Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrī Caitanya Caritāmṛta Madhya 14.5

sārvabhauma-upadeśe chāḍi' rāja-veśa

ekalā vaiṣṇava-veśe karila praveśa

SYNONYMS

sārvabhauma — of Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya; upadeśe — under instructions; chāḍi' — giving up; rāja-veśa — the royal dress; ekalā — alone; vaiṣṇava-veśe — in the dress of a Vaiṣṇava; karila praveśa — entered.

TRANSLATION

Following Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya's instructions, the King had given up his royal dress. He now entered the garden in the dress of a Vaiṣṇava.

PURPORT

Sometimes members of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness — especially in the Western countries — find it difficult to approach people to distribute books because people are unfamiliar with the traditional saffron robes of the devotees. The devotees have therefore inquired whether they can wear European and American dress before the general public. From the instructions given to King Pratāparudra by Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya, we can understand that we may change our dress in any way to facilitate our service. When our members change their dress to meet the public or to introduce our books, they are not breaking the devotional principles. The real principle is to spread the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement, and if one has to change into regular Western dress for this purpose, there should be no objection.

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His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, Founder Ācārya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness