# Preachers May Wear Ordinary Dress *For the purpose of preaching, devotees may adopt ordinary Western dress to more effectively spread Kṛṣṇa consciousness.* ← Back to [[wiki/compile/preaching-is-the-essence|Preaching Is the Essence]] --- ## Dress for Preaching ### For introducing books and philosophy, a preacher may wear ordinary dress ![[sb/7/13/9#purport|For paramahaṁsas, or sannyāsīs in the Vaiṣṇava order, preaching is the first duty. To preach, such sannyāsīs may accept the symbols of sannyāsa, such as the daṇḍa and kamaṇḍalu, or sometimes they may not...Such a sannyāsī is free to accept or reject the marks of sannyāsa. His only thought is "Where is there an opportunity to spread Kṛṣṇa consciousness?"...We may do this in the dress of sannyāsīs or in the regular dress of gentlemen. Our only concern is to spread interest in Kṛṣṇa consciousness]] —SB [[sb/7/13/9|7.13.9]] Purport --- ### For preaching, devotees may assume Western dress ![[cc/madhya/14/5#purport|Sometimes members of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness—especially in the Western countries—find it difficult to approach people to distribute books because people are unfamiliar with the traditional saffron robes of the devotees...From the instructions given to King Pratāparudra by Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya, we can understand that we may change our dress in any way to facilitate our service. When our members change their dress to meet the public or to introduce our books, they are not breaking the devotional principles. The real principle is to spread this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement]] —Cc. [[cc/madhya/14/5|Madhya 14.5]] Purport