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Srila Prabhupada memories

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:pray: Would any of you share nice stories or memories you have of Srila Prabhupada?

 

Hare Krishna.

Srila Prabhupada is so wonderfully available in his recordings. Do you have access to them?

 

The first time I heard his voice was when he lectured on October 14th, 1968 in Seattle. After his lecture I asked him, "How is it that this universal presence, which is inconceivable, at least to me at this time, how can it have the form of Krishna Radha?" As you can tell, this was my first day! It was obvious that Srila Prabhupada had such love for Krishna and he was quoting Sanskrit verses to back up what he said. Just as when you hear his voice in the recordings or watch him on DVD you can see that. The 15 devotees in the room that night included Jayananda and Vishnujana and the kirtan was celestial. I was so happy that here at last was someone teaching good behavior-the 4 regs! And his followers were so happy-like a family. So I felt it was safe to ask my question.

 

Srila Prabhupada answered, "It is His mercy. The Bhagavata says that if you want to understand God, His name, His quality, His paraphernalia, His form, it is not possible to realize by your present senses. It is not possible. Atah sri krsna namadi na bhaved grahyam indriyaih. These present senses, they are so contaminated that it is not possible that you can understand God, His form, His name, His quality, His paraphernalia by speculation. No, it is not possible. Then? How is it possible? Sevonmukhe hi jihvadau svayam eva sphuraty adah. God reveals to you by your service attitude. And that service attitude begins from your tongue, jihva. Jihva means tongue. How? You chant Hare Krsna and taste Krsna prasadam. then you will realize. Two things. Very simple method. He'll reveal. You cannot ask the sun, "Please rise up. I want to see you." Oh, he is not our servant. But when the sun reveals to you, you see yourself, you see the sun, and the whole world, everything nicely. So you have to wait for that revelation. And you have to practice this, first of all, this tongue. Sevonmukhe hi jihvadau. This particular tongue is mentioned. You can begin to reach that stage of revelation by training your tongue. What is that? Chant Hare Krsna and taste Krsna prasadam. Very simple method. You try it and see. Otherwise it is not possible. God is not so little that you can order Him and He'll ... No, that is not possible. But if He's pleased, then He'll reveal Himself."

 

From the moment he began answering I felt satisfied and I never tire of remembering that first impression of his causeless mercy. How very merciful he IS AT THIS MOMENT since he has kept me from Oct. 14, 1968 to today, Dec. 15, 2007 at his sheltering feet!

 

You can be certain that you are just as fortunate since whenever we remember him, he is with us. Please tell me something about yourself and what direction of Srila Prabhupada katha you wish to go in. Thank you, KrishnasGirl.

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Inspired by your question I did a bit of searching and found this from Iskcon.net by Govinda Dasi ACBSP

 

Sometimes when sitting on the beach blanket in New Jersey, Srila Prabhupada would look out at the waves while chanting japa. He was very beautiful and serene, always absorbed in Krsna, yet also carefully scrutinizing the world around him. On some days there were big waves and surfer boys would be out, swimming and surfing in the waves. Srila Prabhupada watched with great interest as they mounted their boards and slid down the faces of the waves. He asked us: “What is this?” And Gaurasundara and I replied that this is a sport called “surfing” wherein one mounts a board and slides swiftly on the water as the waves roll in. Srila Prabhupada watched intently for some time, then began to chuckle. He said: “You call it surfing, I call it suffering. They are simply wasting their valuable human form of life by jumping in the ocean waves. They have no idea what will happen next. If they become so much fond of remaining on the ocean, then Krsna is very kind: he will satisfy their desire and give them bodies of fishes so that they can enjoy jumping in the ocean more and more but that will be greater suffering. So I call them sufferers, not surfers. He mused as he continued his eternal chanting of Hare Krsna, softly and serenely with the crashing ocean waves in the background. Even now when I see surfers mound their boards on the waves of Sunset beach, North Shore, near where I live, I am always reminded of Srila Prabhupada’s observation and the nick name Srila Prabhupada gave surfing and I am reminded of his kindness in walking amongst us foolish living entities, wasting our lives this way and that and his compassion for us who live in various states of delusion. Srila Prabhupada you are so kind, you observed us in surfer consciousness, dog consciousness, money consciousness, so many various forms of consciousness, and you so mercifully taught us about Krsna consciousness, and you gave us the opportunity to serve you and Krsna. Thank you Srila Prabhupada!

 

Your servant,

Mahatma Dasa

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In the late afternoon in New Jersey, Srila Prabhupada would often sit downstairs in the garden beside our bungalow. New Jersey is known as the garden state, and the town of Long Branch was certainly testimony to that. There were gardens everywhere, roses were blooming and their fragrance filled the air. On one particular afternoon, Srila Prabhupada was comfortably seated in a chair, and I was sitting on the ground beside him. He was softly chanting japa, enjoying the fresh ocean air, mixed with the fragrance of roses and other flowers. Occasionally he would say something but mostly he would chant softly. Suddenly beside my sitting place I saw a large brown slug in all its slimy ugliness. Somewhat repulsed I leaned away from the creature. Srila Prabhupada looked at me quizzically and I said: "Ugh, look at this", pointing to the slimy, sliding creature. Srila Prabhupada leaned forward and looked at the slug, his face grew full of love and compassion, and he said to me: "Chant to the poor creature", and so I sat there, chanting Hare Krsna to the slimy, yet benedicted slug for some time until he slithered away. He had incredible compassion even for the most abominable creature. Srila Prabhupada, I can never forget the sound of your voice when you gave me that instruction. In it, your whole mission was encapsulated. "Chant to the poor creature".

 

Your face looked pained, full of compassion for the poor jiva in that slimy body. You did not see the ugly slug that I saw. You saw the soul covered in suffering, forgetful of Krsna. From that moment my heart opened for all creatures and I glimpsed the depth of your divine compassion. Thank you, Srila Prabhupada for sharing that compassion with me.

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Jadurani had come to visit Srila Prabhupada at the New Jersey seashore and while talking with her I discovered she was feeling disturbed. She was feeling she could make no spiritual advancement due to being a woman. This was new information and some of the boys have been teasing her; the newly shaven brahmacaris were taunting her, so she was a little upset about this. After she left, I mentioned to Srila Prabhupada that Jadurani was feeling like this and feeling somewhat sad. She felt discouraged by the talks of the newly shaven brahmacaris. Srila Prabhupada's eyes lit up and grew large and he said: "What is that? Why they are saying like that? Jadurani is more advanced than all of them. They do not know". He waved his hand for emphasis. So I told Jadurani later and she felt encouraged in a simple way. In these early days this war between the sexes had already begun. This was the earliest manifestation of it, that war between the sexes which has become so common in ISKCON today. Srila Prabhupada did not take it very seriously. He seemed to view it as kindergarten kids, teasing and pulling girls' pig tails and calling one another silly names. Srila Prabhupada saw only the heart, the sincerity, not the body. What do we know of the spirit in the heart? We should not be quick to judge for the truth may be far beyond the network of our minds and senses and political proprieties. Only the pure devotee of Krsna knows these inner workings. I am always reminded in my daily life to be kind and to be encouraging to even the most simple devotee for it is not possible that we know the heart. Srila Prabhupada encouraged everyone and never approved of the popular mood of criticizing, lambasting, and taunting. Only if a devotee mislead others did Srila Prabhupada become lion-like. His concern was for our protection and for our progress, and for this he encouraged everyone. Thank you, Srila Prabhupada

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Jadurani had come to visit Srila Prabhupada at the New Jersey seashore and while talking with her I discovered she was feeling disturbed. She was feeling she could make no spiritual advancement due to being a woman. This was new information and some of the boys have been teasing her; the newly shaven brahmacaris were taunting her, so she was a little upset about this. After she left, I mentioned to Srila Prabhupada that Jadurani was feeling like this and feeling somewhat sad. She felt discouraged by the talks of the newly shaven brahmacaris. Srila Prabhupada's eyes lit up and grew large and he said: "What is that? Why they are saying like that? Jadurani is more advanced than all of them. They do not know". He waved his hand for emphasis. So I told Jadurani later and she felt encouraged in a simple way. In these early days this war between the sexes had already begun. This was the earliest manifestation of it, that war between the sexes which has become so common in ISKCON today. Srila Prabhupada did not take it very seriously. He seemed to view it as kindergarten kids, teasing and pulling girls' pig tails and calling one another silly names. Srila Prabhupada saw only the heart, the sincerity, not the body. What do we know of the spirit in the heart? We should not be quick to judge for the truth may be far beyond the network of our minds and senses and political proprieties. Only the pure devotee of Krsna knows these inner workings. I am always reminded in my daily life to be kind and to be encouraging to even the most simple devotee for it is not possible that we know the heart. Srila Prabhupada encouraged everyone and never approved of the popular mood of criticizing, lambasting, and taunting. Only if a devotee mislead others did Srila Prabhupada become lion-like. His concern was for our protection and for our progress, and for this he encouraged everyone. Thank you, Srila Prabhupada

Thanks for this nectar Mahatma prabhu!

 

Srila Prabhupada’s Presentation of Sastras

 

by Victor Epand

posted <small>March 19th, 2008 at 12:45 am</small>

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Srila Prabhupada did not present Shastra as a dry academic subject to be theorized and armchair-philosophized about. Instead of giving abstruse explanations, he spoke and more importantly lived the essense of shastra. He repeatedly emphasized the point of all sastra: “You are not this body. Surrender to Krsna.”

Srila Prabhupada repeatedly said that by reading his books we get in touch with the previous acaryas. Indeed, his purports to the sastra draw on the realization of the previous acaryas whose commentaries Prabhupada consulted before composing his own. A special feature of Srila Prabhupada’s purports, however, is that he was the first to show how the Srimad Bhagvatam’s principles can be applied in practical circumstances in the human society. Also for the first time ever, he comprehensively presented Gaudiya Vaishnava philosophy, replete with all subtleties and complexities, in a non-Indian language.

Prabhupada’s explanation of Vedic philosophy is simple, clear, and uncomplicated English is an unprecedented achievement in literary history. English is a mleccha-bhasa (language of meat eaters), but Srila Prabhupada purified it. Quoting Srila Prabhupada’s purports is as authorized as quoting from the Original Sanskrit shastras. Infact, the words of the acharya are even more potent because without the acharya’s explanations, ordinary people would not be able to understand the meaning of shastra.

Srila prabhupada’s lectures were simple, straightforward bhagavad philosophy. Prabhupada’s songs are preferable to any of the dozens of styles of melodius kirtans because there is a different level of potency altogether. Srila prabhupada’s presentations whether it is the songs he sung or the purports he wrote, everything was always Krishna centric and at no point were for material sensual pleasure. His intense purity and compassion for the fallen conditions souls manifest in all his work. Being a pure devotee of the lord, his words are infallible, totally correct and spoken for upliftment of all concerned.

His words enter the heart of a living entity and purify it. The potency in his works is so strong that even though he has written for everyone, it seems to the reader that he is speaking personally to the individual reader and whatever he has written makes complete sense to the honest inquisitive.

Srila Prabhupada’s works reflected his inadvertent strong-mind and principles. There were no contradictions or interpretations. He presented the message as it is. Srila Prabhupada make Krsna and the Hare Krsna mahamantra famous all over the world even though non-devotees don’t know much about him. This is due to his presentation of Shastra as a messenger. He never took credit for this great benediction that he was giving and continues to give to fallen conditioned souls through his books.

The philosophy he preached through his books was sound in theory and practically applicable under all circumstances. Srila Prabhupada saw nothing as different from Krsna. He saw Krsna everywhere and in everything, and everything in Krsna. Whatever he wrote is a living example or rather an extention of this premise that he lived by. He wanted to engage everything and everybody in Krsna’s service. His works and method of presentation of shastras are still inspiring thousands of people to take up the sublime method of Krsna consciousness practically in their lives. His objective of developing a Krsna conscious movement, which is not limited to study of literature, however is built on how he presented the message of Krsna and Lord Chaitanya throughout the world.

Keyword Articles: http://www.keywordarticles.org

Victor Epand is an expert consultant at www.VedicBooks.info/. VedicBooks.info offers Vedic books and Vaisnava literatures from many authorized sources. Please browse through our selection of Latest Additions here: www.VedicBooks.info/category/latest-additions.html.

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