How Great is Srila Prabhupada? (by Swami B.G. Narasingha)

Jahnava Nitai Das · 10-24-2002, 10:33 PM

How Great is Srila Prabhupada?
by Swami B.G. Narasingha

(Adopted from a talk given at Govindaji Gardens for the Vyasa Puja
celebration of Srila Prabhupada. September 1, 2002)

KRSNA TALK 37
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If we enter the ocean by boat we can navigate our direction to a
destination based on the stars. The stars are compared to so much knowledge
found in the Vedas. One of those stars in the sky is called Dhruva-loka.
In modern science Dhruva-loka is called the Pole Star or North Star.
When we are in the ocean if we lose sight of that star, if we cannot see
that star then we cannot benefit from all the other stars. We will be
lost in the ocean. The Pole Star doesn't move. It is fixed in one place.
As long as we can see the Pole Star, which never moves, than we can
determine so many things by the other stars which are moving. But if we do
not have a fixed bearing with the Pole Star then we are lost.

Sri Guru may be compared to the Pole Star because with the help of the
guru we can derive great benefit from the Vedic knowledge. But without
the help of the guru we will be bewildered in our attempt to understand
the Vedic knowledge.

The Vedic knowledge is sometimes compared to a 'jungle of knowledge'.
Not just an ordinary jungle but a very dense jungle. In this material
world we are already in the jungle of material misconceptions. If we want
to search for God then we must come out of misconception. To fulfill
our search we may enter into the study of the Vedas. But if we study the
Vedas without the help of the guru we may eventually come to conclude
that there is no God. Or we may conclude that there are many Gods. Or
worst of worst we may conclude that, "I am God. We are all God". In this
way, without the help of the guru, we may become bewildered and meet
with ultimate ruin.

In the Vedic literature there are various opinions. In the Visnu Purana
it says that Visnu is Supreme. In the Siva Purana it says Siva is the
Supreme. In the Markandeya Purana it says that Durga is Supreme. And in
the Upanisads it is mentioned 'aham brahmasmi' - 'I am Brahman'. So
one may think that there are many Gods, or that there are so many Gods
that there is no God at all. We may think that what the Vedas say cannot
be true because there are too many apparent contradictions. Or we may
take 'aham brahmasmi' as the ultimate conclusion and then conclude that
we are all God. This is what happens to persons who study the Vedas
without the help of the bona-fide guru.

Srila Vyasadeva compiled the Vedas in four divisions, Atharva Veda,
Sama Veda, Rg Veda, Yajur Veda. Then he compiled the Puranas and other
literatures. Lastly he wrote Vedanta-sutra. Vedanta means the end of
knowledge. After revealing so much knowledge Vyasadeva tried to bring his
writing to an end, to the conclusion of knowledge. After he completed
Vedanta-sutra however Vyasa still did not feel satisfied. He was not
satisfied within himself. His mind was troubled. He crossed the ocean of
knowledge but still he was not satisfied.

Then the guru of Vyasadeva, Narada Muni, came and Vyasadeva inquired
from his guru why he did not feel satisfied. Vyasadeva asked his guru why
even after completing all the departments of knowledge he was not
satisfied? Then Narada Muni said, "Actually you are a cheater. You have
cheated the people of the world and you have done a very wrong thing. You
have only indirectly described the truth in so many divisions and so
many facets and even when bringing it to an end you are simply misleading
the people."

Then Narada instructed Vyasa, "Without directly coming to describe the
lila of Krsna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead you have not done
justice to truth. Now you have to give the meaning of all these things in
one book." Then Vyasadeva wrote the Bhagavata Purana, Srimad
Bhagavatam.

Bhagavatam is the natural commentary on Vedanta-sutra. The message of
the Bhagavatam is summarized in the beginning, krsnas tu bhagavan
svayam. So that is the meaning. Of all the Devas, of all the incarnations of
the Supreme Lord, Krsna is the Supreme and original. Vyasadeva
revealed in Bhagavatam that Krsna is the asraya-tattva. In other Vedic
literatures Vyasadeva only revealed the asraya-tattva in part, not in full. If
you are a ghost then Siva, who is known as Bhutanatha, is your asraya
(shelter). Siva stays in the cremation grounds and he gives shelter to
so many ghosts. In Kailasa also many ghosts are given shelter. If you
are a materialist then Durga is your asraya. If we are a materialist then
we get everything from this material nature by the grace of Durga. But
when we are ready for the perfection of life, Vyasadeva revealed,
"Narayana is the asraya-tattva, because Narayana resides in Vaikuntha, which
is above this material world".

But in Srimad Bhagavatam Vyasa revealed that the highest plane is
called Goloka. Because Vaikuntha is above all the material world everything
is under the shelter of Vaikuntha. Because Narayana is the Supreme Lord
in Vaikuntha everything is under His shelter. Then Vyasa revealed, "If
we journey to the highest place in Vaikuntha and look towards the
spiritual sky, from there we will see a land known as Goloka Vrndavana."
Goloka Vrndavana is above Vaikuntha and in that place Krsna is the
Supreme, Sri Sri Radha-Krsna are Supreme (Krsna is the visaya [enjoyer] and
Radha is the asraya [shelter].

Above Vaikuntha is Goloka Vrndavana and Krsna resides eternally in
Goloka Vrndavana, giving shelter to all His devotees. Vyasadeva therefore
described that the lotus feet of Krsna are the Supreme shelter of all
living beings. Krsna confirmed this also - jiva bhuta sanatana. Krsna
said in Bhagavad-gita that all these jiva's have come from Him. All living
beings are His parts and parcels. He is their ultimate shelter.

So the dearmost representative of Krsna comes to the world to represent
this message of Vyasadeva -Krsna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
There have been many gurus in the world since the time of Vyasadeva,
but all of them did not represent the ultimate conclusion of Vyasadeva.
Someone may ask, "Is there any thing special about your Prabhupada, your
Guru?" Naturally we will say, "Oh of course, about my guru there are
many special things". Even if our guru never left the village in which he
was born, still we will think that our guru has many special qualities.
And if we are asked we will say, "My guru saved me from the ocean of
ignorance. That is the special quality that makes our guru different from
all others and especially dear to us."

om ajnana-trimirandhasya
jnananjana-salakaya
caksur unmilitam yena
tasmai sri-gurave namah

Without guru our eyes are sealed in darkness. We are born into
darkness, into ignorance, but our guru opens our eyes with the torch light of
knowledge. This common point we will find between all bona fide gurus
and bona fide disciples.
But about our Guru Maharaja, Srila A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada,
we must say that there is a special characteristic found in him that is
very rare and to this day we have not seen that it has been duplicated.
And what is that? It is that previously what was only known in India
and only in the most cultured spiritual sections of society -that thing
which was only known there, he took that out of India to every town and
village in the whole world.

prthivite ache yata nagaradi grama
sarvatra pracara haibe mora nama

This is the prediction of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, that the Holy Name
of Krsna will be spread in every town and village of the world. By the
mercy and instruction of Srila Prabhupada, the Holy Name of Krsna was
spread all over the world. From far away places in the North such as
Siberia and deep into the Southern reaches of Africa and Australia, to
China in the Far East and throughout the Western world -the Holy Name of
Krsna and the worship of Sri Sri Radha-Krsna was carried everywhere under
the guidance of Srila Prabhupada.

A guru or a great acarya may spread Krsna Consciousness in a village or
even in a state or a country but to spread Krsna consciousness
throughout the whole world, that indeed is very rare. For example,
Ramanujacarya, a very great Vaisnava saint, spread Visnu-bhakti in Tamil Nadu,
Karnataka and Andhra. When Ramanuja went to Kerala he tried to start there
but they told him to leave. Ramanuja is considered to be the sakti of
Ananta, still when he preached in Kerala they did not accept, they told
him to go. Who can speak better than Ananta, who has a thousand mouths,
and knows all the Vedas? But still Ramanuja was not successful in
Kerala.

There is a place called Tananur in Karnataka where Ramanuja debated
with sixty thousand Jain philosophers and defeated them. At that time
Ananta personally manifested through Ramanuja and defeated and converted
the Jains. If we visit the Yoga Nrsimha temple in Tananur we will see one
Deity of Ramanuja and behind him is Ananta. The Sthala-purana there
says that on that day Lord Ananta Himself came there and with many mouths
he was arguing many points with the Jain scholars and He defeated them
all. So Ramanuja was indeed a very great personality, yet he could only
spread his mission successfully in three states, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka
and Andhra.

Another very great saint in India was Madhvacarya. He is considered to
have been an incarnation of Bhima and Vayu. He was a very great
philosopher, very learned and highly elevated spiritually. But Madhvacarya was
only able to spread his mission successfully in Karnataka. Practically
speaking, outside of Karnataka nobody has heard of Madhvacarya. Of
course, on occasion he preached in Varanasi, but the people of Varanasi
never became the followers of Madhvacarya. Varanasi remained what it had
always been, a place of Mayavadi philosophers.

Both Ramanuja and Madhvacarya were indeed very great personalities, but
their spiritual influence was more or less regional. However, in the
time of Srila Prabhupada he not only had an influence in a few states in
India but he traveled around the world twelve times and successfully
spread his mission very widely. Because of his preaching work the name of
Krsna and Vaisnavism is known in almost every country in the world.
With this consideration we may ask, "How great is Srila Prabhupada?"

When the mission of Ramanuja, who held the sakti of Ananta, was
successful in only three states and the mission of Madhvacarya, who is Bhima
and Vayu combined, was successful in only one state then what is the
power and greatness of that person who spread Krsna Consciousness
throughout the whole world? How great is Srila Prabhupada?

When Ramanuja and Madhvacarya toured India for spreading their missions
they had to contend with the opposing elements of Hinduism, Buddhism,
Islam, the materialists, and the Mayavadi's. But when Srila Prabhupada
went out into the world to spread Krsna consciousness he had to contend
with all of the above and more. Especially the scientists, who hold a
grip on the whole world, were a formidable opposition to Krsna
consciousness, but Srila Prabhupada defeated them and many of them surrendered
and became his disciples.

Srila Prabhupada had to fight with many opposing elements and in
countries where the culture was not at all favorable for spiritual
advancement in Krsna consciousness. Yet he established over one hundred temples,
asramas, and Krsna conscious communities throughout the world.

With our mind we might try to imagine who he was, what power stood
behind him, what is his eternal spiritual identity. Some of the greatest
thinking Vaisnavas I have ever had the good fortune to meet considered
that Srila Prabhupada was the sakti of Nityananda, of Baladeva.

Ramanuja held the shakti of Ananta, but Ananta is an amsa of Baladeva.
Amsa means a part - Baladeva is the source of Ananta. Baladeva means
the spiritual potency of Godhead, the full spiritual potency and energy
of Godhead. In Gaura-lila, Nityananda Prabhu and Baladeva are considered
non-different. Many great transcendentalists in our times, who
witnessed what our Guru Maharaja achieved, have concluded that he was the sakti
of Nityananda Prabhu, a saktyavesa-avatara. That means that he was
empowered with the sakti of Sri Nityananda Prabhu to spread Krsna
consciousness throughout the world.

Nowadays we may meet a big svami or a guru (especially in India) who
has many disciples and when asked, "Who are you?" he will say, "I am
Bhagavan, I am God!" or he may say "I am the Jagat-guru (the spiritual
master of the universe)." But when our Guru Maharaja, Srila Prabhupada was
asked "Who are you?" he would say, "I am the humble servant of my
gurudeva. My only credit is that I am the obedient servant to the order of
my guru. All the success that I have is due to the grace of my guru."

Although it is the opinion of many great devotees that our Guru
Maharaja was a saktyavesa-avatara of Nityananda Prabhu, still by his own words
he considered himself to be the humble servant of his guru. Our Guru
Maharaja had such a vision that he could see that the whole world could
become God conscious, Krsna conscious, but still he considered himself
the humble servant of his guru.

If we have love for someone then we may naturally exaggerate their
qualities, because that is the natural way of love. But even without any
exaggeration due to our love for our Guru Maharaja if we say that Srila
Prabhupada was one of the greatest saints to have ever come to this
Earth, it cannot be taken as an exaggeration - his life and achievements
stand as evidence for his greatness.