SB 2.4.18 – We All Are Here Because of Srila Prabhupada

Giriraj Swami: 

oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya

oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya

oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya

We read from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam Canto Two Chapter Four, Text Eighteen. Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is called the ripened fruit of the tree of Vedic literature, and it is considered the supreme evidence or praṇāma of all shastra.

kirāta-hūṇāndhra-pulinda-pulkaśā

ābhīra-śumbhā yavanāḥ khasādayaḥ

ye ‘nye ca pāpā yad-apāśrayāśrayāḥ

śudhyanti tasmai prabhaviṣṇave namaḥ

TRANSLATION

Kirāta, Hūṇa, Āndhra, Pulinda, Pulkaśa, Ābhīra, Śumbha, Yavana, members of the Khasa races and even others addicted to sinful acts can be purified by taking shelter of the devotees of the Lord, due to His being the supreme power. I beg to offer my respectful obeisances unto Him.

COMMENT

The purport begins by describing the different categories mentioned in the verse, but for the sake of time I will not repeat the description but they are different categories of people. Kirata are known as the aboriginal tribes of India. The area of East Germany and part of Russia is known as the province of the Hunas. Andhra is a province in Southern India still extant under the same name. Pulinda was also one of the provinces of Bharat and the inhabitants were classified among the kshatriya kings but later on, due to their giving up the brahminical culture, they were mentioned as mlecchas. Abhira—This province was situated on the river Sarasvati in Sindh. Śumbhas or Kaṅkas is another province of old bharat. Yavanas—Yavana was the name of one of the sons of Maharaja Yayati who was given the part of the world known as Turkey to rule. Khasa- Those who have a stunted growth of hair on the upper lips are generally called khasas. As such, the khasas are the Mongolians, the Chinese and others who are so designated.

PURPORT by Srila Prabhupada

The above-mentioned historical names are different nations of the world. Even those who are constantly engaged in sinful acts are all corrigible to the standard of perfect human beings if they take shelter of the devotees of the Lord.

According to the cult of devotion, generally known as the Vaiṣṇava cult, there is no bar against anyone’s advancing in the matter of God realization. A Vaiṣṇava is powerful enough to turn into a Vaiṣṇava even the Kirāta, etc., as above mentioned. In the Bhagavad-gītā (9.32) it is said by the Lord that there is no bar to becoming a devotee of the Lord (even for those who are lowborn, or women, śūdras or vaiśyas), and by becoming a devotee everyone is eligible to return home, back to Godhead. The only qualification is that one take shelter of a pure devotee of the Lord who has thorough knowledge in the transcendental science of Kṛṣṇa (Bhagavad-gītā and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam). Anyone from any part of the world who becomes well conversant in the science of Kṛṣṇa becomes a pure devotee and a spiritual master for the general mass of people and may reclaim them by purification of heart. Though a person be even the most sinful man, he can at once be purified by systematic contact with a pure Vaiṣṇava. A Vaiṣṇava, therefore, can accept a bona fide disciple from any part of the world without any consideration of caste and creed and promote him by regulative principles to the status of a pure Vaiṣṇava, who is transcendental to brahminical culture.

The Vaiṣṇava never accepts another Vaiṣṇava on the basis of birthright, just as he never thinks of the Deity of the Lord in a temple as an idol. As the all-powerful Lord accepts the humble service of His devotee in devotional activities of the arcana, His form as the worshipable Deity in the temple, similarly the body of a pure Vaiṣṇava changes transcendentally at once when he gives himself up to the service of the Lord and is trained by a qualified Vaiṣṇava. “One should not consider the Deity of the Lord as worshiped in the temple to be an idol, nor should one consider the authorized spiritual master an ordinary man. Nor should one consider a pure Vaiṣṇava to belong to a particular caste, etc.” (Padma Purāṇa)

The conclusion is that the Lord, being all-powerful, can, under any and every circumstance, accept anyone from any part of the world, either personally or through His bona fide manifestation as the spiritual master. Lord Caitanya accepted many devotees from communities other than the varṇāśramites, and He Himself declared, to teach us, that He does not belong to any caste or social order of life, but that He is the eternal servant of the servant of the Lord who maintains the damsels of Vṛndāvana (Lord Kṛṣṇa). That is the way of self-realization.

COMMENT

So this verse and purport are very important. They highlight the shastric principle on which Srila Prabhupada came to the western world and then traveled throughout the whole world, and accepted devotees from different communities and elevated them to the position of pure devotees. And as he mentions in the purport, the only qualification is that one should be systematically trained by a pure devotee or Vaishnava.

There is one incident I recall from when Srila Prabhupada was staying at Juhu in Bombay at Hare Krishnaland, and one of his leading disciples named Tamal Krishna Goswami had gone to Jaslok Hospital on Pedder Road to have a hernia operation. But Srila Prabhupada wanted to stop the operation. He did not have faith in the medical treatment that Tamal Krishna Goswami would get in India at the time, and so he wanted to stop the operation. But at the time it was very hard even to get a telephone in India. You know how it was, without paying some good amount you could not get a telephone for a long time. So Srila Prabhupada personally went to the hospital. We got in a vehicle and drove downtown, and it was too late; the surgery had already been completed and Tamal Krishna Goswami was being wheeled out of the operation theater or the recovery area, and he was just coming out of the influence of the anesthesia. He opened his eyes and he saw Srila Prabhupada, and he told Srila Prabhupada that he had just had a dream. And in the dream Srila Prabhupada was giving his report to the previous acharyas, just like you see on the altar. Those are our previous acharyas; Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura, Srila Gaurakishora dasa Babaji Maharaja, Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura, Srila Jagannatha dasa Babaji Maharaja, and the previous acharyas. And Srila Prabhupada was telling them that actually the people on the planet earth now practically have no good qualities. They have practically no spiritual knowledge, they have practically no culture, they have practically no good qualities at all. But then Srila Prabhupada said that they do have one good quality, and that is that whatever I tell them, they do. And just by that one qualification, they can achieve the supreme perfection, and that is confirmed in this verse and purport. Or to put it another way, Srila Prabhupada’s activities themselves demonstrated the truth of the verse and purport.

Still Srila Prabhupada faced opposition from caste brahmans in India. In fact, in Hyderabad it is mentioned, Andhra one of the fallen people; in Andhra, but it could have been anywhere and I am sure it was everywhere, some caste brahmans said, “You are doing the greatest disservice by initiating these devotees as brahmans.” I was actually the first devotee from ISKCON to go to Madras, and we were staying with one family initially, and the man of the house was saying that you can be Vaishnavas and Vaishnavas are higher than brahmans but you are not brahmans. You can be a Vaishnava and a Vaishnava is higher than a brahman but to be a brahman you have to take birth again in a brahman family. So one of my godbrothers, he is in our devotee community in Alachua Florida now, he said to the man, “What is more powerful, one’s sinful actions and reactions or the holy name of Krishna?” So of course he had to admit that the holy name of Krishna is more powerful. So then my godbrother Gurubai, my Gurubai said, “So that means that the holy name of Krishna can eradicate all of a person’s sinful reactions.” So that means that whatever his birth was according to his karma, according to his past, yes so he had to admit that the holy name of Krishna is more powerful. It can eradicate all of one’s sinful reactions and therefore whatever body one got as a result of one’s karma, is changed. And the same fact is corroborated in the Third Canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, that those who are chanting the holy names of the Lord it is understood they have already taken bath in all the sacred rivers, they have already performed all the ritual ceremonies, and they are immediately eligible to perform Vedic sacrifices.

So this is very significant that for one who is constantly chanting the holy name of the Lord is immediately eligible to perform Vedic sacrifices. Only a brahman is eligible to perform Vedic sacrifices. So when the Bhāgavatam says immediately eligible, it means he doesn’t have to wait to take birth again in a brahman family but he is immediately eligible. That means he is a brahman and a Vaishnava. So it is because of Srila Prabhupada that we are here today, that this temple is here. This temple was originally established by one of Srila Prabhupada’s disciples named Haripada and now it is continuing. Haripada was one of those souls, many souls, whom Srila Prabhupada reclaimed by his spiritual potency and by his strict adherence to the principles of Krishna, of Bhagavad-gītā and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.

In 1971 we accompanied Srila Prabhupada in December for Gita-jayanti-mahotsava in Indore. And at that time, a group of Hindu gentlemen came to meet Srila Prabhupada. Every afternoon so many people would come to meet Srila Prabhupada, and Srila Prabhupada was pointing out the defect, because one night he had spoken at a Gītā Bhavan, and there was no picture of Krishna, and Srila Prabhupada said, “What is this, it is a Gītā Bhavan but no picture of Krishna.” So one of the men said, “Well, there is a deep.” “Where does the Bhagavad-gītā say that you should worship a deep?” Bhagavad-gītā says to worship Krishna. So there was quite some discussion and Srila Prabhupada said that we have to accept Bhagavad-gītā as it is. Just as Krishna spoke it and as Arjuna understood it; without interpretation, misinterpretation, mal-interpretation. So the man said, “Swamiji, you should not criticize others.” In effect they were saying you should see everyone equally. And Srila Prabhupada said, “Well, I am not on that platform, I say that you should surrender to Krishna, and if you don’t surrender to Krishna you will have to suffer the reaction. But if you are on that platform, why are you criticizing me?”

So, the discussion was going back and forth, and Srila Prabhupada quoted this verse from the Bhagavad-gītā,

vidyā-vinaya-sampanne
 brāhmaṇe gavi hastini
śuni caiva śva-pāke ca
paṇḍitāḥ sama-darśinaḥ

That the learned person sees equally the brahman, the elephant, the cow, the dog, and the dog eater; paṇḍitāḥ sama-darśinaḥ. So Srila Prabhupada said that, the same idea that I have mentioned, “I am not on that platform.” To be on that platform means that you do not distinguish between pious and sinful activities; because why is someone born as a brahman, why is someone born as a dog? It is because of pious and sinful activities. So to see them all equally means that one does not distinguish between pious and sinful activities, but I distinguish. I say you are doing nonsense and you should stop it.” So then they started saying well if that that is in the scripture, then there are so many mistakes in the scripture. So then Prabhupada became furious. He said, “Now you are criticizing Vyasa, then we cannot discuss; if you are criticizing Vyasa, we cannot discuss, you can go.” Prabhupada said, “I am just repeating what is in the scripture, I am just repeating what is in the Bhagavad-gītā.” And they are saying, “No, you should you should make some contribution.” “No, no contribution, I just repeat what’s in the scripture. Krishna says surrender to me; na mā duktino mûhā prapadyante narādhamā, if you don’t surrender to me, you are a fool, rascal, miscreant, demon; I am just repeating.”

So the conversation went on and then one of Prabhupada’s disciples told the men about Srila Prabhupada’s work. They actually were not aware of all that Srila Prabhupada had done, and how Srila Prabhupada had made devotees all over the world and elevated them to the platform of pure Vaishnavas. And these men were very impressed. Suddenly they became very impressed and quiet. And then Srila Prabhupada said, “Yes, this is my sama-darśinaḥ, that I did not discriminate that this one can take to Krishna consciousness and this one cannot take. This is my sama-darśinaḥ, that everyone and anyone can take to Krishna consciousness and this is my contribution to the previous acharyas. Never before in the history has it happened, that people from all over the world from all different communities are taking to Krishna consciousness.” They were very impressed.

So this is the unique position of Srila Prabhupada. So many things are there in the scripture but Srila Prabhupada really was the one to apply them on a global scale. There are many quotations but there is one from Caitanya-bhāgavata. Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, five hundred years ago he predicted, pṛthivīte āche yata nagarādi grāma sarvatra pracāra haibe mora nāma. That in every town and village of every country of the world, my name or Krishna’s name will be preached or sung, and Srila Prabhupada fulfilled that.

Yesterday was Lochan dasa Thakura’s appearance day and he also quoted that Chaitanya Mahaprabhu had said that in Kali-yuga, he will send his senapati bhakta, the commander-in-chief of the devotees, and he will spread Krishna consciousness all over the world. So there are many predictions like that. So Srila Prabhupada’s work is unprecedented, and we are all the beneficiaries of his work. As I mentioned, we would not be here today were it not for him, and therefore it is our duty and our privilege to be able to work cooperatively to serve his mission, and that is now the challenge for all of you. Chaitanya Mahaprabhu also said, bhārata-bhūmite manuṣya-janma hailayāra janma sārthaka kari’ kara para-upakāra. That anyone who has taken birth and bhārata-bhūmite, as a human being, should make his life successful by becoming Krishna conscious and then do the do the best welfare activities for the whole world by spreading Krishna consciousness. So that is our duty, that is our responsibility, and that is our privilege. We have received so much by the grace of Srila Prabhupada, so we should show our gratitude toward him by working together in this manner and without false ego, just as humble servants, as Srila Prabhupada said in the last line of the purport quoting Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, gopī-bhartuḥ pada-kamalayor dāsa-dāsānudāsaḥ. He begins Nāhaṁ vipra. I am not a brahman, I am not a kshatriya, I am not vaishya, I am not a shudra, I am not a brahmachari, I am not a grihastha, I am not a vanaprastha, I am not a sannyasi, but gopī-bhartuḥ pada-kamalayor dāsa-dāsānudāsaḥ, I am the servant of the servant of the servant of Krishna, the maintainer of the damsels of Vrindavan.

So that is our identity. Anything other than that is ignorance. And so we should act in that way, as the servant of the servant of the servant of Krishna and make our life successful and do real good for other people.

Hare Krishna.