The Hare Krishnas in India

Book excerpt: This entertaining and sensitive book deepens our knowledge by tracing the paths of those western Hare Krishnas who eventually travelled to or lived in India. The charismatic leader of the sect, the Indian monk Swami Bhaktivedanta, aimed to save Westerners from what he saw as materialism and atheism by converting them to worship the Hindu god Krishna. In addition, he hoped that Western disciples would inspire Indians to rediscover their own religious heritage. Charles Brooks described in full detail the work of reverse missionaries in the town of Vrindavan which, since it is traditionally considered to be identical with Krishna s spiritual world, is one of the holiest places in India and the site of some of its most engaging rituals. Have the Western Hare Krishnas really become part of Indian culture? Can it be that Indians accept these foreigners as essentially Hindu and even Brahman? Brooks answers in a way that radically challenges our accepted images of Indian social dynamics. Analysing the remark-able success of the International Society for Krishna Conscious-ness and their temple complex in Vrindavan (where Bhaktivedanta was buried in 1977), Brooks describes the intricate social, eco-nomic and religious relationships between Westerners and Indians.