20200813 Śrīla Prabhupāda Kathā Night

Lecture Code: 20200813-1

Occasion: SPECIAL SRILA PRABHUPADA KATHA

Date :13 August 2020

Place: Sridham Mayapur

Transcribed By: Jayaraseswari DD

Transcribed on :13August 2020

1^st Level Proofer :Bhavatarini Radhika DD

1^st Level Proofed on: 14 August 2020

Click HERE To Listen To Lecture

20200813HH  JAYAPATAKA SWAMI MAHARAJ, SRILA PRABHUPADA VYASA PUJA, SPECIAL SRILA PRABHUPADA KATHA, SRI MAYAPUR DHAM, INDIA

mūkaṁkarotivācālaṁpaṅguṁlaṅghayategirim

yat-kṛpā tam ahaṁvandeśrī-guruṁdīna-tāraṇam

paramānandaṁmādhavaṁśrīcaitanyaiśvaram

hariḥoṁ tat sat

Today, we wish everyone in the eastern hemisphere the auspicious Prabhupada Vyasa puja, and those in the western hemisphere, if you have observed the auspicious Vyasa puja yesterday. So today, this class is dedicated to SrilaPrabhupada. We hope everyone can remember SrilaPrabhupada at all times. Lord Siva, He was asked by Parvati, there are so many types of worship, what is the greatest worship? He replied, aradhanamsarvesam, Visnoraradanam param, tasmatparataramdevi, tadiyanamasamarcanam – of all the worships, the worship of Visnu is the greatest. But with one exception. Tadiyanamsamarcanam-  worshipping those who are related with him is superior. Since SrilaPrabhupada is connected to Kṛṣṇa, therefore worshipping him is superior. And His Holiness Bhakti Caru Swami had promoted the worship of SrilaPrabhupada. Today in the offerings of SrilaPrabhupada’s disciples, some disciple mentioned, that he had said that one of his god brothers told him that he was his siksa guru. Then he told this to SrilaPrabhupada. And SrilaPrabhupada, he listened carefully and he replied. You tell my god brother, I am your diksa guru and your siksa guru. I don’t need any other guru. So that god brother of mine, he was saying he was saying how the grand disciples of SrilaPrabhupada, that just as some stores say, buy 1 get 1 free, so you get your diksa guru and you also get SrilaPrabhupada. Ha! So you get two for the price of one! Harisauri prabhu, he mentioned how he had read some conversation in Hindi, which was translated to him in English. So SrilaPrabhupada was talking to Bhagavatji in Vrndavana. He said, that from 1965 until 1977, his health was bad. In 1967 he returned to India, because he thought he would die. So he wanted to leave his body in Vrndavana. But Kṛṣṇa blessed him, and he lived longer. So we may think that oh, SrilaPrabhupada is a pure devotee, and he spread Kṛṣṇa consciousness, he didn’t suffer. But Harisauri prabhu was mentioning he said, that this whole time, he had poor health. And we should be so much grateful to SrilaPrabhupada, how he spread the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement, in spite of his poor health. As I said, if Prabhupadanahoito, kihoito? If Prabhupada had not come, what would have happened? Today we read from the Caitanya Mangala, how Lord Caitanya had predicted he would send His senapati bhakta, who would preach all over the world. And we see that SrilaPrabhupada came and spread Kṛṣṇa consciousness all over the world. So all his followers, his disciples, grand disciples, great grand disciples, etc. should help him spread the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement. When I took my dinner, I just turned on the TV to see the news. And it was evident, that they will do anything, but they don’t remember Kṛṣṇa. Hindus fighting with Muslims, they bring all that news, but nothing about God. So SrilaPrabhupada, he said, he came to change the way people thought. That they should be thinking about Kṛṣṇa. They should understand how the Lord is so wonderful! As  Bhagavan, He has all the six qualities. All beauty, all power, all knowledge, all fame, all renunciation, all opulence. Radharani, She looked at Kṛṣṇa, She didn’t blink, because She could not stand the separation from Kṛṣṇa, for one eye blink. SrilaPrabhupada, he boldly presented the history of Kṛṣṇa. And he presented the idea, that everyone should be a devotee of Kṛṣṇa. He went all over the world, with this simple message. And people have adopted Kṛṣṇa consciousness, because of his divine qualities.

So I joined in 1968. And I immediately wanted to meet the founder. By meeting his devotees, I was convinced that I should try this out. Then after the ratha yatra in San Francisco I flew into New York and then Montreal. At that time, I saw all the centers of ISKCON. Because there were only 3! San Francisco, New York and Montreal. When I went to Montreal, I was shaved up and I sat up in the evening Bhagavad-gita class of SrilaPrabhupada. At the end of class, SrilaPrabhupada asked, who is this? And Garga Muni had come from San Francisco, he said, this is Bhakta Jay! And SrilaPrabhupada said, alright, have him come for lunch tomorrow! So I came for lunch with the two brothers, Garga muni and Brahmananda. I was in the middle of them. At that time, I was very thin, they were very healthy! Then SrilaPrabhupada gave me, take more and more prasadam! But I was not able to eat so much. The other two brothers, they ate much! So then afterwards, SrilaPrabhupada talked with me. And he asked me, what is your plan? And I said, well I was thinking about going to India. And he said, I will train you up first, and then send you. So after that I stayed with SrilaPrabhupada. So I was given the assignment to be present when SrilaPrabhupada was taking his afternoon rest. In case he needed something, he would ring a bell and I would go. So usually he didn’t need anything. Sometimes he would call me. And so one time, there was a cockroach in his room. So then I was called to help him. And then he took the cockroach by the back. It was a big cockroach. Then he opened the window and told the cockroach, I am giving you the whole world to enjoy! And he threw the cockroach out of the window and locked the window. He was saying, how every fly when they enter the house they think I am the owner of this house! So, he was very humorous, at the same very realistic. Here is a picture, SrilaPrabhupada in Montreal. And his asana is very high. One day SrilaPrabhupada was giving a lecture. And he said, that you should b 100% Kṛṣṇa conscious. But then everybody was feeling very frustrated because 100% is very high to achieve. Then SrilaPrabhupada was climbing down the asana. You see how high the asana is. As he turned, he said, even 90% Kṛṣṇa will take you! So then the people were thinking, still 90% is very tough. He was almost down the asana, He turned to the devotees and said, even 80%, Kṛṣṇa will take you. Then as he was walking away from the asana, his chaddar was dragging behind him. Then he said, even 70% Kṛṣṇa will take you.

So he is very merciful! At that time, I could see auras. I could see that SrilaPrabhupada had a yellow aura and that filled the whole room. When they asked SrilaPrabhupada about me, that he sees auras, he said, don’t worry, that will disappear after a time. So like this, SrilaPrabhupada was very merciful.

I was one day asked to dye the clothes of SrilaPrabhupada. And at that time, we were using gervamati, the India dye. But that was kind of a kuccha dye or temporary dye, that would wash out easily. So we were trying to dye the cloth in the bath tub. In the West they have bath tubs! So we were taking a lot of this gervamati and trying to dye. Then SrilaPrabhupada had gone to the basement. There he had some secretary with him. So, the secretary said that a rat had jumped up in front of SrilaPrabhupada. And then he said, HARE RAMA! And the rat ran away! So there are little things like that happened which happened every day. So we were always thinking about SrilaPrabhupada.

And once in Montreal, we had no money, we had no books. So they called for a meeting and said you all have to go out and get jobs, to pay for SrilaPrabhupada’s rent. So we went out to get a job. And then we couldn’t go in our devotee clothes. So we went to the Used Clothes store. And we bought karmi clothes for working! Ha! So, we went to the manparlour for temporary work. And when they saw us, how we were wearing these used clothes, we were all happy and smiling, because we were thinking about SrilaPrabhupada. The people in that place, the employment agency, they thought we were strange people.  Because normally karmis are not happy. So we had to go to the different employment agencies, separately. So every day I would be working during the day. That time the minimum wage was 1 dollar and 25 cents. Which was very little for paying the rent. But like this I had many jobs. And, I would listen to SrilaPrabhupada’s lecture when I came back, on the tape recorder. One time he said, any questions? And no one had a question. Then hehad  said, that Bhakta Jay, he asks nice questions! I felt so happy! One devotee had told me that I should try to ask intelligent questions, something that would benefit everyone. So I was following his instructions. So I am grateful for that instruction. Another instruction I received, whenever I see the spiritual master, I should humble myself, that I should praise him, and then ask for some blessings. So every day I would see SrilaPrabhupada and do that. At first, it seemed like I would get a normal answer. But sometimes when I would say something, He would surprise me with a reply! One time I said, SrilaPrabhupada, I am the most fallen and you are the most merciful! And then SrilaPrabhupada interrupted me and said, you are not the most anything! I am not the most fallen, I am not the most advanced, I am not the most anything. I am insignificant. I am not the most anything. So like that SrilaPrabhupada would keep me humble.

SrilaPrabhupada, we also understand that he was hyper personal. He was not impersonal. Everything he did was very spontaneous and very personal. Once he was saying how we should save money in Mayapur, by buying vegetables, wholesale. At that time, a man was coming with a basket of vegetables on his head. So he would like to follow his own advice, to teach by example. So immediately, he stopped that man, and said, how much for your vegetables? And he offered a lower price. And he told that you will have to waste the whole day sitting in the market. You can do some housework. So like that he bargained with the man and bought the whole basket of vegetables. So, then he sent someone back to the kitchen with a van to buy the vegetables. So, whether it was practical things or something very spiritual, he was always giving advice and giving directions.

We asked him about his spiritual master, SrilaBhaktisiddantaSaraswatiThakuraPrabhupada. And he would say, what can I say? He was a Vaikuntha man! So, like that he was thinking that because Kṛṣṇa is everyone’s father, so no one should go hungry within a ten-mile radius of the temple. That in the presence of the father, the children never go hungry. So like this, very practical things he was instructing us. Like he was showing us how to receive a guest. How to serve prasadam. How to host a guest. Like this, he was showing every example. He would open his door every afternoon 4 to 6. And he would see different devotees, answer their questions.  I think Shubag Swami, he would often go back. Here we can see SrilaPrabhupada with the man with the vegetables. See I am standing right behind SrilaPrabhupada. SrilaPrabhupada, he would teach by his example. Ha!

So if he said something, he would do it. And if he told the devotees that they should chant Hare Kṛṣṇa, he would also lead the chanting with them. Once someone asked, there used to be a banyan tree by the culvert, by the hospital. Someone asked SrilaPrabhupada, if the banyan tree by the hospital, which is no longer there, if that tree was a Kalpavrksa? SrilaPrabhupada said, why not? Ha! So, he had great faith for the holy dham of Navadvipa.

And five days before his departure he created the Bhaktivedanta Swami Charity Trust. He wanted to develop Navadvipadhama. And Gaura Mandala Bhumi. So he would walk around the deities in the morning. He would do a parikrama, he would do a circumambulation. And then he would ring the bell, going into the parikrama path and going out. And all the devotees would jump up and down.

So everything that SrilaPrabhupada did was a great experience. That was something which filled all the devotees with spiritual bliss. So he was eager to develop the Navadvipadham. And his idea was that, we should have the Temple Of the Vedic Planetarium. And here we see a picture, where he was first going into his Lotus building room. So later we had the books displayed on the left side. And we had a table for SrilaPrabhupada. And other facilities like his translating facility.

So we used to walk with SrilaPrabhupada, every morning. So, he walked very fast, that was his exercise. Sometimes he would stop and talk to us. So he was giving us the vision of this holy dham. When he came here, we only had a grass hut. That grass hut is still there! At one point that was all that was there!  That time we had 5 or 6 devotees. Now we have like, 7000! This is Mayapur. This is what we were staying in. SrilaPrabhupada would stay here and said, this house is in the mode  of goodness. But who will stay here? We could stay here, but to have people of the world stay here we need to have guest houses of steel and concrete and brick. Those buildings will be in the mode of passion. From this humble beginning, SrilaPrabhupada had the vision of a worldwide city - with 25,000 residents and 25,000 daily visitors. So now that we have 7000 devotees, the vision of SrilaPrabhupada is partially there. And this was the early days in Mayapur. At the back we can see the cement godown. That is no longer there. You can see SrilaPrabhupada wanted a worldwide exhibition in his temples all around the world. SrilaPrabhupada is still watching, by his mercy everything is happening! We see that in the whole world, we still have a long way to go. So we should all concentrate, to help to realize the dream of SrilaPrabhupada.  To see the world Kṛṣṇa conscious.

I am very happy to be here, trying to do a little service for SrilaPrabhupada. But every one of you can make a difference. You could help to build the TOVP. You can help make other people devotees. In this way, you can live with SrilaPrabhupada, by carrying out his instructions.

SrilaPrabhupada would look at the moon sometimes. And he would make comments - They are saying that they went to the moon. But they didn’t find anything. To actually go to the moon, we know that on the higher dimension there is a whole heavenly planet. So, we are only able to see things from a limited view. So, the present scientists are saying that with the quantum mechanics, they are able to see that the consciousness is something beyond the normal physical laws. It is not that matter produces consciousness. It is that, consciousness produces matter. This reminds us that what SrilaPrabhupada taught, life comes from life. So, he had many designs, many proposals for the TOVP. He was actively thinking about the TOVP from day one. Anyway if there are any questions on SrilaPrabhupada, we can take one or two questions. But please don’t ask any unrelated questions tonight.

Question: Rasamayidevidasi, Bengaluru: We see that SrilaPrabhupada’s disciples, all of them, they have so much love for SrilaPrabhupada. How do we develop that kind of love? At least I can speak for myself, when I see that, I don’t think that I have an iota of love for my guru like you or the disciples of SrilaPrabhupada have so much love  for him. So please can you guide us?

Guru maharaj: Maybe some people only realized how much SrilaPrabhupada was important, only after he left. Just like when Lord Caitanya left Navadvipa and took sannyasa, so then many people felt great separation from Lord Gauranga.  So we would hope that you don’t wait till that time to develop love! That if feel grateful for the spiritual gifts we got, and then we think of all the things that you gained from guru and SrilaPrabhupad.

Question: Hare Kṛṣṇa guru maharaj, Dacca, Swami Bagh mandir, Bangladesh. SrilaPrabhupada travelled all over the world, but he never came to Bangladesh. Was there any special reason for that?

Guru maharaj: He sent me and Srila Bhakti Caru Swami to Bangladesh. And he sent many different devotees to Bangladesh. When he went to Haridaspur and established a temple there, and then he spoke about Bangladesh. So maybe because he did not have anything at that time in Bangladesh. We didn’t have any place to bring SrilaPrabhupada. But he gave 500 dollars a month to establish the preaching in Bangladesh. Next question.

Question: Hare Kṛṣṇa guru maharaj! (Guru maharaj: HARE KṚṢṆA!) How can we understand that I can satisfy SrilaPrabhupada and how can I understand that I am doing such a service that will hurt SrilaPrabhupada? SucitraRevatidevidasi.

Guru maharaj: That is what I am instructing you, what will please SrilaPrabhupada and what would not please him. So, also, he has written his books and given many instructions on what pleases him.

Question: Hare Kṛṣṇa dear guru maharaj. PAMRO. AGTSP! (Guru maharaj: Accepted) We are ever so grateful to you and to SrilaPrabhupada, and cannot stop thanking both of you for your mercy. One question, please pardon me if it seems a little odd. You said the episode of SrilaPrabhupada picking the cockroach by the back and a big cockroach, and then throwing it out of the window. SrilaPrabhupada was very fearless and all, but guru maharaj when I see a cockroach, the first thing that comes to mind is to kill it, say Hare Kṛṣṇa and kill it. What should we do to be like you and SrilaPrabhupada to be magnanimous and let that thing go. Flies and all are ok, but cockroach is deadly! Thank you guru maharaj! Your insignificant spiritual daughter, Jayaraseshwaridasi, Canada.

Guru maharaj: This is a Canadian cockroach. Ha! You know. I know. So, you know SrilaPrabhupada, unnecessarily, he did not kill any animal. Any insect. Even in Calcutta, we had a dark blue, velvet curtain in his room. Then SrilaPrabhupada, said that it attracts many mosquitoes. So then the devotees said, well, we will kill the mosquitoes. SrilaPrabhupada said, you rascal, you try to attract the mosquitoes and kill them? So this was SrilaPrabhupada’s standard. Maybe you can’t think about picking up a cockroach. I give my blessings to you, your husband and daughter. I hope there are not cockroaches in your house.

Madhavi Gopi: Guru maharaj, please give me your blessings. Please accept my respectful obeisances. I am going to be married guru maharaj, I am going to be getting married one week from tomorrow. Please shower your mercy on us that we have a happy Kṛṣṇa conscious life and we keep you and Kṛṣṇa in the centre.

Guru maharaj: Thank you. Blessings! So we will take one more question and then end.

Question: Hare Kṛṣṇa guru maharaj, PAMHO. We hear from senior devotees that every day you read SrilaPrabhupada’s book at least 15 minutes, without fail. What motivates you to do that every day in spite of difficulties with your health, etc.? Pushkar Nawale.

Guru maharaj:  When I took the first initiation, then I read the Bhagavad-gita ten times. That was the requirement. I say that to take first initiation, you have to read the Bhagavad-gita twice. And one time read the First Canto, Srimad Bhagavatam. Other books also. So, I am trying to encourage the devotees to read SrilaPrabhupada’s books. I don’t see what the problem is to read SrilaPrabhupada’s books? It is an issue of time management. Make your schedule in such a way that you can spend a little time, one hour or so, to read SrilaPrabhupada’s books.

It is a bit late now in Mayapur it is 10.15 pm. Last night I was up to 1.30 or 2 am, because of KṛṣṇaJanamastami. So I need to take rest now. If you like more days of Prabhupadakatha please send your realizations and your requests, (oh this is Haridhwanidevidasi!),   many people have questions, we should give more time for questions. Haribol!

Krsnermatirastu, blessings to all of you!

Chudamanidevidasi! How are you?  Is SatyamedhaGauranga das there? I hope you all had a nice Vyasa Puja today.

Sarvajaya Madhava das, how are you?

HG Sarvajaya Madhava das: Good, good, guru maharaj: PAMRO at your lotus feet. All glories to guru and Gauranga! All glories to SrilaPrabhupada! This is Radha Madhava garland for you guru maharaj (Guru maharaj: oh, thank you!) And this is SrilaPrabhupada’s garland we offered to SrilaPrabhupada yesterday, this is for you guru maharaj! (Guru maharaj: Thank you, I accept.)

We love you dear guru maharaj! Wow! Hare Kṛṣṇa!