Prabhupada 0158 - Mother-killing Civilization
Lecture on SB 5.5.3 -- Stockholm, September 9, 1973
Nūnaṁ pramattaḥ kurute vikarma (SB 5.5.4). Vikarma means forbidden, criminal activities. There are three kinds of activities: karma, vikarma, akarma. Karma means prescribed duties. That is karma. Just like sva-karmaṇā. In the Bhagavad-gītā: sva-karmaṇā tam abhyarcya (BG 18.46). Everyone has got prescribed duties. Where is that scientific understanding? There must be... As I was talking the other day, scientific division of the human society. The most intelligent class, they should be trained up as brāhmaṇa. Less, little less intelligent, they should be trained up as administrator. Less intelligent, they should be trained up as traders, agriculturalists and cow protector. The economic development requires cow protections, but these rascals do not know. The economic development's cow killing. Just see, rascal civilization. Don't be sorry. It is śāstra. Don't think that I am criticizing the Western civilization. It is śāstra says. Very experienced.
So there are so many economic development advocates, but they do not know that cow protection is one of the items of economic development. These rascals, they do not know. They think cow killing is better. Just the opposite. Therefore kurute vikarma. Simply for little satisfaction of the tongue, the same benefit you can derive from the milk, but because they are rascals, madmen, they think that eating or drinking the blood of the cow is better than drinking milk. Milk is nothing but transformation of the blood, everyone knows. Everyone knows. Just like a human being, mother, as soon as the child is born, immediately... Before the child is born, you don't find in the breast of the mother any drop of milk. See. In a young girl, there is no milk in the breast. But as soon as the child is born, immediately there is milk. Immediately, spontaneously. This is God's arrangement. Because the child requires food. Just see how God's arrangement is there. Still, we are trying for economic development. If a child is born and God's economic program is so nice, nature's economic program, that immediately the mother is ready with the milk... This is economic development. So the same milk is supplied by the cow. She's actually mother, and this rascal civilization is killing mother. Mother-killing civilization. Just see. You suck the breast of your mother from the beginning of your life, and when she's old if you think, "Mother is useless burden. Cut its throat," is that civilization?