Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 1.5.30
—
Vṛndāvana, August 11, 1974
Therefore it is said, yat tat sākṣād bhagavatā uditam. If you want to approach the Supreme Personality of Godhead, then you must abide by the order of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. But they have no idea who is Supreme Personality of Godhead, what is His order, what is our relationship with Him. These things are unknown. It is simply known to the, I mean to say, devotees. Why it is monopolized by the devotees? That is also answered in the Bhagavad-gītā: bhaktyā mām abhijānāti yāvān yaś cāsmi tattvataḥ [Bg. 18.55]. If you want to know what is God, what is Kṛṣṇa, then you have to go through this bhakti-mārga, or devotional... There is no other way. Kṛṣṇa never says that He can be known through speculation or cultivation of so-called speculative knowledge. No. Then He would have said "Through jnāna one can understand Me." No. Neither karma one can understand. Neither yoga. This is explained in many, various places of the śāstra. Only bhakti. Only bhakti. And it is the duty of the spiritual master, or mahātmā, to spread bhakti cult. That is the most confidential... That is the most merciful humanitarian activity.
Because people are suffering for want of this knowledge. Therefore our Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is the only movement—I can declare very proudly—which can actually do some benefit to the human society. It is the only movement. All other, bogus movements, I declare. Let them come and study the śāstras and decide for themselves. They're all cheating. Only this bhagavad-bhakti. Because you cannot understand Bhagavān without undergoing the process of devotional service. Bhaktyā mām abhijānāti yāvān yaś cāsmi tattvataḥ [Bg. 18.55]. If you want to know in truth, tattvataḥ... Kṛṣṇa wants that one should understand Him tattvataḥ. Not that superficially to take Kṛṣṇa, that "He was very fond of the gopīs, and let us hear the līlā of Kṛṣṇa." Why Kṛṣṇa's gopīs' līlā? Why not Kṛṣṇa's līlā killing the demons? That, the people are not interested, to hear about Kṛṣṇa's killing the demons. Because the gopīs' līlā, it appears to be the transaction between young woman and man, it very quickly appeals. But Kṛṣṇa's other business is there. Paritrāṇāya sādhūnāṁ vināśāya ca duṣkṛtām [Bg. 4.8]. That is also Kṛṣṇa's līlā. That is Kṛṣṇa's līlā. Just like Lord Rāmacandra is killing the Rāvaṇa. That is also Kṛṣṇa's līlā. Lord Rāmacandra's līlā and Kṛṣṇa's līlā, there is...
So we should take any līlā of Kṛṣṇa as Supreme. Not that simply the most confidential... The vṛndāvana-līlā, Kṛṣṇa's līlā with the gopīs, is the most confidential līlā. We should not entertain this confidential līlā unless we are liberated. It is very difficult subject. And because they cannot understand what is Kṛṣṇa's līlā, they imitate, they fall down. There are so many things. We do not wish to discuss. But we should be... If we are actually serious about advancing in kṛṣṇa-līlā, then we must know first of all what is Kṛṣṇa, what He desires, and how we shall act. Then we can enter into the confidential part of Kṛṣṇa's līlā. Otherwise we shall misunderstand and fall down.