VYASAPUJA 2012
My dearest Srila Prabhupada,
Please accept my humble obeisances in the dust of your lotus feet, dust that goes on purifying the world by making Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s mercy accessible to all in the form of your recorded material and transcendental purports.
vayur anilam amrtam
athedam bhasmantam sariram
om krato smara krtam smara
krato smara krtam smara
Let this temporary body be burnt to ashes, and let the air of life be merged with the totality of air. Now, O my Lord, please remember all my sacrifices, and because You are the ultimate beneficiary, please remember all that I have done for You.
agne naya supatha raye asman
visvani deva vayunani vidvan
yuyodhy asmaj juhuranam eno
bhuyistham te nama-uktim vidhema
O my Lord, as powerful as fire, O omnipotent one, now I offer You all obeisances, falling on the ground at Your feet. O my Lord, please lead me on the right path to reach You, and since You know all that I have done in the past, please free me from the reactions to my past sins so that there will be no hindrance to my progress.
As a result of my past sins, my body is now diseased and full of suffering, like all aging material bodies. O Srila Prabhupada, when will I stop wallowing in the mire of chronic pain and take full shelter of you and of the Lord’s holy names!
I feel tangible relief, however, from continually traveling with you, Srila Prabhupada. I ride the exhilarating waves of your morning-walk discussions, powerful lectures, room conversations, interviews, public programs, and your piercing question and answer sessions. I listen again and again as you travel everywhere, enlightening everyone you meet. From whatever position a person has attained on the continuum of spiritual evolution, You take him or her—devotee or not, favorable or not—at least a step closer to reality, toward Lord Krsna’s lotus feet. What an intensely delightful experience this is: to hear daily, in chronological order, all of your published recorded material. And each time I go through it, you reveal something new of your extraordinary personality.
Wielding Occam-razor-like logic, you find the simplest explanations for effects that seem complex, as you staunchly stick to the Vedic conclusion, which makes no speculative assumptions.
In this way, your dazzling spiritual intelligence consistently and repeatedly deals with even age-old controversial issues in a way that satisfies any honest person who inquires from you.
An airline pilot questions how to understand evil if God is good and the source of everything. You explain in clear, unequivocal logic the relationship between darkness and light. Krsa is all-good. For Him there is no evil; just as for the sun there is no darkness. We create evil by turning our backs on God; just as we create darkness by turning our backs on the sun. The pilot goes away enlightened and a step closer to his real destination.
A disciple asks what evidence we can give to the scientists, who need observation and experiment to confirm something as true. You hold fast to the simple logic of the Gita: “First of all you observe that this man is moving, or this animal is moving, that there is some moving force. And the experiment is that now you can understand that the moving force is gone. This is experiment.…It is simple. But because of their bad education, they cannot understand the simple thing.”
A psychologist comes to visit you. You tell him that he doesn’t know anything. And still he comes back for more! He’s sincere and honest, you note. You then go on to point out that Krsna speaks like a gentleman in the Gita. From the beginning, Krsna highlights how the body is changing from boyhood to old age in this life, but the person remains the same. What is the difficulty to understand the eternality of the soul? But, generally, educated persons need to make things complicated. If it’s not complicated they won’t consider seriously the point being made, not to mention accept it as true.
During a lecture one leader calls out, “All the children should go out.” You respond, “No, that’s all right. Children are not punishable.” Cheers and laughter. “Neither the women.” More laughter with clapping. “But don’t take advantage.” More laughter. “And here we have only brähmanas, saintly persons, women, and children. Who is to be punished?” The laughter and clapping crescendo.
But at other times (perhaps when they were taking advantage?), you say from the vyäsäsana that the children should be taken out. You know exactly what to say and when to say it in order to train everyone under any circumstance. What an artful teacher you are, Srila Prabhupada!
You repeatedly tell us not to waste time with those who are dishonest and unwilling to hear, who simply argue for the sake of argument no matter how logical the presentation. Look for the innocents, you say. We’re not here to please the public, the common man, but to please Krsna and our previous äcäryas. The others will eventually follow if we don’t compromise our core values and principles; then they too will be pleased.
Your dealings are filled with grace, dignity, and humor, even as you are expressing your disapproval of ignorance or correcting the faults of your disciples. Your love and compassion, your genuine concern for whomever you talk to, is self-evident at every moment, even as you call the whole world “rascal.”
Authorities learned in subjects you admittedly know little about go away with genuine respect for you, even when you point out the defects in their theories and label them rascals and cheaters to their faces.
A woman reporter tries to embarrass you because of your stance on women’s liberation. But even she is forced to chuckle when you propose that it’s better to have a cool head and hot legs than cool legs and a hot head. And you win the hearts and heads of bystanders fortunate enough to hear from you.
Srila Prabhupada, in this conflict-ridden world, hearing from you soothes the mind and senses like a mogra-scented breeze.
May all of us who claim to be your followers learn from you the fine art of living in Krsna consciousness by listening to the transcendental gems that pour forth from your lotus mouth as you travel the earth delivering fallen conditioned souls.
Aspiring to assist you, Srila Prabhupada, I remain forever yours,
Kesava Bharati Dasa Gosvami