Vyasa Puja Offering 2022
Letting Srila Prabhupada Speak for Himself
Part Four
Dearest Srila Prabhupada,
Please accept millions of my heartfelt obeisances in the dust of your lotus feet.
Srila Prabhupada, throughout the world you spread knowledge of the supreme goal of life - pure love for the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Sri Krishna. You also gave the world the only means for attaining that goal, chanting the Hare Krishna maha-mantra without offence. After you had attained seventy years of age, you circled the globe fourteen times to spread the chanting of the maha-mantra and the spiritual science supporting the chanting through your Bhaktivedanta purports––to anyone and everyone willing to hear.
Therefore, Srila Prabhupada, of all the wonderful things you gave to the world your books stand out as the most consequential. Your books are written in a language and style that allows an honest person to easily understand the essence of the profound philosophical thoughts of Vedic knowledge.
In past offerings I’ve also tried to express my wholehearted gratitude to you for opening my eyes with spiritual knowledge through your translations of and Bhaktivedanta purports to the most essential of the Vedic literatures, especially Srimad Bhagavad-gita, Srimad-Bhagavatam, and Sri Caitanya-caritamrta.
For your pleasure, Srila Prabhupada, I’ve spent the past three years recording Sri Caitanya-caritamrta and polishing the sound with the help of Rasika-siromani Prabhu and Bhakta Bland Mahdi. Now the BBT audio book is finally available on bbtmedia.com and Audible. As the world hurtles towards self-destruction, may this audio book help give relief to suffering humanity and stimulate its urge for self-realization. You are personally present in your purports, Srila Prabhupada, and so anything is possible.
Today is the fourth anniversary of the day I began live streaming my daily readings of your books. I read your books out loud while live streaming them on Facebook. Then Mayapur-sasi Prabhu uploads them onto a YouTube channel of the same name: Daily Readings of Srila Prabhupada’s Books. As of today, 1,170 videos have been posted: Bhagavad-gita As It Is twice, cover to cover; Srimad-Bhagavatam once, cover to cover, plus a current reading up to the sixth chapter of the second Canto; Sri Caitanya-caritamrta once, cover to cover; your Krishna Book once, cover to cover; and the BBT’s publication of Brhad-bhagavatamrta, translated by your faithful disciple Gopiparanadhana Prabhu. This is the first English translation of Sanatana Gosvami’s Dig-darsini commentary on Brhad-bhagavatamrta. About this book you write… “Brhad-bhagavatamrta is very famous; anyone who wants to know about the subject matter of devotees, devotional service and Krishna must read this book.” (Cc Adi.5.103, purport)
The format of the daily readings is that I read verbatim for forty minutes or so, then we have a reflection session in which online viewers and devotees physically present at the live reading share their reflections on what we’ve read, and then we discuss. The results have been marvelous. I’ve received many comments from devotees who have reawakened a taste for hearing your books, finding them more easily understandable when received through the ear. This is all your Divine Grace’s mercy.
One need look no further than your purports, Srila Prabhupada, for the factual solutions to the problems of the world, individually and collectively. Your purports speak for themselves:
Coming again to the point of pure devotional service, the Lord is describing the transcendental qualifications of a pure devotee in these two verses. A pure devotee is never disturbed in any circumstances. Nor is he envious of anyone. Nor does a devotee become his enemy’s enemy; he thinks, “This person is acting as my enemy due to my own past misdeeds. So it is better to suffer than to protest.” In the Srimad-Bhagavatam (10.14.8) it is stated: tat te ‘nukampam su-samiksamano bhunjana evatma-krtam vipakam. Whenever a devotee is in distress or has fallen into difficulty, he thinks that it is the Lord’s mercy upon him. He thinks, “Thanks to my past misdeeds I should suffer far, far greater than I am suffering now. So it is by the mercy of the Supreme Lord that I am not getting all the punishment I am due. I am just getting a little, by the mercy of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.” Therefore he is always calm, quiet and patient, despite many distressful conditions. A devotee is also always kind to everyone, even to his enemy. Nirmama means that a devotee does not attach much importance to the pains and trouble pertaining to the body because he knows perfectly well that he is not the material body. He does not identify with the body; therefore he is freed from the conception of false ego and is equipoised in happiness and distress. He is tolerant, and he is satisfied with whatever comes by the grace of the Supreme Lord. He does not endeavor much to achieve something with great difficulty; therefore he is always joyful. He is a completely perfect mystic because he is fixed in the instructions received from the spiritual master, and because his senses are controlled he is determined. He is not swayed by false arguments, because no one can lead him from the fixed determination of devotional service. He is fully conscious that Krishna is the eternal Lord, so no one can disturb him. All these qualifications enable him to fix his mind and intelligence entirely on the Supreme Lord. Such a standard of devotional service is undoubtedly very rare, but a devotee becomes situated in that stage by following the regulative principles of devotional service. Furthermore, the Lord says that such a devotee is very dear to Him, for the Lord is always pleased with all his activities in full Krishna consciousness. (Bg 12.13–14, purport)
A few of a devotee’s qualifications are further being described. No one is put into difficulty, anxiety, fearfulness or dissatisfaction by such a devotee. Since a devotee is kind to everyone, he does not act in such a way as to put others into anxiety. At the same time, if others try to put a devotee into anxiety, he is not disturbed. It is by the grace of the Lord that he is so practiced that he is not disturbed by any outward disturbance. Actually because a devotee is always engrossed in Krishna consciousness and engaged in devotional service, such material circumstances cannot move him. Generally a materialistic person becomes very happy when there is something for his sense gratification and his body, but when he sees that others have something for their sense gratification and he hasn’t, he is sorry and envious. When he is expecting some retaliation from an enemy, he is in a state of fear, and when he cannot successfully execute something he becomes dejected. A devotee who is always transcendental to all these disturbances is very dear to Krishna. (Bg 12.15, purport)
Money may be offered to a devotee, but he should not struggle to acquire it. If automatically, by the grace of the Supreme, money comes to him, he is not agitated. Naturally a devotee takes a bath at least twice in a day and rises early in the morning for devotional service. Thus he is naturally clean both inwardly and outwardly. A devotee is always expert because he fully knows the essence of all activities of life and he is convinced of the authoritative scriptures. A devotee never takes the part of a particular party; therefore he is carefree. He is never pained, because he is free from all designations; he knows that his body is a designation, so if there are some bodily pains, he is free. The pure devotee does not endeavor for anything which is against the principles of devotional service. For example, constructing a big building requires great energy, and a devotee does not take to such business if it does not benefit him by advancing his devotional service. He may construct a temple for the Lord, and for that he may take all kinds of anxiety, but he does not construct a big house for his personal relations. (Bg 12.16, purport)
A pure devotee is neither happy nor distressed over material gain and loss, nor is he very much anxious to get a son or disciple, nor is he distressed by not getting them. If he loses anything which is very dear to him, he does not lament. Similarly, if he does not get what he desires, he is not distressed. He is transcendental in the face of all kinds of auspicious, inauspicious and sinful activities. He is prepared to accept all kinds of risks for the satisfaction of the Supreme Lord. Nothing is an impediment in the discharge of his devotional service. Such a devotee is very dear to Krishna. (Bg. 12.17, purport)
A devotee is always free from all bad association. Sometimes one is praised and sometimes one is defamed; that is the nature of human society. But a devotee is always transcendental to artificial fame and infamy, distress or happiness. He is very patient. He does not speak of anything but the topics about Krishna; therefore he is called silent. Silent does not mean that one should not speak; silent means that one should not speak nonsense. One should speak only of essentials, and the most essential speech for the devotee is to speak for the sake of the Supreme Lord. A devotee is happy in all conditions; sometimes he may get very palatable foodstuffs, sometimes not, but he is satisfied. Nor does he care for any residential facility. He may sometimes live underneath a tree, and he may sometimes live in a very palatial building; he is attracted to neither. He is called fixed because he is fixed in his determination and knowledge. We may find some repetition in the descriptions of the qualifications of a devotee, but this is just to emphasize the fact that a devotee must acquire all these qualifications. Without good qualifications, one cannot be a pure devotee. Harav abhaktasya kuto mahad-gunah: one who is not a devotee has no good qualification. One who wants to be recognized as a devotee should develop the good qualifications. Of course he does not extraneously endeavor to acquire these qualifications, but engagement in Krishna consciousness and devotional service automatically helps him develop them. (Bg. 12.18–19, purport)
The words bhadra karana are significant in this verse. Due to his long hair, mustache and beard, Sanatana Gosvami looked like a daravesa, or hippie. Since Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu did not like Sanatana Gosvami’s hippie features, he immediately asked Candrasekhara to get him shaved clean. If anyone with long hair or a beard wants to join this Krishna consciousness movement and live with us, he must similarly shave himself clean. The followers of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu consider long hair objectionable. (Cc Madhya 20.70 purport)
Srila Prabhupada, the world situation has degraded to such an extent that the urgent need for your followers to take their hearing to another level has reached a fever pitch. By “another level” I mean that we must apply your teachings to ourselves and not just to others. You yourself make this point throughout your Bhaktivedanta purports. Unless we assimilate your teachings into our own thinking, feeling, willing, and action, how will we be able to change the hearts of others, as you did, not to mention work together in the co-operative spirit you taught by example?
I can only imagine how the world would change if all of us, your sincere followers, were to think, feel, will, and act strictly according to the profound instructions you have given us, Srila Prabhupada!
Hare Krishna!
Your eternal servant,
Kesava Bharati Dasa Goswami