Indian man (6): Another question
comes. Why, how the caste system has crippled our society so much, was accepted
by...Prabhupada: Wrongly, wrongly. Krsna says, catur-varnyam maya srstam
guna-karma-vibhagasah [Bg. 4.13]. So according to quality and work... That is
fact. If you have got engineering qualification and if you can work as engineer,
people will call you engineer-saheb. Is it not? So there may be a class of
engineer, but that depends on quality and work. But if you have no quality, no
work, how you become engineer? If you have no qualification of becoming an
engineer, and you do not work, you work as a clerk, and if somebody addresses
you "Engineer-saheb," he is a fool, you are a fool. (laughter) So if he's not a
brahmana, if you call him a brahmana, then you are fool and he is also fool. So
that is going on, fools' paradise. A rascal who is not in qualification a
brahmana, if he's addressed and given honor of a brahmana, he's sees, "Oh, for
nothing I am getting this honor, that's right, very nice." And who is giving him
honor as brahmana, he's also rascal. But it is not that. Catur-varnyam maya
srstam guna-karma-vibhagasah [Bg. 4.13]. Not by birth. One must acquire the
quality of a brahmana.
samo damas tapah saucam
ksantir arjavam eva ca
jnanam vijnanam astikyam
brahma-karma svabhava-jam
[Bg. 18.42]
He must be truthful, he must be self-restrained, self-controlled, full
of knowledge, very simple. All these qualifications, when he acquires, then he
becomes a brahmana.Indian man (6): No, even in Ramayana and Mahabharata we
find this kind of, Ekalavya was discriminated, Karna was
discriminated...Prabhupada: Because he was not accustomed to the practice of
brahmana. One must be brahmana by practice; that is wanted.Indian man (6):
This is kind of discrimination though.Prabhupada: Hmm?Indian man (6):
This is kind of discrimination though.Prabhupada: Yes. Krsna says mam hi
partha vyapasritya ye 'pi syuh papa-yonayah [Bg. 9.32]. Never mind if he's born
in low-grade family, but he's eligible to go back to home, back to Godhead. Te
'pi yanti param gatim. Do you mean to say unless one becomes a first-class
brahmana he can go back to home, back to Godhead? No, that is not possible. So,
kirata-hunandhra-pulinda-ksantir arjavam eva ca
jnanam vijnanam astikyam
brahma-karma svabhava-jam
[Bg. 18.42]
tatah kalau sampravrtte
sammohaya sura-dvisam
buddho namnanjana-sutah
kikatesu bhavisyati
[SB 1.3.24]
Prabhupada: Translation.Dhrstadyumna: "Then in the beginning of
Kali-yuga, the Lord will appear as Lord Buddha, the son of Anjana, in the
province of Gaya, just for the purpose of deluding those who are envious of the
faithful theists."Prabhupada: To delude them. Read the
purport.Dhrstadyumna: "Lord Buddha, a powerful incarnation of the
Personality of Godhead, appeared in the province of Gaya (Bihar) as the son of
Anjana, and he preached his own conception of nonviolence and deprecated even
the animal sacrifices sanctioned in the Vedas. At the time when Lord Buddha
appeared, the people in general were atheistic and preferred animal flesh to
anything else. On the plea of Vedic sacrifice, every place was practically
turned into a slaughterhouse, and animal killing was indulged in unrestrictedly.
Lord Buddha preached nonviolence, taking pity on the poor animals. He preached
that he did not believe in the tenets of the Vedas and stressed the adverse
psychological effects incurred by animal killing. Less intelligent men of the
age of Kali, who had no faith in God, followed his principle, and for the time
being they were trained in moral discipline and nonviolence, the preliminary
steps for proceeding further on the path of God realization. He deluded the
atheists because such atheists who followed his principles did not believe in
God, but they kept their absolute faith in Lord Buddha, who himself was the
incarnation of God. Thus the faithless people were made to believe in God in the
form of Lord Buddha. That was the mercy of Lord Buddha: he made the faithless
faithful to him. Killing of animals before the advent of Lord Buddha was the
most prominent feature of the society. They claimed that these were Vedic
sacrifices. When the Vedas were not accepted through the authoritative disciplic
succession, the casual readers of the Vedas are misled by the flowery language
of that system of knowledge. In the Bhagavad-gita a comment has been made on
such foolish scholars. The foolish scholars of Vedic literature who do not care
to receive the transcendental message through the transcendental realized
sources of disciplic succession are sure to be bewildered. To them, the
ritualistic ceremonies are considered to be all in all. They have no depth of
knowledge. According to the Bhagavad-gita, the whole system of the Vedas is to
lead one gradually to the path of the Supreme Lord. The whole theme of Vedic
literature is to know the Supreme Lord, the individual soul, the cosmic
situation and the relations between all these items. When the relation is known,
the relative function begins, and as a result of such a function the ultimate
goal of life of going back to Godhead takes place in the easiest manner.
Unfortunately, unauthorized scholars of the Vedas become captivated by the
purificatory ceremonies only, and natural progress is checked thereby. To such
bewildered persons of atheistic propensity, Lord Buddha is the emblem of theism.
He therefore first of all wanted to check the habit of animal killing. The
animal killers are dangerous elements on the path of going back to Godhead.
There are two types of animal killers. The soul is also sometimes called the
animal, or the living being. Therefore both the slaughterers of animals as well
as those who have lost their identity as the soul are animal killers. Maharaja
Pariksit said that only the animal killer cannot relish the transcendental
message of the Supreme Lord. Therefore if people are to be educated on the path
of Godhead, they must be taught first and foremost to stop the process of animal
killing as above mentioned. It is nonsensical to say that animal killing has
nothing to do with spiritual realization. By this dangerous theory many
so-called sannyasis have sprung up by the grace of Kali-yuga to preach animal
killing under the garb of the Vedas."Prabhupada: Now there are so many
rascals in this dress of sannyasi, they are eating meat. That is going on. They
say, "What is the wrong of eating meat? Can eat." They eat meat.
Then?Dhrstadyumna: "The subject matter has already been discussed in the
conversation between Lord Caitanya and Maulana Chand Kazi Shaheb. The animal
sacrifice as stated in the Vedas is different from the unrestricted animal
killing in the slaughterhouse."Prabhupada: There, your
question.Dhrstadyumna: "Because the asuras, or the so-called scholars of
Vedic..."Prabhupada: Now you were referring to the Vedic principle, but that
does not mean you have to open slaughterhouse. But these rascals are opening
slaughterhouse. You think it is Vedic principle? Suppose it is recommended that
animals should be sacrificed in the Vedic ritualistic ceremony. Does it mean
that you shall open regular slaughterhouse? Just as the Christians say that
Jesus Christ ate fish, therefore they are right in opening big, big
slaughterhouse? Maybe Lord Jesus Christ ate fish in some awkward circumstance,
but that does not mean that he is recommending to open slaughterhouse. In the
Ten Commandments he says, "Thou shalt not kill." When there is absolute
necessity, there is no other food, that is another thing, but if there is
sufficient other foodstuff, why should you kill? They are not even human being,
those who are animal killers. Vina pasughnat [SB 10.1.4]. Those who are animal
killers, they are not even human being, what to speak of religious system.
Nivrtta-tarsair upagiyamanad bhavausadhac chrotra-mano-'bhiramat ka
uttamasloka-guna [SB 10.1.4]. If you are animal killer, your God consciousness
is finished. You'll never be able to understand what is God. Then your life is
finished. This life is meant for understanding God, and if you are animal
killer, then your God understanding is finished.Guest (1): May I ask a
question, Prabhupada? Something that I've wondered about, perhaps you could
explain it briefly. I believe that Krsna is the Supreme God, so don't get me
wrong, but since you mentioned Christ, was he an incarnation of Krsna? Was Jesus
Christ sent here by Krsna from...Prabhupada: He says that he is son of God;
that is accepted.sammohaya sura-dvisam
buddho namnanjana-sutah
kikatesu bhavisyati
[SB 1.3.24]
>>> Ref. VedaBase =>
Evening Darsana -- July 11, 1976, New York
© 2001 The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust International.
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