#prabhupada early days guru meeting

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The spark for love of Krsna is struck by the spiritual master, the pure devotee. As for myself, my spiritual master, His Divine Grace Om Visnupada Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Gosvami Prabhupada, ordered me to take up the responsibility of spreading Krsna consciousness in the Western world. His Divine Grace had a great desire to preach Lord Caitanya's message in the West, and my success is both his grace and pleasure. When I first met my spiritual master, I was a very young man in India, a nationalist, engaged in a very responsible office. But although I did not want to go; one of my friends, who is still living in Calcutta, forcibly took me to His Divine Grace. I was reluctant to see him because in our home our father used to receive many sannyasis, and I was not very satisfied with their dealings. I thought that Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Gosvami Maharaja might be a similar man, and if he were, what business would I have in seeing him? But my friend took me forcibly. "Why not see him?" he asked. I finally relented and went with him, and I profited. (More...)

On my first visit, His Divine Grace said that it was necessary for educated boys like me to go to foreign countries and preach the gospel of Caitanya Mahaprabhu. I replied that India was a foreign dominated nation and that no one would hear our message. Actually at the time foreigners considered Indians to be very insignificant because in the face of so many independent nations India was still dependent, being dominated by Britain. At the time there was one Bengali poet who actually lamented that even uncivilized nations like China and Japan were independent, whereas India was dependent on the British. His Divine Grace convinced me that dependence and independence are simply temporary conditions, and he pointed out that because we are concerned with the eternal benefit of humanity, we should take up this challenge of Caitanya Mahaprabhu. This meeting with His Divine Grace, my Guru Maharaja, took place in 1922, half a century ago. (More...)

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So when I met Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura... It is a long story, how I met him. One of my friend, he dragged me. [laughing] [laughter] I was at that time Nationalist, and manager in a big chemical factory. My age was about twenty-four years. So one of my friend, he asked me that "There is a nice sadhu, Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura. He has come in Calcutta. So let us go and see." So I was reluctant. I thought just like so, "There are so many sadhus. So I am not very much..." Because I had very bad experience; not very good. So I said, "Oh, these kind of sadhus, there are many." You'll be glad to know that even my in young age or early age-it was Krsna's grace-even amongst my young friends, I was considered the leader. [laughing] [laughter] In my school days, in my college days, in my private friendship, some way or other I became their leader. And one astrologer, sometimes he read my hands. He said in Hindi, hukum calega na. Hukum calega na means "Your hand speaks that your order will be executed." (More...)

Prabhupada: So anyway, it was Krsna's grace. I would not go, but their point of view was that unless I certified that sadhu, Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura, he'll not be accepted. Therefore he dragged me. So I went to see Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura on that day. On the first meeting, just we offer our obeisances. It is the practice. So immediately he began his talking that "You are all educated young men. Why don't you take up Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu's cult and preach all over the English-knowing public? Why don't you take up this matter?" So I argued with him in so many... At that time I was Nationalist. So I told that "Who will accept our message? We are dependent nation. Nobody will care." In this way, in my own way, in these younger days... But we belonged to the Vaisnava family, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, Nityananda, Radha-Govinda. That is our worshipable duty..., er, worshipable Deity. So I was very glad that "Radha-Krsna cult, Caitanya Mahaprabhu's..., this sadhu is trying to preach. It is very nice." (More...)

So at that time we had some talks, and of course I was defeated by his argument, my argument. [laughter] And then, when we came out, we were offered prasadam, very nice treatment, the Gauḍiya Matha. And when I came out on the street, this my friend asked me, "What is your opinion of this sadhu?" Then I said that "Here is the right person who has taken up Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu's message, and now it will be distributed." (More...)

Prabhupada: So I was at that time a fool, but I opined like this. And I accepted him as my spiritual master immediately. Not officially, but in my heart. That was in 1922. Then, in 1923, I left Calcutta on my business tour, and I made my headquarter at Allahabad. Allahabad is about five hundred miles from Calcutta. So I was thinking that "I met a very nice saintly person." That was my thinking always. So in this way, in 1928, there was a Kumbha-mela. At that time, these Gauḍiya Matha people came to Allahabad to establish a center there, and somebody else said, somebody informed them that "You go to that Prayag Pharmacy." My drug shop was named as Prayag Pharmacy. My name was also there. "You go and see Abhay Babu. He is religiously... He will help you." These Gauḍiya Matha people, they came to see me. So, "Sir, we have come to you. We have heard your good name. So we want to start a temple here. Please try to help us." So because I was thinking of these Gauḍiya Matha people, that "I met a very nice, saintly persons," then as soon as I saw them, I was very much engladdened: "Oh, here are these persons. They have come again." (More...)

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So 1922 I met my Guru Maharaja through the exigency of my intimate friend Mr. Narendranath Mullik. And I would not go. He told me information, "There is a nice sadhu. Let us go and see." I did not like very much these sadhus in those days, national spirit. So I said, "I have seen many sadhus. They come at my father's care. I was not very much pleased with their behavior." So he dragged me forcibly: "No, I have heard this person is very exalted." So I went. And his first opening version was that "You are educated young men. Why don't you preach Caitanya Mahaprabhu's gospel in the Western countries?" I did not know. So this was his blessing in the first meeting. I did not know, but I, because we belonged to a Vaisnava family, we were very much worshiper of Lord Caitanya and Nityananda, our family Deity. So I was very much pleased that "Here is a personality who is going to preach Caitanya Mahaprabhu's gospel." I was very much pleased. (More...)

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So in his life he was akhanḍa brahmacari. Bhaktivinoda Thakura had many other sons, and he was the fifth son. And some of his other brother also, they did not marry. And my Guru Maharaja, he also did not marry. From the childhood he is strict brahmacari, Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Gosvami Maharaja. And he underwent very severe penances for starting this movement, worldwide movement. That was his mission. Bhaktivinoda Thakura wanted do this. He, 1896, Bhaktivinoda Thakura wanted to introduce this Krsna consciousness movement by sending his this book, Shree Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, His Life and Precepts. Fortunately, that year was my birth year, and by Krsna's arrangement, we came in contact. I was born in a different family, my Guru Maharaja was born in a different family. Who knew that I will come to his protection? Who knew that I would come in America? Who knew that you American boys will come to me? These are all Krsna's arrangement. We cannot understand how things are taking place. In 1936... Today is 9th December, 1938[68]. That means thirty-two years ago. In Bombay, I was then doing some business. All of a sudden, perhaps on this date, sometimes between 9 or 10 December. At that time, Guru Maharaja was indisposed little, and he was staying at Jagannatha Puri, on the seashore. So I wrote him letter, "My dear master, your other disciples, brahmacari, sannyasi, they are rendering you direct service. And I am a householder. I cannot live with you, I cannot serve you nicely. So I do not know how can I serve you?" Simply an idea, I was thinking of serving him, "How can I serve him seriously?" (More...)

Bhaktisiddhanta-Sarasvati Thakura Gosvami Maharaja Prabhupada (1874-1937) the spiritual master of His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, and thus the spiritual grandfather of the present day Krsna consciousness movement. A powerful preacher, he founded sixty four missions in India; The transcendentally empowered son of Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura appeared in this world on February 6, 1874. His father was deputy magistrate of Jagannatha Puri in Orissa at this time. Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura had been very concerned about unauthorized pseudo-Vaisnavas who were usurping the pure teachings of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu, and therefore had begun a revival of the sahkirtana mission. Though very busy with his profession, he wrote profusely about all aspects of Krsna consciousness. He prayed constantly for someone to boldly preach his writings. Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura's prayers were answered in Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura. When he was six months old, the Ratha-yatra festival of chariots was held in Puri. Lord Jagannatha's chariot stopped in front of Srila Bhaktivinoda's house, which was on the main road between the temple and the Gunḍica mandira. The chariot stayed there for three days. On the third day, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta's mother brought the child out to see the Lord. The pūjaris picked him up and put him on the cart. He crawled to the base of Lord Jagannatha, touching His lotus feet. Simultaneously a garland fell from the neck of the Lord and landed around the child. The pūjaris exclaimed that this child was especially blessed by the Lord. The boy grew up to be a great scholar in many fields of learning. But when he reached twenty-two, he left his studies at college, vowing to never take to householder life. For three years, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura held the post of raja-panḍita (royal scholar) of the Vaisnava king of Tripura. Thereafter he took initiation from Srila Gaurakisora dasa Babaji. Srila Gaurakisora was a Vaisnava renunciate who had fully absorbed himself in the worship of Krsna at Vrndavana for a long time. Then he settled at the holy city of Navadvipa on the bank of the Ganges. By this time Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura had retired from his government work and was worshiping Lord Krsna in a small house near Navadvipa, at Godruma. Every day he gave Srimad-Bhagavatam class there. Srila Gaurakisora used to attend these classes. Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura told his son, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura, to accept Srila Gaurakisora as his initiating spiritual master. He received the name Varsabhanavi-devi-dayitaya dasa. Thereafter Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura gave up all other activities to chant 194 rounds daily for seven years. He stayed in a kutira (hut) but did not take time to repair the roof; if it rained, he just used an umbrella. In 1918 he opened the first center of the Gauḍiya Mission in Ultadanga Road in Calcutta. He was then forty-four. All across India he established Lord Caitanya's teachings as the most excellent spiritual philosophy. He started his mission in the midst of war and political agitation for national liberation. He was uncompromising in his disregard of such mundane concerns. The most important thing is to invoke the spirit of devotion to the Supreme Lord; this concern lies far above any material consideration. Many leaders objected that he was diverting too many young men from India's national interests, but he paid them no heed. In this period, Srila A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada visited Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura on the rooftop at Ultadanga Road. Srila Prabhupada, at that time known as Abhay Caran De, was an adherent of Gandhi's svaraja movement. Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura convinced him in just one sitting of the vital necessity of Lord Caitanya's mission over everything else. Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura departed this world in 1936. Two weeks before leaving his body, he instructed Srila Prabhupada to introduce the sahkirtana mission to the Western world. See Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Bhaktivinoda Thakura, Caitanya Mahaprabhu, Krsna. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada is the foremost Vaisnava acarya in the modern age. In 1896, he appeared in this world as Abhay Caran De in Calcutta, where he received an English-language education. He first met his spiritual master, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura, in 1922. At their first meeting, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura requested Srila Prabhupada to broadcast Vedic knowledge through the English language. In 1933, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura initiated Srila Prabhupada as Abhaya Caranaravinda dasa. In the years that followed, he wrote a commentary on the Bhagavad-gita, assisted the Gauḍiya Mission in its work, and in 1944 started Back to Godhead, an English fortnightly magazine, still continued by his disciples today. He received the title Bhaktivedanta in 1947 from the Gauḍiya Vaisnava Society. In the 1950's, Srila Prabhupada retired from family life, accepting the vanaprastha order. Thus he was able to devote more time to his studies and writing. He came to Vrndavana to live humbly at the historic medieval temple of Radha-Damodara. After several years of deep absorption in Krsna consciousness, Srila Prabhupada accepted the order of sannyasa from his Godbrother Kesava Prajna Maharaja, in 1959. It was then that he began to work on his life's masterpiece: a multivolume translation of and commentary on the eighteen-thousand verse Srimad-Bhagavatam. After publishing three volumes of the Bhagavatam in India, Srila Prabhupada came to the United States in 1965. After great difficulty, with no initial financial resources, he established the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) in New York in July, 1966. The residents of that great metropolis of materialism were astounded as the youthful American followers of Srila Prabhupada danced and chanted the Hare Krsna maha-mantra in their midst, that eternal Vedic sound echoing between the glass and steel skyscraper canyon walls. The Krsna consciousness movement soon spread to San Francisco, where the Ratha-yatra festival of the chariots was held for the first time outside of India. A group of American disciples started a branch in London, where George Harrison of the Beatles became a life-long follower of Srila Prabhupada. From England the movement went to Germany, Holland, France, and other European countries. It likewise flourished in Canada, Latin America, Australia and Africa. Simultaneously, Srila Prabhupada personally established several multi-million-dollar ISKCON temple and guesthouse projects in India at Bombay, Vrndavana, Mayapur and Hyderabad. But Srila Prabhupada considered his most significant contribution to be his books, which form a veritable library of Vedic philosophy, religion, culture and literature. Highly respected by the academic community for their authority, depth and clarity, they serve as standard textbooks in numerous college courses. His writings have been translated into more than eighty languages. The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust, established in 1972 to publish his works, is the world's largest publisher in the field of Vedic studies. In the twelve years after his first arrival in America up to his departure from this world in 1977, Srila Prabhupada circled the globe fourteen times on lecture tours that took him to six continents. Even in his physical absence, his great mission continues to move forward. With the collapse of the Soviet Empire that Srila Prabhupada predicted during his 1972 visit to Moscow, Krsna consciousness is vigorously blossoming throughout Eastern Europe, Russia, a (More...)

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Prabhupada: Yes. When I was twenty-five years old I met him first. On the first meeting he ordered me to this. So at that time I was married man. I had two children. So I thought, "I shall do it later on." But I was trying to get out of family life. It took some time. But I was trying my best to carry out his order. In 1944 I started magazine, Back to Godhead, when I was grhastha. Then I started writing books in 1958 or '59. In this way, in 1955 [1965] I came to your country. (More...)

Once we had the opportunity to meet Viṣṇupāda Śrī Śrīmad Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Gosvāmī Mahārāja, and on first sight he requested this humble self to preach his message in the Western c

Manu described herewith the result of seeing a great saintly person. Lord Caitanya says that one should always try to associate with saintly persons because if one establishes a proper association with a saintly person, even for a moment, he attains all perfection. Somehow or other, if one meets a saintly person and achieves his favor, then the entire mission of his human life is fulfilled. In our personal experience we have actual proof of this statement of Manu. Once we had the opportunity to meet Visnupada Sri Srimad Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Gosvami Maharaja, and on first sight he requested this humble self to preach his message in the Western countries. There was no preparation for this, but somehow or other he desired it, and by his grace we are now engaged in executing his order, which has given us a transcendental occupation and has saved and liberated us from the occupation of material activities. Thus it is actually a fact that if one meets a saintly person completely engaged in transcendental duties and achieves his favor, then one's life mission becomes complete. What is not possible to achieve in thousands of lives can be achieved in one moment if there is an opportunity to meet a saintly person. It is therefore enjoined in Vedic literature that one should always try to associate with saintly persons and try to disassociate oneself from the common man because by one word of a saintly person one can be liberated from material entanglement. A saintly person has the power, because of his spiritual advancement, to give immediate liberation to the conditioned soul. Here Manu admits that all his doubts are now over because Kardama has very kindly described the different duties of individual souls. (More...)

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