Prabhupāda Instructs His Disciples on What They Do Not Want
To protect the integrity and spiritual potency of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, it is essential to understand the specific elements that the movement completely rejects. Śrīla Prabhupāda explicitly defined the boundaries of pure devotional service by warning his followers against harboring hidden material motives, desires for prestige, or the urge to exploit others. He clarified that the ultimate goal is not to accumulate mundane wealth, gather a massive following of unqualified people, or achieve artificial liberation from the cycle of birth and death. By clearly establishing what his disciples do not want, he ensured that their focus would remain flawlessly concentrated on the active, selfless preaching of transcendental knowledge.
Rejecting Material Luxury and Sense Gratification
The foundation of a genuine spiritual institution rests upon the principle of simple living and high thinking. Śrīla Prabhupāda constantly reminded his followers that they must never utilize the funds or properties of the society for their own sense gratification or unnecessary luxury. He explained that while the devotees are happy to accept whatever facilities Kṛṣṇa provides for preaching, they absolutely do not want to become entangled in the stressful pursuit of mundane wealth and opulence.
- Our life is simple. We don't want luxury. We don't want luxury, but as we are accustomed in so many ways, as far as possible. But life should be very simple. To increase unnecessary things unnecessarily, that is material life.
- Gradually develop (New Mayapura), make little cottages, grow little vegetable, little barley or wheat and milk. That is sufficient. We don't require much. We don't want luxury.
- We do not want any extra money for sense gratification, but Krishna is so kind He is supplying the necessary amount.
- We don't want Rolls Royce, we can walk. But if you offer Rolls Royce, I have no objection.
Purity Over Numerical Strength
When propagating a worldwide religious movement, there is often a strong temptation to compromise the philosophy merely to attract a larger crowd. However, Śrīla Prabhupāda strictly forbade this practice, declaring that the society does not want millions of unqualified followers who refuse to follow the regulative principles. He compared a single, pure devotee to a brilliant moon, noting that such a person is far more valuable to the world than countless useless stars.
- It is not our proposition that you are Christian, you become Hindu, or you become Christian, increase our numerical strength. We don't want. We don't want any numerical strength. We want one sincere person who has learned to love God, Krsna. That's all.
- We don't want millions of stars; we want one moon. That will save you. You always remember: try to become moon, not to become star. Useless.
- We want one moon, not millions of stars. We don't want.
- We want men who will follow the rules and regulations and fully trained up; otherwise we don't want.
Avoiding Professionalism and Exploitation
True devotional service must be performed out of unmotivated love, free from the desire to cheat the innocent public or earn a mundane livelihood. Śrīla Prabhupāda was extremely protective of the society's purity, emphasizing that he did not want professional priests, superficial scholars, or anyone seeking to exploit others. He insisted that the true mission of the movement is to bring genuine happiness to the suffering humanity, not to engage in the common worldly business of the cheaters and the cheated.
- We don't want these professional men. We want men who have sacrificed their life for God.
- We do not want to create a group of prakrta sahajiya, or devotees who do not know the science of Krishna and do not know the science of devotion, but simply worship the Deity with no depth of knowledge.
- This business, cheaters and cheated. We preach to the innocent persons who are being cheated, and we don't want to cheat anybody, but what Krsna says. Our business is very simple.
- Spread this Krsna consciousness movement. Parama ananda-khanda. People will be happy. Our mission is to see sarve sukhino bhavantu: everyone become happy. We don't want to see that we exploit somebody else and I become happy. No.
The Rejection of Dry Renunciation
While the path of devotion requires the restriction of sinful activities, it does not advocate for the artificial suppression of the soul's natural joy. Śrīla Prabhupāda frequently clarified that his followers do not want to become dry renunciates or reclusive hermits who simply sit alone in the forest. He taught that the perfection of life is to dovetail all natural human instincts and talents into the active, dynamic service of Kṛṣṇa, thereby creating ideal families and vibrant communities.
- We do not want stopping the natural instincts of the living entities, we simply want them to be dovetailed in Krishna's service.
- I want that some ideal families of Krishna consciousness should be established in your country, so that people can see that our movement is not one sided or dry. So we do not want dry renouncers.
- We don't want babaji class. We want active preachers.
- Don't become stagnant - "Now I have understood Krsna consciousness, I shall sit down and chant Hare Krsna." We don't want that. Go, spread, preach, and make your nation glorified.
Our True Position as Servants
The ultimate philosophical conclusion of the Vedic literatures is that the living entity is an eternal servant of God, not God Himself. Śrīla Prabhupāda vehemently opposed the impersonalist idea of merging into the divine light, stating that true Vaiṣṇavas do not even want liberation if it deprives them of their service. He trained his disciples to deeply understand that they do not want to become masters in the material world or artificially equate themselves with the Supreme Lord; their only desire is to remain the humble servants of His servants.
- We do not want to become Krsna. We are trying to become Krsna's servant. That is the difference between Mayavada philosophy and Vaisnava philosophy.
- Our position is servant of the servant. We don't want to become master of the master.
- We do not want liberation. We want to serve the purpose of the Gosvamis, in association with pure devotees. To stop birth and death is not our purpose.
- To have immediate result of material profit, the Vedas recommend, "All right, you worship this demigod, that demigod." So our concern is we don't want any material profit; we want Krsna. Therefore we do not require to worship demigods.
- Those who are devotees, they have no kama. Anyabhilasita-sunyam (Brs. 1.1.11). Anya. Anya means other than Krsna's service. They have made all, everything zero. We don't want all these things. We simply want to serve Krsna.
Conclusion
By definitively outlining the practices, attitudes, and goals that the movement does not want, Śrīla Prabhupāda provided a powerful shield of protection for his disciples. His uncompromising stance against material exploitation, cheap numerical growth, and false renunciation ensures that the society remains a pure vessel for delivering Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Ultimately, these firm boundaries allow sincere practitioners to shed all worldly ambitions and dedicate their lives entirely to the unalloyed, joyous service of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
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 We Do Not Want (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.