Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu, when He was only twenty-four years, He gave up His young wife, mother, everything. There are various, many, many examples. India is land of tapasya, but we are forgetting that. We are forgetting. Now we are making it the land of technology. It is surprising that India has gone so down, forgetting its tapasya—the land of tapasya, the land of dharma. Dharma-kṣetre kuru-kṣetre (BG 1.1). Dharma-kṣetre.
So it is not only in India; everywhere in this age, everything is degraded, degraded in this sense: prāyeṇa kalau asmin alpāyeṣu yuge janāḥ (SB 1.1.10). The duration of life is diminished. They are not very much active to understand what is self-realization. And if they are, some of them are very much active, oh, he is misled by so many misleading, so-called leaders. So the age is very corrupting. Therefore this Caitanya Mahāprabhu's process of chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa is the best method and the simplest method. Harer nāma harer nāma harer nāma iva kevalam. Kevalam (CC Adi 17.21). There is no other alternative.
In the Agni Purāṇa this verse appears, harer nāma harer nāma harer nama harer nāma iva kevalam. Three times: "Simply chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa, chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa," kevalam, "only." You cannot offer any other alternative. No. Only. Harer nāma harer nāma harer nāma iva kevalam. Kalau: "In this age," nāsty eva nāsty eva nāsty eva gatir anyathā, "there is no other alternative for self-realization except this." So we have to accept.
There is another version in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Parīkṣit Mahārāja was instructed by Śukadeva Gosvāmī. He described the faults of this age. There is . . . in the Twelfth Canto, Third Chapter, you will find. Everything is now being corroborated, what is described five thousand years ago.
So in that conclusive portion, Śukadeva Gosvāmī says, kalau doṣa-nidhe rājann hy asti eko mahān guṇaḥ: "My dear King, this age, Kali, is full of faulty things, but there is one good opportunity." What is that? Kīrtanād eva kṛṣṇasya mukta-saṅgaḥ paraṁ vrajet (SB 12.3.51) "Simply by chanting this Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra, one becomes liberated and he goes back to Godhead, back to home." So this is practical, this is authorized, and you can yourself test also how you become advanced simply by chanting.
So this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is nothing . . . it is not a new thing that we have introduced or manufactured. No. It is authorized on the Vedic principle, authorized by ācāryas like Caitanya Mahāprabhu and all other ācāryas. So you join us. You will be happy. Your human life will be sublime. And the method is very simple. There is no loss.
We are not charging anything that, "You give me fee, I shall give you some secret mantra, and within six months you shall become God." No. It is open for everyone. Even child, even woman, girls, boys, old—everyone can take it and chant it and see the result. That is our request.
So this Kṛṣṇa conscious movement is universal movement. I would request you to join. We have got branches here. We are chanting daily twice. Especially we are holding meetings on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. And you try to understand. We have got . . . not that we are sentimentalist. We have got books, philosophy, everything. So please join and take advantage of it. That is our request.