Richard Webster: Within the Christian religion there is a strong emphasis on possible failure and forgiveness.
Prabhupāda: No. Forgiveness is . . . I know that in church the confession program is there. Forgiveness . . . suppose you are or I am an offender. I ask your forgiveness. So you can forgive me once, twice, thrice, not more than that. You cannot make it a profession that you go on committing sins and God will forgive you. No, that is not possible. That is misconception. That is mentioned in the Bhagavad-gītā, api cet sudurācāro bhajate mām ananya-bhāk, sādhur eva sa mantavyaḥ (BG 9.30). This sudurācāraḥ, means offender, that is not willful offense. One person is accustomed to some bad habits, but he has taken to Kṛṣṇa consciousness, or God consciousness. But on account of strong habit, if he fails sometime, that is excused, forgiveness, not that willful committing sin and ask for forgiveness. That is not allowed. In common affairs we do not see. I have got practical, I mean to say, experience. In my householder life I was proprietor of a big pharmacy. So my manager sold some morphia preparation to some unauthorized person. So the excise inspector, they noted it and made us a criminal. And the magistrate called me because I was the proprietor. So my statement was given that, "I do not conduct the business directly. Of course, I am responsible for my manager's fault, but I shall be very strict in future. You can forgive me." Immediately I was forgiven. But next time if I go, if I say like that, that is not forgiven. That is not possible. So this forgiveness is good for accidental fault, but it cannot be continued. That is a wrong philosophy.
Richard Webster: Does that apply to all the rules of the Kṛṣṇa movement?
Prabhupāda: What is that?
Richard Webster: For everyone. I mean rules about not drinking . . .
Prabhupāda: Yes.
Richard Webster: Would that be a sin in a non-Kṛṣṇa follower?
Prabhupāda: It is for everyone. When we speak something from the Vedic scripture, that is meant for everyone.
Richard Webster: I mean a Roman, perhaps, has never heard of Kṛṣṇa before. He breaks all your five rules, does he not, every day? Is that a sin in him? If he drinks wine . . .
Dhanañjaya: He's saying, all the people in Rome who have never heard of Kṛṣṇa . . .
Richard Webster: They drink wine and do all the things which are . . . well, perhaps not all, but anyway, some of them . . . (indistinct) . . . would that be . . .
Prabhupāda: I do not . . .
Dhanañjaya: He's asking if they're very sinful if they don't have any knowledge of Kṛṣṇa or any of the rules of our movement.
Prabhupāda: Yes. Kṛṣṇa . . . ignorance is no excuse. If there is law, and if you do not know the law and you commit offense, that is no excuse, that you do not know the law. Similarly, human life is meant for understanding God. That is the main business of human life. If one does not know this law, then he is sinful.