We cannot escape service; we must simply redirect it from misguided desires toward Krishna's supreme will.Listen — Srila Prabhupada Uvaca
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 1.15.24 — December 3, 1973, Los Angeles 731203SB-LOS ANGELES [30:57 Minutes] SB-01.15.24_731203SB-LOS ANGELES Prabhupāda: [leads singing of Jaya Rādhā-Mādhava; prema-dvani prayers] Thank you very much.
Devotees: All glories to Śrīla Prabhupāda. [break] [05:40] Pradyumna: Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya. Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya. Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya.
[leads chanting of verse] [Prabhupāda and devotees repeat] sūta uvāca evaṁ cintayato jiṣṇoḥ kṛṣṇa-pāda-saroruham sauhārdenātigāḍhena śāntāsīd... [SB 1.15.28] Devotee: [indistinct]
Prabhupāda: ...vimalā matiḥ Devotee: It's verse 24.
Devotee: He skipped a verse, Śrīla Prabhupāda. Pradyumna: Oh see. prāyeṇaitad bhagavata īśvarasya viceṣṭitam mitho nighnanti bhūtāni bhāvayanti ca yan mithaḥ [SB 1.15.24] [break] Prabhupāda: Word meaning? Pradyumna: prāyeṇa etat—it is almost by; bhagavataḥ—of the Personality of Godhead; īśvarasya—of the Lord; viceṣṭitam—by the will of; mithaḥ—one another; nighnanti—do kill; bhūtāni—the living beings; bhāvayanti—as also protect; ca—also; yat—of whom; mithaḥ—one another. [08:50] Translation: "Factually, this is all due to the supreme will of the Lord, Personality of Godhead. Sometimes people kill one another, and at other times they protect one another." Prabhupāda: Hmm. Now read the purport also. Pradyumna: "According to the anthropologists, there is nature's law of struggle for existence and survival of the fittest.
But they do not know that behind the law of nature there is the supreme direction of the Supreme Lord Personality of Godhead. In the Bhagavad-gītā it is confirmed that the law of nature is executed under the direction of the Lord. Whenever, therefore, there is peace in the world, it must be known that it is due to the good will of the Lord, and whenever there is upheaval in the world, it is also due to the supreme will of the Lord. Not a blade of grass moves without the will of the Lord.
Whenever, therefore, there is disobedience of the established rules enacted by the Lord, there is war between men and nations. "The surest way to the path of peace is, therefore, dovetailing everything to the established rule of the Lord. The established rule is that whatever we do, whatever we eat, whatever we sacrifice, whatever we give in charity must be done to the full satisfaction of the Lord. No one should do anything, eat anything, sacrifice anything or give anything in charity against the will of the Lord. Discretion is the better part of valor, and one must learn how to discriminate between actions which may be pleasing to the Lord and those which may not be pleasing to the Lord.