Go to Vanipedia | Go to Vanisource | Go to Vanimedia


Vaniquotes - the compiled essence of Vedic knowledge


Tax (CC and Other Books)

Sri Caitanya-caritamrta

CC Adi-lila

CC Adi 10.50, Purport:

The engagements of a brāhmaṇa are yajana, yājana, paṭhana, pāṭhana, dāna and pratigraha. A brāhmaṇa should be a worshiper of Viṣṇu, and he should also instruct others how to worship Him. A kṣatriya can become a landholder and earn his livelihood by levying taxes or collecting rent from tenants. A vaiśya can accept agriculture or general trade as an occupational duty. Since Murāri Gupta was born in a physician's family (vaidya-vaṁśa), he practiced as a physician, and with whatever income he earned he maintained his family. As stated in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, everyone should try to satisfy the Supreme Personality of Godhead through the execution of his occupational duty. That is the perfection of life. This system is called daivī-varṇāśrama. Murāri Gupta was an ideal gṛhastha, for he was a great devotee of Lord Rāmacandra and Caitanya Mahāprabhu. By practicing as a physician he maintained his family and at the same time satisfied Lord Caitanya to the best of his ability. This is the ideal of householder life.

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 Adi 17.128, Purport:

During the transition of the British in Bangladesh during the last Hindu-Muslim riots, many Hindus were converted into Muslims by having cows' flesh forcibly pushed into their mouths. Hindu society was so rigid at the time of Lord Caitanya that if a Hindu were converted into a Muslim, there was no chance of his being reformed. In this way the Muslim population in India increased. None of the Muslims came from outside; social customs somehow or other forced Hindus to become Muslims, with no chance of returning to Hindu society. Emperor Aurangzeb also inaugurated a tax that Hindus had to pay because of their being Hindus. Thus all the poor Hindus of the lower class voluntarily became Muslims to avoid the tax. In this way the Muslim population in India increased. Chand Kazi threatened to convert the people into Muslims by the simple process of sprinkling water on their bodies.

CC Madhya-lila

CC Madhya 4.12, Translation:

There were many rivers on the way, and at each river there was a tax collector. The tax collectors did not hinder the Lord, however, and He showed them mercy. Finally He reached the village of Remuṇā.

CC Madhya 16.19, Translation:

Śivānanda Sena, who was in charge of the party, made arrangements to clear the tax collecting centers. He took care of all the devotees and happily traveled with them.

CC Madhya 16.26, Translation:

As stated, Śivānanda Sena made all arrangements for the party's necessities. In particular, he pacified the men in charge of levying taxes and found resting places for everyone.

CC Madhya 18.149, Translation:

“Early in the morning people come here, and not seeing You present, they simply tax my brain.

CC Madhya 25.193, Purport:

Subuddhi Rāya was sprinkled with water from the pitcher of a Muslim, and consequently he was condemned to have become a Muslim. Later, Aurangzeb, the Muslim emperor, introduced a tax especially meant for Hindus. Being oppressed in the Hindu community, many low-caste Hindus preferred to become Muslims. In this way the Muslim population increased. Later the British government made it a policy to divide the Hindus and the Muslims, and thus they maintained ill feelings between them. The result was that India was divided into Pakistan and Hindustan.

From early histories it appears that the entire earth was under one culture, Vedic culture, but gradually, due to religious and cultural divisions, the rule fragmented into many subdivisions.

CC Antya-lila

CC Antya 1.92, Purport:

Therefore if we want a happy and tranquil political situation, we must select leaders who eat kṛṣṇa-prasādam. Otherwise the leaders will eat meat and drink wine, and thus they will be asaṁskṛtāḥ, unreformed, and kriyā-hīnāḥ, devoid of spiritual behavior. In other words, they will be mlecchas and yavanas, or men who are unclean in their habits. Through taxation, such men exploit the citizens as much as possible, and in this way they devour the citizens of the state instead of benefiting them. We therefore cannot expect a government to be efficient if it is headed by such unclean mlecchas and yavanas.

CC Antya 3.159, Translation:

Rāmacandra Khān's business was questionable, for he tried to avoid paying income tax to the government. Therefore the government's minister of finance was angry and came to his residence.

CC Antya 3.190, Translation:

At the house of Hiraṇya and Govardhana Majumadāra, a person named Gopāla Cakravartī was officially the chief tax collector.

CC Antya 3.191, Translation:

This Gopāla Cakravartī lived in Bengal. His duty as chief tax collector was to collect 1,200,000 coins to deposit in the treasury of the emperor.

CC Antya 3.192, Purport:

Māyāvādīs cannot tolerate the statements of the śāstras about how easily liberation can be achieved, for, as stated in the Bhagavad-gītā (12.5), kleśo ‘dhikaratas teṣām avyaktāsakta-cetasām: impersonalists must work hard for many, many births, and only then will they perhaps be liberated. Vaiṣṇavas know that simply by chanting the holy name of the Lord offenselessly, one achieves liberation as a by-product. Thus there is no need to endeavor separately for liberation. Śrīla Bilvamaṅgala Ṭhākura has said, muktiḥ svayaṁ mukulitāñjali sevate "smān: liberation stands at one"s door, ready to render any kind of service, if one is a pure devotee with unflinching faith and reverence. This the Māyāvādīs cannot tolerate. Therefore the ārindā pradhāna, chief tax collector, although very learned, handsome and youthful, could not tolerate the statements of Haridāsa Ṭhākura.

CC Antya 3.200, Translation:

All the members of the assembly who had heard the challenge were greatly agitated, and they got up, making a tumultuous sound. Hiraṇya and Govardhana Majumadāra both immediately chastised the brāhmaṇa tax collector.

CC Antya 6.17, Translation and Purport:

At that time there was a Muslim official collecting the taxes of Saptagrāma.

Formerly, when the Muslim government was in power, the person appointed tax collector would collect the taxes of the local zamindars, or landholders. He would keep one fourth of the collection for himself as a profit, and the balance he would deliver to the treasury of the government.

CC Antya 6.18, Translation:

When Hiraṇya dāsa, Raghunātha dāsa's uncle, made an agreement with the government to collect taxes, the Muslim caudhurī, or tax collector, having lost his position, became extremely envious of him.

CC Antya 12.15, Purport:

Ghāṭī refers to the different toll booths used by the zamindars to collect taxes in each state. Generally, this tax was collected to maintain the roads governed by the various zamindars. Since the devotees from Bengal were going to Jagannātha Purī, they had to pass through many such toll booths. Śivānanda Sena was in charge of paying the tolls.

CC Antya 12.17, Translation:

One day when the party was being checked by a toll collector, the devotees were allowed to pass, and Śivānanda Sena remained behind alone to pay the taxes.

Other Books by Srila Prabhupada

Krsna, The Supreme Personality of Godhead

Krsna Book 5:

It appeared that Vṛndāvana had already become a site for the pastimes of the goddess of fortune.

After the birth ceremony, Nanda Mahārāja decided to go to Mathurā to pay the annual tax to the government of Kaṁsa. Before leaving, he called for the able cowherd men of the village and asked them to take care of Vṛndāvana in his absence. When Nanda Mahārāja arrived in Mathurā, Vasudeva got the news and was very eager to congratulate his friend. He immediately went to the place where Nanda Mahārāja was staying. When Nanda saw Vasudeva, he felt that he had regained his life. Nanda, overwhelmed with joy, immediately stood up and embraced Vasudeva. Vasudeva was received very warmly and offered a nice place to sit. Anxious about his two sons, who had been put under the protection of Nanda without Nanda's knowledge, Vasudeva inquired about Them with great anxiety.

Krsna Book 5:

Such a person will not be aggrieved at any incident, happy or miserable.”

Vasudeva then replied, "My dear Nanda, if you have already paid the government taxes, then return soon to your place, because I think that there may be some disturbances in Gokula."

After the friendly conversation between Nanda Mahārāja and Vasudeva, Vasudeva returned to his home. Nanda Mahārāja and the other cowherd men, who had come to Mathurā to pay their taxes, also returned home.

Krsna Book 6:

They could not understand that Kṛṣṇa was the Supreme Personality of Godhead playing as a child. After performing the formalities to protect the child, mother Yaśodā took Kṛṣṇa and let Him suck her breast. When the child was protected by viṣṇu-mantra, mother Yaśodā felt that He was safe. In the meantime, all the cowherd men who had gone to Mathurā to pay tax returned home and were struck with wonder at seeing the gigantic dead body of Pūtanā.

Nanda Mahārāja recalled the prophecy of Vasudeva and considered him a great sage and mystic yogī; otherwise, how could he have foretold an incident that happened during his absence from Vṛndāvana? After this, all the residents of Vraja cut the gigantic body of Pūtanā into pieces and piled it up with wood for burning. When all the limbs of Pūtanā’s body were burning, the smoke emanating from the fire created a good aroma of aguru. This aroma was due to her being killed by Kṛṣṇa.

Krsna Book 20:

Clouds are accumulated water drawn from the land by the sunshine. Continually for eight months the sun evaporates all kinds of water from the surface of the globe, and this water is accumulated in the shape of clouds, which are distributed as water when there is need. Similarly, a government exacts various taxes from the citizens, such as income tax and sales tax, which the citizens are able to pay by their different material activities: agriculture, trade, industry and so on. This taxation is compared to the sun's drawing water from the earth. When there is again need of water on the surface of the globe, the same sunshine converts the water into clouds and distributes it all over the globe. Similarly, the taxes collected by the government must be distributed to the people again, as educational work, public work, sanitation work, etc. This is very essential for a good government. The government should not simply exact taxes for useless squandering; the tax collection should be utilized for the public welfare of the state.

Krsna Book 20:

Similarly, the transcendentalists, when freed from the encagement of the material body, also achieve their desired goal. During the rainy season, the mercantile community cannot move from one place to another and so do not get their desired profit. Nor can the royal order go from one place to another to collect taxes from the people. As for saintly persons, who must travel to preach transcendental knowledge, they also are restrained by the rainy season. But during the autumn, all of them leave their confines. In the case of the transcendentalist, be he a jñānī, a yogī or a devotee, because of the material body he cannot actually enjoy spiritual achievement. But as soon as he gives up the body, or after death, the jñānī merges into the spiritual effulgence of the Supreme Lord, the yogī transfers himself to the various higher planets, and the devotee goes to the planet of the Supreme Lord, Goloka Vṛndāvana or one of the Vaikuṇṭhas, and thus enjoys his eternal spiritual life.

Krsna Book 72:

It may be noted that by dispatching his younger brothers to conquer in different directions, King Yudhiṣṭhira did not actually intend that they declare war upon the kings. Actually, the brothers started for different directions to inform the respective kings about King Yudhiṣṭhira's intention to perform the Rājasūya sacrifice. The kings were thus informed that they were required to pay taxes for the execution of the sacrifice. This payment of taxes to Emperor Yudhiṣṭhira meant that the king accepted subjugation before him. In case of a king's refusal to act accordingly, there was certainly a fight. Thus by their influence and strength the brothers conquered all the kings in different directions, and they were able to bring in sufficient taxes and presentations, which they brought before King Yudhiṣṭhira.

Krsna Book 87:

The Vedas confirm that it is out of fear of the Supreme Personality of Godhead that the sun is shining, the wind is blowing, and fire is distributing heat. The material nature produces all kinds of movable and immovable objects within the material world, but none of them can independently act or create without the direction of the Supreme Lord. All of them act as His tributaries, just like subordinate kings who offer their annual taxes to the emperor.

The Vedic injunctions state that every living entity lives by eating the remnants of food offered to the Personality of Godhead. In great sacrifices the injunction is that Nārāyaṇa should be present as the supreme predominating Deity of the sacrifice and that after the sacrifice is performed the remnants of food should be distributed amongst the demigods. This is called yajña-bhāga. Every demigod has an allotment of yajña-bhāga, which he accepts as prasādam. The conclusion is that the demigods are not independently powerful: they are posted as different executives under the order of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and they eat prasādam, or the remnants of sacrifices. They execute the order of the Supreme Lord exactly according to His plan. The Supreme Personality of Godhead is in the background, and because His orders are carried out by others, it appears that He is impersonal. In our grossly materialistic way, we cannot conceive how the Supreme Person is above the impersonal activities of material nature.

Light of the Bhagavata

Light of the Bhagavata 2, Purport:

The welfare state imposes upon its citizens scorching taxes in various forms—income tax, sales tax, land tax, terminal tax, excise tax, customs tax, and so many other taxes. But in due course, when the taxes accumulate into a large sum of money, they are utilized for the welfare of the citizens in various ways. Nonetheless, sometimes it happens that the benefits of the taxes fall like rains on stone-hearted men in the state who are unable to utilize the money properly and who squander it for sense gratification.

The common man supposes the unequal distribution of rain to represent nature's wrath for our sinful acts. There is truth in this. Thus to have an equal distribution of state-raised taxes, the citizens need to be scrupulously honest and virtuous. They should be honest in the payment of taxes to the state and should have honest representatives to look over the administration.

Light of the Bhagavata 2, Purport:

This process of yajña is called the saṅkīrtana-yajña, or mass agitation for invoking man's lost spiritual consciousness. As soon as this movement is taken up through spiritual singing, dancing, and feasting, the people will automatically become obedient and honest.

Obedience is the first law of discipline. The people have become disobedient to the laws of God, and therefore neither rain nor wealth is equally distributed. A man who is ultimately disobedient cannot have any good qualifications. When disobedient leaders lead the disobedient people, the whole atmosphere of the administration becomes polluted and full of dangers, as when a blind man leads several other blind men. The state taxes, therefore, should be spent to build the character of the people in general. That will bring happiness to the citizens of the state.

Page Title:Tax (CC and Other Books)
Compiler:Mayapur, RupaManjari
Created:27 of Oct, 2011
Totals by Section:BG=0, SB=0, CC=18, OB=9, Lec=0, Con=0, Let=0
No. of Quotes:27