So either you take human life or animal life or birds’ life, beasts’ life, trees’ life, anywhere you go, these three laws are working. Goodness, passion and ignorance. Therefore, always there must be three classes. Middle class, high class and lower class. There must be. So you cannot make one classless. That is not possible. So long the bodily concept of life is there, there must be these three classes. High class, middle class and lower class. So those who are condemned, they must suffer. Everyone is condemned in this material world. But first-class condemned, second-class condemned, third-class condemned. So you’ll find this first class, second class, third, you cannot stop it.
Just like in Bombay sometimes I showed to my disciples, say in 1935. 1935 means about fifty years ago. Fifty years ago when I was in Bombay, that time I was doing some business. So a class of men, they were living on footpath. Their home (is) on the footpath. They have got a box or a bag and lying on the footpath and eating on the footpath, their, everything on the footpath. Now the same class of men are still there. Now economically, fifty years ago, the value of money was greater. At that time, fifty years ago we were purchasing, say ghee, at most one rupee per kilo. So now you cannot get first class ghee unless you pay twenty-five rupees per kilo. So the value of money has decreased. So that means, in other words people are getting more money. Formerly, one servant was engaged, ten rupees or twelve rupees per month. Now you cannot get a servant unless you pay one hundred rupees. So in that comparison, everyone is getting more money, but still the condition is the same. Condition is the same. This will go on. Even if you get more money, the other circumstances will force you to remain in the same condition as you were fifty years ago. Because you are destined. This is called destiny. You cannot change your destiny. That is not possible.
Therefore Bhāgavata says that do not try to change your destiny. Everyone is trying to change the destiny. I am poor man, I must be very rich man. But you cannot change your destiny. Tasyaiva hetoḥ prayateta kovido na labhate yad bhramatām upary adhaḥ [SB 1.5.18]. In this world we are, every one of us are bound up by the laws of karma, destiny. We have got our destiny. So much happiness, so much distress we must have. Because this is a mixture of happiness and distress. Here you cannot have unadulterated happiness. That is not possible in this… Unadulterated happiness, real happiness can be achieved in the spiritual world. Not in the material world. So certain amount of happiness and certain amount of distress we have to enjoy and suffer. You cannot change it. This is the law of nature in this material world.
Source: Srila Prabhupada | Bhagavad-Gita 2.11 – London, August 17, 1973. 730817BG.LON
