There is one Vedic truth, an eternal truth. If one accepts or does not accept, if God exists or does not exist, that is beyond the point. However, there is one truth that everyone, whether religious or irreligious, is bound to accept: in this world death is certain. No one can deny this. In this world death is surely a reality. And another point is that in this world it is also a reality that one who is born must certainly have to die. And he certainly will become old, if he lasts. It is God who maintains the world, the root management is in His hands.
Wherever you reside, I will go there and I will remind you. Taking the name of the Lord does not take any energy, there is no cost—it does not require anything. I have not come to take your money. Understand this. I have come to give you my wealth, which is this knowledge. This is what I say everywhere I go. I am not here for money. I am here to give wealth. If you will receive just a fraction of this wealth, your life will become fully auspicious. This is why I came. So, please, have faith in me, that I have not come to take anything. To make your lives happy, to give this message of India, I have come for this reason.
Do not go towards darkness; this is ignorance. It is all illusion. Nowadays, all of these instructions are being brought to decline. We see that now our principals, professors, and teachers are smoking cigarettes and so many other things. What can they teach? Their character is not good. What can they give? Our disciplic succession is where true saints have performed bhajana: we should accept their teachings. Unless this diplomacy is controlled by the power of dharma, the world will be ruined.
Srila Gurudeva - March 11, 1999 Fiji