Dear Śrīla Prabhupāda,
Please accept my respectful obeisances at the dust of your lotus feet. All glories to Your Divine
Grace.
nama oṁ viṣṇu-pādāya kṛṣṇa-preṣṭhāya bhū-tale
śrīmate bhaktivedānta-svāmin iti nāmine
namas te sārasvate deve gaura-vāṇī-pracāriṇe
nirviśeṣa-śūnyavādi-pāścātya-deśa-tāriṇe
The global education sector has faced a complex array of new and intensifying challenges over
the last decade. These challenges stem from a confluence of factors, including technological shifts,
socioeconomic pressures, political instability, and environmental changes. Education systems in
various countries have been grappling with significant issues in recent years, and the solutions
implemented by these countries’ governments have often fallen short. Despite numerous attempts
to introduce new educational methods, students and teachers around the world are facing increas-
ing difficulties, and as a result, many are finding their health and well-being negatively impacted
due to the heightened pressure.
You explained very clearly the reason for the failure of the current system of education in your
purport to Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 8.16.19: “Unfortunately, this spiritual education is completely
absent from modern human civilization. No one understands his real self-interest, which lies with
the spirit soul, not with the material body. Education means spiritual education.”
Your ISKCON Ministry of Education is working to fulfill that mission: to provide Kṛṣṇa
conscious education of high quality to everyone through temples, educational institutions, and
other global initiatives. The mission of your ISKCON Ministry of Education is to empower and
support educational initiatives and collaborations among educators, educational institutions,
and professionals. The ministry is working toward establishing and monitoring high standards
of Vaiṣṇava education. We are working on setting up processes, supervising the development and
execution of educational plans, and ensuring that these structures are delivered to high standards.
Through various initiatives, the Ministry is working on understanding and fulfilling the educa-
tional needs of Kṛṣṇa conscious families. We aim to make every temple an educational center and
a center of excellence.
You described your own educational mission in a Melbourne room conversation on April 20,
1976: “I have already explained, that this is my mission, to educate people to understand himself.
They are under this misconception that, ‘Every one of us, we are this body.’ That is misconception.
You must know who is within the body. That is real education.”
The problem we have with the modern educational system is that it’s like craftsmanship. You
clearly explained this in a lecture given in Miami on February 25, 1975: “This is not education, that
we have manufactured nice car or nice machine. That is called craftsmanship. That is not educa-
tion. Just like one electrician, he knows how to join the two wire and bring current. In India it is
called mistri. Mistri means worker. Because he knows that technical art how to bring electric cur-
rent, that does not mean he is educated. Education is different thing.”
Modern educational systems implemented by governments around the world, despite incor-
porating all sorts of advancements, have not been able to resolve societal issues. As a result,
frustration continues to grow among both students and teachers. While progress has been made
in increasing school enrolment globally, the last decade has seen persistent and, in some cases,
widening inequities. Disparities in access to quality education based on socioeconomic status, sex,
geographic location (urban vs. rural), disabilities, and displacement due to conflict or disaster
remain significant.
You explained in a lecture on the Bhagavad-gītā (13.1–2), given in Miami on February 25, 1975:
“Education means brahma-vidyā: to understand what is that living force within this body that is
working, what is his position, constitutional position, how it is working, wherefrom it has come,
so many things. That is called brahma-jijñāsā, to inquire about the spirit. That is education. So
that education is lacking. Therefore there are so many problems at the present moment. The prob-
lems are created. Just like if I do not give food to the driver, and he is entrusted with a nice car,
and he is not happy on account of not being properly taken care of, then he must create disaster.
There will be car accident. So that is happening. Nobody is taking care of the driver of this body.
No education is there. They are simply trying to rectify the defects in the body.”
There has been a growing recognition of the increasing mental health challenges faced by
students, influenced by academic pressures, social media, and global anxieties. Educators also
experience significant stress and burnout. Education systems are challenged to provide adequate
mental health support and create supportive learning environments.
Śrīla Prabhupāda, your teachings emphasize the spiritual equality of all living beings, seeing
beyond material designations like race, gender, or socioeconomic status. This philosophical foun-
dation can drive initiatives to make education accessible to all, regardless of background, seeing
education as a fundamental right for the soul’s development.
Śrīla Prabhupāda’s ISKCON Ministry of Education is working to provide the world with a
genuine education system based on the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam and all seventy volumes of your books.
These books are highly regarded by scholars for their authority, depth, adherence to the original
Vedic scriptures, and clarity.
Your servant of the servant,
Satyamedhā Gaurāṅga Dāsa
Executive Director, ISKCON Ministry of Education