SRILA PRABHUPADA & SRILA GOUR GOVINDA
THE FIRST MIRACLE
By: Bhagavat Das (ACBSP)
There are three miracles that Srila Prabhupada & Srila Gour Govinda Maharaja both executed while performing their pastimes in this world. Each one of these miracle pastimes took place in different countries and under different circumstances with different devotees; however the results were the same. In this first article in the series I will describe the first miracle they shared in common and then in two successive articles explain the other two.
In the old days at Juhu Beach, in what was then called Bombay, we had a great struggle against the materiel energy to secure the land and begin the temple project for Sri Sri Radha Rasa Bihari. One of Srila Prabhupada’s biggest supporters was a Punjabi gentleman named Mr. Shetty. He was a contractor and he and his family adored Srila Prabhupada. When the land was first secured in Juhu there was no housing available on it for Srila Prabhupada so he stayed at Mr. Shetty’s house in Juhu. Srila Prabhupada and his servants became one of the family and they were given all love, affection, respect, and facility. The first Structure built on the Juhu Property was a small temple building to house their Lordships Sri Sri Radha Rasa Bihari. The main structure was large enough to house the altar of the deities and some room on the side for their clothes. Directly behind the altar room was a small deity kitchen. In front of the altar room was a large open air carport on a foot high platform. That served as the Nat Mandir or dancing hall. There was a big struggle between a man who wanted to buy the land we had and Srila Prabhupada. It eventually became a court case and the night before the court case some thugs from the opposing party tried to perform a most heinous act. You see the reason Srila Prabhupada built the little temple first on the land was of course to house the deities, but also because the court cannot remove a temple structure from a property or the priests who maintain the deities in that temple. The thug’s job was to break down the temple the night before so that they could claim the property was vacant and have Srila Prabhupada and his disciples removed and take possession of the property.
As the large group of thug’s began dismantling the temple structure getting closer to the deities who were locked behind closed doors the little devotee pujari who stayed on the property ran to inform Srila Prabhupada at Mr. Shetty’s house. Mr. Shetty became enraged; he took his big sons and his guns with him and ran over to the temple to stop the thugs. As he arrived one of the ladies from the neighborhood who was devoted to Srila Prabhupada had placed herself between the thugs and the deities holding onto the deities and protecting them from the attempt by the thugs to remove them. Mr. Shetty shot some rounds in the air and the two bit thug’s ran in fear immediately. Then Mr. Shetty had one of his sons go with the truck and round up the construction workers who then came and worked the whole night to rebuild the temple while Mr. Shetty personally stood guard the entire night with his guns. Such was the dedication and devotion of Mr. Shetty to Srila Prabhupada. Although this is a small miracle in and of itself this is not the miracle that Srila Prabhupada performed it actually gets better. I tell this story so you can get an idea of why Srila Prabhupada would shower such mercy upon Mr. Shetty in the future.
Fast forward a few years to the construction of the big temple on the Juhu property. Of course none other than Mr. Shetty himself is the contractor and he has put his entire life and soul into this project for Srila Prabhupada. As the days go on and the work goes on Mr. Shetty is becoming increasingly weaker and unable to walk and be mobile in general while experiencing a lot of pain. Mr. Shetty finally relents and goes to the doctor only to find out that he has terminal bone cancer. The leading specialist on this condition is a Muslim doctor who resides in Bombay. They try to implement a regimen of treatment but it is futile and Mr. Shetty is now practically paralyzed and immobile. He asks his son to please ask Srila Prabhupada to come and visit him as he cannot get out of bed. Srila Prabhupada goes to the house of Mr. Shetty and in a tearful voice Mr. Shetty explains how he is unable to work any longer and finish the project for Srila Prabhupada and that his son will have to try and finish the work. Mr. Shetty begs Srila Prabhupada for his mercy so that when he departs this world he will go to Krsna. Srila Prabhupada stands up and takes off his garland and places it personally around the neck of Mr. Shetty and says I will pray to Krsna for you. Mr. Shetty is happy that Lord Sri Krsna’s personal emissary has interceded on his behalf and that he will most certainly go Back to Godhead. However, the intercession that Srila Prabhupada prayed for was not a ticket to the spiritual world for Mr. Shetty but for his continued service. The next morning Mr. Shetty rises from sleep and feels healthier than he has in his whole life. Throwing away the crutches he hops out of bed and wants to go to work. He is convinced to go to the doctor who runs some tests and finds that his entire body is cancer free. Mr. Shetty returns to work after profusely thanking Srila Prabhupada for his mercy, now for the icing on the cake. After a day or so the Muslim Doctor who treated Mr. Shetty shows up at the temple to see Srila Prabhupada. Upon entering the room he lies down on the floor and offers his full prostrated obeisance’s at the lotus feet of Srila Prabhupada. When he gets up he says to Srila Prabhupada “I am a Muslim, we do not believe in bowing to anyone or anything except Allah. But I know how sick that man was only a true saint a real man of God could have cured him, you my dear sir are a true saint, therefore I bow to you.” Thus the glories of Srila Prabhupada are sung by one and all.
Now like father like son, the story of Srila Gour Govinda Maharaja’s disciple. Srila Gour Govinda Maharaja had one disciple, a doctor, who was very devoted to him. This man had become a Doctor because both his Grandfather and his Father died around fifty years of age from Typhoid. He devoted his life to curing disease and to finding a cure for typhoid. As destiny would have it when this Doctor was around fifty he got typhoid and became very ill. The Doctor tried every remedy and method that he had developed and even used successfully on others but to no avail on himself. After extensive testing the Doctor finally resigned himself to the fact that his case was hopeless and that the disease was going to kill him. Realizing that death was imminent he had his driver take him to see Srila Gour Govinda Maharaja. The Doctor explained his hopeless condition to Srila Gour Govinda Maharaja and begged him that since he was going to die he wanted the mercy of his guru. He asked if he could wash his Gurus feet and drink the carinamrta and in this way be blessed and go Back to Godhead when he died. Srila Gour Govinda Maharaja agreed to the request and allowed the disciple to bathe his feet and drink the carinamrta. The man then got in the car and had his driver take him home to die. The next morning the Doctor woke up completely recovered and full of health. Returning to Srila Gour Govinda Maharaja with tears in his eyes he thanks his Guru Maharaja profusely for the mercy he bestowed upon him now the icing on the cake, Déjà vu all over again, the driver of the doctor’s car was, that’s right, a Muslim. He went to Srila Gour Govinda Maharaja and bowed at his lotus feet and still goes to the temple to this day believing that the power of God is there.
The serendipitous similarities between these two miracle pastimes of Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gour Govinda Maharaja are amazing to say the least. Both had sincere disciples who became terminally ill and resigning themselves to their fate asked their Gurudeva for the blessing of going Back to Godhead. Both of them received the opportunity to remain in this world and serve their Guru and both of them had a Muslim involved in their lives who became followers of the respective Gurus. They say that good fruit does not fall far from the tree. These miracle pastimes prove that old adage to be perfectly true. Tomorrow we hear how the rains came, miracle number 2 in the pastimes of Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gour Govinda Maharaja.
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