People have become so degraded

Expressions researched:
"People have become so degraded" |"People have become so much degraded" |"people and they have become very much degraded" |"people are becoming degraded" |"people are becoming increasingly degraded" |"people are becoming so degraded" |"people become degraded"

Notes from the compiler: VedaBase query: "people becom* degrad*"/10

SB Canto 4

People have become so degraded in this age that on the one hand they restrict polygamy and on the other hand they hunt for women in so many ways.

SB 4.26.6, Purport:

People have become so degraded in this age that on the one hand they restrict polygamy and on the other hand they hunt for women in so many ways. Many business concerns publicly advertise that topless girls are available in this club or in that shop. Thus women have become instruments of sense enjoyment in modern society. The Vedas enjoin, however, that if a man has the propensity to enjoy more than one wife—as is sometimes the propensity for men in the higher social order, such as the brāhmaṇas, kṣatriyas and vaiśyas, and even sometimes the śūdras—he is allowed to marry more than one wife. Marriage means taking complete charge of a woman and living peacefully without debauchery. At the present moment, however, debauchery is unrestricted. Nonetheless, society makes a law that one should not marry more than one wife. This is typical of a demoniac society.

SB Canto 5

No one is being trained to act according to the principles of varṇāśrama-dharma, and thus people are becoming increasingly degraded and are heading in the direction of animal life.

SB 5.19.19, Purport:

At the present moment, certain demoniac sections of the population of Bhāratavarṣa are disregarding the system of varṇāśrama-dharma. Because there is no institution to teach people how to become brāhmaṇas, kṣatriyas, vaiśyas and śūdras or brahmacārīs, gṛhasthas, vānaprasthas and sannyāsīs, these demons want a classless society. This is resulting in chaotic conditions. In the name of secular government, unqualified people are taking the supreme governmental posts. No one is being trained to act according to the principles of varṇāśrama-dharma, and thus people are becoming increasingly degraded and are heading in the direction of animal life. The real aim of life is liberation, but unfortunately the opportunity for liberation is being denied to people in general, and therefore their human lives are being spoiled. The Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement, however, is being propagated all over the world to reestablish the varṇāśrama-dharma system and thus save human society from gliding down to hellish life.

SB Canto 6

It is said that in Kali-yuga one has a maximum lifetime of one hundred years, but as people become degraded, the duration of their lives decreases.

SB 6.2.23, Purport:

"For persons who are pāpiṣṭha, very sinful, and durācāra, misbehaved or very unclean in their habits, who are against the existence of God, who disrespect Vaiṣṇavas and brāhmaṇas, and who eat anything and everything, untimely death is sure." It is said that in Kali-yuga one has a maximum lifetime of one hundred years, but as people become degraded, the duration of their lives decreases (prāyeṇālpāyuṣaḥ). Because Ajāmila was now free from all sinful reactions, his lifetime was extended, even though he was to have died immediately. When the Viṣṇudūtas saw Ajāmila trying to say something to them, they disappeared to give him a chance to glorify the Supreme Lord. Since all his sinful reactions had been vanquished, he was now prepared to glorify the Lord. Indeed, one cannot glorify the Lord unless one is completely free from all sinful activities.

CC Madhya-lila

At the present moment people have become so degraded that they do not even follow the Vedic principles, to say nothing of Vaiṣṇava principles.

CC Madhya 8.49, Translation and Purport:

Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu accepted the invitation, knowing the brāhmaṇa to be a devotee, and slightly smiling, He spoke as follows to Rāmānanda Rāya.

Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu accepted the invitation of the Vaiṣṇava brāhmaṇa. Even though one is a brāhmaṇa strictly following all the rules and regulations of brahminical culture, if he is not a devotee, a follower of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, one should not accept his invitation. At the present moment people have become so degraded that they do not even follow the Vedic principles, to say nothing of Vaiṣṇava principles. They eat anything and everything—whatever they like—and therefore the members of the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement should be very cautious about accepting invitations.

Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures

His indication He's coming is that people are becoming degraded, forgetting God. That is their degradation. So at the end of this Kali-yuga they will be so much degraded that it will be impossible for them to understand God.

Lecture on BG 2.25 -- Hyderabad, November 29, 1972:

Indian: Mahārāja, it is indicated in Rāmāyaṇa that God is coming to this world as kali-avatāra. It is correct? What is the indication of His coming?

Prabhupāda: His indication He's coming is that people are becoming degraded, forgetting God. That is their degradation. So at the end of this Kali-yuga they will be so much degraded that it will be impossible for them to understand God. At the present moment, although it is Kali-yuga, there are some persons who are trying to understand God. At least, there is attempt. But, at the end of Kali-yuga, say, about 400,000's of years, then people... Because they're becoming animals, more and more. The more we become animals, we cannot understand God. So our modern civilization is to make the people animal. That is advancement of civilization.

That our people have become so degraded that they are asking what is God, what is Kṛṣṇa—although Kṛṣṇa, God, is appeared here and left instructions. This is our position.

Lecture on BG 7.1 -- Bhuvanesvara, January 22, 1977:

Prabhupāda: So you can analyze. Karṣaṇa you cannot understand the meaning? Kṛṣṇa means all-attractive. Kṛṣ-karṣati. Yes. Kṛṣṇa means attractive, all-attractive.

Indian: (indistinct)

Prabhupāda: And besides that, you do not know Kṛṣṇa? That is the difficulty. That our people have become so degraded that they are asking what is God, what is Kṛṣṇa—although Kṛṣṇa, God, is appeared here and left instructions. This is our position. There is a Bengali word, ṣaṭ-khaṇḍa rāmāyaṇa sītā karbaba.(?) He has studied Seventh (indistinct) of Rāmāyaṇa, now he's asking who's father is Sītā. So this is the position. We are born in the country where Kṛṣṇa spoke everything, and now we are asking what is the meaning of Kṛṣṇa, what is God. This is the position. Very degraded position. Tad viddhi praṇipātena paripraśnena sevayā (BG 4.34).

Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures

Agra means in the beginning of creation. Later on they have deviated, or as the ages are going on, people are becoming degraded in their standard of spiritual understanding.

Lecture on SB 1.2.25 -- Los Angeles, August 28, 1972:

Brahmā is the original living creature within this universe; so he worshiped the Supreme Lord, Personality of Godhead. He worshiped not the impersonal brahma-jyotir; he worshiped the person. Yaṁ brahmā varuṇendra—they were the first creation, and the sages Marīci, Vasiṣṭha, Ātreya... There are seven great sages, first-born. All of them worship the Personality of Godhead. Bhejire munayo 'thāgre. Agra means in the beginning of creation. Later on they have deviated, or as the ages are going on, people are becoming degraded in their standard of spiritual understanding. In the Satya-yuga, cent percent people were aware of their spiritual necessity of life. Next yuga, seventy-five percent. Next yuga, fifty percent, fifty percent; and this yuga, Kali-yuga, seventy-five percent are rascals, and twenty-five percent, they are little wise. And out of that twenty-five percent, mostly they are fruitive actors.

The regulating processes are lost now, and neither it is possible to reintroduce it. It is not possible. People have become so much degraded that it is not possible. Therefore direct method. Direct method: chant Hare Kṛṣṇa. That will revive your old consciousness.

Lecture on SB 7.6.6-9 -- Montreal, June 23, 1968:

But Lord Caitanya, by His grace, by this saṅkīrtana movement, He very easily distributed this love of Kṛṣṇa. Therefore He is called namo mahā-vadānyāya: "My dear Lord, You are the most magnificent, munificent personality, incarnation, because," kṛṣṇa-prema-pradāya te (CC Madhya 19.53), "You are distributing kṛṣṇa-prema, love of Kṛṣṇa, the most important thing, the goal of life." And that was the mission of Lord Caitanya. He said, kalau, in this age, when everything has become topsy-turvied, there is no more chance for systematizing the whole human society. It is lost. The regulating processes are lost now, and neither it is possible to reintroduce it. It is not possible. People have become so much degraded that it is not possible. Therefore direct method. Direct method: chant Hare Kṛṣṇa. That will revive your old consciousness. Chant Hare Kṛṣṇa. Caitanya Mahāprabhu says, kalau nāsty eva nāsty eva nāsty eva gatir anyathā: "In this age there is no other alternative, there is no other alternative."

Nectar of Devotion Lectures

People have become so much degraded that they cannot understand even ABCD of spiritual knowledge. They'll make their own interpretation.

The Nectar of Devotion -- Vrndavana, October 30, 1972:

There are so-called pseudo devotees. They say, "What we have to do with Bhagavad-gītā?" They think that they are so advanced that they will jump over immediately to the Kṛṣṇa's rasa-līlā. That means Kṛṣṇa's līlā in the Kurukṣetra is not very much important for them. But no. Kṛṣṇa's līlā, either in the Kurukṣetra or in Vṛndāvana, the same thing. We should know. Abhinnatvād nāma-nāminoḥ. So better, first of all, read Bhagavad-gītā, the preliminary study of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Try to read, or try to learn. Of course, in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam there is everything. But for ordinary persons, because Bhagavad-gītā is the ABCD of spiritual knowledge... People even commit mistakes in studying the ABCD of spiritual knowledge. People have become so much degraded that they cannot understand even ABCD of spiritual knowledge. They'll make their own interpretation. Such is the horrible condition. They'll try to make minus Kṛṣṇa Bhagavad-gītā, go on reading Bhagavad-gītā for millions of years, setting aside Kṛṣṇa. That is scholarly. This is going on.

General Lectures

People have become so degraded. They do not want to take any information of the soul, of the transmigration of the soul, of God, our relationship with God, what is the ultimate goal of life, why we are put into this miserable condition of life.

Rotary Club Lecture -- Ahmedabad, December 5, 1972:

So within this body, within the heart, I am sitting there, and God is sitting there also. So God is simply observing what I am doing, what I am desiring, and He's giving me opportunity, "All right, you want to do this? Do it, and take experience." And the living entity is enjoying. It is compared with the tree because the living entity's enjoying the fruit of the tree, and the other living entity, Supreme, Paramātmā, He's simply witnessing. Witnessing, and giving you the result of your fruitive activities. That is called karma.

So these things are very subtle matters, and we have got very, very scientific, authorized information of these matters. But people have become so degraded. They do not want to take any information of the soul, of the transmigration of the soul, of God, our relationship with God, what is the ultimate goal of life, why we are put into this miserable condition of life. Janma... You may say that "I am very happy." I may say, "I am very happy." But actually, there is no happiness.

Philosophy Discussions

Just like some philosophers are philosophizing on sex life. So the people are becoming degraded.

Philosophy Discussion on Blaise Pascal:

Hayagrīva: Although he was considered a great philosopher, he concluded that philosophy in itself only leads to skepticism, that faith is needed, and he always added here, "God."

Prabhupāda: Philosophy means, real philosophy means to understand the truth. That is philosophy. So without understanding about the truth, if he encourages untruth... Just like some philosophers are philosophizing on sex life. So the people are becoming degraded. So what is philosophy in sex life, that is an (indistinct). It is there in animal and man also. So sex life is not actual life; it is a symptom of life only. So if we stress on this point only, that is not philosophy. Philosophy means, as it is stated, tattva jñānārthaṁ darśanam. To find out the Absolute Truth, tattva, that is philosophy. And tattva means the spirit soul or the spiritual atmosphere. Brahmeti paramātmeti bhagavān iti śabdyate (SB 1.2.11). So those who are discussing about Brahman or Paramātmā, Supersoul, or Bhagavān, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, they are real philosopher because they are trying to find out the Absolute Truth, and others are bogus.

1973 Conversations and Morning Walks

This killing and keeping organized slaughterhouse killing is the same thing. Just see. People have become so degraded.

Room Conversation with Indian Ambassador -- September 5, 1973, Stockholm:

Prabhupāda: Just see. Breaking a grass blade is equal to keeping a big, organized slaughterhouse. Just see.

Ambassador: I see.

Prabhupāda: This is their intelligence. She has complained, "It is also killing." Supposing it is killing. Actually it is not killing. Supposing it is killing. This killing and keeping organized slaughterhouse killing is the same thing. Just see. People have become so degraded.

Ambassador: This is sophistry.

Prabhupāda: They give this example that: "You also kill vegetables, just this grass blade is broken. It is killed. So it is equal to maintaining a big slaughterhouse." You see? This is going on, under the name of re... They, they were Christian nuns. In London they come to me, talk some time. So... And in India also, we see now cow killing is going on, regular slaughterhouse and... What can I say? You are government man. (laughs) You may take some wrong views about me. What is your opinion, personal?

Ambassador: I'm afraid I'm a very democratic person. If people, if they sincerely believe that they cannot exist without meat, they should be permitted, and once that is granted...

Prabhupāda: No, no, no.

People have become so degraded. They make regular show, how sex life can be enjoyed with animals.

Morning Walk -- December 31, 1973, Los Angeles:

Prabhupāda: That is the beginning. So the girl becomes infected, and she distributes to all men who have sex life with... This is the beginning of sex life. And in Mexico I have heard that they regularly make theatrical demonstration, how a woman is getting sex with ass. Is it?

Bahulāśva: Yes. That is in Tijuana.

Prabhupāda: Just see. Brahmānanda told me. People have become so degraded. They make regular show, how sex life can be enjoyed with animals.

Bahulāśva: That is abominable.

South American Devotee: In South of Argentina, the soldiers, they have sex life with different animals. The army. When they are so long alone without..., and they have...

Prabhupāda: The government allow?

South American Devotee: Oh yeah.

Prabhupāda: It is legal. Just see. Where it is?

South American Devotee: South Argentina.

Prabhupāda: Now, if you analyze the present human society, you will find there is not a single human being. All animals. All animals. Not a single human being.

1974 Conversations and Morning Walks

Because people are becoming degraded, so they elected such degraded everything.

Morning Walk -- April 17, 1974, Bombay:

Prabhupāda: Therefore it is rogues. So what is the value of that laws? The legislative assembly means a set of rogues, and if they legislate something, what is the value of that? (break) Caught like that, yes. Because people are becoming degraded, so they elected such degraded everything. (break) Shameless. The whole nation is asking that "You resign." "No." Such shameless. (break) ...that somebody was in the room, and the outsider says, "Who is in the room?" "No, no! I am not stealing!" (laughter) "No, no, I am not stealing."

People are becoming so degraded. They require all to be killed.

Room Conversation with Prof. Regamay, Professor of Sanskrit at the University of Lausanne -- June 4, 1974, Geneva:

Prof. Regamay: But this young boy who was asking what to do with the fascists the day before yesterday, he wanted precisely violence to fight against the fascists. You, remember...

Prabhupāda: First of all, the thing is that our principle is vināśāya ca duṣkṛtām. Those who are sinful rogues, to kill them. Now, we have to judge whether the fascist, he is sinful or the person attacking the fascist, he is sinful. If both of them are of the same category, then where to use violence or to use nonviolence? Now... Formerly, there was fight between nation to nation and now, we have seen in Italy—I was in Rome—now they are fighting amongst themselves.

Prof. Regamay: Awfully.

Prabhupāda: Amongst themselves. Now they will fight in the family. So people are becoming so degraded. They require all to be killed.

1972 Correspondence

We have observed in Amsterdam that there are many frustrated young people and they have become very much degraded in their way of life. They will not even listen to philosophy.

Letter to Danavir -- London 2 August, 1972:

I sometimes remember that when I spoke in Portland there were many Christian people there, and they were very much favorable whenever we mentioned that we were also lovers of Christ. So you may preach in that way, that we are not canvassing for people to convert or criticize, we are canvassing people that they should simply utilize their time for loving God by engaging in his devotional service, either they are Christian, Catholic, Jew, whatever. We are after God, that's all, we are servants of God. So preach like this, very simply, and hold sankirtana widely all over the city, and distribute prasadam profusely, especially to the young people and the students, and everything will be increasingly successful more and more. We have observed in Amsterdam that there are many frustrated young people and they have become very much degraded in their way of life. They will not even listen to philosophy. So it is better to concentrate on the sankirtana and get them to chant with us. If they go on chanting, eventually they will become purified. And if someone wants to understand a little philosophy, he can purchase one of our books. We have got so many big, big books. So in this spirit carry on with great enthusiastic endeavor and this will please me very, very much.