Why Wear Vaisnava Dress?
Without Srila Prabhupada requesting them to, his early male disciples spontaneously adopted the Vaisnava dress of wearing dhotis. Then he instructed them to maintain this standard. He even personally taught Hayagriva das how to put on a dhoti. He said that his female disciples should wear saris and personally arranged that saris for his female disciples could be shipped to the USA from India.
Why did Srila Prabhupada instruct his disciples to wear dhotis and saris when in the Western countries such dress is considered strange and when one can be Krishna conscious in any kind of dress? On a personal level the answer is that one should accept whatever is favorable for Krishna consciousness. Since wearing tilaka, neck beads, and a dhoti or sari reminds us that we are spirit-souls, eternal servants of the Supreme Lord, such wearing of traditional Vaisnava clothing is favorable for our Krishna consciousness and thus should be accepted. And insofar as our preaching mission is concerned, Srila Prabhupada saw our traditional Vaisnava dress as a great advantage. When he was questioned by a reporter why he had asked his followers to dress in such a strange fashion he replied:
"Just like the policeman, he is differently dressed. One can understand that he is policeman. Similarly, we are also differently dressed so that people may understand we are Hare Krishna people."
Although Srila Prabhupada instructed us to maintain our traditional dress of dhotis and saris, he also allowed us if needed to change into regular Western dress to meet the public or introduce our Krishna conscious books. He made it clear that dhotis and saris are our normal dress but that we can change out of our normal dress, if necessary, for meeting the public and distributing books.
Namaste.
I would like to sincerely ask the following question:
It may be necessary for English speaking world to take shelter of a bona fide spiritual master for achieving success in spiritual life especially to awaken their original Krishna consciousness. Considering the upbringing of Indians (They are continuously and constantly subjected to sankirtana, bhajans, idol worship, discourses and celebrations of religious festivals.) it is for them not a must to have a guru for spiritual progress?
Yours in Yoga
Janardan Mali
You mention that Indians are continuously subjected to sankirtan. This is completely untrue. The fact that is that Indians are not engaged in continuously in sankirtan, the congregational chanting of the holy names of God, even though that is everyone's duty as stated by Lord Krishna in the Bhagavad-gita. I am in India right now, and I see all around me that Indians are engaged almost 24 hours a daily in the struggle to earn a living. And when they do have a little free time they are captured by television, cinema, sports, shopping malls, smoking, drinking, meat eating, pan chewing, etc. Hardly anywhere do we see Indians laying aside all material concerns and singing bhajans (devotional songs) and attending religious discourses. While we do see that many Indians are keen to participate in religious festivals a few times a year, we also see that they are not eager to take training from bona fide spiritual masters at such festivals, even the though the Vedas prescribe that one only becomes a human being when he accepts a spiritual master.
I also note that you have used the term "idol worship" to describe the deity worship in the temples. You appear to be unaware that "idol worship" is a derogatory label introduced by the British during their rule of India to demean the deity worship of Hindus as being the worship of false gods. This is another indication of your need for being trained by a bona spiritual master.
The bottom line is that Vedic wisdom prescribes that everyone must accept a guru to become liberated from the cycle of birth of death. Indians are just as much caught up this karmic cycle as everyone else. The fact that you, an Indian, do not correctly understand the meaning of your own scriptures is another proof that Indians, like everyone else, require to accept a guru. That you are distinguishing between Indians and non-Indians is clear evidence that you have not yet correctly understood even the ABC principles of the Vedic wisdom. The starting point of Vedic wisdom is that we are not these bodies.
Sankarshan Das Adhikari
Why did Srila Prabhupada instruct his disciples to wear dhotis and saris when in the Western countries such dress is considered strange and when one can be Krishna conscious in any kind of dress? On a personal level the answer is that one should accept whatever is favorable for Krishna consciousness. Since wearing tilaka, neck beads, and a dhoti or sari reminds us that we are spirit-souls, eternal servants of the Supreme Lord, such wearing of traditional Vaisnava clothing is favorable for our Krishna consciousness and thus should be accepted. And insofar as our preaching mission is concerned, Srila Prabhupada saw our traditional Vaisnava dress as a great advantage. When he was questioned by a reporter why he had asked his followers to dress in such a strange fashion he replied:
"Just like the policeman, he is differently dressed. One can understand that he is policeman. Similarly, we are also differently dressed so that people may understand we are Hare Krishna people."
Although Srila Prabhupada instructed us to maintain our traditional dress of dhotis and saris, he also allowed us if needed to change into regular Western dress to meet the public or introduce our Krishna conscious books. He made it clear that dhotis and saris are our normal dress but that we can change out of our normal dress, if necessary, for meeting the public and distributing books.
Answers by Citing the Vedic Version
Question: Do Indians Require a Guru?
Dear Gurudeva,Namaste.
I would like to sincerely ask the following question:
It may be necessary for English speaking world to take shelter of a bona fide spiritual master for achieving success in spiritual life especially to awaken their original Krishna consciousness. Considering the upbringing of Indians (They are continuously and constantly subjected to sankirtana, bhajans, idol worship, discourses and celebrations of religious festivals.) it is for them not a must to have a guru for spiritual progress?
Yours in Yoga
Janardan Mali
Answer: Everyone Requires a Guru
Thank you very much for your sincere question. In many ways your question shows the need you have to take complete shelter and be trained by a bona fide spiritual master. So I will try my best to help you awaken your power of transcendental understanding.You mention that Indians are continuously subjected to sankirtan. This is completely untrue. The fact that is that Indians are not engaged in continuously in sankirtan, the congregational chanting of the holy names of God, even though that is everyone's duty as stated by Lord Krishna in the Bhagavad-gita. I am in India right now, and I see all around me that Indians are engaged almost 24 hours a daily in the struggle to earn a living. And when they do have a little free time they are captured by television, cinema, sports, shopping malls, smoking, drinking, meat eating, pan chewing, etc. Hardly anywhere do we see Indians laying aside all material concerns and singing bhajans (devotional songs) and attending religious discourses. While we do see that many Indians are keen to participate in religious festivals a few times a year, we also see that they are not eager to take training from bona fide spiritual masters at such festivals, even the though the Vedas prescribe that one only becomes a human being when he accepts a spiritual master.
I also note that you have used the term "idol worship" to describe the deity worship in the temples. You appear to be unaware that "idol worship" is a derogatory label introduced by the British during their rule of India to demean the deity worship of Hindus as being the worship of false gods. This is another indication of your need for being trained by a bona spiritual master.
The bottom line is that Vedic wisdom prescribes that everyone must accept a guru to become liberated from the cycle of birth of death. Indians are just as much caught up this karmic cycle as everyone else. The fact that you, an Indian, do not correctly understand the meaning of your own scriptures is another proof that Indians, like everyone else, require to accept a guru. That you are distinguishing between Indians and non-Indians is clear evidence that you have not yet correctly understood even the ABC principles of the Vedic wisdom. The starting point of Vedic wisdom is that we are not these bodies.
Sankarshan Das Adhikari
Comments
Post a Comment