Although Lord Krsna, particularly in the Form of Lord Buddha, taught ahimsa or non-violence, practicing it always let alone totally, is impossible. Maharastran sect members are known to wear what look like surgical masks over their mouths and noses when in public, to prevent them from killing microbes when breathing. But they’re still stepping on ants, isn’t it? Srila Prabhupada spoke of situations where violence is unavoidable in this world, and his followers write in a Tenth canto purport that total non-violence isn’t possible: “When we receive water from a water pitcher, we kill many germs that are in it. Similarly, when we use a grinding machine or take foodstuffs, we kill many germs. When sweeping the floor or igniting a fire, we kill many germs. When we walk on the street we kill many ants and other insects. Consciously or unconsciously in all our different activities we are killing.” The solution (given by Srila Prabhupada): chant the Hare Krishna Mahamantra always!

We know that the self-realized soul doesn’t see death as ‘the final insult,’ but as a gentle transition to a better situation. In the Bhagavad-gita As It Is, the Lord tells Arjuna that that, “One who has taken his birth is sure to die, and after death one is sure to take birth again. Therefore, in the unavoidable discharge of your duty, you should not lament.” (BGAII 2.27)

There’s been a clamour for ‘peace’ over the years. But due to the escalating number of world conflicts, people increasingly seek an internal peace. That type of peace (Shanti) is mentioned in the fifth chapter of Bhagavad-gita: “A person in full consciousness of Me, knowing Me to be the ultimate beneficiary of all sacrifices and austerities, the Supreme Lord of all planets and demigods, and the benefactor and well-wisher of all living entities, attains PEACE from the pangs of material miseries.”

A ninety-minute animated feature film on the life Krsna was recently produced in Bollywood. It?s scheduled for release in December 2005. It?s been promoted as ?the perfect answer to parents? prayers.?

The Lord’s specific attributes, such as the color of His transcendental body, are specifically stated in the shastra. His body, according to revealed texts, is the color of a fresh rain cloud. This makes it a bluish-grayish shade – not bright blue, sky blue or royal blue – and certainly not white, as is sometimes depicted in the Mahabharata films.

Krishna reciprocates with, and is even defeated by, His devotees’ pure devotional service. They conquer Him. When Brahmananda Bharati came before the Lord in a deerskin Lord Caitanya pretended not to recognize him. When Brahmananda Bharati changed clothes and re considered everything, he became Lord Caitanya’s disciple. He gave up impersonalism for good. He quickly came to understand the Lord’s mind. He claimed that the main reason the Lord voluntarily accepted Brahmananda Bharati’s final argument (that the Lord Caitanya was God) was because the Supreme Lord is always defeated by pure devotional service. In this connection he cited the Srimad Bhagavatam verse in which Bhisma “defeats” Lord Krsna in battle by making Him break His promise not to take up fighting. These are the words of Bhisma in the Srimad Bhagavatam (1.9.37), sva-nigamam apahaya mat-pratijnam, rtam adhikartum avapluto ratha sthah dhrta-ratha-carano ‘bhyayac calad-gur, harir iva hantum ibham gatottariyah. “Fulfilling my desire and sacrificing His own promise, He got down from the chariot, took up its wheel and ran toward me hurriedly, just as a lion goes to kill an elephant. He even dropped His outer garment on the way.”

The translation to Srila Prabhupada?s Srimad Bhagavatam 9.14.37 reads: ?Because of her nature, a woman can respond to even a slight offense from her husband by not only leaving him but even killing him if required. To say nothing of her husband, she can even kill her brother. That is a woman’s nature.? This statement was made by Urvasi. This is not to decry women as class, because men are certainly guilty of infidelity, abuse and murder. Actually, it describes the nature of anyone, man or woman, who is not God conscious, because these words were spoken to teach King Puranjan a lesson about the material world.

Up till about 1910, courts could never rely upon fingerprints, voice prints, DNA, photographs, audio and video recordings. People were sent to the gallows, fined, freed and rewarded, all based on words of witnesses and decrees of judges, juries and tribunals. All evidence was based on sworn testimony, sometimes known as circumstantial evidence.' Sometimes lawyers argue to the point of making the law illegal. This still happens today, even in the face of "hard proof." Srila Prabhupada's recorded words are now available in both analogue and digitized form (a BBT Folio file makes them accessible for those with computer access). This is thehard proof.’ However, the `soft proof’ represents an equal, if not larger, body of knowledge. Such truth is fuzzier and more slippery. But it includes the testimony (seldom sworn) of hundreds of devotees. Sometimes such evidence is ignored in favor of the recorded word, but it may, in some instances, counter and prevail over the recorded word. Siddhanta and sistacara feature here; something to think about for more than today!

But there is an effulgence that doesn’t depend on the sun, and that is Krishna Himself. Call it a halo or whatever, it is Krishna’s light. In Bhagavad-gita As It Is, He says that His “supreme abode is not illumined by the sun or moon, nor by fire or electricity.”

This phenomenon is something that materialists would like to put on the back burner. Yet thousands have already been displaced and dispossessed due to flooding from global warming. As we wrote in the 1998 edition of DIVINE NATURE, “United Nations studies show that a warming climate could raise sea levels, which are already rising, by 1.5 to 6.5 feet over the next century. If sea levels rise 3 feet, this could submerge 1 million square miles of lowlands. These lowlands are inhabited by one billion people and include one third of the world’s cropland” Dr. Stefan Rahmstorf, a senior scientist at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research near Berlin writes: “…the huge lecture and consultancy fees offered by the fossil-fuel industry are a much surer way to line one’s pockets than competing for scanty research grants and earning government salaries. The fashionable tenet of new-right ideology that all people are driven by sheer self-interest ignores the many people in many fields who do not put money at the top of their agenda and pride themselves on working responsibly for the common good. I would be relieved and delighted if global warming turned out to be a false alarm. Unfortunately, the scientific evidence that it is a serious threat is solid.” (source: NEW ZEALAND HERALD, 18 January 2000).