Brahmā requested Prahlāda, "My dear boy, the Lord has appeared to mitigate your trouble; so you try to pacify Him. We have failed." But just see. This is the behavior of Vaiṣṇava. He is the prominent personality in that assembly.
Still, he says that, "All these demigods, they are not like us, disturbing. I am born of atheistic father. Our family, our community, our society"—vayam, vayam means "we"—"our society, country, family, they're all disturbing." Prahlāda Mahārāja says, "We are all disturbing because we are atheistic." In other words, the more the population is atheistic, the more disturbance in the society.
So he says that these demigods . . . as I explained the other day, there are two classes of men everywhere: one godly and the other atheist. The atheistic are always disturbing, and godly persons, they're peaceful; they're not disturbing. Whenever we'll find disturbance, you must know there is atheistic population. And peaceful country or a godly persons, they are never disturbing.
So Prahlāda Mahārāja takes the side of the atheistic population because he was born of atheistic father, and he recommends that "These brahmādayo, these demigods headed by Brahmā," he īśa, "my dear Lord," vayam iva, "just like us," na ca udvijantaḥ, "they are not disturbing. They are very peaceful."
So they do not know the peace formula. They are creating atheistic population and they want peace. How it is possible? Just like I remember in a . . . I read in a paper that Archbishop of Canterbury, he said in a lecture that, "You want kingdom of God without God." So similarly, the world is after peace. There are so many associations, societies, United Nation. They are after peace, but they are all groups of atheistic people.
Therefore the members of the United Nation, they are themselves fighting some way or other. How there can be peace, because they are themselves disturbing? How they can be in peace? You cannot expect any peace in atheistic society or animalistic society. So they must be made godly, God conscious, Kṛṣṇa conscious. Then there will be peace.
God conscious and atheistic people, what is the difference? The difference is that atheistic person thinks "my," everything "my." "I am the lord of all I survey. I am the king. I am the leader. I am everything, and everything belongs to me." This is atheistic temperament. And godly persons? They think everything God's. That is the difference. The thing is there. Take anything—your country, your home, your wealth, anything—as soon as you say "It is mine," then it is atheistic. And as soon as you say: "It is God's," then you are godly. You are there; the things are there. Simply change of consciousness. That's all. Simply change of consciousness.
Just like in India, twenty years ago, say, in 1947, we are under the British rule. Now, what is the independence? Independence means they thinking that, "I'm not in British rule." That's all. The government is the same: the clerk, the minister, the secretary, the government house, the administrator, I mean to say, process—everything is there. Simply a change of consciousness. A change of rubber stamp. That's all. Formerly the rubber stamp was "His Majesty's Government," and now the rubber stamp is "Indian Government." That's all.
So Kṛṣṇa consciousness does not mean . . . God consciousness does not mean that you have to revolutionize everything. No. Simply you have to change. And actually that is the fact. When I think that it is God's . . . say, for my country. I am claiming now "my country," but actually it is not my country. Everything God's. Who has created this country, this vast land, the sky, the sea, the ocean? I have not created. So how can I claim that this is mine? I have come empty-handed from the womb of my mother, and I shall go empty-handed. So why do I claim it is mine?
So this is ignorance. Actually, I am claiming others' property as mine. This is atheistic. Just like thieves. It is . . . Bhagavad-gītā it is said, stena eva sa ucyate (BG 3.12). Stena eva sa ucyate. One who thinks that "The world belongs to me or "to my nation" or "to my family" or "to my community," he is thief. Īśāvāsyam idaṁ sarvam (Īśopaniṣad 1). The Vedic literature informs us that everything belongs to Īśa, God. Īśāvāsyam idaṁ sarvaṁ yad kiṣcit jagatyāṁ jagat. And by Him it is going on: the Supreme Spirit. In the Bhagavad-gītā also it is said, yayedam dhāryate jagat (BG 7.5). Just like what is the value of this city of Montreal? Because there are so many living entities. That's all. If the all men and women immediately becomes dead, what is the value of this city? Is there any value of the matter? No. Because the living entities, the living force, is there, therefore the city has value, the land has value. Suppose if everyone was dead, what was the value of this apartment? Nobody would come and ask for rent. The Valueless.