Prabhupada 0338 - What is the Value of this Democracy
Lecture on BG 1.31 -- London, July 24, 1973
Catur-vidhā bhajante māṁ sukṛtina. Sukṛtina means pious. Kṛtī means very expert in acting worldly activities. So one who are engaged in pious activities, they are called sukṛtī. There are two kinds of activities: impious activities, sinful activities; and pious activities. So one who goes to pray in the church or in the temple, "O God, give us our daily bread," or "God, give me some money," or "God, give me relief from this distress," they are also pious. They are not impious. The impious people, they will never surrender to God, Kṛṣṇa. Na māṁ duṣkṛtino mūḍhāḥ, prapadyante narādhamāḥ (BG 7.15). These class of men, sinful men, rascal, lowest of the mankind, whose knowledge has been taken away by māyā, and demon—these classes of men will never surrender to God. Therefore they are duṣkṛtina, impious. So Kṛṣṇa is pious, but still he wants the family benefit. This is his defect. Er, Arjuna. Family prosperity. He wants to be happy with society, friendship and love. Therefore he says that na kāṅkṣe vijayam... This is called vairāgya. Śmaśāna-vairāgya. It is called śmaśāna-vairāgya. Śmaśāna-vairāgya means that in India, the Hindus, they burn the dead body. So relatives take the dead body for burning to the burning ghāṭa, and when the body is burned, everyone present there, for the time being, they become little renounced: "Oh, this is the body. We are working for this body. Now it is finished. It is burnt into ashes. So what is the benefit?" This kind of vairāgya, renouncement, is there. But as soon as he comes from the burning ghāṭa, he again begins his activities. In the śmaśāna, in the burning ghāṭa, he becomes renounced. And as soon as comes home, again he is vigorous, vigorous, how to earn, how to get money, how to get money, how to get money. So this kind of vairāgya is called śmaśāna-vairāgya, temporary. He cannot become vairāgī. And he said, na kāṅkṣe vijayam: (BG 1.31) "I don't want victory. I don't want this." This is temporary sentiment. Temporary sentiment. These people, they attach to family life. They may say like that, that "I don't want this happiness, don't want this very nice position, victory. I don't want." But he wants everything. He wants everything. Because he does not know what is the śreyas. Śreyas is Kṛṣṇa. Actually, when one gets Kṛṣṇa, or Kṛṣṇa consciousness, then he can say that "I don't want this." They will not say that. Why they will say, "Don't want this"? Here what we have got? Suppose I have got a kingdom. So that is my kingdom? No. That is Kṛṣṇa's kingdom. Because Kṛṣṇa says bhoktāraṁ yajña-tapasāṁ sarva-loka-maheśvaram (BG 5.29). He is the proprietor. I may be His representative. Kṛṣṇa wants that everyone should be Kṛṣṇa conscious.
So the king's duty is, as representative of Kṛṣṇa, to make every citizen Kṛṣṇa conscious. Then he is doing nice duty. And because the monarchs did not do so, therefore now monarchy is abolished everywhere. So again the monarchs, where there is monarchy, little, at least show of monarchy, just like here in England there is, actually if the monarch becomes Kṛṣṇa conscious, actually becomes representative of Kṛṣṇa, then the whole face of the kingdom will change. That is required. Our Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is for that purpose. We don't very much like this so-called democracy. What is the value of this democracy? All fools and rascals. They vote another fool and rascal, and he becomes prime minister, or this or that. Just like... In so many cases. That is not good for the people. We are not for this so-called democracy because they are not trained. If the king is trained... That was the system of monarchy. Just like Yudhiṣṭhira Mahārāja or Arjuna or anyone. All the kings. Rājarṣi. They were called rājarṣi.
- imaṁ vivasvate yogaṁ
- proktavān aham avyayam
- vivasvān manave prāha
- manur ikṣvākave 'bravīt
- (BG 4.1)
Evaṁ paramparā-prāptam imaṁ rājarṣayo viduḥ (BG 4.2). Rājarṣayaḥ. Rāja, king means, he is not only king. He is a great ṛṣi, saintly person, just like Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira or Arjuna. They're saintly persons. They are not ordinary, this drunkard king, that "I have got so much money. Let me drink and let there be dancing of the prostitute." Not like that. They were ṛṣi. Although they were king, they were ṛṣis. That kind of king wanted, rājarṣi. Then people will be happy. In Bengali there is a proverb, rājara pāpe rāja naṣṭa gṛhiṇī doṣe gṛhastha bhraṣṭa (?). In gṛhastha life, in household life, if the wife is not good, then nobody will be happy in that home, gṛhastha life, household life. Similarly, in a kingdom, if the king is impious, then everything, everyone will suffer. This is the problem.