Praying to Kṛṣṇa is not evil

(From the book  "Perfect questions  Perfect Answers" )

continued from previous section.....

Bob: Are there some people who do not find Kṛṣṇa attractive?

Śrīla Prabhupāda: No. All people will find Him attractive. Who is not attracted? just give an example: "This man or this living entity is not attracted to Kṛṣṇa."Just find such a person.

Bob: Somebody who wishes to do things in life that he may feel are wrong but who wishes to gain power or prestige or money...

Śrīla Prabhupāda: Yes.

Bob:... may find God unattractive. He may not find God attractive, because God gives him guilt.

Śrīla Prabhupāda: No, not God. His attraction is to become powerful. A man wants to become powerful or rich—is it not? But nobody is richer than Kṛṣṇa. Therefore Kṛṣṇa is attractive to him.

Bob: If a person who wants to become rich prays to Kṛṣṇa, will he become rich?

Śrīla Prabhupāda: Oh, yes!

Bob: He can become rich through this means?

Śrīla Prabhupāda: Oh, yes. Because Kṛṣṇa is all-powerful, if you pray to Kṛṣṇa to become rich, Kṛṣṇa will make you rich.

Bob: If somebody lives an evil life but prays to become rich, he may still become rich?

Śrīla Prabhupāda: Yes. Praying to Kṛṣṇa is not evil.

Bob: Oh, yes.

Śrīla Prabhupāda: [chuckling] Somehow or other he prays to Kṛṣṇa, so you cannot say that he is evil.

Bob: Yes.

Śrīla Prabhupāda: Kṛṣṇa says in Bhagavad-gītā, api cet sudurācāro bhajate mām ananya-bhāk [Bg. 9.30]. Have you read it?

Bob: Yes. The Sanskrit I don't know, but the English I do.

Śrīla Prabhupāda: Hm-m.

Bob: "Even if the most evil man prays to Me..."

Śrīla Prabhupāda: Yes.

Bob: "... He will be elevated."

Śrīla Prabhupāda: Yes. As soon as he begins to pray to Kṛṣṇa, that is not evil. Therefore He is all-attractive. It is said in the Vedas that the Absolute Truth, or the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is the reservoir of all pleasure—raso vai saḥ. (Taittirīya Upaniṣad 2.7.1) Everyone is hankering after someone because he realizes some mellow in it.

Bob: Excuse me?

Śrīla Prabhupāda: Some mellow. Suppose a man is drinking. Why is he drinking? He is getting some mellow out of that drinking. A man is hankering after money because by possessing money he gets a mellow out of it.

Bob: What does mellow mean?

Śrīla Prabhupāda: [to Śyāmasundara] How do they define mellow?

Śyāmasundara: Taste, pleasure.

Bob: OK.

Śrīla Prabhupāda: Pleasing taste. So the Vedas say, raso vai saḥ. The exact translation of mellow is rasa. [Mālatī, Śyāmasundara's wife, enters with a tray of food] What is that?

Mālatī: Eggplant (brinjal), fried.

Śrīla Prabhupāda: Oh! All-attractive! All-attractive! [Laughter.]

to  be continued.....