Whether I shall show mercy or I shall be very strong and strict, that is my will, freedom. I may show you mercy, I may not show. You cannot force me, that "You must become merciful."

God doesn't play by our rules

It is God's prerogative - Who are you to dictate to Him?

PUSTA KRSNA: It's just like, say here's a field, and it's full of wood, so a farmer comes and he cuts down the trees and then he plants grain, and then it comes up as wheat. So he'll say, "Well, God did not do it; I did it." So his proposal is that under such circumstances how is the idea of God practical?

PRABHUPADA: So then practical is if God would not have given you this land, then where is scheme of tilling it? Can you till in the sky, in the air? Who has given you the land, hmm? You are very practical, but where you get the earth? Can you manufacture this land? Can you? Then God comes, immediately. Where you get this water? Can you manufacture water? Where you get this air? Can you manufacture? Where you get this fire? Everything, there is God.

PUSTA KRSNA: But then he may say, "But what is the use, because someone who is atheist and someone who is God conscious, sometimes it is found that the atheist..."

PRABHUPADA: The atheist will suffer. Just like anyone who is outlaw, does not believe in the government's law, he'll suffer. If somebody says, "I don't care for government laws," then he'll suffer. Ahankara-vimudhatma kartaham iti manyate [Bhagavad-gita 3.27]. He's a rascal. He may say so, like madman, that "I don't care for government and government laws," but naturally he'll be punished. He'll be put into jail and suffer. That he cannot check. He may, with empty words, he can say "I don't care for government," but does it mean that he can escape the government laws? That is not possible. Government will see that "Here is a lunatic rascal. Put him into the jail," that's all. Is it not? Is it not practical?

DEVOTEE: He can say also that "What is the difference? You are also..., you have to farm..."

PRABHUPADA: That is another thing, you and me, but we are talking of government laws. Whether you'll be punished, I'll be punished, that is different thing. Anyone will be punished. There is no question, "I" and "you." It is not that I am very favorite and you are not favorite. Anyone who will violate the government's laws will be punished. Who can deny it? It is not the question of "I" and "you." Anyone. How you can become independent of the laws? That is not possible. You have to accept God.

PUSTA KRSNA: Christians say that God is very merciful.

PRABHUPADA: That mercy depends on Him. You cannot dictate Him. If I am merciful, that will depend on me, whether I can show you mercy or I can condemn you. That is, depends on me. Simply on the basis of "God is merciful," I can do all unlawful things, this is not practical proposal. Merciful means it depends on me. Whether I shall show mercy or I shall be very strong and strict, that is my will, freedom. I may show you mercy, I may not show. You cannot force me, that "You must become merciful." That is not right. God is really merciful. Otherwise, how He's supplying this... In the morning if a fog, so God mercifully has asked sun, "Now give them some sunlight." So we are enjoying. He is merciful. When there is sunshine you see the sinful man and the pious man, both enjoy. That is His mercy. When he bestows His mercy, it is for all of them, either you are sinner or you are pious. That is God's mercy. Just like the cloud when it pours water, it does not make any discrimination. On the sea, there is also rainfall; on the rocks also, there is rainfall, where there is no necessity of rain. Therefore where is necessity of rainfall on rock? What is the use? There is no use. It is simply waste. So God also wastes: "All right, you take. You don't require; you also take." In the ocean there is no need of water, but when... The cloud pours water on the ocean also. Only on the land we can utilize, but God is so merciful, exactly like the raincloud, He is so merciful, where there is no necessity they are also getting rain, "Take rain." That is merciful. Without any discrimination, whether you want or not want, "Take it." That is mercy. You can show your mercy when there is scarcity water — you can bring some tanks of water from other places and put here — but how long you'll do it? But when the God is merciful, He'll pour rain so in large quantity that everyone will benefit. That is God's greatness. You'll have to spend so much money, labor, to bring a few buckets of water from other place. Beyond that, you cannot do anything. But God is so powerful, so great, that within a twinkling of, within a few minutes only, immediately He can overcast with cloud and overflood the whole tract of land. That is God's greatness. You have to understand God's greatness in that way. If the sinful, number of sinful men are great, God immediately starts one war, and within few years, all finished. Russia finished, America finished, everyone. That is greatness of God. In this way try to understand how God is great in every activity. In mercy He's great, in cruelty He's great. If He wants to show cruelty, He's the greatest cruel. No discrimination, all finished. Never mind women, children or cats, dogs — all finished. That is cruelty, greatness of cruelty. Then there is greatness of mercy. So that is greatness. So you study, in God, the greatness, how great He is. At night you have so many lights for illuminate your city, home, and so many electric powerhouse going on, and God is so great that one sun-immediately, all light. There is no need of powerhouse, there is no need of matches, there is no need of this light, that light. Take sunlight. That is His greatness. And within a second. When night is going on, we have seen.

HARI SAURI: On the airplane.

PRABHUPADA: Yes. Immediately sun comes out, all darkness gone. That is His greatness. Do that like that. Then you compete with God. Can you do it? Then how can you avoid God? [laughs]. Rascals only, mudha, naradhama. They cannot appreciate the greatness of God. Mudha. They're asses. Anyone who does not appreciate the greatness of God, they're asses, mudha. As good as the ass. And lowest of the mankind, naradhama. And their so-called scientific knowledge, useless. If by so-called scientific knowledge they want to defy God, then they are mudha naradhama, useless.

Laws not made to be broken

Every living being, whether a man or an animal or a bird, thinks that he is free by himself, but actually no one is free from the severe laws of the Lord. The laws of the Lord are severe because they cannot be disobeyed in any circumstance. The man-made laws may be evaded by cunning outlaws, but in the codes of the supreme lawmaker there is not the slightest possibility of neglecting the laws. A slight change in the course of God-made law can bring about a massive danger to be faced by the lawbreaker. Such laws of the Supreme are generally known as the codes of religion, under different conditions, but the principle of religion everywhere is one and the same, namely, obey the orders of the Supreme God, the codes of religion. That is the condition of material existence. All living beings in the material world have taken up the risk of conditioned life by their own selection and are thus entrapped by the laws of material nature. The only way to get out of the entanglement is to agree to obey the Supreme. But instead of becoming free from the clutches of maya, or illusion, foolish human beings become bound up by different nomenclatures, being designated as brahmanas, kshatriyas, vaishyas, shudras, Hindus, Mohammedans, Indians, Europeans, Americans, Chinese, and many others, and thus they carry out the orders of the Supreme Lord under the influence of respective scriptural or legislative injunctions. The statutory laws of the state are imperfect imitation replicas of religious codes. The secular state, or the godless state, allows the citizens to break the laws of God, but restricts them from disobeying the laws of the state; the result is that the people in general suffer more by breaking the laws of God than by obeying the imperfect laws made by man. Every man is imperfect by constitution under conditions of material existence, and there is not the least possibility that even the most materially advanced man can enact perfect legislation. On the other hand, there is no such imperfection in the laws of God. If leaders are educated in the laws of God, there is no necessity of a makeshift legislative council of aimless men. There is necessity of change in the makeshift laws of man, but there is no change in the God-made laws because they are made perfect by the all-perfect Personality of Godhead. The codes of religion, scriptural injunctions, are made by liberated representatives of God in consideration of different conditions of living, and by carrying out the orders of the Lord, the conditioned living beings gradually become free from the clutches of material existence. The factual position of the living being is, however, that he is the eternal servitor of the Supreme Lord. In his liberated state he renders service to the Lord in transcendental love and thus enjoys a life of full freedom, even sometimes on an equal level with the Lord or sometimes more than the Lord. But in the conditioned material world, every living being wants to be the Lord of other living beings, and thus by the illusion of maya this mentality of lording it over becomes a cause of further extension of conditional life. So in the material world the living being is still more conditioned, until he surrenders unto the Lord by reviving his original state of eternal servitorship. That is the last instruction of the Bhagavad-gita and all other recognized scriptures of the world.

Cooperation with Krishna in your best interests

PRABHUPADA: Nobody of you could answer the question. Now I give you again chance to answer this question very properly. Why one should be obliged to please Krishna? Why?

HARIKESA: Just like this finger. Its position is to serve the body. Just like the stomach. Everyone may be jealous of the stomach and not want to feed the stomach, but if all the hands and the legs and the mouth went on strike not to feed the stomach...

PRABHUPADA: This is the right answer.

HARIKESA: ...they would ultimately be destroyed.

PRABHUPADA: This is right answer, that you cannot non-cooperate with the stomach. You must serve the stomach. Otherwise your position is very precarious. That is the answer. If the finger thinks that "I shall remain independent and be happy," that is not possible. The stomach must be supplied food, and then all the parts of the body, they'll be happy. That is the point. So you cannot non-cooperate with the stomach. Similarly, Krishna is the central enjoyer. Bhoktaram yajña-tapasam sarva-loka-maheshvaram [Bhagavad-gita 5.29]. He is the center. Just like ordinarily this African state, if you do not satisfy the state or the president, then you cannot remain happy. Independently you cannot be happy. We have come to this park because state is cooperating. In the morning we shall come, and they have prepared it nicely. We are not going to the jungle. So if we actually want happiness we must cooperate with the state. This is crude example. Similarly, if our ultimate aim is to become happy, then we must cooperate with Krishna. This is obligatory. You cannot escape it. Then you'll be unhappy. This is the process. Stomach. A child even... He picks up some something, but he does not put anywhere [else] — immediately in the mouth. Why he does not bring it in the ear? Why? The child immediately takes it. He does not know what is what. But the nature is that as soon as he captures something — even he does not know — because his position is eating, he knows this much, sense gratification. Other senses are not yet developed. So the child, he knows taste with tongue and eats. That he knows. So immediately anything he captures, he brings to the mouth, naturally. He hasn't got to be educated. So our position is like that. We, being part and parcel of Krishna, our natural tendency is to serve Krishna. Natural tendency. It is not artificial. When you forget Krishna, that is artificial. So our normal life means to love Krishna, to serve Krishna. That is our normal life. Without serving Krishna our life is abnormal, madman's life. Therefore Krishna says... When you forget Krishna, He comes to preach the normal life. Sarva-dharman parityajya mam ekam [Bg. 18.66]. This is normal life. So Krishna does not require your help. He can create many helpers. But for your good, Krishna comes, that "If you want normal, happy life, then surrender unto Me." This is the proposal. Therefore the whole Bhagavad-gita, all Vedic knowledge, is there. We have forgotten our position. Our normal position is to love and serve Krishna. We do not know... From time immemorial we cannot ascertain when these incidents have happened, to forget Krishna, but it is practically... Life after life, life after life, we are changing body, but forgetting Krishna. So here, in the human form of life, there is the opportunity to revive our original position, and we require the help of knowledge, perfect knowledge. And that is there in the Vedas. Atha eva krishna veda purana karila. If we don't take advantage, although we have got... We can read Bhagavad-gita, and if we don't take advantage of Bhagavad-gita and go on whimsically, then we'll suffer. You cannot non-cooperate with Krishna as you cannot non-cooperate with the stomach. This is the... You must. There is no question of alternative. You must. This is the position. Otherwise you'll never be happy. And happiness is your aim of life. Atyantika-duhkha-nivrittih. We are... I'm suffering from this knee's trouble because I am in this material world. I have got this material body. So atyantika-duhkha-nivrittih means no more material world, no more material body. And for that purpose we have to cooperate with Krishna. Otherwise it is not possible. Any question about this? Just like these African women. They are going to work. There is no question of no work. They must. Otherwise they cannot eat. Anyone, if by working his livelihood is going on, how he can non-cooperate? This is not possible.

BRAHMANANDA: The thief is also eating.

PRABHUPADA: That is Krishna's grace, just like the government gives the prisoners also to eat. But they are condemned. And government's grace that government provides all necessities. If a prisoner is sick, he is given the hospital facility. But he is restricted free movement, that much. Otherwise government gives the same facilities within the prison house and without. The standard may be little different. Why this human being prisoner? Even He [Krishna] is giving food to the animals, to the birds, beasts, everyone. Noncooperation cannot be. Krishna says, bijo 'ham sarva-bhutanam [Bg 7.10]. Now, you have to grow trees, plants and vegetables for your eating. So that you cannot have without cooperation with Krishna. Krishna gives all the seeds. You cannot manufacture the seed. He gives the seed. You work little, sow it and get the result. But without cooperation with Krishna, how can you get the seed? Then where is your food? No food. You must take... "God, give us our daily bread." Krishna gives the seeds, and you sow it and get the fruit or grains. Then you can exist. Even if you are animal-eater, the animal must also come from Krishna. You cannot manufacture the animal. That is also coming from Krishna. Bijo 'ham sarva-bhutanam [Bg 7.10]. The animal is produced by father and mother, but the seed is given in the semina by Krishna. And then animal is produced. So how you can non-cooperate Krishna? You have to cooperate.