Devotee (2): Which way is India headed towards? The capitalists or the communists?

Prabhupada: India has no…, had no such ideas. They are borrowing ideas. India’s idea is self-realization. Live very simple life – brahmana, ksatriya, vaisya, sudra. The brahmanas, they are living simple life, becoming very learned scholar, pure character, advanced in spiritual life-one class, ideal. And ksatriyas, they are supposed to be the king. They distribute the land on nominal taxation, and the vaisyas utilize the land for cultivation and cow-keeping. And the sudras, they are engaged as weaver, blacksmith, goldsmith, mean other necessities of life. In this way the whole society is simplified, and the central point is how to become advanced in Krsna consciousness by cooperation. This is India’s civilization. There is no question of industry. Ugra-karma. It has been condemned in the Bhagavad-gita as ugra-karma, laboring very hard for livelihood. This industry means engage the poor worker class to work very hard, and there is huge profit, and some directors of the capitalists, they take it. And they have one dozen motorcars, palatial building, no work, simply wine and woman, that’s all. This is going on. And the others, they are seeing: “There is no classification, neither real brahmana nor ksatriya nor vaisya. So he is enjoying like that. He has got so many cars. He has got such a nice apartment. Why not me?” There is struggle. This is actual picture. Our Vedic advice is that make life very simple. You must have some means of livelihood. Keep your body and soul together. So according to quality, guna-karma-vibhagasah [Bg 4.13], there must be division, and then simple life. The real aim is tam abhyarcya: how to become Krsna conscious.

Morning Walk – April 9, 1976, Vrndavana