Money Cannot Purchase Justice
A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada · Honolulu · 1975
Chapters
Social unrest and chanting
Prabhupāda: ...girls, sleeping, they are chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa again. [break] Siddha-svarūpa: ...not right; a rioting.
Upendra: Riot. Siddha-svarūpa: Chaos.
Prabhupāda: And what they will create, chaos? They have no strength. Siddha-svarūpa: Well, they burn their mattresses and they... Huh. One slap is sufficient. [break] ...first-class man.
Upendra: That is if they have money, Prabhupāda. The poor man, he suffers more.
Degradation of justice and religion
Prabhupāda: Anardhena naya-rahitam. This is stated in Bhāgavatam: "If you have no money, then you won't get justice." You can purchase justice. This is Kali-yuga. Anardhena naya-rahitam. [break] What people mean by religion? [break]
...not serious. Nobody is serious about religion. So what do they think about religion? Bali-mardana: They think it is a nice thing so that the people will work hard and not create any trouble. [break]
Upendra: ...Protestant work ethic. Protestant work ethics.
The Western culture has developed because of that work ethic based on "You work hard and go to church." "Work hard and believe in God," this is the advancement, why Western culture is..., is one theory why it's...
Atheism and artificial spiritual systems
Prabhupāda: Why shall I believe in God? What is the benefit? Work hard... Now, of course, I shall work hard; I will get money. That's all right. Why shall I believe in God?
Śrutakīrti: Because if you work hard and believe in God, then He'll save you at death. By working hard, then you'll be saved.
Prabhupāda: That's what the Communists say. They do not believe in God. So?
Harikeśa: Believing in God makes it all worthwhile. It makes you feel better while you're working hard.
Prabhupāda: Those who are atheists, they are also working hard. They are feeling nice by drinking. Why shall I believe in God? Let me drink.
Harikeśa: Because they're being satisfied by sense gratification, but in...
Prabhupāda: That's all right. Why shall I believe in God? Sense gratification is there. Why shall I believe in God?
Upendra: There has to be a certain amount of self-respect that the Christians give the people...
Prabhupāda: Nobody respects. Nowadays, if somebody is religious, he is thought of as a fool. He's not...
Upendra: Nowadays. Siddha-svarūpa: Actually, because what you're saying is right, people are going away from religion. There is no use for it anymore.
Prabhupāda: No religion. No, they do not know what is the meaning of religion. Therefore they create some religious system. They create = "Let me create something. After all, it is bluffing.
So if I can..." Just like this, from India there are so many come. Here also there are many. They create some. It is... After all, it is bluffing. "So let me create something." Real business is to bluff and take money.
Bali-mardana: They like to make a show. That's all. Bali-mardana: Even President Nixon, he was having Bible meetings while he was cheating everyone. [Prabhupāda chuckles] [break]
They think in..., believe in God, and "There is no God; believe in God." Create some God and believe, that's all. Finished. Therefore there are many, so many, religions.
Human tendency toward worship
Bali-mardana: Everyone has a tendency to worship something. If they don't worship Kṛṣṇa, they will worship someone else, like Mao or Lenin... [break] One fashion is meditation. This fashion is very prominent.
What meditation, they do not know. Bali-mardana: They think that it is simply a... Sit down... I have seen meditation. [makes snoring sound] I have seen. [people shouting in background] [break] Siddha-svarūpa: They are waving.
Śrutakīrti: They are cheering. [break]
Prabhupāda: ...get those toothpicks, no?
Śrutakīrti: The what?
Prabhupāda: Toothpick? No.
Śrutakīrti: Too soft.
Prabhupāda: They are not so hard. Too soft. [break] ...an apartment.
Local infrastructure and irrigation
[break]
Manasvī: We got from one of the devotee who comes to the temple every day.
Śrutakīrti: One of the other valleys here. It's called... I forget the name. Bali-mardana: You got one? Yeah. They brought a bunch of them back. [break]
Prabhupāda: ...nice. Ask him to bring daily. [laughter] [break] ...portion is being watered specifically? Siddha-svarūpa: I think they move them around.
Śrutakīrti: They have little things sticking up, and they put these sprinklers on them.
Prabhupāda: The pipe is everywhere. Siddha-svarūpa: Yes. [break] Back is... Bali-mardana: We should drive it up. No, we shall come back. [break] ...it is called horizontal? And this way vertical?
Word is ota-prota. Ota means this horizontal, and prota means vertical.
Upendra: It's the other way around. Bali-mardana: In English this is vertical.
Prabhupāda: This is vertical? Bali-mardana: Yeah. This is horizontal. Bali-mardana: Ācchā. [break] [end]