Like death itself, no one likes to talk about nuclear war. We prefer to avoid such talk. But although we tend to ignore the possibility of nuclear holocaust, that doesn’t make the problem go away. As death is certain, war is also certain. It is a direct result of wholesale animal slaughter and other vicious karmic reactions. In a nuclear-armed world, nuclear war is certain.
“You are maintaining so many slaughterhouses, and when it will be mature [karmic reactions], there will be war, the wholesale murder. Finished. One atom bomb—finished… Wait for accumulation of your sinful activities, and there will be war. And America will drop the atom bomb, and Russia will be finished. Both will be finished.” (Lecture, SB. 6.1.32, Honolulu, May 31, 1976)
“Well, anyway, they [nuclear weapons] must be used. There is no doubt about it. Therefore we can say there will be war. It is no astrology; it is natural conclusion.” (Morning Walk, July 18, 1975, San Francisco)
“The whole world is awaiting that disaster. America has got atom bomb and Russia has got atom bomb. As soon as there is another war [world war], the whole world will be finished.” (Lecture, BG. 13.14, Bombay, October 7, 1973)
In his last years on Earth, Srila Prabhupada repeatedly warned of the certain doom of blind, materialistic civilizations. He explained that according to the laws of nature, mass destruction is unavoidable due to the heavy weight of accumulated sins in human society, particularly wholesale cow slaughter. Srila Prabhupada repeatedly predicted the nuclear destruction of nations and social systems based on unbridled sinful activities. Speaking to two disciples whose main service was book publication and distribution, he asked, “What you will do when the cities are closed?”
“So, it is very difficult to preach Krishna consciousness. The whole world is overburdened by these rascals and demons. So, atom bomb is waiting for them. Yes. It will be finished. All the demons will be finished.” (Lecture, SB.1.8.34, Los Angeles, April 26, 1973)
We find numerous graphic references to nuclear devastation in Srila Prabhupada’s conversations, morning walks, lectures, purports, and BTG articles. He repeatedly advised devotees to start farming communities and live self-sufficiently, without depending on outside resources for basic necessities, but very few devotees have seriously attempted to follow this advice.
One misleading argument we often hear against making any preparations for WW3 or living on Vedic farms is that devotees just need to depend on Krishna and chant Hare Krishna. Yet when it comes to other practical work, the same devotees offering this advice are seen to depend on a doomed way of life in cities or at country retreats that depend not on “Krishna’s mercy and the beauty of nature” but on modern technology and urban finances. Such devotees are often heavily invested in city real estate, artificial enterprises or high living and plain thinking. Contrary to this attitude of expecting Lord Krishna to do our practical work for us in the matter of protecting the devotees, cows, and Deities, we find in Krsna Book that Nanda Maharaja and Sunanda, during a meeting with other cowherd men of Sri Gokula, decided their residence was no longer safe; therefore they decided to move immediately to a safer location in Vrindaban. In other words, as responsible leaders, they made practical plans to avoid a dangerous circumstance.
