Most of the readers will guess the content of this article by its title only! Of course, it’s a very famous movie song in India….As many of us will recall that back in early 1970s’, When Srila Prabhupada first returned to India with his American and European Disciples, Dev Anand produced and directed the movie “Hare Rama Hare Krishna” that showed images of our Srila Prabhupada and few other ISKCON devotees chanting and dancing. This movie also had the said famous song ‘Dum Maro Dum’ which had references to the Hare Krishna Maha Mantra. In this article, we will see that how far we have come in these 40 years?
Many of the earlier devotees didn’t even know the meaning of the song. Eventually, they somehow found out what it really meant: “With every puff that I take, Hare Krishna Hare Rama.” Unfortunately, the movie and song’s depiction of drugs and illicit activities misled the general public to think that Hare Krishna devotees indulge in such things. Still, Srila Prabhupada had such strong faith in the holy names that he once commented, “People will forget ‘Dum Maro Dum’ and just remember ‘Hare Krishna, Hare Rama’.”
Movie starts impressively with the pictures of London Rath-Yatra, devotees dancing and chanting and Srila Prabhupada but then after few moments, the scene changes to a group of fictional hippies, with young people shamelessly taking drugs, it shows hippies gathered together in a celebration of debauchery, drinking alcohol and passing around a pipe filled with ganja, from which they share puffs. Some embrace lustily, while others simply lie on the ground in a drugged stupor. And all the while, the song plays their anthem: dum maro dum, mit jaaye gham, bolo subah sham, Hare Krishna Hare Rama – “Take another puff, let your sorrows fade away, and morning & evening chant Hare Krishna, and Hare Rama.”
In a single statement, it was a bad attempt to prove that Srila Prabhupada was degrading the sacred Indian culture by giving it to hippies who were misusing it, chanting Hare Krishna, Hare Rama and smoking, drinking and indulging in free sex and everything else. That was a blow. This misinformation damaged the reputation of young ISKCON movement in India and caused undeserved pain to our devotees, members, well-wishers and friends.
Hare Rama Hare Krishna seems to portray the west as a source of problems for Indians. This pessimistic outlook reflects the perception, held by many Indians at the time, that the west was a threat to the culture and traditions of the east. Many dismissed non-Indian devotees as sentimental faddists; some of them raised objections on their caste; while others argued that they are not “real” Hindus. Still others accused that these innocent devotees were actually CIA agents. They started pointing to the film and imply that these white-skinned devotees were actually drug-taking hippies as shown in the film.
In short, all these critics used to dismiss the Hare Krishna Movement or its devotees and friends by saying three simple words – “Dum Maro Dum”
Srila Prabhupada, however, tackled the challenge in his own way from a spiritual perspective; Prabhupada didn’t make a distinction between east and west. To him, all living beings were all children of Krishna, and all equal candidates for Krishna’s mercy. And so, at an age when most people would consider retirement, he left India and set sail for America. He didn’t travel there for his own enjoyment or because he was enamoured by the opulence of the west; he went in order to share the spiritual treasures of India with the rest of the world. He went to give, not to take.
He often quoted the allegory of a blind man and a lame man. Individually, each was limited by his disability. But when they worked together so that the lame man climbed atop the shoulders of the blind man, they could both move forward. Similarly, Srila Prabhupada explained, India had spiritual insights to offer the world but was hampered by a lack of material resources. The west, on the other hand, had strong infrastructure and resources but was suffering from lack of a clear spiritual vision. If the two can work together, he suggested, the whole world could be spiritually uplifted and benefited.
That was 40 years ago. It took years for the people of India to understand that sincere followers of ISKCON strictly refrain from smoking, drinking, gambling and illicit behaviours. As we mark 40th anniversary of this historic film, there is yet another film, titled Dum Maro Dum after the popular song, hope to win over the new generation of fans with its remixed version of the famous song with A-listed celebrities dancing…Now what? If we fast forward 40 years from the historic release of Hare Rama Hare Krishna, how far we have come?
In these 40 years, some things, of course, remain the same. “Dum Maro Dum” is still a popular song, and – for better or worse – may remain so for many years to come. But, many things changed also in these 40 years.
Today, ISKCON have also completed its 40 years in India. The Times of India recently wrote for Srila Prabhupada as, “India’s greatest spiritual & philosophical ambassador to the world.” Hundreds of critics praised Srila Prabhupada’s writings. ISKCON has its centre in almost all the big cities and towns of the nation with thousands of full time devotees and millions of congregational devotees. Today, hardly anyone sees the foreigner devotees with surprise or even suspect.
Far from being viewed with suspicion or ridicule, today ISKCON is one of the most respected, honoured and dynamic spiritual organizations active in India. In places like New Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Ahmadabad, Bangalore, Tirupati, Vrindavan, Ujjain, Vishakapatnam, Mayapur, and many other cities, ISKCON has built huge cultural centres that celebrate and promote India’s spiritual heritage and teach people how to apply Vedic wisdom in the modern age. Today, ISKCON’s BBT is the largest publishing house in the world to distribute the Vedic knowledge in number of books printed and distributed. ISKCON also runs the world’s largest Vegetarian food relief program. ISKCON’s Indian temples are leading the way in working to eradicate hunger and poverty – especially through innovative midday meals programs. For Instance, ISKCON’s temple at Delhi alone distributes more than 4, 00,000 plates of food everyday to the school students in the city and nearby areas.
In other words, the Hare Krishna Movement does live up to the song partially. For sure it is helping in wiping the suffering off from people (“mit jaye gum..”). Srila Prabhupada predicted that a day will come when the people of the world will realise the importance of this movement in saving the world from the biggest danger and improving the living conditions of masses.
Hare Krishna…!!
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