Bhakti Vikasa Swami Remembers Srila Prabhupada
Bhakti Vikas Swami: When I received my brahminical initiation from Prabhupada in Vrindavan in 1976, I had my only one-on-one exchange with him. I’d been waiting all morning for a few mornings, and just before it was my turn to go into Prabhupada’s room, Pusta Krishna, Prabhupada’s secretary, wanted to stop the initiations until the next day since there were so many initiates at that time. Then he saw that I looked disappointed so he said, “Okay, go in.” Now, my God-brother and close friend, Satyavak prabhu, a devotee from Britain who left his body about two years ago, had heard from the Hari-bhakti-vilasa that when you say gayatri you should face in a certain direction in the morning, another direction in the evening, and another direction at night. And he heard that you should say gayatri so many minutes before sunrise and so many minutes after sunset. There were many detailed rules about gayatri. I thought that if I got a chance, I’d like to ask Prabhupada about those rules. I went in and Prabhupada had me pronounce the words. I thought I knew how to pronounce Sanskrit quite nicely. I read the first mantra, said every word wrong and Prabhupada corrected me. Then Prabhupada gave up trying to correct me. After I had said all the mantras, he said, “Chant this morning, noon and evening. Do you have any questions?” I wanted to confirm the things I’d heard, so I said, “Prabhupada, is there any particular time for chanting gayatri?” Prabhupada had just told me “Chant morning, noon and evening,” and again he said, “Yes, chant morning, noon and evening.” Again I asked, “But Prabhupada is there an exact time?” Prabhupada looked at me and said, “Morning, noon and evening.” After that, I didn’t think of asking the other questions. I said, “Yes, Prabhupada,” offered my obeisances and left. |
To view the entire unedited video go to Memories 49 - Jayapat S, Sruto, Gargamuni, Gurukrpa, Narayani, RupaV, Hari, Ranjit, Nrsimhanda
The full Prabhupada Memories Series can be viewed here and also at www.prabhupadamemories.com