Finding the Cure for Today's Social Ills
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like these boys. [Śrīla Prabhupāda points to his two secretaries.]
Prof. Kotovsky:  But does that mean that these students abstain from normal Western, European universities? For instance, can a normal student from one of the various universities who is attending lectures in the normal way also be initiated and admitted to your community?
Śrīla Prabhupāda:  If you want to live in our community and be initiated, we welcome you. If not, come try to understand our philosophy, read our books—there are so many books, magazines, questions, and answers. Try to understand the philosophy. It is not that all of a sudden a student comes and becomes our disciple. He first of all comes, associates, and tries to understand. We do not canvass. He voluntarily says that he wants to be a disciple.
Prof. Kotovsky:  What happens if, for instance, one is not a student but a young worker or the young son of a farmer? Would he renounce his whole life and join your community in a given center? How would he maintain himself in his day-to-day life, in material life?
Śrīla Prabhupāda:  As I told you, this propaganda is meant for creating  brāhmaṇas  all over the world because the  brāhmaṇa  element is lacking. One who seriously comes to us has to become a  brāhmaṇa , so he should adopt the occupation of a  brāhmaṇa  and give up the occupation of a  kṣatriya  or  śūdra . But if one wants to keep his profession and also at the same time understand our movement, that is allowed. We have many professors following our movement. There is Howard Wheeler, a professor at Ohio State University. He is my disciple. He is continuing with his professorship, but almost all the money he is getting he is spending for this Kṛṣṇa consciousness.  Gṛhasthas , those who are in householder life outside, are expected to contribute fifty percent of their income for our society, keep twenty-five percent for family, and keep twenty-five percent for personal emergencies. But Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu teaches that it does not matter whether one is a  gṛhastha  (householder), or in the renounced order, or a  brāhmaṇa , or a  śūdra . Lord Caitanya says, “Anyone who understands the science of Kṛṣṇa becomes My spiritual master.” The actual words in Bengali are  kibā vipra ,  kibā nyāsī ,  śūdra kene naya . Do you understand a little Bengali?
Prof. Kotovsky:  A little.
Śrīla Prabhupāda:  Yes, as a vibration.  Yei kṛṣṇa-tattva-vettā, sei ‘guru’ haya.  “Anyone who understands the science of Kṛṣṇa can become a spiritual master.” [ Caitanya-caritāmṛta ,  Madhya  8.128]
Prof. Kotovsky:  But by creating  brāhmaṇas  from different social classes of society, you deny the old prescription of the Hindu scriptures.