Today is Vyasa Puja! This day marks the 128th year since Shrila Prabhupada appeared on earth, to spread Lord Caitanya's message. Here is an excerpt from the upcoming biography of Shrila Prabhupada, 'Bhaktivedanta,' compiled and edited by His Grace Purujit Dasa.
Any man who has perfect knowledge of the constitution of the individual soul, the Supersoul, and nature—both material and spiritual—is called a dhira, or a most sober man. Such a man is never deluded by the change of bodies. Shrila Prabhupada recollects: "When I was about six months old, I still remember very vividly lying down on the lap of my eldest sister. She was at that time married, and she was knitting. I remember. I was seeing how she was knitting. Then when I was one and a half years old, I suffered from typhoid, and Dr. Kartik Chandra Bose said I should be given chicken juice. My father refused: 'No, no, we cannot.'
But the doctor insisted: 'No, no, he has to be given. Now he has become very weak.'
My father still did not agree: 'No, no. I cannot allow.'
The doctor explained: 'It is necessary. He has become very weak. Don't mind, I shall prepare it in my own house, I shall send it to you, and you simply administer it.' So, my father then became convinced it was essential. The chicken juice was sent from the doctor's house, and when it was given to me, I immediately began to vomit. [laughter] And my father threw it away, and when the doctor persisted that this chicken juice was necessary, my father replied: 'Then don't bother.' This story I heard. This allopathetic system of medicine introduced all these things in India. Otherwise, they did not know. Meat-eating, chicken juice, tea, etc. were originally unknown to Indians. I also remember when I was only about one year old, there was a great sankirtana in our house, and I also joined the dancing party. I was seeing up to their knees, very small. I remember those days. In Kolkatta there was a very virulent type of plague epidemic in 1898. So, Kolkatta became devastated. All people practically left Kolkatta. Daily hundreds and hundreds of people were dying. I was one or one and a half years old. I had seen what was happening, but I did not know that there was a plague epidemic. Later on, I heard from my parents. So, when there was no other way, one babaji organized Hare Krishna sankirtana all over Kolkatta. And in the sankirtana, all people; Hindu, Muslim, Christian, Parsi, they all joined in. And they were going road to road, street to street, entering into every house, and they also came to Mahatma Gandhi Road, 151. We received the sankirtana party very nicely. There was a light, and I was very small, I was also dancing, I can remember. Just like our small children sometimes dance. I remember. I could see only up to the knees of the persons who joined. The plague subsided. This is a fact. Everyone who knows the history of Kolkatta will confirm that the plague was subsided by the sankirtana movement. Of course, we do not recommend that sankirtana should be used for some material purpose, that is nama-aparadha, an offense to the holy name. You can utilize sankirtana for some material purpose, but that is not allowed. That is nama-aparadha, because nama, the holy name of Krishna, and Krishna are identical. You cannot utilize Krishna for your personal, material benefit. That is aparadha. Krishna is the Lord. You cannot engage the Lord in your service. Similarly, you cannot utilize the holy name of the Lord for some material purpose. That is not allowed. So, anyway, because ye yatha mam prapadyante [Bg. 4.11]. If you want some material benefit by chanting Hare Krishna mantra, you'll get it, but that is nama-aparadha. You won't get the ecstasy of loving God. That is the aim of chanting the Hare Krishna mantra: to shall elevate yourself to the platform of loving God. That is required. Sa vai pumsam paro dharmo yato bhaktir adhoksaje [SB 1.2.6]. Not for utilizing the holy name for some material purpose. But this happened, we have got experience; I have heard, I have seen. I also remember how in our childhood we used to play a board game where one must throw dice and then go, go, go, and if he steps on the mouth of a serpent, he has to come back to the tail of the serpent and start all over again. Suppose one is on the 50th point and he lands on the mouth of the serpent; he then has to come to the 3rd point again. We used to play that game in our childhood. I was also very much fond of cycling. I was imagining, 'I have got this tricycle; I shall go to Europe, I shall go to the West, or some other country like that.' I was also thinking the tramcar was going on a trolley, so I could also stand on the tram line, take a stick, touch the wire and I would go. I was planning like that. (laughter) I used to think there was a man in a gramophone box. Any machine is wonderful, undoubtedly, but there is always a person behind it. For example, a computer is a wonderful machine, but there is a very expert programmer behind it. An aeroplane flies very wonderfully in the sky—but there is a pilot inside. A plane without a pilot or a plane where a pilot is not in order is dangerous. In this way, we have to study the adjustment in this material world. There are so many planets in the universe: the sun, the moon, the stars rotating under a gigantic cosmic arrangement—that is also a machine, only bigger. But who is the pilot of this bigger machine? Who is the conductor of this material manifestation? That is explained in the Bhagavad-gita:
mayadhyaksena prakrtih
suyate sa-caracaram
[Bg.9.10]
The background manipulator is God, Krishna. The scientists, physicists, and chemists are trying to study only the machine, but they have no information of the person who is manipulating the machine. That is the defect of modern science. But this is the unique facility of the human form of life—to understand how God manipulates the workings of the material nature in the background. The cats and dogs cannot understand that, behind the machine, there is a person who is manipulating the machine. That requires intelligence. So, similarly, in our childhood, we thought that there must be a man who sings in the gramophone box, and in the fan there must be a ghost moving it. (laughter) I remember quite well. 'How are these records being played? There must be one man. As soon as the record is played, he sings.' I was thinking like that. And similarly, I could not understand how the electric fan was moving, but I gave a suggestion. That was intelligence—there must be somebody; otherwise, how is it moving? I was convinced that without somebody, it cannot play and cannot run. That requires intelligence.
When I was three or four years old, I was saved. All my cloth burned, and there is a scar. I would have died that day, but fortunately I was saved. The cloth was burning. I was trying to burn matches and it caught my cloth. So, the cloth burned, but I did not burn. So many things, so many dangers, so many adventures. So, all those different stages of body, I remember."
It is stated in the Bhagavad-gita:
prapya punya-krtam lokan
usitva sasvatih samah
sucinam srimatam gehe
yoga-bhrasto 'bhijayate
The unsuccessful yogi, after many, many years of enjoyment on the planets of the pious living entities, is born into a family of righteous people, or into a family of rich aristocracy.
(Bg.6.41)
Shrila Prabhupada corroborates on this verse in the context of his own transcendental appearance: "By the grace of Krishna I got these two opportunities in the present life. Namely, I was born of a pious father, and I was brought up in one of the richest aristocratic families of Kolkatta. I was surrounded by Krishna consciousness. That was my great fortune. My father, mother, relatives, and neighborhood were all Krishna conscious. In this way, I had the opportunity to mix with the devotees. Everywhere there was a Krishna conscious atmosphere. And they were all well-to-do, rich. This was the opportunity which gradually developed. My maternal uncle was formerly rich, then his wealth was reduced, but they were very devoted. The whole house of my maternal aunt, my mother's elder sister, were all devotees. This was the society. All Vaisnavas. Not strictly following the Vaisnava regulations, but still, they were Krishna conscious. Even our maidservants were Krsna conscious. They were inviting their guru. They were trying to satisfy him, and they used to keep the guru to learn Srimad-Bhagavatam. That was the atmosphere in which I was raised. Even the maidservants were Krishna conscious."
Even by the start of the 20th century, the social structure of all Indians was so arranged that they would not read any literature which was not connected with the activities of the Lord. They would not play any drama which was not connected with the Lord. They would not organize a fair or ceremony which was not connected with the Lord. Nor would they visit a place which was not holy and sanctified by the pastimes of the Lord. Therefore, even the common man in the village would talk about Ramayana, Mahabharata, Bhagavad-gita, and Bhagavatam even from his very childhood. Only by the influence of the age of Kali have they been dragged to the civilization of the dogs and hogs, laboring for bread without any sense of transcendental knowledge. Shrila Prabhupada remembers: "When we were about six years old, we saw every village, every town, there was transcendental knowledge. Any common man was able to speak about Ramayana, Mahabharata, or Lord Krishna. And the system was—it is still there, but practically closed now—that in the evening, in the village, everyone would assemble in a place to hear the messages from Mahabharata and Ramayana especially, because these two books can be understood by the common man. They did not discuss the Vedanta philosophy. My maternal uncle was living in the suburb of Kolkatta, about ten miles from our house. Sometimes when we used to go there, in the evening, after taking their meals, by eight o'clock, the family would go to an assembly to hear about Ramayana, Mahabharata, and Bhagavata and all the ladies and members would discuss. They would sit down. All the members of the neighboring people would come, a very big crowd, and they would hear, and whatever they could pay, they would pay. And with that impression, at nine o'clock or ten o'clock, they would go to bed. Very nice arrangement. Usually the meeting took place after dinner, and from about nine o'clock till ten or eleven, the discussion would go on. Then the members dispersed and went to their respective homes. We have seen it. And all the ladies throughout the whole road were discussing, "The priest told me..." They discussed very seriously to understand. They did not require any education. Simply by hearing they became advanced. This is recommended.
srnvatam sva-kathah krsnah
punya-sravana-kirtanah
hrdy antah stho hy abhadrani
vidhunoti suhrt satam
Sri Krishna, the Personality of Godhead, who is the Paramatma [Supersoul] in everyone's heart and the benefactor of the truthful devotee, cleanses desire for material enjoyment from the heart of the devotee who has developed the urge to hear His messages, which are in themselves virtuous when properly heard and chanted.
(SB 1.2.17)
Just try to hear, hear, hear. Very nice process. And they would discuss while coming home, and go to bed thinking about that memory. So they would dream also about Ramayana and Mahabharata. This was the system. And in the Bhagavad-gita it is said:
yam yam vapi smaran bhavam
tyajaty ante kalevaram
tam tam evaiti kaunteya
sada tad-bhava-bhavitah
Whatever state of being one remembers when he quits his body, that state he will attain without fail.
(Bg.8.6)
In India, all dramatical performances were centred round the superhuman activities of the Supreme Lord. The common people, although having no academic qaulifcations, would be entertained by the performances of dramas and Jatra parties exhibiting the superhuman activities of the Lord, and thus even the illiterate agriculturist would be educated in the knowledge of Vedic literature. Therefore, expert players in drama, dancers, singers, speakers etc. are required for spiritual enlightenment of the common man.
Everything is so perfectly arranged according to the Vedic system. When a woman is pregnant, there are so many ceremonies. When we were children, I was the middle child, and I saw my other brothers and sisters born. So, there was some ceremony, and we were eating with my mother in that ceremony. That ceremony was held because my mother was pregnant. It is called sad-bhaksa. There are ten kinds of ceremonies, before the birth and after the birth of a child, dasa-vidha-samskara. My mother was observing so many religious ceremonies, and all the expenditure was paid by my father. Every month, there were two to three very nice ceremonies. We were children; we were eating. A brahmana priest would come; there would be puja. There would be a nice feast. Now those things are gone. During our wife's time they were not doing anymore, what to speak of our daughter's time? Now generation by generation they are giving it up.”
According to Vedic culture, even if a young woman is given an old husband, she must respectfully serve him. This is chastity. It is not that because she dislikes her husband that she may give him up and accept another. This is against Vedic culture, which advocates that a woman must accept the husband given to her by her parents and remain chaste and faithful to him. Shrila Prabhupada remembers:
“There was one old man. I used to call his wife didi; sister, eldest sister. At that time, he was at least seventy years old. And his wife died, so he had no children, so he married again. He was an old husband with a young wife, but the relationship was so nice. He was a great devotee and the wife was devoted. Formerly, even at the age of eighty, they used to marry. There were many cases. If he had no family members he would marry again, although it was the subject of criticism. But it was the custom. In the Bhagavatam, there are also many instances where a very old man married. Anyway, this gentleman was such a nice devotee. Because later on he retired—he was a pleader—so whole day and night, he was simply a devotee. Sometimes he would offer obeisances to the Deity. He was an old man, and he would fall asleep while paying his respects. And he would remain in that position for two or three hours. And he would go to the Ganges daily. His name was Nanda Dulal Gosai. Simply by thinking of him, I am being purified. What a great devotee he was. He was observing some of the festivals, I think, Janmastami or Nandotsava, something, inviting friends, offering good prasadam. And he was living in a quarter full of low-class Muhammadans. At that time, they were so friendly. Muhammadans were also religious. One Muhammadan gentleman, Dinuniya, he was formerly Hindu. He also made so many charitable institutions. He had an orphan house. He was cutting the throats of chickens on the street. We were accustomed. His servant would do it. But we have seen it.
Then there was one middleman. Every criminal has got an organization to bribe the police. And the police do not take the bribe directly, but there is some in-between man, an agent who collects from the criminal and gives it to the police. In India, this is going on. I know that. And the via-media man makes a fortune. Yes. Whatever is collected, ten percent he takes, and balance is given to the police. There is a confectioner in Delhi. He is selling jalebi (a kind of deep-fried sweet). He has got ten lakhs of rupees because he collects the bribe from others and pays to the police. Everyone knows. There was one Mullik, now, on that Mahatma Gandhi Road. That was his business. He was collecting.
Also in our childhood days, we have seen in Kolkatta, there was a special quarter of the bhattacarya brahmanas. The bhattacarya brahmanas' business is that if you have committed some sinful act, you should immediately go and consult the bhattacarya: 'What is the process of prayascitta?' Just like you go in case of disease, consult a physician, and take his prescription and diagnosis, similarly, that was the Vedic system. If you want to be free from the reaction of the sinful activities in this life—exactly in the same way as Christian Bible advises that you have to make some atonement, go to the church and confess your sinful activities and pay some fine—exactly in the same way in Vedic scriptures also, that 'Before death you must make some atonement; otherwise you will continue in your next life.' Tasmat puraivasv iha papa-niskrtau yateta mrtyor avipadyatatmana [SB 6.1.8] 'Before you meet your death, you should atone.' Dosasya drstva guru-laghavam yatha: and you have to atone for your sins according to their gravity. Yatha bhisak cikitseta rujam nidanavit. Just like nidanavit. Nidana means an expert physician. He prescribes medicine and advises treatment according to the gravity of the disease. Similarly, you have to undergo atonement for your sinful activities according to their gravity. That is the system. One of our relatives, long, long ago, went to England and became a doctor, and when he came back home to India, the brahmanas prescribed that, 'You went to England, so you have to make this prayascitta and so many prescriptions, and unless you follow the prayascitta, you cannot live at home. Then your family will be extricated.' So when these things were presented to him he said, 'Then I am going out of home.' Also, in Bengal, there were professional gurus. They travel from one house to another. Our paternal guru was coming like that. I was initiated by that professional guru at the age of twelve years. Eventually I rejected him. Later on, as a young man and a manager in Dr. Bose's laboratory, I accepted Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Gosvami when my friend, Narend Mullik, took me. There is a direction: For a real guru one can give up a professional guru."
Shrila Prabhupada describes his relation to the Kashinath Mullik family: "Although my father was not very rich, he was a pure Vaisnava, a great devotee of Lord Krsna, and accidentally I was born in Kashi Mullik's family, which is a very rich and aristocratic family. I did not belong to that family, but I was born in that family when my father was staying there. It was practically the same family. I was known as one of the children of Mullik's family, and other neighborhood men would know that I belonged to the Mullik family. Because the house in which my parents were living belonged to that family. Although later they reduced in wealth, at that time, Kashinath Mullik's family were the most aristocratic family of Kolkatta. There are even roads named after Kashinath Mullik. The house my parents were living in belonged to Kashinatha's second brother. His wife was still living, and she was a distant grandmother to us. She had no children on her own. The house where I grew up was at 151 Harrison Road, now Mahatma Gandhi road, and it was originally purchased by the late Siva Prasad Jhunjhun Mullick. The number of the house where my parents stayed was 151, in the middle there was number 153, and the Mulliks' house was at 155. This grandmother's stepson sold the house to a Marwari man without her knowledge. In those days, one of the Mullik houses would sell for 12,000 rupees. One bigha of land and a grand building. So it was unknown to the stepmother that the stepson sold it. Then she appealed to the high-court that, 'I belong to a respectable family, and my spoiled stepson has sold the house without my knowledge, so where shall I go?' The high-court considered that, 'The drunkard son has sold her house at a cheap price, and she belongs to a respectable family, where she'll go?' And the high-court's order was, 'Half of the house shall be used by this lady and during her lifetime the Marwari who purchased cannot take possession of the house.' So under that grandmother, my parents used to live.
On the roof of the house, there were trees, plants, and flower plants, and the grandmother would take care of them and engage all her grandchildren, which were about half a dozen, in watering them. The water was brought from downstairs; two or three stories down in a sprinkling can, and then brought up and emptied in the garden. The children took much pleasure in watering. It was good exercise and sport simultaneously, a kind of competition between the children. My special tendency, however, was that along with the plants, I would sit down within the bushes. And I would sit down for hours. In my maternal uncle's house also, as soon as I found some bush, I would make a sitting place.
Formerly, either Indian, American, or European aristocracy was the same—big, big rooms, very decorated; This was Kolkatta aristocracy. They would have a separate house for men, a separate house for women, a separate house for the kitchen, and a separate house for the toilet. In the same way, although the Mullik family was very big, they had many separate houses. A woman's house where nobody could go; that was inside. Then the outside house, then the house of worship. All separate. Not that everything is within the apartment. That is a European invention. Those houses are now gone. No attached bathroom. Because there was service, so how could it be an attached bathroom? There was a big separate house only for passing stool. And if possible, a lake within the house. An aristocratic family would have a lake within the house for using water within the boundary of the compound. The ranna badi (kitchen), vaikanna badi (brother's daughter quarters), meyeder badi (elder daughter's quarters), and the purusder (men's quarters). Four different courtyards. And who cared for city life in those days? Nobody. Everyone was satisfied in a village. General people would not come to the city. Only the servant class. What business did they have in the city? Their main income was from the field, krsi-go-raksya [Bg.18.44]. Big zamindars had nothing to do in the city personally. Their managers and sircars were collecting money. That's all. And for their extra money, they were constructing Thakura badis (temples) and organizing festivals. They devoted their money for Krishna consciousness. That was aristocracy. One of such temples was the Mullik's Radha-Govinda temple. It is said, idam sariram ksetram: to own a piece of land is basic civilization. Everyone must have a portion of land to produce his food. Then there will be no economic problem. And we have seen even in our childhood that poor men, laborer class, servants, came from the village to the town. We were residents of the town, Kolkatta, and the servant class would come from the outside. Not just in Kolkatta, but everywhere. The villagers would come and earn a small salary. In our young days, we were paying the servants fourteen rupees salary without any food, and still, from that they would save at least ten to twelve rupees. The servant would send this money to his wife at home, and as soon as there was two hundred rupees saved, he would purchase a piece of land. In this way, when he got sufficient land for producing food for the whole family, he would stop coming to the city for working.
RADHA GOVINDA TEMPLE
To take birth in a rich man's family means to get the association of those who generally have some spiritual inclination. In India, there are still very rich men who, instead of wasting their money in nightclubs, utilize whatever they have in a meaningful way. There are Birlas, Dalmias, and many other big families. Those who follow the Vedic culture maintain a worship of some Deity— either the Deity of Laksmi-Narayana or Radha-Krsna. The Mullik's family, for example, regularly worshipped the Radha-Govinda Deity. If one gets the chance to take birth in such family, he automatically becomes pure. Srila Prabhupada had the opportunity to associate with the Radha-Govinda Deities of the Mulliks from his very childhood. He described his relationship to these Deities as follows: "When we were playing there, I was seeing the Deity and I questioned, 'Is God here?' I was standing before the Deity, and I saw, 'Oh, this is Krishna! People say He is dead, but how can He be dead?' I was thinking like that. I was seeing the Krsna Deity. I still remember. I was standing for hours together. When I think of Radha-Krishna, I first think of the Radha-Govinda form of Mullik's temple, because from my very childhood I have been devoted to the same Deity. They were the source of my enjoyment. It can be practically seen that these facilities are given by the Lord. The Lord is always prepared to give us facility to come to Him. He simply wants to see that we are sincere. That's all."
The Radha-Govinda Deity is a very old Deity worshiped in the Mullik family. It was established approximately in the 1700's by the mother of Kashinath Mullik, and it is said that her husband's name was Gaura Mohan Mullik. Gradually, the whole quarter belonged to the Mullik family. Previously, there was a very big building in front of the temple, which was also the property of Radha-Govinda. Srila Prabhupada's house was just behind the present Govinda Bhavan, and from there he had the opportunity of seeing Radha-Govinda from his very childhood. In fact, when he was three or four years old, he used to visit these Radha-Govinda Deities daily. The temple was part of Shrila Prabhupada's family house. Radha-Govinda had a big property and many other lands, and thus the Mulliks had a very good income. They were one of the oldest aristocratic families in Kolkatta, and their property extended all the way from Howrah Bridge up to the street. Since the Deity had such good income, the family members would worship the Deity in terms, and one who got the term would also take the income. The longer the term, the higher the income. In all the temples in India, the Deities have a good income. Even if no contribution comes, the worship does not stop for want of money. A provision is made so the worship can go on under any circumstances. It does not mean that if no one collects anything the temple is to be closed. It must go on. The service is eternal. That is the system in all Indian temples, and all the big temples in Vrndavana follow that arrangement.
Shrila Prabhupada and his companions, as children, were going here and there around the neighborhood, and they could see that in all the houses, there were devotees living. Although their character was not very good, even the maidservants and servants were devotees. It was a wonderful atmosphere that one will not find today. And the center of all activity was the Mulliks' Radha-Govinda Mandir. Some of the Mulliks were rich capitalists, and it was the custom that all rich men would keep a prostitute. But they were devotees. In the morning, after their taking bath, changing clothes, and performing all other duties, they would have to go and see Radha-Govinda. Without seeing Radha-Govinda, they would not take their breakfast. The Deity was very nicely worshiped at that time with dresses, jewelry, and foodstuff. The pujaris would offer on the plate very big, first class crispy kacauris (fried, stuffed breads), luci (fried bread), and also ghee, rabri (thickened and sweeted milk), and similar other preparations, and the Mulliks would keep some prasadam as a balance. The men from the neighborhood would sell it, so there was prasadam distribution as well. Shrila Prabhupada humbly remarks: "This Ratha-yatra, Radha-Govinda seva, and prasada distribution was my training since childhood. Actually, whatever devotional activities I have introduced in the Western countries, I have learned in my childhood. I simply imitated."
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