A devotee of the Lord is never short for words under any and all circumstances, if only for the following liberating words:

” HARE KRISHNA HARE KRISHNA KRISHNA KRISHNA HARE HARE

HARE RAMA HARE RAMA RAMA RAMA HARE HARE”

Thank you Srila Prabhupada!

FOR EVERYONE TO CONTEMPLATE OPENLY.

This instance does not mean that Srila Prabhupada is in any way defective in His presentation of Krishna consciousness. It means that in the seventies many mistakes have been committed by His editors, typists etc… in the process of hastily preparing the books for publication.

It concerns changes to the second part of the first paragraph of Srila Prabhupada’s purport to Caitanya Caritamrta, Madhya Lila, chapter 7, text 130.

Original and FALSE version:

“One has to learn humility and meekness at home, following the instructions of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, and in that way one’s life will be spiritually successful. One should not try to be an artificially advanced devotee, thinking “I am a first-class devotee” Such thinking should be avoided. It is best not to accept any disciples. One has to become purified at home by chanting the Hare Krishna maha-mantra and preaching the principles enunciated by Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Thus one can become a spiritual master and be freed from the contamination of material life.”

Current and correct version:

“One has to learn humility and meekness at home, following the instructions of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, and in that way one’s life will be spiritually successful. One should not try to be an artificially advanced devotee, thinking “I am a first-class devotee, so it is best not to accept any disciples.” Such thinking should be avoided. One has to become purified at home by chanting the Hare Krishna maha-mantra and preaching the principles enunciated by Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Thus one can become a spiritual master and be freed from the contamination of material life.”

In he light of information discovered by HG Dravida Prabhu by examining the original annotated and typed script, the sentence “It is best not to accept any disciples” has been correctly repositioned, as originally intended, thus changing the meaning to a diametrically opposed one, in the matter of accepting the service of diksha Guru within ISKCON and in succession to Srila Prabhupada. As His Holiness Bhaktivikasa Swami points out, paraphrasing Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Maharaja:” NB: Srila Bhaktisiddhanta doesn’t state not to accept disciples, but the opposite: to give up the mentality by which one prefers not to accept disciples.”

Jai Srila A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada!

Jai Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Swami Prabhupada!

All glories to the assembled devotees!

Original article posted on http://www.dandavats.com on August 11^th 2006

ABOUT THE OFFENSIVE RUDENESS AND PRESUMPTOUSNESS OF POSITIVELY DENYING TO OFFER ALL ARTICLES FIRST TO SRILA PRABHUPADA ON THE TEMPLE VYASASANA.

2006.2. Improved Version 2014.2

The author of this article has noticed that there sometimes arises a doubt about the propriety of offering all articles such as ghee lamp, water, flowers and perfume first and directly to Srila Prabhupada seated on the temple room Vyasasana. This article aims to help eradicate such doubts. It was originally written as a proposal to the 2006 Mayapur AGM of the Governing Body Commission of ISKCON and has now been amended and improved. The proposal was not adopted at the time.

DICTIONARY DEFINITIONS

Among other explanations, Collins English dictionary 4th Australian Edition page 1344 gives for “rude” the following. 1) insulting or uncivil; discourteous; impolite 2) lacking refinement, coarse or uncouth 3) vulgar or obscene etc. etc…

and page 1225 for “presumption”: …2) bold or insolent behaviour or manners

“Presume” is given as 1) to take (something) for granted. 2) to take upon oneself (to do something) without warrant or permission; dare

PANCARATRA PRADIPA DIRECTIONS

The Pancaratra Pradipa compiled by the GBC Deity Worship Research Group and published by ISKCON GBC Press in 1994 states on page 192, triple asterisk:

“In ISKCON temples the lamp is brought first to Srila Prabhupada, the Founder-Acarya of ISKCON, as he is the Vaishnava-srestha, the leader of the assembled Vaishnavas. After being held briefly for Srila Prabhupada to touch the fire (it should not be waved in circles, as in the arati), the lamp should be taken among the assembled Vaishnavas, in order of seniority. The person offering the prasada lamp for touching should be sensitive to the seniority of the assembled devotees; the assembled devotees, however, should not be overly sensitive if missed when the lamp is offered. The lamp is not meant to show respect or honor to us, but rather we are meant to offer respect to the lamp as the Lord’s prasada by touching the fire to our foreheads with both hands.”

DISCUSSION

Because Pancaratra Pradipa is compiled by the GBC Deity Worship Research Group and because it is published by ISKCON GBC PRESS, we shall assume in our discussion that the content of the book is fully endorsed by the Governing Body Commission of ISKCON and consequently fully authoritative. It is regrettable however, that considering its importance and relevance, this particular matter is given as a footnote only and is not given more exposure in the book. However the basic and bona fide direction is given here and the formulation is very nice.

In some ISKCON temples the offensive procedure is unfortunately institutionalized. That is to say that after leaving the altar all articles are offered directly to the second most senior Vaishnava in the temple room, thus effectively ignoring the presence of the senior most Vaishnava, His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, the Founder-Acarya of ISKCON, Institutor of the BBT, Founder of BTG magazine in 1944 and translator and commentator of Bhagavad-Gita As It Is, seated on the temple room Vyasasana.

By accepting the article, the second most senior Vaishnava, be he / she a Governing Body Commissioner, a sannyasi, an ISKCON Guru, a temple president or whoever he / she may be, wittingly or unwittingly usurps the position of the most senior Vaishnava, creating thus an intolerable situation due to the pre-eminent position of the Founder-Acarya for the life of the ISKCON movement. Under the circumstances Srila Prabhupada may ask the question: “Who is the Founder-Acarya of ISKCON, him / her or Me?” just as he asked His Grace Dhananjaya Das in Rome, 1974 about His Grace Madhusevita Das: ”Is he preaching or am I preaching?” (Madhusevita Vyasapuja offering 2014).

We should carefully note in this respect that it is not because offensiveness to the Founder-Acarya of ISKCON or otherwise is institutionalized, that it looses its devotionally counterproductive nature. On the contrary, the negative reactions incurred thereby are increased exponentially because of the pre-eminent role ISKCON is expected to play in the spiritual welfare of this planet and consequently the increasing number of people who are thus being misled and thereby suffer the contrary reactions. The same line of reasoning applies indeed to any type of ISKCON misleading now or in the future. I therefore propose herewith to institutionalize the offenceless way, as enjoined in the Pancaratra Pradipa, for all ISKCON temples throughout the world. For the more progressive temples this resolution will entail no changes at all. The others will simply be asked to make appropriate changes and thus catch up.

We beg to remind those who argue that their temple circumstances are not really suited for this ritual that our kind and staunch Srila Prabhupada underwent extreme difficulties, such as the fury of the ocean, the several heart attacks, the lack of support etc. etc… all at the grand age of seventy years, in crossing the oceans on the Jaladuta steamer just for the purpose to come and save us from the ocean of material existence. We shall therefore humbly request them, to please, in this instance also, show gratitude – the main theme of the 2005 international Vyasa Puja book, according to His Grace Dravida Prabhu – and to not hesitate to ply or cause to ply through an ocean of devotees in order to first and directly present the articles to our Founder-Acarya, Srila Prabhupada, seated on the temple Vyasasana. In the process, it will not be inappropriate for the article carrier to offer obeisances twice to His Divine Grace. “As soon as one sees guru, immediately he must offer obeisances. Beginning, end. When he comes to see guru he must offer obeisances, and when he leaves that place he must offer obeisances. And in the in-between, coming and going, he should learn from the guru Vedic understanding. This is the principle of living in gurukula.” 760414SB.Mumbai

If we were to ask representatives of the offensive party the following question: “Would you agree to first offer the articles to Srila Prabhupada, if He were physically and personally sitting on the Vyasasana?” We can imagine that the response would be something like: ”O yes, of course, if Srila Prabhupada were actually seated on the Vyasasana, if He were physically present among us how could we neglect Him?”

The actual fact is that Srila Prabhupada is personally present among us right now. Srila Prabhupada is actually sitting on the temple vyasasana and he reciprocates with us as we deal with Him. On the one extreme, it is not impossible for Srila Prabhupada to just leave the Vyasasana and temple room for good. Vaishnavism is an eminently personal philosophy and praxis. It is neither impersonal, void nor disrespectful.

3rd stanza of Mahaprabhu’s Sri Siksastakam.

trinad api sunicena, taror api sahishnuna

amanina manadena, kirtaniya sada hari

“One should chant the Holy Name of the Lord in a humble state of mind, thinking oneself lower than the straw in the street; one should be more tolerant than a tree, devoid of all sense of false prestige, AND READY TO OFFER ALL RESPECT TO OTHERS. In such a state of mind one can chant the Holy Name of the Lord constantly.”

Therefore we have no alternative but to charge that those who advocate, as well as those who tolerate the offensive way, do not fully and seriously realize or accept the spiritual identity of the person Srila Prabhupada and His murti or picture representation. In other words, their vision is materially tinged, which after all is not such an amazing thing. But we must also see that we progress at a steady pace on the path of devotional service and remain open to positive and progressive changes. In the material world a picture or statue of a person is different from the person represented. In the spiritual realm the opposite is true. The picture, the statue and the person are all transcendentally one and are invested with the same spiritual potencies.

It may also be said that this type of offensive behaviour is still a surviving relic of the same immature and thought-wanting mentality of the early ISKCON Guru days, when it was considered by some that by simple imitation of the superficial aspects of the behaviour of the Founder-Acarya an equal Guru status would automatically be achieved.

FAILING TO OFFER THE ARTICLES REPRESENTS SIMPLY A DRY RITUALISTIC INTERPRETATION OF THINGS AND AN OFFENSIVE ONE AS WELL.

THE ARTICLES MAY AND SHOULD BE OFFERED TO SRILA PRABHUPADA ON THE ALTAR. BUT TO ACTIVELY BEGRUDGE THE OFFERING OF THE ARTICLES TO SRILA PRABHUPADA ON THE TEMPLE VYASASANA FOR A SECOND TIME IS A SYMPTOM AS WELL AS AN OPEN EXPRESSION OF SUBTLE ENVY – THE ALL-PERVADING MATERIAL DISEASE – TOWARDS BOTH THE FOUNDER-ACARYA OF ISKCON AND THE SUPREME PERSONALITY OF GODHEAD HIMSELF, WHICH HE REPRESENTS DIRECTLY. Clearly, envy of the Supreme Personality of Godhead or His representatives is a stumbling block on the path of self-realization as Sri Krishna expresses positively in Bhagavad-Gita As It Is 9.1:

“The Supreme Personality of Godhead said: My dear Arjuna, because you are never envious of Me, I shall impart to you this most confidential knowledge and realization, knowing which you shall be relieved of the miseries of material existence.”

THE BOTTOM LINE IS THAT ONE CANNOT IGNORE THE PRESENCE OF SRILA PRABHUPADA IN THE TEMPLE ROOM AND THE ARTICLES OUGHT TO BE OFFERED TO HIM AGAIN.

In conclusion, please let me quote SB 11.17.27:

acaryam mam vijaniyan

navamanyeta karhicit

na martya-buddhyasuyeta

sarva-deva-mayo guruh

TRANSLATION

One should know the Acarya as Myself and never disrespect him in any way. One should not envy him, thinking him an ordinary man, for he is the representative of all the demigods.

Jaya om Vishnupada Paramahamsa Parivrajakacaraya astottara-sata Sri Srimad A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada ki jaya!!!

Begging to remain yours in divine service,

Yadavendra das (ACBSP)

November 30 2014

Canberra ACT, Australia.

www.krishnaculture.org

ENRICHED EXTRACT from a LETTER to an ISKCON LEADER.

“As far as the articles are concerned, here is the bottom line:

Regardless of what’s happening on the altar, a true and knowledgable gentleman or gentle lady will not fail to acknowledge Srila Prabhupada’s presence in the temple room, precisely on the Vyasasana, amidst the assembled devotees, and offer Him the articles first or cause it to happen. It is not a matter of dry rituals. It is a matter of realising Srila Prabhupada very personal presence on the temple Vyasasana. Guru is not different from His picture or His murti. Srila Prabhupada is not different from His murti. Besides that anyone who accepts the articles first in His Divine Presence on the Vyasasana really slaps Srila Prabhupada in the face. What an ignorant imposture!

You cannot neglect Him in this way day after day, after day, after day. It just cannot be done! Such repetitive behavior represents a significant offence and will hold you back on the progressive and golden path of devotional service. It will also hold back all those others who depend on your leadership.”

Addendum: It has been rightly pointed out that our respected readers may not remember the background of the BOTTOM LINE posting.  Please see “ARTICLES” posting of April 7th 2016 for relevant information. Thank you very much!

The Vedas are considered to have been spoken by the Supreme Lord. They were first realized by Brahma, who is the first created being within the universe (tene brahma hridaya adi-kavaye [SB 1.1.1]). Our process is to receive knowledge through the parampara system, from Krishna to Brahma, to Narada, Vyasa, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and the Six Gosvamis. By disciplic succession, Lord Brahmä was enlightened from within by the original person, Krishna. Our knowledge is fully perfect due to being handed from master to disciple. CCM 7.66 P

“Darwin has taken the idea of evolution from this Padma Purana. You won’t find any philosophy, any doctrine in the world, which is not found in the Vedic literature. It is so perfect, everything is there.” 681007Le.Sea

OUR ACTUAL WANTS AND DESIRES

“So… Because every one of us are maya-mohita-ceta… Maya-mohita-cetasah. Prahlada Maharaja has described, vimukha-cetasah. Maya-mohita-cetasah means averse to Krishna. I want everything except Krishna. That is maya-mohita-cetasah. I want everything, but except Krishna. That is my missing point. Because we are rascals, fools, we do not know what we should want. Na te viduh svartha-gatim hi vishnum [SB 7.5.31]. He does not know that his actual want is Krishna. Just like a small child crying, and we are trying to pacify him, giving this, giving that. But he’s crying, crying. Because his actual want is his mother. And as soon the mother comes, takes the child on the lap, immediately he stops. Similarly, we want Krishna because we are part and parcel of Krishna. That we want. Just like a part and parcel of a machine, if it is taken away from the machine, it has no… One screw. Suppose your typewriter machine, one screw is missing, and the machine is not working nicely. So without the machine that one screw has no value. If it is lying somewhere, one does not know what is the screw, nobody cares for it. It is no worth. But if you want to complete the machine, if you want to go to purchase in a mechanical shop, that very screw which has no value, you have to purchase at ten rupees. Because it is to be fit up. In this way, we are parcel and parcel of Krishna, part and parcel of Krishna. When we are along with Krishna we have got value; otherwise no value. There are so many examples. This finger, when it is attached to the body, if there is any trouble you can spend thousands of rupees to cure the trouble. But if the finger is cut off, amputate, and thrown on the street, it has no value. No value. Similarly, so long we are maya-mohita-cetasah, out of Krishna’s touch, we have no value. No value. Valueless. Useless. That is our position. Matir na krishne paratah svato va mitho… The position is that adanta-gobhir visatam tamisram [SB 7.5.30]. When you forget Krishna… What is that forgetfulness? When you are interested in sense gratification. That is called forgetfulness.” 760921SB.Vrn

Sri Sri Radha Ballabha and Sri Sri Gaura-Nitai along with Lord Jagannath, Lord Baladeva and Lady Subhadra at ISKCON Melbourne

MATERIAL EXPLOITATION, NOT MATERIAL ADVANCEMENT.

Here Srila Prabhupada, in a few words, debunks the myth of material advancement.

“Your seventh question, “How is it that there is so much material “advancement” in the USA even though there is no formal demigod worship? Is a man after economic development automatically worshiping Lord Siva whether he is making Yajna or not?” Actually there is no material advancement in the USA. Material advancement means there is amply opportunity for eating, sleeping, mating, and defending. Superficially, it appears that in the USA there is sufficient provision of eating, sleeping, mating and defending, but actually nobody is safe even in his good apartment. I have got practical experience in New York. Several times my typewriter and tape recorders were stolen and the police could not take any action. There are many persons in the Bowery street, they have no shelter to live. So if a certain fraction of the people are supposed to be very materially happy at the cost of others, that is not material advancement. Had it been so, then why there are so many persons confused and frustrated? So actually there is no material advancement here. Here, I am seeing practically that Gaurasundara, such a nice intelligent and qualified boy, he has to work hard 12 hours simply for his subsistence. I think there are many instances like that, so this is not material advancement. You can call it capitalist advancement, and the reaction for such advancement is communism. Such movement is simply suppressed in your country, but actually the reaction is this. So the Western type of civilization, industrialism and capitalism, is no material advancement. It is material exploitation. When one gets the bare necessities of life, namely peaceful home, sumptuous eating, necessary sex life, and feeling of security, then it is called material advancement. In the absence of such four preliminary necessities of life, it is not at all material advancement—just try to understand. According to Vedic civilization, a man is supposed to be rich when he has got sufficient grains and cows. Here we have neither sufficient grains or cows, but you have got sufficient quantity of papers only—falsely thinking that it is money. When there is some catastrophe, this bunch of papers will neither supply milk or grain. They will be seen only and the man will starve.” 690314Let.Rupanuga

10 Nov 2015, Mooloolaba, Sunshine Coast, Australia.

Jeanette used to go to the Illawara Festival, Wollongong,  NSW, where she noticed that the Hare Krishna food tent always used to have the longest queue. “As the time of opening approached, people used to line up and the longest queue, composed of even meat eater, could be found at the Hare Krishna food tent….. The food was delicious” she said.

At first she declined to purchase anything. But after I left her premises, she changed her mind and searched me out in the crowd to purchase “With Love” by Raje. She also inquired about asafetida and I was able to supply required information along with two containers of the substance.

NOT ONLY BOOKS. As the post office ladies like them very much, I was on my way to the post office with some mangal aratik sweets, that HG Ramananda Prabhu had thoughtfully preserved for this purpose. I parked my Sankirtan van next to the dentist’s sign listing a number of serious diseases, that may be caused by gum disease. One gentleman was looking at the sign and made some remarks that were seemingly directed at me. I reciprocated and we had a brief conversation. I asked him whether he liked sweets. “Yes, very much” was the answer. I uncovered the aluminum wrapping and offered him to take some. He accepted without hesitation. I asked him the vibrate “Hare Krishna”. He replied indeed “Hare Krishna” and we parted for our respective days’ business. There are always preaching opportunities for the enthusiastic preacher.

On NOV 19 2015, in Lismore, NSW, the second, third and fourth parties I meet in the morning, all purchased a copy of With Love, Raje’s vegan cookbook with gluten free options and accepted the complimentary copy of Krishna, the Reservoir of Pleasure by Srila Prabhupada. I knew from previous experience that the first party would not participate in the Sankirtan Movement. I simply double-checked on them, as businesses sometimes change hands and thus new opportunities arise.

MEMBER OF THE NEW SOUTH WALES POLICE FORCE ATTRACTED TO THE CHANTING OF THE HARE KRISHNA MAHA MANTRA.

Ballina, NSW, Australia. 20 NOV 2015, about 7.45 AM.

At the round-about, in the main business district, I noticed how the police officer in the oncoming vehicle was looking at me very disapprovingly. Sure enough he turned around, followed me with flashing lights. I stopped. So did the vehicle between us. I felt I had done everything correctly, as per road rules. I was unsure of what was going to follow.

“ I am constable so and so from the New South Wales police force. This conversation is being recorded. You were seen talking on your mobile phone, while driving a motor vehicle……..”

“ I am sorry Sir, but this is totally incorrect, I was chanting

HARE KRISHNA HARE KRISHNA

KRISHNA KRISHNA HARE HARE

HARE RAMA HARE RAMA

RAMA RAMA HARE HARE

instead, which is a form of non-distracting meditation and here is my tally counter. Please have a look”

and further:

“I am going to have to perform a breath test on you. Have you been drinking any alcohol?”

“No Sir, I am a member of the Hare Krishna Movement and as such we never drink any alcohol. We have ZERO tolerance for any kind of intoxication, including tea, coffee and cigarettes!”

The officer spared me the breath test, got me to state my name and address into his microphone, went back to his car with my driver’s license to perform some other routine checks, after which I was free to go, the matter being settled on the spot. Jai Sri Krishna!

To my knowledge, no government of the world has outlawed the chanting of the Hare Krishna maha mantra while driving a motor vehicle. They may have outlawed certain types of handling a mobile phone while driving a motor vehicle, or “being under the influence” while driving a motor vehicle. These are all excellent initiatives for everyone’s protection. And those who brake these laws largely deserve their dues. But should they ever outlaw the chanting of the Hare Krishna mantra while driving a motor vehicle, we shall know for certain that we have made some very substantial advancement in the establishment of the Hare Krishna movement!

24 November 2015 Byron Bay, NSW.

I went to the “pub” and talked with the bar lady first. They did not allow me to go around and talk to the patrons, which more than often pubs do. She indicated however that the owner was sitting just behind me, having his lunch.

As I approached him, he immediately started blaspheming real religion and made two very improper statements, which I shall not repeat.

Although I would have liked to riposte, to keep the peace, I repeated twice “No comments, Sir” and left the premises. I was a little shaken inside. I had to wait for a few minutes to regain my normal Sankirtan mood and balance of mind.

One remembers Srila Prabhupada’s words to the effect that religion is a function of human society only, not a function of animal society.

“Civilization without God consciousness scientifically is animal society.” 690216Let.Vamanadeva

and

“Leaving aside the too grossly materialistic persons, who are without any moral principles or social conventions, if we take the right type of civilized man, then we find that he is engaged in some type of religious principle. It doesn’t matter if he is Christian, Moslem or Jew, the symptom of a civilized man is that he must have the recognition of religious principles; that is required for civilized man. But generally men take to religious principles for economic development. Just like in the Christian religiosity the prayers for solving the economic problem or bread problem. Similarly, in the Vedic rituals also different methods of sacrifices are recommended for pleasing the demigods so that they will supply quantity of rain and there will be enough grain for eating. In this way, religious principles are generally practiced by men for some economic development.” 690302Let.Janardan

The next stop was another restaurant and the supervisor immediately agreed to purchase “With love” and accepted her complimentary copy of “Krishna, the Reservoir of Pleasure” by Srila Prabhupada. They also allowed me to talk with the patrons.

In this way, the execution of book distribution Sankirtan may lead one from one extreme to the other, in just a few moments and quick succession. Best if one keeps one’s equilibrium of mind under all circumstances. Bhagavad-Gita As It Is 2.48 states:

yoga-sthah kuru karmani
sangam tyaktva dhananjaya
siddhy-asiddhyoh samo bhutva
samatvam yoga ucyate

SYNONYMS
yoga-sthah—equipoised; kuru—perform; karmani—your duties; sangam—attachment; tyaktva—giving up; dhananjaya—O Arjuna; siddhi-asiddhyoh—in success and failure; samah—equipoised; bhutva—becoming; samatvam—equanimity; yogah-yoga; ucyate—is called.

TRANSLATION
Perform your duty equipoised, O Arjuna, abandoning all attachment to success or failure. Such equanimity is called yoga.

Dear Srila Prabhupada,

Please accept my humble obeisances at Your holy lotus feet. All glories to Your unequalled stature in the world of devotional service!

You are called Spiritual Master, because You are able to present appropriately the spiritual subject matter of God or Krishna consciousness to anyone and everyone, including the big leaders of society. The opening of Your letter to the then Governor General of Canada, Roland Michener is a good case in point:

“ISKCON (the International Society of Krishna Consciousness) is a non-lucrative organization, whose purpose is to promote the well-being of human society by drawing its attention to God. We are a non-sectarian society, and our members include people from Christian, Jewish and Moslem as well as Hindu faiths. The aim of ISKCON is not to found a new religious sect, but to invoke the living entity’s dormant love of God, and thus provide the human society of all faiths with a common platform of clear theistic knowledge and practice. Members of ISKCON may retain their own respective religious faiths, as ISKCON is meant to establish a clear, practical common formulation of the common ideal of all theists, and to defeat the unnecessary dogmatic wranglings that now divide and invalidate the theistic camp. This common ideal of theism is to develop love of God. ”680824Let.GovernorGeneralCanada

Actually You are the center of our lives. Just like today, we all come together for the anniversary of Your disappearance also called in Sanskrit language “tirobahva mahotsava.” Or when we chant japa in the temple room, circumambulating Srimati Tulasi Devi, we perform an extra bodily revolution just to acknowledge your presence on the Vyasasana. You control us as much as we agree to follow Your beneficial instructions. It is a matter of love and strength on both sides. It is not a matter of force, even though force entails strength.

Even though You have relinquished your physical form 38 years ago, in November of the year 1977, while I was serving in the French army, You are in fact very much with us.

This is confirmed in various ways.

For example:

1) When the reporter asked You who will be the next Acarya after Your passing, delighting all Your disciples and followers, you side stepped the question and your grand and bold reply came as: “I SHALL NEVER DIE.” I write this sentence in capital letter.

In the mood of the exuberant, enthusiastic and sometimes wild early days, collective exclamations of “Jai” along with “Jai Srila Prabhupada” followed.

2) When You noticed how Your pictures were somehow neglected, You clearly explained that the bona fide Spiritual Master, being situated on the absolute platform, is not different from his pictures and they should therefore be treated accordingly. The same reasoning will apply to Your murti on the Vyasasana and therefore I am saying that You are very much here, right now, in front of us.

Let us treat You accordingly with all due respect, consideration and propriety. At times You do indeed reciprocate with us directly from the Vyasasana.

3) Besides that and most importantly anyone can always and under most circumstances directly associate with You through sound vibration by listening to your lectures, which have been so nicely produced by the Bhaktivedanta Archives, read Your books or chant Japa in Your company. You have so kindly, expertly and liberally given us all Your knowledge and realizations. Where is the question of separation?

“In the absolute world there is no distinction as me, or he, and I. Krishna and His representative is the same. Just like Krishna can be present simultaneously in millions of places. Similarly, the Spiritual Master also can be present wherever the disciple wants. A Spiritual Master is the principle, not the body. Just like a television can be seen in thousands of places by the principle of relay monitoring.” 680528Let.Malati

The Spiritual Master sets us straight on the path back home, back to Godhead. I want to thank You very much for the reply to the only letter I ever wrote to You in April / May 1977, when, under the direction of H.H. Akshoyananda Swami, I was doubting my position as the temple commander at the Krishna Balaram temple in Vrndavan, India. One of Your favorite disciples H.H. Tamal Krishna Goswami relayed Your words to me. Here they are:

“ There is no difference between management and study in Krishna consciousness. I am studying books and writing also and at the same time attending to your letter. And there is so much management to look to. So I am doing both because there is no difference.”

These represent indeed most important, enlightening, meaningful and direction-giving instructions. Due to our artificial education systems, we tend to see borders and demarcations. These are therefore also artificial border and artificial demarcation shattering instructions. I try to execute my service in that mentality and make these instructions the corner stone of my remaining life in this fragile tabernacle. This non-difference is both enlivening and productive as well. It is also timesaving because practical. These instructions are very much in line with Your insistence on authenticity, as opposed to bluff and blind following.

Srila Prabhupada, I sometimes feel very, very good in devotional service and sometimes not so good, to put it positively. Frankly sometimes a feel miserable, so much so that addressing You, as I do now, becomes a burdensome task. I am then unable to pray to You with sincere feelings. It simply becomes an artificial formality at best. I take the liberty to speak like this and remember the example of Srila Narottama Das Thakura, who says in his Prayer to the Lotus Feet of Sri Nityananda from Prathana

Ha ha prabhu nityananda premananda sukhi

Krpabalokana koro ami boro dukhi

or as per your own translation:

“My dear Lord Nityananda you are always joyful in spiritual bliss. Since you always appear very happy, I have come to you because I am most unhappy. If you kindly put Your glance over me, I may also become happy”

Please hear my wish Srila Prabhupada:

I would like to continually feel very, very happy in devotional service and always be able to remain very active in cultivating and spreading Krishna consciousness to the best of my ability without interruption. Enough time has already been lost.

Sri Krishna in Bhagavad-Gita 3.30 clearly implies that on the transcendental plane one becomes free from lethargy.

Here is the verse: “Therefore, O Arjuna, surrendering all your works unto Me, with full knowledge of Me, without desires for profit, with no claims to proprietorship, and free from lethargy, fight.”

I wish to become like You, who exhibited the greatest steadiness of mind amidst even the greatest disappointments-as for example when Your GBC deputies unexpectedly abandoned their posts. According to Sri Krishna BGAII 2.48, this equanimity is yoga:

“Perform your duty equipoised, O Arjuna, abandoning all attachment to success or failure. Such equanimity is called yoga.”

I that respect, I find Sankirtan book distribution the most edifying and pleasing school of yoga.

In glorification of Srila Prabhupada, I would also like to bring to the attention of the devotees that there is a website which lists individuals who have become tremendously successful after the age of 50 and Srila Prabhupada’s name is also mentioned.

The web site is:

http://edition.cnn.com/2010/LIVING/worklife/05/16/mf.famous.career.after.50/

My friend Madhukanta Prabhu found and supplied this information.

In conclusion, I may state that, just like the Vedas, You are an inexhaustible source of both spiritual and material inspiration and will remain the perfect example in all respects. By material inspiration I mean to say that You teach us how to handle the material world for Krishna, which in fact is also spiritual.

Let us therefore follow You closely in all earnestness.

Thanking You Srila Prabhupada.

Your insignificant servant,

Yadavendra Das.

Brisbane, November 16^th 2015

I must have met the owner of Lady Bird boutique several times over the last years. This time she was comfortably seated between two rows of merchandise and performing what seemed to me some kind of a stock take, when I approached her from behind and handed her a copy of Rajesvari Devi’s excellent and popular “With Love” cookbook. She looked at it carefully and on the whole spend quite a bit of time on the event.

Then she took my sale’s portfolio and examined it page after page, to which I have no objections. When we arrived at the picture of Bhagavad-Gita As It Is and after giving relevant information about Bhagavd Gita As It is, she demanded to see Bhagavad-Gita As Is It. I fetched a copy from my Sankirtan book distribution van.

When I came back, she was then standing behind the shop counter and read the first verse and purport of chapter four, titled “Transcendental Knowledge.” I was wrongly assuming that she was going to buy Bhagavad-Gita As It Is and after some minutes she decided that it was not for her.

Twice she said she didn’t need another cookbook and she also had to serve her own customer, which added some tension to the exchange, as the clock keeps ticking in all circumstances. She ended up choosing Kurma Prabhu’s “World Vegetarian Food” along with a complimentary copy of “Reservoir of Pleasure” by Srila Prabhupada and admitted that she had already purchased Great Vegetarian Dishes from the health food shop previously.

During the chat several points came up.

For example she asked me why onions are tamasic or in the mode of ignorance.

When I mentioned offering the bhoga to Lord Krishna, she mentioned that her sister had a child with a foot deformity. With a view to get relief from the bodily abnormality, this lady regularly offered food to some deity and obtained full satisfaction. She could not however remember the identity of the deity. But I thought this was quite a revealing story.

This seems to be confirmed in the Bhagavad-Gita as It Is 4.12: ” Men in this world desire success in fruitive activities, and therefore they worship the demigods. Quickly, of course, men get results from fruitive work in this world.”

She had practiced transcendental meditation for some time and I am confident that in the future she will buy Bhagavad-Gita As It Is.

Lately I have also been meeting people who somehow or other had some connection with the Hare Krishna movement and who generally greet me with “Haribol”. First there was a lady, whose ex-husband used to have a close affiliation with an ISKCON temple. Then a brightly smiling guy in Hastings Street, Noosa, spontaneously greeted me with “Haribol”. He used to frequent the Henley St. Adelaide ISKCON temple.

The third instance was another lady, who personally used to frequent the Graceville (Brisbane) temple in the nineties. She stated that she needs to buy some neckbeads. I met Madan Gopal Prabhu’s niece who runs a flower shop. She qualified it as “the dream of her life”. Happy are those people whose dreams come true sooner or later.

Finally I met Tallula, an enthusiastic and generous young lady, who loves Hare Krishna and prasadam. Of all preparations she likes kofta balls most. She purchased Quick Vegetarian Dishes by Kurma Prabhu, where in the section “Savouries and finger foods”, the recipe “Kofta in tomato sauce” can be found on page 132. She accepted her complimentary copy of “Krishna, the Reservoir of Pleasure” by Srila Prabhupada, as well. Jai Sri Krishna!