Today I read: “Reality. It used to seem so simple—reality just was, like the weather. Why question it, let alone disagree about it? And then came the assault, a mind-bending stream of ‘fake news,’ ‘alternative facts,’ and lies disguised as truths that cast so many of us tumbling into a state of moral panic. How did we get here?”
That statement and question brought me to Srimad-Bhagavatam (1.7.24–25), where the pious king Pariksit says to Dharma in the form of a bull, “In the age of Satya [truthfulness] your four legs were established by the four principles of austerity, cleanliness, mercy, and truthfulness. But it appears that three of your legs are broken due to rampant irreligion in the form of pride, lust for women, and intoxication. You are now standing on one leg only, which is your truthfulness, and you are somehow or other hobbling along. But quarrel personified [Kali], flourishing by deceit, is also trying to destroy that leg.”
Now, is there any solution? In his purports, Srila Prabhupada says, “The preaching of the Bhagavatam principles will automatically render all men austere, clean both inside and outside, merciful to the suffering, and truthful in daily behavior. That is the way of correcting the flaws of human society, which are very prominently exhibited at the present moment. . . . The revival of bhagavata-dharma can save human civilization from falling prey to evils of all description.”
Hare Krishna.
Yours in service,
Giriraj Swami
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