His Holiness Sridhar Swami's samadhi-mandira will officially open on

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On Sunday, March 6, in Sri Mayapur-dhama, His Holiness

Sridhar Swami's samadhi-mandira will officially open

..

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brahma-bhutah prasannatma

na socati na kanksati

samah sarvesu bhutesu

mad-bhaktim labhate param

 

"One who is thus transcendentally situated at once

realizes the Supreme

Brahman and becomes fully joyful. He never laments or

desires to have

anything. He is equally disposed toward every living

entity. In that

state

he attains pure devotional service unto Me." --

Bhagavad-gita 18.54

 

 

My dear brother Sridhar Swami Maharaja,

 

I feel so much separation today. What can I say? Now

Mrs. Singhal,

Srila

Prabhupada's beloved daughter and our affectionate

mother, has also

left us

here. Somehow her departure has served to awaken my

feelings of

separation

from you, from His Holiness Tamal Krishna Goswami, and

ultimately from

our

Srila Prabhupada.

 

We all shared so much together--the struggles at Hare

Krsna Land: the

struggles to get the land, to build the temple, to use

the facilities

as

Srila Prabhupada would have wanted, according to his

standards and

priorities and mood.

 

We relished those struggles, because in them we came

close to Srila

Prabhupada, and close to each other. We came close, in

fact, to pure

love.

And we knew that in the end Srila Prabhupada and Sri

Sri

Radha-Rasabhihari

would be pleased, however successful we may or may not

have been by

external

standards, by our effort to serve them--by Their

grace.

 

As Sandipani Muni told his disciples Krsna and Sudama:

"My dear boys,

it is

very wonderful that you have suffered so much trouble

for me. Everyone

likes

to take care of his body as the first consideration,

but you are so

good and

faithful to your guru that without caring for bodily

comforts you have

taken

so much trouble for me. I am glad to see that bona

fide students like

you

will undergo any kind of trouble for the satisfaction

of the spiritual

master. That is the way for a bona fide disciple to

become free from

his

debt to the spiritual master. It is the duty of the

disciple to

dedicate his

life to the service of the spiritual master. I am

greatly pleased by

your

acts, and I bless you: May all your desires and

ambitions be

fulfilled."

 

And as Lord Krsna told his old friend Sudama: "If a

man is sufficiently

educated in student life under the guidance of a

proper teacher, his

life

becomes successful in the future. He can very easily

cross over the

ocean of

nescience, and he is not subject to the influence of

the illusory

energy. As

the Supersoul of the living entities, I sit in

everyone's heart and

observe

everyone's activity in every stage and order of life.

Regardless of

which

stage one is in, when I see that one is engaged

seriously and sincerely

in

discharging the duties ordered by the spiritual master

and is thus

dedicating his life to the service of the spiritual

master, that person

becomes most dear to Me. My dear friend, both of us

can realize that

without

the blessings of the spiritual master no one can be

happy. By the mercy

of

the spiritual master and by his blessings, one can

fulfill the mission

of

human life."

 

Our dear Godbrother Bhurijana Prabhu recently quoted a

statement by one

of

Srila Prabhupada's Godbrothers. That Godbrother, at an

advanced age,

was

walking, with some difficulty, on his veranda,

chanting softly. And

under

his breath he muttered, "Eleven years with Srila

Prabhupada

[bhaktisiddhanta

Sarasvati]; forty years without him."

 

Even advanced souls feel separation--what to speak of

us. I so much

depended

on your guidance and encouragement and friendship.

Where will I find

them

now? Even till the end I would look forward to phoning

you and talking

with

you. In your humility you called me your siksa-guru

and asked for my

guidance. But you were the one who was instructing

me--and the whole

movement--how to serve our spiritual master with all

energy and

resources,

and how to encourage each other with love and good

humor.

 

As a teacher you were heavy. "Guru means heavy." Yet

you were like an

angel.

"Angels fly, not because they know how, but because

they take

themselves

lightly." You took Srila Prabhupada and his mission

most seriously. But

you

took your own bodily pains and pleasures lightly. And

so you could

easily

give of yourself to others and be our "guardian angel"

in service to

Srila

Prabhupada.

 

I wish I could just fly to you now, fly into your

loving embrace. But I

fear

I do not have the strength. I am too strongly tied to

the body and the

world.

 

But I do have one hope: your mercy, in the form of

your love, your

care,

your example, your instructions, and the strength and

inspiration we

get

from them to continue to serve Srila Prabhupada and

ISKCON to the end,

whenever that may be.

 

You wished His Holiness Indradyumna Swami "Happy

trails." I wish mine

could

be happy too. And they will be, as long as they lead

to you, in eternal

service to Srila Prabhupada, Sri Panca-tattva, and Sri

Sri

Radha-Syamasundara.

 

Today is the grand opening of your samadhi-mandira. It

is beautiful,

just

like your heart, just befitting the king that you

were--king of Srila

Prabhupada's staunch, surrendered, stubborn servants.

May you and your

samadhi give shelter to all who come to you.

 

On this auspicious occasion I, among many, pray to

you:

 

Please bless me and keep me under your shelter. Teach

me to serve as

you

did, without duplicity, with heart and soul. And teach

me to laugh as

you

did, even in the face of death, convinced that "there

is no utility in

negativity" and that in the end "the joke is on me."

 

Srila Prabhupada ki jaya!

 

Nita-Gaura-premanande hari-haribol!

 

Your eternal servant,

Giriraj Swami

 

 

 

 

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