Prabhupada

[atma]

Memories of Srila Prabhupada:

 

Gurudas: Prabhupada saw Krishna in everything. He said that if Govinda slaps, we accept it as mercy. During the Pakistan-India war we were in Delhi, and some people were saying, "Now we have black-outs, and you are not putting the lights out. Aren't you afraid?" Prabhupada said,"We are not controlling. You cannot even control your toothache, your stomache."They would say "But if a bomb should come?"Prabhupada said, "If he bomb comes, I will see it as Krishna."

[Guest guest]

Jaya Jaya Srila Prabhupada.

All glories to Jagad Guru!

 

Joy

[atma]

Today I got the second volume of the memories personally delivered at my place of work, here a little more:

 

Pradyumna:Prabhupada considered phones a nuisance. He never had a phone in his room, although there might have been a phone somewhere in the temple. When Prabhupada picked up the receiver he wouldn't hold it like we hold phones. He'd hold it like it was a strange object. He commented a few times, "Your phone rings all the time; it's a nuisance. In India somebody doesn't call before they come; they just show up at your door, and you say, "Ayee,ayee, come in, come in." Once we were sitting in Prabhupada's room in LA when he said, "Our Indian philosophy is open door, open window, open mind. This is our philosophy. We do not like to be blocked in."

[atma]

 

Bhavananda:When I was in Mayapur,in the mornings Prabhupada would walk on the little raised banks between the rice fields. One morning when we were leaving the back of the building Prabhupada said,:"Bhavananda [accent on the second syllable]. Do you know what Bhavananda[accent on the second syllable]means?" Gargamuni Maharaj said,"Yes, it means one who is absorbed in the ecstasy of bhava [accent on first syllable]." Prabhupada said,"No, that's Bhavananda [accent on first syllable], but his name is Bhavananda [accent on second syllable]" Prabhupada said,"It means one who takes endless enjoyment in this material world." I should have taken that as a warning. I said,"Prabhupada!" He said, "Yes, but that is because 'bhava'[accent on second syllable] means 'birth in this world'.That is a devotee. A devotee takes endless enjoyment in this material world because it offers endless oportunities for preaching."

[atma]

 

Bhavananda: This is one that really doesn't make me feel good, but I have to tell you. Late one night, three or four days before Prabhupada passed away, I was sitting on a chair in the room with him. He was resting, and there was a dim light on. At that point Prabhupada wasn't able to see very clearly. He woke up and said, "Who is there?" I said, "It's Bhavananda, Prabhupada." He said, "Oh, Bhavananda. Don't ever leave me. Stay with me forever." Now, how do you think that makes me feel? I think about that a lot. It was so extraordinary. "Don't ever leave me. Stay with me forever."

[atma]

 

Pradyumna:Once in Hyderabad, Iasked Prabhupada about astrology. I was interested in Indian astrology, and I was trying to understand how one's life is determined or not determined, what you can and can't read in a chart, what was there and not there spiritually. I asked Prabhupada, "What about astrology? Is it part of Vaishnavism? Do we use astrology? Because Nilambara Chakravarti, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu's father, did an accurate chart for Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati and Bhaktivinoda Thakur also knew astrology very well. What's its validity?" Prabhupada said,"The vaishnava attitude and siddhanta is, whatever may come, may come. We don't care. But, if you know it's going to rain, it's better to have an umbrella." Again, he repeated it, "So our philosophy is, as Maharaja Kulashekar says,'Whatever may come by Your mercy, let it come' That's our philosophy, that's our siddhanta. But, if you know it's going to rain, then it's better to take an umbrella."

[atma]

 

Abhiram: We used to get some nice letters of "get well" and "good wishes" for Srila Prabhupada, and we would read them to him. Once at the Manor, Prabhupada was lying in bed, and I was standing near him, reading a card from our godbrother Sidhaswarupa. Sidhasvarupa had been a bit of an iconoclast in Iskcon. He stayed apart from most of his godbrothers, and he had his own unique style and perspective. By this time Siddhasvarupa had gone back to his own establishment in Hawaii, althought he was still a devotee of Prabhupada. His card said, "Dear Srila Prabhupada, I am praying for your health" and so forth, and on one line he wrote, "I am a resident of Hawaii, and I hope that if you sometimes think of Hawaii you may also think of me." At that point, Prabhupada suddenly chocked up and burst into tears. I looked up from the card to Prabhupada's face, and tears were halfway down his cheeks. He said, "I am always thinking of you. I can never forget." This is indicative of the way he was at that time. Any nice thought brought tears of deep apreciation.

[atma]

 

So eternally I want to remain your guide provided you want to accept me.

You mentioned that your pathway has become filled with stumbling blocks, but there are no stumbling blocks. I can kick out all those stumbling blocks inmediately provided you accept my guidance. With one stroke of my kick I can kick out all the stumbling blocks.

You are always welcome. All of your doubts will be cleared up either personally face-to-face or by correspondence with me. I am going to Los Angeles, you can come to live with me and all your doubts will be erased. In the beginning there were no doubts, but by bad association you have now got doubts.

 

Letter to Krsna dasa

September 9,1972

[atma]

 

Yogeshvara: I said to Srila Prabhupada, "I must have fallen in maya." Srila Prabhupada said, "You are always in maya, but sometimes you fall into Krishna."

[atma]

Shyamasundar: Srila Prabhupada always made you feel like you were his friend. He listened to what you had to say and took your puniest achievements. First at all he overlooked all your glaring outrages and took your puniest achievements and made them very big. I'll never forget this. I had worked hard in this Bury Place for several months, doing all the building and carpentry. In those days were only three or four of us and a couple of new English boys. So it was pretty much a one-man job. I was going to stick to the standard I set out when I designed it, even thought Prabhupada was in England pushing me day and night to finish this thing. But he respected the fact that I wanted it done just right because we were going to be a central showplace in which what was then the most happening city in the world, and right on the main street. And the people who saw it should see something perfect. I was determined to make it that way. Prabhupada went along for months, despite his discomfort. One day after it was finished and the Deities had been inaugurated, we took a walk in the park one morning. We were walking back, and Prabhupada looked at the front of the temple. He looked it up and down, and he motioned to either Gurudas or Mukunda and said,"You shall put a plaque on the front of this door(he showed with his cane beside the door where he wanted the plaque), a brass plaque, and you will put in that plaque,'This temple has been built by the hard labor of Shyamasundar das Adhikary.'" [breaks up crying.]

[atma]

Kirtanananda: Prabhupada told us,"If you brush your teeth with mustard seed oil and salt, you won't get cavities. Even if you have a bad tooth, if you brush it with mustard seed oil and salt the worm will come out, and that will be the end of it."

[atma]

 

Malati: Little by little,we learned who and what was the spiritual master. In so many cases Srila Prabhupada was challenged by our ignorance, by our lack of spiritual education. For example, after one lecture a young woman raised her hand and said, "Swamiji, I don't agree that we shouldn't have illicit sex. I don't think there is such thing as illicit sex. Sex is a good way to know God." Prabhupada tried to speak to her reasonably, but she was adamant. Finally Prabhupada said, "All right. But I have brought only one medicine, so please take it," and he began kirtan.

[atma]

 

"I asked,'Prabhupada,sometimes I have problems and the spiritual master isn't there and it's too detailed for the scriptures. What should I do?' He said,'If you chant Hare Krishna very nicely, all the answers will come from within.'"