Remembering Srila Prabhupada - Ye yatha mam prapadyante

[Prasanna V]

Ye yatha mam prapadyante

In class Prabhupada described the relationship of the living being with Krsna as "responsive cooperation." People sometimes ask, if God does not discriminate, then why are there rich and poor people in the world? The answer is that because of this responsive cooperation, however much we surrender to Krsna, that much He returns to us.

He explained how there are many men, who after making lakhs and crores of rupees, retire to Vrndavana. They leave all their money to their wives and families, requesting them to send two hundred rupees a month "for serving God." But this is not a good policy, he said. If we give two hundred to God, then Krsna will give us two hundred in return. He does not discriminate. Rather we discriminate, and Krsna reciprocates.

He offered himself as an example: "Just see practically. Our Krsna consciousness movement was started with forty rupees. Now that forty rupees added with Krsna, it has become forty crores. You see practically. When I started for your country, I came to Mayapur. I offered my obeisances to my spiritual master. Then I went. At that time I had no money even to purchase the ticket. And after that, I have come with forty crores. This is the secret. Ye yatha mam prapadyante. If you fully surrender to Krsna, then Krsna is there."

* * *

March 7th, 1976


Prabhupada surprised me when I entered his room at about 11 a.m. this morning to prepare for his massage. For almost half an hour he preached to me, explaining that he wants all his disciples to become gurus. Each of us is to make thousands of disciples just as he has and in this way spread Krsna consciousness all over the world.

He didn't seem to be speaking in general terms either, but directly to me. He seemed very enlivened at the prospect of spreading Krsna consciousness in this way.

In the evening, when the GBC men filed into his room to make their report about their day's meeting, he brought up the same topic, before discussing their resolutions. He asked me to explain to everyone what he had said earlier. But when I hesitated, he did it himself, repeating in brief this principle of becoming guru.

He told them that just as he had made thousands of disciples he wants each one of them to make ten thousand each. He encouraged them to become increasingly more qualified and rise to the position of being spiritual masters. He stressed that this can be done only if they maintain spiritual strength by strictly following the four regulative principles and chanting the prescribed number of rounds.

It is all dependant on enthusiasm, he told us. At seventy years he had left Vrndavana with no money or men, nor any facility. He had done everything simply on this principle of enthusiasm. Without directly saying it, Srila Prabhupada made it clear that all internal arguments and disputes can be resolved by turning our attention to the higher ideal of preaching Krsna consciousness to the world.


- From the "A Transcendental Diary Vol 1" by HG Hari Sauri dasa

.

__,_._,___