Advisory
Srimad-Bhagavatam
SB Canto 1
Lectures
Philosophy Discussions
Conversations and Morning Walks
1971 Conversations and Morning Walks
Prof. Kotovsky: ...and old and feudal India, you are right, this was very often. And from brāhmaṇa, brāhmaṇa, from brāhmaṇas the major part of height is(?) religious stuff (?) (rigid stock) in religious department(?). Even Mogul emperors, there were brāhmaṇas who advised modern Mogul emperors...
Prabhupāda: Yes.
Prof. Kotovsky: ...in administration...
Prabhupāda: Yes.
Prof. Kotovsky: ...and such like.
Prabhupāda: Our predecessor ācārya, Rūpa Gosvāmī, he was finance minister in the Mohammedan government. He was. When he resigned, the Nawab was not very satisfied, that "I cannot relieve you because you are my right hand man. If you resign all of a sudden in this way, then I shall arrest you." There is a long history. So that's a fact. The brāhmaṇas were kept. So the advisory committee of the king... Now, as I was going to speak, Candragupta, Candragupta, just the lastest Hindu king, Candragupta... Candragupta is the age of Alexander the Great because at that time, during Candragupta's..., little before Candragupta, Alexander the Great from Greece, they went to India and conquered some portion. So this Candragupta, when he became emperor, he had his prime minister, Canakya.1973 Conversations and Morning Walks
Prabhupāda: They would give advice to the kings but never accept the post of a king.
Hṛdayānanda: So every kṣatriya had to have something to manage?
Prabhupāda: Yes. There was a regular advisory committee, privy council, composed of high learned brāhmaṇas and saintly persons.1975 Conversations and Morning Walks
Prabhupāda: I do not say of any particular woman, but according to Vedic civilization, we have never seen in the history that woman has become a leader.
Woman reporter: Women have been leaders.
Prabhupāda: They were not selected. The leader—formerly it was monarchy—the monarchs were selected by the advisory board of the first-class men. So they never selected any woman to become the leader of the society.
Woman reporter: What about women who are elected by the people?
Prabhupāda: Well, people election... Just like you elected Nixon and then you wanted him to come down. So this kind of election has no value. Sometimes you elect and sometimes you pull down. So what is the value of this election?
Woman reporter: So a leader should not be elected.1977 Conversations and Morning Walks
Rāmeśvara: In Vedic culture, kings like Parīkṣit Mahārāja were trained when they were very young.
Prabhupāda: Yes.
Rāmeśvara: So it seems...
Prabhupāda: They were trained by the first-class brāhmaṇas, saintly persons. They abided by their order. There was committee, advisory committee. Even at the time of his death, he's asking advice from the saintly..., "What is my duty?" That is king. He's not doing anything whimsically. And the first-class man should be first-class. Then second-class man, executive, kṣatriyas, they will force: "You must do it!" And then the third class, they should produce and carry out the order of the second class, king.Girirāja: This morning you gave the hint that there might be envious persons coming to take away our properties, so in the GBC meeting we discussed this point, that... A committee of us six was made to resolve this. So basically what we did is we made a model trust deed which can be used for all of the Indian properties. There may be three trustees for each property. And the basic point of the trust deed is that the property rests with these trustees and that they have no right to sell or mortgage or dispose of the property in any way. That is the basic point. And then we have proposed three trustees for each of the properties. So...
Prabhupāda: But there will be finally the trustees. And there may be one advisory board to... Pick up some friends and make an advisory board. They are not final. Final is trustee. Anything to be done should be considered first of all by the advisory board, and then if it should be sanctioned by the trustees, then it can be done. So some friends, we can make an advisory...
Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Some sympathizers and friends.Correspondence
1975 Correspondence
Page Title: | Advisory |
Compiler: | Archana, ChrisF |
Created: | 17 of Nov, 2008 |
Totals by Section: | BG=0, SB=1, CC=0, OB=0, Lec=1, Con=6, Let=1 |
No. of Quotes: | 9 |