Prabhupada life-story 08 – Journey on Jaladuta – Physically demanding, Divinely revealing

Audio Podcast :

Video :

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
Hare Krishna. Welcome back to our series on Shila Prabhupada’s life story. In the previous episode, we discussed about how Shila Prabhupada’s tireless efforts to reach the westernized mind and the western world bore fruit.
How through the arrangement of sponsorship by Agarwal for the visa and through the passage arrangement on a cargo ship by Moraji, Subti Moraji, Prabhupada was able to go to America. He boarded the Jaladuta. There’s only a small group of well-wishers.
One of his sons was there and some other people who were just passing acquaintances, they were there to see Prabhupada off. Prabhupada was alone, but he was not lonely because he felt the presence of Krishna in his heart. He felt the presence of his spiritual master whose instructions were the driving force for him for going abroad.
And the ship was to go from Calcutta down to the Indian peninsula, going to stop at Cochin, take certain things from there. And then it was going to go up to the Red Canal. And then through that, it would go across to the Atlantic to America.
Now, this was the first time Prabhupada had boarded a ship for a long journey. And naturally, those who travel in ships, a common problem is seasickness. So Sri Prabhupada had seasickness, vomiting, loss of appetite and overall feeling of unease during the initial days of the journey.
And then as he was moving on, one night he felt acute pain in his heart. He himself was a pharmacist. And with India being a medically understaffed and under-resourced country, often pharmacists themselves have to prescribe medicines, so they have to understand the symptoms.
So Prabhupada was good at his profession and he recognized that he had actually got a heart attack. The pain was tremendous, but he tolerated it. And he lived on.
The next day, again he got a heart attack. This was devastating. Most times when people get a heart attack, immediately emergency is called and the emergency staff comes, takes a person to the hospital.
There’s so many medical staff who come and try to treat the patient. But on the cargo ship, there’s nothing there. So there’s not even a doctor available over there.
Because it is not a passenger ship, it is a cargo ship. And Prabhupada endured it all. He remained grateful to Krishna.
When he had started on the ship, we could see, we can see, he maintained a diary of activities, of the things that happened. Initially, Prabhupada kept it when he was in Yalduta and he kept it for a few months or years after that also. The early days of the Krishna Consciousness Movement.
Eventually, as things became much bigger and faster, he couldn’t keep it. But at this particular point, he was fixed in his purpose. And eventually, Prabhupada was starting to go towards America.
He was of course known as Bhaktivedanta Swami at this stage. When he went to America in 1968 roughly, he got the title Prabhupada. But when he was going along, at that time, he had no idea whether there would be vegetarian food available in America.
And he had been lifelong vegetarian. He had not even eaten a drunk tea. So he was such a pure devotee, living according to pure standards.
How was he going to manage to live in such a remote land like this? But he had faith and he had courage, both in abundance. And there, Captain Pandya and his wife, who were there on the ship, they welcomed Prabhupada. And Captain Pandya had arranged for abundant vegetables and vegetarian food for Prabhupada.
Night was on the Jal Doota. When Prabhupada saw the cabin which was provided for him, that was also reasonably comfortable. And he thanked Krishna.
And it’s a very intriguing offering of thanks that Prabhupada gave. He says, My thanks to Lord Krishna for enlightening Sumati Murariji from within her heart, so that she made all these arrangements. So, Prabhupada was grateful to the immediate agent of the help.
And Prabhupada was also grateful to the ultimate source of that help. The divine usually acts in the world through the human. But if we see only the human, then we don’t raise our consciousness towards God.
And if we see only the divine and neglect the human, then we become impersonal. We depersonalize our relationships and those who are helping us in our spiritual growth, we devalue them. So, Prabhupada had this consciousness, appreciated Sumati Murariji for her support, for the arrangements he had made.
And he also saw that how is she able to make the arrangements? It is Krishna who is present in the hearts of all living beings. And it is he who gives them intelligence. In the Bhagavad Gita, in 15.58 it is stated, sarvasya caham hrdi sannivisto mattahas matir jnanam apohanam ca.
It says, I am present in the hearts of all living beings. And I give intelligence to everyone. So, Prabhupada had gone on this journey in a very devotional consciousness with great conviction.
But there were these two devastating heart attacks that he suffered. And for the human body, even one heart attack is something which is very draining. Even if one survives the heart attack, still to recover from it takes time.
And to get two heart attacks on two successive days, even if the body survives, gets severely battered by the attacks. Prabhupada prayed to Krishna, my dear Lord Krishna, I am going to fulfill the instruction of your pure devotee, my spiritual master. I want to share your mission.
Please help me. Please help me serve my spiritual master’s mission. With this move, eventually, Prabhupada prayed fervently.
Now, normally, the third heart attack is considered to be extremely dangerous. People may survive two heart attacks, but a third heart attack is fatal. And Prabhupada already had had two heart attacks.
The third night, when he slept, naturally he would have been apprehensive, but he had faith in Krishna. And Krishna reciprocated with the faith of his exalted devotee. And instead of a heart attack, on that night came the Lord of his heart, appeared in a divine dream.
Prabhupada saw Krishna with his many incarnations, surrounded by many incarnations. He appeared and Krishna spoke to Prabhupada. And he said that, I have taken care of everything.
You know, you just go and you share my message, and I will provide for everything. So, Prabhupada saw that Krishna had taken charge of that ship. That’s what he saw in that vision.
The next morning, he woke up. He felt very calm. And not only did he feel calm, but he also found that the ocean had become mysteriously calm.
And the ship went very smoothly. And as the day after day passed, actually Janmashtami, Prabhupada celebrated that year on the Jaladhoota. And he composed his… on Janmashtami, he cooked a feast for all the crew of the ship.
And he spoke about Krishna to them. Now, Janmashtami is a big festival, especially in Vrindavan. And Prabhupada for the last several years had lived in Vrindavan.
And his heart longed to be in that holy abode. He knew that he had to leave that abode to share that message of Krishna and eventually share that festivity of Krishna’s appearance with the world later. So, Prabhupada had gone with that determination.
In one sense, he had left Vrindavan. But in another sense, he had carried Vrindavan with him. Now, we can take a pure devotee out of the dham, but we cannot take the dham out of the pure devotee.
The dham always stays in the pure devotee’s heart. And those who come in contact with that pure devotee, with the devotional disposition, they can experience the dham in the presence of the devotee. And that was what Prabhupada was going to do through his worldwide sharing of Krishna Bhakti.
Prabhupada continued his work of translating what he could. He was also reading the Chaitanya Charita Amrit. He was meditating on his spiritual master’s instructions.
And he was envisioning the message, that mission that he was going to carry out. So, Prabhupada wrote poems. In one poem, that he composed when he was on the Jal Roota, in the middle of the ocean, he said that by the instruction of the spiritual master, by the mercy of Lord Chaitanya, in every town and village, the holy name of Krishna will be chanted.
This was a prophecy that Lord Chaitanya had made. And Prabhupada had the mood of a dedicated devotee. And he did not think that if the Lord has made the prophecy, the Lord will fulfill it.
Prabhupada saw that the Lord’s prophecy is my responsibility. Fulfilling the Lord’s… if the Lord has made a word, then it is my responsibility to fulfill that word. And Prabhupada had come with that conviction.
Many people, even those who were followers of Lord Chaitanya, they had tried to make Lord Chaitanya’s prophecy explainable in terms which were more intelligible to their small minds. For maybe even Chaitanya Mahaprabhu said, In every town and village of the earth will my name be chanted. Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, of course, is Krishna himself.
Now, some people thought that in those times, 500 years ago, people had no idea of how big the earth was. So, they thought maybe he meant Prithvi means the earth, not the earth, but India. And all of India, the holy names will be chanted.
And Chaitanya Mahaprabhu himself had done that. He had taken Sankirtan movement far and wide. But Prabhupada had conviction that Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is Krishna.
And Krishna’s legacy of love, of bhakti is meant for the whole world. So, Prabhupada was meditating on the divine mission of Lord Chaitanya while he relishing his pastimes by reading Chaitanya Charita Amrit. And he wrote this, he expressed his divine sentiments in this song wherein he wrote that he was ready, he was there, that by the instruction of the spiritual master, the holy names will be chanted in every town and village, thus Lord Chaitanya’s prophecy will be fulfilled.
And he said that if you are faithful, then Radharani will be merciful to you and then you will relish the mellows of bhakti. And he said that speaking as if Krishna were a person next to him, he intimately revealed his heart to Krishna. He said that I long to be with Krishna in Vrindavan.
And just as his Gopas go with him and they all in the afternoon take lunch together and they’re curious to know what Krishna is carrying in their lunchbox. He said today, he writes that today that remembrance of Krishna came in a very sweet way to me. You know, actually Krishna’s greatest presence for us in this material world is in the form of his remembrance.
Because we may occasionally see Krishna in mystical form, but actually we see Krishna constantly in his divine remembrance. The sweetness, the strength, the serenity, the sublime satisfaction that comes when we remember Krishna, that is actually the test, the confirmatory test of God’s reality, God’s benevolence and God’s love for us. And Prabhupada was experiencing and relishing that in his heart.
And that ecstasy he composed through his poetry. And as he moved on across the Atlantic Ocean, the Atlantic was completely calm. Captain Pandya said that in the several decades that he had worked in the shipping industry, he had traveled across the ocean in several decades, but never before had he seen the Atlantic to be so calm.
So Prabhupada smiled and Prabhupada said, Krishna is in charge of the Atlantic Ocean and Krishna has taken charge of that. And they finally reached America. Captain Pandya’s wife, she said, Swamiji, because you were present with us, we had such a peaceful journey.
When we are going back, you also come with us. Again, we’ll have a peaceful journey. Prabhupada smiled to himself.
He had not traveled across America just to have a peaceful journey. He had traveled across the ocean to America because it is a purposeful journey. He had a purpose to fulfill in America and that purpose would require him.
For whatever time he had to stay there, he was ready to stay there. So when Prabhupada reached America, actually he was going to land in the Brooklyn pier in New York, but before that they came to the Boston pier. And there in Boston, Captain Pandya was going to do some shopping and he invited Bhakti Dhan Swami to come with him.
And both of them went out and Prabhupada looked at the majestic skyline, the elegant road, the fast vehicles. He had not seen anything like this before. And he had now in Boston pier, he had put his foot on American soil.
He had come so close to his destination. While the ship was docked in the Boston pier, looking at the American skyline, Prabhupada composed a poem called Markhine Bhagvat Dharma. Yes, sharing the message of the Bhagavatam.
And there his, the spiritual basis of his extraordinary courage is revealed. Therein Prabhupada says, he says, my dear Lord, I don’t know why you have brought me here. You must have some purpose, oh my Lord.
Otherwise, why would you bring me to this terrible place? Now, why most people all over the world consider America to be the land of freedom, land of liberty, land of opportunity? And they long to come to America. They often consider the places where they have stayed to be terrible places. But here Prabhupada is calling, characterizing America as a terrible place.
Why is that? Because he’s seeing from a spiritual vision. And he’s seeing the rampant materialism over there as a symptom of the lack of God consciousness. And for a devotee of God, the beauty of a place is determined not by how, by its material appearance.
It is determined by its substance of God consciousness. And when you see this godlessness, godless materialism and the great prosperity at the material level, which was keeping people godless, alluring people towards further godlessness, he felt this is terrible. He felt that this is just the rampant dance of the lower modes of passion and ignorance.
And as he contemplated the mission before him, he realized how difficult it was going to be. He says, my dear Lord, how will I be able to… he wrote this in his poem, which is like a direct communion with God, where he is praying to God from his heart. And he said, my dear Lord, how will I make these people understand the relish, the taste of bhakti so subtle and sweet? I cannot make them understand, oh Lord.
Please, you are capable of everything. Your mercy is omnipotent. I am impotent.
I am helpless. I am useless. I am fallen.
I am sinful, oh Lord. But you can make me potent. You please ornament my words so that they become intelligible to these people.
Now, Prabhupada had a very heavy Bengali accent. But when Prabhupada was asking that, let my words be ornamented, he was not saying that, give me a very good accent. Indians, when they go to America, they often learn American accent.
They give exam like test of English as a foreign language, TOEFL, by which they have to have an acceptable level of fluency in English, especially American English, so that what they speak is intelligible to the Americans. But Prabhupada was not interested in that when he was praying. When he was saying, please make my words understandable to them, he was talking at a spiritual level of comprehension.
That Krishna is present in his heart. Krishna is going to be present in the hearts of his potential audience. And he was praying that whatever he speak, that be by the inspiration of the Lord in his heart.
And that same Lord made the audience’s minds open, their hearts open, so that they could receive this message by which they would be benefited. Thus, this was Prabhupada’s extraordinary compassion. He had worked so hard to come to America.
But he saw that this coming to America itself was a great mercy of the Lord. He started the very song by saying, My dear Lord, you have done great mercy to me. Somebody might say, a person who is old, who has no money, who has no contacts, who has no institutional support, who has just suffered two heart attacks, who doesn’t know who is going to come to meet him.
Normally such a person would pray, My dear Lord, please take care of me. My dear Lord, please help me. I am in such great difficulty.
But far from that Prabhupada was thinking, My dear Lord, you have been very kind to me. Even if you see from a spiritual perspective, the task before Prabhupada was formidable. And what was he seeing Krishna’s mercy in? He was seeing mercy in the very opportunity to serve.
His spiritual master had given him the instruction to share Krishna’s message with the world, the western world. And now he had finally come to the western world. So at last he had got the opportunity to fulfill the instruction of the spiritual master.
Although the facilities for fulfilling that instruction were very much lacking, Prabhupada was grateful for at least having the opportunity. And he saw that opportunity itself as mercy. You know, a devoted heart is a grateful heart.
We are grateful for whatever the Lord has provided. In fact, a devoted heart is not just a grateful heart. A devoted heart is an aggressively grateful heart.
That means that in whatever situation we find ourselves, there are some things which we’ll normally be thankful for and some things if they’re not there, we will be regretful about it. But just as when there’s aggression, one goes into the enemy territory. So like that aggressive gratitude means we go beyond what we normally feel grateful for and think about other things and we feel grateful for them.
So Prabhupada in his intense devotion was exhibiting aggressive gratitude. Thank you, my Lord, for giving me this opportunity to share your message. And he quotes from the Srimad Bhagavatam several verses which describe how the heart gets purified by repeatedly hearing the message of Krishna, hearing the past times of Krishna.
And Prabhupada has that conviction that if he can just get his audience to hear, although the lower modes are rampant within them, although because of their materialistic consciousness they will not be able to relish right now, but somehow if they keep hearing that Bhagavat Katha, the Krishna Leela, the stories of Krishna, the past times of Krishna, they are Krishna himself manifesting in sound. And if someone just hears it repeatedly, they will become purified. They’ll become sober and they’ll become qualified to relish the sweetness of Krishna Bhakti.
And as Prabhupada contemplated, he said, Krishna, you can do this magic because you have the supreme magical powers. He concludes his song, his prayerful song by a mood of devotional, determined, dynamic surrender. Surrender doesn’t just mean passive, oh God, whatever you want, you do.
Surrender can also mean active determination. My dear Lord, whatever you want for me to do, I will do that. And so what was Prabhupada’s surrender? Prabhupada says, My dear Lord, if you brought me here to dance, make me dance, oh Lord, make me dance.
Just as a puppeteer makes a puppet dance, my dear Lord, make me dance. Prabhupada said, I, my name is Bhaktivedanta, I have no bhakti, I have no way, no Veda, but I have faith in your name and it is your name that will transform people’s hearts, oh Lord, please make me dance. This was the sublime mood of surrender with which Prabhupada offered himself for the service of Krishna and time would reveal how Krishna fulfilled his desire, how Krishna made him dance, how that dance took him across the world 14 times on glorious preaching tours.
Prabhupada danced all over the world and he inspired thousands and millions to dance in devotion to Krishna. That is a wonderful story that we’ll discuss in our future sessions. Thank you.
Hare Krishna.