Compassionate or demoniac

(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 22 April 2016, Radhadesh, Srimad Bhagavatam 7.8.14-16)

I read this article about organ donations. Someone sent it around and the article described how you cannot take organs from a dead body. It is not possible because then the organs are spoilt already and can no longer be used for transplant. Therefore you still have to be ‘alive and dead’ at the same time to donate an organ. So this type of death where you can be ‘alive and dead’ at the same time is called brain-dead, the heart still beats but the brain is dead. So people that are heavily injured especially with brain injuries go into a comatose condition and then at one point, when there is no brain activity measurements showing up with the electrodes, then the person is declared brain-dead. 

So then bring the scalpels, bring the saw, bring the scissors and let us cut it out… At first, take the eyes, then take a kidney and systematically take out all the organs in a sequence so that the person does not ‘die’. 

Now sometimes the blood pressure goes up as they are removing organs, just like in the case of someone who did not get enough anaesthesia for an operation, then the doctors have to give a little more. Even though the donors are brain-dead, sometimes they start jerking as they are being cut! No problem, they fix that also, they just give some medicine which causes paralysis so there is no jerking – no problem! The donor just lies there peacefully and they take out the organs. If anyone stills wants to donate organs then you are very brave. Me, definitely not!

We can see how the demoniac tendencies of society are infiltrated to something mainstream. And how it is very nicely glossed over and how it is very nicely covered with an image of compassion… real compassion and kindness, ‘Do you want to donate some organs, do you?’

So like that, the demoniac mentality is deeply ingrained in society. But no matter how far it goes, the laws of nature are very intricate and there will always be a response from the Supreme Personality of Godhead through the laws of nature. There is a Bengali proverb which describes that an artist tried to make a statue of Lord Siva but in the end it looked more like a monkey!!

Similarly in the name of world peace, as Srila Prabhupada explained, they made a nuclear bomb but with it, they hung impending death above their heads. In the name of defense and it is true if we look at history, it was inevitable, the Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bombings were the only way to stop the devastating force of the Second World War; there was no other way.

But meanwhile, we have hung death above our head and ever since, we have lived with this idea of the atomic bomb. In the sixties and the seventies era of the cold war, this was a big thing. Lately the cold war is again coming a bit more to the foreground and like this, we see that the demons will again and again misuse their powers. Of course, devotees – we just depend on Krsna for our protection.