Today the Earth planet we inhabit, Mother Bhumi, is facing a monumental catastrophe in the form of exploiting her for oil. Though this modern artificial so-called civilization is based around wholesale destruction and pillaging of the environment, there are a few who have arisen to defend Mother Earth though soon it could be too late. The exploiters of the earth who have created a complete and world-wide dependency upon an oil-based economy have no second thoughts about the suffering they cause to the people of the world and to the world itself. Therefore these living entities are said to be of a demonic nature.
In this regard, Shri Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead and Source of all incarnations, tells Arjuna: “They say that this world is unreal, that there is no foundation and that there is no God in control. It is produced of sex desire, and has no cause other than lust. Following such conclusions, the demoniac, who are lost to themselves and who have no intelligence, engage in unbeneficial, horrible works meant to destroy the world.” (BG 16.8-9)
Such demons do not recognize how all living entities are connected to the Supreme Personality of Godhead as His parts and parcels, and neither do they mind causing repeated havoc wherever they are in the material Universe. Shrimad Bhagavatam records how long ago in the Satya Yuga the demons drilled the Earth to extract her vital elements, causing her to fall to the bottom of the Garbhodaka Ocean. His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada notes:
“The floating of the planets in the weightless air is due to the inner constitution of the globes, and the modernized drilling of the earth to exploit oil from within is a sort of disturbance by the modern demons and can result in a greatly harmful reaction to the floating condition of the earth. A similar disturbance was created formerly by the demons headed by Hiranyaksha (the great exploiter of the gold rush), and the earth was detached from its weightless condition and fell down into the Garbhodaka Ocean.” (SB 2.7.1 Bhaktivedanta Purport)
At the time when the Earth planet Mother Bhumi seemed to be lost, she pitifully prayed to Lord Brahma. Being the first living entity in this universe, Brahma has the special ability to communicate directly with the Personality of Godhead Shri Vishnu. He meditated on the Lord in his heart and, as a result, out of his nostril appeared a magnificent living entity that increased in size like a white cloud:
“Brahma thought: ‘While I have been engaged in the process of creation, the earth has been inundated by a deluge and has gone down into the depths of the ocean. What can we do who are engaged in this matter of creation? It is best to let the Almighty Lord direct us.’
“O sinless Vidura, all of a sudden, while Brahma was engaged in thinking, a small form of a boar came out of his nostril. The measurement of the creature was not more than the upper portion of a thumb.
“O descendant of Bharata, while Brahma was observing Him, that boar became situated in the sky in a wonderful manifestation as gigantic as a great elephant”. (SB 3.13.17-19)
Lord Varahadeva wasted no time in raising Mother Earth from her dilemma:
“He was personally the Supreme Lord Vishnu and was therefore transcendental, yet because He had the body of a hog, He searched after the earth by smell. His tusks were fearful, and He glanced over the devotee-brahmanas engaged in offering prayers. Thus He entered the water.
“Diving into the water like a giant mountain, Lord Boar divided the middle of the ocean, and two high waves appeared as the arms of the ocean, which cried loudly as if praying to the Lord, ‘O Lord of all sacrifices, please do not cut me in two! Kindly give me protection!’
“Lord Boar penetrated the water with His hooves, which were like sharp arrows, and found the limits of the ocean, although it was unlimited. He saw the earth, the resting place for all living beings, lying as it was in the beginning of creation, and He personally lifted it.” (SB 3.13.28-30)
The great demon Hiranyaksha, the main cause for the suffering of Mother Earth, felt disturbed at the presence of the Lord. Lord Varahadeva engaged Hiranyaksha in battle, dispatching him with His Sudarshan Chakra. The Lord easily restored Mother Earth to her original position in the middle of the universe.
Today those people who are not in Krishna consciousness will take this story as a figment of mythology. Through mental speculations they may concoct different symbolic meanings to the Bhagavata Purana’s factual description of historical events. But to the devotees of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, every word of the authorized shastras is pure nectar.
The Bhagavata’s transcendental description reveals that mother Earth is not just a lump of matter. Rather as the living Earth she is an actual entity who feels pain whenever she is plundered. Living in harmony with her is the best for her and therefore best for us who are sustained by her. Since Mother Earth is a devotee of the Supreme Lord, and her deity form is like that of a sacred cow, that person who wishes to live in harmony with the laws of the Supreme Lord Shri Krishna should respect all forms of mother, including women, cows and mother Earth. As Shrila Prabhupada states, the formula for living in harmony with the laws of God and Nature is “simple living and high thinking.”
As observed by Shrila Bhaktsiddhanta Sarasvati Thakur, “There is nothing missing on Earth but Krishna consciousness.” In past ages when people were more God conscious, they produced items and utensils that were made to last for a lifetime. Today consumer products come with a warrantee of one or two years. Such products are not manufactured to last but to stimulate a world of constant consumerism. The consumer is forced to spend his hard earned money over and over again on the same item just to increase the wealth of demonic factory owners. But even a wealthy man cannot eat more than the poor one; the stomachs of the rich and the poor are the same size. And the so-called enjoyment of eating or for that matter mating is also the same. In this way, overproduction of unneeded goods is a waste of valuable energy that is not ours to exploit because it is the property of the Supreme Lord. Instead of focusing on God consciousness, people are made into slaves who are intimidated into continuously slaving just to buy the same products over and over again.
Today more than ever before there is a dire need for devotees to finally embrace the Vedic concepts of simple living and high thinking. It is possible for us to live in harmony with Nature and Mother Earth even as we employ the energies of the modern civilization to facilitate the preaching mission of Krishna consciousness. But the time is rapidly approaching when we may be forced to make a sharp return to the natural ways of simple living. Those who are hopelessly addicted to the modern artificially oil-based lifestyle will be destroyed by it like moths rushing into a flame. Foolish modern concepts of so-called “green living” offer the most puerile stop-gap solutions because such ideas of, say, electric cars (which are oil-based) also do not place Shri Krishna in the center. The concepts of simple living as directly taught by Shrila Prabhupada and the parampara are the only cure for the madness of a civilization based upon exploitation of Mother Earth.
In the past people used to have memories that were deeper and more far-reaching. Now with the advent of an oil-based society, the atmosphere has changed in short order with the rapid advancement of Kali Yuga. Today with the ubiquitous waves of the internet, radio, television and cell phones swirling all around us, the atmospheric interferences are far too great. We are bombarded by subtle messages even as we sleep. We are forced by this demonic civilization to literally swim in a sea of useless information that is impossible to retain anyway. No human brain can deal with this cross current of incessant assault of babble of the age of information.
The new generation of children, fed on the electronic media including violent video games, appears to have little interest in learning whether mundane or transcendent. They are fed through the media an artificial lifestyle whereby they are induced to remain useless and brainless basket cases their entire lives, and in this way they are made to fall into line and are easier to exploit by the demonic powers that be.
After all is said and done our appreciation for the simple cure formula of Krishna consciousness and the Hare Krishna mahamantra becomes even more pronounced. The Holy Names of the Lord are available even to a person who cannot remember what happened just a few minutes before. This in fact is the reality that is now coming into focus. Soon people will not be able to remember what happened to them only yesterday. It is scary but that is the reality of Kali Yuga.
In this age there is no true knowledge other than that which is found in the chanting of the holy Names of Shri Krishna. We bring with us the lingering influences of Kali Yuga—our misconceptions and bad habits—into the society of the devotees of the Lord. The ashram becomes our hospital and we are like medical patients who do not understand the depths of our own material disease. Many aspiring devotees become confused when they read the versions of the Bhagavata, that the Moon is further than the Sun and that the Earth is not a spinning globe that circles the Sun. In this regard, the episode of the appearance of Lord Varahadeva hints at the shape of Mother Earth:
“O Lifter of the Earth, the Earth with her mountains, which You have lifted with Your tusks, is situated as beautifully as a lotus flower with leaves sustained by an infuriated elephant just coming out of the water. (SB 3.13.40)
The Earth’s lotus-like shape is also described in detail in the 5th Canto of Shrimad Bhagavatam. As discussed above, the liquid that keeps the lotus-like Mother Earth afloat is her crude oil. The ignorant living entities that control the corporations that drill for her oil will tell you that their “black gold” can be extracted here and there only at certain locations. But over and again they find new places to drill. That is because oil can be found everywhere under the crust of mother Earth. Just like a fish has an apparatus filled with air under its vertebrae that keeps it afloat, so mother Earth also has a giant organ that keep her afloat. Drilling and destroying her vital organ will only result in sinking her again in the bottom of the ocean.
The symptoms of a doomed future have appeared on the horizon “like a bad Moon on the rise” and only the sankirtan movement can save the earth. The ocean levels are rising and some islands have already been lost to the sea. So there should be a moratorium to this drilling, and material Nature will do this to save the Earth if man refuses to. We are cutting the very branch we sit on. And in these times of trouble for the entire Earth planet we should pray to the most merciful Lord Varahadeva. Let us ask Him to protect us always from the illusions of false enjoyment and the artificial, impermanent lifestyle based upon destroying the very place that sustains us.
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