Crime: Why and What to Do?

In this July 1975 interview, Chicago Police Department media relations man

Lt. David Mozee asks about curbing the upward-spiraling U.S. crime rate.

Srila Prabhupada replies, “If human beings are not given the facility to learn

about God, then they remain on the level of cats and dogs. You cannot have

peace ina society of cats and dogs. .. . The thief and murderer already know

the law, yet they still commit violent crimes due to their unclean hearts. So our

process is to cleanse the heart.”

Lieutenant Mozee: I understand you have some ideas that could help us

in our efforts to prevent crime. I’d be very interested to hear them.

Srila Prabhupada: The difference between a pious man and a criminal is

that one is pure in heart and the other is dirty. This dirt is like a disease in

the form of uncontrollable lust and greed in the heart of the criminal.
Today people in general are in this diseased condition, and thus crime is
, very widespread. When the people become purified of these dirty things,

crime will disappear. The simplest process of purification is to assemble

in congregation and chant the holy names of God. This is called

sankirtana and is the basis of our Krsna consciousness movement. So, if

you want to stop crime, then you must gather as many people as possible

for mass sankirtana. This congregational chanting of the holy name of

God will dissipate all the dirty things in everyone’s heart. Then there will

be no more crime.

Lieutenant Mozee: Do you have any feelings about crime here in the

United States as opposed to the crime in your own country of India?

Srila Prabhupada: What is your definition of crime?

Lieutenant Mozee: Any trampling on the rights of one person by

another person.

Srila Prabhupada: Yes. Our definition is the same. In the Upanisads it is

said, iSdvdsyam idam sarvam: ‘‘Everything belongs to God.” So, every-

one has the right to utilize whatever is allotted to him by God, but one

may not encroach upon others’ property. If one does so, he becomes a

criminal. Actually the first crime is that you Americans are thinking this

166
