Satsvarūpa dāsa Goswami

Satsvarūpa dasa Goswami
"Homage to His Divine Grace
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
On the Occasion of
His Eighty-third Appearance Day."
Offerings of flowers and poetic eulogies on your appearance day are certainly in the line of Vaisnava etiquette. But the more crucial Vyasa-pūja homage is when we disciples dedicate our lives to strictly following your orders day after day, year in and year out. Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura has stated that the order of the spiritual master should be the life and soul of the disciple. Although, Srila Prabhupada, you have disappearance from this material world in your physical presence, you live eternally, and the disciple lives with you-by your instructions.
kali-kalera dharma-krsna-nama-sahkirtana
krsna-sakti vina nahi tara pravartana
taha pravartaila tumi, - ei ta 'pramana'
krsna-sakti dhara tumi, - ithe nahi ana
(Cc. Antya 7.11-12)
Thus it was stated by Vallabha Bhatta in the Caitanya-caritamrta to describe Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu: "The fundamental religious system in the Age of Kali is the chanting of the holy name of Krsna. Unless empowered by Krsna, one cannot propagate the sahkirtana movement. You have spread the sahkirtana movement of Krsna consciousness. Therefore it is evident that You have been empowered by Lord Krsna. There is no question about it." This is certainly indisputably true of Your Divine Grace. You spread the Hare Krsna mantra all over the world, and that means that you are the empowered avesa incarnation of the Lord. Moreover, in your Bhaktivedanta purports, you have established such thorough understanding of the power of the disciplic succession that it is now possible for your selected representatives to also become pure devotees empowered with Krsna sakti. How is this possible? Because as you have always stressed (and as is confirmed in sastra and by sadhu), the real spiritual master is one who has become the wholehearted servant of his spiritual master. (Lord Caitanya also claimed to have become an ecstatic chanter of the holy name by submissively accepting Himself as a fool before His spiritual master, Īsvara Puri.) Your genius for propagating Krsna consciousness is so great that you have transferred your own undisputed position of guru and pure devotee unto your disciples, provided that they act as your own humble servants. If they do so, then they also may fulfill the purport of the Eleventh Canto sloka: acaryam mam vijaniyat [SB 11.17.27]. You yourself stated this among your last instructions in November 1977: " 'Leader' means one who is a first-class disciple. Evam parampara-praptam. One who is perfectly following. Our instruction is, guru-mukha-padma-vakya. Do you know this?" And were this not true, then how would future disciples be able to surrender in full faith to their spiritual masters and be assured of the via-media link to Krsna by parampara? This is another of those gifts of Your Divine Grace which we could not see at the time. You did so many things, Srila Prabhupada, which are only becoming perceivable to us gradually.
This Vyasa-pūja, 1978, is the first year after your disappearance from the material world. You have bequeathed to us a solid and vigorous ISKCON tree. To provide for our growth, you have named eleven initiating gurus, all under your administration. Thus we can foresee a great flowering tree, spreading strong branches everywhere, a multiplying sampradaya, and all stemming from the empowered nourishing touch of Your Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. As early as 1969, you spoke of our future in a letter to Kirtanananda Swami: "I have got my disciples, so in the future these many disciples may have many branches of disciplic succession … the example is that of a tree, which has many branches. And you will find one leaf here and another leaf there. But if you take this leaf and the other leaf, and you press them both, you will see that the taste is the same. The taste is the conclusion, and from the taste you can understand that both leaves are from the same tree." Just as your father, Gour Mohan De, had the genius to prepare you from boyhood with mrdahga lessons, facility for Ratha-yatra, and Radha-Krsna worship, so you have prepared your ISKCON for a long life of vigorous pure devotion to Krsna.
There is nothing to lament now that you are gone. We know that you are like the sun-gone from our vision but existing elsewhere in your own eternal orbit of pure devotional service. You have gone on by Krsna's desire, and that is not lamentable. I am lamenting only my own insincerity and rascaldom, which prevented me from serving you better when you were with us those twelve short years.
Now, by your mercy and the mercy of the ISKCON Vaisnavas, I am studying your life and preparing a biography, the life of the highest paramahamsa. I am most unworthy to do this, but then you have always kindly given this fallen soul wonderful tasks to link me to you and to Krsna. This is your continuing causeless mercy. I pray to never be so foolish as to abandon my position as your fallen, menial servant. In this position, you and the Supreme Personality of Godhead will be merciful on me and allow me the privilege of eternal devotional service at your lotus feet. All glories to you, supreme Gurudeva! I know you are with me and I am your servant. I have nothing to fear, being at the lotus feet of His Divine Grace Abhaya Caranaravinda Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada.
Satsvarūpa dasa Goswami
Initiating guru
GBC-Dallas
Editor in Chief Back to Godhead
 

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