20220712 Śrīpād Bhakti Cāru Swami Disappearance Day Address

The following is a class given by His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami Mahārāja on July 12th, 2022 in Śrī Dhāma Māyāpur, India. The class was given on the occation of HH Bhakti Charu Swami Mahārāja's disappearance day.

mūkaṁ karoti vācālaṁ paṅguṁ laṅghayate girim
yat-kṛpā tam ahaṁ vande śrī-guruṁ dīna-tāraṇam
paramānanda-mādhavam śrī caitanya iśvaram

Hariḥ oṁ tat sat!

Haribol!

Jayapatākā Swami: Jīvanātha Prabhu he spoke very nicely.

We can see what great austerity it was for Śrīla Prabhupāda.

Western disciples did not know anything about etiquette.

And they did everything wrongly.

But somehow Śrīla Prabhupāda patiently was training them.

He gave mahā-prasāda to Mukunda Mahārāja.

And Mukunda Mahārāja, he did not know that this is a Mukunda Mahārāja, he bit a piece and gave it back to Śrīla Prabhupāda.

Anyway, we can see what great austerity Śrīla Prabhupāda did to preach in the West.

And what I would like to say is a bit Māyāpur-centered.

It is difficult for me to follow the wonderful act of Jīvanātha Prabhu. 

Śrīla Prabhupāda sent me to Māyāpur and he came back to Māyāpur, first he was staying in the grass hut.

We were building the Lotus building.

And our cow was grazing in the grass underneath the beehive.

So, the cow knocked the beehive over and all the bees flew into Śrīla Prabhupāda’s room in the grass hut.

Śrīla Prabhupāda called me, Jayapatākā, and he asked me to save him from the bees.

With great effort, with smoke we got the bees out and Śrīla Prabhupāda said we should keep the beehive some distance away. 

Like that we finished the Lotus building and Śrīla Prabhupāda was staying there in the second floor.

At that time, we did not have many Indian devotees.

So we had Subhāga Swami and there were a few other Indian devotees.

Then Bhakta Kiśore came, he was Bhakti Cāru Swami Mahārāja later.

And I saw that he would be someone very dear to Śrīla Prabhupāda.

So, we took him on the travelling saṅkīrtana, and he had experience with the various kinds of outreach we were doing.

But then someone, I don’t know what happened, for some reason he left.

I never did this before, and have never done it since.

But I went to his house to find him.

To see why he left, to convince him to come back.

I went once, his parents said he was out.

I went twice, his parents said he was still out.

Then I went a third time, he was still out.

I went back to the temple, on Albert Road.

Then he came to see me.

We talked and he agreed to return to Māyāpur.

Then Śrīla Prabhupāda came and we say in English ‘love at first sight’. That was the scene we saw.

He liked Śrīla Prabhupāda and Śrīla Prabhupāda liked him!

He was the most Prabhupāda-conscious person I know.

On his Vyāsa-pūjā he would also have glorification of Śrīla Prabhupāda.

And his disciples also on his disappearance day are having Śrīla Prabhupāda kathā.

Śrīla Prabhupāda asked him to translate his books which he did.

Later, Śrīla Prabhupāda, he was teaching us how to deal with guests.

He said that the Gauḍīya Maṭhas are very expert in dealing with the guests.

The ācārya would sit and then bring some VIP and say bring this and bring that.

The VIP would feel very indebted that the ācārya was taking such interest.

When a Presidency commissioner came to Māyāpur, he is in charge of several districts.

Śrīla Prabhupāda said, watch me.

And he sat in a chair and directed his service to the commissioner.

Bring water, bring this, bring that.

He was speaking light talk with the commissioner.

Śrīla Prabhupāda said that during prasāda we should talk light talk not heavy talk.

So that the digestion would be promoted.

Afterwards when the commissioner went inside the room, Śrīla Prabhupāda asked that we need some land to be given to us.

And then he said he would try.

And they put up some paper and went through different people.

And ended upon Siddhānta Sankar Roy the Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s desk.

But then there was an election and the Communist Party won.

So the whole thing ended there.

Of course, Śrīla Prabhupāda would be very happy that the present Chief Minister, Śrīmatī Mamata Banerjee has granted us 750 acres, land ceiling.

So, like that, then Śrīla Prabhupāda had called for Bhakti Cāru Mahārāja to accompany him, and Bhakti Cāru Swami at that time he was a brahmacārī and he went with Śrīla Prabhupāda to Rishikesh I think, but when I was in Vṛndāvana he was there. 

One day Śrīla Prabhupāda asked Bhakti Cāru Swami to cook for him baṭi-carchoṛī.

Bati carchoṛī is cooked with a lot of ghee with potatoes and a lot of chilies.

But Bhakti Cāru Mahārāja cooked the sabji with potatoes, ghee but not chilies.

Śrīla Prabhupāda asked where are the chilies?

Then Bhakti Cāru Swami said, you are sick.

Śrīla Prabhupāda said, I am sick, I cannot eat baṭi-corchoṛī.

But the only way I can digest the ghee is if I have a lot of chilies.

Take it back and put chilies in it.

So like this there were loving exchanges between Śrīla Prabhupāda and Bhakti Cāru Swami. 

Normally, when the servants came to see Śrīla Prabhupāda, they would bow down in the morning.

But after bowing down, they would walk in and walk out the rest of the day.

But every time Bhakti Cāru Swami came to see Śrīla Prabhupāda, he would bow down.

Sometimes Śrīla Prabhupāda would be waiting while he was bowing down.

But Bhakti Cāru Swami was always very respectful to Śrīla Prabhupāda. 

So, disciples had different relationships with Śrīla Prabhupāda and four days before he left, Śrīla Prabhupāda wanted to go on Govardhana parikramā.

So he asked Lokanātha Swami to arrange for a bullock cart to take him.

Lokanātha Swami was ready because it was Śrīla Prabhupāda’s order.

But the Kavirāja said that he was very weak and would not survive the parikramā of the Govardhana hill.

But Śrīla Prabhupāda said, I am a preacher, better I die preaching! But Bhakti Cāru Swami and Tamāla Kṛṣṇa Goswami, myself were all praying to Śrīla Prabhupāda you are getting better, please don’t take this risk.

But Kṛṣṇadāsa Bābājī came and saw how different disciples were requesting Śrīla Prabhupāda to stay.

So then Śrīla Prabhupāda turned to Kṛṣṇadāsa Bābājī and said, see, how much they love me.

Bhakti Cāru Swami, he was crying, he was very much attached to Śrīla Prabhupāda. 

I had the special mercy that at one time I was asked to massage Śrīla Prabhupāda’s lotus feet.

I took the opportunity while massaging his lotus feet, I put my head on his lotus feet.

I would never forget that special mercy. 

Śrīla Prabhupāda was supposed to go to Māyāpur.

They rented three Mercedes Benz cars to take him, but all the Mercedes Benz broke down and they could not fix them right away.

So, they missed the plane in Delhi.

So Śrīla Prabhupāda said this is Kṛṣṇa’s will.

I must stay in Vṛndāvana. 

So this is the way that Bhakti Cāru Swami would like his tirobhāva to be celebrated – one day we would have Śrīla Prabhupāda kathā, and of course tirobhāva means we try to carry out the will of the deceased ācārya.

So, Bhakti Cāru Swami wanted that we all carry out the will of Śrīla Prabhupāda. 

I am very grateful that you are all present.

I am very grateful that Bāsu Ghoṣa Prabhu, Jīvanātha Prabhu are speaking.

I will leave here.

Hare Kṛṣṇa!

Śrīla Bhakti Cāru Swami Mahārāja kī jaya!

Śrīla Śrīla Prabhupāda kī jaya!