Modern civilization without spiritual values descends into demonic nature; accept Bhagavad-gita as it is, not through foolish interpretation.Listen — Srila Prabhupada Uvaca
Cornerstone Laying Bhagavad-gītā 16.7–9 — January 23, 1975, Bombay 750123CS-BOMBAY [26:06 Minutes] BG-16.07-09_750123CS-BOMBAY Prabhupāda: [chants maṅgalācaraṇa prayers] ...mano-'bhīṣṭaṁ sthāpitaṁ yena bhū-tale svayaṁ rūpaḥ kadā mahyaṁ dadāti sva-padāntikam [When will Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī Prabhupāda, who has established within this material world the mission to fulfill the desire of Lord Caitanya, give me shelter under his lotus feet?] vande 'haṁ śrī-guroḥ śrī-yuta-pada-kamalaṁ śrī-gurūn vaiṣṇavāṁś ca śrī-rūpaṁ sāgrajātaṁ saha-gaṇa-raghunāthānvitaṁ taṁ sa-jīvam sādvaitaṁ sāvadhūtaṁ parijana-sahitaṁ kṛṣṇa-caitanya-devaṁ śrī-rādhā-kṛṣṇa-pādān saha-gaṇa-lalitā-śrī-viśākhānvitāṁś ca [I offer my respectful obeisances unto the lotus feet of my spiritual master and unto the feet of all Vaiṣṇavas. I offer my respectful obeisances unto the lotus feet of Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī along with his elder brother Sanātana Gosvāmī, as well as Raghunātha Dāsa and Raghunātha Bhaṭṭa, Gopāla Bhaṭṭa, and Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī. I offer my respectful obeisances to Lord Kṛṣṇa Caitanya and Lord Nityānanda along with Advaita Ācārya, Gadādhara, Śrīvāsa, and other associates. I offer my respectful obeisances to Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī and Śrī Kṛṣṇa along with Their associates Śrī Lalitā and Viśākhā.] Hmm?
You bring. You can bring one chair here. [pause] pravṛttiṁ ca nivṛttiṁ ca janā na vidur āsurāḥ na śaucaṁ nāpi cācāro na satyaṁ teṣu avasthitāḥ [Bg. 16.7] asatyam apratiṣṭhaṁ te jagad āhur anīśvaram aparaspara-sambhūtaṁ kim anyat kāma-haitukam [Bg. 16.8] etāṁ dṛṣṭim avaṣṭabhya naṣṭātmānaḥ alpa-buddhayaḥ prabhavanty ugra-karmāṇaḥ kṣayāya jagataḥ ahitāḥ [Bg. 16.9] Just like we were talking of industries. The industries, they are mentioned in the Bhagavad-gītā as ugra-karma. Ugra-karma means ferocious activities.
For livelihood, we require our maintenance. Āhāra-nidrā-bhaya-mai... These are the primary necessities of this body, material body. For that, Kṛṣṇa has said, annād bhavanti bhūtāni [Bg. 3.14]. Anna—mean food grains—we require.
Annād bhavanti bhūtāni. That food grains we can produce very easily by agriculture. In another place Kṛṣṇa says, kṛṣi-go-rakṣya-vāṇijyaṁ vaiśya-karma svabhāva-jam [Bg. 18.44]. We can produce sufficient food grains for our maintenance, and the whole world has got sufficient land. I have traveled over the world at least fourteen times.
During the last eight years I have traveled all over the world, even interior. I have seen there is enough land, especially in Africa, in Australia, in America, and we can produce so much food grains that ten times of this present population can be easily maintained. Ten times. There is no scarcity of food.
But the difficulty is that we have demarcated, "This is my land." Somebody says, "This is American, my land," "Australia, my land," "The Africa, my land," "India, my land." This "my" and "I." Janasya moho 'yam ahaṁ mameti [SB 5.5.8]. This is called illusion, that "I" and "my." "I am this body, and this is my property." This is called illusion. And this illusion, if we stand on this platform of illusion, then we are no better than the animals. yasyātma-buddhiḥ kuṇape tri-dhātuke sva-dhīḥ kalatrādiṣu bhauma ijya-dhīḥ yat-tīrtha-buddhiḥ salile na karhicij janeṣu abhijñeṣu sa eva go-kharaḥ [SB 10.84.13] Go means cow, and kharaḥ means ass. Those who are in the bodily concept of life, ahaṁ mameti [SB 5.5.8], they are no better than these asses and the cows, means the animals.
This is going on. I'll not take much of your time, but I shall try to convince you what is the purpose of this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement. The purpose of this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is to save the human society from becoming animals—cows and asses. This is the movement. They have established their civilization, as it is stated in the Bhagavad-gītā, animal or asuric civilization.