Preservation by Social Contract

[ancient_paztriot]

Syamasundara dasa: Hobbes contends that in the natural state, man is like all other animals. Might makes right, and the strongest always prevail. Therefore it is necessary that man form a social contract and volunteer to restrict natural liberties fo the sake of self-preservation.

 

Srila Prabhupada: That is not natural liberty but ghostly liberty. There are many haunted people, and in their unnatural condition they are falsely thinking, “I am God.” The natural condition is to think, “I am God’s servant.” Any condition devoid of Krsna consciousness is unnatural. Krsna is the supreme, and I am His subordinate. My business is to render service unto Him. This is the natural position.

 

Syamasundara dasa: Yet when men group together in a society to preserve themselves, they make a contract to the effect that they will not kill one another.

 

Srila Prabhupada: Why not a group of asses? What is their utility? Do you mean to say that because a group of asses congregate that some good will come of it? Those rogues are always making contracts after a big war. After World War I, they made a contract through the League of Nations, and that failed. Then they had a second World War, and they formed the United Nations and made more contracts. Eventually that will all be dissolved again. These contracts and compromises may serve some purposes for the time being, but ultimately they are useless.

 

Syamasundara dasa: Men in society volunteer, “I will not kill you or steal your property if you will not kill me or steal my property.”

 

Srila Prabhupada: Yes, that is the thieves’ contract. But, after all, if you remain a thief, what is the improvement? Thieves may steal some valuable things, and afterwards they congregate and say, “Let’s divide this property honestly.” Thieves are all dishonest, although they talk of honesty among themselves. Originally, everyone immigrated to America, and the whole land was stolen from the Indians. Now the thieves have formed a government and will not allow outsiders in without visas and passports and so many things. This is the kind of morality that is going on.

 

Syamasundara dasa: Hobbes’s social contract was something like the converse of the Golden Rule: “Do not do unto others what you would not have them do unto you.”

 

Srila Prabhupada: That was also Buddha’s theory. Lord Buddha pointed out that if someone hurts us, we feel pain. Why, therefore, should we hurt others? Of course, third and forth-class men have to be taught in this way. But in Bhagavad-gita, Krsna tells Arjuna, “Kill them!” Does this mean that Krsna’s positioon is reduced? It is a question of the intelligence of the men involved.

 

Syamasundara dasa: Well Hobbes is trying to determine how society can live peacefully.

 

Srila Prabhupada: Yes, people have tried many times but have always failed. There cannot be any peace in this material world. Krsna says plainly:

 

abrahma-bhuvanal lokah

punar avartino ’rjuna

mam upetya tu kaunteya

punar janma na vidyate

 

“From the highest planet in the material world down to the lowest, all are places of misery wherein repeated birth and death take place. But one who attains to My abode, O son of Kunti, never takes birth again.” (Bg. 8.16) Since this is a place of misery, how can we establish peace here? We cannot. The material universe is structured in such a way that peace is not possible. As Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Öhakura says: samsara-davanala-lidha-loka (Sri Gurv-astaka, 1). This material world is exactly like a blazing forest fire. No one wants to fight, but fighting takes place. How can you check it simply by making a contract? We are thinking that the material world is a nice place to live, but this is like a man thinking that stool is nice because it has been dried in the sun. If the stool is soft, it is not so good. But in either case, it is stool. Padam padam yad vipadam na tesam (Bhag. 10.14.58) In this world, there is danger at every step. Throughout history, people have tried to make contracts for peace, but it is not possible. one may refuse to subnit, but nature will not allow this. If we do not submit to Krsna, nature will punish us so that we will finally be obliged to submit to Him. That is nature’s law. If we voluntarily sumit to Krsna, that is for our benefit, but if we do not, nature’s laws are so stringent that they will always give us trouble, and at the end we will be obliged to agree: vasudevah sarvam iti. “Vasudeva, Krsna, is everything.” (Bg. 7.19) If, after many births of struggle, we have to come to this point, why waste our time? Why not surrender to Krsna immediately? Otherwise, we will go on suffering according to nature’s law.