The true peace formula
Everyone wants happiness, but how can there be happiness without peace? Kṛṣṇa reveals the true peace formula: accept Him as the supreme enjoyer, proprietor, and dearmost friend of all living beings.
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We will not find many people who intentionally want to suffer. In a normal state of mind, everyone wishes to be happy. Kṛṣṇa, however, questions, “How can there be any happiness without peace?” Peace is not a luxury; it is the very foundation for the happiness people seek.
How to find peace? In materialistic life, it is impossible, because on the material level, one’s life is always based on anxiety about obtaining what one wants and preserving what one has. Even if one somehow comes to a position of full sovereignty, one will still fear death.
However, perfect peace is possible on the spiritual platform when we surrender our activities to Kṛṣṇa. We can become peaceful right here, in this very life, and not only on an individual level, but collectively, as a community or society.
This universal peace formula is revealed by Kṛṣṇa in the last verse of the fifth chapter of the Gītā:
bhoktāraṁ yajña-tapasāṁ, sarva-loka-maheśvaram
suhṛdaṁ sarva-bhūtānāṁ, jñātvā māṁ śāntim ṛcchatiA person in full consciousness of Me, knowing Me to be the ultimate beneficiary of all sacrifices and austerities, the Supreme Lord of all planets and demigods, and the benefactor and well-wisher of all living entities, attains peace from the pangs of material miseries.
Prabhupāda comments:
The conditioned souls within the clutches of the illusory energy are all anxious to attain peace in the material world. But they do not know the formula for peace, which is explained in this part of the Bhagavad-gītā. The greatest peace formula is simply this: Lord Kṛṣṇa is the beneficiary in all human activities. Men should offer everything to the transcendental service of the Lord because He is the proprietor of all planets and the demigods thereon. No one is greater than He. He is greater than the greatest of the demigods, Lord Śiva and Lord Brahmā. In the Vedas (Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad 6.7) the Supreme Lord is described as tam īśvarāṇāṁ paramaṁ maheśvaraṁ. Under the spell of illusion, living entities are trying to be lords of all they survey, but actually they are dominated by the material energy of the Lord. The Lord is the master of material nature, and the conditioned souls are under the stringent rules of material nature. Unless one understands these bare facts, it is not possible to achieve peace in the world either individually or collectively. This is the sense of Kṛṣṇa consciousness: Lord Kṛṣṇa is the supreme predominator, and all living entities, including the great demigods, are His subordinates. One can attain perfect peace only in complete Kṛṣṇa consciousness.
In the material world, people want peace, but they have no idea of how to achieve that. On the contrary, we see conflict at all levels. Even in the celestial planets, there is enmity, war, and the misery caused by them. Kṛṣṇa reveals three realizations that solve the problem.
a) bhoktāraṁ yajña-tapasām: Kṛṣṇa is the real beneficiary and enjoyer of all sacrifices and austerities. He is the root of all existence. We should not perform sacrifices or austerities for our own prestige or gain. Instead, all activities should be performed for the satisfaction of Kṛṣṇa. This eliminates artificial competition based on ego.
Since Kṛṣṇa is the ultimate beneficiary, everyone should work together for Him, instead of against each other. More than that, by working in this spirit, all our sacrifices will culminate in transcendental knowledge, as Kṛṣṇa declared in chapter four.
b) sarva-loka-maheśvaram: Kṛṣṇa is the supreme proprietor. He is the master of all planets and their controllers, greater than anyone. This realization defeats the illusory sense of ownership that is the root cause of all conflicts. A materialist thinks he is the lord of everything he sees, but in reality he is just a slave of his senses. When the proper conclusion is restored, we can finally see everything properly, just like when the sun appears to dispel the darkness of night. Conversely, when we refuse the service of Kṛṣṇa, we end up being enslaved by material nature.
c) suhṛdaṁ sarva-bhūtānām: Kṛṣṇa is the closest friend of all living entities, the well-wisher of all. Therefore, surrendering to Him is not our loss, but our welfare. This also explains how a pure devotee can be friendly to all living entities. Kṛṣṇa is the supreme friend, and a pure devotee is His representative.
These three realizations work together. If Kṛṣṇa were simply the proprietor, we would fear, or maybe envy, Him. If He were only the enjoyer, one could feel exploited. But because He is the supreme friend, surrendering to Him becomes natural.
We can see that other religious scriptures emphasize God as the ruler, master, or recipient of worship, but they neglect His aspect as the supreme friend. This leads to unbalanced philosophies that modern people tend to resist. People are told that they must obey God, but they are not given a sufficiently deep understanding of why surrender is their highest welfare. God is presented as an authority demanding obedience, not as the dearmost friend inviting the soul back into an eternal loving relationship.
When this incomplete presentation collides with modern education and individual freedom, people tend to reject it, but without encountering the complete philosophy of Kṛṣṇa consciousness, they often fall into crude materialism or atheism. Only the Bhagavad-gītā presents a deep and balanced view of the Absolute Truth, and has the potential of being a universal scripture. This is further elaborated in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, which brings details about Kṛṣṇa’s qualities and activities, and the process of developing a personal relationship with Him.
Once Kṛṣṇa is accepted as the dearmost friend, the fact that He is the supreme proprietor and enjoyer becomes a distant secondary detail. That’s how Kṛṣṇa’s cowherd associates in Goloka Vṛndāvana see it. They understand that Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Controller, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, but this knowledge is eclipsed by their love for Kṛṣṇa as a friend, son, or lover. At this stage, a devotee does not think that Kṛṣṇa owns everything; he simply thinks that “Kṛṣṇa is mine, and I am His.” Kṛṣṇa’s supremacy remains eternally true, but it is eclipsed by their pure love. They love Kṛṣṇa because of who He is, not because He is a powerful person or celebrity.
Kṛṣṇa then concludes the verse with jñātvā māṁ śāntim ṛcchati. One who fully understands these three facts becomes situated in full Kṛṣṇa consciousness and attains peace from the pangs of material miseries. This is a summary of the process of Kṛṣṇa consciousness that Kṛṣṇa deepens in chapters seven to twelve of the Gītā.
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