I offer my humble obeisances at the lotus feet of His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, founder-ācārya of the International Society for Kṛṣṇa Consciousness.
Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura comments on his song Nadīyā- godrume Nityānanda Mahājana that the mahāśaya (great personality) on patrol plays his karatālas and calls out, “O people of faith! I do not wish to beg from you any worldly thing or mundane favor. The only alms I beg is that all of you honor the order of the Lord by chanting the name of Kṛṣṇa, worshiping Kṛṣṇa, and teaching others about Kṛṣṇa.”
This statement by Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura reminds me of Śrīla Prabhupāda. Following in full surrender the order of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, Nityānanda Prabhu, Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura, and his spiritual master, Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura, he played the karatālas and chanted the holy names of Lord Kṛṣṇa. Single-handedly he delivered the treasure of the holy name to everyone he met, and gradually it started spreading all over the world.
Meditating on this miracle, I offer my prostrated daṇḍavats to His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, founder- ācārya of the International Society for Kṛṣṇa Consciousness.
Śrīla Prabhupāda did not beg for any worldly things or mun- dane favors. He did not travel all over the world to ask for anything. He delivered the holy name of Lord Kṛṣṇa, and the only alms he asked for was that people honor the order of Caitanya Mahāprabhu, Nityānanda Prabhu, and the previous ācāryas by chanting the holy name of Lord Kṛṣṇa—Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare / Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare.
Meditating on this miracle, I offer my prostrated daṇḍavats to His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, founder- ācārya of the International Society for Kṛṣṇa Consciousness.
Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura comments further: “Invoke the true name of Kṛṣṇa. Specifically, by giving up nāmābhāsa (a hint of the holy name due to offenses), please chant the purely spiritual (cin- maya) holy name of the Lord.”
People never heard about offenses being committed against the holy name. They had no clue what an offense was. Śrīla Prabhupāda patiently taught those who took up the chanting of the holy name what the ten offenses against the holy name were. In his morning and evening classes, his conversations, his letters, and his Bhaktivedanta purports, he explained in the most scientific way to chant the purely spiritual (cinmaya) holy name of Lord Kṛṣṇa.
Meditating on this miracle, I offer my prostrated daṇḍavats to His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, founder- ācārya of the International Society for Kṛṣṇa Consciousness.
Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura writes further that the holy name which is not yet purely chanted will naturally become the pure holy name, which bestows all divine perfections—but gradually. This is so because even though one may be situated in the darkness of ignorance, one is still not distracted by desires for bhoga (material sense gratification) and mokṣa (impersonal liberation), which are both unfavorable for executing devotional service.
Despite the struggle of his early disciples to purely chant the holy name, Śrīla Prabhupāda patiently continued to explain why bhoga and mokṣa are unfavorable for executing devotional service. By giving his association in manifold ways, by establishing the entire process of practicing Kṛṣṇa consciousness, he provided his followers with the inspiration and spiritual strength to gradually develop a distaste for anything unfavorable for executing devotional service and thus approach the stage of chanting the purely transcendental holy name of Lord Kṛṣṇa.
Meditating on this miracle, I offer my prostrated daṇḍavats to His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, founder-ācārya of the International Society for Kṛṣṇa Consciousness.
Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura explains further:
The supreme nectar (paramāmṛta) of favorable service rendered unto Lord Kṛṣṇa will gradually become thick- ened until it breaks through your two bodies—the gross (sthūla) and the subtle (liṅga)—and will finally cause your eternal spiritual form (aprākṛta-svarūpa) to reawaken.
Śrīla Prabhupāda provided the entire world with the training and education needed to gradually perform favorable devotional service as taught by Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī in his Bhakti-rasāmṛta- sindhu. The chanting of the pure holy name is verily the only true welfare of the living entity. There exists no higher benefit for anyone in the entire three worlds.
Meditating on this miracle, I offer my prostrated daṇḍavats to His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, founder- ācārya of the International Society for Kṛṣṇa Consciousness.
Śrīla Prabhupāda’s servant,
Bhaktivaibhava Swami