(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 2011)
Krishna made arrangements for the conditioned souls to receive transcendental knowledge, and He created the Vedas – the entire mountain of all vedic knowledge! Then just at the edge of this mountain, the ocean of mercy of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu had reached and the wave of Mahaprabhu’s mercy washed onto the beach, and left a watermark there…on the beach…a line. On that ocean of Mahaprabhu’s mercy came an extremely powerful wave, which was the mercy of Srila Prabhupada and had extended still further than the mercy of Mahaprabhu…and this made a further watermark, high up on that beach.
So in this way, we have on the one hand the vedic injunctions, and on the other hand we cannot follow all the vedic injunctions. It’s very difficult to follow. We have the mercy of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and even that we find difficult to follow. Then we have the mercy of Srila Prabhupada and even that we find difficult to follow…that’s more or less were it’s at.
For example, if you read the book ‘The Hari Bhakti Vilasa’, which is a compilation of many quotes from many various vedic sources. It is said that they ask a question:
“If anyone eats on Ekadasi…well it says in the ‘Hari Bhakti Vilasa’ that, if we eat on Ekadasi, then in the next life one will become a hog!”.
So what do you think of that? So if you eat anything, than you become a hog according to the ‘Hari Bhakti Vilasa’. Really sorry – including the French fries and those Ekadasi goodies….I’m so sorry. So there is an extended license here, that we are getting over the ‘Hari Bhakti Vilasa’. We have to understand that Srila Prabhupada just gave us a little bit more leeway and there you go, you are getting ready for tomorrow, and usually eat more on Ekadasi day! So that’s the Hare Krishna Movement!