Hare Krishna Prabhujis and Matajis,

Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gurudev.

Last night HG Devakinandan prabhu had requested us through a message to read very carefully Srila Prabhupada's conclusion to Caitanya Caritamarta. After reading it we realized that our life would never be the same again. Before we begin we would like to thank HG Devakinandan prabhu for pointing our dull head towards this most transcendental realization of Srila Prabhupada.

With the permission of the devotees we would like to share some points which very soothingly struck our heart. We are just sharing our realization on 7 points which inspired us. For devotees who had not read the conclusion before, it is better if you could read the entire conclusion at your own time.

1."Although according to material vision His Divine Grace Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvathi Thaakura Prabhupada passed away from this material world on the last day of December, 1936, I still consider His Divine Grace to be always present with me by his vaani, his words. There are two ways of association by "vaani" and by "vapuh". Vaani means words, and vapuh means physical presence. Physical presence is sometimes appreciable and sometimes not, but vaani continues to exist eternally. Therefore we must take advantage of the vaani, not the physical presence."

The truth is that the Spiritual master never leaves the disciple, rather he is more dynamically present with the disciple after his departure without any consideration of material distance. One who always takes advantage of the instructions of the Spiritual master will surely achieve true success in devotional service. The Supreme Lord confirms this truth in Srimad Bhagavatam 10.23.33.

shravanaad darshanaad dhyaanaan / mayi bhaavo 'nukeertanaat
na tathaa sannikarshena / pratiyaata tato grhaan

"It is by hearing about Me, seeing My Deity form, meditating upon Me and chanting My names and glories that love for Me develops, not by physical proximity. Therefore please go back to your homes."

2."Fortunately, even at our first meeting His Divine Grace advised me to preach the cult of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu in English in the Western countries. Because at that time I was a complete nationalist, a follower of Mahatma Gandhi's, I submitted to His Divine Grace that unless our country were freed from foreign subjugation, no one would hear the message of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu seriously. Of course, we had some argument on this subject, but at last I was defeated and convinced that Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu's message is the only panacea for suffering humanity. I was also convinced that the message of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu was then in the hands of a very expert devotee and that surely the message of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu would spread all over the world."

Most of us who are on the path of devotion also have our material duties to carry out, and as such we are always advised to carry out all our duties expertly. The fact that our material duties should be carried out nicely doesn't mean that our material duties should take precedence over our duties to our Spiritual master. Our duty to our Spiritual master cannot wait at any point of time. In the name of being sensible many times we try and sort out all our material duties before attending to the Spiritual master's instructions. This does not show the disciple's sensibility but his/her lack of faith. The Spiritual master's instructions are always in-line with Mahaprabhu's message and thus are non-different from the words of the Lord. As mentioned by Srila Prabhupada above, the message of Mahaprabhu (his Guru's order to preach) could not wait for any other material consideration. While instructing about ideal family life to Maharaj Yudhisthir, Narada Muni says in Srimad Bhagavatam verse 7.14.6,

jnaatayah pitarau putraa / bhraatarah suhrdo 'pare
yad vadanti yad icchanti / caanumodeta nirmamah

"An intelligent man in human society should make his own program of activities very simple. If there are suggestions from his friends, children, parents, brothers or anyone else, he should externally agree, saying, "Yes, that is all right," but internally he should be determined not to create a cumbersome life in which the purpose of life will not be fulfilled."

So even though we run around to fulfill our material duties the living entity should at the back of his/her mind, deep in the heart always know that the goal of life is to actually please Guru and Krishna and act accordingly.

3."I could not, however, immediately take up his instructions to preach, but I took his words very seriously and was always thinking of how to execute his order, although I was quite unfit to do so."

Even though the disciple many a times is not able to carry out the order of the Spiritual master immediately he/she should always realize the gravity of his words and try and always think about how to fulfill them. We should desire very strongly to fulfill his desire. We can be curtailed by our physical inabilities, but no one can stop us from desiring to serve the Guru's instructions. And the disciple should always realize that only through Guru's mercy that he is able to carry out his instructions.

Krishna willing, I shall write the remaining points on this topic in the next mail.

Thank you very much.
Your servant,
Madan Mohan das,
Singapore.