To A Great Soul 2025

Krishna and orange candy

Naughty Krishna holding a piece of candy

Here is my yearly tribute to my spiritual master, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, on the anniversary of his appearance in this world in 1896.

Nighttime. 9:00 PM. Looking at a picture of Srila Prabhupada in England while I run my beads through my fingers and chant Hare Krishna.

Didn’t Prabhupada once say that when you chant the Hare Krishna Mantra, Krishna dances on your tongue?

Uh-oh. I’m feeling light headed. I call my disciple Pandu Das, and he comes to check my blood sugar.

“It’s  too low,” he says.”Only 63 on the meter. Better eat some sugar I’ll get some for you.”

“No need. I’ll get it.”

“You must be feeling weak. I’ll help you get to the bed.” He holds out his hands, arms outstretched.

“No. I want to sit here.”

I scratch my head. Only 63 on the meter? That’s  dangerously  low for blood sugar, worse than too high. My body will shut down like a machine in low-power mode, starting with the brain. I might even forget where I am. It’s happened before.

But I don’t want to shut down. Today was Srila Prabhupada’s Appearance Day. I want to chant some more. Some friends were here, but they’ve gone home. Pandu is busy now in the next room. I’m in my bedroom, just me and my beads and the picture of Prabhupada.

Too bad Prabhupada’s Appearance Day only comes once a year. I wish it would come every day.

I saunter over to the closet and pull out a bag of orange-flavored candy. Just the right thing for low blood sugar. And sugar does taste like nectar when you truly need it.

Waiting for my brain to plug in again. Might as well spend a few minutes keeping busy. I suddenly remember my computer. Then I remember the time  Prabhupada told Hayagriva not to push the typewriter with his leg.

“It is a holy thing,” Prabhupada told him.

Who ever would have thought that a typewriter became a holy thing when it was used for serving Krishna? Only someone like Prabhupada could have that vision.

Then why not my computer? So I log on to the internet. That doesn’t require any brain power. I see the usual horror stories about murders and disasters and politicians. But I don’t want to read this. It’s Prabhupada’s Appearance Day.

Then I see a question from an atheist: If God really walks and breathes, why doesn’t he reveal himself? Then everyone would see him and bow to him and follow him. And because God doesn’t, that proves there is no God. Right?

Wrong.  But it’s an interesting question. How to answer? O.K. I know. Prabhupada told me.

My dear atheist, Yes, God reveals himself, but still, you can’t see him because your eyes are covered. Even if God stands in front of you, you won’t see him as he is.

I reach for Prabhupada’s Bhagavad-Gita As It Is. What’s that verse again?   Oh here it is— 7.25:

Can’t understand it? Scratching your head? Srila Prabhupada helps us:

Still not convinced? Neither was I till we studied chapter 6, verse 47:

“You see?” said Prabhupada. “It says in Bhagavad-Gita that the devotee of Krishna is the highest yogi.”

And then I understood. Prabhupada was leading us on the right path.

Thank you, Prabhupada. I never would have known that on my own.

Yes, my atheist friend, where will you find  the  X-ray vision to see through the curtain of yogamaya? I’m only telling you what Krishna says:

All right, but many people call themselves spiritual master. How can I know whose voice to point my ear to? whose feet to clasp and to press on my forehead?

Again, Krishna gives us the answer, and right in the next verse. Just reach over and turn the page:

This verse is a compass needle pointing to Prabhupada. Yes. The real spiritual master will show you that you belong to Krishna. And this sure sounds like my Prabhupada.

But, you ask, Why only Prabhupada? Other masters also teach about Krishna.

Yes my friend, but only one master sailed across the ocean in his old age just to deliver me. And I’m sticking with that one.

His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

From the next room comes the ring-a-ling of a handbell. Then the fragrance of sandalwood drifts through my doorway. Pandu is offering incense to Jagannatha, Baladeva, and Subhadra before putting them to bed.

What? Putting God to bed? Does that thought make you sit up and open your eyes, my dear atheist? You ask about seeing God, but have you ever thought of putting God to bed at night and waking him  in the morning?

Did you even know you could? Only possible if you know that God is really Krishna. And you need to hear from Prabhupada for that. You won’t find this out on your own.

I had heard of Krishna before I met Prabhupada. I pored over book after book, pamphlet after pamphlet, even a translation of the Bhagavad-Gita. Yes, Krishna was right in front of me, but I needed Prabhupada to give me the X-ray vision to  see that  Krishna owns me, that he holds the other end of my leash.

And Prabhupada is my trainer. He gives  me the commands.

Oh. Wait. I’m feeling weak. I need more sugar. I grab my cane and start shuffling toward the closet, one careful step at a time. A half-second of distraction and my cane and I will go crashing onto the fake-wood linoleum. It wouldn’t be the first time.

Somehow I make it to the closet and back to my chair. Yum yum. More orange nectar. But now let me  put the atheist aside and ask a question of my own:

“If my brain is running low on fuel, how is it that I remember verses? How did I manage to analyze the atheist’s question?”

I lean back. I rub my eyes. I scratch my dizzy head. I can answer everyone else’s questions. Can I answer my own?

Wait. I do know the answer:  It’s because Prabhupada is always with me. Blood sugar too low, too high? Heartbeat too fast, too slow? Never mind. Prabhupada stays with me,  his hand in his beadbag.

And if Prabhupada stays with me, then so does Krishna because it is Prabhupada’s eternal mercy that links Krishna and me together. The problem is with me. I keep glancing over at Maya, hoping to find the little thrill she cannot give  me.

But when I look straight ahead again, Prabhupada is still there, now playing his harmonium and singing.

And I think of Second Avenue and my meetings with Prabhupada over the years, the times he joked with me, the times he advised me,  the times he scolded me—memories still as sweet as the lingering taste of the candy I just ate, still as comforting as the feel of my beads passing through my fingers.

Every year on this day, I ask Srila Prabhupada for something. Today will be no exception. Prabhupada appreciates handwritten letters, so I pick up a sheet of paper and a ball-point pen. First I scribble something on the back of my left hand to make sure the ink is flowing. Then I start to write:

Dear Srila Prabhupada,

Please accept my humblest obeisances. All glories to you.

It’s me again, writing to beg from you.

May I ask you to give me steadiness? I owe you everything, and I want to be steadfastly loyal to you just as you are loyal to me though you owe  me nothing.

In the same breath, I ask you to grant me the willpower to look the other way when Maya smiles and beckons to me. Please give me the willpower to fix my gaze on the toes of your lotus feet without wavering, like a flame in a windless place.

Your humblest servant,

I sign the letter, fold it, and put it in an envelope. I reach for a stamp, then stop. Where will I send it to?  There’s no airmail service from here to Goloka. The local post office doesn’t have any swans.

But somehow I feel sure Prabhupada can read it.

I lean back, take a deep breath. I feel normal now. I’d better  go to bed.

But first…

I take up my cane and hobble into the next room, up to the altar. It’s closed now. The room is dark.

“Good night, my merciful Prabhupada,” I whisper. “Have a nice rest. I’ll see you in the morning.”

Then I slowly hobble back to my room.

From Prabhupada’s lowly servant,
Umapati Swami
Vyasa Puja 2025, August 17
All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

Hare Krishna.

L

ove it? Hate it? Got a question? Write to me: hoswami@yahoo.com

© Umapati Swami 2025

Srila Prabhupada

His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada is the teacher who brought Krishna Consciousness from India to the West and then to the rest of the world. He is the founder of the worldwide Hare Krishna Movement as well as the author and compiler of many works of Vedic knowledge. He left this world in 1977.

Umapati Swami

One of the first American devotees of the Hare Krishna Movement, he became Srila Prabhupada’s disciple in 1966. Since then, he has preached Krishna Consciousness in many countries and is the author of “My Days with Prabhupada,” available from Amazon. Now 88 years old, he maintains this blog to share what he has learned.