“The demon father employed all his weapons to kill the devotee son, Prahlada, but by the grace of the Lord he was saved from all sorts of dangerous actions by his father. He was thrown in a fire, in boiling oil, from the top of a hill, underneath the legs of an elephant, and he was administered poison.” (Shrila Prabhupada, Shrimad Bhagavatam, 1.15.16 Purport)

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“There is something of urgent concern. It has surfaced more recently. I certainly did not feel this way five or ten years ago. It was unheard of, actually. Perhaps the advancement of the information age, and how everything is getting converted to digital, has facilitated this practice.

“I am talking about large-scale censorship. They also refer to it as ‘cancel culture.’ The idea is that if you say or do something that is objectionable, your entire influence can be erased. If you previously had an online presence, you no longer have one. If you had a job and steady income, those are gone. If you had a voice, you have now been silenced.

“It doesn’t take offending a lot of people, either. The offended have figured out how to manipulate technology to the point that it appears more people are upset than actually are. An entire campaign calling for censorship might be only five real people, who then create fake accounts numbering in the millions.

“I understand corruption has existed since the beginning of time. It is one of the behaviors of asuras, or those who are against God and godly principles. Theft, intimidation, violence, and unwarranted force are nothing new.

“I am worried about the Vedas and their availability, however. I love reading works like Bhagavad-gita and Shrimad Bhagavatam. I love reading the many Puranas. It is like Vyasadeva travelled the three worlds and found every wise person to interview. We get their thoughts on practically every subject matter of importance.

“These people speak freely. They are not worried about offending others. They cannot be cancelled precisely because they have renounced the world. They often live in a small hut in a remote place. Maybe they keep travelling, using a curse placed upon them as a blessing.

“The world is so fortunate because the information provided is truthful and always relevant. If any public figure were to make similar statements today, they would be cancelled immediately. There are so many Sanskrit verses that could be considered offensive.

“There is the additional commentary from acharyas, such as His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. Some of his disciples are so fiendish that they are already in a feverish pursuit to remove any of the statements that might be considered offensive by the ruling classes.

“That is beyond dangerous, on so many levels. That blunt truth is what changes people’s lives. It is what facilitates a broader vision, where people can finally see clearly. You transition to spiritual life when you properly understand the dangers of material life.

“What will happen in the future? Should people preserve hard-bound editions of published works? Just in case the asuras decide to ban Vedic literature entirely, there will be something available. They already managed to shut down so many temples in the past two years, under bogus justification. The asura-like leaders of these temples were widely exposed for the frauds that they are, as they happily went along. They were sure glad to keep accepting donations, while they ate and slept in a building closed to the public.”

From reading Vedic literature we have the stories of several asuras who rose to such levels of prominence that even the demigods were afraid. One of them is the Daitya leader named Hiranyakashipu. He hated Lord Vishnu, the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

Just how far did that hatred extend? If there were found to be worship within the kingdom, Hiranyakashipu would stamp it out. Even if that worship were from his own son, the Daitya leader would not be able to tolerate it.

The entire world was afraid. How could the suras ever rise again? How could dharma be restored in the face of such opposition? How would the world ever benefit again from the connection in consciousness, yoga, to the one who does not fall down, akshara?

In an isolated place, without many people around, there was a single instance of the transfer of Divine knowledge. The source was Narada Muni, the traveler of the three worlds. The recipient was a pregnant woman.

That woman was Hiranyakashipu’s wife. She did not go on to spread the message far and wide, but the child in her stomach would. Named Prahlada, the child would soon save the entire world from the terror that was Hiranyakashipu.

From reading Bhagavad-gita, we see that the ancient science of self-realization sometimes appears to be lost. This is due to a break in the disciplic succession. There is not much reason for concern, as the Supreme Lord might simply restart the chain all by Himself.

एवं परम्परा-प्राप्तम्
इमं राजर्षयो विदुः
स कालेनेह महता
योगो नष्टः परन्तप

evaṁ paramparā-prāptam
imaṁ rājarṣayo viduḥ
sa kāleneha mahatā
yogo naṣṭaḥ parantapa

“This supreme science was thus received through the chain of disciplic succession, and the saintly kings understood it in that way. But in course of time the succession was broken, and therefore the science as it is appears to be lost.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 4.2)

The life of devotion can never be permanently defeated. No matter how much the asuras try, real good always wins in the long run. That person who is steady in devotion never forgets the ones who taught them and the sacrifices made in the process.

In Closing:

Today cancelling culture found,
Without logic or reasoning sound.

Offended might only be one,
But augmented influence won.

Concerned with Vedic literature to read,
How preserved for future indeed.

Even if from earth’s surface to depart,
Bhagavan again to start.

Categories: questions

Tags: cancel culture, censorship, hare krishna, poem, poems, poetry