from Back to Godhead, January-February 1997
The people who’ve served cow flesh to billions, beneath golden arches around the world, have now come to the land where the cow is sacred. And they’re being ever so careful to be Indian.
No Big Macs here, no indeed. No cow flesh, no pig fat, lest Hindus or Muslims be offended. In India, it’s the Maharaja Mac. The menu is full of veggies spiced just for the Indian palate, and the slaughter of choice is chickens and sheep.
And trendy Indians, it seems, are lining up to swallow it. When the doors opened in Delhi in early October, day one saw a reported twenty thousand customers, and in Mumbai the crowds on opening day stretched half a mile.
Some voices, of course, spoke out in protest. Some griped that McIndia uses mono-something-or-other, a taste-boosting chemical. Others groaned at being catered to by a videshi company, a company of foreigners.
But an Indian taste for McAmerica and an American appetite for rupees seem to have found one another. And if the cow is your mother and the business of the arch people in the rest of the world is to dish out your mother’s flesh on a bun, what does it matter? The sheep and chickens, we’re assured, are svadeshi, home grown, so everything is all right.
The svadeshi sheep and chickens, of course, might have thought otherwise, had they thought about it. But mere birds and beasts can’t think about it, nor can men who’ve become hardly better.
For birds and beasts are obliged by nature to live entirely for their senses, with no higher thoughts. And a man who sacrifices the higher values of life merely to earn a rupee or spend it for his tongue is descending to the life of a beast.
It is the beasts who have no higher concern than eating, sleeping, fighting, and gratifying the sex drive. Only when we turn towards spiritual realization do we begin to rise above the life of the animals.
The culture of spirituality has long been the pride of India. But now even Indians are becoming proud to follow America in becoming cheaply fed beasts.
Like elsewhere in the world, McBeast in India queues up beneath the golden arches, not thinking beyond the whims of his senses, not thinking of Krishna, Gopala, the eternal master of the cows, and not realizing that by giving up higher consciousness for burgers and shakes he is slaughtering his own spiritual life.
He is a spiritual living being, an eternal spark of consciousness, wise by nature, and eternally connected with Krishna. But when he’s allured by the golden arches of material enjoyment his spiritual wisdom pales, and he lines up to slide down into passion and ignorance.
For the people of the arch are not kind to beasts, though they are beasts themselves. In the world of false enjoyment, “billions served” means billions cheated, and no good will come of it, not any more for the beasts served as customers than for the beasts served on the buns.
Good will come to us only when we turn back to Krishna, back to Godhead.
Alas for the hidden and forgotten sufferings of our fellow living entities! Must the desirability of a cheap burger be the pre-eminent social value of our times? Somehow or other, world society must grow to recognize the terrible costs of the American lifestyle.
It is even more perplexing when we see a great culture like India embracing such cheapness. Not only does India lay claim to a great and deep spiritual heritage, but it boasts what may be the most incredible cultural cuisine on the face of this Earth! Yet our noble Indians are passing up mouth-watering samosas and juicy rasgulas for the dull and chemical-filled creations of the king of mass production?
It is truly a puzzle which can only be solved by drawing deeply upon the powers of darkness and ignorance. They must be filled with envy and desire when they see our Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous, and the glittering landscape of the The City of Angels that graces almost every American film. They must believe that all of this comes without cost, or that it is worth the price.
But it is imperative to look beneath the surface. They must realize the existence of millions of people suffering under the yoke and bearing the heavy burdens of the American hegemony. And they must realize the existence of the many millions of animals living lives of unending torment and sadness in the dark and behind the scenes where none can hear their plaintive cries.
Our noble Indians must simply open their eyes and hearts to the truth, and then act as good conscience demands.
Even if the Vedic authorities allow the eating of meat, even if ksatriyas must practice their killing arts, even if Goswamis in dire straits have eaten the flesh of dogs, even if Eskimos have nothing to eat but seals, and even if the Supreme Lord Himself could not drag the Japanese away from their beloved “research” on cetacean flesh; people of every religion, region, and race must come to recognize our caretaker responsibilities toward our Mother Earth and all of our fellow living entities–so that even if meat is being eaten, we ensure humane treatment of our fellow creatures trapped in the bodily condition.
We must open our eyes and hearts to the truth: we must put a stop to the needless sufferings of both ourselves and our fellow creatures, and we must reject the chief perpetrators of these offenses against the living entities, such as the McDonald’s Corporation.
May the Supreme Lord smile upon and bless our righteous struggle against these forces of darkness and ignorance.
I was checking on this website for some days after “A Righteous Beef” was posted to see if there might be any response from anyone. But other matters now take me away, and this should now just be considered for everyone’s consideration. So although the reader may post a reply, please don’t be expecting any further responses from me.