Are some sections of the scriptures outdated? – Understanding the compassionate intent of the Vedas 2

Video:

Hare Krishna Good morning, continuing the discussion on the compassionate purpose of the Vedas yesterday I talked about how the Vedic body of knowledge has one purpose that is to elevate people’s consciousness upwards from where they are so most of the Vedas themselves talk about Karmakanda which is material religiosity which is basically we work to do good in this world and by that our position will become better in this world and science also had more or less the same purpose to improve life in this world and when people are concerned with what is there in this world they are not so concerned about who is the lord of the other world that’s why the Vedas themselves focus more on Indira who is the enjoyer of this world then on Vishnu who is the lord of the other world and then on Krishna who is actually the lord he is God at home that’s not talked about so much but the purpose of everything in the Vedas is ultimately to elevate one’s consciousness and what was done for such elevation of consciousness that plan further unfolded over here and it is said that that Vyasadeva who put down the Vedas in writing also put down the Mahabharata for making the Vedic wisdom accessible to those whom it was not accessible earlier and Shruti Govachara for those who could not understand the Shruti so Brahmapada says that people in general are not interested so much in philosophy they are interested more in stories so the Mahabharata is filled with stories now if you look at philosophy the Vedas themselves they are mostly they are incantations or verses in glorification of the Devatas who are the awarders of benediction so either there are prayers that in praise of the Devatas there are mantras to be chanted by which certain desires can be fulfilled and there are other descriptions but the Vedas themselves don’t contain much philosophy the Vedas as I said are by Vedas I mean the word Veda can be understood at three different levels the Veda in the most restrictive sense can refer to the four Vedas in a broader sense the Vedas can refer to the Vedic body of knowledge so in that case the Puranas and the Itihasas also are included in the Vedas and we also talk about the literature in pursuance of the Vedic origin so they can also be broadly called as Vedas and the third meaning, the very broadest meaning of the word Veda is Veda means knowledge so Prabhupada says all knowledge is ultimately coming from God even scientists who make some scientific discoveries they suddenly get inspirations now that inspiration where does it come from just get it within, it’s ultimately coming from God so all knowledge also is coming from God so Veda can have these broad different meanings the restrictive meaning is in the four Vedic literature four Vedas, the broader meaning is that the Vedic body of knowledge and the broadest meaning is that all knowledge in general so now here when the word Veda is used it is used somewhere between the first and the second senses so he says that the Vedas are Prabhupada says that there is philosophy which people do not connect with so much they connect much more with past times so the philosophy is present not so much directly in the Vedas the Vedas have broad divisions the Vedas themselves in the Vedas there are Brahmanas not Brahmana the caste but Brahmana that’s a division of the Vedic literature there are Brahmana, there are Anyakas, there are Upanishads which are part of the Vedas so the Upanishads are the, Prabhupada writes in the second chapter of the Bhagavad Gita that the Upanishads mark the beginning of transcendental life or here as Prabhupada said in the Barpod that the Bhagavad Gita is the first book of spiritual values as are the Upanishads so normally we would think of first as something one but Prabhupada thinks that the Bhagavad Gita is the first book of spiritual values as are the Upanishads what that means is that whereas the Vedas themselves talk about Karma Kanda about how to improve life in this world by doing some worship doing some rituals, doing some prayers but Jnana Kanda, which is what the Upanishads talk about they focus on this world can never be fixed this world is a place of distress so this world can never be fixed what we can do is, we can become fixed in the purpose of going beyond this world the purpose of trying to fix this world is a doomed purpose so instead of seeking that purpose, of trying to fix this world we can focus on, we can fix our mind on going beyond this world instead of trying to fix this world the Upanishads talk about that other world and attaining that other world and beyond that, we have the Upanishads are very abstract and philosophical understanding them is quite difficult so Shruti, when the word is used it can technically be referred to the Rig Veda, Sam Veda, Yudha Veda, Atharva Veda but usually, if you look at Valdividya where he says suppose he wants to make a particular point by commenting on the Vedanta Sutra so when he wants to give a reference from Shruti he will give a reference from the Upanishads usually it’s very rare that he will give a reference from the Rig Veda, Sam Veda, Yudha Veda, Atharva Veda because they do not contain philosophical points so much occasionally, but most of the time the philosophy is in the Upanishads and then, so in one sense the Upanishads are a part of the Vedas, but in another sense the Upanishads have a purpose that is somewhat more progressive than the Vedas the Vedas’ purpose themselves is Karmakandha the Upanishads’ purpose is Jnanakandha so then because they are very philosophical it is difficult to understand them and therefore the Mahabharata is given as it is said over here so the idea is that wisdom is meant to be made accessible when we are sharing spiritual knowledge, it is said that the important thing is not just to get it right the important thing is to get it across get it across means that people need to understand it, people need to feel the wisdom to be relevant first of all it has to be intelligible, make sense to them and it’s relevant, it applies to them so otherwise, scriptural knowledge will just stay abstract, it will not connect with people, so that connection is vital, and suppose somebody comes in, if Prabhupada had come to America and given classes in pure Sanskrit well, you might have spoken everything right, but the point is not just to get it right, the point is to get it across and language, it can refer to the verbal language that we use, but language can also refer to the worldview that we have so Prabhupada presented spiritual wisdom in a contemporary way, at his time because that’s how he looked at prime people Prabhupada was asked by a Hindu, what is the bliss of Vaikuntha? and what did Prabhupada say? it’s like an ocean of LSD LSD is a drug it is a mode of ignorance, Vaikuntha is in transcendence how can you compare the bliss of Vaikuntha with the pleasure that one gets by doing some mode of ignorance activity no, Prabhupada is not comparing that to say that that is like this, rather for a person whose conception of happiness is is taking drugs then he tells, oh it’s an ocean of drugs oh really, I want to go there how do I get there? so the point is to get it across and Prabhupada is an expert in that so there is one common purpose, but that purpose is fulfilled in different ways in different situations so here it is said that for those who will not be able to understand the philosophy of the scriptures there is the presentation of that same essential scriptural message through the past times in the Mahabharata now many people get very caught in the ethics of the Mahabharata oh why did Arjuna kill Karna like that why did Bhima kill Duryodhana like that why like this, why like that, why did Bhishma remain silent during this time when Draupadi was going to serve him how could Yudhishthir have gambled Draupadi these are all hurried questions and if we just get caught in the narratives themselves is this right, is this wrong then we will miss the point the point of the Mahabharata is the driving question of the Mahabharata is what is Dharma how do we understand what is Dharma so the specific dilemmas the characters face and the specific decisions that they take they are not as important as the universal principles that are under consideration so now sometimes the characters act in a Dharmic way sometimes the characters act in a improper way we could say Adharmic way that is fine because Dharma is sometimes too difficult to understand and sometimes Dharma may be difficult to apply so it is not that the Mahabharata presented all characters in black and white Yudhishthir says in the Mahabharata that I got carried away by the fever of gambling and that is why I gambled, I should not have gambled so the Mahabharata is a human picture of its characters the Bhagavatam of course tells us from the transcendental perspective that ultimately even if Yudhishthir got carried away after being carried away also he was still being a part of the plan of the Lord the Lord’s plan was that he would demonstrate how when we have no protector in this world Krishna is our ultimate protector that was demonstrated through the past time of Draupadi being dishonoured but the point which I am making over here is that when we are looking at the story within the Mahabharata or for that matter in the history of the Puranas the specifics of the stories if we just see them for entertainment and just figuring out if we just look at it as a story for entertainment we will not learn much from it, it will still purify us but then this storyline doesn’t make sense, why did he act like that but to go deeper down to understand what are the challenges in understanding Dharma and those principles we try to apply just a few days ago a devotee in India wrote a mail to me about his conversation with a colleague and this colleague was saying that why can’t you admit this simple point that some sections of scripture are outdated that yes you are following scripture but there are some sections which are applicable today some sections are not applicable, they are outdated he said no no, scripture is never outdated scripture is timeless so one example he was giving was this section here we have this point that women, he says so the position of women is in today’s world outside our movement and even inside our movement that is a matter of huge debate or the defining differences between the first world and third world in third world it is understood that women are subordinate to men in the first world it is understood that women are equal to men now when you say subordinate to men in what sense that subordination is there that has to be carefully understood and when women are equal to men, in what sense it is equal that also has to be understood so we can’t live in a cultural vacuum as if like some air bubble which is not affected by the environment around it so we are a movement in a particular culture and the issues in the broader culture will play out in our movement also so there is to understand what is scripture when I was explaining to this devotee so that he could explain to his friend I said that we have to understand various things that first of all when we say is scripture outdated what do we mean by the word scripture is it that everything in scripture is the teaching of scripture is it that everything in scripture is the teaching of scripture just because some statements are present in scripture doesn’t mean that they are the teaching of scripture why not, because scripture often contains things that are descriptive not prescriptive scripture may be containing things that are describing the reality as it was the culture as it was, the situation as it was at the time when those decisions took place but whether it was meant to happen like that that is something which is open to discussion so for example, in the Chetan Charita Amrit which is considered to be a scripture by the Gaudiya Vaishnava tradition it is described how Haridas Thakur was not allowed to enter Jagannath Puri temple now is that a principle that has to be applied for all time Prabhupada did not say that Prabhupada said he is Jagannath, why are you making him Indunath he is the lord of the universe, why are you making him sectarian so this that Haridas Thakur was not allowed to enter Jagannath Puri temple what is this, this is not prescriptive part of scripture this is descriptive part of scripture so description means this is how it was so the descriptive part of scripture is not actually the teaching of scripture so to say that this does not apply today we also agree it does not apply today but it does not make scripture outdated so this is one part of it that everything in scripture is not the teaching of scripture so second point is that scripture contains certain things which are principles and certain things which are applications of principles and the applications of principles vary according to time, place and circumstance so for twice in the Bhagavatam itself it is said it is said that when Bhishma was lying on his arrow bed and the great sages came to see him off from this world at that time Bhishma could not offer properly obeisances to them because his body was in incapacitated condition so then he just moved his head and offered obeisances and according to time, place and circumstance he applied the principle of offering respect and how was he able to do this application? because dharma gyan he was a knower of dharma so now what does it mean a knower of dharma? this question comes up several times in the Bhagavatam and in the Mahabharata also Mahabharata has a defining question, driving question is what is dharma and when Nahusha who is a king who has gone into a snake’s body he questions Yudhisthira Maharaja, what is dharma? and at that time as well as other places in the Mahabharata it is said that dharmasya tattvam nivitam guhayam mahajano yena gatasapantha dharmasya tattvam nivitam guhayam that actually guhayam actually means like a cave and the essence of dharma, the truth of dharma resides in a cave now what do you mean it resides in a cave? which cave? how are you going to find that cave? and what is going to be found in that cave? is it that you are going to have some ancient book which contains some secret knowledge unknown to anyone? no here guhayam refers to the cave refers to the innermost chambers of the heart that dharma resides deep within the heart dharma is ultimately the pure conscience of the pure soul all of us have a sense of right and wrong that is like our inner compass but our inner compass sometimes presently is distorted because of our condition sometimes something which may be wrong we may think it is right because our attachments make us think like that so our conscience right now is not pure sometimes if there is a compass that compass is normally meant to point towards the north but if that compass is in an area which has its own magnetic field then the compass will not point towards the true north it will point somewhere else so similarly if somebody is in the association of alcoholics they say I should drink everybody says no no no everybody says drink drink drink why do you want to be a sissy? just drink people will tease and make fun in all kinds of different ways just drink people often become social drinkers and then they become alcoholics so what happens is I should not be left alone so basically what is happening over here people may feel from within also I feel like doing this but it is not necessary that our inner voice is always the voice of god our inner voice is distorted but this inner voice is the voice of god in the hearts of those who are pure the essence of dharma is not that it resides in scripture it resides in the innermost chambers of the heart and how do we know what it is? what dharma is is seen by the actions of the great souls dharma of course resides in scripture dharmam tu sakshat bhagvat pranitam that which is given by god and dharma is given in the vedas but what is dharma? it is not that every single dharmically challenging situation that we may face in our life every single situation like that in its details will be given somewhere in dharmashastra and we have to make our intelligence like a powerful google and every time a problem comes what is dharma? what should I do? google google google all the scriptures no it is not like that the world is so infinitely complex that all possible situations that we may face in our day to day practicalities they cannot be expected to be predicted in their specifics in the scripture so then what has to be done is we have to understand which principles of scripture apply over here and how do they apply over here sometimes if two principles of scripture apply then which is of a greater importance over here so we see this kind of dharmic deliberation even in the bhagvatam itself when ashwathama used to be punished at that time among the mandapas there are different opinions they used to state and Draupadi is in the mood of forgiving he is the son of our teacher his mother is already a widow you should forgive him and Arjuna says no Bhima especially says no he has killed children who were sleeping he doesn’t deserve any mercy an aggressor should be killed so both of them are quoting principles of dharma and then how is to be applied over there that is the expertise of Arjuna who is guided by Krishna so the point which I am making is that dharma is a principle what is the right thing to do as a principle and there are applications so scripture may give certain applications of scripture in itself in scripture itself now those applications are not meant for application it is not that whatever is the way scripture is applied exactly in the same way it has to be applied today now if you see bhagvatam most of the time it is talking about yajna about dhyana and yajna the kings perform lots of sacrifices and when they renounce they go into the forest and they do dhyana, they do meditation even Vasudeva and Devaki in their previous life in the 10th canto of Srimad Bhagavatam it is described that when they were Suttapa and Vrishni at that time they performed dhyana now today is dhyana what is required and yajna is what is required now today the time is Sankirtan yajna so that means the principle is that the lord is to be worshipped the practise for the principle in the past was different the practise for applying the principle now will be different so what we understand is that the Vedas have a compassionate intention for elevating people and what will elevate people of where that will vary according to the circumstances so the point is the scripture should be made accessible not inaccessible so now this point about women sometimes this teaching in scripture sometimes you find in Prabhupada’s book that women are less intelligent how do we understand this actually I have talked with many of Prabhupada’s female disciples who were with Prabhupada and they said Prabhupada never made us feel as if we are less intelligent I was talking with Giriraj Maharaj about this he said I heard all lectures of Prabhupada where we have Prabhupada’s audio where he is speaking this point and he said in his voice not once did I notice any sense of derision, condemnation or looking down at anyone he said I prayed to Prabhupada and my understanding is when Prabhupada is saying women are less intelligent he is not saying this to women to keep them down he is saying this to men to inspire within them a sense of responsibility that it is you who have to become responsible it is not that you have to put down women so the point is that there is an intent so Prabhupada gave the scriptural teaching that women are less intelligent, women should be protected but what does protection of women mean Prabhupada talks about the traditional role for women in society which is more as homemakers but for his own disciples especially those who are more in the western world Prabhupada engaged them in various ways they would go out for book distribution and meet unknown people and talk with them and distribute books and Prabhupada appreciated them for doing that so protection doesn’t only mean physical protection protection also means protection of enthusiasm protection of energy, protection of inclinations protection of talents so whatever is the best way somebody can serve Krishna that is the way they should serve Krishna so Prabhupada’s point was that in general if you look at the broad application of scripture the scriptural principle is that everyone should be protected so how are different people protected there are different ways different people are protected everybody should be protected so if you look at how that principle is applied that principle is not applied in the mode of restricting it so for example when Prabhupada interacted with devotees in India and women who had grown up with more or less the traditional gender roles being what they were trained to play Prabhupada encouraged them to take up those roles women who had grown up in a culture where they were trained almost since birth to do everything that they were meant to do Prabhupada encouraged them to serve Krishna according to the way they could so the principle was that everybody should be engaged and bhakti doesn’t have to be made more difficult than it needs to so if somebody’s nature in a particular way through the past life karma as well as this life’s upbringing then simply don’t tell that nature to Krishna serves that is the principle so if we forget the compassionate purpose of scripture and we get caught in particular statements within scripture without looking at their purpose then we will miss out on the opportunity for elevation that scripture is providing so scripture doesn’t become outdated because the essential principles of scripture are time independent they are universal and the essence of all those principles is that we should elevate our consciousness towards Krishna we should always remember Krishna and never forget Krishna sarvamiti nishe dasur etayor eva kim karam the purpose of all rules and regulations is ultimately to remember Krishna so if certain scriptural statements we find that they agitate our mind so much that we can’t practise bhakti then we don’t necessarily reject those statements as outdated we say that these statements they may not apply for me right now to help me in my spiritual elevation so therefore let me keep these statements in a state of suspended judgement I don’t reject them but I can’t accept them right now they don’t make sense to me and Prabhupada applied this principle even to the 10th canto of the past time of the gopis with Krishna, the Raas Nila Prabhupada said the Raas Nila itself says at the end of the past time that when those who hear this vikriditam vishnu that those who hear this past time of Krishna with the gopis they will become purified of lust and they will become infused with pure devotion for Krishna but Prabhupada said if you read the past time of the gopis and if you start feeling lusty because of that that means you are not yet ready to read them so don’t read them now what does it mean? that means there is a past time that past time is accepted as glorious but believing that past time is not producing the desired effect on us that means that is not the right time for us to be exposed to that past time so scripture has a purpose and we have to see how that purpose is being served scripture is not just about throwing certain instructions at people this is what you have to do scripture is about elevating people’s consciousness and providing people according to their time, place, circumstance according to their psychophysical situation the means by which they can become elevated so women in general are more emotional than men for any category of people broad category generalisations don’t work there will always be exceptions but overall statements if we make if there is a men and women are all endowed with certain strengths which are complementary if there is a group of 4-5 year old kids maybe 15-20 kids if a man is told to take care of those 15-20 kids and a woman is told to take care of those 15-20 kids who will be able to do it better? obviously a woman will be able to do it better because women are trained to nurture, to care to be more emotionally sensitive so the greater emotionality of a man is a strength in certain situations it can be a weakness in certain situations the greater rationality of men can be a strength in certain situations it can be a weakness in certain situations so we all are meant to act according to our particular roles in society and our roles are determined not just by certain standard criteria it’s not just determined by birth but also by upbringing it’s determined by what the situation requires so dharma is dynamic dharma is not static and understanding this dynamic aspect of dharma what is dynamism and what is static I’ll conclude at this point to say dharma is static means this is the teaching of scripture and whatever you are, you just have to apply it that is the static idea of dharma the dynamic understanding of dharma is that dharma has a purpose that purpose is to elevate people’s consciousness and dharma needs to be taught in such a way that where people are, from there their consciousness gets elevated so that is the expertise of those who are living that dharma and are sharing that dharma scripture is not just a book scripture is also a living guide book it is not just an abstract book that is there in a library it’s a living guide book the Gita lives through those who live the Gita the Gita lives through those who live the Gita and that’s why when we associate with those who are trying to live the principles of Krishna consciousness and then we learn the principles of Krishna consciousness from them then scripture becomes not only intelligible but also relevant not only does it make sense but also starts working for us and we start seeing the transformational effects so just as Vyasadev presented the scripture in a way that could elevate people at his time Srila Prabhupada has presented scripture in a way that would elevate people in today’s world as the followers of Srila Prabhupada we also have to present scripture according to our time, place and circumstance for our own application and for application of others so that their consciousness can be elevated so I’ll summarise I spoke today about this compassionate purpose of the Vedas and I started by talking about how the Vedas are meant for the elevation of consciousness and within the Vedas, the word Veda in a restricted sense can refer to the four Vedas in a broader sense it can refer to the Vedic body of knowledge in the broadest sense it can refer to all knowledge so in a technical sense when the word Veda is used, it usually refers to the four Vedas so the four Vedas themselves talk about Karmakanda within the Vedas there are appreciations which talk about the Jnana Kanda so Karmakanda is meant to elevate people who are materialistic and godless or materialistic and irreligious to come to be materialistic but be religious then the Upanishads are meant to elevate them from being materialist to becoming spiritualist this world is temporary, look for something beyond this world so the Upanishads and the Gita are the first book of spiritual values and because this contains philosophy which not everybody can appreciate so that same philosophical essence is made accessible for people in general through the means of past times so without getting caught in the just treating the story as an entertaining story with twists and turns we have to look at the essential existential dilemmas that the characters in the epics face and through that we understand the principles of Dharma so the Mahabharata is not simply an entertaining story it is a quest for understanding Dharma and it doesn’t present its characters in black and white there are shades of grey, even good characters sometimes err because Dharma is difficult to understand and the Mahabharata itself says where is Dharma residing? one level it is in scripture but on the other level it is in the innermost core of the heart, the K of the heart that means Dharma is our pure conscience and for those who are purified through their actions we understand what is Dharma so can scripture be outdated? no, scripture’s purpose of raising people’s consciousness is eternally relevant now that purpose, how it is to be applied that application will vary so I talked about everything in scripture is not the teaching of scripture certain sections of scripture will be descriptive rather than prescriptive like Sainadaastra could not be allowed into the Jagannath temple and beyond that there are time independent principles and there are time specific applications so the principle is we should always respect great sages but Bhishma when he was in the arrow bed the application of the principle was he could not move his head, he could not move any other part of his body so the application can vary so similarly there may be specific applications of scripture which were given at a particular point and they may not apply today but we have to go, not just get caught in the application and say it is outdated but look at the principle and see how the principle is to be applied in today’s world so Prabhupada with respect to gender roles he gave the traditional scriptural teaching in his books about stratified gender roles but when it came to applying it his purpose was not just to assign people to particular pre-specified categories his purpose was to help people elevate themselves from where they are so he engaged everyone according to their particular nature which is from the previous birth as well as this life’s upbringing so everybody needs to be protected how specific their protection applies has to be implemented, that will vary according to time and circumstances and I concluded by talking about how if we understand the compassionate purpose of the Vedas to help people elevate their consciousness the point is not just to get it right this is what scripture teaches, you have to follow it the point is to get it across make it intelligible and make it relevant so to the extent we understand the compassionate purpose of the Vedas and to the extent we can apply that in our life according to our time and circumstances we will get elevated so we don’t reject any section in scripture but we do contextualise it and this contextualisation can apply even to that which is considered the highest revelation within the Bhagwat that is the Raj Panchayat its purpose is to elevate us to a state of pure devotion free from lust but if hearing it triggers lust within us then don’t hear the prophecies so certain sections of scripture may not be applicable to us right now so rather than rejecting them, we keep them in a state of suspended judgement and focus on applying those principles which help us to elevate our consciousness and as our consciousness gets elevated then other things in scripture, what is their place and what is their purpose that will become clear for us and ultimately we will help the Acharyas in fulfilling the purpose of scripture to elevate consciousness Thank you very much Hare Krishna Any questions or comments? Yes Pramod So can we understand scripture in that way do something and justify that as an application or an application to others That’s true If the application becomes too open-ended and people may do whatever they want to do to justify it in the name of application of scripture Yeah there are checks and balances, that’s why there is Guru, Sadhu and Shastra So Guru is our spiritual master Sadhu refers not just to the previous teachers it also refers to the current teachers and Shastra is what is given in scripture so whenever anything major is to be decided you have to consult with others, you have to consult with our spiritual master you have to consult with our spiritual guides and then make a decision So the danger of diluting things is always there but there is the danger to the other side also Generally if we see if this is the tradition and this is the contemporary situation so there has to be connection between both if we are at the intersection of tradition and the contemporary situation So we want to live according to tradition but we have to live according to tradition in our contemporary situation So our fidelity our faithfulness is what connects us with the tradition our flexibility is what connects us with our contemporary situation So if there is only fidelity, no flexibility then the result would be that the tradition will become a museum exhibit not a living tradition This is what people did in the past It’s not relevant at all Like I said, Sanskrit is the language of our tradition but if today all the classes in the Krishnamohanji’s movement were in Sanskrit then how many speakers would we have and how many audiences would we have We would just have it like a cultural exhibit This is how people were in the past That would not be relevant So fidelity is required to connect us with the tradition but if there is only fidelity, not just in purpose but also in all its details then it will become irrelevant So flexibility means that how those principles are to be applied in all time, place, circumstances that has to change So for example, traditionally people would hear classes by going to sages mostly who live in the forests Now we use sound systems, now we use internet we use various digital technology So now if you try to look for a shastric pramana that hearing classes through digital technology is it purifying You will not find any scriptural pramana for that But if we are not able to attend the classes physically We learn a lot by hearing classes online Now where is the shastric pramana for this There is no shastric pramana for this Because shastra does not talk about the kind of technology that we have It is the kind of social situation that we have But the purpose is, if somebody says I will never hear any recorded class, I will only hear live classes Good, but then how much facility do you have to hear live classes I will only hear live classes I stay at a place 6 hours away from any nearby temple So I will go to the temple once a year and once a year I will hear some classes But what consciousness elevation is going to happen by that So flexibility is what enables us to make the tradition real in the contemporary world Now there is of course the extreme if there is only flexibility and no fidelity then we simply become a part of the contemporary landscape We don’t remain a tradition at all So there has to be proper flexibility and there has to be proper fidelity and the balance we have to learn by associating with by observing and learning from those who are actually managing that balance So there is danger on both sides Too much flexibility is danger Too much fidelity can also lead to danger So therefore we have to always be careful that we don’t dilute At the same time we also have to be careful that we may say I am not going to dilute but then we may just internally in our minds categorise this doesn’t apply to me, this is too lofty, this is too irrelevant This is just not applicable for me Now what are we doing, we are doing some business in it We are not applying the principle of scripture because we feel it is too lofty for us So every one of us at a level or in a sense we individually apply scripture There is no stereotype or prototype which every one of us can conform to When we chant, all of us chant in our own way We chant the holy names of Krishna Some of us chant loudly, some of us chant softly, some of us chant very fast, some of us chant very slowly Some of us chant while sitting, some of us chant while walking Some of us chant while standing So we all chant the holy name but we do it in different ways So this is the application So in a sense every one of us will apply scripture according to our inspiration, according to our inclination according to our situation There is scripture, now which particular book within the scripture to read There is at least in the initial stages recommended a particular sequence so that we go from basic books to more advanced books But beyond that, if you have been around for a few years then somebody may feel inspired by the Bhagavad Gita Somebody may feel inspired by the Chaitanya Charitam Somebody may feel inspired by the Bhagavad Gita That’s perfectly fine So to conclude Following scripture is not like one line This is the line, if you are in this line then you are following scripture, if you are not, you are out It is more like a circle It is a circle which comprises the purpose of scripture which comprises the purpose of scripture So Prabhupada’s teachings themselves are not like one line This is what you have to do I am not saying this, Prabhupada is saying this This is often a lot of dishonesty This is often a lot of dishonesty Is that the only thing that Prabhupada said on that issue Is that the only thing that Prabhupada said on that issue Prabhupada has often said different things about that issue at different times and then you are quoting one statement of Prabhupada and saying Prabhupada said this Now if we really want to know Prabhupada’s position we have to look at all that Prabhupada has said and then I say this is what Prabhupada said which I find inspiring which I find relevant over here Somebody else may find some other statement of Prabhupada as inspiring some other statement as relevant So when we say we have to follow Prabhupada Prabhupada had one purpose but Prabhupada implemented that purpose in different ways When Prabhupada was in America most of his preaching was devotees moved into the temple When Prabhupada was in India practically nobody was interested in moving into the temple So most of the people who got connected with ISKCON in India were people who became life members So Prabhupada would go to their house, take some prasad and they would give some contribution and they would have a connection with the temple and that was the main preaching So if you want to consider one circle Outreach is like a pyramid At the top of the pyramid are those who are purely devoted to Krishna At the bottom of the pyramid is much broader There are people who are inclined towards Krishna and are taking steps towards Krishna So at one level in America Prabhupada did outreach by getting people to move into the temple In India Prabhupada did outreach by just encouraging people to become life members They are not committed to follow any regular principles Most of them were following because that is a part of the culture But they are not committed to chanting in ISKCON number of rounds But Prabhupada appreciated and engaged them where they were So if you want to follow Prabhupada which Prabhupada are we following? The Prabhupada who got people to move into the temple Or the Prabhupada who was happy with people becoming life members In today’s world ISKCON is actually in between the two most of it Mostly our movement is a congregation movement So it is not that people are moving into the temple But it is not that people are becoming life members also People are becoming dedicated devotees who are following the principles of sadhana bhakti But they are following it in their homes So it is neither a temple based movement nor just a movement of elvishers It is a movement of dedicated devotees But it is in between the two So when we have to say we follow Prabhupada which Prabhupada are we following? Prabhupada is having one purpose but one purpose he has been very resourceful in serving that in many different ways So somebody who says this is what Prabhupada did and this is what we should do Yes, that is true But why are you quoting only that particular statement of Prabhupada? Prabhupada has said many different things at different times Then you can say that this is the aspect of Prabhupada that inspires me But Prabhupada has other aspects also So what happens sometimes is we justify our position with a Prabhupada quote and say this is Prabhupada’s position Yes, this is Prabhupada’s position But this alone is not Prabhupada’s position So, I will conclude this point that there is a difference between preference and principle Preference is this is how I like to practise I like to chant when I am sitting in one place Somebody else will like to chant when they are walking Chanting the holy names is the principle Preference is how we chant So principle is like what scripture gives Application is a matter of preference So, when a preference is made into a principle then we become fanatical When a preference is made into a principle we become fanatical When we understand that this is a preference, this is a principle or this is a practise and this is a principle but preference could be with respect to what we prefer But this is how I practise So, whenever anyone starts making that this is the statement of Prabhupada and this is what everyone has to follow then what about so many other statements of Prabhupada I am part of the Shastric Advisory Council and we are working on creating hermeneutics Hermeneutics is the way of understanding scripture So, we are working on a whole paper So, one of the foundational principles in that is that we cannot take one statement of Prabhupada as absolute If we want to understand Prabhupada’s position we need to look at all that Prabhupada said on that issue and then understand his intent and see how that intent can be applied or how that intent can be fulfilled in the particular situation we are in So, thank you very much Vantraashramad Bhagavatam ki Vishwa Prabhupada ki Gauravakta Vendaki Sai Gaurav Premanande