40 On the Way to Krsna

All living entities must drink water. The taste of
water is so nice that when we are thirsty nothing
but water seems to do. No manufacturer can create
the pure taste of water. We can thus remember Krsna
or God when we drink water. No one can avoid drink-
ing water every day of his life, so God consciousness
is there—how can we forget?

Similarly, when there is some illumination, that is
also Krsna. The original effulgence in the spiritual
sky, the brahmajyoti, emanates from the body of
Krsna. This material sky is covered. The very nature
of the material universe is darkness, which we ex-
perience at night. It is being artificially illuminated
by the sun, by the reflected light of the moon, and
by electricity. Where is this illumination coming
from? The sun is being illumined by the brahma-
Jyoti, or the bright effulgence of the spiritual world.
In the spiritual world there is no need for sun, moon
or electricity because there everything is illuminated
by the brahmajyoti. On this earth, however, we can
remember Krsna whenever we see some illumination
from the sun.

When we chant the Vedic mantras which begin
with om, we can also remember Krsna. Om, like
Hare Krsna, is also an address to God, and om is also
Krsna. Sabdah means sound, and whenever we hear
any sound we should know that it is a vibration of
the original sound, the pure spiritual sound om or
Hare Krsna. Whatever sound we hear in the material
world is but a reflection of that original spiritual
sound om. In this way when we hear sound, when we
