The Advantage of a Vedic Education

Giriraj Swami: It is my good fortune to be in the midst of so many devotees of Sri Sri Radha-Gopinatha. It is all the mercy of Srila Prabhupada that we are here. Perhaps many of you have visited Hare Krishna land in Juhu. There, Srila Prabhupada had a great plan to establish a beautiful temple of Radha and Krishna, and have a cultural center in which the glories of Vedic culture could be presented to the world. One element in Srila Prabhupada’s plan for Hare Krishna land was a school.

So, Srila Prabhupada had a friend named Brijratan Mohatta. He used to visit Srila Prabhupada and discuss so many things with him about how to present and propagate Krishna consciousness. So when Mr. Mohatta heard about the plan for the school at Juhu, he asked what would be the type of education presented to the students. Srila Prabhupada replied very succinctly that we are not going to concoct anything from mental speculation; we will simply follow Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam and he quoted one verse.

brahmacārī gurukule
vasan dānto guror hitam
ācaran dāsavan nīco
gurau sudṛḍha-sauhṛdaḥ

As the basis of today’s discussion, we shall discuss the verse quoted by Srila Prabhupada in answer to the question: What kind of education will you give the students? So please repeat now:

“Nārada Muni said: A student should practice completely controlling his senses. He should be submissive and should have an attitude of firm friendship for the spiritual master. With a great vow, the brahmacārī should live at the gurukula, only for the benefit of the guru.”

There is a vast difference between the modern educational system and the gurukula system. We can see the qualities that are stressed for the students, dānto, continuously practicing control of the senses; dāsavan, very humbly; nīco, submissive, obedient; guror hitam, only benefit of the guru. Srila Prabhupada summarizes that the whole goal of Vedic education or gurukula is the development of good character. Without good character, academic knowledge or material ability have no value. In fact, academic knowledge and material expertise can make a person more dangerous if he has no good character.

Srila Prabhupada gives the example of the snake which is decorated by a jewel. The jewel does not make the snake less dangerous, but actually, the snake becomes more dangerous with the jewel because people may become attracted to the jewel, and then they can be bitten and poisoned by the snake. So persons who cannot control their senses are compared to snakes. The senses themselves are compared to snakes, and when the senses are uncontrolled, they are compared to snakes that bite and poison innocent victims. So when someone with uncontrolled senses is decorated with mundane education, he becomes more dangerous because people are attracted by the glitter of the jewel, and as soon as they come near him, they get bitten and poisoned. Vedic civilization or education does not emphasize as the first requirement material knowledge; rather, it emphasizes as the prime necessity the development of good character.

We often hear, and it is true, that the youth are the future leaders of the society. So for good leadership also, there must be good character. Some years ago in America, one very intelligent disciple of Srila Prabhupada had the idea to run for office. The idea was not to win the election because he did not really have much hope to win the election, but the idea was to present the message of Krishna. In America, the policy is that every candidate must have equal time or equal exposure in the press, on the television, and so on. So our candidate also had equal time. In America, the national slogan is “In God We Trust.” Srila Prabhupada suggested, or at least approved of, the name of the party: In God we Trust Party. The devotee, Balavanta Prabhu, ran for mayor of Atlanta, which is quite an important city, and altogether there were five candidates in the field. Whenever there was any television interview, all five would sit in a panel and answer questions.

Srila Prabhupada had instructed Balavanta Prabhu to stick to the main theme, which is that unless the leaders have good character, you cannot expect good government. And what is good character? No eating meat, fish, or eggs, no intoxication, no illicit sex, and no gambling. So all the five candidates were sitting at the panel on the television, and Balavanta Prabhu was speaking. He was saying that unless a man can control his senses, how can you trust him? How can he control the affairs of state if he can’t even control his own senses? Then he said that everyone knows that smoking cigarettes is harmful, everyone knows, but still they smoke. Why? Because they can’t control their senses. Now just as Balavanta Prabhu was speaking, all the other four candidates had been smoking cigarettes, and as soon as he talked about uncontrolled senses, they very quietly moved their hands with their cigarettes behind their backs because they didn’t want to be associated with uncontrolled senses. But this is the fact: unless someone can control his senses, how can he control the affairs of state? Unless someone has good character—and here, good character, one of the main items, is control of the senses—how can we expect good government or anything good?

Just about a week ago, I was in Mauritius, and there the devotees have formed a Hare Krishna rock band. I don’t think we need it here, but anyway, they did it there, and maybe it was needed there. They were going to the colleges, and they were actually very successful in attracting young people. The program was held in a hall, a very big hall, like this but bigger than this, and the hall was quite packed with students and also teachers. At the end of my talk, there were questions on pieces of paper, and one of the questions was: Why do the students not behave better, and what can we do to improve the students’ behavior? They were a little noisy during some of the talk, but when this question came, all the students became very silent. Basically, I said, and afterwards I heard that the teachers had asked the same question to other guest speakers, Muslims and Christians and so on, who had come, and they never got such an answer.

So basically, I said that in the Vedic system of education, the teacher is acharya, or one who teaches by example. Unless the teacher sets the example of sense control, they cannot expect the students to have controlled senses. Eventually, I came to the point that sense control means no meat eating, no intoxication, no gambling, and no illicit sex. But I said, the teachers, they are not controlling their senses, so why should the students? The teachers, they are not setting an example of sacrifice and discipline; they are setting an example of selfishness. So how can we expect the students to be anything else? They will also be selfish. In Vedic system of education, the main consideration was how to develop good character in the students, and therefore the main consideration in the selection of teachers was the good character of the teachers because the teacher had to show the example. But now we don’t even think about the moral character of the teacher; we only think of the academic qualifications. If the teacher has mundane academic qualifications, he can be appointed even if, in his personal behavior, he is very degraded.

There is a big difference between Vedic education and modern education, and unless the teachers are actually acharyas who teach by example and not just words, we can’t expect the students to behave any better. I said if the teacher himself is smoking and he tells the students don’t smoke, smoking is bad for you, what will the students think? So we have to practice and preach. There is one story told by Srila Prabhupada that a mother brought her son to a sadhu and said that, “My son eats too many sweets, so can you please ask him not to eat sweets?” The sadhu said, “Yes, I will, but come back after two weeks.” So, two weeks later, the mother came back with her son and asked the sadhu. The sadhu looked right into the boy’s eyes and said, “Don’t eat sweets.” This time, it was real, and immediately, the boy stopped eating sweets. After some days, the mother returned and expressed her gratitude to the sadhu, saying, “Since you spoke to my son, he stopped eating sweets and is much healthier and better. But I have one question: Why didn’t you tell him to stop eating sweets the first time I brought him?” The sadhu replied, “Because then I was eating sweets myself. How could I tell him not to eat sweets when I was eating sweets myself?”

The instruction is clear: we must follow what we tell others to follow. Then our voice will have meaning, and our words will have potency. That was the Vedic system—acharya, one who teaches by example. Of course, it is to be understood who is a guru, because brahmacārī gurukule vasan dānto guror hitam, and that is explained in many scriptures, including Bhagavad-gītā. evam paramparā-prāptam imaṁ rājarṣayo viduḥ, that the Vedic knowledge and the essence of the Vedic knowledge is Bhagavad-gītā. The Vedic knowledge is received through disciplic succession, paramparā. imaṁ vivasvate yogaṁ proktavān aham avyayam, Krishna originally spoke the imperishable science of yoga to the Vivasvan, the sun god, and Vivasvan instructed Manu, and Manu instructed to Ikṣvāku, and in this way, the knowledge was passed on from teacher to student in an unbroken chain. But somehow, in the course of time, the chain became broken, and the Lord himself detected the defect. So, he came personally again five thousand years ago and spoke Bhagavad-gītā to Arjuna to re-establish the line of disciplic succession. We should receive the knowledge of Bhagavad-gītā through the line of disciplic succession, which begins from Krishna, then his disciple, then his disciple, and finally, it has come through Srila Prabhupada to us and to everyone. That is the line of disciplic succession and the qualification for understanding Vedic knowledge and teaching it. Of course, to be properly connected in the disciplic succession, one must be a devotee. Actually, one cannot have the good qualities mentioned unless one is a devotee.

Therefore, Lord Krishna told Arjuna that, “Why am I teaching Bhagavad-gītā to you?” Arjuna was not a Vedantist; he was not a sannyasi. He was a grihastha. He was a kshatriya. Then why, with so many other people on the planet to Krishna could have spoken to, why did Krishna choose to speak the Gītā to Arjuna? Bhakto ‘si me sakhā ceti, because Arjuna was Krishna’s devotee; he was fit to understand the message of Bhagavad-gītā and then teach it. The teacher or the guru must be a devotee of the Lord and must come in the disciplic succession. He must practice Krishna consciousness and preach it. That is the main necessity.

If we don’t follow the formula given by Lord Krishna in Bhagavad-gītā, if we don’t follow the prescription given by Narada Muni here in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, we cannot expect good results. We are not getting good results in the modern educational system. Now, we have some knowledge by the grace of Srila Prabhupada, so it is our special duty to put into practice what we have learned by Srila Prabhupada’s grace, both in our own lives and beyond our personal lives and try to implement the principles for the benefit of all human society. As we understand the importance of example, just by setting the proper example in our personal lives, we are actually preaching. Even if we never deliver a discourse, we are preaching by setting the example of controlling the senses and serving the spiritual master. Especially in the modern age of Kali-yuga, by chanting the holy names of Lord Krishna, studying the Bhagavad-gītā and Bhagavad-gītā, and distributing the same knowledge to others.

There may be different ways to present the teachings of Srila Prabhupada, teaching of Lord Chaitanya, teaching of Bhagavad-gītā, and I’m sure that you are all doing it to some extent now, and by applying your intelligence, you will think of more and better ways to introduce the ideal system of education in our own lives, in our children’s lives, and in the lives of the people of the world. This will be a great offering to the Srila Prabhupada and Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. Hare Krishna.

Are there any questions or comments? Akrura Prabhu.

Devotee: What you said is convincing. Many people might want to put their children in such institutes where good character is taught. But what is the alternative to the present society? They don’t have many schools like that, and they have to put their children in some school. So, whatever school is available in the society, they are putting their children into. How can parents, in such a situation, make efforts to see that their children become good citizens with good character? Present-day schools do not teach it; they teach the opposite, leading to perversion and bad character. How can parents, in the present situation, as Srila Prabhupada said that modern schools are spiritual slaughter houses, can make efforts to see that their children become good character citizens?

Giriraj Swami: Of course, by the example of the parents at home, they can greatly influence the children. The children see that the parents are rising and following the principles of Krishna consciousness, associating with the devotees, coming to the temple, and serving the mission of the guru and Gauranga, which will have a powerful influence on the children. In fact, there was a survey done of children from the gurukula in ISKCON, and there was a very direct relationship. Although they all went through the same educational system, there was a direct relationship between how strictly the parents were following Krishna consciousness and how the children later followed. If both parents were following strictly, there was every likelihood that the children would follow. If one parent was following strictly but not the other, there was some chance but less chance. If both parents were not following, there was not much chance that the child would follow, even though the child went to gurukula.

Certainly, the family atmosphere will have a great influence on the child’s development, but the educational system and the atmosphere of the school also count. In spite of the best intentions of the parents and even the good example of the parents, when the children start to mix with other students, they can become corrupted. It is quite a delicate situation and quite a difficult situation. Therefore, Srila Prabhupada did establish the gurukula in Vrindavan, Mayapur so that children could go. The problem is that the students who graduate from the gurukula may not be recognized in the materialistic society. If parents are concerned that their children should have more advanced education in materialistic institutions or get service in materialistic institutions, they may not be recognized.

In one sense, it is not a problem, but the problem is that the students who graduate from the gurukula may not be recognized. If parents are concerned that their children are able to fit into the materialistic scheme of getting jobs and earning money, they may hesitate. Srila Prabhupada said that in the old days, earlier in the 20th century, the aristocratic families in India did not send their children to ordinary schools. They would have their children tutored at home because they were more concerned with the development of the children’s character. They weren’t worried about financial considerations because the family business was there, and they could fit into the family business in any case. I know a very aristocratic gentleman right here in Walkeshwar road, he was a life member of ISKCON and a close friend, and when he had a child, he actually did the same thing. He didn’t want the child to go to the ordinary school, so he had pandits come to the home and tutor the child because he knew money is not a problem.

Prabhupada gave many examples. He mentioned the Modis in Delhi; they are very big industrialists of India, but the founder of the group was not educated. But if someone has the ability to do business and make money, he can do it. And we need material education. There is one story of Alfred, of Henry Ford, Ambrish dasa’s great-grandfather. So Henry Ford, as you know, founded the Ford Motor Corporation and was a great entrepreneur and industrialist of America. Some newspaper article called him something like, maybe not illiterate, but something like uneducated. So he took objection and he filed a suit against the newspaper. During the trial, the defense for the newspaper brought in so many experts. It was like the boatman and the scholar—an expert in zoology, an expert in botany, an expert in meteorology—to ask Henry Ford questions. Henry Ford didn’t answer; he didn’t attempt to answer. He said to the judge, “Your Honor, on my table, I have a panel of buttons, and by pressing the button, I can call any number of experts who can answer all of the questions that these people are asking. So am I uneducated or not?”

That was Srila Prabhupada’s idea: that people don’t—at least in the business families—people don’t need to learn technology because they can purchase technology; they don’t have to learn it. So the most important thing for them to learn is good character or Krishna consciousness. We can only present the general principles, and then we have to think about how to apply them in our own situation.

As I mentioned, Srila Prabhupada had an idea to build a school at Hare Krishna Land. Eventually, a school was built: Bhaktivedanta Swami Mission School. Well, we don’t exactly follow the gurukula system, but we do give the students some Krishna consciousness, and at the same time, teach the regular approved government syllabus. We found by association that the teachers are gradually becoming more and more Krishna conscious. Of course, the students are becoming more and more Krishna conscious, and even the parents of the students, by association, are also becoming more and more Krishna conscious. So association is most important. The Nectar of Devotion quotes one verse that association acts like a touchstone, and so therefore anyone who comes in contact with Krishna consciousness or devotees of Lord Krishna, they can be touched, whether they are the teachers, the students, or the parents of the students, or the parents of the teachers.

Now, we will have a chance to hear from the devotee who’s in charge of the management of the school as well as the principal of the school. We will ask His Grace Radha-Krishna Prabhu to give them a proper introduction. I just had one thing that reminded me of something that Srila Prabhupada said. He said that by the time they are seventeen or eighteen, they will already be well trained enough, and they will know what is right and what is wrong. Srila Prabhupada said the same thing: that we don’t expect that the students who go to the gurukula will necessarily stay in the temple. They can marry and engage in other types of business and activities, but the idea of the school is that they will be so nicely trained that no matter what they do in later life, they will never forget God. Then he gave the example that when he and his sister were young, they used to fly kites. They used to try to fly kites, and when they were flying the kite, they would pray, “Oh Krishna, please make my kite fly, please make my kite fly.” He is giving that as an example of how no matter what we do or whatever the students do, they will never forget Krishna.