The Amazing Story of Prishadra
Prabhu
By Vikramasingha das
Recently I heard that yet another one of the ISKCON
gbc-elected “iskurus” had been exposed for repeated gross deviations and that
he had resigned in disgrace. Although this man wrote a letter of so-called
apology, he failed to advise his hundreds of followers to take full shelter of
Srila Prabhupada. Nor did he accept the gravity of his offense to Srila
Prabhupada and to the devotees in his charge. Nor didhe offer to make amends. This
lack of remorse and lack of determination for rectification expressed in his
pseudo-apology has upset many devotees. All this reminded me of the history
from Srimad-Bhagavatam Ninth Canto of
the pure devoteePrishadra.
This is the story of a young kshatriya named Prishadra, who took the noble vow of standing alone
all night to guard the cows in the goshala.
One night in the rain, when the light of the stars was covered by dense
darkness, a tiger entered the cow shed and grabbed a cow and began to carry it
away. Prishadra, hearing the crying cow, followed the sound and swung his sword
with great force at the tiger but cut off the head of the cow instead. The
tiger was slightly wounded and ran away in great fear.
The next morning, when Prishadra realized his mistake, he was
very sorry. In spite of his remorse, Vasistha Rishi, his spiritual master,
cursed him to become a sudra in his
next life. He accepted the curse of his guru with folded hands, and then left
the kingdom to go the forest to practice bhakti-yoga
while following a vow of total celibacy for the rest of his life. He completely
controlled his senses and fixed his mind totally on the Supreme Personality of
Godhead. After controlling his mind and senses and becoming fully detached from
the external world of matter, he wandered about as if an aimless madman while
always remaining fully absorbed in remembering the Supreme Lord at all times
and all places. In this way Sriman Prishadra Prabhu, unlike the gbc pretender mentioned
above, showed the best example of atonement for his accidental severe sin.
One day in the forest Prishadra saw a blazing forest fire and
took this opportunity to end his life by entering the fire. Immediately upon
Prishadra’s death, in spite of the curse of his guru, he went back home, back
to Godhead.Such spiritually motivated suicide is sometimes practiced by great
personalities who have conquered their minds and senses and realized fully the
futility of material existence. Long ago, Lord Rishabhadeva, a visnu-tattva incarnation of the Supreme
Lord and the best example and emblem for those in the paramahamsa status of life, entered a forest fire to burn His transcendental
body to ashes here in Kodachadri Valley, where I am presently visiting on tirthayatra.
Those who are not yet fully surrendered disciples of Srila
Prabhupada must remain fearfully enduring all the many pangs of material
existence, even while trying to chant Hare Krishna. No amount of money,
followers or prestige can save one from the curse of material existence in
general or, specifically, the ill will ofsadhaka
devotees and great sages like Vasistha Rishi. If we insist on remaining
attached to the material world for any reason, even in the name of preaching,
we must endure birth, death, old age and disease again and again, even while
supposedly chanting Hare Krishna.
Another interesting point in the story of the pure devotee
Prishadra is that his own spiritual master, Vasistha, cursed him rather than
blessed him with a method of elevation. Srila Prabhupada comments that this fact
indicates that Vasistha was influenced by the mode of ignorance. Srila
Prabhupada quotes Srila Visvanatha Chakravati Thakura in this regard, who
concludes that Vasistha’s intelligence was durmati,
or “not very good”.
Unless one accepts as spiritual masterone who is always
completely beyond the influence of material nature-- in other words, an uttama-adhikari or mahabhagavata such as Srila Prabhupada or Visvanatha Chakravarti
Thakura-- he may not find the remedy for ending the curse of material existence
for many, many lifetimes, even though he may be fortunateenough to get someone
as exalted as Vasistha Rishi as guru. Throughout the Vedas it is confirmed that Vasistha is one of the greatest sages in
the universe and is worshipped even by great demigods and rishis in heaven; yet apparently even he became influenced by the tamo-guna.
In His purports to Sri Isopanisad, Srila Prabhupada repeatedly stresses that one
must hear from and accept only an “undisturbed
acarya” to get relief from the
bondage of the powerful illusory energy of the Lord:“Unless one hears from the bona fide acarya, who is never disturbed by the changes of the material
world, one cannot have the real key to transcendental knowledge.” And throughout
His books He emphatically stresses that
“One who is disturbed by the whirlpool movements of the material energy is not qualified
to become an acarya.” (Sri Isopanisad, Mantra Thirteen,
Purport.) The story of Prishadra and Vasistha illustrates why all sastrasand all acaryas advise that intelligent devotees
should accept only an uttama-adhikari,
a fully self-realized Vaisnava, as guru. “…
a disciple should be careful to accept an uttama-adhikari
as spiritual master.” (Nectar of
Instruction, Text 5, Purport)
Fortunate soulswho have accepted the most merciful Srila
Prabhupada as spiritual master, even though they may make serious mistakes in their
service, can still cross beyond the ocean of birth and death and achieve Lord
Krishna’s full mercy without a doubt if they are humble,unpretentious and
determined, as was Prishadra.Therefore, one who has mistakenly accepted an
upstart as guru should ignore such a pretender and accept Srila Prabhupada
exclusively by hearing from Him carefully and serving His lotus feet.This path
is open to everyone (tandera carana sevi
bhakta-sanivas). The fall downs andcurses of so-called gurus with “not very good” intelligence will never
disturb Srila Prabhupada’s bona fide disciples. By Srila Prabhupada’s divine
grace only, a sincere devotee quickly gives up material attachments by achieving
a higher taste in Krishna consciousness. According to Lord Krishna in the Bhagavad-gita, such a determined devotee
doesn’t need to take birth again in this material world.Rather, he or she transcends
all impediments, as did Prishadra Prabhu, and goes back to Godhead immediately
after death. This is possible only for fortunate devotees who experience the
higher taste of Krishna consciousness by Srila Prabhupada’s divine grace.
Guru-krsna prasade
paya, bhakti-lata bija.
Rasa-varjamraso
‘pyasya, param drstvanivartate.
[A final note on this lesson from Bhagavatam: Those who have made it their focus to expose Iskcon leaders often
forget to mention their neglect and abuse of Krishna’s cows. Equally as
horrible as child abuse is cow abuse. This story illustrates the grave danger
of even accidental abuse or neglect of cows.]
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