By Nrsimhananda das
I moved into the Chicago temple (apartment) in 1971, and now I’ve reached this milestone after living a whole lifetime thinking that 70 years old was either far in the future or unattainable. As the wrinkles deepen and the jowls sag, I cannot help but remember Krishna every time that I look in the mirror: “Time I am, destroyer of all things.” Here I still am, standing on the precipice of what, for Prabhupada, was a lifetime of preparation.
Prabhupada put his lotus feet on US soil shortly after his 70th revolution around the sun or however the Vaisnava pandits explain the 5th Canto. (As many times as I’ve read the verses/purports and listened to lectures by various interlocutors, I’m still a deer in the headlights when it comes to Vedic cosmology.)
Me? I’m still in household life with two teenagers and college tuitions looming. What happened to taking vanaprastha at 50? I blew through that without a second thought.
Around 1972, Prabhupada got lots of letters from frustrated householders who had to work and maintain their families. Those householders saw that the sannyasis had their own servant, got the Maha, traveled, and had prestige. They thought, “this is better than being married. That’s why so many devotees asked Prabhupada to take sannyasa. When Prabhupada received my letter requesting sanyasa, he replied, “The first thing is that you have to become a responsible householder. You can preach in any situation. You don’t need a danda to preach. I don’t want to give sannyasa to anyone who’s not proven himself responsible in their ashram.” – Mahatma das (ACBSP)
I guess that I’m still proving myself. Nevertheless, my understanding is that we can be renounced in any ashram; the question is always about how well we are following the instructions of guru in that station. Prabhupada was most pleased with his disciples who were spreading the gospel and/or supporting the mission while at the same time following the regulative principles and maintaining steady sadhana. In my case, I claim progress, not perfection.
At 70, most people in my country (US) are retired, babysitting their grandchildren, being a politician, and/or playing golf. As a practicing Iskconite for the past 46 years, those pleasures are not compelling reasons to live. Prabhupada taught and showed us that real life is that of a preacher. Shyamasundar (ACBSP) pr experienced association with Prabhupada as a great adventure. Everyday new possibilities were proposed, promoted, and pursued. His book, “Chasing Rhino’s With the Swami,” percolates with the excitement of taxing his brain to spread this great Hare Krishna Movement – thinking big. bold, and beautiful.
But 70. It’s getting close to crunch time. Every day in this body is grace. How will this third act end? The great poet, T. S. Eliot, finished off his most famous poem, “The Hollow Men” with a line that long ago seared itself into my consciousness:
“This is the way the world ends
Not with a bang but a whimper.”
I dread the thought of leaving this world with anything less than shouting the Holy Names – or, at least, having someone doing that to me. I cannot allow myself to think that 70 is old, or limiting, or time to wind down – not when Srila Prabhupada showed that it was a benchmark to pick up the pace like a runner sprinting to the finish. Retirement is a dirty word in my personal dictionary; it spells boredom, inertness, and doldrums.
If 70 were a good enough age for Prabhupada to start his international mission, then it should be good enough for me to pursue my plans – in this case, to make commercial Krishna conscious feature films. I’ve been working for a while on a number of narrative projects with my partner, Janardradhi (ACBSP) pr. We aspire to follow in Srila Prabhupada’s footsteps – at least in our own category of service. . Let the Vaisnava blessings begin!
70? We’re just getting warmed up.
YS, Nrsimhananda das