While it is easy to understand why Srila Prabhupadas disciples and followers are motivated to increase their own meditation on and remembrance of him, it is not as easy to understand what is supposed to be the motivation for all the other people of the world to recognize and appreciate him. Who is Srila Prabhupada, and why should we honour him? they may ask. Srila Prabhupada should be recognized and honoured because he is an acarya. He possesses the unique ability to personify the teachings he presents. During a room conversation in 1976, Srila Prabhupada was instructing his disciples in the logic of the lame man and the blind man, Srila Prabhupada said: Andha-pangu-nyaya... both of them are useless separately, and when they combine in Krsna consciousness, they are all useful. It is a very good example. And there is another example, that of a piece of wire falling, rotting, and a piece of bamboo, rotting, and a piece of squash skin rotting. And one gentleman collected them. He nicely trimmed the piece of wire and dried the squash, the outer portion, and took the bamboo and nicely cut it and joined the string and this became a sitar: Ting, ting, ting. So it is the intelligent person who joins all these things and makes it very useful. These are examples. The bamboo alone is useless, and a small piece of wire, useless, and a thrown out squash skin, useless, but if you can join them together,... you can ting, ting. Similarly, andha-pangu-nyaya, here is a lame man, here is a blind man. All right, combine together and use them. That is wanted. Understanding that these instructions perfectly coincided with Srila Prabhupadas own actions, his disciples immediately responded, We were all useless in the West, but you have come and then engaged us. In humility Srila Prabhupada replied, It is Krsnas desire. Nobody is useless. I was also useless. I could not do in India alone anything. Two useless makes useful. Srila Prabhupada said. Srila Prabhupada should be recognized and honoured because he is a mahatma. His Krsna consciousness is so deep and broad that he possesses the ability to engage everybody and everything in the service of Lord Krsna. Again the sitar provides a useful analogy for understanding the qualities of Srila Prabhupada. There are two types of strings on a sitar: main strings and sympathetic strings. The unique quality of a main string is its ability to create resonance, and increase the intensity of sound by setting off vibrations in the sympathetic strings. The vibration of the main strings contain such a wide range of sound that all the sympathetic strings respond even though set to different intonations. Similarly, Srila Prabhupadas Krsna consciousness resonates so fully that people from different cultures, religions, races, social and economic classes, and psycho-physiological natures can all easily take to Krsna consciousness. That he created a house in which the whole world can live is not sentimental glorification of Srila Prabhupada but a practical assessment of his ability to influence others. Srila Prabhupada should be recognized and honoured because he is a true friend to everyone. Perfectly following in the footsteps of the previous acaryas, Srila Prabhupada exhibits compassion on a level equalled only by the six Goswamis of Vrndavana. The six Goswamis are glorified by Srinivasa Acarya: krsnot kirtana-gana nartana-parau premamrtambho-nidhi dhiradhira-jana-priyau priya-karau nirmatsarau pujitau sri-caitanya-krpa-bharau bhuvi bhuvo bharavahantarakau vande rupa-sanatanau raghu-yugau sri-jiva-gopalakau I offer my respectful obeisances unto the six Gosvamis, namely Sri Rupa Gosvami, Sri Sanatana Gosvami, Sri Raghunatha Bhatta Gosvami, Sri Raghunatha dasa Gosvami, Sri Jiva Gosvami, and Sri Gopala Bhatta Gosvami, who are always engaged in chanting the holy name of Krsna and dancing. They are just like the ocean of love of God, and they are popular both with the gentle and with the ruffians because they are not envious of anyone. Whatever they do, they are all-pleasing to everyone, and they are fully blessed by Lord Caitanya. Thus they are engaged in missionary activities meant to deliver all the conditioned souls in the material universe. At a very advanced age, Srila Prabhupada gave up his peaceful life in Vrndavana and travelled alone to America. His mission was to fulfil the order of his spiritual master to spread Krsna consciousness, love of God, to the English-speaking people of the world. In accomplishing this arduous task, not only did Srila Prabhupada dance and chant with his young followers, giving them the highest goal of life, but he personally cared for them. He gave them shelter from the turbulent troubles of material life by providing good counsel on virtually every aspect of their lives, material and spiritual. As time passed and his preaching movement grew, Srila Prabhupada was never too busy to be personally concerned for anyone, be he a devotee or non-devotee. On morning walks he would greet non-devotees with Hello or Good morning so as to make them feel comfortable. He was always concerned about the arrangements for visitors to his temples, personally inquiring about their comfort or instructing that the devotees be prepared to greet guests twenty-four hours a day with hot prasadam. He wrote thousands of letters, which provided individual instructions and guidance in the lives of his thousands of disciples and followers. Srila Prabhupada tirelessly traveled, circling the globe thirteen times in twelve years, to give all living beings the opportunity to receive Lord Caitanyas message of deliverance. Although constantly traveling, Srila Prabhupada would rise early each morning and work throughout the night translating the Srimad-Bhagavatam and Caitanya-caritamrta, books which will continue to give humanity true knowledge of God, the self, and the nature of this material world for thousands of years to come. For these and countless other reasons, members of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness request the entire world to join in honouring Srila Prabhupada. It is a chance for all of us to better understand who is Srila Prabhupada. Biographies and Glorifications of Srila Prabhupada-Acarya- Who Is Srila Prabhupada?-Sesa dasa
Posted on: Tue, 03 Dec 2013 05:26:44 +0000
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