sankirtana-yajna -- Sankirtana Manifesto

Prabhupada's Sankirtana Manifesto

In ISKCON’s early years, Srila Prabhupada was eager to establish public sankirtana. In the statement below, he describes the activities of public sankirtana as chanting, dancing, playing of musical instruments, distributing the Back to Godhead magazine, and collecting donations. Tamala Krishna Gosvami describes the circumstances that precipitated this “Manifesto:” “The situation had become serious. Sankirtana was our life and soul, upon which we depended fully for our spiritual strength as well as economic support. I decided that the only thing left was to write to Srila Prabhupada and somehow request His Divine Grace's intervention. Perhaps if Srila Prabhupada, as the head of our religion, would write a document explaining the sankirtana movement, it would help the police to understand and thus give us back our rights. Prabhupada responded immediately to my request by sending a statement in defense of the sankirtana movement.”[1]

The International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) is a bona fide religious society strictly following the principles described in the Vedic scriptures and practiced in India for thousands of years. Our basic beliefs are as follows:

1. The Absolute Truth is contained in all the great scriptures of the world, the Bible, Koran, Torah, etc. However, the oldest known revealed Scriptures in existence are the Vedic literatures, most notably Bhagavad-gita, which is the literal record of God's actual words.

2. God, or Krishna, is eternal, all-knowing, omnipresent, all-powerful and all-attractive, the seed-giving father of man and all living entities. He is the sustaining energy of all life, nature and the cosmic situation.

3. Man is actually not his body, but is eternal spirit soul, part and parcel of God, and therefore eternal.

4. That all men are brothers can be practiced only when we realize God as our common father.

5. All our actions should be performed as a sacrifice to the Supreme Lord: "... all that you do, all that you eat, all that you offer and give away, as well as all austerities that you may perform, should be done as an offering unto Me." (Bhagavad-gita As It Is, 9.27)

6. The food that sustains us should always be offered to the Lord before eating. In this way He becomes the offering, and such eating purifies us.

7. We can, by sincere cultivation of bona fide spiritual science, attain to the state of pure, unending blissful consciousness, free from anxiety, in this very lifetime.

8. The recommended means to attain the mature stage of love of God in the present Age of Kali, or quarrel, is to chant the holy name of the Lord. The easiest method for most people is to chant the Hare Krishna mantra: Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare.

Our basic mission is to propagate the sankirtana movement (chanting of the holy names of God) all around the world, as was recommended by the incarnation of the Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. People in this age are very reluctant to understand God consciousness because of their unfortunate condition of life. They work hard day and night simply for sense gratification. But the transcendental vibration of sankirtana will knock at the door of their hearts for spiritual awakening. Therefore, they should be given the sankirtana opportunity.

It is not recommended that a Krishna conscious devotee go into seclusion to chant and thereby gain salvation alone. Our duty and religious obligation is to go into the streets where the people in general can hear the chanting and see the dancing. This practical process has already saved many in America and Europe from the immoral practices of the age, and those saved have now dedicated their lives to the service of Krishna.

It is hoped that the government authorities will cooperate with sankirtana parties by enabling us to perform sankirtana on the streets. To do this it is necessary that we be able to chant the names of Krishna, dance, play the mridanga drum, request donations, sell our society's journal, and on occasion, sit down with the mridanga drum. As devotees of Lord Krishna, it is our duty to teach the people how to love God and worship Him in their daily lives. Such is the aim and destination of human life.