## Chapter XVI Preachers May Wear Ordinary Dress ### 1. For introducing books and philosophy, a preacher may wear ordinary dress: 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?" Sometimes the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement sends its representative *sannyāsīs *to foreign countries where the *daṇḍa *and *kamaṇḍalu *are not very much appreciated. We send out preachers in ordinary dress to introduce our books and philosophy. Our only concern is to attract people to 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. *— *Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam *[[sb/7/13/9|7.13.9]]* ### 2. For preaching, devotees may assume Western dress: 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. The devotees have therefore inquired whether they can wear European and American dress before the general public. 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, and if one has to change into regular Western dress for this purpose, there should be no objection. *— Cc. *Madhya *[[cc/madhya/14/5|14.5]]*