The innermost hankering of every living soul is for beauty, love, affection, and harmony; not for power, knowledge, or anything else. This is the diagnosis of the whole creation in time and space: their common cause is one. But it is rare for a soul to reach such a clear stage of hankering for reality as to understand this point. Few souls are to be found in this world who are really conscious of their innermost necessity, who realise, «We want Krishna! We want Vrndavan!
bhidyate hrdaya-granthis chhidyante sarva-samsayah
ksiyante chasya karmani mayi drste ’khilatmani
«Our inner aspiration for rasa, ecstasy, is buried within our hearts, which are tied down and sealed. But hearing and chanting the glories of Krishna breaks the seal on the heart and allows it to awaken and open to receive Krishna, the reservoir of pleasure, ecstasy Himself.»
Here, Srimad Bhagavatam is saying: «There is a knot within our hearts, but that knot will be torn asunder by Krishna consciousness. At that time, the flow of our innate tendency for divine love (svarup-sakti) will inundate the whole heart. When the knot of the heart is torn apart, then, as the sleeping soul awakens, the Goloka conception within will emerge and inundate his entire being.»
But this is apparently a difficult problem. How is it possible that all our doubts may be cleared? Is it possible for the finite to know everything? This statement seems rather inconsistent. It seems absurd. The Upanisads, however, say: «Who knows Him knows everything; who gets Him gets everything.» How will the finite know that he has everything, that he has known everything? It appears absurd, but it is confirmed in the scriptures. And if this problem is solved, then all problems are solved automatically. The finite will realise wholesale satisfaction; all his inquisitive tendencies will be satisfied. This is confirmed not only in the Upanisads, but also in the Srimad Bhagavatam.
When I first came to the Gaudiya Math, I mixed very carefully with the devotees. I thought, «They say that what they teach is the only truth, and that all else is false — this is a bitter pill to swallow. They say, ‘Everyone is suffering from ignorance. And what we say is the right thing.’» I thought, «What is this! A sane man cannot easily swallow such a pill.» I also could not digest it so easily at first. But what they were saying was confirmed by Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, Srimad Bhagavatam, Bhagavad-gita, and the Upanisads. All these authorities say, «Yes, it is so. If you know Him, everything is known. If you get Him, everything is gotten.»
Srimad Bhagavatam (4.31.14), in a verse similar to the above line from the Upanisads, also says that all doubts are cleared by Krishna consciousness, and as a result, we come into real knowledge. There it is written:
yatha taror mula-nisechanena
trpyanti tat-skandha-bhujopasakhah
pranopaharach cha yathendriyanam
tathaiva sarvarhanam achyutejya
«By watering the root of a tree, all the leaves and branches are automatically nourished. Similarly, by supplying food to the stomach, all the limbs of the body are nourished. In the same way, if we satisfy the central conception of the Supreme Absolute, all our obligations are automatically fulfilled.»
If we put food into the stomach, the whole body is fed. If we pour water on the root of the tree, the whole tree is fed. In the same way, if we do our duty towards the Centre, then everything is done. This is the greatness, the mysterious position of the Absolute Centre: He has control over the complete whole. This is the peculiar position of the centre in the system of the organic whole.
If a particular position of the brain is captured, then the whole body is controlled: one needle in that particular section of the brain, and all the functions of the body will be paralysed. The peculiar position of the Absolute Centre is something like that. So, the impossible becomes possible.
Suppose I am a poor girl who has nothing. Ordinarily, it would not be possible to acquire anything. But if I marry a rich man who is the owner of a big property, I can have command over many things by my relationship with him. Although we may be poor, our relationship with a powerful master makes us the master of many things. In the same way, the Absolute Centre controls everything, and our affectionate relationship with Him may endow us with the command of many things. This is how it is possible for the finite soul to have possession of everything — through the subtle link of affection.
Through Krishna, everything is possible. And the nearer we come to Him, the more we shall catch. His influence inspires His devotees, and all His qualities fill their hearts (sarva maha-guna-gana vaisnava-sarire, Krishna-bhakte Krsnera guna sakali sanchare — Chaitanya-charitamrta: Madhya-lila, 22.75). In that way, although a devotee is not himself a master, through the link of love he can be master of anything. This is the line of thought explained by Srimad Bhagavatam and the Upanisads.
Without having a real connection with the Absolute Centre, your attempts to know everything will be useless. If you try to know even a particle of sand, lifetimes will come and go, millions of lives will pass, and you will continue to analyse the sand, finding no end to understanding even one particle.