Artificial Distinction & Manu Samhita's Relevance to ISKCON

[Guest guest]

xyz Prabhu said:

 

> In general, in those statements Srila

> Prabhupada is commenting on the situation in modern day external society,

> and he is recommending that the karmis should at least follow Manu-samhita

> by not having women chief executives for India (at the time Indira Gandhi

> was Prime Minister in India). Srila Prabhupada is never quoting the

> Bhagavatam to make this point. How much those particular statements are

> relevant to ISKCON has to be carefully considered.

>

 

Srila Prabhupada makes a distinction between "good government" and "bad

government", not between "good karmi government" and "good devotee

government". The above distinction is therefore artificial.

 

Evidence:

 

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If all people became Krsna conscious they would vote for persons of the

category of Dhruva Maharaja. If the post of chief executive were occupied by

such a Vaisnava, all the problems of satanic government would be solved. (SB

4.9.66 purport)

 

***

[Note here that Srila Prabhupada insists that a devotee should be the head

of government. Nowhere does he make a distinction between "internal" and

"external" governments.]

 

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As will be apparent from the next verse, every executive head of state

should follow in the footsteps of Maharaja Prthu in ruling over his kingdom.

(SB 4.21.9 purport)

 

***

[Here Srila Prabhupada says every executive head of state should follow in

Prthu Maharaja's footsteps. Why would ISKCON's own government be the sole

exception?]

 

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According to this arrangement, modern presidents, governors and chief

executive officers are all unworthy of their posts because they are not

conversant with Vedic administrative knowledge and they do not take

direction from great saintly persons and brahmanas. (SB 4.22.45 purport)

 

***

[Here Srila Prabhupada explains that "external leaders" are unworthy of

their posts because they are not conversant with Vedic knowledge and do take

direction from saintly people. But what if they acquire these

qualifications? There would be no "external / internal" distinction.

Distinction is therefore between bad and good, or unqualified and

qualified.]

 

-

 

All the Manus were perfect kings. They were rajarsis. In other words,

although they held posts as kings of the world, they were as good as great

saints. Svayambhuva Manu, for example, was the emperor of the world, yet he

had no desire for sense gratification. This is the meaning of monarchy. The

king of the country or the emperor of the empire must be so trained that by

nature he renounces sense gratification. It is not that because one becomes

king he should unnecessarily spend money for sense gratification. As soon as

kings became degraded, spending money for sense gratification, they were

lost. Similarly, at the present moment, monarchy having been lost, the

people have created democracy, which is also failing. Now, by the laws of

nature, the time is coming when dictatorship will put the citizens into more

and more difficulty. If the king or dictator individually, or the members of

the government collectively, cannot maintain the state or kingdom according

to the rules of Manu-samhita, certainly their government will not endure.

(SB 8.1.7 purport)

 

***

[Two points: (1) Kings should be rajarsis, (2) their government will not

endure unless they follow the laws of Manu-samhita. Again, no difference

between internal and external governments are made.]

 

 

 

According to Manu-samhita, Vedic principle, woman has no independence. She

must be taken care of by somebody. In the early age the father is to take

care, in the younger age the husband, a good husband has to take care, and

when she is old, the elderly son, he has to take care. But a woman is never

allowed to remain independent. That is Vedic principle of life. Actually,

the woman is the weaker sex. They require protection by good father, good

husband, and good child also. In my case also... There are many cases. I've

left my home. I have got my wife, my elderly children, my grandchildren. So

they are taking care of my wife. She has no concern. So that is the way of

social system. And especially in our Krsna consciousness movement, we want

to give the students complete peace of mind, because without peace of mind

nobody can cultivate Krsna consciousness. (Wedding ceremony and lecture,

Boston, May 6, 1969)

 

***

[Here Srila Prabhupada points out the relevance of Manu Samhita specifically

in our Krishna-consciousness movement. Here Srila Prabhupada talks about

the necessity of giving protection to women. The authority Srila Prabhupada

refers to for this is Manu-samhita.

 

In the previous reference, Srila Prabhupada says, "If the king or dictator

individually, or the members of the government collectively, cannot maintain

the state or kingdom according to the rules of Manu-samhita, certainly their

government will not endure." ISKCON today is faced with several crises

which are directly a result of neglecting such principles. There is a child

abuse lawsuit, there has been a general outcry of mistreated and neglected

women. As a result, we see that on all fronts, ISKCON as a society has been

deteriorating. This practically proves that the idea that Manu-samhita is

for the karmis and not for the vaisnavas will ruin ISKCON if it persists.]

 

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Conclusion: Srila Prabhupada's instructions regarding government are that

the non-devotee heads of state should become devotees and that Manu Samhita

is necessary to maintain a state. Srila Prabhupada only speaks about

governments that follow the Lord's laws and governments that disobey them.

The idea that there are "good karmi goverments" and "good devotee

governments" is artificial since the only good government is a government

led by qualified devotees.

 

Your servant, Krishna-kirti das (HDG)