secular government

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Lecture by His Divine Grace AC Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

(Founder And Acarya of ISKCON)

 

 

721211BG.AHM Lectures Just like Maharaja Pariksit, Arjuna's

grandson, when he was touring in his empire... The whole world was at that time

Indian empire. Not Indian exactly. Bharata-varsa. Now we have imitated some

name, Bharata, the "Indian,Hindustan." But formerly the whole planet was

known as Bharata-varsa. So when he saw that one black man was trying to kill

one cow, immediately he took his sword: "Immediately I shall kill you. Who are

you, killing cows in my kingdom?" This is ksatriya's business. So... But there

is no ksatriya now because so many cows are being killed. Who is...? Nobody is

protesting. It is the duty of the ksatriya to protect every living entity born

in the land, in his kingdom. It is not that, as it is going on now, that only

the human beings should be protected and not the animals. No animal could be

killed except in sacrifice, as prescribed. Unnecessarily, there was no need of

killing animals. That is great sin. Dyutam panam striyah suna yatradharmas

catur-vidhah. Striya, illicit connection with woman, is sinful life.

Unnecessarily killing animals, that is sinful life. Intoxication, that is

sinful life. Gambling, that is also sinful life. When this Kali was excused, he

surrendered himself to Maharaja Pariksit that "You have asked me to go out of

your kingdom, but where is out of your kingdom? The whole world is your

kingdom. So kindly give me some place where I can stay." So Maharaja Pariksit

gave him these four places, that "You can stay where illicit sex life is going

on." That mean prostitution. "And unnecessary animals are killed,

slaughterhouse." Striya-suna-pana-dyuta. "Where intoxicants are indulged in or

gambling. In these four places you can stay." So at that time, Kali could not

find out such place, throughout the whole world. So he was disturbed. So there

was conspiracy to kill Maharaja Pariksit because the Kali could understand that

so long Maharaja Pariksit would live, it is impossible to find out a

slaughterhouse or a brothel or a drinking house or gambling place. No. So the

kingdom was so nice. We have got description from Srimad-Bhagavatam. Maharaja

Pariksit, Maharaja Yudhisthira, many. The monarchy was so nice that because

they were trained up, rajarsi... They were not ordinary kings. They were as

good as great sages and great saintly person. Imam rajarsayo viduh. Krsna said,

imam vivasvate yogam proktavan aham avyayam. Krsna said to the sun-god Vivasvan.

And so He said, "The sun-god transferred the teaching to his son Manu, and Manu

transferred the teaching to Maharaja Iksvaku." Evam parampara-praptam. In this

way, the point is that the philosophy of Bhagavad-gita was especially taught to

the royal order because they would know. They should know. Because a king is

supposed to be representative of God, nara-deva. King is addressed as

nara-deva. Even in 500 years ago when Sanatana Gosvami was minister of Nawab

Hussein Shah... Sanatana Gosvami wanted to resign. He wanted to join Caitanya

Mahaprabhu's movement. So when the Nawab understood that Sanatana Gosvami...

His name was Dabir Khas. He changed his name. So he said, "No, you cannot

resign. Then my whole kingdom will be topsy-turvied. I completely depend,

dependent on you." So Sanatana Gosvami said, "My, Your Majesty, I am no more

able to serve you. Kindly excuse me." Then the Nawab said that "Then I shall

punish you. I am Nawab. I am king." So Sanatana Gosvami said, "Yes, you can

punish me because you are representative of God." He never protested "Oh, you

are Mohammedan, I am this, Hindu or..." No. He accepted him, that "You can

punish me." So the idea is that formerly the monarch, the king, was actually

representative of God. They used to rule in such a nice way that nobody was

unhappy. During Maharaja Yudhisthira's ruling, reign, you will find in the

Bhagavatam that people were so happy that they had no anxiety. Not only they

were free from all anxieties, but they had not to bear even scorching heat or

shivering cold. No. So they were so happy. That is the duty of the

government. It may be monarchy or democracy. The first duty of the government

is to see that all the citizens, they are feeling happy. That is the duty of

the government. Not simply collecting taxes and: "All the citizens may go to

hell. It doesn't matter." This is not good government. Good government is to

see there are... It may be secular government. The secular government does not

mean that the whole citizens should be less religious, godless. Secular

government should see that even there are many religious sects, just like

Hindus or Muslim and Christians, so secular government does not mean that they

should neglect. They should see that the Hindus are strictly following the

principles of Hindu religion, the Mohammedans are strictly following the

principles of Mohammedan religion or... That is government's duty. Nobody

should remain unemployed. That is government's duty. There are so many things.

They are all described in connection with Maharaja Prthu, one noble king. So

in Bhagavata you'll find everything. Politics, sociology, religion, culture,

philosophy--everything you will find. Vidya bhagavata vadnih.(?) All kinds of

cultural and educational instruction are there in the Srimad-Bhagavatam. So

 

klaibyam ma sma gamah partha naitat tvayy

upapadyate ksudram hrdaya-daurbalyam

tyaktvottistha parantapa

 

"Give up this cowardice habit. You get up and prepare for your fight. This is

ksatriya's business. You should not go behind." Arjuna uvaca. "Arjuna replied."

 

katham bhismam aham sankhye dronam ca

madhusudana isubhih pratiyotsyami

pujarhav arisudana

 

Now Krsna was encouraging to fight; Arjuna was also very intelligently replying.

He addressed Krsna as Madhusudana, Arisudana. Madhusudana means "the killer of

Madhu demon" or "the killer or enemy." So his purpose is that "I have to kill

Bhismadeva, who is my so kind grandfather, and I have to kill Dronacarya, who

is my teacher, from whom I have learned this military art. So You have killed

the demons and Your enemy, and why You are inducing me to kill my guru and my

grandfather?" This is his argument. Katham bhismam aham sankhye dronam ca

madhusudana, isubhih pratiyotsyami: "They, my grandfather, my teacher, may

chastise me, but how I can pierce with arrows their body?" So this is the

problem: duty. Arjuna was forgetting duty. And Krsna was inducing him: "Never

mind. According to ksatriya rules and regulation, even the opposite party is

your own son, you should not hesitate to kill him. This is ksatriya's

business." If the opposite party is your own son, but when there is fight,

there must be decided: one party must be killed. This is ksatriya's business.