How one goes to the moon, how he comes back, etc., is a great story, and this is all described in the Vedic literature. It is not a very new process. But the aim of our Krishna consciousness society is different. We are not going to waste our valuable time. Krishna says, "Don't waste your time attempting to go to this planet or to that planet. What will you gain? Your material miseries will follow you wherever you go."

To the moon and back again

Varieties of Planetary Systems

In these days, when men are trying to go to the moon, people should not think that Krishna consciousness is concerned with something old-fashioned. When the world is progressing to reach the moon, we are chanting Hare Krishna. But people should not misunderstand and assume that we are lagging behind modern scientific advancement. We have already passed all scientific advancement. In Bhagavad-gita it is said that man's attempt to reach higher planets is not new. Newspaper headlines read, "Man's First Steps on the Moon," but the reporters do not know that millions and millions of men went there and came back. This is not the first time. This is an ancient practice. In Bhagavad-gita (8.16) it is clearly stated, abrahma-bhuvanal lokah punar avartino 'rjuna: "My dear Arjuna, even if you go to the highest planetary system, which is called Brahmaloka, you will have to come back." Therefore, interplanetary travel is not new. It is known to the Krishna conscious devotees.

Since we are Krishna conscious, we take what Krishna says to be the Absolute Truth. According to Vedic literature, there are many planetary systems. The planetary system in which we are living is called Bhurloka. Above this planetary system is Bhuvarloka. Above that is Svarloka (the moon belongs to the Svarloka planetary system). Above Svarloka is Maharloka; above that is Janaloka; and above that is Satyaloka. Similarly, there are lower planetary systems. Thus there are fourteen statuses of planetary systems within this universe, and the sun is the chief planet. The sun is described in the Brahma-samhita (5.52):

yach-chakshur esha savita sakala-grahanam
raja samasta-sura-murtir ashesha-tejah
yasyajñaya bhramati sambhrita-kala-chakro
govindam adi-purusham tam aham bhajami

"I worship Govinda [Krishna], the primeval Lord, by whose order the sun assumes immense power and heat and traverses its orbit. The sun, which is the chief among all planetary systems, is the eye of the Supreme Lord."

Actually, without the sun we cannot see. We may be very proud of our eyes, but we cannot even see our next-door neighbor. People challenge, "Can you show me God?" But what can they see? What is the value of their eyes? God is not cheap. We cannot see anything, not to speak of God, without sunshine. Without sunlight we are blind. At night, we cannot see anything, and therefore we use electricity because the sun is not present.

There is not only one sun in the cosmic manifestation; there are millions and trillions of suns. That is also stated in the Brahma-samhita (5.40):

yasya prabha prabhavato jagad-anda-koti-
kotishv ashesha-vasudhadi-vibhuti-bhinnam
tad brahma nishkalam anantam ashesha-bhutam
govindam adi-purusham tam aham bhajami

The spiritual bodily effulgence of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krishna, is called the brahmajyoti, and in that brahmajyoti there are countless planets. Just as within the sunshine there are innumerable planets, in the shining effulgence of the body of Krishna there are innumerable planets and universes. We have knowledge of many universes, and in each universe there is a sun. Thus there are millions and billions of universes and millions and billions of suns and moons and planets. But Krishna says that if one tries to go to one of these planets, he will simply waste his time.

Now someone has gone to the moon, but what will human society gain from it? If, after spending so much money, so much energy and ten years of effort, one goes to the moon and simply touches it, what is the benefit of that? Can one remain there and call his friends to come? And even if one goes there and remains, what will be the benefit? As long as we are in this material world, either on this planet or other planets, the same miseries—birth, death, old age and disease—will follow us. We cannot rid ourselves of them.

If we go to live on the moon—assuming it is possible—even with an oxygen mask, how long could we stay? Furthermore, even if we had the opportunity to stay there, what would we gain? We might gain a little longer life perhaps, but we could not live there forever. That is impossible. And what would we gain by a longer life? Taravah kim na jivanti: [Srimad-Bhagavatam 2.3.18] Are not the trees living for many, many years? Near San Francisco I have seen a forest where there is a tree seven thousand years old. But what is the benefit? If one is proud of standing in one place for seven thousand years, that is not a very great credit.

How one goes to the moon, how he comes back, etc., is a great story, and this is all described in the Vedic literature. It is not a very new process. But the aim of our Krishna consciousness society is different. We are not going to waste our valuable time. Krishna says, "Don't waste your time attempting to go to this planet or to that planet. What will you gain? Your material miseries will follow you wherever you go." Therefore, in the Chaitanya-charitamrita (Adi 3.97) it is very nicely said by the author:

keha pape, keha punye kare vishaya-bhoga
bhakti-gandha nahi, yate yaya bhava-roga

"In this material world someone is enjoying and someone is not enjoying, but actually everyone is suffering, although some people think that they are enjoying, whereas others realize that they are suffering."

Actually everyone is suffering. Who in this material world does not suffer disease? Who does not suffer from old age? Who does not die? No one wants to grow old or suffer from disease, but everyone must do so. Where then is the enjoyment? This enjoyment is all nonsense because within this material world there is no enjoyment. It is simply our imagination. One should not think, "This is enjoyment, and this is suffering." Everything is suffering! Therefore, it is stated in the Chaitanya-charitamrita, "The principles of eating, sleeping, mating and defending will always exist, but they will exist in different standards." For example, the Americans have taken birth in America as a result of pious activities performed in previous lifetimes. In India the people are poverty-stricken and are suffering, but although the Americans are eating very nicely buttered bread and the Indians are eating without butter, they are both eating nevertheless. The fact that India is poverty-stricken has not caused the whole population to die for want of food. The four principal bodily demands—eating, sleeping, mating and defending—can be satisfied under any circumstances, whether one is born in an impious condition or in a pious condition. The problem, however, is how to become free from the four principles of birth, death, old age and disease.

This is the real problem. It is not "What shall I eat?" The birds and beasts have no such problem. In the morning they are immediately chirping, "Jee, jee, jee, jee." They know that they will have their food. No one is dying, and there is no such thing as overpopulation because everyone is provided for by God's arrangement. There are qualitative differences, but obtaining a superior quality of material enjoyment is not the end of life. The real problem is how to get free of birth, death, old age and disease. This cannot be solved by simply wasting time traveling within this universe. Even if one goes to the highest planet, this problem cannot be solved, for there is death everywhere.

The duration of life on the moon, according to Vedic information, is ten thousand years, and one day there is equal to six months here. Thus ten thousand multiplied by one hundred eighty years is the duration of life on the moon. However, it is impossible for earthmen to go to the moon and live there for very long. Otherwise the whole Vedic literature would be false. We can attempt to go there, but it is not possible to live there. This knowledge is in the Vedas. Therefore, we are not very eager to go to this planet or that planet. We are eager to go directly to the planet where Krishna lives. Krishna states in Bhagavad-gita (9.25):

yanti deva-vrata devan
pitrin yanti pitri-vratah
bhutani yanti bhutejya
yanti mad-yajino 'pi mam

"One can go to the moon, or one can even go to the sun or to millions and trillions of other planets, or if one is too materially attached he may remain here—but those who are My devotees will come to Me."

This is our aim. Initiation into Krishna consciousness insures that the student ultimately can go to the supreme planet, Krishnaloka. We are not sitting idly; we are also attempting to go to other planets, but we are not merely wasting time.

A sane and intelligent man does not wish to enter any of the material planets because the four conditions of material miseries exist on all of them. From Bhagavad-gita we can understand that even if we enter Brahmaloka, the highest planetary system of this universe, the four principles of misery will be present. We learn from Bhagavad-gita that the duration of one day on Brahmaloka is millions of years of our calculation. That is a fact. Even the highest planetary system, Brahmaloka, may be reached, but scientists say that it will take forty thousand years at sputnik speed. Who is prepared to travel in space for forty thousand years? From the Vedic literature we can understand that we can enter any of the planets, provided we prepare for that purpose. If one prepares himself to enter into the higher planetary systems, which are said to be inhabited by demigods, he can go there. Similarly, one can go to a lower planetary system, or if one desires he can remain on this planet. Finally, if one desires, he can enter the planet of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. It is all a matter of preparation. However, all planetary systems within our material universe are temporary. The duration of life on certain material planets may be very long, but all living entities in the material universe are eventually subject to annihilation and have to again develop other bodies. There are different types of bodies. A human body exists one hundred years, whereas an insect body may exist for twelve hours. Thus the duration of these different bodies is relative. If one enters the planet called Vaikunthaloka, the spiritual planet. however, he then achieves eternal life, full of bliss and knowledge. A human being can attain that perfection if he tries. That is stated in Bhagavad-gita when the Lord says, "Anyone who knows in truth about the Supreme Personality of Godhead can attain to My nature."

Many people claim, "God is great," but this is a hackneyed phrase. One must know how He is great, and that can be known from authorized scripture. In the Bhagavad-gita God describes Himself. He says, "My appearance of taking birth just like an ordinary human being is actually transcendental." God is so kind that He comes before us as an ordinary human being, but His body is not exactly like a human body. Those rascals who do not know about Him think that Krishna is like one of us. That is also stated in Bhagavad-gita (9.11):

avajananti mam mudha
manushim tanum ashritam
param bhavam ajananto
mama bhuta-maheshvaram

"Fools deride Me when I descend in the human form. They do not know My transcendental nature and My supreme dominion over all that be."

We have a chance to know about Krishna provided we read the right literature under the right direction, and if we simply know what the nature of God is, then by understanding this one fact alone we become liberated. It is not possible in our human condition to understand the Absolute Supreme Personality of Godhead completely, but with the help of Bhagavad-gita, the statements given by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and of the spiritual master, we can know Him to the best of our capacity. If we can know Him in reality, then immediately after leaving this body we can enter into the kingdom of God. Krishna says, tyaktva deham punar janma naiti mam eti so 'rjuna: "After leaving this body, one who is in knowledge does not come again to this material world, for he enters into the spiritual world and comes to Me." (Bg. 4.9)

The purpose of our Krishna consciousness movement is to propagate this advanced scientific idea to people in general, and the process is very simple. Simply by chanting the holy names of God—Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare—one cleanses the dirt from his heart and gains understanding that he is part and parcel of the Supreme Lord and that it is his duty to serve Him. This process is very pleasant: we chant the Hare Krishna mantra, we dance rhythmically, and we eat nice prasada. While enjoying this life, we are preparing to enter into the kingdom of God in our next life. This is not a fabrication—it is all factual. Although to a layman this appears to be a fabrication, Krishna reveals Himself from within to one who is serious about God realization. Both Krishna and the spiritual master help the sincere soul. The spiritual master is the external manifestation of God, who is situated in everyone's heart as Supersoul. For one who is very serious about understanding the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Supersoul immediately renders assistance by directing him to a bona fide spiritual master. In this way the spiritual candidate is helped from within and without.