Becoming a Criminal - The Prison House of Material Existence
The presence of suffering in the world often causes people to question the fairness of the Supreme Lord. However, Śrīla Prabhupāda's teachings clarify that the material world operates exactly like a state penitentiary. God does not arbitrarily punish the living entities; rather, when a soul misuses its independence to rebel against the divine order, it willfully accepts the status of a criminal and the subsequent restrictions of material nature.
The Material Prison House
Our true home is the spiritual realm of Vaikuṇṭha, where life is eternal and full of bliss. Śrīla Prabhupāda explains that those who find themselves in the material world are there simply because they have broken the law. Just as the government builds a prison for lawbreakers, the material world is designed strictly to contain and reform those who have become criminals.
- We do not belong to this material creation, but we have come here. Just like one does not belong to the prisonhouse, but by his own action he comes to the prisonhouse. He becomes criminal, and therefore he is put into the prisonhouse. By his own activity.
- The government may create a prisonhouse, but why do you go there? Does the government invite you there? No, you become a criminal and go there.
- A prisoner, criminal, is living in the prison house since a long time, and if you raise this question, "In the beginning, how he became a criminal," is that very intelligent question.
- Naturally, the prisoner cannot go out of the prison house, but if somehow or other he manages to escape, that means he becomes again a criminal. He will be arrested again, and his term of imprisonment will be increased, or he will be punished more.
Free Will and Equal Opportunity
The Supreme Lord is entirely neutral and provides equal facilities to all His parts and parcels. Śrīla Prabhupāda points out that it is up to the individual to decide their destiny. Just as a citizen can use state facilities to become a respected judge, or misuse them and end up in jail, a soul can choose to serve Kṛṣṇa or become a criminal.
- Government is giving facilities everyone equally. You become educated, you become high-court judge. And if you become criminal, then go to jail. So similarly, God, He's equal to everyone. Samo 'ham sarva-bhutesu (Bhagavad-Gita 9.29). There is no discrimination.
- Ordinary, anyone can understand that in the human society if you want to become high-court judge, you can become. And if you want to become a criminal in the prisonhouse, you can become.
- Everything is open. Not that government says that you become a criminal and he prefers somebody, "You become a high-court judge" No. Everything is in your hand. If you like, you can become so.
- It is due to one's work that one becomes a criminal and is therefore put in jail. It is not compulsory for everyone to go to jail. As living entities, we have our proper place in Vaikunthaloka.
The Root Cause of Criminality
What constitutes a crime in the spiritual sense? Śrīla Prabhupāda identifies the foundational criminal act as the desire to forget Kṛṣṇa and enjoy the material world for oneself. As soon as this independent desire manifests, the living entity is immediately placed under the strict supervision of material nature's police force.
- You become under the police control, if you become criminal. And what is that criminality? The criminality is that krsna bhuliya jiva bhoga vancha (Prema-vivarta). Krsna is the original enjoyer, God.
- All these varieties of life are not controlled. He accepts to be controlled. Nature does not want to control you. When you become a criminal, then police force controls you, not that police force is made by the government unnecessarily to control you.
- There are many unmanifested living entities covered by the mode of ignorance who will gradually come to the mode of passion. Most of them will become criminals because of their fruitive activities and again fill the prisons.
- An Australian citizen: he is under the laws of the state of Australia. But if he says: "I don't care for the government," he becomes lawless, and sometimes he becomes criminal, and he is put into the prison life.
Violating the Laws of the State and God
Human life comes with the responsibility of following rules. Śrīla Prabhupāda draws a direct parallel between the laws of man and the laws of the Supreme Lord. While violating mundane traffic rules makes one a state criminal, violating the scriptural injunctions makes one spiritually sinful. Both actions result in inevitable punishment.
- As you violate the laws of the state and become a criminal, similarly, as you violate the laws of God, you become sinful. You become sinful. This is the definition of sin and piety. If you follow the rules of God, then you are pious.
- Ordinarily, just like in your country (USA), "Keep to the right." If you drive your car on the left side, immediately you become a criminal.
- You have got practical experience that if you violate the law of the state you become criminal and punished. But if the cats and dogs or animals, they violate the law, they are not punishable.
- If you kill somebody, then you become criminal. But when a soldier kills hundreds of men, he is not criminal. The process is the same, but because one is acting on behalf of the supreme lawgiver, he is immune.
Conclusion
In conclusion, understanding our position as spiritual criminals is the first vital step toward true rehabilitation. Śrīla Prabhupāda teaches that the miseries we experience in the material world are not the faults of the Supreme Lord, but the strict, necessary corrections administered by material nature upon those who have rebelled. By accepting proper spiritual education and voluntarily realigning our will with the laws of God, any conditioned soul can cease their criminality, secure their release from the material prison house, and return to their original life of freedom in Kṛṣṇa consciousness.
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Śrīla Prabhupāda lives within his instructions. This article is a summary of the profound truths found in the Vaniquotes category Becoming a Criminal. We invite you to visit this link to study the complete compilation and experience the teachings in their direct, verbatim form.