Welcome to the Purely Prabhupada YouTube channel. This video series is called “Reality distinguished from illusion for the welfare of all.” My name is Kamra devi dasi, and I am a disciple of His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada.
This is the fourth video of the series. It is called, “Desire for peace, karma for war.” The title speaks for itself. The word “karma” essentially means that for every action there is a reaction, or in terms of the Bible, “As ye sow, so shall ye reap.”
The world is in a precarious situation. There is much talk of war, and much talk of achieving peace. There is desire for peace, but karma for war. People are uneducated, and they continue their sinful ways, not realizing that there is a connection between what they do, what they eat, and the world situation of ever increasing violence.
SB 4.26.5 In this section, the great sage Narada Muni is instructing a prominent king who had requested counsel on the purpose of life. He was instructing the king by narrating a story, an analogy, involving a king of the same mentality. The name of the king in the story is Puranjana, and this verse is spoken by the sage Narada.
At that time King Purañjana was very much influenced by demoniac propensities. Because of this, his heart became very hard and merciless, and with sharp arrows he killed many innocent animals in the forest, taking no consideration.
Purport by His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada
When a man becomes too proud of his material position, he tries to enjoy his senses in an unrestricted way, being influenced by the modes of passion and ignorance. He is thus described as asuric, or demoniac. When people are demoniac in spirit, they are not merciful toward the poor animals. Consequently, they maintain various animal slaughterhouses. This is technically called sūnā, or hiṁsā, which means the killing of living beings. In Kali-yuga, due to the increase of the modes of passion and ignorance, almost all men are asuric, or demoniac; therefore they are very much fond of eating flesh, and for this end they maintain various kinds of animal slaughterhouses.
In this Age of Kali the propensity for mercy is almost nil. Consequently there is always fighting and wars between men and nations. Men do not understand that because they unrestrictedly kill so many animals, they also must be slaughtered like animals in big wars. This is very much evident in the Western countries. In the West, slaughterhouses are maintained without restriction, and therefore every fifth or tenth year there is a big war in which countless people are slaughtered even more cruelly than the animals. Sometimes during war, soldiers keep their enemies in concentration camps and kill them in very cruel ways. These are reactions brought about by unrestricted animal-killing in the slaughterhouse and by hunters in the forest. Proud, demoniac persons do not know the laws of nature, or the laws of God. Consequently, they unrestrictedly kill poor animals, not caring for them at all. In the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement, animal-killing is completely prohibited. One is not accepted as a bona fide student in this movement unless he promises to follow the four regulative principles: no animal-killing, no intoxication, no illicit sex and no gambling. This Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is the only means by which the sinful activities of men in this Kali-yuga can be counteracted.
I wouldn’t usually quote a poet of this world, but his words align with the spiritual reality, so I will remind us of the poem of George Bernard Shaw. Whatever references may serve to wake people up to the situation that is being created by sinful activity is useful now, as the world is in a grave place of emergency.
We are the living graves of murdered beasts,
Slaughtered to satisfy our appetites.
We never pause to wonder at our feasts,
If animals, like men, can possibly have rights.
We pray on Sundays that we may have light,
To guide our footsteps on the path we tread.
We’re sick of war, we do not want to fight-
The thought of it now fills our hearts with dread,
And yet – we gorge ourselves upon the dead.
Like carrion crows, we live and feed on meat,
Regardless of the suffering and pain
We cause by doing so, if thus we treat
Defenseless animals for sport or gain,
How can we hope in this world to attain
The PEACE we say we are so anxious for.
We pray for it, o’er hecatomb’s of slain,
To God, while outraging the moral law
Thus cruelty begets its offspring – WAR
The greatest misfortune for nations and individuals is to become Godless, which automatically means they will be sinful. When there is sinful activity, especially meat eating, there is also sinful reaction, such as war, disease, famine, natural disturbances, and so on. It is the duty of government to see that the citizens are living a life of God consciousness, or it is implicated in the resultant suffering of the citizens. When people act against the laws of nature and the law of God, there is heavy punishment, especially in the form of outbreaks of war.
Today, we have a government in the United States that very much appears to want to bring peace in the world, yet it is comprised of many well-meaning people who also are heavily invested in eating meat, especially the flesh of cows. They claim that for health reasons meat eating is essential. They say that real Americans eat meat. They claim a Christian heritage yet ignore “Thou shall not kill.” Therefore, a desire for peace but the karma for war… May they somehow be brought to their senses by accepting proper spiritual education and guiding their constituents rightly. Only then is there real hope for peace.
