36 On the Way to Krsna

we strive to be friends with our countrymen, with
our families and with all the peoples of the world—
but this is based on a wrong conception. The real
friend is Krsna, and if we want to benefit our family,
nation or planet, we will work for Him. If we have
our family’s welfare in mind, we will try to make all
members Kygna conscious. There are so many men
trying to benefit their families, but unfortunately
they do not succeed. They do not know what the
real problem is. As the Bhagavatam says, one should
not attempt to become a father, or mother, or teach-
er unless he is able to save his children from death,
from the grip of material nature. The father should
be in knowledge of Krsna, and he should be deter-
mined that the innocent children who are entrusted
to him will not have to undergo the cycle of birth
and death again. He should be resolved to train his
children in such a way that they will no longer have
to be subjected to the painful cycle of birth and
death. But before one can do this, he has to make
himself expert. If he becomes expert in Krsna con-
sciousness, he can help not only his children but his
society and nation. But if he himself is bound by ig-
norance, how can he unite others who are similarly
bound? Before one can make others free, he must be
free himself. Actually no one is a free man, for every-
one is under the spell of material nature, but one who
is surrendered to Kysya cannot be touched by maya,
He, of all men, is free. If one places himself in sun-
hght, there is no question of darkness. But if one
places himself in artificial light, it may flicker and go
out. Krsna is just like sunlight. Where He is present,
