or on the way to varnasrama without dharma

[Guest guest]

As a sannyasi, he should not be doing that. He knows it. Taking me apart, he

says: "The GBC want me to stop it and that I dedicate myself more to the

administration business instead. But I am not inclined to it. I like

preaching." This is Bhakti Marg Swami speaking, GBC for Canada and kind of

temple president for Toronto. He came to Montreal for the Sunday Feast with a

crew of young boys and girls to perform a play which he wrote and is directs.

Everyone agreed; it was great! "I was meditating on something new, but I did

not know exactly what" he said. "Then the president of the Raj Samaj

organisation asked me to present a play to their congregation. I jumped on the

occasion. I wanted to show them that God is ot impersonal; in a beautiful

way." He added: "And they liked it."

 

Maharaja is presenting the pastimes of Krishna to modern audiences with

attractive sketches. I could feel while he was speaking to me, by his

enthusiasm, that he is in his element. In the hand, he is holding a new CD

given to him by one of his female disciple. In the past, she was much involved

with his artistic projects. Now, she lives in Montreal. Slowly but surely, she

is making her way as an actress.

 

There was a time when Maharaja used to play with women on stage and that was

not regarded well by the orthodoxy. Now he mostly directs. But the GBC doesn't

like it either. You could also say that is not the duty of a sannyasi to be

busy putting up plays. Because it is of a lower occupation... A sannyasi is on

the level of Brahman. Although brahmanas in the past used to perform plays,

the difference was that women were absolutely not on the scene, so to say.

Anyway, the activity may be of a vaishnava quality but then who is to give the

example for a varnasrama society if brahmanas -and on the top sannyasis- are

just following their own inclination?

 

The laws of necessity are in action more than ever. The weights on the scale

are unequal; a reality we often dispute between devotees. What should we

prioritise: liberal preaching (like sannyasis playing and dancing rock and

roll on stage or women selling books on the street to men they have charmed

with their fine tricks) or varnashrama dharma? -with emphasis on the last

word. To put it in different perspective: is it subject to worry or to

rejoice? For Maharaja at least, it is clear in his mind. And the devotees in

Montreal had definitely a good time; -thumbs up! they showed.

 

Akhilesvara dasa