Srila Prabhupada- A devotee should also be compassionate to the poor. This does not refer to those who are poverty-stricken materially. According to devotional vision, a man is poor if he is not in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. A man may be very rich materially, but if he is not Kṛṣṇa conscious, he is considered poor. On the other hand, many ācāryas, such as Rūpa Gosvāmī and Sanātana Gosvāmī, used to live beneath trees every night. Superficially it appeared that they were poverty-stricken, but from their writings we can understand that in spiritual life they were the richest personalities.
In spiritual life, one must conduct one’s whole life under the guidance of the guru. Only one who executes his spiritual life under the direction of the spiritual master can achieve the mercy of Kṛṣṇa. Yasya prasādād bhagavat-prasādaḥ. If one desires to advance in spiritual life but he acts whimsically, not following the orders of the spiritual master, he has no shelter. Yasyāprasādān na gatiḥ kuto ‘pi.
Srila Prabhupada – Sadācāra means good behavior…. Anyone who wants to make progress in spiritual life, he must be sadācāra. His behavior must be very regulated . Asadācārī, unclean, non regulated, cannot make any progress. If somebody says that, “Whatever you like, you can do. There is no difference. You can imagine your own way . . .” This is going on nowadays. “Whatever you like, you can do…” But that is not recommended in the Vedic literatures. One must be sadācāra. This is the beginning of sadācāra : to rise early in the morning, to cleanse, then chant the Vedic mantras or, simplified as in the present age, Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra. This is the beginning of sadācāra. So sadācāra means to become freed from sinful reaction . Unless one follows the regulative principles he cannot be freed. And unless one is fully freed from sinful reaction, he cannot understand what is God .
And as soon as you become experienced in hearing, you become a preacher — kirtanam. Immediately. One who has heard nicely, he will try to become a kirtaniya, or preacher . That is natural. That is natural.
O my Lord, I am Your unmotivated servant, and You are my eternal master. There is no need of our being anything other than master and servant. You are naturally my master, and I am naturally Your servant. We have no other relationship.
Oh Krishna, the Lord of love and compassion, We offer this prayer for Sripada Kadamba Kanana Swami, Who left his body in Vrindavan, in an exemplary way, A shining example of devotion and surrender, we can say.
He was a stalwart preacher in ISKCON, A pure Vaishnava, a loving spiritual master, A kirtan leader, a hands-on manager, His energy and positivity were like a divine elixir.
He helped thousands of devotees far and wide, Guiding them on the path of bhakti with pride, Spreading your message of love and devotion, Maharaj was a true spiritual inspiration.
Though he has left his mortal body, His spirit lives on in the hearts of many, May he find eternal bliss in your divine abode, And continue to inspire us on the bhakti road.
We will miss his divine association, His wisdom, his guidance, his inspiration, But we take solace in the fact, That he is now with you, Oh Krishna, where he belongs in fact.
Oh Krishna, please bless us with your grace, That we may follow in the footsteps of HH Kadamba Kanana Swami, Serving you with all our hearts, in every place, And attain Your eternal abode, where we will all be together again.
Today is a special day when the world received a matchless gift! On this date, 1st July 1966, Srila Prabhupada entered the new storefront at 26, 2nd Avenue in New York, USA. It was the beginning of the unfolding of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s plan to plant the seed of Krishna consciousness all over the world. Srila Prabhupada immediately started conducting regular classes from this storefront and within two weeks he incorporated ISKCON on 13th July 1966. From this small storefront, Srila Prabhupada launched the worldwide Hare Krishna movement.
Below is the excerpt from the diary of Srila Prabhupada on 1st July 1966-
Today I entered the new house at 26 Second Avenue rear portion Room #B1. For my purpose it all good. I do not why Krishna is trying to establish me in New York. I am his servant’s servant and therefore let His desire be fulfilled through my agency.
The Landlord Mr. Gardiner is pukka landlord. He knows how to increase the rent. But I am not sorry. For two months namely July and August I will have to pay at 62 and odds whereas from September 1st I will have to pay $71 and odds. Let me see how Krishna arranges the things.
In the evening there was meeting in the New Store. There was about eight men Collection $5.50. Book Collection 4.00
The whole day I waited for Con Edison but they did not
Mr. Gardiner took a week to paint the apartment. Meanwhile, Mike arranged for the electricity and water to be turned on and had a phone installed, and he and Carl raised the first month’s rent among their friends. When everything was ready, Mike gave Prabhupāda a call at Carl’s.
Now it was time to move the Swami into his new place. A few friends who were on hand accompanied the Swami over to the Bowery loft. Maybe they weren’t prepared to become his surrendered disciples, but contributing toward the first month’s rent and volunteering a few hours of work to help set up his place were exactly the kinds of things they could do very willingly.
At the loft, they all gathered up portions of the Swami’s belongings, and then they started out on foot up Bowery. It was like a safari, a caravan of half a dozen men loaded with Prabhupāda’s things. Michael carried the heavy Roberts reel-to-reel, and even the Swami carried two suitcases. They did everything so quickly that it wasn’t until they were well on their way and Mike’s arm began to ache that he realized, “Why didn’t we bring a car?”
It was the end of June, and a hazy summer sun poured its heat down into the Bowery jungle. Starting and stopping, the strange safari, stretching for over a block, slowly trekked along. Prabhupāda struggled with his suitcases, past the seemingly unending row of restaurant supply shops and lamp stores between Grand, Broome, and Spring streets. Sometimes he paused and rested, setting his suitcases down. He was finally moving from the Bowery. …
The Swami and his young friends reached the corner of Bowery and Houston, turned right, and proceeded east. Gazing steadily ahead as he walked, Prabhupāda saw the southern end of Second Avenue, one block away. At Second Avenue he would turn left, walk just one block north across First Street, and arrive at his new home. As he passed the IND subway entrance, the storefront came into view – “Matchless Gifts.” He gripped his suitcases and moved ahead.
There was no certainty of what awaited him here. But already there had been good signs that these American young people, mad though they sometimes were, could actually take part in Lord Caitanya’s saṅkīrtana movement. Perhaps this new address would be the place where he could actually get a footing with his International Society for Krishna Consciousness.
(The unusual hand-painted sign – Matchless Gifts – was a holdover from when the place had been a gift shop. On the right, Srila Prabhupada is standing in the courtyard between the storefront and his apartment.)
All the members and well-wishers of Hare Krishna movement can appreciate the significance of this date when Srila Prabhupada moved into this storefront and gave the world the matchless gift of Krishna consciousness.
Let us try to get a glimpse into Krishna’s heart today. How lovingly He reciprocates with His devotees and what makes Him obliged to His devotees. There is an underlying sweet mellow in Krishna’s exchange with His devotees. These mellows in Krishna’s heart are revealed to us by the acharyas, they know Krishna’s heart.
Revealing Krishna’s heart
Now, the Lord comes to deliver the devotees (paritrāṇāya sādhūnām), but it is clearly stated in Bhagavad-gītā that a devotee transcends the material qualities (sa guṇān samatītyaitān). A devotee is in a transcendental position because he is no longer under the control of the three material modes of nature — goodness, passion, and ignorance. But if a sādhu is already delivered, being on the transcendental platform, then where is the necessity of delivering him? This question may arise. The Lord comes to deliver the devotee, but the devotee is already delivered. Therefore the word viḍambanam, meaning “bewildering,” is used in this verse because this appears contradictory.
The answer to this contradiction is that a sādhu, a devotee, does not require deliverance, but because he is very much anxious to see the Supreme Lord face to face, Krishna comes not to deliver him from the clutches of matter, from which he has already been delivered, but to satisfy his inner desire. Just as a devotee wants to satisfy the Lord in all respects, the Lord, even more, wants to satisfy the devotee. Such are the exchanges of loving affairs. Even in our ordinary dealings, if we love someone we want to satisfy him or her, and he or she also wants to reciprocate. So if the reciprocation of loving affairs exists in this material world, in what an elevated way must it exist in the spiritual world.
Krishna becomes obliged to the loving spirit of the devotee and not exactly to the service rendered. No one can serve Krishna completely. He is so complete and self-sufficient that He has no need of any service from the devotee. It is the devotee’s attitude of love and affection for Krishna that makes Him obliged.
In Vṛndāvana there is a place where there was no temple, but a devotee desired, “Let there be a temple and sevā, devotional service.” Therefore, what was once an empty corner has now become a place of pilgrimage. Such are the desires of a devotee.
Hare Krishna, I am sharing excerpts from a lecture where Srila Prabhupada speaks a Householder mahatma. He tells us about the aim, symptoms and determination of such a householder. I pray that his words inspire us to become one.
Can a householder become a mahatma?
Question may be whether a mahātmā can be in the household life or not. That is being described: Yes. In household life also there can be mahātmā. Just like Advaita Mahāprabhu. Caitanya Mahāprabhu even; Nityānanda Mahāprabhu. They were all householders. Caitanya Mahāprabhu, He was a householder. He married twice. His first wife died—He married for the second time. Regular householder, although He left household life very early. He was only twenty-four years old; therefore He had no children. But Nityānanda Prabhu had one child, Vīrabhadra, and Advaita Prabhu had two, three children, of which Acyutānanda was very highly elevated. Similarly, Śrīvāsa Ṭhākura, he had children.
So Caitanya Mahāprabhu does not say that one has to become in the renounced order, of sannyāsī, then he becomes a mahātmā. No. We also do not propagate such idea. At least, I am not doing that. I am creating householder, ideal householder. And my ideas are being fruitful. Here in London I sent six householders, and they are doing nice; sincerely they are working. Therefore I am very much proud of them.
What is the aim of such a householder?
A householder mahātmā has only one aim: how to attain the perfectional stage of love of God. That is the aim. Generally, a householder in the modern civilization, they are simply trying to accumulate money, increase the bank balance and make the society, friendship and love as the aim and object of life, and they have no other business. But a person who is mahātmā, his aim is different. His aim is “How to make my life perfect in Krishna consciousness. How to please Krishna, how to make friendship with Krishna.”
Everyone is seeking some friend. That is a fact. The businessmen or lawyer or politician, everyone is seeking some friend. Without friend… Society, friendship and love, these things are required. But a mahātmā householder, he is seeking actual friendship with Krishna… Because he knows, “If Krishna is my friend…”
Just like Arjuna sought friendship with Krishna; Duryodhana sought friendship with Krishna’s power. Krishna divided Himself. Because it was family warfare between two cousin brothers, and Krishna was also related with both of them by family relationship, so He said, “How can I take part with one and not with the other? Then that will be partiality. So anyway, I divide Myself into two. I am alone, one side, and in which side I shall go, I shall not fight. I shall not touch even a weapon. And the other side, all My soldiers.” Krishna had many soldiers. So Duryodhana thought that “I shall take Krishna’s soldiers,” and Arjuna thought, “I shall take Krishna only, even He does not fight.” So this is the determination of mahātmās, that they want simply Krishna’s friendship.
…A devotee has got four business: īśvare prīti, love for God, Krishna; friendship with devotees; and kindness to the neophytes; and rejection to the non-devotees. These four principles. A devotee’s only lovable object is Krishna. His only friend is devotee, another devotee.
As a struggling householder devotee, mere thought of becoming a householder mahatma may seem very fetched but we can rise to that platform if we have the desire, sincerity and most importantly a will to please Srila Prabhupada. Srila Prabhupada desired that all householder devotees should become ideal householders. He mentioned in the above lecture how he is very proud of such sincere householders. Today we have hundreds of such householder mahatmas in our Krishna conscious society.
We can test ourselves with some checkpoints given by Srila Prabhupada in his above lecture-
What am I doing in my daily sadhana which is helping me to cultivate friendship with Krishna?
Do I seek friendship with Krishna as a person or with His power?
Do I long for friendship with non-devotees?
Are my best friends devotees?
Is Krishna my only lovable object?
Is the only aim of my life to please Krishna and His devotee?
Sounds tough! but it is a sweet struggle, it is adventurous and it is full of reciprocation from Krishna and His pure devotees.
In our daily dealings many times we face circumstances where we have to seek favour from others. Sometimes we get a positive response, sometimes it is negative. Srila Prabhupada shares an amazing insight on how should a devotee see the final result, whether favourable or unfavourable, in a manner that helps us to build our relationship with Krishna.
Srila Prabhupada– So we can ask favor from anyone, butwe must know that nobody can favour us unless it is sanctioned by the Supreme Person. We must always know. It is not that one in a superior position can favour me. No, he cannot show favor unless it is sanctioned by the Supreme.
Suppose we approach a rich man to favour us with some contribution or membership fees, but that rich man cannot favour us unless it is sanctioned by Krishna.Krishna is there within him and if he says “You give him this money,” the man will give us. Suppose we request somewhere and he does not favour us. We should not be sorry. We should know that Krishna did not dictate to him that he should donate. He is not so fortunate, therefore Krishna did not dictate as such to him.So there is nothing over which to be sorry. This should be our principle.
This is a master key that can help aspiring devotees unlock many closed doors-
Faithfully remembering that everything that is happening is sanctioned by Krishna allows us to live an anxiety-free life.
Turn a negative experience into a positive ‘spiritual muscle building’ opportunity.
As we cultivate the habit of naturally feeling dependent on Krishna under all circumstances, it allows devotees to live on Krishna’s mercy, even in this material world.
Such a culture help devotees to develop a spiritual vision where we can see Krishna’s hand in all the happenings in our life, even in the so-called material dealings.
We can apply this principle in multiple situations- while seeking donations, in our dealings with other devotees, in our professional life, etc. Instead of feeling temporarily elated or disheartened, we can practice to become equipoised during life’s ups and downs, see each happening as sanctioned by Krishna, strengthen our relationship with Krishna, thereby allowing us to always remember Krishna and never forget Him.
