Prabhupada

[melvin]

The word Prabhupada is a term of ut-

most reverence in Vedic religious cir-

cles, and it signifies a great saint

even amongst saints. The word actually

has two meanings: first, one at whose

feet(pada) there are many Prabhus( a

term meaning "master" which the disci-

ples of a guru used in adressing each

other). The second meaning is one who

is always found at the lotus feet of

the Supreme Master, Krishna. In the line

of disciplic succession through which

Krishna consciousness is conveyed to man

kind there have been a number of figures

of such spiritual importance as to be

called Prabhupada.

Srila Rupa Goswami Prabhupada execu-

ted the will of His master, Sri Chaitan-

ya Mahaprabhu, and therefore he and his

associate Goswami are called Prabhupa-

da. Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saravasti Go-

swami Thakura executed the will of Sri-

la Bhaktivinoda Thakura, and therefore

he is also addressed as Prabhupada.

My spiritual master, Om Visnupada

108 Sri Srimad Bhaktivedanta Swami Ma-

haraja, has in the same way executed

the will of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sara-

vasti Goswami Prabhupada in carrying

the message of love of Krishna to the

whole world through his books, Srimad

Bhagavatam and Srimad Bhagavad-gita,

which he urged everyone, from Brahma

down to the sudras, to at least, deve-

lope an interest in reading his pur-

ports, explaining each and every sans-

krit verse the way how a Prabhu should

teach his disciples.

When Abhay Charan de Bhaktivedanta

Swami Prabhupada left for Vaikunthaloka

where Lord Narayana resides, he told one

of his disciples, Satsvarupa dasa Gos-

mi, that he is spiritually present in

his books(vani) and he who gradually de-

velopes the unconditional love for stu-

dying and reading his books surely will

be united with him, the words spoken

by Prabhupada becoming animated in the

disciple`s mind. Thus as, vani, His Di-

vine Grace becomes alive within one`s

heart and mind when his book is read.

In other words, there`s no need to

look for Srila Prabhupada outside since

he is transcendentally present inside

his books as Srimad Maha-Bhagavatam Swa-

mi Prabhupad, the Kalki-avatar for this

so-called New Age.

Yes, it`s true that chanting the Hare

Krishna maha-mantra is the only way to

purify one`s self from the contamination

of this Age of Quarrel and Hypocrisy,

but finding a spiritual teacher to teach

him about the science of Krishna cons-

ciousness is hard to do. That`s why it`s

recommended that one who is interested

in going home, back to Godhead, to just

read Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada`s

books with sincerity and devotion. Even

if one is just a sudra, Prabhupada will

always finds him a window by which the

purports in his books, Srimad Bhagava-

tam and Bhagavad-gita As It Is, could

be understood.

Kali-kali nama-rupe Krishna Avatara:

Krishna, the Supreme Personality of God-

head, has now appeared as an incaran-

tion by His holy name, Sri Prabhupada.

 

Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya Sri Prabhu-

pada Swami Bhaktivedanta Guru Maharaja.

 

-----------------------------

[viji_53]

Great souls come to this world as representative of God when man neglects his religious values. We are still immeture to realise that. It is easy to attain God by chanting Hari's names. To spread this message ISKCON was started. But in some places in the name of God people are exploited. How to stop that?

[Gauracandra]

Unfortunately, this is true. In this age of Kali Yuga many unqualified people put on saffron cloth and pose as spiritual teachers (this is after all the age of hypocrisy). How can we stop exploitation? I'm not sure it can be fully stopped. However, we should always stand guard against religious deviations and have the courage to speak out against such practices. This is easier said than done of course. Ultimately we must try to remain pure ourselves and seek to give good counsel to those who are genuinely seeking spiritual advancement.

 

Gauracandra

[melvin]

I think we can stop this exploitation from

false teachers in the Kali-yuga age by al-

ways distributing Prabhupada`s works to

a great number of people by publishing them

on newspapers with credible reputation. In

fact when Prabhupad was struggling to have

his Back to Godhead published in the news-

paper, nobody criticized him if these were

not read. Prabhupada did not said that it

was offensive to have his works published

in the newspaper. If we could therefore

publish Prabhupad`s English translation and

the purports in his book, Srimad Bhagavatam

and Bhagavad-gita As It Is, say, in the New

York Times, then I feel it`s worthwhile

that the mission of distributing Krishna

consciousness to everyone has been served.

Just think of the possibilities if all the

daily newspapers get to publish Prabhupad`s

works on a weekly basis, then Bhaktivinoda

Thakura`s mission of inundating Krishna

consciousness to the whole world would have

been served. Isn`t this invigorating to

know we have a great task ahead to make it

work?

I had been doing this task since 1988 when

I started writing a column, " A Grain of

Devotion" in The Freeman, a daily newspaper

in our area where I am one of its subscri-

bers. But this column was stopped when they

later found out that I was not a member of

ISKCON, Inc. And they thought I was a char

latan. When that column written by a pseu-

donym, Naradadeva Bhagavan, was erased, I

then found other things to do with writing

when I went into writing articles just any

thing under the sun. Although from time to

time I get to write about Krishna but this

time using my real name: Dr. Melvin G.

Mabalay. By writing my name on my articles

which got published in The Freeman about

Krishna consciousness, everyone who read

my articles kept questioning me what is

truly the kind of religion I had been prac

ticing, whether I was practicing Catholi-

cism or what not. Then I responded by tel-

ling them that the Patron Saint, Sr. Sto.

Nino, or the Holy Child we had been wor-

shiping since time immemorial is no other

than Govinda Himself, based on the discrip-

tions which I showed them Prabhupad`s book,

Srimad Bhagavatam. All along I have been

trying to sell them Krishna who as the Sr.

Sto. Nino is my people`s worshipable Lord.

But they would not listen. So, I just had

to look for another place where people

might accept this idea. Like a salesman, I

was taken to this venue, where I was very

sure poeple would accept this idea, that

our Patron Saint in Cebu, Philippines, the

Sr. Sto. Nino is no other than Krishna.

I had been trying to convince anyone to

please conduct a research on this issue so

that, at last, I will have that peace of

mind I had been longing to obtain. That my

friend, relatives, parents, and everyone

in our place would finally think I`m not

crazy after all. If only I can have my pu-

blication in The Freeman back once again,

then that would be the day when the Angels

in Heaven would finally sing.

 

---------

[Guest guest]

How people are exploited? well... if they want a cheap God and want to be cheated, then the arrangement is made for them to be cheated.

 

These bogus self style Gurus in India are all destined for hellish life but I won't blame them for misleading all of the people that follow them Those are people that want to be cheated and the self styled cheater gurus fulfil their aspirations.

 

 

Great souls come to this world as representative of God when man neglects his religious values. We are still immeture to realise that. It is easy to attain God by chanting Hari's names. To spread this message ISKCON was started. But in some places in the name of God people are exploited. How to stop that?