Jahnu
2020-05-23 04:35:27 UTC
A better question would be - how do people live without knowledge of
God? Seriously, who gives a hoot what people have faith in?
People live in the material world regardless of their faith. When
people live without knowledge of God, however, they create hell on
earth. When they live with knowledge of God they create a paradise on
earth. Its as simple as that.
Of course, faith is required to gain knowledge of God, but even the
ones who proclaim their faith in God, reject knowledge of God, and as
a result their faith is useless.
People who sit down at a dinner-table, decked with murdered animals,
and thank God for His bounty, what is the use of their faith, really?
Right now the world is ruled by ungodly people, some of whom even
profess faith in God, but who none the less engage in all kinds of
ungodly activities, and as a result the world is in dire trouble.
Krishna says:
Those who are demoniac do not know what is to be done and what is not
to be done. Neither cleanliness nor proper behavior nor truth is found
in them. (Bg 16.7)
They say that this world is unreal, with no foundation, no God in
control. They say it is produced of sex desire and has no cause other
than lust. (Bg. 16.8)
Following such conclusions, the demoniac, who are lost to themselves
and who have no intelligence, engage in unbeneficial, horrible works
meant to destroy the world. (Bg. 16.9)
Taking shelter of insatiable lust and absorbed in the conceit of pride
and false prestige, the demoniac, thus illusioned, are always sworn to
unclean work, attracted by the impermanent. (Bg. 16.10)
They believe that to gratify the senses is the prime necessity of
human civilization. Thus until the end of life their anxiety is
immeasurable. Bound by a network of hundreds of thousands of desires
and absorbed in lust and anger, they secure money by illegal means for
sense gratification. (Bg. 16.11-12)
The demoniac person thinks: "So much wealth do I have today, and I
will gain more according to my schemes. So much is mine now, and it
will increase in the future, more and more. He is my enemy, and I have
killed him, and my other enemies will also be killed. I am the lord of
everything. I am the enjoyer. I am perfect, powerful and happy. I am
the richest man, surrounded by aristocratic relatives. There is none
so powerful and happy as I am. I shall perform sacrifices, I shall
give some charity, and thus I shall rejoice." In this way, such
persons are deluded by ignorance. (Bg. 16. 13-15)
Thus perplexed by various anxieties and bound by a network of
illusions, they become too strongly attached to sense enjoyment and
fall down into hell. (Bg. 16.16)
Srila Prabhupada explains:
The demoniac man knows no limit to his desire to acquire money. That
is unlimited. He thinks only of how much assessment he has just now
and schemes to engage that stock of wealth further and further. For
that reason, he does not hesitate to act in any sinful way and so
deals in the black market for illegal gratification.
He is enamored by the possessions he has already, such as land,
family, house and bank balance, and he is always planning to improve
them. He believes in his own strength, and he does not know that
whatever he is gaining is due to his past good deeds.
He is given an opportunity to accumulate such things, but he has no
conception of past causes. He simply thinks that all his mass of
wealth is due to his own endeavor. A demoniac person believes in the
strength of his personal work, not in the law of karma.
According to the law of karma, a man takes his birth in a high family,
or becomes rich, or very well educated, or very beautiful because of
good work in the past. The demoniac think that all these things are
accidental and due to the strength of one's personal ability.
They do not sense any arrangement behind all the varieties of people,
beauty and education. Anyone who comes into competition with such a
demoniac man is his enemy. There are many demoniac people, and each is
enemy to the others. This enmity becomes more and more deep -- between
persons, then between families, then between societies, and at last
between nations. Therefore there is constant strife, war and enmity
all over the world.
Each demoniac person thinks that he can live at the sacrifice of all
others. Generally, a demoniac person thinks of himself as the Supreme
God, and a demoniac preacher tells his followers: "Why are you seeking
God elsewhere? You are all yourselves God! Whatever you like, you can
do. Don't believe in God. Throw away God. God is dead." These are the
demoniac's preachings.
Although the demoniac person sees others equally rich and influential,
or even more so, he thinks that no one is richer than he and that no
one is more influential than he. As far as promotion to the higher
planetary system is concerned, he does not believe in performing
yajnas, or sacrifices.
Demons think that they will manufacture their own process of yajna and
prepare some machine by which they will be able to reach any higher
planet. The best example of such a demoniac man was Ravana.
He offered a program to the people by which he would prepare a
staircase so that anyone could reach the heavenly planets without
performing sacrifices, such as are prescribed in the Vedas. Similarly,
in the present age such demoniac men are striving to reach the higher
planetary systems by mechanical arrangements.
These are examples of bewilderment. The result is that, without their
knowledge, they are gliding toward hell. Here the Sanskrit word
moha-jala is very significant. Jala means "net"; like fish caught in a
net, they have no way to come out.
God? Seriously, who gives a hoot what people have faith in?
People live in the material world regardless of their faith. When
people live without knowledge of God, however, they create hell on
earth. When they live with knowledge of God they create a paradise on
earth. Its as simple as that.
Of course, faith is required to gain knowledge of God, but even the
ones who proclaim their faith in God, reject knowledge of God, and as
a result their faith is useless.
People who sit down at a dinner-table, decked with murdered animals,
and thank God for His bounty, what is the use of their faith, really?
Right now the world is ruled by ungodly people, some of whom even
profess faith in God, but who none the less engage in all kinds of
ungodly activities, and as a result the world is in dire trouble.
Krishna says:
Those who are demoniac do not know what is to be done and what is not
to be done. Neither cleanliness nor proper behavior nor truth is found
in them. (Bg 16.7)
They say that this world is unreal, with no foundation, no God in
control. They say it is produced of sex desire and has no cause other
than lust. (Bg. 16.8)
Following such conclusions, the demoniac, who are lost to themselves
and who have no intelligence, engage in unbeneficial, horrible works
meant to destroy the world. (Bg. 16.9)
Taking shelter of insatiable lust and absorbed in the conceit of pride
and false prestige, the demoniac, thus illusioned, are always sworn to
unclean work, attracted by the impermanent. (Bg. 16.10)
They believe that to gratify the senses is the prime necessity of
human civilization. Thus until the end of life their anxiety is
immeasurable. Bound by a network of hundreds of thousands of desires
and absorbed in lust and anger, they secure money by illegal means for
sense gratification. (Bg. 16.11-12)
The demoniac person thinks: "So much wealth do I have today, and I
will gain more according to my schemes. So much is mine now, and it
will increase in the future, more and more. He is my enemy, and I have
killed him, and my other enemies will also be killed. I am the lord of
everything. I am the enjoyer. I am perfect, powerful and happy. I am
the richest man, surrounded by aristocratic relatives. There is none
so powerful and happy as I am. I shall perform sacrifices, I shall
give some charity, and thus I shall rejoice." In this way, such
persons are deluded by ignorance. (Bg. 16. 13-15)
Thus perplexed by various anxieties and bound by a network of
illusions, they become too strongly attached to sense enjoyment and
fall down into hell. (Bg. 16.16)
Srila Prabhupada explains:
The demoniac man knows no limit to his desire to acquire money. That
is unlimited. He thinks only of how much assessment he has just now
and schemes to engage that stock of wealth further and further. For
that reason, he does not hesitate to act in any sinful way and so
deals in the black market for illegal gratification.
He is enamored by the possessions he has already, such as land,
family, house and bank balance, and he is always planning to improve
them. He believes in his own strength, and he does not know that
whatever he is gaining is due to his past good deeds.
He is given an opportunity to accumulate such things, but he has no
conception of past causes. He simply thinks that all his mass of
wealth is due to his own endeavor. A demoniac person believes in the
strength of his personal work, not in the law of karma.
According to the law of karma, a man takes his birth in a high family,
or becomes rich, or very well educated, or very beautiful because of
good work in the past. The demoniac think that all these things are
accidental and due to the strength of one's personal ability.
They do not sense any arrangement behind all the varieties of people,
beauty and education. Anyone who comes into competition with such a
demoniac man is his enemy. There are many demoniac people, and each is
enemy to the others. This enmity becomes more and more deep -- between
persons, then between families, then between societies, and at last
between nations. Therefore there is constant strife, war and enmity
all over the world.
Each demoniac person thinks that he can live at the sacrifice of all
others. Generally, a demoniac person thinks of himself as the Supreme
God, and a demoniac preacher tells his followers: "Why are you seeking
God elsewhere? You are all yourselves God! Whatever you like, you can
do. Don't believe in God. Throw away God. God is dead." These are the
demoniac's preachings.
Although the demoniac person sees others equally rich and influential,
or even more so, he thinks that no one is richer than he and that no
one is more influential than he. As far as promotion to the higher
planetary system is concerned, he does not believe in performing
yajnas, or sacrifices.
Demons think that they will manufacture their own process of yajna and
prepare some machine by which they will be able to reach any higher
planet. The best example of such a demoniac man was Ravana.
He offered a program to the people by which he would prepare a
staircase so that anyone could reach the heavenly planets without
performing sacrifices, such as are prescribed in the Vedas. Similarly,
in the present age such demoniac men are striving to reach the higher
planetary systems by mechanical arrangements.
These are examples of bewilderment. The result is that, without their
knowledge, they are gliding toward hell. Here the Sanskrit word
moha-jala is very significant. Jala means "net"; like fish caught in a
net, they have no way to come out.