I personally heard and saw an example of this preaching mood in Srila Prabhupada in his last days. He instructed his disciple, the then President of the Bombay temple Giriraja Swami, about how to conduct the opening of the Juhu temple. This was in late Oct. or early Nov. 1977. He said to him; “In case I am not able to attend the opening there, then I want you to arrange things very nicely. The prasadam should be first class and you should invite all the important leaders etc, etc.” Here Srila Prabhupada was in his very last days on the planet but he was still preaching and training us how we should preach.
He makes this point very emphatically in this purport to Srimad Bhagavatam:
“Preaching is the best service to the Lord. The Lord will immediately be extremely satisfied with one who engages in this service of preaching of Krishna consciousness. This is confirmed by the Lord Himself in Bhagavad-gita “There is no servant in this world more dear to Me than he, nor will there ever be one more dear.” If one sincerely tries his best to spread Krishna consciousness by preaching the glories of the Lord and His supremacy, even if he is imperfectly educated, he becomes the dear most servant of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. This is bhakti. As one performs this service for humanity, without discrimination between friends and enemies, the Lord becomes satisfied, and the mission of one’s life is fulfilled. Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu therefore advised everyone to become a guru-devotee and preach Krishna consciousness. That is the easiest way to realize the Supreme Personality of Godhead. By such preaching, the preacher becomes satisfied, and those to whom he preaches are also satisfied. This is the process of bringing peace and tranquility to the entire world.” S.B. 7.6.24 purport
Of course in our preaching work we will meet many obstacles, that is to be expected because we are declaring war on Maya, but when Maya sees that we are really determined to continue with our preaching service, no matter what, she will not be able to interfere. Rather she will congratulate us for maintaining this struggle even in the face of so many of her temptations. As mentioned above we may be “imperfectly educated” but that can not stop us from simply repeating the words of Srila Prabhupada and Krsna for the benefit of the suffering humanity. That is our perfection and it will bring us real satisfaction. But if we think; “I don’t care about others, I only want to save myself,” then we will not get the really sweet taste of devotional service. So please don’t give up the struggle to preach the message of Lord Caitanya and Srila Prabhupada no matter what position in life you happen to be in.
Trivikrama swami
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