This is the real problem. It is not "What shall I eat?" The birds and beasts have no such problem. In the morning they are immediately chirping, "Jee, jee, jee, jee." They know that they will have their food. No one is dying, and there is no such thing as overpopulation because everyone is provided for by God's arrangement. There are qualitative differences, but obtaining a superior quality of material enjoyment is not the end of life. The real problem is how to get free of birth, death, old age and disease. This cannot be solved by simply wasting time traveling within this universe. Even if one goes to the highest planet, this problem cannot be solved, for there is death everywhere.
Overpopulation (Books)
Expressions researched:
"over populated"
|"over population"
|"over-population"
|"overburdening population"
|"overpopulate"
|"overpopulated"
|"overpopulation"
Srimad-Bhagavatam
SB Canto 4
As described in a previous verse, cows and other animals should be given sufficient grass to eat. If despite a sufficient supply of grass a cow does not supply milk, and if there is an acute shortage of food, the dried-up cow may be utilized to feed the hungry masses of people. According to the law of necessity, first of all human society must try to produce food grains and vegetables, but if they fail in this, they can indulge in flesh-eating. Otherwise not. As human society is presently structured, there is sufficient production of grains all over the world. Therefore the opening of slaughterhouses cannot be supported. In some nations there is so much surplus grain that sometimes extra grain is thrown into the sea, and sometimes the government forbids further production of grain. The conclusion is that the earth produces sufficient grain to feed the entire population, but the distribution of this grain is restricted due to trade regulations and a desire for profit. Consequently in some places there is scarcity of grain and in others profuse production. If there were one government on the surface of the earth to handle the distribution of grain, there would be no question of scarcity, no necessity to open slaughterhouses, and no need to present false theories about over-population.
SB Canto 9
According to the Vedic injunction ātmā vai putra-nāmāsi, the father becomes the son. The mother is simply like a storekeeper, because the seed of the child is placed in her womb, but it is the father who is responsible for maintaining the son. In Bhagavad-gītā the Lord says that He is the seed-giving father of all living entities (ahaṁ bīja-pradaḥ pitā (BG 14.4)), and therefore He is responsible for maintaining them. This is also confirmed in the Vedas. Eko bahūnāṁ yo vidadhāti kāmān: although God is one, He maintains all living entities with their necessities for life. The living entities in different forms are sons of the Lord, and therefore the father, the Supreme Lord, supplies them food according to their different bodies. The small ant is supplied a grain of sugar, and the elephant is supplied tons of food, but everyone is able to eat. Therefore there is no question of overpopulation. Because the father, Kṛṣṇa, is fully opulent, there is no scarcity of food, and because there is no scarcity, the propaganda of overpopulation is only a myth. Actually one suffers for want of food when material nature, under the order of the father, refuses to supply him food. It is the living entity's position that determines whether food will be supplied or not. When a diseased person is forbidden to eat, this does not mean that there is a scarcity of food; rather, the diseased person requires the treatment of not being supplied with food. In Bhagavad-gītā (7.10) the Lord also says, bījaṁ māṁ sama-bhūtānām: "I am the seed of all living entities." A particular type of seed is sown within the earth, and then a particular type of tree or plant comes out. The mother resembles the earth, and when a particular type of seed is sown by the father, a particular type of body takes birth.
SB Canto 10.1 to 10.13
There is no question of overpopulation or of children's being a burden for their parents in a Vedic society. Such a society is so well organized and people are so advanced in spiritual consciousness that childbirth is never regarded as a burden or a botheration. The more a child grows, the more his parents become jubilant, and the child's attempts to turn over are also a source of jubilation. Even before the child is born, when the mother is pregnant, many recommended ritualistic ceremonies are performed. For example, when the child has been within the womb for three months and for seven months, there is a ceremony the mother observes by eating with neighboring children. This ceremony is called svāda-bhakṣaṇa. Similarly, before the birth of the child there is the garbhādhāna ceremony. In Vedic civilization, childbirth or pregnancy is never regarded as a burden; rather, it is a cause for jubilation. In contrast, people in modern civilization do not like pregnancy or childbirth, and when there is a child, they sometimes kill it. We can just consider how human society has fallen since the inauguration of Kali-yuga. Although people still claim to be civilized, at the present moment there is actually no human civilization, but only an assembly of two-legged animals.
Other Books by Srila Prabhupada
Easy Journey to Other Planets
Krsna, The Supreme Personality of Godhead
Page Title: | Overpopulation (Books) |
Compiler: | Visnu Murti |
Created: | 21 of Jan, 2011 |
Totals by Section: | BG=0, SB=4, CC=0, OB=2, Lec=0, Con=0, Let=0 |
No. of Quotes: | 6 |