Page 30 - HIRS - Eng
P. 30
xxviii How I AcHIeved ReAl SucceSS
‘civilized’ Western way of thinking, countries in Asia and Africa
risk completely turning their backs on their own rich heritage.
Every country and its people have something unique to offer.
Śrīla Prabhupāda suggested that the East and West cooperate
together in order to create a peaceful, God-centered world.
Using the analogy of the blind man and the lame man, andha-
paṅgor nyāya, he explained that the material opulence of the
West should be complemented by the cultural wealth of the
East:
India could not improve on account of poverty, lame.
And America? Blind for want of culture. So let the blind
man carry the lame man on the head, and the lame man
give direction that “Go this way,” and he walks. So both
men’s work is done. There is no hampering because one
is blind and one is lame. Combined together, they get the
benefit. Andha-paṅgor nyāya. 1
Traditionally, a little girl would remain close to her mother,
playing with other girls in the neighborhood, and often
spending a lot of time with younger siblings. After marriage,
she would be under the wing of the older women in her
husband’s family, and would soon be busy in her role of being
a wife, a mother and a daughter-in-law. As she matured, she
would soon assume the responsibility of running the entire
household, which in the case of joint families and an entourage
of household help would be no less challenging than running a
current-day start-up. When her children grew up and married,
she would happily hand over her charge to the younger women
in her family, and devote her time to spiritual pursuits. Such
1. Room Conversation, June 28, 1976.