H.G. Akinchana Krishna prabhu – 13/11/06 – Vaishnava Etiquette

H.G. Akinchana Krishna prabhu – 13/11/06 – Vaishnava Etiquette

Chaitanya Charitamrita states that Vaishnava etiquette is like the ornaments of a rich woman. Lord Chaitanya said maintenance of Vaishnava etiquette is the duty of every Vaishnava.

Why do we follow Vaishnava etiquette?

(1) to remember Krishna – and to never forget Him

(2) to practice simple living, higher thinking

1. Etiquette within the temple

(i) Humility

• leave shoes outside and don’t enter in a palanquin, because these are symbols of aristocracy, so we should leave our false ego outside before entering the temple
• we shouldn’t wear fashionable clothes, because we are not trying to bring attraction to ourselves, rather Krishna is the centre of attraction
• Prabhupada’s disciples names end with ‘dasa’ because we are servants
• Radhanath Swami: it is ridiculous to think oneself better than anyone else – one cannot advance in Krishna Consciousness with such an attitude.
• In Mahabharata, Duryodhana considered himself to be better than everyone else, whereas Yudhisthira considered himself lower than everyone else. The demons are like flies – search others’ bad qualities, whilst the devotees are like honeybees – only see the good in others.
• Humility means “I am lowest – I can see only good in others and faults in myself.”
• This is not to be mistaken for inferiority complex. Inferiority complex is when one feels oneself to be low on a material level, and is envious because he wants to be great.
• Humility thinks himself to be low because that is the soul’s natural position – infinitesimal spark.
• When Shrila Prabhupada received a watch from Gurukripa, he announced that he received the watch from ‘some disciple’. He purposely didn’t mention the name, because he wanted to cultivate the attitude of not wanting honour or recognition.

(ii) Offering Obeisances (Vancha kalpa)

• All spiritual desires can be fulfilled by a Vaishnava
• Be careful what you desire – Dhruva Maharaja desired kingdoms and so ended up in the material world with his own planet
• We offer obeisances on the left hand side of the deity, because the heart is on the left. Both hands are outstretched.

(iii) Meditating upon the Deity – don’t look straight at the face.

• SB 2.2.13 – first the lotus feet, then the calves, then the thighs – by doing so, one becomes detached from sense gratification.
• First meditate on Prabhupada à Parampara à Gaura-Nitai à Radha à Krishna
• We should be declaring ourselves to be eternal servants, how can I serve You?

(iv) Sitting

• don’t have feet to the deities, spiritual master or Tulasi devi
• don’t have back to deities or the vyasasana, whenever possible
• do not spread legs, hold ankles, or rest elbows on knees.

(v) Talking – not in front of deities except for preaching purposes

• Shrila Prabhupada said it is ok to praise devotees in front of the deities

(vi) Clothes – should be simple, clean, distinctive and not torn

• Only on the back can one wear pictures of Krishna or the maha-mantra
• Prabhupada: first dress, then address – in other words we must be presentable
• One Swami from Punjab remarked how the culture has degraded when a girl in a miniskirt came to offer obeisances to him.

(vii) Tilaka – always in twelve places – Lord Chaitanya doesn’t look at a person who doesn’t wear tilaka.

(viii) Hair – should be shaved once a week

• Sikha should be 1.5 inches long