19860605 Caitanya-caritāmṛta Madhya-līlā 24.228-278

The following is the class given by His Holiness Jayapatākā swami on June 5th 1986 in Atlanta, Georgia. The class begins with a reading from that Caitanya-caritāmṛta Madhya-līlā chapter 24 text 228 to 278

‘kṛṣṇārāmāś ca’ eva — haya kṛṣṇa-manana
vyādhahañāhayapūjyabhāgavatottama

Translation: “The words ‘kṛṣṇārāmaś ca’ refers to one who takes pleasure in thinking of Kṛṣṇa. Even though such a person may be a hunter, he is still worshipable and is the best of devotees.

eka bhakta-vyādherakathāśunasāvadhāne
yāhāhaitehaya sat-saṅga-mahimārajñāne

Translation: “I shall now narrate the story of how the hunter became a great devotee by the association of such an exalted personality as Nārada Muni. From this story, one can understand the greatness of association with pure devotees.

eka dina śrī-nārada dekhi’ nārāyaṇa
triveṇī-snāne prayāga karilā gamana

Translation: “Once upon a time the great saint Nārada, after visiting Lord Nārāyaṇa in the Vaikuṇṭhas, went to Prayāga to bathe at the confluence of three rivers — the Ganges, Yamunā and Sarasvatī.

Purport: The great saint Nārada is so liberated that he can go to the Vaikuṇṭha planets to see Nārāyaṇa and then immediately come to this planet in the material world and go to Prayāga to bathe in the confluence of three rivers. The word tri-veṇī refers to a confluence of three rivers. This confluence is still visited by many hundreds of thousands of people who go there to bathe, especially during the month of January (Māgha-melā). A liberated person who has no material body can go anywhere and everywhere; therefore a living entity is called sarva-ga, which indicates that he can go anywhere and everywhere. Presently scientists are trying to go to other planets, but due to their material bodies, they are not free to move at will. However, when one is situated in his original spiritual body, he can move anywhere and everywhere without difficulty. Within this material world there is a planet called Siddhaloka, whose inhabitants can go from one planet to another without the aid of a machine or space rocket. In the material world every planet has a specific advantage (vibhūti-bhinna). In the spiritual world, however, all the planets and their inhabitants are composed of spiritual energy. Because there are no material impediments, it is said that everything in the spiritual world is one.

Thus, end the Bhaktivedanta purport to text 230.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, this is interesting that every planet has its vibhūti-bhinna or specific advantage because the material world is filled with disadvantages. So, depending on how those disadvantages are counteracted, those are relatively known as advantages. In the spiritual world there are no disadvantages so that everything is one, same spiritual quality. Of course, even within the spiritual realm, there is variegated-ness (vicitra). There are so many varieties in that sense there is difference in it. For instance, in the heavenly planets there are different advantages, and in Siddhaloka everyone has got mystic power, and in the Gandharvaloka everyone is a beautiful singer, like that. But in the spiritual planet, everyone is a liberated soul so therefore the difference is that much more subtle, much more simply on the level of spiritual variegated-ness or mellow or rasa and they're really finely relative. Just like in the material world from this planet to the next, there is a big difference.

In what part of the town are we in now?  The druid hills of Atlanta, is considered to be  a high-class area where there are other areas which are small areas. Like this, one place has advantages, one has disadvantages. It is much more obvious. There are other high-class areas and other cities in America and there's difference in this architecture or the climate. But basically, it's more or less the same, just a slight difference may be there, but more or less the same. So, like that in the spiritual world, things are more or less the same you don't see much difference although there is variegated-ness. But in the material world, there's a very distinct difference between one planet to the next. People are generally trying to move up in the material world to a little better position, but they don't realize that the real solution is to go back to the spiritual world where everything is perfect, complete and then you don't have to worry about going up a little bit to the next better planet. So now we are going to go on and read these verses quickly which tell the story about this hunter whom Nārada Muni had delivered.

vana-pathe dekhe mṛga āche bhūme paḍi’
bāṇa-viddha bhagna-pāda kare dhaḍ-phaḍi

“Nārada Muni saw that a deer was lying on the path through the forest and that it was pierced by an arrow. It had broken legs and was twisting due to much pain.

āra kata-dūre eka dekhena śūkara
taiche viddha bhagna-pāda kare dhaḍ-phaḍa

“Further ahead, Nārada Muni saw a boar pierced by an arrow. Its legs were also broken, and it was twisting in pain.

aiche eka śaśaka dekhe āra kata-dūre
jīvera duḥkha dekhi’ nārada vyākula-antare

“When he went further, he saw a rabbit that was also suffering. Nārada Muni was greatly pained at heart to see living entities suffer so.

kata-dūre dekhe vyādha vṛkṣe oṅta hañā
mṛga māribāre āche bāṇa yuḍiyā

“When Nārada Muni advanced further, he saw a hunter behind a tree. This hunter was holding arrows, and he was ready to kill more animals.

śyāma-varṇa rakta-netra mahā-bhayaṅkara
dhanur-bāṇa haste, — yena yama daṇḍa-dhara

“The hunter’s body was blackish. He had reddish eyes, and he appeared fierce. It was as if the superintendent of death, Yamarāja, were standing there with a bow and arrows in his hands.

patha chāḍi’ nārada tāra nikaṭe calila
nārade dekhi’ mṛga saba palāñā gela

“When Nārada Muni left the forest path and went to the hunter, all the animals immediately saw him and fled.

kruddha hañā vyādha tāṅre gāli dite cāya
nārada-prabhāve mukhe gāli nāhi āya

“When all the animals fled, the hunter wanted to chastise Nārada with abusive language, but due to Nārada’s presence, he could not utter anything abusive.

“gosāñi, prayāṇa-patha chāḍi’ kene āilā
tomā dekhi’ mora lakṣya mṛga palāilā”

“The hunter addressed Nārada Muni: ‘O gosvāmī! O great saintly person! Why have you left the general path through the forest to come to me? Simply by seeing you, all the animals I was hunting have now fled.’

nārada kahe, — “patha bhuli’ āilāṅa puchite
mane eka saṁśaya haya, tāhā khaṇḍāite

“Nārada Muni replied, ‘Leaving the path, I have come to you to settle a doubt that is in my mind.

pathe ye śūkara-mṛga, jāni tomāra haya”
vyādha kahe, — “yei kaha, sei ta’ niścaya”

“ ‘I was wondering whether all the boars and other animals that are half-killed belong to you.’

“The hunter replied, ‘Yes, what you are saying is so.’

nārada kahe, — “yadi jīve māra’ tumi bāṇa
ardha-mārā kara kene, nā lao parāṇa?”

“Nārada Muni then inquired, ‘Why did you not kill the animals completely? Why did you half-kill them by piercing their bodies with arrows?’

vyādha kahe, — “śuna, gosāñi, ‘mṛgāri’ mora nāma
pitāra śikṣāte āmi kari aiche kāma

“The hunter replied, ‘My dear saintly person, my name is Mṛgāri, enemy of animals. My father taught me to kill them in that way.

ardha-mārā jīva yadi dhaḍ-phaḍa kare
tabe ta’ ānanda mora bāḍaye antare”

“ ‘When I see half-killed animals suffer, I feel great pleasure.’

nārada kahe, — ‘eka-vastu māgi tomāra sthāne’
vyādha kahe, — “mṛgādi laha, yei tomāra mane

“Nārada Muni then told the hunter, ‘I have one thing to beg of you.’

“The hunter replied, ‘You may take whatever animals or anything else you would like.

mṛga-chāla cāha yadi, āisa mora ghare
yei cāha tāhā diba mṛga-vyāghrāmbare”

“ ‘I have many skins, if you would like them. I shall give you either a deerskin or a tiger skin.’

nārada kahe, — “ihā āmi kichu nāhi cāhi
āra eka-dāna āmi māgi tomā-ṭhāñi

“Nārada Muni said, ‘I do not want any of the skins. I am asking only one thing from you in charity.

Kālī haite tumi yei mṛgādi māribā
prathamei māribā, ardha-mārā nā karibā”

“‘I beg you that from this day on, you will kill animals completely and not leave them half-dead.’

vyādha kahe, — “kibā dāna māgilā āmāre
ardha mārile kibā haya, tāhā kaha more

“The hunter replied, ‘My dear sir, what are you asking of me? What is wrong with the animals’ lying there half-killed? Will you please explain this to me?’

nārada kahe, — “ardha mārile jīva pāya vyathā
jīve duḥkha ditecha, tomāra ha-ibe aiche avasthā

“Nārada Muni replied, ‘If you leave the animals half-dead, you are purposely giving them pain. Therefore, you will have to suffer in retaliation. 

Purport: This is an authoritative statement given by the greatest authority, Nārada Muni. If one gives another living entity unnecessary pain, one will certainly be punished by the laws of nature by a similar pain. Although the hunter Mṛgāri was uncivilized, he still had to suffer the results of his sinful activities. However, if a civilized man kills animals regularly in a slaughterhouse to maintain his so-called civilization, using scientific methods and machines to kill animals, one cannot even estimate the suffering awaiting him. So-called civilized people consider themselves very advanced in education, but they do not know about the stringent laws of nature. According to nature's law, it is a life for a life. We can hardly imagine the sufferings of one who maintains a slaughterhouse. He endures suffering not only in this life, but in his next life also. It is said that a hunter, murderer or killer is advised not to live and not to die. If he lives, he accumulates even more sins, which bring about more suffering in a future life. Therefore, he is advised not to die because his dying means that he immediately begins to endure more suffering. Therefore, he is advised not to live and not to die.

As followers of the Vedic principles, we accept the statements of Nārada Muni in this regard. It is our duty to see that no one suffers due to sinful activities. Foolish rascals are described in Bhagavad-gītā as māyayāpahṛta-jñānāḥ, which indicates that although they are superficially educated, māyāhas taken their real knowledge away. Such people are presently leading human society. In Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam they are also described as andhāyathāndhairupanīyamānāḥ. These rascals are themselves blind, and yet they are leading others who are blind. When people follow such leaders, they suffer unlimited pains in the future. Despite so-called advancement, all this is happening. Who is safe? Who is happy? Who is without anxiety?

***

Jayapatākā Swami: Now in modern society we find that there are many societies to stop cruelty to animals and they are upset over the horrible conditions in the animal factories and slaughterhouses. So, we can see here that this has got some approval by Nārada Muni that animals are going to be killed by people, but atleast they should be killed clean and quick because of the desire to feed their tongues, satisfy their tongues with flesh. So, because of this, we see through radiation, horrible suffering, torturous pain, rotting of the bone marrow and then gradual disintegration of all the tissues. So, one may ask that, is this a reaction or is this the kind of reaction one can expect for causing countless animals to scream in pain, and to suffer horrible deaths just so that people can have their tender flesh in their mouth.

So, when Nārada Muni was offered the skins and the flesh. I don't want any of these things. I just want you to at least, you are going to eat and kill animals. At least do it in such a way that it causes them less pain. But the real teaching as Prabhupada explained is that there should not be slaughterhouses. Slaughterhouses should be banned immediately without any hesitation and if somebody is a confirmed meat eater then he should be allowed to take the animal in his backyard and kill it with his own hands just like this hunter is doing. If he is so cruel and hard-hearted that he doesn't mind killing the animal he wants to eat, then at least he can take the sinful reaction directly. Many Americans, they don't think exactly what goes on in a slaughterhouse nor do they want to be reminded of it actually. But they are addicted to eating meat. But there certainly are some who would go out and kill their animals in the farm.

I have personally seen when I was a small child in America, my uncle killed the chicken and was running around without its head. I know there are people who can do this. But at least those who cannot do it, rather than hire someone else to do it, rather than remain in ignorance about the pain that's caused, if they did it themselves that would immediately cut down the amount of animal killing. In America how many people are going to go and kill their own animals? Actually, animals are people, they have feelings, they have families. Even they have consciousness. They have everything that we have.

The Vedas say that the same soul that is in us, there's a similar kind of soul within them. It is simply that in the future, they can also take human birth. But now they have taken animal birth due to the laws of karma. So therefore in one point of view, you can say that the human birth is a spiritual opportunity or the net worth of the soul is more, It is a better position to become spiritualized fully. That doesn't mean that other forms of life do not have soul. Even though those birds are not very conducive towards liberation, if they have souls it's simply that those souls in those various bodies are covered up more completely by the bodies that they're in. So, it's very dangerous.  I mean it's very scary when we read this because then we think how in one day, how many millions and millions of animals are being slaughtered.

So, when the sun rises over main in the east and sets in California that there are some hundreds of millions of animals which are killed every day and the total comes to around some three or five billion animals in a year are slaughtered, killed and eaten. So, then we think that there has to be peace in the world, there shouldn't be a nuclear war, yet we are causing so much pain in this country to so many living entities. How then can the people who are paying for them who are hiring slaughterhouses indirectly through buying slaughtered meat expect not to have to suffer similar pain? It is total ignorance that they think that they're going to get away scot free after causing so much pain to others.

So this is going to be demonstrated in the following verses where Nārada Muni shows to the hunter Mṛgāri, how the reaction for killing animals does come back upon one. Sometimes we preach to people how it is better to be an eater of Kṛṣṇa prasādam, spiritual food stuff because Kṛṣṇa only accepts vegetarian sāttvika food, but they're very adamant that they want to continue to eat the flesh. Actually, even in the Bible it also says that no one should eat blood, any food that has blood is not for human consumption. They also say that to kill them is the same as to kill a man. There are many verses. Of course, some people find other verses where they translate to show that in some circumstances people do eat meat.

We find that Jesus came into the temples, the synagogues and he found that the people were sacrificing birds and he said you've made my father's house into a slaughterhouse and he threw all those people out and stopped them from killing the birds in the synagogue. He taught that we should love our neighbours, as we do unto our neighbours as we would have them do unto us.

So animals are also entities. we should do unto them as we would have them do unto us. If we want them to come into another life and to slaughter us, then we should slaughter them and if you don't want that, then we should avoid this type of unnecessary violence. When God has given us especially in this modern era of Green Revolution, sufficient vegetables, grains, milk products, pulses to give all health and eating satisfaction. If instead, just for the tongue, we are willing to sacrifice everything, then we have to expect that we are going to also lose everything on account of them. We are not going to be able to achieve spiritual emancipation at all.

jihvāra lālase yei iti-uti dhāya
śiśnodara-parāyaṇa kṛṣṇa nāhi pāya

Someone who runs here and there, simply trying to satisfy the dictation of the tongue who is the slave to the impulse of the genitals and the belly, he cannot achieve the shelter of the supreme personality of Godhead Kṛṣṇa. So now Nārada Muni explains to the hunter what is the reaction for his heinous act of half killing the animals and causing them to suffer extreme pain before finally killing them.

vyādhatumi, jīvamāra — ‘alpa’ aparādhatomāra
kadarthanādiyāmāra’ — e pāpa ‘apāra’

Nārada Muni continued, ‘My dear hunter, your business is killing animals. That is a slight offense on your part. But when you consciously give them unnecessary pain by leaving them half-dead, you incur very great sins.

Purport: This is another good instruction to animal-killers. There are always animal-killers and animal-eaters in human society because less civilized people are accustomed to eating meat. In the Vedic civilization, meat-eaters are advised to kill an animal for the goddess Kālī or a similar demigod. This is in order not to give the animal unnecessary pain, as slaughterhouses do. In the bali-dāna sacrifice to a demigod, it is recommended to cut the throat of an animal with one slice. This should be done on a dark-moon night, and the painful noises expressed by the animal at the time of being slaughtered are not to be heard by anyone. There are also many other restrictions. Slaughter is only allowed once a month, and the killer of the animal has to suffer similar pains in his next life. At the present moment, so-called civilized men do not sacrifice animals to a deity in a religious or ritualistic way. They openly kill animals daily by the thousands for no purpose other than the satisfaction of the tongue. Because of this the entire world is suffering in so many ways. Politicians are unnecessarily declaring war, and according to the stringent laws of material nature, massacres are taking place between nations.

prakṛteḥ kriyamāṇāni guṇaiḥ karmāṇi sarvaśaḥ
ahaṅkāra-vimūḍhātmā kartāham iti manyate 

“The bewildered spirit soul, under the influence of the three modes of material nature, thinks himself to be the doer of activities that are in actuality carried out by nature. Bhagavad-gītā 3.27. The laws of prakṛti (nature) are very stringent. No one should think that he has the freedom to kill animals and not suffer the consequences. One cannot be safe by doing this. Nārada Muni herein says that animal-killing is offensive, especially when animals are given unnecessary pain. Meat-eaters and animal-killers are advised not to purchase meat from the slaughterhouse. They can worship Kālīonce a month, kill some unimportant animal and eat it. Even by following this method, one is still an offender.

Thus, ends Prabhupada’s purport.

Jayapatākā Swami: Here some people say, well what if you don't have anything else to eat or what do you do? So it says here that well, if a person is a hunter or say a person is an Eskimo or some tribal person, they have no other way or that their tradition is to hunt and eat some animal, even then this is what Buddha said. No one should kill an elephant or especially a cow. Even the king of Thailand, who is a Buddhist, during his birthday, he is banned from the killing of any cows and he has offered that if anyone will give a cow saved from slaughter and gives him a cow, he will stamp it with a royal seal that it can never be slaughtered again and he'll put it onto a special protective status because Lord Buddha said not to kill cows and other similarly highly evolved animals is a great sin, a great bad karma and therefore it should be avoided.

But there are other people who have to eat meat, then there are goats, pigs and other smaller less evolved animals. But then if one kills the animal as a hunter, that may be less sinful. Slight reaction may be there, but to torture them and have them killed in a slaughterhouse or have them killed in this painful way where one doesn't need to do so, where one is not a hunter, where one is otherwise not obliged, then one has to take a greater reaction. If one living in the cities feels compelled to take the flesh then this system of giving sacrifice to Kālī is recommended.

Actually, Kālī herself is a vegetarian under most circumstances because she's the wife of Lord Śiva. So, she eats only what Lord Śiva leaves as remnants on his plate. It is said that when meat is offered to her, she gives it to her consorts, her various associates who are various witches, ghosts, demons and so on and one can get their remnants. Actually, one is getting bhūta-prasāda when one takes remnants from Kālī. Nonetheless, the system is such that one gets a minimum reaction by doing it that way. Of course, in the West they would consider this barbaric or something that an animal is sacrificed before a deity like Kālī, who is a deity of destruction, who is a form of the material energy, Durgā. They would think that there's something very barbaric or paganistic or something, but they think nothing about slaughtering billions of animals in modern slaughterhouses.

Actually, the data culture understands that there are going to be certain people who are about to kill animals. So, it gives some facility so that just like the government licenses liquor stores not because it's saying everybody should become a drunkard or drink liquor, because if they try prohibition then it just promotes black marketeering and other forms of under the table operations, illegal, illicit operations. So, to control the whole thing, because they may have spurious liquors, more people die, due to taking improperly made spirits, they have licensed alcohol. But that's highly that's supposed to be more restrictive.

Similarly, Kṛṣṇa, through the Vedas He has provided, God has provided or if you are going to, if somehow or the other you must eat meat, then do it this way at least and then that will cause the least suffering for the animal. The animal gets the blessing of becoming a human being in the next life, and the person who is eating the meat, then he gets to alone get to suffering, and it doesn't implicate others, and then suffering is also minimized. Yet, if the animal's head is not chopped off, klik..(sound) in one clean sweep, then it's also considered to be a great sin by the pūjārī who does the offering. So, they have the chopper, with one clean sweep they take off their head, the animal doesn't even know what's happening and goats are really stupid.

The goats sitting there east the grass right to the last minute and when it's just one sweep, like that, they hardly make a sound. So actually if you see the way that animals are herded into the slaughterhouses, the way that they're electrically shocked, and sometimes the way that, even in the temple we can’t  see the horrible things that they are doing to these animals, how they take the chickens and they are putting them in electrocuting water and then when they are not even fully dead, they throw them into boiling water, then they are plucking out, just so horrible things that they are doing is just what Mṛgāri was doing, half killing the animals and they are just shaking in the ground, the similar kind of torture is given to these chickens, animals, cows and other animals for slaughtering them.

So actually if you compare you'll find that this Vedic tradition where a demigod, who is a minor administrative assistant in the universal administration under the supreme Godhead, where animal is offered to some demigod and the remnant is taken in, as far as possible painless. Pain must be there when you get killed.  There is no such thing as a painless death in this world. There's going to always be some feeling of some sort. But this is kept to a minimum and therefore the reaction is kept to a minimum. But actually, the best thing is that human being should become eaters of Kṛṣṇa prasādam. That is their actual best thing they should do, but if they don't, then this description is very enlightening.  This is telling us what is the actual reaction, how to understand it. So Nārada Muni continues.

kadarthiyā tumi yata mārilā jīvere
tārā taiche tomā māribe janma-janmāntare”

Nārada Muni continued, ‘All the animals that you have killed and given unnecessary pain, will kill you one after the other in your next life and in life after life.’

Purport: This is another authoritative statement made by the great sage Nārada. Those who kill animals and give them unnecessary pain — as people do in slaughterhouses — will be killed in a similar way in the next life and in many lives to come. One can never be excused from such an offense. If one kills many thousands of animals in a professional way, so that other people can purchase the meat to eat, one must be ready to be killed in a similar way in his next life and in life after life. There are many rascals who violate their own religious principles. According to the Judeo-Christian scriptures, it is clearly said, “Thou shalt not kill.” Nonetheless, giving all kinds of excuses, even the heads of religions indulge in killing animals while trying to pass as saintly persons. This mockery and hypocrisy in human society bring about unlimited calamities; Therefore,occasionally there are great wars. Masses of such people go out onto battlefields and kill themselves. Presently they have discovered the atomic bomb, which is simply waiting to be used for wholesale destruction. If people want to be saved from the killing business life after life, they must take to Kṛṣṇa consciousness and cease sinful activity. The International Society for Kṛṣṇa Consciousness recommends that everyone abandon meat-eating, illicit sex, intoxication and gambling. When one gives up these sinful activities, he can understand Kṛṣṇa and take to this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement. We therefore request everyone to abandon sinful activity and chant the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra. In this way people can save themselves from repeated birth and death.

End of the bhaktivedanta purports text 252.

nārada-saṅge vyādhera mana parasanna ha-ila
tāṅra vākya śuni’ mane bhaya upajila

“In this way, through the association of the great sage Nārada Muni, the hunter was a little convinced of his sinful activity. He therefore became somewhat afraid due to his offenses.

vyādha kahe, — “bālya haite ei āmāra karma
kemane tarimu muñi pāmara adhama?

“The hunter then admitted that he was convinced of his sinful activity, and he said, ‘I have been taught this business from my very childhood. Now I am wondering how I can become freed from these unlimited volumes of sinful activity.’

Purport: This kind of admission is very beneficial as long as one does not again commit sin. Cheating and hypocrisy are not tolerated by higher authorities. If one understands what sin is, he should give it up with sincerity and regret and surrender unto the lotus feet of the Supreme Personality of Godhead through His agent, the pure devotee. In this way, one can be freed from the reactions of sin and make progress in devotional service. However, if one continues committing sins after making some atonement, he will not be saved. In the śāstras, such atonement is compared to an elephant’s bathing. An elephant takes a very good bath and cleanses its body very nicely, but as soon as it comes out of the water, it picks up some dust on the shore and throws it all over its body. Atonement may be carried out very nicely, but it will not help a person if he continues committing sins. Therefore, the hunter first admitted his sinful activity before the saintly person Nārada and then asked how he could be saved.

ei pāpa yāya mora, kemana upāye?
nistāra karaha more, paḍoṅ tomāra pāye”

“The hunter continued, ‘My dear sir, please tell me how I can be relieved from the reactions of my sinful life. Now I fully surrender unto you and fall down at your lotus feet. Please deliver me from sinful reactions.’

Purport: By the grace of Nārada Muni, the hunter came to his good senses and immediately surrendered unto the saint’s lotus feet. This is the process. By associating with a saintly person, one is able to understand the reactions of his sinful life. When one voluntarily surrenders to a saintly person who is a representative of Kṛṣṇa and follows his instructions, one can become freed from sinful reactions. Kṛṣṇa demands the surrender of a sinful man, and Kṛṣṇa’s representative gives the same instructions. The representative of Kṛṣṇa never tells his disciple, “Surrender unto me.” Rather he says, “Surrender unto Kṛṣṇa.” If the disciple accepts this principle and surrenders himself through the representative of Kṛṣṇa, his life is saved.

nārada kahe, — ‘yadi dhara āmāra vacana
tabe se karite pāri tomāra mocana’

“Nārada Muni assured the hunter, ‘If you listen to my instructions, I shall find the way you can be liberated.’

Jayapatākā Swami: So, it goes on. So just to summarise what happens. Nārada Muni tells him to break his bow. The person is afraid, If I break the bow, how can I maintain myself? Nārada Muni tells him, don't worry, I will provide your food. Being reassured by Nārada Muni the hunter broke his bow, and fell down at Nārada Muni's lotus feet and fully surrendered. Then Nārada Muni gave him instructions for spiritual advancement.

He advised the hunter to return to his house, distribute whatever wealth he received from killing and give it to the pure brāhmaṇas, who know the absolute truth. Then after giving his riches away, he and his wife leave the home, taking each a cloth to wear. He told them to go to a river and construct a small cottage, In-front of the cottage, they should grow a tulasī plant on a raised platform. Then after planting the tulasī, they should daily circumambulate the tulasī plant, serve her by giving her water and other things and continuously chant the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra.

In this way Nārada Muni said, I will send you sufficient food every day. You can take as much food as you want. So, this way Nārada Muni freed the half-killed animals, bringing them to consciousness.He was, the hunter was struck with wonder on seeing Nārada Muni’s mystic power in bringing back the dead animals, the half- killed animals to complete health and freeing them. He offered his obeisances to Nārada Muni, and returned to his home. He did exactly as he was instructed. The news then spread far and wide that he was a Vaiṣṇava, and people brought alms to him, the Vaiṣṇava who had previously been a hunter.

In this way so much food came that there was enough to cater ten or twenty people, So the hunter could only accept whatever they needed. They didn't accept any more. One day Nārada Muni came with his friend Parvata Muni who wanted to see his disciple the hunter. Or Nārada Muni only actually requested him, Come and see my hunter disciple, my disciple the hunter. When the saintly sages came to the hunter’s place, the hunter could see them coming from a distance, so the hunter, he tried to run, ran towards his spiritual master. But he couldn't fall down and offer obeisances, because ants were running hither and thither around his feet. So, seeing the ants, the hunter tried jumping this way and that way trying to escape crushing them. Then he smoothed them away with his palm very carefully and then he fell down and offered his obeisances.

So, then Narada commented that my dear hunter, such behaviour is not at all astonishing.  A man in devotional service is automatically nonviolent. He is the best of gentlemen. Oh hunter, good qualities like non-violence which you have developed are not very astonishing. For those engaged in the Lord's devotional service are never inclined to give pain to others because of envy. The way the hunter was so fortunate to receive his guru. These great sages stood in the courtyard of his house and he gave them a sitting place and gave them water, washed their lotus feet. 

In this way, the husband and wife sprinkled the water on their heads and drank the water for their purification. They chanted Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra before their spiritual master. His body trembled. His eyes welled with tears. He was filled with ecstatic love. He raised his hands and began to dance, waving his garments up and down. When Parvata Muni saw the ecstatic loving symptoms of the hunter, he told Nārada Muni, certainly you are a touchstone. Parvata muni continued that my dear friend Nārada Muni, you are glorified as a sage amongst the demigods. By your mercy even a lowborn person like this hunter can immediately become attached to Lord Kṛṣṇa.

So, in this way, the hunter had achieved everything that he needed, more grains than he could use. There was no want. He was saved from the sinful reactions towards violent activities. So, just as Nārada Muni had delivered this hunter, somehow or the other, the so called, civilized people of the Western world who have fallen to this similar situation as Mṛgāri the hunter, where they are unnecessarily killing animals to feed their carnal instincts, to feed their tongues when there is adequate alternative foodstuff available. Somehow or the other by the association of pure devotees, people must become purified to give up this horrible habit. Then only can the world have real peace. Then only can we be secure from the total destruction of this modern civilization due to nuclear wars or world wars and all of it.

Hare Kṛṣṇa Hare Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Hare Hare
Hare Rāma Hare Rāma Rāma Rāma Hare Hare

Any questions?

I've no objection to having restaurants if we have the manpower, infrastructure, capital. You are discussing that it's easier to do catering. First, it's easier to make cookies and bake and bakery things and sell. First you have to do market research if you want to have a restaurant, to see whether the clientele is adequate, whether the traffic flow we have at the main port…Restaurant means, you have to work morning to night. Catering is easy. If you advertise just like this, this is known as the convention city isn't it?  Atlanta? So, some of these conventions, every time you see conventions, you can see different people that organise this convention. There are professional convention makers and people want to put out a convention. They go to these organisers of the convention saying, put us against the convention.

They rent the halls, they organize the entertainment, they organize the catering, they do everything. So, we can even contact these various organizers of conventions and various companies that during your convention have one feast vegetarian. That's very profitable and that way you can reach some of the elite people of the country because it's profitable. In this way that you know exactly how many plates you have to make and to make that many plates. It is very controlled. In a restaurant, you can make every day a certain amount of food. It is not sold every day, sometimes its surplus is there, and it's a place where we have to keep people there no matter. How many people come on or not that day. But there are head, there are so many over-head. There is inspection, You, have to have the kitchen certified.

But this catering is something which you can do unhesitatingly. We have very good cooks here, there's no difficulty to do that. Well, in a restaurant, you have to dedicate a number of people to do that. I'm not sure that we have the people for that. Ready to discuss but it would be good practice and that’s the good name for us, if we got into a you have a card pin it up, if you make it as a separate business under one of our trust, but I mean it can be done as a professional thing and promoting high school sororities, but anyways for college and university has eternity sororities, at least they were they always have parties and sometimes they have feast, they have some time they could have just a question of sending out printing out.

I have somebody write up a good write-up on it, and going around and then sometimes inviting the heads of having maybe even a banquet, sometime where you invite all the heads of these conferences these organizers of conferences, you have, we call it with 20 of them here even one day. You somehow arrange that they all come and take nice vegetarian food and it is your turn to give my first-class thing. Catering is also one thing you have to know how to decorate the plate, how to make it look very nice with flowers and their vegetables in the salad and not just that you come out in the tin foil plates and plastic.

You know it has to be diamond, that the plates themselves look very attractive. You can get $10 $15 $20 $50 depending on various food. You could charge for one plate. So, you know, based on a certain market rate, we can definitely charge less for a vegetarian meal than what they get charged for a meat meal. But make it very attractive. I recommend doing that first and then you can consult a restaurant.

 I think we were discussing having more food for life type programs here in Atlanta like all-you-can-eat for something like that type of program because there is a lot of Martin Luther King. There's a lot of poor people, there's a lot of people that could use food at a school over there, kind of cheap rate. You could have a vegetarian club here in this temple downstairs, encourage people to join, put up signs and save on numbers and different places. I like the vegetarian Club. People come here, take vegetarian meals, very simple ones. Just like they do in Dallas for cooking in the temple, kitchen, a meal there was a salad bar, we have one on one plate every day. One special plate with a few ala carte with generally just one name.

Then people going out of the temple, if they want,they go right into ala carte restaurant and it's then got very high reviews but in case of rezoning if we can't have it as a full-out restaurant you can have it as a vegetarian club. Everyone that comes in has joined the club. It's a club. 

Question: (In audible 47.15-38)

Jayapatākā Swami: The thing is that when we meet people on the street, we don’t only need people in our kitchen. We want them to first be devotees, to chant Hare Kṛṣṇa, to accept Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Because that's the only way. Actually people, even if they want to start, they can't unless they develop a higher taste. They can't stop it.   Although some can by will power but it's very difficult for them. This is very easy If they become Kṛṣṇa conscious. So now preaching, we preach against these things, but our primal thing is to preach, and such where the people take our books, that they chant Hare Kṛṣṇa, when we come direct one-on-one, personal but there's a good opportunity for having some preachers groomed as a more kind of extension public affairs which I discussed this with Mukunda Mahārāja.

Different leaders and public affairs and they've done it in Washington to some degree. But I feel that we should do it on the local level especially. We could do it possibly with some of our perfection home devotees. For instance, there's the vegetarian clubs. Become members of these. That person would become a member and we have those clubs for cruelty against animals. There are so many different clubs, so many different associations, so that one or two people become active and go to those meetings and use those forums for supporting the things that we agree on and also for pushing a little bit higher understanding of the matter.

It is also interesting, I would like to see if it was possible to have a write-up that was active in public affairs, worth and every time always happening in the world. Every day, somethings are very graphic,those things that create a lot of stir, so those things when they happen, why is there terrorism? Why is there this? Why is there that?

Then, if a person was expert and give the Kṛṣṇa consciousness, just like leader and spokesman for the Hare Kṛṣṇa movement, spokesmen for the Kṛṣṇa conscious movement, united for Kṛṣṇa conscious states that nuclear holocaust and Russia is a forerunner of things to come I think people don't stop eating meat. They can say that meat eating is the for these type of dangers that unnecessary suffering that's been due to animal disease.

If some newspapers or media pick it up it is interesting, this way millions of people at one time would be able to see our work, that’s much better than one on one preaching.   This is how you can encourage Kṛṣṇa conscious preaching. While encouraging on one on one basis to not eat meat, in a broader sense on the basis of the books that they can read,by sitting down they can understand that it can be more effective. But just when we meet people, you don't want to just come off by the way of challenge and everything they do they get all emotionally upset and they just feel that these people are too heavy, we have to come out develop the personal relationship with the people, we have to establish a rapport with them and gradually encourage them. The past is to come up when someone is actually talking with us. That is a different opportunity. Then we have a chance of developing a kind of a personal touch.

When we are distributing books, we can distribute all these through the books. When a person can read these books in solitude, situated in the house, he can read with intelligence and rationale and understand what is there in the books. If we are talking to someone, they are not going to listen and they don’t want to do it and they continuously say that they don’t want to hear, they don't listen and they don't take any book. So, we have to be careful in preaching and we don't come off completely you know in our personal dealing, we should be very friendly and open. When the person is advanced enough and we can get on their case. We can get heavy with them that they should take up this higher standard of living.

What if a person is coming at us in an offensive way, then we can turn around and start to challenge them if we feel that it's quite as effective as why they are supporting all these heinous things when we decide to put them on the defensive. But we should find the forums. There should be some forums. It could be a program at different colleges where you can have a vegetarian day or vegetarian week. It may already be something like that in America. If there isn't, that time that we could promote it and during that time we could do you know, we could give out free meals or you know set up some kind of a rate and for those institutions we could do various things to promote Kṛṣṇa consciousness to these movements. This should be done in a very professional way, shouldn't be done in a haphazard way. It should be done in a way appropriate for the sophisticated 20th Century American, so that people actually feel impressed that these people are really together, they are very reasonable - they are rational, it will be convincing.  

Hare Kṛṣṇa