A Sensation Within the Heart

Now, the distorted teachings of the impersonalists and demigod worshipers, mixed with the upsurge of materialism, have caused confusion in the spiritual culture of India, but actually that confusion is only superficial because in their hearts most Indian people still think of themselves as servants of God. They may sit and hear some lecture by a big impersonalist scholar, but ultimately you'll find that when they go home they have a little altar, and before they eat they offer their food to Krsna. They sing to Krsna, and they celebrate Janmastami [Krsna's appearance day]. They love Krsna. And this spirit of devotion to the Supreme Lord is actually lying dormant in every Indian's heart. That is the point.

JAYADVAITA DASA: It's just been covered over.

TAMALA KRSNA GOSVAMĪ: Yes, in the cities it may be a bit more covered, and in the big cities the people are often very materialistic, but in their hearts at least seventy-five or eighty percent of the people are Krsna conscious. It's just slightly covered over. Only within the last couple of hundred years has it been covered over.

Vaisnavism, Krsna consciousness, is very strong in the hearts of many, many people, and seeing Westerners taking to Vaisnavism has a particular effect. It's like a shock. It produces a tremendous sensation within the hearts of these people. They almost want to cry. It's something so much pleasing to them that all they want to do is say, "Please come into my home. Please stay with us." It's like that. They cannot express how happy they are. It's a very wonderful feeling. That's a very developed Krsna conscious spirit. And Prabhupada sees that.

In a battlefield, if someone is very seriously injured and someone is not so seriously injured, you first heal the one who is not so seriously injured, because you have a better chance of saving him. These people in India, at least many of them, are in that position. They can be brought up to the platform of Krsna consciousness very, very easily.

Of course, when people in India see Western Krsna conscious devotees, they often feel pride, thinking that we are also becoming Hindus. Now, we're glad that they're pleased by the Krsna consciousness movement, but actually we have to explain to them that we are not in fact becoming Hindus. Rather, we are becoming Vaisnavas, or devotees of the Supreme Lord. This is natural. The soul is neither Christian, nor Hindu, nor Jewish. The natural, eternal position of every single soul is to be a servant of Krsna, or God. Therefore, we tell our Indian friends that we are not trying to spread the culture of one particular nation, sect or faith. Rather, we want to come to a higher understanding, an understanding that Krsna is actually the same Supreme Lord who is within everyone and who is worshiped by different names throughout the world, and that devotional service to Krsna is the natural spiritual consciousness that is dormant within every living being.