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Vyasa Puja
Offering for Srila Prabhupada - 2006
Two offerings
for this year-
2006
(Gaurabda 520) Vyasa-puja offering - Rasananda
das
nama
om vishnu-padaya krishna-preshthaya bhu-tale
srimate
bhaktivedanta-svamin iti namine
namas
te sarasvate deve gaura-vani-pracarine
nirvisesha-sunyavadi-pascatya-desa-tarine
om
ajnana-timirandhasya jnananjana-salakaya
cakshur
unmilitam yena tasmai sri-gurave namah
On
the occasion of your Vyasa-puja, the day of your blessed appearance in
this world, I make the following humble offering. It is a compilation of
verses and quotations from various authoritative literatures. Simply the
titles have been composed by me.
The
primacy of honoring and worshipping the greatly elevated,
confidential
devotees of the Lord.
-------------------------------------
Many
of the verses that follow say ‘unto the devotee’, or ‘unto the
spiritual master’ [or guru]. The reader should understand that these
references are to the topmost devotees and the topmost gurus. There are
grades of devotees -- from the person who upon seeing the devotees or the
deity or hearing the chanting of the Lord’s names or by any means of
some experience of Him being gained by a person and some seed of faith
being planted -- up to the topmost devotee, greatly empowered to establish
the principles of religion throughout the world. Similarly there are
different grades of gurus: in one sense any devotee of Krishna, or Visnu,
is a guru, but only a devotee on the topmost platform – much favored by
the Lord and greatly empowered by Him, constantly receiving dictation from
Him – can be called jagat-guru... spiritual master of the whole world,
whom even elevated beings on other planets worship. Such a guru is also
the sampradaya acarya... the acarya of the whole line of tradition. Other
devotees and gurus are to be honored and worshipped according to the level
of their adhikara.
(SB
means Srimad-Bhagavatam; CC Means Caitanya Caritamrta; Bg, or BG, means
Bhagavad Gita; p after a reference means that the selection is from the
Bhaktivedanta purport as published by the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust; HBV
means Hari Bhakti Vilas and CB means Caitanya Bhagavata.)
Lord
Krishna considers His devotees greater than Himself:
atma
haite krishna bhakte bada kari’ mane / ihate bahuta sastra-vacana
pramane atma haite—than His own self; krishna—Lord Krishna; bhakte—His
devotee; bada kari’ mane—accepts as greater; ihate—in this
connection; bahuta—many; sastra-vacana—quotations from revealed
scripture; pramane—evidences.
Lord
Krishna considers His devotees greater than Himself. In this
connection
the scriptures provide an abundance of evidence.
- Cc
Adi
6.101
The
Lord is more pleased with the glorification of His devotee than that
of
Himself directly:
Nobody
can be better devotee than Radharani. So as soon as Radha’s name is
there, Krishna is more pleased. So that is the way. So if we glorify the
devotees, the character of the devotees, before the Lord, He’s more
pleased than to glorify Himself, He directly. -Lecture - SB 7.9.11-13,
Hawaii, March 24, 1969:
The
real meaning of the Vedic knowledge is revealed only to those advanced
aspirants who have the same implicit faith in both the Lord and the
spiritual master:
yasya
deva para bhaktir / yatha deve tatha gurau
tasyaite
kathita hy arthah / prakasante mahatmanah
"Only
unto those great souls who have the same implicit faith in both the
Lord
and the spiritual master are all the imports of Vedic knowledge,
spiritual realization (brahmabhuta) automatically revealed." -
Svetasvatara Upanishad 6.23
The
worship of the devotees is better than the worship of Krishna
directly:
mad-bhakta-pujabhyadhika
/ sarva-bhuteshu man-matih
Worshiping
My devotees is better than worshiping Me directly.
- SB
11.19.21
aradhananam
sarvesham / vishnor aradhanam param
asmat
parataram devi / tadiyanam samarcanam
“‘My
dear Devi, although the Vedas recommend worship of demigods, the
worship
of Lord Vishnu is topmost. However, above the worship of Lord
Vishnu
is the rendering of service to Vaisnavas, who are related to Lord
Vishnu.’
Purport:
... There are recommendations in the Vedas for the worship of various
demigods as well as Lord Vishnu. In this quotation from the Padma Purana,
Lord Siva answers a question posed to him by goddess Durga. This verse is
also included in the Laghu-bhagavatamrita (2.4), by Srila Rupa Gosvami.
The words vishnor aradhanam refer to the worship of Lord Vishnu, or
Krishna. Thus the supreme form of worship is the satisfaction of the
Supreme Personality of Godhead, Sri Krishna. It is further concluded that
the worshiper of Lord Vishnu renders better service by worshiping the
devotee of Lord Krishna. There are different types of devotees—those in
santa-rasa, dasya-rasa, sakhya-rasa, vatsalya-rasa and madhurya-rasa.
Although all the rasas are on the transcendental platform, madhurya-rasa
is the supreme transcendental mellow. Consequently it is concluded that
the worship of devotees engaged in the Lord’s service in madhurya-rasa
is the supreme spiritual activity. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and His
followers mainly worship Lord Krishna in madhurya-rasa. Other Vaishnava
acaryas recommended worship up to vatsalya-rasa. ... Sri Caitanya
Mahaprabhu appeared in this Age of Kali to exhibit the super-excellence of
madhurya-rasa, a gift never previously bestowed by any acarya or
incarnation. Consequently Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu is accepted as the most
magnanimous incarnation. It is He only who distributed love of Krishna
while exhibiting the superexcellence of loving Krishna in the conjugal
rasa. - CC Madhya 11.31 p
Worship
of devotees is better than worship of Krishna:
ye
me bhakta-janah partha na me bhaktas ca te janah
mad-bhaktanam
ca ye bhaktas te me bhakta-tama matah
“My
dear Partha, one who claims to be My devotee is not so. Only a person who
claims to be a devotee of My devotee is actually My devotee.”
-
CC Madhya 11.28, Lord Caitanya quoting the Adi Purana.
“amara
bhaktera puja—ama haite bada”
sei
prabhu vede-bhagavate kaila dadha
That
same Supreme Personality of Godhead has declared in the Vedas and
Srimad
Bhagavatam, “Worship of My devotees is superior to worship of Me.
-
CB Adi Khanda 1.8
One
should worship acarya first, then the Lord i otherwise one’s worship
is
fruitless:
"prathamam
tu gurum pujya tatas caiva mamarcanam kurvan siddhim avapnoti hy anyatha
nisphalam bhavet" ...
"If
anyone worships his spiritual master
first
and then Me, he certainly achieves perfection. Otherwise, his worship
remains fruitless."
-
HBV 4.344, quoting Smriti Maharnava,
spoken by Lord Krishna
Those
who worship the Supreme Lord but are indifferent to the worship of
His
devotees are eligible for punishment by the lord of death, Yamaraj: if
many people who worship the Supreme Lord remain indifferent to the worship
of His devotees and as a result are eligible for punishment by Yamaraji.
-
CB Madya 3.169-170 p
Failure
to properly worship the spiritual master results in falldown:
Srila
Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura has pointed out that the original
cause
of
offending the Lord and falling down from one's position is one's not
learning
how to properly worship a bona fide spiritual master. One who is
trained to offer respectful obeisances and worship to the bona fide
spiritual master automatically offers proper worship to the Supreme Lord.
Without
the mercy of a bona fide spiritual master, even a so-called religious man
will gradually become atheistic, offend the Lord by foolish
speculation
and fall into a hellish condition of life.
-
SB 11.5.3 p
Worship
of the Lord without worship of devotee is simply a manifestation
of
false pride:
arcayitva
tu govindam / adiyan narcayet tu yah
na sa bhagavato jneyah / kevalam dambhikah smritah
"One
who performs worship of Lord Govinda but fails to worship His
devotees
should be understood to be not a devotee of the Lord but simply a victim
of
false pride."
-
Quoted in CB Madya 3.169-170 P and in SB
11.3.26
P
Worship
of the antaranga bhakta guru more is more important than direct worship of
God:
In
the Vamana-kalpa, Lord Brahma explains: "One's mantra is identical
with his spiritual master. One's
spiritual master is identical with Lord Hari.
When
the spiritual master is pleased, then Lord Hari is pleased." It is
also
said: "When Lord Hari is angry, one's spiritual master can protect
him. When
one's
spiritual master is angry, no one can give protection. Therefore
with all efforts one should strive to please his spiritual master."
Therefore one should always serve his spiritual master. In
another place in the scriptures, the Supreme Personality of Godhead
Himself declares: "First one should worship his spiritual master, and
afterward worship Me. One who
does this attains perfection. One
who does not finds that all his efforts are
in vain."
In the Narada-pancaratra it
is said: "With body, mind and words, one should worship his Vaisnava
spiritual master who is as good as Lord Visnu, who teaches the science of
Lord Visnu. One who knows the true meaning of
the
scriptures is a Vaisnava and one who teaches the true meaning of the
verses in the scriptures is always to be worshipped. What more need be
said? He is a manifestation
of Lord Visnu Himself."
In the Padma Purana, Rsi
Devadyuti prays: "For me devotion to my spiritual master it is more
important than devotion to Lord Hari.
If I am devoted to my spiritual master, then Lord Hari will
personally reveal Himself to me."
In such a situation there is
no need even to worship the Supreme
Personality
of Godhead separate from the worship of one's spiritual
master.
This
is explained in the pancaratra, where, in the course of describing
the
results of purascarana (religious ceremonies), it is said: "As an
alchemist's touch turns copper into gold, so the spiritual master's touch
makes his disciple transcendental like Lord Visnu Himself." This is
also explained in Srimad Bhagavatam (10.80.34), where Lord Krsna declares:
“I,
the
Soul of all beings, am not as satisfied by ritual worship,
brahminical initiation or begetting good children, penances or
self-discipline as I am by faithful service rendered to the spiritual
master.”
Srila Sridhara Svami, the
original commentator on the Vedanta Sutra, comments: “This verse
explains that no one is more to be worshipped than the spiritual master
who gives transcendental knowledge. Therefore no duty is more important
than the worship of him. In this verse the word "ijya" means
"the ritual duties of a householder", "prajatih" means
“begetting good children” or “the second birth by accepting the
sacred thread” and describes the duties of a brahmacari. "Tapasa"
describes the duties of a vanaprastha
and
“upasamena” describes the duties of a sannyasi.
"Aham" means "I”,
the Supreme Personality of Godhead".
The Lord then declares: "I, the Soul of all beings, cannot be
satisfied by these things in the same way as I am by faithful service
rendered to the spiritual master."
-
Sat Sandarbha, Bhakti Sandarbha, Anuccheda 237,
8-17
Worship
of the guru has precedence over all others:
Athau
gurupuja: the worship of the guru has precedence over all others.
- Srila Bhaktisiddhanta
Saraswati Lecture – “Assuming Responsibility
of
Being
Guru”
“First
guru-kripa, then krishna-kripa”:
To
understand Vedic literature means one must have firm faith in Krishna
and firm faith in guru, not that “My guru is not so learned, so let me
capture Krishna directly.” That is useless. That is useless. Caitanya
Mahaprabhu says, guru-krishna-kripaya paya bhakti-lata-bija. One can get
the seed of the plant or creeper of bhakti, how? Guru-krishna-kripa. By
the mercy of
guru
and by the mercy of Krishna, not that krishna-kripa. First
guru-kripa,
then
krishna-kripa.
-
Lecture, SB 1.15.27, New York, March 6, 1975
to continue, click here
Offering by Vishoka
dasa- This is not exactly a Vyasa-puja offering, but it's an offering to
both Lord Krishna and His pure devotee, Srila Prabhupada on Their
appearance days, 2006- here
many
more quotes on the supreme platform of Jagat-Guru
Vyasa Puja
Offering for Srila Prabhupada - 2004
by Vishoka
dasa
Dear
Srila Prabhupada,
Please
accept my obeisances millions of times at your lotus feet.
During
a morning walk at Stow lake, in 1968, you had this conversation with
Jamuna dasi -
Yamuna
said: Swamiji, Janaki-devi wrote me this very nice letter where she had a
dream that there was a gigantic platform above the surface of the earth,
and all of our devotees, our Godbrothers and sisters and you, were
assembled on this gigantic platform for sankirtana. And we had such a
thunderous joy, magnificent kirtana, that the whole earth... When you
said, "Jaya om param paramahamsa," the whole earth bowed down to
you like this. And we were all crying, so happy. And you said, "Now
my Guru Maharaja is satisfied." That was her dream.
Prabhupada
said: Thank you very much. Yes. Thank you for your dreaming like that. It
is very pleasing to me. Yes, I want to see like that. [Break]
You
have told us that having a dream of the spiritual master is real, a direct
experience with him. This dream communication is a form of spiritual
telepathy, or an extra-sensory communication that is found extensively in
our Vaisnava history. Another example of this is seen in this letter from
Srila Prabhupada to Sudama-
In
a letter to his disciple Sudama, who was trying to start a temple in
Tokyo, Srila Prabhupada said: "Actually, I was thinking of you from
London, and by the grace of Krsna my anxiety was televisioned to you in
your dream."
Modern
man is only recently investigating extra-sensory or paranormal abilities
such as telepathy, such as the ability to journey in dreams and visions,
into other dimensions across the boundaries of time. But the Vedic
personalities, the Vaisnavas, are perfectly adept in such paranormal
activities, such as communication from one mind to another by
extra-sensory means, like in dreams, by the grace of Lord Krishna. Such
abilities are as easy and commonplace for these perfected beings, just as
surfing the Internet is commonplace for us.
Srila
Prabhupada also received such messages in his dreams, from his Guru
Maharaja, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta, as we see in this talk in Seattle, 1968-
Srila
Prabhupada - “Sometimes I was dreaming my spiritual master, that he's
calling me, and I was following him. When my dream was over, I was
thinking. I was little horrified. "Oh, Guru Maharaja wants me to
become sannyasi. How can I accept sannyasa?" At that time, I was
feeling not very satisfaction that I have to give up my family and have to
become a mendicant. At that time, it was a horrible feeling. Sometimes I
was thinking, "No, I cannot take sannyasa." But again I saw the
same dream. So in this way I was fortunate. My Guru Maharaja (Prabhupada
begins to cry, choked voice) pulled me out from this material life.
>>> Ref. VedaBase => His Divine Grace Bhaktiprajnana
Kesava Maharaja's Disappearance Day Lecture,
(Srila Prabhupada's Sannyasa Guru) -- Seattle, October 21, 1968
Srila
Prabhupada also was visited by Lord Krishna by dream on board the Jaladuta
while coming to America. Srila Prabhupada wrote of some sea-sickness, and
on the thirteenth day of the voyage, during the passage through the
Arabian Sea, he suffered a massive heart attack. He was concerned that he
might pass away, but in his uneasy sleep that night he had a dream, a
vision. Lord Krsna appeared. The Lord was in an open boat, along with His
other incarnations. Krsna was rowing the boat, and the boat was pulling
Srila Prabhupada's ship with a rope. Krsna was smiling at Srila Prabhupada
and was pulling the ship all the way to America!
>>> Ref. VedaBase => JD: Introduction
Also,
other great acharyas appear to Srila Prabhupada, in dream and in vision-
Gopal
Ghosh prabhu relates: "That [Radha-Damodara temple] is where
Prabhupada got the idea for ISKCON. It is where Prabhupada did his own
personal bhajan. and there many times he told me that Rupa and Jiva
Goswamis appeared to him in dreams. * *
Also, a disciple and former personal servant of Srila Prabhupada
said that Srila Rupa Gosvami once appeared to Srila Prabhupada while he
was staying at the Radha-Damodara temple in Vrndavana. One day while
honoring maha-prasadam, Srila Prabhupada was looking out of the window at
the samadhi of Sri Rupa Gosvami. Suddenly, Sri Rupa Gosvami appeared
before Srila Prabhupada and spoke these most encouraging words:
"Maharaja,
don't worry about anything. Go ahead and travel to the West and preach.
Just preach the message of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and the chanting of
Hare Krishna. You'll be successful. I guarantee because I will be right
with you all the time." >
GVSV: Darsana Stories
So
we see that Jiva and Rupa Gosvamis have given their dream darshan to Srila
Prabhupada, and Rupa Gosvami gave his personal darshan to Srila
Prabhupada, and conferred upon him spoken words of blessings and assurance
of success in his mission. We have heard accounts of many devotees, old
and young, who have had Srila Prabhupada’s darshan in either dream or
visions.
Another
extra-sensory or paranormal ability is clairvoyance, or the ability to see
in the future, and this is also commonplace in Vedic traditions, as seen
from the following predictions from Lochan Das Thakur and Srila
Bhaktivinode Thakur, and the Bhagavat Mahatmya and Brahma-vivarta Purana-
Lochan
Das Thakur, in his Chaitanya Mangal, predicted that a sena-pati, or a
"great general," would come and accomplish this mission. This
was Srila Prabhupada. Also, Bhaktivinode Thakur, in an article entitled
"Nityananda Suryodoy," which was published in the 1800s, in his
Sajjana-toshani magazine -- he predicted that soon a time is coming when
the chanting of Krishna's name will be heard in England, France, Russia,
Germany, and America. Srila Prabhupada brought this to fruition. There is
also the Bhagavat Mahatmya. In this book, Narada, the great sage, has a
conversation with bhakti personified. In the course of this conversation,
bhakti says, "I will leave this country, India, and go abroad!"
The same text informs us that this personified bhakti will go to South
India and then leave to go abroad after staying in Vrindavan. This is
exactly what Prabhupada did. >>>
Ref. VedaBase => OS 6: Chapter Six
Here
we see that Srila Prabhupada was sent to save our planet, as Lord
Caitanya’s sena-pati great general. Also, in the Brahma-vivarta Purana,
Lord Vishnu told Mother Ganges to not worry about the many sins of
Kali-Yuga, because He will send His devotee to spread the sankirtan
movement all over the world.
Jai
Srila Prabhupada, all glories to your Divine Grace,
your lowly servant, Vishoka dasa.
note- this offering was adapted from a large essay, Great
Souls Sometimes Re-appear
Vyasa Puja
Offering for Srila Prabhupada - 2003
Saved
by His Sanjivani Glance
Dear
Srila Prabhupada,
Please
accept my obeisances at your lotus feet. All glories to your Divine Grace.
By
your mercy, I’ve been blessed with a fascination for the pastime of Lord
Krishna’s dancing on the hoods of the Kaliya Serpent. This pastime is a
multi-faceted jewel of Sri Krishna’s divine eternal lila, and has many
spiritual instructions in the narrative, which are explained to us by you,
Srila Prabhupada, and the previous acaryas. It appears to us that there
are many similarities in your earthy pastimes that we can compare to this
Kaliya pastime. Let us all glorify our Divine Grace Srila Prabhupada with
several comparisons to this pastime of Lord Krishna.
As
the pastime goes, first the cowherd boys drank the waters of the Yamuna,
which were poisonous due to Kaliya’s venom, and they fell down,
apparently dead. Then Krishna, Who is the life of all that lives, cast His
merciful glance upon them, and they stood up and looked at each other in
astonishment. They knew that it was Krishna’s sanjivani-rasa glance,
which had saved them.
Just
as Lord Krishna revived the cowherd boys with His glance, so did you
deliver your sanjivani-rasa glance to our western world, dear Srila
Prabhupada, you also raised us from the dead with your merciful glance. We
are like walking zombies, the living dead. We were corpses barely animated
by the strings of maya, completely immersed in the network of decadent
American culture. We were entrapped in tamasic obsessions of drugs and
sex, and enchanted by a hypnotic music, which glorified such activities.
Like the cowherd boys in Krishna’s pastime, we also rose up from our
deathlike trance and looked at each other in astonishment, knowing that
you had revived us from our comatose condition and had raised us up to
your blissful transcendental devotional service to Lord Krishna.
After
reviving the cowherd boys, Lord Sri Krishna climbed into a big kadamba
tree, and tightened his belt, and then jumped into the water with great
force. The acaryas compares this to a kingfisher who dives into a river to
catch his prey. The force of His plunge was so deep and strong, that it
appeared that He penetrated the Patala region of the universe. His
forceful plunge pushed the waters of the Yamuna over her banks, creating
high waves, which overflooded her banks for one hundred yards, as if
something very large had fallen into her water.
There
is a nice similarity here, Srila Prabhupada, with your wonderful pastimes
on earth. You also plunged into the poisonous waters of our American
lifestyle, both figuratively and literally. In a literal sense, you
penetrated the vast waters of the Atlantic ocean, aboard the Jaladuta, and
entered our Patala-like region of the universe. You then created huge
waves of the transcendental sound of Krishna’s holy names, which roared
like tidal waves across the planet, overflowing all shores with krsna-prema.
You broadcasted the transcendental holy names of Lord Krishna, and caused
the holy names to overflow our earthly embankments in the forms of your
transcendental books and your nectarean bhajans and kirtans,
and your recorded discourses on the science of Krishna consciousness.
By
His powerful dive into the Yamuna’s waters, Lord Krishna created great
waves, and the deadly poison rose up into a mass of foam, which rode the
crests of these waves. Lord Krishna then sported in the lake like a lordly
elephant, and simply by splashing His hands and arms, and swirling His
mighty arms, He produced wonderful musical sounds within the water. Lord
Krishna also swirled His mighty arms, causing the poisonous water to burst
into flames. Similarly, you too, Srila Prabhupada, caused a great
commotion in this kingdom of maya, conquering all the mundane philosophers
and religionists, and at the same time you playfully created wonderful
musical sounds with the expertise of your kartala, mrdanga and
harmonium playing, and your blissful kirtans, which began in
Tompkins Square park in New York city.
Lord
Sri Krishna appeared very beautiful and delicate in the waters of the
Yamuna. The Kaliya serpent beheld Krishna’s unparalleled beauty, yet he
was so envious that he bit Sri Krishna on His chest and enveloped Krishna
his mighty coils. Then the inhabitants of Vrndavana saw their Lord Krishna
trapped in Kaliya’s coils, and they experienced great lamentation on the
banks of the Yamuna. They fell to the ground just like trees that had been
cut at the root. Lord Krishna could have escaped at any time, but He
wanted to see the great love of His devotees for Himself.
Similarly,
Srila Prabhupada, you also displayed your beautiful transcendental form of
Lord Krishna’s pure devotee, your form shining with a golden lustrous
complexion, which makes us think of the golden form of Lord Caitanya.
There were many materialists who are greatly charmed by your
transcendental form, and they received great benefit from your darsana.
Others were attracted to your form, but they were so envious that they
tried to hamper your movement.
You
came as an elderly gentleman and had some great difficulties aboard the
ship Jaladuta. And later in
NY, you had a similar difficulty, and the doctors had said it was a mild
heart attack. You said that your devotees had saved you by chanting the
Nrsimadeva mantra. Then you had to go back to India, and Jayananda and all
the devotees were in great anxiety. They were crying, thinking you might
not return. This was ultimately a great impetuous for the devotees to
increase their love for you. It seems that Lord Krishna is always putting
devotees into anxiety for the safety of His pure devotee, or for the
safety of Lord Caitanya’s sankirtan movement.
Dear
Srila Prabhupada, when you had a heart attack on the Jaladhuta, we are
sure that the demigods and previous acharyas were looking down upon
this scene with great anxiety, greatly lamenting that you might be
thwarted in your great mission. On the night of the second day, Lord Sri
Krishna appeared to you in a dream, in His many forms, such as Lord Varaha
and Lord Nrsimha, and Lord Krishna told you not to fear, and said,
“Don’t worry, I’m rowing your boat.” Thus Lord Krishna showed you
that He was always protecting His great devotee, because of your exclusive
dependence upon His mercy.
Now,
in our present situation, we also think of the pastime of Lord Krishna
being enwrapped in Kaliya’s coils as being similar to your anxiety for
your Krishna consciousness movement. Sometimes it seems that your movement
is being trapped in the coils of so many tentacles of the material energy,
and we are standing on the banks in great lamentation and in acute
distress, because we are in fear for your movement. You expressed such
concerns when you wrote the following in your Bhaktivedanta Purport for
Srimad-Bhagavatam 10.3.23:
“Although
Krsna cannot be killed, Vasudeva, as the father of Krsna, was trembling
because in affection he thought that Kamsa would immediately come and kill
his son. Similarly, although the Krsna consciousness movement and Krsna
are not different and no asuras can check it, we are afraid that at
any moment the asuras can stop this movement in any part of the
world.”
So
similarly, we are sometimes in fear of the many tentacles of material
energy, which seem to envelope your glorious movement, and we fall on the
banks of lamentation and anxiety for the safety of your movement. But,
just as Lord Balarama knew that Krishna could not die, and so you, too,
Srila Prabhupada, you knew that this movement cannot be checked from the
outside, and yet you were fearful that the danger may come from within, by
your disciples not working in cooperation. That is why you said- “How
much you love me will be demonstrated by how you cooperate after I
leave.”
Then
Lord Sri Krishna saw that His devotees were too much in lamentation and so
He decided to dance on the heads of the Kaliya serpent. It is seen that
Kaliya was the personification of false ego, and Lord Krishna displayed
His artistic expertise by dancing on the unsteady moving surfaces of
Kaliya’s heads, and Krishna shows the world how He pushes down the false
ego of all materialists. Ultimately all beings must all bow down their
heads to Lord Krishna, especially in Krishna’s form of time, as the
stubborn egotists must bow down their arrogant heads to the certainty of
death. The difference with the devotees bowing down and the non-devotees
bowing down is that devotees lovingly bow down to Lord Krishna in devotion
and then go back to godhead.
Srila
Prabhupada, you showed a similar pastime to the world, when you danced so
artistically upon the arrogant heads of so many philosophers and
religionists and decadent leaders of different countries. You smashed
their egotistical pride, you annihilated their bogus philosophies, and yet
you danced so nicely and attractively upon their heads, so that they did
not feel devastation and pain. They saw how pathetic their plans
were--next to the philosophy of Bhagavad-gita and Srimad Bhagavatam. They
were charmed by your irresistible personality, and they came away from
your chastisement with fond memories of your association.
We,
the followers of your Divine Grace, will sometimes detect the rising of
the ugly heads of false ego within your movement, and we too, sometimes
try to tap dance on the heads of false ego of other prabhus, only to find
that our own false ego is much larger. We pray to heed your instructions
and try to cooperate to push on your movement, and not enlarge our own
false ego Kaliya heads, and thus divide your movement. We pray that we
dance on our own head with boots, so as to reduce our false ego into our
real spiritual ego, service to you and Lord Sri Krishna. We pray to
practice tolerance and give all respect to other devotees. Jai Srila
Prabhupada, all glories to your Divine Grace!
Your
worthless servant, Vishoka dasa
Vyasa Puja
Offering for Srila Prabhupada - 2002
Dear
Srila Prabhupada,
I
read in your Bhaktivedanta purports-
Foolish
people think that devotional service is flattering the Lord to get special
mercy. Factually the pure devotees who are engaged in the transcendental
loving service of the Lord are not a mercantile community. A mercantile
house renders service to someone in exchange for values. The pure devotee
does not render service unto the Lord for such exchange, and therefore the
full mercy of the Lord is open for him. [SB 1.8.29P]
Dear
Srila Prabhupada, both in your transcendental writings and lectures, and
the precepts of your glorious life, you have continually demonstrated the
highest standard of pure devotional service to Lord Krishna, showing us
the perfect example of what a pure devotee is, and how we can attempt to
follow in your footsteps. By following your example and teachings, we hope
to come to the standard outlined above in your purports, to render service
to you and Sri Krishna with a desire for service only and not some
exchange, and then we may become eligible for your full mercy.
I
pray, dear Srila Prabhupada, to help us to serve you in the mood you have
written in your purports, I pray that your mercy may always be open to
your lowly servants, such as myself. I pray to always receive the
purification from your Bhaktivedanta purports and the words emanating from
your lotus lips. Only by association with your devotees and your
transcendental books and tapes, can we ever hope to advance in this
lifetime, and come back home to your lotus feet.
Dear
Srila Prabhupada,
My
only desire is to remain as a fool, at your lotus feet
to
lay down my life and body in the dust of your lotus feet, day after day,
to
sign my life away, on the dotted line, minute after minute
hanging
on for dear life, to your lotus feet, life after life
help
me to go the distance, keep me on board for the long haul,
I
pray, dear Srila Prabhupada, please don’t kick me away,
Your
lowly servant, Visoka dasa
We
think we have met your goodness
by
the will of providence
Vyasa
Puja offering 2001- by Visoka dasa
Dear
Srila Prabhupada, all glories to you.
We
think we have met your goodness
by
the will of providence just so that
we
may accept you as captain of the
ship
for those who desire to cross the
difficult
ocean of Kali. (SB 1.1.23)
You
are the eternal captain of the lotus ship of Lord Caitanya’s mercy. We
were so fortunate that you picked us up from the ocean of maya and gave us
shelter aboard your ship. This ship named “Iskcon” was plying smoothly
through the treacherous waters of Kali-yuga, with your beautiful vapu and
your eternal vani always there to help us weather the various storms of
maya. We held on for dear life to your dhoti and battened down the
hatches, and although you warned us of the power of the ocean of maya,
sometimes to our great sorrow, a mate would lose his grip and be swept off
the deck into the waters, lost again to the sea. You said that we have
declared war on maya, and sometimes there would be casualities.
When
the storms subsided, we would host over the harinam-sankirtan lifeboats,
and thus we would venture out into the sea of Kali and proclaim the
glories of Lord Sri Krishna with loud banners and cheers. We threw out
lifesavers, in the forms of BTG’s and your transcendental literatures
and mantra cards to the suffering souls of the sea, scooping up the lost
swimmers, and often by your potency, we would reel in a few floundering
souls and take them back to the ship.
Many
a time we would look out on the horizon and see some ship mates riding
their surfboards, merrily skiing on the waves, as your ship plied smoothly
through the murky waters. These souls were exercising their constitutional
natures of being of the tatasva-sakti category, or the “marginal
potency.” Thus they were demonstrating their intrinsic “marginal
potency” by regulating their activities to the peripheral boundaries, or
keeping themselves on the marginal fringe of devotional activities. They
would try to squeeze out a few more drops of fleeting pleasure from the
vast waters of Maya, and simultaneously hold on for dear life to their
lifelines, and then some times they would haul themselves back up on deck
whenever there was a feast or major appearance day. After a sumptuous
feast and a little “left side down” they would swab the decks for a
while and then sneak back out to their surfboards. Someone pointed them
out, saying, “Look at the surfers, Srila Prabhupada,” and you sagely
corrected him, “sufferers,” and we all grinned at each other.
Sometimes
we anchored in coral reef bays and played water sports in tranquil waters.
We would sooth our parched desert-like tongues with the flow of the
nectarine Ganges waters of Lord Caitanya’s transcendental pastimes. In
those transcendental lagoons were lotus flowers of singing, dancing and
loud chanting of Krishna’s holy name, our only abode of transcendental
pleasure. All the devotees were like swans, ducks and bees, as the
ever-flowing Ganges water of harinam-sankirtan produced a melodious sound
that gladdened our ears. Sometimes we held great festival days with huge
colorful tents and lavishly decorated boats, headed up by your stalwart
devotees, Jayananda Prabhu and Visnujana Swami. Sometimes, we would get
distracted by the monkeys swinging in the trees, and you would always save
us from such monkey business with your nectarean instructions.
And
then all powerful Kala wielded His razor sharp revolving disc, and our
merry sailing eventually came to naught. The storm squalls came, tyrannous
and strong, chasing us down along, down into ice cold dooms of stagnation.
As we would read in your eternal books, “Everyone is sleeping in the
darkness of Kaliyuga, but when there is a great acharya, by his calling
only, everyone takes to the study of the Vedas to acquire actual
knowledge,“ and you said that when that great acarya leaves the planet,
then chaos ensues, and so that came to pass.
That
great storm hit full force, and some slipped and fell out into the dark
waters. Then a great calm ensued and a dark overcast shrouded the sky.
Engulfed in dense darkness, we huddled down below deck, our frames
trembling, while the omen-bearing Albatross lay lifeless on deck. We were
struck down, dead in the water, idle as some painted ship on a painted
sea. There was heard a faint peg-leg tapping, marking time on the deck,
and someone faintly whispered “Ahab.” And someone else said,
“illusory whales.” A faint flickering apparition of some yellow-stool
Doubloon caught our eyes, and many a rumor harkened of the harbinger of
death, the white monster of the sea, who could destroy an entire ship with
a single blow. You always said that destruction can only come from within.
And so fear and trembling overcame us running, as we forgot your blessed
vani and your dear Lord Sri Krishna too many times, and the Albatross of
ill-luck hung round our necks.
Then
the golden forms of Lord Caitanya and Lord Nityananda came dancing across
the path of our weary eyes, the two brothers shining as brilliant as the
moon and sun rising simultaneously on the eastern horizon, chasing away
all darkness from our hearts. And then you appeared again as the two
Bhagavatas, the book Bhagavata and the person Bhagavata, and you and your
books once again illumined our collective hearts, and we took courage to
man the ship and plough on through the darkness, steering out for the dawn
of light once again. Again to man the life boats and lifesavers, again
pulling aboard drowning souls, again the bird o’ luck flew, and again
your life-breath filled our lungs, and again we saw you Srila Prabhupada
as our eternal captain and dearmost friend. Again sacred service you gave.
Again we all proclaimed in loud voices singing, Jai Srila Prabhupada, Jai
Srila Prabhupada, all glories unto you, all glories unto you, our eternal
captain of the ship, Jai Jai Srila Prabhupada, all glories to you, all
glories to you!
Your
lowly servant, Visoka dasa
Vyasa
Puja offering 2000 -
Dear
Srila Prabhupada,
Those
who continually associate with you, by hearing your tapes and reading your
books, throughout the day, are the most fortunate beings in the universe.
The transcendental sound vibration from your lectures and kirtan tapes has
the power to liberate even a casual bystander who hears only one word.
Either understanding, or not understanding the purport of the Krishna
prema emanating from your lotus lips on your tapes, every listener,
whether casual or attentive, are all purified, knowingly or unknowingly.
Even if we can’t quite hear what you say, even if we are busy in the
ashram and can’t hear every word, or we’re driving the car and the
traffic noise drowns out what you say, still your transcendental sound
vibration purifies everything, it purifies our hearts and the atmosphere
around us, even the walls and furniture. Even if I’m spacing out and
thinking about something else, still your transcendental words are
purifying my soul. Therefore, we shall always endeavor to hear your tapes
in all circumstances, as they are always supremely auspicious for all
living entities.
Dear
Srila Prabhupada, I love to hear your powerful voice as you smash the
rascal scientists in your lectures. I love to hear your mock debates with
your disciples, as they play the devil’s advocate, and how you smash
their atheistic arguments. Once, a disciple said, ”But you are the only
person saying this!” And you immediately countered, “Then I am the
ONLY intelligent person!” Everyone roared with laughter. And then you
said, “This is a fact!” Yes, Srila Prabhupada, it is a fact, that you,
and other Vaisnavas as well, are the only intelligent men in this material
world. I only feel safe and secure, only when I’m hearing your
transcendental voice on my tape player. Whenever I start to feel insecure
and fearful of this material existence, then I play your tapes, and then
my fear will immediately fade away.
I
love to hear you tell the glories of Lord Sri Krishna in your original
dictation tapes of the Krishna book. I love to hear your transcendental
voice recite the prayers of Akura and King Mucukunda and Lord Brahma and
others, as your transcendental voice surcharges the transcendental potency
of the great devotee prayers of the Bhagavatam. The sweetness of the tenth
canto becomes unlimitedly sweeter by your transcendental voice.
I
love to hear your transcendental comment about the ice cream truck outside
the temple on La Cienega Blvd. You faintly hear a bell outside the window,
coming up the street, and you stopped your lecture, and said, “What is
that sound?” One disciple said, “Its an ice cream truck, Srila
Prabhupada.” You paused for a moment, and then said, “Just see, here
is maya!” Everyone laughs. And then you said, “Here is maya, come and
take, come and take…” This is so transcendentally humorous, that I can
listen to this tape over and over and laugh every time.
I
love to hear your classic vintage kirtans, especially the one where there
is some bhakta baby who’s crying, who accents your kirtan, as he cries
out for Krishna right on beat, exactly when you chant the holy name of
Lord Caitanya. I also love your kirtan where you play the gong so loud and
transcendentally in time. And your harmonium playing is unparalleled in
all the three worlds, and even the Gandarvas are swooning in ecstasy and
amazement when you play the harmonium, as every note is divinely inspired
by Supersoul.
In
all circumstances, may we always hear your tapes and read your books, and
thus we will always feel safe and secure in this dangerous material world.
Part
2
Disclaimer-
Any resemblance of the following, to a Beatle song, is merely
coincidental. The following may be wishful thinking, and yes, it is a
wishful meditation on the successful execution of the mission of Srila
Prabhupada’s ISKCON, which is what the world really needs. This
meditation is called, “Imagine an ISKCON.”
Imagine
an ISKCON, where blissful hari-nama
sankirtan goes on for the next 10,000 years or more, and untold
billions of people are drowned in the flood of the oceanic mercy of Lord
Sri Krishna Caitanya Mahaprabhu and the all blissful holy names of Lord
Sri Krishna.
Imagine
an ISKCON, where devotees execute the simple formula of chanting and
dancing and taking of prasadam, and all living entities are eternally
benefited by loud hari-nama, and
sumptuous prasadam all over the world for the next 10,000 years.
Imagine
an ISKCON, where there’s major traffic jams in every major city of the
world, at 4 am, for mangala arotik,
as throngs of people converge on every Radha Krishna temple with great
eagerness to see Their Lordships.
Imagine
an ISKCON, where there’s major traffic jams in every major city of the
world at 7 pm, for blissful sundar
arotik as people rush through the doors to see Sri Sri Radha Krishna
after a long day at work.
Imagine
an ISKCON, where people line up for Srila Prabhupada’s books in airports
all over the world, and vans are constantly re-stocking the book
distributors, 2 to 3 times a day, for the next 10,000 years.
Imagine
an ISKCON, where every Friday night in all big cities, there’s huge
hari-nama sankirtan, with hundreds of devotees dancing and chanting in
wild abandon, and hundreds of people from all walks of life crowd around
the devotees and smile and cheer and wag their heads, and chant and dance
and clap their hands in joy.
Imagine
an ISKCON, where there are multiple huge Ratha-yatras
every summer, in all major cities, and streets are closed off for
blocks, and people are madly searching for parking spots for blocks
around, and they hurry to go take Lord Jagannatha’s darshan and honor
the huge 10 course transcendental feast offered to the Lord.
They
may say that I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one. Dreams blessed
by Lord Krishna have every possibility to become a reality, and the
impossible becomes possible, merely by the rapt meditation upon the two
divine pairs of lotus feet of the two transcendental brothers, Lord
Caitanya and Lord Nityananda, and by faithfully executing the order of our
divine spiritual master, Srila Prabhupada.
Imagine
an ISKCON, where the devotee lawyers are all bored, because there’s
nothing for them to do.
Imagine
an ISKCON, where Janmastami is so big, that temples are renting civic
centers and shea stadiums and Madison Square Gardens, and so on.
Imagine
an ISKCON, where dignitaries and presidents and prime ministers and heads
of state step out of their limousines, and along with their retinue, they
enter the local Sri Sri Radha Krishna
temple on Janmastami night at midnight, to pay prostrated
obeisances to Their Lordships.
Imagine
an ISKCON with millions of happy children in Krishna Consciousness, who
each and everyone of them, after ten years or so, become millions of happy
teenagers in Krishna Consciousness, and then ten or twenty years later, or
so, become happy adult devotees in Krishna Consciousness.
Imagine
an ISKCON, where Srila Prabhupada’s lecture and bhajan
and kirtan tapes are loudly
heard from open windows all over the world, at all times, day and night.
Imagine
an ISKCON, where misogyny and wife and child abuses are just faint and
horrible memories of the ancient past.
Imagine
an ISKCON, where Srila Prabhupada’s teachings are universally understood
without any change, or without any need or any desire anywhere for any
change at all, for the next 10,000 years or so.
They
may say that I’m a dreamer, but I'm not the only one. But
these kind of daydreams can be spiritual, and maybe someday become real,
only if we just try to please Srila Prabhupada and Krishna.
And
my dear Srila Prabhupada, maybe this grandiose wishing is a little
exaggerated sometimes, but, the size doesn’t really matter in the
ultimate sense. You always said that it is only our duty to deliver the
message of Krishna conscious, and the people may accept or not accept, and
in any case, we shall continue our duty of giving Krishna consciousness.
You also said that your Guru Maharaja, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati
Maharaja, had so many temples all over India, but he would say, “If by
selling all these temples I could turn one man to Krishna consciousness,
my mission would be successful.” You also told us that your main desire
for us was not so much the numbers of books sold, or number of big
temples, but simply that we develop our love for Krishna. This was your
foremost wish, that we simply love Krishna. Therefore, regardless if
ISKCON becomes gigantic or not, may we always try to fulfill your main
desire that we just simply learn to love Krishna, and that we work hard to
make a transcendental atmosphere in ISKCON, so that all the people of the
world may get the same opportunity to love Their Lordships Sri Sri Radha
Krishna . Jai, all glories to you Srila Prabhupada.
Your servant, Visoka dasa.
Offering
to Srila Prabhupada, on his disappearance day, 1999.
Dear
Srila Prabhupada
In
trying to fullfill my duty to glorify you, my spiritual master, as I
attempt to recount your glories, I am usually at lost for fitting words,
as all similes and literary ornaments employed by great poets, become
stale and hackneyed when we try to describe your transcendental qualities
and and the wonderful feats you performed on this earth. When I attempt to
describe your glory, I simply become tongue- tied and mute. How can we
puny mortals glorify you properly? It is only by your mercy that we are
able to say anything at all.
On
your appearance day earlier this year, one prabhu, Nityodiya Maharaja,
talked about how the past year has been especially painful. Your number
one request for us was to cooperate together, but over the years, we seen
such a deluge of argument and in-fighting. The internet has escalated
debates to intense levels. It seems to some devotees that there are no
solutions in sight. The issues of our children and women and past abuses
threaten us. The future looms fearful, and seems hopeless at times.. In
such states of distress, we break down and fall at your feet for quidance.
The
urgent necessity for peace and cooperation within the world community of
ISKCON devotees is felt by everyone. In the midst of the raging storm of
disagreement, we sometimes forget the tranquility and soothing balm of
your ever present instuctions and eternal vani, especially found in the
constant reading of your books. If we break out of the doldrum of
controversy, and we finally dance in tune with our divine master, Srila
Prabhupada, then all misgivings disappear, and ecstasy blooms in the
heart. If we try to approach you Srila Prabhupada with humility and
silence, then we can hear your words with full attention. But being
besieged by the all powerful mind, and so many arguments, who can properly
hear the words of Srila Prabhupada with a peaceful state of mind?
The
every present need to calm our troubled minds, and hear from you, Srila
Prabhupada, is best expressed with one experience I had in Srila
Prabhupada’s presence. We were all on a walk with Srila Prabhupada on
Watseka Ave, in LA California. A major thing I remember, was the profound
silence around Srila Prabhupada. Usually on Watseka, there’s always a
major din in the air, like babies crying in the background, or shouts of
“haribol” or talking everywhere. But in the presence of Srila
Prabhupada, there was an absolute silence around the sidewalk. It was as
if Supersoul in everyone’s hearts was telling us all to just be quiet,
and listen to the divine master. Adults, kids, insects, birds and animals
were all silent in his divine presence. And we were all listening for the
nectar from his lotus lips. He’s still here, and this is what we really
need, more listening, less arguing. More Srila Prabhupada vani and less
opinions. The first step in the 9 fold process of devotional
service is hearing, and hearing from Srila Prabhupada, and about Srila
Prabhupada is the most important process of devotional service.
On
this day, I am inspired to include this excerpt from Vaiyasaki’s book-
"Radha-Damodara
Vilasa" which I highly recommend to all devotees who delight in
tasting the
pure nectar of Lord Chaitanya’s sankirtan movement. It sort of takes up
where Lilamrta leaves off, about how the movement developed in America,
especially with Visnujana and Jayananda in California. Simply by reading
this passage,
ecstasy will well up in the heart of the reader. -
As Visnujana begins chanting the gurvastakam prayers, Srila
Prabhupada blows the conch and performs the arati for Vyasa-puja, making
really big
circles with incense and the lamps. After
arati, kirtan coninues as Srila Prabhupada joins in dancing amongst
the devotees. At the height of a tumultuous kirtan, he begins displaying
transcendental symptoms.
Narada Muni dasa says: I was a pretty new devotee, but Srila
Prabhupada completely transformed the entire room into Vaikuntha. He went
from one side
of the room to the other, like Lord Chaitanya twirling at Ratha-yatra.
Srila Prabhupada was dancing like that, back and forth. It was an amazing
thing, totally amazing. Tears were flowing from my eyes. Srila Prabhupada
was just extracting all these impurities from us. When sometimes Srila
Prabhupada would display these emotions, it was because he just couldn't
hold himself
back. This was one of those times. The whole room was transported to
Goloka.
You
were actually transported. Everyone went wild in that kirtan, and
Visnujana was leading. Everyone was crying. It was almost like when Lord
Chaitanya reappeared many years later in the kirtan with Narottama dasa
Thakur at Kheturi.
Sahadevi
devi dasi says: During the jaya om prayers at the end, everybody in the
whole
room was sobbing. You could hear everybody trying to hold back the tears
That’s how ecstatic it was. Oh God, it was amazing.
Dear
Srila Prabhupada, by remembering and chanting pastimes like this, and
reading your books, is the only way to destroy the pain of separation from
you. Please empower me and all Vaisnavas to read your books throughout the
day, and discuss Prabhupada katha at all times, and then peace and
tranquility will bless our days. Jai, all glories to our divine master,
Srila Prabhupada.
Your servant,
Visoka dasa
Offering,
1997-
Dear Srila
Prabhupada,
On this most auspicious occasion, we followers of your Divine Grace, wish
to glorify you to the highest extent of our frail human capacity. Such
praise of you is never enough, never fully descriptive of the glorious
truth of your personality, still we beg you to please accept this effort
to honor you on the holiest day of your divine appearance.
Thank you Srila Prabhupada, for fulfilling the order of your Guru Maharaja
to preach the message of Mahaprabhu in English throughout the world.
Thank you Srila Prabhupada, for crossing the Atlantic at an old age, on
the Jaladuta with so many hardships. You wrote beautiful verses to your
dear Lord Krishna, asking to be a puppet in his hands, to dance at his
command.
Thank you Srila Prabhupada, for preservering through cold New York
blizzards, and stepping over Bowery bums in the hallway, and living with a
crazy boy on LSD, and using refrigerators with meat in them, and so many
other hardships.
Thank you Srila Prabhupada, for planting the seed in the "Matchless
Gifts" storefront, for making sure your boys and girls had plenty of
"ISKCON bullets" for fighting Maya, thank you for giving Kirtan
to the hippies and seekers who were looking for something higher than LSD,
and the Kirtan kept them "high" forever, no more coming down.
Thank you for making the love feast with a dozen delicious preps, and
giving initiation to several boys who left you to clean up afterwards.
Thank you Srila Prabhupada, for leading your disciples 8 blocks to
Tompkins Square Park amidst the jeering and cat-calls, thank you for
sitting on the oriental carpet under the large Oak tree and starting Hare
Nama Sankirtan in America. Thank you for singing in a loud sonorous voice
for all to hear, as many hippie musicians joined in with Congo drums,
bamboo flutes, mouth organs, wooden clackers, tambourines and guitars.
Brahmananda and Achutananda danced in ecstasy for hours, doing the
"Swami step." Thank you for bringing Lord Gauranga's movement to
this country of meat-eaters, drug takers, sex-mad, low born persons, who
were somehow still eligible to receive your mercy.
Thank you Srila Prabhupada, for not compromising to the Goldsmiths and
Ginsbergs and the Fugs on the issue of sexual freedom, thank you for not
changing the philosophy for the Americans.
Thank you Srila Prabhupada, for leaving New York to spread Krishna
Consciousness to San Francisco. Your New York boys were shocked to hear of
your departure and tried to dissuade you. They could not conceive of
Krishna Consciousness going beyond the lower east side. Thank you for
meeting the hippie reception at the airport and chanting at the Rock
mantra concert to all the crazed hippies. Thank you for igniting the
Krishna Consciousness movement in the west coast and all over the world.
Thank you Srila Prabhupada, for living forever in your books. Your books
are supremely powerful and are non-different from yourself. They are
capable to deliver all the fallen souls for the next 10 thousand years.
All glories to your Divine Grace!
We know that to glorify you is our duty and our highest pleasure. We also
have come to understand that to glorify you with words is not enough.
Although our sentiment is sincere and true, still, the highest praise we
can offer you is to obey you with our actions and deeds. Our words are
nice and fitting upon this holiest of days, but the ultimate question is
this, our dear Srila Prabhupada; are we obeying you with all our heart and
soul?
To really please you, and to really honor you, is to obey you. We want to
be in the first of the two categories described in your sublime essay to
your Guru Maharaja- "some obey him wholeheartedly, while others do
not obey him directly."
Now, more than ever before, we find the absolute urgency to reassess our
motives, to take inventory within our hearts, and consult with Chaita Guru
- are we following the instructions of your Divine Grace? We must examine
ourselves, both individually and collectively, to make sure we are
following your will. Only then will we please you and be happy. Unless we
meditate on your orders, your words, 24 hours a day, how can any of us be
happy? If we are feeling any anxiety or hankering, then it means that we
have not taken your orders to heart as we should.
We at New Vrindavana community are aware more than ever of the absolute
necessity of adhering to the will of our Divine Master. We are no
different from the rest of collective ISKCON in the hard lessons we
sometimes have to learn from even the slightest deviation from the divine
teachings given in your books and personal instructions. The wonderful
devotees who live here are very intelligent and sincere, and are very
determined to follow your instructions to the letter, more than ever. We
also pray that the collective society and leaders also see that absolute
necessity to follow your Divine Grace strickly, thus avoiding the
unpleasant school of hard knocks, the thorny road so many of us have
travelled.
First are your basic orders. Chant 16 rounds and 4 regs. We have to do
this. Once asked what your highest pleasure was, you relpied that you
simply wanted us to love Krishna. To distribute books was the highest
priority, but you said most important is that we love Krishna. You explain
this in your purports of Chaitanya Caritamrta, Adi lila, that the
spiritual master does not want money from the disciple, but he is most
pleased when the disciple becomes advanced in Krishna Consciousness and
gets love of God. Also, your main order is to be merciful to others. You
want us to distribute this Krishna Consciousness to others, by book
distribution and Hari nama, prasadam distribution, etc.
We know that to really please you and to become advanced and get love of
Krishna, then first of all, we must follow all of your orders and
instructions. We cannot imagine advancement or success. Success only comes
with obediance to you, nothing else.
Your most basic instruction was "you're not your body." Some of
us wonder why you hammered us on this, over and over. Some of us take this
in a simplistic way, and think we've got it down. Sadly enough, most of us
have got a long way to go. The covering of ahankara, which causes "I,
me and mine" is very thick. So we must meditate on this instruction,
without being overconfident. It is not that easy, as you made it clear so
many times.
We shall gather together today on this most glorious day in the history of
the human race, the appearance of the greatest Vaisnava the world has ever
seen. It is our duty to glorify you as the greatest personality and
broadcast this message everywhere on the planet. May we glorify you with
word and deed. May we act in the way that we speak. May we honor as our
spiritual father, by following your will and instructions. All glories to
you Srila Prabhupada!
from New Vrindavan, by Visoka dasa 1997
(later will be added offering from 1975, written in San Francisco)
More offerings on Page 2
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