Dear Srila Prabhupada,
Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to you on your 109thVyasa-puja day.
As I am writing this Vyasa-puja offering, I am in Mauritius, a tiny island in the Indian Ocean that you blessed by your auspicious visit.
Today is Rama-navami. On this occasion, we think of Lord Rama and Rama-rajya. Mauritius, as well as India, was ruled by the British. The leaders of both nations fought to make their nations independent. In Calcutta, during your youth, you were preparing to join Mahatma Gandhi’s movement to throw out British rule.
During your first meeting with Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Prabhupada, you stated that making the nation of India independent must be the priority.
“We are a dependent country,” you said. “First India must become independent. How can we spread Indian culture if we are under British rule?”
This was a challenging question. Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati replied in a quiet and deep voice; Krsna consciousness is so exclusively important that it cannot wait.”
Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati continued to explain that whether one power or another ruled was a temporary situation, but the eternal reality is Krsna consciousness, and the real self is the spirit soul. No man-made political system, therefore, could actually help humanity.
You felt defeated. But you liked it. It was not a loss, It was an immense gain. Mahatma Gandhi and the freedom fighters continued their struggle. Mahatma Gandhi at least spoke of Rama-rajya. But soon after independence, Mahatma Gandhi was assassinated. And the first prime minister of India declared that the dams, bridges and industries would be the new temples of independent and modern India. Unfortunately, this idea smashed the vision and defeated the purpose of independence for India.
Economic development has now become the mantra and motivating force of India’s political leaders. After a country develops its economy, luxurious sense gratification follows. The leaders of India are now propagating the glories of artha and kama. They are following only two of the five purusharthas. Unfortunately, they are forgetting dharma and moksha. And most lamentable is that they are forgetting prema, or love of Godhead.
Recently, the current prime minister of India visited Mauritius. There is a world of difference between your visit and the visit of the prime minister. In his visit there was no trace of the representation of Vedic India and its values. The prime minister’s whole focus was entirely on economic development, information technology, industrial development, and the inauguration of the Cyber City Project. The prime minister is a world-renowned economist. He came to Mauritius to impose his economic agenda. In this way, he was solidifying the illusion and false perception of the people of Mauritius.
There are two economies in the world, industrial and agrarian. The agrarian economy is grounded in India’s Vedic culture and supported by Lord Krsna’s varnasrama system.
During a visit to Mauritius in 1975, you expressed your vision for the island in a lecture attended by some of the nation’s leading citizens. You stated: “So I see in Mauritius you have got enough land to produce food grains… I understand that instead of growing food grains you are growing sugar cane for exporting. Why? You are dependent on food grains – on rice, wheat, dahl. Why this attempt (at growing sugar cane)? You first of all grow your own eatables. And if there is time and if your population has got sufficient food grains, then you can try to grow other fruits and vegetables for exporting.”
You went on to say, I have travelled all over the world – Africa, Australia, and America also. There is so much land vacant that if we produce food grains, then we can feed ten times as much population as at the present moment. There is no question of scarcity. The whole creation is so made by Krsna that everything is purnam, complete.
Later you said, “I have seen in the Western countries, they are growing food grains for the animals, and the food grains are eaten by the animals, and the animal is eaten by man. What are the statistics? The animal is eating food grains and the same amount food grains can be eaten by so many men.” Thank you for presenting the facts. These simple, down-to-earth economic equations clearly show us the proper way of life.
The West is known for economic and industrial development, as well as for scientific advancements. India’s contribution to the world is upholding, propagating, and globalizing the principles of religion –bhagavatadharma and its essence, the knowledge of Bhagavad-gita.
You are a true bharat-vasi because you are a loyal representative ofbhagavatadharma and bhagavata culture.
Once, while you were in London, during a press conference a reporter asked you why you had come. You responded by explaining how the British rulers and viceroys had plundered India. They had stolen whatever they thought was valuable and taken it away to exploit, enjoy, or just display in a London museum. But, you added, the British had left the most valuable items of India behind. The reporter wanted to know what they were. You responded that the most precious thing is India’s ancient culture, Sastras are our real treasure, and the holy names are our real jewels. You declared that you had come to freely deliver these most valuable goods free of cost.
On behalf of Lord Caitanya, you established this Hare Krsna movement as the infrastructure to continue to deliver the most valuable gifts of the Indian subcontinent, Bharata-varsa. So many empires have risen and fallen, come and gone. They were all based on concoctions and speculations by ambitious individuals or groups .The British were proud that the sun never set on the British Empire. So, where is that empire now?
In 1976, you wrote to all your GBCs:
“My dear GBC disciples, Please accept my blessings. Over the past ten years I have given the framework and now we have become more than the British Empire. Even the British Empire was not as expansive as we. They had only a portion of the world, and we have not completed expanding. We must expand more and more unlimitedly. In contrast to those who established the British Empire, you as the senapati-bhakta Commander-in-chief of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s sankirtan army, continue to spread your ISKCON Society rapidly. The latest calculation is that the Hare Krsna movement has made inroads in 160 countries on the planet. Now wherever and whenever the sun rises, mangala-arati is being performed. Conch shells are blowing and the maha-mantra is being broadcast. This progress will not stop until the goal of chanting Hare Krsna in every country, every town and every village is reached.”
One hundred and sixty countries is an achievement of only the past forty years. In 2005 we will see the fortieth anniversary of your journey to America. In another forty years, we can’t even imagine how much more expansion there will be. Most empires have a life of 100-200 years at the most. The empire you are building is destined to last for 10,000 years. You will remain known as a true ambassador of India, wherein lies the welfare of all nations around the world.
The other day here in Mauritius we had a ceremony, and five sets of Deities were welcomed by five families. During the ceremony, a thought occurred to me. I was thinking that very soon, in the next 500-1,000 years, all the 200 villages of Mauritius, consisting of thousands of families, will have the original founding fathers of thesankirtan movement as their worshipful Deity – yuga-avatara Gaura- Nitai.
Today, on Rama-Navami, we are seeing the spread of caitanya-rajya– the spiritual kingdom of Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Your dream of Mauritius becoming the first Krsna conscious country on the world is swiftly becoming a reality.
Seeing the thousands in attendance on this small island of Mauritius, and seeing their association with Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s movement at ISKCON’s bhagavata-katha and Rathayatra programs, I realize the great potential of your preaching.
Ebe jasa ghusuk tribhuvana: “May your glories be spread throughout the three worlds.”
Your eternal servant,
Lokanath Swami.
