All Glories to our beloved Master Srila Prabhupada, whose many wonderful qualities are so vast that it is truly impossible to adequately praise him. Still, as disciples, it is our duty to attempt to do so.
Today I want to speak about Srila Prabhupada's quality of sacrifice--his
austerity and his willingness to undergo incredible difficulties for
spreading the mission of Lord Chaitanya. I also want to remind everyone of our need to cooperate, our need to try to work together even if there are minor disagreements. And most importantly, our duty as disciples to preserve what he has given us and thus hand it down as a ripen fruit to the next generation, without changes or interpretations or opinions.
austerity and his willingness to undergo incredible difficulties for
spreading the mission of Lord Chaitanya. I also want to remind everyone of our need to cooperate, our need to try to work together even if there are minor disagreements. And most importantly, our duty as disciples to preserve what he has given us and thus hand it down as a ripen fruit to the next generation, without changes or interpretations or opinions.
In early 1968, just after Srila Prabhupada's illness and his return from 6
months in India, we spent time in LA, SF, and then later NY, Boston, and
Montreal. At that time I was his secretary and cook. There were only a few temples, and only a handful of devotees. It was a special time, unmatched for its sweetness and spiritual tranquility. It was the time when the lotus was just beginning to open, and the fragrance of the Holy Name was wafting over the sleeping Western world.
Each day, when I would bring Srila Prabhupada's lunch plate, heaped high
with fragrant Basmati rice, three tasty sabjis--all Bengali style, steaming
dahl, and chappaties--always brought in one at a time--like round
piping-hot puff balls, Srila Prabhupada would exclaim:
"Ah! Just see! Before coming to your country (USA), everyone warned me:
'Oh Swamiji! You cannot go there to USA! They have no food for you--there they eat only meat and potatoes!'"
"So I said, what is that! I shall simply live on bread and potatoes!"
"And now, just see, Krishna has sent everything! So many nice
preparations, nice fruits, vegetables, milk, everything. Krishna is so
Kind!"
And Srila Prabhupada genuinely meant this. He REALLY did plan to survive on bread and potatoes. He even brought with him in his luggage some flat rice from India.
This is an example of Srila Prabhupada's incredible austerity, marked with determination and willingness to undergo any amount of personal inconvenience for the sake of pushing on this great movement of Lord Chaitanya. He struggled alone in NY for nearly a year, yet he never once lost faith in his Guru or Krishna, or in the mission he was sent to ignite. What an incredible example of faith and determination! If we had only a smidgen of such faith!
months in India, we spent time in LA, SF, and then later NY, Boston, and
Montreal. At that time I was his secretary and cook. There were only a few temples, and only a handful of devotees. It was a special time, unmatched for its sweetness and spiritual tranquility. It was the time when the lotus was just beginning to open, and the fragrance of the Holy Name was wafting over the sleeping Western world.
Each day, when I would bring Srila Prabhupada's lunch plate, heaped high
with fragrant Basmati rice, three tasty sabjis--all Bengali style, steaming
dahl, and chappaties--always brought in one at a time--like round
piping-hot puff balls, Srila Prabhupada would exclaim:
"Ah! Just see! Before coming to your country (USA), everyone warned me:
'Oh Swamiji! You cannot go there to USA! They have no food for you--there they eat only meat and potatoes!'"
"So I said, what is that! I shall simply live on bread and potatoes!"
"And now, just see, Krishna has sent everything! So many nice
preparations, nice fruits, vegetables, milk, everything. Krishna is so
Kind!"
And Srila Prabhupada genuinely meant this. He REALLY did plan to survive on bread and potatoes. He even brought with him in his luggage some flat rice from India.
This is an example of Srila Prabhupada's incredible austerity, marked with determination and willingness to undergo any amount of personal inconvenience for the sake of pushing on this great movement of Lord Chaitanya. He struggled alone in NY for nearly a year, yet he never once lost faith in his Guru or Krishna, or in the mission he was sent to ignite. What an incredible example of faith and determination! If we had only a smidgen of such faith!
Srila Prabhupada's greatest desire was, and is, for this movement to go
on--unchanged and uncorrupted, and unlimited by faddish politics and
opinions. Anyone can see that policies and politics change from day to
day, year to year, whether American politics, Indian politics, or GBC
politics. What is fashionable today may be questionable tomorrow.
We should not get swept up in the whirlwinds and dust storms of fads and ever-changing policies, whatever they may be. Instead, we should stick to the basic principles he gave us--his original instructions, his original books, and his original devotional mood. If we add or subtract, change or modify what he gave us, there can be no good result.
These are our Trinavartas, our whirlwinds that stir up so much dust that we can no longer see Krishna. And we can no longer see the glories, the
incredible perfection of our Gurudev, Srila Prabhupada. We may even become so blinded by the dust of aparadha even to the extent of criticizing or finding fault with him. For the disciple, this is the greatest tragedy.
on--unchanged and uncorrupted, and unlimited by faddish politics and
opinions. Anyone can see that policies and politics change from day to
day, year to year, whether American politics, Indian politics, or GBC
politics. What is fashionable today may be questionable tomorrow.
We should not get swept up in the whirlwinds and dust storms of fads and ever-changing policies, whatever they may be. Instead, we should stick to the basic principles he gave us--his original instructions, his original books, and his original devotional mood. If we add or subtract, change or modify what he gave us, there can be no good result.
These are our Trinavartas, our whirlwinds that stir up so much dust that we can no longer see Krishna. And we can no longer see the glories, the
incredible perfection of our Gurudev, Srila Prabhupada. We may even become so blinded by the dust of aparadha even to the extent of criticizing or finding fault with him. For the disciple, this is the greatest tragedy.
We should understand and appreciate the great austerities Srila Prabhupada undertook to spread this mission, and know that it is our duty to protect and preserve what he gave us. And we must know also that he is still watching over his Iskcon. It is like a small plant struggling forth to produce leaves and flowers, and sometimes enduring the attacks of spiders and insects intent upon destroying it. Srila Prabhupada is so
transcendentally powerful and competent to watch over this movement of Lord Chaitanya; he is, after all, "mor sena pati Bhakta", Sri Chaitanyadev's Sankirtan Army Commander-in-Chief. He still governs the actions and the directions, occasionally even correcting the misdirections, in order to channel his Iskcon toward future glories.
transcendentally powerful and competent to watch over this movement of Lord Chaitanya; he is, after all, "mor sena pati Bhakta", Sri Chaitanyadev's Sankirtan Army Commander-in-Chief. He still governs the actions and the directions, occasionally even correcting the misdirections, in order to channel his Iskcon toward future glories.
In 1976, Kusha and I traveled with Srila Prabhupada to Kumba Mela, and then on to Bhubaneshwar. There, while sitting outside his hut in Bhubaneshwar, Srila Prabhupada gazed out at the surrounding forest and freshly tilled farmland, where there were furroughs bearing small plants.
Contemplating this peaceful vision, only months before he left this world, he prophetically said:
"Now, the seeds have just been planted. In time they will grow to become
big trees. And then, in time, they will begin to bear fruit, and then--Ah!
Then you shall see what is this great movement of Lord Chaitanya!!"
And so, we have to hold our faith firm, and know well that he is guiding
the ship, our expert Captain, Srila Prabhupada. And that we are merely servants, seed-scattering servants, of this great movement of Lord Chaitanya.
Contemplating this peaceful vision, only months before he left this world, he prophetically said:
"Now, the seeds have just been planted. In time they will grow to become
big trees. And then, in time, they will begin to bear fruit, and then--Ah!
Then you shall see what is this great movement of Lord Chaitanya!!"
And so, we have to hold our faith firm, and know well that he is guiding
the ship, our expert Captain, Srila Prabhupada. And that we are merely servants, seed-scattering servants, of this great movement of Lord Chaitanya.
