20260418 Śrīla Prabhupāda Kathā

mūkaṁ karoti vācālaṁ paṅguṁ laṅghayate girim
yat-kṛpā tam ahaṁ vande śrī-gurun dina tāriṇam
paramānanda-mādhavam śrī caitanya īśvaram
Harihi oṁ tat sat

Jayapatākā Swami: Thank you for these garlands! Of course, I had lots of association with Śrīla Prabhupāda. He would come every year twice, to Māyāpur dhāma. So one time he would stay a month and other time for at least two weeks. In addition, I went to many places to meet Śrīla Prabhupāda. But I don’t want to speak much about that. I just recently read Śrīla Prabhupāda’s diary on the Jaladūta ship. Śrīla Prabhupāda in the Jaladūta went via Colombo, Cochin and entered the Suez Canal and the Mediterranean and finally the Atlantic Ocean. Now we talk about maintaining our comfort zone! Śrīla Prabhupāda almost 70 years old, going first time on a 45 days’ sea voyage! He suffered sea sickness, heart attacks, you name it! He prayed to Lord Kṛṣṇa that, “I have no quality, I have no intelligence, I have no abilities, everything is dependent on You! I am simply surrendering unto You.” Like this, he prayed to Kṛṣṇa.

We are not able to do things, we may do some minor things. But actually, Kṛṣṇa can do everything. So Śrīla Prabhupāda, he requested Kṛṣṇa that, “I am coming to the West, so make me dance like You want! He surrendered to Kṛṣṇa,” this is something we should learn from. Right? Every activity we do, we want to spread Kṛṣṇa consciousness and fulfill Lord Caitanya’s prediction. But we can only do it if we have the mercy of Lord Caitanya, if we have the mercy of Lord Kṛṣṇa. It is said that Lord Caitanya, rādhā-kṛṣṇa nahi anya. That Lord Caitanya is non-different from the combined Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa. So, I was telling the GBC recently that how great is Kṛṣṇa! We have no idea! I heard many times, cause of all causes, Ādi Puruṣa, what does that mean? How many drops are there in the ocean? How many birds? How many micro organisms? How many fish? How many plants on the land? How many insects? how many? You name it...Kṛṣṇa as Kṣīrodakaśāyī Viṣṇu is present in everyone’s heart. He is present in your heart. You have a personal relationship with Kṛṣṇa. We cannot conceive that. This is only one planet. There are unlimited planets in the universe and unlimited universes. Somehow Kṛṣṇa conceives everything! We cannot understand! He is so great!

When Śrīla Prabhupāda went to the West, he surrendered to Kṛṣṇa, he knew that Kṛṣṇa had unlimited powers. So, he prayed that he could be successful that he could carry out the mission of Lord Caitanya and follow his guru’s orders. We were discussing, his prayers were such that it was truly amazing! All the success he got in 12 years, he established 108 temples all over the world, He translated so many books and gave purports. So many things - all by the mercy of guru and Kṛṣṇa! Haribol! Gaurāṅga!

So, we can understand Śrīla Prabhupāda to some extent but actually how he is manifesting the desire of Lord Caitanya, how he is so surrendered to Kṛṣṇa, we also need to be like this, surrendered to guru and Kṛṣṇa. When I read the diary of Jaladūta with the devotees, this impressed me that how Śrīla Prabhupāda had surrendered to Kṛṣṇa and in New York we knew how he was beaten, his things were stolen and so many challenges he faced but he kept on carrying on the orders of his guru and Kṛṣṇa. [audio break] These were little things, Śrīla Prabhupāda had heart attacks. He went to save us, to save all of you! Śrīla Prabhupāda kī jaya! If we can take a fraction of that surrender to Kṛṣṇa then naturally we will manifest Śrīla Prabhupāda’s desires. Hare Kṛṣṇa!

We came here for the special Deity installation, and I am taking this opportunity to come and present Kṛṣṇa consciousness and get purified by all of your association. So the purpose of human life is to actually understand Kṛṣṇa. And Śrīla Prabhupāda gave that instruction to all of us. He had so much faith in the holy name. The holy name is non-different than Kṛṣṇa. We have heard that many times. Think about it for a minute. What does it really mean? That if you chant Hare Kṛṣṇa, you are really associating with Kṛṣṇa! This Kali-yuga is a yuga of faults: kaler doṣa-nidhe rājan asti hy eko mahān guṇaḥ [SB 12.3.51] – One, one, one, one good quality – chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa! By chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa you go back to Kṛṣṇa, you will get liberated from birth and death, and you go back and get love of Kṛṣṇa! So we want everyone to follow Śrīla Prabhupāda’s lotus footsteps. You heard from His Holiness Bhakti-vighna-vināśana Narasiṁha Swami Mahārāja, how Śrīla Prabhupāda was so much dedicated. He took time to deliver his disciples! And that is the duty of every guru, to deliver his disciples And ultimately deliver the whole world. [audio break] so disciples should be very committed in following Śrīla Prabhupāda’s examples.