Kṛṣṇacandra Dāsa – Vṛndāvan: Due to the lack of proper spiritual acumen and supervision by the GBC and the Sannyāsa Ministry the stereotypical ISKCON sannyāsī has changed from the Vedic standard as taught by Śrīla Prabhupāda to a modern more liberalist (sentimentalist) standard. The degradation of the Sannyāsa Ashram has naturally led to the degradation of the Brahmacārī Ashram.
This article is being presented to depict a mood that is growing in the sannyāsa / brahmacaryi ashram that needs to be questioned with regards to its validity as a standard of practice for these two ashrams that are supposed to teach and learn renunciation, respectively.
With regards to the sacred Hari Nāma Sankirtan established by Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu, it can be understood that there are all different styles that can be accommodated in the distribution of the Holy Name but perhaps some of them need to be modified to depict a more traditional view to what the Brahmacārī / Brahmacāriṇī ashram represents.
There may also be some consideration given to the “beautiful and colourful women” that are now fronting and adorning many of our Hari Nāma parties in what could be described as a “Bollywood” choreographed style of street theatre dance that increasingly sees these stereotypical ‘beautiful women’ being the draw card to our Sankirtan Parties instead of the Holy Name.
The following video, while it is nice to see the devotees doing Hari Nāma Sankirtan it does however break with the Hari Nāma tradition that we in ISKCON are used to and I am sure that Aindra Prabhu would never condone that his kīrtan would be the ‘sound track’ for a video that displays brahmacārīs in such an unchaste fashion. What to speak of using Śrīla Prabhupāda as if he would sanction such unchaste baudeville / carnivale / street theatre behaviour from our brahmacārīs.
