Remembering Srila Prabhupada - Service in Separation

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Service in Separation

 

Srila Prabhupada was a wonderful person and everyone who met him immediately

fell in love with him. The entire city of Bombay is completely infused and

permeated by Srila Prabhupada's personal presence. Wherever we go, we meet

people who say they had met Srila Prabhupada -- They heard him lecture or they

met him on a walk or perhaps they met him at a friend's house. Invariably they

were very impressed with Srila Prabhupada and feel they have some relationship

with him. Actually our entire preaching in Bombay is simply encouraging the

relationships so many people had with Srila Prabhupada. Wherever we go people

welcome us and say, "You are disciples of Swami Bhaktivedanta?" It seems that

his significance is being recognized more and more since his disappearance.

While we develop our own individual identities as devotees of Krsna and as

preachers, still people tend to see us as Swami Bhaktivedanta's disciples.

Unlike other famous gurus who are known in name only, with Prabhupada they

also know his philosophy. They know that he was preaching bhakti, surrender to

Krsna. They know that he was condemning everything else besides surrender to

Krsna. They know he was preaching the regulative principles. And many of them

are understanding his preaching about Bhagavad-gita As It Is.

 

-- Giriraja Swami

 

 

 

The spiritual master is not limited by any material barriers. Srila Prabhupada

would sometimes laugh and say, "I have captured them, I have not bribed them."

He is giving us love so deep that it is completely boundless -- love that can

even manifest through tape recorders, records -- wherever there is a tiny bit

of reciprocation, he is instantly present and giving himself fully to that

person. That is the power of the pure devotee. By Krsna's grace he can be

completely present in his voice. You can feel perfectly situated hearing his

voice and doing devotional service. It is not impersonal either. No one is as

aware of my activities as is Prabhupada; no one is giving such instructions as

Prabhupada is on his tapes. He is explaining what devotional service is, what

the result of performing devotional service is, and he is directly speaking to

me.

 

-- Satya-narayana dasa

 

 

 

I never could go right up to Prabhupada and say something -- but now I feel

that I can do it. Prabhupada is always in the temple room and nobody is going

to say that Prabhupada is taking rest or that I can't go up to his room because

he is writing, etc. He is more accessible now. The whole idea is that

Prabhupada made a house in which the whole world can live -- with him. While

Prabhupada was on the planet, it seemed he wasn't accessible because you had to

come to see him at a particular time and a particular place -- you had to cut

through the whole material world to get through that door to sit down with

Prabhupada. But now it isn't like that. For example, in Vrndavana you can go at

any time of the day to his house and sit and chant. Prabhupada is sitting on

the vyasasana.

 

It seems being Prabhupada conscious is much easier now. Whatever happens to

you, you can always remember the sort of things that happened to him. You can

always talk about Prabhupada and you can always see something that Prabhupada

did and relate to it. For example, when you go to buy groceries you can

immediately remember how Prabhupada would keep receipts and only spend a couple

of dollars a day for vegetables. Whatever you do, it seems like he is a lot

more accessible.

 

-- Visvareta dasa

 

Giriraja Swami, interview; Satya-narayana dasa, interview; Visvareta dasa,

interview.

 

 

- From the Prabhupada Nectar by HH Satsvarupa dasa Goswami Maharaj

 

 

 

 

 

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