Though Srila Prabhupada wanted varnasrama dharma to take place and thus advocated major social change, he also intimated that people have to be judged by their quality and work, rather than by their birth. He clearly distinguished between the desiccated shell of varnasrama (the caste system) and daivi varnasrama dharma. He brings this out in many places, like this statement from the purport to Srimad Bhagavatam 9.l6.24: “One’s status does not depend upon birth. As confirmed in Srimad Bhagavatam (7.11.35) by Narada: yasya yal laksanam proktam, pumso varnabhivyanjakam yad anyatrapi drsyeta tat tenaiva vinirdiset ‘If one shows the symptoms of being a brahmana, ksatriya, vaisya or sudra, even if he has appeared in a different class, he should be accepted according to those symptoms of classification.’ To know who is a brahmana and who is a ksatriya, one must consider a man’s quality and work.”

Sri Suta Goswami summarises the Srimad Bhagavatam in Canto Twleve, and gives us a hint as to how fully pervasive Krsna consciousness is. He talks about how we should chant when unexpected events arise, such as “when falling, slipping, feeling pain or sneezing.” If one involuntarily calls out to Lord Hari” in any such situation, “one will be automatically freed from all his sinful reactions.” (SB 12.12.47)

The mysterious workings of karma, sometime called the ?law of Karma,? are difficult, almost impossible to know. Only Krishna thoroughly know the workings of karma. The verse, yas tv indragopam?translates as follows: I adore the primeval Lord Govinda, who burns up to their roots all fruitive activities of those who are imbued with devotion and impartially ordains for each the due enjoyment of the fruits of one?s activities, of all those who walk in the path of work, in accordance with the chain of their previously performed works, no less in the case of the tiny insect that bears the name of indragopa than in that of Indra, king of the devas. Disasters such as plane crashes, destruction of thousands of civilians as in the holocaust and the World Trade Centres involve principles of karma. But punishment is often followed by good reactions once the principle of transmigration is established. As Queen Kunti prays in SB 1.8.25: ?I wish that all those calamities would happen again and again so that we could see You again and again, for seeing You means that we will no longer see repeated births and deaths.? In other words, one who is devotionally inclined sees that because of the Lord?s absolute nature, even apparent curses and punishments are blessing in disguise.

In some ways email is beating the (telephone) system. But the way of really beating the system is to not be part of it, or as the Bible says, “Be in the world, but not of it.” This maxim is a simple way of summing up the yukta vairagya principle of using material things in a spiritual way, and not being part of the world even while acting in it. This is also said tersely in Krishna’s instructions to Arjuna in Bhagavad-gita As It Is 4.18: “One who sees inaction in action, and action in inaction, is intelligent among men, and he is in the transcendental position, although engaged in allsorts of activities.”

‘Ecstatic’ feelings may be interpreted as quasi mystical visitations. How does this relate to the importance of Harinam Sankirtana and Srila Prabhupada’s insistence on examinations and scholarship? Is bhakti primarily ‘feeling?’ I thought Drutakarma prabhu addressed this question nicely when in 2000 he wrote : “This clash of images –science and street religion—is nothing new. For ages, the bhakti tradition in India has always been a mixture of two seemingly contradictory elements – the emotional statement of bhakti through public chanting and profoundly deep scholarship.”

An animal (like a small pet, or a horse, bullock, or elephant) must hear a word hundreds or thousands of times before understanding what it means, or what the specific instruction is for them, or even how they should feel. Lord Caitanya has written, “O my Lord, Your holy name alone can render all benediction to living beings, and thus You have hundreds and millions of names like Krsna and Govinda. In these transcendental names You have invested all Your transcendental energies. There are not even hard and fast rules for chanting these names. O my Lord, out of kindness You enable us to easily approach You by Your holy names, but I am so unfortunate that I have no attraction for them.” And “O Govinda, feeling your separation I am considering a moment as twelve years or more than that, and tears are flowing down my cheeks like torrents of rain. I am feeling all vacant in the world without Your presence.” It’s my theory that Srila Prabhupada asked all initiates to chant 16 rounds daily knowing that we are all like ignorant animals, not able to grasp the deeper meaning of the Lord’s Holy Names. Therefore a great deal of repetition and concentration is required.

One of the Lord?s unique qualities is that He has nothing to do. When we do nothing, there is always a negative reaction. But this isn?t the case with the Lord. He only enjoys. It is not that he does nothing, but that He is not obligated to do anything. But he WANTS to do things to please his devotees. As Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, the Lord wept deeply when He heard that Srivasa?s son had passed away in his own house. As Lord Krishna He was CONQUERED by the love of his devotees like Rukmini, Radharani and Arjuna.

A debate sometimes rages that ISKCON is “too Indian.” And devotees have trotted out laundry lists of Srila Prabhupada quotes that would appear to support this notion. Although such thinking touches on elements of truth, one has to be careful not to be ‘ethnocentric,’ to think any ethnic, national, or minority social grouping is somehow inferior to any other. We live in an age where a human being of any origin or background may become a spiritual master. “If one shows the symptoms of being a brahmana, ksatriya, vaisya or sudra, as described above, even if he has appeared in a different class, he should be accepted according to those symptoms of classification” (Srimad Bhagavatam 1.7.35). And this quote from the Padma Purana is widely known: “A scholarly brahmana, expert in all subjects of Vedic knowledge, is unfit to become a spiritual master without being a Vaisnava, or expert in the science of Krsna.” And Srimad Bhagavatam 2.4.18 tell us “Kirata, Huna, Andhra, Pulinda, Pulkasa, Abhira, Sumbha, Yavana, members of the Khasa races and even others addicted to sinful acts can be purified by taking shelter of the devotees of the Lord, due to His being the supreme power. I beg to offer my respectful obeisances unto Him.” So I guess I’m trotting out my Srila Prabhupada quotes to support my contention that in general we westerners tend to look down upon Indians and that Indians tend to see us in a condescending fashion. I think this tendency is there almost unintentionally. It’s a kind of unconscious race-ism. At any rate, here is my Srila Prabhupada quote that I think is the proper way for us westerners to see the people of India — despite the fact that far too many of them are impersonalists or demigod worshippers. This is from a lecture on the Caitanya Caritamrita, Madhya-lila, 20th Chapter, 112th Text, delivered in Mumbai on November 24th, 1975: “Everyone is advised to become guru. Especially those who are born in India. They can easily take the Krsna consciousness movement because in the blood there is Krishna consciousness on account of taking birth in this holy land of Bharatavarsa. Caitanya Mahaprabhu therefore says,
bharata-bhumite manusya-janma haile jara
janma sarthaka kari’ kara para-upakara [from Cc. Adi 9.41]

Just a week before his disappearance, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura is said to have imparted ten important instructions on devotional service. Regarding Krsna’s holy name, he reportedly said, “The holy name with its noted seven excellences (mentioned in the first Siksastaka prayer) should be cultivated by all. The holy name should never be neglected at any cost. Attraction to the holy name will award one all perfection.” (Adapted from “The Art of Chanting Hare Krsna,” by Mahanidhi Swami)

Addressing the bewildering thicket of fakes that sincere seekers often encounter, we can quote Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati from his will: “To be cheated by those who mislead people in the name of Hari katha, has become a sort of religion of this age.”