Why the World Is Becoming Hellish
We often look at the chaos in modern society—crime, corruption, violence, and anxiety—and wonder how things got this bad. Śrīla Prabhupāda offers a precise, scriptural diagnosis: the world is becoming hellish because of the unchecked increase of varṇa-saṅkara, or unwanted population. In Vedic culture, the stability of society depends on the purity of the population. When children are begotten out of lust rather than duty, and when they are raised without spiritual culture, they grow up to be a disturbance to the world. In these quotes, Śrīla Prabhupāda explains the direct link between illicit sex and the hellish condition of modern civilization.
Cause: Unwanted Population
The Bhagavad-gītā clearly states the sequence of social degradation. It begins when the women of the family are polluted due to irreligion. When chastity is lost, unwanted children (varṇa-saṅkara) are born. Śrīla Prabhupāda emphasizes that this is not just a moral issue but a practical one: if the population is not trained in human values, society becomes unmanageable.
- In the Bhagavad-gita it is said that when the population becomes varna-sankara, the whole social situation becomes hellish. Actually that is the fact.
- As stated in Bhagavad-gita, when women are polluted the populace is varna-sankara, and when the varna-sankara population increases, the situation of the entire world becomes hellish.
- Unless there are nice population, children, born in a systematic way, how you can expect peace in the world? That is described in the Bhagavad-gita: when there are varna-sankara the whole world becomes hell.
Symptoms of a Hellish Society
What does a hellish society look like? It is a place of constant anxiety and danger. Śrīla Prabhupāda gives the example of Calcutta (and Western cities), where the streets are no longer safe because the younger generation, untrained and polluted, has turned to crime. This "hell" is not a mythological place; it is the concrete reality we create when we abandon spiritual principles.
- Especially in Calcutta, it has become a hellish life. The population, the younger generation, is so polluted, so contaminated, that you cannot safely walk in the street. Anywhere, the young boys they can encircle you and rob you.
- If you waste your time in foolish activity, then there will be anxiety, there will be disease, there will be enemies. Natural disturbance, disturbance by other living creatures, disturbance by your body. So this world will become hell.
- The whole world will be hell. That has become now. The whole world has now become hell. So the Krsna consciousness movement is very important movement. It is overhauling the whole human, social, political, religious.
No Varṇāśrama, No Peace
The Vedic system of varṇāśrama was designed to prevent this chaos by regulating society. It ensured that children were born within marriage (garbhādhāna-saṁskāra) and trained according to their qualities. Śrīla Prabhupāda points out that in the absence of this system, everyone becomes varṇa-saṅkara—even those born in brāhmaṇa families—if they do not act according to the standard.
- There is no varnasrama; therefore all the children, they are varna-sankara. And as soon as there is varna-sankara population, the world becomes hell. Therefore we are trying to check, "No illicit sex" - to stop this varna-sankara.
- A person born in brahmana family is not acting as a brahmana, he's varna-sankara. So when there are number of people varna-sankara class, then the whole society becomes hell.
Cats and Dogs
When human beings live without regulation, their behavior descends to the level of animals. Animals eat, sleep, mate, and defend without any restriction. If human society adopts this "unregulated form" of life, the result is hell. Śrīla Prabhupāda argues that unless parents can train their children for spiritual liberation, there is no need to produce children who will simply act like "cats and dogs."
- The problem of life is eating, sleeping, mating and defending. So everything is there, but in a regulated form. In regulated form so that the world may not become hell. If it is irregulated form, then the whole world will be hell.
- Unless one can train a child for liberation in that life, there is no need to marry or produce children. If human society produces children like cats and dogs for the disturbance of social order, the world becomes hellish, as it has in this age of Kali.
Conclusion
The current state of the world is a warning. We cannot expect peace while violating the fundamental laws of nature and society. By ignoring the need for population control through spiritual culture (not just artificial contraception), we have created a generation that is lost and dangerous. Śrīla Prabhupāda’s solution is radical but necessary: we must return to the principles of varṇāśrama-dharma and Kṛṣṇa consciousness. By stopping illicit sex and training children from the very beginning of life in bhāgavata-dharma, we can reverse this trend and save the world from becoming a total hell.
Dive Deeper into Śrīla Prabhupāda's Vani
Śrīla Prabhupāda lives within his instructions. This article is a summary of the profound truths found in the Vaniquotes category Becoming Hellish. We invite you to visit this link to study the complete compilation and experience Śrīla Prabhupāda's teachings in their direct, verbatim form.