The primary reason for a failure in world peace is a lack of knowledge of the formula for peace. As Mahatma Gandhi famously said, “Earth provides enough to satisfy every man’s need, but not every man’s greed”. 

In this regard, Srila Prabhupada, in his book “Krishna Consciousness: The Topmost Yoga System” remarks that once he had read a speech of the Archbishop of Canterbury that said: “You want the kingdom of God without God.” In other words, from this statement, Srila Prabhupada is trying to make us understand that it is the tendency of an individual to become the lord that alienates him from becoming peaceful. Therefore the first step and last step for world peace is to stop trying to be the boss and the enjoyer of the world for one’s own sake. 

The economist Adam Smith has defined human wants as something which has no end, instead, it is always on a rise. On the contrary, a person who is in full God-consciousness has no demands. Since all their actions are dovetailed in the satisfaction of the senses of the Lord, they are self-sufficient thereby becoming the only ones to be, truly, peaceful.

As evident from the above Srimad Bhagavatam verse [10.14.58], becoming a pure devotee of the Lord, one becomes free of all anxieties which are a consequence of ever-increasing material demands. Instead, for they, the boat of the lotus feet of the Lord carries him across the material ocean of miseries, which is like the water contained in a calf’s hoofprint. The goal is Vaikuntha, the place where there are no material miseries, not the place where there is danger at every step.

By associating with the Supreme Personality of Godhead Sri Krishna through devotional service, a person transcends the miseries of the world and attains true peace. This state of mind can be converted into a collective or universal one: the task of world peace can be accomplished: stop trying to be God!