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Srila Prabhupada Speaks Out / His Final Instructions
Ritvik Intiation ceremony in Sri Krishna Mandir, Singapore
The Books of His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

Srila Prabhupada Speaks Out / His Final Instructions

Posted: 02 Oct 2011 11:54 AM PDT

Remembering Srila Prabhupada

Srila Prabhupada Speaks Out
His Final Instructions

Back to Godhead Magazine
Volume 13, Number 102, 1978

During his last months, Srila Prabhupada was not very active physically, and he spoke relatively little. Yet when he did speak, his words were full of spiritual strength. These excerpts from Srila Prabhupada’s last statements reveal the mind of the pure devotee and universal teacher. And they show that Srila Prabhupada is indeed a transcendental personality, whose devotion to Lord Krsna and to the mission of spreading love of Krsna is undying.

“There is nothing new to be said. Whatever I had to say, I have already said in my books. Now you must all try to understand it and continue with your endeavors. Whether I am present or not present doesn’t matter. Just as Krsna is living eternally, the living being also lives eternally. But especially… kirtir yasya sa jivati: ‘One who has done service to the Lord lives forever.’ You have been taught to serve Krsna, and with Krsna we’ll live eternally. Our life is eternal. Na hanyate hanyamane sarire: the disappearance of this temporary body doesn’t matter. The body is meant for disappearance. So, live forever by serving Krsna. Thank you very much.”

“I cannot speak. I am feeling weak. I wanted to travel to Chandigarh and other places, but I changed my program because my health is deteriorating. I decided to come here to Vrndavana (the land of Lord Krsna). If death takes place, let it take place here.”

“There are two things—life and death. So if I die, where is the wrong in that? If I die, that is natural.”

“Our money is only spent for Krsna—Krsna’s palace, Krsna’s temple, Krsna’s worship, ‘Krsna’s glorification. It is not for our personal enjoyment. This is human life.”

“And I also want you to organize varnasrama society [the Vedic social structure]. Divide society: brahmana [intellectual class], ksatriya [administrators], and so on. There should be social division, just as there is a division of the different parts of our body. This will help people. Don’t waste the human form of life by sinful living. I have already given the ideas in my books, so you should all read them. You are intelligent, all of you. Caitanya Mahaprabhu said para-upakara—do good to others, do not exploit them. Any human being has the ability to chant Hare Krsna. Give them chanting. And also make the situation favorable. Is that clear?

“This is our mission: whatever we have, teach others. The whole world is filled with distress. Therefore our Gurukula school is meant for this purpose: to teach the students, and let them go all over the world to teach others. Durlabha manava janma sat-sange/ taraha e bhava-sindhu re ['Human life, especially in the association of devotees, is very rarely obtained. So please take advantage of this opportunity to cross over the ocean of material existence'].”

“My Guru Maharaja [spiritual master] said, ‘Whatever money there is, use it to print books.’ He was so happy to print books. So, do it all very nicely. My Guru Maharaja used to say, ‘Go on printing, go on printing.’ I printed my books, now you do the same ‘

“Printing of spiritual books is our life-force. Print more books. This material body is only bones. But go on printing—this is life. We are not concerned with bones and stones. Our concern is the living force: apareyam itas tv anyam prakrtim viddhi me param. The living force is sustaining these bones. In the material world, people are all simply protecting bones and flesh; they have no [spiritual] idea.

“Take matter—you mix earth, water, put it into fire, and then make a building. But matter cannot act automatically. Matter cannot have mind or consciousness or impetus. It is nonsense to say that matter gives rise to life. Matter has no sense. Life is the superior energy; matter is useless. Bhumir apo ‘nalo vayuh [the material elements] are useless. But there is another, superior nature. Yayedam dharyate jagat And that nature is actually governing the whole, universe.

“You [disciples] are all intelligent and experienced men; you can go on managing this movement. If I depart, there is no cause for lamentation. I will always be with you through my books and my orders. I will always remain with you in that way.”

“I didn’t waste a single moment. I tried my best, and it has been successful ,to some, extent”

“Have sankirtana [congregational chanting of God's holy names]. All Europeans, Americans, Africans-United Nations under Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s flag. Do everything just as I have shown you. It is possible. This is the real United Nations. You try, under the protection of Caitanya Mahaprabhu, and things will be successful. Others will simply waste their time and be disappointed. They will change from one body to another and suffer.”

“As soon as one forgets Krsna and wants to enjoy life independently, he falls down.”

“Material motives should be given up, and everything favorable should be engaged in Krsna’s service. Then there will be success.”

When asked who would succeed him as the leader of the Krsna consciousness movement, Srila Prabhupada replied: “All of my disciples will take the legacy. If you want, you can also take it. Sacrifice everything. I—one—may soon pass away. But they are hundreds, and this movement will increase. It’s not that I’ll give an order: ‘Here is the next leader.’ Anyone who follows the previous leadership is a leader. I don’t make any distinction between Indian and European. All my disciples are leaders… as much as they follow purely. If you want to follow, then you can also lead. But you dont want to follow. ‘Leader’ means (one who is a first-class disciple. Evam parampara-praptam. One who is perfectly following. Our instruction is, guru mukha-padma-vakya. Do you know this? Ara na kariha mane asa. [My only desire is to have my consciousness purified by the words emanating from the lotus mouth of my spiritual master']. To become a leader is not very difficult, provided one is prepared to follow the instructions of the bonafide guru.

“Excerpted from ‘Back To Godhead’ magazine, courtesy of The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust International, Inc., www.Krishna.com.”

Ritvik Intiation ceremony in Sri Krishna Mandir, Singapore

Posted: 02 Oct 2011 06:50 AM PDT

Initiation ceremony at Sri Krishna Mandir, Singapore

Ritvik Initiation ceremony in Sri Krishna Mandir, Singapore
By Iskcon Times

In the evening of the most auspicious day of Sri Radhastami, Hare Krishna Mandir, Singapore had a ritvik initiation ceremony. Eight new devotees came forward to take the oath to chant Sixteen rounds of the Hare Krishna Maha mantra and to follow the four regulated principles which is no meat eating, no illicit sex, no intoxication and no gambling for the rest of their lives.

All the initiates were joyous to have been accepted by Srila Prabhupada, the original acharya of the Hare Krsna movememnt and to become His disciples. A yajna was conducted and the vows took by the initiates was solidified. The ceremony ended off with kirtan and the final arati of the day.

Pasted from; www.iskcontimes.com

The Books of His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

Posted: 02 Oct 2011 06:27 AM PDT

“The words of Srimad-Bhagavatam are Your incarnation, and if people repeatedly hear them in submissive aural reception, then they will be able to understand Your message.”

The Books of His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
Originally published in Back to Godhead No. 52
Bhaktivedanta Book Trust 1973
By Brahmananda Swami ISKCON East Africa

Part 4

In the opening sentences of Srila Prabhupada’s introduction to the Srimad-Bhagavatam, he affirms that the word “God” refers to the supreme controller and that a controller cannot be impersonal. In the first sloka of the Srimad-Bhagavatam, obeisances are offered to the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

om namo bhagavate vasudevaya

om—O my Lord; namah—my respectful obeisances unto You; bhagavate—unto the Personality of Godhead; vasudevaya—unto Lord Krsna, the son of Vasudeva.

O my Lord, the all-pervading Personality of Godhead, I offer my respectful obeisances unto You.

Whereas others have translated the Sanskrit scriptures conveniently to suit their interpretations, Srila Prabhupada always gives word-for-word English equivalents for each Sanskrit verse, and thus the translations cannot be disputed. This is a painstaking process, considering the length of the Srimad-Bhagavatam, but it is in keeping with the heritage of the Gosvamis to present the literature of devotional service authoritatively and scientifically. Furthermore, the English-reading public can easily learn the meanings to the Sanskrit words from this format.

Srimad-Bhagavatam is the most mature work of transcendental science written by Srila Vyasadeva. Vyasadeva had compiled the four Vedas and written the Vedanta-sutra, the Puranas and the Mahabharata (which includes Bhagavad-gita), yet he was not satisfied with his work. Therefore his spiritual master, Narada Muni, instructed him to specifically glorify the transcendental activities of Lord Sri Krsna. Thus the famous Tenth Canto of the Bhagavatam reveals the most intimate of Krsna’s pastimes with His devotees. It should be cautioned that there are many professional Bhagavatam reciters who indulge in reading only this most confidential portion of the book, not caring for transcendental realization either for their innocent audiences or for themselves. However, Vyasadeva purposely placed these stories in the later portion of the text so that by reading through the first nine cantos the reader would be spiritually elevated and be able to understand the transcendental nature of these activities. Therefore Srila Prabhupada presents the Bhagavatam in a complete manner, beginning from the very first verse and progressing systematically to the most elevated portion of this great literature.

When Srila Prabhupada finally arrived in America in 1965, he did not come empty-handed. His baggage was a yellow tin box filled with sets of his Bhagavatams. Upon first setting foot on American soil, he wrote a poem addressed to Lord Krsna in Bengali, one passage of which reads as follows: “The words of Srimad-Bhagavatam are Your incarnation, and if people repeatedly hear them in submissive aural reception, then they will be able to understand Your message.”

Srila Prabhupada then commenced his legendary preaching, first in the rural towns of Pennsylvania and then in New York’s Bowery and Greenwich Village. He was practically supporting himself from the sales of his books until ISKCON was incorporated by some interested students and the first center was opened in July, 1966. (Even up until the present, the entire financial growth of the Society depends upon the distribution of Srila Prabhupada’s books by street sales, store distribution, and the Society’s Life Membership program. All major donations and sales proceeds are used for printing books).

On two mimeograph machines personally purchased by Srila Prabhupada, we, his American students, began putting out Back to Godhead, which consisted mostly of Srila Prabhupada’s lectures and some articles and poems by his students. Now that we had started it, we were instructed to publish an issue every month without fail, regardless of our financial situation—even if we could only afford one page. Upon seeing us putting together the first issue, Srila Prabhupada announced that ISKCON Press had been born. In the streets and through shops, we sold as many copies as we were able to run off and staple.

Srila Prabhupada was at that time delivering his lectures three evenings a week and every morning in the storefront assembly hall. One morning he titled his lecture, “Introduction to Bhagavad-gita As It Is by A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami.” That lecture was transcribed as the present introduction to his book. We learned that Srila Prabhupada was taking rest at 10:00 p.m. and rising at 2:00 a.m. to write his verse by verse translations and purports to the Bhagavad-gita. He would write all morning and then come down and speak on the verses upon which he had commented.

On a portable typewriter given by one of his students, Srila Prabhupada typed out the manuscript page after page. He would spend the remainder of the day writing correspondence, managing the center, speaking to visitors and teaching his students. Despite the threat of immigration difficulties, financial straits and the problems in teaching his fledgling students spiritual life, we watched the manuscript grow day by day. It was a labor of love which continued until one day serious illness struck Srila Prabhupada and he was unable to operate the typewriter. When our shock and confusion cleared away, we managed to purchase a dictaphone, and Srila Prabhupada was able to write by dictating tapes. One day a college student on leave who was an expert typist appeared and offered his services to Srila Prabhupada. Not long afterwards, the manuscript, over one thousand pages, was completed.

to be continued…