Personal Appreciation of Srila Prabhupada – Remembering Srila Prabhupada

Saravana Kumar Paulraj

– July 21, 2009

By the end of 1972, I had spent about two weeks in the Melbourne ISKCON centre. Except for the basic tenets of karma and vegetarianism, I understood little of the philosophy of Krsna consciousness.

One person that I heard the devotees always discussing was Srila Prabhupada. The title "Srila Prabhupada" reverberated in my ears hundreds of times a day. I became fascinated by the unflinching attachment devotees had for the person with this sobriquet "Srila Prabhupada". As the days sped by in an almost unrelenting cycle of harinama, prasadam, and, at the time, unfathomable rituals, my enchantment became contaminated with doubt.

Would I be disappointed when I finally saw Srila Prabhupada? What if he wasn’t all that I had imagined him to be? If that was so, I knew my seed of devotion would be at risk.

As Srila Prabhupada’s forthcoming visit to Melbourne grew closer, pandemonium galloped around that terrace house like a wild horse with a bad trainer. My thoughts were a maelstrom; my tiny seed of faith was about to be tested.

Srila Prabhupada arrived ahead of schedule. Upstairs, I heard the echoes of "Srila Prabhupada is here!" resound throughout the freshly-painted rooms of the Burnett Street temple.

With my heart beating wildly, I rushed to the top of the stairs and glanced down in what seemed a perfect orchestration of timing to see Srila Prabhupada framed in the entrance to the hallway. In that split second, seeing Prabhupada’s transcendental form answered my doubts and concerns, irrevocably. He, I knew, was everything I had hoped he would be. Here, in an old house in a rundown suburb, was the answer to all my prayers. Vision perfected.

The power to persuade by sight alone rests solely in the hands of the greatest spiritual master. To me oratory was not needed, nor prolonged close association, and certainly I was not well-versed in sastra. Just a glimpse of his divine visage established Srila Prabhupada’s authority to guide my life for eternity. Lava-matra sadhu-sange, sarva-siddhi haya [Cc. Madhya 22.54]. As Caitanya-caritamrta confirms, by even a moment’s association with a pure devotee, one can attain all success.

With this story in mind, Acarya gives its readers a chance to immerse themselves in the ambrosia of the spiritual master’s glance. A glance of such power that it ignites our desire to be reunited with Krsna.

This book, an offering to celebrate Srila Prabhupada’s Centennial, gives us a special opportunity: an opportunity to swim in the river of sweet recall or to be awakened by invigorating insight. As we turn the pages, and the pure mercy rays of the Founder Acarya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness envelop us, our hearts are soothed like the fevered brow of a sick child under a mother’s hand.

As we study the photographs in Acarya and meditate on the verses embellishing them, our individual relationship with Srila Prabhupada will be revived. His glance of mercy will strike deep into our hearts, awakening us from the soporific spell of ignorance surrounding us conditioned souls.

As we become absorbed in the power of Srila Prabhupada, who, like the sun illuminating the sky, lights up the darkness of this Age of Kali, we can mediate on the words of an elderly devotee from Calcutta in the seventies who would loudly shout: "Whole world, sunshine, Srila Prabhupada!"

Krsna Rupa devi dasi
Sydney

From the "Acarya" by HG Sesa dasa

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