Hare Krishna
30th Dec, 2014. Gurgaon
Over last some months I developed a habit that as I would read purports by Srila Prabhupada I will look for answers that Prabhupada has given in his writings. Many a times I have shared them on this blog as Q&A. I have tons of them, while reading on my phone or ipad I simply copy paste them on the device itself and hence its very convenient for me to do it.
Two days back I felt as if Srila Prabhupada is telling me that why am I holding all that information with me and not sharing it with everyone. Therefore, I have made a new page on the blog where I will continuously update various answers given by Srila Prabhupada via his purports and other writings. I am purposely not putting them in main blog as there no. will increase perpetually and I don’t want devotees to get daily mails. The idea is that we can all come back to that page in our free time and read the nectar in only Q&A form. Kindly click HERE to view the page, I will be very grateful if you can give me the feedback for improvement. I am very sorry for sending a blank blog an hour ago by mistake, please pardon my error.
I am also thinking of adding another page where we can post various pastimes of Srila Prabhupada. Please give your advice on this endeavour as well. You can check that page also on the main page. Please share inspiring pastimes of Srila Prabhupada by e mail (giriraj.bcs@gmail.com) or post it via comments and I will add them to the main page.
I am posting a wonderful pastime below which shows the level of compassion Srila Prabhupada had for every living entity on planet earth and, probably, why Prabhupada agreed to have his deity installed inside ISKCON temples.
It was the beginning of 1977. Prabhupada was in Bombay temple. He was very sick. He had stopped all food intake – he was taking 1/4 a cup of orange juice per day. His body had only bones left – there was no flesh. And yet, he was insisting that he wanted to go to London. The doctors had given up responsibility. But as always, he was adamant.
At this time, one Pancaratrika Pandit from Bangalore named Sampat Kumar Bhattacarya came to know about Srila Prabhupada’s situation. So, he took a flight from Bangalore to Bombay – which in those days was a huge thing for a Brahmin priest – and met Prabhupada, and asked for a private meeting. Generally, nobody was allowed a private meeting, but when he said that he specially came by flight from Bangalore to meet Srila Prabhupada, he was allowed a private meeting. So, everybody was asked to go out, and they talked.
The conversation was like this: Sampat Kumar: ‘Swamiji, I am feeling very pained that you are suffering like this.’
Prabhupada (laying down, in broken words): ‘The whole world is meant for suffering. Dukhalayam asavatam.’
Sampat Kumar: ‘But still Swamiji, there are so many people depending on you. So when you suffer, they suffer.
Prabhupada: ‘What can I do?’
Bhattacarya: ‘Swamiji, I want to tell you something. In Vrindavan temple, they are having your deity on the altar. And all kinds of people are coming and praying to it, and offering flowers to it, and you are still living. According to Pancaratra, when the Acarya is living, if he puts his deity on the altar, then all the sufferings people are having come to his body through the deity. So you please tell your disciples to worship your deity only after you leave your body.’
He was speaking as if he was giving some information to Prabhupada, which Prabhupada did not note.
Prabhupada: ‘I know. I came here to take their suffering.’
Bhattacarya was shocked. He was not giving any new information. This was well known to Prabhupada; and he was determined to suffer for others.
Prabhupada: ‘Do you have anything else to say?’
Bhattacarya: ‘Swamiji, if that is your wish, what can I say? I am only a priest.’
Prabhupada: ‘Even when I leave, I will keep continuing taking their suffering, and make them free so they can keep chanting Hare Krishna.’
So for 10,000 years, Prabhupada’s deity is going to be sitting in temples around the world, and taking all our sufferings, and making us free so we can chant Hare Krishna. He is not fiberglass; he is really there, accepting our prayers, obeisances, and suffering.
Where else in the recent history can we come across a personality who had such compassion for the most fallen souls. And via his books Srila Prabhupada continues in his effort to guide every one of us to the top region of the spiritual world….Goloka Vrindavan. He is the `Jagat Guru’ in this age of Kali for next 10,000 years.
All glories to Sri Guru and Gauranga.
All glories to Srila Prabhupada.
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