Laws of karma (Letters)

Expressions researched:
"karma laws" |"law of karma" |"laws and regulation of karma" |"laws of karma"

1969 Correspondence

In material life, everyone is bound up tightly by the laws of karma, and there is no question of transcending these laws by any material means.

Letter to Turya -- New Vrindaban 5 June, 1969:

I am in due receipt of your letter of May 29, 1969, sent along with your beads, and I have duly chanted upon them and have initiated you as my disciple. Your spiritual name is Turya das and this means transcendental. So you are the servant of the Transcendental Lord, Krishna, and when one serves the Transcendental Lord, he also becomes completely transcendental to the laws and contaminations of material nature. In material life, everyone is bound up tightly by the laws of karma, and there is no question of transcending these laws by any material means. The modern civilization is trying to transcend the pangs of material life, namely birth, death, old age and diseases, by advancement of material knowledge, but actually this advancement is only binding them more tightly into the material concept of life. So thus there is no freedom from or transcending of these material miseries. But one who comes to the intelligence to understand that rather than serving the cause of material advancement, he should serve the cause of Krishna, then such person becomes transcendental to the stringent laws of karma. Krishna instructs us in Bhagavad-gita that one who serves Him in loving devotional service is delivered fully from all material contamination.

1974 Correspondence

The word flesh is called mansa which means the animal in future will kill me and eat. This is called karma bandhanam, bound up by the laws of karma. If you kill some living being, he will kill you in the next life.

Letter to Alfred Ford -- Los Angeles 16 July, 1974:

So far as your questions are concerned, in India a sannyasi or a person in the renounced order of life is always honored. Even in this fallen down condition of India a sannyasi is honored everywhere, and he has no problem for his living condition. So you are correct that a person in the renounced order of life is honored. Unfortunately some unscrupulous men take advantage of this renounced order dress and being filled up with all material desires they commit so many wrongful things, and the people in general take note of it and gradually the honor for the sannyasi is dwindling. Exactly like a person having received some counterfeit money is always afraid of being cheated, but this does not mean there is no good money. So unscrupulous men on account of this age of Kali yuga are taking advantage of sannyasi dress and are exploiting the people. So there is very awkward, and even a genuine sannyasi is sometimes in trouble. In the sastras therefore it is stated that unless one is perfectly detached from material things he should not be allowed to accept sannyasa order.

asvamedham gavalambam sannyasam pala paitrkam

daivarena sutotpattim kalau panca vivaijayet

(CC Adi 17.164)

(TEXT MISSING)

with fish, and meat, and getting children begotten by a husband's brother should all be completely stopped in this age.

I am very glad that you are so much inquisitive about the sense of the sastras. Yes, Krishna always gives shelter to the surrendered soul. Krishna never allows a brahmana to be killed. In the Bhagavad-gita it is stated as follows.

kaunteya pratijanihi na me bhaktah pranasyati

(BG 9.31)

"My dear son of Kunti, be assured and declare it to the whole world that My devotee is never vanquished." Krishna is also worshiped as namo brahmanyaya devaya. His first business is to give protection to the cows and the brahmanas.

Now this question may be raised why are so many cows being killed in the slaughterhouse. The answer is that those who are killing cows, according to the decision of karma kanda, these killers of cows will in the next life be cows, and the cows who are killed will become men and kill the killers. The word flesh is called mansa which means the animal in future will kill me and eat. This is called karma bandhanam, bound up by the laws of karma. If you kill some living being, he will kill you in the next life. According to Manu samhita, the Vedic lawbook, a murderer is hanged and thereby released from sinful activities so that in the next life he may not be killed. Life for life sentence is given to end the result of sinful activities in this life instead of waiting for the next life. Unfortunately people at the present moment do not know what is the next life, what is this life, what is karma, how one becomes entangled, how one becomes free. The modern education is void of all this enlightenment. They are kept in darkness without any knowledge of the values of life. Our Krishna consciousness movement is a great boon to the human society. We are trying to save the human society from all kinds of suffering, past, present, and future.

If you read all our books, Bhagavad- gita, Srimad-Bhagavatam, and others, you will get all the answers to your questions. Still I shall be very glad to answer besides that.

By the by I beg to invite you to our opening ceremony of our newly constructed temple of Krishna Balarama at Vrindaban beginning from August 8-15. I think we have exchanged some correspondence but I have never seen you. It will be a great pleasure to see you at your convenience.