Terrible Industrial Enterprises; factory means hell

May 3, 2006

Gigantic industrial enterprises are products of a godless civilization, and

they cause the destruction of the noble aims of human life. The more we go

on increasing such troublesome industries, the more we squeeze the vital

energy out of the human being and the more there will be unrest and

dissatisfaction of the people in general, although a few only can live

lavishly by exploitation. (SB 1.8.40)

The productive energy of the laborer is misused when he is occupied by

industrial enterprises. The production of machines and machine tools

increases the artificial living fashion of a class of vested interests and

keeps thousands of men in starvation and unrest. This should not be the

standard of civilization. (SB 1.9.6)

"Factory" is another name for hell. At night, hellishly engaged persons take

advantage of wine and women to satisfy their tired senses, but they are not

even able to have sound sleep, because their various mental speculative

plans constantly interrupt their sleep. (SB 3.9.10)

The dungeons of mines, factories, and workshops develop demoniac

propensities in the working class. The vested interests flourish at the cost

of the working class, and consequently there are severe clashes between them

in so many ways. (SB 1.11.12)

Manufacture of the "necessities of life" in factories and workshops,

excessively prominent in the Age of Kali, the age of the machine, is the

summit of the quality of darkness. Because factually there is no necessity

for the commodities manufactured. (SB 2.5.30)

What is the need of an artificial luxurious life of cinema, cars, radio,

flesh, and hotels? Has this civilization produced anything but quarreling

individually and nationally? Has this civilization enhanced the cause of

equality and fraternity by sending thousands of men into a hellish factory

and the war fields at the whims of a particular man? (SB 1.10.4)

The real problem is how to get free from the bondage of birth, death, and

old age. Attaining this freedom, and not inventing unnecessary necessities,

is the basic principle of Vedic civilization.... The modern materialistic

civilization is just the opposite of the ideal civilization. Every day the

so-called leaders of modern society invent something contributing to a

cumbersome way of life that implicates people more and more in the cycle of

birth and death. (SB 7.14.5)

Now people are very busy trying to find petroleum in the midst of the ocean.

They are very anxious to make provisions for the future petroleum supply,

but they do not make any attempts to ameliorate the conditions of birth, old

age, disease, and death. (SB 4.28.12)

The materialists ... think that they are advancing. But according to

Bhagavad-gita they are unintelligent and devoid of all sense. They try to

enjoy this material world to the utmost limit and therefore always engage in

inventing something for sense gratification. Such materialistic inventions

are considered to be advancement of human civilization, but the result is

that people grow more and more violent and more and more cruel. (BG 16.9)

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Kulapavana · May 3, 2006

Actually, factories of today are vastly different from factories Srila Prabhupada is describing, and they enable you and me to have this discussion, spread the Holy Name to the most distant places on Earth, and listen to Srila Prabhupada's lectures. Do you really want all of that to stop?

Without factories NOBODY will be able to personally hear Srila Prabhupada or see him preach Krsna Consciousness on video.

Just like village life can be abused by a materialist, city life and factory products can be used to spread Lord Caitanya's Mission.

There was material culture in Vedic times too. There were mines, smelters, and ironsmiths producing all kinds of material goods, including luxury goods. It is the same principle of production.

The anti-city, anti-factory message resonated well with the hippies in the 60's and 70's, but it is almost completely rejected by the current generation.