It doesn't require A-B-C-D education

Education means Kṛṣṇa consciousness. That is education. If simply we understand that "Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Person. He is great, and we are all subordinate. So our duty is to serve Kṛṣṇa," these two lines, if we understand, then our life is perfect. If we simply learn how to worship Kṛṣṇa, how to please Him, how to dress Him nicely, how to give Him nice foodstuff, how to decorate Him with ornaments and flowers, how to offer our respectful obeisances unto Him, how to chant His name, in this way, if we simply think, without any so-called education we become the perfect person within the universe. This is Kṛṣṇa consciousness. It doesn't require A-B-C-D education. It requires simply change of consciousness. So if these children are being taught from the very beginning of their life... We had the opportunity of being trained up by our parents like this. So some way or other, they have come to... [break] Many saintly persons used to visit my father's house. My father was Vaiṣṇava. He was Vaiṣṇava, and he wanted me to become a Vaiṣṇava. Whenever some saintly person would come, he would ask him, "Please bless my son that he can become a servant of Rādhārāṇī." That was his prayer. He never prayed for anything. And he gave me education how to play mṛdaṅga. My mother was against. There was two teachers-one for teaching me A-B-C-D, and one for teaching me mṛdaṅga. So the one teacher was waiting and the other teacher was teaching me how to play on mṛdaṅga. So my mother would be angry that "What is this nonsense? You are teaching mṛdaṅga? What he will do with this mṛdaṅga?" (chuckles) But perhaps my father wanted that I should be a great mṛdaṅga player in the future. (laughter) Therefore I am very much indebted to my father, and I have dedicated my book, Kṛṣṇa book, to him. He wanted this. He wanted me to be preacher of Bhāgavata, Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, and player of mṛdaṅga and to become servant of Rādhārāṇī. So every parent should think like that; otherwise one should not become father and mother. That is the injunction in the śāstra. That is stated in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Fifth Canto, pitā na sa syāj jananī na sa syād gurur na sa syāt sva-jano na sa syāt. In this way, the conclusion is, na mocayed yaḥ samupeta-mṛtyum. If one is unable to rescue his disciple from the imminent danger of death, he should not become a guru. One should not become father or mother if he cannot do so. In this way, no friend, no relatives, no father, no..., if one cannot teach his other party how to save from the clutches of death.

So that education is wanting throughout the whole world. And simple thing is that one can avoid this entanglement of birth, death, old age and disease simply by becoming Kṛṣṇa conscious.

Arrival Lecture -- Dallas, March 3, 1975