Religious training for Ksatriyas

[Guest guest]

"WWW: Srila (Dasa) ACBSP (Berkeley CA - USA)" wrote:

 

> [Text 2225318 from COM]

>

> Since everyone else is offering their valued opinion, I will offer my

> thoughts:

>

> I agree that NATO, thus far, has only exacerbated the problems in Kosovo.

> NATO, spearheaded and masterminded by the USA, is waging an air campaign

> aginst Serbia that is impossible to win. In the meantime, while NATO displays

> its cowardice, hundreds of thousands of Kosovars (over 1/2 million) have been

> "ethnically cleansed" -- suffering all of the horrors implied -- having their

> villages burned and plundered, their property and way of life destroyed,

> enduring rape, genocide and expulsion. Any decent person cannot but be

struck

> with dismay at the atrocities the Serbian militia and its executive authority

> are perpetrating against the Albanian minority population.

>

> I propose that all the Islamic nations of the world (including former members

> of the CIS) unite and form their own international security force, go into

> Kosovo en masse to defend their Islamic brethren and stop this bigoted and

> racist massacre on the part of Serbia. Thus they can level the evil pride of

> the Serbian fascists and silence them for some time to come. Furthermore,

> deprive Serbia of its northern Hungarian province (repatriating its

population

> with Hungary) as part of the terms of defeat. Leave the Serb nationalists

with

> the lasting lesson: "Again, become a mouse."

>

> What do our other well-informed political analysts think?

>

> Srila dasa

 

Goodness. I guess I am a little surprised to hear such a proposal.

 

My take on the whole situation is that the leaders have not been trained to be

real ksatriyas. Srila Prabhupada mentions about half a dozen subjects such as

politics, social structure, warfare, economics, science, etc., in which the

ksatriya should be trained.

 

One subject Prabhupada mentions is that the ksatriya should be trained in

religion. He specifically mentions the word "religion" and not spiritual

science. He mentions that separately, that the ksatriya should be trained in

devotional service to the Supreme Lord.

 

So, when he talks about "religion" this means something a little bit different.

 

In the varnasrama society as presented by Srila Prabhupada everyone would not

necessarily have the same religion. Therefore the ksatriyas must be trained to

understand the different religions and to make sure that they are training

their

citizens to actually love God.

 

A ksatriya would be taught the proper fundamentals of the different religions

so

that he could appreciate how his citizens could best advance in their service

to

the Lord.

 

But he would also be taught the ways which religion can be abused, and used by

cheating persons to mislead the citizenry by appealing to their materialistic

senses in the name of religion.

 

Many people blame religion for wars -- but it is my experience that if there

are

two very sincere devotees of the Lord, even if on the surface they have

different

religions, they will be able to appreciate each other and get along very well

together.

 

It is not religion which is the problem. The real problem is the abuse of

religion. People pretend to hate each other because the other person's

religion

is not legitimate. In fact, religion is just used as an excuse for hating

people

of another social class or another ethnic group.

 

It is not the religion which causes the hatred.

 

Take the Christians in Northern Ireland for example. The Catholics and

Protestants hate each other. How do they express their hatred? By killing

each

others' soldiers and even by killing women and children. This is nowhere in

the

teachings of Christ that he orders his devotees to kill each other and to kill

innocent children. Christian doctrine is "Turn the other cheek" and "Thou

shall

not kill." So all these people claiming to be Christians and at the same time

killing women and children (and of course cows) are simply cheaters.

 

What about Kosovo? I saw on the TV the American Orthodox ministers in Denver

supporting the Serbian war effort. But where does Christ say to kill people?

Where does he say to rape women? Where does he say to shoot children? Where

does

he say burn the old people? This has nothing to do with Christianity. It is

simply class hatred or ethnic hatred.

 

And what if the Albanians respond, "Yes we are the true religion, we will go

and

kill all the Christians. They are simply infidels" -- what then? They also

will

commit similar atrocities of killing women and children, which also have

nothing

to do with the instructions of Mohammed.

 

So, to encourage a kind of religious "nationalism" will not bring a final

solution

to the problem. In the name of so-called "religion" people will simply

re-inforce

their material identity. At least we, as followers of Srila Prabhupada, should

be

intelligent to see through the so-called religious causes to the true

underlying

materialistic motivations of both sides involved.

 

Yet, on the other hand, we should also be intelligent to see beyond the

materialistic perspective to understand that also on both sides, the Serbs and

the

Kosovars, there are truly sincere devotees of the Lord who are practicing

spiritual life as best they can under the direction of religious leaders who

are

handicapped by insufficient spiritual knowledge or materialistic desire for

power

and favor of their political leaders.

 

A really great leader, one who has been trained by real brahmanas would be able

to

bring about peace in the situation because he would punish those who have

abused

the simple citizens, and he would create situations in which people of

different

religions would be encouraged to appreciate each other and work with each other

to

help each other and the whole society advance for the pleasure of the Lord --

he

would not simply slaughter every man, woman and child and say, "There, I have

done

this to please God."

 

No, a real leader could bring about spiritual unity in his people and bring the

people of the different religions together to work peacefully and productively

with each other. Under his rule, cheating religious leaders would be

immediately

kicked out of power.

 

your servant,

 

Hare Krsna dasi