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EDITORIAL April 29, 2000 VNN5894 Comment on this story Bad Karma Exhibit BY LOCANANANDA DAS EDITORIAL, Apr 29 (VNN) — The annual pilgrimage to Mayapura and our worldwide celebration of Lord Caitanya's appearance day have always served to awaken in us the urge to preach Krishna consciousness with compassion for the fallen conditioned souls. The same mercy demonstrated by the two transcendental brothers, Lord Caitanya and Lord Nityananda, is available today to whoever comes in contact with the sankirtana movement. As stated in the Srimad Bhagavatam, anyone with sufficient brain substance will worship the Lord in this age by performing the sankirtana yajna. Those fortunate enough to do so will become entangled in the loving network of divine service to the Supreme Lord simply by chanting His Holy Name.
Srila Prabhupada often quoted his spiritual master as having said that the only thing lacking in this world is Krishna consciousness. It is therefore the duty of the acarya to introduce novel ways according to time, place, circumstance, audience and culture to attract the conditioned souls to the lotus feet of Krishna. In pursuance of this principle, during the final months of his worldly pastimes, Srila Prabhupada spoke of a new preaching tool that he felt would revolutionize our presentation of Krishna consciousness. He wanted to introduce three-dimensional displays, or dioramas, depicting the pastimes of the Lord and His many incarnations, to bring to life the fundamental principles of vaisnava philosophy. His Divine Grace said, in fact, that each stanza of the Srimad Bhagavatam could serve as a theme for a diorama display. By revealing to people the matchless beauty of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and by sparking their interest in the science of self-realization, dioramas could ultimately elevate the human society to the point of understanding the eternal relationship we all have as servants of Krishna. Over the years, dioramas that have been widely appreciated include: Krishna driving Arjuna's chariot, the Universal Form and the Changing Body display. In striking contrast, there is a model that devotees have described as "ghastly", "gruesome", "disgusting" and "hideous", known popularly as the "Karma Exhibit". This diorama, usually seen as a tabletop display, consists of a cow with human facial features being slaughtered with an axe by a man with a demoniac beast's head. Apparently introduced for its shock effect, the Karma Exhibit has proven to be of little use in explaining bhagavata philosophy. Not surprisingly, the general consensus amongst devotees is that, upon seeing it, this display simply does not act to awaken anyone's dormant love of Krishna. Actually, most people are repulsed by it and wonder what it has to do with the sublime spiritual life style we say we follow. Seeing these negative reactions, I became mindful of certain instructions given by Srila Prabhupada that seem to apply: Years ago, a leaflet was prepared to advertize Bhaktivedanta Manor, featuring the drawing of the head of a smiling cow wearing vaisnava tilaka. Innocent enough, one might think, but when it came before Srila Prabhupada, he sent a telegram to Mukunda Prabhu in England to immediately stop the distribution of the flyer. He said he found the picture "very objectionable" because showing only the head of the cow meant we were advertizing a slaughterhouse. That the picture was improper had never occurred to the devotees, but Krishna's pure representative showed us that he had different sensibilities. On another occasion, Rayarama proposed to Srila Prabhupada that an article on animal slaughter, with illustrations, might be included in Back to Godhead magazine. Srila Prabhupada's reply is one of the most significant guidelines ever given for preaching Krishna consciousness and decisively rejects the theme and purpose of the Bad Karma exhibit. He wrote: "Regarding propaganda against animal slaughter in BTG. Please do not print any picture showing how a cow is being murdered in our BTG. This will pollute the whole atmosphere. We are not meant for moving anyone's sentiment against animal slaughter. We are neither Buddhists nor Jains, whose main propaganda is against animal slaughter. Even the so-called vegetarians who do not take Krishna prasadam are as much sinful as the non-vegetarians. Our propaganda is different, to make people Krishna conscious, which will automatically make them sympathetic against any kind of animal slaughter. "According to Srimad Bhagavatam, one living entity subsists on the life of other living entities, either vegetarian or non-vegetarian. We are transcendental. We are concerned with Krishna prasadam. Try to popularize Krishna prasadam as you have already done. "People will naturally become vegetarian without any ghastly propaganda. "The pictures of a mahajana or similar pictures for propagating the Bhagavata conclusion should be our objective. Other pictures, there are so many subject matters. Just like we follow four principles. Say, for example, illicit sex life. We can publish so many pictures of illicit sex life, but that will not advance our cause. Similarly, we may make propaganda against animal slaughter, but that will not advance our real cause. "Krishna consciousnenss is based on pure understanding, not by any sentimental provocation. People must be intelligent enough to catch up this Krishna consciousness movement without being carried away by any sentimental wave. "We should always remember that we do not belong to any group like the karmis, jnanis or yogis. We belong to pure devotional service group, following the footsteps of great mahajanas." (Letter to Rayarama dated 11-19-68) Srila Prabhupada's verdict is crystal clear: There is no need of any ghastly propaganda to shock people into becoming vegetarian. Our propaganda is different. It is to bring people to Krishna consciousness and to awaken their love for God through practical devotional service. Shortly before he ended his worldly pastimes, Srila Prabhupada discussed with Baradvaja Prabhu how dioramas were to be used in the Vedic Planetarium and Temple of Understanding that would rise one day in Mayapura. They talked about many things, but there was no mention of a Bad Karma exhibit that would depict a cow being decapitated. Baradvaja Prabhu recently told me that, personally, he would not consider including the Bad Karma exhibit in a diorama exposition, even to depict hell. When I told him that a life-size model is also available as a preaching tool, he sounded quite shocked. This ghastly image has already appeared in cookbooks, BBT publications and in Back to Godhead magazine. It has been printed on T-shirts and has even been seen tattooed on the body parts of devotees. When planning how to present Krishna consciousness and Srila Prabhupada's teachings at festivals and book tables this summer, the author humbly recommends that devotees not consider using the Bad Karma exhibit as a preaching tool. If you already have one, try to return it in exchange for real Krishna conscious paraphernalia. Please keep in mind that the availability of merchandise does not necessarily make it bonafide. The lesson to be learned is that we should always discriminate intelligently. Even though our intention may be to enhance our presentation of Krishna consciousness, if we do not exercise proper judgment, we may end up polluting the whole thing. Comment on this story  Contact VNN about this storySend this story to a friend
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