Here is a series of questions and answers that address the philosophical basis of Krishna West, as well as its roots in both Vaishnava scriptures and the teachings of Srila Prabhupada, ISKCON’s founder-acharya. Question: Please explain to me the term “Vedic Culture” in the context of your project “Krishna West” and how your views are supported by the teachings of Srila Prabhupada. Answer by Srila Acharyadeva: 1. There is a widespread misunderstanding of the term “Vedic culture”. The first point to understand is that this exact, literal term, “Vedic culture” does not occur in Vedic scriptures. Logically, if we use a term not found in scriptures, we must define that term with principles that do come from scripture. Otherwise, we have a concept that lacks spiritual authority. 2. Prabhupada often uses the term “Vedic culture”. Therefore, we accept the term, but with a definition authorized by scriptures. After all, Prabhupada always taught us that the guru derives his authority from scriptures. 3. Just as the term “Native American culture” or “Bavarian culture” may indicate a regional, historical ethnicity that includes traditional forms of clothing, cuisine, dance, music, architecture etc., so many believe that the term “Vedic culture” indicates, among other things, an eternal Vedic ethnicity. They further believe that “Vedic culture” thus teaches and requires serious Vaishnavas to use specific forms of clothing, cuisine, architecture etc, that invariably come from in India. 4. They also believe that those who do not adhere to this Indian/Vedic ethnicity in personal and community life are not serious in the practice of bhakti-yoga, if not disloyal to Prabhupada and Krishna. 5. In fact, just as the literal term “Vedic culture” does not occur in Vedic scriptures, the concept of a mandatory “Vedic ethnicity” also does not occur. In other words, no important scripture such as Srimad Bhagavatam, Bhagavad-gita, Mahabharata etc., demands or even recommends an eternal standard of clothing, architecture, cooking recipes, music style etc. 6. To the contrary, scriptures reveal cultural differences. For example, we find differences between the cultures of large cities and rural towns. Thus when Krishna leaves the simple village of Vrindavan, the Gopis lament that now Krishna, living in a sophisticated city, will have different cultural preferences and values. Just as in America, or any country, we find cultural differences between large cities and rural villages, this was also true in Krishna’s time. We also see cultural varieties in terms of region and climate. We can hardly imagine that people who lived high up in mountains dressed like people in tropical forests, or deserts, or beaches. And since Vedic culture existed in many parts of the world, we can safely conclude that people who lived, say, in Denmark or Ireland (Ireland = Arya-land) did not eat or dress etc. exactly as in this or that region of India. 7. The Caitanya-caritamrta does not indicate that Lord Caitanya, or His followers, wore uniforms that were exotic within their society, or that they even dressed differently from society in general. Authorized biographies indicate that Mahaprabhua and His devotees dressed in a normal and respectable way within their society. Mahaprabhu never declared that the external Bengali or Indian culture of His time corresponded perfectly to an eternal Vedic ethnicity. He was concerned that He and His followers be respected within their society. Here are some examples of His efforts in that regard: a) He took sannyasa from an impersonal but respected institution. b) He insisted that Sanatana Goswami, recently “converted”, abandon his rich clothing and dress in a way that met the general cultural expectations of his society for a “sadhu”. c) Mahaprabhu ate only in the houses of brahmanas, following the current custom for sannyasis, even though, 5000 years ago, Krishna ate every day in the home of His parents, the “vaishyas” Nanda and Yasoda. There are many other examples. Conclusion: Prabhupada used the term “Vedic culture”, but this non-Shastric term must refer to cultural principles, not ethnic details, since Shastra teaches and requires cultural principles, not ethnic details. For example, offering food in the mode of goodness to Krishna is a cultural principle taught in scriptures. Using Indian recipes is an ethnic detail not taught in scriptures. Prabhupada confirms this in his purport to Srimad Bhagavatam verse 4.8.54. Similarly, using clothing that is chaste, clean, and appropriate to time and place is a cultural principle. Using a dhoti or sari is an ethnic detail. No scripture, nor Indian history, indicates that dhoti and sari were, at any historical time, “Vaishnava dress”. Some devotees insist that Vaishnavas should dress like Krishna, who wore a dhoti like ours. However: 1. The word dhoti does not occur in the scriptures. 2. Krishna never taught that we should dress like Him. 2. Scriptures do say that Krishna, and many others, wore “belts” that are not normally used with dhotis. Many Bhagavatam verses speak of belts: • Krishna’s belt: 2.2.11, 8.3.28, 8.14.25, 8.20.32, 10.88.28 • Belt used by the gopis: 10.33.13, • Belts used by brahmacaris: 11.17.23 • Belts used by associates of Krishna: 10.75.24 Thus it is not clear that 5000 years ago, men dressed in dhotis, just like our dhotis. It is also important to note that the intention of Krishna West is not to criticize or insult Vaishnavas with other views, nor to insist that every devotee follow our standard. We deeply respect the right of any devotee to practice Krishna consciousness according to external and ethnic tradition of India, if this tradition works best for their spiritual life. Krishna West is simply a sincere attempt, within the basic principles of ISKCON, to fulfill the ardent desire of Srila Prabhupada and Gaura-Nitai, and establish Krishna consciousness as a powerful, relevant movement in the western world. Prabhupada’s purport to Srimad Bhagavatam 4.8.54 is crucial in this regard. There Srila Prabhupada writes: “Sometimes our Indian friends, puffed up with concocted notions, criticize, ‘This has not been done. That has not been done.’ But they forget this instruction of Narada Muni to one of the greatest Vaishnavas, Dhruva Maharaja. One has to consider the particular time, country and conveniences... If someone does go and preach, taking all risks and allowing all considerations for time and place, it might be that there are changes in the manner of worship, but that is not at all faulty according to shastra.” If I thought Krishna West would ultimately displease Srila Prabhupada, of course I would not go forward with it. But seeing that our mission to western people has seriously diminished since Prabhupada’s time, we have to try, “taking all risks and allowing all considerations of time and place,” as Prabhupada himself says. Ultimately, we are trying to universalize Krishna consciousness without changing its essential principles. Since Krishna is universal, the process of approaching Him should also be universal. Bhagavad-gita’s standard of good behavior is sattva-guna, the quality of goodness, not Indian ethnicity. The quality of goodness is universal, whereas Indian ethnicity is regional and specific. Question: Some people equate Vedic culture with current ethnic customs in India; however there has been significant Muslim influence in India. Could you comment on this? Answer by Srila Acharyadeva: We speak about Muslim influence not to denigrate that religion, but rather to show that certain Indian customs that many devotees see as eternal Vedic norms, in fact come from non-Vedic cultures. Here are but a few examples: 1. Food: halavah, a standard Deity offering in ISKCON, comes from the Middle East. Halvah means “sweet” in Arabic. 2. Clothing: “Kurta” is a Persian word, and the long shirt that some take as “devotional clothing”, comes from Muslim culture. 3. Language: Hindi, the national language of India, is full of Arabic and Persian words. This shows a significant level of cultural influence. 4. Music: Muslim musicians became most prominent in the field of Indian classical music. The Sangeet Research Academy, which focuses on Indian classical music, states: “Indian music has developed through very complex interactions between different peoples of different races and cultures over several thousand years. In a musical tradition in which improvisation predominates, and written notation, when used, is skeletal, the music of past generations is irrevocably lost.” 5. Architecture: Here we also see much foreign influence, especially from Muslim cultures. 6. Art: Just as North European and American cultures have often depicted Jesus with a Caucasian, or even Scandinavian, body, so other cultures, including Indian, personalize the images of sacred figures. For example, virtually every known painting of Narada Muni, in India or in ISKCON, depicts the sage with brown or black hair, the hair colors found in India. But Srimad Bhagavatam states that Narada Muni is blond (SB 10.70.32). In this case, devotional artists are imposing an Indian body type on a sage that comes from an ancient Indo-European culture. Prabhupada explains that Vedic culture is Indo-European culture in his purports to the Bhagavatam 1.12.24 and 4.20.26, as well in his Gita classes of 8.1.66, 1.4.67, 8.24.68, and 4.21.76; and in his Bhagavatam classes of 11.6.70, 4.9.69, 7.25.71, 5.7.73, and 5.19.75, and at other times and places as well. Again, original “Vedic culture” is not Indian culture, but Indo-European culture. 7. Though one may argue that India has best preserved the original Vedic culture, we are still left with these two significant points: a. We have no evidence of Vedic concern with standardizing ethnic details such as dress, architecture, cuisine etc. We do find a very serious Vedic concern with establishing cultural and spiritual principles such as varnashrama-dharma, and ultimately pure love of Krishna. b. There is much historical evidence that India itself has always been ethnically porous, subject to significant foreign influences on its ethnic customs. Question: How should we understand the term devotional clothes and what would you say to the suggestion that dhoti and sari are the uniform of devotees and hence help people identify us? Answer by Srila Acharyadeva: 1. A study of the Vedabase clearly shows that Srila Prabhupada himself did not use the terms karmi clothes and devotional clothes. Rather his disciples have established these terms as basic codes of ISKCON. 2. Prabhupada liked dhoti and sari as a temporal strategy, i.e at a certain point in history, to draw public attention. It worked in the 60s and early 70s, when western youth liked things that were strange or exotic. Now the world is very different and this strategy no longer works to our advantage. 3. There are serious problems with the famous argument that just as people recognize police by their uniform, people recognize us as spiritual leaders by our uniform of dhoti and sari. Here are some of the problems with that argument: A. People ALREADY accept the police as an authority. They just need to know WHO is a policeperson. In contrast, very few people in the West ALREADY accept us as spiritual authorities. B. A police uniform is carefully designed to inspire, within the cultural norms of a particular society, confidence in and respect for police authority. However our uniform inspires many western people to think that we are crazy. It has the opposite effect. 4. Srila Prabhupada perfectly addresses this issue in the following purport: “For paramahamsas, or sannyasis in the Vaishnava order, preaching is the first duty. To preach, such sannyasis may accept the symbols of sannyasa, such as the danda and kamandalu, or sometimes they may not. Generally the Vaishnava sannyasis, being paramahamsas, are automatically called babajis, and they do not carry a kamandalu or danda. Such a sannyasi is free to accept or reject the marks of sannyasa. His only thought is Where is there an opportunity to spread Krsna consciousness? Sometimes the Krsna consciousness movement sends its representative sannyasis to foreign countries where the danda and kamandalu are not very much appreciated. We send our preachers in ordinary dress to introduce our books and philosophy. Our only concern is to attract people to Krsna consciousness. We may do this in the dress of sannyasis or in the regular dress of gentlemen. Our only concern is to spread interest in Krsna consciousness.- SB 7.13.10 The fact that culturally appropriate uniforms may bring certain sociological advantages does not prove that ISKCON’s current uniform is appropriate or practical in the West. Rather, I believe that our strange appearance has erected a high, impassable wall that separates the fallen souls from the devotees. If modern society is a headless body, ISKCON today is surely a disembodied head. Conclusion: Krishna West is an ISKCON project faithful to Prabhupada’s spiritual, philosophical, and organizational principles. Krishna West does not seek to change any existing ISKCON project, nor to criticize any of the many sincere, advanced ISKCON devotees who disagree with us. We simply seek to expand ISKCON’s western mission at a time of need, by offering an additional program.
Posted on: Thu, 17 Oct 2013 22:17:21 +0000
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