Prabhupāda Explains the Duties of the Society's Members
When a person joins the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement, they accept the greatest responsibility in human society. Śrīla Prabhupāda trained his followers to understand that they are not merely members of a social club, but active representatives of the Supreme Lord. By strictly adhering to the regulative principles, compassionately preaching to the public, and cooperatively maintaining unity despite their diverse backgrounds, the members of the society perform the highest welfare work and actively transform the material world into Vaikuṇṭha.
Being Ideal Representatives of Kṛṣṇa
To effectively represent the absolute truth, a devotee must possess an unblemished character. Śrīla Prabhupāda explained that every member of the society is acting on behalf of Kṛṣṇa and the disciplic succession. Therefore, their behavior, peacefulness, and dedication to spiritual life must be so ideal that anyone who sees them will immediately recognize them as genuine saintly persons and be inspired to follow their example.
- Actually they are doing that (following Krsna's instruction). They are representative. Not only I, but they are also. Every one of our members, they are Krsna's representative. They are not trying to malinterpret.
- All our members, the members of the Krsna consciousness society, should be ideal. At least people may see that "Here is a class of men - ideal character, ideal behavior, spiritual advanced, and very frugal and very nice."
- Our members of Krishna Consciousness society should be ideal human beings, and if they try to follow the principles, surely they will be the ideal men in the world.
- Our members are not only cured of the disease called materialism but are also living a very happy life. Everyone accepts them as great devotees of Krsna, and their qualities are manifest in their very faces.
- Those who are members of this society, they should be ideal. Simply by their association people will become good, very good responsibility. And if they become bad themselves, there is no possibility because we are giving instruction.
Strictly Following the Regulative Principles
The foundation of a member's purity is their unwavering commitment to the daily spiritual routine. Without this discipline, the society would quickly lose its potency. Śrīla Prabhupāda mandated that every single member living in the temple must rise early for maṅgala-ārati and rigidly chant their prescribed sixteen rounds. It is the primary duty of the temple leaders to ensure that these life-sustaining regulations are never neglected.
- First management is that each and every member in the temple is chanting sixteen rounds regularly and following the regulations, that's all.
- All the temple members, without exception must rise by 4 AM and attend mangala arati. Everyone living in the temple must agree to the standard by proper understanding of the philosophy of tapasya.
- The Governing Body Commission's duty is to see that every member is following the rules and regulations and chanting sixteen round regularly on the beads.
- Our immediate duty is that all our society members are strictly following the rules and regulations and chanting routine. That will make them steady and strong in their positions respectively.
- So please see that all the members of our Temple are following the rules and regulations which are very simple namely to chant Hare Krishna 16 (sixteen) rounds, attending the classes, reading the books, going out for Sankirtana and taking prasadam.
The Highest Welfare Work
Members of the society are not meant to be recluses hiding in the forest; they are active soldiers in the war against illusion. Śrīla Prabhupāda emphasized that true welfare work does not mean distributing temporary material relief, but going door to door to distribute transcendental books and the teachings of the Bhagavad-gītā. By inducing the conditioned souls to become Kṛṣṇa conscious, the members perform the most vital service for humanity.
- All the members of the Krsna consciousness movement should try to benefit the conditioned souls by inducing them to become Krsna conscious and giving them all facilities to do so. Such activities constitute real welfare work.
- Every member of the Krsna consciousness movement is interested in going door to door to try to convince people about the teachings of Bhagavad-gita As It Is, the teachings of Lord Caitanya. That is the purpose of the Hare Krsna movement.
- ISKCON's members should not only construct temples in every town and village of the globe but also distribute the books that have already been written and further increase the number of books.
- Members of the Krsna consciousness movement have no business begging. Instead, they work very hard to introduce some literatures about Krsna consciousness so that people can read them and be benefited.
- We always request members of ISKCON to publish as many books as possible and distribute them widely throughout the world. By thus following in the footsteps of Srila Rupa Gosvami, one can become a rupanuga devotee.
A Non-Sectarian, International Society
The soul has no nationality, race, or material caste. Recognizing this absolute truth, the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement opens its doors to everyone. Śrīla Prabhupāda proudly pointed out that his society successfully united Indians, Europeans, Americans, and individuals from various religious backgrounds on a single spiritual platform, proving that the chanting of the holy names instantly dissolves all bodily designations.
- ISKCON is a non-lucrative organization, whose purpose is to promote the well-being of human society by drawing its attention to God. We are a non-sectarian society, and our members include people from Christian, Jewish and Moslem as well as Hindu faiths.
- Anyone who is coming to Krsna consciousness in any country, they are forgetting their bodily consciousness. Just like in our society we have got members from different parts of the world.
- We should recruit any sort of men out of the four classes; brahmana, ksatriya, vaisya, sudra. For our members we do not make any discrimination.
- You can see the members of Krsna consciousness, some of them are Indians, some of them are Europeans, some of them are Englishmen, some of them are black, some of them are white, some of them are brahmanas, some of them are Hindus.
- The real platform of unity is Krsna consciousness. Our members, although they speak different languages from different countries, but still they are united.
Compassion, Cooperation, and Forgiveness
Because the movement recruits individuals directly from the degraded atmosphere of Kali-yuga, immediate perfection is impossible. Śrīla Prabhupāda instructed his senior leaders to be compassionate and patient with struggling members. Rather than harshly rejecting those who make mistakes, the devotees must work cooperatively to rectify them, always encouraging their voluntary service and forgiving minor disagreements like a loving family.
- Even in ordinary family affairs there is sometimes disagreement, but that does not mean immediately the disagreeing members shall leave the family.
- I am glad to hear new devotees are coming and do not be worried about some of our members leaving; they will come back. Krishna never forgets the service rendered to him by the devotee.
- You should rectify, but not reject. Members are coming to join us to be rectified, not to be rejected. So, try to rectify the incorrigible, and if not possible, then change. What can we do?
- We should always remember that we recruit members from people in general. It is not expected that every one of our members should be immediately to the standard qualification.
- All of our members are giving voluntary service, so they should always be encouraged in their service attitude.
Living in Vaikuṇṭha Through Faith and Unity
Although the members physically reside in various cities across the globe, their consciousness places them in a different reality altogether. Śrīla Prabhupāda boldly declared that whenever devotees live together in harmony, centering their lives entirely around Kṛṣṇa and strictly executing the orders of the ācāryas, they are practically no longer in the material world; they are already experiencing the boundless joy of Vaikuṇṭha.
- If the members of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, putting faith in Krsna as the center, live in harmony according to the order and principles of Bhagavad-gita, then they are living in Vaikuntha, not in this material world.
- Krsna consciousness Society will never experience any poverty stricken life because the members are so rich being constantly in association with Krishna, while others may feel the pinching scarcity enforced by Maya, Krsna consciousness persons will feel the whole world full of enjoyment.
- The members of this (ISKCON) Society must always remember that if they stick to the regulative principles and preach sincerely according to the instructions of the acaryas, surely they will have the profound blessings of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu.
- If they (the members of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness) follow the rules and regulations and chant sixteen rounds daily, their endeavor to preach the cult of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu will certainly be successful.
- Because we (the members of the Hare Krsna movement) live in the temples of Radha-Krsna and continuously hold hari-nama-sankirtana - the chanting of Hare Krsna - we consequently live in Vrndavana and nowhere else.
Conclusion
Joining the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is an invitation to step out of the darkness of material illusion and into the brilliant light of eternal service. By instructing the members of his society to strictly maintain their spiritual practices, preach with boundless compassion, and live together in non-sectarian unity, Śrīla Prabhupāda created a spiritual oasis. As long as the members faithfully execute these duties, they remain perfect representatives of the Lord, bringing the atmosphere of the spiritual world to every corner of the globe.
Dive Deeper into Śrīla Prabhupāda's Vani
Śrīla Prabhupāda lives within his instructions. This article is a summary of the profound truths found in the Vaniquotes category Members (Disciples of SP). We invite you to visit this link to study the complete compilation and experience Śrīla Prabhupāda's teachings in their direct, verbatim form.