238 Sri-Caitanya-caritamrta

who are neither educated nor sophisticated, believe in the transmigration of the
soul, believe in past and future lives, believe in God and naturally want to worship
the Supreme Personality of Godhead or His representative. These ideas are the
natural inheritance of a person born in India. India has many holy places of pilgrim-
age such as Gaya, Benares, Mathura, Prayag, Vrndavana, Haridvar, Ramesvaram and
Jagannatha Puri, and still people go there by the hundreds and thousands. Although
the present leaders of India are influencing the people not to believe in God, not to
believe in a next life and not to believe in a distinction between pious and impious
life, and they are teaching them how to drink wine, eat meat and become supposedly
civilized, people are nevertheless afraid of the four activities of sinful life—namely,
illicit sex, meat eating, intoxication and gambling—and whenever there is a religious
festival, they gather together by the thousands. We have actual experience of this.
Whenever the Krsna consciousness movement holds a sankirtana festival in a big
city like Calcutta, Bombay, Madras, Ahmedabad or Hyderabad, thousands of people
come to hear. Sometimes we speak in English, but even though most people do not
understand English, they nevertheless come to hear us. Even when imitation incar-
nations of Godhead speak, people gather in thousands, for everyone who is born in
the land of India has a natural spiritual inclination and is taught the basic principles
of spiritual life; they merely need.to be a little more educated in the Vedic princi-
ples. Therefore Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu said, janma sarthaka kari’ kara para-
upakara: if an Indian is educated in the Vedic principles, he is able to perform the
most beneficial welfare activity for the entire world.

At present, for want of Krsna consciousness or God consciousness, the entire
world is in darkness, having been covered by the four principles of sinful life—meat
eating, illicit sex, gambling and intoxication. Therefore there is a need for vigorous
propaganda to educate people to refrain from sinful activities. This will bring peace
and prosperity; the rogues, thieves and debauchees will naturally decrease in number,
and all of human society will be God conscious.

The practical effect of our spreading the Krsna consciousness movement all over
the world is that now the most degraded debauchees are becoming the most elevated
saints. This is only one Indian’s humble:service to the world. If all Indians had taken
to this path, as advised by Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu, India would have given a
unique gift to the world, and thus India would have been glorified. Now, however,
India is known as a poverty-stricken country, and whenever anyone from America
or another opulent country goes to India, he sees many people lying by the foot
paths for whom there are not even provisions for two meals a day. There are also
institutions collecting money from all parts of the world in the name of welfare
activities for poverty-stricken people, but they are spending it for their own sense
gratification. Now, on the order of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, the Krsna conscious
ness movement has been started, and people are benefiting from this movement.
Therefore it is now the duty of the leading men of India to consider the importance
of this movement and train many Indians to go outside of India to preach this cult.
People will accept it, there will be cooperation among the Indian people and among
the other people ot the world, and the mission of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu will
then be fulfilled. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu will then be glorified all over the world,
