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By Nityananda Dasa Prabhu
The war between two neighboring countries, Russia and Ukraine is still raging in full swing. With many thousands of men losing their lives on the line and many more being wounded or suffering from frostbite and limb loss, the tensions are steadily escalating. hanas attacks israel
As Russian troops pushed forward on the offensive, they have captured a small village by the name of Andriivka, boldly claiming it belongs to Russia from now on. As the tide of battle kept flowing, the outcome changed and the Ukrainian forces were able to re-capture the same land, again claiming it to be a part of Ukraine. As a sign of victory they have very happily raised a Ukrainian flag over the village.
How many more times will the land be reclaimed in the name of nationalism? What does Srila Prabhupada say on the topic of nationalism? Hamas attacks Israel.
Srila Prabhupada: "Yes. Wrong civilization, rascal civilization. And this is due to this rascaldom called nationalism – “This is my land.” At any moment a person will be kicked out by death, but still he claims, “It is my land.” Janasya moho ’yam aham mameti. This is the illusion. Nothing belongs to him; still he is fighting, “This is mine. This is mine.” “I” and “mine” – identifying oneself with the body and wrongly conceiving that “This is mine.” This is the basic principle of a wrong civilization. Nothing belongs to us. I have come here to Switzerland. Suppose I remain here for one month and I claim, “Oh, this is mine.” What is this?"
Srila Prabhupada's words always put everything into perspective. If I came to your house as a visitor and started claiming that your possessions belong to me now, you would surely have me punished by law for stealing. You may even show me all hospitality and may even say "make yourself feel at home" but that does not mean I can literally feel myself at home and think, "now everything belongs to me", I am still a guest.
Srila Prabhupada continues the conversation:
"So, similarly, we come to this world as guests. We come to the womb of a mother and live here for seventy years or so. And we claim, “This is my land.” But when did it become yours? The land was there long, long before your birth. How has it become yours? But people have no sense. “It is mine – my land, my nation, my family, my society.” In this way they are wasting time. These things have been introduced by Western civilization. In the Vedic civilization there is no such thing as nationalism. You won’t find it there. Have you seen the word “nationalism” in the Bhagavad-gita? No such thing. Nationalism is the idea of tribes. In Africa there are still groups of tribes. Nationalism is the most crude idea of civilization. It is nothing but developed tribalism. Modern man is not advanced in civilization. This nationalism is another form of tribalism, that’s all."
Now we can understand the problem. Me and mine, and if you want what is mine then I fight and go to war with you. As we all know, in every war there are casualties. But why must there be all this bloodshed and killing of seemingly innocent people? This will be very clearly explained in the next portion of this conversation:
"Disciple: Today, so-called civilized people are actually just cannibals because they maintain themselves on eating the cow.
Srila Prabhupada: Yes. And they are suffering. Therefore you’ll find that in recent history, every twenty-five years there is a big war with mass slaughter of people. Nature does not tolerate animal slaughter.
Now India has learned to slaughter animals, imitating the Western countries. And now there is war between India and Pakistan. During two wars between Pakistan and Hindustan, millions of people were killed unnecessarily, without any gain."
It seems we have come to the root of the problems; the merciless slaughtering of animals. Nature does not tolerate animal slaughter, that is a fact. In nature everything is already perfectly arranged for complete sustenance of all beings. However, when we foolishly claim ownership of something that doesn't belong to us, this disrupts the natural balance and we must suffer the consequences. If I claim your house now belongs to me just because I have come for a visit, you will immediately be disturbed and probably call the police. Similarly, Krsna, who is the real controller of nature has already arranged the punishment with the laws of nature that demand balance for anything we have done against them. For killing, we must also be killed in return.
For this purpose, the scientists, being forgetful of Krsna have created a very effective nuclear bomb, making killing very easy. Everyone will be killed by the arrangement of nature. The Russian people will be killed and the Ukrainian people will also be killed. And the nuclear bomb will turn everything into rubble.
The land that both parties are fighting over has been rubble at one point, then it has been built up for some time, and now it has again been demolished into rubble. Ukrainian soldiers have very proudly erected their flag over these pieces of rubble, but there is no benefit over this endeavor. They may even re-build the village, but in due course of time, it will again be demolished into rubble. Not just the village, but the whole Earth and also the whole Universe.
Krsna explains how it works: "O son of Kunti, at the end of the millennium all material manifestations enter into My nature, and at the beginning of another millennium, by My potency, I create them again." (BG 9.7)
Therefore, in one sense, everything in this world was rubble and it's going to return back to rubble. From this perspective, we are literally just fighting over dust and pieces of rock, which make the whole fighting endeavor look very silly.
When we realize the impermanence of this world, only then will we be able to redirect our attention to the permanent world of Krsna. And then, instead of aimlessly fighting, we will co-operate and help each other in going back Home back to Godhead.