Even a responsible king like Maharaja Prthu can become a pure devotee of the first order. We can distinctly see from King Prthus behavior how he became ecstatic, both externally and internally, in pure devotional service.

Just today we have seen in the newspapers of Bombay that the government is going to repeal its prohibition laws. Ever since Gandhis noncooperation movement, Bombay has been kept dry and has not allowed its citizens to drink. But unfortunately the citizens are so clever that they have increased illicit distillation of liquor, and although not being sold publicly in shops, liquor is being sold in public lavatories and similar abnormal places. Unable to check such illicit smuggling, the government has decided to manufacture the liquor at cheaper prices so that people can have their supply of intoxication directly from the government instead of purchasing it in public lavatories. The government failed to change the hearts of the citizens from indulging in sinful life, so instead of losing the taxes they collect to inflate the treasury, they have decided to manufacture liquor to supply to the citizens who hanker after it.

This kind of government cannot check the resultant actions of sinful life, namely war, pestilence, famine, earthquakes and similar other disturbances. Natures law is that as soon as there are discrepancies in regard to the law of God (which are described in Bhagavad-gita as dharmasya glanih, or disobedience to the laws of nature or God), at once there will be heavy punishment in the form of sudden outbreaks of war. We have recently experienced a war between India and Pakistan. Within fourteen days there have been immense losses of men and money, and there have been disturbances to the entire world. These are the reactions of sinful life. The Krsna consciousness movement is meant to make people pure and perfect. If we become even partially pure, as described in the Bhagavatam (nasta-prayesv abhadresu [SB 1.2.18]), by development of Krsna consciousness, then lust and greed, the material diseases of the citizens, will be reduced. This can be made possible simply by broadcasting the pure message of Srimad-Bhagavatam, or Krsna consciousness. Big commercial and industrial firms have contributed many thousands of rupees to a defense fund that burns the money in the form of gunpowder, but unfortunately, if they are asked to contribute liberally to advance the Krsna consciousness movement, they are reluctant. Under the circumstances, the world will periodically suffer from such upsurges and outbreaks of war, which are the consequences of not being Krsna conscious.