Reformation (CC and Other Books)

Expressions researched:
"reform" |"reformation" |"reformative" |"reformatory" |"reformed" |"reformer" |"reformers" |"reforming" |"reforms"

CC Adi-lila

CC Adi 10.89, Purport:

Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī and Sanātana Gosvāmī very kindly preached the bhakti cult in western India, and following in their footsteps the propagators of the Caitanya cult in the Western countries are spreading the saṅkīrtana movement and inculcating the principles of Vaiṣṇava behavior, thus purifying and reforming many persons who were previously accustomed to the culture of mlecchas and yavanas.

CC Adi 11.50, Purport:

Near the Muḍāgāchā station is a village known as Śāligrāma in which King Kṛṣṇadāsa arranged for the marriage of Śrī Nityānanda Prabhu, as described in the Bhakti-ratnākara (Twelfth Wave). It is sometimes said that Navanī Hoḍa was the son of Rāja Kṛṣṇadāsa. His descendants still live in Rukuṇapura, a village near Bahiragāchi. They belong to the dakṣiṇa-rāḍhīya-kāyastha community, but, having been reformed as brāhmaṇas, they still initiate all classes of men.”

CC Adi 12.35, Purport:

To describe a man as an incarnation of God, or Nārāyaṇa, and at the same time present him as poverty-stricken is contradictory, and it is the greatest offense. The Māyāvādī philosophers, engaged in the missionary work of spoiling the Vedic culture by preaching that everyone is God, describe a poverty-stricken man as daridra-nārāyaṇa, or "poor Nārāyaṇa." Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu never accepted such foolish and unauthorized ideas. He strictly warned, māyāvādi-bhāṣya śunile haya sarva-nāśa: (CC Madhya 6.169) "Anyone who follows the principles of Māyāvāda philosophy is certainly doomed." Such a fool needs to be reformed by punishment.

CC Adi 17.128, Purport:

Hindu society was so rigid at the time of Lord Caitanya that if a Hindu were converted into a Muslim, there was no chance of his being reformed. In this way the Muslim population in India increased. None of the Muslims came from outside; social customs somehow or other forced Hindus to become Muslims, with no chance of returning to Hindu society. Emperor Aurangzeb also inaugurated a tax that Hindus had to pay because of their being Hindus. Thus all the poor Hindus of the lower class voluntarily became Muslims to avoid the tax. In this way the Muslim population in India increased. Chand Kazi threatened to convert the people into Muslims by the simple process of sprinkling water on their bodies.

CC Adi 17.141, Purport:

The Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is not a sentimental religious movement; it is a movement for the reformation of all the anomalies of human society. If people take to it seriously, discharging this duty scientifically, as ordered by Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, the world will see peace and prosperity instead of being confused and hopeless under useless governments. There are always rogues and thieves in human society, and as soon as a weak government is unable to execute its duties, these rogues and thieves come out to do their business. Thus the entire society becomes a hell unfit for gentlemen to live in. There is an immediate need for a good government—a government by the people, with Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Unless the masses of people become Kṛṣṇa conscious, they cannot be good men. The Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement that Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu started by chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra still has its potency. Therefore people should understand it seriously and scientifically and spread it all over the world.

CC Madhya-lila

CC Madhya 1.189, Purport:

Although the two brothers, Rūpa and Sanātana (at that time Dabira Khāsa and Sākara Mallika), presented themselves as being born in a low family, they nonetheless belonged to a most respectable brāhmaṇa family that was originally from Karṇāṭa. Thus they actually belonged to the brāhmaṇa caste. Unfortunately, because of being associated with the Muslim governmental service, their customs and behavior resembled those of the Muslims. Therefore they presented themselves as nīca-jāti. The word jāti means birth. According to śāstra, there are three kinds of birth. The first birth is from the womb of the mother, the second birth is the acceptance of the reformatory method, and the third birth is acceptance by the spiritual master (initiation). One becomes abominable by adopting an abominable profession or by associating with people who are naturally abominable.

CC Madhya 6.76, Translation and Purport:

Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya then suggested, "If Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu would like, I could bring Him into a first-class sampradāya by offering Him saffron cloth and performing the reformatory process again."

The Bhaṭṭācārya wanted to reinstate Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu into the Sarasvatī sampradāya because he did not like the Lord's belonging to the Bhāratī sampradāya or Purī sampradāya. Actually, he did not know the position of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu. As the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Caitanya Mahāprabhu did not depend on an inferior or superior sampradāya. The Supreme Personality of Godhead remains in the supreme position in all circumstances.

CC Madhya 19.167, Purport:

The Lord says openly in the Bhagavad-gītā (18.69), na ca tasmān manuṣyeṣu kaścin me priya-kṛttamaḥ: One who preaches the gospel of the Bhagavad-gītā for the benefit of all is most dear to Kṛṣṇa. The Bhagavad-gītā is spoken by the Lord so that human society can be perfectly organized from all angles of vision—politically, socially, economically, philosophically and religiously. From any point of view, human society can be reformed by the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement; therefore one who spreads this philosophy of Kṛṣṇa consciousness for the benefit of all conditioned souls in the universe is perfect in pure devotional service.

CC Madhya 22.147, Translation and Purport:

“"O hunter, good qualities like nonviolence, which you have developed, are not very astonishing, for those who are engaged in the Lord"s devotional service are never inclined to give pain to others because of envy.’

This is a quotation from the Skanda Purāṇa. It was spoken by Nārada Muni to the reformed hunter Mṛgāri.

CC Antya-lila

CC Antya 3.124, Purport:

Even if a devotee comes from a family of dog-eaters, if he surrenders to the Personality of Godhead he immediately becomes a qualified brāhmaṇa and is immediately fit to perform yajña, whereas a person born in a family of brāhmaṇas has to wait until completing the reformatory processes before he may be called saṁskṛta, purified. It is further said in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (12.1.40):

asaṁskṛtāḥ kriyā-hīnā rajasā tamasāvṛtāḥ

prajās te bhakṣayiṣyanti mlecchā rājanya-rūpiṇaḥ

"In the Age of Kali, mlecchas, or lowborn people who have not undergone the purifying process of saṁskāra, who do not know how to apply that process in actual life, and who are covered by the modes of passion and ignorance will take the posts of administrators. They will devour the citizens with their atheistic activities." A person who is not purified by the prescribed process of saṁskāra is called asaṁskṛta, but if one remains kriyā-hīna even after being purified by initiation—in other words, if one fails to actually apply the principles of purity in his life—he remains an unpurified mleccha or yavana. On the other hand, we find that Haridāsa Ṭhākura, although born in a mleccha or yavana family, became Nāmācārya Haridāsa Ṭhākura because he performed the nāma-yajña a minimum of 300,000 times every day.

CC Antya 5.84, Purport:

When a man is greatly learned in the Vedānta-sūtras, he is known as a paṇḍita, or learned scholar. Generally this qualification is attributed to brāhmaṇas and sannyāsīs. Sannyāsa, the renounced order of life, is the topmost position for a brāhmaṇa, a member of the highest of the four varṇas (brāhmaṇa, kṣatriya, vaiśya and śūdra). According to public opinion, a person born in a brāhmaṇa family, duly reformed by the purificatory processes and properly initiated by a spiritual master, is an authority on Vedic literature. When such a person is offered the sannyāsa order, he comes to occupy the topmost position. The brāhmaṇa is supposed to be the spiritual master of the other three varṇas, namely kṣatriya, vaiśya and śūdra, and the sannyāsī is supposed to be the spiritual master even of the exalted brāhmaṇas.

Generally brāhmaṇas and sannyāsīs are very proud of their spiritual positions. Therefore, to cut down their false pride, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu preached Kṛṣṇa consciousness through Rāmānanda Rāya, who was neither a member of the renounced order nor a born brāhmaṇa. Indeed, Śrī Rāmānanda Rāya was a gṛhastha belonging to the śūdra class, yet Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu arranged for him to be the master who taught Pradyumna Miśra, a highly qualified brāhmaṇa born in a brāhmaṇa family. Even Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu Himself, although belonging to the renounced order, took instruction from Śrī Rāmānanda Rāya. In this way Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu exhibited His opulence through Śrī Rāmānanda Rāya. That is the special significance of this incident.

CC Antya 16.29, Purport:

"If one is factually situated in the occupation of a brāhmaṇa, he must be considered a brāhmaṇa, even if born in a kṣatriya or vaiśya family. O Devī, even if one is born a śūdra, if he is actually engaged in the occupation and pure behavior of a brāhmaṇa, he becomes a brāhmaṇa. Moreover, a vaiśya can become a kṣatriya. Therefore, neither the source of one's birth nor his reformation nor his education is the criterion of a brāhmaṇa. The vṛtta, or occupation, is the real standard by which one is known as a brāhmaṇa."

Teachings of Lord Caitanya

Teachings of Lord Caitanya, Chapter 31:

This kāma-gāyatrī is received from the spiritual master when the disciple is advanced in chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/ Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare. In other words, this kāma-gāyatrī mantra and saṁskāra, or reformation of a perfect brāhmaṇa, are offered by the spiritual master when he sees that his disciple is advanced in spiritual knowledge. Even then, the kāma-gāyatrī is not uttered under certain circumstances. In any case, the chanting of Hare Kṛṣṇa is sufficient to elevate one to the highest spiritual platform.

Nectar of Devotion

Nectar of Devotion 5:

Śrī Rūpa Gosvāmī also says that if one is regularly discharging devotional service, there will be no question of a falldown. But even if circumstantially there is some falldown, the Vaiṣṇava need have nothing to do with the prāyaścitta, the ritualistic ceremony for purification. If someone falls down from the principles of devotional service, he need not take to the prāyaścitta performances for reformation. He simply has to execute the rules and regulations for discharging devotional service, and this is sufficient for his reinstatement. This is the mystery of the Vaiṣṇava (devotional) cult.

Nectar of Devotion 24:

Any person who is reliable in all circumstances is called dependable. In this connection Rūpa Gosvāmī says that even the demons were relying upon the dependability of Kṛṣṇa, because they were confident that Kṛṣṇa would never attack them without due cause. Therefore, with faith and confidence, they used to live with their doors wide open. And the demigods, although afraid of the demons, were confident of the protection of Kṛṣṇa. Therefore, even in the midst of danger they were engaged in sportive activities. Persons who had never undergone the reformatory ritualistic ceremonies of the Vedas were confident that Kṛṣṇa would accept only faith and devotion, and so they were engaged in Kṛṣṇa consciousness and were freed from all anxieties. In other words, all kinds of men, from the demigods down to the uncultured, can rely on the causeless mercy of the Supreme Lord.

Nectar of Devotion 25:

A person's achieving perfection in devotional service simply by the causeless mercy of the Lord is explained in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam in connection with the brāhmaṇas and their wives who were engaged in performing yajña, or sacrifice. When the wives of the brāhmaṇas were favored by Lord Kṛṣṇa and immediately attained the ecstasy of love of Godhead, their husbands said, "How wonderful it is that although these women have undertaken no reformatory performances such as accepting the sacred thread, have not resided in the monasteries of the spiritual master, have not observed the strict principles of celibacy, have not undergone any austerities and have not philosophized upon the observance of ritualistic ceremonies, they still have attained the favor of Kṛṣṇa, which is aspired after even by great mystics! How wonderful it is that these women have attained such perfection, while we, although brāhmaṇas who have performed all the reformatory activities, cannot attain to this advanced stage!"

Nectar of Devotion 35:

Bilvamaṅgala Ṭhākura was first spiritually initiated for impersonal realization of the Absolute Truth, but later on, by his association with Kṛṣṇa in Vṛndāvana, he became an experienced devotee. The same thing happened to Śukadeva Gosvāmī, who also reformed himself by the grace of the Lord and took to the path of devotional service, giving up the way of impersonal realization.

Krsna, The Supreme Personality of Godhead

Krsna Book 8:

An expert brāhmaṇa is able to give reformatory facilities to the subcastes—namely the kṣatriyas and vaiśyas. The śūdras observe no reformatory performances. The brāhmaṇa is considered to be the spiritual master or priest for the kṣatriya and vaiśya. Nanda Mahārāja happened to be a vaiśya, and he accepted Garga Muni as a first-class brāhmaṇa. He therefore offered his two foster sons—namely Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma—to him to purify. Nanda stated that not only these boys but all human beings just after birth should accept a qualified brāhmaṇa as spiritual master.

Upon this request, Garga Muni replied, "Vasudeva has sent me to see to the reformatory performances of these boys, especially Kṛṣṇa's, but if I do so it may incidentally appear that Kṛṣṇa is the son of Devakī, since I am Vasudeva's family priest." By his astrological calculation, Garga Muni could understand that Kṛṣṇa was the son of Devakī, which Nanda did not know.

Krsna Book 13:

Brahmā realized that all those Viṣṇu forms were complete in mystic power, from the aṇimā perfection of becoming small like an atom up to becoming infinite like the cosmic manifestation. All the mystic powers of Brahmā, Śiva, all the demigods and the twenty-four elements of cosmic manifestation were fully represented in the person of Viṣṇu. By the influence of Lord Viṣṇu, all subordinate mystic powers were engaged in His worship. He was being worshiped by time, space, the cosmic manifestation, reformation, desire, activity and the three qualities of material nature. Lord Viṣṇu, Brahmā also realized, is the reservoir of all truth, knowledge and bliss.

Krsna Book 20:

In the rainy season some of the roads are not frequently used, and they become covered with long grasses. These roads are exactly like a brāhmaṇa who is not accustomed to studying and practicing the reformatory methods of the Vedic injunctions—he becomes covered with the long grasses of māyā. In that condition, forgetful of his constitutional nature, he forgets his position of eternal servitorship to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. By being deviated by the seasonal overgrowth of long grasses created by māyā, a person identifies himself with the māyic production and succumbs to illusion, forgetting his spiritual life.

Krsna Book 46:

Vasudeva and Devakī, who happened to be the real parents of Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma, wanted to keep Them now because of the death of Kaṁsa. While Kaṁsa was alive, Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma were kept under the protection of Nanda Mahārāja in Vṛndāvana. Now, naturally, the father and mother of Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma wanted Them to remain, specifically for the reformatory function of purification, the sacred thread ceremony. They also wanted to give Them a proper education, for this is the duty of the father.

Krsna Book 48:

In a spiritual relationship, sense gratification is most insignificant. Anyone who desires a relationship of perverted sense gratification with Kṛṣṇa must be considered less intelligent. His mentality requires to be reformed.

Krsna Book 88:

Here another question may be raised: If the Supreme Lord is all-powerful, why should He try to reform His devotee by putting him in distress? The answer is that when the Supreme Personality of Godhead puts His devotee in distress, it is not without purpose. Sometimes the purpose is that in distress a devotee's feelings of attachment to Kṛṣṇa are magnified. For example, when Kṛṣṇa, before leaving the capital of the Pāṇḍavas for His home, asked Kuntīdevī for permission to leave, she said, "My dear Kṛṣṇa, in our distress You were always present with us. Now, because we have been elevated to a royal position, You are leaving us. I would therefore prefer to live in distress than to lose You." When a devotee is put into a situation of distress, his devotional activities are accelerated. Therefore, to show special favor to a devotee, the Lord sometimes puts him into distress. Besides that, it is stated that the sweetness of happiness is sweeter to those who have tasted bitterness.

Message of Godhead

Message of Godhead Introduction:

These transcendentalists (ordinarily known as saints, philosophers, reformers, messengers, and so forth) appear in various places in the world at various times. They render transcendental service to the Absolute Truth and to humanity, also, by preaching the message of the transcendental world. According to these transcendentalists, even lower animals like cats and dogs are also concerned primarily with two things, namely, themselves and the world at large. Living entities other than human beings have no capacity to understand transcendental subjects. The human being is therefore considered to be the highest of all creations, and we must understand the nature of this higher standing.

Message of Godhead 1:

We have to search out our eternal peace and prosperity in the kingdom of God, which is a place other than this mortal world. Even such messiahs and reformers as Lord Buddha—who did not accept the existence of Godhead and preached morality and ethics in the spirit of atheism—and Śaṅkarācārya—who did not accept the Personality of Godhead and preached morality and ethics in the spirit of pantheism—never preached that there is any possibility of attaining eternal peace and prosperity in this material world.

Message of Godhead 2:

While passing through various of the 8,400,000 species of life, the spirit soul is overwhelmed by the suffering created by those reactions. We have very little chance of escaping this bondage of action and reaction—work and its fruitive results. Even after abdicating all work and accepting the life of a sannyāsī, or renunciant, one still has to work, if only for his hungry stomach. And thus Śaṅkarācārya, the great monist philosopher and religious reformer, said that simply for the matter of the stomach, one may not adopt the dress of a renunciant. Therefore, there is no way out—no way to avoid doing work, if only for the belly's sake.

As a result, the Personality of Godhead, Śrī Kṛṣṇa, advises Marshal Arjuna in the following words: "O Arjuna, you must always do your duty. To do something is far better than to do nothing. You cannot even secure your everyday sustenance without doing any work."

Light of the Bhagavata

Light of the Bhagavata 13, Purport:

A covered road is exactly like a brāhmaṇa who is not accustomed to studying and practicing the reformatory practices of Vedic injunctions-he becomes covered with the long grasses of illusion. In that condition, forgetful of his constitutional nature, he forgets his position of eternal servitorship to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. By being deviated by the seasonal overgrowth of long grasses created by māyā, a person identifies himself with illusory productions of nature and succumbs to illusion, forgetting his spiritual life.

Light of the Bhagavata 18, Purport:

To attain liberation, one must be completely purified of perverted forms of desire. A living being cannot snuff out desires, and to practice artificially erasing the actions of desire is more dangerous than the active desires themselves. All desires should be reformed and directed toward spiritual activities; otherwise those same desires will repeatedly manifest themselves in different varieties of material enjoyment, thus conditioning the living being perpetually in material bondage.

Light of the Bhagavata 31, Purport:

The vānaprasthas, who voluntarily avoid cleaning themselves and who allow their beards and nails to grow, no longer feel the discomforts of these burdens when they engage in the service of the Lord. And above all, the mendicants who take a vow to refrain from sex life no longer feel sexual urges when fixed in the transcendental service of the Lord.

Therefore, in all four spiritual orders and four grades of social life, devotional service to the Lord is essential. Without this relationship, all the regulative principles of varṇa and āśrama become burdensome duties, as they have in the age of Kali. When the regulative principles have no aim, the varṇas become a caste system and the āśramas become the business of various shopkeepers. All these anomalies of the present social system can be reformed only by cultivation of the human spirit in the devotional service of the Lord.

Light of the Bhagavata 33, Translation and Purport:

33. There are waterfalls flowing from the hills of the forest, but sometimes water does not flow from them. So the waterfalls are not like ordinary rainfall. They are compared to great reformers, who speak or do not speak, as the time requires.

There are two different kinds of religious preachers. One of them is called the professional preacher, and the other is called the ācārya. The professional preachers are like the rainfall from the sky, but the ācāryas are like waterfalls. The professional traders in Bhāgavatam and Rāmāyaṇa will speak from the portion of the scripture that will appeal to the mundane senses of the audience. For example, the professional Bhāgavatam reciter will generally speak on the subject of rāsa-līlā, which appears to the layman to be something like the dealings of ordinary men and women. Thus the professional reciters earn money from their so-called admirers. But an ācārya will never speak on rāsa-līlā to the general mass of people. The rāsa-līlā chapters of the Bhāgavatam are the most confidential part of the scripture, and they are meant for advanced students of spiritual realization.