nama om visnu-padaya krsna-presthaya bhu-tale
srimate bhaktivedanta-svamin iti namine
I offer my respectful obeisances unto His Divine Grace a.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami
Prabhupalda, who is very dear to Lord Krsna, having taken shelter at His lotus feet.
namas te sarasvate deve gaura-vani-pracarine
nirvisesa -sunyavadi-pascatya-desa-tarine
Our respectful obeisances are unto you, O spiritual master, servant of Sarasvati Gosvami. You are kindly preaching the message of Lord Caitanyadeva and delivering the Western countries, which are filled with impersonalism and voidism.
SB 1.1.22
tvam nah sandarsito dhatra
dustaram nistitirsatam
kalim sattva-haram pumsam
karna-dhara ivarnavam
We think that we have met Your Goodness by the will of providence, just so that we may accept you as captain of the ship for those who desire to cross the difficult ocean of Kali, which deteriorates all the good qualities of a human being.
Saunaka Rsi
SB 11.20.17
nr-deham adyam su-labham su-durlabham
plavam su-kalpam guru-karnadharam
mayanukulena nabhasvateritam
puman bhavabdhim na taret sa atma-ha
The human body, which can award all benefit in life, is automatically obtained by the laws of nature, although it is a very rare achievement. This human body can be compared to a perfectly constructed boat having the spiritual master as the captain and the instructions of the Personality of Godhead as favorable winds impelling it on its course. Considering all these advantages, a human being who does not utilize his human life to cross the ocean of material existence must be considered the killer of his own soul.
Lord Krsna
Tirobhava festival is an occasion to remember the legacy of Srila
Prabhupada. It is a time to remember and reinforce our commitment to Srila
Prabhupada's instructions and his movement. Srila Prabhupada dedicates the
Srimad Bhagavatam to his spiritual master and writes there that the
spiritual master lives forever by his instructions and the follower lives
with him. We can live with Srila Prabhupada even after his disappearance by
taking his instructions very seriously and trying to strictly follow them.
He especially wanted that we finish our material life and go Back to Godhead
in this very life. We can please him by trying hard to fulfill that
important instruction. In the Bhagavad-gita Krsna instructs Arjuna to be a
yogi, a bhakti-yogi. We are all practitioners of Bhakti-yoga and we should
always try to remember this. We are yogis, Bhakti-yogis and our standards of
life need to be well above the average materialists. This Bhakti-yoga unlike
other yoga process is happily performed and it has become even more easy by
the mercy of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. So please take advantage of it and
make it your mission to go Back to Godhead in this very life.
HH Jayapataka Swami Maharaj
Today is the day that Srila Prabhupada disappeared from this world in 1977 here in Vrindavan.
To experience this day in Vrindavan is especially potent because here you can enter
Srila Prabhupada's room and see and touch the very bed in which he was lying when he departed
from this world on that fateful historic day in the most holy month of Kartik. His disappearance
was an unthinkable devastating tragedy for us, his disciples. We were so much dependent on
his personal guidance on how we can advance in Krishna consciousness and spread this sublime
movement all over the world. We were thinking and hoping that Srila Prabhupada would
recover and continue blessing us with his divine association here on the physical plane for
many more years to come. But this was not to be because Krishna had a different plan for
Srila Prabhupada and for us also. Just as when Lord Sri Krishna appeared to depart from
Vrindavan but actually could never leave because of being bound hand and foot by the gopi's
intense love, now in Srila Prabhupada's separation we can capture him fully within our hearts
by our complete total loving surrender to his divine commands that we should become pure devotees
and make the entire world Krishna conscious. In this way Srila Prabhupada can never leave us.
Just as it said that Krishna never steps even one foot outside of Vrindavan, it can also be
said that Srila Prabhupada never steps even one foot outside the hearts of those devotees
who have given their lives to him.
HG Sankarshan Das Adhikari
Srila Prabhupada Disappearance:
On November 14, 1977, at 7:30 P.M., in his room at the Krishna-Balaram
Mandir in Vrndavana, Srila Prabhupada gave his final instruction by leaving
this mortal world and going back to Godhead.
His departure was exemplary, because his whole life was exemplary. His
departure marked the completion of a lifetime of pure devotional service to
Krsna. A few days before the end, Srila Prabhupada had said he was
instructing as far as he could, and his secretary had added, "You are the
inspiration." "Yes," Srila Prabhupada had replied, "that I shall do until
the last breathing."
Prabhupada's "last breathing" was glorious, not because of any last minute
mystical demonstration, but because Srila Prabhupada remained in perfect
Krsna consciousness. Like grandfather Bhismadeva, he remained completely
collected and noble and grave, teaching until the end. He was preaching that
life comes from life, not from matter, and he was showing that one should
preach with every breath he has. The many devotees who crowded the large
room bore witness that up to the very end, Prabhupada remained exactly the
same. There was nothing suddenly in congruous with what he had previously
shown and taught them. At the time of his departure, therefore, he was
teaching how to die, by always depending on Krsna. Prabhupada's passing away
was peaceful. During the evening of November 14, the kaviraja asked him, "Is
there anything you want?" and Prabhupada replied faintly, kuch iccha nahim:
"I have no desire." His passing away was in the perfect situation: in
Vrndavana, with devotees. A few months previously, a young girl, the
daughter of one of Prabhupada's disciples, had passed away in Vrndavana, and
when Srila Prabhupada had been asked if she went back to Godhead to
personally associate with Krsna, he had said, "Yes, anyone who leaves his
body in Vrndavana is liberated."
Of course, "Vrndavana" also means the state of pure Krsna consciousness. As
Advaita Acarya had said of Lord Caitanya, "Wherever You are is Vrndavana."
And this was also true of Srila Prabhupada. Had Srila Prabhupada passed away
in London, New York, or Moscow, therefore, his destination would have been
the same. As Lord Krsna states in the Bhagavad-gita, "One who is always
thinking of Me, surely he attains to Me." But because Vrndavana-dhama is the
quintessential realm of Krsna consciousness within the universe, the ideal
place for departure from this world, so it was yet another exemplary feature
of Srila Prabhupada's life that he went back to Godhead with Vrndavana as
his last junction.
Those Vaisnavas who had taken the vow never to risk leaving Vrndavana could
see that Srila Prabhupada, after sacrificing everything-including the
benefit of residing in Vrndavana-to deliver fallen souls in the most
godforsaken locations of the world, had returned to the holy land of
Vrndavana and from there had departed for the original abode of Lord Krsna
in the spiritual sky. As stated in the Srimad-Bhagavatam, "Anyone who
executes service in Vrndavana certainly goes back to home, back to Godhead,
after giving up his body."
Srila Prabhupada's departure was also perfect because he was chanting and
hearing the holy names of God. Thus the Supreme Personality of Godhead was
present at Srila Prabhupada's passing just as He was at the celebrated
passing away of Bhismadeva, who said, "Despite His being equally kind to
everyone, He has graciously come before me while I am ending my life, for I
am His unflinching servitor." As Lord Krsna came before Bhismadeva, assuring
him and everyone else that Bhisma was returning back to Godhead on leaving
his body, so the Lord in His incarnation of namavatara, the Hare Krsna
mantra, was present for Srila Prabhupada's departure.
Srila Prabhupada's life had been dedicated to spreading the holy name to
every town and village, and for a month he had been surrounding himself with
the holy name. For his passing away, he especially wanted to fill the room
with devotees chanting Hare Krsna, and Krsna fulfilled that wish. Srila
Prabhupada, therefore, departed under the most favorable circumstances
possible-in the most sacred place, Vrndavana, surrounded by Vaisnavas
chanting the holy name. An ideal spiritual teacher (acarya) always acts in
such a way that others may follow his example. As Srimad-Bhagavatam states,
these great souls who cross over the ocean of birth and death by taking
shelter of the "boat" of the lotus feet of Krsna miraculously leave the boat
on this side for others to use. And Srila Prabhupada's disappearance, by its
perfect example, affords all conditioned souls the means for meeting the
greatest of all dangers. An auspicious death is not merely a matter of
psychological adjustment, so that one may die without regret or without
becoming unduly upset. The real point is that at the time of death the soul
must leave the body and take his next birth. Only the Krsna conscious soul
can leave this world of birth and death and attain an eternal, blissful life
in the spiritual world. Therefore one's life is tested at death.
Death means the soul cannot stand to live in the body anymore. Whatever the
material cause may be, the situation has become unbearable for the soul. And
leaving the body causes great distress. The sastras, therefore, advise us to
get free from the cycle of repeated birth and death. Meeting an inauspicious
death and being dragged down to a lower birth is the most fearful thing for
the living being. So fearful is it that we may try to ignore death
altogether. Death is painful because the eternal spirit soul is placed in a
most unnatural situation: although he is eternal and should not have to die,
he is forced to die because of his connection with the material body. At
death, the eternal soul is forced to leave the body for a destination he
knows not. Thus he is full of fear and suffering. The pain and fear are
usually overwhelming, and one thinks only of material attachments or bodily
pain. Therefore King Kulasekhara prayed, and Prabhupada often quoted,
"Please let me pass away, not in some prolonged contemplation of my bodily
death, but just while I'm chanting Hare Krsna. If I can meditate on You and
then pass from this body, that will be perfection."
Over the last months of his life in this world, Srila Prabhupada taught how
it is possible to meet death step by step in Krsna consciousness. In his
last days, he told one of his sannyasis, "Don't think this isn't going to
happen to you." Prabhupada came into this world, on Krsna's request, to
teach us how to live a pure life of Krsna consciousness, and that includes
how to finally pass away from this world to attain eternal life. Prabhupada
underwent death in a way that was perfect and glorious, and at the same time
in a way which we can all follow. When we have to go, we can cling to the
memory of how a great soul left his body-always thinking of Krsna,
surrounding himself with the medicine of chanting Hare Krsna, always
desiring to hear about Krsna, and practicing detachment from the misery of
the material condition. This last lesson was one of the most wonderful and
important instructions Srila Prabhupada gave us. He taught by his life, by
his books, and at the end by his dying. Education in how to die is meant
especially for the human being. An animal dies, and a human being also dies;
but a human being is supposed to understand the process of going back to the
spiritual world at the time of death. Remaining always fixed and undisturbed
in Krsna consciousness, Srila Prabhupada expertly taught the process. His
passing away, therefore, was a perfect lesson, and one that can be
faithfully followed.
* * *
While there was nothing lamentable for Srila Prabhupada in his departing
from the world and going back to Godhead, it was certainly lamentable for
his followers and for the people of the whole world, who became bereft of
the presence of their greatest well-wisher and benefactor. Srila Prabhupada
had written in a Srimad-Bhagavatam purport, "When the mortal body of the
spiritual master expires, the disciple should cry exactly like the queen
cries when the king leaves his body." At the departure of his own spiritual
master, Srila Prabhupada had written, "On that day, O my Master, I made a
cry of grief; I was not able to tolerate the absence of you, my guru." And
so on November 14, 1977, as the powerful news spread around the world, those
who knew and loved Srila Prabhupada were gripped by a fearful, unrestricted
grief. They saw everything around them in the overwhelming atmosphere of
separation from Srila Prabhupada. They turned for solace to Srila
Prabhupada's books.
However, the disciples and the spiritual master are never separated, because
the spiritual master always keeps company with the disciple, as long as the
disciple follows the instructions of the spiritual master. This is called
the as sociation of vani. Physical presence is called vapuh. As long as the
spiritual master is physically present, the disciple should serve the
physical body of the spiritual master, and when the spiritual master is no
longer physically existing, the disciples should serve the instructions of
the spiritual master.
Srila Prabhupada's disciples were already carrying out his instructions, but
now they would have to do so without the vapuh, without the opportunity of
regularly seeing and being with him. At first this was very difficult for
them to face, but those who were sincere soon realized that Srila Prabhupada
had, upon his departure, given them the greatest gift of all: service in
separation. Service in separation is the highest realization and ecstasy.
This was the teaching of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu, in regard to Lord Krsna
and His foremost devotees, the gopis of Vrndavana. When Krsna left His
beloved gopis and went to Mathura, never to return to them in Vrndavana, the
gopis (and all the other residents of Vrndavana) wept piteously in
separation. They so much loved Krsna that they could not live without Him,
and to maintain their lives they began to constantly remember and discuss
His name, fame, form, and entourage. By constantly remembering Him in love
and by anticipating His return to Vrndavana, they achieved an ecstasy of
union in separation, which Gaudiya Vaisnava scholars declare to be superior
even to the ecstasy the gopis felt in Krsna's presence. Because Krsna is
absolute, even remembering Him or chanting His name puts the devotee into
direct contact with Him. But because there is simultaneously a feeling of
separation from Him, there is an added dimension of inconceivable,
simultaneous union and separation. This is the epitome of Krsna conscious
realization.
Prabhupada's followers knew this principle of service in separation,
technically known as vipralambha-seva, but to most devotees it was a
theoretical realization. Before one can feel intense loving separation from
Krsna, one must first feel intense attraction to Him. But for the
conditioned soul who has forgotten and abandoned Krsna and has come to the
material world under the spell of maya, illusion-for him, "separation" from
Krsna is based on complete ignorance and forgetfulness.
In coming to spiritual life, a neophyte first begins to awaken to the very
existence of God, as he overcomes atheistic misconceptions. Next, he comes
gradually, through practice, to take up a relationship of service to Krsna,
through serving the spiritual master. Intense love of Krsna in separation is
the most advanced stage and cannot possibly be realized in full by the
neophyte. Thus service in separation had remained a theoretical teaching to
many of Prabhupada's followers.
But when Srila Prabhupada departed from the world and left his disciples to
carry on his mission, they immediately realized union with him in
separation. He was gone, but he was still very much present. This
realization was not a pretention or a myth, nor was it sentimental psychic
phenomena-telepathy, "communion with the dead," or so on. It was a
completely substantive, practical, palpable reality, a fact of life. Srila
Prabhupada had given them personal service, and now they would continue that
service. Prabhupada was still present through his instructions, and all the
nectar of his direct association-all the nectar of Krsna consciousness that
he had given and shared with them-was still available.
Service in separation for Prabhupada's disciples was undoubtedly a fact,
otherwise, now that they were without his personal presence, how were they
able to sustain themselves in spiritual life? The fact that they could
continue as before, increase their feelings of devotion, and even increase
their serving capacity, meant that Srila Prabhupada was very much still with
them. As Srila Prabhupada's last instruction was the lesson of how a human
being should die, he now taught, beyond dying, how to practically implement
the highest philosophical teachings of Gaudiya Vaisnavism.
This realization gave the devotees great hope that Srila Prabhupada and the
revolutionary life of Krsna consciousness he had brought with him were not
finished upon his departure. Often when a great personality dies, his
contribution collapses; but Srila Prabhupada's presence remained and
expanded, sustaining his devotees' lives. He was still in charge.
>From Srila Prabhupada Lilamrta by HH Satsvarupadasa Goswami Maharaj.
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