There is no doubt that each and every one of us are in search for the ever elusive thing called eternal happiness. As long as we are on the bodily platform we can never make a beginning in our search for eternal happiness.

The definition for eternal happiness is derived from the word ananda, one of the three main principle attributes of the Lord who is sat cit ananda. Which means the Lord is eternal, full of knowledge and blissful. Lord Krishna says in the Bhagavadgeetha that this material world is temporary and miserable. Lust, anger, avarice, pride, hate, covetousness are just some of the factors which are binding us to this material world.

If we want to be eternally happy and blissful we must first understand that we are spirit souls and not this body [matter] which we are always wrongly identifying ourselves with.  We comprise of the five gross elements earth, water, fire, air, ether, and the three subtle elements mind, intelligence and false ego.

False ego is the subtle covering of impurities which covers the pure soul because of which we accept varied life forms viz humans/birds/aquatics/beasts etc. totally numbering 84,00,000 species depending on our desires which has been coming down from time immemorial. The Lord is very merciful, he fulfills all our desires till such time our search for the eternal truth is attained; the highest form attainable being the human form. The Lord says you are all my eternal parts and parcels and you are struggling with the six senses which include the mind. It is only as humans that we are endowed with the highest intelligence. The purpose of all scriptures is to understand “Who am I? Who is God? What is my relationship with Him? Where do I belong?”

If one can get the perfect answers to these questions then he is progressing towards the ultimate goal in life. For each age there is the yuga dharma or the recommended practice to attain the perfection in human form. This pure knowledge is coming down in an unbroken chain of disciplic succession through Srila Prabhupada.

We are presently in the age called Kaliyuga which spans a total of 4,32,000 years out of which approximately 5,000 years have lapsed. The yuga dharma or recommended practice for Kaliyuga is chanting the holy names of the Lord and following the four regulative principles. The Lord has invested all His potencies in His holy name. If we chant the holy names of the Lord as recommended in each religion we will become eligible to enter the kingdom of God and achieve eternal happiness.