Srila Prabhupada’s Disappearance Day

Srila Prabhupada’s Disappearance Day

“So at the time of death… Of course, those who are devotees, their position is different. People may say, “The devotee is also dying, and the non-devotee, sinful man, is also dying. What is the difference?” So there is much difference. The example is given: just like a cat catching a rat in his mouth and at the same time carrying his cubs in the mouth. Superficially, we can see that the same mouth is being used, but one is feeling comfortable being carried by the mother, and another is feeling the death knell. 

Similarly, at the time of death, the devotee’s feeling that they are being transferred to Vaikuntha, whereas the ordinary sinful man is feeling that the Yamaraja, the dutas, the constables of Yamaraja are dragging him to the hellish condition of life. So one should not conclude simply by seeing that he is dying. 

No. The process is different. Janma karma ca me divyam. As Lord Krsna’s appearance and disappearance are all spiritual, transcendental, they are not ordinary things, similarly, Lord Krsna’s devotee, His representative, who is sent to this material world for preaching the glories of Lord Krsna, their appearance and disappearance is also like Krsna’s. 

Therefore, according to Vaisnava principles, the appearance and disappearance of Vaisnava is considered all-auspicious. Therefore we hold festivals. Just like yesterday we had the disappearance day of His Divine Grace Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Goswami Prabhupada. So we offered our respects and observed a festival, Avirbhava, Tirobhava. Tirobhava.”

Srila Prabhupada Lecture on Srimad Bhagavatam 6:1:27-34, Surat

His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada departed from this world on November 14, 1977 in Vrindavan, India. As Srila Prabhupada explains above, the appearance and disappearance of the Lord and his pure representatives from this world is a cause for celebration. While there is no need to lament the disappearance of the Lord’s pure nitya-siddha representative, at the same time the devotees feel great pangs of separation due to the manifest physical absence of His Divine Grace.

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CCD: CANNOT EVEN IMAGINE...

I watched YouTube videos of your departure last night. It was the closest I could come to experiencing what your disciples felt as they saw you passing on into the spiritual world. What they were going through! Here you were, that person who picked them up from the cycle of samsara and connected them to Krsna, that person who had taught them everything, that person who had nurtured them like a father, holding them by the hand throughout their spiritual journey ... and now you were leaving. What torment for them! I tried to understand the depth of their anguish, but in reality I cannot even imagine...


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Cc. Madhya Lila. 244/330

TEXT 330
guru-lakṣaṇa, śiṣya-lakṣaṇa, doṅhāra parīkṣaṇa
sevya--bhagavān, sarva-mantra-vicāraṇa

SYNONYMS

guru-lakṣaṇa—the symptoms of a bona fide spiritual master; śiṣya-lakṣaṇa—the symptoms of a bona fide disciple; doṅhāra—of both; parīkṣaṇa—the testing; sevya-bhagavān—the Supreme Personality of Godhead is worshipable; sarva-mantra-vicāraṇa—consideration of the different types of mantras.

TRANSLATION

"In your book there should be the characteristics of the bona fide guru and the bona fide disciple. Then, before accepting a spiritual master, one can be assured of the spiritual master's position. Similarly, the spiritual master can also be assured of the disciple's position. The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa, should be described as the worshipable object, and you should consider the bīja-mantra for the worship of Kṛṣṇa, Rāma or any other expansion of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

PURPORT

In the Padma Purāṇa, the characteristics of the guru, the bona fide spiritual master, have been described:

mahā-bhāgavata-śreṣṭho
brāhmaṇo vai gurur nṛṇām
sarveṣām eva lokānām
asau pūjyo yathā hariḥ
mahā-kula-prasūto 'pi
sarva-yajñeṣu dīkṣitaḥ
sahasra-śākhādhyāyī ca
na guruḥ syād avaiṣṇavaḥ

The guru must be situated on the topmost platform of devotional service. There are three classes of devotees, and the guru must be accepted from the topmost class. The first-class devotee is the spiritual master for all kinds of people. It is said: gurur nṛṇām. The word nṛṇām means "of all human beings." The guru is not limited to a particular group. It is stated in the Upadeśāmṛta of Rūpa Gosvāmī that a guru is a gosvāmī, a controller of the senses and the mind. Such a guru can accept disciples from all over the world. Pṛthivīṁ sa śiṣyāt. This is the test of the guru.

In India there are many so-called gurus, and they are limited to a certain district or a province. They do not even travel about India, yet they declare themselves to be jagad-guru, gurus of the whole world. Such cheating gurus should not be accepted. Anyone can see how the bona fide spiritual master accepts disciples from all over the world. The guru is a qualified brāhmaṇa; therefore he knows Brahman and Parabrahman. He thus devotes his life for the service of Parabrahman. 

The bona fide spiritual master who accepts disciples from all over the world is also worshiped all over the world because of his qualities. Lokānām asau pūjyo yathā hariḥ: the people of the world worship him just as they worship the Supreme Personality of Godhead. All these honors are offered to him because he strictly follows the brahminical principles and teaches these principles to his disciples. Such a person is called an ācārya because he knows the principles of devotional service, he behaves in that way himself, and he teaches his disciples to follow in his footsteps. 

Thus he is an ācārya or jagad-guru. Even though a person is born in a brahminical family and is very expert in performing sacrifices, he cannot be accepted as a guru if he is not a strict Vaiṣṇava. A guru is a brāhmaṇa by qualification, and he can turn others into brāhmaṇas according to the śāstric principles and brahminical qualifications. Brahmanism is not a question of heredity. In Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (7.32.11) Śrī Nārada Muni tells Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira what a brāhmaṇa is. 

He states that if brahminical qualifications are observed in kṣatriyas, vaiśyas or even śūdras, one should accept them as brāhmaṇas. In this regard, Śrīla Śrīdhara Svāmī has commented: 

śamādibhir eva brāhmaṇādi-vyavahāro mukhyaḥ, na jāti-mātrādīty āha-yasyeti. yad yadi anyatra varṇāntare 'pi dṛśyeta, tad-varṇāntaraṁ tenaiva lakṣaṇa-nimittenaiva varṇena vinirdiśet, na tu jāti-nimittenety arthaḥ.

There is a similar statement made by Nīlakaṇṭha, the commentator on Mahābhārata:

śūdro 'pi śamādy-upeto brāhmaṇa eva
brāhmaṇo 'pi kāmādy-upetaḥ śūdra eva

"Although one may be born in a śūdra family, if he is endowed with the brahminical qualities beginning with śama [control of the mind], he is to be accepted as a brāhmaṇa. Although one may be born in a brāhmaṇa family, if he is endowed with the qualities beginning with kāma [lust], he is to be considered a śūdra." No one should present himself as a brāhmaṇa simply on the basis of being born in a brahminical family. One must be qualified by the brahminical qualities mentioned in the śāstras, particularly Bhagavad-gītā:

śamo damas tapaḥ śaucaṁ
kṣāntir ārjavam eva ca
jñānaṁ vijñānam āstikyaṁ
brahma-karma svabhāva-jam

"Peacefulness, self-control, austerity, purity, tolerance, honesty, wisdom, knowledge and religiousness-these are the qualities by which the brāhmaṇas work." (Bg. 18.42)

Unless one is qualified with all these attributes, he cannot be accepted as a brāhmaṇa. It is not a question of simply taking birth in a brāhmaṇa family. In this regard, Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura remarks that Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura and Śyāmānanda Gosvāmī, although not born in brāhmaṇa families, are accepted as bona fide spiritual masters because they were brāhmaṇas by qualification. 

Personalities like Śrī Gaṅgā-nārāyaṇa, Rāmakṛṣṇa and many others, who were actually born in brāhmaṇa families, accepted Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura and Śyāmānanda Gosvāmī as their spiritual masters.

The mahā-bhāgavata is one who decorates his body with tilaka and whose name indicates him to be a servant of Kṛṣṇa by the word dāsa. He is also initiated by a bona fide spiritual master and is expert in worshiping the Deity, chanting mantras correctly, performing sacrifices, offering prayers to the Lord, and performing saṅkīrtana. He knows how to serve the Supreme Personality of Godhead and how to respect a Vaiṣṇava. 

When one has attained the topmost position of mahā-bhāgavata, he is to be accepted as a guru and worshiped exactly like Hari, the Personality of Godhead. Only such a person is eligible to occupy the post of a guru. However, if one is highly qualified but is not a Vaiṣṇava, he cannot be accepted as a guru. One cannot be a brāhmaṇa unless one is a Vaiṣṇava. If one is a Vaiṣṇava, he is already a brāhmaṇa. 

If a guru is completely qualified as a Vaiṣṇava, he must be accepted as a brāhmaṇa even if he is not born in a brāhmaṇa family. The caste system method of distinguishing a brāhmaṇa by birth is not acceptable when applied to a bona fide spiritual master. A spiritual master is a qualified brāhmaṇa and ācārya. If one is not a qualified brāhmaṇa, he is not expert in studying Vedic literatures. Nānā-śāstra-vicāraṇaika-nipuṇau. Every Vaiṣṇava is a spiritual master, and a spiritual master is automatically expert in brahminical behavior. He also understands the Vedic śāstras.

Similarly, a disciple's qualifications must be observed by the spiritual master before he is accepted as a disciple. In our Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement, the requirement is that one must be prepared to give up the four pillars of sinful life-illicit sex, meat-eating, intoxication and gambling. In Western countries especially, we first observe whether a potential disciple is prepared to follow the regulative principles. 

Then he is given the name of a Vaiṣṇava servant and initiated to chant the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra, at least sixteen rounds daily. In this way the disciple renders devotional service under the guidance of the spiritual master or his representative for at least six months to a year. He is then recommended for a second initiation, during which a sacred thread is offered and the disciple is accepted as a bona fide brāhmaṇa. Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura introduced the system of giving the sacred thread to a bona fide Vaiṣṇava, and we are also following in his footsteps. The qualifications of a bona fide disciple are described in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (11.10.6) as follows:

amānya-matsaro dakṣo
nirmamo dṛḍha-sauhṛdaḥ
asatvaro 'rtha-jijñāsur
anasūyur amogha-vāk

The disciple must have the following qualifications. He must give up interest in the material bodily conception. He must give up material lust, anger, greed, illusion, madness and envy. He should be interested only in understanding the science of God, and he should be ready to consider all points in this matter. He should no longer think, "I am this body," or, "This thing belongs to me." 

One must love the spiritual master with unflinching faith, and one must be very steady and fixed. The bona fide disciple should be inquisitive to understand transcendental subject matter. He must not search out faults among good qualities, and he should no longer be interested in material topics. His only interest should be Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

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