You cannot force
Dhristadyumna das : In 1976 after Mayapur, Tamal Krishna Maharaj and I went to New York to get help from my father to be able to get into China because China was closed. Madame Mao was in power and her Gang of Four, and it was terribly xenophobic. No Westerners were allowed in except under special circumstances. So through my father's contacts, we were able to get IDs as Spiritual Sky Incense representatives going to look for incense punk. So in New York we got Brooks Brothers suits, we started to grow our hair. The party was now under Madhudvisa, who was the GBC of Radha Damodar New York and Gita Nagari, they had merged into one huge party, and Adi Kesava was the president there in New York. So we had a room there, we did our thing and we got prepared, and we were en route to Hong Kong via Hawaii where Prabhupada was writing his Eighth Canto, the story of Gajendra. And at that time, two things happened simultaneously: one, he didn't approve of us going to China anymore because he considered it a waste of time under those conditions, there wouldn't be any possibility for preaching; and secondly that Madhudvisa had disappeared, given up his sannyasa. So Prabhupada said, "So you go back and take up your party," which was the last thing we ever expected to hear from Prabhupada given the intensity of the emotions just two months earlier in Mayapur. So that was a big shock. Prabhupada said, "So now you go back and take up your party, but one thing you must learn: you cannot force." So there were some discussions then about sannyasa. Prabhupada said, "Actually I have not given any of you sannyasa. But I am in a war with Maya, the material energy, and I need leaders." He said, "It is called in wartime - battlefield commission." There are no qualified leaders, but someone has to lead the charge. So you take every fifth man. "You are now lieutenant of the squad. He is really a private, but we make him lieutenant for the day and he leads the charge." Then Prabhupada said, "It is to be understood that you are not sufficiently equipped for this fight and most of you will go down." I know what he means now that I'm older. We knew very little, but we were enthusiastic. So we show back up in New York, having never gone to China, and Prabhupada is coming. So Tamal and Adi Kesava asked would I manage the Rathayatra overall, so I did. And it was wonderful working with Jayananda. I'll never forget that.
Reference: Following Srila Prabhupada-A Chronological Series by Dhrishtadyumna Swami
Recently Added
Trending Today