siksa guru priya bandhu

8/3/2019 Siksa Guru Priya Bandhu

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MY IK -GURU AND PRIYA -BANDHUMY INSTRUCTING SP IR ITUALMASTER AND DEARMOST FRIEND

Remembrances of

r rmad A.C. Bhaktivednta Swami Prabhupda

Compiled from selected interviews,lectures and writings of

r rmad Bhaktivednta Nryaa Mahrja

Websites: www.gaudiya.net www.purebhakti.com

Vndvana, Uttar Pradesh, India


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r rmad Bhaktivednta

Nryaa Mahrja


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r rmad Bhaktivednta

Swami Prabhupda


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Acknowledgements

Compilation and Editing: Mla-prakti dsAssistant Editors: Majar ds, abhadeva dasa, ymar ds, nti dsTypists: Madhurika ds, Sukhad ds, Vasanti dsDiacritics: nt dsTechnical Assistance: Janrdana dsaLayout and Design: Kaliya-damana dsa, nt dsCover Design: Madana-mohana dsa, HaridsaPrinting: Prema-rasa dsa, Nicintya dsa


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CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

CHAPTER ONE:OUR FIRST YEARS TOGETHER

His Association with rla

Bhakti Prajna Keava Gosvm Mahrja . . . . . 1Founding Gauya Vednta Samiti . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3Our First Meeting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4Editorial Sev . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Jhansi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7Residing in r Keavaj Gauya Maha . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Accepting Sannysa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

At r Rdh-Dmodara Mandira . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16Preparation and Departure for America . . . . . . . . . . . 17Return to India . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18Preaching in India . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

CHAPTER TWO:

RLA PRABHUPDAS DISAPPEARANCE LL

rla Prabhupdas Desire to go to Govardhana . . . . . 24Visiting Him in His Last Days . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26His Divine Departure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32In Mdhurya-rasa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

CHAPTER THREE:MY MESSAGE IS ONE WITH HIS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

ENDNOTES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39


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INTRODUCTION

This booklet is a collection of recollections and reflections

about His Divine Grace rla A.C. Bhktivednta SwamiPrabhupda, from one of his earliest ikfollowers and friends,rla Bhaktivedanta Nryaa Gosvm Mahrja. These accountsof his association with rla Prabhupda span over thirty years,since they first met in 1947.

rla Nryaa Mahrja was happy to share his fond

memories of this long-standing and affectionate relationship, andexcerpts from a variety of his informal interviews and statementshave been used. We have lightly edited his English, becauseEnglish is not his native tongue. Had he presented thesememories and appreciations in Hindi, the details and heartfeltexplanations would have been still more eloquent and detailed.

rla Prabhupda is a nitya-siddhadevotee. He never had to

advance from a conditioned life to pure Ka consciousness.Therefore, it may be noted that the descriptions rla Prabhupdaand rla Nryaa Mahrja give of his nara-ll (human-likepastimes) have nothing to do with this material environment.They are only meant to help instruct others how to advance inKa consciousness.

Our sincere hope is that in reading this booklet, the worldwide audience of devotees will receive enlivenment byhearing inspirational memories about our mah-bhgavata-gurufrom one of his most intimate admirers. Where this humble effortis not of the highest quality, or if it fails in any way to properlyrepresent rla Prabhupda or rla Nryaa Mahrja, we begfor the forgiveness of the merciful Vaiavas. We pray that our

most beloved rla Prabhupda will be pleased with our desire tomore deeply discover and glorify his transcendental personality,pastimes and sakrtanamission.

Aspiring servant of Hari, Guru and Vaiavas,

Mla-prakti ds


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REMEMBRANCES OFRLA BHAKTIVEDNTA SWAMI PRABHUPDA

CHAPTER ONE

OUR FIRST YEARS TOGETHER

His Association with

rla Bhakti Prajna Keava Gosvm Mahrja

My gurudeva, o viupda rla Bhakti Prajna KeavaGosvm Mahrja, would often speak to me about hisgodbrother, parama-pjyapda r Abhaya CararavindaBhaktivednta Prabhu. At that time, before his sannysa, weaffectionately called him Abhaya Cararavinda Prabhu, orPrabhu. My gurudeva always told me how, from the verybeginning, this godbrother was so dear to their rlaBhaktisiddhnta Sarasvat hkura. He explained to me that hisrla Prabhupda had always highly and intimately regarded

Abhaya Cararavinda Prabhu and had requested him to writearticles for the Harmonistmagazine and other publications. Their

Guru Mahrja had especially ordered him to preach in theEnglish language, and to distribute widely this knowledge of rKa Caitanya and His teachings in the Western countries.

According to mygurudeva, Abhaya Cararavinda Prabhu was a very great personality, veryyuktivd (good at givinglogical arguments), and always nirvika(bold). He was a preacherofsatya(truth) who was not afraid of anyone. I had already heard

so many times about him from mygurudevaand from others. Ihad heard how he was such a close friend to Gurudeva, such anexcellent writer, and such a sincere and qualified devotee. At thattime I had not yet seen him, but seeing by ears is even morepowerful than seeing by eyes.

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Abhaya Cararavinda Prabhu was a bosom friend of mygurudeva ever since they first met in the association of rlaBhaktisiddhnta Sarasvat Prabhupdas Gauya Maha in 1922.

During those years, he was a ghasthaand was said to be verybeautiful. In 1940, after the departure of rla BhaktisiddhntaSarasvat Prabhupda, there was turmoil in the Gauya Maha.One party wanted to arrest some of the senior Vaiavas, andcases were filed in the Calcutta court. At that time, our gurudeva,then known as Vinoda-bihr Brahmacr, was akicana(without material possessions) and he travelled to Prayga,

Allahabad. There he stayed at the Rpa Gauya Maha for a fewdays. Abhaya Cararavinda Prabhu, who had his familyresidence and business in Allahabad, invited our gurudeva tocome and stay in his home as a guest, and they lived togetherthere for the next four or five months. During this extended time,they became very near and dear to each other. They always

discussed Bhagavad-gt and many other subjects concerningguru-sev for their rla Prabhupda and his mission. (SeeEndnote 1.)

When mygurudeva lived with him for those months in Allahabad, Abhaya Cararavinda Prabhu organized muchpreaching for them everywhere in that city. He had cultivatednumerous associates from his pharmaceutical business, andknew many educated, qualified people. He also arranged for mygurudeva to give extensive lectures on Vednta. Together theydefeated the myvdaphilosophy, and also several influentialCatholics and other Christians; those persons were favorablyimpressed by the bona fide arguments and siddhntaso expertlypresented.

Abhaya Cararavinda Prabhu appreciated this preaching somuch. He would often tell me, Your gurudevais so logical, andhe is such a great philosopher. That is why I have selected formyself a very best friend like your gurudeva.

MY IK-GURU AND PRIYA-BANDHU

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Founding Gauya Vednta Samiti

My gurudeva was then called r Vinoda-bihr Brahmacr

Kti-ratna. The name Kti-ratna, which means one who is a jewelamong managers, was awarded to him by rla BhaktisiddhntaSarasvat Prabhupda because he managed the Gauya Maha soexpertly. This was before my gurudeva took sannysa. In hisheart there was a desire to show Vednta-straas bhakti-stra,and he quoted lokasofrmad-Bhgavatam to prove this. He

would always state, Wherever there is any sign ofmyvda,bhakticannot be preached in full force. So we have to removemyvdaat the root. Abhaya Cararavinda Prabhu also likedthis idea very much. We must kick out myvda, he wouldoften say. Both of them had this understanding; they were veryunited in their preaching.

Gurudeva gave the name Bhaktivednta to those of us who

took sannysafrom him, and when they formed an organizationthey called that Samt Gauya Vednta, which denotes that

Vednta is synonymous with bhakti.After the divine disappearance of their rla Prabhupda, rla

Bhaktisiddhnta Sarasvat hkura, and after the Gauya Mahainstitution had broken apart, mygurudeva, together with AbhayaCararavinda Prabhu and Narottamnanda Brahmacr (latercalled rla Bhakti Kamala Madhusdana Mahrja), filed theestablishment papers for the Gauya Vednta Samt. This wasdone on April 7, 1940, the day ofakaya trty, in a rented houseat 33/2 Bosapada Lane, Calcutta. (See Endnote 2.)

Although they separated from the political upheaval takingplace within their Guru Mahrjas institution, they did not give

up rla Bhaktisiddhnta Sarasvat Prabhupda or his mission andsiddhnta. They wanted to re-establish his bona fide ideas andinstructions, but they did not give up his Gauya Maha.Therefore, the names of the Mahas established by the Gauya

Vednta Samt were Devananda Gauya Maha, UddharanaGauya Maha, Keavaji Gauya Maha, and many others.


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Our First Meeting

In 1947, I was in Calcutta as the personal servant to my

gurudeva, and one day there was an inauguration of a newbranch of the Gauya Vednta Samiti. It was a large assemblyand many Vaiavas were present there. During the lecture givenby Gurudeva, a ghasthadevotee came in at the back door. Uponseeing him, Gurudeva stopped speaking and asked me to bringhim forward. That devotee humbly hesitated to come forward,

but mygurudevaordered that he come all the way to the front.Gurudeva showed great respect to him and insisted he sit next tohim on the platform. I looked up at Gurudeva, silentlyquestioning, Who is this devotee? It was very rare that he haddone this with others. Afterwards he told me, This is AbhayaCararavinda Bbu, my dear godbrother. He is a very specialdisciple of rla Bhaktisiddhnta Sarasvat Prabhupda. He is very

humble and qualifed. You should take note of him, you shouldhear carefully from him, and you should serve him.

At that time I would cook breakfast, lunch, and any othermeal for Abhaya Cararavinda Prabhu and many of the othersenior Vaiavas. I would also wash their clothes and clean forthem. He would watch me, and became pleased with me. He washappy to see my service for my gurudevaand asked me manyquestions about myself, like where I was from and where andhow I had joined the maha. We spoke together, and he wassatisfied with my replies. I was also very impressed with him, andattracted to him. This is when I began my service to him in myheart and in my work.

I am thinking now how very fortunate I was to have met him

long ago, and to have served him. We had so much affection foreach other that I cannot explain my heart sufficiently. He statedin one of his letters to me that from the first time he saw me, there

was affection between us and that we shared a transcendentalrelationship of spontaneous love. He wrote that, as his rlaPrabhupda had great faith and love for him from the beginning,


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he similarly had love and well-wishing for me. (See Endnote 3.)He was a powerful speaker, and his lectures were most

influential. Discussing translations from rmad-Bhgavatamby

first giving word-for-word meanings, he would then presentthorough explanations; and what he spoke was beautiful. Inthose days there were many senior disciples of rlaBhaktisiddhnta Sarasvat Prabhupda, such as rla rdharaMahrja, rla Trtha Mahrja, rla rauti Mahrja, rla NaimiMahrja, rla Yayavar Mahrja, rla Audalomi Mahrja, rla

Vaikanas Mahrja, rla Pur Mahrja, rla Giri Mahrja andrla Mdhava Mahrja. All these disciples were like tigers andthunderbolts, being well-versed in siddhnta. They would oftencome to visit mygurudeva, and I was able to serve them. Though

Abhaya Cararavinda Prabhu was then a ghasthaliving outsideanymaha, he was considered by all to be extremely qualified.He was very bold and never compromised with anyone regarding

the established siddhnta never. He defeated and convincedeveryone by his realized preaching.

In those days I often saw him associating with hisgodbrothers, and he had many deep friendships in all the temples

where they assembled in Calcutta, Navadvpa, Chinchura, Allahabad, Bombay and Delhi. He was often meeting withgodbrothers, traveling to different mahas for celebrations anddiscussions, and he always behaved towards them withaffectionate dealings. When his godbrothers gathered, he wouldshow respect to them because he was a ghastha at that time.

And, even though he was married then, all the sannyssandsenior brahmacrs highly regarded him because he was alearned scholar and a potent, brave preacher. He was known by

all to be abhaya, fearless.

Editorial Sev

Our magazines, Gauya Patrika and Bhgavata Patrika,were started in 1953. At that time, Gurudeva requested Abhaya


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Cararavinda Prabhu, I want to establish publications inBengali and other languages, and I would especially like you to

write articles for them. Earlier he had written articles for the

Harmonist, and now he continued to write many wonderfulessays, Gtpurports, etc. He wrote so marvelously that everyonepraised him. He challenged all who were opposed to pure bhaktiat that time, especially the Mrg Mission. He called theRmakrishna Mission the Mrg Mission, because the membersate chicken. In fact, they ate flesh, eggs and many otherabominable things.

Vivekananda and his Rmakrishna Mission were veryprominent in those days. They were renowned by the public,

who thought, Oh, these are such high-class devotees. In all ofIndia, only they are following the Vedas, and all others are not.The Gauya Mission and others are not Vedantic. AbhayaCararavinda Prabhu wrote a two-part article about the Mrgs.

He began with the first part; and when the second part was alsoprinted, all but the Mrgs were astonished and convinced. Manyrequested him to write more articles like these, which called forthe reform of religious institutions.

At that time the president of India was Dr. Radhakrishnan. Hewas very scholarly and his English was quite erudite, but he was world-famous as a very bold myvd. He wrote an article inEnglish saying that the soul in Kas body was God, but Kasbody was not God. He said that, as with our body and soul, there

was also a difference between Kas body and soul.Guru Mahrja was not here then, but Abhaya Cararavinda

Prabhu was and wrote a very powerful article in response. Hequoted many strong examples from stra and declared to the

President, Those who speak like this are rascals. In Ka thereis no difference between deha and deh, the body and itspossessor. All His qualities, pastimes and names aretranscendental. If one does not have a very pure and realizedguru, he cannot understand this idea. You have no guru; you arereading stra yourself. Just as Gautama Buddha became


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nyavd, so you are just like that. At some time in South Indiayou met with the very renowned akarcryas teachings, butyou have not read r Rmnuja, r Madhvcrya, r Caitanya

Mahprabhu and rla Jva Gosvm; and you have never readBaladeva Vidybhaa. You should try to know what is acintya-bhedbheda. Do not be sectarian. You are an authority in India,the President, but you are not an authority in religion. You willhave to learn something from us.

rla Bhaktivednta Vmana Mahrja appointed rpd Abhaya Cararavinda Prabhu to be the editor-in-chief of theBengali Gauya Patrika, and I was also in the editorial board forthe Hindi Bhgavata Patrika. He usually submitted his articles inBengali, and sometimes, if he wrote an article in Hindi, I wouldedit and then submit it. This is because his mother language wasnot Hindi. Mostly he wrote his articles for our Gauya PatrikainBengali. I then translated these into Hindi and printed them in the

Bhgavata Patrika.This was before the time of tape machines, and Prabhu was

expert in the skill of stenography. During lectures of mygurudeva and other senior Vaiavas, he took shorthandperfectly and recorded those talks in his notebooks. His accuratetranscriptions were also used for articles in the Gauya Patrikamagazine. Abhaya Cararavinda Prabhu continued writing forour magazines every month for many years, and some of thoseoriginal editions are still preserved at our maha.

Jhansi

I went twice to visit pjyapda Abhaya Cararavinda

Prabhu while he was preaching in Jhansi. The first time I traveledon the train with some of the brahmacrs; the second time I

went there to see him with mygurudeva. We stayed four or fivedays each time.

He had made some connections earlier, during his frequenttravels there for business. Some persons had a building which


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was suitable for a maha. Prabhu invited us to consider it for oneof our mahas, but our gurudevawas not prepared to settle there.He did not have enough brahmacrs, and he also favored a

larger city like Mathur.The gentleman who had originally invited Prabhu, crya

Prabhakara Mira, had become his initiated disciple. I dont knowwhether Prabhu gave dkto him or not, but he said that he hadaccepted this man. I think he had given him harinmaonly. Atthat time Prabhu was translating r Caitanya-caritmta; andthis disciple used to help him to correct his Hindi because it wasmixed with Bengali.

During his stay in Jhansi, Abhaya Cararavinda Prabhupersonally brought a large and very beautiful mrti of rGaurga Mahprabhu from Bankura (near Mednapore, WestBengal). This is where many deities are made, especially for theGauya Vaiavas. He had first ordered the deity and then

brought Him to be established in that temple. He had been doingsome regularpjalone there in Jhansi, but the deity was not yetinstalled.

Prabhu invited Gurudeva, and we came to visit there for theinstallation. Although we arrived for the program, the installationdid not take place. This was because Guru Mahrja discussed

with Prabhu about the manner in which those sponsors wereallowing him to use the mandira. When he told us that theycould order him to leave at anytime, Gurudeva said he thought itmight be better if a document was received. There was adiscussion between Gurudeva and the sponsors, and he made acondition before all present: If you give the mandira topjyapdaAbhaya Cararavinda Bhaktivednta Prabhu, he will

be the master of all properties and activites therein. He will doeverything according to our sampradya. The sponsors, on theother hand, were in the mood that the temple should be in theircharge, and he would be like a priest. Both Prabhu and GuruMahrja rejected their conditions.

Mygurudevaand I returned from Jhansi to Mathur on the


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train. Prabhu didnt come with us then, but after some days hearrived with the Caitanya Mahprabhu vigrahaand put Him inthe care of my gurudeva. Gurudeva then installed that very

beautiful Caitanya Mahprabhu here on the altar in our KeavajiGauya Maha, where He is still being served to this day.

Residing in r Keavaj Gauya Maha

My gurudeva and I were present on the day AbhayaCararavinda Prabhu came again to the Keavaji Gauya Mahain 1955. We embraced him and he embraced us. Before coming,he had been successful with his pharmaceutical business in

Allahabad, called Prayaga Pharmacy, and it was very famous.Many important personalities of India, including the PrimeMinister, were customers in his shop. Later on, however, he hadto sell it. Then he traveled to all the important cities of North

India, such as Delhi, Kanpur, Lucknow, Agra, Jhansi, Mathur,and other towns to sell the medicines he had made from his ownformulas. Kuja-bihr Prabhu, a senior disciple in the maha,

was especially devoted to him during this time. He helped tocarry his bags and also to bring himprasdamwhile he worked.

After a while this business also came to an end, and AbhayaCararavinda Prabhu gave up his household life and all itspossessions in Calcutta. He again came to Mathur, this time

without belongings. He brought a medical formula for treatingringworm, which he distributed to the shopkeepers, store-to-store, but sales were not good. He was living in a room he hadrented by the Yamun, in Hooli Wali Gully near Bengali-ghta.He had been there three or four days when I went to see him. I

told him, Prabhu, why are you staying here? He was veryhumble and didnt want to impose himself upon us, so I forciblytook his luggage and told him, I will not let you go anywhereelse. We are here. We are your sons. You are our gurudevasgodbrother and are very dear to us. We want to care for you. I willnot allow you to stay here, separate from us. I brought the


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brahmacrs, Kuja-bihr Prabhu, eay Prabhu and someothers, and we took what few utensils he had and brought him tolive in our maha.

I requested him, Please stay here with us, preachingBhagavad-gt, writing and so on. I know that no one is assisting

you now. I want to personally serve you. Please live here forever;we never want you to leave. He became so glad.

I gave him a room adjacent to mine. His room was there(pointing to the room one door from the kitchen), and my room

was here. There were only two rooms then, his and mine. At thattime there was no mandirain our Keavaj Gauya Maha.

We had very little facility to offer him, because nothing wasthere in our maha. There was just one bathroom, but still we

were very easily able to live peacefully and accomplisheverything we had to accomplish. At that time he also hadnothing to show to others: This is mine. He had only his body

and tm nopaisaat all. He only had some copies of his Backto Godheadmagazine, his Gt, and three or four volumes of aBengali rmad-Bhgavatam, which are now preserved in ourlibrary. He had no bedding, and no extra boxes or personalbelongings.

We gave him one small room and many large books. rpdaNsiha Mahrja (one of his godbrothers) and I donated someSanskrit and Bengali books to him. There he began to write manyEnglish translations and articles. Day and night he would stay inhis room and do this, and he also chanted a great deal ofharinmaand very beautifully sang bhajanas. We did not know

when he ever took rest. He slept only a short time in the morning,because all during the night he was awake, and throughout the

day also. He became so pleased with this arrangement of stayingwith us, and our Guru Mahrja also became pleased when hewas informed of this.

We continually requested Abhaya Cararavinda Prabhu togive rmad-Bhgavatam classes. Usually there not manydevotees attending, because only a few of us lived in the maha


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then. We were just beginning the Keavaj Gauya Maha temple,so we had just five or ten persons. But very high-class, learnedgentlemen from Mathur would often come to hear him speak. I

was known then as a good krtaniyin the Gauya Mahas inBengal and Uttar Pradesh, so I would perform krtana. Prabhu

would lecture, explaining in his discourses the word-by-wordmeaning of each verse under discussion, and very eruditescholars were attracted by his classes. During this time he wouldalso give Caitanya-caritmtaclasses in the evenings, to those ofus who lived at the maha. His devotion for r CaitanyaMahprabhu and His pastimes was very deep. Later on, after hetook sannysa, he often gave these classes in English, eventhough almost no one in the mahacould understand English. He

would say that he was practicing.I would sometimes joke with him, saying, Oh, you may try

to be responsible for your children and your wife, but they are

rejecting you. One of his sons was not very favorable, andanother was somewhat favorable but not wanting to serve him.So I would say, Prabhu, why not take more service from all ofus? You should not go back there. I will beg from door to doorand arrange to get you rice and any other items.

When Prabhu first came to Mathur to stay with us, he had anailment which he humbly and silently tolerated. Because he wasexpert in medicines, he always used Ayurvedic or homeopathicremedies when necessary and avoided allopathic treatment. I

was fortunate that he confided in me, saying, I do not have faithin any doctors. If they demand to operate, I may die. I told himthat he could not die; he had too much important sevto do. Heagreed and said that he was very determined to fulfill his

gurudevasorder to preach all over the world. I said that I knewof a bona fide doctor here in Mathur who had cured others. Helet me take him there, and I stayed by his side during the entireoperation. I hesitate to mention these details, because it maysound as if I was helping him. Actually, I know he was bestowinghis mercy to allow me to perform intimate service.


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We would often visit each others rooms, and sometimes wewould joke together about various topics. He was very fond ofjoking, and when he would laugh it was very sweet. He joked in

an especially delightful way, with a slightly playful smile. We alsohad many philosophical discussions together, speaking aboutsuch topics as Prahlda-caritra and Tenth Canto of rmad-Bhgavatam. We read many scriptures together, and he woulddeeply discuss the matters he wrote about in the GauyaPatrika. Sometimes he would have talks with one, two, three orfive disciples of mygurudevain my room. There were also somebig officers and other important gentlemen who came to hearhim speak, and they would say, Oh, Abhaya Caraa Bbu issuch a learned and advanced person! Everybody would glorifyhim.

Prabhu was very enthusiastic about cooking, and he oftendeclared that all Gauya Vaiavas should be expert in cooking

for Ka.During the many months he stayed at Keavaj Gauya

Maha, the two of us would perform sundara-ratitogether eachevening. He would always play the mdagavery expertly, andI would play the kartlas and sing. He liked my singing verymuch and always requested me to lead the krtana. Someoneasked me, Why doesnt Prabhu also sing? He has a beautiful

voice as well. I replied, Yes, surely he does, but there are timeshe doesnt sing because he is experiencing intense devotionalfeelings and weeping. I have heard this also on some of hiscassette recordings.

Accepting Sannysa

He had been the manager of Bengal Chemicals and was soexpert that he had arranged another company himself. But there

were problems. He had come to Allahabad and managed a verybig medical shop, but after some time that also had difficulty. Hethen engaged in a little more business, but Ka would not allowit to continue. Then he came here.


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As we once talked together in 1959, sitting side-by-side,Prabhu said, When I first met rla Prabhupda, and when hegave me initiation, he told me that I should preach in English in

Western countries. He also told me this over twenty years ago inCalcutta. He continued, That which I feared has come on myhead, and now I see that I cannot successfully remain inbusiness.

I replied, Do not try for this anymore. You are not a personto do anything associated with worldly business. Ka and yourgurudeva want you to preach in Western countries. You havesuch important work to do, and you are so qualified. Welaughed together about this in a friendly way.

Guru Mahrja and Abhaya Cararavinda Prabhu werebosom friends they had lived and served together. Both wereintellectual giants and very erudite persons from high-classfamilies. So I now encouraged him to accept sannysafrom our

gurudeva and then go to preach in Western countries. Then, when mygurudeva later arrived from Navadvpa, I told him,Abhaya Cararavinda Prabhu is your friend. He can obey youbecause you are elder. Gurudeva was a sannysand Prabhu

was in ghastha-vea(the dress of a householder).Earlier, when I had written to Gurudeva that pjyapda

Abhaya Cararavinda Prabhu was staying here with us, he toldme, He is my bosom friend. Show him all respect and give himall facilities. I had known him since 1947, and I realized howhighly qualified he was. Pjyapda rla rdhara Mahrja, rlarauti Mahrja, and Guru Mahrja would always give him greatrespect and hear from him, even though he was a householder.

At this time, therefore, I requested mygurudevato apply some

pressure so that he would take sannysa. Gurudeva then calledhim and said, Nryaa Mahrja and all the other boys areencouraging that you take sannysa. I also support this idea. Donot hesitate to take the renounced order. You are so qualified.Please take sannysanow. It will be very beneficial.

Abhaya Cararavinda Prabhu thus agreed to accept


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specific orders to preach in the English language. He said, I feelfortunate to accept sannysa from my godbrother, rla BhaktiPrajna Keava Gosvm Mahrja. I have known him for a long

time and he is my close friend. He is a very bona fide disciple ofour jagad-gururla Bhaktisiddhnta Sarasvat hkura. He haskindly given me this sannysa order, and rla NryaaMahrja and rla Muni Mahrja have also given me inspirationto do this. The order of sannysameans to preach the missionof r Caitanya Mahprabhu and the mission of the gurueverywhere. Mygurudevainstructed me to preach in English, in

Western countries, and that is why I am writing English articlesand books. I am praying to Ka, Gurudeva and all the Vaiavasthat they give me the power to preach this mission all over the

world.Excerpts from his speech and a description of the ceremony

were printed in a news article in our Bhgavata Patrika. The

well-known photograph of our gurudeva sitting between rlaBhaktivednta Swm Mahrja and rla Bhaktivednta MuniMahrja was taken on that day. Kuja-bihr Brahmacr wasformerly a wealthy devotee and had previously helped build ourmaha financially; so now he gladly donated the five paisa hehad saved for a photographers snapshot. Thus, today, we can allhonor this sannysaportrait.

It was a special privilege for us to participate in assisting rlaBhaktivednta Swm Mahrja in accepting sannysa. For thenext three days after the ceremony, Kadsa Bbj Mahrjastayed together with him in his room. They were especially closeand confidential with each other. After this, rla Swm Mahrja

went to Agra to preach at a program he had arranged. He was

always coming and going, engaged in guru-sev. We kept hisroom open for him for the next five years, and during that timehe wrote some of his books, like Easy Journey to Other Planets,here. His three volumes ofrmad-Bhgavatamwere not printed

yet, so he continued writing and editing them here. Themanuscripts were then given to the press in Delhi and gradually


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published. He was also writing Back to Godhead and otherpublications. He had done some translating before, in Calcuttaand Allahabad, but here he was easily able to concentrate and

thus he accomplished so much.Some persons dont consider the taking of sannysa to be

very valuable or of much importance, but it is actually soimportant. I think that if rla Swm Mahrja had not takensannysa, perhaps he would not have done what he did in

Western countries. rla Swm Mahrja himself explains in hisbooks that it is favorable to accept the renounced order forpreaching. In India, everyone has honor for sannyss. Insannysa, one gives up something but gains everything. Asexplained in rmad-Bhgavatam: mukunda sevana-vrata. Asannysthinks, I only love Ka and rmat Rdhr. I dontknow anything else.

The sannysa-mantrais very helpful in attaining the ka-

prema which rla Rpa Gosvm, rla Raghuntha dsaGosvm and all the other Gosvms have tried to give us, andthis is superior to all supermost attainments. r CaitanyaMahprabhu came to give this type of ka-prema, andtherefore the taking ofsannysais very important. Dont think itis a minor point.

At r Rdh-Dmodara Mandira

rla Swm Mahrja and I are godbrothers in regards tosannysa. I had taken sannysabefore him, in 1954, and he tooksannysa in 1959. However, I always considered him mysuperior and behaved towards him as my ik-guru, but rla

Swm Mahrja never treated me as a disciple. Rather, he alwaysaccepted me as a bosom friend. He had me sit on the same seat

with him while we were chantingjapa, performing krtana, andalso sometimes making capts together. He would roll thecaptsand I would put them on the fire, and then we wouldoffer them.


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We would also sit on the same bed together. One time I cameto visit and gave him mycdara, because he had no cdara toput on his bed. He had only one torn quilt there. The walls were

crumbling, but he was too absorbed in his bhajanaand sevtocare for that. He performed intense tpasyaand sdhanain thatkura, in that most sacred trtha. I feel fortunate to have receivedhis association there.

During those years at Rdh-Dmodara, he was consumed inthe writing of his translations and purports of rmad-Bhgavatam. Whenever I visited him, I would try to offer himassistance. In those days I was editing the Patrika, which left me

very little time. Still, we would often associate together there inhis small bhajan-kura. Sometimes we tookprasadamwith theRdh-Dmodara Gosvms. He and I also performedparikramof Rdh-Dmodara, walking together and paying respects at thesamdhis of rla Bhaktisiddhnta Sarasvat hkura, rla Jva

Gosvm, rla Kadsa Kavirja Gosvm, and especially rlaRpa Gosvm.

Preparation and Departure for America

rla Swm Mahrja spent considerable time in Delhi beforehe went to America, because this is where he was printing anddistributing his books. He published three volumes of rmad-Bhgavatamthere. I went there several times to be with him, and

we stayed together in his rooms at the Chippiwada Rdh-KaTemple.

He preached vigorously in Delhi; wherever he went, hepreached to the public. He spoke about Rdh-Ka and r

Caitanya Mahprabhus mission to everyone he met, and he alsoengaged me beside him. Then, when he was in America, he

wrote and encouraged me to continue preaching to the peoplehe had cultivated there. (See Endnote 5.)

When rla Swm Mahrja was leaving to go to America, hedescribed everything to me about his travel plans. He told me


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how, in Bombay, he had been given a ticket to travel across theAtlantic Ocean to Boston by freighter, and he described his routeand his arrival there. He had great faith and a careful preaching

strategy. His goal was to set up Vaiava institutes anddormitories there. Showing great confidence in the holy name, hesaid that even if at first the new students felt that they must takemeat or wine, he would do what was necessary to begin theirbhakti. He asked me to accompany him, and I begged him that Icould not go without the permission of mygurudeva, who hadordered me to manage the mahain Mathur.

One day he announced to me, Now the time has come andI am going. He was leaving for the Port of Calcutta and was to

visit Mypura also. I came and said good-bye, and I took hisfootdust and put it on my head. Before he left he requested me tokeep a regular correspondence with him, which I did, and we

wrote many letters to each other in those next years. A few of

these letters are printed in the pamphlet rla PrabhupdasLetters from America. Unfortunately, most of his other letters tome were loaned and have not yet been returned.

Later he wrote me to send him his books from his room inMathur, where many of his thick volumes were stored in hiscabinet. His books were very dusty, and I cleaned and packedmany boxes of them for an entire day. I then shipped those booksby boat to New York. When we visited his rooms at the Los

Angeles Temple in 1996, I was touched to see several of thosesame books still there in his bookshelves. I tried faithfully toperform all the services he requested.

Return to India

When he returned to India in 1967, I met him and his disciple,Krtannanda dsa, at the airport in Delhi. He had instructed meto do this in his telegram. When we met, he told me many

wonderful accounts and details about his preaching in America,and how miraculous were the results. Humbly, he felt that all this

was only the mercy of his gurudeva, and the desire of r


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Caitanya Mahprabhu and His associates. One special thing hetold me was how he first chanted the Hare Ka mah-mantrain Tompkins Square Park in New York City. Chanting for several

hours, he had kept his eyes closed, deeply hearing anddepending completely on that mercy.

We stayed together in Delhi for seven days at the ChippiwadaRdh-Ka Temple. Because rla Swm Mahrja wassometimes feeling ill, he would send me along with Krtannandadsa to represent him in his preaching programs. He alwaysencouraged us to preach very strongly. He wanted everyone tosee his Western Vaiava, and so he took us to chant and preachto people he knew in Delhi.

After a few weeks, another of rla Swm Mahrjasdisciples, Acyutnanda dsa, came to stay in Vndvana. Becausethese two were rla Swm Mahrjas disciples, I sat together

with them and honored the mah-prasdathey had prepared.

All the caste Gosvms, and almost all of rla Swm Mahrjasgodbrothers, would never take anyprasda or even the waterthat Krtannanda dsa and Acyutnanda dsa offered them. Thereason they refused was that those disciples were Westerners andhad previously eaten flesh. I spoke out against this policy andencouraged others to accept rla Swm Mahrjas disciples asbona fide. I explained how rla Swm Mahrjas preaching toforeigners was completely authorized and directly in the line ofr Caitanya Mahprabhu and our guru-varga. I think that most ofthe Indian Vaiavas have now accepted this.

During this first trip back to India in 1967, Parama-pujyapdarla Swm Mahrja came to visit mygurudeva, his sannysa-guru. At that time, my gurudeva was in weak health and was

confined to his bed in Calcutta. They had a confidential visit then,and this was their last time together in this world. Mygurudeva

was overjoyed at rla Swm Mahrjas devotional service totheir rla Prabhupda. He expressed his appreciation andglorified his extensive preaching, and he pledged to cooperate inthat preaching work.


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They also discussed my gurudevas helping to arrange adonation of land for rla Swm Mahrjas future Mypuratemple. rla Bhaktivednta Trivikrama Mahrja and rla

Bhaktivednta Vmana Mahrja were also present on thatoccassion.

After rla Gurudeva departed from this world in 1968, rlaSwm Mahrja, along with his disciples, sent us a telegram ofcondolence.

He also sent a long letter to rla Trivikrama Mahrja inNavadvpa. He also delivered a lecture about rla Gurudeva inSeattle, Washington, and there he described the history of hisawarding him sannysa. He spoke about the great appreciationand affection he had for him, and how he had now enteredKas abode. We heard later from some of his disciples that heshed tears when he received the telegram telling of ourgurudevasentering nity-ll.

In his letter to rla Trivikrama Mahrja, rla SwmMahrja asked him to send a photo of Gurudeva, because he

wanted to place it on his temple altars in the West. He also wroteand asked me to send a picture to him. I remember that in oneletter he requested me, Please send me a picture of yourgurudevaso I can have a portrait painted for displaying with ourdisciplic succession in all of our temples. (See Endnote 6.)Somehow we were never able to arrange that, but I know that if

we had been able to, he would have used it.

Preaching in India

In 1969, rla Swm Mahrja came again to Navadvpa, and

stayed for a week or two with a large group of disciples at ourDevnanda Gauya Maha. Nikuja Brahmacr and othershelped give everyone accommodations, special prasda andmosquito nets, and made all other arrangements.

rla Swm Mahrja was looking for land in Mypura,desiring to make an rama and mandira there, but the


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inhabitants of Navadvpa told him that he should do it inNavadvpa Town. They said that the birthplace of Mahprabhu

was there in Prcna Mypura, and they tried to convince him to

make his temple there. But he decided, No, I will not do that. I will establish it on rla Prabhupdas side. This is where rlaBhaktivinoda hkura had established Mypura and Yogapha,on the eastern bank of the Gag, across from Navadvpa town.

At that time it was the rainy season and the land was floodedeverywhere but, even so, rla Swm Mahrja traveled to theother side of the Gag to arrange for purchasing his land.

On one occasion, some of his godbrothers in Mypurasuggested to him that he not allow himself to be called rlaPrabhupda. They also feared that he was not preaching thepurest devotional standards but was, rather, altering the strictGauya Maha process too much, out of deference to the

Westerners. I defended him, saying, I dont believe this. He has

not given anything new. Far and wide, in the English language,he is preaching our same mission in a new bottle. Nothing isnew, and I dont see anything wrong. He has wonderfullypreached this mission of rla Bhaktisiddhnta Sarasvat hkuraand rla Bhaktivinoda hkura everywhere. If his disciples trulyfollow guru-bhakt (guru and Vaiavas), they will continuehis line. I dont believe that just because he is doing somerevolutionary preaching it is a problem. He is marvelouslyexecuting his gurudevasorders.

I also explained, They may call their gurudevaPrabhupdaor o viupda. I think in the future age, more disciples in theline of rla Bhaktisiddhnta Sarasvat Prabhupda might also callanother qualified spiritual master rla Prabhupda, because it

has been allowed in stra. Disciples of rla BhaktisiddhntaSarasvat hkura Prabhupda who had agreed that they wouldnot take this name, out of deference to him, can keep thatagreement; but because of his high bhaktiand world preaching,and because of their devotion for him, if rla Swm Mahrjasdisciples call him rla Prabhupda there is no harm. If you want


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to reject him for this reason, I dont agree. rla rdharaMahrja, myself and a few others explained this to the otherdevotees, especially in private.

On a few occasions, some of rla Swm Mahrjasgodbrothers in Mypura directly asked him why he accepted thename rla Prabhupda, and we once heard the explanation hegave to them. He humbly told them, When rla BhaktisiddhntaSarasvat hkura left this world, some of the godbrothers tookeverything of his mission, including his names like omvisnupda and paramahasa. All that remained for me wasmy Prabhupda himself. He is my Prabhu, my master, and I amalways at hispad, his feet. His feet are my only possession andshelter. So when my young disciples began to call me that, Iconsidered it to be true. If anyone calls me rla Prabhupda, Ionly remember mygurudevaslotus feet and how I am situatedthere. If others think that I am an offender or proud, I request

them to please accept my understanding.During the following years, 19701977, I was constantly

traveling and preaching throughout India. Because our gurudevahad departed from this world, I was very busy with managementaffairs in our mahas. rla Swm Mahrja was also very busyduring those years, continually travelling around the world, so heand I were not able to meet together often. Unfortunately, I wasnot there for the opening of the Ka-Balarma Mandira, which

was established in 1975, near the time of Gaura Prim. Heinvited me, but I was not in Mathur at that time, because we

were so busy in Navadvpa. During most of those years, I was notregularly present in Mathur, so he did not come back to visit ourMaha. If I had been present when he was in Vndvana, I would

have invited him and he would have come.In the earlier days of his preaching in the West, many of us

wanted to directly help him, but the time was not ripe. Therewere only a few of us living in the mahathen, and we were allbusy preaching in India. We were not doing as much preachingas he was, but we were busy, and mygurudevahad ordered me


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to render certain services. rla Swm Mahrja was busy on abig scale and we were busy on a little scale, but both of us werebusy serving guruand Gaurga.

Another difficulty was that in those early days most devoteesknew very little English, especially in the matter of speaking.Therefore, although there were some who were very strong inbhakti, they were not able to meet and communicate with the

Westerners. At that time, there were some high-class devotees who did

not externally manifest themselves as being qualified. I knew ofabout ten or more Indian devotees, including some of rlaSwm Mahrjas godbrothers and others who were initiated bythem, who came to serve with him in India when ISKCON wasnewly established there. Kadsa Bbj Mahrja, Dna-bandhu Bbj Mahrja, Govardhana Prabhu, Ananda Prabhufrom Orissa and several others came. But they did not know

English and they appeared to be insignificant, so hardly any ofthe Westerners understood their qualities. Now almost everyonecan speak English, but not then. Although we could notpersonally join rla Swm Mahrja, many of us were veryproud and overjoyed that he was preaching so gloriously.

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CHAPTER TWO

RLA PRABHUPDASDISAPPEARANCE LL

rla Prabhupdas Desire to go to Govardhana(Excerpts from a Mathur Class, 1993)

In his last days, rla Swm Mahrja requested his disciples,

Take me to Govardhana. I want to go there just now. I dont want to go by car. I will go by bullock cart, like Nanda Bb,Yasoda-maiya, all the gops, and all the Vrajavss. He wished forthis opportunity, but he could not go; I knew this fact. Actually he

went there with his soul, his transcendental body. He is alwaysthere among rla Rpa Gosvm, rla Santana Gosvm, andrla Raghuntha dsa Gosvm, by tad-anurgi jannugm

(following those eternal residents of Vndvana who possessinherent spontaneous attachment for r Ka (see Nectar ofInstruction, Verse 8)).

His desire was to go to Govardhana, and He also expressedhis real intention in the matter of this desire: Govardhana, pleasegive me residence near you. In all of Vraja-maala, Gokula isthe best place, because Gokula is where Ka was born from the

womb of Yaod and where He performed His childhoodpastimes. In Gokula there is a multitude of cows, gops, andgopas, and the main gopais Ka. He resides in Gokula, whichincludes Nandagrma, Var, Kmyavana, and Vndvana. Inall of Gokula, Vndvana is the best place, and in Vndvana,Govardhana is best. In all of Govardhana, his two eyes, Rdh-

kunda and Syama-kunda, are the best. The sweetest and mostattractive pastimes of r r Rdh-Ka take place there.Parama-pujyapda rla Swm Mahrja therefore wanted to goto that place, because the best of all Their pastimes is performedthere. There, rasa-ll takes place in a special way. So muchattractive ka-ll is enacted at Girirja Govardhana, and

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therefore devotees pray, O Girirja, please fulfill my desire towitness these pastimes. rla Swm Mahrja wanted to go toGovardhana with the same idea in mind.

His lifes ideal and principal desire was to give vraja-premato the world, but first he had to spend a long time preachingvaidh-bhakti, cutting away the jungle of atheism and myvda.He desired to translate the rmad-Bhagavatam in full, andespecially to describe elaborately the pastimes narrated in theTenth Canto. But Bhagavn called him back to His nity-ll..Perhaps Ka did not want him to remain in separation fromHim any longer, and therefore rla Swm Mahrjas desire to goto Girirja Govardhana was fulfilled by Bhagavns calling himback to Girirja Govardhana in Goloka Vndvana.

Girirja Govardhana is our primary shelter because prema-bhva, the mood of pure ecstatic love, is the highest there. rlaSwm Mahrja wanted to relish this pinnacle ofka-prema

and to distribute it to the residents of this world. Therefore,like rla Rpa Gosvm, rla Bhaktivinoda hkura, rlaBhaktisiddhnta Sarasvat Gosvm Prabhupda, and my own

worshipable gurudeva, rla Bhakti Prajna Keava GosvmMahrja, rla Bhaktivednta Swm Mahrja also wantedresidence near Govardhana. Govardhana is the best place in Vrajafor both sdhakas and siddhas. If a sdhakawho does not haveprema performs bhajana there, he will get prema; and if aperfected devotee goes there, he will relish Rdh-Kas nity-ll. He will also receive daranaof the mahbhva which ismost dear to Rdh-Ka.

Those who are most intelligent want to serve the DivineCouple r r Rdh and Ka on the bank of Rdh-kunda. rla

Swm Mahrja explains this in his Nectar of Instruction. Suchdevotees want to be there; and if they cannot be there in theirbody, they can live there by mind and heart. Devotees like rlaRaghuntha dsa Gosvm, rla Rpa Gosvm, rla JvaGosvm, rla Gopla Bhaa Gosvm, rla Raghuntha BhattaGosvm, and rla Kadasa Kavirja Gosvm -- all have


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permanent seats there. Have you gone there? If you go there withany high-class, advanced devotee, you may see something, foreverything is there. The Pavas and Draupad are also there,

performing rdhana (worship) of the gops. Those who arealways present there in their transcendental bodies, under theguidance of Sri Rpa-majar and Sri Rati-majar, are thetopmost devotees. We want to follow them. This is the mood ofrla Rpa Gosvm and rla Raghuntha dsa Gosvm, and alsothe mood of rla Bhaktivednta Swm Mahrja.

This is actually the highest glorification of rla SwmMahrja. If one does not understand this glory, he is unfortunatebecause he is not actually touching his glory. Such a personcannot glorify him properly. Devotees must appreciate him forhis most elevated qualities, especially describing his highest loveand affection for rmat Rdhika. We should not desire that allhigh-class devotees, uttama-bhgavatas, come down to the level

ofkaniha-adhikrs. I know that rla Swm Mahrja wantedto be there in Govardhana forever, and to serve there. He actuallyrealized the above-mentioned prayer, written by rla Raghunthadsa Gosvm.

Visiting Him in His Last Days

rla Swm Mahrja was becoming very ill, and ourSukhnanda Prabhu was offering him naturopathic massages

with Ganges water. Before he went abroad to England,Sukhnanda Prabhu came to Vndvana for two hours everymorning and evening for fourteen days to massage him, andthese massages helped him. We also sometimes visited and spoke

with him then. Once we came at a time when he had hardly eatenor even taken water for many days. Still, he affectionately greetedus and, as he had always done with all, he lovingly offered us theopulent mah-prasdamthat had been prepared and offered byhis disciples. He exclaimed how nicely his young students weretrying to serve their gurudevaand Ka. Even though he himself


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had eaten nothing at all for so long, he made sure, in such acareful and affectionate way, that each of us tookprasdato ourfull satisfaction.

Some godbrothers and associates were paying visits to him inhis room around this time. Akicana Kadsa Bbj Mahrja,rla Bon Mahrja, rla Bhakti Pramoda Pur Mahrja, rlaBhakti Vaibhava Pur Mahrja, Indupati Prabhu (from rlaMdhava Mahrjas temple), nanda Prabhu, and many moredevotees came to see him. We also came several times to be

with him, along with our brahmacrs like eay Prabhu,ubhnanda Prabhu, Premnanda Prabhu, and sometimes others.There are tape recordings of some of these conversations, butmost of them were in Bengali or Hindi.

Just before Krtika month in early October, when our annualVraja Maalaparikramwas about to begin, Parama-pjyapdarla Swm Mahrja sent for me. He requested his senior

sannyss and many others, I want to meet with NryaaMahrja. A few of them then came by car and requested me,rla Prabhupda wants you, so please come now. I was in themidst of giving evening discourse to ourparikramaparty, but Icame immediately.

When I arrived in his room at Ka-Balarama Mandira, hewas quite silent. Some boys were singing the Hare Ka mah-mantra, and some sannyss and other disciples were silent.

After some time he opened his eyes and indicated with his eyesfor me to come close. He was so enthusiastic before his death not his death, no his entering ka-ll. He was not speaking,but when he saw me he showed his happiness. The devotees

were chanting Hare Ka very softly in rla Swm Mahrjas

special tune, and all could see that he was not speaking now.I offered prama to him, nty prama (standing and

silent), because I saw that there were many persons present andno space for me to offer full pranma. When he saw me he atonce said, Oh, Nryaa Mahrja has come. He wanted me totake a seat on his bed. He tried to sit up, but I put my hands on


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him and said, Please lie down, and I will sit over here. He thenmotioned for me to come nearer to his bed and said, I want tospeak to you. He wanted me to sit closer to his ear, so he told

some disciples, Bring a chair, and I sat on it near to his ear.First he began to weep; his heart was melted. From the core

of his heart he told me, Nryaa Mahrja, can you excuse me?I feel that there is cause for you to forgive me. For the sake ofpreaching I have told my disciples some things, which perhaps Ishould not have said. Also I spoke very strongly about mygodbrothers in one letter, which was then sent to everyone. I saidthat we are preaching and others are not, that they are kaniha-adhikrswho dont preach but are idle. I said that none of theGauya Vaiavas helped me that they only take mah-prasdamand sleep.

At this time, many of his sannysdisciples were watching.His words and mood implied to me many things about how he

had wanted to encourage his young students. As we are carefulwith babies, so he had sometimes instructed some of them not tomix with his godbrothers and the other Gauya Vaiavas. Tosave his newcomers from becoming disturbed or confused, hesometimes told them not to visit anywhere else. One reason wasthat a few of his godbrothers had done some wrong things. Also,his disciples did not understand the Indian ways of indirect,subtle meanings. Also, he did not want them to lose heart due tocriticism from any Indian Vaiavas who may not haveunderstood their sensitivities and his style of training them.

rla Swm Mahrja had been a member of the GauyaMaha for a very long time and he knew the regulations andsiddhnta but he could not teach all his disciples everything

in just a few years. He had been cultivating many Vaiava Westerners from different countries, but they still lacked ourVedic culture and sadcra(devotional habits). He had given his young disciples instructions to avoid other Vaiavas, just toprotect them from becoming discouraged. He would say,Although they are not fully trained, their devotional attitude is so


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nice. I am praying to Guru Mahrja and the rpnuga-guru-vargato bless them all. r Caitanya Mahprabhu, r NitynandaPrabhu, and r Baladeva Prabhu will surely give them their

mercy.rla Swm Mahrja was remembering all these things, and

he now requested me, Kindly tell the other Vaiavas that I havemade this offense, and to please excuse me. I have so muchsorrow for this. I told him, You are my ik-guruand a pure

Vaiava. I know that you cannot do anything that is not in theline ofbhakti. You have done these things only for the purposeof serving your gurudevaand Caitanya Mahprabhu, and we alsodo this. All of us are indebted to you; there is no question. Weknow the prediction: pthivte che yata nagardi grma. Youhave performed a miracle; you have spread His glorieseverywhere. We dont think that you have done anything wrong,so I have nothing for which to excuse you. But I will relay your

request to the senior Vaiavas. You are myik-guru; whateverinstructions you give me I will follow with absolute sincerity.Tears were very sweetly falling from his eyes. He was acting insuch a humble way, as if he was not a good Vaiava; but actuallyhe was like rla Narottama dsa hkura and rla Bhaktivinodahkura.

He continued, r rmad Bhaktisiddhnta Sarasvat hkuraPrabhupda ordered all of us to preach in Europe and America.That was his strong desire. His other desire was that we all worktogether to preach. I didnt waste a single moment. I tried mybest, and to some extent it has been successful. His voice waschoked with emotion as he continued to speak: If we can workconjointly, then, as r Caitanya Mahprabhu declared, this

sakrtanamovement has great possibilities.Then he told me, I want you to help take care of my

disciples. I want them to be good and qualified devotees. If theycome to you, please care for them. Many of his disciples werenearby, so he softly whispered in Bengali, When I went to the

West, I caught so many monkeys in my net. Really, they are very


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expert in quarreling among themselves like that. They are still very young and untrained. So I request you that after mydeparture you will help them in every respect. Considering the

implications of this order from my ik-guru, I hesitated. Thenhe grasped both of my hands in his own, looked deeply into myeyes and asked me to promise to help. Therefore I agreed,saying, I promise that according to my ability and my bhakti-siddhnta-tattva(understanding of the conclusive statements ofbhakti), I will always be ready to help them as you request.

Then I told him, I want to say something to them. rlaSwm Mahrja at once became inspired and called to them,Oh, you should all come near and hear Nryaa Mahrja.Please take into your hearts what he is speaking. Then I toldthem all, Dont think that rla Swm Mahrja is leaving this

world. Gurudeva is eternal. You are fortunate to have such abona fide guru and Vaiava. You should try to preach his

mission more and more enthusiastically. If you are after materialthings, you will find yourselves quarreling over name, fame and

worldly gain. You will not be following his teachings. You willnot be following his mission; youll be doing wrong. So dontpursue your own self-interest. Give up all these things. To serverla Swm Mahrja, and to preach his mission, you should beunited with all the devotees. Dont quarrel with others over asmall point. Dont expel anyone from this mission by findingsmall faults. Try to behave like friends, with brotherhood, andthen you can preach. If you have difficulty with any of thesethings, then, as rla Swm Mahrja has requested me, you cancome to me and I will try to help you from the core of my heart.They all listened to me then, and this was recorded on a cassette

tape.rla Swm Mahrja turned his head slowly, looking over

the devotees as they gathered in closely. Then he slowly lifted hishand, as if to call them to attention, and said, Listen to NryaaMahrja. Dont fight amongst yourselves. I have given alldirection in my books. Then he lowered his hand.


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After this rla Swm Mahrja told me, I pray to you thatyou will put me into mysamdhiwith your own hand. I dontwant to take samdhifrom anyone elses hands. I think you are

the proper person. After my samdhi, arrange to celebrate mymahotsavaseparation festival. You should give some amount ofmoney to all the seven temples in Vndvana and to all theGauya Mahas. It depends upon you how much 201 rupees,1001 rupees according to your discretion, whatever yourecommend. They should all hear these instructions and arrangeto pay. Arrange a mahotsavafestival also in Mathur and inviteall the senior Vaiavas to the feast. Invite all the Vaiavas in

Vndvana. Do this for me, and again I am telling you that youshould always help my devotees.

[EDITORS NOTE: For special insight into the historical record, wehave chosen to include here excerpts from the transcription of an

original taped recording. These memories and personal insights

were spoken in a temple class shortly after rla Prabhupdas

departure by one of his senior disciples, Bhgavata dsa, whohad been present at this same occasion described by rla

Nryaa Mahrja above. We pray that the assembled

Vaiavas will treat this information with sensitive care, as suchtopics are generally not for public discussion.]

While rla Prabhupda was lying there, he assumed acertain pose. But we couldnt understand it. We just thought he

was lying on the bed. He had his hands in a certain way, his head was in a certain way, his legs were in a certain way, and hearched his body in a certain manner. rla Nryaa Mahrjasaid, Oh, he is in such and such mudr. Its a type ofmudr.

He said, This is exhibited by someone in the last period beforehe passes away. It indicates that he is dancing with Ka. Whenhe exhibits this form in the bed, it means that he is dancing withKa; it is a dancing pose. Some people may try to understandrla Prabhupdas relationship with Ka, but this indicated aspecific pastime.


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Then he brought in his brahmacrs. He has a little choirthere in Mathur. rla Nryaa Mahrja and the brahmacrsbegan to sing r Rpa-majar-pada. rla Nryaa Mahrja

has a beautiful voice, a very baritone voice: r Rpa-majar-pada, sei mora sampada. He sang very, very slowly. Everyonewas crying. The whole room was in tears, and everyone was very, very shook up. Then, as the night continued, the krtanacontinued on and on.

[This second account is a continuation of the previous tape-

recorded class, describing recollections of November 14th,during rla Prabhupdas final five hours.]

. . . rla Prabhupda started exhibiting extraordinary activities.He started to roll back and forth on the bed, back and forth, andhe would flail his arms in the air and then suddenly stop as if he

was stunned. He wasnt speaking at all, and then he would groan.

Then suddenly he would belch very, very loudly, then he wouldshed tears and tremble, and then he would roll again. In this wayhe would continue on and on in so many different postures.

At first everyone was horrified. Then rla NryaaMahrja came, and he was the last one with whom rlaPrabhupda communicated. I dont know what rla Nryaa

Mahrja said to him because I never asked him. Someoneshould ask him that. He entered the room and rla Prabhupdawas shaking about, flailing his arms. Then he went right up torla Prabhupdas ear and whispered something. Then rlaPrabhupda stopped, and rla Nryaa Mahrja whisperedsomething. rla Prabhupda put up his hand and shook it like hehad given benediction. rla Nryaa Mahrja understood what

he meant, and then he put his hand down.

His Divine Departure

When we arrived in those final hours on November 14th, hewas not speaking. I felt at that time, by seeing his face, that he


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was fully remembering the pastimes of Ka in Vndvana. Ithink this was great mercy coming from Ka, because he hadserved Rdh-Ka for his entire lifetime. For that special

person, Ka absorption is there. Entranced in this way, his eyeswere closed and he was exhibiting special symptoms. It was avery touching scene. He had no pain, no distraction. At that timehis mouth was so beautiful. It was like a blossomed rose, like alotus.

These are the signs of a very great personality. Otherwise,another may cry, I am dying, I am dying, and the face will be sougly. But he was never like that. He was like a beautiful lotusflower. I knew what he was doing. I have seen others also,including my gurudeva, entering aprakaa-ll (Kas eternalpastimes). I have seen Pjyapada Anaga-mohana Brahmacr,rla Jaganntha Bbj Mahrja (a disciple of rlaBhaktisiddhnta Prabhupda), rla Narasiha Mahrja, and

Srila Padmanbha Mahrja. I have seen many devotees whenthey departed, so I could judge what was transpiring. They wouldcall out, Ka Ka and Rdhe Rdhe. There are particularsigns at that moment, which show that someone is rememberingKa, and rla Bhaktivednta Swm Mahrja was exhibiting allthose signs. He was very beautiful and very exalted. There wasno sign of pain and no attachment to the body or anything else.He was no longer anxious for his young disciples, nor for any ofthe outward things he had established in his Ka consciousnessmovement. Now there was nothing else only rememberingKa.

Our brahmacrs were softly singing some bhajanas. At thattime, I saw that he was fully satisfied, and thus I was also fully

satisfied. I knew then that he would surely go soon, but there wasno sign when he would go; he would leave now, or in a shorttime. He had previously talked with me, when he was in hisexternal consciousness, but he did not request me to stay. I wasnot in a hurry, but I was thinking that just after my leaving forMathur he would enter into nitya-ll. We left to return to

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Mathur, and we were informed that he departed a few hourslater.

Shortly after that time, we returned to the Ka-Balarma

Mandira and made all arrangements for his mahotsava.According to his wishes, we took him on procession to most ofthe important deities of Vndvana. There were so many of hisdisciples and other persons chanting in that procession, and all ofthe Vrajavss came out into the streets to honor him. After this, Iprepared his body. I wrote the special mantrason his chest andforehead with tilaka. I used salt for his body, and then, followingall of the proper Vaiava procedures, I put his transcendentalbody into samdhiwith my own hand.

In Mdhurya-rasa

Premacannot be contained within the material body. One

with a material body can attain up to the stage ofsvarpa-siddhi.Yet, we see that rasika-bhaktas(those who are already internallysituated in their exchanges with Ka in His ll) have premaand also appear in a body. We should understand, therefore, thattheir body is not a worldly material body. This body cannot bearto holdprema. In such a mood of separation, it would burst intopieces.

To understand this, we must perform sdhana-bhajanaandbecome qualified. rla Swm Mahrja was always in that mood,but he did not externally manifest it. He kept it hidden withinhimself. He had to suppress all his actual moods for his preachingpurpose. His prema was displaying itself inside, but it was notfully manifest externally. Otherwise, all would have been

madness and the preaching would have been stopped. Theuddpana(stimulus) was always there, but inside. When he wentto the West there was uddpana for preaching. He preached,You are not your body, and he preached Gt, Jaganntha

worship, etc. At the end, he came back to Vndvana-dhma,relishing all the internal moods, and he was always deeply


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hearing and chanting Hare Ka. He told us, My home is inVndvana. Home means his loving home, his real home.

rla Swm Mahrja was surely in mdhurya-rasa. Some

may say, why not sakhya-rasa? I am not denying this, becauseeverything is present in mdhurya-rasa. All other rasas,like vtsalya-rasa, sakhya-rasa, and so on, are included inmdhurya-rasa.

So it may be said that all rasas were in him; he was notdeprived ofskhya-rasa. He had written some statements in hispoems, and he had special affection for Gaura-Nitai and Ka-Balarama. But he was certainly in mdhurya-rasa, because hissannysa-guru, mygurudeva, gave him the sannysa-mantra,the gop-bhva-mantra, in our rpnugaline. Just as rla RupaGosvm, rla Jva Gosvm, rla Bhaktivinoda hkura andhis gurudeva were in this rasa, and just as he wrote in hisrealizations, in the purports of his books, he was surely in

mdhurya-rasa.


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CHAPTER THREE

MY MESSAGE IS ONE WITH HIS

Sometimes it sounds to some that I am speaking certainthings that rla Swm Mahrja has never said. When a seed isplanted, it will naturally grow into a tree with branches. Are thesebranches not included in the original seed? Are they coming fromsomewhere else? Because it is a tree, all its parts will naturally

manifest; they are all hidden within the seed. rla SwmMahrja has written everything in his books. I am not sayinganything new. Everything that I speak is coming directly andexclusively from the authentic literatures of our cryas. I also tryto give examples from rla Swm Mahrjas own purports, inhis own words. So his tree will certainly grow. New leaves willcome and that same tree will give more and more shade. As we

water that tree, so many beautiful flowers and fruits will come;that is sure. That watering process is hearing, chanting andremembering hari-kath.

Parama-pjyapda rla Swm Mahrja has planted manyseeds of bhakti. Some seeds are sprouting, some are growing,and some have leaves two leaves, four leaves, six leaves andmore. But there are also many seeds that are drying up. Manydevotees have lost their strength and their faith. Some sannyssare leaving sannysa, and many sincere devotees are feelingdisconnected and disheartened. These creepers which rlaSwm Mahrja has planted need water to be sprinkled uponthem.

One Vaiava can never be exactly the same as another. All

details of expression cannot be identically the same; there mustbe some difference. r Nitynanda Prabhu and r CaitanyaMahprabhu are not exactaly the same. rla Rpa Gosvm andrla Santana Gosvm are in the same line but are notcompletely the same. The leaves of any tree, like a mango tree,are not all the same; there must be some difference. So we are

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also in the family of r Caitanya Mahprabhu, and therefore weare included in the same tree. It cannot be said that there is anyreal difference between us, since we are in the same bona fide

disciplic tree.I was never interested in collecting many followers, and I

didnt want to initiate many disciples. For a long time I have beenactive as a ik-guru for the devotees in the Gauya VedntaSamt. Similarly, I want to offer ikto anyone who is interested.Now I have accepted Western dk disciples, but my originalintention was to help everyone become strong by ik. I wantthe devotees to benefit from the ikof all bona fide Vaiavas.I want them to advance more and more in Ka consciousness,to have love and affection for each other and for all other

Vaiavas. I want to see rla Swm Mahrjas movementbecome healthy and strong.

rla rdhara Mahrja tried to help in this same way,

because he was also requested by rla Swm Mahrja. Henever called the devotees or tried to cause any disturbance. Many

were attracted and came and wanted to hear hari-kath, and he was distributing hari-kath. Other Gauya Vaiavas are alsodoing this. We are speaking hari-kathhere, and thus so manydevotees are thirsty to receive help. The concept and siddhntaof ik-guruand guru-tattva is not yet widely understood andaccepted. The ik-gurudoes not compete with the dk-guru.He assists the devotees in strengthening their relationship withtheir dk-guru, and in understanding and carrying outtheir dk-gurus conclusions. I am bound to serve rlaBhaktivednta Swm Mahrja in these ways, because he is notonly myik guru, he is also my bosom friend.

rla Swm Mahrjas order to me was that I help hisdevotees. If I am obeying him, then I may be disobeying others.In any case, even if the whole world is on one side opposing me,I will be on the other side, trying to obey him. I only want toteach what is pure bhaktiin the line of rla Rpa Gosvm andall our cryas down to rla Bhaktivednta Swm Mahrja.

MY MESSAGE IS ONE WITH HIS

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I want to be welcome in his temples, where he performed hispastimes. I want to take his footdust, pay my respects, andespecially worship at his place ofsamdhi, which was performed

with my own hands. I have an open heart and open arms; mydoor is always open to anyone. My intention is to help everyone

who comes to me, to establish a beautiful temple in their heartwhere r r Rdh and Ka can be served.

I am praying at the lotus feet of my dk-gurudeva, andat the lotus feet of my ik-guru and priya-bandhu, rlaBhaktivednta Swm Mahrja. May they bestow their mercy onall of you and also on me. If after first giving mercy to all of youthere is some left, then may they give it to me as well. From myheart, I care for all of his followers who try to carry out his ordersand spread Ka consciousness. I am begging all of the

Vaiavas to be sympathetic to my attempt to serve the lotus feetand mission of our beloved Srila Bhaktivednta Swm Mahrja.

He has kindly given me the opportunity to serve him, and I amoffering my heartfeltpupjaliat his lotus feet.


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ENDNOTES

1. Rays of the Harmonist. Vol. 2 No. 1. The Mission of rla Bhakti

Prajnana Keava Mahrja. Translation from the Hindi article inBhagavta Patrika of Feb. 1998, by rla Nryaa Mahrja

(pg. 2627).

During this unfavorable situation, around 193840, r Krti-ratnaPrabhu (one of rla Bhakti Prajna Keava Gosvm Mahrjasbrahmacrnames) had spent a few days in Prayaga, at r RpaGauya Maha. There he met rmad Abhaya Caraa

Bhaktivednta. These two godbrothers had been intimate friendssince 1922. r Abhaya Caranas business in Prayaga was in anunstable condition. In spite of this he still remained enthusiasticto preach the message of bhagavad-bhakti, and in fact bothgodbrothers were very enthusiastically preaching the message ofuddha-bhaktiin Prayaga and Allahabad. . .

During this same period, in 1940, r Vinoda-bihrBrahmacr (rla Bhakti Prajna Keava Gosvm Mahrjasbrahmacr name) came from Mypura to the town ofNavadvpa along with Pjyapda rmad Bhakti Rakaka rdharaMahrja, rpda Narahari Brahmacr Sev-vigraha, rpdaBiracandra Prabhu, and some other godbrothers. At Navadvpa,he founded r Devananada Gauya Math in a rented house inthe locality of Tegharipada, and from there started the preachingofuddha-bhakti.

On April 7, 1940, the day of akaya-ttya, pjyapda r Vinoda-bihr Brahmacr Kt-ratna founded r Gauya Vednta Samt at 33/2 Bosapada Lane, Calcutta, in a rentedhouse. At that time Pjyapda Abhaya CararavindaBhaktivednta, r Nsihnanda Brahmacr, rpda Ka-kruya Brahmacr, rpda Sajjana-sevaka Brahmacr (thepresent crya of the Samt, rla Bhaktivednta Vmana

Mahrja) and many other Vaiavas were present.2. Their Lasting Relation. Letter of Condolence from rlaPrabhupda to rla Trivikrama Mahrja. Seattle, Oct. 22, l968 (pg.

3738).

I have a very close connection with r Gauya Vednta Samt. Yourself, and particularly rpda Vamana Mahrja, are well

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aware of the fact that I am one of the three persons who foundedr Gauya Vednta Samt. We had conceived of the idea of theformation of r Gauya Vednta Samt at Bosapada Lane,

Calcutta, even before rla (Bhakti Prajnana Keava) Mahrjaaccepted sannysa.

3. rla Prabhupdas Letters from America to rla Nryaa

Mahrja. Return address c/o Gopal Agarwal from Butler, Penn.

Sept. 28, 1966. (pg. 15)

I received your letter dated September 20, 1966, on time. Ourrelationship is certainly based on spontaneous love. That is whythere is no chance of us forgetting one another. By the mercy ofguruand Gauranga, may everything be auspicious for you. Thisis my constant prayer. From the first time I saw you I have been

your constant well-wisher. At his first sight of me, rlaPrabhupda also saw me with such love. It was in my very firstdaranaof rla Prabhupda that I learned how to love. It is hisboundless mercy that he has engaged an unworthy person like

me in fulfilling some of his desires. It is his causeless mercy toengage me in preaching the message of r Rpa and rRaghuntha.

4. A Note on the Word SwmjHis Divine Grace Srila A.C. Bhaktivednta Swm Prabhupda

was addressed by many names throughout his life. His parents

gave him the birth name, Abhaya Caraa De. At his initiation byrla Bhaktisiddhnta Sarasvat Thakura, he became AbhayaCararavinda Prabhu. Later, in 1939, he was honored by anassembly of his godbrothers with the title r Bhaktivednta.During his ghastha years, many of his friends affectionatelycalled him Abhaya Cararavinda Prabhu, Abhaya Babu Prabhu,or Prabhu. These references are shown in the Llmta, and rlaNryaa Mahrja also recalls them. In 1959, during hissannyasa ceremony, rla Bhakti Prajna Keava GosvmiMahrja awarded him the formal name Swm; and he becameknown as rla Bhaktivednta Swm Maharaja.

Swm with j (Swmij) is actually a designation of specialrespect and intimacy. At first, Prabhupadas disciples addressedhim as Swmiji but, as this is not proper for ordinary diksa


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disciples, his disciples and followers later addressed him as rlaPrabhupda (representative of the lotus feet of Ka). Becausethe devotees in the Gauya Maha have, for over a century, been

accustomed to addressing rla Bhaktisiddhnta SarasvatThakura as rla Prabhupda, to avoid confusion, rla NryaaMahrja generally refers to him by his sannysa name, rlaBhaktivednta Swm Mahrja, or Swmij. Because of hisextremely intimate relationship with our Prabhupda, this isproper.

Many Western devotees will hear rla BhaktivedntaNryaa Mahrja uttering the name Swmij with reference toour rla Prabhupda. Although rla Mahrja always sees rlaPrabhupda as his ik-guru, because they were also intimatefriends, he often uses this affectionate name. Some devoteesmisunderstand, thinking he is showing insufficent respect by notalways saying Prabhupda, but actually he sees him in the mostglorious light. When others, those who are not on his level, hisown disciples and also rla Prabhupdas disciples, imitate him

by using the word Swmij and not uttering the traditionalproper honorific titles, rla Mahrja corrects them.

5. rla Prabhupdas Letters from America to rla Nryaa

Mahrja. From Butler, Penn., on Sept. 28, 1966.

My room is locked in Delhi. If you or any of your faithfulpreachers want to preach in Delhi, let me know. If you want to

work in Delhi, you can use that room and preach. If you continuegoing to Delhi, then my publication work can be taken care ofunder your observation. You wrote to me, You can engage mein any preaching work in India, and according to my ability Ishall always be ready to do so. So I can preach whole-heartedlyby your good wishes.

6. Their Lasting Relation. Letter of Condolence.

P.S. If you have any nice photograph of rla Mahrja, thenkindly send it to me. I will get a life size oil painting made of it,and, along with a picture of rla Prabhupda, I will place it in myprominent centers, particularly New York, Hollywood, London,and so forth.

ENDNOTES

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siksa guru priya bandhu

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