720925 - Lecture SB 01.03.20 - Los Angeles

Lectures by Date, 1972

His Divine Grace
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

720925SB-LOS ANGELES - September 25, 1972 - 42:09 Minutes

Prabhupāda: (Govindam prayers playing, sings along) Hmm. (leads singing of Jaya Rādhā-Mādhava) (prema-dhvani) Thank you very much.

Devotees: All glories to Śrīla Prabhupāda. (devotees offer obeisances)

Prabhupāda: Hare Kṛṣṇa.

Devotees: Hare Kṛṣṇa.

Prabhupāda: Hmm.

Pradyumna: Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya. Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya. Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya.

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, First Canto, Third Chapter, text number 20. (leads chanting of verse) (Prabhupāda and devotees repeat)

avatāre ṣoḍaśame

paśyan brahma-druho nṛpān

triḥ-sapta-kṛtvaḥ kupito

niḥ-kṣatrām akaron mahīm

(SB 1.3.20)

Prabhupāda: Ladies. (ladies chant) That's all. Word meaning?

Pradyumna:

avatāre—in the incarnation of the Lord; ṣoḍaśame—sixteenth; paśyan—seeing; brahma-druhaḥ—disobedient to the orders of the brāhmins; nṛpān—the kingly order; triḥ-sapta—thrice seven times; kṛtvaḥ—had done; kupitaḥ—being enraged; niḥ—negation; kṣatrām—the administrative class; akarot—did perform; mahīm—the earth.

Translation: "As Bhṛgupati, the sixteenth incarnation of the Godhead, the Lord annihilated the administrative class, or kṣatriyas, twenty-one times, being angry with them because of their rebellion against the brāhmins, or the intelligent class."

Prabhupāda: So, keśava dhṛta-bhṛgupati-rūpa jaya jagadīśa hare. Kṣatriya-rudhira . . . hmm? What is that verse? Can anyone cite?

kṣatriya-rudhira-maye jagad-apagata-pāpaṁ

snapayasi śamita-bhava-tāpam

keśava dhṛta-bhṛgupati-rūpa jaya jagadīśa hare

(Śrī Daśāvatāra-stotra 6)

So Bhṛgupati . . . brahmā-druha. The administrative class, the politicians, they must obey the order of the brāhmins. That is Vedic culture. Therefore, although there was monarchy, king, one king, no democracy, but because the king would follow the instruction of learned sages and brāhmin, they would rule over the country very nicely.

Take, for example, if your president takes our advice how to rule, then everything will be very nice. Of course, we shall immediately ask the president to stop the slaughterhouse. But it is very difficult. You see? Neither the president is ready . . . even if he is ready, he cannot do. Everything is constitutional.

So brahma-druha. The society must be brāhmaṇic. Vedic culture means to create every person a brāhmin, not to keep him śūdra. Of course, in the modern education system, the purpose is to elevate the general people. But they do not know how to elevate. Therefore there is so much trouble. The elevation should be . . . there must be some purpose, end. What purpose education is being given? It is purposeless education. Mostly, at the present moment, education means to give facilities for sense gratification. That's all. Boys and girls in the school and colleges, just from the very beginning they are given all liberty for sex life.

So this is not education. Education means to lead the people gradually to Kṛṣṇa consciousness. That is education, God consciousness. Because human life . . . this is the only life. There are 8,400,000 species of life. This human form of life is the only opportunity to understand God. Cats, dogs, even demigods, they also, because their opulence, sense gratification, is so great that they have no time. Just like here in this world also, those who are too rich, they are simply after sense gratification. They have no time to understand Kṛṣṇa consciousness.

So to become too much materially opulent means that is another danger. Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura has said therefore, jaḍa-vidyā jato māyāra vaibhava. The expansion of material advancement . . . material advancement means expanding the sense gratificatory process. That is material. The more you expand how to satisfy your senses, that is material. And the more we expand how to satisfy Kṛṣṇa, that is spiritual. That is the difference between material and spiritual. It does not mean that material stone, material, and spiritual means it becomes zero.

They are thinking like that. Śūnyavādi. They think spiritual means just the opposite number of material, "So material, we have got variegated experience, solid experience, so make it zero." That is not spiritual. That is simply negation. That philosophy is Buddha philosophy, that "You are suffering from some disease, painful, so I cut your throat. That's all. Everything finished. No more suffering. Zero. Make it zero." No. The process should be, if you are diseased, if you are suffering, the suffering should be stopped. Not that to kill you to stop the suffering. No. That is our philosophy.

We are changing. Why one is suffering? He is suffering for indulging in sense gratification. We are educating people that, "You enjoy your senses through Kṛṣṇa. Through Kṛṣṇa. You like to dance? Yes. You dance through Kṛṣṇa. You want to eat nice? You eat through Kṛṣṇa. You want to sing? You sing through Kṛṣṇa. You want to paint? You paint through Kṛṣṇa." This is our education. Not directly for my sense gratification. I want to paint nice picture. So because I wanted my sense gratification, now painting has become several logs. Especially in your country. What is that painting?

Devotee: Abstract.

Prabhupāda: That means the tendency toward making it zero. Śūnyavādi. We say: "You have got taste for painting. You are nice painter. Just paint Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa. You see how nice it is." So painting is not to be stopped. It is simply diverted for Kṛṣṇa. That is Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement. We don't want to kill, but we simply divert to Kṛṣṇa. Purification, that is. If you don't divert your attention to Kṛṣṇa, then more and more you will become sinful, and everything will be polluted.

So that was being observed formerly. As soon as there was some discrepancy in the brahminical culture . . . brahminical culture means to aim of advancement of civilization is spiritual realization, self-realization, Viṣṇu. Ultimately, Lord Viṣṇu, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. That is the prerogative. That is a special chance for the human being. This chance is not for any other living being.

So for this purpose, there are so many rules and regulation: Manu-saṁhitā, the social system, the political system, the spiritual system, so many things. Everything chalked with an aim: how to understand Brahman. Brahmā jānāti iti brāhmaṇaḥ. As soon as one understands what is Brahman, Para-brahman, Kṛṣṇa—Kṛṣṇa is Para-brahman—then his life is perfect. That was the aim.

So actually, the administrators, the brāhmins, sages, they gave their verdict, that "My dear king, you rule over the country in this fashion. People will be happy." So when the kings became sensuous, they thought that the kingdom is their father's property. They haven't got to do anything with the people. They can employ the taxes for sense gratification, as it is going on now. Whatever taxes are levied, they are divided among the government servant. That's all. You don't get any benefit. You are simply paid to pay tax. That's all. You don't get any benefit. That is everywhere, the modern government. So such thing happens because this material world is such that even if you make very nice arrangement, it will deteriorate. The time factor.

So sometimes, when it happens so that the administrators, nṛpān, the kings, were neglectful in their proper duty, so it was so much aggravated, at that time Jamadagni, Bhṛgupati, he took the matter, took his sword. He is a brāhmin, but to chastise these irresponsible kings, He killed them, killed them seven into three times, twenty-one times. And from history it appears that many of the kṣatriyas, they left in India and they came to this part of the world. And so far my guess is concerned, you Europeans, Americans, you belong to that kṣatriya family descendant. But because you were separated directly from the Vedic culture, now you have become different. Now again that Vedic culture has come to your service. Take advantage of it. You see?

So one has to take this Vedic culture to make his life perfect, and . . . of course, formerly the brāhmins were so strong, then. They did not like to govern directly. They used to live in the forest, cultivating spiritual knowledge, writing books. They had no interest in taking charge of government. No. They never stood for election. There was no election.

So kṣatriya-rudhira. So He purified this earth, the surface of the earth, by washing it by the blood of these kṣatriyas. This is the incarnation of Jamadagni, or Paraśurāma. Paraśurāma. Some of the sages, saintly person, are still living. Still living. They are tri-kāla-jña. They know past, present, future. When this whole universe will be annihilated, then they will go to Vaikuṇṭha or spiritual world personally. So Paraśurāma, Vyāsadeva and many others, they are supposed to be still living.

What is the purport?

Pradyumna: "The kṣatriyas, or the administrative class of men, are expected to rule the planet by the direction of the intelligent class of men, who give direction to the rulers in terms of the standard śāstras, or the books of revealed knowledge. The rulers carry on the administration according to that direction. Whenever there is disobedience on the part of the kṣatriyas, or the administrative class, against the orders of the learned and intelligent brāhmins, the administrators are removed by force from the posts, and arrangement is made for better administration."

Prabhupāda: Yes. That was the custom. Not that by removing the king from the throne or killing the king, the brāhmins and the sages would come there to sit down on the throne. No. His son will be given chance to become king. The descendant was picked up, and they would take charge of the minor king, advise him, but they will never touch the throne. There are many instances. Just like Veṇa Mahārāja. He became too much atheistic. He was also killed by the brāhmins and the sages. Then his son, Pṛthu Mahārāja, became king, and he was a good administration . . . administrator. So in this way, things were going on.

So the aim was how to make people happy by enlightening them in spiritual knowledge. Not that how to make better arrangement for eating, sleeping, mating and defending. That was also going on. But the main purpose of life was brahminical culture. Brahmā-druha. When the kings were neglectful to see that the people are being enlightened about spiritual self-realization, that was (not) good administration. Without that aim, no nation can become happy. No community can become happy.

So the responsibility was that time to the administrator. They would see that everyone, every brāhmin, is following the rules and regulation of a brāhmin; every kṣatriya is following the rules and regulation of kṣatriya. Vaiśya, śūdra . . . and nobody can interfere the other's business. Everyone is employed in his own business. And tax. Tax . . . the brāhmin had to pay no tax. Only kṣatriyas, they were tax collector. Only . . . and śūdra also, they had no property; therefore there was no tax. Only the vaiśya class, the productive class, they had to pay tax.

And that tax also was very simple. There was no encroachment. You simply give one fourth of your profit to the government. That's all. No more tax. Sales tax, this tax, income tax, excise tax, this tax—simply tax, tax, tax. No. Not like that. Whatever he has got profit. "Got" means whatever profit he has made. If he has no profit, there is no tax. That was the government system. So how he will pay if he has not made any profit this year?

Just like we are hearing there is no good monsoon in India this year. So there will be no very much good production. But if there is no good production, the government should not levy any tax. But now, at the present moment, "You go to hell, but you must pay the tax. And we divide the tax amongst ourself." That's all. Finished. Or "We employ the taxes for fighting, for declaring war." That's all.

So at the present moment we are in a very, very deplorable condition, no good government. Simply by changing, by so-called parties, the government cannot improve. The government can improve when there are Kṛṣṇa conscious person. So if some day you turn all the people Kṛṣṇa conscious, then you become president.

Thank you very much.

Devotees: All glories to Śrīla Prabhupāda. (devotees offer obeisances)

(kīrtana) (Prabhupāda plays gong)

Prabhupāda: (prema-dhvani) Thank you very much.

Devotees: All glories to Śrīla Prabhupāda. (devotees offer obeisances) (end)