Honoring Srila Prabhupada

August 18th, 2014, was the 118th anniversary of the birth of Srila Prabhuapada, the Founder-Acarya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness and the guru of Radhanath Swami. Below is an excerpt of a talk given by Radhanath Swami on the same day in 2002.

What is the Real Purpose of Life:

We have forgotten who we are and what is our real purpose of living. We are not this temporary material body or the flickering mind. We are the eternal soul, the life force. The nature of life force is that it is a part of God; it is eternal, full of knowledge and full of bliss. To remember our relationship with God is the purpose of human existence. It is the only platform where there is real happiness. In forgetfulness of our relationship with God as his loving servants, we are destined by our own activities to accept karmic reactions, which we then must enjoy and suffer birth after birth. We have rejected the rare jewel of God within us to search for the broken pieces of glass in the form of enjoyment of this temporary world.

The Cause of Suffering, Forgetfulness, andAvidya (Ignorance):

It is this forgetfulness, this avidya or ignorance, that is the cause of all suffering. Out of compassion, the Supreme Personality of Godhead descended into this world and spoke Srimad Bhagavad-gita, and gave us the Vedic literatures through His incarnation Veda Vyasa. Those great souls who live with the spirit of the Lord’s compassion shining through their hearts – they are the true well-wishers and friends of all human society. With this in mind let us briefly examine the life of His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada.

The Life of Srila A.C. Bhaktivedanta Prabhupada:

When Srila Prabhupada was in his early twenties he first met his beloved spiritual master Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur. At that time he was given the instruction, “You are an intelligent young man, so take this message of Sri Chaitanya and spread it throughout the world in the English language.” Although Srila Prabhupada was a married man with a child, he spent the rest of his life preparing for that mission. When he was in his fifties he retired from all worldly life and made his base in Sri Vrindavan dham, the holy land of Lord Krishna. This is the most sacred of all sacred places, with over five thousand temples of Krishna, where everyone is chanting the names of Krishna day and night. This very place, where Krishna is eternally performing His beautiful pastimes in a charming spiritual environment, is where Srila Prabhupada translated the First Canto of Srimad Bhagavatam into the English language, with the idea that this would facilitate him for fulfilling the mission of his spiritual master.

He was living as sannyasi; therefore he had no material wealth. But he had an unlimited treasure-house of love for Krishna and for every living being. He went to Bombay; in brief, he actually had to sit on the steps outside the offices of the Scindia Steamship Company, begging for a ticket on a steam cargo ship to New York City. He was not begging for himself. He was begging for you and me, and begging for all living beings. He did not need anything. He had everything. He was living in Vrindavana in divine consciousness. Yet he was begging and humbling himself to the most insignificant position, preparing to lead a life full of danger and fear, full of torturous conditions. He did that to give the world love of Krishna. He was given his ticket on the Jaladuta.

From Bombay he took a train to Calcutta, just a couple days before the boat was to depart. He went to Mayapur dham to visit the samadhi mandira of his guru maharaja Bhaktisiddhant Sarasvati Thakur. He spent the day praying for his blessings. He came back to Calcutta. There were five people who came to be with him and to see him off (Sena Gupta, Bhagavati, Mr. Ali, an employee of Scindia steamship line and his little son Vrindavana). He had forty rupees. Seven dollars and he boarded the boat. While in the Arabian Sea there were great storms, and he experienced seasickness and several heart attacks.

Prabhupada’s Struggle in New York:

Srila Prabhupada departed Calcutta on Friday the 13th of August, 1965. After 38 days of life-threatening journey he finally arrived in New York City, where he knew no one. For those of you who have read his diary, you can do nothing but fall at his feet with gratitude in your heart. How he lived! He sometimes lived on the Bowery, where there were drunkards and prostitutes and drug addicts. Sometimes he would find somebody who took a little bit of interest in Krishna and he would stay at their house with them.

Determination of Srila Prabhupada:

He was seventy years old and he wrote to his godbrothers, to some wealthy people in India and to politicians:  “I want to start the first Radha Krishna temple in America. The people will be receptive. Please help me.” But everyone wrote back, “Swamiji, it is impossible. Come home.” The only thing he had of any material value whatsoever was his return ticket on Jaladuta to Bombay. But he would not use it, even if there was no result. If you read his diary, you see that he considered everything the property of Krishna. He was a pure devotee; he was accountable to Krishna for everything he said, everything he did. He would note down every expenditure and every kind of income. Fourteen cents for a banana and some potatoes, he spent one day. Thirty cents for bus fare. Twenty-three cents for a banana and a potato and an apple. He wrote down all of this. And sometimes people would buy his books and he would get a little income and he would simply use it for preaching.

He was staying in various places. He was always inviting people, “Come.” His diary explains that he was inviting the world to come and get the message of Krishna. One night he wrote that nobody came. So was he depressed? Somehow or other he got a little tape recorder and just did a whole program for the tape recorder. Another day, he explains, three ladies and a gentleman came. “And I play the tape of my chanting for them. And they like it. Therefore now I can understand that Haridasa Thakur’s prediction that the holy name of Krishna will be spread all over the whole world.” Such positive thinking.

He never gave up hope. He never gave up faith. In 1966, on the most blessed of all celebration days – Gaura Purnima, the Appearance of Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu – Prabhupada wrote in his diary, “In Vrindavana and in Navadvipa, my godbrothers and godsisters are gathered together to have glorious celebrations, but here I am ten thousand miles from the nearest Vaishnava. I am all alone with nothing. But I am very happy, because this is the message of Krishna. Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu wanted His holy name spread throughout the world and I am willing to suffer in hell to perform His will.” That is Srila Prabhupada.

Prabhupada was always Positive:

At one point Srila Prabhupada was homeless. Some people arranged for him a small storefront at 26 Second Avenue, on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. They would be able to help with the payment for one month, but after that they could not help him. He writes in his diary, “We will leave it to Krishna.” And he began having Bhagavad-gita classes. Soon some interested people started coming. Then he started going to the Tompkins Square Park, sitting under an elm tree and playing a bongo drum that someone had given to him. He had no mridanga; he had no Vedic instruments. Playing that little drum, he would chant Hare Krishna and crowds of people would come around and sing and dance with him. He would explain the message of Bhagavad-gita.

Soon, very sincere seekers of the truth were coming to him – some of whom had been born into great wealth and affluence, who had the world at their feet materially. But they had the wisdom to understand that there is no fulfillment, there is no meaning in those things alone. There must be something higher; there must be something deeper. There must be some spiritual substance to life. They were disoriented by the hypocrisy they had experienced in society, and the messages they had heard that contained no satisfactory philosophy. When they heard Srila Prabhupada’s message, when they met with Srila Prabhupada’s heart, they felt, “Here is a man who loves me. Here is a man who loves God. Here is a man who will sacrifice his life for the welfare of everyone and anyone.” And they gave their lives to assisting him. Soon Srila Prabhupada’s little storefront was overflowing with sincere souls. After that he went to San Francisco, and then to Montreal. And an amazing thing about Srila Prabhupada became revealed – that those who were actually grateful for what he gave them, they were empowered and inspired with the same type of fearless compassion he had.

There were three married couples who had been devotees for not even one year. Srila Prabhupada sent them to London to establish Krishna Consciousness there. They had no money; they did not know a single person. But they had one thing – they saw what Prabhupada did for them. And the magic of that mercy inspired them to do the same for others.

Those six people – Guru das and Yamuna, Mukunda Maharaja and Janaki, and Syamsundara Prabhu and Malati – did not have enough money to get into the country. Srila Prabhupada had to send them a money order. One couple at a time came in and showed, ‘this is how much money we have.’ So they would get through, and then they mailed that cheque to the next couple, who mailed it to the next. After they were all in, they mailed that cheque back to Srila Prabhupada. Malati had a little child that Srila Prabhupada had named Sarasvati – the first child born in the Hare Krishna movement. She was sometimes living in the basement of a warehouse, in a brown cardboard box with her family. But the devotees were inspired. They were ecstatic. They wanted to share the glorious gift that Srila Prabhupada had given them. They adopted Srila Prabhupada’s spirit of fearlessness, of doing the impossible, seeing Krishna as the controller. They approached the Beatles, the most influential people in the whole western world. Impossible to meet such people. But they met them, and influenced Mr. George Harrison. Gradually they were chanting in the streets. Srila Prabhupada came to London and established Krishna Consciousness.

Srila Prabhupada’s Determination Finally Bears Fruit:

Our beloved godbrother Tamal Krishna Gosvami – who, by Krishna’s inconceivable arrangement, left our physical association earlier this year – was another such person that could do anything and everything because he was inspired by Srila Prabhupada’s mercy. Srila Prabhupada was sending such devotees to various places of the world. Soon there were 108 thriving temples. From living in a cardboard box in a warehouse basement, there is now Bhaktivedanta Manor. From a tiny room in Vrindavana developed the most popular temple in  Vrindavana Dham, the Krishna Balaram Temple.

Book Distribution:

When Srila Prabhupada began his book distribution, he was the only distributor. He would take his magazines and just go from store to tea shop, in his old age, trying to convince people to accept the message of Krishna in the form of Back To Godheadmagazine. Not long afterward he established the largest publishing company of Indian literature in the history of the world. Hundreds of thousands of books have been distributed. Sometimes tens and thousands of Bhagavad-gitas were distributed in one day, by those who had been touched by his spirit of compassion. We can speak on this subject for many many hours, days, weeks, months, years and lifetimes. What was Srila Prabhupada’s motivation? Selfless, unconditional love for Krishna. Selfless, unconditional love and compassion for you and me. His wish for us to share in the highest treasures of the spiritual world, which can be easily attained by simply orchestrating our propensities and life, in a spirit of devotion, toward Krishna and chanting His holy names. On the basis of the holy scriptures, Srila Prabhupada established everything he said.

harer nāma harer nāma
harer nāmaiva kevalam
kalau nāsty eva nāsty eva
nāsty eva gatir anyathā

Caitanya-caritamrita. Ädi 17.21

Chanting the Holy Name in the Age Of Kali:

In this age of Kali there is one simple and most beneficial method by which we can attain the highest perfection of spiritual realization, realizing our eternal loving relationship with Supreme Personality of Godhead, Sri Krishna. And that method is to chant the holy names. Srila Prabhupada inspired small children, elderly people on the verge of death, ladies and gentlemen, rich and poor, Asian, African, American, European – there was no discrimination. Prabhupada showed compassion to everyone. Srila Prabhupada showed compassion even to the most insignificant living entity, because he had faith. Simply chant the holy names, cleanse your heart and feel the real joy of life. So let us today, on this glorious occasion of the Appearance of Srila Prabhupada, take his mercy to our hearts by simply accepting as a priority in our life the chanting of the names of the God and trying to share that great fortune with others. “Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna Hare Hare/ Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama Hare Hare.” Thank you very much.