20240323 || Connecting to Śrīla Prabhupāda (English Programme) || Śrī Māyāpur, India

Be sure to subscribe to our channel. We publish new videos every day. Don't forget, grab your smartphone and download the Lava Mantra app and stay in touch. Guru Maharaj's message is your advice. The following is a talk given by His Holiness Jaya Pataka Swami Maharaj on March 23, 2024 in Sri Damn. The talk was given at the connecting to Srila Prabhupada English SA.

When one of his disciples showed the land and took the land for his town.

He.

Took Prabhupada's property, sold it and kept the profit for himself. And at that time Srila Prabhupada emphasized that he was the founder Acharya of ISKCON and that people could not do that. Bhakti Binod Thakur in his Vani Vai Bhava mentions that the founder Acharya of any Samadhaya is the Siksha Guru for the whole Samadhaya. And he was very emphatic about that. Prophet said ISKCON or International Society for Krishna Consciousness.

Allah.

All the.

Others had established Gaudiya Maat, Gaudiya Chaitanya Mat, Gaudiya Mahaprabhu Mat.

Some little change.

Among them.

Ashra Prabhupada. On one hand he wanted to unite the Saraswat of Gaudiya Sampradaya. On the other hand, he wanted his disciples to maintain the policies that he had established.

I.

I was once talking to.

A.

God pirate of and I said that we have to follow the orders of the spiritual Master. That God brother became very disgusted.

But.

He does not always follow.

Because.

He didn't want to follow.

Because he.

Didn'T want us to follow spiritual master. So he made a dismissive remark which showed that he was unhappy. So founder Acharya, it meant a lot.

More for Srila Prabhupada.

For his compatriots. God brothers, now we are starting to understand that Founder Kacharya is a very special position and that you can have only one form of Acharya. We can have many Acharyas but only one founder Acharya.

In my experience and traveling to many different countries, what you see is the Lotis are becoming Krishna conscious and there's a central point to it which is Shrila Prabhupada and what he wants. But then there's a little variety of flavors, is there not in Russia, China, so many different places. So but because we're keeping Prabhupada there in the center as the founder of Sharia that's united in us all. So we're going to also improperly invite Maharaj as a second generation devotee to please come over here and maybe get Bhaktavikja Yanu Maharaj while we're waiting. Again, at this point we're telling us, trying to bring up a bit is when Prabhupada was present, everything seemed to just go so easily because he's there. And then as you see between the time Prabhupada has left up to now, how the movement is going on. But it all seems to be adjusted according to this same principle. Founder charity. You had talked about that character in your experience. How about how the transition in the synth has gone and what do we do? We don't know what to do. We're trying so many ways, but by keeping Prabhupada there, we become even more stronger.

I think in order to.

Fill that.

Need.

There needs to be regular discussions amongst the devotees. Not only you might say, those who are in leadership position, but all devotees on Srila Prabhupada statements. There are many statements that Srila Prabhupada made that may seem to be a little ambiguous or they're actually relevant to Time, place and circumstances do not apply in all cases. So to be able to understand in one's particular situation, there needs to be regular discussions on Srila Prabhupada statements in regard to a particular situation that is at hand, reading, discussing. Papa repeats it quite often. Tusyanti cha, ramanti cha. It awakens transcendental knowledge and gives transcendental happiness. So just reading the books is important, but discussing and understanding has to be a regular part, I think of each devotee's life in order to clarify and to go deeper into the knowledge that is given to us, particularly when it comes to solving situations, problems. I think that's very important that we adopt that mood of discussion within our society, whether it's a small group or more of a symposium type of presentation. In any case, if we don't talk about Srila Gopa's books and what he meant, try to understand, read, try to understand what he's saying, then we will remain somewhat in ignorance in many situations that are practical for application of this knowledge. So it's important that we discuss it regularly, not only in formal settings, but informally.

Do you have any examples mars you can think of put you on the.

Spot in terms of.

In terms of how this bring your Prabhupada is the founder charter, kind of solidify this kind or maybe help correct a problem that may have occurred in Europe as you've traveled throughout Europe and America, and you're in Dalvin for some examples.

Well.

There was that one situation where rose in 1970, where four of the Sannyasis at that time who were preaching in Iskcon started to make some propaganda that was somewhat contrary to actual Siddhartha, especially in connection with Yuru Tattva.

Where.

They were saying that Srila Prabhupada is actually Vishnu. But he's not revealing it, but we know he is. And so this group of four sannyasi started to hold a little discussions amongst the rest of the devotees. And then of course, others didn't go agree with it. And it was quite. There was a division coming to the. Into the society based on this idea. The word that got back to Srila Prabhupada. Prabhupada was in Japan at the time. And at that time we were only chanting Srila Prabhupada's first part of his Prana mantra. Prabhupada heard that of course, he took action to stop this propaganda, but at the same time he wanted to enunciate it clearly. And he added the second part of his Pranam namaste Saraswati Devek gaurcharyne viamiseh Sunni avani basya visutary. He gave his role as the founder Charya, and what is his mission and his connection to the previous Acharya also particular part of his mantra. And that became. That became an understanding of Srila Prabhupada's mission and his position. And of course, the situation went on where these war sannyasis were asked to leave the association of the society and go out and preach on their own. Somehow, if they could prove themselves by traveling and preaching and living on their own, then after some time they would be considered to be reunited within this society. And they did that were successful in that way. So Prabhupada said there's two things to underestimate the position of the guru is what he might say, a deviation or offense. But he said worse than that is to overestimate the position of the spiritual master, to think that the spiritual master is other than or the representative of the pacific succession according to the present situation. And that's what they were doing. They were overestimating, but there's a deviation. And Fablah considered it a very, very dangerous deviation which could have divided the whole society. But he was present to stop it. And because of that, he had cleared up.

Thank you, Mahaj. Yeah, actually, I'll mention one name, but it's significance. Brahmananda Swami at the time was part of that group. I was with him in West Africa and I spoke to him about that. He felt like I was just misunderstood. I wasn't trying to do anything that's going to upset Prabhupada. He wanted so much to get back into Prabhupada's grace. And then Prabhupada sent him the telegram build a Pakistan. And. And of course he had no money. So pretty much he walked and hitchhiked to Pakistan in his same house dress and this way brought them all back in to society.

He was tested first.

That was the test. I don't know what could have done that. The boys were dedicated like during that time. You want to propose grace so much that you will walk to Pakistan and sit down with Chand Hare Krishna in Pakistan in the middle of the civil war to get promised. We have His Holiness, he's not being Kaijori. But we wanted to have a second generation of od Emperor also to kind of speak on this same point. And Tovaraj, you know, you are the current generation and future generations are coming. And maybe you could speak along how this founder Charya prince of all twice to the Kur in the future and the effects of it especially maybe you've seen in your own life.

Yeah, the position of founder Acharya is very, very important because Srila Mahupa was very emphatic at the point that in Kalijuga is very easy to be disunited. And that's why he wanted his followers, DBC members and leaders to come to Mayapur and talk about unity in diversity. So diversity is natural, but unless there is unity then it will be divided. So Srila Prupa as a founder Acharya can play that role. Nobody else can play that role. So Srila Prabhupada is a founder character. He can unite the international society Maheshwar power systems. So his position is very, very unique. And Prabhupada was also very, very cautious about philosophical deviations. Prabhupada did not give so much importance on fall down in different ways, although he expected high standard. But he was very, very cautious about philosophical deviations. And that's why his books are the law books he said for the next 10,000 years. Not the spiritual books, he said, the law books. So his books are the basis. His teachings are the foundational principle of our movement. And nobody can play that role. So Srila Prabhupada's books are very, very important. And as the Founder Acharya, his siksha through his books is the final teachings of our movement. So Prabhupada said, I live forever in my books. Although he is not present physically, the 4% one is vaani, other one is gopu. So Gopu can stay or disappear, but Bani is eternal. So Prabhupada's Bani is there eternally. And we can connect with Prabhupada through his distractions and these instructions are there in his books. And diversity will be there because there will be many gurus, Prabhupada warned many gurus in the future. But Prabhupada will remain the guru, the preeminent Shiksha guru, the founder of Sharia. And that will keep us united. And as long as Prabhupada will be accepted, accepted as the founder Acharya, ISKCON will be there. And if we don't accept Prabhupada as the founder Acharya, that is not iskcon. If you want ISKCON to be there, then Prabhupada has to be there. That's why Prabhupada said iskcon is my body and Prabhupada is the soul of that body. And if soul is not there, body is there. So Prabhupada's presence is most important aspect in our movement. And that has to be understood. And more days will go, more we will realize the significant position of Sri Ramaka that is the reality. Although we did not have the opportunity to meet Srila Rupa directly in the form of Goku, but we have seen his followers, those who have seen him in Goku. And also you can see Prabhupada in his books. So his position as the founder Acharya is very, very important to unite the future generations and also the present generations and also founder Acharya means we can see the previous Acharya through the eyes of the Pondera Church. So you can understand the mood and mission of the previous Acharyas through Prabhupada. Then we can become Prabhupada and Luma Krishnams. So there can be many Acharyas. But for his fund devoted followers, Prabhupada plays the most important and significant role both for the gurus in his court and also for the previous Acharyas. Because he is the central focal point to connect with the previous Acharyas and also to unite the existing Acharya and the gurus of Oriskan movement. Hare Krishna.

Thank you Maharaj. I was just thinking how good example of this principle, Prabhupada has found your acharya and what it means to the devotees. A couple of weeks ago we put into the Ganga Srila Prabhupada disciple. His name is Charu Deshanath. You may not know of him, but devotees from the 70s know him because Prabhupada was establishing his books, publishing them and of course having them distributed. And it wasn't an easy task. In the early days, if you could sell 20 books after eight hours, that was considered a grand success. Jamaster Raghbh, who's organizing all this, he was distributor back in the days. He knows the severity of that service. But this charadation of Abu, somehow or another, in one day he sold 200 hit boots, which was considered impossible. Now people can do 200 at one time, 200 sets. And Prabhupada, you wrote a letter, you know, acknowledging his achievement and it kind of lit the movement on fire. But the devotees, BBT in charge in North America and of course the book distribution minister, he went on Ganga and they had some memorial and put. And so Los talked about how I, you know, what drove them to do that. He said they've got such a high taste out of just trying to please Prabhupada that he said 4:30 after month, said, come on, let's go, let's go. And they get in the van and go to the airport. And they would get so much involved in selling books that he said we were just zoned out, we were in the spiritual world. We're doing this for Prabhupada. And they would go on and on and on until 4:30 the next morning. So this is how he did his 200 big books in one day. His greatest character, they showed up. OK, so this is the effect if you grab on to try to please Srila Prabhupada. Yes. We have our gurus, we have our shiksha gurus, diksha gurus, but all of us are working together to do what? Did you hear anything? Please? Srila Prabhupada. Yes. Say how do you go? And anyway, with this I wanted to lead up to Maharaj. Of course, he is the embodiment of determination. Jagataka Swami, to me it's such an inspiration, just the fact that even to come in Mayapur in the early days where there's nothing, you have no idea what that's like. I don't know. I came in 77. I didn't come back again to 2005. It's too austere for Me. So they're living in that hut, trying to fulfill Prabhupada's mission. So Mar, maybe you could speak about the struggles that even Prabhupada went through. You know, he had failed businesses, practically speaking, his family failed. And yet near the end he still made one more attempt to start ISKCON. And then within that 12 year span, 108 temples. And Maharaj was right there in the beginning, up to Prabhupada leaving and continuing.

Now.

I was thinking how the Sri.

Sahara.

They have divyas. They say that if you can visit the 108 Divya places, then you can go back to godhead in Bengal. There are associates in Lord Chaitanya and wherever they appear, that is called Sri Pat. I was thinking that when I was.

Transiting Los Angeles, somehow.

I was thinking that while transiting Los angeles that the 108 temples that Srila Prabhupada established should have some special significance, some special denomination. We lost the Manhattan temple.

Allah, we heard them. You are the water on the road.

He heard that Sri Prabhupada, he wanted to do his samadhi on the roof of the marriage in general. So we felt very very that somehow we have lost that temple. But the deities were moved to Brooklyn. And when they almost lost, the ladies stood. But somehow Bhakti, Charu, Maharaj and others, they were able to save the deities. But we should see that all the temples that Rla Prabhupada established be recognized.

That somehow you sell off me doubles.

You.

Prabhupada is very worried that we may sell off the property properties and live off the sales. He told me, I made 108 temples. Please see that they are preserved. If you can make more, that's good. But at least preserve what we have. There were many temples where the temples were sold off and disciples lived off those temples. Prabhupada, he didn't want that to happen in this rock room.

So.

Like this, he was interested in preserving the properties.

I would like to hear from His Holiness Chandra Bolivar.

Seem to continue on this point. Your realizations about Texas. The effects were as Mars mentioned about the significance of these 108 temples being preserved.

Well, there's nothing more, right?

You were there. Nurendaman was a little bit of a controversy at one time that got saved.

Nurendavan has that subtitle controversy Krishna. But somehow or other we're trying to take out the traversing continuous. What Jakamaira said is so fundamentally important for all of us. To understand, even if it apparently seems to be practical from a financial point of view, to maybe sell a temple. Prabhupada said no. And he was very continuous in his preaching in that direction, that these temples are tirtas, they're holy places. If there is some difficulty, then everyone should get together and try to bring about a change instead of selling it. I think, of course, as Maharaj mentioned a recent struggle we had in New York with the Pilgrim Temple by the race of Maharaj. He really fought like a warrior on a battlefield and he saved that fellow. Really highly criticized by many persons in the society what he did. But he understood Prabhupada's mission. I haven't had any personal experience with temples that, that were going to be closed or going to be sold for any reason, only the ones that already been mentioned. But the point is that Srila Prabhupada said, you know, whatever I establish, don't make it go down. If you could do something more Ramana Princess, and that would be wonderful. And Srila Bhakti Tirtha Swami really helped us understand the importance of these places wherein when he was leaving the body, this was in 2005, he was undergoing tremendous struggle with his cancer. There was many suggestions, and also not only suggestions, but really strong statements that he should leave that area and finish the rest of his life in holy places, either Van Mahal or Vrindavanandam. And he considered that because I was pretty much involved with him at the last point of his life. But one of the things he kept saying, sang over and over again, is that these places that Srila Prabhupada established are tirtas. They're holy places because of Srila Prabhupada's presence there and because of his preaching there. And therefore, in one century he made it that nigir is just as good as the term holy places that we see as foundation. So he wanted. He wanted to leave his body in Gita Nadiri, which he did, just to show that this place, Gita Nadiri, is a tirt, is a holy place. It's a place that you would help un established, not only in that. And he also spent not much time there. So any place that Srila Prabhupada went to is none different than any other holy place. Because the pure devotee establishes the holy place. And by his presence, by his purity, by his words, he makes the holy place where it is. And therefore, these temples are not just buildings made out of different materials, but they're actually tables. Therefore, if There is apparently any problems in order to maintain it or to keep it going. That should be the solution rather than trying to start again by getting some money building another temple somewhere. That and Prabhupada was very strong about this. There was many incidents where certain temples were sold. Prabhupada mentions one particular devotee, I won't mention his name, who sold the temple. Prabhupada said we don't even know where the money went. He sold it and everything is gone. And we don't even know where he is also. Yeah. So sometimes people take advantage of their position and use their control of peripates to makes personal gain. And that has to be very, very much monitored. We can make sure we keep Bhattas vision for the. Would you say the structural arrangement which are our temples within society.

Thank you very much Maharaj. We want to thank everyone for coming this evening. Please give a big round of applause for Sidhwan here on the stage. All glories to the several devotees. So please remember these points that were mentioned here. That the importance of Srila Prabhupada has to found in a chart. You're going to find it in that sense of dry, just full of bliss and excitement when you dedicate your life in this way. And then please, you have to also embed it in yourself and pass it on to the next generation. Don't think that this is the end of it. You have to train the next generation in the holidays also. So with this we're going to end so that His Holiness can go back. And tomorrow morning. Tomorrow the program continues 10 o' clock. Or is it just going to be 10 o' clock evening again? The Bengali group of Japan, Raj and.

Others coming this week.

So please prepare yourself for that also. Is it Haranak Kirtan group here?

No.

So we'll start with some Hari Ram second time.

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