Detroit
Detroit
nama om visnu-padaya krsna-presthaya bhū-tale
srimate bhaktivedanta-svamin iti namine
srimate bhaktivedanta-svamin iti namine
namas te sarasvate deve gaura-vani-pracarine
nirvisesa-sūnyavadi-pascatya-desa-tarine
nirvisesa-sūnyavadi-pascatya-desa-tarine
Once, people had brains in their heads instead of stool. In those days the value of a bona fide spiritual master was readily understood. No one was accepted as a respectable gentlemen unless he had been thoroughly educated by a legitimate guru; thus young children were placed in the care of a learned spiritual master is a matter of course. Now such good sense is rarely found. Rendered foolish by this age, even the brightest men can see no use for an acarya. They are confident. They are self-reliant. They are industrious-and they are completely blind. Consequently they are falling into the proverbial ditch; which is, incidentally, quite large enough to accommodate all of them. The energy and enthusiasm of these blind men is marvelous to see, as they rush headlong toward the brink-but it does make for harder landings. Overall, the situation is very, very sad indeed.
Fortunately for such misguided men, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is the father of everyone, is forever alert. Situated within each heart as the Supersoul, He is acutely aware of the sufferings of His sons within this material world. Out of compassion for them, to mitigate their pains, and to arrange for their transfer to the all-blissful kingdom of God, He sends His confidential representative, the bona fide spiritual master. As a nation sends its fully empowered ambassador to represent its interests in a foreign land, so the Vaikuntha ambassador, the empowered acarya, represents the Godhead within this material world. He embodies all the transcendental excellences found in the Lord, and is as fully capable a deliverer as the Lord Himself. One who foolishly takes the spiritual master to be an ordinary man thus makes the most dangerous mistake. Guru Krsna-rūpa hana, Adi 1.45. "The guru is as good as Krsna."
No one can fathom the transcendental qualities of the spiritual master; but of all his qualities, it is compassion which is the foremost. He cannot bear to see the poor souls wandering blindly in this dangerous material world, where even sighted men must watch their step. His heart goes out to them and he considers, "If someone is ignorant and addicted to the path of samsara, how can one who is actually learned, merciful and advanced in spiritual knowledge engage him in fruitive activity and thus further entangle him in material existence? If a blind man is walking down the wrong path, how can a gentleman allow him to continue on his way to danger? How can he approve this method? No wise or kind man can allow this." (Bhag. 5.5.18) Thinking like this, the spiritual master undertakes the rescue of all the fallen souls. One after another he arrests them, pulls them away from the precipice of sense gratification, and places them safely on the broad path of devotional service.
No sooner has this kindness been done, however, than the ingrates who have been saved turn on the rescuer to protest his interference. "Why have you checked our free movements? Have you no consideration for the rights of others? We'll have you jailed, or worse!" In this way the spiritual master has taken up a thankless and dangerous task, full of insult, injury and sometimes death. There are so many examples in history of saintly persons who were abused by those whom they tried to deliver: Lord Jesus Christ, Haridasa Thakura, Lord Nityananda, etc. Despite these difficulties, however, the pure devotees persist in their efforts to engage everyone in the service of the Supreme Lord, which brings immediate relief from all the miseries of material existence. Such kind and self-sacrificing souls are very rare. Although they are sometimes misunderstood by fools and rascals, their work does not go unnoticed; for Lord Krsna Himself takes up the task of glorifying His pure devotees. In the Gita the Lord declares, "For one who explains the supreme secret to the devotees, devotional service is guaranteed, and at the end he will come back to Me. There is no servant in this world more dear to Me than he, nor will there ever be one more dear." [Bg 18.69]
With such an endorsement by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, it is sure and certain that the fame of the pure devotee spiritual master will spread unchecked all over the world; the order of Lord Krsna cannot be ignored. At His command, all heads must bow down at the feet of the recognized spiritual master. Practically we are now seeing it to be so; for our own beloved spiritual master. His Divine Grace Srila Prabhupada, is gradually becoming the most famous and worshiped personality in the world. Despite the envious efforts of his cripple-minded critics, Srila Prabhupada's influence is spreading more and more. His books are now found everywhere, and are being studied by the most learned scholars. Millions of people are visiting his palatial temples all over the world, and bowing down before his vyasasana. And best of all, people everywhere are taking up the chanting of Hare Krsna, simply by his humble request, "Chant Hare Krsna and be happy."
As disciples of Srila Prabhupada we have arranged for his glorification today in the form of this Vyasa-pūja book, as well as by celebrations in all of our ISKCON temples. The real mastermind of this universal tribute, however, is Lord Krsna Himself. It is His incontrovertible will and pleasure that the name and fame of His pure devotee be glorified everywhere. In the face of such perfect expertise and determination, our immature contribution can hardly be considered significant. Still, we are hopeful that when our feeble words are added to those of thousands and millions of more qualified devotees, the resultant sound vibration will draw the attention and reverence of every intelligent man. May they all come and bow down before Srila Prabhupada. He is the foremost representative of Lord Caitanya and the spiritual master of everyone. Today is his eighty-second birthday; we therefore prostrate ourselves in the dust at his lotus feet and offer him our most humble obeisances.
Detroit, Michigan Devasadhana Mandira
Govardḥana dasa / Narottamananda dasa / Batu Gopala dasa / Indrabharta dasa / Udayananda dasa / Vrajendralala dasa / Navina Krsna dasa / Panca Tattva dasa / Bhūsaya dasa / Prabhanu dasa / Visalaksa dasa / Akhilananda dasa / Ramiya dasa / Ramananda Raya dasa / Dhanviganesa dasa / Rathayatra dasa / Ramananda dasa / Jitatula dasa / Jyotiraditya dasa / Rudra Panḍita dasa / Murari Mahiti dasa / Bhakta Gary / Bhakta Keith / Bhakta Wayne / Bhakta Tom / Bhakta Jerry / Ananta Sesa / Krsna Candra / Gahga / Devakinandana / Sitarani-devi dasi / Vilasini-devi dasi / Sukhasagari-devi dasi / Daksayani-devi dasi / Mukhya-devi dasi / Mahanandini-devi dasi / Lekhasravanti-devi dasi / Kalalapa-devi dasi / Cintamani-devi dasi / Sukti-devi dasi / Govinda Rupini-devi dasi / Ananta-devi dasi / Yasogami-devi dasi / Sarvasaktimati-devi dasi / Jahnavi-devi dasi / Ann / Linda / Linda / Robbi / Tara / Aravinda / Radhika / Mrkanda / Vibhu / Jahnavi / Sita
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