In the Bhagavad-gita the Lord describes the qualities of the brahmanas as follows:
samo damas tapah saucam
ksantir arjavam eva ca
jnanam vijianam astikyam
brahma-karma svabhava-jam
"Peacefulness, self-control, austerity, purity, tolerance, honesty, wisdom, knowledge, and religiousness—these are the qualities by which the brähmaëas work." (Bg. 18.42)
The most efficient way for spreading the brahminical culture is to engage the devotees and the general public in following different aspects of Yuga-dharma – harinam sankrtan. The performance of yuga- dharma will purify the heart and will reveal the spiritual and material identity:
harer nama harer nama
harer namaiva kevalam
kalau nasty eva nasty eva
nasty eva gatir anyatha
[Cc. Adi 17.21]
"In this age of quarrel and hypocrisy the only means of deliverance is chanting the holy name of the Lord. There is no other way. There is no other way. There is no other way."
Every devotee will be performing some brahminical activity in the realm of devotional service, but few will have a brahminical occupation as a means of livelihood.
What we can do for spreading the brahminical culture is to continue to connect the general public to ISKCON by harinam, book distribution, and other preaching programs. In the case of the devotees we can help by encouraging them to become more serious and efficient in their spiritual practice.
For those who are more brahminicaly inclined we can have specific courses which will deepen the understanding of the philosophy, will help them to improve their character, will train them in different areas of Vedic knowledge, and prepare them to become leaders of the society. For this purpose we can put even more emphasize on education in ISKCON.
A big problem we are facing at the moment, especially in the West, is that the devotees have a good grasp on the philosophy, but don’t understand and don’t follow the Vedic culture, which is the original culture followed in the spiritual world and the practical application of our philosophy. Prabhupada used to say that we are Vaisnavas by philosophy and Hindus by culture. The situation now often is that we are Vaisnavas by philosophy, but follow the mlecha “culture” we are born in. The Vedic culture teaches how to respect the Lord, the Vaisnavas, the brahmanas, and the cows, how to take care of guests, how to cook and serve prasadam, in other words how to have a sattvic lifestyle which is most convenient for developing Krishna consciousness. These elements of the culture are missing in many places in the West, especially in many small temples where there are no facilities for practical training.
We can help in this regard by encouraging the devotees to spend some time in the holly dham where they can learn the philosophy and the culture together. This will help them to develop sattvic lifestyle and replace their bad habits with good ones. In the beginning of ISKCON when we did not have temples in India, the first western devotees were staying in the houses of pious Hindus. Prabhupada would instruct them to take advantage and learn the culture. Also when Subhag Maharaja, who comes from very aristocratic Bengali family, joined the movement Srila Prabhupada told him: “Now you don’t forget everything that your parents thought you, you just add Krsna conschiousness to it”. This shows that Prabhupäda wanted the devotees to follow the brahminical (Vedic) culture.
The brahminical culture can be spread by training and engaging devotees in the service of the deity like puja, dressing, cooking, etc:
“yajan yajan pathan pathan danah pratigrahah”
Perhaps the best method for spreading the brahminical culture is to improve our own personal character. As Srila Prabhupada writes in his purport to Bhagavad-gita 8.28:
“After the student studies the Vedas under the master for some time—at least from from age five to twenty—he may become a man of perfect character. Study of the Vedas is not meant for the recreation of armchair speculators, but for the formation of character.”
Personal example is the best way to preach to others. We can demand from others only if we first change ourselves.
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