The changing of names during initiation is commonly presented as evidence that ISKCON brainwashes people. Can you please respond?

To hear the answer

tapah pundram tatha nama mantro yagas ca pancamah/

ami hi panca-samskarah paramaikanti-hetavah//

“Tapa, pundra, nama, mantra, and yaga-these five items comprise panca-samskara. They are the cause of intense devotion to Lord Hari.”

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
Question from Tanmay Lele Prabhu. The changing of names during initiation. Is commonly presented as evidence.
That is con brainwashes people. Can you please respond? Answer. Answer.
The changing of names at the time of. Important religious ceremonies. Is not something which is.
Exclusive to. ISKCON. Or even to the Vedic tradition alone.
When. People enter into the Sikh religion. At that time when.
Sikh religion started with Guru Nanak. And became more solidified over the. Various Gurus.
Then all Sikhs were. Given the names Kaur. All ladies were called as Kaur.
And all males were called as Singhs. So. Even in Sikhism the names are changed.
Now even in Christianity. Many of the leading figures. Have their names changed.
For example. Probably one of the most famous. Popes.
In recent history was Pope John Paul II. And John Paul II. Was not his real name.
He was born as. Carol Joseph Wojdyla. And later on he got that name.
John Paul II. So similarly. Whether we look at.
The religions within the Vedic tradition. Or outside the Vedic tradition. Changing of names.
Is. Quite a standard practice. And it indicates.
The beginning of a new life. And. It doesn’t necessarily mean that.
One is rejecting the past life. But one is incorporating. The past life as.
A part of one’s new world view. And new. Life at large.
So as far as the Vedic tradition. Is concerned. Within the Vedic tradition.
Changing of names. Is a standard. It is a part of.
What is known as Panchasamskara. Panchasamskara. Is recommended.
In the Pancharatra literature. And. It is extensively practiced literally.
In the Srivastava Sampradaya. And. Apart from the Srivastava Sampradaya.
All other Sampradayas also have. A similar kind of. Initiation rites.
With some. Variations. So Baldevidya Bhushan quotes a standard verse.
In his Pramaya Ratnavali. Describing the Panchasamskara. This verse is so common.
That it is. Frequently quoted without. Being attributed.
It is a part of the. Common knowledge base. Of the Vedic tradition.
Tapah Pundram Tathanama. Mantro Yajascha Panchama. Amehi Panchasamskara.
Param Aikanti Hetavaha. So. Tapah Pundram.
Tapah means. It can mean austerity. It can mean Taap.
So in the. Srivastava tradition. At the time of initiation.
The. Marks of Vishnu’s. Four.
Paraphernalia’s. Shankhachakra Vadapadma. Are made on the body.
On different parts. So it is imprinted on the body. That is called Tapah.
Bhaktivinoda Thakur has written an article on Panchasamskaras. And he explains that. Just the external rituals are not important.
And in the Gaudiya Vishnu tradition. They are not what is considered important. What is important is the internal feeling of repentance.
That I have left God. And I have left such a sinful life. And I want to return back to God.
Then Pundram. Pundram actually means Tilak. So practically all the traditional Sampradayas.
Have a kind of Tilak. So Urdhva Pundra. Now Bhaktivinoda Thakur also explains that.
Just applying Tilak is not enough. To actually becoming a. Beginning a genuine. In this life actually.
The Urdhva Pundra. That means the upward directed Tilak. That indicates.
That one is. Wanting to become Urdhva Gati. That one wants to move.
Upwards in one’s life’s direction. Tatha Nama. So Nama.
Has two aspects to it. One is that the Guru gives. The holy name to disciple.
And also the Guru gives a name. That reminds. The disciple of God.
And reminds others of God. By calling that disciple by that name. So in the Sri Sampradaya.
They may have names like Ramanuja Das. And Narayan Das. And Vishnu Das.
Generally the names related to Narayan and Ram. And in the Gaudi Sampradaya. There are names related to Krishna and.
Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. Now Mantra. Mantra means.
This generally refers to the. Mantras that are given at the time of. Second Initiation, Gayatri Diksha.
So these mantras. Are. What initiate the disciple.
Into the regular chanting. So in. Within the ISKCON.
This mantra would refer to what we get at the time of. Second Initiation. The Nama refers to the Hare Krishna Maha Mantra.
Along with the. Initiated name that we get at the time of. First Initiation.
Yajas refers to. Deity Worship. So after one gets the Gayatri Mantra.
Then one chants the Gayatri Mantra. And one starts doing the Deity Worship also. Chapancha Maha.
And Chapancha Samskara. Paramaikanti Hetavaha. Paramaikanti.
The Supreme Devotion. The Transcendental Devotion to the Lord. Is awakened by these five Samskaras.
So these are standard practices. Within the Vedic Tradition. And there are similar.
Resonances. To practices within the. Other Traditions also.
So now. Within the. Within the Gaudiya Vaishnava Tradition.
What is the understanding that Srila Prabhupada gave us. About why the name. Specifically is changed.
Because. We are born and brought up. In a strong materialistic culture.
And this materialistic culture causes a strong. Misidentification with the body. So.
Initiation is the process. During which we want to. We commit to live.
At a spiritual level. And that actually. Indicates the beginning of a new life.
And. Literally speaking also. Those who are initiated.
Are called in the Vedic Tradition as Dvija. So Dvija. Dvija refers to Janma, birth.
And Dvi refers to second. So Dvija refers to. Those who are twice born.
So it can refer to birds. Who are first born inside the egg. And then they crack open the egg.
And then they learn to fly. Outside in the big wide world. Similarly.
We are born. Inside the egg of ignorance. When we are first born into this world.
And the first birth keeps us. Limited within the. Shell of the ignorance.
Of bodily misconception. But when we take initiation. From the spiritual master.
That initiation enables us to. Crack open. The shell of bodily misidentification.
And after that. We learn to. See the big wide world.
That is there for us to. Explore and for us to. Use as an arena for developing.
Our love for Krishna and for serving Krishna. So it basically. Indicates a second birth.
So second birth. Is a standard Vedic. Terminology.
Which is used for all the. Higher caste people who. Are ready to follow.
The vows and principles. That they commit to. At the time of initiation.
So it is a standard Vedic practice. Which enables one to begin a new life. Now the purpose.
Of giving a new name. Is not so much to. Brainwash a person into forgetting.
What he has done or lived in the past. Actually speaking. Whatever we have done.
Sinful or negative in the past. It is good that we forget that. But along with that.
Whatever good we have done. Whatever talents we have developed. Whatever experiences we have got.
Whatever expertise we have. All that can be used in Krishna’s service. But everything around us.
Becomes Krishna centered. When we. Are ourselves.
Being called by a devotional name. So when we refer to ourselves. Then also subconsciously.
We are remembering. The name of Krishna. Or the name of somebody.
Something intimately related to Krishna. And when others call us. They are also remembering Krishna.
And the tremendous potency. Of this kind of even background. Remembrance.
Is seen in the past time of Ajamil. Where Ajamil was saved from the Yamadutas. Just because he was.
Able to call out the name of Narayan. As he had named his son as Narayan. So while referring to his son.
He called out Narayan. But in the process. The Vishnuttas came because.
They saw that he had chanted. The holy names of Narayan at that time. So.
This new name. Can save us from the greatest danger. And also it can save us.
From bodily misconception. Even in our normal day to day lives. That’s why this is.
An essential part of purification. And that purification. Enables us to enter into the new life of.
Happiness. Now if somebody is going to consider this. New life itself as brainwashing.
Then. Aishwarya Prabhupada would say. That person’s brain needs to be washed.
So because. That brain is filled with dirt. That brain is identifying.
With the body. And because of identifying with the body. That brain is filled with.
All sorts of petty misconceptions. About what is life and. What is to be achieved in life.
What are the values and purposes of life. And these misconceptions need to be countered. So actually speaking.
If we identify with our body. Then in what way are we higher than animals. Animals identify with their bodies.
And they are. In one sense. Better than us.
Because at least they are not. Abusing their higher intelligence. To make the planet worse than what it is.
We when human beings. Live at the bodily conception. Not only do we suffer.
In the cycle of birth and death. But by our attempts to. Get better enjoyment in this world.
Increase our suffering. And increase the suffering of other living beings on the planet. And increase the suffering of future generations on the planet.
So therefore. Those who are living in the bodily conception. Are just like animals.
And in some ways worse than animals. And the misconceptions that are causing them. To live like animals.
Have to be washed off. And that happens by systematically studying the philosophy. Of the Bhagavad Gita and the Vedic literature.
The word brainwashing. Of course has a negative connotation. Where there are some people.
Who. Who. Are canvassers.
For cults. And in those cults people are. Just bombarded with one kind of thought.
And they are told to cut off. Their communication from all kinds of channels. All other channels.
And then they are given a very unidimensional world view. Which. Doesn’t.
Which paralyzes their independent thinking. And makes them see everything. In a stereotype way.
But if we examine the philosophy. Of Krishna consciousness. It actually broadens our perspective.
It doesn’t make us. Intolerant and fanatical. It actually helps us to see.
Everybody from one universal perspective. We understand there are three modes of mortal nature. Some people are in goodness.
Some in passion. Some in ignorance. And beyond that we understand everybody is originally transcendental.
And everybody has the potential to become transcendental. So the vision of Krishna consciousness. Is not at all cultist.
It is actually very broad. And if somebody. Has unfortunately got some experiences.
Of some devotees. Behaving in a fanatical and auto-minded way. That is.
An unfortunate exception. And actually the devotees. If they understand the philosophy of Krishna consciousness properly.
And they are able to live in a culture. Where Krishna consciousness is practiced properly. Then they will become sensitive.
Mature, respectful. And compassionate. So there is no question of.
The philosophy of Krishna consciousness. Brainwashing people in the negative sense. Of the brainwashing world.
Actually devotees. The philosophy of Krishna consciousness is so broad. That we accept other religions.
And other conceptions of God. Also as valid realizations. Along the spiritual journey.
So therefore. There is no question of that kind of brainwashing. Implied within Krishna consciousness.
And certainly. Initiation doesn’t involve that kind of brainwashing. Initiation actually involves.
The positive kind of purification. Of the misconceptions of the brain. So that the soul can become.
Free from bodily misconception. This identification. And learn to reclaim.
Its original life of. Love and eternal joy. In relationship with Krishna.
Thank you.