Śyāmasundara: He says the opposite: regardless of individual circumstances, everyone should follow the moral imperative. But we say that circumstances determine how one follows.
Prabhupāda: Then suppose the (indistinct) state, "Thou shalt not kill." So why killing is going on?
Śyāmasundara: In wars.
Prabhupāda: In any circumstances. It is not that killing is stopped, although the state is meant for prohibiting killing. But there is still in the slaughterhouse killing is going on, in war killing is going on, and so many other places killing is going on.
Śyāmasundara: He is thinking of it more as a personal way of determining how to act, like "I should not act counter to this moral imperative."
Prabhupāda: No. Because suppose that a snake is here and it is dangerous; he'll bite. So killing is necessary. But if you say, "No. I shall not kill this snake. Let it bite. All right, let them all die..." These are simply mental speculations. He has no perfect knowledge.
Śyāmasundara: He has the idea that we know what is morally right.
Prabhupāda: You do not know what is morally right! Therefore you have to take instruction from Kṛṣṇa, or His representative. You do not know.
Śyāmasundara: A priori we are not born with knowledge of what is right?
Prabhupāda: No. A priori, in this sense, that imperceptively I have got obedience to Kṛṣṇa, or God—everyone. That is manifested even in uncivilized men. Whenever they see a thunderbolt, they offer prayer. Just like these Africans, they are coming here, offering obeisances. That is inborn. Although we say they are not civilized, but that thing is there, that we are sādhus, or here is God. So that is there. But it is not very much manifest.
Śyāmasundara: So we don't really know, but we have some idea.
Prabhupāda: Yes. That is there, everywhere.
Śyāmasundara: He says it is not the act itself which is good or bad but the will behind the act.
Prabhupāda: Yes. That will is sometimes not manifest. Therefore one has to take the help of superior person to develop that willingness.
Śyāmasundara: He says when we see an activity, it's not the act that's good or bad...
Prabhupāda: Just like a child: its will is there, but it has to be developed by the teacher. So he develops his willingness to study more and more and he becomes a scholar. But the will is there already.
Śyāmasundara: But he says when you see an action, the act itself cannot be judged as good or bad, but the will behind the act may be good or bad. That's how we have to judge good or bad, by the will behind the act.
Prabhupāda: That is not very important subject, unless there is willing. So that good or bad also has to be trained. The conditioned soul, anyone in this material world, he is in ignorance. It is called darkness. This material world is called darkness. Everyone, more or less, they are in darkness. The Vedas therefore say, "Don't remain in darkness. Go to the light." And the spiritual world is light. Just like day and night. Side by side there is day and night, or sunlight and darkness. So the Vedas say "Don't remain in darkness. Go to the light." So willingness in darkness is imperfect. So this willingness has to be dragged to the light. That requires superior help.