Prabhupāda: I should say that Moscow are gentlemen. Because they cannot understand, they say, "Don't believe."
Ambassador: It's mūḍha-dhī.
Prabhupāda: Yes. (laughs) But these rascals, they say: "Yes, I'm religious," but he's doing most irreligious activities. You see? I asked the Christian so many times that, "Your Bible says, 'Thou shall not kill.' And why you are killing?" They cannot give any satisfactory answer. This is my experience. It is clearly said, "Thou shall not kill." And they are maintaining slaughterhouses. What is this? The other day in London, one lady, she was showing me . . . she . . .
(aside) You were present? Broke some grass blade?
Haṁsadūta: Oh, yes, I was present.
Prabhupāda: Just see. Breaking a grass blade is equal to keeping a big, organized slaughterhouse. Just see.
Ambassador: I see.
Prabhupāda: This is their intelligence. (laughs) She has complained, "It is also killing." Supposing it is killing. Actually it is not killing. Supposing it is killing. This killing and keeping organized slaughterhouse killing is the same thing. Just see. People have become so degraded.
Ambassador: This is sophistry.
Prabhupāda: They give this example that "You also kill vegetable, just this grass blade is broken. It is killed. So it is equal to maintaining a big slaughterhouse." You see? This is going on, under the name of re . . . they, they are Christian nuns. In London they come to me, talk some time. So . . . and in India also, we see now cow killing is going on, regular slaughterhouse and . . . what can I say? You are government man. (laughs) You may take some wrong views about me. What is your opinion, personal?
Ambassador: I'm afraid I'm a very democratic person. If people, if they sincerely believe that they cannot exist without meat, they should be permitted, and once that is granted . . .
Prabhupāda: No, no, no.
Ambassador: . . . you have to organize slaughterhouses.
Prabhupāda: Then, then that is the . . . our misfortune that we have lost our Indian culture.
Ambassador: Because . . .
Prabhupāda: Indian culture.
Ambassador: Your Grace, what you want is really a sort of complete . . .
Prabhupāda: No, I don't want.
Ambassador: . . . a strong, obedient, disciplined society. But the moment the disciplinarian becomes a dictator, it is . . .
Prabhupāda: It is, it is the duty of the government to see. That is the government. Strong government means . . .
Ambassador: It's the Rāma-rājya ideal, I'm not . . . (indistinct)
Prabhupāda: Yes. Strong government means that, that government should be very, very vigilant that citizens are doing their duty properly. That is the first duty. They should be given all protection. At the same time . . . just like father gives protection to the children, at the same time, very strict that they are morally and disciplinary, they are going, coming out nice.
That is father's duty. It is government's duty. If the father thinks, "Let my son go to hell. I don't care. I give them some food. That's all," is that father's duty? No. Father's duty, to arrange for their food, for their dress, for their shelter, at the same time to see that they are growing nice, not rascals. That is father's duty. Similarly, government's duty is that. We see from Vedic śāstra government duty is that. Otherwise why there is need of government?
Government . . . now it is government, but formerly it was the king. The king must be representative of God. Because . . . who is God? God means nityo nityānāṁ cetanaś cetanānām, eko yo bahūnāṁ vidadhāti kāmān (Kaṭha Upaniṣad 2.2.13). Kaṭhopaniṣad. So God, what is God? God means He's also person. Nityo nityānāṁ cetanaś cetanānām. He is also eternal, He's also cognizant. We are also eternal, we are also cognizant. But what is the difference between God and we? The difference is He maintains us. Eko yo bahūnāṁ vidadhāti kāmān. Bahu-vacanam, nityānām, cetanānām, this is bahu-vacanam. And nityaḥ, cetanaḥ, eka-vacanam. So what is the difference between this singular number and plural number? The singular number is maintaining the plural number. Eko bahūnāṁ yo vidadhāti kāmān.
So God is maintaining everyone. So difference is that He is so powerful, He can maintain every living entity. He's maintaining the elephants in Africa, who eat, at a time, forty kilos. He's supplying food. There's no scarcity of food in the jungle for the elephants. Neither there is scarcity . . . in the hole of your room, you'll find hundreds and thousands of chinti. Who is feeding them, within the hole? Unless they're eating, sleeping, the same thing are there. How they are living very nicely? But who is giving them food within the hole, a small hole? You did not provide that hole. You did not provide their food. But there are hundreds and millions of ants. They're living there within the hole very happily. Sometimes they come out. We see: "Oh, wherefrom so many hundreds coming?" So eko bahūnāṁ yo vidadhāti kāmān. That is God. He's supplying food.