You cannot stop crime by law

You cannot stop crime by law

The difference between a pious man and a criminal is that one is pure in heart and the other is dirty. This dirt is like a disease in the form of uncontrollable lust and greed in the heart of the criminal. When the people become purified of these dirty things, crime will disappear. The simplest process of purification is to assemble in congregation and chant the holy names of God. This is called sankirtana and is the basis of our Krishna consciousness movement. So, if you want to stop crime, then you must gather as many people as possible for mass sankirtana. This congregational chanting of the holy name of God will dissipate all the dirty things in everyone's heart. Then there will be no more crime. But the education in the science of God is lacking. Without religious principles what is the difference between a dog and a man? If you bring a dozen dogs and put them together in a room, will it be possible to keep them peaceful? Similarly, if human society is filled with men whose mentality is on the level of dogs, how can you expect peace? The only way to permanently change the criminal habit is to change the heart of the criminal. Many thieves are arrested numerous times and put into jail. Although they know that if they commit theft they will go to jail, still they are forced to steal, because of their unclean hearts. Therefore without cleansing the heart of the criminal, you cannot stop crime simply by more stringent law enforcement. The thief and the murderer already know the law, yet they still commit violent crimes, due to their unclean hearts. So our process is to cleanse the heart. Then all the troubles of this material world will be solved.

Ref: Chapter 6, Science of Self Realization authored by Srila Prabhupada (Founder - Acharya, ISKCON)

To commit suicide is a terrible crime

As the revered Ramsukhdasaji has said in the paragraph below, to commit suicide is a terrible crime. I have always heard from my spiritual preceptors that one who does this act is awarded the form of a ghost. Due to not having appreciation for the physical body, and not utilizing this gift for development of God consciousness, those who commit suicide are not allowed to have human body until the designated hours, months, and years of which they were destined to be in the previous body which was killed have been fulfilled. Thus, if one was meant to live 100 years, but commits suicide at age 24, then for 76 years he is destined to carry on as a ghost. Being in a ghost body is very unfortunate, for the desires that we all feel, such as to enjoy nice food, family life, affection... ..these things can only be enjoyed with a physical body. Also, generally we see that ghosts are not allowed to stay in one place....they constantly move about in a very unhappy state..

I am sure that there are exceptions to this general rule, but as a standard punishment it is what I have understood. Perhaps just one story, which happened to my husband his first time in India, I shall share.....he told us how he was sleeping in a tent on top of the dharmashala. ....in his sleep, he was seeing himself being dragged out of the tent, feet first. There were brahmin raksasa ghosts attempting to take over his body. He has recalled this story many times, telling how he was thrashing around, on the subtle level....his deities were knocked over, his tent was torn down...., he was physically (on the subtle level) trying to fight the beings who were pulling him out. Finally, he managed to call out "Nrsnghadeva" ....and woke up....crying, screaming, terrified, dripping with sweat. He woke up everyone else that was sleeping up on the roof, and they came running over. One senior Vaisnava taught him how to place mantras at the different corners of his tent, so that he was not disturbed after that. But an experience such as he had is not one to easily discount. What was the reason they were trying to pull him, in his subtle body, out of the physical body? So they could take over that body.....ghosts WANT to have a physical body again....so the lesson is.....never, never commit suicide.

respectfully,