Soul Feast

Om Vishnu padaya Krishna prashtaya bhutale, Shri Mathe Bhaktivedanta Swami niti namine, Namaste sarasvati devi, Gauravani pracharine, Nirvishesa sunyavadi paschatyadeishatarine, He Krishna karunasindho dhinabhandho jagatpate, Gopesa gopika kanta, Radha kanta namo stute, Taptakanchanagorangi radhevrindavaneshwari, Shri Krishna Chaitanya Prabhupada, Shri Krishna Chaitanya Prabhupada, Shri Vasa Degaur Bhakta Vrinda, Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare. Yantakh praviṣya mamavācīyamamam prasūptam sanjīvayāyātakīla-shaktīdara-svadamna anyam shahasta-carana-sravana-at-vagadim pranam-namo bhagavatei purushayatubhyam Okay. Hare Krishna. Very happy to be with all of you tonight. And as you heard, I'm coming from the Soviet Union. Half of my life I spent there under the communist rule. Then for some time, for eight years, I moved to Sweden and lived in Sweden. And then I returned to Russia, which has become by that time a very capitalistic country. so I experienced different political systems personally and perhaps that's the reason why I was asked to speak on the topic of spiritual communism which is especially relevant here in Kerala where the government is communist so I will speak with some level of authority because I have, as I said, personal experience of different political systems and there are pluses and minuses. So I will briefly give the overview of the existing political systems. for us to be very clear that they are not solving the most important problems. The problems which we are facing in the earth globally are to a greater extent because of the confusion which people have about the proper social organization. And we have to be very clear that if nothing changes drastically, the humanity doesn't have much time to live. The situation is very grim. and partially the reason of this situation or greatly to a greater extent the reason the cause behind this seriousness of the crisis the global crisis which is there is because social organization is not actually sustainable We have the social organization in different countries which has very serious problems. and these problems tend to perpetuate itself. They are exaggerating themselves and finally there is no solution. But what is most important for us to understand that solution is there. We have the model, social model, which is presented in ancient Vedic scriptures and which has been existing in Vedic society in ancient India for centuries, for thousands of years. And that's the only solution which is possible for humanity to survive. There was a great British historian, Arthur Toynbee, and he said that, you know, that the humanity, by studying the history of human race, he said that the only future which humanity may have is that they will adopt the Vedic way of life. The way which was propounded by the founders of Vedic culture. And that's what I'm going to speak about. And my main message is that let's understand the problems and let's try to give the solution to these problems. The solution is there, we have to take it seriously. And to take it seriously, we have to very clearly understand that the existing proposed solutions are not solutions in reality. So as I said, if we study very carefully, we can see three, four different social models in the modern world. One is of course capitalistic model, which is very prominent in USA, and it definitely has a lot of advantages. And of course India now more or less trying to follow the same suit, the same way, trying to adopt these capitalistic values. Then we have communist, the opposite of this, which was created by the fathers of communism, Karl Marx, Engels, Lenin, Stalin, as the reply to the problems of capitalism. I'm always very surprised when I see traveling in Kerala, you know, Karl Marx and Engels and Hammer and Sickle. I feel like I am back to Soviet Union some 50 years ago. Nowadays you don't see this hammer and sickle in Russia anymore, and you hardly hear about Karl Marx and Engels, but Carol is still trying to find the solution in this recipe. So we have the capitalistic model. we have the model of the communism, and we have the northern European model, which was very prevalent and is still very prevalent in Sweden, some sort of social state, with social security, with a lot of social guarantees and everything else which is there. And for variety's sake, we have Chinese model of social architecture, which is communistic in essence, but has some elements of capitalism. So we have some hybrids, models, and two pure models. The capitalistic and communistic model which was there. was there. Now, of course, we more or less witnessing, the whole world is witnessing the elections in America. And the elections in America is about this, whether the Trump will win and then the capitalism establish itself in the firm grounds or Kamala Harris will win. And of course, all Indians, they are fans of Kamala Harris because she has some Indian origin. But what I want to say is that there are big, big inherent problems in all these systems. If we take capitalism with all the advantages which it has with supposed progress which it brings, advancement of human civilization, this and that, what we see. The inherent problem of capitalism is that the difference between very rich people and very poor people, the gap between these two classes of society becomes wider and wider and wider. wider. Some people become filthy rich and they enjoy all kinds of enjoyment and other people become very, very poor. They hardly can meet their ends. They hardly can make their ends meet. You know, they hardly can something to survive. And, you know, always when there is this rampant capitalism. The problem is that all these rich corporations become the real rulers. They become the power stations of the society, and ultimately they corrupt everything. The system becomes corrupt. We can see like this big pharma in America or in the Western world, it basically it destroys the human health. They bribe politicians, they bribe all governmental institutions, and they push their products, even though their products are very harmful for the society. You know, what happened in the world because of capitalism, at one point, you know, people started adding lead into the fuel. And for years, for many, many years, I don't know how many, 30 years, 40 years, all this fuel was with lead, even though lead is very poisonous. Moreover, lead is not only poisonous, lead brings down the intellectual capacity of people. because of inhaling these poisonous fumes of the cars, people become dull. And the harm which was inflicted to the health of the society is immense. But why it was there? Just because of some advantages, just because of some market advantages, just because it had something to do with their profits. you know what we have in capitalistic system only money is the value and those who have money they have power and those who have power they corrupt everything people become corrupt because of this and ultimately the government becomes the servants of this corrupt system and takes the decisions which are harmful for everyone that's what's going on under the capitalistic rule. And the government, every now and then, what happens under the capitalism, every now and then, the free market, which is supposedly the hallmark of capitalism, becomes completely destroyed by capitalism itself. Because the big corporations, monopolies, they take over the free market. And because they take over the free market, all the middle class people and you know the people who are trying to come up they cannot do anything because everything is being controlled by these big corporations and it destroys middle class it destroys people and ultimately you have very rich people and very poor people and government has to intervene into this government has to take all kinds of regulations you know this anti-monopoly law this and that, so many different agencies which are trying to control this rampant capitalism. But it's not possible to control because ultimately what is being in control is money. Everything else is under the control of money. Everything else is, you know, by bribery and this you can buy everything. So there is this capitalism and there is this government which is trying to control everything and the government institution becomes more and more bureaucratic. There are more and more bureaucrats as we see in India who are trying to control everything and all these capitalists, they bribe these bureaucrats and poor people, you know, they just, you know, they're suffering in the slums. So that's the inherent, completely incorrigible problem of capitalism. And no matter how much you try to control the capitalism system, it will not work, it just fail. Now there is the communist system which is the complete opposite and the communists say there is no property. So basically the main holy cow of capitalism is money. The private property. And if people have private property, private property is sacred for the capitalistic system. So the communists come and they come as a reaction. They say this is wrong, the system is, it stinks, It's unjust. It makes some people very poor, some people very rich. Rich people enjoy everything. Poor people cannot even take their daily meal regularly. So they come and they say, what's the problem? The problem is private property. Let's confiscate all the private property. Let's make everyone without any property, and then everything will become heaven. You know, I lived in this heaven for 30 plus years of my life. This is a very hungry heaven. This is the heaven when nothing is there. You know, if you don't believe me, you can go to North Korea, which is still a very heavenly place, and then everyone becomes very poor. Why? Because there is no free market. and because there is no free market nobody is allowed to have anything and because nobody is allowed to have anything the government is trying to regulate everything which you produce. The government has to have this very difficult rule to produce everything people need and they produce some useless things which nobody needs and the whole society becomes very, very, you know, totally impoverished. Everyone is basically poor and that's what happened when the communist rule, when the real communist rule. You know, you cannot, you can say anything about communist Russia, but at least in the beginning there were real people who really believed in communism, that this is the solution. What was the solution? The solution was that the country has become very backward. The whole society has become very backward, and there was no incentive, there was no real enthusiasm for people to produce anything. Because anyway, whether you produce or don't produce, you don't have anything, so better I become lazy. and you know at that time I remember this time no matter who you are you may be professor in the highest university or you may be the complete you know working somewhere in a factory and everyone would get the same salary and only communist bureaucrats they have some perks and privileges and they would get special you know supply channels and they enjoyed it, everyone else suffered under them. And ultimately it was not a solution because, again, nobody was equal. So if we take these two systems, the first system ignites or increases the greed in human nature. Everyone becomes greedy. You know, there's this very famous story about one, the most rich person in the world. I don't remember his name. Probably nobody remembers his name now because all these rich people, they're not worth of remembering them. But he was the most rich person in the world. He was in the Forbes, everywhere else, in the book. in his book of records. So just before, just one day before his death, a reporter came to him and asked him, please, can you explain your motto, your slogan? What is the most important in your life? And he said, it's very simple. There's only one word, more. You know, here he is, the richest person in the world, his greed is not satisfied. He wants more. Because this is the nature of greed. You can never satisfy greed. No matter how much you have, you will always want more. Because ultimately, the heart is empty. The heart of these people, because it's empty, it always sucks in. It always tries to get more and more and more, and it never satisfies. No matter how much you have, you will always want more. And therefore, under the capitalist system, everyone is poor. Poor, they're poor because they're poor, and rich are poor because they want more. Because they're still not satisfied. They're still saying that they need more, and they still think that their condition is not proper. So, but communist system, on the contrary, it ignites or increases envy. You know, and this is, again, a very dark side of human nature. Greed you cannot satisfy, envy you cannot satisfy. If you live under the real communism, you're lucky because in Kerala there is no real communism. There is only government which has named themselves as communistic. But if you happen to live there, you will see all the people who are supposedly equal. But if somebody has little more than them, they have immense, very bitter envy and jealousy towards somebody who has more than them. You know, it's always, if somebody is little more intelligent, if somebody is little more beautiful, if somebody is little more, you know, this is the complete violation of the main value, of the main virtue of communist system, is that you become not equal. And because nobody is equal. nobody is equal there is no two completely similar persons in this world you know this supposed forced upon people equality doesn't really work and people only become envious if somebody becomes little famous if somebody becomes little rich if somebody becomes little intelligent or little educated ultimately these both systems they increase the base human nature instead of improving the human nature Karl Marx he saw that when we make you know people without any property when the property will not belong to people ultimately he wanted that the property would belong to everyone but you know the property which belonged to everyone, ultimately belonged to nobody. You know, I've seen it. Russia was in such a, you know, such a chaos because nobody really, you know, considered anything that this belongs to him. Srila Prabhupada used to say that proprietorship makes sense into gold. This is a very important thing, you know. We have to feel that something belongs to me, then we will really work for it. But if nothing belongs to me, why should I work? Why should I improve? Why should I advance? Why should I progress if it doesn't give me any benefits or any advantages? So this both systems don't work. We have hybrid system, socialistic system, which is there in Northern Europe, in Denmark, in Sweden, in Norway to a certain extent. And this system is worse because it combines the problems of both systems. In one sense, it's capitalistic. In another sense, it's communistic. And, you know, if people don't want to work, they will not work. The social state will provide them with that. and this system only breeds very lazy people. People become completely indifferent. They don't have any stimulus to leave. And all the people who want to do something, who are doing something, who are productive people, who are really doing something good for the society, they are punished by the government and all their money are taken away and given to the lazy people. you know I remember when I was living in Sweden there was a joke it was not a joke it was a real thing you know in Sweden in the socialistic society there is this progressive tax system the more you earn the bigger becomes the tax which is imposed upon you to the government and after some time people it becomes non-profitable for them to earn more because if you earn more you have to give more and you ultimately have more when you earn less so that's the paradox and the joke which was there there was at that time some time ago, not when I was leaving a very great writer in Sweden Astrid Lindgren She wrote beautiful books and she was famous all over the world. Her books were translated all over the world to many, many languages. So at one point she earned a lot of money. You know, enormous amount of money, a few millions of dollars or whatever it is. So when they calculated tax to this income which this poor old lady, not so poor, but old lady, earned by her hard work, when they calculated the tax, the tax was more than she earned. So she had to pay a little extra to the state for the sin that she was so successful. You know, that's the completely absurd system because in this system, if you are successful, you are punished by the government. And if you are not successful, you are rewarded by the government. It's a completely backward system which ultimately is very futile and doesn't really work. And, you know, people are not happy there. You know, these so-called social states, the suicide rate in the social states is one of the highest because people see no meaning in life. You know, they don't have any meaning. Why should I leave, you know? whether I leave or not, it doesn't make any difference. So that's the three main systems which we have, and they all have very big problems. The one system, capitalistic system, destroys free market. It's ultimately not free. Capitalism doesn't give freedom. It's not about freedom. It ultimately destroys. It's about money. It's about earning more and more and more, trying to satiate insatiable greed. It totally destroys money. It totally destroys free market. And then we have communist system which completely destroys the impetus to do something in the people. Which completely destroys the very natural human propensity to take care of something which belongs to them. You know, we work. This is our nature. Our nature is to take care, to take nice care about something which belongs to us. And if you deprive people of private property, they don't care. They become completely careless, lazy, and in both systems, the crime is rampant. You know, capitalism creates crime as a social evil because people become poor. communism also creates crime there is not less crime maybe a little less crime than under capitalism but still there is this social evil is not being solved and ultimately the society becomes backward due to these problems like we have in North Korea it's a completely backward country where everyone is poor the only few people are enjoying all the benefits of them being the most equal among everyone equals. So this whole thing is just impasse. It's a completely, this is the problem which cannot be solved by the existing solutions. You know, we have Chinese model, which is slightly different. it's a communist model but the power is somewhat distributed it's not so concentrated on the top so it may not be so corrupt it's quite, you know, it's quite an advantageous model but still it doesn't solve the main problems of the society because ultimately people create more and more problems you know, there's ecological problems which is there this complete rivalry which is there you know and the most important thing is that the human nature is not being improved by being in this society the glory of Vedic system, Vedic social system is that it's about people, how to improve people and people can only be happy when they have pure heart It's not possible to be happy if your heart is impure. And impurities are six according to the Vedic scriptures. It's karma, which is lust. It's krodha, which is anger. It's loba, which is greed. It's moha, which is illusion. It's madha, which is pride. And ultimately it's matsarya, envy, jealousy. You know, when your heart is polluted by these things, You cannot be happy. And all these systems increase the pollution. They increase the pollution of the environment in a very natural way, but the increase of the environmental pollution is only due to the increase of the internal pollution because their hearts are pollution, because their consciousness is polluted, because they don't have the real proper value system. And because there is no value system, ultimately they create all the solutions to the problems which they created themselves and the solutions are worse than the problems. You know, I gave the example, this is my favorite example of modern allopathic medicine. It's supposed to give the solution to all the problems, you know, all the drugs, you know, whatever disease you have will create a drug against this disease and these drugs will work very nicely and they will kill this disease, but they will create, by the way, you know, a host of other diseases. But don't worry, we will make drugs for these other diseases as well, but they will create even more diseases, no problem. You know, you pay money and the diseases will increase, increase, and increase. You know, one of our sinyas in ISKCON, Prahlad Anandaswamy, he said that his aunt was a millionaire lady. And he said that she started using this allopathic medicine, and this allopathic medicine solved some problem, created more problem. she had to go to hospital she got to go more, more, more, more it was increased ultimately when she died her medical care bills were a few million dollars more than her property so it's just crazy you create the solutions but because you create the solutions with the polluted mind the solution is not a solution but more pollution. That's what is going on. Instead of solution, you get more pollution, and pollution increases incrementally until everything is destroyed by this polluted human consciousness. So, after painting this grim picture of modern society, I have to explain this real solution. and we have to really clearly understand the beauty of the solution given in the Vedic scriptures how beautifully and how exactly all the problems are tackled and addressed by seemingly very simple solution which is given in one verse of Isha Upanishad just one first verse of Isha Upanishad by which Isha Upanishad is named Isha Vasya Midam Sarvam Yadkinchit Jagat Yam Jagat Tenat Yaktene Bunjitaha Magridhaka Sya Svidhanam the whole problems of modern society are being solved the problem is that nobody takes it seriously so let's consider what's the solution The solution is genius, really genius, because it really takes care about the free market. Free market is included into the Vedic solution. It takes care about the private property. Private property is included in the Vedic solution. But at the same time, it takes care about the greed in the heart of the people. trying to solve this problem or solving this problem in a very beautiful way. And ultimately, it completely eradicates the envy, which is the most serious and most difficult problem of everyone, of us living in this world. So the solution which is given by Ishopani Ishat and other Vedic scriptures is very simple. the solution is based on the very crystal clear understanding of the law of karma unless you put under the foundation of the society law of karma you will never be able to solve the problems the solution of all the problems of humanity is the understanding of law of karma because ultimately the law of karma is the only law you know if you don't accept the law of karma you will have to create artificial laws and all these people in the parliaments they you know they create one law after another and the problem only increase but the only law which we have to understand is the law of karma it basically means whatever you do will come back to you whatever you do now will come back to you in the future and if you give something away to other people, it will come back to you in an increased manner. The law of karma solved the problem of the society because first of all in this verse it is said to whom everything belongs. Who is the real proprietor of everything? God, Isha. Isha Vasya, Madam Sarvam. This world which we see belongs to him. Nothing belongs to me. You know, nobody is capable of taking everything which he has with him. The only thing which we will take with us is our good karma or bad karma. That's the only thing which belongs to us, really. Everything else doesn't belong to us. There is this beautiful legend about Alexander the Great. You know, he was the great conqueror of the world. He conquered half of the world. And when he was dying, he was only hardly 30 years old. He was very young. When he was dying in one of his war expeditions, and he understood very clearly that he is going to die very soon, he said when you do the funeral ceremony for me you please put me into my coffin or whatever it was with my hands like this and they asked him why do you want your hands to be like this usually when you put somebody dead you put your hands here and he said so that everyone would see that my hands are empty that I couldn't take anything with me that I am the richest person in the world the whole world belongs to me or half of the world belongs to me I didn't take anything with me I'm going as I came in this world so the Vedic solution is very very beautiful the Vedic solution tells you you know everything belongs to God but you are the custodian of God's property. You have the duty, sacred duty, to take care of God's property. Whatever is given to you ultimately belongs to God, but for the time being, you have to show God how careful you are with his property. As much as the, you know, clerk in a bank if he is dealing with a lot of money but if he proves that he is dealing very diligently with money of others he will be promoted in the same way if the property which is given to us by God for the time being for a few years which we are still here if we take care of it nicely if we try to increase this property and at the same time having in mind that this property doesn't belong to me, that I have to use this property for the betterment of the society, if at the same time we are giving in charity, we are helping other people who are in need, then you don't need increased taxes. You know, if you understand this law of karma, the more you get, the more you have to give, and if you give more, you will get more, and you will enjoy more and the whole society will enjoy. The more you get, the more you will give. If you understand this, there is no need to increase taxes because everyone is just giving. Because giving becomes the virtue and the selfishness works in our benefit. Those people who know the law of karma, who understand the dynamics of low karma. They give. Why do they give? Because of the selfish motives. Their selfishness makes them unselfish and purifies their heart. They give because they know that it will bring them more, but while giving, they experience happiness and they know, they see the result of their giving and because while giving they see the benefits, they become benefited and everyone else become benefited. There is a beautiful subhasita which I read today. I don't remember it by heart, but it's a beautiful subhasita. The subhasita goes like this. When you see a beggar who is going griham-griham from house to house and begging, don't think that he goes from house to house because he wants to get something from you because he is because he is really asking you something he is going from house to house to teach you something what is the teaching of the beggar? the teaching of the beggar is very important don't become like me by not giving remain like you by giving that's the teaching of the beggar don't become beggar like me if you don't give you will become like me you want to become like me? no please look at me and don't become like me remain as you are remain in your position by giving because this is the law of karma according to law of karma you will get whatever you give. You know, it's completely strict and very sure. Hello. Become generous. Take care of others. And in this way you will solve the problems of the society. In this way you have the free society with proprietorship, which is proper proprietorship. But at the same time, you don't have all these problems, problems which are created. And in the meantime, by establishing this in a very beautiful way, you purify your heart. By being in this social environment which is healthy, where people are functioning according to this universal law of karma, the universal law of effect by being the member of this society where everyone understands the intricacies of the law of karma you purify your heart and because you purify your heart you experience happiness like this program is called soul feast you know the body should have feast every now and then onam is not long ago was there Everyone had nice South Indian feast on the banana leaves. Yes, body needs some feasting, but the soul also needs to satisfy its hunger. And the hunger of the soul is love. The soul is hungry for love. And you can only experience love if your heart is pure. if your heart is impure if the greed, lust and envy is there in the heart especially envy envy is the worst enemy of love when the envy is there it's complete opposite of love and love will never attend to your heart will never be there in the heart until and unless envy is there So therefore the first verse of Srimad Bhagavatam very clearly says there, paramonirmatsaranam satam, to experience God you have to become free from envy, free from rivalry. And how you become free from rivalry? By understanding this very simple dictum of the first verse of Isopanishad. Please enjoy whatever is given to you by God. Everyone of us has our share and we have to be satisfied with the share which we get. We don't have to be envious. If somebody has the bigger share, it just means that he behaved in a better way in his previous life. and therefore he got the better share and don't be envious to him. Be happy with whatever is given to you by God because he gave everything which you need. There is one more beautiful subhasita and I will quote this subhasita and will finish my talk because I am already talking too much. And this beautiful subhasita from Hittapadesh says that the one who made swan white, parrot green, and peacock multicolored will take care of you too. Don't worry. We can see different varieties in the society. Somebody is white, somebody is green, somebody is multicolored, somebody is rich, somebody is more rich somebody is intelligent, somebody is not so intelligent somebody is beautiful, somebody is not beautiful but the one who made us the way we are will take care of us, don't worry you know, he will provide us with whatever we need in our life and if we properly use whatever is provided to us by God, if we really take care of it nicely then all the problems of our life and of everyone else who is around us will be solved so let's be convinced that there is only one solution and this solution is to understand that there is law of karma and the law of karma tells you work hard in this life, earn whatever you are supposed to earn but share it with others don't be greedy share whatever is given to you in a very generous way with other people and God will be pleased with you and by being pleased with you you will obtain whatever you need and ultimately happiness in your life and of course the whole international society for Krishna consciousness This is about this, it's about sharing. We don't have to only share our money. We also have to share our knowledge. You know, you medical professionals, and you are generously sharing your knowledge. And that's also very satisfying. And we have to share our knowledge, we have to share, you know, the positive emotions which we have. So many things which we can share. and here we are sharing this very great knowledge which is actually your property and I'm here, I have to come from communist Russia to tell you that communism doesn't work just take your Vedic scriptures open Isha Pani Shat read the first verse and become happy. Thank you very much Hare Krishna applause applause applause Hi Vish, okay. So it's time for questions and I request whoever is asking the questions to please introduce themselves, your name, profession and then please you can ask your question. We would like a really live session here. So if anyone please raise your hands and the mic is yours. and share the mic. Nobody wants to introduce themselves. There is a statement in Gita that dharma vetchidhi vetchida. Now, dharma, when we talk about, I suppose it is Yes. such a setting. What is that? Because as I understand that Krishna did not tell Arjuna to form himself, not in Italy to fight. At last he says you do what your God shares, he takes you, don't go with any selfishness, whatever. But what is it that we can say? Because the basic problem with these Kanadana Dharma is they are not organized. They don't have any common result to get organized. Unlike a capital sitting or a company where there is a definite organization set up and there is an aim for everybody to do something. So what is that we can really do in this state, in the future, and also as a collective? Thank you very much. That's a very important question. If Dharma protects somebody who protects Dharma, and how that we can see in our society that those people who follow Dharma sometimes suffer and sometimes Dharmic people, they have so many problems. Definitely I'm not capable of giving the complete answer to these very important questions, but I can share something which can shed some light in this regard. You very aptly gave the example of Arjuna. Krishna says that Dharma, you know, that protecting Dharma basically means to fight. Krishna doesn't say, Arjuna, give up your fighting. Krishna says you fight. And unfortunately, the decline of dharma took place when people misinterpret ahimsa as the main dharma and started basically misusing ahimsa principle. as is very clear from Bhagavad Gita, Krishna is not preaching kahimsa he is he doesn't say to Arjuna don't kill and he doesn't say to him kill he say to him do your duty, do it selflessly do it with the pure heart, remember about me, mama nusmarayudyaca you please remember about me and you fight so what was missing at one point in the Dharma, first of all you know there was this Dharmasya Glanir the decline of Dharma and one of the essential elements of the decline of Dharma was that people they they forgot that Dharma has to be protected with the weapons in hand you know by this sentimental understanding of ahimsa Dharma has to be protected and for that we need very strong people who are real kshatris real passionate people and we need of course knowledgeable people who can guide them in their attempts to protect Dharma so when these two classes of society which are foundational for any prosperous society, the knowledgeable and completely selfless Brahmanas or people who have guardians of knowledge and Kshatriyas who are very valiant and very courageous but at the same time obedient to the victims of the higher knowledge when these two higher classes of society becomes corrupt, when the brahmanas become selfish and try to extract money from people by different means, by different empty rituals and everything else and when the kshatriyas become become unruly when they basically reject the power of knowledge over them by accepting the limitations which the selfless Brahmanas will place upon them, upon their rule then everything becomes corrupt and we have to protect Dharma for that we need to really protect Dharma we need these two categories of people those people who are only interested in pursuit of knowledge and for the sake of knowledge they are ready to sacrifice everything and those people who know Dharma under the guidance of these knowledgeable people and try to protect Dharma by the methods which are suitable for this by restricting adharmic elements, sinful, immoral people who are violating Dharma. That's the problem of the modern society. And we don't really know how to protect Dharma in a real sense. But my humble suggestion is that when we know how to protect Dharma, when this proper balance of protecting Dharma will be there then the protection provided by Dharma will also be in place so Dharma Raksati Raksitaha it's a true statement but we have to really understand more deeply how to implement this statement, how to really protect Dharma I don't know if I... At this... Thank you. Thank you. Hare Krishna Maharaj. My dear population, I just want a question. See, this new age of junas are still in the and they are all having this attitude of negation. And you know that Sanatana Varumma is attacked by different parts of the world. And they are now targeting the religious places, attacking the Kudumba, that philosophy of Indian culture. So now their attitude is changed against the Kudumba, the code of Indian culture. So what is your one message to the New Age of Arjunas? attacks on Dharma were always there. In Satya Yuga, there were Asuras who were attacking Dharma. In Tretta Yuga, we see Rakshasas, Ravana was attacking Dharma. In Dvapara Yuga, you know, Koravas. In the same family, there were Dharmic people and Nadharmic people. And of course in Kali Yuga, Dharma is completely rampant. So the message for all those people who want to become like Arjuna, we have to first understand what is real Dharma, what is Sanatana Dharma, what is the eternal Dharma of the soul. Because Sanatana Dharma is called Sanatana since it is talking about the eternal realities, Reality of the soul, reality of God, and reality of eternal relationship between the soul and God. So my first message is try to understand what is Sanatana Dharma in reality. not you know because sometimes people speak about Sanatana Dharma and they somewhat misrepresent Sanatana Dharma to a certain extent so first we have to be very clear and of course Bhagavad Gita is the basis of understanding Sanatana Dharma and the second by equipping yourself with understanding what is real Dharma, what is real Sanatana Dharma, fight for Dharma and spread this Dharma you know then the Dharmic people will always be there especially in Kali Yuga but how we can fight against them in Kali Yuga just by spreading knowledge just by giving people the proper knowledge and by giving people proper knowledge we can see how Sanatana Dharma I'm coming from the atheistic country, the country which was proud that there is hardly any religious people there. In 1990, when the Soviet Union fell, there was hardly any religious person. But now we have tens of thousands of devotees of Lord Krishna in this country. Why? Because of the spreading of this message of Bhagavad Gita. why did I become devotee of Krishna because I read Bhagavad Gita not because I wanted to become Hindu I didn't know what Hindu is not because I wanted to have this nice clothes I like this clothes now but if somebody would tell me this 40 years back I would be horrified if somebody would tell me that you will go in this clothes I would be very surprised to say the least so my reason my rationale was not this my rationale was very simple I read Bhagavad Gita and I was impressed because I could see that here is the truth you know I could feel I didn't understand Bhagavad Gita to be honest with you after first reading Bhagavad Gita I didn't understand anything but I feel it's true there is some deeper truth in it so the only way to fight against adharma you know you cannot now fight against adharma with the weapons in hand you know you will be put under the bars very soon if you try to do it but there is a way of fighting against this adharma which is fighting sanatana dharma right now that's the spread of knowledge and there is a lot of innocent people who are ready to accept this, they just don't know they are looking for the solutions they want to have solutions and if you have the solution and don't give them the solution, you are guilty of actually destroying Sanatana Dharma by inadvertently kind of helping a Dharma to fight with Sanatana Dharma Sanatana Dharma is powerful enough to fight for itself Dharma Raksati Raksitaha if we help to spread this message so that's so I'm Dr. Arimam and Swamiji our gratitude to have listened to your speech following the line of what I have listened from you. The paradox of good things happening to bad people that we see every day here. And bad people cannot be nullified by good people because of their So, the karma is still there. So, the karma is still there. For example, if I take up somebody who is polluting the Kripati Ladoo, he might get away with this. For all the things we write, we have a few years, we try to get it to legalize it. A few years, people will forget it. That's what we see. So, isn't that the paradox of karma? Because it continues beyond our life, two phases which we don't know of the past or the future. It might be the truth but we are not aware. So doesn't that produce a little dissatisfaction and frustration that in this life we are not able to do? Why is Dharma not being there to help us in this situation? Swamiji, you just told us that Dharma will establish itself. But we don't see it. Sorry, Grandma. No, no, no. It's a good question. It's a good question. First of all, it's not that we don't see it. We can see very clearly in many, many instances how when people violate the rules of Dharma that being punished right away. You know, if people commit serious crimes or if people do some bad immoral activities, even in this life, their family life become destroyed if somebody becomes unchaste. You know, sooner or later, especially now with all these mobile phones the wife reads the you know mobile phone or something like this you know we can see it again and again and again how the law of karma works, you do something wrong and you get bad consequences of this you smoke you get cancer lung cancer or whatever you drink, you get cirrhosis of liver you know so many cause and effect instances we can see how how karma works we cannot see everything that's true but at the same time we see you know if somebody does something wrong which is against dharma and what is dharma dharma which this is something which helps you to sustain your life. If you do something which is unsustainable, if you lead the way of life which is unsustainable, if you drink alcohol, if you do some other intoxications, if you indulge in illicit sex life and everything else, you know, you get the reactions of this. Because it's unsustainable. In the same way, we have to make just projection that most subtle things which may not be punished immediately still will get punishment. So all those people who polluted Tirupati Lardos, they will get punished. There is no doubt about it. Whether we will see it or not is not so important. We'll try to do something. You have to try to do something. you have to really try to do justice but if they get away with it ok, no problem it's actually their problem it's not our problem you know why do we have to see everything we don't see so many things but we have to be intellectually convinced that the law of karma works and we see how it works right now. And yes, sometimes we don't see. It's fine. You know, sooner or later it will work. Because, you know, the foundation of the law of karma is that we're all connected. We're living in a system which is interconnected. There is so much, you know, interconnection in this system. So whatever you do, we'll have a reaction from the same system. so we don't have to worry about you know and sometimes it takes time you know because the scriptures are comparing karma with the tree you know you plant the seed into the ground but it takes time before the seed will bring the fruit you know you cannot expect that the moment you put the seed in the ground you know the seed you know, the fruit is there you know, the seed has to sprout and then the tree has to grow and then bloom and then the fruit will be there so it takes time in a normal consequence you know, even your medical doctor, you know you drink a little bit and you know, liver is okay no problem, you drink a little more it's okay, but then you drink for 30 years and the liver is completely destroyed by this activity. But you don't see it immediately. But, you know, being a doctor, you have no doubts that it's in the process of being destroyed. And it will be destroyed ultimately. It will have a bad effect on the health. So in the same way, you know, some things may take some time. But sooner or later, if the seed is there, the fruit will also be there. Thank you. It's a very simple question. Moksi is supposed to be the highest achievement of a human being, so the highest achievement cannot be very simple by definition. you know Dharma is simple Mokshi is not so simple but anyway you know there are different answers to this question everyone is trying to answer this question and everyone is trying to give different solutions or different recipes if you go to yogi in Himalaya somewhere in the cave he said just sit down next to me and I will teach you how to obtain moksha if you go to Brahman in Benares in Gaia he will tell you do this yagya I will teach you how to obtain moksha so there are different solutions to this problem but let's not just take it by the face value and let's understand why it is so difficult for us to obtain moksha. We don't obtain moksha because we don't want. The answer is very simple. Theoretically we want. It would not be good if I obtained moksha, but at the same time we cherish our attachments to this world. We really like the way we are and we only want to improve it a little bit. And sometimes when we are in some funeral ceremony or we are in a deathbed or we are very sick, we think, oh no, this life stinks, I want moksha. You know, those people who want moksha, they will obtain moksha, no doubt about it. If your desire to obtain liberation is very strong, you will seek for it and you will ultimately find the solution for it. But what is the solution which is given in the scriptures? The solution is very, very profound. To obtain moksha you have to purify your heart. The attachments which you have in this life is the result of impurities of the heart. And unless your heart is pure you cannot obtain moksha. So to obtain moksha you have to purify the heart. To purify the heart you have to be really determined to do it. Because, you know, we want moksha but we don't want to purify the heart. We don't want to give up attachments. We want the best of two worlds. We want to obtain moksha and at the same time we don't want to lose anything here. It doesn't work like this. You know, so the first condition, the first and foremost condition to obtain liberation from the sufferings of this world is to really get the sincere desire, I do want it. Not just, you know, it would not be good to have it. That doesn't work. You know, I really want to find the solution to all the problems of life. And the main problems of life is death. that's the main problem how to obtain the solution for this that's only moksha moksha or mukti so according to us the liberation can be obtained very easily while chanting the name of God because the name of God is independently powerful by chanting the name of God Hare Krishna mantra which is there in this poster by chanting the name of God you invoke his presence and because he is the most pure he is the purest of all your heart will be automatically purified you know normally people to give up their attachments they have to really work hard. You know, you go to yogi and he will say you have to give up everything, you have to give up your family life, this and that. You know, we don't say you have to give up your family life. No need. No need to give up family life. No need to give up, you know, simple pleasures and joys of life. It's fine. Just chant the name of God. Gradually, gradually, the heart will become purified in a very natural way. And when the heart is pure in a natural way, in a very natural way, the love will come in the heart. And when the love comes, then you will be next to the Lord. It's a natural process. So there are artificial processes of pain, moksha. And the artificial processes, they are very difficult. They are very hard and very painful in a sense. But there is a natural way which is recommended for us. We are not very strong people of this age. And for us the only way is to chant the holy name. And therefore it is said in this Kalu, in this age of Kali, there is no other way. three times it is said. And it is repeated three times. Because what they want to say that the karma, the rituals don't work in Kali Yuga. There is nobody who can perform rituals perfectly. perfectly. Yoga doesn't work in Kali-yuga. You know, hardly anyone can really follow the strict discipline of yoga. And, you know, meditation doesn't work in Kali-yuga. You know, meditation five minutes after lunch, it's not meditation, it's called nap. So by this meditation you cannot obtain moksha. So harev nama, harev nama, harev nama eva kevalam, only holy name, only holy name, only holy name. You know, other processes don't work. But this is a very simple and natural process. By chanting you purify your heart, by purifying your heart attachments will go away. away and when attachments go away the desire to obtain God will come there. And that's the real Dharma of the age. I am Nidhi Tanshli, a clinical psychologist. I am not very particular about attaining moksha, but in this birth there are certain talents or skills like singing which I cannot do and and I really wish in the next birth I would like to do that. I'll put on with the ability to sing. Is there any way we can go towards that? Whatever you want in this life, if you sincerely want, you will be provided with the opportunities to obtain it. There is no doubt about it because our life is guided by the desires. And desires are obtained by associations. So when you associate with people, you naturally obtain some desires to become like them. So definitely, no problem, you will obtain all the talents and abilities, especially if you also chant the name of God. and for that you don't need singing talent you can do it with your own present abilities no problem but in reality we have to be we have to understand this is the foundation of the law of karma you know we have desires and desire they determine our future. So we have to be very careful about the desires. We have to really develop good desires, and the good desires we can only develop by associating with good people. And therefore, the most important element of Vedic culture is sadhusangha or satsangha. Why Vedic scriptures again and again stress the need of satsang, because by satsangha you develop good desires, and by good desires you develop everything else good, you know. And by satsangha the bad desires will naturally go away. So just be in good association and you know, you will obtain good desires You will obtain good desires and good desires will be fulfilled, for sure. And your name is Anjali, right? Yeah, so you do this like this because that's Anjali. and for sure it will be granted to you. Anyone? Yes. Good evening Guruji, Dr. Breyer. I have a very, it might be sound naive to you, but what is the right way to pray? Do we pray to the Lord for something or we just leave all our problems to Him well? Like we pray for, for example, the hand of our loved ones. Do we pray for that or we just leave it, we surrender fully? See, we can only pray sincerely according to the condition of our heart. You know, if I tell you don't pray for anyone, just surrender completely. If you are not in the stage where you are ready to surrender completely, your prayer will not be sincere. So ultimately we have to surrender. But surrender is not a decision. Surrender is a process. And it's a gradual process which takes some time. So we try to pray as purely as we can. But at the same time there is no harm if we invest our prayers with some emotions, if something is really urgent within our hearts, some desire, there is no harm. Therefore, it is said in the second canto of Srimad Bhagavatam, makama sarva kama vama moksha kama udar dih, tivrene bhakti yogi nayajata purushamparam, whether you have all desires or don't have any desires, it's only God who can fulfill all desires. so what is more important it's not that important for what you pray what is more important is to pray with the feeling if you invest your emotions into prayer then this emotional or real feeling prayers, prayers with the feeling will purify your heart very quickly whereas if you are just you know Hare Krishna Hare Krishna it's not going to purify your heart so that's the art to invest emotions into your prayer and for that you need to pray for the health of your near and dear one no problem Krishna will be happy to do it because he will feel the sincerity of your approach and he will help you Please. Asuras were different and they deplored everybody in Rama's relationship. Rama was very peaceful and hopeful, nothing was there. When Krishna's period came, these asuras also were still living in Amita. Khamsa and Sishvara and everybody was there. And in the beginning, how can you use that? When Krishna's period, there was poverty in the world. Even Pujeda was suffering. His own people, why he was being considered a country like he is supreme and Purnah Adaira. Why in his time, this was a poverty and everything. Why Pujeda was? Why he was suffering like that? Then what about us? Who was suffering, I didn't get? Pujeda was suffering. Sudama. Pujeda was suffering. He was suffering. Why he was suffering? and all of you are at that time, Krishna's side and he was Karnamadara. And now, nowadays, what happens is all Asuras are present. Whether it is human being, whether it is divine, it is not distinguished in this period. We always have sometimes have it in Asura, sometimes we have it in the Divine. I don't know how differently, but we cannot see each other. I'm just confused. Kali Yuga is the age of confusion. Everyone is confused in Kali Yuga. Yeah, previously everything was very clear. In Satya Yuga, the demons and Suras and Asuras, they were living in different planets. in Treta Yuga during Rama's time they were living in different territories in the same planet in Krishna's time in Dvapara Yuga they started living in the same family Duryodhana and Pandavas were cousin brothers they were living in the same family and in Kali Yuga Suras and Asuras live in the same heart that's the problem so that's how it is it was very clear everything was very clear in Satya Yuga everything is completely mixed in Kali Yuga everything is confused in Kali Yuga therefore Kali Yuga is a difficult time to be and you know sufferings are there according to karma you know Krishna I don't have to go into details of Sudama's story. Somebody says that he ate some chickpeas and didn't share it with Krishna while he was a student. But in any case, Sudama didn't feel that he is poor because his heart was full with love and Krishna gave him the full measure of the riches. But the real question is what we are supposed to do when our heart is confused, when the demonic and divine tendencies are there very closely, you know, enmeshed, entangled within our own heart. So the only solution for this is, you know, and because Kali Yuga is such a confused age when it's an age of propaganda you know if you see the TV or see the advertisement or whatever everyone is trying to say I'm right this is right thing to do, this is Dharma, this is good thing to do and you know you hear it the more you hear it the more confused you become so therefore it's very important in the age of Kali, in this age, in their age, to go to the real sources of Dharma. And Bhagavad Gita is undisputably a real source of Dharma. And to try to study the real source of Dharma under the guidance of somebody who proved himself to be very pure. That's why Srila Prabhupada, he called his Bhagavad Gita, his edition, his explanation of Bhagavad Gita, Bhagavad Gita as it is. And he says there are so many editions of Bhagavad Gita, but they try to impose upon us some different ideas which are not there in the original Bhagavad Gita. So we have to go to the root, to the source, and we have to take the guidance of somebody who proved by his life that he is pure, that he is unselfish, that he is totally selfless. Why do we follow Srila Prabhupada? Why do we adore him so much? Because we see how 10% pure he was. He sacrificed his whole life for the betterment of humanity. And there are unfortunately so many modern gurus who are who preach nice things but unfortunately either after fame or money or some other things so to remain pure in Kali Yuga you really try to work hard to find somebody who is completely selfless and who is preaching the real message of the original Vedas that's what I would say that's the recipe try to try to see not to be fooled because again in Kali Yuga it's so easy to be fooled so easy to be fooled the whole world is working to just fool us by different means all this machinery of propaganda is just you know completely bewildering people it's the age of propaganda My name is Arun Debs, I am working in the bank. My question is, like, Romarek has said that our permanent relationship is actually with God, and so part of the people we met in this life, like we have father, mother, they answered and so that they loved us and we have some sort of an attachment suddenly if some of them passes away or if I like so whether the relation with any other living entity is over or by a bit so that is my question if the attachment is very strong it will one way or another manifest in other life if you know we are not born to a particular people in a particular family without a reason, there is a cause behind it and usually people who have attachment they again meet each other and sometimes they recognize each other even I had an interesting encounter with one lady who was in a regression in a past life regression and she's so, she's very, I mean she's a serious lady she's from America herself but she has from a rather rich background so she's not somebody sentimental or whatever so I tend to believe her and I know her I know her life a little bit and she told me that in regression she saw some of her past lives and in one of her past lives she saw herself it was long ago and she was in Egypt in ancient Egypt and her husband was also there and they were both male as far as I remember and there was some war and her husband I think protected her in the previous life and sacrificed his life and she explained to me details of the story how she saw it and how she is very grateful and they have very close relationship with her husband. And I immediately asked her, you know, how did you know that this is your husband? Because obviously he had different form and, you know, even she had different gender and whatever. She said, no, it's very simple. By looking at his eyes, I recognize that it's my husband in my present life, you know, because by looking in the eyes, you can see, it's written in Upanishad, that by looking in the eyes, you can see the soul. The soul is reflected in the eyes. So she said, I could recognize him, and I could understand why in this life our attachment is so strong and why I am so grateful to him. And she told me, and actually her husband told me how he met her. he said, I saw her for the first time in my life and I immediately knew she will be my wife for the rest of my life. And it happened. So, you know, how is it possible? You see a person for the first time in your life, you recognize something and immediately the bond is formed. How it could be formed? It could only be formed because it was already there. and that was confirmed after that so if the bond is strong it will continue one way or another and somehow or other the attachment will be will manifest in this life but if you really want to bring happiness to your near and dear ones then become the devotee and by becoming a devotee you will bring happiness to them and liberation for them and for yourself. Several generations of people become liberated of somebody who becomes real bhakti of God. Can you keep your microphone a little further away? Yes, now I can hear. for most English students when we touch child labor. Most of the Hindu students were not going to be. Okay. And they are not going to play in their home. It is just a young boy. There for most confident students and not to... They are not believing in what we are discussing here. So, could you please tell me how we can solve the problem? Because I think... In different classes, we are having four classes. That is, commerce, science, and four classes. class 7. But most of the students are not going here to improve or they are not even praying at home. And when the childhood I think from the age of 5 to 6, right? Actually they were praying, Sanjana, Mahalaya, Keshama, Kishama, Mughalaya, and like that. But and put some to the standard and from the standard order, from high school orders, they are not doing anything at all. And then, I don't know what happened to my Hindu community. My son is 18 years old, he is also a, I think, He is not praying at home. But his friends from the region always said that some Muslim students are praying five times in a day. There are 15 students going there with a cat socast like that. for Hindus, Hindu students. I know that's how I say, okay? Thank you. Yeah, it's a very sad situation. I don't know if I have solution to this problem. If I had a solution, probably, Marendra Modi would be very happy with me, but... But I can say something in this regard. I remember long ago, it was in the year 2000, I was in some sadhu Samelan in Rishikesh. And there was a Hindu organization, Hindu delegation being formed to go to America to UN millennium religious dialogue or something like this. And I was there and so many sadhus are there from different groups. And in a break, one sadhu approached me. And he said, I'm a sadhu myself, and I have a Sanskrit school, and I have 400 students, and I'm teaching Sanskrit to these 400 students in Rajasthan. He said, yes, I'm a teacher, I know Sanskrit, I teach, but I could not make my own sons to wear dhoti. And he said, your Srila Prabhupada is so great, he made Americans to wear dhoti instead of jeans. My own sons are wearing jeans and he made Americans to wear dhoti. So, and he was just saying by glorifying Srila Prabhupada. So why did I tell you by answering the question? You know, what is the difference between average Hindu and average Muslim person? I would say that average Muslim person is more dedicated to his religion than average Hindu person. And because children don't see how his own parents are practicing it properly, you know, they become also a little cynical or indifferent to this religion. why Srila Prabhupada could influence hippies in America in the 60s and 70s because he was he himself 10% was practicing what he was preaching and they saw his example and they saw the result of his own practice they saw how happy he is how balanced he is, how magnanimous he is, how kind he is, kind-hearted he is. So I think the main problem which should be solved is that there are not many living examples of real people who are practicing Sanatana Dharma and who not only practice Sanatana Dharma, but they practice it very sincerely, but they also have experience of how beneficial it is. I see in the families where parents are really, really devoted to their practice, children also naturally follow their footsteps. So the main thing is not precept, the main thing is the example. If they see the good example and if they see, you know, and the more you follow yourself, the more you have the ability to influence others to follow your footsteps. There is a, you know, famous story about one, you know, mother who came to a sadhu and mother said, you know, can you tell my son not to eat sugar? Because he's eating too much sweets and it's not good, you know, it's not good for his health, and I know, but I tell him all the time, he doesn't listen to me. Can you tell him? And the sadhu said, you please come with your son in one week, and then I will tell the son to stop eating sugar. And the mother came in one week with the son, and Sadu looked at the son and said, please don't eat sugar. And the son listened to him. It came deep in the heart and since then he stopped eating too much sugar. And the mother came the next day and said, thank you very much, here's my present. But I have one question. Why you told me to come in one week? And he said, because I myself was eating sugar. so I stopped eating sugar for one week and then I could tell him to stop eating sugar otherwise if I told him by eating sugar myself my words would not have power so I think that's the solution for the problem which you so beautifully described and which is so important They have to see more examples, more vivid and proper examples of kind-hearted people who practice Hindu Dharma. And that's a tragedy which we see, and we have to do something about it.