Prabhupada 0186 - Just like Gold is Gold



Lecture on BG 7.1 -- Fiji, May 24, 1975

So either we remain in Fiji or in England or anywhere, because Kṛṣṇa is the proprietor of everything, everywhere..., Sarva-loka-maheśvaram (BG 5.29). So Fiji is a small part of the sarva-loka. So if He is the proprietor of all the lokas, then He is the proprietor of Fiji also. There is no doubt about it. So the inhabitants of Fiji, if you take to Kṛṣṇa consciousness, that is the perfection of life. That is the perfection of life. Don't deviate from the instruction of Kṛṣṇa. Very directly, bhagavān uvāca, directly Bhagavān is speaking. You take advantage of it. There is solution of all problems of the world if you refer to Bhagavad-gītā. Any problem you present, there is solution, provided you take the solution.

Nowadays they are facing a scarcity of food. The solution is there in the Bhagavad-gītā. Kṛṣṇa says, annād bhavanti bhūtāni: (BG 3.14) "Bhūtāni, all living entities, both animal and man, they can live very nicely without any anxiety provided they have got sufficient food grains." Now what is your objection to this? This is the solution. Kṛṣṇa says, annād bhavanti bhūtāni. So it is not utopian; it is practical. You must have sufficient food grain to feed the human being and the animal, and everything will be peaceful immediately. Because people, if one become hungry, he is disturbed. So give him food first of all. That is Kṛṣṇa's injunction. Is that very impossible, impractical? No. You grow food more and distribute. So much land is there, but we are not growing food. We are growing or busy in manufacturing tools and motor tires. Then now eat motor tires. But Kṛṣṇa says that "You grow anna." Then there is no question of scarcity. Annād bhavanti bhūtāni parjanyād anna-sambhavaḥ. But anna is produced when there is sufficient rain. Parjanyād anna-sambhavaḥ. And yajñād bhavati parjanyaḥ (BG 3.14). And if you perform yajña, then there will be regular rainfall. This is the, way. But nobody is interested with yajña, nobody is interested with food grain, and if you create your own scarcity, then it is not God's fault; it is your fault.

So take anything, any question—social, political, philosophical, religious, anything you take—and the solution is there. Just like India is facing about this caste system. So many are in favor of the caste system, so many in not favor. But Kṛṣṇa makes the solution. So there is no question of in favor or not in favor. The caste system should be designated according to the quality. Cātur-varṇyaṁ mayā sṛṣṭaṁ guṇa-karma (BG 4.13). Never says, "By birth." And in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam it is confirmed,

yasya yal lakṣaṇaṁ proktaṁ
puṁso varṇābhivyañjakam
yad anyatrāpi dṛśyeta
tat tenaiva vinirdiśet
(SB 7.11.35)

Clear instruction of Nārada Muni.

So we have got everything perfectly in the Vedic literature, and if we follow... The Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is trying to educate people on this principle. We are not manufacturing anything. That is not our business. Because we know we are imperfect. Even if we manufacture something, that is imperfect. We have got four faults in our conditional life: we commit mistake, we become illusioned, we cheat others, and our senses are imperfect. So how we can get perfect knowledge from a person who is, I mean to say, possessing all these faults? Therefore we must get knowledge from the Supreme Person, who is not affected with these faults, mukta-puruṣa. That is perfect knowledge.

So our request is that you take knowledge from Bhagavad-gītā and act accordingly. It doesn't matter what you are. Bhagavān is for everyone. God is God. Just like gold is gold. If gold is handled by Hindu, it does not become Hindu gold. Or the gold is handled by Christian, it does not become Christian gold. Gold is gold. Similarly, dharma is one. Religion is one. There cannot be Hindu religion, Muslim religion, Christian religion. That is artificial. Just like "Hindu gold," "Muslim gold." That is not possible. Gold is gold. Similarly religion. Religion means the law given by God. That is religion. Dharmaṁ tu sākṣād bhagavat-praṇītaṁ na vai vidur ṛṣayo manuṣyāḥ (SB 6.3.19), like that—I just forget—that "Dharma, this principle of dharma, religious system, is ordained or given by God." So God is one; therefore dharma, or religious system, should be one. There cannot be two.