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Fighting is a ksatriya's duty, you see. Just like I can give you one example: Just like one man is ordered by the state that "This man should be hanged." Does it mean that the state is enemy of this man

Expressions researched:
"Fighting is a ksatriya's duty, you see. Just like I can give you one example: Just like one man is ordered by the state that" |"This man should be hanged" |"Does it mean that the state is enemy of this man"

Lectures

Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures

Fighting is a kṣatriya's duty, you see. Just like I can give you one example: Just like one man is ordered by the state that "This man should be hanged." Does it mean that the state is enemy of this man.

This disease means birth, death, old age and disease. So as soon as you accept this body, material body, you become subjected to the four laws of material nature. These four laws of material nature are that as soon as you've accepted this body, then you must accept death. Anything which is born must meet death also. Birth, death. And in the via media there is old age and disease. This body, I have got, you have got, everyone. There is a death of getting this body, and there will be a death of leaving this body. And between these two deaths there are so many other miserable conditions. They are summarized: old age and disease.

But the real science is that "I am the soul. I am the part and parcel of the Supreme Lord. So Supreme Lord, God, is eternal. I am also eternal." These things are described. Na hanyate hanyamāne śarīre (BG 2.20). As God . . . We are as good as God, at least in quality, not in quantity. We are . . . Just like a drop of seawater is as good as the seawater in quality—the whole seawater is also salty, and the drop of seawater is also salty—similarly, we have got all the chemical composition, or qualities, of God. Now, God is eternal; therefore we must be eternal. That is stated in the Bhagavad-gītā. Na hanyate hanyamāne śarīre (BG 2.20). After destruction of this body, the soul is never destroyed. This is our real, constitutional position. Then why we have accepted this changing process: birth, death, old age and disease? This is our material life.

So this is the education, that we should understand what is our material life and what is our spiritual life. Spiritual life means sac-cid-ānanda-vigraha (Bs 5.1).

(Kṛṣṇa who is known as Govinda is the Supreme Godhead. He has an eternal blissful spiritual body. He is the origin of all. He has no other origin and He is the prime cause of all causes.)

Sat-cit-ānanda. Sat means eternal, cit means full of knowledge, and bliss means full of jubilation, ānanda, pleasure. This is our constitution. This is God's constitution. This our constitution. The difference between God and ourself is that God never accepts this material body, but sometimes we, under certain circumstances, we have to accept this material body.

But never mind we have accepted this material body. We can get out of it. And the process for getting out of it is Kṛṣṇa consciousness. This is the science. Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement means we are teaching people how to get out of this entanglement of birth, death, old age and disease and become as good as God. This is Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement. It is very scientific movement, authoritative movement. So not only it is authoritative; it is accepted by millions and thousands. At least in India there are many. And in the Western countries also, they are also accepting because it is scientific. They are not fools and rascals. So our request is that you don't take this movement as something sentimental, religious faith. No. It is a very scientific, educational movement. Take advantage of it. That is our request.

You can understand this movement by reading so many books. We have got about two dozen books like this. But we have got another, alternative method, which is very simple and easy: you chant Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra. If you chant this mantra, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare / Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare, gradually everything will be clear. So we are not selling this mantra; we are not asking any price for it. This Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra is open for everyone.

So our request is that there is no loss on your part. You kindly take this mantra and chant. Begin chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare / Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare. Then the result will be, gradually, all the misgivings within our heart will be cleansed. Ceto-darpaṇa-mārjanaṁ bhava-mahā-dāvāgni-nirvāpaṇam (CC Antya 20.12).

(Let there be all victory for the chanting of the holy name of Lord Kṛṣṇa, which can cleanse the mirror of the heart and stop the miseries of the blazing fire of material existence. That chanting is the waxing moon that spreads the white lotus of good fortune for all living entities. It is the life and soul of all education. The chanting of the holy name of Kṛṣṇa expands the blissful ocean of transcendental life. It gives a cooling effect to everyone and enables one to taste full nectar at every step.)

And as soon as our heart is cleansed, we can understand that "I am not this material body. I am spirit soul. I have got different business. So long I am working for the maintenance of this body. Now I understand that body is my superficial shirt and coat dress." One should not take simply care for the shirt and coat. Any gentleman knows. Shirt and coat, we take care of course, but not that as the self. Similarly, the present civilization is in a shirt-coat civilization, present civilization. They do not know what is there within the shirt-coat. That they are missing. This Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is therefore very important. The missing point is being presented that you are not this body; you are within this body, spirit soul. You just try to come out of this entanglement of birth, death, old age, and go back to home, back to Godhead.

Thank you very much. Hare Kṛṣṇa. (break)

Madhudviṣa: . . .and she is saying that God is love . . .

Prabhupāda: No, that I explained, that Kṛṣṇa was advising to kill, to fight. That . . . He is explaining that killing of the body is not killing of the soul.

Woman (1): But you can't . . . Your body might be an illusion, but to you it's real. And if you abused your life, then that's . . .

Prabhupāda: Fighting is a kṣatriya's duty, you see. Just like I can give you one example: Just like one man is ordered by the state that "This man should be hanged." Does it mean that the state is enemy of this man?

Woman (1): I disagree with hanging completely.

Madhudviṣa: She also disagrees with hanging.

Prabhupāda: You may disagree, but what is the principle? Do you mean to say the state is wrong, the government is wrong?

Woman (1): Yes.

Prabhupāda: Well, that is an individual opinion. But according to śāstra, we have to understand that . . . Suppose your dress, something unclean dress, you have got. So if somebody says that "You take out this unclean dress. Get a . . ." so is that very (sic:) enimating. Because after all, the soul is within the body. So if the body has become unclean, or some other reason, the body has to be changed, so that is not lack of love. Therefore we have to understand actually what we are. Am I this body or something else?

Woman (1): No, I quite agree that I'm spirit soul. I quite agree with that.

Prabhupāda: Then that's all right. So similarly, when there is duty, when . . . Because I have already explained that the kṣatriyas are meant for maintaining the social order, the brāhmaṇa is meant for giving good intelligence, the vaiśyas are meant for maintaining the economic condition. So as the government maintains the force, military police, their business is to chastise. This is required for maintenance of the whole thing. So you cannot avoid this war, fighting, when it is for good cause. We should not be so foolish that war can be, I mean to say, completely abolished. That is not possible. If you want to keep the social order, you must have to maintain the military strength, the police strength, and the court or the university. Everything is required. You cannot neglect one of them. Similarly . . . But if you are afraid of being killed—that is the medicine we are preaching—then you get out of this entanglement. You be situated in your spiritual body. There is no more question of killing. But so long you are in the material world, you have to abide by the rules and regulation of material nature. That you cannot avoid.

Page Title:Fighting is a ksatriya's duty, you see. Just like I can give you one example: Just like one man is ordered by the state that "This man should be hanged." Does it mean that the state is enemy of this man
Compiler:SharmisthaK
Created:2022-12-08, 07:59:08
Totals by Section:BG=0, SB=0, CC=0, OB=0, Lec=1, Con=0, Let=0
No. of Quotes:1