pilgrim
15-04-2008, 10:59 PM
Srila Prabhupada: Until these world leaders read my books and take to this Vedic culture, what kind of civilization will they have? Dog race. Horse race. They want this. Rat race. That's all. Their civilization is a race. Dog race. Horse race. Rat race. The citizens do not know anything about this great science of the soul. Modern civilization means that people are simply becoming rascals, animals. Of course, strictly speaking, theirs is a motor race. They have advanced beyond the common dog race to a motor race. But if a doggish person is running not on four legs but on four wheels, does that mean he is not a dog? It is the same race. The same race--whether by running on four legs or on four wheels. The race is the same, and the dog is the same.
So this civilization is a glorified dog race. Modern man does not know, "I may feel proud of racing around in a car, but is there any value if I do not understand the meaning of my life?" Hmm? So this is going on. A big, big highway for dog racing--that is modern civilization.
Nothing in this material world will stay. So always chant Hare Krishna. This is a very dangerous place. Padam padam yad vipadam: This is a place where at every step there is danger. Right now, for example, we are walking in a very nice park, but at any moment there may be a revolution and the whole thing may change. The whole thing may become like fire, just as it has now become in India. So we should remember that here in this material world, padam padam yad vipadam: At every step there is danger.
Therefore, give up your attachment for this place. That is real intelligence. And yet the modern educational system is misleading people into maya-sukhaya: making gorgeous plans for temporary happiness. That's all. If in the slaughterhouse the animals are kept very comfortably, what is the meaning of it?
Disciple: No meaning. They'll still be slaughtered.
Srila Prabhupada: It is sure that all the animals will be slaughtered. So even if, let us say, the animals could arrange that "All right, before being slaughtered, let us live very comfortably," would that be very good intelligence? Intelligence consists in inquiring, "Why must we be slaughtered? How to stop this business?" That is intelligence. How do you define slaughterhouse? What does slaughterhouse mean?
Disciple: A slaughterhouse is a place where many animals are sent to be killed brutally.
Srila Prabhupada: Yes. In a slaughterhouse, many animals are brought together expressly to be killed. So this whole material world is a slaughterhouse. And when there is need, many two-legged animals will be brought together into a war and killed.
This place is a slaughterhouse. And yet the foolish two-legged animal is thinking, "I am now very comfortably situated." He forgets, "I am going to be slaughtered." Mrtyu-samsara-sagarat: "This place is an ocean of slaughter." In Bhagavad-gita Lord Krishna confirms it--mrtyu-samsara-sagarat. This place is a slaughterhouse. But people are accepting it as their home. Another name for this material world is mrtyu-loka. Mrtyu-loka--"the place of death." But still, they are taking it as a very comfortable place. This is their intelligence: accepting a slaughterhouse as a very nice place.
http://society.krishna.org/Articles/2002/05/028.html
http://www.krishnatemple.com/images/karma.jpg
So this civilization is a glorified dog race. Modern man does not know, "I may feel proud of racing around in a car, but is there any value if I do not understand the meaning of my life?" Hmm? So this is going on. A big, big highway for dog racing--that is modern civilization.
Nothing in this material world will stay. So always chant Hare Krishna. This is a very dangerous place. Padam padam yad vipadam: This is a place where at every step there is danger. Right now, for example, we are walking in a very nice park, but at any moment there may be a revolution and the whole thing may change. The whole thing may become like fire, just as it has now become in India. So we should remember that here in this material world, padam padam yad vipadam: At every step there is danger.
Therefore, give up your attachment for this place. That is real intelligence. And yet the modern educational system is misleading people into maya-sukhaya: making gorgeous plans for temporary happiness. That's all. If in the slaughterhouse the animals are kept very comfortably, what is the meaning of it?
Disciple: No meaning. They'll still be slaughtered.
Srila Prabhupada: It is sure that all the animals will be slaughtered. So even if, let us say, the animals could arrange that "All right, before being slaughtered, let us live very comfortably," would that be very good intelligence? Intelligence consists in inquiring, "Why must we be slaughtered? How to stop this business?" That is intelligence. How do you define slaughterhouse? What does slaughterhouse mean?
Disciple: A slaughterhouse is a place where many animals are sent to be killed brutally.
Srila Prabhupada: Yes. In a slaughterhouse, many animals are brought together expressly to be killed. So this whole material world is a slaughterhouse. And when there is need, many two-legged animals will be brought together into a war and killed.
This place is a slaughterhouse. And yet the foolish two-legged animal is thinking, "I am now very comfortably situated." He forgets, "I am going to be slaughtered." Mrtyu-samsara-sagarat: "This place is an ocean of slaughter." In Bhagavad-gita Lord Krishna confirms it--mrtyu-samsara-sagarat. This place is a slaughterhouse. But people are accepting it as their home. Another name for this material world is mrtyu-loka. Mrtyu-loka--"the place of death." But still, they are taking it as a very comfortable place. This is their intelligence: accepting a slaughterhouse as a very nice place.
http://society.krishna.org/Articles/2002/05/028.html
http://www.krishnatemple.com/images/karma.jpg