Spiritualঅিখল জগত-ვ! বচন েস আমার অলঙ্কৃত কিরবার Ϡমতা েতামার (১৩)
akhila jagata-guru! vacana se āmāra alaṅkṛta karibāra kṣamatā tomāra akhila jagata-guru—O spiritual master of the entire universe; vacana—words; se—that; āmāra—my; alaṅkṛta—decorated; karibāra—to make; kṣamatā—the ability; tomāra—Your.
O spiritual master of all the worlds! I can simply repeat Your message, so if You like You can make my power of speaking suitable for their understanding.
Commentary The qualification of a bona fide preacher is to present Kṛṣṇa’s message as it is, without alteration. This does not mean, however, that he has to repeat it like a parrot. He should assimilate the meaning and then express it in his own words, suitable for the understanding of his audience. Śrīla Prabhupāda explains this in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (1.4.1): One must have full confidence in the previous ācārya, and at the same time one must realize the subject matter so nicely that he can present the matter for the particular circumstances in a suitable manner. The original purpose of the text must be maintained. No obscure meaning should be screwed out of it, yet it should be presented in an interesting manner for the understanding of the audience. This is called realization.
To one of his disciples who was preaching to college students, he wrote: The universities are very important because in these places there are men who can appreciate our philosophy. So, when you speak in the classroom, just quote from any of my books and then try and explain the meaning in your own words, and the students will appreciate it very much. In a lecture in 1969, he said: We are following the old principles. We do not say something new. [We repeat] the old saying, as Kṛṣṇa said five thousand years ago: sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja—‘Give up all varieties of religion and just surrender unto Me.’ (Bg. 18.66) So, nothing new. We are simply repeating. Our Hare Kṛṣṇa—is it also repetition? Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare. What is that English saying? 'Putting the old wine in the new bottle,' or what is that? [laughs] So it is old wine. Simply putting it in new bottles. That’s all. As Kṛṣṇa also says in Bhagavad-gītā (15.15): sarvasya cāhaṁ hṛdi sanniviṣṭo mattaḥ smṛtir jñānam apohanaṁ ca—"I am seated in everyone's heart, and from Me come remembrance, knowledge, and forgetfulness.” Here Śrīla Prabhupāda prays to the Lord for the ability to formulate his words in such a way that even Westerners who had no prior experience of Vaiṣṇava philosophy would be able to understand his message.