Interviewer: Among your followers
is the part of their lives which is not involved with the rules of your organization
or with the formal meetings. Are there...? Do they simply proceed with their
normal lives and work at jobs?
Prabhupada: Yes, yes, work.
Interviewer: I mean, are there any prohibitions as to what
type of work? For example, would a follower of yours work in a war industry?
Prabhupada: Yes. If there is no other work, he can work in
war industry, because he has to live. After all, he must earn something.
Without earning, how can he live? So if there is no better job, he can accept
any job. What can be done?
Interviewer: You take no...
Prabhupada: But if we can get a better job... Suppose the
war industry or butcher industry... That is also an industry. So if somebody
offers some job in the butchery, naturally we are not inclined to accept
such job, but...
Interviewer: I believe in the Buddhist philosophy that there
are some professions like slaughtering animals and so on which are...
Prabhupada: So far Buddhist philosophy is concerned...
Interviewer: And that's why I wondered if there were prohibitions
within, you know, the outside contact with society that you make.
Prabhupada: But our formula is that one should live... It
is called sato vritteh. The vritti, the profession or the means of livelihood,
must be very fair. Must be very fair. Sato vritteh. Because association will
contaminate my mind and my intelligence, therefore, as far as possible, sato vritteh. And this sato vritteh is a Sanskrit word.
According to the purification of profession, livelihood, one is called a
brahmana, one is called a ksatriya, one is called a vaisya, one is called
a sidra, one is called lower than the sidras. You see? So that is also...
But in this age one cannot stick to a particular profession. Just like for
the brahmanas. The brahmanas... For brahmanas it is enjoined that they should
learn scripture and they should preach scripture. That's all. They have six
kinds of occupation. One of the main is this, to learn and to teach. But
at the present moment everything has changed. So there is change. But as
far as possible, we don't accept a profession or any job which is abominable.
Radio Interview, Los Angeles,
February 12, 1969
