Does Prabhupada’s instruction ‘do as I have done’ mean there’s no need to innovate in preaching”

Transcribed by: Argha Maji Question: Does Prabhupada’s instruction ‘do as I have done’ mean there’s no need to innovate in preaching?  Answer: That “do as I have done” means devotees should not innovate is a very very superficial understanding of Prabhupada’s statements. Because even if we take it literally, “do as I have done”, Prabhupada has done many different things at different times. For example, Prabhupada advocated harinama sankirtan publicly in the West and he himself went on few occasions, but in India, especially in Bengal and other places when the devotees started doing harinama sankirtan and people started throwing coins at devotees, so it is a tradition that there is a kirtan mandali which goes and mandalis are like beggars and people throw coins at the beggars. So Prabhupada said that this was not the image that they wanted to portray of their movement. So he asked to stop doing kirtans. Now somebody can ask if that is a permanent injunction for a devotee in India. No. So when we say, “do as I have done”, we cannot first of all, literally, externally speaking do every single thing that Srila Prabhupada has done or do everything exactly as Prabhupada has done. Because Prabhupada did not do the exact thing at all times. He is like a military general and the general will use different strategies at different times depending on time, place, circumstance depending on whatever is the best way to attain victory. So that is with respect to external action. Similarly, that will also apply to the words. “Do as I have done”, does it necessarily mean if Prabhupada used words like fools and rascals, we also have to use words like that. Not at all, in fact Prabhupada told us, “I am old and I can do this, you cannot.” The point is that Srila Prabhupada by using his power of speech, attracted people towards Krishna. So there were other times when Prabhupada was very sensitive. For example when George Harrison met Prabhupada and he was already influenced by many other Indian spiritual teachers and he quoted them in that conversation, Prabhupada did not speak anything about them negatively, just continued focusing on his main point about glory of holy name and the supremacy of Krishna and how George Harrison can glorify Krishna by including Krishna’s names in his songs. So the way Prabhupada spoke was also different at different times. So “do as I have done” doesn’t necessarily mean that we have to use the same speech. Prabhupada pronounced some words in particular way and some devotees would try to imitate that pronunciation, it looks very artificial and unnatural. That’s definitely not necessary. So, we could say “do as I have done”, another way of looking at that is Prabhupada was innovative, so we see when Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Prabhupada sent his disciples to the West, he sent them to London and Germany. And it was he who told them to approach gentlemen and behave in a gentlemanly way. So that meant they wore western clothes, shirt and pant, suit and tie. And they spoke high philosophy. In contrast, Prabhupada went in the traditional dress of dhoti and kurta and Prabhupada did not try to approach any highly influential members of society. He went directly to the Lower East side and he did Harinam Sankirtan, instead of going to lofty philosophy. So was it that Prabhupada was disobeying Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur? No, not at all. Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur himself would wear civil clothes whenever needed, and he encouraged disciples to wear it, if needed. So “do as I have done” means Prabhupada did best what was for preaching. So in the Lower east side where people were unconventional, the radically unconventional dress of dhoti kurta which was actually radically conventional in India and like putting clay marks on forehead and putting a glove in one of the hands with one finger coming out, it was radically unconventional. So Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur used one strategy and Prabhupada used another strategy. So Prabhupada was very resourceful and innovative in doing things even which his spiritual master had not done. So, Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur in the books which were published from the Gaudiya Math rarely put any pictures in the books. But Prabhupada had profuse pictures, attractive pictures in his books and the devotee artists were very important, his outreach assistants. Now Prabhupada said ,”Do as I have done” but he was in many ways if we look at external, literalist ways to understand not doing what Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur was doing. So what was he doing? He was like a battle general, choosing the strategy that was appropriate. “Do as I have done” can very well mean be innovative, be resourceful as I was. So as compared to Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur, Prabhupada improvised and did various things which were appropriate for sharing Krishna Consciousness and so did Prabhupada appreciated his disciples. There are many places where Tamal Krishna Maharaja comes up with new ways of sharing Krishna Consciousness with people and Prabhupada appreciates. Prabhupada says,” You are sincerely trying to serve Krishna and Krishna in the heart is giving you intelligence about how to share his message with the people.” And Prabhupada would quote 10.10 in the Bhagavad Gita. dadāmi buddhi-yogam tam yena mām upayānti te That I give intelligence those who try to serve me. teshām satata-yuktānām bhajatām prīti-pūrvakam. Those who do bhajatām prīti-pūrvakam, those who worship me sincerely, I give them the intelligence. So here we see Prabhupada is appreciating those who are finding creative ways of sharing Krishna Consciousness. Ghanashyam Prabhu, who later became Bhakti Tirtha Maharaj, Prabhupada appreciated him for the creative ways in which he shared Krishna Consciousness. So if we had a literalist understanding we could have three different ideas. “Do as I have done” means do exactly the way I have done. But Prabhupada used different ways. Then it could mean “speak the way I have spoken” but Prabhupada spoke in different ways at times. “Do as I have done” means I have followed my spiritual master, but Prabhupada also innovated and did things which his spiritual master had not done because that was required in his times in his preaching. So essentially “do as I have done” means we imbibe the spirit of Srila Prabhupada. The vigour of sharing Krishna’s message , the compassion so that one reaches out to people. And the determination, the tolerance, the courage. So it is the internal qualities that enable a devotee to achieve success in sharing Krishna’s message and mission with the world. So it is that spirit of fighting for Krishna’s sake, not in terms of creating physical violence but in terms of overcoming challenges for Krishna’s sake and thereby moving forward in sharing Krishna’s message as far as possible with the world. So that spirit is what we need to imbibe. And certainly we can look at Prabhupad’s examples and we would like to be in the ambit of Prabhupad’s instructions. So rather than thinking of the parampara as one straight line, this is what the previous acaryas have done and this is what I am meant to do, instead of making the parampara as one straight line we need to think of it as a circle. And within the circle there is abundant room for different devotees to do different things in Krishna’s service. So I will conclude with one incident. There was a devotee in London and Prabhupada had come to London which was at that time the European headquarters of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness and devotees who were leaders from different yatras, from France, from Germany, from various places were coming and reporting. And this devotee was thinking that everyone has some service to report to Srila Prabhupada and I don’t have anything. So he went to Prabhupada and asked him,”What can I do for you?” Prabhupada replied,”What you want to do for Krishna?” So he thought Prabhupada was testing his surrender. He replied,”Whatever you want I will do.” Prabhupada said, “What do You want to do for Krishna?” He replied back the same thing. Prabhupada said,”Understand our philosophy, think what do you want to do and do it for Krishna.” Now we have never heard this idea that I should think what I want to do for Krishna and do it. So, Prabhupada’s approach was very realistic and sound. He was recognising that when the movement goes very big, it is difficult for the leader to personally know the nature of each devotee and then to give specific instructions according to the nature of that devotee. So in this initial stages of our movement, devotees were exemplarily surrendered and they did whatever Srila Prabhupada told them to do. But Prabhupada also expected to replicate the varnashrama model and it essentially means that everybody serves according to one’s nature. So now if a devotee is observant enough, takes guidance from other devotees and understands one’s own nature, then devotee will serve according to that nature. And that is essentially taking initiative in Krishna’s service. After that the devotee told Srila Prabhupada that he wanted to do something with his hands and he wanted to make mridangas using Western material, as the mridangas obtained from India take a long time to get and they break also easily. Prabhupada was very pleased. “Your Western godbrothers are very passionate so make the mridanga so strong that even if they throw the mridanga, it will not break.”, Prabhupada said. So due to Prabhupada’s enthusiastic endorsement of his service plan, it became his lifelong service. “Do as I have done” , it means take initiative and use intelligence to carry out the mission of Srila Prabhupada, sharing Krishna Consciousness with the world. How specifically we can do that, we can take inspiriration from Prabhupada’s example and learn from his actions. But specific strategy will vary and in many cases it needs to vary according to time, place and circumstance. So we shouldn’t consider “do as I have done” as a restrictive instruction, which means “don’t do what I have never done” rather it means imbibe the spirit with which I have done things and do accordingly. Some devotees may feel that we would like to do what Srila Prabhupada has done, and it is also perfect. Prabhupada would be pleased by that by their dedicated service attitude. They want to collect Life Membership, distribute books, build temples or do street Harinam . That’s wonderful but that doesn’t mean that every devotee in the movement has to do only those things. There are other ways also of sharing Krishna Consciousness and by the very fact that we are answering questions here through the Internet, and now there are hundreds of devotees who actually get a lot of spiritual nourishment by hearing classes of their spiritual masters through the Internet. Now Prabhupada never broadcast his classes on the internet directly, there was never love broadcast of his classes in other parts of the world because the technology was not there at that time. So, if we have to take “do as I have done” as a limited instruction to imply “don’t do what I haven’t done” then we would have to reject the whole use of internet, as a deviation. But nobody is suggesting that, as it’s not a deviation, it is expansion of Prabhupada’s mission according to time, place, circumstance. So Bhagavatam also says about Bhishma and Dhruva that they knew their dharma and they knew how to apply according to time, place, circumstance. So we don’t have to be judgemental if we feel that somebody is doing a preaching in a way that Prabhupada has not done and we can consult our senior devotees and try to get a proper understanding. And if we feel inspired to serve Krishna in a particular way then we can take blessings from like-minded senior devotees and serve Krishna in that way. So the important thing is to develop the inner spirit of vigour and compassion. We have to share Krishna’s message and compassion for those who dont have Krishna’s message. And then also develop the associated qualities, determination, patience, tolerance, sensitivity, hard work and carry on Prabhupada’s legacy in that way. Thank you. Hare Krishna.

Thank you. Question, what does the Brahmapada's instruction, do as I have done, mean? Does it mean that devotees should not innovate or find new ways of sharing Krishna consciousness? Answer, that do as I have done means devotees should not innovate is a very, very superficial understanding of Prabhupada's statements.

Because even if we take it literally, do as I have done, Prabhupada has done many different things at different times. For example, Prabhupada advocated Harinam Sankirtan publicly in the West and he himself went on few occasions. But when in India, especially in Bengal and other places, when the devotees started doing Harinam Sankirtan and people started throwing coins at devotees.

So it is a tradition that there is Kirtan Mandali which goes and then, Kirtan Mandali is treated like beggars and people throw some coins at the beggars. So Prabhupada said, this is not the image that we want to portray of our movement. And he said, stop doing Kirtans.

Now somebody can say, stop doing Kirtans, is that a permanent injunction for devotees in India? No. So when we say do as I have done, we cannot first of all say that literally, externally speaking, we have to do every single thing that Krishna Prabhupada has done or do everything exactly as Prabhupada has done. Because Prabhupada himself did not do the exact things at all times.

He is like a military general. And the military general will use different strategies at different times depending on time, place, circumstance, whatever is the, depending on whatever is the best way to attain victory. So that is with respect to external actions.

And similarly, that will also apply to the words. Do as I have done, does it necessarily mean that if Prabhupada used words like fools and rascals, we also have to use words like fools and rascals? Not at all. In fact, Prabhupada told us that I am old and I can do this.

You cannot. The point was that Prabhupada by using his powers which attracted people towards Krishna. So there are other times when Prabhupada was very sensitive.

For example, when George Harrison met Shri Prabhupada and George Harrison was already influenced by many other Indian spiritual teachers and he quoted them during the conversation. Prabhupada did not speak anything about them negatively. He just continued focusing on his main point about the glory of the holy name and the supremacy of Krishna and how George Harrison can glorify Krishna by his, by including Krishna's names in his songs.

So the way Prabhupada spoke was also different at different times. So do as I have done does not necessarily mean that we have to use the same speech. Now Prabhupada pronounced some words in a particular way and some devotees tried to imitate that pronunciation.

It looks very artificial and unnatural and very imitatory basically. That's definitely not necessary. Now we could say do as I have done.

Then another way of looking at it is that actually Prabhupada was innovative. So we see when Bhaktivedanta Thakur sent his disciples to the west, he sent them to primarily London and Germany and there it was he who told them to approach gentlemen and behave in a very gentlemanly way. So that meant that they wore western clothes, they wore shirt and pants and suit and tie and they spoke high philosophy.

In contrast, Prabhupada went in the western, in the traditional dress of dhoti kurta and Prabhupada did not try to approach any highly influential members of the society. He went directly to the lower east side which is where fortunately presented itself and he did Harinam Sankirtan instead of going into any lofty philosophy. So now was it that Prabhupada was disobeying Bhaktivedanta Thakur? No, not at all.

Bhaktivedanta Thakur himself would wear civil clothes, western clothes whenever it was required and he encouraged disciples also to wear if it was required. So we could say that do as I have done means Prabhupada did what was the best for preaching. So in the lower east side where people were unconventional, the radically unconventional dress of dhoti kurta which was actually radically conventional in India but it was radically unconventional in the west.

Like putting clay marks on your forehead and putting a blanket around your head and putting a glue in one of your hands with one finger coming out. It was all radically unconventional. So among the unconventional, the radically unconventional was very attractive and among the conventional, the conventional was attractive, would have been attractive.

So that was what Bhaktivedanta Thakur asked his other disciples who had gone earlier to the west to adopt another strategy and Prabhupada used another strategy. So if you see Prabhupada was very resourceful and innovative in doing things which even his spiritual master had not done. So Bhaktivedanta Thakur in the books that were published in Gaudiya Math rarely if ever put any pictures in the books.

But Prabhupada had profuse pictures, attractive pictures put in his books and the devotee artists were considered very important in his outreach assistance. So now was that when Prabhupada says do as I have done but he was not in many ways if you are just looking at external literalistic understanding Prabhupada was not doing what Bhaktivedanta Thakur was doing. So what was Prabhupada doing? Again I said like a battle general.

Prabhupada was choosing the strategy that was appropriate. So do as I have done can very well mean that be innovative, be resourceful as I was. So as compared to Bhaktivedanta Thakur, Prabhupada improvised and did various things which were appropriate for sharing Krishna Consciousness and so did Prabhupada appreciate his disciples doing.

In the book Servant of Servant by Tamala Krishna Maharaj there are many places where Tamala Krishna Maharaj comes up with new ways of sharing Krishna Consciousness with people and Prabhupada appreciates it. Prabhupada says that actually you are sincerely trying to serve Krishna so Krishna from within the heart is giving you intelligence about how to practice, how to share his message with the people. Prabhupada quote 10.10 from the Bhagavad Gita बदानि बुद्धि योगंतं येन्नमामुपयांतिते I give intelligence to those who try to serve me.

चतत्युद्धेशाम् चतत्युद्धानां भजितां प्रीतिकुर्वकं Those who do Vajitam Preeti Kurvakam, those who worship me sincerely I give them the intelligence. So here we see what this is what Prabhupada is doing and here Prabhupada is appreciating those who are finding creative ways of sharing Krishna Consciousness. गन्यशाम् प्रभू लेटर के पक्तित महराज Prabhupada is appreciating him for the creative ways in which he shared Krishna Consciousness.

So now if you just take a literalistic understanding you could have three different ideas. Do as I have done means do exactly the way I have done. But Prabhupada there are many ways in which he did.

Can it mean that speak the way I have spoken? But Prabhupada spoke in different ways at different times. Do as I have done means I have followed my spiritual master. But Prabhupada also innovated and did things which his spiritual master had not done.

Because that was what was required at his time when he was spiritual master. So essentially do as I have done means we imbibe the spirit of Shila Prabhupada the eager for sharing Krishna's message, the compassion so that one reaches out to people and the determination, the tolerance, the courage so it is the internal qualities that enable a devotee to achieve success in sharing Krishna's message and mission with the world. So it is that spirit of fighting for Krishna's sake not in terms of creating physical violence of course but in terms of overcoming challenges for Krishna's sake and thereby moving forward in sharing Krishna's message as far as possible with the world.

So that spirit is what we need to imbibe. And then certainly we can look at Prabhupada's examples and we would like to be in the ambit of Shila Prabhupada's instructions. So rather than thinking of the parampara as one straight line this is what I meant to do.

Instead of thinking of the parampara as one straight line we need to think of it as a circle and within the circle there is abundant room for different devotees to do different things in Krishna's service. So I will conclude with one incident. There was this devotee Ishan Prabhu in London and Prabhupada had come to London which was at that time the European headquarters of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness and devotees who were leaders from different yatras from France, from Germany, from various places were coming and reporting and Ishan Prabhu was thinking Prabhupada everyone has some service to report to Shila Prabhupada.

I don't have anything. So he went to Prabhupada and asked him Prabhupada what are you? Please what can I do for you? Prabhupada asked him what do you want to do for Krishna? So he thought, Prabhupada is testing my surrender. Whatever you want I will tell Prabhupada.

Prabhupada said what do you want to do for Krishna? No Prabhupada whatever you tell me I will do. He said you know what just understand our philosophy. Think what do you want to do and then do it for Krishna.

We had never heard this idea that I should think of what I want to do for Krishna and then do it. And now since Prabhupada's approach was very realistic and sound that he was recognizing that it is difficult for him or for that matter for any leader when the movement grows very big for him to personally know the nature of each devotee and then to give specific instructions according to the nature of that devotee. In the initial stages of our movement the devotees were exemplarily surrendered and they did whatever Sri Prabhupada told them to do.

But then Prabhupada also expected to replicate the Varanashram model and the Varanashram model essentially is that everybody serves according to one's samad according to one's nature. So now if a devotee is observant enough takes guidance from other devotees and understand one's own nature and devotee can serve according to that nature and that is essentially taking initiative in Krishna's service. So then afterwards Vishant came back and said Prabhupada I always like to do some things with my hands.

So I am thinking of making Rudangas using western material plaster of Paris or something like that because the Rudangas which you get from India it takes a long time to get them and they break also he said. And Prabhupada was very pleased and he said you know your western godbrothers are very passionate. So make the Rudanga so strong that even if they throw it down it will not break.

And then that Prabhupada's enthusiastic endorsement of his service plan that became the mission of a lifelong service for him. So do as I have done. What would that mean? That means take initiative and use intelligence to carry on the missions of Prabhupada sharing Krishna consciousness with the world.

How specifically it will do that? That we can take inspiration from Prabhupada's example and of course learn from his actions but then the specific strategy will vary and in many cases it needs to vary according to different time, place and circumstances. And so we shouldn't consider do as I have done as a restrictive instruction which means that don't do what I have never done. Don't do what I haven't done.

Rather it means imbibe the spirit with which I have done things and do things accordingly. Some devotees may feel that we would just like to do what Prabhupada has done and that is also perfect. Prabhupada will be pleased by that, by their dedicated service attitude.

They want to collect right number, share, distribute books, build temples or whatever. Do this, do that, do this, treat her now, treat them. That's wonderful.

But that doesn't mean that every devotee in the movement has to do only those things. There are other ways also of sharing Krishna consciousness with others and in fact the very fact that we are answering questions here through the internet and now there are hundreds of devotees who actually get a lot of spiritual nourishment by hearing the classes of the spiritual masters through the internet. Now Prabhupada never broadcast any classes in the internet directly.

He never spoke. There were practically never any live broadcast of his classes in other parts of the world because the technology was not there at that time. So if we were to take, do as I have done, as a limited instruction to imply don't do what I haven't done then we would have to accept, we would have to reject the whole use of internet as a deviation from the program and nobody is suggesting that because it is not a deviation.

It is an expansion of Prabhupada's mission according to Jain Buddhist circumstance. The Bhagavatam also says about Bhishma Pitamah and Dhruva Maharaj that they, or Narada Muni in the Dhruva Maharaj's past time, that they knew their dharma gyan, they knew about dharma and they knew how to apply for timeless circumstance. So we don't have to be judgmental if we feel that somebody is doing some outreach in a way that Prabhupada has not done and we can consult our senior devotees and try to get a proper understanding and if you feel inspired to serve Krishna in a particular way then we can also take blessings from like-minded senior devotees and serve Krishna in that way.

The important thing is to develop the inner spirit of vigor and compassion. Vigor to share Krishna's message and compassion for those who do not have Krishna's message. And then also develop the associate qualities, determination, patience, tolerance, sensitivity, hard work and carry on Prabhupada's legacy in that way.

Thank you.