Srila Prabhupada on Cheating

krsna · July 14, 2004

Advancement of civilization means, the so-called civilization, material civ…, means how much you are able to gratify your senses. That is civilization. How much you are given facilities to gratify your senses. This is the modern idea, hedonism. More eat, more drink—eat, drink, be merry, and enjoy. Sense gratification.

This is not only new. Formerly the Carvaka Muni, he also advocated, rnam krtva ghrtam pibet. In India, they want to eat very nice foodstuff prepared from ghee. So he advised that rnam krtva ghrtam pibet: if you have no money, then beg, borrow, or steal, get ghee and eat very nice. Rnam krtva, the word is… Suppose one has no money, then how to get money? Either cheat somebody, beg, or beg. But begging for grhastha is not very good thing, but sometimes they do so. Beg, borrow, or promising, "Give me now money, I shall pay you." And when credit is lost, then steal, pickpocket. This is as theory.

Similarly, Carvaka Muni, rnam krtva ghrtam pibet, never mind. "No, I will have to pay.No, that we shall see later on, never mind.No, I will be sinful, I will have to pay next life." This is within the blood of every Indian that if I cheat you or if I take some money from you without your benefit, without repayment, then I will have to suffer. Still in India they believe this.

There are some incidences that a man, father took some loan from some gentleman and his father died, and his son came to pay the money to the creditor: "Sir, my father took so much money from you. Now my father died without payment. So I have got money, you kindly take it." He says, "Let me see my book whether your father took it." So he said, "All right, consult." So after consulting the books, he said, "I don't find any item that I gave loan to your father.No, sir, I know, my father said at the time of death that 'I owe so much money to that gentleman, I could not pay; you pay it.'" So the trouble was the man says "I don't find any debit to your father's name. How can I take your money?" And he is insisting, "Yes, my father took money from you, kindly take."

This was India. This was India. They knew that "I cannot cheat you." Karmi, in the karma-kanda, if I cheat you, then I will have to pay you four times this life or next life. That is the law of karma. Therefore, we are collecting money, we should not cheat. Every paisa should be spent for Krsna; otherwise we shall be liable to pay. If we use one farthing for our sense gratification, then we will have to pay for it. This is the law of karma. The charity is given, why? Why charity is given to the brahmana? Nowadays they have manufactured charity to the daridra-narayana, poor man, ganja smoker, bidi smoker. But in the sastra, it is not. Sastra says tasmin deha, those who are devotee, those who are brahmana, they should be given, he should be given, he should accept. Why? Because if a brahmana takes some money from you, if a Vaisnava takes money from you, he everything will employ in the service of the Lord. This is utilization.

shambu · July 15, 2004

Krsna is the best cheater there is. In Bg. 10.36 Krsna says:

dyutam chalayatam asmi

"I am also the gambling of cheats."

In the purport to this verse Srila Prabhupada comments:

"As the Supreme, Krsna can be more deceitful than any mere man. If Krsna chooses to deceive a person, no one can surpass Him in His deceit."

So why can't Narayana (Krsna) cheat somebody by assuming the form of a poor man (daridra-narayana)? Smoking bidi, ganja or anything?

On the other hand, how can we be so sure that an outwardly "pucca" brahmana or devotee will actually spend his money in Krsna's service?

krsna · July 15, 2004

Simply Love Krishna

By His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

We offer obeisances to Krishna with awe and veneration, but no one comes to Krishna with a rope: "Krishna, You are an offender. I shall bind You." That is the prerogative of the most perfect devotee. Krishna wants that because He is full of opulence. Krishna is anor aniyan mahato mahiyan—greater than the greatest and smaller than the smallest.(1) That is opulence.

Kuntidevi is thinking of Krishna’s opulence, but she did not dare to take the part of Yasoda. That is not possible. Kuntidevi was Krishna’s aunt, but she did not have such privilege as Yasodamayi. Because Yasoda is such an advanced devotee she has the right to chastise the Supreme Personality of Godhead. So Kuntidevi was simply thinking of the privilege of Yasodamayi, how fortunate and privileged she was that she could threaten the Supreme Personality of Godhead who is feared even by fear personified. Bhir api yad bibheti. Who is not afraid of Krishna? But Krishna is afraid of Yasodamayi. This is the superexcellence of Krishna.

Another name for Krishna is Madana-mohana. Madana means Cupid. Cupid enchants everyone, and Krishna enchants Cupid. Therefore His name is Madana-mohana. He’s so beautiful that even Cupid is enchanted by Him. But on the other side, Krishna, although He’s so beautiful that He enchants Cupid, still He is enchanted by Srimati Radharani. Therefore Srimati Radharani’s name is Madana-mohana-mohini. Krishna is the enchanter of Cupid and Radharani is the enchanter of that enchanter. So these are very high-grade spiritual understandings in Krishna consciousness. It is not fiction, imagination or concoction. They are facts. And every devotee can have such privileges if he is actually advanced.

Unalloyed Love

If you love Krishna as your child then you will have such a privilege. In this material world there is no comparison to a mother’s love. It is without any exchange. Even in this material world the mother loves the child without any expectation of return. However, this material world is so polluted that sometimes the mother thinks, "When my child grows up he will a be big man. He will earn money, and I shall get it." There are still some feelings of exchange. But while loving Krishna, if there is no such feeling of exchange that is called unalloyed love — anyabhilasita-sunyam — free from all material gain. We should not love Krishna for some material gain. It is not that, "Krishna! Give us our daily bread! Then I will love You!" There should not be such a mercantile exchange. Krishna wants our pure love.

When Krishna saw mother Yasoda coming with a rope to bind Him, He immediately became very much afraid and began crying, "Oh, mother is going to bind Me!" At that time, ya te dasasru-kalilanjana — the ointment on His eyes became washed off by His tears. With great respect, Krishna appealed to His mother with feeling, "Yes, mother, I have offended you. Kindly excuse Me." And immediately His head went downward.

Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. In Bhagavad-gita He says, mattah parataram nanyat kincid asti dhananjaya — My dear Arjuna, there is no superior being above Me. I am the supermost."2 That same Supreme Personality of Godhead is now bowing down before mother Yasoda. Niniya vaktram bhaya-bhavanaya — with a feeling of fearfulness He is accepting, "My dear mother, yes, I am an offender." Sometimes if Yasoda-mata saw that her child has become too much afraid she would also become disturbed. Mother Yasoda did not want that Krishna would suffer by her punishment. That was not her purpose. This system is still very common in India. When the child is disturbing too much he is bound up in one place. Pure devotees appreciate this scene, how much greatness is there in the Supreme Person that He is playing just like a perfect child. When He is playing like a child He plays perfectly. When He plays the part of a husband with 16,000 wives He plays the perfect husband. When He plays as the lover of the gopis He plays perfectly. And as a friend of the cowherd boys He also plays perfectly.