Ksatriya Spirit

[suchandra]

We have now all these new words like "modern warfare", "fighting terrorism" or "peace corps", but when looking back we find it must have been all the time very similar to what we have today. When the British ruled over India they considered to recruit real ksatriyas and to expand their empire.

But finally without fighting for Krishna, everything seems an illusion.

 

Prabhupāda: Sikhs are very brave. They’re martial. And another martial race, Jats. They are kṣatriyas. Oh, they can fight… When Britishers possessed India they organized this military with Sikhs especially, Jats, and Gurkhas. And they expanded their empire, Burma, Ceylon, Africa, all these British Empire possessions. And not only that, they fought two big world wars with these Sikhs soldiers. They conquered over this Mesopotamia, Middle East.

 

 

Caraṇāravindam: They worked so hard. It’s a pity they weren’t doing it for Krishna.

Prabhupāda: They like military. They want military jobs. Very kṣatriya spirit.

Caraṇāravindam: They collected so much, but they lost it because they didn’t give it to Krishna.

Prabhupāda: Ah, their bad policy that they wanted India for Britishers’ benefit. That is not duty of the government. Government should be for the welfare of the people. Then that government will continue. But they exploited the Indian people for the benefit of their own countrymen. That is the failure. That policy was not good. Therefore they finished within two hundred years. They began their ruling 1775, like that. And 1947… Not even two hundred years.

Caraṇāravindam: And now nothing.

Prabhupāda: Now, after losing India, they have no more British Empire. Because they cannot maintain without Indian soldiers. Therefore they voluntarily left.

 

 

 

Garden Conversation

with His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda

September 3, 1976, Vṛndāvana

Full conversation: http://causelessmercy.com/t/t/760903gc.vrn.htm