980
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam
[Canto 4, Ch. 23]
There are many fools who claim that worship of Kṛṣṇa began only about five thousand years ago, after the appearance of Lord Kṛṣṇa in India, but this is not a fact. Pṛthu Mahārāja worshiped Kṛṣṇa millions of years ago, for Pṛthu happened to be a descendant of the family of Mahārāja Dhruva, who reigned for 36,000 years during the Satya-yuga age. Unless his total life span was 100,000 years, how could Dhruva Mahārāja reign over the world for 36,000 years? The point is that Kṛṣṇa worship existed at the beginning of creation and has continued to exist throughout Satya-yuga, Tretā-yuga and Dvāpara-yuga, and now it is continuing in Kali-yuga. As stated in  Bhagavad-gītā , Kṛṣṇa not only appears in this millennium of Brahmā's life, but in every millennium. Therefore worship of Kṛṣṇa is conducted in all millenniums. It is not that Kṛṣṇa worship began only when Kṛṣṇa appeared on this planet five thousand years ago. This is a foolish conclusion that is not substantiated by Vedic literatures.
Also of significance in this verse are the words  ārirādhayiṣuḥ kṛṣṇam acarat tapa uttamam . Mahārāja Pṛthu underwent severe types of austerities for the express purpose of worshiping Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa is so kind, especially in this age, that He appears in the transcendental vibration of His holy name. As is said in the  Nārada-pañcarātra ,  ārādhito yadi haris tapasā tataḥ kim . If Kṛṣṇa is worshiped, if He is the goal of advancement, there is no need for one to execute severe types of  tapasya , because one has already reached his destination. If, after executing all types of  tapasya , one cannot reach Kṛṣṇa, all his  tapasya  has no value, for without Kṛṣṇa all austerity is simply wasted labor.  Śrama eva hi kevalam  ( Bhāg.  1.2.8). We should therefore not be discouraged just because we cannot go to the forest and practice severe austerities. Our life is so short that we must strictly adhere to the principles laid down by the Vaiṣṇava  ācāryas  and peacefully execute Kṛṣṇa consciousness. There is no need to become despondent. Narottama dāsa Thākura recommends:  ānande bala hari, bhaja vṛndāvana, śrī-guru-vaiṣṇava-pade majāiyā mana . For a transcendental blissful life, chant the Hare Kṛṣṇa  mantra , come worship the holy place of Vṛndāvana, and always engage in the service of the Lord, of the spiritual master, and of the Vaiṣṇavas. This Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is therefore very safe and easy. We have only to execute the order of the Lord and fully surrender unto Him. We have only to execute the order of the spiritual master, preach Kṛṣṇa consciousness and follow in the path of the Vaiṣṇavas. The spiritual master represents both Lord Kṛṣṇa and the Vaiṣṇavas; therefore by following the instructions of the spiritual master and by chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa, everything will be all right.