By Kesava Krsna dasa – GRS
Was there ever a time when we underestimated someone? We judged a book by its cover? And rained down our prejudices from on high, suspecting intellectual inferiority or a flawed disposition, unworthy of our dignified consideration; then the person concerned turns out to be eminently more qualified than we thought.
Such behavior not only causes fatal friction worldwide, but can severely hinder our spiritual development if we dare to do likewise to vaisnavas who care not to advertise their exalted nature.
It is very easy to get stuck in the grind of mechanical devotional service, being imbued with certain inflexible standards, to which we protest blasphemous foul, harbor envious resentment or show joyful entreaty towards an unknown quantity who may seemingly defy convention, but has received the full mercy of Sri Sri Guru and Gauranga.
When the omniscient Lord, Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu composed His famous trnad api … verse, it was not just a fleeting gesture or necessarily a product of heightened ecstasy, He was fully mindful of the fact that His sankirtana mission would spread all over the world. He instructed devotees to string this verse around their arm or neck to serve as a constant reminder of their humble state of mind. As Kali-yuga progresses, this will be the optimum requirement for any candidate wishing to take up His mission. In the modern era, it would clothe the efforts of Srila Prabhupada and his followers.
History is replete with examples of the Supreme Lord defying the norms of collective beliefs and traditions. As He is independent in every way, His latitude is bound to the love of His pure devotees, certain of whom also behaved in ways contrary to expectations, sometimes inviting the wrath of ignorant persons. In other ways they carry out the Lords bidding against all mathematical odds. Against this background of perceived normality, a most unlikely individual may be favored by the Lord in the most opposite way.
In the Srimad Bhagavatam the story of Jada Bharata tells of his extreme tolerance in the face of misunderstanding; a condition mundane minds will attribute to flagrant self – abasement. Though he was a fully competent individual, highly advanced in spiritual understanding, he acted as a dysfunctional mute, careful not to repeat the mistakes of his previous life. Being subjected to physical humiliation and abuse his real glory shone forth from, of all places, underneath a Kings palanquin which he toiled to carry, where he, as a lowly slave preached the highest truth unto King Rahugana.
Elsewhere we find Sukadeva Goswami who was so other worldly he went about naked, inviting all manner of jokes and invectives. But this beautiful oddity, a sixteen year old vagabond was inspired to go and recite the Srimad Bhagavatam to Maharaja Pariksit, in the presence of the great sages, mystics and philosophers who hailed from all parts of the universe. Furthermore, his spiritual master Srila Vyasadeva and his grand spiritual master Srila Narada Muni were also present.
During Lord Chaitanya’s presence on Earth, two brothers were ostracized by the brahmana community for adopting Islamic ways and identity. They were nonetheless accepted as direct disciples by the merciful Lord who did the unthinkable in rattling the nerves of the custodians of the caste system, who sometimes worked in cahoots with the Muslim occupying force. For Srila Rupa Goswami and Srila Sanatana Goswami to switch from Hindu to Islam to Vaisnavism was radical to say the least, Yet we are called Rupanugas in honor of his special standing in relation to Sri Sri Radha Govinda.
Srila Raghunatha Dasa Goswami was born into fabulous wealth and aristocracy, and Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu made him the acarya for renunciation. Srila Hari Dasa Thakhur was actually born into a Yavana [Muslim] family. For him to desert Islam is considered the utmost of heretical evils, and to convert to Vaisnavism was a little trite too much for the caste conscious, leaving him in a rejected state of limbo. Of course, the loving Lord not only accepted him, but nominated him as acarya for chanting the Holy Names.
See how the principle of opposites is working from an absolute plane, aloof from the three modes of material nature.
Srila Ramananda Raya was according to external vision a pounds and shillings Sudra, but so highly learned was he in Rasa esotericism, the Lord acknowledged him as the pre-eminent guardian of this theology.
Srila Bhaktisiddanta Sarasvati Thakhur, the acclaimed scholar, astronomer, orator and much more, accepted Srila Gaura Kishora Dasa Babaji as his Guru, who was to the mundane eye, an eccentric, illiterate and homeless ascetic.
Our Srila Prabhupada also defied the gravity of grounded institutionalism. Among his God brothers he was deemed an average devotee with average abilities. Many of them were aware of his Guru’s order to spread Krsna consciousness around the world. Conventional wisdom taught, so most thought, that the world pertained to greater India at most. As Srila Prabhupada got older approaching the age of seventy, he definitely was the least likely person to carry out this deed. But there is something mystical and powerful about the order of the spiritual master which guarantees the Lord’s protection and enables one to do literally the impossible.
Against all good sound well meaning advice, as befitting an old man with meager means, he left the shores of India. One could have been forgiven if he were to say this was a foolhardy exercise. But it was uniquely unlikely,
This is what Lord Chaitanya foresaw. He has His agents of the universal order move the chess pieces of world affairs to align with Srila Prabhupada’s arrival in America, and the trinad api…. principle is going to be tested more than ever.
The establishment of Iskcon, Lord Chaitanya’s sankirtana mission, was the vital plunge of the plough of Sri Baladeva who with his Sandhini potency becomes the mainstay of Srila Prabhupada’s creation. At first glance, the exuberant devotees were seen as part of a temporary phenomenon, a strange but exotic way to escape the heartless grinding machination of a competition driven industrialized monstrosity. After a short time, when Srila Prabhupada took his disciples to India he knew that the straw hut of existing parameters had been bulldozed by the charge of his ‘dancing white elephants’. If even to find one albino elephant is rare, then many of them seen together and dancing cleverly too, is an astonishing find; most unlikely. And yes, his fellow countrymen took notice, his God brothers too, one of whom was moved to call Srila Prabhupada a Satyavesa Avatar. So impossible it was.
Here we are today, many of us wondering why the chess pieces of world affairs are moving ever so slowly towards anything which resembles a check-mate of world acceptance. There is much to do, because to all those hundreds of millions of people who are steeped in intellectual cynicism borne of Western thought systems, those who claim custodianship of Hindu orthodoxy with its plethora of branches, and those who are generally agnostic, atheistic and materially progressive, we, by and large are still viewed as dysfunctional dropouts, strangely dressed vagabonds and misinformed eccentrics all rolled into one, like a Cinderella trying very hard to please with credible alternatives to the status quo, but are deemed too lightweight to take on the horrid step sisters of the aimless movers and shakers of the world. As such, the pill of trnad api …. Inflates to the size of a pumpkin. Who can swallow a pumpkin sized tablet?
The challenge to make Iskcon acceptable is the preliminary clearing of the land, to cut down the dense foliage of misconception and suspicion, thereby creating an area ready for ploughing the seeds of eligibility. By exhibiting genuine amanina manadena …. Towards each other, even to unlikely opposite nonconformists, we can induce humility in others. Just as the pumpkin transformed into an impressive stagecoach which took Cinderella to the ball, the magic of trnad api …. By which we can obtain Sri Guru’s grace, Sri Nityananda’s grace who as Sri Balarama will be pleased to transform Iskcon into a dazzling Vaikuntha airplane. Our ploughing will then become an easier affair.
Within this strange world where the miseries of birth, death, old age and disease are certain certainties, another certainty is that from now into the future, more individuals will be inspired by the Lord, and appear out of obscurity, possessed of such influence and moral clout as to continue the Lord’s inconceivable tradition of being a total exception to the rule. So expect the unexpected to happen; any time.
Your servant, Kesava Krsna dasa – GRS
Kesava Krishna writes, “Our Srila Prabhupada also defied the gravity of grounded institutionalism. Among his God brothers he was deemed an average devotee with average abilities.”
In fact, our Srila Prabhupada was so highly regarded among his Godbrothers that many of them decided to award him the title Bhaktisiddhanta, even in the 1930s. Some felt it was unseemly to give him that title, so, guided by the same Godbrother who later opined that Srila Prabhupada must be a shaktyavesa avatar, they compromised by calling him Bhaktivedanta. Although he was not an insider, at least in many Gaudiya Math circles, he was always held in the highest spiritual esteem by those Godbrothers who knew him at all.
Thank you Babru prabhu for your comment.
Yes, Srila Prabhupada was well respected, but so were all his God brothers too. Over many years, several of Srila Prabhupada’s contempories also received honorific titles as for instance Bhakti Raksaka, Bhakti Promode and so on, in recognition for their distiguished contributions either in the literaty field as in Srila Prabhupada’s case, or in heading up the various mathas and allied activities. So all had their special days. We should not take Srila Prabhupada’s case in isolation. Rather, he was acknowledged as one of them, as an equal, which in God brotherly terms is quite normal. And equality when expressed by the law of averages equates to, well, average/ness.
In effect, your comment has already been factored into the average equation. Please also bear in mind that were it not for Srila Prabhupada to breach the ”world is India” scenario, he would not have been given Shaktyavesa Avatara credibility. The extraordinary effort of Srila Prabhupada did even then, elicit either a grudging respect, or even plain ignorant assessments based purely on material ability, ie; the use of business acumen etc.
The word áverage’ may sound somewhat bland, but until the time Sri Gauranga’s mercy was diffused elsewhere beyond the purview of average pursuits, at variance with the desires of Srila bhaktisiddhanta Sarsvati Thakhura, Srila Prabhupada was indeed an unknown quantity.
Thank you, your servant Kesava Krsna dasa,
Krishna Keshava prabhu, the “honorific titles” to which you refer above are sannyasa names, given at initiation. That’s somewhat different from the honorific names attached to their initiated names, such as Sundarananda Vidyavinoda, etc. In fact, it appears that Srila Prabhupada’s Godbrother Keshava Maharaja liked the “Bhaktivedanta” name so well that he used it for all his tridandi sannyasa disciples, so Srila Prabhupada kept that as part of his sannyasa name.
I really think, though, that you make too much of the “average” business with regard to Srila Prabhupada’s place among his Godbrothers. Of course they accepted him as one of them. That doesn’t mean they–or at least all of them–didn’t see him as an extraordinary devotee and preacher. The evidence is quite to the contrary. Not only did they give him an extraordinary name, and rather early on after their Prabhupada’s passing, but many of them were so appreciative of his efforts in Bombay that they suggested that he be the temple’s executive officer. There are several stories in Mulaprakriti’s book, “Our Srila Prabhupada, a Friend to All,” that show how many of his Godbrothers recognized something special going on between our Srila Prabhupada and their guru maharaja at their few meetings in the early and mid ’30s, and a special drive for serving the desires of the spriritual master and Sri Rupa and Raghunath Gosvamis, even while in household life, and certainly after leaving home. There were of course different factions in the Math, and not all devotees knew him as well as some did, and not all appreciated his potential and drive, even after his coming to the West. But many did, and their respect was anything but grudging. Srila Sridhar Maharaja stayed with him for years, and they spent considerable time together during those years, which may in part account for the less-than-spectacular success of Prabhupada’s businesses at that time. He was also one of the three founders of Keshava Maharaja’s Gaudiya Vedanta Samiti in the ’40s.
I think these things should be discussed very thoroughly, because understanding Srila Prabhupada’s place among his Godbrothers only enhances our appreciation of his glories, rather than diminishing it. He didn’t come out of nowhere; rather, he came from a mission inb which his spritual master made it clear that everyone should give the full measure of devotion to spreading the teachings of Lord Chaitanya everywhere. He directly said that it was not only his spirutal master’s (Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura’s) order, but his mother’s deathbed order. At one point, talking like this, he acknowledged that preaching in the West had been less successful than he hoped so far. But, he said, one of his disciples would again cross the ocean to deliver the message of Mahaprabhu. As he said this, one Godbrother noted, he was looking directly at our Srila Prabhupada, and he said, “And he will bring back the whole world.”
As Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura noted, the line of Bhaktivinoda will never die. All glories to Srila Prabhupada, and to his sincere servants!
Thanks again Babru prabhu,
I have to concede that when I wrote of the grudging and and ignorant assessments, I did so in a generalized way, and was not really aimed at all and sundry. As you indicated, there were a number of enlightened God brothers who, attuned to the inner desires of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta, could understand the unfolding of events that were to be unleashed by Srila Prabhupada. And I for one, hold great respect for them. In fact, that such friendship existed between Srila Prabhupada and some of his God brothers even before many of our parents were born, should be a lesson for us all not to disparage them in any way.
Back to the point. To put it another way; if I merely say that among equals Srila Prabhupada was not quite acknowledged as the senapati, might seem overly simplistic, without considering the dynamics of of a multi – facetted Gaudiya set up. Not everyone saw Srila Prabhupada as the acarya among his God brothers, the self – effulgent personality. Was he a self-effulgent acaya? The General? For the aggregate of God brothers to exult him as such would be considered sentimental prattle, in spite of great respect accorded to him.
But I admire the way you are trying to temper this by giving more credit to Srila Prabhupada’s God brothers for their respect of him. Since you are well informed on this issue I cannot begrudge your conviction.
Concerning the word áverage’ – here we go again. It is very easy to get bogged down in semantics. You saw the word one way, and I another. We are not exactly poles apart on the issue, just plain skirmishing about the application of the word. I could stand my ground and not budge an inch from my standpoint, and defend to the hilt; which would entail a passionate resolve, not quite in keeping with vaisnava communication. Alternatively, I could hand the olive branch of – let us agree to disagree. In any case, it is an interesting discussion and I thank you for your time.
Your servant, Kesava Krsna dasa.
Dear Keshava Krishna prabhu,
Thanks so much for your thoughtful response. I appreciate the intelligence and honesty I see in your remarks.
To start off, I don’t think there’s any need for any olive branches here, since I don’t think there’s any quarrel, or even disagreement, necessarily. I don’t see this as a skirmish, but a conversation.
I think my purpose in replying to your initial post comes from over 36 years’ experience, and I thought it may be well to clarify one small point so devotees may not too easily overgeneralize about Srila Prabhupada’s Godbrothers and their relationships with and appreciation for him and his service.
I think it’s safe to say that many of Srila Prabhupada’s Godbrothers came to see him as a self-effulgent acharya. Did/do they see him as The General? They no doubt see Srila Bhaktidsiddhanta Sarasvati as The General, and I think it would be very petty of us to begrudge them that vision, especially considering all he did, including sending his disciples overseas to share the message of Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. By the same token, it seems rather small minded for any of them to begrudge us our sentiments toward Srila Prabhupada. Those who knew him best, and who have had the best look at what he accomplished certainly didn’t. We know that some did, and rather vigorously and vociferously, but that’s beyond our reach. Our best response is to ensure that our character and behavior represent the highest reach of that which Srila Prabhupada came to give. Anything less denigrates his efforts more than any of his Godbrothers’ sniping.
One reason I dared to comment at all is my concern that we have grown a culture of Vaishnava aparadha in the name of glorifying Srila Prabhupada. I don’t see any benefit in even obliquely denigrating any of Srila Prabhupada’s Godbrothers in any way. We have as our example Mahaprabhu’s dealings with Ramachandra Puri. This was a man who had actually disqualified himself by being overtly rejected by Sri Madhavendra Puri because of his arrogance. Nevertheless, Mahaprabhu gave him the same respect He showed His own guru, just because he was Isvara Puri’s Godbrother. What might I base this fear on? I’ll share one incident, which happened less than two years ago. I personally heard an ISKCON leader assert that, because they didn’t do what our Srila Prabhupada did, all of Prabhupada’s Godbrothers (and his word was “all”) became mayavadis and sahajiyas because they offended their spiritual master. His intention was, I’m sure, to glorify Srila Prabhupada and Srila Bhaktisiddhanta, but I don’t see how it’s glorification of Srila Sarasvati Thakura to claim that all his disciples except one were useless. It’s because of incidents such as this that I urge caution in generalizing–or, more to the point, overgeneralizing–about Srila Prabhupada’s Godbrothers.
Thank you again for your consideration of this issue. And I’ll let the “average” business go, accepting that you used it differently from the way I read it. I can’t see how any nitpicking on my part would advance our discussion.
All glories to Srila Prabhupada!