Gour Govinda Swami:
Vaiṣṇava guṇa-gāna
karile jīvera trāṇa
śuni'āchi sādhū guru mukhe
(Vaiṣṇava Dāsa, Ācārya-vandanā)
In 1976, Prabhupāda was sitting in Vṛndāvana, and two of his sannyāsī disciples came before him. Prabhupāda spoke to them individually, giving different instructions. Specific instruction. General and specific. General instruction is for one and all. So, specific, individual instruction differs from individual to individual. That guru gives.
To one sannyāsī disciple, he said, “You are a sannyāsī; why are you spending such a long time here? You have a bus, and you must travel. Sannyāsa means that now you have to preach all over the world. So, why should you be thinking of becoming temple president here? Actually, a sannyāsī should not stay in one place for more than three days at a time. When the wheels stop turning, then preaching is also stopped. Still, the temple is nirguṇa, so you may stay, but not for more than three days. This is allowed, but only if you have business there.” In this way, Prabhupāda encouraged one of his sannyāsī disciples to immediately go out and preach. And he admonished him for staying too long in one place.
As soon as he finished speaking in that way, Prabhupāda turned to another swami, a sannyāsī disciple, and told him, “Now, you must never leave Vṛndāvana unless I say so. You should stay here and do the management.” All the devotees present laughed. It seemed wonderful, how Prabhupāda had just given two completely contradictory statements, and yet everyone accepted them as truth. You cannot understand—vaiṣṇava kriyā mudrā vijñeya na bujhaya.
When Prabhupāda was attending the Kumbha Mela in Prayāga in 1977, a few devotees from England arrived with a special gift. They had brought rasogullas that had been offered the previous day to Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa Deities in London. Prabhupāda said, “Not even the Queen of England could enjoy rasogullā made in England while sitting at the Kumbha Mela. This is the first time that anyone has been able to do this.” Prabhupāda was alluding to the fact that in India, from the time of British occupation, things that were made in London were considered the best. Anything made in London was the best, and the most expensive. Certainly, rasogullas were available all over India. But the fact that one was made in London and immediately exported to Śrīla Prabhupāda when he stayed at Kumbha Mela was a symbol of the wonder and wealth of the Kṛṣṇa Consciousness Movement.
Prabhupāda’s servant, Hari Śauri, related to Prabhupāda that his grandmother had advised Hari Śauri’s mother to abort the child that was to be born of her. The mother refused, and so he was born. After hearing this, Prabhupāda brought it up in a different conversation. “Now I can understand,” he said, “the advantage of a birth in India. People here couldn’t even dream of such a thing.” Prabhupāda explained how people are taking the great risk of becoming murderers simply due to their sex urge. “All the women in the West,” he said, “are encouraged by their friends to become prostitutes and capture some rich man, while they are still young.”
What did he say? The song of nectars?
So now I request Jagad-Atma Prabhu to come and speak something in glorification of Śrīla Prabhupāda.
Gour Govinda Swami:
My revered spiritual master, Śrī Śrīmad A. C. Bhaktivedānta Swāmī Prabhupādji Mahārāja, is a very dear, intimate, pure devotee of Kṛṣṇa. As Kṛṣṇa is attractive, he was also attractive. If you speak pure Kṛṣṇa kathā, this kathā is attractive. The pure name of Kṛṣṇa is attractive. It is non-different from Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa-prasāda, offered to Kṛṣṇa, what Kṛṣṇa has accepted... is also attractive. So the theme of what Patita-Pāvana Dāsa said is that he went to that land, that country, where the hippies were attracted, addicted to liquor for sense gratification. This is a miracle—how they became attracted to all-beautiful Kṛṣṇa, the holy name, His nectarean kathā, and such palatable, sweet prasāda. This is a miracle. Such a wonderful transformation. “What more miracle do you want to see?” When Prabhupāda was asked, he said this.
Really, if you are pure, if you have purity, a pure devotee of Kṛṣṇa, who has gotten Kṛṣṇa, who has bound up Kṛṣṇa in his heart by the love of Kṛṣṇa, who is all-attractive, he can do the most wonders. Kṛṣṇa does only wonderful things, Kṛṣṇa-ādbhuta-karunya. As a pure devotee, one only acts so wonderfully.