Srila Prabhupada’s Faith in Guru and the Holy Name

Giriraj Swami: Sri Shanti Parekh has requested me to speak about Srila Prabhupada, and I thought of speaking about two of Srila Prabhupada’s most basic principles in life: his faith in the order of his spiritual master and his faith in the holy name of Krishna.

As many of you at least know, Srila Prabhupada met his eternal spiritual master, His Divine Grace Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura Prabhupada in Calcutta in 1922. And at the very first meeting, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura instructed Srila Prabhupada to preach the message of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu in the English language. But Srila Prabhupada was newly married and a follower of Gandhiji. He felt that he could not take up the order of his guru Maharaja immediately. But he always remembered his spiritual master and the order of his spiritual master, and he waited for the opportunity to execute it. Eventually, Srila Prabhupada took vanaprastha and then sannyasa and retired to the Radha-Damodar Temple in Vrindavan. There, one day, he was reading a commentary on Bhagavad-gītā, on the verse, vyavasāyātmikā buddhir ekeha kuru nandana, and commentary by Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura, he says that the disciple should take the specific instruction he has received from his spiritual master as his life and soul. And Srila Prabhupada remembered the instruction of his spiritual master to go to the West and preach.

So, at the advanced age of almost seventy, Srila Prabhupada left by steamship for America to execute the order of his divine master, and to spread the holy name of Krishna. He accepted all sorts of personal inconveniences. At first, there was very little response to his message, and he felt discouraged. Sometimes he would go to the steamship company’s office in New York and inquire, “When is the next boat back to India?” Somehow, he didn’t leave. He stayed with faith in the order of his spiritual master and in the holy name of Krishna. And because of his faith and perseverance, we have been blessed with the holy name of Krishna, with the knowledge of Bhagavad-gītā and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, clearly presented as it is. We have been blessed with beautiful deities and temples, and with the association of devotees. So, if Srila Prabhupada hadn’t taken the trouble to come at the advanced age of seventy, under the order of his divine master, with faith in the name of Lord Krishna, we would not be here today. And whoever we may be, whatever our background may be, if we compare what we were before we came in contact with Srila Prabhupada and his devotees, and what we are now, we will see that there is a vast difference. And we owe that difference to Srila Prabhupada.

So, after preaching in America for a few years, Srila Prabhupada wanted to return to India to preach there, and he took some of his American disciples with him. For several months, Srila Prabhupada traveled throughout India and preached wherever he got the opportunity. And finally, in March of 1971, the devotees under Srila Prabhupada’s guidance put on the first big pandal program in India in Bombay. And I believe His Grace Chudhi Prabhu was there. Yes, in fact, in Juhu, I have a wonderful photograph of Chudhi Prabhu’s initiation ceremony. There was also a marriage between Vegavan Prabhu, who was from Sweden, and Padmavati dasi, who is from Australia. And in front of twenty thousand people, Srila Prabhupada introduced them to the audience and declared, “This is the real United Nations,” and everyone applauded and cheered. And after the success of the first pandal in Bombay, Srila Prabhupada asked Tamal Krishna Goswami and myself to go to Calcutta to organize the same type of pandal there.

Now, at the time, Calcutta was in the grips of Naxalites. Naxalites are like young communists, fanatics who believed in resorting to violence and anything that would achieve their end. Almost every day, or at least every week, the son of some rich man would be kidnapped, or the home of some rich man would be bombed. So, the atmosphere was very tense, and many of the businessmen were actually migrating from Calcutta to Delhi out of fear. So we got the best location in Calcutta, Turangi Maidan, and began to work for the pandal. And when everything was ready, Srila Prabhupada came. So, as soon as Srila Prabhupada arrived practically, he received a note: “Fly or die.” But Srila Prabhupada was fearless. His name, Abhay Charan, indicates one who is fearless because he has taken shelter of the lotus feet of Krishna. So he didn’t leave. The day before the pandal was to begin, some newspaper reporters came to interview Srila Prabhupada at the site, and they were very aggressive and, in a way, hostile. They challenged Srila Prabhupada, “What is the use of spending so much money and making such elaborate arrangements as we see here? The implication being, couldn’t you spend the money on better things, like helping the poor? What is the purpose?” And Srila Prabhupada replied, “The purpose of the grand arrangement here is to give people a chance to hear. I went to America on the order of my guru Maharaja just to give people the chance to hear. And just because they heard me, this elaborate arrangement has been made. Just from hearing me, and the whole purpose of the elaborate arrangement is to give people a chance to hear.”

So hearing is so important, śravaṇam. In the nine processes of devotional service, first is śravaṇam, hearing. And from hearing, everything else follows. And Srila Prabhupada knew the science. He had faith in the process that if people just heard, śravaṇam, then they would chant, kīrtanam, and everything else would follow, including pāda-sevanam, the service of the lotus feet of the spiritual master. So the next day was the grand opening of the pandal, and there was a huge area. Actually, more people came to the pandal in Calcutta even than to the one in Bombay. On the biggest nights, maybe thirty thousand people came on Sunday. So there was a huge tent, and the central area was carpeted with dhurries. And then the whole back was dhurries, way to the end. And then on either side, or maybe just on Srila Prabhupada’s right side, there were seats for VIPs, life members, and VIPs. So the Naxalites came, and they objected, “Why are some people sitting on the floor and some people sitting on chairs? Everyone should sit on the floor.” It is like when I was in the sixth grade, one teacher was explaining the principle of communism. Communists object, “Why is someone riding in a Cadillac, and why is someone riding in a Ford? Everyone should ride bicycles.” “So, why are some people sitting on chairs when others are sitting on the floor?”

So, our devotees tried to explain to them, but they were not ready to hear. And Srila Prabhupada was ready to begin his lecture, and the Naxalites, to disturb the lecture, to actually stop Srila Prabhupada from speaking, began to bang the folding chairs together, and they are making like a huge racket. So again, the devotees went and tried to appeal to them, but they became even more vehement and more aggressive. They began to clap the chairs together even more loudly. So none of us knew what to do. The situation was becoming very tense, and they just were not allowing Srila Prabhupada to speak. So we didn’t know what to do, and suddenly we heard booming over the loudspeaker system Srila Prabhupada’s voice, Govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi. And he began singing the cintāmaṇi prayers from Brahma-saṁhitā. And somehow, the quality of his voice or his devotion to the Lord acted on the hearts of the Naxalites, and gradually they started to gently place the chairs back down and walk away. They just walked away, and Srila Prabhupada was able to deliver his message. So Srila Prabhupada had complete faith in the holy names of Krishna, and Krishna, in the form of the holy name, and in the hearts of the living entities, reciprocated with Srila Prabhupada.

From Calcutta, we went to Delhi for the first big pandal there. And there, Srila Prabhupada requested some devotee to go to Madras because he had received an invitation to go to Madras. Meanwhile, he was going to Vrindavan with the rest of the devotees. So basically, everyone wanted to go with Srila Prabhupada to Vrindavan. Srila Prabhupada explained about the invitation, and he asked if anyone would volunteer to go. I knew he wanted someone to go, and I knew the other devotees wanted to go to Vrindavan. In any case, they always wanted to be with Srila Prabhupada. But I knew that the secret of success was to please the spiritual master, to follow the instruction of the spiritual master. So I said, “Well, I can go.” So I went, and eventually, we arranged a program, and Srila Prabhupada came. He was very happy with his visit there. But while we were there, we heard a song being broadcast, and the song went “Dum maro dum, Hare Krishna Hare Rama.” [laughter] We were invited to an Indian gentleman’s home for lunch, and we asked him about the song. He said the words of the song mean, “With every breath that I take, Hare Krishna Hare Rama,” which is actually a very polite explanation. Because later, we found that the words really meant, “With every puff that I take, [laughter] Hare Krishna Hare Rama.” But at the time, we thought, Oh, this sounds very nice, I can’t take a breath without chanting Hare Krishna.

So from Madras, eventually, we went to Mayapur and then to Calcutta. In Calcutta, the Devanand’s movie “Hare Rama Hare Krishna” was playing. Because in the West we used to go to rock concerts and we used to go to the musical fair which also featured the mantra, we thought, Well, we will do hari-nāma in front of the theater in Calcutta, distribute literature to the visitors. It was very festive, very happy. And when the movie was actually ready to start, I don’t know how it happened, but somehow, I ended up at the back of the theater, watching the screen. It was very dramatic. There was a huge widescreen and a very deep resonant voice of the narrator saying, “For years, India’s spiritual culture was kept within the shores of India.” There were pictures of waves coming in off the ocean. “But one man,” and then they flashed to a picture of Srila Prabhupada, the formal pose picture of Srila Prabhupada. “But one man took India’s spiritual culture beyond the shores of India.” Then there was a map with an arrow showing Srila Prabhupada going from India to the West. Then there was a picture of the London Ratha-yatra. It was just spectacular. You see, it is like a very high dome and hari-nāma in front of the chariots going down the main street of London. And then there was a picture of a saṅkīrtana at a life member’s house. He was actually a movie producer, Ramananda Sagar. It was all arranged, actually, by Devanand and others. So there was the hari-nāma. I believe Madhudvisa Prabhu was leading the kirtan. And then there was a picture of young men and women, not very well-dressed, hippies you could say. The girls were quite scantily dressed, smoking ganja, and chanting Hare Rama Hare Krishna. And the whole theme of the movie was that hippies who were taking drugs and having illicit sex and engaging in sinful activities were chanting Hare Krishna and they were desecrating the Hindu religion and the holy name of Krishna.

So, everyone got the idea that we were like the people depicted in the movie, that we were hippies dressed as sadhus, and that we were taking drugs and chanting, desecrating the holy name and the Hindu religion. So for a while, it was very difficult. It was very difficult, and people would mock us. But the devotees asked Srila Prabhupada, back in Calcutta they asked him about the movie, and Srila Prabhupada said that actually, the government was behind the movie because they do not want Krishna consciousness to spread in India. They are afraid of Krishna consciousness. And at the time, Srila Prabhupada was taking his massage, and he said, “Therefore, I am taking such care of this body so that I can kick them in the face.” [laughter] But then he said that ultimately, the movie will help us because eventually people will forget the “Dum mara dum,” and they will just remember the “Hare Krishna Hare Rama.” And actually, it happened. in the beginning, we could hardly walk down the street. All the children, the street urchins, would surround us and try to taunt us, “Dum mara dum.” You couldn’t walk down the street.

I remember once we hardly ever took the taxi because we didn’t have much money, and Srila Prabhupada was very strict. So we would just take the train from Juhu to downtown Bombay. Usually, we would walk, but if it was really too far to walk, we would take the bus. But once, I was late, and I had a very important appointment. I took a taxi. So the taxi stopped at a red light right near the Bombay Courthouse, at the Azad Maidan. And these children came up to the window. Sometimes they sell newspapers at the street corner. So they came to the window. “Dum maro dum,” It just almost hellish but as time went on, it became more balanced. It was equal “Dum maro dum,” and “Hare Krishna Hare Rama.” And after about two years, the “Dum maro dum,” completely disappeared, and it was just “Hare Krishna Hare Rama.” That was actually what Prabhupada predicted, because again, he knew science, and he had faith in the process. He knew that the holy name of Krishna was transcendental sound and ever fresh, and that the other syllables were material vibrations which would become old and stale, dry. So Srila Prabhupada had faith in the order of his spiritual master and in the holy name of Krishna.

Many years later, one of Srila Prabhupada’s godbrothers, Akiñcana Krishna dasa Babaji Maharaja, who apparently Srila Prabhupada said was the paramahamsa, met another godbrother of Srila Prabhupada’s who had also gone to the West but who had not really been able to achieve anything tangible. So the godbrother, means Babaji Maharaja, asked the godbrother, “You went to the West, and Srila Prabhupada went to the West. You taught the message of Lord Chaitanya, and he taught the message of Lord Chaitanya. You chanted the holy name of Krishna; he chanted the holy name of Krishna. Why was he successful, and you could not do anything?” The godbrother perhaps did not know the answer. So Babaji Maharaja himself replied that it was because Srila Prabhupada had full faith in the holy name of Krishna, and actually, he had full faith in the holy man of Krishna.

Once Srila Prabhupada met another godbrother named Professor Kapoor, B L Kapoor. And Professor Kapoor asked Srila Prabhupada that - because in grihastha ashram, Srila Prabhupada had been a pharmacist or chemist. So Professor Kapoor asked Srila Prabhupada that, “You know so many formulas, do you know the formula for developing love for Krishna?” And Srila Prabhupada said, “Yes, I do.” And Professor Kapoor said, “Can you tell me what it is?” Srila Prabhupada said, “Yes, I can.

tṛṇād api su-nīcena
taror iva sahiṣṇunā
amāninā māna-dena
kīrtanīyaḥ sadā hariḥ

So, kīrtanīyaḥ sadā hariḥ, always chant the name of Krishna. And Lord Krishna himself gives the same instruction in Bhagavad-gītā: satataṁ kīrtayanto mām, always chant the holy name of Krishna. And Srila Prabhupada remarks that Lord Chaitanya’s instruction—kīrtanīyaḥ sadā hariḥ, and Lord Krishna’s instruction—satataṁ kīrtayanto mām, are the same, and that the instructions in all of the Vedic scriptures ultimately are the same. So we are fortunate to be blessed by the mercy of Srila Prabhupada, who came at such an advanced age to America from India and inaugurated the worldwide saṅkīrtana movement, following the order of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and his own spiritual master. And because of Srila Prabhupada’s efforts and kindness and intelligence and grace, we have been saved. We are in the process of becoming pure devotees and going back home, back to Godhead. So, we should always remember our profound debt to Srila Prabhupada and try to express our gratitude to him by trying to follow in his footsteps, cooperating with his mission. Which especially means to have full faith in the instructions of the spiritual master and the instructions of Srila Prabhupada, and in the holy names of Krishna. And that will help us to become Krishna conscious, and it will help others.

Srila Prabhupada said that he only asked his guru Maharaja one question: “How can I serve you?” And Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura replied, “In the same way that you should preach the message of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu in the English language. And doing so will be good for you and for all who hear you.” So, by chanting Hare Krishna or speaking kṛṣṇa-kathā, everyone benefits. The person who chants benefits, and the person who hears benefits. Everyone benefits. Now, unlike in the material world where one man gains and another man loses, but here, everyone gains. Because Srila Prabhupada is pleased, Krishna is pleased, and when Krishna is pleased, everyone ultimately is satisfied. So I am very glad that the devotees from New Dwaraka dhāma are following Srila Prabhupada’s desires and instructions and going from town to town and house to house, introducing the chanting of Hare Krishna and the teachings of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu through Srila Prabhupada. And that nice devotees like Sri Shanti Parekh and his family, and many others, are welcoming them, receiving them, and facilitating them. And by such mutual reciprocation, I am sure that Srila Prabhupada and Sri Sri Pancha-tattva will be pleased, and we will be successful.

Hare Krishna.

Srila Prabhupada ki jaya!

He is asking that I am writing some books about Srila Prabhupada, so can I say something about my efforts? Actually, as I was speaking, I mentioned how Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura had ordered Srila Prabhupada to preach. But Srila Prabhupada felt that he could not immediately take up the instruction. So I had a similar experience. I joined in Boston, and Satsvarupa dasa was the temple president, and he was also the editor of BTG. So he was always encouraging us to write. So with his inspiration and guidance, I wrote an article about the genuine spiritual master. In the meantime, we went to India to serve Srila Prabhupada there, and eventually, when we were in the town of Gorakhpur, Srila Prabhupada received the BTG with the article I wrote. So, I saw the magazine, and I thought, Will this have the article in it? It did. And in the afternoon, Srila Prabhupada asked to see me. I really never had a personal meeting with Srila Prabhupada before, just once for a few minutes. So he said, “I read your article. It is very nice, and you should write.” Then he said, “We require many such articles, and you should write as your main engagement.” And then he said that I can travel with him, and he will help me, and I should come and stay with him.

So I was quite stunned by the whole encounter but didn’t know really how to relate the proposal but I thought I should agree. But I always followed my authorities, and I didn’t know what my authorities would say. So there was a meeting where all the devotees should be placed, and Hansadutta Prabhu, he was also one of the leaders in India then, he said he wanted me to be part of his world traveling saṅkīrtana party, and Srila Prabhupada agreed. So I was a little disappointed, but still, we went. So we began, we went by train to Agra and Aligarh, and then we got a telegram from Srila Prabhupada, “Organizing a big pandal program in Bombay, come with party immediately.” So we all went to Bombay. So in Bombay, I told Shyamasundara, who was organizing the pandal, that Srila Prabhupada wanted me to write, and I should have time to write. And Shyamasundara replied that this is the one opportunity we have, we can go to any man’s door and ask for an advertisement for the souvenir for the pandal, and you can write any time. So just help raise the funds for the pandal, and then you can write. So what he said sounded reasonable, and I knew that Srila Prabhupada wanted us to cooperate with our authorities, so I agreed.

Then after some time, Srila Prabhupada arrived, and he sat down in his room, and all the devotees were gathered around his low table. And he was glancing and smiling and exchanging affectionate words with the devotees. And then he turned to me and he said, “So Giriraj, how is your writing going?” So I was completely petrified. I didn’t know what to say. And he could see it. He said, “All right, we will speak later.” Then later, in the afternoon, he called for me and he said, “How is your writing going?” And I said, “Well, frankly Srila Prabhupada, I haven’t been writing at all because Shyamasundara said such and such, and I knew that you wanted us to cooperate with our authorities. And what he said made sense, so I agreed. Did I do the right thing?” Srila Prabhupada replied that one may temporarily suspend the order of the spiritual master, but one may never neglect the order of the spiritual master. And he said, “Just like myself, my guru Maharaja ordered me to write, but I have been so busy traveling and preaching in India, I also haven’t been able to write.” So again, he said that temporarily one may hold the order in abeyance, but he should always look for the opportunity to execute it.

So for many years, Srila Prabhupada engaged me in Juhu, and I was very busy there. And somehow, the time has come where I believe he wants me, and the situation is such that I can actually apply myself to his order. So the first book, I would say, is 90 percent complete. It is a collection of stories and anecdotes and some philosophical essays and articles about Srila Prabhupada and Krishna consciousness. In fact, the last part that remains is just some personal exchanges with Srila Prabhupada and some instructions, and maybe some of what I said tonight will be included. Then the other book, which I actually began last summer, is about my meeting with Srila Prabhupada and early association in Boston. And most of the rough manuscript is there, but I will have to refine it. The next book will be “Traveling with Srila Prabhupada in India,” like we went Bombay, Amritsar, Delhi, Indore, Surat, Bombay, Allahabad, Gorakhpur, Calcutta, Mayapur, and so on, up until the time Srila Prabhupada laid the cornerstone in Juhu. And then the next two books will be about Srila Prabhupada in Juhu. The first will be his struggle to get the land, and the next will be his struggle to build the temple. So those are the books that are planned. And then I feel I should also write one, something, compile one about The Nectar of Devotion, because somehow, I am attracted to The Nectar of Devotion. Devotees have also requested. And then I am at your service, whatever you want.” The text is almost finalized. Well, maybe Sahavas Prabhu can help us with production. I don’t have much experience with production, but it could be nice. Maybe by Prabhupada’s disappearance day, within the next year.

Being here, I recall one incident from Bombay. When Srila Prabhupada and the devotees first came, and especially after the pandal, we were receiving so many invitations to go to people’s houses and take prasāda, and we didn’t know what to do with all the invitations. So Srila Prabhupada said that we should tell them that unless they become our life members, we won’t go to their homes and take prasāda. [Laughter] And then later, Srila Prabhupada remarked that we are making life members simply by eating. I remember once we went to a life member’s house for prasāda, and we had a very good friend—Srila Prabhupada had a very good friend named Sataji Vitlal, who had fourteen sweet shops in Bombay. In fact, Srila Prabhupada gave him the nickname “The Sweet Ball King.” So all the devotees began to call him the Sweet Ball King. At the program, somehow, he came up to me, and he started telling me about the Indian sweets. He was saying, “The Western sweets, they don’t know anything just chocolate, but just from two items—milk and sugar—we can produce hundreds of varieties of sweets.” Anyway, there was very nice prasāda, and now the hospitality is not as much as then, but then the hosts would usually offer us a place to take rest after prasāda, and we did, all the devotees took rest after the meal. Some time passed, Srila Prabhupada also took a little rest, but not so much. So he got up, he was conversing with the hosts, and all the disciples were still sleeping. So Srila Prabhupada said, “We better wake the disciples and take them back to the temple; otherwise, if we just let them sleep, they will wake up and be hungry again.” So we better wake them up. [Laughter] But we had, so many wonderful experiences with Srila Prabhupada and with the hospitality of the Indian friends we met.

Do you have any memories that you’d like to share?

Devotee: I want to share that, we went to the Mrs. Shetty, he was a turmeric merchant, he was the biggest turmeric merchant in India, and she won vegetarian cooking contests all over the world. And they served all this, some of these things with plantains and bananas. And I remember Prabhupada saying at the end, he says, “Well, look how nicely they have eaten. We have become the International Society for Eating Consciousness because I must take them home or they will eat again.”

But I think the most fantastic one I remember was when we went to Jai Omprakash’s house. Srila Prabhupada sees the deity of Lord Shiva, he sees and goes, “Oh Hare Krishna Lord Shiva.” This place was so big, I went down into the basement, and I got lost until I started kirtan and found my way back up. And I remember, what was a couple of things were really inspiring. Once Srila Prabhupada had been very sick, but he showed up for the engagement anyway, and he spoke. And then he asked Dr. Bali, Vyjayanthi Mala’s husband, to speak. And after he spoke, he was so encouraged that he made the biggest movie stars life members, Rajesh Khanna and Kapoors. All those became life members that night. I remembers the Jai Omprakash said that, “I have to admit that Indian movie are corny.” I think he made was “Hathi mere Sathi.” Prabhupada call the chickpeas golden chickpeas. But Prabhupada showed up even though he was sick, and he just liked to hear other people have been inspired to preach in that mood that other people can talk in the same way that Dr. Bali had done that day. That was inspiring. There is so many more, but that is enough.