The Eternal Residents of Vrndavan

“The devotee should always think of Krishna within himself, and one should choose a very dear devotee who is a servitor of Krishna in Vrindavana.  One should constantly engage in topics about that servitor and his loving relationship to Krishna, and one should live in Vrindavana.  However, if one is physically unable to go to Vrindavana, he should mentally live there.”

(Cc. Madhya, 22.160)

When this topic comes up in conversation, I think of Srila Prabhupada and how he may be considered the eternal resident of Vrindavana whom we should follow.  This isn’t a concoction on my part, and neither is it meant to replace the teaching that one should follow Nanda Maharaja or the gopas or other eternal residents of Vrindavana.  Once in India, some of Prabhupada’s disciples said they thought he was the eternal resident of Vrindavana whom they could follow.  Prabhupada did not elaborate on the point, but he affirmed their sentiment.

Now that Srila Prabhupada has disappeared from the world in his vapu form, it remains somewhat of a mystery as to when we will meet up with him again.  He is a liberated soul, and therefore, he has a place in the pastimes of Krishna.  We have also read in a song by Narottama dasa Thakura that he aspired to be in the form of a gopi-manjari, along with his spiritual master, assisting in the pastimes of Radha and Krishna.  These secrets are quite beyond me at present.  But I can put my understanding in a simple form: since the liberated spiritual master is in Goloka Vrindavana, it stands to reason that if we follow him, we also will come to be in his presence in Vrindavana (provided we reach the perfect stage).  And yet the next life meeting with the spiritual master remains, at least for me, highly theoretical.  This much I can say with personal conviction: I wish to always hear about Krishna from Srila Prabhupada.  I want to think that Prabhupada is the eternal resident of Vrindavana whom I should follow.  Krishnadasa Kaviraja says that the Vrindavana resident should be “a very dear devotee.”  That certainly fits Srila Prabhupada, who is very dear to Krishna on this earth.  The servitor is also supposed to be an associate of Krishna in Vrindavana.  Srila Prabhupada is from Vrindavana, both within the context of Vrindavana, India, where he resided at the Radha-Damodara temple in the Prabhupada Samadhi, and also at Krishna-Balarama Mandira.  He is also a resident in the eternal Vrindavana.

What’s really on my mind is this—I want to know whether the 1966 pastimes and other pastimes of Srila Prabhupada, as we knew them—are eternal.  Did Prabhupada, the eternal servitor, appear within this material world in a temporary lila?  But how little we know!  What is eternality?  Even if you define it for me, I cannot comprehend it.  All I know is that Srila Prabhupada came here and taught us of eternal Vrindavana.  And I know that I can—if I concentrate and lead the proper life—think of him now, and worship him and follow his orders.

Krishnadasa Kaviraja advises that, “One should constantly engage in topics about the servitor and his loving relationship to Krishna.”  When I think of Srila Prabhupada singing in the kirtana, and I read about “his” Krishna, and meditate on the faith he has instilled in me to be a servitor of the Lord—I think this is good enough for me.  Krishnadasa Kaviraja even advises that if one awakens his attraction for an eternal resident, he is not to be checked by ordinary standards.  “When such covetousness is awakened, one’s intelligence no longer depends on the instruction of sastra, revealed scriptures, logic or argument.”  I do not claim that I comprehend Srila Prabhupada as the eternal resident of Vrindavana, but I think that it fulfills the purport regarding serving Krishna in Vrindavana in a particular way.  Actually, I should probably not even be discussing these topics, but be content with the original instructions Prabhupada gave me: “It will be automatically revealed to you in proper time.”  Srila Prabhupada, please forgive my impertinence.  Please keep me engaged in your eternal service, wherever and whatever that may be.