Vyasa Puja Offering for Srila Prabhupada 2004
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by Vishoka dasa
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Dear Srila Prabhupada,
Please accept my obeisances millions of times at your lotus feet.
During a morning walk at Stow lake, in 1968, you had this conversation with Yamuna dasi --
Yamuna said: Swamiji, Janaki-devi wrote me this very nice letter where she had a dream that there was a gigantic platform above the surface of the earth, and all of our devotees, our Godbrothers and sisters and you, were assembled on this gigantic platform for sankirtana. And we had such a thunderous joy, magnificent kirtana, that the whole earth... When you said, "Jaya om param paramahamsa," the whole earth bowed down to you like this. And we were all crying, so happy. And you said, "Now my Guru Maharaja is satisfied." That was her dream.
Prabhupada said: Thank you very much. Yes. Thank you for your dreaming like that. It is very pleasing to me. Yes, I want to see like that.
You have told us that having a dream of the spiritual master is real, a direct experience with him. This dream communication is a form of spiritual telepathy, or an extra-sensory communication that is found extensively in our Vaisnava history. Another example of this is seen in this letter from Srila Prabhupada to Sudama --
In a letter to his disciple Sudama, who was trying to start a temple in Tokyo, Srila Prabhupada said: "Actually, I was thinking of you from London, and by the grace of Krsna my anxiety was televisioned to you in your dream."
Modern man is only recently investigating extra-sensory or paranormal abilities such as telepathy, such as the ability to journey in dreams and visions, into other dimensions across the boundaries of time. But the Vedic personalities, the Vaisnavas, are perfectly adept in such paranormal activities, such as communication from one mind to another by extra-sensory means, like in dreams, by the grace of Lord Krsna. Such abilities are as easy and commonplace for these perfected beings, just as surfing the Internet is commonplace for us.
Srila Prabhupada also received such messages in his dreams, from his Guru Maharaja, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta, as we see in this talk in Seattle, 1968 --
Srila Prabhupada: "Sometimes I was dreaming my spiritual master, that he's calling me, and I was following him. When my dream was over, I was thinking. I was little horrified. 'Oh, Guru Maharaja wants me to become sannyasi. How can I accept sannyasa?' At that time, I was feeling not very satisfaction that I have to give up my family and have to become a mendicant. At that time, it was a horrible feeling. Sometimes I was thinking, 'No, I cannot take sannyasa.' But again I saw the same dream. So in this way I was fortunate. My Guru Maharaja (Prabhupada begins to cry, choked voice) pulled me out from this material life." >>> Ref. VedaBase => His Divine Grace Bhaktiprajnana Kesava Maharaja's Disappearance Day Lecture, (Srila Prabhupada's Sannyasa Guru) -- Seattle, October 21, 1968
Srila Prabhupada also was visited by Lord Krsna by dream on board the Jaladuta while coming to America. Srila Prabhupada wrote of some sea-sickness, and on the thirteenth day of the voyage, during the passage through the Arabian Sea, he suffered a massive heart attack. He was concerned that he might pass away, but in his uneasy sleep that night he had a dream, a vision. Lord Krsna appeared. The Lord was in an open boat, along with His other incarnations. Krsna was rowing the boat, and the boat was pulling Srila Prabhupada's ship with a rope. Krsna was smiling at Srila Prabhupada and was pulling the ship all the way to America! >>> Ref. VedaBase => JD: Introduction
Also, other great acaryas appear to Srila Prabhupada, in dream and in vision --
Gopal Ghosh prabhu relates: "That [Radha-Damodara temple] is where Prabhupada got the idea for ISKCON. It is where Prabhupada did his own personal bhajan, and there many times he told me that Rupa and Jiva Goswamis appeared to him in dreams." Also, a disciple and former personal servant of Srila Prabhupada said that Srila Rupa Gosvami once appeared to Srila Prabhupada while he was staying at the Radha-Damodara temple in Vrndavana. One day while honoring maha-prasadam, Srila Prabhupada was looking out of the window at the samadhi of Sri Rupa Gosvami. Suddenly, Sri Rupa Gosvami appeared before Srila Prabhupada and spoke these most encouraging words:
"Maharaja, don't worry about anything. Go ahead and travel to the West and preach. Just preach the message of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and the chanting of Hare Krsna. You'll be successful. I guarantee because I will be right with you all the time." > GVSV: Darsana Stories
So we see that Jiva and Rupa Gosvamis have given their dream darsan to Srila Prabhupada, and Rupa Gosvami gave his personal darsan to Srila Prabhupada, and conferred upon him spoken words of blessings and assurance of success in his mission. We have heard accounts of many devotees, old and young, who have had Srila Prabhupada's darsan in either dream or visions. Another extra-sensory or paranormal ability is clairvoyance, or the ability to see in the future, and this is also commonplace in Vedic traditions, as seen from the following predictions from Lochan Das Thakur and Srila Bhaktivinode Thakur, and the Bhagavat Mahatmya and Brahma-vivarta Purana --
Lochan Das Thakur, in his Caitanya Mangal, predicted that a sena-pati, or a "great general," would come and accomplish this mission. This was Srila Prabhupada. Also, Bhaktivinode Thakur, in an article entitled "Nityananda Suryodoy," which was published in the 1800s, in his Sajjana-tosani magazine -- he predicted that soon a time is coming when the chanting of Krsna's name will be heard in England, France, Russia, Germany, and America. Srila Prabhupada brought this to fruition. There is also the Bhagavat Mahatmya. In this book, Narada, the great sage, has a conversation with bhakti personified. In the course of this conversation, bhakti says, "I will leave this country, India, and go abroad!" The same text informs us that this personified bhakti will go to South India and then leave to go abroad after staying in Vrindavan. This is exactly what Prabhupada did. >>> Ref. VedaBase => OS 6: Chapter Six
Here we see that Srila Prabhupada was sent to save our planet, as Lord Caitanya's sena-pati great general. Also, in the Brahma-vivarta Purana, Lord Visnu told Mother Ganges to not worry about the many sins of kali-yuga, because He will send His devotee to spread the sankirtana movement all over the world. Jai Srila Prabhupada, all glories to your Divine Grace!
Your lowly servant,
Vishoka dasa
