VYASAPUJA 2010
My dearest Srila Prabhupada,
Please accept my humble obeisances in the dust of your lotus feet, which are softer than the softest rose petal.
And again please accept my most respectful obeisances at the feet of your transcendental intelligence, which is sharper than the sharpest razor and more brilliant than a million suns.
And yet again please accept my heartfelt obeisances at the feet of your towering spiritual strength, by which you left your young disciples breathless as they tried to keep up with you, and by which you left the other spiritual authorities in India watching from the sidelines as you delivered Krsna to the world.
Some years ago a senior Englishman, a QC who had to speed-read all your books while deliberating upon the Manor inquiry, challenged your followers. He said that we could not actually understand the greatness of what you had accomplished, but that he could. At first his statement seemed perplexing. We were Srila Prabhupada’s loyal followers, after all, and the QC was but an outsider. Surely only we could understand. But his explanation made sense. He was senior in age, more than seventy. Because we were young, he pointed out, we couldn’t possible comprehend fully what you had done.
Indeed, the extra dimension of appreciation the QC spoke of is beginning to dawn within me in my sixty-fourth year, despite my being such a dullard. The adjustments I have already had to make, not to mention those I’ll have to make in the years to come in order to keep my service to you constant, shine more light on the inconceivable things you did on an international scale after your seventieth year. No one has ever done such a thing. And no one ever will. What you did Srila Prabhupada can only be done once.
This past year I continued my daily sädhana of listening to the available recorded material of Your Divine Grace in chronological order. I’m on my fourth time through, and each time I feel increasingly closer to you. It’s as if I’m traveling with you, attending your morning walks and lectures, your room conversations, interviews, preaching programs, and so on. I pray that this feeling goes on increasing forever. The power of your voice’s resonance, the solid logic of your arguments, the loving patience you displayed in constantly repeating the foundational principles of bhakti to insure that we became fixed up and did not jump forward prematurely, the sensitivity you showed to the cultural diversity you faced, and the adjustments you made to attract people from all walks of life in every country, all this and more set you apart from any other preacher from India, or from anywhere else for that matter.
My faith in your printed word also increased this year as the reports of my dear friend Vaisesika Prabhu poured in from his efforts to push forward the distribution of your books. Especially inspiring are the stories he tells about the results of going door to door in America. He reports that in general the common man has never been so receptive to your message. And he should know, having been dedicated to distributing your books steadily since 1973. From the revolutionary motel sankirtana party he heads up, reports are that some guests bring the Bhagavad-gitä from their rooms to the front desks of their motels to ask if they can purchase them after reading your classic introduction. How could this be happening if your message and method of delivery were not still pertinent?
You wanted us to write our realizations, Srila Prabhupada. You once delivered an intense message to your peers: “But where are their books.” You especially wanted your sannyasis to leave transcendental literature to uplift future generations. My other closest friend, Sivarama Swami, is engaging me in editing his books. The project we’re working on now is proving to be of epic proportions. May your mercy descend upon us so that we may properly present what you have taught us and so that our effort to please you may bear fruit.
You taught us that serving the servant of the servant of Krsna, the farther removed the better, makes us increasingly dear to Krsna. So I beg you, Srila Prabhupada. Please continue to engage me in serving the servants of your servants, and their servants.
As is natural in Kali-yuga, controversy still abounds. The history of splinter groups continues from the days of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s presence. When Lord Caitanya left Nadia to accept sannyäsa, the devotees were devastated. To pacify them the Lord reassured them that He would appear in two forms: nama-sankirtana and His Deity form. (Caitanya-bhägavata, Madhya-lilä 27.13) I can’t help but notice that today’s splinter groups tend to congregate at ISKCON’s festivals to distribute their tracks. They seem to lack what it takes to put on such dynamic public events themselves. This seems to me evidence of the special empowerment you injected into ISKCON’s kirtanas. And as far as your deity form goes, I myself have heard first time guests ask how you can sit still for so long! Wherever these two manifestations of your preaching are, Srila Prabhupada, the spiritual atmosphere is palpable, even to the uninformed.
The fact that you allowed your mürti to be installed in your physical presence on Gaura-Nitäi’s altar in Krishna-Balarama Mandir also testifies to the importance you placed on keeping your divine form in the center of ISKCON’s worship. The memory of the installation of the small brass mürti of Your Divine Grace at Rädhä-kuëòa just after your disappearance and the parikramä kirtana around Govardhana Hill to celebrate the event remains vivid in my heart. I think it’s safe to say that all of us who were fortunate enough to have participated in those historic events felt the special empowerment you injected into our kértana and your divine form.
In fact, the effulgence and standard of Deity worship maintained after all these years in your ISKCON temples is also distinct and palpable. For example, recently I made my first visit to the Punjabhi Bhag temple in Delhi. It isn’t one of ISKCON’s major temples, but I was struck by how effulgent the Deities and the entire altar are. Is not this evidence of the legacy you left to your loyal followers by your loving devotional service to the Lord? Who else has left such exemplary models of devotional service that engage devotees throughout the world in the loving service of the Lord?
And this brings me to my last observation. The effulgence of the ISKCON altars and kirtanas also seems to me to be evidence of the descending potency coming through you to the savants of today’s ISKCON, the sincere, hardworking devotees who maintain your temples and programs worldwide. I have directly heard an opinion from one group that the descending potency from the Lord was lost in ISKCON when you physically disappeared.
Some years ago a young sannyasi from a splinter group confronted me. His point was that the work we were doing on Brhad-bhägavatämrta was ascending because we no longer had you guiding our pens. His idea was that their work was descending, however, because they had their leader, the mahä bhägavata, physically present to guide them. This conversation took place before the first volume was published, so I had no hard evidence to show at the moment. I could only caution the devotee making the claim that Gopiparanadhana Prabhu and Jayadvaita Swami not only were trained directly by you, Srila Prabhupada, but also had been translating and editing transcendental literature for longer than the young sannyasi had been alive. It seems that arrogance and disloyalty go hand in hand.
Later, however, when Gopiparanadhana Prabhu, Jayadvaita Mahäräja, and I came to the last stage of the editing process of the first volume, a better answer came to me. I saw for myself how you impart the descending potency to us. As we sat together to make the final adjustments to the manuscript, sincerely trying to make the final result transparent to Srila Sanatana Gosvami, at times our eyes became misty when we found answers to especially difficult passages. There is no doubt in my mind that I was witnessing the descending potency as it was appearing. Now, every time I read that book with the devotees, a book you yourself said we must read, without fail the devotees listening are amazed at the clarity of the work and the uplifting effect the reading has on them. And from my side, I get the distinct impression that I had nothing to do with this work. The result was greater than even the synergy of our team’s combined effort. In short, when we get together and cooperate to do anything that you wanted done, Srila Prabhupada, the descending potency comes through that effort and wonderful things are accomplished.
For the past few years Vaisesika Prabhu and I have been conducting hearing and chanting sessions of your books with devotees from around the world at your ISKCON Bhaktivedanta Ashram in Govardhana. Consistently the devotees who participate have told us that they feel their spiritual lives rejuvenated. They feel your transcendental presence. Again, my conclusion is that when we get together and sincerely try to do something dear to your heart, your presence is invoked and the internal potency flows through us.
There is no way that we can repay you for these gifts, for your agreeing to stay with us in all these ways. You are alive and well, Srila Prabhupada. And all we can do is to continue to cooperate with likeminded devotees to fulfill your desires.
Please bless me, Srila Prabhupada, so that I will always be able to live and associate with your loyal followers. In this way I can serve you forever.
Your servant,
Kesava Bharati Dasa Gosvami