Disappearance of Srila Prabhupad (Poem)

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To His Divine Grace Paramhamsa Parivrajakacarya 108 Srila

A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada on his Disappearance Day.

 

* * * * *

 

Upon a bed of arrows Bhishma lay,

instructing Yudhisthir despite the pain;

returning to the Kurukshetra-plain,

he gravely heard what Bhishma had to say.

Dear Prabhupad, the year you passed away

was very like the time that Bhishma left;

instructing by example, able, deft,

you pointed out the deeply trodden way.

 

With mind unclouded, though with pain beset

and body weak, your preaching soul shone through,

a better father than we ever knew.

To you, preceptor-guide, we owe a debt

which will forever colour all we do.

You are the captain; we are but the crew.

 

* * * * *

 

We marvel still how much you tried to do,

how great your vision and the goals you met.

And though you crossed the world by jumbo jet

and ship and car, you held to what is true:

Sri Krsna's service, goal of everything.

Through private letters, morning japa-walks,

through public lectures and informal talks,

you taught whilst teaching us to dance and sing.

 

Within impoverished hearts, you came to stay;

you trained pujaris and prashadam-cooks,

and devotees distributed your books.

We weep, lament that you have passed away,

Shall we despair, give up, that you are gone?

We must grow up; together, carry on!

 

* * * * *

 

Your books have well provided ISKCON¹s needs,

enlivening souls who¹ve yet to take new birth;

again, again, those books may prove their worth:

if one your undiminished message heeds

and goes for guidance to a gentle soul

whom once you guided as a child to write,

then shall the motes and beams be cleared from sight,

and those who now are suffering shall be whole.

 

You didn¹t merely leave your books behind

but taught us how to preach and how to write.

Not only have you given us your light,

you¹ve lit new lights who can the world unbind;

and now, these souls, sincere and guided right,

can save the world from even greatest fright.

 

* * * * *

 

You take no more disciples, now offstage,

yet what of those you never met, by fate,

or those you never did initiate?

They need to meet a guru, bhakta-sage;

The devotees you guided, chanting beads,

can some of them guide others back to God,

and those who firmly tread where once you trod

can nourish hitherto-unsprouted seeds.

 

We knew you when you walked among us all

when we might wash your clothes or type for you.

Pursue with faith the path you set us to;

be constant moons amid the stars that fall!

Now those you taught present your teachings true

Our old life passes, giving place to new.

 

* * * * *

 

Among the devotees who learned from you,

at least a few of them, O Prabhupad,

have dedicated lives in faith to God,

and those you guided now are gurus too.

In joy we serve to whom the torch was passed,

who have their sixfold urges quite subdued;

let¹s work with those whom Krsna has imbued --

they are the guiding tiller, keel and mast.

 

In books and temples we remember you --

acharya, founder, Srila Prabhupad,

by Lord Caitanya girded, armored, shod.

Take up his torch, become a guru too --

not for comfort, nor for glory, but

for love, deliver all from worldly rut.

 

* * * * *

 

You didn¹t merely feed each parcel-part,

you taught us how to feed a suffering world;

and once, in faith, your bhakti-flag unfurled,

you took your master¹s guidance to your heart,

¹twas then that history began anew.

You published Back to Godhead, printed books,

you took sannyas and, free of Maya¹s hooks,

you freely gave what once was known to few.

 

In simple English, timeless teachings taught,

you built and set in motion engines great

who can themselves a world of pain abate.

And, having spirit of devotion caught,

may strength and knowledge grow in him who hears

and ISKCON grow in faith ten thousand years.

 

* * * * *

 

Ananda das

ISKCON Victoria, British Columbia, Canada