Date: November 4th 2008

From: ravikant.mohite@gmail.com Date: Tuesday, November 4, 2008

Early days

Quoting Lord Krsna's own words from Bhagavad-gita [7.15] he delivered his verdict on all the Mayavadis. "As soon as we see that somebody is not Krsna conscious or Krsna's devotee, I take immediately he's a duskrti, he's a mudha, he's a naradhama. 'Oh, he's educated!' -- mayayapahrta- jnanah. Finish, our study finish. Asuram bhavam asritah. Because he denies to accept Krsna he must be within this group. So people will be sorry or happy; we take them like that, that 'Here is a duskrti,' that's all."

One of the devotees praised Srila Prabhupada, comparing him to an alchemist for turning leaden souls into golden Vaisnavas.

Prabhupada however, gave the credit, as he always does, to his transcendental Lord. "So Krsna is giving us facilities to preach this cult. Everywhere we have got very, very palatial buildings to accommodate devotees. Now we have got here a very nice place. In Bombay we are getting the best temple in India. We are spending crores of rupees, Krsna is giving us money. So I started the business with forty rupees, that was also not American currency. They allowed me to bring forty rupees. So when I was getting off the ship I asked the captain, 'I have brought these forty rupees, which will not be accepted here, so you take.' At that time three books I had, the first, second and third volume. So I asked him that, 'You purchase. Give me some dollars.'

"So he asked, 'What is the price?'

" 'Sixteen dollars.' So he gave me twenty dollars, and I delivered them. With that twenty dollars I got out down on the land of America, and that forty rupees. So I did not know where to go, where to stay.

"So Krsna is giving us all facilities, and these American boys are helping. I think those who are Indians, they should join this Movement sincerely and preach more vigorously. People will be benefited -- this is real substance. Otherwise people are being misguided, so many things going on. Actually, speaking for the last at least two hundred years, many swamis, people came here, but not a single person was converted to become a devotee of Krsna. That is history. What do you think, Shukla? You have studied. So many swamis, yogis, scholars came, and they spoke on Bhagavad-gita and other, but not a single person became a devotee of Krsna."

Dr. Shukla said he thought it was because they were all trying to be impersonal.

"Whatever it may be," Prabhupada said. "They are supposed to be great personalities, but not a single person was converted. So here is an opportunity to preach real India's traditional culture. So those who are Indians present here, they should cooperate. They should not mislead further."

Dr. Shukla was happy to speak up as an Indian involved with educating others. "We have started teaching your Gita at Georgetown University, where I teach. Before we had, we have two years course of Sanskrit, and we had some excerpts from Mahabharata and some Panca-tantra and so on, but there was no Gita. So I decided and we were using the entire Gita for the second year. Your contributions can't be duplicated."

He had as deep an admiration for Srila Prabhupada's Srimad-Bhagavatam also. "We all know what a great book that is. And what I really appreciate about the whole thing is, number one, that there are no misprints in the book. So that's a great delight. Especially, for people who do not know Sanskrit, for them, there's no difference between the wheat and the germ that comes with it. The translations are very accurate. So it's real scholarship there. And people who were not aware of this Krsna consciousness, they know that if the intellect is so powerful, the spirit must be powerful too." He added that their library and bookstore had all of Srila Prabhupada's books.

Srila Prabhupada had Pusta Krsna Maharaja bring out the lists of standing orders so that Dr. Shukla could see how well the books are being accepted in other universities and libraries around the world. The doctor's statements and his adoption of Srila Prabhupada's books in his courses were a firsthand affirmation of the wisdom of Srila Prabhupada's style of presentation of the sastra, as well as his constant pushing to have them placed where learned people in the world can take advantage of them. One convinced scholar like Dr. Shukla can influence thousands of students in the correct understanding of Lord Caitanya's message.

- From the "A Transcendental Diary Vol 3" by HG Hari Sauri dasa

Hari Bol


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