Do I need to change my culture to practice Kṛṣṇa consciousness?
Prabhupāda makes the point that Kṛṣṇa consciousness is not an artificial imposition on the mind. It is simply the original identity of the soul, which is revived by the chanting of the holy names.
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In the booklet On Chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa, Prabhupāda makes the point that Kṛṣṇa consciousness is not an artificial imposition on the mind. It is simply the original identity of the soul, which is revived by the chanting of the holy names. In another passage, he explains it in terms of dharma, or essential characteristic. Just as the original characteristic of the water is to be wet, or fire to burn, the original characteristic of the soul is to love Kṛṣṇa. This is the essential, defining characteristic that can’t be separated or removed from the soul, only temporarily covered.
There is, however, a difference between Kṛṣṇa consciousness as the original nature of the soul, and Kṛṣṇa consciousness as a cultural expression. Traditionally, Vaiṣnavas would dress according to their regular position in society. A Vaiṣnava who was a king would still dress as a king, with all ornaments, while a sannyāsi would dress as a renunciant. Even by the time of Mahāprabhu, this was still prominent. Pratāparudra Mahārāja was dressing like a king, while Advaita ācārya was dressing as a brāhmana householder, for example. There was even a class of Vaiṣnavas called Pāṭhāna Vaiṣṇavas; these were Muslim Pathans who became followers of Mahāprabhu and became pure devotees, without externally adopting a new culture.
This flexibility gives us clues for addressing a question that is common nowadays: many become interested in the philosophy of Kṛṣṇa consciousness, but when they visit a temple, they see devotees dressed in ways that seem unfamiliar. In some cases this makes it more attractive, but in others it can create a barrier: the philosophy may feel deeply familiar, but the presentation feels foreign.
At this point, one may conclude that to become serious about Kṛṣṇa consciousness, one must adopt not only its spiritual principles but also an entire cultural package, including a different form of dress, food, habits, and so on. Unable to take such a radical step, many decide to remain at a distance, which is, of course, a major lost opportunity from the spiritual perspective.
So, what is essential in practicing Kṛṣṇa consciousness, and what is accessory?
Strictly speaking, there is only one really essential point, as defined by Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu:
jīvera ‘svarūpa’ haya—kṛṣṇera ‘nitya-dāsa’
“The constitutional position of every living entity is to be an eternal servant of Kṛṣṇa.”
If one can deeply understand this point and start acting on this principle, always remembering Kṛṣṇa and never forgetting Him, everything else becomes secondary.
Still, some standards are important to help us to come to this stage. Prabhupāda summarizes it in his purport to CC Madhya 19.159:
“There is a certain pattern of behavior prescribed for those actually trying to become perfect. In our Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement we advise our students not to eat meat, not to gamble, not to engage in illicit sex and not to indulge in intoxication. People who indulge in these activities can never become perfect; therefore these regulative principles are for those interested in becoming perfect and going back to Godhead.”
These are aspects of Kṛṣṇa consciousness that are not merely cultural. It is very difficult to advance in Kṛṣṇa consciousness while killing animals or hallucinating due to the use of drugs. To seriously practice spiritual life, we should maintain a clean life. However, we can see that clothing is not mentioned here. Prabhupāda addresses this point more directly in a letter to Upendra (January 27th 1971):
“We do not judge the man by his dress, so we are not concerned with the color of our cloth as much as we are concerned to keep our conduct on the plane of pure spiritual life. Our Krsna consciousness is practically being accepted by all kinds of persons all over the world and there is no discrimination of types of dress.”
There are styles of dress that are more favorable than others in the context of developing our spiritual consciousness, but it is less important than the primary principles. The idea is to be saintly, not just to look saintly.
On the other hand, not only certain forms of dress, but many aspects of modern life are not very favorable for the development of devotion to God; therefore devotees tend to avoid or replace them. Collectively, this leads to a certain cultural identity being formed. In the early days of our movement, practically all devotees were living in temples; therefore the tendency was for everyone to dress like monks, with saffron robes and shaved heads. Even in this context, however, other clothes were adopted, taking into consideration common sense. Prabhupāda personally instructed devotees working near the printing press to use trousers instead of dhotis to avoid accidents.
Nowadays, not many live in the temples; therefore, dressing like a monk may not make much sense, but dhotis and saris are still commonly used as ceremonial dresses for when we go to the temple, worship deities, etc. One of the important aspects of Kṛṣṇa consciousness is to act for the satisfaction of Kṛṣṇa; therefore, it is natural that a devotee will prefer to dress in a way Kṛṣṇa finds pleasing when going to visit Him. There is also space for individuality, and this often results in the cacophony of colors, ornaments, and make-up we see in the typical Hare Kṛṣṇa temple. Much of it is, however, just a manifestation of individual preferences.
There is, however, also the other side: Tilaka reminds us that the body is a temple of the Lord. Dhotis and saris can help us develop cleanliness and simplicity. Sanskrit and Bengali terms often express ideas that have no exact equivalent in English. Different types of ceremonies engage us in serving and remembering Kṛṣṇa, traditional musical ragas carry a long story of spiritual significance, and so on. While all these factors can be defined as optional in the sense one may follow Kṛṣṇa consciousness without them, they can be highly favorable. The main point is that they should be seen as a support for our development, not as an entrance barrier. Prabhupāda’s genius lay not merely in transporting a fixed set of customs, but in demonstrating that everything could be connected with Kṛṣṇa.
Here we come to a serious mistake: to label traditional Vaiṣṇava culture as unnecessary, primitive, or embarrassing and then demand a sanitised version of bhakti from which every unfamiliar feature has been removed. There is a whole movement in the West based on this principle. The fact that something is not essential does not make it devoid of value. Traditional practices often contain wisdom and values that become more visible as we grow. We don’t need to adopt everything immediately, and we should be wary of things that are done without a clear purpose, but on the other hand we should approach the tradition with humility rather than contempt.
One good rule of thumb is to focus first on learning the philosophy before getting into the secondary details. There are many cultural aspects that are important for the practice of Kṛṣṇa consciousness, but they are not uniformly followed in all local groups. Much of what devotees do in different communities is just loosely based on genuine spiritual principles. By first getting a good grasp of the philosophy and the historical context of our movement based on the many biographies and memoirs written by disciples who were directly in contact with Prabhupāda, we can learn to differentiate what is important from what is just detail or local custom, and thus focus on what is indeed important for our practice and that can bring us closer to Kṛṣṇa.
Therefore, we do not need to abandon our culture before beginning to practice Kṛṣṇa consciousness. We can start from where we are, following the essential principles and gradually incorporating more details and practices as we start understanding their importance. Some aspects of our previous culture will naturally be purified or abandoned, while others can be connected with Kṛṣṇa. The goal is not to become culturally Indian, traditional, or modern, but to recover our eternal identity as servants of Kṛṣṇa.
Go deeper:
Dealing with different opinions in spiritual life without becoming bewildered
Hearing the spiritual master demands giving up our previous conditioning
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