A world war is the worst thing that can happen to human civilization. It would bring about the destruction of everyone’s interests. After facing the bitter consequences of the two world wars in the twentieth century, the leaders of the chief countries of the world had to do something to prevent another outbreak of war. Thus the United Nations (UN) was born.
In Wikipedia, the definition and purpose of the UN are stated as follows: “The United Nations is an intergovernmental organization that was tasked to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international co-operation and be a center for harmonizing the actions of nations.” There is definitely a lot of good intention invested is such an institution. There is no denying the fact.
Since its inception in 1945, the UN has somehow or other, with great difficulty, managed to prevent so far the outbreak of a third world war. But it is nowhere close to harmonizing the nations. Wars did take place constantly throughout among many nations. Every country who has some economic power is developing or procuring massively destructive nuclear weapons, threatening the world with imminent destruction. Every nation is trying to work for its own benefit and in the process, may periodically end up at loggerheads with other nations.
The most recent news sensation is the rising tension between India and Pakistan and the call for peace talks to resolve the matter of cross-border violence. Last year, we had witnessed the peace talks between the USA and North Korea. Likewise, there have been several such conventions in the past as well. But honestly, how much good has actually come out of such talks? Although they may temporarily defer the danger of war, they do not remove its possibility. In fact, at the slightest agitation or provocation, the situation can again quickly become highly volatile and the danger of war and its consequent destruction shall immediately stand imminent once again. This is the reason why peace talks are not a real solution for peace.
As much as the intention of goodwill is appreciated, the know-how of its execution is equally important. For example, if someone is drowning in the water, I may want to help and with all good intention, I may jump inside the water to do so but if I do not know how to swim, then what good can I do? Rather, I would do more damage than good. Instead of saving that person, I would also die along with him. Therefore, just wanting to help is not enough. One should know what help is and how it is to be administered.
Firstly, conflicts between two entities, whether they be people, families, genders, races, or nations, happen because of a false sense of proprietorship resulting from a bodily conception of life. For example, because our body is born in a particular country, we think the country belongs to us and we try to protect its interest and guard it against people born in another country. But this behavior is visible even in dogs and hogs and other lower species. So how have we tapped into the human potential?
While it is natural for animals to fight, deeply entrenched that they are in ignorance of their spiritual situation, we humans have been gifted with the special intelligence to understand God and His message delineated in the Vedic literature. Unless we lend a serious ear to the message of God we shall just relegate ourselves to the level of animals like the dogs. If you keep a dozen dogs in a room, can you expect peace? They will bark and bite and fight with each other. Unfortunately, this is the condition of the world today.
God’s message of peace is to be found in every holy scripture but is described in particular detail and depth in the Vedic scriptures, especially the Bhagavad-gītā, which comprises the essence of all Vedic scriptures.
In that great scripture, Lord Kṛṣṇa, the selfsame Supreme Personality of Godhead, gives the ultimate peace formula for all mankind. No more peace talks are necessary. In the 5th chapter, verse 29, Lord Kṛṣṇa declares thus:
bhoktāraṁ yajña-tapasāṁ
sarva-loka-maheśvaram
suhṛdaṁ sarva-bhūtānāṁ
jñātvā māṁ śāntim ṛcchati
“Those who know Me as (1) the ultimate purpose of all sacrifices and austerities, (2) the Supreme Lord of all planets and demigods and (3) the benefactor and well-wisher of all living entities, attain peace from the pangs of material miseries.”
The above three truths must be known by all of mankind for peace to prevail. If people in general, and leaders in particular, understand that God is the overlord of all planets including this one, then where is the question of my territory and your territory? Everything is God’s territory. All nations can unite under the lotus feet of the Supreme Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa. That will be the real United Nations.
An ideal definition of the United Nations would be for all nations to act as one unit for a unified cause of the ultimate progress of human potential. The potential of us humans, as distinguished from the animals, is that we can achieve God-realization and thus end all miseries in this material world and return to our eternal home, the kingdom of God. The animals, on the other hand, cannot do so.
If we revisit the definition and purpose of the UN, it is “tasked to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international co-operation and be a center for harmonizing the actions of nations.” All those ideals can be easily achieved if it takes to the instructions of Bhagavad-gītā. The same goes for the leaders of all countries.
Instead of constantly firefighting near-war situations, nations can actually work harmoniously towards liberating all people of the world by propagating the instructions of Bhagavad-gītā. Bhagavad-gītā is not a sectarian religious book. It is a guidebook for all humanity, nay, of all creatures of the universe. But human beings especially can take full advantage of it and make life peaceful here on earth and at the same time achieve the kingdom of God in the next.
While God gave us the formula for peace, the modern man has come up with the formula for dividing the world into pieces. The fragmentation happens due to not having a common central aim of serving the Supreme Lord and chasing one’s individual or collective sense gratification instead. As Srīlā Prabhupāda explained many times, when a stone is dropped into a still lake, it creates ripples which are concentric circles and they expand outward. However much they may expand, they will never collide or clash against one another. But if there are many stones thrown in the lake, the ripples of each stone collide against other stones’ ripples.
Similarly, if the aim of all humanity is singular, that is, to satisfy the Supreme Lord, who is the source of their very existence, then all activities can expand unlimitedly with the same aim of glorifying the Lord. Otherwise, if each person, and nation wishes to serve its own ulterior motive but at the same time wants to have peace, it is nothing but a hallucination. [END]
