‘Compassion is broken by eating meat’

The newly-registered religion in Malawi, International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), is commemorating its 500th anniversary of Lord Chaitanya’s visit to Maharashtra. Local celebrations will take place in Chilomoni, Blantyre. Some of the activities lined up to spice up the celebration include dances, Hare Khrishna chanting and dancing; music, recitations, drama and dietary worship.

I talk to ISKCON congregational development officer Murari Das.

Can you shed more light on this 500th anniversary?

Each year, we commemorate God’s visit to Maharashtra. Just like the Christians or Muslims, we also commemorate birthdays and any other days relevant to our religion. This is one of the most important days in our faith.

What do you stand for?

We are three persons engaged on a full-time basis for spreading Krishna (God) consciousness. One of my colleagues is from Tanzania. He got introduced to our movement when he was studying for his Masters Degree in Communications Engineering at the University of London. He embraced the teachings and dedicated his life to sharing this knowledge. He came to Malawi three years ago and started the society. He is the current chairman.

Another colleagues is from Hyderabad, India. He is a computer science engineer. He used to work in a private firm. Later, he joined the movement to spread these teachings. I came to Malawi 8 months ago with my wife and two children. I have been fascinated with the teachings of the Bhagavad-gita since childhood and got influenced with its deep teachings when I was doing my masters in Plastics Engineering in Mumbai. I have worked with different industries for 16 years and later decided to spend more time for the service of God. I have since assumed the responsibility of the congregational development officer here in Malawi.

What are the beliefs and pillars of this religion?

The religion stands on four pillars. They are compassion, cleanliness, austerity and truthfulness. The principle of compassion is broken by meat eating and violence to any living being, the principle of cleanliness is broken by indulging in illicit activities and illicit sex is the epitome of breaking internal cleanliness.

We believe salvation is obtained by the mercy of the Lord and to seek mercy of the Lord, we actively engage in His devotional service by chanting and singing His glories. All members also chant the names of God for about two hours a day, usually in the morning. We chant Hare Krishna and Hare Rama on prayer beads (rosary). We also sing these names in a song in different tunes. The idea is to invoke the mercy of God and purification by calling out His names like Jehovah, Allah, Buddha and chanting any of them is a form of worship and service to Him.

How different is it from Christianity or Islam?

This Krishna consciousness movement is meant to revive God Consciousness among people in general. Human life is meant to serve the Lord and not for sense gratification.

And so, when we serve God, we feel satisfaction and happiness.

Although externally we may see differences in religion like language, dress and day of worship, there is no intrinsic difference between all religions as their message is the same. We are all servants of the same God and we are supposed to serve Him.

When were you registered in Malawi?

This society was registered in December 2010. We’re about 100 people who are actively involved in this Society. We are currently active in Blantyre and increasing our activities in Lilongwe. We visit colleges, hostels, industries and public places to meet people from all walks of life to spread this message.

The whole mission of the movement is to bring people from ignorance and suffering to knowledge and happiness. We call on all people of Malawi not to see this as some sectarian organization, but rather a non-sectarian universal movement, take advantage of this movement and join us.

Where do you congregate?

We have a temple on Chilomoni and meet every Sunday at 10:30 am. We also have a lounge behind the Malawi Immigration office in Blantyre where we meet persons who have an interest in our philosophy, on an appointment basis. We plan to start regular weekly programs soon at 2:30 pm every Saturday.