Guru
gayatri , realizations
Excerpt from "Prabhupada
Meditations," Vol.I; Satsvarupa dasa Gosvami, pg 66
aim gurudevaya vidmahe krsnanandaya
dhimahi tan no guroh pracodayat: "Let us try to understand my spiritual
master who is always in blissful Krsna consciousness. Let me meditate on him
being enthused as he enthused us. The gayatri mantra provides us with a
meditation on the spiritual master which may be applied to Srila Prabhupada.
There are actually two mantras to the spiritual master in the gayatri. The
first is aim gurave namah: "I make my respectful obeisances unto my
spiritual master." This means we should approach Srila Prabhupada not as a
buddy, but as we would approach the Supreme Personality of Godhead, bowing down
and offering obeisances. Srila Prabhupada actually is a most intimate friend,
but he should not be taken as an ordinary person.
The gayatri mantra advises us "to
meditate on him being enthused." One time when he was commenting on the
word enthusiasm (utsaha), as used in Rupa Gosvami's Upadesamrta, Srila
Prabhupada gave himself as an example. He said, "How could I have come to
America at such an old age unless I was enthusiastic?" He was enthusiastic
to come to America because his guru ordered, and when for a whole year he got
almost no response in America, Srila Prabhupada remained patient, but still
enthusiastic. That enthusiasm can be heard on tape recordings of Prabhupada
lecturing on the Lower East Side, where his voice often cracks with earnestness
to deliver the message of Krsna consciousness.
Prabhupada was so enthusiastic to write
SrimadİBhagavatam that he would rise at one in the morning to do so. His
composing of his purports was the perfect example of combined patience and
enthusiasm. As he said, "Little drops of water wear away the stone. In
this way, I've written all these books."
"Let us meditate" the gayatri mantra
advises, and so one can continue on his own, or in the association of devotees,
to think aout and to discuss the enthusiastic moods and activities of His
Divine Grace Srila Prabhupada. Prabhupada's translation contains a particularly
interesting phrase, "let me meditate on him being enthused as he enthused
us." A genuine disciple has become enthusiastic in devotional service, and
he knows that this is due to the enthusiasm of his spiritual master.
We may meditate on how our enthusiastic
spiritual master has transferred this sakti of utsaha to us. Prabhupada said
that the mother of his disciple, Acyutananda, complained that her son used to
lounge around the house all th etime and was unwilling to go on errands. But
since he had come to live with Swamiji, he was always enthusiastic to cook and
to run any errands asked by his spiritual master. Srila Prabhupada was also
fond of a pamphlet produced by a Christian minister in Boston which made
reference to Srila Prabhupada's
enthusiastic disciples. The minister said that he met a Hare Krsna devotee
giving out literature in the neighborhood of the church. The priest said,
"These are actually our boys, but previously they were never interested in
going to church. Now they have become mad after God." Srila Prabhupada
also said that it was only by the enthusiasm of his disciples that the Krsna
Consciousness Movement was spreading around the world.
When we do not feel enthusiastic, let us
meditate on the enthusiasm of Srila Prabhupada. Let it ignite within us our
natural enthusiasm to serve Krsna. This is Krsnaİananda, which motivates all
the thoughts and activities of a pure devotee of the Lord. Whether he is grave
and silent, or dancing in the kirtana of Lord Caitanya, whether he is being
honored my many followers, or treated as an outcaste, the pure Vaisnava is
always merged in enthusiasm and bliss. Let us meditate upon him being enthused
just as he enthused us.