Questions and Answers Part 1

Were there some questions we should have asked Prabhupada but didn’t?  Were some questions taboo?  Were there some questions he didn’t like to answer?  Were there some questions he couldn’t answer?  What was his general attitude towards answering questions – was he very open, or limited?

In general, I think we can safely say that Prabhupada was very open and willing to discuss almost any subject from the Krishna conscious point of view.  He might point out an impertinent or illogical question, but he would answer it anyway.  He considered questions that did not relate to the points he raised in his lecture as improper.  Questions after the lecture should be asked to clear up doubt.  So many topics can be discussed in questions, but Prabhupada chose one area of the philosophy to discuss in his lectures and he preferred the questions to be relevant to that.  Even if someone asked something off the topic though, Prabhupada would answer it. 

An example of an impertinent question:  Soon after Prabhupada performed my marriage, I wrote him a letter and asked him about sex life within the grhastha asrama.  Prabhupada wrote back and said, “I am a sannyasi; this is not proper that you ask me questions like this.  However, I know that you have no one else to turn to for answers, so I will give you the answer.”  Srila Prabhupada was lenient in giving information, even if the questions weren’t right. 

Some people asked Prabhupada questions that were too hair-splitting.  He considered these unnecessary for those who were seriously trying to practice Krishna consciousness.  Other inquiries were too esoteric.  I once asked Prabhupada, “In your Teachings of Lord Caitanya, I read that one should follow an eternal resident of Vrindavana.  Could you tell me more about that?”  Prabhupada replied, “Don’t try for this.  That is a very advanced topic.  It will automatically be revealed to you.  Just go on serving.”  Similarly, when Prabhupada was asked about the origin of the living entity, he said, “It is not important.  There is a history to it, but right now you may not be able to understand it.  The important thing is that you are now in a fallen condition and you need to go back to Godhead.  It does not matter how you came here.”  Prabhupada did not evade questions, but like the acarya he himself described in Krishna Book, he sometimes gave information and sometimes withheld it.  Prabhupada knew what the important inquiries were.