Monday Morning Greetings 2025 #52 – Is Wearing Vaiṣṇava Dress Important?

Is Wearing Vaiṣṇava Dress Important? [1]

When Śrīla Prabhupāda came to the West he wore the typical dress of an Indian sādhu. The male followers he recruited basically wore the same. He also wore a kurtā, a stitched upper garment, which was introduced to India from outside. But the general simple cloth dress devotees wore, featuring a lower garment for men which was unstitched and wrapped and saris for women, was very much like the dress Krishna and the residents of Vrindavan wore. At least that is how Krishna’s dress was depicted in Vaiṣṇava painting and iconography for thousands of years. And this artwork was often done or supervised by realized Vaiṣṇavas with internal realization of what Krishna looked like based on the Bhāgavatam.

“Wearing a peacock-feather ornament upon His head, blue karṇikāra flowers on His ears, a yellow garment as brilliant as gold, and the Vaijayantī garland, Lord Kṛṣṇa exhibited His transcendental form as the greatest of dancers as He entered the forest of Vṛndāvana, beautifying it with the marks of His footprints. He filled the holes of His flute with the nectar of His lips, and the cowherd boys sang His glories.” Bhāgavatam 10.21.5

During Śrīla Prabhupāda’s time the devotees almost always wore Indian dress. Of course, at the time ISKCON was more or less monastic. Even married people who joined ISKCON lived in the ashram, were maintained by the temple, and served either as fulltime missionaries or did essential services supporting that mission. Wearing robes served a purpose. After all, ISKCON’s audience for their outreach were mostly disaffected youth who were attracted to India and alternative lifestyles. The requirement to dress just like devotees did not act as an impediment. Rather, it popularized the movement. The tactic was successful. Many people joined.

After Śrīla Prabhupāda left, the movement changed. Hardly any devotees now live in the ashrams, and ISKCON members are mostly middle-aged or older. The audience for outreach is no longer disaffected youth, but people in the world. Is offering a chance to become “Indian” still a good way to help present what Śrīla Prabhupāda came to give?

Let me relate and comment on a personal story that I think will bring this discussion further along.

Over twenty years ago, my personal secretary, who was the chief secretary of a major advertising agency on Madison Avenue, invited me to her company on “Dress Down Friday.” Once a month the company allowed its employees to dress casually. I was invited to come in the afternoon.

When I came, there was a large computer printout on the wall that read “WELCOME HARE KRISHNA.” I went from office to office where the people were eager to meet me until I reached the end of the long corridor which opened into a larger reception area. Many of the people I visited followed me. There the production manager came out of her office to greet me. When I gave her a lush Radha Govinda rose garland from the temple she practically melted onto the floor. She then asked me respectfully, “Why do you dress that way?”

I explained that my dress was like a uniform, in that is not essential for my duties, but has a utility. I gave the example of policemen. Although their uniforms help people identity them as officers of the law and engenders a martial mood, they could also do the same job as plainclothesmen. Similarly, wearing robes helps others recognize a devotee of Krishna and engenders a mood of devotion, although one could certainly practice devotion in ordinary dress without any spiritual impediment. I explained further that for devotees living in the world, at least in the West, it seems more practical to wear the clothes of their local culture, and that mostly my dress was useful for monastics, priests, and personal worship.

So based on my experience here is what is what I concluded:

The most important principle in dress is dressing respectfully, especially when approaching God. There are certainly times when wearing “devotional clothes” has utility in causing devotees of Krishna to be recognized and in engendering a devotional mood. Realized preachers understand where, for whom, and in what circumstances the dress that Śrīla Prabhupāda brought from India has relevance and when it is a distraction. Like anything else in Krishna consciousness, effective application of any principle depends on the intelligence and realization of the person applying it.

Of course, being identified as a monk, if one truly is one, usually brings respect, even in the West. Vaiṣṇava dress is certainly a respectful and clean way to approach God.

For me, I am a monk and mostly live in India. Vaiṣṇava dress suits me in every way, wherever I go and whatever I am doing.

For you: Chant and be happy!

[1] Just before I was to send this to my editor, I found out that I published a similar article two and a half years ago. I decided to still publish this one as it deals with the subject from a different angle.