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End the Fossil Debate, Please
By Devahotra dasa (disciple of HH Vipramukhya Swami)

Having had the privilege of serving HH Vipramukhya Swami, my Guru Maharaja, I can attest to the primary importance that he gives to the careful, reverent, and loving worship of the Salagrams in his care. Indeed he has done much to educate devotees about the unique significance of Salagrams, both on the internet and in his travels.

Karmis have in many instances a great reverence for fossils. To therefore refer to a Salagram as a fossil may well invoke in the mind of the airport officials a spark of respect that they would not feel if you gave them the full explanation. I remember having an airport security guard prod my "statue" of Srila Prabhupada in the stomach and being quite aggressive to find out what I had wrapped in cloth in my hand luggage.

I certainly did not tell him that prodding Srila Prabhupada was an offense. I let it go. Had I lectured the guard, he may well have been provoked to greater offense.

Time, place, and circumstance.

© CHAKRA 1 May 2002