Criminal (Books)

Expressions researched:
"criminal" |"criminalities" |"criminality" |"criminally" |"criminals"

BG Chapters 1 - 6

BG 3.39, Purport:

It is said in the Manu-smṛti that lust cannot be satisfied by any amount of sense enjoyment, just as fire is never extinguished by a constant supply of fuel. In the material world, the center of all activities is sex, and thus this material world is called maithunya-āgāra, or the shackles of sex life. In the ordinary prison house, criminals are kept within bars; similarly, the criminals who are disobedient to the laws of the Lord are shackled by sex life. Advancement of material civilization on the basis of sense gratification means increasing the duration of the material existence of a living entity. Therefore, this lust is the symbol of ignorance by which the living entity is kept within the material world. While one enjoys sense gratification, it may be that there is some feeling of happiness, but actually that so-called feeling of happiness is the ultimate enemy of the sense enjoyer.

SB Canto 1

SB 1.13.58, Purport:

Gāndhārī was an ideal chaste lady, a life companion of her husband, and therefore when she saw her husband burning in the fire of mystic yoga along with his cottage of leaves, she despaired. She left home after losing her one hundred sons, and in the forest she saw that her most beloved husband was also burning. Now she actually felt alone, and therefore she entered the fire of her husband and followed her husband to death. This entering of a chaste lady into the fire of her dead husband is called the satī rite, and the action is considered to be most perfect for a woman. In a later age, this satī rite became an obnoxious criminal affair because the ceremony was forced upon even an unwilling woman. In this fallen age it is not possible for any lady to follow the satī rite as chastely as it was done by Gāndhārī and others in past ages. A chaste wife like Gāndhārī would feel the separation of her husband to be more burning than actual fire. Such a lady can observe the satī rite voluntarily, and there is no criminal force by anyone. When the rite became a formality only and force was applied upon a lady to follow the principle, actually it became criminal, and therefore the ceremony was to be stopped by state law. This prophecy of Nārada Muni to Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira forbade him to go to his widowed aunt.

SB 1.16.22, Purport:

There are some necessities of life on a par with those of the lower animals, and they are eating, sleeping, fearing and mating. These bodily demands are for both the human beings and the animals. But the human being has to fulfill such desires not like animals, but like a human being. A dog can mate with a bitch before the public eyes without hesitation, but if a human being does so the act will be considered a public nuisance, and the person will be criminally prosecuted. Therefore for the human being there are some rules and regulations, even for fulfilling common demands. The human society avoids such rules and regulations when it is bewildered by the influence of the age of Kali. In this age, people are indulging in such necessities of life without following the rules and regulations, and this deterioration of social and moral rules is certainly lamentable because of the harmful effects of such beastly behavior. In this age, the fathers and the guardians are not happy with the behavior of their wards.

SB Canto 2

SB 2.4.17, Purport:

Theft for personal interest or for the family interest is of the same quality—namely, criminal. A thief pleading not guilty because of committing theft not for personal interest but for the interest of society or country has never been excused by the established law of any country. People in general have no knowledge that the self-interest of a living being attains perfection only when such an interest coincides with the interest of the Lord. For example, what is the interest of maintaining body and soul together? One earns money for maintenance of the body (personal or social), but unless there is God consciousness, unless the body is being properly maintained to realize one's relation with God, all good efforts to maintain body and soul together are similar to the attempts of the animals to maintain body and soul together.

SB Canto 3

SB 3.14.25, Purport:

Kaśyapa took him as his younger brother because the youngest sister of Diti (Kaśyapa's wife) was married to Lord Śiva. The husband of one's sister is considered one's brother. By that social relationship, Lord Śiva happened to be the younger brother of Kaśyapa. Kaśyapa warned his wife that because Lord Śiva would see their sex indulgence, the time was not appropriate. Diti might argue that they would enjoy sex life in a private place, but Kaśyapa reminded her that Lord Śiva has three eyes, called the sun, moon and fire, and one cannot escape his vigilance any more than one can escape Viṣṇu. Although seen by the police, a criminal is sometimes not immediately punished; the police wait for the proper time to apprehend him. The forbidden time for sexual intercourse would be noted by Lord Śiva, and Diti would meet with proper punishment by giving birth to a child of ghostly character or a godless impersonalist. Kaśyapa foresaw this, and thus he warned his wife Diti.

SB 3.15.33, Purport:

Just as there are different departments in each state in this material world—the civil department and the criminal department—so, in God's creation, there are two departments of existence. As in the material world we find that the criminal department is far, far smaller than the civil department, so this material world, which is considered the criminal department, is one fourth of the entire creation of the Lord. All living entities who are residents of the material universes are considered to be more or less criminals because they do not wish to abide by the order of the Lord or they are against the harmonious activities of God's will. The principle of creation is that the Supreme Lord, the Personality of Godhead, is by nature joyful, and He becomes many in order to enhance His transcendental joy. The living entities like ourselves, being part and parcel of the Supreme Lord, are meant to satisfy the senses of the Lord. Thus, whenever there is a discrepancy in that harmony, immediately the living entity is entrapped by māyā, or illusion.

SB 3.15.34, Purport:

The reason why pure souls come into the existential circumstances of the material world, which is considered to be the criminal department of the Supreme Lord, is stated in Bhagavad-gītā, Seventh Chapter, verse 27. It is stated that as long as a living entity is pure, he is in complete harmony with the desires of the Supreme Lord, but as soon as he becomes impure he is in disharmony with the desires of the Lord. By contamination he is forced to transfer to this material world, where the living entities have three enemies, namely desire, anger and lust. These three enemies force the living entities to continue material existence, and when one is free from them he is eligible to enter the kingdom of God. One should not, therefore, be angry in the absence of an opportunity for sense gratification, and one should not be lusty to acquire more than necessary. In this verse it is clearly stated that the two doormen should be sent into the material world, where criminals are allowed to reside. Since the basic principles of criminality are sense gratification, anger and unnecessary lust, persons conducted by these three enemies of the living entity are never promoted to Vaikuṇṭhaloka. People should learn Bhagavad-gītā and accept the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa, as the Lord of everything; they should practice satisfying the senses of the Supreme Lord instead of trying to satisfy their own senses. Training in Kṛṣṇa consciousness will help one be promoted to Vaikuṇṭha.

SB 3.15.36, Purport:

To a devotee, any heavy punishment is tolerable but the one which effects forgetfulness of the Supreme Lord. The doormen, who were also devotees, could understand the punishment meted out to them, for they were conscious of the great offense they had committed by not allowing the sages to enter Vaikuṇṭhaloka. In the lowest species of life, including the animal species, forgetfulness of the Lord is very prominent. The doormen were aware that they were going to the criminal department of the material world, and they expected that they might go to the lowest species and forget the Supreme Lord. They prayed, therefore, that this might not happen in the lives they were going to accept because of the curse. In Bhagavad-gītā, Sixteenth Chapter, verses 19 and 20, it is said that those who are envious of the Lord and His devotees are thrown into the species of abominable life; life after life such fools are unable to remember the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and therefore they continue going down and down.

SB 3.26.5, Purport:

This material energy is created, therefore, for anyone who pretends to enjoy. An example can be cited here that there is no necessity for the government's creation of a separate police department, but because it is a fact that some of the citizens will not accept the state laws, a department to deal with criminals is necessary. There is no necessity, but at the same time there is a necessity. Similarly, there was no necessity to create this material world for the sufferings of the conditioned souls, but at the same time there are certain living entities, known as nitya-baddha, who are eternally conditioned. We say that they have been conditioned from time immemorial because no one can trace out when the living entity, the part and parcel of the Supreme Lord, became rebellious against the supremacy of the Lord.

SB 3.27.21, Purport:

Śrīdhara Svāmī comments in this connection that by association with material nature alone one does not become conditioned. Conditional life begins only after one is infected by the modes of material nature. If someone is in contact with the police department, that does not mean that he is a criminal. As long as one does not commit criminal acts, even though there is a police department, he is not punished. Similarly, the liberated soul is not affected, although he is in the material nature. Even the Supreme Personality of Godhead is supposed to be in association with material nature when He descends, but He is not affected. One has to act in such a way that in spite of being in the material nature he is not affected by contamination. Although the lotus flower is in association with water, it does not mix with the water. That is how one has to live, as described here by the Personality of Godhead Kapiladeva (animitta-nimittena sva-dharmeṇāmalātmanā).

SB 3.29.45, Translation:

The eternal time factor has no beginning and no end. It is the representative of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the maker of the criminal world. It brings about the end of the phenomenal world, it carries on the work of creation by bringing one individual into existence from another, and likewise it dissolves the universe by destroying even the lord of death, Yamarāja.

SB 3.30.10, Purport:

There is a Bengali proverb, "The person for whom I have stolen accuses me of being a thief." The family members, for whom an attached person acts in so many criminal ways, are never satisfied. In illusion an attached person serves such family members, and by serving them he is destined to enter into a hellish condition of life. For example, a thief steals something to maintain his family, and he is caught and imprisoned. This is the sum and substance of material existence and attachment to material society, friendship and love. Although an attached family man is always engaged in getting money by hook or by crook for the maintenance of his family, he cannot enjoy more than what he could consume even without such criminal activities. A man who eats eight ounces of foodstuffs may have to maintain a big family and earn money by any means to support that family, but he himself is not offered more than what he can eat, and sometimes he eats the remnants that are left after his family members are fed. Even by earning money by unfair means, he cannot enjoy life for himself. That is called the covering illusion of māyā.

SB 3.30.20, Translation:

As a criminal is arrested for punishment by the constables of the state, a person engaged in criminal sense gratification is similarly arrested by the Yamadūtas, who bind him by the neck with strong rope and cover his subtle body so that he may undergo severe punishment.

SB 3.30.20, Purport:

The process of punishment is explained in the Caitanya-caritāmṛta. Formerly the king's men would take a criminal in a boat in the middle of the river. They would dunk him by grasping a bunch of his hair and thrusting him completely underwater, and when he was almost suffocated, the king's constables would take him out of the water and allow him to breathe for some time, and then they would again dunk him in the water to suffocate. This sort of punishment is inflicted upon the forgotten soul by Yamarāja, as will be described in the following verses.

SB 3.30.21, Purport:

It appears from this verse that while passing from this planet to the planet of Yamarāja, the culprit arrested by Yamarāja's constables meets many dogs, which bark and bite just to remind him of his criminal activities of sense gratification. It is said in Bhagavad-gītā that one becomes almost blind and is bereft of all sense when he is infuriated by the desire for sense gratification. He forgets everything. Kāmais tais tair hṛta jñānāḥ (BG 7.20). One is bereft of all intelligence when he is too attracted by sense gratification, and he forgets that he has to suffer the consequences also. Here the chance for recounting his activities of sense gratification is given by the dogs engaged by Yamarāja. While we live in the gross body, such activities of sense gratification are encouraged even by modern government regulations. In every state all over the world, such activities are encouraged by the government in the form of birth control. Women are supplied pills, and they are allowed to go to a clinical laboratory to get assistance for abortions. This is going on as a result of sense gratification. Actually sex life is meant for begetting a good child, but because people have no control over the senses and there is no institution to train them to control the senses, the poor fellows fall victim to the criminal offenses of sense gratification, and they are punished after death as described in these pages of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.

SB 3.30.22, Translation:

Under the scorching sun, the criminal has to pass through roads of hot sand with forest fires on both sides. He is whipped on the back by the constables because of his inability to walk, and he is afflicted by hunger and thirst, but unfortunately there is no drinking water, no shelter and no place for rest on the road.

SB 3.30.24, Purport:

One yojana is calculated to be eight miles, and he has to pass along a road which is therefore as much as 792,000 miles. Such a long distance is passed over within a few moments only. The subtle body is covered by the constables so that the living entity can pass such a long distance quickly and at the same time tolerate the suffering. This covering, although material, is of such fine elements that material scientists cannot discover what the coverings are made of. To pass 792,000 miles within a few moments seems wonderful to the modern space travelers. They have so far traveled at a speed of 18,000 miles per hour, but here we see that a criminal passes 792,000 miles within a few seconds only, although the process is not spiritual but material.

SB 3.30.25, Purport:

From this verse through the next three verses the description of punishment will be narrated. The first description is that the criminal has to eat his own flesh, burning with fire, or allow others like himself who are present there to eat. In the last great war, people in concentration camps sometimes ate their own stool, so there is no wonder that in the Yamasādana, the abode of Yamarāja, one who had a very enjoyable life eating others' flesh has to eat his own flesh.

SB 3.30.32, Purport:

When wealth is lost, there is no use lamenting, but as long as there is wealth, one has to utilize it properly and thereby gain eternal profit. It may be argued that when a man leaves his money earned by sinful activities, he also leaves his sinful activities here with his money. But it is especially mentioned herein that by superior arrangement (daivenāsāditam), although the man leaves behind him his sinfully earned money, he carries the effect of it. When a man steals some money, if he is caught and agrees to return it, he is not freed from the criminal punishment. By the law of the state, even though he returns the money, he has to undergo the punishment. Similarly, the money earned by a criminal process may be left by the man when dying, but by superior arrangement he carries with him the effect, and therefore he has to suffer hellish life.

SB Canto 4

SB 4.6.43, Purport:

In the material world we compare these different incarnations from different angles of vision, but since all of them are expansions of the supreme auspicious, all of them are auspicious, although sometimes we consider one quality of nature to be higher or lower than another. The mode of ignorance, or tamo-guṇa, is considered very much lower than the others, but in the higher sense it is also auspicious. The example may be given herein that the government has both an educational department and criminal department. An outsider may consider the criminal department inauspicious, but from the government's point of view it is as important as the education department, and therefore the government finances both departments equally, without discrimination.

SB 4.16.13, Translation and Purport:

Since this King will always remain on the path of piety, he will be neutral to both his son and the son of his enemy. If the son of his enemy is not punishable, he will not punish him, but if his own son is punishable, he will immediately punish him.

These are the characteristics of an impartial ruler. It is the duty of a ruler to punish the criminal and give protection to the innocent. King Pṛthu was so neutral that if his own son were punishable, he would not hesitate to punish him. On the other hand, if the son of his enemy were innocent, he would not engage in some intrigue in order to punish him.

SB 4.19.35, Purport:

There are many competitors in ordinary business affairs, and the karma-kāṇḍa chapters of the Vedas sometimes cause competition and envy amongst karmīs. A karmī must be envious because he wishes to enjoy material pleasures to their fullest extent. That is the material disease. Consequently there is always competition amongst karmīs, either in ordinary business affairs or in the performance of yajña. Lord Brahmā's purpose was to end the competition between Lord Indra and Mahārāja Pṛthu. Because Mahārāja Pṛthu was a great devotee and incarnation of God, he was requested to stop the sacrifices so that Indra might not further introduce irreligious systems, which are always followed by criminal-minded people.

SB 4.22.59, Purport:

Yamarāja, or Dharmarāja, as the superintendent of death, has to judge the criminal living entities who have committed sinful activities throughout their lives. Consequently Yamarāja is expected to be most expert in judicial matters. Pṛthu Mahārāja was also highly learned and exceedingly exact in delivering his judgment upon the citizens. No one could excel him in opulence any more than estimate the stock of minerals and jewels in the Himalaya Mountains; therefore he is compared to Kuvera, the treasurer of the heavenly planets. Nor could anyone discover the secrets of his life any more than learn the secrets of Varuṇa, the demigod presiding over the water, the night, and the western sky. Varuṇa is omniscient, and since he punishes sins, he is prayed to for forgiveness. He is also the sender of disease and is often associated with Mitra and Indra.

SB 4.24.6, Purport:

It is clear herein that the king sometimes has to perform duties which are not very desirable just because he is the king. Similarly, Arjuna was not at all willing to fight because fighting or killing one's own kinsmen and family members is not at all desirable. Nonetheless the kṣatriyas had to perform such undesirable actions as a matter of duty. Mahārāja Antardhāna was not very happy while exacting taxes or punishing the citizens for their criminal activities; therefore, on the plea of performing sacrifices, he retired from the royal majestic power at a very early age.

SB 4.24.61, Purport:

Because the Māyāvādī philosophers cannot understand this, they want to be relieved from the material energy. However, because a Vaiṣṇava philosopher is in full knowledge of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, he finds no disturbance even in the material energy. This is because he knows how to utilize the material energy for the service of the Lord. In the government, the criminal department and civil department may appear different in the eyes of the citizens, but in the eyes of the government both departments are one and the same. The criminal department is troublesome for the criminal but not for the obedient citizen. Similarly, this material energy is troublesome for the conditioned soul, but it has nothing to do with the liberated souls who are engaged in the service of the Lord. Through the puruṣa-avatāra Mahā-viṣṇu, the Supreme Personality of Godhead created the whole cosmic manifestation. Simply by breathing out all the universes, the Lord creates and maintains the cosmic manifestation as Lord Viṣṇu. Then as Saṅkarṣaṇa, He annihilates the cosmic manifestation. Yet despite the creation, maintenance and destruction of the cosmos, the Lord is not affected.

SB 4.24.75, Purport:

Actually everyone is suffering within this material world due to ignorance. Every day we see that a person without knowledge commits some criminal act and is later arrested and punished, despite the fact that he actually may not have been conscious of his sinful activity. Such ignorance prevails throughout the world. People do not consider how they are risking their lives in an attempt to have illicit sex life, kill animals to satisfy their tongue, enjoy intoxication and gamble. It is very regrettable that the leaders of the world do not know of the effects of these sinful activities. They are instead taking things very easily and are succeeding in making the ocean of nescience wider and wider.

SB 4.25.8, Purport:

Nārada Muni wanted to draw King Prācīnabarhiṣat's attention to the excesses of killing animals in sacrifices. It is said in the śāstras that by killing animals in a sacrifice, one immediately promotes them to human birth. Similarly, by killing their enemies on a battlefield, the kṣatriyas who fight for a right cause are elevated to the heavenly planets after death. In Manu-saṁhitā it is stated that it is necessary for a king to execute a murderer so that the murderer will not suffer for his criminal actions in his next life. On the basis of such understanding, Nārada Muni warns the King that the animals killed in sacrifices by the King await him at his death in order to avenge themselves. Nārada Muni is not contradicting himself here.

SB 4.26.7, Purport:

Everyone is therefore advised to act in terms of the Vedic injunctions and not irresponsibly. When a person within a state acts according to the laws and licenses of the government, he does not become involved in criminal activities. Man-made laws, however, are always defective because they are made by men who are prone to committing mistakes, being illusioned, cheating and having imperfect senses. The Vedic instructions are different because they do not have these four defects. Vedic instructions are not subject to mistakes. The knowledge of the Vedas is knowledge received directly from God, and there is consequently no question of illusion, cheating, mistakes or imperfect senses. All Vedic knowledge is perfect because it is received directly from God by the paramparā, disciplic succession.

SB 4.26.10, Purport:

A person in the mode of ignorance commits many sinful activities. In the Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu, Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī explains that a man becomes sinful out of ignorance only. The resultant effect of sinful life is suffering. Those who are not in knowledge, who commit violations of the standard laws, are subject to be punished under criminal laws. Similarly, the laws of nature are very stringent. If a child touches fire without knowing the effect, he must be burned, even though he is only a child. If a child violates the law of nature, there is no compassion. Only through ignorance does a person violate the laws of nature, and when he comes to knowledge he does not commit any more sinful acts.

SB 4.29.66, Purport:

The mind is the index of information about one's past and future lives. If a man is a devotee of the Lord, he cultivated devotional service in his previous life. Similarly, if one's mind is criminal, he was criminal in his last life. In the same way, according to the mind, we can understand what will happen in a future life.

SB Canto 5

SB 5.13.20, Translation:

My dear King Rahūgaṇa, you are also a victim of the external energy, being situated on the path of attraction to material pleasure. So that you may become an equal friend to all living entities, I now advise you to give up your kingly position and the rod by which you punish criminals. Give up attraction to the sense objects and take up the sword of knowledge sharpened by devotional service. Then you will be able to cut the hard knot of illusory energy and cross to the other side of the ocean of nescience.

SB Canto 6

SB 6.1.9, Translation:

Mahārāja Parīkṣit said: One may know that sinful activity is injurious for him because he actually sees that a criminal is punished by the government and rebuked by people in general and because he hears from scriptures and learned scholars that one is thrown into hellish conditions in the next life for committing sinful acts. Nevertheless, in spite of such knowledge, one is forced to commit sins again and again, even after performing acts of atonement. Therefore, what is the value of such atonement?

SB 6.1.9, Purport:

In some religious sects a sinful man goes to a priest to confess his sinful acts and pay a fine, but then he again commits the same sins and returns to confess them again. This is the practice of a professional sinner. Parīkṣit Mahārāja's observations indicate that even five thousand years ago it was the practice of criminals to atone for their crimes but then commit the same crimes again, as if forced to do so. Therefore, owing to his practical experience, Parīkṣit Mahārāja saw that the process of repeatedly sinning and atoning is pointless. Regardless of how many times he is punished, one who is attached to sense enjoyment will commit sinful acts again and again until he is trained to refrain from enjoying his senses. The word vivaśa is used herein, indicating that even one who does not want to commit sinful acts will be forced to do so by habit. Parīkṣit Mahārāja therefore considered the process of atonement to have little value for saving one from sinful acts. In the following verse he further explains his rejection of this process.

SB 6.7.12, Purport:

According to the laws of nature, when one is extremely opulent one becomes degraded, and this is true both individually and collectively. The demigods are situated in the mode of goodness, but sometimes even one who is situated in such an exalted position as King Indra, the king of all the demigods, falls down because of material opulence. We are now actually seeing this in America. The entire American nation has tried to advance in material opulence without striving to produce ideal human beings. The result is that Americans are now regretting the wholesale criminality of American society and are wondering how America has become so lawless and unmanageable. As stated in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (7.5.31), na te viduḥ svārtha-gatiṁ hi viṣṇum: persons who are unenlightened do not know the aim of life, which is to return home, back to Godhead. Therefore, both individually and collectively, they try to enjoy so-called material comforts, and they become addicted to wine and women. The men produced in such a society are less than fourth class. They are the unwanted population known as varṇa-saṅkara, and as stated in Bhagavad-gītā, an increase of varṇa-saṅkara population creates a hellish society. This is the society in which Americans now find themselves.

SB 6.7.12, Purport:

Fortunately, however, the Hare Kṛṣṇa movement has come to America, and many fortunate young men are giving serious attention to this movement, which is creating ideal men of first-class character, men who completely refrain from meat-eating, illicit sex, intoxication and gambling. If the American people are serious about curbing the degraded criminal life of their nation, they must take to the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement and try to create the kind of human society advised in Bhagavad-gītā (cātur-varṇyaṁ mayā sṛṣṭaṁ guṇa-karma-vibhāgaśaḥ (BG 4.13)). They must divide their society into first-class men, second-class men, third-class men and fourth-class men. Since they are now creating only men who are less than fourth class, how can they avoid the dangers of a criminal society? Long, long ago, Lord Indra regretted his disrespect to his spiritual master, Bṛhaspati. Similarly, it is advised that the American people regret their mistaken advancement in civilization. They should take advice from the spiritual master, the representative of Kṛṣṇa. If they do so, they will be happy, and theirs will be an ideal nation to lead the entire world.

SB Canto 7

SB 7.2.21, Purport:

"The bewildered soul, under the influence of the three modes of material nature, thinks himself the doer of activities, which are in actuality carried out by nature." (BG 3.27) All living entities act exactly according to the directions of prakṛti, material nature, because in the material world we are fully under a higher control. All the living entities in this material world have come here only because they wanted to be equal to Kṛṣṇa in enjoyment and have thus been sent here to be conditioned by material nature in different degrees. In the material world a so-called family is a combination of several persons in one home to fulfill the terms of their imprisonment. As criminal prisoners scatter as soon as their terms are over and they are released, all of us who have temporarily assembled as family members will continue to our respective destinations. Another example given is that family members are like straws carried together by the waves of a river. Sometimes such straws mix together in whirlpools, and later, dispersed again by the same waves, they float alone in the water.

SB 7.9.22, Purport:

The word niṣpīḍyamānam ("being crushed") is very significant. Every living entity in the material condition is actually being crushed again and again, and to be saved from this position one must take shelter of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Then one will be happy. The word prapannam is also very significant, for unless one fully surrenders to the Supreme Lord one cannot be saved from being crushed. A criminal is put in prison and punished by the government, but the same government, if it likes, can release the criminal from imprisoned life. Similarly, we must know conclusively that our material condition of suffering has been allotted to us by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and if we want to be saved from this suffering, we must appeal to the same controller. Thus one can be saved from this material condition.

SB Canto 9

SB 9.5.6, Purport:

The disc of the Lord is called Sudarśana because he does not discriminate between high and low criminals or demons. Durvāsā Muni was certainly a powerful brāhmaṇa, but his acts against the pure devotee Mahārāja Ambarīṣa were no better than the activities of asuras. As stated in the śāstras, dharmaṁ tu sākṣād bhagavat-praṇītam: (SB 6.3.19) the word dharma refers to the orders or laws given by the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja: (BG 18.66) real dharma is surrender unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Therefore real dharma means bhakti, or devotional service to the Lord.

CC Adi-lila

CC Adi 2.19, Purport:

The Paramātmā, or Supersoul, the guide of the individual living beings, does not take part in fulfilling the desires of the living beings, but He arranges for their fulfillment by material nature. As soon as an individual soul becomes conscious of his eternal relationship with the Supersoul and looks only toward Him, he at once becomes free from the entanglements of material enjoyment. Christian philosophers who do not believe in the law of karma put forward the argument that it is absurd to say one must accept the results of past deeds of which he has no consciousness. A criminal is first reminded of his misdeeds by witnesses in a law court, and then he is punished. If death is complete forgetfulness, why should a person be punished for his past misdeeds? The conception of the Paramātmā is an invincible answer to these fallacious arguments. The Paramātmā is the witness of the past activities of the individual living being. A man may not remember what he has done in his childhood, but his father, who has seen him grow through different stages of development, certainly remembers. Similarly, the living being undergoes many changes of body through many lives, but the Supersoul is always with him and remembers all his activities, despite his evolution through different bodies.

CC Adi 17.124, Purport:

The phaujadarā, or city magistrate, was called the kājī (Kazi). The jamidāras (zamindars), or landholders (maṇḍalerās), levied taxes on the land, but keeping law and order and punishing criminals was the duty entrusted to the Kazi. Both the Kazi and the landholders were under the control of the governor of Bengal, which at that time was known as Subā-bāṅgālā. The districts of Nadia, Islāmpura and Bāgoyāna were all under the zamindar named Hari Hoḍa or his descendant known as Hoḍa Kṛṣṇadāsa. It is said that Chand Kazi was the spiritual master of Nawab Hussain Shah. According to one opinion his name was Maulānā Sirājuddina, and according to another his name was Habibara Rahamāna. Descendants of Chand Kazi are still living in the vicinity of Māyāpur. People still go to see the tomb of Chand Kazi, which is underneath a campaka tree and is known as Chand Kazi's samādhi.

CC Madhya-lila

CC Madhya 4.133, Purport:

The difference between the Absolute Truth and relative truth is explained here. Lord Gopīnātha has openly declared herein that He is a thief. He had stolen the pot of sweet rice, and this was not kept a secret because His act of stealing is a source of great transcendental bliss. In the material world, theft is criminal, but in the spiritual world the Lord's stealing is a source of transcendental bliss. Mundane rascals, who cannot understand the absolute nature of the Personality of Godhead, sometimes call Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa immoral, but they do not know that His seemingly immoral activities, which are not kept secret, afford pleasure to the devotees. Not understanding the transcendental behavior of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, these rascals slur His character and immediately fall into the category of miscreants (rascals, lowest among men, demons and those whose knowledge is taken away by the illusory energy).

CC Madhya 4.134, Purport:

Here is an example of a personal benediction by Kṛṣṇa's immoral activity. By Gopīnātha's stealing for His devotee, the devotee becomes the most fortunate person within the three words. Thus even the Lord's criminal activities make His devotee the most fortunate person. How can a mundane rascal understand the pastimes of Kṛṣṇa and judge whether He is moral or immoral? Since Kṛṣṇa is the Absolute Truth, there are no mundane distinctions such as moral and immoral. Whatever He does is good. This is the real meaning of "God is good." He is good in all circumstances because He is transcendental, outside the jurisdiction of this material world. Therefore, Kṛṣṇa can be understood only by those who are already living in the spiritual world.

CC Madhya 4.137, Purport:

Although all Vedic literature is meant for understanding Kṛṣṇa, one cannot understand Kṛṣṇa without being a lover of Kṛṣṇa. Therefore along with the reading of Vedic literature (svādhyāya), one must engage in devotional worship of the Deity (arcana-vidhi). Together these will enhance the devotee's transcendental understanding of devotional service. Śravaṇādi śuddha-citte karaye udaya (CC Madhya 22.107). Love of Godhead is dormant within everyone's heart, and if one simply follows the standard process of devotional service, it is awakened. But foolish mundane people who simply read about Kṛṣṇa mistakenly think that He is immoral or criminal.

CC Madhya 8.39, Purport:

Although the Gosvāmīs were very aristocratic, on the order of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu they became mendicants just to deliver the fallen souls. One should also consider that those who engage in the missionary activities of the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement are under the guidance of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. They are not actually beggars; their real business is to deliver fallen souls. Therefore they may go from door to door just to introduce a book about Kṛṣṇa consciousness so that people can become enlightened by reading. Formerly brahmacārīs and sannyāsīs used to beg from door to door. At the present moment, especially in the Western countries, a person may be handed over to the police if he begs from door to door. In Western countries, begging is considered criminal. Members of the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement have no business begging. Instead, they work very hard to introduce some literatures about Kṛṣṇa consciousness so that people can read them and be benefited. But if one gives some contribution to a Kṛṣṇa conscious man, he never refuses it.

CC Madhya 19.214, Purport:

In this position, one is freed from all material enjoyment. When one is not agitated or disturbed, he can immediately realize his relationship with Kṛṣṇa. A śānta-rasa devotee is therefore always fixed in realization. This instruction was given by the Lord Himself to Uddhava. The beginning of pure devotional service is called anyābhilāṣitā-śūnya. When one is situated on the platform of neutrality, he is freed from the material platform and fully situated in spiritual life. The word dama, used in verse 213, means indriya-saṁyama—curbing one's senses. The word dama can also mean curbing one's enemies. A king has to take steps to curb the criminal activities of his citizens. Great rājarṣis, devotee kings, used to control undesirable elements in their states, and this also may be called dama. However, dama here refers to the conditioned soul who must control his senses. Real dama means controlling the undesirable activities of the senses.

CC Madhya 20.118, Translation:

“In the material condition, the living entity is sometimes raised to higher planetary systems and material prosperity and sometimes drowned in a hellish situation. His state is exactly like that of a criminal whom a king punishes by submerging him in water and then raising him again from the water.

CC Antya-lila

CC Antya 3.80, Purport:

While we are preaching, opposing elements sometimes argue, "If all living entities were delivered by the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement, what would happen then? The universe would be devoid of living entities." In answer to this, we may say that in a prison there are many prisoners, but if one thinks that the prison would be empty if all the prisoners adopted good behavior, he is incorrect. Even if all the prisoners within a jail are freed, other criminals will fill it again. A prison will never be vacant, for there are many prospective criminals who will fill the prison cells, even if the present criminals are freed by the government. As confirmed in the Bhagavad-gītā (13.22), kāraṇaṁ guṇa-saṅgo ‘sya sad-asad-yoni-janmasu: “Because of the living entity's association with material nature, he meets with good and evil among various species.” There are many unmanifested living entities covered by the mode of ignorance who will gradually come to the mode of passion. Most of them will become criminals because of their fruitive activities and again fill the prisons.

Teachings of Lord Caitanya

Teachings of Lord Caitanya, Chapter 2:

"You are the governor of Gauḍa," Sanātana Gosvāmī replied very gravely, "and you punish different kinds of criminals in different ways. So you are at liberty to punish anyone according to his activity." By this reply Sanātana Gosvāmīindicated that since the governor was engaged in hunting animals and in killing men to expand his kingdom, let both of them suffer according to the acts they were performing. The Nawab, being intelligent, understood Sanātana Gosvāmī’s purport. He left the house in an angry mood, and shortly afterward he went off to conquer Orissa. He ordered the arrest of Sanātana Gosvāmī and commanded that he be held until the Nawab returned.

Teachings of Lord Caitanya, Chapter 4:

The activities of those who are conditioned by material nature are taken into account, and in their next life, according to these activities, they are offered different grades of material bodies. Thus in the material world the conditioned spirit soul is subjected to various rewards and punishments. When he is rewarded for his righteous activities, he is elevated to the higher planets, where he becomes one of the many demigods, and when he is punished for his abominable activities, he is thrown into various hellish planets, where he suffers the miseries of material existence more acutely. Caitanya Mahāprabhu gives a very nice example of this punishment. Formerly a king used to punish a criminal by having him dunked in a river, raised up again for breath, and then again dunked in the water. Material nature punishes and rewards the individual living entity in just the same way. When he is punished, he is dunked in the water of material miseries, and when he is rewarded, he is taken out of it for some time. Elevation to the higher planets or to a higher status of life on this planet is never permanent. One must again come down to be submerged in the water. All this is constantly going on in this material existence: sometimes one is elevated to higher planetary systems, and sometimes one is thrown into the hellish condition of material life.

Nectar of Devotion

Nectar of Devotion 1:

In Bhagavad-gītā, the Lord says that one should surrender unto Him, giving up all other engagements. The Lord also gives His word there that He will protect surrendered souls from the reactions of all sinful activities. Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī says that the distresses from sinful activities are due both to the sins themselves and to sins committed in our past lives. Generally, one commits sinful activities due to ignorance. But ignorance is no excuse for evading the reaction—sinful activities. Sinful activities are of two kinds: those which are mature and those which are not mature. The sinful activities for which we are suffering at the present moment are called mature. The many sinful activities stored within us for which we have not yet suffered are considered immature. For example, a man may have committed criminal acts, but not yet been arrested for them. Now, as soon as he is detected, arrest is awaiting him. Similarly, for some of our sinful activities we are awaiting distresses in the future, and for others, which are mature, we are suffering at the present moment.

Krsna, The Supreme Personality of Godhead

Krsna Book 72:

Lord Kṛṣṇa, in the dress of a brāhmaṇa, said to the King, “We wish all glories to Your Majesty. We three guests at your royal palace have come from a great distance to ask you for charity, and we hope that you will kindly bestow upon us whatever we ask from you. We know about your good qualities. A person who is tolerant is always prepared to tolerate everything, even though distressful. Just as a criminal can perform the most abominable acts, a greatly charitable person like you can give anything and everything for which he is asked. For a great personality like you, there is no distinction between relatives and outsiders. A famous man lives forever, even after his death; therefore, any person who is completely fit and able to execute acts which will perpetuate his good name and fame and yet does not do so becomes abominable in the eyes of great persons. Such a person cannot be condemned enough, and his refusal to give charity is lamentable throughout his whole life.

Krsna Book 89:

The brāhmaṇa therefore said, "No one should offer respects or worship to a king whose only business is envy. Such a king spends his time either hunting and killing animals in the forest or killing citizens for criminal acts. He has no self-control and possesses bad character. If such a king is worshiped or honored by the citizens, the citizens will never be happy. They will always remain poor, full of anxieties and aggrievement, and always unhappy." In modern politics the post of monarch has been abolished, and the president is not held responsible for the comforts of the citizens. In this Age of Kali, the executive head of a state somehow or other gets votes and is elected to an exalted post, but the condition of the citizens continues to be full of anxiety, distress, unhappiness and dissatisfaction.

Renunciation Through Wisdom

Renunciation Through Wisdom 2.3:

The brāhmaṇas (the intellectual, priestly class), the kṣatriyas (kings and administrators), the vaiśyas (the mercantile community), and the śūdras (menial workers) are the four social orders, or varṇas. If they live according to the scriptural injunctions pertaining to their particular varṇa, then they can accrue piety. Similarly, if the members of the four āśramas—namely, the brahmacārīs (celibate students), gṛhasthas (householders), vānaprasthas (pilgrims), and sannyāsīs (renunciants)—also act in conformity with the scriptural edicts, they too acquire immense piety. But when the ill influence of Kali-yuga corrupts this varṇāśrama system, human society is beset by all sorts of degradations. As a result, the living entities are punished by a variety of natural calamities caused by the illusory potency of the Lord. When the citizens abide by the rules of the king, the kingdom runs smoothly and everyone is prosperous and content. But when the demoniac population of thieves, rogues, and criminals steadily increases, the kingdom is filled with chaos and terror.

Renunciation Through Wisdom 3.3:

If one is serious about the real meaning of life, then simple endeavoring to escape the crippling clutches of māyā is not the only undertaking. The ultimate goal is to liberate ourselves from the enthrallment of the illusory energy and become wholly subservient to the transcendental, spiritual energy.

In the Caitanya-caritāmṛta (Madhya 20.108-09, 111, 117-8, 120, and 122), Lord Caitanya gives some illuminating advice to Sanātana Gosvāmī:

It is the living entity's constitutional position to be an eternal servant of Kṛṣṇa because he is the marginal energy of Kṛṣṇa and a manifestation simultaneously one with and different from the Lord, like a molecular particle of sunshine or fire.

Lord Kṛṣṇa naturally has three energetic transformations, and these are known as the spiritual potency, the living entity potency, and the illusory potency... Forgetting Kṛṣṇa, the living entity has been attracted by the external feature from time immemorial. Therefore the illusory energy (māyā) gives him all kinds of misery in his material existence. In the material condition, the living entity is sometimes raised to higher planetary systems and material prosperity and sometimes drowned in a hellish situation. His state is exactly that of a criminal whom a king punishes by submerging him in water and then raising him again from the water.... If the conditioned soul becomes Kṛṣṇa conscious by the mercy of saintly persons who voluntarily preach scriptural injunctions and help him to become Kṛṣṇa conscious, the conditioned soul is liberated from the clutches of māyā, who gives him up. The conditioned soul cannot revive his Kṛṣṇa consciousness by his own effort. But out of causeless mercy, Lord Kṛṣṇa compiled the Vedic literature and its supplements, the Purāṇas.

Mukunda-mala-stotra (mantras 1 to 6 only)

Mukunda-mala-stotra mantra 4, Purport:

As His separated expansions, the living beings are part and parcel of the Lord. The Lord expands Himself into plenary parts and separated parts to enjoy transcendental pastimes, and if a living being refuses to engage in these transcendental blissful pastimes, he is at liberty to merge into the Absolute. This is something like a son's committing suicide instead of living with his father according to the rules the father sets down. By committing suicide, the son thus sacrifices the happiness he could have enjoyed by engaging in a filial loving relationship with his father and enjoying his father's estate. A pure devotee persistently avoids such a criminal policy, and King Kulaśekhara is guiding us to avoid this pitfall.

The king also says that the reason he is praying to the Lord is not to be saved from the Kumbhīpāka hell. Laborers in gigantic iron and steel mills suffer tribulations similar to those in the Kumbhīpāka hell. Kumbhī means "pot," and pāka means "boiling." So if a person were put into a pot of oil and the pot were set to boiling, he would have some idea of the suffering in Kumbhīpāka hell.