Democratic Government
The so called democratic government means some of the sudras, rascals without any knowledge of the highest aim of life. By hook and crook they get some votes and get the responsible chair in government. Naturally they can whimsically enact any law which is against the interest of the people in general.
Kenya 15 September, 1971
My Dear Madhudvisa Maharaja,
Please accept my blessings. I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter dated 2nd September, 1971 and have noted the contents carefully.
Regarding Dr. Bali’s letter, I have already replied it and sent you one copy of the reply which you should have received by now. The program you are arranging for Madras sounds very nice so do it combinedly.
Regarding the government injunction, that is the worst situation of this age. The so called democratic government means some of the sudras, rascals without any knowledge of the highest aim of life. By hook and crook they get some votes and get the responsible chair in government. Naturally they can whimsically enact any law which is against the interest of the people in general. According to the Vedic literature, the government’s first duty is to see whether people are following the rules and regulations of varnasrama dharma. That is explained in Bhagavad-gita also. Without coming to the system of Varnasrama dharma there is no question of human society. So our Krishna Conscious movement is supposed to be representative of Krishna. Krishna, when He appears on this earth, He has two fold business to execute. One business is to give protection to the devotees for advancing in Krishna Consciousness and the other side is to kill the demons.
Although we are representing Krishna, we are very much poor in strength.
Our only strength is chanting Hare Krishna Maha-mantra. So if we stick to the priciple of chanting Hare Krishna Mantra, following the rules and regulations, that will give us strength to work on both sides–namely to enlighten people in Krishna Consciousness and cut down the bad government full of atheistic people. Our only hope is to chant Hare Krishna and rectify the whole situation. I think this is possible. It has been proved in Calcutta that the Naxalites were very much against us holding our Hare Krishna Festival, but still later on they became sympathetic and did not cause any harm for us. If we follow the same principles everywhere, I think the bad government all over the world will come forward sympathetically for advancing this movement.
Eating is the basic principle for keeping one’s health. Eating too much or too little causes disease. Therefore Bhagavad-gita says yuktahara vihara. Simply eat to keep fit. That is one important business of those in Krishna consciousness. Generally hepatitis is a disease on account of eating too much fatty and spicy foods. So we must use always simple food stuff and a little milk. Not very much puris and halava and sweet balls and sweet rice, like that.
Yes, this program is very nice to try to attract the attention of the students seriously. That will be a great success. They should put intelligent questions and they should be answered properly with reference to modern science and philosophy. That will be very much convincing. I think if you read our books thoroughly you will get a supply of material to answer all the questions. Now I am preparing one book answering all types of philosophical arguments. Syamasundara. every morning is putting questions from different angles of vision beginning from Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, etc. and we are trying to answer. We shall discuss also Marx philosophy of communism. It will require some time but I wish that all our preachers should be well versed with all philosophical ideas and after studying all philosophical points of view we will put Krishna Conscious philosophy on the top.
You should see Mr. Dvnva, R.D. Birla promised four sets of Deities. What happened to them? We require pairs in Mombassa and Nairobi also as well as Paris, Berlin, Birmingham, etc.
Please offer my blessings to the others. Hoping this will meet you in good health.
P.S. Brahmananda has ordered 50 sets of books. Why they have not been sent? Immediately you should send the 50 sets of books and invoice and according to that invoice you will be paid without hesitation.
Your ever well-wisher,
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami
About the Author
HDG A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada Founded the Hare Krishna Movement in 1966 in New York. In only 11 years he spread the movement all over the world. He wrote more than 80 books including Bhagavad-gita As It Is, Srimad-Bhagavatam, Sri Caitanya-caritamrta, Sri Isopanisad. Prabhupada's books constitute a complete library of Vedic philosophy, religion, literature and culture.
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Hare Krsna Madhudvisa dasa prabhuji . I have a question. Any no devotee told me not to reply back to the judge in response to the injustice bad treatment because it will or can be bad. And one said he will not be interested in Krsna Consciousness. My plan is that I will reply to him but after three months of starting and becoming established in the four basic principles to start Krsna Consciousness. My plan is Krsna Consciousness can help me reply back and I am having general idea of how I will reply about Krsna Consciousness and how his treatment and the legal system treatment is bad and how it is so imperfect and stuff. Prabhuji I am depending on Krsna Consciousness to help me with this problem of how I reply without any wrongness since the answer will come from me becoming Krsna Conscious. Because if I am established in the four basic principles then Srila Prabhupada , Sri Krsna Chaitanya Mahaprabhu Nitrananda Prabhu, Balarama and Radharani and Krsna will help me. prabhuji right now I Am having doubts of whether people from Srila Prabhupada to Krsna I have mentioned even want me to reply to the judge like the non devotees who have been saying that it is not a great idea. Now I even want Srila Prabhupada to Krsna after getting doubts from no devotees about replying to the judge solve the problem of whether I should reply to the judge or not even if I am established in the four principles of Krsna Consciousness. Pleas reply Prabhu. Prabhuji I am doing my best and did not see any TV. And I have changed two rounds for like one hour. I will spend one hour more at least to chant 16 rounds. And am following four regulative principles. And have read book for at least half hour to one hour. I will spend another hour to reading books to really read an hour in total. And afterwards if I have more time besides doing other important things like brushing I will chant more. And I am planning to get up before 4 as of tommorrow. And chant two hours at least for 16 rounds and at least one hour to read. I have said all this I show you he sincerity and seriousness I have to Krsna consciousness so that you reply. Please reply.
Yes of course becoming Krishna conscious is the only solution to all of our problems. We just need to surrender to Srila Prabhupada and Krishna and actually follow everything properly then Krishna will guide us from within our hearts and let us know what we should be doing from moment to moment. So our plan should be only how to surrender to Srila Prabhupada, how to follow his instructions, how to serve him nicely. We do not have to bother about anything else. Then when anything comes along naturally Krishna will give us the intelligence from within our hearts to act in the correct way.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Hare Krsna Madhudvisa dasa prabhuji. I have a question regarding law. In today’s times justice is administered poorly. Is that true in today’s times. And what is the solution for justice to adminstered in the right way.
Hare Krishna Shawn
Yes. Justice is not properly administered today. Nothing is properly done today. Because the proper authority is not accepted. The authority has to be the Supreme Personality of Godhead and the law books have to be the scriptures.
So we are ruled by demons and you can not expect anything to work properly under the government of the demons.
It is Kali-yuga, the age of quarrel and hypocrisy, it is the material world, a place of misery where there are only miseries and death. You can not expect anything to be nice here. The material world is not meant for niceness. It is meant for misery and death.
So do not worry. Nothing is done properly here and you can’t change that. What you can do is become a pure devotee of Krishna and remember Krishna at the time of death and go back home back to Godhead. Then all your problems will be solved. You will not have to come back to this miserable material world again…
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Hare Krsna Madhudvisa dasa prabhuji. There are two things. One is that I am a victim and trapped in the injustice and poor administration of justice. What can be done or really how can I stop feeling bad and/or helpless about it. Second becoming a pure devotee and going back home back to godhead is a long time away. I am not going to become a pure devotee or go back home back to godhead overtime. So what about the time in between.
Hare Krishna Shawn
You just have to surrender to Srila Prabhupada and do like I am always saying. Chant at least 16 rounds of the Hare Krishna mantra every day, strictly follow the four regulative principles [no illicit sex, no meat eating, no gambling and no intoxication] and read Srila Prabhupada’s books at least 1-2 hours a day. This is the minimum. If you are not prepared to surrender to and really strictly follow these principles then you are not going to become Krishna conscious. It is as simple as that. So until you are prepared to surrender to Srila Prabhupada you will suffer in the material world. As soon as you surrender to Srila Prabhupada you will immediately become transcendental to the material world and you will experience ever-increasing transcendental bliss. That is the way it goes. Without surrender we suffer. That is how the material world works.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Hare Krsna prabhuji. If a judge or anybody(but especially a judge) ask what is Krsna Consciousness how should i reply. I did not feel like replying for two reasons at the time.
One is that in order to understand what is Krsna Consciousness i have to practice Krsna conscious to become Krsna Conscious by surrendering and pleasing Srila Prabhupada by following the basic principles which is “getting out of bed before 4 in the morning, chanting at least 16 rounds of the Hare Krishna mantra daily, strictly following the four regulative principles and reading Srila Prabhupada’s books at least 1-2 hours a day.”
Second the judge will not be able to understand Krsna consciousness even if i describe it in words i feel because he is not doing the things to become Krsna conscious and in answering this i would not have not sold single book of Prabhupada by which you said i can preach Krsna consciousness the best as mine or “our potency to preach is very limited.”
It is my own choice or i will decide if i want to answer this question or not even if i am told that i am supposed to answer this question no matter what. And no one is forcing me to answer this but still it is my wish and desire to do so.My mind is very much restless towards this thought of whether it is right or not to answer to the judge about his question of what is Krsna Consciousness and how to answer it.
And i know how i can get the answer which is by becoming Krsna Conscious. What wanted to just express my thought.
I hope that you reply to this inquiry by seeing fit to reply to this.
Yes.
If we are spiritually advanced and someone asks us “What is Krishna consciousness” then we can explain it very nicely and he will appreciate it. Almost anyone will appreciate it very perfect explained by a pure devotee of Krishna. But if we are not Krishna conscious ourselves then how can we explain anything about Krishna consciousness? That is not possible.
It does not matter so much about the other person. We were all demons, all completely lost in maya, but we were saved by Srila Prabhupada. So if we can hear the message of Krishna consciousness from Srila Prabhupada, even though we were in the deepest depths of maya, then practically anyone can hear this message. But the message is only potent if it is spoken by a pure devotee of Krishna. If we are not pure devotees of Krishna then we can speak so much but it will have no effect. It may even have a bad effect.
So the point is we have to become pure devotees of Krishna. Preaching is for pure devotees of Krishna. People who are not pure devotees of Krishna can not preach. There ‘preaching’ does not work.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
And I am feeling very depressed in the material world with my parents and relatives. Both of them are cruel and selfishness with no boundaries. What should I do? I am sick and tired of stress in my 23 years plus of life. I am extremely depressed in this world. I do not feel like living in this life anymore? I am sick, tired and depressed living this life. You call this life. It is not life. A life worse than death is not life. I am thinking of fasting till death. I am thinking of doing japa and reading books till I die by fasting. I think I will have a quick death with certainty or at least some certainty or chance or opportunity of certainty or some certainty. Maybe I will go to Krishna loka maybe not. But I might have a better next life either way by doing this. You tell me what to do? I cannot go on like this anymore I am totally tired of this type of life. You owe to your conscience, Srila Prabhupada and Krsna according to me to answer this. You are. You have to. You have to. If you do not than whatever bad happens is also on your conscience.
Hare Krishna Mehra
You are seeing the material world as it is. A miserable place. But if you just read Srila Prabhupada’s books and follow his instructions by chanting Hare Krishna that will quickly lift you out of the material world. And you will be in the spiritual world actually, while still having your body in the material world. And all your miserable feelings will go away. We feel miserable only because we are identifying with our material bodies. And by taking to Krishna consciousness, by chanting Hare Krishna, we transcend this material bodily concept of life.
So just do it. Become Krishna conscious. Chant Hare Krishna, read Srila Prabhupada’s books. That will take you out of the material world and into the spiritual world. And the spiritual world is different. It is not a miserable place. It is an eternal place where you can experience every increasing transcendental bliss and knowledge in your original spiritual body. It is very nice place. So chant Hare Krishna and raise your consciousness to the spiritual platform and be happy…
Hare Krishna!
Please accept my pranam Swamiji!
Please accept my pranam for Holi! May Lord Krishna bless you long life so that
you can show right path of Krishna Consciousness! to fallen soul like me! MY HEARTIEST
wishes to you ‘HAPPY HOLI’ Swamiji!
Hare Krishna!
With pranam
Uma Sridhar