypocritical pretenders, politicians and mental speculators- the list is endless, but they can be all put under one unifying category, which can be understood from Śrīla Prabhupāda's praṇāṁ mantra:
 
namas te sārasvate deve gaura-vāṇī-pracāriṇe
nirviśeṣa-śūnyavādi-pāścātya-deśa-tāriṇe
 
“Our respectful obeisances are unto you, O spiritual master, servant of Sarasvatī Gosvāmī. You are kindly preaching the message of Lord Caitanyadeva and delivering the Western countries, which are filled with impersonalism and voidism.”
 
This is the sum and substance of Śrīla Prabhupāda's mission -to defeat the philosophy of impersonalism and voidism and establish the sublime philosophy of acintya abheda-bheda tattva of Lord Sri Caitanya Mahāprabhu. It is just like watering the root of a tree. If we are able to defeat the philosophy of impersonalism and voidism, then everything else will fit into place along with minor issues.

In our B.L.I.S.S. centres we make harinam-sankirtan - distribution of the Holy Name of Krsna and the transcendental books of Srila Prabhupada our main focus. Here are few pictures of these activities from the month of November. Hare Krsna! Jaya Srila Prabhupada!

by His Divine Grace
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

​There are four yugas: Satya-yuga, Treta-yuga, Dvapara-yuga and Kali-yuga. During the first yuga, Satya-yuga, people were very pious. Everyone practiced the mystic yoga system for spiritual understanding and realization of God. Because everyone was always absorbed in samadhi, no one was interested in material sense enjoyment. During Treta-yuga, people enjoyed sense pleasure without tribulations. Material miseries began in Dvapara-yuga, but they were not very stringent. Stringent material miseries really began from the advent of Kali-yuga.

​by His Divine Grace
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

"At the time of death there is great distress. It is so strong that one has to leave this body. Just like when the distress becomes very strong, one commits suicide. He cannot tolerate: "Finish this body."
So nobody wants to leave this body, but the distress is so strong that one is forced to leave this body. That is called death. In the Bhagavad-gita you will find that mrtyuh sarva-haras ca aham. Krsna says that "I am death." And what is the meaning of death? Death means "I take everything from him. Finished. I take his body, I take his association, I take his country, I take his society, I take his bank balance, and everything finished." Sarva-harah. Sarva means everything. Everyone is trying to accumulated big bank balance and big house, big family, big motorcar... But with the death, everything is finished. So that is great distress. 

by His Divine Grace
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

​"If a person is actually executing devotional service, then he must be happy. If he's not happy, then he's not doing properly. So first thing is this. He might be doing something in the name of devotional service. If he's actually rendering devotional service, then he must be feeling. Just like if you are eating actually, then you must feel strength and satisfaction of your hunger. You cannot say, "I'm eating, but I'm not satisfied of my hunger." That is impossible. This is not possible. Then you are not eating. Or you are eating, but it is being devoured by the worms within your intestines. Sometimes it happens. If there are many worms within the intestines, you go on voraciously eating, but you don't get strength because the eating substance, the essence, is taken by the worms. Therefore the worm treatment is there to kill the worms. Otherwise they will eat everything. You'll feel hungry, but will not get any strength. This is the worm disease. So if I am actually rendering devotional service and I'm not getting any happiness, that means there is some maya's play. Otherwise there is no such reasoning. He must feel happy. Then he has to rectify the process of his service. Not to change but rectify the process. (aside) What is that? (laughs) It cannot be. If you are actually executing devotional service, you must feel happy. If you don't feel happy, then you are not executing. There is some flaw. Yes."
 
(Bhagavad-gita 2.13-17 -- Los Angeles, November 29, 1968)