Sunday, 09 February 2025 [Mayapur, West Bengal, India Time]
Appearance Day of Lord Varāhadeva (Varāha-dvadaśī)
Srila Prabhupāda: “…lifted the world when it was submerged within the water of Garbhodaka Ocean. The universe which we are seeing, it is only half. The other half is filled with water, and in that water is Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu lying. So one demon, Hiraṇyākṣa, he pushed this earthly planet within that water, and Lord Kṛṣṇa delivered this earthly planet from water in the shape of a boar. So that auspicious day is today, Varāha-dvadaśī. This is called Varāha-dvadasi. So on this day it is better to sing, to glorify the different incarnations of Lord within this universe….”
(Lord Varāha’s Appearance Day Lecture, Dasāvatāra-stotra Purport —Los Angeles, February 18, 1970)
Srila Prabhupāda: “Today, Varāha-dvādaśī, appearance of Kṛṣṇa’s taking the incarnation of Varāha, boar… Keśava dhṛta-śūkara-rūpa jaya jagadīśa hare […] When keśava dhṛta-śūkara-rūpa or kesava dhṛta-varāha-rūpa does not mean that He is varāha, or He is crocodile, or He is something like… No. He’s everything. But that is not by karma.”
(Varaha-dvadasi, Lord Varaha’s Appearance Day Lecture — Bhuvanesvara, January 31, 1977)
Srila Prabhupāda: “Jaya, as Hiraṇyākṣa, had to fight with Varāhadeva, and that same Varāhadeva is mentioned in regard to the Raivata millennium. The fighting, however, took place during the reign of the first Manu, Svāyambhuva. Therefore according to some authorities there are two Varāhas. According to others, however, Varāha appeared during the regime of Svāyambhuva Manu and stayed in the water until that of Raivata Manu. Some may doubt that this could be possible, but the answer is that everything is possible. If one could count the atoms within the universe, one could count the qualities of Lord Viṣṇu. But the atoms of the universe are impossible for anyone to count, and similarly no one can count the transcendental qualities of the Lord.”
For more in-depth information about Lord Varāhadeva, you can refer to Srimad-Bhagavatam > Canto 3: Chapter Thirteen – The Appearance of Lord Varāha 📖: [Read here (https://drive.google.com/file/d/1CKQK-nwctC-sJcyIjzxpy4AF9MvYB7R1/view?usp=drivesdk )
ei saba-hari-jana, gaurāńgera nija-jana ta’ der ucchiṣṭe mor kāma
Lord Kṛṣṇa enlightened the four-faced Brahmā with the devotional science, which Brahmā then passed on to Nārada Muni. In the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Second Canto, Ninth Chapter, the history of how Lord Brahmā received initiation directly from Kṛṣṇa is explained. Brahmā found himself in the midst of darkness. He tried to explore the dark universe by traveling down the stem of the lotus planet of his birth, but, being only a jīva with limited senses, intellect, and power, he failed to find more than darkness. Brahmā then heard the syllables ta and pa from outside the covering of the universe, and following this instruction, he per- formed tapasya, or penance, by which the spiritual realm was revealed to him. The four seed verses of the Bhāgavatam were transmitted by the Lord Himself to Brahmā. The conclusion is that Brahmā could not understand anything by his own attempt; only by Lord Kṛṣṇa’s revelation could Brahmā get absolute knowledge.
Lord Brahmā took to the disciplic succession naturally. He initiated Nārada Muni, who in turn initiated Vyāsadeva, the compiler of all Vedic literatures. It is recorded in the Bhāgavatam, First Canto, Fifth Chapter, that Vyāsadeva compiled the Vedas in four divisions and then wrote the Mahābhārata, Purāṇas, and Upaniṣads, and revealed the conclusion of knowledge in the Vedānta-sūtras. Yet as he meditated he did not feel satisfied, and Nārada Muni explained to him that this was because he had not described the līlās, forms, qualities, etc., of Lord Kṛṣṇa. Then Vyāsadeva expanded the four seed verses of the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam into 18,000 verses, and then initiated Madhvācārya. Vyāsadeva is still living in the Himālayas at Badarikāśrama, and, therefore, there is no gap of time between Vyāsa, and Madhva; they are contemporaries, just as we are contemporaries of Vyāsa, who is presently in this world. The ācāryas coming from Madhva are Padmanābha, Nṛhari, Mādhava, Akṣobhya, Jayatīrtha, Jñānasindhu, Dayānidhi, Vidyānidhi, Rājendra, Jayadharma, Puruṣottama, Brahmaṇya-tīrtha, Vyāsatīrtha, Lakṣmīpati, and Mādhavendra Purī. (Baladeva Vidyabhūṣaṇa, the great ācārya who wrote the commentary on Vedānta-sūtra after hearing it directly from the Deity Govindajī, has. confirmed Mādhavendra Purī’s connection with the Madhva-sampradāya.)
Mādhavendra Purī had several disciples who were highly transcendental personalities. Lord Nityānanda, the incarnation of Lord Balarāma, and Śrī Advaita, the incarnation of Mahā-Viṣṇu, accepted initiation from him. However, Śrī Iśvara Purī possessed a very high standard of devotion and would even clean the toilet place for his spiritual master. Thus Iśvara Purī was given the seat of ācārya. He in turn initiated Lord Caitanya, Who is none other than Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa Himself and Who is the living force of the followers of Rūpa Gosvāmī. Lord Caitanya is succeeded by Rūpa Gosvāmī along with Svarūpa Dāmodara and Sanātana Gosvāmī, then Raghunātha dāsa and Jīva Gosvāmī, Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja, Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura, and Viśvanātha Cakravarti Ṭhākura. Viśvanātha Cakravarti was the spiritual master of Baladeva Vidyabhūṣaṇa and Jagannātha dāsa Bābājī. Jagannātha dāsa’s most beloved disciple is Śrīla Sac-cid-ānanda Bhaktivinoda, who empowered Śrila Gaurakiśora dāsa Bābājī, an uttama-adhikārī mahā-bhāgavata (great devotee of the highest order), to initiate Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura, who is also spiritually named Śrī Vārṣabhānavi-dayita dāsa. I have added one more line to this song: “His foremost disciple-preacher is Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, who has spread the message of Lord Caitanya throughout the entire world.”
Friday, 07 February 2025 [Mayapur, West Bengal, India Time]
Disappearance Day of Sri Ramanujacarya
Śrī-sampradāya:
Śrīla Prabhupāda: “The Rāmānuja-sampradāya, they are called Śrī-sampradāya. They worship Lakṣmī-Nārāyaṇa. Everyone worships the Lord and His potency, spiritual potency. Just like we worship Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa, similarly, the Rāmānuja-sampradāya, they worship Lakṣmī-Nārāyaṇa or Sītā-Rāma. So we should follow the sampradāya. Sampradāya-vihīnā ye mantrās te viphalā matāḥ.”
(Lecture on Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 7.9.18, Feb. 25, 1976, Māyāpur)
Śrīla Prabhupāda: “Thus although the energies of the Supreme Personality of Godhead interact within the cosmic manifestation, each keeps its separate individual existence. Merging in the material or spiritual energies, therefore, does not involve loss of individuality. According to Śrī Rāmānujapāda’s theory of Viśiṣṭādvaita, although all the energies of the Lord are one, each keeps its individuality (vaiśiṣṭya).”
Śrīla Prabhupāda: “We Gaudiya Vaisnava follow Srila Ramanuja’s philosophy almost in the same manner. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu gives the identification of jiva soul as the eternal servant of Krishna and is situated as marginal potency of the Lord based on the philosophy of acintya-bheda bheda-tattva. This is almost similar to Visistadvaita vada. Vaisnava philosophy is now being pushed on all over the world under the Hare Krishna movement, and we feel Sripada Ramanuja a great support for the Vaisnava philosophical understanding. It is like a combination of nyaya sruti and smrti prasthans.”
(Letter to: V. S. R. Chakravarti, Nov. 22, 1974, Bombay)
Rāmānujācārya’s Viśiṣṭādvaita-vāda:
Śrīla Prabhupāda: “The Lord is the reservoir of all cosmic manifestation, animate and inanimate. The advocates of Viśiṣṭādvaita-vāda philosophy explain the Vedānta-sūtra by saying that although the living entity has two kinds of bodies–subtle (consisting of mind, intelligence and false ego) and gross (consisting of the five basic elements)–and although he thus lives in three bodily dimensions (gross, subtle and spiritual), he is nevertheless a spiritual soul. Similarly, the Supreme Personality of Godhead who emanates the material and spiritual worlds is the Supreme Spirit. As an individual spirit soul is almost identical to his gross and subtle bodies, so the Supreme Lord is almost identical to the material and spiritual worlds.
The material world, full of conditioned souls trying to lord it over matter, is a manifestation of the external energy of the Supreme Lord, and the spiritual world, full of perfect servitors of the Lord, is a manifestation of His internal energy. Since all living entities are minute sparks of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, He is the Supreme Soul in both the material and spiritual worlds. The Vaiṣṇavas following Lord Caitanya stress the doctrine of acintya-bhedābheda-tattva, which states that the Supreme Lord, being the cause and effect of everything, is inconceivably, simultaneously one with His manifestations of energy and different from them.”
“This Mādhva-Gauḍīya-sampradāya is also known as Brahma-sampradāya because the disciplic succession originally began from Brahmā. Brahmā instructed the sage Nārada, Nārada instructed Vyāsadeva, and Vyāsadeva instructed Madhva Muni or Madhvācārya.
(Krsna Book – Introduction | 1970 Edition)
“Among the four Vaiṣṇava ācāryas, who are all accepted by the Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇavas, Śrī Rāmānuja Ācārya appeared in the southern part of Andhra Pradesh at Mahābhūtapurī, Śrī Madhva Ācārya appeared at Pājakam (near Vimānagiri) in the district of Myāṅgālora, Śrī Viṣṇusvāmī appeared at Pāṇḍya, and Śrī Nimbārka appeared at Muṅgera-patana in the extreme south.”
“Śrī Madhva Ācārya is also known as Śrī Gauḍa-pūrṇānanda, and therefore the name Mādhva-Gauḍīya-sampradāya is quite suitable for the disciplic succession of the Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇavas. Our spiritual master, Oṁ Viṣṇupāda Śrīmad Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Gosvāmī Mahārāja, accepted initiation in the Mādhva-Gauḍīya-sampradāya.”
For more in-depth information about Śrīpāda Madhvācārya, you can refer to Srila Prabhupada’s purport in Sri Chaitanya Charitamrita, Madhya Lila, 9.245 [Read here]: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1CG1WSv_TsAw5sgj6Zjc2sCuR8tCXVzRK/view?usp=drivesdk
Wednesday, 05 February 2025 [Mayapur, West Bengal, India Time]
Sri Bhīṣma Aṣṭamī
Śrīla Prabhupāda: “Paraśurāma fought with Bhīṣmadeva when Bhīṣma neglected his warning. Both of them fought very severely, and at last Paraśurāma was pleased with Bhīṣma and gave him the benediction of becoming the greatest fighter in the world.”
Śrīla Prabhupāda: “The appearance of Lord Kṛṣṇa at the deathbed of Bhīṣmajī is due to his being an unflinching devotee of the Lord. Arjuna had some bodily relation with Kṛṣṇa because the Lord happened to be his maternal cousin. But Bhīṣma had no such bodily relation.”
Śrīla Prabhupāda: “Śrī Bhīṣmadeva is a great devotee of the Lord in the relation of servitorship. Thus, his throwing of sharp arrows at the transcendental body of the Lord is as good as the worship of another devotee who throws soft roses upon Him.[…]
Therefore, Bhīṣmadeva’s piercing of the body of Lord Kṛṣṇa is a sort of bewildering problem for the nondevotee atheist, but those who are devotees, or liberated souls, are not bewildered.[…]
Therefore, the fighting as an exchange of transcendental pleasure between the Lord and His pure devotee, Śrī Bhīṣmadeva, was not at all mundane.[….]
The Lord enjoyed the wounds created by His great devotee Bhīṣmadeva, and because Bhīṣmadeva is a devotee in the chivalrous relation, he fixes up his mind on Kṛṣṇa in that wounded condition.”
Bhismadeva was unique in his activities, and his passing away to the kingdom of God is also unique
The process of Bhishmadev leaving his body is described in Srimad Bhagavatam (43rd sloka from the 9th chapter of the 1st canto) as follows: “Suta Gosvami said: Thus Bhishmadeva merged himself in the Supersoul, Lord Sri Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, with his mind, speech, sight and actions, and thus he became silent, and his breathing stopped.” Srimad-Bhagavatam (45th sloka from the 9th chapter of the 1st canto) further glorifies his passing away as follows: “Thereafter, both men and demigods sounded drums in honor, and the honest royal order commenced demonstrations of honor and respect. And from the sky fell showers of flowers.”
Bhishmadev was respected by human beings, heavenly beings and devas for his determination, valour, righteousness and devotion. He was a warrior and an ascetic too
“Śrī Advaita Ācārya is Lord Caitanya’s incarnation as a devotee. Therefore these three tattvas (Caitanya Mahāprabhu, Nityānanda Prabhu and Advaita Gosāñi) are the predominators, or masters.”
“Śrīla Advaita Ācārya Prabhu appeared as an incarnation of a devotee. He is in the category of Kṛṣṇa, but He descended to this earth to propagate devotional service.”
“All glories to Advaita Prabhu, the incarnation of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. He induced Kṛṣṇa to descend and thus delivered the entire world.”
“Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, Advaita Prabhu and Nityānanda Prabhu all belong to the viṣṇu-tattva category. Because Lord Caitanya is an ocean of mercy, He is addressed as mahāprabhu, whereas Nityānanda and Advaita, being two great personalities who assist Lord Caitanya, are addressed as prabhu. Thus there are two prabhus and one mahāprabhu. Gadādhara Gosvāmī is a representative of a perfect brāhmaṇa spiritual master. Śrīvāsa Ṭhākura represents a perfect brāhmaṇa devotee. These five are known as the Pañca-tattva.”
4. Disappearance Day of Śrī Vishvanath Chakravarti Thakur
5. Appearance Day of Srimati Vishnupriya Devi
6. Vasant Pancami
1. Appearance Day of Śrī Puṇḍarīka Vidyānidhi
Sri Puṇḍarīka Vidyānidhi, a disciple of Madhavendra Puri and the guru of Śrī Gadādhara Paṇḍita, was often misunderstood as being attached to material pleasures. However, in reality, he was an ecstatic devotee of Krishna. In Krishna’s pastimes, he was Vrishabhanu, the father of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī.
For more information, refer to Pundarika Vidyanidhi’s appearances in Chaitanya-charitamrita Adi-lila, 10.14, and Madhya-lila, 16.76-81.
2. Appearance Day of Śrī Raghunandan Thakur
“Sri Raghunandana Thakura was the son of the great devotee Mukunda Dasa. Both were contemporaries of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. It is stated in the Bhakti-ratnākara (Eighth Wave) that Raghunandana used to serve a Deity of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu.”
For further details, you can find references to Raghunandana Thakura in Chaitanya-charitamrita, Adi-lila 10.78-79, and learn about Lord Chaitanya’s interactions with Mukunda Dasa and Raghunandana Thakur in Chaitanya-charitamrita, Madhya-lila 15.112-132.
3. Appearance Day of Śrī Raghunath Das Goswami
“Raghunatha Dasa Goswami was the only son of a wealthy landowner. At the age of fifteen, however, he met Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and later became one of the six Goswamis of Vrindavan who were Mahaprabhu’s direct followers. Raghunatha Dasa led a most austere life of pure devotion. He was the very emblem of renunciation. Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī compiled three books, named Stava-mālā (or Stavāvalī), Dāna-carita and Muktācarita. He was known as the prayojana acharya, he who by example teaches life’s ultimate goal. In the Gaura-gaṇoddeśa-dīpikā (186) it is stated that Śrīla Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī was formerly the gopī named Rasa-mañjarī. Sometimes it is said that he was Rati-mañjarī. His samadhi stands on the bank of Radha-kunda, Vrindavan, India.”
For more details, refer to Raghunatha Dasa Goswami’s life discussed in Chaitanya-charitamrita, Adi-lila 10.91.
4. Disappearance Day of Śrī Vishvanath Chakravarti Thakur
Viśvanātha Cakravarti Ṭhākura was one of the most prominent, influential, and prolifically literate teachers in the disciplic succession of Gaudiya Vaishnava Sampradaya. He appeared in the village of Devagram, Bengal. He received initiation from Ramana Chakravarti, and his name after taking sannyasa (renounced life) was Hari Vallabha Goswami.
Srila Vishvanatha Chakravarti Thakura is the author of Sri Gurvastakam, ‘Eight Prayers Glorifying the Spiritual Master’.
Srila Vishvanatha Chakravarti’s most famous disciple was Srila Baladeva Vidyabhushana. When brahmana scholars in Jaipur challenged the validity of Lord Chaitanya’s movement, Vishvanatha, the leader of Lord Chaitanya’s followers at the time, was too old to make the journey and debate the challengers, so he sent Baladeva in his place. By the dictation of Lord Krishna, Baladeva wrote the Govinda-bhashya commentary on the Vedanta-sutra and defeated the skeptics.
Srila Vishvanatha Chakravarti also wrote important commentaries on Srimad Bhagavatam and Bhagavad-gita and the writings of the six Goswamis of Vrindavan.
Srila Prabhupada regularly referred to Vishvanath Chakravarti Thakura’s Srimad-Bhagavatam commentaries while writing his own purports.
5. Appearance Day of Srimati Vishnupriya Devi
On all of Krishna’s visits to the material world, He’s accompanied by His pleasure potency – His internal spiritual energy personified, in the form of Lakshmidevi or Srimati Radharani. As Krishna expands Himself into innumerable avatars, Srimati Radharani also has unlimited expansions to accompany Krishna everywhere. Srimati Vishnupriya Devi is one such expansion. She was the second wife of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. About Srimati Vishnupriya, Srila Prabhupada says in Teachings of Lord Chaitanya:
“During his residence in East Bengal, His (Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s) wife Lakshmidevi left this world from the effects of snakebite. On returning home, he found his mother in a mourning state. He consoled her with a lecture on the uncertainty of human affairs. It was at his mother’s request that he married Vishnupriya, the daughter of Raja Pandit Sanātana Miśra.”
And in the Introduction to Srimad-Bhagavatam:
“For His first twenty-four years He (Mahaprabhu) remained at Navadvipa as a student and householder. His first wife was Srimati Lakshmipriya, who died at an early age when the Lord was away from home. When He returned from East Bengal He was requested by His mother to accept a second wife, and He agreed. His second wife was Srimati Vishnupriya Devi, who bore the separation of the Lord throughout her life because the Lord took the order of sannyasa (renounciation) at the age of twenty-four, when Srimati Vishnupriya was barely sixteen years old.”
6. Vasant Pancami
Vasanta Pancami usually takes place during the month of January or February, and marks the first official day of spring. The spring season signifies new life and joy, and Mother Nature shares that jubilation in the form of blossoming flowers and flourishing trees. It is indeed a very beautiful time of the year. As Lord Krishna says in the Bhagavad Gita 10.35, ‘ham ṛtūnāṁ kusumākaraḥ: “…and of seasons I am flower-bearing spring.”
“Śrīla Prabhupāda: “Of course spring is a season universally liked because it is neither too hot nor too cold, and the flowers and trees blossom and flourish. In spring there are also many ceremonies commemorating Kṛṣṇa’s pastimes; therefore this is considered to be the most joyful of all seasons, and it is the representative of the Supreme Lord Kṛṣṇa.”
(Excerpt from Bhagavad-Gita as It Is 10.53, Purport | 1972 Edition)
Traditionally in Vrndavan, Vasanta Pancami is celebrated very wonderfully. All the deities are dressed and decorated in beautiful yellow cloth and elaborately decorated, and everyone dresses in various shades of yellow or green.
The Vasanta season is celebrated as the best of seasons, not only because it represents life and joy, but because it is the most fortunate of all the seasons, as Sri Krishna Caitanya Mahaprabhu appeared in the Vasanta season.”
“I offer my respectful obeisances unto the full-moon evening in the month of Phālguna, an auspicious time full of auspicious symptoms, when Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu advented Himself with the chanting of the holy name, Hare Kṛṣṇa.”
Atma Tattva Dasa : One Ekadasi during the Kumbha-mela in Allahabad, Prabhupada was sitting back with his eyes closed, his legs stretched under his desk, talking about Ekadasi. Prabhupada said, “Lotus pods fried in ghee are very good on Ekadasi.” Somebody immediately ran to the market to arrange for lotus pods, but just two minutes later a Ramanandi brahman and his 9 year-old son arrived, both of them wearing Ramanandi tilak. They paid their obeisances, and the father put a cloth bag from his shoulder on Prabhupada’s desk. Prabhupada put his hand in it and said, “Just see, it has come.” It was lotus pods fried in ghee. He looked at the Ramanandi and said, “How are you?” This man happened to be the priest of a Bengali family in Firozabad, U.P., where Prabhupada used to stay. Even though this person was a Ramanandi, he did the Gaura-Nitai Deity worship for this family. Prabhupada ate some of the pods, distributed the rest and said to the Ramanandi, “You haven’t taken bath in the confluence, the sangam?” The Ramanandi said, “Swamiji, I have come to take bath in the sangam,” and he put a plate under Prabhupada’s feet. Prabhupada adjusted his feet on the plate and this man bathed Prabhupada’s feet in sangam water from his pot while he chanted mantras. Prabhupada looked at him, smiling. During that time, December 1976, it was rare to get Prabhupada’s charanamrita and all of us desired it. This Ramanandi sprinkled that water on his head, drank some, and then sprinkled some on all of us. He said to Prabhupada, “Your feet are the actual sangam. What will we get in bathing that sangam? Your feet will purify the Ganges and since you are not going to the Ganges, I brought the Ganga here. I will mix some of this charanamrita in the Ganga.” Prabhupada smiled and said, “Give me your son. I will make him an acharya.” The man said, “He is yours, Swamiji, you can take him any time.” Prabhupada said, “No, no, any time means no time. You give him to me now. I will make him an acharya.” The Ramanandi said, “Swamiji, now he is learning Sanskrit grammar. To study the bhasyas, the commentaries, he must know some grammar. Once his vyakarana is over, then I will hand him over to you. He is yours.” Prabhupada insisted for the fourth time, “No, no, what grammar? We don’t need grammar. Give him to me. I will make him an acharya.” This man said, “Swamiji, I am not saying no. Everything mine is yours. But he is too small. He will only be trouble for you. In a few years I will hand him over to you.” Prabhupada said, “Okay, tike, tike,” and he rubbed the boy’s head. After that there were other visitors to see Prabhupada, and this man and his son left.
Years passed and the Ramananda sampradaya broke into many inimical sects. Then one year I was taking ten gurukula boys to the Allahabad Kumbhamela and I was surprised to learn that the Ramanandas had elected one young sannyasi to lead their whole sampradaya and that they had a huge Ramananda stall at the festival. I told the gurukula boys, “We will have this leader’s darshan. That one sadhu united a whole sampradaya is unheard of, and you boys should meet the person who has this potency. God knows, tomorrow you may become a guru.” So we went to see him. We were given priority because some of the boys were from South America, Australia, and so on. There were about a hundred people with this young sannyasi, men with long beards and matted locks of hair, all three times older than him and leaders in their own right. This young sannyasi was sitting on a big seat and people were fanning him with a chamara. We paid obeisances, and a gurukula boy from South America loudly chanted the sannyasa-sukta, which is a traditional way to greet a sannyasi. As he started chanting, everyone became silent and after he had finished, this young Maharaj composed a Sanskrit poem about Prabhupada. He recited, “If I say that neither in the past nor in the future will there be an acharya equal to the acharya of the Hare Krishna movement, I won’t be committing an offense to the founder of my line, Ramananda, because in his commentary Ramananda himself predicted that Vishnu worship would spread around the world and that the whole world would take to it.” As he was talking, I realized that this was the same person who, as a small boy, had his head rubbed by Srila Prabhupada. He finished four slokas glorifying Prabhupada and ended with the glorification of Lord Jagannatha. Then he honored each boy separately and when I went up to him he said, “Atma Tattva Prabhu, do you remember me? You used to carry me on your back.” When I traveled on padayatra we had stayed at his father’s house. At that time I was a brahmachari and I used to carry this boy on my back. He used to call Lokanath Maharaj an “old man” because he had white hair. He said, “Prabhupada spoke about me becoming an acharya. My father never brought me to the Hare Krishna movement, but before he passed away he told me that I had to study the Sankara-bhasya so that I could defeat it. That was his last wish. So for four years I stayed with the mayavadis in Benares and studied the commentary of Sankara. It was painful. Our whole sampradaya had split up over misunderstandings and I thought that since I had Prabhupada’s blessings, maybe I could unite us. I tried for nine years and this year it has happened. By the blessings of your Guru Maharaj we are united. Ramananda said that as long as we were broken, we would never be able to fulfill his prediction. But Ramananda also said, ‘We don’t have to fulfill that prediction because it has already been fulfilled by these people.’ We simply have to join and preach with them. Their movement is spreading around the world“. Using us as a catalyst, this young sannyasi preached to everyone assembled there in that way. It was great to hear from him.
Reference:Memories-Anecdotes of a Modern-Day Saint by Siddhanta Dasa
Srila Prabhupada at the Kumbha-mela, Allahabad, 1977)
Sri Krishna or God in a very merciful way from the spiritual world sent us Srila Prabhupada, Srila Prabhupada’s mission is very specific, give us his books, there is everything for a person in a serious and sincere way if he follows and obeys the Instructions given in Srila Prabhupada’s books will live with Srila Prabhupada and the result of living with Srila Prabhupada is that one acquires his divine qualities. To people addicted to nectar there are Srila Prabhupada’s books.
The instructions given in Srila Prabhupada’s books are very simple, that we chant Hare Krishna, that we respect prasada, that we do some service approved by Srila Prabhupada, and that we use 50 percent of the hard earned for missionary work. If one analyzes Srila Prabhupada’s life, he will come to the conclusion that Srila Prabhupada lived to please his Gurudeva, so we who serve and love Srila Prabhupada our life must be focused on pleasing Srila Prabhupada. Srila Prabhupada saw how the institution of his Gurudeva was dismantled, the 3 printing presses were lost, everyone fighting to be the acharya etc, Srila Prabhupada did not use his energy in solving the conflicts of the Gaudiya matha, but in obeying and pleasing his Gurudeva.
WE WANT NECTAR, and the only people who can give you nectar are the people who serve Srila Prabhupada with faith, love, attachment, and gratitude. Envious people dressed as devotees cannot give you nectar, but poison. If a person has nectar in his heart, he will give you nectar and not poison, but if one has poison in his heart, he will not be able to give you nectar.
