How can we prove that life has the purpose of loving Krishna?

Answer Podcast

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
Thank you.
So, how can we prove that life has a purpose and that the soul is moving towards Krishna, that is the ultimate purpose? When we come to the question of proof, we have to understand what proof means. We consider proof in terms of mathematical proof. There is no mathematical proof that even you exist.
There is mathematical proof that your heart exists, your intestine exists, your brain exists. But you as a conscious center of awareness, there is no mathematical proof that you exist. So, when we talk about proof, say, a boy and a girl want to have a relationship and the girl demands proof, you love me.
What proof can you have? You cannot have the same kind of proof, say, somebody says the time is 8 o’clock. No, you are bluffing. No, I can show you the watch.
No, you have sent the watch. This is another watch. What the time is, it is an objective entity which there are ways in which you can prove it.
So, the same way of to prove what is the right time and to prove whether someone loves us, there are two different categories of existence and that’s why they require different categories of proof. So, when it comes to subtle things such as the purpose of life, there are various ways in which we can infer towards that. The inference is firstly that we all are uniquely purposeful.
Even if it is a tiny grass, it grows towards the sun. Plants in the thick forest, they go towards the place where they can get some more sunlight or more nutrition. So, basically, animals, non-human species, their purpose is to fulfill their bodily needs.
Food, sleep, sex and strength, self-protection. So, they are uniquely purposeful for that. Now, we human beings are also purposeful.
We also seek food, sleep, sex, power, but beyond that we seek something more in our lives. As I gave an example, when Newton saw the fruit falling, if he had been simply seeking food, he would have eaten the fruit and gone on his way. But, he was looking for something more.
He was looking for? What made this fruit fall? He was looking for meaning. He was trying to make sense of things. So, we see all advancement of knowledge.
It is basically an attempt of human beings to look for purpose. So, Einstein said that all arts, religions and sciences are fruits of the same tree. Same tree.
When we try to explain the natural world and the natural phenomena, natural causes, that leads to sciences. When we try to make sense of the world by recreating it through various artistic media, that leads to arts. And when we try to seek answers to questions about meaning and purpose, questions beyond the physical, that’s where religion comes in.
So, Pratekshaagam Dharmam. Krishna says in the Bhagavad Gita. Basically, when it comes to the meaning and purpose of life, how do I know that a particular thing has this purpose? Two things.
If I start using my computer as a device for playing music, instead of pressing the keys and trying to play British music, the sound will not come. It will not work that way. So, basically, if you want to know whether something is meant for a particular thing, there are two ways to know.
First is, we try to look at the manual which describes what it is. And we try to act according to manual. So, whenever anything is there, whether any explanation, what is this computer meant for? It is meant for writing, it is meant for communicating.
Okay. Does the explanation make sense? And does the explanation work? So, what is the purpose of our life? We all will have our specific subjective purposes. I want to be an engineer, I want to go to America, I want to get a high-paying job, whatever it is.
These are all subjective short-term or middle-term purposes that we have. But does life itself have an objective purpose? How do we know that? We hear the scriptural wisdom and see whether it makes sense. And after that, whether it works.
It works means whether it makes our life more harmonious, more fulfilling, more uplifting. So, that way, when we apply it to the student, reasonable faith means that it is sensible and it is justified. It makes sense and it helps us to it helps us find meaning.
So, A, I am in a particular office and I am going to do the work of software engineering. If I start doing somebody else’s work, I will be pushed around. I don’t know this.
I sit and do my work. I find that things are harmonious. So, when we play the part of the heart, the whole fills the hole in the heart.
We are parts of Krishna. When we play the part of the part, when we serve Krishna, what happens? The hole, W-H-O-N-E hole fills the hole, H-O-N-E hole in the heart. That means we feel the profound sense of meaning, of fulfillment, of joy.
And that sense of fulfillment, that is the confirmatory test for us to understand that life’s purpose is to learn to love and serve Krishna.