8 proofs that Srila Prabhupada is a pure devotee of the Lord
by Damaghosa dasa
Hare Krsna to all
Pranams
All glories to Srila Prabhupada
Below we have 8 proofs that Srila Prabhupada is a pure devotee of the Lord. So many pretenders and cheaters today falsely
claim the status of a bona fide spiritual master, but if they do not have these
qualifications then they cannot be considered pure devotees of the Lord and
therefore not qualified to initiate anyone into the transcendental science of
bhakti yoga, or devotional service.“UNLESS ONE IS UNDER THE
SHELTER OF A REALIZED SPIRITUAL MASTER, HIS UNDERSTANDING OF THE SUPREME
IS SIMPLY FOOLISHNESS.” Teachings of Lord Caitanya
(TLC).
"When a devotee is perfectly qualified in chanting the Transcendental vibration of the Holy
Names, he is quite fit to become Spiritual Master and deliver all the people of the world." (TLC)
Hare Krsna
Damaghosa das
----------------------
Srila Prabhupada is a pure devotee
1.) Guest (3): So, Srila Prabhupada,
have you realized God?
Srila Prabhupada: What do you think?
What is your opinion?
Guest (3): I can't say.
Srila
Prabhupada: Then if I say, "yes," then what you will understand? If you
are not yourself expert, then even if I say, "Yes, I am God realized," how you
will take it as truth? If you do not know what is God realization, then how you
can ask this question and how you will be satisfied by the answer? You do not
know.
Guest (3): Well, what is God realization?
Srila
Prabhupada: Then... Then you were asking, "Are you God realized?" If I say,
"Yes," then how you'll believe it? You do not know what is God realization. Then
why do you put this question? You do not know yourself. If I say, "Yes," how
you'll understand that I am right? Therefore you should not put all these
questions. It has no value. You do not know yourself what is God
realization. Now, just like a medical man, if he asks another man, medical man,
so if he says, "Yes," then medical man will understand him by technical terms
whether he is medical man. So unless one is medical man, what is the use of
asking another man, "Are you medical man?" Unless you are prepared to take
the answer whatever I give. Are you prepared?
Guest (3):
Yes.
Srila Prabhupada: Then it is all right. I am. I am
seeing God every moment. So unless we are prepared to take the answer, we
should not put ourself...
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------
2.) In the Caitanya Mangala by Locana
das Thakur, pg 48,translated by Subhag swami, Lord Gauranga states-"Even if
the sinners reject religion or flee to foreign countries, still they will get
the mercy. I will sendmor senapati bhakta to go there and deliver
them. [Mor means My; senapati means a military field commander, and bhakta
means a devotee. So Lord Caitanya will empower His own devotee to spread Krsna
Consciousness around the world.]
This was a prediction of the appearance of Srila Prabhupada and his worldwide preaching activities
where he would travel the world over, open 108 temples, and initiate millions
into the chanting of the Holy Names of the Lord. How could this person be
anything less than a Maha Bhagavat, empowered pure devotee of Lord
Gauranga?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------- -----------------------------
3.) Wednesday,
March 6, 1968
Freeport,
Grand Bahama Island
Letter to Andrea Temple
"Yes, whoever you tell the chant to, it is effective. You have heard it from me and my
disciples, similarly I have heard it from my Guru Maharaja, and so on, and
on. Because you have heard it from a pure devotee of the Lord,
therefore it is transmitted from you to another. Just as an aerial
message, is transmitted from one place to another, similarly, this Guru
parampara system is working.
My disciples are my agents, my
representatives, so by hearing it from them, you are receiving it from
me. And because you are a sincere soul, those who are hearing
the Mantra from you are receiving it in disciplic succession, from Lord Caitanya
and from Lord
Krishna."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----
4.)
Saturday, December 16, 1967
San Francisco, Calif.
When I left your country on the 22nd of
July, I had very little hope to come back again. But Krishna informed me that
I'm not going to die immediately; therefore, I have come back again to get
inspiration of Krishna Consciousness from you all good souls. Although
officially I am your Spiritual Master, I consider you all students as my
Spiritual Master because your love for Krishna and service for Krishna teach me
how to become a sincere Krishna Conscious person.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
5.) Yes the spiritual master is also present in his picture, though more importantly he is present
in his teachings. I think this is explained in one letter that has already
been distributed.
Thank you very much for assisting me in this
way. Hope this finds you in good health.
Your ever well wisher,
A.C. Bhaktivedanta
Swami
ABCS/bmdg
Sukadeva das Adhikary, Seattle
ISKCON
Calcutta 29 January
1973
6.) 70-06-21.Tam Letter: Tamala Krsna
So far I am concerned, I cannot say what I was in my previous life, but one great astrologer calculated that I was previously
a physician and my life was sinless. Besides that, to corroborate the statement of Bhagavad-gita "sucinam srimatam gehe yogabhrasta
samyayate" which means an unfinished yogi takes birth in rich family or born of a suci or pious father. By the grace of Krsna I got these two opportunities in the present life to be born of a pious father and brought up in one of the richest, aristocratic families of Calcutta (Kasinath Mullick). The Radha Krsna Deity in this family called me to meet Him, and therefore last time when I was in Calcutta, I stayed in
that temple along with my American disciples. Although I had immense opportunities to indulge in the four principles of sinful life because I was connected with a very aristocratic family, Krsna always saved me,and throughout my whole life I do not know what is illicit sex,intoxication, meat-eating or gambling. So far my present life is concerned, I do not remember any part of my life
when I was forgetful of Krsna.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------- --
7.) SB
2.3.15 P But Maharaja Pariksit was more than that because he had been a
great devotee of the Lord since his previous birth, and as such he took his
birth in an imperial family of the Kurus, and especially that of the
Pandavas. So from the very beginning of his childhood he had the chance to
know intimately the devotional service of Lord Krsna in his own family.
The Pandavas, all being devotees of the Lord, certainly venerated family
Deities in the royal palace for worship. Children who appear in such
families fortunately generally imitate such worship of the Deities, even in
the way of childhood play. By the grace of Lord Sri Krsna, we had
the chance of being born in a Vaisnava family, and in our childhood
we imitated the worship of Lord Krsna by imitating our father. Our
father encouraged us in all respects to observe all functions such as
the Ratha-yatra and Dola-yatra ceremonies, and he used to spend
money liberally for distributing prasada to us children and our friends.
Our spiritual master, who also took his birth in a Vaisnava family,
got all inspirations from his great Vaisnava father, Thakura
Bhaktivinoda. That is the way of all lucky Vaisnava families. The celebrated
Mira Bai was a staunch devotee of Lord Krsna as the great lifter
of Govardhana Hill. The life history of many such devotees is almost the same because
there is always symmetry between the early lives of all great devotees
of the Lord. According to Jiva
Gosvami, Maharaja Pariksit must have
heard about the childhood pastimes of
Lord Krsna at Vrndavana, for he
used to imitate the pastimes with his young
playmates. According to
Sridhara Svami, Maharaja Pariksit used to imitate the
worship of the
family Deity by elderly members. Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti
also
confirms the viewpoint of Jiva Gosvami. So accepting either of
them,
Maharaja Pariksit was naturally inclined to Lord Krsna from his
very
childhood.He might have imitated either of the
above-mentioned
activities, and all of them establish his great devotion from
his very
childhood, a symptom of a maha-bhagavata. Such
maha-bhagavatas are
called nitya-siddhas, or souls liberated from
birth.
----------------------------------------------------
8.) SB 4.18.5 A foolish person who manufactures his
own ways and means through mental speculation and does not recognize the
authority of the sages who lay down unimpeachable directions is simply
unsuccessful again and again in his attempts.
PURPORT - At the present moment it has
become fashionable to disobey the unimpeachable directions given by the
acaryas and liberated souls of the past. Presently people are so fallen that they cannot distinguish between a liberated soul and a conditioned soul.
A conditioned soul is hampered by four defects: he is sure to commit mistakes,
he is sure to become illusioned, he has a tendency to cheat others, and his
senses are imperfect. Consequently we have to take direction from liberated
persons. This Krsna consciousness movement directly receives instructions
from the Supreme personality of Godhead via persons (Srila
Prabhupada) who are strictly following His instructions.
Although a follower may not be a liberated person, if he follows the supreme,
liberated Personality of Godhead, his actions are naturally liberated from the
contamination of the material nature. Lord Caitanya therefore says: "By My order
you (Srila Prabhupada) may become a spiritual master." One can
immediately become a spiritual master by having full faith in the transcendental
words of the Supreme Personality of Godhead and by following His
instructions. Materialistic men are not interested in taking directions from
a liberated person, but they are very much interested in their own concocted
ideas, which make them repeatedly fail in their attempts. Because the
entire world is now following the imperfect directions of conditioned souls,
humanity is completely bewildered.
Conclusions--
In number 1 Prabhupada tells us he is seeing God at every moment.
Number
2-The divine appearance and activities of Srila Prabhupada, a saktyavesh
avatar, is made in the 16th century by a great devotee of Lord
Gauranga.
In number 3 he tells us that when we hear his messages we are hearing them from
a pure devotee of the Lord.
Number 4 he tells us that Lord Krsna directly spoke to him about how long he had to live.
Number
5 he tells us that he is actually present in his picture or
photograph. What kind of person has this power, but a pure devotee?
Number 6, he says that a famous Indian astrologer told him he was without
sins in his previous life and Srila Prabhupada personally says that in this
life, there never was a time that he forgot Lord Krsna. Number 7 he
tells us that there is always some kind of symmetry in the early lives of
pure devotees and their later lives. This means they are born into very
pious pure devotee families.
And lastly, number 8 , he tells us that this Krsna Conscious movement
(namely all of us) are directly getting instructions from the Supreme Lord thru
him, Srila Prabhupada. Just like the demigods got instructions for their work
thru Lord Brahma, when they all went to Svetadvipa and chanted the Purusha sukta
prayers to Lord Visnu, then Lord Visnu spoke His instructions thru the heart of
Lord Brahma and he then gave those same instructions to all the attending
demigods present.
So if anyone is aspiring to have a bonafide spiritual master direct him ,
then he needs to have these above qualifications-otherwise you can be sure
without these few mentioned above (and there are many more) you have a
"counterfeit guru". So dont be cheated, take shelter at the lotus feet of a pure
devotee of the Lord, A C Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila
Prabhhupada.!!
Yours in Srila Prabhupada's service
Damaghosa dasa
2.) In the Caitanya Mangala by Locana
das Thakur, pg 48,translated by Subhag swami, Lord Gauranga states-"Even if
the sinners reject religion or flee to foreign countries, still they will get
the mercy. I will sendmor senapati bhakta to go there and deliver
them. [Mor means My; senapati means a military field commander, and bhakta
means a devotee. So Lord Caitanya will empower His own devotee to spread Krsna
Consciousness around the world.]
This was a prediction of the appearance of Srila Prabhupada and his worldwide preaching activities
where he would travel the world over, open 108 temples, and initiate millions
into the chanting of the Holy Names of the Lord. How could this person be
anything less than a Maha Bhagavat, empowered pure devotee of Lord
Gauranga?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------- -----------------------------
3.) Wednesday,
March 6, 1968
Freeport,
Grand Bahama Island
Letter to Andrea Temple
"Yes, whoever you tell the chant to, it is effective. You have heard it from me and my
disciples, similarly I have heard it from my Guru Maharaja, and so on, and
on. Because you have heard it from a pure devotee of the Lord,
therefore it is transmitted from you to another. Just as an aerial
message, is transmitted from one place to another, similarly, this Guru
parampara system is working.
My disciples are my agents, my
representatives, so by hearing it from them, you are receiving it from
me. And because you are a sincere soul, those who are hearing
the Mantra from you are receiving it in disciplic succession, from Lord Caitanya
and from Lord
Krishna."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----
4.)
Saturday, December 16, 1967
San Francisco, Calif.
When I left your country on the 22nd of
July, I had very little hope to come back again. But Krishna informed me that
I'm not going to die immediately; therefore, I have come back again to get
inspiration of Krishna Consciousness from you all good souls. Although
officially I am your Spiritual Master, I consider you all students as my
Spiritual Master because your love for Krishna and service for Krishna teach me
how to become a sincere Krishna Conscious person.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
5.) Yes the spiritual master is also present in his picture, though more importantly he is present
in his teachings. I think this is explained in one letter that has already
been distributed.
Thank you very much for assisting me in this
way. Hope this finds you in good health.
Your ever well wisher,
A.C. Bhaktivedanta
Swami
ABCS/bmdg
Sukadeva das Adhikary, Seattle
ISKCON
Calcutta 29 January
1973
6.) 70-06-21.Tam Letter: Tamala Krsna
So far I am concerned, I cannot say what I was in my previous life, but one great astrologer calculated that I was previously
a physician and my life was sinless. Besides that, to corroborate the statement of Bhagavad-gita "sucinam srimatam gehe yogabhrasta
samyayate" which means an unfinished yogi takes birth in rich family or born of a suci or pious father. By the grace of Krsna I got these two opportunities in the present life to be born of a pious father and brought up in one of the richest, aristocratic families of Calcutta (Kasinath Mullick). The Radha Krsna Deity in this family called me to meet Him, and therefore last time when I was in Calcutta, I stayed in
that temple along with my American disciples. Although I had immense opportunities to indulge in the four principles of sinful life because I was connected with a very aristocratic family, Krsna always saved me,and throughout my whole life I do not know what is illicit sex,intoxication, meat-eating or gambling. So far my present life is concerned, I do not remember any part of my life
when I was forgetful of Krsna.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------- --
7.) SB
2.3.15 P But Maharaja Pariksit was more than that because he had been a
great devotee of the Lord since his previous birth, and as such he took his
birth in an imperial family of the Kurus, and especially that of the
Pandavas. So from the very beginning of his childhood he had the chance to
know intimately the devotional service of Lord Krsna in his own family.
The Pandavas, all being devotees of the Lord, certainly venerated family
Deities in the royal palace for worship. Children who appear in such
families fortunately generally imitate such worship of the Deities, even in
the way of childhood play. By the grace of Lord Sri Krsna, we had
the chance of being born in a Vaisnava family, and in our childhood
we imitated the worship of Lord Krsna by imitating our father. Our
father encouraged us in all respects to observe all functions such as
the Ratha-yatra and Dola-yatra ceremonies, and he used to spend
money liberally for distributing prasada to us children and our friends.
Our spiritual master, who also took his birth in a Vaisnava family,
got all inspirations from his great Vaisnava father, Thakura
Bhaktivinoda. That is the way of all lucky Vaisnava families. The celebrated
Mira Bai was a staunch devotee of Lord Krsna as the great lifter
of Govardhana Hill. The life history of many such devotees is almost the same because
there is always symmetry between the early lives of all great devotees
of the Lord. According to Jiva
Gosvami, Maharaja Pariksit must have
heard about the childhood pastimes of
Lord Krsna at Vrndavana, for he
used to imitate the pastimes with his young
playmates. According to
Sridhara Svami, Maharaja Pariksit used to imitate the
worship of the
family Deity by elderly members. Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti
also
confirms the viewpoint of Jiva Gosvami. So accepting either of
them,
Maharaja Pariksit was naturally inclined to Lord Krsna from his
very
childhood.He might have imitated either of the
above-mentioned
activities, and all of them establish his great devotion from
his very
childhood, a symptom of a maha-bhagavata. Such
maha-bhagavatas are
called nitya-siddhas, or souls liberated from
birth.
----------------------------------------------------
8.) SB 4.18.5 A foolish person who manufactures his
own ways and means through mental speculation and does not recognize the
authority of the sages who lay down unimpeachable directions is simply
unsuccessful again and again in his attempts.
PURPORT - At the present moment it has
become fashionable to disobey the unimpeachable directions given by the
acaryas and liberated souls of the past. Presently people are so fallen that they cannot distinguish between a liberated soul and a conditioned soul.
A conditioned soul is hampered by four defects: he is sure to commit mistakes,
he is sure to become illusioned, he has a tendency to cheat others, and his
senses are imperfect. Consequently we have to take direction from liberated
persons. This Krsna consciousness movement directly receives instructions
from the Supreme personality of Godhead via persons (Srila
Prabhupada) who are strictly following His instructions.
Although a follower may not be a liberated person, if he follows the supreme,
liberated Personality of Godhead, his actions are naturally liberated from the
contamination of the material nature. Lord Caitanya therefore says: "By My order
you (Srila Prabhupada) may become a spiritual master." One can
immediately become a spiritual master by having full faith in the transcendental
words of the Supreme Personality of Godhead and by following His
instructions. Materialistic men are not interested in taking directions from
a liberated person, but they are very much interested in their own concocted
ideas, which make them repeatedly fail in their attempts. Because the
entire world is now following the imperfect directions of conditioned souls,
humanity is completely bewildered.
Conclusions--
In number 1 Prabhupada tells us he is seeing God at every moment.
Number
2-The divine appearance and activities of Srila Prabhupada, a saktyavesh
avatar, is made in the 16th century by a great devotee of Lord
Gauranga.
In number 3 he tells us that when we hear his messages we are hearing them from
a pure devotee of the Lord.
Number 4 he tells us that Lord Krsna directly spoke to him about how long he had to live.
Number
5 he tells us that he is actually present in his picture or
photograph. What kind of person has this power, but a pure devotee?
Number 6, he says that a famous Indian astrologer told him he was without
sins in his previous life and Srila Prabhupada personally says that in this
life, there never was a time that he forgot Lord Krsna. Number 7 he
tells us that there is always some kind of symmetry in the early lives of
pure devotees and their later lives. This means they are born into very
pious pure devotee families.
And lastly, number 8 , he tells us that this Krsna Conscious movement
(namely all of us) are directly getting instructions from the Supreme Lord thru
him, Srila Prabhupada. Just like the demigods got instructions for their work
thru Lord Brahma, when they all went to Svetadvipa and chanted the Purusha sukta
prayers to Lord Visnu, then Lord Visnu spoke His instructions thru the heart of
Lord Brahma and he then gave those same instructions to all the attending
demigods present.
So if anyone is aspiring to have a bonafide spiritual master direct him ,
then he needs to have these above qualifications-otherwise you can be sure
without these few mentioned above (and there are many more) you have a
"counterfeit guru". So dont be cheated, take shelter at the lotus feet of a pure
devotee of the Lord, A C Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila
Prabhhupada.!!
Yours in Srila Prabhupada's service
Damaghosa dasa
Replies
There are many many more, but these are certainly among them. Thank you!
Journalist: I think an awful lot of our readers, and an awful lot of people in the United States, are terribly confused with the many people who claim to be gurus and gods and who pop up in this country, one after the other after the other, and they say that—
Srila Prabhupada: I can declare that they are all nonsense.
Journalist: I wonder if you could elaborate on that a little bit.
Srila Prabhupada: I can say, furthermore, they’re all rascals.
Journalist: For example, the famous one who sells meditation mantras?
Srila Prabhupada: He is rascal number one. I say it publicly.
(1968 Magazine Interview, Los Angeles)