58 TEACHINGS OF QUEEN KUNTI
as to actually benefit humanity. A Vaisnava feels and actually sees that all
living entities are part and parcel of God and that somehow or other they
have fallen into contact with this material world and have assumed dif-
ferent types of bodies according to different karma.

Those who are learned (panditah) do not discriminate. They do not
say, ‘“This is an animal, so it should be sent to the slaughterhouse so that
a man may eat it.”” No. Why should the animals be slaughtered? A per-
son who is actually Krsna conscious is kind to everyone. Therefore one
tenet of our philosophy is ‘‘No meat-eating.’’ Of course, people may not
accept this. They will say, ‘‘Oh, what is this nonsense? Meat is our food.
Why should we not eat it?’? Because they are intoxicated rascals
(edhamdana-madah), they will not hear the real facts. But just consider: if
a poor man is lying helpless in the street, can I kill him? Will the state ex-
cuse me? I may say, ‘‘I have only killed a poor man. There was no need
for him in society. Why should such a person live?”’ But will the state ex-
cuse me? Will the authorities say, ‘“You have done very nice work’’? No.
The poor man is also a citizen of the state, and the state cannot allow him
to be killed. Now, why not expand this philosophy? The trees, the birds,
and the beasts are also sons of God. If one kills them, one is as guilty as
one who kills a poor man on the street. In God’s eyes, or even in the vi-
sion of a learned man, there is no discrimination between poor and rich,
black and white. No. Every living entity is part and parcel of God. And
because a Vaisnava sees this, he is the only true benefactor of all living
entities.

A Vaisnava tries to elevate all living beings to a platform of Krsna con-
sciousness. A Vaisnava does not see, ‘“Here is an Indian, and there is an
American.”? Someone once asked me, ‘‘Why have you come to
America?” But why should I not come? I am a servant of God, and this is
the kingdom of God, so why should I not come? To hinder the move-
ments of a devotee is artificial, and one who does so commits a sinful act.
Just as a policeman may enter a house without trespassing, a servant has
the right to go anywhere, because everything belongs to God. We have to
see things in this way, as they are. That is Krsna consciousness.

Now, Kuntidevi says that those who are increasing their own intoxica-
tion cannot become Krsna conscious. A fully intoxicated person may talk
nonsense, and he may be told, ‘‘My dear brother, you are talking non-
sense. Just see. Here is your father, and here is your mother.”’ But be-
cause he is intoxicated, he will not understand, nor will he even care to
understand. Similarly, if a devotee tries to show a materially intoxicated
rascal, ““Here is God,” the rascal will not be able to understand it.
