Beauty in Krṣṇa's Presence
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given before, zero has no value, but if we bring the number one and place it by the side of zero, the zero becomes ten. So one need not stop whatever one is doing. We never say, “Stop everything material.” One simply has to add Krṣṇa.
Of course, we have to give up anything which is against Krṣṇa consciousness. It is not that because we do not stop material duties, we should not stop meat-eating. We must stop it, for this is contrary to advancement in Krṣṇa consciousness. One cannot commit sinful activities and at the same time advance in Krṣṇa consciousness. But Krṣṇa says,  aham tvāṁ sarva-pāpebhyo mokṣayiṣyāmi : “Surrender unto Me, and I shall rescue you by giving you liberation from all kinds of sinful reactions.”
Every one of us, life after life, is knowingly or unknowingly committing sinful activities. I may knowingly kill an animal, and that is certainly sinful, but even if I do it unknowingly, it is also sinful. While walking on the street we unknowingly kill so many ants, and in the course of our other ordinary dealings—while cooking, while taking water, while using a mortar and pestle to crush spices—we kill so many living beings. Unless we remain Krṣṇa conscious, we are liable to be punished for all these unknowingly committed sinful acts.
If a child unknowingly touches fire, does it mean that the fire will excuse the child and not burn? No. Nature's law is so strict, so stringent, that there is no question of an excuse. Even in ordinary law, ignorance is no excuse. If we go to court and say, “I did not know that this action was criminal,” this plea does not mean that we shall be excused. Similarly, ignorance is no excuse for transgressing nature's laws. Therefore, if we actually want to be free from the reactions of sinful life, we must be Krṣṇa conscious, for then Krṣṇa will free us from all sinful reactions. It is therefore recommended,  kīrtanīyaḥ sadā hariḥ —one should always chant Hare Krṣṇa, Hare Krṣṇa, Krṣṇa Krṣṇa, Hare Hare/ Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare, so that Krṣṇa will save us.
We should always keep Krṣṇa within our minds, for Krṣṇa is like the sun. This is the motto of our  Back to Godhead  magazine:
krṣṇa—sūrya sama; māyā haya andhakāra yāhān krṣṇa, tāhān nāhi māyāra adhikāra  (Cc. Madhya 22.31)
Krṣṇa is just like the brilliant sun, and  māyā , ignorance, is just like darkness. When the sun is present, there cannot be darkness. So if we keep