Appreciating Srila Prabhupada—Personal and Merciful

Giriraj Swami: So, it is Srila Prabhupada’s mercy that we are all here today. We cannot even imagine what life would be without Srila Prabhupada’s mercy. Many of us had never even heard of Krishna. And even the ones who had heard of Krishna didn’t actually know who Krishna was or is. I meet many Indians, Hindus in America who were born in India and grew up in India, but they say that they never really understood who Krishna was until they got the devotees of ISKCON or read the books of Srila Prabhupada. Then they understood that Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead and all others are His servants.

And many of them say that they dread going back to India because their family members are so mundane. And their family members tell them, “What happened to you? We thought you were going to America to become rich and enjoy life, and now you are coming back to India and you don’t drink tea, you don’t eat onions or garlic, what to speak of other things. What’s wrong with you?”

But being in Vrindavan, I also have seen a pattern in some of Srila Prabhupada’s best supporters or best devotees in Bombay that they all had some influence of Vrindavan before they met Srila Prabhupada. And I feel that by spending time in Vrindavan, I’m getting a sense of what they had in them that made them so inspired by Srila Prabhupada, and what we can learn so that we can experience a type of intimacy in our relationship with Srila Prabhupada based on his life and affection for Vrindavan.

I went to visit the Radha-Ramana temple and Radha-Gokulananda temple. They were the first temples that I went to visit on this trip, and it was the first time I was really walking in the streets of the town of Vrindavan. And I was immersed in thoughts of Srila Prabhupada walking the very same streets. He would also visit the different temples, take darshan of the Deities, sing kirtan, hear kṛṣṇa-kathā, and speak kṛṣṇa-kathā.

But there was also a difference, that Srila Prabhupada had a mission or a purpose that no one else in Vrindavan had. And I’ve heard from devotees who were with Srila Prabhupada in Vrindavan before he left to America that he had a very deep sense of purpose. And his thoughts and energy were directed towards his mission. And it is because of that determination that we are here now and our lives are so different from what they really were.

There are two friends of Srila Prabhupada in Bombay that I thought to mention. One is a lady devotee named Mrs. Singhal, and the other is a male devotee named Mr. Sethi. Neither of them was officially initiated by Srila Prabhupada, but they were both extremely devoted to him. And even after his departure, they maintained their service with the same enthusiasm. They wanted to serve his mission, to spread his message, and to assist his devotees.

So, one day, toward the end of the Govardhana retreat with H.H. Sacinandana Swami and H.G. Bhurijana Prabhu, there was a performance of kṛṣṇa-līlā. And during the performance, there were some vrajavāsīs playing instruments and singing songs that went along with the theme of the drama. And I recognized some of the words to be words of songs that Mrs. Singhal would sing to us sometimes when we would visit her at home.

And we were so new and inexperienced in India, we didn’t know what to make of the songs. Our first thought was, Is this bona fide? And then she would explain the meaning of the words, and it sounded very nice, all about Krishna blowing on His flute. And then I thought, Is this sahajiyā? But she was so devoted and so attached to Srila Prabhupada and so kind to all of us, I thought, It must be all right.

So, one day, Mrs. Singhal invited Srila Prabhupada to her home for prasāda. And she had a very small apartment in Ville Parle. And it was just three of us who were going; Srila Prabhupada, Tamal Krishna Goswami, and me. So, we got to her apartment. She received Prabhupada very nicely and even us. Later, when we would come, she offered a little ārati and received us very nicely. And she brought us into the next room, we had to sit on the floor instead of the thalis.

Then suddenly, the door swings open and she and the lady friend of hers burst into the room, and Mrs. Singhal is playing the violin. And the two of them are singing songs from Vraja. And Tamal Krishna Goswami made such a face and he rolled his eyes. And he looked at Srila Prabhupada and Srila Prabhupada looked at him, and he said, “This is spontaneous Vaishnavas. You are just learning to be a Vaishnava. They are naturally Vaishnavas.” And that was a very profound statement, and true.

And spending time in Vrindavan now, I think this is the longest stretch I’ve ever stayed in Vrindavan ever, I’m seeing there are many advanced polls. But Srila Prabhupada had such faith in the order of his Guru Maharaja and the service of his Guru Maharaja that he would engage these natural devotees in the service of the mission. He told Mrs. Singhal that she should gather ladies together and read to them from his Hindi Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, discuss with them, and she did it. And also, every week, she had a women’s, you could say, kirtan in front of the Deities in Juhu, Radha-Rasabihari, every Tuesday, without fail, for what turned out to be decades; ten, twenty, thirty years. She came every Tuesday no matter what.

She told me sometimes she felt sick and she wasn’t sure she’d be able to make it, but she felt this is her service to Srila Prabhupada, to Radha-Rasabihari, and somehow, she made it every time. And when it actually became time for her to leave her body, it began in front of Radha-Rasabihari during the Tuesday kirtan. So, she was a very special soul, and she brought that mood of Vrindavan with her. And she was naturally inspired by Srila Prabhupada, and he encouraged her in her mood of devotion, and at the same time, engaged her in the merciful mission of bringing the mood of Vrindavan to people all over the world.

The second friend of Srila Prabhupada was Mr. Sethi, and he was associated with a guru in Vrindavan from before he met Srila Prabhupada. And the group of followers of that guru would meet every Sunday and do Akhand hari-nāma-saṅkīrtana from six in the morning until six in the evening. And then they would sing songs from Vrindavan from six to eight. But still, it was really only when Mr. Sethi met Srila Prabhupada that that rudimentary attraction for Krishna and Vrindavan really developed. Mr. Sethi read in the newspaper that one Swami had come from America with disciples from America and different parts of the world and they chanted Hare Krishna maha-mantra kirtan.

So, at the first meeting, Srila Prabhupada asked Mr. Sethi what is his morning routine, and Mr. Sethi said, “I get up at seven o’clock, I brush my teeth, I read the newspaper, I have my cup of tea and toast, and then I go to work.” And Srila Prabhupada said, “Yes, and what is the difference between you and the pig?” And that was the beginning of their relationship. Mr. Sethi at heart was a devotee, and he thought, What Srila Prabhupada said is right. What is the difference?

So, Mr. Sethi said, “What should I do?” Then, Srila Prabhupada said, “Early every Sunday morning, you invite the devotees to your place,” which is in the suburbs of Bombay and Goregaon. “And you would have nāma-saṅkīrtana, hari-nāma-saṅkīrtana through the streets. And then at the end, you feed them all some sort of prasāda.” And that became a regular practice.

So, I don’t have time to tell the whole story. I don’t even have the time to tell the end of the story. Govinda Maharaja says, “I do.”

All right. So, in 1977, which was Srila Prabhupada’s last year with us, Srila Prabhupada moved into his beautiful quarters on the top floor of the West Tower of the Juhu project. And although his health was not good then, he gave Mr. Sethi a tour and he said, “Just see what my disciples have done for me.” It was unprecedented at the time in ISKCON. It had marble floors, carved wood pillars, and crystal chandeliers.

And he said, “I always wanted you to join us, but you always said that you felt that it would be too austere for you in the brahmachari ashram. So, you come and stay here, and I will stay somewhere else.” Mr. Sethi said, “No, Prabhupada. They made this for you.” Prabhupada said, “I am a sannyasi, I can stay anywhere. You come and stay here.”

And Mr. Sethi also brought up the question of initiation, because many devotees would say to him, “You are so close to Srila Prabhupada, why don’t you take initiation?” But Mr. Sethi always felt that he is not really qualified for initiation because he was a building contractor. He had to deal with so many affairs. And he didn’t feel he was fit. And Srila Prabhupada said, “You are more than initiated. If you get dīkṣā, you can worship the Deity. But you are serving the devotees, and that is higher than worshiping the Deities.” And he said, “Besides, I need someone like you to do all those other types of things.”

I shouldn’t say, but in the end, it was actually Mr. Sethi who gave a little something to the municipal commissioner that enabled us finally to get the permission to build. Actually, I was just joking.

So, Prabhupada said, “Actually, I want you to be the way you are because I have many things that I need to accomplish, and I can’t accomplish them through my other disciples, I can only accomplish them through you.”

So then, in 1977, just getting near the end, Mr. Sethi approached me, “Every time, we have our Akhand hari-nāma-saṅkīrtana at some devotee’s house. What if we have it at the temple here?” So, we arranged it in the old temple, a small temple that was just beneath the tower where Srila Prabhupada was staying on the top floor. And so, the devotees from that group, Radha-Madhava prema Sudha saṅkīrtana Mandal and Prabhupada’s disciples were chanting Hare Krishna maha-mantra kirtan at the temple.

So, at a certain stage, those householder devotees wanted to see Srila Prabhupada, but they couldn’t go up to meet him. The lift wasn’t installed yet. And Prabhupada wasn’t well and he couldn’t come down to see them. But eventually, Prabhupada came to the balcony. They had come out of the temple and were chanting under his window. He came out onto the balcony and it was such an exchange of love. Those householder devotees went wild with ecstatic love for Srila Prabhupada.

And then the climax of every Sunday’s program was at the end of the Vraja songs. One lady would sing jaya radhe jaya radhe radhe jaya radhe jaya sri-radhe.

And Mr. Sethi was with Srila Prabhupada at that moment, and he said, “Tears were just streaming down Srila Prabhupada’s cheeks.” So, the next morning, Srila Prabhupada called for me, and Srutakirti Prabhu was talking about how Prabhupada could surprise you. Well, he definitely not just surprised me, I would say shocked me, bewildered me, overpowered me.

He said, “That kirtan was wonderful.” He said, “You should invite the whole Radha-Madhava group and tell them that we will build houses for them on Hare Krishna Land. And they should all come and stay with us, and all they have to do is Akhand hari-nāma-saṅkīrtana from morning to night, just like they did yesterday.” So, I was sort of. . .

Dinabandhu Prabhu has now arranged for the weddings of all their children.

So, I just quickly thought, They are married, they have homes, they have jobs or businesses, they have children who are going to school, I just didn’t see how it would work. So, I was silent about what to say. But Srila Prabhupada knew what I was thinking, so he said, “Alright, well, if we can’t do that, then all of our devotees should do twelve-hour Akhand hari-nāma-saṅkīrtana from six to six every day.”

So, I made a quick assessment of the situation, and I thought, We are working to get the temple ready to open, which was Prabhupada’s effort for the last so many years. It was his main service, it consumed his thoughts wherever in the world he was. So, I said, “Srila Prabhupada, we have so much service to do. We are trying to open the temple. And then when the temple opens, we have to manage it and the guest house and the restaurant. I don’t know how it will work.” So then, he said, “Alright, then once a week on Sunday.” I was so relieved, I immediately agreed. I said, “Yes, we can do this.”

Later, I told Tamal Krishna Goswami about the discussion, and then he commented, “Srila Prabhupada had done some transcendental bargaining with you.” If he had begun by asking for twelve hours on Sunday, I would have probably replied, “Oh, that’s a lot. How about three?” But because he began by, “We’ll build houses for thirty householder families and maintain them while they do the kirtan,” and then, “Okay, well, if they can’t do that, then you do it every day for twelve hours.” Then he said, “Once a week for twelve hours.” “Oh yeah, we can do that.” And that was really one of the best things we ever did in Juhu.

So, Mr. Sethi continued his service after Srila Prabhupada left, and he recently left his body within the last two years. And in the end, he was so absorbed in Srila Prabhupada, he had a very big family. He was the head of the dynasty, he had, I think, five sons, and they were all married, they had many sons and daughters and they were all Krishna conscious.

So, one day, within a week or two of his passing. . . He was confined to bed, he wasn’t fully conscious all the time, but one day, close to the end, he said, “Pack my bags,” and he could hardly move, with great difficulty, they would help him to the bathroom. He said, “Pack my bags, I have to go.” So, they said, “Go where?” He said, “Prabhupada is calling me, pack my bags. I have to go.” And there were many such instances. And then very near the end, maybe three days before the end, he said, “I want to go to the temple. I want to see Prabhupada and Radha-Rasabihari.”

And most of the time, he wasn’t in external consciousness, but somehow, the devotees and the family members arranged to bring him. And as soon as he came in front of the Deities and in front of Srila Prabhupada’s vyāsāsana, he opened his eyes and he was fully conscious for that whole time. He had caraṇāmṛta, they took him home, and then they were doing continuous hari-nāma-saṅkīrtana, family members and devotees, and then he left.

Before we got the permission to build the temple, which was a big struggle, Mr. Sethi had gotten permission for us to build a floor on top of the old apartment building, so at least there would be a place for the devotees to stay and for Srila Prabhupada to stay. And when the first of the additional floors was ready, Mr. Sethi took Srila Prabhupada up and gave him a tour. And Srila Prabhupada told Mr. Sethi, “Just as you are building these rooms for my disciples here, Krishna is building new rooms for you in Goloka Vrindavan.” And I believe that what Srila Prabhupada said proved to be true.

And so, seeing the mercy that Mr. Sethi got from Srila Prabhupada, how powerful Srila Prabhupada’s mercy was, has just increased my faith in Srila Prabhupada’s mercy, that anyone who dedicates himself or herself to Srila Prabhupada’s service, no matter what their external situation might be, they can get Srila Prabhupada’s mercy and attain the supreme destination, which is the lotus feet of Srila Prabhupada in service to Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and Sri Sri Radha-Shyamasundara. Hare Krishna.