20141103 Śrīla Prabhupāda Kathā Day 8

Śrīla Prabhupāda Kathā Day 8 

Date:

Monday, November 3, 2014

Collection:

Inspiration series - 2014

Audio player:

20141103_Srila_Prabhupada_Katha_Day_008_@New_Delhi JAYAPATAKA SWAMI GURUMAHARAJ: So I was helping Jayananda making the ratha yatra cart. And I decided to surrender on the rath day. So I had Jayananda Prabhu shaved me up and I wore the ceremonial robes of the ashram. So then I participated in the rath yatra wearing the robes and newly shaven. So then I went to Montreol to meet Srila Prabhupada and ah... I felt very honoured that Jayananda Prabhu remembered me. Translator: What was the next letter? Devotee: First ... what Jayananda Prabhu brought to something about gurumaraj and Srila Prabhupada replied, “Yes, this Jay boy referring to Gurumaharaj has come here, and I have seen that he is sincere in accepting this principles. I have decided to initiate him very soon. July 12th, 1967, Letter to Jayananda Prabhu, Montreol.” JAYAPATAKA SWAMI GURUMAHARAJ: So today we offer our obeisances first to Srila Prabhupada and today is the beginning of the bhisma panchak. Today is ekadasi before ras purnima in the month of damodar and ah... it’s also the ah... day of ah... disappearance of Gaur Kishore Babaji. So today is a very auspicious day and ah... the devotees said that they had some letters that they wanted to read. Devotees: This is ah.. JAYAPATAKA SWAMI GURUMAHARAJ: krishtapristaya bhutale, srimati bhaktivedanta swami iti namine Devotees: namo om visnupadaya krishtapristaya bhutale, srimati bhaktivedanta swami iti namine JAYAPATAKA SWAMI GURUMAHARAJ: Namaste saraswati deve gaur vani pracharine nirvisesa sunya vadi pasyata dese tarine Devotees: Namaste saraswati deve gaur vani pracharine nirvisesa sunya vadi pasyata dese tarine JAYAPATAKA SWAMI GURUMAHARAJ : mūkaṁ karoti vācālaṁ paṅguṁ laṅghayate girim yat-kṛpā tam ahaṁ vande paramānanda-mādhavam Sri Caitanya dina tarinam Devotee(HG. Bidwan Gauranga): This is a letter dated 26th August, 1970. Prabhupda is reciting from Tokyo. “My dear Jayapataka. Please accept my blessings. I thank you for your Vyasa Puja homage telegram reading as follows received yesterday morning and this is quote from Gurumahraj Vyasa Puja offering, this Vyasa Puja offering at that time. Vyasa Pu... ah... ok this is the offering from Gurumaharaj that Prabhupada liked and that he has qoted in his entirety. It is a poem. Vyasa poetry “To save the world and save and serve the Lord he left his home and his children too Two children lost, some thousands gained, Krishna’s mercy received in, party splint, a stumbling block With world God consciousness, aim his divine grace bridges. The gap to bless the world with gaura prema. Jayapata’s life is not his own, it’s Prabhupada’s to do as his own.” “That is his offering. I feel very obliged to you for your nice understanding about your mission. Your offer of service for the cause of the Lord is also welcomed. I hope in future you will of great help in my mission and I can count upon more when we meet. We are seven starting on Saturday including one Japanese nice boy.” Devotee(HG. Bidwan Gauranga): This appears to His Holiness Bhanu Swami Maharaj. “Your ever well wisher A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami.” P.S. I have received no letter from you to Tokyo address. JAYAPATAKA SWAMI GURUMAHARAJ: So on the Vyasa Puja occasion I offered some homage to Srila Prabhupada and dedicated my life to His Divine Grace. That he had left his hart, home and children in order to spread Lord Caitanya’s mission of love for Godhead. He did all this. Devotee(HG. Bidwan Gauranga): Then here is the next letter. This is actually ah... written on 28th of August, 1970 from Tokyo. “My dear Jayaptaka and Achyutananda. Please accept my blessings. On receipt of my telegram dated 18th August, 1970 I have decided to start from here to Calcutta on the 29th of August, reaching there in the evening of the same day. I hope you have received my telegram reading as follows by this time. Quote. We six arrived in Calcuatta, Saturday 29th August, evening, KLM FLIGHT NO. 864. Letter follows. Unquote. “The purpose of my going to India at the present moment is to give some idea to the communistic tendency of the people so that everyone may take to Krishna consciousness for a solution for all problems of life. When I came to your country U.S.A by chanting the Hare Krishna mantra and talking some philosophy from Bhagavat Gita and Srimad Bhagavatam and thus the younger generation of your gathered around me and now they are gratefully acknowledging that they have got something substantial when they were feeling confused and frustrated. Many young boys and girls are now happy by getting this Krishna consciousness and similarly I hope that the communist girls and boys of India will also feel similarly if they accept this Krishna consciousness movement. Krishna consciousness movement is not a secretarial religion. It is a solution to all the problems of life. In other words Krishna is good for everyone. The idea is Krishna is substance and maya is illusion. Illusion is accepted as void and impersonal but Krishna is the summum bonum person. Krishna is one and maya is zero. Zero by the side of one is ten but thousands of zeroe’s clogged together donot make one. So there are many ideas which within this world put forth by many philosophers, politicians, religionist, philanthrophists etc, but all of these are considered as illusion or zero if we don’t have Krishna consciousness. We have to push forward this philosophy throughout this world. We have sufficient support for acknowledging this philosophy. I understand that nowadays many strikes are being observed in Calcutta. This are not new things because from our childhood we know Bengal is the origin of all polictial agitations. Lord Caitnya appeared in Bengal and He said that by simply chanting Harekrishna mantra everyone will have perfection by one’s idealistic way of life. Now it is the time for the Bengalis or for the Indians to understand that this Hare Krishna mantra will also bring in the perfection of communistic ideas. If you can therefore arrange a small meeting with the Bengali communist leaders, I can try to convince them how Krishna consciousness movement is very much congenial for their purpose. I hope the Mayapur land purchase is by this time is completed. In you previous letter you wrote that if I am present there it will be done. Immediately also for this purpose I am going to Calcutta. So keeping in view of the above two points please arrange for our accommodation and I shall try my best to give some service to all persons concerned. Hope this will meet you in good health. Your ever well wisher, A.C.Bhaktivedanta Swami JAYAPATAKA SWAMI GURUMAHARAJ: We arranged on the ah... occasion of Prabhupada’s birthday, visit, to have a festival on the maidan, park way. This was opposite the India museum. Now it is impossible to get that place and ah... we get a place down the road for the Rath yatra. Only by the previous minister of defence of Delhi giving his permission. Ah... so this was a huge pandal with a capacity of 30,000 people and they were many devotees who attended and crowd was packed up, and ah... there was also a...a counsellor officer from Canada, I think he was the General Commissioner or something. JAYAPATAKA SWAMI GURUMAHARAJ: One title for the ah... for the ah... people who are part of the british empire, they are the high commissioner or something, and there was counsellor general for others. So like that we had different V.I.P’s speaking, and someone sent a letter, they cut out and pasted it, “don’t have this pandal or else...” So we showed that to the police, so they said we will give your cover, we will give your protection and ah... behind the pandal there was a arrangement to serve prasadam – khicdi, chutney, puri’s and sweets. Nice prasadam for giving out free. So Prabhupada while Prabhupada was staying in Calcutta for this pandal he sent some devotees to go to Mayapur, I think it was headed by Tamal Krishna Maharaj, and I think he was supposed to buy 10 acres of land. Three bighas are one acre. So he said that those days it was a lot of money. Maybe it was a 10,000 rupees a bigha...not so much but he had (Tamala Krishna Maharaj) had every bill number written on the page. There were pages and pages of bill serial numbers. (laughter) The farmers, they took the money away in a pick up truck with sticks, yelling and shouting. So like that he went to Prabhupada and said, “The land is bought and he showed Prabhupada the transfer did.” So meanwhile we did the pandal in Calcutta. So ah... I mentioned before that Prabhupda went straight to the place that we were staying and that he told Achyutananda and myself that he would give us sanyas on radhastami. Devotee: (Bidwan Gauranga P) : There is something from Prabhupada lilamrita. On ah... your acceptance of sanyas. So I will just read it. One minute. This is chapter 32 from Srila Prabhupada lilamrita, it appears in volume four. The chapter is called India, dancing white elephants. Calcutta, August 29,1970 This describes how Prabhupada came. For the first time in almost three years Prabhupada came to India, to Calcutta his hometown. Although it was late and the journey from Tokyo had been 12 hours, Prabhupada felt happy as he descended the stairway from the airway. Achyutananda and Jayapataka, his only America disciples were standing on the airfield, and as he saw him approaching in the saffron silk robes, they bowed down. Prabhupada smiled and embraced them. They ushered him to a flower bedecked car and accompanied him to the terminal building where he entered the V.I.P loudge. Some of Prabhupada’s godbrothers and old Calcutta friends were present to receive him and a kirtan party from the Caitanya math was chanting. The reception was large and festive as if room resounded with Hare Krishna. Prabhupada took his seat, the many pictures of Krishna and smell of incense and Jasmine flowers, combined with Prabhupada’s transcendental presence to transform the drab airport into a heavenly scene. Indians crowded forward to place flower garlands on Prabhupada’s neck and as the garlands piled higher Prabhupada removed them. But the garlands kept coming and again they piled up almost covering Prahupada’s face. The American devotees watched in fascination as the Bengali brahmachris played their mridangas with exotic rythms. The people in the crown pressed in to touch Prabhupada’s feet and ask his blessings, and Prabhupada smiled seeming at home. When the kirtan ended he began to speak. Quote, I am coming back to the city after three years. Hare Krishna. I have been around the world and I have found that happiness and peace cannot be established in this world by materialistic advancement. I have seen Japan which is highly advanced in machines and technology, yet there is no real happiness there but the people of India, even if they donot understand the significance of sankirtan, they enjoy listening to it. My advice to the Indians is that if you advance only in science and technology without paying attention to Harinam, then you will remain for ever backward. There is tremendous strength in Harinam. Unquote. Reporter: You have said and I quote, even communism if it is without Krishna nam it is void. Why do you say that. Prabhupada: Why do you refer to communism in particular. Without Krishna consciousness everything is void. Whatever is do Krishna must remain in the centre. Whether you are a communist or capitalist or anything else it doesn’t matter. We want to see if your activities are centred around Krishna. Reporter: Right now there is too much turmoil in Bengal. What is you advice to us at this time? Prabhupada: My advice is to chant Hare Krishna. This is the piece of advice to both the capitalists and the communists. All animosity between them will cease completely, and all their problems will be solved if they take our advice. The crown affirming Prabhupada’s words began to shout, “Sadhu, Sadhu.” Prabhupada sat on his backseat on his way from the airport to home of Mr. Dasgupta in the Hindustan road. Outside the car window the familiar scenes of Calcutta passed by. For the newcomers riding with him however Calcutta was foreign and unfamiliar, gaunt, loitering cows and street dogs, small horses pulling huge loads, barefoot rikshawallas, open shops with exotic foods, dense crowds of pedestrian, the sultry heat and the incredible traffic, this although familiar to Prabhuapada plunged the disciple who had flown with him into a culture shock. Tamal Krishna looked nervously at the driver who swerved in and out of the traffic honking his horn. Prabhupada laughed softly, “Tamal Krishna, how do like this driving?” Achyutananda and Jayapataka were however acclimatized with Calcutta and had learned to appreciate its culture. They had met high class Bengalis who had accepted them as sadhus despite their American births. They had preached in many homes and had attracted curious crowd by chanting in public. They had not however achieved a solid foothold for ISKCON, but now Prabhupada had come to change it. He would preach wonderfully just as he had done in America and his disciples were eager to serve him as his instruments. He would be their vital force, their inspiration because He was empowered by Lord Chaitanya. Prabhupada reached the home of Mr. Dasgupta at almost midnight. Many people wanted to see him and when Devananda Maharaj tried to turn them away, Prabhupada said, “ No, No, let them come in.” Prbhupada’s sister, Bhavatarini arrived with an array of special dishes she had cooked. We can’t eat now, one of the Sanyasi’s protested. It is late at night. “NO”, Srila Prabhupada said. “We must everything, whatever my sister cooks we must eat, this is her favourite activity, she likes to cook for me and feed me. Everyone must take the prasadam. The devotees in the Chaitanya Math had also cooked a feast and as Prabhupada was honouring the prasadam from his sister the prasadam from the Caitanya Math had arrived. He took a little and induced his followers to eat sumptuously. It was one A.M. Prabhupada sat in his room with Achunanada, Jayaptaka and Devananda Maharaj. He explained how irresponsible letters from his disciples in India had perpetrated within ISKCON. A deep... a deep misunderstanding of the spiritual master’s position. He quoted the verse, “Saksad Dharitwena samasta sastrai” and explained it. The guru is on an equal level with Hari, the supreme personality of Godhead. He is not God, but he is the dearmost servant of God. Prabhupada continued preaching to his disciples clearing away any misconceptions about the spiritual masters position. All the past, unpleasant events, he said that now being rectified, the devotees should continue working together with new life and vigour. Prabhuda ask... sorry ... Achyutananda asked Prabhupada if he could take sanyas. The Indians he said would respect a sanyasi more. Prabhupada agreed that Sanyas would help Achyutananda’s preaching and he said that Jayapataka should also take Sanyas. The ceremony would be in a week, on radhamastam. The Amrita Bazaar patrika carried a front page news story of Prabhupada’s arrival. A photo showed up Prabhupada walking with his hand in his bead bag surrounded by young sanyasis carrying dandas. Many V.I.P’s have come to Dumdum airport before, but never have we seen gaiety and celebrations of this magnititude. It was difficult to imagine that he was 75 years old, because he was completely fresh after his long journey. With a little smile on his face, he blessed on and all with Haribol. That was a quote, it looked up. Prabhupada wrote to the devotees in Japan. In India the very moment we stepped down from the airplane, there is a good propaganda work going on. The boy Bruce is improving and becoming more interested. He has now sacrificed his hairs for Krishna, that is a good sighn. Unquote. Calcuatta was a in a political turmoil. A group of terrorists –the Naxalites had been rioting, murdering prominent businessmen and threatening the lives of many others. Many wealthy Marwaris were leaving the city for Delhi and Bombay. Asides from the terrorists, Bengali college students were growing unruly, but the older people of West Bengal comprising most of Prabhupada’s visitors were alarmed by the violence and unrest. The only shelter Prabhupada told them was Krisha. Quote. People are in very much perturbed condition. All of them are expecting me to do something for ameliorating the situation. But I am simply advising them to chant Hare Krishn, because this transcendental sound is the only panacea of material diseases. Unquote. Prabhupada saw no need to fabricate a special program for the social pro...problems of Calcutta. Chanting Hare Krishna is the only panacea for all material diseases. The question was how best to use his American desires to give this panacea to the Indians. Prbhupada had his party of ten devotees and he had asked his leaders in the West for 20 more within the month. He had ordered $60,000 worth books and maganizes for Die Nippon, and the sanyasis were going daily into the streets to perform kirtan. The sankirtan party was getting a good response. Shaven headed Westerners wearing sikas, Vaisnava tilak and saffron robes, playing kartals and mridangas, chanting Hare Krishna with heart and soul, quoting verses from Bhagavat Gita, affirming Lord Krishna to be the supreme personality of Godhead. For the Bengalis it was sensational and hundreds would gather to watch. Prabhupada knew the great appeal his disciples would have. Everyone would want to see them. He therefore affectionate would call them his dancing white elephants. This same devotees who had grown to love chanting Hare Krisha in the street of San Franscisco, Los Angeles and New York were now going into an exhausting heat never encountered in America, and chanting on Dalhousie square for several hours daily, crowding pressing closely, sometimes teasing, laughing or scoffing but often looking on with deep amazement. Prabhupada’s idea was that when Indian’s saw young Western people adopting the principle’s of Krishna consciousness, the faith of the Indians in their own culture would increase. Prabhupada explained to his disciples how formerly during the time of Maharaj Yudhisthir, India had been a Krishna conscious state. For the last thousands years however, India had been under foreign subjugation, first under the moughuls, then under the British. As a result the intellegentia and to a lesser degree the masses of India had lost respect for their own culture. They were now perceiving the materialistic goals of the West and they saw it as more productive and more practical than religion which was only sentimental. Westerners living as renounced Vaisnavas could as Prabhupada was much aware, turned the heads and the hearts of the Indians and helped them regain faith in their own culture. It was not a material tactic however, but a spiritual strength. Prabhupada said that the devotees must be pure in their actions. This purity would be their force. JAYAPATAKA SWAMI GURUMAHARAJ: Prabhupada had a vision how the Krishna conscious movement should unfold. At that time I was just engaged in supporting the devotees. I had been in India for atleast three months. I learned how to do some basic shopping. So I was the only one who knew how to do shopping, other than Achyutananda, and he was needed for the advanced arrangement for the program and he had been in India for more than one and half years and he could speak fluent Bengali. So they had me running around and getting things for the devotees. I was saying that how I could buy most of the food items, by knowing the numbering system upto twelve. Because it is annas system I could say four annas, five annas, twelve annas, just like 25 cents, 50 cents, 75 cents and then... so if I knew how to count till twelve then I could buy some fruits for say six rupees, twelve annas. And ah... so although I knew how to preach but I didn’t know enough Bengali, so all the Bengali that I knew could help to get food items for devotees. And I knew how to survive and deal with the situation in the street in Bengal. So at this time all the things you read were surely on Prabhupada’s mind, but I was dealing with things that were at a much lower level, and ah... some devotees had a sick stomach. So I would get them some Ayurvedic cures, I brought a book which says, “Home cure- how to cure yourselves.” So when devotees were sick that kept me on my feet. I kept them on their feet. (laughter) How to make chira-dai, which we don’t talk too much on ekadasi. So Prabhupada wanted to arrange all this things in Calcutta, but I think there is some letter to Prabhupada by Hamsaduta, “please come and join me in Bombay.” At the outset since Hamsaduta was my senior, he was the President, so he had a program- Food for life which would feed the beggar children, so all around the house would be hundreds of beggar children and ah... this was a very high class area. So they didn’t like this that there were all this beggar children around and ah... the children started to get more and more and more and more, and the owner of the house apparently wrote to Srila Prabhupada that this children are causing a problem. So Prabhupada asked Hamsaduta and Himavati to join him in Bombay, and the stay in the house was only for six months. So our time was getting up. At first we were staying near to Ganesh talkies which was in the North of Calcutta, and then one Marwari businessman, he offered us a place to stay at Jitendra Mohan Avenue. I think that is the name. Chaurangi would change names and then became Jitendra Mohan Avenue. And there was police outpost with sandbags. So when you went by the police you had to raise your hands. Otherwise they had shoot at sight court orders. It was a wild place and it was few blocks away from Vivekananda road. So we would stay on the second floor and one side of the road to the other side there were street gangs. I guess they represented different political parties. And ah.... one guy would carry a bag of bombs and then others would take the bombs and throw them. So we would watch and they would be throwing bombs at each other. And if they would hit anybody they would get injured. So we were watching the two parties fighting with each other and so sometimes they came on this side of the road and sometimes they went on that side and sometimes the police came and they would run. So this was North Calcutta and it was the period of the Naxalites which was really wild. I can speak more but I can see that my time is up

Transcribed by: Sadananda Krishnaprem Das