Shooting at Virginia Tech

BY: PAYONIDHI DASA

Apr 17, MARYLAND, USA (SUN) — Yesterday some frustrated person shot and killed more than 30 people at Virginia Tech. A few years ago we had some snipers in this county, Montgomery County, Maryland, who caused worldwide attention. The snipers were two individuals shooting randomly at anyone. Lots of it simply has to do with anger coming after lust, as described in Bhagavad Gita As It Is:

BG 2.62: "While contemplating the objects of the senses, a person develops attachment for them, and from such attachment lust develops, and from lust anger arises."

BG 2.63: From anger, complete delusion arises, and from delusion bewilderment of memory. When memory is bewildered, intelligence is lost, and when intelligence is lost one falls down again into the material pool.

Srimad Bhagavatam 12 Canto explains

SB 12.2.1: Sukadeva Goswami said: Then, O King, religion, truthfulness, cleanliness, tolerance, mercy, duration of life, physical strength and memory will all diminish day by day because of the powerful influence of the age of Kali.

SB 12.2.2: In Kali yuga, wealth alone will be considered the sign of a man's good birth, proper behavior and fine qualities. And law and justice will be applied only on the basis of one's power.

SB 12.2.3: Men and women will live together merely because of superficial attraction, and success in business will depend on deceit. Womanliness and manliness will be judged according to one's expertise in sex, and a man will be known as a brahamana just by his wearing a thread.

SB 12.2.4: A person's spiritual position will be ascertained merely according to external symbols, and on that same basis people will change from one spiritual order to the next. A person's propriety will be seriously questioned if he does not earn a good living. And one who is very clever at juggling words will be considered a learned scholar.

SB 12.2.5: A person will be judged unholy if he does not have money, and hypocrisy will be accepted as virtue. Marriage will be arranged simply by verbal agreement, and a person will think he is fit to appear in public if he has merely taken a bath.

SB 12.2.6: A sacred place will be taken to consist of no more than a reservoir of water located at a distance, and beauty will be thought to depend on one's hairstyle. Filling the belly will become the goal of life, and one who is audacious will be accepted as truthful. He who can maintain a family will be regarded as an expert man, and the principles of religion will be observed only for the sake of reputation.

SB 12.2.7: As the earth thus becomes crowded with a corrupt population, whoever among any of the social classes shows himself to be the strongest will gain political power.

SB 12.2.8: Losing their wives and properties to such avaricious and merciless rulers, who will behave no better than ordinary thieves, the citizens will flee to the mountains and forests.

SB 12.2.9: Harassed by famine and excessive taxes, people will resort to eating leaves, roots, flesh, wild honey, fruits, flowers and seeds. Struck by drought, they will become completely ruined.

SB 12.2.10: The citizens will suffer greatly from cold, wind, heat, rain and snow. They will be further tormented by quarrels, hunger, thirst, disease and severe anxiety.

SB 12.2.11: The maximum duration of life for human beings in Kali yuga will become fifty years.

SB 12.2.12-16: By the time the age of Kali ends, the bodies of all creatures will be greatly reduced in size, and the religious principles of followers of varnasrama will be ruined. The path of the Vedas will be completely forgotten in human society, and so-called religion will be mostly atheistic. The kings will mostly be thieves, the occupations of men will be stealing, lying and needless violence, and all the social classes will be reduced to the lowest level of śūdras. Cows will be like goats, spiritual hermitages will be no different from mundane houses, and family ties will extend no further than the immediate bonds of marriage. Most plants and herbs will be tiny, and all trees will appear like dwarf sami trees. Clouds will be full of lightning, homes will be devoid of piety, and all human beings will have become like asses. At that time, the Supreme Personality of Godhead will appear on the earth. Acting with the power of pure spiritual goodness, He will rescue eternal religion.

SB 12.2.17: Lord Visnu, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the spiritual master of all moving and nonmoving living beings, and the Supreme Soul of all — takes birth to protect the principles of religion and to relieve His saintly devotees from the reactions of material work.

SB 12.2.18: Lord Kalki will appear in the home of the most eminent brahmana of Sambhala village, the great soul Visnuyasya

SB 12.2.19-20: Lord Kalki, the Lord of the universe, will mount His swift horse Devadatta and, sword in hand, travel over the earth exhibiting His eight mystic opulences and eight special qualities of Godhead. Displaying His unequaled effulgence and riding with great speed, He will kill by the millions those thieves who have dared dress as kings.

SB 12.2.21: After all the impostor kings have been killed, the residents of the cities and towns will feel the breezes carrying the most sacred fragrance of the sandalwood paste and other decorations of Lord Vasudeva, and their minds will thereby become transcendentally pure.

SB 12.2.22: When Lord Vasudeva, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, appears in their hearts in His transcendental form of goodness, the remaining citizens will abundantly repopulate the earth.

Bhaktivedanta Book Trust. HDG A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada.

Things are getting more and more crazy as Kali yuga progresses. According to Tulasi Das, one of the symptoms is: "Dominated by women, all men dance to their tune like a monkey controlled by its trainer." And the killing in Virginia Tech may simply have been over a woman, who is also a conditioned soul in a bag of nasty material elements, like everyone else.

There is an interesting website that tells a tale of Kali yuga from various Vedic scriptures and a few peculiarities of Kali Yuga, though even that side has some mistakes.

According to Visnu Purana, Kali Yuga told Pariksit that:

"You point your fingers on my flaws and demerits but do not see my merits and positive aspects. I am embellished with sublime merits. That is the reason I request you.

During the Satya Yuga if any one inadvertently committed a wrong deed the entire kingdom had to bear the punishment. During Treta, if any one committed a wrong deed, the people of that town had to bear the punishment. During Dwapar Yuga, if anyone happened to commit a wrong deed, the entire family had to bear the punishment, but in Kali Yuga, he shall only bear the punishment who has committed the wrong deed. I am not concerned about anyone else. Unlike the other eras where one had to inevitably bear the punishment for a wrong and bad thoughts, In my era, this shall cease to happen but one shall be bestowed with good fruits who thinks good."

Even after listening to this, King Pariksit did not relent. Kali Yuga said that he was endowed with yet another sublime merit. He said:

"One could fulfill all ones wishes and desires in the Satya Yuga only after practicing penance for 10,000 years. Similarly in the Treta Yuga and the Dwapar Yuga, one had to collect a lot of money and perform Yagyas and had to engage in charity, penance, vows and worship for a 100 years respectively to fulfil ones desires. Unlike the others, in this era, if one even prays to God for sometime with total faith and devotions and sings the praises of the Lord, he shall fulfill all his desires within no time. He shall be liberated from all his sins and shall consequently attain salvation."

Listening to this, King Pariksit was pleased. King Pariksit finally allowed Kali Yuga to stay and allowed him four places where he could stay - where there is liquor and wine, where a prostitute stays, where there is animal slaughter, and where gambling would be allowed. Kali Yuga humbly pleaded that his family was very big, as it is comprised of members like lust, anger, greed, ego, jealousy, lies etc. How shall all of them fit in these allotted places? On hearing this, King Pariksit said that they should all then dwell where there is gold. In this way, Kali Yuga resides in the five places allotted by King Pariksit. Those people who yearn for higher ideals should not even go near these five things.

In the Kali Yuga, by seeking the blessings of Lord Jagannath at Puri, one shall attain salvation. In the Kali Yuga, there is no average life expectancy of humans. Even a child in the womb can die in spite of his mother and father living.

Humans taking birth in this era will usually be radiant, bad tempered, greedy and untruthful. The personality will be plagued by flaws such as jealousy, ego, anger, pleasure, instinct, desires and greed. There shall be only one pillar of religion in the Kali Yuga. Here, the idol of Bhagwan Vishnu has assumed a black colour because of the inherent chaos and delusion. Vedic conduct, religion, Yagya and Karma all cease to exist.

All types of problems such as ailments, lethargy, anger, mental diseases, hunger and thirst tend to aggravate. Gradually even happiness and comforts of humans become decadent and morbid. In this era, Brahmins do the work of a Sudra and the Sudras, like the Vaishyas, amass wealth or like Kshatriyas, engage in allied activities and earn their livelihood.

In Kali Yuga, Brahmins shall renounce self-study, contemplation and shall eat every thing that is prohibited. They will no more be inclined towards penance and on the contrary, Sudras shall take interest in recitation of Vedic chants.

In this way when hypocrisy reaches the zenith, it initiates the final annihilation. Many a king of the inferior category shall reign the earth who shall be sinners, unfaithful and wicked. Kings of places such as Andhra, Shaka, Pulunda, Yavan, Kamboj, Bahrhik and other wealthy Aamir shall become kings. No Brahmin in this age shall earn his daily bread and butter honestly.

Kshatriyas and Vaishyas shall engage in all duties other than those which are coveted. All shall become less valiant, they shall be short lived, will lack energy and strength. Humans shall be short in height and shall seldom speak the truth. All the directions will have snakes and animals. Some people shall meaninglessly talk of Brahma Jnana. Sudras shall criticize the Brahmins while the Brahmins shall praise and eulogize the Sudras.

Many creatures, insects, etc. shall take birth in Kali Yuga. All things that ought to have fragrance shall not be that fragrant, and food shall become relatively tasteless. Women shall be short and have many children. Women in this era shall be immoral and licentious by nature. Most people shall be traders of food while Brahmins shall sell the Vedas. Most of the women shall engage in prostitution. In the Kali Yuga, there will be very less milk in the udders of the cow. Seldom will there be fruits and flowers on trees. There will be an excessive number of crows in comparison to other birds. Brahmins will engage in killing and shall take donations from kings, in spite of lying. Brahmins as a whole shall be imposters and feign to be very pious and pure. They will harass the common people for alms, etc.

Householders shall indulge in robbery because they will be unable to pay up their taxes. They shall disguise in the form of sages, ascetics and earn their livelihood. Even people who are celibates shall give up their purity and engage in intoxication and shall have illicit sex. People will engage in all those material activities that usher physical energy only. All Ashrams shall be a haven of all imposters and they shall be totally dependent on food from others. During this time, seldom shall it rain and even the yield, production of grain will not be satisfactory. People will be aggressive by nature and consequently unholy and impure. The ones indulging in irreligious and blasphemous acts shall emerge powerful and prosperous. Those who are righteous shall be in penury.

Just by amassing a little amount of wealth one shall become proud and they, despite having wealth, shall have an eye on others' wealth and property. In Kali Yuga, girls 8-10 years old shall become pregnant while boys of the age of 10-12 years shall have children. On the sixteenth year itself the hair will turn white. Youth shall become like old men and old men shall become energetic and youthful. Women will engage in sex with inferior men, servants and animals in spite of having a good husband.

Religion, truth, thoughts, pity, age, energy, memory all shall get gradually emaciated and drained. People will love only their own children and family and will not hesitate to deceive their own friends or benefactors. Judges of events shall favor the wealthy and the impoverished shall be denied justice. One who constantly blabbers shall be called a saint and one who is in a miserable state will be called an imposter.

Any lake or reservoir situated far away will be referred to as a holy shrine. Growing hair will be an indication of beauty. People will take interest in religious actions so as to become prosperous and successful. He who subdues the others shall be a self-proclaimed king. Subjects to protect their families shall seek refuge in caves and caverns and will lead a miserable life.

People will be plagued with all types of extreme climatic conditions. Average life expectancy of a human being in Kali Yuga will be approximately 20 to 30 years only. As the delusion will aggravate, people will become weak and devoid of radiance, medicines and food will plummet, and all the four stages (Varnashrams) will be represented by Grihastashram (householder's duty). By the end of the Kali Yuga, God shall reincarnate to protect religion and to destroy all evil. Lord Vishnu shall incarnate and shall give refuge to all that are good and righteous.

When Sun, Moon and Jupiter together enter the Pushya Nakshatra and cancer zodiac, at that time by the inspiration of time, a divine and strong child named Vishuyasha Kalki shall take birth in a Brahmin family in a village known as Sambhal.

He shall be the saviour of one and all and he will possess weapons on the spur of the moment. He shall emancipate this world from all miseries and create happiness. He will put an end to the Kali Yuga and shall create a novel Satya Yuga embellished with truth and beauty. Bhagwan Kalki shall recoronate all the Brahmins as the rulers and will massacre all the outcastes and inferior (barbarians).

Thus we are not at all surprised by such activities. The only solution is if society becomes Krsna conscious. There simply is no other solution. The solution to these problems is given by Srila Prabhupada in Srimad Bhagavatam 7.9.44:

"Rather, every member of the Krsna consciousness movement is interested in going door to door to try to convince people about the teachings of Bhagavad-gita As It Is, the teachings of Lord Caitanya. That is the purpose of the Hare Krsna movement. The members of the Krsna consciousness movement must be fully convinced that without Krsna one cannot be happy. Thus the Krsna conscious person avoids all kinds of pseudo spiritualists, transcendentalists, meditators, monists, philosophers and philanthropists."

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