Bhagvat: In a perfect human civilization there must be a class of men fully trained as perfect brähmanas. Similarly, there must be kshatriyas to rule the country very nicely according to the injunctions of the shästras, and there must be vaishyas who can protect the cows, 7th Sept

Bhagvat: In a perfect human civilization there must be a class of men fully trained as perfect brähmanas. Similarly, there must be kshatriyas to rule the country very nicely according to the injunctions of the shästras, and there must be vaishyas who can protect the cows. Because the Vedic civilization is lost, cows are not protected, but instead indiscriminately killed in slaughterhouses. Such are the acts of demons. Therefore this is a demoniac civilization. The cutting of trees is prohibited unless necessary for the service of Lord Vishnu.

TRANSLATION

(Hiranyakasipu, demon telling his juniors) : Immediately go wherever there is good protection for the cows and brähmanas and wherever the Vedas are studied in terms of the varnäsrama principles. Set fire to those places and cut from the roots the trees there, which are the source of life.

PURPORT

The picture of a proper human civilization is indirectly described here. In a perfect human civilization there must be a class of men fully trained as perfect brähmanas. Similarly, there must be kshatriyas to rule the country very nicely according to the injunctions of the sästras, and there must be vaisyas who can protect the cows. 

The word gävam indicates that cows should be given protection. Because the Vedic civilization is lost, cows are not protected, but instead indiscriminately killed in slaughterhouses. Such are the acts of demons. Therefore this is a demoniac civilization. The varnäsrama-dharma mentioned here is essential for human civilization. Unless there is a brähmana to guide, a kshatriya to rule perfectly, and a perfect vaisya to produce food and protect the cows, how will people live peacefully? It is impossible.

Another point is that trees also should be given protection. During its lifetime, a tree should not be cut for industrial enterprises. In Kali-yuga, trees are indiscriminately and unnecessarily cut for industry, in particular for paper mills that manufacture a profuse quantity of paper for the publication of demoniac propaganda, nonsensical literature, huge quantities of newspapers and many other paper products. 

This is a sign of a demoniac civilization. The cutting of trees is prohibited unless necessary for the service of Lord Vishnu. Yajnärthät karmano'nyatra loko'yam karma-bandhanam: "Work done as a sacrifice for Lord Vishnu must be performed, otherwise work binds one to this material world." 

But if the paper mills stop producing paper, one may argue, how can our ISKCON literature be published? 

The answer is that the paper mills should manufacture paper only for the publication of ISKCON literature because ISKCON literature is published for the service of Lord Vishnu. This literature clarifies our relationship with Lord Vishnu, and therefore the publication of ISKCON literature is the performance of yajna. Yajnärthät karmano 'nyatra loko 'yam karma-bandhanam. 

Yajna must be performed, as indicated by the superior authorities. The cutting of trees simply to manufacture paper for the publication of unwanted literature is the greatest sinful act.

Gita shloka 5.16, Those who have forgotten Krsna must certainly be bewildered, but those who are in Krsna consciousness are not bewildered at all, 6th Sept

Gita shloka 5.16, Those who have forgotten Krsna must certainly be bewildered, but those who are in Krsna consciousness are not bewildered at all. And what is that knowledge? Perfect knowledge is achieved when one surrenders unto Krsna After passing through many, many births, when one perfect in knowledge surrenders unto Krsna, or when one attains Krsna consciousness, then everything is revealed to him, as the sun reveals everything in the daytime. one has to seek out such a bona fide spiritual master and, under him, learn what Krsna consciousness is. One can know God and one's relationship with God only when one actually meets a representative of God.

TRANSLATION

When, however, one is enlightened with the knowledge by which nescience is destroyed, then his knowledge reveals everything, as the sun lights up everything in the daytime.

PURPORT

Those who have forgotten Krsna must certainly be bewildered, but those who are in Krsna consciousness are not bewildered at all.

It is stated in the Bhagavad-gita, "sarvam jnana-plavena," "jnanagnih sarva-karmani" and "na hi jnanena sadrsam." Knowledge is always highly esteemed.

And what is that knowledge? Perfect knowledge is achieved when one surrenders unto Krsna, as is said in the Seventh Chapter, 19th verse: bahunam janmanam ante jnanavan mam prapadyate.

After passing through many, many births, when one perfect in knowledge surrenders unto Krsna, or when one attains Krsna consciousness, then everything is revealed to him, as the sun reveals everything in the daytime.

The living entity is bewildered in so many ways.

For instance, when he thinks himself God, unceremoniously, he actually falls into the last snare of nescience.

If a living entity is God, then how can he become bewildered by nescience? Does God become bewildered by nescience? If so, then nescience, or Satan, is greater than God.

Real knowledge can be obtained from a person who is in perfect Krsna consciousness.

Therefore, one has to seek out such a bona fide spiritual master and, under him, learn what Krsna consciousness is.

The spiritual master can drive away all nescience, as the sun drives away darkness.

Even though a person may be in full knowledge that he is not this body but is transcendental to the body, he still may not be able to discriminate between the soul and the Supersoul.

However, he can know everything well if he cares to take shelter of the perfect, bona fide Krsna conscious spiritual master.

One can know God and one's relationship with God only when one actually meets a representative of God.

A representative of God never claims that he is God, although he is paid all the respect ordinarily paid to God because he has knowledge of God.

One has to learn the distinction between God and the living entity.

Lord Sri Krsna therefore stated in the Second Chapter (2.12) that every living being is individual and that the Lord also is individual.

They were all individuals in the past, they are individuals at present, and they will continue to be individuals in the future, even after liberation.

At night we see everything as one in the darkness, but in day when the sun is up, we see everything in its real identity.

Identity with individuality in spiritual life is real knowledge.

Bhagvat: through the popularizing of Hari-kirtana, or the saìkirtana movement, the brahminical culture and kshatriya government will automatically come back, and people will be extremely happy, 6th Sept

Bhagvat: through the popularizing of Hari-kirtana, or the saìkirtana movement, the brahminical culture and kshatriya government will automatically come back, and people will be extremely happy. Because the population of the modern world consists mostly of shüdras, the brahminical culture is now lost and is extremely difficult to reestablish in a proper way. Lord Chaitanya has recommended the chanting of the holy name of the Lord, which will revive brahminical culture very easily. Because of the poisonous effects of Kali-yuga, the government will adopt the policies of dasyus, or plunderers.

TRANSLATION

The basic principle of brahminical culture is to satisfy Lord Vishnu, the personification of sacrificial and ritualistic ceremonies. Lord Vishnu is the personified reservoir of all religious principles, and He is the shelter of all the demigods, the great pitäs, and the people in general. When the brähmanas are killed, no one will exist to encourage the kshatriyas to perform yajnas, and thus the demigods, not being appeased by yajna, will automatically die.

PURPORT

Since Vishnu is the central point of brahminical culture, Hiranyakasipu's plan was to kill Vishnu, for if Vishnu were killed, naturally the brahminical culture would also be lost. 

With brahminical culture lost, yajna would no longer be performed, and for want of yajna the regular distribution of rainfall would cease (yajnäd bhavati parjanyam). Thus there would be disturbances all over the world, and naturally the demigods would be defeated. From this verse we get a clear indication of how human society is disturbed when the Vedic Äryan civilization is killed and the Vedic ritualistic ceremonies performed by the brähmanas are stopped. Kalau südra-sambhavam: because the population of the modern world consists mostly of südras, the brahminical culture is now lost and is extremely difficult to reestablish in a proper way. 

Therefore Lord Chaitanya has recommended the chanting of the holy name of the Lord, which will revive brahminical culture very easily.

harer näma harer näma

harer nämaiva kevalam

kalau nästy eva nästy eva

nästy eva gatir anyathä 

Because of the increment in demoniac population, people have lost brahminical culture. Nor is there a kshatriya government. Instead, the government is a democracy in which any südra can be voted into taking up the governmental reigns and capture the power to rule. Because of the poisonous effects of Kali-yuga, the sästra (Bhäg. 12.2.13) says, dasyu-präyeshu räjasu: the government will adopt the policies of dasyus, or plunderers. Thus there will be no instructions from the brähmanas, and even if there are brahminical instructions, there will be no kshatriya rulers who can follow them. 

Aside from Satya-yuga, even formerly, in the days when demons were flourishing, Hiranyakasipu planned to destroy the brahminical culture and the kshatriya government and thus create chaos all over the world. Although in Satya-yuga this plan was very difficult to execute, in Kali-yuga, which is full of südras and demons, the brahminical culture is lost and can be revived only by the chanting of the mahä-mantra. 

Therefore the Krshna consciousness movement, or the Hare Krshna movement, has been inaugurated to revive brahminical culture very easily so that people may become happy and peaceful in this life and prepare for elevation in the next. In this regard, Srila Madhvächärya quotes this verse from the Brahmända Puräna:

"O King, the demons think that Hari, Lord Vishnu, exists because of the brähmanas and yajna, but factually Hari is the cause of everything including the brähmanas and yajna." Therefore, through the popularizing of hari-kirtana, or the saìkirtana movement, the brahminical culture and kshatriya government will automatically come back, and people will be extremely happy.

Gita shloka 5.15, When one desires Krsna, the Lord takes special care and encourages one to desire in such a way that one can attain to Him and be eternally happy, 5th Sept

Gita shloka 5.15, When one desires Krsna, the Lord takes special care and encourages one to desire in such a way that one can attain to Him and be eternally happy. The Lord engages the living entity in pious activities so he may be elevated. The Lord engages him in impious activities so he may go to hell. By the will of the Supreme he can go to heaven or hell, as a cloud is driven by the air. Therefore the embodied soul, by his immemorial desire to avoid Krsna consciousness, causes his own bewilderment. Consequently, although he is constitutionally eternal, blissful and cognizant, due to the littleness of his existence he forgets his constitutional position of service to the Lord and is thus entrapped by nescience. And, under the spell of ignorance, the living entity claims that the Lord is responsible for his conditional existence. The Lord neither hates nor likes anyone, though He appears to.

TRANSLATION

Nor does the Supreme Spirit assume anyone's sinful or pious activities. Embodied beings, however, are bewildered because of the ignorance which covers their real knowledge.

PURPORT

The Sanskrit word vibhuh means the Supreme Lord who is full of unlimited knowledge, riches, strength, fame, beauty and renunciation.

He is always satisfied in Himself, undisturbed by sinful or pious activities.

He does not create a particular situation for any living entity, but the living entity, bewildered by ignorance, desires to be put into certain conditions of life, and thereby his chain of action and reaction begins.

A living entity is, by superior nature, full of knowledge.

Nevertheless, he is prone to be influenced by ignorance due to his limited power.

The Lord is omnipotent, but the living entity is not.

The Lord is vibhu, or omniscient, but the living entity is anu, or atomic.

Because he is a living soul, he has the capacity to desire by his free will.

Such desire is fulfilled only by the omnipotent Lord.

And so, when the living entity is bewildered in his desires, the Lord allows him to fulfill those desires, but the Lord is never responsible for the actions and reactions of the particular situation which may be desired.

Being in a bewildered condition, therefore, the embodied soul identifies himself with the circumstantial material body and becomes subjected to the temporary misery and happiness of life.

The Lord is the constant companion of the living entity as Paramatma, or the Supersoul, and therefore He can understand the desires of the individual soul, as one can smell the flavor of a flower by being near it.

Desire is a subtle form of conditioning of the living entity.

The Lord fulfills his desire as he deserves: Man proposes and God disposes.

The individual is not, therefore, omnipotent in fulfilling his desires.

The Lord, however, can fulfill all desires, and the Lord, being neutral to everyone, does not interfere with the desires of the minute independent living entities.

However, when one desires Krsna, the Lord takes special care and encourages one to desire in such a way that one can attain to Him and be eternally happy.

The Vedic hymn therefore declares:

esa u hy eva sadhu karma karayati tam yamebhyo lokebhya unninisate

esa u evasadhu karma karayati yamadho ninisate.

ajno jantur aniso 'yam atmanah sukha-duhkhayoh

isvara-prerito gacchet svargam vasvabhram eva ca.

"The Lord engages the living entity in pious activities so he may be elevated.

The Lord engages him in impious activities so he may go to hell.

The living entity is completely dependent in his distress and happiness.

By the will of the Supreme he can go to heaven or hell, as a cloud is driven by the air."

Therefore the embodied soul, by his immemorial desire to avoid Krsna consciousness, causes his own bewilderment.

Consequently, although he is constitutionally eternal, blissful and cognizant, due to the littleness of his existence he forgets his constitutional position of service to the Lord and is thus entrapped by nescience.

And, under the spell of ignorance, the living entity claims that the Lord is responsible for his conditional existence.

The Vedanta-sutras also confirm this:

vaisamya-nairghrnye na sapeksatvat tatha hi darsayati.

"The Lord neither hates nor likes anyone, though He appears to."

Bhagvat: "I envy no one, nor am I partial to anyone. I am equal to all." The Supreme Personality of Godhead cannot be partial; He is always equal to everyone, 5th Sept

Bhagvat: "I envy no one, nor am I partial to anyone. I am equal to all." The Supreme Personality of Godhead cannot be partial; He is always equal to everyone. Therefore when the demigods are favored and the demons killed, this is not His partiality but the influence of the time factor.

TRANSLATION

O King, this time factor enhances the sattva-guna. Thus although the Supreme Lord is the controller, He favors the demigods, who are mostly situated in sattva-guna. Then the demons, who are influenced by tamo-guna, are annihilated. The Supreme Lord induces the time factor to act in different ways, but He is never partial. Rather, His activities are glorious, and therefore He is called Urusravä.

PURPORT

The Lord says in Bhagavad-gitä (9.29), samo'ham sarva-bhüteshu na me dveshyo 'sti na priyam: "I envy no one, nor am I partial to anyone. I am equal to all." The Supreme Personality of Godhead cannot be partial; He is always equal to everyone. Therefore when the demigods are favored and the demons killed, this is not His partiality but the influence of the time factor. A good example in this regard is that an electrician connects both a heater and a cooler to the same electrical energy. 

The cause of the heating and cooling is the electrician's manipulation of the electrical energy according to his desire, but factually the electrician has nothing to do with causing heat or cold, nor with the enjoyment or suffering that results.

There have been many historical incidents in which the Lord killed a demon, but the demon attained a higher position by the mercy of the Lord. Pütanä is an example. Pütanä's purpose was to kill Krshna. Aho baki yam stana-käla-kütam. 

She approached the house of Nanda Mahäräja with the purpose of killing Krshna by smearing poison on her breast, yet when she was killed she attained the highest position, achieving the status of Krshna's mother. Krshna is so kind and impartial that because he sucked Pütanä's breast, He immediately accepted her as His mother. 

This superfluous activity of killing Pütanä did not diminish the Lord's impartiality. He is suhrdam sarva-bhütänäm, the friend of everyone. Therefore partiality cannot apply to the character of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who always maintains His position as the supreme controller. The Lord killed Pütanä as an enemy, but because of His being the supreme controller, she attained an exalted position as His mother. 

Srila Madhva Muni therefore remarks, käle käla-vishaye 'pisitä. dehädi-käranatvät suränikam iva sthitam sattvam. Ordinarily a murderer is hanged, and in the Manu-samhitä it is said that a king bestows mercy upon a murderer by killing him, thus saving him from various kinds of suffering. Because of his sinful activities, such a murderer is killed by the mercy of the king. Krshna, the supreme judge, deals with matters in a similar way because He is the supreme controller. The conclusion, therefore, is that the Lord is always impartial and always very kind to all living entities.