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Police (Books)

Srimad-Bhagavatam

SB Canto 1

SB 1.13.1, Purport:

Vidura: One of the prominent figures in the history of the Mahābhārata. He was conceived by Vyāsadeva in the womb of the maidservant of Ambikā, mother of Mahārāja Pāṇḍu. He is the incarnation of Yamarāja. Being cursed by Maṇḍūka Muni, he was to become a śūdra. The story is narrated as follows. Once upon a time the state police caught some thieves who had concealed themselves in the hermitage of Maṇḍūka Muni. The police constables, as usual, arrested all the thieves and Maṇḍūka Muni along with them. The magistrate specifically punished the muni to death by being pierced with a lance. When he was just to be pierced, the news reached the king, and he at once stopped the act on consideration of his being a great muni. The king personally begged the muni's pardon for the mistake of his men, and the saint at once went to Yamarāja, who prescribes the destiny of the living beings.

SB 1.17.10-11, Purport:

When there is some disturbance caused by wild animals in a village or town, the police or others take action to kill them. Similarly, it is the duty of the government to kill at once all bad social elements such as thieves, dacoits and murderers. The same punishment is also due to animal-killers because the animals of the state are also the prajā. Prajā means one who has taken birth in the state, and this includes both men and animals. Any living being who takes birth in a state has the primary right to live under the protection of the king. The jungle animals are also subject to the king, and they also have a right to live. So what to speak of domestic animals like the cows and bulls.

SB 1.17.24, Purport:

All these habits, or so-called advancement of civilization, are the root causes of all irreligiosities, and therefore it is not possible to check corruption, bribery and nepotism. Man cannot check all these evils simply by statutory acts and police vigilance, but he can cure the disease of the mind by the proper medicine, namely advocating the principles of brahminical culture or the principles of austerity, cleanliness, mercy and truthfulness. Modern civilization and economic development are creating a new situation of poverty and scarcity with the result of blackmailing the consumer's commodities. If the leaders and the rich men of the society spend fifty percent of their accumulated wealth mercifully for the misled mass of people and educate them in God consciousness, the knowledge of Bhāgavatam, certainly the age of Kali will be defeated in its attempt to entrap the conditioned souls.

SB Canto 3

SB 3.14.25, Purport:

The husband of one's sister is considered one's brother. By that social relationship, Lord Śiva happened to be the younger brother of Kaśyapa. Kaśyapa warned his wife that because Lord Śiva would see their sex indulgence, the time was not appropriate. Diti might argue that they would enjoy sex life in a private place, but Kaśyapa reminded her that Lord Śiva has three eyes, called the sun, moon and fire, and one cannot escape his vigilance any more than one can escape Viṣṇu. Although seen by the police, a criminal is sometimes not immediately punished; the police wait for the proper time to apprehend him. The forbidden time for sexual intercourse would be noted by Lord Śiva, and Diti would meet with proper punishment by giving birth to a child of ghostly character or a godless impersonalist. Kaśyapa foresaw this, and thus he warned his wife Diti.

SB 3.26.5, Purport:

There is a hint in the previous verse in the word līlayā, which means "for the pastimes of the Lord." The Lord wants to rectify the enjoying temperament of the conditioned souls. It is stated in Bhagavad-gītā that no one is the enjoyer but the Supreme Personality of Godhead. This material energy is created, therefore, for anyone who pretends to enjoy. An example can be cited here that there is no necessity for the government's creation of a separate police department, but because it is a fact that some of the citizens will not accept the state laws, a department to deal with criminals is necessary. There is no necessity, but at the same time there is a necessity. Similarly, there was no necessity to create this material world for the sufferings of the conditioned souls, but at the same time there are certain living entities, known as nitya-baddha, who are eternally conditioned. We say that they have been conditioned from time immemorial because no one can trace out when the living entity, the part and parcel of the Supreme Lord, became rebellious against the supremacy of the Lord.

SB 3.27.21, Purport:

Śrīdhara Svāmī comments in this connection that by association with material nature alone one does not become conditioned. Conditional life begins only after one is infected by the modes of material nature. If someone is in contact with the police department, that does not mean that he is a criminal. As long as one does not commit criminal acts, even though there is a police department, he is not punished. Similarly, the liberated soul is not affected, although he is in the material nature. Even the Supreme Personality of Godhead is supposed to be in association with material nature when He descends, but He is not affected. One has to act in such a way that in spite of being in the material nature he is not affected by contamination. Although the lotus flower is in association with water, it does not mix with the water. That is how one has to live, as described here by the Personality of Godhead Kapiladeva (animitta-nimittena sva-dharmeṇāmalātmanā).

SB Canto 4

SB 4.11.18, Purport:

The word durvibhāvyā means "inconceivable by our tiny brain," and vibhakta-vīryaḥ means "divided in varieties of potencies." This is the right explanation of the display of creative energies in the material world. We can better understand the mercy of God by an example: a government state is always supposed to be merciful, but sometimes, in order to keep law and order, the government employs its police force, and thus punishment is meted out to the rebellious citizens. Similarly, the Supreme Personality of Godhead is always merciful and full of transcendental qualities, but certain individual souls have forgotten their relationship with Kṛṣṇa and have endeavored to lord it over material nature. As a result of their endeavor, they are involved in varieties of material interaction.

SB 4.13.19-20, Purport:

Monarchy is better than democracy because if the monarchy is very strong the regulative principles within the kingdom are upheld very nicely. Even one hundred years ago in the state of Kashmir in India, the king was so strong that if a thief were arrested in his kingdom and brought before him, the king would immediately chop off the hands of the thief. As a result of this severe punishment there were practically no theft cases within the kingdom. Even if someone left something on the street, no one would touch it. The rule was that the things could be taken away only by the proprietor and that no one else would touch them. In the so-called democracy, wherever there is a theft case the police come and take note of the case, but generally the thief is never caught, nor is any punishment offered to him. As a result of incapable government, at the present moment thieves, rogues and cheaters are very prominent all over the world.

SB 4.28.13, Translation:

he city's superintendent of police, the serpent, saw that the citizens were being attacked by Kālakanyā, and he became very aggrieved to see his own residence set ablaze after being attacked by the Yavanas.

SB 4.28.13, Purport:

The living entity is covered by two different types of bodies—the gross body and the subtle body. At death we can see that the gross body is finished, but actually the living entity is carried by the subtle body to another gross body. The so-called scientists of the modern age cannot see how the subtle body is working in carrying the soul from one body to another. This subtle body has been figuratively described as a serpent, or the city's police superintendent. When there is fire everywhere, the police superintendent cannot escape either. When there is security and an absence of fire in the city, the police superintendent can impose his authority upon the citizens, but when there is an all-out attack on the city, he is rendered useless. As the life air was ready to leave the gross body, the subtle body also began to experience pain.

SB 4.28.14, Translation:

As a serpent living within the cavity of a tree wishes to leave when there is a forest fire, so the city's police superintendent, the snake, wished to leave the city due to the fire's severe heat.

SB Canto 5

SB 5.10.13, Purport:

Everyone in this material world is working like a madman under certain impressions falsely acquired in the material condition. For example, a thief who knows that stealing is not good and who knows that it is followed with punishment by a king or by God, who has seen that thieves are arrested and punished by the police, nonetheless steals again and again. He is obsessed with the idea that by stealing he will be happy. This is a sign of madness. Despite repeated punishment, the thief cannot give up his stealing habit; therefore the punishment is useless.

SB Canto 6

SB 6.2.2, Purport:

In human society, properly maintaining religious principles is the duty of the king's court or the government. Unfortunately, in this yuga, Kali-yuga, the religious principles are tampered with, and the government cannot properly judge who is to be punished and who is not. It is said that in the Kali-yuga if one cannot spend money in court, one cannot get justice. Indeed, in courts of justice it is often found that magistrates are bribed for favorable judgments. Sometimes religious men who preach the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement for the benefit of the entire populace are arrested and harassed by the police and courts. The Viṣṇudūtas, who are Vaiṣṇavas, lamented for these very regrettable facts. Because of their spiritual compassion for all the fallen souls, Vaiṣṇavas go out to preach according to the standard method of all religious principles, but unfortunately, because of the influence of Kali-yuga, Vaiṣṇavas who have dedicated their lives to preaching the glories of the Lord are sometimes harassed and punished by courts on false charges of disturbing the peace.

SB Canto 10.1 to 10.13

SB 10.13.44, Purport:

Instead of defeating Kṛṣṇa, Brahmā himself was defeated, for he could not understand what Kṛṣṇa was doing. Since Brahmā, the chief person within this universe, was so bewildered, what is to be said of so-called scientists and philosophers? Sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja. We should give up all our tiny efforts to defy the arrangement of Kṛṣṇa. Instead, whatever arrangements He proposes, we should accept. This is always better, for this will make us happy. The more we try to defeat the arrangement of Kṛṣṇa, the more we become implicated in Kṛṣṇa's māyā (daivī hy eṣā guṇa-mayī mama māyā duratyayā). But one who has reached the point of surrendering to the instructions of Kṛṣṇa (mām eva ye prapadyante) is liberated, free from kṛṣṇa-māyā (māyām etāṁ taranti te (BG 7.14)). The power of Kṛṣṇa is just like a government that cannot be overcome. First of all there are laws, and then there is police power, and beyond that is military power. Therefore, what is the use of trying to overcome the power of the government? Similarly, what is the use of trying to challenge Kṛṣṇa?

Sri Caitanya-caritamrta

CC Adi-lila

CC Adi 10.40, Purport:

Śrī Mukunda Datta was born in the Caṭṭagrāma district, in the village of Chanharā, which is under the jurisdiction of the police station named Paṭiyā. This village is situated ten krośas, or about twenty miles, from the home of Puṇḍarīka Vidyānidhi. In the Gaura-gaṇoddeśa-dīpikā (140) it is said:

vraje sthitau gāyakau yau madhukaṇṭha-madhuvratau
mukunda-vāsudevau tau dattau gaurāṅga-gāyakau

"In Vraja there were two very nice singers named Madhukaṇṭha and Madhuvrata. They appeared in caitanya-līlā as Mukunda and Vāsudeva Datta, who were singers in the society of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu."

CC Adi 10.43, Purport:

From the description of his chastisement by a Muslim magistrate, which is found in the Sixteenth Chapter of the Ādi-khaṇḍa of Caitanya-bhāgavata, we can understand how humble and meek Haridāsa Ṭhākura was and how he achieved the causeless mercy of the Lord. In the dramas performed by Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu, Haridāsa Ṭhākura played the part of a police chief. While chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra in Benāpola, he was personally tested by Māyādevī herself. Haridāsa Ṭhākura's passing away is described in the Antya-līlā of Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Eleventh Chapter. It is not definitely certain whether Śrī Haridāsa Ṭhākura appeared in the village named Buḍhana that is in the district of Khulnā. Formerly this village was within a district of twenty-four pargaṇas within the Sātakṣīrā division.

CC Adi 10.114, Purport:

Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura writes in his Anubhāṣya, “Jagannātha Tīrtha was one of the nine principal sannyāsīs who were Lord Caitanya's associates. Vāṇīnātha Vipra was a resident of Cāṅpāhāṭi, a village in the district of Burdwan near the town of Navadvīpa, the police station of Pūrvasthalī and the post office of Samudragaḍa. The temple there was very much neglected, but it was renovated in the Bengali year 1328 (A.D. 1921) by Śrī Paramānanda Brahmacārī (one of Śrī Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura's disciples), who reorganized the sevā-pūjā (worship in the temple) and placed the temple under the management of the Śrī Caitanya Maṭha of Śrī Māyāpur. In the temple as it now exists, the Deity of Śrī Gaura-Gadādhara is worshiped strictly according to the principles of the revealed scriptures. Cāṅpāhāṭi is two miles away from both Samudragarh and the Navadvīpa station of the Eastern Railway.”

CC Adi 11.31, Purport:

Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura writes in his Anubhāṣya, “Paṇḍita Dhanañjaya was a resident of the village in Katwa named Śītala. He was one of the twelve gopālas. His former name, according to the Gaura-gaṇoddeśa-dīpikā (127), was Vasudāma. Śītala-grāma is situated near the Maṅgalakoṭa police station and Kaicara post office in the district of Burdwan. On the narrow railway from Burdwan to Katwa is a railway station about nine miles from Katwa known as Kaicara. One has to go about a mile northeast of this station to reach Śītala. The temple was a thatched house with walls made of dirt. Some time ago, the zamindars of Bājāravana Kābāśī, the Mulliks, constructed a big house for the purpose of a temple, but for the last sixty-five years the temple has been broken down and abandoned. The foundation of the old temple is still visible.

CC Adi 11.37, Purport:

Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura writes in his Anubhāṣya, "Kāliyā Kṛṣṇadāsa had his headquarters in a village named Ākāihāṭa, which is situated in the district of Burdwan within the jurisdiction of the post office and police station of Katwa. It is situated on the road to Navadvīpa. To reach Ākāihāṭa, one has to go from the Byāṇḍel junction station to the Katwa railway station and then go about two miles, or one has to get off at the Dāṅihāṭa station and from there go one mile. The village of Ākāihāṭa is very small. In the month of Caitra, on the day of Vāruṇī, there is a festival commemorating the disappearance day of Kālā Kṛṣṇadāsa."

CC Adi 17.127, Purport:

Such orders stopping saṅkīrtana in the streets of the world's great cities have been imposed upon members of the Hare Kṛṣṇa movement. We have hundreds of centers all over the world, and we have been specifically persecuted in Australia. In most cities of the Western world we have been arrested many times by the police, but we are nevertheless executing the order of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu by chanting on the streets of all the important cities, such as New York, London, Chicago, Sydney, Melbourne, Paris and Hamburg. We must remember that such incidents took place in the past, five hundred years ago, and the fact that they are still going on indicates that our saṅkīrtana movement is really authorized, for if saṅkīrtana were an insignificant material affair, demons would not object to it. The demons of the time tried to obstruct the saṅkīrtana movement started by Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Similar demons are trying to obstruct the saṅkīrtana movement we are executing all over the world, and this proves that our saṅkīrtana movement is still pure and genuine, following in the footsteps of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu.

CC Madhya-lila

CC Madhya 1.122, Purport:

Ālālanātha is also known as Brahmagiri. This place is about fourteen miles from Jagannātha Purī and is also on the beach. There is a temple of Jagannātha there. At the present moment a police station and post office are situated there because so many people come to see the temple.

The word anavasara is used when Śrī Jagannāthajī cannot be seen in the temple. After the bathing ceremony (snāna-yātrā), Lord Jagannātha apparently becomes sick. He is therefore removed to His private apartment, where no one can see Him. Actually, during this period renovations are made on the body of the Jagannātha Deity. This is called nava-yauvana. During the Ratha-yātrā ceremony, Lord Jagannātha once again comes before the public. Thus for fifteen days after the bathing ceremony, Lord Jagannātha is not visible to any visitors.

CC Madhya 3.216, Purport:

In this village is a Deity of Lord Śiva known as Vaijurkānātha. A festival takes place there every year during the month of Caitra (March-April). The festival is known as Nandā-melā. At the present moment the Ganges does not flow there. On the same railway line is another station, known as Bāruipura, and near this station is another place, called Āṭisārā. Formerly this village was also situated on the banks of the Ganges. One can go from this village to Pānihāṭi and from there to Varāha-nagara, north of Calcutta. In those days the Ganges flowed to the south of Calcutta through Kālī-ghāṭa, which is still known as Ādi-gaṅgā. From Bāruipura, the Ganges branched out and flowed through Diamond Harbor near the Mathurāpura police station. It is to be noted that Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu passed through all these places on His way to Jagannātha Purī.

CC Madhya 8.39, Purport:

One should also consider that those who engage in the missionary activities of the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement are under the guidance of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. They are not actually beggars; their real business is to deliver fallen souls. Therefore they may go from door to door just to introduce a book about Kṛṣṇa consciousness so that people can become enlightened by reading. Formerly brahmacārīs and sannyāsīs used to beg from door to door. At the present moment, especially in the Western countries, a person may be handed over to the police if he begs from door to door. In Western countries, begging is considered criminal. Members of the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement have no business begging. Instead, they work very hard to introduce some literatures about Kṛṣṇa consciousness so that people can read them and be benefited. But if one gives some contribution to a Kṛṣṇa conscious man, he never refuses it.

Other Books by Srila Prabhupada

Nectar of Instruction

Nectar of Instruction 1, Purport:

In Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (6.1.9-10) Parīkṣit Mahārāja placed a number of intelligent questions before Śukadeva Gosvāmī. One of these questions was: "Why do people undergo atonement if they cannot control their senses?" For instance, a thief may know perfectly well that he may be arrested for his stealing, and he may actually even see a thief arrested by the police, yet he continues to steal. Experience is gathered by hearing and seeing. One who is less intelligent gathers experience by seeing, and one who is more intelligent gathers experience by hearing.

Krsna, The Supreme Personality of Godhead

Krsna Book 37:

Later that morning, Kṛṣṇa went to play with His cowherd boyfriends on the top of the Govardhana Hill. They were imitating the play of thieves and police. Some of the boys became police constables, and some became thieves, and some took the role of lambs. While they were thus enjoying their childhood pastimes, a demon known by the name of Vyomāsura, "the demon who flies in the sky," appeared on the scene. He was the son of another great demon, named Maya. These demons can perform wonderful magic. Vyomāsura took the part of a cowherd boy playing as a thief and stole many boys who were playing the parts of lambs. One after another he took away almost all the boys and put them in the caves of the mountain and sealed the mouths of the caves with stones.

Krsna Book 39:

They immediately informed Nanda Mahārāja that Kaṁsa had invited all the cowherd men and boys to go to Mathurā to participate in the ceremony known as Dhanur-yajña. Kaṁsa wanted them all to go there to participate in the function. On Kṛṣṇa's word, Nanda Mahārāja at once called for the cowherd men and asked them to collect milk and all kinds of milk products to present to the King in the ceremony. He also sent instructions to the police chief of Vṛndāvana to tell all the inhabitants about Kaṁsa's great Dhanur-yajña function and invite them to join. Nanda Mahārāja informed the cowherd men that they would start the next morning. They therefore arranged for the cows and bulls to carry them all to Mathurā.

Light of the Bhagavata

Light of the Bhagavata 6, Purport:

The warning is already there, and responsible leaders of religious sects must meet together and form a common platform of a league of devotees of the Lord. There is no need for self-realized souls to live in a secluded place. Perfect self-realized souls, engaged in the service of the Lord, are unafraid of māyā, just as law-abiding citizens of a state never fear the police. Such fearless devotees of God always speak scientifically about the existence of God, even at the risk of death. Such devotees of God feel compassion for the mass of people, who have completely forgotten the Supreme Lord and who engage in the false pursuit of happiness that ends in the sense pleasures enjoyed by the hogs and dogs.

Mukunda-mala-stotra (mantras 1 to 6 only)

Mukunda-mala-stotra mantra 1, Purport:

A devotee is never as eager to see the Lord as he is to render service to Him. Yet the Lord does appear before His devotee, for He is just like an affectionate father, who is more eager to see his son than the son is to see him. There is no contradiction in such a quantitative difference in affection. Such a disparity exists in the original reality—between the Lord and His devotees—and is reflected here not only in the relations between parents and children in human society but even in the animal kingdom. Parental affection is exhibited even among lower animals because originally such affection in its fullness exists in God, the original father of all species of living beings. When a man kills an animal, God, the affectionate father, is perturbed and is pained at heart. Thus the slaughterer of the animal is suitably punished by the material energy, just as a murderer is punished by the government through police action.

Page Title:Police (Books)
Compiler:Visnu Murti, Mayapur
Created:10 of Mar, 2012
Totals by Section:BG=0, SB=14, CC=9, OB=5, Lec=0, Con=0, Let=0
No. of Quotes:28