Srila Prabhupada’s Special Contribution

Giriraj Swami: I Feel very privileged to be here today to participate in the installation of Srila Prabhupada’s utsava-murti in the association of so many wonderful followers of Srila Prabhupada. When His Grace Ramanujacharya Prabhu quoted Srila Prabhupada’s statement about the praṇāma mantra, pāścātya-deśa-tāriṇe. I was remembered of one conversation that took place between Srila Prabhupada and some gentlemen in Indore when Srila Prabhupada had traveled there with some disciples to celebrate Gita-jayanti-mahotsava in the month of December. Coincidentally, we have also just completed the Srila Prabhupada Book Distribution Marathon in the month of December. And a week from Sunday, on January 11th, we will be honoring the devotees who took part in the marathon here in the temple.

The organizers of Gita-jayanti-mahotsava had provided Srila Prabhupada with a house and some other accommodations for Srila Prabhupada’s disciples, and every afternoon so many gentlemen would come to meet Srila Prabhupada to discuss spiritual topics. Usually, they had their own ideas about spiritual life, and Srila Prabhupada actually complained that they come to the guru with their own ideas to see if the guru agrees with them. And if the guru agrees with them, they think, “Oh, he is very good.” And if he disagrees with them, they think, “Oh, he is not to the standard.” So one afternoon, in particular, the gentlemen who came were very strongly opinionated, and Srila Prabhupada was also very strong in his convictions. So the night before, again in conjunction with Gita-jayanti-mahotsava, Srila Prabhupada had spoken at the Gītā-Samītī Hall, and he was very disturbed to find there was not even one picture of Lord Krishna in the Gītā-Samītī Hall. So he raised the issue with the gentlemen who came that, “We are celebrating Gita-jayanti, and Lord Krishna is the speaker of the Gītā, but there is no picture of Krishna in the Gītā-Samītī Hall on the occasion of Gita-jayanti-mahotsava. So what is this?” Srila Prabhupada said, “Even ordinary political parties, they’ll keep the picture of the head of the party or the head of state, and you are not keeping any picture of Krishna.” So one of the gentlemen replied, “Well, there was light, there was a Jyoti.” So Srila Prabhupada became even more angry that, “Krishna is a light? Bhagavad-gītā says you should worship a light?” Then one of the gentlemen replied that, “Well, Jyoti has been with us for a very long time.” And Srila Prabhupada said, “Krishna has also been with you for a very long time.”

Anyway, Srila Prabhupada went on to protest the fact that Bhagavad-gītā was not being presented properly, that in Bhagavad-gītā, Lord Krishna says surrender to Me, but persons are not presenting Bhagavad-gītā as it is. They are not presenting the conclusion of surrender to Krishna, and they give so many interpretations. So most of the gentlemen present were definitely impersonalists, and they became agitated when Srila Prabhupada accused practically everyone else of misrepresenting Bhagavad-gītā. So again, one of the gentlemen challenged that, “So you mean to say that only your interpretation is right, nobody else’s interpretation is right?” Sometimes people also challenge us, “You think only you are right, you know the way, nobody else knows the way except you.” But actually, Krishna, He is the goal, and He shows us the way to reach the goal, and there is no better way than the way that Krishna Himself gives us.

Anyway, when Srila Prabhupada was persistent in criticizing the various misinterpretations and misrepresentations of Bhagavad-gītā, one of the gentlemen challenged Srila Prabhupada that he should not say that only he is right and others are wrong. He should see everyone equally, paṇḍitāḥ sama-darśinaḥ. So Srila Prabhupada replied that, “That is a very high platform, paṇḍitāḥ sama-darśinaḥ. paṇḍitāḥ sama-darśinaḥ means that one does not distinguish between pious activities and sinful activities because the verse says that  the learned sage sees with equal vision, a gentle and learned brahman, a cow, an elephant, a dog, and a dog eater, he sees them all the same.” So Srila Prabhupada said, “Why is someone born as a brahman? Why is someone born as a dog? One who engages in pious activities can take birth as a brahman. One who engages in sinful activities can take birth as a dog. So to see them equally means that one does not distinguish between pious and sinful activities.” So Srila Prabhupada said that, “I am not on that platform. You may be on that platform, but I am not on that platform. And I say that you are not following Krishna’s instructions in Bhagavad-gītā, therefore you are sinful.”

So again, there was more discussion, and one of the men actually could not believe that paṇḍitāḥ sama-darśinaḥ means that he doesn’t distinguish between pious activities and sinful activities. And when Srila Prabhupada insisted that, “Yes, it is so.” The man said, “Well, anyway, they have also made mistakes in writing the shlokas.” Then Srila Prabhupada really got angry, and said, “Oh, now you are criticizing Srila Vyasadeva. You are criticizing Srila Vyasadeva even, please leave, please leave. I cannot speak to someone who is going to find fault with Srila Vyasadeva,” making the point that he is just repeating the message of Krishna. He is not adding anything or subtracting anything. Then the gentleman raised another argument that, “You have your predecessors.” Srila Prabhupada said, “Yes, I have.” So they said, “Well, you must make some contribution to what your predecessors have given. You cannot just repeat.” And Srila Prabhupada said, “No, I just repeat.”

Then eventually, Srila Prabhupada came to the point that he has presented the teachings of Bhagavad-gītā As It Is to persons all over the world. He has made Krishna and Bhagavad-gītā available to persons all over the world, and that is his sama-darśinaḥ, that is his equal vision. But he did not distinguish that someone is fit to receive Bhagavad-gītā and someone is not fit. But paṇḍitāḥ sama-darśinaḥ, he saw everyone equally. Everyone is eligible to receive the knowledge of Bhagavad-gītā and take to Krishna consciousness. And that was also Srila Prabhupada’s contribution to his predecessors, that he made Krishna consciousness available to persons all over the world of all backgrounds in all countries.

And then he told the gentleman that, “The foreigners, I am presenting Bhagavad-gītā As It Is to them, and they are accepting Bhagavad-gītā as it is. But if you Hindus don’t accept, what can I do?” So Ramanujacharya Prabhu confirmed the same fact that Srila Prabhupada’s special contribution to his predecessors was that he made Krishna consciousness available to persons all over the world, even outside India. Although Srila Prabhupada also preached very vigorously in India, and ISKCON is by far, the fastest growing and most powerful spiritual organization in India. You may know that earlier in the year, on the auspicious occasion of Ram Navami, a magnificent temple was opened in Ahmedabad in Gujarat. And then just a few weeks later, in May, a spectacular temple or conglomeration of temples and preaching facilities was opened in Bangalore. And now, in a few months, on Ram Navami, we expect to open the Glory of India Temple and Cultural Center in New Delhi.

So such achievements have not been matched by any other spiritual organization. And these accomplishments are coming after Srila Prabhupada’s apparent disappearance. I was discussing with His Grace Parthasarathi Prabhu that during Srila Prabhupada’s presence, he established magnificent temples in India. But we were thinking that after Srila Prabhupada left, no one would be able to construct such temples. But now we are seeing, although it has taken time, now we are seeing that Srila Prabhupada’s followers have been able to establish large, grand, magnificent temples, which proves that Srila Prabhupada is still present because no one except Srila Prabhupada could build such temples for Radha and Krishna now. So the movement is very strong in India, especially in the big cities, and more and more, it is spreading to the villages as well. But still, Srila Prabhupada considered his special contribution spreading Krishna consciousness throughout the world, especially in the Western countries in the English language.

In 1976, the one publishing house named Orient Longman approached me in Bombay that they were compiling a book on religious leaders in India, and the special feature of the book was that they wanted followers of the leaders to write the chapters on the leaders, rather than persons from outside the organization or outside the discipline. So somehow, they came to Juhu Bombay, and they requested me to write the chapter about Srila Prabhupada. So I drafted the chapter and then I sent, maybe I sent the draft to Srila Prabhupada, but in any case, I asked Srila Prabhupada for his advice. And in his own words, he summarized his own contribution. He compared Krishna consciousness to a tulasi seedling or Vedic civilization. Actually, Srila Prabhupada said Vedic civilization. And he said that just as one has to take great care in transplanting a seedling of tulasi and not touch it, not damage it, so Srila Prabhupada said in the same way he had transplanted Vedic culture from India to America. He had presented it as it is, and the westerners were accepting it as it is. Srila Prabhupada considered that to be his specific contribution. That is how he wanted himself to be presented to the world, that he had transplanted Vedic civilization as it is. He had taken it to the western countries, and persons in the western countries had accepted it as it is without tampering with it or damaging it or harming it. But some persons in India had difficulty accepting that foreigners could actually become devotees. And when Srila Prabhupada offered them the sacred thread and sannyasa, they objected that, how can foreigners become Krishna conscious? How can they become brahmans? How can they become sannyasis? Especially the caste brahmans, they very strongly protested. In fact, some of them came to Srila Prabhupada in Hyderabad and accused Srila Prabhupada of doing the greatest disservice to Hindu culture by awarding the sacred thread to non-Indians or non-Hindus.

Srila Prabhupada’s mission to establish Krishna consciousness everywhere is actually based on scripture, and there are many very important verses in Bhagavad-gītā and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam and other scriptures that validate what Srila Prabhupada did. There is one verse in the Second Canto of the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam that persons born in low races, and then there is a list of them, if they take shelter of a powerful devotee of the Lord, they can be purified. Even if one is born according to the list in China or Africa or America or Andhra. Andhra is also mentioned in the list. One can be purified, and one does not have to wait for the next birth. Sometimes caste brahmans give the argument that, ‘Yes, you can practice Krishna consciousness in the present life, and then in the next life, you can take birth as a brahman. But you cannot become a brahman in the present life.’ But the scripture says no. Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam says, no. That if someone is born in a brahman family but he doesn’t have the qualities of a brahman, he should not be accepted as a brahman. And if someone is born in a family other than a brahman family, even the lowest family, even in a family of chandalas, but if he has the qualities of a brahman, he should be accepted as a brahman.

So there is tremendous scriptural evidence in favor of Srila Prabhupada’s mission. But still, even today, people are doubtful because they are in the bodily concept of life. So they are doubtful, ‘Can they really become devotees?’ They think, ‘Well, they are devotees, but not of the same level as Indians. They are devotees, but they can’t be of the same level because they are foreigners. How could they be of the same level?’ So Srila Prabhupada very vigorously preached against such misconceptions. And not only did he support his work with statements from the scriptures, but he also gave practical examples from his disciples who just on his word were able to give up eating meat, fish, eggs, gambling, taking intoxicants, even coffee, tea, and cigarettes, and having illicit sex, which is a very high standard even for Indians. It is very rare to find an Indian that follows such principles. And how was it possible? It was possible by the chanting of the holy names of the Lord. Srila Prabhupada had full faith in the potency of the holy name that if persons just chanted the holy name, they could be purified. And actually, there were so many practical results. So we should also have faith in the process. Now, of course, even persons born in brahman families rarely follow brahminical principles.What to speak of minor vices like eating onions and drinking tea. They actually even eat meat and imbibe alcohol. So practically no one has a high birth now. And Shastra also says, Kalau śūdra-sambhavaḥ, in Kali-yuga, everyone is born sudra. So the Krishna consciousness movement, Srila Prabhupada is giving everyone the chance, whatever his birth may be, to come to the highest platform of Krishna consciousness. And his work is supported by scripture and it has actually been proven to be practical.

So, I would actually like to thank His Holiness Krishnadasa Swami Maharaja because Maharaja had wanted to also celebrate Gita-jayanti. But because of the marathon, he did not want to have the program in December on the date because he did not want to conflict with the marathon. So he had scheduled on observance of Gita-jayanti today somewhere. But when he heard about the deity installation and the gathering of all followers of Srila Prabhupada, he postponed the other program. And this is really the spirit that Srila Prabhupada wanted among his followers, even going back to the time of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura. Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura were never instructed that one person should become acharya after he left. But he instructed that the missionary activities of the Gaudiya math should be conducted cooperatively under a governing body.

Now, such an instruction is actually very difficult to grasp because traditionally in India, a sannyasi or a householder will preach, and he will attract students from his preaching, and he will form an institution that accommodates himself and his students. So in each ashram, there would be one head, and he would be the absolute authority in the particular institution. But Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura established such a vast institution, and Srila Prabhupada’s ISKCON, which is actually the successor to Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura institution, is even more vast, as His Holiness Krishnadasa Swami Maharaja so nicely explained. It is everywhere in the world. No one has preached like Srila Prabhupada. So the old model of one guru with his own institution and his own disciples cannot accommodate such a vast worldwide mission as ISKCON. And therefore, Srila Prabhupada, following Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura, ordered that all of the disciples should work cooperatively to fulfill the mission of the spiritual master and not break into small groups of one’s own organization and one’s own disciples.

So, I am very grateful to His Holiness Krishnadasa Swami Maharaja for setting such a wonderful example and postponing his function so that he and the devotees who are attached to him, could be here at this most important event for the worship of our founder acharya and the glorification of our founder acharya Srila Prabhupada.

Srila Prabhupada ki jaya!

Nitai-Gaura premānande Hari Haribol!