So according to our śāstra there are seven mothers. Ādau mātā, real mother, from whose body I have taken my birth. Ādau mātā, she is mother. Guru-patnī, the wife of teacher. She is also mother. Ādau mātā guru-patnī, brāhmaṇī. The wife of a brāhmaṇa, she is also mother. Ādau mātā guru-patnī brāhmaṇī rāja-patnikā, the queen is mother. So how many? Ādau mātā guru-patnī brāhmaṇī rāja-patnikā, then dhenu. Dhenu means cow. She is also mother. And dhātrī. Dhātrī means nurse. Dhenu dhātrī tathā pṛthvī, also the earth. Earth is also mother. The people are taking care of mother land, where he is born. That is good. But by the by they should take care of mother cow also. But they are not taking care of mother. Therefore they are sinful. They must suffer. They must have, there must be war, pestilence, famine. As soon as people become sinful, immediately nature's punishment will come automatically. You cannot avoid it.
War and sinful activity (Lectures)
Expressions researched:
"sin"
|"sinful"
|"sins"
|"war"
|"wars"
Lectures
Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures
If we become addicted to sinful activities, the result will be we shall be degraded. But they do not know. Even so-called religious priests, they support killing, condone it. Killing is impious, sinful activity, but in the name of religion, killing is also going on. If someone says, "It is my religion to cut throat," will it be accepted very nice thing? Sometimes... Just like here is the war. This is also religious war. But still, discrimination.
So Kṛṣṇa is not immoral. Kṛṣṇa is not engaging Arjuna to commit such sinful activities, svajanaṁ hatvā. No. Kṛṣṇa is engaging him in His service. So one has to understand that. So when Arjuna will understand that "This war, this fighting is not for my sense gratification, it is for Kṛṣṇa's sense gratification..." Then he agreed, because he is a devotee. Kariṣye vacanaṁ tava: (BG 18.73) "Yes I shall now act." This is the proposition.
Just like, not every time the police has to be ordered by the superior authority to punish the criminal. They know how to punish. So the nature knows how to punish these criminals. Therefore, the scientists are finding now shortage of petrol, shortage of this, shortage... What to do? What to do? This is the position. Otherwise, there is no question of overpopulation. The supply is restricted. That is the problem. Eko yo bahūnām. Because He supplies all the necessities, the supply will be restricted. As we become more and more sinful and without Kṛṣṇa consciousness, they will be put into difficulties, they will be dying within the womb, they will be killed, within the womb, there will be war, there will be pestilence, there will be famine, there will be earthquake. In so many ways, we have to die.
So this is not a fact that the karma-vādīs simply by discharging your duties nicely... This is... On principle, it is all right. But we must know what is actual morality. There are so many examples. Just like when there is war, to kill the enemies, that is morality. But in peaceful condition if you kill a person that is immorality or sinful. The process is the same, morality or immorality, the process is the same. But sometimes it is moral, sometimes immoral. So how it will be standardized? Therefore Bhāgavata says dharmaṁ tu sākṣād bhagavat-praṇītam (SB 6.3.19). Real dharma, real religion, morality, honesty, they can be decided on the words of the Supreme Lord. That is the... When Kṛṣṇa says "This is all right," then it is all right. When Kṛṣṇa says it is not right, then it is not right. This is our decision. We Kṛṣṇa conscious men, we simply accept. And that is a fact. That is a fact in this way because Kṛṣṇa is the greatest authority, Supreme Being. Supreme means the greatest authority. Just like state says "Now it is wartime. If you kill a number of enemies then you will be awarded with gold medal." The same process of killing. But at another time, when there is no war, if you kill one person you'll be hanged. The killing process is the same, but the judgement is given by the greatest authority, the government. "This is all right, this is not right." Therefore, standard of morality means to abide by the orders of the greatest authority. That is standard of morality. This is the conclusion. You cannot make your own morality. No. If Kṛṣṇa says "This is all right," then it is all right. Otherwise, it is not.
According to our position, according to our quality, work must be executed. But the fruit of the result, we should not accept. If we accept the fruit, then I must be responsible for the reaction, reaction of the work. Now, this question has come to be discussed by Lord Kṛṣṇa to Arjuna because Arjuna was a military man, he belonged to the administrative class, and this Bhagavad-gītā was described in the battlefield. So he was hesitating from his duty: "I shall not fight. I shall not fight because by killing my kinsmen, by killing my spiritual master, by killing my teacher, killing my grandfather, I will be sinful." That was his conclusion. Now, Kṛṣṇa says that "If you think in that way, that you shall be, I mean to say, enjoying, enjoying the reaction. Then, of course, you'll not be working in the spiritual field. You don't take in that way because this war is a duty and because I want that you should fight." It is the order from the authority. Kṛṣṇa is accepted as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. "Therefore you should fight." So fighting for the cause of the Supreme, that will not affect you. That will not affect you. Just like you can take an example that fighting for the country and killing the enemies, that is taken into good account, but fighting for one's personal cause, fighting or killing one man for personal cause, that man is hanged by the laws of the state. Similarly, fighting is also not bad if it is done for the supreme cause. Anything which is done for the supreme cause, that is transcendental. That is above, I mean to say, our mundane calculation.
Similarly, in our eating, sleeping, mating and defending we are using so many wrong things. Just like formerly there was also fight. That fight was being conducted with arrows and bows. So if you want to kill your enemy, you'll kill your enemy, not others. Other innocent people will not be killed. But nowadays, for defending, we are using atom bomb. So many thousands of innocent men are being killed. So therefore to manufacture or to invent such weapons, lethal weapons, is requiring very good merit, but duṣkṛtina, for committing sinful activities. Even war, there is dharma. That can be also dharmāviruddha. Just like Arjuna fought. He fought dharmāviruddha, under the guidance of Kṛṣṇa. That is not ordinary fighting. That fighting is Kṛṣṇa, because he was fighting under the guidance of Kṛṣṇa. Personally he refused to fight, but when he understood that Kṛṣṇa wanted that fighting, under His guidance he fought. That fighting is Kṛṣṇa.
So similarly, there are actions, different actions. Some of them are duṣkārya and some of them are sukārya. Sukārya means when you act such action under the guidance of Kṛṣṇa. That is nice. And when you act under your whims, then that is miscreant
Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures
So the more people will be materialistic, the world will be burdened. Therefore there must be war, pestilence, famine, to clear these rascals, clear out. You'll find these things. In Europe, every ten years, twenty years, there is a fight, war. It is the history. From the Greece history, Roman history and Seven Years War, Hundred Years War-wars. There must be war, because they are sinful. The same sinful, killing animals continually. So there is war, reaction. So what is that war? To lessen the burden. To lessen the burden.
When people become too much sinful, too much godless, the world becomes overburdened, and there must be some machine to kill. Prakṛteḥ kriyamāṇāni guṇaiḥ karmāṇi sarvaśaḥ ahaṅkāra (BG 3.27). They are thinking independently. No independence. As soon as you become sinful, there is reaction immediately. Immediately there will be war, pestilence, famine, flu, and so on, so on.
Kṛṣṇa is exhibiting how things are going on. As soon as there will be burdensome, there will be some war, pestilence, famine—and finished. And finished. You don't require to reduce population by contraceptive method. By nature's way, the wholesale it will be reduced, bhū-bhārān sañjahāra. By nature's way. Why should you commit sinful activities? You don't beget children unnecessarily and don't kill them. That is religion. That is civilization. Why should you unnecessarily produce children like cats and dog? Their śāstra says that don't become father, don't become mother if you cannot save your sons from death. This is the responsibility.
The bums. Just see how nasty they are. They were lying down on the street, and as soon as get some money, immediately go to the wine shop, purchase one bottle, and not eating nicely, no dress, nothing of the... Many of them. The Bowery Street is famous for that purpose. So they are not happy, but they are thinking they are happy. This is māyā. (laughter) This is māyā. The materialistic persons, by engaging themselves in sinful activities, they are not happy, but they are thinking that "We are happy." In this European portion of the world, they are... We have experienced two big wars, and still, the war cloud is always there. Not only here, everywhere. So this materialistic civilization, actually people are not very happy.
Nārāyaṇa: Prabhupāda..., question? (pause) Could you elaborate on the position of the person who comes to Kṛṣṇa consciousness and is chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa and has committed all these sinful activities in this lifetime. For instance, let's say a person has been in the, involved in the Vietnam War due to his relation with the material world and has been drawn into this activity. And now he's in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. How is he then relieved of the law of karma for his activity?
Prabhupāda: You come and live with us. That's all. Is it very difficult? Our students, they are living with us. You simply come and live with us—you are free from all karma.
When Kṛṣṇa showed the gigantic form, virāḍ-mūrti, Arjuna enquired, "Who are You, Sir?" Because he was dealing with Kṛṣṇa as friend, but after seeing the virāḍ-rūpa, the gigantic universal form, so he enquired, "Who are You, Sir?" He replied, kālo 'smi: "I am kāla, kāla. I have appeared to take away all these sinful demons." So Kṛṣṇa appears still in form of war, big gigantic war, and takes away so many millions of people by one stroke. This is going on. So we should have sense that "We hear from the śāstras that we are eternal. Why we are subjugated to these laws of nature, kāla? I do not wish to die, I do not wish to suffer, I do not wish to be old man, I do not wish to be diseased, and these things are forced upon me. I have to accept, and still, I am so fool, I am thinking I am independent." This is called foolishness, rascaldom.
So you are suffering. You are maintaining so many slaughterhouses, and when it will be mature, there will be war, the wholesale murder. Finished. One atom bomb—finished. You'll have to suffer. Don't think that "Innocent animals, they cannot protest. Let us kill and eat." No. You'll be also punished. Wait for accumulation of your sinful activities, and there will be war, and the America will drop the atom bomb, and Russia will be finished. Both will be finished. Go on now enjoying. It takes time. Just like even if you infect some disease, it takes time. Not that immediately you infect, and immediately the disease is there.
Nectar of Devotion Lectures
So these things take place in war, sometimes. There is no international law, no humanitarian... Everything goes on. Everything. Similarly, the point is that as people act, hooks and crooks, everything, for satisfying the senses, gaining some material profit, similarly, if need be, everything can be accepted for Kṛṣṇa's service. Everything can be, can be accepted. Otherwise, how Sanātana Gosvāmī is bribing? How Kṛṣṇa is advising Yudhiṣṭhira to speak lie? There is a verse, man nimitte kṛtaṁ pāpaṁ puṇya eva kalpate. Sometimes it appears that this is a sinful act, but if it is done for Kṛṣṇa, the, our bhakti is ānukūlyena kṛṣṇānu-śīlanam (CC Madhya 19.167). We have to satisfy Kṛṣṇa. "Kṛṣṇa is asking me to tell lie. Yes, I shall tell lie." That is bhakti. If I consider, "Oh, I never spoken lies in my life. How can I speak lie?" that is not bhakti. Because it is prātikūla, against the desire of Kṛṣṇa. Common people cannot understand this.
General Lectures
Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: The law in the Bible says, "Thou shalt not kill." But the federal law of the United States says you must go into the Army and kill. So which to follow? There is a difference. They both say opposite things.
Prabhupāda: Yes. The thing is... It is very simple to understand that... Just like a soldier is killing and the state is awarding him medal. And the same soldier when comes home, if he kills somebody, he's hanged. Why? He can say, "When I was in the war field, I have killed hundreds of men and I was given gold medal. And now I have killed simply one man I am going to be hanged? Why?" So it is the cause. If the cause if great, then killing is no sin.
Young man (5): How does one interpret if the cause is great?
Prabhupāda: By satisfy... That I have already explained. Saṁsiddhir hari-toṣaṇam (SB 1.2.13). You have to see whether God is satisfied. That cause is great. Perfection of your activity will be judged whether by your action God is satisfied.
Philosophy Discussions
Śyāmasundara: He says that the opposite of faith is sin, that sin is the same as despair. Sin and despair are the same.
Prabhupāda: Well, unless you have got complete sense of God, there is no question of sin or piety. Because if you do not know what is the standard of sin and piety... Just like the same example can be given that in this India-Pakistan war, that party killed so many men and this party killed so many men on the other side. When you take killing as sin, but it's piety. From their side it is piety; from our side it is piety. So how these sinful activities or pious activities are considered? To satisfy the higher authorities.
Śyāmasundara: Yes. He means faith in the orders of God; the opposite of that.
Prabhupāda: It is not a question of faith, it is a question of fact. Then it is, the same example, just like Arjuna. He decided to become nonviolent in the beginning, but at the end he decided to fight and kill. Now which is piety and which is sinful? Actually, this decision to kill by the order of Kṛṣṇa is piety, because he satisfies the higher authorities. So in this material world we concoct that "This is sinful, this is piety," but actual sinful and piety is decided on the order of the Supreme God. That is (indistinct). So if you have no connection with God, so our these thoughts of sinful and piety, they are simply mental concoction. It has no value.
Prabhupāda: So why one should encroach upon others' property which is allotted by God? That creates disturbance. So this so-called modern civilized man, first of all they create disturbances, and then they want to make some adjustment. Of course, for the good of a certain people, if somebody encroaches... But they do not know what is good. They encroach upon others' property for their personal sense gratification. Otherwise, if for the good of the local people somebody, some (indistinct), just like the Aryans, they conquered over many islands or places, but that was for the good of them. Just like the Pāṇḍavas, they also ruled over, but the Pāṇḍavas were God conscious devotees and they made everyone enlightened in God consciousness. That kind of encroachment. Just like Lord Rāmacandra went to Ceylon, or Lanka, and conquered over it, because Rāvaṇa was a demon. So He conquered, Lord Rāmacandra conquered over the property of Rāvaṇa, and gave it to Vibhīṣaṇa, but He did not take anything. Just like Kṛṣṇa conducted, managed this Kurukṣetra war personally, but the kingdom was given to Yudhiṣṭhira. He did not encroach. So this kind of encroachment is all right, that everyone should be Kṛṣṇa conscious, everyone should be highly elevated in spiritual life. For spreading this civilization, encroaching on others' property is quite fit. But if one encroaches upon others' property for self-aggrandizement, for stealing for his own sense gratification, that is sinful.
| Page Title: | War and sinful activity (Lectures) |
| Compiler: | Labangalatika, Namrata |
| Created: | 23 of May, 2010 |
| Totals by Section: | BG=0, SB=0, CC=0, OB=0, Lec=18, Con=0, Let=0 |
| No. of Quotes: | 18 |