Bow Or Bow-Wow?

Sanjay Kishore Dadlani
Middlesex University Student Residing In The UK

For those who may not know, Srila Prabhupada is the founder of the International Society For Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), also known as the Hare Krishna's.

On the Audarya-Fellowship forum, Sanjay made some amusing posts in which he clearly indicated that it was/is his custom to get down on his hands and knees and bow when entering and exiting the temple room. Sanjay worked himself into a self-righteous huff because others were "falling back on standards because of laziness" (clearly implying he suffered from no such laziness). Read for yourself:

It has been the custom since Srila Prabhupada's manifest presence to bow down when entering or leaving the temple room, even if one enters only for a minute.

However, I have noticed that this standard is starting to fall. Devotees now satisfy themselves with nodding their heads if not just touching the floor with their hands, with no thought if it pleases Srila Prabhupada or the Deities.

This can be understandable, since sometimes there is a need to place or remove heavy objects in the temple room, but that is not an excuse to fall back on standards simply because of laziness.

Just my opinion, and my regrets. (Ref: Post #8)

and...

No Priitaaji, you are not an oddball. Believe it or not, I have a very high respect and admiration for Srila Prabhupada's disciples such as yourself, and I am glad to read your posts all the time.

I understand what you mean about kirtana. I am not aware if people bow down or not according to their respect (or lack of it) but perhaps it may be due to a very crowded temple room. I'll have to admit that sometimes I have not been able to bow down during the prema-dhvani or other occasions simply because of a lack of room. In these cases I bow my head and hear the prema-dhvani, and hope Krsna will not be too offended at my not bowing down.

As long as Krsna knows that it is not convenient, lol!! But sometimes I feel a little guilty, especially when I have to remain in a standing position due to some specific service, etc. I agree with what you say about Srila Prabhupada; I have also read a letter from him in which he says pretty much what you say; that one must bow for everything. I remember him specifically saying "there is no limit to bowing down."

Something I forgot to mention earlier; in Bhagavad-gita, Krishna says that offering obeisances is an austerity of the body. So hey! Is this some easy tapasya or what! All one needs to do is bow down out of respect!

Priitaaji, could you tell me more about the custom of knocking on the temple-room doors before entering? How did it originate, what did Prabhupada say about it, etc? I'd be most grateful. (Ref: Post #20)

Sanjay needs to bow more and bow-wow less.

Unfortunately, the only type of bowing that Sanjay does nowadays is under tables to film women up their skirts and under tables with his digicam. Read About It For Yourself.