Offering Prabhupada Your Love

I want to give Prabhupada pleasure, as well as receive pleasure from him.  Usually, we beg from him.  We are bankrupt, and he is full of Krishna’s mercy.  That is the relationship of father and son.  We are always drawing from him.

However, when happiness comes my way, I want to share it with Prabhupada.  For example, now I am writing memories of my youth and the books that I have read, and I am making Krishna conscious commentary.  I thought it came out as interesting reading and could draw people toward Krishna consciousness.  As I felt a lift from doing this, I wanted to share it with my spiritual master.

I worried, “Is Prabhupada going to like this?”  Then I remembered that Prabhupada appreciates whatever is successful in Krishna consciousness.  He likes it if, on our own, we develop something and present it as an offering to him.  The spiritual master wants to see the disciple use his intelligence for Krishna.  That may involve all kinds of deliberation and development by the disciple.  In the end, his joy is that Prabhupada does accept it. 

Sometimes you dream up something; it comes out of your life and you feel deeply about it.  It may even be an anartha that you face; you deal with it and convert it into Krishna consciousness.  Srila Prabhupada said that someone once found an old gourd and a metal string, and from these rejected pieces he made a beautiful vina.  When we pick up the bits and scraps of our lives and make them into something useful in Krishna consciousness, we feel a lift of happiness.  “Let me show this to Prabhupada.”

This also works in our prayers.  Prayer is not only for formal times, but for whenever we turn to our Friend.  You may be working in your room for example, and because there is no heat, the chill starts getting to you.  You notice it and you call out, “Prabhupada, it is so cold here!”  Prabhupada meditation can be very ready, as near as our dearest friend.  It is a respectful, intimate relationship.

If we do not offer Krishna our selfhood, then there is the danger of making offerings only in an official way.  Our offering may appear impeccable; we may do everything according to the rules, with proper standards of cleanliness and on time.  But what if we somehow avoid giving ourselves?  If we do not give ourselves wholeheartedly, we will reserve some energy for other things.  The energy will be bottled up and lead to frustration, or we will expand the energy for something separate from our service to guru and Krishna.  If we want to offer our full selves, we have to be enthusiastic.  We should not hold back.

Prabhupada tends to be lenient in bringing out the best in students.  Thus he allows his students gradually to give more and more of themselves as they feel inclined.  The students try to elevate their tastes and talents until their offerings become pleasing to Krishna and Prabhupada.  Why not offer Prabhupada something we know is pleasing to pure devotees and to Krishna?  The highest standard of offering is a devotee’s full energy and self, dovetailed in the interest of Krishna.

One devotee of Krishna was so ecstatic that when Krishna visited his house, the devotee offered Krishna banana peels instead of bananas.  The offering was imperfect, but because it was done in love, Krishna happily accepted it.  The gopis’ service, on the other hand, was so perfect that it captured Krishna’s mind.  Their service was wholehearted and perfectly rendered according to the devotional arts – they knew how to please Him.

We can all try offering whatever we have to Prabhupada.  We will always be fools before him, but at least we will have offered everything we could.