One of Srila Prabhupada’s evening darshans at New Vrindaban in 1976 on the front lawn where Sankirtana Das and his wife now live.
In 1976, in New Vrindaban, I attended an evening darshan where Srila Prabhupada spoke about presenting the teachings of the Bhagavad-gita to companies and workplaces. One devotee asked, “Why would the companies invite us to do that?” Prabhupada replied, “Tell them that if they study the Bhagavad-gita, their work will improve.”
This was a time before motivational seminars were introduced to companies. Srila Prabhupada, the founder of the Hare Krishna Movement in the West, was thinking about how to make Krishna Consciousness available in various ways. He understood that only a few souls were interested in real spiritual life. Most people were interested in improving their skills to pursue their material goals. Prabhupada was always meditating on the welfare of the general public, and he wanted to engage them in as many ways as possible to help them advance in their progressive spiritual journey. And if they required a practical reason to study the Gita, he was ready to give them one.
In a letter dated November 13, 1970, Prabhupada urged, “We should tax our brains as to what is the best way to present Krishna Consciousness to particular people at a particular time and place.” To truly understand Prabhupada’s far-reaching vision for his movement and his disciples, we have to imbibe his urgency and compassion.
He had been constantly speaking and writing about the principles of varnashrama-dharma, but it was only years later in 1977, during his last year physically present in the world, that he fully voiced his desire to establish varnashrama-dharma, explaining that it was the second half of his mission.
Srila Prabhupada’s overarching plan was to first develop a brahmana class, the intelligent head of the societal body. He wanted his disciples to help guide the population through the many challenges the world would certainly face in the future. In developing his ISKCON society, Prabhupada understood that not all of his followers would be brahmanas. Some would be, but the rest of the devotees, and even the general population, needed to be engaged according to their propensities.
Prabhupada deemed the varnashrama-dharma system a viable solution for offering citizens a regulated and peaceful life. It is not a caste system based on birth or wealth. By following the principles of dharma, everyone in society could gradually rise to the transcendental stage and reawaken their loving relationship with Krishna, the Supreme Lord.
This intentional system of varnashrama-dharma goes far beyond the hunter-gatherer, agricultural, or any other concept of society. The varnashrama system requires both intellectual and emotional maturity. People are looking for a deeper sense of community and a more meaningful understanding of life. The path to achieving these various goals can be found in the varnashrama social system.
But once we talk about “society,” we then have to explain what justice, education, marriage, generating an income, etc., look like. For example, how is justice administered? What is the decision-making process of that society, and how are we actually involved in that? Are we just going to revive some ritualistic system from the past, or do we create a working example to be a model and a source of inspiration for the rest of society? For instance, on his first visit to New Vrindaban in 1969, Prabhupada explained that if there was some disagreement in managing the community, it could be brought to a vote.
At its core, varnashrama-dharma means community: where individuals find a meaningful place, utilize their propensities, abide by universal principles of dharma, respect all life, help create a peaceful and prosperous atmosphere for everyone, and gradually understand and serve Sri Krishna, the Supreme Lord Within the Heart. This societal system functions just like different parts of the body working together for the well-being of the whole body. Most people want to live in such a dynamic, creative community. Except, of course, those consumed by greed, anger, and lust. In the Bhagavad-gita, Krishna describes these three degrading qualities as gateways leading to a hellish condition of life.
Since the 1980s, a once healthy capitalist culture in the USA has deteriorated into a “greed is good” mentality. Capitalist leaders have forgotten a lesson they should have learned in the 1930s, during the Great Depression on Wall Street and the ravages of the dust storms in the West caused by a callous overuse of the land. What is the lesson? Greed is dangerous and destructive.
The present world civilization is on a very shaky platform, with so much chaos and danger. Srila Prabhupada proposed that if the leaders in the United Nations actually want world peace, then they must get guidance from the Bhagavad-gita.
It’s time to get the publics’ attention by presenting Krishna Conscious principles in a way that the public can relate to. During a conversation in Mayapur (February 14, 1977), Prabhupada explained, “But our duty is that we shall arrange the external affairs all so nicely that one day they (the public) will come to the spiritual platform very easily, paving the way.” Prabhupada’s assessment was that all of society would greatly benefit from introducing varnashrama-dharma.
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