By Ajit Krishna Dasa
Srila Prabhupada, the founder of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), often pointed out a profound inconsistency in human thinking: “We want the kingdom of God without God.” This statement encapsulates a deep critique of materialistic worldviews, particularly those that seek the benefits of order, purpose, and meaning—attributes traditionally associated with the divine—while rejecting the very source of those qualities. From a Vaisnava perspective, which emphasizes the eternal relationship between the soul and Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, this contradiction reveals not only a philosophical error but also a spiritual blindness.
Consider the example of atheists who champion logic as the cornerstone of their worldview. They demand a universe that is coherent, predictable, and intelligible—qualities that logic promises to deliver. Yet, in their zeal to uphold logic as a self-sufficient tool, they deny its necessary implication: that such a tool, being absolute, abstract, and non-physical, points to a transcendent foundation. In the Vaisnava tradition, this foundation is Krishna, the all-attractive Lord who is the source of all order and intelligence. The Bhagavad-gita (10.8) declares, “I am the source of all spiritual and material worlds. Everything emanates from Me.” Logic, as an epistemic tool we trust to navigate reality, cannot float freely as a cosmic accident; it must rest on something—or Someone—eternal and unchanging. To be trustworthy logic must come from a trustworthy, personal source, and only a being Who is supremely powerful and perfectly moral can be fully trustworthy.
A Vaisnava apologist would argue that the atheist’s reliance on logic betrays their own position. To treat logic as trustworthy is to implicitly acknowledge a reality that transcends the shifting, material flux of atoms and energy. Logic’s universality and immutability—its ability to govern thought and reveal truth—mirror the qualities of Krishna Himself, Whom the Srimad-Bhagavatam (1.3.28) identifies as “the prime cause of all causes.” Atheists, in their denial of God, still presuppose a world where logic operates as if it were divinely ordained—absolute and dependable—yet they refuse to trace it back to its origin. This is precisely what Srila Prabhupada meant: they crave the kingdom of God—its harmony, its rationality, its moral and intellectual structure—but reject the King who sustains it.
In the Vaisnava view, this is not merely a logical misstep but a symptom of maya, the illusion that blinds conditioned souls to their dependence on Krishna. The atheist’s insistence on a godless logic is like a child claiming independence while living off a parent’s provision. Without Krishna, logic collapses into a subjective quagmire, a mere byproduct of neurons firing in a chaotic universe. Yet, the atheist clings to it as if it were sacred—an unwitting nod to the divine they deny. Srila Prabhupada’s insight cuts through this pretense, inviting us to see that true coherence, whether in logic or life, begins with surrender to the Supreme Lord, the fountainhead of all that is absolute, abstract, and trustworthy.
Ajit Krishna Dasa 
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