As an introduction to this web page I would like to establish in the mind of the readers why I am personally strongly committed to my eternal spiritual master His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada, and to his ISKCON mission.
Srila Prabhupada himself talks about his unique position in the following informal talk in Bhubaneshwar Jan.28′77:
“Now I’ll say from my practical life…It is not pride. Actually everyone knows that my Guru Maharaja had thousands of disciples. So out of thousands disciples, practically I am a little successful. That everyone knows. Why? Because I firmly believed in the words of my guru. That’s all.”
“There may be many other Godbrothers, maybe very learned and very advanced, whatever it may be, favored and…Everyone claims that ‘I am the most favorite.’ And practical point of view…So I think sometimes that ‘Why this wonderful thing has happened to me?’ So I search out. I search out only that I cent percent believed in the words of my spiritual master. That is all, nothing else. Guru mukha-padma vakya, cittete koriya aikya, ara na koriho mane asa. Don’t think of any nonsense. Simply execute what your guru has said. That is success….
And the child decides it that ‘Whatever my parents says, that’s all I shall do. I shall do nothing’, then he’s safe. Then he’s safe. And as soon as he manufactures - finished. So don’t do this. This is the secret of spiritual success.”
In this short excerpt we find two very valuable lessons. The first is that although Srila Prabhupada was very humble, he nevertheless was completely aware that he had received the full mercy and blessings of his spiritual master. He knew with conviction that he was a perfectly pure devotee, empowered by Krsna to spread the mission of Lord Caitanya throughout the whole world. This fact was being manifest to him both internally and externally at every moment. He was “THE ACARYA”, THE SPIRITUAL GUIDE for the whole of mankind.
Those who were fortunate realized this fact and cooperated with him in executing his mission. Others, due to envy or ignorance, failed to take advantage of this rare opportunity. But it is not too late; anyone can still be connected to him by assisting him in spreading the message of Lord Caitanya via his institution, ISKCON, which he personally created and is still looking after.
This brings us to the second lesson. Srila Prabhupada is clearly explaining to us here that he has achieved this success simply because he took the order of his spiritual master as his life and soul. What a wonderful piece of information! This secret of success is no longer a secret, it is open to all for the next 10,000 years. Anyone, following in the footsteps of Srila Prabhupada, who accepts his words, his orders, and executes them with 100% sincerity will also become a perfectly pure devotee.
Of course this is not something cheap, nor can we imitate Srila Prabhupada, but we can be confident that if we try to assist him in his mission to the best of our capacity, then our success is assured. Especially his last order, which is applicable to all of his followers: “You will show your love for me by how you cooperate together.”
Naturally we cannot cheat Srila Prabhupada or Lord Sri Krsna, they know our heart’s intentions. Do we always want to serve Srila Prabhupada and his mission or do we sometimes want to be the one who receives the service? To become a real servant requires our purification, and the deepening of our faith. For this to be accomplished we have to be patient and tolerant. Our disease is we want to be the ACARYA instead of serving him; this unnatural condition appears to be quite normal here in the material world, due to the covering influence of maya.
In order to be relieved from this unnatural situation we have to be prepared to submit ourselves for a radical treatment of rectification in the hands of the real ACARYA. Now that we have understood who that real ACARYA is we can go forward with confidence, secure in the knowledge that by serving him and his mission Lord Krsna will be pleased with us. Of course that means we have to always be alert to keep our intentions pure and our conduct non-duplicitous, and to be serious about keeping Srila Prabhupada’s ISKCON pure. That was his desire, so let us please him in this way. Then our future is very bright!
Srila Prabhupada Ki Jay!
Yours sincerely
Trivikrama Swami
Comments