Srila Prabhupada’s Departure

Translator: If you are ready, I will give brief introduction to our audience, and then we can start. Thank you. Hare Krishna, dear devotees, we continue our festival which is dedicated to Kartik, to dāmodara-līlā, to five aṅgas of the devotional loving service to our God. And this particular week is dedicated to the worship of deities. And as one of the most close intimate associates of Srila Prabhupada, Sruti Kirti Prabhu mentioned that for him, he treats his most dearest deity as Srila Prabhupada himself. Today is the day of Srila Prabhupada’s departure, we are so fortunate to have Srila Giriraj Swami Maharaja with you today to be with us on this day and share our experience he had while serving with Srila Prabhupada.

His Holiness Giriraj Swami Maharaja began his spiritual quest back in the late 1960s while being a student. In March 1969, he met Srila Prabhupada at the university where Srila Prabhupada was invited to give a lecture. At the end of the program, Giriraj Swami provided his car to take the Srila Prabhupada to the temple and on the way, he was discussed philosophy and various gurus with devotees. The next evening, he went to the temple where he heard Srila Prabhupada’s lecture for the very first time and this lecture made a profound impression on him. In the same year, Giriraj Swami received spiritual initiation from Srila Prabhupada and soon became one of the leaders of the Boston temple. The following year, on the invitation of Prabhupada, Maharaja went to India and was helping Srila Prabhupada in his mission of preaching activity, actively traveling and preaching.

Giriraj Maharaja headed the project for the construction of the Hare Krishna land, a large temple and Vedic cultural center in Bombay. By the way, this year his book titled I’ll Build You a Temple was published, describing this marvelous outstanding story. I hope it will be translated into Russian very soon and it will be available to the wide audience of the Russian-speaking ISKCON devotees. He was a board member of the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust and a member of the GBC for many years, overseeing ISKCON activities in Bombay, Pakistan, South Africa, Spain, Portugal, Mauritius, and Sri Lanka. There is one story that Srila Prabhupada proudly was sharing with others. One day, Maharaja’s parents came to India to take their son, Giriraj Swami Maharaja home and offered him a million dollars for that. And to which Maharaja replied that his service to Srila Prabhupada was a treasure beyond all the wealth in the world. And until the very last day and last minute, Maharaja was staying with and by Srila Prabhupada. Dear Giriraj Swami Maharaja, the floor is yours.

Giriraj Swami: So, I will begin by singing the maṅgalācaraṇa prayers and leading a short kirtan, and then I will speak about Srila Prabhupada. Also, I would like to request the devotees on Zoom, as far as possible, to put on your cameras so we can see your moon-like faces and it will be more personal.

[Prayers and kirtan]

So, my dear devotees, now we will discuss Srila Prabhupada’s departure. Once on his guru Maharaja’s disappearance day, Srila Prabhupada said, “On the absolute platform, there is no difference between the appearance and the disappearance of the spiritual master. Both are beautiful, just like the sunrise and the sunset.” So, although we feel separation, within that separation, our remembrance of Srila Prabhupada is heightened. And thus, we experience the beauty of his presence, even in separation. Srila Prabhupada’s departure is a painful topic. But remembering Srila Prabhupada’s words, the disappearance is also beautiful. We wanted to learn some lessons from his departure.

A few days before he was to leave us, Srila Prabhupada expressed a desire to travel by bullock cart to different holy places in India. His Holiness Lokanath Swami had been traveling by bullock cart to different places of pilgrimage. And Srila Prabhupada was very enlivened when Lokanath Swami reported to him in Vrindavan. And Prabhupada said that he too would like to go on pilgrimage on a bullock cart. He asked Lokanath Swami to arrange it, and Lokanath Swami was enthusiastic, having been encouraged by Srila Prabhupada in such a direct way. He immediately went to organize the cart and make all the arrangements. Govardhana-puja was to take place in couple of days. And Prabhupada said that he would begin his pilgrimage by traveling on a bullock cart to Govardhana Hill to celebrate Govardhana-puja with the vrajavāsīs. At that time, Srila Prabhupada was bedridden, and one could say emaciated. He was unable to eat and was able only to sip a little liquid. So he was very gaunt and weak, with almost no energy. He would just lie on his bed, and sometimes with great difficulty, he would speak softly, often so faintly that only those very close to him could hear his words.

There were many devotees in the room when Srila Prabhupada had his exchange with Lokanath Swami. And immediately after the discussion ended and devotees went outside, they began to express two strong, heartfelt opinions about what Srila Prabhupada should do. And more than that, how we as disciples should relate to Srila Prabhupada and serve him. One group which includes Lokanath Swami and other esteemed senior disciples, such as Hansadutta Prabhu and Varadraj Prabhu, felt that we should just do what the spiritual master orders. We shouldn’t question his order; we should just execute it. And some of the other disciples, many of whom had been attending to Srila Prabhupada’s personal care, felt that Prabhupada’s health would not sustain his travels on a bullock cart. And that because he was so emaciated, he had practically no flesh on his bones, it would be very painful for him to go. Even if they padded the cart with a mattress, it would still be a basic bullock cart, and the roads in Vrindavan were very rough. So, the movement of the cart would jostle Prabhupada and he would feel pain. Some devotees feared that he might even give up his body on the way. So, they did not want him to be subjected to what they foresaw as certain pain and perhaps the dire consequence of his death. But this second position was very difficult to maintain under the circumstances because Srila Prabhupada was so emphatic. “Let me travel to all the tīrtha-sthāna,” he had said, “to all the holy places.” And whatever objections devotees had raised against the proposal, he had countered. “One-day experiment,” Prabhupada said. “It is for one day. Rest assured I will not die in one day.”

When even Prabhupada’s kavirāja, his Ayurvedic physician, had predicted that with all the jostling of the bullock cart, Prabhupada would not survive more than two hours, Prabhupada had replied, “But I think I shall be cured.” Still, Tamal Krishna Goswami, Bhakti Charu Swami, Bhakti Svarupa Damodara Maharaja, Bhavananda Maharaja, and others felt strongly that this experiment would have dire consequences, but how to convince Prabhupada? So the controversy continued. When Prabhupada said, “I think I shall be cured,” Hansadutta and others took it that he was supporting their position. But the other side took it differently. What does it mean that he is going to be cured? It means that he is going to leave his body and get a spiritual body. That is how he is going to get cured. So each party was seeing things in a particular way that supported its particular point of view.

Finally, things came to the stage where the bullock cart was waiting outside the gates of the Krishna-Balaram mandir. Everything was being ready. And for the devotees who were in the mood that Srila Prabhupada should stay, it must have been like when the residents of Vrindavan saw Akrura getting the chariot ready to take Krishna to Mathura. The evening before the planned parikramā, Srila Prabhupada was lying on his bed. Bhakti Charu Swami was in the room. And Srila Prabhupada’s godbrother, Akiñcana Krishnadasa Babaji Maharaja, came to visit. Babaji Maharaja was a very advanced devotee. Srila Prabhupada had said that he was a paramahamsa. He was always engaged in hari-nāma, absorbed in hari-nāma, and he was always blissful. And he and Prabhupada had an extraordinarily affectionate relationship. So Bhakti Charu Swami thought, Let me appeal to Babaji Maharaja. If he asks Prabhupada not to go, then Prabhupada may listen. So he was speaking with Babaji Maharaja.

In the meantime, Tamal Krishna Goswami and Bhavananda Maharaja were upstairs in what had been Prabhupada’s bedroom before his bed had been moved down some months earlier. And while Babaji Maharaja was sitting at Prabhupada’s bedside, they came down in a very emotional state. Prabhupada was aware of what they were thinking. And he asked, “So, you request me not to go?” And Tamal Krishna Goswami responded, “Srila Prabhupada, we were getting so upset. Two devotees told me that this road is so bad, that if you go on this road, you are going to be jolted back and forth. The road is terrible. I just can’t understand, Srila Prabhupada, why it has to be tomorrow that we have to go. If anybody wants you to travel, I do. But why do we have to go when you are in this condition? I can’t understand it.”

“All right,” said Srila Prabhupada, “I will not go.”

“Thank you, Srila Prabhupada,” said Bhavananda. “I was in too much anxiety.”

“No, no, I cannot put you in anxiety,” Srila Prabhupada replied. “I shall do what you like. My left hand and my right hand, I cannot refuse.”

Then Tamal Krishna said, “Actually, Srila Prabhupada, we are so attached to you that you practically drive us to madness sometimes. Tonight, we were becoming mad.”

Prabhupada said, “No, I shall not do that.” And to Babaji Maharaja, he said, “Just see how much they love me.”

Then Tamal Krishna said, “Srila Prabhupada, the way you deal with us simply deepens our attachment to you every moment.”

And Prabhupada replied, “It is my duty.”

For the devotees in the room, it was a jubilant occasion that Prabhupada had agreed to wait. As Tamal Krishna Goswami had said, “We will take you on Tirtha-yatra to all the places. Just get a little stronger.” But when the news reached the other group, they were upset. “This is not our duty as disciples to try to prevail upon our spiritual master. Our duty is to execute his will. He said that he wants to go by bullock cart to Govardhana, and our duty is to arrange for what he wants. Our duty is not to advise him or prevail upon him according to our perception.” The controversy continued until the end, the anniversary of which is today. Srila Prabhupada spent his last three days with his disciples at the Krishna-Balaram mandir. And the last day, he did not speak. His only words were in the morning, when the kavirāja asked him to drink some juice. And he replied, “Meri kuch eccha nahi.” I have no desire. After that, Prabhupada didn’t speak. He was in a completely internal state of consciousness, and the devotees surrounded him with kirtan. For the last few hours in the afternoon, the leaders opened up the doors to everyone. Young, old, children, men, women, all were allowed to be in the room with Prabhupada and to reciprocate love with him. Then at about 7:26 p.m., his tongue and mouth moved. “Hare Krishna,” and he left.

As for the controversy, it continued. Even after Prabhupada left, the feelings still ran strong on both sides. And I still couldn’t determine who was right. There were devotees senior to me on both sides. Devotees whom I respected and had served. Personally, I may have been closer to some of the ones engaged in Srila Prabhupada’s personal service. But still, I wasn’t sure, who was right. I just wasn’t sure, and it was on my mind. It was my habit or practice to chant japa in Srila Prabhupada’s rooms. Of course, when he was not there. And after he departed, I did that. I was in his room chanting japa. And behind his bed was an area with his bookshelves. So I found a little corner there and I was chanting japa, when somehow my eyes fell upon the new volume of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam that had just arrived, the Tenth Canto, Volume Two. It had been delivered into Srila Prabhupada’s hands in his last days. When the devotees had presented the book to Srila Prabhupada and he was looking at the pictures, everyone could see the love in his eyes. Tamal Krishna Goswami had remarked, “How much love for Krishna Prabhupada has,” as evident from the way Prabhupada had been looking at the pictures of Krishna. So I saw the book. It had gold embossing, made specially for Srila Prabhupada. When I opened it, I happened to land upon Chapter Nine: “Mother Yaśodā Binds Kṛṣṇa.” I read a few verses and purports, and then I came to a verse that I felt answered my question:

evaṁ sandarśitā hy aṅga

hariṇā bhṛtya-vaśyatā

sva-vaśenāpi kṛṣṇena

yasyedaṁ seśvaraṁ vase

“O Mahārāja Parīkṣit, this entire universe, with its great, exalted demigods like Lord Śiva, Lord Brahmā, and Lord Indra, is under the control of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Yet the Supreme Lord has one transcendental attribute: He comes under the control of His devotees. This was now exhibited by Kṛṣṇa in this pastime.” (SB 10.9.19)

The pastime was encapsulated in the previous verse:

sva-mātuḥ svinna-gātrāyā
visrasta-kabara-srajaḥ
dṛṣṭvā pariśramaṁ kṛṣṇaḥ
kṛpayāsīt sva-bandhane

“Because of Mother Yaśodā’s hard labor, her whole body became covered with perspiration, and the flowers and comb were falling from her hair. When child Kṛṣṇa saw His mother thus fatigued, He became merciful to her and agreed to be bound.”

When I read the verses, I thought, This is what happened. The spiritual master was the transparent medium through which Krishna manifested Himself. Of course, in vraja-bhakti the relationship with Krishna is different. In Vraja Krishna exhibited nara-līlā, humanlike pastimes, in which there was complete intimacy and freedom between the devotees and the Lord, whereas in the relationship between disciple and spiritual master, there was always an element of awe and reverence, and duty. Still, duty was meant to lead to love. Prabhupada had said to Babaji Maharaja, “Just see how much they love me.”

One month earlier, there had been another incident. Srila Prabhupada had stopped drinking water. Previously, he had said that when his father had wanted to leave his body, he had stopped drinking, and that this was a bona fide way to give up one’s body when the time came. Prabhupada didn’t make any announcement or anything. He just stopped drinking. Upendra dasa, a very sweet devotee who was Srila Prabhupada’s servant at the time, said to him innocently, “Prabhupada, you have to drink. If you don’t drink, you will become dehydrated.” And Prabhupada said, “Oh, you want me to drink? Call the GBC.” That decision, whether Prabhupada should drink or not, was no small matter. Abhirama informed the GBC members, and they and other senior devotees came into the room. Prabhupada said, “If I want to survive, of course I will have to take something. But my survival means so many inconveniences, therefore I have decided to die peacefully.”

“Everything is in the hands of Krishna,” said Tamal Krishna. And that had been the mood, coming from Prabhupada: everything depends on Krishna. Many times Prabhupada had said that whatever Krishna desired he would accept. If Krishna allowed him to stay, he would stay. And if Krishna wanted him to go, he would go. Previously, a disciple had asked him, “You said that your guru Maharaja left early because he was disgusted. Is that the case with you?” And Prabhupada had replied, “No. If Krishna allows me to stay in your association, I will be most happy to stay in your association.” Now however, Prabhupada opened his eyes and said, “Krishna wants me to do as I like. The choice is mine. He has given me full freedom.” This was a different mood, a different answer. And it gave us a glimpse into the intimate reciprocation between Prabhupada and Krishna. We all went out into the anteroom to discuss our response. “If Krishna has given Prabhupada the choice,” Kirtanananda said, “and if Prabhupada is giving us the choice, then we should ask Prabhupada to stay.” Everyone agreed: “Yes, we should ask him to stay.”

“But all the GBC men aren’t here,” one of the devotees pointed out.

“Come on,” Brahmananda retorted. “What GBC is going to say that they want Prabhupada to go?”

So, it was unanimously decided: we would go back into Prabhupada’s room and, with Kirtanananda as our spokesman, tell him that we wanted him to stay.

Back in the room, Prabhupada was lying quietly on his bed. As soon as we finished offering obeisances, Kirtanananda broke down, sobbing. He couldn’t speak. Brahmananda, sitting behind him, rubbed his back to soothe him. Then Kirtanananda implored Srila Prabhupada, “If Krishna has given you the choice, then don’t go! We need you!”

“Is this your joint opinion?” Prabhupada asked. “Have you discussed?”

“Yes,” Brahmananda said. “We have all met together. We want you to remain and lead the movement and finish the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.”

Prabhupada was silent for what seemed like ages. Then he began to yawn and in the same breath said, “All right.” Just like that. And then he added, “This is real affection.”

We were jubilant, within ourselves rejoicing: Prabhupada is going to stay! He is not going to leave us!

So when I read this verse from the Tenth Canto, I thought of these two incidents and put them together. In both cases, when the disciples had expressed themselves, “We want you to stay, we want you to get healthy,” Prabhupada had said, “This is real love. Just see how much they love me.” So I think that all the disciples in the controversy were acting on the basis of their realization of their devotion for Srila Prabhupada. But I believe that what Srila Prabhupada really was doing was drawing out our loving sentiments, beyond our just following the order. Following the order is a given. There is no question. We have to follow the order of the spiritual master. To disobey the order of the spiritual master is an offense against the holy name. It is the basic principle of spiritual life. So we are not talking about disobeying the order of the spiritual master. We are talking about developing loving feelings for the spiritual master and expressing them to him. When Srila Prabhupada brought us to that stage in those two incidents, he commented, “This is real love. Just see how much they love me.”

Relating the verse from the Tenth Canto to what Srila Prabhupada did with us, there is also a parallel between the dāmodara-līlā and that principle of spontaneous love. Every night during the month of Damodara, we recite the Dāmodarāṣṭakam, including Verse Three:

itīdṛk sva-līlābhir ānanda-kuṇḍe
sva-ghoṣaṁ nimajjantam ākhyāpayantam
tadīyeṣita-jñeṣu bhaktair jitatvaṁ
punaḥ prematas taṁ śatāvṛtti vande

“By such childhood pastimes as this He is drowning the inhabitants of Gokula in pools of ecstasy, and is revealing to those devotees who are absorbed in knowledge of His supreme majesty and opulence that He is only conquered by devotees whose pure love is imbues with intimacy and is free from all conceptions of awe and reverence. With great love I again offer my obeisances to Lord Damodara hundreds and hundreds of times.”

The dāmodara-līlā shows pure, spontaneous love, a special power to conquer the Lord. The Lord comes under the control of such pure love. In the same way, Srila Prabhupada – not exactly that he came under the control of our love, but I would say that he brought that love out from deep within the recesses of our hearts, and then he reciprocated with us by coming under our control, by agreeing to our requests. So this is a very deep pastime of Srila Prabhupada. Among the disciples who were around him at the end, it was understood that he was the perfect acharya. He had taught us by his own example how to live in Krishna consciousness. And now he was teaching us how to die in Krishna consciousness. That was the general idea in those months and weeks. That he was showing us how to retire to a holy place, and how to be absorbed in hearing the holy names of the Lord, and how up until the end, even in his delicate condition, he was trying to push forward the mission and was translating and dictating purports to Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam until the very end. In that way, he was showing us how to die in Krishna consciousness. But within that final lesson, he also brought us to this more intimate level of exchange, where we could express to him our heart’s deepest desires, even in spite of the barriers that I would say he deliberately put up. He deliberately set up the barriers. But then he inspired us to break through them, to reach out to him and express our love for him, and ask him to stay with us.

Even though Srila Prabhupada has now left that body, we still have that choice. Do we want him to stay with us or not? And I remember that at that time, although we had been going along in the mood that whatever Krishna wanted was all right, when we understood what really should have been in our hearts, that we wanted him to stay, we thought maybe we want to be the controllers, to be the enjoyers. What was in our hearts? What did we want? We thought, maybe that is why we want to be self-controlling and enjoying ourselves. So this was always a question, do we want the kingdom of God without God, without His representative? Or do we want the kingdom of God with God, with His representative, as their humble servants? And so I pray to Srila Prabhupada that I will always remember this lesson. And always pray and act in such a way that he will be pleased to stay with each of us individually, and all of us collectively, and to bind us to His lotus feet eternally.

Hare Krishna.

So, my dear devotees, do we have time for questions and comments?

Devotee: Yes, Maharaja, of course, we do have time. Thank you so much for diving into this atmosphere of that day of those pastimes of Srila Prabhupada’s disappearance. Today we started your lecture with a quotation from Srila Prabhupada, who at the day of the disappearance of his spiritual master said that both appearance and disappearance of guru are equally wonderful, just as sunrise and sunset are equally wonderful. Even though the sun disappears, it is always there, we know that. You also shared that loving exchange with loving dispute and you mentioned at the end of the lecture that this dilemma, this choice is always there even though Srila Prabhupada is not here at this moment. This twist is always there whether we want Srila Prabhupada with us or not. Thank you so much for this, and my question is, what we as the third or fourth generation of ISKCON, what can we do in order to ensure that Srila Prabhupada is still with us, he stays with us and keeps guiding and leading this movement for the welfare of the whole society?

Giriraj Swami: Our basic duty is to follow Srila Prabhupada’s instructions. And I would emphasize here the reading of Srila Prabhupada’s books. Earlier today I heard a story about a devotee, a disciple of Srila Prabhupada, who had been very active in service. But then that devotee had two children and she was very busy looking after her children and she could do very little service. And the other devotees were saying that she was lazy. So she was very upset and she went to see Srila Prabhupada. And as soon as she came before him and was about to speak, she broke down in tears and was sobbing. Then she explained her situation. And Srila Prabhupada asked, “Are you reading my books?” And she said, “Yes.” And Srila Prabhupada replied, “Then I am pleased with you.”

So yes, Srila Prabhupada said his books will be the law books for mankind for the next ten thousand years. He worked so hard to give us those books. He would take rest at about 10:00 at night, and then after two hours at midnight, he would get up and start translating while we were all sleeping. So we should reciprocate with his tremendous effort in giving us the books by reading the books, and trying to apply them in our lives.

Devotee: Thank you very much. We will make a quick announcement and then we will continue with our question and answers.

Announcement: Hare Krishna. Dear devotees who are watching us on YouTube, if you have any questions, please send them to the support service of our website. The link is in the description. And those who are on Zoom, if you have any questions or additions, please raise your hand and we will turn on your microphone. Also, if you want to express your gratitude to the lecturer in the form of a donation, about how to do it better, all the information is on the site asiawayragi.com. You will learn how to do that by following this link.

Ranga devi: Hare Krishna Maharaja, Thank you so much, dear Maharaja, for kathā. It is very valuable for us, because when close devotees, close disciples of Srila Prabhupada share their experience, it intensifies our affection and our relationships with Srila Prabhupada as well. Srila Prabhupada was saving all souls and I am one of those souls who was saved by him. And my question is, I quite often meditate on instructions given by Srila Prabhupada about the importance of collaboration and cooperation between devotees and once he said that he has done, he has finished 50 percent of his mission while another 50 percent was given to ourselves so I am wondering what he meant by saying the other 50 percent Could you share please.

Giriraj Swami: Yes, on the first point, Srila Prabhupada very much emphasized cooperation. He said that your love for me will be shown by how you cooperate together after my departure, to maintain this institution, ISKCON. And regarding the 50 percent Srila Prabhupada said that 50 percent remaining is varnashrama-dharma, which for us in practical terms meant self-sufficient farm communities. Devotees have made progress in establishing farm communities, but we can do more.

Damodara Priya: Hare Krishna. Thank you so much for this amazing sharing of your intimate relationship with Srila Prabhupada and your emotions concerning his departure. It was really important to hear it and feel it. And what I found out when you were finishing your class, that in my life, Srila Prabhupada and Krishna and the mission of Srila Prabhupada does not take the central place. The central place is around me, my demands, my wishes, and everything. And when sometimes it happens that Krishna comes in the center, then I really feel happy. But it really happens very seldom. So how can we really, because we can see that you, all his disciples being very young, you really placed Krishna in the center of your life and you were living only for Him, for the father, already then. But it is so difficult to do it, at least for me, I don’t know as for others. So how can we do it?

Giriraj Swami: I would say two elements can help you. One is offenseless attentive chanting of the holy names. That will cleanse the heart, ceto-darpaṇa-mārjanam, it will cleanse the mirror of the mind and free you from absorption in ‘I, me, and mine.’ And the other item would be to read Srila Prabhupada’s books, study Srila Prabhupada’s books. Because they will remind us that Krishna is in the center and that our real happiness will come when we keep Krishna in the center. And you have experienced it yourself, that you are the happiest when you keep Krishna in the center. So, we all want to be happy. So we should keep Krishna in the center.

Balabhadra Prabhu: Hare Krishna, guru Maharaja, please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada. Thank you for a wonderful class again. I really appreciate you discussing how Srila Prabhupada and Krishna draw out our love. And one question that came up that has been on my mind concerning Arjuna when he sees the Virat Rupa, he is first in the rasa of friendship and then he suddenly he is in the rasa of awe and reverence, and there is this confusion for me about how we discern. We are supposed to be in awe and reverence with our gurus and with Krishna to a certain extent and in a serving capacity. But ultimately, we are aspiring for a more intimate type of rasa or relationship with Krishna and maybe even guru. So I was wondering if you can clarify that little discrepancy there. What are we supposed to do now? And is it eventually we are going to be in a more intimate relationship?

Giriraj Swami: In our state of sadhana, there will always be awe and reverence, and there should be. And when eventually, by the grace of Krishna and the paramparā where we attain perfection, then we may enter into a relationship with Krishna like the residents of Vrindavan where there is no awe and reverence. But for now there should be awe and reverence. With the spiritual master, there is always some awe and reverence. But as Srila Prabhupada wrote in his concluding words to Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, he referred to Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura as his eternal spiritual master, guide, and friend. So yes, eternal spiritual master is guide and friend. The spiritual master is also our friend. I hope this addresses your question.

Balabhadra Prabhu: Yes, it does. Thank you very much Guru Maharaja. I appreciate it.

Jai Nitai Prabhu: Thank you so much dear Maharaja for this kathā. Currently, in ISKCON, we see the trend or tendency to study purports and commentaries of other acharyas other than Srila Prabhupada. And Srila Prabhupada’s purports and books become kind of secondary. How do we preserve the importance and the priority of Srila Prabhupada’s books?

Giriraj Swami: Well, Srila Prabhupada’s books should be first and foremost. There was one conversation with Srila Prabhupada in which a devotee said that, Srila Prabhupada have said that we should not read the books of the previous acharyas. And Srila Prabhupada said, “No, we are following the previous acharyas. But first you should assimilate things like read and understand what I have given you.” Srila Prabhupada, he knew us and he knew Krishna and he knew what to say to us. And so his books should be first and foremost. Yes, but we can read books of the previous acharyas. But see how what we are reading relates to what Srila Prabhupada has taught us. If there seems to be any conflict between what someone else is saying and what Srila Prabhupada is saying, then we should follow what Srila Prabhupada is saying. That is a good question.

Chandi Doshi Mataji: Hare Krishna dear guru Maharaja. Please accept my humble obeisance, all glories to Srila Prabhupada. Actually, my friend Priya raised her hand from my thing. I will just give her the. . . Hare Krishna Maharaja. Thank you for the very nice class. So, I just wanted to paraphrase my understanding about the point of the controversy, to make sure that I understood it right. So actually, up till now, I was also thinking that we should actually follow the instruction of the spiritual master, whatever was his desire. If he wanted to go out for parikramā, we have to take him out. So, I was in support of that, but from today’s class, I understand that although it seems like controversy, actually both sides were trying to express their love for Srila Prabhupada. So, we shouldn’t actually take sides with that, and please confirm this. In Caitanya-caritāmṛta and Caitanya-bhāgavata as well, many times the authors, they say, for example, Nityananda Prabhu and Advaita Acharya have a fight, or many different devotees quarrel, and they warn us, do not take sides. So, is there something like that?

Giriraj Swami: It is true that the shastras and previous acharyas advise us that if there is a disagreement between superiors, we should not take sides. Otherwise, we may commit an offense. In this case, one could have more sympathy for one position than the other, but at the same time respect the mood of devotion of the other side.

Chandi Doshi Mataji: Thank you, Maharaja. It is so beautiful. And, these kinds of things from ISKCON history, you really get entangled in them and they really tighten your heart. And today, the way you addressed it has really made my heart at ease. So thank you very much for giving us the right attitude of how to understand these things. So thank you so much. That was very nice.

Madhavendra Puri Prabhu: Hare Krishna Maharaja, please accept my obeisances. My question is how should I interpret in the correct, in the proper way your words. You previously said that Srila Prabhupada’s books will serve or will be law books for the whole world for the next ten thousand years. Should we take these words literally? What is the source of this quotation? Because if this is the truth, then the whole world will turn into the spiritual abode.

Giriraj Swami: Well, Srila Prabhupada said that, that his books will be the law books for mankind for the next ten thousand years. But it doesn’t mean that people will accept them as such. They are, but it doesn’t mean that people will accept them. If they do accept them, then yes, the material world will become like the spiritual world. Yes, if they accept these books as such, then the material world will become spiritual. And there is a prediction that within Kali-yuga, there will be ten thousand years, which will be like a golden age. So we look forward to that time.

Pran-nath Prabhu: Hare Krishna, guru Maharaja, please accept humble obeisances at your lotus feet. I would like you to share your special moments, final moments with Prabhupada, where he conveyed that how guru is connected to heart. And he hears us, guru hears us, how Srila Prabhupada reciprocated at the last final moments, where he could not move. And you were just behind him and how accepted your prayers and desire, which is very special for us.

Giriraj Swami: As Pran-nath Prabhu is referring to the last minutes that Srila Prabhupada was with us. Srila Prabhupada was lying on his bed in Vrindavan. And I was at the head of the bed. And I had a desire to offer one last service to Srila Prabhupada’s vapuḥ form, his physical presence. And suddenly, quite unexpectedly, Srila Prabhupada threw his one arm back, passed the head of the bed. And I got to massage his hand. And so he did fulfill that last desire of mine.

Devotee: Maharaja, we still have questions on YouTube, because we are watched by a lot of people, a lot of devotees.

Translator: Satlana Mataji is asking, can we somehow expedite the golden age, the approach of golden age, or is everything controlled and being in charge of some higher powers, higher authorities, or what can we do?

Giriraj Swami: We can expedite it by distributing Srila Prabhupada’s books, by holding festivals, by performing hari-nāma-saṅkīrtana, by distributing prasāda. We can also play our part in bringing those ten thousand years of the Golden Age in Kali-yuga.

Advaita Acharya Prabhu: Hare Krishna Maharaja. Thank you so much for sharing your memories about Srila Prabhupada and this way you make Srila Prabhupada for us even closer and even more alive. During Srila Prabhupada’s last days on this earth, some of his disciples were staying nearby, staying close to him, and like yourself, you have been sharing those pastimes as well as other disciples of Srila Prabhupada. However, there were a lot of other disciples who were not staying close to Srila Prabhupada, physically close, but still they were maintaining and developing his mission all across the world. And if we have to choose someday, if we have to encounter this kind of dilemma, what should we choose? Whether we should go and serve his vapuḥ, his physical form, or should we choose distributing his mission and serve him in a different way?

Giriraj Swami: That is a very individual matter. But Srila Prabhupada approved of both. Tamal Krishna Goswami told Srila Prabhupada that when devotees hear that he is leaving, or that he will be leaving soon, many will want to come and be with him in Vrindavan. And Srila Prabhupada said, “Yes, they can come.” And then Tamal Krishna Goswami said, “But there will also be other devotees who will feel that they can serve you much more, being where they are, spreading your books.” And Srila Prabhupada said, “Yes, they can stay where they are, and certainly serve by distributing my books.” So he appreciated both; he approved both, and it is an individual decision.

Vishaka Priya devi: Jai Guru Maharaja, all glories to you and to all the devotees assembled in this Zoom conference. In my mind, I’ve had a question for many, many years about this golden age within Kali-yuga. Because the very first thing I ever heard, I was a brand new devotee, and in those days everybody was Prabhupada’s disciples. We were the first generation of. And so we were told that there was a conversation between Srila Prabhupada and devotees about the golden age and Prabhupada said, “First there will be a war and everything will go, and then the golden age will start.” And the devotees say, “Srila Prabhupada, but the scientists say that if there is a world war, a bomb atomic or whatever, then the earth would be uninhabitable for twenty thousand years or more.” And Srila Prabhupada apparently replied, “Don’t underestimate the power of the demigods. In half an hour, they can clean up this whole planet.”

So that was the very first thing that I heard, that first there will be some destruction and then it will be like Satya-yuga, everything will be wonderful. But then a few years later, I heard from another devotee who was at that time in charge of South Africa. And the question was asked to him, “What about this golden age? Is it going to be like Satya-yuga again?” And this devotee said, “No, Kali-yuga will continue to progress but more and more people will become transcendental to it.” It kind of made sense, but I never resolved in my mind what would it be. So I was just wondering.

Giriraj Swami: Yes, it is predicted that there will be a golden age in Kali-yuga that will last for ten thousand years. And I actually had a discussion with His Holiness Gaura Govinda Maharaja in Mauritius. And His Holiness Gaura Govinda Maharaja was aware of the references in shastra to the ten thousand years, golden age. But what exactly the golden age will look like is not so clear. Either it is feasible; that it is still Kali-yuga, but more people will be transcendental to it. That seems to be feasible.

Devotee: Alexander Prabhu is asking, “How can I trust and rely on Krishna’s will, especially in those situations, instances when I don’t understand what is going on in my life?”

Giriraj Swami: Well, I don’t know if everything that happens in your life is Krishna’s will. Of course, it is Krishna’s will that you surrender more and more to Krishna. But in that case, whatever that happens in your life externally, if you take it as opportunity to surrender to Krishna more and more, that is Krishna’s will. But I don’t know that everything that happens in your life is a Krishna’s will.

Devotee: “How can one avoid the situation of feeling lonely? How can we pass on the care and affection and love which you used to have during Srila Prabhupada? How can we pass it on?”

Giriraj Swami: Well, we should be personal with one another. Our whole philosophy is to be the servants of the servants of the servants. And Srila Prabhupada instructed us to address one another as Prabhu. Prabhu means master. So, that makes us the servant of the other Prabhus, the other devotees. And we should try to serve them in all respects. Of course, first and foremost, just spiritually, but also physically, emotionally, socially. If the devotee is sick, we should try to help the devotee. And devotees shouldn’t feel lonely because of the presence of Krishna and the paramparā. And if we are more personal in our dealings with one another, then we shouldn’t feel lonely.

Devotee: Thank you so much. We have been reading this story when Srila Prabhupada called you to his room and asked you a very important question about his movement and the fate of this movement after his disappearance. And he asked, “How can this movement flourish and develop after my disappearance?” And you said that, “If we keep following his instructions and if we follow regulative principles, then we will be able to disseminate, to keep, to maintain this movement. And Srila Prabhupada agreed and added two words, “intelligence and organization.” Could you please recall or remind us about this instance, about this story? When did it actually happen? How many days before his actual departure?

Giriraj Swami: Yes, that was quite an accurate account. The exchange took place three days before Srila Prabhupada left. I was taking rest on the terrace of the gurukula building. And in the middle of the night, a devotee woke me up and said that Prabhupada was calling for me. So I went to Srila Prabhupada’s room, and I sat on the floor near him. And he asked, “So, do you think this movement will go on after I leave?” And I said, “If the devotees are sincere and chant their rounds and follow the regulative principles, then it will go on.” And then Srila Prabhupada said, “Organization, intelligence and organization.” And what I understood was that, yes, we have to be sincere and chant our rounds and follow the regulative principles for our own spiritual survival. But to spread Krishna consciousness, we need organization, intelligence and organization. And then Srila Prabhupada said, “Is there anything else?” And within my heart, I felt like saying, “Please stay with us, don’t leave.” But somehow, I didn’t say it. Although in retrospect, I guess I wish I had said it. But when Srila Prabhupada asked, “Is there anything else?” I just said no, and I offered my obeisances and left.

Host: Thank you so much, dear Giriraj Swami Maharaja, for this invaluable association, talk with you and this invaluable opportunity to come closer to Srila Prabhupada on this memorable day of his disappearance. We seek our blessings and prayer that we become the followers of Srila Prabhupada and the followers of his movement that he carries for the happiness of all beings, real genuine happiness to the whole mankind.

Giriraj Swami: That is a beautiful request. And I shall pray to Srila Prabhupada to bless you in your desires and in your efforts.

Host: Thank you so much for this lesson that you just shared. Especially for that lesson that you shared just a few minutes ago when Srila Prabhupada asked ‘Anything else?’ and you said nothing although your heart was full of that desire and our heart is also full of that desire. Please, please pray for us.”

Giriraj Swami: Yes, I will.

Host: Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam ki jaya!

Srila Prabhupada Tirubhava Mahamahotsava ki jaya!

Srila Giriraj Swami Maharaja ki jaya!

Ananta koti Vaishnav Vrinda ki jaya!

Nitai-Gaura premānande Hari Haribol!

Giriraj Swami: Well, if we are going to end now, I suggest we conclude by offering Vaishnava praṇāma.

vāñchā-kalpatarubhyaś ca kṛpā-sindhubhya eva ca 

patitānāṁ pāvanebhyo vaiṣṇavebhyo namo namaḥ

Anant Koti Vaishnava Vrinda ki jaya!

Srila Prabhupada ki jaya!

Host: We invite you to central Asia, please come once.

Giriraj Swami: I keep your invitation mind. I have been to Kazakhstan.

Host: Okay. Hare Krishna, dear devotees, we continue our festival dedicated to the five powerful processes of devotional service. Tomorrow we will discuss the importance of worshiping the Deities, and the lecture will be read by His Grace Patita Pavana Prabhu. Hare Krishna to all, good day! Therefore, all aṅgas in the process of devotional service are directly connected with Srila Prabhupada, and all aṅgas were mercifully granted, given to us by Srila Prabhupada. Therefore, they are all related, associated deeply with Srila Prabhupada. This means that we will always talk about Srila Prabhupada, about our debt to him.