Hṛdayānanda dāsa Goswami

Hrdayananda dasa Goswami

For my beloved spiritual master, Om Visnupada Paramahamsa Parivrajakacarya Astottara-sata Sri Srimad A.C. Bhaktivedanta Goswami Maharaja Prabhupada, on the occasion of his appearance day, 1978.

To all the members of the International Society for Krsna Consciousness I offer my respectful obeisances.

Let us all take this opportunity of the first appearance day of our beloved spiritual master, Srila Prabhupada, celebrated in separation, to try to understand and appreciate very deeply the unlimited transcendental qualities of this great soul, maha-bhagavata, who came from Krsnaloka to exhibit a wonderful mission on earth.

nama om visnu-padaya krsna-presthaya bhū-tale
srimate bhaktivedanta-svamin iti namine

namas te sarasvate deve gaura-vani-pracarine
nirvisesa-sūnyavadi-pasatya-desa-tarine

As we make the difficult attempt to manage the great ISKCON movement which we have inherited from Srila Prabhupada, we see that this world is full of envious and opposing elements; there is danger at every step, friends become enemies causelessly, and there is quarrel for slight provocation, always due to the bodily concept of life. Yet Srila Prabhupada, although occupying the exalted position of founder-acarya of the great ISKCON movement, very expertly and wonderfully traversed the earth, and by his divine vision he was able to minimize and subdue the envy of the living entities and engage them in Krsna's service. In this world everyone is trying to be independent; each man is thinking himself all in all, and therefore he is envious of everyone else.

Srila Prabhupada was so pure and brilliant that he could take the most exalted post in Caitanya Mahaprabhu's mission and at the same time control the living entities by his expert dealings, traveling around the globe and managing all affairs. Simultaneously, Srila Prabhupada was able to produce unlimited nectar in the form of his transcendental books. In these books we find all knowledge, all guidance for the conditioned soul entrapped in the illusory network of maya. Yasmin vijnate sarvam evam vijnatam bhavati: "In this way, by knowing that absolute truth, everything becomes known and nothing remains unknown." (Munḍaka Upanisad 1.3)

Srila Prabhupada is the Jagad-guru who typified the immortal words, srotriyam brahma-nistham [MU ]: he could produce unlimited nectar from each syllable of Vedic knowledge. Just as the desire tree can produce unlimited nectar or anything required for Krsna's service, so Srila Prabhupada revealed that each syllable of the Srimad-Bhagavatam is a desire tree which can produce unlimited nectar for blissful life in eternal association with Krsna.

By his preaching Srila Prabhupada exhibited the compassion and vision of the purified paramahamsas, free from envy. Ignoring bodily distinctions of caste or color, highborn or lowborn, he went everywhere and gave everyone a chance to know Krsna, to love Krsna, to understand that there is a soul within this body, and to become happy.

samsara-davanala-liḍha-loka-
tranaya karunya-ghanaghanatvam
praptasya kalyana-gunarnavasya
vande guroḥ sri-caranaravindam

"The spiritual master is receiving benediction from the ocean of mercy. Just as a cloud pours water on a forest fire to extinguish it, so the spiritual master deliver the materially afflicted world by extinguishing the blazing fire of material existence. I offer my respectful obeisances unto the lotus feet of such a spiritual master, who is an ocean of auspicious qualities."

In Kali-yuga, all the living entities are simply burning in the fire of material existence. Srila Prabhupada could see that within each body there is a spiritual spark, part and parcel of Krsna. Therefore, unlike others, who discriminate, Srila Prabhupada freely offered this bhakti cult to anyone who would chant the holy names of Krsna, who would take Krsna's prasada, who would purchase one book. He created so many novel means by which people touched the spiritual energy of Krsna and purified themselves.

Krsna-prema-pradaya te [Cc Madhya 19.53]. Certainly it is not improper to also address His Divine Grace Srila Prabhupada as namo maha-vadanyaya krsna-prema-pradaya te, the most magnanimous great soul. Sahkirtyamanam munibhir mahatmabhiḥ. As described by Narada Muni, those great-souled sages, or bhaktivedantas, are always chanting the glories of the Supreme Lord and purifying the universe: sahkirtyamanam munibhir mahatmabhiḥ.

mahaprabhoḥ kirtana-nrtya-gita
vaditra-madyan-manaso rasena
romanca-kampasru-tarahga-bhajo
vande guroḥ sri-caranaravindam

Srila Prabhupada absorbed his mind in the ecstatic kirtana of the Lord. With the nectar of pure devotion he uttered the holy words jaya sri-krsna-caitanya, prabhu nityananda, sri-advaita, gadadhara, srivasadi gaura-bhakta-vrnda; and overwhelmed with krsna-prema, love of Godhead, he uttered the maha-mantra: Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna, Krsna Krsna, Hare Hare/Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare. In innumerable songs of the Vaisnava acaryas he deeply explored the transcendental nature of the appearance, activities and mission of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. In this way he produced the most blissful and glorious music for Krsna.

sri-vigraharadhana-nitya-nana-
srhgara-tan-mandira-marjanadau
yuktasya bhaktams ca niyunjato 'pi
vande guroḥ sri-caranaravindam

All around the globe Sri Gurudeva established sri-vigraha (Deity worship). He loved the Deities, he knew who They were, and he revealed to us, "This is Krsna. Be careful; you are dealing with Krsna."

catur-vidha-sri-bhagavat-prasada-
svadv-anna-trptan hari-bhakta-sahghan
krtvaiva trptim bhajataḥ sadaiva
vande guroḥ sri-caranaravindam

Srila Prabhupada showered us with Krsna's prasada. He drowned the fire of material desires with a shower of samosas, pakoras, puris, hallava, subjis, so many things, and when he saw that we were simply overwhelmed by discovering Krsna's prasada, he was greatly satisfied.

In this way, one by one we can see how the Servitor Godhead came among us. Now he has entrusted to us his mission for awakening the conditioned souls, beginning with ourselves: jiv jaga jiv jaga goracanda bale, kata nidra yao maya-piscira kole. He has given us all the task of becoming pure devotees of Krsna and simultaneously awakening all the conditioned souls to the message of Godhead, to the message of the Supreme Lord Sri Krsna Caitanya Mahaprabhu. It is not an easy task, but it becomes easy by surrendering at his lotus feet. He is the personification of utsahan niscayad dhairyat (Upadesamrta 3).

Srila Prabhupada was always determined, always enthusiastic, always thinking of the goal with great confidence; therefore we must dedicate all of our energy to the service of his lotus feet, and also become determined, enthusiastic and patient. It is automatically understood that within this material world there will be so many impediments; there will be so many obstacles and difficulties. Therefore Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu has warned us, trnad api sunicena taror api sahisnuna: "Be more humble than a straw in the street, more tolerant than a tree." Srila Prabhupada once said in a letter to His Holiness Satsvarūpa Maharaja, "Unless we are more tolerant than a tree, we cannot spread Krsna consciousness." This means that one must understand that he is not his body. By understanding he is not this body even though he is surrounded by opposing elements and material difficulties, still he pushes on, satisfied and rejoicing in the pure soul, part and parcel of Krsna, the Supreme Lord. This is the mood of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu's mission. One should rejoice in the pure soul, which is eternal servant of Krsna; one should rejoice in devotional service to the Supreme Soul, Krsna, and be transcendental to the three modes of material nature, and in that joyful spiritual mood give Krsna consciousness to everyone with great energy, with great enthusiasm and with love. Yare dekha, tare kaha 'krsna'-upadesa (Cc. Madhya7.128).

Now ISKCON is a great worldwide institution. Everywhere preaching is going on, book distribution is going on, prasada distribution is going on. Personally I am a very insignificant, poorhearted beggar at the lotus feet of my spiritual master, Om Visnupada Paramahamsa Parivrajakacarya Astottara-sata Sri Srimad A.C. Bhaktivedanta Gosvami Maharaja Prabhupada, and at his lotus feet I am simple begging, pleading, "Please give me a drop of your mercy; please allow me to participate in your ISKCON movement, please give me the power to always satisfy you. Although you are self-satisfied, still if I cannot satisfy you then life is finished."

In this mood I call upon all my Godbrothers and Godsisters as well as the new disciples who are now entering the house of bhakti to please work together cooperatively for the pleasure of Srila Prabhupada.

The perverted tendency of every living entity within this world is to desire his independence, and thus he becomes envious of other living entities. But let us give up this false independence and work for the pleasure of Srila Gurudeva. In this way we can do something wonderful for Srila Prabhupada, and if he is pleased with us our lives will be successful and the world will become a happy place.

signed,

Hrdayananda dasa Goswami

Initiating guru

GBC-South America (except for Guyana, Surinam, Colombia and Ecuador)

BBT Trustee

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