Prabhupāda Instructs His Disciples to Invite Everyone to Kṛṣṇa Consciousness
In a world deeply divided by sectarianism, nationalism, and bodily designations, the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement stands as a sanctuary of universal brotherhood. Through his profound instructions, Śrīla Prabhupāda trains his disciples to maintain a completely open-door policy, inviting everyone from all corners of the globe to experience the joy of spiritual life. By offering a simple, practical program of chanting, dancing, and feasting on prasādam, and by actively calling upon world leaders to cooperate, Śrīla Prabhupāda demonstrates how to provide the ultimate spiritual shelter to all of humanity.
A Universal and Nonsectarian Movement
The absolute truth is not the monopoly of any particular race, nation, or religious sect. Śrīla Prabhupāda emphasizes that spiritual life begins only when one leaves aside material designations. He instructs his disciples to preach without discrimination, warmly inviting Christians, Hindus, Muslims, and people of all nationalities to discover their original, eternal identity as servants of Kṛṣṇa.
- Equal terms means spiritually. That we invite everyone. There is no discrimination. We don't care for the designations. We invite everyone to leave aside the designation and come in your original form and be Krsna conscious and be happy.
- We have no principle striction that one is Indian, one is America, one is African, or one is Hindu, one is Christian, one is Mohammedan. We invite everyone to understand the philosophy and reform the activities of life. This is our mission.
- The Krsna consciousness movement invites everyone from all over the world, without discrimination as to caste or creed, to come to its centers and cultivate spiritual life perfectly.
- We invite everyone. We have no such discrimination that black, white, Hindu, Muslim, Christian, no. Anyone. It is universal. Because we consider every living entity is part and parcel of God. That is a fact.
The Joyful Program of Chanting and Prasādam
Spiritual elevation does not require dry renunciation or miserable austerities. Śrīla Prabhupāda outlines a revolutionary preaching program that is entirely blissful. He trains his disciples to simply invite the public to their temples to hear the philosophy, sing the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra, dance in jubilation, and honor Kṛṣṇa-prasādam. This joyous formula makes the movement accessible and attractive to everyone, including children.
- We invite everyone to come here to listen to our philosophy, take prasadam and sing and dance with us. This program is very nice. We do not make distinctions in human society.
- Our process is not to make enemy. We invite everyone, "Please come here, take prasadam, chant Hare Krsna, dance and go home." Where is enmity?
- We invite everyone, "Please come here, chant Hare Krsna mantra, dance with us, and when you are hungry, take some food. We are prepared to give you." So our program is very easy.
- We invite everyone to join and the process is very simple. Simply chant Hare Krsna and you'll feel. There is no difficult process. The children also can take part and actually they are taking part.
Feeding the Hungry and Giving Shelter
A pure Vaiṣṇava is the greatest well-wishing friend to all living entities. Śrīla Prabhupāda practically demonstrates this compassion by directing his centers to feed the hungry without any charge or discrimination. Furthermore, he opens the doors of holy places like Vṛndāvana to older generations, inviting them to retire peacefully and take shelter of the Lord at the end of their lives.
- We say everyone, "Come and eat." Why he should remain hungry? We invite everyone, "Come here, eat, no charge." We don't charge. Why he should remain hungry? Let us increase this program. All hungry men of Melbourne city, come here.
- The Lord was so liberal that He would give to every man prasadam quite sufficient for being eaten by two or three men. So we are trying to follow by distributing prasadam very liberally, and we invite everyone without any discrimination.
- There is the question of needy men. So we invite any needy man to come and join with us, and we shall feed him. That's all. We invite anyone.
- We invite everyone. At least after the age of fifty they should come here in Vrndavana. They should live peacefully and take shelter at the lotus feet of Krsna-Balarama and be happy in this life and get salvation in next life.
Elevating Society to the Brāhmaṇa Platform
Modern society is primarily driven by the śūdra (laborer) mentality, which focuses only on bodily maintenance and sense gratification. However, Śrīla Prabhupāda's invitation offers a radical elevation. By inviting the public to live in the temple, practice spiritual discipline (tapasya), and hear authorized Vedic literature like Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, he provides the opportunity for anyone to become a first-class brāhmaṇa and perfectly realize God.
- Everyone is sudra. Kalau sudra-sambhavah. Who is going to become brahmana? We are inviting everyone, "Come here, become brahmana." Who is interested?
- So we are inviting everyone to become punya-sloka simply by hearing Srimad-Bhagavata. There is no... Come here. Take prasadam. Chant Hare Krsna. Dance in jubilation.
- So this temple, we are inviting everyone to live here, to live with us, and practice tapasya. Then your life will be advanced.
- So we invite everyone to join this movement, accepting Krishna as the tangible God for all practical purposes, and the worship of God is made easy by chanting the Mantra Hare Krishna, which is accepted even in far Western countries.
Calling All Leaders and Scholars to Cooperate
To truly rescue human civilization from its godless trajectory, the intelligent class must step forward. Śrīla Prabhupāda extends a respectful and urgent invitation to learned scholars, philosophers, government leaders, and priests of other faiths to combine their efforts with the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement. He asks them to remain open-minded and cooperate for the ultimate spiritual benefit of all people.
- We invite all learned scholars, priests, philosophers to combine together and save the world from this falldown, without God consciousness. That is our request. So I think you all respectable priests and Fathers will kindly help me in this mission.
- We invite all important men to contact us and try to understand the basic principle of this movement: how to elevate the human society to the proper standard of life and become peaceful in this life as well as in the next life.
- Let the leaders be open minded and not be biased by any sectarian thoughts of religiosity. This movement is universal. We invite every one to our feast and Kirtana but when one comes into the confidence we initiate him.
- We invite everyone, every gentleman, every sane man, to come and cooperate with us. This is a nice mission. We shall be glad to cooperate for the good of all people of the world.
Conclusion
The Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is not an exclusive club; it is a global spiritual hospital with its doors wide open. By training his disciples to eagerly invite everyone—from hungry citizens and the elderly to brilliant scholars and world leaders—Śrīla Prabhupāda established a society defined by boundless compassion. When devotees freely distribute Kṛṣṇa's holy names and prasādam without discrimination, they perfectly execute the inclusive, life-saving mission of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu.
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 Invite Everyone (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.