20111003 Śrīla Prabhupāda Prabhupāda’s Pastimes

20111003 Jayapatākā Swāmi shares pastimes he had with Śrīla Prabhupāda. [360p]

Gurumahārāja:

mūkaṁ karoti vācālaṁ

paṅguṁ laṅghayate girim

yat-kṛpā tam ahaṁ vande

Śrī gurum dina tarinam

paramānanda-mādhavam

Śrī Caitanya Iswaram

Hari Oṁ Tatsat

It is very nice to come back here after… to see all the nice improvements.

I am sure that Śrīla Prabhupāda is very pleased. Somehow, every temple I go to is packed… somehow every temple I go to is packed with people. I heard that regularly there are three hundred devotees here. Although we are expanded into three temples, each temple also has a very good crowd.

So, we should expand more. But anyway, now first we would like to make these temples very strong. And I wanted to share some things with you. Yesterday the devotees said that they didn’t know Prabhupāda so much. What they heard from his books, they heard from his disciples and his tapes. We asked Prabhupāda about Bhakti… Oṁ Vṣnupad Bhaktisiddhāntha Saraswati Thākur, but Oṁ Vsnupada Śrīla Prabhupāda, he would simply say that, “He was a Vaikuṇṭha man. So, what can I say?”.... [Haribol] So, one could not know… expect what Prabhupāda would say. Sometimes he was very serious, sometimes he was humorous. Like one time the devotees served Śrīla Prabhupāda hot milk, but the milk was not very hot. So, Prabhupāda said, “I need the milk hotter.” He said, “How hot?” he said, “As hot as possible.” (laughter) So, he brought back boiling milk. Steam was coming out. Prabhupāda, he grabbed the cup… Ah… He said, “It is too hot.” (laughter)

“Śrīla Prabhupāda, you said bring as hot as possible.”

He said, “Yes, but not impossible.” (laughter)

Sometimes, when Prabhupāda was in Montreal, he caught a cockroach and he opened the window. He told the cockroach, “My dear cockroach… (laughter)… I am now giving you the whole world. Enjoy it.” (applause) He threw the cockroach out of the window and closed it. Sometimes in Montreal, he went to the basement and a big rat jumped up. So, Śrīla Prabhupāda said,

“Hare Rāma.”…. (Repeated by devotees) And sometimes he said something which then he acted on, like he said, if you find a very healthy person and somebody does his grocery shopping. Just like a taxi driver, drove out, he got all this taxi, he is very big and healthy. So, Prabhupāda said, “Action.” So, some devotee were, “Sir, excuse me, where do you do your shopping?” And he said, “Such and such store.” But sometimes Prabhupāda, he was holding his head. “You don’t know what it is like to run a worldwide spiritual organization.” So, Prabhupāda, he was taking so many headaches for us. And now we should take those headaches for him.

Sometimes he was sick, and when he was in Mumbai, he came down unannounced to see the Deities. The devotees dropped everything and came running, and then he said, “I want to pray… I am praying for all of you to the Deities that you be strong in your Krishna consciousness and you are able to preach, and you also preach… preach… [Haribol] sometimes when he was hearing about Krishna we can see the tears in his eyes. I thought that if I became a devotee my parents will be very happy. I had given up all my bad habits and now I was now a training priest, but when I informed my parents, my father said… he was very upset, and he said, I am going to… if you don’t leave immediately, I will renounce you as a child, and I will give your name to the army ….16.50-55… in Vietnam. .I went to Prabhupāda… I went to Śrīla Prabhupāda. I said, “My father wants to give my name to the American army… to serve. What should I do?” He said, “Better you serve Krishna’s army.” [Haribol] So, since then I have been in Krishna’s army.

Like that… we knew that… one time Prabhupāda came to some Vinoda Bhave Gītā Jñāna Yajña. One day in the ….. of Maharastra, Prabhupāda was a guest of Vinoda Bhave. He was a famous disciple of Gandhiji, and he fasted to save the cows. So, he was doing a mauna vrata. So, he asked his disciples, “Why don’t you chant the fourth chapter of the Bhagavad-gītā.” And they chanted very nice. He asked to Prabhupāda to also inaugurate the function by chanting. So, Śrīla Prabhupāda has the disciples chant Śrī Krishna Caitanya and Hare Kṛṣṇa mahāmantra. The third guest speaker was Swami Cidananda. He was a māyāvādī. So, he saw everyone was chanting and he also trying to chant. But he didn’t chant Hare Kṛṣṇa. He chanted some mantra like this, sachidananda jyotirmoya Kṛṣṇa. Prabhupāda said, “This is offensive.” So, he told us, “Chant” So, all devotees took their mridanga and kartāls and started chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa. Everybody they are chanting on their hands. We were all relieved. So, Prabhupāda he said,“You are all pure devotees.” Therefore your chanting has effect. But we said, “Prabhupāda you are a pure devotees, how are we pure devotees?” He said, “Well, you maybe unripe pure devotee. Like a mango. You can get an unripe mango, you can get a ripe mango.” So, Prabhupāda he was ripe. He said that we were unripe, but all pure devotees. That’s his version. So, we want everybody to learn pure bhakti and of course you can read what Prabhupāda philosophically from his books. So, we also try to distribute his books and we try to discuss the books. Here in the temple we have some regular classes. Also, in the Bhakti Vṛksha groups where they also read and discuss Śrīla Prabhupāda’s books. So, like this everyone was present, I wasn’t present, I came later, to… in… from India after nine years I came back to the United States.

After India I was here for nine years, and as an Indian citizen I visited U.S.A. So, in my journey I came to Atlanta, Georgia, and the place was called New Panihati Dhām. I asked them if they knew what New Panihati was. They said, “No, not much.” So, I explained what Panihati was. I had gone to Panihati two times with Prabhupāda and many times besides that. So, we had some experience of the Panihati chira and doi festival, rice and yoghurt. I said that they should be having this annual festival; that Śrīla Prabhupāda had established that our temples should be places of transcendental pastimes. So, since that he gave the name New Panihati Dham, they should at least celebrate Panihati festival, and I took the responsibility to mix the yogurt and flat rice. Since we were in U.S.A which has fruits from all over the world, we made eighty flavors… six yogurt and six. Anyway, I will tell that some other time, but…

So, when I was mixing the flavors Prabhupāda disciples told about what happened when Prabhupāda visited New Panihati Dhām, and I overheard what they were saying over the microphone system. So, there is much nectar about Prabhupāda. One thing is that Prabhupāda… he saw the big deities of Nitāi and Gaurāṅga, and he sang for the first time… Parama Karuṇā Pahū dui jana Nitāi Gaura Chandra, save avatāra sāra śiromaṇi kevala ānanda kāṇḍa. That there are these two Lord’s, they have come down, they are supremely merciful, their name is Nita-Gaura Chandra. He said, “Of all the avatars they are the best because they give a system which is simply filled with bliss; singing, dancing, feasting Prasad and hearing some nectar. Those are the main systems of Lord Caitanya and Nityānanda. How many like that system? [Haribol]

Now this… you have your very big Jagannath Deities. This Jagannātha… you have to take supreme sacrifice now.. you must take the supreme sacrifice. Whatever is offered to Lord Jagannātha you have to eat that. Everybody can do that sacrifice? That was better. …. [haribol] that was best. So, I recently… I heard that sound many times, but I didn’t really give it so much attention. But by this time I started to think of every line, every word how Lochana Dās Thākur said, bhajo bhajo bhāi

Caitanya Nitāi Sudrira Viswasa Kori, viṣaya charidiya se rase majia mukhe bolo hari hari. How we should have great faith and worship Caitanya Nitāi, we should follow them. So, Prabhupāda used to say, “We should grab on to the lotus feet of Nitāi-Gaura….[haribol] don’t let it go…Māyā may try to take away, but we hold on Lord Nitāi-Gaura’s lotus feet… “No, no, I won’t go.” And Lord Caitanya Kṛṣṇa is more powerful than his… so he promises that He can cross you over this material nature.

Today is celebrated as Durgā Pūjā, and I got some greetings from

Calcutta on Durgā Pūjā day. She is a devotee of the Lord and she is also the protectress of the Dhām.

One of the nine islands of Nabadwipa is named after her... Śrīmanta Dwipa. She took the dust of Lord Caitanya’s lotus feet and put it on her forehead. That is known as the Śrīmanta.

So, that island is called as the Śrīmanta Dwipa named after her. Also she takes all the Prasad offered to Jagannātha, and that she is in the form of Bimala Devī. So, the Prasad we get is mahaprasad. It is Lord Jagannātha and Bimala Devī’s Prasad. So, we can worship Shiva or Durgā or Ganesh or Kartikeya with Krishna Prasad. That way they are more happy, and we get mahaprasad.

When Pārvatī asked Lord Śiva, “Which worship is the greatest?” There are so many types of worship. Lord Śiva replied, ārādhanānāṁ sarvesham Viṣṇu ārādhanaṁ param.. but with one exception, tadīyānāṁ samacharam. Those who are connected to Vsnu worship Him. So, Lord Śiva is known is known as the greatest of the Vaiṣṇavas. So, we should worship Durgā or Śiva as devotees. But their job is to keep the souls in bondage here in the material world, and the only way we can get out is by being a devotee of Govinda.

Govinda…………………….. [Govinda]

Govinda, He can cross us over. So, ordinarily it is hard to become a devotee of Govinda, but Lord Caitanya and Lord Nityānanda, They gave this bhakti of Govinda very easily. Therefore, their mercy is very great. So, Biṣaya chāḍiyā means to give up the sinful activities. There are especially four things we give up – illicit sex, gambling and intoxication and meat eating… and, but we absorb ourselves in the mood of Lord Caitanya’s devotion to Kṛṣṇa. Sei rase mojiya, and in that mood it is very easy to be renounced, and we chant always, Hare Kṛṣṇa…………… Hare Kṛṣṇa

Hare Kṛṣṇa…………… Hare Kṛṣṇa

Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa…………..Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa

Hare Hare……………..Hare Hare

Hare Rāma…………….Hare Rāma

Hare Rāma…………….Hare Rāma

Rāma Rāma……………Rāma Rāma

Hare Hare……………….Hare Hare

So, of course Lord Caitanya’s also said grihe thāko bāṇe thāko sadā Hari bole thāko, whichever ashram you live, whether you are married or whether you are a brahmachari or sanyasi or vanaprasta, you can all chant Hare Kṛṣṇa. So, like this we are very happy to see so many of you are following Lord Caitanya……….[Haribol]

Actually to take sanyasa in Kaliyuga is forbidden. So, we take some very unique type of sanyasa that we don’t go to the forest, we live in some ashram and we serve and so in this way we try… we use our thoughts, words and deeds in Kṛṣṇa’s service. But in whole of ISKCON, I think maybe there are hundred and fifty sanyasis, and maybe a million devotees. Most devotees get married. Don’t worry. We are not promoting sanyasa. Of course those who want to be brahmacharis or sanyasis, that is their choice. But generally we are happy, Lord Caitanya is also happy to see responsible grihasthas, that husband and wife both are serving Kṛṣṇa together. That’s what we want.

So, I know tomorrow is a working day. So, I shouldn’t speak too much.