TKG on Srila Prabhupada's forgiveness

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Srila Prabhupada never gave up on a disciple. No matter how many mistakes a

devotee might make, Srila Prabhupada wanted to see if that devotee wanted to

continue serving Krsna and serving him. Many mistakes were made, but the

wonderful quality of Srila Prabhupada throughout all this is that he never

gave up on a devotee. He said about Krsna that if you once chant Hare Krsna

sincerely then Krsna will never leave you alone. I feel the same way. Srila

Prabhupada never leaves you alone. However many mistakes you might make in

his service still he does not reject you but he accepts you just as a father

accepts his child. He expects that there may be mistakes, he chastises you

like anything, but he never gives you the sense that he doesn't love you.

Despite all of the grand mistakes that were made I never got the sense that

Srila Prabhupada loved me less because of them. I always felt encouraged and

never felt discouraged.

 

A Sikh devotee called Caitya Guru joined in Bombay, but later went off on

his own course and started canvassing collections from Life Members. Tamal

Krsna Goswami then said to Srila Prabhupada, "We have to write to our Life

Members to warn them of this person." But Srila Prabhupada was hesitant to

do so. He was not ready to give up on that devotee. But then when Caitya

Guru took up living on Juhu Beach with a bogus yogi with the intention of

learning the art of passing a coin from one ear and out the other ear, Tamal

Krsna Goswami approached Srila Prabhupada and said, "Now this has reached

the limit. This is the end. It's finished." Srila Prabhupada looked at Tamal

Krsna Goswami and said, "You do not know about Lord Nityananda's mercy."

"Why, Srila Prabhupada?There is no end to Lord Nityananda's forgiveness."

Caitya Guru came back and Srila Prabhupada tried to help him and eventually

gave him sannyasa. Srila Prabhupada is the manifest representative of Lord

Nityananda Prabhu. His forgiveness is like that. Both in our own

shortcomings and in dealings with each other we have to remember that it was

very rare that Srila Prabhupada rejected a devotee.