The king himself used to judge. A criminal was brought before the king, and if the king thought it wise, he would take his own sword, immediately cut his head. That was the duty of king. Even not many, about hundred years ago in Kashmir, the king, as soon as a thief was caught, he would be brought before the king, and if he is proved that he was a thief, he has stolen, immediately the king will cut off his hands personally, chopped off. Even hundred years ago. So all other thieves warned, "This is your punishment." So there was no thiefing. There was no stealing, no burglary in Kashmir. Even somebody lost something on the road, it will lie down. Nobody will touch it. The order was, king's order was, "If something is lying down on the street uncared for, you cannot touch it. The man who has left it, he would come; he will collect. You cannot take." Even hundred years ago. So this capital punishment is required. Nowadays the capital punishment is excused. Murderers are not hanged. This is all mistake, all rascaldom. A murderer must be killed. No mercy. Why a human killer? Even an animal killer should be immediately hanged? That is kingdom. The king should be so strict.
Stolen (Lectures)
Lectures
Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures
So Arjuna, instead of remaining on the same level as friend and friend, voluntarily accepting to remain a fool before Kṛṣṇa. And Kṛṣṇa is accepting that "You are a fool. You're talking just like a learned man, but you are a fool because you are lamenting on a matter which no learned man laments." That means "A fool laments," that "You are a fool. Therefore you are a fool." It is in a round about way... Just like, what is called in logic? Parenthesis? Or something like that, called. Yes. That if I say that "You look like that person who stole my watch," that means "You look like a thief." Similarly, (chuckles) Kṛṣṇa, in a round about way, says that "My dear Arjuna, you are talking just like learned man, but you are lamenting on a subject matter which no learned man laments." Go on.
Go means cow, and khara means ass. So anyone who accepts this body as self, he is animal, he is not human being. That is the beginning of knowledge. People are accepting knowledge from a school, college, university, but at the present moment at least, how many people know that he is not body? Unless we understand this first principle of knowledge, there is no question of spiritual advancement of life. So the beginning of Bhagavad-gītā is to give lesson that we are not this body. It will be later on explained that the spirit soul, or the real person, is within this body. Just like we are here. We are within this shirt and coat, but we are not the shirt and coat. So if the shirt and coat is stolen and if somebody becomes mad after it and lamenting, that is not very good sense. Therefore He is saying that aśocyān anvaśocas tvam: (BG 2.11) "You are lamenting on the subject matter which is never done by any learned man." So we shall go further on? Yes? Read, you, purport in Spanish.
So the karma-vāda, that you follow morality you'll get good results... But where is your morality? Because you are disobedient to God. In the beginning of your life, you are immoral. You are disobeying the greatest authority. There is another example, a story, that a gang of thieves, they stolen some property from different houses, then out of the village they are dividing amongst themselves the booties. So one thief is saying, "Please divide it morally so that one may not be cheated." Now just imagine, the property is stolen. Where is the morality there? But when dividing, they are thinking of morality. The basic principle is immoral. Where you can have morality? Similarly, according to Vedic injunction, īśāvāsyam idaṁ sarvam (ISO 1). Everything belongs to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. It is His property. So the whole planet is God's property, whole universe is God's property. But when we are claiming that this is my property, then where is morality? If you claim other's property as your property, then where is the morality?
So here is one śāstra-vidhim from Parāśara-smṛti. Parāśara was the father of Vyāsadeva. He has got his regulative principles. They're also realized souls on Vedic principles. They wrote so many books. In this Parāśara-smṛti it is said: kṣatriyo hi prajā rakṣan śastra, śastra-pāṇiḥ pradaṇḍayan. Śastra-pāṇi means always with sword in the hand for the benefit of the prajas. He should be so strong. "Oh, you are a thief? You have stolen?" Immediately cut his hand, bas. This one example will stop millions of thieves not to commit stealing. Simply by cutting. Even a hundred years ago this system was prevalent in Kashmir. If a thief is arrested and if he's proved that he has stolen, immediately king will cut off his two hands. Bas, finished. No court witness. And it will go for ten years to find out whether he has stolen. This is government. Therefore, the injunction is kṣatriya hi prajā rakṣan śastra-pāṇiḥ pradaṇḍayan. Always must be very strict. Nirjitya para-sainyādi dharmeṇa pālayet. This is dharma. In the Manu-smṛti it is said that if a man, a murderer, one man has killed another man... Why man? Even animal. He's a murderer. Now murdering is no offense. They are killing daily so many babies within the womb, murderers. That has become a custom. They're killing hundreds and thousands of animals daily in the slaughterhouse. It has become a custom. So now even human being, murder, he's not condemned to death. Is it not?
You'll be surprised in 1942 there was an artificial famine in India by politicians and practically they were starving. And one American gentleman, very responsible man, he was present. He said that "In our country if such starvation would have happened there would have been revolution." But the Vedic culture is so nice that nobody even stole a pin from others pocket. They starved. Because the culture is they are satisfied. "Well, God has put me in this condition. Why shall I encroach upon other's property?" That is Vedic culture. Īśāvāsyam idaṁ sarvam (ISO 1). Everything belongs to God. Whatever He has allotted to me, that is my possession. I can... tena tyaktena bhuñjīthā: "Whatever is allotted to you, be satisfied." Mā gṛdhaḥ kasya svid dhanam: "You do not encroach upon other's property."
Everything is manifested practically just like ordinary human being. But at the same time, whenever there is need, big, big demons, beginning from Pūtanā, when He was only a few months old, He is maintaining His position as God, but dealing with His devotees. This father and mother and friends, lover, all in Vṛndāvana, who are they? They are expansion of Kṛṣṇa. That story we have got in the Kṛṣṇa book, that Brahmā stolen all the cows and calves and cowherd boys. Stolen, and Kṛṣṇa immediately created another set. Then Brahmā understood that "Here is the Supreme Lord, my master." So, these, Kṛṣṇa's associates, they are all also Kṛṣṇa, expansion of Kṛṣṇa. Ānanda-cinmaya-rasa-pratibhāvitābhis tābhir ya eva nija-rūpatayā kalābhiḥ. We are also expansion of Kṛṣṇa. We living entities, Kṛṣṇa says in the Bhāgavata, mamaivāṁśo, part and parcel.
If you trace out history, go on tracing. When the land was not there, you'll never find. Therefore the land is God's. Why do you claim that "This is my land"? The earth belongs to God. Everything belongs to God. This consciousness should be changed if you at all want peace. If you encroach upon God's property and take it as your own thing and try to utilize for your sense gratification, you cannot expect any peace, cannot expect any peace. Suppose you have stolen something from somebody else and if you want to enjoy, you'll be always in trouble because the police search will be there, and as soon as you are caught, you'll be in trouble. Similarly, the nature is the police agent of God. As soon as you want to gratify your sense by utilizing the property of God, then you'll be in trouble. The nature will inflict miseries upon you.
If you want to become enjoyer, then you are thief. Stena eva sa ucyate (BG 3.12). Yajñārthe karmaṇo 'nyatra loko 'yaṁ karma-bandhanaḥ (BG 3.9). You cannot be happy with stolen property. So everything belongs to Kṛṣṇa, īśāvāsyam idaṁ sarvam (ISO 1). Whatever we are trying to enjoy, it is stolen property. The philosophy is tena tyaktena bhuñjīthā. You can enjoy whatever is allotted to you by Kṛṣṇa. Tene tyak... Mā gṛdhaḥ kasya svid dhanam. Don't try to encroach upon other's property. This is real proposition for peace and prosperity. But we are trying to become the biggest enjoyer, and we are trying to encroach upon others' property, others' life, others' jurisdiction. Therefore there is no peace. There cannot be peace.
The so-called civilization, they are all set of thieves, rogues. And they are formulating rules and regulation for others' fraud, those who are devotees. They are themselves fraud. Everything belongs... Suppose you have got this iron, stealing from the mine Kṛṣṇa's property. Then if by some way or other, I take your iron and give it back to Kṛṣṇa, so I am fraud or you are fraud? You do not possess anything. But you are claiming that you are proprietor of this thing, that thing, which you have taken by stealing. And if your stolen property, I take it from you and return it to Kṛṣṇa, then who is fraud? You are fraud or I am fraud? Who is fraud? But they have made their own laws. They will steal, they will plunder, and still, they are honest gentlemen.
Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures
Āsuri-bhāva, āsuri-bhāva means simply sense gratification. That is āsuri-bhāva. There is no other ambition. So practically, modern society is going on on the āsuri-bhāva. They have rejected God consciousness, and they're simply interested in sense gratification. Āsuri-bhāvam āśritāḥ. Therefore, in spite of all educational advancement... They're very much proud of having big, big degrees, but Bhagavad-gītā says, māyayāpahṛta-jñānāḥ. Māyā has taken their knowledge, taken away. They have been stolen, because they have no real knowledge. Real knowledge is how to get freedom from repetition of birth and death. They do not believe in the next life. They think simply... Big, big professors, I have talked, especially in Russia. They think that "So long this body is there, you enjoy sense gratification to the utmost," the Cārvāka theory. This was also cultured long ago in India.
So immediately he took his sword, "Who are you, rascal? You are trying to kill a cow in my kingdom?" That is kṣatriya's duty. Kṣatriya's duty is to give protection from injury for the safety of the citizen. The citizen must feel safety, that "We have got such a nice king. There is no fear of anything." It is said in the Bhāgavatam there was no anxiety. The citizens should feel so much safe, that "We have such a nice king that we have no danger at all. Not being injured, not our property being stolen or injustice given." That is the real government—when the citizens will feel completely safe. That requires kṣatriya. Not these cāmāra, bhangis, and śūdras voted and become the president and minister. That will not be successful. That is not possible. There must be trained-up kṣatriyas, then there will be good government. Trained.
Cintāmaṇi-prakara-sadmasu. Kṛṣṇa has His house, prakara-sadmasu. Cintāmaṇi-prakara-sadmasu. Sadma. Sadma means house. So we should take very, very careful attention that this temple is kept very nicely, managed very nicely. Not that "I have become Vaiṣṇava. Let everything be stolen or spoiled or broken. I have become Vaiṣṇava. I cannot take care. That is not my consideration."
Because I have several times pressed on this point that everything in relationship with Kṛṣṇa is Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa is the advaya-jñāna. Absolute Truth. Kṛṣṇa and His name, His house, His devotees—His everything. Nāma rūpa guṇa līlā parikara vaiśiṣṭa, everything. Caitanya Mahāprabhu says... Caitanya Mahāprabhu's philosophy, it is said by Viśvanātha Cakravartī, ārādhyo bhagavān vrajeśa-tanaya tad-dhāma vṛndāvanam.
Similarly, the associates of Kṛṣṇa who come with Him... Just like the gopīs or the cowherd boys, and so..., the cows, calves, they are all nitya-siddha, nitya-mukta. They come with Kṛṣṇa. Ānanda-cinmaya-rasa. They are in the spiritual form, ānanda-cinmaya-rasa, enjoying always spiritual bliss in the association of Kṛṣṇa. Ānanda-cinmaya-rasa-pratibhāvitābhiḥ (Bs. 5.37). Tābhir ya eva nija-rūpatayā kalābhiḥ. That is also expansion of Kṛṣṇa. Just like Brahmā, when he stolen Kṛṣṇa's friends, cowherd boys, and the cows and calves, Brahmā saw that Kṛṣṇa is playing with the same cowherd boys, cows, calves, and he was astonished. He went, came to test that "It is being advertised that one boy is now born, is there in Vṛndāvana, and He's being accepted as Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality, my Lord." So he played some tricks. He stolen away. But the next moment he saw. Next moment means one year. He saw that Kṛṣṇa has expanded Himself in so many living entities. And later on he saw that everyone is Viṣṇu. Everyone is Viṣṇu.
To whom it will belong? The carpenter cannot say that: "Because I have transformed this wood into such nice closet, it is mine." No. It is not yours. Similarly, who is supplying the ingredients, rascal? That is Kṛṣṇa's. Kṛṣṇa says: bhūmir āpo 'nalo vāyuḥ khaṁ mano buddhir eva... prakṛtir me aṣṭadhā (BG 7.4). "This is My property." You have not created this sea, the land, the sky, the fire, the air. It is not your creation. You can transform these material things, tejo-vāri-mṛdāṁ vinimayaḥ, by mixing and transforming. You take earth from the land, you take water from the sea and mix it and put it in the fire. It becomes a brick. And then you pile up all this brick and make a skyscraper building. But wherefrom you got this ingredient, rascal, that you are claiming this skyscraper yours? This is intelligent question. You have stolen the property of God, and you are claiming that it is your property. This is knowledge. This is knowledge.
So those who are intoxicated, they cannot understand. They think: "It is my property. I have stolen, I have stolen this land of America from the Red Indians. Now it is my property." But he does not know that he's a thief. He's a thief. Stena eva sa ucyate (BG 3.12). In the Bhagavad-gītā. One who takes the property of God, and claims his own, he's a thief. Stena eva sa ucyate. Therefore we have got communistic idea, the devotee, Kṛṣṇa conscious person. We have got Kṛṣṇa conscious communistic program. What is that? That everything belongs to God. Just like they are thinking that everything belongs to the state. These communists, these Moscow, Moscowites, or the Russian, or the Chinese, they are thinking state-wise. But we are thinking not state-wise. We are thinking God-wise. Everything belongs to God. The same philosophy. You extend. Simply you require little intelligence, little intelligence. Why do you think that this state belongs to a few number of people? If you think that there are population, American population, this land of America belongs to this population. Why do you think like that? You think this is property of God.
As Kuntī, Kṛṣṇa, Kuntī offered prayers... She's a woman. She has not much very learning. But still, whatever she has offered, kala-padaiḥ, according to her, as much, as many nice words could be collected, she has offered... Kala-padaiḥ pariṇūta, worshiped. So worship, for what purpose? Akhilodaya. For the enlightenment of the whole universe. For akhilodaya. By offering prayer to Kṛṣṇa, everything becomes auspicious, akhilodaya. Then Kṛṣṇa, whatever you speak for Kṛṣṇa, it is applicable. Whatever you speak. Because Kṛṣṇa is everything. If you say, "Kṛṣṇa is the noblest man," that is applicable. And if you say, "Kṛṣṇa is the greatest thief," that is also applicable. This is absolute. Because He has stolen so, so much butter, well-known butter thief. So not only that; so many things. If you say, "Kṛṣṇa is the greatest cheater," that is also applicable. And if you say, "Kṛṣṇa is the most benevolent, beneficent," that is also applicable. They're absolute. That is absolute. That is described in the Bhagavad-gītā, Vedānta-sūtra: janmādy asya yataḥ (SB 1.1.1), wherefrom everything is coming.
So it appears that how much strictly the cow protection was there so that the gāvaḥ, payasodhasvatīr mudā. They were... You'll see Kṛṣṇa. He is always with cows, and how the cows look very happy with Kṛṣṇa. And Kṛṣṇa is personally teaching how to protect cows. He became a cowherd boy. He was king's son, Mahārāja Nanda; but His business was to take the cows and the calves daily to the pasturing ground. And it was very sportive engagement with the cowherd boys. The cows were grazing, and the boys, they took their meals in a pot, tiffin carrier. Not tiffin carrier in those days. Some way or other. And they used to eat them, distribute amongst the friends. Sometimes a tiffin carrier was stolen by one boy, and he was searching, and then it was... So just like the boys do. This was the children's life, to take protection, to give protection to the cows, to the calves.
So you can give up this impious activities provided you are engaged fully in devotional service. Otherwise it is not possible. Simply by moral instruction, that "Stealing is very bad. Don't steal," nobody likes it. Nobody likes it. It is practical. One man has stolen, and he's arrested and he's going to the police custody. So everyone has seen, and he has heard also that the government says that if you steal, you'll be punished. In the Bible or in any other religious scripture it is said that stealing is not good. So he has heard it, and he has seen it that a man who has stolen, he is going to jail. So these two things are experienced: hearing and seeing. In spite of all his experience, why does he steal? Because he has no good association. He knows that stealing is bad; otherwise why he steals at night? Nobody can see. He knows he is doing some bad thing. But why he cannot give up that bad thing? Because he's not associating with good person. That is it.
The person who has lost or who has left that thing there, he would come and pick it up. You cannot touch. That was the law. And if one was caught, a thief, his hands will be cut off. In Kashmir state this was the rule. As soon as a thief is arrested and if he's proved that he has stolen, the only punishment is cut his throat, aḥ, cut his hands. Bas. Exemplary punishment so that nobody will dare to steal. So this is second class, administrators. And the third class are to produce money—businessmen, mercantile. Money is also required. So without money nothing can be done, so that is not... But that is the occupation of..., the third class take. And the fourth class, śūdra. They cannot take any post as intelligent class or administrator class or money-producing class. They are simply servant, help others, śūdra. The śūdra was not meant for taking the political part.
So we are not interested with such kind of literature; however from literary point of view, from poetic point of view, they are very nicely written. If there is no kṛṣṇa-kathā, there is no description of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, no devotee should be interested. Even though... Even we do not touch the daily newspaper. Why? Because there no is kṛṣṇa-kathā. One and the same thing, punaḥ punaś carvita-carvaṇānām (SB 7.5.30). Repeating the same... "This man was stolen of his property. This politician has said like this. That politician has replied like this. There was disaster. There was fire. There was this..." These news are full with newspaper, so many bunch of papers. So who cares for it? Tad vāyasaṁ tīrtham, crowlike men. Not the swans, white swans. White swans, they go to the very clear water where there is nice garden, nice birds are chirping, nice fruits are there. You will find the white swans will go there, in the park. And the crows will go... Where everything garbage, nasty things are thrown away, they'll enjoy there. Even in the animals, the birds, you'll find this distinction. Why the crow does not go to the nice garden? And why the swan does not go to the crow society?
That's a fact. Therefore aśocyān, why you are anxious, pertaining to their body?" Aśocyān anvaśocas tvam (BG 2.11). "And at the same time, you are talking great philosophy." Prajñā-vādāṁś ca bhāṣase. Prajñā, philosophy means prajñā-vādān. So aśocyān anvaśocas tvaṁ prajñā-vādāṁś ca bhāṣase (BG 2.11). But nānuśocanti paṇḍitāḥ: "One who is actually learned, he does not take very much care of these things." That means "You are a fool." That means "You are a fool." It is called parenthesis, or... That "A paṇḍita, a learned man, does not do like this." It is called... What is the English? I do not remember now. That if I speak that "Sometimes, from my home, this thing was stolen, and the man who stole, he looked like you." But not directly, "You are the man who had stolen my property," but you can say in a gentlemanly way, "He looked like you." You see?
Everything goes in His... Just like Yaśodā-mā saw within the mouth of the whole universe. (sic) So Kṛṣṇa can take everything. But He does not take. Because He is appeared to educate us. Therefore He is giving very importance, cow-keeping tending the cows. Personally. Personally taking, protect cows. He is stealing butter, showing us that "These things should be stolen. If you have no money, then you steal and eat." (laughter) You see? These things are eatables. You see. Produce huge quantity of milk, and make so many preparation out of it, and become happy. This is the instruction Kṛṣṇa is giving. Otherwise what Kṛṣṇa business, He has got to do some such business? No. He is teaching us. Even the urine in cow is valuable. Stool of cow is valuable. Kṛṣṇa in His..., while He is crawling on the yard, He captures the tail of a calf and he drags him, and he is smeared with all stools and urine of the cows. Kṛṣṇa enjoys. He is showing that even the stool and urine of cow is valuable, what to speak of its milk. Cow is so important.
Bank of America belongs to you? This is craziness. You cannot enjoy the Bank of America. If you go and try to enjoy, then you'll be criminal. And if you say, "I renounce it," then you are a madman. This is your position. But people are going on under two impressions. Somebody, the karmīs, they are thinking, "I am enjoyer. I am the lord of all I survey. This America is mine. You cannot enter." So this is the karmī's position. Falsely, they are claiming proprietorship, which does not belong to them. Thieves, rather; they are thieves, rogues. There is a story that a, a group of thieves, they plundered some booty, some property, somewhere, and then, out of the town, they were dividing. So one of the thieves was speaking, "Please divide the property morally." Now, the property's stolen property, and they are speaking of "morally." Devil recites scripture. Similarly, you Americans, you have come from Europe, you have stolen this property. Now you are speaking of morality.
Police, you give bribe; high-court judge, you can give bribe. This is the position of Kali-yuga, horrible position. The king or the so-called president is simply showbottle. If you approach... You cannot approach. Formerly, if anyone was ill-treated, injustified, then he could go in front of the king. Just like Lord Rāmacandra, He was approached by a citizen: "My Lord, in the presence of father, son has died. What is Your kingdom?" Just see. The king is responsible. Natural death is father dies first, the son dies later on. But somebody's son died in the presence of the father. He immediately brought the case before the king: "Why it is?" This is called king. The king is responsible. In our Kṛṣṇa book you will find that one brāhmaṇa's sons were stolen, and he, every time he chastised the king. You have read that portion? Yes. So in Kali-yuga they are not actually functioning as king or president, but still, they are drawing high salaries and respect, doing harm to the people, and still, they are exploiting.
So at night the Deity, Gopīnātha, was asking the pūjārī, the priest, that "I have kept one pot of kṣīra behind My back garment," pitavastra(?) "So you take this pot of kṣīra, condensed milk, to Mādhavendra Purī—he is sitting underneath a tree—and offer him." So the pūjārī wake up, and actually when he opened the door of the Deity room, he found that pot of kṣīra. So he could understand that "This Mādhavendra Purī is not an ordinary devotee, he is a great devotee; otherwise how the Lord has stolen this pot for him?" Since then, that Gopīnātha is famous as Kṣīra-corā Gopīnātha. Kṣīra-corā Gopīnātha, the Gopīnātha who stole the kṣīra for His devotee.
So our point was that this Mādhavendra Purī, when he got that pot of condensed milk, kṣīra, and the priest praised him, "Oh, you are such a great devotee that Kṛṣṇa has stolen for you this earthen, I mean to say, the condensed milk. So you take it." And he bowed down before him, took his dust of the lotus feet. Then Mādhavendra thought that "Now I have got this pot of condensed milk, next morning it will be advertised, and people will come in throng to congratulate me. So better leave this place immediately." That means he did not want to be advertised as a great devotee. He left, but immediately as he reached Jagannātha Purī, the news was already there, and every man came to congratulate him, "Oh, Mādhavendra Purī, you are so great devotee that Kṛṣṇa has stolen this condensed milk. We have heard it." So the point is that a devotee, even he does not know, does not want advertisement, Kṛṣṇa advertises him. Kṛṣṇa advertises him without his intention. Kṛṣṇa wants to see that his devotee is very much advertised as a devotee. Therefore, when Caitanya Mahāprabhu was talking with Rāmānanda Rāya that "Who is the most famous man?" Caitanya Mahāprabhu inquired, asked this question from Rāmānanda Rāya. He answered, "He is the most famous man who is known as a great devotee of Kṛṣṇa. He is the most famous man."
So in this way, when they returned home, one day the old man, before his wife and son, said, "My dear son, my dear wife, this girl should be offered to that young man." He was same village. "What is this? How this daughter can be offered to such poor man? He's not very educated." The old man said: "No, it doesn't matter. I have promised." The boy, his eldest son, said, "No, no, it cannot be." And the wife said that "If you give my daughter to that boy, then I shall commit suicide." He was perplexed. Now what to do? So he was thinking and praying to Kṛṣṇa, "Sir, I have promised before You. You kindly help me so that they may not commit suicide and I may also offer my daughter to that boy. You have to arrange for that." And Kṛṣṇa has got such contradictory duties. He has to protect the thief, as well as the man where theft is being done. You see. Because everyone is praying, "Sir, my things may not be stolen." And the thief is also praying, "Please give me some opportunity so that I can steal." And Kṛṣṇa has to satisfy both.
If we like, we can take it. But if we take it beyond the fence of that private house, it is criminal. It is criminal. If you take one apple, it, it has no cost here practically. And somebody's stealing from your box hīrā. Hīrā means diamond. But if these two classes of thieves are arrested, according to law, they are punishable for six months imprisonment. The man cannot say, who has stolen one apple, "Oh, what is the price of this apple, sir? I have taken one apple. Why you are putting me into jail?" But law is there. Even it is apple, it has no value, because you have stolen, it is the property of a private person, so, as you have stolen, therefore you are punished. And similarly, another thief, who has stolen a diamond worth ten millions dollars, he's also punished. Because both of them are thieves. You cannot say that "I am thief, certainly, but I have taken which is practically has no worth." No.
Nārada was astonished when he heard that Kṛṣṇa has married sixteen thousand wives, and with each and every wife He is different engaged. That he saw. These descriptions are there in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Somewhere He's engaged some way; in another place, in the..., Arjuna, Nārada saw that although He has expanded, but He is differently engaged. Another example is there. When Lord Brahmā stole away, moved all the cows, calves, cowherd boys, He immediately expanded Himself into so many cowherd boys, cows, calves. He's complete always. Pūrṇasya pūrṇam ādāya pūrṇam evāvaśiṣyate (Īśo Invocation). That is God. That is Kṛṣṇa, not that like ourself. He can expand Himself—ananta-rūpam. Still, He is there; the body is not finished. We cannot conceive. Suppose my body is cut into pieces and thrown. Then where is my body? This is material conception. But spiritually, if my body is cut into thousands of pieces, still I'll remain.
You have read in the Caitanya-caritāmṛta that one Buddhimanta Khan, he was formerly... He was very rich man and Nawab Hussain Shah was the servant when he was not Nawab. So he was menial servant. So he stole some money as servants are generally habituated. So he whipped him with his cane. So that whipping stripe was on his back side. When he was Nawab, so his wife saw it and inquired, "What is this scar?" So he replied the whole story, that "I was formerly a menial servant to this Buddhimanta Khan and I did something wrong. So as my father, he punished me. That's all. He was treating me as my son." So he admitted that he was so kind. But his wife said, "Oh, this scar is a defamation. If somebody sees and you explain, then it will be known that you were a menial servant previously." So the Nawab did not mind. He: "What is that? I may be... Now what I am, that's all." So the wife requested that "This man should be killed so that he may not disclose the secret of your life, that you were a menial servant in his house." And "No, no, no. This is... This cannot be.
So people, they know that "There is resultant action of this kind of sinful activity." He knows. Even if he does not know, he sees. Just like a man who has stolen, committed theft. One sees that he is arrested or he is punished, he is put into the prison, and still, he commits stealing. He knows. So similarly, we are hearing from the śāstra that "If you commit this sin..." Just like māṁsa. Māṁsa, this very thing, means, māṁ sa khadati. Therefore flesh is called māṁsa. "The animal which I am killing, he will have the right to kill me and eat me." That is going on, repetition: "I kill you this life. Next life you kill me. In this life you have become a cow or goat. Next time I'll become a cow or goat. You have the right to kill me." This is called karma-bandhana.
A person knows that this is not good for him. For example a thief. A thief knows that stealing is not good. It is against law, and against our revealed scriptures also. No religious book or scriptures will say that "You go on stealing." No. Neither the state laws also allows stealing. A man knows. And suppose he's stolen in the past and he was punished or he sees that one who has stolen property, he is arrested by the police and he's being taken into custody. He has seen it, he has heard it. We experience. We gather our knowledge by seeing and by hearing. So both things he has done, but still he is stealing. Why? This is the question. So suppose if I knowingly do something and I make atonement and again I do it. Or a disease. I know that if I attack this infection I'll suffer, still I, ah, become infected, and again I suffer. Again I go to the physician, he gives me medicine, again I'm cured, again disease. This is going on. Why this is? He has got experience, and still he has experienced, he has seen, he has heard, he has full knowledge that "This kind of sinful activity will be fruitful in this way, and I'll have to suffer."
We get experience by two methods, by seeing and by hearing. Just like a criminal, thief, he has seen that previously a man who stole, he was arrested by the police and punished and he has heard also from authorities, from lawyers, that "Stealing is bad. If you are arrested you will be put into the prison." So this is the defect of the modern civilization. They are enacting so many laws to stop criminal but the criminality is increasing. The practical example is, when you go to the airport there is security checking. So all gentlemen, whoever he may be—sometimes they excuse me—but they are checked thoroughly. So the authorities check everyone means that everyone is dishonest. So what is the value of this education if everyone is criminal and dishonest? So Parīkṣit Mahārāja is intelligent devotee. He therefore protested against this so-called atonement. Therefore he describes like this, dṛṣṭa-śrutābhyāṁ yat pāpaṁ janānn apy ātmano 'hitam (SB 6.1.9). Everyone knows that "I am stealing; it is not good for me," but even though he is put into the jail as prāyaścitta, again he comes back and does the same thing.
So here it is said that doṣasya dṛṣṭvā guru-lāghavaṁ yathā (SB 6.1.8). Doṣa. Still people in India, they go to a bhaṭṭācārya, that "Sir, I have done this sinful activity. What is my atonement?" Amongst the Christian also, they go to the church. So guru-lāghavaṁ dṛṣṭvā. Guru means heavy. We use this word guru. Guru means heavy. So according to the criminal activities Just like a man has stolen some fruit from a fruit shop, his criminality is not equal to the man who has committed murder—one he has killed one man. This is guru-lāghavam. So there is punishment according to the heaviness and lightness of criminal activities. The example is given here: bhiṣak cikitseta rujāṁ nidānavit. Just like you go to a physician for treatment of your disease, he gives different types of medicine. Not that one medicine for everyone.
Therefore yamena niyamena vā. These are the process. If you want to elevate... Our topics began... The people are suffering. Although one knows that "This is not good, what I am doing," he has heard, he has seen also the effect of it... The same example: A man who has stolen some property, he's arrested. And he knew it, that "If I steal, I'll be punished." But he has done it, the same thing. He knew it. He heard it from the police courts, that stealing is not good. He knew it. He heard it from authorities. Still he has done it. So Parīkṣit Mahārāja's question is, "What is this atonement?" If he, although knowing and hearing, completely in knowledge, still he's forced to do something, to steal, or to something criminal, what then is the use of putting him into the jail and atonement? He'll come again and again do the same thing.
Indian man: They seem the greater criminal who is now telling these people there...
Prabhupāda: Well, criminal is criminal, greater or smaller. Just like in India it is said that if you have stolen a khira, a cucumber, or you have stolen a hīrā, a diamond, you are equally punishable.
Indian man: Do you think those who are butcher are all criminals?
Prabhupāda: Huh?
Indian man: Those who are butcher, they are all criminals?
Prabhupāda: They may not be criminals, but what is your idea?
Indian man: I want to hear the solution from you to this disastrous situation in the present material world.
Prabhupāda: So what way you want?
Indian man: No, I don't know. I want from you.
Prabhupāda: So our solution is that chant Hare Kṛṣṇa.
People suffer on account of sinful reaction, ignorance. Out of ignorance, they commit sinful action, and sinful action reacts. Just like a child, ignorant, he touches blazing fire, and it burns the hand, and he suffers. You cannot say that "Child is innocent, and the fire has burned." No. This is nature's law. Ignorance. So sinful activities are done out of ignorance. Therefore one should be in knowledge. Ignorance of law is no excuse. If you go to the court and if you plead, "Sir, I did not know that I have to suffer, I have to go to imprisonment for six months because I have stolen. This was unknown to me..." No. Known or unknown, you must go to the jail.
The first educational symptom is that except one's own wife, any woman is mother. This is the first symptom of education. Mātṛvat para-dāreṣu para-dravyeṣu loṣṭravat. And other's property and money is just like garbage in the... Not very many years, say, about hundred years ago... You have heard the name, the Kashmir state. The Kashmir state was so strict, if somebody had stolen others' property and it is proved, the thief's hands will be cut off. Still, I think, in Arabia there is. This is a strict law. So if some golden ornament is lying on the street, out of this fear—and people were simple at the time—they will not touch. Exactly like garbage they will not touch. It was lying on the street. The law was that nobody should touch. If some golden ornament is there, the actual proprietor, he will come and pick it up. You do not require to assist him also, taking, "I shall..." No, you cannot touch. If you touch, your hands will be cut off.
So everyone is proposing "I believe." That's why the government law is there, that "If you do this, you'll be punished like this." That is government law. Suppose you have stolen something, committed theft, you must be punished for six months' imprisonment. So you believe or not believe, the law will act. If you say in the court, "I believe," what is the meaning of your belief? There's no question of belief. Law is law. Ignorance is no excuse. If you go in the court and if you're punished, so if you say, "My lordship, I believe like this. I'll not be punished. So you're punishing me," so that is no excuse. You believe or not believe, the law is law. So, similarly, these philosophers theorizing so many "I believe." So these things will not go. These things will not go. That is useless, simply waste of time. You must know there is God. How we can deny it? There is supreme power. I am being controlled every moment.
So we should not be impersonalists. We should not be voidists. Nirviśeṣa śūnyavādī. Śūnyavādī means voidist, and nirviśeṣa means impersonalist. The whole world is going on like that. So we should be careful about this voidists and impersonalists. We should take direct instruction from Kṛṣṇa, and He advises, yat karoṣi, yat juhoṣi, yat aśnāsi, yat tapasyasi kuruṣva tat mad-arpaṇam: "You can do whatever you like, but the result should be given to Me." karmāṇy evādhikāras te mā phaleṣu kadā... "Then you become Kṛṣṇa conscious." Of course, Kṛṣṇa does not advise that "You become a thief, and all the money stolen, you bring to Me." He does not say that. That is not. But even if you are a thief, still you can offer. Don't use it for your sense gratification. Yat karoṣi. "Whatever you've got. If you cannot earn honestly, dishonestly, you give it to Me."
So here the same thing is stated, tata enaṁ daṇḍa-pāṇeḥ sakāśaṁ kṛta-kilbiṣam: "He has acted sinfully; therefore he is punishable, and he must be taken to the Yamarāja." Neṣyāmo akṛta-nirveśam. Nirveśam means... Suppose I have committed some sins. I must be arrested. Sometimes a great criminal voluntarily goes to the police and surrenders because he knows, "I will be arrested, and if I surrender immediately, my punishment may be lesser." So you cannot escape the punishment. So punishment... Suppose you have stolen something. You must be punished for six months' imprisonment. That is the law. If you have killed somebody, then you must be killed. You must be hanged. This is the law. So that is called nirviśeṣam, to counteract. If I have stolen some property, then I must suffer imprisonment. This is counteracting, prāyaścitta. If you have infected some disease, then you must suffer for some time from that disease. So akṛta-nirveśam: "So he has not neutralized his sinful activities." Yatra daṇḍena śuddhyati: "Because he has not nullified his sinful activities by atonement or other measures, then he must be punsihed. Then he will be purified."
The other day I was giving the example that Kṛṣṇa is thief also. Mākhanaḥ-cora. And there is still in Remuṇā, Kṣiraḥ-cora. Kṣiraḥ-cora. He's famous, "The thief who stolen condensed milk." So this chori means stealing is there in Kṛṣṇa. Does it mean that it is bad? No. It is good. Because it is connected with Kṛṣṇa, it is good. Otherwise how people are worshiping a thief? And when it is used materially, when I steal something for my sense gratification, I am beaten with shoes. Then this is the distinction. Anything, bad or good, they are coming from Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa says in the Bhagavad-gītā, ahaṁ sarvasya prabhavo mattaḥ sarvaṁ pravartate (BG 10.8). Ahaṁ-sarvasya prabhavaḥ: "I am the origin of everything." So anything coming from Kṛṣṇa, how it can be bad? It cannot be bad. Absolute. Kṛṣṇa says personally, and Vedānta says, janmādy asya yataḥ: (SB 1.1.1) "Absolute Truth is that from where everything is coming." So the lust is also coming from Kṛṣṇa.
It is very nice. So the question may be that "Because everything has to be offered to Kṛṣṇa, so does it mean that Kṛṣṇa is hankering after my riches? Because I have amassed so much money by hard labor, and Kṛṣṇa is very clever that He's trying to take it away?" Yes. (laughs) Yes, that is the fact. Kṛṣṇa says in the Bhāgavata that yasyāham anugṛhnāmi hariṣye tad dhanaṁ śanaiḥ (SB 10.88.8). The Pāṇḍavas, they were friends of Kṛṣṇa, and they were put into so many difficulties. Their kingdom was stolen, their wife was insulted, they were forced to live in the forest, giving up the kingdom—so many difficulties. Their house was set in fire, the other party, his cousin brothers. So Yudhiṣṭhira Mahārāja, the eldest brother of the Pāṇḍavas... Practically this question was raised by Parīkṣit Mahārāja to Śukadeva Gosvāmī. The question was that Viṣṇu or Nārāyaṇa, He's the supreme opulent, Lakṣmī-pati, the husband of the goddess of fortune.
That is the best use. Similarly, if everything belongs to God, if I want to occupy it by force, I am thief. Stena eva sa ucyate (BG 3.12). Every one of us who is trying to occupy some portion of land, country, in the name of "It is my country," and fighting, both of them, they are thieves because that land does not belong to anyone. No nation. It belongs to God. If... We can understand, if the United Nation passed resolution that "The whole planet belongs to God; we are sons of God; so let us live peacefully as sons of God," oh, there is no quarrel. But that they will never understand. They'll simply try to divide. Just like some gangs of thieves, they have stolen some property. Now they have come out, and they're dividing, and one of them is asking, "My dear brothers, let us divide piously. Let us divide piously." (laughs) Nonsense. The whole property is impious. So what is the meaning of your piously divided?
Nectar of Devotion Lectures
So real love, Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa, or Kṛṣṇa with the gopīs, or Kṛṣṇa and the cowherd boys, Kṛṣṇa and Yaśodā Ma, Nanda Mahārāja, Kṛṣṇa and Kṛṣṇa's servants, Kṛṣṇa and Kṛṣṇa's trees, Kṛṣṇa and Kṛṣṇa's water, Kṛṣṇa and Kṛṣṇa's flower, Kṛṣṇa and Kṛṣṇa's cows, everything eternal. That is eternal. Ānanda-cinmaya-rasa-pratibhāvitābhis tābhir ya eva nija-rūpatayā-kalābhiḥ (Bs. 5.37). Kṛṣṇa's enjoyment means Kṛṣṇa's expansion. Just like in Bhāgavata, you know, when Kṛṣṇa's cowherd boys, calves and cows were stolen by Brahmā, Kṛṣṇa again expanded Himself in the similar forms so that the mother of the cowherd boys, the mother of the calves, they may not feel separation. Kṛṣṇa immediately replaced. That is Kṛṣṇa.
Therefore the Avantīpura brāhmaṇa says that kāmādīnāṁ kati na katidhā pālitā durnideśāḥ: "My dear Lord, I have served my senses so abominably. I should not have served in that way. Still I have done." Just like sometimes we commit so many criminal activities to satisfy our senses, because we want money. So pālitā durnideśāḥ. My conscience says, "You don't do it." But, because I want to enjoy my senses, I must do it. I must do it. A thief knows that "If I steal, I, then I'll be punished." He has heard from śāstra, or he has known the state laws, that, if one commits theft, he's punished. He knows it. And he has seen it, that one man has stolen, or committed theft, he's arrested, taken by the police. He has seen it. But still he commits theft. Why? Why? Therefore it is a... That is my... I become habituated to serve the process of sense gratification in such low grade that what is not to be done, I still do it. Therefore he says, kāmādīnāṁ kati na katidhā pālitā durnideśāḥ, teṣāṁ mayi na karuṇā jātā. But anyone who serves for somebody, ask him: "Whether you are satisfied? I have served you so much." They'll never say. Just like... Take the example—I've given this example many times—that who can serve his country than Mahatma Gandhi better? Nobody. But still he was shot dead. Still he was shot dead. His service was not acknowledged, recognized. Otherwise how he shot dead? There are so many cases. So many cases.
We are simply setting example that how we can execute our daily affairs in connection with Kṛṣṇa. That is our propaganda. So every gṛhastha, every house, where is the difficulty? Everyone can install the Deity. All the family members can gather together, chant Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra, and read śāstras, as we are doing in this temple. But the present tendency is that we have..., they have got sufficient time to smoke, they have got sufficient time for playing cards, they have sufficient time for drinking, going to the cinema, going to the sports. But they have no time for developing Kṛṣṇa consciousness. This is the difficulty. As soon as you talk of them, talk to them about Kṛṣṇa consciousness, they'll immediately say, "Sir, we have no time." And for other things, the paraphernalia of Kali-yuga, they have got enough time. They'll read newspapers, all full of rascal news. "One man has stolen, one man has kidnapped, one man has stabbed." These news, he'll very, with great interest he'll read. And as soon as we present Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu, "Oh, this is not good." This is the position.
So every... Stenayor sa ucyate. Everyone in this material world, one who has no Kṛṣṇa consciousness, he's a thief, he's a rogue, he's a robber. Everyone. Just like the Americans. They occupied the land of America by killing the Red Indians, and now they are claiming proprietor, and there is immigration department: "Nobody can come here. It is our land." This is going on. The first thing is stolen property, everyone. There is another story. A group of thieves stolen some things, and when they were dividing, one of them: "Kindly, morally divide. Morally divide. Honestly divide." The thing is taken dishonestly, and they are dividing honestly. This is going on, whole world. Everything is taken dishonestly, and when there is question of division, the United Nations honestly divides it. The association of the honest men, United Nations. All plunderers, rogues, thieves, and they have made an association, United Nations. You see. Basically they're all rogues and thieves. As soon as there is opportunity, they'll commit all criminal activities. And they're doing. So this is not philosophy. So here happiness by material possession is the happiness of the rogues and the thieves. One who is happy by possessing some material things, he is no better than rogue and thief. And one who is renouncing, brahma satyaṁ jagan mithyā, he is a fool. Because how, what you are renouncing? When did you possess it? If you possess something, then you can say, "I renounce it." But if you do not possess, then where is the question of renouncement? So both of them are wrong.
Sri Brahma-samhita Lectures
So He is the sarva-loka-maheśvaram (BG 5.29). He's the proprietor of all the planets. And still He's saying that dadāsi yat kuruṣva mad-arpaṇam: "Whatever you are giving in charity, please give it to Me." Why? It is for your interest, because the sooner you return Kṛṣṇa's money to Kṛṣṇa, you are better situated. In, in, of course, it will not be very palatable to hear, but actually we are all thieves. We have stolen God's property. That is material life. Anyone who has got anything without sense of God, it is to be understood that he has stolen the property. If you very cool-headed think over this matter, that you are... If we do not understand God, if we do not understand whose property we are using, and if you come to the real knowledge: without Kṛṣṇa consciousness, whatever we possess, that is stolen property, stolen property... Stena eva saḥ ucyate (BG 3.12). It is clearly said in the Bhagavad-gītā. If one does not expend his money for yajña, then he is to be understood... Just like there is many, many instances... Just like you have earned so much money. If you hide income tax, then you are criminal. You can say, "I have earned money.
Festival Lectures
So therefore his birthplace is mentioned, "the holy place, my lord and master, His Divine Grace." "O my master, the evangelic angel, give us thy light, light up thy candle. Struggle for existence, a human race, the only hope, His Divine Grace." So actually we are in a very precarious condition, the modern civilization, I mean to say, manipulated by the Western people. It is a soul-killing civilization, this civilization. By nature the chance is given after many, many evolutionary process. Jalajā nava lakṣāṇi sthāvarā lakṣā viṁśati. The evolutionary theory is there in the Padma Purāṇa. It is not Darwin's theory. Darwin stolen it from Padma Purāṇa, and he presented in a distorted way of his own imagination. Otherwise the Darwin's theory is not the original. The theory... It is not theory-fact. Jīva-jātiṣu. It is wandering within the cycle of jīva-jāti, different species of life. Tathā dehāntara prāptiḥ (BG 2.13). This is Vedic knowledge, this evolutionary process. It is not Darwin's theory.
So after publishing three parts of readings(?), then automatically, Guru Mahārāja gave me indication that "Now you can start for America." So some way or other, in 1965 I went to America, with great difficulty. But I took about two hundred sets of books. The customs clearance was done, I told them that "Oh, I am taking these books for distribution. Not for sale." Anyway, they passed, and with these books I reached America. And I was maintaining myself by selling these books for one year. There was no friend, and I was living in apartment with great difficulty. Still, the whole, I mean to say, stock, and my typewriter, my tape recorder—everything was stolen. In this way, I became very much depressed, and I was going to the shipping company, "When the next ship is going for, going to India?" So they gave me such and such date. Then I thought, "Let me wait for some time more. Then I shall return back." I had return ticket, of course. There was no difficulty.
Arrival Addresses and Talks
The matter is already there. Just like the young man and young woman, the attraction is already there, nitya-siddha. It is natural. And when they come near, talk little confidentially, then attraction increases, not that an artificial attraction. Similarly, our attraction for Kṛṣṇa is already there. Therefore... That is the Vṛndāvana picture. Vṛndāvana, everything is attracted with Kṛṣṇa. That is Vṛndāvana. The animals, the trees, the flowers, the land, and the cowherd boys, the elderly cowherds men, Nanda Mahārāja and others—all are attracted to Kṛṣṇa. This is Vṛndāvana. The Yamunā water, everything. Fruits, flowers and everything. That is Vṛndāvana. So Kṛṣṇa is the center of attraction. You might have read that when Brahmā stolen all Kṛṣṇa's associates, so He created Himself again all of them, and everyone was feeling more attracted by Kṛṣṇa. So this is natural. This is not unnatural. Our position is, natural position is, to be attracted by Kṛṣṇa. If we do not become attracted by Kṛṣṇa, that is unnatural. And to become attracted by Kṛṣṇa, that is not unnatural. That is natural.
Initiation Lectures
So the sooner they spare that money... Because if I am holding your money, if I give it to you, then I become released from my criminal activities. Suppose I have stolen something from your pocket and I become conscious, "Oh, this stealing is not good," so as soon as I return unto you, "Please take this money; I was mistaken," so thing is settled up. But if you hold it, then you are criminal. You will be punished. Similarly, everyone who is holding Kṛṣṇa's money, not returning to Kṛṣṇa, he is a criminal. He will be punished. How they are punished? That you have seen. In India, in recent... Everywhere, the same thing is going on. There was war between Pakistan and India. So all the rich men had to contribute fifty lakhs, fifty hundred thousand, according to everyone's capacity. Many millions of rupees were collected, and it was put into the gun powder, "Svāhā!" (laughter) So if you don't execute this svāhā, then you will have to execute that svāhā. (laughter) (sings out the word "svāhā!") That's all.
General Lectures
...how Kṛṣṇa's money is being stolen by this coward. Stena eva sa ucyate (BG 3.12). Anyone who is using Kṛṣṇa's money without acknowledging, he is a thief. That is stated in the Bhagavad-gītā. Stena eva sa ucyate: he's a thief. So in this material world, one who has no Kṛṣṇa consciousness, one who is not using things in Kṛṣṇa consciousness... Everyone is using Kṛṣṇa's... Nobody has got any property. Īśāvāsyam idaṁ sarvam (ISO 1). Everything belongs to Kṛṣṇa. That is the version in Īśopaniṣad. Now, in this American land, now divided into Canada, North America, South America, but originally, to whom this land belongs? It belongs to Kṛṣṇa. You have come here and have divided Kṛṣṇa's property and you have named "This is Canada, this is North America, this is South America," and you are claiming proprietorship.
So... But karma is accepted? But I do not know. Dr. Urquhart was arguing that if I am suffering or enjoying as the effect of my previous life, so who is the witness? His argument was like this. Just like if I have committed some criminal act, in the court there is need of witness. Then one has to prove that somebody has seen that he has done this. This is simply a legal formality. Who is going to steal while keeping one witness? Nobody's going, but court wants that who has seen that he has stolen. Anyway, Dr. Urquhart's argument was that "Who is the witness? I am suffering the reaction of my previous bad or evil activities, but who is the witness?" But at that time we were not so intelligent. We could not answer. But later on, when we were grown up and studied Bhagavad-gītā, then here, in the Bhagavad-gītā, we saw that upadraṣṭā. The Lord is upadraṣṭā, He is witness. Upadraṣṭā. Anumantā. Anumantā means ordering. You cannot do anything without being sanctioned by the Supreme Personality of Godhead. You have no power. Therefore we are, in all respect, we are dependent. That we have got very nice experience. This hand is moving, but if the power is withdrawn, I cannot move my hand.
That is called demonic tendency, falsely thinking that "I am God." In spite of all education, they have not the little sense that how he becomes a God. Here is God, Kṛṣṇa. We have got His activities. He married sixteen thousand wives, and He constructed sixteen thousand palaces, and He expanded Himself into sixteen thousand forms. Here is one God. And you are or I am sitting here; I cannot expand up to my apartment also, and how I am expecting to be called as God? These are the test. But these people are popular because certain class of men, āsuri-bhāva, they also want to be cheated like that. Therefore Kṛṣṇa says, na māṁ duṣkṛtino mūḍhāḥ prapadyante narādhamāḥ: (BG 7.15) "Those who are miscreants, those who are rascals, mūḍha, narādhama, lowest of the mankind, māyayāpahṛta-jñānā, and stolen of his knowledge by māyā, such persons, because they are asuras, demons, they do not surrender unto Me." So we have to take it from the statement of Kṛṣṇa that anyone who does not understand Kṛṣṇa, who does not surrender unto Kṛṣṇa, they are to be understood under these classifications.
The Vedānta-sūtra says every living entity is ānanda-maya. Nature, living entity's nature is to be blissful, happy, always pleasing, but in our material condition of life we are just the opposite. There is neither pleasure, nor knowledge, nor eternity. But these three things are the symptoms of spiritual existence: eternity, blissfulness, and knowledge. (break) Hare Rāma Hare Rāma Rāma Rāma Hare Hare, these names are so sweet that how I can relish the transcendental sweet... (break) ...Rādhārāṇī, but in the Goloka Vṛndāvana, everything—the land, the water, the trees, the flowers, the cows, the cowherds boy, everything—they are expansion of Kṛṣṇa's internal potency, ānanda-cinmaya-rasa. Ānanda-cinmaya-rasa-pratibhāvitābhis tābhir ya eva nija-rūpatayā kalābhiḥ (Bs. 5.37). That is Kṛṣṇa's expansion of His own person. Just like when Brahmā stole all the cows and calves and cowherd boys of Kṛṣṇa to test Kṛṣṇa, whether He is actually the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa immediately expanded Himself in the typical same way: all the cows, calves, cowherd boys.
Suppose if you are free, traveling on the bus or on the train, you have got time. So instead of reading so many news from the newspaper, if you utilize... The newspaper means the repeated things. Every morning you see something: "Somebody has stolen, somebody was killed, some political leaders have bluffed you," and so many things, the same thing, repetition of the same thing. This is also repetition, Hare Kṛṣṇa, but by this repetition, you enlighten your spiritual life. And by that repetition, you simply waste your time, that carvita-carvaṇānām. So after reading your newspaper, you throw it away. It has no... After one hour of its publication, it has no value. But this Bhagavad-gītā, it was spoken five thousand, years ago, still they are being read with respect and honor. So this kind of literature should be read, not a literature which is printed and you read and glance over and throw it away. So that is man-manā, thinking of Kṛṣṇa. Man-manā bhava mad-bhaktaḥ. Kṛṣṇa says, "You become My devotee." Man-manā bhava mad-bhaktaḥ mad-yājī: "You worship Me."
Those who are mūḍha, foolish, grossly foolish, those who are narādhama, those who are lowest of mankind. Those who are māyayāpahṛta-jñānā, those whose knowledge is stolen by illusion. Those, āsuraṁ bhāvam āśritāḥ, those who are of the atheistic nature of demons. These four kinds of persons do not surrender to Kṛṣṇa. In the purport in Bhagavad-gītā Śrīla Prabhupāda has explained that practically 99.9% of the human population fits in these categories, will not surrender unto the Supreme Lord. Therefore the International Society for Krishna Consciousness is formed to give opportunity to those who choose to surrender to the Lord to associate with one another, to cooperate together in serving the mission of the Lord.
Philosophy Discussions
Prabhupāda: Now what is there? Finished. (break) ...fact. It is known to the Vedic culture millions of years ago. (indistinct) I was reading, aśitiṁ caturaś caiva, this is Brahmā-vaivarta Purāṇa and this Brahmā-vaivarta Purāṇa was written by Vyāsadeva five thousand years ago. And it was known long, long years ago. It was written in the Purāṇas, but it was coming by tradition long, long ago. So (indistinct). He has stolen this theory, this idea, from Brahmā-vaivarta Purāṇa, and he has tried to prove it in a different way. Otherwise this evolutionary theory is already there.
- aśitiṁ caturaś caiva
- lakṣāṁs tāñ jīva-jātiṣu
- bhramadbhiḥ (puruṣaiḥ prāpyaṁ
- mānuṣyaṁ janma-paryayāt)
Śyāmasundara: But Darwin doesn't have any conception of the jīva.
Prabhupāda: He's a nonsense. That's all.
Śyāmasundara: Yes. Whatever I choose, I must be responsible for it. But it doesn't matter so much what...
Prabhupāda: But if the beginning is irresponsibility, then where is the question of responsibility? This is nonsense philosophy. If the beginning is irresponsibility... Just like there is a story, some thieves stolen some gold, and there were many, four, five thieves, so they were dividing the stolen property, and one them said, "Now let us divide it honestly." (laughter) The whole thing is stolen property, and they are speaking of honesty. Just like you Americans, you came from Europe and other countries, and you have stolen the property. Now you make immigration, "You cannot come, you cannot come." It is like this philosophy. The whole thing is stolen property, and they are talking of honesty; they are citing scripture. So where is the responsibility, if the beginning is irresponsibility, chance?
Śyāmasundara: Actually, his idea is not to let them be punished but to reward.
Prabhupāda: This is the (indistinct), that the thief has learned from the lawbooks, from the religious books, that stealing is bad. If one steals he'll be punished. Because in the human society the scriptures that they have got. No scripture will say that you should steal, for example, neither the lawbook will say that you steal. So if you have heard from scriptures and from lawbooks that stealing is criminal, and by committing this sinful activity I shall be punished, and if you have seen also that anyone who has violated this law and stolen others' property has been arrested and policeman has taken him to the jail, he has seen, he has heard, he has completely experienced, but still, why does he steal? What is the answer?
Devotee: Impelled. Because (indistinct) as a human being. He has a tendency because of the four defects of a human being.
Prabhupāda: Then the question arises, how to rectify these defects?
Hayagrīva: Automatically.
Prabhupāda: Simply I have to set up the machine. Just like in a press, the machine has to be set up, and automatically you will see the magazines are coming all complete. The printing, the binding—everything complete; you simply take it now. There are many machines like that, that you set up the machine and simply stand and see how from the raw state it has come into the finishing state. So bījāhaṁ sarva-bhūtānām. He has created such a seed that you sow the seed and that the tree will come. This is God's machine. He has created the seed only. Now the seed of the universe is coming from Him. Yasyaika-niśvasita-kālam athāvalambya (Bs. 5.48). He is breathing, and thousands and millions of seeds of universes are coming, and they are becoming manifested. Same way, seed. And when He is inhaling, everything is finished. So this manifestation and not manifestation is depending on His breathing process. When He is exhaling you see the manifestation; when He is inhaling, everything is finished. This is going on. So the cause of creation and annihilation is His breathing. So He is breathing always, but the process of creation and annihilation is going on. But if you think, "Kṛṣṇa is breathing like me," then it is finished; your knowledge is finished. Avajānanti māṁ mūḍhā mānuṣīṁ tanum āśritam (BG 9.11). "Because I am speaking to these rascal like a human being, they are thinking Me as one of them." This is..., they are mūḍha. They are misled. As soon as he thinks Kṛṣṇa is, "Ah, He is a person like me. He is born in Mathurā, I have seen. How He becomes God?" Brahmā was bewildered. "This boy, this cowherd boy is accepted as God. Let me test." Indra was misled. Muhyanti yat sūrayoḥ. Even big, big demigods, they are also bewildered. So Kṛṣṇa answered them. Brahmā had stolen all His calves and cows and friends, and when he came to see what He is doing, they were the same. He has expanded Himself. He is surprised. "Well I have actually taken His calves and cows. They are sleeping under my spell." Then he answered, "Yes, He is God." Then he is praying there, in the picture.
| Page Title: | Stolen (Lectures) |
| Compiler: | Visnu Murti, Mayapur |
| Created: | 21 of Mar, 2012 |
| Totals by Section: | BG=0, SB=0, CC=0, OB=0, Lec=64, Con=0, Let=0 |
| No. of Quotes: | 64 |