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Srila Prabhupada
By Satsvarupa Das Gosvami
Writing the last chapter of the Srila Prabhupada-lilamrita was an intense experience for me. Prabhupada
was teaching “the final lesson,” and I relived the day-by-day remembrances of being with Srila
Prabhupada and serving in his ISKCON movement in the final days leading up to his disappearance. Those
days were like a drama unfolding. Would Prabhupada stay with us? What would we do without him? And
again I felt the grief at his departure. I was also reminded that Prabhupada’s last days were filled with
the preaching spirit as he encouraged his disciples to continue his work. He exemplified calm and
tolerance in the face of great pain, and fearlessness in the face of death. He allowed us the intimacy of
chanting soft kirtanas in his room and reading to him from Srimad-Bhagavatam, Krishna book, and his
other books.
Then it was again November 14, 1977 and Prabhupada departed at 7:30 p.m. In the Lilamrita I told briefly
about Prabhupada’s actual passing–how he left in perfect circumstances in Vrindavana after a life totally
dedicated to Krishna, a life of incredibly potent achievements for Lord Caitanya’s mission. I also told
about how the news of Prabhupada’s departure affected his disciples around the world.
Well, was that it? Biography finished? No. There was more. I had to tell about service in separation. Even
though Prabhupada appeared to pass away from this world, he continues to live through his instructions.
Service in separation, vipralambha-seva, is a high level of realization, something which the residents of
Vrindavana feel in Krishna’s absence. We too can feel a form of union in separation, even though we are
not so advanced in spiritual realization, simply by meditating on Srila Prabhupada’s presence and
instructions.
He was gone but he was still very much present. This realization was not a pretension or a myth, nor was
it sentimental or psychic phenomenon or mental telepathy-it was a completely substantive, 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 instruction and all the nectar of his direct
association-all the nectar of Krishna 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 would they be able to sustain themselves in spiritual life? The fact
that they could continue as before, increase their feelings of devotion, and increase their serving
capacity, meant that Srila Prabhupada was still very much with them.
Now had I completed the biography? Again I found myself feeling that something more was needed.
Therefore I wrote the Epilogue. I wanted readers to understand clearly that they too had a claim to a
relationship with Srila Prabhupada. I expected that most of the readers would not be initiated disciples
of His Divine Grace. In fact, I assumed that some of the readers might be encountering Srila Prabhupada
for the first time in this book. Each of them could have a relationship with Prabhupada. It was their right.
Otherwise, as touching as the biography of Srila Prabhupada might read, the reader would be left only
with the idea that this was a story of one guru with his little band of disciples who tried to begin a
worldwide movement. It had nothing to do with them and there was no way in which they could
participate now since that guru had left this world. I wanted the reader to understand that Prabhupada
was more than the guru of a particular generation; he was to be with us forever.
In describing how the followers of His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada continued to
relish the nectar of serving him in separation, we are not speaking of only a small band of several
thousand devotees whom he initiated during his lifetime. Srila Prabhupada was not only an acarya, but
he was the founder-acarya of the Krishna consciousness movement, which is a dynamic spiritual reality.
We cannot limit Srila Prabhupada, therefore, by describing only the drama of his being the guru for one
generation of followers. Srila Prabhupada is jagat-guru, the spiritual master of the entire world. He is a
bona fide spiritual master, faithfully conveying the message of the disciplic succession from Lord Krishna,
as he received it in parampara from his spiritual master. But more than that, he was empowered by
Krishna to do what no other spiritual master has done. He is the founder-acarya for spreading Lord
Caitanya’s sankirtana worldwide in the midst of the age of Kali.
-SPL, Vol. 6, pp. 42324
Such a personal relationship with the founder-acarya is possible even for persons not directly initiated
by Srila Prabhupada. It was Srila Prabhupada who taught us to apply Krishna consciousness to the modern
context. It was Srila Prabhupada who set the standards of sadhana and cleanliness, of purity and
association. Whoever follows these basic practices and recognizes Srila Prabhupada as Krishna’s direct
representative is his follower.
In the Epilogue, I also pointed out that people could serve Krishna through their fields of endeavor-
artists, philosophers, businessmen, and laborers could all become devotees. Srila Prabhupada placed few
restrictions on his followers as to how they could serve. After all, he wanted Krishna consciousness to
pervade the entire society and he felt that the Krishna conscious philosophy had jurisdiction over all
subjects of learning and action. Why shouldn’t anyone anywhere in the world feel that if he took up
Prabhupada’s instructions, he could become Srila Prabhupada’s follower?
The Krishna conscious gifts Srila Prabhupada brought to the West are for everyone. Srila Prabhupada left
us with a dynamic legacy in his books, through his devotees, in the development of his communities, and
in his teachings of how to expertly apply Krishna consciousness of his communities, and in his teachings
of how to expertly apply Krishna consciousness in every situation. If we simply use our intelligence to
claim our relationship with Prabhupada by practicing Krishna consciousness in the mood in which he
taught it, we will inherit the most wonderful relationship with Krishna’s pure devotee, Srila Prabhupada.
That was the purpose of the Srila Prabhupada-lilamrita, and if anyone reads it and opens himself to the
possibility of a deep relationship with Srila Prabhupada, he will not only become a Prabhupadanuga, but
he will taste the sweetness of Prabhupada’s association. This is true not only of persons who joined
ISKCON during Prabhupada’s physical presence but for those who joined after 1977.
Guru-nishtha in ISKCON
Srila Prabhupada’s mission is nondifferent from Srila Rupa Gosvami’s mission. In his purport to Cc. Antya
1.117, Srila Prabhupada writes:
The special function of Srila Rupa Gosvami is to establish the feelings of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. These
feelings are His desires that His special mercy be spread throughout the world in this Kali-yuga.
His desire is that all over the world, everyone, in every village and every town, know of Sri Caitanya
Mahaprabhu and His sankirtana movement. These are the inner feelings of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Sri
Rupa Gosvami committed to writing all these feelings of the Lord. Now again, by the mercy of Sri Caitanya
Mahaprabhu, the same feeling are being spread all over the world by the servants of the Gosvamis, and
devotees who are pure and simple will appreciate this attempt.
Srila Prabhupada also writes, “Advancement in Krishna consciousness depends on the attitude of the
follower.” (NOI, Introduction) All the shastras declare the necessity to accept all follow a bona fide
spiritual master in parampara. “Following” implies accepting the spiritual master’s particular mood and
emphasis in his relationship with Krishna. Srila Prabhupada perfectly exemplified such following in his
own relationship with Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura, as was proven by his successful execution
of the mission. Srila Prabhupada’s own mood toward his Guru Maharaja was one of exclusive devotion
and attention. We can follow that example.
Guru-nishtha is the most important point in spiritual life. In a lecture in Vrindavana (November 28, 1976),
Srila Prabhupada states:
All you are young Westerners. You never study Vedanta, but you can surprise many socalled Vedantists
how to understand Krishna. How it has become possible? Simply by your firm faith in your spiritual master
and Krishna and chanting Hare Krishna. That’s all. Yasya deve para bhaktir, yatha deve tatha gurau. This
is the Vedic process. If we have got firm faith in guru and firm faith in Krishna-guru-krishna-krpaya paya
bhakti-lata-bija-then you get the seedling of bhakti-lata.
There is a tendency now that time is passing to see things more objectively and to think that perhaps
Srila Prabhupada wasn’t so special. After all, he is just one more link in the parampara chain of
innumerable gurus stemming from Krishna. Actually, ISKCON devotees are often accused by those outside
ISKCON of being too exclusive in their devotion. Why should we claim a special place for Prabhupada or
for any other guru for that matter? Even within ISKCON we can hear the advanced realizations of other
devotees, or see them travel around the world, gain followers, write their own books. A follower of
Prabhupada won’t allow such minimization to creep into his faith. Srila Prabhupada accomplished
something so extraordinary that any comparison to others becomes a minimization of his position.
This is the nature of an ISKCON devotee: he or she wants to develop love for Krishna by following strictly
in Srila Prabhupada’s footsteps and in the mood that he taught. It will be to the credit of Srila
Prabhupada’s disciples and succeeding generations of followers to continue with this fixed determination
in their glorification of His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. Such devotion is not
fanatical. Prahlada Maharaja expressed a similar sentiment when describing his feelings toward his own
spiritual master, Narada Muni:
My dear Lord, O Supreme Personality of Godhead, because of my association with material desires, one
after another, I was gradually falling into a blind well full of snakes, following the general populace. But
Your servant Narada Muni kindly accepted me as his disciple and instructed me how to achieve this
transcendental position. Therefore, my first duty is to serve him. How could I leave his service?
-Bhag. 7.9.28
I am sure that Srila Prabhupada would encourage this kind of exclusive devotion. He expressed such
undiverted attention toward his own spiritual master, and he tried to protect ISKCON from the various
outside influences that could disturb it or that would misunderstand his application of Krishna
consciousness for Westerners. Such exclusive devotion is not the property of only those devotees who
joined ISKCON before 1977; it is the property of all who wish to follow Prabhupada. We can cultivate
that exclusive devotion to Prabhupada by hearing about his life, studying his teachings, praying to him,
and rendering service to him according to his desires.
Often devotees wonder whether because of the disappointments, it means that none of Srila
Prabhupada’s disciples are qualified to be gurus, or whether we should not think of another, seemingly
more practical system to avoid the chance of disappointment. There is no blanket statement we can
throw over this issue to say that none of Prabhupada’s disciples are capable to accept disciples just
because some of his disciples have failed in this regard. The point that makes them qualified is their own
strict following of Srila Prabhupada. It is to Prabhupada’s glory that he was able to take such raw recruits,
people who had previously been eating meat and living for sense gratification and turn them into
Vaishnavas. Any disciple who is strictly following Srila Prabhupada’s orders has had to renounce more
than just their breaking of the regulative principles. They have had to step into a whole mode of life to
which they were not conditioned. They had to become childlike with Srila Prabhupada and do things they
could never have imagined doing, such as going off to foreign countries to establish Krishna consciousness
there. The power of their austerities and the strength of Prabhupada’s blessings for their surrender have
given them potency. I don’t say this only looking to Srila Prabhupada’s initiated disciples; that same
potency is being evinced and will continue to be evinced in the present generation of his granddisciples
and in generations to come. This offering of a life to Srila Prabhupada’s mission is a more important
qualification than any mystical qualification.