He Gave Us the Gayatri Mantra

aim gurudevaya vidmahe krsnanandaya dhimahi tan no guroh pracodayat

“Let us try to understand my spiritual master who is always in blissful Krishna consciousness.  Let me meditate on him being enthused as he enthuses us.”

Эта Gayatri mantra provides us with a meditation on the spiritual master which may be applied to Srila Prabhupada.  There are actually two mantras to the spiritual master in the Gayatri.  The first is aim gurave namah: “I make my respectful obeisances unto my spiritual master.”  This means we should approach Srila Prabhupada offering obeisances.  Srila Prabhupada is actually a most intimate friend, but he should not be taken as an ordinary person.

Эта Gayatri mantra advises us “to meditate on him being enthused.”  One time when he was commenting on the word enthusiasm (utsaha), as used in Rupa Gosvami’s Upadesamrta, Srila Prabhupada gave himself as an example.  He said, “How could I have come to America at such an old age unless I was enthusiastic?”  He was enthusiastic to come to America because his guru ordered, and when for a whole year he got almost no response in America, Srila Prabhupada remained patient but still enthusiastic.  That enthusiasm can be heard on tape recordings of Prabhupada lecturing on the Lower East Side, where his voice often cracks with earnestness to deliver the message of Krishna consciousness.

Prabhupada was so enthusiastic to write "Шримад-Бхагаватам" that he would rise at one in the morning to do so.  His composing of his purports was the perfect example of combined patience and enthusiasm.  As he said, “Little drops of water wear away the stone.  In this way, I’ve written all these books.”

“Let us meditate,” the Gayatri mantra advises, and so one can continue on his own, or in the association of devotees, to think about and discuss the enthusiastic moods and activities of His Divine Grace Srila Prabhupada.    Prabhupada’s translation contains a particularly interesting phrase, “Let me meditate on him being enthused as he enthuses us.”  A genuine disciple has become enthusiastic in devotional service, and he knows that this is due to the enthusiasm of his spiritual master.

We may meditate on how our enthusiastic spiritual master has transferred this sakti of utsaha to us.  Prabhupada said that the mother of his disciple, Acyutananda, complained that her son used to lounge around the house all the time and was unwilling to go on errands.  But since he had come to live with Swamiji, he was always enthusiastic to cook and to run any errands asked by his spiritual master.  Srila Prabhupada was also fond of a pamphlet produced by a Christian minister in Boston which made reference to Srila Prabhupada’s enthusiastic disciples.  The minister said that he met a Hare Krishna devotee giving out literature in the neighborhood of the church.  The priest said, “These are actually our boys, but previously they were never interested in going to church.  Now they have become mad after God.”  Srila Prabhupada also said that it was only by the enthusiasm of his disciples that the Krishna Consciousness Movement was spreading around the world.

When we do not feel enthusiastic, let us meditate on the enthusiasm of Srila Prabhupada.  Let it ignite within us our natural enthusiasm to serve Krishna.  This is krsna-ananda, which motivates all the thoughts and activities of a pure devotee of the Lord.  Whether he is grave and silent, or dancing in the kirtana of Lord Caitanya, whether he is being honored by many followers or treated as an outcaste, the pure Vaisnava is always merged in enthusiasm and bliss.  Let us meditate upon him being enthused just as he enthuses us.