(Srila Prabhupada in Mexico City)
After the plane landed, we kept chanting the Hare Krishna mantra on our beads, not knowing what to expect of Mexico City. As we approached the officials for immigration and customs, one airport worker waved his hand and greeted us loudly, "Hare Krishna!" Soon we passed through a large crowd of incoming passengers and met our God-brothers Haihaya and Bahulasva. In the truck riding to town, Haihaya told us that at least one hundred Mexicans regularly attended the temple's activities day and night and at least another fifty boys and girls were full-time devotees.
Sri Vyasa-puja
The Most Blessed Event
August 22, 1973
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Mexico
brahmanda bhramite kona bhagyavan jiva
guru-krsna-prasade paya bhakti-lata-bija
(Cc. Madhya 19.151)
No one can trace the history of the living entity’s entanglement in material nature. It is said that the living entities have been traveling through the universe from body to body since time immemorial. Due to association with material energy the living entities mind has been infected with the desire for sense gratification. Thus the eight-fold layers of earth, water, fire, air, ether, mind, intelligence and false ego have covered his pure being. In this way he is suffering in the cycle of samsara (repeated birth and death).
When the living entity comes in contact with material nature his pure consciousness (bhakti) becomes transferred into kama or lust. Impelled by this lust, which is born of contact with the quality of rajas (passion) he engaged in all types of sinful acts. Thus, a living entity in pure consciousness is covered by his eternal enemy known as lust, which is never satisfied and which burns like fire. It is said in the Manu-samhita that lust can never be satisfied regardless of how much sense gratification one engages in, just as fire does not become extinguished by a constant supply of fuel. When there is a fire in the forest, no man can extinguish it. Only when the rain clouds pour water on it can the blaze be put out, and that is a rare occurrence. Rarer still, however, is the association of the guru who can extinguish the blazing fire of material existence (by the rain of transcendental knowledge).
guru-krsna-prasade paya bhakti-lata-bija
By the mercy of Krsna one comes in touch with the guru; by the grace of the guru the bhakti-lata-bija (seed of devotion) is planted in one’s heart. As the seed is watered by the process of sravanam kirtanam, hearing and chanting the transcendental message of the guru, the bhakti creeper grows beyond the covering of the material energy. Piercing through the material covering, it enters the spiritual atmosphere where it bears fruit which is known as prema or love of Godhead. The devotee, having tasted that mature fruit of devotion, becomes merged into the ocean of bliss.
Therefore we fall down at the feet of Om Visnu-pada Paramahamsa Parivrajakacarya Astottara-sata Sri-Srimad A.C. Bhaktivedanta Gosvami Maharaj and eternally thank him for coming to this mundane plane and giving us the transcendental seeds of the maha-mantra Hare, Krsna and Rama. It is not out of mundane sentiment that we chant Jaya Prabhupada. But we vibrate his holy glories because simply by hearing his divine message we are experiencing the extinguishing of the fire of material desire. His words possess the power to perform surgical incision on the self and thereby separate the pure spirit soul from all kinds of false designations. Although I am totally unqualified, on this holiest of days, I will place the dust from his lotus feet on my head and humbly try to speak on his unlimited glories as I have realized them by his mercy.
Srila Prabhupada is the ambassador from the spiritual realm. He not only excels us in every respect, but he is to be worshiped on an equal level with the Godhead by all those who are desiring to enter into the mood of pure bhakti.
Bringing us the message of Braja, the message of unconditional surrender, Srila Prabhupada stands as the healing herb for our present mental disorder.
Srila Prabhupäda is the sole agent by which we can establish our forgotten relationship with the all-love, Sri Krsna.
In order to be set free from the chains of kama (lust) which perverts our pure nature, we, as sincere seekers of freedom, must crave Srila Prabhupada’s help. He is the transparent agent who can safely escort our march free from the chains of the four-fold miseries of sinful life.
Srila Prabhupada could never be an obstacle to the divine harmony which we desire. His motive is only to bring us from our present discord to total unity. Therefore his instructions must be accepted as the sole solution to our incompatible position.
To be humbler than a straw in the street means to always remember the lotus feet of our beloved guru maharaj. We must always feel ourselves helpless in our every step toward Krsna. Therefore our eternal prayer is to catch the shelter of his lotus feet so we may be protected from the evil inclinations of the mind.
In this age of Kali, Krsna is reached by the method of offenselessly chanting His holy name. It is Srila Prabhupada who bestows on us the gift of offenseless chanting. It, therefore, stands to reason that it should be our utmost duty to worship his lotus feet with the rising of every sun.
Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati quotes one sloka from the Bhagavatam: "That teacher is no teacher, that father is no father, that mother is no mother, that kinsman is no kinsman, that friend is no friend, if he cannot save one from the jaws of death, if he cannot give one admittance into eternal life, if he cannot enlighten one beyond the ignorance which addicts one to the sensual pleasures of this material world." All glories unto you, O deliverer of the transcendental message of the Bhagavad-gita As It Is. You are the ever-well wisher.
Know it for a fact that if we forget the lotus feet of Srila Prabhupada, then we certainly fall under the clutches of ignorance. It is the mercy of His Divine Grace that protects us and makes us immune to attachment for objects other than the Absolute Person, Sri Krsna.
The highest benediction that Srila Prabhupada can bestow on one is to turn the mind always from desire for personal comforts and fix it on the lotus feet of the Divine Couple in Braja, Sri-Sri Radha-Krsna. Sri Caitanya and Nityananda are the sole means through whom Sri-Sri Radha-Madhava are understood. Therefore, when one feels a spontaneous desire to take part in Their movement it is understood that such a fortunate soul has been blessed with the mercy of Sri Gurudeva.
He who is constantly showing us how to serve Godhead is none other than Srila Prabhupada.
If one is fortunate enough to obtain the holy dust from your feet, Srila Prabhupada, then only can he perceive the true nature of the transcendental world. It is by your mercy alone that we are understanding anything, about this purest of subject matters, the Srimad-Bhagavatam, which we have no right to even discuss. There is no other way of obtaining Krsna bhakti except by the method of worshiping your lotus feet. We therefore fall down at your lotus feet and offer our humble obeisances at every moment.
We are all amazed at the constancy of your service to Godhead. We pray that we may also attain a similar constancy in our service unto your lotus feet. Bless us that your message may forever appear in our minds and on our tongues so the world may taste the sweet nectar of your divine instructions. We pray to always serve Krsna under your expert guidance. And may our aversion to devotional service which is due to our age-old association with the material energy be destroyed by your divine companionship.
I, personally, am full of false pride. I frankly confess that I am always trying to make myself stand out by the ugly method of speaking ill against others. The truth of the matter is that I have no good qualifications. Your mercy, Srila Prabhupada is all that I have. If by remembering your lotus feet I can find the strength to accept that I am full of imperfections, that will be a great benediction.
I know that if I can cultivate a devotional attitude towards your lotus feet, I am sure to get the final goal of life. If, however, I am unable to get your mercy, then life holds no desirable end for me.
On this holiest of days we humbly thank thee for your causeless mercy on the fallen souls. That mercy, the Srimad-Bhagavatam, stands as an eternal monument of your benedictions. May we, by your grace, realize the substance of the Bhagavata and inspired by its beauty, deliver its message to every man.
All glories to he who has revealed the Absolute Truth as the divine cowherd-boy of Braja.
Bahulasva dasa adhikari / Karuna-mayi devi dasi / Haihaya dasa adhikari / Abhay Caranaravinda dasa / Arjuna and Yamal dasa / Turya dasa adhikari / Saktimati devi dasi / Siddhasvara dasa adhikari / Narmada devi dasi / Lakshmipriya devi dasi / Jaya Rama dasa adhikari / Elizabeth Prabhu / Rama Govinda dasa adhikari / Raquel Prabhu / Oscar Prabhu / Radharani devi dasi / Rohini-kumara dasa adhikari / Indradeva dasa brahmacari / Nandanandana dasa brahmacari / Tarun-krsna dasa brahmacari / Adhoksaja dasa brahmacari / Atmananda dasa brahmacari / Madana-manohara dasa brahmacari / Radha-krsna dasa brahmacari / Satrajita dasa brahmacari / Ned Prabhu / Hugo Prabhu / Bhakta Raul / Bhakta Carlos / Isaias Prabhu / Raul Prabhu / Alfredo Prabhu / Bhakta Alfredo / Rolando Prabhu / Bhakta Santos / Mario Prabhu / Bhakta Luis / Cirilo Prabhu / Rodolfo Prabhu / Bhaktin Malena/ Bhaktin Conception / Bhaktin Rosa Maria / Bhaktin Silvia
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R.G. Tridandi Swami Bhakti Prapanna Parvata Maharaja
(Rama Govinda das from Guadalajara)
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