Mukham karoti…
Hari Hari! Hari Hari! Gaura Hari!
So we are a little late for the Caitanya Book. So I will just give a short talk and take a few questions and answers. Because I have just come back from the hospital. I had some checkups as an outpatient and it took longer than expected as usual.
So Srila Prabhupad was very merciful. He engaged so many devotees in his service. On his floor were five other rooms in the Lotus building and down the hall in one of the rooms, there was one of Prabhupad’s secretaries was sleeping and snoring very loudly. So Prabhupad said the snoring is disturbing me, have him moved to another floor. But Prabhupad, in the nearest room another secretary was typing and that was making more noise, but he said, typing for Krishna is not a bother. But snoring in ignorance is a bother!
He would take rest just from about 10 to 12 or 10 to 1 in the night. And over his seat he had a specially made mosquito net so that he could translate on his Dictaphone and not be attacked by the mosquitoes. One day he said why don’t you sleep less like I do? I didn’t know what to say! Well maybe old people need less sleep! Prabhupad would stay up the whole night translating and then he would go for his morning walk around 6 and then greet the deities around 7 and then after the deity greeting he would give class. He would answer letters after breakfast or he would translate. He would take a morning massage, say Gayatri, eat lunch and then rest for an hour and a half or so. Sometime in the afternoon in Mayapur he had an open door policy that means, anyone could stop in and see him. I remember once an inspector of the police force came by and he told Prabhupad that he is chanting eight rounds. He said I am very busy as a police inspector so can I get initiated with eight rounds? Prabhupad said, no. Take some time, gradually come up to 16 rounds and then I can initiate you. So Prabhupad did not compromise on this issue.
So are there any questions?
Question: My brother came to Mayapur in 2012 and 2015. So whenever he is in Mayapur he feels very good and he started chanting. He lives in Gwalior and I live in Mayapur. He does not listen to me when I go there. But when he comes to Mayapur where I live, he would listen to me and is happy. How do I get him to do bhakti and maybe come to Mayapur and settle? How do I encourage him?
Guru maharaj: Gwalior is that your hometown? There are Bengalis from Bangladesh? No. In Maharashtra there are some villages that are entirely made up of Bangladeshis. Because the government gave them those places to visit and stay.
(Shyam Madhusudhan said: His question is not about Bangladeshis; it is about his brother who is not involved in bhakti outside of Mayapur. When he comes to Mayapur he is very enthused but when he goes back to his hometown Gwalior he is not doing bhakti. How should he encourage him to do bhakti and come and settle in Mayapur? That is the question)
Guru maharaj: How each person can be inspired is not a rubber stamp thing. Someone I knew could not use his hands, he had a phobia, for lack of a better word. Everyone has got some different quality, what is enthusing for one person may not be enthusing for another person. I was saying that I have this devotee he didn’t like to chant, he liked to read. So he read all of Prabhupad’s books but he didn’t chant. After a while after reading he started to understand that chanting is important and then he said now I should chant. Finally, he followed the four regulative principles and he started chanting 16 rounds. So you should see what things enthuse your brother and just encourage him to do those devotional activities. Bhakti Vinod Thakur said that we should do what is natural for us. We are not mystic yogis who are giving all their energy to develop transcendental siddhis. As bhaktis yogis our hearts should be soft There was one mystic yogi who had darshan of Krishna, and Krishna told him you can have whatever you want, what do you want? He said I would like to see how the material energy works. So then Krishna showed him that – that was because he was a mystic yogi. If he was a bhakti yogi, he wouldn’t have been so hard lined. Bhakti yogis are softer. Instead of relying on themselves to do things they rely on Krishna to do them.
Transcribed by Jayaraseshwari dd
6 July 2018