The Import Of “Your Ever Well Wisher”

By Kesava Krsna Dasa

Srila Prabhupada was serious about his use of words. If we analyse why he used “Ever well wisher” as he signed off each letter he wrote, we will discover a broad and deep purpose for doing so. Let us sample some profound meanings.

As an acarya and pure devotee, his vision of friendship or wishing others well differed from usual worldly definitions. Such differences are noticed with the word “Ever.” Already, with this word we can see that a transcendent, on-going or eternal value has qualified his wishing well of others.

Where would this eternal worth come from? All disciples know that their spiritual master is an eternal servitor of Srimati Radharani, Sri Krishna or is the representative of the Supersoul, depending on their vision – Srila Prabhupada is all of these.

Srila Prabhupada’s use of “Ever well-wisher” has its origin in spiritual vision and expressed in his translations and writings. The Supreme Lord is commonly referred to as – suhrdam – the friend of all. Sometimes he would translate – suhrdam – as a “Well-wisher” friend. If the Lord can be a Well wishing friend, why can Srila Prabhupada not also be a friend to all? Here is an example:

When King Purañjana was being dragged with great force by the powerful Yavana, out of his gross ignorance he still could not remember his friend and well-wisher, the Supersoul. (SB 4.28.25)

Purport: The word sakhāyam (“friend”) is very significant in this verse because God is eternally present beside the living entity. The Supreme Lord is also described as suḥrdam (“ever well-wisher”). The Supreme Lord is always a well-wisher, just like a father or mother. Despite all the offenses of a son, the father and mother are always the son’s well-wisher. Similarly, despite all our offenses and defiance of the desires of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the Lord will give us immediate relief from all the hardships offered by material nature if we simply surrender unto Him, as confirmed in Bhagavad-gītā (mām eva ye prapadyante māyām etāṁ taranti te [Bg. 7.14]). Unfortunately, due to our bad association and great attachment for sense gratification, we do not remember our best friend, the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

We can pick out several qualities from this purport related to “ever well-wisher” that apply not only to the Lord, but to someone like Srila Prabhupada as well. Just as “…God is eternally present beside the individual entity,” a bona-fide spiritual master is also eternally present beside a genuine disciple.
Just as “The Supreme Lord is always a well-wisher, just like a father or mother,” so the spiritual master is a kind well-wishing parent to his disciples. In spite of the sincere struggles, fall-downs and general problems of disciples, the parental spiritual master is willing to forgive.

No one can be our “best friend” in this world except Krishna, or one who carries Lord Krishna’s message and lives it like Srila Prabhupada and his representative spiritual masters and followers. Sometimes due to intellectual or philosophical adjustments, we may think that Srila Prabhupada is not with us, or forget that he is with us all, but his “Ever” quality ensures his presence.

If we break the word – suhrdam – into – su – and – hrdam – we will find more relevant spiritual master qualities. The word – su – usually denotes an emphasis like very, pious, good, most and so on. Hrdam – refers to the heart. The spiritual master is situated within the heart of genuine disciples as an ever well-wishing guide.

Although Srila Prabhupada knew all the above qualities pertained to the Lord, he nonetheless used his now famous quote to help teach us that a spiritual master is not limited to average or mundane vision. He may not be ‘physically’ present before us, yet he is “ever” present.

For instance, there are thousands of murtis of Srila Prabhupada worldwide in temples, preaching centres and homes. Each of those murtis reciprocate with thousands more worshippers and followers in a personal way. Such is the power of a resident of Sri Goloka. It should not be hard then to understand how such residents can be both in Goloka and Navadvipa at he same time, and simultaneously give their presence to us here in the material world – instant ever presence.

In summing up these various qualities, we can reflect on how laden the ever well-wisher quotation is. Being broad and deep, we should be thankful how a super-excellent situation exists for us to keep in touch with Srila Prabhupada. He is literally just a ‘heartbeat’ away from us, or rather, just an instant devotional thought away.

Ys Kesava Krsna Dasa – GRS