Tamāla Kṛṣṇa Goswami

Tamala Krsna Goswami
om ajhana-timirandhasya jhanahjana-salakaya
caksur unmilitam yena tasmai sri-gurave namaḥ
mūkam karoti vacalam pahgum lahghayate girim
yet-krpa tam aham vande sri-gurum dna-taranam
Godbrothers and Godsisters:
We stand before the threshold of a new ear, though not by our own desire. Our eternal father and beloved spiritual master, the great Gauḍiya Vaisnava acarya who descended in our midst by his causeless mercy, has all too suddenly removed himself from our external perception. Today, Vyasa-pūja day, marks the eighty-third appearance day of His Divine Grace Om Visnupada Paramahamsa Parivrajakacarya Astottara-sata Sri Srimad Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. Unlike previous Vyasa-pūja celebrations, we are now forced to remember His Divine Grace's disappearance day as well. But, from his bed in Vrndavana, Srila Prabhupada explained that there is no difference in the acarya's appearance and disappearance. Both are accomplished on the order of the Supreme Lord, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krsna. The guru is non-different from the Supreme Lord: acaryam mam vijaniyat. As such, his appearance and disappearance are for the same purpose of executing the eternal mission: paritranaya sadhūnam vinasaya ca duskrtam dharma-samsthapanarthaya [Bg 4.8]. Actually, there is no question of disappearance, either for God or for His unalloyed servant. Like the sun, they come before our vision and leave on schedule for continuing elsewhere their mission of reclaiming the conditioned souls. Though not present before us, they exist eternally.
He reasons ill who tells that Vaisnavas die
When thou art living still in sound.
The Vaisnavas die to live, and living try
To spread the holly name around!
As Krsna is always present within the heart of his devotees, similarly Sri Gurudeva is forever remembered by those who follow his instructions. "He lives forever by his divine instructions and the follower lives with him."
At the time of Srila Prabhupada's departure, we felt that we had lost our very life. That person to whom we had dedicated all our words, our thoughts, our activities, had now gone. He who had reared us from spiritual birth, maintained and protected us-we could no longer run to find shelter at his lotus feet. Like newly orphaned children, we moved from one end of the day to the other, now without the steady hand of our father to guide us. The rising sun illuminating the contours of Vrndavana, giving the chance of service to all devotees, instead only revealed a great emptiness. The lord of our lives, the crest jewel of Vrndavana, the savior of the world, had now departed.
So it seemed. But Krsna never forgets his devotees, nor does Srila Prabhupada ever neglect his duty as our father. What we did not understand began to be revealed. His departure was as much planned by Krsna as was his appearance. The activities of Krsna and His unalloyed devotees are all perfect in every respect and are always pleasing to the devotees. The gopis thought they had lost Krsna as He rode away in the chariot of Akrūra, but as the chariot disappeared out of their sight, they were not left alone. Krsna had not actually left Vrndavana. He had taken up residence in their hearts. And as they days unfolded, the gopis remembered Krsna more and more. Everything in Vrndavana reminded them of Krsna. Similarly, we began to discover that Srila Prabhupada had not really left us. True, we could no longer find him sitting in his room, calling us to come. His presence was felt in another way-in remembrance. Within our hearts, within the hearts of our Godbrothers, Srila Prabhupada was unmistakably present, guiding us as surely as before. Even through the lips of senior Vaisnavas, his instructions illuminated the path for us to safely tread. Spiritual life is characterized by the absence of duality. Everything created by the Lord is His energy and has its connection with Him. The devotee sees Krsna everywhere.
sarva-bhūta-stham atmanam sarva-bhūtani catmani
iksate yoga-yuktatma sarvatra sama-darsanaḥ
yo mam pasyati sarvatra sarvam ca mayi pasyati
tasyaham na pranasyami sa ca me na pranasyati
"A true yogi observes Me in all beings, and also sees every being in Me. Indeed, the self-realized man sees Me everywhere. For one who sees Me everywhere and sees everything in Me, I am never lost, nor is he ever lost to Me." (Bhagavad-gita As It Is 6.29-30)
In his purport to these verses, Srila Prabhupada writes:
A person in Krsna consciousness certainly sees Lord Krsna everywhere, and he sees everything in Krsna. Such a person may appear to see all separate manifestations of the material nature, but in each and every instance he is conscious of Krsna, knowing that everything is the manifestation of Krsna's energy. Nothing can exist without Krsna, and Krsna is the Lord of everything-this is the basic principle of Krsna consciousness. Krsna consciousness is the development of love of Krsna-a position transcendental even to material liberation. It is the stage beyond self-realization at which the devotee becomes one with Krsna in the sense that Krsna becomes everything for the devotee, and the devotee becomes full in loving Krsna. An intimate relationship between the Lord and the devotee then exists. In that stage, the living entity attains his immortality. Nor is the Personality of Godhead ever out of sight of the devotee.
It is the mercy of Krsna that He sends His most confidential servitor to represent Him. He is the Supreme Personality of Servitor Godhead. Saksad-dharitvena samasta-sastrair uktas tatha bhavyata eva sadbhiḥ. Haritvena means "with the quality of Hari." Sri Gurudeva thus is worshiped on an equal level with the Lord because he is empowered to act on behalf of the Lord in any way the Lord desires. It was not therefore out of sentiment that we began to find Srila Prabhupada in all that we saw and within all our activities. Here was Prabhupada, manifest throughout his creation (ISKCON), in the temples, the devotees, in his books and in the services he gave us. Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura confirms, tomara karuna sara: "Your mercy is essential to me." Prabhupada once stated: "I never forget my Guru Maharaja for a moment. I feel him always present with me."
Thus to maintain ISKCON becomes the most intimate personal service to Srila Prabhupada. We all wished we could have had the opportunity to have rendered him some personal service. By maintaining our institutions, not allowing even one to deteriorate, we can feel the satisfaction of service his body, which he himself equated with ISKCON. Just as the body is only good if all of the limbs and organs are healthy, ISKCON will continue to hold its position so long as the individual devotees maintain their spiritual standard, and to expand ISKCON will mean still further pleasure for our spiritual master, for it was never his way only to maintain. anandambudhi-vardhanam, the sahkirtana movement is by nature ever increasing.
Here, at Hare Krsna Land, we are trying to both maintain and expand. Take, for example, the "morning walk", practically a Prabhupada institution in itself. Prabhupada's walks on Juhu Beach symbolized to Bombay-ites our movement's continued strength. Therefore we have continued it, and as we pass our members and friends on the beach, they nod their heads appreciatively, for we are not only maintaining; it is increasing. As we would follow closely behind Srila Prabhupada's footsteps, now an ever-growing number of young men follow us. The goal is the same; the path is already trod upon; we simply have to follow. The threshold of his new ear is crossed by faithful adherence to the instructions of our Gurudeva. Boldly we march with Krsna conscious banner unfurled. His words light up the way, back to home, back to Godhead. Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna, Krsna Krsna, Hare Hare/Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare!
Srila Prabhupada ki jaya!
Srila Prabhupada ki jaya!
Srila Prabhupada ki jaya!
Tamala Krsna Goswami
Initiating guru
GBC-Western India, BTBD TSKP
BBT Trustee.
 

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