Philosophy in Government: Democracy vs. Ancient Vedic Monarchy

(written on June 27, 2020)

(References: SB 1.16.2–3)

The modern world can only be characterized by quarrel and hypocrisy, the signature characteristics of Kaliyuga. The problems which we thought were addressed fifty to a hundred years ago now come back more prominent than ever. Black lives matter, gender equality, climate change, and so many other issues pollute the consciousness of our world today. Citizens are left dissatisfied more than ever, and the government seems to degrade.

This degradation of the modern governing system is due to a couple of key problems, outlined below:

• The leaders of the modern governing system have not surrendered to a bonafide spiritual master or the Supreme Personality of Godhead and are not spiritually inclined

• The modern governing system is democratic

• There is the general motivation of the government to have artificial economic development vs. reaping the benefits of nature (all these points will be explained in the following paragraphs)

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The first point is important. The leaders of the modern governing systems are not devotees of the Lord and do not have a bonafide spiritual master. It is said in Bhagavad Gita 3.21 by Krsna himself that “Whatever action a great man performs, common men follow. And whatever standards he sets by exemplary acts, all the world pursues.” People always look up towards great personalities as role models. The rulers of government are naturally placed into the position of great personalities, and if they are not setting the correct example for all people, then they are causing people to follow faulty leadership. This is the prime cause of many problems we have. If the rulers of modern government set an example, then the citizens are likely to follow and create a more peaceful ambience in the state. This is explained by Srila Prabhupada in the purport of SB 1.10.3, “Only the perfect and the infallible can create a program which is applicable at every place and can be followed by all in the world. It is the person who rules, and not the impersonal government. If the person is perfect, the government is perfect.” Therefore, it is extremely important for the executive head to follow the principles of Krsna consciousness and read Bhagavad Gita. This is explained by Srila Prabhupada in the purport of BG 3.21: “The king or the executive head of a state, the father and the schoolteacher are all considered to be natural leaders of the innocent people in general. All such natural leaders have a great responsibility to their dependents; therefore they must be conversant with standard books of moral and spiritual codes.” It is the responsibility for the executive head of government to be following the principles of Krsna consciousness. However, the modern executives are not devotees of the Lord, and hence they spoil the kingdom. As Srila Prabhupada wrote in SB 1.10.6, “There is a proverb in Bengali that a bad king spoils the kingdom and a bad housewife spoils the family.”

When the king is following the principles of Krsna consciousness, then automatically there is an abundance of rainfall, crop, milk, wood, and all necessities for maintaining civilization. Srila Prabhupada explains this in the purport of SB 1.10.4, where he writes, “During the regime of Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira, all over the world there were regulated rainfalls. Rainfalls are not in the control of the human being. The heavenly king Indradeva is the controller of rains, and he is the servant of the Lord. When the Lord is obeyed by the king and the people under the king’s administration, there are regulated rains from the horizon, and these rains are the causes of all varieties of production on the land.” The supply of rain, crop, and all such necessities are directly controlled by the demigods, and the demigods are the servants of the Lord, carrying out His functions. This is explained by Srila Prabhupada in the purport of SB 1.10.5, “Since Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira was under the protection of the ajita, the infallible Lord, as above mentioned, the properties of the Lord, namely the rivers, oceans, hills, forests, etc., were all pleased, and they used to supply their respective quota of taxes to the King. The secret to success is to take refuge under the protection of the Supreme Lord. Without His sanction, nothing can be possible.” Therefore, if the king worships the Lord, then the Lord will supply everything that is necessary for the state. This is the loving exchange between the devotees and the Lord. The devotee serves the Lord, and the Lord provides for the devotee everything that is necessary. This Lord Krsna describes in BG 9.22, “But those who always worship Me with exclusive devotion, meditating on My transcendental form – to them I carry what they lack, and I preserve what they have.”

Additionally, the modern executives do not surrender to or take the advice of a bonafide spiritual master. Maharaja Pariksit himself, being so elevated, took Krpacarya as his spiritual master. Then what to say about the degenerates of the modern government who do not even look towards spiritual advancement? In Srimad Bhagavatam 1.16.3, Srila Prabhupada explains how a king’s surrender to a spiritual master can directly be linked to a peaceful nation. Prabhupada writes: “Even for a king like Mahārāja Parīkṣit there was a need of a spiritual master for guidance. Without such guidance one cannot make progress in spiritual life.” Because Maharaja Pariksit took the correct actions as the monarch, the citizens were satisfied, and there were no upstarts. Srila Prabhupada writes, “Similarly, the charity made by the kings in such sacrifices was but another form of the taxes collected from the citizens. But, as the rains fall down very lavishly and appear to be more than necessary, the charity made by such kings also seems to be more than what the citizen needs. Satisfied citizens will never organize agitation against the king, and thus there was no need in changing the monarchical state.” Due to being a pure devotee, Maharaja Pariksit was able to supply the necessities of the citizens (plus more). Because the citizens were peaceful in general, it was possible and extremely successful for the monarchy to continue.

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This brings us to the next key problem: The modern governing system is democracy. Modern Democracy, by nature, means that the government is “by the people and for the people,” and that the king or executive head never has the full power to make decisions for the wellbeing of the nation. There are two main issues with this.

If it so happens that a Krsna conscious personality comes into power as the executive head, they would still have extremely limited power to control the government. As Srila Prabhupada explains in the purport of SB 1.10.3, “The modern elected executive head of a state is just like a puppet because he has no kingly power. Even if he is enlightened like Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira, he cannot do anything out of his own good will due to his constitutional position.” In the modern system of checks and balances, the president only has ⅓ of the power of the government. This means that, even if the president wants to make the right decisions for the nation, they are likely to be stopped by the legislative or judicial branches of government. That is why Srila Prabhupada says, in the quote above, that even if one is a devotee like Maharaja Yudhisthira, he will not be able to do anything due to the formation of the modern government. As shown in the picture below, each branch of government has the ability to check another branch. Therefore, no branch is allowed to make decisions on its own, and this is often the cause of turmoil in modern government:

The second issue with democracy is inherent: the citizens are the ones who ultimately choose their ruler. Whether a direct democracy or a representative democracy, the people have a say in almost every action of the government. If all the citizens are devotees of the Lord, and are fully equipped with the right knowledge, then a democracy might work, but in the age of Kaliyuga, where people break the four regulative principles and are not spiritually inclined, it is impossible for democracy to work. Degraded citizens vote for degraded men to take office in the government. Such animalistic politicians give lofty promises of sense gratification, but are not able to do anything about such promises in the government, they only work for their own sense gratification. Srila Prabhupada explains this in the purport of SB 1.10.25, “But at times, due to the influence of the ignorance mode of material nature (tamo-guṇa), the lowest of the material modes, kings and administrators come into power without knowledge and responsibility, and such foolish administrators live like animals for the sake of their own personal interest. The result is that the whole atmosphere becomes surcharged with anarchy and vicious elements. Nepotism, bribery, cheating, aggression and, therefore, famine, epidemic, war and similar other disturbing features become prominent in human society.” Dissatisfied citizens then organize public demonstrations to show their unrest. Protests like BLM, #metoo, climate change, etc. are all due to the faulty governing system being controlled by faulty men. Because of dissatisfaction, the executive heads only get limited terms in government; the people keep trying to find someone who will satisfy their needs, but they are unable to. This is why Srila Prabhupada explains in the purport of SB 1.16.3, that “Therefore, in contrast with the modern, advanced, civilized form of government, an autocracy like Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira’s is by far superior to a so-called democracy in which animals are killed and a man less than an animal is allowed to cast votes for another less-than-animal man.”

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Finally, the third key problem of the modern governing system is that the government always invests in artificial economic development. What is it meant by artificial economic development? Well, according to Vedic tradition, the economy of a state always depends on two factors: land and cows. Srila Prabhupada explains this in the purport of SB 1.10.4, “The basic principle of economic development is centered on land and cows. The necessities of human society are food grains, fruits, milk, minerals, clothing, wood, etc. One requires all these items to fulfill the material needs of the body.” However, in the modern day, due to the desire for multitudes of sense gratification, the people are interested in developing slaughterhouses, cinemas, smoke shops, etc. Srila Prabhupada explains the problem with such artificial desires: “What is the need of an artificial luxurious life of cinema, cars, radio, flesh and hotels? Has this civilization produced anything but quarreling individually and nationally? Has this civilization enhanced the cause of equality and fraternity by sending thousands of men into a hellish factory and the warfields at the whims of a particular man?” Such a civilization only causes quarrel, inequality, hatred, and ultimately pandemic, war, and other such disasters.

The ultimate kingdom is one which is not poisoned by modern industrialization and iron tools and machinery. It is one which protects all living entities, especially cows which are one of the seven mothers. Srila Prabhupada gives an example of Pariksit Maharaj who properly chastised a man who was killing a cow. He writes: “Mahārāja Parīkṣit, grandson of Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira, while touring his vast kingdom, saw a black man attempting to kill a cow. The King at once arrested the butcher and chastised him sufficiently. Should not a king or executive head protect the lives of the poor animals who are unable to defend themselves? Is this humanity? Are not the animals of a country citizens also? Then why are they allowed to be butchered in organized slaughterhouses? Are these the signs of equality, fraternity and nonviolence?” Therefore, protection of all living entities is necessary for peace and fraternity. There are several examples within the Krsna book which explain how Nanda Maharaja’s kingdom was so successful simply because of the maintenance of land and cows. In Krsna book (chapter 5), is it written, “It is very important to note in this connection how wealthy the inhabitants of Vṛndāvana were simply by raising cows. All the cowherd men belonged to the vaiśya community, and their business was to protect the cows and cultivate crops. By their dress and ornaments, and by their behavior, it appears that although they were in a small village, they still were rich in material possessions. They possessed such an abundance of various kinds of milk products that they were throwing butter lavishly on each other’s bodies without restriction. Their wealth was in milk, yogurt, clarified butter and many other milk products, and by trading their agricultural products, they were rich in various kinds of jewelry, ornaments and costly garments. Not only did they possess all these things, but they could give them away in charity lavishly, as did Nanda Mahārāja.” Living a natural life, using the resources given to us by Krsna should be our activity. We should hanker for sense gratification by constructing factories, slaughter houses, cinemas, etc. As Srila Prabhupada aptly puts it: “Human civilizations should depend on the production of material nature without artificially attempting economic development to turn the world into a chaos of artificial greed and power only for the purpose of artificial luxuries and sense gratification. This is but the life of dogs and hogs.” (SB 1.10.4).

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After listing the problems of the modern governing system, it is worth noting that the Vedic monarchical system was extremely successful. The Vedic monarchical system was based on the following principles:

• The king was given full power

• The king is an enlightened devotee of the Lord

• The king accepts a bona fide spiritual master for guidance

• The king’s main goal is to help the nation spiritually progress

• People who break the four regulative principles are properly chastised

• The economy is focused on the development of land and cows

Some examples of such Vedic governing systems were Nada Maharaja, King Yudhisthira, and Maharaja Pariksit. There are many more examples of such kings in the Srimad Bhagavatam and other Vedic literatures. The most important process that all of these kings employed was varnashrama dharma.