name change

"After initiation, the disciple's name must be changed to indicate that he is a servant of Lord Visnu. The disciple should also immediately begin marking his body with tilaka (ūrdhva-punḍra), especially his forehead. These are spiritual marks, symptoms of a perfect Vaisnava." This is a verse from the Padma Purana, Uttara-khanḍa. A member of the sahajiya-sampradaya does not change his name; therefore he cannot be accepted as a Gauḍiya Vaisnava. If a person does not change his name after initiation, it is to be understood that he will continue in his bodily conception of life.    (More...)

After being initiated, the devotees in the Krsna consciousness movement change their names. Whenever a person in the Western world becomes interested in this Krsna consciousness movement, he is initiated by this process. In India we are falsely accused of converting mlecchas and yavanas into the Hindu religion. In India there are many Mayavadi sannyasis known as jagad-guru, although they have hardly visited the whole world. Some are not even sufficiently educated, yet they make accusations against our movement and accuse us of destroying the principles of the Hindu religion by accepting Mohammedans and yavanas as Vaisnavas. Such people are simply envious. We are not spoiling the Hindu system of religion but are simply following in the footsteps of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu by traveling all over the world and accepting those who are interested in understanding Krsna as Krsnadasa or Ramadasa. By the process of a bona fide initiation, their names are changed.    (More...)