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EDITORIAL February 1, 2000 VNN5379 Comment on this story Lord Caitanya's Message BY MAHAVEGAVATI DASI EDITORIAL, Feb 1 (VNN) — Dear Assembled Vaisnavas, Hare Krsna. All glories to Srila Prabhupada. Please accept my fallen obeisances. I would like to make a comment to VNN editorial "Dialog On Gaudiya Matha Life" from Friday, January 28th. Dear Hrikeshananda prabhu: After reading your post which consisted of questions put to you by another devotee, I gained a much greater appreciation for the efforts my Guru Maharaj, Srila Abhaya Caranaravinda Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, in his coming to the West to deliver Lord Caitanya's message to so many people, and his being empowered to adapt things in such a way that enabled so many of us to take to that process. It is a fact that the standards of the Gaudiya Math in so many ways are much "higher" than those of ISKCON, i.e. the way in which on washes one's body after one passes urine, the understanding of cleaning one's hands after they become prasadi, etc. But one must consider the whys and hows Srila Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada did things as he did. Lord Caitanya said that His name would be chanted in every town and village, and Srila Prabhupada came to fulfil that mission of Lord Caitanya. Thus, on the order of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakur Prabhupada, our AC Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada came to the West, (and EAST, North and South), and DID as Lord Caitanya wanted. He DID as Bhaktivinode Thakur envisioned. He DID as his Guru Maharaj INSTRUCTED, and he was empowered to do so. ONLY Lord Caitanya's pure representatives are empowered to give mercy on the level that Srila Prabhupada gave, to others. If Srila Prabhupada had set up ISKCON as Vana Maharaj had his maths, then I HIGHLY DOUBT that so many of us WOULD be chanting Hare Krsna and following TO THE EXTENT that we DO now, even if in your assessment, it is not very much. I will not mention where, but I had the opportunity to go into several Gaudiya Math temples where prasadam was being served by Indian brahmacaris. I had ALWAYS been taught that prasadam is NON DIFFERENT from Krsna, to be respected as non different from Krsna, and thus, we NEVER stepped over prasadam, nor carelessly served out prasadam allowing it to drop on the floor, etc. (Granted, someone might make a mistake sometimes, but the point is that we were taught to have the HIGHEST respect for prasadam, in terms of the prasadam itself, the manner in which it was served, and honor for the server and the served.) In these particular temples where I was at, I noticed that many of the "younger" brahmacaris - younger in that they were not there for as many years as their older Godbrothers, and often, younger in age - served prasadam with NO reverence for it, OR for the devotees honoring the prasadam. PLOP it went, either on to the plate OR on to the floor. Often enough the prasadam on the floor got stepped over or stepped in. Srila Prabhupada in his teaching us, was VERY STRICT about these things. I also noticed that sometimes when some person did not want to honor a particular preparation, (including me), the server threw the prasadam on their plate anyway, EVEN ON one's hand when they put their hand over the plate to indicate that they did not want to partake of that preparation. (Thus, some of this prasadam would get thrown into the garbage. I myself had been taught to NEVER accept any more prasadam than I intended to honor.) Please do NOT get me wrong; I am NOT trying to criticize these devotees for their service, etc. I am just trying to make an obvious point. Srila Prabhupada's giving of Lord Caitanya's and the Gaudiya Vaisnava Guru Parampara's mercy is simply that, a TOTAL act of mercy. The ACARYA is EMPOWERED to give out Krsna consciousness ACCORDING TO TIME PLACE AND CIRCUMSTANCE. And THAT is what Srila Prabhupada did. If anyone cannot acknowledge Srila Prabhupada's position as acarya, then that is their problem. kali kalera dharma krsna nama sankirtan krsna sakti vina nahe tava pravartana So Srila Prabhupada's original aim was NOT to set up temples with the same standards as that of the Gaudiya Math - and even in so many of those temples the standard is not as high as you indicate for Vana Maharaja's Maths - but it was to set up something that would allow us a beginning, one which would also allow us to progress further from simply a beginning point. Srila Prabhupada's aim was NOT necessarily to make us as strict in everything in terms of certain standards followed in Vana Maharaj's maths, but rather to give us something that would enable us to take up the process of Krsna consciousness. I would recommend that you (and other readers), go to Srila Prabhupada's purports in CC Adi lila 1.7.31,32,37,38. Although ITS GON is off today, off ONLY because of the material desires of certain ambitious leaders who did NOT follow Srila Prabhupada's instructions, so many other devotees are still doing what Srila Prabhupada asked of us, (including me). We are still chanting our rounds, following the principles, and some are even continuing on in their preaching. If you are going to use the example of those devotees who are NOT strictly following, as a "proof" to Srila Prabhupad's not setting up something "better" then I will turn your attention to Krsna's words in Bhagavad Gita in 7.3 and 7.19. The FACT that Srila Prabhupada was ABLE to turn SO MANY Western people to the process of Krsna consciousness, and the people that he DID get to turn to that process, IS indeed "miraculous." (I say miraculous in quotes because given the externals, the time, and circumstances, it WOULD appear to be a miracle. But for the PURE devotee to do as he is empowered by Krsna to do, it is NOT a miracle in that sense, but is SUPPOSED to happen.) When Srila Prabhupad was asked if he "performed miracles," Srila Prabhupada pointed to the devotees and said, "There are my miracles. To change ones heart is a miracle." And when one considers the people that Srila Prabhupada was preaching to, and how many of them came to his lotus feet giving up so many bad habits, then this in and of itself attests to Srila Prabhupada's empowerment. You say this, "In Gaudiya Math, devotees know from Lord Chaitanya that a brahmacari or sannyasi should not even see the "wooden form" of a women if he wanted to remain celibate. Women were NEVER allowed to reside in any Math and NEVER came inside the ashram compound except to take darshan during temple opening. "Women were for married life. There was NO question of associating with women in Gaudiya Math; and if someone did associate with women it would cause fall down from their celibacy. In Vrindavan Gaudiya Math of Srila Vana Maharaj women didn't exist. Being a tyagi, Lord Chaitanya was saved from accidentally touching a woman and he greatly thanked the devotees for that. Matha means monks. In 1970 Srila Vana Maharaj told me that he strongly disagreed with ACBSP's mixing of men and women in ashram life. He assured me that if I went to Iskcon I would fall down, and he was 100% correct. In fact, ALL Srila Prabhupada's Godbrothers were completely against the mixing of sexes in Matha (ashram) life." Well, I can ONLY thank Srila Prabhupada that he WAS empowered as he was to spread Krsna consciousness to the Western world. Because if the standard above was followed, SO MANY people, (including men), would NOT have taken to Krsna consciousness. (Prabhupada even once joking said the the men who were asking him to get rid of the women from the temple, "Then who will the brahmacaris dance for?") Srila Prabhupada I am SURE, KNEW that there would be falldowns and so many other problems, but in his consideration of the desire of Lord Caitanya, the Guru Parampara, etc. he was MORE concerned with giving out the mercy. THAT was his mission. He wanted to give out the mercy as quickly as possible, and to as many people as could grab on. As Srila Prabhupada himself said when he left Krsna in His Deity Form in one of the temples in Australia, "I have left you here with the mlecchas and yavana. You do the necessary." Again I direct you to Srila Prabhupada's OWN explan-ation of why he did things as he did. Here is some example from CC Adi lila 7.37,38. (I have not written out the complete purports.) "An acarya should devise a means by which people may somehow or other come to Krsna consciousness. First the should become Krsna conscious and all the prescribed rules and regulations may later gradually be introduced. In our Krsna consciousness movement we follow this policy of Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. For example, since boys and girls in the Western countries freely intermingle, special concessions regarding their customs and habits are necessary to bring them to Krsna consciousness. The acarya must devise a means to bring them to devotional service. It is the concern of the acarya to show mercy to the fallen souls. In this conection, desa-kala-patra, (the place, the time and the object), should be taken into consideration. Since the European and American boys and girls mingle unrestrictedly and have equal rights; therefore it is not possible to completely separate the men from the women." So Srila Prabhupada's movement was a MERCY movement. Srila Prabhupada BETTER THAN ANYONE ELSE, KNEW who and what he was working with. Srila Prabhupada was directly EMPOWERED by Lord Nityananda and Lord Caitanya to give Krsna consciousness to those people who lived outside of India, and THAT is why Srila Prabhupada was SO successful. And I can guarentee you this: At that point in time, Srila Prabhupada WAS the ONLY one who COULD do as he did. Otherwise, someone else would ALSO have done it. But instead, no one else did as he did. I fully believe that if Vana Maharaj and many other Godbrothers of Srila Prabhupada had come to the East Village, San Francisco, and so many other places, and had seen the drugs, degradation, etc., they would NEVER have stayed to preach, teach, deal with us, and give out Lord Caitanya's mercy as Srila Prabhupada himself did. AND HE DID IT ALONE WITH ONLY GURU AND KRSNA AS HIS ASSOCIATES. So I do not know what your intended message was. I know that you originally came to Srila Prabhupada's lotus feet and then chose to go to Vana Maharaj. That is your prerogative. As for me, I feel that NO ONE could have SAVED me the way that Srila Prabhupada did, and I am MOST THANKFUL that he was THAT merciful. If I have to go to hell because I goofed up on not washing myself properly according to all the details, or someone accidentally touched me before I went to worship the Deities and I didn't take full bath, or if I did not know all of the mantras and technicalities, well, then, I guess I will have to go to hell. Lord Jagannath gave a slap to Pundarika Vidyanidhi in a dream because he was critical of the pujari's making a slight discrepancy. And Ramanujacarya was thrown for so many miles by Lord Jagannath Himself when he PROVED through scripture that certain things that the pandas were doing were so called "off." So it seems that Lord Caitanya sent Srila Prabhupada to deliver HIS mercy, and that is EXACTLY what Srila Prabhupada has done. The LORD can do AS HE LIKES and he can empower his pure devotee to give Krsna consciousness as HE, KRSNA wants. And if Krsna wants to make Himself THAT accessible to the mlecchas and yavanas, then what is the problem? Lord Caitanya is called Patita Pavana, the SAVIOR of the MOST fallen. Maybe Lord Caitanya is not so concerned that we mlecchas and yavanas are not able to follow every single detail so perfectly. I will not go on to address the other points that you made. (I do not feel it to be necessary.) I think that I have made my point. I remain your fallen servant, Mahavegavati Dasi Hare Krsna About the Author  Other Stories by this AuthorComment on this story Contact VNN about this storySend this story to a friend
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