Prabhupada said, “You have left Krishna sitting on the fence post.”
Yamuna: In March ’72, my husband and I were stationed in Vrindavan to help to start the Krsna-Balaram Mandir.
Srila Prabhupada wanted Vrindavan and Mayapur to be places for pilgrims to come from around the world to,
“Hear in the dhama and to taste the beauty of the dhama.”
Prabhupada wanted an international guest center with vibrant Krishna conscious activities going on, and he wanted prasada distribution.
He said, “Especially in Vrindavan, you won’t be recognized so much for your scholarship. But if you distribute prasada nicely and if you worship the Deity nicely, you will be respected.”
Prabhupada mercifully revealed Vrindavan to us, sometimes with encouragement and sometimes with chastisement.
While we were trying to do the Vrindavan project Prabhupada gave us lots of chastisement.
Chastisement is a special relationship that one has with the spiritual master, and sometimes it’s difficult to appreciate its potency when you’re being chastised, but in retrospect it becomes relishable mercy that we continue to learn from years and years later.
When you get chastised, you feel your energy change, and sometimes it takes a long time to put the beauty of that chastisement into perspective.
Once Srila Prabhupada was in Delhi when I came from Vrindavan and joined him there.
Although he knew that I was part of the Vrindavan project and was just visiting the Delhi temple, he said to me,
“How could you have let this happen?”
I didn’t know what he was referring to.
Prabhupada said, “You have left Krishna sitting on the fence post.”
I tried to explain, “Srila Prabhupada, I’m just visiting. I don’t have anything to do with the Deity program here.”
But Prabhupada chastised me because it’s the disciple’s duty to try to preserve what the guru has given.
He said, “I have trained you in Deity worship,” and he felt that I should extend myself to the Delhi temple also.
He also said to all of us, “You may think that this is a stone statue, an idol, standing before you, and you may think, ‘Let me give this rubbish garland to this stone statue, and Krishna will not mind.’
“But if you do that Krishna will remain a stone statue for you forever. So please take care.”
He made it clear how important it is to be attentive in our service to Krishna and in our service to Krishna’s devotees.
Under the merciful instructions of the spiritual master and in a loving way we’re supposed to help each other go back to Godhead.
That’s a glorious thing to explore because there’s no end to it.
As long as we’re breathing, there is no end to the potential of helping each other become Krishna conscious in every minute of our existence by following the instructions of our spiritual master.
—Yamuna
.
.
(Excerpt from “A Bond of Love, Srila Prabhupada and his daughters”)
Yamuna: In March ’72, my husband and I were stationed in Vrindavan to help to start the Krsna-Balaram Mandir.
Srila Prabhupada wanted Vrindavan and Mayapur to be places for pilgrims to come from around the world to,
“Hear in the dhama and to taste the beauty of the dhama.”
Prabhupada wanted an international guest center with vibrant Krishna conscious activities going on, and he wanted prasada distribution.
He said, “Especially in Vrindavan, you won’t be recognized so much for your scholarship. But if you distribute prasada nicely and if you worship the Deity nicely, you will be respected.”
Prabhupada mercifully revealed Vrindavan to us, sometimes with encouragement and sometimes with chastisement.
While we were trying to do the Vrindavan project Prabhupada gave us lots of chastisement.
Chastisement is a special relationship that one has with the spiritual master, and sometimes it’s difficult to appreciate its potency when you’re being chastised, but in retrospect it becomes relishable mercy that we continue to learn from years and years later.
When you get chastised, you feel your energy change, and sometimes it takes a long time to put the beauty of that chastisement into perspective.
Once Srila Prabhupada was in Delhi when I came from Vrindavan and joined him there.
Although he knew that I was part of the Vrindavan project and was just visiting the Delhi temple, he said to me,
“How could you have let this happen?”
I didn’t know what he was referring to.
Prabhupada said, “You have left Krishna sitting on the fence post.”
I tried to explain, “Srila Prabhupada, I’m just visiting. I don’t have anything to do with the Deity program here.”
But Prabhupada chastised me because it’s the disciple’s duty to try to preserve what the guru has given.
He said, “I have trained you in Deity worship,” and he felt that I should extend myself to the Delhi temple also.
He also said to all of us, “You may think that this is a stone statue, an idol, standing before you, and you may think, ‘Let me give this rubbish garland to this stone statue, and Krishna will not mind.’
“But if you do that Krishna will remain a stone statue for you forever. So please take care.”
He made it clear how important it is to be attentive in our service to Krishna and in our service to Krishna’s devotees.
Under the merciful instructions of the spiritual master and in a loving way we’re supposed to help each other go back to Godhead.
That’s a glorious thing to explore because there’s no end to it.
As long as we’re breathing, there is no end to the potential of helping each other become Krishna conscious in every minute of our existence by following the instructions of our spiritual master.
—Yamuna
.
.
(Excerpt from “A Bond of Love, Srila Prabhupada and his daughters”)
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