CONTENTS:
- Don’t Ever Leave ISKCON;
- Srila Prabhupada's Appreciation; and
- Guru Maharaja’s Instructions.
1. Don't Ever Leave ISKCON
Surrounded by devotees
In Vrindavana
You were preparing to depart.
You lay in your bed
In silent meditation
With Krishna playing in your heart.
The room was filled
With the fragrant smoke
Of frankincense.
And sandalwood pulp
Your body was fragrant
With some divine perfume.
From the spiritual sky.
Devotees sang softly the holy name
Accompanies only by a small kartal.
But the sound penetrated
Even the stonelike hearts.
Satsvarupa Maharaja entered with Madhudvisa,
Who left the movement with a girl.
Your meditation broke, and you spoke
Like a father concerned about his prodigal son,
“You got married, breaking your vows. So what?
Still you can serve.”
Pointing at the householder devotees in the room
You said, “Look at them.
They are also married.
So you also can come back and stay
In the association of devotees.
No matter whatever happens,
Don’t ever leave ISKCON.”
You repeated –
“No matter what happens,
Don’t ever leave ISKCON.”
I visualize the material nature,
An abysmal ocean,
The bodies swept away
In its dangerous currents.
No one can ever swim those waves,
What to speak of the deadly aquatics
That impatiently wait for their prey.
On that ocean there is a ship
Sailing smoothly with the strong wind
Of Hare Krishna maha-mantra in its sail.
The best captain, Srila Prabhupada,
Is steering that ship.
Devotees blissfully chant and dance.
On the deck.
A flag on the mast
Proudly bears the insignia “ISKCON”
In the whorl of a golden lotus.
Who will ever want to leave that shelter?
***
In the middle of the night
The world is asleep.
Only the sound of the holy name
Glides through the air of Vrindavana
From some distant place.
You try to translate
In spite of your weak health.
You did not eat anything for weeks.
Waiting to serve you, I watch.
You can’t even lift the hand-set
Of your Dictaphone.
My heart was heavy.
Not due to my love for you,
But because someone had hurt my pride.
I do not like to fight,
But passionate encounters hurt me.
I brood over some insignificant happenings.
Exhausted you lay down.
I walked over to your bed
To massage your feet,
Not out of my unalloyed love for you,
But out of some dry sense of duty.
My stonelike heart is heavy from the wound.
Obsessed with my own feelings,
I do not appreciate your compassion
For all and your suffering
Due to our sins.
Mechanically I massage your feet.
You can understand
What goes on in our hearts.
Breaking the silence, you say softly,
“Just offer this life to Krishna.”
The veil of Maya is lifted,
And my heart breaks, and
Tears come streaming down my eyes.
“I love you, I love you, Srila Prabhupada!” I cry
“If you love me,”
You replied,
“then cooperate with them
Who also love me.”
I resolve in my heart,
“I will, I will, Srila Prabhupada.”
-Bhakti Charu Swami
2. SRILA PRABHUPADA'S APPRECIATION
I visualize the material nature,
An abysmal ocean,
The bodies swept away
In its dangerous currents.
No one can ever swim those waves,
What to speak of the deadly aquatics
That impatiently wait for their prey.
On that ocean there is a ship
Sailing smoothly with the strong wind
Of Hare Krishna maha-mantra in its sail.
The best captain, Srila Prabhupada,
Is steering that ship.
Devotees blissfully chant and dance.
On the deck.
A flag on the mast
Proudly bears the insignia “ISKCON”
In the whorl of a golden lotus.
Who will ever want to leave that shelter?
3. GURU MAHARAJA’S INSTRUCTIONS
In the association of devotees.
No matter whatever happens,
Don’t ever leave ISKCON.”
You repeated –
“No matter what happens,
Don’t ever leave ISKCON.”
Breaking the silence, you say softly,
“Just offer this life to Krishna.”
The veil of Maya is lifted,
And my heart breaks, and
Tears come streaming down my eyes.
“I love you, I love you, Srila Prabhupada!” I cry
“If you love me,”
You replied,
“then cooperate with them
Who also love me.”
I resolve in my heart,
“I will, I will, Srila Prabhupada.”
(The content of this E-magazine is based on a lecture given by His Holiness Bhakti Charu Swami Maharaja to Srila Prabhupada in 1988 entitled “Don’t ever leave ISKCON.”)
(Compiled and Edited by Hemavati Radhika Dasi)