Letter by Manidhara Prabhu
Dear Devotees,
Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada.
Before the marathon, I asked His Grace Manidhara Prabhu about wearing Tilak during book distribution. He gave me permission to post his reply, which is as follows:
Question: Did you wear Tilak when you did book distribution with Rohinisuta Prabhu in the seventies? I am asking because several times Srila Prabhupada states that the devotees may wear Western clothes, but that they should always have Tilak on. If you did not wear Tilak, did Prabhupada know? If he did, that could be a proof that he didn't really emphasize that the devotees wear Tilak, but that they simply distribute his books, with or without Tilak, in spite of those clear statements by him regarding the issue.
Answer:
Dear Candrasekhar Acarya Prabhu,
Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada.
No, when I went out with Rohini-suta Prabhu, we didn't wear tilak; at least not the clay tilak, but the invisible "water tilak". Of course, there were some days initialy where I went out in dhoti and tilak, but the atmosphere those days in Germany was extremely hostile. To get beaten on the street or be imprisoned was nothing special. So we had to be very tricky. There was absolutely no legal background for book distribution and the Hare Krsna movement was targeted by the government as the "most dangerous terrorist movement after the Second World War." Later on things cooled down, but we didn't start with the full scale tilak anymore. (Today it may be much different, since devotees can distribute rather peacefully in the streets in Germany.)
I don't know how strict Srila Prabhupada was on this point. If he would have known what else was going on those day in name of sankirtan he would have had commented for sure, directly. (From 1972 to maybe 1974 nobody knew in Germany even that such a thing as Ekadasi exists. The sankirtan techniques were sometimes daring. No wonder one day the police rated the temple and confiscated after 3 years of trial all the laksmi which was deposited in the bank). So it was the pioneer days, full of enthusiasm and inexperience. The enthusiasm would today be sometimes badly needed again. The inexperience can be easily replaced by learning from the lessons which were taught to us via the material energy. Personaly I would say if one wears tilak on the street, one can wear dhoti and sari as well. To distribute like this is maybe more easy than many think. But circumstances may force upon us a disguise. That also was commented upon by Srila Prabhupada (in connection to Narada Muni's preaching to Prahlad, who was in the womb of his mother). One should do the needful. The main thing is that the books go out. That was Srila Prabhupadas policy. A devotee with tilak on the street who is in maya may be less impressive to the karmis than an "underground"-no-tilak devotee who is blissful and enthusiastic to deliver the mercy of Lord Caitanya.
I hope my comment here is of some help. Thank you for asking this question and allowing me to meditate on sankirtan.
Your servant,
Manidhara das
