Oberoende akademiska och övriga utlåtanden, brev etc
om Krishnarörelsen
(ISKCON - Det Internationella Sällskapet för Krishnamedvetande)

MOHAN SHARMA - Professor

REQUEST FOR A DEEPER UNDERSTANDING OF THE HARE KRISHNA MOVEMENT BY PROFESSOR MOHAN SHARMA, PH.D.

Dr Sharma is Professor of English and American Literature, Slippery Rock State College, Slippery Rock, Pennsylvania. He is also editor of the India and Pakistan section of the Twayne World Authors series.

The Hare Krishna Movement represents, in the West, a religious philosophical ar.d cultural tradition which is several thousands of years old ln India. The tradition is called Vedic clvilization.

Vedic culture was brought to the West in 1965 by an Indian scholar and holyman named A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami, known to hls students as Srila Prabhupada. Sri Bhaktivedanta Swami, representing a long line of learned scholars, came to the West at the bidding of his own teacher, Srlla Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Goswami, who desired that the spiritual wealth of India, in the form of Krishna (God) Consciousness, be made available to people all over the world. Penniless, Srila Prabhupada sailed to the U.S. and, following a year of struggle, incorporated the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, in New York. Since then, the Soclety has expanded and spread throughout the world, establishing an international complex of nearly one hundred temples, ashrams, farms, schools and institutes.

Anyone who has studied Indian culture and religion cannot fail to assert that the Hare Krishna movement is an authentic and genuine religious movement. Its members--both men and women, young and old, married and single--live in strict adherence to Vedic religious principles. They have all given up self-indulgent, materialistic life for a life of simplicity, purity and service to God and to man. The authenticity and legitlmacy of the Hare Krishna movement has been formally confirmed by numerous Hindu religious, cultural and academic bodies both ln India and in the United States.

As an Indian, as an American citizen, as a member of the scholarly community and as an educator, I plead for an end to the distortions and misunderstanding, stemming from pride and prejudice, surrounding the Krishna Consciousness movement, and for a new and enlightened appreciation of the good work being performed by its members throughout the world.

This statement was made at the World Fellowship of Religions News Conference, New York, December 20, 1976.