Importance of Vandanam

There are interesting parallels between the initiating events for the missions of both Srila Prabhupada and Lord Brahma. This article explores some of those parallels.

Parallels in their missions

Lord Brahma is the first jiva or living entity in the universe, born from the lotus flower sprouting from the navel of Garbodakasayi Visnu. Along with Lord Visnu as the maintainer and Lord Siva as the destroyer, he is the principal creator or engineer of universal affairs, on behalf of the Lord. He takes charge of matters such as fashioning the planets, situating them in their orbits, as well as creating and assigning bodies for the different species of life. He is also a pure devotee of the Lord, and one of the twelve mahājanas or great authorities on the science of Krsna, who pass down this knowledge in paramparā from Him . We hear in Chapter eight of the third canto of Srimad Bhagavatam that, after manifesting on the whorl of the lotus flower originating from the Lord’s navel, Lord Brahma first inquired from the Lord within His heart about his origin and constitutional position. After seeking out and connecting with the Lord, he realizes he is part and parcel of the Lord, subordinate to Him, and becomes inclined to serve Him through creative activities. In Chapter nine of Canto three, through beautifully composed prayers, Lord Brahma requests from the Lord creative potencies to serve Him by constructing the features of this universe. Brahma was very much eager and ready to serve the Lord at any moment, that was his sincere desire.

...I pray only to engage in His service in the creation of the material world.

However, even such an exalted soul as he was very anxious and overwhelmed at the magnitude of the task before him. Srila Prabhupada relates to us Brahma’s mental state and predicament.

...The devastating water was so fearful that even Brahmā was perturbed at its appearance...The task was meant only for Brahmā, and no one in the universe can even understand how difficult it was.

The image of Brahma sitting atop the original lotus contemplating his situation, amidst a vast churning ocean of devastation, certainly evokes awe and empathy for the challenge that lay ahead for him, and his feeling of being overwhelmed. As one of my spiritual teachers His Grace Syamananda dasa of Radhadesh in Belgium clarified, Lord Brahma’s grief is distinctly different to that experienced by Arjuna on the battlefield of Kurukshetra. Whereas Arjuna was filled with doubts as to what his true duty was, Lord Brahma was not in doubt as to what to do, but he was overwhelmed with its complexity and he was in anxiety about how to go about it.

Brahma receives encouragement, knowledge and guidance from the Lord within his heart.

Lord Brahma atop the lotus emanating from the navel of Garbodakasayi Visnu who lies submerged in the great ocean of devastation in this universe.

From the tumultuous waves shifting Lord Brahma side-to-side on the original lotus, we turn our gaze to another oceanic scene here on Earth. On the undulating waters of the Bay of Bengal, Laccadive and Arabian seas, in the period of mid to late August of 1965, our Srila Prabhupada lay aboard the MS Jaladuta steamship on its passage from Calcutta to New York. In his Jaladuta diary, Prabhupada related how he suffered several bouts of sea sickness due to the lurching of the ship caused by rolling swells and tides.

There was vomiting tendency and dizziness and I felt uncomfortable the whole day and night.

He also suffered a serious heart attack while passing through the Arabian Sea.

Passed over a great crisis on the struggle for life and death.

So, just as Lord Brahma was tossed about in an ocean on the original lotus, our Srila Prabhupada was also tossed about in an ocean at certain points on the Jaladuta. And, just as Lord Brahma was anxious about his mission, Prabhupada was in some anxiety about his. Brahma had a grand mission to create and arrange the different features of the universe. Srila Prabhupada also had a grand mission but his was to establish and spread Lord Caitanya’s saṅkīrtan movement in the western world. Amidst his anxieties on board the Jaladuta, Prabhupada remained always connected with the Lord and his spiritual master through prayer and constant meditation.

There is slight lurching(?) of the ship and I am feeling slight headache also. But I am struggling and the nectarine of life is Sri Chaitanya Charitamrita the source of my all vitality.

Just as we hear Brahma did in Chapter nine of Canto three in the Bhagavatam. One of my favourite entries in Prabhupada’s diary was on 13 September 1965 when he wrote:

Today I have disclosed my mind to my companion Lord Sri Krishna. There is a Bengali poem made by me today in this connection.

Revealing a mood of constant and intimate companionship with the Lord in his heart. He never considered himself alone at any stage.

The Jaladuta ship in which Srila Prabhupada travelled from Calcutta to New York in 1965.

He composed a famous prayer called the Mārkine Bhāgavata-dharma upon his arrival in America at Boston Harbor on 18 September 1965. In it, he relates, among other transcendental sentiments, his feeling of being overwhelmed at the monumental task that lay ahead, just as Brahma did for his own mission. Just like Brahma, Prabhupada understood what the goal of his mission was, but he was understandably concerned about how to go about it. He feelingly relates this to the Lord in his poetry in various ways, including

...I do not know how they will be able to understand it.

and

How will I make them understand this message of Kṛṣṇa consciousness?

Brahma emanated forth into the universe from the umbilical stem connected to his Lord and master Garbodakasayi Visnu. And Srila Prabhupada emanated forth into the Western world from his dwelling with their lordships Sri Radha Damodar in Vṛndāvan, via an umbilical attachment of love for Them. Prabhupada exhibited much attachment to deities from the Goswami temples in Vṛndāvan, including Sri Radha Damodar. He speaks of his feeling of separation from them while on the Jaladuta

...I am feeling separation from Sri Vrindaban and my Lords Sri Govinda, Gopinath, Radha Damodar

Their lordships Sri Radha Damodara continue to be worshipped today at Seva Kunj near Loi Bazar in Vṛndāvan, Mathura, India.

Housing the samadhis of such erudite exponents of transcendental scholarship as Srila Rupa, Jiva and Krsnadasa Kaviraja Goswamis, it is very apt that Prabhupada chose the Sri Radha Damodar temple in Vṛndāvan to reside at in preparation for his voyage West. He mentions this temple in his public correspondences more than any other of the seven goswami temples of Vṛndāvan. He also directly confided to Nripendra Natha Banerjee, a benefactor and sevait at Sri Radha Damodar temple:

Srila Jiva Goswami's temple [Sri Radha Damodar temple] is my heart and soul.

Prabhupada resided here to fill up his proverbial kamaṇḍalū from one of the most potent reservoirs of scholarship in our Gaudiya-Vaishnava disciplic line, before travelling West to distribute its contents for the benefit of all. This is reflected in his own remarkable contribution to the West – his authoritative books on Vedic wisdom echoing the same realizations of these ācāryas. Srila Rupa Goswami contributed several central texts in our Bhakti-yoga tradition, such as the Upadeśāmṛta (Nectar of Instruction) and Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu (Nectar of Devotion), and Srila Prabhupada translated them into English for our benefit. He also emphatically reminds us, in the very first sentence of the Preface to Nectar of Instruction, of the elevated role of Rupa Goswami in our disciplic line:

The Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is conducted under the supervision of Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī.

Srila Prabhupada taking prasadam (sanctified food stuffs offered to Lord Krishna) in his quarters at Sri Radha Damodar temple, Vṛndāvan, Mathura, India.

He also often spoke of the elevated scholarship of Rupa Goswami’s nephew, Srila Jiva Goswami. In Letters to Bhavananda Prabhu and Dr. Chakravarthy, he spoke about how extraordinary he is, unparalleled in our sampradaya, and world-wide, as a philosopher and scholar. One of Jiva Goswami’s sublime writing contributions are his six Ṣaṭ Sandarbha books (Tatwa Sandarbha, Bhagwat Sandarbha, Krishna Sandarbha, Priti Sandarbha, Krama Sandarbha, and Bhakti Sandarbha), philosophical treatises on advanced spiritual science, which Srila Prabhupada once referred to as:

...the most scholarly work in the world.

Just as Lord Brahma depended on the Lord, the ultimate source of all creative power relevant for his creating mission:

May He be merciful towards me so that I, as before, may be empowered with the introspection to create...

Srila Prabhupada depended on the Lord also for his mission of spiritual education

Only by Your causeless mercy will my words become pure.

But he also fittingly relied on the blessings and work of the foremost scholars in our devotional line, Rupa and Jiva Goswami, for success in his mission, which was itself also built upon a scholarly foundation of books. The parallels between the circumstances of these great souls and the inceptions of their missions are certainly compelling. We bear witness to two pure devotees who floated atop vast and precarious oceans, in daunting circumstances, thrust into the unknown. Both having grand missions they accepted responsibility for in service of their spiritual teachers. Both experience anxiety in planning how to fulfill them. Upon embarking on these missions, both expressed their hearts to the Lord in elaborate published prayers. Both remain constantly connected with the Lord through remembrance and meditation. Both have implicit faith in the mercy of the Lord. And, poetically, both are architects, but of diametric projects – Lord Brahma of our material prison house; and Srila Prabhupada of our means for transcending it.

Rupa Goswami’s samadhi, Radha Damodara temple grounds, Vṛndāvan.

Jiva Goswami’s samadhi, Radha Damodara temple grounds, Vṛndāvan.

The Lord also reciprocated with both of His dear devotees during their missionary struggles with great empathy. He was always personally present watching over them, offering either words of encouragement or acts of reciprocation. Although Srila Prabhupada experienced some turmoil on the Jaladuta through lurching of the ship in some places, once they reached the Atlantic ocean onward to America, the seas became uncharacteristically calm. Prabhupada records in his Jaladuta diary “The captain tells that they had never [seen] such calmness of the Atlantic. I said it is Lord Krishna's mercy. If Atlantic would have shown its usual face perhaps I would have died. But Lord Krishna has taken charge of the ship.” [The Jaladuta diary, 13 September entry]. While on board the Jaladuta, Srila Prabhupada also had a dream in which Lord Krishna personally appeared in his many forms to row the boat to America. He tells Prabhupada not to fear and to come along for the journey [Śrīla Prabhupāda-līlāmṛta, Chapter 12; Room conversation, 8 June 1976, Los Angeles]. The Lord was his constant companion, just as he was for Lord Brahma. We recall how sweetly and reassuringly the Lord responded to Brahma’s anxiety “O depth of Vedic wisdom, be neither depressed nor anxious about the execution of creation. What you are begging from Me has already been granted before.” [SB 3.9.29]. And the Lord goes on to give further reassurance that Brahma’s mission will be successfully fulfilled “Since you have desired to increase the population innumerably and expand your varieties of service, you shall never be deprived in this matter because My causeless mercy upon you will always increase for all time.” [SB 3.9.34].