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Transcriptions of the Pushya Abhisheka Festival Host (Indian man): …opportunity to welcome all the devotees for this most auspicious occasion of Sri Krishna Pusya Abhisheka. I think already we are having a continuous festival since a week, completely drowning in the nectarean ocean of Prabhupada-katha for the last one week, and today we are going to have triple abhisheka. After having Prabhupada's katha abhisheka in the last week, even before Krishna gets His abhisheka of flowers I think we are getting two more abhishekas, one of the Holy Name and one of the association of wonderful disciples, glorious disciples of Srila Prabhupada who are like a garland of flowers sitting here. I was thinking this is practically the first time we have seen so many of Srila Prabhupada disciples coming at one time and simultaneously gathered here. So I would briefly like to introduce. I don't think they need introduction, for the last one week you have been hearing from them. But still for benefit of some people who have come new and for my own purification, I would like to just state their names and we would like to welcome them. We have all heard in the last few days His Grace Brahmananda prabhu, His Grace Syamasundara prabhu, His Grace Naranarayana prabhu, and His Holiness Devamrta Swami Maharaja, and His Grace Srutakirti prabhu, and Sacinandana Maharaja, His Holiness Candramauli Swami Maharaja, Yadubara prabhu and Her Grace Visakha mataji, Matsyavatara prabhu, His Grace Durgam prabhu, [unclear]-priya Maharaja who has just now arrived, Radhakunda prabhu, and we already have another Prabhupada disciple, Bhumna prabhu and Nagari mataji, and His Grace Kratu prabhu, Mahamana prabhu, and many others whom I am not able to name. Please forgive me if I am not able to name everyone, but sincerely we would like to welcome all of them. So let us express our gratitude to all of them for coming here and showering their blessings by their presence by loudly chanting. Audience: Haribol! Haribol! Haribol! Host: I would kindly request His Grace Brahmananda prabhu, His Grace Syamasundara prabhu, Naranarayana prabhu, and maybe if time permits we are going further, we'll have His Grace Yadubara prabhu and Visakha mataji also to maybe speak a few words about Srila Prabhupada's mercy on us. They can speak a few words maybe, and also Srutakirti prabhu. Brahmananda: Nama om visnu-padaya krsna-presthaya bhu-tale, srimate bhaktivedanta-svamin iti namine. Namas te sarasvate deve gaura-vani-pracarine, nirvisesa-sunyavadi-pascatya-desa-tarine. So Srila Prabhupada, when he brought us here to India, he had a term for…I'm looking out today, I'm seeing all these very happy, bright, brown faces and I'm thinking what Srila Prabhupada, when we came here, what he called us. You may know. What did Prabhupada call us? Dancing white elephants. Now, I did some research about white elephants, what that means, and I found out the term comes actually from Thailand where they have many elephants there and every once in a while there is an albino is born, a white elephant. So when a white elephant is born, it's considered very special and the white elephant is treated very special, not like the other elephants. He's pampered, he's kept very nicely. The thing is, of course, elephants are used to work. In the logging industry, the elephants pull the logs and push them and they work very hard. But the white elephant, they don't work, they don't put him to work. They just keep him. So the thing is that it's very expensive to maintain the white elephant. He has to be given special treatment and all kinds of facilities and so on, whereas the other elephants don't have this. The other elephants, all they do is work. But the thing is, the white elephant doesn't produce anything. The white elephant is actually useless, he cannot work, he's just maintained. So what they do with the white elephant, they teach him some tricks, to perform something, they make some show and they're entertained. They find it very entertaining to see the white elephant dancing. The black elephant, nobody cares to see the black elephant dance; but the white elephant, oh, that's very good. But the problem is that the white elephant can't do anything else. So it's a very apt description, I think, when we came to India. We could not do anything. Sometimes we thought we were maybe doing something, then Prabhupada had to remind us actually he was doing everything. Actually Prabhupada had to manage everything, every last detail, to how to distribute prasadam. Just like Kausalya was saying, Prabhupada had to teach us how to peel a banana, how to eat the proper way and wash and so many things. So Prabhupada had to micro-manage everything. And why? Just so the white elephants could attract the brown elephants now. But this was Prabhupada's mission. When he came to India…Prabhupada went to America in 1965-66, then he came to India in 1971. When Prabhupada came to India in 1971, then he made India his base, he stayed in India. From India, then he would go out and visit the West. But he stayed from 1971 all the way through in India was his base. So the mission was to have the Indian people become devotees. When Prabhupada was here, he used to tell everyone, "I am the only Indian who is practicing Krishna consciousness," and it was a fact. He said, "Look what I have done, I am the only Indian." He used to tell the other Indians, "If you join, how much we can do." So I'm very happy today to see so many happy, bright, enthusiastic faces here fulfilling Prabhupada's desire. Thank you very much. Hare Krishna. Syamasundara: Yes, seeing this sea of tilaks is almost unimaginable. When we first came to India, we couldn't find even one Vaisnava. We went all over town looking. There was Shiva people, Ganesha people, all these gods, demigods everywhere, sadhus everywhere, but no Vaisnavas, where are they? We were very surprised not to see any Vaisnavas. Now there are seas of Vaisnavas in Bombay. And looking around, seeing my godbrothers here, many I haven't seen for 30 years, is the most enlivening experience I can remember in a long time. How can you look up and see them and not think that we're back in 1970 right now and Prabhupada is somewhere around here, probably putting on his tilak, getting dressed, and he'll be down in a few moments. It's so easy to feel Prabhupada's presence that way, by seeing the boys and girls…they're still boys and girls…who were with him at the time. He'll come down and we'll all bow down and he'll walk through, everyone will get out of the way. And his servant will come along behind him with his tape recorder and his little white bag, and he'll sit down over there. Oh, and the feeling! Everyone will get up and feel, "Ah, now the show begins," because Prabhupada, whatever he would say, and you could never anticipate what he would say, but whatever it was was going to just be marvelous, and you would forget everything else and just listen to Prabhupada's every word. You never even knew what the next word would be from Prabhupada's mouth. His fascinating descriptions, his knowledge of the Vedas, his ability to bring in every factor around him from the news, from the things going on in the street, from the people in the room, he would absorb all these things and bring them back out in his talks to us. Srila Prabhupada is the center of our lives in this respect, and to remember him in this way is a marvelous…not only a marvelous opportunity, but a chance for rejuvenating, rekindling even more our love for Krishna in remembering Srila Prabhupada. Prabhupada came to India with a group of people who had no knowledge whatsoever of how things were in India. In the West, Prabhupada was a little bit more retired from doing active things. He allowed us to do most of the work there because we knew what to do in our own society. Prabhupada spent a lot of time behind the scenes. There weren't people's houses where he went every day for programs. There were no Indian people even living in America in those days. We had no knowledge what is India. There were no pictures, no documentaries on television, no books about India. We didn't even have pictures of Krishna, we didn't even know really what Krishna looked like. All we had was Srila Prabhupada. So when he brought us to India, he could see that we were a little lost here and he became the commander, he took over, he accepted all the duties. From a semi-retired point of view of activity, suddenly to the commanding activity. He made up all the programs, he directed all the managers, he selected each of us to do certain jobs and said, "Go do this." So the importance of establishing Krishna consciousness in India began to grow in Prabhupada's mind once he got started here. I don't think he had a big plan when he arrived here. None of us, there were no plans, there was no idea what we would even do. These things gradually took root, and the plan unfolded. Prabhupada accepted whatever happened as Krishna's divine inspiration. Life members, he created that program. Late one night he created that program in his mind and told us about it the next morning, had it all planned out over several sheets of paper, how much we should charge, what we should offer them, what we should say to each person, practically he wrote the script. But as each person came into his room, a new person, or a new event happened, he saw that as Krishna's pushing us that direction somehow or other. Prabhupada was so active. Prabhupada is here in Bombay today, he's an active Prabhupada, he's not a quiet Prabhupada sitting in his room somewhere waiting for something to happen. He's moving around the building somewhere checking something out, checking on the construction downstairs, even how much they're being paid and whether they're doing the proper work. When he comes, he will lecture to us about something energetic and spreading this movement, how we can spread this movement a little bit more doing something. This is Prabhupada in Bombay - very, very energetic and active at all times here. He took whatever came in the door to be the inspiration for the next step. "Oh, let's go to Gorakhpur. Let's go to Surat. Oh, here's so-and-so, he's invited us to Allahabad, let us have a huge pandal there. Brahmananda, you…Tamal, you get the people together, the money together, let's do it, go." And within three, four days, off we go. I'm so happy to see that that spirit that Prabhupada planted here is still alive and well in Bombay. You're all so energetic and full of wanting to do big things for Prabhupada here. This is Bombay's special gift from Prabhupada; and from what I'm seeing, it's not going to end here. It's going to grow and grow and grow. Prabhupada always saw that things grew hyperbolically, not arithmetically little by little they grew. When they grew, they grew in doubles - two times two is four, four times four is sixteen, sixteen times sixteen is…it goes like this. So we're at about the two times two stage still, but next is four times four. So many of us senior devotees, older people now, we've been out in the world since Prabhupada left us and we've learned a lot. We've learned what a nasty, horrible place it is. We've learned, I think, at least I have deeply realized that everything Prabhupada told me was the absolute truth. There's no more attraction, no more fantasies for me in the material world. So I'm seeing my godbrothers and sisters, older ones, also have done a lot of this realization, and we're all coming together back again now to recommit ourselves in some ways to picking up where we left off and trying to guide perhaps more than actively do things, but guide the younger energies toward some larger expansion of Krishna's movement. Not only here but all over the world again, this can be easily done. We all have experience now in our professional fields. Many of us have gone out and become professionals. We have experience with making money, spending money now. We didn't know anything when we were with Prabhupada as far as practical work. These can all be utilized now. So I urge my godbrothers and sisters to please help Prabhupada rejuvenate some of the things that he taught us and led us toward. Let's see them realized, at least before we leave these bodies. Host: His Grace Srutakirti prabhu has immense amount of Prabhupada-katha. In fact, his book is coming out, we heard a bit of it in Vrindavan, in our Vrindavan yatra. So I request him also to speak. Srutakirti: Hare Krishna. Nama om visnu-padaya krsna-presthaya bhu-tale, srimate bhaktivedanta-svamin iti namine. Namas te sarasvate deve gaura-vani-pracarine, nirvisesa-sunyavadi-pascatya-desa-tarine. I became Srila Prabhupada's servant in 1972 and at that time Syamasundara was Prabhupada's secretary, and it is quite amazing that we practically hadn't seen each other until just a few months ago in Bhaktivedanta Manor. So it was 30 years, and we have both of us spent much time outside the shelter of ISKCON society I think. Myself, I've been raising a family, three children, a wife. Now my wife is temple president in Hawaii for the last year. Many of you met her here, I think, maybe a month or so ago, Kusa-devi. Twenty-five years ago I was temple president there, now she is temple president there. So it's truly amazing to see Srila Prabhupada and how he works and to see how he never lets you go, you do a little service for Srila Prabhupada. I feel that even when he was present here, I spent over two years with him and all I saw was that basically I just sat around and waited for him to ring the bell. And I saw so many of my godbrothers and godsisters as we traveled around the world. I went around the world with him five times and all I saw was how hard everyone was working and how little I was doing, but I was doing it for the right person. It was Srila Prabhupada's mercy upon me. It's also very interesting, which many of you also know, Kirtanananda Maharaja, it was by his mercy that I became Srila Prabhupada's servant back in 1972 in New Vrindavan. I came to the movement in 1971, and I know he immediately saw that I had a special quality, nice service quality, personal service, and he also knew that…coming back in the very beginning, he knew that Prabhupada's servant changed quite frequently, and from the beginning he was training me up to become Prabhupada's servant. He had me become his personal servant, and then he put me in the kitchen in New Vrindavan to learn how to cook so that I could for Srila Prabhupada. Every now and then he would ask me to give him massage, and I would always say no. I just didn't want to do that. So the very first thing when I entered Prabhupada's room the first day as his servant, Kirtanananda said to Prabhupada, "Srutakirti can cook very nicely," and Prabhupada said, "That's good." And then he said, "But he doesn't know how to massage," because I would never massage him, and Prabhupada said, "Anyone can massage." So he taught me while I was with him over the next several months how to do things how he liked it. So in that way I served Srila Prabhupada, just took care of his body. As I said, I was Prabhupada's pujari and it was the most wonderful service, taking care of Srila Prabhupada's body like that. He asked me to tell a massage story, my favorite massage story. There's so many, I could talk about massage for a few hours but we won't do that today. Maharaja will have to invite me back here and I can speak for a few days sometime. But of all the things I did, of course, massaging Srila Prabhupada was my favorite activity. It's when I felt more than anything that he really belonged to me, day after day as I got to massage his body, always starting with his head, massaging with sandalwood oil. Prabhupada said, of course, that was cooling. You wanted to keep Prabhupada…like he told that woman in London, it was a reporter. She had on a miniskirt, and what did she say to Prabhupada? Devotee: She was criticizing our movement. Srutakirti: Yeah, she said, "Why do you shave…" Devotee: Why do you have bald head? Srutakirti: And he said, "Better have cool head and warm…" Devotee: Legs. Srutakirti: Yeah, she had bare legs. So he said you should have a cool head and warm legs because she, of course, had the opposite, she had cool legs, and Prabhupada made her laugh. So he could touch anyone, Prabhupada had that ability. He also said to Nitai once on the airplane when there was a Time magazine, on the cover…this was the height in the West, especially in America, of women's liberation, so that's what it said on there, "Women's liberation" it said on the Time magazine. Prabhupada nudged his disciple next to him, Nitai dasa, and said, "You cut one joke with her." It was a stewardess who was walking back and forth. He said, "Tell her if she wants to be liberated, tell her shave her head." She walked back again and Nitai wouldn't say anything, he was embarrassed, and Prabhupada kept nudging and said, "Tell her, shave her head if she wants to be liberated. She wants to be like us, liberated, she can shave her head." So sometimes Prabhupada would put you in these situations. But Prabhupada had incredible abilities. Today has just been another wonderful day here. Over the last week, every day it seems to get sweeter and sweeter. Today we did what I would have considered normally the most horrible thing, I went to the hospital. To me, going to the hospital is…one of the devotees said, "Is this your first time at Bhaktivedanta Hospital?" I said, "This is my first time at a hospital." Just the idea of touching anything in a hospital, to me, it scares me because it's filled with germs. But somehow or other, I went through so many tests today and did so much, but I never felt like I was in a hospital. I felt like I was in a temple and that devotees were taking care of me, as they've been taking care of me day after day. I see Prabhupada here everywhere. Especially Radhanatha Maharaja has been so sweet, and I see how he has imbibed so much of Srila Prabhupada's qualities. Srila Prabhupada always seemed to have time for everyone. Each and every one of his disciples, when they were around him, he was managing an international society but then he could just sit down and talk with you sometimes for an hour, two hours or more like there was nothing else to do. And it was this quality from the very beginning with his earliest disciples that made them addicted to Srila Prabhupada, addicted in love. There's one song, "Addicted to Love." We were very much addicted in love with Srila Prabhupada because he loved us, each and every one of us, so much. In 1996, which was after almost 15 years or so of being very much on the peripheral of the ISKCON society, I started to come back and Prabhupada just grabbed me. I just started to speak about him a little bit at 26 Second Avenue. It was my first time at 26 Second Avenue, it was 1996, Centennial year, and one of the people in the audience, they were a disciple of one of my godbrothers, and they asked a question which I could tell was…they wanted to hear a certain response very much appreciating their own spiritual master and they said, "Did Prabhupada treat anyone special, any of his disciples special?" And I thought very quickly…not so quickly, after a few moments I thought and I said, "Yes, all of them," because each and every one of us felt like that. We felt special when we were with Prabhupada, that he just loved me so much, and he did treat each and every one of us special. That's Krishna consciousness, and that's a devotee, that's a Vaisnava, the pure devotee, because they see that Krishna, that spark of splendor in each and every person. So whoever was…just like Krishna says, it says Krishna is impartial but He's partial to his devotee, and it was like that with Prabhupada. The more you loved Prabhupada, the more love Prabhupada gave you. And once you did something for him, he just never forgot it, and that's how I feel. This ties in with how Srila Prabhupada never forgets and is always giving blessings. So it was in Bhaktivedanta Manor, and I had been Prabhupada's disciple for over a year. So I felt very comfortable as Prabhupada's servant. I'm sorry, I was his servant, his personal servant for over a year. And it's part of what made the service nice because I was never around agitating him in any way, I never had any specific questions for him or difficulties to trouble him with, and I did most of my service with him not having to ask me, "Do this, do this." I always knew what was to be done. Prabhupada said, "This is first-class servant. He does it without being asked. Second-class…" [break] At Bhaktivedanta Manor, Prabhupada had very wonderful quarters there that, of course, George Harrison had purchased for the devotees. His room overlooked a few acres of nice land and trees, and Prabhupada would take his massage right in front of the windows, the stained glass windows there. And it was very simple. Another thing, Prabhupada lived so simply. Everything he did for himself, it was very, very simple. He just put on his 10-rupee gamsha and sat on his 10-rupee mat and got massage, mustard oil on his whole body and on his head sandalwood oil, just for the head. He had always told me…he told me once or twice, he would always remind you…when you massage, you put the cap back on the bottle, you must because it could fall over. So now I had been with Prabhupada a long time, I knew what I was doing. These things, sometimes you would think you know what you're doing. So I massaged his head very vigorously and then started massaging his back with mustard oil, rubbing hard. Prabhupada would always say, "You can massage my back as hard as you want." I was 20 years old, and I felt quite strong. So sometimes I would try to see that there must be a point where Prabhupada would have to say, "Well, that's hard enough," or "That's a little too hard." So a few times I would massage Prabhupada's back so hard, waiting for him to say, "No, OK, that's hard enough," but he never ever said it. And, I mean, I really try, I guess, in a way to defeat his request, I was a rascal in some respects. So I would massage harder and harder, and I would be pushing into his back and pushing and rubbing with my hands; and Prabhupada would sit there completely relaxed as I massaged him, and you couldn't move him. Prabhupada was about so big and maybe weighed 120 lbs., whatever, but you would think he was basically light. Of course, he was the guru, he was actually very heavy, and no matter how hard I massaged, I could not move his back at all, nor did he have to apply any pressure. You know, sometimes if you happen to get massage, sometimes you push in so that you can receive and take all that energy. But Prabhupada would just sit there like nothing at all was happening and I'm pushing and pushing, and he would also have his own way of dealing with me. He would just let me massage his back for a half hour, an hour, an hour-and-a-half, just to show me who was in charge. He would defeat, yes. Actually one time he said to me, "Massage is passive wrestling." He said, "You are doing all the work, but I am getting all the benefit." So he would let me work out all that youthful energy I had, and it really was quite mystical how you couldn't move him in any way during massage. So anyway, that particular day I got up from behind his back and went to the side; and when I moved to the side, of course, I knocked the bottle of mustard oil over. The cap wasn't on the bottle. So as soon as I did it…and the floor was a wooden floor like this, a beautiful varnished wooden floor…as soon as I did it, Prabhupada screamed at me and he said, "You fool!" He said, "You'll be intelligent when you're 80!" And then he said, "Go get a container and come right back here." He said, "You fool," he kept saying "you fool." That was the other term…usually Prabhupada, when he'd become angry with me, there were a few words. One was "you're a big fool," the other was "you're a mleccha." I was very often called a mleccha, but this time I was a fool. He said, "Come back with a container," and he just sat there silent. After that he became silent. So I ran out and I came back with a little stainless steel katuri and he said, "All right, come here." We both sat down on the floor and Prabhupada said, "Do like me," and he reached down with his fingers and started taking the oil up on his hand and scraping it into the katuri. So the two of us were doing this for five minutes as we got every last drop of oil up off of the floor and into this katuri and he's not saying anything to me, which was worse than yelling at you. At least then he cared enough to yell. When he didn't say anything, then you knew he was just really angry, at least I thought he was so angry that he wouldn't even look at me. So we're scraping. So we put about so much oil in and then he just looked at me and he said, "Now use that oil for the rest of the massage." This was also…so many lessons Prabhupada was always…Prabhupada never wasted anything, never, because everything was Krishna, everything belonged to Krishna and it was not to be wasted, whatever was to be used in Krishna's service. Of course, us, we would have gotten…our American way would be to do get a wash cloth from somewhere and just clean it all up and get another bottle of oil. We were always wasting. Prabhupada had so many…there are so many people here to talk, I don't want to monopolize this. I'm sorry, Guru Kripa. So then I continued the massage with the oil that was in there and I was thinking, "What can I say?" It was another thing in my relationship with Prabhupada, I always tried to…I had to say something, I had to break the mood, and I had to think of something witty to say and I thought that would make everything better. So it took me about 15 minutes, and I kept thinking and going over and over. So finally I said to Prabhupada, "Thank you, Prabhupada, I thought it would take a lot longer than that for me to become intelligent." So immediately Prabhupada started laughing and laughing and laughing and slapping his leg, and then he said, "Yes. When we were young, we would always say that. Whenever someone did something foolish, we would always say, 'You'll be intelligent when you're 80.'" So I considered it a great blessing and that I just have to live 29 more years, and then I'll become intelligent and get Srila Prabhupada's mercy. So I'll stop here, let my godbrothers speak. Hare Krishna. Host: His Grace Srutakirti prabhu ki jaya! Thank you, prabhuji. I request Guru Kripa prabhu. We would like to welcome a few more showers of petal that have arrived. His Grace Guru Kripa prabhu, His Grace Madhudvisa prabhu, Dinabandhu prabhu, Purnaprajna prabhu, others, we would like to welcome them to Radha-Gopinath Mandir. Discussing Srila Prabhupada's mercy on us, so you can speak a few words. Guru Kripa: Om ajnana-timirandhasya jnananjana-salakaya, caksur umilitam yena tasmai sri-gurave namah. [chants several Sanskrit slokas] Sri-krsna-caitanya prabhu nityananda sri-advaita gadadhara srivasadi-gaura-bhakta-vrnda. Hare Krsna Hare Krsna, Krsna Krsna Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama Hare Hare. Hare Krsna Hare Krsna, Krsna Krsna Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama Hare Hare. Vancha-kalpatarubhyas ca krpa-sindhubhya eva ca, patitanam pavanebhyo vaisnavebhyo namo namah. Thank you very much for coming today. We are very honored and greatly satisfied to see so many people are human beings. I didn't know so many human beings existed in the world. Generally the population is dogs and hogs, camel, ass. This is the mentality. Krsna says, manusyanam sahasresu kascid yatati siddhaye, yatatam api siddhanam kascin mam vetti tattvatah. The tattva. Who wants tattva? Who wants to know what is the tattva? Tattva implies the absolute truth. There are different tattvas, but this absolute tattva, which is Krishna tattva, this is not an interest for most people. Out of so many thousands amongst men, most men they are only trying to extinguish the fire in their belly. They are running here and there with actual no purpose, no thought. They don't sit to think, "What is my life for?" Therefore, this type of population, for them, they have no need for a guru. A guru is required when one, tattva-darsinah, one wants to see the truth himself. One doesn't go to the guru just to say, "Hey, guru, I want to be in the club also. They are doing it, I will do it." No, one should approach a guru, tad viddhi pranipatena pariprasnena sevaya, upadeksyanti te jnanam, for jnanam, for knowledge of God, one should feel a need for that. He should see that this world is an empty place, useless, it is all a show, everything is a show. There is no substance to this world. Unless Krishna is being served, there is no substance. Every living creature is selfish. Right from the tree to the ant to the human being, everything is a selfish being. Everybody is saying, "Me, me, me, me, me, give me." That is why this creation as manifested from the Lord's external potency, to give a chance to these bewildered jivas to chase this illusion that "I am the center. Come serve me. Me, me, me." Everybody when they get together, all they want to talk about is me. Aham mameti, I am this body, this is my property. This type of consciousness, this is maya-sukha, illusion, happiness of illusion, no substance, waste of time. So we go to the guru. What for? To hear what is the truth. We are all examples of this. Everybody here, due to this parampara system which has come through Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu down through the Six Goswamis, through Bhaktivinode Thakura, down to Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Thakura, to Srila Prabhupada, and now it is coming through his disciples, we are only speaking the same truth: jivera svarupa haya nitya-krsna-dasa, krsnera tatastha-sakti bhedabheda-prakasa. This is the fact, that we are marginal potency and due to our own choice, we have become covered and we have forgotten that the Vaikuntha place exists. There are two factors in bhakti-yoga that has to have a solid conviction. The first factor is that my guru does not belong to this world. He is not a product of this place, he has nothing to do here, he is only here to serve me. The meaning of guru means the biggest servant. He is thinking, the actual guru is only thinking, "I am everybody's servant, they are all my gurus." He is never thinking aham guru, he is thinking, "I am the servant of all of my gurus. They have all come here, and I am serving them." So the guru is not from this world, and that place, back to Godhead, back to home, Krishna Loka, that place is real. It is not a talk-about place. It is existing right now, it will exist forever. Just as the sun is shining every second. When it moves away from India, it is shining in China, then it is shining in the northern and western hemisphere, it is always shining. That is left here by Krishna to remind us of that eternal dham, that brahmajyoti which is sustaining in the spiritual world. So all of this nitya-lila, nama, this thing is actual fact, it is a real thing. Now, how I may know this? This may be known by namam, harinama-mahamantra. This is what guru has come to give. He gave the gift, "Take this nama, take holy name," first thing. Srila Prabhupada, you take initiation, "Take this bead, chant Hare Krsna Hare Krsna." This is what he gave. Srila Prabhupada has come to give Krsna. He said, "Take Him. Do you want Him? Up to you. I give you a chance." How far do you want to go in this ocean of transcendental knowledge and bliss? Up to you. What is your strength to swim in that ocean? You want to go to Satyaloka, Tapaloka, what loka do you want to go in? You may stop along the way and see My varieties, the Lord's varieties, take your pick. How far do you want to go? So Srila Prabhupada has come, first nama srestha manu mapi saci-putra, then he is coming to give us the lotus feet of Caitanya Mahaprabhu. These were his treasures, this is what he was meditating on. Mahaprabhoh kirtana-nrtya-gita. He is always chanting the glories of Caitanya Mahaprabhu, always meditating on Him, seeing His pastimes, divine pastimes. Nama srestha manu manpi saci-putra matra svarupam rupam. Rupa Goswami, Sanatana Goswami. There is a prayer, Rupa Goswami, he is praying to Sanatana Goswami that "Varieties of nectars that come from your lotus feet I cannot even relish them all." Do we have this realization? How far have we tasted these things? Why are we satisfied to stay on the little neophyte platform? Guru has all of this to give. Prabhupada can give us all of these things. [slokas] Then Radharani's mercy, Jamuna's mercy, Krishna's mercy, have we tasted this? Has it overwhelmed us? Has it shook us to the core and destroyed our ignorance? This is Srila Prabhupada. This is what he has come to give us, and he is only hoping to "please accept my blessings." This is his blessings, not material well-being. This is a byproduct. If we are happy with being kept like a dog in a comfortable position, we may go on life after life. Krishna will always take care of that. But we can have all the way, [sloka]. Therefore, I meditate and bow down to Srila Prabhupada's feet, because this is what he has come to give us, these things. Nama, Holy Name, sarva-namam. Not 16 rounds, the whole thing, the whole ball of wax, take the whole thing. Krishna. Krishna is nondifferent than His name, in Kali-yuga we worship Nama Prabhu, we worship the Holy Name of Krishna. We cannot see Krishna, but we can worship His name. [sloka] The Vedas declare it, they scream it. Nothing will destroy your parabda, who can change the way they are? Not even meditation on Brahman, direct experience of Brahman. Brahman saksat, direct experiencing of Brahman will not do it, but harinama will do. So this namam Prabhupada has given, he is full of that name, he has only come to give us that name. So today I will finish here. I want to pay my dandavats to everybody and hope you bless me that one lifetime I may become actual servant. But I do know the truth, that this is what he has come and he expects us to have it and to distribute it, and the next lifetime we will all be in Mahaprabhu's lila. That is what guru has come to prepare us for. He has come to prepare us for the next lila with Mahaprabhu. This isn't the end of the line. No, we will be with Mahaprabhu, we will see Him dance and Nityananda dance, and Haridasa Thakura, we will see all of them, and we will experience divine love, and then we will be satisfied and leave this place of illusion and place of the rascals, mudhas. Let all the mudhas have it, we don't want nothing to do with it. Haribol. Host: His Grace Guru Kripa prabhu ki jaya! Thank you, prabhuji, for sharing with us the true meaning and essence of guru-kripa being the Holy Name to perfect our lives. Now I request Her Grace Visakha mataji to share with us the mercy of Srila Prabhupada. Visakha: Nama om visnu-padaya krsna-presthaya bhu-tale, srimate bhaktivedanta-svamin iti namine. Namas te sarasvate deve gaura-vani-pracarine, nirvisesa-sunyavadi-pascatya-desa-tarine. We lived…my husband and I and the other devotees inhabited the Juhu property. In our case, we were there for about two-and-a-half years, and I made it a point during that time that every morning I would go on a walk with Srila Prabhupada on Juhu Beach. And he very kindly, out of his mercy, he allowed me to accompany him and the group of devotees. So he would leave just before it got light, and I would sit waiting for him. One morning I was sitting on a landing, and he came so quietly that I didn't hear him. I was chanting my japa, and he passed in front of me. Had I reached out my hand I could have touched him, he was so close, and as he passed he said, "Thank you very much." Simply I was chanting japa, and Srila Prabhupada thanked me. So I can say with confidence that he would thank each and every one of you for chanting japa, for chanting in kirtan, for chanting in this wonderful assembly of Vaisnavas and Vaisnavis. Then on this morning walk we would also be accompanied by one Dr. Patel and a group of his friends, and he had an unusual relationship with Prabhupada. Sometimes he would argue with Prabhupada. He was very familiar with Bhagavad-gita, and he had his own understanding of Bhagavad-gita which was not always Bhagavad-gita As It Is. He also tried to render some service on Hare Krishna Land. One morning he was telling Prabhupada, "Oh, I have served the Sunday feast and I also served your disciples, and I noticed that when they honor the prasada they would mix the sweets with the sour, the sweet and the sour with the salty, they were not taking this prasadam in the proper way." He was a little critical because we lacked training. So Prabhupada's response was, "Oh, they are paramahamsas. They can eat in any way." So Prabhupada defended us, although to us personally he would try to correct us and train us. When we were attacked in this way or criticized in this way, he would be defensive and stand up for us. Also, Dr. Patel, there was one extraordinary exchange on Juhu Beach where Dr. Patel took a very strong stand that he would have nothing to do with meat-eaters, meat-eaters were horrendous to him, and Prabhupada did not accept that. He said that in the Vedas there is also accommodation for those who eat meat, that they are instructed they take a useless animal like a goat and on a dark moon night once a month they can say special mantras and they whisper into the ear of the goat, "Now I am killing you, in a future birth you will be able to kill me," like this. And in this way, Dr. Patel was defeated; but all of us there were astonished at the strength of Prabhupada's conviction in the sastra. It really reached into our hearts and increased our faith enormously also in the sastra. Then when the conversation got too heated, it happened morning after morning after morning, and Dr. Patel had some perhaps Mayavadi tendencies. So Prabhupada, once he instructed his devotees, "You bring the Krsna book on the morning walk," and he would have a devotee read from the Krsna book the pastimes of the Lord while we walked down the beach and back, and in this way we couldn't converse. So after just one or two mornings of this reading the Krsna book, Dr. Patel and his friends stopped coming. So it was wonderful to witness these various ways Prabhupada dealt with these varieties of individuals. And since the devotees were new in India, it was a new culture, we weren't as solid in our sadhana as perhaps we should have been. One morning Prabhupada came back from the walk and sat on the vyasasana in the permanent pandal we had, and he looked around and noted how many devotees were not there and under his breath he said, "Do you all want to become rats again?" So that was a comment that one doesn't forget. Perhaps he was referring to the rat that became a lion and then again was turned into a rat by the sage. So we were asked to speak on Srila Prabhupada's mercy, and Srila Prabhupada's mercy is not in the past only. It is in the present and it will be in the future, and his mercy is visible in the beautiful faces of the devotees here tonight. His mercy is there that we're chanting the Holy Names of Krishna. They're there in the beautiful forms of Sri Sri Radha-Gopinatha. His mercy is there that we may understand what is to be done, what is not to be done in Krishna consciousness, what is favorable for our advancement and what is unfavorable, and in all the varieties of instructions he has given there. It's there in the enthusiasm of the devotees and how our enthusiasm grows in association. I just saw when I came in the kadamba tree. How long ago was that kadamba tree planted? One-and-a-half years and it has grown so much, I was so inspired. So by enthusiasm and confidence and conviction, these are the things that will water our creeper just as the water is there for the kadamba tree and the soil and the light. So I can only thank you for inspiring me and inspiring all of us. We're grateful to be here, and it is certainly Prabhupada's mercy that we are here together with you. Hare Krishna. Host: Her Grace Visakha mataji ki jaya! Thank you, mataji. I have a feeling that anyone who has attended this program here today and witnessed, beheld with their eyes the galaxy of Vaisnavas will never become a rat again. Punar musika bhava. Thank you, mataji. So we already received Prabhupada's mercy in so many wonderful ways. Now I request His Grace Naranarayana prabhu to share his realization with us. Naranarayana: Hare Krishna. Saksad-dharitvena samasta-sastrair, uktas tatha bhavyata eva sadbhih, kintu prabhor yah priya eva tasya, vande guroh sri-caranaravindam. From that Sri Visvanatha Cakravarti is trembling in vibration in ecstasy in describing the glory of the spiritual master. In a lecture, Srila Prabhupada has actually said that that verse is translated variously, but the actual translation that Prabhupada wanted in this lecture to convey, he said when you first see the spiritual master, the paramahamsa, samsara-davanala-lidha-loka, when you first see him, you think that you are seeing Krishna because that effulgence, that absolute effulgence of Krishna is there. But upon closer scrutiny, upon closer observation, you see this is not Krishna Himself but the most confidential servant of Krishna. And because of that, we can see that just as there is no way to…Ananta Sesa has got hundreds of heads and yet no head is repeating any word or any glorification of any other head, and none of the two heads repeat what the other heads are saying eternally. So we can see that it is not possible at all to glorify the spiritual master too much. One may misidentify the spiritual master, or one may underestimate the spiritual master; but when one has determined saksad-dharitvena samasta-sastrair, then one can praise him beyond limit and imagination. Srila Prabhupada…I came to India thinking there were going to be maharajas and elephants, just like Syamasundara, we didn't know what to expect. So it wasn't until I looked in the mirror that I saw who the elephant actually was. But leaving that elephant idea aside, I'd like to go to the idea that Prabhupada called us the relationship between the blind man and the lame man. Indian culture, Indian history, Indian tradition is the greatest and most glorious history on the face of the earth in recorded history, which in the case of the sastras goes back for millions and millions of years and does not even limit itself to planet earth. In an e-mail this morning, someone had said that Ayurveda was a New Age medicine; and I wrote back saying you may perceive it that way from the West, but actually this so-called New Age medicine, Indian culture ended…the varnasrama-dharma in its glory ended 5,000 years ago, which is 1,000 years before the recorded history of the West began. So I want to honor and acknowledge each and every one of you from India for having given us the opportunity to associate with you, to absorb your culture, and I want to thank you for having given us the crown jewel of your Vedic culture, which is Srila Prabhupada. I want to thank you for that. Now, the blind man and the lame man means in the West we have somehow managed to develop all sorts of energy without developing any intelligence whatsoever. However, in India, everyone has managed to develop a great deal of intelligence. So this combination is very powerful for the transformation of the world. Srila Prabhupada, who is a paramahamsa, who descended from the spiritual sky, who brought his melodies…he said these are Vaikuntha melodies. If we want to know how do they chant in Krishna Loka, it's not a Marathi melody, it's not a Gujarati melody, it's not a Punjabi melody or a Bengali melody or a South Indian melody or a Tamil melody. These are Vaikuntha melodies. So if you want to know what is it like in Krishna Loka, listen to Prabhupada chanting because that's where he's situated, he's situated in Krishna Loka. So between all of us, now we can begin as we become…my son said, "Well, you're becoming more mature with age." I said, "Yeah, maturity means you're looking death in the eye." That's what happens. You get older, you suddenly realize your mortality, and it sobers you up enough to do some of the useful things that you could have done in your youth. But anyhow, now that we are at this stage, I really want to appreciate all and let us work together, white elephants and sadhus of India. Interculturally, intergalactically, spiritually and transcendentally, let us work together with Srila Prabhupada. He said that his books would be the law books for the next 10,000 years. I'm sure there will be many people who will research, who will mentally speculate, who will argue, who will form political parties over what on earth that possibly could mean. But let us just say that if Srila Prabhupada said it, being a paramahamsa, that it's true. So his books being the law books for the next 10,000 years, then it is quite possible that everyone will be reading them 8,000 years from now what to speak of 9,000 years from now. So I want to say, let us bring this to the population. Prabhupada said we can make not only 10% of the population Krishna conscious, he said, "If we preach, why not 100%?" So here is our opportunity. We can separate ourselves from our bodily conception. After all, we're going to shed the body at some time or other. But who we are as spirit soul, that will never cease to be. So let us act in that capacity of spirit soul, work together, and make Krishna consciousness available to every living entity in all the world. Sri Govinda dasa said…Vasudeva…para dukha dukhi, he will not go back to Godhead until every living entity came back to Godhead. So whatever our conviction, at least let us follow in Prabhupada's footsteps wherever he may go and deliver the fallen conditioned souls. Thank you very much. Host: His Grace Naranarayana prabhu ki jaya! Thank you, prabhuji. Now I request His Grace Madhudvisa prabhu to kindly enlighten us. Madhudvisa: Nama om visnu-padaya krsna-presthaya bhu-tale, srimate bhaktivedanta-svamin iti namine. Namas te sarasvate deve gaura-vani-pracarine, nirvisesa-sunyavadi-pascatya-desa-tarine. I am supposed to speak on…what am I supposed to speak on, Radhanatha Maharaja? Prabhupada's mercy on us, that's what I'm supposed to speak on? Well, Prabhupada's mercy, his mercy is special because he is a krpa-sindhu, an ocean of mercy. Shakespeare says in Hamlet that we have to fight against a sea of troubles. So how can one fight against a sea of troubles unless he has an ocean of mercy? To counteract the sea of troubles, you have to have an ocean of mercy. So Srila Prabhupada was bringing that ocean of mercy. That's the difference between Srila Prabhupada and so many other gurus. I said before that in your devotional life you will be confronted by other gurus and other devotees of other gurus, and they'll say that their guru is as good as Srila Prabhupada or their mission is as good as ISKCON. I don't want to reiterate this but I'd like to just emphasize it, because we are supposed to be the elder godbrothers here, and remind you all that Srila Prabhupada gave us a unique perspective of Krishna consciousness. He was the true revolutionary, that's the thing that separates him from the rest of the gurus of the world, because he had caught up the real concept of prthivite ache yata nagaradi grama, sarvatra pracara haibe mora nama, that in every town and every village throughout the world the chanting of His Holy Name would be. So, therefore, we are confronted with other gurus that think that they have some kind of a patent on devotional service or devotional activities and that the mlecchas of the other parts of the world are not eligible, they'll have to wait for their next lifetime so they become a brahmana and then they can actually engage in Krishna consciousness. But that's not the prediction of Mahaprabhu, and Srila Prabhupada caught up that meaning and he preached Krishna consciousness all over the world with that understanding. It takes us back to the day in 1969 and the corner of Haight and Ashbury Street, the mecca of New Age thought in that day. Srila Prabhupada was invited to give an address at that historical junction. And sitting there in the rain, there was an umbrella held over his head, and he said to the crowd, "I understand from your Aquarian Gospel…" The Aquarian Gospel was a book, a New Age book in those days. Srila Prabhupada said, "I understand from your Aquarian Gospel that Lord Jesus Christ went to Jagannatha Puri at one time in his travels. So Just as Jesus Christ is the representative of the Christian philosophy and he went to Jagannatha Puri to visit Lord Jagannatha, so now Lord Jagannatha has come back to Haight and Ashbury Street here to the Christian culture to repay the favor." Lord Jagannatha has come back to repay the favor. And why did Lord Jagannatha…and why and how did Lord Jagannatha come back to repay the favor? Because Srila Prabhupada…Lord Jagannatha followed Srila Prabhupada to the West and He manifested Himself in San Francisco, and Syamasundara carved the first Lord Jagannatha Deities in the West and Naranarayana built the first authentic Rathayatra carts in the West. So, therefore, we understand that Lord Jesus Christ…the favor was repaid because of the mercy of Srila Prabhupada in bringing Lord Jagannatha to the West. He is the first one to ever conduct the Rathayatra Festival outside of India, and now we have Rathayatra Festivals everywhere. I have attended Rathayatra Festivals in every corner of the world, from Los Angeles to London to Badger, California, Tokyo, Japan. Even a couple of years ago Lord Jagannatha was brought to the streets of Jaipur and people saw the magnificence of Lord Jagannatha's Rathayatra Festival in Jaipur, and just the other day in Juhu we also again revisited that transcendental emotion Srila Prabhupada gave us. This is the gift that Srila Prabhupada gave us. He gave us the spirit of Krishna consciousness. It was not a sectarian thing. "If he had not come, who would have told the message of Krishna forceful and bold? That's the right, he's got the mace, save us a fallen, His Divine Grace." So Srila Prabhupada epitomized the poetry that he spoke in the glorification of his own guru. Srila Prabhupada was the living guru, the manifest mercy of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. So here we are supposed to come and glorify Srila Prabhupada, and you are looking at us thinking that we are old great devotees. But I am looking at you and seeing the manifestation here, and I can see that Srila Prabhupada's mercy is at work here. Earlier this morning we went to the hospital, an amazing sight. A hundred doctors with tilak on, chanting of Hare Krishna going in all the hospital rooms, pictures of Krishna everywhere. It was a temple, it wasn't a hospital. Something like that could never have been imagined by us. And such a beautiful temple in Bombay and such a huge pandal program, such a Rathayatra. So, therefore, I personally am thinking that I have to become inspired by you, not the opposite that you be inspired by me, because you have done much more than we have ever done because the mercy of Srila Prabhupada is manifested in you. So many great things can be done only with the mercy of Srila Prabhupada. We always have to go back to that concept, that Srila Prabhupada's mercy makes an impossible task to become possible. So this feeling I have towards Krishna consciousness, by seeing all these great things manifested here in Bombay, and I'll go back to my humble ashram in New Dwaraka and I'll relish this experience for the rest of my life and I'll hope that I can become as great devotees as you all are. Thank you very much. Hare Krishna. Host: His Grace Madhudvisa prabhu ki jaya! Srila Prabhupada ki jaya! Now I'll request His Holiness Sridhar Swami Maharaja to kindly address us. Sridhar Swami: I can say that I have very mixed emotions on this day. Part of me is feeling great relief that it's almost over. This part right here, it's where the liver is. But this part here is feeling very, very sad. I'm very grateful for a talk given by Jagat Purush prabhu wherein he related a lecture by Srila Prabhupada in Detroit in 1971 where Srila Prabhupada explained that the nectar…of course, Krishna is the Supreme Lord and it is the duty of everyone to serve Lord Krishna, and some nitya-siddha devotees are engaged in directly serving Krishna as manjaris and devotees; and like that down the line, the servant of the servant. Srila Prabhupada said that the service is the sweetest at the lowest point on the ladder. The farther down you go on the ladder, servant of the servant of the servant of the servant, it's sweetest at the lowest point. So I've always been very happy to try to become in the background. I was always that way. As you have heard, Srila Prabhupada spent a lot of time at Radha-Rasabehari Mandir, Hare Krishna Land, and so I had a lot of opportunity for association with Srila Prabhupada but always preferred, even in darshan, to try to find someone a little bit bigger than me, which was hard, and to sit behind them so Prabhupada couldn't see me so he wouldn't say anything. But I've always been very happy to be part of this wonderful family, many of us coming from the West. Of course, I'm speaking for myself, but I know many others also who have come from broken homes. Most of you cannot understand what that is like, to have divorced parents or even no parents, and there was always a certain coldness in my heart towards the world. A part of me was very logical, analytical, practical; but the emotional side was very empty and cold until I met Srila Prabhupada, and he filled that vacuum so wonderfully. So I've always been very happy to be part of his family, any insignificant role in his family. As many devotees have already explained, Srila Prabhupada, like being in contact with the Supersoul, could see into the hearts of all of his disciples. He was Prabhupada. He wasn't just a spiritual master but he was the acharya, and as such he had inconceivable potencies by the mercy of Krishna. So I saw that on numerous occasions, but one occasion I remember very distinctly was it was early 1973 and we had formed a party to collect funds for Vrindavan temple. It was quite a good party of devotees. Tamal Krsna Goswami was our leader, and Gargamuni was there and for some time Brahmananda and Giriraja Swami and Harikesa, Acyutananda, and many people you've heard about and read about. We had a flat at Narayan [unclear] Road. It was [unclear] building, and one of our life members, Mr. Brijratan Mohatta, who was also one of the League of Devotees, he was a member of that original group of devotees who gave money to Prabhupada for him to go to the West…so anyway, when Prabhupada came back, he reconnected with Prabhupada and he was helping us, he gave us this flat. So at one point he offered to sell it to us very cheaply, and Prabhupada wanted to come and see the flat. So we were very busy and going here and there and everywhere throughout Bombay making life members, but Goswami Maharaja assigned me to get the flat ready. I guess I worked very, very hard to clean it and to get cushions made and bolsters and put up nice decorations around the flat because Prabhupada was coming. He came and he was taken…Goswami Maharaja and the leading sannyasis of our party took him around the flat, showed him every room. Then he was taken into a smaller room and he sat down on the floor on a cushion, and he began talking to the devotees. I was cutting up a plate of fruit for him, and I brought it in and I put it down on a small table beside his cushion. Then he stopped his talk and he looked up at me and he said, "Thank you very much." And I was thinking, "Prabhupada has eaten fruit before, he's not saying thank you for the fruit." He couldn't have known that I had been assigned to clean up the flat, but somehow he just knew that I was also trying to serve him like the other devotees. So in that way, all of us can feel confident that if we sincerely try to serve the spiritual master and Srila Prabhupada and Lord Krishna, that our service will always be observed, recognized for the qualities of the service, and it has nothing to do with upadhi or establishing your position or climbing some corporate ladder of success. Too often people climb that ladder of success and they get to the top after stepping on so many heads, and they find that the ladder is leaning against the wrong wall and they're not happy and satisfied. So it's my humble…there's many different perspectives and I'm bringing you one, that just be satisfied with devotional service, be a simple, humble devotee, be the servant of the servant of the servant of the servant of the servant of the servant of the servant of the servant ad infinitum of the Vaisnavas. And if Krishna wants to put you in some position or give you some big service, He'll do that and you can rise to the occasion. Otherwise, be satisfied, be happy, and be a preacher. I'm so grateful that all of my godbrothers and godsisters have come for this function. It has been just a wonderful, inspiring experience and learning experience. I've learned so much in the last six, seven days that I can only fall at their feet and take the dust and put it on my head because they're very kind to come here and share with us all this wonderful…there's been a lot of stories, but each story has been accompanied by deep realizations. So we're very fortunate. One second generation disciple, she commented to her father that "You know, this is so wonderful, and I represent the next generation of devotees. At least I'm with them all over the world, we're very similar, and we're just hankering after this type of fraternity and family. And why don't you get all these devotees and just form a world sankirtan party and take it all over the world and repeat it again and again and again in so many temples?" Of course, that's a dream, it's a wonderful dream, and maybe tomorrow it's not so practical or the day after. But maybe it can be achieved or maybe we can learn from the spirit of what has happened here today. And most of all I have heard devotees say with conviction that "I'm going to take what I have learned here and I'm going to take it back to my place and I'm going to grow." And I…not challenge, but I beg you that please keep the momentum going. As Guru Kripa prabhu said, in our old age I feel…you don't know, but I remember what ISKCON used to be like in its halcyon days before Srila Prabhupada left and even up to just after when he left us, it seemed like we were going to flood the world. But then something happened, and Prabhupada said if you can't expand it at least keep it where it's at. But we neglected that and I feel we're all responsible, including myself. Somehow we have let it come down so that you can go to many of our once flourishing temples and find very few Western devotees there enthusiastically engaged in devotional service. And who is going to change that? It's only us. So now we have to give it one last shot before we die. We cannot let Srila Prabhupada down. We cannot do this to this wonderful man who filled our lives with love and hope, and the most beautiful person we ever met. So I'm begging all of you, please work together. I'm not an organizer, I'm not a leader. I'm just in the background, I'll serve you, but please let us grow and let us save Prabhupada's mission. Hare Krishna. Host: His Holiness Sridhar Swami Maharaja ki jaya! Thank you, Maharaja. Now I request His Grace Gurudasa prabhu to enlighten us about Srila Prabhupada's mercy on us. Gurudasa: I'm very happy to be in this gathering of so many auspicious devotees. It was January 17th in 1966 that I first met Srila Prabhupada, so that was about 37 years ago, at the airport. Myself and Syamasundara were going to the airport and Prabhupada came out of the airplane, and it looked like his feet were not touching the ground like Yudhisthira's chariot. It looked like he was the king coming out of the airplane. And it wasn't easy for Prabhupada. He came with seven dollars. He hardly had any friends. He went to a place, Butler, Pennsylvania, he didn't know anybody. He went down into a coal mine to see how the preachers of the West preached. He saw preachers say to the coal miners, "If you don't serve God, you'll go to hell." So the coal miners said, "What is this hell?" And the preacher said, "Hell is down into the ground and very hot." And they thought, "This is our everyday working conditions, so we don't mind if we go to hell." [break] …find out what they want and then tell them that the alternative is even more special because you can spiritualize what you're doing. And it wasn't easy for Prabhupada. He then went to New York, and he missed India. He missed India, and he would go to the customs house and he would look at the time table of the ships going back to India. So the customs official said, "Prabhupada, you are looking at the time table going back to India, but when are you going back?" But he never went. He suffered a stroke on the boat coming over, and still he persevered. He hardly knew anybody, and then he met a few young people in New York. And he went on, slowly, slowly, everything becoming a strong foundation of Krishna consciousness. And slowly, slowly, we as a family began to grow. From all over these devotees, great devotees, some I know, some I don't. Great builder, great organizer, Brahmananda. Naranarayana, great builder, visionary. Syamasundara, my buddy, all over the place - London, San Francisco, India - meeting George Harrison, a visionary. Syamasundara, a visionary, seeing the future that we couldn't see. Srutakirti, great help of Prabhupada. Navayauvana, ever-fresh, doing music. Ekanatha, great archivist. Nistraigunya, expert in so many things, my new friends. Sridhar Swami, look at the great organization he's done. And what can I say about our Radhanatha Swami? Sweet, dear brother. And then Lokanatha walking around…Lokanatha Maharaja, he says "me too, me too," like a humble servant, but Lokanatha's walking around the world inspiring people. Madhudvisa Maharaja, meeting him on the road, and he goes and offers his picture of Krishna that I gave him to a tree, living like an ascetic, and then he becomes the glorious emperor of sankirtan. Dinanatha, the panda of Vrindavan. Guru Kripa Maharaja, he collected all over the world under hardships, even hardships that he himself gave himself and he overcame them. Tatpur Maharaja, when I saw Tatpur he was skinny and a youth. He was a quiet, skinny youth serving so much. Jayapataka Maharaja coming, I met him in San Francisco and then in Calcutta he was our treasurer and Mayapur, he's done great service. From the beginning I met him, humble, quiet. Narottam dasa, great servant. And Manjari, great servant of Prabhupada. Kausalya, great singer, great friend. Kausalya and I were many times in India, and I always say not only the history of ISKCON but the herstory, that the women are very important too. Srimate in Bombay, I can go on and on. This is a family, and it is not body conscious. We are not different, it is not East and West, Indian, American. Look at this world community that Prabhupada has put together. All over the world, every place, Prabhupada went on, it wasn't easy, he kept on going, kept on walking, slowly, slowly, spoon-feeding us Krishna consciousness. We did not know anything. There were no books except some mimeographed Back to Godheads. So Bhagavad-gita came out, Caitanya-caritamrta, slowly, slowly. While we slept, Prabhupada was translating. So this is the great work that Prabhupada has done. It wasn't always easy but he went on, he persevered, because his Guru Maharaja wanted him to bring this to the West. And what did we know? We didn't know anything, we were sense gratifiers, and slowly he attracted us. People asked, "Why did you come? What charmed you?" And it was simply Srila Prabhupada, we wanted to see his smile. We went to places, all parts of the world, even where there is shooting, where there is wars. Why did we do it? Because we wanted to please Srila Prabhupada. And there are so many stories, so many pastimes that are amazing miracles, amazing miracles that Prabhupada has wrought. So I'm sure you've heard a lot of the stories and I can tell so many stories, but I just want to again say that this is a great family. Each and every one of us are devotees, and each and every one of us can not be Prabhupada but we can try to be like him. We can try to be strong, we can try to be noncompromising, we can try to be compassionate, we can try to be humorous, we can try to be understanding. That's Srila Prabhupada. He just gave so much to us, so much to us. And so, like everybody else, I also implore you, implore us to keep this going because he has given so much to us. Every moment, every day, in thanks to him we can do what we can, and we must do this together. Together the sticks are strong, they cannot be broken. One stick can be broken but the sticks together, they can't be broken. And look at the manifestation of all these people, there's hardly any room to stand. He came alone, and look what's happened. So I just say also, I know I can tell many humorous anecdotes and stories and inspirational stories but I know there's a lot of people who want to talk, so I am just saying that we can't be Prabhupada but we can try to be like him. We can do the best we can, that's all we can do for Krishna, the best we can sincerely. But we must do it together, we must see the good in everyone. We must see the good qualities in all our godbrothers, godsisters, everyone. See the good, not what's not good. The flies go to the sores, the honey bee goes from flower to flower and pollinates. So I also agree with Sridhar Maharaja, that it's you that's inspiring to us, you that are inspiring. I see so many sincere people wanting to get some Krishna consciousness, and so good-hearted. It's endearing to see this. I don't feel so great in this assembly of great souls that inspire, so let us all continue Prabhupada's wishes together to spread Krishna consciousness all over the world. Thank you very much. Host: His Grace Gurudasa prabhu ki jaya. Hare Krishna. Thank you very much, prabhuji. Now I'll request Her Grace Kausalya mataji to kindly enlighten us. Actually, a big family get-together it seems like with four generations. Srila Prabhupada over there just overlooking, and all the first generation [unclear] reflecting, it looks like the Bhagavad-gita picture where Krishna is handing over to Vivasvan and from there in that quarter. Thank you very much. Kausalya: Haribol. I feel very honored, actually, to have been invited and very honored to have been asked to speak with you. I don't know really what to say because being in India again after so many years has been overwhelmingly wonderful for me, and the whole experience has moved my heart. Prabhupada has been such an inspiration to all of us and obviously an inspiration to you as well. I know life always brings us so many difficulties, so I just want to share a story with you because I think it for me was one of my greatest realizations, one of the things that Prabhupada taught me that I live my life by. I carry it with me every day, and I think it's something that I'd love to share. Oftentimes people criticize, and we have difficulty in life. So one time in the movement people were criticizing me. So I was very upset about it, and I went to Srila Prabhupada and I said, "Srila Prabhupada, people are saying this and that about me and I'm very unhappy about it. So can I just shave my head and go to Bir Nagar and just chant Hare Krishna and be alone away from all of these people that are criticizing me and making me unhappy?" This was in Mayapur, and Bir Nagar is a ladies' ashram, Bhaktivinode Thakur. Anyway, so Prabhupada said, "Why are you complaining? Look what I have to tolerate." He said, "But, Kausalya, you are looking for a calm sea, and you will not find it here in this material world. Only when you are in Goloka Vrindavan with Krishna and Radharani, you will find it there." And he said, "But you have a very nice captain for your boat, so where is the difficulty?" So I always remember Prabhupada being my wonderful captain, steering my boat very carefully through my life. And I always remember that when we have these little waves that I've got a very nice captain, so there is no difficulty. Then he said to me, "You just stay here by me and everything will be all right." So I always keep this in mind because life always throws you some curves, and I just wanted to share that with you - if you remember that Prabhupada is the captain of your boat, you'll never have any difficulty. Haribol. Host: Thank you, Mataji. Now I request His Holiness Jayapataka Swami Maharaja to kindly share with us Srila Prabhupada's mercy for a couple of minutes, and after that we'll have the next. Jayapataka Swami: Nama om visnu-padaya krsna-presthaya bhu-tale, srimate bhaktivedanta-svamin iti namine. Namas te sarasvate deve gaura-vani-pracarine, nirvisesa-sunyavadi-pascatya-desa-tarine. Mukam karoti vacalam, pangum langhayate girim, yat-krpa tam aham vande, sri-gurum dina-taranam, paramananda-madhavam, sri caitanya isvaram. I was looking for a guru in America, but I couldn't find one. Then I thought, "I'll come to India." But then I met Srila Prabhupada. But I still had this idea in my mind that I should go to India, it was something very strong in me. So I asked Srila Prabhupada, "Should I come to India?" And he looked and he said that "I will send you later, but for now you stay with me and I will train you." Then when I became a devotee under Srila Prabhupada, then my father was very angry and he turned my name in to the American Army that I should go to Vietnam. At the time I was with Prabhupada in Canada, in Montreal. So I could not be reached by the American Army but I asked Prabhupada, "Should I go back and serve in the American Army and fight in Vietnam? What should I do?" Prabhupada told me, "No, you should serve in Krishna's army." I'm seeing an army of devotees, upstairs, downstairs - Krishna's, Lord Caitanya's, Prabhupada's transcendental army - and how as one spiritual family, as we've heard from many devotees, we also have that mission, to carry on Srila Prabhupada's teachings, to carry on the teachings of Caitanya Mahaprabhu. There are so many billions of people who are in total ignorance about the purpose of life, where they came from, where they are going to, what is actually a human being supposed to achieve in life. Instead they are just being kicked around by the waves of the material nature without any captain, without any vision of where they are to be headed. So all of you have got the miracle medicine given by Srila Prabhupada. Just like Bhaktivinode Thakur sang, from Lord Caitanya, enechi ausadhi maya nasibaro lagi, hari-nama maha-mantra lao tumi magi. "I have brought the magical medicine to cure this disease of Kali-yuga, and that's the hari-nama maha-mantra, you simply beg for it." So all of you have got the Hare Krishna maha-mantra medicine. Everyone else in the world is suffering from the incurable disease, the fatal mortal disease of Maya. But you have the magical cure, which is the hari-nama, which Prabhupada had brought all over the world, brought here to western India. So you can give this magical medicine to people and save them from the repetition of birth and death, from their forgetfulness of their eternal relationship with Krishna, so that they can get the true love of Krishna that actually they are hankering for. I was just here a few months ago, and then Radhanatha Swami asked me yesterday I have to come here for the program. He said, "Already it's changed." I thought, "What could have changed in a few months?" But I am amazed that a lot has changed. There is so much new things, new developments here, a very beautiful piece of art. Like this, you are offering such a nice service for Radha-Gopinath. I know that everyone's heart also has to be cleansed and purified and made a beautiful offering for Their Lordships. So if we can clean the heart by chanting the Hare Krishna maha-mantra, then in this way we can invite Krishna to come and sit in the lotus of our heart and then we feel totally satisfied. That's what everyone is actually hankering for, and you have that medicine to give them. So I hope everyone will get that mercy, that empowerment, and then give it as much as you can to others. Thank you very much. Hare Krishna. Host: His Holiness Jayapataka Swami Maharaja ki jaya! Now I request His Holiness Radhanatha Swami Maharaja to kindly just… Radhanatha Swami: I would like to request Syamasundara prabhu to explain what he witnessed as Srila Prabhupada predicted many years ago that Sri Radha-Gopinath would make Their residence here. You did? Speak again. Syamasundara: Maybe you know, maybe you don't know. At one point early after Prabhupada arrived, we were going here and there around Bombay giving programs and lectures. At one point Srila Prabhupada gave a lecture in the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan across the road, and on the way out from that engagement Prabhupada looked around this neighborhood from the stairway and said that "One day we shall have our temple here. This is the best place in Bombay." Brahmananda: Another thing is that right across the street is the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan. The history is when Prabhupada, before taking sannyasa, when he left his family to preach, Prabhupada went to Jhansi and there he got a very nice property, buildings and temple, and he called it the League of Devotees. Prabhupada was preaching Bhagavad-gita there and every evening people were coming, especially they were doctors, medical men, and also lawyers. Prabhupada brought a murti of Caitanya Mahaprabhu, which he installed there. However, this Lilavati Munshi, she saw this property that can be used for another program, humanitarian program, ladies club; and by her influence, she had great influence. The history is that the owner of this property also had a cinema hall, and that's how he made his income. But to operate the cinema hall, he needed a license; and Lilavati Munshi's husband was the governor, K. L. Munshi. So it was intimated to the owner of this property that if he would not remove Srila Prabhupada and give it to Lilavati Munshi, he would not get the renewal of the license on his cinema hall. What choice did he have? So he had to ask Srila Prabhupada to leave. Prabhupada did not want to leave. And Prabhupada's followers, Prabhakar Acarya was there, a Sanskritist, and these other lawyers, they told Prabhupada, "Do not leave. We want you here. We will fight it in the court. You will not have to pay anything. We will fight it in the court, and you will win." And what did Prabhupada say? That "I have left business, I have left my family, I just want to preach Krishna consciousness, and now I shall go to litigate? I don't care for this." And Prabhupada voluntarily, he could have stayed, but voluntarily he left and went to Vrindavan. And then we know the rest. But then there is the rest of the story. When Prabhupada was here in Bombay, Lilavati Munshi called Srila Prabhupada, "Please come." The whole Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan is a press, big press. They print religious books but they also print the telephone directory and so much government printing and so many things, they made so much money. And when Prabhupada came, Lilavati Munshi asked Srila Prabhupada, actually she begged him, because they were in serious trouble, they were going out of business, "Please purchase my press." And Prabhupada said, "Really?" He said, "Actually, to purchase your press is no difficulty. Money, I have no problem. I have all this American money, I can purchase your press. However, your press has no value." She was shocked. This huge printing establishment, they were getting so many government contracts, has no value? And Prabhupada said, "Yes." Why does it have no value? Because it was the old type of press using monotype, the lead letters where you have to do it by hand each letter, not the photographic offset press which was the modern press. Prabhupada was very well…because of printing the books, he knew everything about printing. So Prabhupada said, "Your press has no value. I can buy it immediately, but I won't because it has no value." So that's the rest of the story, and she was very disappointed. So that happened right across the street here. Sridhar Swami: Prabhupada spoke with [unclear] Nanda, the prime minister was there, Lilavati Munshi was there, Jayapataka. That's when he came out and said that there should be a temple here. It was on that occasion. I have a photo of that because I was very skinny at that time and so was Jayapataka, so I keep that to show my disciples. Radhanatha Swami: There is more to the story. When we first came, we had one little tiny room, tiny room somewhere downstairs in a corner. The rest of the building was under the control of Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, and the majority of the building were their offices. But by the arrangement of Sri Nathji prabhu, one of Prabhupada's very close and beloved associates… They were so attached to this building because it was worth so much; but Sri Nathji prabhu, empowered by Srila Prabhupada, played a special trick and gave the devotees…actually took the building from Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan and gave it to Srila Prabhupada, and it's probably worth a thousand times more than the building in Jhansi. So this is spiritual justice system. In 1976, Srila Prabhupada visited New Vrindavan. I happened to have the fortune to be there at that time, and Srutakirti prabhu was also there. They were building a house for Srila Prabhupada, and they were going to call it Prabhupada's Palace. At that time it was a very crude construction site, just cement and steel, and they gave Srila Prabhupada a tour of it. One of Srila Prabhupada's very senior disciples, he said, "Srila Prabhupada, this is going to be your palace. Will it be like the palaces in the heavenly planets or in Vaikuntha where there's no need for the sun or the moon or electric lights, but everything will be lit by precious jewels?" And Srila Prabhupada replied…please, please listen carefully. Srila Prabhupada revealed his heart so intimately in his reply to this very simple question. Srila Prabhupada said, "My devotees are my precious jewels, and they will illuminate the entire world." Today we have the assembly of many of Srila Prabhupada's most precious jewels. In fact, it is like a wonderful necklace of jewel-like Vaisnavas, and we have all come together to decorate Srila Prabhupada's lotus feet. These wonderful, wonderful souls who have so kindly come from all parts of the world have truly illuminated our hearts today and for the past week, and we are eternally grateful to all of you. Truly, devotees sitting here are some of the seniormost devotees who literally sacrificed their lives to assist Srila Prabhupada in his service. There is such an incredible variegatedness amongst these jewels. You have to know them to understand to what degree there is variety. There is diamonds and rubies and emeralds and lapis lazulis. [break] |