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By Jagannidhi das
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In answering my letter "Useless Degrees," Madhusudhani D.D. writes:
It sounds like you had a bad experience. However, that’s no reason to put down hundreds of devotees, including Hridayananda Maharaja, Tamal Krsna Maharaja, Krsna Ksetra Prabhu, or Garuda Prabhu — just to name a few — who have found the time they spent in non-devotee run universities to be stimulating and beneficial and who have recommended that other devotees do the same.
Like many other things in life, university studies are not for everyone, and maybe you and your wife belong to the group that has not benefited from such an experience. However, that is no reason to speak badly of those who do derive benefit from university studies. If you think that collecting money on the street or doing internet preaching is more your style, I’m not going to put you down for it. I just hope you are able to help your children learn and use those money-earning skills in an honest way.
When I was rereading my letter after having sent it to Chakra I was expecting that answer, because I realized that I have not dealt with this point. But it is actually very simple.
I do not think that all the above-mentioned wonderful Vaishnavas have attended universities for earning their livelihood. Obviously, they have done this as a service for Srila Prabhupada and Krishna, and I personally think that this is a great way to preach, with lasting and extensive influence.
But as I have stated above, it is preaching. If one tries to look deeper, one will easily come to realize that the main task of all these learned Vaishnavas is to teach rather than to learn. What they acutally learn —- and this is a part of their service too — is to preach their wisdom and spiritual realization gained by the mercy of Srila Prabhupada and his movement in established terms.
By the way, my whole family is not into money making. All of my sisters and brothers are teachers, preachers, and artists. My children are no exception. It is their desire to become philosophers, writers, thinkers, musicians, etc. in the service of the Supreme Lord. I am convinced that it is my responsibility to facilitate them in every possible way to become able to do this in the most authentic fashion, without becoming to much obsessed with economic "rationalities".
Modern universities create slaves. That is not my bad experience. That is everyone’s experience, although not everyone will be ready to admit it.
But the preaching efforts of the honorable Vaishnavas mentioned in your letter are of a completely different dimension. And I think that even they will agree that this kind of preaching requires a lot of expertise and strictness not to become entrapped by false prestige, and again this required strength is surely not learned in any non-devotee university of this world.
Hare Krishna.
Your servant,
Jagannidhi das
[See "University Degrees: Really Useless or Simply Not for Everyone?" Chakra August 14, 2002]
© CHAKRA 16 September 2002
