Nothing is as dead as a stone, so it is said that as an object, it has no heart. In the Bhagavad-gita it is said that the heart is the seat of the immortal soul, and that the soul is spiritual with the qualities of eternality, blissful nature with full knowledge of his relationship with the Supreme Soul, Lord Sri Krishna.
As eternal soul, the relationship between the Supreme Soul and the innumerable living entities is described as eko ekanam ceitanas ceitananam yo vidadati kama, that there is one Supreme congnizant Soul, Sri Krsna, and the innumerable living beings in the creation are the subordinate cognizant energies of that Supreme Lord. Such souls are sometimes described as marginal energies of the Lord, and although of the same qualitative nature as that of the Supreme Lord, their subordinate nature is sometimes overwhelmed by the Lord's illusory energy which bewilders the living being and requires the living being to accept birth in a portion of the total cosmic creation in a portion known as the mahat-tattva, or material universal manifestation meant for the bewilderment of the living being.
The talk given by Yudhisthira is meant for our benefit and to understand our position in this material world of maya. He says that the stone has no heart, life, consciousness, and other symptoms of life. Similarly, we can conclude that if our heart is also as hard as a stone, than we are similar to the stone, bereft of consciousness, and devoid of life, even while breathing.
By the teachings of the Vedas like Mahabharata which is considered the fifth Veda, we can learn that the goal of life is to change our condition from stone-hearted to our original position in the spiritual sky where we live free from illusion. In order to return to that original position, going back home, back to Godhead, we must take advice from the persons in the line of Yudhisthira who see with Absolute and nonduplictous vision.
The persons above hinted at are the persons presently who are coming to us in the present day in the Sri Krishna Sankirtana movement known as the Hare Krishna movement. Its most beloved and respected spokesperson and representative of this movement, as well as its principle proponent, is His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada, who is the founder and spiritual master of the worldwide International Society for Krishna Consciousness. By associating with his followers and reading his books on these topics in elaborate detail and illuminating spiritual knowledge, one can easily turn the heart from the hard, stone-like condition to its original condition of eternal knowledge and transcendental happiness even in this world.
The process of Krishna consciousness is to revive our spiritual life by the
program of Sri Krishna Sankirtana. By hearing about the Lord by submissive
aural reception alone, the words spoken by the representative of the Lord
are received at the core of the heart and the living entity makes joyful and
rejuvenating spiritual progress as real, eternal life returns to his heart.
By hearing from the bona fide source and listening submissively, the glories
of the Lord are performed this way for the benefit of all. This
congregational process of glorification of the Lord and His messages are
called Sri Krishna Sankirtana and is recommended as the most effective, easy
and sublime process of self-realization in this age. The devotees of the
Lord therefore chant the Hare Krishna maha-mantra:
Thanks much for your contribution to this project, dear friend Vaisnava dasa
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