By Sita Rani Devi Dasi
This December, Lord Sri Krishna made special arrangement for the glorification of his pure devotee Srila Prabhupada and his own word- “Bhagavad-gita As It Is”.
On the 19th of December 2011, Worldwide Gita Contest 2011 was organized in Bangalore. Over 5000 participants from all over the world came together for this contest. ISKCON was represented by a 25 year old humble devotee, Mathura Bihari Das, disciple of H.H Radha Govind Maharaj. Born in Bihar and currently living in Vrindavan, he had recently completed the Bhakti Shastri Course at VIHE, Vrindavan.
This contest was thronged by participants who were mostly in the age group of 35 – 60 years, and some of them had been teaching the Bhagavad-gita for nearly 25 years. In the light of such circumstances, it was quite natural for the young devotee to feel intimidated. He called up his teacher at VIHE, H.G Prasanta mataji. She pacified him, encouraging him to offer his humble prayers to Srila Prabhupada, and be his instrument in spreading the divine knowledge. He was made to believe that he was to hold a key position in Krishna’s divine plan.
This belief was reinforced when the result of the exam, which lasted several hours, was declared. Mathura Bihari Prabhu had scored almost full marks in all 6 sections. The miracle had just begun to unfold.
After the declaration of the results at 1 pm, Mathura Bihari Prabhu was told that there would be a ceremony to felicitate him at 4 pm and he was asked to prepare a presentation for it and also to be prepared to face ten questions put forward by their experts.
He called up H.G Prasanta Mataji and H.G Adi Purusa Prabhuji from VIHE again and expressed his desire to smash the 1000 Mayavadis present there. His desire was Krishna’s will which can never go unfulfilled.
During the little time that he got to prepare, he studied all the purports of Prabhupada, which centered on destroying the Mayavadi philosophy. The questions that were hurled at him, lead to a realization that he as he stood at the dais merely as a mouthpiece of Srila Prabhupada and the Lord. This 25 crore event organized and attended by luminaries from all over the worlds was to be Krishna’s forum of glorifying his own words – “Bhagavad-gita As It Is”.
When asked about the source of his knowledge, he flashed Bhagavad-gita As It Is and all cameras & media glare zoomed onto the cover of Srila Prabhupada’s Bhagavad-gita As Is which by Lord Krishna’s dictate being upheld as the most authentic source of eternal knowledge. Being the only Indian in the top five winners, Mathura Bihari Prabhu took this opportunity to glorify Srila Prabhupada’s Bhagavad-gita and encouraged everyone to read it.
When he glorified Bhagavad-gita As It Is, the mayavadis began to ask questions in which they were offensive to Krishna. This infuriated an otherwise very humble devotee, who took up the challenge of defeating them. Those mayavadis were rendered speechless by the young boy. He then succeeded in registering 3500 people to procure and read the sacred scripture. He used his prize money of Rs 1,25,000 to make “Bhagavad-gita As It Is” available to these inquisitive souls.
This recreation of the defeat of Keshav Kashmiri by Nimai Pandit is a glorious moment for ISKCON.
It was Krishna’s divine plan to bring fame and recognition to his pure devotee Srila Prabhupada. The Russian controversy had lead to the Gita being put under the global stare. The success of Mathura Bihari Prabhu at the contest was another way of bringing the book into limelight.