The
unwanted
administrators, puffed up by false power and military strength, thus
become engaged in fighting amongst themselves over ideological
conflicts and so exhaust themselves of all powers.
Forsyth: As it turns out, I think it was. But I don't think he was in a
position back then -- before the invasion -- to be able to predict the
disaster that has come upon Iraq now. That, I think, was avoidable. The
American conquest was textbook -- what happened after the conquest was
incompetence of mind-numbing proportions, which the British were not
aware of. Someone conned the White House into thinking that Saddam was
part of the war on terror. We now know that whatever else he was guilty
of, he loathed and despised Islamic fundamentalism and it hated him.
So, at least 70 percent of the effort was diverted to the wrong target.go to story
In
the shastras [Vedic literatures], the example is given of how
by friction of bamboos in the forest a fire is ignited and the forest
is burned to the ground. The apparent cause of fire is the friction of
two bamboos, but the real cause is actually the wind, which brings them
together. Similarly, it is the wind or the force of karma, the force of
our sinful activities which gives rise to apparent friction between
individuals, communities and ultimately nations. more
The
Lord was pacified after killing those kings who were burdensome to the
earth. They were puffed up with their military strength, their horses,
elephants, chariots, infantry, etc. He Himself was not a party in the
fight. He simply created hostility between the powerful administrators,
and they fought amongst themselves. He was like the wind which causes
friction between bamboos and so sparks a fire.
PURPORT
As stated above, the living beings are not factual enjoyers of things
which are manifested as God's creation. The Lord is the genuine
proprietor and enjoyer of everything manifested in His creation.
Unfortunately, influenced by the deluding energy, the living being
becomes a false enjoyer under the dictation of the modes of nature.
Puffed up by such a false sense of becoming God, the deluded living
being increases his material strength by so many activities and thus
becomes the burden of the earth, so much so that the earth becomes
completely uninhabitable by the sane. This state of affairs is called dharmasya
glani, or misuse of the energy of the human being. When such misuse
of human energy is prominent, the saner living beings become perturbed
by the awkward situation created by the vicious administrators, who are
simply burdens of the earth, and the Lord appears by His internal
potency just to save the saner section of humanity and to alleviate the
burden due to the earthly administrators in different parts of the
world. He does not favor either of the unwanted administrators, but by
His potential power He creates hostility between such unwanted
administrators, as the air creates fire in the forest by the friction
of the bamboos. The fire in the forest takes place automatically by the
force of the air, and similarly the hostility between different groups
of politicians takes place by the unseen design of the Lord. The
unwanted administrators, puffed up by false power and military
strength, thus become engaged in fighting amongst themselves over
ideological conflicts and so exhaust themselves of all powers. The
history of the world reflects this factual will of the Lord, and it
will continue to be enacted until the living beings are attached to the
service of the Lord. In the Bhagavad-gita this fact is
very vividly described (Bg. 7.14). It is said, "The deluding energy is
My potency, and thus it is not possible for the dependent living beings
to supersede the strength of the material modes. But those who take
shelter in Me [the Personality of Godhead Sri Krishna] can cross over
the gigantic ocean of material energy." This means that no one can
establish peace and prosperity in the world by fruitive activities or
by speculative philosophy or ideology. The only way is to surrender
unto the Supreme Lord and thus become free from the illusion of the
deluding energy.
Unfortunately persons who are engaged in destructive work are unable to
surrender to the Personality of Godhead. They are all fools of the
first order; they are the lowest of the human species of life; they are
robbed of their knowledge, although apparently they seem to be
academically educated. They are all of the demoniac mentality, always
challenging the supreme power of the Lord. Those who are very
materialistic, always hankering after material power and strength, are
undoubtedly fools of the first order because they have no information
of the living energy, and being ignorant of that supreme spiritual
science, they are absorbed in material science, which ends with the end
of the material body. They are the lowest of human beings because the
human life is especially meant for reestablishing the lost relation
with the Lord, and they miss this opportunity by being engaged in
material activities. They are robbed of their knowledge because even
after prolonged speculation they cannot reach to the stage of knowing
the Personality of Godhead, the summum bonum of everything. And all of
them are men of demoniac principle, and they suffer the consequences,
as did such materialistic heroes as Ravana, Hiranyakashipu, Kamsa and
others.
