Castor oil or Big Oil companies??
January 18, 2023 in Articles by Damaghosa dasa
June 24 1976 New Vrndavana
Prabhupāda:Thisisnastycivilization, unnecessarily increasing necessities of life.Anartha.
Kīrtanānanda: We would not have understood you if you had said that eight, ten years ago.
Prabhupāda: Hmm?
Kīrtanānanda: Ten years ago I know I could not have understood you if you had said that. Now I understand a little bit.
Prabhupāda: Now suppose these electric lights. So, crude form of light, we grow some castor seed, everything from the earth. This also you are getting from earth, petroleum, and running on machine, and electricity is generated. But really you are getting the impetus from the earth.As soon as the petroleum supply is stopped, everything stopped. But for this purpose you have to search out petroleum from the middle of ocean, boring.Therefore it is ugra–karma. The purpose is that you grow some castor seed, press it, get oil, put in any pot, and one wick, the light is there. So even understanding that you have improved the lighting system, but that is not the only necessity of my life.But to improve from the castor seed lamp, castor oil lamp, to this electricity, you have to work so hard. You have to go to the middle of ocean and drill it and get out petroleum and… In this way your real business of life is finished. The energy and the intelligence you got for your self-realization or your, this precarious position, constantly dying and taking birth in various species of life, this is your problem, and this was to be solved in human life, you have got advanced intelligence, but that intelligence is utilized from castor seed lamp to the electric lamp. That’s all. Just try to understand. What is that improvement? And for this improving from castor seed oil lamp to electricity lamp, you forget your real business. You lost yourself. This civilization is going on. This is called māyā. For some fictitious happiness you lose your whole purpose of life.It is difficult to understand, but the fact is there. But you are under the control of nature, you have to give up this body. All right, you make very nice arrangement to live here, nature will not allow you to live. You must die. And after death you are going to get another body. So in this body, working for high grade electricity lamp, you work so hard, have got your own business, and next life by the laws of nature, if you get the body of a dog, then what is the benefit? That you cannot check. What is the answer? Hmm?
Kulādri: Simple living, high thinking.
Prabhupāda:Huh?
Kulādri: Simple living.
Prabhupāda: No, here is the charge. Now what is your answer? In this life you are living very comfortably, next life if I’m going to be a dog, then this is the charge. Now how this class of men will answer it?Can he deny that he’s not going to be a dog?
Kīrtanānanda: He says he doesn’t believe it.
Prabhupāda: You believe or not believe. Just like this child, it is boy, he does not know anything.But I know, his mother knows, his father knows that he’s going to be young man. If he says, “No, I am not going to be young man,” that is childish.That is childish. But the father, mother, friends know that the boy is going to grow a young man, so he should be educated and he should be properly situated.That is the guardian’s business. He doesn’t know. He doesn’t know.So that he doesn’t know, that does not mean it is fact. So similarly, if rascals say, “I don’t believe it,” that’s not a fact. He is a rascal, mad, he may say so, but that is not the fact. Karaṇaṁguṇa–saṅgasya. Real fact is that he’ll have to accept a body according to the quality of development.
Kīrtanānanda: But what if they say that “Actually this life of growing the castor seed is very difficult, farming is very difficult. It is easier to go to the factory for eight hours, and then I come home with my money and I enjoy.”
Prabhupāda: No, you enjoy, but by enjoying, if you forget your real business, is that intelligent?Your real business is that you have got this human form of body to improve your next life. You are going to have a next life. Suppose you are going to be a dog. Is that success? So you must know the science that instead of becoming dog, how shall you become God. That is intelligence.
Kīrtanānanda: Why is it any better to grow castor seed than to dig oil?
Prabhupāda:Huh?
Kīrtanānanda: Why is it any better to grow castor seed than to…
Prabhupāda: No, you require lamp. So you finish that lamping business as simply as possible. In the balance time you save you improve your self-realization. That is the life.Just like this child, he wants to play. He does not go to school, does not take an education, and he improves type of toys, toys, he’s engaged in improved type of football playing, and… Then is that very good intelligence?
Kīrtanānanda: But nobody works longer hours than the farmer.
Prabhupāda:Huh?
Kīrtanānanda: No one works harder than the farmer. The farmer has to work very hard.
Prabhupāda: No, our point is that if you think that electricity improvement is better than farming, we have no objection. But if you forget your real business, is that intelligent?
Kīrtanānanda: No, of course not.
Prabhupāda: That is our proposal. Our real business is how to become Kṛṣṇa conscious.So simply for improving the condition of life, the necessities of life, if I forget my real business, is that intelligence? Therefore it is said duṣkṛtinaḥ. Kṛti means merit. But merit is being utilized for sinful activities.Take for example the meat-eaters. When man was… The uncivilized man is still there. In the uncivilized way they are living in the jungle. They require to eat something. So they stone over an animal going, and the animal dies, and then they eat.Now instead of killing the animal by stoning, if you have discovered scientific machine in the slaughterhouse to kill the animal, is that improvement?If you think this is advancement, “Now we have discovered very technical machine. Instead of stoning one animal killing, it takes so much time, hundreds and thousands of animals you can kill in one hour,” do you think that is improvement? That is going on. They think this is improvement. When we were uncivilized, we were stoning some animal and killing and eating, now we are, business is the same—animal killing and eating.But we have improved the machine how to kill. This is going on. This is going on as advancement of civilization. Hmm? What is your answer?Is that advancement of civilization? Now you are civilized, instead of killing the animal, you just take milk from it without killing and make so many nice preparations, and that is civilization.But killing is sinful. You have no right to kill any animal, even an ant. Because you cannot give life to anyone. It is nature’s law, God’s law. So infringement on the laws of nature or God, it is sinful activities. So you are utilizing your merit for this sinful activity. Therefore it is called duṣkṛtinaḥ. Merit is there, but it is utilized for sinful activities. That is defect of the modern civilization.
Kuladri: Śrīla Prabhupāda, I remember once you said…
Prabhupāda: These questions that “I believe,” “I don’t believe,” you are rascal, what is the meaning of your believe or not believing? You are, after all, a rascal. Just like a child will say something, “I don’t believe.” The mother will say “You are rascal, you must go to your room.” So rascals believe or not believe, what is the meaning? Mūḍha. It is the law of nature. Tathādehāntara–prāptiḥ [Bg. 2.13]. The example is given that this boy will change his body. Dehāntara-prāptir. He’ll become a young boy, young man. This body will not remain. What is the difficulty to understand? Yes, this body will not remain. While he came out of the womb of the mother, that was another body.But these rascals, they do not understand it. It is very difficult to deal with the rascals, that’s a fact, but… Whatever they are doing is all rascaldom, that’s all. And forgetting their real business.So your son, does he believe that he’s going to be a young man? You believe? (laughs) Huh? What is your…
Kulaśekhara: I remember once when we were staying at John Lennon’s estate, you said to me…
Prabhupāda:Huh?
Kulaśekhara: At John Lennon’s estate, remember? In London.You said to me, the tractor, you said, this is the cause of all the trouble. That it took all the work from the young men and they went to the city and became entangled in the sense gratification in the cities. So I’ve noticed in the city there’s much more passion, but living in the country is simpler.
Prabhupāda: Yes, passion, there must be. When you have got the facility, naturally we are lusty, andwhen we have got the facility, then we take to it.
Kulaśekhara: The country is more peaceful. It’s easier to think of spiritual life.
Prabhupāda: Yes. Less disease. Less brain taxing. Everything is less. So balance time, utilize for Kṛṣṇa consciousness. And if you have got temple, it is very happy life. Just for your food work little, and balance time engage yourself in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. This is ideal life.Just see minute fibers on the flower. Can anyone manufacture this? So small fibers. And how brilliant it is.If you study only one flower, you become God conscious. There is a machine which we call nature. From that machine, everything is coming. But how machine is perfect? And who has discovered this machine?
Kulaśekhara: In London you said they do not know that the butterflies and flowers are painted, but Kṛṣṇa paints them with thought.
Prabhupāda: Yes. How you can expect without painting it has come so beautiful? This is foolishness, “nature”—what is this nature?Everything is being done by the machine of Kṛṣṇa. Parāsya śaktir vividaiva śrūyate. Anyway, improve this mode of life. Live in open place, produce your food grains, produce your milk, save time, chant HareKṛṣṇa. Plain living, high thinking, ideal life. Artificial necessities of life do increase your so-called comforts,but if you forget your real business, that is suicidal. We want to stop this suicidal policy.We don’t want to stop the modern advancement of technology, although the so-called advancement technology is suicidal. But we don’t talk of this. (laughter) CaitanyaMahāprabhu has therefore given a simple formula-chant HareKṛṣṇa.Even in your technological factories, you can chant. What is the wrong there? You go on pulling on with your machine and chant, HareKṛṣṇa, HareKṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa.
Some Conclusions— In this short conversation Srila Prabhupada has tried to give us his explanation why , for example, growing castor seeds for lighting oil is better than having complicated and intricate systems for electricity. Drilling in the ocean for the oil, which is then converted into electricity thru a very complicated ;process which also involves political problems between countries, and much of the time ends up in some type of war over natures resources/gifts.
So all things considered not even mentioning the pollution to our environment and our lungs, the auto deaths, etc, the list could go on forever. Just for this one problem of lighting we have to undergo so many difficulties-it is all considered ugra karma or nasty work.
And for what? everyone has to die and THAT problem hardly anybody understands. And that is the real problem-not lighting.
So not everyone will accept Prabhupadas arguments or logic or as he said and be able to understand all this. For the most part devotees from my humble experience, dont understand simple living even though they may mouth the slogans daily. We are so used to a complicated life we cant even imagine a more simpler one that will still satisfy our bodily demands.
So at the end Prabhupada says Caitanya Mahaprabhu has given His solution-Chant Hare Krsna and eventually we will understand.
Hare Krsna
damaghosa das-comment welcome