Technology at the service of spirituality

anasaktasya visayan yatharham upayunjatah
nirbandhah krishna-sambandhe yuktam vairagyam ucyate
prapancikataya buddhya hari-sambandhi-vastunah
mumuksubhih paritysgo vairsgyam phalgu kathyate

(Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu 2.255-256)
Srila Rupa Goswami

“When one is not attached to anything, but at the same time accepts everything in relation to Krishna, one is rightly situated above possessiveness. On the other hand, one who rejects everything without knowledge of its relationship to Krishna is not as complete in his renunciation.”

This verse from the Bhakti rasamrita sindhu explicitly describes the path of renunciation known as Yukta Vairagya, originally established by Srila Rupa Goswami. Following the path of Yukta Vairagya means that we should not renounce material attachments by denying them, but rather we should use them in service of the Lord.

Srila Prabhupada Bhaktisiddhanta exemplified Yukta Vairagya when he established the Gaudiya Math and decided to make book publication one of the institution’s primary means for spreading Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s message all over the world. Srila Bhaktisiddhanta saw books and the work of publishing not as material objects and actions to be given up, but rather as tools he could use to serve the Lord.

“Brihad mridanga” was a phrase used by Srila Bhaktisiddhanta that means “the great drum” and refers to the power of publishing books as an instrument of preaching. Nowadays, the Internet has become the most powerful communication tool, which is why it can be called the “modern brihad mridanga.”