Arrival Address with Bhakti Charu Swami

Giriraj Swami: I am reminded of one verse from Śrī Caitanya-candrāmṛta by Sri Prabodhananda Sarasvati, in which he states that for persons who have never had the association of Lord Chaitanya, the association of the devotees for whom Lord Chaitanya is their life and soul is the only solace. So, when I read this verse, I thought of Srila Prabhupada, that the only solace for devotees in separation from Srila Prabhupada is the association of devotees for whom Srila Prabhupada is everything.

And Sri Prabodhananda Sarasvati uses the phrase, “Festival of association.” He wants a festival of association of such devotees, and here in Durban, we have such a festival, especially during the ārati, dancing in front of the beautiful Deities of Sri Sri Radha-Radhanath, Gaura Hari, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura, and Srila Prabhupada, and chanting the holy names and dancing. The whole atmosphere is so festive, and by such chanting, and dancing, and associating, so many dirty things become washed. And of course, preaching also gives us a chance to become purified. And then, when we actually associate with pure devotees, our whole consciousness becomes uplifted. And there are so many wonderful devotees in ISKCON all over the world. Some are prominent, and some in one sense are not so prominent, but they are extremely pure and devoted.

Of course, now he is famous within ISKCON, but there is one pūjārī in Mayapur named Jannanivas Prabhu. He would never leave Mayapur. In fact, when Srila Prabhupada would describe the qualities of pūjārī, or the qualifications of pūjārī, he said pūjārī means always dedicated to the lotus feet of the Deity, he never leaves the lotus feet of the Deity. And there are so many devotees who are clearly surrendered, clearly dedicated. And by such association, we are reminded of Srila Prabhupada, we are reminded of what our purpose in life is, and we can never replace that association with anything else. So, I also pray to always remain in the association of such devotees, who are fully dedicated to Srila Prabhupada.

And Srila Prabhupada often cited the example that if you take one stick, you can break it very easily. But if you put many sticks together in a bundle, no one can break them. So, each one of us individually is like a very slender stick, we can be broken, but if we stay together like a bundle of sticks, then we cannot be broken. So, Srila Prabhupada brought so many wonderful souls together in Krishna consciousness.

Last night, we had the opportunity to see the first four episodes from the Srila Prabhupada television serial that Srila Bhakti Charu Maharaja is producing for Indian television, and His Holiness told me how when the scene shifts to America when Srila Prabhupada went to America, he was going to show different devotees from different backgrounds, how they all were attracted by Srila Prabhupada. And it’s amazing, it is really amazing. Srila Prabhupada’s potency to attract people. People who were by all appearances just like anyone else in the western world, but because of his love for Krishna and for everyone else, people’s love for Srila Prabhupada was awakened, and their desire to serve him was awakened, and their love for him and their service for him, they became attracted to Krishna.

Once, Srila Prabhupada was on a morning walk in Los Angeles, and many different types of people joined him. It just so happened that my former father and mother were there, and His Holiness Bhakti Svarupa Damodara Maharaja was there, some other scientists, and then the devotees from the temple, and somehow, the way Srila Prabhupada dealt with everyone, everyone was completely enchanted and fully satisfied.

So, at the end of the walk, Hari Sauri Prabhu remarked to Srila Prabhupada, “Srila Prabhupada, everyone loves you so much.” And Srila Prabhupada replied, “Yes, because I love everyone.” And another time in Los Angeles, one devotee, Vishnujana Prabhu, he also sort of exclaimed to Srila Prabhupada, “How wonderful you are and how the devotees love you so much.” And Srila Prabhupada replied, “In this way, Krishna is tricking you or trapping you.” Of course, that was Srila Prabhupada’s humility, that he did not take any credit for himself, but he gave all the credit to his spiritual master and to Krishna.

And in Srila Prabhupada’s last public preaching program in Bombay, he was making the same point, he said that people tell him, “Swamiji, you have done so wonderful.” But Srila Prabhupada said, “What wonderful I have done? I have only presented Bhagavad-gītā As It Is, and even that, I haven’t done very well. But because the subject itself is so good, meaning the subject is Krishna, even a poor attempt to present it brings wonderful results.”

So, Srila Prabhupada himself was extremely humble, extremely humble, but he had full faith in Krishna, that Krishna is all attractive. And if he just presents Krishna, as He is, people will be attracted. He did not feel he had to add anything or subtract anything or embellish anything, just Krishna as He is. And Krishna is so nice, Krishna is so wonderful, if people see Krishna, they will be attracted. But actually, although we can hear about Krishna, we don’t actually see Krishna. But we were able to see, by His Grace Srila Prabhupada, and we could be attracted by Srila Prabhupada’s wonderful qualities, and loving reciprocation, and that really inspired us all.

In one of the ISKCON movies, we see Professor Popkins, or what was his name? Anyways, he was saying that he would meet the devotees, and the devotees seemed to not have a very clear idea of what they were doing. But at the same time, they were so enthusiastic and so committed, so he could not reconcile this contradiction, that on one hand, they did not seem to have a clear idea of what they were doing, and on the other hand, they were so dedicated and so enlivened.

But then, he said when he met Srila Prabhupada, the contradiction was resolved. He could see that although they did not know very much in terms of perhaps philosophy, or etiquette, or culture, but because of the wonderful effect of Srila Prabhupada’s association, they were completely dedicated, completely inspired. And that was really Srila Prabhupada’s mercy upon us, which no one in the history of the world has ever done, and no one in the history of the world will ever do, as Srila Prabhupada did.

And so now, we come to ISKCON today, so many years later, and Srila Prabhupada is not physically present anymore, so how do we get the sense of Srila Prabhupada? Of course, we have his books, we have his example, and we have his disciples who he personally trained. Actually, in Srila Prabhupada’s last days in Vrindavan, he did tell one disciple who asked, “How will we have your association after you leave?” And Srila Prabhupada said, “By my instructions, by my example, and by the training you received from me.”

So, Srila Prabhupada lives in the disciples whom he personally trained. And by association with them, hearing from them, working with them, we can also get Srila Prabhupada’s association, which cannot be compared to anything in the world. So, I also am very grateful to Srila Prabhupada, not only for picking me up in the initial stage, but for giving me the association of devotees that can sustain me in Krishna consciousness, and especially in the last days, the association of His Holiness Bhakti Charu Swami Maharaja.

Actually, last night, after seeing the episodes from the Prabhupada television series, we were talking, and Maharaja was saying how except for translating Srila Prabhupada’s Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, he has never been absorbed as much as he has been in making the Prabhupada television serial. Of course, we have the cassette of the first four episodes, which we saw last night in Johannesburg. All the devotees here will also get the chance. Of course, it’s all edited together as if it is one continuous program, but the end of the fourth was so dramatic and it left the audience with so much suspense. I was going mad, wanting to see what would happen.

Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura had just come to confront one bogy yogi, and they were both very powerful personalities, and the bogy yogi was sitting there and he could do many things. He could create fire, he could materialize pieces of fruits, he could walk through fire. And he had all of his followers around him, who were deeply devoted to him, although completely foolishly, but still, they were very attached to him. And Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura went all alone; he did not take anyone with him. And so, the yogi was sitting there, and he glanced over there, and he saw Bhaktivinoda Thakura, and Bhaktivinoda Thakura was looking at him, and it ended.

So, I told Maharaja, “We are going mad, we want to know what’s going to happen.” I don’t know if it is possible, but he said he would send it to India for the next installment. So, we can sleep at night.

But anyways, it is really very enlivening, and one another characteristic of Srila Bhakti Charu Swami Maharaja that I have noticed very vividly in the last few days of association is how big he thinks. Srila Prabhupada once commented about himself, “My disease is that I cannot think of anything small, I only think of things, which are very big.” So, even the television series seemed like a very big thing, how could we get on national television every week for two years. But His Divine Grace Bhakti Charu Swami Maharaja, acting as Krishna’s instrument to glorify Srila Prabhupada, was successful.

But on the plane from Mauritius to South Africa, he was discussing his next plan, which is to take over the government of India. And then, India, of course, would just be the beginning, and eventually, the congregational devotees would actually become the leaders of the government of the world. So, I won’t go into details about Maharaja’s plan. We don’t want any of the leaders to become nervous just before the Ratha-yatra festival, but it is true. He thinks in a very big way, just like Srila Prabhupada.

So, I feel very enlivened about Maharaja’s association, very enlivened to be in the association of all of the wonderful devotees here. And I agree that the wealth of ISKCON is the devotees. And especially here in South Africa, we have been very fortunate to have many senior devotees visiting every year, and I am sure that the presence of such devotees not only sanctifies the atmosphere, but inspires the devotees with ideas how to progress in Krishna consciousness, spreading Krishna consciousness. So, this is just the beginning, and I am sure every day, we will have more wonderful kirtan, more wonderful satsaṅga, and it should continue actually every day.

Once, when we first came to India, we were invited to an aristocratic gentleman’s home in Bombay. He had a big mansion, and a big lawn, and the program was arranged on the lawn. There was a nice vyāsāsana for Srila Prabhupada, so many guests came and sat on the lawn.

And so, the guests of the program were saying, “Oh, it is very auspicious today, today is a holiday,” and they gave some name of a holiday that we had never heard before. So, we were not really sure how bona fide what they were saying was. So, we asked Srila Prabhupada, “They said today is a holiday. Is today really a holiday?” And Srila Prabhupada said, “Yes, for us, every day is a holiday, because we are Krishna’s servants.” So, we should be fortunate enough to experience the festival of association that makes every day a holiday in Krishna’s service.

Srila Prabhupada ki jaya!

Nitai-Gaura premānande.

His Divine Grace Bhakti Charu Swami Maharaja ki jaya! All glories to the assembled devotees.

Bhakti Charu Swami: Giriraj Swami Maharaja ki jaya!