The only good option when living in this material world
To eat, we always have to kill; it is not possible to live on rocks. To move around, we need to kill so many insects. How to avoid all this violence against other beings?
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When I was doing traveling saṅkīrtana, I used to notice that after every trip, the van was always covered with dead insects. The poor insects would be flying around, tending their insect businesses, and would unexpectedly be crushed against the van when it passed. It was unavoidable. Even driving at lower speeds would not help much. In this way, every trip resulted in a genocide of flies, mosquitoes, and other insects, and possibly also a number of ground animals who would be crushed under the wheels of the car. Once I even killed a cat in this way, when it crossed unexpectedly in front of the van when it was at high speed.
According to Śrīla Prabhupāda, however, I was not responsible for all these deaths because they were unavoidable in the service to Krsna. Insects crushed by the saṅkīrtana van are thus benefited, just like vegetables killed to cook for the deities, and ultimately no one loses. However, this gave me another realization: If I were doing the same for my personal sense gratification, I would be personally responsible for the deaths of all these living beings.
It’s not just about traveling in a van. Everything we do involves violence against different creatures, in one way or another. To eat, we always have to kill; it is not possible to live on rocks. To move around, we need to kill so many insects and other beings, be it by moving in a vehicle or by crushing them as we walk. When we travel in a plane or car, we also produce so much pollution that will negatively influence the ecosystem for thousands of years.
The problem is also not just about eating or traveling. Nowadays, anything we buy is wrapped in plastic and is transported by trucks and planes that generate a lot of pollution. The same applies to any products made in factories, which always cause terrible pollution, apart from all the hardships the poor workers endure. When we purify water for drinking (or when we drink it without being filtered), we also kill so many living beings, and the same happens when we breathe. The list goes on and on. Everything we enjoy in this world is smeared in blood.
This is when I realized something that Śrīla Prabhupāda explains in his books:
“Every one of us, life after life, is knowingly or unknowingly committing sinful activities. I may knowingly kill an animal, and that is certainly sinful, but even if I do it unknowingly, it is also sinful. While walking on the street we unknowingly kill so many ants, and in the course of our other ordinary dealings – while cooking, while taking water, while using a mortar and pestle to crush spices – we kill so many living beings. Unless we remain Kṛṣṇa conscious, we are liable to be punished for all these unknowingly committed sinful acts.” (TQK 22)
Everything we enjoy in this material world is produced from the suffering of other living beings. There is simply no way of living in this material world without killing and causing suffering for others, and this was accentuated in the modern age. Jains try to avoid that by covering their mouths and living renounced lives, but Prabhupāda mentioned that even this is ineffective, since one still kills by walking around, breathing, drinking water, and so on.
We hear about great criminals, politicians, and dictators who would not hesitate to create great suffering for others in the name of fulfilling their plans, but if we think about it, we do basically the same every time we want to enjoy something in this world. The violence we commit is smaller, of course, but the essence is basically the same.
Śrīla Prabhupāda explains that the only way to be nonviolent is to act only for the satisfaction of Krsna. Instead of eating, moving around, and acting for our sense gratification, we should use these propensities in the service of Krsna. Only in this way will we be able to benefit others instead of just causing them pain.
One of the central points of the Bhagavad-gītā is the question of violence and non-violence. Arjuna wanted to avoid committing violence by abandoning the battlefield to become a sage in the forest, but Krsna explained to him that even in this lifestyle, one has to commit violence to live, and apart from that, one can’t go against his nature. Arjuna’s nature is being a warrior, and this nature would force him to fight, even if he tried to live in the forest.
Krsna then offers him the path of true non-violence: abandoning one’s propensity to enjoy his senses and instead acting in Krsna Conscious activities. When one is Krsna Conscious, he will automatically avoid gross sinful activities (such as killing, stealing, seducing married ladies or men, drinking, etc.), and because he is working for Krsna, smaller unavoidable sinful activities, such as killing vegetables to cook or killing small insects while walking around, are nullified.
Apart from that, we all have different skills and talents, and our potential is truly realized when we use them in the service of Krsna. This is another point explained in the Bhagavad-gītā. It’s not recommended to become a dry renunciant and try to just suppress one’s nature, which is equivalent to the idea of Arjuna going to the forest. To just use our talents and skills to enjoy our senses is also not recommended, because it entangles us in the laws of karma. The only good solution, thus, is to use such skills and talents in the service of Krsna. In the case of Arjuna, his mission was to use his military talent to defeat the Kauravas in the battle of Kurukṣetra. Each of us has thus to find, under superior guidance, our own mission in life, our own Kurukṣetra, the place where we can use our talents in Krsna service for advancing spiritually.
We have different skills and talents, and the path for us is to use them in Krsna’s service, instead of becoming false renunciants or just using the material facilities we have to enjoy our senses. We only hope for us to navigate these difficult times we live in is to remain in Krsna consciousness, acting in Krsna’s service. As soon as we forget Krsna and try to separately enjoy ourselves in this material world, we become entangled.
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