Since the temple could not afford a separate car, Prabhupada travelled to Centennial Park for his morning walk in the front passenger seat of the Volkswagen van. Those devotees fortunate enough to have been selected to accompany Srila Prabhupada, squeezed in the back. Sitting on the floor, they felt privileged and ecstatic to be so close to their spiritual master.
Amogha: When Srila Prabhupada got aboard the blue Kombi van to go for his morning walk, I sat in the back on the floor behind the gear shift and two front seats, to be close to him. He put his cane between the seats and moved it around, trying to find a resting place. I put my hand out and held the cane. Then he let go. This became my daily little service. I would jump in the back of the Kombi van and sit down to hold Prabhupada's cane.
Late in the afternoon Srila Prabhupada and his party drove to the temple for the initiation ceremony. Although the weather was unseasonably warm and humid, Prabhupada wore a light, orange sweater under his shiny saffron top piece.
The devotees had set up a small, low stage in a corner of the yard. There, in front of a backdrop of palm fronds, they had placed Srila Prabhupada's vyasasana under a simple yellow cloth canopy, adorned with garlands of marigolds. Over 100 guests were already assembled in the backyard when Prabhupada arrived.
Devotees waiting for initiation sat expectantly near the small fire pit in front of the stage. Most of the 15 boys and girls sitting before him had been devotees for only two months -- some less. Once again Prabhupada had shown his mercy, deciding to initiate most of the new devotees in the temple.
The sky was overcast. As the sun sank low and the sound of crickets became prominent, soft breezes carried the sweet scent of a nearby fully laden frangipani tree. Prabhupada propped his walking stick against the palm fronds, and quickly mounted the raised seat. He began the proceedings by chanting softly, strand by strand, on the new initiates beads that hung over the right side of the asana.
As he finished each round, he called the devotee forward. Arthur was first to come up. Ever since his initial eye contact with Prabhupada on his arrival day in Paddington one year before, Arthur had found himself drawn to Krsna consciousness. Now a full-time brahmacari, he was eager to be accepted as Prabhupada's disciple.
Prabhupada handed Arthur his beads. "Your name is Ajamila dasa," he said, and proceeded to tell the story of the original Ajamila. "Ajamila was a great sinner .."
Some devotees glanced nervously at each other, wide-eyed with astonishment. Why was Prabhupada naming Arthur after a great sinner, they thought? But as they continued to listen, their ignorance was dispelled.
In his youth, Prabhupada explained, Ajamila had been a dutiful brahmana, but later he had given up his strict life and become involved in debauchery. He had, however, named his son Narayana (a name of God), and at the time of his death, as he helplessly called out for his son, the original Narayana, Krsna, took notice and saved him from the hellish destination that awaited him.
Prabhupada pointed out the modern-day relevance of the story. "So those who are always chanting the holy name of God, they are in a safety position. Safety position means next life, he's going back to home, back to Godhead. So, this is an example, that such a sinful man, if simply by chanting once, at the time of his death .. he could get so much benefit, then what to speak of those who are chanting always the holy name of God -- they should be always in the safe condition. Maya, or the material contamination, cannot touch them."
Prabhupada added a note of caution. "But one thing, those who are being initiated, they are being freed from the resultant action of past sinful life, but they should be careful not to again commit sinful activities."
cont'd
- From "The Great Transcendental Adventure" by HG Kurma Prabhu
Comments