“Regarding earning money and hoarding wealth, most vaeshyas [capitalists] today are pishácavats [ghouls, vampires]. In Sanskrit pisháca means “one who breaks the neck of an animal and then sucks out all the blood, leaving only the flesh and bones”. In India it is said that it is extremely difficult to understand the nature of these bloodsuckingpisháca vaeshyas – because when they drink water, even if it is already pure, they filter it; but on other occasions they drink people’s blood, which, even if it is not pure, they do not bother to filter!”
(Various Occupations, Human Society Part 1)
This uncompromising observation of Shrii Prabhat Ranjan Sarkar is not mere rhetoric. The more we study the history of capitalism, the more we see the reality of society today, the more we realise that these words are in fact the literal truth. Currently, capitalism has descended into a final destructive stage where the violence of its greed threatens the existence of human beings and life itself on this planet. This extreme, omnicidal himsa has thus far seen no serious revolt anywhere in the world. The European tradition of liberal and leftist revolution has lost all capacity to aid humanity. This was because the European tradition failed to launch a revolution in the basic nature of the human mind. Today, the time has come for an all-round revolution against greed – both internal and external – both individual and collective. So now let us look at the nature of greed in society today to understand why such a revolution is so necessary.
What are the fundamental facts about greed today? In 2018, the World Inequality Report found that from the 1980s to 2014, India’s top 1% earners share of the national wealth increased from 7% to 22%. During the same time period, the bottom 50% earners share of the national wealth decreased from 23% to 15%. By 2016 – in just 2 years – the 1% capitalist dacoits looted 60% of the national wealth. These criminals paid for this by funding the ruling party to unprecedented levels in 2014. In the last few years, due to the cutting of corporate taxes and taxes on the wealth we have seen in the last year 70% of the wealth generated in the country captured by 1% of the population. Today 82% of the Indian people earn less than Rs. 10,000. In the world, in the last 25 years dominated by neoliberal capitalism, the 1% of the world’s capitalists have captured nearly 70% of the world’s wealth.
How does India compare to other countries? India has the 2nd largest level of economic inequality in the world. What does this mean? It means India has the 2nd most greedy capitalists in the world. This is the root reason for all the problems of our nation. Let us be clear, in India no one can make a big fortune without being involved in direct murder (not to mention structural violence) and black money dealings. Furthermore, the excessive greed of Indian capitalists causes them in their race for profit to leave a trail of environmental and social destruction in their wake. These capitalists are the real anti-nationals as they have no hesitation in destroying countless lands and communities across the nation. This is why Shrii Sarkar has said,
“If, after analysing the economic structure of society, I described vaeshyas [capitalists] from developed countries as polished devils, I would find it extremely difficult to find a suitable term for their counterparts in underdeveloped countries. Such vaeshyas are not satisfied with just sucking people’s blood, they often devour their flesh and bones as well; then they beat drums made from the skins of their victims as they deliver religious and philosophical discourses, build temples and construct lodgings for pilgrims, and undertake various other activities … Although they support spirituality, they are not motivated by spiritual sentiments. The fake spirituality they preach actually injects impotency into society. In their endeavours they are assisted by like-minded exploiters who trade in religion.
“There is an unhealthy collusion between vaeshyas and those who trade in religion to try to prevent human beings from forcefully asserting their rights. They try to persuade people that exploitation, the sucking of blood, by vaeshyas, is not an outrage but a law of nature; that it is useless to try to bring about social welfare by establishing human rights. The exploited people should forget about the world and support those who trade in religion in order to enjoy unlimited happiness in an imaginary heaven…
“The vaeshyas of today have let loose the reins of their greed. Perhaps they can hear the sound of their death-knell.” (Ibid.)
Here we see an important point that as we have seen in the first part of this article when Bhishma revealed to Yuddhisthira in the Shanti Parva of the Mahabharata how greedy capitalists used religion and corrupt scriptures in order to psychologically enslave the people so that they can be easily looted of their wealth. Today in capitalist countries all over the world we see religious leaders and religious politicians working together to resort to unprecedented levels of exploitation and violence that has caused this year to be the most violent and causing the most hardship since World War II. It is the wealthy, exploitative elites in South Asia that used religion to divide Bharatvarsha into pieces. In Pakistan, India and America, unemployed youth facing discrimination due to caste or race are encouraged to fight and die for their religion so as to prevent them from revolting against their exploiters.
These thieves not only used government to make crores for themselves, but they also indulge in illegal activities that destroy their companies and then demand that the government give them more loans. In 2004 on May Day the then Indian PM Manmohan Singh gave an academic talk in which he said,
“I was struck recently by a comment in the media that most of the billionaires among India’s top business leaders operate in oligopolistic markets [a market structure with a small number of firms who do not allow other capitalists to gain power over the economy], and in sectors where the government has conferred special privileges on a few.
“This sounds like crony capitalism. Are we encouraging crony capitalism? Is this a necessary but transient phase in the development of modern capitalism in our country? Are we doing enough to protect consumers and small businesses from the consequences of crony capitalism? Have we, in the name of protecting domestic enterprise, encouraged crony capitalism? Do we have a genuine level playing field for all businesses? What should be done to inject a greater degree of competitiveness in the industrial sector? I look forward to ISID for providing answers to each one of these important questions.”
This crony capitalism has followed the Nehru era of crony (pseudo) socialism. During Manmohan Singh’s term in office we have seen corruption in the Commonwealth Games because Kalmadi had full freedom to act even against the protests of minister who were overridden by the Prime Minister. The era of crony capitalism flourished during his era because he was in fact a Prime Minister unelected by the Indian people but rather the chosen lackey of the World Bank who insisted on his being made Finance Minister and then Prime Minister.
Now we have entered the era of crony religious capitalism. Shrii Prabhat Ranjan Sarkar has said that the religious political parties in India are the “shikhar shatru” (ultimate enemy) because their exploitation knows no limits and above all, no mercy. This will be seen more clearly in the next few years. But just recently while the government claimed to have closed down hundreds of shell companies used for enabling crores of money to be siphoned out of the country, in fact the government failed to even investigate the 100 shell companies of Nirav Modi who looted the people’s money from Punjab National Bank. The fact that Nirav was one of the prime fundraisers for the PM during the 2014 elections seems to have been a major factor in this. All the crony elite dacoits who have made fortunes plundering the wealth of the Indian people have not been made to pay their debts by either the Congress or the BJP. Rather the government launched demonetisation to fill the void in public banks created by these criminals looting the money of the Indian people.
While there are several dacoits who control this country let us look at Mukesh Ambani the puppeteer of both the Congress and BJP and who himself is a puppet of the British Rothschilds who have been ruling India for centuries. Between 2015 and 2018, his wealth increased by Rs 165.24 crore every day. Just think about it. Just 1 day’s money would be enough to feed, give medicine and a decent life to the nation’s poorest children for nearly 1 year. This money is not Ambani’s money, it is our money – the money of the people of this country – it is made from their sweat and blood. Because we are cowards so many children die, starve because they do not have the right to life in this country. It is because we are cowards that we waste our time with fraud elections.
Elections
The recently concluded elections offer a massive proof of how greed rules our so-called democracy that in reality is a plutocracy – a rule of the rich. Hundreds of years ago Greek philosophers like Plato and Aristotle concluded that democracy always ends in plutocracy and then dictatorship. This fundamental truth is being re-enacted today. Even to get the chance to run in a particular constituency requires one to pay a bribe to the leaders of the political party. In the recent elections, the son of an AAP candidate revealed that his father paid 6 crore to get the party ticket to his constituency. In the suicide note of the Arunachal Chief Minister he revealed how he was required to pay small fortunes to Congress leaders and how his government was toppled by the BJP by bribing his party members. After the elections we have seen attempts at mass bribing by the ruling party in Karnataka and Bengal that is gradually becoming successful.
The Association for Democratic Reforms reveals the rule of the rich in the elections in a picture that speaks volumes.
In the elections, the BJP fielded 363 crorepati candidates, the Congress had 349 crorepati candidates and the BSP had 129 crorepati candidates.
We should note that local parties like the TDP and AIADMK require extra money for bribing the electorate and the officials as they are unable to influence the national administration and the Election Commission (EC) like the national parties. Before the election the EC had been filled with personnel by the ruling party with persons from Gujarat, one of whom has been linked with the corporate-neta corruption scandals of the Radia Tapes. We can also note that three ministers, – Nitin Gadkari, Giriraj Singh, and Ashwini Kumar Choubey – have cases against them related to illegal payments in connection with an election, bribery and undue influence at an election.
Cabinet
For the first time in the nation’s history we have a PM who said to a group of Japanese industrialists in September 2014,
“Being a Gujarati, money is in my blood…commerce is in my blood.”
Needless to say, this is not how the great Gujaratis were. Narsi Mehta the great bhakti poet chose to live in poverty singing bhajans rather than make a fortune as a priest, fleecing the ignorant public. He wrote the famous song, ‘Vaishnava Jana To’ reflecting saintly values no longer valued in Gujarat today. Narsi Mehta like many of the early stalwarts of Gujarati literature was from Kathiawar Samaj (Saurashtra) a ksattriya (warrior) region that has been exploited by the banias of Vadodara and Ahmedabad. Later great saints like Prannath worked to unite Hindus and Muslims and when faced with the assault of Aurangzeb’s fanaticism trained Chattrasal to launch a revolt in Bundelkhand. Even in more recent times in the early 20th century, idealistic Gujaratis sacrificed their reputation, careers to dedicate their lives to social service under the inspiration of Gandhi.
The culture of himsak lobha (violent greed) has only dominated Gujarat since 2002 and only dominated India since 2014. Before this, many Gujaratis would sacrifice their wealth for noble causes and above all the culture of ahimsa was vibrant among Jains, Hindus and Muslims.
Naturally in such a situation, we would expect a cabinet dominated by crorepatis. In fact, out of 58 ministers, 51 are crorepatis. Let us be clear that crorepatis are chorpatis [masters of stealing]. One does not become rich without violating the law and looting the Indian people. Such are the people who then are chosen to rule the Indian people.
Shirmani Akali Dal MP and Food Processing Minister Harsimrat Kaor Badal is the richest minister with assets worth Rs 217 crore. Goyal Piyush Vedprakash, BJP Rajya Sabha member from Maharashtra, is the second richest minister in Modi’s new Cabinet with assets worth Rs 95 crore. Rao Inderjit Singh, BJP MP from Haryana, is the third richest candidate with total assets worth Rs 42 crore while Home Minister Amit Shah is the fourth richest minister with assets worth Rs 40 crore. Of course this is the legal income and does not include black money or assets of relatives. For example, the Wire Media Group revealed that in just one year from 2014 to 2015, Jay Amit Shah’s company turnover increased 16,000 times after his father came to power.
Coming Crisis
The agenda of the government is crystal clear – increasing privatisation – selling off the assets of the Indian people to their corporate paymasters. The results of this policy is also crystal clear – increasing unemployment, environmental destruction and desertification, increasing corporate violations of the law in seizing resources, regular lychings to give an outlet to the rage of the people, and above all the movement towards a police state.
Right now, once again we are seeing a massive drought across the country but no politician has any interest in this beyond organising yagnas in temples and prayers in mosques. Shrii Prabhat Ranjan Sarkar warned in 1990 of a future water crisis in which thousands and thousands would die. This is also the opinion of many climate scientists. He also gave detailed solutions. However, these solutions will never become a reality without a revolution against the rabid greedy people who control the country. For, already poor people are dying due to heatstroke and a lack of water. Poor people have been arrested for stealing water while the rich monopolize water from private tankers.
Here we clearly see the consequence of greed. Due to rampant environmental destruction by the capitalist elites and corporates there is drought and for the poor (in particular lower castes) there is a drought of relief as the water is stolen by the rich for the second time. This means people suffer from kidney disease among other ailments. So much misery because of so much greed – all because we are so cowardly to even think of stopping this mahahimsa.
However the main crisis is inside our hearts. We try to deny and black out the truth about all the suffering in the country and how the foreign coporates, their Indian partners and their neta chamchas are profiting from this misery. Noam Chomsky said he had travelled all over the world but he had never met a middle class more heartless to the suffering of their own people than in India.
Moral courage to face the truth in our minds let alone to face it in society requires great mental strength. But our minds are weakened and divided in a thousand directions by the struggle to earn a living and above all the addictions of mobile which weaken our will power. So where will this courage come from? Only a spiritual sadhana – a system of morality and meditative practices can give us moral courage. Needless to say, this is not taught by any of the corporate gurus today. Shrii Prabhat Ranjan Sarkar has thus called upon us all saying,
“O sádhakas [spiritual aspirants], advance undaunted, courageously fighting against Avidyá (the force of ignorance and negativity). Make your spiritual life fruitful with the warmth of your heart, the strength of your muscles, the vigorous activity of your nerves, and the rapid flow of blood in your veins. Yours is not the path of retreat, nor the path of unholy compromise as wretched slaves to the rapacious businessman or as pawns in the hands of power-hungry politicians. Yours is the path of ceaseless advancement towards union with the all-benevolent Supreme Entity by connecting the flow of action and devotion with the flow of knowledge. Never surrender meekly like a slave allowing your inherent power and vigour to be sapped. Remember, the fullest manifestation of your vigour is immortality.”
(The Highest Category of Devotion, Subháśita Saḿgraha Part 6)
And this all starts with making the decision to no longer tolerate the crimes of the venial capitalists who are destroying this beautiful planet. As Shrii Sarkar has enjoined us all,
“You must have a flaming moral purpose so that greed, oppression and exploitation shrivel before the fire in you.”
Ready for Dharma Yuddha
There is every chance of violent unrest in the country and even the chance of a revolution. However, a liberal revolution will lead to capitalists remaining in power and a communist revolution will lead to mass terror and dictatorship of party elites. A revolution in India of the workers against capitalists was predicted by Swami Vivekananda long ago. Shrii Sarkar explains the circumstances that lead to revolution saying,
“When the vaeshyas [capitalists], maddened with excessive greed, lose their common sense completely and forsake their humanity totally, then for Shúdra Revolution the opportune time has come.” (Shúdra Revolution and Sadvipra Society, Human Society Part 2)
However a revolution by the Shudras does not lead to the end of the violence of capitalists. Lenin said he believed in state capitalism and had the authoritarian Kaiser’s Germany as a role model. He was given funding by capitalist Germany to overthrow the Tsar. Trotsky was funded by elite capitalists while staying at the home of a Federal Reserve banker in New York and given a US passport to go to Russia. Western capitalists continued to fund the Soviet Union party elite in later years as has been documented by Prof. Anthony Sutton. In fact, the same capitalist who sponsored Trotsky also funded Hitler and the Nazi party. The same sordid story was seen in the history of the communist parties in India who were puppets of the Soviet Union and even during World War II, puppets of British communists who told them not to take part in the freedom movement.
The so-called Maoist terrorist organisations in India regularly take part in mafia activities of selling precious resources – often in cooperation with the state political parties. No low caste is allowed to become a leader in Maoist organisations and the Maoists used their extortion money to educate their children in private schools and then send them abroad to capitalist countries for higher studies and lucrative careers. Meanwhile at the ground level they use adivasis as cannon fodder and murder innocent policemen and organise the people to kill their neighbours under suspicion of being police spies.
So we cannot afford the suffering caused by a communist revolution – we need a Dharma Yuddha. During the era of Lord Krsna warrior rulers were dominating the country, wasting the resources in petty wars and luxuries and exploiting the people. Krsna was in fact not someone who killed demons, or a politician but rather a revolutionary. In His youth, He stopped the worship of the main Vedic god Indra. Later he aroused not just the moralist kings but the common people to the values of a united India based on justice and equality. As Shrii Sarkar says,
“Párthasárathi, as we have already observed, was an intensely practical man. He worked hard not only to promote the spiritual elevation and psychic welfare of human beings, but also to satisfy their needs for food, clothing, education, medical care and accommodation. He tried to bring all rational people, kings as well as commoners, together under one banner for the establishment of Dharma-rájya, the rule of morality, so that all could live in peace and prosperity…
“He was an embodiment of tremendous karma shakti [energy for action]. He was determined to destroy whatever was harmful and undesirable for humanity by application of His indomitable strength and commanding force, and at the same time facilitate the growth of all that was good and helpful. Those of noble intentions who are weak and lack the ability to provide for themselves should be supported and cared for by the society as a whole. This was the theme of Párthasárathi’s life.
“There are many people who remain weighed down by numerous cares and anxieties as well as the lack of the basic necessities of life. Párthasárathi took birth at a critical juncture in the history of human society, towards the end of the Vedic age, when exploitation had reached its zenith, with opportunists finding ample scope to prey on human society.”
(Discourse 13, Namámi Krśńasundaram)
It is this legacy of Parthasarathi Krsna deliberately ignored by His so-called devotees that is at the root of the PROUT movement. Every year in Kuruksetra, Gita Jayanti [anniversary of the Gita] is celebrated. However, the first Dharma Yuddha to unite India is not honoured. The very purpose of the Gita, as Tilak demonstrated, is not to give an intellectual philosophy but rather to foster the spiritual outlook of a warrior for Dharma.
This Dharma had nothing to do with any so-called scriptures or religion. In the Gita Krsna clearly told Arjuna to go beyond the superstition (II.42-3) of the Vedas (II.45-6). He clearly states that those who remain bound by the Vedic doctrines of heaven and rituals and have thus become addicted with greed for material enjoyment will never attain union with Paramatma (II.44). Once again we see how the Gita says that the greedy cannot evolve spiritually.
Thus for Krnsa, Dharma was not a religion (dharmamata), rather it was the expression of the universal human longing for dignity, justice and the routing of the exploiters. In this context we can then understand the meaning of Dharma Yuddha given by Shrii Prabhat Ranjan Sarkar:
Each and every individual has the inborn right to enjoy our common patrimony, the mundane property. Anyone who violates this fundamental law is a vested interest. Nobody should be allowed to go against this patrimony. If anybody does so, they should be cured of their psychic ailments. The process of curing them may be termed “Dharma Yuddha”.
It is the duty of each Sadvipra (spiritual revolutionaries) to protect the ignorant masses from the fatal hunger for mundane property which is encouraged by self-seeking exploiters. These self-seekers try to hide themselves and their naked brutality under the camouflage of democracy. Really speaking, democracy is a counterfeit bronze coin engoldened by the elixir of high-sounding words.
(Talks on PROUT, Prout in a Nutshell Part 15)
Those saints who are liberated from their internal greed, vices and prejudices by Tantra meditation and take up arms to fight capitalism are the sadvipras or spiritual revolutionaries. So just as it is our duty to end the suffering caused by the vile greed of the capitalists, just as it is our duty to triumph over the greed inside our own hearts, so also it is our duty to become sadvipras and to empower the suffering people to also becomes sadvipras. This is the real historical legacy of Lord Shiva who lived at a time when the Adi Bharatiyas were being ground down and enslaved by the imperialism of the Aryans. As Shrii Sarkar has said,
“In olden days neglected and exploited people, who had fallen prostrate under extreme oppression, used to look upon Shiva as their supreme shelter. Shiva would crush this exploitation with His thunderbolt – He would strike the arrogance of vain and egotistic people with His trident, and reduce to ashes the mountains of injustice and tyranny. He felt great compassion for those afflicted people and, making them sit beside Him, advised them how to solve their physical, psychic and spiritual problems. Shiva used to live on a hill, and all kinds of people from far and near would flock to Him.
“He would call them with the call of His viśáńa, His long horn, and that is why the people of those days could not think of Him without His viśáńa – so they lovingly nicknamed Him “Viśáńaninádaka” [“One who Blows the Viśáńa”]. Perhaps those persecuted people, whose lustreless faces showed no glow of well-being, who had been reduced to skeletons by their back-breaking labour, who had no soft bed of flowers on which to rest – those persecuted people, buffeted by hunger and exhausted by injustice – were not at all beautiful. That is why the arrogant tyrants of those days contemptuously called them “ghouls” and “ghosts”. But those so-called ghouls and ghosts were in fact the companions of Shiva. These unbeautiful representatives of the hungry masses of the world of that time were actually the simple and devoted followers of Shiva, His gańas who spoiled the yajiṋa of King Daksha…
“Shiva wanted His beloved devotees, His gańas who took shelter under Him, to attain the highest spiritual realization, and so He Himself used to teach them the different processes of spiritual practice to remove all spiritual and psychic afflictions; and moreover He spared no effort to help His devotees to overcome all mundane and social difficulties.
“Whenever Shiva noticed tears in the eyes of His devotees He felt restless. In fact, everyone was aware of the tenderness and flower-like softness of His large heart.”
(Discourse 19, Namah Shiváya Shántáya)
There are many so-called devotees who pour milk on idols in the name of worshipping Shiva but who wants to follow Shiva Dharma today? Everywhere Lord Shiva went, He propagated Tantra sadhana as well as the ideals and mission of sama-samaja (society based on social equality). This sacred mission has been abandoned for thousands of years. This why this war, this revolution against greed is not just a greedy, resentful revolt but rather is a holy or sacramental action and mission. This is why Shrii Sarkar says,
“The One who is the origin of all beings is the Supreme Entity. The Supreme Entity belongs to all, equally. To get protection and to enjoy the manifested universe of the Supreme Entity is the birthright of each and every being. Nobody has any right to accumulate excessive wealth. To accumulate and desire more mundane property is a crime against society and a sin against God. It is a highly immoral and antisocial action. To fight such vested interests and to wage a war against such antisocial activities is upright and sacramental.”
(Human Progress, A Few Problems Solved Part 6)
So unless we wage war against the crimes of the greedy, unless we end their domination in our society we are Adharmic – we are unholy, degraded beings – not worthy of being human beings. We all know how shamed we feel when occasionally reading or seeing the suffering and violence of the innocent. And we all know how we try to hide from these feelings and feel proud of whatever petty charity we do.
Yet despite all of this, we dream of being the heroes who will liberate this country. This is why we watch action movies and for a while imagine that we are the hero triumphing against all odds. And it is because of this innate human yearning for greatness as a revolutionary against injustice and Adharma caused by pathological greed that we are bound to respond to the revolutionary call of Shrii Prabhat Ranjan Sarkar:
“With cosmic ideation set out from the starting point of moralism and advance towards supreme realization. Your feet may bleed, cut by the thorns scattered on the road, the sky, rent asunder by the lightning and crashing thunder of the fearful storm, may fall on your head, but proceed you must. You are a born fighter. To flee the battle in fear and hide like a corpse in the hills is ultravirous to your existential vitality. You must advance towards the Supreme Entity, your original abode, smashing all obstacles on the path. From time immemorial you have been listening to the sweetness of His divine call. Can you remain oblivious to it, engrossed in your little world created by Máyá [self-deceptive illusion]?”
(Microcosm and Macrocosm, Subháśita Saḿgraha Part 5)