Srila Prabhupada;
This is the greatest drawback of modern education, that not only in your country or any country they have completely neglected what is meant by God. And in India, they are especially… Now, as soon as there is any question of God, they see phobia: “Oh, this is all nonsense.” They have become so clever.
So anyway, my appeal to you, American people, that you are considered to be the leader of all nations of the world. You should take this Krishna conscious movement very seriously. It is good for you. It is good for the whole world. It is individually, collectively, without any consideration of caste, creed, or color.
Everyone can chant Hare Krishna, anyone and everyone, at home, on the street. There is no expenditure. Suppose while walking if you chant Hare Krishna, there is no loss, there is no expenditure, but you see how much you are profited by chanting Hare Krishna.
This is practical. We don’t say that “You come to our temple and give us some subscription. Become our member.” That is a secondary question. Our primary movement is that everyone may take advantage of this movement and simply chant wherever possible, at home, at work, on the street, anywhere. There is no regulation where you have to chant and how you have to chant. It is spontaneous. Simply chant Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare. There are only three words there: Hare, Krishna, and Rama, but they are adjusted in a different position. There are sixteen words.
So it is not very difficult. You can make an experiment. The children also may take pleasure. We have got our records. If you play those records and chant with it, you will find a transcendental pleasure in you. These are facts. So our request to you, that you take this movement a little seriously, and you will be happy by grace of Krishna.
Thank you very much. If you have got any question, you can ask.
This song, composed in the 1500's, is in Gujarati language, and outlines some of the outstanding qualities of pure Vaisnavas, including cleanliness, austerity, truthfulness, renunciation, compassion, determination and enthusiasm to help the sufferers of the world, without selfishness. By regular service and chanting our prescribed rounds, Srila Prabhupada assures us that, with patience, all desirable good qualities will reawaken without special seperate endeavor required.
Goodness has been interpreted as referring to mundane politics and charitable activities in recent times, but originally refers to devotional service to the Vaisnavas and the innocents. One who claims to be a devotee, and not the servant of the devotees, is not considered to be especially advanced. Mahatma Gandhi was very fond of this song, We are not big Gandhi-ites, but the emancipation passive resistance movement was of interest to Srila Prabhupada as a young man before he met his spiritual master, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati.
Activites performed in the material mood of goodness are not transcendental. Only activities performed from a platform of complete surrendered service is fully liberated. Good activities may be beneficial to ourselves and to others, or even done in a mood of partial renunciation, but karma is still involved, and this still means the entities involved become further entangled in births and deaths. Both ill acts and charitable ones. done with material ego or less than perfectly Krsna conscious motivations. automatically carry a resultant karma, which the entity must live through sometime or other, to enjoy or suffer the results.
But services done by dint of directions of Krsna and his bonafide representatives, such as Srila Prabhupada, out of pure selfless love, ie by His order, bring no resultant reactions, and are truly good. This is the perfection of yoga. "yogina apir sarvaesam". This is action from the Self-realized platform, or attempting same. The pure devotee engages in bhakti yioga, his motivation is simply selfess loving service with no fruits expected as gain, whereas one aspiring for this position may be engaging in karma yoga, by intelligence given as buddhi yoga, asdecribed elaroately in the Bhagavad Gita As It Is.
Notions of mundane goodness are not the same as transcendental consciousness, ie sattva versus shuddha sattva. For example, in mundane goodness, lying is generally very bad. But in transcendental goodness, sometimes, rarely, Krsna once told a lie for a greater purpose. Being Godhead, this does not constitute karma, of course, and neither would any karma accrue to one instructed by Krsna. On the contrary, one who due to contamination by mundane morality who hesitates to follow Krsna's instructions, is sinful, in reality. In mundane goodness, the position of what is right and wrong is relative, it depends upon the morality of the time and place. But service to Krsna is unimpeded by any material circumtstances, can be done at any time and place, and so His service is truly good, being eternal and constitutional, not dependent upon any time or place, religion , sex, age, race, etc.
The gopis are a good example. It is generally not good for married women to meet with beautiful young men late at night. However, in the pure spiritual world, mundane morality does not apply, being but a relative temporary world-specific reflection of the highest morality of Godhead Sri Krsna directly, which originates in goloka Vrndavana, not elsewhere. This mood called parakiata bhava, like unmarried lovers, is one of Krsna's enjoyable pastimes in Goloka, and it is an original loving relationshisp between God and His creations, such that no conventional morality is allowed to stand in between Krsna and his pure devotees. As this mood is directed to the Supreme Pure, it is also perfect and pure and original. This platform is not to be imitated in the material worlds by jiva souls.
Caution must be noted; as if one follows directions from anyone less than a fully Krnsa conscious master in the succession, there may be karma, and it may not be a transcendental situation at all. A fool admitting their foolishness but repeating what is said by the spiritual master is perfect, while a great scholar, who invents something, is a rascal only.
Such wonderfully refreshing qualities as selflessness, patience, renunciation, compassion for the sufferings of others, telling only pure truth ie Krsna's words ie. even to that degree of pure honesty, and enthusiasm for devotional service, these are the qualities to be desired, recognized, honored, respected, and emulated. The humble simple Vaisnava who has love is much more than the big big GBC or some so-called saint, who loves only themself. Such love will carry weight with Krsna, who otherwise cares not a prasadam fig for big big men who are not really devotees or at least trying sincerely to be.
This song espousing the glorious compassion of a Vaisnava is still very popular in India today. Please see the videos sectio onsite for a number of versions of this song, under the one heading, "Vaisnava janato"
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