By Giriraj Gopal Dasa

Before I the post of How is Porn Harmful from a non-devotional website.
Here is my rant and Krishna Conscious slant. (look I can rhyme!)

Although I won't deny that there is misogyny present in the society of ISKCON today ( Hare Krishna), due to misunderstanding of the application of cultural synthesis), there is a real danger being outside in the world of "free choice and free love" which is destructive and based on evil.

 "Evil" being that people don't care for the consequences of their actions, though it is harmful to others in their progression into the light: Back to Godhead.

Morality is real. Dharma is real. There is an absolute good that is not relative.

Only a fool with say that there is no different between consentual sex between two people who care for each other and gross animalistic displays of meaningless passion.

What to speak of the Absolute stance of perfect dharma. Sexual union only for the propogation of  children aware of the absolute objectively morality. Spiritual children who would be capable of protecting dhama in this world.

 It is so suprizing that a society based on economic development for sense gratification, encourages to sell the most valuable commodity? The human body and its sexual appeal. I am disgusted at what we have become as a human family.

Srila Prabhupada: So this instruction is strisu dustasu: "When women become polluted, there is unwanted population."

That is coming all over the world, the hippies. Therefore the first thing is how to train up women not to become polluted. This is the way of... In the modern society they have given women freedom. That I have already explained.

 In the name of freedom of woman, they are being exploited.

Everything is there: social, religious, political, cultural, educational. We have to accept that course. Then everything will be all right. If you don't accept, then you have to suffer problems. It is not meant for a particular class of men or particular country, it is meant for the whole human society. Therefore, this purification of the society at the present, fallen condition is very, very difficult to revive. Because people are so fallen, it is almost impossible.

Therefore Caitanya Mahaprabhu has recommended that "You all together chant Hare Krsna, and everything will be done nicely."

>>> Ref. VedaBase =>  Room Conversation with writer, Sandy Nixon -- July 13, 1975, Philadelphia

Srila Prabhupada: They are giving the bluff that "You become liberated" means "We shall exploit you, young girls." This is the idea behind. Because the karmis, they want sex, young girls, and they get energy to work.

The Europeans, Americans, they work so hard. They get energy from new, new girls. This is psychology, Therefore they work like hogs and dogs. Dog civilization. Hog civilization. Because the hog has no restriction, either mother, sister, or anyone, "Come on." Nayam deho deha-bhajam..., kastan kaman arhate vid-bhujam ye [SB 5.5.1].

This civilization is for the hogs, to take energy by sex with mother, sister, and anyone, and work hard. It is stated in the Bhagavata. I have not manufactured. Nayam deho deha-bhajam nrloke kastan kaman arhate vid-bhujam ye [SB 5.5.1]. And here is the civilization. Tapo divyam. Be brahmacari, undergo austerities and rectify your, this conditioned life, birth and death.

 This is human civilization. Why you are under birth and death? One life remain brahmacari and solve all the question. Tyaktva deham punar janma naiti [Bg. 4.9]. Teach them, these rascals -- they are accusing, "brainwashing" -- that this is civilization.

It is not civilization to work hard like hogs and dogs and have sex enjoyment.

>>> Ref. VedaBase => Morning Walk -- January 24, 1977, Bhuvanesvara

 See related pages at seX-files

Subject: Toxic Porn, Toxic Sex:A Real Look at Pornography

   Date: Tue, 30 Nov 2004 17:46:33 -0000
   From: "vrnparker" <vrnparker@yahoo.com>

Toxic Porn, Toxic Sex:
A Real Look at Pornography - Finding freedom from porn addiction, pornography addiction, the effects of pornography

by Gene McConnell

Porn & addiction...sex out of context
On a cold, dark night, there's nothing better than a blazing fire in the fireplace. You can pile on the wood and let it burn nice and warm. It's safe, warm, relaxing and romantic. Now take that same fire out of the fireplace (which was built for it) and drop it in the middle of the living room. Suddenly it becomes destructive. It can burn down the whole house and kill everyone inside. Sex is like that fire. As long as it's expressed in the protective commitment of a marriage relationship, its wonderful, warm and romantic. But porn takes sex outside that context.

Porn - A Big Business
It's a big business that makes a lot of money and doesn't care how. They'll show you whatever they think will make you come back and buy more. "There were 11,000 porn video titles last year verses 400 movie releases from Hollywood last year...[and] 70,000 pornographic web sites." (New York Times, May 20, 2001, "Naked Capitalists")

Porn's Image of Sex
One of the most vital parts of mental environment is a healthy idea of who we are sexually. If these ideas are polluted, a critical part of who we are becomes twisted. The porn culture tells you that sex, love and intimacy are all the same thing. In porn, people have sex with total strangers -- people they just met. All that matters is my satisfaction. It doesn't matter whose body I'm using, as long as I get it. Porn gets you to think that sex is something you can have anytime, anywhere, with anyone, with no consequences.

What Sex is Really About
Porn's outlook is stupid and shallow. Relationships are not built on sex, but on commitment, caring and mutual trust. In that context, like fire in the fireplace, sex is wonderful. Being with someone who loves and accepts you, someone who is committed to you for your whole lives together, someone you can give yourself completely to, that is what makes sex really great.

Effects of Pornography: The Lies of Porn
You can't learn the truth about sex from pornography. It doesn't deal in truth. Pornography is not made to educate, but to sell. So, pornography will tell whatever lies attract and hold the audience. Porn thrives on lies -- lies about sex, women, marriage and a lot of other things. Let's look at some of those lies and see just how badly they can mess up your life and attitudes.

Lie #1 - Women are less than human
The women in Playboy magazine are called "bunnies," making them cute little animals or "playmates," making them a toy. Penthouse magazine calls them "pets." Porn often refers to women as animals, playthings, or body parts. Some pornography shows only the body or the genitals and doesn't show the face at all. The idea that women are real human beings with thoughts and emotions is played down.

Lie #2 - Women are a "sport"
Some sports magazines have a "swimsuit" issue. This suggests that women are just some kind of sport. Porn views sex as a game and in a game, you have to "win," "conquer," or "score." Men who buy into this view like to talk about "scoring" with women. They start judging their manhood by how many "conquests" they can make. Each woman I "score" with is another trophy on my shelf, another "notch" in my belt to validate my masculinity.

Lie #3 - Women are property
We've all seen the pictures of the slick car with the sexy girl draped over it. The unspoken message, "Buy one, and you get them both." Hard-core porn carries this even further. It displays women like merchandise in a catalog, exposing them as openly as possible for the customer to look at. It's not surprising that many young men think that if they have spent some money taking a girl out, they have a right to have sex with her. Porn tells us that women can be bought.

Lie #4 - A woman's value depends on the attractiveness of her body
Less attractive women are ridiculed in porn. They are called dogs, whales, pigs or worse, simply because they don't fit into porn's criteria of the "perfect" woman. Porn doesn't care about a woman's mind or personality, only her body.

Lie #5 - Women like rape
"When she says no, she means yes" is a typical porn scenario. Women are shown being raped, fighting and kicking at first, and then starting to like it. Porn teaches men to enjoying hurting and abusing women for entertainment.

Lie #6 - Women should be degraded
Porn is often full of hate speech against women. Women are shown being tortured and humiliated in hundreds of sick ways and begging for more. Does this kind of treatment show any respect for women?
Any love? Or is it hatred and contempt that porn is promoting toward women?

Lie #7 - Little kids should have sex
One of the biggest sellers in pornography is imitation "child" porn. The women are "made-up" to look like little girls by wearing pony tails, little girl shoes, holding a teddy bear. The message of the pictures and cartoons is that adults having sex with kids is normal.
This sets the porn user up to see children in a sexual way.

Lie #8 - Illegal sex is fun
Porn often has illegal or dangerous elements thrown in to make sex more "interesting." It suggests that you can't enjoy sex if it isn't weird, illegal or dangerous.

Lie #9 - Prostitution is glamorous
Porn paints an exciting picture of prostitution. In reality, many of the women portrayed in pornographic material are runaway girls trapped in a life of slavery. Many having been sexually abused. Some of them are infected with incurable sexually transmitted diseases that are highly contagious and often die very young. Many take drugs just to cope.

Effects of Pornography: Bottom Line
Pornography makes a profit from the ruined lives of young women and entraps men who will spend lots of time AND money succumbing to their product.

Effects of Pornography: The Power of Images
It's dumb to think that the things we see and hear don't affect us. We all admit that good music, good movies and good books add a lot to our lives. They can relax us, educate us, move us or inspire us.

Obviously, good images do good things to us. It's not hard to believe that bad images can do bad things to us.Images can also persuade us. Businesses know that if they can get a persuasive image of their product in front of you during a highly emotional moment, it will sink into your subconscious mind. The advertising scientists are so good at what they do, they can predict just how much more of their product you will buy if you see their ad. Sometimes, viewers don't even see the name of the product. Reeses Pieces paid a huge price just to have their candy shown for a few seconds in the movie "ET," and sales of Reeses Pieces skyrocketed. Why? Because the emotions connected with watching that small boy reaching out to the alien were transferred to the visual image of the candy. If a split second view of a product -- even when it's not the center of attention -- can affect people's behavior, imagine the effect of a movie that keeps your attention glued to the screen for an hour and a half with sexually explicit images.

What are the effects of pornography on a man?
What kinds of ideas is porn putting into our heads? If the wrong things keep getting dumped in, your mental environment can get so polluted that your life is going to have problems. One of the most vital parts of mental environment is a healthy idea of who we are sexually. If these ideas are polluted, a critical part of who we are becomes twisted.

Porn Addiction: The Pull of Porn
Not everyone who sees porn will become addicted. Some will just come away with toxic ideas about women, sex, marriage, and children.
However, some will have some kind of emotional opening that allows the addiction to really grab hold. The porn companies don't mind at all if you become completely addicted to their product. It's great for business. Dr. Victor Cline has divided the progress of addiction into several stages; addiction, escalation, desensitization, and acting out. For porn addicts, I've found that there is another stage that comes first -- early exposure. Let's look at these stages:

EARLY EXPOSURE
Most guys who get addicted to porn start early. They see porn when they are very young and it gets its foot in the door.

PORN ADDICTION
You keep coming back to porn. It becomes a regular part of your life. You're hooked and can't quit.

ESCALATION
You start to look for more graphic pornography. You start using porn that disgusted you earlier. Now, it excites you.

DESENSITIZATION
You start to become numb to the images you see. Even the most graphic porn doesn't excite you any more. You become desperate to feel the same thrill again, but you can't find it.

ACTING OUT SEXUALLY
This is the point where men make a crucial jump and start acting out the images they have seen. Some move from the paper and plastic images of porn into the real world, with real people, in destructive ways.

Porn Addiction: Am I Addicted?
If you see any of these patterns in your life, you need to put the brakes on right now. Is porn becoming more and more in control of your life? Do you have trouble putting it down? Do you keep going back for more?

Porn Addiction: What Can I Do?
The first thing you've got to do is admit that you struggle with pornography. Believe me, you are not strange or unusual if you do. Millions of men are at various stages in the struggle with porn. It's really not surprising. The porn industry has spent billions of dollars trying to snare you. Is it really shocking that they have succeeded? For some of you there may also be issues in your past, such as abuse or sexual exposure, that makes porn addiction even harder to shake. There is only so much you can do in fighting addiction without help.

You need someone to help you break this addiction. Overcoming the secrecy is absolutely vital. You probably can't escape addiction without it. That doesn't mean everyone has to know you're struggling. Pick someone you can trust who counsels men who are having problems with addiction -- a pastor, youth group leader or counselor. Someone you can completely trust, feel safe with and has experience in the area of addiction isn't going to be surprised.

Is There Any Freedom from Porn Addiction?
Pornography entraps you with lies. In contrast, God can lead us into truth. Jesus said, "If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free."1 Those who heard Jesus say this were offended and countered, "We have never been slaves of anyone, how can you say that we shall be set free?"2 And Jesus explained that people are enslaved to sin, but that He can set you free.3

Sin not only enslaves us, but it distances us from God. And no one is perfect. No one is righteous in God's eyes. Instead we're told that "We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way."4 We all deserve God's judgment and punishment. Yet God, who is holy and loving, provided a solution for our sin, so that we would not have to be justly condemned. He personally took the punishment for our sin on Himself. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, was tortured and died on the cross for our sin so that we could be forgiven. Three days later Jesus rose from the dead, just as He said He would. And He now offers you a relationship with Him. One of the most amazing statements in the Bible is this one, "If we confess our sin, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sin and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."5

The Most Important Relationship
In your search for intimacy and love, pornography is an empty substitute for real love. We have been created by God to have our intimacy needs met most deeply by God Himself. "For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."6 In contrast to the darkness and destruction that pornography can bring to people's lives, Jesus said, "I came that they might have life, and have it more abundantly."7 God offers you his forgiveness through a relationship with Him. Do you want to ask Him to forgive you and come into your life? You can tell Him right now. If you need help putting this into words, here is prayer that might help:

"Lord Jesus, I am aware of my sin, and I know that you are also. I ask you to forgive me and cleanse me. Thank you for dying on the cross for my sins. I ask you to come into my life right now and begin to work in my life. Direct my life as you see fit. Thank you for your forgiveness and for coming into my life right now."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 I just asked Jesus into my life (some helpful information follows)...
 I may want to ask Jesus into my life, please explain this more fully...

 I have a question...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

If you would like further information on dealing with porn or sexual addiction, you might try the following web site: Authentic Relationships.

To read about a woman's struggle with a pornography addiction, go here.

{1} John 8:31-32
{2} John 8:33
{3} John 8:34
{4} Isaiah 53:6
{5} 1John 1:9
{6} John 3:16
{7} John 10:10
© EveryStudent.com
http://everystudent.com/wires/toxic.html

So because Lord Kåñëa is all-powerful, you cannot compare with Kåñëa. He's apäpa-viddham. No contamination can touch Him. But for that reason you cannot say, you cannot imitate Kåñëa and you cannot say that "No contamination can touch me." No. That is not possible. Therefore the whole life, our this human form of life, is a chance to purify so that we may approach. At least, if we get that fifty-five, fifty degrees, fifty parts or fifty fractional portions of God's quality, even in minute quantity, then we can approach God. In the Bhagavad-gétä it is said that pavitraà paramam [Bg. 10.12]. Pavitra, pavitra means purity. So "You are, Kåñëa, You are the supreme pure." So because we are trying by Kåñëa consciousness, we are trying to approach Kåñëa... Just like if you want to approach the sun, the same example can be given. Everything is there in the nature. If you study minutely, you become learned philosopher. But if we want to enter the sun planet, then you must equip yourself. Just like you are trying to go to the moon planet by artificially dressing, but still, you cannot stay there more than a few hours—if we suppose that somebody has gone there. So this is the position. If you want to enter into the sun planet also... That is also a planet. That is also possible. If it is possible to enter into the moon planet, then it is also possible to enter into the sun planet. Why not? And there are living entities. We get information from Vedic literature. But you have to raise your temperature so that you can exist there. Similarly, God is Supreme Pure. If you want to go back home, back to home, back to Godhead, then you have to become pure, without any contamination of this material world.

The contamination of material world is called seed. That is seed. Just like you infect some disease, germ, you become diseased. I have got some infection, so I am diseased. You may know it or not know it, that doesn't matter. If you infect, knowingly or unknowingly, you will be diseased. So what is that infection? That infection, that is stated in the Éçopaniñad, we read every morning, éçäväsyam idaà sarvam [Éço mantra 1]. This everything what we see, either in the sky or in the water or outside our vision, everything belongs to God. Éçäväsyam idaà sarvam. So everything God's property. You cannot, even you are son of God, you cannot take anything without God's permission. Just like even your father's property. You'll inherit your father's... That's a fact. But suppose a father has got on the table one thousand dollars. If you take it without his permission, if you think that "It is my father's money," but by law you become a criminal. Your father can prosecute you criminally. That is the state law. Even it is your father's money, even your father is very kind, but if you take your father's money without his permission, then you are a criminal. And what to speak of others?
Similarly, we are all sons of God. That's a fact. Kåñëa says,

sarva-yoniñu kaunteya
mürtayaù sambhavanti yäù
täsäà brahma mahad yonir
ahaà béja-pradaù pitä

 [Bg. 14.4]

Aham. Kåñëa says that "All these living entities in 8,400,000's of species..." He doesn't mean that only human being. The animals, the birds, beasts, trees, everything—all living entities—they are all sons of God. He says, ahaà béja-pradaù. The material nature is the mother. Just like in ordinary way, the father and mother requires to give a birth to a child. Similarly, this material nature is the mother. We have got this body from the mother, material nature. Just like we get the body from the mother's womb. Father gives the seed and mother gives the body. In the combination we get out. Similarly, ahaà béja-pradaù pitä [Bg. 14.4], Kåñëa impregnates this material nature with the living entities, and when there is creation they come out. This is the process.

So we are fallen in this material condition of life, and because we have disobeyed without the permission of father, we have misused our independence, therefore we are condemned within this material world. The éçäväsya, the Éçopaniñad teaches us, therefore reminds us, that "My dear human being..." The çästras, the scriptures, the Vedas, they're meant for human being, not for the dogs, cats. Those who are not taking advantage of these scriptures of Vedic literatures, they are no more than animals. Because animals, they cannot take advantage of this knowledge. But human being can take. Therefore it is said, indicated in the çästras, that this body is very suitable boat for crossing over this ocean of nescience. We are in the ocean, this outer space, the big space within this universe. It is to be considered just like a big ocean, and all the planets, they're just like islands. Therefore in the Vedic literature sometimes these planets are called dvépa. Dvépa means island. Çvetadvépa. This planet is called Jambüdvépa. Just like in the ocean, there are many hundreds of small, big island. Similarly, the ocean of air or outer space, there are so many planets. They are called dvépas. So éçäväsyam... So all this belongs to God. And we, we are, because we are His sons, we have got the right to use our father's property, but not illegally. What is allotted to us by our father we can accept, that's all. One who lives... That is stated in the Éçopaniñad, that kurvann eveha karmäëi jijéviñec chataà samäù. If you accept this principle, then you can live for hundreds of years without any sin. Otherwise you become complicated in the laws of material nature. And so long we are complicated, entangled by the laws of material nature, then we shall have to transmigrate from this one kind of body to another kind of body, and our material existence will be prolonged.

So here, I shall try to explain the teachings of Åñabhadeva, His teachings to His sons. "My dear son," näyaà deho deha-bhäjäà nåloke, "My dear sons, this body," nåloke... He has particularly mentioned: nåloke, this body in the human society. Ayaà dehaù, this body, näyaà deho deha-bhäjäà nåloke. Deha-bhäjäm means anyone who is embodied. So the cats, dogs, trees, birds, beasts, insects, reptiles, they have all body. But He's specifically mentioning nåloke, the body in the human society. Ayaà dehaù, "This body in the human society," näyaà deho deha-bhäjäà nåloke kañöän kämän arhate viò-bhujäà ye [SB 5.5.1], "it is not meant for working very hard to satisfy the senses." Why you are working so hard? What is the principle? What is the aim? Everyone is working very hard. What is the...? Sense gratification. So Åñabhadeva says, "Simply for sense gratification we should not work so hard."

That is the verdict of Vedic literature. If you say that we have got senses, so in order to keep the body fit, we have to give something for the enjoyment of the senses. That is accepted, yes. But don't aggravate it. The çästra says that do not increase artificially the demands of the senses. Then you will be entangled. Just like eating. We have got tongue, we have got belly. We require to eat something for maintaining the body. That's right—you maintain. But do not try to satisfy the senses, tongue or belly or any other senses, unreasonably. Why? That is unreasonable. What is that unreasonable? Tena tyaktena bhuïjéthäù [Éço mantra 1]. What is ordained to you, what is allotted to you, you eat. Just like for human being. Human being—Kåñëa, or God, has given so many nice things. God has given us grains, rice, pulses, vegetables, and fruits, flowers, so many, milk. Are they not sufficient for maintaining our body and soul together? Yes, why not? Those who are vegetarians... Simply you take, for example, we, all the members in the temple. We live simply on these things, fruits, vegetables, grains, milk, that's all. So are we dying for want of food? Then why should we eat meat? What is the reason? Simply for satisfaction of the tongue? If I can live peacefully, otherwise which is allotted to me by God, why shall I give trouble to another animal for satisfaction of my tongue? What is the reason? If you have no food... Of course, in the deserted country, just he has to find out "Where is stool, where is stool?" You see?

So there are different grades of life. So does it mean that we shall live a life like a hog while we have got this human form of body? Just try to understand. The hog is eating stool, which is rejected by everyone. And still, he is searching that out, where is that stool. And it is called research work. So we should not make our life complicated like the hog. And what is the aim of his life, the hog? The aim of his life is sex. The hogs and, especially hogs and goats, they're very sexually influenced. The hog does not discriminate. The monkeys, they do not discriminate—mother, sister, or anyone—they must have sex. So especially mentioned here, not like hog, don't live like hog. This is the instruction of Åñabhadeva. This human form of life is not meant for living like a hog. Then what it is for? That is stated in the next line, tapo divyam [SB 5.5.1]. "My dear boys, this life is meant for tapasya." Tapasya means restraining your senses. That is. That is human life. That is human civilization. The more you restrain your senses from its activities, the more you're advanced, civilized, advanced human life. Tapasya. Tapasya means, tapa, tapa, from tap, tapa comes. Tapa means temperature.

So if I restrain my senses, because we are, from time immemorial, we have been practiced to indulge our senses for gratification, and in the human form of life, because we have to control the senses, it sometimes gives us some pains. I am accustomed to do something, but my spiritual master said... Just like in this country I say that you cannot take meat, you cannot smoke. So all my students, they were accustomed to this habit, but by my order they have restrained. In the beginning there is plot of land and a cow—your whole economic question is solved. Why you should work so hard day and night? So we have created a civilization simply working hard day and night, and the purpose is sense gratification. That's all. That is prohibited. Make your life simplified. Save your time for Kåñëa consciousness. That is the program. Don't be implicated with sinful activities. Simple life. Just like your father says, "My dear boy, you take your food just in time, and you do this work, and I'll be satisfied." If you do that, then father is satisfied. But if you take from the pocket of your father or from the cash box without his permission, then you are criminal.

So by God's arrangement, everything is there. Everything. Pürëam idam. Pürëam idaà pürëam adaù pürëam idaà pürëät pürëam udacyate [Éçopaniñad, Invocation]. Everything is complete in this world. There is no scarcity. We have simply created scarcity by our mismanagement. But if we take up the laws as they are prescribed in the scriptures and live peacefully, there is no scarcity. My Guru Mahäräja used to say that in this world there is no scarcity by the arrangement of God. But the only scarcity is this Kåñëa consciousness. People are not Kåñëa conscious. They're materially conscious. They're sensually conscious. That has to be changed. So Åñabhadeva says that to satisfy our senses, that is also available in the life of a hog. Kañöän kämän arhate viò-bhujäà ye [SB 5.5.1]. Viò-bhujam, a animal who eats stool, viò-bhujam. That means the hog. The hog is also an animal, a living entity, and you'll find that it is working whole day, wherever there is stool, simply searching out. Research work—where there is stool. Because he has been made into that abominable condition of life that he is eating stool, he, still... Like Arabia, simply desert, sand. So for them, they can kill some animal and eat, because they cannot die for want of food. But here, in America, you have got sufficient foodstuff. Why should you kill animals? You have got sufficient grains, sufficient fruit, sufficient milk, and is it very nice thing that you take milk from the cow, who is your mother, and kill at the same time? Is that very good reason?

Therefore Åñabhadeva says, He says this human form of body is not meant for mismanaging the whole thing for the satisfaction of the senses. That is not meant for human beings. Ayaà nåloke, nåloke. The human society, He is speaking to the human society. We are speaking to the human society. We are not calling cats and dogs, "Come here, please hear Çrémad-Bhägavatam." That is not possible. They cannot. But we are inviting those who are enlightened human beings, "Please come, just try to understand what is this Kåñëa consciousness movement and be happy." That's all. We want to see every human being to be happy. That is our program.
So Åñabhadeva says, kañöän kämän. Just try to under... We are not criticizing the modern method of living. Of course, automatically it becomes criticized. But we are speaking from the çästras. He says, Åñabhadeva says, kañöän kämän. For your sense gratification do not arrange something very dangerous or very tiresome, laborsome. Make your life simplified. That is allotted by Kåñëa. We have got a place, New Vrindaban, in West Virginia. With little effort, they produce so much vegetables that they cannot eat, they cannot finish. They cannot finish. So God has given us land, God has given us producing experience. So wherever you live, it doesn't matter, if you have got a little some pain. So that pain is called tapasya. Voluntarily accepting little pain. Tapo divyam [SB 5.5.1]. And what for that pains taking? Divyam, for realizing the Absolute Truth. Not for that... Just like a student is working very hard to find out the possibilities of nuclear weapon. That is also tapasya. But what is that? For finding out some means to kill the human society. That sort of tapasya is not required. Tapo divyam.

So you may answer that "Why shall I take so much pains for realizing the Absolute? I can take some pains here for material acquisition, I shall be happy here. I do not..." That answer is also given. Tapo divyam... Tapo divyaà putrakä yena sattvaà çuddhyet [SB 5.5.1]. "My dear boys, you just take to this austerity, life of austerity, for realizing the Absolute, by which your existence will be purified." We began... Because we require this human form of life is meant for being purified. So just like a diabetic patient is advised by the physician not to take so many things—not to take sugar, not to take this, not to take this—that prohibition is meant for his curing. Similarly, here also, if we accept some voluntary pains in giving up our sense gratificatory process, then our existence will be purified. Tapo divyam. Tapo divyaà putrakä yena sattvam [SB 5.5.1]. Sattvam means your existence. Yena sattvaà çuddhyet. Çuddhyet means becomes purified. Then you may ask "What is the result?" "Suppose if I purify by your prescription." Çuddhyed yasmäd brahma-saukhyam anantam. Because if you purify your existence, then you get unlimited pleasure. Your life is, you are finding out where is pleasure. That is änandamayo 'bhyäsät (Vedänta-sütra 1.1.12). Every living entities is fit for enjoying because he's part and parcel of God. Because he part and parcel, he's also enjoyer, although in the minute quantity. But he can enjoy in association with God. So in order to enter into the association of God, he has to purify himself. Yasmäd brahma-sau... Brahma, brahma-saukhyam. Brahma means the unlimited or spiritual. Spiritual means unlimited, unending, eternal—the greatest. These are some of the meanings of brahma.

So you are searching after pleasure, that is your prerogative. That is your right. You must be. But you are searching in this sense gratificatory platform, you'll never get it. If you purify your this existence, then you get unlimited pleasure in your spiritual existence. Unlimited pleasure. Brahma-saukhyam anantam [SB 5.5.1]. Anantam means unlimited. So this life we should utilize for purifying, not for extravagancy in sense gratification. You'll not suffer at... You'll... This is mäyä. Actually, just like a child, a boy, wants to play, and the father prescribes him, "My dear boy, do not play so long. Please read." So he's thinking that "My father is prescribing something which is very troublesome." But actually this tapasya, this Kåñëa consciousness regulated life, is not for trouble. It is for your progress of life to the spiritual understanding, where you get unlimited eternal life, sac-cid-änanda-vigraha [Bs. 5.1]. God is sac-cid-änanda-vigraha. Sat, cit, änanda. Sat means eternal, cit means full of knowledge, and änanda, full of pleasure. So as soon as you become purified from this material existence, then you enter into the spiritual kingdom, and you get your body sac-cid-änanda-vigraha and live there eternally in full knowledge and full bliss.
Thank you very much. (devotees offer obeisances)

(Srila A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupad. Srimad Bhagavatam lecture 5:5:1. excerpt. 20th January 1969, Los Angeles, CA, USA)

SYNONYMS
yoñit—of women; hiraëya—golden; äbharaëa—ornaments; ambara—clothing; ädi—and so on; dravyeñu—upon seeing such things; mäyä—by the illusory energy of the Lord; raciteñu—manufactured; müòhaù—a fool with no discrimination; pralobhita—aroused by lusty desires; ätmä—such a person; hi—certainly; upabhoga—for sense gratification; buddhyä—with the desire; pataìga-vat—like the moth; naçyati—is destroyed; nañöa—is ruined; dåñöiù—whose intelligence.

TRANSLATION
A foolish person with no intelligent discrimination is immediately aroused at the sight of a lusty woman beautifully decorated with golden ornaments, fine clothing and other cosmetic features. Being eager for sense gratification, such a fool loses all intelligence and is destroyed just like the moth who rushes into the blazing fire.

PURPORT
Actually, women have the power to attract men through all of the material senses. Men become lusty by seeing the body of a woman, by smelling her fragrance, by hearing her voice, by tasting her lips and by touching her body. However, the foolish relationship based on material sex attraction begins by seeing, and thus rüpa, or form, is very prominent in the process of ruining one's intelligence. This fact has been exploited in modern times by huge pornography industries, which prey on unfortunate men and women. The example of the foolish moth rushing into the fire and destroying itself is most appropriate in this regard, for one who becomes addicted to the momentary pleasure of sex indulgence certainly loses his power to understand the spiritual reality behind dull matter.
A lusty person becomes blind and foolish through sex indulgence, and his soul is lost in the fire of sense gratification. This whole disaster can be avoided by taking seriously to the process of chanting the holy names of the Lord: Hare Kåñëa, Hare Kåñëa, Kåñëa Kåñëa, Hare Hare/ Hare Räma, Hare Räma, Räma Räma, Hare Hare. Caitanya Mahäprabhu and His empowered representatives such as Çréla Prabhupäda have created a movement to save people from the dungeon of material life, and we should all seriously take advantage of this opportunity.

(Srimad Bhagavatam 11:8:8. text and purport by the servants of Srila A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupad.)

Courtesy of http://www.Vedabase.com used with permission

Every Tuesday night in Memphis, Tennessee, the transcendental sounds of a two-and-a-half-hour Hare Kåñëa radio show fill the Southern airwaves, courtesy of station WEVL, 90.3-FM. The program, aired live, includes a variety of guest interviews, comedy/satire, and music—all centered on the dynamic philosophy of Kåñëa consciousness.

Station manager Dennis Badson explains that the community-owned station seeks out unusual programs not normally broadcast on commercial radio. Not long ago Brahmä däsa, the president of ISKCON's Memphis center, offered to do a show called "The Cheaters and the Cheated." He told the station's board members that the show would expose the shortcomings of modern society and present the alternative society—one based on God consciousness, "simple living and high thinking." Program director Bart Lipman liked the idea and asked to hear more.

Brahmä däsa took the opportunity to explain, "We want to show how the big leaders have systematically conditioned ordinary people to search for happiness under a completely false conception of life. They have directed people toward acquiring useless paraphernalia that only drives them deeper into the realm of hopelessness. The leaders are misguiding everyone into thinking that advancement means concrete, steel, money, and the selfish pursuit of pleasure. As a result, everyone feels constantly driven and repeatedly frustrated by an unending network of artificial desires. And, of course, that mentality simply results in crime, poverty, and social unrest. Then the masses—and even the so-called leaders—try to shelter themselves from despair with alcohol, cigarettes, drugs, pornography, and so forth. We should rise to a higher state of consciousness and happiness. Unless we realize that the real goal of life is God consciousness, we will never achieve any real advancement—only a shadow advancement that leads to chaos and destruction."

Back to Godhead Magazine #12-09, 1977. Every Town and Village.

Courtesy of http://www.Vedabase.com used with permission

"With promiscuity as a norm and even a commodity, no wonder it's hard to draw the line between 'tolerable' and 'criminal.' "

Child prostitution is on the rise in cities all over America. Los Angeles police estimate that in their city alone, more than three thousand boys and girls under fourteen are involved, and for New York City the figure is even higher: as many as twenty thousand juveniles under sixteen are wandering the streets, and a substantial percentage are full- or part-time prostitutes. Most of these children are runaways from broken homes. From all across the country they stream into the big cities (especially New York), where pimps, child molesters, and racketeers enslave them in the name of providing food and lodging.
Of course, most people view all of this as a tragic waste of human lives. What is most appalling is that the victims are the very persons who most need society's protection—our young children. But despite the problem's urgency, Time reported recently, there seem to be "no easy answers or ready remedies."

Apparently, the real problem is that we're trying to play both ends against the middle. On one end, we're outraged at child prostitution, child pornography, rape, and mass sex murders. On the other end, we wink at adultery and fornication ("extramarital sex" and "premarital sex" sound more congenial, and even infanticide isn't quite as unsettling when it becomes "abortion"). It's a bizarre line we want to draw: "On this side promiscuity is a crime—on that side it's all right." But how can we be so sure where to draw the line?

One thing is clear: we've been tolerating more and more promiscuity in what we consider acceptable sexual behavior. Aside from legalizing abortion, pornography, adultery, and fornication, we've practically made promiscuity a part of the gross national product. Already it sells everything from thumbtacks to typewriters. With promiscuity as a behavioral norm and even a commodity, no wonder it's so hard to draw the line between "tolerable" and "criminal." Even when we're faced with an unmistakable evil like child prostitution, we say, "We don't know how to deal with it." Isn't there a link between "criminal" and "tolerable" promiscuity?

If we're going to talk about what makes for promiscuity, then naturally we need some clear-cut ideas on what makes for propriety—we need a sexual standard. Now, it seems obvious that this standard can't be mere vox populi or the latest psychological fad. Of course, the common man and the psychologist may have their opinions. But their opinions have sown the seeds for promiscuity and its bitter harvest, child prostitution. What is the value of their opinions? If we want a sexual standard, let's listen to Kåñëa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead (whom the world's scriptures variously call God, Allah, Jehovah, and so forth).

Lord Kåñëa has always said "no promiscuity," so that's the way it has to be. At the same time, in the Bhagavad-gétä Kåñëa says that He looks favorably on sex that accords with religious principles—sex between married people who want to raise children in God consciousness. Sex for procreation within marriage, as devotional service to God, may seem out of tune with today's trends, but that doesn't mean it is undesirable or unhealthy.
In fact, historically it's clear that whenever people have looked upon self-realization and realization of God as life's real goal, sex crimes have been virtually nonexistent. We may note that for nearly all the people of ancient India, prostitution and even more ordinary varieties of illicit sex were unthinkable. But that wasn't because these people were artificially repressing themselves. They simply had no taste for promiscuity. They were experiencing a higher taste—spiritual happiness, the taste of self-realization. Serious social reformers can inquire into this higher taste, which alone can replace the lower taste of promiscuity. In the spirit of "Physician, heal thyself," people who want to do something about sex crimes might do well to find out about self-realization—and get the higher taste for themselves.
—SDG

Back to Godhead Magazine. #13-04, 1978

Courtesy of http://www.Vedabase.com used with permission

by Suhotra Swami 2003. Part One: The Vedic Context. Section Four: Pure and Impure Moral Standards.

Chapter Fourteen,
The Value of the Human Form

yaù präpya mänuñaà lokaà
mukti-dväram apävåtam
gåheñu khaga-vat saktas
tam ärüòha-cyutaà viduù

The doors of liberation are opened wide to one who has achieved human life. But if a human being simply devotes himself to family life like the foolish bird in this story, then he is to be considered as one who has climbed to a high place only to trip and fall down. (Çrémad-Bhägavatam 11.7.74)

The story hinted at is of a male pigeon who returned to his nest to discover that a hunter had caught his wife and babies in a net. Abandoning all hope, the bird flew purposefully into the same net, sacrificing a life he considered useless. A creature like a bird cannot find a purpose for itself beyond slaking its physical desires and working hard to maintain family relationships. In contrast, the human form is called mukti-dväram, the doorway to liberation from physical desires and family relationships. Lord Kåñëa confirms that all human beings, even those classed as fallen, can pass through the portals of liberation if they just surrender unto Him.

mäà hi pärtha vyapäçritya
ye ’pi syuù päpa-yonayaù
striyo vaiçyäs tathä çüdräs
te ’pi yänti paräà gatià

O son of Påthä, those who take shelter in Me, though they be of lower birth—women, vaiçyas [merchants] and çüdras [workers]—can attain the supreme destination.

kià punar brähmaëäù puëyä
bhaktä räjarñayas tathä
anityam asukhaà lokam
imaà präpya bhajasva mäm

How much more this is so of the righteous brähmaëas, the devotees and the saintly kings. Therefore, having come to this temporary, miserable world, engage in loving service unto Me. (Bhagavad-gétä 9.32-33)

Human birth is rare, and rarer still is the human being who achieves liberation. Garuòa Puräëa 2.49.13 counts 8,400,000 yonis or physical forms into which the soul may be born, and warns: na mänuñam vinänyatra tattvajïänantu labhyate—except in the human form, tattva-jïäna or knowledge of the truth is practically unavailable. Gatvä tu yoni prabhäväni daitya sahasrasaù siddhimupaiti jévaù, advises Mahäbhärata 12.271.34: “After thousands of births in different species, a living entity may get the chance to achieve siddhi, spiritual emancipation.”

Unfortunately, almost all the people of this Age of Kali exhibit the characteristics of mlecchas. Hardly any serious inclination to liberate themselves from matter is found in them. Itas tato väçana-päna-väsaù-snäna-vyaväyonmukha-jéva-lokam:”[In Kali-yuga] humanity is inclined to eat, drink, reside, bathe and enjoy sex any way they like.” (Çrémad-Bhägavatam 1.16.22). One whose actions are determined only by the impulses of the senses is an animal. Stupefied by the physical drives of eating, sleeping, sex and self-defense, animals can't discern their ultimate welfare. Like the male pigeon, they easily fall into a trap. Western civilization is the trap of modern animalistic mankind. Çréla Prabhupäda said the aim of Western culture is to make the human body “tigerlike strong.”** But tigers have been almost completely wiped out by big game hunters. Similarly, when we human beings set as our goal of life the development of our bodies to ferocious capacity, we are hunted down by material nature. “Therefore you'll find revolution, war, in the Western part of the world,” said Çréla Prabhupäda. “They are being shot by the laws of nature.”

For all his scientific advancement, modern man has discovered no way to save himself from punishment by the laws of nature. His strong inclination to animalistic behavior has rendered him a moral illiterate. In place of veda—real knowledge—he has only meager sense impressions to guide him. His is an oyster's-eye view of the moral universe. (An oyster, dear reader, lives inside a shell at the bottom of the ocean. What will an oyster understand about the origin and purpose of the universe?) How modern man sees his place in the universe can be gleaned from a widely-used textbook on moral philosophy:**

The universe is some 16 billion years old—that is the time elapsed since the “big bang”—and the earth itself was formed about 4.6 billion years ago. The evolution of life on the planet was a slow process, guided not by design but (largely) by random mutation and natural selection. The first humans appeared quite recently. ...But no sooner did our ancestors arrive than they began to think of themselves as the most important things in all creation. ...We now know better. We now know that we exist by evolutionary accident, as one species among many...”The life of a man,” [Scottish philosopher David Hume] wrote, “is of no greater importance to the universe than that of an oyster.” But he also recognized that our lives are important to us. We are creatures with desires, needs, plans, and hopes; and even if “the universe” does not care about those things, we do.

While it is true that recent trends in science raise questions about these assumptions,** the mindset of Western civilization is firm in the faith that the value of life is only what we make of it. The prophet of our time is Friedrich Nietzsche. His ethic was: “There are no moral phenomena at all, but only a moral interpretation of phenomena.”** Translated into practical life, this ethic turns out to mean that modern man accepts no definite right or wrong above and beyond the needs of the body. Since the fulfillment of bodily needs is the only value he is confident of, modern man concludes that the public good can be best served by an industry of sense gratification. With the tools of high technology, an industry was erected that in fact is an incarnation of cold evil—a blood-spattered colossus that shrieks and clatters through a chilly desert of artificial “industreality,” crushing the lives out of millions of innocent creatures.

The first symptom of Kali-yuga is the cold-blooded mass slaughter of cows and bulls by degraded, irresponsible persons who pose as leaders of society.** In Vedic culture, the cow is respected as one of seven kinds of mothers.** The bull represents Dharma, the demigod of religious principles.** His four legs are cleanliness, austerity, truthfulness and mercy. To kill these gentle animals, gifts of God unto mankind, is a terrible sin.** Yet nowadays dining on the flesh of cows and bulls is a sign of civilized respectability.

Beef eating, in most countries, is a form of privilege, a visible sign of wealth and status. Among nations, entrance into the beef club represents power and, from a geopolitical perspective, is every bit as significant in determining a nation's status in the world as the number of its tanks and ships or the rise of its industrial output.**
The world's leading industrial nation, the United States, slaughters one hundred thousand cows every twenty-four hours. Each seven days 91 percent of American households purchase beef.** Ray Kroc (1902-1984), the Henry Ford of beef restaurateurs,** developed the McDonald's hamburger chain into a global empire that now spans 114 countries. “I speak of faith in McDonald's as if it were a religion,” Kroc once remarked. “And without meaning any offense to the Holy Trinity, the Koran, or the Torah, that's exactly the way I think of it.” In the United States he maneuvered to get his restaurants built near suburban churches because his most lucrative clientele were families coming out of Sunday services. One can truly say Mr. Kroc purloined the halo of religion and set it over the grotesque head of cold evil. Today, in any given month, more Americans enter McDonald's restaurants than enter all the churches in the USA.

The murderous pollution rots both the body of man and his moral character. Health experts warn that meat-eaters are at significantly greater risk than vegetarians of dying from cancer and heart disease.** Each year the meat industry wastes millions of tons of grains that could feed the world's poor. These grains needlessly fatten livestock—which can just as well live on grass—so that killers can reap greater and greater profits in rich countries.

Insidious is this cold evil, a creeping shadow that falls across the heart of man, perverting his outward vision so that where ravenous ghouls bolt down charred hunks of their mother's flesh, he sees a jolly family table.

Cold evil is evil inflicted from a distance; evil concealed by layer upon layer of technological and institutional garb...It is evil that cannot be felt because of its impersonal nature. To suggest that a person is committing an evil act by...consuming a hamburger might appear strange, even ludicrous, to most people. Even if the facts were to be made explicit and incontrovertible, the trail of evil mapped out with painstaking detail, it is unlikely that many in society could muster up the same sense of outrage that they might extend to incidences of hot evil—an armed robbery, a rape, the deliberate torture of a neighborhood dog.**

In 1960, the American pharmaceutical company Searle brought the birth control pill to market. This event sparked off a world-wide “sexual revolution.” It is estimated that at this moment sixty million women are taking the pill;** at some time in their lives, almost 90 percent of Western women indulge in sex while “protected” by contraceptives. Truth be told, this is an ongoing medical experiment upon the female body, the deadly results of which receive little media attention. Nobel laureate Frederick Robbins, addressing a meeting of the American Association of Medical Colleges, admitted (and excused) the hazard this experiment represents when he said, “the dangers of overpopulation are so great that we may have to use certain techniques of conception control that may entail considerable risk to the individual woman.” In the fifties, such grim forecasts about “the dangers of overpopulation” were a media staple; since then, scientists have come round to admit that the global increase of the number of people does not in itself endanger civilization.** Yet in the meantime millions of women remain at risk from the pill.
What risk? From the Vedic standpoint, people who use contraceptives are at risk of being reborn in “the third world” for violating the dharma of jagadvåddhi, increasing the population by religious family life.** One could argue that we can't very well expect Western people to perceive that risk, since mostly they do not know and do not accept Vedic dharma. But the word dharma does not translate as “some irrelevant set of rules invented by ancient priests of a far-away land.” The word actually means “the natural characteristic of a thing.” Excessive sex indulgence is an abuse of the human form, the doorway to liberation. Abuse of the human form is adharma or self-destruction. We do not need to wait for the next life to perceive that adharma is self-destructive. Destruction is upon us now, in the present body (ädhyätmika), in our society (ädhibhautika) and in nature (ädhidaivika).

Medical science admits that the pill increases a woman's chances of disability or death from blood clots, heart attacks, cancer, hardening of the arteries, high blood pressure, and other health dangers. Psychotherapist Sherril Sellman argues “the long-term effects from artificially altering a woman's hormonal and reproductive life bode ill for the health not only of the women themselves but also of future generations”—which reminds us of Vedic predictions that the future of Kali-yuga will see the stunting of human bodily strength, height and duration of life. We all know well one health tragedy the pill-induced sexual revolution made possible: AIDS, which was completely unforeseen in the sixties. Another incurable venereal disease, one that is a serious threat to babies at their birth, is genital herpes, which infects a half a million Americans each year.** The sexually-transmitted organism Chlamydia trachomatis infects two million new victims each year, mostly women between fifteen and nineteen years of age. It can cause sterility. Studies show that women who have sex with multiple partners could be up to two thousand times more at risk of contracting cervical cancer than those who do not. Each year more babies are born with birth defects caused by sexually transmitted diseases than all the children stricken with polio in the decade of the fifties. These are just a few samples of the ädhyätmika miseries associated with illicit sex.

Just as meat-eating erodes not only the physical but also the moral health of society, so too does loose sexuality. “A lot depends on marriage,” writes William Kilpatrick, a professor of moral education at Boston College,**

…not least the moral health of a society. And marriage, as we are once again coming to understand, depends to a large extent on a code of chastity outside of marriage. With the coming of the sexual revolution, men began to flee their homes in droves, leaving women with the children, with double the work, and with little time or energy to provide discipline or moral guidance.

Such are the ädhibhautika consequences of illicit sex. In August 1998, an American television broadcast about the Bill Clinton-Monica Lewinsky scandal reported that eighty percent of all marriages are hit by adultery. Seventy percent of husbands cheat, and fifty to sixty percent of wives cheat. Fifty percent of first marriages—that is, between partners who were never married before—end in failure. Sixty-five percent of second marriages fail. Eighty percent of third marriages fail.

Illicit sex results in “accidental babies” or what Bhagavad-gétä 1.42 calls varëa-saìkara, unwanted progeny. Children spawned from adharma are hell-bent on destruction. It is estimated that each month, American high school students commit 525,000 crimes involving violence or the threat of violence.** About 135,000 students carry guns to school daily. In the last thirty years, suicides among young people rose three hundred percent. One in seven teenagers admit to having tried to kill themselves.

The steady erosion of sexual morals in society is to be expected, given that a megabusiness with earnings of ten billion dollars per year blatantly promotes sexual whimsy among the people:** the pornography industry. “The U.S. adult-film industry,” reports the magazine Premiere,** “centered in the San Fernando Valley just over the mountains from Hollywood, is a way larger and more efficient moneymaking machine than is theatrical mainstream American cinema.” In March 1998, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in Hollywood handed out the coveted “Oscar” trophies after judging three hundred seventy five feature films released in the year previous. In January 1998, at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, the Adult Video News magazine (AVN) held its fifteenth annual pornographic film awards ceremony. AVN handed out its own Oscar-like trophies after judging four thousand dirty movies made the previous year! Each film was an average of ninety minutes in length; it would take a year and three months of non-stop viewing for one person to see them all.

The New Harvard Guide to Psychiatry (1988) presented a great deal of evidence showing sexual freedom
…by no means leads to great pleasures, freedom, and openness; more meaningful relationship between the sexes; or exhilarating relief from stifling inhibitions. Clinical experience has shown that the new permissiveness has often led to empty relationships, feelings of self-contempt and worthlessness.**
In the ancient world, this sort of deep-rooted unhappiness, this “inner shadow” that “darkens the seat of reason,” was diagnosed as madness.** The old Greek word melankholia (literally translated as “black bile” and transposed into English as melancholia, “severe depression”) meant a fit of insanity. Melancholia afflicts large sections of society, especially the sexually “free” youth. It is admitted in a report on modern stress:
What isn't natural is going crazy—for sadness to linger on into debilitating depression, for anxiety to grow chronic and paralyzing. These are largely diseases of modernity.**

Sages of old recognized “going crazy” as the prelude to mass destruction. Quem deus vult perdere, dementat prius, goes a Latin phrase—“Whom God would destroy, He first makes mad.” Even up to the Middle Ages, Europeans held the influence of Saturn (called “the black star” and “the planet of tears”) to be responsible for melancholia. Çrémad-Bhägavatam similarly describes Saturn as an evil star associated with earthquakes, fire and other ädhidaivika calamities.
Following on the heels of excessive sex indulgence, melancholia is the herald of natural disaster. And natural disaster is surely upon us. Experts warn that we've lost control of public health safeguards.** The door is open to world-wide epidemics of killer diseases. Right now twenty million people are refugees, many living in dire health conditions. Some environmental scientists foresee that rising ocean waters will flood coastal cities with a century. They say the atmosphere will soon be unbreathable, being poisoned by carbon dioxide and methane produced by industry.

Çrémad-Bhägavatam 1.17.38 lists, along with meat-eating and illicit sex, two other destructive adharmas: intoxication (pänam) and gambling (dyütaà, which includes frivolous sports). The alcohol and tobacco industries are responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people each year. In the United States, boys and girls start drinking at an average age of 12.3 years.** More than half of male high school students get drunk once a month by the time they are eighteen. Two out of five get drunk once a week. From 1975 to 1985, the number of twelve-year-old girls who smoke increased by ten times. Six out of ten high school students say they have used illegal drugs. Gamblers and sports fans are no less addicts who yearly squander astronomical sums of money. So why don't world leaders curb this growing catastrophe by banning alcohol, tobacco, drugs, the gaming industry, birth control pills, pornography, and cow slaughter?** “The benefits outweigh the risks,” they answer. Yes, in Kali-yuga, when the world is ruled by mlecchas, it is considered most beneficial to be able to eat, drink and have sex any way you like, whatever the risk.

Now, one could reply here that medical doctors are busy exploring ways to counteract the health risks of modern life. But this is just a vain attempt to fight off the reactions of adharma with yet more adharmic actions. In 1995 a Hong Kong newspaper reported that in China aborted foetuses can be bought as a health food item for a few dollars at private clinics.** Chinese doctors recommend they be prepared as a soup, claiming them good for the skin and kidneys. One doctor said she'd eaten 100 in the last six months, and swore that the best are first-born males from young women. Is it far-fetched to expect that Western doctors may soon likewise recommend foetus soup to their patients?

A creed is evident in these efforts to enjoy no matter what the cost. It is the creed of offense against Mother Nature. “We war with Nature,” wrote Thomas Carlyle** about the Industrial Revolution of the early eighteen-hundreds, “and, by our resistless engines, come off always victorious, and loaded with spoils.” Offense is the essence of all demonic belief systems. For ages, demonic philosophers and scientists have placed the blame for the troubles of the human condition not upon the past misdeeds of humanity, but upon nature. That ancient creed of the demons finds latter-day expression in these words of a popular science book.**
Mankind, after all, was a product of nature, and nature worked not by intelligent planning and conscious design but by the worst kind of trial-and-error blundering...There was no inherent reason why [people] had to suffer pain, for example...It's hard to imagine that human engineers could be any clumsier or messier than that old slattern Dame Nature.

And so human industry aims at correcting the alleged mistakes of nature by making the world a better place for people to eat, drink, have sex, and live in. But the plan behind nature—God's nature, Kåñëa's nature—is for we human beings to learn that this material world is not our happy home, and that we have a greater calling than just doing whatever we like to gratify our senses.

In ages long past, soon after the creation, ambitious demons launched a rebellion against the plan of nature. Brahmä, the creator, gave these original demons as their share of sacrifice the powers of darkness and illusion (black magic),** so that they could, in a pretentious, deceptive and finally self-destructive way, defy the true purpose of creation. Black magic is a particularly delusive feature of the lowest order of worship (i.e. worship of matter). Though demons brusquely reject faith in God, their twisted instincts compel them to worship darkness and illusion—which are phenomena of the mode of ignorance—to gain powers over nature. Industrial technology is merely a recent appearance of this ancient, demonic belief system. Arthur C. Clarke, author of 2001—A Space Odyssey and the inventor of the telecommunications satellite, is often quoted as saying “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.”**

In the West, “establishment” religious traditions like Judaeo-Christianity, long opposed to the diabolic, have made their peace with the industrial assault on nature. Compromise with the creed of the demons is a far cry from the humble and austere beginnings of Western faith. In Celebration of Discipline, Christian theologian Richard J. Foster comments:**

In a culture where the landscape is dotted with shrines to the Golden Arches and an assortment of Pizza Temples, fasting seems out of place, out of step with the times. In fact, fasting has been in general disrepute both in and outside the Church for many years. For example, in my research I could not find a single book published on the subject of Christian fasting from 1861 to 1954, a period of nearly one hundred years...There is no way to escape the force of Jesus' words...He made it clear that he expected his disciples to fast after he was gone...Christ both upheld the Discipline of fasting and anticipated that his followers would do it...Where are the people today who will respond to the call of Christ?

“Religion” that accedes to the offensive, sybaritic ways of Kali is repellent to Dharma personified. Such “religion” is actually Adharma, evil religion. Kavi-karëapüra, a great poet among the Vaiñëavas, wrote a drama entitled Çré Caitanya-candrodaya** in which Adharma, the enemy of Dharma, defends Kali thusly:

saucäcära-tapaù-kñama-sama-damaiù särdhaà vivekädibhiù
sämantair api yena dharma-nåpatir nirmülam unmülitah
ye dåñöyaiva punanti te 'pi sahasaivändhé-kåtas tat-priyä
yenaikena mayä sa yasya vaña-gaù so 'yaà kalir nindyate

You have insulted Kali, who has me (Adharma) as his faithful servant. The monarch called Dharma (Religion), along with his soldiers called purity, good conduct, austerity, tolerance, equanimity, self-control, discrimination and other virtues, are all uprooted by Kali. All that is dear to Religion, all which with a glance purifies, is blinded by the sight of Kali.

In this grim age, whom may we call a genuinely religious person? This question can be answered by a look at one's personal qualities. A true follower of dharma stands upon the same four principles that the bull of Dharma stands: truthfulness, cleanliness, austerity and mercy. He marches with the soldiers of Dharma who personify all the good qualities so abundantly evident in great spiritual masters. By sincerely following a follower of dharma, one rises to the light of sattvic existence, where the natural virtues of the soul become apparent.

If one follows in the footsteps of Kali instead of a qualified teacher of dharma, he becomes an enemy of virtue and a friend of vice. Kali resides wherever people eat meat, gamble, take intoxicants, hoard wealth and enjoy sex in violation of the laws that govern procreation. Such behavior is called kapüyacaraëä, “stinking conduct,”** for it is repellent to Dharma. However, kapüyacaraëä does attract the ominous interest of a fearsome expansion of Dharma.

Vedic literature reveals that Dharma, religion personified, is expanded as Yama.** The name Yama is explicated thus:** prajyäàyamanam yaman—“Yama, the controller of mankind.” He is also known as Dharmaräja, the ruler of religious principles; as Kälajïa, the knower of time; as Kåtjïa, the knower of action; as Daëòapäëi, holder of the rod of punishment; as Virüpäkña, having fearful eyes; as Päçahasta, holder of the noose; and as Måtyu, Death.

When a soul leaves the dying human body, his good and evil karma transports him to Yamaräja for judgement.** What one sees at that time is described in Garuòa Puräëa 2.5.147-149.

tataç taträçu raktäkñaà
bhinnäïjanacayopamam
mrtyukäläntakädinäà
madhye paçyati vai yamam

damñöräkarälavadanam
bhåkuöé däruräkåtim
virüpair bhéñaëair vaktrair
våtaà vyädhiçataiù prabhum

daëòäsakta mahäbähum
päçahastam çubhairavam
tan nirdiñöäm tato jantur
gatià yäti çubhäçubham

There, very soon [after his death], in the presence of Death and Time personified, the departed soul beholds Yama of fierce aspect, whose eyes are red, whose body is black as soot, whose jaws are ferocious, whose frown is severe. Yama's willing slaves are hundreds of personified diseases, ugly with frightening features. He holds a rod of iron and a noose. As he decides, the departed soul attains a good or evil state.
Yamaräja rules Naraka, the region of hell, where evil-doers are punished.

dine dine tu narake
pacyante dahyatenyataù
çéryate bhidyate 'nyatra
cüryate klidyate 'nyataù

kvathyate dépyate 'nyatra
tatha vätahato 'nyatah
ekaà dinaà vansaçatam
pramäëam narake bhavet

Daily in Naraka, sinners are cooked, burnt, torn, broken, pounded, immersed, boiled, heated, and blasted by winds. A day in hell is equal to one hundred years of mortal life.

Who are these unfortunates? They who wasted their precious human form of life only in rapacious pursuit of selfish interests.

icchati çaté sahasram sahasré lakñaméhate kartum
lakçädhipaté räjyam räjäpi sakalämdharäm labdhum
cakradharo 'pi suratvaà surabhäve sakalasurapatir bhavitum
surapatir ürdhvagatitvaà tathäpi na nivartate tåñëä

tåñëayä cäbhibhütas tu
narakaà pratipadyate
tåñëa muktäs tu ye kecit
svargaväsam labhanti te

A man who has a hundred [silver pieces] craves for a thousand. A man who has a thousand, yearns for a hundred thousand. A man who has a hundred thousand wishes to rule a kingdom. A man who rules a kingdom wants to become an emperor. An emperor wants to become a demigod. If he gets that, he then wants to rule over all the demigods. Even upon getting that, his thirst for power is not satiated. A person afflicted by such selfish cravings falls into hell. Those who are freed of excessive cravings secure for themselves a residence in heaven.

Of particular note in these verses (Garuòa Puräëa 2.12.13-15) is the sense in which heaven and hell are linked. The desire to become a ruler in heaven is said to be fueled by the same selfish desire on which one stumbles and falls into hell. At the same time it is said a place in heaven can be secured by desirelessness.
This might seem confusing. When is the desire for heaven hellish, and why are those who have no desire for heaven raised there? Bhagavad-gétä 2.42-43 tells of men of small knowledge who proclaim themselves followers of the Vedas, who say there is nothing more to the Vedas than rituals for winning the heavenly world, a good birth, power and so on. Such persons are indeed full of desires, and the Vedas dangle heaven in front of their eyes as the object of their desires. But one who accepts Vedic direction, even in lust for celestial pleasures, comes in contact with learned brähmaëas and Vaiñëavas who are the leaders of Vedic culture. That culture obliges one to listen respectfully while saintly teachers expose the folly of trying to satisfy desires by fruitive rituals. Desires are satisfied only when the heart is purified, and the heart is purified by saintly association. A heart so purified, detached from material position and attached to the association of learned devotees, is itself heaven. Thus the whole point of Vedic dharma is to create an opportunity for people with desires to cleanse their hearts by serving the desireless.

By regular service to the brähmaëas and Vaiñëavas, one can clear the dirt from his heart and thus enjoy supreme peace and liberation from material attachment and be satisfied. In this world there is no fruitive activity superior to serving the brähmaëa class, for this can bring pleasure to the demigods, for whom the many sacrifices are recommended. (Çrémad-Bhägavatam 1.21.40)

In the present age, regrettably, people take lessons from Kali, not saintly teachers. Adhamaù kalir uddiñöaù, writes Çrépad Madhväcärya: “Kali enters as false knowledge, vice and material desire.”** Kali teaches sacrifice to lust in place of sacrifice to God, corruption in place of morality and devotion, and false knowledge in place of Vedic knowledge.**

False knowledge, vice and material desire are the portals to hell. Indeed, hell rises through these portals to join us right here on earth. As noted earlier, Yamaräja is surrounded by hundreds of fierce-visaged personifications of disease. From hell they strike the bodies and minds of millions of people on earth. In any period of history some common diseases inevitably trouble mankind. But Kali-yuga is a time when uncommonly hellish pathologies flourish, particularly cittavibhrama—derangement of the mind—which, as we learned in Chapter Eleven, is symptomatic of vice.

But as usual, “it's worth the risk.” Industry pumps out newer and newer creature comforts to help us mask the stress, guilt and despair we face each day. People gaze blankly past the shambles of their inner lives, their minds at play with trivia. “As things fell apart,” goes a popular song, “nobody paid much attention.” This “ignore-ance” is the central theme of a disturbing recent novel entitled American Psycho.** Patrick, a wealthy, good-looking, charming and intelligent psychopathic murderer, works on Wall Street by day and butchers people by night. While dining with friends at expensive restaurants, he sometimes tries to open up about the evil side of his life. It goes right by them. His friends can't focus. They are too taken up with what they themselves have to say—about the menu, clothes, money, and other restaurants; about television, drugs, sex, and celebrities; about electronic gadgets, fitness clubs, tanning salons and people they hate; about cigars, fashion magazines, videos, and Broadway musicals; about who has the most stylish business card; about colleagues they recognize across the room who turn out to be people they don't know; about a news report that cavemen had more fiber in their diet than we do.

Paçyann api na paçyati, this is called—“seeing but not seeing.”** While one of the herd is beheaded right before their eyes, goats gaze on vacantly, chewing their cud. In the same way, millions of people go about their daily business in banal tolerance of newer and newer depravity within and all around.** When a preacher warns them that according to scripture their destruction is imminent, they blandly reply, “That is clearly his right to have that opinion, and we just hope he is wrong.”** Misled by false knowledge, vice and material desire, not seeing their own destruction as it stares them in the face, their lives are no better than those of animals. And after being punished by Yamaräja, animals they will become. Garuòa Puräëa 2.3.80-82:

tataù sarveñu nistérëaù
päpé tiryaktvam añnute
kåmi kéöa pataìgeñu
sthävaraikaçapheñu ca

gatvä vana gajädhyeñu
goñvañu tathaiva ca
kharo 'çvo 'çvataro gauraù
çarabhaçcamaré tathä

ete caikaçaphäù ñaö ca
çråëu païcanakhänataù
anyäsu bahupäpäsu
duùkhadäsu ca yoniñu

Having passed through the punishments of Yamaräja, the sinner is reborn as a worm, a germ, a fly, a one-hoofed creature, a wild elephant, a cow, an ass, a horse, a buffalo, a çarabha, a camaré, a six-hoofed animal, or one having five nails. In these and other sinful, miserable species, he takes birth.
In spite of all the faults of Kali-yuga, the Vedic seers long ago determined this age to be worshipable among the four yugas.** For in Kali-yuga, the most merciful avatära of the Supreme Lord appears to teach the easiest and yet most powerful dharma of all. Çréla Bhaktivinoda Öhäkura writes (Gétävalé, Çré Godruma-candra-bhajana-upadeça 8):

kali-kukkura-mudgara-bhäva-dharaà
hari-näma-mahauñadha-däna-param
patitärta-dayärdra-su-mürti-dharaà
bhaja godruma-känana-kuïja-vidhum

Lord Caitanya Mahäprabhu is like a powerful hammer that smashes the sin and oppression of the mad dog of Kali-yuga, and He is absorbed in distributing the holy name of Kåñëa, which is the great medicine for release from material existence. His transcendental form is beautiful, and His heart full of compassion for the suffering, fallen souls of this world. Just worship Lord Caitanya, the moon of the forest groves of Godruàa.
In Çré Caitanya-caritämåta, Antya 20.13-14, we learn:

saìkértana haite päpa-saàsära-näçana
citta-çuddhi, sarva-bhakti-sädhana-udgama

By performing congregational chanting of the Hare Kåñëa mantra, one can destroy the sinful condition of material existence, purify the unclean heart and awaken all varieties of devotional service.

kåñëa-premodgama, premämåta-äsvädana
kåñëa-präpti, sevämåta-samudre majjana

The result of chanting is that one awakens his love for Kåñëa and tastes transcendental bliss. Ultimately, one attains the association of Kåñëa and engages in His devotional service, as if immersing himself in a great ocean of love.

These truths were demonstrated for all to see five hundred years ago, when Lord Caitanya personally rescued two extremely degraded brähmaëa brothers named Jagäi and Mädhäi from their sinfulness by inducing them to participate in saìkértana at His house. There, with His associates Nityänanda, Advaita, Gadädhara, Çrévasa and many other pure devotees, the Lord danced and chanted the holy names Hare Kåñëa, Hare Kåñëa, Kåñëa Kåñëa, Hare Hare/Hare Räma, Hare Räma, Räma Räma, Hare Hare, flooding the hearts of Jagäi and Mädhäi with love of Kåñëa. Until that day these two had been drunkards, robbers, murderers and rapists. Now, having vowed to never sin again, they raised their arms above their heads and joined in the glorification of the holy names. Thereafter they were celebrated throughout the universe as the foremost of saintly persons.

Since Çré Caitanya Mahäprabhu is none other than the Supreme Lord Çré Kåñëa Himself, the demigods, in their own heavenly forms, daily attended His earthly pastimes to render Him service. They could not be seen by ordinary people without the Lord's permission. In Çré Caitanya-bhägavata, Madhya 14, Çré Våndävana däsa Öhäkura provides us with an account of the reaction of these cosmic controllers after they witnessed the deliverance of Jagäi and Mädhäi.**

Våndävana däsa relates that Yamaräja, the God of death, was also a daily visitor and witness to Lord Caitanya's pastimes. The lord of death asked his assistant Citragupta, who keeps record of the virtuous and sinful activities of human beings: “What is the extent of the sin that these two, Jagäi and Mädhäi, have committed, and what does it mean to exonerate them?”

Citragupta replied, “O Yamaräja, why pursue this matter? It is futile! If my assistant scribes were to try to write down for you the sins of these two, they would not finish even after a month. You could listen to many millions of their sins, yet much, much more would await your hearing. Unable to cope with the voluminous amount of the sins of Jagäi and Mädhäi, my scribes feel harassed.”

Citragupta continued, “My having to keep track of the sins they commit forced me to the brink of complete exhaustion. The bottomless pits where these records are kept will bear witness to our plight: these two have brought my scribes and I to tears. But now, just see—Lord Caitanya has absorbed the immense mountain of Jagäi and Mädhäi's sins with the greatest of ease. Kindly permit me to cast their records into the ocean.”

Yamaräja had never before heard of such compassion as that shown to Jagäi and Mädhäi on this day. Yamaräja is an elevated Vaiñëava. He is the embodiment of religious principles, fully acquainted with the teachings of Çrémad-Bhägavatam. As he listened to Citragupta speak in this way, he went into a trance of love of Kåñëa and dropped unconscious inside his chariot. Greatly concerned, Citragupta and his assistants tried to pick him up. They were unable to control the flow of his tears.

The other demigods, returning from their daily attendance at the Lord's pastimes, were jubilantly performing kértana. Çiva, Brahmä, Ananta Çeña, Närada Muni and other great personalities thrilled from an ever-fresh joy as they praised how the boundless mercy of Lord Caitanya delivered Jagäi and Mädhäi, the worst of all sinners.

When they noticed that Yamaräja's chariot had halted, they paused. Then they saw Yamaräja unconscious. Astonished to see him in this condition, they inquired the cause. Citragupta explained to them the reason. Looking carefully, Çiva and Brahmä perceived the symptoms of ecstatic love of Kåñëa in Yamaräja. They commenced a loud kértana, singing right into his ears. The kértana revived Yamaräja's consciousness; as soon as he found himself, he got up and began dancing like a madman. The kértana reached a crescendo while Yamaräja, son of the Sun God, matched it with his wild dancing. Enthused by Yamaräja's dancing, the demigods joined in with him. Çiva, Närada Muni and everyone else were drawn in by his love of Godhead. These are very confidential matters. One day the Vedas will reveal these activities of the demigods.

Dharmaräja (Yamaräja), now freed of all shyness and completely intoxicated by love of Kåñëa, lost himself in the movements of dance. as he remembered the pastimes of Lord Caitanya he cried out, “All glories to the Lord, the most munificent friend of the fallen souls!” The movements of his limbs were accompanied by ecstatic symptoms. As he thought of the Lord, he wept. Seeing Yamaräja in this state, the hearts of his assistants and companions overflowed with joy. Citragupta is a devotee very attached to the lotus feet of Kåñëa, so he joined in the chanting and dancing without restraint. Soon all were rolling on the ground.

In Çré Caitanya-candrodaya 1.81, Kali admits defeat by Lord Caitanya's deliverance of Jagäi and Mädhäi. In 1.44, he warns his friend Adharma: mama karmäëi kåntati—“He [Lord Caitanya] has cut my work to pieces.” And when Adharma unhappily asks where he should go in such a state of affairs, Kali replies that the only place left for him is among those who blaspheme Çré Caitanya Mahäprabhu.

Saìkértana, the congregational chanting of the Lord's holy names, is the only religious process validated by the Vedic scriptures for the present age.** Thus it is called the yuga-dharma. It is Lord Caitanya's will that saìkértana inundate the world, as He Himself declares in Çré Caitanya-bhägavata:

påthivéte äche yata nagarädi gräma
sarvatra pracära haibe mora näma

In every city, town and village of the world, the holy names of the Lord will be preached.

The natural virtues—justice, mercy, truthfulness and so on—are evident in their fullness only under the shelter of Lord Caitanya's saìkértana movement. Wherever in the world virtue might be lacking, it is easily restored and perfected by Vaiñëava-dharma.** At the same time, sin cannot remain where the holy name is uttered. Çrémad-Bhägavatam 6.2.15 declares that even if one chants the holy name indirectly (that is, by enunciating the Lord's name while aiming it at a different object, as people do when they call devotees “the Krishnas”); or chants in jest; or chants for musical entertainment; or chants derisively—still, açeñägha-haraà, one's sinful life is neutralized. Thus, as the chanting of Hare Kåñëa, Hare Kåñëa, Kåñëa Kåñëa, Hare Hare/Hare Räma, Hare Räma, Räma Räma, Hare Hare spreads through the world, virtue blossoms while sin withers.

Finally, in Çrémad-Bhägavatam 6.3.29, Yamaräja instructs his fearsome associates, the Yamadütas, to bring to him for punishment only those sinful persons who do not use their tongues to chant the holy names, who do not remember even once the lotus feet of Kåñëa, whose heads never bow down before the Lord, and who do not perform their life duties for the satisfaction of Viñëu.

Section Four: Pure and Impure Moral Standards
Containing two chapters, this section compares and contrasts Vaiñëava-dharma with the Western religious tradition. Despite the fact that its origin is Vedic, Western religion suffers from retrograde morality.

Dimensions of Good and Evil. Suhotra Swami 2003. Part One: The Vedic Context. Section Four: Pure and Impure Moral Standards.

Courtesy of http://www.Vedabase.com used with permission

Towards Varnashram Dham: A Constitution for Iskcon. Can there be a democracy?

As varnasrama-dharma is a system designed by and directed towards God, this raises one other point with regard to the flaws inherent in democracy. We see today that because we have a completely democratic society, the qualities of leadership are dictated by current public whims. The leaders try to determine what the people want and then simply offer that. In varnasarama, however, the leader represents God and protects the people (and the animals). Just as a father knows what is in the best interests of the child, even though the child may desire something else, so God knows what is best for society. Thus, parents will never allow a child to eat only sweets or stop going to school, although this may be the child’s wish, because they know what will be in the child’s best interests. Likewise, the leader should act according the directions of the supreme father, God, and thus really benefit the people.

To provide liquor houses, gambling shops, pornography and so on, may be popular, but it does nothing to conduce to the stability and happiness of society. We can see how the current type of democracy fails by witnessing how we are always changing the leaders. Although they offer more and more economic and material gains—basically, what most people believe will make them happy—no one is happy and society is a mess, because the directions of God are neglected. In varnasrama- dharma, the leadership directs society towards the spiritual goal of life, which is an unchanging direction given by God and which gives everyone complete happiness.

Courtesy of http://www.Vedabase.com used with permission

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