Hare Krsna–
Below we have a nice explanation by Srila Prabhupada of modern society where the vast majority of people work for a small number of “masters”. This is called dependent living where your entire existence is dependent upon so many others, instead of living independently and depending upon God, or Krsna for maintenance.And the more they increase their technology dependence, the more people become slaves to it and thereby lose their human qualities and more importantly, the search for the purpose and meaning of life. Life becomes merely a daily search for bread and water, and the ability to satisfy one’s basic needs, just like an ordinary animal, is called “material success”.
Yet the irony of this plight is that nobody becomes happy by it, whereas in the opposite approach where one learns how to depend upon God, or Krsna for his maintenance, he does become happy because first of all, he is obeying the Lords orders to do so, and secondly, he is in direct touch with the Supreme Controller by his God centered work. Krsna never tells us in His Bhagavad Gita to produce tires, motors, cars, computers, and endless gadgets meant to make our lives easy.
I just heard a news byte recently where these hand held devices have become so addictive that people , especially kids going to school, lose sleep at night by intentionally waking up to check their tweets, and text messages. And then there is all those millions that still drive a car and text or talk at the same time, endangering all those around them. And this is just a tip of the technological iceberg. Bhaktivinode Thakur more than a hundred years ago predicted that the more you become implicated in machines, the more you are entangled in kali yuga, the dreaded age of fighting and hypocrisy.
So, as always, the choice is ours, which path we will take.
damaghosa das
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Vrndavana Aug 3 1974
Brahmānanda: Brāhmaṇa is not to accept any employment.
Prabhupāda: No. He’ll die of starvation. He’ll not accept any employment. That is brāhmaṇa. Kṣatriya also that, and vaiśya also. Only śūdra. A vaiśya will find out some business. He’ll find out some business. So there is a practical story. One Mr. Nandi, long, long ago, in the Calcutta, he went to some friend that, “If you can give me a little capital, I can start some business.” So he said, “You are vaiśya? Mercantile?” “Yes.” “Oh, you are asking money from me? Money’s on the street. You can find out.” So he said, “I don’t find.” “You don’t find? What is that?” “That, that is a dead mouse.” “That is your capital.” Just see.
So in those days plague in Calcutta, plague was going on. So municipal declaration was any dead mouse brought to the municipal office, he’ll be paid two annas. So he took that dead body of the mouse and took to the municipal office. He was paid two annas. So he purchased some rotten betel nuts with two annas, and washed it and sold it at four annas, or five annas. In this way, again, again, again, that man became so rich man. One of their family members was our Godbrother. Nandi family. That Nandi family still, they have got four hundred, five hundred men to eat daily. A big, aristocratic family. And their family’s regulation is as soon as one son or daughter is born, five thousand rupees deposited in the bank, and at the time of his marriage, that five thousand rupees with interest, he can take it. Otherwise there is no more share in the capital. And everyone who lives in the family, he gets eating and shelter. This is their… But the original, I mean to say, establisher of this family, Nandi, he started his business with a red, a dead rat, or mouse.
That is actually fact, actually fact, that if one wants to live independently... In Calcutta I have seen. Even poor class vaiśyas, and in the morning they’ll take some ḍāl, bag of ḍāl, and go door to door. Ḍāl is required everywhere. So in morning he makes ḍāl business, and in evening he takes one canister of kerosene oil. So in the evening everyone will require. Still you’ll find in India, they… Nobody was seeking for employment. A little, whatever he has got, selling some ground nuts or that peanuts. Something he’s doing. After all, Kṛṣṇa is giving maintenance to everyone. It is a mistake to think that “This man is giving me maintenance.” No. Śāstra says, eko yo bahūnāṁ vidadhāti kāmān. It is confidence in Kṛṣṇa, that “Kṛṣṇa has given me life, Kṛṣṇa has sent me here. So He’ll give me my maintenance. So according to my capacity, let me do something, and through that source, Kṛṣṇa’s maintenance will come.” Just like we are maintaining so many people in the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement. So what business we are doing? But we are confident that Kṛṣṇa will send us our maintenance. That confidence required. A śūdra means he becomes disturbed. He becomes disturbed. “Oh, I have no employment. How shall I eat? Where shall I go? Where shall I live?” He has no faith in Kṛṣṇa. The brāhmaṇa has got full faith. The kṣatriya has got little less faith, the vaiśya, little less faith, and the śūdra has no faith. This is the difference.
So your question was that how we can know a śūdra? That because everyone is now faithless and everyone is seeking after employment. Therefore… We may discuss in so many ways. Because people have become śūdra, therefore the capitalists are exploiting them. If everyone denies to be, serve, then these so-called industries will fail. Immediately. That is Gandhi’s proposal. “Noncooperate with the British government, and it will wind up.” And actually so happened. Because people are now śūdras, they depend for their bread to others, the others exploit them: “Come here. You work and I shall give you bread.” They do not believe any more, “O God, give us our daily bread.” They think that “This, our master give us daily bread.” That is śūdra. Śūdra means one who is dependent on others. Paricaryātmakaṁ kāryaṁ śūdra-karma svabhāva-jam. This is the description, definition of śūdra. And vaiśya: kṛṣi-go-rakṣya-vāṇijyaṁ vaiśya-karma svabhāva-jam [Bg. 18.44]. The vaiśya is doing the kṛṣi, agriculture. Why he should depend on…? Take some land from the government. You produce your food. Where is the difficulty? Keep some cows. You get milk. Vaiśya-karma svabhāva… Go-rakṣya. If you have got excess, then make trade. Why you should depend on others?
But they do not know. They want that “I shall go at ten o’clock in the office, and I shall do nothing. Simply I shall take the pen and make like this and take my salary.” That’s all. Cheating. This is going on. Therefore the whole system is polluted. Nobody’s doing his duty. Cātur-varṇyaṁ mayā sṛṣṭaṁ guṇa-karma… [Bg. 4.13]. According to one’s quality, one must work. But nobody wants to work. So therefore they are śūdras. They are working, but at the care of somebody else. Not independently. Now the school, college, the teacher is also depending on salary. So they are śūdras. So what teaching they will give? Teaching is the business of the brāhmaṇa. No salary. Formerly, all the brāhmaṇas, they used to have that… It is called ṭola, catuṣpāṭhī. Catuṣpāṭhī. Brāhmaṇa, he’ll sit down anywhere and invite that “If you like, you can come and take some teachings from me.”
Brahmānanda: Caitanya Mahāprabhu did that.
Prabhupāda: Yes. So still in villages you’ll find, the brāhmaṇa is sitting somewhere, and the small children are coming, and they’re bringing some presentation. Somebody’s bringing rice, somebody … And brāhmaṇa was satisfied, satisfied. “Whatever Kṛṣṇa sends, that’s all right.” This is brahminical qualification. He doesn’t want more. There was a brāhmaṇa teacher in Kṛṣṇanagara. So the zamindar of Kṛṣṇa…, Rāja-kṛṣṇa-candra, he went that “Brāhmaṇa, what can I help you?” “No, I don’t want your help.” “No, you are… Your house is not very good, and your…” “No, I am quite satisfied.” “How you are pulling on?” “No, I have got my students. They bring some rice. And here is a tamarind tree. My wife collects some leaves and boils it, and that becomes nice soup. And these boys bring some rice. I am quite satisfied.”
[break] “…as your production is there, give me twenty-five percent. I’ll give you protection.” That is kṣatriya business. Brāhmaṇa’s business, teaching. And vaiśya: till the field, agriculture, get your food. Now, where is dependence? Only a śūdra, he cannot take up all these things. “Give me some service, sir. Give me some service.” In the modern education, they… The more and more industries increasing, there śūdras are being trained up. Technology. Technology means he must get some service. Otherwise, useless. Simple life, teaching, brāhmaṇa; and kṣatriya, give protection; and vaiśya, till the ground. This is… Where is the question of scarcity? The scarcity is that nobody’s doing his real duty. Guṇa-karma-vibhāgaśaḥ [Bg. 4.13]. And people are exploiting. There is competition, dissatisfaction, fight. So many things, sinful activities. The whole society is polluted. Actually, the whole human society is now conducted by the śūdras. But śūdras cannot run on government. That is not possible. Because that śūdra, your Nixon, is a śūdra, he is exalted post, therefore everything is not in order.
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“It is by ignorance that people think that by opening factories they will be happy. Why should they open factories? There is no need. There is so much land, and one can produce ones own food grains and eat sumptuously without any factory. Milk is also available without a factory. The factory cannot produce milk or grains. The present scarcity of food in the world is largely due to such factories. When everyone is working in the city to produce nuts and bolts, who will produce the food grains? Simple living and high thinking is the solution to the economic problem. Therefore the Krishna Consciousness movement is engaging the devotees in producing their own food and living self-sufficiently.…” (Teachings of Queen Kunti, 18, ‘Liberation from Ignorance and Suffering’)
►740524r2.rom Conversations … Yes, naturally. If this man is fed up with this industry, he can go back to village and produce his own food. But he is attached to this industrial activity because he is thinking that “We are getting more money for wine and woman and meat. Let me enjoy.” That is the perfect, imp… But if he chants Hare Krsna maha-mantra, his consciousness will be purified and he will be made not interested this kind of work. He will go back to village and produce food.
►740611r2.par Conversations Therefore I’m anxious to take outside Paris this center. Our people should live there peacefully, produce food grains, give protection to the cows, and work hard. And if … this point. We can make good money. We’ll not be loser. Krsna conscious men, they’ll be never loser by following the instruction of Krsna. They’ll live comfortably without any material want, and tyaktva deham punar janma naiti, and after leaving this body, go to, directly back to home…
►750401mw.may Conversations … don’t distribute. You live only, till the ground and take your food. Where is the question of distribution? Whatever you can till, you take so much land. God has enough land. Why do you possess more? One acre of land is sufficient for producing your food. Why do you take more?
►750403mw.may Conversations.. There are so many land. Come here and grow food. Grow fruit. That is… That is the desire of Krsna. Annad bhavanti bhutani. Produce food and eat in sufficiently, be strong, and chant Hare Krsna. That is our philosophy. Why you are producing bolts and nuts, tire and tubes? Eat. Rascal. They do not know that first of all you must eat. No, everyone is engaged in industry. Why? Krsna does not say that “Take to industry.” Krsna says, “Produce foodstuff.” Annad bhavanti bhutani. If you produce foodstuff, then both your animals, yourself, will be happy, becoming strong. Why do they manufacture other things?
