The Way of Chanting and Knowing Krsna = 29

na me parthasti kartavyarm
trisu lokesu kincana

nanavaptam avaptavyam
varta eva ca karmani

“O son of Prtha, there is no work prescribed for Me
within all the three planetary systems. Nor am I in
want of anything, nor have I need to obtain any-
thing—and yet I am engaged in work.” (Bg. 3.22)

We should therefore not think that Krsna is re-
quired to descend upon this material world and en-
gage in so many activities. No one is equal to or
greater than Krsna, and He has all knowledge natu-
rally. It is not that He has to undergo penances to
acquire knowledge or that He at any time has to re-
ceive knowledge or attain knowledge. At all times
and in all conditions He is full of knowledge. He may
be speaking Bhagavad-gita to Arjuna, but at no time
was He ever taught Bhagavad-gita. One who can
understand that this is Krsna’s position does not have
to return to the cycle of birth and death in this mate-
rial world. Being under the influence of illusion, we
spend our lifetimes trying to make adjustments to
this material atmosphere, but this is not the purpose
of human life. Human life is meant for understanding
the science of Krsna.

Our material needs are these: the problem of eat-
ing, of mating, of sleeping, of defending ourselves
and of acquiring sense gratification. These are com-
mon both to human beings and to animals. The
animals are busily engaged trying to solve these prob-
lems, and if we are also only engaged in solving them
how are we any different from the animals? The
