We're Out to Save the World

We're out to save the world. This is the mission that we have inherited from our spiritual master, ISKCON Founder-Acarya: His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, and that great line of fully enlightened spiritual masters who preceded him known as the Brahma-Madhva-Gaudiya sampradaya. Of course, we fully understand that we are totally unqualified to execute such an exalted mission. But can we do? Our spiritual master has ordered us, "Become guru and deliver the whole world." Therefore as a matter of duty we must sincerely endeavor to the best of our ability to spread the unlimited mercy rays of Lord Caitanya's benediction moon all over the world to every town and village so that someday as soon as possible the entire world population will be swimming constantly in the nectarean ocean of transcendental bliss of Lord Sri Krishna's mercy.

Sankarshan Das Adhikari

Lecture in Vilnius, Lithuania--8 April 2010Sankarshan Das Lecture in Vilnius

Ecstatic Farewell from Vilnius, Lithuania
--8 April 2010Sankarshan Das Ecstatic Farewell from Vilnius

Answers According to the Vedic Version:

Question: If Gambling Is Krishna, Why Avoid It?

Srila Gurudeva,

I am getting your mails on a daily basis and am learning a lot from them. Thank you very much.

I was going through the Srimad Bhagavad-gita. In Chapter 10 Text 36, while explaining His different manifestations Krishna says, "I am also the gambling of cheats." In the purport, His Divine Grace Srila Prabhupada mentions that, "Of all cheating processes, gambling stands supreme and therefore represents Krishna."

The regulative principles followed by devotees are: no meat eating, no intoxication, no illicit sex, and no gambling. If gambling represents Krishna, then why should it be avoided?

Please excuse me if my words look like challenging because they are really not. I want to just clear my doubts. Thanks for providing guidance.

With regards,

M. Raviraja

Answer: Why Do We Avoid Sharks?

The point of Krishna's statement is that in every sphere He is the supreme. Since in the realm of cheating, gambling is the topmost form of cheating, gambling is therefore a representation of Krishna. We can practically observe how gambling is the greatest form of cheating. A gambling casino makes millions of dollars by taking the money of thousands and thousands of people while giving them nothing in return.

While one may try to cheat the laws of God by basing his life on exploiting others, he will find that in end he becomes out cheated by God, who takes away all of his ill gotten gains and sends him down to the animal kingdom in his next life. Of course this is not Krishna's cheating. This is His kindness to reform a grossly sinful living being. But from the perspective of the cheater it appears that he was out cheated by a bigger cheater.

If one thinks that since gambling is a representation of Krishna it would be a nice thing to gamble, we will remind him that since the shark is also a representation of Krishna it will also be nice thing for him to keep a shark in his bath tub.

Sankarshan Das Adhikari

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