Krishna Consciousness, the Matchless Gift – English

Our ?modern? educational system, is most defective because unless one knows what happens after death, one dies like an animal. An animal does not know that he is subject to death or that he is going to have another body. A living entity may have abundant supply of food for eating, or many nice buildings for sleeping, or good arrangements for sex life, or a good defense to protect him, but this does not mean that he is a human being. Since animals are also interested in these functions, human life is no different if he/she does not go beyond them. The distinction occurs when the human being becomes inquisitive and asks ‘Why have I been put into this miserable condition? Is there any remedy for it? Is there perpetual eternal life? I do not want to suffer but live happily and peacefully. Is there a chance to experience eternal happiness? What is the method or science by which this can be achieved?’ The answers to these questions are to be found in this book.
Krishna Consciousness, the Matchless Gift is a collection of transcribed lectures by Srila Prabhupada on the philosophy and practice of bhakti-yoga—the process of reestablishing our connection with the Supreme Person.

While only 118 pages long, Matchless Gift contains an abundance of material on many facets of the science of Krishna consciousness, along with vivid examples, stories, and analogies not found elsewhere in Srila Prabhupada’s writings. Readers will quickly gain an appreciation for Srila Prabhupada’s agility of mind and ability to make the highest teachings of the Vedas understandable to a contemporary audience. It’s a light book, packed with heavy wisdom, and best appreciated in short installments.

The book’s title alludes to the “Matchless Gifts” sign above the entrance to the storefront at 26 2nd Avenue in New York City, which became the site of the first center for the International Society for Krishna Consciousness in the western world.