Radhanath Swami explains Kshatriya, or the man who is qualified to protect the sufferers, is meant to rule the state. Untrained, lower class men or men without ambition to protect the sufferers cannot be placed on the seat as an administrator. Unfortunately in the age of kali the lower class men without training occupy the post of a ruler by strength of popular votes and instead of protecting the sufferers, such men create a situation quite intolerable for everyone. Such rulers illegally gratify themselves at the cost of all comforts of the citizens, and thus the chaste mother earth cries to see the pitiable condition of her sons, both men and animals. That is the future of the world in the age of Kali when irreligiosity prevails most prominently. And in the absence of a suitable king to curb irreligious tendencies, educating the people systematically in the teachings of Srimad Bhagavatam will clear up the hazy atmosphere of corruption, bribery, blackmail, etc.
The burden of the earth was certainly diminished by the personality of Godhead and by others as well. When He was present as an incarnation all good was performed because of His all-auspicious footprints. Now she, the chaste one, being unfortunately forsaken by the Personality of Godhead, laments her future with tears in her eyes, for now she is being ruled and enjoyed by lower -class men who pose as rulers.
Radhanath Swami on How kaliyuga is the age of irreligion
Prior to the appearance of Lord Krsna exploitative, corrupt and powerful beings were to a great degree ruling the earth. The earth, Bhumidevi, is the consort of the Lord. When Lord Visnu appeared as Varahadeva, He lifted the earth with His own tusks and even impregnated her intimately with a child, Bhoma. The earth simply exists for the pleasure of Krsna. All the resources of the earth are her gifts which are being meant as offerings for the pleasure of Krsna. But when we take those gifts of mother earth, exploit her resources for our own purposes, this is a great burden of pain upon the earth because earth is mother. We are all born of the earth. Even a small mother of this world who has a family, if she gives birth to children and those children are totally disrespectful, inconsiderate, sinful, irreligious, the presence of those children are a great burden to the mother. They cause her tremendous, tremendous distress. Of course nowadays in the age of kaliyuga, if a child takes to religious life and wants to surrender to Krsna that is a great burden to the mother. That causes her great distress. Why? Because in this age of kaliyuga practically everybody is misled. What is religion is taken to be irreligion and what is irreligion is taken to be religion. The natural quality of the soul is to surrender to Krsna. It is a completely unnatural, foreign condition to try to enjoy our senses separate from Krsna. But society is so spiritually lost, even in the name of religion that if someone wants to surrender to Krsna, if someone wants to give up materialistic ways of life, it is considered very unnatural, and thus the mother feels great burden. But in any case, the principle is when the child is disrespectful to the will of the mother it makes a tremendous, terrible burden of pain on her life. So we are all born of the earth. Our bodies are simply made of the various ingredients that the earth has provided. In every way Krsna is the Supreme Father of every living being. Aham bija pradah pita and material nature is the mother. How is that? Because every living being is part of Krsna, the spirit soul. And when Krsna through his glance of Mahavisnu, He impregnates all living beings within the womb of material nature. So the earth gives us a body and Krsna puts the soul within those various bodies provided by mother earth. So literally she is our mother. And when she sees, especially her grown-up children, misbehaving, terrorizing and causing so much infliction upon others, that is the greatest infliction upon herself. So, Bhumi, mother earth, in terrible, terrible distress took the form of a cow and along with the devataas headed by Lord Brahma, prayed to the Supreme Personality of Godhead to appear knowing that only He could relive the burden from the earth. Dharmam tu saksad bhagavat pranitam. Only Krsna could create real harmony and religion.
“paritranaya sadhunam
vinasaya ca duskrtam
dharma-samsthapanarthaya
sambhavami yuge yuge”
Krsna appears for this purpose only. The fallen jivatmas giving up their eternal blissful condition are squandering away their lives uselessly in this world of birth and death. Such an embarrassment. Srila Prabhupada would tell the story of Indra. He was the king of heaven. Such a pious noble position where there is so much enjoyment. But somehow or the other because of his misbehavior, because he did not properly utilize his freedom, his independent choices he was cursed. He was cursed to fall down to this world, the earth, in the form of a hog. No longer was he eating the delectable sweet preparations prepared by wonderful, wonderful celestial cooks. But he was eating the refused stool lying on the sides of the roads. No longer was he seeing the beautiful dancing of the heavenly apsaras but he was watching other gross animalistic pigs gathered all around him. No longer was he hearing the sweet sounds of the gandharvas singing accompanied by celestial, heavenly classical instruments but he was hearing the snorting and groaning of pigs all around him. What an abominable situation! But the nature of material life, maya, is so strong that whatever type of enjoyment we can get, somehow or other, we become very much attached to that. So Lord Brahma came down and said “Indra it’s time for you to return to the heavenly kingdom. Your curse is finished.” And Indra in the form of a hog, he said “I do not want to go. I am very happy. I have my female pig who is my wife. See her beauty. And I have my children who snort with broken snorts and everything else giving great pleasure to my heart.” So in this way he didn’t want to go back to heaven. He was attached to his stool and his association of hogs. That is our condition. We are meant to be in the spiritual world enjoying transcendental rasa with Krsna. That is our natural position. That is our home. But we have become so endlessly attached to the temporary relationships of this world. And what are those relationships? We do not even understand the spiritual essence within others. We are simply attached to various bodies which are composed of stool and urine and mucous and bile and air and so many other material substances. Like strangers in a foreign land we are trying to be happy here.
“paritranaya sadhunam
vinasaya ca duskrtam
dharma-samsthapanarthaya
sambhavami yuge yuge”
“yada yada hi dharmasya
glanir bhavati bharata…”
Indra’s attachment and lord bramha’s compassion by Radhanath Swami
Like Lord Brahma came down to tell Indra this is not your place come home. Similarly Krsna descends in so many ways, at so many times for the purpose of telling us, this is not your home. Get out of this world of birth and death. Come to your real position of transcendental enjoyment with Me. Although Krsna has come in so many wonderful ways, spoken so many words of truth, we are not willing to listen. Like Indra attached to his hog society, we are not willing to take the invitation of Krsna seriously. But of course we know the story that the butcher came and right in front of Indra’s eyes, sliced to pieces with his knife, Indra’s wife, all of Indra’s children. The blood was flowing, the scream of death was all around him, still he was attached to his hog body. But when the butcher started coming to him with knife in hand, then Indra called out to Brahma “Take me home. I’m ready”. So similarly it is a matter of time, till through the process of the sufferings of material nature, we will also decide to surrender to Krsna. But how long will we suffer before we make that decision? In relationship to this story, one may think that for Brahma to arrange this butcher to do all these terrible things, was that cruelty or was that mercy? What would you say? Mercy. Mercy. Because unless all that terrible terrible anguish and suffering came into his life, he would never wake up and understand his real, transcendental and eternal position. So anybody and everybody would say that Brahma was very merciful, because he made him suffer so bad. But in our own lives we see suffering all around us in this world and we think why is God doing this to us? For the same reason. How much suffering? But it is Krsna’s mercy that this material world is not a nice place. If it was, we would be bereft of transcendental ecstasy forever. So Krsna has designed this material existence in such a way that ultimately we are all meant to use our intelligence to be frustrated. So the miseries of this world are blessings in disguise. Although temporarily they may create so much inconvenience, ultimately they are meant to re-direct us to our real position. But we shouldn’t have to go on suffering like this birth after birth. Krsna has come. He has given us the way. He has personally descended for this purpose only. Why not just take His mercy? Take His instructions. Chant His holy names and go back home, back to Godhead.
Krsna annihilates demons in bulk by Radhanath Swami
So mother earth understood and along with Brahma and the demigods that the only way to relieve her of this burden of so many sinful living beings all over the planet, she called for Krsna and Krsna descended. He first appeared in Mathura, in the prison cell of Kamsa as the son of Devaki and Vasudev. On that very night of Janmashtami, He was carried by Vasudev across Yamuna to Sri Gokul Dham where He was presented as the son of Yashoda and Nanda. And then Krsna began to perform His wonderful lila. And part of His lila, besides performing beautiful, beautiful pastimes to attract the hearts of all living beings for all times to come, besides speaking Bhagavad Gita, Uddhava Gita and so many other wonderful words of wisdom, He also killed all the demons on earth in so many ways. Krsna was so intelligent that He just appeared in such a way that all the demons were coming right to Him. Putana, Agasura, Bakasura, Vatsasura, they were coming again and again and again and Krsna was slaying them all. And then He went to Mathura and killed more demons. And then He went to Dwaraka, killed more demons. He was very intelligent in so many ways. Jarasandha….. Jarasandha was very influential amongst all the demons in the world. Kamsa, destroyed everybody, he defeated everybody. But Jarasandha was his father-in-law. He treated Jarasandha like father. This was the position of Jarasandha. Very very highly respected amongst the asuras. So Krsna would defeat him and kill all of his armies of asuras, but He would not kill Jarasandha. He would let him go. And then Jarasandha would go and he would gather so many other asuras from all over the planet. Big big big big demons. Hundreds and thousands, millions at a time. And they would come and attack Dwaraka or Mathura and again Krsna would kill all of them, but He wouldn’t kill Jarasandha. Why? So that Jarasandha would go in anger and envy and gather more demons from all over the world, millions and millions more. Krsna didn’t have to go anywhere. They were all coming to His office. And they’d all come and He’d kill them all and He’d keep Jarasandha and with his influence he would get millions and millions of more. They’d come, Krsna would kill them all, but He would spare Jarasandha. But He would spare him in such a way He would embarrass him. He would put shame upon him and then he would get more demons and more demons and he was just bringing all the demons of the earth to Krsna. And whatever irreligious people were left, Krsna assembled them all in the battle of Kurukshetra and He didn’t even lift a finger to touch any of them. Just by His will, within eighteen days whatever were left they were all destroyed.
So in this way Krsna, He created all auspiciousness in the world. Like the light of Krsna, there can be no darkness that stands before Him. But then it is Krsna’s plan. Although He appears once in a day of Brahma in His original transcendental form, at the time by His own sweet Will, He disappeared from the earth. And when Krsna disappeared that was the official date when kaliyuga was supposed to begin. But because the Pandavas were rulers, Kali had no influence. But when the Pandavas left shortly after Krsna they coronated Parikshit Maharaj, who was also a noble, faithful devotee of the Lord, as the emperor. And when Parikshit Maharaj was king, Kali had no power to withstand his purity. But somehow or other on this one particular occasion, Kali was trying to destroy the religious principles. He was beating the cow, religion personified, earth personified and the bull. And we read here how mother cow, Bhumidevi is lamenting, lamenting with tears in her eyes because she is being enjoyed by lower class men. This is the condition in the age of Kali. Not only of the earth but even of people in general. Innocent people are so much being polluted, corrupted, exploited, misused by the agents of kali and being converted to such a way of life themselves. And Srila Prabhupada explains that the leadership of society is especially and specifically meant to protect the innocent, but now the leaders…it is the demons themselves, the asuras themselves, the low class, uncontrolled persons that become the leaders and rather than protecting and giving relief to the suffering, they are actually causing the suffering. They are actually perpetuating the suffering. And we see this in society today. So much blackmailing, so much bribing, so much corruption, so many scandals amongst the leaders, everywhere in the world. It is not a localized problem. It is an international problem. We find in every country. In the United States of America, the President, the person who is supposed to be leading the world, was everyday practically in the newspapers. There’s so much talk and evidence about his immoralities, sexual scandals, of the past, the recent past. About he extorted illegally money and funds, took bribes. It’s not only here in India. Everywhere. This is the talk of the nation. How corrupt and degraded their leaders are. And so many promises, so many promises. But by personal behaviour and policies, the people are suffering more and more and more. And here in India sometimes we see these newspapers, terrible. All we see is corruption amongst the leaders. On every level. And the people are suffering and they are perpetuating the people’s suffering. So what is the solution? The solution is transcendental knowledge. The solution to darkness is light. Very simple. And it is explained in the First Canto of Srimad Bhagavatam that after Krsna disappeared from this earth, Krsna personally appears in the form of the Srimad Bhagavatam, to give light in the age of darkness. So by hearing Srimad Bhagavatam, by living according to these principles, there can be real direction within society. And the hope for the world is that leaders in society begin to hear the words of Bhagavatam and purify their lives. Now everyone practically, to some extent, becomes a leader. The father and the mother are the leaders of their family. The teacher is the leader of the students. The employer is the leader of the employees. Amongst friends there is always a leader, even amongst children. And in politics, people have power. They are leaders of the countries, the nations. Yad Yada ācarati śreṣṭhas tat tad evetaro janaḥ. So it is very very essential and vital especially that the young generation cultivates Krsna Consciousness, understands the teachings of the Srimad Bhagavatam, lives by those teachings and becomes purified. Because they are the future leaders of the world. And by their spiritual attributes and by teaching truth, there can be hope of real happiness for all living beings. Srila Prabhupada was one person, but because he lived by the teachings of the Bhagavatam and taught the teachings of the Bhagavatam, so many people who were being exploited, whose minds were totally being distorted by cheaters and cheating, he gave them truth, he gave them light, he gave them life, he gave them happiness. And it was his dream that those whose lives he touched with transcendental knowledge, that we distribute that knowledge throughout the world. And this is very very important. Krsna has appeared within His name in this age of kaliyuga. Kali Kale Nama Rupe Krsna Avatara. So this is the hope for the world. The principle of Bhagavatam is to always remember Krsna. And Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu taught us the conclusion of the Bhagavatam. That we can always remember Krsna by chanting his name. So we must take very seriously this principle of relieving our mother, the earth of this terrible, terrible pain and distress that she is undergoing by broadcasting this Harinaam Sankirtan movement. Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna, Krsna Krsna, Hare Hare. Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare. And not be sentimental about our material attachments. We have to understand the need of the soul. The need of the soul within every living being, longing for Krsna. The exploitation of material energy in this age of kali is so terrible and so complete. People’s mind and senses are so terribly uncontrolled. The leaders, whether they be government officials…. Today in this society, the leaders are musicians, leaders are athletes, leaders are religious leaders, parents. What they do the children will do. What they do the dependents will do. And when they behave corrupt, the dependents are corrupted. And what is the result of corruption? Suffering, misery, confusion, sinful reaction. So we must be examples. This world needs exemplary Vaisnavas. People who by their lives, who by their teachings are actually giving the common people hope and direction. And that comes from living according to the teachings of the spiritual masters and giving the great charity for the relief of all suffering beings, Krsna’s holy name. Because Krsna’s name is the only thing with the power to counteract the influence of the age of Kali. There is no other way.
“harer nama harer name
harer namaiva kevalam
kalau nasty eva nasty eva
nasty eva gatir anyatha”
So let us take shelter of Krsna’s name and let us give that shelter to others. Let us give up our lila as hogs and go back home, back to Godhead.
