Appreciating the Mahatma

Lord Krishna defines mahatma as one who is under the protection of the Divine nature.  He is fully engaged in devotional service because he knows Krishna as the Supreme Personality of Godhead.  The mahatma is always engaged in chanting the glories of Krishna and worshiping Him with determination. 

Prabhupada warned that persons who claim to be God, or to be mahatmas, “are not mahatma.”  Rather they are duratma, “crooked.”  Yet Prabhupada said it is not difficult to become a Krishna conscious mahatma; all one has to do is follow what Krishna says. 

It is difficult to actually find a mahatma living in this world.  This is Krishna’s opinion: vāsudevaḥ sarvam iti/ sa mahātmā sudurlabhaḥ.  Therefore let us appreciate how rare Srila Prabhupada is, even by material calculation, Indian sannyasis were scarce in America in the 1960s.  Vaisnava sannyasis were extremely rare.  Yet the true rarity of Srila Prabhupada is that he is a pure devotee of Krishna.  He left Vrindavana to give Krishna to others.  That makes Prabhupada one among millions.

When Prabhupada came to America, Westerners were groping for consciousness expansion.  We did not find what we wanted in LSD, or in friendship, in art, or music.  We were being dragged toward a cliff to be plunged into death and rebirth.  We are very fortunate to have met the pure devotee.  Once, before I met Prabhupada, I shared an LSD trip with my friend Murray.  I remembered his conclusion that night – “Life is cheap.”  I liked to think that life was rare and valuable, but Murray’s vision seemed realistic and in tune with what was actually happening in New York City.  Life is cheap.  You can buy and sell it if you have money, or sex appeal, or power.  Life is cheap because the “powers that be” can snuff it out in a minute.

Therefore, I joined the multitudes thankful to the mahatma, Srila Prabhupada, for making our lives valuable.  He upgraded our lives in a way that we could never have done on our own.  We thank him for being who he is; for being so rare.  “Sa mahātmāsudurlabhaḥ.”  The mahatma’s heart is expanded to help everyone, and our gratitude should be expressed by helping him in his cause.  Although we were not qualified, Krishna within our hearts told us, “Go ahead and hear from the Swami.  Do as he says, chant Hare Krishna.”  It is Krishna who allows one to repeatedly hear and gradually take that opportunity. 

I thank Srila Prabhupada for being who he was.  We were not expecting an elderly person to come into our lives; we were not expecting a guru.  Prabhupada, however, satisfied us because he was who he was.  He was better than anyone we could imagine – golden in complexion, elderly, dressed in sannyasi robes.  Everything about him was attractive to us, and by Krishna’s grace, his path was easy to take.