In his purport to Srimad Bhagavatam 2.3.32 Srila Prabhupada writes, “Undoubtedly Bhagavad-gita was spoken by the Lord on the Battlefield of Kuruksetra just to encourage Arjuna to fight, and yet to complete the transcendental knowledge of Bhagavad-gita, the Lord instructed Uddhava. The Lord wanted Uddhava to fulfill His mission and disseminate knowledge which He had not spoken even in Bhagavad-gita.” Chapters 7-29 of the Srimad Bhagavatam’s 11th Canto are known as the “Uddhava Gita.”

Srila Prabhupada CREATED a taste. He said this on 19 August 1973 in Los Angeles, while lecturing on Srimad Bhagavatam 1.2.16: “Because at the present moment there are sudras, they are lacking taste. But our propaganda is, by some way or other, even they are sudras, EVEN THEY’RE DEMONS (emphasis mine), we are creating the taste. That is our Krsna consciousness movement. Even there is…, there is no taste for vasudeva-katha-rucih, still, our process is so nice that we create the taste. Nobody was interested in Krsna consciousness, but there are thousand now. How? Because we are trying or we have created the taste, by this process.”

The concept of seva aparadha indicates that the eating of flesh eliminates many would-be seekers from devotional service. But this needn’t be the case if we consider that all will be re-born, and one who continues to consume animal flesh while inhabiting one body, may not do so in the next. Therefore devotionally-minded meat-eaters need not be set aside prematurely. Their contact with devotees may be just what prevents them from eating meat in a future life.

(This article was posted in the ?Meditations? column of the Hindustan Times on 24 October 2002.) MEAT-EATING IS unhealthy and expensive. It?s ostentatious and becoming unfashionable. It?s also environmentally unfriendly, and causes starvation. But what to do with all the ownerless cows loitering in the streets of Delhi, draped over traffic islands and eating piles of garbage? Ship them all off to Brindaban? That?s what some think. Maybe it?s not such a bad idea. Or create animal shelters and keep them there? That?s another thought. All this is leading to Diwali and the tendency to make resolutions at the start of a New Year. But resolve flies in the face of traditional and fatalistic ideas about karma and predestination. And it?s been intimated that ?the road to hell? can be ?paved with good intentions?. Besides how can I, one person, make a difference? In my humble opinion, one of the strongest personal choices we can make is to foreswear flesh. Such abstention may feel socially awkward at first, but the benefits far outweigh the liabilities. It?s a direct link to a personally less selfish world, and it restores the bridge over the waters of ignorance. Lucid satellite photographs from the US show the existence of a now underwater bridge from India to Sri Lanka. NASA?s caption says the bridge appears to be ?man-made.? Three weeks ago, Indolink.com made these photos downloadable, and hundreds of bulletin boards worldwide displayed printed versions. We shouldn?t be surprised. In the Ramayana, there is wisdom: Ram and His associates worked tirelessly to help good triumph over evil. Values of right and wrong, as espoused in the history of the Ramayana, are what young people need to hear and live by. Without such principles, we face a future of unmitigated hedonism, indecency, increased crime and terrorism. And from whence do such ideals emanate, but from the epic histories of our own past. India is the land of Ram, and we can live for His eternal return, instead of just once a year. So with the New Year upon us, why not set aside ?me-ism?, and think how to best benefit the human family, worldwide. India, like no other country, can headquarter the ?united nations of the spiritual world.? And if but a fraction of the millions who read this newspaper stopped eating meat, it would surely affect the world. It?s a start, and a decision that?s do-able. The writer is emeritus GBC of the International Society For Krishna Consciousness.

Srila Prabhupada once said that in every verse of Srimad Bhagavatam “there is poetic genius.” To this end he cited the sloka, samasrita ye pada-pallava-plavam, mahat-padam punya-yaso murareh, bhavambudhir vatsa-padam param padam,padam padam yad vipadam na tesam -10.14.58 (June 3, 1968, Montreal)

When it comes to dying, each body deteriorates in the same way. In this way we are all equal. We can return to the beautiful verse in the tenth canto of Srimad Bhagavatam which dramatizes how the material body, no matter how high a position it achieves in the material world, ends up as ashes, earth or defecation. Interred bodies eventually become earth, incinerated ones become ash, and cadavers and mortally wounded humans consumed by jackals, dogs or vultures (as occurs in some parts of the world) transform into stool. “The body that at first rides high on fierce elephants or chariots adorned with gold and is known by the name “king” is later, by Your invincible power of time, called “feces,” “worms,” or “ashes.” 10.51.50 (The chapter’s title is “The Deliverance of Mukunda”)

Guru dasa once told that he heard Srila Prabhupada say, “He who wants fame the least, gets it the most.” Krsnadasa Kaviraja Goswami, the renowned author of Caitanya Caritamrta, considered himself shameless. CC, Adi 8.72: “By their mercy, all these devotees ordered me to write of the last pastimes of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Because of their order only, although I am shameless, I have attempted to write this Caitanya-caritamrta.

We’ve read that association and environment are vital factors in determining one’s behavior and vision. A startling example of this is when ordinarily polite and helpful New Zealanders get behind the wheel of a car. They change. Their total absence of decorum and poor road etiquette can become annoying or downright terrifying to Americans over forty (like me) when driving on the rural roads near Auckland. The following happens to me a lot: You’re driving down the road, in New Zealand that is. It’s a warm sunny afternoon, not a soul in sight, not a care in the world. Srila Prabhupada is singing on the car radio. There’s no cars on the highway, and you’re cruising. Doing about 50. Than you happen to look into the rear view mirror. There’s a red SUV (that stands for sport-utility vehicle in case you didn’t know) right on your tail. He’s five inches from your rear bumper, has wrap around sun glasses, a crew cut, and is looking agro. You want to slow down, but you’re worried he’ll bump into you… I speed up a little and he’s still on my tail – just as close. The New Zealand Road Code booklet (the one you read if you’re taking the written test) says to pull over when this happens. But there’s not enough room on the shoulder – it’s a winding road, and what if someone’s coming the other way? So I drive with heart in mouth for what seems like forever – each straightaway seems to have a car coming in the opposite direction – until I finally find a straight enough length of road and a shoulder wide enough to pull over. I flash my left blinker even before starting to reduce speed and then I slow down, but not too fast. He passes in a deafening roar of the engine (probably in a lower gear) and of course he doesn’t beep or flash his lights to acknowledge my courtesy. Yep, those super-polite en zedders (New Zealanders) can really turn into monsters on the road. Whew!

We don’t have to turn to Rupa Goswami to find the principle of yukta vairghya. We can find it right in the Bhagavad-gita As It Is in many places. For example 3.9 reads, “Work done as a sacrifice for Visnu has to be performed, otherwise work causes bondage in this material world. Therefore, O son of Kunti, perform your prescribed duties for His satisfaction, and in that way you will always remain free from bondage.” And what did Arjuna do? He used his military expertise in devotional service-killing people.

In the wake of phrases like ‘Hindus, Shmindus,’ and the ongoing controversy about Indian ethnicity versus host communities in the Hindu diaspora, Srila Prabhupada at least once called Indians seeking a would-be better life in the West, the ‘new crows.’ Yet he DID say this about Indian piety, “…through the veins of Indians, the spiritual fluid is flowing.” (13th Nov, 1973, lecture in New Delhi.)