Remembering Srila Prabhupada - Which state do you want

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Which state do you want

 

 

During the cornerstone-laying ceremony in Mayapur,

Giriraja went to see Srila Prabhupada in his grass

hut. Prabhupada told him that during the time of the

British Empire there were three states in India --

Madras, Bombay, and Calcutta -- and there was one

governor in charge of each state.

 

"Which state do you want?" asked Srila Prabhupada.

Giriraja had always followed his authorities and had

never before made any important decisions. He had no

idea which to decide, so he said, "Prabhupada, I will

do whatever you want me to do."

 

"No," said Prabhupada. "I want you to decide."

 

Giriraja meditated on his choice for about a week, but

still he couldn't decide. He hatched a plan, however,

to trick Srila Prabhupada into deciding for him.

 

"I was thinking of going to Bombay," said Giriraja.

 

Giriraja's idea was that by mentioning Bombay,

Prabhupada's face would make some _expression that

would show Giriraja what Srila Prabhupada wanted him

to do, but Prabhupada didn't show any _expression at

all. He only said, "That's all right."

 

"But then again," said Giriraja, "I was also thinking

of going back to Madras." As with his Bombay choice,

Giriraja gave some feasible reasons why he should go

to Madras. He waited to see if Prabhupada would reveal

himself, but again there was no _expression. "Yes,"

said Prabhupada, "that is all right."

 

Then Giriraja realized that it wasn't going to work.

 

"I was thinking of staying in Calcutta," said

Giriraja, "because .. " But again the same thing.

Prabhupada did not show even the slightest hint of any

_expression that would reveal what he wanted.

 

"That's all right," said Prabhupada.

 

At this point, Giriraja felt ashamed of trying to

trick his spiritual master, but he was also

exhilarated because he could see that Prabhupada was

so great and perfect that he could not be tricked by

his foolish disciple.

 

Tamala Krsna Goswami, interview; Giriraja Swami,

interview. There is a similar statement in a letter by

Prabhupada where he cautiously allows that non-Krsna

conscious or supplementary spiritual books may be

read:

 

"Do you think you shall require all these books? Of

course I have no objection of you keeping these as

reference books, but we should always remember that we

have to give more stress on our spiritual side than

the scholastic side. But at the same time, if our

books are presented in a scholarly way, that will be

very nice. So you use the best part of discretion and

do the needful.

 

" .. But you need not become such a scholar. You

require simply to understand our sastras,

Bhagavad-gita, Srimad-Bhagavatam, etc., and chant Hare

Krsna mantra as much as possible. The thing is if you

give more stress on the scholarly line, other devotees

will try to imitate you. Already your wife has

expressed such intention, and as soon as we try to be

scholars, our devotional line will be slackened. These

points are to be kept in view always."

 

- From the Prabhupada Nectar by HH Satsvarupa dasa

Goswami Maharaj

 

 

 

 

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