The following is a comment I wrote to a devotee at dandavats.com. View her comment to ISKCON Hungary here.
Pamho, agtSP!
Our process is to repeat the words of our spiritual master and therefore not contradict his words.
My first contention is that you are contradicting Prabhupada’s words when you claim that Darwin’s theory is not “to a large extent” “responsible for the moral decline of human society.”
My second contention is that you’re wrong when you claim that it is “unproven” that Darwins theory is “to a large extent” “responsible for the cause of the moral decline in our society.”
The first contention
Prabhupāda: “Darwin is a rascal. What is his theory? We kick on your face. That’s all. That is our philosophy. The more we kick on Darwin’s face, the more advanced in spiritual consciousness. He has killed the whole civilization, rascal.”
Prabhupāda: “That is nonsense. Darwin was a number-one nonsense. Yes. Rascal. He has confused the whole world.” Prabhupāda: “Full nonsense, this rascal. How much havoc he has done to the human society. A grand rascal, this Darwin. And he is taken as the basic principle of anthropology. The whole world has become…”
Prabhupada: “The Darwin’s theory, this theory, that theory, simply they are bewildered, thinking this body is the self.” Prabhupada: “So the modern civilization, according to Darwin’s theory, they are advancing to become animal. That’s it. Therefore they are claiming their forefathers are coming from monkeys.”
Prabhupada: “Because they are standing on a wrong theory, all their calculations are wrong, and people are suffering. The rascal Darwin’s theory. So many, based on this foolish theory, wrong conception of life. So we have to challenge, protest. defeat. This will be our work. Our worshiping of Kṛṣṇa, that is our internal affair. The external affair—we need to establish this theory. Otherwise they’ll be leading this society. Misleading. They are misleading, not leading, misleading. So we have to stop this misleading.”
To sum up: According to Prabhupada Darwins theory has killed the whole civilization, that is has confused the whole world, that is has caused a lot of havoc in human society, that is bewilders people be making them identify the body as the self, that it makes people become animals, that it misleads people and makes them suffer. Darwins theory has created so much trouble that Prabhupada want us to stop it.
Thus I think it is proven that my first contention is correct: You are contradicting Prabhupada.
Arguments for my second contention is coming soon.
Ys, Ajit Krishna Dasa
3 responses so far ↓
rasasthali // 28/02/2009 at 12:23 |
Do you have an evidence that Srila Prabhupada read Darwin’s works at all?
Prabhupada on Darwin and Moral Decline (Part 2) « Vaisnava Apologetics // 03/03/2009 at 16:25 |
[...] my post “Prabhupada on Darwin and Moral Decline (Part 1)” I defended my first contention which was that Rasasthali Devi Dasi contradicts Prabhupada [...]
Ajit // 04/03/2009 at 15:57 |
By reading Darwin I think it’s clear that Prabhupada knew his ideas very well and that he was able to see their logical and historical consequences. If we think that Prabhupada should have read all the books by all authors on any subject in order to speak authoritively on that subject we would be in trouble. Also because the same principle would then apply to us and everyone else. Prabhupada was not stupid and he would not have consistently have preached so heavily against Darwin unless he knew his ideas very well.